http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20090818/cm_csm/yfreiberg

Above is a link to an article that has to do with the health care debate. You should read it. ANd if you support the public option, you should call you congressperson and let them know that you don't want the President to cave in and take the Public Option off the table. The health insurance industry wants Congress to pass legislation under the guise of "healthcare reform" that would require every citizen to have health insurance. It's called an individual mandate. It's what we have here is Massachusetts and it's just not good enough. The care you receive as an individual purchaser of health insurance is just not good enough and it's not affordable enough. And if you don't have insurance in MA, you get a major hit on your taxes come April 14th. It is important that we let our Legislators know that an individual mandate without a public option is not acceptable.

You can also join the virtual forum being hosted by the White House tommorow and let the President hear what you have to say. Tell the President not to back down. And individual mandate without the choice of a public plan is something that this country jst cannot afford...literally.

http://my.barackobama.com/page/s/aug20web

For any who might be interested, here is the information for the services for my grandmother (Janice). Please note that the services will be held in Natick, MA.

Calling Hours: Wednesday 5pm - 8pm @ John Everett & Sons Funeral Home in Natick ( click here for directions )

Memorial Service: Thursday 1pm at the First Congregational Church of Natick.

If attending the memorial service please note that it is strongly recommended that you park only in designated parking spots. Creating your own parking space by blocking in other vehicles is strictly prohibited and will result in my younger cousins cutting your brake lines to move your vehicle if you cannot be immediately located (especially if you are unfortunate enough to drive a sea-foam green Ford Escort wagon).

But in all seriousness, if you feel that you would like to attend any of the services out ofthe goodness of your heart, I would much prefer to see you at the calling hours and you can feel free to skip the memorial service.

Thursday was the best day of vacation so far. We did all the stuff that I posted about before, plus we caught a double feature at the drive in (transformers 2 and Star Trek). I did fall asleep in the car half way through star trek, but it was already after midnight by that time. Friday was good, but also involved some housework. We had steaks from the grill for dinner. Today my mom, brother, and a family friend came down to go through the house and make sure we packed up all of my grandmother's valuables, financial/legal documents, and anything of great sentimental value. In general it has been a good vacation.

The hardest part seems to be knowing that my grandmother will never come back to this house again. She has always loved it here. She hasn't eaten anything since Tuesday and she hasn't had anything to drink since we saw her on Wednesday, and her lungs are filling with fluid. It's very sad, but I am glad that I got to tell her how great it was to have her for my grandmother while she was somewhat lucid. I am very thankful for that.


as an aside: ok, so the icon is a bit more chaotic than I feel right now, but it's still somewhat appropriate = p

UPDATE: She's gone.

We got down to the Cape around 8:30 last night. Today's agenda has so far consisted of the following:
9:30 am - get out of bed
10:30 am - go to grocery store for cereal and milk
Noon - Walk on the beach at low tide
2:30 pm - lay out in the sun on the porch

All periods not covered by a specific time point were spent passing time in separate yet equal fashions. I reading my book and Dave playing video games.

On tap for tonight (unless we change our minds): Double feature at the drive in, Transformers 2 and Star Trek.

Yesterday my Grandmother had her 4th dose of chemo. Last night she wen to the hospital for vomiting. The doctors have determined that the chemo is notaffecting the tumors at all so she will not be continuing with her treatment. Initial estimates are that she may have a month left.

So, just got a call from my mom. My grandmother's doctors found more cancer. It's pancreatic and metastasized. It's inoperable. At this time we don't know what stage it is, so probably we have between 6 months to a year. I'm really sad that she won't be around to have any great grandchildren, but I'm glad that she will be at my cousins wedding. At least I know this time and we as a family can make an effort to spend as much time with her as possible.

Wathced the Presidential debate Friday night. Very glad that I had the opportunity to watch the debate and I can't wait to see what Jon Stewart does with it. Just a few of the observations I had:

1) McCain's wardorbe people should be fired. Ok, so judging the presidential candidate on his appearance is superficial..however, appearance makes just as much of an impression on voters as do talking points..sometimes even more. McCain had way to much stage makeup on, he looked like a wax figure come to life. Also, his suit jacket was a disaster, the jacket made his shoulders look weak which only accentuated his age and there was something very wrong with the way the sleeves of his jacket fit. He didn't have full mobility in the jacket and every time he lifted his arm it made him look like his arms didn't work right. Also, his tie was way too loud. I never thought stripes could be loud, but it was.

