Thankful For Life And Eating

Photo one is three good reasons for me to be thankful this year. Photo two is another.

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Holiday Eating Tips...Wink, Wink!
Tongue-In-Cheek Tips For A Chuckle
By Robin McClure, About.com

For all you would-be dieters and health-conscious party-goers around the holidays, here are 10 tongue-in-cheek holiday eating tips worth a chuckle...or at least a brownie or three!

When eating around the holidays, here are tips to consider before having that next food orgy at the all-you-can eat buffet!

Avoid carrot sticks. Anyone who puts carrots on a holiday buffet table knows nothing of the seasonal spirit. In fact, if you see carrots, leave immediately. Go next door, where they're serving rum balls.

Drink as much eggnog as you can. And quickly. Like fine single-malt scotch, it's rare. In fact, it's even rarer than single-malt scotch. You can't find it any other time of year but now. So drink up! Who cares that it has 10,000 calories in every sip? It's not as if you're going to turn into an eggnog-aholic or something. It's a treat. Enjoy it. Have one for me. Have two. Toast to the holidays!

If something comes with gravy, use it. That's the whole point of gravy. Gravy does not stand alone. Pour it on. Make a volcano out of your mashed potatoes. Fill it with gravy. Eat the volcano. Repeat.

As for mashed potatoes, always ask if they're made with skim milk or whole milk. If it's skim, pass. Why bother? It's like buying a sports car with an automatic transmission.

Do not have a snack before going to a party in an effort to control your eating. The whole point of going to a holiday party is to eat other people's food for free. Lots of it. Hello?

Under no circumstances should you exercise between now and New Year's. You can do that in January when you have nothing else to do. This is the time for long naps, which you'll need after circling the buffet table while carrying a 10-pound plate of food and that vat of eggnog.

If you come across something really good at a buffet table, like frosted cookies in the shape and size of Santa, position yourself near them and don't budge. Have as many as you can before becoming the center of attention. They're like a beautiful pair of shoes. If you leave them behind, you're never going to see them again.

Same for pies. Apple. Pumpkin. Mincemeat. Have a slice of each. Or, if you don't like mincemeat, have two apples and one pumpkin. Always have three. When else do you get to have more than one dessert? Labor Day?

Did someone mention fruitcake? Granted, it's loaded with the mandatory celebratory calories, but avoid it at all cost. I mean, have some standards.

One final tip: If you don't feel terrible when you leave the party or get up from the table, you haven't been paying attention.

Reread tips; start over, but hurry, January is just around the corner!

Note from Guide: Author is unknown, but this list has been circulating across the public internet, so it's fair game to spread the holiday cheer!

An Iraqi Thanksgiving

(click on any image to enlarge)


Friends/Family, below is an Email from an ROTC buddy of mine, 1LT Sgroi, some of you know Tony, some of you don't, please keep him in your prayers as he approaches his final months in Iraq and celebrates Thanksgiving over there.
Cheers,
-Sam
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Hello everyone!
I realize it's been months since I sent out a big email update so I figured today would be a good day to get it done.
Anyhow, Happy Thanksgiving to all of you and your families. I'm thankful that I have so many great friends and family that have supported me since I've been here. It's been almost a year now, and I've still got about 3 months left. Hopefully the time will go by quickly.
Work here has been kind of crazy as of lately. Just like when I was in school, as time winds down I seem to get busier and more overworked. Since I started working in the city of Abu Ghraib, I've learned to expect anything and be ready for it at any time of the day or night. My men and I are all pretty tired, and definitely ready to come home (or at least take a break). It's that kind of exhaustion that can't be fixed by taking a day off or sleeping. We all need some serious relaxation (and a beer) I think.
The bright side of all that work though is all the progress we've accomplished here. Abu Ghraib has gone through a major transformation over the last year. The residents feel safe again, and we've begun to really focus on rebuilding. Over the last couple of weeks we've been paving roads, installing street lights, renovating hospitals and schools, and cleaning up a lot of the rubble from the war. People are sometimes so thankful that they'll invite me into their homes and insist on feeding me. Iraqis are some of the most generous people you'll ever meet and I've learned to respect and love that about this place.
Of course there's always still some bad guys left and that's what I spend most of my time doing is targeting those remnants of the insurgency. Its similar to being a detective and a SWAT team all at once.
Anyhow, I hope you're all doing well. You're all in my thoughts and prayers, especially those of you who may be reading this and here in Iraq or on your way here soon.
God bless and happy Thanksgiving.
Tony

THANKSGIVING

by Thomas F. McGorray
Special Agent FBI Ret.

For the wealth that is our friendship,
Whereon no harm did fall;
For the training that we shared alike,
That let us each stand tall.
For the cases that we worked and solved
For the paths we all did trod
For the bravery of our fallen ones,
I thank thee, O my God!


For reports that were well written
And the grace to do what's right.
With our egos badly smitten
Long hours worked through the night.
For Thy safety and protection,
And the disciplining rod
For our fight against crimes evil,
I thank Thee, O my God!


