They're making the driver's license test easier in USAREUR. I wonder if they'll still have the question on whether the car or the man with the donkey cart has the right-of-way...

Posted by: Sarah at 04:35 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I just found a photo from my husband's Christmas last year in Iraq:

I think this year's Christmas was slightly better...

Posted by: Sarah at 03:50 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Beth sent me a good article:

Howard Dean, Nancy Pelosi, and the rest of the "Island of Misfit Toys" gang believe with all their might that, if America will just leave Iraq, all the terrorists will magically disappear! They believe that the UN and the EU can somehow make Iran's weapons-grade uranium go away. And if we all just put down our guns and give Cindy Sheehan a great, big Christmas hug, peace on earth will surely follow.

The husband and I heard John Lennon's "Happy Xmas" song this morning. I remarked that the line "War is over / if you want it" is about the biggest idealistic pile of crap ever. Gee, if we just wish real hard, war will stop all over the world.

Of course, I've been ticked at Lennon ever since I read this, so I was ready for a fight when his song came on.

Posted by: Sarah at 07:44 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Last year I felt a little lame opening presents under the tree by myself, so this year was much more fun. We all had a merry Christmas...especially Charlie, who ate the nose off his brand new toy in under a minute.

Posted by: Sarah at 06:40 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.

I've been having a nagging feeling lately that I wasted my education chances. I had excellent grades in high school, and I got a full ride to college. I could've done anything with my four years that I wanted to, and I had two paths I could've followed. I could've studied French, which was easy for me and fun. Or I could've studied physics, which I found extremely interesting but took more work and application of my brain. I chose French.

As I sit in Germany with no job, I realize that neither degree would've done me much good here. I only use French to write Christmas cards to my elderly French relatives. By the time we move to our next duty station, it will be time to start discussing plans for children, so I'll never have much going for me in the way of a career. I can't help but feel that if my degree is only going to end up being for my personal enrichment, then I made the wrong choice.

I always thought it was strange that European youngsters are pigeonholed into careers far earlier than we Americans are. There's really no such thing as an "undecided major" in Europe. But even though I waited until the ripe old age of 19 to decide my major, I still feel now at 28 that I should've chosen wiser. I chose French because it came so easily to me, and because it was the smallest major at my college, which would afford me more electives to play around with. I looked into the physics minor, but it turned out to be more hours than the French major, impossible if I studied abroad. So I let it go, and now I'm disappointed in myself.

28-year-old Sarah can't get President Kennedy out of her mind. I wish I'd chosen physics because it was hard. I should've worked and stretched my brain and forced myself to acquire new skills. I should've tried to do something I really wanted to do instead of taking the lazy route.

I should be an out-of-work physicist instead of an out-of-work French speaker.

Posted by: Sarah at 05:48 AM | Comments (10) | Add Comment
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1 Sarah, I'm 47 years old. I have a Master's degree. I got a Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering at 21 and my Masters at 38. It is never too late to learn. As a nuclear trained submarine officer, I went to a Navy school to learn nuclear engineering. In my class there was a Commander who had been out of college for 17 yrs. It was the first time he had to study hard since he left school. And he struggled because he was a History major. But he passed the exceedingly difficult course and became a nuclear engineer and went on the be Commanding Officer of the Nimitz and COMNAVAIR in the Pacific (3 star Admiral). It is solely dependent on how badly you want it and how hard you can work for it. My son is studying Civil Engineering now and he hates it. I don't think he will end up finishing. But it doesn't matter to me. As long as he finishes college, that is all that is required. You should recognize that after living with the military for so long, it is not what you studied in college that makes you successful. It is how hard you work at what you do. Take some risks, and the gains will be worth it. A degree in French is merely a license to learn, and is no better license than a degree in nuclear engineering. I know. I'm living it right now, and still having to learn new things. You are already a success, gal. It isn't how much money you make. It is what you do with the time you have on Earth. And you are doing better than most of us. You support a man who defends us, you support a widow who gave her husband for us, and you have taught many children what a responsible adult in this world is supposed to do. God bless you for that. Merry Christmas, Sarah. To your whole family. Subsunk

Posted by: Subsunk at December 24, 2005 09:35 AM (6RsXX)

2 Sarah, I'm 31, and I never picked a Major in college. I never really went to college. I had a few things that I wanted to do but never really went down those paths. I went straight to work full time and made lots of money without a degree. Then I got married to a solider, quit my job and had babies right away. I guess what I'm saying is that you never know what path life will bring you. It was hard for me to quit my job and hard for me to decide to have children right away. But I did it and now I couldn't be happier. I know you've made difficult decisions in you life. Some were hard and some were easy. Don't feel upset because of the path you chose. Be happy that you were afforded the opportunity to go to college. That is hard in itself Miss you in the USA! Ang D

Posted by: Angie D at December 24, 2005 12:03 PM (SA3c9)

