Ask a Vet
Author: TriSec
Date: 03/03/2009 11:58:22
Good Morning. Today is our 2,176th day in Iraq. We'll start this morning as we always do, with the latest casualty figures from Iraq and Afghanistan, courtesy of Antiwar.com: American Deaths Since war began (3/19/03): 4254 Since "Mission Accomplished" (5/1/03): 4115 Since Capture of Saddam (12/13/03): 3793 Since Handover (6/29/04): 3396 Since Obama Inauguration (1/20/09): 25 Other Coalition Troops - Iraq: 318 US Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 660 Other Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 431 Contractor Deaths - Iraq: 446 We find this morning's cost of war has reached yet another milestone, as we're already quickly past 600 billion. $ 601, 593, 100, 000.00One could only wonder how things would be if that money had gone back into the American economy over the past 6 years.
Continue reading...
120 comments )
|
Hi everyone! Nice to see you again! It's good to be back home, even though Atlanta has about 23 degree weather-- and a wind chill that makes it feel like 10 degrees. After 10 days of seeing snow on the ground back in NY, it doesn't seem so strange to come back to see snow here. Like everything else, it could be worse. Once again, thank you to everyone for filling in while we were away. It's a blessed thing to have a network of friends and people that are there for you when you need it. Bob and I are fortunate. We don't own a home, and we don't have children. Our life is not one that must be rooted to any one place. It opens the door of opportunity to seek out new things. Many are not as fortunate as we are. Many are far worse off. Imagine struggling to get a good education, knowing what each night has in store for you. Daniel, his mother and five brothers, ages 1 to 17, live in a garage without heat or running water in a modest, low-lying neighborhood that sits between celebrity-owned mansions in the hills and the Pacific Ocean. Each morning, they arise at 6:30, get dressed and then leave quietly; they return only after dark — a routine born out of the fear that detection could mean the loss of even this humble dwelling.
Daniel and his brothers have been sleeping in the garage for more than a year — members of what school officials and youth advocates say is a rapidly growing legion of homeless youth. It is a growing issue in America. The housing crisis often does not talk about how it affects the youth of our nation. We talk about families losing their homes, but often the idea of drilling down into the details of what happens is something we, as Americans, don't really look at. Republicans outright deny those details, and quite often actually blame the victims when forced to confront those details. Our economic crisis, our housing crisis, our banking crisis and our war crisis is not the fault of the America electorate. It won't be solved by bootstraps or by the government getting out of the way, as little Bobby Jindal told us last week. Real people are suffering and real people need help. The have gone for far too long, watching the social safety nets set up by FDR, be slowly stripped away. People like Bobby Jindal think it is GREAT that his dad had to pay for his son in installments. People like me believe that Americans, by way of the constitution are given a right to life liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The powers that be have been slowly taking away those rights, and this is where we are, A country on the verge of depression, with republicans blaming Americans instead of themselves for the mess that we are in. Yes, I can blame the dems as well, but by and large, this country has been following the lead of conservative politics and ideaologies set in place decades aqo. It is time for a serious shift, not just from our leaders, but for ourselves. We must confront the details of the crisis in order to understand how this affects us ALL -- not just our friends and the person around the corner. The devil is really in the details. I know that I don't need to tell our regular members these things. I just had to get it of my chest this morning. No child deserves to be homeless. It's frustrating to watch so many people suffer at the hands of this crisis, while those that actually have money feel like they are cutting back by maybe taking one vacation to Hawaii this year instead of 2 and then telling their workers they must cut hours due to the economy. Let's get this month rolling. This is gonna be a great day and a better month! :peace: and  Raine 106 comments )
|
Confusion sets in....
