The Web Between Worlds

To God Be The Glory!

2009-04-12T01:47:21Z

I hope you enjoyed my journal, occasional humor, and insight. I also hope
you learned something in the process. I know I did.
Life has left me. It seems the last surgery was my undoing. But all is well
for me. It is you my friends that have the short end of the stik. You are
still on planet earth. I am with my Lord, Jesus Christ in heaven this very
day.
Some of you know me personally some only via the internet. Those who know me
personally know that I have not always been the best person I should have
been. I admit I have made many many mistakes in this life. I hope you can
find it your hearts to forgive me my failings. I could spend all night
writing each and every one but I need my rest before surgery. Besides, you
that know me, knows my sins as well as I. But I know that God has forgiven
me I just hope you can.
My life has been interesting to say the least. When I was in H.S. and
college I would have never thought I would have had to battle cancer twice,
when the war but lose the battle that left me in a wheelchair then again
refight the battle and lose a leg. I have never thought of myself as
handicapped. I never needed the label. I always forged ahead doing the
activities that I had always done. Nothing needs put a damper on your life.
Health issues are just that. You are only as debilitated as you allow
yourself to be. My first greatest moment was turning my life over to Christ.
My second greatest moment was reaffirming that belief and trying to right
the wrongs I had done and truly living my life for Christ.
It is my last prayer that you take a look at your lives and I ask you to
read the book of John (yes in the Bible). There is only one sure thing in
this world and that we are all sinners and are cursed to hell if we do not
repent/turn away from our sins and turn toward Jesus Christ and accept him
as our Lord and Savior.
I know, you are saying "but I am a good person" but like the bible says,
"There is non righteous, no not one." No one gets into heaven for being good
or doing good deeds. We are not capable of doing enough good even if we
tried. No my friends - there is ONLY ONE WAY. Repent of your sins and ask
Christ to come into your heart and save your soul.
Roman Road to Salvation
The Gospel of Grace
(revealed by our Lord Jesus Christ to our Apostle Paul)
Many people think they will go to heaven because they have lived a good
life. Perhaps, they treat all of their neighbors fairly. Maybe they
volunteer for charity work and have never broken the law. Maybe they were
even baptized or go to church regularly. But the Bible, God's Word, says
that no one can live up to God's standard of righteousness.
Romans 3:10 "As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one ...."
Romans 3:23 "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God ...."
Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal
life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
Salvation cannot be earned. Everyone is a sinner and deserves death, but God
gives eternal life. So how can we receive God's gift of eternal life?
Romans 1:16 "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the
power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth ...."
To be saved, we must believe the gospel. The word "gospel" means "good
news". But before we can believe the good news, we have to know what it is.
1 Corinthians 15:1-4 "Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel ...
that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was
buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures
...."
This is the gospel which we must believe in order to be saved. Now, how does
believing this gospel save us?
Romans 5:8-9 "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were
yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his
blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him."
Romans 3:22-26 "Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus
Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified
freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God
hath set forth to be a propitiation (appeasing sacrifice) through faith in
his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are
past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his
righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which
believeth in Jesus."
We can be saved from the wrath of God, because Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
died on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins and rose from the dead. He
paid the price for us, and we are justified in God's eyes through our faith
in the blood of Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 2:8-9 "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of
yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works lest any man should boast."
There will be no boasting in heaven. We cannot be saved by our own
righteousness, but only by God's grace, through faith.
Ephesians 1:13-14 "In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of
truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye
were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our
inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the
praise of his glory."
Once we believe the gospel, we are sealed with God's Holy Spirit. This is
God's deposit, that guarantees he will redeem us, whom our Lord Jesus Christ
"purchased with his own blood" (Acts 20:28).
Studying the Bible is an essential part of the growth of every believer. New
believers should begin by reading the letters of our Apostle Paul (Romans
11:13), starting with Romans and then continuing through all of Paul's
letters.
It is so simple. Yet it is the biggest step you will ever make. But the
rewards are countless.
I pray that you will take this message to heart and turn your life over to
Christ.
I hope one day to welcome you to heaven or see you in the Rapture.

Jerry

This is Jerry's last wishes to post this for you all to see.
Doug

More Meme Madness

2009-03-31T23:33:25Z

Ganked from reahkitty by way of paynesgrey

O1. Make a list of 5 things you can see:

a. Laptop
b. Glen Beck show on TV
c. My baby girl, Annie
d. My new portable drafting tablet that is getting lonely
e. The book I am reading, Moon Shot, and the Apollo 11 & First Lunar Landing models that are setting near the book wondering why they have yet to be put together

O2. Would you ever get plastic surgery?

Technically I already have, multiple times but I would like to have the place along my eyebrow fixed, it's the skin left over from the forehead flap they had to do when they removed the cancer from above my eyebrow.

O3. Is there anything in your fridge right now that you would never eat/drink?

Bread and Butter Pickles any other kind are fine by never those.

O4. What's your occupation?

I am disabled but I used to be a diesel mechanic and worked as a finish carpenter in the construction biz before I was in the wheelchair and after the chair I was a computer systems analyst/consultant and Junior College substitute teacher for all computer classes.

O5. Do you nap a lot?

I do now, more than I would like to but when you are sick a lot you don't get much choice in the matter.

O6. What was your first celebrity crush?

That was a long time ago. I think it must have been a toss up between Jeannie for I Dream of Jeannie and Mary Ann from Gilligan's Island.

O7. What's your current fandom/obsession/addiction?

Fandom = Firefly; Obsession = Nasa/Astronomy; Addiction = Caffeine/nicotene .

O8. What are you listening to right now?

The Five-0'clock news

O9. What was the last text message you received?

I have all text messaging blocked on my cell.

1O. What websites do you always visit when you go online?

In no particular order, LJ , various eMail, local newspapers, Drudge Report, The Strategy Page, Debka Report, WorldNetDaily, Knights & Knaves Alehouse, The Delvers Dungeon, Swords & Wizardry forums, The OD&D Discussion, WillWheaton Dot Net in Exile, Michio Kaku's site, NASA, TYhe Hubble site, Space.com, Science Daily, Live Science.com, SkyTonight.com, Astronomy.com, Scientific American, Hard SciFi.Net, HardScifi.com, Starship COmbat Forums, Fine Scale Magazine & Forums, Squadron Mail Order Hobby Shop, ConSimWorld, Armchair General, Fileds of Fire, Panzer Games, Classic Battletech,com, Star Trek Starship Tactical Combat Simulator: Forum, My eBay, Noble Knight Games, Whats new with Phil and Dixie, Order of the Stik, Dork Tower, Full Frontal Nerdity, Larry Leadhead, Nodwick, Travellers Aid Society, Children of Earth, Freelance Traveller, The Zhodani Base, TAS-NET, Traveller Freeport, CyberTraveller, Citizens of the Imperium, and of course my website The Spinward Main.