2)A common complaint about Obama is that he speaks in nuance too often. Last night we saw just how important it is to acknowledge nuances. McCain attempted to accuse Obama of voting against increased spending for the troops in Iraq. Obama told him to hold up and called him out. BAsically he said,

John, you voted not to increase spending for the troops in Iraq. You voted down increased spending which came with time tables for withdrawal. I voted down increased funding for the troops which came with NO timetables for withdrawal. We both wanted to increase spending for the troops, but we couldn't agree on how to do it.

NUances are important, they help us to understand why our leaders do the things they do. SOme people are wordy, not because they like to hear themselves talk and are arrogant (other frequent complaints about my candidate) but because it is important to use the precise words to say what you mean. When you dumb down what you say and make generalizations so that people can think they understand what you stand for, all you are really doing is making it harder to express yourself clearly.

3)McCain showed me that he really does not have any idea of what he will/should do as president, or if he does, he simply doesn't respect the American people enough to explain it to them plainly (my personal opinion).

I don't know how the debate played with swing voters ( or if they even bothered to watch it) but I do know that it affirmed my standing.

This week the real entertainment begins: Palin v. Biden on Thursday. I expect blood.

I do, I really do. It is so wonderfully catty. Some of the singers are so excessively awful that I just have to wince and laugh. Now granted, some of the remarks the judges make are ridiculously snide and often hurtful and occasionally make me wince more than the person sing...er...attempting to sing. However, I do have to wonder, exactly how it is that some of these folks have convinced themselves that they can sing. On principle I should say that American Idol is a horrible show for the way it handles it's auditions. I mean, they purposefully let the ridiculously bad singers through the first set of judges and in to Randy, Paula, Simon and now Jewel (wait, I thought she was hosting Nashville Star?) and I think it's rather cruel to lead these folks on to think that they are getting through to this foursome based on talent only to find out that it was really a complete lack of talent. That's harsh, and perfectly legal if you've seen the disclaimer that prospective contestants have to sign. And there are some folks who aren't great, but aren't as bad as the judges make them out to be, but then there are the ones who just shouldn't be encouraged to sing...Ev-er. So I never said I wasn't catty, especially when it comes to watching strangers who can't sing, get all high and mighty and insist that they can.

May it be an evening star
Shines down upon you
May it be when darkness falls
Your heart will be true
You walk a lonely road
Oh! How far you are from home

Mornië ut¨²lië
Believe and you will find your way
Mornië alantië
A promise lives within you now

May it be the shadow's call
Will fly away
May it be your journey on
To light the day
When the night is overcome
You may rise to find the sun

Mornië ut¨²lië
Believe and you will find your way

Mornië alantië
A promise lives within you now

A promise lives within you now
"May it Be" - Enya




Karoline Brown

If you never knew Karoline Brown, I am sorry. Think of the most wonderful and amazing person you know and know that Karoline was in a league of her own. She was the most beautiful person I had the honor to know. There is a line from a DC Talk song that says "the greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips then walk out the door and and get on with their lives."
Karoline was the polar opposite. Karoline showed love and kindness to everyone she met, and she had a wonderful sense of humor. Her faith was her lifestyle. You would have admired her. She brightened the world with her presence. I'm sorry if you never got to meet her, I am eternally grateful that I did. The world will never be the same without her. It's so hard to believe that we will never see her again.

Took a jaunt out to W. Springfield afterall this weekend. The purpose of which was threefold: watch V for Vendetta on the Fifth of November, Hang out with good friends, Not spend the weekend dealing with my roommate. All in all, an enjoyable weekend.

