life as i know it...

Show your support for the troops and the families of the men and women of the Canadian Forces.

Posted in: music, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, war on January 12, 2007 0 comments    

Here's a really cool link I stumbled across at Grrrl Meets World:

Presidential Speeches: Tag Clouds

The clouds show how often certain words were used in major speeches by U.S. presidents, from 1776 to today. Move the slider along the timeline to look at the trends in speeches throughout history.

Technorati tags: USA, politics, speeches, president, tag clouds

Posted in: politics, war on November 16, 2006 0 comments    

In Flanders Fields

by Dr. John McCrae

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.


Related: Best commercial ever (Hat tip: Helmut)


A Soldier - His Prayer

As the story goes, this anonymous poem was blown into a slit trench in Tunisia during a heavy bombardment in the early days of World War II. Who its author is, or was, cannot be determined, but it is certain that he had a gift for poetry which he used to express his great faith and sense of hope.

Stay with me God. The night is dark
The night is cold: My little spark
Of courage dies. The night is long;
Be with me God, and make me strong

I love the game; I love a fight.
I hate the dark; I love the light.
I love my child; I love my wife.
I am no coward. I love life.

Life with its change of mood and shade.
I want to live. I'm not afraid,
But me and mine are hard to part;
Oh unknown God, lift up my heart.

You stilled the water at Dunkirk
And saved your servants.
All your work is wonderful, dear God. You strode
Before us down that dreadful road.

We were alone, and hope had fled;
We loved our country, and our dead.
And could not shame them; so we stayed
The course, and were not much afraid.

Dear God, that nightmare road! And then
That sea! We got there - we were men.
My eyes were blind, my feet were torn,
My soul sang like a bird at dawn!

I knew that death is just a door.
I knew what we were fighting for:
Peace for the kids, our brothers freed,
A kinder world, a cleaner breed.

I'm but the son my mother bore,
A simple man and nothing more.
But - God of strength and gentleness,
Be pleased to make me nothing less.

Help me, O God, when death is near
To mock the haggard face of fear,
That when I fall-If fall I must-
My soul may triumph in the dust.

Posted in: holidays, war on November 11, 2006 1 comments    

Posted in: war on September 11, 2006 2 comments    

What causes someone to be branded a terrorist? Or a security threat? Is it harmful intent? It is having a history of exploding bombs for entertainment value? Is it carrying a bomb onto an airplane?

What if you're a white, Christian, U.S. boy with Republican parents? In that case, maybe the mayor will defend you as only having made a "glorified firecracker" and accidentally putting it in your luggage. It's harmless, because as we all know, "boys like to see things go bang".

Can you imagine anyone else doing the same thing, and while out on bail, only having to live at Mommy & Daddy's, and adhere to a 10pm curfew? How would this situation be different if the guy wasn't white? Or if he was Muslim? Imagine the field day Homeland Security and the media would have, even if no ties were found to a terrorist organization.

Federal agents arrested Charles Alfred Dreyling Jr., 24, on Wednesday at a security checkpoint after a Transportation Security Administration employee noticed something suspicious in his carryon luggage as it went through an X-ray machine about 9:30 a.m., FBI spokesman Gary Johnson said.

The device was described in an FBI affidavit as a carbon dioxide cartridge filled with gunpowder that could be detonated when connected to a power source such as the batteries Dreyling had in his electric razor and in his cell phone, which were also in his carryon bag.
...

Dreyling faces a federal charge of trying to get on an aircraft with an explosive device. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

He was released to the custody of his mother, Vicki Dreyling. His terms of release include living at his parents' home in north Oklahoma City and a 10 p.m. curfew.
...

Former Oklahoma City Mayor Kirk Humphreys, who is Dreyling's landlord and his longtime friend, also came to the hearing.

Humphreys said Dreyling had created a ''glorified firecracker'' and then forgotten that it was in his luggage.
...

Dreyling said he learned as a teenager how to build homemade explosives from Web sites like ''The Anarchist's Cook Book.'' Dreyling said he has built and detonated several explosive devices for recreational purposes, according to the affidavit.

He also told authorities that he had a bag of gunpowder, an empty carbon dioxide cartridge, and several ignitors in his Norman residence, according to the affidavit.
...

[Mayor Humphries said] "I have every confidence that they'll find out Charlie Dreyling is a fine young man and no terrorist. He had a little explosive device, and boys like to see things go bang. He took it down to an outing at the lake, left it in his bag, forgot it and went to the airport."

