MSP - ATL, ATL - LGW

"And I think it's gonna BEEEE a long, long time, 'till touch down BRINGS me round again to find, I'm not the MAN they think I am at ALL...oh naw naw naw...Imma rocketman. Rocketmaaaaaaaan."
-Elton John, Rocketman

Everything is a hazy fog as I sit down for my first opportunity of non-movement in the last I-don’t-know-how-many hours (my best estimation is about 26). How did I get to this state? Glad you asked…

Left my adopted home of Minneapolis-St. Paul at roughly 2:00 PM after a wonderful and beautiful morning, breakfast, and send-off by the wife-ish. The plane trip to Atlanta was nothing to terrible, other than a grade-A craptastic landing that felt like the pilot was trying to do some kind of trick maneuver where he balanced the jet on two wheels than tried to balance the plane on the other two and so on.

Atlanta Int. wasn’t too bad except for an unforeseen gate change that made for some last minute plane catching by two of our group.

During flight from Atlanta to Gatwick Int. in London, which departed around 7:20 PM and arrived around 8:20 AM (factor in a 5 hour time difference), I had meant to sleep the whole way, but the idea that when one is traveling, one doesn’t always know when one’s next meal is going to be trumped my good sense (or maybe it was the one complimentary beer), and I ended up not trying to get to sleep until later than I had planned, pretty much at the same time that everyone else settled down.

That was when total scale of the horrible situation I was in became apparent.

With everyone quieting down and to sleep or to watch the crap movie, I realized that there was soft music coming from somewhere and try as I might I wasn’t able to not hear it either. Paul Simon, Outkast, Stevie Wonder, the Blues Brothers and several others were doing there best to keep me awake, but I was overcoming there advances on my sleep when a shrieking voice made the K.O. punch made my eyes go wide.

DOOOOOOOWN TOOOOOOOWN. THINGS ARE SO GREAT WHEN YOU’RE DOOOOOOOWN TOOOOOOOWN. IT GETS SO LATE WHEN YOU’RE DOOOOOOOWN TOOOOOOOWN………..

…and it wasn’t just once, no, the music was on a 45 (or thereabouts) minute loop and the hideous wake up greeting would belt me over the head time after time. This went on for 8 hours, so I figure I heard the song about 12 times. I was fairly ambivalent about the song before this trip, but after this flight…I don’t ever want to go downtown ever again.

When we arrived, we took a charter bus to the hostel. The ride took about an hour and a half, and had I closed my eyes, I would have been able to experience the entire trip with my eyes closed due to my trip-mates reading out loud every sign and billboard that they saw. (Now, they were excited, so I can’t get too mad at them, but it was more than a little aggravating.) By this time the sheer amount of movement I had undergone up to that point was starting to make my stomach queasy and all I wanted to do was take a nap; however, sleep would have to wait.

In order to make everyone suffer the jetlag now, rather than throughout the next week; the group was assigned to go out and find a list of things and get a feel for the surrounding area…I hope I didn’t see anything interesting, because my head felt like rubber rather than a sponge and I didn’t really absorb any of the experience.

Which leads me up to now. I know it might sound like I’m moaning and complaining, but I imagine it’s just the jetlag and the ringing ears. A full night’s sleep (my first in Europe) and everything will be peachy, I’m sure.

Zero Hour.

"Well there's fist-fights in the kitchen,
enough to make me cry.
Little mailman comes in,
even he's got to take a side.
Even the butler,
he's got something to prove.
...and you ask why I don't live here,
honey, how come you don't move?"
-Bob Dylan, On the Road Again

There is an aspect of leaving the makes me wish that I wasn't going away tomorrow (I mean besides the people I will miss terribly and the cozy feeling of stagnation that sounds a lot worse than it really may be); I'm talking about the presidential election.

During the 2000 election (Bush v. Gore), I was 20 and not paying attention to politics or really anything at all, other than trying to survive.

