Kerry: Strong military man??? NO! Strong on Anti-Terrorism??? NOT!!!

I too am in the military, Active Duty Navy, and I hardly ever run into other Service Members who are pro-Kerry... the vast majority of the military, from my experience, is *VERY* much Pro-Bush and thinks Kerry reminds them too much of Slick Willy. Don't let his "Purple Hearts" and his "War Stories" and his self-proclaimed love of the military impress you... read this statement and do more research:

Kerry's Vietnam Commander: "I do not believe John Kerry is fit to be Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the United States"


KERRY VOTED TO SLASH THE INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY'S BUDGET: Not Long After First World Trade Center Bombing, Kerry Proposed $7.5 Billion In Across The Board Intelligence Cuts. In 1994, Kerry proposed rescinding $1 billion in the FY 1994 Intelligence budget and freezing the budget at that level through at least FY1998, which would cut $5 billion from Intelligence funding during that period. Kerry's proposal was defeated by a vote of 20 to 75, with even Sen. Ted Kennedy voting against the measure. Then in 1995, Kerry proposed a bill to, "[r]educe the Intelligence budget by $300 million in each of fiscal years 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, and 2000." This bill had no co-sponsors and never reached the Senate floor for a vote. (Sen. Dennis DeConcini [D-AZ], Congressional Record, 2/10/94, p. S1360)

What's more, I watched CNN this morning, as I do most mornings, and heard reported that Sen. Kerry had missed 39 of the last 40 Senate Intelligence Committee meetings that he was required to attend!!! WHAT??!??!?? That is infuriating!


KERRY IS ANYTHING *BUT* THE BIG MILITARY MAN HE ADVERTISES HIMSELF AS: In 1993, Kerry Introduced Plan To Cut Numerous Defense Programs, Including: cutting the number of Navy submarines and their crews, reducing the number of light infantry units in the Army down to one, reducing tactical fighter wings in the Air Force, terminating the Navy's coastal mine-hunting ship program and forcing the retirement of no less than 60,000 members of the Armed Forces in one year. (S.1163, Introduced 6/24/93) In 1996, Kerry introduced a bill to slash Defense Department funding by $6.5 billion. Kerry's bill had no co-sponsors and never came to a floor vote. (S. 1580, Introduced 2/29/96) In 1995, Kerry voted to freeze defense spending for 7 years, slashing over $34 billion from defense. (S. Con. Res. 13, CQ Vote #181: Rejected 28-71: R 2-51; D 26-20, 5/24/95, Kerry Voted Yea) Running for the Senate in 1984, Kerry proposed defense cuts as his "overall defense strategy. ("Kerry Asks $54 Billion Cut In Reagan Defense Budget," Berkshire Eagle, 5/30/84)

Kerry Voted Against Senate Passage Of Iraq/Afghanistan Supplemental Funding. The bill provided "approximately $65.6 billion for military operations and maintenance and $1.3 billion for veterans medical care."

* Supplemental Funding Bill Kerry Voted Against Provided "Extra Money For Body Armor For Soldiers …" ("Highlights Of Iraq, Afghanistan Measures," The Associated Press, 10/17/03; S. Rept. 108-160, Conference Report On S. 1689, 10/2/03)
* Supplemental Funding Bill Kerry Voted Against Provided Increased Combat Pay For Troops. ("Highlights Of Iraq, Afghanistan Measures," The Associated Press, 10/17/03; S. Rept. 108-160, Conference Report On S. 1689, 10/2/03; "FY 2004 Supplemental Request For Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), And Operation Noble Eagle (ONE)," U.S. Department Of Defense, 9/03)
* Supplemental Funding Bill Kerry Voted Against Provided Health Benefits For Reservists And Guardsmen Called To Active Duty, As Well As Support For Their Families. ("Highlights Of Iraq, Afghanistan Measures," The Associated Press, 10/17/03; S. Rept. 108-160, Conference Report On S. 1689, 10/2/03; "FY 2004 Supplemental Request For Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), And Operation Noble Eagle (ONE)," U.S. Department Of Defense, 9/03)


As I have stated before, I believe Kerry is a complete and total FRAUD!!! For all of Pres. Bush's faults and mistakes, at least we know where he sits... at least we can trust him to do what he says and act how we are used to him acting... we know what to expect with Pres. Bush... he has been upheld by the recent 9/11 report and the report on Iraq as having done, by and large, the CORRECT THING. I, for one, believe he is by far the best man for the job... if he screws up and sends me to war against a foreign government (again!) and it is later found out that they maybe weren't directly linked to al Qaeda, so be it... I will still follow him because I believe he is trying his very best to do what's right... not so with Kerry, he smites me as, in my mind, anti-American... these are just my thoughts, believe what you want to believe.

