Hey, Beatles fans...

Want some gen-yoo-wine Beatle's art - and a chance to help Project Valour-IT?

Say no more! Visit Little Toni at Random Bits of Pomposity and find out how by clicking here!

H/t to Fuzzybear Lioness.

And just because I hate to waste another post on this little gem...

To Be 6 Again

A man was sitting on the edge of the bed, observing his wife turning back and forth, looking at herself in the mirror. Since her birthday was not far off, he asked what she'd like to have for her Birthday.

I'd like to be six again, she replied, still looking in the mirror.

On the morning of her Birthday, he arose early, made her a nice big bowl of Lucky Charms, and then took her to Six Flags theme park. What a day! He put her on every ride in the park; the Death Slide, the Wall of Fear, the Screaming Monster Roller Coaster... everything there was. Five hours later they staggered out of the theme park. Her head was reeling and her stomach felt upside down. He then took her to a McDonald's where he ordered her a Happy Meal with extra fries and a chocolate shake. Then it was off to a movie, popcorn, a soda pop, and her favorite candy, M&M;'s. What a fabulous adventure!

Finally she wobbled home with her husband and collapsed into bed eexhausted. He leaned over his wife with a big smile and lovingly asked,

Well Dear, what was it like being six again??

Her eyes slowly opened and her expression suddenly changed. I meant my Dress Size, you dumb nut!!

The moral of the story: Even when a man is listening, he is going to get it wrong.

H/t, Rich B.

Project Valour-IT

Thanks to everybody!

Ya done good.

'Nuff said.

Except this: If it weren't for her... it wouldn't have happened. And I don't think y'all know just how big a deal that really is. Everybody else comes in second. CPT Z and Carren are co-creators, and Chuck's wounds the inspiration - but Fuzzybear Lioness sent out the first email, asking how to go about doing it - after that, there was no stopping her.

I see all those big names, and without them we wouldn't have raised what we did. And lots of you helped - BUT FUZZY STARTED IT, and don't you forget it.

Fusileer 6, out.

It's over. We did it. Good on us!

Details here at the Project Valour-IT blog.

In the "Race to the Swift" category, first to the goal of $21K, the winner was the Army.

In the "In it for the Long Haul" category, the Navy wins thus far. I only say 'thus far' because the mailed-in donations haven't all been tabulated. I *assume* they're checking post marks...

But the *REAL DEAL* is the graphic below - Blogs Working Together, we raised $88K for Project Valour-IT. I don't know what our average exposure was, based on total blog readership (and we can't go by just sums, since many donees read several of the participating blogs, but I think we did pretty well, to get almost 1000 people to donate. At a cost of really little more than our time. Not bad for a buncha amateurs.

Big shout out to to all of you who participated - but the biggest go to CPT Ziegenfuss and Fuzzybear Lioness - whose dream-made-reality this project truly is.

Thank you, one and all!

Attention!

Publicity Stunt Mkay... I dragged my drugged and temporarily one-handed body out of the hospital bed to tell ya'll about something most important.

Carren is gonna be on national TV (and live national TV at that) to let everyone know about Project Valour-IT. She will represent me (the nerd who thought of this project), and the many people who have made this project a success.

She is going to be on "Connected coast to coast" a show run by MSNBC. Don't know how long she'll be on, but for the love of god, please tune in, put your hands on the top of your TV, and talk to Jebus when the show is over. The show runs from 1200-1300 (noon to one fer ya civilians out there)(and that's eastern time) My beloved is supposed to be on around 1240, but I will rest assured that her looks, personality, and general charm will either get her on early, or the show will go into extra rounds like Rocky and the Big Ruskie in Rocky IV.

Here's how you can help. Send this to every one you know, post it on your blog, get them to post it on theirs. One side will say it's a failure of the gummint to not provide this for the soldiers, others just see it as a way to help our brothers and sisters who have fallen but will be getting up. However they spin it, just get the word out.