During the 2004 election (Bush v. Kerry), I was 24 and probably would have cared, but I was deployed at sea and away from all (non-biased) news during the election. I didn't know enough about either candidate to make a real decision. Not to mention the fact that one of the guys who was organizing the absentee ballot process made a joke about not bothering to fill out the ballot because all military ballots go into the same box anyway. Now, he was joking, but it scared me enough to decide not to even bother with the absentee process (which is a complete pain in the butt, and should be done better, considering that it's mostly the military (the people who are, all too often, effected by elections the most) who have to fill them out).

Now we are gearing up for the 2008 elections (? v. ?) and I find myself most interested in it...I mean I feel like it's my first election, but am not going to be around for the primaries, nor the choosing of Vice-Presidents. I'm sure most people would envy my ability to not have to go through the national trauma of a presidential election with no incumbent or VP candidate, but I've never really experienced it before as an adult, and the one thing I think that everyone can agree upon is that this one is going to be a big one.

"...and though the masters make the rules
for the wise men and the fools.
I've got nothing, ma, to live up too."
-Bob Dylan, It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)

So I'm going to take off and go to Europe and you all can take care of the primaries. When I get back, I'm sure things will probably contain a bit more vitriol, but I hope not. I imagine I will miss much, but from what I've seen so far is that most of what happens is either made up by the media, or at least blown up by the media, so I'm sure nothing that's actually important will really escape my attention, and I am really looking forward to hearing a foreign perspective on American politics (if there even is one).

Tomorrow's the day. Plane takes off around 3:00 PM CT and I don't know when the next time will be that I get to hook up to some wireless. Good luck while I'm gone.

I'm off.

"Ridin' down the highway, goin' to a show.
Stop in all the by-ways, playin' rock 'n' roll.
Gettin' robbed.
Gettin' stoned.
Gettin' beat up.
Broken boned.
Gettin' had.
Gettin' took.
I tell you folks - It's harder than it looks
It's a long way to the top,
if you wanna rock 'n' roll."
-Bon Scott (AC/DC), It's a Long Way to the Top (if you wanna Rock & Roll)

Living out of the Bags.

"Workin' too hard can give me a heart attack-ack-ack-ack-ack-ack
You oughta know by now (you oughta know by nooowwww)
Who needs a house out in hackensack? Is that what you get with your money?
and it seems such a waste of time,
if that's what it's all about,
mama - if that's movin' up then i'mmmmmm....movin' out."
- Billy Joel, Movin' Out

It's official, after a week of living at (and working for) my parents, the trip is almost underway and I'm living out of my bags. A couple of more days and I will be eastward bound across the Atlantic, but until then I will be chilling out (most literaly) in St Paul.

The luggage is:
*One Seabag
*One Computer Bag
...and that's it.
Somehow or another, I was able to fit 55 lbs of clothes, books, and computer into both these bags, and I look forward to lugging these things from place to place. Ah well, that's travelling right?

One more state-side weekend to go...I'm gonna go and spend some time with a pretty girl and enjoy it, you should to go and find someone to enjoy your weekend with as well.


The wife-ish and I.


The wife-ish and I making a killer quiche.

...One last thought: How come the people with the most annoying cell phone ringtones are the people who take the longest to find their phone when it's ringing in a public place?

Bad News and Good News on MLK day.

"Let them join the Army because the Army makes men."
-Dalton Trumbo, Johnny Got His Gun

The bad news: New Generation of Homeless Vets Emerges
I wrote a paper about this exact same subject for English 200 last semester (I'm cutting and pasting here, so some of the graphs might not show up, not to mention a lot of the editing, but you'll get the idea):

