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 reprint of editorial *warning" politically graphic

Thomas Jefferson said "the tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots AND tyrants." For the last five years American men and women have been dying in Iraq fighting terrorists. There are millions of Islamofascist terrorists world-wide and I expect we'll be fighting them for a long time. Terrorists that use women and children as shields and the mentally challenged as human bombs. Since 9/11, none of that has reached America...yet. However, until all Americans agree that this war is both neccessary and prudent, and support the governments's attempts to thwart the terroristss, we risk losing everything.

I believe a cancer has metastasized to our body politic and with the help of gutless media fops inspreading throughout America. It is a well financed, well pulicised, highly vocal and naively irresponsible group of misquided antiwar goons bent on negating America's ability to defend itself. Somewhere along the way they took a hard left turn and decided that even the death of one American soldier is one to many. If they succeed and we desert Iraq now, who will want ot help us fight for America later? The world will know that we cannot be trusted.

The auther of the following quote is unknown but to God "A veteran - whether active duty, retired, national guard or reserve - is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to 'The United States of America' for an amount of 'up to and including my life'. That is honor and there are way too many people in this country who no longer understand it. The concept of "Duty, Honor and Country" is foreign to many American civilians because they've never had to consider the possibility of risking all that they are for others.

Do not use the dead as a club. They died serving their country and deserve the Valor and respect due them for writing a check to America knowing it might be cashed.

S. Kraemer

Posted by: Pat                                                                   comments (0)

 Of Some Political Interest

ps: Although I knew the majority of the general facts of which I post today, many of the specifics were obtained with the help of the Internet. The views, however, are mine.

Posted by: Frank                                                                   comments (0)

 Four Things about me, things you may not have known about me [Pat]...

Four jobs I have had in my life: 

1. Cashier at “The Cow” (Sirloin Stockade)
2. secretary to 1^st chair violinist, OKC Orchestra (very short, 3 months..met man who I was to marry..cut my music career short)
3. gas station attendant
4. Office manager – US Representative

 Four movies I would watch over and over:  

1. .......     none, hate to watch movies more than once, ESPECIALLY “Toy Story”…still recovering from that event 3 years ago.

Four TV shows I love to watch: 

1. Criminal Minds
2. Cold Case
3. Missing
4. Numbers 

Four places I have been on Vacation:  

1. Venice
2. Hawaii
3. Russia
4. South Dakota

Four of my favorite foods:  

1. Pot Roast
2. Chellino’s nacho’s
3. crushed graham crackers
4. blueberry pancakes

Four places I would rather be right now:  

1. any cruise w/hubby
2. a new house
3. shopping for Christmas
4. with all 6 of my chiln’s (+spouses) and my grands all under one roof

Posted by: Pat                                                                   comments (1)

 Four Things about me, things you may not have known about me [Frank]...

1. Law and Order
2. Criminal Intent
3. Survivor
4. Big Brother
5. Numbers

1. Amazon River at Belize, Brazil
2. African Island of Puerta Verda
3. The Mendenhal Glacier, Alaska
4. St Petersberg, Russia

1. Prime rib (when cooked right)
2. carne asada
3. pot roast with mashed potatoes
4. Yogurt

1. A new house
2. sitting in the middle of the valley of the kings outside Cairo, Egypt
3. sitting in the driver's seat of my own, personal Corvette (1967)
4. walking amongst the penguins on Antarctica

Posted by: Frank                                                                   comments (1)

 an exciting afternoon!

About 2:30 today, the little downtown ambassador guys came a'knockin' on our door and said we had to leave immediately as there was a reported fire in the building. I, being the office fire marshell, made sure all in the office obeyed the order and made them leave without doing anything but grabbing phones and purses (well, not the guys, they could leave their purses in the office) and we gathered at our predesignated 'spot' across the street. We counted heads, all six of of us, then Donna and I went to view the fireman, err...I mean to check out the situation and see what was happening. Turns out it was 'just an electrical fire in one of the elevators on the west side of the building. But, alas, we could not go back to work and Devery told us to go home. I had to stay as I was waiting to pick up William, so I was able to get back in for a few minutes and turn off computers as they were going to power down the whole building to fix whatever started the fire. They think they may have it fixed by morning.....

