Blue Star Chronicles

I’m still preparing for our Christmas trip to Germany to attend my son’s wedding to his Deutsche Fraulein. She and I have had a couple of miscommunications over understanding the different traditions. Each of us thinking the other was talking about one thing when we were talking about another. For instance, when I asked her about what the grooms parents were supposed to be doing she told me her mother had already bought the porcelain. I had no idea what porcelain had to do with a rehearsal dinner. She had no idea what I meant by a rehearsal dinner.

We got it all figured out, but I have been reading about traditional German weddings on the internet so I won’t be quite so ignorant when I get there. I thought I might share a few of the ones I’ve learned about here. There are so many interesting traditions that are different than ours that I may do another post on them.

1. Polterabend - this is an informal (informal dress and food) party the evening before the wedding where plates and dishes are smashed (the broken pieces are thought to bring good luck to the bride). The bride and groom have to clean up everything. Now I understand why she was talking about porcelain!! She told me they broke the porcelain, but I didn’t understand her explanation about why and the circumstances around breaking porcelain. Sounds like fun!
2. Wedding in a special place - It is a rule to choose a “special” place for the wedding, rather than the general rule in America of always having the wedding at the bride’s family church. Now I understand why she was so stressed out when his deployment was extended several times and she ended up having to plan a winter wedding. She had a place picked out that was only available in the summer.



3. The Bridal Cup is a tradition that dates back to 1450. It represents a the start of a life long union between man and woman and is a symbol of faithfulness and good luck.
4. The bride carries salt and bread, the groom carries grain - Bride should carry salt and bread as an omen for good harvest, and the groom - grain for good luck and wealth
5. Flowers - besides the flowers for the bride and in church, the hood of the wedding car is decorated with lots of flowers.
6. White Ribbon - the bride carries lengths of white ribbon with her bouquet, and after the church ceremony is over and the guests are leaving the church, she hands each driver a ribbon that they tie to the radio antenna.
7. Car Procession - after the wedding a car procession is formed and drives through town honking their horns - others honk back wishing the couple good luck.
8. Wedding Cake - the wedding cake, mostly a large cake with lots of ornaments, has to be cut by the bride and the groom together.



9. Wedding Shoes - another tradition is to collect pennies for years and buy wedding shoes for the bride with this money.
10. Dance - the first dance is danced by the bride and the groom, it is traditionally a waltz. The next dance is only for bride with her father and groom with mother, while bride’s mother dances with groom’s father.
11. Veil Dance - this is a popular game for a wedding evening. Every woman or man who wants to dance with the groom or bride, has to pay for it. This could get expensive!
12. Wedding Evening - at the wedding evening a lot of games are played, speeches are held (the first normally from the father of the bride), sometimes a wedding newspaper is handed out. Songs are sung, and so on.
13. First Night - to make the first night as difficult as possible, friends of the couple do lots of funny or sometimes cruel things. They fill up the rooms with balloons, hide lots of alarm clocks in the bedroom, take apart the bed, and so on. My son tells me that he and his fiance covered the floor of a friends room with over 200 dixie cups half full of water among other things on the friend’s wedding night.

Bonus: Kidnapping of the bride - in some areas (mostly in small villages) friends kidnap the bride and the groom has to find her. Normally, he has to search in a lot of pubs and invite all people in there (or pay the whole bill). I’ve read this ritual can end badly, although I don’t know what ‘badly’ means in this instance! My son tells me he has participated in kidnapping the bride before and that the search for her can go on for hours. They mean it when they say that the groom has to search for her!

I came so close to not reading this story. Its gotten to the point that reading about what people like this think of our military infuriates me so bad that I can almost literally feel my blood pressure going up as I read it. When I saw the title of the blog post over at The Pirate’s Cove I pulled my eyes away, but then had a compulsion to go back and read it. Sure enough, I found myself getting aggravated, but then I actually come close to feeling sorry for this woman because she really and truly doesn’t get it.

