minxybaby

I read this news article last week and it really touched me. I think everyone should read this and smile. It will give your day a boost. :) (This is local news.)

Three year old saves brother's life

( Full text of the article under cut )

I heard this on the radio this evening on my way to work. I tried to google and came up with nothing. Well, the story is finally online.

Gang members raped pregnant woman (story link)
police: Two men arrested, two others being sought for repeated sexual assaults over two-day period

This disturbs me because last week a woman killed a pregnant woman and cut the fetus from her womb. Then she drowned the pregnant woman's other 3 children and stuffed them in the washer and dryer. (story link)

I'm half temped to google "fetus snatching" and see when the latest online news source reported it because it happens far too often too.

I am reading news articles on Corporal Boneca, the latest Canadian to be killed in Afghanistan. This one hit close to home because he's from my home town, Thunder Bay. He was a reservist who volunteered to go to Afghanistan for a second time.

I was on shift when Cpl Boneca died. I knew all the details, and didn't plan on reading what the media had to say. I wasn't even going to post about it. There are too many people losing their lives in the Middle East. But, I was chatting with my mom and she mentioned that the media is saying he wanted out of Afghanistan.

So I googled, and what I found is really sad. The media is saying he hated it over there and was considering lying to a padre about being suicidal so that he would be discharged.

The father of his girlfriend is saying that he wasn't trained properly and wasn't prepared for what he was up against. That really pissed me off. He was a reservist with 4 years in (that explains why I don't know him; I left T Bay almost 5 years ago). Our military is given the same training standards across the board whether you are a full-time reservist, a part-time reservist, or a member of the regular force. With 4 years in, you can bet that most of those 4 years were spent on courses and doing drills and exercises. Having been overseas myself, I know that you have to go through a month of mission training before you are deployed. My mission training was detailed. They had experts come in and give classes on the cultures we would meet overseas. They even went into the types of dangerous bugs and animals we might encounter. Oh there was more than that, including mine training, weapons training (on weapons we'd come across, not ones we'd use), etc.

With Cpl Boneca being a reservist, that means he ASKED to go. We get missions offered to us, but unless you request it (put paperwork in to your boss), you aren't going anywhere. They said that this was his second time in Afghanistan. I know that we have upped our role over there, and we are more active than before, but he should have had SOME idea of what he was volunteering for. If he had seen the news at any point since his return from his first mission, he would've known that things are more intense. Given that he was an infantry soldier, he knew what his role would be, and that it was a dangerous one.

I am pissed because the girlfriend's father really shouldn't be saying such bullshit unless he attended training with Cpl Boneca and knows for a a fact that he wasn't trained properly. I am pissed because the girlfriend's father is trying to portray Cpl Boneca as a naive young man. I am upset that the media is making Cpl Boneca look unprofessional when he should be honoured for giving his life for his country.

I don't doubt that Cpl Boneca was depressed and wanted to go home. My mission wasn't nearly as dangerous as his, and I was depressed as hell. Every time I called home I'd say "I cannot wait until I go home. Only xx days left." There is nothing wrong with being miserable when you are so far from home, eating strange foods, being thrown in with different cultures, and being separated from your loved ones. And maybe after a few months Cpl Boneca doubted his purpose in Afghanistan, that's ok too. I don't think he was naive and misled or under trained like they are trying to make everyone believe.

Cpl Boneca should be honoured for the job he did on his mission. Saying anything else about him is disrespectful.

al-Zarqawi killed

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed overnight in an operation by U.S. Special Operations Forces, U.S. military officials told NBC News on Thursday.

ABC News reported that he was killed in a U.S. air attack on a house in Baghdad.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was expected to make an important announcement at a news conference in Baghdad on Thursday, one of his advisers said.

Al-Maliki adviser Adnan al-Kazimi told The Associated Press that he had heard a report that Jordanian terrorism mastermind al-Zarqawi may have been killed late Wednesday in Baghdad.

Al-Kazimi said he could not confirm the report. He said al-Maliki was scheduled to shortly give a news conference along with the top U.S. general in Iraq, Gen. George Casey.

Editor's note: This is a breaking news story. Please check back for more details.

I've decided how I want to spend part of my two weeks off. It came up in a few comments, and I'm really excited now. I want to paint some of the rooms in the house. We've lived here for 2 years and the house still has most of the paint from the old owners. All we've done so far is the kitchen, family room, and office. I'd like to at least do the dining room and living room, and maybe the downstairs bathroom. That would cover the main floor. I'd like to do the master bedroom and our ensuite soon 'cause that's where we spend the most amount of time. We did pick out some colours a few months back. I hope I can locate those swatches.

