Welcome LGF readers. I hope this post helps improve your hope for the future.

Some would say we are disconnecting more in the Internet era. Some would say we’re connecting more. Because of the Internet, we can all share in this story:

From John of OPFOR Blog: Cpl Patrick R Nixon, USMC, died in Iraq Mach 23, 2003. Via an article in Smithsonian magazine, Patrick’s father, David Nixon, was connected to an Iraqi living in the marsh area of Iraq, Dr. Azzam Alwash.

Below is a link that shows you a very basic construct of functional societies: Some go forward to protect and lose their lives. Others benefit. The benefactors proclaim their thankfulness for the sacrifice. Read and understand and know there are those who value the sanctity of life. These ones are the “Marsh Arabs” of Iraq.

Warning: If you cry easily, or even with difficulty, make sure you’re ready in case you do.

“A People Have Been Set Free”

H/T: Gulf Coast Pundit

Also, while you’re here, please consider learning more about the Valour-IT project that provides laptops and voice activated software to our disabled service members. I posted about it here. Thank you for your interest and possible assistance in this wonderful work.

Valour-IT isn’t just for Memorial and Veteran’s Day. Our young (and some not so young) citizens, who stepped up to the plate and have been injured can use a little help.

Matt of Black Five reminds us to not forget those who have given so much. There’s the Valour-IT logo on my sidebar, there’s one on my Charities page, or you can click HERE on the Soldier’s Angels site if you feel you haven’t found a link to get to the place to donate a few bucks (or many).

This program, I’m convinced, will not only be a great morale booster to our injured troops, but will pave a road for many disabled, be it in the military or at their job on a construction site somewhere, in and out of the United States, setting a process to model for a long time to come. Join in a be a part of something bigger than you can imagine by helping soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines communicate with their families, their “shipmates” and others in their lives.

Also: Fellow Bloggers, military related or not, please consider passing this info along via your readership. Link here, link to Black Five, link to Soldier’s Angels, but….please just link it!

Thank you for your consideration.

Trackbacked/Crossposted to:
Diane’s Stuff

Xerox has a website up where you can select a greeting card and then send your mesage to our troops (click on the image above to get to the site)!

Why is Xerox doing this? from the FAQ:

Q: Why is Xerox sponsoring this program?
A: Social responsibility has been ingrained in the Xerox culture since our earliest days as a company. The Let’s Say Thanks program provides one more outlet for the company to deliver value to the community and support the men and women stationed overseas.

Thanks, Xerox and the employees who make this happen!

Here’s the link to what the troops say about this program.

Along the way, the site highlights the support of Give 2 the Troops and the work the two programs do together.

So, there are two more ways to help out. Anyone can spare a few words to brighten a day, even if the bank account is looking a little slim right now….

Trackbacked to:
Stuck on Stupid

I want to get this post of thanks started. Laughing Wolf, a guest poster at Black Five had put up a short post on how much money he wasn’t spending at Hilton corporate properties, as fall out of how the DC Hilton mis-treated the owners of Fran O’Briens.

I commented that it would be great if someone would create a website where those protesting the action to close down a restaurant that served meals to our wounded veterans would show graphically the mounting lost revenues. The mind of any human loves graphics….I like computers, but I’m not up to the integration of data to a website, so I figured posting the thought might get someone’s attention.

In just short of one hour and 56 minutes, MSchienle popsted he had registered the domain of Perish Hilton and just happened to make a living taking data, formatting it and posting in in web based formats. I followed the link to the website Custom Visuals, LLC and I’d say this poster is up to the task.

For your readers, if you’re upset about the decision to shut down Fran O’Briens in DC, and you travel, shunning putting money in Hilton’s cash register, check out this method of making your feelings known. I have no idea on how this will come off, but…keep checking to see when the site comes up and any directions for submitting receipts for adding to the accumulating data.

BZ to MSchienle for supporting our troops!

