It was the fall of 1976 when Sarah met him. It was at the local library of all places. A place she would go to escape her life and people. She would find a book, settle in a comfortable chair and lose herself in that book until the lights flickered, letting people know the library was closing. Then she would look up and realize where she was and sigh.
That day he was sitting next to her and commented on the book she was reading. She looked over at him.
“Excuse me?” she said.
“Sorry, I couldn’t help it. I just finished that book. It keeps getting better, I promise.” He smiled. She just kept looking at him. He was handsome. His clothes were perfect and well made. She suddenly realized she had been staring. “Oh, well…yes. It is good so far.” She tried to think of something witty to say. She used to be so good at that. So good at flirting. It wasn’t like riding a bike. She just sat there feeling like an idiot.
“My name is Steve Hardin," he said, "I’ve noticed you here before. You love to read as much as I do.” He was still smiling.
“I’m….I’m Sarah.”
And so it began. A turning point really. Some might call it a gift.
Sarah was 38, but looked younger. She had always been very pretty and still was. She was married with 3 kids ages 9 to 15. 2 boys and a girl. Her girl was the oldest. At 15 she was driving Sarah crazy. Every day was a drama. The boys were easier emotionally, but physically they needed constant attention. She was always driving from one practice to another. Someone always needed something from her. And that was fine because this was the life she chose. Her children were her heart, her life. Sarah had little to complain about. Her husband made good money and she could stay home, hire help with the house. There were no financial worries and that was a blessing right there. She was a good mother, a good wife, and a good friend. She had a lot to be proud of.
Sarah started seeing Steve at the library every week. They usually talked about the books they had read. Sometimes they would go out for coffee afterwards. It never felt like a date. The flirting that Sarah had feared she had lost came back to her, but it wasn’t necessary. Steve was easy going and once you got past his looks it wasn’t hard to feel comfortable around him. He didn’t seem to be wanting anything from Sarah, just conversation. They became friends. He told her about his businesses, of which he had several. She assumed he was very successful because of the way he dressed and the car he drove. It wasn’t until almost 6 months of knowing each other that Sarah read about him in a local paper and discovered that he was a millionaire. She asked him about it next time she saw him.
“So you’re a millionaire? Huh?” she asked.
He laughed, “you saw the paper. All I have done my whole life is work hard. You know that about me.”
“I’m impressed,” she smiled at him.
“Don’t be.”
Sarah knew Steve was lonely. Why else would he spend time with her? She had asked him once why he didn’t seem to date anyone. His answer was vague and he changed the subject. But as they grew closer he hinted that he might be gay. That made sense to Sarah. It explained why he spent time with her and listened to her talk about her kids. She figured that he didn’t want his business associates to know he was gay. Maybe he just didn’t want that lifestyle. She tried to get him to open up about it, but in that one area he simply wouldn’t, so she let it drop. He had wicked sense of humor and could always make her laugh. He told her that she was refreshingly sweet. Sweeter than anyone he had ever known. They seemed to click in an odd way.
He told her once that he had read a legend that at the beginning of the world there were only a few tribes of people and everyone on the earth now descended from those tribes. He said the legend went on to say that now, every so often, one meets someone from the same tribe. That was how he felt about her. When he told her that, she felt a warm flood of happiness wash over her. It was the sweetest thing anyone had ever said to her.
She finally got to see where he lived one evening when her husband was out of town. She got a babysitter and went to his house for dinner. It was a grand house, beautifully decorated. They ate at a small table off the large kitchen by a roaring fire. The fireplace was a work of art. It was like being somewhere in Europe, dining at a small expensive bistro. They drank wine and laughed. Later she took off her shoes to feel the plush carpet in the large living area. She curled up next to him on the couch and laid her head on his shoulder. By this time they knew each other so well. They had told each other about their childhood and everything up to this point. He turned to her then and simply asked, “What is your secret?” She raised her head and looked at him and said, “I never thought anyone would ever ask me that.”
And she told him.
Sarah had stopped loving her husband years ago. She wasn’t sure what had happened, but something had. Soon after their 3rd child was born her husband changed. He had always been an easygoing guy, very sweet. Everyone thought so. But he began to be mean. He would snap at her. He got into the habit of not answering her questions if he thought they were stupid or not worthy of an answer. His temper became worse. Not to the point of physical abuse, but close. He nagged and complained. Sarah worked hard to make him happy. She desperately wanted the children to have a happy childhood. She did everything she could to make his life easy, and it did help. There would be months and months when he seemed like his old self, but the temper always returned. Sadly. Sarah realized that she no longer loved him, but there was no way she would hurt her children with divorce. No way. She did what she had to do. She put her husband in a little box in her head. When he wasn’t around she never thought about him. When he was, she pretended to love him. It wasn’t that she was unhappy. She wasn’t. She lived a good life. She had great friends and enjoyed her children so much. There was just that little box of unhappiness and she could live with that. After all, didn’t some people live with so much worse?
Steve listened quietly as Sarah poured out her story. He could see the relief she felt in just telling it. He wiped away her tears and held her to him.
“You are a brave woman Sarah.” He said softly.
Now she felt free to tell him about the times her husband made her feel so bad. She had someone to tell how she would carefully work around anything that might set him off. Steve asked her once to tell him the truth, had her husband ever physically abused her?
“No,” she assured him, “He came close a few times, but no. And it always scared me.”
“Well I understand that,” Steve replied.
She shook her head, “No, you don’t understand. You see, I knew that if he did, I would have to leave him. So I was so afraid that he would and so afraid that he wouldn’t.”
Steve looked at her, “You’re trapped, aren’t you?”
“I suppose I am,” she said sadly.
For 2 years Sarah and Steve shared dinners and coffee and then he offered her a job as his assistant. He told her she could work anytime. She could still be there when her kids got home from school. She wasn’t sure. She knew her husband wouldn’t mind, but something didn’t seem right.
A few days later she told Steve about how emotionally exhausted she was trying to keep her husband from losing his temper with the kids. She had learned how to handle him for years now, but the kids were older now and didn’t want to put up with his temper. She was constantly playing referee. She was so tired. They were sitting on Steve’s couch drinking an expensive wine. Suddenly Steve blurted out, “I have something to tell you.”
“Ok,” she said.
“I have put $500,000 in a bank account in the Cayman Islands with your name on it. I want you to take the kids and leave him. This is no life for you. Other people do this all the time. You need a home of your own. You need a life of your own.”
Sarah was shocked. She couldn’t believe he had done this. She hugged him tightly and began to cry. “I will love you forever for trying to help me. But money isn’t the answer. I cannot take my children away from their father. He may not be a good husband, but he is a good father and they love him very much.”
Steve held her close, “you must think of yourself Sarah.”
“No, I can’t do that. Thank you so much Steve. I wish you knew how much you mean to me.”
And then Steve kissed her.
And she kissed him back. It was a very good kiss. Sarah felt like she was falling into that kiss. When it was over she just looked at him. “I’m not gay,” he said simply, “I usually hint that with women until I know them well enough to know they aren’t after me for my money. I’m sorry I did that to you because…. I love you.”
Sarah couldn’t speak. And then she began to weep. Thinking that Steve was gay had kept hope away. She finally managed, “Oh God, I love you too.” And then she ran out of his house and drove away.
She wouldn’t answer his phone calls. He came by her house and she wouldn’t answer the door. She never went to the library. Mostly, when she was alone, she cried.
One day she was sitting on the floor folding clothes in her bedroom. She heard something. She stood up and suddenly in the doorway, there he was.
