Deja Vu

Mixup ends with liquor served to schoolchildren

WASHINGTON — It was not the sort of letter a school delights in sending home to its families.

"Dear Third, Fourth, and Fifth Grade Parents:

"It is with great regret that I tell you that your child may have been exposed to alcohol today at lunch," said the missive signed by Alexander Harvey IV, head of the private Alexandria Country Day School.

It was tequila and margarita mix, to be precise, left in the refrigerator in a pitcher and mistaken for limeade by kitchen staff, who poured it into small cups and served it to children as a lunch treat, he wrote.

Some youngsters didn't like the smell and declined; others took a sip and declared it "gross," according to parents and Harvey.

An administrator who realized something was wrong started investigating, Harvey said, and quickly discovered that the limeade was really liquor — although it is unclear why the kitchen staff didn't notice. It had been left over, he said, from a party two days earlier at the school for the staff, faculty and Board of Trustees.

The cups were collected, teachers were told and students were observed for any ill effects. There were none, Harvey said; the most any child took was believed to be a few sips because no cup was close to being emptied. The episode, he said, left him mortified.

"I am embarrassed and deeply sorry that this happened," Harvey wrote in the letter, adding that liquor was immediately banned on campus — a policy already set at many schools — and that all future faculty parties would be off school grounds. He also spoke with staff about health issues involved with serving children food or drink from open containers.

Alexandria police spokeswoman Amy Bertsch said nobody informed the police. Alexandria Commonwealth's Attorney S. Randolph Sengel said that "while it's true procuring alcohol for someone under the legal age of 21 is illegal," the incident would not rise to the level of criminal conduct because the kitchen staff members did not know they were serving alcohol. He said it sounded like "an innocent mistake."

Harvey told parents in the letter that everybody in the school, with 240 students from kindergarten through eighth grade who pay tuition from $14,200 to $15,600, was informed the same day, Sept. 10.

"We ask the students to be honest and admit their mistakes, and we should do the same," the letter said.

Parents learned about the episode that day when their children came home talking about it and carrying Harvey's letter.

Bill Paxson, a former U.S. congressman who has two children at the school, said Tuesday that his third-grader was "very excited about it."

"Her words were, 'Something really fun and illegal happened today at school.' Then she proceeded to say what happened. She said it was gross and disgusting stuff. ... She said she tasted it and it was so disgusting she couldn't drink it."

Paxson said he was pleased with the school's reaction.

"They handled it in a textbook way," he said.

Kim McKernan, vice president of the Parent-Teacher League, said Tuesday that she heard parents praising Harvey for addressing the situation "so quickly and honestly" and that nobody she knew had questioned why the staff did not realize alcohol was being served.

Harvey said he received no complaints from parents.

Hurricane Jeanne

We got some damage from this darn hurricane. We had lots of water problems. MS called me to tell me water was flowing in around our basement windows. That was real nice. Yet another thing to get fixed and my builder sucks.

Anal Masterbation

On the Internet you learn something new every day. I never knew there was anything called Anal Masterbation till this site was mentioned to me from another site I was on.

hurting

I had the great idea to join a gym last week. I went Friday and worked out with a personal trainer. What a mistake that was. I was sore Friday night, all day Saturday but today (Sunday) is the worst part. I can hardly friggin move my arms because of the sore muscles between my arms and chest. I wanted to work out Mon, Wed, and Fri. but it doesn't look like I can work out tomorrow. :(

Old?

My back is still hurting. I decided to go to a Chripractor. The guy rocks. He is making me feel so much better. Woohoo!

End of the World Wide Web

Beware of the End of the World Wide Web, Says Intel

Sep 10, 2004 ( Remember those End of the World signs? Well, Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) says it may be nearer than we think. Except the sign says End of the World Wide Web.

It's a vision apparently shared by Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO), Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) and AT&T Corp. (NYSE: T), all of whom are working feverishly, either together or apart to save the World Wide Web, which Intel and others see as becoming so overloaded it will eventually break.

At Intel's technical conference, CTO Patrick Gelsinger said the Internet will begin to collapse as millions of new computer users from developing nations begin to sign on.

"We're running up on some architectural limitations," Gelsinger was quoted as saying.

