Marines Investigate Puppy-Throwing Video

When I saw this headline, I didn't know whether to be shocked, angry, or just sad. So, I settled for all three. What in the world is happening to society?!

Many question whether this a true story - it does make great propaganda against the American military. The fact that there is a Marine, with the name mentioned, stationed at this base in Hawaii is discomforting, to say the least. Is this how we train our military, to have no respect for any life but their comrades-in-arms?

I have known - and know - people who put the value of an animal's life well below the value of a human's life. And we all read stories of animal neglect and abuse, almost daily.

It is, apparently, the religious concept of man's dominion over the 'lesser' creatures that encourages humans to denegrate and damage animals.






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God Bless!

Jules

Congress Asks For Probe Of Clemens

With the war in Iraq, an impending (existing?) recession, the continuing healthcare crisis, a crumbling housing market, the need to develop renewable energy sources, and endangered species being cavalierly delisted, do we really need to spend taxpayer's dollars and Congress' time investigating and regulating baseball?

Didn't the Founding Fathers draft a constitution designed to keep government from micro-managing the lives of its citizens? In the whole scheme of things, does it really matter if Roger Clemens, or any baseball player, had steroid or HGH injections, when people can't afford to put gas in their cars? Isn't that an issue for baseball, rather than the government and US citizens?

Now, Congress is dragging the Department of Justice into this mess, because Clemens testimony differed from that of his trainer. Will the lunacy never stop?






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Jules

Aqua Dots Recall

Mark was telling me about this recall last night. Frankly, I had never even heard of "Aqua Dots" before, but I guess they're a really popular craft toy?! (Every shopping website I checked has yanked their product page, so I still don't know.) Not that it matters, too much, what they are; what matters is the reason for the recall. Oh, and the fact that they're manufactured in and imported from China!

To quote the above article: The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) said the Aqua Dots craft toys include a chemical, 1,4 butanediol, on their beads which, if swallowed, can turn toxic and cause unconsciousness, respiratory depression, or seizures.

Not sure what 1,4 butanediol is? I wasn't either, so I did a little research. With thanks to the Faculty at the University of Washington and 'Neuroscience for Kids', here is what I found out:

1,4-Butanediol: An Overview

Its chemical formula is C4H10O2. You can purchase it on the Internet. It is in industrial cleaners. It is used in polyurethane to make car bumpers. It is used to make Spandex. It is also an abused recreational drug that has been linked to two deaths and six severe illnesses. "It" is 1,4-Butanediol (BD).

BD=GHB

Once ingested, BD (and a similar chemical, GBL) turns into gamma hydroxybutyrate, GHB. GHB, the so-called "date-rape" drug, received national attention when two teenage girls died after it was slipped into their sodas.

I have said this before and I will say it again - and again and again - STOP importing from China!! We have proven - over and over and over - that we are incapable of effectively monitoring the quality of products coming into this country. So in the best interest of the citizens and consumers of the United States - STOP LETTING CHINESE PRODUCTS INTO THIS COUNTRY!






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Jules

Blogger Breakdown

November 6, 2007 2:12PM Just to let everyone know - if you suddenly see 50 new posts on here, Blogger finally loves me/us again. Starting Sunday, all of the blogs that are hosted on their own site - like mine on www.jmarkafghans.com - stopped posting. Apparently, according to the staff at Blogger, there is a server problem.

Personally, I'm going nuts! I can't take any posts at PPP until this mess is fixed. I can't publish anything to this - or any other blog - right now. It's a bit like having laryngitis - the vocal cords are there, you just can't make any sounds. Those of you who know me well know that shutting me up is a virtual impossibility - so you can imagine my stress level right now! ARGHHHH!!

Oh, well. There's a Blogger outage planned for tonight, so hopefully it'll be a short-lived silence.







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God Bless!

Jules

Heeee's Baaaack!

Well, Michael came home today - without any of his things. Apparently, after they came and picked up all of his clothes and miscellaneous stuff, they lost it. Now, I'm finding this all a little hard to believe, since there were 2 large packing boxes full - and I do mean full - of Michael's possessions.

I couldn't figure out, when Mark told me that Michael had gotten new clothes and shoes, why he'd need anything. Now we know. Needless to say - someone is going to have their butt thoroughly chewed tomorrow. His wardrobe is one thing, but there were things in those boxes that Michael had had before he moved here in 2004. That they are gone seriously upsets me.

So, if you should hear loud voices and words like "clothes", "Michael", "morons", "find them now" at some point during the day tomorrow - don't be surprised.






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God Bless!

