A single, courageous act

Today, I am grateful for the courageous act of a woman that took place fifty six years ago.  I'm grateful that she stood up (out of defiance or fatigue or whatever) and said no, I won't move from this seat.  I am grateful that because of her act, a major civil rights campaign kicked off to give equal rights to everyone regardless of skin color.  I am grateful that because of that my son has every right to expect equal treatment under the law.  I am grateful that he can go to any school he wants, study whatever he wants and sit in whatever seat on the bus he wants.  

God bless Rosa Parks.

Lennon

Those who know me, know of my love for the Beatles.  Today would have been John Lennon's 70th birthday.  Imagine is hands down my favorite Lennon tune, but Beautiful Boy is on my favorite list.  I loved when this song is used in Mr Holland's Opus.  Makes me cry every time I see it.   Here are two videos, first of John Lennon singing Beautiful Boy and the second is the scene from Mr Holland's Opus.   

John Winston Lennon

9 October 1940 - December 8, 1980

 

Were any of you alive at the time of Lennon's death?  Do you remember where you were when you heard the news?

Pearl Harbor

Did you know that an ENTIRE Navy Band perished in the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941?  The youngest member of Navy Band Number 22 was 17 years old and the oldest (the bandmaster) was only 31.   You can read a little more HERE about the band, there is some cool information. (See the below excerpt from this link). 

Navy Band Number 22 was stationed aboard the USS Arizona.  

On April 2, 1942, the Navy released the following story which was carried in newspapers from coast to coast:
What becomes of the boys in the band when the guns begin to roar?
Many a civilian has asked that question. Blowing a horn or beating a drum is not firing a gun. What becomes of the ship's musicians when the battle rages?
The most dramatic answer to that question has been furnished by the incident of the ship's band of the battleship Arizona.
On December 7 they went to their battle station, one of the most hazardous on the ship--down below, passing ammunition to the guns above.
To a man, the Arizona's band was killed when the battleship's magazine exploded.
Part of the program of recreation at Pearl Harbor last year was the Battle of Music, 1941. The bands of the ships in port contested. One of the best and near the top in scoring when the war began was the band of the Arizona.
When its total loss was discovered, the other contestants unanimously agreed to award posthumously to the Arizona's band the trophy at stake.
Great interest in the trophy has been expressed by the U.S. Navy School of Music at Washington, and in response to its request, a picture of the trophy was painted by Alfred Dupont, illustrator at the fleet recreation office, and sent to the national capital, to be placed on permanent exhibit there.
Henceforth the trophy will be known as the Arizona trophy.
After the war, it will be put up again to be challenged, when the Battle of Music will be resumed.


Here's a pretty cool tribute the Navy Band in Hawaii did earlier this week.  You can also get some pretty good information HERE and HERE...including pics and bios of all the band members. 

Take a moment to remember all those who were lost on that fateful day.

Pic of the sinking USS Arizona

Misleading headline

Earlier this week while I was getting things ready for all my posts this week I found THIS article on People.com.  I remember seeing this cover at the grocery store and feeling sad...my initial thought was that a complex emotional situation was being splashed accross the headlines.  A couple days later someone I work with brought the magazine in and I was relieved to read the article...but still enraged to find out that the headline "We Miss Our Baby" was TOTALLY misleading.  If someone hadn't picked up the magazine and read the article they would have a completely different opinion of the situation. 

As I searched for more, I found THIS article on Psychology Today's website.  It found the same thing...let me quote a bit from that article.  (Let me just say that I find it SO ironic that this journalist is criticizing another news outlet for making a mistake when they make the mistake of saying "gave up their baby"...I mean, seriously...)

This week's PEOPLE Magazine features the only teenage couple from the TV show Sixteen and Pregnant who gave up their baby for adoption. Yet the unfortunate cover makes it seem as though the teen couple now regrets their decision. Readers would have to wade deep into the magazine to see how much at odds this is with the couple's actual statements.

Other information buried deep in the article that's particularly relevant is how Catelynn and Tyler are the lone couple from Sixteen and Pregnant who are still together. Instead of the inaccurate message the PEOPLE cover presents, Catelynn and Tyler say they have only grown closer since the adoption. Had they decided to raise their baby, Catelynn says, "I think we would have struggled a lot. I didn't want to struggle and I didn't want Carly to be around all of that."