Kerry: The man with 2 faces...

Howard Dean's a BIG FAT LIAR

Wow... amidst this powerful Democratic Convention, amidst everyone stating that the don't want to bash Bush or get into the politics of bashing and lying about each other and they just want to build up the Democratic Party... I just saw Howard Dean flat-out LIE on national TV... a bold lie, not a twisting of the facts or an 'angle' on something, a lie... he stated that we need to elect Sen. Kerry because Sen. Kerry will get the economy going strong again not by raising taxes but by balancing the budget "just like Pres. Clinton did" (not I quoted that)... then he said "there has never been a Republican that balanced the budget before", and something to the effect of "we need to vote in Sen. Kerry so that he can balance our budget again"... what B.S.!!! For those of you that don't recall the situation in the mid-90's, I remember it very well... recall, if you will, when the Federal Government shut down all non-vital operations for a few weeks because they hadn't yet approved on a budget so they didn't have any money to pay for the government??? That wasn't Pres. Clinton's doing... it was the doing of a new segment of the Republican party that had just been voted into office, called "the New Republicans"... it was not an idea of that administration or even the Democratic Party... it was one of the promises that the New Republicans made to America when they were voted into office and Pres. Clinton did not want to sign the new budget so instead he held it up for a few weeks and allowed the Federal Government to all but shut down and then he "Spin Doctored" it and made it sound like Congress and the Administration had come to an agreement of how to "balance the budget" and Clinton tried to take all the credit... and now they are at it again!!! What a bunch of LYING HYPOCRITES!!! I am by no means a cold dedicated Republican... I think that there are plenty of things that the Republicans screw up and plenty of them that are shady... but the Democrats' shadow of evil tends to always cover up the Republicans. Sorry about this rant, and I hope I didn't upset any Kerry/Clinton lovers out there too much, but I just can't stand to see the "New Republicans" vilified as much as they are... in my opinion, some of the things that they did were among the best things the leadership of this country has done a in a long long time... and to outright lie and steal credit away from one of their very best ideas... well, Howard Dean in my mind just got delegated to nothing better than the petty thief in prison... consider this my virtual kicking of sand in his face! :P

If you want more information on WHO REALLY BALANCED THE BUDGET, check this out... A brief history of how the Balanced Budget unfolded as it applies to Healthcare Reform... you will notice that it is from PBS's website, a balanced and very educated public service.

I love my Brandon!!!

I just have to say that I really love my Honey!!! I miss him tons!!!

Brandon made it safely to NTC!!!

Well, I am safely here at the Naval Training Center in Great Lakes, Ill. It's pretty sweet, actually. I am in A-School all over again but so far it's MUCH better than the first time around... my day getting here and getting checked in was pretty crappy and took HOURS... I arrived in Chicago at 6PM but wasn't done and checked into my room until aroun 10PM... but my room is basically just a hotel room... VERY TYPICAL of a Motel 6 type of room, it's my own room, my own bathroom, a TV with VCR/DVD, a phone, LOTS OF DRESSERS AND STORAGE, and even high-speed internet IN MY ROOM!!! It's pretty nice! It's quite a walk from my room to the schoolhouse though, about 15min. But they have 2 gyms here on base and one of them has an indoor pool which is basically only about 1 block from my room... the galley (cafeteria) is just as close, too. The base is HUGE and that's not going to be fun b/c I don't have a car, but oh well... anyways, I guess this "red carpet treatment" is due me after the many months of horrible living conditions on the ship!

Anyways, after I got settled I called Heather on our cell phones for about an hour until she got too sleepy to stay awake... :) We have free cell-to-cell unlimited minutes, and I just know that's going to pay for itself these next few months! ;)

Brandon left for IT school today...

