November 05, 2010
Men...
They are problem solvers:
Posted by Cassandra at 12:54 PM | Comments (3) |TrackBack (0) |
One Year Ago Today
Today it has been exactly one year since the Fort Hood massacre.
On that day, one of our own - VC commenter Philip Warman - lost his beloved wife Juanita. I wasn't able to write about it for several days, but what I said when I finally did is equally true on this sad anniversary:
America's armed forces are a rough and colorful patchwork composed of urban sophisticates and down home country boys and girls, cynics and romantics. Perhaps nowhere in America do men and women, blacks, whites, hispanics, Jews, gentiles, native born Americans and those with the ink still wet on their citizenship papers so successfully live, work, and bond together. This is, I think, the result of a resounding call to be part of something greater than ourselves. Though it took her away from those she loved so deeply, Juanita Warman heard and responded to that distant trumpet. She stepped up. When her country called, she was right there where America needed her to be.And so, behind the scenes, was her family. We the protected owe America's military and their loved ones a great debt. On this Veteran's Day, it is my hope that stopping to reflect on Juanita's life will remind us how very lucky we are; of the values that unite us instead of those that divide us; of the very best that we can be when we put our shoulders to mastering great challenges and overcoming daunting odds.
There is great good in America still, and it is embodied by the men and women of our armed forces. And it is embodied by their wives, husbands, parents and children; by the brothers and sisters who lovingly wait for their return. On this Veterans Day it is my prayer that this healer's spirit will continue to console and guide those who are missing her so very much today.
I hope you will keep Philip and all the families of the Ft. Hood massacre in your hearts and in your prayers today.
War is a terrible thing - even more so when it comes home. If nothing else, horrors like the Ft. Hood shooting serve as a terrible reminder that evil exists, and that there are people who have dedicated their lives to opposing it.
My condolences to the Army community on the loss of so many of their own, today and always.
Others writing:
The Armorer remembers and reflects:
That Major Nidal Hasan is not yet a convicted felon stripped of his commission and possibly awaiting execution is a condemnation of the system, in that such a seemingly obvious slam dunk has to be handled so cautiously so at to provide no excuses for this perfidious betrayer-of-trust to use to beat the system and somehow walk.Of course, the fact that Major Hasan still had a commission and was thus able to walk into that building legitimately wearing his uniform after being saluted by fellow soldiers is a sad indictment, too.
Yep.
Mudville has an updated salute to the 467th Medical Detachment.
Posted by Cassandra at 08:30 AM | Comments (0) |TrackBack (0) |
Valour IT Challenge: The Demotivator Contest
Bumped to the top.
OK folks. We have $750 in matching funds to spend and it's time to have some fun.
During last year's campaign we ran a Military Demotivators contest. We'd like to do the same thing this year, but with a slight twist:
1. For each entry submitted, the Marine team will donate $20 to Valour IT. We'd love it if each entrant would undertake to match our donation but making a donation is NOT required in order to enter the contest.
2. The contest will run from Thursday until Sunday at midnight. On Monday morning we will vote for the best entries in each category. Again, the Marine team will donate $25 per vote for each winning entry, up to a maximum of $500.
3. We are challenging the Army, Navy, and Air Force teams to enter their own Demotivators, and ask their readers to match (or improve upon) our pledges for entries and winning votes.
There will be categories for:
Best Air Force, Army, Navy, and Marine demotivators.
Best "Embracing the Suck" poster.
Best Salvo from the Distaff Side
Here's one I submitted last year that riffed on a great picture by MrsG of the Air Force team:
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Here's a form you can use to create your own Military Demotivator. So get ready to do your worst for a good cause! Email me those entries, or let me know in the comments section where your entry can be found!
ARMY ENTRIES:
From JihadGene comes our first entry (and first $20 matching donation):
MARINE TEAM ENTRIES
Posted by Cassandra at 07:37 AM | Comments (7) |TrackBack (0) |
November 04, 2010
Marine Team Roundup for Thursday, Nov. 4th
We are on day 8 of the Valour IT fundraiser and I just wanted to take a minute and thank everybody for the support so far. We've broken $10k this afternoon. Thank you to all the members of the Marine team. Thank you to everyone who took a minute to share a post about Valour IT with friends and family. Thank you to everyone who has donated. It is so deeply appreciated.
A look at what the Marine team is up to on a very busy Thursday:
Wolf has a great post about a Wounded Warrior West Event. Great and inspiring photos!!.
Doug at Stixblog has some thoughts, thanks and a request.
Blatherings Blog introduces us to yet another fine Marine. Oorrahh!!!
We want to welcome Doug Powers to the Marine Team.!!
Miss Ladybug updates us on the Valour IT Auction items up for grabs.
Great story about what it's like to be a Marine sniper.
Another great and inspiring story about a true champion.
Posted by Carrie at 02:51 PM | Comments (2) |TrackBack (0) |
Personal Reasons
Wow.
Posted by Cassandra at 02:02 PM | Comments (1) |TrackBack (0) |
She's Doing Her Part
I don't know how many of you remember who Linda Ferrera is. She was - no, IS - the mother of 1st Lt. Matthew Ferrara. Matthew was killed on November 9th, 2008 in Nuristan province. Here's what this amazing woman had to say about losing her son:
Some people don't think that we have to fight just yet,
that we can wait, and the crazies will go away
and not harm our little tribe.They are already harming our little tribe.
All of humanity is our tribe.
Once again this year, as in the past, we’re proud to be representing the US Marine team taking part in the Project Valour-IT fundraising competition. This competition features four teams: The Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines.Here’s a brief explanation of what this great cause is all about:
Project Valour-IT, in memory of SFC William V. Ziegenfuss, helps provide voice-controlled/adaptive laptop computers and other technology to support Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines recovering from hand wounds and other severe injuries. Technology supplied includes:Voice-controlled Laptops – Operated by speaking into a microphone or using other adaptive technologies, they allow the wounded to maintain connections with the rest of the world during recovery.
Wii Video Game Systems – Whole-body game systems increase motivation and speed recovery when used under the guidance of physical therapists in therapy sessions (donated only to medical facilities).
Personal GPS – Handheld GPS devices build self-confidence and independence by compensating for short-term memory loss and organizational challenges related to severe TBI and severe PTSD.
