Castro, Could It Be?

Fidel Castro announced Monday night in a letter read by his secretary live on state television that due to illness he was temporarily relinquishing the presidency to his brother and successor Raul, the defense minister.

In the letter read by his secretary Carlos Valenciaga, Castro said he had suffered gastrointestinal bleeding, apparently due to stress from recent public appearances in Argentina and Cuba, and had to undergo an operation. TCV

So, is he really still alive? It was a statement read by his secretary. Think Raul is a nicer guy then ol’ Fidel? Somehow I doubt it!

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New Words

NEW WORDS FOR 2006: Essential vocabulary additions for home and office.

BLAMESTORMING: Sitting around in a group, discussing why a deadline was missed or a project failed, and who was responsible.

SEAGULL MANAGER: A manager, who flies in, makes a lot of noise, craps on everything, and then leaves.

ASSMOSIS: The process by which some people seem to absorb success and advancement by kissing up to the boss rather than working hard.

SALMON DAY: The experience of spending an entire day swimming upstream only to get screwed and die in the end.

CUBE FARM: An office filled with cubicles.

PRAIRIE DOGGING: When someone yells or drops something loudly in a cube farm, and people’s heads pop up over the walls to see what’s going on.

CROP DUSTING: Surreptitiously passing gas while passing through a Cube Farm.

MOUSE POTATO: The on-line, wired generation’s answer to the couch potato.

SITCOMs: Single Income, two children, oppressive mortgage. It’s what yuppies turn into when they have children and one of them stops working to stay home with the kids.

STRESS PUPPY: A person who seems to thrive on being stressed out and whiny.

SWIPEOUT: An ATM or credit card that has been rendered useless because the magnetic strip is worn away from extensive use.

XEROX SUBSIDY: Euphemism for swiping free photocopies from one’s workplace.

IRRITAINMENT: Entertainment and media spectacles that are annoying but you find yourself unable to stop watching them. The J-Lo and Ben wedding (or not) was a prime example – Michael Jackson, another.

PERCUSSIVE MAINTENANCE: The fine art of whacking the crap out of an electronic device to get it to work again.

ADMINISPHERE: The rarefied organizational layers beginning just above the rank and file. Decisions that fall from the adminisphere are often profoundly inappropriate or irrelevant to the problems they were designed to solve.

404 : Someone who’s clueless. From the World Wide Web error message…..”404 Not Found,” meaning that the requested site could not be located.

GENERICA: Features of the American landscape that are exactly the same no matter where one is, such as fast food joints, strip malls, and subdivisions.

OHNOSECOND: That minuscule fraction of time in which you realize that you’ve just made a BIG mistake. (Like after hitting SEND on an email by mistake).

WOOFS: Well-Off Older Folks.

Unabashedly stolen from Benning at Benning’s Writing Pad, because it was too funny to pass up. And he in turn, got if from Sandy’s Spot.

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CPR Joins the Blogosphere!

You’ve probably seen my “ad” for CPR Constitutional Public Radio with Andrea Shea King and Mark Vance. If for some reason, you can’t catch their show, you can now “catch” them on the blogosphere at The Radio Patriots! Check out the site and come listen to the show!

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PC Craziness

“We should not be bound by our past perceptions and definitions. The perpetrator of an act that has all the hallmarks of terrorism — deliberately targeting civilians, intent to send a message, in support of a broader cause or ideology — is a terrorist, whether or not he, or she, is formally affiliated with a terrorist organization.

All this has important implications for how we fight terrorism. We need to pay close attention to how radical Islamic ideas, such as jihad against infidels, are promoted in our country. We should keep a watch on Islamic hate groups, just as we keep a watch on Christian white-supremacist hate groups. And we should be on the lookout for hate-driven, sympathizer terrorism, a phenomenon that is real, that is happening, and which must be recognized if we are to have any chance to defeat it.”
Eleana Gordon

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Be Afraid

Sends chills down the spine, doesn’t it?

