7.27.2004

Review/Forecast.

Rus came home on Sunday. FINALLY. My friend Tracie and I went with her boyfriend's mom to meet the ship (neither of us have military ID's or base passes) at the pier. I was surprised that the three of us were three of the 6 people out of about 50-60 that actually dressed up. I wore a strapless knee-length dress. It's white with pink and brown pinstripes...very cute. Anyway, the other military girlfriends/wives/children were wearing jeans, halter tops, t-shirts...I don't get it. Everyone says, "Oh, everyone dresses up when they're gone for 6 months." Oh, so when they're only gone for two months, looking nice for homecoming isn't important? I don't think so. Any time away is worth the effort.

After the ship pulled in, they let us walk down the pier and we filed onto the cruiser and met our sailors in the mess decks. It was pretty neat. I'd never been on his ship before.

Mia was very happy to see Rus. When he was gone for 3 weeks in April (was it April?), she was very upset with him when he got home. This time, she gave him a big hug and a kiss and has kicked me off the cuddle couch to take my spot more than a couple times.

We've got big plans this weekend, too. On Friday we're going up to Richmond with his mom and spending the night at her cousin's house. We'll be back on Saturday in time for me to get to work, and actually hopefully a little earlier than that so we can make an appearance at his friend's going away party.

On Sunday, we'll be heading down to Duck, NC to spend time with MY family. :) We're going to leave between 8 and 9 so we'll be there between 10 and 12 depending on traffic.

Posted by Deir at 11:17 | |

7.22.2004

The voices are not in my head.

I'm always talking about all the features on AOL that I just LOVE, and I have another one to add to the list.

You can change the voice that says, "Welcome," "You've Got Mail," "Goodbye," and also "You've Got Voicemail" and "You've Got Pictures." For awhile I had Sarah Jessica Parker and then I switched to Lisa Kudrow.

Lisa started to bore me and as I was searching, I noticed that instead of using a celebrity voice, you can just have the computer add your name to the salutations. 'Deirdre' isn't really a name you find printed on pencils and magnets at souvenir stands so I thought I'd look through and it was there!

So I selected it and listened to the female voice and the male voice. The male voice says, "Deidre" and the female voice says "Deirdre." For the "Goodbye" personalization, 'Deidre' is an option but 'Deirdre' is not. But again, the female voice says "Deirdre" and the male voice says "Deidre."

Crazy AOL voices.

Posted by Deir at 20:29 | |

7.21.2004


"They" say to not talk politics with the ones you love. I guess there's a good reason for that. So, I'm officially closing the political forum (for now) with no hard feelings and without prejudice.

Meghan asked me to explain what exactly is meant by "Actually I DO mind The Gap..." for the benefit of some of her friends. Well, friends, Meghan was right on the money with her own explanation. "Mind the gap" means to be wary of the gap between the subway platform and the tube itself. I suppose someone at some point in time didn't mind the gap, and if you look closely at the picture in the upper left corner of the site, you will see the words "mind the gap" painted on the platform.

Mom always told me that Grandma Delaney was the QUEEN of punning; it was a talent and an artform, I guess. I, myself, have never been one for puns, but I could not resist with this template. "The Gap" is capitalized because I DO also MIND THE GAP, as in Gap, Inc. I don't mind it as in I pay attention to it. I mind it as in it annoys me. They have nice khakis, but the clothing is overpriced and very bland.

So that's that.

Posted by Deir at 17:43 | |

7.19.2004

Real clever strategy.

So. It turns out that Iraq did not have "weapons of mass destruction," or "WMD." We took over their country and let them kill our soldiers and more than a couple of our civilians to prove it. Granted, it was the OPPOSITE of what we intended to prove, but we proved something...and something is better than nothing.

Is that right? Is that seriously the logic? Is Bush running is country with trial and error? I saw this headline on CNN.com. I didn't read it. It disgusted me.

To me, the headline itself reads, "Welp, it turns out it wasn't Iraq...so now, let's try Iran. Iran is repsonsible for 9/11. Please approve a billion dollar budget so I can take over another country before the election."

Or, maybe, the USA has been duped. Maybe good ole Georgie boy KNEW that Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11 in the first place and thought they'd be a good scapegoat and the lay-citizens of the U.S. would buy it and then at the very least woule likely be happy to have Saddam out of power. Maybe GW's plan, now, is to go after the REAL men behind the curtains and save his arse from being voted out of office.