11. What was the last thing you bought?

A nice older (yet never used) Alvin bow compass set with 8" and 4" center adjust compasses with trammel arm and an 8" divider. There were also other accessories along with inking heads for the compasses.

12. Radiohead, Muse or Interpol? Choose one.

Interpol (the law enforcement agency not the band)

13. Does the weather affect your mood?

Not really but it sure affects my joints and how my body feels.

14. What is your zodiac sign?

Libra

15. Name a song that makes you think about a ship/character that you like lately.

Ballad of Serenity, The ship Serenity from Firefly, Almost anything from Jean Michel Jarre's Equinox or Oxygene reminds me of space and NASA. I used to play his CD's set on repeat every night I would be outside gazing at the stars and planets through my telescope.

16. Weird dream:

I don't have weird dreams. They are either normal dreams or horrific nightmares and I don't care to talk about those.

17. Do you have any siblings?

By blood, I have 1 Brothers, 2 Half-Brothers, 1 half-sister, By marriage I have 4 step sisters, I also have 3 Brothers by choice that are closer to me than any blood could provide, they are Doug, Russ, and Jason. I only wish Russ and Jason were closer but at least for the time, Doug is back and plans to be nearby for a long long time.

18. What's something you'd like to say to someone right now?

Up yours, you #((#$()# @##! You deserve every bit of $#!# you bring on yourself.

19.What are your plans for next weekend?

Get Tina completely and finally moved out.

2O. Say something to the person who tagged you:

No one tagged me, I ripped this off from Reahkitty who ripped it off from someone else

Life Goes On

2009-03-08T04:07:54Z

Four days ago I was sick as a dog. Something that hasn't been all the uncommon in the previous week or so and it is still going on. When I am so sick running high temps and the like I tend to sleep a lot. That day I woke up to a silent house. Doug was also sick as heck and he was just as out of it as I was. The house was unusually quiet. No TV in the living room. No banging of drawers or cabinets in the kitchen and no yelling and cussing at the pets. I pulled my aching body out of bed to check on Tina. She had been having a lot of back pains lately so I wanted to be sure she was ok. When the pains hit she goes and lays on her special mattress.

Well she wasn't in the bedroom. So I went to the kitchen to check and see if the car was in the garage - I couldn't remember if she had any appointments that afternoon or not. Yup the car was gone. OK, I would wait for a while since she usually doesnt have appointments after 2pm and since it was about 3:30p I knew she would likely be home soon unless she stopped to do some grocery shopping which was unlikely since we were planning on that the following day.

4:00p came and went, then 4:30. So I tried her cell. No response. I called her best friend, no clue. I called her mom. Again there was no idea where she had got off to. Then I started to get worried. I figured I would give her till 5pm and then I would call out the Cavalry.

I didn't have to wait till 5p. About 5 minutes after I got off the phone with her mom, the phone rang. Her mom had called to let me know that she had just arrived there and that she would call me back after awhile. Well boy howdy did she call back. From the time I said hello I don't think she took a breath for the next 15 minutes all the while informing me of how much of a dick I am and how much she hates my brother and how she is leaving and never coming back and oh yeah by the way, how she is holding the deed to the house hostage until she can get all her stuff moved out.

There was other stuff said that for the time, is better left unreported. This is also true of the little visit Tina and her mother made a couple days later to pick up her medicine (which she had forgot the first time although she had remembered her cigarettes... go figure). But as soon as I have the deed back in my hand all will be reported if nothing more than for the "watching a train wreck" factor.

So stay tuned.

If all goes well she will be completely moved out within a couple weeks.

Jerry

Back into the land of the living

2009-01-26T02:20:20Z

For those that have asked and were wondering about my health and what has been happening, I am happy to report that I am healing, slowly, but overall in much better health than I was two months ago when I made my last post prior to yesterday.

The "Kansas City Incident" is still not out of my head nor will it likely ever be. One would never ever expect to fear for their life down to their bones, in the care of a hospital. I still won't talk about it more than that but I will say that if someone tells you that this country is the same as it ever was, they are a bleeding lier or they have not left their house in the past 10 years. People have not just become disrespectful, they have become mean, angry, and many times overtly thugish. Race vs. race is worse than it ever has been and certain groups within the races have become as fanatical as Islamoterrorists. They no longer hide out in Montana or deep within the inner city, they have moved into the 'burbs and into the small and mid-sized towns of America. They are no longer just crazy militia men, thugs, or gangs. They work at the checkout stand at Wal-Mart, as nurses in hospitals, as police officers, and call center staff. They are now found in every walk of life and they are like a wild pack of dogs, shy and timid when by themselves unless they spot a major weakness - but when two, three or more are put together they gain strength in numbers and can become deadly vicious. Some speak little to no English, some do. But one thing is on common. If you are not one of them you can be in danger if you are in a position where they can gang up on you or you can not defend yourself. With the election of our latest President I believe certain groups will become that more embolden.

It has been 7 weeks since I entered the hospital here near home. I have only a few days remaining until I return home. The treatments have went well but I am still many long months before I can think about being healed. Maybe in 5 or 6 months I will be able to have surgery to help speed along the progress. Until then I will get to be at home but I will be restricted to my specialty air bed and not be allowed to get up except to use the facilities. The upside to all of this is that my Brother moved his 36" flatscreen LCD HDTV into my office (where the bed is) and we have a great cable supplier. I have tons of model ships and planes to work on. But the best part is that my room is large enough to accommodate a decent size table and 4 to 6 people. So I suspect I will be back to running Traveller full time before the end of February.

