not sure if she's ready for the whole
world, but not sure if she can take
another minute cooped up in that cage
either. leaving the door open so if she
has to come back she can do it with a
minimum of anxiety
From StoryPeople.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Friday, September 25, 2009
Don't Give Up Hope For The Public Option
According to a New York Times poll:
By a margin of 52 percent to 27 percent, Americans believe President Obama has better ideas about overhauling health care than Republicans do, according to a national poll conducted by The New York Times and CBS News. And nearly two-thirds of the country supports creation of a government-run insurance plan, or public option. Read the full story.
Folks are waking up to the fact that having health insurance will, very likely, be mandatory, and a good many will want an alternative to fattening the profits of the health insurance companies who treat many of their sick clients so badly. The Congress will have hell to pay if they do not provide a public option that will serve anyone who wants in and not just the poor and unemployed.
Watch Sen. Ron Wyden on Countdown with Lawrence O'Donnell.
By a margin of 52 percent to 27 percent, Americans believe President Obama has better ideas about overhauling health care than Republicans do, according to a national poll conducted by The New York Times and CBS News. And nearly two-thirds of the country supports creation of a government-run insurance plan, or public option. Read the full story.
Folks are waking up to the fact that having health insurance will, very likely, be mandatory, and a good many will want an alternative to fattening the profits of the health insurance companies who treat many of their sick clients so badly. The Congress will have hell to pay if they do not provide a public option that will serve anyone who wants in and not just the poor and unemployed.
Watch Sen. Ron Wyden on Countdown with Lawrence O'Donnell.
John Mortimer - R. I. P.
From the New York Times:
Edited Sept. 27, 2009: The death of John Mortimer is is not recent news. I did not notice the date on the NYT article, which was January 17, 2009. Sorry about the misinformation.
Still, may he rest in peace.
Thanks to Carol Horton in the comments for the correction. Lapin had it right, too.
"Why No Anglican Covenant: Part 2"
Lionel Deimel, following upon his previous essays No Anglican Covenant and Why No Anglican Covenant: Part 1, gives us his third word on the Covenant. Links for the two earlier posts are at his blog.
In his opening paragraph, Lionel says:
There is much to be said about what is in the Ridley Cambridge Draft proposed as an Anglican covenant. Too little attention has been paid to what is not in the draft, however. In this essay, I want to discuss an important provision that is missing.
Further along Lionel notes a curious silence about about a certain matter:
It is curious that “orthodox” elements of the Communion continue to advocate the three moratoria while conspicuously ignoring ongoing (and expanding) incursions. It is also curious that the proposed covenant, while requiring churches to do and to believe all manner of things, is silent on the matter of not messing in the affairs of sister Communion churches. Perhaps that is because the purpose of the covenant is to mess in the affairs of other churches.
Lionel's final paragraph is worth the price of admission, so I'm not giving it away. The cost is a simple click over to his site to read the essay. You won't be sorry.
In his opening paragraph, Lionel says:
There is much to be said about what is in the Ridley Cambridge Draft proposed as an Anglican covenant. Too little attention has been paid to what is not in the draft, however. In this essay, I want to discuss an important provision that is missing.
Further along Lionel notes a curious silence about about a certain matter:
It is curious that “orthodox” elements of the Communion continue to advocate the three moratoria while conspicuously ignoring ongoing (and expanding) incursions. It is also curious that the proposed covenant, while requiring churches to do and to believe all manner of things, is silent on the matter of not messing in the affairs of sister Communion churches. Perhaps that is because the purpose of the covenant is to mess in the affairs of other churches.
Lionel's final paragraph is worth the price of admission, so I'm not giving it away. The cost is a simple click over to his site to read the essay. You won't be sorry.
"Words For God"
Ann Fontaine has a lovely essay at the Daily Episcoplian, a meditation on verses from Psalm 116.
Good-bye, Boots - From Sue
Well the time finally came to say goodbye to Boots. I arrived home this afternoon to take him to the vet and he couldn't stand up and his feet and legs were cold. He was one strong critter and withstood more than his share of adversity. From being turned out into the outdoors by his previous owner to arriving in Elli Beck's back yard, then living the winter in her garage, all the while prowling the neighborhood getting into fights and most likely making babies. Then he moved on to being quarantined for Rabies for 6 months and thankfully Becks had a garage he could live in, to coming to live with Bill and I in 1995. The vet figured he was about 3 then, and he lived the life of Reilly in my house and if you have the good fortune of being my pet....well just ask Graham, he'll tell you.
