VSO Stamp Proposal Needs Your Support

A stamp proposal representing 29 Veteran and Military Organizations, including the VFW, has been sent to the United States Postal Service Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee.
The commemorative stamp sheet will include individual stamps that recognize the hard work, dedication and diversity of our organizations. The theme “Still Serving America” is intended to send a powerful message to all about the continuing war on terrorism and support for our nations’ military and veterans.
The Advisory Committee will be reviewing our proposal in the next week. Please contact them with your support by writing letters to them at the following address:Citizens Stamp Advisory CommitteeStamp DevelopmentUS Postal Service1735 N. Lynn Street, Room 5018Arlington, VA 22209-6332
We also encourage you to call and write your members of Congress to express your enthusiasm and support.
Any and all activity will send a message to the Stamp Committee that we are united in our efforts to honor the military and veterans with a commemorative stamp.For your legislators address and phone go to:vocusgr.vocus.com/vfw/web...latorQuery

Dean Koontz Does It Again!

Dean Koontz's latest book - "Life Expectancy"
is terrific. Even if you have never picked up a Koontz book before I can REALLY recommend this one!
He proves time and again that suspense and thriller can be entertaining; that is why he is my favorite author!

Odd Weather & Noisy Children

We are having some rather odd, dry weather up here in the Pacific Northwest! It is usually raining and cloudy this time of year, yet it is clear & dry.
Most would enjoy this change, but I am rather unhappy!
I have a neighborhood of rowdy kids of whom their parents obviously have no parenting skills. Because of the nice weather these Rug Rats are out playing...i.e. Screaming at the top of their lungs and throwing pine cones at each other!
I pray for rain soon!

How to save on your printer paper

For those of you who do not know. You can bring in your empty used printer cartridges to Office Depot and they will give you a FREE ream of paper!
I always save my cartridges to bring to them.
Heck! I don't even buy my printer cartridges from them anymore! I found that they are a few dimes cheaper on Base! I haven't purchased plain printer paper in years!
I hope this saves some of you some extra money!

How Are You Giving To Charity

Considering that I am borderline poor, being on a disability compensation, I haven't the funds to give money to the charities that I would like to.
Instead of monies, I save my canceled stamps from the letters I receive. These get sent to a dear friend who uses them in a process for funding Lobbbyists that are opening doors for MS patients worldwide.
I also save the pop tops off my soda cans. These go to a VFW Comrade who brings them to a funding office that aids young children who need organ transplants.
Just being a Life member of my VFW Post, we supplement the worldwide donations to our National home for widows and Orphans with an ample monthly allotment.
There are plenty of ways to give charitable contributions rather than money, that is if you look!

Suicidal & Deranged Man Now Faces Murder Charges

This from CNN: A suicidal man will face murder charges after parking his vehicle on tracks Wednesday, causing a commuter train collision that killed at least 10 people outside Los Angeles, officials said.
"This whole incident was started by a deranged individual who was suicidal," said Glendale Police Chief Randy Adams.
The suspect, identified as Juan Manuel Alvarez, 26, got out of the vehicle before impact and watched the collision, Adams said.
The Compton, California, resident is in custody and will be charged with one count of homicide for each death resulting from the incident.

Odd Weather Lately

Has anyone else noticed that the weather has been odd lately!
Last spring we hit record heat waves all the way through summer. Then the winter hit new highs and it snowed for the first time in six years!
Now this winter has been drier than normal and we have had record warmth. Last week we hit the high that broke the record back in 1870!
What is up with the changes in our weather!

Rethinking Ice Hockey this Year

With the trials and tribulation of NHL and a lost season, I have rethought my joy of the game and looked towards my areas semi-Pro team!
The Winterhawks in Portland are having a great season and they have a new supportive Fan!
I intend to attend a couple home games too!
So for the rest of you who might be missing good hockey, think outside the Pros and you might find a great semi-Pro team in your area!

I am SO PROUD to be a VFW VET!

I had a fantastic District meeting today with my VFW & I found that I am very proud of these military heros and I have to say that I served my country and now I serve those who served our country!
I love being a VFW Post Commander, working with my District and State as well as being a Certified National Recruiter for the VFW!
This is a Great bunch of Comrades and patriots!

NUMB3RS TV Show

WOW! Is this show something to see!
If you missed the premiere then try to see the next episode on Friday!
This is great!
Calculating factors of human frequency actions.
Cool!

Mothers

We all have/had one, yet some of us have better relationships with their mothers than others.
I have done all I can, on many occasions, to have a good relationship with mine; yet she alludes me and yet has a great relationship with my older sister and younger brother!
Yes! I am the standard Black Sheep Middle Child!
I have had the last conversation that I am willing to take of verbal abuse from my mother!
Why is it she panders and cow tows to my Brother and Sister and I get shit on!
I tried, on so very many occasions to communicate with her and let her know how I feel and she just blows me off.
Now, after my disability retirement from the Navy, she considers my medical issues as nothing!
I wish I could write her off, but know I won't, though I do intend on not communicating with her or at least initiating communication!
This is only one of many times I have been so badly emotionally hurt by her and this time I have promised myself that it WILL be the last!
I don't allow anyone else to treat me like this so why the Hell should I allow her to!
Enough is enough! I see how sweet she can be to my siblings and if she cannot act nicely and humane to me then I don't need the stress!