Of course when it comes to RPGs, as much as I love Original white box D&D (the first rpg I ever played and learned and still like to play very much), nothing gets me more jazzed than Traveller - and I do mean CLASSIC Traveller! (or MegaTraveller in a pinch) but not any of those silly versions that scarred the landscape for far too long nor that new Rikki Tikki Traveller, the "classic Traveller thats not really classic Traveller" put out by Mongoose Games. God Bless Martin J Dougherty for his excellent work on RTTs supplement, the new Spinward Marches book. MJD has been a long time keeper of the flame and doesn't short shrift anyone when it comes to quality work. But play the REAL CLASSIC TRAVELLER, heck even MegaTraveller, get MJDs book and his other offerings at Mongoose and Comstar-Avenger Games but save your hard earned dough when it comes to the Rikki Tikki Traveller game itself. If you don't already have Classic or MegaTraveller, well then I am deeply saddened by that fact - I guess in that case if you can't find The Traveller Book (the original one), the Little Black Box/Books, or the Starter Box Set on eBay and you can't find someone else with the Real Stuff to play with, then I guess you will just have to settle and slum it. Tough luck for you bucko.

So about 4 or 5 days till I go home again. Makes me happy to think about it. I have missed my family a lot and I have missed my baby girl (my cocker spaniel) just as much. It will be nice to be home and have her in my lap all day and curled up in the small of my back at night. She is only a little spoiled.

I made arrangements for my web site to stay online. Now I just have to do something with it. I still have a story to write that is a year past due. I hope to heck I can remember the details. 2008 was not a banner year for me. It was one of the worst ever, all things considered. But I made it through to the other side when the odds where against me. So with that in mind I don't feel to bad about it all.

Here's to 2009. May she be better than the past year.

Jerry

A TV Junky Meme

2009-01-25T01:56:52Z

ganked from al_kenobi

I Watch Too Much Television - meme
1. Bold the shows you watch/used to watch.
2. Italicize the shows you've seen at least one episode of.
3. Underline the shows you own [at least one season] on DVD and/or VHS.
4. Post your answers.

50. Quantum Leap
49. Prison Break
48. Veronica Mars
47. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
46. Sex & The City
45. Farscape
44. Cracker
43. Star Trek
42. Only Fools and Horses
41. Band of Brothers
40. Life on Mars
39. Monty Python
38. Curb Your Enthusiasm
37. Star Trek: The Next Generation
36. Father Ted
35. Alias
34. Frasier
33. CSI Las Vegas
32. Babylon 5
31. Deadwood
30. Dexter
29. ER
28. Fawlty Towers
27. Six Feet Under
26. Red Dwarf
25. Futurama
24. Twin Peaks
23. The Office
22. The Shield
21. Angel
20. Blackadder
19. Scrubs
18. Arrested Development
17. South park
16. Dr Who
15. Heroes
14. Firefly
13. Battlestar Galactica
12. Family Guy
11. Seinfeld
10. Spaced
09. The X-Files
08. The Wire
07. Friends
06. 24
05. Lost
04. The West Wing
03. The Sopranos
02. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
01. The Simpsons

Another day in paradise

2008-11-18T21:26:57Z

I am settled into the hospital now. I also scored Hi-Speed Wireless internet this time by being very nice to the IT person. It only took her two days to figure out how to get me on the infrastructure private network after an ok by corporate. It was worth the wait.

The LOML and my Brother get to come over every few days thanks to the low gas prices. That really makes a difference in the tolerability of it all and the LOMLs family is only 10 mins away so thats great too. Even my good friend from Tulsa and my other from Chetopa are able to come in every now and again since I am closer to them.

The food sucks of course but oh well. My healing up, according to the doc has been very good but it is going to take a very long time to get where they can even do surgery on me again. I expect to be here as I said earlier at least thru Christmas and likely into Jan. What I am facing and dealing with isn't like the other times. This is so far worse that even I have a hard time wrapping my head around it. In the end I easily could end up dying from this if the infections rebound and become untreatable - which is very possible at this time. But all hopes are for the best and that I keep healing. I will be starting hyperbaric Oxygen therapy next week and that should help speed healing and help the quality of the healing. But it is for only 8 weeks. After that if I am not where I can finish all this with surgery then I don't know what will happen to me. I can't stay here in the hospital after that due to insurance coverage so everything hinges on the treatments over these past and future 10 weeks.

I guess we will just have to wait and see. I am surely not ready to check out of it all.... yet.

Jerry

I hate not being at home.

2008-11-10T06:00:15Z

Well after a false start at the hospital in KC I am now in the hospital in Neodesha Ks. looks like I will be here till sometime in January.

That is if I don't go crazy first.

After the KC incident I didnt think I would be able to stay in a hospital overnight ever again let alone 9 weeks. But it has to be done. That means I just will have to suck it up and do it.

At least I am sleeping some again.

Jerry

Idiot Cowards

2008-10-26T08:23:51Z

Yeah, it's the French Again

So the French are telling people not to be concerned about the Milan ATGMs seized by the Taliban:

France played down the capture by Taliban of two French anti-tank missiles seized after a major attack was launched on hundreds of its troops in Afghanistan on Friday.
Defence Minister Herve Morin said that western forces in Afghanistan had to abandon weapons in the field and that the main concern had been to get the troops out of last Saturday's ambush alive.
'It was an ambush in a narrow valley, with a lot of Taliban,' said Morin as he visited an army unit in the eastern town of Annecy that was about to send some of its soldiers to Afghanistan.
'The essential thing is that everyone is alive,' he said, adding that the abandoned Milan anti-tank missiles would be difficult to use for anyone without the proper training.

But wait, there's more!
Check out this bit, buried in the lower part of the article:

It said that around 300 French troops were attacked by about 100 Taliban and had to retreat after fierce fighting. Air cover was called in to help them get out of the ambush, said Lieutenant Colonel Bruno Louisfert, a French army spokesman in Afghanistan.

Uh, someone explain the French running away when they outnumber the Durka-Durkas by 3-to-1?!

Lest We Forget: Beirut

2008-10-24T21:42:00Z

25 Years ago today, the USMC suffered their worst single-day of casualties since WWII. They were the first casualties of what we are only now recognizing as a generation-long struggle against a religiously-motivated group of fanatics intent on targeting and ultimately destroying our way of life. Yes, this was one of if not the earliest strikes against us in the ongoing War on Terror. It is a shame that so many people think this all started on 9-11. I really think that if people had paid attention like the should have we wouldn't even be wondering if that islamic and terrorist sympathizer and socialist Barrack OBama might have a real chance at becoming out next President. The DoD has a memorial site at DefenseLink

President Reagan's Address to the Nation, 27 OCT 1983

My fellow Americans:
Some 2 months ago we were shocked by the brutal massacre of 269 men, women, and children, more than 60 of them Americans, in the shooting down of a Korean airliner. Now, in these past several days, violence has erupted again, in Lebanon and Grenada.

