A few of FR's Finest....Every Day...05-06-03...A Lesson in Chinese

Billie; FreeTheHostages | Profile written by FreeTheHostages

[Billie]

A Few of FR's Finest.....
......Every Day

FR is a Treasure Trove of talented, compassionate, patriotic, wonderful people who gather every day to discuss the latest news and issues; salute and support our military and our leaders;  tell a few jokes;  learn a new word;  write poetry;  pray for those in need;  and congratulate those who are deserving. Thank you, Jim Robinson, for giving us the vehicle in which we can express ourselves.

Free Republic made its debut in September, 1996, and the forum was added in early 1997.   I can remember lurking when there were only a few regulars who posted, and now there are over 60,000 who have registered for posting privileges. The forum is read daily by tens of thousands of concerned citizens and patriots from all around the country and the world.

A Few of FR's Finest November 11, 2001

So many people have written me since my original Veteran's Day Tribute, asking how they, or a loved one, could be included in that tribute. Since I can no longer add the photos to the body of the thread, I've been including them in additional posts as I received enough to make another collage.

Still that doesn't seem to be enough. I think there's never been a better nor more appropriate time to keep the faces of our own Veterans and Active Military in front of FReepers--every day! That's why I wanted to do yet another Daily Thread .....ABOUT FReepers .....and FOR FReepers. But not only about our Military FReepers; for all FReepers! Wouldn't it be nice to get to know a few of the other FReepers as well? That's why, in addition to seeing FR's Finest Military Personnel every day, I thought it might be fun to feature a different FReeper (or FReepers) each day. If you would like to be pictured, or know someone who would, please FReepmail me and we'll turn the spotlight - on YOU - for the day!

And do let me know if you'd like your picture added to the groups of Veterans/Active Military below. I will keep this page updated, and continue to add them to the comment section of the original Veteran's Day thread as well.

TOP:  g'nad, AgThorn's son Justin, SLB, AgThorn's son Brett.
MIDDLE:  fish70, razorback-bert, CheneyChick,Leroy S Mort, Mark17.
BOTTOM:  Terry's Take, Taxman, DinkyDau.

TOP:  ValerieUSA's son Grant, SK1Thurman, kd5cts, RangerVetNam,
dansangel and .45man's son-in-law Tony
BOTTOM:  rangerX, Old China Hand, Trish, Howlin's dad, Mustang

TOP: ohioWfan's son, MamaBear's father-in-law, MamaBear's dad, ladtx
MIDDLE:  The Mayor's niece, M.Kehoe, Beach_Babe's son-in-law
BOTTOM:  deadhead's dad, HiJinx, Severa's hubby, viligantcitizen's granddad.

TOP:  spectr17, RightOnline, SERE_Doc, Tet68.
MIDDLE:  FutureSnakeEater, RightOnline's wife, CIApilot, Clamper1797
BOTTOM:  usmcobra, onedoug, DiverDave, Joe6-pack

We now have eleven groups of veterans/active military; we will post each group of three or four twice a week, with thumbnail/links of the remaining seven or eight groups on each thread. Click on any of the thumbnails below to see the group full-size.

         

GROUP 1A: TOP: Logos, SwedeGirl's hubby, Neil E Wright, FallGuy, 1John, Sneakypete MIDDLE:  T'wit, COB1, LadyX, Dick Bachert, 68-69TonkinGulfYatchClub BOTTOM:  YankeeinSC, Delta21, JoeSixPack1

GROUP 2A: TOP:  Bosniajmc, AFVetGal, Archy, A Navy Vet MIDDLE:  4TheFlag, Aeronaut, 68Grunt, Xinga BOTTOM:  Codger, AAABest, Clinton's A Liar, Duke809, dcwusmc

GROUP 3A: TOP:  mc5cents, Norb2569, LBGA's son, VanJenerette MIDDLE:  Jim Robinson, KJenerette, davidosborne, KG9Kid BOTTOM:  gwmoore, Equality7-2521, SAMWolf

GROUP 4A: TOP:  porgygirl, Phil V., MudPuppy, NorCoGOP MIDDLE:  RaceBannon, OneidaM, rdb3, jwTexian BOTTOM:  USMC Vet, TheMayor, Vineyard, rhododogma

      

GROUP 9A: TOP: Q6-God, Scan59, Mama Bear and JKPhoto's son, ofMagog. MIDDLE:  Big'ol_freeper, JustAmy's great uncle, Prodigal Son. BOTTOM:  JustAmy's husband, JustAmy's brother-in-law, JustAmy's brother.

