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.

Liberals Don't Get It....

We keep saying it, and they keep pretending it's not so.

GUN CONTROL POLITICS AND THE 2004 FEDERAL ELECTIONS by Chuck Cunningham, NRA Federal Affairs Director

Of the 18 candidates for the U.S. Senate endorsed by the National Rifle Association, the NRA-endorsed candidate won in 14 of these races

Says something, doesn't it?

Net gain of four pro-gun seats in the U.S. Senate with gains in Florida, Lousiana, North Carolina, South Carolina and South Dakota, and a loss in Colorado

Of the 251 candidates endorsed by the National Rifle
Association for the U.S. House of Representatives, the NRA-endorsed candidate won in 241 of these races

The 109th Congress will begin with Members with the following ratings: 235 "A"-rated, 27 "B"-rated, 15 "C"-rated, 17 "D"-rated, 138 "F"-rated, and 3 "?"-rated

In Senate races, the Brady Bunch supported for reelection Senator Tom Daschle and targeted for defeat Senators Kit Bond and Arlen Specter, and their endorsed candidates lost in all these Senate races

I can't say I'll miss you, Daschle, but I can say a few more need to go right along behind you.

In House races, the Brady Bunch targeted for defeat Congressmen Rick Renzi (AZ-1), Bob Beauprez (CO-7), Mark Kennedy (MN-6), Heather Wilson (NM-1), and Jim Gerlach (PA-6) and supported Virginia Schrader (PA-8), and their endorsed candidates lost in all of these House races

Three anti-gun Republicans -- Doug Bereuter (NE-1), Amory Houghton (NY-29), and Jim Greenwood (PA-8) -- will be succeeded by pro-gun congressmen

Pro-gun upgrades in Senate seats: anti-gun Senator Bob Graham is succeeded by pro-gun candidate Mel Martinez, unreliable Senator John Breaux is succeeded by pro-gun congressman David Vitter, anti-gun Senator John Edwards is succeeded by pro-gun congressman Richard Burr, and anti-gun Senator Fritz Hollings is succeeded by pro-gun congressman Jim DeMint, and anti-gun Senator Tom Daschle was defeated by pro-gun former congressman John Thune

Pro-gun freshmen in the Senate will include:

Mel Martinez (FL), Johnny Isakson (GA), David Vitter (LA), Richard Burr (NC), Tom Coburn (OK), Jim DeMint (SC), and John Thune (SD)

Pro-gun freshmen in the House will include:

John Salazar (CO-3), Connie Mack (FL-14), Tom Price (GA-6), Lynn Westmoreland (GA-8), Mike Sodrel (IN-9), Geoff Davis (KY-4), Jeff Fortenberry (NE-1), Virginia Foxx (NC-5), Patrick McHenry (NC-10), Dan Boren (OK-2), Mike Fitzpatrick (PA-8), Charlie Dent (PA-15), Bob Inglis (SC-4), Louie Gohmert (TX-1), Ted Poe (TX-2), Mike McCaul (TX-10), Mike Conaway (TX-11), Kenny Marchant (TX-24), Henry Cuellar (TX-28), Thelma Drake (VA-2), and Cathy McMorris (WA-5)

Now, how can anyone look at those numbers and think the NRA doesn't speak for a whole lot of voters?

Teachers and the Lies They Tell

This Seattle Times article discussing yet another teacher's attempts to influence the young voters in her charge set me off, I must admit.

Judy Baker, a teacher at Henry M. Jackson High School, showed the anti-Bush documentary last week to students in her government class as part of a lesson in propaganda and politics.
The [local GOP] office also sent a copy of "FahrenHYPE 9/11," a movie that responds to and critiques Moore's film. Cheshire, the principal, said he'd approve the film if Baker requested its use.
Filmmaker Michael Moore's condemnation of Bush's actions regarding the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon became the first documentary to top the $100 million mark domestically. In the film, Moore examines the Bush administration's alleged financial ties to Saudi Arabia and the bin Laden family.

First, allow me to remind you that I am a teacher. In the Public School System. And many of my brethren are not thinking and it amazes me. But back to the article.

I've got several problems with this idea.

First, using a film such as this, when labeled a documentary, is dishonest. I think all of us have read and been made aware of fantasies and fallacies of this film. About the best discussion of it that I have seen is Dave Kopel's Fifty-nine Deceits in Fahrenheit 911 Kopel is clear, concise and definitely on target with this issue. Moore is free to generate whatever trash fiction he chooses to but calling this, or most of his other hate-filled work documentaries, is not something honest, thinking people do.

Second, using films as a substitute for teaching is an action I cannot agree with. As a teacher, I use excerpts of films here and there to demonstrate a point or explain, visually, a concept, but putting a 122 minute long film in the player and letting someone with a grudge and deep pockets he's looking to fill teach your class for you is a shame. Moore is a liar and a buffoon.