Jules

Latest and Greatest on Mark

Well, ladies and gentlemen, Mark is coming home on Monday, October 1st. He was supposed to be in the hospital 10 days, but today is the 18th day. Believe me, after everything he's gone through, including one of his liver doctors nearly killing him, Mark has had more than enough.

It's just been the last couple of days that he told me about what he learned caused the fluid to build up in his system. For whatever reason, the doctors who are supposed to be caring for Mark and his liver meds, who consistently fail to follow up and take care of him, decided to increase one of his immuno-suppressant medications while he was in ICU. The doctors who haven't actually personally examined him in over 2 years, who didn't check his medication levels before making this decision, who didn't bother to determine IF he needed more meds.

The one thing that EVERYONE who has been treating Mark since his transplant knows is - his body stores Prograf. For years, he has been on the lowest dosage allowed. When this idiot doctor increased the medication, Mark's levels went through the roof and his kidneys stopped working. THAT was why they had to induce the coma and put him on 80 gazillion meds!!

Frankly, right now, I don't know if we need to hire a malpractice attorney or what. I do know that I can count on one hand the times in my life that I have been this angry! But for the SICU staff and the grace of God, Mark would be dead now. Which, as I understand it, would not have been much of an oddity during his stay in the ICU. They lost several patients in the days he was there, including one who refused treatment.

For now, I'm just going to focus on getting my knee healed and taking care of Mark every day. Until I calm down, there is nothing productive I can accomplish.

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God Bless!

Jules

Get a Great Computer - NOT!

My laptop, again, bit the dust about 3 weeks ago. I have had it in the shop, for the same problem, twice since we bought it in January. Unfortunately, this time we also had a major boo-boo on the monitor. (Our fault - we kinda bounced it off the bed.) When I called service to inquire about getting the hard drive fixed, I was told that the company is "all or nothing" (to paraphrase) when it comes to repairs. So, if I sent it back to have the system problem fixed, they would want to also repair the monitor.

I didn't think that was such a bad idea, so I asked what it would cost. That would be the point where I started to lose my sense of humor! They weren't exactly sure what it would cost, sooooo they expected me to front $649.00 - a hold on my bank account - until they decided what they wanted to charge. Suffice it to say - my laptop is dead and not going to get CPR. Sucks, huh?

Tonight, we saw a commercial offering fairly top-of-the-line computers with a ton of software for people with bad or no credit. (Trust me, we qualify!) So, obviously I called! It started out really, really great. Then I started asking questions - oops!

We needed to give them $99.00 upfront, within 10 days. (Okay, not so bad.) Then, we started talking about the specs for the computer.

The processor was no better than the last computer I had (which, if you'll remember, is now my favorite doorstop) and, to be perfectly honest, the computer was - in many ways much worse - the hard drive was 20GB smaller, the screen was smaller, it didn't read or burn DVDs, and I had to contact customer service if I wanted a unit that didn't have Windows Vista. Oh, yeah! Sign me up for another doorstop! NOT!

But I decided to hear this poor guy out and see just how deeply he was going to bury himself since, hey, I could get a digital camera (already have 2) and a 3-in-1 printer (already have a 5-in-1) and free shipping. Woo-hoo! NOT impressed. And, I cannot opt out of anything included in this 'bundle'.

It gets really not pretty at this point. I'm asking questions that he's trying desperately to avoid answering by telling me about all of the software that I'll be getting. Through sheer stubbornness and growing aggravation, we finally got to the important part - what in the heck was this going to cost me when all is said and done?

Luckily, I was sitting down!

Now, this didn't sound too bad - $45.99/week or $91.98/bimonthly. Then, I found out that I would be making these weekly/bimonthly payments FOR A YEAR !!! To save you the trouble of pulling out a calculator - that works out to $2,391.48 - for, basically, a poor-cousin of the computer for which we paid $550.00 in January, plus software, a camera, and a printer that we didn't need.

The person to whom I was speaking was obviously accustomed to people telling him that they didn't want or need a camera and printer, because he said that he generally tells people to sell these unneeded and unwanted items on eBay or give them as gifts Now - forgive me if I'm being overly simplistic - wouldn't it make more sense, if you're offering a service to people with bad credit, to minimize the expense that the customer MUST incur (because there are no options involved)?

I was again reminded that I was getting free shipping and - you're gonna love this - once I completed their payment process, they would send me a whopping $200.00 rebate to (this just made me want to fall down laughing) USE AS I WISHED.

Definitely a "if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is" scenario! I'll not post the number I called, but if you see an ad and want to make sure that you're not dealing with the pay-thousands-for-a-cheap-computer that I stumbled upon - post a comment and I'll get back to you.