For respecting badge and gun,
And the laws that show the way.
For success in our endeavors,
For completing every day.
For the justice that we strove for
For your blessings and your nod,
For all our brothers died for,
I thank Thee, O my God


For the splendor of your wisdom
Deep rooted in all things
For justice that was well served
And all that goodness brings.
For agents steeped in courage,
We stand so proud, yet awed,
For watching o'er our Bureau,
I thank Thee, O my God.


And as our time grows shorter
And as our suns do set.
We thank thee for this journey
Each agent that we met.
For helping in the battle,
Within, above, abroad,
For watching o'er us daily,
I thank Thee, O my God.

Close Encounter Of A Piper Kind!!

I have been a road bicycle rider since about 1980. After several years in the dirt on the MTB with Sam I bought a Trek 1000 in 2006 and went back to the roads.
So 38 plus years of riding I have had numerous "close encounters". Almost hitting a deer at 40 MPH in a rain storm on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Elbow brushed by passing vehicles. Empty beer cans bounced off my helmet. Dogs, plenty of dogs (but no bites). Last week's Arte Johnson in the middle of Eskimo Hill road. This to name a few.
I might have to rank last nights Piper encounter as one of the most unique yet. I was out wandering and decided to do a loop of Dogwood Air park, just off Route 1 near Stafford High School. Looking at the photo, I came in on the far right road/taxi way, rode to the far East end and then came back. I cross over to the road on the left heading for Piper Lane. Half way down an airplane landed East to West. I didn't give it much thought as I turned left onto Piper lane, looking up to the top of about a 1/2 mile hill. So imagine my surprise as I am half way up I am out of the saddle, and I hear the airplane behind me. I reached the top and end of the road and turned back to see the Piper taxiing toward me. Not knowing which house he was heading for I backed off the road as far as possible and just watched. He turned left into the last driveway, closest to me, his wing tip less than 30' from me. I just wish I had my camera.

Nice Day For a Hike

We spent an hour hiking with the Morris kids, Conwell and Holland in the Fredericksburg Battlefield. (click on any image to enlarge)

Winning Isn't News

By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY

Iraq: What would happen if the U.S. Won a war but the media didn't tell the American public? Apparently, we have to rely on a British newspaper for the news that we've defeated the last remnants of al-Qaida in Iraq .

London's Sunday Times called it 'the culmination of one of the most spectacular victories of the war on terror.' A terrorist force that once numbered more than 12,000, with strongholds in the west and central regions of Iraq, has over two years been reduced to a mere 1,200 fighters, backed against the wall in the northern city of Mosul.

The destruction of al-Qaida in Iraq (AQI) is one of the most unlikely and unforeseen events in the long history of American warfare. We can thank President Bush's surge strategy, in which he bucked both Republican and Democratic leaders in Washington by increasing our forces there instead of surrendering.

We can also thank the leadership of the new general he placed in charge there, David Petraeus, who may be the foremost expert in the world on counter-insurgency warfare. And we can thank those serving in our military in Iraq who engaged local Iraqi tribal leaders and convinced them America was their friend and AQI their enemy.

Al-Qaida's loss of the hearts and minds of ordinary Iraqis began in Anbar Province, which had been written off as a basket case, and spread out from there.

Now, in Operation Lion's Roar the Iraqi army and the U.S. 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment is destroying the fraction of terrorists who are left. More than 1,000 AQI operatives have already been apprehended.

Sunday Times reporter Marie Colvin, traveling with Iraqi forces in Mosul, found little AQI presence even in bullet-ridden residential areas that were once insurgency strongholds, and reported that the terrorists have lost control of its Mosul urban base, with what is left of the organization having fled south into the countryside.

Meanwhile, the State Department reports that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government has achieved 'satisfactory' progress on 15 of the 18 political benchmarks 'a big change for the better from a year ago.'

Things are going so well that Maliki has even for the first time floated the idea of a timetable for withdrawal of American forces. He did so while visiting the United Arab Emirates , which over the weekend announced that it was forgiving almost $7 billion of debt owed by Baghdad, an impressive vote of confidence from a fellow Arab state in the future of a free Iraq.

But where are the headlines and the front-page stories about all this good news? As the Media Research Center pointed out last week, 'the CBS Evening News, NBC Nightly News and CNN's Anderson Cooper 360 were silent Tuesday night about the benchmarks 'that signaled political progress.'

The war in Iraq has been turned around 180 degrees both militarily and politically because the president stuck to his guns. Yet apart from IBD, Fox News Channel and parts of the foreign press, the media don't seem to consider this historic event a big story.

Copyright 2008 Investor's Business Daily. All Rights Reserved.

Addendum: The reason you haven't seen this on American television or read about it in the American press is simple--journalism is 'dead' in this country. They are controlled by Liberal Democrats who would rather see our troops defeated than recognize a successful Republican initiated response to 9/11.

Adventure Cycling Association