Marine Comfort Quilts

When 18 Marines in her son's unit,1st Battalion, 2nd Marines, Charlie Company were killed on March 23, 2003 in the town of An Nasiriya, Jan Lang, the mother of one of the surviving Marines, decided that she would make a quilt for each one of the families of the Marines who died that day. She wanted each of the families to know the brotherhood goes on and that their pain was felt by their extended family, and that they were there for them.

Later, she decided to make a quilt for the families of every soldier who died in Iraq. Now that the death toll is at 2000, this is a daunting task. If you've thought about doing something to try to comfort the families of the soldiers, this is one thing you might consider. The quilts are made of 30 squares, each one created by individuals who may decorate them with words of comfort, signatures or images. Right now, they need to make about 700 more quilts just to get to the present total. That's 21,000 squares! And unfortunately we can be sure that this is not the final number. If you want to find out more information about the project and how you can help, go to:

http://www.marinecomfortquilts.us/index.html

Deaths as of 26 October, 2005:
Army: 1358
Navy: 39
Air Force: 21
Marines: 581
Total: 2000

Don't – Go Army

I just saw a commercial for the Army. The emphasis was on developing skills, getting an education and free health care. Granted, it was only a thirty second spot, but nowhere in those 30 seconds, did they mention the part about putting your life on the line in a war in the Middle East that you will no doubt find yourself in the middle of. Let face it, they're desperate for bodies in that war.

The army is also offering very attractive enlistment bonuses depending on what job specialty you choose. Please note, that the biggest bonuses are going for the most dangerous jobs. So figure the odds that you'll be able to spend that money after you return from the war. Odds are, you will be not be spending that money the way you want, if at all.

Maybe I'm not the right person to be giving advice on the subject of enlisting. After all, I freely enlisted in the military toward the end of another senseless war. I actually joined for the purpose of developing my skills and getting an education, but I joined the Navy, figuring that the odds were very great that I would never set foot in Vietnam. Silly me, who would've guessed that the Navy had personnel on the ground in Vietnam, but that's another story.

I used to recommend to any young man who is undecided about what he wants to do with his life that the military might be a good place to start. However, I don't think this is the right time. While I understand that the purpose of the military is to defend this country in times of war, I would prefer that the odds were such that I might actually end up defending my country in a time of peace.

Fibromyalgia

A friend of mine suffers from a condition called fibromyalgia. When she told me about it, I really didn't understand what it was; her hands were hurting. I thought it was something like carpal tunnel syndrome. So I thought, maybe I should learn a little more about this.

Fibromyalgia doesn't seem to get a lot of attention. Because people don't show any outward signs of their condition, it's difficult to raise any awareness. Nobody seems to understand what the disorder is all about. Put very simply, if you touch a person with fibromyalgia it hurts. Jewelry touching the skin can burn, sleeping on cotton sheets can irritate the skin; just hugging a loved one can be a painful experience.

Nobody seems to know what causes primary fibromyalgia, but scientists now believe that secondary fibromyalgia can be caused by a trauma, such as an automobile accident, or an untreated systemic inflammation. Scientists think that it may be a problem with the brain processing sensation information. It's interesting to note that most fibromyalgia patients also have chronic fatigue syndrome.

Since there are no medications for the treatment of fibromyalgia, many people have turned to alternative medicine. Some engage in yoga, while others find acupuncture eases their pain. Also a good diet and mild exercise seem to help. Of course, the pharmaceutical companies are rushing to find a drug that will help fibromyalgia. But at present, most doctors offer a cocktail of drugs to help their patients. It's also imperative that people suffering from fibromyalgia get a good night's sleep, try to eliminate stress in their lives and eat a healthy diet.

If you Google "fibromyalgia", you'll find there's lots of information about the disorder on the Internet, but an excellent place to start is at Lynn Matallana's web site. Lynne Matallana, a longtime sufferer of fibromyalgia, and now director of the National Fibromyalgia Association has her web site at http://www.fmaware.org/

Do you doublespeak?

So it's Monday morning and you're at work, and it's time for that very special Monday morning meeting. The first speaker gets up and delivers the following:

We need to maximize the throughput, so we can drive the interactive methodologies. By redefining enterprise e-commerce, we can transition the one-to-one vortals. When you target killer relationships within the organization, collaborative action-items can then be more easily recognized. Through the facilitation of enterprise e-services, virtualizing cutting-edge paradigms implements efficient mindsharing and synthesizes intuitive users. While deploying strategic Web services, we need to embrace cutting edge niches. We must revolutionize plug-and-play interfaces, but still generate intuitive e-services. You have to re-intermediate and redefine bricks-and-clicks web-readiness. In the future we will deliver vertical communities, while building community portals and mesh 24 by 365 infrastructure. Robust deliverables must be reinvented, while still incubating out-of-the-box architectures.

