on a lighter note... spreadin’ the love around... :) and let’s live like dogs! lol...
Current mood: blessed
Category: Life

Okay... just to show, I actually have more love and joy to share than political vitriol... AND that I am SERIOUSLY taking 'love thy neighbor' to heart... this is for all of you, my loved ones and for those I haven't met that I want to share my heart and love with too...  God Bless you and Keep you All! 

A Dog's Purpose (from a 6-year old).

Being a veterinarian, I had been called to examine a ten-year-old Irish Wolf hound named Belker. The dog's owners, Ron, his wife Lisa, and their little boy Shane, were all very attached to Belker, and they were hoping for a miracle. 

I examined Belker and found he was dying of cancer. I told the family we couldn't do anything for Belker, and offered to perform the euthanasia procedure for the old dog in their home. 

As we made arrangements, Ron and Lisa told me they thought it would be good for six-year-old Shane to observe the procedure. They felt as though Shane might learn something from the experience. 

The next day, I felt the familiar catch in my throat as Belker's family surrounded him. Shane seemed so calm, petting the old dog for the last time, that I wondered if he understood what was going on. Within a few minutes, Belker slipped peacefully away. 

The little boy seemed to accept Belker's transition without any difficulty or confusion. We sat together for a while after Belker's Death, wondering aloud about the sad fact that animal lives are shorter than human lives. Shane, who had been listening quietly, piped up, 'I know why.' 

Startled, we all turned to him. What came out of his mouth next stunned me. I'd never heard a more comforting explanation. 

He said, 'People are born so that they can learn how to live a good Life -- like loving everybody all the time and being nice, right?' The Six-year-old continued, 'Well, dogs already know how to do that, so they don't have to stay as long.' 

Live simply. 

Love generously. 

Care deeply. 

Speak kindly. 

Remember, if a dog was the teacher you would learn things like: 

When loved ones come home, always run to greet them. 

Never pass up the opportunity to go for a joyride.

15:01 - 1 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

I really hate doing this...
Current mood: disgusted
Category: News and Politics

I really, really hate all this political mud-slinging...  I really wish that we could just concentrate on the ISSUES, what is going on in this country right now, what is driving on economy into the toilet (and what they should do to the people who put it there!!)  If anybody is interested when all this deregulation business got started, I recommend you go back and look up the policies of the presidential administration in Washington during the 1980's.. Yea, it got started THEN!...   I want to hear what our congressmen and women plan on doing to clean up their business.. to get rid of the special interest vultures in Washington and start taking care of US and not themselves... yea, right.. like that is going to happen... Hey, I'm an idealist and I can hope! 

However, I am getting really tired of the unrelenting attacks on Senator Obama.  You know, he isn't perfect, he has made some poor decisions in his youth... can anybody say they haven't?  And I can truly say that I admire and like Senator McCain too, BUT he is not perfect either and I think a lot of his past "imperfections" are not talked about as often.  Why, I'm not really sure.  But I have noticed a very interesting trend as I watch the political commercials, not just presidential, but local state and national senate races and congressional seats.   When I see a Democratic commercial, they talk about what they want TO DO, how they want to do it and ask for my support.  When I see a Republican commercial, they tell me how bad the other guy is-- doesn't represent my interests and TELLS me to vote Republican... funny, how they think they know what my interests are without even asking me. 

And one thing that is REALLY getting my goat is how nasty Sarah Palin is.  Geez, the woman is barely on the national scene and all of a sudden she thinks she represents ALL women and our viewpoints.. I don't think so lady!!!!!   I can live with John McCain in the White House, but I will do whatever I have to to keep Sarah Palin out of Washington, period.  So, I guess that pretty much says where I am leaning ... I hate to have to make my decision based on that, but I won't have someone like her that close to the most important office in this country... dammit, I really hate doing this!

