Monday Morning Note

A couple of quick things.

First, please note the new article below about Saif al Islam al Qaddhafi - my latest submission for my parallel writing endeavour, but you can see it here first. Second, tonight I'll continue work on, and hopefully finish, an update on some of my recent thoughts regarding the presidential race. Oddly enough, I actually had a dream last night in which I was asking Senator Clinton a direct question, and she wouldn't give me a direct answer despite several attempts - a phenomenon that was seen in the Democrats' debate last week. I may also put together another post this week detailing some thoughts I've had recently on a few different topics - and there are some pressing updates on subjects like Libyan terrorists and Somali pirates(!) that need to be posted.

A couple of additional items as I sit here eating my Corn Flakes. I was out for a hike last week in Desert Tiger Stripe trousers and combat boots (training for future operations), and listening to my Grundig Mini World 100PE, and I picked up two new stations that I probably couldn't have picked up from Zoo Station: Radio Bulgaria in English, and Sweden Radio International in Swedish - that one took a few minutes to get a bead on, and I still had to confirm it upon getting back to the house. Back in August, I picked up the Voice of the Islamic Republic - lots of "illegal imperialist occupation"-this and "peaceful nuclear program"-that.

Also, I was compelled last weekend to look up Seed Time Ministries, a program I used to listen to on the radio in high school. Seed Time is the ministry of Pastor Ashley Day, a British preacher who preaches and broadcasts out of Couer d'Alene, Idaho. Unlike other clergy, his focus is on actual teaching the Bible, not jumping around and giving you a verse here and a verse there. I was excited to find that you can listen online or podcast his sermons via OnePlace.com; this site is being added to the "Listening In" section of the sidebar. I'll also be adding some Scottish heritage related links this week.

And finally, after a half-successful attempt in Zoo Station around April, I finally had relative success cooking Sharba Libya last night. I highly recommend the recipe to anyone; yes, it's a Libyan recipe, but it's very tasty without being terribly difficult to prepare (hello, this is me we're talking about and even I made it taste good) or too exotic (lamb, orzo pasta, and tomatoes). I'd love to be able to make Rachael Ray's Shepherd's Pie by the middle of next year - and maybe hook up with Rachael Ray herself right around the time that hell freezes over.

One question I'd like to pose to anyone who's reading this: do you give to charity, and if so, which charity do you support? I've thought for quite a while that I ought to support something, even if it's just a few bucks a month. I think that I may start doing this soon, so I'm curious what some of you folks donate to, if anything. My money will probably go to a military-related group, like American Snipers, Soldiers' Angels, or the Wounded Warrior Project. There are a lot of great organizations out there - which one do you donate to?

Have a great day, folks, and stay tuned in to TSTF this week for more stuff.