Work is going not so well, and quite slow. I'm coming up to just over the half-way mark now. Funny, I've had this window open since 8:11pm, but haven't had a chance to type anything out till now. In reference to my post on Afghanistan, it has just been released that Master Corporal Wilson, who was injured in the LAV III rollover, has died from his injuries. (I am unable to find a photo of him at this moment.) My thoughts go out to his family.

I hate driving home when I'm so tired like this. I also hate that when I get to the front door the cats are begging me for food and the dog has to go pee... when all I want to do is crawl into bed. I almost want to stay up so that I can enjoy my first day off. But I know that there's no chance in that happening; I'll be exhausted.

I was doing random blog searches and found a couple interesting things. One blog contained quite a bit of information on someone, and I was surprised they'd divulge so much over the internet. He was a soldier, and when I looked up the name he gave in our military address book, sure enough there he was! I know I give personal info on here, but usually only under private entries. Moving onto the next thing I found... Have you ever done a blog search on your own journal, or done a random blog search, and noticed that you can read part of a protected post? I saw a couple live journals in my searches, and when I clicked the entry link I was denied access, but from the search page I saw a good bit of info from the post. I told my husband about this, and he said he heard that there's a way that someone can view your entire locked post if they wanted. Apparently there is a hole in live journal, so your posts aren't as protected as you might think. I'd like to find out more on this.

Maybe now that it's slowed down again, I'll get a chance to catch up on some LJ reading. I can't wait for this night to be over.

On the way home from work I went to the McDonald's drive-thru to pick up supper.

minxy_baby *pulls up to the speaker and rolls down window to hear*
McDonalds employee: Just a second please.
minxy_baby: *freezes in car with window down*
*1 minute later*
McDonalds employee: Hi, may I take your order?
minxy_baby: I'll get the crispy McChicken meal.
McDonalds employee: With a coke?
minxy_baby: No, diet coke, please.
McDonalds employee: Is that for here or to go?
minxy_baby: Say whaaaaa?
minxy_baby: Hello?
*another minute later*
minxy_baby: Ummmmm?
minxy_baby *still freezing*
minxy_baby: Can you tell me how much I owe, please?
McDonalds employee: That's $6.92 at the second window.

Hey, well at least she got my order right!


Hubby showed this story that he got off one of his most frequented sites, BoingBoing. The guy made an updated post. I understand why he didn't post the names or phone number, but man, if I knew that this family lived in my city, I'd call them daily and probably pay them a visit. *scowl* I hope he gets his camera back.


I lynched this from mslesa. Just a word of caution: make sure you're not drinking something when you click the link. Turn up your speakers to hear teh funny!

EDIT:
My husband showed me this on Valentines Day. Actually, he started describing it to me and I was LOL'ing so bad that he had to show me. I had to go find the link again. Here it is. Enjoy!

Lee Valley Tools is a big name in Canada. They produce woodworking and gardening tools and distribute their products worldwide through mail-order. In 1998, Leonard Lee, owner of Lee Valley Tools, founded the branch Canica to work closely with Ottawa doctors to design instruments to meet the ergonomic and safety needs of the hospitals in Canada and the US.

Mr. Lee has taken action against Canada Post with a full page newspaper ad in Wednesday’s Ottawa Citizen. He has correspondence, and the history of problems going back to December 2003, documented on his website. If you have a few minutes, it’s a very interesting read. Mr. Lee is very well spoken, and does not beat around the bush.

I hope something good comes out of this publicity. I always thought Canada Post overcharged. We send 2 – 3 medium parcels out for the Christmas holidays every year and it costs us about $100 for postage. Mailing a small package of cookies to the US costs $20. At their price you’d expect prompt delivery, but half the time the mail is late.

Down with overcharging!

I found a couple articles (CFRA local & Ottawa Sun) on the incident that occurred Friday in my neighbourhood. As I feared, a 16 year old biker was hit by a truck. I didn't see the truck pulled over, but it says the accident happened at 4:30pm, and it was 7:30pm when we drove by. Thankfully, it wasn't a hit & run as my husband thought it might be. I would have felt better if I saw the truck pulled over, but now I am a relieved that it was just an accident. Both articles say the boy's injuries are critical, but the Sun reports it's not life-threatening. The 55 year old driver of the truck was not injured, and the police say alcohol was not involved. This intersection is about a 20 minute walk (or 3 minute drive) from my house.

I never heard about this one:
A 45-year-old male cyclist was struck and killed near the same intersection almost two months ago.
We seem to be in the news far too often.