Jul

2009

Rocking the Boat

Happy Independence Day! You do know that is what we are to be celebrating, right? The day our Founders could say, “Ok, we made a decision…this is IT.” “It” being had enough, taken all that was to be taken….the day they decided what to do instead; come wrack, come ruin!

How America has changed since then. Mind you, our Founders were not wild eyed anarchists; good order and law abiding citizens were a good idea to them. Unfairness, taxation without representation, military rule—those things were NOT alright with them. They really wanted King George to just wake the hell up and knock off treating them like convicts instead of citizens. And contrary to what school history books teach, it was not a united opinion. The hated “Tories”…loyalists to the king, existed in large numbers. And they had to fly for their lives, they were horribly abused and tortured by their rebellious neighbors once the emotions ran high.

War is never a good thing, and technically, our revolution was a civil war….we were fighting our own colonial and English brethren. History books are fond of pictures of Hessian mercenaries so the “those damned Germans” emotions can be called forth to shield us from the unpleasant notion that we fought and killed our own. It was a necessary war for America to exist, and the determination was launched upon the day we celebrate.

Even Thomas Jefferson fell into bombastic statements so often isolatedly misquoted—bits about the tree of liberty being watered by the blood of heroes. Keep in mind, those heroes were sons, brothers, husbands, fathers, and yes…women, too. It was a desperate and dire time. Hard choices had to be made and results endured. And it really was a sort of miracle that infant America prevailed.

So, my wish for America today? That we don’t forget those terrible sacrifices and sufferings. That we remain willing to rock the correct boats—rich boats, corporate boats, comfortable self-satisfied boats—for the good of the nation. and the world. And we need to be willing to make hard choices for OURSELVES, too. We need to recognize our place in the world—the ONE world that we must share even if some would like to live in isolationist dreams. We need to knuckle down as a nation and stop acting like spoilt children with a list for Santa. We need to reach out to help friends and neighbors and not expect lock-step agreement on every issue. We need to learn the difference between negotiation and compromise and merely being sheeple because it is easier to be told how to live. Remember our history this weekend. Rock the boat, including the boat of your own comforts.

Men and women are “watering the tree of liberty” with their blood even now, and possibly for reasons that have nothing to do with liberty. I keep their names, I count their broken bodies with shining beads of glass and gemstone. I walk through the seasons on their memorial and hold their memory to my heart. It might be good for American souls to do the same on this weekend; it is not only about BBQs and noise and lights. It is also about the seasons of wars and returning bodies that goes on and on and on.

To see the slide show of the Seasons of my memorial labyrinth, all time scrambled, you may follow this link and heed the instructions pertaining to your chosen browser:

Seasons Slide Show

It is not yet a movie, that technical conundrum is not solved yet. It is a slide show with music—hit the image that appears after you choose ‘flash’ or ‘html’ and remember. Freedom isn’t free, and neither is the life style you relish.

By Labrys | Posted in Walk of The Fallen | Tagged Independence Day, memory, war memorials | Comments (0)

Jul

2009

Shoving Drunks

Say it has been a busy night with a religious group.

Say that after the official ritual was over, much alcohol was consumed by most attendees.

Say you are the officiant of the group.

Say your “significant other” had too much to drink and is hanging on you, unhappy and upset.

Say you are upset and ready to ‘blow your top’.

Say you shove the drunk one hard enough to put this person on the floor, hard enough to bruise.

This is NOT justifiable anger. This is not righteous indignation. This is not self-defense.

This is domestic abuse, asshat! I SAY you are a hypocrite to your group, pretending such communion with the Goddesses and Gods. Those deities are going to kick your ass.

By Labrys | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged alcohol abuse, domestic abuse, hypocrisy, pagan life | Comments (4)

Jun

2009

The List - First Quarter - June ‘09

As usual, not all names are fully released, for instance I do not have full information on two German soldiers killed in Afghanistan. But also as usual, my sympathies to all those grieving for fallen loved ones!

The following Danish soldiers died in Afghanistan on 17 June as a result of a roadside bomb exploding by their vehicle, it took this long for me to find all the names.

Pvt. Mads Lerche Rasmussen, 21

Pvt. Andreas Sogaard Brohus, 26

Pvt. Martin Abildgaard, 23

U.S. Army Spc. Joshua L. Hazlewood, 22, of Manvel, Texas, died in Arifjan, Kuwait, of injuries sustained from a non-combat related incident.

1st Lt. Brian N. Bradshaw, 24, of Steilacoom, Wash., died in Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle.

Spc. Casey L. Hills, 23, of Salem, Illinois, died in Iraq of injuries sustained during a vehicle roll-over.

