Government Agreement Reached – What Does This Mean For Military?

By: Rachel Ostrander

Friday night, about 30 minutes before we all entered our next stage of panic, Speaker Boehner announced that a deal had been reached and that a budget deal had been struck. But as I look through the page of over 1,000,000 supporters on Facebook’s Ensuring Pay for Military 2011, I can see that many are still unsure as to what is going on. I am going to attempt to break it down so that it’s more easily understood and focus only on what military families need to know:

• First of all, they passed a 7th extension that goes until midnight Friday (meaning Thursday night), this is known as a band-aid or stop-gap and the reason for this is that they could not put their agreement into writing before midnight last night. All federal employees will be paid and it will be business as usual so you will get your full check next Friday, but it might come in the form of two checks, each being half of your pay so if your mypay looks different, don’t worry just yet. On the mypay site it says the following:
  

  Notice: All military and reservists will receive full pay on April 15 for duty served. Expect to see more than one deposit into your account, so be sure to look closely at your deposits. Again, all payments will be deposited on April 15.

• The outline of a deal that would take us through the rest of our fiscal year (6 months) has been agreed upon with handshakes and such, but it won’t be on paper until sometime next week. The House will consider it starting Monday, with a vote on Wednesday. The Senate will take up the bill sometime after that. Though it seems this has already been agreed upon by all, as both sides gave in to a lot and the cuts in spending are huge, it is still possible that we could find ourselves on the brink of another shutdown if they decide they don’t like the deal. That makes it a little scary, however, I know enough about politicians to know that no one wants to commit political suicide by being the one person to cause a shutdown and it seems that the majority has already said its a done deal. So as long as no one decides to change their mind at the last minute, the military men and women should be paid their normal amounts without interruption.

If you want more of the finer details, go to the following link: http://www.cnn.com/2011/POLITICS/04/09/congress.budget/index.html?hpt=T1 . My attempt here is to simplify this for those military men and women who are looking for answers, not explain the agreement in full.

All this being said, we can live comfortably for now but we have to be proactive in continuing to get our voices heard. We can’t just consider this to be the end of the fight because whether it’s in 6 days or 6 months the budget will be an issue again. My suggestion is that we stay committed to making daily phone calls and sending daily emails in these next 6 days and then make your calls and emails weekly after that. We really need for a bill to be passed that ensures that this will never happen again, one that does not have a million riders attached to it. The group of people wanting pay for military regardless of a shutdown is 1,370,000 strong. Together, those are voices that cannot be ignored. Don’t wait for the next government shutdown to happen. Tell them that you want them to pass a bill that protects the pay of our military men and women. Here’s the links. Use them and use them often!

http://www.contactingthecongress.org/

Contact the United States Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121. A switchboard operator will connect you directly with the Senate office you request.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact

For those who want more information on the Bills that are currently in the House and Senate:

There are actually 2 bills in session HR 1297 & S 724. Everyone should:
1.Check if your Representative is already a co-sponsor of HR 1297(the House bill): http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d112%3AHR01297:@@@P
2.Check if your Senators are a co-sponsor of S724: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d112%3ASN00724:@@@P
If they are not and you can’t think of what to say or write,
3.Go to MOAA’s site for a sample letter (you can even send both letters to your Reps/Senators straght from there) http://capwiz.com/moaa/issues/alert/?alertid=40639516

To follow the bills, use the following:

HR 1297 – http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h112-1297
and S 724 –
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s112-724

In addition, even I am guilty of not being ready for this. My husband and I are going to sit down with a USAA rep and discuss our finances so that we have a plan and more savings built in case this ever happens again. It is clear that the politicians are willing to use our military men and women as a pawn in their game of political chess and we want to be prepared for next time. Over the past few days, I have spoken to many military families, young and old, with children and without, who did not have a plan. Our savings would’ve only gotten us through a month or two before we felt the effect as well. So let’s all be proactive about planning for our financial future as well. I know it’s not easy to put money aside when you are just getting by, but meeting with a USAA rep can help you and your family to find a way to be more prepared if and when there is a next time.

https://www.usaa.com/inet/pages/financial_planning_main

**Just to clarify, this link has not been created by the same person that created the Facebook page, though we support the same cause, getting the military paid regardless of any government shutdowns. Hope linked this blog to the Facebook page in hopes that I could help you to understand what the agreement that was reached on Friday means for military. Thanks for your support!

