Image via WikipediaGood morning all, sorry I haven't posted in a while but I have been having bad headaches. I was in the hospital for several days after having a headache for 19 days straight. While in the hospital they were able to get the headache to go away on the last day I was there only to have it return intermittently after I got home. The Dr changed some of my meds and I have an appt to see a Neurologist in January.
My kids Cindy and John are doing well and are both out to sea with their ships, Cindy on the USS Abe Lincoln and John on the USS Doyle. I hear from them frequently through e-mail. :)
Cindy finally got her enlistment bonus this month so she is very happy. I have no idea what she is going to do with all that money. :) I asked Cindy how her birthday was while out to sea and asked what she did for fun and here was her response. Cindy is an FC on the Abe Lincoln.
"For birthdays underway we have every month a birthday party. Its usually held in the chiefs or first class mess for everyone who had a birthday that month. I have explored a little but the ship is huge so I haven't gone very many places. I don't usually have time for much. I work from 0730 to 2200 most days. In my lil bit of free time I check emails, read a book, play my gameboy or ds and watch tv."
John is done Cranking ( working in the ships mess ) now and back to his regular job. John is an OS on the Doyle.
John's ship in the news:
"Navy Ships Depart for Joint Warrior Exercise Story Number: NNS080922-08 Release Date: 9/22/2008 6:18:00 AM
By Lt. j.g. ArloAbrahamson, Commander, Destroyer Squadron 24 Public Affairs
USS DOYLE, At Sea (NNS) -- Ships led by Commander, Destroyer Squadron (COMDESRON) 24 left the U.S. East Coast for Scotland Sept. 19 to participate with allied navies in Joint Warrior, a coalition exercise designed and led by the Joint Tactical Exercise Planning Staff (JTEPS) in the United Kingdom.
Sailors from USS Mitscher (DDG 57), USS Doyle (FFG 39), USS Klakring (FFG 42), USS Hawes (FFG 53) and USNS Leroy Grumman (T-AO 195) will play a prominent role in the exercise intended to improve interoperability between coalition naval forces and prepare participants for upcoming deployments.
"Joint Warrior will provide our Sailors with an opportunity to engage in a variety of training scenarios that explore real-world challenges on a strategic, operational and tactical level – in a controlled environment," said Capt John Kersh, commander, DESRON 24. "We will focus our efforts on enhancing our ability to operate in a multinational, multi-platform environment."
The exercise supports the Navy's Maritime Strategy, which revolves around partnerships and a global maritime network of many countries' navies with the goal of patrolling the world's seas. The exercise also serves as a deployment certification event for the participating U.S. ships, preparing ready maritime forces for global assignment.
"The relationships we make during Joint Warrior are vital to ensure we are ready to engage in a host of global maritime security operations," said Lt. Cmdr. Gil Ayan, material officer for DESRON 24.
"We become more effective by operating with allied navies and leveraging our individual strengths. This builds trust and mutual cooperation, which will make us a more capable combined force in a real-time operational environment."
Joint Warrior will begin in early October and is expected to last approximately two weeks. It will involve air, sea and ground assets from participating allied and NATO forces.
"This exercise captures the essence of our teaming concept with allies and partners in the execution of the Maritime Strategy," said Kersh. "The bottom line is that five U.S. ships and a host of allied ships will come away from this exercise at the top of their game and ready to support joint maritime operations worldwide. The exercise is a win-win for everyone involved."
Image via Wikipedia In Washington, D.C., this morning, President Bush will issue a proclamation reminding the nation of those Americans who have served as prisoners of war or those who never returned home and remain missing in action.
POW/MIA Recognition Day honors the commitments and the sacrifices made by our nation's prisoners of war and those who are still missing in action.
By custom, it is on the third Friday in September.
National POW/MIA Recognition Day is one of the six days specified by law on which the black POW/MIA flag shall be flown over federal facilities and cemeteries, post offices and military installations.
