Travel Bugs Released!

My main activity this rainy day was to release four new travel bugs. It will be interesting to see how far they make it and where they go in their travels.

Please visit their websites and join the fun of watching their travels:

Haji
Buzz
Gerry
Froggy

Bon Voyage TB's!

Hidden Curriculum

Here's an excerpt from a paper I had to write today for grad school on hidden curriculum. I thought this topic was sort of interesting, hence the sharing: Note: the formatting gets lost when I transfer it to my blog, apologies in advance)

In A Sociology of Educating, Meighan (1981) defines hidden curriculum as “taught by the school, not by any teacher… something is coming across to the pupils which may never be spoken…. They are picking up an approach to living and an attitude to learning.” (p. 314) In Themes and Perspectives Haralambos (1991) defines hidden curriculum as consisting “of those things pupils learn through the experience of attending school rather than the stated education objectives of such institutions.” (p. 267) The hidden curriculum includes values such as where formal education takes place, who participates in it, what the relationship between participants are, how success and failure are measured, and the overall purpose of education (Meighan, 1981). These values are translated into norms that condition the behavior of participants in the educational process. Meighan claims that students and teachers in a classroom are “haunted” by ghosts of things like the designers of the school, textbook writers, employer demands, and the creators and maintainers of language and jargon. Is a classroom institutional and sterile or warm and inviting? Are textbooks biased? Are employer expectations in line with what is best for students? Does the language used hold meaning for students? In The Hidden Curriculum of Higher Education, Eric Margolis notes that hidden curricula may be only partially hidden; some of us may be aware of them and may be participants in their hiding. “Curricula can be hidden by a general social agreement not to see.” (p.2) He makes a delightful analogy between the fairy tale “The Emperor Has No Clothes” and hidden curriculum. The emperor and his subjects were all socialized to believe that he had on clothes even though their eyes told them otherwise. None of them wanted to be taken for fools by pointing out that they could not see what everyone else seemed to see. Finally, it was an unsocialized child who pointed out to everyone that the emperor was in fact naked. What is being taught in our schools that we are socialized not to see?

Triple Filter Test

The Triple Filter Test

In ancient Greece, Socrates was reputed to hold knowledge in high esteem.

One day an acquaintance met the great philosopher and said, "Do you know what I just heard about your friend?"

"Hold on a minute," Socrates replied. "Before telling me anything I'd like you to pass a little test. It's called the Triple Filter Test."

"Triple filter?"

"That's right," Socrates continued. "Before you talk to me about my friend, it might be a good idea to take a moment and filter what you're going to say. That's why I call it the triple filter test. The first filter is Truth. Have you made absolutely sure that what you are about to tell me is true?"

"No," the man said, "actually I just heard about it and..."

"All right," said Socrates. "So you don't really know if it's true or not. Now let's try the second filter, the filter of Goodness. Is what you are about to tell me about my friend something good?"

"No, on the contrary..."

"So," Socrates continued, "you want to tell me something bad about him, but you're not certain it's true. You may still pass the test though, because there's one filter left: the filter of Usefulness. Is what you want to tell me about my friend going to be useful to me?"

"No, not really."

"Well," concluded Socrates, "if what you want to tell me is neither true nor good nor even useful, why tell it to me at all?"

This is why Socrates was a great philosopher & held in such high esteem. If we are able to protect our friends and those we love in this manner, we cannot be influenced by outsiders in having bad notions about them.

Nothing!

So, what did I do today? Nothing! Exactly as I planned! I woke up to my birds chirping around the sixes, then I laid and slept more until after 9. Got up and did nothing much and went to sleep again for an hour or two in the afternoon, got up again and did more of nothing much. You know, dumb TV, reading Tony Hillerman, taking a shower, eating. Tonight I'll look at some graduate school stuff due tomorrow. I guess I was tired because it sure wasn't hard to sleep so much; actually it was hard to get up.

Friend's Letter

I know this lady and I find her totally above reproach. I just wanted to share her story. Warning: It is a pretty upsetting story. Garage Sale is over, made about $100. Thanks Derek and Heather for all the assistance and the driveway, etc.

Marzieh wrote:


                   IN THE NAME OF ALLAH


Assalamu Alaikum to all of my brothers and sisters,


Insha’Allah everyone is doing well. I am writing this email to inform everyone of an incident which happened to my family and I.  I want everyone to know and understand well, the result of this “New World Order” which has taken over in the United States and the rest of the world. Some of you, who I am writing this letter to, know me and some of you do not, so I will take time to explain a few background issues.  For those of you, who already know me, please bare with me as I elaborate on a few points.

My name is Marzieh Hashemi and I was born and reared in the United States. I am a Muslim convert who married an Iranian national 23 years ago.  I lived in Iran for over 10 years and in August of 2001, my husband was killed in an accident. A year later, my children and I returned to the United States.  Upon my return, I started working for a Muslim brother in Denver. I started working with him in October of 2002 until the present.  I just wanted you to have a brief idea of the “players” involved in this very bizarre story.

On Thursday, June 10, 2004, at approximately 7:08 a.m., there was a loud banging on my door, and yelling for me to open the door. They said that it was the police and the F.B.I.
I hurriedly grabbed for my scarf and proceeded to go downstairs in my home.  What I saw was so unbelievable! My 20 year old son and his 23 year old cousin had their hands up. There were F.B.I. agents streaming into my house with guns drawn.  They were yelling for everyone to put up their hands.  I kept demanding to know what this was all about. They told me that they would let me know, as soon as they “secured the area”. There were about 15 agents who came into my place, searching every room and at the same time they asked me if we had any drugs or weapons, at which I smirked and told them of course not. The agents then demanded that all of my family sit in one section of the house.

After about 15 minutes of this, they presented a search and seize warrant, stating that this was a case relating to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). For those of you not familiar with the United States, this is the federal tax body. I laughed when they told me this, being that my income is quite limited.  The IRS agent proceeded to asked me if I had any jewels, safety deposit boxes, boats, as well as land, houses, etc. I told him that I could barely afford the one home that I lived in and that they had more information then even I have about myself, so what was all this really about! This line of questioning went on for about 20 minutes. Let me add, that I did asked them during this time, if I could make a call and they answered that I could not make an outbound call nor could I answer any incoming calls.

After the IRS agent finished, the FBI agent continued. They said that they were working together in a task force.  He then began his line of questioning.  He started off by asking me what is my religion. Then he asked me if I am Shia or Sunni.  I told him that I thought this was supposedly related to the IRS and what difference does it make to the IRS my religious persuasion. He said that the FBI had decided that there was a lot of “misunderstanding” between the agency and Muslims and that they could actually “kill two birds with one stone” and try to clear up some of these misunderstanding.  I told him that I thought he was using a very “interesting” forum to attempt to clear up these “misunderstandings”.  He continued with his line of questioning for about 45 minutes. He asked me about leadership with the Sunnis and Shias and which was stronger.  He asked about Hamas, Hezbollah, suicide bombings, et cetera.  He also asked that if the United States went to war with Iran, which side would I be on!

Let me explain that while this questioning was going on, my family was sitting in that one corner of the house and were not allowed to move around.  Simultaneously with the questioning, the agents were going through every part of my home. They took any “suspicious” item that they found.  This includes my mortgage papers, bills, anything with “non-English” writings on it, such as my Quranic  c.d.’s, my children old Farsi notebooks, my daughter’s diary that she wrote in Farsi, and many other items for which I got a very generic inventory list from the agents when they were leaving.