“The door was unlocked. I’m sorry,I had to see you Sarah.” Steve looked like he hadn’t slept in days. “Your shirt is wrinkled. I don’t think I have ever seen you in a wrinkled shirt before,” Sarah said, trying to hide the trembling in her voice. He took her hand and they sat on her couch. He told her how lonely he had been without her. He told that no woman had ever touched his heart the way that she had. He also told her that he knew that she would never leave her husband for him and he understood why.
“I know that there are some things that are greater than what we want for ourselves. I know that your kids mean more to you than loving someone else. It is one of the things I love most about you. You are unselfish and giving. I hope that one day your children realize how very much they are loved.”
Sarah started to speak, but Steve stopped her, “My only regret is that I have given you another little box to carry. The one where your love for me is kept now. When you take that box out, I hope and pray that it will give you comfort and not pain.”
Steve reached out and held Sarah. Her heart ached. Can one survive this much pain? She wondered. She touched his face. She ran her finger down his cheek.
“You have given me back a part of myself I thought was lost forever. The part that loves a man. My love for you will always be there, pushing me forward, making me strong. You made me strong, Steve.”
He kissed her and she kissed him and they both tasted each other’s tears.
She would read about him in the paper now and then. Some business venture, but never another woman. Her children grew and left for college, then married and started to have babies of their own. She cherished her grandchildren. Her husband did grow mellow with age. It was better than before, and he did love her, but for her there was never again that love for him. She loved the way he loved his kids and grandkids. She was glad that there was this home and family they had built. She had been happy for the most part. When she missed Steve the most she would comfort herself with the knowledge that for a short time in her life she had known this love. She was grateful for that. She held on to that like a warm blanket.
Sometimes she would see herself in that mansion on the hill sleeping beside the man she loved. She would imagine that life that most would have easily chosen. But Sarah knew that she had done what she had to do. Life is a mixture of love and sorrow. We make choices and they affect the ones we love, even when they don’t realize it.
There were promises to be kept and she had kept them.
Wednesday, May 11, 2005
I hope you feel like reading a short story today, because that is what I felt like writing.
I had to laugh at something I heard on the news the other day. The anchor and another person were discussing Scott Peterson being transfered to death row in prison. The guest said that "the death row community" seemed to be fine with him.
What?????? Since when do we call it "the death row community??"
And why wouldn't they be fine with it? They are sick murderers as well...Helloooo!
Prisoner 1: I'm not so sure about the Peterson guy. I don't know if he will fit into our community.
Prisoner 2: Yeah, I know what you mean. I hear he keeps a picture of Lacy in his cell. That is just creepy man!!!
Prisoner 1: True. Plus, he is just too cute. Not that I swing that way, except every other thursday, but he doesn't even have a tattoo and he has all his teeth. What kinda death row inmate is that??? I just don't see him fitting in.
Prisoner 2: No, me either. Oh....I got dibs on him for our 'welcome' committee meeting! Heh.
Prisoner 1: Damn!
I have been reading some Southpark Republican blogs lately about how sick they are of us religious right going on and one about these pesky moral issues. They seem to be mad at Bush as well. I told one of them that Bush is doing exactly what he said he would do. That Bush made it clear that he was concerned about the moral issues that confront us. Like abortion, and gay marriage, and the end of life issues that the Terri Schavio case brought to us.
The Terri Schavio thing really ticked them off. Why pay so much attention to it? What did it really matter? And therein lies the difference between us.
It mattered a hell of a lot.
It mattered because life matters. It mattered because it was WRONG. Should we be silent when we see injustice? We voted for Bush for many of the same reasons the Southpark Republicans did. A strong military and the war on terror. But we also saw the bigger picture of who Bush was. A man who saw the darkness of our culture. He never pretended otherwise. He was always upfront on the issues that the religious right care about.
So.. stop your whining. You know who you are.
Tuesday, May 10, 2005
Reuters - Mon May 9, 6:28 AM ET North Korean children play a shooting game with a toy gun aiming at a portrait of U.S. President George W. Bush at Namjun kindergarten in Shinwiju, Pyongan-Budo, North Korea. The photo was released by Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on May 9, 2005. (Reuters)
Well, isn't that special?
Here is an interesting article in National Geographic about how to teach the theories of evolution and intelligent design. It's called 'Does "Intelligent Design" Threaten the Definition of Science?'
I like this idea of teaching. It would seem to satisfy both sides if both sides were reasonable. Here is an excerpt:
"The approach steers clear of teaching intelligent-design theory in the schools (the Discovery Institute believes the theory is too new to be required). Instead, "teach the controversy" promotes teaching "all the evidence relating to evolutionary theory," West said.
Included in the evidence are what the Discovery Institute views as legitimate criticisms of evolutionary theory, such as the limits of natural selection and random mutation in explaining the explosion of new body plans during the Cambrian period (about 570 million years ago).
"If high school or college students are capable of understanding evidence for evolution, certainly they could understand scientific criticisms of key parts of the theory, particularly the limit to the creative power of selection and random mutation," West said."
Makes sense to me. Put it all out there and let the students decide. I think we call that...thinking.
"Hoist the Black Flag" Debuts!
Ya'll need to check out Ace's and Karol's new show today on Rightalk Radio 3pm ET and repeated every hour on the hour. Ace is all the "mystery" man and won't even tell CNN who he is, which just drives me crazy. So listen and if anyone can recognize him as a famous voice, let me know!!!
Monday, May 09, 2005
What would Arianna Do?
Well, the debut of the celebrity laden blog by Arianna Huffington has begun. Is it any surprise that she has ticked me off right off the bat? Her first post is titled "What Would Jesus Do.... With Tom Delay?" Here is an excerpt:
"Any sincere religious expression on DeLay’s part would have started with basic contrition and ended with taking his misbegotten donations and distributing them to the poor. Instead he offered a blanket general prayer about the need for operating with "a humble heart". Amen, and pass me them plane tickets to Russia!"
This is truly hilarious coming from a woman who I heard on the radio going on and on about the environment and SUV's and when asked about her traveling the world in private jets she replied, " I only go on jets that are already going there."...LOL!!! Well, that makes it fine to WASTE ALL THAT FUEL AND YUCK UP THE OZONE THEN!
She goes on and on about golf trips and luxury hotels paid by lobbyists for Delay. She asks over and over.....Would Jesus do these things? PLEASE! Hey! Arianna! Would Jesus have $300 spa days regularly? Would Jesus wear thousand dollar designer suits daily? Would Jesus spend more on makeup than the GNP of most third world countries? How many luxury golf and resort trips have you gone on? To quote the Good Book sugar, get the board out of your own eye before you get the speck out of your brother's.
This is a woman who thought it was GREAT to be a Republican until her mega rich husband lost his run for the Senate and then told her he was gay.
Ouch. I know that hurt. But do you really have to go to the dark side to remake yourself? Because it has been nothing but embarrassing.
BAGHDAD (AP) — American troops backed by helicopters and war planes launched a major offensive against followers of Iraq's most wanted insurgent, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, in a desert area near the Syrian border, and as many as 100 militants were killed, U.S. officials said Monday.
Read the rest. News we like to read.
This site is saying this:
"This Tuesday, the US Senate is scheduled to vote on the implementation of a national ID card system. The Real ID Act is nothing less than a Real National ID Act. The only thing left to the individual states is to decide which pretty picture they will choose to put on the card: everything else will be controlled by Washington DC bureaucrats."
Anyone else heard about this? Because I sure haven't.
I never cease to be amazed at the weirdness of the internet.
Here is a site that shows the Seven Deadly Sins....with Mr. Potato Heads. The pictures don't point out which sins are which. You have to figure that out yourself. Via boingboing
*note: Sorry, had the wrong link before. Thanks to Richard for letting me know.
I had heard of the "I had an abortion" t-shirts, but I honestly thought it was some kind of sick joke. But Noooooo....Partisan Pundit has the link to Planned Parenthood where they sell it proudly.
