Situated between Florence and Siena and near the town of Barberino Val D’Elsa, Semifonte was a fortified city which was raised to the ground by the Florentine army at the end of the twelfth century. The site of the city is now marked by a lone chapel which was built on top the hill during the Medici era to remind anyone who dared to challenge the power of Florence of the fate that would await them.

Although situated on top of a hill, Semifonte had an artesian well which supplied it with plenty of water and hence the name which in Latin means “source of water on top of a hill”. This allowed Semifonte to resist the long siege by the Florentine army. The castle of Semifonte and then the city were founded around 1177 by Count Alberto Alberti IV who became the strongest power in the Elsa Valley and established a stronghold in the area.

This new power was immediately frowned upon by the Florentine Republic, which did not want a potential ally of Siena on its doorstep. It therefore started attacking Semifionte and eventually manged to defeat it after twenty years. In 1202, Semifonte, after a siege that began in 1198, was defeated, conquered and completely destroyed by Florentine troops and the city was raised to the ground. Some of the stones at the entrance of the medieval town of Barberino Val d’Elsa are said to have been transported from Semifonte after it was destroyed.

After the destruction, Florence decreed that hill should never to be built on again and amazingly to date this ban has been observed. This is with the exception of the Chapel of San Michele, built in 1597 on the hill top to commemorate the existence of the city. The chapel was designed by Santi di Tito and is modelled on the Cupola in Florence.

The best view of Semifonte is from Villa 3 Colli which is situated on the hill opposite. During the siege of Semifonte, Florentine soldiers camped on this hill for 4 years and you may be able to find remnants of their stay with a little bit of patient metal detecting work.

The site of Semifonte is now a beautiful and peaccefull area covered by woods, vineyards and olive groves. Staying at Villa 3 Colli we got a real sense of the past and it was almost possible to imagine Florentine Soldiers camping on the very spot that we were staying, sitting around open fires, drinking wine and looking with hatred over the hill at Semifonte’s fortified walls.

The colour Red was the uniform colour adopted by the first permanent regiment of the British Army, the Yeoman of the Guard, the Beefeaters, during the reign of Henry VIII. In 1645 this colour was adopted when the first permanent army was raised. Red was not used in order to hide blood stains. Rather, every army adopted certain colours as their national colours. French soldiers tended to wear blue; Russians wore green; British wore red.

With the infantry wearing a bright red colour, with white crossbelts and shiny brass, weren’t they easier targets? However, in the 1860s battle tactics were much different from those applied today. Before 1866, British longarms were muzzle-loading weapons. To load these weapons required a soldier to:

1) stand upright to load a gunpowder charge and bullet down into the muzzle.

2) get very close to the enemy in order to hit them, due to the inaccuracy of the musket.

3) stand close together for volley firing.

It was the quantity of projectiles that mattered, not camouflage.

By 1867, however, warfare and the times were changing. With the advent of breech-loading rifles to the British Army in 1866, the

quality of small arms changed considerably. Faster rates of fire,

from a much more accurate weapon, which could be loaded in the prone position, slowly began to change the tactical doctrine of the Army. The change in tactics was not as swift as it might have been because during the last half of the 1800s, the British Army did not fight a modern, similarly equipped army. In essence, the tactics used were ones that made sense with the older style of firearms; the tactics still had to evolve to take advantage of the newer weapons.

It was surprising that the lessons of the new weapons recently

demonstrated in the American Civil War (1861- 1865) were not absorbed by the British. Although most European nations had observers on both sides, lessons that should have been learned were dismissed, as it was felt that this war was an isolated case determined by a geography unlike any in Europe. Further, it was deemed an `unseemly brawl between undisciplined armies.’

It was not until the late 1800s that a Khaki uniform was issued, the British Army finally realizing that drab coloured uniforms provided better camouflage in response to more accurate, faster firing weapons using smokeless gunpowder. Once again, tactics continued to lag behind and it took the carnage of the First World War to convince authorities that there was a requirement to seek cover and remain hidden as opposed to standing up in battle formations.

Women’s Uniform

Women of the garrison had a less authorized uniform but one that fitted the class structure and social order of the time. The wives of the men in the ranks wore a plain cotton dress with apron and a hairpiece called a `snood.’ Their shoes were made of plain leather common to the period. It was in distinct contrast to the more ornate dress worn by an officer’s wife, in keeping with her position as an upper-class citizen.

Similarly, the civilians employed by the Army of 1867 had their own type of clothing to wear which designated their role within the Army. The schoolmaster wore a black, knee-length frock coat, while the schoolmistress wore a skirt, blouse and jacket cut in a style known as a `zouave’ jacket, similar to the uniforms worn by the `zouave’ units who served in the American Civil War.

