Historical

Last night.......

was....

HISTORIC!!


But that was last night.

Now, as a NATION, we have to come together and support our new President.

Even if you voted for McCain you should support the President. I have defended Bush on numerous occasions even though I didn't vote for him either time.

It isn't about who the President is or who you wanted the President to be.

It is about the United States of America.

And to the the world...the President IS the United States of America.

And as a country we must support the President.

GO VOTE TODAY!

I hope you all did your research ON ALL THE CANDIDATES. Not just the Presidential ones.

Today is the day to vote! And if you did your research and know who you are voting for...go vote.

If not than you shouldn't go. If you don't know who is running or what they stand for or anything about them.....DON'T VOTE!

I would rather have all the people that don't know what they are talking about just stay home and let the people that took the time to learn something elect our public officials.

I was with my family last night and found out that neither of my sisters or my sister's husband are intending to vote today.

That's a shame. Especially since my one sister really knows what she is talking about. The other one doesn't want to be bothered by going and voicing her opinion.

I just don't understand.....

Get Informed

Don't forget that on Tuesday you are not only voting for the President but for many other candidates in many other races.

You should know who they are and what they stand for.

The people you elect for your local and state government have just as much if not more influence over your daily life and you should be electing people you want in office.

Here is a website that will give you some basics on candidates as well as what your ballot will look like.

www.smartvoter.org

Go to the site and look at the information there. And then search the Internet for the candidates home pages and read more about them.

Get informed so that you can make the right choices.

The Sack Lunches

I got this in an email the other morning and thought I would share with everyone:

I put my carry-on in the luggage compartment and sat down in my assigned seat. It was going to be a long flight. 'I'm glad I have a good book to read. Perhaps I will get a short nap,' I thought.

Just before take-off, a line of soldiers came down the aisle and filled all the vacant seats, totally surrounding me. I decided to start a conversation. 'Where are you headed?' I asked the soldier seated nearest to me.

Chicago - to Great Lakes Base. We'll be there for two weeks for special training, and then we're being deployed to Iraq.

After flying for about an hour, an announcement was made that sack lunches were available for five dollars. It would be several hours before we reached Chicago , and I quickly decided a lunch would help pass the time.

As I reached for my wallet, I overheard soldier ask his buddy if he planned to buy lunch. 'No, that seems like a lot of money for just a sack lunch. Probably wouldn't be worth five bucks. I'll wait till we get to Chicago

I looked ar ound at the other soldiers. None were buying lunch. I walked to the back of the plane and handed the flight attendant a fifty dollar bill. 'Take a lunch to all those soldiers.' She grabbed my arms and squeezed tightly. Her eyes wet with tears, she thanked me. 'My son was a soldier in Iraq ; it's almost like you are doing it for him.'

Picking up ten sacks, she headed up the aisle to where the soldiers were seated. She stopped at my seat and asked, 'Which do you like best - beef or chicken?'

'Chicken,' I replied, wondering why she asked. She turned and went to the front of plane, returning a minute later with a dinner plate from first class. 'This is your thanks.'

After we finished eating, I went again to the back of the plane, heading for the rest room. A man stopped me. 'I saw what you did. I want to be part of it. Here, take this.' He handed me twenty-five dollars.

Soon after I returned to my seat, I saw the Flight Captain coming down the aisle, looking at the aisle numbers as he walked, I hoped he was not looking for me, but noticed he was looking at the numbers only on my side of the plane. When he got to my row he stopped, smiled, held out his hand, an said, 'I want to shake your hand.'

Quickly unfastening my seatbelt I stood and took the Captain's hand. With a booming voice he said, 'I was a soldier and I was a military pilot. Once, someone bought me a lunch. It was an act of kindness I never forgot.' I was embarrassed when applause was heard from all of the passengers.

Later I walked to the front of the plane so I could stretch my legs. A man who was seated about six rows in front of me reached out his hand, wanting to shake mine. He left another twenty-five dollars in my palm.

When we landed in Chicago I gathered my belongings and started to deplane. Waiting just inside the airplane door was a man who stopped me, put something in my shirt pocket, turned, and walked away without saying a word. Another twenty-five dollars!