We can't do this alone. We need your help.
I will leave you with the words of Matt Ferrara's friend, 1st Lt. Walter Bryan Jackson. Walter is one of a tiny group of Americans who have earned the Distinquished Service Cross (the military's second-highest medal) for saving another soldier's life while himself wounded and under heavy fire in Iraq. Men like this deserve our thanks, our respect, and our support:
"It's kind of hard to explain" how it feels to be part of a small segment of the U.S. population that is "bearing the brunt of the responsibilities" from today's conflicts, Jackson said as he waited for his flight at Dulles International Airport. "It doesn't affect society at large in the slightest. Life just goes on, and a lot of people . . . are more concerned about the price of gas than about soldiers fighting and dying," said Jackson, who has lost several comrades in the wars.
Make a difference:
They did.
Posted by Cassandra at 12:11 PM | Comments (1) |TrackBack (0) |
Alright, Jackwagons :)
Time to move out - we have work to do.
Hardly a day passes when the American flag above the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade’s headquarters here is not flying at half-staff.With U.S. and other coalition forces stepping up operations against Taliban insurgents in southern Afghanistan, more dead and wounded are being pulled off the battlefield than ever before.
Since deploying in March, helicopter ambulance crews with the brigade’s Task Force Shadow have flown more than 2,000 missions, evacuating more than 2,500 patients, according to Maj. Jason Davis, commander of Company C, 6th Battalion.
That’s more than twice the rate that helicopter ambulance crews in southern Afghanistan were flying this time last year, he said.
The increase reflects just how sharply fighting in the region has spiked in recent months, a result of President Barack Obama’s decision to deploy 34,000 additional U.S. troops. Most were deployed to southern Afghanistan, where they, along with mostly British and Canadian forces, are trying to wrest control of strategically important areas from the Taliban, including the city of Kandahar and the Arghandab and Helmand river valleys.
“You’ve got more people fighting the enemy in places where we haven’t been in a long time,” said Davis, 35, of Steilacoom, Wash. “And when you’ve got more people fighting, you’re going to have more missions.”
More than 540 NATO troops — two-thirds of them American — have been killed in Afghanistan this year, making 2010 the deadliest year of the war, according to icasualties.org, a website that tracks coalition fatalities. More than 1,200 American troops have died in the war since U.S.-led forces ousted the Taliban in 2001.
For years, Marine team co-chair Carrie Costantini has worked with injured Navy and Marine patients at Walter Reed and Bethesda. It's rewarding work, meeting the families of these men and women; watching them complete an arduous and grueling rehabilitation period; seeing firsthand the challenges they face as they work to adjust, adapt, and overcome to a very different life than the one they've known before.
Typically, we're talking about athletes. People in better physical shape than 95% of Americans. They can run for miles, do impressive numbers of situps and pushups, endure 10 mile hikes with 80 pounds of gear. And then - suddenly - it's a struggle to do simple things like tie their own shoes or lift a fork to their mouths.
Being wounded is just the beginning of a very long road. Many of these folks are facing a lifetime of painful and debilitating medical treatment - repeated surgeries, setbacks from ailments as simple as a common cold, ongoing paralysis or chronic pain. And they do it all with determination and equanimity.
These people don't need your pity. They are heroes. But they sure could use your support as they continue to do what they do best: never giving up, never settling for the ordinary or the expected, defying the odds and rising above their own problems to make the world a better place.
How many of us do that in our daily lives? Make the world a better place, that is? What is our contribution to be?
I used the phrase, "give 'til it hurts", but I haven't done that yet. I've contributed 7 times during this campaign. But I could afford to give more. I'm not going to go hungry for the lack of a few dollars. I might have to forgo a few luxuries, or eat soup instead of steak but I'm not going to suffer in any real way.
With every year that passes, we hear less and less about the two wars America is fighting. To tell the truth, we tired of war. It's depressing. The thing is, the men and women who are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan don't get to be "tired of war". They're in the thick of it, while we're largely insulated from the ugly parts, the painful parts.
The depressing parts.
All of us - all of us - can do more. Some of us can do more than others. Can you go without a latte from Starbucks? Can you give up beer for a week or two? It all adds up.
Conservatives like to preach that government is not the answer to all our problems. Well, if that is true than it would seem that the onus is on us - we, the people - to do the things that need to be done. The question is, do we practice what we preach? I know I don't, a lot of the time. Perhaps even most of the time. It's easier to wait for someone else to take action.
I can't imagine what it must be like to lose an arm, a leg, both legs or both arms. To be blinded. To have my bell rung so thoroughly that I'm left with lingering problems. To lose the use of my fingers. I'm typing this because for me, typing is easy. It requires no real effort (whining about being tired notwithstanding).
Talking about the dedication and valor of our armed forces is easy. Giving something back, not so much.
I'm asking you to give something back. I'm asking you to think, "What can I do to help?" To a soldier, sailor or Marine facing a 15 month convalescence and repeated surgeries, your help can literally make the difference between feeling isolated, forgotten and alone and staying connected to family, friends, and perhaps most importantly, the brothers he left on the battlefield.
Traditionally Valour IT has been a mostly good natured competition between the services. As a member of the Marine team, normally I would ask you to hit the Marine team button. But the truth is that the money we raise all goes into the same pot. It all goes to the same good cause.
And so I'm going to ask you just to donate. Even if you've already done so, take a second look at your finances to see if you can't spare just a bit more.
Donate to the Navy team. My Dad, father in law and brother in law were all career Navy.
Donate to the Air Force. Carrie's Dad served. So did Greyhawk.
Donate to the Marine team. My uncle Mel was a Marine, and my husband.
Hell, you can even donate to the Army. My grandfather served in the Army, and my husband's uncle. Fortunately, there's this thing called evolution that makes each generation smarter than the last :) You can see that in our family: Army - Navy - Marine Corps. If I find out the next step is Air Force, I'm outta here...
Army has upped their goal to $25,000. Help them meet it.
I don't care who you give to. Just give. As VC reader bthun said yesterday,
"No other donation that I make during the year feels so right."
