McChrystal, Obama & Looking Past Certain Myths

In the past week, General McChrystal and his staff’s remarks and attitude about the war in Afghanistan and the Obama administration were made public. For Obama’s detractors including many Republicans, the events seem to fulfill the view that Presidents from the Democratic Party should not be trusted with foreign policy, because they leave our nation and the world less safe.

This suspicion against Democratic Presidents goes back to the Vietnam War when President Lyndon Johnson administration was virtually crushed by the failure of that war to keep South Vietnam from falling into the Communist’s hands. The suspicion was further in evidence when President Jimmy Carter ineffectively enacted a grain embargo against the USSR which seemed to hurt the United States agribusiness more than it had any effect whatsoever against the Soviet Union. Of course, anyone who followed the news back in 1980 recalls that President Carter oversaw an embarrassing failure to rescue American hostages in Iran which resulted in the deaths of 8 American servicemen.

Republican candidates effectively used such failures and embarrassments for three presidential elections to win office (1980, 1984 and 1988). However, when we look at the record of Republican presidents, the record is not so clear that Republicans have done a superior job in foreign policy. In October, 1983, President Reagan allowed Marines to be gathered, bombed and killed in a high rise building (against the wisdom that in an area where there are terrorists, it is best to have your troops in different locations to prevent an easy target like all of your troops being quartered in 1 place) in Lebanon resulting in the death of 241 servicemen (which is the largest single day number of deaths in recent foreign policy). President Reagan either lied or deluded himself into thinking that the US did not trade arms for hostages during the Iran Contra Affair. His administration was paralyzed for months as it worked at fending off charges and firing those responsible for such a misguided policy.

Of course, even Republicans and conservatives (like George Will) state that President Bush (the one elected in 2000 and 2004) handled the war in Iraq dreadfully. The inept handling of Iraq after Bush publicly proclaimed MISSION ACCOMPLISHED contributed to the victories in Congress in 2006 and Obama’s landslide election in 2008.

Furthermore, Democratic presidents have handled crises successfully. During the Balkan wars of the 1990s. Clinton supervised military and diplomatic policies that led to minimal loss of troops and forced Slobodan Milosevic (leader of Serbia) to be removed thereby stopping much of the ethnic cleansing in the area formerly known as Yugoslavia. Even conservatives give grudging praise for the way that the Clinton administration made a bad situation better. President Obama oversaw the takeover and killing of the pirates in the Red Sea who took over an American vessel. Furthermore, relations with numerous nations, including our close allies in Western Europe palpably improved when Bush left office and Obama became president. Further, there was near-consensus view among generals that George Bush’s foreign policy left US forces painfully overextended while gaining the contempt of our allies. Anyone who thinks that many general were not appalled by Bush’s failures and misguided foreign policy simply aren’t paying attention!

Some point out that Clinton was responsible for the lapses in security that led to 9/11. However, much of the security breaches and ignoring the threats evident before that awful day were as a result of the FBI and CIA’s failure to share information. It is easy to counter such an argument with the fact that no Republican president would have created better coordination between the 2 competing intelligence agencies prior to the 9/11 crisis. Furthermore, no Republican president acted upon evident threats like what was reported by the CIA in August of 2001.

When we look at the furor over McChrystal’s remarks, the general criticized people in Obama’s administration, but did not criticize Obama directly. In fact, McChrystal could not have been too upset with having his own advice followed when Obama sent 30,000 more troops into Afghanistan. Further, how responsible is it for the general’s staff to get drunk while talking to the Rolling Stone reporter and stating what they really thought of the current administration? When the general himself publicly ridiculed the Vice President,he did so out of ignorance of the fact that Joseph Biden has been one of the foreign policy experts while he was a Senator and was, for years, the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. It’s not as though the current vice president is an empty head or suit like Dan Quayle or Sarah Palin. The General failed to realize that while Biden is skeptical of the military surge, reasonable minds can disagree and such ridicule that should never make the papers but be kept under his hat.

Finally, Obama chose wisely General Petraeus as the replacement to General McChrystal. Clearly, Petraeus will not allow his staff to get drunk with a reporter and spill their guts about what they really think of the current president. General Petraeus has shown proficiency in combating terrorists and guerrilla style warfare. His choice has been widely praised.

Yes, mistakes will be made by the Obama administration, but shouldn't we all acknowledge that foreign policy mistakes occur in Republican and Democrat administrations alike?? The idea of Democrats being soft on terrorists and threats from abroad is an intellectually lazy argument that doesn’t carefully take note of the facts. And there are many facts to take note of. The Pentagon budget is as big or bigger now than it was during the Bush administration. President Obama has wisely followed the advice of his Secretary, Robert Gates in saving the taxpayer’s billions of dollars in failed weapons systems. Democrats have been openly supportive and passed into law the fight against terrorists in Afghanistan. With all these facts, the stereotype of Democrats and their foreign policy is about as old and tired as the stereotypes against African Americans.

last night

I received a plaque last night that I wanted to share with all my dear readers.  I have been  in the St. Damian's Men's Club a little less than 15 yrs.  What does the Men's Club do?  it gives money to people in need, gives money to organizations at our church that need the money, we get together every month and take care of the business of our club and then socialize, it has done a good job of bringing a group of men from the church together as friends.  When either a member or a family member of a club member dies, we go to their funeral and wake. We work at community events and put on a Texas Hold Em tournament (night before Thanksgiving) and that is how we earn money that we give away to those in great need.

I became vice president in 2002.  I served 4 terms and two months ago, I was no longer vice president so they gave me the plaque shown in the picture above.

pictures from the graduation

Here are Andy's pictures from his graduation on Thursday evening. 

sometimes it's hard to write regularly

It has been hard to write a new post to this blog, because I’ve been busy with work and certain activities at home, and there hasn’t been an event or subject that’s really inspired me to write.

I should be more upset about the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico next to New Orleans. I can’t really explain why I am not. Clearly, it’s becoming increasingly worse and alarming. There is a good chance the oil will not stop flowing until about August. There’s even a chance that oil will still be spilling into the Gulf of Mexico into December! !

The spill clearly indicates why there needs to be strong government regulation regarding offshore oil drilling. If an oil company isn’t certain how to stop oil spilling a mile under water, should it really be drilling there in the first place??

                  ----------------------------------------------

I am mad at myself, because I am biking less than I did last year. Last summer, I biked three times a week and biked about 9 miles each time, sometimes more. This year, I’m only biking twice a week, and sometimes only 6 or so miles. I understand the difference between this year and last. Last spring, I spent over $200 getting my bike fixed. I was very, very intent on getting my money’s worth out of those repairs. I was so concerned about getting my money’s worth from the repairs that I biked well over 500 miles during the summer. (By the way, I stopped biking once I became my son’s assistant football coach and had to attend practices 3 times a week until the beginning of November).

This spring and summer, there is no compelling concern about getting my money’s worth. I started the season spending less than $50 in a few repairs to the bike. Last year, I treated going biking like Church (I would tell myself, “I’ve got to go; it’s WRONG if I don’t!). I just can’t do that this year.

This week, I wouldn’t even be able to bike twice a week because it’s been raining most of the week, and tonight, Andy is graduating from 8th grade. Maribeth & I are happy for him passing this milestone. It’s interesting, because there was an article/editorial in the newspaper about families making a big deal about 8th grade graduation. Even President Obama remarked about over-celebrating 8th grade graduation. There are some families that spend a ton of money on parties, have their graduate strut across the stage like they did something fantastic, and just get too overwrought with it. The editorial correctly noted that clearly, high school graduation and college graduation should be celebrated a lot more. I think the problem is that some of these families are treating 8th grade graduation the SAME as high school graduation. It ISN’T. If you get your high school diploma, you have a very slight, small chance of getting a job. But if you only graduate from 8th grade, you have next to ZERO chance of getting a job, and you definitely won’t be getting a high paying job! !

