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I went back to work on 24th October 2011, nearly 8 months after the first symptoms appeared. 8 months sounds like just a number, it doesn't mean much to read, but it was every second, minute, hour and day of that 8 months that Nova, my family, friends and I battled through to make it to this moment. It was the longest time. I lost the best part of a year of my life and spent it in an unimaginable hell. This post will be my last but it is not the end of the journey. This journey will not end, what happened to me changed me and my life and altered the course of my future, in this post I will try my best to summarise the past three years and the profound changes that have occurred as a direct result of our fight with NMDAR Encephalitis.
I went back to work and after a month of a phased return I was back full time and fully immersed in my role. For about a year after this I operated at 100 miles an hour. I went for it with all my might. I must have been like a juggernaut to those around me as I fired through life with all the energy of someone who thought they had lost it all. I felt my brain working, I could actually feel it whir into action when I had a problem to solve or a situation to deal with. It was the most amazing feeling in the world. I got high on it. I laughed and sang and thought and analysed and probably drove everyone half crazy. My zest for life was off the scale. I sustained this for a year and then I began to level out to a more sensible pace. The zest and joy didn't disappear at all but they mellowed into a more relaxed and contented mode.
NMDAR had not fully left my life and there were still some hard times along the way. When I had left hospital tests showed that the level of evil anti-bodies (the ones that had been attacking my brain) in my blood was negative. Over the next year they steadily rose each time I had a test until they were back up to high positive. At one point it was suggested that I needed more treatment and I might be put back on steroids (I had come off these in November 2011). I freaked. No way on earth. Luckily the main consultant overseeing my care did not think it was necessary as I had no symptoms. Slowly the results reduced and eventually I got a test where the antibody levels were back to negative. That was a happy, happy day. I had to get regular screenings of my remaining ovary (the one that had housed the cyst had been removed during surgery) to make sure there were no further teratomas. One of these scans showed a new cyst had appeared. It was 10cm and they said it was consistent with a dermoid, a teratoma. I couldn't believe it, surely this couldn't happen again. They spoke about the need to remove it surgically and I faced the prospect of losing the only hope I still had of ever having a child of my own. To say I was devastated would be a massive understatement. The consultant at the Assisted Conception Unit wanted to double check this cyst and it turned out not to be a dermoid. I could breathe again but the rollercoaster of emotions this episode produced was pretty major. I had to take the immune suppressant medication for a year after coming out of hospital. I didn't have many side effects apart from occasional nausea and catching regular colds. Somewhere along the line the defiant, stubborn part of me appeared and made a decision to halve and then quarter that medication without telling anyone. I know this was a bad decision, it was selfish and irresponsible but I so desperately wanted to be free of drugs and in control of my life again. Luckily it didn't have any negative effects and after a year I was medication free. About six months after going back to work I suffered with incredibly painful spasms in my back. I had never had issues with my back before and this was excruciating. I went to the doctor and got painkillers but also took myself to an osteopath for help. I could barely walk. He asked me if I had had an accident or a fall and at first I said no. Suddenly it flooded back to me, the fall over the bannisters at home, all those months ago. In tears, I told him about this and he thought that during that fall I had really injured myself and twisted my pelvis. Because I had then spent so many months lying in a hospital bed I had not felt the effects. It was only now, back on my feet and active, that it had manifested in this way. He helped me over several sessions and I haven't had any problems since. Around about the time of my surgery, Nova spoke with some of the doctors to see if there was anyone who might be interested in using my blood or the teratoma to do research into NMDAR. Amazingly someone came forward and now, in Ninewells, there is important research going on using my removed bodily bits and bobs and I have been up to the lab to meet the team and find out about what they are doing. I am so happy that Nova had the foresight to do this as she knew I would want something positive to come of the horror we were in.
The relationships in my life were affected on so many levels it is impossible to describe but the main one is, of course, that of Nova and I. She had saved me twice now. She saved me when I met her because I knew I had met my soul mate and I could be at peace with her and she had saved my life through the endless fight she staged against this illness and the lack of knowledge in the medical world. We had already been through some pretty major traumas just to be together but this year, 2011, tested us like no other. We both came out of the darkness as changed people and our paths diverged completely. I had been in the illness, deep in the horror and misery of losing my body and mind. Nova had been on the outside, watching a nightmare unfold for the person she loved and shared her life with. The two experiences were so different and our reactions after it was over were also worlds apart. There have been times when it felt like we might not make it through but the love we have for each other has proven to be made of steel. It has been bent to breaking point by NMDAR but ultimately it couldn't be destroyed. It has been hard, so hard at times, but three years down the line our paths have come back together so we are once again walking the same one and finally it feels as if we truly made it through.
My journey to becoming a mum to my own child did not make it through the nightmare. I had to wait a year after I came off the medication completely before I could start the process of trying again. It was a long, long wait but I held on to my dream and my hopes. In early 2013 we got the chance to try again. I had one treatment and found myself on the crazy ride of emotions once again. I so desperately wanted this, I absolutely yearned to carry my own baby and join the exclusive club of motherhood. It didn't work and I was destroyed. The next attempt saw me start using hormone injections to stimulate the follicles and this time it worked too well, there were too many and the risk of a multiple birth was too big for the hospital to let me carry on. They advised a months break from treatment and then we could give it another go. During these few months I changed. I lost my zest for life and my joy at being alive and became consumed with worry, fear, sadness and bitterness when it didn't work. I was so unhappy, so angry at life and what had been dealt to me. It is a pain beyond words to want a child so badly but not be able to realise that dream. During the break after the last treatment I noticed that the weight lifted off my shoulders. Because we weren't trying I wasn't consumed, I wasn't thinking about it every second of the day and I became me again. I spent that summer making the hardest decision of my life. I realised that after all that had happened to me I had come through it a stronger person, a more complete person. I had coped with what happened and I hadn't ever had a moment of falling apart. I had grabbed my second chance by the proverbials. I realised that this other battle, the one to have a child, had the potential to break me once and for all. It was the one thing I couldn't cope with. The emotions it provoked were too strong, too much. It had been such a long fight. I didn't want to fight any more. I made the decision to stop trying. I looked at what I had, my beautiful Nova and the boy I loved with all my heart. Our amazing life together and all the wonderful people around us and I decided to accept that this was enough. I could have carried on but I didn't think I or my relationships would survive if it failed. This way it was my decision and as much as it broke my heart, I still think it was the right one. It has taken till now to be able to talk about it without crying but I still feel the tears welling up. I have dreamt of being a mum since I was a child myself but I accept that this was not my path. This pain is tucked away in the corner of my heart with my sorrow at losing Gill and our lack of a final goodbye.