There's less than 18 hours to game time, so let's get our blog on!

--Chuck

p.s. I met the Secretary of the Army a few days ago. I don't remember most of our conversation (because pain killers do that to you, especially at the level I'm taking them...think chevy chase (or was it Dan Akroyd?) in "Modern Problems". But I brought two things to his attention: 1. It's stupid and a waste of manpower to hold a medical review board for a guy who's lost a finger 2. I pitched Valour-IT to him. He thinks it's a great idea. He was pressed for time, so his aide took the info sheets we gave him and gave us his card...and told us to call if we don't hear anything about it in two weeks!

--
Charles W. Ziegenfuss
Former Commander, C/2-34 AR, 3BCT
(Currently on the mend in KS)

Any questions? You have your orders. Move out!

Project Valour-IT: BIG HUGE HONKING HAT TIP to Jon Jay at Stop The ACLU

That's what it really is. Yeah, we're fighting over the bragging rights, but the reality is, the money goes into the same pot, for the same purpose, and no ID cards are checked.

BIG HUGE HONKING HAT TIP to Jon Jay at Stop The ACLU. Jon is a Zoomie. His service is getting spanked by the rest of us in the competition. But when the server hosting the Marine Contingent went down - Jon stepped up and and let Holly Aho use his server to keep things alive.

So, the Marines are hosted here.

In deference to Jon's Jay's sacrifice for the team, I'll go toss some cash in the AF pot.

You can ignore those Navy guys. Hosers.

Go Army! Back a Winnah! Even if those bassids are ahead by a smidge - we've both made our goals. Now it's purely about Pride (and taking care of the wounded, natch)!

It's a tax-deductible donation and eligible for matching funds from companies who do that sort of thing (see:http://soldiersangels.org/valour/irsinfo.html for proof for the cautious)

The snail mail address for those who'd rather donate that way (scroll down at:http://soldiersangels.org/valour/donate.html).

Let's do our part!

Visit the Boss and Enlist Now!

The group of Army bloggers supporting Valour-IT are:

Serve those who served.

Badness!* As of posting time, the Squids have pulled ahead - with what looks like a $1200 donation from a guy in the AP? Mebbe it was A&P...; 'cuz the AP sure hasn't been friendly to the Iraqi endeavor thus far. The Jarheads are plugging along and the Zoomies? Well, the Air Farce must still be out on the links.

So, find some shekels and enable a wounded troop to do something you are doing right now - use a computer.

It's a tax-deductible donation and eligible for matching funds from companies who do that sort of thing (see: http://soldiersangels.org/valour/irsinfo.html for proof for the cautious)

The snail mail address for those who'd rather donate that way (scroll down at: http://soldiersangels.org/valour/donate.html).

Let's do our part!

*It's goodness. It all goes into the same pot, for the same purpose. But I do *not* feel like losing to the damn Navy! I can suffer the Marines, but not those "Blue" services! Ick!

C'mon, Jump on it!

I'm at Benning - that's fresh fodder up there, Airborne Aspirants in Ground Week, taken yesterday.

They'll give. I bet if I went over to the sheds, I could walk away with a thousand bucks. Instead, I'll just leave flyers with the Battalion Adjutant, because I don't want the Blackhats to make me do pushups...

Oh, sure, you could give to the Squids. Or the Jarheads. Or the Air Farce. You could do that.

But this is the Castle. ARMY! (Even if *some* denizens are proving to be remarkably summer patriots...)

Not that we ain't spankin' them other guys anyway...

It's a tax-deductible donation and eligible for matching funds from companies who do that sort of thing (see:http://soldiersangels.org/valour/irsinfo.html for proof for the cautious)

The snail mail address for those who'd rather donate that way (scroll down at:http://soldiersangels.org/valour/donate.html).

Let's do our part!

Visit the Boss and Enlist Now!

The group of Army bloggers supporting Valour-IT are:

Update: Go snark the sailors, who are apparently afraid to get in range...