3 Miss Sarah, You are far from "out of work" and for that matter, you are far too quick to pidgeon-hole yourself with labels like "physicist" and "french speaker". Whether you realize it or not you have chosen the more difficult path. You have chosen to be a military wife, and as you mentioned you may chose to be a mother. I have watched my Bride for the 15 years of our marriage and am constantly amazed. You could label her and call her an social worker or and accountant. She is academically trained in those fields though in all our post college years toghether she has never worked more than a year in any of those fields. Those labels fail to impress. They mean nothing at all. What matters is that she is my Bride and the mother of my children. I have it so easy compared to her. I get to do fun stuff, sail on fast ships, go to exotic far away countries, play with really cool testosteron impregnated toys but she as my Bride and Mother to Chaos, Mayhem and Entropy is the foundation of everything that I hold precious and dear. I am sure you are that for you husband as well, though we are often remiss is reminding our Brides of their true worth and value. The road you have chosen as a Army Wife and in time maybe a mother to a Soldiers children is one of the most difficult and challenging paths you could have chosen and in my mind one of the most valuable. All other achievements and titles mean squat. To The Tyrant Never Yield R/ Ed

Posted by: Ed at December 24, 2005 02:01 PM (OjVMB)

4 Sarah, Your commenters (before me) are providing good advice. Learning in college is more about learning to learn - that sounds silly, but I really know very few people who are doing what they thought they would based on their college choices. And I am in a technical field! So... just keep on learning, about yourself and the world around you. You should not EVER value yourself based on the external benchmarks. And you can always pick up a Physics book, right? (BTW, I simply admire that you made choices to be able to enjoy the college experience. I chose a tough major, and slogged through. Did not have fun until the last semester, when the end was in sight!) Merry Christmas!

Posted by: JCK at December 24, 2005 03:28 PM (J9ixV)

5 I work at a firm where all that matters is where you went to school and what your current title is. I look at the lives of all my bosses, with their big titles and their multiple degrees and see how miserable they are. I started my college career like them, first I was Pre-med (which is what my mother wanted) then I was Pre-law (which is what my father wanted), then I left the private ivy league university I was in (because I didn't want to incur a debt and be forced to complete a degree in order to pay back the loans). Instead, I went to state college in the evenings for awhile taking courses trying to figure out what I wanted to be. I even stopped that because I felt like I was wasting money. Learning, studying wasn't a problem; making a committment wasn't a problem; finding something I loved to do, now that was a problem! One day I was walking around in a bookstore and I accidently stumbled on a workshop being given by an author who talked about all the different jobs she'd had and all the different courses she'd taken only to realize that what she was finding out about life and herself. No one in her family had gone to college so she didn't know how to go about finding a career. She learned that by trial and error and noticing the things she liked to do and those she hated, she was able to figure out what she enjoyed doing enough to make it into a career. She now loves what she does; it doesn't pay much but she said she was happy and it truly showed. As a result I went back to college in the evening taking courses from math, computer science, chemistry, physics, & anatomy. Then one day, at age 36 I sat in a class and it all clicked for me and I discovered what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. It took me 2 more years to finish and I decided to go straight to grad school in a PhD program. One year into Grad school, at age 39, I got married and at 40 I gave birth to the wonderful unexpected surprise gift of a baby boy. I left school (my choice) because I wanted to be there for my son and instill in him my values. In the end I chose to delay going back to school because I know that I'll be back. In the mean time I use my education (the ability to learn how learn and teach myself) in many ways. I've had positions where I use some of my education and learn other things that will help me in the future along the way. All this is to let you know, it's never too late and if you love what you studied you'll find ways to use it! From reading you what I hear mostly is how critical you are of yourself. I would suggest intead of flogging yourself figure out ways you can use your language abilities. Being completely fluent in 2 and having knowledge of a 3rd is essentially what got me the job I have today. Your degree shows not only that you can learn, and that your smart. I would focus on the positives and the opportunities than what you didn't do or havent accomplished, you're too good of a person for that! I really hope this ramble helps!

Posted by: Michele at December 24, 2005 05:52 PM (beN4P)

6 Sarah... Don't look at the unemployment necessarily as a negative, think about how you can use the skills that God started you out with and what you've learned along the way. You're a good writer, have you thought about exploring that venue? You're an American in Europe...do you think that you might be able to help a European company do more business with Americans? Many times while "they" might speak the lingo...they don't understand how we tick. That's where you come in... Other things to think about would be to write for travel magazines/industries...volunteer your literary skills for the unit's family support groups, etc. Hang in there kiddo, you'll land on your feet. A Merry Christmas to you and yours! Have a Happy New Year filled with good health, much luck, and prosperity. Email me offline if you're interested in more about the writing gig. I can recommend a few books that might help you out. MajorDad1984