This Weeks Movie Reviews

Cold Creek Manor, with Dennis Quaid & Sharon Stone did not have enough power to keep the suspense on a high level. By the time we find the horse in the swimming pool, the audience has written the ending, because there is only one way it could end. The bad guy has to get it!
Elephant is a marvelous tribute to the film media in an interesting ever changing perspective of a day at a High School. Interesting that it just so happens to be filmed up here in Portland, Oregon. The Great Pacific Northwest!
I enjoyed Gus Van Zant's style of editing and perspective shots, the film gives you the shocking experience of what it might have been like on that particular day at Columbine High School.

My Dearest Friend and her MS

I have a Very dear friend who lives back home where we both grew up, went to High School, had our first loves, explored and found the world and ourselves in the process.
Well...Years back...Just before my venture in the US Navy...She was there for me with a helping hand and open door when I really needed a friend and a place to stay.
I will NEVER forget her for that and will always Love her for it!
Because of her loving open heart I have built my style of life around her teachings.
I Love first by reaching out and giving.
When it comes to her troubles, she is not alone...Though I am certain she feels that way many times.
I do whatever is in my power to help make her life better and help her to better cope with her MS situation.
It makes me feel like a better person because of her and I hope that I can be at least half the friend to her as she is to me!
I wish everyone could have a friend like Cindy!

Why so few women in the VFW?

I am dealing with a bunch of older guys - I am the Commander of my VFW Post and, as a woman of the Baby Boomer era, I am young enough to be the grand daughter of most of my fellow comrades at the Post!
I love these guys and respect the heck out of them, even if the post smells like moths balls!
Our Oldest is the highest honored & medaled WWII Vet in our county and we just celebrated his 62nd anniversary of membership in the VFW with our Post!
We are loosing these wonderful Comrades faster than we can replace them and yet, we are in a war!
The thing that gets me is that, being a woman and having had many female Shipmates while serving in Theatre in the Former Yugoslavia, Bosnia and Kosovo conflicts, why are there so few women in the VFW?
Just before I was disability retired from the US Navy, my chain of command was entirely female from me up!
I was only a Lead Petty Officer of my shop.
I DO believe I hold the answer to this, though how would the women who have not joined the VFW know this.
All of the Rituals and Prayers of the VFW are established with the thought of the Christian, white, male.
I am doing what I can to have these Gents understand how difficult they make it for others to join when they are so closed minded.
Sometimes the guys will say, after a Pot Luck and prior to our meeting, OK men over in our room and the women stay in here-(The women being members of the VFW Auxillary, either a wife or daugher of a VFW Comrade.)
I jokingly say "Hey! there you go trying to change my sex again!"
The National percentage of women joining the VFW is 2%, with African Americans at 5% and Hispanics at 6%.
All these percentages are too low and the women make it lower, since we fill the African American and Hispanic ratios as well!
I hope that soon the VFW and it's very male population realizes the enormity of loss they have created and work to correct this.

Let's Hear It for Bill!

Not only did William Shatner finally pick up a Golden Globe Award, for his work on Boston Legal, he has a smashing little album out that has gone unnoticed.
"Has Been" has got to be my favorite album and song for the new year!
It is a hoot! No, he is smart enough NOT to sing, he does a soft beat melodic speaking with a wonderful background of music. The music style varies from song to song and should enlighten those, like myself, with an eclectic taste.
Warning! Has Been should only be listened to AFTER relieving your bladder so you don't piss yourself laughing AND your volume should be raised up on high!
Enjoy and let me know what you think of this album/CD.

No Honor For Some

It is bad enough that Army Reserve Spc. Charles Graner Jr. tortured and abused prisoners at Abu Ghraib and is now sentenced to 10 years in a military prison for his role in abusing these detainees, but the fact that he says he has no apologies for his actions in Iraq makes him an inhuman villain of the worst degree, he was wearing the uniform of a United States Soldier.

Beautiful Orange Titan!

It has been so long since we have paid attention to space exploration.
These images returning from the Huygens space probe on Titan, Saturn's moon, are breathtaking.
I am again like a kid watching the first steps of man on the moon!
With deep sorrow and regret of the devastation in the world, it is nice to take a moment and look up and ponder.

Let's Hear It For Titan!

I am so excited about the news of the Huygens space probe landing on Saturn's moon - Titan!
There is plenty we have to keep in mind, with the Tsunami and California mudslides and world terror, but it is nice to have such a fantastic piece of scientific research and discovery to embrace as well!
I look forward to the first pictures we receive!