More at http://www.army-surplus.org.uk

Having spent two years in the Army I really enjoyed Dr. Edward Ritvo’s latest book, “Drafted and Shafted: Memoirs of an Army Psychiatrist.”

Although I was not in the Army Medical Corps, the stories of military life Dr. Ritvo shares in “Drafted and Shafted” are authentic and are springboards to lots of personal memories, some good and some not so good. As a draftee, I also can identify with the perspective of this book.

After being drafted and shafted, Dr. Ritvo returned to civilian life and set up a private practice as a psychiatrist. He became a leading national expert on autism and has written a book and several articles on autism. About a year ago Dr. Ritvo wrote a children’s book called “Sleep Time Stories: The Adventures of Pee Wee.”

Born in Boston, Ritvo had never been west of New England, when he was drafted during the Korean War and shipped off to serve at the Brooke Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston, TX, to serve as an Army psychiatrist.

Although he served as a captain in the medical corps, Ritvo’s experiences as in the Army is very similar to any other draftee uprooted from the comfort of home to serve two years in military life. Veterans will identify with the tales told in Drafted and Shafted and will laugh along with the author about his funny experiences. But non-veterans also will appreciate the humor, warmth, and moving stories Dr. Ritvo shares in his latest book.

Some of the chapters all readers will enjoy include: “Making Chicken Soup, Maybe,” “Eight Air Force Generals Can’t be Wrong,” “One Quickie Discharge, Coming Right Up,” “Fun With The MPs,” and “That Old Fart Couldn’t Sell Shit To A Manure Factory.”

“Drafted and Shafted” is a fun, enjoyable read for anyone but especially is recommended for anyone, draftee or enlistee, who has served in the Armed Forces.

Interlude

1

KP

KP, or call it Kitchen Police, Kitchen Duty, or whatever, but back in my day, ever soldier did it. I was woken up this one morning of my seventh week in training, it was a Sunday, and someone wanted to go to church, so guess who they picked for kitchen duty, me. I wasn’t supposed to have it, I had had it three times before, and was suppose to have been done with it. But the Army never works that way, they just keep putting straws on the camels back until he drops, or says something to stop it, and I was not everyone’s favorite soldier, so I just accepted it, I was close to going on to the next stage, advance training in Alabama so I figured another day on KP would not hurt. Yet at the time I didn’t know my next duty station. I didn’t even know if they were going to pass me, I mean, they could have fixed it for me to stay around a while if they hated me so much, you know, torment me with another eight weeks of this boy scout training as I had felt it was. They had done it I heard, but they would not do it to me. Although I’m getting ahead of myself, it is of no consequence to the story here and beyond.

“Soldier, get up, you got KP!” said the young sergeant, my drill sergeant, at 4:00 AM, with a smirk on his face. He was a vulture, “I already had it three times before!” I said.

“You got ten minutes…no more!” he added to his unsightly face. The Buck Sergeant stood outside, waited to see if I was coming, and I was, I rushed to and fro…and was on my way in ten minutes flat.

It was as if by me staying in the platoon touched off a high explosive inside the sergeant’s head, I think he would have liked me to have gone AWOL, run to Canada for his amusement. As I walked outside, onto the dirt road in front of the barracks, and then on down the dirt road, and across the black asphalt road–that went the opposite way, to the Mess Hall, he looked a bit gloomy, I was turning out to be a soldier indeed, and he wasn’t sure if he liked that.

It was a long day, or would be. First came the dishes, then the pots and pans, and then the potatoes, yes, I hated doing the potatoes, not because it was hard, nothing in the Army is that hard, it was boring, and they had an automatic potato peeler right behind me, staring at my back side, as I sat on the steps in back of the mess hall, peeling potatoes the old fashion way, with a knife, slowly, and a big pot for the skins of the potatoes and one for the potatoes. I think it was based on not wanting us to have something to do, rather than nothing to do and the automatic peeler would only do the job quicker and allow us to have free time. Oh well, it was all part of the show I told myself. And it gave me time to think of many things.

(I thought about Maria Garcia, a young woman I was seeing and had met while on Christmas leave, back in St. Paul (the past December). She had a kid, and we’d drink a lot together, and she always seemed to be having family, friends, people in general over to her house, a Mexican thing I think, or Spanish thing, more the company the better; where as for me being the gringo, I was not used to this, and had I suppose less of a family life in that I didn’t have so many people around, more of a loner. But it was nice meeting everyone. She was cute, short, black thick hair, a nice shape on her, and somewhat of a decent lover. And I never told her I was in the Army, and on my last day of leave, I simply left, that was it, I got up one morning, had my orders to go, and left, never even made a phone call, had I, I would not have known what to say anyhow. I would see her some two years later; she’d spot me in St. Paul, in a grocery story, and ask, “Whatever happened to you?” She wasn’t even mad, just concerned. I replied: “I’m really sorry, I was on my way to Vietnam, to war, and I thought, had I told you, it would just get in the way.” Well there was some truth to that, I had went from Fort Bragg, to advance training in Alabama, and onto West Germany, before I went to Vietnam, I kind of let all that stuff out of the picture, deleted it you could say, and just added Vietnam, and war.

