Dailymirror.us

The Chief sent this to me…I have never seen an Earth rise…until now…

A friend sent this to me and I was really suprised. It is good to be reminded of these sacrifices, regardless of your politics, not just on Memorial Day but every day throughout the year.

Military Losses, 1980 thru 2007

Whatever your politics, however you lean, however you feel about the current administration, this report should open some eyes. Military losses, 1980 through 2006 ( http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RL32492.pdf )

As tragic as the loss of any member of the US Armed Forces is, consider the following statistics: The annual fatalities of military members while actively serving in the armed forces from 1980

through 2006:

1980 ………. 2,392 (Carter Year)

1981 ………. 2,380 (Reagan Year)

1984 ………. 1,999 (Reagan Year)

1988 ………. 1,819 (Reagan Year)

1989 ………. 1,636 (George H W Year)

1990 ………. 1,508 (George H W Year)

1991 ………. 1,787 (George H W Year)

1992 ………. 1,293 (George H W Year)

1993 ………. 1,213 (Clinton Year)

1994 ………. 1,075 (Clinton Year)

1995 ………. 2,465 (Clinton Year)

1996 ………. 2,318 (Clinton Year)

1997 ………. 817 (Clinton Year)

1998 ………. 2,252 (Clinton Year)

1999 ………. 1,984 (Clinton Year)

2000 ………..1,983 (Clinton Year)

2001 …………. 890(George W Year)

2002 ………. 1,007 (George W Year)

2003 ………. 1,410 (George W Year)

2004 ………. 1,887 (George W Year)

2005 …………. 919 (George W Year)

2006………….. 920 (George W Year)

2007…………. 899 (George W Year)

Clinton years (1993-2000): 14,000 deaths

George W years (2001-2006): 7,932 deaths

If you are surprised when you look at these figures, so was I. These figures mean that the loss from the two latest conflicts in the Middle East are LESS than the loss of military personnel during Bill Clinton’s presidency; when America wasn’t even involved in a war!

And, I was even more shocked when I read that in 1980, during the reign of President (Nobel Peace Prize winner) Jimmy Carter, there were 2,392 US military fatalities! I think that these figures indicate that many members of our Media and our Politicians will pick and choose the information on which they report. Of course we all know that they present only those ‘facts’ which support their agenda-driven reporting. But why do so many of them march in lock-step to twist the truth? Where do so many of them get their marching-orders for their agenda? Obviously there is one shared agenda, and I believe it is clear it comes from the most powerful Democratic family of the decade.

Do you want further proof? Consider the latest census, of Americans. It shows the following FACTS about the distribution of American citizens, by Race:

European descent ……………………..69.12%

Hispanic ………………………………….12.5%

Black ……………….. ……………………12.3%

Asian ……………………………………… 3.7%

Native American ………………………..1.0%

Other ……………………………………….2.6%

Now… here are the fatalities by Race; over the past three years in Iraqi Freedom:

European descent (white) …………74.31%

Hispanic ……………………………….10.74%

Black …………………………………. 9.67%

Asian ………………………………….. 1.81%

Native American …………………… 1.09%

Other ………………………………….. 0.33%

I was surprised again. . . until it became clear to me that the point here is that our mainstream media continues to spin these figures (for political gain). Nothing more.

It’s all about politics and some politicians are now famous for turning American against American for a vote. (Consider Slick Willy and his comments just recently made about So uth Carolina, Jesse Jackson, and the ‘blacks’ voting for the ‘black’ candidates); or Hillary’s stump speech after her Super Tuesday ‘victory’ stating that the current administration does not ‘listen’ to anyone and continues the war costing precious American lives. Yes, I might even agree with her, but she should be made to acknowledge her own husband’s administration, without having an actual war, sent more soldiers to death during his regime-while also forcing the military to release Osama when we actually had him detained.

I hope that during the time between now and November, that intelligent Americans can decipher the facts from the spin and the spinners from the leaders; those who seek even more power from those that seek justice, the dividers from the uniters.