This search and seize started at about 7:15 a.m. and ended at 3:30 p.m.! During this time, we were told after the initial questioning that we were free to leave. However if we left,  we could not return to our home until after they left the premises. We were “allowed” to use the rest room in our own home after getting permission and only one person could leave our “holding area” at a time.  By noon, my family was getting hungry and I did not have any quick snacks in the house. I asked them if I could cook something and they told me “no”. They did not want me boiling any water or anything! I asked them what I was suppose to do because my family was hungry and they weren’t allowing me to cook. They told me that I could leave and I reiterated that I would not leave my own house while they were in it. Finally I convinced my 20 year-old son to go and get us lunch, because he was getting less and less tolerant of the intrusion. I thought that it would be a good way of getting him out of the house.

The agent said that my son could leave and buy us lunch. He reiterated that when my son would return, he would not be allowed to come up to the door. He would have to stand at a distance from the front door, and an agent would go out and get the food from him, then my son should leave. This is what he did. Shortly after that, my 17 year-old daughter decided to leave and she did so. The rest of us stayed until the agents left at approximately 3:30 p.m.

I later found out from my youngest son, who is 10 years old that he woke up that Thursday morning with a gun pointing at him and an F.B.I. agent yelling at him to put his hands up and go downstairs. My son told me later that he thought the agent was going to kill him and he thought he had done something wrong.

I’ve told you all this story because I want everyone to be informed. The raid on my house took place simultaneously with two other Muslim families in Denver, Colorado. The two individuals from these two homes are my co-workers. Also the office where I work, was  raided at the same time.

My question is that if this is really a tax case, then why all the questions relating to my religious and political perspectives.  If this is really a tax case, I’d like to ask the federal government, how many agents with guns drawn, did they send to arrest Enron executives in their multimillion dollars fraud case! If this is really related to taxes, why didn’t they audit me!  If this is really related to taxes, why did they wake up my son with a gun pointed at him? Did they have any record of me being a dangerous person that they came to my house with guns drawn! By the way, what ever happened to the First Amendment and Miranda rights? Actually, while we are on the subject, “What happened to the United States of America”?

This can happen to anyone in the USA at anytime. This is the post 9/11 America This is the post Patriot Act America.  Is it a safer America!  Is it a more patriotic America! All I know is that each and every person in my home will never forget what happened to them. All I know is that a certain innocence was taken away from my 10 year old on 6/10/04 that I don’t think he will ever get back. My son really believes that he can be killed in his own house at any time.  He had always seen on television programs about the “bad guys”, the thieves, murderers and the dangerous elements of the society. He had never thought of the possibility that those who are suppose to “protect and serve”, could be more dangerous than any other element in the society!  But on June tenth, 2004, he got a crystal clear picture of what it is like being a Muslim in the United States. He’ll never forget this lesson and I am sure none of us will.  Welcome to the New World Order!

Garage Sale Update

Well, the rain held out until around 3 and I made about 80 bucks today. Hopefully a few more tomorrow, but I'm happy. Derek and his wife made about 40 bucks.

Dice

Some things I've been learning this week in my training. No, I'm not training to work at a casino or anything - it's statistics and math.

Crooked Dice


With so much money riding on the roll of a die it's no surprise that crooks try to influence the outcome.  Here you can learn all about the methods the cheats use to win your money...


Crooked dice are not a recent development. The Indian Hindu Sanskrit, Mahabbarata, the first documented reference to dice, mentions crooked dice and examples have been found in ancient sites in the Orient, South America and the Middle East.


Dice that are fair are known as straight or square dice, perfects or levels. Terms for crooked dice are numerous and there are a number of methods for gaffing dice. Crooked dice do not behave in the same manner on every throw but they do change the odds and so are known as percentage or P.C. dice.


A dice mechanic will substitute crooked or gaffed dice for the real ones and can quickly switch them back once they have gained their advantage. Slight of hand may be used or the switch will take place when the dice are out of sight.  Crooked gambling houses used to employ stickmen for Craps who would switch the dice when signalled. Today the major casinos are honest and have no reason too cheat. An expert switcher will almost be impossible to spot. If you suspect a switch has taken place then you could examine the dice yourself. Remember the dice you are playing with may not be the dice that started the game and cheats will switch the dice back and forth as it suits them. A cheat may even let another player take his crooked dice away, just writing his loss off as part of his scam. This means there could be crooked dice in circulation that no one is aware of.


Craps is where the money is so crooks and cheats target this game the most. Passers are crooked dice that favour passes and not the 7, or craps on the come out throw. Missouts are crooked dice that favour the 7 and not the points.


Loaded dice or weight will be heavier on one side. The extra weight may be lead, gold or platinum so it only takes a small amount to change the odds. The weight is often placed nearer one corner or edge rather than at the centre of one face. Transparent dice do not prevent loading because the actual spots can contain the weight. Check if the spots are deeper on some sides than others, although this is no guarantee because a well made gaffed dice will look straight and even. To test for loaded dice simply repeatedly drop the die in a glass of water. It should sink and if a particular number always faces up the die is loaded. The pivot test is one where you hold the die between your thumb and finger by diagonally opposite corners. If the die is loaded it will tend to turn downward as you lightly hold it.


Floats or floaters don't have extra weight added but weight taken away so they become lighter. They are hollow inside and the gap is placed off centre to bias the dice. They are known as floaters because they will often float, with the hollow side up, when placed in water.


Tapping dice or tappers are dice with a hollow dumb-bell shaped chamber inside. The hollow chamber is filled with mercury. When the mercury is in the end of the chamber near the centre of the die it is fair. But when the cheat wants the die to be biased he will tap the die so the mercury runs to the other end and weight one corner. Some tappers use the same principal but with a weight that slides up and down the chamber on a fine wire. These may have a ratchet mechanism to hold it in place until the die is tapped and may have a rubber bumper to prevent any noise. Obviously these dice must be opaque. Tappers are not used often because of their unreliability. To test for these, tap the die on all it's corners and use the loaded die tests.


Shapes are dice that are not true cubes. Shapes may be convex or concave on some sides or edges or a side may have been shaved down.


Bevels are shapes with one or more convex sides. These dice will be more likely to roll off the convex sides and on to a flat one.


Suction dice have a concave side which can create a slight vacuum when rolled on a hard flat surface. On a rough surface the dice tend to stop on the concave side when a flat side would keep on rolling. These dice favour the opposite side of the concave one.


Trip dice have edge work and flat sides. Dice are manufactured with different types of edge. There are different ways to machine the edge of a die and if all the edges are machined the same way the die is fair. Trip dice will have differing edges. They tend to wear after use and need to be replaced by the cheat quite often.


Cut-edge dice are trip dice that have an edge shaved at an angle of 45 degrees while the others may be at 60 degrees which effects the roll.


Raised-edge dice are trip dice with a lip on some sides. These sides have more surface area and also grip when rolled on cloth.


Dice with razor-edge work have different edges. Dice can be razor edged on some sides and turned or rounded on others so the die will roll off the rounded edges and grip on flat ones.