In Lebanon, we have some 1,600 marines, part of a multinational force that's trying to help the people of Lebanon restore order and stability to that troubled land. Our marines are assigned to the south of the city of Beirut, near the only airport operating in Lebanon. Just a mile or so to the north is the Italian contingent and not far from them, the French and a company of British soldiers.

This past Sunday, at 22 minutes after 6 Beirut time, with dawn just breaking, a truck, looking like a lot of other vehicles in the city, approached the airport on a busy, main road. There was nothing in its appearance to suggest it was any different than the trucks or cars that were normally seen on and around the airport. But this one was different. At the wheel was a young man on a suicide mission.

The truck carried some 2,000 pounds of explosives, but there was no way our marine guards could know this. Their first warning that something was wrong came when the truck crashed through a series of barriers, including a chain-link fence and barbed wire entanglements. The guards opened fire, but it was too late. The truck smashed through the doors of the headquarters building in which our marines were sleeping and instantly exploded. The four-story concrete building collapsed in a pile of rubble.

More than 200 of the sleeping men were killed in that one hideous, insane attack. Many others suffered injury and are hospitalized here or in Europe.

This was not the end of the horror. At almost the same instant, another vehicle on a suicide and murder mission crashed into the headquarters of the French peacekeeping force, an eight-story building, destroying it and killing more than 50 French soldiers.

Prior to this day of horror, there had been several tragedies for our men in the multinational force. Attacks by snipers and mortar fire had taken their toll.

I called bereaved parents and/or widows of the victims to express on behalf of all of us our sorrow and sympathy. Sometimes there were questions. And now many of you are asking: Why should our young men be dying in Lebanon? Why is Lebanon important to us?

read the rest at the link

One Tough SOB

2008-10-24T21:32:37Z

We all knew SAS guys were tough as nails. This guy, though, makes nails look like a washed-up former Pennsylvania National Guard E-7 drill sergeant wanna-be with a real tough-guy act:

DESPITE being shot twice during an ambush in Afghanistan, an SAS soldier lashed himself to the front of his patrol vehicle so he wouldn't be left behind if he passed out from loss of blood and kept on fighting.

The Digger is expected to be recommended for a high level bravery award.

Suffering from serious upper body wounds, the soldier struggled on to the front of his SAS long range patrol vehicle (LRPV) and, under heavy fire, used a rope to attach himself firmly between the vehicle's bull bar and radiator.

Once he was secured, and there was no chance that he would fall off if he fainted, he picked up his rifle and resumed firing at the enemy during a two-hour fighting withdrawal.

Voting

2008-10-21T15:53:14Z

Well I got my absentee ballot and voted.

Doing my civic duty and all that. But today it is much more than a ho-hum affair. Considering all that each vote for each person means is now more important than ever. Lets start at home.

Our local judges have far to long enjoyed their Good ol Boys Club with the Prosecutors office. It is time it stops. We need a new prosecutor and new judges. They have drug their feet far to often and let other members of the club gut away with everything up to and including murder. It is time it stopped now.

Most of the local politicians Dem or Rep are interchangable. The party makes little difference since most are moderate to conservative anyway. But occasionally a really whacked out Lefty or Righty , the ultra kind, will pop up. So far we have been good about keeping them suppressed. Keep and eye out on your ballot this year - there are a couple running.

State level, Lots of new and fresh young faces running for the state level this year. Considering the gridlock that has been the Statehouse I suggest voting all of the old farts out and the young kids in. They all seem to be range again in the moderate to conservative range and from what I have learned from talking to them is that they are neither far left or far right. This is what we need at this time.

The Fed level, wow. All I have to say about that is now we have had two years of Jimmy Carter-esque Nancy Boyda, can we know vote her out and get someone that isn't a left wing whack job. I tried to tell everyone.... Buuuuuuuuuuuut Noooooooooo. You wouldn't listen.

I ended up voting for McCain & Palin. It was difficult to do. I really wanted to vote for Barr but the reality is that his followers are not strong enough to come up with even 4% of the vote let alone a 20% mark like Perot did. So it would have just meant more votes for noBama and less for McCain.

I still have my doubts that McCain can pull this one out. But look at it this way. After four years of noBama you will have a bigger Rep and conservative uprising than you did in the mid-term 98 elections when Newt was leading the push. In the end, Four years of noBama will do more for the republican party and the conservatives than John McCain could ever do. Mark my words.

Jerry

Ray And Bubba

2008-10-21T03:55:34Z

Ray & Bubba, mechanical engineers were standing at the base of a flagpole, looking up.

A woman walked by and asked what they were doing.
'We're supposed to find the height of the flagpole,' said Bubba, 'but we don't have a ladder.'

The woman took a wrench from her purse, loosened a few bolts, and laid the pole down.
Then she took a tape measure from her pocket, took a measurement, and announced, 'Eighteen feet, six inches,' and walked away.

Ray shook his head and laughed. 'Ain't that just like a woman! We ask for the height and she gives us the length!'

Bubba and Ray are currently working for the government.

Powell endorses Obama

2008-10-19T23:20:55Z

and I have lost all respect for the man that I ever had...

and it was very much.

Jerry

Happy Birthday to Me!

2008-10-17T20:12:03Z

When I turned 30 I decided to try to write something smart (as in aleck) every five years on my birthday. Well it hasn’t been quite five years yet but under the circumstances I thought I would cheat a bit. You see today I turned 43. For most that is not a big deal. It’s not the dreaded 30 or the oh my god, I’m 50 or the thank God 65 I can finally retire. No just plain old 43. The difference with me is that way back in 1987 just after my first bout with cancer left me in a wheelchair I was told that just being in a wheelchair for the rest of my life would shorten my lifespan by 10-15 years. Then in 1993 I had to have an amputation done on my left leg, it was a complete amputation not one of those just above or below the knee types. The doc’s informed me that an amputation such as mine and the infection that caused it and what it did to my body and system would likely shorten my life span by 10-15 years. Recently I had a long sit down talk with my family saw bones that I have went to for more then 30 years and he bluntly told me he thought I would be lucky to make it to 50.

