Flight 93 National Memorial Dedication Ceremony

MoonHowler

It was only fitting that President Bush honor those who lost their lives  on 9/11/01 fighting the terrorists on Flight 93.   his speech was moving and he reflected upon another small town in Pennsylvania that had many heroes–Gettysburg.

Following his dedication, President Clinton spoke.  He spoke of the Alamo and how the people knew they were going to die, but stayed the course.  Both speeches were extremely moving.  Bill Clinton said it was a disgrace that there was still 10 million more dollars to raise and he announced that he and Speaker Boehner had formed a bipartisan partnership to raise the rest of the cash for the memorial.  He received a standing ovation. 

CLINTON: So, since I am no longer in office, I can do unpopular things.

CLINTON: I told the secretary of the interior, the head of your development program, that I was aghast to find out that we still need to raise $10 million to finish this place. And Speaker Boehner and I have already volunteered to do a bipartisan event in Washington.

Let’s get this show on the road. Let’s roll. Thank you and God bless you.

Read more: http://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2011/09/10/bill-clintons-flight-93-memorial-dedication-speech#ixzz1XcOgmk5H

 

Vice President Joe Biden was in attendance also and addressed the crowd.  He was very gracious to both former presidents and spoke of his own personal losses generally and to reassure. 

I am more convinced than ever that this National Memorial to the bravery of the passengers on Flight 93 is the right and proper acknowledgement of people who gave all so that others could live.  They fought back.

 

9/11 and the Clergy

MoonHowler

 

 

The decision to not invite the clergy to ceremonies at Ground Zero on 9/11/11 had frosted many an American.  Mayor Bloomberg has defended this position and has stressed that there is a separation of church and state.  He has cited limited space and controversy over who would get invited as reasons to invite no clergy.

Michael Brown, director of FEMA on 9/11/01,   who.was involved with clean up efforts at the government level,  just reminded us that we have don’t have freedom from religion.  We have freedom of religion. 

I am not so sure “Brownie” is correct.  The Supreme Court has ruled time and time again that people in America are free from religion.  Perhaps the best illustration of someone being free FROM religion is the Madalyn Murray O’Hair case, Murray vs. Curlett,  that banned school prayer.  In America, we are pretty much free to be no religion whatsoever if that is our choice. 

Regardless, should the clergy automatically be included in 9/11 remembrances?  Which clergy?  Only Christians and Jews?  How about Muslims?  Hindus and Buddhists?  How many members of the clergy are even in NYC?  Should clergy from surrounding areas be included also?  At what point would clergy start taking the spots of family members and first responders? 

The clergy has never been included in city 9/11 observances.  Why is it becoming an issue now?  Who are the observances and remembrances really for?

Lt. Heather Lucky Penney

MoonHowler

 

From the Washington Post

by Steve Hendrix

Late in the morning of the Tuesday that changed everything,  Lt. Heather “Lucky” Penney  was on a runway at Andrews Air Force Base and ready to fly. She had her hand on the throttle of an F-16 and she had her orders: Bring down United Airlines Flight 93. The day’s fourth hijacked airliner seemed to be hurtling toward Washington. Penney, one of the first two combat pilots in the air that morning, was told to stop it.

The one thing she didn’t have as she roared into the crystalline sky was live ammunition. Or missiles. Or anything at all to throw at a hostile aircraft.

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NYC poor neighborhoods have highest abortion rates

MoonHowler

New York Times:

A study released by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene reveals Chelsea to have the highest abortion rate in New York City, with 67.23 percent of pregnancies ending in abortion.

Jamaica, Central Harlem, Greenwich Village, and Bedford-Stuyvesant also ranked high on the list. The neighborhood with the lowest abortion rate is the Upper East Side, which also happens to be Manhattan’s safest neighborhood as well.

Many of us will recognize the areas with high abortion rates as the neighborhoods that have the greatest poverty in New York City.  This data  tells us that high abortion frequency is closely tied to poverty and the dysfunction of poverty.  The statistics are staggering.  So are the stats for crime, high school drop out, welfare, prostitution, government assistance  and drug use. 

