Happy Halloween!

A little humor for Halloween!

Wednesday's Hero

Marine Lance Cpl. Nicholas R. Anderson
21 years old from Sauk City, Wisconsin
1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force
March 13, 2006


Lance Cpl. Nicholas Anderson lost his life after the Humvee he was riding in rolled over as a group of Marines pursued a suspicious vehicle near Jalalabad, Afghanistan. He suffered head injuries in the crash and died as he was being transported to a hospital.

Nicholas Anderson joined the Marines in January 2005 and began a six-month tour of Afghanistan two months ago with the 3rd Marines Weapons Platoon, his father, James Anderson said.

"I just know that he died fighting for what he believed in," he said. "He wanted to be a Marine and even though it was a major risk he just wanted to go."

James Anderson said his son, a 2003 Sauk Prairie High School graduate, enjoyed riding his motorcycle, lifting weights, going fishing and hanging out with friends.

He joined the Wisconsin Army National Guard when he was 18, but an injured shoulder forced him to drop out. He then enlisted in the Marines.

"I was very nervous when he first joined the Marines because two words jumped into my head: Afghanistan and Iraq," his father said. "I just supported him and prayed that it would end before he had to go over."

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your blog, you can go here.

Ask Captain Dramatic

This weeks question for Captain Dramatic is brought to us by E at Two Angry Brits. E sent his question along with a link to a story. He wanted to know if Captain Dramatic was receiving a better education than the lady in this story. Here's the text of the story.

Camelot pulls scratchcard amid numerical anarchy
By Lester Haines
Published Thursday 8th November 2007 12:49 GMT

Camelot has withdrawn its short-lived "Cool Cash" scratchcard after it required a higher than absolute zero grasp of how numbers work to understand it.

According to the Manchester Evening News, to qualify for a prize, punters had to "scratch away a window to reveal a temperature lower than the figure displayed on each card". Sadly, as the card had a decidedly wintery theme, this initially-shown figure was often below zero.

Cue anarchy, as Camelot was beseiged by "dozens" of confused customers who thought they'd won, but suffered a "computer says no" snub.

Among these was Levenshulme's Tina Farrel, a 23-year-old who admitted "she had left school without a maths GCSE". She explained: "On one of my cards it said I had to find temperatures lower than -8. The numbers I uncovered were -6 and -7 so I thought I had won, and so did the woman in the shop. But when she scanned the card the machine said I hadn't.

"I phoned Camelot and they fobbed me off with some story that -6 is higher, not lower, than -8, but I'm not having it.

"I think Camelot are giving people the wrong impression - the card doesn't say to look for a colder or warmer temperature, it says to look for a higher or lower number. Six is a lower number than 8. Imagine how many people have been misled."

A Camelot spokeswoman said: "The instructions for playing the Cool Cash scratchcard are clear - and are printed on each individual card and in the game procedures available at each retailer. However, because of the potential for player confusion we have decided to withdraw the game."

The Manchester Evening News concludes: "More than 15 million adults in Britain have poor numeracy - the equivalent of a G or below at GCSE maths."

So, that brings us to the question for Captain Dramatic.

Me: CD, which number is lower? -6 or -8?
CD: *with a look that could be translated to "Oh please! I am not that stupid!"* -8 is lower.
Me: Why?
CD: After zero you count backwards.
Me: But 8 is higher than 6.
CD: It's negative 8 and 6! Not positive!

There is the answer. CD is smarter than at least one 23 year old living in England, and according to the article, dozens of adults living in England. I would guess that it is safe to assume that CD is getting a better education in the third grade than this poor woman received in her 23 years of life. Pray for her, and other people's children in general. They need any and all help they can get.

Thank you E. You have made me laugh with this story, and reminded me that things could be much worse.

To learn how you can submit your questions to Captain Dramatic, click here. Don't be shy!

The Man Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth

First an foremost, hat tip to Count for bringing this to my attention.

This is an amazing video!



This coach hit the nail right on the head. He didn't say anything that many of us haven't said in relation to one topic or another regarding the media. What is more important, he has the sense of right and wrong that most in the media lack. He had the gonads to try and publicly humiliate a person who has made a living off of publicly humiliating others. The only problem, is people of that nature do not seem to have morals or standards, so it probably went it one ear and out the other.