Report!

Two things, separate yet related. For those so inclined, drop over to Marine Corps Moms and give Deb some help with Operation Santa. Cassandra asks you to. You don't want Cassie coming here all pissy now, do ya?

Secondly, because the Castle Argghhh! Fighting Fusileers are in "Red" cycle (i.e., I'm stuck where I can't do this right now) all Fusileers are hereby seconded to their respective services (civilian Fusileers my choose their branch the Army. What am I talking about?

Blackfive has assumed command, and we're gonna kick some Navy, Marine, and Air Force booty to show we can do more, better, faster in helping support Fuzzybear Lioness' own dream - Project Valour-IT.

Some of you who read this space have talked about how the President isn't asking us to sacrifice to prosecute the war. Okay. Sacrifice. Sacrifice the Green, so that Wounded Warriors can do what you do everyday - use a computer to communicate. It's hard to do without fingers, hands, arms. Or when you're blind. The light is green, so shuffle to the door and jump right out and count to four...

If you aren't a blogger - you can *still* help in a big way. Reach people who don't read blogs. Go here and grab the flyers. Print 'em out and post 'em where people can see them. Contact your local newspapers and get them to run stories. We can point them to real live wounded warrriors who are using the laptops procured to date. Ping your favorite talk radio hosts... You don't have to be a blogger.

Update: Fuzzybear sends:

ATTENTION ARMY TEAM:

When Blackfive made the post, we hadn't yet set up the tracking system. So, he didn't have access to the code for a donate button that will track donations inspired by the Army Team. Expect to see the button up at his site early today (donations made through the regular Valour-IT donation page will not be credited to the competition).

Don't screw this up guys and gals (that last was from me, not Fuzzy)

Second Update: Here's the Army Team Way To Donate!

So all you bloggers sign up with your choice of service and get the word out.  Donate NOW!!!

It's a tax-deductible donation and eligible for matching funds from companies who do that sort of thing (see:http://soldiersangels.org/valour/irsinfo.html for proof for the cautious)

The snail mail address for those who'd rather donate that way (scroll down at:http://soldiersangels.org/valour/donate.html).

Let's do our part!

Saturday Morning Reading.

Good Morning, Jim. I got my own coffee today.

Heh. Ellsworth AFB stays open, as does Cannon. And ya know who was disappointed...? Kossacks. I'm sure it was all Rove's plan. This was a fun read. Especially the comments. Apparently, Markos kills the comments when it looks like the thread may go bad. [Nope, I'm wrong. You just have to be a member to post at all. Never mind. (SWWBO *is* a member, and she can still make comments)] I'm surprised he doesn't kill the whole post, to keep his analysis score up.

Don't forget Mrs. Greyhawk's labor of love, The Dawn Patrol.

Mike D. points us to Florida Cracker chatting with Tim Blair about the Journalists of Tomorrow... and asks the question: But no one will publish Michael Yon?

Indeed.

Gunn Nutt did a little counter-protesting at Walter Reed. Matt Heidt at Froggy Ruminations weighs in on the topic. I don't have anything to add - except no lefty blogger has offered to help with Project Valour-IT, which would give them perfect cover on the whole "Hate the war, Support the Troops" crap that the vocal Left spews. SWWBO has some thoughts on the subject.

Another reason Iraq is not Vietnam.

Bemusing blogfight over at Charmaine Yoest's Reasoned Audacity.

Carnival of Cordite #28 is up at Resistance is Futile.

Alphecca has the Weekly Check on the Bias, a response to Michael Moore by Larry Elder, and an interesting Forbes Magazine link on the 7th most important tool in history... the gun.

SWWBO is blogging our vacation, with pics, not to mention shilling for her very own Blogosphere Baby, with the latest edition of Carnival of the Recipes, ably hosted this week by CalTechGirl! If you need to catch up on the Carnival... click here to go to Carnival the First - and see how things have grown! Now in it's second year!