Gelsinger's solution is to build a new network over the current Internet, that would monitor and direct traffic and better fight security threats or traffic surges.

It's PlanetLab, some 429 computer nodes in 181 sites around the world, is supported by 150 universities and corporate research labs, including Princeton, Cambridge, Hewlett-Packard and AT&T.

However, Cisco controls most of the routers and switchers comprising the current web, and it may have other ideas.

Blog woes

I am feeling better about the look of my blog today. I have been busting my hump trying to get the stupid calendar to work. I finally got it. Someone mentioned something about cascading style sheets code in my main blog which made the light bulb go on! I am happy that I can put this crap behind me now and move on with my blog.

Me

Me. :)

Wednesday, September 01, 2004

Yet another great speech from the former Governor of my state. Zell Miller

Since I last stood in this spot, a whole new generation of the Miller Family
has been born: Four great grandchildren.

Along with all the other members of our close-knit family, they are my and
Shirley's most precious possessions.

And I know that's how you feel about your family also. Like you, I think of
their future, the promises and the perils they will face.

Like you, I believe that the next four years will determine what kind of
world they will grow up in.

And like you, I ask which leader is it today that has the vision, the
willpower and, yes, the backbone to best protect my family?

The clear answer to that question has placed me in this hall with you
tonight. For my family is more important than my party.

There is but one man to whom I am willing to entrust their future and that
man's name is George Bush.

In the summer of 1940, I was an 8-year-old boy living in a remote little
Appalachian valley. Our country was not yet at war, but even we children
knew that there were some crazy men across the ocean who would kill us if
they could.

President Roosevelt, in his speech that summer, told America "all private
plans, all private lives, have been in a sense repealed by an overriding
public danger."

In 1940, Wendell Wilkie was the Republican nominee.

And there is no better example of someone repealing their "private plans"
than this good man. He gave Roosevelt the critical support he needed for a
peacetime draft, an unpopular idea at the time.

And he made it clear that he would rather lose the election than make
national security a partisan campaign issue.

Shortly before Wilkie died, he told a friend, that if he could write his own
epitaph and had to choose between "here lies a president" or "here lies one
who contributed to saving freedom," he would prefer the latter.

Where are such statesmen today?

Where is the bipartisanship in this country when we need it most?

Now, while young Americans are dying in the sands of Iraq and the mountains
of Afghanistan, our nation is being torn apart and made weaker because of
the Democrat's manic obsession to bring down our Commander in Chief.

What has happened to the party I've spent my life working in?

I can remember when Democrats believed that it was the duty of America to
fight for freedom over tyranny.

It was Democratic President Harry Truman who pushed the Red Army out of
Iran, who came to the aid of Greece when Communists threatened to overthrow
it, who stared down the Soviet blockade of West Berlin by flying in supplies
and saving the city.

Time after time in our history, in the face of great danger, Democrats and
Republicans worked together to ensure that freedom would not falter. But not
today.

Motivated more by partisan politics than by national security, today's
Democratic leaders see America as an occupier, not a liberator.

And nothing makes this Marine madder than someone calling American troops
occupiers rather than liberators.

Tell that to the one-half of Europe that was freed because Franklin
Roosevelt led an army of liberators, not occupiers.

Tell that to the lower half of the Korean Peninsula that is free because
Dwight Eisenhower commanded an army of liberators, not occupiers.

Tell that to the half a billion men, women and children who are free today
from the Baltics to the Crimea, from Poland to Siberia, because Ronald
Reagan rebuilt a military of liberators, not occupiers.

Never in the history of the world has any soldier sacrificed more for the
freedom and liberty of total strangers than the American soldier. And, our
soldiers don't just give freedom abroad, they preserve it for us here at
home.

For it has been said so truthfully that it is the soldier, not the reporter,
who has given us the freedom of the press. It is the soldier, not the poet,
who has given us freedom of speech.

It is the soldier, not the agitator, who has given us the freedom to
protest.

It is the soldier who salutes the flag, serves beneath the flag, whose
coffin is draped by the flag, who gives that protester the freedom to abuse
and burn that flag.

No one should dare to even think about being the Commander in Chief of this
country if he doesn't believe with all his heart that our soldiers are
liberators abroad and defenders of freedom at home.