Split-edge or Saw-tooth edge work is serrating some edges of the dice with tiny cuts. The idea is these edges will grip. The bias is hard to ascertain and these dice are said to be worthless to a cheat.  


  


Bricks or flats are shapes that have one side shaved down so the four adjoining sides are made smaller and have less surface area. The shaved side and its opposite face will be the more likely outcome. Six-ace flats will favour the 1 and 6 sides and work against the shooter in a game of Craps. Flat passers are a pair of dice cut down to favour 3-4 and 6-1 so totals of 4, 5, 9 and 10 occur more often (point numbers in Craps). Barred dice is another term used for these.


Bevels can be held together or pressed on to a flat surface. If they rock back and forth you know the die's face is convex. Try running your finger over the sides of the die feeling for lips or edges. Remember to check all sides of a die to determine if it is a shape. There are devices used by casinos called micrometers that measure the sides of dice extremely accurately. Sometimes shapes and loaded dice are combined, with both defects so minute that spotting them is difficult. Different methods of shaping and gaffing dice can also be combined to produce such things as razor edge convexes, bevelled suction shapes, etc.  An obviously mis-shaped or loaded die is said to have very strong work that won't pass in fast company.




Raised spots are supposed to cause the dice to roll off that side. The spots aren't finished properly and these are used by amateur cheats. They can be easily felt and are not as effective as other crooked dice.




Capped dice are shaved down on some sides and then have the material replaced by a layer of material that matches in look but differs in elasticity. The dice tend to bounce off these sides and settle on one not doctored. The join should be invisible all though wear and heat may show it up after time. Use your finger nail or something sharp to feel the resiliency of all sides. Liquid capping is the painting of dice with a solution that dries to get the same effect. This isn't worth doing because the substance becomes sticky in players hands and picks up dirt.




You will often see dice players blowing on the dice for good luck. Another way to cheat is to paint sides of the dice with a clear sticky substance which can be activated by the moisture in the cheats breath causing the dice to have a tendency to stick to the throwing surface.


Slick dice are polished on some sides while the other sides are roughened. This is supposed to make the dice slide to a stop on the smooth side and roll off a rough one. This bias is negligible but is hard to spot because even straight dice can become rough after a lot of use.




Bristles are dice gaffed with a pin. The pin is inserted into the centre spot of the 5 side, only slightly protruding, and will hold if rolled on a cloth or baize surface. They are known as bristles because pig or horse bristles were used. It is an extremely old method of gaffing dice. Outmoded and not used by professional cheats because of the likely hood of being discovered.




Mis-spotted dice with duplicate numbers on opposing faces are called tops and bottoms. Other terms for these dice are tops, mis-spots, horses or tees (T's). A gamblers term for these is busters. These can easily be identified simply by examining all the faces of the die. Remember all opposing sides must add up to 7. These dice are not as instantly recognisable as you may think because only three sides of a die are visible at any one time.


Double number dice have two sides of the same number, double deuces will have two 2 spots and no 5. A pair of dice with duplicate sides of 1, 5, 6 and 3, 4, 5 will never produce a total of 2, 3, 7 or 12, the only numbers that can lose in Craps. High-low splitters are marked twice with 1, 2, 3 on one die and 4, 5, 6 on the other. These produce a lot of 7's and a crooked house would switch them in when some one has made a heavy bet on the field in a Craps game. Door pops are a pair of dice that only ever come up 7 or 11. One die is spotted with 6's and 2's the other is all 5's on every side and only a complete idiot would fall for these. Games that require high numbers to win, like Backgammon or High Dice, can be played with high number dice that have two 4's, 5's and 6's. Low number dice have two 1s, 2s and 3s.




Electric dice are metallic on one side or have metal slugs in the spots on one side.  These are used with an electromagnet under the playing surface. Greedy Chuck-A-Luck operators sometimes use them under the counter or chuck cage and special Craps tables were manufactured to incorporate the magnet. Electric dice are not as commonly used as they once were due to the fact that many dice players carried a magnet to test for them. If a die sticks to a magnet then without doubt it is crooked. Gambling venues that use electromagnets are known as juice joints or wire joints. These are not strictly speaking percentage dice because when the magnet is on the outcome is certain.






Crooked dice may be unconventionally spotted so a cheat can differentiate between them and a set of straight dice when switching them back and forth from a game.  


If playing dice for money you should play with transparent dice to reduce the chances of using crooked ones. Casinos always use these dice and today's major casinos are respectable, professional operations and have no need to cheat. Don't play with strangers but rather stick to a friendly game with people you know well and trust. Should you ever find that you are in a crooked dice game the best advice is to cut your losses and take no further part. Even if you are positive the game is rigged the situation could rapidly turn ugly if you were to accuse some one.
Casinos don't take any chances when it comes to profit so they don't use just any dice when thousands of dollars are riding on a roll.


Casino dice are called perfect or precision dice because of the way they are made. They are as close to being perfect true cubes as possible, measured to within a fraction of a millimetre, manufactured so each die has an absolutely equal chance of landing on any one of its six faces.


Casino dice are specially hand made to within a tolerance of 0.0005 of an inch. The spots are drilled and filled with material that is equal in weight to the material removed. Usually sides are flush and edges sharp.  They are predominantly transparent red but can come in other colours like green, purple or blue.  Spots are usually solid but a number of different designs can be found.


     


It is believed all casino dice should have the same conventional arrangement of faces and spots.  They're right handed so that if the 1-spot is face up and the 2-spot is turned to face the left then the 3-spot is to the right of it with all opposing sides adding up to 7.  If the 1 spot is face up then the 3-spot runs diagonally up from the left and the 2-spot runs diagonally down from the left.  A different orientation of the spots is sometimes used on crooked dice (made to look like casino dice) so a cheat can differentiate them from a set of straight dice.  


Since the 1970's, and the move to corporate owned casinos, it has become more and more common for casino dice to have serial numbers printed on them. The number is 3 or 4 numeric digits, possibly with letters and dashes, usually printed on the 6-spot but can be found on any face except the 1-spot. This number denotes the issue and is used to prevent them being switched for crooked dice. Another security check sometimes used is having key letters printed on the underneath of spots which can only be viewed by looking through the transparent die.  The casino's name, sometimes location, and/or logo will often be printed on the dice too using a metallic foil.  The 1-spot usually bares the casino's name while the 2-spot may have the logo.


             


The most common size today is 3/4 inch but the size can vary with 5/8 inch and 11/16 inch the next most common sizes.


Casino dice were made of cellulose nitrate, starting around the 1920s, but sometime around the 1950s the manufacturers switched to cellulose acetate which is more durable. Very old casino dice have often started to crystallise and will have turned yellowish around the edges. This crystallisation is caused by age and exposure to moisture and ultra-violet light.  A completely crystallised die will disintegrate if pressure is applied.


Casino dice can be readily bought. However many cheap casino dice are in fact rejects that haven't met the manufacturers standards or used dice that have been cancelled by their casino. Both rejects and used dice will have been defaced in some way.


Manufacturers call rejects culls. These are factory marked with a hot pin in the centre of the 4-spot or hot stamped with a number of 'X' or star symbols or just simply stamped with the word "VOID".  Some manufacturers stamp a gold "O" onto the four spot.


