This Will End Up Being An All-Nighter!

So I got up at 7.....ish, lol. Close enough! I made it to Boston by 10 am and that included a pitstop at work and everything.

My Dad took me to meet Dr. Schlossman. He's not going to win the prize, kids. The Dana Farber myeloma clinic was a zoo. Compared to Tufts/NEMC you do not feel that you would receive good patient care. You feel you will slip through the cracks....and I did. Every seat was full. People in wheelchairs and stretchers were stuffed in every nook and crannie. The wait was interminable. Don't tell me they weren't overbooked.

There was some comic relief. An older gentleman came in - long white braid, chambray shirt, canvas tote bag. Looked like an old hippie college professor. My father leaned over and said "Probably from Harvard." I laughed and asked how the things I was thinking came out of his mouth. Later a woman walked past me, overly tanned, gold slipper shoes, capri pants, mid to late sixties. I looked at the gold shoes and smiled. My father holds the newspaper higher and says "Gold shoes? Where do you even buy them?" I replied that she probably bought them in Boca where she spends the winter, tanning. My father laughed and said "Yeah, that didn't happen at Dewey Beach!" Then the woman beside me placed a hand on my arm, apologized for eavesdropping and asked me if we were talking about Dewey Beach. I said "Yes, we're from Charlestown." Turns out her family was too. If you are ever somewhere and you want to know if people in the room are from Charlestown just mention Dewey Beach. They'll find you.

Two different people came out for me at the same time. One woman seemed peeved and directed me to go with the other & she would come back & find me. She didn't, I had to find her. Her excuse at first was that she had already seen me, and waived a paper with my supposed vitals. Umm, no, trust me having my weight checked is so traumatic, I never forget it. Then she tried to say there must be someone else here with same name. Finally, she said that she had told me to come back to her after the bloodwork. I said "No, you didn't, this is my first visit, I would have told you I didn't know where you were." She walked away and left me until I went out in the hall and found someone else.

At this point I can well take care of myself. When the time comes, I have my sisters and parents. After that, there are others who won't let me get pushed around. But what about the people in power wheelchairs and stretchers that were dropped by ambulance? Who is advocating for them?

After that big long wait to get this appointment, I couldn't get solid answers - he didn't have the bone marrow biopsy.

What
The
EFFFFFFFFFF?????

He was curt with my father. Way to lose points, boyo! I think Schlossman realized pretty quickly things weren't going well for him. He kept talking about being involved on whatever level, even if I went with Dr. Miller. He specifically stated that he'd like to be on the team because my case was unique.

I was glad to be shut of the place. On the way to the parking garage, my father noted Schlossman seemed nervous I agreed. Then my father noted the doctor's attitude toward his questions and I agreed to that as well.

My father told me to think about it and we debated the merits of thinking about it in Vegas.

When I called to talk to Grace, she said she had spoken with our father and he told her I would be going with Miller, lol. When I talked to Jennifer, she said that she had spoken to our father as well and he didn't say it directly, but she knew Miller had won as well.

So I came into work to settle last minute things on my desk. I'm all set and headed home to pack, lol. It's 0139 and I am leaving for Boston at 0400 to catch my 0700 flight.

I hope my snoring on the plane doesn't bother anyone!

I'm Exhausted!

I did my civic duty today and worked in my town as an appointed election official - Clerk Precinct 2. The day started at 0530 with hitting "snooze", "snooze", "snooze". I made it to the polls by 0630 - I was supposed to be there at 0615. No one was surprised. I was given a wide berth.........they don't call me Princess Crabby for nothing!

When the polls closed and we reconciled all our numbers - we never get overturned in recounts, we are really careful and really good - Ed wanted dinner. So it was off the East Bay Grille and Dick, my favorite bartender.

Tomorrow is Dr. Schlossman at the Dana Farber. It's an interview for me and for him. My case is interesting and we'll see if he gets me or I stay with Dr. Miller at Tufts, New England Medical.

My Dad is taking me. This is going to be tough. I can't talk to my father about this. I can't look upset in front of him. I will have to be relentlessly cheerful. I will be wise (as in "ass", not *smart*) and hide behind that.

Wish me luck!

I had a problem with my Milblog Conference registration and the most wonderful Andi (of Andi's World) took care of it. I am so grateful. I dumped it on her at the last minute when she has a million things to do to get ready for this........and she was so gracious about it. Thanks Andi!

OK, off to bed. I could sleep for ten hours. I will have to settle for seven.

USN Sailors from USS Kearsarge Prepare Humanitarian Aid to Haiti Part 1

B-roll of U.S. Navy Sailors preparing aid for Haiti, post Hurricane Ike. Scenes include the supply helicopter landing and unloading boxes of supplies. Produced by Petty Officer 1st Class David Crawford. Part 1 of 2.

USN Sailors from USS Kearsarge Prepare Humanitarian Aid to Haiti, Part 2 of 2

B-roll of U.S. Navy Sailors preparing humanitarian aid to the people of Haiti post Hurricane Ike. Scenes include a supply helicopter in flight and landing on the deck of the USS Kearsarge. Part 2 of 2.

I Am Very Lucky

Jen & our cousin Chrissie have a gang of friends. They have been tight since grade school. They still get together every six weeks or so for dinner or a movie, etc. I have attended several of these gatherings. I have honorary status because when they were in their mid teens and I was newly married they would spend weekends at my house. I hosted many sleepovers and these girls have long memories.

I hadn't realized how long.

Some of you know because you have been reading along that I am facing some medical issues. One side effect of that is some financial discomfort. I have never been the ant, I have always been the grasshopper. I am not whining, it's just a fact. I've had a good time. If I had a few extra bucks, I would attend a lecture, buy a book, go out to dinner rather than put it in a savings account. I've always been a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants girl. Long range plans were never my strong suit. As a consequence, I have no savings, a mortgage that I barely make, no short term disability insurance. So here I am facing a ton of time out of work, copays for visits and medications, etc. On the other hand I have good health insurance, a great boss and a supportive family.

When the prospect of a bone marrow transplant was first brought up, I dismissed it out of hand. My cousin Chrissie rightly deduced I was dismissing it soley due to financial considerations. She was right. I am not afraid of the cancer, far from it. I am not afraid of the bone marrow transplant. But I am afraid of three months out of work. I am afraid of losing my house.

Chrissie went to three of the others and told them this.

Last night we met to go to see the new DiNiro/Pacino movie. Afterwards we stood in the lobby talking about the movie and kids and life. You know the drill. Finally it was time to say goodnight. Chrissie handed me a card and told me to "Read it later." I laughed and asked if it was a "Happy Cancer card". Yeah, I'm pretty fresh. She waved me off. Jen and I drove home.

I waited until I got to my own driveway to open the card. You know, just in case Chrissie happened to write anything that might penetrate my teeny-tiny black heart.

Well, it wasn't too mushy. It had the USS Constitution on the front and a few heartfelt lines about keeping me in their thoughts and prayers written inside. There was something else. I thought it was a prayer card. But it was not.

It was a check for a considerable sum of money. I was astonished.

I haven't talked about it too much, but the trip to Vegas has been making me feel so guilty. I had arranged and paid for it before I got my diagnosis. Of course it was all non-refundable. So I felt bad about having spent money that would be better spent on copays and covering time out of work. I hadn't realized how tense I was about it until I saw that check and physically felt the tension drain out of me.