Posted by: Pat                                                                   comments (0)

 no, it isn't Jchon's fault

I will be doing most of my posting from work I think. We are in a no win situation at home. Dish is bad, dial up is worse....

Tonight Dad and I have been taking a trip down memory lane, talking with all the "old" folks from Dept. 56 days. There is still an active D56 yahoo list that we are still on, we have just been on 'no mail' for a couple of years. Just the last week, curious to see what was happening in the D56 world, I changed my settings. We have had such fun visiting back and forth with some really fine people.

Dad and I do pretty quirky things and we get overinvolved and all those things. However, we have met, along the way, an awful lot of some very nice, caring people who come together to enjoy a hobby or some such thing. It has certainly enhanced our lives and created many precious memories. Wouldn't trade a minute of it for anything!

OK, back to the main post...I think, am getting pretty sleepy..

Posted by: Pat                                                                   comments (17)

 That's pretty scary!

I am quite sure it is not Jchon's fault..but it takes FOREVER for these pages to download...I can hardly wait until civilation comes out to our house and we can get some decent connectivity out here! And my email keeps bouncing on yahoo..it has been a bad computer week! Now..to that picture that pops up! Pretty cute...but my little buttons at the top of this new post box don't work :( I have to use manual smilies. I haven't tried the main blog, I will go there next. OK, back to the main page. But I do need to fill in our calender. Maybe I can do that later tonight. While "Closer" is on!! YEA!!

Posted by: Pat                                                                   comments (1)

 Something Has To Change

All of you know, or should know, that most of my work day is spent working on immigration casework for the constituents of OK05. It is a job that I have loved from the day I started. It gives me an opportunity to assist and make a difference is many, many differnt families. It really is remarkable and I am deeply appreciative that Ernest Istook had enough faith in me to give me the opportunity to work for him.

My views on Immigration policy, is of course, colored by the tasks I perform everyday on behalf of aliens, legal and illegal, everyday. There are days when I fervantly wish we could just completely shut the borders down and prohibit ANY entry for anyone for at minimun of two years until we can get the whole system revamped so it is not so cumbersome to "do it right". Other days, I know that is not the answer, but surely the system we have is not going to work.

I do NOT believe in amnesty, I do NOT think we should have a blanket 'guest worker' program (code words for amnesty), but clearly there needs to be a better way.

A couple of weeks ago, a very angry 'constituent' called our office complaining that an illegal he had hired 4 years ago and fired after finding out he was using a false social security card..was out there running his own business now. He made multiple threats of media etc.

I dutifully called up ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement)and asked if they had ever investigated this guy. They said they had talked to the angry, irrational guy, but had not had the resources to go out and investigate someone who wss not killing, raping or causing harm to society. Pretty standard answer from them, not unexpected. However, I did ask, since this guy was being such a &^&^(*&%%^&, if they would go a step further.

Long and short..they did, they went out on Friday to talk to him. He indeed was running a landscaping business. He had a wife and children, but indeed, was illegal. He had come here legally many years ago..but had overstayed without adjusting status.

Today..Fathers Day...a family is separated. Friday night he was on a bus down to Texas, waiting to get shipped back to Mexico.

I don't feel especially good about my part in this.

Was he wrong to be here? Yes.

Should he have used a bad SS#? No.

Should there be consequences? Yes.

But, I don't feel good about my part in this.

Something has to change, we can't reward people for doing wrong, we can't tell the people who took years and dollars doing it right that it was a waste, there was an easier 'wrong' way.

I don't feel good about my part in that deport...but what IS the answer.....

Posted by: Pat                                                                   comments (3)

 I'm Tired of People not taking Responsibility

Okay, this is my rage time. Yesterday a teacher from somewhere (female) had a charge of having sex with a minor dropped and she will now go without any punishment. The reason? The judge did not like the plea bargain the prosecutors had made with her even though it had been cleared with the "victim" and his family! So . . . in keeping with prosecutorial discression, the DA took his football and went home. Basicially told the judge, you don't play ball my way, I'll fix you, we just won't prosecute her.