I have learned so much from what happened to me. To pick up on previous threads I learned the magic of the relationships and people in my life. When I fell so many arms reached out to catch me and my family. I have seen a picture quote on facebook recently, all about how you find out who your true friends are when things are bad. I have to say that every single one of the people in my life was there when I needed them. Not one person let us down in any way. From my amazing family to the small circle of friends who saw me in the worst hours to those who sent cards, flowers, balloons, messages, wishes, prayers and love, I will be forever grateful. I treasure my friends now in a way that I didn't before. I always knew the importance of friendship but now I know, sometimes your life can depend on it.
I learned one huge lesson. To feel is to be alive. Before I fell ill I would struggle with negativity, self doubt, anger and all the other crazy things we put ourselves through. Obviously I still have times when I feel angry or sad or self doubt creeps in but now I am glad to feel these things. Having been in a place where I felt nothing, just blank, empty nothingness, I know that to feel is the biggest gift we have as humans. Without it there is no reason, no point and no life. We would just be shells, empty shells. To feel is to experience all the wonder, joy, worry, anger and love that life has to offer us. When I feel angry now, I smile inside at the same time, I let the emotion be, I allow it, don't fight it, acknowledge it and then let it go. I savour every moment of feeling.
In some ways it seems to me that the illness stripped away layers of negative emotional habits that I had built up over the years. Habits like self-hate, anxiety and catastrophic thinking. When I emerged from the nightmare it felt like I had been cleansed in some way. So many of my neurological pathways had survived intact, like playing the piano or reading a book, but the ones that had served no purpose were gone. This has been an amazing gift. I feel that I can see so much more clearly now, things seem less complicated and although I still worry about getting things wrong or hurting those I love, I feel a strength within me that I know will not be broken. I really was dragged down into hell and I survived, I came back fighting. Nothing could ever be as terrible as these few months. I know that I will face hard times in the future, I will lose people I love and have hard decisions to make. But never again will I suffer hour after hour of torture at the hands of seizures, hallucinations and a melting brain. I live with the possibility of relapse, no-one knows enough about this illness to say for sure that I am through the woods. I used to worry about it but now I just live each day as fully in the present as I can. I could drive myself mad thinking about the possibilities or what has happened before, there is no benefit to doing this so I live in the now and try to enjoy each beautiful moment. I have been given a second chance, a second chance with the overwhelmingly precious gift of realising how magical life really is.
I went on a mission over the last three years to prove to myself that I was still whole. I went back to University and did a post-graduate certificate and passed with distinction. This was my 'back atcha' to permanent frontal lobe damage. I became a Zumba instructor. This was my 'back atcha' to the me who drooled and shuffled and couldn't even feed herself. I changed jobs and said goodbye to the colleagues who had been like a family to me over the years. I have spent the last year getting to know my new work-family and I am honoured to spend many hours each day in the company of an amazing group of women. They are kind, caring, passionate, feisty, strong-minded and all unique. Work is still hugely important to me and from the months that I was kept from it, I know that it is a fundamental part of my life. It is still a piece of my identity but I have tried to balance it a little bit more. Before I was ill there were times when it felt like it was my life. Now I am thankful for the chance to go to work each day, although I still have times I wish we would win the lottery and I didn't have to drag myself out of bed at 5.45 am. Working is also a gift. I am grateful to work with the women who are my colleagues and the women and children we try to support each day. To be considered able and skilled enough to be in a role that is more than just a job is incredible. The job is still part of a cause and I am glad to give what I can.
I hope so much that by writing this blog I may have helped someone who has a loved one going through the illness or who has suffered it themselves. It has been very emotional to go back into the worst times of my life and relive how it felt to experience it. It has been therapeutic, I didn't realise how much it would be when I started to write. I feel it is now time to really let go, I have told the story as best I can, the voice that was silent for all those months has had it's chance to speak and be heard.
I thank all of you who have taken the time to read this and spread the word. All the messages of support have been amazing. I hope that what has shone through as you have read is that although this is a story about a monstrous illness, above that it is a story about love. It is a story about Nova's love for me, my family's love and my in-laws. It is a story of the love of friendship. It is a story about my love for all of them and how I held on to that all the way through. The love that surrounded me in the darkness was incredible and I knew it was there, I felt it and it saved me. I hope I have honoured each and every one of the people who held out their hands to me and pulled me out of the abyss. I will never be able to express my gratitude. Nova, Mum, Dad, Gill, James, Lin, Domi, Jamie, Lucie, Viv, May, my boy, the doctors and nurses at Ninewells, the registrar who ultimately diagnosed me and saved my life and everyone else – thank you from the bottom of my heart ❤


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Chuck Morse Speaks
59 Socialists in Congress – 2002
The Sierra Times ^ | 09. 6. 02 | Chuck Morse
Posted on Sat Sep 07 2002 08:39:09 GMT-0300 (Atlantic Daylight Time) by brityank
59 Socialists in Congress – 2002
By Chuck Morse
Published 09. 6. 02 at 20:00 Sierra Time
On the extreme left wing of the Democratic Party, The Progressive Caucus is affiliated with the Democratic Socialists of America, which, in turn, is the American affiliate of the Socialist International. Congressional Caucus members, I would contend, should actually be called Socialists rather than Democrats. Unlike their European counterparts, these homegrown American Socialist Congressmen try to refrain from showing their true authoritarian colors. Such displays would be too risky in an America that is still steeped in traditional freedoms. There are still enough of us out here who would boot them out of office if they revealed too much of their true stripe.Socialists, like Communists, Nazis, Klansmen, or other political groups, rightfully enjoy the same constitutional protections as the rest of us. Unlike their more radical aforementioned counterparts however, the socialists believe in changing the system by "boring from within" rather than through illegal violence and sedition. As such, they prefer legislation, often filled with deceptive legalese and passed through Congress by duplicitous means, as their choice of arms in their quest toward revolutionary goals. Socialists are gradualists rather than extremists. They are slowly chipping away at our G-d given rights.Freedom loving Americans would be well advised to keep a close eye on socialist Congressmen. While they may talk like the rest of us, especially when sojourning in their respective districts, they operate from a different paradigm. If they decide to support a war against Iraq, for example, or any other intervention overseas, their motives would more likely be based on an agenda that seeks to entangle the US in a new world order than in protecting the interests of sovereign America.As a matter of principle and as an article of faith, socialists support a socialist world government as an ultimate goal. The method they employ is the gradual transfer of constitutional responsibilities from elected American legislatures to international agencies accountable to no one. Socialists are apt to support such things as international standing armies, an international tax, the transfer of American capital to third world dictators, and the surrender of congressional responsibilities to the UN, the WTO, the IMF, UNESCO and now the International Criminal Court. Whenever communistic protocols emerge out of a UN sponsored conference, as is always the case, and whenever such un-American protocols are rejected by a still largely patriotic Congress, the socialist congressmen and their allies will more than likely try to foist the protocol on the American people through a back door.Socialists believe in sovereignty eroding entanglements abroad and big-state socialism at home. They support high taxes on working people with the money transferred to bureaucracies staffed by their friends. They support a welfare state that oppresses poor people, especially minorities, who then become their constituents. They support left-wing judges who are willing to subvert the democratic power of Congress by making laws from the bench. While they support mandatory public education, mandatory labor unions, mandatory racial quotas, land-grabbing environmental regulation, and thought control in the form of hate speech legislation, they turn around and become downright libertarian when it comes to pornography, abortion, sex, drugs, homosexuality, and other agendas that debauch the citizenry.Following is the Sept. 2002 membership list of the Progressive Caucus:Neil Abercrombie – Hawaii
Tammy Baldwin – Wisconsin
Xavier Becerra – California
David Bonior – Michigan
Corrine Brown – Florida
Sherron Brown – Ohio
Michael Capuano – Mass.