Partisan Pundit also wonders if this is in the future:
"Coming soon, the guaranteed to be a classic, "I Euthanized My Grandmother" baseball cap, in four fun and sylish colors!"
It may seem like a joke now, but then I thought the abortion t-shirt was.
Sunday, May 08, 2005
Confessions of the daughter of a "right wing" fanatic
The following is written by Rightwingsparkle's 16 yr. old daughter (who wouldn't let me look at it)
Growing up I recall putting on my shiny black buckle up shoes and pulling on my Catholic school plaid jumper and sitting in front of the TV before I go to eat my daily breakfast from my most beloved mother.
On the TV was always ABC news or NBC news ( more so ABC because it was least liberal..ha! ) and me being of such young age, I was forbidden to touch the remote or even ask to change the channel to something more suitable for my young mind, like cartoons. We didn't have cable due to the fact my mother didn't want to fill our minds with the "hogwash" of the world. So, quietly and with out complaint, every morning my brothers and I would watch the news, and then in the car on the way to school listen to news talk radio. Very rarely was I allowed to listen to my favorite radio Disney CD, or pop in the brand new britney spears CD which I loved dearly (What was I thinking??). Overall, that was a typical morning in my earlier life.
My mother's opinion on political veiws has and will forever, I fear, have an enormous effect on me. I believe I was the only kid in my 4th grade class that knew what abortion was and the disgusting and disturbing routines of it's evil purpose. Also, I specifically remember getting sick to my stomach when someone would mention that they liked Bill Clinton. Now, don't all you liberals on this thing freak out on me. By that Bill Clinton comment I meant that they liked him as a person, not as a President.
Now things are still the same pretty much, except now we have cable. (with the V-chip of course!) Fox news was introduced to my mom, which, to her, was like a breath of fresh air. And now I am the only 10th grader in my class who can tell you who is the Sec. of State or the Sec. of defense and update anyone on the Iraq war as need be.
As you can see, all of my life I have been exposed to the news and political affairs. I also have a great passion for writing and art related subjects, which I'm pretty sure I got from listening to the news and arguing all those years. I took a Senior creative writing class this past year in which I was the only sophomore. I loved the class and I also loved my English class this past year as well. Mainly because I love the beauty in the written word and writing just comes so easy to me. Now I will admit I suck at math and geometry this year kicked my butt. I had to work hard, but the humorous thing about it was the kids that were good in math would make jokes to me when I didn't understand something in math that was so "simple" to them. But in then the next period- English, I would be raising my hand and they were the ones sitting in the back looking like God just tried to explain the meaning of life to them. Being a Christian girl, I would never make fun, although...I tend to be quite sarcastic to curb that craving to be rude. So as my math wiz class mates sit in a complete state of perplexity, scratching their heads, and stating the occasional "WHAT?" after a question of grammar was asked, I would turn around and smile and say, " Now you know how I feel in math class..." And typically I smile again, and turn around and raise my hand to answer the next question. If you ask my mother, it seems every day I come home from school with another argument or another story to tell about something that happened with me proving someone wrong --or--(something which RARELY happens )- someone proving me wrong. With these qualities I strive to be either a lawyer or a political journalist. I know these jobs would make me the most happy when I'm older.
My job right now, however, is far from any of my dreams of being a future Elle Woods, but it helps in another goal for my later adult life. I work at a daycare, I take care of the kids and make sure they are fed and play nice and at times, I get to punish them. This is a perfect job for me because I love kids. When you are around 30 different types of kids everyday, one tends to learn the importance of every ounce of attention a parent gives their kids. Sure I have many rebels and mischievous little devils that come in almost everyday, but when you are with them everyday and you see them cry ( by this I mean really cry. Yes, I can tell the difference between a fake cry and a hurt cry ) you begin to see the beauty in every child. Even the ones that push down and bully everyone or when you tell them to do something they stare at you like you've just spoken in a complete foreign language. I even have a kid that is Hispanic, mind you he speaks English extremely well, but he acts like he doesn't understand a bit of English when he's in trouble and starts speaking only in Spanish.
This is good training for being a mom. I hope to have lots of kids because they really are the meaning of life. Once our society realizes this, our world will be a lot better off.
My mom may be a "right wing" fanatic to many of you, but to me she is just a great mom.
Friday, May 06, 2005
I am very nervous......
I am having Lasik surgery on my eyes this afternoon. I have a phobia against hospitals and doctors and anything medical. I don't know why. I have been extremely healthy my whole life and the four times I gave birth I did it naturally and was out of the hospital before 24 hrs was up.
I finally had to break down and have this done because I was sick of wearing contacts and I love to swim and I am sick of wearing goggles. But I am VERY nervous. I know this is a fairly routine surgery and the guys doing it here are the best. But the thought of someone peeling back a flap of my eyeball JUST FREAKS ME OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Did I mention that I am nervous?
Anyway, I will be off blogging probably until Sunday unless I can get one of my teenagers to blog (which would be very interesting)
Talk among yourselves.
UPDATE: Thanks guys for all your good wishes and prayers. The operation went fine although it was HORRIBLE. The suction thing about killed me. And having to watch him swab my eye was awful, but then this is the one area I am a wimp about--having any sort of medical procedure done. I'm fine with holding other people's hand and watching stuff, just don't touch me!
Anywa,y things didn't go well after that. I did everything they said and wore those shields and went to sleep. Not only did each child come in to tell me something, but our smoke alarms were going off every 30 min. They are tied into the electrical system and the electricity had gone off earlier in the day and I guessed that messed them up. Every time we thought we had it fixed, they would go off again. So that would startle me awake and I would feel a pain in my eyes. After about the 4th time we finally fixed it.
The next morning getting up for the early eye appoitment, I knew something was wrong. Everything was very cloudy and blurry. When I got there and they checked me they said it wasn't uncommon, but my flaps had moved. I think that when I was startled awake and my eyes were so dry, I moved the flaps then, because I sure as heck did as I was told and didn't touch my eyes or squint. So I had to have my flaps smoothed out AGAIN and the doctor put 2 clear contacts on there to make sure they didn't move. I asked him why he didn't just do that with everyone and he said....'Ummm. well there is some discomfort involved."
So about 10 minutes into the drive home my eyes start to hurt so bad I can hardly stand it. By the time we get home I told my hubby to call the doctor and tell him my eyes are hurting BADLY. They said that was normal and the pain should recede in a few hours. A FEW HOURS!!!!! Luckily I had a darvocet let over from my daughter's back injury so I took that and a sleeping pill and I made my daughter come talk to me until I went to sleep. I do not handle pain well.
Even with my sweet daughter rubbing my arm and talking to me I could not get away from this pain. I started doing small leg exercises under my covers. I was trying to remember a book I had read that described old Asian meditations or ways of making one concentrate on something other than the pain. But extreme pain in the eyes is just hard to ignore. Finally I fell asleep and when I woke up about 4 hours later the pain was gone thank God.
This morning my vision seems great. I have to go to the doctor tomorrow to get the contacts taken out and make sure the flaps are fine. But everything seems good today.
I cannot wait to SWIM!!! Especially in the OCEAN and not worry about contacts. Anyway, thanks again for your good thoughts. I am going to try and get my teenager to blog today anyway because I do think ya'll would enjoy it. Both of my teenagers are as Republican as I am so don't expect any rebellion. Especially on issues of life, they have seen it all with me being in pro-life work and having seen 2 brothers in my womb early on and watching those two miracles grow, they are probably even more against any compromise than I am on the issues of life (that ideal youthful passion, you know).
