Life is good if you have a dog living with you.

I confess I am an absolute lover of all things DOG. When I was a child I desperately wanted a dog but was told that my brother was "allergic" so we didn't have dogs in our house.  My friend, Nancy, who lived up the street got a dog she named Tippy and Tippy became my substitute dog. Tippy and a friend roamed the neighborhood streets and the two were always around for pats, hugs and play whenever I was outside and called them.  Oh sure, we had parakeets for pets and I loved them a lot but they weren't dogs.  It was only many, many years later that I found out that my mom had been attacked by a German Shepard when she was little and was extremely afraid of dogs.  The "allergic" story was not true.

When my husband and I moved to California, after settling in at Edwards Air Force Base for several months, I came home one day with a bird, a bronze-winged Beebee, kind of a cross between a parrot and a parakeet.  It was adorable and VERY loud.  We taught her to eat grapes and cherries.  She'd peel the skins off and throw them against the wall.  She walked around the house rather than fly.  She was the queen of the house. She was a lot of fun, sounding like a machine gun when she opened her mouth.  But, she wasn't a dog.  We had Bubee the Beebee for a long time.

One day someone told us about a litter of puppies in the neighborhood and we "casually" strolled over to see them. By the time we got there, one was left. It was a black long-haired cross between a short-haired brown dachshund (the mom) and a high fence jumper!  He was just adorable and he came home with us. We gave him a name beginning with the letter S (which I won't divulge because it's so unusual) and S just entwined himself around my heart and never let go.  I loved that dog with such intensity from the moment I laid eyes on him to the moment he took his last breath and beyond.  He moved with us from California to Texas to Massachusetts to Virginia and finally to Connecticut.  He lived with us for 11 years and it just wasn't long enough. But he started my long love affair with these four-footed furry friends who have inhabited our homes ever since.

After S, came 5 other dogs, most were mutts (one was a Tibetan Terrier and a show dog during the first 2 years of her life) and all had names beginning with the letter S. It just worked out that way.  Every single one was different from all the others and each one captured our hearts so completely.  We had S#2 and S#3 together, one a schnauzer-pug and the other a poodle-schnauzer. Poodle died suddenly at the age of 9 and pug was never the same after that.  We lavished love on pug and he lived to be 18!

A year later our #4, a Tibetan Terrier named Sallie, (we changed that name) came into our lives.  We were her third household and she was 7 at the time.  She had the longest eyelashes I've ever seen and she was just gorgeous.  She followed me around everywhere.  We started to bring her to the office every day and soon our (law) office had dogs everywhere since we allowed everyone who worked there to bring their dogs in, too.  We could have answered our phones with "Law Office and Doggie Day Care!"

At the age of 12, "Sallie" became very sick and we spent the next several weeks running to an animal hospital in Providence and spending thousands of dollars trying to save her life. It was not to be.  She had contracted a very rare kind of cancer not usually found in animals.  We took her home on a Saturday and all her doggie friends were brought over to be with her during her last day.  We said goodbye that night near midnight with a very compassionate vet who came to our house.  We were devastated.

It was almost 2 years before we even started to think about getting another dog.  I did my search on Petfinder.com.  And that proved to be a good thing.  I had chosen a few but they were taken by the time my inquiry came in. And then one of the people who told me my choice was already taken included a photo of another that had just come in and hadn't been included on the site yet.  She was just so cute.  I was asked if I might be interested and I said "yes".  A few weeks later we were waiting in a Home Depot parking lot in Springfield, MA waiting.  A car drove up and parked along side ours.  I got out and a little head popped up from the back seat.  I just gasped at the little ball of cuteness. And Snuggles, our#5, a maltese/shi-tzu, came into our lives.  Wow, she is such a sweetheart and she captured the hearts of everyone in the office.  Four months later, we closed the office and the three of us were on our way to Arizona.  

Five months after moving to Arizona I was at it again.  I felt Snuggles should have a companion so I took to Petfinder again.  And moving in with us on my birthday was Sterling, an adorable and feisty bichon frise-poodle.  

Both Snuggles and Sterling are rescues.  And we couldn't be happier with these two.  We have dog toys and dog beds all over the house.  Our sofa is covered with a blanket for their sleeping comfort.  Their welfare comes first before we make any plans to do anything. They are lavished with love and it's returned ten-fold.

Our son finally gave in to his longing for a dog and he rescued a lab/shar-pei!  And we get to dog-sit for him a few times a week.

