Sad

Memorial Day

Brianne Bilyeu, 1,049 Comments

Today is Memorial Day, the day we in the States set aside specifically to honor and remember men and women who have died in military service.  I wanted to do a post for Memorial Day and I started thinking about the current war in Iraq.  After zipping around in Wikipedia for a while, I found my way to an entry entitled “Multi-National Force – Iraq“.  In a subsection, Deaths, it listed the numbers of deaths of those serving in the Multi-National Force through January 2010 as 4,692 (this absolutely does not include Iraqi deaths).  In another Wikipedia entry “Casualties of the Iraq War” the breakdown is such:

There are quite a few exceptions and justifications provided for the numbers above, including alternate estimates from multiple reporting sources.

Regardless of your thoughts on war and the politics of war, these are a lot of people who have died in service to their countries.  Regardless of their reasons for serving, of their duties or positions in the war, of the reasons for this war, of the impacts of this war, or of any philosophical objection to or support of wars in general, or to this war in particular, these are a lot of people who have lost their lives.  Their deaths have affected our families, friends, communities and countries in uncountable ways.  On Memorial Day, I reflect on these losses.

This painting always brings a lump to my throat, and whenever I start to wax philosophical about war, this always reminds me that the consequences of war are very down-to-earth.

Memorial Day
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This is a crude post.

Brianne Bilyeu, , 1,073 Comments

Crude oil flowing from BP’s Deepwater Horizen oil rig explosion has started washing up on Louisiana’s shores. 

Last night rough seas pushed oily water over the protective booms standing between the on-coming oil and Louisiana’s coasts.  Oil has entered the Mississippi River and is spreading into the river’s offshoots and surrounding wetlands, and toxic chemicals from the oil are leeching into delicate aquatic environments and threatening wildlife.  Alabama’s coastline is also threatened, and wildlife with the potential to be affected by the spill include hundreds of species of fish, birds, and mammals including Atlantic bluefin tuna, plankton, sea otters, sperm whales, oysters, menhaden fish, and endangered turtles.

The above paragraph is a summary of the TimesOnline article located here.  The article has very good writing and includes a current video of the situation unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico.  Please click the link for more information.

From YouTube:

Other coastal wildlife at risk: Mussels, crabs, shrimp, fish in nurseries, dolphins, manatees, brown pelicans, terns, gulls.  NOLA.com has posted what they claim is a comprehensive list of all of the birds, mammals and and invertabrates under threat from the oil and toxic chemicals from the spill.

View from space.  Photo source.

The worst part of this spill is that we’re not sure how much oil is going to escape before we can plug the oil leaks.  Everyone ready to do this again?

photo source

This is a crude post.

In memory of those lost 15 years ago.

Brianne Bilyeu, 948 Comments

Today is the fifteenth anniversary of of the Oklahoma City Alfred P. Murrah federal building bombing. 168 people died, 680 were injured and $652 million in damage was done. I’m taking a moment to remember those who were affected by bombing, and to reflect on the consequences of hatred, intolerance, and the belief that violence is the solution to our country’s problems.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oklahoma_City_bombing

The Oklahoma City National Memorial

Aerial view of the Oklahoma City National Memorial. photo source

From Wikipedia: On the south end of the memorial is a field of symbolic bronze and stone chairs—one for each person lost, arranged according to what floor of the building they were on. The chairs represent the empty chairs at the dinner tables of the victims’ families. The seats of the children killed are smaller than those of the adults lost.  photo source

In memory of those lost 15 years ago.

Way to screw it up for everyone else.

Brianne Bilyeu, 621 Comments

Is your child a pain in the ass?  Every once in a blue moon does that scary, quiet little voice way down deep inside just wish you could send the little brat packing?  Well, that’s exactly what a woman from Tennessee decided to do.  Torry Ann Hansen found that her darling adopted child from Russia was more than she bargained for, so she flew with him to Washington, then put him on a plane back to Russia with a magic markers, candy and a typewritten note saying “After giving my best to this child, I am sorry to say that for the safety of my family, friends and myself, I no longer wish to parent this child.”.

