European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 26, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 14 o stars and Siri pcs monday March 26 2qq7 stars stripes Thomas e Kelsch publisher John d Panasiewicz general manager it col Daniel r Todd Usan commander news and editorial Robb gr1ndstaff Doug Clawson executive editor managing editor Pacific Thomas p Skeen Pacific editor Chris Carlson Japan Bureau chief to Flack Korea Bureau chief Washington do assistant managing editors Karen Willenbrecht news Sean Moores sports Brian Bowers features Christopher six Patrick Dickson news editor Joe Gromelski web editor addresses us mail unit 45002 Apo a 963375002 International mail 2317 Roppo Ngi 7chome Mina Toku Tokyo 1060032 Japan fax Dan 2293132 Civ 03 34088936 email readers forum advertising marketing circulation Central office 529 14th Street new suite 350 Washington do 200451301 phone Dan 3127630900 or Civ 202 7610900 fax 202 7610890 editorial director 529 14th St new suite 350 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50 cents daily and sunday by the stars and stripes Central office 529 14th St new suite 350 Washington do 200451301 periodicals postage paid at san Francisco Calif postmaster Send address changes to Pacific stars and stripes unit 45002 Apo a 963375002 ombudsman David Mazzarella the stars and stripes ombudsman protects the free flow of news and information reporting any attempts by the military or other authorities to undermine the newspapers Independence the ombudsman also responds to concerns and questions from readers and monitors coverage for fairness accuracy timeliness and balance the ombudsman welcomes comments from readers and can be contacted by email at or by phone at 2027610945 european and Pacific stars and stripes 2007 stars and stripes web site  letters to the comment no morale booster1 in the March 24 article regarding the five month Extension of Camp Pendleton Calif marines attached to the 31st Marine expeditionary unit Okinawa marines to stay in Pacific longer Okinawa Edi Tion 1200 from 31st Meu extended on Oki Nawa Korea 31st Meu spokes Man capt Burrell Farmer referred to the Extension As a morale Booster and stated that marines get excited when they Are extended anywhere does he actually know this for a fact in quite sure the marines who left spouses and children behind with the Promise of a return Are not Happy with the Extension i know this for a fact since the members of one of the affected families Are close friends and they Are having to Deal with How to break this to their children Young boys who have Only seen their father a total of 11 months since May 2004 so Farmer might want to Check his facts and use better judgment when families of those affected marines will be Reading his poorly worded statements it would serve him Well to make it a priority to consider the families left behind to Deal with the emotion Al fallout of yet another Extension in our slap and stripes welcomes your comments on editorials and columns that Are published in we newspaper and values letters on import the jives of our readers Alt tetters must fee sped and nest include the writers Telephone number please limit afr itt Ersla 3g0 words we Reserve the tight to edit letters for tenth taste and benders Forniti Staisia stripes stats and stripes 45002 Apo a 96337s002 tokyrlm4032 via fax from Japan 0334088936 email never ending Long War ill soon be one of the wives left behind to raise my children single Anderly and a comment like his would Only serve to make it More difficult for me if i were the one affected and As a former Marine i am Well aware of the need to keep up morale among marines but these types of statements Arent what does that reasonable deploy ment lengths do Tiffany Mccawley Camp Foster Okinawa where were senior enlisted after Reading some of the reports on wounded veterans at Walter Reed army medical Center and other hospitals i won Der where the senior enlisted were there was a Garrison sergeant major at the Hospital and the sergeant major of the army was a Short drive away yet none thought treatment of wounded army person Nel who risked life and limb was a priority it is their responsibility to Check on the status of enlisted personnel and yet not a word from them Well shame on them if they have any sense of shame it proves the e9s holding these special positions Are Noth ing More than potted Good but dont do anything god bless our troops hopefully some thing will be done now the Media have be come involved Allen Vander Veen Bentheim Germany journeys for what Evers in the cards by Kevin Cowherd the Baltimore Sun first there was reality to a vast entertainment wasteland that demeaned All who participated dulled the minds of millions of americans and turned grinning mannequin Ryan Seacrest into an International celebrity then came reality videos on the internet and suddenly you could Click on youtube and myspace and see everything from girls gone wild on South padre Island to Michael Richards doing his Klansman impersonation in a comedy club or a Blotchy Saddam Hussein with a noose around his neck dropping through a Gallows trap door now god help us we have reality Greet ing cards of maybe this int As big a threat to brain cells As flavor of love with flava flav or that video of the girl showering with her keyboard that was just on myspace but the fact is hallmark just rolled out a new line of greeting cards called journeys designed to Buck up All those people faced with challenging Here we go real life situations these real life situations could involve recovering from cancer or addiction or an eating disorder bouncing Back from a divorce Job loss or depression or coming out of the closet As a Gay person it could even involve something As Mun Dane As quitting smoking or achieving a weightless goal i dont know does someone who just dropped 20 pounds really want to get a Greet ing card that says in effect hey youre not such a fat tub of goo anymore guess Well find out soon Cynthia Musick editorial director for journeys said the new cards were inspired by a poll hallmark took of its customers about 90 percent said they wanted a wider selection of encouragement cards that would offer support for these different real life situations Musick said Over the phone from Hallmarks Kansas City to Headquarters and apparently theres no shortage of real life situations in which receiving a greeting card would be just the thing to lift the spirit because there Are 176 different kinds of journeys cards there divided into four categories give Hope health issues like tests surgery and show support coming out addressing addiction or quitting bad help Cope trying to get pregnant having a miscarriage or an aging and lift spirits divorce Job loss leaving a bad situation or some of the journeys cards Are whimsical some Are Dopey some Are kind of cute for someone who lost weight theres this one exercise eating right positive thoughts you mean it actually works you look great but some Are mawkish As if they were dictated by or Phil while he reeled around the House swigging from a fifth of wild Turkey for instance heres one for the poor soul who just got fired in sorry you lost your Job but please remember your Job is not who you Are you have Many great qualities and that what really matters doonesbury then inside so until someone appreciates your unique abilities i Hope youll take Pride in All youve accomplished and realize How much you have yet to give whew of that ones a Little Wordy int it by the time a person gets through All that he Coul Dve found another Job on the other hand some of the journeys cards seem deliberately vague alluding to some unnamed Challenge or test of charac Ter undertaken by the person receiving it my favorite one of this genre says this on the cover i think you can i think you can i think you can open the card and it says i know you can which of course raises the question you know i can what pass the bar exam Stop the compulsive shoplifting quit being a backseat Driver but the journeys card that really strikes a curious note at least with me is the one for eating disorders the cover says All i want is for you to be healthy healthy and Happy with yourself please take it one Day at a time until you Are now if that were me with an eating disorder and you sent that card id think All you want hey pal in the one with the prob Lem Here anyway the journeys cards have been on the Market for Only a month but sales Are Strong and the initial response from the pub Lic says Musick has been very positive apparently you cant give people too much reality these Days which probably explains a lot More than just Ryan Seacrest by Garry Trudeau sir jus up