Filed under---Pathetic
LGF gives a link to Kos (ugh) which has an obscenity laced rant of explanation by the guy who ummm....screamed obscenities at Ann Coulter at U.T. the other day.
The guy is all class. You can see that clearly.
The really sad thing is that Kos puts this up as some sort of validation. Even he can't see how offensive the guy is.
And they wonder why they lose. Sad and pathetic.
Thursday, May 05, 2005
From Michael Yon: Online Magazine
Mosul
"Major Mark Bieger found this little girl after the car bomb that attacked our guys while kids were crowding around. The soldiers here have been angry and sad for two days. They are angry because the terrorists could just as easily have waited a block or two and attacked the patrol away from the kids. Instead, the suicide bomber drove his car and hit the Stryker when about twenty children were jumping up and down and waving at the soldiers. Major Bieger, I had seen him help rescue some of our guys a week earlier during another big attack, took some of our soldiers and rushed this little girl to our hospital. He wanted her to have American surgeons and not to go to the Iraqi hospital. She didn't make it. I snapped this picture when Major Bieger ran to take her away. He kept stopping to talk with her and hug her."
Read the rest. The picture is heartbreaking but shows the heart of our soldiers. via Mudville.
TOP THREE STUPID NEWS STORIES OF THE WEEK
1) The Runaway Bride. Who cares? It was so stupid I couldn't believe how the news was going on and on about it. Now she says she didn't have cold feet, just issues. Shutup. No. Hard to believe........
2) The Pat O'Brien/Dr. Phil airing of really dirty laundry fest. A story about a semi-famous man who is obsessed with sex, drinks too much, and is a complete PIG. Wow!!! There are hardly any men like that.
3) The Laura Bush correspondent's dinner FILTHY speech. Gosh, tell an old farm joke that has been around for DECADES and your the new character on Southpark. Geeze. *newsflash to liberals......we theocons actually do have a sense of humor.
Kofi Caught?
NewsMax.com brings us this:
U.N. investigators have turned over to Congress boxes of evidence on the Oil-for-Food program, including "proof" that U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan lied to the Independent Inquiry Committee probing the scandal, Fox News Channel reporter Jonathan Hunt said Thursday."One source close to the case told me that in those boxes is the ammunition to prove that Kofi Annan lied to investigators," Hunt told Fox News Radio host Tony Snow. "So this is a very dramatic development indeed." via Ace
Lovely. And just when Kofi thought he was going to get away with it.
Wednesday, May 04, 2005
Charles from You Big Mouth, You! sent me this link of his regarding Holocaust Remembrance Day. He has pictures and a letter from an American soldier from 1945.
I saw a commercial today where they were interviewing young people on the street. They were asking them what the Holocaust was. One girl said it was when the Jews celebrated like Christmas with candles and things, but it wasn't Christmas...Oh. My. God. There were a few other stupid answers but none as bad as that. Then the commercial said the 53% of teenagers did not know what the Holocaust was about. I hope to God that figure is not true.
I was around 11 or 12 when I read "Anne Frank's Diary." I cried and cried. Such a beautiful soul she was. I also remember reading "The Hiding Place" by Corrie Ten Boom about the same time. That book was about a Christian family who hid Jews and then was caught and Corrie's whole family dies in the camps. She lives to tell the story. If you haven't read it, you should. It is an amazing book of faith.
Anyway, I pestered my Mom about how this could possible happen? The horror of it was just too much for me. I suppose that is where my passion for human rights and the sanctity of life began. The thought that we are not teaching this to young people is frightening to me.
The lesson of the Holocaust is that evil can creep up on us. It's footsteps are soft and hard to hear. It is upon us without us realizing it. It can also disguise itself in virtue. It can also hide it's true horror until it is too late for us to do much about it. We can also become use to evil. We can accept it and say that it is necessary. We can ignore it because it doesn't involve us, as so many did during that time. But in our hearts we know. Our conscience tugs at us like a small child that tugs at the shirt of it's mother.
Evil can wear a smile.
Let us remember those who suffered and died. Let us remember and ask ourselves, is there evil here? We honor those who died in the Holocaust by fighting evil and by not ignoring the tug our conscience gives us.
How could it have happened? Easy. It happens so easily.
"Texas House Approves Ban of Risque Cheerleading."
As a former cheerleader and the mom of one, all I can say is.....YOU HAVE GOT TO BE FREAKIN KIDDING???????????
Cheerleaders are the last thing we need to worry about now. How about we focus on making sure kids don't have access to porn. Let's try THAT first. Geeze!!!!
This from The Smoking Gun:
Another Counter-Coulter Bust
Lewd heckler arrested at conservative's Texas college lecture
MAY 5--Months after members of "Al Pieda" disrupted a campus speech by Ann Coulter, another appearance by the controversial conservative commentator has been disrupted by a protester. During a speech last night at the University of Texas in Austin, a 19-year-old UT student was busted after asking Coulter a lewd question, which he followed up with equally inappropriate hand gestures, according to the below police affidavit. The student, Ajai Raj, was arrested by campus police and hit with a misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge. The police affidavit notes that Coulter's lecture was attended by "several children under the age of ten," which probably made them particularly sensitive when Raj queried Coulter about the sexual proclivities of certain right-leaning men.
What are we becoming? I mean seriously. I heard on the radio though that Ann had said she wouldn't continue until some burly Republican guys calmed things down and suddenly the aisles were filled with just that.
Heh....You gotta love it.
Courtesy Of Alexis Rockman
"Artist Alexis Rockman drew this for the cover of Peter Ward's book "Future Evolution." Titled "Neozoic Era" after the geological time we live in, the piece shows human trash buried by dirt that's become a habitat for super-rabbits that can run great distances, and for dandelions whose spores bombard Earth." (So that's where my socks disappeared to!) Read the article on the evolutionary future of the earth.
This is how one professor sees the future (and it's all because....you guessed it!! - Global warming!)
"..... the real rulers will be rodents — and snakes. The fossil record shows that they have the genetic capability of whipping out new species," says Ward, a biology professor at the University of Washington.
Ok, if this is the future I want off at the next bus stop. I have an idea though. Once we see rats and snakes are starting to "whip out" a new species, how about we go get the garden hoe and start some pre evolutionary chopping them dead.
Read the article and hear the theory of a British geologist who sees the future with no humans and led by a giant land-based squid. (Now, that's a movie idea right there!) How does a squid command power I wonder? Any ideas?
"I Punched Saddam in the Mouth"
Meet Samir, the St. Louis auto mechanic who pulled Saddam Hussein from his spider hole
BY Chad Garrison
This is a MUST READ folks. This was the first soldier to grab Saddam out of his spider hold. He had been a Shiite from the south and was part of the revolution against Saddam in 1991. He told Saddam that he had murdered his uncles and cousins. That he had imprisoned his father.
And then he punched him in the mouth.
A perfectly understandable thing to do. In fact I would have encouraged it. I think he showed restraint actually. But you need to read the rest to find out how he went from being a part of the revolution against Saddam in '91 to being a U.S. soldier and helping to capture Saddam. Also interesting is the Pentagon's reaction to the photos of this man with Saddam at the time of the Capture.
In one part he describes how he had not seen his family since 1991 and so when he finds himself at an airbase near his home his boss makes sure he is driven to his home:
"The next morning Samir hopped on a Humvee for the half-hour drive to his parents' home. The entire neighborhood, some 700 residents, poured into the streets to greet him.
"It was an awesome feeling," he says. "I felt like I was coming with the U.S. forces to free my family. It was the best feeling of my life."
Seriously, this story just ROCKS! Read It! via Beautiful Atrocities
This from Mudville:
FORT HOOD, Texas (Reuters) - A military judge asked on Tuesday if Army Reservist Lynndie England, a key figure in the
Iraq prisoner abuse scandal, wanted to withdraw her guilty plea after a witness appeared to indicate she might have trouble telling right from wrong.
