the more things change, the more they stay the same...

Well, the Privateer has stepped into the technology age with a vengence: today, I picked up a crackberry, to replace the old Nokia that's been giving me problems over the past year.

And why did Spoon allow me to get the digital equivalent of cocaine? Because I made a mistake: 9 years ago, on this date, I said "I do"...

Man is not complete until he's married. Then, he's finished! ;)

One day, I'll find time to make digital copies of the day. Honestly, I don't remember most of it: I had been up WAY too long, and barely had the brain power to walk and breathe at the same time (chewing gum was right out)...

Something for those with young ladies in their lives...

My friend Peter posted this today, and it reminded me of something...

Not going into who wrote the following: that information isn't needed. I had this person write out her story, for me to share with others.

If you have younger women connected to you, especially if they have that whole "I'm immortal" thing going on, have them read this. I've edited it only for layout: the words are all hers:

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At the end of eighth-grade, when I was thirteen; I was walking home from school. When I was ten houses down the street from my house, there were two or three guys outside talking. They stared at me from the moment I turned the corner and started waslking down Prospect.

When I got a little closer, they started talking to me and I don't really remember what happened after that but somehow I ended up in one of the bedrooms on the second floor of the house they were in front of. I was raped in that house by two boys at the same time. The first person I told was my best friend, she called me a whore for what happened to me.

After that I did not tell anyone until I met with Strings from BACA in 2006. I didn't tell anyone because I was afraid of what they would call me after hearing those words come out of my best friend.

Today, ten years later, it still affects me. Every relationship that I have been in, I always think that they are using me for sex and then will leave me; thinking that about everyone who truly loves me has made me push them away. I feel like I am not worth anything to anyone but for sex.

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Folks, let your daughters/grand daughters/whathaveyou read through this. It's STILL a problem for her, even after all these years. These are wounds that do NOT go away, and can come back and ruin life decades later.

"No child should live in fear". Unfortunately, many do. The first step in keeping that from happening is educating them...

Holiday Announcement

Just thought I'd wish all three of my readers a happy Burns Night!

Side note: former crew member Squeaker is actually a decendant of Bobby. Adds a bit of a personal note to it!

Addition to the blogroll...

Caught word of him over at AD's place. Good read, and (unless I miss my guess), he hails from the same area as my favorite named BACA chapter.

Y'all go and take a readthough of Toad Suck Blues

The rest of the weekend...

Well... my thoughts of liveblogging feel through an alchoholic fog on Friday.

The day went well, with the opening ceremony and the start of the meeting. Things were smooth (except for some leg cramps: I have GOT to learn to be more patient, and avoid the stairs. Or get in better shape). The the evening arrived, and with it, Crown...

Would have been fine, except I just could NOT stop myself. I don't drink often, so I sometimes forget my limits. My big brother Horace did NOT help: he just HAD to mess with my reality, by apologizing for "teasing you about wearing a skirt".

Felt like I had slipped into Bizzaro world: HORACE, APOLOGIZING? Needed more alchohol...

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Woke up Saturday at 9... which is when the meeting was supposed to start. Managed to get up, dressed, and across the hotel in 5 minutes... still a lil' drunk. Spent most of the meeting trying to keep my stomach under control, and stay awake. Went back to bed afterward, and slept 'til 9...

The rest of the evening went fine: hung out with my brothers & sisters, listened to some great music (and some not so good karaoke), got a tour of the BACA Nation bus (if you haven't listened to 'em, hit www.bacanation.com), and just generally had fun.

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Didn't want to come home, except Spoon was here, not there. The trip home was uneventful: slept most of the way.

There were some... developments... at National, that will probably mentioned here as they come to fruition. Stay tuned!

Thursday at National

Well, as seems to be a tradition, my first day of National starts with insomnia: could NOT get to sleep last night. About the only thing a room does for me my first night down is give me a place to leave my stuff. This year, arriving an extra day early, means most of the people that would normally be up to visit with are (sensibly) asleep. Oh, well…

I’m gonna handle each day as a live blog: I’ll write it as I go, and post it all later. Should be… interesting…

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Day started out ok: mainly just hanging out, surfing the net, and BSing with my brothers and sisters as they arrived. Oh… and freezing my nether regions every time I wanted a smoke (couldn’t smoke in the hotel). And, as is usual, helping out where I could.: I can only sit around so long, before I have GOT to try and help with things.