U.S. Army Pfc. Peter K. Cross, 20, of Saginaw, Texas, died inAfghanistan, of injuries sustained during a vehicle roll-over.

Pvt. Steven T. Drees, 19, of Peshtigo, Wis., died June 28 at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, in Landstuhl, Germany, of injuries sustained June 24 in Afghanistan when his unit came under hostile fire with small arms and RPGs.

In addition, three German soldiers died in Afghanistan this week, but I do not have the last names for two of them yet.

The third was Pvt Oleg Meiling, 21. They died as a result of enemy fire.

By Labrys | Posted in Walk of The Fallen | Tagged war dead in Iraq, war dead of Afghanistan | Comments (0)

Jun

2009

Yellow-Ribboned Asshattery

My son has been out of state. He is on his way home. He stops at rest stops and had to call me yesterday from one, sputtering with fury.

In front of the main section of parking in the rest stop, a young man stood with a sign. A man in maybe his 30’s. His sign said “Disabled Navy Veteran - please help.” He didn’t approach people, he simply stood. Cars pulled in to park in front of him. Cars with yellow ribbons stuck on them with the cheesy over-done “support the troops” message.

And those cars paused, engine running, and then pulled back OUT and moved down the long lot to park further away from the Navy veteran forced into public begging by this nation’s abyssmal record of “supporting” its thrown-away, used and abused troops.

All of you asshats who can’t pony up a bit of change and who don’t even have the guts to face this man and at least say “Sorry, strapped and tapped, can’t help…but thank you for serving and sorry for your troubles.” can go fuck yourselves, ok?

And no, do not give me any bullshit about “Well, he probably is lying and not a vet.” or “Well, he’d just use it to drink or drug.” Because this old Kantian bitch will tell you—it isn’t about what that down and out man would do or why he does it. It is about what YOU do or do not do; error on the side of generosity and righteousness. Or, if I see you doing the nothing you do, I may just shove that magnetic yellow ribbon up your ass.

By Labrys | Posted in Walk of The Fallen | Tagged begging for the troops, veterans, yellow ribbons | Comments (0)

Jun

2009

Staycations and Other Bliss

A dear friend visited this past week, but we didn’t take off for the hills. Instead we planned short day trips or half day trips. And it was a delight. We went to a favorite park with a small conservatory full of orchids. We wandered the heavily Chihouli’d downtown environs of Tacoma, Washington. We went to Seattle to do the Experience Music Project and were unmoved, until we went next door to the Science Fiction Museum which delighted us both! Almost 15 years of online friendship and we did not know we were both sci-fi fans! We visited Seattle’s original skyscraper–the Smith Tower which has wonderful shiny brass-bound elevators still run by human beings and they glide up to the 35th floor with such a graceful swoosh and smoothness that you want to ride all day. On the 35th floor, just beneath the final pyramidal apartment (lucky dwellers!) that cap the tower, you can walk all round on the outside to take pictures of Seattle and the Olympic Mountains across the water. We drove across that water to Alki Beach and had pizza at Pegasus and it was fabulous pizza! I bought a vintage coffee cup to have morning memories of a day well spent.

We ate well, mostly here at home, but sometimes while out and about (like the unsurpassable pizza!) He had a Nor’west Bison-burger which he was sure would sustain him for a week. We had breakfast smoothies on the ‘in house’ days in front of the television watching comedy while I experimented with knitting patterns. We watched hummingbirds and bumblebees in contention over custody of the foxgloves in the south garden.

On the last day, we drove to Mt. Rainier—a short trip since we live only 30 miles from our splendid volcanic snow cone. It was an adventure for us, too because it was our first time there since the beloved old 360 degree visitor center was demolished and a new one built. I mourned the old building’s demise, the photographic vistas it provided were unsurpassed. The new center is nice, has pleasant interactives that all seem a bit dumbed down to the level of third graders, but at least it is far more roomy. It lacks the sci-fi Jetson like atmosphere of the old building and is more concrete-wood hunting lodge-ish. Likewise, the lodge at Paradise is enlarged and braced so it no longer risks being collapsed by snowfall. The weather was perfect, the waterfalls danced and the wildflowers were pushing through the snow to tempt us back in a month.

And last, of course, we drove him back to the airport. A final sad hug good-bye and forlorn wave through the window…in post-911 days, of course, there is no lingering to say farewell inside. It was sad to say good-bye, but ever so rewarding to finally meet face to face. For, among other humorous attributes, his old screenname from AOL days meant I could finally say that this old pagan “found Jesus” at long last!