So? We had a Democrat President for 8 yrs who couldn't tell right from wrong either and no one seemed to care.
Tuesday, May 03, 2005
"We are tired and we have suffered a lot"
"CAPTAIN ED analyzes a captured letter which appears to harshly criticize terrorist leader Abu Musab al Zarqawi. Ed predicts that Zarqawi won't be able to hold out much longer." (Citizen Smash)
"Arabs understand and respect power, but they won't abide a coward or incompetent, and so far it looks like Zarqawi qualifies as both. He's killing Iraqis and Arabs instead of so-called infidels, and even the terrorists know that will spell certain doom for their efforts and themselves, and sooner rather than later." (Capt. Ed)
MORE -- The text of the letter (courtesy AP):
To the sheik Abu Ahmed, may God keep him: (Quranic verses)
I advise myself first and then advise you to fear God in private as in public and that you don't worry about blame from anyone. I urge you that you let nothing stop you from jihad (holy war) for the sake of God ... and that you take refuge in God in all situations, in easy times and in difficult ones. ....
The Islamic nation is waiting for the establishment of an Islamic state that rules by God's laws and carries out his punishments and is waiting for the men who can protect its honor, which is being violated every day. This is the path, but where are the men? We ask God to guide them. What has happened to me (and to?) my brothers is an unforgivable crime. ...
By God, the one and only God, you (will?) ask about what happened to us, because you didn't ask about the situation of the immigrants. ... But morale is weakening and there is (unclear word: either "exhaustion" or "confusion") among the ranks of the mujahedeen, and some of the brother emirs are discriminating among them. God does not accept such actions. ...
What happened is that he (not identified in the text) said: 'Either you carry out a martyrdom operation or you go back home.' We were told that there is an order from the sheik (presumably al-Zarqawi) for us to return. Some of the brothers have returned. Others have signed up to become martyrs. Still others were waiting for God's comfort, but this came after humiliation and rude treatment and many other things. Who can tolerate all this? ...
There are brothers that are oppressed, brothers that are persecuted and brothers that are helplessly jailed with no one to meet with them or to ask about them. The situation is not the way it used to be in Fallujah, when you used to come and visit us and we used to enjoy sitting with you. The situation has completely changed. Thanks be to God for everything.
The most important thing, oh sheik, is that you are there and that you remain a thorn in the mouths of the Americans and a thorn in the mouths of the apostates. May God keep you.
The most important thing is that you don't hear from (only) one side, even if it were the closest person to you. Hear from all sides so that the truth can become clear to you. We have found emirs who are not fit for leadership. We are not the ones who can determine who is fit and who isn't, but we are witnesses of God's people and we are the ones who have experienced and know them. ...
Oh sheik, test those who are below you. Some of them are ... oppressors and some of them are not so.
This is my last request: to meet you, because there are many things that are secret and the truth is that I no longer trust any person who says that he is coming from the sheik's side. We are tired and we have suffered a lot. Thanks be to God.
I ask the great God, the honorable God of the throne, to make his religion victorious and to raise his word and to strengthen his worshippers, the mujahedeen, everywhere and to humiliate all kinds of disbelief in God and to destroy America and its supporters soon without delay.
Abu Asim al-Qusaymi al-Yemeni
It us hard to believe I am reading a letter from 2005 and not some ancient time. These men who blow themselves up in car bombs are like members of a cult. This letter sounds like a cult member. But this is what we are fighting against. Those who clearly want to "destroy America." I hope that their numbers are diminishing, but our world will not be safe until this "thorn" is crushed. There is no doubt of that in my mind.
Runaway Story
Isn't this Runaway Bride thing getting a little out of hand? Good Lord! Fox News had Sean Hannity out in her hometown getting the "exclusive" from her fiancee. Linda Vester featured it on her show today. You can't turn on the news without hearing the "latest."
If I were her, I would run away now. She has already proven herself to be unstable. I suppose making a HUGE news story out of this will help that along, I'm sure. She is probably gulping down Prozac as we speak.
I'm waiting for the big Barbara Walters interview with her.
Enough already.
Wow, the power of the BlogGod. One mention from him and I noticed I got over 1500 hits on my profile in less than ONE DAY. I have no idea how many hits I got to my site since I don't have a sitemeter, but blogspot has some sort of automatic count on how many people actually click on my profile. Crazy, huh?
Monday, May 02, 2005
The Red and Blue of the Catholic Church
This is an excellent article by Chuck Raasch about the divide in the Catholic Church in America on the issues. Speaking of the present Pope (then Cardinal) Raasch says this:
"Last summer, the then cardinal stepped in the middle of a raging political debate in the United States. He declared it a "grave sin" for politicians to favor abortion choice or euthanasia, in effect backing bishops who advocated denying the sacrament to abortion rights supporters like former Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry. Benedict also has advocated "clear and emphatic opposition" to homosexual marriage and called homosexuality a sin. But he also urged that gay men and women be "accepted with respect, compassion and sensitivity."
Isn't this exactly what Christ did? He made clear grave sin when he saw it, but he advocated compassion and forgiveness for that sin and for all of God's children. One may not like having a sin pointed out, as I am sure many in the New Testament did not, but if it leads us to a better place then it is important for those who wish to be faithful to know this.
It has long been clear to me that the divide in the Catholic Church in America runs along political "red and blue" lines as well. But the Church is not a democracy. It is a guide to our salvation. We should not expect it to be a "majority rules" kind of institution. This argument has been made well by many of the Southpark Republicans in the blogosphere. They understand that no one forces one to be Catholic. I certainly do not want anyone to leave my Church, but I also think they need to understand the role of the Church. It is to bring us to holiness, not win a popularity contest.
The article points out that for many Catholics in the world social issues such as women priests, abortion, or gay marriage are the last thing they think about. They think about how to feed the poor among them. They think about how to provide healthcare and shelter.
Believe it or not, American Catholics are but a small portion of the 1.1 billion Catholics in the world. Those who fight for change don't seem to see the big picture of the 'universal" Catholic Church.
For example, most Americans think that there is a world wide lack of Priests. They believe that the priesthood has been declining. That may be true in the United States (although even here it is getting better) But the truth is that during the papacy of Pope John Paul the vocation of the Priesthood rose over 10% worldwide. Where the teachings of the Church is taught in it's fullness there is no lack of vocations. But American Catholics seem to think of themselves in a bubble sometimes and that is too bad.
If the media would do it's job and report on this fairly, then both the Republicans and Democrats wouldn't have to spend so much freaking money doing this.
These are the kind of laws we need more of. Yay to Gov. Bush.
Sunday, May 01, 2005
What If You Were Murdered?
As is stated in my profile, I am an avid reader. I read everything from politics to religion to literary fiction (my personal favorite) to science fiction. My mom, however, is crime/murder mystery fiction FANATIC. She sends me boxes of books every few months, so I read them as well.
I have noticed a theme in these books that got me to thinking (ohhhh... Such a dangerous thing!) The detectives on a murder case always search through the victims things to discover anything about their personal life that might be connected to their murder. I am sure you have seen the same thing on Law and Order, or CSI, or any of those crime shows that I don't watch. Anyway, it got me to thinking about what a detective would find out about me if I was murdered by going through my nightstand, closet, bookshelf, and computer. What would my friends and family say?
I think it would be an interesting experiment for all of you that are reading this to go into your rooms with a pencil and a paper and write down what is in your nightstand, what you read, what is hidden away in your closet, and on your computer. (yes, even the stuff you think no one knows about) Look at it when you are done and ask yourself what it says about you. I bet you might be surprised at how it might look to a stranger.