            


Used dice may be bought as souvenirs from many casinos although some refuse to let them go. When a die is taken out of play it will be cancelled. It could be that a hole is drilled through it or a crescent or circle is pressed into one side with a vice.  Sometimes a gold bar is hot stamped on the six-spot.  A sharp pointed metal scribe is often used to press a small shallow mark into a face.  Some older dice were scratched or had a date or initials marked on them.  By state law Atlantic City casinos must drill all the way through their used dice. 


       


If you want true perfect dice then pay the extra for a stick. A stick is a number of dice that are still in their sealed pack as delivered by the manufacturer.




 




 

Tired

Hello everyone!
I had a nice visit with Sister Scorpion today. She lives in Denver and I went to her home after my training finished for the day. We ate pizza, went through hijabs for a clothing closet thing, and just enjoyed each other's company.

And now I am really really tired so I'm going to not say much today. Maybe more tomorrow - hoping to get some work done for the impending garage sale tomorrow night.

Hiker Sam's getting 'round

Check out this pic of Hiker Sam's latest travels taken by his current host:
Castle Rock

Talkin' bout the Weather

Springs is in the heart of 'Hail Alley'




I know talking about the weather is lame, but hail is pretty interesting. As a kid I loved watching it bounce in the yard. We get lots of hail here, relatively speaking, apparently. Memory leads to me think we get hail maybe half a dozen times a year or so....

THE GAZETTE

In Colorado, killer tornadoes, lightning and floods get all the press, but the biggest threat to Front Range residents and, more presicely, to their insurance premiums is hail.

Colorado's Front Range is in the heart of "Hail Alley," receiving the highest frequency of large hail in North America and most of the world, according to the Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association.

Hail causes $1 billion in damage to the nation's crops and property every year. The costliest hailstorm in U.S. history occurred July 1990 in Denver with $625 million in damage. In fact, two weeks ago, a storm in the Denver area caused $146.5 million in damage - the fourth costliest hailstorm in state history.

This week, expect more. Colorado is in the middle hail season. And the National Weather Service forecasts thunderstorms, which produce hail, for the rest of the week.

The insurance industry has a suggestion -- stay inside.

Feeling Stressed

Well, I drove 1 hour and 45 minutes each way to the math training today - four more days to go. The training is good, it is just far away!. And I've got homework to do for it, two graduate papers to write and other graduate stuff to do as well. I have to stop by Laura's house tomorrow, meet Leila Wednesday, and do the garage sale prep stuff Friday night with Derek. I still need to work on my edits for the Islamic text that Sister Soljah is also working on, plus stuff for the webpage she is also working on, and I have some madrasah stuff to look at for a conference on Labor Day weekend also. Feeling stressed because of those graduate papers and the homework and the driving. The rest is usual stuff, but feels like a lot with the other stuff put in there, too.

I got to see Michelle today - she came over to where my training is at for lunch. How great was that! It's been at least a year since we saw each other. She just got back from Yellowstone and Glacier yesterday and now she's off to Iowa tomorrow and she still made time to come see me. So I'm trying to talk her into taking a math position at my school next year. Long drive, though.

I found this picture of me and Michelle from a couple of years ago. She came down to the Springs to look at some stuff at the Space Center. The A&W was offering free floats to compete with another restaurant that just opened and so we thought it would be fun to get a picture. Sorry if the quality isn't great. Pre-digital, you know. :) No idea who the kids are, they were just there. At the Space Center thingy we got these great prints for free. Mine is framed and is my favorite piece of art in my house (although the Van Briggle squirrels are pretty awesome, too). It is signed by the author and one of the astronauts on the mission - it is a rendition of Apollo 16 - the last Apollo mission.



Since I mentioned the squirrels and Apollo 16 I guess I'll show them to you, too. Otherwise I'd be writing a graduate paper right now....



Won the squirrels in a bid on ebay after about a year of trying and getting outbid. I've been trying for about 2 or 3 years to win an 1846 half dime , but no luck there yet. Waaay to expensive.

Um, ok. Maybe I'll get back to "work" now.

Love conquers all?

“Love conquers all things. Let us too surrender to love”. The Eclogues by Virgil (Rome), 70-19 B.C. I've been thinking about this famous saying a lot lately. Basically, I've been pondering its truth, or lack thereof. I think at one time in my life I would have accepted its premise without much thought. Sure, love conquers all things. If you love each other, you can get through anything.

I think that is a nice, romantic notion, but these days I think love is conquerable. Time and time again if we examine the history of our lives and the lives of people throughout the ages, we see examples of its failing. Love isn't enough to live on. Love isn't self-sustaining. Here I mean eros, romantic love. Brotherly love or Love of God - maybe these do have it in them to conquer all things; right now I only mean the love that leads two people, man and woman, to choose to try to make a life together. These days, most people marry for love. But so many marriages fail, so why is that? Did they not really love each other to begin with, or was that love conquered by other things?

Sometimes maybe people mistake a physical attraction for a deeper level of loving and that causes the downfall of the marriage. But more often than not, I think this foolish notion that love is enough for a marriage contributes to its destruction. What is love if there isn't communication, trust, responsibility, work, time, space, thoughtfulness, overlooking faults...? Some may argue that if love is real, these things naturally follow. But maybe they don't come so naturally to some folks. They feel love but for some reason can't live up to its demands. After time, people lose faith in love alone, because it doesn't meet their needs. People have real needs that a feeling alone can't suffice - and I'm not talking about the mundane physical essentials of shelter and sustenance, but emotional needs not satisfied by the feeling of love alone.

Someone can love and yet be distant, and that distance is the conquerer of love.

Distance and time conquer all things - that's a law of entropy, and the only way to delay this conquering is the active struggle against it. Eventually it will get you, too, but if have a strong will to succeed you may out-fight a great many.

People with that will to live, I wonder where that comes from? Is it from fear of death and Afterlife? Is it a sense of unfulfilled purpose? Or something entirely instinctual? If someone is confident of peace waiting for them after this life, would that not affect their will to struggle for life in a life or death situation? I mean, let's say you're stranded in Arctic waters, trying to stay awake and afloat. If you feel that after death, you will be okay, wouldn't you end up letting go sooner than someone who fears death? Or, if you are someone more focused on worldly life, wouldn't you hold on tighter than someone who is not as concerned about the world?

Plannings

Nothing exciting today, really. The nieces and nephew came over again and we did some more caching and they fought about playing computer games on my computer. "It's my turn. Help me! Don't help me! He got to play longer than me! She won't get off and it's my turn now!. I never win. I didn't lose yet so I should get to keep playing." And so on and so on and so on....

Hiker Sam was dropped off at a bug depot because the kids wanted to send him on his way, and he's already been picked up by folks on their way to Idaho and Montana. Yesterday's blog has a link to his webpage if you want to track his travels. I got some travel bug ID's in the mail today so I can make my own travel bugs - four of them. So one day soon, hopefully, I'll get my own travellers ready to hit the road on an adventure.

Derek and Heather and I are planning a garage sale theoretically for next weekend at his house (gets more street traffic than mine). Looking forward to it - I think it could be fun, but it is a bit stressful trying to set something up so it goes well. Then I think another weekend we need to do the Renaissance Festival thing again. :) Mom and I go every year, usually.