With Andy finishing grade school, I wonder how he will do in high school. Will he have considerably different problems than I had in high school? Will bullying be a problem?? Two years from now, I wonder if dating will become a source of worry  for him? I remember having some difficulty with grades my first quarter in high school. I wonder if Andy will experience that as well. I certainly don’t want him to go through what he went through at the start of 7th grade.

spellbound.....

Does anyone out there like Harper's Island, the TV show of last summer (CBS)??    I completely stumbled onto the show by accident. I really love this song by Civil Twilight called Letters from the Sky. You should check out
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Wa7dFR09vU

There was a reference to this TV show, and when I was reading about the unreal plot line, I became more and more curious. The plots, the deaths involved were absolutely, positively spellbinding!!!!!! Has anyone ever seen this show?

Thankfully, I saw the more important parts of the show on YouTube. I saved money by not having to buy the DVD. I don't want to get to wrapped up in the show by spending that kind of money, especially since I don't usually like those kind of TV shows or movies. If you're curious, just see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harpers_Island  or the official website to the show, http://www.cbs.com/primetime/harpers_island/

wow, a new Title

In Chicago, the fire fighters make a very big deal out of fire drills in skyscrapers.  Our building was built in 1923 and is 46 stories tall.  No one wants to see gruesome deaths by fire, because fire is a very painful way to die, and it's really bad publicity, and, of course, we really  hate when people die premature deaths. 

For instance, in the past, it was standard in the skyscrapers to lock the doors of the stairwells.  Companies, businesses, and law firms  were afraid that criminals, people intent on stealing things, violent people would come up to their  floor from the stairs and do terrible things.  Therefore, they locked the doors.  However, there was a fire in a Chicago skyscraper about 7 years ago.  Since the doors were locked, people inside the stairs couldn't go to floors where there wasn't a fire and they either suffocated or burned to death.  Therefore, the City of Chicago banned locking stair doors. 

When you're in a skyscraper and there's a fire drill, you don't have to walk from your floor all the way down to the 1st floor.  In many cases that would be walking thousands of steps and going down 20 or more floors.  Basically, you go several floors down and the fire fighter supervising the drill tells you how you did.  Today, they lectured 2 people NOT to carry their coffee or favorite beverage with them if there's a fire, because first, you can buy another beverage after successfully surviving the fire, and more importantly, you may spill your drink and slow down people walking downstairs.

Before today's fire drill, I was formally given the title, ELEVATOR MONITOR. I am to guard against anyone taking an elevator down to the 1st floor either during a drill or an actual fire.  Obviously, if there's a fire, an elevator is one of the last places you would want to be especially when it breaks down or ceases to function due to the fire.  So, my office manager exhorted me to be an intimidating presence making sure no one thinks of getting on an elevator (yeah, RIGHT).  Then, I am one of the last people to leave the floor (to prevent stragglers from using elevator). 

It was pretty funny, because before the fire drill, they gave handbooks out and spelled out the titles of those people who were to help insure a safe fire drill or safe evacuation if there was a fire.  & there I was Vince __, ELEVATOR MONITOR.  They even listed who my subsitute was if I wasn't lucky enough to be around during a fire or a drill.  They even wrote a paragraph with bullet points on what I was to do.  I feel so official now  (not!). 

2 VERY SHORT stories

I want to share two stories about government. One is the federal government, and one is Illinois government. They both relate to taxes. Taxes are a very impassioned, visceral subject. To me, it almost seems like the Republican Party exists just to fight taxes, particularly fight taxes for the rich. Well, the last thing I want to do is issue a diatribe so let’s get on with the two stories.

I filed my federal taxes with 1040 EZ. That is the simplest tax form to use. I checked my income figures at least 3 times. I checked the amount of tax I owed 3 times also. I was pleased to be getting a pretty large tax refund, and I filed extra early, about a week before January 31.

When the federal government, particularly the notorious IRS (Internal Revenue Service) reviewed my very simple, filled-out 1040 EZ, they intervened, but not in a sinister fashion; this is not a story about their sinister ways. They intervened by stating that I forgot to claim my Earned Income Credit. Therefore, my refund was $400 more than I thought it would be.  Later, they sent a letter explaining what they did. 

In one respect, the IRS didn’t have to do that. If they had not intervened, I would have never known the difference. I would have been happy with my tax refund and never gave it a second thought. There have been other stories that I listened to on TV where the IRS has given money to citizens who forget or don’t even know about the Earned Income Credit.

The second story involves an even bigger error that I made. This spring I thought that I filed both my federal and state tax forms. When I prepared my state tax form, I was to get a refund of $4. The problem was that I forgot to file it. With it being well beyond April 15, I am nearly a month late filing my taxes. I went to the Illinois Department of Revenue, in person, and told them about my error. I let them know what I did. I laugh, recalling how they treated me. It reminded me of a little boy going up to a grocery store manager and, in a very ill-at-ease manner, admitting that he stole a peanut. Two of the people in the Revenue Department simply smiled, almost laughed about it. I said if the penalty is giving up the $4 refund that’s fine. The woman looked me in the eyes and said, “oh, you’ll get your refund!” Wow, that is one less thing to worry about.

      One other thing to note: Normally, when I file taxes (& I have done so for the last 25 years), I don’t make any errors, so I don’t want anyone thinking I’m a bumbling idiot when it comes to taxes. I even remember back in the 1990s helping Maribeth with her taxes.

These are not stories you are used to hearing when we think about our government. Indeed, there are true stories of government causing an inordinate amount of grief, even injustice to people. This is one time they treated a citizen like me was treated not only with respect but in a kind manner.

a happy ending to the last problem

As you can see, my last entry was about a nasty co-worker. 

Clare  gave her notice that her last day was April 22. My body immediately felt a rush of happiness. Just thinking about it makes me amazed. It's funny how bad you will feel physically being surprised about bad news, and it's delightful to feel good all over when you are pleasantly surprised w/ good news. I wore a quiet, but unmistakeable smile in the office for the rest of the day.

Hopefully, things will be uneventful for the next 2 weeks that she is here. 

it was nice while it lasted

I had a co worker (we'll call her "Clare") who blew up at me.  It was the first time I ever had that happen where I work currently.  That's pretty amazing, b/c I've worked at my current law firm for over 4 years.  I am in the same room/office as 5 clerks.  I teach them how to use a software program and how to do discovery (discovery is a long procedure  that is done towards the beginning of a lawsuit).  I am pretty relaxed and the atmosphere is relaxed too.  I can count the number of arguments others have had with another clerk on one hand. 

A couple Tuesdays ago, Clare accused me of not teaching her something that needed to be taught to her earlier.  I said that wasn't true.  She never asked; she then responded that I had a faulty memory.  I said, "No, I would remember something like that."  At first, the conversation was in a joking, chiding manner.  When I didn't laugh with her and simply disagreed with her, she got really angry and said I was rude and demanded an apology.  NONE was given (for what????). Then she said, "I am through being nice to you Vince."  No response.

Then she said, "The other clerks despise you."   I said that was just nonsense.  I know how people act when they despise someone else, especially at work, and that's not the way I'm treated at work!! I told her that it was amazing that she was so confrontational seeing as how I helped her so much when she was first starting out.  Then she said "What about the help I gave you?"  (what help?  I'm the one who taught her!).  There was only one other person in the office, her friend,  when she talked all this trash.