Government Shutdown = Military Family Shutdown

By: Rachel Ostrander

It’s been awhile since I’ve written. Moving, finding a new job, and settling into a new area are my various excuses for not blogging as much as I would like to. It’s funny, as I look at my excuses I realize that they all are related to my being a military wife. And now the government wants to thank my husband and I by cutting his paycheck until the politicians can reach an agreement on things that have nothing to do with the military. Sadly, his LES already reflects it, paying him only through today.

When I first met my husband I was committed to never dating, never mind marrying, a man in the military. I am a needy person and I didn’t think that I could ever deal with the deployments, the moving around, and the knowledge that his commitment to the Air Force would play a huge role in our relationship. However, as they say, you can’t help who you fall in love with and I fell madly in love with a man that is committed to our country. So for the past 4 years I have endured the moves, the deployments, the military dictating our life, and I’ve done it all without complaint. But today, as a government shutdown looms and with it comes a freeze on military pay, I grow more frustrated with the way that our military is treated and the idea that our Congress views the lives of the men and women in the military and their families as a pawn in their game of chess. I’m angry, I’m frustrated, and I’m disappointed that we are all so undervalued.

My husband and I don’t have children, both work full-time jobs (I am a teacher so I have my own career), we have savings, and yet if they take their time with this and the shutdown lasts too long, we will end up in a financial hole. I can’t imagine the impact that this will have on military families with one working spouse and children. Regardless of back pay, we have bills to pay now. No one is going to wait for rent, and our excellent credit will go down the tubes. So back pay doesn’t exactly make up for no pay. Even more unsettling is the idea that my husband may have to work 12 hour days to make up for the civilian jobs that will be furloughed. How long can our military men and women work for no pay?

Clearly Congress has never dealt with the stress of PTSD and the impact that it has on a family. Add to that stress the idea of not being able to feed your family and the morale of the troops will be completely shattered. How can you expect men and women to protect their country when they can’t take care of their families and have to worry about whether they will be able to put a roof over their heads or food on the table. This is real, it is less than 24 hours away, and it affects the lives of over a million people. They better plan on mandatory drafting soon, because there won’t be anyone standing in line to join our military, and those in, will be getting out as soon as they can.

This is a horrific way to thank these men and women for putting their lives on the line. My husband served 13 months in Iraq, and a number of other deployments that meant time apart for us. Every day my husband was in Iraq, he put his life on the line, and watched others lose their lives in an effort to support their country. This is a slap in the face to all serving Americans and their families and our Congress should be ashamed of themselves.

I have watched the fight on Facebook as a group supporting a bill to ensure pay for our military grew from 100,000 last night to 690,000 less than 12 hours later. People are upset that you are playing with people’s lives. It’s not a party issue, it’s a humanity issue, and something has to be done NOW. To join the more than half a million, go to the following link: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=208173649210797#!/event.php?eid=208173649210797

For those of you that want to write to your Congress, use this link www.contactingthecongress.org/ or the numbers below. I have included below the letter that I have sent to all of my senators and representatives, our voices must be heard TODAY.