GROUP 10A: TOP: dakine's wife, MeeknMing's dad, Auntbee's nephew, MilitiaMan7, AlasBabylon. BOTTOM:  Joe Brower, Temple Owl, Temple Owl's wife, dutchess' dad, Aomagrat.

GROUP 11A: TOP: ladtx #2 son; DiverDave's twin Don; petuniasevan and husband poorman; Mustard; ladtx #1 son. BOTTOM: AlamoGirl's brother Floyd; AG's dad; AG's brother Jim (inset); WVNan's husband; ladtx' Aunt Eva.

                     

A Lesson in Chinese by FreeTheHostages

Exit148 (Jo-Ann) has "just always been a conservative." Her life has been a series of these passionate adventures: China, the children, Freeping, the husband, pediatric nurse, campaign work. As Jo-Anne puts it, "I'm always doing something." Among her many passions, Jo-Ann has always had an interest in China, Chinese culture, and Chinese cooking. Come, let's learn a few lessons in Chinese with Exit148.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Can you guess what this symbol means? Here's a hint: it's what Exit148 is speaking at the most recent White House Media Correspondents Freep when she holds up this sign.

This photo is also one of the few of photos anyone
has of her actually sitting down. That's the truth.

The above Chinese character means "Truth." Which is what Exit148 speaks when she attends many Freeps, both as a part of the Tri-State Chapter (New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut), and also during her many "short four-and-a-half hour drives" to the DC area to join us DC Freepers.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Exit148 is an expert cook. She's taught all four of her children Chinese cooking and she's taught Chinese cooking for 35 years. But this multi-faceted lady also knows the recipes of the American Left. Can you guess which dish she is serving in this photograph?

What is Jo-Ann serving? Hint: Peter Arnett, Tim Robbins, Michael Moore and many others earned this well-deserved meal as recipients of the DC Chapter of Free Republic's Garafalo award.

Why yes, the Chinese character above means "Crow." Jo-Ann knows that the American Left eats crow. Quite regularly, in fact. Excellent, you're obviously getting the hang of this game. Let's try a harder one.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jo-Ann's husband is a lawyer ("one of the honest ones") and her three sons and one daughter have all made her proud. Her husband and three of her four kids went to the University of Virginia. (The fourth studied "Marine Technology" at Florida Tech, a special school where he could learn what he had to help Dennis O'Connor regain the America's Cup from the Aussies! Cool.) But although Jo-Ann's a very cool person, that calligraphic doesn't mean "cool." It has to do with what you can learn not so much at the University of Virginia as in the School of Hard Knocks.

She joined Free Republic right after "Monica Lewinsky," finding it on the link off the Drudge report. She can remember exactly what happened. She yelled downstairs to her husband: "Jim, you should see this place!" It was like finding her "people" on line. Then and there, "the addiction started." For a while the computer remained upstairs, but the force of the Free Republic was great. Eventually she had to get a snazzy new computer and put it right near her kitchen, so if some news happens, she can "log on to Free Republic and read all the news details that will show up in the main stream press a few days later."

What did she garner, what did she gain, by joining Free Republic and moving the computer into the middle of her domestic life? No, no, you wise acres, the Chinese character shown above does NOT mean "divorce." LOL! In fact, her husband is very supportive of her Free Republic time. Her husband Jim often starts his day with an inch-thick printout of material Jo-Ann has given him to peruse over his morning coffee! (Jim sometimes accompanies her to DC Freeps, although she's yet to persuade him to hold a sign. Or trick him into holding a sign: she tried asking him to hold a sign while she feigned tying her shoes, and then grabbed her camera to try to get a shot of him, but he was too fast for her! Tricky, those lawyer types, but Jo-Ann'll outfox him sooner or later.)

The character above means "Wisdom"; that's what Jo-Ann gets for all her Freeping and life experience. (Thanks for sharing Jo-Ann with us, Jim.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Life's been a bit of a blur for her, as evidenced by her comment, regarding Free Republic, that she wonders what her life was like before it! But as this character indicates, she doesn't just sit by her computer all day. See if you can guess from these hints what this Chinese character represents:

• Hint One: Jo-Ann's Freeper name is inspired by one of her sons, who turned in a college paper for his aeronautical engineering thesis by signing his name followed by the honorific title "Exit148 off the Parkway" – her family's exit off the Garden State Parkway in New Jersey. But she travels to DC and NY freeps often. She worked as a pediatric nurse in Miami, Boston, and New York before she got married and started "raising my own pediatric ward!"
  
