Stop To Salute
Topic: worthy read
I think everyone should read this in honor of Memorial Day, if nothing else...

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It was raining "cats and dogs" and I was late for physical training. Traffic was backed up at Fort Campbell, Ky., and was moving way too slowly. I was probably going to be late and I was growing more and more impatient.

The pace slowed almost to a standstill as I passed Memorial Grove, the site built to honor the soldiers who died in the Gander airplane crash, the worst redeployment accident in the history of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault).

Because it was close to Memorial Day, a small American flag had been placed in the ground next to each soldier's memorial plaque.

My concern at the time, however, was getting past the bottleneck, getting out of the rain and getting to PT on time.

All of a sudden, infuriatingly, just as the traffic was getting started again, the car in front of me stopped.

A soldier, a private of course, jumped out in the pouring rain and ran over toward the grove.

I couldn't believe it! This knucklehead was holding up everyone for who knows what kind of prank. Horns were honking. I waited to see the butt-chewing that I wanted him to get for making me late.

He was getting soaked to the skin. His BDUs were plastered to his frame. I watched-as he ran up to one of the memorial plaques, picked up the small American flag that had fallen to the ground in the wind and the rain, and set it upright again.

Then, slowly, he came to attention, saluted, ran back to his car, and drove off. I'll never forget that incident. That soldier, whose name I will never know, taught me more about duty, honor, and respect than a hundred books or a thousand lectures.

That simple salute—that single act of honoring his fallen brother and his flag—encapsulated all the Army values in one gesture for me. It said, "I will never forget. I will keep the faith. I will finish the mission. I am an American soldier."

I thank God for examples like that. And on this Memorial Day, I will remember all those who paid the ultimate price for my freedom, and one private, soaked to the skin, who honored them.

~ Army Captain John Rasmussen

Once a day...
Topic: quotes
"She said she cried at least once a day...not because she was sad, but because the world was so beautiful and life was so short."
-Brian Andreas

(compliments of http://www.amymcmullen.com)

Happy Birthday Dad!!!
Mood:  caffeinated
Topic: family
Happy Birthday Dad!!! He's 57 today...still got plenty of years left though. Can't wait to party with him tonight...maybe have a drink or two? :)

Judge Mathis
Mood:  hungry
Topic: people who need help
So I was watching Judge Mathis during lunch again today (as I watch almost every weekday during lunch).

The plaintiff was a woman who was suing her ex-husband/father of her son. The father (now remarried) did not pay child support the first 15 years of his son's life. His excuse was fuzzy: either he was in rehab or didn't have a steady job or something. I couldn't quite figure it out because the guy acted like he was still a little drugged up. Another excuse he tried was, "Well she never filed to get child support." None of the excuses worked on the judge, who further pointed out that a real man would take care of his responsibilities that wouldn't require his ex-wife and mother of his child to take him to court to get child support from him.

Well it just so happened that the son was killed in a drive-by shooting at the age of 22. The reason the mom was taking the dad to court: the check that she received from his wife for $2,000 for the son's funeral had a stop payment placed on it. The reason for the stop payment? The husband didn't like the funeral proceedings. He complained that the reverend was not allowed to speak at the funeral as much as he wanted and the father complained about having to be a pallbearer.

The defendant's wife chuckled at one point when the plaintiff introduced her witness (her sister) and Judge Mathis asked, "What's so funny? The fact that your husband doesn't pay child support or the fact that his son was murdered? What's so funny?" She mumbled something about laughing at the witness and the judge had her escorted out of the courtroom.

The plaintiff and her witness bickered back and forth with the father when Judge Mathis banged his gavel.

With all seriousness and sincerity in his voice he said, "I didn't want to have to say this. I didn't want to have to go here, but I have no choice." He then looked at the defendant. "You wouldn't have to be complaining right now about being a pallbearer if only you had been in your son's life the first 21 years." With that he awarded $2,000 to the plaintiff and banged the gavel again.

I think the plaintiff responded the best when she lowered her head and said out loud, "Amen!"

Donuts tomorrow...
Mood:  hungry
Topic: funny stuff
(conversation from work)

Jennifer: "Just so you know, I'll be bringing in donuts tomorrow for the meeting."

Trudi: "Donuts? Really? I guess I won't blend up my slimfast in the morning then..."

Ehhh...
Mood:  irritated
Topic: ramblings
Man I'm a little tired this morning...I suppose getting only 7 or so hours of sleep would do that to someone...