Julia Carson – Indiana
William "Lacy" Clay – Missouri
John Conyers – Michigan
Danny Davis – Illinois
Peter DeFazio – Oregon
Rosa DeLauro – Conn.
Lane Evans – Illinois
Eni Faleomavaega – Am Samoa
Sam Farr – California
Chaka Fattah – Penn.
Bob Filner – California
Barney Frank – Mass.
Luis Gutierrez – Illinois
Earl Hilliard – Alabama
Maurice Hinchey – New York
Jesse Jackson Jr. – Illinois
Sheila Jackson-Lee – Texas
Stephanie Tubbs Jones – Ohio
Marcy Kaptur – Ohio
Dennis Kucinich – Ohio
Tom Lantos – California
Barbara Lee – California
John Lewis – Georgia
Jim McDermott – Washington
James P. McGovern – Mass.
Cynthia McKinney – Georgia
Carrie Meek – Florida
George Miller – California
Patsy Mink – Hawaii
Jerry Nadler – New York
Eleanor Holmes Norton – D.C.
John Olver – Mass.
Major Owens – New York
Ed Pastor – Arizona
Donald Payne – New Jersey
Nancy Pelosi – California
Bobby Rush – Illinois
Bernie Sanders – Vermont
Jan Schakowsky – Illinois
Jose Serrano – New York
Hilda Solis – California
Pete Stark – California
Bennie Thompson – Miss.
John Tierney – Mass.
Tom Udall – New Mexico
Nydia Velazquez – New York
Maxine Waters – California
Diane Watson – California
Mel Watt – North Carolina
Henry Waxman – California
Paul Wellstone – Minnesota
Lynn Woolsey - California


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Brought up in Northumberland in the north east of England, snow and mountains came into my life very early on through skiing, my other passion. Indeed, upon leaving school, I very soon took my first year out and spent a winter season skiing in France. That turned into 25 years skiing and working in both northern and southern hemispheres.
In the mid 1980's while living in Utah, USA, I bought my first camera, an Olympus OM10. Travelling through South East Asia in the early 1990's, my eyes were truly opened to new sights and cultures, and it was these that I wanted to see and capture on film. So, when the snow melted in what ever hemisphere I happened to be working/skiing, I packed a bag, bought a load of film, and went travelling.
I am a self taught photographer, though I have often thought of going to school to better my understanding of camera and photography. During the wet film years, I developed my film as I travelled, and during the long winter nights of the ski season I would set up a dark room in the bath room, and spend a fortune on paper and chemicals learning printing techniques. In 2003 I bought my first digital camera and laptop and slowly taught myself to use Photoshop, applying techniques I had learnt in the dark room, ie; dodging, burning and feathering.
To travel and capture life in very remote places, and to then lie in a tent that night and process pictures on a laptop is fantastic, though a very long way from the long wait to see what one had captured on wet film. I find myself now romanticising the magical emergence of an image out of chemicals though I shudder at the amount of wasted chemicals I poured down the toilet!
My travels have introduced me to many cultures and beliefs. The main lesson I have learnt is that simplicity in life brings happiness, which in turn, infuses a strong sense of well-being.


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This week we have been talking about divorce, some predictors of divorce, and blended families. It was encouraging to hear in class that over 70% of people will never get a divorce! But we did talk about a few different predictors that could possibly lead to divorce. To just name a few; non-religious, less education, parents divorced, married very young, dual earner home, prior divorce, culture, and finances. There are many different reasons that the qualifications on this list could lead to divorce. If the couple has parents who have been divorced before then divorce is normal in the family. They have already experienced it through their parents and they know more about it than other couples whose parents are still married. Those who marry under the age of 18 have a higher chance of getting divorced just because they haven't really had a chance to make real decisions for themselves. This is probably the first big decision they have ever made and it should probably be thought about for a bit longer. I thought that having a dual income home was really interesting how it can lead to divorce. It makes sense though because it causes so much stress on the family like we have talked about before. Another interesting fact Brother Williams told us was that 70% of divorced people two years later said that they could have and should have saved the marriage. Divorce is a very serious thing and should be thoroughly thought through and prayed about.
Some guidelines Brother Williams gave us today for blended families really stood out to me. I think these are definitely crucial to consider and think about before deciding to marry with a blended family.
1) It will take a minimum of two years to reach a form of normalcy within a blended family
2) The biological parent needs to take on most of the discipline
- There is no basis for authority for the new parent
3) The step parent should come in and start to play the role of an aunt or an uncle. They will still support the rules and respect the other parent.
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Divorce and Blended Families
Posted by Unknown at 2:42 PM
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Note that this isn't something that is a regular occurrence in these books but the the result of tensions that have building up over a couple of novels finally coming to a head ... all reactions quite realistic for the characters even though it's nothing any of them have done (or shown any signs of doing) before. Proof of good character development that it all makes sense and is simultaneously funny as hell (in the middle of tense scene) and dead serious.
Waiting until March for the next instalment is suddenly going to hurt twice as much as it was a few hours ago.