She has written an article that exposes her contempt for and embarrassment by the choices her son has made and, interestingly, it seems to be more about her than about her son. The title of her article is Portrait of a son at war, through a mother’s eyes. It should be Portrait of a lonely woman who clings to her children because she doesn’t have anything else in her life and when they leave home she’s completely alone. Its all about me, me, me.

Never in a million years did I imagine my son would join the Army. Nor did Evan. In high school, he’d hang up on recruiters who called the house. He’d blurt, “Get away from me!” to the ones who trawled the local hangouts. Our home was liberal Democrat and anti-war and now, at 21, he was a Michael Moore fan. The night before he left, he spent his time reading “Stupid White Men.”

When I tell people that Evan has joined the Army, their reactions are almost always the same: their faces freeze, they pause way too long, and then they say, “I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry for you.” I hang my head and look mournful, accepting their sympathy for the worry that lives in me. But as it dawns on them that Evan wasn’t drafted, as Vietnam still clings to my generation, their expressions become quizzical, then disbelieving. I know what they’re thinking: Why in the world would any kid in his right mind choose to enlist when we’re in the middle of a war? I begin telling them the story, desperate to assure them it wasn’t arrogant patriotism or murderous blood lust that convinced him to join. What finally hooked him was a recruiter’s comment that if he thought the country’s role in Iraq was so screwed up, he should try to fix it.

Now Evan is serving in Iraq. I wake up early these days. I make coffee, retrieve the morning papers and then compulsively read every story about murdered soldiers, beheaded soldiers, tortured soldiers, wounded soldiers, soldiers with missing limbs and damaged brains, soldiers who have gone berserk and raped and murdered innocent civilians. I purposely teeter on the edge of fear and grief, bracing myself for whatever the future brings.

My son has been in Baghdad for 15 months. He is finally a short-timer, but its been a long 15 months. In that time I too have teetered on the edge of fear and grief, bracing myself for whatever the future might bring. I understand the obsession with reading and watching the news. Some of us are hyper-vigilant in knowing what is happening there and others try to put it out of their minds all together. We all deal with it in whatever way we can.

In the 15 months my son has been in Iraq I have not heard of or read of REAL stories of soldiers going berserk or raping and murdering innocent civilians. I know of the accusations that have been made by some liberals (Murtha in particular), but none that have been proved to be fact based. No, I take that back, there was one case in which a sociopathic soldier raped a girl and killed her family. One. That’s a pretty phenomenal statistic considering what those guys are dealing with over there. I would challenge anyone to compare that to any other Army in the history of mankind and see how it compares.

I wonder where she’s getting stories about rape, murder and mayhem created by our Soldiers. She must read DU a lot.

Another thing … what kind of mother would be proud of her son idolizing Michael Moore, being rude to recruiters and disrespecting his own country. Then she turns around and act apologetic to her friends when trying to explain why he’d do something most men feel compelled to do and writes about it on the internet. He must really appreciate her support!

Does she think HER son is the only guy over there who isn’t raping, murdering and maiming ‘innocent civilians’? Apparently so. She has to assure her friends he’s not arrogantly patriotic or murderously lusting for blood. She says her son only went there to try to ‘fix it’. That doesn’t make sense. If he suddenly was persuaded, just out of the blue, by some lying, sniveling recruiter by being told he could go over there and change things, then the kid isn’t that well put together.

Obviously, there’s a WHOLE LOT more to that story!

In her story she infantilizes her son throughout (she drove him to the recruiter when he was 21 years old!!) and only periodically gives some glimpses into what really motivated this young man.

he signed up hoping that after, somehow the Army would help him find what young men these days often try to fill with alcohol, drugs and video games: a sense of purpose.

I can assure her that he will find more purpose in his life than he found being a mama’s boy who needed his mama to drive him to a recruitment office. He’ll be able to cut the umbilical cord that she has wrapped so tightly around him. Her article is about how his going to the Army has affected HER.