Upon entering the terminal, I saw the soldiers gathering for their trip to the base. I walked over to them and handed them seventy-five dollars. 'It will take you some time to reach the base. It will be about time for a sandwich. God Bless You.'

Ten young men left that flight feeling the love and respect of their fellow travelers. As I walked briskly to my car, I whispered a prayer for their safe return. These soldiers were giving their all for our country. I could only give them a couple of meals.

It seemed so little...



A veteran is someone who, at one point in his life wrote a blank check Made payable to 'The United States of America ' for an amount of 'up to and including my life.' That is Honor, and there are way too many people in This country who no longer understand it.




edit: Apparently there may be some confusion as this DID not happen to me and I did NOT do this. It was part of an email that was sent to me and I liked the story. And also I apologize for the font/color issue that made the post unreadable....I think I fixed it now.

This Bugged Me

Let's talk about something other than politics on here for a minute or two.

Last week I witnessed an act on my bus that I find to be ignorant and unacceptable.

On my bus just about everyday there is a young man who is more challenged than the rest of us.

He rides the bus just about every morning and everyone knows who he is.

And he sits in the SAME seat everyday.

The seat he sits in and the one across from him have signs above them that say they are reserved for older people or people with handicaps if they are requested.

Well he was waiting with other regular bus riders at the stop in the afternoon one day last week.

And he was in the back of line.

But all the people that were getting on KNEW exactly who he is and where he usually sits.

Now if it was me I would NOT have taken his seat because I know he likes to sit there and seems much more comfortable there....in fact when I get on in the morning and he isn't in that seat he moves to it AS SOON AS THE PERSON MOVES!

So I know he is comfortable there and likes to sit there.

But did this other idiot think about that when he got on the bus?

Nope!

A daily rider of that bus sat down in that seat before he got on. And the other seat reserved was taken by someone not disabled and not old.

Did they get up and move?

Nope!

Now I understand that the seats are only reserved if they are requested by the riders....

BUT

if you know that HE is going to sit THERE....

DON'T SIT THERE!

Sorry....but I find that to be common courtesy.

Something that is sadly disappearing in this country!

Fear Reading

I have been reading a lot lately. Some fiction and some non-fiction.

But I just picked up a book that I bought the summer of 2000.

It's a very interesting book that you should all pick up and at least skim through.

The Culture of Fear: Why Americans Are Afraid of the Wrong Things, by Barry Glassner.

It is pretty much about the facts behind the media's scare tactics.

For instance when you hear about how many people have this or how many times this happens, aren't you curious where they get their numbers?

Glassner basically looks into all of that and tells you about it.

He looks at different things that scare us and than makes reasonable explanations.

Here is an example:

"In 1996, Bob Garfield, a magazine writer, reviewed articles about serious diseases published over the course of a year in the Washington Post, The New York Times, and USA Today. He learned that, in addition to 59 million Americans with heart disease, 53 million with migraines, 25 million with osteoporosis, 16 million with obesity, and 3 million with cancer, many Americans suffer from more obscure ailments such as temporomandibular joint disorders (10 million) and brain injuries (2 million). Adding up the estimates, Garfield determined that 543 million Americans are seriously sick - a shocking number in a nation of 266 million inhabitants. Either as a society we are doomed, or someone is seriously double-dipping, he suggested."


Ridiculous. I bet you never even really thought about the figures you read in newspapers and hear on the news.

All you think about is how bad it sounds.

But you don't consider anything behind it.

Another example:

"Studies of the general population - both men and women - find that large numbers of people who believe they have symptoms of cancer delay going to a doctor, often for several months. When asked why, they report they are terrified about the pain and financial ruin cancer can cause as well as poor prospects for a cure. The irony of course is that early treatment can prevent precisely those horrors they most fear."

People are so sure of their information that they ignore common sense.

Instead of just getting up and going to the doctor they delay because there is no way anything can get better so why go.

Isn't that ridiculous?


I just picked up the book this morning and started reading it again and I read both of those parts today.

The rest of the book should be just as good.

It's something that this country needs to realize....there isn't as much to be afraid of as people think!