Justin March
English 200
Essay V
14 Dec. 07

Coming Soon to a Classroom Near You: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Because most of the public does not experience combat, many Americans cannot understand the effect that modern combat has on a person. It is safe to say that even individuals who experience combat can’t possibly understand the extent to which they may be changed. In order to address possible cases of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, universities, and local communities should establish resources and guidelines to help veterans cope with changes that may manifest in the months and years following a discharge from the military.
Associated Press writer, Brandon Stahl tells the story of man who did not receive adequate mental health attention after fulfilling his military duty. Kevan Boman, 52, of Duluth, MN has been homeless for three years following a mental breakdown that stems from his experiences as an Army reservist. Activated from reserve duty in 1991, Boman was sent to the first Persian Gulf War where he worked as a medic. After returning home, he experienced sleep deprivation, an inability to concentrate, and a constant state of agitation, which led to altercations with his wife. After September 11, 2001, he was again activated; he served in Afghanistan, survived, and returned to Duluth to a high-paying job with a health care staffing agency (Stahl).
After experiencing further mental trauma in Afghanistan, Boman walked out of his house and made the decision to be homeless. Citing guilt regarding his military experience, he said, “I lived. That’s my sin.” A downward spiral of increasing drug use after his divorce resulted in cocaine addiction, further compounding his mental anguish.
It may be difficult for some to understand the forces that could drive a man to throw away what could be conceived of as a good life. While Boman’s case is an extreme example, those who experience horrible and exceptionally stressful events often react in an extreme manner, either immediately or at a later period. This reaction is called Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and it is not uncommon for anybody who has experienced terrible events (such as military combat, rape, witnessing extreme violence, etc.).
Dr. Peter Panzarino explains, “In general, post-traumatic stress disorder can be seen as an overwhelming of the body’s normal psychological defense against stress. Thus, after [a] trauma, there is abnormal function (dysfunction) of the normal defense systems, which results in certain symptoms.” Symptoms such as the re-experiencing of trauma, persistent avoidance, and increased arousal are universal to those experiencing PTSD (Panzarino).
The re-experiencing of trauma occurs when an individual has distressing recollections of dramatic events. Nightmares or daytime flashbacks can occur, as well as external cues from daily life that reactivates memories of trauma; this can manifest itself in physical reactions such as a rapid heart rate and sweating (Panzarino).
Persistent avoidance occurs when an individual actively avoids situations where trauma-related thoughts and feelings may trigger memories that he or she does not want to re-experience. This often leads to avoidance of social settings, and results in a restricted range of feelings (Panzarino).
Increased arousal can be seen as the manifestation of traumatic experiences through eruptions of anger, concentration difficulties, sleep interruptions, and a heightened level of watchfulness (Panzarino). A study performed by The Journal of Abnormal Psychology suggests that an increased level of arousal, called “hyperarousal,” plays a more predictive role in identifying PTSD due to the comorbid tendency of an individual experiencing hyperarousal to try to self-medicate with drugs and alcohol (Taft 499).
Comorbidity is the association of one disorder with another. All too often in the case of PTSD, another associated (and more often than not, more destructive) disorder may be diagnosed singularly while PTSD may be overlooked as the root cause of the ailment. Examples of comorbid disorders associated with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder are depression, alcohol and substance abuse, specific phobias, panic disorder, and even schizophrenia and borderline personality disorder (Brunet 502).
PTSD among combat veterans has a relatively short history as a medically diagnosed disorder. During World War I, the symptoms addressed above were attributed to the earth-shaking cannons and bombs that had never been used at such a magnitude in wars past, a condition called “shellshock” (Panzarino). In World War II, a soldier’s internal trauma was termed “combat fatigue” (Panzarino). Soldiers and marines returning from the Vietnam Conflict who were experiencing difficulties adjusting to a civilian life were thought to have an undefined affliction called “Post-Vietnam Syndrome” (Panzarino). The Center for Disease Control eventually classified these afflictions as essentially the same with the release of the National Vietnam Veterans’ Readjustment Study (NRVVS) in 1988 (however, the methods used in the study are now considered faulty as the study seems to have overestimated the rate of PTSD by 40%). Regardless of its faults, the NRVVS was the study that gave credence to the idea that military personnel who experienced high levels of combat were at serious risk of PTSD (McNally 923).
In the 21st century, the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have lasted much longer than expected, resulting in extended deployments and re-deployments of American soldiers and marines, and an increasing number of veterans suffering from PTSD. However, instead of addressing this problem, the U.S. military has started to use some soldier’s medical records to root out other possible non-combat causes of PTSD – essentially using a soldier’s medical record against him or her. If anywhere in their medical record, personnel have a past history of personality problems or pre-existing mental health problems, they can be released from the military without any medical benefits; therefore, they are not eligible for any veteran support for PTSD-related problems (PTSD given mis-diagnosis). This practice of dumping problematic soldiers is a major cause of many veterans existing in civilian society with serious mental problems. If soldiers are healthy enough to enter the military, they should be healthy enough to receive the benefits of its veterans care upon discharge. Unfortunately, the military has not held up its end of the bargain.
A study from The New England Journal of Medicine by Charles Hoge, et al. examines the levels of PTSD in soldiers and marines who had been deployed to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. 811 marines and 881 soldiers who were deployed to Iraq and 1956 soldiers who had been deployed to Afghanistan took part in the study. Two definitions of PTSD were used, a broad definition (Figure 1), where current psychiatric diagnoses were followed, and a strict (conservative) definition (Figure 2) that required a
report of either functional impairment or several symptoms by the individual soldier or marine (15).
Figure 1: Percent of returning personnel - Figure 2: Percent of returning personnel Broad Definition PTSD diagnosis Strict Definition PTSD diagnosis

