GOING TO IRAQ - PART I (ORIENTATION)

Since I’m going for a 90 day or so tour in Iraq starting in late September, I thought I’d summarize my experience so far by commenting on the orientation tour that began this assignment.

The orientation itself was quite common-sense:

Iraq has two seasons - hot and hotter.
Always wear your body armor/helmet when outside camp.
Don’t get captured - it’s bad for your health.
The base exchange is well-stocked; if you can buy ‘em at Wal Mart,
you can buy ‘em here.

What was interesting about the experience were the attendees themselves. About half were military officers, the rest civilians. The officers were typically field-grade, and many were preparing for their second, and in some cases, third tour. They were serious, business-like, optimistic, opinionated, and yes, realistic. Much of the value of the orientation session came from listening to their discussions of what went well, what didn’t go well, and how to improve.

The civilians were even more interesting as a group. I don’t know what I did expect, but I didn’t expect what I saw. The civilians divided rather neatly into two equal groups: under 35 and over 55 - no “middle-aged.” In all other aspects, a more diverse population I’ve never seen. No two alike in terms of personal history, occupation, or field assignment. Two were women; one going to the field where weapons qualification was required (she qualified “Expert”), the other to an embassy assignment. One man was a former State Department contract worker recently back from Afghanistan. Two were retired Army, one officer and one enlisted. The retired officer was going on a technically-oriented field assignment; the retired enlisted man was going to the International Zone as an Iraqi culture expert. And then there was me.

One last item on the age gap. The younger group, as a group, tended to be quite adventurous and enthusiastic about ‘making change happen;’ the elders, me included, tended to be more business-like and less sanguine about our ability to change things.

With age comes wisdom, perhaps - or at least caution.

SODUKU

Any takers? This one is rated “very hard” and I’m forced to agree. I can get this far (black is for the starting numbers; blue is for my contributions) without guessing. I still (naively?) believe it can be solved by logic alone, but the proof is in filling in the blanks ....

UPDATE (9/1/2006): Reader Janet G. reports that she has solved the Soduku puzzle without resorting to guessing. Congratulations!

CHICKENHAWKS

I’ve noticed spotty outbreaks of the ‘chickenhawk virus’ in the blogosphere since the war in Lebanon began. If ‘chickenhawk’ is the proper term for a pro-war advocate without prior military service, doesn’t it follow that ‘chicken’ is the proper term for an anti-war advocate without prior military service?

JEEZ - NOW FAUXTOGRAPHY

Just when you think media reporting of Iraq/Iran/Israel can’t possibly get any worse, we find that even the photographs are fraudulent.

RIGHT, LEFT, AND WRONG

Over breakfast last week my wife (who’s a elementary teacher preparing to return from summer vacation) observed that the teachers in her school didn’t seem to care about the children.

At the micro level, I think she nailed the problem with modern education: the Right wants highly qualified teachers, a structured curriculum, and testing, and the Left wants unionized teachers, a “social justice” curriculum, and no testing. Neither gives a rat’s a-- (Ed. Note: Michael, stop that! Uh ... OK, Daisy, OK) --behind about the children themselves.

It seems to me that the three most-sought characteristics of an excellent teacher should be, first, a genuine love of children. There is simply no substitute for caring. Second, a love of, and enthusiasm for, learning. Teaching isn’t rocket science; a PhD isn’t required. Neither is a Master’s degree, or for that matter, a Bachelor’s degree. And third, a modest ability for classroom management. It used to be called “Motherhood 101” but motherhood (and fatherhood, for that matter) is now out of fashion.

If all educators shared those three characteristics, education would not be in the state it is today.

LAWYERS ACTING FOOLISH

This one is rich. I wonder if the plaintiff and defendant know that they’re paying the bill?