Medary.com

De Smet keeps busy preparing for return.
DE SMET – There’s a sense of relief and excitement these days among the 1,100 residents of De Smet. The relief comes in knowing that members of the 153rd Engineer Battalion are in Kuwait, a much safer place than they spent previous months while serving their nation in Iraq.

Welcome home, we're proud of you. The Anheuser/Busch Super Bowl ad was for you.

Hunter S. Thompson fatally shoots himself
"For the whole point on this picaresque is that the American-style rogue-hero must not merely tease or insult the Silent Majority, but abuse it, outrage it, twist it, hurt it, smash it," he once wrote.

I'll admit, I'm not a big HST fan. But, he was an icon of antiauthority and the founder of "gonzo journalism" which subsequently metastatized into Dan Rather, Steve Irwin (the "Crocodile Hunter") and reality TV. His passing, by self-inflicted gunshot wound, was probably predictable.

Israel approves Gaza Pullout
Palestinian officials were unhappy with the measures, which they view as an attempt by Israeli leaders to draw borders unilaterally.
It's astonishing to me that the Palestinians are putting up a fuss about this. Would they really rather quibble about a couple of square miles than accept success at last? Maybe . . . long range strategic thinking does not seem to be an Arab strength.
“It's not an easy day, it's not a happy day,” Sharon said at the beginning of his marathon Cabinet eeting Sunday. “But it's a critical move for the state of Israel.”

This is a leap into the dark for Israel. Will the extended hand of peace finally be accepted, or will it again be slapped aside? Stay tuned.