The GUILD 3-28-2003 Operation PEEPS!!!!

[Hillary's Lovely Legs]

Neckcar=NASCAR

[lodwick]

Andy should retire after this one:

If you missed Andy Rooney on Sunday night, read on. Most that heard him
couldn't believe their ears. They kept expecting CBS to cut him off.



A weekly commentary by CBS News correspondent Andy Rooney.
______________________________________________________



You can't beat the French when it comes to food, fashion, wine or perfume,
but they lost their license to have an opinion on world affairs years ago.
They may even be selling stuff to Iraq and don't want to hurt business.



The French are simply not reliable partners in a world where the good people
in it ought to be working together. Americans may come off as international
jerks sometimes but we're usually trying to do the right thing.



The French lost WW II to the Germans in about 20 minutes. Along with the
British, we got into the war and had about 150,000 guys killed getting their
country back for them. We fought all across France, and the Germans
surrendered in a French schoolhouse. You'd think that school building in
Reims would be a great tourist attraction but it isn't. The French seem
embarrassed by it. They don't want to call attention to the fact that we
freed them from German occupation.



I heard Steven Spielberg say the French wouldn't even let him film the D-Day
scenes in "Saving Private Ryan" on the Normandy beaches. They want people to
forget the price we paid getting their country back for them.



Americans have a right to protest going to war with Iraq. The French do not.
They owe us the independence they flaunt in our face at the U.N.



I went into Paris with American troops the day we liberated it, Aug. 25,
1944. It was one of the great days in the history of the world. French women
showered American soldiers with kisses, at the very least. The next day, the
pompous Charles de Gaulle marched down the mile long Champs Elysee to the
Place de la Concorde as if he had liberated France himself. I was there,
squeezed in among a hundred tanks we'd given the Free French Army that we
brought in with us. Suddenly there were sniper shots from the top of a
building. Thousands of Frenchmen who had come to see de Gaulle scrambled to
get under something. I got under an Army truck myself. The tank gunners
opened fire on the building where the shots had come from, firing mindlessly
at nothing. It was a wild scene that lasted, maybe, 10 minutes. When we go
to Paris every couple of years now, I rent a car. I drive around the Place
de la Concorde and when some French driver blows his horn for me to get out
of his way, I just smile and say to myself, "Go ahead, Pierre. Be my guest.
I know something about this very place you'll never know."



The French have not earned their right to have an opinion about President
Bush's plans to attack Iraq.



On the other hand, I have.

[Endeavor]

Darling, I do not know ONE Aggie that watches NASCAR. We are too busy fighting for this country:

"Texas A&M consistently produces more officers for the Armed Forces than any other Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) source. With Army, Air Force, and Navy/Marine ROTC instruction available, Texas A&M is one of the few schools to offer military commissions in all branches of service." - from the Texas A&M University Corps of Cadets website.

Gig 'Em, Aggies -- Endeavor, Class of '77

PS: I just received an invitation to Aggie Muster in Chicago. What is Muster? Every April 21st, Aggies gather across the world in various locales for Muster - the Roll Call for the Absent. Everyone stands silently while graduation class years are read off - when they call out your year, you answer "here" for all those who are no longer with us. It is an incredibly moving experience and reflects the proud and distinguished military history of the University.

"No occasion can be more sacred than one where we honor those who have honored us…The other significance of the Aggie Muster is to remind us of our duty as Aggies to the past, present, and future. We are the beneficiaries of the tireless and unselfish sacrifices of those we honor today….” - James W. Aston ‘33

[mountaineer]

You'd think that school building in Reims would be a great tourist attraction but it isn't. The French seem embarrassed by it.

That's a great piece by Andy Rooney. My cousin and I visited that school building in Reims in 1983, and I'm pretty sure there were few if any other tourists there that day. I had the same impression as Rooney, that the French didn't want to make much of a deal about it, despite its significance.

[Aggie Mama]

My favorite is the picture of Muster on Corrigedor. It should be amazing this year, no?

Aggie Mama c/o '93

[Endeavor]

Bigger and Better...
Still remembering and honoring the time spent in Aggieland, the tradition of mustering has grown in strength, meaning, and spirit. By 1929, meeting had grown worldwide, and in 1942 Aggie Muster gained international recognition. Twenty-five men, led by General George Moore '08, mustered during the Japanese Siege of the Philippine island of Corregidor. Knowing that Muster might soon be called for them, these Aggies embodied the essence of commitment, dedication, and friendship- the Aggie Spirit. They risked their lives to honor their beliefs and values. That small group of Aggies on an outpost during World War II inspired what has developed into one of our greatest traditions.

Aggie Mama - Muster should be great this year. Hey! I'm going to be in your neck of the woods next week - got time for a burger?

Loddy - I'm flying in to SA Monday for the night and staying up in Comfort - any way we can meet between Comfort and Austin for a bite of dinner? PS: Congrats on whipping those Huskies into shape tonite. (I yelled for ya - you owe me!)

[Hillary's Lovely Legs]

You are going to love this!!!!

