A New Survey

It's been awhile since I've done one of the DNeero surveys. I've hardly had time to update my blog let alone do surveys. But of course I loved this one. :) I'm still excited about McCain's choice of veep.

I've read lots of blogs and articles about it and it seems like some "talking heads" and party folks who eat and sleep politics aren't as excited. But they don't seem to understand how exciting it is for NORMAL people. I am not a party person. I enjoy politics and listen to talk radio all the time but I am no one in party politics. And my MIL isn't either and she is excited too. :)



Her nickname is Sarah Barracuda!!! How freaking awesome is that? *grin*

I know...it's superficial. I just love her whole story. She's a reformer...a true reformer, not just a "hope change" empty suit. She has actually done things - including selling the governor's jet on Ebay! ROFL How hilarious is that?!?

So Excited!

I have not been all that thrilled with the political campaigns going on so far. McCain is my choice but it's mostly a default choice. I'd much rather Bobby Jindal were running - but hopefully one day he will.

I am now JAZZED to vote for McCain with his choice of Sarah Palin as VP!!! WOOT!!!

It's not just that she's a woman (if that were my only criteria I'd have voted for Shillary). It's that her ideals are MY ideals. She is a true role model for women like me and those growing up in today's society. She is tough as nails (I've heard her nickname is Sarah Barracuda) and not afraid to stand up for the good ol' boy network to get things done. (She stood up against her own party and opposed the Bridge to Nowhere.)

I love that some of Messiah's supporters are questioning her experience. hahahahahaha Do they really want to go there? She has more experience than he does and he has the gall to run for the presidency itself.

I haven't been "excited" for a ticket in a long time. Now I'm ready to get a McCain / Palin bumper sticker and t-shirt. :) I have a feeling that she will run against Shillary in a future election. I DO want to see a woman (or a person of "non-white" color - like Jendal or Michael Steele - I would love either of those guys too) in the white house but that is not the only reason to vote for someone. It's nice to have the right ideals in a candidate - being a woman is just icing on the cake.

She's a great speaker too. She just thanked Geraldine Ferraro and Hillary Clinton for paving the way. That's classy. And smart. :) My MIL was excited to vote for Hillary even though she doesn't agree with her ideals. She just wanted to see a woman in the white house before she died. Now she can vote for someone with her ideals and get a woman in the second highest spot in America. And perhaps one day the highest spot. Woohoo!!!

The Truth in Georgia

No, not the state.

I've been watching the situation in Georgia with concern. Even though I'm not old enough to remember the "bad ol' days" of the Soviet Empire, the fall of the Empire in 1989 somehow had a profound and memorable impact on me.

Now, under Putin (as if he really stepped down) and the former KGB, Russia is stretching its muscles once again.

Some people have said that Georgia provoked Russia but that is NOT the case. Georgian troops entered THEIR OWN territory (yes, it is still Georgian territory even while it is disputed by the Southern Ossetians) after being fired upon the day before by Russian sympathizers (militia) in South Ossetia.

Georgia didn't start it on August 7, nor on any other date. The South Ossetian militia started it on August 6 when its fighters fired on Georgian peacekeepers and Georgian villages with weapons banned by the agreement hammered out between the two sides in 1994. At the same time, the Russian military sent its invasion force bearing down on Georgia from the north side of the Caucasus Mountains on the Russian side of the border through the Roki tunnel and into Georgia. This happened before Saakashvili sent additional troops to South Ossetia and allegedly started the war.

I am 25% Ukrainian by birth and would love to know more about that side of my genealogy. The Ukraine is watching the Russian conflict with fear and trepidation.

“On the evening of the 7th, the Ossetians launch an all-out barrage focused on Georgian villages, not on Georgian positions. Remember, these Georgian villages inside South Ossetia – the Georgians have mostly evacuated those villages, and three of them are completely pulverized. That evening, the 7th, the president gets information that a large Russian column is on the move. Later that evening, somebody sees those vehicles emerging from the Roki tunnel [into Georgia from Russia]. Then a little bit later, somebody else sees them. That's three confirmations. It was time to act.

“What they had in the area was peacekeeping stuff, not stuff for fighting a war. They had to stop that column, and they had to stop it for two reasons. It's a pretty steep valley. If they could stop the Russians there, they would be stuck in the tunnel and they couldn't send the rest of their army through. So they did two things. The first thing they did, and it happened at roughly the same time, they tried to get through [South Ossetian capital] Tskhinvali, and that's when everybody says Saakashvili started the war. It wasn't about taking Ossetia back, it was about fighting their way through that town to get onto that road to slow the Russian advance. The second thing they did, they dropped a team of paratroopers to destroy a bridge. They got wiped out, but first they managed to destroy the bridge and about 15 Russian vehicles.

