Secret Weapon: Part II

Much to my surprise, after yesterday's post on Heather's piece of the pie in Gerry Riskin's Professional Law Blog, I was quite frankly astonished to see a follow-up post from Gerry: Secret Weapon: Validated!
Gerry found my post and included it in his daily blogging this morning, with a brief tribute to my words, linking my site, my poor little site, to the REAL blogosphere. Mr. Riskin probably has more important things to do, so a huge thank you goes out to him, and his posts.
I must say that I'm a bit startled by the notion that my blog is actually being read, by anyone. Up till now I just thought this was a great writing exercise. Readers? Links? Oh what shall I wear?

My Wife; The Secret Weapon

I find it only fitting that on the two year anniversary of my marriage to the infamous Crazy H, praise comes to Heather from all angles. Now I won't even begin to tell you how amazing this girl really is, because people will become nauseated and I'll lose the respect of friends, not to mention my tough-guy status; but H is awesome. Awesome for who she is as a friend and wife, what she stands for on morals and principles (sometimes too much), and in what she does. In this case it's her career.
Now I've referred to H as the secret weapon, but it's usually been on the football field, as she'll dazzle you as a receiver and stump you on D (not to mention an abnormal female arm), but the reference didn't come from me this time. It was by a well-known, world-famous attorney that has had the pleasure of working with Heather's revolutionary firm (and mine :) ?). He put the "Secret Weapon" label on H for her quality of work and knowledge with something most have a hard time contemplating. The complement can be seen on the Amazing Firms, Amazing Practices Blog. Be sure to check it out. I'm proud of her and love her more everyday.

Personal Account Outperforms Fact

Maybe that's why Blogs, whether for business or pleasure, are having such an impact on society, that people would rather hear the personal side of the story than the statistical account. Perhaps it's the change from normal media outlets, the reality TV of communication if you will, that we all find so appealing, so different from the historical norm, that we're finding subconscious entertainment in how we receive info, not just from the info itself.
As for me, blogs have revitalized my reading habits; revolutionized the way I receive information. Reading IS fun after all, and I don't think I'm the only one experiencing this re-birth of written communication formats.
But the difference is that this reincarnation doesn't transfer to the other avenues of media. I'm not reading the newspaper. Who still buys the paper? Newspapers are black-and-white sheets of smeary, dirty boredom, but less because of the chemical makeup, and more about the content (did I mention the bias that spews from conventional media avenues?) . It wouldn't be so bad if they and TV didn't try and pass their info off as the 100% genuine article, but they do, and that's what's not to love.
Not to say that blogs always get it right, but the difference is no one is up on the pedestal saying they are. It's your choice as to how your entertained with news, you pick the RSS feeds that you want to read, and that point of you is typically your point of view, which is what you find interesting. Hannity's apples to Colmes' oranges, just without the opposing/wrong view. Entertainment bliss at last.
I've digressed from my original point, again, so I'll mention the fact that my "gossip" posts get more readers than anything of thought. People love the juicy good stuff, and blogs have brought the goods. You want Jack Welch's opinion of Kitchen Aid mixers, you got it. You want Area 51 sexcapade tales, it's there. A niche for everyone, and that's why these things won't be going anywhere anytime soon.

A Soldier's Note

A good and trusted friend of my periodically sends updates on the latest happenings he's personally involved with as a Special Forces XO in Afghanistan. The more he learns of the way the media portrays and dis-informs the public is beginning to wear on him. The following is his recent update:
Just some information that I would like to put out about what is really going on over here. Just FYI, this information is coming from a reliable source....Me, who actually see what is really happening

The Headlines the media didn't report but should have:

1) $10,000 in medical books donated to Afghanistan University in local province by United States Army soldiers and Doctors

2) Two Mosques rebuilt with donated supplies, equipment, with the help of American Soldiers and local nationals.

3) Over One-hundred Korans donated to local mosques by American Soldiers

4) 8-year old Afghan girl MEDEVAC to US Army Hospital to repair foot that was blown up after stepping on mine left by Taliban/Al Quaida (She is recovering nicely and will be up on her feet within the next month, because a United States Physician Assistant and a SF Medic got to her quickly, and got her to the hospital by Helo in record time)

5) Over 250 books, pens, paper and pencils given to Local Afghan boys and girls for school that was built by American Soldiers and Local Nationals (Kind of a thrill when they come running to the side of road, both boys and girls waving their Text books as the go walk to school)

6) Over 750 Afghan Nationals treated at Special Forces Medical Clinic

7) Another Platoon of Afghan Security Force (ASF) graduated from Special Forces training camp and joins their company at their Border Control Point (BCP) to protect their country against terroists.