I'm just really sick to death of the whole thing. We can't AFFORD trial and error. We are so far into debt as a nation, it disgusts me. And forget the budget anyway, we can't afford to lose our sailors and soldiers. We owe it to THEM to not send them on these blind missions.

Blockquote is a pain.

I couldn't get out of the block quote after I made the second one. Blogger's new "helpful features" aren't so helpful.

ANYHOO. To the rest of Brian's comments:

A pros and cons list can be made for everything including the media.

The military was given a job in Iraq. They were basically told to use whatever means necessary to get information. I am 100% against abusing prisoners, especially when they're innocent civilians. I don't really think you can compare policemen to the military though. Policemen have laws and rules to follow. Their cases and their careers depend on it. Only a corrupt police department would encourage brutality. Similarly, only a corrupt government would only encourage abuse of prisoners and the tossing of the Geneva conventions. Isn't that what our government did? Didn't they say to use whatever means necessary? Where has Rumsfeld been through all this? He's pretty much dropped off the radar.

Every human being is blessed (or cursed, for that matter) with a certain amount of self control. I don't know how many soldiers were actually instructed to abuse prisoners and have unbelievably incriminating photos taken, I wasn't there. I haven't been through any sort of military or police training. I can't speak from experience. I have heard military boot camp (especially Army & Marine boot camp) referred to as "desensitization," "brainwashing," and "reprogramming" though. I'm not suggesting the abuse was committed by a bunch of zombies, but I don't know if it's accurate to compare.

To address Brian's comments.

Do you really think that bin Laden consulted Wolf Blitzer to figure out if he could get a box cutter on a plane?

Atta and the crew walked through metal detectors at the airport holding then-inconspicuous box cutters to figure out if it was going to work, and once it did, they probably stashed some inside so they wouldn't have to worry about being kept out the next time.

You didn't need MSNBC to figure out that the airports were insecure or that an airplane fueled up for a transatlantic flight will make a big explosion if you crash it into a skyscraper. In fact, I don't remember a single report on the likely outcome of such a scenario in any mainstream media source prior to 9/11.
Yeah. That's why I said this:
Al-qaeda operatives spent time in our country while the 9/11 attacks were being planned and put into motion. We had a couple of them staying right here in Virginia Beach. They exploited our vulnerabilities by learning what they were. By CNN, FOXnews, MSNBC, etc. making it known that those vulnerabilities still exist, they are enabling further planning.

7.14.2004

Brian, you're right.

That statement may be in bold, but don't get too excited just yet. I agree with you, the terrorists are the ones exploiting our vulnerabilities. They take advantage of our (now) obvious lack of security measures and preparedness. However, I don't feel it's necessary, or wise, to make it national news when a box cutter makes its way through airline security undetected if it's not used. Send a memo through the ranks, fire some incompetents, do more thorough background checks, fix the problem. Don't call CNN.

Also, I'm sure Osama doesn't have a satellite dish in his cave. But al-qaeda does manipulate the news-media with its statements and recorded messages. Granted, those newsbits are picked up by the AP and broadcast by our media outlets, but isn't terrorism designed to create fear, instability, and unrest among those people you're terrorizing? Isn't that what our media is helping them do?

Al-qaeda operatives spent time in our country while the 9/11 attacks were being planned and put into motion. We had a couple of them staying right here in Virginia Beach. They exploited our vulnerabilities by learning what they were. By CNN, FOXnews, MSNBC, etc. making it known that those same vulnerabilities still exist, they are enabling further planning.

If, in fact, someone would swing his or her vote because of our total lack of preparation, our CIA and FBI's inability to cooperate and share information, the FAA's chronic inability to secure our flights post-9/11, the polls should reflect that. George W. shouldn't still have a chartable approval rating. John Kerry shouldn't be marginally ahead of Bush in the forecasted polls. If the public could process the information it's given, John Kerry should win the election on November 2nd by a landslide. Unless, God forbid, the election is delayed by some "unforeseeable" reason.

7.12.2004

I said it. I meant it.

I've been mulling it over. The retraction Brian mentioned here won't be coming.

I don't thing certain things should be broadcast on the news. For example, I don't think it should be public information that we're no where near ready to handle another attack like 9/11. I think the media exploits our vulnerabilities.

I also think "freedom of speech" is far too broad. I disagree with the Supreme Court's decision to not enforce the Child Online Protection Act because "the statute likely violates the first amendment". I'm sure our forefathers are rolling over in their graves knowing what the Constitution they signed is protecting and who it isn't.