I love how I could tell that the person who committed this wrong was in that audience. He directed his anger at that person, because they were the wrong doer. He did to that writer, what the writer did to his athlete. He singled the writer out, and told them what they did wrong, and publicly knocked that person down, and gave them a does of their own medicine.

I love how he used examples of how children react to criticism, and as a parent I have seen this happen. It has happen to Captain Dramatic, and as a parent, it rips your heart out. You want to hunt the other little bastards down and have a few words with them and then you want to go after the parents that allowed their children to think that kind of behavior was OK. You don't because kids will be kids, and your kids have to learn that kids are just cruel. You try to give give your child the ammunition to combat the wrong, without becoming a wrong doer in the process. You try to give your child the love, and encouragement they need to make them feel OK with who they are, despite what others say. You try to give your child a safe place to go at the end of the day, where they don't have to worry about the actions, and behavior of others. As a parent, the rules change when "adults" stoop to the maturity level of grade school children. Then parents have every right to go after the offender with "guns blazing". After all, adults should pick on someone their own size.

I am very proud of this man. He is the epitome of what I have always believe true Americans to be. True Americans, in my eye, stand up for what is right, and fight what is wrong. True Americans protect the weaker in the world, not because we can, but because it is our duty. True Americans know the value of family, and know how to protect what they love without fear. True Americans don't sugar coat anything because we were raised to "fight fire, with fire", when all other options have played out. It is also a well known fact that you don't back us into a corner because we come out swinging, and never go down without a fight. I haven't even touched on what makes him an amazing parent, but surprisingly, many of the above would fall into that category as well, with a little different wording.

The moral of this ramble? Watch out media, the rest of us are paying attention, and many have started to turn the TV off, change the channel, or stop taking the paper. I, and I am sure there are many like me, refuse to pay hard earned money to be lied to. You will get your facts straight, you will stick to the facts, or you will get the hell out of my home.

We need more like this man. If we had more, then this world would be a much better place. If I ever have to do battle of any kind, I hope I have this man in my court.

Saturday's Super Site

Still no suggestions...Maybe we will get some soon.

You can learn about how to nominate a site by clicking on the graphic above. I would love to start seeing some more nominations.

AT&T

The following video was brought to my attention. When you have picked yourself up off the floor, read on.



I have been an AT&T customer for years. There a long-ish absence due to issues I had with their rates on long distance (at the time), and the piss-poor customer service I had received. I am a customer again however, but that is because they bought up our local provider. Since this time, things have been better than they were in the past. I have been happy.

Then I saw this video. I was beside myself. I was furious for this poor couple! Is that going to happen to me if there is ever a natural disaster here? They things that ran through my head, and the words that were coming out of my mouth...I was horrified! This couple has been through enough! Have we forgotten that the person on the other end of the line is human too? How would we feel if we were in their place? I honestly sat here for a few minutes and thought about how I could go about letting AT&T know that I wasn't going to wait for a natural disaster to find out if this would be how they treated me.

The good news in all of this is the statement AT&T released shortly after this video hit circulation. Here it is:

"This customer initially called AT&T to discuss other communications services. After she was transferred to Dish, the disaster policy Dish has in place was not followed. This customer will not be charged for service cancellation or equipment fees----that is our policy, and the policy of Dish, in times of natural disasters. We have spoken with this customer to clarify our policy, and we are committed to taking care of all customers affected by the fires."

I have to say, that I am skeptical regarding the reasons they issued this statement, as we all know the power the internet holds, but I am glad they have said this, and done so publicly. I also wish this couple the best, and am keeping them, and all of the other fire victims in my prayers.

On a side note, all customers service representatives should be required to watch this video as training. Not only that, but maybe they need to realize that customer service means service, and service means helping with a smile, not upsetting a person further with an attitude. If the people who offered this couple "customer service" that day were children of mine, there would have been some major smack down occurring, and I wouldn't have cared a bit about how old they were. How shameful...they better watch out for Karma. It has a way of coming back around.