Instead of lauding adoption, the take home message teens will get when they see the cover of PEOPLE is that they will seriously regret it if they place their baby for adoption.

It just goes to prove something that Jill said in her Cold Rissotto story.  Sensational stories sell.  If the headline had read Couple Happy With Their Adoption Plan the copies wouldn't have flown off the shelf.   But what's especially sad about this story is that it ISN'T sensational (other than the fact it was on TV).  A couple placed their baby against massive opposition, is sad (which is TOTALLY normal) but wouldn't change their minds.  People Magazine went out of their way to make the story seem more "sensaitonal" than it actually was.  It makes me disappointed and you can bet I won't be picking up a People Magazine anytime soon.

Good for something

Guess that one hour commute is good for something.  I get to listen to the news, talk radio, etc. and it looks like some of that information sunk in to my hard-headed brain.

To find out how you stack up...take THIS QUIZ.

If you take the quiz I'd be curious to know how you do.

At ease

With all the craziness going on with health-care reform and Ft Hood another big news item hasn't been the big media circus that it could have been. Tonight John Allen Muhammed (the DC sniper) was executed in Virginia.
I was driving to work this morning when I heard a little news snippet mentioning that the execution was scheduled for today pending clemency being granted by the governor. After I got home tonight I checked CNN and sure enough, he had been executed...and it was the strangest thing. I felt a sense of relief.
We lived in Virginia at the time all that craziness was going on. We were not right in the thick of it, but we were about 30-45 minutes away from one of the shootings. I was going through some pretty dark stuff and one day something snapped. I was at the base running around the track and as I turned the bend I looked across the field and saw an 18-wheeler in the parking lot across the street. My heart started pounding and I KNEW that there was someone in that truck that was going to shoot me. I KNEW it. I sprinted to my car, got inside, locked the doors and hyperventilated/sobbed UNCONTROLLABLY for 10 minutes. I remember the fear. I could taste it. I was afraid for my life and I just KNEW someone was going to harm me.

That was my first anxiety attack.

Since then I have had some serious issues all centering around safety and security. (I was diagnosed with OCD in 2004 and a majority of my obsessions and compulsions manifest in things related to safety) I remember several nights in Newport when Nathan would be on tour, locking myself in our bedroom with the cats and all the knives in the house. For the first couple years we lived there I refused to leave the windows open at night (even though we lived on the second floor) and I would get up multiple (like 4 or 5) times a night to check and make sure the windows were not only shut - but locked.
I have always felt that the fractured emotional state I was in while we lived in Virginia coupled with the very real-ness (at least to me) of the sniper shootings broke something in my brain.
As time has passed the fear has begun to go away and I have fewer and fewer anxiety ridden moments. As crazy (and horrible) as it sounds I hope that with this execution my mind can somehow put itself at ease and finish repairing whatever snapped that day on the track.

Exciting news!!

We closed on our house Thursday and we are now officially HOMELESS..and I couldn't be happier! :) Now that we have that stumbling block out of the way we are one HUGE step closer to adoption!!

Sharp Dressed Man

I was perusing the internet to gather usless knowledge and I saw this. I find this kind of disturbing...ok, a LOT of disturbing. In case you don't want to click, here's the Reader's Digest version: The Big Three auto company CEO's flew to Washington to ask for bailout money - and they flew in PRIVATE planes. The article estimates that the flights cost $20K EACH. I was proud of Rep. Gary Ackerman, D-New York for scolding them in the hearing.

If a bailout will help our economy, I am all for it. BUT I don't want my tax money given to these bozos so they can fund their private jet flights.

Scary

I am alive...Nathan and I both caught some superbug and it has taken him almost 2 weeks to shake it - I'm at 11 days and still not feeling back to normal. I missed 2 days of work last week (would have been three but Monday was a holiday)...and most of my Labor Day weekend was spent in a drug-induced sleep/coma. Our house smells like Vicks now...

Anyway, I was reading the letters to the editor in my friendly local 'newspaper' and came across this gem. I am not expecting many of you to read this...and I don't expect any comments, because it seems that my political rants/posts don't sit well with most of you (probably because we don't share the same opinions). Alas, here is the text:

To the editor:

As I follow this presidential race closely, I think back on an episode of “That 70’s show” (Season 1, Ep. 3 “Streaking”) where the main character, Red Foreman, was given the opportunity to publicly ask a question to the visiting President Gerald R. Ford. He got the courage to ask a straightforward question that deserved an answer instead of the silly “mild” question that the local committee had prepared for him to ask.