Author: velveeta jones
Date: 03/01/2009 14:54:21
A letter to Conservatives: Dear Michael, Rush, Sarah, Newt, Mtitt, John, "Bobby", et al: Okay, so Velveeta will be the first to admit that she's not the sharpest tool in the shed, but please.... I beg you, help me understand what the hell is going on here. Back, way back before January 20, things were so easy to explain. We had a boob in the White House, so when some Republican said or did something totally stupid, we knew who it was and why. Even ya'll can agree with that. But please explain these things that are happening now? Or, as my 22 year old friend asks, "WTF, dudes, WTF"? Why? If Government is so damn bad why are you in it? Seriously, "Bobby" Jindal recently said, "The strength of America is not found in our government. It is found in the compassionate hearts and enterprising spirit of our citizens", echoing the words of his fellow conservatives all the way back to Reagan. So I ask you, why do you run? Government to big? Get out! Downsize yourselves.
Continue reading...
16 comments )
|
I awoke this morning and skimmed the news like I always do. Yet another aviation story leaped off the page at me, this one from Romania:
TIMISOARA, Romania – A Romanian plane carrying 51 people made a safe emergency landing in western Romania on Saturday and all the occupants escaped injury, officials said.
The Carpatair flight's front landing gear became stuck and the plane circled Timisoara International Airport for almost two hours, using up its fuel to avoid a potential fire before it landed on a bed of foam laid out by firefighters, officials said.
The Saab 2000 aircraft was carrying 47 passengers and four crew members on its flight from the Moldovan capital, Chisinau, to Timisoara, airport spokeswoman Carmen Stoica said.
The Emergency Inspectorate said at least 10 ambulances and three fire engines were waiting for the stricken plane.
Timisoara ambulance chief Iancu Leonida said there were no injuries, but people were very frightened.
"There are no injured people, although some might have minor scratches, but they are very scared and traumatized," he said. "They are being given medical care."
Realitatea TV broadcast footage of passengers hugging and kissing people who had come to meet them at the airport. One unidentified female passenger with gray hair and tears in her eyes told the TV the passengers did not know about the landing gear and had thought there was a problem with ice and fog.
The airport said the plane landed using only the main landing gear, on a 200-yard (200-meter) long bed of foam. The airport was closed for 2 1/2 hours Saturday morning after the incident.
Carpatair vice president Dan Andrei said that "when it landed, the plane came down on the side wheels; it braked sharply and at a low speed it came on its front belly, while the front landing gear remained stuck."
)
|
There are probably a lot more relevant things I could blog on. Congress Critters “twittering” before, during and after the Presidents speech, was it rude or not. The awesomeness of the speech that happened Tuesday night and the dull as dishwater respond from Piyush “The Exorcist” Jindal. The shovel ready projects that started yesterday giving people jobs and starting to move around money. There are so many worthwhile topics. It is however a Friday, and my brain is not in the mood to tackle anything big and important. Sorry. Instead I’d like mention Crafting. I want to know what people do to keep themselves busy and that creates something new. It could be simple or something detailed and elaborate. I’ve been finding that being able to create something has lightened some of the stress that’s been pressing down for all sorts of reasons. I’ve gone from crocheting hats and scarves to just now learning to decorate cakes. In between I’ve picked up all sorts of new skills, like making melt and pour soap, creating tile mosaics for table tops and the best thing is that I’ve been repurposing odds and ends to extend the use of something and save some money. So what have you been up to? 45 comments )
|
Rising Star
Author: Random
Date: 02/26/2009 13:23:35
A brief(and histerical) look at the rising stars of the republican party. First on our list of Rising stars is Mrs. Palin. That’s right, Govern of Alaska. Mother of who the hell knows how many kids, married to a snow machine(whatever the hell that is) driver. Grandmother. And all around perfect example of a wolf in MILF’s clothing. Palin’s rise to fame came when she was plucked from the boonies of Alaska, and I don’t care if it was an actual city, Alaska by definition, is a boonie. Rising Star or not, even loyal republicans started to get headaches when she talked, also, too, as well. Sarah Palin as successfully drove every English major to the bottle, thus making Jack and Johnny stocks shoot through the roof. Which may or may not be a bad thing, I haven’t decided yet. But the final word on Palin, I shall leave to one of her supporters. “…when she clearly knew she was doing well, it was so sparkling it was almost mesmerizing. It sent little starbursts through the screen and ricocheting around the living rooms of America.” There is no fighting such devotion. Men like this should be put down for their own sake.