Wednesday's Hero

This Week's Hero Was Suggested By Cindy

Lt. Michael P. Murphy
29 years old from Patchogue, New York
SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team 1
June 28, 2005


On Monday, Lt. Michael P. Murphy was posthumously awarded the Medal Of Honor. His father was the one who accepted the award. Lt. Murphy will receive the award for his extraordinary, selfless heroism and steadfast courage while leading a four-man, special reconnaissance mission deep behind enemy lines east of Asadabad in the Hindu Kush of Afghanistan June 27 to 28, 2005

"We are thrilled by the President's announcement today, especially because there is now a public recognition of what we knew all along about Michael's loyalty, devotion and sacrifice to his friends, family, country, and especially his SEAL teammates," the Murphy family said in a statement released earlier in the month. "The honor is not just about Michael, it is about his teammates and those who lost their lives that same day."

Murphy was the officer-in-charge of the SEAL element, which was tasked with locating a high- level Taliban militia leader to provide intelligence for a follow-on mission to capture or destroy the local leadership and disrupt enemy activity. Taliban sympathizers discovered the SEAL unit and immediately revealed their position to Taliban fighters. The element was besieged on a mountaintop by scores of enemy fighters. The firefight that ensued pushed the element farther into enemy territory and left all four SEALs wounded. The SEALs fought with everything they had. despite being at a tactical disadvantage and outnumbered more than four to one. Understanding the gravity of the situation and his responsibility to his men, Murphy, already wounded, deliberately and unhesitatingly moved from cover into the open where he took and returned fire while transmitting a call for help for his beleaguered teammates. Shot through the back while radioing for help, Murphy completed his transmission while returning fire. The call ultimately led to the rescue of one severely wounded team member, Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Marcus Luttrell, and the recovery of the remains of Murphy and Gunner’s Mate 2nd Class (SEAL) Danny Dietz and Sonar Technician 2nd Class (SEAL) Matthew Axelson.

Eight more SEALs and eight Army "Nightstalker" special operations personnel comprising the initial reinforcement also lost their lives when their helicopter was shot down before they could engage the enemy.

Murphy was also inducted into the Hall of Heroes at the Pentagon during a ceremony yesterday. His name was engraved beside the names of some 3,400 other service members who have also been awarded the nation’s highest honor.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your blog, you can go here.

Ask Captain Dramatic

I got a phone call from one of my closest friends. We have been friends since high school. His mother has been really sick, and as I know her very well, and love her very much, he called to let me know that things were not looking good. I won't go into the gory details, as that wouldn't be fair to her or her family, but things do not look promising, although I will continue to pray.

After this phone call, I broke down into tears. It wasn't something I could hold back. My son, the infamous Captain Dramatic, asked "mom, what happened?" I told him what I had just learned, and here is the rest of the conversation.

CD: Mom, she made it through all of those other things, she will make it past this too.

Me: I don't think so this time.

CD: She will mom.

Me: What is she doesn't baby?

CD: Then she will be in a better place and all her problems will be fixed and go away.

Me: *after I picked my jaw up off the floor* When did you get so smart?

CD: I don't know. I love you mom. *walked over and gave me a big hug*

Me: I love you to baby. Thank you.

CD: You're welcome. Take your glasses off, you are getting them all dirty.

Never underestimate the power of an eight year old child, or their ability to understand the complexities of life. To your surprise, they may have a better grasp of it at the times you need them to most.

To learn how you can submit your questions to Captain Dramatic, click here. Don't be shy!

Saturday's Super Site

I received three or four good nominations for Saturday's Super Site, but unfortunately, none of them have email address. Without an email address I have no way of contacting the winner...

You can learn about how to nominate a site by clicking on the graphic above. I would love to start seeing some more nominations.

To Complicate Matters...

Some of you may have noticed that my posting these days has been random at best. I start blogs all the time, but never quite finish them before the next crisis in life happens. So lately, when I finally get one finished, I click post and move on. The down side to this is that my blogs are posting under the date I started them, not the date I finished them. This is a non-issue if you are paying attention, but if you aren't you are bound to miss some good stuff. Well, at least I think so. My husband thinks I should just be revising the dates before I click post. He is probably right, but to be difficult, lazy, or complicated, you can pick one, I am not doing that. You may want to scroll back through the last few weeks and see what you have missed. I have to keep you people on your toes! By the way, the little button below is my new motto...

Updates On "Are You Trigger Happy?"

I have some updates to my earlier blog "Are You Trigger Happy?" Click here to go right to them.