Since then, I have limited my conversation with her to only asking once a week what her work schedule will be.   After the incident, there have been a number of times where Clare  would whisper to her friend (we'll call her "Jill"). Today, Jill worked next to me and Clare jokingly told the guy sitting where Jill normally sits, "You had to ruin everything, didn't you?" She was not too happy that she couldn't whisper to Jill. So she e-mailed her instead, & Jill would not respond b/c she was working hard.

So, Clare writes a note on a post it, folds it, and gives it to Jill. I smiled b/c it sounded like school (doesn't it??) that she would actually pass a note to her friend during work. 

I saw Jill throw away the note. It's now after 5 pm, when most people leave. & I picked up the note and Clare wrote to Jill, "Read your e-mail".

Kind of a shame I wasn't able to find out what the e-mail was. It had to be something if she couldn't tell her out in the open. I needed to laugh and relieve a little boredom.

I have basically resolved that if Clare ever talks to me that way again, I will talk to her attorney/supervisor, and let him know that I am going to the office manager and report her.  I basically wanted to give her a break, because she is a good worker and does her work well.  The other thing is that I don't completely trust the office manager, and I don't want the whole situation to spin out of control.  In the last 10 days, the strategy has worked out well.  Yet, I will never think of her the same way again.  I knew that she had a combative side to her just by the remarks she made when we got along.  So, what she did wasn't altogether shocking.  The hope is she will use her intelligence and not allow it to happen again.

There is a part of me that felt proud.  I have taught probably over 50 clerks and had those clerks work in the same room as I.  In 4 1/2 years, this has been the first time that a clerk has been upset with me (and it wasn't even my fault!).  That's a pretty good record if I do say so myself!!  

VICTORY! (more about this later)

A victory for the struggling  working class who have been made poor by rising health costs.  A victory for people who could potentially be thrown into bankruptcy (again due to rising healthcare costs), because the health care insurance companies rejected them.  A victory for the American people who will save nearly $2 trillion in the next 20 years  in Medicare and Medicaid costs.

A loss to the the Republican party and all their followers who have been saying very little but "no" during this whole debate. 
A loss to health insurance executives who have piggishly over indulged in executive bonuses and seven-figure salaries.  I love the part of the healthcare insurance reform that forces insurance to have 85% of their revenue going to actually paying their insured medical bills (NOT executive bonuses, lobbying & advertisements). 

Computer BLUES!

sent my computer into the Geek Squad and they said that it's a hardware problem. It's the memory. So it will be out for a good long time, I'm afraid. My heart just sinks writing this!!    :(  !

I gotta kick out of Andy. We have a much older computer, and the only way to get access to Internet is by dial-up. But I'm not going to pay the fee. Since Andy has a checking account, he has volunteered to pay the monthly charge for dial up Internet which is only $5 a month. With the work he does in our house, I'm sure his allowance can afford that. He said he couldn't take not having no access to Internet. Yeah, NO KIDDING! He also can't stand not playing computer games too (the reason our computer is getting fixed is he fried our memory trying to download Farm Mania).

So, I won't be able to post very often with no computer at home.  I won't be able to do a lot of things.  There's a website for Kuma, and they have this awesome Tank game that is set in WWII Tripoli.   I was playing that at night when everyone was in bed.  Some Satruday nights I didn't get to bed until 3.  MB didn't like it, but I said, "Hey, at least I'm not out at the bars drinking!"  

It certainly was a fun adrenalin rush feverishly climbing up the hill in your tank & then blasting tanks from 100s of yards away.  YEEAAH!  

Well, all of that is on hold for a few weeks until our dear computer comes back.  I explained to Andy that he is NOT the only one who greatly values the computer.  The computer to me is like my baby.  I'm as close to that computer as the kids are as close to their guinea pig and new little dog they'll be getting Monday.   

Excellent column

A couple blogs ago, I was angry with the idea that people were painting current events, particularly how President Obama has been doing as president in black and white (MOSTLY negative, excoriating) terms.  Well, I really saw a column that I love.  I loved it so much that it's one of those times that I wanna say, "Man, it's a shame more people don't see this!!!"  That's why I"m copying it and putting it down here. 

Read and learn, my friends!!!

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Those who don't live in the nation's capital may so far have been spared the columnist-generated imbroglio over who is "to blame" for the fact that many of President Obama's flagship initiatives have yet to pass into law.

Many candidates have been nominated: Obama's Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, Senior Adviser David Axelrod, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, Senior Adviser Valerie Jarrett, former White House Counsel Greg Craig, Attorney General Eric Holder, and even White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers.

The correct answer: None of the above.

The people who are responsible for the difficulty of making fundamental change within the first year of the Obama Administration don't have familiar names. They are the people who run the huge insurance companies, oil companies and Wall Street Banks. They are the people who will lose if the rest of America wins. They are the folks whose recklessness and greed caused the collapse of our economy and cost seven million Americans their jobs.

Not surprisingly, these people have not rolled over and played dead when their interests have been threatened. And their ability to protect the status quo has been strengthened by the rules of the U.S. Senate that have empowered some of their chief defenders, such as Joe Lieberman and Mitch McConnell.

They've used their massive financial muscle to mislead everyday Americans. They have been perfectly willing to lie and distort and inflame fear. They are the authors of bogus "death panels" and "government takeovers." They are the source of massive political contributions, and the fear that politicians who cross them will pay a price.

They have financed a "populist" uprising on the right.  In short, they have done everything that anyone familiar with American political history would assume they would do. Power surrenders nothing without a struggle.

Change turns out to be harder than a lot of people thought and hoped. But what the hell did we expect. The other side plays hardball.

To beat them, we have to start where we are and get where we want to go. We can't start where we wish we were...or wish our opposition out of existence.

The Obama Administration has been forced to make some compromises. But to their credit they have not trimmed back their ambitious agenda -- their goal of transforming the American economy -- to deal with the massive problems they faced from the day they took office.

They have not taken the advice of people like Mark Penn or Dick Morris to focus on amassing small victories. They know that in confronting the challenges that America faces today, small victories are simply not enough. They know that we need bold, transformational change - and if that takes longer than we'd like, that is simply the price we have to pay for our future.

Leslie Gelb, whose article on Rahm Emanuel in the Daily Beast says that, "no one I've talked to believes he has the management skills and discipline to run the White House" is just wrong. And he must have forgotten the disciplined, driven way Rahm oversaw the Democratic victory in 2006 to retake the House. Emanuel gets things done, and that is exactly what you need when you're trying to pass a transformative agenda.

David Axelrod is a brilliant crafter of message -- and the engineer (along with David Plouffe) of the best-run Presidential campaign in the history of American politics.

Bob Gibbs is exactly the kind of plain-spoken, straight-ahead press secretary that average Americans want to hear. And Valerie Jarrett is an effective -- and absolutely loyal -- Senior Adviser. By the way, it's a damned good thing for a President to have some people by his side whose loyalty he need never question.

Has the Obama team made mistakes? Of course. I think they would have done better to take a tougher line with Wall Street, sooner. I'm sure they would admit, in retrospect, that they should have done everything in their power to end Max Baucus' months-long tango with the Republicans that delayed passage of the health care bill until after the Massachusetts disaster. And they might even agree that they should have used the 51-vote budget reconciliation process to do health care reform from the beginning. But then again, hindsight is 20-20.

And let's remember that the record of this Administration for major new initiatives is pretty impressive.