Posted in: law, politics, war on August 19, 2006 1 comments    

[CNN announcer]
FDR said it first: "The only thing we have to fear... IS FEAR ITSELF!!!!" Next on CNN: We'll give you four dozen things to be scared of! Stay tuned!

[cue scary music]



Jon Stewart on CNN's fearmongering.


Update: On a related note, read this first-hand account of being stuck at Heathrow airport during the security crackdown last week. (via BoingBoing)

Posted in: politics, videos, war on August 18, 2006 1 comments    

The blog Farfromcanadahar is written by a member of the Provincial Reconstruction Team in Kandahar, Afghanistan. According to the 'About the Author', "the PRT is a joint military/civilian organization whose job is to promote security, good governance, and reconstruction throughout the province."

While soldiers can't disclose many of their day to day activities, Dave does a good job of describing the complexities of the region and the efforts of the soldiers in Afghanistan. There are so many good posts on this blog, and I encourage you to read them to hear, first-hand, some of what goes on "over there". A particularly good entry is "Pencils and other Implements of Destruction".

On a related note, you can write the troops to let them know you appreciate their service. Regardless of how people feel about war, most of us appreciate the sacrifice that the military and their families make.

Here's some more information from Canadian Heroes, posted a while back by Saskboy:

"Soldiers constantly tell us that letters from anonymous people who show appreciation are a terrific boost to moral. I read a story of one trooper in the first Gulf War who did not have any family to write him. He received a letter from an anonymous school girl. He said that that one letter sustained him, that he read it daily again and again. He said that by the time he came home it was crumpled and soiled from being read so much.

Let’s challenge our readers to go to the Canadian Forces site to communicate their support to our men and women, especially now that things are heating up in Afghanistan.
The link is: http://www.forces.gc.ca/site/community/messageboard/index_e.asp
People can either leave a message or actually send a letter to any soldier. Instructions and guidelines are on the site.

Thanks for your help. Let’s make a difference.
Debris Trail
www.cnheroes.blogspot.com"

Posted in: war on June 22, 2006 0 comments    

Posted in: politics, war on June 20, 2006 1 comments    

Hmm... I wonder what they'll do?

Some debate going on over how the members of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment will conduct themselves when the 'Ode to Newfoundland' is played over the French battlefieds when the regiment returns to Beaumont Hamel and area next month.

Lieutenent Colonel Kevin Hutchings says it's an honour to have all the members of the first and second batallions present for the 90th anniversay of the July 1st massacre. But he notes it is not permitted for Canadian Forces members to salute a, what is now, provincial anthem.

Posted in: Newfoundland, politics, war on June 10, 2006 0 comments    

Goodness, that woman is just MEAN.

We all know she has no love for Canada (or France, or any country that's not predominantly Christian...), but now political pundit and author Ann Coulter has called 9/11 widows "witches."

But wait, it gets worse.

"I've never seen people enjoying their husbands' deaths so much," Coulter writes in her book "Godless: The Church of Liberalism," published on Tuesday, referring to four women who headed a campaign that resulted in the creation of the September 11 Commission that investigated the hijacked plane attacks.

Coulter wrote that the women were millionaires as a result of compensation settlements and were "reveling in their status as celebrities and stalked by grief-arazzis."
...

The four women ... issued a statement saying they had been slandered.

"There was no joy in watching men that we loved burn alive. There was no happiness in telling our children that their fathers were never coming home again," said the statement.
...

[Coulter] criticized them for making a campaign advertisement for Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry in 2004, and added: "By the way, how do we know their husbands weren't planning to divorce these harpies? Now that their shelf life is dwindling, they'd better hurry up and appear in Playboy."

Posted in: politics, war on June 08, 2006 7 comments    

Re: religion, terrorism and promoting hatred:

"It is sad to hear interviews with Muslims, wherein they are forced to defend an entire religion, because of the actions of a few radicals. Christians aren't forced to apologize for Pat Robertson or Jerry Falwell, who regularly broadcast intolerance and hate."

(via Far and Wide)

Posted in: politics, war on June 06, 2006 7 comments    

The quote in the title is from Cardinal Richelieu, and according to security expert Bruce Schneier, the Cardinal truly understood the value (and dangers) of surveillance.

Here is an excerpt from a Wired News article by Bruce Schneier about the value of privacy:
(by the way, his blog Schneier on Security is great, check it out)

"Privacy is an inherent human right, and a requirement for maintaining the human condition with dignity and respect. ... We do nothing wrong when we make love or go to the bathroom. We are not deliberately hiding anything when we seek out private places for reflection or conversation. We keep private journals, sing in the privacy of the shower, and write letters to secret lovers and then burn them. Privacy is a basic human need.