Also, to counter-act (attack) some of the bad press that keeps being put out there about Senator Obama, I thought I would put something up that I received in an email about Palin and McCain.  I am blogging about this instead of putting it up as a bulletin, that way people don't have to read it if they don't want to... after all, it's MY blog, I can blog however I want to..lol...  (oh, and at the end, there are references where you can double check where the information was obtained, not just pulled out of someone's hat or made up because of some picture posted on the web...)  I know that there are many issues that are important to many different people in this presidential race... but we gotta start thinking of each other, not just number 1.. I kinda think that is how we got into this mess to begin with-by only thinking of ourself.  Gee, what was that second most important commandment our Lord gave us??  Hmmmmm, oh yea!!  Love your neighbor!  Maybe we need to start thinking about EVERYBODY'S interests, what would be good for the WHOLE country, not just our own little corner of it... Listen people, our country is in a debt that is unimaginable, are our grandchildren even going to be able to pay it off??  Is our environment going to be liveable for them??  You aren't just voting for you... THINK... THINK about the future for goodness sakes...

Obama:
Occidental College - Two years.
Columbia University - B.A. political science with a specialization in international relations.
Harvard - Juris Doctor (J.D.) Magna Cum Laude

Biden:
University of Delaware - B.A. in history and B.A. in political science.
Syracuse University College of Law - Juris Doctor (J.D.)

vs.

McCain:
United States Naval Academy - Class rank 894 out of 899 ....(5 from the bottom.)

Palin:
Hawaii Pacific University - 1 semester
North Idaho College - 2 semesters - general study
University of Idaho - 2 semesters - journalism
Matanuska-Susitna College - 1 semester
University of Idaho - 3 semesters - B.A. in journalism
 
         *******************************************
 
I'm a little confused.

If you grow up in Hawaii , raised by your grandparents, you're 'exotic, different.'
Grow up in Alaska eating moose burgers, a quintessential American story.

If your name is Barack you're a radical, unpatriotic Muslim.
Name your kids Willow , Trig and Track, you're a maverick.

Graduate from Harvard law School and you are unstable.
Attend 5 different small colleges before graduating, you're well-grounded.

If you spend 3 years as a brilliant community organizer, become the first black President of the Harvard Law Review, create a voter registration drive that registers 150,000 new voters, spend 12 years as a Constitutional Law professor, spend 8 years as a State Senator representing a district with over 750,000 people, become chairman of the state Senate's Health and Human Services committee, spend 4 years in the United States Senate representing a state of 13 million people while sponsoring 131 bills and serving on the Foreign Affairs, Environment and Public Works and Veteran's Affairs committees, you don't have any real leadership experience.

If your total resume is: local weather girl, 4 years on the city council and 6 years as the mayor of a town with less than 6,000 people, 20 months as the governor of a state with only 650,000 people, then you're qualified to become the country's second highest ranking executive.

If you have been married to the same woman for 16 years while raising 2 beautiful daughters, all within Protestant churches, you're not a real Christian.

If you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress, and left your disfigured wife and three children and married the heiress the next month, you're a Christian.

If you teach responsible, age appropriate sex education, including the proper use of birth control, you are eroding the fiber of society.

If , while governor, you staunchly advocate abstinence only, with no other option in sex education in your state's school system while your unwed teen daughter ends up pregnant, you're very responsible.

If your wife is a Harvard graduate lawyer who gave up a position in a prestigious law firm to work for the betterment of her inner city community, then gave that up to raise a family, your family's values don't represent America 's.

If your husband is nicknamed 'First Dude', with at least one DWI conviction and no college education, who didn't register to vote until age 25 and once was a member of a group that advocated the secession of Alaska from the USA , your family is extremely admirable.

And finally, if you're famous for your quick temper, you're the one to have your finger on the button.

Okay, much clearer now.
 
 
 
10 things you should know about John McCain (but probably don't):

1. John McCain voted against establishing a national holiday in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Now he says his position has 'evolved,' yet he's continued to oppose key civil rights laws.1

2. According to Bloomberg News, McCain is more hawkish than Bush on Iraq , Russia and China . Conservative columnist Pat Buchanan says McCain 'will make Cheney look like Gandhi.'2

3. His reputation is built on his opposition to torture, but McCain voted against a bill to ban waterboarding, and then applauded President Bush for vetoing that ban.3

4. McCain opposes a woman's right to choose. He said, 'I do not support Roe versus Wade. It should be overturned.'4

5. The Children's Defense Fund rated McCain as the worst senator in Congress for children. He voted against the children's health care bill last year, then defended Bush's veto of the bill.5

6. He's one of the richest people in a Senate filled with millionaires. The Associated Press reports he and his wife own at least eight homes.  Yet McCain says the solution to the housing crisis is for people facing foreclosure to get a 'second job' and skip their vacations.6