Well, Brandon left this morning for IT school in Great Lakes, Illinois which is a subarb of Chicago. He will be gone about 3 1/2 months. He has only been home for 1 month since he got home from SouthPac so it's pretty tough but we'll be able to talk to each other on the phone and we'll be able to visit each other. I do have to say though that having him home for a month was much better than him go straight to school from the ship. That was the original plan since his school was supposed to start before his SouthPac ended so they were going to fly him from the ship to school instead of sending him home first but they changed the school schedule so he was able to come home for a month. That month was an awesome month too. We did a lot of really fun stuff. We didn't waste our time just sitting at home while he was here.

The nice United Airlines Baggage Check-In lady gave me a security pass so I could go with Brandon to the gate and wait with him until he boarded the plane. Normally you can't do that anymore. So, we had about an hour and a half more time together than we had planned on. It was sad seeing him go but I'm also very proud of him and happy for him that he will get to pursue more of what he wants to do.

On my way home I was talking to Norm (Brandon's step-Dad) on the phone and I was turning left at an intersection. It was a yellow light when I entered the intersection but then it turned red after I entered the intersection. As I as going through the intersection I saw a flashing light and I looked over and there was a box taking pictures. There were other cars in the intersection at the time so it took a few pictures. I'm hoping it didn't take mine but I'm pretty sure it did. I'm SUPER bummed about this. What a crappy, crappy day!!! I've decided that if I get a ticket I am going to try and fight it.

After that I went to the library and checked out a couple of books and I rented movie at Blockbuster. I'm just going to hang out with Tazzy and vedge today.

Brandon will arrive in Chicago in a few hours and I'll have to explain to him about the ticket. I'm pretty bummed about that. That's a crappy first call away from home and just before he starts school...

Heather

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Iraq

[Brandon writes:] While we were on our camping trip, I read "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Iraq". Yes, it was a volume from that popular "the Complete Idiot's Guide" library. Other than one of the first ones they ever published, "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Computers", this is the first book of theirs that I had decided to read. And let me tell you, if you want to understand what it is that is happening in the Middle East, this is *THE* book to introduce the subject to you and break it down in easy-to-understand terms. It makes for very easy reading and the amount of information that I was able to retain is pretty good for just a casual reading in between hammock-naps. I highly recommend it to anyone that either wants to better understand what is going on over there, or *THINKS* they know what is going on over there! Oh and let me interdict something here: if you believe you are getting 'the whole scoop' from the media and are starting to think that President Bush really screwed up and that maybe Saddam was somewhat innocent in all of this... believe me, you NEED to read this book! It goes all the way back to Saddam's early years and shows you what kind of a character he is and lays out a TON of NON-U.S., NON-REPUBLICAN information, FACTS known by the world, TRUE STATEMENTS that Saddam has made... it lays it all on the line, and the truth of what Saddam was surely up to is of little doubt... what he has done with the evidence, that is the REAL question in the air right now.

Anyways, if you want to read the book, but don't want to pay for it... email me and I'll send my copy to you!

We go CAMPING in Julian, CA!

Well, we went camping to a private campground this weekend. Thursday was a big day for Brandon because it was the day that he officially checked off of the USS Valley Forge! He walked onboard, said good-bye to the guys in his Division, picked up his Service Record, and departed the ship for once and for all! He went home, helped Heather pack the car up with all the camping gear and we were off to for the entire weekend! We just got home Monday around noon. It was a very nice relaxing 4 days away from everything.

The place we went camping, like everything here in SoCal doesn't remind Brandon at all of how he did it "back home"... it wasn't camping in the traditional sense... this was camping at a 5-STAR RESORT! It's similar to the nicer KOA's, but it's private so it has a lot of extra benefits you wouldn't get by going to a KOA. We liked it so much we ended up buying a lifetime membership to it! It doesn't just include the site in Julian, California... there are something like 350 other locations throughout the U.S. including condo's that we can use anytime we want (NOTE: this is *NOT* a time-share thing, we can stay at these locations literally 365 days out of the year, though in order to actually stay that much you have to play the rules a bit, but it can be done if you really wanted to). Anyways, we had a lot of fun. We went swimming in the pool 3 or 4 times while we were there, played miniature golf, went for a couple of walks, and did a whole lot of reading and napping in our hammock.