Well here we are in 2008. So I am thinking about this; Back when I was younger I took and age test at a docs office to see how long I would live, I took one again recently not figuring in my past and present medical problems. Both results were age 75. That would be my likely lifespan. So now if we do a little math we find that 75-20=55 and 75-30 =45. So now you can see why I write this now. Now if I am to believe the doc’s, I only have 2-7 years to live. Now that is something sobering. I’ve seen cancer patients with better prognosis. Then I think about just how bad a shape I really am in – other wise I wouldn’t be writing this from a hospital bed – and I begin to worry a bit if the doc’s just may have been in the ballpark all along.

The thought of dying really doesn’t bother me. I know a lot of folks think I am lying about that but it is true. It really doesn’t. What bothers me, really bothers me is all the things I have yet to do that I want to do and the thought of leaving the LOML and my best friend and friends behind. Not to mention my baby girl, Annie (she’s a cocker spaniel by the way). Yes that is what aggravates me the most, not doing everything I wanted to do.

Don’t get me wrong. If you talk to those who know me they will tell you that I have probably done more than the majority of people twice my age. I won’t list all the endeavors and adventures I have taken since I don’t plan on this being a book but there are a few things I really would have loved to have done. Some of them are,

Serve in the Army or Navy – I was enlisted. I had even drilled with the local Guard Unit. I had done everything but say my final I swears, get on the bus to Ft. Benning and become a soldier for the greatest country in the world, the US of A. But fate stepped in and put a halt to it. A long time friend called and asked me to play in a charity softball tourney. They were short a player so I filled in at first base where I usually played. I agreed and in the fifth inning there was a pop up over my head heading into foul territory. I turned and took after it hoping to make an over the shoulder catch. So as I am running looking back over my shoulder watching the ball, not the ground or the fence I step into a small shallow trench that had been dug to help shed off water from the field. I must have hit the depression on an angle because it caused my knee to lock backwards and keep going. I hyper extended it big time or so I thought.

To make a long story short the doc said not only had I hyper extended it but I also tore a bunch of cartilage loose. The knee was completely blown. Crutches and a soft cast was the order of the day until it healed or I had surgery. The Recruitment Sergeant upon seeing me come into the recruiting center quietly got up went and pulled my file and orders and ran them through the shredder. He tuned around and said. Sorry, can’t use ya.

I got used to the phrase a lot over the years. I rehabbed my knee and tried to join the Navy, Marines, Air Force – but the word was out that I had a chronic blown knee. Sorry, can’t use ya was a popular saying. If I had only known how many times I would hear it after I got in the wheelchair. Seems there are a lot of companies out there that simply don’t like to hire someone in a wheelchair, especially when it doesn’t fit the persona of the job. For example, one of my college stints was learning to be a diesel mechanic (pre-wheelchair). I was ASE certified for those that knows what that means and I kept my ASE certification until 2000. So from 1987 to 2000 on of the jobs I tried, begged, and pleaded people to hire me was to be a counter man or parts manager at parts stores for trucks, heavy equipment, and autos. I tried independent stores, chains, and dealerships (for semi’s, Hvy Equipment, and tractors). No one would touch me because Diesel work is a manly mans work and you can’t be a manly man if you are a cripple; or something like that.

I never got to play on a real hockey team.
I never got travel overseas when I was old enough to appreciate it.
I never got to go to Washing DC and the National Museum and Archives.
I never got to jump out of airplanes again. I never got to try my hand at being a professional fisherman.
I never got to slow dance with the LOML.

There are too many to list let alone expound on like I have a tendency to do.

Plus it’s hard to think about, especially the personal ones I can't list.

All in All I have had a wonderful and good life.

There were and are plenty of down and bad times, sickness knows no bounds but when it gets right down to it – Life’s been good.

If it is true that I only have a short time left on the earth then that’s ok I guess. I have faith in what is next and it sounds pretty darn good as well.

So what have I learned these past years since my last note to the world on my birthday? I’ve re-learned what I have always known but sometimes forgot, that a best friend is the only friend you will ever need and once thought basic friend can turn out to be one of the loyalist friends you will ever have. I have also learned that in a relationship even when the worst problems happen, things usually can be solved with a patience and love. Sometimes they can’t unfortunately as I witnessed with my best friend. On occasion there can be extenuating circumstances that factor in, that was sadly the case this time. I have learned that I am not as physically tough or mentally tough as I thought I was. Of course age and illness I think contributed a lot to that. Over the years, constantly having to fight off infections has really worn my body down. It hasn’t done my state of mind and help either.

I have learned to appreciate every day and every moment with those I love.

That is something I have taken for granted for far to long. I thought I would have learned it by the time my Dad died – all the time I intentionally stayed away thinking is was grown up and cool. I was a child and acting very childish and very stupid.

But as I said Life is Good.

What’s next is Better.
Keep the Faith.

Jerry

Sir! The Building is Secure, Sir!

2008-10-17T03:55:15Z

From a Great new site, GrogNews

Secure the Building

Oft told, but worth repeating:

If you tell a Marine officer to “secure the building,” but give him no more instruction, he will plan an assault. His troops will come in from two perpendicular directions, preceded by mortar and artillery fire, with F-18s flying close air support overhead. They will rain destruction on the structure, and then under the concealment of smoke, move into the building with two platoons, clearing each room of the building with grenades and bursts of small arms fire. When every room has been cleared they will go to the roof and raise a flag. Then the Marine officer will return and declare that the building has been secured.

If you tell an Army officer to “secure the building,” he will lead his men to the building, they will enter it and start knocking out the windows. Filling each opening with sandbags, they will surround the structure with barbed wire and claymores (these are directional command detonated mines). He will personally emplace his machineguns in the best locations to cover the “likely avenues of enemy approach,” and after 24 hours the structure will be fit to hold off an attack from a force three times the size of the Army unit inside. He will then report that the building has been secured.

If you tell a Navy officer to “secure the building,” he shuts down the computers, spins the dial on the lock of the file cabinet, turns off the lights and locks the front door.

If you tell an Air Force officer to “secure the building,” he looks it up on Google Maps, gets his contracting agent, and heads down to the local real estate agent where he takes out a 20 year lease with an option to buy.