Chrissie, Stephanie, Amy and Christine - I always had/have a good time with you. But today more than ever I am glad I made all those batches of cookies and bowls of popcorn, lol. Thank you. I appreciate you all more than I can ever say.

I am very lucky.

Newt Puts Palin In Context

I love when people like Alan Colmes express concern over Sarah Palin bringing God into the discussion.....but it was fine for Obama and Gov. Kaine of Virginia to quote Scripture at the DNC. LOL

GINGRICH: You know, Alan, it is a sad commentary on the growing anti- religious hostility of the elite media. In the movie that Callista and I made on rediscovering God in America, there's a direct quote from John F. Kennedy which was wildly received by liberals at the time, "I believe that God has a plan." That's John F. Kennedy. And if you listen, we have Kennedy himself saying it. We have Kennedy on tape saying it. We have Abraham Lincoln saying it. We have Franklin Delano Roosevelt saying it.
Only in the last 30 years have we got this rabid anti-religious bias that suggests that people who care about God and people who hope America is, in fact, trying to understand what God wants are somehow unacceptable or out of touch.

COLMES: I don't think it's fair to characterize those who have been critical as those who don't care about God, don't love God, don't believe in God, because when she said, "Pray that our leaders, our national leaders, are sending them out on a task that is from God," it sounds like she's saying, Pray that the Iraq war is God's will, pray that they are doing God's will, that this war is...

GINGRICH: That is exactly...

COLMES: Is that what it sounds like?

GINGRICH: Alan, that is exactly what Franklin Delano Roosevelt said in World War II. That is why Eisenhower's memoir was called "Crusade in Europe."

HANNITY: Hey...

GINGRICH: That's why Roosevelt prayed for six-and-a-half minutes with the entire country on D-Day, as our young men and women were fighting for America.
So what I'm surprised by is how utterly ignorant the modern television and news industry is of the history of America. And that's why we did "Rediscovering God in America." And you can listen to John F. Kennedy, Alan, then you tell me if you're bothered by John F. Kennedy's words...

Thanks, Charles Krauthammer!

Bill Steiner sent me a link to this Charles Krauthammer's article on Sarah Palin and the "Bush Doctrine". I am very grateful. It answers the questions I had. When I watched Sarah, I didn't see confusion, I saw caution. I thought that was smart to make Gibson clarify his question. Then I got into work and one of the girls asked "Isn't it bad that Sarah Palin didn't know what the Bush Doctrine was?" I explained that the question wasn't clear enough as originally asked and I would have prompted Gibson for clarification as well. It was pointed out that the panel my coworker was watching commented that the exchange showed Palin didn't know the "Bush Doctrine". I disagreed, but I wondered what I was missing.

Now this article makes everything clear and I am back on solid ground.
*****************************************
Charlie Gibson's Gaffe
By Charles Krauthammer
Saturday, September 13, 2008; A17

"At times visibly nervous . . . Ms. Palin most visibly stumbled when she was asked by Mr. Gibson if she agreed with the Bush doctrine. Ms. Palin did not seem to know what he was talking about. Mr. Gibson, sounding like an impatient teacher, informed her that it meant the right of 'anticipatory self-defense.' "
-- New York Times, Sept. 12

Informed her? Rubbish.

The New York Times got it wrong. And Charlie Gibson got it wrong.

There is no single meaning of the Bush doctrine. In fact, there have been four distinct meanings, each one succeeding another over the eight years of this administration -- and the one Charlie Gibson cited is not the one in common usage today. It is utterly different.

He asked Palin, "Do you agree with the Bush doctrine?"

She responded, quite sensibly to a question that is ambiguous, "In what respect, Charlie?"

Sensing his "gotcha" moment, Gibson refused to tell her. After making her fish for the answer, Gibson grudgingly explained to the moose-hunting rube that the Bush doctrine "is that we have the right of anticipatory self-defense."

Wrong.

I know something about the subject because, as the Wikipedia entry on the Bush doctrine notes, I was the first to use the term. In the cover essay of the June 4, 2001, issue of the Weekly Standard entitled, "The Bush Doctrine: ABM, Kyoto, and the New American Unilateralism," I suggested that the Bush administration policies of unilaterally withdrawing from the ABM treaty and rejecting the Kyoto protocol, together with others, amounted to a radical change in foreign policy that should be called the Bush doctrine.

Then came 9/11, and that notion was immediately superseded by the advent of the war on terror. In his address to the joint session of Congress nine days after 9/11, President Bush declared: "Either you are with us or you are with the terrorists. From this day forward any nation that continues to harbor or support terrorism will be regarded by the United States as a hostile regime." This "with us or against us" policy regarding terror -- first deployed against Pakistan when Secretary of State Colin Powell gave President Musharraf that seven-point ultimatum to end support for the Taliban and support our attack on Afghanistan -- became the essence of the Bush doctrine.

Until Iraq. A year later, when the Iraq war was looming, Bush offered his major justification by enunciating a doctrine of preemptive war. This is the one Charlie Gibson thinks is the Bush doctrine.

It's not. It's the third in a series and was superseded by the fourth and current definition of the Bush doctrine, the most sweeping formulation of the Bush approach to foreign policy and the one that most clearly and distinctively defines the Bush years: the idea that the fundamental mission of American foreign policy is to spread democracy throughout the world. It was most dramatically enunciated in Bush's second inaugural address: "The survival of liberty in our land increasingly depends on the success of liberty in other lands. The best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of freedom in all the world."

This declaration of a sweeping, universal American freedom agenda was consciously meant to echo John Kennedy's pledge in his inaugural address that the United States "shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty." It draws also from the Truman doctrine of March 1947 and from Wilson's 14 points.

If I were in any public foreign policy debate today, and my adversary were to raise the Bush doctrine, both I and the audience would assume -- unless my interlocutor annotated the reference otherwise -- that he was speaking about the grandly proclaimed (and widely attacked) freedom agenda of the Bush administration.

Not the Gibson doctrine of preemption.

Not the "with us or against us" no-neutrality-is-permitted policy of the immediate post-9/11 days.

Not the unilateralism that characterized the pre-9/11 first year of the Bush administration.

Presidential doctrines are inherently malleable and difficult to define. The only fixed "doctrines" in American history are the Monroe and the Truman doctrines which come out of single presidential statements during administrations where there were few other contradictory or conflicting foreign policy crosscurrents.

Such is not the case with the Bush doctrine.

Yes, Sarah Palin didn't know what it is. But neither does Charlie Gibson. And at least she didn't pretend to know -- while he looked down his nose and over his glasses with weary disdain, sighing and "sounding like an impatient teacher," as the Times noted. In doing so, he captured perfectly the establishment snobbery and intellectual condescension that has characterized the chattering classes' reaction to the mother of five who presumes to play on their stage.

Nice Hatchet Job, Obamessiah!

Obama's new ad berates John McCain, in part, because he does not email.
Nice.
Jonah Goldberg has the answer with far much less invective than Princess Crabby would use.
Wondering No More

Jonah Goldberg
Yep. The day after 9/11, as part of its "get tough" makeover, the Obama campaign is mocking John McCain for not using a computer, without caring why he doesn't use a computer. From the AP story about the computer illiterate ad:

"Our economy wouldn't survive without the Internet, and cyber-security continues to represent one our most serious national security threats," [Obama spokesman Dan] Pfeiffer said. "It's extraordinary that someone who wants to be our president and our commander in chief doesn't know how to send an e-mail."