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We look forward to seeing you online.

God Bless!

Jules

Pay For My School

Ted Haggard, who stepped down from the pulpit, after admitting to paying for homosexual encounters, has now decided that he and his wife will pursue higher education with the intent of providing counseling at a halfway house in Phoenix. But they don't intend to do it the way the rest of us do, by actually paying for their education:

"It looks as though it will take two years for us to have adequate earning power again, so we are looking for people who will help us monthly for two years," the e-mail said. "During that time we will continue as full-time students, and then, when I graduate, we won't need outside support any longer."

Why didn't I think of that when I was enrolled in college? Hey, Mr. Citizen, I need you to pay for my education until I graduate. Then I won't need you anymore. Of course, I have no intention of paying back any monies received. You'll just have to be happy with my gratitude, as I move on to corrupting the ideals and morals of those around me.

Even better - they're not broke - and have a house on the market that is worth over $700,000!

Is this really the personal morality and self-serving mentality that society wants "building people, building lives" at Phoenix Dream Center? Please feel free to contact PDC and ask them to rethink this association. I have:

There have been stories in the news lately that imply Ted Haggard, who resigned his post with his church in Colorado Springs, Colorado, after admitting to paying for homosexual liaisons, will be providing counseling at Phoenix Dream Center.

Mr. Haggard is also requesting that his supporters pay for his, and his wife's, education over the next 2 years. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070825/ap_on_re_us/evangelist_scandal

As a Phoenix resident, I request that the Dream Center rethink having anything to do with this morally bankrupt, self-serving person.

Thank you for your time.

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We look forward to seeing you online.

God Bless!

Jules

Co-defendants Point Finger at Vick

Okay, I'm not a happy camper!! Despite the fact that Vick jerseys are being used to clean kennels in Atlanta, the news is not good.

Vick's co-defendants have taken plea deals and confirmed that virtually all of the money used in the "Bad Newz Kennels" came from Vick. Not to mention, they confirmed that all of the charges in the 18-page indictment are true. Yet ...

Federal prosecutors want Vick to accept a plea deal that would require him to spend at least one year in prison on federal dogfighting conspiracy charges, reports say.

... If Vick, 27, rejects the deal, he could face an additional charge under the federal Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, known as RICO, a source with knowledge of the investigation told the newspaper.

According to the source, who requested anonymity, conviction under that charge would be punishable by up to 20 years in prison. The new charge would be considered by a grand jury that convenes Monday.

Excuse me?! But why are prosecutors trying to reduce the possible sentence for this disgusting individual? Who has gotten to the Atlanta court system and put pressure on them to give this 'star' a break? Why, in the name of all that is holy, does he deserve a break? Because he's a great quarterback? So what! He's a hideous human being - and if he weren't an NFL player, we wouldn't be having this conversation, would we?

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We look forward to seeing you online.

God Bless!

Jules

I Have Had Enough! Vote Hillary!

Based on an amazing collection of manufactured 'truths' and an incredible amount of disinformation, the current administration started a war that has completely destabilized most of the Middle East. It has allowed fringe groups, that would never have had a chance to rise to this level of power, to overrun not just Iraq, but the entire area.


Now, I read that we, the taxpayers, are paying billions of dollars A DAY for a conflict that has very little citizen support and is doing little more than killing Americans. Of course, the Iraqi government is insisting that, if US troops leave, a civil war will ensue.


Has anyone noticed that the civil war has already begun?


Under the Clinton administration the United States actually enjoyed a budget surplus, and international respect.


Is there any doubt that we need to put another Clinton in the White House?

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We look forward to seeing you online.

God Bless!

Jules

Proper Language

I, throughout my life, have turned to the dictionary for proper usage and pronunciation, priding myself on being able to read, write, and speak 'proper' American-English. Admittedly, I have gotten rather lazy over the years and do not, necessarily, speak as well as I could. (Heaven knows, 15 years with a carpenter, certainly added some spice to my usage of the language!) And what about all of the word games we've played where the dictionary was the arbiter of what is and isn't a 'real' word.


The dictionary taught me how words are formed, what each 'piece' means; their ancestry, so to speak. Now, may Webster forgive us, any word or pronunciation that is "popular enough" becomes acceptable, worthy of a listing in the dictionary, and can actually replace pronunciations that go back to the roots of the word? I live with kids who say "psgetty". Because there are 2 of them and only one of me, does that give their pronunciation validity over mine? I don't think so! Yet, that is what I see happening, every time the dictionary is 'updated'.


No wonder people find our language so difficult to learn. This is one time that I have to applaud the French - they actually legislate proper usage and changes to their language.


