More Mystery Illnesses In Iraq

This story reminds me of Gulf War Syndrome, an illness I’ve often wondered if I ever safely avoided. Seems there is an outbreak of a mysterious pneumonia-like illness now affecting soldiers in Iraq.

It could simply be that military personnel are more prone to this kind of illness, as they tend to travel to exotic places, meet exotic people, and kill them.

Ha ha! That’s an old military joke. I mean, military people go to far-flung places and mingle with the locals, as well as work and sleep in close quarters. Add to this the fact that running water is usually not available and you have a recipe for an outbreak.

I don’t think Iraqis are behind this, but when you look at how little we know about Gulf War Syndrome (and how little we care to know – some governments are happy to look the other way), you realize there may be something important going on here.

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On the Internet nobody knows you’re a spook

OS Division, USS ELLIOT, fall 1991

OZ Division, USS ELLIOT DD-967, fall 1991.

Had a dust-up on social media the other day and, frankly, I am still mystified how it all took place.

I tend to follow online and amplify veterans who lean left because the perception of the military consisting of only right-wingers needs to change. A tweet from one of the more popular veterans I follow attracted several good comments. I liked one from a particular veteran (we’ll call her Karen), checked her profile, and followed her when I saw we had something in common: our Navy occupations were in cryptography.
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About Mark Turner

Mark Turner is a technology pundit, blogger, social media strategist, and public servant who lives in Raleigh, North Carolina. He has spent 20 years in the software industry, serving in technical support, consulting, system administration, IT management, sales engineering, training, and product management roles. He is an engaging public speaker with a knack for putting complex concepts into simple terms. He especially enjoys exploring new benefits of technology and is often on the leading edge of technology trends. He often voids the warranties of any gadgets he buys.

Mark is deeply committed to public service. He is a community organizer in his neighborhood of East Raleigh. He served six years of service on Raleigh’s Parks, Recreation, and Greenway Advisory board (PRGAB), serving two years as Chair and one as Vice-chair. He also served as Chair of the Raleigh’s Citizens Advisory Council (RCAC) (1 year), Chair of the East Citizens Advisory Council (East CAC) (3 years), Vice-Chair of the Mordecai Historic Park Advisory Board (2008-2012), and on the boards of both the North Carolina Museum of Art Contemporaries (1999-2001) and the Triangle Linux User Group (TriLUG) (2005-2006). He also served two years as president of Garner Crimestoppers and one year as president of the Ligon GT Magnet Middle School PTA. He recently completed service on the City of Raleigh’s Historic Resources and Museum Advisory Board.

Mark is a veteran of United States Navy, having served aboard the USS Elliot (DD-967) during the Persian Gulf War. As a cryptologic technician Mark was granted a TOP SECRET security clearance and also performed duties as an intelligence photographer. After outstanding service (a “4.0 sailor”) that earned him commendations from flag officers, Mark left the Navy in 1992 to attend North Carolina State University. He has lived in the Raleigh area ever since.

Mark is a also prolific blogger. Since he began blogging in 2002 he has authored over 6,500 posts on the topics of technology, politics, and others. His weblog, www.markturner.net, has garnered the attention of the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and the Associated Press among others. Last year his blog attracted 1.7 million hits from 260,000 visits: an average of 711 visits per day.

Mark lives in Raleigh with his wife, Kelly, two children, and dog. When he’s not busy planning Raleigh’s future by serving on one of his boards, he can often be found biking one of Raleigh’s greenways.

Mark’s GPG key is here. His GPG fingerprint is 60AB FA38 B5C7 4A2D 04B8 BC9F 4F7D 97FB 266E 958D.

415 Words

Writing has become harder

Writing tonight’s CAC op-ed was the first several-hundred-word piece I’ve written in a while. Looking through my blog shows that I used to do this on a regular basis. Used to do it with ease.

It’s difficult to pin down what has changed. Certainly I’m older and It’s harder than it used to be to string words together. My suspected Gulf War Illness could be another factor. Still, it’s also true that the nature of online communications has changed.