7. Many of McCain's fellow Republican senators say he's too reckless to be commander in chief. One Republican senator said: 'The thought of his being president sends a cold chill down my spine. He's erratic. He's hotheaded. He loses his temper and he worries me.'7

8. McCain talks a lot about taking on special interests, but his campaign manager and top advisers are actually lobbyists. The government watchdog group Public Citizen says McCain has 59 lobbyists raising money for his campaign, more than any of the other presidential candidates.8

9. McCain has sought closer ties to the extreme religious right in recent years. The pastor McCain calls his 'spiritual guide,' Rod Parsley, believes America 's founding mission is to destroy Islam, which he calls a 'false religion.' McCain sought the political support of right-wing preacher John Hagee, who believes Hurricane Katrina was God's punishment for gay rights and called the Catholic Church 'the Antichrist' and a 'false cult.'9

10. He positions himself as pro-environment, but he scored a 0—yes, zero—from the League of Conservation Voters last year.10



Sources:
1. 'The Complicated History of John McCain and MLK Day,' ABC News, April 3, 2008
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/04/the-complicated.html
'McCain Facts,' ColorOfChange.org, April 4, 2008
http://colorofchange.org/mccain_facts/
2. 'McCain More Hawkish Than Bush on Russia, China, Iraq,' Bloomberg News, March 12, 2008
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aF28rSCtk0ZM&refer=us
'Buchanan: John McCain 'Will Make Cheney Look Like Gandhi,'' ThinkProgress, February 6, 2008
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/02/06/buchanan-gandhi-mccain/
3. 'McCain Sides With Bush On Torture Again, Supports Veto Of Anti-Waterboarding Bill,' ThinkProgress, February 20, 2008
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/02/20/mccain-torture-veto/
4. 'McCain says Roe v. Wade should be overturned,' MSNBC, February 18, 2007
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17222147/
5. '2007 Children's Defense Fund Action Council® Nonpartisan Congressional Scorecard,' February 2008
http://www.childrensdefense.org/site/PageServer?pagename=act_learn_scorecard2007
'McCain: Bush right to veto kids health insurance expansion,' CNN, October 3, 2007
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/10/03/mccain.interview/
6. 'Beer Executive Could Be Next First Lady,' Associated Press, April 3, 2008
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h-S1sWHm0tchtdMP5LcLywg5ZtMgD8VQ86M80
'McCain Says Bank Bailout Should End ..Systemic Risk,'' Bloomberg News, March 25, 2008
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aHMiDVYaXZFM&refer=home
7. 'Will McCain's Temper Be a Liability?,' Associated Press, February 16, 2008
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=4301022
'Famed McCain temper is tamed,' Boston Globe, January 27, 2008
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/01/27/famed_mccain_temper_is_tamed/
8. 'Black Claims McCain's Campaign Is Above Lobbyist Influence: 'I Don't Know What The Criticism Is,'' ThinkProgress, April 2, 2008
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/04/02/mccain-black-lobbyist/
'McCain's Lobbyist Friends Rally 'Round Their Man,' ABC News, January 29, 2008
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=4210251
9. 'McCain's Spiritual Guide: Destroy Islam,' Mother Jones Magazine, March 12, 2008
http://www.motherjones.com/washington_dispatch/2008/03/john-mccain-rod-parsley-spiritual-guide.html
'Will McCain Specifically 'Repudiate' Hagee's Anti-Gay Comments?,' ThinkProgress, March 12, 2008
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/03/12/mccain-hagee-anti-gay/
'McCain 'Very Honored' By Support Of Pastor Preaching 'End-Time Confrontation With Iran,'' ThinkProgress, February 28, 2008
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/02/28/hagee-mccain-endorsement/
10. 'John McCain Gets a Zero Rating for His Environmental Record,' Sierra Club, February 28, 2008
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/environment/77913/
 
 

14:12 - 3 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

WHY WOMEN SHOULD VOTE
Current mood: enlightened
Category: News and Politics

I was kinda irate last night, I keep getting emails that have nothing to do with why it is such a privilege for us to vote.  So many people are turned off of voting because everything they hear is so negative all the time and they feel what can their one vote do anyway...  I myself am tired of hearing about how bad the other guy is instead of solutions, how someone is going to make things better!  Then I got this email this morning and was reminded, no matter how disheartened we get, no matter how disgusted we are with our political system, WE are the only ones that can change it.. and ONLY if we do something about it!  And what we do is VOTE!  And, we must demand that our elected officials start living up to their promises instead of standing by and saying, "oh well..."  However, I have to share this to remind us that there are others before us that fought, fought hard and suffered to give us our right to vote.  So ladies, you need to remember that you do count, that we have to do what we can to remain a voice in American policy making.... 

