My little Palin Republican

I was standing in line, buying some jacks, at the Black Bear Jamboree's gift shop in Pigeon Forge, when the man behind me asked a question. He was talking to my son, Kevin. The man was older; probably in his 70's. The hat was a baseball cap that looked like a black bear's head. Kevin must have been staring at him, because the man asked Kevin "Do you like my hat?"

Without hesitation, Kevin replied, "Well, I've got a gun... and I'm not afraid to use it."


BUWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHA
I swear.. that child is a natural comedian.

Of course this is the same child who, upon realizing the meat on his dinner plate had bones in it, asked me if it was bear meat, since we were at the Black Bear Jamboree.

Maybe he's just a natural blonde.

heh.

Blogger Personality

Lex posted this, so of course, I had to try it.
What kind of personality does your blog display?
ISTJ - The Duty Fulfillers
The responsible and hardworking type. They are especially attuned to the details of life and are careful about getting the facts right. Conservative by nature they are often reluctant to take any risks whatsoever.

The Duty Fulfillers are happy to be let alone and to be able to work in their own pace. They know what they have to do and how to do it.

A Duty Fulfiller.
Interesting.
I write a lot about my kids, personal responsibility, the protection of America and our military, conservative politics and bad people I think should die a long and horrible death. If that makes me a "Duty Fulfiller", then I'm happy to accept the title.

It closely aligns with my individual personality type: ISFJ
And I'm in good company: Princess Diana, Mother Teresa, Barbara and George H.W. Bush, Jimmy Stewart, and William Howard Taft are all fellow ISFJ's. I like that. It's good to be the sheepdog.

SFAC Blogger's Roundtable 11/12/08

After a few months of trying, I was finally able to attend a Blogger's Roundtable last week!
Since November is Warrior Care Month, the Roundtables in November have focused on the medical research and care being given to our wounded warriors and their families. Last week's Roundtable featured MG John Macdonald of the US Army Installation Management and Family MWR Command, and Delores Johnson, of the Soldier Family Assistance Centers (SFAC).

SFAC's are a unique service that works with Soldiers in Warrior Transition Units. Warrior Transition Units are comprised of wounded Soldiers in transition between hospital care and their next step. Sometimes that next step is their old unit, or perhaps a new unit, or military discharge. No matter what their next step is, the SFAC is there to guide the Soldier and their family through the process. Should a Soldier decide to leave the military, similar services are provided by the VA, but at that point, the SFAC steps out of the process.

The commanders, first sergeants and platoon leaders in the WTU's are so familiar with the assistance offered by the SFAC's, they include introducing new WT's to the local SFAC representatives. They recognize the value offered by the SFAC and want to encourage their Soldiers to use the SFAC's. To me, this is the best endorsement SFAC's could possibly receive.

The SFAC's offer specialized family and soldier care during the transition and healing process. They help family members get ID's, housing, schools and medical care established, allowing the Soldier to really focus on their recovery instead of worrying about basic household issues. SFAC's also work close with the local VA, Red Cross, and other community providers of military assistance. The SFAC serves as a one-stop-shop for assistance, eliminating the runaround that used to exist.

In addition to the coordination of family care, SFAC's also have some cutting edge psychological recovery therapy services. One service shows disabled veterans how to participate in sports like golf, swimming, and even hunting, through modification. MG Macdonald said that they have a blind vet in Texas who has taken down big game such as bears through modified hunting techniques. How cool is that? Who would have thought that a blind man could fire a gun accurately enough to kill a BEAR?

The most intriguing project is Warrior Adventure Quest. Warrior Adventure Quest creates fun, high adrenaline situations through the use of activities like rock climbing, or sky diving, or whitewater rafting, and then they apply battlemind to bring them down off of the rush. MG Macdonald described it this way:
"When a youngster gets back up into that adrenaline rush that he or she was in before and then, with using battlemind and trained platoon leaders and platoon sergeants, they then talk them down- how they felt before, how they felt when that rush of adrenaline like they did downrange, because that's really what the problem is. They're still looking for that rush of adrenaline. And their brain and their body have not adjusted from being back downrange."

Considering the high number of Soldiers suffering from PTSD, I find this project particularly exciting. It's stress management on steroids, which is exactly what our Soldiers need to deal with the after effects of battle.

The Army is learning that healing and reducing stress by providing a personal guide through the system is more than just "nice"...it's necessary.

Gulf War Syndrome is Real

NO SHIT SHERLOCK....

It's about damn time the US government officially recognizes Gulf War Syndrome.