Boots then moved on to having cancer in his mouth and skin at the same time, right around the time I had some surgery or another, who knows what. So we were running I-95 North for him to appointments and surgery at Penn, then running south I-95 for me to Christiana Care. All in all there were three surgeries. Then finally it was diabetes and shots 2 times a day. He was a trooper, and a great bed partner. If he wasn't gently snoring, it was purring and in the middle of the night it would sound like the Mormon Tabernacle choir.
He went peacefully. Mom (Sue) is a mess and she'll miss him terribly.
From Sue.
Ah, there's just too much death lately, but onward we must go on. Pray for all those who loved Boots, who gave him a good life, and who will miss him so.
He will join Babs and all our other animal friends who have passed on in the playing fields of the Lord.
Five Troops Killed In 24 Hours
From the AP:
Five American troops were killed within 24 hours in southern Afghanistan, where Taliban militants have conducted an unrelenting campaign of bombings and attacks against U.S. and NATO forces.
This has been the deadliest year of the war for international forces and the Obama administration is debating whether to add still more troops to the 21,000-strong influx that began pouring into the country over the summer.
....
The U.S. is on track to have 68,000 troops in Afghanistan by the end of 2009, but the Pentagon said McChrystal would ask this week for as many as 40,000 new forces. Some question the wisdom of sending more troops to support a government facing allegations of widespread fraud in last month's disputed vote.
....
In a report to the White House, McChrystal argued that military commanders need to be less preoccupied with protecting their troops and send them out into Afghan communities more. He acknowledged this "could expose military personnel and civilians to greater risk in the near term," but said the payoff in terms of forging ties with the Afghan people would be worth it.
"Accepting some risk in the short term will ultimately save lives in the long run," he wrote.
I hope that Obama realizes that he is taking ownership of the war in Afghanistan.
According to Operation Enduring Freedom the total number of US troop deaths in Afghanistan is at 848. Total number of coalition fatalities stands at 1415.
Countries which have lost wars in Afghanistan in the last couple of hundred years: Britain twice in the 19th century, the Soviet Union in the 20th century. What is the end game in this war?
More troops equal more casualties for the coalition and for the Afghans.
Pray for peace in Afghanistan.
H/T to TPM.
Five American troops were killed within 24 hours in southern Afghanistan, where Taliban militants have conducted an unrelenting campaign of bombings and attacks against U.S. and NATO forces.
This has been the deadliest year of the war for international forces and the Obama administration is debating whether to add still more troops to the 21,000-strong influx that began pouring into the country over the summer.
....
The U.S. is on track to have 68,000 troops in Afghanistan by the end of 2009, but the Pentagon said McChrystal would ask this week for as many as 40,000 new forces. Some question the wisdom of sending more troops to support a government facing allegations of widespread fraud in last month's disputed vote.
....
In a report to the White House, McChrystal argued that military commanders need to be less preoccupied with protecting their troops and send them out into Afghan communities more. He acknowledged this "could expose military personnel and civilians to greater risk in the near term," but said the payoff in terms of forging ties with the Afghan people would be worth it.
"Accepting some risk in the short term will ultimately save lives in the long run," he wrote.
I hope that Obama realizes that he is taking ownership of the war in Afghanistan.
According to Operation Enduring Freedom the total number of US troop deaths in Afghanistan is at 848. Total number of coalition fatalities stands at 1415.
Countries which have lost wars in Afghanistan in the last couple of hundred years: Britain twice in the 19th century, the Soviet Union in the 20th century. What is the end game in this war?
More troops equal more casualties for the coalition and for the Afghans.
Pray for peace in Afghanistan.
H/T to TPM.
Watch Joe Biden Hit It Out Of The Ballpark
Well, maybe not quite a home run, but pretty damned good. What I wonder about the folks on Medicare who don't want others to have what they have, is don't they have family members who are hurting or have been hurt by our dysfunctional health care mess? Or is it that they don't give a shit about anyone but themselves? Or is it ignorance? Honestly, I don't get it.
Geaux, Joe!
Thursday, September 24, 2009
The Talking Dog
A guy is driving around the back woods of North Carolina and sees a sign in front of a broken down shanty-style house: 'TALKING DOG FOR SALE'
The man rings the bell and the owner of the house appears, telling him the dog is in the backyard. They both walk around to the backyard, and a nice looking Labrador retriever is sitting there, under a tree.
'Mind if I check him out?' the prospective buyer asks.
'Go right ahead,' answers the owner.
The man walks up to the dog tentatively. 'You talk?' he asks.
'Yep,' the lab replies.
After the man recovers from the shock of hearing a talking dog, he says, 'So, what's your story?'