Well, I guess it depends on what you mean by "extraordinary." The reason he doesn't send email is that he can't use a keyboard because of the relentless beatings he received from the Viet Cong in service to our country. From the Boston Globe (March 4, 2000):

McCain gets emotional at the mention of military families needing food stamps or veterans lacking health care. The outrage comes from inside: McCain's severe war injuries prevent him from combing his hair, typing on a keyboard, or tying his shoes. Friends marvel at McCain's encyclopedic knowledge of sports. He's an avid fan - Ted Williams is his hero - but he can't raise his arm above his shoulder to throw a baseball.

In a similar vein I guess it's an outrage that the blind governor of New York David Patterson doesn't know how to drive a car. After all, transportation issues are pretty important. How dare he serve as governor while being ignorant of what it's like to navigate New York's highways.

******************

The emphasis added is mine.....

More Of The Chief's Dreams of Princess Crabby

I posted about parts one to four here.

Now we move on..........

Part Five (link to the post at The Castle)

Part Six (link to the post at The Castle) Part Seven (link to the post at The Castle)

Conclusion? My Darling Chief dreams about having me clutch him to my "heaving bosom"....

From the Fishmugger

The Fishmugger (so named because he catches the fish, but throws them back....I think) is a Jersey boy. I asked why he hadn't posted or commented something at the Castle about the day. Here's his reply -

If you think I should post...hows this? You can use it if you like.

When you live and work in the shadow of the World Trade, had lunch and dinner up at Windows on the World; where the view is spectacular and you look down on the Statue of Liberty, the event is a little more personal.

The phone rang..."Turn on your TV, a plane hit the World Trade"...click. I had a call like that when Regan was shot. We have three major airports around NYC and a few minor ones. The Hudson is a corridor for small planes staying under FAA ceilings. So some stupid private pilot hit the building, I know the building...he went splat. But it was a slow morning, so I looked in. Jesus.

While watching TV all day, I fielded calls from club members on what we should do. We originally centered on getting food to the rescue workers...make soup and sandwiches. But when we called to find out where to bring it, we were told the restaurants in NYC were giving more then enough. Then we freed up $25,000 out of the clubs budget to buy tools because there was a call for crowbars and gloves and what all. We broke Roberts Rules to do that with a phone poll but we figured we can clean it up with an official vote at the next board meeting and the IRS be damned. The members were going to fan out and hit every hardware store for miles but a phone check told us that companies were bringing so much stuff that a holding area was now being used at the Meadowlands. So we stopped.

We checked up on friends and most were OK. Denis Rossi's son in law went for a hair cut instead of breakfast with friends at the World Trade. We called families to find out what floor someone worked on. Phones were jammed in NY and we couldn't get through on regular cells so we mapped the buildings and figured the odds on chances of survival.

And it didn't end on just that day. We lived it for weeks. One of the saddest notes were when we found out that the cops were going around to the commuter train stations and marking tires. That way they could determine if the owner survived. Summit NJ, a small town lost 50 people. We lost Tom Celic, NYFD, brother of Steve, one of our members. The funerals went on forever.

After that we just hung out waiting to see where we could help. That years Oktoberfest went to Firemen Widows and Orphans fund in Tom Celic's name, $28,000+. They didn't need it...they had millions. We gave it anyway because we advertised it. Oh well.

Where Were You.....

"Where were you seven years ago?" is the theme of day based off of an email several of us have received.

I covered this last year and it's still my answer. "8:46 AM"

The Chief has his here.

The Armorer has his here.

The Phibian has his here.
CDR Salamander's post has a YouTube clip from "9/11"the documentary by Jules and Gedeon Naudet. I consider it the best of all the films on the subject of 9/11. The Naudet brothers were in that spot at that time, I find to be an extrordinary circumstance. This is one film I think everyone should watch.

Steeljaw Scribe has his here.

ArmyWife ToddlerMom tells us "Time has not helped....".

I'll add more throughout the day as I see them, but for now I am going to watch the Pentagon Channel coverage.

Patriot Day September 11, 2008

The Pentagon Channel will have a ceremony at 0830

Click here to watch it live.

I will embed it later.

DoD New Media Vlog: September 10

2008 America Supports You Freedom Walk.
Good job, MCSN Selby

So, I Took A Pregnancy Test

LOL

That's how I said it on the phone to my mother too.

Fun for shock value.

After I filled out all the Revlimid paperwork in the doctor's office Monday I thought I was all set. It bordered on the ridiculous. I had to place my initials in at least 11 different boxes, mostly having to do with pregnancy. I had to promise not to get pregnant on this medication. Not to share my medication with anyone who could be or get pregnant. Not nurse while on this medication. I had to promise that if I were to engage in heterosexual intercourse, I would use a primary and a secondary method of birth control. It went on and on.

Then I got back to the office and they called - I needed to get back in there for a pregnancy test. It's not good enough for me to say I am not pregnant. The manufacturer will not ship the Revlimid until they get a negative blood test result.

I went this morning and when I got to the office Rachael and Nic had left a little present on my chair. A little baby "onsie" wrapped in baby shower paper.

Ha. Ha.

MoH Sailor Who Rescued 15 Airmen Dies

From The Navy Times

MoH sailor who rescued 15 airmen dies
By Jon Gambrell - The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Sep 10, 2008 6:48:01 EDT
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Nathan Green Gordon, a former Arkansas lieutenant governor whose under-fire rescue of 15 downed airmen in World War II earned him the Medal of Honor, has died. He was 92.
Gordon died Monday night at the University of Arkansas for Medical Science hospital in Little Rock while being treated for pneumonia and other ailments, nephew Allen Gordon said. Though becoming forgetful with age, Gordon continued to charm and debate the news with those who spoke with him, his nephew said.
Family members said Gordon didn’t speak much about his service as a Navy pilot during World War II, fighting across the Pacific Theater in a Consolidated PBY Catalina flying boat, a large plane no faster than a high-powered automobile. However, until his final days, he would tell anyone who asked about the rescue mission in the Bismarck Sea that brought him national acclaim, his nephew said.
“He would always tear up,” Allen Gordon said.

Read the rest here.

This Day In Navy History

One hundred and ninty-five years ago.

Dear General,

We have met the enemy and they are ours. Two ships, two brigs, one schooner and one sloop.

Yours with great respect and esteem,

O.H. Perry

Oliver Hazard Perry's immortal dispatch to Major General William Henry Harrison after the Battle of Lake Erie, 10 September 1813.

Reservist's science talent lights safer way in Iraq

From today's Boston Globe

Reservist's science talent lights safer way in Iraq
By Peter Schworm
Globe Staff / September 10, 2008

For seven months, Marine Sergeant Jason Cox patrolled near Fallujah, Iraq, from the turret of a Humvee, a gunner for a squad whose greatest fear was the unseen. Roadside bombs were the gravest threat, and often went undetected until it was too late.