And he could use a bath, a shave and some clean clothes but that's for another day, I think.

Moore has now put out a "teacher's guide" for watching the movie. It is filled with the same kind of venom and pointlessness as the movie and, were I a parent of a child being shown this movie, I would be disgusted with any teacher so lazy and lacking in thinking ability that he or she would use this as a substitute for actual teaching.

Excerpt:

According to the Boston Globe, tens of thousands of protesters showed up along Bush's inaugural parade route to proclaim that he and Vice President Dick Cheney had "stolen" the election. Bush chose not to partake in the traditional walk to the White House.

Why was this not more widely publicized? Why would news networks choose not to highlight such a large demonstration? While Bush continues to be protested virtually everywhere he goes, especially in foreign countries, why do we see so little of this in the national media? Has the media been fair or have they been guilty of failing to report many negative aspects of Bush’s presidency?

Bush's "War on Terrorism" has cost the nation billions of dollars in an effort to beef up security. In March of 2003 roughly 180,000 personnel from 22 government organizations became part of the Department of Homeland Security. It's said to be the largest government reorganization since the onset of the Cold War. The DHS's many activities include keeping out terrorists, criminals and dangerous material, strengthening seaport security, and improving security at airports.

With all this DHS activity, how do you explain the fact that a single Oregon state trooper is assigned to patrol a 1,400-square-mile territory that includes 100 miles of roads on the central coast? Why is it that passengers are allowed to take four books of matches and two lighters on an airplane? Have you or someone you know carried something on an airplane you shouldn't have?

Beyond the obvious slant of the questions (which is egregious enough), why does this not address our President by his title? Why would any teacher ask a child to implicate him or herself in a crime? Why would a teacher not make clear that the Federal Government does not assign State Troopers anywhere? Why, Why, Why? Why would any teacher use this film as a so-called teaching tool? Ms. Baker and the District should be ashamed.

What Michael Moore and his rabid followers do not seem to understand even now about the election and our President is simple enough. The majority of the voters have faith in his leadership. The majority of the voters support Conservative issues. The majority of voters are not off in La-La Liberal Land.

And last time I checked, majority rules.

But, frankly, it's ok with me if the Left wanders even further left because that means the next time the polls close, there will be even more votes supporting the issues the majority of us believe in.

11-11-11 (part 2)

I went to Elmwood today because I wanted to see our young men and women in the JROTC Color Guard pay their respects to the veterans buried there. The celebration, first organized by Beulah Ware Hamilton, is conducted in Section S of the cemetery, where 19 members of the 102nd Colored Infantry are buried. The 102nd U.S Colored Infantry Regiment was formed in the summer of 1863 as the Volunteer First Michigan Colored Infantry. It was renamed the 102nd after mustering into the Union Army in 1864. Members of the 102nd served with distinction in South Carolina, Georgia and Florida.

Mrs. Hamilton first conceived of the idea 20 years ago, while visiting her husband's gravesite. Her husband had been a local historian and often led groups to the cemetery on guided tours. Mrs. Hamilton became unhappy with the fact that the veterans interred there were not recognized other than by plain granite headstones. There were no ceremonies, not even an American Flag flew at the site. "To honor their legacy and the legacy of my husband, I decided to hold a Veteran's Day ceremony there every year," Mrs. Hamilton said.

Now, every year, 11-11, there is, because of Mrs. Hamilton's love and respect for both her husband and country:

- A presentation of the American flag;
- A presentation of wreaths honoring the 102nd Colored Infantry, including two Native Americans from Michigan who served in the Civil War, and all veterans - living and deceased - who have served our country;
- A roll call for the 102nd Color Infantry and the Native Americans as the Color Guard places a single red rose on each of those graves;
- The playing of "Taps" as the cadets of the Color Guard of local High School JROTC platoons stand silent, at attention, with quiet faces, honoring past veterans and those who serve today.

Today there were more than 500 of them.
You've seen pictures of men and women in uniform, stiffly at attention - I won't repeat that experience, but the young people and their leaders seen below left me with a warm heart and moist cheeks.

I asked the young cadet above if I might take his picture.
"Yes, ma'am."
I pointed to where I would like him to stand and he stepped into place without prompting. When I asked him if he would like a copy of the picture, he replied, "Yes, ma'am. I believe my mother would as well."
I got a little misty over that one. Mom has much to be proud of in that young man.

The young man's respect for his Commander is obvious.

I decided, while I was there, to just pick one of the stones and see if I could find out anything about the man beneath it who had served his country. I decided it would be one of the 102nd and was caught by the name of a young sharpshooter, John Jacko. Such a cavalier sort of name. The stone lying flat in the ground identified him as John Jacko, Pvt. of Company K, First Michigan Sharpshooters, born 1841, died 1870. The upright headstone, however, was different. It said Jacko Nat-Bah-Me-No-Linc.