Two proverbs say it best: Quis custodiet custodes ipsos? ("Who watches the watchers?") and "Absolute power corrupts absolutely... Privacy protects us from abuses by those in power, even if we're doing nothing wrong at the time of surveillance."
...

Too many wrongly characterize the debate as "security versus privacy." The real choice is liberty versus control. Tyranny, whether it arises under threat of foreign physical attack or under constant domestic authoritative scrutiny, is still tyranny. Liberty requires security without intrusion, security plus privacy. Widespread police surveillance is the very definition of a police state. And that's why we should champion privacy even when we have nothing to hide."

Posted in: technology, war on May 25, 2006 1 comments    

I recently stumbled across information about a movie coming to U.S. theatres in June called "Sir! No Sir!". It's a documentary about the anti-war movement during Vietnam - not about the protests of average citizens, but of enlisted soldiers.

We've all heard of the Vietnam "draft dodgers". Some say they're cowards, some say they're heroes for standing up (or standing down, as it were), to protest what they believed to be an unjust war. This documentary tries to show draft dodgers in a way most of us haven't seen them before; as citizens who believed that the only way to end the war was not to participate in it. It also tells the stories of soldiers who did not desert the army, but protested from within.

The film makes obvious parallels to Iraq, and the Not Your Soldier campaign calls upon Americans not join the army, as 'the war machine' cannot run its war in Iraq without soldiers.



Link (in case the player doesn't work for you). Official site.

Now, I know statistics can be skewed, and in some cases, even made up, but I had never heard these numbers before, so I'll post them, and let people debate what they will.

In the first 3 years in Iraq, 2,314 soldiers were killed.

In the first 3 years in Vietnam, 1,864 soldiers were killed.


502,926 soldiers deserted the army and refused to fight in Vietnam.


For the cost of the Iraq war, 6 million Americans could have been sent to college for free.


In addition to those killed, 20,000 soldiers have lost limbs so far in the Iraq war.

Posted in: politics, videos, war on May 24, 2006 0 comments    

Life update: Still sick. Even more tired.

Thoughts: The world is one weird place. Evidence - The Mickey Mouse gas mask.

Apparently, these gas masks were produced in 1942, to protect children in case of a chemical attack on the United States. They were designed as a cartoon character so that wearing gas masks would be less scary and more like a game, with the hope that children would carry their masks with them and wear them often, improving their chances of surviving in an attack.

(via The Disney Blog)

Technorati tags: Disney, Mickey Mouse, gas mask, war, WWII, USA

Posted in: Disney, toxic, war on May 19, 2006 0 comments    

I've been away for a few days, but here are a few things that caught my eye, which I bookmarked before I left:

• Looks like the Animaniacs and Pinky and The Brain are coming out on DVD!
  
  
• The U.S. Postal Service is selling Disney Romance stamps
  
  
• Just because it's strange... Check out this pink tank cosy. Yes, that's right, I said tank cosy. Like a tea cosy, but for tanks. Complete with pom-poms.
  
  
• While we're on the subject of tanks... click here to listen to Neil Young's new album, Living With War, in its entirety. I'm listening to it for the first time now. I'm not a big Neil Young fan, but so far I think it's fantastic, and the lyrics are very thought provoking.
  
  
• Here's a great New York Times article about 'See Jane', an organization that raises awareness of gender stereotypes and inequality in children's media, and aims to balance things.

"These unrealistic representations may powerfully influence young children of both genders because their concepts of self are still developing — and because young children are likely to own and view movies again and again, Smith says.

That view is supported by more than 30 studies showing young children's exposure to television greatly influences gender role acceptance and attitudes. With repeated viewing of television characters portrayed in a narrowed range of traditional roles, a child's expectations for his or her own gender, as well as the opposite gender, are likely to become simplified and stereotypical.

Posted in: body image, Disney, kids, war on May 01, 2006 0 comments    

Following in what seems to be this week's theme of videos, have a look at Pirates and Emperors. It reminds me of a School House Rock video, and will have you bopping along!

Brought to my attention by Saskboy, who always has lots of interesting stuff on his blog, Abandoned Stuff.


While we're on the subject of pirates vs. emperors, I've been following the Stephen Harper government's recent decisions about the military; namely, only lowering the Peace Tower flag to half mast on Remembrance Day, and the decision to ban the media from covering the return of fallen soldiers' coffins.