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Tripod Fire

Latest updates can be found here.

In the winter my Dad drives a snowplow and all year he is a caretaker for a friend’s property out in Centeral Washington State. But in the summer he works for a company that helps the forestry service in the valley area where he lives. He will usually drive a water truck for them during fire season. He enjoys it because he likes the water trucks, but it’s hard work and it gets scary when the fires get too close to towns.

This is the latest fire out there. They are calling this one Tripod Fire, though there is another not too far away called Flick Creek Fire.

“In north-central Washington, the Tripod Fire covers an estimated 27 square miles, or about 17,500 acres of forest land, six miles northeast of Winthrop.

About 486 firefighters are working to maintain the lines south of the fire.”
Photo by: Keith Roe
Quote from: The Olympian

Luckily, he is usually quite a ways from the fire line. He is a support person, not on the line, but it can be very long hours and that worries me. So, Dad, if you’re reading this…go to bed and get some rest!

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Monetary Gain vs. Common Decency

Remember when ‘that woman’ used the names of the soldiers who had given the ultimate sacrifice for her little white cross political statement? I know I wasn’t the only one who thought that was beyond the pale. She had every right to use her own son’s name. She could probably get permission from her band of followers to use the names of their lost children, but she used every name she could lay her hands on and that was inexcusable. She’s not the only one stooping so low and in fact, she actually is not the lowest of the low. No, that goes to a man in Flagstaff, AZ who uses the names of dead heroes for monetary gain by putting them all on a t-shirt to make his political point.

There are Gold Star mothers who are working to stop this man and those like him who would use their sons’ names for monetary gain. Yvette Burridge is one and Judy Vincent is another.

Judy Vincent learned last year that Cpl. Scott M. Vincent’s name is among about 1,700 included on a T-shirt being sold by an Arizona man over the Internet. The front of the shirt reads “Bush Lied” and the back reads “They Died.”

The Bokoshe woman, whose son was killed in April 2004, pushed for Oklahoma legislators to pass a law that makes it a misdemeanor to use a soldier’s name or likeness for advertising purposes without consent. The law goes into effect this November.

U.S. Rep. Dan Boren, D-Okla., introduced a similar bill in Congress two weeks ago after Vincent asked him to do so. Republican U.S. Reps. Charles W. Boustany Jr. of Louisiana and Geoff Davis of Kentucky introduced similar legislation around the same time.

The shirt vendor “has the right to voice his opinion, as we all do,” Vincent said.

“But I do believe the First Amendment stops when you use a person’s name or likeness to make a profit. I don’t care what he thinks about the war. I do care that he’s making money off my son’s death.”

But this man will not stop and he even claims to care about and support the soldiers. He says he will continue to use the names despite the letters he has received from the families of those soldiers.

The shirt vendor, Dan Frazier of Flagstaff, Ariz., recently issued an open letter to family members who contacted him to protest the use of their loved ones’ names on the shirt. He praised the soldiers’ bravery and sacrifice and insisted he was not trying to degrade their service, but said he would not stop selling the shirt.

“Every name matters, and will be retained to help underscore the horrific loss of life that has been caused by President Bush’s rush to war under false pretenses,” the letter states.

He said in a prepared statement given to CBSNews.com, “I believe I have a moral obligation to do the right thing here. To me, the right thing is to continue drawing attention to the horrific toll this war is taking in terms of the lives lost. If these legislators really cared about the families of the troops, they would stop their political posturing and pass legislation to bring the troops home.”