National POW/MIA Recognition Day Ceremonies are now held throughout the nation and around the world on military installations, ships at sea, schools, churches and fire stations. The focus is to ensure that America remembers its responsibility to stand behind those who serve our nation and do everything possible to account for those who do not return.
Today is my daughter Cindy's 22nd birthday. As you know Cindy is on the USS Abraham Lincoln doing her job today for the U.S. Navy. I remember the day she was born like it was yesterday. :) Time sure does have a way slipping by. Happy Birthday Cindy, wish we could share it with you but know that you are in our hearts and prayers each and every day. We love you, Dad & Vicki
Image via WikipediaGood morning all. I have talked to my daughter Cindy by e-mail and my son John by phone. They are both busy and out to sea right now with the Navy. Cindy's ship the USS Abe Lincoln is on it's way home to Everett Washington. Below is an excerpt from her ships newspaper. It's on the ships website if you want to read it, http://www.cvn72.navy.mil/ The ships paper is called the Penny Press and you will see a link to the PDF in the text.
"USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) Strike Group is finally on its way home and currently in the 7th Fleet area of responsibility after completing Maritime Security Operations (MSO) in the U.S. 5th Fleet AOR supporting Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom."
They are both doing well. I can't really say much else on here except that we are very proud of them both.
Angelique Flowers had the debilitating Crohn's disease since she was 15. When her 31st birthday came, she was told that she only had months to live. She wanted her life to end peacefully on her own terms using euthanasia but was not allowed because it was banned in Australia. She died vomiting the content of her bowels.
I have personally suffered with Crohn's disease for over 15 years now. This is extremely sad and brought tears to my eyes. God Bless Her.
Today marks a very somber anniversary, seven years since the attacks of September 11th, 2001. Nearly 3,000 people from 90 different countries were killed that day, in New York City, at the Pentagon in Virginia, and near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
Please take a moment to remember the people killed including 246 on the four planes, 2602 in New York City in the towers and on the ground, and 125 at the Pentagon 7 years ago today and their families affected by the 9.11 attacks.
We've been flooded for the past few days with queries about dubious Internet postings and mass e-mail messages making claims about McCain's running mate, Gov. Palin. We find that many are completely false, or misleading.
I received more e-mails from my daughter Cindy yesterday and this morning from the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) . She sent several very small pictures. She was in Dubai a few weeks ago. Cindy said "We pulled in to Jebel Ali. That was like 2 weeks ago. We should be pulling into another port soon. Yes I got off the ship in Jebal. It was hot and humid like 130 F out there. And very humid." When I asked her about the Ship she said "Life is life. Food is okay. I get tons of sleep. I don't even hear the jets." It's great that she can e-mail us. We are so Proud of her.
Good morning everyone. I got an e-mail from my daughter Cindy yesterday from the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) . She is a Petty Officer now. : ) We are very proud of her. She didn't say anything in her e-mail but she looks happy. Hopefully we will hear more from her soon. Cindys 22 birthday is coming up on the 19th of this month.
Good morning all. I am fairly new to Linux so when I installed Ubuntu on a second computer I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it. I finally decided that one thing I could use it for is a media computer, that would free up some memory on my Windows PC for other things. I have a rather large collection of music here and I also like listening to online radio. The media player "Rhythmbox Music Player" that comes with Ubuntu was ok for the media that I had here locally but I couldn't use it for online radio without allot of difficulty. After much searching I finally found "Amarok". Amarok can play my local media and also has a large list of online Radio Streams. I have been using Amarok for a few days now and love it. It does just what I want it to do, Winamp does the same thing on my Windows PC. If you have Linux and are looking for something like Winamp try out Amarok.
Barack Obama will appear on Fox News O’Reilly Factor tonight. Whether you like Bill O'Reilly or not this should be an interesting show. O’Reilly will sit down with Obama Thursday in York, Pa., where he plans to question Obama on his “political career, domestic issues and foreign policy in Iran and Iraq,” according to a statement by the network. Obama’s interview will air at 8:00 p.m. EDT.
