I have Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, and to make things even more complicated, problems with my Ulnal nerves in both hands, too. I have to have a special keyboard or my hands go numb after only a short time typing. And I can only use certain pens to write, or forget it. It's irritating. It's sometimes painful. But I can manage with very little alteration of my routine. I'm fortunate, and don't need surgery at the moment.

But I can't imagine what it's like to serve your country, only to be wounded and lose the ability to communicate, to use a device that's become so vital in our society - the computer.

Project Valour-IT is working to provide computers and voice-activated software to our wounded heroes.

If you've ever visited this blog and liked what you saw, if you are looking for a way to say thank you to those who have given so much for us, this is your chance.

If you haven't made a donation to Project Valour-IT yet, please do so. Every donation helps, no matter how small. Project Valour-IT is more than just computers and software - Project Valour-IT provides hope. It's easy to be part of this wonderful project - just click the donation button at the top of this page.

And, you get to help the Army Team! In the Project Valour-IT blog competition, there's bad news and good news.

The bad news is, we're getting beat by the Squids! The good news is, total donations for the blog competition so far are over $23,000! Thank you to everyone who's donated so far! And the rest of you, just click that button to donate to the team of your choice (a.k.a., the Army Team)!

U.S., Iraqi forces launch offensive
Operation near Syrian border takes aim at insurgent stronghold
11/05/05 02:22 AM, EST
U.S. and Iraqi forces on Saturday launched Operation Steel Curtain, a major offensive into Husayba, a city on the Syrian border considered to have become a command and control center for insurgents and foreign fighters, the military said.
FULL STORY - from CNN.com

The U.S. Army website has a great feature on the contributions of Native Americans - click on the picture below to go to the page.

Spc. Ronald Turner, from the 82nd Airborne Division, climbs to a cave, possibly used as a weapons cache, near Mianashin, Afghanistan. Photo by Spc. Mike Pryor.

The Kurdistan Development Corporation will launch a multi-front advertising and public relations campaign next week - thanking the United States and Coalition Partners for the military campaign that liberated the Iraqi Kurds from the ravages of Saddam Hussein.

The program will be launched with a national TV ad campaign, print ads and an extensive public relations program. The campaign, "The Other Iraq," is named such to distinguish the public perception of Iraq as a violent and dangerous place with the more prosperous and peaceful Kurdistan.

Along with the TV and print ads is the launch of the website: www.TheOtherIraq.com.

At the website you can view the three new TV ads that have been produced, in addition to a new documentary about Kurdistan that will be distributed throughout the United States and Europe.

You have GOT to see the ad "Thank You" - it's wonderful. Just click the picture below.



UPDATE: Also check out "Relationship with the West." It's a little longer, but worth the view.

The Mudville Gazette is also talking about Kurdistan this week.

HORNET MISSION — An FA-18D Hornet from Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 332 takes off for a mission from Al Asad Air Base, Iraq, Oct. 25, 2005. The squadron is deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Sheila M. Brooks

Two great heroes today -

First, there's Marianne, who sends this picture of her son, Navy Hero Tim S., currently serving in Iraq with his Military Working Dog, Imo. Marianne says, "we miss him and are proud of him, Imo, all of our military men, women and our MWDS doing an excellent job to make the world safer."



And here is Tina, and her husband, USAF Hero Mark. He's currently serving in Qatar with the 302nd Airlift Wing. And Tina is a member of Soldiers' Angels! She says, "I really miss him and will always support him. I became a Soldier's Angel soon after in order to support others."


Tim and Mark (and Imo!), thank you for all you do for all of us at home in the States. Keep your Helmets On - take care, and stay safe!

Tina and Marianne, thank you for all you do to support our troops! You are heroes, too!

News of Note
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Bomb technology enters Iraq from Iran: general
Iraq Approaches Last Election Milestone

Homeland Security / War on Terror
Bin Laden Staying Quiet; Experts Remain Wary

Troops on Trial
GI Acquitted of Afghan Detainee Abuse Charges

Oddities
New reality show with gorillas

Other News of Note
GI's Family Heads to D.C.