The dog looks up and says, 'Well, I discovered that I could talk when I was pretty young. I wanted to help the government, so I told the CIA. In no time at all they had me jetting from country to country, sitting in rooms with spies and world leaders, because no one figured a dog would be eavesdropping. It was pretty funny to be doing that, but in reality I was one of their most valuable spies for eight years running. But the jetting around tired me out, and I knew I wasn't getting any younger, so I decided to settle down. I signed up for a job at the airport to do some undercover security, wandering near suspicious characters and listening in. I uncovered some incredible dealings and was awarded a batch of medals. Then I got married, had a mess of puppies, and now I'm just retired.'
The guy is amazed. He asks the owner what he wants for the dog.
'Ten dollars,' the guy says.
'Ten dollars? Are you nuts? This dog is amazing! Why on earth are you selling him so cheap?'
'Because he's a liar. He never did any of that.'
UPDATE: Oh, woe, woe, woe is me! I forgot to give Doug credit for sending me the joke. I wouldn't want y'all to think that I made it up. By the same token, I wouldn't want y'all to think that Doug made it up, either.
The man rings the bell and the owner of the house appears, telling him the dog is in the backyard. They both walk around to the backyard, and a nice looking Labrador retriever is sitting there, under a tree.
'Mind if I check him out?' the prospective buyer asks.
'Go right ahead,' answers the owner.
The man walks up to the dog tentatively. 'You talk?' he asks.
'Yep,' the lab replies.
After the man recovers from the shock of hearing a talking dog, he says, 'So, what's your story?'
The dog looks up and says, 'Well, I discovered that I could talk when I was pretty young. I wanted to help the government, so I told the CIA. In no time at all they had me jetting from country to country, sitting in rooms with spies and world leaders, because no one figured a dog would be eavesdropping. It was pretty funny to be doing that, but in reality I was one of their most valuable spies for eight years running. But the jetting around tired me out, and I knew I wasn't getting any younger, so I decided to settle down. I signed up for a job at the airport to do some undercover security, wandering near suspicious characters and listening in. I uncovered some incredible dealings and was awarded a batch of medals. Then I got married, had a mess of puppies, and now I'm just retired.'
The guy is amazed. He asks the owner what he wants for the dog.
'Ten dollars,' the guy says.
'Ten dollars? Are you nuts? This dog is amazing! Why on earth are you selling him so cheap?'
'Because he's a liar. He never did any of that.'
UPDATE: Oh, woe, woe, woe is me! I forgot to give Doug credit for sending me the joke. I wouldn't want y'all to think that I made it up. By the same token, I wouldn't want y'all to think that Doug made it up, either.
Scenes From A "Wedding"
The Happy Pair - Susan and Erika
Pre-service introduction - Susan:
Thank you all for coming to celebrate with us today! I hope you are not expecting a wedding, (though we have ‘borrowed’ some of the conventions of a wedding service and wedding breakfast!) When we signed our Civil Partnership last November we were not allowed to offer our new relationship to God and we felt this to be a very significant lack. We were also unable to invite as many friends and family members as we wished, so we resolved to hold a big party to remedy this deficiency.
Susan, Davis, and Erika
Davis' prayer:
Dear God, as we celebrate a year of loving union, we bring to You Susan and Erika, two people you’ve destined to become one. We are not perfect, nor did our love come about perfectly. Yet, through our imperfections, You have allowed Erika and Susan, to see each other’s true hearts and true spirits. Through you dear God, Erika and Susan have found their perfect love.
....
It is that joy they celebrate today in this holy place in the company of loving, supportive and accepting friends and family who have stood beside them through barren and bliss. But their union cannot be complete without Your blessing, because it is through knowing a loving God who accepts them as they are that it is made inviolate. Susan and Erika seek your blessing as their shield against any challenge or strife that may befall them.
Erika's Girls
They're beautiful, aren't they?
Susan Speechifying
After the Service - Susan:
Last November we signed our civil partnership to seal our relationship. We could become legally partnered but we could not ask our God for his blessing in public. Our church is still in debate about the place of same-sex relationships in the sight of God.
This, as many of you are already aware, is the political strand of our story.
So, today I’m here to give my great heartfelt thanks to the many people who have walked alongside us on our journey. I am not here to complain. I am here to say that I am the luckiest person on this planet! I had a wonderful first relationship which sustained me for many years and enabled me to grow and develop. I have two wonderful children and now two wonderful grandsons and another grandchild soon to be with us we hope! I have had the privilege of being a friend to Erika for the last thirteen years and of getting to know and love Maria and Anna as they have grown up. And I am so deeply blessed by the love that Erika and I share, that I can only thank God for his ability to give us gifts far greater than we could ever dare ask for ourselves!
Speaks For Itself
Much love and many blessings to you, Erika and Susan. May you and your families share many happy years together.
PS: Thank you, Susan and Erika, for giving me the privilege of sharing your joyful day with my readers.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)