“Oh my gosh,” she said, with a serious look.

“How are you doing now?” I asked. And she assured me she was doing fine. Evidently, living with someone, and thus, we parted good friends.

On my three hundred and forty-forth potato, I got thinking about Sergeant Wolf, a black sergeant, drill sergeant that is. How he’d smoke, solemnly smoke them cigarettes, right to its end. He was there among the other Drill Sergeants often, talking, he was from ‘C’ platoon, I think he liked me, because I made him look good, and our sergeants bad; they always had bets, betting on this and that: saying there platoon was better, and I think my drill sergeants lost many bets. He had a fleshless neck, all most none at all, and a head of an absurd largeness; a stooping body like an ape, and hands that almost touching the ground when he walked. He was the Judo and Karate instructor; I could have taught the men better, but for what time we had, it was good enough. I think at times his prerogative was to out show me, but whatever he showed, or demonstrated, I could do better, he had a horrible agility, dull small eyes, clean-shaven. He darted here and there it seemed, like a spider, stupidly I often found myself looking at him. I wouldn’t miss him, I told myself.

Yes indeed many thoughts were going through my mind this day, this twelve hour day: I remembered the three Generals, the second or third day I had been in boot camp, Smiley, I and Bruce were sitting down in the clothing supply area waiting to get sized up for our dress greens, and here comes three generals, I didn’t really know a general from a captain, but one had three stars on his shoulders. “How they treating you soldier?” he asked me, I didn’t get up, and simply said, “So, so, I guess,” he smiled, and said something else, and I never saluted him, nor stood at attention, that was a peeve with my young drill sergeant, but he got over it, after warning me, should it happen again, I’d be severely reprimanded; the General saw the sergeant was upset, and told him in so many wards: give him a break.

The other thing that came to mind in my daydreaming was the old sergeants appearance, my drill sergeant, when I say old, I do not really mean, old, old, but for a drill sergeant, old: he had a square jaw, like me, but was a few inches taller, not much, a rough looking face, as if he had been around a bit, small eyes, half closed all the time, or seemingly so. At times he was vigorous and at times a cold pathetic look gravitated all over his face to his forehead. He was what many called, a Red Neck, perhaps thirty-seven years old, but he was a vulture nonetheless.)

2

Army Life

I felt at times I was the side focus of the group of drill sergeants, they had beat the hell out of one of the soldiers for not adjusting and getting smart with them, which I really never did, I mean I never disrespected them verbally, I was simply not afraid of them, and they knew it. Moreover I was guarded I suppose, waiting for them to do it to me, or try. And they knew I was waiting, and I think my eyes warned them, be careful, you are treading on unknown ground, and somebody besides me will get hurt also. What I took to be men of honor, among our leaders, disappointment me somewhat, most were fine, but some were not. They had a job to do I know, and this is of course how I was feeling at the time: everyone with gaunt and hard eyes, with gloomy jobs, and often drunk before lights went out for us. The older drill sergeant, my drill sergeant couldn’t talk for two weeks, laryngitis (inflammation of the larynx). Not sure why I thought this was funny, but he couldn’t holler like he’d have liked to.

At the end of the day, I had a few aches and some numbness, my muscles danced, and my nerves wiggled. Smiley came by once, said: “See yaw at the beer hall tonight…!” And Bruce and Allen would be with him. Both good old southern boys, as they called themselves. Allen was a large figure of a man, glasses and smart. I nodded my head ‘yes’ and kept on peeling those potatoes, and cutting them up.

Bill Smart is an assistant professor of computer science and engineering at Washington University in St. Louis, MO. With his Ph.D. student Doug Few, he is working on the next generation of military robotics. The U.S. military has apparently set the year 2020 as the goal for having 30% of the Army composed of robotic forces.

Neither the researchers nor the military envisions squadrons of combat-ready “clones and drones” a la Star Wars or Isaac Asimov. Rather, Professor Smart explains, they are talking about “self-driving trucks,” bomb-sniffers and other support systems that are more accurately referred to as “autonomous systems rather than robots.”