You know what to do:
Posted by Cassandra at 08:06 AM | Comments (8) |TrackBack (0) |
November 03, 2010
AWOL Today
Guys, I am really sorry about going AWOL on you today. Lately, I'm finding it increasingly difficult to juggle all the things on my plate (and isn't that the mother of all mixed metaphors?). For years now I've gotten by on very little sleep. That has been the price of keeping this place running, but I can't do it any more. I'm exhausted, physically, emotionally, mentally. I just don't have anything left.
I did promise a humiliation challenge today. Yesterday and last night we raised a good amount of money for Valour IT, so you all have definitely earned it. A big part of that was a large donation from someone who will have to remain anonymous, but who is one of the best friends the Marine Corps will ever have.
There are a lot of what I'd call "stealth heroes" in the world. They go around doing good without expecting praise or even that anyone should notice their efforts. Maybe it's the Taurus in me being stubborn, but I think they deserve our thanks (even if we don't know who it is we're thanking). So... you know who you are, Mr. Mystery Stealth Hero Person :p I hope this anonymous thank you goes a small distance toward redressing the enormous debt of gratitude that I feel for everything you do for our men and women in uniform.
Also, to our mystery donation matchers: you ladies (yeah, I'm going to out you that far) are the best. You make me proud to be numbered in your ranks, if only because we share the whole being-female thing.
I did promise to do some sort of humiliating challenge thingy yesterday. Unfortunately, some things have happened that have made me wonder whether that's a wise idea (and no, it didn't involve anything salacious or immoral). As the old saying goes, "Fight smarter, not harder". Please be patient with me - I will figure out a way to make good on my promise.
By my reckoning we still have about $750.00 in matching funds to spend. DL Sly has asked that I judge some of those old caption contests for donations, and I think that's a good idea. I will still find a way to publicly embarrass myself for Valour IT.
This morning the Army team crossed the finish line by meeting their $15,000 goal. They ran a great campaign and were in the lead from the get go, and my hat is off to them. We will try to find ways to keep the competitive spirit alive during the week we have left because we still have a long way to go towards meeting our commitment.
That's one thing the Marine team has tried hard to do: have some fun while we're doing good. Thank you - all of you - for your support.
Love ya ... even the ones who donated to the Navy team! :) It's all good.
Posted by Cassandra at 04:54 PM | Comments (6) |TrackBack (0) |
Marine Team Roundup for Wednesday, Nov. 3rd
Here's a roundup of posts from some of our Marine Team posters for Wednesday, November 3rd.
Cassandra is off doing princessy things but will be back later for news about our next challenge.
Wolf has a post about a unique way a Marine dealt with a Dear John letter.
Mrs. P is on the go!!!
Ercille is letting us know what she wants for Christmas.
Oh Hell has rules!!!
The Washington Post has a nice roundup of the Marine Corps Marathon with emphasis on the Marines who ran it.
A wounded Marine returns home. It was one helluva homecoming.
Posted by Carrie at 12:47 PM | Comments (1) |TrackBack (0) |
Also Eminently Quotable
I was going to attempt some form of commentary this morning, but don't have the time. This, however, is as close to what I would have said as it gets. Enjoy:
My own reaction is that this is a rebuke to the Democrats, not an affirmation of the Republicans. Beyond that, I am actually glad that the GOP did not secure notional control of the Senate, because it will make it that much more difficult for President Obama to blame the Republicans for the no doubt still sluggish economy in 2012. And, anyway, I am a fan of divided government. The lesson of my lifetime is that Washington gets exponentially more asinine if one party controls all three of the House, the Senate, and the White House.As a right-of-center blogger, I am also at least a little relieved that the Tea Party's goofier candidates -- Paladino in New York, McMahon in Connecticut, O'Donnell in Delaware, and Angle in Nevada -- all lost. I was not looking forward to spending the next two years explaining how their every gaffe was really literally true or not moronic in some technical sense. Like it or not, in today's world public leaders of any sort -- including high profile corporate executives, university presidents, the managers of NGOs, and of course candidates for office -- require a measure of professionalism. The right would do well to groom and nominate their candidates even at the cost of some authenticity.
What I find reassuring about this election is that despite all the more-heat-than-light fulminating about "violent rhetoric" (MOM! He hit me with... words!") and extreme extremists and their dangerous and scary extremism, what we're looking at is one more in a long series of peaceful, orderly transfers of power.
When you look at Iraq and Afghanistan, there's a lot to be said for that.
The pace of change may not always be what we wish it were, but given our legendary short sightedness with respect to unintended consequences, that's a good thing. Stable governments don't lurch violently to the left or to the right. Despite all its imperfections and despite the erosion of trust in our system of government, at the end of the day we resolve our differences at the ballot box rather than at the point of a gun.
May it ever be so.
Posted by Cassandra at 08:49 AM | Comments (12) |TrackBack (0) |
Morning After Quote of the Day
Allegedly, the Tea Party movement has been violent, angry, intent to incite fear and hate among the populace. These narratives weren’t true — tonight’s vote has proven them caricatures laid out by journalists with short wordcounts and shorter attention spans.Violent movements do not do these things. They don’t show up at the polls and overwhelm the establishment in favor of a minority candidate, as in the case of Sen.-elect Marco Rubio, R-Fla. They also don’t lose so badly, as in the case of Christine O’Donnell. They don’t take on, and nearly defeat, the leader of the majority party in the Senate, at the same time as he colludes with casinos in a potentially illegal scheme to get out the vote in his favor. They don’t settle for a more liberal candidate in Illinois just because he’s the most electable.
Yet they did all of those things. Strange.
Read the whole thing. It's excellent.
Posted by Cassandra at 08:31 AM | Comments (1) |TrackBack (0) |
November 02, 2010
End of the Day Valour IT Roundup
OK, guys. Here's the recap:
We began the day at $5550. We are now at $7140, for a delta (as of about 5:30 pm) of + 1590.
During the day our $1250 of matching funds increased by $250 (thanks Amazing Mystery Donator Person!) to $1500. We've spent about $600 of our matching funds, leaving us $900 for tomorrow's matching fund campaigns.
Cassy Fiano raised over $250 (with $250 of matching funds, for a grand total of over $500!) and consequently she will be cheering Army in the Army-Navy Game whilst dressed as Bill the Goat. We are assured that there will be humiliating photos and possibly even video!
So... that leaves the blog princess.