An extensive federal report released Monday concludes that roughly one in four of the 697,000 U.S. veterans of the 1990-91 Gulf War suffer from Gulf War illness.

That illness is a condition now identified as the likely consequence of exposure to toxic chemicals, including pesticides and a drug administered to protect troops against nerve gas.

The 452-page report states that "scientific evidence leaves no question that Gulf War illness is a real condition with real causes and serious consequences for affected veterans."

Wow. 25% of our troops who served in the desert during the Gulf War are suffering from some from of Gulf War Syndrome. I know a few, and there's no way in HELL their illnesses could caused from anything other than some sort of chemical weapon. And did you know that 2/3rds of all children born to Gulf War vets since the war have been born with birth defects, ranging from minor to life-threatening? I knew there were many incidents, but because the government has been reluctant to recognize Gulf War Syndrome, no one really knows for sure how many children have been affected. That article is the first time I've seen a real number attached to problem.

25% of our troops have GWS... and 67% of our Gulf War veteran's children have birth defects. Staggering numbers.

I wonder how many of our Gulf War vets and their families will now be able to claim war-related injures and finally get the compensation and care they deserve. It's bittersweet for sure, but I still say it's about damn time.

Valour-IT

If you're here, it's no secret I support our troops. It's also no secret that I'm a blogger. Therefore, it should also be no secret that I fully support Project Valour-IT.

The project is out of money, which means that our wounded warriors no longer have access to the voice-activated software and laptops that V-IT supplies. This is not an acceptable situation, people.


I may be "AFSister", but I'm also engaged to a wonderful Soldier, so I'm on the Army team this year. But you know what? It doesn't matter what branch team you join or donate to- ALL wounded warriors benefit from this project. This is a team effort to see which branch can raise the most money for the entire team- Valour-IT's team.

GO FOR IT PEOPLE!!





Many thanks to my fellow Army team members:

Welcome to the Socialist States of America

I can't believe our country is headed away from the Democracy we've promoted and protected for over 200 years, and straight into Socialism, if not Marxism... and we did it voluntarily. When I was a freshman in college, I had a poli sci professor who told us that "some day, the United States will move away from the democracy we have now, and towards communism, in the form of socialism." We booed him. We couldn't believe that what he was saying was true... but it was. We lost our identity as a true democracy last night when we elected a man who supports socialism.

There was no military coup.

There was no kidnapping.

There were no riots (yet).

There was a vote, and the Socialist States of America were created as a result of that vote. We used our votes to bring about the demise of our rights as a democratic, capitalist society, where people are free to work for their own profit and benefit. I did my part, and I voted against their candidate, but to no avail. I've never been afraid of an political election outcome before, but I am now.

Some will say it's paybacks for the Bush administration, but it's not. Electing Barack Obama as our president is a huge step away from democracy and toward socialism, and that's something that scares the living hell out of me. I just can't believe that a majority of Americans want to destroy this country and all our ancestors have worked for. Makes me wonder which country they'd rather be a citizen of... because I just can't call them Americans in the true sense of the word.

Don't believe me? Don't believe Obama is a Socialist? Read this: World Socialists Movement.

In socialism, everybody would have free access to the goods and services designed to directly meet their needs and there need be no system of payment for the work that each individual contributes to producing them. All work would be on a voluntary basis. Producing for needs means that people would engage in work that has a direct usefulness. The satisfaction that this would provide, along with the increased opportunity to shape working patterns and conditions, would bring about new attitudes to work.

Can you say "welfare state"???

Take that a step further, and look at Marxism:

Marxism is an economic and social system based upon the political and economic theories of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. While it would take veritably volumes to explain the full implications and ramifications of the Marxist social and economic ideology, Marxism is summed up in the Encarta Reference Library as “a theory in which class struggle is a central element in the analysis of social change in Western societies.” Marxism is the antithesis of capitalism which is defined by Encarta as “an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and distribution of goods, characterized by a free competitive market and motivation by profit.” Marxism is the system of socialism of which the dominant feature is public ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange.

Let's see.
The government has taken over several large financial institutions over the past month and passed the Wall Street bailout bill. Obama wants to 'redistribute wealth' and establish 'government health care for all people'.

I am stunned beyond belief that so many Americans voted to move toward the Socialist, Marxist societies that we have fought tooth and nail for DECADES. We're turning into a communist country, and for some reason, the majority of Americans are behind this idea.

Sick.
Physically sick and afraid of our future. What in the HELL did they just do to MY America? To MY future? To my CHILDREN'S future?
I am just sick.