For a short history lesson, Fuzzybear Lioness broke the story earlier this year about Hilton, just two months before the end of the lease for the restaurant in the basement of the DC Hilton, that they had decided not to renew. John of Castle Argggh! picked the story up (he has a much bigger readership) and the rest is history. It certainly was a main point of discussion at the MilBloggers Conference in April, 2006, as we met there Friday night before the conference to support Fran O’Brians.

The Defense Link website, run by DoD, profiles the Valour-IT Project!

There’s a picture of one of the service members who have benefited from your contributions.

BZ, as we say in the Navy, to any and all who help with this project

PS: Donations are welcome and appreciated any time of the year!

Technology and Military Ops, particulaly in the Naval Service sense, will be the point of a 4 day conference later this month in DC.

Capt Chris Christopher, Special Assistant to the Chief of Naval Research, forwarded this heads up:

This is an update to my previous email regarding the 2006 Naval S&T Partnership Conference, July 31-August 3, at the Wardman Park Marriott Hotel in Washington, DC. This conference replaces the ONR conferences held since 2000 in Washington, DC.

The $1 Million “CNR Challenge” announced by ONR

Chief of Naval Research (CNR) Rear Admiral William E. Landay III, USN, has announced the $1 million “CNR Challenge” for innovative science and technology ideas brought to the Office of Naval Research during the 2006 Naval Science and Technology Partnership Conference. The CNR Challenge is targeting $1 million for innovative ideas or technologies brought to ONR’s attention through the Open Innovation Marketplace at the Naval S&T Partnership Conference.

The Open Innovation Marketplace gives registered conference attendees the opportunity to schedule face-to-face meetings with personnel from ONR, other parts of the Naval Research Enterprise, industry, or academic institutions, to ask specific questions about naval science and technology research, or to present new and innovative concepts and technologies. Marketplace participants must submit an abstract in advance. More information on the Marketplace and conference registration
is available on the 2006 Naval Science and Technology Partnership Conference web site at http://www.ndia.org/meetings/6200/. More information about the CNR Challenge is available at http://www.onr.navy.mil/.

“There are always a number of good ideas coming to ONR through the Open Innovation Marketplace,” said Admiral Landay, “so I have allocated one million of our precious research dollars to more rapidly develop those ideas. One of the drawbacks in the Open Innovation Marketplace in the past was that we could not move out quickly on good ideas. Our budget process often causes a year or more delay before funds become available.

“If there are any good ideas that meet Navy or Marine Corps needs, we want to move very quickly to develop them. This should allow us to jumpstart ideas we receive through the Marketplace.”

2006 Naval S&T Partnership Conference

Presented by the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) with technical support from the Office of Naval Research, the 2006 Naval S&T Partnership Conference is the successor to, and builds upon the success of, the six annual partnership conferences previously presented by ONR. The 2006 Naval S&T Partnership Conference will provide key insight into
the Navy & Marine Corps drive to enable revolutionary naval operational concepts that meet the challenges of the 21st century through strategic investment in S&T research. The Conference will inform government, industry and academia of the direction, emphasis, and scope of the Department of the Navy’s investment in science and technology research, and how companies and universities can do business with the Naval Research Enterprise.

An impressive list of speakers has been announced for the event, highlighted by confirmed speakers Secretary of the Navy Donald Winter; the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition Dr. Delores Etter; Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development, Testing and Evaluation Dr. Michael McGrath; Chief of Naval Research Rear Admiral William Landay III; and Commanding General, Marine Air Ground Task Force Training Command Brigadier General
Douglas Stone, USMC. Additional speaker announcements will be made in the days to come to come.