Obama Talks "One Way In Scranton And Another Way In San Francisco"... "Wants To Forfeit" Iraq... "Wants To Meet [Terrorists] Without Preconditions"... "Wants To Grow" Government... "Wants To Raise" Taxes... Delivers A "Cloud Of Rhetoric"... Hasn't Authored A "Single Major Law Or Reform"... No "Actual Responsibilities" As A Community Organizer...
Read the speech.
Mr. Chairman, delegates, and fellow citizens: I am honored to be considered for the nomination for Vice President of the United States...
I accept the call to help our nominee for president to serve and defend America.
I accept the challenge of a tough fight in this election... against confident opponents ... at a crucial hour for our country.
And I accept the privilege of serving with a man who has come through much harder missions ... and met far graver challenges ... and knows how tough fights are won - the next president of the United States, John S. McCain.
It was just a year ago when all the experts in Washington counted out our nominee because he refused to hedge his commitment to the security of the country he loves.
With their usual certitude, they told us that all was lost - there was no hope for this candidate who said that he would rather lose an election than see his country lose a war.
But the pollsters and pundits overlooked just one thing when they wrote him off.
They overlooked the caliber of the man himself - the determination, resolve, and sheer guts of Senator John McCain. The voters knew better.
And maybe that's because they realize there is a time for politics and a time for leadership ... a time to campaign and a time to put our country first.
Our nominee for president is a true profile in courage, and people like that are hard to come by.
He's a man who wore the uniform of this country for 22 years, and refused to break faith with those troops in Iraq who have now brought victory within sight.
And as the mother of one of those troops, that is exactly the kind of man I want as commander in chief. I'm just one of many moms who'll say an extra prayer each night for our sons and daughters going into harm's way.
Our son Track is 19.
And one week from tomorrow - September 11th - he'll deploy to Iraq with the Army infantry in the service of his country.
My nephew Kasey also enlisted, and serves on a carrier in the Persian Gulf.
My family is proud of both of them and of all the fine men and women serving the country in uniform. Track is the eldest of our five children.
In our family, it's two boys and three girls in between - my strong and kind-hearted daughters Bristol, Willow, and Piper.
And in April, my husband Todd and I welcomed our littlest one into the world, a perfectly beautiful baby boy named Trig. From the inside, no family ever seems typical.
That's how it is with us.
Our family has the same ups and downs as any other ... the same challenges and the same joys.
Sometimes even the greatest joys bring challenge.
And children with special needs inspire a special love.
To the families of special-needs children all across this country, I have a message: For years, you sought to make America a more welcoming place for your sons and daughters.
I pledge to you that if we are elected, you will have a friend and advocate in the White House. Todd is a story all by himself.
He's a lifelong commercial fisherman ... a production operator in the oil fields of Alaska's North Slope ... a proud member of the United Steel Workers' Union ... and world champion snow machine racer.
Throw in his Yup'ik Eskimo ancestry, and it all makes for quite a package.
We met in high school, and two decades and five children later he's still my guy. My Mom and Dad both worked at the elementary school in our small town.
And among the many things I owe them is one simple lesson: that this is America, and every woman can walk through every door of opportunity.
My parents are here tonight, and I am so proud to be the daughter of Chuck and Sally Heath. Long ago, a young farmer and habber-dasher from Missouri followed an unlikely path to the vice presidency.
A writer observed: "We grow good people in our small towns, with honesty, sincerity, and dignity." I know just the kind of people that writer had in mind when he praised Harry Truman.
I grew up with those people.
They are the ones who do some of the hardest work in America ... who grow our food, run our factories, and fight our wars.
They love their country, in good times and bad, and they're always proud of America. I had the privilege of living most of my life in a small town.
I was just your average hockey mom, and signed up for the PTA because I wanted to make my kids' public education better.
When I ran for city council, I didn't need focus groups and voter profiles because I knew those voters, and knew their families, too.
Before I became governor of the great state of Alaska, I was mayor of my hometown.
And since our opponents in this presidential election seem to look down on that experience, let me explain to them what the job involves.