Are You Trigger Happy?

My husband was watching the following video, and I was infuriated!



I can't believe the nerve of this woman! This man is 70 years old, which in and of itself deserves respect, but not only that, Mr. Walton has the nerve to protect what is his after it had been stolen, several times prior. He didn't mean to kill another human, but it happened, and I think that he is going to have to live with that for the rest of his years.

Rebecca Aguilar, the reporter in this video, has the nerve to harass Mr. Walton. "Are you trigger happy?" she says! Are you kidding me! Is the definition of trigger happy someone who protects his livelihood, and possibly his own life? If that is the case, then every human I know, gun owner or not, is trigger happy. Anyone who told me that they wouldn't have protected themselves, what belonged to them that they relied on to earn a living, or their family, is a bold faced liar, or spineless coward that has made it an art form to be the weenie on the playground who constantly gets his lunch money taken away. Trigger happy was far from what this man is anyway, especially since he made it all the way to 70 years of age, and has shot another human twice, and for a very good reason. In my definition of the term trigger happy, the trigger happy person wouldn't have needed a valid reason to shoot another, and they certainly wouldn't have contained it to twice.

There is also another point I must make here. I can not stand people who call themselves reporters, yet behave like Rebecca Aguilar. She was going for shock value not facts, or she would have approached the whole situation differently with her questions worded a great deal more tactfully. I have no respect for people like this. They are vultures who have given up on all of their own principles, and morals, to feed on what ever they can scrounge. This is, of course, assuming they hand any principles or morals to begin with. I can't venture to guess which category Ms. Aguilar fits into, as I do not know her personally, but neither category is attractive.

For the record, I don't think I would have handled this situation any differently than Mr. Walton did, and I have nothing but respect for this man, and a complete and total lack of respect for Rebecca Aguilar. In fact, I have a sneaking suspicion that if more people made it known that they wouldn't be bullied by common, two-bit thugs, there may just be a great deal fewer of them. In my opinion, that would be a great and wonderful thing.

Instead of berating Mr. Walton on television, perhaps Ms. Aguilar should have asked for his autograph. I would have, right after shaking his hand and thanking him for making the world a safer place.

**UPDATE**

This morning I noticed that Texas Fred has something up regarding this event as well, with a little more information regarding the follow-up. Seems I wasn't the only one pissed off by Ms. Aguilar. YOu can read what Texas Fred has to say here.

**UPDATE**

FOX4 in Dallas forced YouTube to pull the video. I wonder why? Feeling guilty? Public pressure? Hmmmm.....

Also, Rebecca Aguilar has been suspended. You will not find the Fox4 story on the station's Web site; there's a page for it, but no accompanying video. I found another copy of the Video at LiveLeak. Here it is:

Wednesday's Hero

Sgt. Robert M. McDowell
30 years old from Deer Park, Texas
2nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division
April 01, 2007


Sgt. Robert M. McDowell was a military police noncommissioned officer assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion.

Originally from Deer Park, Texas, he joined the Army in February 1998 and completed training at Fort Benning, Georgia.

In June 1998 he was assigned to Fort Hood where he served until being reassigned to 1st Battalion, 1st Aviation Regiment at Katterbach Kaserne in Germany in January 2003. While a member of 1st Infantry Division, he served as an AH-64 Apache Attack Helicopter repairman.

McDowell was assigned to Fort Drum in March 2006 after completing military police reclassification training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri.

He was deployed to Bosnia from February to September 1999.

His awards and decorations include the Purple Heart, Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Joint Meritorious Unit Award, Valorous Unit Award, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Kosovo Campaign Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon, NATO Medal, Combat Action Badge and the Army Aviator Badge.

Sgt. McDowell was killed when and IED struck his vehicle in Baghdad, Iraq. He is survived by his wife and son, of Evans Mills, N.Y., and a daughter, Madison McDowell, of New Mexico.

Also killed in the attack were Staff Sgt. David A. Mejias, Staff Sgt. Eric R. Vick and Sgt. William G. Bowling. You can find more information about them at this site.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your blog, you can go here.

Ask Captain Dramatic

As many of you know, Captain Dramatic is in Tae Kwon Do. He recently took his test to move on to the next grade, Green Belt, Black Stripe. He passed with flying colors. Here is a video of him doing his pattern at his most recent test. If you ask me, he looks great!