Second subject: Tomorrow is election day. Vote. If you think you may be registered to vote, but aren't sure, call your town clerks office and find out, or just show up at the polling center where you were last registered at and see if they let you in. This is an extremely important election year, for Massachusetts as well as for the country. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has been governed by inadequate idiots who are not in tune with the political and social leanings of this states populace for far too long. For years we have been governed by republicans who consistently try to push bills through the state house to bring the death penalty to Massachusetts. They don't seem to think that there might be a reason why this Commonwealth does not have the death penalty, such as, maybe the people don't want it. SO they keep trying to push it through because as republicans, they want it. Kerry Healey would like the voters to forget that under our constitution and a tradition of jurisprudence, even defendants and convicted criminals have rights. The reason they have rights is because the justice system is administered by mere human beings and we make mistakes. Sometimes convicted criminals are innocent, and they deserve every step of due process and zeaous representaion that plaintiffs (aka victims) do. Just because Deval Patrick defended a convicted rapist to try to keep him from being put to death, does not mean that he does not respect victims rights, it means that he acts ina manner which suggests that he respects justice. Republicans would like you to think that Massachusetts has drastically improved under their governance. I can tell you, from living in a city like Lowell and working with the CBA and studying some of the more complex issues that affect Massachusetts (you will see it in North Adams and Pittsfield too)that Commonwealth has not fared well under republican Governance since Jane Swift. Will Patrick do any better? It's possible, he certainly has demonstrated that he respects the voice of the people who live in this state by the way he ran his grassroots campaign. It's also possible that he won't be able to give MA a miraculous rebirth as our problems are deeply entrenched in a poorly executed plans and all politicians will run into the challenge of facing down "good ol' boys" organizations. But from what I have heard of Healey, form people I respect, from her campaign ads, and from her own mouth at the last televised debate, it is clear to me that she will not bring improvements to this Commonwealth. Healey has the support of the "good ol' boys" Patrick has the support of the people. I could go on and on, but it will just be more of my own rhetoric sounding so much like the rhetoric you've heard everywhere else from Patrick supporters. I will close this section with the following thought: In 2004 I put an "x" in the box next to John Kerry's name, but Iwasn't voting for John Kerry, I was voting Not Bush. Tomorrow when I go the polls I will be putting an "x" in the box next to Patrick's name, and I will be doing it because not only is he Not Healey, but because he is Deval Patrick.

The reason tomorrow's election is so important to this country, even though it is not a preseidential election, is because we as voters have the chance to reinstate the means for a system of checks and balances in the executive branch. Even if you are tired of a two party system, and you don't see much difference between republicans and democrats any longer, if we can give the Democrats the power to take back Congress, we may just see that they also use that power to stand up to the President and his administration and tell them, the people want change! The People elcted us because you are failing this country. We will stand between you and the further degradation of our country and block you from continuing to pillage this country's most valuable resource, it's people, and sending it to the dying grounds.

But it doesn't stop there, once you get your Democrat elected to Congress, you will have to work to keep him/her honest, where honest means in tune with the will of the people, and the people is you the individual. When your congressman does something you don't like, tell him, when an important piece of legislation (important to you) is facing a vote, call your congressman to tell him how you think he should vote. Our governemnt is suppossed to be a representative governement. This meas that the job of those we elct to govern, is to ensure that their decisions represent the will of the people who assigned them to speak their voice in congress. That's what our elcted officials are supposed to be folks...OUR VOICE. SO tell them what you want them to say.

If this all sounds to hard. Just start at the first step. It's fairly effortless and simple: Tomorrow, go to your polling center and VOTE.

Government BY the people, FOR the people, and OF the people.

I have a rental car o ge around in. I got stuck with a Kia Optima. It's riduculously tiny. I feel way too big for this car, I imagine this is how Dan (who is 6ft 2) feels in his little mazda. I went to work for an hour today and was sent home by 8:30 (I got in pretty early). Granted I had a bunch of stuff that needed to get done at work today but my brain is a mess and I had a hard enough time just putting together a mailing to a provider and tryin to make sure that I had everything in the correct envelopes. That's about it.

For those of you who don't have MysticRat on your friends list, you should read this. If you are a fan of Cowboy Mouth to any degree vote for CM!!!!