Saving the economy from complete meltdown - another Great Depression --following the failure of eight years of right wing economic policy and financial risk-taking "gone wild," including his bold rescue of the American auto industry.

Laying the first layer of a foundation for long-term, bottom-up economic growth by passing the largest economic recovery package in history and a Federal Budget that the Center on Budget Priorities called the most progressive budget in half a century.

Abandoning the failed Neo-Con foreign policy and changing our relationship with the rest of the world.

Signing into law measures that had repeatedly passed the Democratic Congress but been vetoed by George Bush - the "Matthew Shepard" bill that expands the definition of hate crimes to include sexual orientation, expanding the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), and passing the "Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act" that seriously strengthened the ability of women to seek redress for employment discrimination.

The Administration and Congress ended a program of wasteful subsidies to private banks that provided student loans using Federal money, and used the savings to greatly expand Pell Grants to college students.

Executive actions like ending the "Global Gag Rule" that prevented U.S. foreign aid from going to family planning programs that even mentioned abortion - and changes in labor law enforcement that make it easier to organize in the workplace.

Ending torture.

Funding stem cell research and generally restoring a respect for science to government.

Setting and keeping to a schedule to end the American presence in Iraq.

Putting in motion a legislative agenda that will make major progressive change: providing health care for all, creating clean energy jobs and addressing global warming, overhauling the regulation of the financial sector and beginning to shrink its dominance in the American economy, and passing comprehensive immigration reform.

The Administration's success rate seems low only when measured against its lofty ambitions... and the magnitude of the problems the President inherited last January.

More importantly, second-guessing and backbiting does absolutely nothing to make the change America needs.

Time to suck it up. This is going to be a long slog. The geniuses who write columns and make a living as Monday morning quarterbacks need to get used to the idea that this is a real battle for the future of America, not a reality show.

The financial industry, the insurance giants and the oil companies are going to bite and claw and fight to stop real reform until the last dog dies. Progressives better be ready to do the same.

some news about my health

My brother & father both suffered, but survived,  from prostate cancer.  I get checked on a very regular basis, and the last time I was checked they found out that my blood test showed that my PSA was too high.   The PSA is an indicator of whether you have cancer or not in the prostate.  Yesterday was my 1st time I saw the Dr. since I found out this disturbing news. 

My Dr. told me today that maybe what happened was I had a cold or flu at the same time I had the blood test done. If so, it's possible it drove up my PSA reading and it's a "FALSE positive". it would be very important, of course to find out if the test in Dec. was a "false positive".

So, I am going to take the medicine and get tested in the latter part of March. If my test shows I might have prostate cancer, then I will get biopsies (they take tissue from not 1, but several sites).

I'm not scared of losing my life to this cancer.  There is a very low risk of death to prostate cancer; it is very treatable.  Prostate cancer is a lot different than other cancers.  Prostate cancer grows much much slower than a cancer like breast cancer.  Further, for both types of cancer they use radiation after removal of the cancerous organ.  For certain reasons, radiation is a much more effective treatment for prostate cancer than it is for breast cancer.  

At any rate, I am optimistic about surviving it, if I actually have it.  I am more concerned about the financial cost.  Yes, I have health insurance, but there's is always a noticeable portion that I, as a patient, must pay.  We simply must have faith in God to take care of my family & I, and things will work out.   

2/15/2010 is Presidents' Day

I memorized the presidents back in 1970 when I was 7 yrs. old. I think that had a big determining factor in my vocational decisions.


I still have all of the presidents memorized.

So wanted to share a little presidential trivia.

Easy way to win a bet.

1. Ask a fairly smart person how many people have been president & make a bet

2. They'll say 44

3. Win the bet and collect (there are only 43 men who have been president. 1 president, Grover Cleveland, is counted twice. He is the 22nd and 24th president. Why is that? Because he's the only 2 term president that served non-consecutive terms)

I grew up in a small town and that's a place that lends itself to rumors. So when I memorized all the presidents, they started spreading the rumor that I knew all the presidents and all of the presidents' wives and pets too. I DON'T.

But there is 2 things I can do (besides reciting the presidents in order or reverse order)

If you give me a # between 1-44, I can tell you the name of the president.

If you give me any year between 1789 - 2010, I can tell you who was president.

a strange tax refund

I received my tax refund. Very puzzling tho' !  The US government gave me $400 more than I wrote down on my tax return. That is even more surprising than it sounds, b/c I used the 1040EZ Form.  The form made it so obvious how I came up with the amount of the refund, I meticulously checked my numbers, so I don't understand how the US gov't can give me more money.

MB has laid claim to almost $400 of my refund. But I can't be angry with her, b/c it was legit stuff. I paid for the repair of the front door, and now I'm going to pay for Ted's glasses. It's not like she's forcing me to get her a new dress or new mink coat (obviously I would say "no" to that).

I am not nearly as optimistic at this tax refund as I was with last year's tax refund. Last year, it gave me a very strong, positive momentum financially for 6 months! It helped me pay down credit cards, fix my bike (& then I biked 100s of miles last spring & summer), and it got us a new computer which we really needed.

This year, I'm using it to fix a specific part on my bike (so I won't be spending as much on it as last year's repair), pay down debt. The problem is that I will probably see my debt go back up, because I will be forced to pay for medical bills for my new health problem. 

Let me explain.   My father and older brother both have had prostate cancer.  Thankfully, they made a full recovery from it.  My great grandfather apparently also had prostate cancer, and he died (way back in the early 1900s, almost 100 yrs. ago).  So, obviously my family has a history of this cancer, and my chances of getting this is greater than a normal man's chancees.   I get my prostate tested every year (not 1, but 2 exams).  This year my exam came back with bad results.  I won't know until at least Feb. 22 (& it will be likely that I won't find out till later, like when they do a biopsy) what's going on and my Dr. explains the test results and what they plan on doing in terms of testing and treatment.

I'm annoyed, so now what?

I've literally been a political junkie for 37 years.  In 1972, I followed the presidential election.  That election became immortalized in the very famous book, All the President's Men.  2 years before that, I had memorized all the presidents. I was either a child prodigy or an insufferable nerd.  But there's something that really works againts reformers. 
When you reform you change things, and when you change things, there are winners and losers.  The losers are bound to be very angry at what they lost due to reform (& you know they won't call it reform but rather the nation going to hell on them).  The winners will be happy.  But happiness doesn't inspire action the way anger does.  How many times have you ever heard someone fighting out of happiness?

Let's suppose you were mayor of a town of 1,000 registered voters.  You were up for re election and you liked your job well enough that you wanted another term as mayor.  Suppose you had 520 people who liked the job you did and were supportive of your policies where you righteously got rid of corruption.  Then there were 130 people who didn't care if you were the mayor or Daffy Duck were the mayor (yes, there's people like that!).  Then there was 350 people who hated you, were hurt by your great work in cleaning up the town.

You would think you were in good shape and would win something like 500 to 300.  WRONG!!!
First, if you were lucky you would only get about 60% of the 550 who like you.  That's 312 votes.  But since your opponents are so angry they have 90% turn out.  Do the math!  You just lost the election 315-312 to someone who is actually greedier than Daffy Duck!

Here's another example.  The US government subsidized the production of mohair from 1954 to 1995.  By all accounts, it meant very little if US produced a little or a lot of mohair.  & yet, we spent millions and millions of dollars in the 41 years the US government gave money to mohair producers.  Why?  Because if your legislator or president saved you money by cutting out the mohair subsidy, you would be happy but you would hardly be much of a reason to re-elect him.  But the person who was hurt by no more subsidy would be so pissed off he wouldn't be content until you were soundly thumped in the election. 