Other plannings, trying to work out plans for a vacation for mom and dad that I get to tag along with them on. Probably Four Corners as that has been one of our favorite areas in previous trips, but we'll see. And, my union is gearing up for a trip to a conference in Copper Mountain the last week of July. I enjoy fully-paid conferences via CSEA (the union). Sure, we do lots of work but it is neat to go other places. Last summer, I went to the NEA Representative Assembly in New Orleans for the union. What a great trip! New Orleans is a unique city and even though most of the days were busy with meetings, what I was able to see in New Orleans was amazing. I took the late-night Vampire tour in the French Quarter (we stayed on the edge of the French Quarter on Canal and Chartier). Toured a plantation home. Toured the above-ground graveyards, etc. Ate lots of VERY good food. Then, later that summer when I watched Runaway Jury, almost every scene in the movie that took place on a street somewhere, I could say, "I've been there, I saw that!" Even the restaurants, not the one the jury ate at, I think, but the one where the girl meets Gene Hackman and another one that John Cusack runs through quickly - Court of the Seven Sisters - we ate at those restaurants. That was cool, because rarely do I see a movie that I've actually personally seen the places in it.

Eight Things to Learn

I saw this on a list somewhere and liked it so I thought I would share it here. Allah = God, FYI.

Eight Things to Learn


One time a scholar asked one of his students, "You have spent a long time with me, what have you learned?

He said I learned eight things:

First, I looked to the creation. Everyone has a loved one. When he goes to the grave, he leaves his loved one. Therefore, I made my loved one my good deeds; that way, they will be with me in the grave.

Second, I looked to the verse, 'But as for him who feared to stand before his Lord and restrained his soul from lust,' and, therefore, I struggled against my desires so I could stay obeying Allah.

Third, I saw that if anyone has something with him that is worth something, he will protect it. Then I thought about the verse, 'That which you have is wasted away; and that which is with Allah remains,' therefore, everything worth something with me I devoted to Him so it would be with Him for me.

Fourth, I saw the people seeking wealth, honor and positions and it was not worth anything to me. Then I thought about Allah's words, 'Lo, the noblest of you in the sight of Allah is the most aware of Allah,' so I did my best to become aware of Allah in order to nobility in his sight.

Fifth, I saw the people being jealous towards each other and I looked at the verse, 'We have apportioned among them their livelihood in the life of the world,' so I left jealousy.

Sixth, I saw the people having enmity and I thought about the verse, 'Lo, the devil is an enemy for you, so take him as an enemy,' so I left enmity and I took the Satan as my only enemy.

Seventh, I saw them debasing themselves in search of sustenance and I thought about the verse, 'And there is not a beast in the earth but the sustenance thereof depends on Allah,' so I kept myself busy with my responsibilities toward Him and I left my property with Him.

Eighth, I found them relying on their business, buildings and health and I thought about the verse, 'And whosoever puts his trust in Allah, He will suffice him,' therefore, I put my trust only on Allah.

Team Beatty finds Hiker Sam

This is a picture of my nieces and nephew and one of their pet turtles with Hiker Sam Travel Bug we picked up while geocaching earlier today.




You can see a better picture and the story of Hiker Sam at
his webpage.

And the Skies Opened....

Wow, a few hours of rain here, that's amazing. :) The news says there were some funnel clouds (failed tornadoes) a bit north of here. Had some hail, too. Little hail stones are soooo fun to watch when they bounce in the yard.
I tried to take a few pictures of the rain, but they didn't succeed in showing the impressive accumulation, at least by Colorado standards.




That pretty much nixed my plans to go check on The Buttered Popcorn Cachethat was lost and found. Maybe it'll dry up later before it gets dark, though; we'll see.

As an aside, that phrase, the skies opening up, never worked for me. I suppose it means the skies opened so all the water could pour out of them, but to me, when it rains the skies have closed or become covered because you can't see the sky anymore! Someone told me when it rains it is a good time to pray, so I did. Can't hurt anything.

Finished the Baldrige training. It'll be interesting and perhaps a little fun and definitely a bit stressful to try to implement it this fall.

Leila, I have to drive up to Denver every day next week. Denver School of Arts on Montview. I have to be in training from like 8 to 4, but maybe could visit. I don't think I want to stay up in Denver because I still have graduate school stuff, etc., to do down here.

CQI

Today and tomorrow I am attending district mandated training on
Malcolm Baldrige - also called CQI but I forget what the letters stand for. We're required to use it in our classrooms starting next year and our evaluations will be based on it. Not a bad thing, Malcolm Baldrige; but training in general is typically boring and this is no exception.

After doing that all day, I came home and wrote three papers for graduate school. More excitement!

Have a nice day!

Google Talk

Playing around with Google hacks, I thought this one was kind of fun. I put it on the side bar under the tag board. You type in a few words, hit start, and Google will run a search and spit out the next word it finds, then it will run a new search removing the first word and adding the new word, and continue on and on until you click stop. So it is a bit like Mad-Libs for Google. Enjoy!

The States I've visited

create your own visited states map

Got the idea from Sister Scorpion. I didn't count a few where I was there very briefly while on the way to somewhere else, like half a day in Washington State (Seattle), and an airport in Chicago, IL. Others where I was there only a day or two but they were the primary destination I went ahead and included.

Tamarisk

I like the Tamarisk or SaltCedar tree that originates in the Holy Land, but it is regarded as an evil weed tree that takes over for native plants - it out-competes native flora.

The Tamarisk Problem

They are wispy evergreen (not like a pine) with pinkish flowers that thrive along streambeds. It is a plant native to the Holy Land so it is often mentioned in Biblical sources.





People's favorite and least favorite trees - lots of people don't like Siberian Elm, like me!

There are, of course, other trees I like, too, but I'll save some for another day, insha'allah.

Life and Death at Walmart

I've stayed away from this particular Walmart since I went in there a number of years ago in the middle of day and passed a number of patrons who had the distinct hard-liquor odor permeating from them. Somehow reading this article made me think of that book and made for TV movie about the pregnant teen who was living in a Walmart.

Teen killed after fight in store


By DENNIS HUSPENI - THE GAZETTE


A man shot and killed a 17-year-old inside a Colorado Springs Wal-Mart early Saturday morning after an argument about a woman.

The shooting happened about 1:05 a.m. at the Wal-Mart at 3201 E. Platte Ave.

ReShaun Kurstin Jones of Colorado Springs was taken to Memorial Hospital with a gunshot wound to his abdomen and was pronounced dead at 2:15 a.m.

Police are looking for 19-year-old Jerry Rosas of Colorado Springs, who is wanted on charges of first-degree murder.

Hundreds of shoppers were confused later Saturday morning as they pulled up to the Wal-Mart about 8 a.m., only to be turned away at the door by employees and managers.

Several patrol cars were still in the parking lot, as was the police mobile crime scene truck.

They were gathered near the south entrance of the store, the door closest to the grocery section.

“We’re working several leads and different suspect information,” said Lt. William Lidh. “We do have witnesses.”

Wal-Mart stores use security cameras, and the shooting was caught on tape, a police source said.

Two groups of young men apparently began arguing, and one man pulled a gun and shot Jones, Lidh said.

Police sources said the argument was about the girlfriend of one man.

Rosas is described as a Hispanic male, 5-foot-9-inches tall and weighing about 160 pounds. He has black hair and brown eyes. Detectives issued a warrant for his arrest Saturday, alleging first-degree murder.