I won't bore you with everything I have, trust me....Nothing exciting. But I think the only "different"thing about me is that with all my makeup, bubble bath, bath and bodyworks stuff, and expensive perfume it would be obvious that I am a girly girl. But you would find no women's or beauty magazines in my house. Just political and religious magazines and National Geographic. Also, I have nice clothes but not a lot of clothes. I hate shopping. My closet is well organized because I keep ALL my clothes there. All seasons, all purses and shoes. I have no chest of drawers. I just don't have as much stuff as most women. I like simple things that rarely go out of style. I don't like clutter and I don't like having too much stuff.
I suppose if a detective really wanted to find out about me, all he would have to do is read my blog. Anyway, I thought it might be an interesting experiment if ya'll did it and comment here on what surprised you on how it would look to someone who didn't know you.
We really are never promised tomorrow. So even if you aren't murdered and you just die of natural causes or an accident, what would your relatives find? And what would it say about you? If you find things that make you a bit ashamed, then maybe it's time to get rid of them. Maybe it's time to reassess who you are and who you want to be.
I hope I am not sounding like Tony Robbins/Billy Graham here.....;-) Now go do it. Pencil and paper.....GO!
Saturday, April 30, 2005
My Dream.
I have a reoccurring dream about my grandma. She is sitting on the front porch of her house, which is brilliant white set upon a brilliant white hill. I climb the steps and sit beside her on the front porch swing. She smiles at me and I take her hand and lay my head on her shoulder. I say, “I love you grandma.” “I love you too sweetie,” She replies. I look at her. “I miss you so much.” “I’m still here,” she says. “But it’s not the same.” I say sadly. “No. no it isn’t,” She says as she hugs me.
I close my eyes and see flashes of my childhood with her in brilliant color and texture. I see myself picking blueberries for breakfast in the early morning. I see me running through clean white sheets she is hanging on the line in the sunshine. I see me lying in bed beside her at night with the wind blowing the curtains in the window as she teaches me to pray.
Every child should have a person in their life like my grandma. I was so blessed to have wonderful parents. But to have another person who thinks you hung the moon, as my grandma did about me, causes a child to believe in oneself as never before.
I was one years old when my grandma’s husband died. She never re-married although still young and attractive. (She had had my dad when she was 15) She ran a “nursery” from her house that would be called a daycare today. There were two rooms attached to her garage and that is where the children ate and slept. She lived on a 10 acre playground. She had a big swing set, but nothing else. We played with old rubber tires, making up our games by building with them or rolling them or laying in them. We had trees to climb, dirt and ditches to play in. I don’t ever remember being bored. Imagination is a wonderful playmate.
It drove my dad crazy that she would hardly charge more than she spent. If a mother couldn’t pay one month, she would let it go. There was something so strong and independent about her. And there was love. Oh boy, was there ever love.
There were birthdays and Easter. There were Sunday dinners, Fourth of July, and any event she could celebrate, she did. Every Christmas Eve of my childhood was spent at my Grandma’s. First with just my family, my Aunt and Uncle, and later my cousins and nieces and nephews. We would start out with a big dinner with us kids itching to get it over with so we could open our presents. When given the go ahead, we would race to the living room and stand and marvel at our glittery presents as they reflected the brilliant lights of the Christmas tree. It was……magic.
Years later after my grandma had died and I was grown, I remember singing Christmas carols in a choir at a nursing home. As we were singing I noticed an old lady in a wheelchair crying. I left the stage and went to her and knelt down and took her hand. “Are you alright?” I asked. She said simply, “I miss Christmas.” I knew exactly what she meant. I said, “I do too.”
When my father died I was only 22 yrs old. My grandma was only 68. I spent 2 weeks with my mother, sleeping with her and comforting her. But during the day when everyone would come over, I drove to my grandma’s. As much pain as my mother was in I knew that there was no greater pain than losing a child. As usual though, my grandma was the one who made me strong.
My Grandma was never famous, never wrote a book, never won a Pulitzer, she never even finished high school, but she forever lives on through her love. She celebrated my life. She taught me how to celebrate it as well. Her love and her caring are a part of me that I give to my children and they will give to theirs. Generations from now my great great grandchildren will not know my Grandma’s name, but they will know her, because she will live in them by the love that she passed down. That is the legacy each of us is allowed to give. Who will remember what you did or the car you drove, or how much money you made? But love…that will be forever remembered and lived.
When I realized that I was losing my grandma to Alzheimer’s, I tried to tell her how much she meant to me before she forgot me. I stumbled on the words. How do you thank someone for giving you self confidence? For teaching you compassion? For loving you unconditionally? Words did not seem enough. I simply said, “Thank you for loving me so much.” With her usual way of making me feel like a princess, she smiled and said, “You made it easy.”
In my dream when I open my eyes I am alone on the porch swing. I look around for my grandma, but I can't find her. I close my eyes again and hear my heart beating in the quiet. And I realize that she is there, in every beat of my heart. In all the love that I feel.
She is there.
Friday, April 29, 2005
I missed the anniversary of the toppling of Saddam. But this one Iraqi blogger from Free Iraqi didn't. Here is his poetry. Beautiful.
Two years now and "they" still wonder
And "they" still ask
Was it worth it?
Was it right?
Two years and it seems to me Like it was yesterday
Two years and "they" keep trying
To silence the voice inside us
Yet it only grows louder
I was once free When I was a kid
But when I grew up
I couldn't be the man I am
I couldn't be the kid I was
And I couldn't flee
Two years since I finally became
The man in me, and the kid in me.
And "they" want to take this away?
"They" would have to kill them both first
The man and the kid
And turn the clock back around
And still "they" can't change me back
Two years since I stopped weeping
Inside of me, day and night
Two years since the widow
Found her husband's body
In a feast of death for the human death lord.
Two years since the orphan
knew
Where his father lied
And now they finally have peace
And they have a future
No matter how painful it is to go on
And their dreams still go on
Two years since I started dreamingDreams that have a chance
And are becoming true
Two years since I regained my heart
And then I found her...
And she found me...
And the world looked beautiful!
And "they" think they can separate us?!
Think again, or keep wishing.
"They" say we are being slaughtered
"They" say we are being abused
Am I blind or are "they" the ones who are sightless?!
As why can't I see what "they" see?
And the best "they" can offer of their view is Maybe I'm a CIA?
Or maybe the other "they",
that of their accusations is paying me?
But who is their accused and rumored "they"?
Oh, the accusers have so many names for this other "they".
Sometimes they're the CIA
Sometimes they're the NSA
Sometimes they're Bush and the gang
I say, yes they exist and they "pay" me, and I'm seduced.
I see with my own eyes this other "they"
And I call them simply, Americans.
What are they paying me?
Oh, you couldn't afford that!
Saddam couldn't afford it.
Sadr cannot afford it.
"They" think any of these can?
Could their "they" even try!?
Two years and some are still
Trapped in the past
And some cannot withstand the moment
And want to arrive without struggle to a better future
While others just enjoy what is already better now
And work to meet the future, bettered with them.
Two years and they ask Should I be grateful?
Am I?
Do I even need to answer that!?
YES, and to the last breath!
posted by Ali 7:41am
via Malung TVNews
Margaret Cho wants to be white. Go figure.
"Prince Abdullah was willing to skip and hold hands, why are you so uptight?" from the ever funny Caption This!
Have ya'll seen the latest Marines commercial with the young man climbing a mountain of rock with his hands and then reaches the top and sees himself as a Marine? It is just too cool of a commercial. I tried to find it online but couldn't. I thought this picture of Marines in dress blues onstage with the image of Marines raising the flag on Mount Suribachi seen in the background during the Virginia International Tattoo in Norfolk, Va., Friday was almost as cool though. Marines just rock, don't they?
