Gratitude Salute

Now here's something that is a pretty good idea. Hope it catches on! Seems like a guy from Seattle wondered, like a lot of us do, how he could best convey his thanks to those who choose to serve in the military. He came up with the gratitude salute. It's a simple, unobtrusive way to say thanks and to let our military know that we appreciate them and their service. Check out the video:




hat tip: Dianne

Said this before...."gotta love the Marines"

I absolutely support what this Marine vet said at this townhall meeting. We need more and more members of the formerly-silent majority to speakup and speak their mind! Marines....gotta love 'um!



h/t Ally via Hot Air

Jake's Post

My blogger friend, Jake of Jake's Life, has a post asking for support for his friend, Clay. Clay is riding in the "Ride to Recovery," a bike ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles. The ride is to raise money to purchase rehabilitative bicycles for wounded warriors; an extremely worthy cause! Clay, a former-Marine who himself was a wounded warrior, is trying to raise $5000 through his ride. Take the time to read Jake's post about Clay's ride on his blog, then go to the Ride to Recovery website and sponsor Clay Hunt. Let's help him meet his fundraising goal!

News

Those of you who follow this blog know that two of my children are currently serving overseas, my daughter in Iraq and my son in Afghanistan. Well, I have some news. Florida-girl, my wonderful daughter-in-law, called me this morning. She let me know she had received a phone call from my son earlier in the morning. She said he sounded wonderful, and apologized for not being able to call on their Wedding Anniversary, which was earlier this week. She said he was his normal self....joking around and teasing her. It was great news! But then she told me that a little bit later in the morning, she received a call from HQ Marine Corps, with a "casualty report." They told her that my son had been knocked unconscious by an IED a couple of days ago, and medevac'ed to a medical facility with a serious concussion and that he was under observation with headaches and nausea. Of course, he hadn't told her any of this news earlier, probably in an effort to protect her, not knowing that the Marine HQ would call. (He's like that....he told his grandmother and I not to watch the news while he's gone; even though he knows we will.) Florida-girl was upset, of course, but she said the worst part was the Marine who called used the term "casualty report" and not something more innocuous like "injury report." She said her stomach had hit the ground, before she realized what the Marine on the phone was trying to tell her. Can't say I blame her. My stomach is still near my ankles. Good thing is that he seems to be OK....at least he was able to call his wife and joke around with her; even if he didn't let her know about his concussion. Gotta love protective men.......their heart's in the right place, even if you want to kick them in the backside for not giving you information!

"I think we can all agree....."

I've been watching the news coverage of the "Great Health Care Debate" with great interest. I'm extremely pleased that citizens of our great Country are taking the time to become educated, to read the proposed bills, and to speak out about their thoughts. To me, this is what Democracy is all about; citizens participating in their governance. I just hope that our politicians listen, but somehow I doubt it....and I'll tell you why.

It seems like just about everyone who supports the bill (in one form or another) starts their conversation about health care with the statement, "I think we can all agree...." Interesting. Most DON'T agree; that the health care system in irretrievably broken, that costs are totally out of control, or that it's the government that has to do something about health care. By starting their argument with the statement "I think we can all agree...." proponents of health care reform (whether their politicians or press), are using a classic debate tactic. They're trying to set the stage for the argument by getting their opponents in the discussion to agree to a premise that may (or may not) be faulty. Lawyers use this tactic all the time to get a witness (generally on cross-examination) to agree to a crucial fact or premise the lawyer wants to establish. I just hope that opponents of the proposed government takeover of health care who do not agree that the current system is irretrievably broken take the time to correct the premise. After all, if the system is broken, politicians will not be able to help themselves....they'll believe they have to get involved to "fix it."