Parenthesis to History (washingtonpost.com)
I think that Krauthammer has missed the point. His compliants about the National WWII Memorial are off the mark. Asking questions about why are the states named. These are where the nation sent its sons out to fight and in some cases die. Take the 29th Infantry Division for example. Part of this division landed in the first wave at Omaha beach on D-Day (and has its own memorial. These men were formed from a National Guard division, as were most of the divisions that the United States created to fight in Europe and the Pacific. They came from Maryland, Virginia, as well as some from Pennsylvania. It was a regional and state division like most National Guard units. This is why the D-Day Memorial is in Bedford, VA. That town suffered the highest casualty rate on D-Day, losing almost 20 of her sons in a single day at one place.
Krauthammers point about the stars (4,000 gold stars representing 100 combat deaths) is also misplaced. In fact, men did die by the hundreds in battles. Kasserine, Sicily, Italy, D-Day, St. Lo, the Ardennes, the Rhinelend, Pearl Harbor, Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Iwo Jima, Okinawa. These and many other place saw young men, from small and big towns all across the United States and its territories, give their lives to defend and bring freedom to the peoples of Europe and Japan and the Pacific.
To make these kinds of complaints regarding the WWII Memorial shows that one, Krauthammer just dislikes the memorial itself or its location, and shows his ignorance of the US Military's structure during World War II. Our boys were killed by the score for what they believed was an important task. In my opinion, he cheapens their sacrifice and this nation's long overdue "thank you" by bringing his personal dislikes to the table.
Friday, May 28, 2004
Monday, May 24, 2004
My Aching Back
Well, we are now mostly moved into storage. All of our "heavy" items are in the storage space and we actually have some space left (after some creative maneuvering). I had a couple of friends help me out and we accomplished most of what I wanted to get done. My wife and I are exhausted and bruised but we are happy about how things went.
Now we get to play house for six weeks in our friends home while they are out of town. This home must be in the center of the cicada infestation around Baltimore. I mowed the lawn on Saturday evening and those insects were deafening. I am not kidding. I could still hear them clearly above the mower engine. I hope I do not go insane listening to continuous chirping.
All in all things are going well as we enter into our first week. We have managed to keep the fish alive and the carpet clean. Just a few more boxes and one or two trips to the storage facility and the Great Move of '04 will be finished.
Now we get to play house for six weeks in our friends home while they are out of town. This home must be in the center of the cicada infestation around Baltimore. I mowed the lawn on Saturday evening and those insects were deafening. I am not kidding. I could still hear them clearly above the mower engine. I hope I do not go insane listening to continuous chirping.
All in all things are going well as we enter into our first week. We have managed to keep the fish alive and the carpet clean. Just a few more boxes and one or two trips to the storage facility and the Great Move of '04 will be finished.
Wednesday, May 19, 2004
I am Running on Close to Empty
Well, we are moved, partly. We have the storage place and have started to move the boxes in. What is not so clear is the amount of help we will have on Friday when we start to move the furniture. Even now, there are still plenty of small things that need to be boxed and moved.
The stress of the whole project is starting to get to me. I am having a hard time sleeping and as a result have less and less energy to get things done. I still have to work at my regular jobs on top of this. I cannot wait until Friday evening when the major things will be behind me.
And, still I am waiting for word of full-time employment. Believe it or not, in my denomination, it has been particularly difficult to find a pastoral position. I have been searching for over a year now and have only seen movement in the past six months. By God's grace my wife and I have come through it with our sanity intact. Full-time employment and a permanent house, I am looking forward to those blessings.
In the meantime, we are going to be wandering. Six weeks at on place and then we move on to the next. As unstable as it sounds, my wife and I are feeling rather content. I just want to get the physical act of moving out of the way.
The stress of the whole project is starting to get to me. I am having a hard time sleeping and as a result have less and less energy to get things done. I still have to work at my regular jobs on top of this. I cannot wait until Friday evening when the major things will be behind me.
And, still I am waiting for word of full-time employment. Believe it or not, in my denomination, it has been particularly difficult to find a pastoral position. I have been searching for over a year now and have only seen movement in the past six months. By God's grace my wife and I have come through it with our sanity intact. Full-time employment and a permanent house, I am looking forward to those blessings.
In the meantime, we are going to be wandering. Six weeks at on place and then we move on to the next. As unstable as it sounds, my wife and I are feeling rather content. I just want to get the physical act of moving out of the way.
Monday, May 17, 2004
Director Moore Launches Bush Tirade at Cannes
Entertainment News Article | Reuters.com
Why is it always easier to make political statements slamming your government overseas (in France no less which already thinks poorly of the US)? Come on Michael, show some gumption and do that back here in the States.
It would be nice if he put a logical argument rather than this ad homonym diatribe. Using grieving mothers to make you point about the war in Iraq? Following that logic, we should have pulled out of World War Two (or One for the matter, and Korea). No one wants to see their child die. But using their grief to schill your political adgenda is low. Our boys were killed by the thousands during the Second World War but crushing the totalitarian powers was worth the cost. Does not Iraq, a people who have been sorely oppressed for decades deserve the same resolve?
Any way that is just my opinion.
Why is it always easier to make political statements slamming your government overseas (in France no less which already thinks poorly of the US)? Come on Michael, show some gumption and do that back here in the States.
It would be nice if he put a logical argument rather than this ad homonym diatribe. Using grieving mothers to make you point about the war in Iraq? Following that logic, we should have pulled out of World War Two (or One for the matter, and Korea). No one wants to see their child die. But using their grief to schill your political adgenda is low. Our boys were killed by the thousands during the Second World War but crushing the totalitarian powers was worth the cost. Does not Iraq, a people who have been sorely oppressed for decades deserve the same resolve?