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Meet Up Time for Moonhowlings

MoonHowler

Moonhowlings will have its second annual Meet Up on Sunday, September 11 @ 1 pm at Mama Mia  in Gainesville.

Hopefully everyone will be able to make it.  Thanks again to Steve Thomas for making the arrangements. 

Last time we got together, we pretty much took over the place and a good time was had by all. 

Steve and I will be your Goto people if you have questions/concerns/etc.  See you there!

Mama Mia

7669 Limestone Drive

Gainesville, Va

Joe Scarborough: “Reason to Believe”

MoonHowler

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

 

Former Florida Congressman Joe Scarborough, host of MSNBC cable talk show Morning Joe,  has written a song commemorating 9/11, 10 years later.  This song is not to be confused with Rod Stewart’s Reason to Believe. 

Scarborough’s song debuted on Morning Joe Thursday morning. 

Please use this thread to leave your 9/11 thoughts.  If you are like me, the thoughts  don’t all come at once.

From “Reason to Believe”

“In the flash of an hour /

watching dreams fall from towers /

all I once knew came tumbling down. . .”

Galileo and Rick Perry

MoonHowler

Ari Melbor (Huffington Post op-ed)

The most striking part of the first full-blown debate in the Republican primary was the total rejection of science.

In a surreal scene near the night’s end, Gov. Rick Perry likened the people denying global warming science to Galileo. To observe that he has that history exactly backwards — it was the Church that accused Galileo of heresy in 1633 for scientific theories which were on the right track — is merely to observe that Perry’s substantive errors come with their own stylistic snafus. Perhaps that is fitting. More consequential, however, was the answer that Perry failed to provide.

The original question asked him to name a single scientist that supported his views. None of his opponents seized on the gaffe, since apart from the exception-of-the-night, Gov. Huntsman, every other candidate was aiming for the same conservative turf on which Perry stood. And unlike Gov. Palin’s famous inability to name her sources, the media is likely to put Perry’s problems aside, in order to focus on the “fireworks” that finally broke out between top tier candidates.

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Is Bachmann getting the squeeze?

MoonHowler

First off, let me say that I cannot ever see myself voting for Michele Bachmann.  Her world view is so far from mine, I would probably just stay home from the polls. I could never vote for an anti-science president.  However, I am going to defend Bachmann against Rick Perry, who spews just about the same nuttiness, in my opinion, as does Bachmann. 

You have to respect Bachmann for her work ethic.  She has been out there since day one, preaching her message, rain or shine.  She makes a gaffe, she picks herself up and moves forward.  She is spunky.  At first I thought Palin was going to come roaring in, in all her glitz and glamour, and kick Michele aside.  To her credit, I think, she did not do so.  Palin has never seen a spotlight she didn’t like.  And no one has ever accused Palin of waiting in line or playing by the rules.

It isn’t Palin pushing Bachmann aside, it is Rick  Perry.  He came roaring in to town, in all his male glitz and glamour, and basically shoved Bachmann aside.  He might not even have noticed.  Huge egos rarely notice who they step on.  I feel badly for Bachmann.  She is a true work horse.  She isn’t afraid of getting her hands dirty and she has been out there for months, socking it to the world and giving her message to anyone who will listen.  She has done the work.  Now in swoops Perry to claim his prize.  The little woman has prepared the way.  I hope Bachmann is furious.  I hope the base notices.  Bachmann should not be slighted.  She has done the work, not Perry.

Corey denounces stimulus money to the Foxies

MoonHowler

Poor Corey. I almost feel sorry for him. He is blustering over something he had to take anyway. Then the poor guy gets accused of taking saltpetre and a cold shower. 

It couldn’t happen to a nicer guy because he was doing a little too much crowing.  Do we really have all those accolades?  I don’t think so.  Additionally, the AAA bond rating has been around for quite a while. 

Interesting video.  It sheds a lot of light on how badly Stewart can prevaricate.