But don't waste your breath telling that to the leaders of my party today.
In their warped way of thinking America is the problem, not the solution.

They don't believe there is any real danger in the world except that which
America brings upon itself through our clumsy and misguided foreign policy.

It is not their patriotism -- it is their judgment that has been so sorely
lacking. They claimed Carter's pacifism would lead to peace.

They were wrong.

They claimed Reagan's defense buildup would lead to war.

They were wrong.

And, no pair has been more wrong, more loudly, more often than the two
Senators from Massachusetts, Ted Kennedy and John Kerry.

Together, Kennedy/Kerry have opposed the very weapons system that won the
Cold War and that is now winning the War on Terror.

Listing all the weapon systems that Senator Kerry tried his best to shut
down sounds like an auctioneer selling off our national security but
Americans need to know the facts.

The B-1 bomber, that Senator Kerry opposed, dropped 40 percent of the bombs
in the first six months of Operation Enduring Freedom.

The B-2 bomber, that Senator Kerry opposed, delivered air strikes against
the Taliban in Afghanistan and Hussein's command post in Iraq.

The F-14A Tomcats, that Senator Kerry opposed, shot down Khadifi's Libyan
MIGs over the Gulf of Sidra. The modernized F-14D, that Senator Kerry
opposed, delivered missile strikes against Tora Bora.

The Apache helicopter, that Senator Kerry opposed, took out those Republican
Guard tanks in Kuwait in the Gulf War. The F-15 Eagles, that Senator Kerry
opposed, flew cover over our Nation's Capital and this very city after 9/11.

I could go on and on and on: against the Patriot Missile that shot down
Saddam Hussein's scud missiles over Israel; against the Aegis air-defense
cruiser; against the Strategic Defense Initiative; against the Trident
missile; against, against, against.

This is the man who wants to be the Commander in Chief of our U.S. Armed
Forces?

U.S. forces armed with what? Spitballs?

Twenty years of votes can tell you much more about a man than twenty weeks
of campaign rhetoric.

Campaign talk tells people who you want them to think you are. How you vote
tells people who you really are deep inside.

Senator Kerry has made it clear that he would use military force only if
approved by the United Nations.

Kerry would let Paris decide when America needs defending.

I want Bush to decide.

John Kerry, who says he doesn't like outsourcing, wants to outsource our
national security.

That's the most dangerous outsourcing of all. This politician wants to be
leader of the free world.

Free for how long?

For more than 20 years, on every one of the great issues of freedom and
security, John Kerry has been more wrong, more weak and more wobbly than any
other national figure.

As a war protester, Kerry blamed our military.

As a Senator, he voted to weaken our military. And nothing shows that more
sadly and more clearly than his vote this year to deny protective armor for
our troops in harms way, far away.

George Bush understands that we need new strategies to meet new threats.

John Kerry wants to re-fight yesterday's war. George Bush believes we have
to fight today's war and be ready for tomorrow's challenges. George Bush is
committed to providing the kind of forces it takes to root out terrorists.

No matter what spider hole they may hide in or what rock they crawl under.

George Bush wants to grab terrorists by the throat and not let them go to
get a better grip.

From John Kerry, they get a "yes-no-maybe" bowl of mush that can only
encourage our enemies and confuse our friends.

I first got to know George Bush when we served as governors together. I
admire this man. I am moved by the respect he shows the first lady, his
unabashed love for his parents and his daughters, and the fact that he is
unashamed of his belief that God is not indifferent to America.

I can identify with someone who has lived that line in "Amazing Grace," "Was
blind, but now I see," and I like the fact that he's the same man on
Saturday night that he is on Sunday morning.

He is not a slick talker but he is a straight shooter and, where I come
from, deeds mean a lot more than words.

I have knocked on the door of this man's soul and found someone home, a
God-fearing man with a good heart and a spine of tempered steel.

The man I trust to protect my most precious possession: my family.

This election will change forever the course of history, and that's not any
history. It's our family's history.

The only question is how. The answer lies with each of us. And, like many
generations before us, we've got some hard choosing to do.

Right now the world just cannot afford an indecisive America. Fainthearted
self-indulgence will put at risk all we care about in this world.