Anyway, the buzz around all the radio/news sources now is talking about the recent Newsweek scandal. For those who haven't heard:

"Newsweek on Monday retracted the report in its May 9 issue after officials in the White House, the Pentagon and the State Department criticized its publication and its use of an anonymous source. Protests in Afghanistan, where more than a dozen people died and scores were injured in rioting, and demonstrations elsewhere in the Muslim world were blamed on the article."
(from Excite News)

That particular article even named names: "The article was written by Michael Isikoff, an investigative reporter, and John Barry, a national security correspondent for the magazine." And Newsweek insinuating that the article's writers would not be fired and was even quoted as saying, "We think that people acted responsibly and professionally and ... there was no malice, no institutional bias, just a mistake that was made in good faith."

'A mistake'? 'Good faith'? I certainly wouldn't call what led to at least 15 confirmed deaths and rioting in the Middle East as just 'a mistake.' I sure as hell wouldn't call it 'good faith' either. And who is smoking crack to think it is responsible and unbiased news reporting? They clearly jumped on any attempt to bad-mouth the soldiers at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba like a high school girl jumping at the chance of spreading gossip to all of her friends about Kelly making out with Cindy's boyfriend. Perhaps major media sources do this sort of thing all the time; but it certainly doesn't usually come back to bite them in the ass like it did this time.

This reminds me all too well of Dan Rather jumping at the chance of spreading biased rumors about President Bush's military record; because of that he shamefully stepped down.

The least these authors should do is step down. I'm even debating whether we should, as punishment, fly them over to the Middle East and see what sort of apologizing they can do to the people there. Of course, they would probably be ripped into pieces by the rioters there...but then again, perhaps that's just the "good first step" needed. I suppose that's the price to pay when your fabricated story leads to over a dozen deaths, huh?

May we all read other news sources besides Newsweek...and may God have mercy on their souls.

Gotta love Craigslist...
Topic: funny stuff
FREE Fireplace Ashes.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reply to: dalambs@comcast.net
Date: 2005-05-12, 8:18AM PDT


During the drought of 2005 I got cold and built a fire. Now I have these ashes left in the fireplace. You can use them for many craft projects or whatever you desire. I will load them in a bag for you.

Sacrificing Our Daughters
Mood:  sad
Topic: people who need help
Sacrificing Our Daughters
Abortion and Sexual Predation

BreakPoint with Charles Colson

May 2, 2005

Note: This commentary was delivered by Prison Fellowship President Mark Earley.

You’ve seen all the press lately on parents’ demanding to know if a sexual predator is in their neighborhood. Likewise, what parent wouldn’t want evidence of a possible sexually based offense against a child reported to the authorities?

Yet, when my good friend state Attorney General Phillip Kline recently took steps to make these things happen, it was labeled an “inquisition.” Why? The almost sacred status of the “right to an abortion.”

Earlier this year, Phillip Kline, the attorney general of Kansas, subpoenaed the medical records of ninety women “who received late-term abortions at two Kansas clinics in 2003.” In his application to the Kansas Supreme Court, Kline made his reasons for the request clear: to see if the clinics had violated Kansas law against late-term abortions and to investigate possible sexual predators.

Kline’s critics immediately seized on his pro-life beliefs and labeled his request a “fishing expedition.” Kline, who is under a gag order not to discuss specifics of the case, replied that “the issue in this case is whether abortion clinics are above the law.” Without the records, the state argues, there’s no way to make a “reasonably informed judgment” about what went on in the clinics and in those late-term abortions.

An equally important and outrageous issue here is the possible failure by abortion clinics to report sex crimes against minors.

According to Kansas health officials, seventy-eight girls under the age of 15 had abortions there in 2003. Since, under Kansas law, as in most states, no girl under fifteen can legally consent to sex, these girls were all the victims of, at least, statutory rape, a sex crime punishable by as much as thirteen years in prison.

This highlights a little-known and even less-discussed aspect of the abortion industry: In addition to destroying a human life, the abortion clinics can also withhold or destroy evidence of a crime. The abortion industry, as we all know, promotes the image of being responsible, of helping frightened teenaged girls whose boyfriends got them pregnant. What they know and neglect to mention to parents or to the police is that those “boyfriends” are, more often than not, adults.