Call the White House and leave a message! (202)456-1414 9am-6pm

U.S. House of Representatives (202) 224-3121

Dear Mr. Warner,

I am writing in regards to the government shutdown. I am an educated, full-time teacher who is also a military wife. Our two-person family just barely gets by on the income of my husband and I. My husband has served 13 years with the United States Air Force and has made a number of sacrifices for our country, including a 13 month deployment to Iraq, which he voluntarily went on to support his country. As a military wife I too have made sacrifices. One thing I did not ever expect to be faced with is the idea of my husband not being paid and our two-person family trying to live off of one income. At a time when our troops are stretched to their limit while we assist other countries as they face difficult times, it seems our Congress believes that military families should make the sacrifice of working for no pay while they sort their issues out. I do not see the crisis that military families will be faced with as a democratic or republican issue, rather I see it as one of humanity. We are lucky enough to have two incomes, and just barely getting by on that. A government shutdown that denies the military their pay would leave us without enough money for basic needs. Regardless of the idea that the pay would be retroactive, the stress it will cause is unbearable. Many military spouses already deal with the stress that comes from the PTSD that affects so many of our military men and women. It is unfair that we should be faced with the stress of living without the most basic needs required for survival, and even more unfair to expect the military men and women in our country to continue to support their country for zero pay. Even in times of drafting, military men and women were compensated. Please support the many military men and women and their spouses by coming to an agreement on government spending, one that will support the military that provides a blanket of freedom for the same country that you represent.

Thank you for your time.

Smoking is Bad For You: A Surprise to the Impressionable

Warning: Rant written below. May cause high blood pressure if you don’t agree with it. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

The other day I was watching a movie and was flabbergasted at what happened just before it began: On the screen before me was a warning, one that informed me that actors would be smoking in the film (gasp) and that cigarettes are in fact an unhealthy habit and could cause me cancer (another, much more shocked gasp).

Wait, what’s this? A surgeon general warning for movies? Am I the last person on earth to see this or did this just start happening?

Now, let me say for the record that I have never been one to be opposed to warning labels (where would we be without the skeleton and crossbones representing poison?). In fact, I was actually a smoker when the surgeon general added those big warnings to the side of a cigarette pack and I could’ve cared less. I already knew that cigarettes were bad for me and was well on my way to quitting at the time anyway, so putting on a label didn’t really make a difference to me. It’s not like they were adding interesting reading like the joke on a laffy taffy or finding the Indian on my tootsie roll pop wrapper so it wasn’t going to change what I was doing in any way, shape, or form. It’s not like smokers spend a lot of time reading those labels over and over with deep thoughts about the warning. I know they should, but let’s face it, they don’t.

The problem that I have with this warning, which was clearly wasting my time before my film, aside from the fact that it took more time than the FBI piracy warning, is the fact that this is what it has come to: our society has gotten to the point where we refuse to take the blame for anything, even those things that are blatanly obvious (like smoking causes cancer) and as a result, we are beginning to need warnings for EVERYTHING. We seem to be willing to claim ignorance on anything if it means we can sue the crap out of someone for our own indiscretions. I don’t believe for a minute that anyone is dumb enough to need to be warned that smoking is unhealthy, even if George Clooney IN CHARACTER is doing it. We cannot claim to be so ignorant and impressionable. What’s next, a warning label on soda or potato chips? How many people develop diabetes because they are eating too much junk? Are we going to start suing Lays because they told us “No one can eat just one?” Americans have become so “sue happy” that I can’t even enjoy my movie without being flashed a surgeon general warning before I watch it because a CHARACTER IN A MOVIE will be smoking. I know that young minds are impressionable, but you don’t see the police giving tickets to their adult parents smoking in the car with them while the windows are rolled up, do you?

The problem is that this could become the Pandora’s Box for warnings in the entertainment industry. Someone is doing lines of cocaine in the move? Warning needed. There are guns in the movie? Warning needed. This documentary shows a man eating McDonald’s just to see how out of shape he can get? Warning needed. TV shows are already 20 minutes long with commercials, what happens when they begin to need 5 minutes of warnings prior to airing too? I am going to spend more time fast forwarding than watching an actual show.