Posted by: MajorDad1984 at December 24, 2005 07:45 PM (tdEnf)

7 A message from your mom: You sell yourself too short! Remember what your dad has always said, "That piece of paper that shows you've gotten a degree only matters when you get your first job. After that, it doesn't matter." I remember when you taught ESL at U of I. As I recall, you were very happy doing that, and you were also very good at it. I ended up being a stay-at-home mom for 28 years and always thought I'd be a teacher. Having a home and children was what I really wanted to do. Sometimes it was a pretty tough job, but t was the most rewarding endeavor of my life. I think you kids have turned out pretty well. You don't measure success by your career or how much money you make. You are successful if you love what you do and make a positive impact in the world, both of which I feel you have accomplished. I admire you so much for being a good military wife and supporting Russ the way you do. To me, your blog is one of the most inspiring things a person could do. You don't realize how many lives you touch each day, whether it's writing about a deployment, the trials of a new puppy, a friendship, your love of our country, and the countless other things that you write about. Whether you make a person stretch his mind, make a soldier's wife know that she's not alone, or even show the world that you too have weaknesses or doubts, you are helping people. To me, that is a successful life. Being our firstborn, you were a high achiever and a pleaser and always tough on yourself. It's time you realized that you have alot to offer doing exactly what you're doing now. It's time for you to pat yourself on the back! Since it's Christmas Eve, think about our favorite movie; what if there had never been a Sarah? I love you and am proud of you. XOXOXO and Merry Christmas! Your Mama

Posted by: Nancy at December 25, 2005 03:12 AM (Z+RCN)

8 Good advice from everyone. Here's my two pfenning: it doesn't matter what you learn in college...it is entirely possible to go to college and not learn a darned thing. Some people have remained in college all their lives and are still totally clueless, especially outside of their chosen profession. College isn't really a place wher eyou learn new things...it can be, if you take the graduate and postdoc courses, but that is where the real learning is done. What college offers you at its most basic is a *way* to learn. This is the lesson I missed when I was in college, and dropped out and joined the army. See, in college I zipped through everything and was rapidly bored in my first semester. I could study and regurgitate, math wasn't all that particularly hard and much of my chemistry lab work I could predict just by knowing what the reagents were. What I didn't learn was what I called later the power of the outline. College teaches a methodical means of learning and research. I had to learn that myself, ad-hoc and inexpertly over the years, much to my dismay. A standard college degree shows that you have mastered this methodology, more advanced degrees show that you have managed to apply it. This isn't to say its the perfect method of learning...you can fall into the trap of the academics where your postulates will be out of whack, say, due to ideology, and your conclusions, while well reasoned, will be utter crap. (lots of examples of that, as I'm sure you know) But withthe proper postulates, you can apply this methodology and then you can really learn something new. Don't sell yourself short! You have accomplished something here and walked away with proof of that accomplishment. Don't lean too heavily on what you haven't learned, because you won't get anywhere that way. Instead, take what you have learned and apply the method, you will, through time and effort, succeed. You've already said it, its not worth doing because it is easy...but because it *is* hard. Merry Christmas from Texas. Has it bothered snowing in Vilseck? I still shudder to remember slogging it up that hill to the motor pool at 0 dark thirty for the morning run in the slush!

Posted by: Jason at December 25, 2005 12:34 PM (e31/e)

9 Sarah, listen to your mother. (smile) I was told by some very wise people to get the word should out of my vocabulary. And your mother is right, you don't know how many lives you have touched. Mine being one. I've reached the age where there are a lot of things that I could regret having done, or not having done for that matter, however I can see looking back that my paths have been right for ME. I love your postings, and feel honored to have glimpses into your life. Thank you.

Posted by: Maggie45 at December 25, 2005 02:32 PM (vgHYt)

10 Hey, ummmmm.... What is "...and do the other things?" What are these other things. Incidentally, my life went backwards. National Merit Scholar. Future engineer. Fight with dad, suddenly an enlisted blue-suiter. Taking college, almost perfect AFOQT score looking forward to bootstrap or OCS. Bang, suddenly a family, out of the AF and again a silly villian. Oddly, I wouldn't change a thing. Changing things would mean I wouldn't have my wife and children (or the dumb dog), and I've found that I'm generally very happy now. Kalroy

Posted by: kalroy at December 25, 2005 08:36 PM (9RG5y)

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I watched the Superman Returns trailer. OK. I'm too big of a fan of the originals to know how I'm going to react to the new movie. It looks too...um...good for me. I want my Superman in a technicolor suit, not a murkier gotham-city getup. I want my Clark Kent bumbling and my Lois Lane snotty. But we'll see; you know I'm gonna see it anyway. And if luck is on my side, we'll see it in the USA.