So it made me think that if I had the opportunity to sit down with Barack Obama (heaven forbid) and ask him a question, whether it be publicly or in private, I would look him straight in the eyes, look past his manipulative charm, ignore the “Change” Tattoo imprinted on his forehead, and ask him “Sir Obama, what is your religion, and what is your middle name?” Of course I would be escorted out of the room as quickly as if I had asked Bill Clinton a question of “How profitable was the drug business you were running while in office?”

So many people rip George Bush up one side and down the other, yet he isn’t doing anything corrupt, and he hasn’t been under a desk at any time during his presidency. It’s all kind of funny seeing how I know John Kerry wouldn’t have done any better, and yet you left-wingers won’t lay off of him.

I for one think it’s ridiculous that Mitt Romney practically got put on trial about his religion, and he answered the questions. He is now no longer on the ticket and I think it had something to do with him being a man and standing behind his beliefs. So how about you Obama?

The main point I’m trying to make is this: Barack Obama is not African-American, he is Middle Eastern, and he is a Muslim.

So to call it a historic event to have the first African-American nominated to run for president would be misleading, Because he is not African-American! I know I may get some backlash from the Angry Left, but I know I can just brush it off, because you are the same people who think it’s OK to murder unborn babies.

I’m looking towards the future, and we need a man who is on the same page as God and who is truly ready to lead us, not a man who is off by himself praying five times a day to an “Allah” character and, when asked about the abortion, issue gives the lame answer — that it is above his pay scale — when we all know he is for it. I want some answers Obama! Would God approve of abortion? I didn’t think so either. (Keep in mind I know of the situations where the mother and baby would die if she went through with the pregnancy. I’m not an idiot.)

Gary R. Olsen

Hyrum

I am not sure what frightens me more - that (1) there are people out there who would actually believe all of this or (2) those people are allowed to vote.

When politics are laid out on the table, I fall to the left. I am ok with paying taxes, I like all the social programs, I like money being spent on eduation and I don't think government should have a say in how I live my life - until I am infringing on the rights of others. They shouldn't be able to tell me where to live, or who I can/can't marry or what church I can go to, etc. The direction our country has taken over the last 8 years if frightening. It is a citizen's right and obligation to question our leaders, except now if you do so you are being called unpatriotic. There are those in our country right now who would have everyone with a different view cast to the bottom of the ocean and would not feel bad about it because they are just 'protecting' the country and our values. I am surprised that people can look back over the past 8 years and still look to the president with adoring eyes and think it is ok to kill or hate as long as the recipients are 'immoral' or 'wrong'. But who is deciding where the line is? Blind faith. It is scary, and I am frightened for the direction of our country if it continues.

I find it laughable that the right-wing has been leaning upon the evangelical Christians for the last (at least) 4 years to ensure their seats on office. They scared enough of them out to vote in 2004 with the threat of those evil liberals corrupting their children. Yet now, they have selected a woman whose family is not following the values they have so heavily touted. And all is clear on the right-wing front. I find it laughable that had Obama's daughter been the one to get pregnant they would have been waving the flag of immorality wherever they could and saying it was a sign of things to come if he were allowed to lead this nation.

I don't like talking politics with most people here. It seems like everyone is so ignorant of the issues, all they have is sound bites and hearsay. Now if you have studied the issues and have come to the conclusion that you fall on a different side of the issue than I, I am fine with that. It is what makes our country great. But when you try to argue with your pieces collected off the floor and pad it with slander and hate, I cannot tolerate it. We MUST be an educated public, to ensure that we do not end up like Germany in the 30's. The quote I posted from Hitler a few posts back is scary, and accurate. People in power hope that the ones they rule over won't think, that they will just do what they are told is right/wrong and not question.

There are resources out there, and most of them are free. Glassbooth.org is an AWESOME website. You can go there and answer a myriad of questions and then you are guided through how your viewpoints are alike/different from political candidates. So if you don't like McCain you can say it is because you don't agree with his support of an extension of the Patriot Act rather than 'because he's old'.