P.S. I've just decided I really need a Witcher userpic ...
Tags: bookseries: the witcher, reading


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We are happy to travel to you! Please call 630.355.4000 for rates and availability.


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Iconic jeweler Tiffany & Co. is outshining most other luxury brands when it comes to connecting with consumers via social networks, but luxury brands in general still lag other industries when it comes to social.
That's according to the recent Total Social Rankings from marketing consultancy Engagement Labs, which measured more than 100,000 brands across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and offline word of mouth and then ranked the top luxury brands across those four channels. The consultancy's ranking is called an eValue score, which rates brands based on their level of engagement on social media generated by a community's response to the brand's posts; the speed, rate and quality of a brand's responses to their followers; and overall impact of the posts by measuring the number of unique users who are exposed to a piece of content.
"Not only are these brands using social media to drive sales, but they're also creating brand experiences that elicit desire and build brand affinity," Engagement Labs CEO Bryan Segal says.
Tiffany, No. 131 in the Internet Retailer 2015 Top 500 Guide, ranked second overall on Facebook and tops on Twitter among luxury brands, with high-end shoe brand Christian Louboutin leading the way on Facebook and coming in second on Twitter.
Engagement Labs, in a blog post announcing the study results, says Tiffany incorporates "a range of content including photos of celebrities purchasing its products, to user-generated content from popular fashion bloggers, as well as promotions for new products." The blog also points to the success of Tiffany's #WillYou campaign promoting its line of engagement rings.
But Engagement Labs' data found that luxury brands didn't engage as much as other industries such as magazine and publishing, higher education, and news channels, though the company declined to provide more data on how far luxury brands are lagging.
"These luxury brands are missing out on opportunities to engage and activate audiences through two-way conversations," Segal said. "By posting more frequently and responding to followers' comments, luxury brands could elevate not only their online footprint, but also increase word of mouth conversations, and in turn build brand awareness to drive a path to purchase."


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Gunpowder – ipad games
"Gunpowder Gunpowder" is a very fun action puzzle game, rare in the western cowboy theme puzzle game. Game, players will encounter 125 puzzles, players are similar hero Robin Hood, called Incendio, he needs to rely on its own to help the villagers were robbers snatch away the wealth, while the villain Boss Grimshaw many men, players need to solve open one after another smartly designed levels.
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text:
1) Go to the HCHS homepage at: http://www.hchs.hunter.cuny.edu
2) Click on "Library" at the top of this page.
3) Under "Full Text Resources" click on the link that says "Columbia International Affairs Online"
4) You'll be taken to a description of the database. On this page, click on the link that says, "CIAO (Columbia International Affairs Online)."
5) You will then be asked for your Hunter username and password. These are the same as your hunter email and should be in the form "Z2012123". You do NOT need to add ".12" to the end of this username.
You will not have to put in your username and password if you're accessing CIAO from school.


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Inca Trail Trek to Machu Picchu
August 14-24, 2014
Join us on an exclusive University of Chicago Alumni and Friends departure to explore the Andes Mountains of Peru. Immerse yourself in the myths, legends, and history of the Inca on our Inca Trail Trek to Machu Picchu.
• Start with a day in Cusco, one of the most beautiful cities in Peru and the southern capital of the Inca Empire.
• Then travel to the Sacred Valley of the Incas and explore this fertile valley lined with
picturesque Andean markets, impressive churches, and remarkable Inca ruins.
• Stop at Awanacancha to learn about the four types of Andean camelids and observe local artisans demonstrating traditional Andean weaving techniques.
• Visit the Inca ruins of Pisaq, bargain with local craftspeople in the town's famous textile market, and visit a local ceramic artist's studio.
• Opt for horseback riding in the Sacred Valley on Peruvian Paso horses.
• Explore the archaeological site of Ollantaytambo.
Then hike the Inca Trail or take the train to Machu Picchu . . . the choice is yours! Arrive in awe at the Inca citadel that was lost in the dense jungle for hundreds of years.


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Cheap alcohol sales prompt calls for minimum pricing
Calls for a minimum price for alcohol are intensifying as ministers prepare to outline the latest steps to make drinking less affordable.
Plans to introduce a hike in the tax on super-strength lagers are expected to be confirmed in this week's Budget.
But shadow public health minister Diane Abbott said the government should go further and explore minimum pricing.
She was supported by campaigners as they revealed data showing alcohol was being sold for as little as 12p a unit.
The Budget announcement on strong lagers comes after proposals have been drawn up to ban the sale of below-cost alcohol - that is where drinks are sold at below the combined cost of the duty and VAT.
Campaigners have argued that neither step goes far enough as only a small proportion of drinks will be affected.
Instead, they want to see an minimum unit price around the 50p mark - which would mean drinkers having to pay at least £6 for a six-pack of lager and £4.50 for a standard bottle of wine.
Their calls have been backed by Ms Abbott.
Before the election, Labour refused to give its backing to minimum pricing.
But Ms Abbott told the BBC if a pilot showed it would reduce alcohol-related harm she would be in favour of the move.
"It is wrong that very young children can get out of their skulls for less money than it takes to buy a bottle of Coca-Cola.
"I would be in favour of a pilot and if that reduces drinking significantly, particularly among young people, the case is unanswerable. I would like to see legislation then."
She was supported by a coalition of health groups, including Alcohol Concern and Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems.
They have carried out research covering more than 600 alcohol products in the north of England and Scotland. The cheapest they found on sale was a bottle of cider at the equivalent of 12p per unit, they said.
Don Shenker, chief executive of Alcohol Concern, said the sale of alcohol at "pocket money prices" had to end.
"Alcohol needs to be retailed at a price which recognises that it is no ordinary commodity and can be harmful."
A government spokesman said: "The government has taken the important first step to ban below cost sales and introduce a higher tax on high strength beers. This will enable us to tackle the very worst instances of deep discounting while being easily implemented and enforced.
"We have sent a clear message that the government will not stand by and let drink be sold so cheaply that it leads to a greater risk of health harms or drunken violence.
"The impact of alcohol prices on public health and crime and disorder is complex.
"No one solution will solve the challenge of alcohol misuse but we are determined to tackle the harms caused by alcohol and have brought forward a comprehensive package of measures to address this, including a complete overhaul of the failed Licensing Act."
A Home Office spokesman said the steps to tackle super-strength lagers and below cost selling would deal with the "very worst instances of deep discounting while being easily implemented and enforced".