The peacekeepers had a military objective, and the first rule of warfare when you're talking to the media is not to reveal to your enemy what you're going to do. So they weren't going to blather into a microphone and say well, actually, I'm trying to go through Tskhinvali in order to stop the Russians. So what did he say instead? I'm here to restore constitutional order in South Ossetia. And that's it. With that, Georgia lost the propaganda war and the world believes Saakashvili started it. And the rest of the story...you know.”

Let us not forget the cruelty and brutality of Soviet inspired actions...

Many Western camera crews were robbed at gunpoint ten meters from Russian tanks while Russian commanders just stood there smoking their cigarettes while the irregulars...that happened to a Turkish TV crew. They're lucky to still be alive. Some of the Georgians were picked up by the irregulars. If they happened to be female, they got raped. If they happened to be male, they got shot immediately, sometimes tortured. Injured people we have in hospitals who managed to get out have had arms chopped off, eyes gouged out, and their tongues ripped out.

Michael Totten deserves our support and that includes monetary donations. He does not work for any mainstream news outlet. He works for himself and his readers and is solely supported by reader donations. He does AMAZING work.

Certificate Issues

I tried logging in to my own website's administrative panel and got this freakishly scary error page saying my certificate expired.

Well, yes it did but I also renewed it like a month ago. I am just having a very hard time getting it re-installed. Why it needs to be reinstalled is beyond me. Why can't it just be renewed and voila be done?

I hate technical things like this. It makes no sense and it is overly confusing to my puny mind. I just want to click a button and be done with it. Unfortunately I have two different companies to work with - one is the SSL certificate company and the other is my Host. Yes, it would be easier if they were the same company but at this point getting it that way would be even more complicated and I don't want to deal with it.

I would be willing to PAY someone to take care of this for me. Sheesh. My website designer company did do this for me the last few times but they are too busy now ... I've been dropped. *sigh*

So if you try to go to my website don't get scared okay? :) Nobody hacked it and it hasn't been taken over. I'm just lame and need to get my act together.

Speaking of Age

What is with my body? I turn 3o and suddenly I fall apart?!?

A couple of weekends ago, Trooper and I went to an agility demo for Fido's Farm. I loved it and had a great time - and I'm sure that Trooper did too. He got to meet all kinds of fun and new dogs and people. He wanted to eat my lunch (I had a hot dog) but he had to settle for his kibble.

However, that night I could hardly walk. Both of my knees hurt SO bad. I've never had bad knees and I didn't do anything particularly strenuous at the demo. We were there for 4 hours and worked hard but I don't remember wrenching anything.

Ever since then my knees have fluctuated between dull aches and severe, cringe inducing pain. Today I ran a couple of errands - it didn't take more than 2 hours - and then I ran around cleaning up the house to get ready for our foster puppy's new family.

And now my knees feel like balloons...lead balloons that are pulsating.

What the flippin' heck? I hate taking pills but my mom says I need to take ibuprofen. *sigh*

And it's Sunday night...I hate Sunday evenings. It means work starts tomorrow and I'm reminded of all the things I did not accomplish over the weekend. The never ending list of chores with not enough hours in the day.

The good news? I had a fabulous time shopping and bought over $200 worth of product and spent less than $15. Woot! Coupons rock. :)

Top of the Muffin To YA!

I feel really old. Granted, 30 is not old. But it used to be that I was the youngest kid on the block at work. I was the "young pup" who everyone teased about being young.

Yeah...those days are so over. *sigh*

The interns at our company are just babies. They are so young that they don't even know Seinfeld references!!!

We had these amazing cupcakes on Tuesday and I just ate the "muffin top" and threw away the "stump" ... the intern just gave me a blank stare while my other coworkers laughed. I asked if he ever watched Seinfeld and he shook his head.

Oh dear Lord...I apologize to all those who I teased when I was younger about not knowing certain shows - or when I asked my mom what a "record" was.

Seinfeld is a classic. It's completely inappropriate and wonderful. My coworkers and I use lines from Seinfeld all the time. I still watch the reruns.

