One thing the military is usually quite good at is getting mail to the troops. It is not uncommon for a commander to not know where all his people are. But, somehow, the mail clerks can find them. Fact is, while in the Army I can remember being places where our government formally told the world we had no military people. The big joke was that our presence where there were no military forces could not have been that big of a military secret because the guys working the Army Post Office forwarded our mail to us there regularly.

"You gotta write some to get some," military people were told back then. Problem was, usually that concept was not also explained to the folks back home and some guys received very little mail.

Back then, everyone was encouraged -- almost ordered -- to write home at least once a week. It was not uncommon to even see guys writing letters out in the field, when there was gunfire evident just a couple kilometers away. Better yet, those guys working the Army Post Office usually located us a couple times a week and delivered new mail.

All that was back when Kennedy was president and we were somewhere between being "advisors" and beginning to fight an actual war. Many years later, I can still remember one piece of mail I received that was shared with many people around me of all ranks.

It was about Christmas time that year. For some reason, my father thought it would be funny to send me a huge fruitcake in a sealed tin. Except, as soon as that package was opened, it was evident this was no ordinary fruitcake. Turns out, my father had soaked this fruitcake in rum for days before repackaging it and sending it out. He used so much rum, in fact, that it quickly caught the attention of everyone around when I opened that tin.

It was a gag gift, for sure. But, we were all very happy to get that fruitcake that day. Because, what my father did not know when he sent that fruitcake to my normal APO address in France, where he thought I was, was that the Army Post Office guys would immediately forward it to me where I actually was at the moment: in the field in Vietnam.

The concept works the same with today's war. You have to write some to get some. Write to someone over there. Send them a little something; even something stupid. They'll hear the big news of the day. What our military relatives, friends and neighbors in the field often want to read about in letters from home are the happenings from their town, their neighborhood, their own block, and their families. You need not be a family member to relate all of that news. Any of us can. And we should.

Someone mentioned sending phone cards so they can call home. If we are careful to send a card we are sure will work from there, that's a great idea. But, let your imagination be your guide. The only limit for people in the field is the size of the package that they can receive.

Keep it upbeat and pleasant. Funny is always good, too. But, by all means, write to a couple of the people serving our country in this war.

There are a number of groups with web pages encouraging this. War.us(1), Hugs for Kuwait(2) and Operation Military Support(3) are three of them. We do not necessarily support any of these groups, just offer the information as a starting point for the consideration of readers.

1. <http://war.us/>

2. <http://www.hugsforkuwait.com/>

3. <http://www.operationmilitarysupport.com/>

In the January 26 issue (#299) we reported that the anti-American & anti-war protests were very interesting not so much because of the subject matter but because of the players. About 5% were known mainline socialist/communist organizers. Nearly 20% had no reason for being there other than to try to get lucky. Another 20% were has-been hippies who just do not fit in anywhere anymore. At least another 20% had issues other than protesting a war. And it looked like the rest were just there because someone made them think it might be a good idea. It was something to do, in other words. A party.

Washington Times Editor in Chief Wesley Pruden pegged the leaders accurately in his January 21 column: "The organizers pretended, like many of the young people, to be something called 'peace activists'. But anyone who remembers the demos of the '60s, when the crowds actually did number in the hundreds of thousands, recognized the organizers for who they really are, a collection of Karl Marxists (now mostly stumbling into their eighth and ninth decades), Groucho Marxists (who nurture the conceit that most Americans are like themselves and thus see America as worthy only of contempt), and assorted panhandlers, grifters and beggars with a gift for haranguing the gullible."

We also reported that, this time, the socialist and communist organizers showed their true colors and admitted their complicity on web sites. They coordinated some of the actions through the Progressive Challenge (1), which is a kissing cousin of Social Democrats, USA (2) and Socialist International. This time around, Progressive Challenge tried to hide their actions from an inquiring public by not linking to it on their main page. But, the information is there, on their web site. (3)

Last week, Fox News broke the communist angle wide open and almost got a couple of the far-left reds to do a live television interview.(4)

Fox News led off with a very interesting point: "Money is needed to rent or buy stages, sound systems, permits and portable toilets, and tabs often run as high as $200,000 per demonstration; much more than the average grassroots peace group will ever have in its coffers."

