Someone, PLEASE tell me it's a joke!

I had not had a chance until today to take a look at the $900 billion stimulus bill and all the provisions within it (I still have not read much of it). CNN was good enough to provide the public with a list of things some Republican Congressmen took issue with. I read through the list and was shocked and apalled to say the least.

Here is the list (courtesy of CNN.com):

• $2 billion earmark to re-start FutureGen, a near-zero emissions coal power plant in Illinois that the Department of Energy defunded last year because it said the project was inefficient.

• A $246 million tax break for Hollywood movie producers to buy motion picture film.

• $650 million for the digital television converter box coupon program.

• $88 million for the Coast Guard to design a new polar icebreaker (arctic ship).

• $448 million for constructing the Department of Homeland Security headquarters.

• $248 million for furniture at the new Homeland Security headquarters.

• $600 million to buy hybrid vehicles for federal employees.

• $400 million for the Centers for Disease Control to screen and prevent STD's.

• $1.4 billion for rural waste disposal programs.

• $125 million for the Washington sewer system.

• $150 million for Smithsonian museum facilities.

• $1 billion for the 2010 Census, which has a projected cost overrun of $3 billion.

• $75 million for "smoking cessation activities."

• $200 million for public computer centers at community colleges.

• $75 million for salaries of employees at the FBI.

• $25 million for tribal alcohol and substance abuse reduction.

• $500 million for flood reduction projects on the Mississippi River.

• $10 million to inspect canals in urban areas.

• $6 billion to turn federal buildings into "green" buildings.

• $500 million for state and local fire stations.

• $650 million for wildland fire management on forest service lands.

• $1.2 billion for "youth activities," including youth summer job programs.

• $88 million for renovating the headquarters of the Public Health Service.

• $412 million for CDC buildings and property.

• $500 million for building and repairing National Institutes of Health facilities in Bethesda, Maryland.

• $160 million for "paid volunteers" at the Corporation for National and Community Service.

• $5.5 million for "energy efficiency initiatives" at the Department of Veterans Affairs National Cemetery Administration.

• $850 million for Amtrak.

• $100 million for reducing the hazard of lead-based paint.

• $75 million to construct a "security training" facility for State Department Security officers when they can be trained at existing facilities of other agencies.

• $110 million to the Farm Service Agency to upgrade computer systems.

• $200 million in funding for the lease of alternative energy vehicles for use on military installations.

"...and now we feel safe."

When people find out that I spent a little time in Iraq, inevitably they ask "so, what do you think about what we are doing over there?" Anyone who knows me, knows I am optimistic about what we've done in Iraq, but then again, I saw mostly good. I was never around for morter attacks or suicide bombings... So I am always happy to hear that there are Iraqis who agree with me. As the Iraqis are going through another iteration of elections, it is interesting to see how far they (and we) have come. One Iraqi, when talking about why he was voting for Maliki, said the following:
“I like him because he was successful in improving the security situation and started reconstruction. The important thing for us at that time was safety and now we feel safe.” I think that statement speaks for itself. For a country that has only ever known war, the ability to feel safe is huge! So, what do I think about what we are doing over there? I think we are doing a great job, and I look forward to a day when the Iraqi people can feel safe enough with their own government and military that our sons and daughters can come home for good.

A game of lyrics

Naomi's FB post inspired me to do one of my own. It is amazing to see what kind of music has been hiding in your playlists until you play it on shuffle! Anyway, here goes. =)

Step 1: Put your music player on shuffle.
Step 2: Post the first line from the first 30 songs that play, no matter how embarrassing
Step 3: Strike through the songs when someone guesses both artist and track correctly.
Step 4: Don't look them up on Google or any other search engine (you cheater!).
Step 5: If you like the game, post your own.
Step 6: After a week, any songs left, I'll just post the answers

1. We were strangers, starting out on a journey, never dreaming what we’d have to go through
2. We’ve come so many miles through steep hills and valleys
3. When you feel the sunlight fade into the cold night
4. Two days chasing me around, I go crazy when you’re outside my world
5. Why do birds suddenly appear every time you are near?
6. Got the kinda face everyone knows
7. Oceans apart day after day and I slowly go insane
8. Our concentration - it contains a deadly flaw
9. Sometimes slowly time brings revelation
10: I got no money in my pockets, I got a hole in my jeans
11. She’s cold and she’s cruel, but she knows what she’s doing
12. Went back home again this sucks gotta pack up and leave again
13. Why do lovers drift apart and how does love fade away?
14. Closed off from love, didn’t need the pain
15. I – I sit in silence here, I'm filled with wonder once again
16. We have seen the light.
17. Good King Wensaslas looked out on the feast of Stephen
18. 90 miles outside Chicago, can’t stop driving, I don’t know why
19. I used close my eyes and the time would pass me by
20. I can show you the world, shining, shimmering, splendid
21. Down on my knees again tonight, hoping this prayer will turn out right
22. Got introduced to you by a friend – you were cute and all that – you set the trend
23. This is the way that I state my independence that I'm no longer connected to your memory
24. Staring at a maple leaf leaning on the mother tree
25. I followed all the rules, well, at least I'm trying
26. Wise men say only fools rush in
27. Take it all down, Christmas is over, do not despair, but rather be glad
28. I watch the western sky, the sun is sinking
29. Sonny came home to her favorite room
30. She stands through my shadow, she sees something more

P.S. I had to skip a few because they were instrumental only (no lyrics) and then I skipped all the Arabic lessons (thought you might appreciate that). =)

There's No Place Like Home...