Officers served a search warrant at Rosas’ house, in the 2400 block of Parker Street, near Interstate 25 and Fillmore Street, on Saturday afternoon, but he was not there.

Rosas, who goes by the street name “Dopey,” has been arrested numerous times in recent years. The charges include harassment, domestic violence, larceny, theft, parole violations and being a fugitive from justice, according to Colorado Bureau of Investigation records.

An assistant store manager refused to comment about the shooting, store security measures or the inconvenience to customers.

The store opened for business again just before 11 a.m. Saturday.

Travelers staying in the parking lot in their recreational vehicles reported seeing plenty of lights from police cars and hearing the police helicopter overhead.

Corporate Wal-Mart spokesman Bill Wertz said he had been notified of the shooting but could offer no details.

“We do have security provisions in place,” Wertz said. “The safety of our customers is the highest priority for us.”

Wertz would not discuss any crime problems with that particular store.

Colorado Springs police Saturday could not provide a record of the number or type of calls for service to the location.

The Guardian Angels volunteer crime watch group has recently begun patrolling the east Platte Avenue area because of residents’ concerns about increased crime.

The Wal-Mart shooting was the second in the area in one day.

An employee at The Citadel mall was slightly injured Friday when he was hit by a bullet fragment after a single shot was fired during an argument in the mall parking.

He was not involved in the fight.

The Wal-Mart killing was the city’s ninth homicide this year.

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0110 or

dhuspeni@gazette.com

Elms

DESCRIPTION

Just to let you know I'm not the only one not particularly fond of this tree. It is just that Siberian Elm is one of my least favorite trees. What's your favorite?

Tree Chopping

Spent the day with mom, basically. Had breakfast and dinner with her. She brought over this cool tree limb-cutting tool and we cut on some of my trees - particularly the white pine because its branches were becoming enmeshed with the powerline. But then it was fun to keep going - cut off some dead parts of lilac bushes, cherry bushes and cut down various little weed trees - Elm (I have this thing against Elms. They are just so weedy!)

We saw Harry Potter Prisoner of Azkaban this evening. It was good - I liked it better than the second movie. I loved the cool map in this one - they always have such neat little gadgets and spells that I would've dreamt up and dreamt about as a child. Or even now, a little bit. :)

There is some other news going on, but I'll hold off writing anything until I know more about it, or rather, until it actually happens, because one never knows until then, right?

Got an e-mail yesterday and today from a blast from the past. One of the first Muslims I knew - a PhD student from Saudi Arabia and his wife. He somehow tracked down my e-mail and sent a letter from Saudi. That was soooo cool. I like hearing from old friends now and then - people come in and out of your life and you think about them and wonder what they're up to. It is nice to know they do the same and to actually find one another sometimes.

Whew!

Man I'm tired. Still working on the house all day, going through the closets, hauling stuff out to the shed. I can't believe how much clothes and books have been in this house - I thought I had already weeded it out, but there was still tons. Pared down a few more boxes of books and several bags of clothes. One of the closets had all of M's stuff that I had unpacked for him - he had left everything packed when he came here - stacks of boxes and bags, and I had put it all away after he left so the room could actually be used. That was really sucky going through his stuff. But, it went out to the shed, too; I only want stuff in the house that I'm using. He had about $20 in there - that didn't go to the shed. One box of stuff I might mail to him - it is just so expensive to mail stuff overseas and I'm BROKE right now. The two bedrooms are finished, and I've done parts of the other rooms. So I think maybe one more day, at most two to finish the whole house. Insha'allah.

Cable guy came today (not Jim Carrey). Squirrels were chewing on the line and that might have been causing problems with my internet connection. Yumm, apparently they love that power zap! I have Broadband. Very happy with it, generally speaking. Always on, doesn't take up a phone line, and it is fast. It seems that about once a year, though, I end up with intermittent connectivity - apparently from things like cable-eating-squirrels. So he replaced some of the cable out in the alley and gave me a better modem.

Mom gets the day off tomorrow for the Reagan stuff. Cool for her. She came to walk around the track with me today like she does every Thursday. She started talking about how it would be great if I took off the scarf and went out and met new guys, etc. I just told her that wasn't going to happen.

Already slacking on the Qur'an reading. Gotta get on that.

BAAAAAD!

Okay, I was bad today. No housework. I was up really late, until after fajr. I just couldn't sleep. So I didn't get up until nearly 11 am, and then mom invited me to go out to lunch with her. We met at a place near Sears in the region-formerly-known-as-Southgate. (That's what I'll probably always call it - Shops at the Broadmoor or whatever it is now just seems a shot at snobbery to increase economic earning potential, if you ask me.) For those of you who don't know this area, Southgate has been there forever, and was kind of showing its age. But Sears is the place for everything, so it always did good business. The Broadmoor is the hoity-toity old money neighborhood on the Southwest side of town. So putting Broadmoor in the name of the refurbished shopping center is an attempt to upscale it.

Anyway, the place is called Xtreme pizza and they have good vegetarian pizzas. Actually, great vegetarian pizzas. I'm sure the meat ones are good, too, but I wouldn't know. So we had lunch, then I came home and I've done nothing since. Watched some Discovery Channel home and garden shoes, cat-napped, ate too many cookies, wrote some short assignments for graduate school - but no progress on the cleaning. Tomorrow, insha'allah. I want it done, but I had other issues on my mind today. Crummy issues.

So I think I'll continue to do nothing tonight, try to check in early and get to work tomorrow, hopefully.

BTW, you probably have noticed a few additions to the blog - a tag board, a mood icon, and a couple of trackers. Fun stuff I saw on other people's blogs and then decided to go grab the code for myself. Leila, I just wasn't interested in the terrorist level. It's always Bert. What about poor Ernie?

Progress?

Um, the house looks worse today than yesterday but really I am getting some things done. It is just going through everything requires getting it out, right? I know you just moved Derek, but you wouldn't need to have a garage sale would you? I don't want to do on by myself for some reason. But I'd like to make a few dollars on some of this stuff if possible rather than just giving it to Goodwill and letting them make the money on it. Also, I found a video that goes with the elliptical trainer - I think it is a workout/how to use me video.

Leila, I have a bag full of Islamic-type clothes ready to go; I know it wasn't ready on Sunday. And I have soooo many books but even the used book stores don't want all of them.

I barbecued today on my grill for lunch! That was coool and it was fast! I grilled halal hotdogs and corn. Yum. I have a paper due in four hours (by midnight) that I haven't even thought about yet. My mind is so totally not on school right now. I think I'll try to go get that one started.

Hot

Already in the 90's and low 100's. I hope some rain comes in and we don't have another drought, fire-ridden summer, insha'allah.

Cleaning, Sort of

Just cleaning/organizing today. Spent most of the day going through the closets. I'm hoping to have a garage sale later this summer with a friend or family member. Clothes mostly I'll not try to sell, though. Other stuff for selling, I think. I'm in the mood to get rid of stuff that I'm not using. I've inherited all the stuff the parents no longer use and some from my brother and friends and old stuff of mine, too. My house is small, so it would be better not to have it all.

Somehow I twisted my knee in my sleep the other night, so it seems. It just hurt when I woke up. I've never had knee problems before. Its the right knee on the inside - one of those side ligaments I think - the MCL? Hopefully it'll feel better soon, insha'allah.