A Change in Policy

Yesterday, Caleb Campbell was one day away from beginning his dream of becoming an NFL player.

But today he is days away from another dream......joining his fellow classmates in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Campbell was drafted in the 7th round of this year's NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions. At the time it was a rule and agreed that he would be an active Army recruiter while playing in the NFL instead of completing his necessary 4 years of active duty.

Those were the terms when he was drafted.

But on July 8th the Army changed their rules. Now Campbell will have to serve 2 years of active duty and then he can ask for an early release and (possibly) become a recruiter for the final 2 years of his 4 year requirement.

Why did the Army change their policy?

Mainly because the Air Force and Navy complained. They said it would hurt their recruiting of athletes. Because they still require a graduate to fulfill his required active duty before he can begin a career in something else.

And why are the Navy and Air Force complaining anyways? How often does something like this happen?

Those two academies still had a 4 year requirement in place. And most (if not all) players that sign with service academies instead of colleges are planning on serving their 4 years of active duty. Or else they wouldn't have signed up.

And why wouldn't they change their rules instead. It seems to me that the academies would get more athletes to sign with them if they could reduce or eliminate their active duty requirements if they sign a contract with a professional sports league.

It doesn't happen often. And it would help bring in more kids who figure they are going to the be active duty military when they graduate but there is always that chance that they could be drafted into a professional sport instead.

I bet you would see more talented kids going to the service academies to play sports and become officers if there was an option for that.



Now, do I agree with the ruling by the Army?

Sure. It is fine with me. It is up to them as far as what rules are in place.

But why isn't Campbell's situation being considered under the rules that were in place when he got drafted?

He was drafted when the rule stated he could become a recruiter instead of serving overseas in active duty. So why not allow him to continue on that path and change the rule for any future situations?


Is it okay with Caleb Campbell?

Absolutely. He signed up to be in the Army and the possibility of an future in the NFL developed while he was there. And that is something he still intends to do. He can come back to the NFL in 2 years. It isn't like he is just going to be sitting on his couch watching tv for the next 2 years.

But what does this say about the decision makers at these academies that allow a rule to be in place even though they aren't going to follow it?

This just makes it look like the Army, and most government agencies, will change the rules around whenever they want to get what they want.

This does not make the Army look good.

And it surely WON'T help with recruiting!

Privacy? Maybe not...

This is for anyone out there that has had their blog discovered by people they didn't want reading it.

And also a message for those who are afraid of that situation happening.

ARE YOU SURPRISED?!?!?

Did you seriously think that all of this is secret and no one is ever going to find out?

There are some people out there whose significant other doesn't know.

If that is you, I will give you a tip......when they find out it will only end BADLY!

A lot of people look at blogging as a form of therapy. Like writing in a journal.

Except....

That a journal is private and NO ONE else (usually) sees it.

And there are a lot of people out there that I am sure use journals as therapy. It makes sense to me.

But blogging is NOT writing in a journal. And it is NOT private.

But I can understand that writing a blog is a form of a journal. But you better be careful what you say cause eventually someone that isn't supposed to see it, will see it.

And then what??

If you are going to put your life out there for others to read and respond to than you better prepare yourself for when someone sees it and doesn't like it.

Cause when you start a blog and start complaining about your life or the people in it you take the risk of those people finding it and getting upset.

I have read about multiple occasions of this. And I have had the worry on my own as far as some friends that I may have insulted on here.


Every time you give a detail about your life, a puzzle piece if you will, you are giving people a clue to your real identity.

And with every little clue people can start to piece together the puzzle.

Even the biggest puzzle can be put together with time and effort.

If someone wants to know who you are they will find out and if you are giving them daily updates than you are just helping the cause.

Even when you give total anonymity to your characters and yourself people could still figure it out. All it takes is a little knowledge of the real world situation.

If you have no connection other than the blog to readers than it would be almost impossible to complete the puzzle.

The problem is.......

There is no way to tell who is reading.

Let's Drill It, That Will Help

Here are two articles that I found on PennLive, a site that features stories and news from around the Harrisburg area and in Pennsylvania in general.