You didn't understand a word he said. Well, that's not exactly true. You understood the words, but what the heck was the context. While he probably impressed the hell out of the bosses, he certainly didn't enlighten you to anything new, but are you going to be the one who stands up and says the emperor has no clothes. No, you don't want to the one to admit that you didn't understand a word of what he said.

The world is full of jargon. Everyone speaks it, but it seems to change daily, and it's very difficult keep up. So maybe what the person said was perfectly comprehensible to those who understand the jargon. You just hadn't read the latest article and you didn't know the buzz words.

So how do you know when someone is saying something really valuable, or he's pulling these words out of his butt? I'm not really sure, but when you hear this kind of thing you've got to call them on it! Or at least turn to the person next to you and say "Did you understand what that guy said?"

If the person you ask is a good company man he'll probably say "Yes, I understood everything he said." Or if he's your friend, he'll probably say, "I didn't understand a single word this fool said!" So the bottom line is, you probably leave the meeting not understanding a single thing that was presented to you, and hoping that if you go on the Internet you can find out what the person was really saying.

It's a tough world out there. You have to learn when to put up, and when to shut up, to quote the gambler. And the truth of the matter is, if you learn to speak this corporate doublespeak, you can probably bamboozle your supervisors into thinking that you're the most intelligent person in the company, they're certainly not going to challenge you when they don't understand what you're saying, they'll assume they don't understand what the new jargon is and that's not necessarily a bad thing for you!

Moon Watch

This is Einstein year 2005, a year celebrating physics.

Well, unfortunately, not in the U.S.of A., but in the UK and Ireland this is a celebration the 100th anniversary of the papers that Einstein wrote, and it's a whole year of activity trying to get people excited about physics.

One of these activities is a project called Moon Watch. Her Majesty's Nautical Almanac Office would like you to take part in a project to determine the start of the new moon. All you have to do, is go out and observe the western sky on the first three days of the new moon and determine when you can see the moon. Then go to their web site and report what you've seen. I like this idea. It's a chance to join with people all over the world for a common cause. This is not like curing disease or feeding the hungry, but it is a chance to do something fairly significant. Many religions around the world use the start of the new moon to schedule events. Many require that you actually see the new moon, to begin the event. So the mathematical calculation of the new moon is not enough.

It's too late to do the observation for October. But since this project be going on for the next couple of years, it's not too late to get involved. If you're not sure when the new moon starts each month you can sign up on their web site for an e-mail reminder to tell you what day that is.

Make a date and make the observation. Take your significant other, a couple of chairs, maybe a bottle of wine and a light supper, find yourself a nice observation point and watch the sunset together.

For more information, you can go to their web site, http://www.crescentmoonwatch.org/ to report your findings and to find out helpful tips on how to observe the moon.

Here are some interesting web sites to give you more information about the moon and its phases.

http://www.griffithobs.org/Skyinfo.html - moon phase charts, general sky info. Griffith Observatory Sky Information

http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/RS_OneDay.html - will calculate sun and moon data for one day

http://tycho.usno.navy.mil/vphase.html - virtual phases of the moon for 1800-2199

http://www.fourmilab.ch/moontoolw/ - program to display phases of the moon in the system tray. While you're on this web site, check out some of the other tools available to you. There is some pretty interesting stuff here.

Check out http://www.einsteinyear.org for more information about Einstein year events.

Hold Until Cleared

The Fourth Amendment of the Constitution states:

"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated; and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized."

"The Constitution of the United States is a law for rulers and people, equally in war and peace, and covers with the shield of its protection all classes of men, at all times, and under all circumstances..." Milliigan (1866).

"In order to protect the lives of thousands, the civil rights of a few must be violated."

"We are waging a war that defends the lives of all Americans. And we wage that war each day in a way that values and protects the civil liberties and the constitutional freedoms that make our Nation so special." Alberto R. Gonzales - June 9, 2005

Does the fact that our government says we are fighting a war on terrorism actually put the country in a state of war so that our civil rights can be suspended? In times of crisis historical governmental emergency actions were justified, such as the Alien and Sedition Acts of the 1790's, the suspension of habeas corpus during the Civil War, the Abrams decision curtailing free speech during WWI and the Palmer Raids immediately following it, the internment of Japanese peoples during WWII, the McCarthy hearings during the Cold War and the FBI intimidation of civil rights activists and anti-Vietnam war protesters in the 50's, 60s and early 70's.