(Adapted from Hoge 19) (Adapted from Hoge 19)
From this study, one can infer the massive scope of PTSD in American veterans, especially as more veterans return in increasing numbers from Iraq and Afghanistan. However, Hoge’s study, which was performed within veterans’ first three months of return from combat zones, does not illustrate the fact that PTSD can manifest itself months and even years after discharge (Milliken 2141), as in the case of Kevan Boman from Duluth (Stahl).
Recently, The Army Times posted an article on its website claiming a 20,000 jump in the number of veterans seeking treatment for PTSD. This jump brings the number of cases documented by the Department of Veterans Affairs to 50,000, while the official military statistic of personnel with PTSD is 30,000. The Army Times article goes on, “The discrepancy underscores the view by the military and civilian health officials that troops tend to ignore, hide or fail to recognize their mental health wounds until after their military service” (Zoroya). The phenomenon of denying problems and not reporting mental health trauma immediately can be inferred from Figure 3 and is also discussed in Hoge’s study:
In the military, there are unique factors that contribute to resistance to seeking such help, particularly concern about how a soldier will be perceived by peers and by the leadership. Concern about stigma was disproportionately greatest among those most in need of help from mental health services (20).
In a political science class last semester, the subject of extended deployments came up; a student stated that military personnel are accountable for their decisions to join the military. This concept, that soldiers know what they are getting into and that their trauma, mental and otherwise, are products of their own decisions may be technically true, no matter how distasteful, but I think many such students don’t realize that they will be affected by these veterans’ afflictions sooner or later. A large percentage of this contingent of the military are also enrolled in college and will be returning to their studies as soon as they return home, in addition to new veteran students who will start college to take advantage of the Montgomery G.I. Bill upon their release from active duty which will help pay for their education. This student’s statement may seem ignorant, but if examined in the context that less than one percent of the U.S. population is fighting in Iraq or Afghanistan compared to the percentage of the general population fighting in other major wars (Figure 4), it is not hard to see where this lack of understanding comes from.
This disconnect between veterans and the public at large, particularly college students, is troubling to me. On one hand, there are soldiers experiencing mental disorders and associated ailments, and on the other hand is the civilian population with only a vague idea of the mental trauma that soldiers face and (most likely) a preconceived notion of who and what soldiers are. Mix into the equation the fact that the average combat veteran has been trained to perform violence, in fact, more than likely has committed an act of violence, and the situation can become frightening due to the possibility of PTSD-related problems.
Even more frightening are the massive numbers of patients in need of treatment for PTSD, with no complete cure known. The Washington Post recently ran a piece claiming that the psychedelic drug, Ecstasy, is currently undergoing clinical trials as a treatment for PTSD (Shroder).
The problem of veterans returning from war with PTSD and its comorbid disorders should be addressed head-on by colleges and universities across the United States as increasing numbers of veterans with PTSD integrate themselves into higher learning communities. A little time and money spent getting health service professionals and counselors ready for a population with PTSD would be well spent. There should also be support groups set up to provide counseling, as well as military-only group counseling sessions for veterans. With one of the largest barriers to care being the stigma of PTSD among the military (Hoge 20), I believe the best plan of action is to address this stigma face to face, and let veterans help themselves and each other. The alternative is to do nothing and hope for the best - a plan that, time and time again, has been proven not to work.
No one can say that there won’t be any problems with the readjustment of combat veterans to civilian life, but it seems the right thing to help veterans who have given service to the U.S. If you agree, you should talk to your college or university’s administration as well as your local politician to address this situation. If you do not agree, think of what you might say to the hardened war veteran, who may need a bit of help working some things out, sitting down next to you in your college classroom.