Now, I will be the first to grant you that the MIMINUM prison term she could be given had the case gone to trial was 17 years in prison, a totally rediculous "let the punishment fit the crime" sentence. But the DA had not given up the store either. The deal that was not accepted was: 3 YEARS house arrest (You can't leave the confines of your house or yard without written permission from your probation officer who may or may not get back to you within a month or two) 7 years proabtion, an unhead of length of follow-up punishment for a like offense and permanently surrender her teaching credentials for any state in the Union.

Now, that ticked me off. BUT, that is just the tip of the iceburg. This teacher's defense had she gone to trial? She was Bi-Polar!!!!! Okay, I have heard enough and enough and enough!!! Yes, there is a legitimate disorder known as being bi-polar. It is recognized by every medical school and book in the US and overseas. Yes, it can be devastating. (Ask mom how she handles it sometimes when she just doesn't know how to inter-react with me when I go off the deep end?) BUT . . . it does not give me the right, nor is it a defense should I do it, to commit crimes, harm people or do other things that society deems unacceptable. (Except I reserve the right to hit walls, brick and otherwise. The brick usually wins.)

I am not happy that I have been diagonosed as a person with the bi-polar disorder. It puts me at risk for many things that others usually do not face. If we really want to get technical, I have virtually every aspect of the bi-polar personality there is. (Most bi-polars have two or perhaps three traits, mine leaped over 10 when I stopped counting.) BUT, despite this, I don't go out raping, molesting, robbing or any other of the many legal defenses utilized to defend the actions of someone with a bi-polar personality!

Truth be told, the general characteristics of a person with the disorder are people of high intellect, very creative, strong, responsible personalities . . . the positive side of the list goes on. Famous names throughout history have had the disorder . . . Winston Churchill, Picasso, Einstein . . . mom probably knows the list better than I. I don't really care who the others are that are or were Bi-Polar. I don't see muself in anything near the class of people always refer to. BUT, I care about how to deal with it so other people can deal with me.

There are many, many things I can't do anymore because of the disorder. It is not something that just happened, it has been a part of my life virtually from birth. Until I was a little over 50 I "self-medicated" (No, not drugs, people with Bi-Polar personalities are known to overwork, undersleep, act out in rage, seem to get upset over what others consider trivial matters, make very poor decisions (usually financial) and various other techniques. (Sound like anyone you know.)

Then I reached a point where too many events converged on my life at just the wrong time and I went over-board. I was no longer able to handle my problems on my own. I have been poked, prodded, pinched and xrayed. I have been on every modern medication known to control the depressive side of the disorder. Finally I was given the ultimate diagnosis: drug resistant Bi-Polar disorder with borderline personality tendencies. That's the doctor's way of saying we have no idea what to do next.

Well, you know mom, she doesn't understand the words no or can't and through a lot of hard work and a lot of time she found out about this VNS thingy that has been discussed here before. There are problems we face in getting it done, a lot of roadblocks, but mom is taking them one by one and just keeps digging her heals in and WILL get something done.

As for me, I have good days, I have really good days, and I have poor days. But, in the past several months I have not had any really bad days. Needless to say, the medications provide a cushion for me, but I finally accepted the fact that if I was not going to let this thing take me down. I would let something I do have some control over take away my time to enjoy my life, enjoy my kids, enjoy my grandkids and who knows, maybe even great-grandkids. (Just remenber, no dating until you finish college kids! )

I am my own counselor now, after 6 years I have heard all the words, all the methods of avoidance, all the methods of "reaching the right state of mind." I know all the words. But now I accept that all those words end with ME! I have to do this or I have to do that. And when I need some outside counselling, I turn to the most qualified counselor I know, my wife.

When in Deaconess this last time, and being stuck in a situation where mom and Chrisite and friends were all facing imminent damage from the grass fires and I could do nothing but bother them every 2 minutes about did you remember to get this or did you remember to get that out of the house, I knew something new had to be done.