In this hour of danger our President has had the courage to stand up. And
this Democrat is proud to stand up with him.

Thank you.

God Bless this great country and God Bless George W. Bush.

Arnold's RNC speech

I was proud to be an American while I listend to Arnold Schwarzenegger speak
at the Republican National Convention. You can find the text below.

Thank you.
What a greeting!

This is like winning an Oscar! ...As if I would know! Speaking of acting,
one of my movies was called "True Lies." It's what the Democrats should have
called their convention.

My fellow Americans, this is an amazing moment for me. To think that a once
scrawny boy from Austria could grow up to become Governor of California and
stand in Madison Square Garden to speak on behalf of the President of the
United States that is an immigrant's dream. It is the American dream.

I was born in Europe ...and I've traveled all over the world. I can tell you
that there is no place, no country, more compassionate more generous more
accepting and more welcoming than the United States of America.

As long as I live, I will never forget that day 21 years ago when I raised
my hand and took the oath of citizenship.

Do you know how proud I was? I was so proud that I walked around with an
American flag around my shoulders all day long.

Tonight, I want to talk about why I'm even more proud to be an American -
why I'm proud to be a Republican and why I believe this country is in good
hands.

When I was a boy, the Soviets occupied part of Austria. I saw their tanks in
the streets. I saw communism with my own eyes. I remember the fear we had
when we had to cross into the Soviet sector. Growing up, we were told,
"Don't look the soldiers in the eye. Look straight ahead." It was a common
belief that Soviet soldiers could take a man out of his own car and ship him
off to the Soviet Union as slave labor.

My family didn't have a car - but one day we were in my uncle's car. It was
near dark as we came to a Soviet checkpoint. I was a little boy, I wasn't an
action hero back then, and I remember how scared I was that the soldiers
would pull my father or my uncle out of the car and I'd never see him again.
My family and so many others lived in fear of the Soviet boot. Today, the
world no longer fears the Soviet Union and it is because of the United
States of America!

As a kid I saw the socialist country that Austria became after the Soviets
left. I love Austria and I love the Austrian people - but I always knew
America was the place for me. In school, when the teacher would talk about
America, I would daydream about coming here. I would sit for hours watching
American movies transfixed by my heroes like John Wayne. Everything about
America seemed so big to me so open, so possible.

I finally arrived here in 1968. I had empty pockets, but I was full of
dreams. The presidential campaign was in full swing. I remember watching the
Nixon and Humphrey presidential race on TV. A friend who spoke German and
English, translated for me. I heard Humphrey saying things that sounded like
socialism, which is what I had just left. But then I heard Nixon speak. He
was talking about free enterprise, getting government off your back,
lowering taxes and strengthening the military. Listening to Nixon speak
sounded more like a breath of fresh air.

I said to my friend, "What party is he?" My friend said, "He's a
Republican." I said, "Then I am a Republican!" And I've been a Republican
ever since! And trust me, in my wife's family, that's no small achievement!
I'm proud to belong to the party of Abraham Lincoln, the party of Teddy
Roosevelt, the party of Ronald Reagan and the party of George W. Bush.

To my fellow immigrants listening tonight, I want you to know how welcome
you are in this party. We Republicans admire your ambition. We encourage
your dreams. We believe in your future. One thing I learned about America is
that if you work hard and play by the rules, this country is truly open to
you. You can achieve anything.

Everything I have my career my success my family I owe to America. In this
country, it doesn't make any difference where you were born. It doesn't make
any difference who your parents were. It doesn't make any difference if,
like me, you couldn't even speak English until you were in your twenties.

America gave me opportunities and my immigrant dreams came true. I want
other people to get the same chances I did, the same opportunities. And I
believe they can. That's why I believe in this country, that's why I believe
in this party and that's why I believe in this President.

Now, many of you out there tonight are "Republican" like me in your hearts
and in your beliefs. Maybe you're from Guatemala. Maybe you're from the
Philippines. Maybe Europe or the Ivory Coast. Maybe you live in Ohio,
Pennsylvania or New Mexico. And maybe just maybe you don't agree with this
party on every single issue. I say to you tonight I believe that's not only
okay, that's what's great about this country. Here we can respectfully
disagree and still be patriotic still be American and still be good
Republicans.