There are several suggestions on the table:
1. Judge caption contests at $100 a pop.
*sigh* :)
2. Wear a Justin Bieber t-shirt and carry Twilight all day.
3. *cough* Back when the Spousal Unit was in Iraq, some of you may recall that certain photos were taken of the Princess in a variety of wigs and clothing you can be damned sure she would not ordinarily have donned.
The photos range from the mildly humiliating to the truly ... ummm... memorable.
We couldn't help noticing that most of today's donations came courtesy of the fairer sex. It's time for the Oink Cadre to stand up and be counted. Depending on how much we raise between now and noon tomorrow, the Princess will turn one or possibly more of these incriminating photos into Military Demotivators and turn them over to you for captioning.
Carrie has seen these photos. I will leave it up to her to describe the indescribable.
To everyone who donated or helped us publicize the Marine Challenge - thanks. Such a simple word, and yet it means so much. We have (I hope) a big surprise in store for tomorrow.
Hope you voted today. I did.
Please help, guys. I wish I could post some of the emails I've read the past two weeks about the number of wounded coming in. You will never spend your hard earned dollars on a better cause.
Posted by Cassandra at 05:10 PM | Comments (9) |TrackBack (0) |
Best. Election. News. Roundup. Evah.
Posted by Cassandra at 05:07 PM | Comments (5) |TrackBack (0) |
Equal Rights Mean Equal Responsibilities...For Both Sexes
That is, unless you're a radical feminist with an entitlement complex:
... the old situation, in which women presented men with a child, and the man either did the decent thing and offered support, or made a run for it, allowed women a certain leeway. The courtesan in Balzac who, on becoming pregnant, unhesitatingly sought, and got, maintenance from two of her men friends, can’t have been the only one. Uncertainty allows mothers to select for their children the father who would be best for them.
This is unreconstructed idiocy, but some of the responses don't seem much more lucid.
Let's stipulate one thing up front: what this author is advocating is the "right" of a woman to lie to and cheat on a man she's sleeping with and further, to hold him financially responsible for the support of a child he didn't father. That is so obviously wrong that I'm surprised it requires saying.
What I'm not seeing, however, is any recognition that sexual responsibility is supposed to be a two way street. If you're a man and you don't want to father a child, use birth control.
There is only one innocent victim in this scenario: the child. The man (unless of course he's married to the woman and they've previously agreed to try for a child) isn't a helpless victim. He's an adult who had just as much responsibility and opportunity to prevent pregnancy as the woman he slept with.
There's a word for people of both sexes who can't be bothered with birth control: parents. Think about it.
I don't for one moment endorse what this moron is suggesting, but a man who takes equal responsibility for preventing unwanted pregnancies wouldn't find himself in this situation in the first place. This has nothing to do with sexual politics or feminism and everything to do with simple biology.
We try so hard to make sex a morality and consequence free zone, but it isn't and it never has been. Like pretty much everything else we do in life there are risks.
Posted by Cassandra at 01:43 PM | Comments (16) |TrackBack (0) |
The Humiliation Challenge!
What we Marine women will do to support our Corps....
Team leader Cassy Fiano and I are volunteering to humiliate ourselves in return for your donations. You can suggest ideas in the comments or, if we don't get any funny suggestions, we'll come up with our own ideas.
First up is Cassy. If we can raise $250.00 between 2 and 4 pm today, NOT ONLY will that sum be matched by our Mystery Donors, but Cassy will volunteer to embarrass herself for your listening and viewing pleasure. Here's my suggestion for her (be nice - she's expecting!):
Compose and post a short poem about how much she loves Barack Obama.
Feel free to add your suggestions for Cassy or myself in the comments section. I have an idea for myself, but I'll keep it under wraps until Cassy's ordeal challenge is over!
Update: Bwa ha ha ha!
So, I volunteered for the Marine Team donation matching challenge, and here’s what I’ve been dared to do. If we raise $250 between 2:00 and 4:00 this afternoon, not only will one of our donors match it, but I will dress up like as the Navy goat for the Army-Navy game and publicly cheer for the Army the entire day. Yes, there will be pictures and maybe even video.Don’t believe me? Here’s the costume I’ve already bought, because I know you guys will come through for us:
Hit that donation button!
Posted by Cassandra at 12:40 PM | Comments (15) |TrackBack (0) |
The Marine Team Challenge: Double (or Triple!) Your Donation
What do you do when you run into a roadblock? Do you give up? Blame others? Feel sorry for yourself? Or do you treat difficult circumstances as a challenge - a chance to accomplish something extraordinary?
Former Marine Sgt. Jeremy Soles made history on Sunday when he set a Guinness World Record for running the entire 26.2-mile Marine Corps marathon while wearing a gas mask in an unofficial time of 4 hours, 29 minutes and 2 seconds.Soles, founder of the nonprofit group Team X-T.R.E.M.E., dedicated his achievement to Marine Cpl. John Michael Peck, who suffered traumatic brain injury in Iraq in 2007 but insisted on returning to combat, only to lose both arms and legs in a roadside bomb attack in Afghanistan in May.
“He embodies everything that Team X-T.R.E.M.E is about: Overcoming mental and physical obstacles,” Soles said in a phone interview on Monday.
Sunday’s event was the culmination of two years of conditioning and training. The gas mask restricts his breathing by about 25 percent, and all the gear associated with the mask weighs 15 pounds.
“A lot of times, people ask why we run in a gas mask,” Soles said. “Well, we use the gas mask to symbolize what we do. People often ask how difficult it is, and our first thing to tell them is it’s not nearly as difficult as overcoming traumatic brain injury, which he did, not nearly as difficult as overcoming post-traumatic stress disorder, learning how to walk again with prosthetic limbs – and people see the parallel.”
Most of us can't imagine even running a marathon, much less running one with only 75% breathing capacity and an extra 15 pound load. How about doing it from a wheelchair? What makes extraordinary feats like this possible is the power of belief in something larger than yourself, and that's just the kind of story that exemplifies the Valour IT spirit. These are men and women who've been dealt a hand that would crush most of us, and yet rather than feeling sorry for themselves or giving up, they're out there continuing to make the world a better place.
As of last night, here are the current totals for the Valour IT fundraiser:
TEAM ARMY $10,552.00 TEAM MARINE $5,550.00 TEAM NAVY $3,940.00 TEAM AIR FORCE $2,100.00 No Branch Specified $1,201.00 Total $23,343.00
As you can see, the Marine team is holding onto second place. We may be trailing Army, but I wouldn't count us out. Not just yet.