Two Sides of a Tank Battle

2008-10-17T03:41:30Z

THE STORY

...is from "Operation Epsom," by Tim Saunders, "The Hohenstaufen's Attack north of the Odon," (29 July 1944) page 166:

"Deep in the hull of one of the Mark IVs was SS-Mann Essler, who continued this account:

There was so much smoke I could hardly see, and I thought it very dangerous if we lost touch with our infantry. Then my commander, who was a Unterscharfuehrer, told us there were plenty of tanks ahead, so we opened fire at once. The bangs were continuous and I could hardly see a thing. Then I was ordered to stop while our gunner shot up some enemy tanks and other vehicles. And then we received a hit on the front of our panzer, which shook us up a bit, but did no real damage. We changed our position and I found I could see the enemy tanks ahead quite clearly in another field, and they were shooting at us. We found a little dip from where we could shoot many targets from a covered hull-down position. The came a series of loud explosions around the panzer and we realized we were under artillery fire. So we withdrew, but we were on open ground and still under heavy fire, so I reversed again and saw one of our panzers burst into flames and two men jumping out. It was all very terrifying.

Our gunner found that he could no longer traverse the turret, so I turned the tank so he could lay the gun and we hit several more enemy tanks and vehicles.

Then something hit us very hard in the flank and we smelt burning. The Unterscharfuehrer ordered us out quick, so I tried to unfasten my front hatch, but it was jammed. By the time I scambled up into the turret, the whole panzer was smoking. I just managed to jump onto the grass when it went up and the ammunition began to explode."

THE REST OF THE STORY

APPENDIX 'D'
to 21 Army Group RAC
Liaison letter No 2
2. Three TIGERS engaged at 991630 at 2000 yds with 17pdr APCBC were seen to be hit repeatedly, mostly on turret
but the rds bounced off. One of these picked us up and fired back, the other two continued firing at ETERVILLE.

3. A 'GRIZZLY BEAR' (150mm inf assault how)[ illegible] round the corner at 982640 at a range of 600 and was
hit once on the frontal armour by 17-pdr APCBC. The rd bounced off and the veh withdrew.

4. A 75mm assault gun destroyed at 998653 at 250 yds by 75mm AP was observed to be preceded by a man walking
in front with a portable wireless set. It is thought that the man was an OP for the gun.

Appendix 'E' to
21stArmy Group RAC
Liaison Letter No.2

Extract from a Report to HQ Second Army from Col.A.G.Cole, DD of A
(No. 20 WTSFF)

The extract is of tank actions near RUARAY between 27 Jun. and 1 Jul.

SHERMAN - 75 MM GUNS.

4. Lt. Fearn angaged a PANTHER side on with his 75mm and APC
It was moving about 12mph at 80 yds range and he brewed it up with
one hit through the vertical plate above the back bogie

He saw his Squadron Commander engage a Tiger ( previously
examined by us) on the road. At 120 yds the Tiger was head on.
The 75mm put 3 shots on it and the crew bailed out without firing.
He put in 3 more. The tank brewed up. Four shots had scooped on
front plates.One had taken a piece out of the lower edge of the mantlet
and gone into the tank through the roof,and one had ricocheted off the
track and up into the sponson.

At another Panther he fired 5 shots with HE. The enemy
made off without retaliation.

5. Sgt Dring started out south from FONTENOY LE PESNIL with
his 75mm and fell in with a MK IV which he shot through the drivors
visor. It brewed up and the crew baled out. (rememebr the other Mk IV from the German Account?)

Next he fell in with a Tiger at 1000 yds. The Tiger fired whilst Dring
was traversing but missed. Dring then pumped 5 shots in without further
retaliation. The last one hit the drivers periscope and the crew baled out.
(this tank is believed to have been recovered for shipment to the UK.)

Next he came on a Panther at the cross roads, This he got with one shot
with APC in front of sprocket and the crew baled out. Hit at normal and at
about 500yds range. It brewed up

Next he took on a Tiger at 1400 yds just outside Rauray. He fired 6
shots of which 4 hit and the last one brewed it up. Tp. Cmdr. thought he had
missed it and only hit the wall behind. Sjt. Dring's next shot brought the
sparks and the remark "You don't see a brick wall spark like that".
This tank has been seen and is much shot up. It now has one scoop in front
vertical plate, five penetrations in rear, four strikes with no penetrations in rear,
plus a scoop and one plate of engine hatch smashed

AND WHAT OF SS-Mann Essler's Mk IV?

Finaly to the east of RAURAY he took on a MK IV at 1200 yds, fired two
HE ranging round and then one AP through the tracks, which went in and
finished it.

--------------------

Pretty cool huh. Man I love finding corresponding personal accounts like this.
And how about that Panzer commander that had the hutzpa to stay in the battle with his turret damaged and effectively turning his Mk IV into a Tank Destroyer.

Jerry

Losing Our History

2008-10-16T09:21:08Z

WE ARE LOSING OUR GREATEST RESOURCE RIGHT BEFORE OUR EYES.

There is one natural resource that we will completely and forever run out of in the next ten to twenty years. One resource that can never have a substitute. There is no replacement for the loss of our Greatest Generation.

67 years-ago this December the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and forced the United States to enter WWII. Think of the men and women that found themselves peacefully enjoying their life in the Armed Services - sometimes not, if you were still a recruit. Most were 18-25 years old. We must realize that this now makes the majority of our WWII Veterans in their Eighties and Nineties!

Is it any wonder that we are losing more than a thousand of the Greatest Generation, daily?

History has been lost to the ages, never be heard again because we are letting it go to the grave; untold, un-recorded, unwritten, and most sadly, unwanted.

So I ask you, if you know a Veteran from WWII or any other conflict, ask them to talk about their experiences and if at all possible record the stories on tape or disc so that it may be preserved. Then take it to your local historical society or send it to the National Archive. Anything to make sure it is preserved.

Please Help Preserve Our History Now.

Jerry Mapes
15 Oct 08

Obama ... Too Big For His Britches... Messiah My A**

2008-10-10T03:23:08Z

WASH TIMES
Friday:

Obama secretly tried to sway Iraqi government to ignore Bush deal on keeping troops in Iraq...

http://washingtontimes.com/news/2008/oct/10/obama-sought-to-sway-iraqis-on-bush-deal/

Hospital Stays and more hospital stays and hospital gaming

2008-10-08T19:42:10Z

Long time no write.

Well I really haven't had much to say. Although there are too many things to talk about. I guess the most pressing question that most of my friends that check for updates is how am I doing.

