it's in the 50s today.

Lewis Black can suck it. It's as warm as it's going to get this year and his shit-all-over-it-and-then-degrade-himself attitude won't effect my ride. His book is okay.

I had to make a quick stop @ the post office again, so I am doing well with that venture. Neutralizing some of the pay cut caused by the furlough.

I put on some lately-neglected I'm With You tracks followed by Hendrix's "Crosstown Traffic," "Little Miss Strange," "Long Hot Summer Night" and "Let the Good Times Roll."

I worked out my pecs, back and tris last nite and a little bit of my legs, too. It's good b/c there's not a whole lot of time this week to get to the gym and

Some thoughts:

While I was on the train I read over a fellow commuters shoulder like the crazy ghost who taught Sam Wheat to touch things in "Ghost." I finally had a chance to pay attention to what happened to PVC. Danny Chen. And it's FUCKING DISGUSTING!

So that I can remind myself (and enlighten whomever is reading), here's the basic synopsis:

While fighting/training in Afghanistan, American soldier Danny Chen, 19, killed himself in October. Why? Because, despite the threat to his own physical well-being, 8 demographically All-American soldiers tormented, teased, bullied, and fucked with him so much for months, that he'd had enough and wanted to end his life. He wasn't injured due to combat and he wasn't afraid to fight. He didn't want to do it beside a bunch of assholes who had made his waking (and sleeping) hours more unbearable than AFGHANISTAN! They narrowed it down to 8 guys (you know there were more, not to mention all the ones who stood by in silence) and the Pentagon is investigating it b/c Chen's family and the Chinese-American Organization is rightfully bringing it to the nation's attention.

Whatever happened to "Save it for the enemy?" You want to tease someone a little and then let them in on the joke and then get over it? Fine. But when you are supposed to be training and banding together like brothers and putting yourself through theoretical physical hell so that you are prepared for the real thing (like IEDs and gunfire), camaraderie comes first.

These assholes will never know; Chen could've been the guy to save everyone from calamity, could've located an IED, could've killed a militant, could've saved some child from harm's way, or could've seen no combat and came home to live with his family. But rather than afford him that when he's already in the worst place in the world, a bunch of assholes showed their true nature and hazed as if he wasn't already in the most exclusive fraternity in the world.

Maybe they are wrong. Maybe it wasn't so severe. I doubt it. I don't claim to be anything other than a layman but after watching the news and reading the occasional book or article, why/how would you do that to someone?

It will be interesting to see how this plays out and what gets proven and who takes the fall. There's got to be some statute in place. Fucking bullying. Preposterous and pathetic -- the problem is that a lot of these guys are going in to the military right after high school, so they don't know anything else. Of course, legally they are adults so they should know better. They should know where it ends.

Thank you for reading.