Do San

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After the students pass their belt test they get to participate in an awards ceremony. At the ceremony the each student breaks a board appropriate for their level. Based on CD's belt level, size, and age, he shouldn't be breaking a one inch board yet, nor doing so with his hand. However, during the week that passed from belt test to ceremony, CD would not leave Sah Buh Nihm alone about breaking a one inch board. He wanted to break the bigger board. He continued with the pestering right up until the ceremony. At the ceremony Sir held up a one inch board and stated that CD had been begging all week to be allowed break a one inch board, so he was willing to let him have a shot at it. Here is the video of how CD did at breaking that board.

One Inch Board

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At the angle the video was taken at, it may look as if two hits were needed to break the board, but it was really only one, hence the clapping right away. The bottom of the board was only held together by a few spindly fibers and would have fallen apart instantly on it's own if it have been held by one corner or the other. It is times like this when I am most proud of my little guy!

To learn how you can submit your questions to Captain Dramatic, click here. Don't be shy!

Saturday's Super Site

This weeks Saturday's Super Site is brought to our attention by Texas Fred. Fred has nominated a site by the name of American Truckers At War. About this site's author, he had the following to say,

"A great lady, a trucker and a really nice person too... "

Fred usually knows what he is talking about, and I am sure his words about the author were spot on. I decided to check American Truckers At War out for myself. I found an interesting story about Gas Gangs that I hadn't yet heard that surprised me, and about how Bush won't get involved in Ramos, Compean review. The opinions expressed on the later were the sort I could agree with wholeheartedly.

There were many stories like the two I have mentioned above, and I am sure there will be many more to come. This is a site well worth reading, and one that I have added to my list of daily stops. I hope you will do so as well. My thanks to Texas Fred for bringing this site to my attention and a great many thanks to American Truckers At War for their hard work.

You can learn about how to nominate a site by clicking on the graphic above. I would love to start seeing some more nominations.

Will It Ever End?

A few days back, my mother-in-law wrote to me regarding an article she had read in the newspaper. She sent the link, and I read it. The article was superb. The title was, "If Muslim doctors are intolerant, let them go" and it was written by Andrew O'Hagan.

The article reminded me, in a way, of all the times my grandfather used to tell me that he walked to and from school uphill, in the snow, both ways, because there are mentions of a time long past. I do have to say, that this article doesn't lead to the eye rolling that my grandfather's story did.

Times have changed, and all of the changes aren't for the better. What is worse, is that in our attempt to make things better, we have inadvertently made things worse. I say this because, the article starts off by speaking of a time when the author was growing up. A time when your "average Joe" didn't look too kindly on those of different races and religions, and were anything but kind and compassionate. It was in those times that people of the Muslim faith (as singled out in the article) wouldn't have dreamed of making waves, but would have instead tried to assimilate as much as possible for them. Today, those of that very same faith do the exact opposite. As we (modern, western civilization) have tried to make all feel welcome, and as we have preached, and many of us practiced, the revered (and rightly so) act of tolerance, we expect that we will get the same treatment, and are finding out, all too quickly, that we are not going to. We have forgotten that not all people think like us, while at the same time recognizing that we are so very different. The author of the article I am speaking of does a far better job of pointing this out of course.

It is an article well worth reading for a glimpse of what I just mentioned alone, but it doesn't stop there. It goes on to show why we (members of modern, western civilization) need to put our foot down. Tolerance is one thing, and being walked on, and abused by having our own beliefs mis-used, and used against us, is another altogether. You may have heard about the Muslim dentist in England, who refused to service female patients without head scarfs, or maybe even of the story in England that this particular article is referring to. Maybe something similar has happened to you here in the States. No matter where, or how, or when it happened, it shouldn't have happened. Where will we draw the line? When will it stop? Will it ever end? Not if people don't put their foot down. Tolerance has a stopping point.

When my mother-in-law sent me this article, and wrote to me, she probably didn't know that I would write about it. I couldn't turn a bind eye to it, and it was something that even prompted her to write a "letter to the editor" which she shared with me. In closing, I will leave you with her words, as she hits the nail right on the head.