The thing is, we need your help. If the Marine spirit is about anything, it's about the power of teamwork. Together, we can accomplish far more than any one of us could alone.
Last night, a few of us put our heads together. As a result, we'd like to throw a challenge out to all of you. Four generous donors have ponied up a whopping $1250 in donations, but there's a catch: we need you to match our donations. Throughout the day, today and tomorrow, the Marine team be throwing out challenges to our readers. Some will be fun, some will be serious. Every donation counts, so don't be discouraged if you can't afford much.
Are you willing to step up and help us reach our goal? If so, make a donation and then email me (cassandra.vc at gmail.com) your donation receipt. If you want to X out your name, that's fine. I will keep the identities of all donors strictly confidential:
Here's what your money will buy for a wounded soldier, sailor, airman or Marine:
$800 buys a Voice-controlled Laptop - Operated by speaking into a microphone or using other adaptive technologies, they allow the wounded to maintain connections with the rest of the world during recovery.$200 buys a Wii Video Game System - Whole-body game systems increase motivation and speed recovery when used under the guidance of physical therapists in therapy sessions (donated only to medical facilities).
$200 buys a Personal GPS - Handheld GPS devices build self-confidence and independence by compensating for short-term memory loss and organizational challenges related to severe TBI and severe PTSD.
$400 buys an iPad
In a world where information comes at us at 90 miles an hour, it's easy to get overwhelmed, to think that the actions of one person can't possibly make a dent in everything that's wrong with the world. Here's your chance to make a difference. It all starts with the willingness to go just the little bit beyond what you think you can do.
Our four donors have already done that, but they need you to be a force multiplier. Will you step up? Can you contribute $25? $50? $100 or even more? Is anyone out there willing to match our entire pot ($1250)? If we can triple our original investment, we can net nearly $4000 for a worthy cause.
Let's make that thermometer jump - Twitter this, put it on Facebook, email your friends or neighbors, post the Marine Challenge on your blog. Together, we can change the lives of some extraordinary people. We can give them encouragement and hope during a difficult time, but more importantly we will be reminding them that we can't wait to welcome them back into the world once their time in the hospital is over.
I can't think of a group of people who will put your donations to better use.
CHALLENGE 1: Can we raise $250 (for a total of $500 with matching funds) before lunch? It doesn't need to be a single donation, but I need someone to get the ball rolling.
UPDATE: 11:40 am. WOO HOO!!!! The Marine team rocks! Keep it coming, folks!
At 12 noon the first of our matching donors will pony up $250 in matching funds. We need ideas for the Early Noon challenge - if we can raise another $250 by 2 pm, not only will those funds be matched but the Princess will be happy to humiliate herself in whatever way the Villainry suggests in the comments section.
Thanks so much to our big hearted Marine team donors! Here are the amounts (not sure I have permission to publish the names):
$100.00
$250.00
$50.00
$100.00
Pour it on! :)
EARLY AFTERNOON CHALLENGE: raise $250 by 2 pm. We're almost half the way there!
Retriever links with Vote - then give to those who make it possible.
Posted by Cassandra at 08:12 AM | Comments (5) |TrackBack (0) |
November 01, 2010
Marine Team Roundup for Monday, November 1st
It's the 5th day of the Valour IT fundraiser.
The C Square tells us about teleconferencing from the war zone.
Miss Ladybug shares a video from my new favorite Marine, Eddie Ryan.
Over at Thor's Hall, we have a twofer!!!
Marine Wife shares a story written by her very talented Devil Pup.
MaryAnn from Soldiers' Angels Germany shares some photos of the Marine Corps Marathon.
Blatherings Blog introduces us to CPL Nicholas Ludke.
As I mentioned above, it is the 5th day of the competition and yes, I know, Army is leading right now. We still have 9 days to make that thermometer jump. Do you need a little moto, moto motivation? That ought to get everyone's heart pumping today!!
There's still time to join the Marine team if you haven't already. We'd love to have you! If you've already donated, thank you from the bottom of my heart. If you haven't, there's still time to do that too.
The need has never been greater.
Posted by Carrie at 01:39 PM | Comments (4) |TrackBack (0) |
October 29, 2010
Fundraising Ideas Shamelessly Swiped From Cassandra's Post Last Year
(Carrie again)
I know times are tight. Believe me, we're counting pennies here too.
I started to write a post about alternative fundraising ideas that get groups and organizations involved when I remembered that Cassandra had already done that last year.
Now, I love Valour IT and especially the Marine Team but I am not a fan of re-inventing the wheel.
So again, mostly Cassandra's words (with some adjusting for circumstances this year) but they still ring true a year later.
1. If you have cross posting privileges, ask if you can cross post or - better yet - post a donation widget on other sites you belong to.
Joining the Marine team is a click away.
2. Reach out to churches, Scout troops, and other civic organizations. This is a great way to reconnect the civilian community with our armed forces.
3. If your corporation or employer matches donations, PLEASE ASK THEM TO MATCH FUNDS. Again, this is a HUGE multiplier for us. I asked my boss yesterday and I hate asking for anything.
4. If you have connections in the print media, TV or radio, ask them to cover Valour IT and especially the MARINE TEAM! The history of Valour IT makes a fantastic human interest story and the interservice rivalry aspect only makes it better.
5. You can make a donation in memory of someone on the official donation site. This was not an option last year but it is this year.
If you would like to share with me your memories of the individual, please click on my name in the comment section of this post. If you're amenable to the idea, I could put up a post about your loved one or friend. People who know me know that I am all about the remembering. It's our duty.
6. Don't forget asking your readers to promote Valour IT (and the MARINE TEAM) on social networking venues like the Tweetosphere and FaceBook-o-sphere.
Go Marine Corps. Beat Army!!!
Posted by Carrie at 05:01 PM | Comments (8) |TrackBack (0) |
Project Valour IT
As the old saying goes, "All gave some. Some, gave all".
Sometimes, giving hurts. That's why they call it "sacrifice".
Right now Landstuhl RAMC, Bethesda and Walter Reed are full of young Marines who, when they were asked to dig deep and give their country just a little more, didn't hesitate. They didn't bat an eye.