We are not this stupid. We can’t pretend we are either. We are dumbing ourselves down by the minute. I am all for making bad choices, as long as you can assume responsibilty for your actions and I don’t have to pay for your indiscretions.

Warning: Blogger about to consume alcohol. Alcohol, when consumed in large amounts, can cause liver disease. Consume in small amounts and you will be fine, especially if you are drinking wine If you consume in small amounts and you aren’t fine, you’ve probably missed a warning label on something else. Talk to the surgeon general.

Scenes From The American Idol Season Finale

It’s official. I was sucked into another season of American Idol and saw it through until the end, if for no other reason than to hear one last season of Simon’s brutal honesty, which I love.

And I officially backed Lee DeWyze for most of the way, though I have to channel my inner Simon Cowell and admit that I am less than excited by his rendition of “Beautiful Day”. I mean, who really wants to fill Bono’s shoes? Better yet, is there really anyone who can? Anyway, despite the fact that the first release from Lee will be less than stellar, I exercised my right to vote and stood pretty faithful to Lee. (ok, ok, I voted for Crystal a few times too because I couldn’t decide).

So tonight, for the season finale, Idol found yet another way to make it a 2 hour (yawn) season finale. 2 hours? Really? I have to stay up late again for Idol? You better give me some damn good entertainment and not just a bunch of Ford and Coca-Cola commercials. Well, I have to say, I am satisfied. Not satisfied like I just ate a melt in your mouth filet mignon, but more in a had a really good burger kinda way.

The two hours was filled with plenty of well-known acts. However,  a number of them were sub par (I’m talking to you Hall and Oats, Alice Cooper, Alanis Morisette (am I the only one who had issue with the way Crystal Bowersox said her name when she introduced her?).  Surprisingly, I thought Casey James and Bret Michaels were a great duo singing Every Rose Has It’s Thorn, and I feel I have to give credit to Bret Michaels, as he’s showing he’s definitely a fighter. There were also a good share of past Idol performers and winners, with Carrie Underwood far exceeding the rest, mirroring her successful career thus far. Dane Cook’s ditty about Simon Cowell was enjoyable until an American Idol reject clearly seized the moment to steal the mic away and talk about how much more talented he is than Cowell, though I am quite sure that a comparison of the bank accounts of each would argue otherwise.

And now, I can’t not mention the Pants On The Ground Performance….Oh General Larry Platt, how you entertain me! It was a tad ridiculous until….wait, who is that? Is that William Hung? Wait, are the dancers’ pants on the ground? That is fifteen shades of comedy right there. Good for American Idol for not taking itself too seriously. Speaking of not taking themselves too seriously, crazy Paula was back and her goodbye to Simon was actually endearing, though I would’ve been more satisfied if she came out and sang “Opposites Attract” with the rapping cartoon cat AKA MC Skat Kat.  And for the record, I am all for Paula’s return next year. I love you Ellen, but it’s just not a fit. We want our crazy Paula back. Hey Paula!

But the highlight, for me, was most certainly the performance of Christina Aguilera. As someone who has always believed that she had lasting power and pure vocal talent, I couldn’t help but be excited for her return and she most certainly did not disappoint. Her performance and look was quite reminiscent of Cabaret and I couldn’t help but wish she would all of a sudden sing “Life is a Cabaret old chum, come to the Cabaret”…but although this wish was not granted, her new song You Lost Me appeared to be coming from the heart, and at one point she even appeared to be tearing up. Her voice was powerful and controlled, and Christina Aguilera showed that she is very much still in the game. I anxiously anticipate the release of her new CD.

I actually felt bad that Janet Jackson still had to perform after Christina, but Janet attempted to do her thing too during Nasty. But something felt a little slow about her performance, like it was a little lazy or maybe Janet is just getting a little old. And I do wonder if Cher is aware that Janet borrowed a jumpsuit from her closet.

Doesn’t matter, Christina holds the torch tonight for sure.