Posted by: Sarah at 05:49 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Some commenter said yesterday that America's far left is Europe's moderate. I thought of that today in passing while reading Broca's Brain. I think people look at the world quite differently depending on how they classify themselves. If you think of yourself as an American, you see the world differently than if you think of yourself as a Global Citizen, as it seems most Europeans do. And if you think of yourself as a citizen of the universe, as Sagan does, you look at issues completely differently. Thus when Sagan talks of global warming, he thinks all humans should work together to prevent Earth's habitat from being like Mars. When an American talks about it, he typically thinks about what is best for the US first. I think the label you give yourself says a lot about how you deal with The Issues.

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I've been working on my relationship with Heidi for a year now. I've felt uncomfortable with the fact that the reason we became friends is because her husband was killed. I'm slowly getting over that, but today I was once again struck by how much I hate that our relationship is littered with eggshells.

I was writing something to her, and I wrote, "I am scared to death of" before I stopped and realized I had chosen my words poorly. Every time I write to her, I find myself backspacing over all sorts of stupid expressions: "I could've just died when I said", "that joke killed me", "I love her to death." I feel like some dumb sitcom character who stutters like an idiot because he just asked a blind girl if she saw something. When do you get over that? When will I stop having to police myself so I don't say something stupid? When will our friendship just feel normal?

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Woah, you really can knit anything: prosthetics for a mastectomy.

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Why Liberals Hate War (via RWN)

The Democrats can see the writing on the wall. They know that if we stick around and maintain our will there is no way we can lose this conflict. We shall prevail! And that idea is terrifying to the Democrats and the rest of the American left. Why? Because it shows that war CAN solve problems. That with our overwhelming technical skill we can invade and secure just about any other country in the world, and not only that, but we can get a democratically elected government in place within just a few years.

War never solved anything? My fat ass it didnÂ’t. In the last four years two wars have liberated two countries, and we are in the process of getting those countries on their way to prosperity and self-sufficience. In terms of the cost of life, especially when you look at the numbers for previous wars, we have suffered quite a low number. While the death of any man or woman is tragic, they should be honored to the fullest for their sacrifice to this nation, and to the people of Iraq.

The Democrats and the left cannot have this. The US has been in the “lose” column for so long now, That’s been one of their main sources of political strength. They must prevent, at all costs, the US from getting to a point where this was can be chalked up as a win. If we get a win then we negate the rallying cry of Vietnam.

The Roots of Anti-Americanism

The Constitution of the United States of America is a greater achievement than the ancient pyramids of Egypt.

Our brilliant forefathers got it right the first time, and it was the very first time, because they were inventing the wheel. The Constitution of the United States serves as the foundation for the world's oldest democracy today. Consider that: This country that Europeans regard as so young and immature is by far the oldest and most stable democracy in the world. Consider France: it followed suit and threw away its kings shortly after we did. Then came the emperor Napoleon. France is on its fifth republic (fifth constitution) today. We got it right the first time.

Now let's put ourselves in Europeans' shoes. How do you think they're going to react? Are they going to acknowledge this brilliance that puts their own stupid and immoral feudal system to shame? I don't think so.

You've Got Male: How about a little fair play in the battle of the sexes?

The clout of female voters has been transmuted into a strangely pervasive inattention to the legitimate needs of boys and men. While there remain grating sources of unfairness to women, the community is in the process of steadily creating a new legal and educational structure that generates new gender unfairness: 90% of the victims of Ritalin and similar drugs prescribed for schoolkids are boys; but even drugged they perform less well than girls. A 2005 study at Yale found nationally that even in prekindergarten boys are nearly five times as likely to be expelled as girls.

What is going on in this country?

Of course those who can do the work should receive the rewards. However, the broader question is: Who defines the work and evaluates it? The drastic occupational and familial situation of especially minority males suggests the urgency of a hard review of this issue. Were females the victims of such apparent sex-based unfairness, the legal paper attacking the matter would cloud the air like flakes of New Hampshire snow. But since it's only males . . .

Posted by: Sarah at 05:37 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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1 Sarah, I believe you are correct that we are making it much harder on boys than ever before. But it has been the lot of boys throughout the ages to have to shoulder that burden. What doesn't kill us, does indeed make us stronger. Boys today are very strong willed individuals. That makes us strive for success at whatever we find ourselves good at. However, it also means we need women much less than we used to, especially for long term relationships. The thing I fear most for my son is that he will be used and abused by women for most of his life. That he will strive so hard to satisfy her every need and desire, only to inevitably fall short because women today demand more of a man than he can humanly provide. So he will realize he doesn't need her trouble and will go through life alone. Most of my peers are in this situation. They either live in unhappy marriages with their wives demanding attention constantly to the exclusion of their owns needs, or they have learned they need time for themselves and hobbies they can do alone, and they leave the women who crush them under the burden of constant demands. Be careful what you wish for ladies. When you no longer need or care for us as we care for and need you, we will have nothing to live for, and we will not be around long. Subsunk