My fellow immigrants, my fellow Americans, how do you know if you are a
Republican? I'll tell you how.

If you believe that government should be accountable to the people, not the
people to the government...then you are a Republican! If you believe a
person should be treated as an individual, not as a member of an interest
group... then you are a Republican! If you believe your family knows how to
spend your money better than the government does... then you are a
Republican! If you believe our educational system should be held accountable
for the progress of our children ... then you are a Republican! If you
believe this country, not the United Nations, is the best hope of democracy
in the world ... then you are a Republican! And, ladies and gentlemen ...if
you believe we must be fierce and relentless and terminate terrorism ...
then you are a Republican!

There is another way you can tell you're a Republican. You have faith in
free enterprise, faith in the resourcefulness of the American people ... and
faith in the U.S. economy. To those critics who are so pessimistic about our
economy, I say: "Don't be economic girlie men!"

The U.S. economy remains the envy of the world. We have the highest economic
growth of any of the world's major industrialized nations. Don't you
remember the pessimism of 20 years ago when the critics said Japan and
Germany were overtaking the U.S.? Ridiculous!

Now they say India and China are overtaking us. Don't you believe it! We may
hit a few bumps - but America always moves ahead! That's what Americans do!

We move prosperity ahead. We move freedom ahead. We move people ahead. Under
President Bush and Vice President Cheney, America's economy is moving ahead
in spite of a recession they inherited and in spite of the attack on our
homeland.

Now, the other party says there are two Americas. Don't believe that either.
I've visited our troops in Iraq, Kuwait, Bosnia, Germany and all over the
world. I've visited our troops in California, where they train before they
go overseas. And I've visited our military hospitals. And I can tell you
this: Our young men and women in uniform do not believe there are two
Americas!

They believe we are one America and they are fighting for it! We are one
America - and President Bush is defending it with all his heart and soul!

That's what I admire most about the President. He's a man of perseverance.

He's a man of inner strength. He is a leader who doesn't flinch, doesn't
waiver, does not back down. My fellow Americans, make no mistake about it
terrorism is more insidious than communism, because it yearns to destroy not
just the individual, but the entire international order. The President
didn't go into Iraq because the polls told him it was popular. As a matter
of fact, the polls said just the opposite. But leadership isn't about polls.
It's about making decisions you think are right and then standing behind
those decisions. That's why America is safer with George W. Bush as
President.

He knows you don't reason with terrorists. You defeat them. He knows you
can't reason with people blinded by hate. They hate the power of the
individual. They hate the progress of women. They hate the religious freedom
of others. They hate the liberating breeze of democracy. But ladies and
gentlemen, their hate is no match for America's decency.

We're the America that sends out Peace Corps volunteers to teach village
children. We're the America that sends out missionaries and doctors to raise
up the poor and the sick. We're the America that gives more than any other
country, to fight aids in Africa and the developing world. And we're the
America that fights not for imperialism but for human rights and democracy.

You know, when the Germans brought down the Berlin Wall, America's
determination helped wield the sledgehammers. When that lone, young Chinese
man stood in front of those tanks in Tiananmen Square, America's hopes stood
with him. And when Nelson Mandela smiled in election victory after all those
years in prison, America celebrated, too.

We are still the lamp lighting the world especially for those who struggle.
No matter in what labor camp, they slave no matter in what injustice they're
trapped - they hear our call ... they see our light ... and they feel the
pull of our freedom. They come here as I did because they believe. They
believe in us.

They come because their hearts say to them, as mine did, "If only I can get
to America." Someone once wrote - "There are those who say that freedom is
nothing but a dream." They are right. It's the American dream.

No matter the nationality, no matter the religion, no matter the ethnic
background, America brings out the best in people. And as Governor of the
great state of California - I see the best in Americans every day ... our
police, our firefighters our nurses, doctors and teachers, our parents.

And what about the extraordinary men and women who have volunteered to fight
for the United States of America! I have such great respect for them and
their heroic families.

Let me tell you about the sacrifice and commitment I've seen firsthand. In
one of the military hospitals I visited, I met a young guy who was in bad
shape. He'd lost a leg had a hole in his stomach ... his shoulder had been
shot through.