I hope people catch the fever of this looming election and spend the time studying the issues and not just going by what they were told by so-and-so or believing something because that's what their parents had believed and their parents... Do the responsible thing.

Nothing wrong with that?? Really?

For those who may have read the last post and said 'There's nothing wrong with that, she can raise a family and be active in politics' well, what about THIS. ??  Huh?  Another good Repug role model

And the band played on

I just read THIS on cnn.

I love DMB. Hearing some of their older CD's reminds me of my drumline days; riding up the canyon in Cas' Jeep (with the top off of course) singing with the music at the top of our lungs. Man, those were good times.

Hmmm...

Interesting, very interesting. I have always believed this to be the case. It's sad really - we were duped by a dummy (well, I wasn't...I never believed a word that came out of his Texas mouth) Can anyone say 'impeachment'? Afterall - Clinton was impeached for a lot less...thousands of innocent people didn't lose their lives because of his lies and misuse of cigars...

Um...tunnel, light??!?

Foreign adoptions have been having their problems as of late - and we had been watching them and hoping they would just iron themselves out. Well now it appears that Vietnam will shut down US adoptions too...September 1st. Guatemala put a stop on theirs April 1st - China tightened their requirements and now the wait is over 3 years... Guatemala was one of our top choices, Vietnam was next. China we liked, but both parents have to be 30 and we are not quite there yet - we were hoping to adopt from China for baby #2. Add to that the frustrations of Domestic Adoption and it's exorbitant fees ($30K...not joking) and wait times (2+ years) and you have one (well, in actuality thousands of) very frustrated couple(s).

It is SO frustrating. I feel like someone or something is out there 'heading us off' at every turn. This summer marks four years that we have been trying for a baby. FOUR. YEARS. That is over 1400 days of wanting a baby. Over 40 times of being heartbroken at not seeing that Big Fat Positive. Three lost pregnancies and four years later and I am so mad. With the way the economy is going we can barely afford to put gas in the truck and buy groceries - how are we ever going to come up with enough money to adopt? And if we do - I have to work two jobs just to pay the bills, and if we have to add childcare into the equation, well - forget it.

Right now I feel like bad luck is just nipping at my heels. I am a firm believer in Karma - you get what you give - but I am frustrated because I feel like I am generally a nice person and I try to be good to people... so all I'm wonderin' is: WHERE IS MY KARMA??!? Over the last few years I've put up with infertility, bad neighbors, car troubles, HORRIBLE bosses, health problems, the dentist (really, just awful...I hate the dentist), financial woes, kitties dying, bad ward, rude customers, etc, etc...so where is the light at the end of this tunnel?? I am so exhausted. I feel like I am on a Merry-Go-Round and it is going faster and faster and I don't know how much more of this I can take. The old saying goes that God never gives you more than you can handle...but what if you think He did?

Some people should never leave home...

I was reading THIS story...here's the text from it:

Automatic car features are supposed to make life easier for motorists, but they may be leaving some people without the know-how to do things the old-fashioned way. That’s what happened to a driver in Utah County who became trapped inside her own car. A woman called Orem police Friday afternoon needing help because her battery died and she was locked inside her car. When police arrived, they found the woman sitting in the car, unable to get herself out. She couldn’t hear the officers instructions through the rolled-up windows so she motioned to them to call her on her cell phone, according to police.Once officers were able to talk to the woman on the phone, they were able to tell her how to manually operate the slide lock mechanism on the inside door panel to open the door and free herself. “I'm just glad she had a cell phone to call for help,” an officer said.

I have to scratch my head because first - you can hear people talking to you when you window is rolled up...the officers must have been able to hear her tell them her call phone number...and second - do I even have to say it?? Just switch the locking lever. I bet the police officers were busting up later at this woman's expense. The officer that said he was glas she had a cell phone was probably glad because she would have been stuck in their forever...which would have made an excellent candidate for a Darwin Award. I wonder how this person has managed to survive to the age of having a driver's license.

Brother Snoop Dogg?

Um, so, I can across this little gem of an article and I have to say I am a bit skeptical... this has to be some sort of an April Fools' joke, right?? Notice the date of the article.

um, because you broke the rules, dummy...