Like Teach says, if she’s lucky he will come back to her a man. In truth, regardless of her luck, he will most likely come back a man. The military generally has that effect on people.

Geeezzzzz ……

More at STACLU and Weasal Zippers

Pirate attacks have increased by 14% in the first nine months of 2007. The waters off the coasts of Somalia and Nigeria have gotten more and more dangerous. The anarchy that has gripped Somalia for the past 16 years have left the coasts virtually unpoliced. The pirates pretty much have free reign over the seas.

This increase in piracy is creating more devastation in those African countries.

“The seafaring industry is very concerned about this,” said Cyrus Mody, a senior analyst with IMB. “There is absolutely no regard for law in that area. Not only is it not good for business in Africa, but it blocks humanitarian aid and is bad for the general stability of the continent.”

The pirates have killed when their demands have not been met.

IMB director Pottengal Mukundan urged ships to stay as far away as possible from the coasts of Somalia and Nigeria.

“The level of violence in high-risk areas remain unacceptable. Pirates in Somalia are operating with impunity, seizing vessels hundreds of miles off the coast and holding the vessel and crew to ransom, making no attempt to hide their activity,” he said.

Indonesia remained the world’s worst piracy hotspot, with 37 attacks in the first nine months of 2007. But that was an improvement from 40 in the same period a year earlier, IMB said.

Marine Lance Cpl. Nicholas R. Anderson
21 years old from Sauk City, Wisconsin
1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force
March 13, 2006

Lance Cpl. Nicholas Anderson lost his life after the Humvee he was riding in rolled over as a group of Marines pursued a suspicious vehicle near Jalalabad, Afghanistan. He suffered head injuries in the crash and died as he was being transported to a hospital.

Nicholas Anderson joined the Marines in January 2005 and began a six-month tour of Afghanistan two months ago with the 3rd Marines Weapons Platoon, his father, James Anderson said.

“I just know that he died fighting for what he believed in,” he said. “He wanted to be a Marine and even though it was a major risk he just wanted to go.”

James Anderson said his son, a 2003 Sauk Prairie High School graduate, enjoyed riding his motorcycle, lifting weights, going fishing and hanging out with friends.

He joined the Wisconsin Army National Guard when he was 18, but an injured shoulder forced him to drop out. He then enlisted in the Marines.

“I was very nervous when he first joined the Marines because two words jumped into my head: Afghanistan and Iraq,” his father said. “I just supported him and prayed that it would end before he had to go over.”

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your blog, you can go here.

Dogs serve many purposes. They protect us, love us unconditionally and do stupid things that make us laugh.

They have a lot of faults. They stink things up, rub up against the wall and leave marks that have to be scrubbed off, drool on the carpet, nudge the back of the newspaper when you are trying to read it and much, much more.

Tonight I found another good reason to put up with all the aggravation they cause though.

If you drop a raw egg on the floor and have to go across the kitchen to get some paper towels, wet them and come back to clean it up. By the time you get back to the refrigerator to clean up the egg, the dogs have already cleaned it up for you. Shell and all.

They’ll stand there licking their lips with innocent looks on their faces and believe they have tricked you into believing they didn’t lick up the egg. You will semi-scold them but secretly be happy they licked it all up.

They do have their uses.

Some articles of interest ….

I’m Sorry… Was That Supposed to be Journalism? - Confederate Yankee
The Los Angeles Times’ attempted to write an article on the New Republic/Scott Beauchamp scandal and managed to get almost nothing right.

Creating an Old-Collage Effect Poster in Photoshop - psdtuts.com

Fall Colors - High Desert Wanderer. Beautiful photos of fall colors in Virginia.

Aussie Muslim leader: Jihadists will bomb Australia if relations between Muslims and police don’t improve - Dhimmi Watch

Another Gem From the dKos Bush Derangement Admission Thread - Ace of Spades

US embassy targeted by Azerbaijan Methodists — no, wait… - Jihad Watch. Perhaps it was Lutherans or Catholics who attacked the embassy? No …. it was ‘a radical Islamic group’.