  
• Hint two: Exit148's always had an interest in China. She first went to China in 1984, and she's been back repeatedly since. She's been fascinated on return trips to see China becoming more a "part of the world." Nowadays there are no more Mao jackets. People have walkmans and cellphones. (In China, a tour guide in a quiet moment pleaded for Exit148 to tell her what really happened at Tianamen Square, explaining she wanted Exit148 to tell her because "I don't trust my government.") Jo-Ann's twice been to Beijing to study Mandarin and knows enough to "get by."
  
  
• Hint three: Jo-Ann often makes the four-and-a-half-hour jaunt from Exit148 to DC, and in fact attended the last White House Freep of Clinton. Traveling down to DC so often for the White House Freeps, Jo-Ann realized how many Chinese tourists came through the White House. She would "watch for the visitors as they'd come out of the White House, and their faces would light up" as they read her signs. They would come over and want to have their photographs taken with Jo-Ann. She decided to communicate with them, to great success!

Exit148 holding a sign that says "Clinton/Gore Lies"

Hmm, picking your Freeper name based on a highway exit, repeated trips to China, and many car rides down to DC to Freep. What do these three hints have in common? Jo-Ann's a traveler. That's the Chinese character for "Traveler."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Exit148's first Freep was when Clinton went to see the Lion King. There were pro-Clinton protestors there too. The press was there, cameras were flashing, and she felt "kinda funny" holding up a sign. The next day, she called her son in "the city," as New Jerseyites call the Big Bad Apple. She asked him if he had heard about it and said, "Guess what?" Pause. He said, in a tone of disbelief, "You weren't. You didn't." She said, "Yup."

So these are your clues. She's not afraid of what her children think, she's three times travelled up and down the Yangtze River, she's gone far off the beaten path observing the hardworking people of China, and she Freeps in New York and D.C. even when the leftists come out. The word pictured above is: "Brave."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nine grandchildren. She met her two newly-adopted grandchildren - two lovely sisters - this past weekend (congratulations!). Yet she looks so young. Jo-Ann explains: "That's 'cause I'm outdoors in the fresh air in DC all the time!" Hmm, DC air quality's not known to have that effect.

Speaking of looking good, here she is at CPAC with Brett Schundler, the Republican candidate for New Jersey Governor in 2000.

Exit148 was on staff on his campaign, the gal Friday for the campaign manager. She worked 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, for months. The way that Democratic Governor is behaving, Brett Schundler's looking real good right now. (He certainly is! YUM!)

Those are your hints. What does Exit148 keeping young by Freeping and campaigning for Brett Schundler have in common? "Beauty." On the inside and the out.

Exit148...

Today's Finest Freeper!

THIS WEEK'S THREADS 05-05-03 Cinco de Mayo

Opinions by our own 'King of Ping' The guy's good, folks!

Thanks, Mixer!

1) Click on the graphic to open the Calendar.
2) Once there you can click on any month and even click to the right to go into next year. Once you are in the month that you joined FR you will need to click on the number in the calendar and then an add item screen will come up.
3) In the next box enter your name in the "Calendar Text" field and then click on submit.
4) If any of the screens fail to load simply click on refresh in your browser and that will usually fix it.
5) If all else fails or simply if you want me to do this for you send me a FReepmail and I will gladly do it for you. ~Mixer

[Exit148]

WHERE do you find these beautiful (and inspiring) sayings?

Mao's little red book? Forget that! He is more like to say: "People of the world--unite!" He does say: "Liberalism is extremely harmful in a revolutionary collective:!!

[Billie]

Cute! What an expression on that first face!

[GailA]

Congrats Exit148

[Exit148]

"So, Jo-Ann, have you shown Jim this thread yet? What will he say when he reads it? Will he suspect everyone's been drinking too much of the Chinese wine?"

He's gonna say ----- "??THESE?? are the people you hang around with????" LOL!

[Exit148]

HeeHee! your #270 looks as tho he's been tippling San Bian Bu Jiu!

[GailA]

[LadyX]

Well, dansy - - MY area has been under Tornado Watch several hours, and 'will be until 8 p.m.

"Something" is generating a lot of lightning and thunder is rumbling closer as I speak, so I will sign off for a while !!!

Later, troops - - -

[Exit148]

Love that cat in the SARS slide show! Some entrepreneur can make millions with 'fashion masks'!!