Another example.  Western farmers are allowed to let their animals graze on land belonging to the federal government.  Normally, if a farmer had his animal graze on your lawn, you would get money for it (provided you were desperate enough to need the money).  But Western farmers pay a pittance to allow their animals to graze on millions of acres of land at the expense of tax payers who must pay income and other types of taxes, and at the expense of people overall who pay on a deficit b/c the government doesn't get as much revenue as it spends and we pay interest on that deficit. 
If we raised, the grazing rates, people who aren't Westerners wouldn't give it a second thought.  But the Western farmers affected would howl for the blood of those politicians raising the fee.  Very ironic that Western farmers get so much help but pride themselves on "individualism".  How proudly rugged and independent should you act if you demand a major contribution from Uncle Sam?

You can have all sorts of people agreeing with you, but that doesn't necessarily win elections.  You need your supporters to break away from the bonds of their routine and help you out.  If you reform and don't inspire that, you're screwed.
& that's why it's so hard to reform America from greedy bastards like the health insurance industry.  An industry where the facts show that their industry is not as effcient or cost effective or contain inflation as well as Medicare.   

does anyone know anything about nuance??

There are far too many people out there who are either crowing or crying that 2010 is going to be just like 1994.  A Democrat president gets elected, people "supposedly" don't agree with his policies the 1st year, Republicans make a bunch of promises and sweep in as the majority party in Congress a year after the President assumes office.  Even that small summary of events tells very little of what happened in 1994 and ignores the fact that Clinton's much-criticized tax increase of 1993 helped and contributed to the nation's longest period of prosperity ever! 

So, now we have a Republican senator in Massachusetts.  & they are predicting that there will now be no healthcare.  I wouldn't go that far.  First, there is still momentum for healthcare reform albeit not as much as before.  Secondly, reform can be passed by 51 votes in the Senate, not necessarily 60.  They can still pass things that cannot be filibustered.  I honestly don't know if healthcare will be passed, but either way, it's not certain whether it will pass or fail. 

Thirdly, last night isn't November, 2010.  We don't know how much the people reject or accept Obama's policies until Election Night of 2010.  If your in the playoffs and your team is up by 10 points after the 1st quarter, you are pretty stupid if you are "100% sure" of victory at the end of the game. 

Here's the most important part of the post.  Conservatives and even some liberals are talking about 2009 as being a "failure" for Obama.  What a load of nonsense!  Obama passed a stimulus package that has helped in ways too numerous to ennumerate here, he passed a budget that finally uses intelligence after 8 yrs. of fiscal insanity and willfully pushing the rich to get richer and the poor to get poorer, he passed credit card reform.  But now all that means nothing to some people.

Obama didn't accomplish all that he set out to do in 2009.  He wouldn't consider what happened last night to be good news.  But, please people, why not use a little bit of nuance??!?  Why can't people accept that good things as well as bad things are happening in this nation today?  We can't say if Obama is a success or a failure for a long time.  Further, 1994 didn't mean that  the Contract w/ America became law.  People and the people that elected them weren't that crazy about a Republican program either. 

Also, what happened last night confirms my view that journalists who last year predicting the Republicans demise were very foolish. I might be able to partially agree with the idea that the nation is more liberal now than it was in 2000, but that is not yet clear.  There were articles that really predicted the demise of the Republican party.  The fact is that anytime there is a businessman complaining about too much government regulation or too much bureaucracy, there's going to be a future for  Republicans.

the holiday season

Going home to see my parents on Thanksgiving has been sobering. It used to be when I went home to my hometown of Ithaca, WI, I felt much younger, b/c it was the home of my youth.  Seeing old classmates, seeing the school, seeing certain old shops in Richland Center,  I am reminded of when I was young.
But not so anymore, my Dad has Alzheimers and it's sobering. It reminds me of what happened to his Mom, it forces me to recall that Mom had to deal w/ the brunt of Grandma's disease and now she is doing the same thing w/ my Dad but even moreso b/c she obviously lives w/ Dad 24/7.

Personally, I feel old, and it's not such a stretch to think that there's a good chance that I might get Alzheimer's if I become old. That's reason number 5 why I would just as soon die when I'm 79.
Still, I love going to Ithaca, and my kids don't go there enough. I want them to have a strong connection with MY side of the family. There's a built-in disadvantage b/c they are hundreds of miles away, and they can see MB's family by going a mere 3 miles.

In the last part of my 3 day stay in Ithaca for Thanksgiving, I worked at chopping wood and stacking it in their basement. I absolutely love "cording" wood, stacking it. I would venture to guess that it's one of my favorite work activities and probably my favorite physical work activity. Plus, I used it as a way of burning calories. I wish it had helped more b/c I ended up gaining over 5 pounds.

But that was ok, b/c I ended up burning the weight off when I went back to work.

The turn-of-the-year holidays came at a good time. I was working extra, extra hours at work (what's funny is that when I was finally paid for working all those extra hours, this past Tuesday, my ofc. manager said if I ever worked that much overtime again, he would have me murdered).
 
XMAS and New Yrs. were nice b/c Maribeth was with us to celebrate the holidays as I didn't go to WI to celebrate. The big criteria of a "successful" XMAS is that the kids like their gifts, and to our relief, they did. The problem is that we couldn't take XMAS pictures, b/c our cellphone is making all the pictures miniature. We can't send them in any family e-mails or to my blog! It's a real pain in the ass, and I don't know how to solve the problem!
I must take this opportunity to once again say that I really enjoy and am grateful for my inlaws. If I got along w/ MB as well as I get along w/ my inlaws, we would have never been divorced!!!
So I enjoyed celebrating XMAS w/ MB's sister, her daughter and MB's father. I received the gift of money which is my favorite gift of all!! Ted made sure that I got a gift card from Walgreens.

On New Yrs., I usually don't get to celebrate the coming of the New Yr w/ Maribeth b/c she always works the next morning on New Yrs. Day. But since she had her surgery, she has been off. We celebrated New Yrs. Eve for the 1st time since 1999-2000!!
Better yet, the kids stayed up, and they celebrated with us. We had a fun time and the 3 holidays: Thanksgiving, XMAS and New Yrs. Day were a nice, relaxing time.

a little update, need a little help

I haven't been able to be very active here, b/c work has been so "out of hand" busy that I have been taking work home w/ me.  Hopefully, with more clerks (I was the one teaching/tutoring the clerks so that has made me even more busy),  I will have less work to do and more time to be active here. 

I also wanted to blog hop and hopefully you'll be seeing me more on your blog as well. 

As you can see, I Google advertises on this blog. I would like to ask each and every reader to please, please click onto the ads shown.  Here's the deal, they pay out in $100 increments.  This blog has some good features but it's not the most popular website in the Internet. (Really! I'm not kidding!), so it has taken me over a year to get even close to $100.

So, please, I'm getting close, can you click onto the ad and  help put me over $100?  Pretty please, with sugar on it? I need that 1st payout! 

Holidays of 2009, Part 2

When we got out of the car after the fast trip, the kids and I saw a cute bulldog playing in my parents’ yard. The bulldog belonged to my nephew (above).