By Labrys | Posted in The Honey House Journal | Tagged friendship | Comments (2)

Jun

2009

Regarding The “Kindred”

This post is public notice that our family wishes to announce that we are permanently disaffiliated with the Heathen spirituality group entitled the “Falcon Kindred.” This is not because any of us disavow belief in or devotion to certain of the Nordic deities; far from it.

It is more a statement that we found certain racist and sexist behaviors unforgivable and that the apparent habit of considering drunken revelry and weapons in close consort at every “religious” gathering necessary gave us considerable pause. We found it dangerous and in some cases in possible violation of state laws. I found their utter disregard of the reservations of members (aside from ourselves) disheartening. The overall impression was one of arrogant presumption to ignore the members for the pleasure of the unelected and appointed for life leaders.

Behaviors observed by my son, who attended several gathers only led to more dismay. And when rather harsh things were said about my personal intention “to destroy the Kindred” I took it as a sign of a certain paranoia, if not outright delusion. I also, at one point in my life, left the Catholic Church—but I felt no need to destroy them, nor to make others cease in their devotions to such institution. My need to disassociate myself from what I viewed as dangerous and addiction driven behaviors is not commentary on Heathen or Asatruar beliefs, but upon the leadership of this particular group.

We owe this group nothing, we offered them our hospitality and they responded with an arrogant attitude with regard to future hospitality and entitlements. My views on weapons or the length of their stay, or the alcohol abuse were disregarded and my invitation permanently withdrawn. They would quote me the Havamal with regard to how to be a good host; I would recommend they read the sections on the proper behaviors of guests. They consider my eclecticism in religion not suitably “pure” for them; so they are spiritual racists in a sense as well as the unfortunately usual way attributed to white supremist groups. Apparently, because I am devoted to Greek deities as well as Freyja, I am guilty of spiritual miscegenation of some sort. I wonder if they are guilty of the same for worship of at least one god not of Nordic descent at all? A worship my son was invited and declined to join.

Furthermore, since my son had created a website and kindly agreed to host it upon his own domain at his own personal expense, this group interpreted this as an obligation not a gift. Below is his own letter of disaffiliation:

It is has come to my attention that certain members of the Falcon Kindred still seem to hold a personal interest in my person and in members of my family. The intent of this document is to provide the following:

1. That I did in fact leave the Falcon Kindred on my own terms and in good faith.

2. That any ‘intellectual’ properties of the Falcon Kindred were no longer in my sole possession and that the Falcon Kindred Board of Directors, in particular, the President of the Falcon Kindred, could have at any time dealt with the online face of the Falcon Kindred without my help.

3. That I no longer am obligated in any way, shape, or form to provide ANY assistance what-so-ever to any member of the Kindred. And that should I provide assistance, it is out of the kindness of my heart and not through any legal obligation.

I departed the Falcon Kindred and the Falcon Kindred Board of Directors for a variety of reasons. Chief among them were immoral and unethical behaviors which were allowed to prosper in the Kindred without rebuke from the Board of Directors or other persons in positions of leadership. These reasons are few in number, but they are of large consequence and unforgivable import—things which I have never tolerated in my life and will not tolerate now, under any guise, especially that of a religious guise.

With my departure came my full and irrevocable resignation from the IT position on the Falcon Kindred Board of Directors. Materials made for the Falcon Kindred (electronic documents, web site material, etc) were never ‘given’ to the Falcon Kindred. The copyright for these works (with a few notable exceptions) resides with the creator of said works. In other words: I created the works with the Falcon Kindred in mind, but they are STILL MY INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY. My work for the Kindred was my GIFT to them, not any obligation, nor recompensed in any way whatsoever.

The domain name, www.falconkindred.com, was never mine, and still is not mine. In fact, the domain name was never even under the control of my hosting company. Even though my hosting company provided the domain name a temporary home, neither me, nor any member of my family, nor my hosting company ever claimed ownership of the domain name. The domain name has always been registered to Troy Wisehart, through godaddy.com and it was always under his control at that internet location. If the owner of the domain name cannot figure out how to move his website to another hosting company that isn’t my problem.

Finally, when I departed the Board of Directors, I made it very clear that they would need to find another person to fill the role of Information Technology. I provided a recommendation (to which they did not listen) and told them that once I had a point of contact to work with that I would in fact give them the information they needed. However, due to some personal issues (also a point in my leaving the Kindred to begin with), I was delayed in providing information. As such my inbox filled with request after request to give them information. I was hesitant; to say the least, to allow access to my webserver to a person I barely knew. It is unexceptional to refuse access to such personal and sensitive online materials. And when I decided that I was not going to renew my server this year, I informed them that they would need to find their own hosting company. Until said company was found and an account was created there was nothing further that I could do. Again, I must reiterate, I am in NO WAY, SHAPE OR FORM REQUIRED TO ASSIST THE MEMBERS OF THE FALCON KINDRED IN SETTING UP THE ONLINE FACE OF THEIR ORGANIZATION.