I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a "community organizer," except that you have actual responsibilities. I might add that in small towns, we don't quite know what to make of a candidate who lavishes praise on working people when they are listening, and then talks about how bitterly they cling to their religion and guns when those people aren't listening.
We tend to prefer candidates who don't talk about us one way in Scranton and another way in San Francisco.
As for my running mate, you can be certain that wherever he goes, and whoever is listening, John McCain is the same man. I'm not a member of the permanent political establishment.< br> And I've learned quickly, these past few days, that if you're not a member in good standing of the Washington elite, then some in the media consider a candidate unqualified for that reason alone.
But here's a little news flash for all those reporters and commentators: I'm not going to Washington to seek their good opinion - I'm going to Washington to serve the people of this country. Americans expect us to go to Washington for the right reasons, and not just to mingle with the right people.
Politics isn't just a game of clashing parties and competing interests.
The right reason is to challenge the status quo, to serve the common good, and to leave this nation better than we found it.
No one expects us to agree on everything.
But we are expected to govern with integrity, good will, clear convictions, and ... a servant's heart.
I pledge to all Americans that I will carry myself in this spirit as vice president of the United States. This was the spirit that brought me to the governor's office, when I took on the old politics as usual in Juneau ... when I stood up to the special interests, the lobbyists, big oil companies, and the good-ol' boys network.
Sudden and relentless reform never sits well with entrenched interests and power brokers. That's why true reform is so hard to achieve.
But with the support of the citizens of Alaska, we shook things up.
And in short order we put the government of our state back on the side of the people.
I came to office promising major ethics reform, to end the culture of self-dealing. And today, that ethics reform is the law.
While I was at it, I got rid of a few things in the governor's office that I didn't believe our citizens should have to pay for.
That luxury jet was over the top. I put it on eBay.
I also drive myself to work.
And I thought we could muddle through without the governor's personal chef - although I've got to admit that sometimes my kids sure miss her. I came to office promising to control spending - by request if possible and by veto if necessary.
Senator McCain also promises to use the power of veto in defense of the public interest - and as a chief executive, I can assure you it works.
Our state budget is under control.
We have a surplus.
And I have protected the taxpayers by vetoing wasteful spending: nearly half a billion dollars in vetoes.
I suspended the state fuel tax, and championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress.
I told the Congress "thanks, but no thanks," for that Bridge to Nowhere.
If our state wanted a bridge, we'd build it ourselves. When oil and gas prices went up dramatically, and filled up the state treasury, I sent a large share of that revenue back where it belonged - directly to the people of Alaska.
And despite fierce opposition from oil company lobbyists, who kind of liked things the way they were, we broke their monopoly on power and resources.
As governor, I insisted on competition and basic fairness to end their control of our state and return it to the people.
I fought to bring about the largest private-sector infrastructure project in North American history.
And when that deal was struck, we began a nearly forty billion dollar natural gas pipeline to help lead America to energy independence.
That pipeline, when the last section is laid and its valves are opened, will lead America one step farther away from dependence on dangerous foreign powers that do not have our interests at heart.
The stakes for our nation could not be higher.
When a hurricane strikes in the Gulf of Mexico, this country should not be so dependent on imported oil that we are forced to draw from our Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
And families cannot throw away more and more of their paychecks on gas and heating oil.
With Russia wanting to control a vital pipeline in the Caucasus, and to divide and intimidate our European allies by using energy as a weapon, we cannot leave ourselves at the mercy of foreign suppliers.
To confront the threat that Iran might seek to cut off nearly a fifth of world energy supplies ... or that terrorists might strike again at the Abqaiq facility in Saudi Arabia ... or that Venezuela might shut off its oil deliveries ... we Americans need to produce more of our own oil and gas.
And take it from a gal who knows the North Slope of Alaska: we've got lots of both.
Our opponents say, again and again, that drilling will not solve all of America's energy problems - as if we all didn't know that already.
But the fact that drilling won't solve every problem is no excuse to do nothing at all.
Starting in January, in a McCain-Palin administration, we're going to lay more pipelines ... build more new-clear plants ... create jobs with clean coal ... and move forward on solar, wind, geothermal, and other alternative sources.
