Just Got Back From Texas

While what I was down in Texas for was not enjoyable nor would I hope that anyone would ever have to visit Texas for the same reason, I have to admit that I like Texas. Well....I don't like all of Texas but I do like Austin and San Antonio and the areas around those two cities. People are much more personable. Texans for the most part are friendly. Maybe it's because Texans' egos over compensates for Texas while leaving only a little bit of ego left for them as individuals. It's refreshing to see a smile, to enjoy a conversation that doesn't turn to politics, and not have to break through the "i'm better than you layer" of personalities.

Why are Americans so overly Politically Correct?

I was talking with this woman at GMU about a DSST test that I had given to a young woman at the Admissions Office front desk when the woman I was talking to asked me for her name I said "I did not catch her name, but she was a young black woman sitting at the desk"

The woman replies "Sir that's not really PC".

So I said "Well Ma'am i'm sorry that you feel that way, but I can't help the fact that you have a problem with black people being black". (The woman who I was talking to was black).

What I can't get over is "why are Americans so sensitive"? Your black, i'm white, she's Persian, these are all descriptions of what we look like not who we are. Yet it seems like so many Americans are afraid of offending or being offended that we forget "Hey if you have a problem with your race, if you're a little touchy about being called a black, white, or Persian woman, that the problem is not with me describing how you look but with what you perceive to be the characteristics associated with your race". By trying to forget that there are colors and races, Americans allow for racism that does exist on all sides to persist. What is important is that we are all Americans and share variations of an American culture. If we want our color and our race to not be important anymore, and a cause of discrimination, than we have to stop making our color and our race important.

Kibbeh

There are only some men in life who die only to be born again: Jesus and all those who go to war and come back. The only difference between Jesus and those warriors is that Jesus came back the same person while these warriors are unrecognizable from their past selves. And as Jesus broke bread with his disciples so to did the disciples of war break peace and eat of the local foods. Some found the new local tastes to be exotic and delightful while others found these tastes disgusting and could not deign on the delights of war.

I loved the delights of war. The tastes, the smells, the texture were all new and exciting to me. Maybe it is because I was young when I first went over to Iraq and naïve, that I found the tastes of Baghdad to be so exciting. Whatever the reasons for my new found love of Baghdad cuisine, I came to love a meat rolled dish called kibbeh. Kibbeh is a hodgepodge of meat. Most recognizable in its rolled torpedo shape, kibbeh is also sometimes shaped as meatballs. A main stay of Middle Eastern cuisine, kibbeh can be found from Lebanon to Iraq. There are few things that the Israelis and the Arabs share, but each cultures love of kibbeh is one of those things. If the Israelis and the Arabs can agree on how great kibbeh is, you know kibbeh has to be something special.

When I was first introduced to my new found love, I was throwing a placenta away in a trash bag. The birth of some destitute woman’s baby had gone well and her husband had thought to offer me money as a reward. I flatly refused him. My refusal was not so much out of the generosity of my heart, but rather my belief that 2,000 dinar was not worth my time. I was afraid that the next thing that would happen is that the Iraqis in my district would use me as a cheap and competent medical alternative to the incompetent and costly medical personnel in Baghdad. I neither had the time, the medical supplies, nor the patience to deal with that many people. My job was to take care of the men in my platoon and I was not going to let anything get in the way of my job.

Under the an upturned water bottle I was washing my hands off with antibacterial gel and water when one of the guys said, “Doc, the husband’s comin’ back.” Tapping me on my shoulder he thrust into my wet hands a hot, dripping with juice, paper wrapped gift. “Shukron, Shukron, Docteur,” he exclaimed while kissing me on the cheeks. Rather shocked and disgusted by this display of affection, I looked down at the dripping paper gift and back up at his big toothy grin and thought “Well it can’t be that bad.”

My saliva glands exploded with activity as I chewed my first bite of this delicious Arabic food. The smell of cumin and meat wafted through my nostrils and danced on the back of my tongue with every bite. This meat seemed as if it dissolved in my mouth when I tried to relish the taste. Before I knew it, I had finished the kibbeh.

Unfortunately I could not relish the aftertaste of the meat nor the cigarette that I had just lit because off in the distance a huge explosion was heard. Running back to throw on my gear and come to the assistance of whoever had just been hit, I thought to myself “Maybe if it’s Iraqis, I can get some more kibbeh.” Unfortunately for me, my hopes of free kibbeh died along with the family of Iraqis who were peacefully driving with their children in a van.

Palin Go Pick Up Your Pom-Poms

Alright you have to be kidding me. After this first and last Vice- Presidential debate will the pundits and Republicans please admit that Palin does not have the qualities to become the Vice-President and most likely President if God forbid the Republicans win the Presidential Election? First off as a Staff Sergeant in the United States Army, I had a bigger budget than Palin did in Wasilla, Alaska so please let us not use her time as mayor of a small town in a tiny (population wise) state as grounds for her having executive experience. Secondly it's not hard to lower taxes when you're paying your citizens over $3,000 in oil revenue. Also in this current financial crisis do you really want someone who has no experience what so ever with the financial markets making decisions? We all knew that foreign policy was Senator Obama’s weakness and so he teamed up with Senator Biden because of Biden’s extensive foreign policy knowledge. Yet we all know that McCain could not give you the definition of the real economy and that he was not as knowledgeable of America’s economy as he is in other spheres. But who does Senator McCain decide to choose as his Vice-President: a half term Governor from a state as far removed from America’s financial markets as possible, a Governor who probably does not know the difference between the Canadian dollar sign and the American dollar sign. Lastly would you really want Palin going one on one with Putin in the international sphere when President McCain dies in office due to his poor health and the huge amount of stress that comes with being President? Believe me, those half answers, winks, and down home (how down home can you be when you sound like a Canadian and aren't even apart of the 48 continental states) know how wont go far in resolving the future energy disputes between Russia and Georgia. Look I love hot cheerleaders just as much as the next guy, but cheerleaders are there for the sidelines while coaches are the leaders of the team. Palin pick up the pom-poms, go back to Alaska and start cheering on America and let the coaches of America lead us to victory.