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    • The 2006 Weblog Awards



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I’m Sure You Haven’t Heard This….

This graphic, via Fox News, says it all:

If possible, I believe Hell has got slightly more evil tonight. The world, however, is far better without him taking up square-footage.

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Kiss my ass, Cindy Sheehan!

Parents of slain soldiers visit Iraq

LYERLY, Ga. After her son was killed in Iraq, Jan Johnson needed to see where he died and determine whether he died in vain.

So she, her husband and five other people traveled to Iraq last month as a scout team for a bigger trip next year.

The Johnsons were never able to go the Baghdad slum of Sadr City, where Justin Johnson was killed by a roadside bomb in April 2004.

But the travelers say they found a cause worth fighting for in the Kurdistan region in northern Iraq. Suicide bombers rarely strike there, and the insurgency has little support among minority Kurds who were oppressed by Saddam Hussein.

They say their sons were viewed as liberators and they were treated as heroes.

DID YA HEAR THAT YOU FAT UGLY PUPPET?

Debra Bastian’s son was killed in a plane crash in Iraq in May 2005. She met a woman whose two sons and husband were killed by Saddam. She says the woman accepted a photograph of Bastian’s son, tucked it in a framed picture of her lost loved ones and said, “now your son is my son.”

Why don’t you recognize your OWN son as a hero? Perhaps then your life wouldn’t be so miserable and you wouldn’t be jerked around by the groups that are constantly trying to tell us different!!!

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Merry Christmas

Luke 2:1-14
In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register.

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest,and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”

Luke 2:14
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

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Santas’ New Sleigh!

I thought of my dear friend Linda and the fun we had on this coaster this summer when I saw this picture:

Remember that drop, Linda? Santa would get his presents to all the good girls and boys in about 2 seconds, iffin he didn’t have a heart attack first, the jolly old elf!

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We Didn’t Win But….

Hubby came in 3rd. He says what is mine is mine and what is his is mine, but this is an honor he earned all on his own. I can *never* take that away from him.

Now, those other Cotillion ladies….they don’t have to live with him every day, so I can’t wait to see what happens. ;-)

Thanks to those of you who voted for me. We are a small but mighty group! :-)

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Doctor “Death” Kevorkian Scheduled for June Parole

So I’m scanning through my various news sites and come across an article discussing Jack Kevorkian’s scheduled June 1, 2007 parole date.

LANSING, Mich. — Assisted suicide advocate Jack Kevorkian will be paroled in June, state Corrections spokesman Leo Lalonde said Wednesday.

Kevorkian, who claimed to have assisted in at least 130 deaths in the 1990s, was imprisoned in 1999 for his role in the last of the deaths.

The ailing former pathologist has promised he would not assist in a suicide if he was released from prison. He is 78, and has been eligible all along for parole on June 1, 2007.

The state parole board has turned down four of Kevorkian’s requests for parole.

Lalonde did not reveal any other details and directed calls to Russ Marlan, another spokesman for the department. A message seeking comment was left with Marlan Wednesday afternoon.

If Kevorkian is released on June 1, he will have spent close to 3,000 days, or a little more than eight years, in prison since being sentenced in April 1999.

I can remember those cases and the strong media attention. I felt back then that his role in the death of the elderly who was suffering was inappropriate. I wasn’t quite sure, though. There was always this lingering doubt about whether his clients felt that he was helping them get out of the painful, miserable situation they were in. I’ve got to tell you, though, a lot has changed for me in the last eight years.

I’m the proud mother of two little ones. Life is a precious gift. Who should feel it is within their reason and power to take that away from another human being - no matter the reason, no matter the request?

Terri Schiavo. This was a woman full of life, who was being provided care. But could smile, knew who was around her, could interact. And her ex-husband had her starved to death….all to be “compassionate” to her. His decision to quit feeding her killed her and her death should weigh heavily on his shoulders, as well as the judge’s.

Ailing family members. My mom died of cancer coming up on two years ago. My hubby’s mom has Alzheimer’s. His dad has cancer. I can speak mostly of my mom. She made the choice to accept hospice. Hospice care truly delivers on a commitment to help a dying patient be comfortable the rest of their life. And they are there for the family. I couldn’t have ever imagined my mom, even if the most painful part of her illness calling some so-called “mercy” doctor up and saying “please kill me.” Did she want to be comfortable? Absolutely. But she wanted to spend as much time with us as she could, too. Because my mother-in-law has alzheimers and might not remember things from moment to moment and requires around the clock care does it make her life any less valuable? NO!

Kevorkian’s approach to life was to snuff it out - at a time when a patient is so vulnerable they cannot always make a clear, well thought out decision. So that being said, I now, after these 8 years, have no doubts. The guy honestly should rot in prison. But we should feel sorry for him, right?