The Clinton Crime Syndicate Continued. . . . - Copious Dissent

Flemming Rose: Do Swedes Want Free Speech? - Pajama Media

David Horowitz on Cavuto - Fort Hard Knox. Video. Liberal who espouse free speech don’t allow it.

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Disclaimer: trackbacks to this post do not necessarily represent the opinions or standards of the Blue Star Chronicles.

More great posts trackbacked below …

Texas Fred passes this story on from his friend, Deron Santiny, who is at Ft. Sam Houston recovering from wounds received while deployed to Iraq.

Based on what I heard from his wife, she said he was here visiting the Wounded Soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan and he was playing his guitar for them and stuff and he went into this room where there was a Soldier that had just gotten here the day before and he went in and his wife stayed out and talked with the Soldiers mother and his wife asked what she thought the Wounded Soldiers might need to help them recover and his mother told her that they would most likely like a place where they could sit outside and enjoy being outside but not have to worry about being exposed to the sun with the burns and so forth.

At that time Shemain (Ted’s wife) said she thought about it and they came up with this idea.

She said that Ted started asking for donations and the American People started donating money for this Pavilion. Nugent Dedicates Pavilions to Army

He was one of the most respectful men I have ever met, he never said no to a soldier and he stopped eating and talking with reporters just to take a picture or sign an autograph. He really made us feel important. When he played the National Anthem, it brought tears to our eyes and chills down our spines. There were a few people who didn’t like his rendition of the National Anthem but of course, no matter where you go, you will hear somebody complaining about something. I’m sure the one’s complaining would have preferred to have someone like 50 cent or any other rapper doing it but I have to say, I have been here for almost a year and have yet to see anyone from the Hip Hop Industry stop by to visit the Soldiers.

Anyway, if you need more pics, let me know I can send you a lot more.

Thanks for supporting us Fred and keep up the good work.

He (Ted Nugent) sponsored a pavilion that was built in between the Wounded Soldier Barracks at Ft. Sam Houston.

He and his wife raised the money for it and then came down to dedicate it. He presented me with one of his coins after I gave him the CIB (Combat Infantry Badge). So if you can mention it on your blog, that would be cool. I think he needs to run for President.

The Nuge is one of my favorites. I like the guy. He’s got a reputation for being a little crazy, but I don’t think he’s as crazy as he’s a red-blooded American man who doesn’t seem to feel the need to pretend he’s something else.

The New York Daily News is reporting that there are allegations of abuse at the South African girl’s school founded by Oprah Winfrey. The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls

The New York Daily News reports that in recent weeks, several allegations made by students at the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls claim that school matrons fondled and beat the female students. One incident claims a matron allegedly grabbed a girl by the throat and tossed her into a wall.

The allegations came to light after a student ran away from the school’s dorms, reportedly because the abuse had become overwhelming.

“I’ve disappointed you. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry,” Winfrey told families in an emergency meeting on Sunday at the South African school. The school’s principal and two matrons were placed on leave following the allegations.

Over the past few weeks, Winfrey has flown to South Africa twice to deal with the scandal.

Reports are that Oprah was tearful when she asked the parents to forgive her for the alleged abuses. She has put two teachers and the principle on leave while the situation is being investigated.

Whenever you have children and caretakers in a situation like that, you have to watch the caretakers like a hawk. It only takes one scumbag to ruin a good situation for the children and abuses attempt to get jobs in places that take care of children. It sounds like a better system of checks and balances need to be put into place so that any bad apples can bet gotten rid of before they can do harm.

The fact that they are not making an attempt to cover up (as far as I know) makes me believe that they are dealing with the situation in a responsible manner. As a general rule, its not the crime but the cover up that will blow up in your face.

Matt Lauer has done a Dateline report on ‘American Gangster’, the much-hyped movie just released by Universal. The movie is based on the story of Frank Lucas who was basically a thug in New York City in the 1960s and 1970s. He’s been released from prison and now he and the detective that put him in prison are being immortalized in this film.