Rosie the Robot Maid A number of different technologies converge in the design and development of robotic military systems. Night-vision “eyes,” ultrasensitive microphone “ears” and other sensors picking up sound, heat signatures and even smells transmit back to an operator in a remote location. With a computer, a screen or two, and a joystick, the soldier at the controls has a high-tech scout, bomb squad, cargo carrier and intelligence gatherer all in one.

When he thinks of “the future of robots,” says Ph.D. candidate Few, it is always about “the Jetsons. George Jetson never sat down at a computer to task Rosie to clean the house. Somehow they had this local exchange of information. So what we’ve been working on is how we can use the local environment rather than a computer as a tasking medium to the robot.”

The Packbot from iRobot Corporation is a far cry from Rosie the Robot Maid, in onboard intelligence and dexterity, but is already seeing duty in both Afghanistan and Iraq, delivering materiel and transporting gear in hazardous terrain. As the technology continues to progress, more robots are being deployed earlier in situations considered, at least initially, too dangerous for humans. “When I stood there and looked at [a battle-damaged Packbot], I realized that if that robot hadn’t been there, it would have been some kid,” Few says. Civilian applications Police departments are quick to press into service any military technology that they can get their hands on. In fact, the “militarization” of American law enforcement, which has been gaining steam for at least several decades, has not been an unqualified success in everyone’s eyes.

In the summer of 2007, Radley Balko, a senior editor for Reason magazine, testified before the House Subcommittee on Crime. “Since the late 1980s,” he told the assemblage, “thanks to acts passed by the U.S. Congress, millions of pieces of surplus military equipment have been given to local police departments across the country. We’re not talking just about computers and office equipment. Military-grade semi-automatic weapons, armored personnel vehicles, tanks, helicopters, airplanes, and all manner of other equipment designed for use on the battlefield is now being used on American streets, against American citizens.”

Bomb-squad robots, with technology field-tested in the world’s numerous military hotspots, have already made their way into many large urban police forces. As the technology progresses, Packbots and other special-purpose military robots will also join the local ranks of American law enforcement. “Academic criminologists,” Balko added, “credit these transfers with the dramatic rise in paramilitary SWAT teams over the last quarter century.”

Private use proliferates One can see the increase in SWAT raids as a good thing or bad, depending on one’s views on law enforcement, subsidiarity, civil rights and other political hot-potato issues. However, much less controversial is the application of military-tested technologies, including robotics, to private ends, such as security and self-defense.

ActivMedia Robotics of Peterborough, NH, manufactures a number of “security robots.” PatrolBot and similar mobile sensing and surveillance systems function as back-ups to other, fixed systems, while providing additional, supplemental data, too. In many cases, PatrolBot can deploy sensors that are either too rarely used or too costly to install in permanent locations around a facility.

Facilities managers at a Hewlett-Packard server facility need a 3-D thermal map of the building space, for example. If they install temperature sensors all over the building, it could interfere with people’s mobility, so PatrolBot carries a sensor-laden pole to map the temperature in the facility at specified intervals. An added advantage of robots, in these sorts of settings, is that they operate autonomously, make retrofitting the facilities unnecessary and can handle various emergencies without endangering people.

On patrol Roanoke, VA-based Cybermotion manufactures the Cyberguard line, originally introduced in the mid-1990s. The units can be equipped with various sensors – environmental, infra-red, thermal, etc. – and an array of cameras that relay real-time video by radio or Wi-Fi back to a central command location.

Operators can control the camera’s pan, tilt and zoom functions remotely, and for archival purposes a continuous or time-lapse video can be recorded to a hard drive aboard the robotic vehicle as well as at the control station. Independently saved copies will ensure that damage done to the Cyberguard, whether intentional or accidental, will not destroy any evidence collected to that point.

Security robots featuring real-time, color video and other Jetson-era capabilities are not “the wave of the future,” but are here and available now. Various types of these robots, while still innovative new tools for large area security and other specialized military and law-enforcement operations, are not considered a “fix all” item or “magic bullet,” by any means.

Ready for prime time? ActivMedia’s marketing materials position their growing family of “bots” as components of a “robust security solution,” allowing businesses and, increasingly, homeowners to improve the odds of dealing successfully with any “unexpected hazard.” With the price of a standard PatrolBot falling from $40,000 to a bit over half that since 2002, more and more small businesses and large homesteads can consider budgeting for such devices.

Adding mobile video surveillance will not guarantee an improvement to every security system, but in the right places, these robots can make all the difference. There is a serious cost-benefit analysis to perform before writing out a check for one of these units, and there are ongoing costs of operation, certainly, from various parts that will wear out (wheels, gears, levers, etc.), batteries that need to be charged, control equipment that will need redundancy and so forth.