Kevorkian is being held at the Lakeland Correctional Facility in Coldwater, about 100 miles west-southwest of Detroit. Morganroth said in June that Kevorkian’s weight had dropped to 113 pounds and that he was suffering from hepatitis C and diabetes.

Kevorkian appeared before the parole board Dec. 7 at the Lakeland facility. The vote to parole him June 1 was unanimous, Morganroth said Wednesday.

As he did in previous hearings, Kevorkian told the parole board he would not assist in any suicides if released, Morganroth said. The Southfield attorney also repeated arguments that Kevorkian’s multiple and worsening health problems have left him with less than a year to live.

“I think they believed him — that he would never do it again. I think they understand he is not well, that he should be treated at a proper facility outside prison,” Morganroth said.

How ironic that we should feel bad for a guy who is in jail for his crime of killing vulnerable people. Now that he is vulnerable and in ill health they think he should be treated at a “proper facility.” We should be compassionate, no? Thank God I’ve never been as compassionate as Kevorkian is.

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What the ?????

Iran Opens Holocaust Conference
Monday, December 11, 2006

Why in the hell are these Jewish leaders giving this sawed-off little bastard (Ahmadinejad) the time of day? The Jews have nothing to prove to him! Anyone in their RIGHT mind knows the truth.

“It is just to provide an appropriate scientific atmosphere for scholars to offer their opinions in freedom about a historical issue,” Mousavi said.

He said the conference provided an opportunity to discuss “questions” about the Holocaust away from Western taboos and the restrictions imposed on scholars in Europe.

Western taboos and restrictions? This whole damned regime is INSANE!!! Is this the SAME regime the “Iran Study Group” wants us to sit down and play nicey, nicey with? I’d talk with them. Two words; Bombs Aweigh!

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Thank You, Rummy!

It’s a thankless job, especially during times of war. Especially with a media hell-bent on tarnishing the concept of the war, making it seem as though it should be as easy as a trip through Burger King’s drive through.

I’ve always admired Secretary of Denfense Donald Rumsfeld’s tough, no-nonsense approach to all things post 9/11. We don’t need some pansy-assed “let’s throw an olive branch at the terrorist leaders of the world” kind of approach to terrorism. Did you ever watch one of his press conferences?

Rummy is in Iraq - his 15th visit since the war began.

Rumsfeld’s trip follows an emotional farewell Friday at the Pentagon, where the defense secretary defended his record on Iraq and Afghanistan.

He said Friday that the worst day of his nearly six years as secretary of defense occurred when he learned of the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse.

His last full day in office will be on December 17. I only wish him the best.

Mr. Rumsfeld - thank you for your service. Thank you for how much you have done for our soldiers, for this country. Godspeed to you!

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Condom Fight….but is that the Bigger Story Here?

Another story of condom arguments gone wrong:

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) - A Cambodian man has been stabbed by a sex worker in a brawl, after he refused her request to wear a condom, police said Friday. Suon Da, 25, was knifed twice in the abdominal area by Sa Rida, a 24-year-old sex worker, during the fight at a brothel in Battambang province Wednesday, said Koam Roeuy, a deputy police chief from the area.

Not meaning to diminish the seriousness of a fight that caused bloodshed, I can’t help but wonder if this is the bigger story:

Koam Roeuy said Suon Da had paid Sa Rida $1.20 to have sex with her.

$1.20 for sex? Holy cow!!! I’m not certain that would cover the cost of a condom here in the U.S.!

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What Has Been Started Here?

So…what is it about this statement that is a bit ominous?

The New York City Board of Health has voted unanimously to prohibit restaurateurs from cooking with artificial trans fats - setting a precedent for US public health agencies eager to take on unhealthy eating.

I’ll be the first one to say there are a lot of overweight people in this country - me being one of them. Should I eat better? Sure. Should I exercise? I really do need to. Should the Board of Health or other related agency prohibit business owners from using an ingredient to cook food I might purchase in their establishment? That’s what’s ominous. There’s a particularly compelling trend setting up here - one I don’t particularly like.

I’ll go back to smoking bans. The city I live in recently put a smoking ban into place. Now, I’m not a smoker, but if an establishment wishes to allow people to smoke in an effort to attract various customers, I think they should have the right to do so - it is *their* business. But in Omaha, there could now be fines if you choose to light up in a restaurant. While I much prefer to sit in a smoke-free area while I’m eating, I can’t help but get irritated that such a law would be put into place…isn’t this a free country?

Now that everyone is quitting smoking, they are throwing caution to the wind and gaining extra weight because they are going to these restaurants that serve them food with artificial trans fat…er, uh…you get what I mean.