Alan at GenX at 40 ponders economic warfare... shame on you Alan. That oil is OURS! Don't make us invade you for it!

The Snarkatron fails to offend me. I did try to offend her, if in a distracted, who needs to complete a sentence anyway fashion...

Kat talks about those supporting the troops... the Quiet Majority. We here are not members of that group, finding it unbearable to not hear ourselves type!

Via Dunnmeister at Delta Mike Charlie, Barb finds another "I'm not Cindy" Gold Star Mother in the Seattle area.

Cassandra - heh. Just start here, and keep reading.

Rammer notes the French are turning on themselves, while Punctilious has fun with words.

I wonder if there's something wrong with the water in Ohio? Buy bottled water, AFSis!

As someone who has signed a non-disclosure agreement, I'll keep an eye on this, via Jack at Random Fate - as should any professional engaged in creating intellectual property... there are those out there who argue that once you work for them - you cannot work for anyone else in the same field... "inevitable disclosure."

Sergeant B talks about God and Grunts.

Last, but not Least, Fuzzybear Lioness has been living her support of the troops as the Project Manager for Project Valour-IT.

Just like these people - who donate their time, money, and bandwidth to truly supporting the troops. Not.One.Lefty.Blogger.In.The.Lot. Sad.

The Castle Argghhh! Fighting Fusileers for Freedom!

Project Valour-IT

Today, Chris Muir and the Day By Day gang do their bit for Project Valour-IT (see the cartoon above - if it's no longer 26 August, click here).

Big ol' High Five and a Hoo-ah! to Chris, Damon, and Jan (even if she is a lefty)! And I'm sure Sam and Zed have done their bit, too.

Heh. Jan may be the only lefty who's donated... none have come forward and admitted to it yet, anyway!

I could do a big Jan sandwich too... (whap!) Oh, good morning, dear!

Update: Ed Morrissey of Captain's Quarters joins our merry band of Fusileers!

(this post will be on top all day, new stuff will come in below)

Today is a Big Day...

...but someone else has that mission. I have to go back to work (sad face). San Diego, largely because of the people we know there and the fact it is *much* cooler (double entendre alert!), and is a direct flight from KC via Southwest Airlines, has just supplanted Las Vegas as our favorite place to visit regularly. Thanx to you Sandy Eggans!

Eaglespeak sent me a link to a fascinating pic he's got up. Now me, I couldn't get past the fact that there's a Naval Surface Warfare Testing Center that tests ships in Idaho. That's almost as funny-bone tickling as the fact they used to train Anti-Submarine Warfare crews at Naval Air Station Olathe... Kansas.

Yeah, I can think of good reasons to do both - but it's still funny.

Don Surber saves you the trouble of reading the upcoming spate of 9/11 editorializing. I wonder if I'll have the energy to see how close his predictions are?

I've been happily shilling for Project Valour-IT in this space, and will continue to do so. This is Fuzzybear Lioness' personal project, she's the driving force, I'm just a broadsheet she advertises it on - but it's important.

How important? The blogroll now has two Australian supporters on it. Why? Let this Ozzie blogger, Legless in Perpetuum, tell you why, in a note sent to another Project Valour-IT blogger, Seawitch:

Seawitch, that is an absolutely amazing and bloody important cause that you are supporting. As I have a high-level spinal cord injury I also use a voice-activated computer. I have my little microphone that I speak into, and because I can move my arms I have a trackball mouse[...]I know what it is like to be stuck in hospital for a long time with nothing to do and no access to the outside world[...]

This project will make a massive difference to the lives of wounded soldiers. Giving them access to the outside world, as well as the independence that voice-activated computers will bring, is such an honourable way to thank them for the sacrifices they have made for our well-being. [bolding added]

Go, visit, say thank you. Donate. I'm serious, I'm committing to donating every month until they make their goal. It won't be a huge amount - but over time, it will add up.