I Think of My Friends Throughout My Day

Not only do I think of my friends throughout the day, they make it easy to do this with wonderful Birthday and holiday gifts that I use throughout the year.
Thus, every time I use an item they have given me, a smile comes to my face and thoughts of them fill my mind!
Thank You friends for ever being by my side!

Something weird This Way Comes

I don't normally mention my beliefs in anything super natural, but this one is worth mentioning.
I have this usual delight of awaking with a song in my head.
Maybe something that suits my feelings, maybe something that comes from my dreams of the evening of sleep.
Today I woke with and older song I have not heard in years. I have no albums with it and it isn't even an artist I consider.
The song was "Witchita Lineman" by Glen Campbell.
It leaves me humming it and whistling the tune.
So odd that I Emailed my dearest friend about it.
She kinda freaked in her reply that she and her daughter had just been talking of this song not a few days prior!
It made me think of the feeling I have when humming the song and I feel gleeful and joyous, so I leave it up to the heavens. They sent me a long distance song from dear friends with happy feelings attached.
I hope this feeling lasts throughout the day!

California Mudslides

There is nothing more tragic than mother nature these days!
Now we have, not only the Tsunami victims to mourn for, we have lives lost in mudslides in the California rains.
I only pray that a dry climate is near for them.
Our thoughts are with you too California!

I Cannot Complain of my Weather

I was in Kansas City for a four day training seminar with the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
The headquarters are located in Kansas City.
Having never been there, I was excited to see some of the city. Good thing the seminar kept us in the conference room or our VFW hospitality room for the duration, less a grand tour of the Headquarters and then back to the conference room in the hotel.
It was so cold! 4 below 0! There were icicles hanging on moving vehicles! The trees were thick with ice and icicles hung from the ends of the branches like wicked leaves!
Snow was forecasted for the Pacific Northwest upon my return, though we lucked out and yet again we find them incorrect!
I am happy to be home!

Democrats & Republicans Joining Tsunami Aid

I think it is wonderful that President Clinton and President Bush - Senior have joined in the aid for the Tsunami victims and their countries.
Maybe there is a chance that we all can join forces and respect each other yet deal with the crises at hand.

The First Movie Rental this Year

The Human Stain was the first DVD to see this year.
Stunning portrayal of a man hiding his true self from the world, as if hiding from them means he isn't African American.
Sir Anthony Hopkins plays a man, his mothers Golden son, who can pass for white and does when enlisting in the Navy during WWII. He then explains he is Jewish to pass his curly hair and other physical attributes which are far less African American than the rest of his family.
He eventually shunes his family and anything else that might give his secret away.
He becomes a Dean of a college and Professor of literature when two of his students haven't attended class for five weeks.
He mentions how they are like spooks and the turmoil begins that he made a racist comment.
(I being a US Navy Retired Cryptologist, we were coined with this term and it was considered a nickname: I never knew of this term as racist, most likely because of my age.)
Nicole Kideman plays a 34 yr old janitor he becomes involved with and the story goes on...
Very moving and yet it makes me wonder if the book it was based on was as powerful as the movie.

First Book Read This Year

My first book of the year to read was the 1993 book by Dr. Maya Angelou~Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now. This little book is filled with insightful bits from In All Ways a Woman to A day Away.
Maya ponders the interesting ways upon which we look at the world and react to it.
A quick read, I was out of reading material before my plane landed in Kansas City.
A treasure of thoughts to provoke the conscious mind, I recommend it.

Icy Cold, but No Snow - YET!

This time last year my area of the Pacific Northwest had a huge snowstorm.
My area hadn't seen snow in seven years!
I had just moved up here and was not accustomed to living in the snow.
Luckily this year we haven't had any, as yet.
The weather analysts are predicting snow by the end of the week!
It is 26 degrees out now, being below freezing point and in an area with significant rainfall, I think we just might have a snowy Martin Luther King Day!

And Now They Blame the Earthquake on Nuclear Testing!

Is the world going nuts!
I cannot believe that this could be true!
Some of these countries, especially Arab countries are now blaming the earthquake, that caused the Tsunami, on Nuclear testing done in the ocean!

I am Proud to call myself Retired Navy!

With the US sending a total of 90 Helicopters, a second fleet, & Marines - (Which the USMC is a Department of the Navy).
I am Proud of my own Navy History!
We have always come through when called upon!

I STILL ASK - What are we doing Mr. President?

All too often our cries fall onto deaf ears!
At 141,000 lost and thousands still missing, why isn't the President speaking out nationally on what we will do for these countries!

UN Pledging $2Billion What is the US Pledging

What is the US, the strongest and most powerful country in the world pledging and doing for the disaster victims and their countries?
I am at a loss that we haven't put on the HERO cap and come to the aid of these countries in force!