Lest I forget....

I was sitting at my desk this evening at about 5:40 when I got an email notification. Doc had sent me a link with this message:

I'm beginning to think that all but me in the entire world knew about this little video. Perhaps you also did not. It is a large file but, in my opinion, well worth it. It is a memorial to Canadian veterans but is applicable to our own heroes as well.

Well, I didn't. I was having a rough day, pitying myself a bit and certainly wanted to be home rather than sitting here at work, grading an interminable pile of papers, poor me.

I turned up the volume on my speakers, flipped over to the video's web site and watched and listened and wept.

A Pittance Of Time

Written by Terry Kelly © Jefter Publishing - SOCAN

They fought and some died for their homeland.
They fought and some died, now it's our land.
Look at his little child; there's no fear in her eyes.
Could he not show respect for other dads who have died?

Take two minutes, would you mind?
It's a pittance of time,
For the boys and the girls who went over.
In peace may they rest, may we never
forget why they died.
It's a pittance of time.

God forgive me for wanting to strike him.
Give me strength so as not to be like him.
My heart pounds in my breast, fingers pressed to my lips,
My throat wants to bawl out, my tongue barely resists.

But two minutes I will bide.
It's a pittance of time,
For the boys and the girls who went over.
In peace may they rest.
May we never forget why they died.
It's a pittance of time.

Read the letters and poems of the heroes at home.
They have casualties, battles, and fears of their own.
There's a price to be paid if you go, if you stay.
Freedom's fought for and won in numerous ways.

Take two minutes, would you mind?
It's a pittance of time,
For the boys and the girls all over.
May we never forget, our young become vets.
At the end of the line,
It's a pittance of time.

It takes courage to fight in your own war.
It takes courage to fight someone else's war.
Our peacekeepers tell of their own living hell.
They bring hope to foreign lands that hate mongers can't kill.

Take two minutes, would you mind?
It's a pittance of time,
For the boys and the girls who go over.
In peacetime our best still don battle dress
And lay their lives on the line.
It's a pittance of time

In peace may they rest,
Lest we forget why they died.
Take a pittance of time.

Thanks, Doc.
Love, MLM

I'm not sorry and neither is he..

There's a web site that professes to apologize for the actions of the majority of voters in the United States. It's pretty lame but the pictures are sort of entertaining and answer a lot of questions for me about the LLLLs. I laughed out loud at the pouty little faces and the fellow who is holding a sign proclaiming that 49% of the US is sorry we voted to reelect our president. Uh, hey, dropout, that's 48%. Of the Registered Voters. And a lot of people who didn't care, didn't want to get involved or were A-OK with letting the rest of us take responsibiity for their lives. Wimps.

The other 60,480,957 of us are pretty darned happy, in fact.

I found a site I like much, much better so I decided to send them a nice picture my husband and me originally taken by Oleg Volk and then shamelessly photoshopped by me.

Go visit We're Not Sorry and then send them your own picture.

PESTs

Post Election Selection Trauma, or PEST, as I am sure it will forever be labeled, especially by those of us who do happen to see these smuts as PESTs, is being treated as though it were actually a serious disorder.

The Florida-based American Health Association has released symptoms of what it calls "post-election selection trauma," or PEST, which include: feelings of withdrawal, feelings of isolation, emotional anger and bitterness, loss of appetite, sleeplessness, nightmares, pervasive moodiness including endless sulking, and being excessively worried about the direction of the country.
"Post-election selection trauma affects many people and they have a right to be taken seriously and to seek counseling," psychotherapist Rob Gordon of the AHA told the Boca Raton News. "This is a real need and we're a charity. This is not a matter of Republicans and Democrats.

I can agree with that. It's not a matter of party affiliation or political choices. It's a matter of making a PEST of yourself and the LLLLs are doing an excellent job of that.

Want some examples?
A young fellow, bastion of braininess, I guess, informs his cellmates at the Democratic Underground, "the war is on" and then describes how, since our President was re-elected, every time he sees a Sports Utility Vehicle with a B*** sticker on it, he "hawks a loogie" on the windshield.

PEST.

On Bill Maher's official message board there is a 20+ page long discussion of the following:

At this point in time, would it be morally defensible to apply a "final solution" to republicans?

Let's face it, when Grover Norquist is doing the media rounds...when his agenda of eliminating all taxes on billionaires and letting the poor pay all taxes and carry the debt burdon, and let them scounge around in the garbage for food...builds character.....when THIS type of criminal extreme right wing "thought" is entering the mainstream...it's time for extreme action.

GW Bush and the American right wing Taliban are endangering the entire planet. If the rest of the world had a say, Bush and Cheney would be in jail.

Is it now morally excusable to organize midnight raids on republican groups in the red states and "terminate" them with extreme prejudice?

Watching Bush's acceptance speech on wednesday, with the Cheney's on stage as well....who would not have liked to see a bomb go off under the stage and wipe out the whole despicable slimy lot of them? And hopefully the shrapnel would have gone to the second deck and blown Mary Matalin's head off as well.

Be honest. Who would not like to see Karen Hughes run over by an 18 wheel truck? Who wouldn't like to see her carcass scattered all over highway 99?

PEST.

And on the Computer Hardware Forum (a normally relatively serious discussion board about computer hardware issues):

On Mon, 20 Sep 2004 19:56:21 -0400,Michael Patterson wrote under the topic header GEORGE BUSH SUCKS DICK!:

FUCK YOU ALL!!!!!!!!!!

PEST

They're all over the place it seems and I, for one, am tired of them.

On the other hand, I must say that if they really want to try organizing midnight raids, they should remember - we have all the guns.

And the balls, frankly, so I'm not real worried.