So here we are in the 21st century, once again holding people as "material witnesses" (what the government likes to call "hold intil cleared"). Sometimes they are held for weeks or months until the government is satisfied that they have no terrorist ties. The government seems to make no distinction as to whether these people are U.S. citizens or not. Some may say that just because they are citizens, doesn't mean that their allegiance might not lie elsewhere. During the second world war, the U.S. government rounded up thousands of poeple of Japanese descent using the same rationale. Forced into detention camps, they were held until the end of the war. The curious thing to me is that German-Americans or Italian-Americans were not treated in the same way. Why weren't they a threat? Now here we are treating people who look Middle Eastern the in much the same way as the Japanese-Americans of 60 years ago. You would think we had learned something since then.

A friend of mine says that he doesn't see the problem. If you're not doing anything wrong, you have nothing to worry about. Section 802 of the Patriot Act defines terrorism in such a way that anyone who disagrees with the power structure could be considered a terrorist. Section 802 says, "activity that involves acts dangerous to human life that violate the laws of the United States or any state and appear to be intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population." Anyone can be a suspect; by the books you read, by the people you associate with or by the things you say. Our law enforcement agencies now have the power to spy on us, set up files on individuals and make midnight raids on homeowners, all in the guise of protecting us from terrorists.

The government asserts that the fact we haven't had another terrorist attack sine 9/11 is proof that all this is working. I disagree. The bombings in London recently are proof that terrorists can attack anytime they want. Prime Minister Tony Blair said shortly after the attack that the government had NO credible intelligence that could have prevented the atttack. And just this weekend there was another attack in Bali. Don't you think that government did all it could to prevent such an event.

Hunting down suspected terrorists doesn't seem to be the answer. These people don't communicate with one another on a global level. As General Abizaid, speaking before a senate subcommittee, said just yesterday (I paraphrase), "Al Qaeda is not like IBM, a monolithic organization that leads from a central headquarters; it's more like a McDonald's franchise." Catching one terrorist may lead you to several more, but he and they are probably only acting on their own anyway, so the threat could come from anywhere and it most likely will.

"Beware the leader who beats the drums of war in order to whip the citizenry into a patriotic fervor, for patriotism is indeed a double-edged sword. It both emboldens the blood, just as it narrows the mind. And when the drums of war have reached a fever pitch and the blood boils and hate and the mind has closed, the leader will have no need in seizing the rights of the citizenry. Rather, the citizenry, infused with fear and blinded by patriotism, will offer up all of their rights unto the leader and gladly so. How do I know? For this is what I have done. And I am Caesar." - Julius Caesar

Well, it seems that President Bush Has pulled a Caesar on the U.S. Many live in fear of another terrorist attack and seem more than willing to give up whatever civil liberties the government deems necessary to secure their own safety. But as Benjamin Franklin said, "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."

Where you at?
Such a tiny word - at! But one that drives me up the wall. At, according to the dictionary means "In or near the area occupied by; in or near the location of". So, if I say" Where are we?", I'm asking for our location; the "at" would be redundant, completely unnecessary. Why does this bother me? I'm not sure, but I was listening to the radio this morning and in interview after interview with survivors of hurricane Katrina, the word came up over and over again.
Don't get me wrong; I don't think we need to throw the word away. We need to be "at work", "at the supermarket" and "at odds with something" but never just "at."
I read once that 98% of the people speak the language and the other 2% go around correcting the rest. This may be true, but I feel there is an obligation on the part of those who speak correctly to help those less fortunate.The addage - "Better to be thought a fool, than to open one's mouth and confirm it." We are judged by how we speak. And for better or worse it has a deep impact on our lives. People will instantly judge your level of intelligence or competence by the way you speak.You can graduate from MIT or Harvard, but if you can't speak well, you may lose a job or your credibility. Is this right or wrong? Those who choose to speak ebonics or those who come to this country and refuse to learn to speak American Standard English, will always be treated as second class citizens.
English is a "living" language. That means it will grow and change according to the usage of the people who speak it. That doesn't mean we have to let every common usage of the language become a part of the language. Do we have to let sloppy usage become the norm? I don't think so.
I think that "Where('re) we at..." you're really saying "Where are we at?" and any derivation of this has become common because we use the contraction 're for are and it demands some sort of completion. So, by putting the verb back into the sentence, the "at" becomes unnecessary and it just sounds better!
Doesn't "Where are you?, sound a whole lot better than "Where you at?