So Cox, a graduate student in chemistry at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, put his scientific background to the test, designing a groundbreaking device that used infrared imaging to detect improvised explosives from a safer distance. With the help of other members of his unit, Cox worked during his few off-hours to modify existing thermal-imaging equipment to identify specific light characteristics, then tested the technique on patrols.

Able to identify remotely detonated devices from more than 200 yards, Cox's system proved an immediate success and marked a critical advance against the bombs. Cox's research, conducted during his tour in 2006, has now spurred the Marines to purchase new detection technology that incorporates Cox's findings.

Cox, a five-year reservist in the Marine Corps and a Worcester resident, was recently honored for his work with the US Navy and Marine Co rps Achievement Medal. The award recognizes Cox's "initiative, perseverance, and total dedication to duty," which honored "the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the United States Naval Service."

Read the rest here.

BZ Sgt. Cox!

2008 Milbloggies

I am feeling lazy, so I will just cut and paste the post from the Castle.

2008 Milbloggies
September 8, 2008 Permalink Comments (0) TrackBacks (0)
They're finally here!
This is the nomination phase, and it's very brief.

All nominations must be submitted online through Milblogging.com by 11:59 pm EST on Wednesday, September 10th, 2008.

You have to be registered at milblogging.com, but it's relatively painless and for a good cause.

NOTE: registrations are apparently being activated by hand, so get yours in ASAP so that you can nominate/vote.Here are some of my favorite nominations that don't always get the attention they deserve in these kinds of contests (linked at milblogging.com)
Kaboom (yes, it's defunct, but it was a great milblog and it falls within the competition dates)
Big Tobacco
Information Dissemination
The Destroyermen
The Gun Line
Threatswatch
SpouseBUZZ
Soldiers' Angels Germany (not placed in the correct category. Nominate here).
***********************************
OK, that was from The Castle

I myself can't reveal who I voted for because like any good mother, I have no favorites. Especially in the Navy category. Several of my Navy Coterie were nominated.

I am in the "Military supporter" category, but there are other, more worthy candidates.

I Watch This Every Day

This was posted on YouTube on August 27, 2008. 13 days ago.

The Chief emailed it to the Castle denizens on Friday the 5th. I believe at that time the number of "views" was in the hundreds. I, in turn, emailed it to 80% of my Yahoo email address book. Many people replied that they had seen it in other forums such as Free Republic.

I also posted it here.

Kat posted it at the Castle.

Last night around this time, the number of views had hit 1,166,172. Tonight it's 1,931,007.

Watch it again.

I'm Going To Lose My Mind

Randi Rhodes better pray she never crosses my path. I would rip her head right the fuck off her shoulders.

TRULY SICK
Rhodes Claims McCain Was 'Well-Treated' In Vietnam
*** EXCLUSIVE TO THE RADIO EQUALIZER ***

Quick, what's the most disgusting potential way to attack the McCain-Palin presidential ticket? After two weeks of conspiring to destroy Sarah Palin and her family, often through dishonest means, what could be worse than what we've already seen, right?

Well, if you thought the left side of talk radio and the blogosphere had sunk to fresh lows with that smear strategy, it's now clear they haven't even scratched the surface.

Enter syndicated libtalker Randi Rhodes, known for her previous unhinged skits, public spills, obscene rants and wild accusations.

Known as a particularly strident supporter of Barack Obama, Rhodes seems to think even John McCain's six year period of torture at the hands of the North Vietnamese is fair game. In fact, Randi has turned it into a game, one of POW denial.

All for the greater good, right?

During the first hour of Friday's Randi Rhodes Show, she had this to say about McCain's sacrifices during the Vietnam War (clip follows immediately thereafter):

RHODES: Of course he (McCain) became very friendly with the Vietnamese. They called him the Prince. He was well treated actually. And he was well treated because he traded these propaganda interviews for good treatment. So look, it's a horrible story anyway you cut it, anyway you look at it, any way you you you deal with it.

But, it's not the story Fred Thompson told. Nor is it the story Rudy Giuliani told. Nor is it the story Sarah Palin told. Nor is it the story anybody. Cindy McCain knew to limit herself to 'I think what my husband did in Vietnam was heroic' because she knows the truth too.

*************************************************

What. The. Fuck!

BTW - I know there are people like Bruce who think these attacks only help the Republicans.....but jeez, Bruce what if my effin' head explodes? Didja think of that?

It's Just Neighborliness

It's not socialism.

It's not income redistribution.

It's "neighborliness". LOL! "Neighborliness! Go to 5:50 of this cut and listen as Obama explains it to you.


LOL!

Hey Obama. It's money, not a cup of sugar.

I Have Been Pretty Useless At Work Today

And now, when I should be buckling down and settling in for a long night at my desk......I am shutting down programs.

I am screwing at 5pm.

On the dot.

1700 hours exactly.

I am going to the beach.

The Funny Things That Make Something Real

Years ago shortly after Jen was diagnosed with M.S., my boss and very good friend, Bette worried how I would react hearing the diagnosis tossed around in casual conversation. After all, it's a medical equipment company. We have patients with M.S. who are quite disabled.

I was fine until the first time I found myself filling out some paperwork for an electric wheelchair for an M.S. patient. The woman and I had been talking for a while, I was quite familiar with her diagnosis and situation. Then I had to write the ICD-9 code. ICD-9 codes are to the medical world what the Dewey decimal system is to a library.

I looked it up in my book and filled in 340. My hand shook (lol, yes, more than normal).

I had forgotten all about that until I was filling out the Revlimid paperwork.

There it was, 203.00 Which my mind immediately translated to "Multiple myeloma without mention out remission".

Yeah, in my world, that's as real as it gets.

Another Thought on the Olbermann/Matthews Ouster

So MSNBC has demoted this pair of idiots from their spots as anchor as noted here. I first speculated that MSNBC was responding to their outrageous partisanship as illustrated here.

But Michael Graham has a theory that holds more water. He thinks that MSNBC isn't so much trying to regain their journalistic integrity as stop them from damaging Obama further. Graham stated that anyone who really wants to help Obama would lock Olbermann and Matthews in a closet until after the election.

After all, MSNBC replaced them with David Gregory......not exactly Edward R. Murrow.

Blogging Can Get You In Trouble

Libel lawsuit filed against Cape blogger
By Stephanie Ebbert
Globe Staff / September 8, 2008

The libel case was based, appropriately enough, on the dredging of dirt - or sand, at least.
A Cape Cod Today blogger last spring accused the people opposed to dredging Barnstable Harbor of not-in-my-backyard politicking. Naming their names - and using one off-color description - blogger Peter Robbins told his readers exactly whom to blame if their boats ran aground this summer.
Now the leading opponent is suing Robbins for libel, an increasingly common charge against bloggers. Robbins's lawyer counters that his free speech is at stake.

Read the rest here.

In Case It Was Lost In All The Applause

"Fight for what's right for our country.
Fight for the ideals and character of a free people.
Fight for our children's future.
Fight for justice and opportunity for all.
Stand up to defend our country from its enemies.
Stand up for each other; for beautiful, blessed, bountiful America.
Stand up, stand up, stand up and fight. Nothing is inevitable here. We're Americans, and we never give up. We never quit.
We never hide from history. We make history"

Senator John McCain
Acceptance speech - Republican National Convention
September 4. 2008

**********************

h/t Ron V. from my email

******************************
I heard one pundit say that his speech was nearly Churchillian..........I'll second that.

SB, Start Here

Jen's BFF, SB, checks in sporadically and I don't want him to miss this one if time is short.