I totally disagree with the flag decision. I've heard people say that oh, the Liberals weren't consistent in lowering the flag anyways, and it wasn't a long-standing tradition, but that's not the issue. It shouldn't be a debate about what the previous governments did or didn't do. To me, suddenly deciding to not lower the flag anymore when Canadian soldiers are killed in the line of duty is a slap in the face to the military, their family and friends.

The Conservative government claims to care so much about the military, so a much better way of showing this would have been to become consistent in lowering the flag. What do they have to lose by continuing to do it? Can't afford to pay someone to lower the flag? It may be a small thing, but it means a lot to Canadians.

I had mixed feelings about the media ban. While I think the government is getting out of control banning things every month, I think they may have had good intentions in this case. I'm not sure that the decision to restrict the media from covering the return of the coffins was made because they wanted to hide the cost of the war. I think that whoever made the decision might have actually thought that it would be easier for the families not to have that moment captured on film.

I live close to CFB Gagetown, and my husband works in the base town, and it seems that many military families are really mad about this decision. I also saw military families interviewed on the news last night. While I'm not sure that I would want those moments on film if my non-military loved ones died, I can understand that if your husband/son/father/wife/daughter/mother/friend died in the line of duty, you would want the country to know their sacrifice and see the cost of war. It seems wrong for the government to make such a decision without long and careful deliberation and conversations with the military and families of military casualties.

While there are certainly problems with the media, I believe that they would respect a family's wishes to not intrude if they were asked to. It frustrates me that this government is constantly telling Canadians what we have the right to see and know. Conversing with the parties involved to come to a consensus is one thing, but deciding what is 'best for us' is quite another.

Technorati tags: military, politics, Afghanistan, media, Stephen Harper, Canada, Conservative, Bush, USA

Posted in: politics, war on April 26, 2006 3 comments    

Posted in: comics, politics, war on April 19, 2006 0 comments    

Posted in: politics, war on April 13, 2006 1 comments    

I've been corresponding with Melinda Terry, a teacher in Seattle who is asking Canadians to help her create a lesson plan on Canada for her 6th grade class. I came across this story, and decided to share it with her. I find it really inspiring. Not only does it show the hospitality and generosity of a place that I love, but it reminds us all that one person really can make a difference.

I was reading Alan Doyle (of the band Great Big Sea)'s road journal tonight, and read that there are talks of making a movie about a black sailor who survived the shipwreck of the U.S.S. Truxton off the coast of Newfoundland in 1942.

This story is about the people of Newfoundland affecting the U.S. civil rights movement.

I'm almost embarassed to say that I didn't know the sailor's story; I feel that I should know the history of this disaster better. My Dad & Grandmother are from the small town of St. Lawrence, which helped to rescue drowning sailers from the stormy waters.

I've heard about the incident in general. Two U.S. Navy ships (the U.S.S. Truxton and U.S.S. Pollux) ran aground on Newfoundland cliffs during World War II, on February 18th, 1942. 203 sailors died; 185 were saved.

Well, it turns out that there was only one African American survivor of the U.S.S. Truxton, named Lanier Philips, and he says that it was the hospitality he received from the people of Newfoundland after the disaster which led him to become a civil rights leader for equality for all races in the U.S. military.

I wanted to know more, so I did an Internet search and found a National Public Radio program about Lanier Philips. Listen to it - his story is pretty amazing!

There's a second, shorter story from Carleton University here, which has some additional information, but listen to the NPR one first, it has more background information, and is more like a story than a news report.

If you'd like to know more, the St. Lawrence town website has more information about the tragedy.

FYI, I first read about the Seattle teacher's request on Abandoned Stuff by Saskboy (forgot to post the credit/link back in this post earlier - oops!)

Technorati tags: Newfoundland, Canada, United States, Navy, Truxton, civil rights, Lanier Philips

Posted in: equality, inspiring, Newfoundland, war on April 09, 2006 1 comments    

• The U.S. Department of Homeland Security investigated a retired schoolteacher for paying a large lump sum of his credit card bill. Apparently, if a credit card payment is a certain percentage higher than a customer's normal payment, Homeland Security must be notified.

• Tim Hortons will be opening a franchise in Kandahar, at the request of Canadian troops stationed in Afghanistan.
  

• Simple ways to make yourself cleverer

• Check out this real-life enactment of The Simpsons show opening
  

Posted in: helpful tips, videos, war on March 09, 2006 0 comments