[dansangel]

Godspeed, ((((((LadyX)))))))))

[Exit148]

You would think that I would be eating Chinese tonight!

Not so -----My visiting daughter has requested Lamb Curry, and since she's here with her two adorable, newly adopted daughters (sisters ages 3 1/2 and 5) and wants them to 'experience' a curry, that is what we'll have. And besides, that is probably my daughter's fave! ( But --I think I will sneak a little soy sauce on my rice!)

[nicmarlo]

your #270 looks as tho he's been tippling San Bian Bu Jiu!

YOU would know better than I, lol! : )

[dutchess]

[FreeTheHostages]

A lot of them are attributed to confucius. It's all on www.chinapage.com, and then you click on quotes. There's lots of them. :) I figured you'd like 'em.

[Exit148]

I want to thank you for a perfect day! It was above and beyond what I expected. I was immersed in so many beautiful pictures and calligraphy, ----- and kind words not only from the Master, but from Freeper friends. Thank you so much! (I didn't talk/read politics all day! LOL!)

Wo Ai Nimen! Quandou shi tebiede ren! (You are all pretty special people. I love you all)

(my painstaking transfer of Chinese characters wouldn't transfer, so you all will just have to read the abc stuff.)

[grantswank]

MC CARTHY. . .CLASS CLOWN OR TROUBLE MAKER?


Joe was a bad boy masking as an angel. He posed as politically cleansing
the nation while all the while ruining others' lives. It must have given
him perverse glee to go to bed at night, knowing he had trounced on another
mortal's existence.

Senator Joseph McCarthy. What a hoot. Now his scribing is made public -
after 50 years of being secret.

McCarthy took people's reputations to twist them in the winds of the
American flag waving in a spring's breeze. He popped up a name and, bleep,
it was finished. One of them was Aaron Copland, composer. When Joe accused
him of subversive action, Aaron responded that he had no interest in
politics for he was given to musical creations. But when Joe brought up a
name, finis.

He claimed a ream of personages in government bureaucracies, the State
Department in particular, as well the Voice of America, the Government
Printing Office and Army Signal Corps, were Communists.

It was in an era when suspicion was fact. Communism was The Threat to
democracy. Therefore, anyone aligned with it had to be wiped out. McCarthy
was The Man to see the political cleansing through to its final chapter.

Raymond Kaplan, engineer for Voice of America, was accused of being a
Commie. He wasn't. Nevertheless, the pressure got so great that he told his
wife and son in a note that he could not take it any longer. He tossed
himself under a moving truck on March 5, 1953. It was outside the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Over and done - Mr. Kaplan. Blood on
McCarthy's hands. But did he care? No. He was seeing through the cleansing.

Kaplan scratched this on notepaper: "I have never done anything that I
consider wrong but I can't take the pressure upon my shoulders any more."
The End.

Margaret Chase Smith, Senator from Maine, wrote against McCarthy. She said:
"Those of us who shout the loudest about Americanism in making character
assassinations are all too frequently those who, by our own words and acts,
ignore some of the basic principles of Americanism - the right to
criticize; the right to hold unpopular beliefs; the right to protest; the
right of independent thought.

"The exercise of these rights should not cost one single American citizen
his reputation or his right to a livelihood, nor should he be in danger of
losing his reputation or livelihood merely because he happens to know
someone who holds unpopular beliefs. Who of us doesn't? Otherwise none of
us could call our souls our own."

On the Senate floor Smith said, "As a United States Senator, I am not proud
of the way in which the Senate has been made a publicity platform for
irresponsible sensationalism. Whether it be a criminal prosecution in court
or a character prosecution in the Senate, there is little practical
distinction when the life of a person has been ruined."

Eventually Joe was censured. His hold on America's democratic mind was
broken. In 1957 he died at age 47.

In the meantime, Joe cruelly laid to rest many innocent reputations. May
his ilk never rise again.

[grantswank]

KIDNAPPED BY U.S. LAW KEERERS?

J. Grant Swank, Jr.

What would you do if you were driving your family through a state within the Union, only to have law enforcement officers scoop up your children, take them away from you, accusing you, the parent, of abuse?

Brian and Ruth Christine, college graduates, simple living folk, were driving the family through Oregon. They stopped along the way in Grants Pass. While there they visited the neighborhood library. And that’s when the nuthouse tragic turn exploded in front of their futures.

Ruth was from England, Brian from Indiana. They considered themselves a happy family. Brian, wanting to be the best husband and father possible, became involved in Promise Keepers, a Christian organization. He was also a long time Eagle Scout.