Neckcar thread for Sunday, started TONIGHT!!!!!

[Aggie Mama]

Sounds great. =) Freepmail me with your schedule.

[Ciexyz]

"Peeps" are made by a company in PA (my home state, so occasionally our papers have articles about it.) They just celebrated their 50th anniversary of operations, and they trumpet that fact on their packaging.

Kids (including big kids like me!) like to bite the heads off the things, tee hee.

[Hillary's Lovely Legs]

4 US Soldiers were found in a shallow grave today. They had been missing in Basra. They had all been executed.

A car bomb killed 5 solders near Najaf.

[Teacup]

Good Morning all.

I just saw the Centcom briefing. Yes, the general did mention that they had found a grave (?) with what they believe to be American soliders in it. Lord Bless our troops.

As far as journalist are concerned, I have one thing to say.........."Helen Thomas" need I say more?

Helen Thomas to Ari Fletcher: "Will President Bush be using Social Security money to fight the war?"

I kid you not, I heard her ask this question. Ari should have said, "No Helen, just yours."

[BigWaveBetty]

It looks like K.D. and Sally Jessy Rafael mated.

[BigWaveBetty]

T - What do you think about Gen. William Wallace's quote that the media has been slobbering all over since yesterday?

Misinformation? If true, should he have given that sort of info to reporters?

[BigWaveBetty]

I watched this story last night. The stories these young Iraqi adults told were very compelling.

March 28 — In an effort to learn what it's like to live in a besieged Baghdad, ABCNEWS' Barbara Walters sat down with five survivors of the bombing in the last Gulf War. Young adults now, they were children when American bombs rained from the sky in 1991. They tell her what they experienced, and what children currently in the Iraqi capital will probably be facing.

[snip] Over 43 days and nights, hundreds of bombs fell on Baghdad. Amer was 13 and says he was unafraid.

"I used to count the bombs that dropped. I used to go and tell everyone, 'Oh, today they dropped seven bombs,' " he said. "You went to sleep every night thinking, 'Tomorrow, I am either going to be free, or I am going to be dead.' "

His sister Maha, now a medical doctor, was 15. "I remember very well that my father said, 'Don't panic, we don't even have to go to the shelter,' " she said. "And actually, we stood behind the windows, watching the cruise missiles hitting the Ministry of Defense, across the river from us." [snip]

In Saddam Hussein's Iraq, fear is a daily part of life, and it begins early. Schoolchildren are trained to show love for their leader. The indoctrination begins at a young age, and parents warn their children that even mild expressions of discontent could draw brutal punishment.

"We had to carry this responsibility with us since we were young," said Mohammed. "You were a kid, but you were responsible. You know that your entire family's fate lies in your hands." [snip]

Now bombs are falling on Baghdad again. Watching from half a world away, these young people hope that this time, the outcome of the war will be different.

"When I saw that, I felt tears in my eyes," said Amer. "But for the first time, they were the tears of joy. Because every Iraqi has been waiting for that moment for a long, long time. I am almost a quarter of a century old, and I've been waiting for this day. … I was happy. He is going to be gone."

Maha thinks Iraqis are ready to overthrow tyranny forever. "I think the moment the Iraqis realize that Saddam is powerless [has come], and they're not going to be let down again," she said. "They will rebel. Definitely. This is the way that they've been waiting for."

As to the prospects for establishing a democratic government in Iraq, Amer said: "I think it's condescending of people to say that democracy can't work in Iraq." Amer said Iraqis living in exile will be ready to help build demoracy in the their homeland.

"There are about 4 million Iraqis who have lived all over the world in democratic and free societies," he said. "And each and every one of them is prepared at a moment's notice, to drop everything and go back." Complete story

I can't imagine being 10 years old, leaving the house scared that if I say the wrong thing my entire family could be killed. This group isn't really young adults - they've been adults for their entire lives.

[lodwick]

Wonderful.

I laughed out loud when dude asked if necks wanted on or off the neck ping list.

Is this a great country, or what?

I'm long on what.

[lodwick]

Lemme try and find where Comfort is in relation to the rest of the known world.

[lodwick]

[Aggie Mama]

Wow, what is causing those emotions? Is that rage, tears? What is the backround on it?

[Hillary's Lovely Legs]

I am going to put you on the Neckcar Ping list.

I know you love to read........" 42 is 2nd on lap 241, I was hoping for 21"

" Now 71 is passing 12, I can't believe it"

" Did you see how 14 nearly missed 38, this is nuts!"

"Are we on lap 467 or 468?"

[BigWaveBetty]

Here's a good pic of those $@$#%$#!&* protestors.

Anti-war demonstrators are cut free from a contraption that binds them together after they blocked rush hour traffic at 14th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington March 28, 2003. Thirteen demonstrators were arrested for blocking one of Washington's busiest intersections near the White House during the peak of the morning rush hour. (Brendan McDermid/Reuters)

I don't understand the masks. Why wouldn't a person be proud to be seen protesting?

Wondering if the guy in the purple dress is protesting or on his way home after a long night.