From the facebook-profile of the group "'Contractors' in Iraq ARE Mercenaries!":

"FOR CLARIFICATION PURPOSES.
THIS GROUP IS PRO-CONTRACTOR.
WE CONVINCED THE KID THAT USED TO RUN IT TO GIVE IT TO GLEN AND I (ROB) BECAUSE THE GROUP HAD BECOME ALMOST 99% PRO CONTRACTOR. SORRY ABOUT THE NAME, BUT WE CANNOT CHANGE IT.
P.S.- DONT VOTE HILLARY '08. HA HA.

Glen and Rob have taken control of the group. We support the efforts of our contractors and understand that there has been a place for these men since the beginning of warfare. The main difference between the Contractors of today, and the Mercenaries of the past is that most contractors are guided to through their emplyoment by concience. They will not accept bids to do work for immoral reason. They serve the interests of democratic nations.

Blackwater, AEGIS (Executive Outcomes), Dyncorp, and MPRI are just some of the organizations known as "private security contractors" or "Private Military Corporations (PMCs) ". They are the new target of some members the liberal left and others who are uninformed about the key role that these companies play.

These men are called "mercenaries" in a very condescending way. It is suggested that these men are untrained, unproffesional, and merciless. Anyone who has that opinion has seen "Iraq for Sale" WAY to many times.

These men were once the best that the US military had to offer. Now they are the best the US military can hire. They come from a variety of backgrounds: (...)"

I get so bored sitting around in city-sandboxes digging the sand, hearing the other parents say "no kilian, don't hit the little girl on the head with the showel" if it wasn't for the little girl being pretty good company after all i would have turned into a sour plum. today i went to UN Plaza only to stand in the doorway of the crowded room where they were screening the videos with a toddler on my arm that went "blblbldada" which isn't the stupidest thing that anyone has said about video art but people where turning around at us so i figured i would leave and when they started analysing the films mila got bored anyway so we left. i like the area around UN Plaza. The houses are sky high and the windows are reduced to dots in a grid. I've always found the thought that each of those dots represents a room with a person in it comforting not disturbing.

Hello dear g-rad.

By some strange circumstance I was just remembered that I'm in charge of running this weblog. And happened to remember how to login: So I will write one or two lines before I go back to my usual activities. G-rad seems to be doing so incredibly good. Just skipping through some of the discussion forums, I get the impression that so many things are being discussed that I had wished to have talked about while I was a citizen of Grand Rapids, Division Ave. So now they seem quite far removed. We don't struggle with any of the issues that were part of my living experience there. Here we have luxury problems. I despair when I realize that the health food store on the corner is out of organic lemonade. I live now in a part of town that knows only ice cream shops and playgrounds. There is no question, hardly anyone owns a car. Not that this is the status quo in the country that I live in, quite the opposite is the case actually, and apparently I have maneuvered myself into becoming an inhabitant of a bubble-city.
So, while knowing how difficult it would be to raise my little one as easily and healthily if I still lived where I used to live in Grand Rapids, a place that I miss quite a bit from time to time, I will try to keep up on news from this precious place called GR and from now on refer to G-Rad as "Good News From Grand Rapids" and remain
yours truly,
Good News From Europe