The above should make clear to one and all that I and any and all members of my family are not only disaffiliated from the above mentioned organization, but also permanently disaffected.

By Labrys | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged alcohol abuse, animal sacrifice, Falcon Kindred, hypocrites, racism, underage, weapons | Comments (0)

Jun

2009

The List - New Moon - June 2009

So fast a week has flown…and the names never seem to stop coming:

U.S. Army Spc. Jonathan C. O’Neill, 22, of Zephyrhills, Fla., died June 15 at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas, of wounds suffered in Afghanistan, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle.

U.S. Army Capt. Kafele H. Sims, 32, of Los Angeles, died June 16 in Mosul, Iraq, of a non-combat related incident. He was assigned to the 18th Engineer Brigade, Schwetzingen, Germany.

U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Kevin A. Dupont, 52, of Templeton, Mass., died June 17 at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas, of wounds suffered March 8 in Afghanistan, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle.

U.S. Army Sgt. Joshua W. Soto, 25, of San Angelo, Texas, died in Iraq of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle.

U.S. Army Spc. Chancellor A. Keesling, 25, of Indianapolis, Ind., died June 19 in Baghdad, Iraq of a non-combat related incident.

U.S. Army (Nat’l Guardsmen)Sgt. Paul G. Smith, 43, of Peoria, IL. and

Staff Sgt. Joshua A. Melton, 26, of Carlyle, IL. died in Aghanistan as a

result of an IED detonation.

U.S. Navy Command Master Chief Jeffrey J. Garber, 43, of Hemingford, Neb. died of non-hostile causes June 20 aboard the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in the North Arabian Sea.

Maj Sean Birchall , 33, of the United Kingdom, died in Afghanistan as a result of an IED detonation.

The following U.S. Army men were killed in Afghanistan when their unit came under indirect fire.

Sgt. Ricky D. Jones, 26, of Plantersville, Ala.

Spc. Rodrigo A. Munguia Rivas, 27, of Germantown, Md.

And with this post, the number of dead for Iraq and Afghanistan goes over 5,800 dead….so this is the latest prayer/counting strand on the central stone:

By Labrys | Posted in Walk of The Fallen | Tagged prayer beads for the dead, war dead in Iraq, war dead of Afghanistan | Comments (0)

Jun

2009

Keeping Books of the (War)Dead

A good bookkeeper has to be honest, and look for mistakes even if she or he hopes there are none. I keep the names of those who have died in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and it has been a work in progress. At first, I kept only the names of Americans killed in Iraq. But then, realizing that men had been dying in Afghanistan for two years before we even went to Iraq, I played catch-up as well as I could. And finally, I added the names of the many Coalition troops from around the world. But every time I checked data in a book I found I had missed names.

My most recent self-audit using the new Google map site was no different. I discovered many names I had missed. I completely discarded the books of years 2001 through 2006 and re-wrote them all in one huge leather-covered volume. I began work on this last Wednesday and have spent eight to twelve hours a day here at the computer since. Would that the one site would be perfection, but it is not. I have to check against two or three other sites for various reasons.

The mapthefallen.org site has numerous issues still. It scrambles Hispanic and other complicated names that don’t fit the John Q. Normal name pattern, only my memory of how the names should have been cued me to find the correct spelling and order so I could get the details of the death correct in my books. Also, the pictures are not accurate, particularly for the Coalition nations aside from the US—a single blonde male will appear for three Nordic names! And I discovered a couple glaring errors in the date of death for some soldiers; the new correction program is very cumbersome indeed and I did not have time to negotiate it for every mangled Hispanic name or wrong photograph.

Still, with the help of this new site, I have the most complete list ever. After completely re-writing the first six years worth of names, I then edited 2007’s little day by day journal and rapidly checked the 2008 journal for missed names. There were a few, but fewer than the earlier years since I have built a stock of “where to look”. My 2009 book is going very well indeed in terms of accuracy.

But it was the most draining and tiring thing I have ever done in my life. I had not originally written down the cause of death for each troop lost….doing so painted a vivid picture of the wars in my mind.

The words “Anbar Province” have become synonymous with the words “meat grinder” in my head—so many Marines have bled on that piece of property that by all rights, the sand should be forever red.