The love all our doggies have given us has been immeasurable. They make a house a home.  If we could, we'd fill the house with more rescues.  


Isn't your heart just melting now?

         Sterling and Snuggles with their favorite toys.

When I Taught, Part 2 (see Part 1, 6.10.2013)

After my initial teaching experience in my hometown, the place where I spent a good portion of my own money providing food, school supplies, haircuts and such to those of my students who needed these things, I found myself in a completely different educational environment.  I landed a teaching position with the Muroc Unified School District at Edwards Air Force Base in California where my husband was assigned to the Judge Advocate General's office, his first assignment as a JAG officer.

The school building I was assigned to, on the base, was brand new and housed only sixth and seventh grade classes.  I was part of a team teaching effort and taught the sixth grade social studies/sixth and seventh grade girls physical education component.  Everything I needed or wanted was either housed in the building or could be brought in within a day.  My students were world travelers  by virtue of their parents being stationed at Air Force bases all over the world.  They came to my class armed with knowledge gained from living in other countries and around the United States.

All were well dressed, articulate, eager to share their experiences.  It was exciting to teach kids who didn't have hunger issues or all those issues that come with broken homes, low income or other family problems. I didn't have a plethora of paperwork to do.  I was able to be extremely creative with projects designed to give my students a reason to be enthusiastic about what I was teaching them.  It's the experience I expected to have when I became an elementary school teacher.

That teaching experience at Edwards had the kind of educational atmosphere every public school in the United States should provide.  But that was an exception.  My first teaching job in my home town and this one at Edwards were worlds apart in every sense.  

After Edwards, I took time off to have our sons and I stayed out of teaching until they got into school.  My next teaching experiences were different, weird, and unusual to say the least but that's for another time.

C'mon people. Share your thoughts with me!

I know people are reading my blogs.  What I can't understand is why they don't leave comments.  They sometimes indicate on Facebook that they've read it but that's not the same.  They've even mentioned it to my husband.  How come they never mention it on the blog itself or to me directly?  

I really like to write about all kinds of things.  It's what I do best, I think.....well, besides doing research on topics that interest me and interviewing people.  When I started my talk show on the radio in Connecticut I really did my homework on every guest I interviewed.  Researching each guest and coming up with the most interesting and germane questions for discussion really got my juices going. And I loved writing up the  stories I broadcast when I worked as a radio news reporter.      

Getting feedback on what I write is important to me as it would be for anyone who writes.  I just wish I didn't get comments second-hand.

So, I'm asking those of you who do read what I write, let me know what you think by posting your comments at the bottom of the blog entry.  I'm not asking for a long dissertation, just your thoughts on my efforts.  Thanks.

Screwing America, the GOP way.

"I support the troops."  These have become empty words with no real meaning anymore.   We have the Republicans to thank for that.

This phrase has no meaning at all to most Congressional Republicans and the Tea Party. It's just a slogan, a propaganda piece.  What support?  Our troops are not paid a living wage yet they are away from their families for months at a time, living in the worst of conditions, worrying about their families, worrying about their comrades in arms, worried about getting seriously injured or killed.

Now, with the GOP shut down of the government, supporting the troops has given way to "screwing the troops".  And not just the troops.  Screwing the country is what the GOP is after.  And make no mistake, this IS the fault of Congressional Republicans.

From the moment President Obama was elected, to this very minute, their goal was to take down the United States Government (and the Black guy in the White House), trash the Constitution they profess to believe in (but have no idea what it actually says and means) and place a "jackboot" on the necks of all those who are not white, Christian and European-descended.

Republicans' actions amount to sedition, a stirring up of rebellion against the government and that's a crime.  It is subversion of the Constitution. In my view, what the GOP is doing is plain and simple:  domestic terrorism.

Anyone with a working brain understands that the GOP hates the fact that they lost the last two elections to President Obama, that the ACA was part of that victory, and that Americans want that affordable health care.  They just can't stand that the deficit is going down, the economy is improving after the trashing G. W. Bush gave it.

The GOP-Tea Party:  whiny, kvetching bullies, filled with intense hatred for our elected President, inhumane, racist, bigoted, liars, utterly ignorant, anti-science, anti-education, anti-elderly, the sick and the poor, anti-women, anti anything that isn't just like them, narrow-minded religious fanatics intent on making this a Christian nation, easily duped, devoid of critical thinking skills.  They are all mamzers (Yiddish for untrustworthy bastards).

