Memorial Day and Summer begins…….as usual we have yet another disaster movie and about the only thing missing is another Nicholas Cage movie.  Please take a moment and remember those that gave their lives in service to their country.

As per my tradition I will not be posting much today….instead I will spend the day with family and friends doing what people do (you fill in the blank)……….

This will be number three (3) in my series of why I am blogging and what the experience means to me personally…….

Most of my regulars know that I enjoy research and then writing about what I have discovered.  Have you ever felt like there is something that you were destined to do?  I feel that blogging is mine.

Some of my fellow bloggers judge their success by the number of daily hits which is their thing…and yes I would very much like to get 1000+ hits a day but I try to be realistic.  The only way to get those high stats is from some sort of promotion service and most of them are looking to get paid for their “secrets”.  I just refuse to pay for popularity just to feed my ego.

I find that there many rewards to blogging, at least to me……..regular visitors and commenters, fellow bloggers that think my stuff is worthy of a re-blog, but my biggest reward is those readers that come to my blog looking for what I have to say on a given subject or situation…..recently there was an international situation that one of my regulars said that he came to me first because “I would probably be all over it”……that made me feel that all my hard work has NOT been in vain.

I do not always blog about the story du jour, unless of course it is of major importance and I need to address the situation……instead I try to give my reader information that they may not be aware of or those situations that they, my readers, may find thought provoking…..there is enough confusion out there….I just want to try and clarify it, at least from my point of view which I realize that not everybody will agree with the analysis.

I write a lot on the Middle East….it is the area of my interest….I have both lived and worked in the region….but to write fresh perspective I am on the PC at 0100 hrs (1 a.m.) for at that time it is about 0900 hrs in say Baghdad and I can get fresh news as it is happening not the selective regurgitation of NBC………. I could puke up the popular topic these days…..hate……..but that is not my style…….if I speak ill of something I try to explain why I feel that way………. hopefully my readers appreciate that I want to give them news as it happens not later……ignorance must be fought whether the people want to hear it or not……for ignorance breeds hate and fear…….

After college I was recruited by a think tank to analyze and then report on situations in the Middle East…..the problem was I was given a conclusion and I had to make the report fit that conclusion…..something I would not do….needless to say I was not hired and got a bad name in the world of think tanks……so I took to writing and analyzing stuff on my own…..did not pay well but it was so satisfying to punch holes in the garbage being sold as analysis……then a blog became the next step into my world of international relations……..

The rewards in blogging are many….but it all takes work and it becomes a labor of love……well, at least for me.  I also feel that it is my duty and my responsibility to point out misinformation wherever I find it and by whom regurgitates such lies…..and I must do it everyday without fail….dependability is an asset when blogging……if my readers cannot depend on me then I have failed in my duty.

Enjoy your day and I shall be in form for tomorrow……see you then.