Many people started their Internet experience using America Online (AOL). Nothing wrong with that, of course, but my beef with AOL was the beautiful walled garden that it provided: people would log on and think there was no world beyond AOL.

Today the same could be said about Facebook. Facebook has captured much of the attention that used to be on blogs like mine, only now it’s also walled off and shot through with conniving advertisements. It’s all built to encourage short attention spans, while blogging can be as robust as I feel like making it.

Facebook (and to a lesser extent Twitter) has worked hard to try to turn me from a producer back into a consumer again. It is an easy trap to fall into – “there are so many voices out there, what can I add with mine?”

And yet, people still visit my site. I still have many gems I’ve written here and I can tell the story of my life exactly the way I want to tell it. This is more valuable than ever.

Maybe I still have it, maybe I don’t, but there’s no doubt of the value of my words here. Let me know if you want to see more.

At 28, my brain was already fizzling out

I was searching for stuff on my computer tonight when I came across a diary entry I created back on my 28th birthday, 21 Jan 1997. I had started journaling then mainly because I had started having trouble with my memory. It is also why I began this blog, as I’ve said before.

This entry is from a time when I was young, single, fit, and supposedly at the top of my game, yet I was deeply concerned about my future. I post it today to remind myself of just how long I’ve been dealing with Gulf War Illness.

It has been three decades of pain and frustration but I am still here.

Looking at the old clock on the wall I see that I’ve just turned 28 years old. Here I am sitting at my keyboard on my 28th birthday, all alone save for a lazy cat. I didn’t feel like staying at the party because I’m feeling down, so I guess I really didn’t have to be alone. I can’t talk to those guys about what’s bothering me because they couldn’t relate. There are very few people who could. But the party was getting my down because I couldn’t seem to jump-start myself into the conversation, and I became alarmed at this inability to speak.
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USS Elliot shipmate meetup

L-R: Orlando Brown, Mark Turner, Robert Nordman

I got the urge last week to set up a meeting with my former USS Elliot shipmate, Orlando Brown. Orlando, or “OC” as we call him, lives near Creedmoor and so picked out a beer joint in that neck of the woods. It took me the better part of the hour to navigate my way there last night, with my T-Mobile cellphone losing its network signal in the thick woods.

When I walked in, 15 minutes late, there was OC along with another shipmate I hadn’t seen for over thirty years: Robert Nordman. I had been hoping that OC had thought to invite him, which was easy to do because he and OC live so close to each other.

We spent three hours catching up, telling sea stories, and being thankful that we’re still here to tell the tales. Rob was in very good spirits in spite of having been diagnosed with cancer earlier this year. He has always worked his ass off at whatever he does and OC and I kept him out later than he would’ve liked as he was running out of steam.

I was also struck by Rob’s mention that many of our shipmates are dealing with illnesses, many of which sound like Gulf War Illness. Some of these guys can’t even walk anymore and they’re no older than 50. I’ll have more to say on this in a future post but last night served as a kick in the pants to pursue my own Gulf War Illness issues, get what I have diagnosed, and potentially get my VA disability claim filed. Life is too short, y’all.

Anyway, I love these guys like brothers.

Brain scans in the name of science

Yes, I do have a brain.


I took the day off yesterday to travel to Boston University to participate in a Gulf War Illness research study. The study is looking to identify biomarkers that might indicate Gulf War Illness. It cost me a day off of work and paying for my travel expenses but I was able to add my information to the pool of data so that it might help other Gulf War veterans.

Part of yesterday’s tests included a structural MRI, after which I was sent home with a copy of my imaging data. Being a data nerd, this thrilled me and I couldn’t wait to check out what was on my CD. While the typical image tools available for Linux like GIMP were able to view the images, it wasn’t until I installed the MRIcron application that I was able to view my imagery in three dimensions. MRIcon converts the DICOM files that the MRI generated into an open format that can then be manipulated by MRIcron.