Posted by: Subsunk at December 23, 2005 03:57 PM (6RsXX)

2 Please avoid running together Democrats, most of whom (like me) opposed the Iraq War but support the use of force in other instances, with the Michael Moore/Green Party/Cindy Sheehan crowd that very likely does have a "war is always wrong" mentality. If there is one historical figure who has influenced my thinking about politics it is John Stuart Mill, and I think that at one time you had up his quote about about an unwillingness to fight for anything being worse than war itself. (That came from an essay on the American Civil War, buyt he way. He was trying to buck up the North.) If there is one more contemporary person whose judgment I most highly regard in military matters it is Colin Powell, who is a reluctant warrior but can hardly be called a pacifist. (How many of the current problems we face in Iraq are due to Rumsfeld's need to prove that he was smarter than Powell and did not need to follow the Powell doctrine of using overwhelming force?) Most Democrats wholeheartedly suppored the invasion of Afghanistan. HOWARD DEAN supported it. I know it makes it much easier for you to defend the war if you can depict everyone who opposed it as coming from the looney left, but here is your chance to atone for your decision to study French and eschew the intellectually lazy option.

Posted by: Pericles at December 24, 2005 09:50 AM (eKf5G)

3 Pericles, "(How many of the current problems we face in Iraq are due to Rumsfeld's need to prove that he was smarter than Powell and did not need to follow the Powell doctrine of using overwhelming force?)" Let's ask this another way. How many of the current problems in Iraq are due to the fact that we don't have a military sized to handle a long occupation and fight a war of attrition without Reservists and Guardsmen? Since we began the downsizing in 1991 and accelerated it in 1993 (with 51 percent of the combat arms MOSs in the Reserve and Guard by 1995), I guess the answer would be all of our problems in Iraq are due to not having 2.5 million men in the Army and Marine Corps on active duty. And who's fault is that? The American people's fault. They have consistently chosen to do things as cheaply as possible. Imagine that. And our military leaders have consistently refused to ask for more than they need to do the bare minimum of our estimated job (they aren't clairvoyant either). So the problems in Iraq are not due to George Bush, Bill Clinton, Donald Rumsfeld, or Jesus Christ. The blame lies with a philosophy that cheaper is better until someone dies. And then, since it takes 3 years to increase the size of the military significantly, it is too late to do anything about it. You can't predict the future any better than I can. In WWII we made do with what we had. It wasn't perfect. This isn't either. But it's a damn sight better than doing nothing. So unless you, the American public, are willing to take responsibility for not throwing a lot more money at defense, and giving up Social Security and Medicare for Defense, quit blaming people who are only human and are doing their best with what they are given. That includes Colin Powell and Donald Rumsfeld. If 2160 men dead is too much for America to handle, then quadruple the Defense budget. Quit arguing over whether we have enough F-22 Raptors, submarines, destroyers, carriers, tanks, and UAVs. Buy them all and use them and train in them. Give us enough Men to keep them running 100% and always hit the right target. Since the country can't survive that kind of expenditure, we are doing a great job with what you've given us. A little history of the sacrifices of the home front in WWII should be reviewed before casting aspersions on how this war is prosecuted. Until you are willing to give up your coffee, gasoline, rubber, tin, scrap metal, and live with significant shortages in most consumer goods, then shutup about how smart someone who is guarding your money, your economy, your security, and your life is doing. You ain't got it all that bad. You still got your life. Our soldiers are offering theirs so you won't have to be inconvenienced at all. That makes them, not Donald Rumsfeld, Colin Powell, Bill Clinton, or even George W Bush, more important than anyone else in this country. Unless you think their lives are less important than your own job, savings account, favorite charity, or next meal. Subsunk

Posted by: Subsunk at December 24, 2005 06:36 PM (6RsXX)

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-- Here's what multiculturalism gets us: Iran saying that we need to be "more tolerant" of their view that the Holocaust didn't happen. Give me a freaking break. It's not possible to be more tolerant of blatant falsehoods. But that's what our trend towards "accepting all views" has gotten us.

-- I enjoy thinking about generational differences. The other day I was flipping through Redbook and found a shockingly graphic article about how to get it on in the shower. Like detailed descriptions of who should place which body part where. Whenever I come across articles like that in regular old "mainstream" magazines, I always have the same thought: What would my grandmothers have thought if they had come across the same article back when they were my age? It brings me a good laugh to think about naughty shower articles being published in 1939.

-- (via Cold Fury) Thomas Lifson takes Howell Raines to task for saying "He [George W. Bush] adopted the full agenda of redneck America." It's amazing what Respected Journalists can get away with as long as they aim their hatred at white men.

Posted by: Sarah at 05:35 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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I think most people on the left think that we right-wingers love Fox News. Fox is always trotted out as the one example of ultra-conservative views, and several times when I have repeated something I read online, people have said, "What, did you hear that on Fox?" when they don't believe me. For the record, I know many right-wingers who don't like Fox. My husband and I enjoy watching Forbes on Fox and Cavuto on Business, but that's about it.