SB, your BFF says she knows you are the best!

This post will stay on top and new stuff will come in below until I am sure he has seen it.

Who Would Have Thought.......

So, I Gave This Some Thought

I tried to digest it.

Not fly off the handle.

But, it turns out, my first reaction is still where I am.

Keith Olbermann is a asshat.

I missed the RNC video tribute to 9/11 when it was live. Then I was reading about the Convention and somebody wrote about Keith Olbermann apologizing about something. It caught my eye because I can't imagine a circumstance that would cause that overbearing, puffed up buffoon to see himself for the asshat he is. So I followed the link and I saw this


So, I thought "Holy Cow! What did they show????"
I went to the YouTube Channel for the Convention and called up the video. It's called "9/11:The Day The World Stood Still"

My initial thought was that the video was well done and Olbermann was overblown as usual. Then after a bit I thought that Olbermann was more than overblown he was being a jackass. I got angry - where did he get off? Who did he think he was to presume to apologize for John McCain? After all, this was his convention. Who was Olbermann to presume to speak for much less apologize for John McCain. Olbermann is not fit to speak of or to John McCain, never mind apologize for John McCain.

I was going to post about it. But I wanted to think about it. So I did. I put it aside and went about my weekend.

Today I did dishes and laundry. I listened to some of the morning talk shows. I went to breakfast with Jen. I came home and washed windows and floors. I posted about that other asshat, "Big Ketchup" Kerry. I did more laundry and sorted through some of my personal stuff. Then I went to the beach and to swim and read. Once home.....more cleaning.

Then I sat down and watched "United 93".

I have thought about this enough.

Olbermann is an asshat.

John Kerry vs. Ed O'Reilly

My favorite part was when Kerry tossed out that discredited chestnut about how he prepared for the vote to go into Iraq .

O'Reilly berated him for not having read the National Intelligence Estimate (which always blew me away).

Kerry replied "Let me just say, I did something better than read it.......I actually met with the CIA teams. I actually went to the Pentagon and sat with the leader of National Intelligence at the Pentagon. I looked at the photographs. I asked them 'What that building is? What does it represent? How do you know this? How do you know that?" I took the time. I think I was the only United States Senator, I went to New York, met with the entire national security council......."

Too bad that the Washington Times said in 2004 that no one on the security council acknowledges that it happened that way, lol.

The O'Reilly beat him over the head with Bob Schrum "Wah! Bob does this vote in going into Iraq make me look Presidential?" LOL


Other links and reports

Keller at Large blog

Hub Politics

NECN

WBZ

Navy SEAL PO1 Joshua Harris Killed in Action Afghanistan

Harris found his calling in the military
Family recalls soldier who died in combat
BY HEATHER J. SMITHThe Dispatch

Evelyn and Sam Harris had the courage to teach their children they could do anything they set their will to. The parents accepted that danger accompanied such hopes but planted that philosophy regardless.

Their son, Special Warfare Officer First Class (SEAL) Josh Harris, drowned Saturday. The Navy SEAL died while conducting a combat river crossing in Afghanistan. His body was found downstream later.

Sam and Evelyn and their other children, Ranchor and Kiki, sat recalling Josh at the family's home Wednesday afternoon. Their grief was plain, but memory sparked smiles and the occasional laughter. Though they lost a loved one, they take consolation that he found his passion and reason once among soldiers who shared his dedication.

Evelyn said where their other children took passing interest in their rural home, Josh reveled in it. His boyhood was steeped in afternoons spent traversing grassy fields surrounding the house, tending horses or timidly befriending the family cows. His desire to explore his world was unhindered. Sam and Evelyn remarked they never remember a time Josh was not a bottomless well of physical energy.

"He was very athletic from the beginning. During field days at school, he'd win every race," Evelyn said. "And not because he didn't face competition, because he did. He just wanted to win, so he did it."
His enthusiasm for academics was not as strong, and though far from a bad student, Evelyn said he doodled in his notebook to escape the classroom. Errant doodling during class became a skill, as did his abilities on the football field. If Josh was interested in it, he challenged himself to become fluent.
It paid off. After graduating from Lexington Senior High School in 1990, he was offered a football scholarship to Davidson College.
"That was so amazing because he did not like school at all. Then again, he was brilliant. He could do anything he set his mind to, if he'd just decide to," she said.
Once college recruiters secured Josh for Davidson's team, they asked about possible majors. After a little thought, Evelyn said Josh asked to see their art building.
"These people were thinking, wait a minute, you're here to play football, and you want to see the art building?" Evelyn said. "I imagine they found that a bit unexpected."
A shoulder injury eventually ended his football career but doubled his dedication to academics.
"That's when he really learned how to study - or learned how to learn," his mother said.
His graduation in 1994 with a studio art degree didn't transition him into a job that truly gave him the purpose he wanted. Unsuited for the grind of a desk job, he did contract work in Davidson County, then moved to New York City.
His twin sister, Kiki, preceded him there to develop her acting career. Josh hoped the same for his art. They shared a tiny, overpriced apartment, hardly big enough for one person.
"You could stand in the kitchen, spread your arms and touch parallel walls," Sam said.
Evelyn laughed, adding, "Oh, it was tiny. You couldn't open the refrigerator door while standing in the kitchen."
It was a single bedroom, Kiki recalls. She claimed the bed for six months while Josh was relegated to the couch pull-out. The proximity and a shared mission to forge a reputation in the big city generated more than hundreds of inside jokes and frustration with the world. At 27, when Josh explained his plan to join the SEALs, Kiki knew better than to dismiss it.
"He just put his mind to it, and I knew nothing would stop him," Kiki said. "Nothing would stop him. Nothing was going to stand between him and this goal."
The rest of Josh's family put aside their worries when they saw that same dedication.
"He told me he'd been thinking about it a long time," Sam said. "I don't think he could have ever been content with a regular 9-to-5 job, and I think he knew that, too. At first, I wasn't sure if that's what he really wanted to do, but after talking about it, I knew it was, and I supported him 100 percent."
Cut-off age to join the SEALs is 29. Josh's first attempt at acceptance into the training program was unsuccessful, Evelyn said. He came close to the passing the program's rigorous screening. To even be eligible, applicants must swim 500 yards, do 42 push-ups, 50 sit-ups, six pull-ups and run a mile and a half in heavy boots in under two hours.
Instead of giving up, Josh moved back to North Carolina and trained under the guidance of a local Navy recruiter. Despite edging close to the age limit, he secured a waiver and, in 2000, joined the U.S. Navy and began some of the world's most rigorous military training.
Many recruits don't make it past BUD/S training. Two weeks of preparation precedes intensive conditioning, affectionately referred to as "hell week." Recruits work out continuously on four hours of sleep. They do tactical drills, run in the mud, carry boats through wet sand, swim until exhaustion and are expected to do more. Little wonder SEALs training has a 67 percent dropout rate.
Parachutist, reconnaissance scout, special warfare sniper, diving training and a long line of other training sessions followed, but Josh excelled at each. Instead of faltering under the demands, he shined. Ranchor said it was the first time his brother felt requirements matched his level of dedication.
"He blossomed. I always knew he was a smart guy, but I never knew he had the mind to grasp the technical and strategic aspects of everything he did," Ranchor said.
Josh more than blossomed. Serving with SEAL Team 10, he earned a Bronze Star during Operation Iraqi Freedom. He joined the Naval Special Warfare Development Group and was assigned to the tactical development and evaluation squadron. Though he never told his family, he was highly decorated. Ranchor said when anyone mentioned a new medal Josh earned, he was quick to mention his whole platoon deserved accolades.
"Josh was a patriot," Ranchor said. "He was not in this for him. He did this for the guys, it was for mom and dad, it was for Lexington, it was for the United States."
And though he found direction, he never wandered too far from his family.
"Whether it was an anniversary or birthday, even if he were in the blackest place in the earth, you'd open the door, and there'd be flowers," Sam said.
The pall of grief surrounds the house, and Sam, Evelyn, Ranchor and Kiki lean on the stream of family and friends offering support. But the greatest comfort they lean on, Sam summed up, was something Josh would say each time he was sent into combat.
"Each time he was shipped out, he'd tell me, 'Dad, I'm in a business that's dangerous. If something happens to me, remember, I'm doing what I was always meant to do.'"
Heather J. Smith can be reached at 249-3981, ext. 228 or at hetherj.smith@the-dispatch.com.

