How do you meet new people at 80?

I'm finding that the gym is an easier place to meet people than church. Today I met a retired Army General while riding the exercycle. He was reading a magazine I'd never seen, "Veritas : journal of army special operations history," so I asked him about it. He'd entered the service  as a private right out of high school and retired 37 years later as a General. The military paid for his bachelor’s and two masters degrees. He looked like he was about 30, but I did a little math and figured he had to be at least 55, but was probably older.

Last Friday on the cycle I met a lovely young woman who lives in my old neighborhood and school district, and loves the library, park and pool where I used to hang out. She grew up in San Antonio, lived in New Jersey, and then moved to Columbus with her husband to raise their daughter. And it was a magazine that got us talking that time too, "Experience Life" which is a very nice quality monthly serial published by the owner of Lifetime Fitness. She organizes food tours of Columbus. I didn't know such a job existed and I'm not sure yet what it is.

Twenty minutes on the cycle or treadmill can get you a lot more information than 2 minutes at church coffee time, or a few minutes being introduced during Sunday School.

SIPRNet: The US army Secret IP Router Network

The primary reason you don't hear much about the real culprit of Wikileaks, PFC Bradley Manning, is that he is/was an unhappy homosexual in the Army and we're in the midst of a "don't ask don't tell" debate. We're also in a debate about the security of Muslims in the armed forces during our War on Terror, so you hear very little about Nidal Malik Hasan.

SIPRNet: The US army Secret IP Router Network | Privacy Lover

But both the Manning and Hasan stories, personal motivations of hate aside, show the Army is incredibly sloppy in its security.

Monday Memories--giving Caleb the boot

Last week I posted a photo of me hold newborn baby Caleb. Here he is now at the party for him before he leaves for Army Reserves Boot Camp. His mom is a fabulous hostess, and it was great to see all the friends and relatives and catch up on what everyone is doing.

Front page and center--NYT features soldier suicides

Isn't it nice the NYT wants to feature a suicide story front page with a 3 column wide photo about a 2007 death of Jacob Blaylock. Of course, no bias against the war or soliders on their part, right? The death of any soldier or former soldier, during combat or later from mental illness, is tragic. In WWI there were battles whose names we don't remember that wiped out 7,000 men in a few days--I'm sure the survivors had a difficult time the rest of their lives wondering "why did I live?." However, after you get past the "ain't it a shame that we're at war" theme and you get into the story, you find the featured soldier had many demons. ". . . the elements for disaster were in place long before he went to war." So it wasn't just the death of 2 in his unit or combat (he was in a transportation unit). Financial troubles, huge marital and custody battles, a sensitive nature, moody, the butt of jokes and teasing, apologetic, but musical and poetic. Into the second page, which many don't read, "Researchers of military suicide find not a single precipitating event, but many." "Soldiers who kill themselves are also likely to have a history of emotional troubles. . . "

So the reporter's mined that hole, and moves on to "screening." Why was he even in the Army? He'd been discharged once for mental health issues, but was "called back up when the Army was desperate for troops." NYT also got ahold of his VA private health records for treatment for depression--whether from someone inside or a family member, it doesn't say, but that's just a hint about privacy and health.

Then there's an itsy bitsy chart on the third page. Army suicides were well below the civilian rate up through 2004, and began to rise above the civilian rate in early 2007. Do you suppose the constant drum beat in the media and Congress-- Murtha, Pelosi, et al--against them had anything to do with their sense of mission, self-esteem and willingness to sacrifice, especially if they were fragile to begin with?