I personally see very little difference in the way Fox reports the news. For example, on Iraqi election day last week, the Fox reporter said, "This is the day Bush has been waiting for...", which really burned me up. Why not the day the Iraqi people have been waiting for, or the day the world has been waiting to see, or the day the American public, or anything but always placing the emphasis on Bush? Fox is just as crappy, and it drives me nuts. In fact, the day after Iraqi election day, my husband sat down and checked all websites of the major networks. MSNBC, ABC, CNN, they all had that stupid freezing rain as their top story. My husband said, "I bet Fox got it right," as he typed in the URL. Nope, they also went with freezing rain, though at least the Iraqi election was the second story; the other news sources didn't even have it on their main pages.

Therefore, I wasn't that surprised to find that Brit Hume on Fox only ranks as slightly right of center on that new media study from UCLA. Fox isn't nearly as far right as people like to pretend.

Take a few minutes to read the results of that study. They seem to have done a good job trying to filter out bias in their study. Interesting stuff.

Posted by: Sarah at 05:17 AM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
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1 As you might have guessed, invoking Fox News is simply a way some people handwave away views they don't agree with. I hardly watch network or cable news and I keep getting told that all I watch is Fox News, or if they're really trying to get cute: "Faux" News. Ooo... isn't that so clever to spell it that way?

Posted by: Patrick Chester at December 19, 2005 09:35 AM (MKaa5)

2 Sarah, Agree with you wholeheartedly. Although Fox tries harder to be fair and balanced, they frequently allow total idiots to put out what any engineer, philosopher. or military historian could debunk as untruths of the Left and touchy feely liberals. For instance, how many times can a Dhimmicrat claim there is no plan, when there obviously is one. Maybe it isn't going perfectly, but what war ever has? Or how about the discussion about how oil companies are gouging folks deliberately. I lived in Texas during the oil bust of the 80s. My high school friends' fathers were losing their businesses, homes, jobs, and the shirts off their backs because they couldn't make enough drilling because the oil was too cheap. My old girlfriend's new husband was in the oil business, and got laid off with 2 kids to feed. He had to take a loan officer job at the bank -- foreclosing on the rigs and equipment of the folks he used to work with. He hated what he had to do so much he spent all his spare time training to be a sheriff and eventually join the FBI. He never wanted to go back to hurting his friends again. The oil companies laid off thousands of folks in Houston just because oil was so cheap they couldn't afford to pay their employees and still keep from bankruptcy. So because oil is now a commodity, we pay whatever Hugo Chavez wants to charge us, and that is somehow Exxon's fault when he jacks up the price to cheat his own people out of their revenue and line his cronies' pockets? Fox isn't perfect. It is still too far left for most common sense military folks who know what war is about and how to fight one. They try to distill an entire epic down to a 10 second sound bite. But they're better than most, so we watch them instead of SeeBS. Keep on keepin' on, gal. You are doin' fine. Subsunk

Posted by: Subsunk at December 19, 2005 11:30 PM (6RsXX)

3 We also lived in Houston during the 80's. It was a horrible time. People would pack up and leave their homes in the middle of the night. We went from a very comfortable way of life to barely making ends meet. We left in 1990, and I still miss the good people of Texas. Sarah's Mama

Posted by: Nancy at December 20, 2005 02:04 PM (Z+RCN)

4 Yeah, they're not right-wing, they're simply not virulently left wing. Then again, for many leftists that's the same thing as being a right-wing extremist. Probably the same for right-wing extremists, but they're marginalized, whereas the other side is aggrandized. Kalroy

Posted by: Kalroy at December 20, 2005 08:25 PM (AwOS7)

5 Kalroy stole what I was planning to say. Because FOX is not in total lockstep with the main alphabet soup folks, they get branded as ultra-conservative. Also because Brit dares to have people like Fred Barnes or Bill Kristol on panels (balanced by Mara Liasson and Juan Williams) - surely they must be neocons, right?

Posted by: Barb at December 21, 2005 01:55 AM (g9qHI)

6 To say Fox "is still far too left" of anything shows how far the scale has moved in this country. The people you decry as "far left fringe" are actually moderates in any other democracy. Some people need to pick up a book or two and realize that buzzwords and propaganda don't change the actual definition of political positions. They can be fluid but weren't meant to be splashed onto the wall and called whatever your talking points says they should be called.

Posted by: mmm...lemonheads at December 21, 2005 03:55 PM (uZuRD)

7 mmm...huh?