The next frontier For savvy businesspeople, especially those with large physical plants and extensive perimeters, mobile surveillance cameras with some onboard brains might be a smart investment. Others who are less savvy, but are dyed-in-the-wool technophiles, may talk themselves into a PackBot or Cyberguard purchase just because they are early adopters – or want to see if they can control the robot with an iPhone or some other gadget.

Now the military and its “preferred providers” are hard at work at arming the robots for battle. It is not likely we will see much of this new technology trickling down into business- and consumer-level products, at least not soon. Project the trends out a few decades, though, and it’s not hard to imagine Rosie trading in her maid’s apron for a badge and gun. Rosie the Robot Cop? Watch out, George! 

Are you looking for the Ultimate Army Themed Party Games and Activities? Well stop looking because they are right here…

Good Luck and happy reading…

“Water Brigade” For their first high priority assignment, your unit must put out a fire that is destroying civilian crops! Divide the soldiers into two teams; line the teams up next to each other. Put a bucket full of water at the head of each line and give the first person in each line a large cup full of water. Place an empty bucket for each team about 35 ft away. Blow a whistle or say “GO!” the first person runs to the empty bucket, pours the water into it, and races back to their team with the empty cup. They should pass off the cup to the next teammate who fills the cup, runs to the bucket, pours the water in it and brings the cup back for the next player. When each team member has run down and back the game is over. To see which team has carried the most water down, insert sticks into each bucket and compare the water lines.

“Drill Sergeant Says” This is a simple game of Simon with a twist of Army. Next you are going to need a Drill Sergeant. Any volunteers? Oh yes, we have the honorary Mom and Dad. Try and dress up with a hat, sunglasses and shaved head. To play the game, the Drill Sergeant will give commands like: Drill Sergeant Says run for 10 seconds! You can have them respond with a Yes Drill Sergeant. If the Drill Sergeant didn’t say “Drill Sergeant Says” and a few kids keep doing the commands, they have to go down for a few pushups. This really gives the kids the feel of Army-like drills!!

“Pack Up Relay” Find or borrow full size backpacks and things that would go inside (canteens, compass, pack of food, plate, etc). You will need one pack per team and one item per person. Have the teams line up with their pack. The first person must run to the pile of item #1 with the pack on, take the pack off, put the item into the pack, put the pack back on and run back to their team. Continue this until each child has picked up at least one item. The kids will love this game because they get to work as a team.

“Missing In Action (MIA)” Hide plastic Army Men outside and inform your soldiers that there are some fellows Soldiers Missing In Action. Send your soldiers out on a Top Secret Mission to locate and bring back as many plastic Army Men as they can find. You can keep score by how many they bring back.

“The Balloon Pop” This is a perfect game to get the kids to interact with each other more. Before the party, blow up a bunch of balloons and put a piece of paper inside that has different instructions, such as, “Do 10 Push-ups”, “Run 2 Laps”, “Do 15 Jumping Jacks”, “Tell another soldier to do 15 Jumping Jacks”, “Just got Promoted”, etc. The kids will love the anticipation of popping a balloon and finding out what their orders are. Have fun and be creative.

“Rescue the Injured Soldier” Divide up the soldiers into two teams. Provide each team with a gurney (tarp or beach towel) and a roll of toilet paper. One person on the team will be the “Injured Soldier” and should be positioned about 40 yards from his teammates. When you say, “Go” the team runs across the yard to their injured soldier. They first wrap up the injured soldier in toilet paper, then transfer him to the gurney and finally transport him back to their starting position (I would suggest having one child hold a corner). This game is guaranteed to be loads of fun!

“Mine Field” Start out by placing a bunch of water balloons in the yard and blindfolding each soldier. Have them try and walk across the minefield without breaking any balloons.

“Grenade Toss” Before the party, construct some bean bags out of camo fabric and fill them up with rice. You could also purchase beanbags at your local party or fabric store. Place to cement blocks about 3 feet apart and place board on them. Next, setup of different types and sizes of pop bottles for the targets. Give the soldiers the beanbags and let them take aim. Try different distances to increase the difficulty.

“Water Grenade War” Begin by constructing two barricades for the children to hide behind (these can be made out of cardboard and spray painted for effect). Give the kids the balloons and watch the fun unfold before your eyes. Just remember, you can’t have too many grenades!

“Obstacle Course” I would suggest placing this game last in your order of Birthday Party Games. This will be the most challenging and exciting. Here are few ideas on different obstacles you could incorporate into your Ultimate Course. Use a board as a plank to run across a water obstacle or between to cement blocks. Get some tires for the soldiers to step or run through. Use 5 gallon buckets with poles taped across for the soldiers to crawl under. Make some obstacles the soldiers can run and weave around, such as, garbage cans or buckets. Throw in some physical exercises like jumping jacks and pushups. While the soldiers are running through the obstacle, make sure you are acting just like a Drill Sergeant. There should be lots of yelling and encouragement. You could also be shooting a water gun at them or throwing water grenades. This should be the Ultimate game, so take your time designing the course and have fun!