Being born again believers, they do not drink alcohol nor misuse drugs. They attempt to live a godly example before their children.

While in the library, two law officers approached Brian. They told him that they were having to examine the children. They had received an anonymous call that said their children were dehydrated. With that, the parents were taken back to their vehicle and thus began hell on earth.

Brian inquired about his civil rights. The officer took offense at that. Therefore, the children were taken away, the parents hauled into court, and one travesty after another leveled against this family on vacation in Oregon.
The start was in May 2000.

The children were taken away by a Services to Children and Families Agent who claimed the girls were dehydrated and malnourished. Further, Ruth was told that her unborn baby, when born, would have to be handed over to the agent as well.

The local newspaper splashed the situation across the pages with the horrific twist that Brian and Ruth were unfit parents. These two adults have no criminal records. They have never been accused of being psychologically unfit. They have always paid their bills on time. Yet now they are accused by the media and government as mother and father not capable of caring for their own.

Along this hellish journey, there has been nothing but the ‘good-ol-boy’ system set in place throughout the attorneys, doctors, clergy, KKK and others within the community. They stick together for they have discovered unfit parents and they are going to make them pay — big time.

Out of fear, Ruth fled the state to give birth. Brian stayed behind to fight for the return of his children.

To this date, Brian and Ruth are still victims of this injustice. Today, Brian and Ruth sit in prison, defended by an honorable lawyer, they are the victims of an ambitious character assassin, Atty. Rick Wesenberg, and the system that lets him run wild. Their lives have been ruined, their daughters taken away and little or no hope of ever being reunited with them in this life.
And this Happened in America...

Years ago, my teen son was in trouble. So he was seated in a police station. I stood in the room alongside him. When the police officer completed some of his paper work, I had some questions. I started to ask the officer my queries. He did not like me wanting answers to a few questions so he started yelling at me.

I stood my legal ground, asking why it was that I could not ask questions and get answers. With that, he moved into the hallway, continued to raise his voice at me, informing me that if I did not keep my mouth shut, he would arrest me for the weekend.

Other officers on duty gathered behind the screaming policeman and laughed heartily at me, a well-known pastor in town, being at the end of the officer’s mocking stick. I was shocked, humiliated and enraged. Yet I dared not speak one more word.

That night has haunted me for years. I cannot let go of it.

Even though I wrote a letter to the head of the department, complaining of the mistreatment leveled against me, the police corps banded together as one against me. I had not a chance. There was no other recourse but for me to live with the injustice.

I then thought of others who have endured far greater injustices. And now I come upon one of those situations in the lives of Brian and his wife and three daughters. So I relate to you the goings-on that continue to go on in one corner of our democracy or another. Because of what happened to me on a small scale, I can cry through the night on what is occurring to the Christine family.

I can fully believe it. I can fully understand. I can fully sympathize and weep.

____________________

Reprint from VIOdaily.com and MichNews.com

[WVNan]

Billie, I'm so glad you spotlighted Jo-Ann. I remember her first trip to D.C. for a freep. I don't know why I recall it so vividly unless it's because she or someone was reporting in from the road and that was the first time I realized how special Free Republic was and how powerful it would become. Imagine.....we could share our lives with each other from all over the world. Think, thousands of reporters giving us a front row seat on history around the world. I love the Chinese angle, because I am fascinated by things Chinese also. Don't think I could learn the language though. Hebrew was not so bad, but those Chinese characters look very difficult. I'm impressed that anyone could learn them. Good job sweetie.

[Billie]

Seems I always see you as I'm coming back to say goodnight. Someday you'll hopefully be back to see us when the sun is still shining. :)

Jo-Ann's was wonderful to illustrate - and Free always makes her writeups so interesting and fun to work with, too. I loved the Chinese theme, too!

Goodness, I couldn't learn the language - nor Hebrew either!

So good to see you at least when I came back to say goodnight. Will do that in a separate post.

Hope your weather is not threatening - so many of our dear FRiends are in terrible thunderstorms, tornado watches, etc.

Goodnight, Nan. Thank you.

[Billie]

Goodnight, and thanks to all for another nice day at the Finest.

[WVNan]

Congratulations on being "The Finest of the Finest" Exit. I've followed your career with interest for years. I knew that you knew some Chinese, but I didn't know that you had been to China. Yours is an interesting profile, and you have reason to feel proud of all your accomplishments....especially your family.