A Message for all women

THIS IS MOVING. HOW QUICKLY WE FORGET.....IF ....WE EVER KNEW......

WHY WOMEN SHOULD VOTE

This is the story of our Grandmothers and Great-grandmothers; they lived only 90 years ago.


Remember, it was not until 1920
That women were granted the right to go to the polls and vote.


The women were innocent and defenseless, but they were jailed
Nonetheless for picketing the White House, carrying signs asking
For the vote.



(Lucy Burns)

And by the end of the night, they were barely alive.

Forty prison guards wielding clubs and their warden's blessing
Went on a rampage against the 33 women wrongly convicted of
'obstructing sidewalk traffic.
'
They beat Lucy Burns, chained her hands to the cell bars above
Her head and left her hanging for the night, bleeding and gasping
For air.



(Dora Lewis)

They hurled Dora Lewis into a dark cell, smashed her
Head against an iron bed and knocked her out cold.
Her cellmate,
Alice Cosu, thought Lewis was dead and suffered a heart attack.

Additional affidavits describe the guards grabbing, dragging,
Beating, choking, slamming, pinching, twisting and kicking the women.


Thus unfolded the 'Night of Terror' on Nov.
15, 1917,
When the warden at the Occoquan Workhouse in Virginia ordered his
Guards to teach a lesson to the suffragists imprisoned there because
They dared to picket Woodrow Wilson's White House for the right
To vote.

For weeks, the women's only water came from an open pail.
Their
Food--all of it colorless slop--was infested with worms.



(Alice Paul)

When one of the leaders, Alice Paul, embarked on a hunger strike, they tied her to a chair, forced a tube down her throat and poured liquid into her until she vomited.
She was tortured like this for weeks
Until word was smuggled out to the press.

http://memory. loc. gov/ammem/collections/suffrage/nwp/prisoners. pdf

So, refresh my memory.
Some women won't vote this year because-
-why, exactly? We have carpool duties? We have to get to work?
Our vote doesn't matter? It's raining?

Last week, I went to a sparsely attended screening of HBO's new
Movie 'Iron Jawed Angels.
' It is a graphic depiction of the battle
These women waged so that I could pull the curtain at the polling
Booth and have my say. I am ashamed to say I needed the reminder.


All these years later, voter registration is still my passion.
But the
Actual act of voting had become less personal for me, more rote.

Frankly, voting often felt more like an obligation than a privilege.

Sometimes it was inconvenient.


My friend Wendy, who is my age and studied women's history,
Saw the HBO movie, too.
When she stopped by my desk to talk
About it, she looked angry. She was--with herself.
'One thought
Kept coming back to me as I watched that movie,' she said.

'What would those women think of the way I use, or don't use,
My right to vote? All of us take it for granted now, not just
Younger women, but those of us who did seek to learn.
' The
Right to vote, she said, had become valuable to her 'all over again.
'

HBO released the movie on video and DVD .
I wish all history,
Social studies and government teachers would include the movie in
Their curriculum I want it shown on Bunco night, too, and anywhere
Else women gather.
I realize this isn't our usual idea of socializing,
But we are not voting in the numbers that we should be, and I think
A little shock therapy is in order.


It is jarring to watch Woodrow Wilson and his cronies try to persuade a psychiatrist to declare Alice Paul insane so that she could be permanently institutionalized. And it is inspiring to watch the doctor refuse. Alice Paul was strong, he said, and brave. That didn't make her crazy.


The doctor admonished the men: 'Courage in women is often mistaken for insanity.
'

Please, if you are so inclined, pass this on to all the women you know.


We need to get out and vote and use this right that was fought so
Hard for by these very courageous women. Whether you vote democratic, republican or independent party - remember to vote.


History is being made.