"THREE CHEERS FOR ANDREW O'HAGAN

How heartily I agree with Andrew O'Hagan in his article today "If doctors are intolerant, get rid of them". It sorely needed saying, and repeating as often as necessary until the message sinks in.

It simply boils down to "If you don't like the way we do things over here, go and live somewhere else and leave us in peace."

We can surely cope without such ignorance and intolerance."

No truer words have been spoken, and she is far nicer about it than I would have been. Nothing I really, truly, want to say would be suitable for the newspaper on this matter, and lucky for all of you, my poor husband gets the brunt of my hours long tantrums that are laced with language that could make a sailor blush.

Wednesday's Hero

This Weeks Hero Was Suggested By Beth

Her name is Holly Holeman. Her job is working at a flower shop. And her mission to make sure soldiers are never forgotten. Which is why she's out at Arlington National Cemetery every week putting flowers around the headstones. She usually does this alone, but on a bitter cold day in February of 2007 she was met with family members of fallen soldiers buried in Section 60 of the cemetery who helped her to place the roses.

To read the rest of Holly's story, you can go here.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your blog, you can go here.

It Took A Study To Learn This?

I read an article today that had an opening paragraph that made me say outloud "Well DUH!" Here is the opening paragraph:

Employees toiling under an abusive supervisor often rebel quietly and indirectly by slacking off on the job and handing in sloppy work.

The article then goes on to say:

Researchers at Florida State University surveyed more than 180 employees from a wide variety of professions, asking whether they had endured a history of abuse from their bosses, then asking a slew of workplace performance questions.

Seriously! They funded a study to discover this! Is this a surprise finding? I sure as hell hope not, because I could have told them all of this without any major thought involved. Nobody does anything very well when unhappy. People don't give 110% to people who are rude, pushy, arrogant, or have abusive personalities.

The article continues, but didn't site anything that I didn't feel common sense should dictate. You can read the whole thing here, but don't expect anything mind-blowing or life-altering.

I hope they didn't get Federal money for this crap!

Cub Scouts And Lead Paint

While perusing the internet this weekend, my husband found an article that made me sick to my stomach. Here is the article:

DALLAS — The Boy Scouts of America said Thursday that a painted, plastic badge commonly worn by some of its youngest scouts is being voluntary recalled after a test revealed high levels of lead in the paint.

As many as 1.6 million of the badges, which are made in China, may be affected by the recall.

"We're doing everything we can," Boy Scouts spokesman Gregg Shields said.

The plastic totem badge is given to Cub Scouts, who are usually between the ages of 7 and 8. The badge has a yellow and blue border, includes a picture of a bear and wolf and reads "Progress Toward Ranks."

No illnesses have been reported, Shields said.

The unacceptable amounts of lead were discovered during a testing of Boy Scouts products, Shields said. He did not know the level of lead the test revealed.

The recall came the same day that the Consumer Product Safety Commission announced recalls of more than a half-million other Chinese-made products because they contain dangerous levels of lead.

The badges are supplied by Kahoot Products Inc., based in Roswell, Ga. The company is calling for a voluntary recall of the badge and asking parents to take them away from their children.

A phone message left with the company Thursday was not immediately returned.

Kahoot has supplied the badge to the Boy Scouts, based in Irving, Texas, for about eight years, Shields said. About 20,000 kits containing the badges have been sold each year since, he said.

The Boys Scouts are continuing to use Kahoot, which supplies 39 products to the organization. Shields said Kahoot has "acted responsibly in initiating this voluntary recall."

Shields said the badge was the first of 94 Boy Scouts products tested to come back positive for lead. More products are being tested, he said.

You see, Captain Dramatic is a cub scout, and he has been wearing this particular badge for a whole year. The worst part of the whole thing, is no one in our pack knew a thing about this recall. My husband sent the article he found to our Pack's Committee, and of course, our pack immediately had the boys turn theirs in, but why weren't those in our Pack notified? One of our leaders also asked after the article and recall at our local scout store, and they knew nothing as well. Not only that, but this is the first of 94 products? What are the other 93? Does this scare any body but me?

Should you feel the need, you can find the article here.