And as the end came near, what better than a little “Help From My Friends” with a trio of Joe Cocker, Crystal Bowersox, and Lee Dewyze? Of course, there was a huge sense of satisfaction but zero element of surprise when a commercial break later Lee was announced as this season’s winner. I am happy for him (and for all that hard work that I did text messaging) and I think he truly appreciates the opportunities that will be laid out before him. I believe that he is extremely talented and I look forward to seeing him grow as an artist. I see good things in the future for him, really, really wonderful things and I think that, as the person he has shown himself to be on Idol, he most definitely deserves it.

Now I must contemplate Simon’s replacement…who can save the show? One thought comes to mind…Jeff Lewis from Bravo’s Flipping Out, but I’ve got more thinking to do before I can commit to that suggestion…

Goodbye Simon. Goodbye for now Idol. Good luck Lee DeWyze.

Dear American Idol,

You know what viewers could’ve done a long time ago? Spotted talent. This has turned in to a total waste of a season. You should’ve done yourself a favor and just had a surprise double elimination tonight…think of the media coverage you would receive for totally screwing over Casey, who is obviously going home next week anyway. You don’t need to be Simon Cowell to spot the fact that there are only two people coming out of this with a promising career (Crystal and Lee for anyone still in the dark). Let’s get this over with already and get down to the real competition.

Still Rooting for Lee (unless you are in Australia, where “rooting” takes on a whole new meaning),

Rachel

Media Justifying Racial Slurs?

So I am about to go to bed this evening when the local Fox News (not to be confused with FOX News, which I do not watch) comes on and I hear “Seattle Police Make Racial Slurs During Arrest” so I set the remote down, and listen in to yet another frustrating story.

The newscaster goes on to explain that the Seattle Police, while detaining (not arresting) a Hispanic male, say to him, “I will beat the f”"”ing p”ss” out of you homey”  and two officers proceed to kick him at separate times. But this isn’t what I am blogging about, because you can see that part on the video above. It’s what the newscaster says next that really got to me (and to be clear the video above does not show clips from the actual newscaster I saw this evening). He says, “But what people upset about this don’t know, is what happened before the police officer said the racially charged statement.” So I am thinking…are they just reporting on what happened before the incident or…

Wait. Hold on…are they about to attempt to justify the use of a “racial slur”?

More importantly, did I just write “justify a racial slur”, as if there were an actual justification for using racial slurs?

Well, that’s exactly what Mr. Newscaster tried to do. He explained the story, and how the person they were looking for had pulled a machete on a  man in a parking lot and they had detained “suspicious males” in the area (which means they were Mexican) and were questioning them (as they lay on the ground with their hands behind their back).

Let me be clear and say that I do not believe anyone should have a machete pulled on them…But does this give justification for using racial slurs? Aren’t police officers hired to protect and serve and be an example to the community? How is yelling racial slurs going to help them to do their job? I am rather sick of hearing “They said this, but they had a good reason.” In my opinion, there is never a time that it’s necessary to use racial slurs, because it’s saying that being racist is ok sometimes in certain situations. This is a slippery slope that cannot be acceptable. How many years has it taken to fix our issues of race and discrimination with more work still to be done? First Arizona makes racial profiling acceptable and now you can detain a Mexican American and yell slurs at them as long as they might have committed a crime? So basically, innocent until proven guilty, but assumed guilty and treated like crap while being detained or arrested? Come on America, we must be smarter than this. Stop making justifications for people in positions of power and start holding all Americans to the same standards. If they don’t like it, they can leave. There are plenty of unemployed Americans looking for work. I am sure you won’t have trouble finding replacements.

Are you ready for the kicker to all this?  The victim, after watching the video of the incident, said that the man who was detained, kicked, and had racial slurs yelled at him had nothing to do with the incident and he isn’t sure why the man was detained at all, other than the fact that he was also Hispanic.