Works Cited
Brunet, Alain, et al. “Don’t Throw Out the Baby with the Bathwater (PTSD Is Not Overdiagnosed).” The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry 52.8 (2007): 501-502. 17 Nov. 2007 .
Hoge, Charles, et al. “Combat Duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, Mental Health Problems, and Barriers to Care.” The New England Journal of Medicine 351.1 (2004). 18 Nov. 2007 .
McNally, Richard. “Psychiatric Casualties of War.” Science 313 (2006): 923-924. FindIt. PubMed. U of Minnesota Bio-Medical Lib., Minneapolis, MN. 18 Nov. 2007.
Meagher, Ilona. The War List: OEF/OIF Statistics. 2007. 1 Dec. 2007 .
Milliken, Charles, et al. “Longitudinal Assessment of Mental Health Problems Among Active and Reserve Component Soldiers Returning From the Iraq War.” The Journal of the American Medical Association 298.18 (2007): 2141-2148. FindIt. PubMed. U of Minnesota Bio-Medical Lib., Minneapolis, MN. 26 Nov. 2007.
Panzarino, Peter. “Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.” MedicineNet.com. Ed. Leslie Schoenfield. 24 June 2005. 17 Nov. 2007. .
“PTSD given mis-diagnosis by military.” PTSD Support Services. 4 May 2007. 18 Nov. 2007. .
Shroder, Tom. “The Peace Drug.” The Washington Post 25 Nov. 2007. 27 Nov. 2007 .
Stahl, Brandon. “PTSD vet ‘chooses’ homeless.” The Army Times 16Oct. 2007. 27 Oct. 2007 .
Taft, Casey, et al. “Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms, Physiological Reactivity, Alcohol Problems, and Aggression Among Military Veterans.” The Journal of Abnormal Psychology 116.3 (2007): 498-507. FindIt. PubMed. U of Minnesota Bio-Medical Lib., Minneapolis, MN. 18 Nov. 2007.
Zoroya, Gregg. “PTSD reports up 20,000 in a year.” The Army Times 19 Oct. 2007. 27 Oct. 2007 .

Now, the good news:

Sitting here in a small-town cafe in Wisconsin looking forward to my trip to Europe, and I overhear a conversation between a gentleman and an eight year old kid who has the day off from school because of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The gentleman spent about a half hour trying to explain the significance of Dr. King to the young boy, who, while paying attention and being receptive, did not quite grasp why King was so important. The fact that an eight year old doesn't quite get it is quite alright given the fact that he has people who will enforce and repeat why today is important. People like this not only serve our children, but ourselves as well, and I can't stress how impressed and happy I am to see this kind of thing in this small little Wisconsin town. Despite all the bad news of the world, there still is good news, sometimes one just has to keep their ears open.

Moving and Money.

Thank yous go out to my parents for bringing the moving van over this morning and helping me with my meager belongings. It was a fairly quick and easy task to load up all my stuff; however, the clean-up that ensued after they left was a bit of a different story. You don't really realize how dirty you are until you have to clean up after yourself, and that's exactly how I spent the afternoon. I think I may have burnt my finger prints off with cleaning products. Oh well...I'm out now, homeless, again. (No matter the reason, it does put a slight twinge in the pride to be a twenty-eight year old at your parents - or at least it ought to.)

"Cash rules everything around me. C.R.E.A.M. Get the money, dolla dolla-bill ya'll."
-Method Man (Wu-Tang Clan), C.R.E.A.M.

Extra vigilance is looking like it's going to be the name of the game on this trip when it comes to money. For example: How the Declining Dollar Affects Study Abroad.