NOTE: to our friends and family... we have a limited number of "F&F Camping" tickets we can give out every year that allow you to stay at one of these resorts without us... so if you want to go camping but not actually ROUGHING IT, give us a call and we'll hook you up! There are several camp sites including one just a bit outside of Provo/Orem, one in LaVerkin, and SEVERAL up there in Washington State. They also have camper-trailers and mini-cabins for rent at GREAT prices.

Our campsite



The Family



Heather playing miniature golf



Tazzy's trying to lick Heather... but Brandon missed the famous "Lizard Tongue"...

We go diving in Los Coronados Islands, Mexico!!!

Today we boarded the Ocean Express, a 38' boat with Dive Connections, and headed out for Los Coronados Islands just off the coast of Mexico... it was a 1 hour and 45 minute ride at a pretty good pace (15-20 knots) and the islands are 12 miles south of San Diego. Not exactly sure how far off the coastline they are, but we could not see the coast visually.

Once we arrived at the islands we geared up and jumped in. It was a pretty awesome dive! In some ways it was better than the dives that Brandon experienced in Panama and Puerto Vallarta, MX. In those dives there was more plant-life. On these dives there was less plant-life but a lot more animals. There were these big orange/red fish (they are called Garibaldi) in huge droves, like a dozen or more in one area and they were swarming around us and coming right up to our masks and almost bumping into us and then stopping for a brief moment to look at us and then they would turn and swim away, and another one would approach us and do the same thing. There was millions of these little purple spikey plants all over the bottom of the sea floor... Heather accidentally got stung by one and it left a minor irritation on her arm. Later, on our second dive, we ran into a Sea Lion and he came VERY CLOSE TO US... several times he was close enough to be able to reach out and just touch him! He started showing-off and doing somersaults and twirls for us as he swam, and soon we were doing somersaults for him too... he seemed to be having as great of a time playing with us and we were with him! After a while, though, he swam off and we continued on... we also ran into a really mean looking MORAY EEL!!! Y'know, like the ones from Little Mermaid??? :) Anyways, after looking at him for a while and deciding it best to leave him alone and move on, we spotted our Sea Lion coming back towards us at an amazing speed... only this time he had 3 friends with him! They whizzed past us, turned and started circling us doing all sorts of aquatical acrobatics... we attempted to get photos until we ran out of film and then realized that Heather's air was pretty low and that we should surface. We proceeded to go to the surface and noticed all 4 sea lions following us and they continued to do so as we back-kicked all the way back to the boat... in fact, even as we were removing our gear and climbing back into the boat, we could see the 4 down underneath of us at about 20' depth doing circles around us and twirling and turning like crazy! It was so kewl!!! Definitely a great time! Very few of our photos turned out, unfortunately... we still don't have a good underwater camera and are just using those cheap disposable ones... :( But, a few of them look "OK"...

Heather and a school of Garibaldi fish!


Our friendly neighborhood Sea Lion!


Another one of our Sea Lion


Brandon holding a really kewl and large starfish (living, not dead!)

Hiking in Celebration of July 4th!

Brandon had duty on July 4th, so Heather went to the ship and we sat on the Bridge and were able to get a pretty great view of the fireworks over the Bay... actually, about 3 or 4 shows were viewable from our position!

The next day we packed up some stuff, including Tazzy and went for a hike up San Diego's tallest point, Cowles Mountain. It took us about 1-1/2 hours up to the peak and we sat and had a little lunch and then hiked back down... it wasn't at all like the hiking we are used to in Northern Utah... this hike had ZERO trees and ZERO rivers... just a lot of small brush, and it was VERY HOT! Poor Tazzy was pretty much done in by the time we decided to head back down and we had to carry her down about half the time! :)

Heather & Tazzy at Cowles Mountain. The lake in the background is Lake Murray... our home is on the far side of it... though you can't really see it from this far away... :)




Brandon & Tazzy at the base of Cowles Mountain... though an arduous hike, Brandon argues that this is no *REAL* mountain! It's only 1,591 feet... that's NOTHING compared to the almost 10,000 feet elevation of Ben Lomond's Peak back home in the Great Rockies... now THOSE ARE MOUNTAINS!!! This thing should be more appropriately named "Cowles Hill" or something... ;)