Don’t forget to check out the Ultimate Kid Birthday Parties website and submit your Kid Birthday Party ideas for a chance to win over $500 worth of prizes. The Grand Prize is a Sony Cybershot DSC-P93 Camera. Don’t forget, because the contest ends 31 May 2005. Good Luck!!!

Nearly an entire year since Hurricane Katrina devastated the U.S. Gulf Coast, leaving behind extensive damage to several states and the city of New Orleans, most would think that recovery is well underway. While Mississippi has faired far better than Louisiana, with less residents impacted, New Orleans remains troubled. Suffering flood damage in 80% of the area from the ravages of Hurricane Katrina, compounded weeks later by Hurricane Rita, New Orleans has far greater obstacles to overcome than most had ever expected.

New Orleans is not in a rebuilding mode, but rather in a reconstruction mode. It has not only been victim of hurricanes raging out of control but a government out of control, thus the creation of a perfect storm. With a city history steeped in political corruption, a high crime rate, a high poverty rate, in educational decline, the hurricanes of 2005 allowed Americans a peek behind New Orleans’ proverbial curtain. And it exposed the open wounds of a city now with twice the task of rebuilding, as it was in a downturn well before its levees broke.

So far over $20 billion has been allocated by the federal government to assist in New Orleans and Gulf Coast restorations. Yet, such appropriations do not solve the most desperate problem New Orleans faces which is the restoration and reformation of its levee system. It remains crucial to New Orleans’ future or its chance to even have one. And to that end, it will not only take the brawn of the Army Corps of Engineers but its candor as well, in spite of its less than forthcoming past.

A nine-volume report with some 6,113 pages, costing some $20 million, was prepared by the Army Corps of Engineers at the request of the Congress on the status of the Louisiana coast’s levee system. It became preliminarily available to certain lawmakers on June 1, 2006 and was delivered on July 10, 2006 to the Congress. Surprisingly, its final draft is not due until December 2007. Its purpose was for the Army Corps of Engineers to come up with a plan in order to protect Louisiana’s coast and infrastructure from a category 5 hurricane. Now, even the stated purpose of the report is in contention and has caused conflict.

Objections as to the content of the draft report have been raised by Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco as well as U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu (D) LA, setting the backdrop for heightened frustrations which will remain throughout this process of what appears to be a series of unending dilemmas. The Army Corps of Engineers did acknowledge, however, in its report that the levees it built had flaws in their design, construction and maintenance of the 350-mile levee system.

It was divulged that the levee system was never built to handle a hurricane even close to the strength of Hurricane Katrina’s which was a category 3. According to the report, “The hurricane protection system in New Orleans and southeast Louisiana was a system in name only.” The report’s investigators found that the flood protection, consisting of a network of levees, floodwalls, pumps and gates were to provide the necessary protections and should have been far more resilient. Due to design flaws, breaches were suffered in the New Orleans’ drainage canals which were never foreseen. Even though the waters did not rise above the height of the floodwalls, they still failed.

Given the voluminous size of the Army Corps of Engineers’ report, it has been criticized as to its skeletal and scant recommendations for the coast’s restoration. It does recommend that as much as 98% of the levee system impacting New Orleans will require a great deal of work in order to raise the height of the levees. The Army Corps of Engineers is presently still studying the requirements for increasing levee heights and to ensure stability for such changes. But it is also dependent upon the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to provide the necessary information for doing so. Sadly, it is not expected the increase in the height of the levees will be finished until at least 2010.

And although the report identified key pitfalls of the current levee system, it does not go into depth about the necessity of the restoration of the coast’s wetlands and marshes, badly eroded and largely ignored over the years as well. Their restoration remains critical in providing a further barrier in order to mitigate flooding into the city of New Orleans. The report revealed that the city was sinking a lot faster than anyone had expected, and as much as an inch per year in some areas. In spite of outcries from local officials and outside scientists and engineers, nothing over the decades had been done to address the wetlands or to maintain the levees.

And like most problems, one entity, and in this case the Army Corps of Engineers, cannot shoulder all of the blame given the inertia of state and local officials over the years. But the question is not how much money the federal government is going to throw at New Orleans but how to avoid even more misspending. For at stake is the reliability of the integrity of the levee system. And without such a plan there will not be a dependable levee system and New Orleans cannot be realistically rebuilt nor attract investors to help restore it.