He added: "We have sent a clear message that the government will not stand by and let drink be sold so cheaply that it leads to a greater risk of health harms or drunken violence."
But he rejected the suggestions a minimum price was the answer, saying the impact of cost was complex and no one solution would solve the problem.


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James began his career working in residential real estate in Sydney's Western Suburbs selling established homes, off plan and land.
In 2015 James joined Rose and Jones in property management within the retail and office leasing sector. He continues to foster successful and lasting relationships with landlords, tenants, conjunction agents and colleagues.
James' expertise includes coordinating leasing projects, as well as brokering transactions for tenants seeking various premises for lease.
James has leased 50% of the residential properties under management to date within his first year and has maintained a vacancy rate of 0% to date.
His ability to negotiate exceptional rent return for his clients is outstanding.
He credits his success to a highly developed understanding of the local market, meticulous attention to detail and a steadfast commitment to providing the best possible service and results for each and every vendor.
Above all, James values integrity and shows total transparency in all facets of the business, negotiation and leasing process.


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Sharking in the Seychelles
I have been involved in some very interesting projects in my month on the Island Conservation Expedition at GVI's Curieuse Island base in the Seychelles. The volunteer team has been involved in surveying the population of the island's endangered Hawksbill and Green turtles, the Coco de Mer tree endemic to the Seychelles, and collecting data on the island's bird populations.
However, my favorite project so far has been the Sicklefin Lemon shark monitoring that GVI began last September. The staff here on base gave us an interesting presentation on Sicklefin lemon sharks – and sharks in general – including habitats, behavior, and also a background on the survey techniques used in the project. This gave us a good idea of what to expect before we headed out into the field.
The monitoring that we carry out is focused on the juvenile Lemon sharks, which are found in the shallow waters of the Curieuse Island mangroves. Our surveys take place either early in the morning at dawn, or in the evening at dusk. Whilst the 5am wake up for a morning survey seems a struggle at first, the excitement of how many new sharks we might catch soon has everybody motivated for the day!
Little is known about Sicklefin Lemon sharks in general, and prior to GVI's surveys, there was no data on the population on Curieuse. The project is therefore focused on collecting baseline data on the sharks that use the mangroves as a nursery ground. This data includes the length and weight of the shark, the gender, age, capture location and the taking of a DNA sample. Each shark is tagged with a unique bar code so we can identify them if they are re-caught, and thus calculate their growth rates. We were taught how to safely capture and release the sharks, while causing minimal stress to the animals. Having caught and named some sharks (Doris, Boris and Delilah were some of our first catches!), one of the most exciting parts of the work is to release them back into the water. It is cool to get hands on with the animals – it is not every day that you can say you have held a shark!
Overall, the project is a rewarding one to be involved in, and it is interesting to record this new data, knowing that the information will be used to help protect them. The staff at GVI have told us of the future projects that can build on the data we are collecting, including tracking the juvenile sharks to determine at which point they leave the safety of the mangroves and head out to open water. I am hoping to encounter a fully grown lemon shark on one of our many snorkeling trips around Curieuse and the neighboring island of Praslin.
I've had a great month in the Seychelles, meeting some great people and living in an amazing environment. The things we learn on our surveys with the island's wildlife have been very interesting. This is certainly an experience I will never forget.
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Air warfare
At the start of the war the land and sea forces used the aircraft put at their disposal primarily for reconnaissance, and air fighting began as the exchange of shots from small arms between enemy airmen meeting one another in the course of reconnoitering. Fighter aircraft armed with machine guns, however, made their appearance in 1915. Tactical bombing and the bombing of enemy air bases were also gradually introduced at this time. Contact patrolling, with aircraft giving immediate support to infantry, was developed in 1916.
Strategic bombing, on the other hand, was initiated early enough: British aircraft from Dunkirk bombed Cologne, Düsseldorf, and Friedrichshafen in the autumn of 1914, their main objective being the sheds of the German dirigible airships, or Zeppelins; and raids by German airplanes or seaplanes on English towns in December 1914 heralded a great Zeppelin offensive sustained with increasing intensity from January 1915 to September 1916 (London was first bombed in the night of May 31–June 1, 1915). In October 1916 the British, in turn, began a more systematic offensive, from eastern France, against industrial targets in southwestern Germany.
While the British directed much of their new bombing strength to attacks on the bases of the U-boats, the Germans used theirs largely to continue the offensive against the towns of southeastern England. On June 13, 1917, in daylight, 14 German bombers dropped 118 high explosive bombs on London and returned home safely. This lesson and that of subsequent raids by the German Gotha bombers made the British think more seriously about strategic bombing and about the need for an air force independent of the other fighting services. The Royal Air Force (RAF), the world's first separate air service, was brought into active existence by a series of measures taken between October 1917 and June 1918.
Peace moves, March 1917–September 1918
Until the end of 1916, the pursuit of peace was confined to individuals and to small groups. In the following months it began to acquire a broad popular backing. Semi-starvation in towns, mutinies in the armies, and casualty lists that seemed to have no end made more and more people question the need and the wisdom of continuing the war.
Francis Joseph, Austria's venerable old emperor, died on Nov. 21, 1916. The new emperor, Charles I, and his foreign minister, Graf Ottokar Czernin, initiated peace moves in the spring of 1917 but unfortunately did not concert their diplomatic efforts, and the channels of negotiation they opened between Austria-Hungary and the Allies had dried up by that summer.
In Germany, Matthias Erzberger, a Roman Catholic member of the Reichstag, had, on July 6, 1917, proposed that territorial annexations be renounced in order to facilitate a negotiated peace. During the ensuing debates Bethmann Hollweg resigned the office of chancellor, and the emperor William II appointed the next chancellor, Ludendorff's nominee Georg Michaelis, without consulting the Reichstag. The Reichstag, offended, proceeded to pass its Friedensresolution, or "peace resolution," of July 19 by 212 votes. The peace resolution was a string of innocuous phrases expressing Germany's desire for peace but without a clear renunciation of annexations or indemnities. The Allies took almost no notice of it.
Erzberger's proposal of July 6 had been intended to pave the way for Pope Benedict XV's forthcoming note to the belligerents of both camps. Dated Aug. 1, 1917, this note advocated a German withdrawal from Belgium and from France, the Allies' withdrawal from the German colonies, and the restoration not only of Serbia, Montenegro, and Romania but also of Poland to independence. France and Great Britain declined to give an express reply pending Germany's statement of its attitude about Belgium, on which Germany avoided committing itself.