Brianna, who absolutely loves animals, forgot about unpacking and immediately started playing with the dog. Andy, Ted & I were finding a place to unpack, because, the night before, my sisters stayed overnight with my parents getting ready for Thanksgiving. With people either staying overnight and many more simply spent 5 hours at the family celebration, it wasn’t easy figuring out where to put our suicases and other things we brought. Like everyone else, we were ordered to bring a specific food/drink items for the meal, and they used our contribution in the kitchens. We were happy to do that.
The appetizers before the meal were tasty; the kids and I were very hungry because we only ate a light breakfast before the 3 ½ hours trip. They prayer was said, and the meal began around 1:00 pm. The highlight was definitely the stuffing; it had a taste unlike any dressing I ever had. It was delicious!
Before and after the meal, we watched the Packers-Detroit Lions game and with us all from Wisconsin, we were satisfied with the outcome.

Since my siblings are more health conscious, they attacked this burning question: if you eat a huge meal, how can you limit the damage of additional weight. (Remember it was on their minds not mine). Bob, my brother, came up with a really ambitious idea. He heard (falsely) that my parents didn’t have any firewood in their basement. Since they had a large collections dying from a disease, he sawed several of them down. Jerome (my other brother, I have 4 of them!) corrected him after the first or second tree was cut down. "No, we have plenty of wood, Bob, and a pile of wood that we can barely get done Dad’s chute!"
Bob, Jerome and I were the only ones that worked on wood. Bob’s sons were incredulous that we would be dumb enough to saw trees and stack wood before the Packers won the game. They smartly decided to stay out of the work. They weren’t worried about their weight anyway (I’m so damn jealous!!).
Jerome realized that we had a problem. Bob sawed wood and our chute was full of wood. Plus, we had to walk 200 feet to put the wood in the basement. We had a small wheelbarrow that would only make several trips. Jerome and Bob resolved to stack the wood outside, and then, months later, we would bring that wood in.
Someone in my house (probably my sisters) came up with the idea of walking the weight off. I ended up gaining 5 pounds during the Thanksgiving vacation; so, I was desperate to do activities that would limit the damage of big meals. Emily, Kathi’s daughter, and Andrea, Jerome’s daughter, led the charge of about 15 family members walking back and forth for about a mile. I decided to keep up with them. They walked fast and we were done in around 20some minutes. The problem is my body doesn’t burn calories very well walking. When I worked at the "law firm from HELL (horrible, manipulative boss) back in 2003-2005, I walked 15 miles a week, because I walked well over a mile to and from the train station to that damn firm.

So, while I was home (from Thursday to Saturday), Ted, Andy and I took the wood that was next to the chute and took over 300 pieces of wood and made a 3rd row of wood for my parents. Mom was sweet enough to offer money for our work, but I refused. Friday, Ted and I took the wood that my brothers & I stacked the day before, and I put that in the basement (since the chute was cleared out from what was stacked). I’ve been below my largest weight for quite awhile so I guess I’ll keep trying to keep losing. With things crazy at work, I'll continue to skip lunches and lose weight.

back to losing weight through ANGER

My oldest son's birthday party last night. He's 14; I'm relieved that he's got some good friends. I spent $116 having his party at HOLLYWOOD PARK. ($100-HP + $16 for cake, WATCHING YOUR KIDS BE HAPPY, PRICELESS!!!!)

HOLLYWOOD P. is an arcade place. I found out that Maribeth bumped up the expense from $95 for the party to $150 w/o letting me know. I put $25 down to reserve party. So I walk into the office to pay the rest and just got floored w/ MB's wonderful idea. Then I got pissed and asked her for more money. I used some tact, I think. She gave me $50. Then, before I paid, I lost my fuckin' VISA CARD, and had to run to CHASE which (b/c they are so big & ubiquitous) was only a few blocks away. Then I paid for it. MB's idea of increasing it to $150 was a good one. The more you spend on the party the more game tokens you get. & WE WENT THROUGH GAME TOKENS LIKE SHIT THROUGH A TIN HORN!

So anyway, I fell in love w/ this terrorist game at the arcade place. I actually used to use guns on the farm and kill sparrows and starlings. *Starlings are a greasy, angry, pig of a bird w/ few redeeming features, and as soon as the cats saw me carrying a gun around about 4 of them were smart enough to follow me around, b/c it meant lunch and suppertime ALL ROLLED INTO ONE. love by cats, gotta love it. & besides, it's proven by those who study them, that starlings single-handedly reduced the bluebird population in the United States. They peck out their eggs, so they won't be born. Wow, reader! Where's the outrage, killing the unborn.

So anyway, I'm playing this terrorist game, and blasting the shit out of the terrorists. I single handedly advanced 4 levels and earned 5 medals. I thought what great therapy! This feels great! I'm gonna be so much calmer when I get home. I was looking forward to my newfound happiness (especially since I only spent $4 on the game) when I got home.

& MB pissed me off when we got home by acting like her usual dour self. Do you realize that back in 1992, she used to come to my place after I worked as a temp paralegal and then: 1. ate my supper I served her 2. laid on my couch and fell asleep! THE END, wake up the next morning.

I bring that '92 story up b/c she obviously had no cancer then and made everyone in the house tense last night b/c she went to bed at 8:45....just like in 1992. So why did I marry her in 1993 if we fought in 1992, and she pulled the above routine on me occasionally?? I don't know, reader, you have a point, YOU WIN!!

So I'm sitting here angry, and bought Beechnut like I did back in 1980. Can you believe that? I must really be carrying a lot of anger and resentment about my fate. I must really be driven to a shitty point in life w/ her cancer and everything.

So, my conclusion is that if you go to Afganhistan and slaughter 100 members of Al Queda, you won't feel happy and smug about ridding terrorists from the face of the earth. It might just make you feel bad. AM I a pretty good amateur sociologist????

oops, time for a disclaimer. I fully support the fighting done by NATO in Afganhistan. So, if you think I'm a pacifist Democrat, you're wrong. God bless the troops.

Holidays of 2009 - 1st in a 6-part series

I have decided to do a 6-part series of the holidays for 2009. The one that has just occurred and our XMAS.

Part I.

I broke a driving record on a wonderful trip to Ithaca, WI without any unnecessary risks. I live in a SW suburb of Chicago and was going to Ithaca, Wisconsin which is an hour west of Madison, WI. Ithaca, my hometown, is where I grew up all of my 20 years and is where my parents still live. Population growing up was about 30, and it's about 70 now. My high school graduating class was 29 seniors

Now, it's about 220 miles from my current home and about a 4 hr. trip. I wanted to get to Ithaca by 11 am. which meant leaving around 7. That meant getting the kids up around 6:30. They had to be all set before they got up - packed, know what they'll where on the trip and what they would wear for Thanksgiving.

We travel on I-90, and when you are traveling north of Chicago, you have to pay around $3 going from the Illinois border to Chicago. We also had to travel on I-294 which is another toll road as well. You get a discount for using the I-Pass, and you don't have to stop to pay, your mobile transponder pays the toll while you are going 30+ mph. Maribeth was nice enough to give me her I-Pass. (MB works at Loyola and has to pay twice each time she goes to work). We packed, we gassed the car, and we were 1/2 hour late and didn't leave until 7:30. I didn't think that was terrible, and what I suspected came true. Only a few motorists would be on the road on Thanksgiving morning.

After an hour or so of driving with no jams, no stops & smooth sailing, I was getting ahead of schedule. If you can go a couple hours doing nothing but 70some miles an hour, you can cover a pleasing amount of distance. Maybe I could get to Ithaca in under 4 hours! The thing that helped the most, by far, was no stops. No stops for gas, for the bathroom, for eating something, just moving northwest at 70some miles an hour. Things kept getting better; we crossed into Wisconsin, and it wasn't even 2 hours into the trip - it was closer to 1 1/2 hrs. Crossing into Wisconsin from Illinois is always significant, because that marks exactly the 1/2way point of a 4 hour trip.