8) Classes by American Soldier taught 3-days a week to Afghan soldiers to improve reading and writing skills

9) 12 Terroist stopped by ASF as they try to infiltrate into Afghanistan.

Not bad headlines that the media neglects to print...and oh by the way this was a slow WEEK for accomplishments that your soldiers do on a regular basis.

Just thought it was some information that you would want to read that the media doesn't think is news worthy.

CPT, SF
Khowst Province, Afghanistan

Chris's Mistake

Here's a message created by my recently-single brother, who is learning to be more perceptive about selecting women to date at his ripe-old age of 26.

Dinner in the City: $125
Parking: $ 40
Gas and Tolls: $ 25
Drinks: $ 25
Breakfast: $ 20

Finding out the girl you went on the date with is a 30 year old angry man-hater who is going to be alone for the rest of her life:

Priceless

Want Ivy Leaguers? Drink the Water in Bellevue

MSNBC released a report on the Top High Schools in America, ranking your high school and mine based on a ratio called the Challenge Index devised by Jay Mathews: the number of Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate tests taken by all students at a school in 2002 divided by the number of graduating seniors. Private schools and schools that select more than 50% of their students were omitted from the results to keep rankings unskewed.
Bellevue, Washington represented three of the top 20 schools on the list, an unprecedented achievement by any stretch, with a fourth district school inside the top 500. Perhaps Bellevue, which can be found 15 minutes west of Seattle (across Lake Washington), houses the the best and brightest students because it houses the best and brightest parents? Maybe Bill Gates has something to do with it? Bold claims, not really. Bellevue is home to the majority of employees at Microsoft, with it's world HQ's next door, and can be seen as a spawning ground for business inspiration, tech or otherwise. Why, well some may say the mountains, others the Puget Sound, even maybe that traffic in Seattle, but whatever they say, it's where everyone who's anyone wants to be, and if you're their, you've arrived. Yes, you probably live near a community such as this in your neck of the woods, but the elements and ingredients of this one make it an exponential success for smart people; a breeding ground for big thinkers. The result, motivated kids (says the rankings), and alot of money to motivate them, both at home and in the school district. Money equals eduacation to some degree, but the alternative of centralized school funding by the state is a disaster-tale for a different blog I don't have the time or patience to write about right now.
Click the link above and find out if your high school made the cut for America's best high schools.

My Notables: Randolph, NJ (my school): #554 Chatham, NJ #732 Bozeman, MT #434 Comment with your notables.

The Skinny on Fat

Th U.S. Government established new dietary guidlines in January, and unveiled a new version of that iconic "food pyramid" we've all learned to love, this week. They've officially done away with the horizontal bars on the pyramid of old, apparently because Americans have had a hard time comprehending triangular shapes that stack horizontally; since 1985 obesity and weight-related diesease has ballooned (pun intended). Two-thirds of Americans are now considered overweight, if not outright obese according to government statistics, and child obesity is the largest growing segment.
The saddest part about all this is that everyone is lying about it. The government research showed that admittal of consumption vs. grocery store purchases was dead-on accurate for foods like fruits and vegetables, but when it came to refined grains and sugars, the databases differed wildly. I know that Pyramid can be dam-tricky with all five lines and colors on it, but do we really not know what we're eating, or is denial a much easier way to hide the truth (because it's hard to hide, duh). Do we really not understand what a twinkie (or a venti carmel frappacinno (hate to tell you: 750 calories)) is made up of and does to our bodies?
I'd like to believe that I'm a health-conscious individual that understands food breakdown and the do's and don't of good-eating, but I'm also just as bad as the next guy, honestly. I fight myself nightly for ice-cream, nightly, and granted it's always low-fat, I understand the sugars suplemented to make it that way. My saving grace is working-out and a 24 yr old metabolism, not a stronger will to "fight the urge" that most people can't resist (although my wife seems to think so on rare occasion with nights when she succumbs to the dark-side that is the freezer of ice-cream when I perserver against all ice-cream odds).
So there, I can't look down upon anyone for there over-powering temptations, but I can tell you that you're the master of your domain, and that your children are under your control (or at least should be, and if you've lost that control I'd stop reading and google for a new search on parenting), so their eating habits are your success or failure (obviously to a certain age, but we're not talking about teenagers, and hopefully you've been a good enough example that they'll continue the trend, at least until college, then all bets are off, especial for thirsty freshman girls; sorry dads). Children can't get fat on what they can't eat.
You can link to the United States Dept of Agriculture for a view of the new pyramid and calculate your necessary caloric intake based on individual criteria.