The flood plain map has now been revised by FEMA and is now available for federal flood insurance purposes and for homeowners to decide whether they are now indeed in a flood plain. Many houses which were flooded were never even in the original flood plain maps. And many homeowners with houses damaged by wind are in litigation with insurance companies that have blamed flooding on such damage. This leaves most homeowners awaiting payment from the partial amounts insurance companies will pay with remaining mortgages on houses which are beyond repair, yet without the money to rebuild or relocate.

Astoundingly, the present water system in New Orleans is losing close to 85 million gallons of water each day due to its vast number of leaks. So far, 17,000 leaks have been repaired, however, many still remain. The city is pumping 135 million gallons of water through 80 miles of pipeline a day in order to utilize 50 million gallons. Therefore, water and energy are seriously being wasted at a cost of $200,000.00 per day. The estimated cost to complete the pipeline leaks is $1 billion. Presently, there are no state or federal appropriations for the city’s pipeline.

Also pending in the Congress, which could have huge ramifications for the levee system’s repair, is the Water Resources Development Act. It has been shelved in both the House of Representatives and the Senate since April 2005, well before Hurricane Katrina hit U.S. shores. The legislation provides for the authorization of funding for Army Corps of Engineers projects.

To date, the Army Corps of Engineers has a backlog of $58 billion in projects nationally, going back 10 years. And the legislation as originally drafted does not provide for a prioritization for its projects. Therefore, the McCain-Feingold amendment was introduced in the Senate this year precisely to provide for a priority schedule and time-frame for projects most in need. It would expedite restoring the levees of New Orleans. But the Congress must vote and approve the amendment which takes time. And it could jeopardize putting lofty pork barrel projects presently included in the bill on the back burner. Thus far, the amendment has not been widely embraced by the Senate.

While the tragedies of Hurricane Katrina gave Americans a bird’s eye view into a system of failures on the local, state and federal levels, it more importantly showed that the system of communication between levels of government is broken. Promises have since been made and monies appropriated to correct such deficiencies but the same backroom deals and lack of transparency are ripe to be repeated.

Americans across the country and people across the world were stunned to see the abject poverty which existed in New Orleans. But even more dismaying a year later is the lack of progress in New Orleans with respect to basic and human services and improving its infrastructure. For New Orleans is no longer a city in decline, but now a city in decay. And ultimately America needs to decide now, before the next natural or manmade disaster, of whether it will allow such deterioration and ruin to ever persist again.

Copyright © 2006 Diane M. Grassi

Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) is in the mint family of botanical plants. The name Lavender comes from the Latin lavare, meaning “to wash.” The Romans used to scent their bath water with the fragrant flowers of this plant. Lavender has a long history as a healing agent for both body and mind. Hildegard of Bingen spoke highly of its use and recommended it for many ailments. The English lavender or “true lavender,” has the most medicinal properties among the various varieties. Today lavender is a popular oil in the perfume industry and is used in a host of products including skin care. Lavender will be one of your most used healing oils, it is truly an oil of calmness.

Why is Lavender Considered a Universal Healing Oil?

Lavender is good for just about everything. The most celebrated use of lavender is for burns. René Gattafossé, the father of aromatherapy suffered a severe burn over most of his body and used Lavender oil to heal his wounds without scarring. Lavender oil is also good for other skin conditions and insect bites and stings. It is good for repelling lice as well. Lavender can help problems like colic, irritable bowel, menstrual pain, and muscular stiffness and aching. Its antiseptic properties make it an effective treatment for flu, bronchitis and pneumonia and it may help with genital-urinary infections when added to bath water. Lavender has been called “a universal healing oil.” Lavender oil calms and stabilizes the mind and heart bringing about a sense of equilibrium. It can ease nervous tension and decrease feelings of panic and hysteria. In this regard, it is a wonderful “rescue remedy” calming strong emotions that threaten to overwhelm the person. Lavender is helpful in lifting sadness and depression. For emotional healing, it can be used to encourage security, gentleness, compassion, reconciliation, vitality, clarity, comfort, acceptance, awareness, and emotional balance.

Lavender mixes well with Roman and German chamomile, lemon, geranium, eucalyptus, thyme linalool, rosemary, tea tree, peppermint, grapefruit, clary sage, palmarosa, juniper, cypress, pine, angelica, marjoram, cedarwood, bergamot, lemongrass, and ravensara.

As for application, lavender can be diffused, inhaled with steam, used with warm compresses, and applied neat (undiluted) on the body at places of discomfort. It can be used as an anointing oil for the brow, hands, feet and energy centers. It can be applied to the healers hands and run through the energy field to clear stagnant energy and to calm fears. Lavender is non-toxic, non-irritating and non-sensitizing. Want to learn more about the healing properties of lavender and other essential oils? Consider becoming a certified aromatherapist. Educational courses in healing energy and aromatherapy can help you understand how essential oils heal the body/mind/spirit. The Institute of Spiritual Healing & Aromatherapy is teaching courses on the healing properties of essential oils throughout the United States including lavender oil.