An unofficial peace move was made in London: on Nov. 29, 1917, the Daily Telegraph published a letter from Lord Lansdowne suggesting negotiations on the basis of the status quo antebellum. Lloyd George rejected Lansdowne's theses on December 14.
The U.S. president Woodrow Wilson made himself the chief formulator and spokesman of the war aims of the Allies and the United States. The first nine months of 1918 saw Wilson's famous series of pronouncements on his war aims: the Fourteen Points (January 8), the "Four Principles" (February 11), the "Four Ends" (July 4), and the "Five Particulars" (September 27). Most important, not least because of Germany's deluded reliance on them in its eventual suing for peace, were the Fourteen Points: (1) open covenants of peace and the renunciation of secret diplomacy, (2) freedom of navigation on the high seas in wartime as well as peace, (3) the maximum possible freedom of trade, (4) a guaranteed reduction of armaments, (5) an impartial colonial settlement accommodating not only the colonialist powers but also the peoples of the colonies, (6) the evacuation of all Russian territory and respect for Russia's right of self-determination, (7) the complete restoration of Belgium, (8) a complete German withdrawal from France and satisfaction for France about Alsace-Lorraine, (9) a readjustment of Italy's frontiers on an ethnic basis, (10) an open prospect of autonomy for the peoples of Austria-Hungary, (11) the restoration of Romania, Serbia, and Montenegro, with free access to the sea for Serbia and international guarantees of the Balkan states' independence and integrity, (12) the prospect of autonomy for non-Turkish peoples of the Ottoman Empire and the unrestricted opening of the Straits, but secure sovereignty for the Turks in their own areas, (13) an independent Poland with access to the sea and under international guarantee, and (14) "a general association of nations," to guarantee the independence and integrity of all states, great and small. The three subsequent groups of pronouncements mainly consisted of idealistic expansions of themes implicit in the Fourteen Points, with increasing emphasis on the wishes of subject populations; but the first of the "Four Ends" was that every arbitrary power capable by itself of disturbing world peace should be rendered innocuous.
Wilson's peace campaign was a significant factor in the collapse of the will to fight of the German people and the decision of the German government to sue for peace in October 1918. Indeed, the Germans conducted their preliminary peace talks exclusively with Wilson. And the Armistice, when it came on Nov. 11, 1918, was formally based upon the Fourteen Points and additional Wilsonian pronouncements, with two reservations by the British and French relating to freedom of the seas and reparations.
The last offensives and the Allies' victory
The Western Front, March–September 1918
As the German strength on the Western Front was being steadily increased by the transfer of divisions from the Eastern Front (where they were no longer needed since Russia had withdrawn from the war), the Allies' main problem was how to withstand an imminent German offensive pending the arrival of massive reinforcements from the United States. Eventually Pétain persuaded the reluctant Haig that the British with 60 divisions should extend their sector of the front from 100 to 125 miles as compared with the 325 miles to be held by the French with approximately 100 divisions. Haig thus devoted 46 of his divisions to the front from the Channel to Gouzeaucourt (southwest of German-held Cambrai) and 14 to the remaining third of the front from Gouzeaucourt past German-held Saint-Quentin to the Oise River.
On the German side, between Nov. 1, 1917, and March 21, 1918, the German divisions on the Western Front were increased from 146 to 192, the troops being drawn from Russia, Galicia, and Italy. By these means the German armies in the west were reinforced by a total of about 570,000 men. Ludendorff's interest was to strike from his temporary position of strength—before the arrival of the major U.S. contingents—and at the same time to ensure that his German offensive should not fail for the same reasons as the Allies' offensives of the past three years. Accordingly he formed an offensive strategy based on taking the tactical line of least resistance. The main German attacks would begin with brief but extremely intense artillery bombardments using a high proportion of poison gas and smoke shells. These would incapacitate the Allies' forward trenches and machine-gun emplacements and would obscure their observation posts. Then a second and lighter artillery barrage would begin to creep forward over the Allied trenches at a walking pace (in order to keep the enemy under fire), with the masses of German assault infantry advancing as closely as possible behind it. The key to the new tactics was that the assault infantry would bypass machine-gun nests and other points of strong resistance instead of waiting, as had been the previous practice on both sides, for reinforcements to mop up the obstructions before continuing the advance. The Germans would instead continue to advance in the direction of the least enemy resistance. The mobility of the German advance would thus be assured, and its deep infiltration would result in large amounts of territory being taken.
Such tactics demanded exceptionally fit and disciplined troops and a high level of training. Ludendorff accordingly drew the best troops from all the Western Front forces at his disposal and formed them into elite shock divisions. The troops were systematically trained in the new tactics, and every effort was also made to conceal the actual areas at which the German main attacks would be made.
Ludendorff's main attack was to be on the weakest sector of the Allies' front, the 47 miles between Arras and La Fère (on the Oise). Two German armies, the 17th and the 2nd, were to break through the front between Arras and Saint-Quentin, north of the Somme, and then wheel right so as to force most of the British back toward the Channel, while the 18th Army, between the Somme and the Oise, protected the left flank of the advance against counterattack from the south. Code-named "Michael," this offensive was to be supplemented by three other attacks: "St. George I" against the British on the Lys River south of Armentières; "St. George II" against the British again between Armentières and Ypres; and "Blücher" against the French in Champagne. It was finally decided to use 62 divisions in the main attack, "Michael."
Preceded by an artillery bombardment using 6,000 guns, "Michael" was launched on March 21, 1918, and was helped by an early morning fog that hid the German advance from the Allied observation posts. The attack, which is known as the Second Battle of the Somme or the Battle of Saint-Quentin, took the British altogether by surprise, but it did not develop as Ludendorff had foreseen. While the 18th Army under von Hutier achieved a complete breakthrough south of the Somme, the major attack to the north was held up, mainly by the British concentration of strength at Arras. For a whole week Ludendorff, in violation of his new tactical emphasis, vainly persisted in trying to carry out his original plan instead of exploiting the unexpected success of the 18th Army, though the latter had advanced more than 40 miles westward and had reached Montdidier by March 27. At last, however, the main effort of the Germans was converted into a drive toward Amiens, which began in force on March 30. By that time the Allies had recovered from their initial dismay, and French reserves were coming up to the British line. The German drive was halted east of Amiens and so too was a renewed attack on April 4. Ludendorff then suspended his Somme offensive. This offensive had yielded the largest territorial gains of any operation on the Western Front since the First Battle of the Marne in September 1914.
