My moment on the Soapbox

Most of you I'm sure, are aware of Newsweeks's collassal blunder in its printing a story of the US military desecrating the Koran as a form of iterrogation of prisoners in Iraq. The printing of the story, which could not be proved as true, and was told by an unreliable source, resulted in tragic results. A wildfire of rage and retribution followed as enraged militant Muslims took revenge, ruthlessly killing our soldiers. Too late, Newsweek retracted their statement, but it brings little comfort to the families of the murdered soldiers.

It is a sad day when American journalist's take for granted their freedom of speech -- a right that American soldiers give their lives for Americans to have. So when journalists use their freedom of speech to print inflammatory and false alleations against the soldiers who defend them, and suffer no consequences, it does a huge injustice to the men and women serving our country.

Freedom of speech is one thing. Printing something that will cause a riot, or worse, an act of war, is not free speech. Those who incite riots can be prosecuted; so why not journalists who print information that they know -- or should know -- will incite violence?

The fact that they are aware of the increasing violents of the insurgents, and the fact that the insurgents have already used the situation of the Abu Garib prison abuse scandal as an excuse for other attacks, should have made them realize that printing this imformation would be disastrous.

So, the people have a right to know? What people, I ask? Terrorists in a far away country who use our information against us? We are, after all, at war, whether people like it or not. Responsible newspapers would do well to remember that and stop endangering the lives of our soldiers, who by the way, didn't ask to be there.

In my eyes, what Newsweek did was no less than treason; they gave the enemy information which directly put our military in danger. Information, as it turns out, that wasn't even founded.

Worse, it seems, they will get away with it. They offer a full retraction, but nothing else. Nothing will happen to them over this... unless the American people let them know that they won't stand for it.

If you think what they did was wrong, and irrresponsible, then stop buying their magazine. Perhaps if they have consequenses, they will think to be more responsible.

Okay... will get off my soapbox for now...

First comes love...

then comes marriage, then comes baby...

Well, as many of you know by now, Nick and I are proud to announce that we are going to be parents in November. :) Being that the first three months have passed, I am pretty much over the morning sickness. For awhile there, I was hugging the toilet like a drunken frat boy. However, the morning sickness was a good clue that a baby was on the way, and we figured it out pretty early. At first, since Nick had the flu, I thought that was all it was... just a lingering bout with flu. But my nausea didn't go away, and so we took a test, and went to docs to make sure, and the rest is history.

I haven't had any really bad food cravings... just a few for Subway sandwhiches and then guilty pleasures like chocolate chip-mint ice cream... and just plain chocolate. At least I haven't had any wierd cravings... my sister craved dill pickles when she was carrying her oldest, and promptly got sick after eating some. Well... it might have to do with the fact that she at a WHOLE JAR... (that's what I call a craving), but at any rate, I don't think she ate any pickles any time soon.

Oh, another thing I crave is boneless sweet bbq wings at Buffalo Wild Wings. Its a sports bar type place, and kind of loud, but the food is good, and the wings are to die for.

Nick says with all the food I'm eating that I must be having a litter. He's certain there must be about six babies in there. I haven't really gained anything, though, so I guess I'm not being too much of a porker... although I do seem to be ravenous sometimes. I can get seconds, though, and blame it on being pregnant. It's great!

I'm just starting to show now, as am just into my fourth month, so am having fun fitting into my work uniform. The pants don't fit, because they are those horrible dress style pants with the skinny waist and flared out hips, with pleats. I don't like them on a good day, but I look like Steve Urkel now, because they go up even higher to fit over my stomach! So, I looked for a bigger size in the uniform closet, and found they only had men's sizes. And, while they fit on my stomach, they are HUGE around my legs, and about 8 inches too long, so, even though I roll them, they are very baggy. I could hem them... but why do that and ruin a pair of pants that I'll only fit into for a few months? So now I look a bit funny. We are supposed to wear cotton dress pants for work, but maybe I can get away with the stretchy type pants while I'm pregnant.

Well other than that, we don't have a whole lot of new news... although I think that's pretty big stuff right there.

However, one thing important is coming up -- Nick and I are going on a walk-a-thon for Tuberous Sclerosis (http://www.tsalliance.org/), to help raise money for research to find a cure. We became aware of the condition after my friend's little girl, Jessi, was born with it about 2 years ago (She just had her 2nd birthday a few weeks ago). You can read more about her story at her website. Well, anyway, if you want to donate for our walk, we'd appreciate it. You can send the checks to us, payable to TS Alliance. I think the link for the TS Alliance is right ... if its not, let me know and I'll get the right one.

Well, that's all for now... will keep you posted on baby's progress. :)

cheers!

Nora (and Nick)

random thoughts

Okay, so I haven't posted in ages...

I've been rather busy, but thought it would be nice to let y'all know that yes, I'm still alive. I did almost get taken out by a crazy moron who thought he would pass someone on a hill tonight... but managed to avoid getting schmucked. I came up to the top of the hill and saw headlights... in my lane, so I decided it might be wise to slow down and get out of the way. Maybe around where I live, there's alot of bad drivers.

The other day, as I was driving to work, I got pulled over by a cop. I was trying to figure out what I'd done when he came up to the car and looked at me and said, "Sorry, I mistook you for someone else," and started to walk back to the car. He was very embarrassed. I was so relieved that I babbled, "Don't be sorry, that made my day!" Its not every day you get pulled over by the police and told that it was a mistake.

Of course... it would NOT have made my day if they had mistaken my car for that of a serial killers... so its probably best not to be pulled over at all. Anyway, I thought the whole thing was wierd.

Speaking of wierd, I'm sure you all heard/read about the guy who kept his deceased mother in a freezer for four years... apparently, he wanted to keep getting the social security checks. And I thought people in my family were sometimes strange. Why do all the wierd people seem to come from Wisconsin? Unfortunately, people gleefully remember Wisconsin's latest news of the wierd; and when they find out you're from wisconsin, they always say something like, "oh, yeah, that's the place where Jeffry Dahmer came from, isn't it?," or recall some other news story.

ah well, enough news of the wierd. I need to get back to work. :P

Cheers!

Nora