I’d say this is definitely me....right brained.
Current mood: contemplative
Category: Life
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You Are 40% Left Brained, 60% Right Brained
The left side of your brain controls verbal ability, attention to detail, and reasoning. Left brained people are good at communication and persuading others. If you're left brained, you are likely good at math and logic. Your left brain prefers dogs, reading, and quiet.
The right side of your brain is all about creativity and flexibility. Daring and intuitive, right brained people see the world in their unique way. If you're right brained, you likely have a talent for creative writing and art. Your right brain prefers day dreaming, philosophy, and sports.
Slain soldier’s military dog partner adopted by his family...
Current mood: touched
Family Adopts Slain Son's Military DogGeorgia Family Adopts Slain Son's Injured Military Dog in First-Time Arrangement
While waiting for a live shot during a morning news show, Lex looks for attention from new owners Camryn Lee and other family members, from left, Rachel, Jerome and Mady on Friday, Dec. 21, 2007, at the Marine Corps Logistics Base in Albany, Georgia. The adoption of Lex, an 8-year-old German Shepherd, by the family of fallen Marine Cpl. Dustin Lee marked the first time the U.S. military has granted early retirement to a working dog so it could live with a former handler's family, officials said. (AP Photo/Walter Petruska)
The Associated Press
ALBANY, Ga. Dec 21, 2007 (AP)
A military working dog wounded in Iraq during a rocket attack that killed its Marine handler was adopted Friday by the slain Marine's family.
Cpl. Dustin Lee's family planned to take home the bomb-sniffing dog named Lex on Saturday after the 8-year-old German shepherd was granted early retirement. It was the first time a working dog was granted retirement to live with the handler's family, officials said.
"Nobody can do anything to replace the void in this family," said Col. Christian Haliday, commander of the Marine Corps Logistics Base in Albany, where Lee and Lex were assigned.
"We hope Lex can bring a small piece of his spirit and help maintain his memory," he said.
On hand for a ceremony at the base were the Marine's parents, Jerome and Rachel Lee, his sister, Madison, 16, and brother, Camryn, 12, of Quitman, Miss.
"It's not going to bring back my brother, but it's something close to it," said Madison Lee as she played with Lex after the ceremony.
Military officials initially told the family that Lex had another two years of service before he could be adopted. But the family lobbied for months even enlisting the aid of a North Carolina congressman and the adoption came exactly nine months after the 20-year-old Marine was killed and his dog wounded on March 21 in Iraq's Anbar Province.
2nd Lt. Caleb Eames, spokesman for the Albany base, said Lee and Lex were sitting outside at a forward operating base in Karmah when they were hit by shrapnel from a 73mm rocket explosion.
"A part of Dustin is in Lex," said the fallen Marine's father. "To have Lex at home is a part of having Dustin at home."
Rachel Lee said she believes her son's spirit will live on through the dog because of their close bond and because they were together during the final moments of her son's life.
"It was blood on blood," she said. "We can't get Dustin back, but we have Lex."
September 11, 2001 is a day we will never forget. This blog is dedicated to those (both humans and animals) who died at the World Trade Center and to those who helped save lives and find victims. Many dogs helped out at the World Trade Center disaster. Of the more than 250 dogs there, five dogs died. Two fell from the rubble and three died from heat stroke.
The dogs at Ground Zero have been trained to detect the living as well as the dead from the rubble. They along with their human trainers suffer many injuries while searching through the rubble. The ASPCA along with other animal organizations set up triage units to care for the dogs. The triage unit cared for over 250 dogs during their time at the World Trade Center. The animals came from as far as Mississippi, Georgia and Canada. Veterinarians from all over the world called to say they would come if they were needed. Some were willing to drive 24 hours just to bring dog food and other supplies such as dog booties.
There are so many stories about this tragic day in our nation's history. We have included just a few. Our hearts go out to all who suffered losses and who witnessed this terrible event.
Porkchop
Porkchop is a 1-year-old Australian shepherd dog. He helps out at Ground Zero. He has never found any humans, but he has found a lot of human remains.
Porkchop and other dogs like him work 12-hour days looking through the tons of rubble at the World Trade Center.
Cadaver dogs usually get years of training with their handlers, who are members of fire departments or are emergency medical technicians. Cadaver dogs must learn to do things that are different from their natural instincts. For example, most dogs run with their claws clenched in the earth. Cadaver dogs must learn not to disturb anything in their path, so they cannot clench their paws into the earth.
Cadaver dogs use their keen sense of smell to help them find human remains. Their sense of smell is thousands of times more sensitive than humans' sense of smell.
Some cadaver dogs bark when they find human remains. Others are trained to lie down. Then the rescue specialists come in and seek out what the dogs have found.
These cadaver dogs need lots of attention to keep them doing the job they are meant to do. There is a whole team of veterinarians who have volunteered at Ground Zero to give medical assistance to the dogs. The dogs need to have their feet cleaned from all of the hazardous material they walk on all day. They need their ears and noses cleaned; their eyes burn and tear from the air, just like the humans who are helping out. Many of the dogs go on an intravenous feedings, like humans do, to keep them fed and keep and keep them from getting dehydrated.
Repost of 9/11/2006 blog
Current mood: remembering
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Honoring and Remembering Enda L. Stephens Current mood: thoughtful
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Edna L. Stephens Attack Location: Pentagon Age: 53 Home: Capitol Heights, Md.
Source: The Washington Post
Edna L. Stephens
Edna L. Stephens, 53, liked to cook, bowl and sing in the choir at Varick Memorial AME Zion Church in Northeast Washington. With 34 years at the Pentagon, the civilian budget analyst for the Army looked forward to retiring next year and moving back to her home town, Gainesville, Ga.