She put her adopted seven-year old son…

on a plane…alone…

to Russia.

Hansen told reporters that the boy was violent and abusive and threatened to burn down their house, so I guess she felt justified in sending a SEVEN YEAR OLD to a foreign country by his lonesome with a few markers and a note.  She is soooo not a candidate for the Mom of the Year award.  I sincerely hope that a child endangerment investigation is conducted by US officials against this woman.  Again, this big badass child is SEVEN years old, and while I’ve seen the previews for the evil Satan-children movies that come in and out of fashion…oh…right, that’s Hollywood.  No child is so bad that you send him away with a note that says “Return to Sender”.  It’s got to be illegal in one of the two countries involved…come on!

And now Russia, who has not been pleased with the outcomes of American adoption of Russian children (14 Russian children adopted by Americans have died of abuse since 1996 – WTF, mate?!), has decided that this is the last straw: they are proposing to suspend American adoption of Russian children until stricter adoption standards can be arranged by the two countries.

Way to screw it up for everyone else.

Never Again Will I Complain About Leftovers.

Brianne Bilyeu, , 1,428 Comments

Mud cookies.

I had never heard of mud cookies before.  I remember hearing that starving people will eat mud to stave off hunger, but I never imagined that an industry around mud-food could arise.

With the recent earthquakes has come a renewed interest in Haiti’s past, present and future troubles.  I saw a picture of a Haitian woman prepping mud cookies in a newspaper article and was flabbergasted.  Apparently, the edible mud is sifted to remove rocks, then mixed with salt and shortening, shaped into disks and dried in the sun.

In an article from msnbc.com, one sixteen year old girl, Charlene, says this about mud cookies:

“When my mother does not cook anything, I have to eat them three times a day,” Dumas said. Her baby, named Woodson, lay still across her lap, looking even thinner than the 6 pounds, 3 ounces he weighed at birth.

Though she likes their buttery, salty taste, Charlene said the cookies also give her stomach pains. “When I nurse, the baby sometimes seems colicky too,” she said.

Oh, and FYI: Haiti’s mud cookie industry isn’t a new phenomenon.  The msnbc article above was published in January of 2008.  The website HaitiAction.net has an article and several pictures taken in 2008, like this one of women preparing mud cookies:

Never Again Will I Complain About Leftovers.

Good Riddance, Scott Roeder.

Brianne Bilyeu, , , 2,319 Comments

Today Scott Roeder was convicted – in 37 minutes – by a jury of his peers of the first-degree murder of Dr. George Tiller, a late-term abortion provider in Kansas.

Reporting:
msnbc.com
cnn.com
New York Times
AP News via Yahoo News

Everyone is happy that Scott Roeder received a just conviction…well, almost everyone.  I was intrigued when I went to google “Scott Roeder verdict”, and there on the third and fourth lines in the drop-down search bar was “Scott Roeder hero” and  “Scott Roeder defense fund”.  I went to a few of these sites and now I’m nauseous. 

One guy uses the phrase “Scott Roeder’s righteous, divinely-inspired assassination plot”.  There is a woman who has up a pulp-art style poster with the phrase “Blow the Whistle on Anti-Americanism!  Liberals, Gays, Muslims, Union Organizers…Report them all!”  This same charming female had the following post:

Don’t delay, get out and donate to the Scott Roeder Defense Fund right here (link not attached) note: yes, the Roeder Defense Fund link has been cleverly disguised as a “Planned Parenthood Dontation” link; this is to throw off the libs. In fact, this rouse is so clever that your credit card statement will even show “donation to Planned Parenthood”. Clever, no?)

This way, no one at your credit card company has to know that you’ve donated to a bigoted, hateful campaign that you’re ashamed to admit you support!  Yeah for privacy!

Good Riddance, Scott Roeder.

