Steven Den Beste has an interesting post up on "The Silent Service" - the elements of our military who have in the past and even now carry out clandestine operations that aren't (and shouldn't be) publicized.

The main reason it caught my eye is because I've been reading one of Tom Clancy's "tour books" - don't ask me why, I've just been fascinated about military things for awhile now. Some good stuff all 'round.

...Or do any of my readers get hungry when reading stuff about food?

I mean vivid descriptions of meals in stories, and cookbooks that have mouth-watering pictures in them as opposed to the cookbooks that don't. I suddenly have the urge to make something while poring over recipes or I have to stop reading them because my mouth is screaming that it's hungry, it wants food NOW, and my stomach is horrified that I might actually feed the former to stop the hunger pangs.

UPDATE: Okay, lemme amend part of this. If the pictures are not mouth-watering, as James Lileks' Gallery of Regrettable Foods wonderfully demonstrates, I lose my appetite real fast. But considering the fact that some of the kitchens where these meals are prepared use non-foodie articles to make the dishes look like...food... Um, I rest my case.

The town of Srebrenica has laid the first identified victims of the Serbian massacre to rest.

May grief become hope, may revenge become justice, may mothers' tears become prayers, that Srebrenica never happens again, to anyone, anywhere. (Reis Mustafa Ceric)

UPDATE: The ABC Online link wasn't working, so I've replaced it with a link to another news site.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Okay, found the link again. Proceed.

Via gizmodo, say hello to the Phraselator.

I got a kick out of the second article's headline, since I go to a Pentecostal church and all: "Device to Help Soldiers Speak in Tongues."

Heh.

I surfed over to The Volokh Conspiracy a couple minutes ago and nearly blanketed my monitor with lukewarm tea when I read this:

If Saddam loses a leg, but survives the U.S. bombing, how upset will his body doubles be?

Several weeks ago Tim, one of the drummers on our worship team, came up to me after the morning service and started teasing me. "Sooo... If your brother plays the bass, Vicci plays the drums and sings, and your other sister plays the piano, what do you play?"

"I don't play anything."

"Why not?"

"I've always wanted to learn how to play the acoustic guitar, I just haven't gotten around to it yet."

"So what do you do?"

"I write."

"You write music?"

"No! I write...stuff. A few songs, some--"

"Bring 'em in."

"Bring what in?"

"Your songs. I want to see them."

"Um...okay."

A couple Sundays later, he got his songs. His wife Renee came up to me that evening: "Girl, those songs are awesome! Tim loved them."

Oh, please, I've written poetry better 'n those babies... "Uh, thanks."

"Mind if I play around with them? Make some music for them?"

Yer pulling my leg, right? "Sure, no problem."

The first song they demo'd for me last Sunday; yesterday she sang the second one over the phone. As soon as I finish the third one, she'll create some music for that one, too.

I'm not one to brag about my mad writing skills, but I never in a million years thought someone would want to actually sing some ditties I'd written a few years ago on a whim and promptly forgotten about. Now it's a matter of casting aside the fact in my head that I wrote 'em because my congregation might actually be singing them during worship service one day soon. That and now I might have to actually register them with the Copyright Office (ugh!).

Strong Bad rocks.

Trogdor rocks harder.

(via Dean Esmay)

(courtesy of by sand and sea - snitch it if you'd like for your own site)

Shannon French, an associate professor at the U.S. Naval Academy, wrote an interesting article on the ethics of war for The Chronicle of Higher Education. She teaches philosophy at the Academy and has written a book on a soldier's code of conduct on the battlefield that's due to come out next month.

In this article she mentioned a Spartan mother's charge that I'm very familiar with - it is something that was usually said to a Spartiate heading off to battle: "Spartan! Return with your shield or upon it!" (This is the variation I know, at least.) There are some other good points that she emphasizes, particularly this:

The warrior's code is the shield that guards our warriors' humanity. Without it, they are no good to themselves or to those with whom and for whom they fight. Without it, they will find no way back from war. I have dear friends -- many of them former students and Naval Academy colleagues -- who are currently in harm's way. They are our pilots, surface-warfare officers, submariners, Navy SEALs, and Marines. Come May, more of my current students will join them. When and if they go into combat, I want them to be able to return from war intact in body and soul. I want all of them, every last one, to come back with their shields.

(via ALD)

...but these people are complete IDIOTS.

How does tying up traffic in the middle of downtown help their cause?

Good thing I don't have any reasons to head into the City today.

Since my "early riser" enforcer ain't around tonight and also since things have been interesting during the past five-plus hours, I figured I may as well post something here.

Creative Slips is two years old today. Happy Blogday!

No matter what political stance you might take on the Iraq situation, it's best to keep this week's verse in mind: "Pray without ceasing." Indeed.

This week is supposed to be my Spring Break, and so far it's proved to be far from relaxing. I have no idea what calendar my school's administrators were going by when they decided to schedule it for this particular week, since Spring Break usually falls before or after Easter. And before the week is out I'm praying I can find a suitable job that's close to home and/or school that won't burn me out before the semester ends. Did I mention how un-SpringBreakish this week has been?

I'm putting my soapbox away for now. Good night.

Operation Military Support is an organization that receives names of men and women serving overseas who don't receive regular mail from home and connects them with volunteers who are willing to send care packages and letters.

If you would like to volunteer, please go to their site for more information.