Any way that is just my opinion.
Friday, May 14, 2004
Idiocy Runs in My Family
I finally did it. Last night after coming home from my second job, my wife asks me if I want to go out to eat. I was hungary (as it was 8:45pm) but I did not want to miss the series finale of Fraser. She suggests we go to Taco Bell and come right back. I think that is a good idea and we head out the door. She asks me if I have my keys and I check my pocket and say "yes" and close the door. When I reach into my pocket to lock the deadblot, I realize the keys I have with me are for my jobs and not my house/car keys.
Needless to say my wife was upset. I knocked on our neighbor's door just as he was coming out. I told him our situation and he graciously let us use his phone. I called the rental management company but they will not be able to get anyone to our townhome for another hour and would charge us an arm and leg for the service. My neighbor said that there was no chage if you needed to be let in during business hours.
Long story longer, I figure we can crash at one of our folks place as they only live about 30 min. away. I have a spare key to my car in my wallet but upon opening my vehicle I find that I indeed had put the Club on my car and could not drive it (like I said, idiocy runs in my family). We borrow another phone from a different neighbor, our neighbor had gone to get something to eat and fortunately we live in a very friendly area (even though there is a heavy crime rate) and contact my parents (unbeknownst to me, my wife had gotten a phone from another couple who were leaving and saw our situation and she called her folks (idiocy runs in my family you know)). Both sets show up be we go with mine so I will definitely have a ride back in the morning so I can unlock my apartment and get my stuff for work.
One eventful night. I had cereal for dinner and missed Fraser. At least God is gracious in that we have nice neighbors who are willing to help us out and parents that live close by to give us a free place to stay. Even though their son/in-law is an idiot.
Needless to say my wife was upset. I knocked on our neighbor's door just as he was coming out. I told him our situation and he graciously let us use his phone. I called the rental management company but they will not be able to get anyone to our townhome for another hour and would charge us an arm and leg for the service. My neighbor said that there was no chage if you needed to be let in during business hours.
Long story longer, I figure we can crash at one of our folks place as they only live about 30 min. away. I have a spare key to my car in my wallet but upon opening my vehicle I find that I indeed had put the Club on my car and could not drive it (like I said, idiocy runs in my family). We borrow another phone from a different neighbor, our neighbor had gone to get something to eat and fortunately we live in a very friendly area (even though there is a heavy crime rate) and contact my parents (unbeknownst to me, my wife had gotten a phone from another couple who were leaving and saw our situation and she called her folks (idiocy runs in my family you know)). Both sets show up be we go with mine so I will definitely have a ride back in the morning so I can unlock my apartment and get my stuff for work.
One eventful night. I had cereal for dinner and missed Fraser. At least God is gracious in that we have nice neighbors who are willing to help us out and parents that live close by to give us a free place to stay. Even though their son/in-law is an idiot.
Thursday, May 13, 2004
Moving Along
I got home from work last night and dove in to help my wife with packing up boxes. As you might imagine, as historian and seminary graduate, I have quite a number of books. Well suffice to say, my work is cut out for me. I did manage to pack up two book shelves (only three shelves each) and used a total of eight boxes. I have two more full shelves that are the same size and another three full bookcases upstairs. I guess my weekend is planned out for me.
Work is also moving along well. I am hoping to gain full-time employment. I currently work as the manager of a church facility and at a bookshop (a dangerous prospect for a man with limited income and a fascination with books). Both are part time and neither has benefits. Perhaps I should look into working at Starbucks. From what I understand, they provide benefits for employees that work 20 or more hours a week, which would fit my schedule.
On other fronts, I have been asked by the men in my church to lead another tour of the Gettysburg battlefield. Since our church's men's retreat is hosted near the battlefield, during out freetime, I give the guys a tour of the battlefield park. It goes much too fast as our time is always limited. But this time we would be able to take all day some Saturday and actually get to walk around the sites. If you have not been there, even if you are not interested in history, you should take a look. Gettysburg National Military Park is a powerful place. Check it out.
Work is also moving along well. I am hoping to gain full-time employment. I currently work as the manager of a church facility and at a bookshop (a dangerous prospect for a man with limited income and a fascination with books). Both are part time and neither has benefits. Perhaps I should look into working at Starbucks. From what I understand, they provide benefits for employees that work 20 or more hours a week, which would fit my schedule.
On other fronts, I have been asked by the men in my church to lead another tour of the Gettysburg battlefield. Since our church's men's retreat is hosted near the battlefield, during out freetime, I give the guys a tour of the battlefield park. It goes much too fast as our time is always limited. But this time we would be able to take all day some Saturday and actually get to walk around the sites. If you have not been there, even if you are not interested in history, you should take a look. Gettysburg National Military Park is a powerful place. Check it out.
Wednesday, May 12, 2004
Blog 2.0
This is the second time I have tried to keep and web journal. The first one did not take because I had a hard time trying to keep up with it. I hope that this one will be an improvement but I am almost immediately facing a challenge.
My wife and I are moving to house sit for some friends of ours. We will be there for about 6 weeks and then we will need to find temporary housing while I continue to look for permanent employment. I will save the long story for later but suffice to say, our lives have been and at least through the summer will continue to be in a state of flux.
My wife and I are moving to house sit for some friends of ours. We will be there for about 6 weeks and then we will need to find temporary housing while I continue to look for permanent employment. I will save the long story for later but suffice to say, our lives have been and at least through the summer will continue to be in a state of flux.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)