Everything you could EVER want to know about last night's Presidential news conference can be found here. Including programming notes and the ABC staff's opinion on who Bush should call on and why. And then what actually happened with lots of quotes from others. It's very blog like and very interesting actually.
I have been hearing about these videos that kids tape of violent fighting and selling them. That is sick as is this from The Feature:
"Happy slapping" -- essentially violently attacking someone while it's recorded with a videophone -- is a growing problem in the UK, with British Transport police investigating 200 incidents in the last six months in London's public transport system alone, with who knows how many attacks going unreported. This isn't harmless childplay, the ferociousness and utter stupidity of these attacks is appalling. And the hooligans have embraced user-created content: they share the videos via Bluetooth, MMS and the Web, often describing their efforts as "Happy Slap TV".Blogger Alfie Dennen has cobbled some videos he's found together to make the point that these kids are violent criminals (via The Mobile Technology Weblog). It's grim and disgusting footage, showing clips of kids attacking not just their friends, but complete strangers minding their own business."
I am growing increasingly concerned with young kids having no conscience. I know we have always had a few, but now it seems to be going mainstream.
Thursday, April 28, 2005
I just got this e-mail from Martin Gillespie, Director of Catholic Outreach for Bush.
"Congressional Republicans passed a bill yesterday entitled "The Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act" that would make it a federal crime for an adult to take a minor across state lines for an abortion without her parent's consent. The measure passed the House by a margin of 270-157.
President Bush praised passage of this legislation, and stated the following: "I commend the House for its bipartisan vote to protect the health and safety of minors by ensuring that state parental involvement laws are not circumvented. The parents of pregnant minors can provide counsel, guidance, and support to their children, and should be involved in these decisions. I urge the Senate to pass this important legislation and help continue to build a culture of life in America."
Unfortunately, the vast majority of House Democrats opposed this common sense measure, including Democratic Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. This is the latest-- but unfortunately not the last-- attempt by the Democrats to stop President Bush's ongoing effort to build and sustain a culture of life in America.
For this reason, we need your help more than ever to educate your fellow parishioners and Catholic friends as to where the two parties stand on the most important issues facing Catholics and all people of faith."
I just read a while back about the mother of a boy who took it upon herself to take his 14 yr old girlfriend across state lines to have an abortion. The girl's mother or father knowing nothing about it. And guess what folks? It was all legal. That's right. Another adult with an interest in making sure this baby doesn't arrive, is allowed by OUR society to take that child without her mother or father's consent, and have a surgical procedure performed that will affect the rest of her life.
The Advocate brings us this regarding Jeff Gannon:
"Gannon denied the characterization of himself as a gay prostitute in a interview with The Advocate conducted via e-mail. “There is much misinformation and exaggeration about my past,” he wrote. “What is most interesting about it is that the people who talk about it the most in very graphic and disparaging terms are the ones who probably see nothing wrong with it.” Gannon, 48, adds that his sexual orientation is a private matter and that he objects to being “called a fake, phony, and faux or that ‘he was posing as a journalist.’ I was and still am a legitimate journalist, and I did some solid reporting.
The fact that Gannon has lost his White House access has not stopped him from writing. He has his own blog at JeffGannon.com, with political views that are the polar opposite of Aravosis’s. He rips apart Democratic leaders as well as “Doonesbury” cartoonist Garry Trudeau for making light of Gannongate. Gannon’s site features the tagline “So feared by the left, it had to take me down.” via Jeff Gannon.com (Jeff is on the cover)
I have to be honest. I am getting a little sick of Glenn "Instapundit" Reynolds libertarian self. via Ace.
Scarborough lays out the Democrat's religous hypocrisy perfectly:
"The Times keeps telling us that these Christian assemblies are un-American. Would it be cynical to suggest that it may be because those church meetings are led by conservatives like James Dobson or Pat Robertson?
If a preacher pushed a liberal agenda in God's house, would we hear a discouraging word?
Well, let me ask you this. How often have you read the word "theocracy" in stories reporting on church speeches by Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, or Bill Clinton?"
Read the rest.
Another pretty white woman has gone missing. She was suppose to get married this weekend. (oh the excitment of the story!) It's funny how black/asian/mexican women NEVER go missing!!!
Amazing really.
As you have probably heard, Laura Ingram has breast cancer. It just so happens I caught a rerun from 2004 on C-Span yesterday of some symposium that her and Tucker Carlson did debating Al Franken and some other lefty that I recognize but don't remember his name.
She is without a doubt the classiest most informed debater out there. She blew both lefties out of the water with her arguments. No doubt. Tucker just kind of went along for the ride.
Keep her in your prayers.
Tuesday, April 26, 2005
TNOYF has a great post on Arianna Huffington's new "celebrity blog." Heh.
This is what happens when you're a momma's boy.
Zarqawi jumps out of a moving truck as our guys are chasing him and gets away. We find his computer and tons of cash and some co-horts. This is like a freaking James Bond movie. Why can't we catch this guy? He just slips away like the invisible man. It's crazy. Let's GET THIS GUY ALREADY!
Also, why is Saddam just sitting in jail? What is the holdup? Are we waiting for the new government or stability? I for one, would like to see this trial move forward.
Monday, April 25, 2005
Part 2 Of My Interview With 2Slick.
Continuing with 2Slick . Just a reminder. He is a "Former Army Black Hawk Pilot. Deployed to Iraq with the 101st Airborne from Feb '03 to Jan '04 (OIF 1), and Kuwait (with 3rd Army HQ) from Aug '04 to Jan '05."
Do you see any other way we could have fought this war?
I'm certain there were many ways we could have done it. I'm sure there were many ways we could have fought World War II, the Korean War, Vietnam, etc. John Kerry and his fellow critics have an unbelievable gift of hindsight- they could have brought down Saddam and installed a perfectly functional Iraqi government without any loss of life. I won't pretend to be that good. I guess I'm just not qualified to be a Democratic Presidential Candidate...
It doesn't matter that there might have been other ways to have gone about it- our forces do the best they can with what they have. Hindsight will ALWAYS yield better solutions. The American public gives way too much credit (and assigns way too much blame) to the suits in Washington. I don't think the typical American citizen knows or appreciates the fact that any decision made by a Pentagon bigwig is going to be based on information/intelligence/assessments forged by a staff of thousands and thousands of military soldiers and officers. There are so many checks and balances in place- at every level of command- that nobody is going to get away with making a ridiculous, bone-headed decision. There are too many commanders that care way too deeply for their soldiers.
What is your personal opinion of Rumsfield? Of Bush?
Rumsfeld is brilliant- he rarely takes the time to defend himself from critics, because he's always too busy fixing the world's problems or visiting wounded soldiers. If he would just take some time to sit in front of a camera and say, "I'm really not such a bad guy," the press would love him. If he would just cheat on his wife and create a huge sex scandal, I think he'd become a "media darling" overnight. Let's hope he never does that.
I did enjoy the Russert interview a few months back- when Rumsfeld blasted Tim (who I like) for jumping on the big-media bandwagon and playing stupid Michael Moorish video cut-and-paste games in an effort to nail him. It was out of character for Rumsfeld to defend himself like that, but he did a great job.
I have nothing but respect for Rumsfeld, and most of the people I served with feel the same way.
Bush is a liberal. Ron Silver (the actor) makes a great argument for this. As does Michael Totten. Yes, I think he's a liberal, but I like him anyway. It's strange how so many people in the world seemed to adore the guy who found safe-haven with an intern and a cigar while millions died and terrorists roamed freely. Even stranger how so many people so despise the guy who takes action against evil in an effort to bring peace and prosperity to whoever wants it. I'll simply never understand that, but then again, what's to understand in this crazy, crazy world of ours?