UPDATE: Here's another site where you can e-mail a sailor or Marine stationed on one of the warships currently in the Gulf.

Watching the news on TV at this point is a little addicting but very bad for the brain. I think I'm gonna go watch a movie.

Some people just aren't meant to have pets.

My brother, for instance.

A friend of ours went on a trip this weekend, and we've been charged to take care of her cat and dog while she and her family are away.

On Friday night, Lare went over to her house to feed them, and didn't realize till he'd dumped a can of beef in the cat's dish that he'd given her (or him, I don't really know if the feline's male or female) the dog's food. Yesterday I made sure not to make the same mistake.

I mean, how can you feed the cat dog food when the can of beef clearly has a picture of a dog on it?

Some conversations I've had with a couple people during the past two days - that and a class session today - have left me wondering: how should Christians react when the media portrays them in a bad light?

Prominent Christian leaders have been known to go on the defensive or lash out at the press and their critics in fear, and this hasn't impressed too many people in the past. I certainly wasn't around for this, but I'm sure some of you will remember the general Christian response when Jesus Christ, Superstar came out in theatres.

A friend of mine is of the opinion that if Christians continue to claim that they don't care about these spoofs and parodies and shrug them off, believers will end up being pushed out of public forums altogether.

Again, I ask: what should the correct Christian response be when the media portrays us in a bad light? Do Christians take their critics too seriously? Not seriously enough?

PostScript: A similar post has been put up at A Blog Apart. It doesn't matter if you post your response here or there.

A friend recently sent me this link to an online treasure hunt that tests a journalist's newsroom literacy. If you ask me, it's more of a test of a journalist's ability to use a search engine.

Susanna Cornett recently posted something interesting on the stance Christians take regarding the war with Iraq. (via Josh Claybourn)

Also, MeanDean at blogs4God.com has posted a lot of links today on the "just war" theory in Christian doctrine.

In May, a group of a hundred Israeli Arabs will be visiting Auschwitz in an effort to better understand Jewish suffering.

Even small steps towards making a difference are worth noting.

A U.S. Representative is attempting to resurrect the military draft by promoting a bill in Congress that would call for compulsory service by men and women between the ages of 18 and 26, with no college deferments. Rep. Pete Stark and his supporters "say they are trying to put the brakes on war with Iraq by arguing that the risks of combat are disproportionately borne by members of minority groups and others who enlisted because they lack economic alternatives."

This bill won't pass, of course - it's been rejected by conservatives and liberals alike. I also don't buy Stark's argument that people who enlist in the armed forces do so because of economic hardship or other such nonsense. People join the army for a variety of reasons, not just because they lack the means to get a job anywhere.

When certain people are at a loss for words/inspiration and end up posting something like "I've got nothing to say" on their websites, usually their silence would be more endearing. If you've got nothing to say, I thank you for pointing out the obvious.

And speaking of which...I've got nothing to say.

It's that time of year again. C'mon, you know you've been waiting for one of them munchkins to arrive at your doorstep.

Yes, it's Girl Scout Cookie Season.

Personally, I like the thin mints best. What's your preference?

As the Dane noted in this earlier post, being an introvert isn't an orientation - it's a choice.

I resurrected this subject because I figured I'd better give you a picture of the extent my introvert tendencies stretch to. Being a journalist-in-training has forced me to abandon my shell - well, almost. I still tote it around and I tend to slip back inside when I need a break from things. It's safe to say that I'm comfortable around crowds and have no problem joining circles of conversation, but I'm there to listen, not contribute. (No, I contribute here, and those who have the misfortune to read my blather must endure it. *evil cackle*) People know I'm there, but they don't expect me to say much. In the instances I do...well, I'm not sure they'll readily listen, but they're very aware of me being present.

Case in point, for your amusement, if anything. In our old sanctuary (our church just moved recently into a new building), there's a stairwell that leads up to a couple of the pastors' offices and the room which housed the PowerPoint computer that we used to put the songs and sermons onscreen during the services.

Before an evening service a couple months ago, I was up there getting the Powerpoint presentation ready for the worship service. I heard some voices from the stairwell and decided to see who was there. A few of my friends were sitting on the stairs, waiting for the service to start and chattering away about stuff. They noticed me, said hi, and kept on talking.

"What're you guys talking about?" I asked. One of my friends, Ben, looked up at me and pretended to be surprised.

"Ohmigod!" he exclaimed. "You actually talked!"

"Terrorists aim at Pearl Harbor" and "A Soldier's Life in Afghanistan." That's post-9/11 life, all right.

No more news for today. On a completely different front, I didn't think capturing these kinds of pictures was actually possible. My favorite picture is this one, with this one winning first runner-up. (Thanks for the link, Commander.)

Ten San Francisco police officers have been indicted by a grand jury on charges of conspiring to obstruct justice in a case involving three off-duty officers in a scuffle outside a bar last November. The officers indicted include Police Chief Earl Sanders, Deputy Chief David Robinson, Assistant Chief Alex Fagan Sr. and his son, officer Alex Fagan Jr., one of the officers originally involved in the scuffle.

According to the SF Chronicle,

"You just had a grand jury that ran away," one source said. "It can happen where you say, 'I would like to indict A and B for crimes 1, 2 and 3,' and the grand jury comes back and says, 'We also want to indict C, D, E and F on 4, 5 and 6.'"