And it's now a show that "old" people watch. *sigh*

New Shoes

I haven't bought myself new clothes in awhile. This weekend I went a little nuts - but in reality spent less than $100 total on six new pieces of clothing and a new pair of shoes. And I am in LOVE with these shoes. Don't ask me why. They are totally not my normal boring brown, black, tan style. :)

*giggle* The look on hubby's face when I showed him was priceless. They're YELLOW!!! He asked if I even owned anything yellow. As a matter of fact I have several lovely yellow shirts and sweaters. I love yellow. And orange. Though I don't see myself wearing orange shoes. :)


One reason I bought them is because they were only $11 at Target. I don't buy shoes at Target very often (I seriously cannot remember the last time I did) and usually go to Macy's or Imelda's Ladies Shoes in Olympia. They rock.

But these called to me. One of my new pairs of pants is a summery dark navy blue capri and with a yellow top and these shoes I think I'll be styling. Even just wearing all black and these will be cute. I don't have a ton of cute summer shoes so these are going to be my official summer shoes. =)

I Love My Country

I've been off duty for several days and it has been so wonderful! I go back to work tomorrow but today is all mine. No errands. Just hanging out at home.

Going through some of my daily (or not so daily lately) reading I came across a couple of really great stories.

It always warms my heart when I hear about new citizens - they are always so positive and excited and they truly appreciate the opportunities the United States provides.

Many of us take our own freedoms for granted. There are so many things we can do for which people in other countries would be beaten, jailed, or even murdered.

Olga Alveres says, "I'm free, I'm free. In the United States, everybody's free!"

And that is the truth. I hear all sorts of citizens born in these United States complaining about how unfair life is...but they've only known such great freedoms as the US provides. They are spoiled brats who have no concept of life in China, Iran, North Korea, et al. Their whining about so called "injustices" would lead to their incarceration, torture, and often death.

Life is never fair, no matter where you live. It is what you do with your life that matters. And everyone can succeed if they are determined and hard working enough. Of course, everyone has a different measure of success. :) I just want to be healthy, safe, and free! Free to speak my mind. Free to work or not. Free to make my own choices.

Optimism is contagious. And I believe that ultimately, the United States is an optimistic country.


Edited to Add - Kobe Bryant GETS it...and the question from NBC is why I don't watch the news. Moron. Not that I've ever cared much about being "cool" or "in style."

Excellent Service Matters

I'm sure that I've harped on this before but I have to mention it again. I've always valued great service and when I get outstanding service it really makes an impression. Excellent service is how stores and people get me to come back and become loyal.

Netflix just sent an e-mail that I thought was beyond great. Their DVD shipping service was delayed and my scheduled shipment hasn't gone out yet.

Honestly, it hadn't even occurred to me. I think I was due another DVD yesterday but I hadn't given it much thought. I just finished another one and it will go back today but I still have one DVD to watch.

But Netflix really is on top of things. They apologized for the inconvenience and pro actively are letting me know that if their shipping services aren't available soon I will get a credit to my account. Which is really great of them and as far as I'm concerned is above and beyond. I don't know other services that would let me know this before the fact.

I know that I've had a couple of necklace chains break recently (stupid vendor must have changed their source because the chain is way weaker than it ever was before) and I've had to ask customers to return the necklaces to me for repair/replacement. I absolutely HATE having to ask this because it's not their fault and it's a total inconvenience for them.

To make up for it I made each of them a pair of earrings to match the necklaces. It's the least I can do to thank them for their time and energy. And I hope that it makes up for the fact that their necklace chains broke (through no fault of their own).

I also have stopped using that particular chain.

Does great service matter to you? Does it make you more loyal? Will you let a company know if a store has given you excellent service?

Who You Calling Fat Man, Little Boy?

Some recall with horror the events that occurred 63 years ago. Others look back on history with the belief that something this tragic had to be done or worse would occur.

While we should never forget the victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, we should also not forget the reasons why Little Boy and Fat Man were dropped in the first place. To end a war that was costing countless lives and would continue with untold casualties. The Japanese did not even surrender after Little Boy was dropped on Hiroshima - that is how stubborn their military leaders were.

"The blast — equivalent to about 13,000 tons of TNT — literally scoured out the center of the city and the resulting fires took care of most of the rest. About 70,000 people perished within hours of the blast with another 70,000 dying before the end of 1945.

Three days later –63 years ago today– history would repeat itself over the city of Nagasaki. This time, a plutonium bomb was used, increasing the efficiency of the device dramatically. Due to some topographical quirks (there were no large hills as in Hiroshima to focus the blast effect), the casualty rate was lower. Still, Fat Man managed to kill more than 40,000 that day and another 40,000 before that fateful year faded into history."