In three and one-half days of the Conference, attendees from government, industry, and academia will:

* Hear from the senior leadership of Congress, the Department of Defense, the Department of the Navy, the Office of Naval Research, and the Naval Research Enterprise
* Gain an understanding of S&T research partnership opportunities for industry and academia
* Meet one-on-one with program managers from ONR and across the Naval Research Enterprise, including Naval laboratories, Naval warfare centers, and University Affiliated Research Centers in the Open Innovation Marketplace.
* Learn how to participate in the challenge to creative innovative solutions to meet Fleet and Force requirements in the Future Naval Capabilities (FNC), Innovative Naval Prototypes (INP), and Discovery and Invention (D&I) efforts;
* See and discuss innovative technologies from industry, National and Federal labs, and academia in the conference exhibit hall.
* Enjoy stimulating scientific debate and discussion at Ben Franklin’s Scientific Salon.

In a one-half day training session before the Conference opens, industry and academic attendees will learn how to do business with ONR and the Naval Research Enterprise. The theme of the 2006 Naval S&T Partnership Conference is “The Navy After Next…Powered by Naval Research.” The challenges of providing power and energy to the Fleet and Force will be
in the spotlight, and speakers from all segments of the energy industry will be invited to participate in discussions that will focus of the potential future sources of power and energy to enable the Navy-Marine Corps team to execute its mission in the 21st century. NDIA is presenting a gala dinner to salute 60 years of world class S&T research by ONR.

Information

Information on attending and exhibiting at the Conference is available on the NDIA Conference web site at http://www.ndia.org/meetings/6200 , or at the ONR web site http://www.onr.navy.mil/.

Sounds like a great opportunity to “get an oar in the water” with the future of the Navy. Any takes?

Thanks to Mudville Gazette for the Open Post.

Had enough with a media that trashes everything, even the good done by the US Military?

Captain B of One Marine’s View wants to take out a FULL PAGE AD in a major newspaper for this coming 4th of July, in support of our troops.

Had Enough?” is here….

He’s still open for which paper and what to say in the ad, but…it’s all premised on getting the funds together to pay the freight.

He has a donate button on the right sidebar of his blog, labeled “Donate cigars for troops here!” It will do the job…

Think about it….what better way than to proclaim we believe in the goodness and sacrifice of those young (and not so young in some cases) men and women who are forging the future for not only us, but humanity.

Do you remember this picture?

SSG McNaughton is looking to run in the New York Marathon this coming November and is asking for a little help.

Impact a Hero – Walk/Run/Wheel

Click on the picture above to get to the donation page for SSG McNaughton.

I’ve also added a link on the Charities Page of this blog for this donation request.

HT: Gulf Coast Pundit and Black Five

Thanks to Mudville Gazette for the Open Post!

I picked this up on Milblogs.

Valour-IT is a charity that funds laptop computers for wounded service members. These laptops are equipped with voice recognition software, provided by Dragon Software, and it turns the lives around that have been turned upside down.

Check my tab above for “Charities” and not Valour-IT is the top one. A simple click takes you to the Soldier’s Angels Valour-IT donation page. There’s plenty of info there to brief you in.

More detailed info on the work is found at the Project’s website….

I know it’s not Veteran’s Day, but this is a project worthy of regular donations to help those who have given so much to keep us safe.

PS: Hey, all you Milbloggers: How about get this word out? Get a blogburst going….

Cross posted at: It’s That Time Again, Boys And Girls – OTA
Stuck on Stupid Weekend Open Post
Point Five Weekend Open Trackback
Outside the Beltway – Beltway Traffic Jam
TMH’s Bacon Bits – Bacon Break Full Moon Weekend
The Right Nation
Church and State
The Bullwinkle Blog
Common Folks Using Common Sense
Stingray – A Blog for Salty Christians
Mudville Gazette Open Posts

There are many ways you can help, if you have a little extra. Extra doesn’t have to mean money, maybe it’s the time to write a letter.

I’ve “borrowed” some logos for the several funds and organizations I’m away of, to help the troops, or their familes. I’ve placed these on a separate page (look under the header picture, near “About Me” and “Contact Us.” I figured they may be too far down the sidebar to get seen, and I also wanted to provide some room for growth.

Please take a few minutes and chase the links. Thank you.