Fox News
Cheney Asks GOP Senators to Help with Torture Ban
Commission Probes CIA Prisons
Death Row Con Still on Loose
Job Growth Slow in Oct.
New Judge for DeLay Case Will Stay Despite Objections
Shootout Kills Six Iraqi Police; Diplomats Threatened
China, Vietnam Confirm New Bird Flu Cases
Connecticut Mom Sentenced for Sex With Young Boy (my state always makes the news for the greatest things, eh?)
Anti-Bush Protesters Torch Argentina Town (ah, sweet hypocrisy - they call Bush a 'terrorist,' then go on a violent rampage...)

Reuters: Top News
Foreign aid bill boosts AIDS funding
Violence in Paris suburbs sparks copy-cat unrest
Annan rebuffs Iran over Israel remark
Bush silent on Rove's status
Electronic paper moves from sci-fi to marketplace
NASA's big space dreams stumble on cash deficit
Mexico coral reef set back 100 years by Wilma
Withdrawn drug may help in Crohn's disease
Dollar surge ignores global imbalances
U.S., UK biotech leaders say generics years away

AP World News
Muslim Graves Desecrated in Britain
Pakistan: Quake Victims Come Before Jets
Israel Marks 10th Years Since Rabin Slain
China, Vietnam Report New Flu Outbreaks
Fire Forces Evacuation at Malaysia Towers
Post-Election Rioting Spreads in Ethiopia
Confusion, Anger Mar New Russian Holiday
Romania Denies Air Base Used As CIA Prison
Ahmadinejad Steering Iran to Isolationism
Filipino Activists Want U.S. Military Out
North Korea Urges Women to Wear Dresses
Japan, North Korea Fail to Reach Agreement

CENTCOM: News Release
FRENCH FINISH COALITION FLYING MISSION
U.S. HELICOPTER RELIEF FLIGHTS TOP 1000 IN PAKISTAN
TERRORISTS KILLED IN HUSAYBAH AIR STRIKE IDENTIFIED

Department of Defense
Referendum Security Boost Confidence -- Story Video
NORTHCOM Focuses on Homeland Defense -- Story
Health Program to Help Redeploying Troops -- Story Video
2 U.S. Soldiers Killed; Bomb Kills 2 Terrorists -- Story

ON THE GROUND
Virgin Island Reservists Serve in Afghanistan -- Story
Dragon Eye Protects Troops, Expands Recon -- Story
Iraqi Soldiers Enroll in Literacy Classes -- Story
New Road Improves Life in Baghdad District -- Story

IN IRAQ
Baghdad Contractors Go From Dollars to Dinars
10th Mountain Medic Training Pays Off in Iraq

IN AFGHANISTAN
Afghanistan's Busiest Runway Undergoes Repairs
Afghan Village Gets Seed, Equipment
Soldiers Bring Medical Aid to Villages Photos I II
Troops' Repair Skills Critical to Mission, Lives

AMERICA SUPPORTS YOU
Job Fair Highlights Veterans' Skills -- Story
New York Times Joins ESGR

FACE OF DEFENSE
Man Loses 230 Pounds to Enlist -- Story
TOP NEWS

SPECIAL REPORTS
Hurricane Coverage
Iraq Transition of Power

IRAQ
DoD Works to Combat IEDs
Officials Address Force Size Factors
Insurgents Will Fight to Elections
2 Troops Die in Separate Incidents
Iraq Reconstruction
Maps
Iraq Daily Update
Multinational Force Iraq
Eye on Iraq Update (pdf)
Iraq Progress Fact Sheet (pdf)
Weekly Progress Report (pdf)

AFGHANISTAN
Interior Ministry Reforms Rank, Pay
Afghanistan Daily Update
Maps

WAR ON TERRORISM
Waging and Winning the War on Terror
Terrorism Timeline
Terrorism Knowledge Base

MILITARY NEWS
USS Nassau Loads 22nd MEU Gear
Leaders Highlight Troop Quality
Re-enlistment, Camaraderie Linked
National Guard, Reserve Update

CASUALTIES
Officials Identify Army Casualties -- Story

Weather
Iraq
Al Azamiyah Al Basrah Al Hillah Al Karkh Al Kazimiyah Al Kut An Nasiriyah Baghdad Baqubah Mosul Najaf Nineveh Tall Kayf