Like any good sociopath, Lucas is called charming and a vivid storyteller. He still want talk about the murders he committed because there is no statute of limitations on murder. He will talk about his other crimes and seems to be enjoying the attention this movie is bringing him. Lucas created a drug empire based on shipping heroin from Vietnam in the caskets of dead Soldiers.
Macsmind reports on Lauer’s interview. He says Lauer just gushed over the convicted felon Frank Lucas. He snickers when he speaks fo Lucas’ method of shipping heroin to the States from Vietnam. I guess Lauer thinks that’s humorous or clever somehow.

I just think its disgusting.

“Frank Lucas exudes a distinctive charisma even though he’s been physically weakened by time on the street and behind bars. I talked with him about the film, “American Gangster,” which he had only just seen days before our interview. He was gushing about the movie and Denzel Washington’s performance, saying he was “amazed at the way he had (him) down.” Although Lucas was well known in the criminal underworld of New York and among law enforcement in the ’70s, the new film is bringing him a tidal wave of press attention. He appears to be relishing it, although it wasn’t enough to get him to come to the movie’s premiere at the Apollo Theater in Harlem. He reportedly circled the block in his car that night before deciding not to make an appearance. Was he afraid of retaliation by any of the criminals he testified against? Or was he afraid of the crowd and the spotlights?

A vivid storyteller, he has quite a riveting one to tell — a criminal twist on Horatio Alger. This semiliterate African-American man grew up in the south, came to New York and built a drug empire unlike any other in the late ’60s and ’70s, beginning his life of crime in the ’50s as the protegee of Harlem gangster Ellsworth “Bumpy” Johnson. When Johnson died in 1968, Lucas took over his drug operation and expanded it. The key came when he was able to corner his own supply of heroin in the so-called “Golden Triangle” of Southeast Asia, where numerous American soldiers had become addicted to heroin during the Vietnam War.

Utilizing a military connection, he and his crew designed a disturbing scheme to get the heroin in the United States–smuggling bags of dope in the coffins of dead U.S. soldiers being flown back from Vietnam. The infamous operation became known as the “Cadaver Connection” (a nod to the Italian mafia’s well-known French Connection that came to light in the 1960’s)”

So is this what Hollywood wants us to view as heroes these days?

I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve heard the accusation that the right is restricting the rights of the people, that the right is taking away free speech and freedom of expression. Etc Etc Etc. We all know the drill. Its the mantra that we’ve all heard a million times. As I’ve said here before many times, they screech at the tops of their voices that they aren’t being allowed to speak. They don’t even understand that the fact they are complaining so loudly about their rights being denied means that their rights are NOT being denied.

When I see speakers being refused the right to speak at universities because the left doesn’t like their message (forget the poor people who actually came to hear them speak and the right of the speaker to be heard) I can’t help but wonder who is denying who the right of free speech and expression. While they are calling the right fascists they behave as fascists. Who are the fascists? Who are depriving their countrymen of their rights.

From the Military Times we have an example of the latest restriction of rights. This time the rights of veterans to be honored as they deserve to be is being denied because one person made a complaint that there is a reference to God in the recitations related to the folding of the flag. Because of that one complaint the recitations have been banned from the military graveyards.

Flag-folding recitations by Memorial Honor Detail volunteers are now banned at the nation’s 125 veterans graveyards because of a complaint about the ceremony at Riverside National Cemetery.

During thousands of military burials, the volunteers have folded the American flag 13 times and recited the significance of every fold to survivors.

The first fold represents life, the second a belief in eternal life, and so on.

The complaint revolved around the narration in the 11th fold, which celebrates Jewish war veterans and “glorifies the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.”

The National Cemetery Administration then decided to ban the entire recital at all national cemeteries. Details of the complaint weren’t disclosed.

Administration spokesman Mike Nacincik said the new policy outlined in a Sept. 27 memorandum is aimed at creating uniform services throughout the military graveyard system.

