Barton Creek Mall

View from our condo just before sunrise Saturday morn.

We decided to venture forth to the farmer's market at

the Barton Creek Mall. The weather is mild about 73F.

Annabelle plans to get a haircut at JC Penny while I

will shop around for a windbreaker. I donned my WW2 hat which was a big mistake that I'll tell you about later.

Managed to buy a few items at the market then took

a short stroll before getting to the salon after which

I purchased my first Texas Longhorn windbreaker. Now

I can say that I'm a real Texan, not a New Mexican transfer.

No sooner did I leave the building than a woman came up

to me and tearfully whispered, " I want to shake your hand

for protecting our country." Another soon followed with

a strident, "We love you". I hadn't strolled more than 100

yards when others chimed in with adoring praise. I was

beginning to feel overwhelmed by attention so I quickly

tucked the hat under my arm and practically ran to the car

to deposit the blessed chapeau. As I sat in the car to catch my breath and I thought about the

men who were the real heroes of that war. Those who died in the great battles in Europe and

the Pacific 70 years back. They deserved the adoration and somehow I felt somewhat ashamed

to receive such attention.

We were watching the news this evening about the current problems in Iraq. Once again,

the Sunnis and Shiites are at each others throats which may lead to the civil war that we

worked so hard to stop after eight years of military action. Our government officials never

seem to learn that our men with guns can't solve the problems of these states divided along

fanatical religious or political lines. Viet Nam should have taught us a hard lesson but each

President has to prove he is the one to lead us to victory. In the meantime, men die and

trillions wasted. Somehow the military and related industries which have a vested interest

in making war. Eisenhower, who knew the military very well, warned us against the power

of the military-industrial complex. The professional army is a big mistake since the rest of

the population has almost no involvement in the wars at hand. The prevailing attitude is,

" They get paid to fight... let them." On the other hand, if all citizens both men and women

were subject to conscription, the government would take its slow, sweet time before pushing

the country into a fight. It would also subject all families to a call-up including the Congress

as well as the administration. I would venture a guess that fewer than 5 of our men or women

who served in Iraq or Afghanistan are related to the country's politicians.