Ah, there are so many more descriptive words I could use but if you're not a right-wing Republican, you already know what they are.  What we need to do is get these Tea Party crazies out of Congress, out of any elected office and out of our hair.  They are killing the American dream and killing the reputation of the United States.  They are the worst of humanity because they don't care for humanity. As my sainted mother would say to these mamzers: Ich hob dich in bod! (Use your imagination)!

Paying it forward

On our local CBS station here in Phoenix, they have a weekly segment called "Paying It Forward" on their 10 o'clock news.  The stories are always heartwarming and I enjoy hearing about these wonderful people who "pay it forward".

It works like this:  Someone contacts KPHO (CBS affiliate) to tell them why they'd like to help someone.  The stories are so varied: an elderly person who doesn't have air conditioning, a disabled person who needs a ramp, a kid whose bike was stolen, a sick little girl who wishes for a doll, a person who volunteers at a food kitchen even though that person is homeless, kids who don't have money for school needs, or someone who is doing good in the community even though that person has very little, etc.

So, a letter is written to KPHO explaining why the letter writer would like to help out, the station provides $500 to the letter writer and together, they seek out the recipient to present the money.  It's always in cash.

You have no idea how much this gesture means to those who receive the money.  The expressions on their faces is something to behold.

What this segment does is highlight the good done by not only the person making the request, but by the people who are on the receiving end.  Many of these quietly live their lives, doing good things in their neighborhood or community, helping others even though they, themselves, have little or no resources.  A $500 "windfall" is truly a gift.  What many do after receiving the money is ply it right back into helping others.

"Paying It Forward" doesn't have to include money.  A helping hand, an offer of a ride for errands or a doctor's appointment, an offer to pick up groceries for a homebound person are all ways to "pay it forward'.  It's an easy thing to do and it does your heart good.  Try it.  You'll feel so good.  

Friendship vs. Acquaintanceship

Distance takes its toll.  I really miss my Connecticut friends and the wonderful times we spent together.  We forged a special bond with each which we treasure beyond measure.

But it's not the same here.  We've met such wonderful people but they are not exactly the same kind of friends.  They are lovely acquaintances.  We met through a common organization and do things together because of the organization.  'Socializing' or just getting together as friends do is not something that occurs.

Life doesn't often offer the chance to create a family of friends.  We've lived around the country and in almost all the places we've lived we met people whose friendships we cherish.  Most of those 'family of friends friendships' have lasted for decades.  As we moved from place to place it was unbearably difficult to leave people we had come to love.  I can count on both my hands who these people are.  And we've been fortunate to have that many.  

The problem is they are not here.  Yet the closeness that we once shared has not been broken by the thousands of miles that separate us now. But they are not here, not close by, not close enough to share holidays, activities, trips, life.  Sometimes I wish I could freeze the picture I carry in my mind and heart of those days. 

I am a Proud Liberal. How did I get this way?

I am a child of the beat generation.  I am a child of the 60's.  I am a child of the era of free love.  I am also a child of the working poor. And I am a child of a diverse city of ethnic differences.

In recalling all those years, I never saw "color", I never saw "wealth", I never saw "ethnic differences".  All I saw were kids who were friends, acquaintances, popular and not so popular.  We liked doing the things kids do together, whether at school or at camp or at the local "Y".  We had a community center where everyone mingled and, in doing so, we got to know each other pretty well. There was no room for hatred because of skin color, religion, or ethnic background.

I grew up in a city of Jews, Catholics, Protestants, black, white, many from Eastern Europe or Ireland, Holocaust survivors, rich, middle class, poor and struggling, all hard working families with an interest in making the city a great place to live. The diversity was never an issue.  No one disparaged anyone else.

I was surrounded by good people, people who cared for those less fortunate, who demonstrated caring, compassion, and understanding.  I was brought up to be kind to others. Sometimes it was a tough lesson but a lesson learned, nevertheless.

Given my background, is it any wonder that I grew up thinking that most everyone, at least in my city, got along for the most part.  I, personally never encountered bigotry, racism or anti-Semitism.  Is it any wonder why I grew up to believe in the liberal, progressive philosophy, respectful of individual rights and freedoms, open to new opinions, free from prejudice or bigotry; tolerant with a liberal attitude toward others.