Later, we drove on the Beltline of Madison which meant we only had about an hour. IT WAS ONLY 10 AM! So, I turned and said to my 3 kids (who were behaving great on the trip and mostly sleeping through the trip), "If you don't stop for a bathroom break, you can spend $10 at Walmart Friday instead of $5". (No, that isn't much money either way, but like my parents, I try to keep on budget and cut costs!) So, they, too, were fired up about making Ithaca by the 11:00 target! Closer and closer and the excitement rose. We were in the same county as Ithaca (Richland County).

We rolled into my parents' driveway, and it was 10:47. We got out of the car beaming!!!

Out of all of the times I drove to Wisconsin since 1989. This was the time when I broke the record for the best time from Chicago to Ithaca. DRIVEN IN UNDER 3 1/2 HOURS!!

the news from my ex-wife, MB

Late last month, Maribeth had tests and they were, sadly enough, positive. She had uterine cancer. So this is what her Dr. planned.

1. She had an extensive biopsy done last Tuesday.
2. The biopsy was encouraging insofar as the cancer is not developed, not spreading fast.
3. Her Dr. scheduled a hysterectomy for Dec. 15. She may have the ovaries and f. tubes taken out as well. The Dr. agreed. Their viewpoint is that since we have enough kids, MB is 42, and there's the potential for there to be cancer there, be safe and take it all out.
4. The hysterectomy also will get rid of the extensive problems she has had w/ fibroids. I didn't know this until today but she not only had a biopsy on Nov. 17 but also had a D & C to get rid of the fibroid problem until the next surgery.

We have been praying, and we definitely feel that our prayers were answered, by the encouraging results of the biopsy. The caring process is a 2 step process.

First we'll care for MB. Then we will have to take "care" of the massive, hospital's, physicians', anesthesiologist's and radiologist's bills. Yes, there's insurance (thankfully) but there is always co-insurance, deductible and that's a lot. Oh well.

car insurance is messed up too!

Sorry, I have been putting off writing about a health problem affecting someone in our family. It's been crazy at work. & now simply isn't the right time.

Instead, it's time to vent. Since we know there will be $100s and $100s, maybe $1,000s in Dr bills, hospital bills anesthesiology bills & radiology bills piling up in a month or 2, I decided that I really needed to cut costs. One way is to find out if my car insurance was too expensive. So I got quotes. The quotes weren't that good, and they weren't beating my current insurance monthly rate. Then they said that I had a car accident in January of this year, it was my fault and the claim was over $1,900!!!

I was thunderstruck; no such thing happened (& if it did you know damn well I would have been writing about it!). So, I got very upset with my agent and demanded to know just exactly what the hell is going on. A person shouldn't be so upset, being angry sucks and makes you look bad. So, I took a breath and said, "Jim, imagine how upset you would be if the credit agencies were all reporting that you had a bankruptcy. You would have an impossible time getting a credit card under 20%. There would be numerous financial hurdles to cross w/ a bankruptcy!!"

It took him a little over 24 hours to find out what exactly happened. While Maribeth & I both have separate car insurance policies, we both get a multi-vehicle discount since we are both at the same car insurance company. 2 years ago, Maribeth executed a 2-way trade. Her Dad could no longer drive so she got his car. Her niece, Kristin, had no car so Maribeth let her have her KIA Rio.

So what happened in January, 2009?? Kristin was driving down the interstate, the front car hood was not attached properly (for some unknown reason), the hood flipped up and smashed into Kristin's windshield. If it had smashed several feet closer to the driver's side, Kristin could have been killed. Naturally, Maribeth, owner of the car, made an insurance claim.

The insurance agent said that while this incident has nothing to do with me, I am getting a multi-vehicle discount. That means that Maribeth and I are once again linked! The car insurance stated that what happened to Maribeth's car necessarily goes on my driving record.

What kind of gomer-bullshit logic is that? I received one consolation. I was looking to save about $20 a month, and I asked that all towing and rent-a-car coverage be taken out of my auto insurance coverage. That ended up saving me well over $20 and now I'm paying slightly over $60.

I still don't think that's right that our records are linked.

what really hurts

I've been wondering this for a long time, and suspected it for about 8 years.

I'm finally convinced that silence and failure to act are some of the most formidable insults one can face.

Amazing Hypocrisy!!!!

Yesterday was a day honoring veterans and rightly so! We have a bill supported by Pres.Obama, ALL DEMOCRATS and many Republicans which would give wounded veterans MORE benefits. Why is Sen.Tom Coburn of Oklahoma single-handedly delaying such a bill? At the HEIGHT OF HYPOCRISY, he gave speeches yesterday about how much he supports veterans! He should get off his Ass and take his Senatorial Hold off a bill helping veterans.

Here's another guy like Limbaugh who is so intent on seeing Obama not do well that even an excellent, much-needed bill that needs passage. Here's a REPUBLICAN, a physician, no less who feels the need to hog the spotlight at the expense of veterans who have fought overseas. As if the Republicans couldn't stoop any lower, here's a guy that tries to make it that way.
Most Republicans are reasonable enough to support this bill, yet Sen. Coburn has been so UNREASONABLE that he has earned the sobriquet "Dr. No". Pretty stupid to oppose a president when he's right.

Further, a statistic during Veterans Day has come out that over 2,000 Veterans have died in the last year, because they lack health insurance. I guess Senator Coburn's insurance is fine, and since he is such a hypocrite in his lip-service but no support of Veterans, he is too oblivious to know the plight of Veterans after returning home from combat.

son's first encounter w/ crime

We live in a good community, but even "tony" suburbs have their crime. We encourage Andy to do lots of walking. Late this afternoon after school, Andy was looking forward to playing on the family Play Station 2, because the school gave all students in the district 3 days off. It was the end of the grading period. He enjoyed a boxing game, but the disc was scratched up. Since we have a membership at a store called Game Crazy, he was able to walk the 1/2 mile and get the game's scratches removed, for free.

Unfortunately, he took a path that has many apartment complexes. He was approached by 3 tall high schoolers, all young men, & they asked what he had in the bag. Andy answered, "none of your business."
They followed him and yanked the bag carring the boxing game in it. Maribeth wanted him to report the incident to the police. Andy was embarassed and afraid of a trial where he would have to testify against 3 young punks.

Yet, we all know that in a town of 20,000, the police are very unlikely to find them. There will be no trial. The police admitted that there were a good deal of thefts in the apartment complexes near where Andy was robbed. The interesting thing that the officers said was that they caught teenagers Andy's age making the thefts!

So, what are we going to do about this? Well, 1st of all, it's absolute bullshit to say that Andy can't walk to Game Crazy anymore. It's absolute bullshit to say to Ted that he can't go to Subway when he earns his pay for work done at home, b/c the Subway restaurant is only a quarter mile away.

However, I told both my sons that adjustments need to be made. First, Andy will walk down the much safer US Highway 6, rather than the backstreet he took. Ted will not order carry out when going to Subway, because the young punks were drawn to Andy's bag. He will eat at Subway instead.

Like I said, Andy didn't want to go to the police station. I agreed 100% with Maribeth that he needed to make a report. I told Andy that if he didn't go to the police, he was letting the whole community down. That was a pretty melodramatic statement, but there is truth to it. When something like this happens, the police patrol that area more, and there will be a item in our local paper of a young 13 yr. old getting robbed. I doubt that Andy's name will be in the paper. There needs to be awareness that even in decent towns, thefts happen.