Maybe I'm a purist, but how does anyone learn a language that is constantly being corrupted by "common" terms?

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We look forward to seeing you online.

God Bless!

Jules

Paris Hilton

I told myself that I wasn't going to blog about Paris Hilton. But here I am!

After reading several blogs on the subject, including Joe Rogan's on MySpace and Neil Rubin's in the Detroit News, I discovered that I am seriously upset about the whole mess.

But - before you jump to conclusions - I'm not upset at or about Paris Hilton herself. She's gotten into a lot of trouble, not unlike many young girls her age; but Paris only gets publicity because she's considered a celebrity. If one of our kids, God Forbid, should pull the same idiotic stunts, they'd do time and they wouldn't make the evening news or the front page of every gossip rag in the world.

Which brings me to the reason that I'm upset - THE MEDIA. In our world today, we have crazed South American leaders rewriting laws to subjugate their citizens; we have hundreds of thousands of people being displaced and murdered in Darfur; we have global warming threatening entire species; we have the United States refusing to admit that we are a serious part of the environmental problem and legislating away protection for whole habitats; we are involved in a war in the Middle East that has been reduced to statistical reporting (8 US soldiers killed today in Iraq) to make way for lengthy reviews of celebs' latest misdeeds.

Surely, these causes are worthy of more than a passing mention. Surely, we - as a nation and a world - need to focus on the future we are leaving behind for our children and their children, rather than devoting hours and pages of coverage to which actor was the most publicly embarrassing today.

Not that long ago, 'Entertainment News' was limited to a brief 2-3 minute segment of the Evening News. And the Evening News (regardless of which channel you watched) didn't lead off their broadcast with stories and photos of actors getting into trouble. Celebrities didn't make the front page or breaking news reports unless they did something that we used to call "news worthy". Sadly, O J Simpson was involved in something "news worthy".

There are magazines devoted to people-watching, if that's where your interests lie. I've even glanced through a couple in my life. Didn't much care for them. But, that is where I believe that 99.9% of these sensationalized stories belong.

Can we please get back to reporting the NEWS that really impacts our lives, and leave the actors where they belong, on the movie screen?

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We look forward to seeing you online.

God Bless!

Jules

Do All the Stupid People Live on My Block?

If you've been reading this blog, you know that I've had some "interesting" neighbors. I don't know how it is where you live, but I do know that I have just about lost my sense of humor with the idiots who have invaded my neighborhood.

Tonight, I walked to the corner store for cigarettes and was verbally accosted, not for the first time, by an idiot outside the store. This 'gentleman' started by asking me for money. I ignored him, went into the store, completed my purchase, and left. Upon my departure, this idiot decided to call me names, meant (apparently) to make me feel ashamed for not speaking to him earlier.

Sadly, I have become accustomed to this sort of behavior and generally just ignore it. Unfortunately, when I got home tonight and mentioned the moron - I found out that he also bothered our youngest, Michael, on his trip to the store earlier today! Now I am really angry!! I'm 50 years old and can deal with the mentally challenged. But, I am also a Mom - and YOU DO NOT mess with my kids!!

Right, wrong or indifferent - I will be walking to the store with Michael from now on. He was very upset by what happened. And Mark will be walking with me. Or maybe I'll just save us all the trouble and call the police the next time I see him.

It's really strange, because years ago I would have been terrified and intimidated by someone like this. I guess I have finally grown up - at least a little bit.

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We look forward to seeing you online.

God Bless!

Jules

Isn't Life Strange?

With thanks to the Moody Blues - Life is definitely strange!! (Check out the lyrics! I just love 'em.)


We recently had a knock on our door ( 1 of 76 apartments in the complex, BTW), asking for a person with the name of our wireless network. ??!!

Yup!! - and it went something like this:

(knock, knock)
Frankie: Someone's at the door.
Me: (opening the door) Yes?
Him: Are you ******* ? (name of our network, not listed for obvious reasons)
Me: What? (Shocked, to say the least that he knows this name)
Him: Are you ******* ?
Me: No.
Him: Do you know ******* ?
Me: That's the name of our password-protected wireless network. (Yes, I actually do say such things.)
Him: Yeah. How do I get on it?
Me: You Can't! It's private and password protected. Don't EVEN try to get on it. (I've been known to be rather rude. I know - it's shocking!!)
(door closes somewhat loudly)

Now, one would think that my first thought would have been: "How in the name of all that is holy did you end up at my door?" But I didn't think of that until after I closed the door in his rather befuddled face.