I could tell there was no way he could ever return to combat. But when I
asked him, "When do you think you'll get out of the hospital?" He said,
"Sir, in three weeks." And do you know what he said to me then? He said he
was going to get a new leg ... and get some therapy ... and then he was
going back to Iraq to serve alongside his buddies! He grinned at me and
said, "Arnold ... I'll be back!"

Ladies and gentlemen, America is back! Back from the attack on our
homeland - back from the attack on our economy, back from the attack on our
way of life. We're back because of the perseverance, character and
leadership of the 43rd President of the United States, George W. Bush.

My fellow Americans ...I want you to know that I believe with all my heart
that America remains "the great idea" that inspires the world. It's a
privilege to be born here. It's an honor to become a citizen here. It's a
gift to raise your family here to vote here and to live here.

Our president, George W. Bush, has worked hard to protect and preserve the
American dream for all of us. That's why I say ... send him back to
Washington for four more years!

Thank you, America - and God bless you all!

Monday, August 30, 2004

I'm currently in Fort Lauderdale Florida and I'm staying at the Marriott
Harbor Beach Resort & Spa. You can check it out here.
http://www.marriottharborbeach.com/

I'm here for the DOIM/AKM Conference which is a military show that has
significant participation by senior Department of Defense and Army military
and civilian leadership, as well as significant commercial industry
representation. One of the more famous people that will be here is Michael
Dell. (CEO and Founder of Dell). I had to make a visit to Sawgrass Mills
http://www.sawgrassmillsmall.com/ to get some shoes. I needed a new pair of
Rockport's. I'll update the blog if time permits.

Rant

What a week it has been already. I got home tonight after being on the road all week. I gave seminars for one of my channel partners. The seminars were in 3 cities. The companies that gave presentations were Symantec, Juniper Networks, Secure Computing and of course my company. I started in Glen Allen Va., drove a few hours to Herndon VA., then ended up in Baltimore Maryland. It was a productive week even though it was tiring. It looks like we have some good prospects.

Anyway, it's late and I'm tired. It's time to go to bed and snuggle with the wife aka My Shale or as I will refer to her here "MS". :)

Here is a funny joke.

I never quite figured out why the sexual urges of men & women differ so
much. And I never have figured out the whole Venus and Mars thing. I have
never figured out why men think with their head and women with their heart.
I have never figured out why the sexual desire gene gets thrown into a state
of turmoil when it hears the words, "I do."
FOR EXAMPLE:

One evening last week, my wife and I were getting into bed. Well, the
passion starts to heat up, and she eventually says "I don't feel like it, I
just want you to hold me." I said "WHAT????!!! What was that?!"

So she says the words that every husband on the planet dreads to hear...
"You're just not in touch with my emotional needs as a woman enough for me
to satisfy your physical needs as a man." She responded to my puzzled look
by saying, "Can't you just love me for who I am and not what I do for you in
the bedroom?" Realizing that nothing was going to happen that night I went
to sleep.

The very next day I opted to take the day off of work to spend time with
her. We went out to a nice lunch and then went shopping at a big, big
unnamed dept. store. I walked around with her while she tried on several
different very expensive outfits. She couldn't decide which one to take so I
told her to just buy them all. She wanted new shoes to compliment her new
clothes, so I said lets get a pair for each outfit. We went on to the
jewelry dept. where she picked out a pair of diamond earrings. Let me tell
you... she was so excited. She must have thought I was one wave short of a
shipwreck. I started to think she was testing me because she asked for a
tennis bracelet when she doesn't even know how to play tennis. I think I
threw her for a loop when I said, "That's fine, honey." She was almost
nearing sexual satisfaction from all of the excitement. Smiling with excited
anticipation she finally said, "I think this is all, dear. Let's go to the
cashier."

I could hardly contain myself when I blurted out, "No honey, I don't feel
like it." Her face just went completely blank as her jaw dropped with a
baffled WHAT???!!!" I then said, "Really honey! I just want you to HOLD this
stuff for a while. You're just not in touch with my financial needs as a man
enough for me to satisfy your shopping needs as a woman." And just when she
had this look like she was going to kill me I added, "Why can't you just
love me for who I am and not for the things I buy you?"

Apparently I'm not having sex tonight either.