Fortunately, the trip is set up with most of the cost up front. Flights, Eurail Passes, and Hostels are all provided as part of the program fees, and I didn't really have a whole lot of baggage room for souvenirs anyway; but, again, I'm used to traveling through the Navy, where we were underway for months at a time making money we couldn't spend. It made the port-visits quite nice. Yet another difference in how I have to travel on this trip compared to how I have been conditioned to travel.

In any case, it should be interesting, albeit, a bit challenging to get through this trip with out starving. (Come to think of it, I could stand to lose a few pounds...but not the British kind.)

Packing.

"So I'm packing my bags for the Misty Mountains...where the spirits go, now. Over the hills where the spirits fly-ee-iye. Ooo-who-who-whoooo."
-Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin), Misty Mountain Hop

Going to the last shift of taxi driving that I will have to do until May in a few minutes. Finished up packing and mom and the wife are scheduled to be here tomorrow to help with the move. Internet disconnect scheduled for tomorrow as well.

Moving yet again...hope I can find a decent place to live when I get back. Don't really care for being in this state of transition, but I guess that's the nature of travel.

Hard to get my head out of the frame of mind that I'm not going on a naval underway: that there will be the constant ability for communication and that anything I need will be available on the trip. The Navy has instilled in me an innate desire to take everything I need with me, which makes the idea of back-packing fairly impossible.

Speaking of the navy, was going through some old pictures and came across these:

Last day on the boat (August, 2006).


Moored in Brisbane, Austrailia (July, 2005).


Newspaper article from Perth, Australia (April, 2003).

G'day.

Reworking.

"It's the waiting that's the hardest part."
-Tom Petty

Put some work into the new blog and am liking how it looks...if anybody thinks that the Captain America punching Hitler picture is out of line, let me know.

I have to be honest, while it's hard to sit and work on this page when there's still so much time left until I leave, it's better than packing and getting ready to move, which (unfortunately) I have to get back to.

In the mean time, here's some pictures and links and stuff so that I can figure out quick and easy ways to do all this.

That's it?

World Transit Map

North Dakota

Grand Canyon

Ain't Europe, but it will work for now.

Thats it, see you soon.

Bill Kristol


...and just a little something to get us all in the mood for the Globe Theatre.


...and a little more to get us in the mood for Stonehenge.

A little background...

"The older I get, the more infuriated I get with "that which I do not know," like places I haven't been to: every country I haven't been to - taunts me. ... So, I reckon if you don't go, you'll never know. You gotta go, you've got to bust a geographic move to ever really know anything. You can read all the books you want, but it's kind of like empty facts to me until you go out into the world and you bump your head against another culture, or another religion, or another government."
-Henry Rollins, Talk is Cheap Vol. 1

As a sailor, I saw parts of the world that I would never have had a chance to see had I not enlisted. The time spent out to sea was long, the readiness inspections were grueling, and the time off in foreign ports was never long enough (except for the stops in Guam, which had a tendency to go on longer than anybody should care for).

So, after five years as a Helmsman and Quartermaster onboard the USS Key West (SSN 722), I decided that it was time to get out and stop travelling the world. A fairly smooth separation and transition from the military ensued and I wound up at the University of Wisconsin - River Falls.

During my first semester, a unique program came to my attention called The International Travelling Classroom (ITC) where a small group of professors take a group of students to several different cities in Europe. Not just a semester abroad at a foreign university - an entire semester seeing as much of the varying cultures of the continent as is humanly possible. The temptation to see more of the world that I hadn't been to overtook my decision to stop travelling. So now I find myself gearing up for another new set of places that I get to go to. I'm fully aware of the opportunity and the privilege that has been provided to me by fate, circumstance, and hard work - and I plan to exploit them for all they're worth.

With this blog, I hope to:
1. Inform family and loved-ones as to my goings on and travellings.
2. Contribute to my own reference and entertainment.
3. Get credit for the assigned journal I am supposed to be writing for one of my classes.
4. Offer evidence that there is life outside the United States. I love my country, but I get the feeling that far to many Americans are either ignorant or ambivalent to much of what happens elsewhere in the world. I think that it's important to try and overturn this kind of thought.

That's all the background one could possibly need. The plane takes off on January 29th. Until then, I have a lot of moving and packing to do...stay tuned.