There are so many reasons to be grateful to the United States Marine Corps. For over 230 years the Marines have always answered their nation's call.
The question is: will you do your part? Even if it hurts a bit?
You know what to do, people. Join the Marine team. Tell your friends and neighbors. But above all, make that thermometer jump.
Posted by Cassandra at 12:45 PM | Comments (2) |TrackBack (0) |
Headline of the Day
It's not just the Aqua Buddha and David Vitter's prostitute, Democratic candidates across the country are closing out the campaign with personal attacks on Republican candidates, sometimes digging up decades-old legal problems.In one typical example, Democratic ads have transformed Kentucky Republican House candidate Andy Barr into "a convicted criminal" -- complete with images yellow police tape and fuzzy video of crime scenes. Not mentioned is his crime: As a college student 19 years ago, he was caught using a fake ID during spring break.
Impressive, no es verdad?
Posted by Cassandra at 12:28 PM | Comments (6) |TrackBack (0) |
Lists!! We've Got Lists!!!
It's day two of the Valour IT fundraiser.
David Letterman has a Marine Corps Top Ten List from last year.
I like Cassy's list better.
So now, as if you needed them, you have more reasons to support the Marine team in the Valour IT fundraiser.
Dig deep, people! Please? Our Marines are.
Posted by Carrie at 09:37 AM | Comments (0) |TrackBack (0) |
Shocker: People Who Kiss and Tell are Still Jerks
And don't even get me started on those who profit from such betrayals of trust:
Gawker was convicted Thursday in the court of Twitter opinion. The charges: misogyny and reckless link-baiting."Today, we are all Christine O'Donnell," wrote Salon's Justin Elliott.
He was one of several journalists and bloggers to criticize Gawker for posting an anonymous account by a Philadelphia man claiming to have gone home with Delaware Senate candidate on Halloween night three years ago, following a night of drinking.
Not many things still have the power to shock - or unite - people on both sides of the political spectrum. In a way, that's reassuring. What bothers me a bit, though, is watching so many people calling this misogyny (as though exposing private sexual information to literally millions of total strangers isn't objectionable and wrong no matter who it's done to).
Given the rash of recent news stories featuring men betraying women who were foolish enough to think what happens between two consenting human beings ought to stay between them (as opposed to being plastered all over the Internet), it isn't too hard to paint this as just one more instance of boorish male behavior.
That would be convenient for those who spend their days searching for shocking anecdotes that confirm their pre-existing hostility to the opposite sex. But regardless of who does what to whom more often (or whether it's fair to despise one sex and admire the other for engaging in the same promiscuous behavior) not every bad thing some men do to some women is misogyny. Likewise, not every bad thing some women do to some men is misandry.
Some people are just spiteful, self aggrandizing, inconsiderate jerks and they deserve every last bit of scorn that can be heaped on their heads.
Several liberal bloggers (and some conservative ones) are brandishing the sexism card. Oddly enough, none of them seem to be blaming sexism for prompting Lillian McEwen to reveal things best left private about her decades old relationship with Justice Clarence Thomas:
In 1991, the world divided itself into two camps: those who believed Anita Hill and those who didn't. I fell somewhere in the middle: She may have told the truth, but so what?On bended knee, give thanks if you are too young to remember. A brief summary: Hill testified that then-Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas had sexually harassed her by verbally sharing his enjoyment of porn films and his sexual proficiency.
Yes, yawn if you must. This was scandalous, of course, because . . . well, I'm still not certain. You see, to be scandalized, one must be deeply sensitive to the mention of anything sexual. Indeed, in this case, one needed to be scandalized for an indefinite period of time.
Hill's testimony came several years after she worked for Thomas at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, where the alleged harassment took place. In other words, she didn't protest at the time of these conversations, which were boorish, assuming they happened as she described. Or were they merely lame attempts at humor?
The context has never been clear. In any case, other options available to Hill included telling Thomas to get over himself. Or, at the very least, assuming deep offense, complaining to a higher authority. She did neither, apparently.
Maybe it's just me, but every time some moron feels the need to tell me things I don't care to know about a public figure, I can't help thinking, "Why on earth would you TELL me this?"
What kind of person are you, anyway?
I don't trust the kind of person who would do such a thing, because the one thing I know for certain about people who reveal private information about their former lovers is that they don't deserve my - or anyone else's - trust. If there is a just punishment for such betrayals it's that in exposing their former lovers, these tattletales can't help but expose their own character flaws.
I'm not a Christine O'Donnell fan, and to this day I have no idea whether she did any of the things her anonymous accuser says she did. What I do know is that Dustin Dominiak - if we can believe his story - kept photos of a woman he didn't even have sex with for over three years.
Even though he wasn't really all that "into her". Riiiiiiiight.
I also know - because he told me - that the mere sight of a woman whose nether regions weren't waxed as bare as a preteen's so disgusted him that he was unable to... how shall we say it?... rise to the occasion. Make of that what you will. And then there's Lillian McEwen, who despite her indecent willingness to smear a man who - according to her - did nothing to deserve such a betrayal, assures us that she once cared about Thomas. Of course that was back in the days when he was a "raging alcoholic" with a consuming interest in hard core pornography. Not that there's anything wrong with hard core porn, at least according to McEwen. According to her, all men are into porn. Heck - the entire Supreme Court is into porn! Which begs the question: what are we supposed to take away from her revelations? That Thomas is no different from other men? Do all men who watch porn sexually harass their co-workers? Or are such men merely more likely to sexually harass women?
Trust me - I'm no big fan of hard core porn but the cognitive dissonance here is mind blowing. Here we have a woman who characterizes her former lover as a womanizing, porn obsessed drunk. Let's face it, ladies: what woman has not dreamed of acquiring a mate with these sterling qualities?
Of course all good things must come to an end. Sadly (again, according to Ms. McEwen) the future SC Justice gave up his binge drinking, porn loving ways and got into all sorts of freaky deaky activities like exercising and working hard at his chosen career. No wonder she dumped him - what sane woman puts up with a man like that?
To this day I still don't know whether Thomas said the things Anita Hill accused him of. McEwen's ill advised and despicable revelations neither corroborate nor disprove Hill's charges because she wasn't there when Thomas was supposedly doing things Ms. McEwen doesn't find the least bit morally troubling (but really wants us to know about anyway because of what they imply about his character).