This one is about how the government (local or national) is getting too involved in the lives of its citizens.

If you don't want to read it, here is a brief overview.

The borough of Stroudsburg (near the Poconos) has decided that people cannot have furniture on their front porch if it was intended for indoor use.

Meaning that they cannot have a couch or upholstered chairs on their front porch.

Why can't they you ask...

Because they say it could start a fire. Back in 1994 (14 years ago and none since) there was a fire at Bloomsburg University that started in a porch sofa.

So the borough is arguing that for people's safety no one can have a porch sofa any more.

Now lets consider the real reason....

It looks terrible. And to a point it does.

I have seen front porches that have a TON of trash and junk on their front porch. It is dirty looking and definitely influences the opinions of people that are driving through.

But once you buy a home aren't you allowed to do with it what you please (obviously within reason).

I hate looking at homes with junk all over the front porch but a couch? Please...don't these governments have ANYTHING better to do?


The second article is about drilling in Alaska because of how gas prices have shot up.

I was never against this and still am not but the reason to do it now is RIDICULOUS.

The article says that in 2000 70% of Americans were against it but now only %49 percent are against it.

And the reason people are starting to like the idea is because they all think it will help gas prices!

Maybe I am wrong about this but even if the government allowed companies to drill there, wouldn't it take a few years before drilling actually started??

And wouldn't we STILL run out of oil eventually??

And it WOULDN'T lower gas prices anyways!! It would just make us a little (and by little I mean not much at all) less dependent on foreign oil.

So here is an idea....(and I realize how completely ridiculous and absurd this is, but I have to say it)

Lets try some alternative energy!

The sun or wind seem to produce energy, so let's power our homes and world with them.

You want to heat your home, get a geo-thermal unit. I have one, they work WONDERFULLY!

And for cars....electric, hydrogen, bicycles, or I don't know maybe MASS TRANSIT!?!?!?!

(And I don't want to hear about ethanol because that WILL NOT help the prices. Ethanol is just as or even more expensive than gas.)

I ride the bus daily and it saves me a ton (it costs $45 for a whole month or you can get 25 rides for $32). But of the probably close to 50,000 people that work in Harrisburg, I would bet there are only 1,000 (maybe 2,000) that regularly take the bus.

And yes I know some people can't take mass transit due to where they live but there are ALOT that could if they wanted to. And for those who think they can't take it....I don't live on a bus route, I drive about 10 minutes to get to one then I park and ride the bus. There are even lots around the midstate for this EXACT PURPOSE!


I don't know maybe I am just being stupid to think that we could use things other than oil and gas to get by.

But something tells me that it has been done before?!?!

Words of Wisdom

First of all, if you haven't seen this, check it out.

Now onto my post for today.

I have been talking to a buddy of mine for a few months now on a somewhat daily basis about his issues.

A little background for you:

My friend (lets call him M) met a girl while he was studying abroad in Spain and began dating this girl (lets call her E) when he was there.

They proceeded to carry on this long distance relationship for 5.5 years. She was going to school for the last couple of years in NC so it wasn't always different countries.

M would drive down from Maryland to see her every other weekend when she was on this continent.

M is not what one would call over-confident in himself (I may be to blame for some of that as me and other friend Patty would regularly pick on him cause he was shorter than us and for other reasons), so he probably hung on longer than most would have. E was a good looking girl who liked attention.

E apparently got too much attention from another guy at some point recently and decided to not worry about M and proceeded to cheat on him. No telling how long this went on for, but M found out about 3 months ago.

So now M is hurt, angry, and confused. Even though he will openly admit that he wanted to end things with E before this, he is still very hurt by what she did.

So last night we were talking and he was talking about what he wants to do at that he isn't interested in getting involved with anyone else right now. And while I agree that he isn't ready yet I suggested something else to him.

And this is advice that many of you should consider.

I have heard over the years from people that they plan on focusing on their careers before they start a family or get married. And I believe there are probably parents out there telling there kids to worry about themselves and their career first because you can always have a family later.

To me that sounds backwards. (to understand picture at right click here.)