7.09.2004

You know what's crazy to me?

It's crazy enough that ONE person is capable of doing such HORRIBLE THINGS, but the fact that TWO people TOGETHER could do such things.

And this guy is just a jerk. Mothers across America should be calling for his resignation. I sure am.

WHOAzilla.

How excited am I!? Thanks Al and Des (I think you recommended it once upon a time).

I downloaded Mozilla Firefox 0.9.2 this morning. I LOVE IT. I've already dumped IE from the hard drive.

The problem I'm experiencing with AOL/Blogger is that my updates don't show up in my AOL browser and my site won't publish. I tried using IE for that before and I kept on getting redirected to a IncrediFind search site saying postedit/publish couldn't be found.

I guess it's exciting news all around! For those of you that haven't made it over to my seester's site yet, the ultrasound said IT'S A BOY!!

I've got to comment on the comments.

How do you compare? I think Clinton was more of a piece of shit than Bush. And I don't think Gore was the best candidate. Maybe Kerry will be great? -- fidybrock

Well fidybrock, I believe Bill was an AWESOME president. He did some great things for our country. In his first two years in office, 6 million new jobs were created, and he did a good job reducing the deficit. He did great things for gun control while protecting hunters at the same time. He put more police officers on the street. He also signed the Family & Medical Leave Act into law and that came in handy when I took time off work when I had Mia. I had TWO jobs that gave me time off and wanted me to return. Those things I mentioned aren't even close to half of the great things he did.

As far as Clinton being a "piece of shit," I'm sure he regrets cheating on his wife...maybe he just regrets doing it with such a blabbermouth, who knows? To sort of touch on BDB's AWESOME post I would have to say that the media is afforded far too many rights under the first amendment. Plus, people are just WAY too in to other peoples' business. How many people (besides the secret service agents that helped cover it up) found out about JFK's countless infidelities and found out while he was STILL in office?

President Bush really just makes me sick. He might as well cheat on his wife, I honestly don't think he could be a bigger slime if he tried. Since he came into office he's attacked and taken over Iraq, he's sent the deficit through the roof, he's cut health benefits for war vets, etc. He's created some MAJOR problems and been able to cover them up. He's a liar. Flat out. George Bush is a liar. And isn't funny that we're just finding out NOW that his service records were destroyed YEARS ago. The media has been trying to get its slimy hands on those records under the Freedom of Information Act for how long? And all of the sudden, they were destroyed...in the 90s. Riiiight.

I'm ashamed to say I supported George W. Bush the first time around. I thought he was a much stronger candidate than Al Gore. Thanks to the voter corruption in Florida, Bush conned his way into office.

I won't make that mistake twice. It would be more accurate to say that I DESPISE George Bush than it would be to say I LOVE John Kerry. Like Scott-san, I would probably support the creation of a third-party of politicians. This election, to me, is about getting Bush out of power. He's spent enough time on vacation and let our country go to poo. How about a permanent vacation for the sucker, or maybe exile?

7.06.2004

Pain in me arse.

Blogger has become a royal pain since we subscribed to AOL.

Today is turning out to be a pretty good day.


I got a 100% on my Clinical test today.

I successfully drew blood on my first try.

And the Kerry-Edwards ticket is official. I'll be attending a party on the 29th to celebrate John Kerry's nomination. How exciting!! I'm a political volunteer. GOOD TIMES AHEAD!

7.05.2004


First, Happy Birthday Joe. Happy Birthday Daniel. Happy Birthday Trina.

7.04.2004

Happy Independence Day.

And Happy Birthday Maureen and Sean.

7.03.2004

Found at Messenger Puppet.

And he really DOES look like the Soup Nazi.

7.02.2004

Yeah, we're not through here.

I'm assuming the pictures on the site were taken in the UK. BUT, this is the only site with red, white, and blue that I found and liked.

I'm working on trying to figure out why the links aren't aligned right...it's bothering me.

Hopefully, you all will notice that "my issues" really are issues we should all be concerned about. All my personal issues can be found in the archives, I'm sure.

Enjoy.

7.01.2004

Not too much to report from the homefront.

Rus has been gone for about a month, so for about a month I've been doing homework and playing with Mia..with the occasional night out with Dianna sprinkled here and there.

Mia has been busy adding to her already 'big for her age' vocabulary. She says "jet" and my favorite, "I luhs ooh" (I love you, for those of you that don't have kids). Including those words, she got a vocab of 75+ words and phrases. What a smartypants. :)