Posted by: Sarah at December 21, 2005 04:26 PM (EhEOa)

8 lemmonhead, Gee, I guess the GOP email address book forgot me. I haven't had my talking points today. Can't survive without them. Of course, I survived without them for 47 yrs, so maybe I can struggle on through without them. "The people you decry as "far left fringe" are actually moderates in any other democracy. Some people need to pick up a book or two and realize that buzzwords and propaganda don't change the actual definition of political positions. They can be fluid but weren't meant to be splashed onto the wall and called whatever your talking points says they should be called." A "moderate" in any other democracy would not insist on impeachment without crime, defeat without honor, retreat without failure, and whining and crying about their own defense by better people than said "moderates". Military folks don't get to pick and choose who in the country they will defend. If they did, you can bet there would not be much effort expended to save folks who think the country can't win wars, shouldn't protect its citizens because it violates the terrorists' civil rights, and who insists other Men and Women sacrifice their lives and efforts for the "moderates" safety and well being while denigrating their work. If other democracies believe Howard the Coward, Nancy the Nut Case, and John I'll Retreat Before Battle Is Joined because we just can't win anything, then I guess I don't think they are truly serious moderate democracies who will stand up against tyranny. Can't wait to see how they handle the coming Islamic Caliphate, when the Real "Moderate Islamists" begin stabbing them, beheading them, and beating the women who don't wear hijab. I won't be counting on their support to defend my family from harm. They've never come through before. You are free to hold to your opinion. It merely shows how uneducated and blissfully ignorant of true sacrifice and honor you are. Walk on, bud. Right off the cliff your heading for. Subsunk

Posted by: Subsunk at December 24, 2005 09:53 AM (6RsXX)

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Get. The. F. Out.

This season, America celebrates a holiday whose premise is that God himself came to Earth -- and was given the death penalty. Tookie Williams died at Midnight on the Feast Day for Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mother of God and patron saint of the Americas. How fitting that the GOP and the Religious Right lobbied for the execution -- and that Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Catholic whose church opposes the death penalty, made the final decision.

Celebrity executions, from Jesus to Tookie Williams, have whatever meaning human actions give them. And the meaning of Tookie's? That the Religious Right, that bastion of politicized pseudo-religion and hypocritical power-grabbing, pronounced its own spiritual death by shouting hosannahs for his execution -- as it has done for the anonymous dead before him.

No disrespect is intended by calling the Crucifixion a "celebrity execution." Quite the contrary -- the power and meaning of the Christ story as it was taught to me is just that: that God Himself would come to Earth anonymously and died despised and forgotten by all but a few, only to be redeemed on behalf of all. His celebrity came later, as a result of His sacrifice. The significance of the death lies in its affirmation of life, in the understanding of believers that it was an act of love -- love for life and the living.

This post, found at RWN, is just jawdropping. You have to be absolutely kidding that 1) this was written, and 2) the comments section is full of people who agree. And the last line...

Another Christmas is coming to the Americas, and another American is gone. If you pray, don't pray for him: pray for us.

Must...fight...urge to start swearing uncontrollably.

Tookie Williams was a murderer. He killed four people before my husband was even freaking born, and he's been wasting air ever since. He was a gangster and a thug, and I don't care how many dadburned children's books he wrote. He shot four people that we know of and laughed about it later. He never expressed regret for what he'd done, yet somehow he was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. (Maybe Arafat will show Tookie his while they're both rotting in hell together.)

I clapped the day Timothy McVeigh was executed, and I clapped again Tuesday when Tookie was finally dead. Tookie may have "died despised and forgotten by all but a few", but he most certainly will not be redeemed, and should never be compared to Jesus.

The more I try to grok, the more I feel disgusted at mankind.

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Tonight at the dinner table, the husband and I raced to finish each other's sentences as we both realized we'd read the same article and come to the same conclusion. The results of this ABC poll in Iraq are interesting all around, but the most striking thing was how they parallel the American experience. 70% of Iraqis say their own life is going well, but only 44% say that their country is doing well. That sounds almost exactly like something I heard Rush Limbaugh say on the radio a few weeks ago. He said he gets callers who, well, I'll let him say it in his own words:

"[Jack] Welch told Fox News Channel that President Bush has much to be proud of with regard to the economy, but he has to get out there and sell himself - and his accomplishments - to the American people to let them know about it. 'President Bush put a tax bill through that supported capital formation and risk taking,' Welch said. 'We’ve created 2 million jobs a year after the 9/11 attacks. That’s a remarkable accomplishment. Bush has to get out there and talk about it.' Despite the recent natural disasters, such as Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma, the U.S. economy continues to grow, and the stock market seems to weather every storm.'" In fact, last week the stock market was -- well, not at a record high but, I mean, it was at ten seven, the Dow Jones industrial average at 10,700 something. "Welch certainly noticed" all this. "Most business people have noticed. Investors noticed. But, according to the recent polls – which show the president’s approval rating at its lowest level of his presidency – the majority of Americans have not been persuaded of the 'good news economy.'" Now, you know why this is. This is very simple. This is one of the most remarkable phenomena that I recall experiencing as host of this wildly successful program and it is this: We could be in the middle of an economic boom; I get phone calls from people, "Yeah, I'm doing okay, Rush. I am just doing fabulous. But I'm worried about my neighbors."