I may not be a rocket scientist, but I know when I’m eating something unhealthy. When it is fried, has breading of any kind, is oozing butter or other various fats, I know it’s not good for me. I have a brain and can 1) choose to eat such foods, knowing that they aren’t good for my body in excess and 2) choose to eat the food that is better for me, such as salads, grilled foods, veggies, etc. Most restaurants carry both, and if they don’t….you normally know this just by looking at their menu (many of which are posted on a website or outside the door of the establishment, etc.). Why does a Board of Health think that New Yorkers are stupid? ..and why are other health agencies so keen to help the rest of us stupid Americans not eat stuff that’s bad for us. What’s next…Twinkies? Doritos? Little Debbie Nutty Bars? Dean’s French Onion Dip? Before you know it, they’ll be charging us extra tax on “bad foods” or they’ll make the manufacturer of said food change the ingredients. Next thing you know pop will be off the market, replaced by Red Bull and water bottles (with spring water that likely just came out of a tap somewhere).

Don’t get me wrong, I do believe there are a lot of issues with the increased weight we are seeing on average in America. Health costs go up, but so many of us - and our employers - pay for that. Let US make decisions on what we want to eat and let’s be wise on the next steps here. If someone wants to eat a donut, or a package of M-n-M’s…that’s their choice as a consumer. Don’t play overlord and dictator by telling us what we can cook with or purchase.

/PSA. Heh.

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Charges Pending in Phoenix ‘Baseline Killer’ Deaths

Mark Goudeau, who is a suspect in a sexual assault case has potentially been linked to the Baseline Killer deaths, a string of deaths that occurred around Phoenix between August 2005 and June 2006. It seems as though the world may have become just a tad bit safer.

Phoenix Police Chief Jack Harris said investigators are recommending that Mark Goudeau be charged with 71 criminal counts, including murder.

Goudeau has been in custody since September, when he was arrested in connection with the 2005 sexual assaults of two sisters — one of whom was pregnant — in a south Phoenix park.

The assaults were among the crimes linked to the Baseline Killer case, one of two serial killer cases that had been unsolved in the Phoenix area. Two men were arrested in connection with the other group of shootings earlier this year.

The Baseline Killer case originally included 23 shootings, rapes and robberies that left eight people dead between August 2005 and June. The dead, seven of them women, ranged in ages from 19 to 39. They were killed going about their daily activities: leaving work, washing a car or waiting at a bus stop.

They’ve also recently added a ninth murder to the list of those who died at the hands of this predator.

Of course, the police’s interest in him as part of this case doesn’t go without criticism:

After his arrest, Goudeau’s wife, Wendy Carr, criticized Phoenix police and the mayor for their handling of the case, saying accusations “have been spilled into the streets with complete disregard for the truth.”

Let’s just see what the evidence tells us, ma’am. And then perhaps the jury and the judge.

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Tough Competition!

So, the finalists of the 2006 Weblog Awards have been announced and I’m proud to say that Merri Musings is a finalist on one of the categories. Check it out here!

HOWEVER….

This fella got nominated, too. In the same category. Who gets to sleep on the couch each night may actually be a regular conversation once the voting begins. Heh.

I’ll let you know when voting begins, if ya think my blog is worthy of your vote. :-)

…to be continued!

UPDATE:

In all fairness, I feel a need to confess. While Hubby and I are in the same category competing, he DID nominate me, so THANK YOU my darling for nominating me for this category! [insert much smooching and hugging here…are you still watching? Perverts! Heh!]

So here’s the official badge (soon to come to my sidebar!).

The 2006 Weblog Awards

Once the polls open, Now that the polls are open, you’ll be able to click on the image and it will take you to the particular category Merri Musings is in and you can vote, vote, vote (even every day if you’d like!!!).

I would also add that Nancy seems to forget she’s my partner in crime and should be as excited about this nomination as I am. I don’t know what I’d do without her posts - especially when *real life* kicks in!

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EVOO is Now a REAL WORD!

Yes, ladies and gentlemen. THAT is a picture of Rachael Ray get a certificate from a very smart looking woman. The certificate authenticates that “EVOO” is now in the Oxford Dictionary.

“In order for a word to get into the dictionary it has to be useful to people. It’s not just enough to be a fabulous celebrity to get your word in. You have to make a word that people like to use. There are words that are connected with celebrities that are not going to make it in the dictionary anytime soon; we’re not going to put in “Brangelina.” But “EVOO” we see people using. We have a big database of about a billion and a half English words. In that database we found evidence of “EVOO” being used and in more than half of the examples, “Rachael” is also in the same sentence.”

How cool is that?