I'm proud to have served under President Bush's command.
What was the general attitude about the Presidential election while there?
I was in Kuwait during the election. I was surprised at how little people seemed to care. My perception was that just about everyone voted (mostly for Bush), but few people actually paid attention to what the candidates were saying. I felt like a lot of the military people were voting for Bush for the same reason that so many minorities vote for Democrats- because it just seems like the right thing to do. I was definitely surprised by that- but I'm glad they voted for the right guy. No complaints there...
Do you see a real chance for peace in the middle east anytime soon?
"Soon" is such a relative term. I definitely see a chance for peace in the Middle East, but I don't think it will come anytime soon. We can't stop the car bombers who want to blow themselves tomorrow or next month or next year. They will strike if they want to, and they simply cannot be stopped. What we CAN do is continue to work over there and help set the conditions for the car-bombing culture to become extinct. It will happen eventually- as long as we are committed to seeing it through.
How much do you think it helped you personally having access to the internet and blogs?
It was a great way to keep friends and family in the loop without having to send a million emails a day. I also learned so much from reading some of the awesome blogs that I discovered- LGF, Blackfive, Totten, and of course- RightWingSparkle!
How has the transition from the military to the private sector affected you?
It's given me a whole new perspective- cliche, I know. But I can't think of any other way to say it. It's different. I can't believe how much freedom I have. People aren't depending on me. I'm not making gut-wrenching decisions that may affect people's lives. I'm just figuring out new and exciting ways to increase revenue and market share and enjoying lots of time with the love of my life- it's great! I sort of feel like I just finished running a marathon that never ends, and now I'm drinking a cold gatorade, enjoying the scenery, and cheering for the people who are still running...
I'm thinking you deserve it and more 2Slick. From the bottom of my heart I thank you for serving our country. Thank you for risking your life for freedom in this world. Is there any way any of us can ever really show how much it means to us that men like you fight the good fight, who find within themselves a greater purpose that we will never know.
I'm glad you came back 2slick. And for those who didn't, we all should live our lives a little better and with a little more passion in honor of them.
It is because of them and you that we walk free.
God bless you and all who stand to fight at the wall of freedom.
Sunday, April 24, 2005
In Love.
A while back I decided to try and find my best friend from high school. She had married a friend a mine and settled in my hometown and I had last seen her at my father's funeral 20 yrs ago. I thought it would be fairly easy. We didn't go to the same high school, but I had many friends at hers and my boyfriend had gone there. In my search I found a 20 yr reunion website for her high school and found pictures and information on my old boyfriend. As I sat looking at pictures of this man who had broken my heart at 16, who had aged as we all have, I remembered what it was like to be so young and so in love.
The summer I was 15 I met him after a highschool baseball game. He was a gifted athlete and would later play college ball. Meeting him was literally like being hit by a truck. I was a rare confident teen. I had boyfriends since I was in 1st grade. It had all been fun and games up to this point. But this, this was love.
My usual witty responses got stuck in my throat. My confidence in my looks disappeared. He seemed to like me as well, but unfortunately his cousin liked me a lot and he didn't want to hurt his cousin. I would see him at games, at the pizza hut we hung out and I would start to shake. My heart would pound. I HATED IT! I tried to make this feeling go away. My interest in other boys disappeared. I could hardly eat. All I could think about was this guy. It was like listening to the same song all day long. And there was no way I could find to turn it off.
Finally, the situation resolved itself and he called and asked me out. I don't remember the conversation. I remember hanging up and almost passing out. I laid on my bed, put my hands to my face and screamed.
I honestly don't remember that first date either. I think I must have been in such a state of nirvana that it was almost like a drug induced high. I call it a love blackout.
I turned 16 and it was the summer of love. When I finally got to the point where I could actually breath around him, we started to have fun together. It was a rollercoaster ride of emotions for me. The high when he called and the low when he didn't. He never treated me badly, but it was clear that I was crazy go nuts in love with this guy and he.....well....he liked me a lot, but there was a wall there I could not break through. I remember lying on the couch in my living room with him and my head on his chest listening to his heartbeat. I would close my eyes and try to will his heart to love me.
Loving someone more than they love you is so painful I don't think I could have ever gone through it again. When we were together I would soar. But when he didn't call for days I would fall into a depression I have never experienced since. On the one hand I was so grateful to be with him when I was that I never complained about the times when I was not. So I made it pretty easy for him to take me for granted and he did.
Then the day came when I found out he had cheated on me. (Then that just meant he had gone out with someone else) I may have been in love, but I still had my dignity. Cheating was not something I would ever put up with. I wrote him a terse note and that was that.
For about a month I soaked my pillow each night with my tears. I didn't just feel my heart was broken, I felt it had been torn to pieces. But after a while I put the pieces back together and went forward. I will always be grateful that he never took physical advantage of the love I had for him. I thought of myself as pretty strong, but he had a way of making me pretty weak.
But the story doesn't end there.
I learned many things from my first love. I learned to never let yourself love someone more than they loved you. I learned to never feel that the thought of losing someone should make you let them walk all over you.
A few years later after we had both gone to different colleges, we saw each other at a club. He called me and wanted to see me again. I'm not saying my heart didn't flutter a bit, but the scars had kept me from the soaring feeling of love I had felt before. Over the next few years we saw each other when we could. He said to me once, "You're not falling in love with me like before." I replied, "No, I learned my lesson." Did this bother him? I am not sure. Like before there was still a wall there I could never break through. But I was in full control this time. No more broken hearts for me.
But still..... That girl who was crazy go nuts in love was hiding behind my heart waiting for him to go crazy go nuts and be in love with her the same way.
My senior year in college he called to tell me that his college baseball team was playing my college that weekend. He said he would call me when he got there. He did. He told me he had about an hour before practice and could I come to the athletic dorm and see him.
Now this may seem like an insignificant detail, but you will understand at the end. At this time in the early 80's all curly long hair was in, right? I had straight long hair. I was so excited about seeing him I didn't bother to stop and roll my hair though. I just flew out the door and drove over there. When I got to him I gave him a big hug and he looks at me and says with a slight smile, "Thanks for fixing your hair for me."
In that moment I knew that I would never make this man happy. I knew that I would never be smart enough, be pretty enough, or love him enough. As much as my heart yearned for him, my mind knew better. A deep sadness flowed through me.
He said, "I'll see you at the game tomorrow, right?" "Yes," I replied, "I'll be there." But I didn't go to that game the next day and I never saw him again.
He has married, divorced, remarried and has 3 children. He lives in my hometown. I saw a picture of his wife and wondered if she had broken down that wall.
I never did find my best friend. She had divorced my friend and remarried. Sometimes we lose things that are so precious to us and we just never find them again.
So it goes.
Would a "gay gene" mean the end of gays?
I had a conversation with an atheist friend of mine the other night. He firmly believes that being gay is genetic and is a gene that is passed on from family.
His theory is this. He believes that for generations when homosexuality was not accepted, gays married out of social pressure and had children. Thus the gay gene was passed on. Now that the social pressure is no longer there and very few gays are opting to have natural children if they have children at all, then he believes that gays will diminish and finally be eliminated from the gene pool. He figures in 50 years there will be very few gays left.
Well, I had to think about that one. No one has proven there is any kind of "gay gene" of course, but the interesting thing is that gay people themselves very much want it to be proven that there is one. The reason being that it proves this isn't a "choice" they make and they were "born" that way.
So I was thinking that if there is a gay gene, doesn't it follow that that gene is passed on and that my friend has a point?
Look..... I am no scientist, which is abundantly clear here, but I wondered what your thoughts are on this theory.