It's my stance that not every serviceman in today's military is in it for the patriotism or the glory.  One only has to look at the latest Army recruiting commercials to see that 'skills for now...and later' is a major selling point.  In one commercial, a young man even tells his parent "I found someone to pay for college".  There isn't any mention of 'serve your country' or 'make America proud',  No, it's all about the training, the schooling...the tangible things. You're...

With the execution of Stanley 'Tookie' Williams pending there's been a lot of talk about the death penalty in modern America. From what I can see, there are three distinct opinions regarding the execution of criminals. First, you have what I like to call the 'kill 'em all and let god sort them out' camp.  People who think that if a person has been through the judicial system and had been found guilty, that's a good enough indicator of guilt and the execution should go ahead.  ...

In the interests of fairplay and equality, I've decided to counter the opening of the Dirty Old Man's Club with a club for us girls:  The Dirty Chicks Club (DCC). To be eligible for membership you must be female and have a sense of humor, be unashamed to tell nasty jokes....and a dirty 'hehehehehehe' laugh would be a definite plus.  If you don't have the last, don't worry, we can teach you. Welcome one and all, to the DCC!  Let the entendres and insinuations flow!

I was talking to someone this morning about the wingman program that the military practices. Basically, each individual is supposed to be a wingman for someone esle.  They're supposed to watch out for them, take note of any unusual behaviour or issues that the person may be facing.  Bascially, they're supposed to have the other person's back. It got me thinking about who my wingman is.  I guess that I have a few people who I consider wingmen - Dave being the primary, but Lit...

What if the Bible isn't the end of the story? What if there's more to the nature of the divine and man's relationship with such?  What if the Council of Nicea only got it partially right - what if there are other teachings that are just as valid that expand upon the teachings of the Bible?  What if?  How would that affect your faith?  Your beliefs?  Your perceptions of what is real and what isn't? What if?  Would it change things for you?  ...

I don't take what The Sun says as the gospel truth. However, when I came across an article this morning about a 10 year old girl who has been suspended from school 10 time in the past year - well, my curiosity got the better of me. So, I read the article Link and what the mother had to say about the situation really stuck me as epitomizing the attitude of some parents towards their children: “Because I work I don’t have time to be strict.” Yes, you read right.  Because she wo...

To my sisters-in-arms, I realize that some of you will be spending Thanksgiving alone this year, and this letter is aimed mainly at you. I want you to know that I feel your pain.  I know what it's like to be separated from the one you love most of all for the holidays.  I know what it is to exchange whispered 'happy thanksgivings' down a monitored telephone line, to come to hate the operator who cuts in and tell you that you have one minute remaining, forcing you to say goodbyes ...

Our resident squirrel, Fatso, made the most of the outside garbange can lid being left open this morning.  He got in there and scored himself some tasty morsels (in the photo you can actually see the hole he gnawed in the edge of the garbage can so that he can get in it even when the lid is closed). Polly the cat likes to sit in the window and watch the world outside, and she spent a happy half an hour watching Fatso and wishing that the window pane would somehow melt away and she ...

Dr Guy made a comment on a previous article about how my husband and I seem to have accepted that he might have to redeploy in January. The response I wrote to him got me thinking about the way I see things regarding deployments and TDY's and military affairs that cause our loved ones to leave us for months and sometimes years at a time....so I decided to make a full article out of it.  Please forgive me if I ramble, I'm writing this as it comes to me. As far as I'm concerned, there...

When the kids were babies, Dave and I decided that we wanted to raise free thinking, independent children.  We wanted them to NOT go with the flow, to think for themselves, to not be afraid to be different, to challenge the status quo if they felt they had a better plan. We succeeded....but our plan might have backfired on us.  Everything we want to do, we have to argue our case over.  There is no 'because I said so' in our house.  We have to rationalize and justify everyt...

I've stopped using the duragesic patch. The whole time I was on it  had a vague feeling of nausea.  Sometimes enough to make me actually barf, most of the time enough to make me not want to eat.  The pain control that it was giving me wasn't as good as I thought it should have been - I still needed to take Pyroxicam and  Ultram on top of the patch, which bothered me. I weighed myself yesterday for the first time since I started the patches - I've lost 7 lbs. 7lbs is ...

From: God Almighty To: Margeuritte Perrin Date: November 10, 2005 re: Appearance on Trading Spouses. Per our discussion over the last several months and in view of your apperance on Trading Spouses, it has been decided that we are suspending your Membership in the God Warrior club. As I previously stressed to you in your nightly prayers, I am a God of Love and Forgiveness, and I do not wish to have myself nor any of my staff portrayed as vengeful and furious. This is not the image t...

From: God Almighty To: Margeuritte Perrin Date: November 10, 2005 re: Appearance on Trading Spouses. Per our discussion over the last several months and in view of your apperance on Trading Spouses, it has been decided that we are suspending your Membership in the God Warrior club. As I previously stressed to you in your nightly prayers, I am a God of Love and Forgiveness, and I do not wish to have myself nor any of my staff portrayed as vengeful and furious. This is not the image t...