I'm working on my new goal of reading a page or so of Arabic Qur'an a day. I figure that's the only way I'll ever get better at it. I am comparing it with a transliteration. I also need a tape player so I can listen to a slow recitation for the rhythm and details of pronunciation. But if I can read it at a decent pace by practicing without the tape, then my thinking is I'll be able to follow with a tape better later as they're all a bit fast. Unless I'm really mucked up in the pronunciation. What do you think?

Ohh, Carol, so sorry about Game 7..... I was rooting for your team.

Irrelevant side note (not that any of this is particularly relevant to anything) - I thought I saw someone out of the corner of my eye today in the spare bedroom - someone wearing a whitish-gray hooded cloak. Of course once you really look no one is there. Once in awhile I see movements out of the side of my vision but not very often. Just thought it might be interesting to discuss if any of you ever see things like that. My mom insists she sees pets that died. I'm not a believer in ghosts. But I think there are other possibilities. Anyway, I am really comfortable in my house, it has a very nice homey feeling, alhumdooleluh.

I did a lot of blogging this weekend

Sorry if you don't like to read that much!

Thoughts on the death of a President

From God we come and to Him we return. All of us, great or small. No matter what we believe or what we do in life.

In his letter announcing his affliction with Alzheimer's in 1994, Ronald Reagan wrote, "I will now begin the journey that will lead me into the sunset of my life. I know that for America there will always be a bright dawn ahead." He knew that, as Qur'an says, "Whomsoever We grant long life, We reverse him in creation making him go back to weakness after strength. Do they not understand?" (36:68) As powerful a man as he became, arguably the most politically powerful man in the world for nearly a decade, he remained powerless against the inevitability of the destiny of all men. His worldly power was absolutely useless when it comes to what really matters - the ultimate fate of a soul.

In the Bible, it is written that Jesus (as) said that it is harder for a rich (powerful) man to enter heaven than it is for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. I think that the point was intended to be that worldly riches and power are distractors from the reality of the Hereafter and our preparations for it. Besides, when you have more power, you also bear greater responsibility. I cannot imagine the burden of being a world ruler and holding the welfare, dignity, and lives and millions under the influence of even the most seemingly minute decision that I might make. It is bad enough being a teacher worrying about that any word I might say or not say, or even any slight look I might make or not make could influence a child in ways I cannot possibly predict but that never the less I bear some responsibility for.


However, someone has to lead sometime, right? If good people don't stand up for the job, someone else gets it. I think good people fear the responsibility and its consequences. However, I think the responsibility is there whether we step up to accept it or not. We need to step up more than we do, and at the same time hold as tight as we can to the rope of God.

Certainly I think it is possible for leaders to be righteous individuals - but for most, that is true when the leadership role was not something that they actively pursued but that befell them. The pursuit of worldly power, it seems, is usually at the cost of the pursuit of righteousness. Self-deception occurs - most leaders believe themselves to be basically good. I am convinced George W. Bush thinks he is a righteous leader. We have to justify our actions and their effects and we can become really good at doing so, rather than holding them to a superior standard of morality outside of ourselves.

The decline of Ronald Reagan and his death are reminders to us all that we all meet the same fate and when that time comes, we run out of opportunity to influence our ultimate fates. We don't know the appointed time at which we we will be called, so every moment must be understood as being potentially our last opportunity to leave our mark on the world - good or bad, significant or insignificant.

I can't see how Mr. Reagan could really believe himself when he wrote that America always will have a bright dawn ahead. "They are those, among the nations of jinn and men who have passed away before them, against whom is proved the sentence; verily they are ever the losers. To all are assigned ranks according to what they have done, so that He may recompense their deeds and no injustice will be done to them." (Qur'an 46:18-19) The reality of history is that every nation, great or small, falls. The Roman Empire was so great for so long, and it fell, too.

Prosperous nations work so hard for that prosperity but ultimately it is their downfall. Because with prosperity comes corruption and weakness - the people become soft and adopt vices they wouldn't have had the luxury to think about in tougher times, perhaps. And I think they fall into the dangerous thinking that prosperity means approval of God. You know, the Manifest Destiny and Divine Providence thinking. America's into that big time.

Just as for people, when a nation is a leader and knows greatness, it also bears that much harder of a path to maintain righteousness and that greater responsibility as well. National pride these days is practically a religion - a dogma that one is not permitted to question. True patriotism demands questioning - demands holding accountable.

Like this whole post 9/11 nonsense. Ashcroft justifying imprisonment of innocents or people guilty of minor Visa infractions indefinitely is so wrong and they justify it for security reasons. Benjamin Franklin said “He who gives up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserves neither liberty nor safety.” Yet isn't that exactly what the Bush administration has been doing, and at the cost of harming innocent people?

So, from God we come and to Him we return and what we do in the middle is up to us. We'd better not forget where we came from and where we're going.

Colorado Springs - The Military City

Quite a turn out for the parade, I heard. Well, this is a military town. Fort Carson is just huge and bounds the city on the south. On the West, bounded by NORAD. North, the Air Force Academy. And East, Peterson AFB and a few other smaller AFB's and space command stuff. That's probably why the housing market has slowed down so much - with so many soldiers in Iraq, the economy slowed quite a bit. Of course, Bush's other policies had nothing additional to do with that.....

People always ask me if living in a military town is hard when you're a practicing Muslim and the war in Iraq going on. I've actually experienced no incidents with military personnel or their families. I have no idea what they think. Instead, I see the impact in my students with their fathers, mothers or sometimes both, or other family overseas at war. They worry, of course. And when they come back it is equally difficult. Many of them come back with mental problems over what they did and what they experienced and it is hard to transition back into family life - their family often is really needy - lots of repairs waiting for them, lots of financial issues, emotional issues, and so on - waiting for their attention, so they don't really get a "breaK". Lots of marriages break up when they come back, and it is hard on the students.

Springs streets fill for troops’ homecoming

By JEREMY MEYER and SHANNON HOUGHTON


Tens of thousands of people filled downtown sidewalks Saturday morning, bellowing “thank you,” waving American flags and cheering for troops marching in Colorado Springs’ Welcome Home Parade.

Residents turned out en masse to celebrate its servicemen and women. Organizers estimated 80,000 people lined the streets for the two-hour parade through the heart of downtown.

Spectators wore red-white-and-blue hats, ribbons, shirts and pants. They carried signs for the troops, cried and cheered wildly as each squadron marched by.

The parade under brilliant blue skies featured 6,500 troops, mostly Fort Carson soldiers who fought in Iraq and returned this year. They undoubtedly were the stars of the show, getting wild ovations along every block.

More than 10,000 Fort Carson soldiers were sent to Iraq, and 44 died there.

The parade was appreciated.

“It was awesome,” said Sgt. Daniel Stull of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment. “It was a great experience to have this done for us. It’s probably something I’ll end up telling my grandchildren about.”

The soldiers, dressed in fatigues, marched the 16-block route down Tejon Street and up Cascade Avenue.

The procession included more than 100 groups, including floats, community organizations, tanks, marching bands, country music bands, highschool cheerleaders and Girl Scouts. Planes, jets and helicopters flew overhead.

The event was the nation’s largest welcome home parade so far.

Soldiers began lining up about 9 a.m. for the 10 a.m. start.

Lt. Col. Robert Douthit of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment gave them instructions beforehand.