And I still don't know whether Christine O'Donnell did the things Dustin Dominiak says she did. And I never will. Somehow, I think I can learn to live with that.
What I do know is that folks like Lillian McEwen and Dustin Dominiak are the last people on earth I would trust to protect my own reputation. Why, then, are we so willing to trust them with anyone else's?
Posted by Cassandra at 09:28 AM | Comments (14) |TrackBack (0) |
October 28, 2010
Why I Support Valour IT
(This is Carrie back to start some trouble. :)
When I first started volunteering at Bethesda and Walter Reed, I remember tiptoeing around words like amputee. I had to call the Marine Liasons at the hospital to verify a piece of information and I stuttered when discussing a wounded Marine's status. The Marine, as Marines are known to do, was not shy and came right out and said it. "He is a paraplegic."
That was over 5 years ago. Now, acronyms like BKA (below the knee amputation), TBI and PTSD are part of my daily vocabulary. I have come to accept the fact that when we send young men and women into war zones, some are bound to get hurt.
Please don't confuse my acceptance with a lack of caring because I care very much and want to see our wounded get all the support available to make their rehabilitation and recovery as successful as possible.
THAT is why I support Valour IT. Valour IT supports our wounded with their (free) laptops with voice activated software. These laptops provide a level of independence for servicemembers who, for whatever the reason, are not able to use their hands. Valour IT also provides personal GPS devices for those who have short term memory loss or other issues stemming from TBI or PTSD.
The need for such support has never been greater. As of Tuesday and just at Bethesda, there were 39 combat injured Marines and Corpsmen there. That number climbed higher when the plane landed from Landstuhl Tuesday night. I do not remember the number of wounded at Bethesda being that high even during the surge in Iraq.
I am co-leading the Marine team with Cassy Fiano this year. If you have a blog and would like to join the Marine team, please go here and sign up. The fundraiser starts today, Thursday, October 28th and ends on November 11th. We would love to repeat last year's victory but more importantly, we want to see our wounded and injured servicemembers get the tools they need to recover and lead full lives.
More to come....
Posted by Carrie at 09:51 AM | Comments (6) |TrackBack (0) |
October 27, 2010
Dads' Opinions Wanted
After a long day at work, the Blog Princess hath been known to peruse the vasty store of Instapunditry that accumulates during the workday. During just such a foray this evening, she happened upon this item:
DAUGHTERS SUFFER from sexism against men.
Allow me to stop for just a moment and ask a question of the villainry: if it's objectively wrong (not to mention unreasonable) for feminists to blame pretty much everything that happens in this wicked veil of tears on sexism, is the same true when men play the sexism card?
I just thought I'd ask. Because last time I checked, I thought men and women were supposed to be playing on the same team?
At any rate, my curiosity was aroused so I clicked through only to find (much to my horror!) that apparently there is a war on men! And it is keeping them from discussing sex with their teen-aged daughters who, sad to say, are suffering in unimaginably horrible ways as a result of this Traveshamockery:
The war against men has claimed another victim: their daughters.In today’s America a man knows that he can be sued for workplace sexual harassment if he looks at a woman in the wrong way, if he makes a sexually suggestive remark, or if he touches her inappropriately.
He also knows that children, especially female children, are strictly off limits. Speak to his daughter in the wrong way and a man can find himself charged with child molestation. Even when the charges are false, it is very, very difficult to restore a reputation tarnished by the suspicion of child abuse.
It isn’t easy being a man in America today. The culture has made men into a threat, into the enemy of women and girls.
Not everywhere, not for everyone, but enough of the time for men to be wary in their dealings with female children.
The attacks on men, the stigmatization of men, the distrust about their motives have created a cultural miasma. If you were a father living in such a culture, would you want to talk about sex with your preteen daughter?
Who among us does not recall the halcyon days when your average Paterfamilias couldn't wait to wade into the angst-ridden conversational minefield that is female adolescent sexuality? Damn those buzz killing Femisandrists for coming between red blooded American Dads and their beautiful and natural desire to... umm... talk ... about... uhhh, sex and relationships.
Sure that the Spousal Unit would join me in my outragey-ness, I hied me down to the man cave Spousal Office to ask the question that was burning a hole in my pea sized brain:
"Babe... did you ever talk to our boys about sex?", I said, batting my eyelashes furiously and attempting to look harmless. A look of consternation briefly flitted across his face, quickly followed by the expression of Benign And Infinite Patience with which The Unit greets all such inquiries.
"No", he said. I may have mentioned from time to time that my beloved is a man of few words.
"Are you quite sure?", I responded?
"Yes"
This was followed, after I failed to go away within a reasonable amount of time, by, "No one talked to me about sex when I was a kid either. I figured it out."
"Huh", I noted with an air of feminine inscrutability. The whole "inscrutability" shtick is rarely successful with him, largely because it's extremely difficult to cloak oneself in an enticing veil of feminine mystery without shutting up for at least a few seconds.
You have to let the anticipation build. You know, give the poor guy time to wonder what you're thinking. I am assured by various women's mags that this is something men do nearly as often as they dream of discussing sex with their teenaged daughters.
On a serious note, in our media and sex drenched culture I can't imagine why any parent would need to discuss the mechanics of sex with a child. I learned most of what I knew about sex from reading and that was back in the 1960s when popular culture was considerably more restrained. My boys came of age in the 90s, and I bought them an excellent set of books (which I read first, in case there was a pop quiz) that covered male and female anatomy, sex, pregnancy, childbirth and birth control. I gave them the books, asked them to read them, and told them afterwards that I'd be happy to discuss any questions or concerns they might have.
They said they were good to go.
When they started showing an interest in girls, I did talk to my sons about relationships: how girls think, how to talk to girls, how girls view relationships and sex, what most girls would interpret various things. They were good talks that gave me a chance to impart the values my husband and I wanted our sons to take on board. We didn't talk just once; this was an ongoing conversation administered in small doses as they ran across (or seemed likely to need to know) various things.
Oddly enough, my Dad talked to me about boys many, many times. But then my Dad changed diapers in the 1950s and 60s. I can't honestly say I believed my father when he told me the boys I dated spent the vast majority of their time wondering what I looked like naked ... or trying to figure out how to get into my knickers. It irritated me that he didn't think I was smart enough to take care of myself.