Lovely. (sense deep sarcasm here)

VW iPod Adapter: The Good, The Bad, & The Completely Frustrating

Recently, I bought a brand new VW Jetta. One of the perks of the model I bought is that it has a built-in iPod Adapter in the center console, which I was very excited to use since my husband had just bought an iPod Touch for me and I had spent weeks uploading my 500+ CDs to it so I could listen to all my tunes.

So I get home from the dealership, grab my iPod Touch and get ready to go for a ride. I drop it in to the little holder, wait for my Veruca Salt CD (stuck in the 90’s, stop judging me), and I hear nothing. I also get this annoying little message across my screen that says “No Magazine”, which helps me zero since I don’t know what a magazine is, unless it has Vogue or Conde Nast Traveler on the front of it. I spend two hours in the parking lot reading the manual and trying to play around with it to make it work to no avail. More than a little disappointed, I decide to drive to the dealership to ask them about it, knowing I won’t be able to explain it over the phone, which will only cause me to become more frustrated.

When I get to the dealership, I have three different guys attempting to make my iPod work. Apparently I am the first one to buy a VW and own an iPod touch or perhaps someone failed to tell this dealership what I would learn after all three of their attempts failed: the wonderful VW iPod adapter doesn’t work with an iPod Touch.

Enter my sadness and extreme frustration.  I spent endless hours google-searching ways around this only to find that many others have encountered this problem with zero solution. It seemed that I would have to go back to CDs, except that now I was fully committed to using this damn adapter. After a little more research, I found that this adapter was not a total loss but it would mean I would have to part with the iPod touch and get a classic iPod instead, which was actually ok because it holds more songs and I have a pretty extensive CD collection. My husband was happy to hear that he would get the Touch as I invested in a classic that would enable me to access my music library from one little gadget whenever I drive.

I created this blog not because I think a whole bunch of people want to hear my story about the adapter, but because it took me hours of research to find out the ins and outs of the adapter, even after I finally had one that worked. So below is an attempt to guide you through the ins and outs of using the adapter once you have an iPod that actually works with the adapter.

1) You can only have 5 playlists and whichever 5 playlists show at the top of your iTunes library playlists are going to be the 5 that you have access to. This can be accessed by clicking the 1-5 buttons on your radio. You can keep as many songs on each playlist as you like. And if you don’t want to listen to the songs on your playlist in the same order every time, just hit the Mix button on your radio and *poof* problem solved.

2) I know what you are thinking….”Shouldn’t there be 6 playlists since there are 6 selection buttons on my radio?” Well yes, there should, but the sixth one is actually the best one because it’s the most useful. Another question you might have is “How can I play just one CD or song instead of a playlist?” After much digging and playing around with my own system, I can answer both. I hope I can make this all clear…

The 6 button is the default button to your entire library. So if you plug in your iPod and immediately choose one of your  5 playlists and then hit the 6 button, you will end up hearing the first song in your library (unless you have your “Mix” button selected, which I strongly suggest for a more random selection).

BUT the 6 button can is also your key to listening to what you want to hear. If you get in your car and you want to hear 311, just select 311 (choose the artist…if you select just one song it will play the song over and over and if you choose one album it will only play that album over and over so choosing by artist is your best bet) and hit play BEFORE you put the iPod in the adapter. This goes for playlists too. All you have to do is select it and hit play before you plug in the iPod and it will default to your selection 6. The drawbacks are that if you change from that to one of your playlists and go back, it will default back to your entire library, which is a tad annoying. Also, unplugging your iPod and selecting a new song then replugging it in is not advisable when driving, so choose something you are in the mood for.

It’s not the best system and I definitely expected a lot more (like a way to select all songs and artists through the radio buttons and not through the actual iPod) but hopefully this information will be useful to someone else out there and save them the time that I spent searching for these answers.  Feel free to send questions my way. I am far from an expert, but I will help in any way I can!