Now I am not saying just stop working and look for love but don't be afraid of it because you have goals to meet in your professional life.

Love is much rarer than a good career and it is much harder to find.

If you are truly good at and passionate about what you do than you will always be able to find work that will make you happy.

But how many people find someone else that they want to spend the rest of their life with?

I have a few friends that have either not found this yet because they say they need to worry about finding themselves first. Or they don't want to get involved with someone until they are at a certain place in their life.

WHY?

Now I must clarify that I don't think you can go looking for love. It either happens or it doesn't. It is either there or it isn't. It isn't something that can be faked (for very long anyway) or manufactured.

So like I said before I do not mean just focus on your love life and not your professional life because then you will be miserable in both.

But do not avoid getting involved with someone because of your career or anything else.

Basically what I am saying is your career can wait, love can't and shouldn't. You can put your career on hold for a couple years and have no problem picking it back up. But you can't put love on the back burner (more than likely anyway) because either the other person will be gone or you won't feel the same.

Just a thought I had. Do you agree? If not, how come?

Faith No More

Lately I have seen many different articles and posts that have to do with religion.

I saw a post from Devils Heaven about this article.

Then I saw this article on msn.

And then Lynne wrote this.

So I thought, "I have some opinions on this stuff, let me share with everyone."

But first some background:

I grew up in a Catholic household. I went to Catholic school from kindergarten to 8th grade. And then I had the choice of high schools and chose a Catholic high school because my friends were going there.

So I went to a Catholic school for 13 years. My parents are (were) Catholic, my grandparents are very Catholic, and most of my relatives are Catholic to some extent.

My wife......is a pagan.

I was baptized, had first holy communion, and was confirmed into the church. But...

I no longer consider myself a Catholic. Most people describe me (and others like me) as a non-practicing Catholic.

I say BULLSHIT!

I do not consider myself an atheist (yet) but rather an agnostic. If someone could prove to me that there is a God than I would believe, but until then I believe that gods don't exist.

So lets examine a couple of those articles I mentioned previously.

First up is the excommunication of anyone that ordains a female priest.

Why? Because women aren't equals?

No its because Jesus didn't have any female apostles so there can be no female priests!

Oh, well that makes perfect sense! How ridiculous is the Catholic church!

I spent 13 years learning about the history of the Catholic faith and why it is what it is and I am pretty sure it was all a LIE!!

And that's why I think the other article about a religious theme park is perfect.

I mean really, what is the difference between Disney characters and Jesus?

One thing, the characters from Disney are typically animated where as Jesus is usually thought of as a human.

But really they are similar.

They are both works of fiction. They have each contributed to a ridiculous amount of money for their creators. And people love them or hate them.

Kids believe in the Disney characters just like some (brain-dead) adults believe in Jesus and everything he said.

Do you really believe that someone can take water and turn it into wine right in front of everyone? Or take bread and fish and make it multiply for everyone??

Seriously?

They are no different than Alice in Wonderland or Fantasia.

Wonderful stories that are part of the greatest works of fiction that the world has ever seen.


Now don't get me wrong. If you believe in this stuff that's fine, just leave me alone.

My sister is quite religious. She is a christian and truly believes that I am going to hell. But I don't want to hear about it.

I am a good person. I am nice to everyone and I give everyone the benefit of the doubt. And many times that gets me into trouble but its who I am.

But I don't believe in a god (or the God).

So does that mean that I am going to hell? I guess that depends....


do I believe in heaven and hell??

What it takes....

A couple was celebrating their golden wedding anniversary.

Their domestic tranquillity had long been the talk of the town.

A local newspaper reporter was inquiring as to the secret of their long and happy marriage.

"Well, it dates back to our honeymoon," explained the lady.

"We visited the Grand Canyon and took a trip down to the bottom of the canyon by pack mule.

We hadn't gone too far when my husband's mule stumbled.

"My husband quietly said 'That's once.'

We proceeded a little farther when the mule stumbled again.

Once more my husband quietly said, 'That's twice.'

We hadn't gone a half-mile when the mule stumbled a third time.

My husband promptly removed a revolver from his pocket and shot him.