We need American energy resources, brought to you by American ingenuity, and produced by American workers. I've noticed a pattern with our opponent.
Maybe you have, too.
We've all heard his dramatic speeches before devoted followers.
And there is much to like and admire about our opponent.
But listening to him speak, it's easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform - not even in the state senate.
This is a man who can give an entire speech about the wars America is fighting, and never use the word "victory" except when he's talking about his own campaign. But when the cloud of rhetoric has passed ... when the roar of the crowd fades away ... when the stadium lights go out, and those Styrofoam Greek columns are hauled back to some studio lot - what exactly is our opponent's plan? What does he actually seek to accomplish, after he's done turning back the waters and healing the planet? The answer is to make government bigger ... take more of your money ... give you more orders from Washington ... and to reduce the strength of America in a dangerous world. America needs more energy ... our opponent is against producing it.
Victory in Iraq is finally in sight ... he wants to forfeit.
Terrorist states are seeking new-clear weapons without delay ... he wants to meet them without preconditions.
Al Qaeda terrorists still plot to inflict catastrophic harm on America ... he's worried that someone won't read them their rights? Government is too big ... he wants to grow it.
Congress spends too much ... he promises more.
Taxes are too high ... he wants to raise them. His tax increases are the fine print in his economic plan, and let me be specific.
The Democratic nominee for president supports plans to raise income taxes ... raise payroll taxes ... raise investment income taxes ... raise the death tax ... raise business taxes ... and increase the tax burden on the American people by hundreds of billions of dollars. My sister Heather and her husband have just built a service station that's now opened for business - like millions of others who run small businesses.
How are they going to be any better off if taxes go up? Or maybe you're trying to keep your job at a plant in Michigan or Ohio ... or create jobs with clean coal from Pennsylvania or West Virginia ... or keep a small farm in the family right here in Minnesota.
How are you going to be better off if our opponent adds a massive tax burden to the American economy? Here's how I look at the choice Americans face in this election.
In politics, there are some candidates who use change to promote their careers.
And then there are those, like John McCain, who use their careers to promote change.
They're the ones whose names appear on laws and landmark reforms, not just on buttons and banners, or on self-designed presidential seals.
Among politicians, there is the idealism of high-flown speechmaking, in which crowds are stirringly summoned to support great things.
And then there is the idealism of those leaders, like John McCain, who actually do great things. They're the ones who are good for more than talk ... the ones we have always been able to count on to serve and defend America. Senator McCain's record of actual achievement and reform helps explain why so many special interests, lobbyists, and comfortable committee chairmen in Congress have fought the prospect of a McCain presidency - from the primary election of 2000 to this very day.
Our nominee doesn't run with the Washington herd.
He's a man who's there to serve his country, and not just his party.
A leader who's not looking for a fight, but is not afraid of one either. Harry Reid, the Majority Leader of the current do-nothing Senate, not long ago summed up his feelings about our nominee.
He said, quote, "I can't stand John McCain." Ladies and gentlemen, perhaps no accolade we hear this week is better proof that we've chosen the right man. Clearly what the Majority Leader was driving at is that he can't stand up to John McCain. That is only one more reason to take the maverick of the Senate and put him in the White House. My fellow citizens, the American presidency is not supposed to be a journey of "personal discovery." This world of threats and dangers is not just a community, and it doesn't just need an organizer.
And though both Senator Obama and Senator Biden have been going on lately about how they are always, quote, "fighting for you," let us face the matter squarely.
There is only one man in this election who has ever really fought for you ... in places where winning means survival and defeat means death ... and that man is John McCain. In our day, politicians have readily shared much lesser tales of adversity than the nightmare world in which this man, and others equally brave, served and suffered for their country.
It's a long way from the fear and pain and squalor of a six-by-four cell in Hanoi to the Oval Office.
But if Senator McCain is elected president, that is the journey he will have made.
It's the journey of an upright and honorable man - the kind of fellow whose name you will find on war memorials in small towns across this country, only he was among those who came home.