Pretty cool, although a bit disconcerting to realize I’m looking at tiny slices of my own head. There’s a strong part of me that keeps thinking “man, you’re not dead yet! You should not be seeing your brain!” Coupled with my image data, MRIcon is a really captivating tool for exploring the structure my brain (and my head as well).

Looking closely at the third image you can clearly see that my eyeballs are shaped completely differently. This probably accounts for my unusual combination of nearsightedness and farsightedness. Good times.

Instead of answers, more questions

Stethoscope-2
Yesterday, I crafted a long blog post detailing my time as a participant in this Gulf War Illness (GWI) research study but never had a chance to post it. I was about to say it seems I have some answers to my health issues. Sadly, after talking with lead researcher Dr. Baraniuk for several hours last night (yes, several hours. Does your doctor do that?) I’ve realized that there are actually more questions than answers now.

I took a week off of work and away from home and traveled to DC at partially my own expense to be tested by an expert in GWI. Dr. Baraniuk is a brilliant man – an expert in GWI – and I was tested, but I never expected that my medical issues would stump him of all people. My joy of yesterday is well-founded: Dr. Baraniuk has detected a legitimate, abnormal response in my nervous system which makes my body work extra hard and seems to occur in GWI-affected veterans (about 30% of those who served in the Persian Gulf War). This confirmation is a wonderful validation of the way I’ve been feeling for the past 25 years.
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If it’s Monday, this must be DC

Update 2017 Nov 11: Dr. Baraniuk’s paper has been published.

At the top of the “Exorcist” Steps in Georgetown. I climbed these steps to and from my appointment today.

At the top of the “Exorcist” Steps in Georgetown. I climbed these steps to and from my appointment today.


I’ve been on the road for a little while. Last week I was in Seattle for a work trip, spending most of my time in a windowless datacenter. My colleagues and I did get out to visit the Museum of Flight as well as the Living Computer Museum, both which were fascinating to us geeks!

I got home Friday night to spend the weekend with my family before hopping a train north to DC. I’ll be here for the next two days participating in a DoD-funded research study on Gulf War Illness (GWI). The research study involves a bunch of repetitive vital sign measurements, some MRI time, and intense exercise tests. I got through most of the medical forms, vital sign measurements, and interview today but the real fun starts tomorrow when I pedal my ass off on a stationary bike while wearing a SCUBA breather and an EKG harness, then spend an hour cooped up in an MRI while they look at my brain. Then I do it again on Wednesday and celebrate afterward with a lumbar puncture (aka, spinal tap). Yay?

After I had a long interview with the doctor in charge of the research study, he doesn’t seem convinced that I have traditional GWI (or it’s cousin, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, CFS). He does find my symptoms curious, though, and wants to get me some answers. I don’t know what I’ll find out here, if anything, but I seem to be in the realm of experts. At least I know that my vitals are good and EKG looks “stellar,” in their words.

Being away from my family for two weeks in a row isn’t something I’ve done since my 2006 business trip to Australia, I believe. Can’t say I’m a fan of this much travel. My health is important, though, so I want to find out whatever I can so that I can keep up with my very active family.

One plus of being in DC now is that I had a great view of tonight’s Antares rocket launch which launched from Wallops Island, VA. I saw it from the grounds of the U.S. Marine Corps Memorial with the Potomac River in the foreground and excited kids and dads all around me. Made me wish my excited kids (and my wife) were here with me!

VA Pregnenolone study

For 12 weeks beginning in February, I participated in a VA-funded research study on using pregnenolone to address the effects of Gulf War Illness. Every week I would check in with a research associate, either in person or by phone, and answer a series of questions regarding my health and mental faculties. It involved driving to the Durham VA Medical Center about every other week for bloodwork and cognitive testing. I would also often return with a dose of pregnenolone for that week.

The cognitive tests were challenging and the worst part of the study. Bloodwork by comparison was a breeze, but when asked to study images of shapes and mentally rearrange them or to recall a varying, long list of fruits and vegetables I would begin to sweat. I hated those tests especially.
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