Let's say I have been better.

I've been really sick for a month - high fevers - sweats - chills. I had a couple infections that weren't being covered by the anti-biotics I was on and they took off. Now I am in the hospital in P-Burg (Mount Carnival) Mt. Carmel. I expect to be released from here on Friday the 10th. But there is no going home.

I will be in a car on my way to be admitted to Kindred Hospital in Kansas City, KS. This used to be Vencor Hospital back in the day and whenever I brought the name up most everyone just sighed. well the name is different but the sigh remains. Admission means that I won't see home again for at minimum 3 months - maybe even 9 months or more. They are a long term (no kidding) facility that specializes in Respiratory Therapy and Wound Care. Their main wound care treatment is Hyperbaric Therapy. That is where they put you in a decompression chamber like device full of pure oxygen and take you on "dives" to various pressure depths. This forces the Oxygen into your system and into any wounds you may have - in simple terms it promotes speedier healing.

My old Doc from there has retired so I will be starting with a new (to me) guy. That bugs me.

Being in KC isn't all that bad. I wish I could do this closer to home since my friends and Tina won't be able to visit as often but still it is only an hour and change drive for them. They wanted me to go to either Neodesha KS or Bartlesville OK but both of them are 2 hours and change. At least with the OK hospital I would only be an hour from my bud and top author for Chaosium's Call of Cthulhu line, John Pettit. But it would mean Tina and Doug never getting down to visit.

Right now I hope that all the anti-biotics at least keep me felling better. My plans are to take a few games with me to KC. Games I can play solo and with an opponent if I can find one. I think I will take my Advanced Squad Leader Starter Kits as well as Panzer Leader. I think taking Squad Leader may be too much but I can have it brought up later. I know there are a number of old Grogs like myself in KC as well as the Kansas Irregulars, a KC based ASL club. If all goes well I hope to find at least a couple local players to come in and game from time to time.

I'd like to get a RPG going while there but I am not even going to sweat that one. Too many people coordinated at one time - one place - plus odd location. It isn't an easy task. It can be done mind you - I have had many solid groups that met in my hospital room over many months. When I eventually went home they groups usually stayed together. Kinda cool, no?

Most of all though I just want to get better and get home. I have been so sick for so long I am just bone tired of it all. I know my chances this time are not very good. IF I do well in treatment, IF the anti-biotics kill the bugs, IF they can get me to where I can go thru and come out of a successful surgery, the odds are still against me of being able to do anything ever again aside from lay in bed. It's better than dead but to me - not by much.

All for now I guess. Maybe I will keep some updates coming as I get closer to the end game while in KC.

Jerry

Even More Message Board Morons

2008-08-05T08:39:27Z

Found this over at Mark Urbin's site and had to share.

Moron of the Day
From an Anime forum:

" LOL that's the dumbest thing I heard. Dragonball is much older then your LotR [Lord of the Rings] and it didn't innovate an ything as books and videogames like that (Heroes of Might and Magic) have existed long before. Also stories with rings being the key to the plot have been around, especially in quite a few 90's action shows. Also none of the characters tyhere are creative either because they're just pasted from Dungeons and Dragons concept and given some stereotypical personalities. Another thing is what the hell does LotR have to do with Onepiece and Dragonball?"

I'm not going to mention the name of this idiot as it appears to have been changed at least once any may be changed again.

Very Cool Denmark Find

2008-08-05T08:36:48Z

Sea unearths secret Nazi bunkers that lay hidden for more than 50 years

Three Nazi bunkers on a beach have been uncovered by violent storms off the Danish coast, providing a store of material for history buffs and military archaeologists.

The bunkers were found in practically the same condition as they were on the day the last Nazi soldiers left them, down to the tobacco in one trooper‘s pipe and a half-finished bottle of schnapps.

More here
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1041240/Sea-unearths-secret-Nazi-bunkers-lay-hidden-50-years.html

Happy Birthday Traveller

2008-07-23T04:11:28Z

"This is Free Trader Beowulf, calling anyone. . .Mayday, Mayday. . .
we are under attack. . . main drive is gone. . turret number one not
responding . . . Mayday. . . losing cabin pressure fast. . .calling
anyone. . .please help. . . This is Free Trader Beowulf. . . Mayday. . . "

According to Andrew Boulton's excellent Traveller calendar, Traveller
was first published on this date, July 22nd, in 1977.

Happy 31st, Traveller, and thanks to Marc, Frank, Loren, and everyone
at GDW, etc., that made this great game!

Plastic Model Gloat

2008-07-15T03:40:07Z

See My Comments for more on the State of Model Building

Don't know how many here still put together plastic models but it is one hobby that I still love as much as gaming. The problem is that I really haven't done much in the past few years. Most of it due to being to busy with other things and most of my modeling supplies got trashed (unbeknownest to me) about 3 years ago and I hadn't replaced them till just recently.

Well I decided to start building kits again and since all the models I had built from the time I was a kid till I was in college got tossed by my evil stepmother (no joke), I decided to start where I did back then. I picked up a number of classic WWII ships and a vintage Pappy Boyington F-4U Corsair in 1/32nd.

But tonight I scored big time.

Gloat number one.

I had always wanted to build a USS Reliant from Star Trek, so after some sweating I was able to snag *ahemsnipe* one for only $18.50. They have been running as much as $40 bucks. BTW, it is the big one that is the same scale as the Enterprise 1701A that has an 18" saucer section.

When Torren and I went to Kansas City the other day we looked at some 1/350th scale ships, namely the USS New Jersey and the USS Missouri Battleships. These bad boys go for $120 to $140 bucks at all the hobby stores. These bad boys for those not up on all the scales, are almost three feet long and a foot wide when built!

Of course we drooled ourselves silly but had to pass. I came home with a couple nice 1/560th or there about models of the Missouri and Arizona along with a PT 109 in 1/72nd.

Now for a mega gloat.

But tonight as I sat here looking around eBay I spied a couple listings. Both were the drooled over 1/350th USS Missouri and the USS New Jersey. The New Jersey slipped thru my evil grasp. But the Missouri, the $120 off the rack model, I snagged *coughsnipe* for a whopping $19.50.

Of course there is shipping, but even with shipping it was under $30.00.

Sometimes I really really love eBay!!!