This. Is. Delicious!

I am setting the DVR so I can watch it over and over and over.

Tomorrow morning at 0830, WBZ-TV will air a debate between John "Big Ketchup"** Kerry and his primary challenger O'Reilly. The Globe is reporting that it did not go well for Kerry.

YES!!!!!

I want him gone.

I want Jeff Beatty, the Republican candidate.

But....how absolutely positively fucking awesome would it be if "Reporting For Duty" was knocked out in the primary by a political neophyte???????

O'Reilly strikes, Kerry bridles in TV debate
By Matt Viser, Globe Staff September 6, 2008

US Senator John F. Kerry never seemed very eager for this debate, and from the opening moments it was clear why. Edward O'Reilly, an unpolished Gloucester lawyer who is Kerry's only Democratic challenger in 24 years, came out swinging, throwing jabs about the senator's six-year-old Iraq war vote and questioning his commitment to serve out another full term in the Senate.

"Will John Kerry give a commitment to stay the six years if he's elected?" O'Reilly said in the first - and probably only - debate before the state's Democratic primary on Sept. 16. "And, if he won't give that commitment . . . will he put up the millions of dollars it will cost the taxpayers of Massachusetts for a special election?"

Kerry, who four years ago was at the political pinnacle as he debated with a sitting president on the international stage, appeared miffed at the question. He told moderator Jon Keller that he thought the debate format forbade the candidates from posing questions.

"I didn't know we were asking each other questions," Kerry said. "So, if we can break the rules, that's one thing, but -"

"He didn't break the rules," Keller said. "Go ahead."

"I'm happy to answer it," Kerry said. "I've said consistently I am only running for one job. I'm not asking for any other job. I'm not looking for any other job. I intend to serve my term. If I'm elected, that's what I'm doing."

During the 19-minute debate, which will be broadcast on WBZ-TV at 8:30 tomorrow morning, O'Reilly repeatedly went on the attack as Kerry tried to fend him off.

Read the rest here.......it is fabulous.....I'm going back and read it again.

** "Big Ketchup is another Jennifer-ism. Like "whale pusher". During some debate in '04 Kerry was railing against "Big Oil" and Bush & Cheney profiting from it. So Jen pointed out that it was no different than Kerry benefiting from his wife's Heinz inheritance. She then announced she was against "Big Ketchup". From there on out, that's simply how we referred to him.....

Palin Rumors

My heaven's there are a ton!!!!

Jonathan Adler at The Corner had a link to a website sorting through them all.

It's called Explorations and it's got the whole list.

I was fooled by one. I have received at least two emails purporting to show Gov. Palin in a red, white and blue bikini with some sort of weapon (the Armorer will grumble here, but no, even after all my years as a Denizenne of the Castle of Argghhh!!!, I have no clue what the weapon in the picture is). I saw the pic and thought "Ugh!". I deleted both and didn't respond. Now I find out from this list, it isn't real.

The Internet is fun, but you have to watch what you believe, etc.

I'm happy about #30 being straightened out.

30. Yes, she did ask the librarian if some books could be withdrawn because of being offensive; no, they couldn’t; yes she did threaten to fire the librarian a month later; no, that wasn’t over the books thing but instead over administrative issues; no, the librarian wasn’t fired either; yes, the librarian was a big supporter of one of her political opponents; yes, the librarian was also the girlfriend of the Chief of police mentioned above; no, this is not the first time in the history of civilization that someone has been threatened with being fired over a political dispute.

Anyway, go read the list.

USS Kearsarge Heading For Haiti

I was listening to the news about Haiti and I wondered, "Will this change the schedule of "Operation Continuing Promise'?"

So when I got into work, I emailed MC1 Kirk.

However, before I got a reply, I wandered over to Galrahn's place and there was the answer.

4th Fleet Focus: Reacting To The Weather

They will arrive tomorrow. Plans are to be there until another task force can arrive with more helicopters/heavy lifting capabilities; then they will return to the Continuing Promise mission.

John McCain On The Secret Service

Just for fun - from the Onion




McCain Vows To Replace Secret Service With His Own Bare Fists

Another Thumbs Up For My Bad Boyfriend's Speech

Part of Kat's post (which I mentioned below) was a link to Ace of Spades. They were reviewing the speech and this comment caught my eye.

"As many people are saying, it seems better in retrospect.

"It was a moment. Moments don't replay well usually.

McCain doesn't usually have moments.The impressive thing is that everybody in that room has been fist-clinching, spittle-spraying, red-haze fucking furious with John McCain at least three times in the last nine years. Says something to want someone that infuriating to succeed that much.

Posted by: Ronsonic at September 05, 2008 09:10 PM (ywSvi)

Now, I don't know about "fist-clinching, spittle-spraying, red-haze fucking furious"........but I have been angry with him. There are things I get really aggravated with. There is a reason I refer to him as my Bad Boyfriend. He makes me really mad sometimes and we break up, but in the end I always come back. That, I think sums up the sentiment of most Republicans. You know he is true and genuine and devoted to his country. You know he is smart and well-informed and insightful and experienced. Then he does something that gets the Republican base angry. He doesn't put us first. But then you realize that as angry as you get........it's all part of why McCain is so great. It's one of the big reasons that he is going to be a great President. It's one of the things that not only sets him apart from Obama....it sets him apart from most other people who would be President.

McCain doesn't want to be the Republican President, he wants to be the American President. Other people can say that, but you *know* McCain means it.......as much as that will make some in the base "fist-clinching, spittle-spraying, red-haze fucking furious", lol!

Why I Think Palin Is Already Serving Her Purpose

Kat wrote an interesting post on why we need to fight this fight and why McCain fired her up once again with his speech. She credited Palin with sparking interest in what McCain would have to say Thursday night. I think that is very true for most people. You know I would have watched it no matter what. But before Gov. Palin joined the ticket, McCain would have been lucky to top Biden's numbers, nevermind Obama's numbers.