Continue reading...
65 comments )
|
OK folks, just bear with us. Clintster is on his way for this morning's show; apparently he got into Momma's box wine last night and spent half the evening doing dueling George Takei impressions with Jim Ward. It was brutal. Oh wait, here he is. Good Morning Clintster, how are you? *mumblegrumble*BradandIantiquinginSanFernando*blitherblather* (Narrator slips some extra strong coffee to Clintster) Huhwhuwhahuh? Where am I? (rubs eyes) Ohhhh, right; Wednesday! Good morning, 4Fers! I apologize for the way I look here; crazy night. CRAAAAAAAAZY night! Anyway, let's take a look at a media personality that has been occupying my mind recently. Step with me into the crazy world of Arthur Brown Glenn Beck Continue reading...
47 comments )
|
Ask a Vet
Author: TriSec
Date: 02/24/2009 11:57:40
Good Morning. Today is our 2,169th day in Iraq. We'll start this morning as we always do, with the latest casualty figures from Iraq and Afghanistan, courtesy of Antiwar.com: American Deaths Since war began (3/19/03): 4250 Since "Mission Accomplished" (5/1/03): 4101 Since Capture of Saddam (12/13/03): 3789 Since Handover (6/29/04): 3392 Since Obama Inauguration (1/20/09): 21 Other Coalition Troops - Iraq: 318 US Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 656 Other Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 426 Contractor Deaths - Iraq: 446 We find this morning's cost of war passing through: $ 599, 630, 100, 000.00 There's a rather stunning story circulating this week about an Army charity that was set up in 1942 specifically to help families of servicemen. Given the long deployments and weake economic climate, you'd think they would be spreading money around to make sure our military families could remain afloat. Unfortunately, that's not so; they seem to be sitting on the money. Even more incredibly....they blame the stock market.
Continue reading...
42 comments )
|
Open for Business!
Author: TriSec
Date: 02/23/2009 13:57:32
Good Morning, folks! Asleep at the switch, I suppose. In any case, you know what to do! 47 comments )
|
ReTHUG Life
Author: velveeta jones
Date: 02/22/2009 15:05:21
What a splendid idea – Michael Steele, one of 6 African American men that belong to the Grand Old Party, and who was recently given the formidable challenge of leading the RNC and rebuilding their image has graced us with this spectacular plan: marketing the Republican agenda to appeal to minorities and youngsters by mixing the swell policies of small government, less corporate oversight and tax breaks for the rich, with Hip Hop culture. He recently said the RNC needs an “off the hook” makeover to attract those urban and suburban kids. Oh, if only 2Pac were alive, I’m sure he’d lend a hand to this cause. As it is, he’ll have to settle for either older gangsta rappers like Ice-T and Snoop-Dogg, the latter who’s busy with a reality TV series, or, the new “posers” like lil Wayne and he of the current domestic violence crisis, Chris Brown. (Seriously, Velveeta has no Earthly idea who any of these people are, she had to rely on her people to gather this information for her). Mr. Steele, feels certain that using language like “off the hook” and, I’m not kidding, “bling-bling” is going to get the kids to swag their 501’s below the butt, light a big-assed spliff and have them rappin’ “Yo, my N*ggaz, we got to repeal the Alternative Minimum Tax”. Even I know that the word “bling” went the way of Vanilla Ice. Word. Here, is a bit more of what the Notorious G.O.P said, “It will be avant garde, technically. It will come to table with things that will surprise everyone - off the hook.” Does that mean cutting-edge? “I don’t do ‘cutting-edge,’ “ he said. “That’s what Democrats are doing. We’re going beyond cutting-edge.”Goody, yet another phrase in our artistic/cultural vernacular to describe “trendy”. Can’t wait to hear what it’ll be.
Continue reading...
14 comments )
|
| Order by most recent comment Complete Blog Entry List |