As it turns out, John, aka Nat-Bah-Me-No-Linc, was one of the two Native Americans buried there from Company K of the 1st Michigan Sharpshooters. Company K, it seems, was comprised of Ottawas and Chippewas primarily from Michigan and Wisconsin. John enlisted February 14, 1865 at Grand Rapids but was actually from the tiny village of Horton's Bay (now known as Horton Bay) and he was 20 years old when he volunteered. He mustered out a few short months later on July 28, 1865, at Delaney House in Washington, DC, three months after the war ended at Appomattox.

John died when he was 29 years old. In my short historical journey, I didn't find records of how he lived or how he died. What I did find was his grave, honored by the young people who have chosen to wear the uniform of the Country John served. They do us proud, the young people I saw today. I thank them, their officers, their parents and the schools that support their presence.

And I thank You, Nat-Bah-Me-No-Linc.

Honor a Veteran Today and Every Day. Support our troops.

Bug Eyed Earl

The guy who writes this strip has got to be a very strange man. Got to be.

Bug Eyed Earl is the kind of person I'd want to be if I were totally adrift on the sharpened edge of the world.

11-11-11

Tomorrow, 11-11 at 11:00 AM, we should all take a moment and remember why we have the freedoms we do and to whom, exactly, we owe them.

In 1921, an unknown World War I American soldier was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. Similar ceremonies occurred earlier in England's Westminster Abbey and France's Arc de Triomphe as an unknown soldier was buried in each nation's highest place of honor.

While I no longer hold France in any great esteem, despite it being the land where my father's father and mother came from, I do, and always will, honor its veterans.

These memorial services all took place on November 11, the anniversary of the end of World War I at 11:00 a.m., November 11, 1918, which was the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. It was named Armistice Day and eventually became Veterans Day.

On June 1, 1954, Armistice Day was changed to Veterans Day to honor all U.S. veterans. In 1968, legislation changed the national commemoration of Veterans Day to the fourth Monday in October. Soon it became apparent that November 11 was a date of historic significance to many Americans. In 1978 Congress returned the observance to its traditional date.

Official, national ceremonies for Veterans Day center around the Tomb of the Unknowns. To honor these men, symbolic of all Americans who gave their lives in all wars, an Army honor guard, the 3d U.S. Infantry (The Old Guard), keeps day and night vigil. At 11 a.m. on November 11, a combined color guard representing all military services executes "Present Arms" at the tomb. The nation's tribute to its war dead is symbolized by the laying of a presidential wreath and the playing of "Taps."

On Memorial Day (which honors U.S. service people who died in action) in 1958, two more unidentified American war dead, one from World War II and the other from the Korean War, were buried next the unknown soldier of World War I. A law was passed in 1973 providing interment of an unknown American from the Vietnam War, but because of the improved technology to identify the dead, it was not until 1984 that an unidentified soldier was buried in the tomb.

In 1998, however, the Vietnam soldier was identified through DNA tests as Michael Blassie, a 24-year-old Air Force pilot who was shot down in May of 1972 near the Cambodian border. His body was disinterred and reburied by his family in St. Louis, Missouri.

Tomorrow I will leave my job and go watch our JROTC Color Guard stand at attention and honor our service men and women at a small graveyard in Detroit. Each of them does their country and our school a great honor by volunteering for this duty.

I'll take pictures and thank the young cadets. I will pray for peace for our veterans' souls. I expect I will shed a tear as well.

My thanks to all who serve. I owe you everything.

Happy Birthday to the Marines

You've done a hell of a job for 229 years and we thank you for every 120,362,400 or so minutes of it.

You rock!

Part of my problem is...

I just keep thinking.

I was driving over my daughter's house tonight and she was not in a great mood, caught once more in the battle that is family sometimes, so I snagged her and we went for a short ride to talk. Subjects are mother-daughter privileged but at one point, we stop at a party store (a Michigan euphemism for a liquor store) and go in.

I don't see anyone and my daughter says, slightly above a normal tone, "Helllo?"

At which point, I really do realize I can't see a freaking soul and I grab her arm and say, low but firm, "Let's get out of here - NOW."

My brain is screaming red alert and I'm backing up, hand under my jacket and pulling her with me, when the idiot that runs the store finally pops up from behind the counter, cell phone stuck to his ear and gapes at us like we're from some other planet.

I wanted to kick his behind for scaring me that bad.

Here's a piece of advice, despite the positive outcome this time. If you ever walk into a Party Store, convenience store, whatever you want to call it, and you can't see anyone anywhere - GET OUT. They aren't called stop and robs for nothing and I'd rather look a little silly than get caught in the middle of something.