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Slacker Blogging and Other Random Thoughts

Sorry for my little absence from the blogging world. Things have been rather crazy at the House of Merri!

We just got back from a road trip to Kansas City to watch our beloved Husker team get handed a sound loss. Was it fun? Absolutely! Was it cold? Oh, boy, it was cold! Was the traffic bad? Well, I’ve never taken almost 3 hours to go 5 miles. Really. It was bad. Guys running from their cars and peeing on the side of the road in front of everyone since they couldn’t hold it any longer. It was insane. I hope it isn’t that way for every Chiefs game because I’d never hold season tickets if that were true. We thought we had it made leaving for the stadium around 3:50 from our hotel (kickoff was at 7pm). Yeowza. We barely got inside before kickoff (and hubby had to go back to the car…a whole OTHER story). I am sad to see the Huskers lose, but their performace was clearly off last night. Cotton Bowl, here they come! I’ll post pics of the little ones once I have the energy to connect camera with computer. I’m WIPED!

We stayed at Harrah’s and the hubby and I decided that we would take turns going down and gambling for a little bit (little ones were sleeping in the hotel room so we both couldn’t go). They required that before you entered the casino that you get one of their reward cards or they wouldn’t let you in. WTF?!?!? Sign up is free and you can go right around the corner was the advise of the Harrah’s employee. So I go around the corner and am faced with a line of no less than 50 drunk people, all wanting to fill out their handy, dandy application before gambling. I threw my hands up in defeat and went back to the hotel room. I think that was the icing on the cake. Hubby tried as well, and got the same thing. I guess Harrah’s would rather do their demographics collection on their gamblers versus letting them in to spend their money. I’m not sure it’s a nationwide policy now of Harrah’s, but we never had that problem at the Harrah’s across the river from us (but it’s been quite a while since we’ve gone). It’s likely I won’t be gambling with them any time soon. Sometimes a person just wants to slide a couple of quarters in a slot machine without being hassled. Oh well, I’m a winner in the end as I didn’t blow the money to start with, right?

So Christmas is coming and I don’t have a thing done. No decorating, no cookies, I have one teeny-tiny bit of shopping done and that’s it. I’m such a slacker this year. I suspect things will start clicking this weekend so we can enjoy the decorations, etc.

It’s been flipping COLD here, but I’m glad we missed the awful weather that hit Missouri and Illinois. I feel for those folks and hope everything gets warmed up and fixed up soon!

Anyway, please don’t think I’m neglecting you all….it’s just been a hectic time for me. I’ll be back in the groove soon!

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SELECT comment_author, comment_author_url, comment_type, MAX(comment_ID) as comment_ID, SUBSTRING_INDEX(comment_content,'strong',2) as trackback_title, SUBSTRING_INDEX(comment_author,' » ',1) as pingback_blog, SUBSTRING_INDEX(comment_author,' » ',-1) as pingback_title FROM wp_comments WHERE (comment_post_ID='641' AND comment_approved = '1') AND (comment_type = 'trackback' OR comment_type = 'pingback') GROUP BY comment_author, comment_author_url ORDER BY comment_ID DESC LIMIT 50


    WordPress database error: [Expression #1 of ORDER BY clause is not in SELECT list, references column 'merri_wrdp1.wp_posts.post_date' which is not in SELECT list; this is incompatible with DISTINCT]
    SELECT DISTINCT MONTH(post_date) AS month, YEAR(post_date) AS year FROM wp_posts WHERE post_date < '2006-12-01' AND post_status = 'publish' ORDER BY post_date DESC LIMIT 1

    WordPress database error: [Expression #1 of ORDER BY clause is not in SELECT list, references column 'merri_wrdp1.wp_posts.post_date' which is not in SELECT list; this is incompatible with DISTINCT]
    SELECT DISTINCT MONTH(post_date) AS month, YEAR(post_date) AS year FROM wp_posts WHERE post_date > '2006-12-01' AND MONTH( post_date ) != MONTH( '2006-12-01' ) AND post_status = 'publish' ORDER BY post_date ASC LIMIT 1

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    • WordPress database error: [Expression #1 of ORDER BY clause is not in GROUP BY clause and contains nonaggregated column 'merri_wrdp1.wp_posts.post_date' which is not functionally dependent on columns in GROUP BY clause; this is incompatible with sql_mode=only_full_group_by]
      SELECT DISTINCT YEAR(post_date) AS `year`, MONTH(post_date) AS `month`, count(ID) as posts FROM wp_posts WHERE post_date < '2024-03-18 21:25:49' AND post_date != '0000-00-00 00:00:00' AND post_status = 'publish' GROUP BY YEAR(post_date), MONTH(post_date) ORDER BY post_date DESC