And now, I look at what this country is becoming and I weep at all the outright hatred and loathing a whole segment of the population shows to others.  I look at the Tea Party section of the Republican Party and cringe at their utter bigotry, racism and complete stupidity, their utter lack of respect and compassion for those who serve: military, firefighters, police officers, teachers, nurses; those who are poor; the elderly; the sick; children; the low wage workforce.  Their thinking is so convoluted, so utterly lacking in compassion or understanding.  They are fed lies which they believe because they have no desire to check facts out for themselves and they have no critical thinking skills.  Life, to them, is summed up in sound bites that they get from nasty, bigoted, homophobic, religious nut jobs.  They don't understand that LIFE IS MORE THAN SOUND BITES.       

Childhood food memories

My husband and I were having lunch and eating some salmon mixed with onions, mayonnaise, and capers. As we were eating I asked him if he remembered his mom making salmon croquettes.  He did and I remember my mother making them, too.  They were made with onions, an egg and fried until crisp.  It was a delicious memory.

Then the memories of food our mothers made started flooding in.  My mom made mashed potatoes with carrots, butter and milk or eggs.  Warren's mom made them without the carrots.

There were two things we utterly disliked that both our mothers made.  One was called "Kasha varnishkes".  Our recollection was that it was made with bow ties (a pasta) and groats and probably something else to keep it together.  Yech, disgusting, we both thought.  But the really gross thing we both remember was something called "Putcha".  I don't even know what it was made from but the smell was obnoxious, disgusting and made me want to vomit.  Whenever my mom made this, my brother and I didn't even want to be in the house.  Warren couldn't stand it, either, when his mother made it.  We both remember our mothers delighting in making this.  But Warren, my brother and I never could stay in the house, much less the same room where this stuff was being served.  Even thinking about it now, I get that "Yech" feeling!

We talked about going to the bakery.  I used to walk to the Revere Bakery in Cary Square to get a challah, some Russian bread which I always watched going through the 'slicer' and occasionally picked up a couple of "half moons".  Yum.

The Revere Bakery was next to Goldstein's Market which was next to Eddie the Butcher.  My mother would go in there where the cases were practically empty.  She would ask Eddie for a chicken and he would go in the back and cut it up for her.  Then, he's grind her some meat for hamburger.  All the good stuff was in the back, never in the cases.

On Saturday mornings, we'd go down to the Revere Smoked Fish Company to buy some lox pieces, the stuff they discarded when slicing the beautiful pieces, (probably 59 cents a pound then) and she'd buy some "lox wings" to make a savory soup with potatoes and onions, and she'd get some whitefish, sable fish, kippers and smoked mackerel.

Warren and I had a good time reminiscing about our childhood food memories.  But my very favorite memory is what my Gramma Gertrude used to make for me every morning.  She lived downstairs from us and I used to sleep there to "keep her company".  Every morning she would make me a "finekochen", a scrambled egg mixed with cottage cheese.  My G-d, I loved that and I loved her..... a lot.  What a sweet and loving memory.

What the hell are we celebrating today?

What, exactly, are we celebrating today?  That women's rights are being decimated?  Women are becoming second-class citizens? That Christian religious beliefs are being shoved down our throats? That the right to privacy has eroded?  That the US is becoming Taliban-like? That Republicans have never found a war they didn't like? That Republican politicians even exist to make lives miserable?  That the cloud of utter stupidity, imbecility, and viciousness has surrounded and engulfed the GOP?  There is nothing to celebrate when homophobia, misogyny, bigotry, racism, religious scapegoating, gerrymandering, and new Jim Crow laws are engulfing this country. 

I've been around awhile and I've been through the fight for women's rights.  I am more than enraged when Republicans, especially MEN, stick their noses where it doesn't belong, practice medicine without a license, denigrating everyone who doesn't agree with them or look like them (read white males), changing the rules to wipe away the voting rights of those they look down on, chuckling as they wipe away help for the downtrodden, enriching their own pockets with blood money from corporations who take obscene profits by sending their operations overseas.

This is, indeed, a horrible country when the Republican/Tea Party is allowed to even exist since their only reason to be is to dominate every aspect of our lives, private or otherwise and to return this country to the 18th century when women were treated like property, blacks were enslaved, and white men had all the rights.  Insanity reigns supreme in this country now because the Republicans/Teabaggers are full of intense hatred of President Obama (read the black man) and everyone (read Democrats) who doesn't agree with them.  Their hatred, though they think it's disguised, is plain to see by those with critical thinking skills. The GOP doesn't believe in great education for everyone, they don't believe in science, technology, women's equality, freedom of/from religion or the Constitution.  They are bound and determined to kick this country into oblivion.  And they're doing a damn good job of it.