And I DID have loads of fun. Of course, that meant I also got a total (as of somewhere around 1am fri) of three hours sleep since Monday…

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More later. And I’m not sure if I’ll be able to provide pics: frelling camera died… 

National, Pt II

Well well... ran into my big brother Guru, our International PR... well... guru. And he mentioned he's one of my readers.

Ya know bro, you could leave a comment once in awhile! :P

Today's been fun: just hanging out and relaxing, with the members of my massive extended family. THIS is where I feel most "at home": amongst a bunch of folks dedicated to fighting child abuse. They can sometimes be a lil' unpolished, but they're my brothers & sisters.

More tomorrow...

BACA International Convention

Well... I've safely arrived at National. And within the first hour, got felt up by one of my sisters (wonder how many times THAT'S gonna happen this year). Already met up with a bunch of folks I haven't seen in a year, and the feeling of "back with my family" has already started...

Gawds, it's good to be "home"! More through the weekend...

A prosecution too far (with apologies to Steven Ambrose)

So... we have a case in Greensburg PA, where 6 teens (3 boys, 3 girls) are charged with creating (or possessing) child pornography. Seems the girls took nude and semi-nude pics of themselves, and sent them to the boys.

Now, these kids get to have their lives ruined. All because a poorly worded law is being taken to it's lunatic extreme.

Reminds me of another case, where a teenage girl was busted for creating child porn: she had been taking pics of herself, and sending them out. Again: life ruined.

Folks, whenever a new law is proposed, THINK about the fullest extent it can be twisted to. Trust me: regardless of what is intended, someone is gonna run it all the way out to the edge.

H/T to Marko, who says it all far better than I can...

Leavin' for National...

Well... pulling the all nighter. I leave for the BACA International convention in 5 hours: my ride's picking me up at 0930.

It'll be good to see my brothers & sisters again, and share in the bonds that I've formed over the years.

Like I said before: I'm gonna TRY and post pics while I'm there. Depends on whether or not I have time to get any: I'm torn between hiding in my room practicing, going full-tilt flirt, or volunteering for security. We'll see what happens.

If I have any readers in the St Louis area, feel free to drop in and look me up!

Damnit! Something in my eye...

Found via Armed Polite Society:

Sometimes when old Marines die they do fade away into unmarked graves in Potter's Field.

Such might have been the case for Gaspar Musso, USMC 925050, who fought in the Battle of Tinian in the Marianas Islands in 1944 and who died Nov. 15 at age 84 in a Brooklyn nursing home.

Enter Police Officer Susan Porcello, a PBA delegate at the 68th Precinct in Bay Ridge and one of those big-hearted New Yorkers who still make this the best city on Earth.

"No way was I going to let this brave old Marine who fought for his country in WWII get buried in Potter's Field," she says.

Porcello first met Musso back in July when she responded to a 911 ambulance call to the retired insurance broker's one-bedroom apartment on, appropriately, Marine Ave.

"When my partner, Eddie Ennis, and I arrived at his apartment Gaspar seemed a little bit down about himself," Porcello says. "He said he felt alone in the world. We talked to him a bit and as I looked around his tidy apartment I noticed that he had served in the military - the Marines to be exact."

Porcello asked him about family and friends. "Look around you, what do you see?" Musso said. "I have no family or friends."

To which Porcello said, "Well, I'm your friend."

Right there, with those four beautiful words, Gaspar Musso was destined to die with the dignity he'd earned with a rifle in his hands, fighting in a USMC uniform, in a war that saved civilization.

If she didn't already wear a badge, you'd want to pin a star on Susan Porcello.

Musso, a diabetic with a host of other age-related maladies, had accidentally overdosed on his prescription medications. Porcello accompanied him to Lutheran Medical Center.

"I told him I'd be back to visit him and take him to a senior center where he could make some friends," said Porcello, who comes from a big Italian family with a mom, dad, three sisters and a brother.

"I told him I was making him my 'Grandpa,' and if he liked, he could spend Thanksgiving with my family. Eddie and I discussed alternating holidays with Gaspar so he wouldn't be alone for any of them."

Two days later Musso was placed in critical care. Porcello asked hospital staff where he'd be buried if he didn't make it. "Potter's Field," said one administrator.

"This infuriated me," said Porcello. "There was no way I was going to let a man who fought for our country be buried in Potter's Field. Not on my watch!"

Porcello told the hospital to keep her apprised of Musso's condition. She had a local priest visit him. Porcello even asked NYPD's Missing Person's Squad to search for next of kin.

No luck.