I have heard many pundits explain that the job of the vice-president is to get the President elected. therefore, in terms of assisting McCain, Palin has already delivered. She has opened doors that were closed to McCain. She has made it possible for a much larger segment of the population to see him.

McCain didn't waste that opportunity. He spoke from his heart. He showed those who watched or listened to or even read his speech who he was. One of my favorite lines from McCain is when he says "I know who *I* am." There he was, warts and all. A person judging honestly would have to admit they saw his discomfort as he let America in. How many of us could stand on the national stage and expose ourselves so completely? But he knows America needs to see.

This is an important juncture in history. I don't remember feeling that way in 2000. That election is a lifetime away. I wanted Reagan to win, I wanted both Bushes to win. God! I wanted Bob Dole to win! But I don't remember feeling the urgency I feel now. I thought (and still think) John Kerry was a boob. But I didn't fear his Presidency. I would have lived through it, same as I made it through Carter's. But I fear Obama's Presidency. I fear the damage he will do in the Courts and to the military. I fear his inexperience. I fear his hesitancy. I fear his leftist tendencies. I fear what will happen as he tries to establish his bona fides.

If Sarah Palin does nothing else but help America see the man John McCain is, she will have been a success in my book.

Who Would Have Thought.......

.....that I would be nicer than my Darling Chief?

I, the great and powerful Princess Crabby, she of the teeny-tiny blackened heart.......will give you this warning - grab a tissue before you watch this very powerful, two minute vid.
h/t Warrior 25

The Best Part

This is the last part of the speech. The best part, the part where he wraps it up and makes his point starts at about 3:30.

Yeah, I know, it's not the soaring rhetoric of Obama.

Yeah, I know, some people struggled to stay awake. Whatever.

Yeah, I know, I'm biased because I have loved my Bad Boyfriend since the beginning of time.

Yeah, I know, I'm already a Republican....and I favor the military....and I am a Navy girl.

But here are my two questions -

Do you doubt that he meant every word of it?

Do you doubt that he has walked the walk?

That's all that matters. There are those that could have given a better speech, but I have always believed that actions speak louder.............and better than words.

I didn't hear a speech, I heard a man tell me what was in his heart. If I want a pretty speech, I will cue up Kenneth Branaugh in Henry V. I don't want Shakespeare as POTUS. I want a man who will honestly tell me what he will do and to know he can and will do it.

It wasn't a great speech, it wasn't even McCain's greatest speech, but at the end.......I have never loved him more.

Didn't I Tell You My Bad Boyfriend Ruled!

I hustled the girls through dinner.

"I have to be sitting in front of a TV when my Bad Boyfriend comes on at 10."

We left Paparazzi a little later than I would have liked and perhaps I was a little heavy on the gas. We were on Route 3 in the passing lane when Jennifer announced "Ladies and gentleman we have reached a comfortable cruising altitude and in a moment we will turn off the seatbelt light and you may move about the cabin."

We dropped Ed off and I performed a neat if speedy 3 point turn to get back out of the driveway.

But we were all settled in as the video rolled.Jen had the TV on FoxNews but when McCain walked out and I realized how much Brit Hume was going to talk I begged for CSpan.

That background at the beginning, the green grass.........yuck!

Jen was upset at the interuptions but the crowd handled that. She protested that no one was allowed to interrupt Obama and I just laughed. "When they do that to McCain or any conservative that's freedom of speech........when you do it to Obama, it's a crime." Besides the protesters only got the crowd even more revved up. Good for us!

Of course he peeved Jen with his "reach across the aisle" talk. But she had to concur that the ending was fabulous!

I've Been Invited.......

.......to a ship's Christening!

I am so excited.

Princess Crabby For President?

Princess Crabby for President?

h/t to Rich Nygaard

Fun With Sitemeter

It's that time again.

Time to watch Sitemeter roll over another milestone.

Sometime tomorrow I will receive my 70,000 visitor.

Big Wave Dave & Pete Hegeseth.....

......are on FoxNews right now. Good deal!

From My Cousin Chrissie - A Horoscope

I've never put much stock in this kind of stuff..........but this was funny.

I was born March 20th at 2358. Two minutes before you go from Pisces to Aries. So whenever I read them, I just pick whichever of the two signs appeals to me more. Always good to have choices.

I've highlighted the things that apply.

PISCES � The Dreamer (Feb 19 - Mar 20) Generous, kind, and thoughtful. Very creative and imaginative. May become secretive and vague. Sensitive. Don't like details. Dreamy and unrealistic. Sympathetic and loving. Kind. Unselfish. Good kisser. Beautiful.

ARIES � The Daredevil (Mar 21 - April 19) Energetic. Adventurous and spontaneous. Confident and enthusiastic. Fun. Loves a challenge. EXTREMELY impatient. Sometimes selfish. Short fuse. (Easily angered.) Lively, passionate, and sharp wit. Outgoing. Lose interest quickly - easily bored. Egotistical. Courageous and assertive. Tends to be physical and athletic.

That Damn FishBoy!

First he makes me read that stupid "All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten". Supposed to make me a better person. Whatever.

When he started this nonsense, I went on Ebay and someone was auctioning several of Fulghum books for less than the cost of just one.

Now I am on "Maybe (Maybe Not)". The stories are three or four pages each and I usually read one or two a day.

Today's story was about the author sitting in the waiting room of his doctor's office. It's a dreary February day and he is under the weather. There is an elderly couple sitting across from him and he notices a Christmas-y decoration in the woman's hair. The man wishes Robert (the author) "Merry Christmas" and he returns the greeting without thinking. The nurse comes to take the elderly man in to see the doctor and she greets him with a big "Merry Christmas".

Then the wife comes over and explains the periodically in his dementia, the man believes it's Christmas Eve. That she and his daughters recreate Christmas Eve, bake cookies, string Christmas lights, wrap presents....the whole nine yards. That her daughters don't see it as Christmas.....they see it as Father's Day.

I was sobbing.

I fail to see how this will make me a better person.

I don't want to be a better person.

Damn Fishmugger.

Fred - Last Night

Marie the "Flame of Florida"??? God! I love Sailors.

September 3, 1783

On the morning of September 3rd, 1783 Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay, met privately with John Hartley in his rooms at the Hotel de York and signed a treaty entitled, "The Definitive Treaty of Peace between his Britannic Majesty and the United States of America."
from "Treaty of Paris"

Sarah Palin: The Buck Stops Here

Kat at the Castle has a great compare/contrast piece up at the Castle.

Sarah Palin: The Buck Stops Here

Don't I Look Delicious!

Isn't it amazing how much more this reveals about My Darling Chief's mind than it does about my own? LOL

You can find the other strips here.
Panel 1
Panel 2
Panel 3 is here for the Castle and here for me.

Monsoor Tribute Video

From tonight's RNC

From My Goddaughter Deb

There It Was..........

.....the best moment of the convention so far.

Orson Swindle followed the Michael Monsoor vid and recognized his sister and two Seal teammates.

Then the five MOH winners present.

Then McCain's fellow POWs.

Then former President George H.W. Bush along with all the veterans present.

President Bush walked over to Monsoor's sister Sarah and hugged her.

Hey! I Know This Guy!

