While on deployment in the Arabian Gulf, I was a part of the initial fleet that waged war. Later, in May, leaving the Bahrain port, I quit smoking cold turkey. I haven't touched a cig since. Pretty effing cool, considering I was a pack of reds a day smoker for nearly 10 years.
I'm for sure not going to comment about what happened on this date ten years ago. That conversation would get this thread moved to D&D pronto.
10 years ago today was the 21 years ago today anniversary of Randy Rhoads passing away. Whoa... Crazy Train.
I was in grad school. That evening, I was preparing for an interview at the State Department. It was hard to focus because I was glued to the TV. The atmosphere was electric and tense. Every newspaper, radio station, and news channel had been hyping up the ultimatum. Many of my peers were neoconservatives (who now work for the GOP in one way or another), and they were ecstatic at the prospect for a 'new American century.' Looking back, it was a strange time. For all I knew I may have been a marionette in Team America - World Police. A professor of mine then said it reminded him of the night LBJ made his speech on August 4, 1964 after the Gulf of Tonkin incident/fabrication. Moments like that make me very suspicious of nationalism, our infotainment media, jingoism, and mob mentality.