The Castle Argghhh! Fighting Fusileers for Freedom!

Taking care of business.

Tomorrow, the Castle Traveling Roadshow takes off for San Diego. I've got a little corporate training to attend, and intend to hunt up ways to leverage what we do in our local office with what our firm does in San Diego for the Navy. SWWBO, travelin' gal that she is, is gonna use up one of her free plane tickets and some hotel points so we can have a cheap mini-vacation. Joanie of Da Goddess is our entertainment director, and newly-wed Sean of Doc In The Box is hosting a BBQ on Sunday, where we're going to meet a bunch of local bloggers (that list is being managed by Sean, who knows what he can support)! I know the San Diego Zoo and the museums at Balboa Park are on the list - mebbe a visit to the Midway, as she's in port (snerk), and who knows what else. Joanie has all the energy, we'll just follow interestedly in her wake... We'll be back on Wednesday, I'm sure some reportage will come out of it all. Moving on...

Update: Heh. If only our traffic matched our linkage, we'd have skewed the curve - with our Joint Service Blog. Rusty Shackelford does a rough comparison of the military service of 101st Keyboardist Bde, vice the Chicken Little Brigade.

Barb points out that this is what happens when you Jump The Shark and become a cartoon.

Kapitalismo is a bit conflicted, finding he lives near a terrorist-wannabe. Smack in the middle of the country.

Jay of Stop The ACLU offers up some history of the organization... perhaps some of the supporters of the ACLU who I know lurk here will offer up some defenses.

The Confederate Yankee asks you to choose a side.

Mrs. Greyhawk gives us the Dawn Patrol.

Speaking of Ms. Sheehan, what about these guys? The You Don't Speak For Me Tour? More here, and catch the video at the bottom. H/t, Joe W.

Ah, the Wonderful World of the Mind of Disney. H/t, Alphecca.

Speaking of Alphecca, Jeff gives us his Weekly Check on the Bias against guns. Note the bit from the Mayor of Toronto, Canada. I suspect the Mayor would wet his tighty-whities at the sight of the Basement of Argghhh!

No one has griped about the lack of pictures of late. As many of you know, I got creamed by thoughtless people who hotlinked a video, sucking thirty-two thousand views of a 2 meg vid. Yeah, 32K. Which simply creamed my Fototime bandwidth, 32.7 gigs of bandwidth, vice the 20 I pay for. Hence, pic posting has taken a serious hit, and the blog had to be rebuilt, too. But, I've got *some* juice left, and I think we needa picture! Of something artillery-like. Modern. Yeah, that's the ticket. How about the brand-spanking-new Stryker 120mm Mortar Carrier? Firing? Yeah, baby!

View image

Even though it may seem like we're in a pause-ex, we aren't. Project Valour-IT is still on-going. Over $7,000 has been raised so far, and the first set of laptops is getting prepped for delivery to Bethesda next week. We'll keep you informed!

Meanwhile - This is the Roll of Identified Supporting Blogs! If you aren't on it - drop me a note and we'll fix that!

Tuesday's ruminations.

Okay, I've got some obligations to meet! Like, some content (though we appreciate Dusty taking a breather from Training Hard For His New Job (*not* a snark, but truth) and lobbing in a post!

For a little insight into bloggers that the Left would *still* mostly call neocons or worse, but refuse to read their orders from Karl Rove - see what the RINO-Bloggers are blathering about over at Balloon Juice.