Too bad Camp Candland had to dredge all of this up.  I hope Corey is embarrassed.

Corey Stewart relegates students to over-crowded conditions by refusing stimulus

MoonHowler

Is Corey Stewart is still harping on the stimulus money the BOCS turned down?   He hasn’t yet acknowledged  the stupidity of not accepting stimulus money last August to hire around 180 new teachers that the school system indicated was needed.  Instead, the BOCS tabled the decision.  What ended up happening?  PWC kids were in over-crowded classes and someone else took the stimulus money,  would be my guess. 

The following quotes were found and reported by a little bird from an unknown blog in an unread land:

“Stewart said the bill was a sign of just how out of touch with fiscal realities and good government Congress is: “It is not just irresponsible, it is crazy. Congress suffers from deficit-spending induced dementia.” 

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www.NoLabels.org: Electronic Townhall Meeting

MoonHowler

From Politico:

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz continued his rhetorical war against Washington gridlock Tuesday during a conference call and webcast castigating the White House and Congress for the nation’s deficit and unemployment rate.

In a conference call that was heavy on angry us-against-Washington rhetoric and deficit and unemployment statistics and light on policy proposals, Schultz reiterated his call for the federal government to immediately work to reduce both the deficit and unemployment.

I participated in the electronic townhall meeting and the above was definitely not what I walked away with.  Politico makes it sound Washington (read leadership in both parties.) should be scrambling to see who can play the victim card the fastest because big, bad, Howard Shultz is after them.  That isn’t what it was about.

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James and the Giant Speech

MoonHowler

He’s BAAAAaaaaaaaccccckkkkkkkkkk!

Jon is concerned about the rhetoric that is floating around the United States and he has the answer.

 

Have we gone too far in our speech? At least we aren’t calling people out to duels and to be buggy whipped. Is this progress. At any rate, the video is a welcome back to Jon Stewart. He and Mr. Yuckles will just tell off those political enemies!  Jon Stewart shows politicians can distance themselves from incendiary rhetoric.

Flight 93 Memorial not fully funded

MoonHowler

From The Daily Beast,:

It’s the only one of the three major 9/11 memorials that’s still not fully funded, and many are wondering why. The final resting place of the 40 people on United Flight 93 in Shanksville, Pa., will have a low marble wall carved with the names of the passengers and crew. The memorial will be officially dedicated Saturday in time for the 10th anniversary of the terror attacks, and be open to the public the next day. But the funding is still $10 million short of the $62 million needed, and Congress has allocated only about $14 million. The site still looks like it did 10 years ago on the morning of Sept. 11—a rolling meadow of grass and wildflowers.

$10 million short?  Holy cow.  Those people on that plane saved Congress’s bacon that day.  The object was the Capitol.  Had those brave souls not brought that plane down, every member of Congress present that day, not just at the Capitol but also in the surrounding area, could have very well become vaporized.  It is time to find the funds.  Perhaps they could give up some of their salary to help with funding.  Perhaps they could put up pay pal on all congressional sites.  This situation is inexcusable.  I feel confident the American people would be more than willing to donate towards a memorial at Shanksville, Pennsylvania to honor the dead. 

Open Thread………………………………….Sunday, September 4

MoonHowler

UPDATE:  PWCS  SCHOOLS ARE CLOSED FRIDAY BECAUSE OF FLOODING.

One of the greatest joys in life each Tuesday after Labor Day is lying in bed, listening to the buses rolling and knowing that it doesn’t involve me!

Kids, get ready to ride the cheese.  Brush your teeth, put on those new clothes, and get ready to face a brand new school year.  This day can make or break you.  Its those 15 second first impressions that can last a year, a life-time. 

Parents, prepare for Tuesday night.  You will be hating life with all those bazillion forms to fill out. 

Reminder that you can pay for school lunches online in Prince William County.  You can also restrict them so your kid isn’t buying junk food or ice cream for her entire class.  Go to www.mylunchmoney.com.