Hey, everyone!
We need your help!
Cowboy Mouth has just been submitted to an MTV2 sponsored website called On the Rise. It’s a website that enables bands to gain more awareness based on the number of votes they receive on their profile. There are three different levels to the webpage, and Cowboy Mouth reaches a new level each time they receive a certain number of votes. Right now, they need 5,000 votes to reach level two, where mp3s, bios and photos of the band can then be added to their profile! To visit Cowboy Mouth’s profile and vote for the band, go to http://mtv2ontherise.com?em=011440. You can vote as many times as you’d like. The more you vote, the greater their chances are of rising to the top!
Thanks!

Now I know I'm in trouble...

I miss him.

...crap.

It seems to me that of late there has been a lot of rhetoric tossed around by a lot of people both at home and throughout the world. And of course, with rhetoric comes justification. This justification is usually rooted somewhere in religious tenets and doctrine. The problem is that, as we all know, when religious teachings are used to justify actions, it is usually done only with heavy editing and a bit of convenient blindness to the context of the larger tenets in which the carefully chosen justification can be found. So, to those who say:

-My mission is to make the world safe for democracy by killing lots of people [paraphrased] and GOd bless America in the same sentence..., or that

-God has directed them to condemn another persons happiness in lieu of advancing their own agenda, or even

-that we should hate and protest the men and women who had pledged their lives to defend this country and had those lives taken from them because their government chose to take advantage of that pledge,

-and to those who justify any of the above by referencing the ten commandments and other Old Testament scriptures, I say this:

Some of you may recall a story in the Bible about a little baby, born of a carpenter who grew up to teach others to be fisher's of men. He had radical thoughts such as "Hey, don't stone the prostitute just because you don't approve of what she does. She is a person too." A man who taught that we should not judge others lest we be judged ourselves. I believe that the actual argument was "let he who is without sin cast the first stone." Because none of us are perfect, we make mistakes, the true challenge is how we conduct ourselves when trying to resolve those mistakes. One can act honorably without having to sacrifice happiness. One can be protective without doing violence.

There were some other commandments in that book too, though they could have been easy to miss if you only read the begginning and skipped to the end. This hippy dude, with long hair, and berkenstocks who went around protecting prostitutes and raging against the evil empire of greed and corruption said that there were new commandments: faith, hope, and love, but the greatest of these is love.

We totally met one of the guys who helped to build YODA today and I have pictures to prove it (dani will upload later). If you wanna see what I'm talking about go to www.yodaguy.com

The court places baby eddie in DSS today. Alicia did the right thing and came forward about Eddie Sr being abusive, she even filed a police report the last time he attacked her. Today was a custody hearing which was her chance to get physical custody of her son back. The reason she had not filed reports against Papa earlier was because she was afraid the court would take her son away. Yes it was good that the court took her son away from psych grandma and abusive daddy, but something should have been worked out with Alicia as guardian of or at least on her way to being guardian. This sucks. She really deserved better justice. ANybody know any family court lawyers who would be willing to do some pro bono work?

Don't want to go into it in detail because it will just piss me off more. I will tell you this much. Meri sent me a copy of her rebuttal to the court regarding my suit against her for the $525 + court fees. I think what makes me so upset is that it's just one more step/level in this long and drawn out confrontation. I -hate- confronatation, I really -really- do. Why couldn't we have settled this like adults, applying logic, reason and *gasp* discourse to understand the full argument of both sides and come to an understanding of the argument at least? What if I am wrong? What if I am the one bending the reality of the situation and the validity of my argument that the $525 is rightfully mine? What if my persistence of the issue is completly misplaced? Yet another person I will have alienated myself from and for what reason? I feel like bridges are burning fast behind me, and while there may be a reason for that, it still makes me feel just the slightest bit panicky. The panic feeling makes me wonder if maybe I really am a bad person and that is why these situations are not playing out to my favor, because I don't deserve them to, because I -am- wrong.

One of the things the letter said is that if I don't drop the suit, she will counter sue for 1/2 of May's rent, utilities for March and April, court or legal fees, and finally Bobby's time lost from work to appear in court for the suit. If this counter threat does not make sense to you because you are not familiar with the in's and out's of the situation, I will behappy to explain...later, if you ask.

Comments will be appreciated...
Especially those of support.