Musso had been an only child to Anthony and Marie Musso, both deceased. He had no other relatives. Musso's only friend, an upstairs neighbor, had died the year before.

After his health improved, Musso asked Porcello to become his official health proxy.

She transferred him to Caton Park Nursing Home, where he was treated extremely well. She visited him often, learning that Musso was born May 7, 1924, joined the USMC in December 1943, finished training at Camp Lejune in March 1944 and was fighting with the 2nd Marines on Tinian Island by July 1944.

"I visited Gaspar on Nov. 13, bringing him rosary beads, a Bible, and his reading glasses," she said.

"The next day, Nov. 14, I returned and found Gaspar sitting up in a chair, dressed in his own clothes. Looking great."

Porcello washed his hands and face, trimmed his nails and eyebrows and asked if he was coming to her house for Thanksgiving. "I'm trying!" he said. He also asked Porcello to bring him a Christmas wreath for his room.

The next morning Porcello received a phone call saying that Gaspar Musso had died peacefully in his sleep.

No way was she going to let her good friend be toe-tagged and buried in Potter's Field.

Porcello paid out of her own pocket for a wake at McLaughlin's on Third Ave. and a mass at St. Patrick's Church in Bay Ridge, where a crowd of good-hearted cops from the 68th Precinct filled the pews, six serving as pallbearers. Sgt. Angel Rosa of the 68th, also a Marine, arranged for a USMC honor guard at Musso's funeral.

Then taps blew over Gaspar Musso, United States Marine, as he was buried next to his mother at Resurrection Cemetery in Staten Island.

With the dignity he deserved.

Semper Fi.dhamill@nydailynews.com

Oh, by the way...

I'll post a larger version of the "Size Matters" pic later. Unfortunately, the original version was WAY too big (despite blogger saying it was "small", and in resizing, it wouldn't let me see any other version (note to self: don't do anything resembling "technical" late at night).

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In other news, I'm at T minus 33hrs 54min until I leave for St Louis, and the BACA International Conference (otherwise known as "National"). I will do my best to post at least one pic from the event, somehow. Anybody in the St Louis area that wants to stop in during the evenings (I'm stuck in the BoD meeting during the days), I'll be around from Wednesday night through Sunday morning. Drop me a line a lil' beforehand, and I'll give you my number. Or show up at the Hilton St. Louis at the Ballpark; 1 South Broadway and ask whichever patch you see where you can find "Strings, from Wisconsin".

I feel so ashamed... :(

I'm an embarrassment to Barack!


I only scored 17 on the Obama Test

Darn. And I felt so full of hopeychange before I took the test...

Public service for peds...

Over at Marko's place, there's his latest "Monday Search Term Safari". At the end of this latest installment, he gives some advice: "And, seriously–stop looking for underage porn, Comcast user in Minneapolis".

This post is for that user.

First off: I hope you follow the advice. Barring that, keep yourself ON the net: offend offline in meatspace, and you'll get to have fun with my brothers.

Second: if you want to find the REALLY juicy stuff, hit this site: has everything you need and deserve...

Seriously though: just knock it off, and get yourself some help (or get society some help: a .357 and one round would be perfect).

Size matters...

Just sayin'...

Maybe I have a problem

So I'm watching History while surfing, and they're talking about the apocolypse. One of the signs mentioned is "death from above", and they illustrate it by mentioning an asteroid hitting NYC.

Does it make me a bad person that my first thought was "Hey... so long as Bloomberg gets hit too..."?

I REALLY shouldn't pay attention to politics: makes me a mean-spirited person...

And to start the New Year off right...

I add a second job to make ends meet!

The magazine is going, but I'm honestly begining to think I need to find a different project: I have some problems with how this one is being run. So odds are, that banner at the top of the page will be changing here soon...

In the meantime, I'll be doing retail inventory for a spell. If nothing else, that'll help me pick up that new Triumph I've been drooling over...

Are we Rome?

So... someone on APS made the comment "Are we Rome? Yes, we are.". Which brought the reply "So America is going to remain a Republic for two more centuries, and then rule the world with an iron hand for 6 more? Cool!"...

I made a quick comment on the thread, but I want to expand here.

IF America is Rome, and we're going to follow the same path, then our fall will be at the hands of...

The Canadians.

Yes, in 800 years, the howling Canadian hordes will sweep out of the frozen north. With sword and torch, they will lay waste to our grand cities and plunge the world into a New Dark Age...

The sad part of this? I haven't had a single thing to drink, but this gave me the giggles...