And her family, including her father, son and most of her eight brothers and sisters, anticipated the day she would return to the Atlanta suburb.
"Whenever she came home, it was always a happy time," said her sister, Eunice Holcomb, from Stephens's Capitol Heights home. "When she left, we didn't stop laughing."
Stephens was on the Department of Defense list of those unaccounted for after the attack at the Pentagon.
Soon after graduating from high school, Stephens moved to the Washington area and began her job at the Pentagon. About three years ago, she thought about retiring, but instead, Stephens bought her first home and pushed off thoughts of retirement to the future.
Holcomb, 45, said she'll miss confiding in Stephens, the second-oldest of the nine siblings, who was like a "family guidance counselor."
"I won't see her and listen to her and talk to her about things that I can't decide on," Holcomb said. "She was a focal point of guidance for us all. Even though she was far away, we always talked to her."
Stephens's only child, Torrass Allen, a Gainesville High School music teacher, said that while his mother was working at the Pentagon, she attended the University of the District of Columbia.
"She was serious a lot of the time," said Allen, 33. "But she knew how to have fun. She would say what was on her mind. She liked to play cards and be with her friends."
And Stephens liked to smile.
"Right now, I think the main thing I'll miss is her smile not being here anymore," Holcomb said. "One of her friends gave me some consolation when she saw me and said, 'There's her smile.' No one had ever said that to me before."
Dog Team buried together after death in Iraq...
Current mood: sad
.. CENTER BODY FRAME -->
Killed in Iraq, dog team buried together
By Michelle Tan - Staff writer Posted : Tuesday Jul 24, 2007 6:38:59 EDT
Cpl. Kory D. Wiens, 20, of the 94th Mine Dog Detachment, 5th Engineer Battalion, 1st Engineer Brigade of Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., and his partner, Cooper, were killed July 6 by an improvised explosive device while on patrol in Muhammad Sath, Iraq. They had been in Iraq since January.
The cremated remains of Wiens and Cooper, a Labrador retriever, were buried together at Salt Creek Cemetery in Wiens' hometown of Dallas, Ore., at the request of his family, said Master Sgt. Matt McHugh, the family's casualty assistance officer.
"Kory referred to Cooper as his son, that's now much of a team they were," McHugh said.
McHugh added that based on his own research, the last military canine team to be killed together was during the Vietnam War.
The Army has 578 dog teams, and they have served several hundred rotations in Iraq and Afghanistan, said Hans Freimarck, the military working dog coordinator for the Army Dog Program.
Freimarck said he didn't know the last time a canine team was killed together, but Wiens and Cooper were the first for operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom.
"Most military dog handlers look at [their relationship with their dog] as a marriage," Freimarck said. "You give to the dog, the dog gives back to you. Every dog handler has a firm attachment to his dog and any dog in the military."
Wiens and Cooper made up a specialized search detachment trained to find firearms, ammunition and explosives. Being on a specialized search team means more training, and Cooper, who was no more than 4 years old, did his job without a leash.
Cooper was Wiens' first military working dog, and Wiens was Cooper's first handler, McHugh said.
Wiens' family is doing as well as can be expected, and their small community has been very supportive, McHugh said.
Residents of Dallas lined the streets to honor the funeral procession, which was accompanied by local law enforcement vehicles and the Patriot Guard Riders, a national organization of motorcycle enthusiasts who pay tribute to fallen service members.
Thirty-seven dog teams from the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and area police departments attended the service, McHugh said.
Wiens was named after his grandfather, who was a military canine handler during the Korean War. He is survived by his parents, Kevin and Judith, three siblings and his extended family. Wiens' older brother Kevin is serving his second tour in Iraq as a military police officer.
Memorial donations
The Oregon National Guard has reported to the state attorney general's office questions related to the death of Cpl. Kory Wiens and his canine partner, Cooper.
At least two businesses in Dallas, Ore., the soldier's hometown of about 12,500 people, were approached for donations to give Cooper a proper burial, said Guard spokesman Capt. Mike Braibish.
The businesses called the family's casualty assistance officer to make sure the solicitation was legitimate, and the CAO called the Guard because he knew the Wiens family had set up only one memorial fund and that burial arrangements had already been made for Cooper, Braibish said. "We don't know for sure that it is [a scam]," he said. "If it is indeed a scam I hope we put an end to this."
The charitable organizations section of the attorney general's office is investigating the incident, Braibish said.
There is protocol in place to ensure the remains of military working dogs are taken care of properly, said Hans Freimarck, military working dog coordinator for the Army Dog Program.
"I'm sure they take into consideration what the handler's requests would be because they know the attachment that's there," he said.
The Kory Wiens Memorial Fund, set up by the Wiens family, is accepting donations at Washington Federal Savings Bank. The money will be used to customize Wiens' 1972 Dodge "Swinger" and the vehicle will be used as a memorial to Wiens and Cooper... CENTER BODY FRAME -->
RIP Tammy Faye Messner
Current mood: contemplative
In Memory of Tammy Faye Messner People either liked Tammy Faye or thought she was a clown. When I first saw her in the 70s, I fell into the latter group. But, I've watched her over the years and my opinion slowly changed. From outward appearances she had a strong faith and a great sense of humor. She was never afraid to make fun of herself...especially her eyelashes...and often laughed at her own image. But, one thing I learned as I watched her throughout her battle with cancer. The lady had guts. As hard as it was for me to see her on Larry King this week, I admired her so much for getting out of bed to be interviewed and for allowing the world to see her in her condition. Two things will always stay with me. When Larry asked her what she would miss most after death, she came back quickly with "my eyelashes." And, when he asked her why she was doing this interview she said "I want them to see my faith." Rest in peace Tammy Faye. I'll miss your eyelashes too.
romantic
contemplative
touched
thoughtful 
sad