So I'll drive as fast as I can go
Through the black night, black ice and all snow
Till I see some street signs that I know
I'm coming home!!!
~ Relient K

Granted, after living in this area for the past 7 years, all the signs are familiar, but there is a different kind of familiar to the landmarks near the town I grew up in - the town that will forever be "home." As soon as I get to the overpass on Staten Island that has the word "savior," written out in grafitti, I get that anxious feeling, as I cross the Verazanno Bridge and see the cityscape to my left, my heart begins to race, and when I finally see the green signs with white lettering, telling me that the next right will take me into my hometown, I can hardly contain my excitement. You would think that after all these years, it would lose its novelty, but it never does. As much as I love to travel and roam the world, there is just something about home that gives me a feeling no other place can. I guess it is the stablizing factor in my life. I have to admit that prefer the ride during the summer months - like when I go home for 4th of July or Labor Day. But it is always worth it, even when it means weathering extreme wind, sub-zero temperatures, snow, sleep deprivation, and other hardships. This week, however, is the craziest driving week I have done in a LONG time. After driving through the night on Thursday, I spent Friday-Sunday with my family. I left home at 0230 this morning and arrived at work by 0645. I am working today and tomorrow, and then back on the road Wednesday so that I can be home for Christmas this year. Last year was fun in its own way, but I am SO looking forward to being with my family and enjoying the fireplace, food, and fellowship (not quite in that order) at Grandma's house. So if you happen to be awake around 0300 on Wednesday morning, please say a prayer for my safe arrival home.

MERRY CHRISTMAS, ALL!!!

The Greatest Story Ever

While I was home this past weekend, my family and I chopped down our Christmas tree and decorated the house. I was busy stringing the lights around the tree, my attention completely consumed by the task at hand, as my little brother was behind me setting up the nativity scene. He was chattering all the while to no one in particular. I must confess, I was not paying too much attention, that is, until Mom came along and was not too happy about something. Apparently J. had put one of the wise men in the place usually occupied by Joseph. He tried to defend himself by asking Mom, "why do we always have to put everything in the same place every year?" I'm not sure if he really thought that would work with Mom, but if he did he was wrong. No one, however, answered his question. He and Mom both left the room, leaving me to continue stringing lights. As I worked on this task alone, I thought about J's question. It struck me that many people are asking the same question. Isn't that why the story gets told in many ways. People seem to think they can improve upon the story God wrote and they defend their "artistic license" with the same question. The reason we put up nativity scenes each year is to remind ourselves of the greatest story ever... of God becoming man so that man could be reconciled to God. It doesn't need pageantry or adornment - if anything, all that takes away from the truth, veiling it in the material. This is something that became very obvious to me last year in Iraq. We gathered in the chapel (an old, run-down building that was part of the base in Ramadi when it was run by Saddam's Army before we invaded). There was very little in there to remind one of the grand cathedrals or even the quaint, country churches. It was bare and rather dirty (as we all trekked mud in on our boots despite our best efforts not to)... yet I cannot think of a Christmas when the reason for celebrating was more real to me. We read through the scriptures and sang the hymns I've sung since I was very little, and as we ended with Silent Night, the lights were turned off and we all lit the candles we had been holding. I couldn't help but think that had to be so much closer to the real thing than anything I had ever done until then. In the desert, along the Euphrates, where the stars were bright overhead and the world was anything but peaceful, I felt like it must have a night like that when Christ came to earth. Regardless, my point is that we don't need to change the story in order to make it feel more real. If we are feeling a need for change, maybe it's time to tear down the veils we have constructed. When I really think about it, the story of that very first Christmas is enough to bring tears to my eyes. Along with the death and resurrection of our Savior, it will forever be the greatest story ever!

Thank God!

My co-worker emailed me Lincoln's first Thanksgiving Proclamation. I found it extremely interesting for a number of reasons. I did not realize that it was not an annual, national holiday until 1863. For some reason, when you are taught about the pilgrims and indians, it is just assumed that from then on, Americans (or colonists as the case may be) celebrated Thanksgiving every fourth Thursday in November. Apparently, that was not the case. Also, fascinating is the overt religious tones of the letter. As much as AHA and others would like to deny it, America was founded on biblical principles. Below is the proclamation in its entirety provided for your reading pleasure.

By the President of the United States of America.

A Proclamation.

The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defence, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle or the ship; the axe has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consiousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom. No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union.