Andy, in the end, was glad he went to the police station as the questioning was professional and matter of fact. Let's hope that safe methods will now lead to safe results.
---------------------
There will be another post coming this weekend about news from family. Just haven't had time.

more news to come

been very busy at work, attended a Paralegal Conference at the very posh Union League Club @ the Loop area of Chicago ( & more importantly, I actually learned a few things in my legal writing class).
Pray for those women w/ cancer. It may hit closer to home than you think!

I will write 2 posts on both of these subjects, hopefully, this weekend.

football season comes to an end

On the face of it, Ted's team failed again as they were unable to win one single game (just like last year). But let's make some comparisons.

LAST YEAR touchdowns: 2 THIS YEAR touchdowns 6

yards gained passing Last year: 0 This year: 100

Scrimmages won, last year: 0 this year: 2

goal line by defense: Last year: 2 this year: 10

In the tournament game we faced the 1st place team in the league, our defense held them to

their lowest score. They only had 12 points. Our defense certainly did better than our offense but as you can see from above, there was much improvement.

Ted had 3 times as many sacks and tackles as last year. He was made team captain. He didn't carry the ball last year at all. This year he caught 2 passes for 18 yards and ran the ball for 5 yards.

He looks forward to basketball, and his future in athletics both in grade school is bright and maybe he'll be able to play in sports in high school as well.

a test for YOU :) !

Your Best Trait is Creativity
You may seem like you're a bit flaky or flighty, but you're really just deep in thought.You are the artistic type, no doubt. However, you are also highly analytical and logical.You are able to solve problems in unique and interesting ways. Your ideas are unpredictable, but they always end up making sense.You are picky and sometimes downright critical. You expect the best of yourself, but others are not prepared for your exacting standards.

for your test go to

http://www.blogthings.com/whatsyourbesttraitquiz/

why is a party a good one?

I haven't been to a party in a long time. I was lucky enough to be invited to one and got dressed up. My daughter (above) really wanted to go with me, but that was impossible. I drove to the party wondering if I would have a good time. When I was in my 20s, I used to go to tons of them. There were a few good parties that I attended in my 30s, and the best party of all was our wedding dance in 1993. After getting divorced and being in my 40s, there are fewer invitations.

2 weeks ago, as I rode to my job on a train, as I always do, a friend of mine was kind enough to invite me to a Halloween party. I went, and the first impression was, "Wow! What a community this is!" There was an electronic gate with cameras that keeps out riff-raff of not the building, but the whole subdivision! I felt lucky that the gate was open when I drove into this posh subdivision.

There was a hayride, and the passengers laughed about the streets being so wide an airplane could use them as landing strips. I happily took a picture of a group of young women when they asked me to.

There were festive games that were played that I participated in. Is the awesome, safe community and the great games by the great MC what made the party? That helped. My friend's brother was the MC, and it would put a smile on your face to see him facilitate the fun had by all, courtesy of Sean and others.

What was it that made this a fun party that I will never forget?

The impressive community/subdivision it was in? The hayride? The music? The music was good. I am such a staunch, true-believer of rock-n-roll, & I was a bit uneasy about rap or hip-hop (or whatever it's called)making people dance and have fun as much as my rock music does.

The DJ played rock after 1 am and people had fun (just as they did to hip hop). I liked the DJ, and it was apparent that he liked some of the same music I did.

Since I was dressed up for Halloween, I went as one of the Blues Brothers, Elwood Blues. & if anyone asked where Jake was, I could conveniently say, "it used to be my ex". Was it fun when I danced w/ the DJ when we both appeared as Blues Brothers & danced at the party for several blues/rock songs? Yes, that was fun, and partygoers seemed to like that a lot (which made me smile a lot).

Still....what really made the party fun was the same reason 2 of the best parties I went to were fun. It was fun b/c the people were friendly. We had a good time, and it was easy to smile with them. I didn't have to agonize figuring out who to dance with, b/c all I had to do was simply go to where they were dancing and having fun.

The people tonight were definitely what made the party fun, and that's the way it always is at a fun party.

2 more weeks of football for Ted

Ted wears a blue & white "C" on his jersey, b/c he is the captain of his team. He has been the biggest kid on his football team the last 2 years. One game they put him up against the toughest kid from their defensive line and Ted, with some help, stopped him from getting to the ball.

2 weeks ago, against the Broncos, he had 5 "flags" (when flag is pulled off ball carrier, ball carrier must stop) and 3 OF THEM were for loss of yardage or "sacks". One of his teammate walked over to him after the game, patted his "C" and said, "You really earned being Captain today!"

Last team, Ted's team ran back 2 kickoff returns for touchdowns. He's down to his last 2 games. This week ends the regular season, and next week is the beginning of tournament action where they face the toughest team in the league, the Vikings.

Let's hope they can finally bring home a win this Sunday!!

TOO DRIVEN

“Driven in -- Driven to the edge

Driven out -- On the thin end of the wedge

Driven off -- By things I've never seen

Driven on -- By the road to somewhere I've never been….The road unwinds towards me

What was there is gone .

The road unwinds before me And I go riding on” Neil Peart of Rush. From the album Test for Echo


It’s amazing how therapeutic sleep really is. I ran out of Lunesta several days ago and Benadryl is inferior because you have a sense of grogginess (while Lunesta allows you to wake up “fresh as a daisy”.)
If it wasn’t for the dreadful metallic taste in my mouth, I would call Lunesta a miracle drug!

So, the accommodating secretary from the Doc’s office gave me the refill @ Walgreens and it remains to be seen if my venerable ex, MB, gets it today. I'll get it if I have to b/c I'm writing this at lunch and don't feel very good. UPDATE: It's the next day, & Lunesta didn't help only 3 hrs. of sleep.
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If you have not watched, Easy Rider (released in 1969 by Peter Fonda) you really, really should! People think that it’s a movie about motor cycle riding and drug taking, but it really isn’t. I firmly believe it’s an anti-drug movie. In a pivotal scene, Peter Fonda clutches a female statue in a New Orleans cemetery. The statue resembles the Statue of Liberty.

Peter Fonda’s mother (and Henry Fonda’s wife) committed suicide. Zoom and flash into the movie Easy Rider. Towards the end of the acid trip, when the LSD will not permit one to sleep, Peter Fonda’s character in a drug-induced plaintive sob, cries, “Mom? Mom? Why did you leave me? You left me, mother; you “copped out”; AND I HATE YOU FOR THAT!!!"

Since I rented the DVD of Easy Rider, there are bonus parts (35th Anniversary Edition DVD). He explains the immense embarrassment he later felt after they filmed that scene where he is sobbing and bemoaning his dead mother. He wanted to yank that scene out. He was persuaded by Dennis Hopper to leave it in. Dennis Hopper was pretty compelling, and he yelled just enough to finally convince Fonda. (“I’M THE DIRECTOR”, yelled Hopper). I believe had that scene been yanked as Fonda initially wanted it to be, the movie would not have won as many awards. The intense sadness of abandonment is one that millions of people feel on a daily basis.

Easy Rider was an award-winning movie at the Cannes Film Festival. It was nominated 3 times by the Academy of Awards, yet the “uptight” film academy of 1969 refused to glorify this “drug” movie (NOT!). It clearly was one of the best movies depicting the whole counter-culture wrought during the 60s. It speaks to the racism in the South (where it is still present in certain politicians, journalists and sadly that region), the utter lack of control when one takes certain illicit drugs. Sadly enough, it graphically depicts the pain and mental damage one suffers when they lose their mother at a tender age. Peter Fonda wasn’t even a teenager when his mother suddenly killed herself by slitting her throat.

I thank God that I have a stable mother who has been a great influence on my life.