But, GOP, be warned.  You will rue the day you think you have won.  The time is coming when your craziness will be stopped and your party will implode.  It can't come too soon for me and every single person in this country who has a good heart and a working brain.

So, what are we celebrating today? Nothing but a good time. And I am celebrating the promise of kicking the hell out of the GOP in 2014.  I have two words for you, GOP, that will make you shudder:  Hillary Clinton!  2016 - She'll beat the crap out of you!

When I taught, Part 1

When I began teaching, my first assignment was a third grade self-contained classroom.  The city I lived and worked in was a working class, blue collar city.  The children in my class came from a variety of backgrounds.  Some came from one parent families, some from extremely poor families, some from more middle class families with more income than others.  All the kids, however, were eager and happy at the beginning of a new school year.

I looked at my motley crew, laughing and happy, and thought how wonderful they looked and how grateful I was to be able to share my new teaching skills with them.  During the course of the school year I learned things about each student that played into how I taught each of them, individually.  I didn't learn this stuff in college.

One young man, George R. (I still remember his name) came to school many times wearing pajama tops kept together with a piece of rawhide and sweatpants. He seemed to always be hungry and couldn't concentrate. He told me he had several siblings, many with different last names.

Another young girl came in, day after day, with her hair all matted and not smelling clean.  She always looked a little sad.  Her brother was also in my class even though he was two years older.  He looked scruffy most of the time.

Another young girl, however, came to school each day wearing exquisite clothes, diamond studs in her ears and smelling of Je Reviens perfume. I had to ask her mother what the scent was.

Teaching was fun.  Most of my pupils were willing to learn and as the year advanced I could see that they were succeeding, for the most part, in their lessons.  But there were times when my heart was breaking.  My little matted-haired girl came in one morning, looking so sad.  The day, for her, didn't improve.  At the end of the day, I asked her to stay behind for a minute after everyone else left.  And we talked, softly and quietly. She told me the family had no hot water in the apartment and she couldn't stand taking a bath in cold water, that the family didn't have a lot of food, that her dad liked to run his fingers through her hair and a bunch of other ugly stuff.  I managed to get her hair washed and cut, found some clean used clothes for her and made sure I had food for her in school.

George was in a similar situation at his house with not having enough food.  And yes, there were others experiencing the same problems.  I started loading up my desk drawers with packages of food, crackers, nutrition bars, etc. and told these kids to come up to my desk at any time and take whatever they needed or wanted.  It cost me a lot during the year but there was not an agency I could find, at that time, where I could get help for these kids.

Over the course of my teaching career, I shelled out a lot of money on school supplies and food.  And I never begrudged that money.  It was necessary and vital to the well being of my pupils.  Schools have NEVER had enough money to provide sufficiently for all the needs of their primary reason for being, the kids who attend.  They are entitled to excellent educations, taught by well-compensated teachers and having the essential materials to foster that eduction.  Every single kid in every single city, town and village in this country deserves the very best education we can give them.  It should never be based on a family's ability to pay.  Public school should be as great as any private school.
"Wouldn't it be nice of the military had to hold bake sales and schools were totally funded?"  That saying has been round for a very long time and is still relevant.

Ah, but there's more.  But that's for a different time. 

The Advertising Game

My brother was an advertising man many years ago, working for some of the top agencies in New York and Boston.  Of his craft, he told me the one and only reason for advertising to exist was to get everyone to buy the product, regardless of how cheesy, awful, crappy, grotesque, dangerous, or useless the product was.

Now we can apply those adjectives to the ads/commercials themselves, along with some others I bet you can come up with.  There is no dearth of dumb ads.  Pepsico, which owns the Mountain Dew brand, created a commercial that turned out to be not only outrageously offensive to African-Americans, women and, perhaps goats everywhere, but its premise, in my opinion, was unbelievably stupid and ineffective.  And even though the commercial was never meant to air on television, it still made its way to the Internet.  There have been other ads which were recently yanked because of clearly offensive ideas.

What gets into the minds of those creating these kinds of ads to sink into the morass of questionable taste?  Okay, it's not just questionable taste.  It's downright sleazy, racist, pandering, misogynistic and/or vulgar.  What audience does this stuff play to?