Was it necessary to kill 120,000 in the blink of an eye and cause the ultimate death of another 120,000? I'm no great military expert, but from my knowledge of history and the events that led to the final decision, yes it was necessary.

"Army Air Force Commander of Strategic Forces in the Pacific Curtis LeMay believed if given six months and freedom to target whatever he wished, he could bring Japan to its knees by completely destroying its ability to feed itself. Victory assured — at the cost of several million starved Japanese.

The navy thought a blockade would do the trick. Starving the Japanese war machine of raw materials and the people of food they were importing from occupied China would have the Japanese government begging for peace in a matter of six months to a year. Again, visions of millions of dead from starvation came with the plan.

The army saw invasion as the only option. A landing on the southernmost main island of Kyushu followed up by an attack on the Kanto plain near Tokyo on the island of Honshu. Dubbed Operation Downfall, the plan called for the first phase to be carried out in October of 1945, with the main battle for Japan taking place in the spring of 1946. Casualty estimates have been hotly debated over the years, but it seems reasonable to assume that many hundreds of thousands of Americans would have been killed or wounded while, depending on how fiercely civilians resisted, perhaps several million Japanese would have died in the assault."

It seems that people conveniently forget the ferocity with which the Japanese - both military AND civilian - fought. They were prepared to fight to the death - no surrender - down to the last woman and child - who would rather commit suicide than be captured.

"It is hard to grasp the wave of helplessness that descended on many in the civilian and military leadership as they watched the Japanese on Okinawa fight so fanatically and to the death. The prospect of invasion and continued combat throughout the Pacific was frightening."

Was dropping the bombs a "good" thing? Undoubtedly no. But I believe that history has shown us that it was right thing to do.

"...the allies issued an ultimatum to Japan: surrender or suffer the consequences. The die was cast and the fate of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was sealed."

Japan is one of our great allies today - something my maternal grandfather still finds amazing and my paternal grandmother can't really believe. She still sees them as the "Japs" who floated weather balloons across the sea and started forest fires here in the Pacific Northwest. She sees them as invaders who tried to take the Aleutian Islands in Alaska. She sees them as enemies who forced her husband to leave for war and her to work at Boeing as a "Rosie the Riveter" for her children. Some wounds never fully heal.

"But once –just once– I would like to hear the horror stories of the men and women of Pearl Harbor as counterpoint to the suffering of the Japanese and a reminder of who started the war and how they did it. I want to hear from those who can tell equally horrific tales of death and destruction. How Japanese aircraft strafed our men with machine gun fire while they were swimming for their lives through flaming oil spills, the result of a surprise attack against a nation with whom they were at peace. Or how the hundreds of men trapped in the USS Arizona slowly suffocated over 10 days as divers frantically tried to cut through the superstructure and rescue their comrades.

Perhaps we might even ask surviving POWs to bear witness to their ordeal in Japanese prison camps — surely as brutal, inhuman, and gruesome an atrocity as has ever been inflicted on enemy soldiers.

While we’re at it, I am sure there are thousands of witnesses who would want to testify about how the Japanese army raped its way across Asia. This little discussed aspect of the war is a non-event for the most part in Japanese histories. But the millions of women who suffered unspeakable mistreatment by the Japanese army deserve a hearing whenever the tragedy of Hiroshima is remembered."

The decision to drop the bombs saved not just American lives, but those of China as well. We forget the horror that the Japanese military wrought on civilians.

"Between 1932 and 1945 Japan experiments included testing biological weapons on humans, and attacked 11 Chinese cities with biological weapons.

...

Open air testing on prisoners was conducted at the the officially named "Water Purification Unit 731" at Pingfan near Harbin, a remote, desolate area on the Manchurian Peninsula.

...

In 1940, a plague epidemic in China and Manchuria followed reported overflights by Japanese planes dropping plague-infected fleas. The Japanese attacked hundreds of heavily populated communities and remote regions with germ bombs. There appears to have been a massive germ war campaign in Yunnan Province bordering Burma. Planes dropped plague-infected fleas over Ningbo in eastern China and over Changde in north-central China, and Japanese troops also dropped cholera and typhoid cultures in wells and ponds. In all, tens of thousands, and perhaps as many 200,000, Chinese died of bubonic plague, cholera, anthrax and other diseases. "

So it is all well and good to mourn the dead and ask why. But we need to be able to honestly answer that question with the truth of those times and understand the true reasons behind the ultimate decision.