Mark, who was in the middle of cooking dinner, came out of the kitchen to find out who I was talking to, since he hadn't heard the knock at the door. I explained the conversation, shook my head in amazement, and (pretty much) wrote it off as another oddity in life. (This, BTW, was the point in time where I started wondering where he'd gotten the idea to ask us about the wireless network.)

Fast forward through dinner.

We are relaxing, watching television or on computers, when . . .

(knock, knock)
(Mark answers door)
Her: We live in apt. ***.
(Mark looks unimpressed)
Her: My boyfriend has a computer. Can he get on your network?

. . . the rest of the conversation involves Mark explaining that "to get internet access, one must pay for internet access" and me, in the background, barking about staying off our network! (For those of you familiar with 'CATS' - yes, you can hear me all over the park.)


I kid you not - this actually happened. Apparently, it made enough of an impression that I'm still marvelling at the stupidity of both conversations.

And I still don't know how they found us.


So, Yes!! Life is Strange!! or, if you live in my universe, Where did all of the IDIOTS come from and how do we send them back!!!??? Starting with the one that currently occupies the White House! (oooh, did I say that out loud?)



Have a terrific day and don't forget to visit us at http://www.jmarkafghans.com - we have made a slew of changes this month.

We've been known to have contests, offering amazing prizes, for those who can find the most changes in a given month. If you don't visit, how will you know what changed?

God Bless.

Jules

Circuit City Fires 'Overpaid' Employees

My first reaction to this announcement was disbelief, followed (very quickly) by outrage. No company, in their right mind, fires the people who bring in the money.

Over the years, I have been through many acquisitions, mergers, and buyouts in Fortune 100 companies. Inevitably, 'heads will roll'. As a member of the Accounting department, I have watched those heads roll. And I can say - without reservation - they are almost never in the Sales department. Sales is a revenue generator - Accounting is overhead. In simple terms, SALES makes $$$$; every other department costs $$$$. (With the possible exception of the Collections department.)

Yes, sales people get fired when they consistently fail to meet their quotas. It actually happens quite frequently. But . . . not in the way that Circuit City is firing sales people. "Firing 3,400 of arguably the most successful sales people in the company could prove terrible for morale,'' Colin McGranahan, an analyst with Sanford Bernstein & Co., wrote in a note today.

There is nothing right (to my mind) and everything wrong about this situation.

Years ago I refused to shop at Target (and still do) because of their anti-union construction practices. Today, I choose to stop shopping at Circuit City for their poor treatment of valuable employees.

I Quit!

How many times do we use the simple phrase "I Quit"?
I use it all the time. It's my way of saying I need a break from whatever is bugging me right now.

How often do we mean it?
I haven't yet. Scared the daylights out of my boss until she realized that it basically meant "I'm gonna go have a smoke and I'll be back when I don't want to strangle someone."

What would you do if someone you loved said "I Quit" - and they were suffering from a life-ending condition? What if they really didn't want to fight anymore? Hmmm?

Would you leave that choice up to them, or would you jump in and tell them that they can't give up because you can't let them leave you?

Where do we draw the line on selfishness? Because that's exactly what it is - selfishness.

How do we separate our needs from what is the right thing to do?

Would love to know what you think.

06-06-06

Given the headlines that I have been reading lately, it doesn't surprise me that people believe the world is about to come to an end. Sanity has certainly lost it's grip on the world.

Paparazzi who assault, not only celebrities, but the families of celebrities, are suing because when they jump on / at a vehicle, they get knocked down or run over. When I was growing up, that was called "If you jump in front of a moving vehicle, you're probably gonna get hit." AKA - common sense!

Parents, getting divorced (nothing new), each insist that the other must be evaluated by a psychiatrist, because one (or the other) might have something bad to say about the non-custodial parent. When I was growing up - you let the kids decide for themselves about the 'goodness' or 'badness' of either parent, based on that parent's behavior., and you shut up about Mom/Dad. AKA - kids are not stupid!

It is my understanding that if one country/ faction / sect isn't officially at war with another country/ faction / sect, neither country/ faction / sect can simply hunt down people and kill them. (Geneva Convention and all that.) Yet, that is what most of the people in the world are currently doing/ advocating for any country/ faction / sect who has different religious, political, or general philosophies. I grew up during the Vietnam 'Police Action'. AKA - if you're not willing to declare war so that you can call it a war - you have no business being there; and you had certainly better not decide that you are allowed to determine who is allowed to live or die.

The world seems insane. What should happen, isn't. What shouldn't happen, is.

I'm not sure that I'm in a position to say what's right or wrong. I just know that things don't feel right; and haven't for a good long time.

What do you think?