The Allies' cause at least derived one overdue benefit from the collapse of one-third of the British front: at Haig's own suggestion, Foch was on March 26 appointed to coordinate the Allies' military operations; and on April 14 he was named commander in chief of the Allied armies. Previously, Haig had resisted the idea of a generalissimo.
On April 9 the Germans began "St. George I" with an attack on the extreme northern front between Armentières and the canal of La Bassée, their aim being to advance across the Lys River toward Hazebrouck. Such was the initial success of this attack that "St. George II" was launched the next day, with the capture of Kemmel Hill (Kemmelberg), southwest of Ypres, as its first objective. Armentières fell, and Ludendorff came to think for a time that this Battle of the Lys might be turned into a major effort. The British, however, after being driven back 10 miles, halted the Germans short of Hazebrouck. French reinforcements began to come up; and, when the Germans had taken Kemmel Hill (April 25), Ludendorff decided to suspend exploitation of the advance, for fear of a counterstroke against his front's new bulge.
Thus far Ludendorff had fallen short of strategic results, but he could claim huge tactical successes—the British casualties alone amounted to more than 300,000. Ten British divisions had to be broken up temporarily, while the German strength mounted to 208 divisions, of which 80 were still in reserve. A restoration of the balance, however, was now in sight. A dozen U.S. divisions had arrived in France, and great efforts were being made to swell the stream. Furthermore, Pershing, the U.S. commander, had placed his troops at Foch's disposal for use wherever required.
Ludendorff finally launched "Blücher" on May 27, on a front extending from Coucy, north of Soissons, eastward toward Reims. The Germans, with 15 divisions, suddenly attacked the seven French and British divisions opposing them, swarmed over the ridge of the Chemin des Dames and across the Aisne River, and, by May 30, were on the Marne, between Château-Thierry and Dormans. Once again the attack's initial success went far beyond Ludendorff's expectation or intention; and, when the Germans tried to push westward against the right flank of the Allies' Compiègne salient, which was sandwiched between the Germans' Amiens and Champagne bulges, they were checked by counterattacks, which included one sustained for a fortnight from June 6 by U.S. divisions at Belleau Wood (Bois de Belleau). An attack from Noyon, against the left flank of the Compiègne salient, came too late (June 9).
Overtaken by the inordinate fruition of his own offensives, Ludendorff paused for a month's recuperation. The tactical success of his own blows had been his undoing; yielding to their influence, he had pressed each too far and too long, using up his own reserves and causing an undue interval between blows. He had driven three great wedges into the Allied lines, but none had penetrated far enough to sever a vital rail artery, and this strategic failure left the Germans with a front whose several bulges invited flanking counterstrokes. Moreover, Ludendorff had used up many of his shock troops in the attacks, and the remaining troops, though strong in numbers, were relatively lower in quality. The Germans were to end up sustaining a total of 800,000 casualties in their great 1918 offensives. Meanwhile, the Allies were now receiving U.S. troops at the rate of 300,000 men per month.
The next German offensive, which opened the Second Battle of the Marne, was launched in Champagne on July 15. It came to nothing: a German thrust from the front east of Reims toward Châlons-sur-Marne was frustrated by the "elastic defense" that Pétain had recently been prescribing but that the local commanders had failed to practice against the offensive of May 27. A drive from Dormans, on the left flank of the Germans' huge Soissons–Reims bulge, across the Marne toward Épernay simply made the Germans' situation more precarious when Foch's long-prepared counterstroke was launched on July 18. In this great counterstroke one of Foch's armies assailed the Germans' Champagne bulge from the west, another from the southwest, one more from the south, and a fourth from the vicinity of Reims. Masses of light tanks—a weapon on which Ludendorff had placed little reliance, preferring gas instead in his plans for the year—played a vital part in forcing the Germans into a hasty retreat. By August 2 the French had pushed the Champagne front back to a line following the Vesle River from Reims and then along the Aisne to a point west of Soissons.
Having recovered the initiative, the Allies were determined not to lose it, and for their next blow they chose again the front north and south of the Somme. The British 4th Army, including Australian and Canadian forces, with 450 tanks, struck the Germans with maximum surprise on Aug. 8, 1918. Overwhelming the German forward divisions, who had failed to entrench themselves adequately since their recent occupation of the "Michael" bulge, the 4th Army advanced steadily for four days, taking 21,000 prisoners and inflicting as many or more casualties at the cost of only about 20,000 casualties to itself, and halting only when it reached the desolation of the old battlefields of 1916. Several German divisions simply collapsed in the face of the offensive, their troops either fleeing or surrendering. The Battle of Amiens was thus a striking material and moral success for the Allies. Ludendorff put it differently: "August 8 was the black day of the German Army in the history of the war.…It put the decline of our fighting power beyond all doubt.…The war must be ended." He informed Emperor William II and Germany's political chiefs that peace negotiations should be opened before the situation became worse, as it must. The conclusions reached at a German Crown Council held at Spa were that "We can no longer hope to break the war-will of our enemies by military operations," and "the objects of our strategy must be to paralyse the enemy's war-will gradually by a strategic defensive." In other words, the German high command had abandoned hope of victory or even of holding their gains and hoped only to avoid surrender.
Meanwhile, the French had retaken Montdidier and were thrusting toward Lassigny (between Roye and Noyon); and on August 17 they began a new drive from the Compiègne salient south of Noyon. Then, in the fourth week of August, two more British armies went into action on the Arras–Albert sector of the front, the one advancing directly eastward on Bapaume, the other operating farther to the north. From then on Foch delivered a series of hammer blows along the length of the German front, launching a series of rapid attacks at different points, each broken off as soon as its initial impetus waned, and all close enough in time to attract German reserves, which consequently were unavailable to defend against the next Allied attack along a different part of the front. By the early days of September the Germans were back where they had been before March 1918—behind the Hindenburg Line.
The Allies' recovery was consummated by the first feat executed by Pershing's U.S. forces as an independent army (hitherto the U.S. divisions in France had fought only in support of the major French or British units): the U.S. 1st Army on September 12 erased the triangular Saint-Mihiel salient that the Germans had been occupying since 1914 (between Verdun and Nancy).
The clear evidence of the Germans' decline decided Foch to seek victory in the coming autumn of 1918 instead of postponing the attempt until 1919. All the Allied armies in the west were to combine in a simultaneous offensive.