I remember when I was in high school I had a very strict curfew. One Saturday I had been out with friends and I lost track of the time. When I noticed it was closing in on the Cinderella hour I pushed my friends in the car and we took off towards home. After dropping them all off I coasted into the driveway at 3 minutes past curfew. I thought I was ok, but I was wrong: I got grounded for a month.

The reason for the reminiscing is I am baffled as of late at the problems facing my political party. The DNC set forth a rule that states were only allowed to have their primary elections on dates approved by the DNC. I can understand this rule completely...if you let states keep changing their dates, the primaries will get sooner and sooner and before we know it presidential primary elections will be held just after the inauguration of the current president.

Well, Florida and Michigan decided to disregard the rules and have a primary outside the allowed dates so the DNC stripped them of their delegates. Each of the states knew before-hand that they could lose their delegates for breaking the rule, but decided to go for it anyway. Now politicians in both states want a do-over. Are you kidding me??!? You broke the rules, got slapped with a punishment and now because you don't like the results you want a do-over??

If the DNC allows a do-over it will shake the already weak foundation upon which ALL politicians stand. If we, as Americans, see this kind of 'leadership' what will that tell us?? That we do not have to take responsibility for your own actions if we do not like the consequences. I think we have enough problems in the great of US of A right now, and we don't need our leaders giving us more rope with which to hang ourselves.

Happy Anniversary Iraq

Well, today marks the fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. I have kept my politics on this blog to a minimum (well...I did indulge in a Bush Countdown clock) even so, it should be no surprise to any frequent reader where my 'loyalties' lie.

I remember the months leading up to the war in Iraq - I remember how surprised I was that the vast majority of American people supported the idea of going that direction and when questioned their ignorant response was "Well they bombed us first!" I was saddened that our government would try to sell the war to us by tugging on the still too painful memories of what we lost on September 11th. I did not support the war then - ask Nathan - poor thing got an earful everytime he would let his guard down long enough for me to let politics in the discussion. I had this gut feeling that we would go in and stir things up in an area of the world that did not need to have things stirred up - and that we would be there for a long time. I remember specifically using the words quagmire and Vietnam.

Now don't get me wrong, Saddam was not my choice for 'Leader of the Year' - he did horrible things to a lot of people and I do think that should have been punished. Yet, on that January night when I watched his hanging on youtube I got misty eyed. It felt like vigilante justice, it did not feel like Democracy.

The most recent of my thoughts have turned to the lives lost. Do you realize that since the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom the number of US military (soldiers, marines and sailors, etc) that have died in combat is higher than the number of US civilians we lost on September 11th? Does that bother anyone else but me? We were drug into a (now seemingly endless) war on a vengeance mission and yet we've lost more lives than the total number of those lives we were avenging.

I do not believe the world is safer because we invaded Iraq - yes, there were groups of people before all of this who hated Americans and yes, there were those who cheered in the streets when the towers fell but the groups of people who fell on that side of the line were in the minority. The blood we've shed 'in the name of freedom and democracy' has fueled the fires of hatred all over the world. If someone doesn't hate us they see us as the bully - the one who thinks they are above the law, the one who gets told 'No' by someone and yet we do it anyway because we can. I know that it has been prophesied and predicted for many years that times would become more perilous but I hate to think that Americans, who pride themselves on freedom and liberty would be the ones poking the wasp's nest.

Who are these people??!?

Here we have yet another story of a 'parent' throwing their kids off a bridge. This woman chose to chuck her 6 and 8 year old boys off a bridge onto the concrete FREEWAY 22 feet below...then she chucked herself off as well.... Suprisingly not one of the three died. The eight year old and the 'mom' were hit by cars, and all were taken to the hospital.

I am going to run for office and I am going to institute a Parent Law. In order to have children you will have to pass a test for mental competency and common sense...if you fail, well, in the words of Bob Barker: "Have your pets spayed or neutered today!"

Ummm...

I don't want to alarm anyone... but THIS
was on cnn.com this morning (and suprisingly it was NOT the lead story)

"Appropriate government agencies are monitoring the situation," ummm, ya, that makes me feel better....

Lest we forget.

Overall, 2,388 Americans died in the Dec. 7, 1941, attacks, including some 900 still entombed in the sunken Arizona.

This Site has a great history of that day and some amazing photographs.