Well, I done been gone for too long.  I can't believe it's been two years since my last Random Ten post.  I'll try to get on here a little more, but havin' two jobs and pumping care packages to Iraq on a regular basis have kept me a touch on the busy side.   Enough excuses.  I'm gonna try to ease back into the Joe User community slowly.  So, to start off, a simple edition of my favorite game:  Random Ten.   For those that aren't familiar, Random Ten...

Alright, it's been forever since I've put anything substantive on here, so it's time I got off my butt and did something... This has been a pet issue for me for a while, so I'm going to spout off about it now. Similar to Greywar, pseudosoldier, chiprj, and a number of others on here, I am/was in the military, and I am/was involved in the intelligence field. As such, it is in my professional interest to do research on current events, and terrorism has been a "current event" for the intel ...

Okay, a new episode of Random Ten. Here are the first ten tracks playing on my iPod this morning: 1. "Life" - Haddaway 2. "Roadhouse Blues" - The Doors 3. "Bad Boys" - Inner Circle 4. "Always On Time" - Ja Rule Feat. Ashanti 5. "Up On The Catwalk" - Simple Minds 6. "Why God Loves You" - P.M. Dawn 7. "Rocket Base" - Jark Prongo (from Fatboy Slim's "Live on Brighton Beach" mix CD) 8. "Let U Go" - ATB 9. "Heaven (Extended Mix)" - DJ Sammy & Yanou Feat. Do 10. "Ocean Avenue"...

Okay, following in Soul Man's footsteps, I'll start posting the Random 10. Essentially, this is a little list of the first 10 songs that are played on your iPod in shuffle mode. It can be a little interesting to see exactly how eccentric people's music interests are. So, without further ado, the Random 10 for 14 July 2006: 1. "Don't Pull Your Love" - Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds 2. "Satisfaction (Greece Vocal)" - Benny Benassi Feat. The Biz 3. "Get Ready To Bounce (Radio Attack)"...

Sorry I've been away so long. Circumstances have conspired against me, and prevented me from being more active here (that's an excuse...I've just been lazy). At least I'm doing better than Greywar...not sure which side of the Earth he fell off of... Anyway, my wife and I went up to Atlantic City this past weekend. It was a first time for both of us. We didn't really get out of the casino/hotel much, so we are both excited about going back. We stayed at the Trump Taj Mahal, and it was ...

I actually read this book several months ago, but just finished it's sequel, so I figured I'd drop a review of this one first, and then another review for the sequel. Anyway, a couple of buddies at work recommended the book to me, and I think it was pretty good. It's not the deepest book out there, and if you just want a light read and are into military history and military technology, you might like it. It's essentially the plot of the movie "The Final Countdown", which for those who...

Well, things have been pretty quiet here in Baghdad. I had been here almost a full week, and while I've heard folks talk about "hearing gunfire", I hadn't heard a damn thing. This place was seeming less and less like a "war zone" by the day. Then, around 9-10pm two nights ago, I'm out chatting with a couple of guys here, and I hear the following: pop pop bang pop pop bang pop bang bang pop pop pop DUDUDUDUDUDU (heavy machine gun fire....some...

Not that I'm the most prolific contributor here anyway, but there may be a considerable dry spell forthcoming. I will be flying out tomorrow for a 6-week short tour to work in Iraq. Should be back in later March. Not sure how much free time I'll have, and how much access I'll have to the internet. Hope everybody else has a great Valentine's Day, President's Day, and whatever else happens in March.... Talk at ya later....

Okay, just finished another politically oriented book. This one was titled "The Ten Things You Can't Say In America", written by Larry Elder. I give the book a 4 out of 5. Not the best work I've ever read, and there were some points that Larry made along the way that I question (along the lines of "your argument sounds good, but how valid is your data"?). Overall, the book was pretty good. Not much new information for me, but I've done a bit of reading on modern political philosophy a...

Peter Schweizer's book, Do As I Say (Not As I Do): Profiles in Liberal Hypocrisy, gets a 3 1/2 out of 5 rating from me. I just finished it in Audiobook on CD format (to listen to while commuting to and from work), and I mostly enjoyed it. Schweizer takes a look at several liberal "leaders", including Noah Chomsky, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, Michael Moore, Ralph Nader, Al Franken, Cornell West, Ted Kennedy, and Barbara Streisand. Schweizer makes a point in the opening of the bo...

Okay, maybe they don't really like me. I'm just excited to actually have my first featured article here at Joe User. A real accomplishment. Now if I can just remember to put my pants on before I leave for work in the morning...... Thanks everybody for the support!

I watched part of 60 Minutes this evening, and they had a piece on Morgan Freeman. Among the issues he talked about, race and racism was discussed. In my opinion, Mr. Freeman has a GREAT perspective on race. You can check out the whole story here . Mr. Freeman recognizes that the way to get rid of racism is to ignore race. I was perusing a local college class schedule, thinking about going back for some continuing education. I found a class labeled "African-American Literature". Why...

Just got back yesterday from a week-long business trip to train some folks on the software I work with. Not the most fun I've ever had, but it was better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick. What made the trip really worthwhile however, was getting to spend some time with an old friend, whom many of you know as Greywar. I haven't seen him since sometime in 2000, and it was the first time I had the pleasure of meeting his wife, Estrogen Lass. We didn't get to spend as much time toget...

Okay, I'll preface this and let everybody know that it is going to be a petty rant on my part. This "issue" has been irritating me for the past week, and this morning I got pushed over the edge. One of my primary duties in my current position is to instruct a visualization software application. Anybody who knows me (all 3 of you out there who read this), know that this is a little humorous, since I'm not exactly a guy on the cutting edge of technology. Nevertheless, since most of the us...

Okay, between the dozen or so family members from both sides of the family that were there, we have literally hundreds upon hundreds of pictures of our wedding. We haven't correlated all of them yet, but we've gotten a good group together. I've gone through and picked out some "good" ones, and put them up in a Yahoo photo album. Anybody interested can check it out here : There are over 100 pictures in there, so it can take a few minutes to see them all... Sorry! Shout at y'all la...