If you are over 40, or if you enjoy classic country and rock music, you are probably familiar with Kris Kristofferson, a singer-songwriter whose hits include Me and Bobby McGehee, Help Me Make it Through the Night, Sunday Morning Coming Down, and many others. Many were big hits for other singers ranging from Martina McBride to Janis Joplin to Johnny Cash.

Kristofferson looks and acts like he just jumped off the back of a turnip truck. Scruffy, rough around the edges, usually wearing a beat-up T-shirt and jeans. He talks with a good-ol’-boy drawl.

Here’s what surprises me: Kristofferson is the son of an Air Force general. He was a Rhodes Scholar, just like Bill Clinton. That means he’s really, really smart. He studied English Literature. He joined the Army and was promoted to captain. He received a post at West Point as an English professor. He resigned that to work odd jobs in the South while forging his music and acting career. He lived in Nashville after leaving the Army in 1965, working on becoming a songwriter.

He swept floors at Columbia Studios in Nashville. That’s where he first met Johnny Cash, but the relationship didn’t go anywhere at first (it later blossomed). He was also working as an industrial helicopter pilot at the time for a company called Petroleum Helicopters International (PHI), based in Louisiana. He had trained as a helicopter pilot in the Army.

From there his music and acting career took off, and the rest, as they say, is history. But the man who today is in his 70s and looks like a scruffy, hardscrabble singr-songwriter, started life as a Rhodes Scholar and Army captain.

It’s like they say — people will surprise you!

Along Highway 97, near the picturesque Central Oregon resort community of Sunriver stands a roadside sign erected in 2009. It reads, “World War II Veterans Historic Highway.” A few of the highway vehicles pass the sign then turn into Sunriver, while the majority of traffic quickly continues on. Many of the drivers passing the sign don’t know Camp Abbot’s exact location, nor of its historical significance. Yet, Camp Abbot trainees made up the largest military training exercise in Pacific Northwest history.

Construction of Camp Abbot began in late 1942. Fewer than two years later it closed. Located in a cathedral of pine trees, Camp Abbot was a beehive of activity while a United States Army training center. Thousands trained here. The remoteness didn’t dampen their enthusiasm to become combat engineers, they were an elite group.

The afternoon sun is ablaze on the tops of the tress in the clearing of what are now the Sunriver community and the Deschutes National Forest. It takes some imagining to understand what life must have been like for those training in this now hush forest.

In need of a prompt combat engineer training facility, the War Department established and developed Camp Abbot along the Deschutes River near Bend, Oregon in five-months. Unlike army forts, built as permanent installations, Camp Abbot was built merely as a temporary facility. It was one of only three World War II combat engineer training centers in the United States, the other two being Fort Belvoir, Virginia and Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri.

The first trainees arrived in March 1943. Ten thousand soldiers trained in 17-week cycles. More than 90,000 combat engineers trained at Camp Abbot before the base closed in 1944. They trained in infantry, armor, artillery, air forces, engineers and support units in specific combat problems, such as an attack and defense of a river line and an assault and occupation of defensive positions.

Before training began, army engineers had to complete infrastructure projects such as construction of air fields, supply depots and a Signal Corps battalion as a communication network in the maneuver area. Army combat aircraft were used to support ground forces. These exercises simulated real combat and ran several days, often round the clock.

Occasionally civilian highways like U.S. Highways 97 and 395 and Cascade Mountain roads needed to be used during exercises. Residents were warned to use caution and obey directions from the military police when traveling anywhere in the maneuver area. In November 1943, the army declared that they would repair roads damaged by tanks and other heavy vehicles used in their operation.

The exercise christened “Oregon Maneuver” was deemed a success. Involving more than 100,000 American soldiers and airmen, it is regarded as the largest military training exercise in Pacific Northwest history. Following completion, participants were sent into North Africa for staging before participating in combat operations in Italy. One division went to Hawaii to prepare for the invasion of the Philippines and fighting in Okinawa. Another division landed in France and participated in combat operations in northern France, the Rhineland and central Germany.

Camp Abbot, located in the High Desert just north of the small town of La Pine and south of Bend, had just one function during its 14-month existence – to serve as a World War II Corps of Engineers training center. Some of the former army camp’s land was sold for development in the mid-1960’s and became an upscale resort community. One building remains from the original camp. The still beautiful log officers club is now known as the “Great Hall” and rented for events such as conventions and weddings. Some guests know instantly, they have stepped into a page of history.