Texas Fred's Non-Scientific Polling Place

My fellow blogger and friend, Texas Fred, has a site up with daily polls. They are of course non-scientific, as those taking the polls will be volunteering and will probably not represent an even cross-section of the populace, but it should be loads of fun anyway. You can even suggests questions for polling, and if they are good, and serious they will be considered. I hope you will all check it out because the more people who participate the better the experience will be for all those involved! Click here!

Pray For My Family!

Please pray for my family because they are stuck with me. Not only have I been working an obscene amount of hours at work as of late, and been too tired to do much around the house, but I have also decided to dive into my genealogy research again as well. All of these things combined are bound to make me irritable and cranky. Well, OK, it only takes work to do that, and I love genealogy research, but I think my husband and son are bored to tears by my incessant talking about dead people. They tolerate me well enough, so they must love me.

I have my mother's side traced back to the 15 or 1600's, but can't get past my second great grandfather on my father's side. Most of my father's side were illiterate farmer's, who were born on the farm, died on the farm, and were buried on the farm. I pull my hair our over that branch of my family.

I did recently acquire a fair amount of history on my husband's side however, as my father-in-law seems to like genealogy as well. I am now pouring over some of those relations, and am loving it.

Wish my luck!

2007 Weblog Awards

They are now taking nominations for the 2007 Weblog Awards. I thought I would share that will all of you in case you were interested! You can nominate a blog by clicking here.

Ask Captain Dramatic

Every Wednesday night (well, on the Wednesday's something more important hasn't come up), Captain Dramatic's biological father comes out to take CD to a meal. This Wednesday work happened, so when CD's father asked, we agreed that it would be OK for him to take CD out on Thursday night instead.

As we all have heard, I have been working horribly long hours, so when they returned from dinner CD's father had him use the cell phone to call Dad-E and make sure that he was home, as he couldn't be sure with the car not at the house. (I still had it, and wasn't home from work yet, but I could have been, and E and I could have gone out for our own dinner.)

Dad-E was home, and I wasn't. The phone rings, and the caller ID says that it is CD's Father.

Dad-E: Hi
CD: Hi, are you at home?
In the background Dad-E hears CD's Father say: "CD, he answered the
phone!"

That of course would mean he was home right? Hee Hee. I laughed too when they told me the story.

To learn how you can submit your questions to Captain Dramatic, click here. Don't be shy!

Saturday's Super Site

OK, I need your help. Each and everyone of you. I need you to help get the word about Saturday's Super Site out there. Without nominations, Saturday's Super Site is going to be no more. Please spread the word and ask everyone you know to so the same and to nominate sites they enjoy. Thank you!

You can learn about how to nominate a site by clicking on the graphic above. I would love to start seeing some more nominations.

Well Said!

I got an email today, and there was a picture it that said so much! Here it is:


Let me make this perfectly clear!



THIS IS MY COUNTRY!

And, because I make this statement DOES NOT mean I'm against immigration!!!
YOU ARE WELCOME HERE IN MY COUNTRY.
Welcome to come through like everyone else has.
Get a sponsor!
Get a place to lay your head!
Get a job!
Live by OUR rules!
Pay YOUR taxes!
And LEARN THE LANGUAGE LIKE ALL OTHER IMMIGRANTS HAVE IN THE PAST!!!
AND PLEASE DON'T DEMAND THAT WE HAND OVER OUR LIFETIME SAVINGS OF SOCIAL SECURITY FUNDS TO YOU TO MAKE UP FOR ''YOUR'' LOSSES.

I told you it was well said!

Wednesday's Hero

This Weeks Hero Was Suggested By Greta, Who Is Herself A Solders' Angel

May Not Solder Go Unloved

Back in 2003, self-described "ordinary mother", Patti Patton-Bader, started an organization called Solders' Angels because her son, Sgt. Brandon Varn, wrote her a letter from Iraq in which he showed concern that some of the brave men and women there weren't receiving any mail or support from back home. Well, she wasn't going to allow this. She called a few friends and family asking them if they would write to some of the soldiers. They'd never met them. Didn't know who they were, but they wrote. And in a few short months, Solders' Angles went from an idea an "ordinary mother" had to having chapters all over the country and thousands of angels all over the world letting soldiers know that they were loved and respected by writing hundreds of thousands of letters, sending care packages, medical supplies, body armor and lending comfort and support to military families. Solder's Angels and the people who run and support it are heroes in the truest sense.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your blog, you can go here.