He said the 13-fold recital is not part of the U.S. Flag Code and is not government-approved.

Veterans and honor detail volunteers, including Bobby Castillo, 85, and Rees Lloyd, 59, are furious.

“That the actions of one disgruntled, whining, narcissistic and intolerant individual is preventing veterans from getting the honors they deserve is truly an outrage,” Lloyd said. “This is another attempt by secularist fanatics to cleanse any reference to God.”

Castillo, a Navy veteran of World War II, said it’s “a slap in the face to every veteran.”

“When we got back from the war, we didn’t ask for a whole lot,” Castillo said. “We just want to give our veterans the respect they deserve. No one has ever complained to us about it. I just don’t understand.”

The secularists are once again trying to take any reference to God out of our society at the expense of the freedoms of expression and religion of other citizens and at the expense of our veterans.

Will they take even this comfort from our veterans and their families?

Michelle Makin has the meanings that have been ascribed to the 13 folds of the American flag at the burial services of American veterans. They are not part of the U.S. Flag Code, but are custom.

1. Symbol of life.
2. Symbol of our belief in the eternal life.
3. In honor and remembrance of the veteran departing our ranks who gave a portion of life for the defense of our country to attain a peace throughout the world.
4. Represents our weaker nature, for as American citizens trusting in God, it is to Him we turn in times of peace as well as in times of war for His divine guidance.
5. A tribute to our country, for in the words of Stephen Decatur, “Our country, in dealing with other countries, may she always be right; but it is still our country, right or wrong.”
6. Represents where our hearts lie. It is with our heart that we pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
7. A tribute to our armed forces.
8. A tribute to the one who entered in to the valley of the shadow of death, that we might see the light of day, and to honor mother, for whom it flies on Mother’s Day.
9. A tribute to womanhood.
10. A tribute to father.
11. In the eyes of a Hebrew citizen, represents the lower portion of the seal of King David and King Solomon, and glorifies, in their eyes, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
12. In the eyes of a Christian citizen, represents an emblem of eternity and glorifies, in their eyes, God the Father, the Son, and Holy Ghost.
13. When the flag is completely folded, the stars are uppermost, reminding us of our national motto, “In God We Trust.”

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From MacsMind

UPDATE: Some left wing blogs are blaming this too on Bush. The National Cemetery Administration is under supervision and funded by Congress.

Read more at Captain’s Quarters, Cao’s Blog, Hot Air, STACLU, Right Voices, Bits Blog

memeorandum has more

Honestly, I have a hard time writing anything about John ‘The Saboteur’ Murtha. The man disgusts me. I’ve written pages and pages about his lies and just as many pages about the high profile the old media gave his lies.

I have asked people what they think about the Marines who were involved in the Haditha incident. Most don’t remember the name ‘Haditha’, but when you remind them of the incident they respond that the Marines went into the village and killed innocent women and children. For people who don’t play that close attention to the news, that is what they believe to be fact. That’s the accusation that a United States Congressman made against a group of Marines. That’s the news that had headlines for weeks, if not months. If you don’t follow it as closely as those of us with a special interest in it, that’s what they believe.

That is not the truth and it is not what happened.

The truth of the Marines’ story may or may not be a quick comment hidden on page 15 of the paper. Its just a footnote. The accusation was the news.

John Murtha lied to the people of the United States. He lied about the Marines. He wanted to garner favors from his party when they took power in November. He wanted to be Majority Leader so he stood up before the American people and accused our Marines of murdering civilians in ‘cold blood’. Those Marines careers were ruined, their reputations stained and they spent two years in prison awaiting their court martials. On a party-wide scale, the purpose was to use that as a scandal against the President. On a personal level, those Marines were forced to make those sacrifices to further the career of a corrupt career politician.

Diana Irey worked hard to unseat Murtha in the last election. Her campaign didn’t have a chance against Murtha’s money and connections. The people of Pennsylvania voted him back into office regardless of his traitorous words and actions. He is proof positive that enough money can buy you anything, even votes.