Read more:
http://memory. loc. gov/ammem/collections/suffrage/nwp/tactics. html
http://memory. loc. gov/ammem/collections/suffrage/nwp/brftime3. html

14:16 - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

political emails
Current mood: annoyed
Category: News and Politics

I know it is election time and a certain amount of "opinion stating" is to be expected.. heck, that is the American way, right of speech and all that.  Gosh, I know I have a very strong opinion myself!  However, I do try to be very careful about discussing my opinion with anyone who might not agree with it... politics is a very touchy subject.. have you noticed? lol...  

That being said, I must have a extremely large number of conservative, Republican friends that believe I agree with their point of view.  I am not saying that I am a rip-roarin' liberal Democrat, what my affiliation is is my business.. sorry if that offends, but it is the truth.  My belief of what would be best for this country and who would serve this country best is not going to be decided on which commercial on television twists the facts to their favor; or which email tells me about the record of a candidate and what their party did to this country over the last 20-40 years.  You see, I am one of those rare people that have taken political history classes and have studied about past elections and actually look at the records of BOTH sides.  Believe me, nobody's record is squeaky clean, especially if you are a politician. 

  So what I am requesting.. no, actually it is to the point of begging!  Please,  please, please... I am not interested in the one sided candidate/party bashing emails that are circulating out there.  I'm not going to make my decision based on fear or slander.  Frankly I think both the men running for president have honorable qualities about them, that's not to say both have some things I honestly don't like about them too.... Heck, it may come down to which vice-presidential candidate's hairstyle I like best and if they look better than a pig in lipstick.....

03:34 - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos

September 11, 2001- where were you?
Current mood: contemplative
Category: Life

It was a very normal day until that afternoon, it was almost 3 pm, had been talking on the phone to my mom for just a little while after getting Chloe a snack and waiting for Kyle to get home from school... little did I know, the whole world was going to change in just a few short minutes...

It wasn't morning for me.. it was the middle of the afternoon because we were in Germany. I was on the phone with my mom, watching the NBC Today show (we got the USA morning news that way) and Kyle had just got home from school. All of a sudden Katie Couric comes back on and says that it looked like a small commuter plane had flown into the World Trade Center. Mom and I stayed on the phone because.. I don't know, maybe we both felt something ominous was happening. Then we found out that it wasn't a commuter plane and with the news station being right there in New York City, they had news crews down there right away... in time to see the second plane fly into the other building. That's right, I watched that happen on live television...I still get a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach just thinking about it. Mom and I decided we were going to stay on the phone as long as we could because we knew there was a possibility.. well, anything could be happening. I heard my dad in the background, coming home from work about the time they started reporting about the Pentagon's attack. We were in utter disbelief, Kyle kept asking me if it was just a movie.. "that can't really be happening Mom, can it?". I was trying to comfort him, stay on the phone (I just didn't want to lose touch with my parents, we were a half a continent and a ocean away..). The girls thankfully were too young to realize the consequences of what was going on, they were happy playing in another room. Then the sketchy details of United Flight 93 started coming in. By that time, I had been on the phone with my mom around 3 hours. We decided that we should probably free up the lines even though we were scared about what might happen.. if we would talk to each other again. You see, my parents lived in Houston at the time and we weren't sure if there would be other major cities under attack soon. There was just so much to be afraid about then... My friend Kim soon came over with her kids so we could all be together, give each other some moral support. I couldn't get through to Brad as he worked at a different post then where we lived. But it wasn't more than a hour and we had soldiers patrolling around our barracks armed with guns in full battle gear. We were told not to leave our buildings and to lock all our doors. Within 24 hours we had constatina wire all around our housing area with soldiers patrolling and guards at the front gate (something we never had before). School was cancelled for the week, we couldn't leave unless escorted by our spouse in the military and even then they strongly discouraged it. I didn't get through to relatives in the states for over a week. Chloe's third birthday was the next day, Kyle's 11th was the day after that.. their birthdays will always be overshadowed by that horrible day and what happened the days after when we were overseas.

But on an amazingly touching note, the sympathy and love outpouring from the German people and other Europeans was overwhelming. Flowers, notes, candles, vigils outside the gates on post... every where you went there wasn't someone, even if they couldn't speak English.. they were offering their condolences and their strength and support of America. While I remember that horror of the 11th... I also remember that outpouring of human love and God's mercy and healing for our hearts.

15:31 - 5 Comments - 6 Kudos - Add Comment