To the most powerful office on earth, he would bring the compassion that comes from having once been powerless ... the wisdom that comes even to the captives, by the grace of God ... the special confidence of those who have seen evil, and seen how evil is overcome. A fellow prisoner of war, a man named Tom Moe of Lancaster, Ohio, recalls looking through a pin-hole in his cell door as Lieutenant Commander John McCain was led down the hallway, by the guards, day after day.
As the story is told, "When McCain shuffled back from torturous interrogations, he would turn toward Moe's door and flash a grin and thumbs up" - as if to say, "We're going to pull through this." My fellow Americans, that is the kind of man America needs to see us through these next four years.
For a season, a gifted speaker can inspire with his words.
For a lifetime, John McCain has inspired with his deeds.
If character is the measure in this election ... and hope the theme ... and change the goal we share, then I ask you to join our cause. Join our cause and help America elect a great man as the next president of the United States.
Sony, the consumer electronics company, said Thursday that it was recalling 440,000 units of Vaio laptop computers worldwide because of faulty parts that could trigger overheating.
The company said Thursday that the recalls involved 19 models of Vaio TZ laptop series manufactured between May 2007 and July 2008, including three export models.
The company said a faulty wiring connecting the main body of the laptop and its display could cause overheating near a power plug or the rim of the screen, sometimes distorting the shape of the computer.
The affected models are the VGN-TZ100, VGN-TZ200, VGN-TZ300 and VGN-TZ2000 -- although not all laptops in these series are affected. Sony suggests users contact the company to see whether their computer is part of the recall, and if so to stop using it immediately.
If you’re like me, you probably like your computer to run as fast and efficiently as possible. One of the main ways to do this is to stop any unwanted processes from working behind the scenes and eating up your system’s resources. Most likely you have already gone through Windows Task Manager to stop unneeded processes, but what about that pesky "ctfmon.exe" that never seems to go away.
According to Microsoft, Ctfmon is the process that controls Alternative User Input and the Office Language bar. It’s how you can control the computer via speech or a pen tablet, or using the onscreen keyboard inputs for Asian languages. In other words, 90% of Windows users will never need nor want the addition, so how do you go about disabling it for good?
Here’s how to get rid of it on Windows XP:
Go to your control panel and open up "Regional and Language Options." Choose the "Languages" tab in the window that appears and click "Details" under "Text Services and Input Languages." Go to the "Advanced" tab in the new window that appears and check the box labeled "Turn off advanced text services." This will immediately close Ctfmon. Finally, go back to the "Settings" tab and verify the information under the heading "Installed Services." The first tier should read English (United States) followed by a second tier that reads "keyboard." followed by a third tier that reads "US." As long as there are no other services besides your keyboard, Ctfmon should never come back on. If you have any additional services installed, review whether you truly need them, and if not, remove them.
Here’s how to get rid of it on Windows Vista:
The process is similar to the steps taken in Windows XP, but since the layout is different, there’s a different route that must be taken. First, open your "Control Panel," and choose "Regional and Language Options." Find "Change keyboards or other input methods" which should bring up a new window. Choose the "Keyboards and Languages" tab and click "Change Keyboards." At this point, you should be at the same screen as in Windows XP. You’ll want to remove the extra installed services in the list other than your default keyboard language to make sure Ctfmon will never again activate.
To save your changes and to make sure Ctfmon will never again return, you need to alter your startup procedures. Go to "Run" in your startbar and enter "msconfig.exe" to open up a new window. Go to the "Startup" tab, and uncheck the box next to "ctfmon." After this, simply reboot your system to be completely Ctfmon free.
Happy Labor Day. The first Labor Day was celebrated on Monday, September 5, 1882 to celebrate the contributions of the labor force to the strength and prosperity of our country.
Originally, Labor Day was celebrated with large parades, patriotic speeches, and employer or labor union-provided family picnics. Now the celebration is getting the day off for a long weekend to celebrate however you wish. Enjoy your Labor Day and the last three day weekend of the Summer.