Monday, May 31, 2004

The Last Full Measure of Devotion


Today is Memorial Day. Yesterday was the day that I really spent 'memorializing'.
We went to the cemeteries and placed flowers and remembered our family that have gone before us. The real emotion of the day was Sunday morning. I watched the weekly TV broadcast of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. This week Donny Osmond was the guest vocalist. That may sound a little goofy. It did to me. However, it was anything but goofy. It was one of the most patriotic and emotional performances I have ever witnessed.
Donny sang a piece titled, "The Last Full Measure of Devotion". While singing they showed video clips of the newly dedicated World War II Memorial in Washington D.C. My chest swelled with patriotism and emotion. I am so grateful for the over 400,000 souls that gave their lives in World War II to put down a facist dictator in Europe and a ruthless hegemon in Asia. I am grateful for the over 800 souls who in recent days have laid down their lives to oust a nasty evil dictator in Iraq. Over a hundred thousand are still in harms way, trying to bring peace and democracy to over 50 million people. They are also laboring to chase down and put out of existence the evil terrorists that plot to destroy America and democracy. My heart and tears go out to them. I have never before felt the desire to serve my country like I have these last few years.
I am grateful to each Man and Woman, each US soldier that has given their own, 'Last Full Measure of Devotion'. And to those thousands that stand on the precipice. That stand on the edge of eternity ready to give their last full measure of devotion, I give my gratitude and my prayers.

Friday, May 28, 2004

Testing 1,2,3

If this works it will be my first picture I have successfully attached to my blog.
I'll dedicate this accomplishment to the Bare Naked Ladies and their song "Testing 1,2,3"
And, to Mr. Guadspot for inspiring me to blog.

Let your fingers do the walking

Something else to be careful of. Don't talk on the phone while playing violent video games. You might end up in jail. Somebody should write a book and all stupid people should be forced to read it.
Sheesh.

Nattering Nabobs

Who do we believe anymore? Now we have media people covering stories about media people. Where else are we going to get our 'news'? It's the very definition of a conundrum. I feel for the journalists out there. They have a tough job. Report what happens. Try to be objective. Tell the truth. I don't think it always works out that way. The White House has been complaining recently about the media through some back channels. (even through some front channels). It may come across as sour grapes when the truth of the matter is there are multiple troubles in Iraq. However, according to the Pew report out yesterday, the Bushies may have a leg to stand on with this one. The percentage of confessed Liberals in our nations media is at an all time high and had a large increase in the past year.
There are some good things happening in Iraq right now. We just don't hear a lot about it. What percentage of the news is made up of the good vs. the bad when it comes to Iraq? I did a very informal study on MSNBC.com. I searched under 'Iraq' and looked briefly at the headlines of the top 100 results. There were over 6100 Iraq related results on MSNBC alone by the way. My informal results showed only 5 stories out of 100 that were about anything remotely positive. 95% of our news is focusing on the negatives coming out of Iraq right now. Gee, I wonder why the national perception on Iraq is of doom and gloom?
Does anyone know of a news outlet that only focuses on good things? Not just about Iraq but the good about everything in general. I would love to know of it because sometimes, even though I know there are bad things happening in the world, I only want to know about the good. Just sometimes, not all the time.

Dead Languages

Most people say latin is a dead language. Here is one for you Macophiles out there. Remember this? Or, you could file this under 'people with waaay too much time on their hands.'

Must See TV

Here is proof that not everyone is watching TV these days.
If these folks had been watching I'm pretty sure they would have figured things out a lot sooner...

Oh no! Say it aint so!

Harry Potter is dead! Or at least he's gonna be. Harry said so himself!

Thursday, May 27, 2004

Rock and Roll

Getting back into the swing of blogging. I might go public with this soon.