But those talks - along with the time he spent teaching me to change spark plugs, change oil and air filters, and unstick a stuck butterfly valve - accomplished something vastly more important than educating me about boys and sex. They taught me how to recognize a good man.
Looking back at my dating years, I'm not sure how I avoided the bad apples. I was so naive and trusting that I could easily have been badly hurt or taken advantage of, and yet I never was. I can't help but think my relationship with my father taught me that if a man truly cares about a woman, he won't mind spending time with her (whether or not she's sleeping with him). Fathers have a lot to offer their daughters.
And a good father won't let political correctness or feminism dictate how he raises children of either sex.
Dads: I welcome your comments.
Posted by Cassandra at 09:27 PM | Comments (32) |TrackBack (0) |
Some Days You Just Can't Win
OK, so the Princess is feeling a bit down today. But at least I didn't have the kind of day this little guy had.
Posted by Cassandra at 04:06 PM | Comments (13) |TrackBack (0) |
October 26, 2010
We Shall Not See His Like Again...
Sometimes it's hard to find the right words:
Paul the Octopus, who correctly predicted the outcome of games during this year's World Cup soccer tournament, has died.The eight-tentacled cephalopod oracle died of natural causes, the aquarium where he lived said Tuesday. He was 2 and a half.
"We are consoled by the knowledge that he enjoyed a good life here ..." said Stefan Porwoll, manager of the Oberhausen Sea Life Center in western Germany. "We had all naturally grown fond of him and he will be sorely missed."
Posted by Cassandra at 08:19 AM | Comments (11) |TrackBack (0) |
October 25, 2010
Important Ursine Misandry Alert
Betwixt largely unprofitable attempts to make The Unit feel guilty about the distressingly puppy-free state of the Marital Abode and the joyous contemplation of the non-linear interaction between the code volume, effort and schedule of delivered software projects, The Blog Princess has found precious little time of late for stunning readers senseless with her random musings.
But there are times when even the busiest among us must set aside mundane tasks for the vastly more important work of keeping the blatherosphere appraised of the growing menace of Ursine Misandry.
When last we left our fave sexually confused teen bear, he was sporting a soul patch and cavorting with sloe-eyed Italian bear-babes whilst PETA operatives schemed to deprive him of his Lucky Charms:
PETA is now demanding that Berlin zookeepers castrate Knut, as things have started to get fairly serious between the Vanity Fair cover bear and his girlfriend Giovanna. Giovanna hails from Munich, but has been temporarily crashing with Knut while her place there was getting fixed up. Of course things were a little tense at first—she hit his face; he gradually grew out of his boyish good looks—but over time they just got used to living together and eventually they fell in love. The twist is that Giovanna and Knut actually share a grandfather. It’s always something, isn’t it?“Knut fans should be aware that only Knut’s castration would allow a long-term cohabitation of Giovanna and Knut. All other hopes and desires would bring the polar bear population in captivity to its pre-programmed demise even more rapidly,” said a PETA spokesman, as reported in Der Spiegel.
Ah, but the course of true love ne'er doth run smooth, doth it? In the fullness of time it was revealed that the young hussy was more interested in his carrots than his stick (groan...):
The polar bear, who was joined by Gianna in September last year at Berlin Zoo, did not appear to be upset at the separation, as she had reportedly been stealing his carrots since she moved in.
And isn't that just like a woman? Of course it was just a short trip from Vegetable Thievery to the Hell of Domestic Violence:
The Berlin Zoo's adorable polar bear, who shot to global fame as a cub, is reportedly being bullied by a trio of older females, causing the country's media to worry about the superstar's love life.Playing hard to get, The Telegraph reports that "Knut has become a heap of misery, instead of enjoying himself with the three ladies, he cowers fearfully in a corner."
For several weeks, the 3-year-old bear has shared his zoo enclosure with his mother, Tosca, and two other females, Nancy and Katjusch, with the intent of finding a mate. However, Knut, who is definitely not a fan of tough love, has instead become the victim of a number violent altercations.
As if his current troubles weren't depressing enough, the beknighted celebrity bear must also deal with the misandric musings of rampant speciests:
One video posted online showed Katjuscha hurling herself at Knut's throat, in an apparent attempt to bite him, before tipping him into the water."These sad images of Knut are pulling the heartstrings of people around the world," said Bild.
But Heiner Kloes, Knut's keeper, downplayed the affair, telling AFP it was "only two minutes in the life of a bear."
"It was a small altercation that is completely normal among bears," he said, underlining that the four bears were still getting used to living together.
"For the time being, Knut is not yet an adult male and doesn't yet know how to get respect like his father did. But day by day, he is imposing himself and with time, this type of problem will go away," he said.
This is where we must turn to you, dear readers, for help. Will a thorough mastery of Game help poor Knut get in touch with his Inner Alpha or will he settle for an emotionally barren existence relieved only by the sporadic use of panda porn and confusing sex toys? Will our little cultural bellwether eventually triumph over the sexist machinations of his critics or will Bearkind suffer the loss of yet another talented spokesbear?
Is there a reality TV show in his future? Does Obama have a plan for this, too?
Stay tuned, haters.
Posted by Cassandra at 12:04 PM | Comments (15) |TrackBack (0) |
"Not That There's Anything Wrong with 'Vice'", Mind You
In an NPR-worthy moment of cognitive dissonance, Scotland Yard strikes an important blow in the ongoing battle to destigmatize criminal behavior:
Scotland Yard's famous Vice Squad, which deals with prostitution and other aspects of London's underworld, has changed its title to the rather less dynamic "Serious Crime Directorate 9: Human Exploitation and Organised Crime Command", or SCD9 for short.The explanation is one that would draw a robust response from DCI Hunt, the old-school detective from BBC One's Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes.
Metropolitan Police sources said the switch had been ordered in part because the word "vice" was thought to have negative "connotations".
I can't help but wish the knuckle dragging Neanderthals in our own law enforcement community would get on board with the UK's enlightened affirmation of the essential human dignity and moral equivalence of non-conforming lifestyle choices.
Crime is only objectionable because we think it so.
Posted by Cassandra at 07:40 AM | Comments (14) |TrackBack (0) |