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Pancho and Lefty
|"Pancho and Lefty"
|Song by Townes Van Zandt
|from the album The Late Great Townes Van Zandt
|Country, Folk
|Townes Van Zandt
|"Pancho and Lefty"
|Single by Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson
|from the album Pancho & Lefty
|"Opportunity to Cry"
|April 30, 1983
|Townes Van Zandt
|Merle Haggard singles chronology
|Willie Nelson singles chronology
"Pancho and Lefty" is a song written by country music artist Townes Van Zandt. Often considered his "most enduring and well-known song," Van Zandt first recorded it for his 1972 album The Late Great Townes Van Zandt.[1]
Cover versions[edit]
- Emmylou Harris then covered the song for her 1977 album, Luxury Liner.
- Also in 1977, Hoyt Axton recorded it on his album Snowblind Friend.
- In 1983, Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson adopted it as the title track of their duet album Pancho & Lefty, and was a number one country hit .[2]
Members of the Western Writers of America chose it as the 17th greatest Western song of all time.[3]
Content and composition[edit]
The song tells the story of a Mexican bandit named Pancho and a more enigmatic character, Lefty. The song tells of Pancho's death and implies that he was betrayed by his associate Lefty who was paid off by the Mexican federales.
Although the lyrics are not exactly reconcilable with the historic details of the life and death of the famous Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa, Van Zandt does not rule out the idea. In an interview, he recalled, "I realize that I wrote it, but it's hard to take credit for the writing, because it came from out of the blue. It came through me and it's a real nice song, and I think, I've finally found out what it's about. I've always wondered what it's about. I kinda always knew it wasn't about Pancho Villa, and then somebody told me that Pancho Villa had a buddy whose name in Spanish meant 'Lefty.' But in the song, my song, Pancho gets hung. 'They only let him hang around out of kindness I suppose' and the real Pancho Villa was assassinated."[4]
In the same interview, Van Zandt recalled, "We got stopped by these two policeman and...they said 'What do you do for a living?', and I said, 'Well, I'm a songwriter', and they both kind of looked around like 'pitiful, pitiful', and so on to that I added, 'I wrote that song "Pancho and Lefty". You ever heard that song "Pancho and Lefty"? I wrote that', and they looked back around and they looked at each other and started grinning, and it turns out that their squad car, you know their partnership, it was two guys, it was an Anglo and a Hispanic, and it turns out, they're called Pancho and Lefty ... so I think maybe that's what it's about, those two guys ... I hope I never see them again."[4]
Music video[edit]
A music video was released for the song in 1983, depicting Willie Nelson as Pancho, and Merle Haggard as Lefty. Townes Van Zandt also appears in a supporting role.
Chart performance[edit]
Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard[edit]
|Chart (1983)
|U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles
|U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary
|Canadian RPM Country Tracks
Notes and sources[edit]
- ^ Beviglia, Jim (30 April 2012). "Townes van Zandt, "Pancho and Lefty"". American Songwriter. Retrieved 5 June 2012.
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 148.
- ^ Western Writers of America (2010). "The Top 100 Western Songs". American Cowboy. Archived from the original on 10 August 2014.
- ^ a b 1984 PBS series, "Austin Pickers". Ed Heffelfinger. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZrAy6iXj7o
External links[edit]
- 1972 songs
- 1983 singles
- 2013 singles
- Townes Van Zandt songs
- Merle Haggard songs
- Willie Nelson songs
- George Canyon songs
- Vocal duets
- Songs written by Townes Van Zandt
- Song recordings produced by Chips Moman
- Billboard Hot Country Songs number-one singles
- RPM Country Tracks number-one singles
- Epic Records singles
- Universal Music Canada singles


text:
Mantova is an ambitious young neo-conservative activist, ardent supporter of the global war on terror, Fortuna Union High School graduate, and a past Eureka Reporter columnist.
A couple of years ago, after The Eureka Reporter first started, I contacted Mantova after reading one of his columns titled, "It is Time to Invade Iran." Since he is such a fan of aggressive military solutions to solve the world's problems, he should be eager to enlist.
Mantova flatly refused to concede to serving the United States in the military. The money quote from these conversations came when Mantova berated me for what he said was my "hillbilly, intellectually vacant and morally repugnant belief that 'those who call for war must serve.'"...
These days, Anthony Mantova is a young fellow on the rise in GOP politics. He is the national field director for an organization called The Leadership Institute..... Karl Rove, Grover Norquist, Ralph Reed, Jack Abramoff and James Guckert (aka Jeff Gannon) are some notable graduates of The Leadership Institute.
Why is it, I often wonder, that many of those most eager to embroil our nation in war are simultaneously strenuously opposed to serving in the military? Many Right-Wing luminaries come to mind - Limbaugh, Gingrich, Cheney, O'Reilly, Carlson, Hannity, Reagan, some pudgy-faced twit who has his own right-wing radio show in Florida, the names in bold above, etc. - all advocates of many a war, none having served.
It is very easy to advocate sending someone else in to fight to try to implement some religio-politically, ideologically driven 'policy.' It is something else entirely to be willing to fight to implement the policies you advocate. This simple truth has been brought up before - the truth being that those advocating war but refusing to fight themselves being morally repugnant cowards - and dismissed by those it applies to. Sure, they appear to have 'sound' replies, such as 'one need not play football to have a favorite team' and other such idiotic drivel. I am not sure which is more pathetic - that these Chickenhawks actually find such excuses convincing, or that many in their fanbase do.
But those of us that have served, even if in peacetime, should feel differently (though, sickeningly, some veterans' political affiliation often seems to color their common sense on these issues). We should feel anger, disgust, humiliation. We are essentially being told by these right-wing cowards and hypocrites that we are expendable as far as they are concerned. That we are/were somehow beneath them, that military service is for the dregs of society, not the high and mighty, bible-toting Republican elite. That we are/were little more than pawns for the Republican power elite to use as they see fit.
Oh, sure, some of them might have their rich daddy make some calls and secure for them a coveted spot in a unit that is guaranteed stateside duty even in wartime so they can boast of having served - but that is, as far as I am concerned, just as bad as the chickenhawk-sissy that gets deferments or has the family doctor write them a bogus 'excuse' or those that simply advocate invading everyone to assert our power while not only flatly refusing to serve themselves, but also considering those that did serve as having the "hillbilly, intellectually vacant and morally repugnant belief that 'those who call for war must serve."
It is, in fact, people like Anthony Montova and the other right-wing chickenhawks and their enablers in the electorate and media consumers who have the hillbilly, morally repugnant beliefs. Whatever ill-will befalls them, they richly deserve.