  I don't know how this works. nbsp;  I'm just checking this sucker out.  I only singned up for this silly thing because I wanted to post a comment on someone's blog. so I figured I can at least try this out.  I may find it useful.
 I used to have a website way back when,  circa 1997.  I think.  Well before this whole " blog"  scene popped up (
everyone and thier mom now,  I tell ya!  I had a section which amounted to what is called today a web log.  Me ranting,  jotting stuff& nbsp;
down about the day. but mostly ranting.  I was a dork ( still am) nbsp;  Now every ass thinks it's cool to do this.
 eh.  I don't think I'll put much use in this here " blog"  ( it still amazes me how mainstream it has become that it even has a cool name now)  It's a heck of alot easier now with these templates.
 I used notepad. and did html.  It was a hassle,  and I had frames (  and everything.  I'm not some ubercomputer guy,
 so I was happy with what I had.  Anyway.  At one point I had a shirt/ mug selling thing going on.  But no one bought anything.  I think I sold a total of 2 stuff.
 So there's been plenty of milblogs since we invaded Iraq.  They're neat.  Great insight in most of 'em.  I'm an army cadet.  A real nobody in military terms ( not a relative nobody,
 a REAL nobody)  Theres this one politcal blog out there run by an army cadet too. and not to insult the kid but it seems he has certain delusions of grandeur concerning his ties to the army.  Technically,  yes,  if contracted,
 us cadets are " in"  the army.  We even got the little ID card to prove it.  We get miltary discounts at stores,  or whatnot,
 and can even fly space- A ( though you're in the better- to- walk- then-
wait- for- a- chance- in- hell-
to- get- a- seat category)  But I don't think I'm a soldier yet.  It's even in our creed.
we're " apprentice soldiers"  We're kinda in an odd spot. it's like the recruits in basic training. they're not yet fully trained soldiers.  Only for ROTC cadets,
 our transition phase is FOUR YEARS,  not nine or so& nbsp; weeks. nbsp;  (
For the sake of discussion let's just squeeze by the prior service or SMP folks. in which case they got a couple years pplus thier enlisted training)  Don't get me wrong. I don't want to belittle it all.  It still amazes me there are folks out there who are confused about ROTC.  There' plenty that confuse it with JROTC.
think we're just playing soldier.  Think we're highschool students or something. or boyscouts or something.  I was reading this book at the bookstore ( because I'm cheap)  about some former Air Force officer who served in the Clinton whitehouse (
he was a fighter pilot before this)  and it kinda amounted to how Clinton so completely did not understand the military.  Didn't know what to do with it. and like most of America today,  just kinda didn't want to underrstand it. nbsp;
 The ignorance isn't malicious necesarily. nbsp;  So there was this Coast Guard officer in the book who was talking to a white house staffer,  and the staffer was completely surpsied that this officer had a Bachelor's degree. nbsp;  (
he went to the Coast Guard Academy)  Somehow the staffer figured that servicemen couldn't have degrees.  Completely ignorant,  even,  of the difference between officer and enlisted.  (
officers,  with rare exceptions,  have at least a bachelor's. in fact,  plenty of the enlisted have higher ed.  degrees)
nbsp;  I was listening to a radio talk show ( I tend to avoid them)  and the host was absoutely surprised to learn you earn a bachelor's degrees at West Point.  Did he somethow think cadets just wasted 4 years there or something? nbsp;
 That the NCAA made a special exception to the Army and Navy teams for ol' pity's sake to get'em somehow in college Division I sports?  I dunno.  There's plenty out there that's been written about the huge,  growing divide between the military and civilian America. nbsp;  If you really look at it,
 it's ignorance on the civilian half. nbsp;  Why?  because the American military is * made*  of citizens.
of civilians themselves. nbsp;  non- military civilans watch too much TV,  they somehow think the military breeds itself via magical reproduction or something. nbsp;
 The military has seen ( and been a part of) nbsp; the other side. and to them it may not be " the other side"
 at all. nbsp;  Non- military civilians,  on the other hand,  see the military as the delineated "
other side" nbsp;  They've never been " there"  themselves. to them it's Rambo,
 Platoon,  Full Metal Jacket. nbsp;  To them,  soldiers are cliche warrior- types.
nbsp;  Or worse. soldiers aren't regular people to them,  but are tied to some politcal agenda,  or are robots at the command of others,  devoid of thought.
nbsp;  I don't know what the point of any of this is.  I had more.  My brain is faster than my typing.