And I have learned some things:

Unlike in movies, tanks are not safe zones: IEDs (improvised explosive devices) still kill you…and so does small arms fire. The gunners at the top are very vulnerable. And a vehicle that is called the “Mine Proof” vehicle? There is something wrong with it being mangled by IEDs and leaving dead troops in it’s wake.

Military vehicles have no seatbelts—rollovers KILL people. And rolling into water is very deadly. For desert nations, there are a lot of very real water hazards for our troops.

The news media reports every time soldiers at a checkpoint kill a civilian; but do they report how many men die at checkpoints when run over, shot or blown up BY civilians? We also hear about it when a military vehicle hits a civilian. But have you heard of all the vehicle rollovers and soldier deaths when the driver whipped the steering wheel to avoid a civilian vehicle?

My fingers tingle, my wrists ache. I filled my fountain pen more times than I can count and am stained with blue ink. My heart is more full than the pen could ever be….and come Nov 11th….the one-time, ” Armistice Day” I will read the entire list of more than 5700 names at the Labyrinth, just for all the ones I have somehow missed calling from that sacred spot until now. Until then, I hold those names of the fallen in my books, on strings of bright beads strung to count them, and in my head….tumbling ’round like song lyrics. My eyes hold the many pictures, the beauty of my people of my world: beauty we have spent and lost in blood and shattered bone.

By Labrys | Posted in Walk of The Fallen | Tagged Afghanistan War, counting the dead of war, Iraq war, prayer beads | Comments (0)

Jun

2009

The List - Third Quarter - June 2009

The lists go on….as I am rechecking and updating my own, going all the way back to 2001, I find myself immersed in mental images of war and all the ways men and women die. My sympathies, more than ever, to the loved ones these beautiful men and women left behind!

I look at the pictures of the fallen, and for myself at least, take no comfort whatsoever in the idea of an afterlife—all I see is the beauty of these people taken from the world I live in here. And I mourn as I collect the names to share with you:

U.S. Marine LCpl Joshua R. Whittle, 20, from Downey, Calif. died in Afghanistan during combat operations.

U.S. Army Maj. Rocco M. Barnes, 50 of Los Angeles, Calif died in Afghanistan in a vehicle rollover.

U.S. Army Spc. Eduardo S. Silva, 25, of Greenfield, Calif., died June 9 at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, of a non-combat related incident.

US Army Staff Sgt. Edmond L. Lo, 23, of Salem, N.H., died in Iraq, when an improvised explosive device that his explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) team was acting to neutralize detonated.

Pvt Alexander Peloquin, 20, of Canada died by hostile fire in Iraq.

Pvt Robert McLaren, 20, of the UK, died by hostile fire in Afghanistan.

First Sgt Allain Tikko,30, of Estonia, died by hostile fire in Afghanistan.

Lt. Paul Mervis, 27, of the UK, died by hostile fire & IED in Afghanistan.

Cpl. Martin Dube, 35, of Canada, died by hostile fire in Afghanistan.

By Labrys | Posted in Walk of The Fallen | Tagged war dead in Iraq, war dead of Afghanistan | Comments (0)

Jun

2009

Maps of Loss and Grief

For Memorial Day, Google Earth launched a special project. I have not yet experienced it; since I think I will need quantities of Scotch to get through it and doing that first thing in the morning is discouraged. I also have not been able to make it work even tho’ all the downloads and such are done. I saw a bit of it on the Man’s computer and felt a mighty thirst come upon me. Maybe by the weekend, I will get myself to go through this. (Edit: finally got it to work. It is devastatingly effective. You click on an icon and see a photo and information; you can go to the site of the death in Iraq or Afghanistan, or to the home town of the fallen troop. When you go to the site of the death and see a spiral shape display with icons of helmets on weapons showing deaths over the time of the war…it makes something come unwound in your head.)

But what it is, you see, is a map that opens with figures of the fallen as little icons. You click on one and fly visually to where on the google earth map where that person lived and find the details of their death. Since I am a computer moron and can’t even speak tech to my Tech God son to get this right, forgive the clumsy instructions:

Go here: http://www.mapthefallen.org/

You will need Google earth, of course, and a couple fancy specialized downloads. But it is a world tour of loss, far beyond the American dead alone.

By Labrys | Posted in Walk of The Fallen | Tagged Afghanistan War, Iraq war, map of the fallen | Comments (1)

walkofthefallen.com

Rocking the Boat

Shoving Drunks

The List - First Quarter - June ‘09

Yellow-Ribboned Asshattery

Staycations and Other Bliss

Regarding The “Kindred”

The List - New Moon - June 2009

Keeping Books of the (War)Dead

The List - Third Quarter - June 2009

Maps of Loss and Grief

Remote Area Medical

Meta

The Walk of The Fallen

Archives