Tim Blair has a hoot of a post titled "Onan the Historian." I admit, I sometimes think about buying a four-wheel drive vehicle... but only old ones that were (or are) armed. Apropos the post - I wonder if Chris Sheils understands the difference between hits and visits. This year the Castle has had over 8 million hits to date, but only 884,473 visits (not counting 'bots etc). Given 363K uniques, some of you have actually statistically visited *twice*! 8^D Anyway, if Chris is truly counting hits... his blog had a pathetic readership. But I'm guessing hits vice visits is turning into one of those things like clips vice magazines (which ain't the same thing, but the Vox Populi is changing that, and soon the dictionaries will agree, and *I'll* be the illiterate mumbling into my beard slumped in a nasty, dark, urine-smelling doorway clutching my Colt 45)

General Hillier, Chief of Defence Staff in Canada, is an interesting fellow. He took himself and his senior enlisted service member, Chief Warrant Officer Daniel Gilbert... and joined the Reserves. At Canada's second-most popular tourist attraction. As staff. Now, that should make you want to click here. Good on yaz, gentlemen. Good on yaz.

The Gunner in me can't resist this: Gun race team performs at Canadian War Museum Ah, there's nothing like a race to take apart a howitzer, get it past an obstacle, and reassemble it.

On a more serious Canadian note - two of their Peacekeepers were wounded.

And here we are again, playing a little catch-up, with Canadian and US veterans of the First Special Service Force, better known as The Devil's Brigade.

Does anyone think this discussion would have happened absent the blogosphere?

Ummmm, Transformation! Gimme summa dat!

Okay, you got this far. You *really* like this computer thing, doncha? All the kewl content, pretty pictures, funny stuff, news, etc. And you don't think twice about pulling down that old favorites list, typing in a url, adding comments, even doing a little on-line shopping, right?

Great! Why don't you join the more than 40 blogs of the Castle Argghhhh! Fighting Fusileers For Freedom and give our combat wounded whose injuries mean they don't the same options you have - the one you are exercising, right here, right now. Because they can't type, or, in some cases, read the screen.

Just click on the picture.

If you're a blogger, joining the Fusileers is easy - link to this post. Push Project Valour-IT on your blog. Tell your friends - and we'll add you to the blogroll.

Don't have a blog? No worries - we need media exposure, too. Grab this press release and send it to your local TV, radio, and newspaper outlets.

Want more info - click here.

Today is a work day...

Since I'm a beltway bandit, and live contract to contract... when the client puts out an RFP (Request For Proposal) for the next iteration of work you are doing... you drop what you are doing and work the proposal.

Well, the RFP dropped Friday - so I'm working today. And will be working (while still working for the client... just doing this on my own time and at our corporate spaces, or, like today - home...)

But I can work. And I can type on this keyboard.

Which is more than the many of our wounded can do.

YOU can help. With $5 or $5,000.

Just by clicking on the graphic below, read a little, give a little. Because, literally, you can - and they can't.

Soldier's Angels is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization - all donations are tax deductible, and you will get a receipt via PayPal. Don't trust e-commerce? You can send a check to the address on the Donate Page. Aren't sure about it? Click here. That takes you to the IRS search page for registered charities - type in soldiers angels (no apostrophe in soldiers), select "all of the words" to shorten your list and they'll pop up.

And if you'd like to help us help them, steal the graphics, steal the links, and post 'em, let us know, and we'll add you to this list:

If you're a lefty blogger who wouldn't be caught dead in that list, we understand. We suggest you start your own list, and own campaign, and stuff us warmongering capitalist neocons into the dustbin of charitable giving history. I'm all for it. This is about the wounded. No more, no less. In this case, I will allow the ends to guide my means!

Take a risk! SWWBO ventured on to Daily Kos! And has been punished with silly emails - and some thoughtful ones. Why did she do that? She took up the gauntlet I threw down in my initial post:

I challenge the Blog World. Right, Center, Left. Show that you *do* support the troops - because this isn't about the war, this doesn't support the Administration, and I don't care if you want to use this as a way to *flog* the administration. This is about nothing more than us caring for our combat wounded, regardless of what you think about the war. Punish the politicians at the ballot box - but support the troops in the hospitals.