A study by Mike Males of the University of California, Irvine, found that “roughly half of the babies born to 15-year-old mothers were fathered by adult men no longer in school.” Even worse, Males and his colleagues found that the “younger the girl [giving birth], the wider the age gap.” There’s every reason to believe that what is true in the maternity ward is also true at the abortion clinic. The men getting 15-year-old girls pregnant aren’t lustful teenagers; they’re sexual predators.

These are the only people benefiting from the opposition to Kline’s investigation. Invoking the “right to privacy” and “doctor-patient privilege” when 14-year-olds are involved only makes it easier for their assailants to victimize someone else’s child.

Isn’t it sadly ironic that in such a “safety-conscious” society we tolerate this state of affairs? It’s proof, if you need it, of the almost religious significance of “abortion rights.” Nothing, not even our daughters’ well-being, can interfere with these rights. And they call us fanatics!

WorldView Knowledge
Mood:  a-ok
Topic: ramblings
Someone in the yahoo group I joined called "IdLikeToHaveAnArgumentPlease" sent an email about a website where you can test your "WorldView knowledge" (whatever that means). I thought they had some interesting questions; some questions I might not mind discussing more in detail some day. Anyway, the website is:

http://www.worldviewweekend.com/test/test.php?regid=ed327005fdcab792bb48d2b070c862ff&testid=

Feel free to go check it out and see how you did. I scored a 58%, which apparently just means the author of the site and I don't quite agree on it all.

Is All Hope Lost For Humanity?
Mood:  blue
Topic: people who need help
This story made me sick when I read it and realized that this sort of thing is happening (not only in the US but of course the world). The way they (the "grandmother," the abortion clinic, the police etc) treated this 14 yr old and her mother should make everyone involved ashamed. It makes me ashamed to share the same species as them. And their actions are what make me hope that since no justice will probably be found on Earth, I hope and pray that everlasting justice will be served.

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LEADER EXCLUSIVE: Mother arrested for attempting to intervene in her 14-year old's decision to have abortion

Tuesday, March 22, 2005

By Joyce Morrison, Southern IL News Correspondent

For legal reasons, the names of the family and the 14-year old girl that are the subject of this story have been withheld at this time.

GRANITE CITY - A Southern Illinois woman was arrested last week (March 17) after trying to intervene on behalf of her 14-year old daughter's effort to have an abortion. The girl was allegedly taken to an abortion clinic by the mother of the man allegedly to have impregnated the 14-year old.

According to the girl's mother, her 14-year old daughter was called off from school in Madison County by a woman posing as the girl's “grandmother.” The woman took the girl from her home only minutes before the girl’s mother returned home from work.

It was later determined that the woman who had posed as the "grandmother" to the school authorities was the mother of the male who had fathered the unborn child the 14-year old girl was carrying. The age of the male has not been released.

When the parents were notified their pregnant daughter was not at school, they suspected she had been taken to the Hope Abortion Clinic in Granite City. The parents and grandfather were the only persons authorized to request school absence for the fourteen year old female.

“My husband and I rushed to the abortion clinic where we saw our daughter’s name on the roster and the time she had checked in,” the mother said. She then went into the clinic and searched a room filled with young women awaiting abortions but did not see her daughter.

She took a seat near the main desk and said, “I was told I could not prove my daughter was there so I began calling her name. A medical tech at the clinic told me , ‘It’s your daughter’s rights, it’s her body. You have no rights.’”

After continuing to call out her daughter’s name and telling her “don’t do it,” authorities were called and the mother was arrested.

The 14-year old told her mother she could hear her but when she asked employees to give her mother a message, they came back to the room and told her that her mother had left.

Angela Michaels, of Small Victories Ministry, was tipped off as to what was happending at the Hope clinic. According to Michaels, she witnessed police placing the mother’s hands behind her back, taking her into custody. As the police were putting the mother in the squad car, she was crying out, “Please, please, help me...my daughter is in there.”

Michaels said, “Exactly one hour later at 10:35 a.m., the 14-year old emerged from the clinic looking disheveled. The 14-year old told us that employees kept her in a quiet room until the procedure was performed and she was told that her mother had left.”

Employees assured this girl on her departure, “No-one will ever know you were here, we’ll bury your records.”

In the meantime, the woman who had taken the girl for the abortion was slipped out the back door of the clinic.

The police in the community in which the family lives allegedly told the girl's mom that they couldn't intervene despite her making a charge that her daughter had been raped (by statute) because the charge was stale--7 weeks after the incident. They did tell the girl's mom that, while she had no right to stop the abortion, she did have a right to go into the clinic and speak to her daughter.

The parents are expected to file charges.

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