"Why are you worried about your neighbors? Is the Meals on Wheels showing up at their house every day? What are you worried about?"

"Well, I just see the news on TV and the economy's not doing all that well. People are this and that. I'm just worried about my neighbor."

"Well, do you know that they're doing badly or are you just worried about them?"

"No, I'm doing okay," and then there's some guilt associated with it. So most people's perception of their own economic circumstances are fine but all this negative news makes them think everybody else out there is, you know, eating dirt. They refuse to feel good about it because they think they're going to feel guilty.

I believe the same sort of phenomenon is happening in Iraq, that individual Iraqis feel they are doing well, but they keep hearing about bombs and insurgency, so they think the country is not doing well. I know it's not a perfect comparison, the US economy and the situation in Iraq, but my husband and I couldn't help but notice the parallel.

Anyway, the whole ABC poll is worth a read.

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Does it get any better than Varifrank? I submit that it does not.

[The Western mainstream media] compares our actions at abu-ghirab with the saddam regime, as if being held in a compromising position by the ugliest woman from West Kentucky was anything like being killed, butchered and buried with a 1000 people from your hometown.

There's more, much more, on the virtues of propaganda.

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There's just something that irked me about this paragraph in this totally finger-pointing article Lieberman's pro-war views concern Dems. I absolutely hate when "journalists" throw stuff like this in (italics mine):

Lieberman, who seems to relish his role as a maverick, is veering far from the Democratic script. His vocal support for the war, a stark and frequent reminder of the deep divisions among Democrats on how to end the war, makes him something of a marked man.

As if Lieberman is purposely trying to tick off Democrats. Ever consider that maybe he really does disagree with his party? Ever consider that he's standing up for what he believes in? Nope, he's just relishing the beat of a different drum. That's not reporting, that's editorializing. I hate the media.

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The mystery knitting project is complete. Two years ago I made a wonderful DNA scarf for a friend of mine who got her degree in genetics. I was struggling to come up with an idea of a baby gift to make for her first child, born the day after Thanksgiving. I followed a link on Lola's blog to the most fitting gift I could ever imagine. Mine didn't turn out quite as nice as Kimberly Chapman's (I think my gauge was a little off), but I still think my friend's new daughter will like it. And that solves the mystery of the "black weiner-looking thing": it was the side strand of a DNA helix.

(P.S. The DNA scarf pattern is no longer available online, so I had to link to another knitter who made the same scarf. I poked around on his blog and found a delightful article about manly knitting during WWII. The Girl, I'm thinking of making another DNA scarf for myself -- wanna join me?)

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1 "Black weiner-looking thing." LMAO! I nearly spit my coffee out when I read that! Anyway, the DNA scarf is pretty cool.

Posted by: Cin at December 10, 2005 12:24 PM (2cgON)

2 ABSOLUTELY!!!!

Posted by: The Girl at December 10, 2005 01:56 PM (fnnpr)

3 My father-in-law was a WWII vet who crocheted from a childhood during the depression. He taught me to crochet in 1990 and I was privileged to to be able to crochet the baby blankets that my children came home from the hospital in. No one can ever tell me that being able to create something from scratch with just a hook and a skein of yarn is unmanly.

Posted by: Jim at December 11, 2005 11:46 AM (JCNLJ)

4 My husband's best friend from high school -- an Air Force captain -- crochets blankets and hats all the time. There's nothing unmanly about him.

Posted by: Sarah at December 11, 2005 04:18 PM (PSp3S)

5 Love the scarf!!! When I was stationed in Grand Forks, North Dakota, I learned to crochet to have something to do during those long cold winters.

Posted by: Ted at December 12, 2005 12:45 PM (blNMI)

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Thanks to JCK for pointing out that I am in the running for the worth-a-chuckle category Best of the Top 3501 - 5000 Blogs, found here. And a hearty thanks to the 50 people who have voted for me and whoever it was who nominated me in the first place. You made my day.

(P.S. I noticed the competition is ecosystem-based. Can anyone explain to me how to merge my two blogs there? I have tried and tried, but I can't get tryingtogrok.com and tryingtogrok.mu.nu to be reflected as the same blog. Not that I want to move higher in the ecosystem...that would probably put me up against much stiffer competition!)

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Hey, John Kerry...wanna see some of the kids my husband terrorized in Iraq?

This kid he terrorized by building a school for him...

This kid he terrorized by letting him wear his Wiley Xs...

This kid he terrorized by giving him a water bottle when it was 130 degrees...

The only thing my husband terrorized these kids with was his handwriting...

John Kerry, you're out of your element here.

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