ImusTV?

I just finished up my watch for the week. Pretty quiet night. I've always believed a quiet watch is a good watch. Pizza for dinner tonight (it's Saturday!) and Sunday bruch tomorrow after church. Having weekly things to look forward to like Pizza and brunch help to break up the weeks and we actually have more of a sense of time going by.

On the ship's TV, they are currently piping in two satellite signal sources, AFN and an Arabic Satellite service similar to DirecTV called Orbit. AFN shows FOX News channel. Orbit has the international version of CNN. The difference between the two channels is alarming. As you would imagine, most folks out here are usually FOX news types. But since we've left on cruise, FOX news has become the Anna Nicole Smith / Don Imus 24-hour news channel. It's awful! On CNN, we actually hear news about what's going on the world. Iran's nuclear program. British sailors detained in Iran. SECSTATE's trip to Syria. Stuff that matters. [insert caveat here: Yes, the comment that Imus made was rude and irresponsible, but that's characteristic of his radio show. He asked forgiveness and received forgiveness from the Rutgers coach and team (most of them, anyway). That should be end of story.] It's very disheartening to see how strong the influence of marketing and ratings is over the content of the American media. That's certainly not an earth shattering revelation, but it's sad when compared to news sources that are a little more distant from the American market place. I guess the real sad part is that stuff like ANS/Imus actually scores big ratings. I'm thankful for the internet while I'm out here. Google News is a pretty good broad covering of many news sources and subjects. I got a kick out of this article that is somewhat on the topic. OK, enough soap box. I've really tried to not let myself get soapboxy on this blog. I'll knock it off now.

We had a RAS this morning and I got four boxes! A handful from Aunt Lucy (THANK YOU!!) and a big one from Janell (and I also got some goodies I ordered through another pilot's order with Brigade Quartermaster). I haven't even dug into Janell's box yet. I just received it a few minutes ago when I got back to the ready room after watch. Now I'll take it back to the room and see what she sent. (I can say one thing, I don't need any more wet wipes!, thanks!) Actually, it said "Stringoughs" on the outside, so I have the Gough's to thank as well. THANK YOU!! Now, I'm heading off to shut down for the night. Church in the morning. Good night.

oh yeah... here's a cool link to the GPS track from the Bike ride I did in Dubai. (when the page opens, click on the "Dashboard" button and you can see the route depicted over a Google map or satellite image.