They say, out of the mouths of babes words of wisdom come. Well, in a group meeting at Deaconess one day a "babe" (not the kind of babe I think the phrase was intending, not to mention she was a weird "babe" at that, certainly not one I would normally assiciate with on the 'outside') made a comment. She was discussing her attempts at suicide. (a topic we would all like to pretend doesn't exist, but that many still have to deal with, and in all too many cases, don't deal with well) She said the thing that stopped her this last time was that she was not going to leave that as her legacy! WOW! In one word years of therapy, years of medication, years of fear and frustration, all came together. I couldn't stay in the room. I had gotten very emotional and I don't like to share those emotions with others who don't know me. (yes, and even most that do) So I went back to my room and came to the simple answer to THE question. WHY? WHAT? HOW? What I needed, as I always have, is a short, (like I ever write anything short, this message being indicative of that) concise reason for hanging on that I could grab when things got too rough and mom was not around to "ground" me. And that was it. I not only do not want to, but more importantly I WILL NOT leave a legacy that ends with "he couldn't stand up to life." That just isn't, and has never been me.

Mom ALWAYS says the reason she loves me so much (she actually says lots of reasons and each has its own time and place) is that she never knows what tomorrow will bring being with me. She knows it will be unpredictable, sometimes fun, and usually pushing the envelope about as far as it can go, but that whatever we do, we will be doing it together.

I don't know how I got to here from the teacher who blamed her bi-polar diagnosis as justifying her molesting a student (okay, the guy probably was as much a part of it as she was, and that I can handle, but SHE did not act out as she did because she was bi-polar, she did it because she wanted to have relationships with this kid)to a novel on what has been and continues to go on with me, but, I think I needed a place to rant and to put into words that I can look back on when I need a little extra strength.

So, when anyone looks back on life my legacy will be "he was one of the craziest, unpredictible people I ever knew, but in the end, his life was dedicated to his family to life and to the unknown."

I know there are kids out there that need to get some things off their chests with me, and I may not be happy about what you say, but I will listen and I will not "blow off" what you say and feel. I will not try and justify what I did or did not do. In a long running discussion with Dottie nearly 20 years ago now, my, how can it be that long ago, I came to what should have always been a very simple understanding. It doesn't matter what I feel or think about a situation or action or inaction on my part, it is what the other person perceived my actions to be. And that is the issue that has to be addressed. There are people in my past I never got the chance to do that with. For that there is no solution. But, I can offer anyone else the opportunity to "get into my face" if it will help smooth out the rifts and help us enjoy the rest of our lives together.

Sorry this has been such an outpouring. (speaking of that, I should be 'out pouring' some ceramics) And Jchon, if you think this is something that belongs on my own webpage, move it, or not on the site at all, just delete it. You won't offend me. But I felt it was time people saw me for whom I feel I am today, not who I was years, weeks or days ago. I am driving Christie, Dawna and Jchon NUTS with all my questions about many things,life itself even, and that is just who I am right now. Each has gone out of their way to help with that and I cannot even begin to express my gratitude, not just for the help in gathering information, but just for putting up with what have been some difficult, uncomfortable situations. I want to learn. I want to use what I learn. I want to learn to accept or reject ideas, not because of some preconceived notions but rather based upon the insight of others and the foundations upon which the information lies. That is a whole 'nuther book. I will end this one now saying how much I love each and every one of you, and each of you in a different way. Many for the same reasons, but each also for many differing reasons.

And with that I leave each of you with my love, pride and affection and my gratitude and never ending love for a wife who has stuck with me through every high and every low, and never once backed away when anyone with any sense would have, and with the first vote in the not so weekly poll.

Posted by: Frank                                                                   comments (13)

 ok, that was the last one

The final trip blog I put on the main page when we got back home. Maybe Jchon can move it over here to maintain consistancy.

All in all, it was a wonderful trip, a GREAT cruise line and we would definitly look at it again. In fact, we are looking at the possibility of booking the Panama Canal trip in March of 2007. One of our table mates have already done that and it would be fun to meet up with them. We'll see. Sort of need to be a little more firm on the job situation. So..please encourage everyone you know to send $$ to the Ernest for Governor campaign! :)

Posted by: Mom___                                                                   comments (0)