As Fox News asks, "So who is picking up the tab?"

The Marxists at the Workers World Party(5), Fox Reports:

"The major anti-U.S. government demonstrations are organized by people who have been around for a long time, particularly the Workers World Party, which has existed for more than 30 years now and has always supported the enemies of the United States," said Herbert Romerstein, a retired agent of the U.S. Information Agency.

Fox says that outwardly, protest organizers are groups such as Not in Our Name and International A.N.S.W.E.R., which have long histories of backing anti- American causes.

Not in Our Name is financed by the Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization(6) -- a million- dollar-a-year non-profit organization that supports Cuban dictator Fidel Castro and once sponsored a group headed by Sami Al-Arian, the University of South Florida professor charged with fundraising for terrorist organizations Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

A.N.S.W.E.R.(7) is an offshoot of the International Action Center(8), which intelligence officials say is a front for the Worker's World Party.

And so it goes. The same anti-American international communist and socialist groups that instigated many of the protests and riots happening in this country in the past 50 years are at it again. And, as usual, they find plenty of resident useful idiots to lead by the nose.

We think free speech is a fine concept. No one should ever be censored for speaking out against war. We draw the line, however, when international communist and socialist groups use foreign money to pay for protests and start riots. That should have been stopped decades ago.

1.<http://www.ips-dc.org/netprogress/>

2. <http://www.socialdemocrats.org/>

3. <http://www.ips-dc.org/citiesforpeace/>

4. <http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,81448,00.html>

5. <http://www.workers.org/>

6. <http://www.ifconews.org/>

7. <http://www.internationalanswer.org/>

8. <http://www.iacenter.org/iraq.htm>

A few years ago, Congress passed a bill requiring them to obey all laws, rules and regulations, just like normal citizens. Therefore, we offer a few selected excerpts from Title 48, Volume 1, Parts 1 to 51 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Revised as of October 1, 1996, for your reading enjoyment.

This is good stuff, folks. Because, if Congress (and the administration) is legally bound to obey each and every one of their petty little laws, rules and regulations, our question is this: Where do we go to file charges?

Everyone in Congress is in violation of these "Standards of Conduct." So too are their staffs. On the slim chance this regulation could be enforced, the halls of the Capitol Building would be cleared of all but secretaries.

Of course, those elected to federal office are above all this. They give lip-service to obeying all laws, then totally disregard anything too restrictive. Nevertheless, it is fun to wave this stuff in their faces, if only just to tell them we notice the violation.

We might also add that, since elected Americans can pick and choose which laws they wish to obey, why shouldn't ALL Americans do the same? On that note, you may wish to send a copy of the following to your Members of Congress. Their reply should be interesting.

Title 48, Volume 1, Parts 1 to 51 of the Code of Federal Regulations

"This part prescribes policies and procedures for avoiding improper business practices and personal conflicts of interest and for dealing with their apparent or actual occurrence."

3.101 Standards of conduct.

"Government business shall be conducted in a manner above reproach and, except as authorized by statute or regulation, with complete impartiality and with preferential treatment for none. Transactions relating to the expenditure of public funds require the highest degree of public trust and an impeccable standard of conduct. The general rule is to avoid strictly any conflict of interest or even the appearance of a conflict of interest in Government-contractor relationships.

"As a rule, no Government employee may solicit or accept, directly or indirectly, any gratuity, gift, favor, entertainment, loan, or anything of monetary value from anyone who (a) has or is seeking to obtain Government business with the employee's agency, (b) conducts activities that are regulated by the employee's agency, or (c) has interests that may be substantially affected by the performance or nonperformance of the employee's official duties." . . .

"Gratuity or other thing of value includes any gift, favor, entertainment, or other item having monetary value. The phrase includes services, conference fees, vendor promotional training, transportation, lodgings and meals, as well as discounts not available to the general public and loans extended by anyone other than a bank or financial institution.

"Influencing or attempting to influence, as used in this section, means making, with the intent to influence, any communication to or appearance before an officer or employee of any agency, a Member of Congress, an officer or employee of Congress, or an employee of a Member of Congress in connection with any covered Federal action.

"Person, as used in this section, means an individual, corporation, company, association, authority, firm, partnership, society, State, and local government, regardless of whether such entity is operated for profit or not for profit."

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