I started to protest over his treatment of the mule

when he looked at me and quietly said 'That's once.'"

This is how every good marriage is but typically (and lets be honest here) it is the woman with all the control.

I have no problem admitting that my wife wears the pants in my house. That's fine with me

Sure every once in a while I pretend to make a decision or I act like I can do what I want.

But I know the truth and so do most of the people around me.

Ah...the all knowing

WOW....two posts in one day?!?!?!? Kind of considering the earlier one was really early in the morning or just late at night depending on your perspective.

I was watching the movie Elizabethtown last night when I wrote that other post, which is what made me think of that topic.

This post is something that I have been marinating on for a couple days now.

This is a message to all parents and to all future parents.

If your child is playing a sport, DO NOT coach from the sideline.

It is fine and very much appreciated to CHEER from the sideline (appropriately of course). But there is no reason to give coaching advice.

Unless of course you are the coach!

So many times I hear parents who think they know what they are talking about telling their child what to do.

What if the coach specifically said not to do what you just told them to do?

My daughter plays under 8 soccer so right now the girls are all learning how to listen to a coach and learning the nuances of soccer.

The other day her team had a game and one of the girls was on defense. But the parent of this girl told her that she can’t help the team by standing back there on defense. She should run up and join the offense so that she can score.

WHAT??

Isn’t defense just as important? And if the coach wanted the girl to go play offense then he would put her on offense or tell her himself.

But this parent decided that his daughter was too good to play defense because she WASN’T helping the team.

No, she WAS helping her team by being in position to keep the ball out of the net if it came back there.

But the parent was unable to see past themselves to realize this.

All I am saying is that the coaches typically know what they are doing.

How do you expect these kids to listen to a coach if you are telling them different things?

The coach tells them one thing and you tell them another….?

That is not going to work and you need to STOP!

Unless of course you don’t want your child to learn the proper way to play. And I think you do.

So just let the COACHES coach and you the parent can offer words of ENCOURAGEMENT from the sidelines.

But PLEASE don't COACH unless you ARE the coach!

What is the Point?

I am finding that I have more things that I dislike than I thought. I can definitely find things to complain about considering the country we live in has new problems on a daily basis.

Every morning when I get to work I check my email and I get my radio turned on. And then I check a site for news and local information called PennLive. This morning I saw this headline

“Senate panel will vote on gay marriage ban”

So I read the article.

HUH??

Why is it that so many people think marriage should only be between a man and a woman?

Is it really that sacred anymore? I am sure half on the senators that are on this panel are either divorced or have had an affair or two. They work too much to have a satisfying and successful marriage. Wait; let me rephrase that last sentence so that it is more accurate. They ARE AWAY HAVING FUN AT OUR EXPENSE too much to have a satisfying and successful marriage. That makes more sense, doesn’t it?

I mean really, the divorce rate is above 50% for the country!! How can you say that gay marriage is threatening the “institution” of marriage? That doesn’t even make sense. What the hell is the “institution of marriage”? Any one who says such a thing should be placed in a true INSTITUTION!!

In the article it says that PA already has a ban on gay marriage. So why are we doing this again? Oh yeah, this is for a CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT to ban gay marriage. This would make it that much harder for lawyers who have common sense to get around the STUPID law.

One idiot, Peg Luksik of the Pro-Life Coalition said marriage is an institution that “needs and deserves additional protections because of the attacks that have been made by judges across the country that have sought to redefine the institute of marriage.”

ATTACKS?? Why because they are getting people equal rights?

And another idiot, Mike Brubaker (Republican-Lancaster) said “marriage has helped to provide stability in our society for thousands of years. It is worth the effort to define it within our constitution.”

STABILITY?? Why don’t you ask some of the 50% of children in this country who come from divorced parents about stability!

Is gay marriage going to affect your home life? NO! Not any more than the couple next door that is getting divorced next month because they can’t get along. I would rather live next to a gay couple that loves each other than next to a couple that is constantly at each other’s throats.

Obviously if you have read this far you know where I stand on this issue. I don’t see what the problem is. If two people are in love (or not) and want to get married than let them. It is not going to matter to me one way or another.