Scott Roeder’s Murder Trial and Pierogis

Brianne Bilyeu, , , , 585 Comments

A couple of articles from today’s Star Tribe caught my attention:

Testimony opens in shooting death of abortion doctor (Roxana Hegeman).  I like that testimony begins for Scott Roeder’s trial starts on the 37th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision.  With all of the people who witnessed him (allegedly) shooting Dr. Tiller, I don’t imagine it will be a long trial.

One of the things that makes me enraged about his defense:  His lawyers pushed for a lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter (instead of first degree murder) because Roeder believed Tiller’s killing was necessary to save unborn children.  Gee…that would be a nice precedent to set, wouldn’t it?  But District Judge Warren Wilbert denied the defense motion, and Roeder is being tried for first degree murder.  For more, see Roxana Hegeman’s related article.

And on a much lighter (but heavier) note:

Artist hopes a pierogi will rise in Northeast (Abby Simons).  The on-line article contains a video interview with the artist, Jeff Lohaus, but I’m having a hard time watching it ‘cuz dude looks waaay to much like Albert Brooks and my giggling keeps distracting me from the interview.

Pierogi Project does have a serious rationale for the Proposed Pierogi sculpture…wait, wait…”Pierogi Project Pitches Proposal…I’m on to something here.  Anyway, the neighborhood in which the Pierogi sculpture would be Placed is made up of People from all four corners of the globe.  And they all eat Pierogis, emPanadas, momo, jiaozi (Potstickers) and Hot Pockets.  We all eat cooked Pockets of dough!  Heck, everyone can get behind that.  As Lohaus says “[This] seems like a Piece that will touch a lot of People”. 

And if you too believe in the unifying Power of Pierogi, you can Pitch in for the Pierogi Project (Did I mention that it has a $100,000 Price tag?), by visiting Jeff Lohaus’s website to Purchase a Pewter or bronze miniature ($250) of the Proposed Pierogi.

Scott Roeder’s Murder Trial and Pierogis

Scott Roeder's Murder Trial and Pierogis

Brianne Bilyeu, , , , 693 Comments

A couple of articles from today’s Star Tribe caught my attention:

Testimony opens in shooting death of abortion doctor (Roxana Hegeman).  I like that testimony begins for Scott Roeder’s trial starts on the 37th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision.  With all of the people who witnessed him (allegedly) shooting Dr. Tiller, I don’t imagine it will be a long trial.

One of the things that makes me enraged about his defense:  His lawyers pushed for a lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter (instead of first degree murder) because Roeder believed Tiller’s killing was necessary to save unborn children.  Gee…that would be a nice precedent to set, wouldn’t it?  But District Judge Warren Wilbert denied the defense motion, and Roeder is being tried for first degree murder.  For more, see Roxana Hegeman’s related article.

And on a much lighter (but heavier) note:

Artist hopes a pierogi will rise in Northeast (Abby Simons).  The on-line article contains a video interview with the artist, Jeff Lohaus, but I’m having a hard time watching it ‘cuz dude looks waaay to much like Albert Brooks and my giggling keeps distracting me from the interview.

Pierogi Project does have a serious rationale for the Proposed Pierogi sculpture…wait, wait…”Pierogi Project Pitches Proposal…I’m on to something here.  Anyway, the neighborhood in which the Pierogi sculpture would be Placed is made up of People from all four corners of the globe.  And they all eat Pierogis, emPanadas, momo, jiaozi (Potstickers) and Hot Pockets.  We all eat cooked Pockets of dough!  Heck, everyone can get behind that.  As Lohaus says “[This] seems like a Piece that will touch a lot of People”. 

And if you too believe in the unifying Power of Pierogi, you can Pitch in for the Pierogi Project (Did I mention that it has a $100,000 Price tag?), by visiting Jeff Lohaus’s website to Purchase a Pewter or bronze miniature ($250) of the Proposed Pierogi.

Scott Roeder's Murder Trial and Pierogis