First Post

Hi Friends and Imaginary Friends!
  I have my own site at http://www.tommymandel.com/NewTom.html but I rarely update that, so here is my new web presence. Boy! Instant Italics, gotta love it.
   Happy Memorial Day from Pappy Tom, and please accept my respects, all of our brave soldiers. You know, as a hippie (former? not sure, I may still be a hippie) - my first inclination is to be anti-military, even though my dear departed dad served in the United States Navy towards the end of WWII. He was on a destroyer escort, and they sunk a U-Boat, well, maybe not his ship alone, but their convoy.
   I can't imagine summoning the bravery to put my life and death on the line the way you military men and women do, and I praise your courage and commitment, and pray for your well-being. My problem is with this Mission business. I know that the only way a military can work is if the chain of command is followed. Otherwise, chaos! But this leads to a massive collection of humanity and machinery, technology and flesh and blood, becoming a tool in the hands of those (in Washington, e.g.) who have shown such blatant disregard for the lives of your families here in the US, not to mention the difficulty in asymmetrical military action, of targeting combatants and sparing civilians. . . I know you guys try hard as hell to do that, but. . .
So it's a bittersweet 'good luck' and 'G-d bless' that I send my Imaginary Friends today, Memorial Day 2011 (for after all, no one's gonna read this anyway!) - Whether you believe in the mission, or you once did but have soured to it, or you never did, whether you are coming home soon, and if so I pray for your successful re-integration into a society where even non-veterans can have a tough time fitting in; Let's just put our heads and hearts together, try to find the dreams and beliefs that we have in common - and work towards them together, in harmony, like any good musician would hope for. :)