Frazier added in the statement that he will fight any new legislation in court if necessary, but with his supply of merchandise running low, he may run out of merchandise before the new legislation takes effect. He added that his “Bush Lied-They Died” merchandise has sold poorly and that he is unlikely to produce any more. kutv.com

I can’t say that I’m sorry he had poor sales because I don’t believe that someone has the right to take the name and/or likeness of another person and use it, without permission, for any reason, but especially not for monetary gain. It has nothing to do with the political views of that person, it has to do with basic human decency. I feel the same about some of the things I’ve seen on the web, such as other t-shirts, caps and bracelets et cetera. I wonder if they have permission from the families. Did Hollywood get permission from the New Yorkers portrayed in World Trade Center or Flight 93? I’m sure they probably did for the most part with all their high -priced lawyers, but what about those families who wanted no part of it? And what about those guys who made Loose Change? It just isn’t right. As Judy Vincent said, “I don’t care what he thinks about the war. I do care that he’s making money off my son’s death.”

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Huge Win for the Tanker Brothers!

And a well deserved one, too! I was very happy to be nominated – as Mark Vance at CPR said, “Being nominated with these Milbloggers is like being nominated for an Oscar with Katharine Hepburn!” (How right he was!) Thanks to all who voted for me, I greatly appreciate all my readers!

Final Standings ~ Milblogs & Military Support Blogs
Voting took place July 24 – 28, 2006 at Able Baker Charlie Delta.

Blogs of Summer Finalist
Congratulations to the Finalists!

(98) Tanker Brothers ~ The Winners!

(Runners up)
(32) A Rose By Any Other Name
(18) Assorted Babble
(9) Blackfive
(8) Code Red Women for the Troops

(Nominees)
American Citizen Soldier
Andi’s World
Argghhh!
Blue Star Chronicles
Bottom Line Up Front
Echo9er
Jack Army
Milblogs at Mudville Gazette
Murdoc Online
Some Soldier’s Mom
Suddenly Military Mom
The Mudville Gazette
Theodore’s World
T.F. Boggs
The Violence Worker!

All are winners and please go read these blogs…they are awesome! And of course, thank you to Lyn at Bloggin’ Out Loud for putting this all together!

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I’ve Been Meme’d!

Beth at Blue Star Chronicles got me with the “Threes” meme, so here goes:

Here are Three–

1) –things that scare me:
a. something happening to my husband or daughters (family)
b. failure
c. large groups of people packed into small places!

2) –people who make me laugh:
a. my husband and children
b. Bill Cosby
c. Stew

3) –things I hate the most:
a. not having my mom to talk to anymore
b. being overworked and underpaid
c. dealing with rude people

4) –things I don’t understand:
a. the “me” mentality
b. two-faced people
c. the sewing machine

5) –things I’m doing right now:
a. playing on my computer
b. watching the news
c. relaxing

6) –things I want to do before I die:
a. read ALL the books on my “to read” list
b. visit Scotland, Ireland and England
c. live long enough to see a cure for cancer

7) –things I can do:
a. blog
b. create bead art
c. be a loyal friend

8) –ways to describe my personality:
a. friendly
b. serious
c. cranky…ask my girls!

9) –things I can’t do:
a. hug my mom
b. lie, cheat or steal
c. sew

10) –things I think you should listen to:
a. your heart
b. rain
c. the crackling of a campfire

11) –things you should never listen to:
a. crazy people
b. hollywood “stars” as a general rule (I agree beth!)
c. anyone who tells you you’re not good enough

12) –absolute favorite foods:
a. Mexican food (chile rellenos)
b. ice cream
c. almost any bakery item

13) –things I’d like to learn:
a. to have more patience
b. how to stand up for myself with more confidence
c. more about U.S. and world history

14) –beverages I drink regularly:
a. water
b. coffee
c. juice in winter, Gatorade in summer

15) –shows I watched as a kid:
a. Bugs Bunny cartoons
b. Zoom
c. Schoolhouse Rock

16) People I’m tagging.
a. Jane at A Lady’s Ruminations
b. benning at Benning’s Writing Pad
c. Wordsmith at Sparks from the Anvil

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No Time for Blogging!

I have too much work to do and not enough time to do it! I promise to post something meaningful very soon, it’s just not going to be tonight. Trust me, I would much rather take the evening and read all my favorite blogs! In the meantime…here’s a little something for those parents with teenagers and those without!

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