The difference between baseball and football - RIP George Carlin

2008-06-24T18:19:37Z

The difference between baseball and football
Excerpted from Brain Droppings by George Carlin, Copyright 1997, Comedy Concepts Inc. Published by Hyperion. All rights reserved.

Baseball is different from any other sport, very different. For instance, in most sports you score points or goals; in baseball you score runs. In most sports the ball, or object, is put in play by the offensive team; in baseball the defensive team puts the ball in play, and only the defense is allowed to touch the ball. In fact, in baseball if an offensive player touches the ball intentionally, he's out; sometimes unintentionally, he's out.

Also: in football, basketball, soccer, volleyball, and all sports played with a ball, you score with the ball and in baseball the ball prevents you from scoring.

In most sports the team is run by a coach; in baseball the team is run by a manager. And only in baseball does the manager or coach wear the same clothing the players do. If you'd ever seen John Madden in his Oakland Raiders uniform, you'd know the reason for this custom.

Now, I've mentioned football. Baseball & football are the two most popular spectator sports in this country. And as such, it seems they ought to be able to tell us something about ourselves and our values.

I enjoy comparing baseball and football:

Baseball is a nineteenth-century pastoral game.

Football is a twentieth-century technological struggle.

Baseball is played on a diamond, in a park. The baseball park!

Football is played on a gridiron, in a stadium, sometimes called Soldier Field or War Memorial Stadium.

Baseball begins in the spring, the season of new life.

Football begins in the fall, when everything's dying.

In football you wear a helmet.

In baseball you wear a cap.

Football is concerned with downs — what down is it?

Baseball is concerned with ups — who's up?

In football you receive a penalty.

In baseball you make an error.

In football the specialist comes in to kick.

In baseball the specialist comes in to relieve somebody.

Football has hitting, clipping, spearing, piling on, personal fouls, late hitting and unnecessary roughness.

Baseball has the sacrifice.

Football is played in any kind of weather: rain, snow, sleet, hail, fog...

In baseball, if it rains, we don't go out to play.

Baseball has the seventh inning stretch.

Football has the two minute warning.

Baseball has no time limit: we don't know when it's gonna end — might have extra innings.

Football is rigidly timed, and it will end even if we've got to go to sudden death.

In baseball, during the game, in the stands, there's kind of a picnic feeling; emotions may run high or low, but there's not too much unpleasantness.

In football, during the game in the stands, you can be sure that at least twenty-seven times you're capable of taking the life of a fellow human being.

And finally, the objectives of the two games are completely different:

In football the object is for the quarterback, also known as the field general, to be on target with his aerial assault, riddling the defense by hitting his receivers with deadly accuracy in spite of the blitz, even if he has to use shotgun. With short bullet passes and long bombs, he marches his troops into enemy territory, balancing this aerial assault with a sustained ground attack that punches holes in the forward wall of the enemy's defensive line.

In baseball the object is to go home! And to be safe! — I hope I'll be safe at home!

Back for a quick report - Whart a Freak Show.

2008-06-11T17:14:18Z

I still cant get over the fact this is really being reported as news, let alone anything else. It's a fricking freak show attraction and nothing more.
My God people SHE that's right SHE is no more a man than the LOML Tina. What a joke.

The 'pregnant man' freak show

The media seem bizarrely obsessed with the story of "Thomas Beatie," aka Tracy Lagondino. Beatie, a woman who legally changed her sex to "male," retained all of her internal female organs at the same time she took testosterone, grew a beard and had breast removal surgery. She then "married" her lesbian partner, Nancy. Nancy proceeded to artificially inseminate her "husband." And so the press has announced that Thomas/Tracy (Thracy, let's call her) is the world's first "pregnant man."

If Thracy is a man, then so is Rosie O'Donnell. Thracy has two X chromosomes, a fully functioning set of female genitalia and a uterus – and a voice higher than Alvin the Chipmunk's. She's a plain old lesbian who was weirdly fascinated with the idea of using a Schick Quattro on her face. Though Thracy's decision to artificially inseminate herself is the height of narcissism, it is hardly a medical anomaly.

But the Thracy story is told by the media as though it is a triumph of man over nature. "Thomas, 34, posed naked for our fascinating new pictures, which show just how extraordinary this pregnancy is as he even SHAVES while resting his elbow on his baby bump," gasps News of the World. "Is the world ready for this?" asks Oprah.

Give me a break. The world has been ready for this since man started attending circuses. Thracy is no more than a glorified bearded lady, an Elephant Man for a new age. Only in this age, the circus freak isn't a victim – she's a self-promoting sleazebag willing to sell her soul and the soul of her baby for publicity. Thracy poses naked in the mass media. She writes op-eds on parental rights in The Advocate. She blabs about her joy over having a baby while ignoring the fact that her child will grow up in a home without a father and face the lifelong scrutiny of being the planet's leading sideshow experiment.

The media love the Thracy story, however, because it allows them to exploit self-made monstrosity for profit while pretending to stand for toleration. Oprah shows us Thracy getting an ultrasound, then lectures us on Thracy's and Nancy's bravery. "Love makes a family," Oprah sighs. And refugees from Ripley's Believe It Or Not make ratings.

The media, then, have a tacit deal with Thracy: Forward her political agenda, and in return, get the shots that will boost viewership. For Thracy is no innocent, "hounded" by the media, as Oprah describes her – she is a militant lesbian activist willing to use her body to undermine gender roles and promote sexual confusion. She is a propagandist of the first order. She plasters pictures of herself topless in her front yard, her self-butchered breasts over her pregnant belly, then claims victimization when receptionists look at her sideways. She appears on Oprah, then has the unremitting gall to claim that others are targeting her with cameras.

Thracy wrote in her dismally platitudinous, yet dramatically subversive piece in The Advocate, "Our situation ultimately will ask everyone to embrace the gamut of human possibility and to define for themselves what is normal." The liberal, profit-driven press and the American court system have defined what's normal – and Thracy is the new normal. Thracy, and those like her, are not victims of a repressive society – they are purveyors of a rootless society, seeking to impose a worldview that labels mental illness an exercise in liberation and destroys the traditional, child-centric family in favor of a loosely-organized group of beings (male, female or other) who see children as a right rather than a responsibility.

Thracy isn't the first pregnant man – she is only the latest lesbian spokesperson for radical amorality, festooned with the plumage of masculinity. Testosterone doesn't make a woman a man. And a bearded pregnant woman doesn't make wrong right, no matter what the media say.