KEVIN SAMPSON, 37, of Hingham, leaping off the American Legion Memorial Bridge (a.k.a. Big Bridge) on the Edgartown-Oak Bluffs line -- an activity the police say is legal -- Aug. 23, 2008:


"This seemed like a good idea when my 4-year-old son told me that I should jump off the bridge like the other guys. Instead of getting into the timeless life lesson that every parent tells their child, I decided to go ahead and jump off the bridge like all the other guys. Halfway around, I realized that I was much older than the 'other guys' as vertigo set in and I really couldn't tell if I was going to hit the water with my feet or my face. After hitting the water with less than Olympic form, I found the surface, gasped my first breath, and was feeling pretty good until I heard one of the kids on the bridge say, 'Hey, that old gray-haired guy just did a backflip.' My kid thinks I'm a hero for another summer, but I'll most likely take my father's advice the next time all the other guys are jumping off the bridge and stand back and enjoy the summer fun. That is, unless he double-dog dares me."

Hurricane Gustav & the Ogre

So, the Ogre is someone I know because I started reading about his adventures in NOLA during Hurricane Katrina. He is, as my boys would say "mad crazy". Eventually we got to be such good friends that I actually went down to NOLA for a long weekend and will likely go again someday.

So clearly I knew that he would stay in NOLA, or more specifically the shipyard in the event of a hurricane. We talked last weekend about whichever one was breezing through at the time. It turned out to be no big deal.

However, Gustav did seem to be a bit more of a threat.

So I called last night and got voice mail.

"I know you are bad at returning phone calls in a timely manner. I know you are really busy lashing down ships. But if you don't call and let me know that you are ok.....I swear I will get on a plane and come down there just to smack you!"

No call yet. Bastid!

Well, in the words of W.H. Auden (I was thinking of Auden anyway because of the date)

The Ogre does what ogres can,

Deeds quite impossible for Man,

But one prize is beyond his reach,

The Ogre cannot master Speech.

About a subjugated plain,

Among its desperate and slain,

The Ogre stalks with hands on hips

While drivel gushes from his lips.

An Interesting Thought

From BeldarBlog

I obviously don't know for sure what conversations Gov. Palin had with her family, and in particular with her daughter Bristol, before giving Sen. McCain her decision. But given this history from 2004 — when a veto from Track stopped her from running for a U.S. Senate seat she might very well have won, in which case she would have become Barack Obama's Senate classmate — I would wager a very, very large sum of money that Bristol Palin was given a veto right again. I would wager that she was warned, in detail, about the certainty that her privacy would be invaded in a sickening, vicious manner.

And I would wager that Bristol Palin must have said: "Go ahead, mom. Tell Senator McCain 'Yes.' I know what's coming, but my baby and I will be okay."

Which makes Bristol Palin a very brave young woman indeed.

When The Chief Bumps His Head.........

.......he dreams of Princess Crabby.............

From the Castle of Argghhh!!!

Humanitarian Mission Brings Health Care to Caribbean Countries

Enjoy your Labor Day.........aboard the USS Kearsarge it's another day at work. Another day changing lives forever as they participate in "Operation Continuing Promise"

Humanitarian Mission Brings Health Care to Caribbean Countries
By Kathryn McConnell
WASHINGTON - For more than half his life, 11-year-old Ches Lacallo, of Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua, suffered from an abnormal growth in his right eye, making it difficult for him to see. Other people felt uncomfortable when looking at him.

Now, after simple surgery provided by medical staff from the U.S. Navy ship Kearsarge, Lacallo has been given a chance for a better life.

The USS Kearsarge is the primary facility for the Caribbean phase of the humanitarian mission Continuing Promise 2008, a collaboration of the United States, partner militaries and nonprofit groups. The ship's facilities include four operating rooms. Volunteer medical specialists with the Virginia-based nonprofit Operation Smile provide free reconstructive surgery to patients with cleft palates and cleft lips.

"[Lacallo’s] appearance is completely different now. He's going to be a much happier person, and his life is going to dramatically improve," said Brian Alexander, a Navy optometrist from Virginia.

Alexander said the Continuing Promise strategy is to build trust with other countries in the Americas and to provide the services of medical personnel to people who need such assistance.

In addition to performing surgeries, Continuing Promise medical and dental personnel see patients for such things as tapeworms, tooth extractions and eye exams.

SHORE LEAVE
Personnel disembark in order to help the citizens and local communities of the countries they visit. In the town of Betania, Nicaragua, staff members taught children about dental hygiene and performed dental exams. Other staff members built classrooms for trade schools; one is for women to be trained as seamstresses. Mission engineers even constructed play equipment for local children.

Continuing Promise personnel delivered much-needed sonogram, endoscopy and EKG machines to the hospital in Puerto Cabezas. (Sonograms are used to monitor pregnancies, endoscopies are used to diagnose digestive-system disorders, and EKGs are used to measure the electrical activity of the heart.)"

The entire community is eternally grateful" for the medical care and other help provided by Continuing Progress, said Miguel Dennis, a tribal leader in the indigenous community of Tuapi, north of Puerto Cabezas.

Celestina Padilla, director of the health center in Waspan, another indigenous community north of Puerto Cabezas, said the new equipment at the hospital provides residents with modern diagnostic capabilities for the first time.

After leaving Nicaragua, the Kearsarge visits Colombia, Panama, Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana.

The first phase of Continuing Promise, earlier in 2008, was headed by the USS Boxer operating in the Pacific.

Proud Trustworthy Bold

USS Kearsarge

Hurricane Gustav vs. Hurricane Katrina

I got into lots and lots of arguments with people who wanted to blame Bush and the Feds for all the chaos of Katrina.

I would point out the problem with Katrina was poor handling at the state and local level. I pointed to how differently things were handled in Mississippi - and I didn't even harp on the fact that Haley Barbour was a Republican. I just told people he happened to be more competent.

I pointed out the a lot of help came from a governor in another state - Texas. Not only did Gov. Perry assist Katrina victims, he also handled Hurricane Rita and it's impact on his own state. I pointed to Gov. Perry's statement that he looked at the aftermath of 9/11 and immediately began drilling his people to be ready for a disaster of their own.

I pointed to the fact that even though there was a disaster preparedness plan for NOLA in specific and Louisiana in general, no one was competent enough to put it into action.

Now already things are going to be better this time even though, as I understand it, Gustav will be more powerful. Two important factors are going to make for a better outcome. Mayor Ray Nagin is executing the disaster preparedness plan and Louisiana has a more competent governor. And no, I'm not just saying that because he is a Republican.

Michael Moore was crass enough to talk smack about the hurricane: "Gustav is proof that there is a God in Heaven." He was thinking of how the hurricane is pre-empting the Republican convention. But he is small-minded and petty. But what it might be is a second chance for Mayor Ray Nagin to prove himself worthy of the trust the electorate placed in him. And it will be easier for him because of the support he will receive from Gov. Jindal.

People will finally have to see that it is not the responsibility of the federal government. It's your responsibility to do for yourself ANYTHING you can do for yourself. It's your local government's responsibility to do everything possible at that level. It's your state government's responsibility to do everything possible at that level. Then and only then do you expect anything at all from the Feds.

You can not sit and do absolutely nothing and then beef because George Bush didn't show up with ice and Navy Seals.

Responsibility - see what a difference it makes.