How many of *you* guys have cojones that size? (Leave aside the gender issue)

Don't have a blog? No problem! Grab this press release by clicking here. Then send it to your local media - and ask them to spread the word. Radio, TV, print - it's all good. If you can get them to put links on their webpages... even better! The more eyes, the more clicks, the more laptops going to military treatment facilities for the use of troops whose wounds prevent them from being able to use a computer. What's not to like about that? Even if you hate the war - here's a chance to put your money where your mouth is about supporting the soldier.

Valour-IT: One thing to add

From an e-gram FbL sent me:

We are contacting our suppliers to buy the first 3 fully-equipped computers and ship them to Bethesda.

You guys are amazing. On the one hand, I wish I could get on and post more often.

On the other, maybe my absence has had a salutory effect on the crusade...

*big goofy grin*

It got John out of the woodwork, didn't it?

Project Valour-IT Update.

The project is up and running. Three laptops and associated software have been purchased and sent on their way. We've had some biiig donations, and lots and lots and lots of small donations. I'll have some figures later.

Update: Oops. Just like in all military operations... the first report is wrong. Well, not wrong, but not complete...

Three laptops and associated software have been purchased and sent on their way.

Clarification: That's the goal for next week. We have to double-check
with a supplier to make sure we can purchase it piecemeal like that.
Should be a "go," though...

We've set up a blog for the Project, ably hosted by SGT B of The Gun Line. Click here to visit the Project Blog.

This being the weekend, and traffic will be light, I'll be spending the weekend doing some prep to try for a blitz next week.

Thus far, we've scored National Review Online and MSNBC. I have dreams of going farther than that.

We need to broaden our recruiting. The more links to the project we have... the more people see the links... the more people donate!

It's really that simple.

This is the Roll of Identified Supporters! If you aren't on it - drop me a note and we'll fix that!

This is the javascript version. If you need the RSS/PHP etc versions, let me know and I'll shoot 'em to you.

Press Release is available by clicking here.

Correcting A Misapprehension

I got a rumble from a reader who dropped in at Soldier's Angels, saw the "Memorial" entry in the title of "Project Valour IT" and was a tad upset to think that CPT Ziegenfuss had died.

He didn't read the background info.

Sergeant First Class Bill Ziegenfuss, the father of CPT Charles Ziegenfuss, was a veteran of *my* war, and the Project was named in his honor. CPT Z is very much alive and continues his uphill march to recovery.

Castle Argghhh! Fighting Fusileers for Freedom!

As you can see in the post below - the Castle Argghhh! Fighting Fusileers for Freedom have received an OpOrd for Project Valour-IT.

The Recruiting Depot is open.

The last two times the Fusileers marched, we were raising money to help the Iraqis, via Spirit of America.

This time - we march for our own. The wounded. Specifically, the wounded whose injuries make it difficult or impossible for them to use computers. Castle Denizen and Fusileer Captain Fuzzybear Lioness has worked hard with Soldier's Angels to arrange for steeply discounted laptops and voice-control software to be made available at the major treatment facilities where these wounded warriors are being treated.

All we need is, of course, the money to pay for this.

How are we going to do that? Simple.

I'm gonna flog yer butts. Total cost of the whole thing is $600K Yes, six hundred thousand dollars. And we're gonna do it. Lots and lots of little donations, and of course, arm twisting for larger donations from Corporate and Foundation types.

I challenge the Blog World. Right, Center, Left. Show that you *do* support the troops - because this isn't about the war, this doesn't support the Administration, and I don't care if you want to use this as a way to *flog* the administration. This is about nothing more than us caring for our combat wounded, regardless of what you think about the war. Punish the politicians at the ballot box - but support the troops in the hospitals.

If you want to join the Fusileers for this round, drop a note to fusileer6@REMOVETHISgmail.com.

If you want to form your own group - get cracking.

The work won't be that hard - if you are a prolific poster just a post a day, with a link to the Project in it. If you post once a week - well, just keep a post up where visitors can see it.

More info forthcoming.

Anybody - we need a sexy graphic! Until then - click the poster below to donate!

Press release is available by clicking here.