Over the next months let’s be good listeners (yes, Hillary we are listening) and see and hear who tries to divide our nation; a nd who wants to unite our nation. Who wants to control how our money is spent and who wants our money spent the way we would spend it. Who seeks power and who seeks justice? Who spins the facts and who is genuine.

(These statistics are published by Congressional Research Service, and they may be confirmed by anyone at: http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RL32492.pdf )

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Hey, I just uploaded some photos from a trip to Zurich…You can check them out here at Flickr. I am using an awesome plugin from Joe Tan at Tan Tan Noodles to display the images here on the WP blog. I am still working out the kinks with some help from Joe but go check out his website!

I have been grappling with whether not it is right to blog about work whether it is on a moral, ethical, or even spiritual level. I tried to do some searching online to find some articles about but haven’t found anything extremely helpful. So I am going to do some more digging but if you know of any resources, please let me know.

This has been a “loaded” week as one of the volunteers observed. Kelly’s first week to start with the creative team so the week was filled with bringing her up to speed (and she is absorbing it really well) My grandfather was very very sick on tuesday evening which was immediately followed by Robyn’s father passing away and being with the family on late tuesday night. Wednesday was filled with trying to help with Robyn with anything she needed for the memorial service on top of the regular work. Then Friday morning (which is my day off) I was called in to work for a late morning emergency meeting to find out that one of the minster was arrested for terrible, grievous actions which were heart-breaking for the entire church family.

But…

God is so good! Here are just a few of the blessing…

Kelly’s grasp of all we are throwing at here is incredible…my grandfather was doing better within 48 hours and on his feet by this last weekend…..I was able to finish the shoot early and get down their to see them and help them with some errands….Robyn’s fathers funeral was a truly awesome occasion and a testament to the difference between the hope of a Christian going to heaven versus the hopelessness of a non-believer dying….we were able to share some scenes in WD which starred Robyn’s father where he was playing a man who was terminally ill and getting ready to die; it was an amazing tool for those who saw it but were not believers…..on friday morning, Becky had taken my car because her car had a nail in the tire and yet God held it together so that I was able to make it all the way to Plano to be at the church and then take it to get the tire fixed which included spending time with Becky on her lunch break and that is always a blessing…and the way we as a church are responding has been encouraging as well. It also opened the door to some amazing conversations about God constant grace and the importance of staying in the Word and vigilant.

I am so thankful for these weeks…

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I wrote this whole entry out the first time and then in the upload everything but the title got lost…kinda ironic when you read the first part of the re-written entry.

I can’t stand the entry titles I come up with…sound so full of themselves! As if “Something Kinda Cool Happened” is suppose to make you want to actual read the post; as if I had something intelligible to contribute to the blogosphere; as if all I needed was the title and the rest is just gravy for anyone who might be passing by on my blog. Anyway…

Self-criticism is something that I desire in an almost masochistic manner. A couple of days ago, I was sitting in a writers meeting with some volunteers and a co-worker. As usual with our creative meetings, we have spurts of getting a bunch done, sandwiched between tangents of nothingness. in one of these boughs of meaningless conversation, I turned to my co-worker (whose biggest strength/weakness is directness) and said, “What is your biggest criticism of me?”. (I will preface this by saying that I felt comfortable asking this person this question because I know that she genuinely loves me as a brother and would never say anything out of malice to hurt me.) Her reply was, “You don’t let people finish what they are saying or their thought-” to which I (no kidding) interrupted and said “i don’t think that is true…” Then I immediately realized that I just proved her right.

The more I thought about it, I realized that I cut people off allot…and I think it is directly tied to my pride. I either don’t think what the other person is saying is worth listening to or I think that I know what they are going to say and my response is more important than letting them finish. Then after even more thinking, (needless to say my head was hurting at this point) I came to the shocking (but true) conclusion that not only had I uncovered an area of huge self-pride, but I also was a horrible listener. At least I was a horrible listener anytime I felt like I had something to contribute (pretty much all the time).

I guess the only solace is that I am able to recognize it and ask for strength in that area of my life. The Father keeps bring this verse to mind: “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore i will boas all the more gladly of my weakness, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 2 Corinthians 12:9