Monday, March 01, 2004 :::
Lest the people who are not reading my blog assume I am a complete softy, I give you...
MILITARY PHILOSOPHY
1. "Sometimes I think war is God's way of teaching us geography."
Paul Rodriguez
2. "A slipping gear could let your M203 grenade launcher fire when you
least expect it. That would make you quite unpopular in what's left of your unit." - Army's magazine of preventive maintenance.
3. "Aim towards the Enemy" - Instruction printed on US Rocket Launcher
4. When the pin is pulled, Mr. Grenade is not our friend.
5. Cluster bombing from B-52s is very, very accurate. The bombs always hit the ground.
6. If the enemy is in range, so are you.
7. It is generally inadvisable to eject directly over the area you just bombed.
8. Whoever said the pen is mightier than the sword obviously never
encountered automatic weapons.
9. Try to look unimportant; they may be low on ammo.
10. You, you, and you . . Panic. The rest of you, come with me.
11. Tracers work both ways.
12. Five second fuses only last three seconds.
13. Don't ever be the first, don't ever be the last, and don't ever
volunteer to do anything.
14. Bravery is being the only one who knows you're afraid.
15. If your attack is going too well, you have walked into an ambush.
16. No combat-ready unit has ever passed inspection.
17. Any ship can be a minesweeper . . once.
18. Never tell the Platoon Sergeant you have nothing to do.
19. Don't draw fire, it irritates the people around you.
20. Mines are equal opportunity weapons.
21. If you find yourself in a fair fight, you didn't plan your mission
properly.
::: 2:03 PM
Tuesday, February 24, 2004 :::
I just finished Life of Pi by Yann Martel. How rich this story is. It has every component of a powerful book, including an ending that leaves your mind tumbling over and over the details you thought insignificant in the first telling.
As someone who has for all of my life grappled with the presence of the Divine, I was intrigued by the claim that the story would make you believe in God. While I haven’t fully had time to digest (a word that comes to mean a lot in the book) the intricacies of Pi’s story, I was repeatedly moved by his faith.
Pi sort of takes a smorgasboard approach to spirituality and religion. He picks the best of three well-known religions and practices each fervently.
I won’t say more until my husband and I have had a chance to discuss the book. Such discussions have paved highways from here to West Virginia and back.
::: 7:04 AM
Thursday, February 12, 2004 :::
Oh my GOD!
Herr, 33, of Denton, said he declined to fill the prescription for the so-called "morning-after pill" because he believes it could have killed the embryo if the woman already had conceived. Though he had declined five or six times in the past to fill such prescriptions, it was the first time he had been handed one for a rape victim, he said.
"I went in the back room and briefly prayed about it," said Herr, who had worked for Eckerd for five years. "I actually called my pastor ... and asked him what he thought about it."
He called his PASTOR? I'd just love to know what this omniscient pastor sitting home in is lazy boy, wearing a cardigan said when he got that call. Where I come from we call that Preacher Religion - when people can't sneeze without asking the preacher if it's the will of God. Too bad he and the rapist didn't sit down to a nice prayer breakfast before this woman was attacked. It sucks enough to be violated without being punished on religious grounds in the same breath.
::: 9:41 AM
Wednesday, February 11, 2004 :::
Going to the Dogs
I can’t believe I missed it!!!! I have watched the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show every year for the past 10 years. I guess that’s testament to my complete and utter shift in priorities. I completely forgot about it.
Anyhoo…hats off to Josh. He’s a fine looking dog. At the risk of offending, I’m so glad that the toy group didn’t take home Best in Show. I don’t have anything against them. I think they are great companions for the right people. I’m just partial to the other groups – particularly hounds. I was heartened to see that the 13 inch Beagle (not to be confused with the 15 inch variety) won third in the hound group. I am looking forward to the day that the Beagle brings home the big kahuna – Best in Show.
::: 8:37 AM
Monday, February 09, 2004 :::
Words in flight can never be recalled...
I’m pretty careful these days not to use the word “never” in the phrase “I will (would) never…” As it turns out, everything I’ve ever said I’d never do, I’ve done – usually twice. This is particularly true of my life as a parent. Those of you who are parents know what I’m talking about.
So, I’m not going to say that I will or would but I HOPE that I never speak to Madeline the way I heard a mother speak to her daughter this weekend.
My husband and I volunteer on a ski patrol in West Virginia. I am in my candidate year, which sometimes involves standing around waiting on someone to tell you what to do. Saturday I was doing just that at the top of the mountain when I looked over to see two female skiers exiting the lift. The got a little tangled up and the older of the two fell and immediately grasped her knee. The woman turned out to be around 40 and the other skier was her daughter, Tiffany.
As I walked over to help her, she began screaming at Tiffany for having tripped her up on her exit. She literally said, “Tiffany, I told you to move. Get away from me and stay away. Go on. Go away.”
Sanity Check: Teenagers can be space cadets and this may have been the 10th time this had happened. Perhaps this woman relied on her mobility to make ends meet and she was in pain and afraid her livelihood was in jeopardy because of her daughter’s carelessness. (Turns out her pride was more wounded than anything.)
Reality Check: Being a teenager is hard enough without a parent who embarrasses you and “rejects” you in front of a bunch of strangers. Verbal abuse, even under duress, wounds in a very ugly way. The scars sometimes never heal.
Cold, Hard Reality Check: Talk to the parents of Carlie Brucia or Rebeca Martinez or an 8-year-old girl in the Philadelphia library. They would likely take a sore knee any day to have their children safe and sound.
I can only hope that this frustrated mother apologized later and hugged her kid. I know I hugged mine.
::: 9:42 AM
Tuesday, February 03, 2004 :::
I'm torn...
There is a part of me that thinks this is ridiculous. However, there is another part of me that recalls the first time I ever saw a Cedar Waxwing up close and personal. Unfortunately, this was also the first time I had ever seen a DEAD Cedar Waxwing.
I was strolling along Main Street when I lived in Columbia, SC. I recall that it was a brisk day and that the Mary Nell hollies had berries. That must have been winter. Anyway, I saw what must have been 20 of the most unusual and beautiful birds, all lying dead next to the building I had just exited.
The Cedar Waxwings were migrating perhaps when they ran across the holly berries and ran into the building.
perhaps the dude in the article is onto something. Maybe there is a way to warn our feathered friends. While I'm not a bleeding heart - oh, who am I kidding - I am a bleeding heart. I couldn't leave town last weekend until I had made sure there was food in the bird feeder.
::: 1:13 PM
Wednesday, January 28, 2004 :::
Most people who know me well know that I am a fan of the sea turtle. Actually, I am an advocate for turtles but sea turtles in particular.
Yep, I'm the one who stops on country roads to help turtles across before oncoming traffic flattens them. I'm also the one who issues dissertations on the hazards of freed helium balloons that often make it to sea where they fall into the ocean, fill with water and take on the proportions of a jellyfish. Jellyfish are a staple of the sea turtle diet and a wayward balloon mistaken for a snack can ruin a sea turtle's digestive tract.
When I was a kid, I had a friend whose parents always took us on adventures. One of these adventures was dragging us to the beach one June night to watch the sea turtles lay their eggs. Unlike birds and such, sea turtles dig their nest into the sand (very tough with only flippers), deposit their eggs, cover them up and them make their way back to the water. The babies emerge some time later and toddle their way to the sea if not consumed by large sea birds or uncaring observers.
As if it's not troubling enough that these mothers never get to see their young, now they have an even seedier threat. Bands of armed marauders killing them for their highly prized flesh and eggs in Mexico. What next...
::: 6:15 AM