I read over at Michelle Malkin that another GOP candidate is poised to take on Murtha.

A career Army member left the service two years short of retirement to move here and try his hand at politics by challenging longtime Democratic U.S. Rep. John Murtha.

First-time candidate William T. Russell, 45, a Republican, acknowledged that taking on a popular, 18-term congressman in the 2008 election will be “an uphill battle.”

“But it’s one that must be fought,” Russell told the Tribune-Democrat in Johnstown.

Russell plans to formally announce his candidacy within weeks. Murtha has declined comment on the challenge.

Murtha, 75, has served in the House since 1974 and is known for bringing money and jobs — especially in the defense industries — to his district in rural Pennsylvania. A decorated Vietnam veteran and Marine Reserves colonel who previously had been hawkish on war issues, Murtha has criticized the Iraq war and pushed for the troops to be brought home. He became chairman of the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee last year.

Washington County Commissioner Diana Irey ran against Murtha last year, trying to capitalize on the backlash against Murtha’s views among conservatives. She was soundly beaten in the general election.

Russell, who moved from the Washington, D.C., area to Murtha’s district specifically to take on the congressman, has a long Army and Army Reserve career that includes tours of duty in the Balkans and both Iraq wars. He and his wife, Kasia, were in the Pentagon when a hijacked airliner slammed into the building on Sept. 11, 2001. Both escaped unhurt.

Murtha’s call for troop withdrawal from Iraq “is just flat-out wrong,” Russell said. Like Irey, Russell also criticized Murtha’s public allegations that unnamed U.S. soldiers committed “cold-blooded murder and war crimes” against innocent Iraqi civilians in Haditha in 2005.

A small-business owner, Russell said he wants a local economy dependent on the free market. But he acknowledges some jobs may be lost if government contracts disappear.

At some point, surely, the good people of the 12th District of Pennsylvania will have had enough of the shame that is John Murtha.

One of the best treats on the face of the earth is Southern Tea Cakes. Its one of the few things I know how to make myself. My grandmother made them and my mother makes them and now I make them. I generally only make them around Christmas time. They are what we make for Christmas cookies.

I remember as a child eating them at my grandmother’s house. She made them the old fashioned way in a wooden bowl and mixing the dough by hand. My mother did too except that over time she graduated to plastic bowls and a hand held electric mixer. I do believe she always had a Hamilton Beach® Mixer all those years. In fact, I believe she’s still got that same mixer.

Tea cakes are heavenly. They aren’t too sweet, they are just right. They are moist and tasty and nothing is better than one that is warm right out of the oven. At Christmas I cook a bunch and in years past my kids and I would decorate them for Christmas cookies. We made some pretty creative Christmas tea cakes if I do say so myself!

When you are mixing the ingredients together you should add the flour in a little at a time so that it doesn’t end up with clumps of flour in it. That takes a balancing act if you are using a hand held mixer. I’ve made a major mess with flour trying to do that more than once. I can imagine how much easier, and less messy, making tea cakes would be with a Hamilton Beach® Stand Mixer. The Eclectrics® Mixer would free up your hands to mix in the flour without having to balance and hand held mixer at the same time. In addition, it has twelve settings so that it has more control. The stainless steel bowl has a handle so that its easy to … well … handle. It has several different mixing elements like a flat beater, dough book and wire whisk. It also has a two piece pouring spout and splatter shield. Considering all the times that I have splattered the whatever I’m mixing in a mixing bowl all over the wall, that splatter shield sounds very appealing.

Here’s the Tea Cake recipe if you’d like to try it.

1 cup shortening
2 eggs
1-teaspoon vanilla
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup milk
3 cups self-rising flour

Mix all ingredients together. Add enough flour to make a stiff dough. Roll out thin. Cut with cookie cutter and put on a cookie sheet. Bake at 400 for 5-6 minutes.

Most of all, have fun!