Afghanistan
Bost/Laskar Ghurian Herat Kabul Qandahar

Gitmo

National Hurricane Center

Today in History
1492 - Christopher Columbus learns of maize (corn) from Cuban natives.
1605 - In the Gunpowder Plot, Catholics try to blow up the English Parliament. The plot is uncovered, and its leader, Guy Fawkes, is hanged.
1781 - John Hanson is elected as the first "President of the U.S. in Congress assembled."
1811 - El Salvador wages its first battle against Spain for independence.
1838 - Honduras declares independence from the Central American Federation.
1872 - Susan B. Anthony is fined $100 for trying to vote for Ulysses S. Grant.
1875 - Susan B. Anthony is arrested for attempting to vote.
1895 - George B. Selden is granted the first U.S. patent for an automobile.
1911 - Italy attacks Turkish North-Africa, taking Tripoli and Cyrenaica; Calbraith Rodgers arrives in Pasadena, completing the first transcontinental airplane flight.
1912 - Woodrow Wilson is elected President.
1913 - Ludwig III is crowned king of Bavaria.
1914 - Britain annexes Cyprus.
1917 - General Pershing and U.S. troops see action on the Western Front for the first time; the Buchanan v. Warley Supreme Court decision strikes down a Louisville, KY ordinance requiring Blacks and Whites to live in separate areas.
1935 - The Maryland Court of Appeals orders the University of Maryland to admit Donald Murray (an African-American); Parker Brothers launches its "Monopoly" game.
1940 - President FDR wins an unprecedented 3rd term.
1946 - John F. Kennedy (MA) is elected to the House of Representatives.
1956 - Britain and France land forces in Egypt.
1964 - The U.S. launches Mariner-3 towards Mars, but no data is returned.
1967 - ATS-3 is launched by to take the first pictures of the full Earth disk.
1968 - Richard Nixon is elected President.
1974 - Ella Grasso (CT) is elected as the first U.S. governor not related to a previous governor; Walter E. Washington becomes the first elected mayor of Washington, DC.
1978 - Iranian PM Jaafar Sharif-Emami resigns to Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi.
1981 - Former Miami Dolphin Mercury Morris is sentenced to 20 years for drug trafficking, conspiracy, and possession of cocaine.
1987 - An iceberg twice the size of Rhode Island is sighted in the Antarctic; Supreme Court nominee Douglas H. Ginsburg admits having used marijuana.
1988 - Cornell confirms that one of its grad students is the source of the worst case of computer sabotage.

Birthdays
1818 - Benjamin F. Butler, Union General/presidential candidate
1855 - Eugene V. Debs, labor organizer, Socialist presidential candidate
1911 - Roy Rogers, cowboy (Happy Trails, Roy Rogers Show)
1913 - Vivien Leigh, actress (Gone With Wind)
1915 - Moe Biller, labor union officer (AFL-CIO, Postal Workers)
1927 - Robert Abernethy, Newscaster (NBC News Encore)

Passings
1977 - Guy Lombardo, orchestra leader (Auld Lang Syne)
1979 - Al Capp, cartoonist (Lil' Abner)
1989 - Vladamir Horowitz, pianist
1991 - Fred MacMurray, actor (My Three Sons); Robert Maxwell, billionaire publisher (NY Daily News)

Reported Missing in Action
1965
Chapman, Harlan P., USMC (OH); F8E shot down, released by DRV February, 1973 - retired as a Lt. Colonel - alive and well as of 1998

McCleary, George C., USAF (LA); F105D shot down, remains returned, ID'd May, 1991

1967
Cobeil, Earl Glenn, USAF (MI); F105F shot down (w/Dutton), DIC, remains returned March, 1974 (want to know what REAL mistreatment is? Read his story)

Dutton, Richard A., USAF (IL); F105F shot down (w/Cobeil) released by DRV March, 1973 - deceased December, 1998

1968
Cornthwaite, Thomas G., Civilian (England); Decca Navigation Systems, Inc. employee, escaped, Killed in Binh Thuan

Simpson, James E., Civilian (US); Decca Navigation Systems, Inc. employee, escaped, Killed in Binh Thuan

1969
Echanis, Joseph, USAF (OR); F4D shot down (navigator, w/LeFever)

LeFever, Douglas P., USAF (OH); F4D shot down (pilot, w/Echanis)