“I told them they would enjoy this more than they thought and to remember that this is for them,” he said.

Air Force Capt. Adam Huhn, 28, of Columbus, Ohio, didn’t go to Iraq but marched in the parade and offered his praise to his brothers and sisters in arms.

“You look at these guys, and you know they’ve been through a lot,” he said. “You take for granted what we have in the U.S.”

Uschi Markin wiped away tears as soldiers walked by.

In 1948, Markin escaped from communist-ruled East Germany and started her life anew in the West.

The parade gave her a chance to thank the U.S. soldiers and celebrate her freedom.

“I just appreciate them,” she said. “I think the American people don’t know what they have over here, the freedom.”

Mac Cicak, who served in the Vietnam War, stood at attention as each squadron passed.

He saluted and gruffly yelled, “Thank you,” to the soldiers.

“I hope these guys feel a welcome that the Vietnam vets and others did not get,” he said.

Watching the parade, he kept asking himself, “Did we all look that young?”

Gail Ethier of Colorado Springs got shivers every time the soldiers passed.

“Look at them — they’re so cute and young,” she said.

Cub Scouts from Pack 256 gathered under a sidewalk tree and worked on an assignment for their Citizen Activity Badge.

Mitchell Wilder, 9, wrote that being a good citizen meant respecting the flag and appreciating other people — not bullying them.

“I just think, I salute them,” he said, as his father, Navy Cmdr. Tom Wilder, patted his shoulder.

Air Force Senior Airman Jessica Deniger took care of her daughter while her husband marched.

Cpl. David Deniger, an Army soldier, returned from Iraq in April. The couple alternates participating in parades so one can watch the baby.

“It fills your heart to see so many people out celebrating,” Jessica Deniger said.

Gina Di Nolan screamed when her husband’s squadron marched by her spot on Cascade Avenue. She later cried when she tried to explain her enthusiasm.

“This is very heart-warming,” she said. “They all deserve it. I’m glad we are recognizing them. I suffer for them because no one understands what they go through, but this will help them realize they were appreciated.”

The event also generated a sense of community in some.

Retired Air Force Master Sgt. Lisa Wampler and Janet Romanos, both 46 and friends for 30 years, sat in a row of red-white-and-blue-striped lawn chairs.

“(The event) is about going out and being around people in Colorado Springs,” Wampler said. “There’s still that hometown feeling that you’re part of a community, part of America.”

Lt. Col. Tom Budzyna, Fort Carson spokesman, said the parade set the standard for the rest of the country.

“Talk to these guys 40 or 50 years later, they’ll be saying: ‘You know, Colorado Springs really treated us well.’”


Copyright 2004, The Gazette, a division of Freedom Colorado Information. All rights reserved.

My backyard and house

I'm playing with the picture thing. So here is a picture of my backyard



Here's the front of my house.

Picture of me with Carol's wonderful kids

Trying to figure out picture publishing; Carole sent this to me. So, Leila, here's a pic from Vancouver if all works out. :)

Welcome Home Troops Parade

Well today in lovely Colorado Springs, there is a parade for all the troops coming back from Iraq. They are saying 12,000 local troops have served in Iraq - about half are marching in the parade. It's on TV right now, more than 7000 spectators cheering and waving flags like crazy while the different squadrons march by in their desert camouflage fatigues. I think I'll avoid downtown today.

House stuff

I'm working on cleaning house, it is going slooowly. I need to fix the vacuum, there is bird seed everywhere. The vacuum cleaner is used and at some point it had a lousy wiring repair job with electrical tape. I need to get some wire nuts and sit down and try to fix it once and for all, soon.

The new fridge came today. The old one was falling apart; the door wouldn't stay closed all the way, the ice and water quit working, etc. The delivery men wouldn't hook up the water line because it is made of plastic and their insurance demands that it be copper. The plastic ones are more likely to leak. I know that from experience. My water line broke a few years ago underneath the house and leaked all over the place down there. Being under the house, I didn't notice it immediately and what a mess it made and what a waste of water. So anyway, I hooked it up myself - owner's manuals help a lot with that kind of stuff. The fridge itself is very nice. But one down side I hadn't anticipated. I couldn't afford a side-by-side, so I got a top-bottom one. I knew it would fit in the provided area. However, I didn't think that by having one door instead of the two, I would need more clearance for opening the door all the way. Well, when you don't think you pay, right? The freezer door opens all the way but the refrigerator door only opens about half way before hitting the stove. There isn't a way I can rearrange things to fix the problem, so it'll just have to stay as is, I think. It isn't terrible; I just wish the door opened from the right instead of the left, because then it would open into the kitchen. As it is, it opens into the hallway, away from the kitchen.

I'm trying to drain the waterbed. I am at the point where it is not flowing on its own anymore but is still too heavy to fold, so I don't have a solution to that one yet. But I've got to get it taken care of today because my mattress is supposed to go in its place tomorrow, insha'allah. Gee, I hope it really fits like it is supposed to.

It is feeling pretty strange today being alone again after my trip. I keep feeling ansy. I tried probably half a dozen times now to call Mohamed to let him know I'm back. His cell is ringing but there's no answer, no matter what time. I tried to call around all his prayer times. I guess I'll try again some other time.

I'm Back

I made it back home. Took the rain with me, it looks like.

Very nice trip. I think I should move there if things work out right. Maybe in a year or two, insha'allah. Yesterday Fatema invited the Montessori ladies over for a great picnic lunch and we talked about education while the kids played. Later, we planted some fruit trees in the back yard. Last night, I met another convert, Brother Andy. He had a cowboy drawl; he and his wife were of course wonderful people.

I am trying to remember what I forgot to post from the day before, if anything. I think I didn't post yet that after leaving Tahera's I spent the night again with Carol. She came to the picnic lunch with me and then we said our goodbyes.

I have a lot of work to do right now; I have to set up my next grad courses and get started on them and I have a lot of house cleaning and stuff to do. Sorry, Leila, I didn't take any pictures.

Almost time to go home

Tomorrow early I am scheduled to go back to Colorado. I always feel pretty lonely after leaving here until I get reacclimated to being at home. I have a lot to do there so that will probably help.

Monday I spent the day with Taki Uncle and Auntie Razia at their Condo. Shaykh Hejazi's wife came for lunchh with Razia and me. It was a nice, calm day. Razia made this nice wheat and lemon soup. Razia gave me a pair of jeans, a blouse, and a gold bracelet and Taki gave me a few books.

Yesterday I visited with lots of people. Fatemah Hasnain Dewji took me out for coffee in the morning in Steveston - a little harbor village. Then, Fatmema Zehra took me and her girls ice skating while Mustafa had his lessons. We played hockey - it was very fun but boy did my feet hurt from those skates by the time we were finished. Then I had dinner with Taherabhai Kassamali. She is a very very nice lady. She gave me a few books and perfume. I got to see the Islamic academy she and her husband Shaykh Hasnain are running. Carol picked me up from there and I stayed the night with her. She gave me a scarf to go with my pink jelbab; today I am wearing it but with my red one.

If you haven't noticed, the hospitality of my friends here is wonderful, masha'allah. I am not allowed to pay for anything myself and they go out of their way to make me at home, masha'allah.

Later today I have to give my speech; insha'allah I'll talk about that later sometime, maybe after I'm back.