This is not a plea for politically correct advertising. But companies want to sell their stuff, not have it associated with trashy ideas that get a lot of the public turning against them.  The ad men/women who think this crap up are in the wrong business.  And those company idiots who okay the ads are clearly derelict in their duties.

Not many ads/commercials get me to buy the products but I do appreciate the creativity when an ad makes me smile or laugh or is very clever.  I get totally turned off ads that denigrate, assume the public is stupid and/or is so esoteric that it makes no sense.  Unfortunately, the majority of ads fall into this category.  I particularly dislike ads for pharmaceuticals.  The disclaimers are so lengthy, listing all the awful possibilities of things that can go wrong.  Why in gawds name would anyone EVER buy any of those things. Very little can cure but they sure can kill.  Consequently, the mute button on my TV remote gets constant use and I'm so happy to record shows so I can fast forward through all those horrendously awful commercials.

My advice to ad houses?  Just the facts without the meanness and stupidity.

I AM BOSTON

I was born and raised in Chelsea, Massachusetts, just outside the city of Boston.  Whenever anyone asks where I grew up, my normal answer is Boston, not Chelsea, because Boston is THE FAMOUS city near where I lived.  And 'Boston' seems to encompass many of the surrounding areas.

I lived the first twenty-three years of my life there.  Then I married, moved away and lived in several other states, returning to live, temporarily, in Massachusetts and then settling in Connecticut for many years before moving to Arizona.  Through all these moves, my heart has always been in Massachusetts.  It's where I grew up, went to school and college, met my husband, and where most of my relatives lived.  I worked in Boston to pay for college.  I spent countless hours at Boston Common, the museums, enjoyed the downtown shopping, the theaters, the Red Sox games, the Celtics, the Freedom Trail, the shopping, the restaurants, the shopping (okay, Filene's Basement was the best shopping hunting ground ever....eveh, if you're from Boston).  It was just the place to be if you wanted to do ANYTHING. Boston's history is the history of this country.

Boston people are wonderful:  brash, wicked friendly, really smart (smaht if you're from Boston), glad to see you and crazy for their sports teams.  Anyone who comes from the Boston area originally or moves there finds that the Boston "aura" wends its way around your heart and you are foreveh changed!

The Boston Marathon tragedy was a horrific blow to Boston, to Massachusetts, to the sports world, to all those who were injured but especially to those whose lives were lost and their families.  The authorities, with the full weight of the Federal, state and local governments, will find the perpetrator(s).  But the first responders were incredible, the firefighters, the police, the EMTs, the doctors and nurses, the National Guard, even many citizens who had been watching the race all rushed to help with little regard for their own safety. They are the heroes of this senseless attack.  Thank goodness Boston is blessed with an abundance of first rate medical facilities who tended to the injured.  And kudos to the local residents who opened their homes to house those who couldn't get back into their hotels and had nowhere to go. It was the ultimate affirmation that people are good.

Boston will recover because its citizens are a resilient people.  But they will never forget about those who were hurt and killed.  Lessons will be learned from this tragedy, especially about security, and the Boston Marathon will continue.  We are a determined people who will find a way to keep our freedom without being shackled by fear.  That is another lesson this tragedy will teach us.

I may live in Arizona now, but I AM BOSTON.

Some parts of "back then" were really good

When I was a child, growing up in Chelsea, Massachusetts, I lived next door to the YM/YWHA, the Young Men's/Young Women's Hebrew Association: in other words the local Jewish community center.  My life revolved around the activities held in this building.

My mom worked there, as an Executive Secretary.  I went to their summer day camp,  Camp Menorah, for many years, right through high school.  And during the school year, the center ran after-school clubs: music, arts and crafts, dance, games.  Those who led the clubs were college students who came in from area colleges, mostly though, from Boston University.  And so, when I became a college student at Salem State College, I, too, became a club leader.  I also was a Camp Menorah counselor during my college years. The other counselors who worked with me came from all over the country and so I made friends with people from New York, Chicago, St. Louis and Los Angeles.

During the school year, the"Y" as it was known, ran evening programs for kids. On Monday and Thursday evenings, from 7-10 p.m. juniors and seniors in high school had the place to themselves where they enjoyed music and dancing, could play pool, ping pong, basketball or just hang around and socialize with each other.  On Tuesday evenings the sophomores in high school invaded the place for the same kind of activities and on Wednesday evenings, the junior high kids from grades 7 through 9 came in.  All these programs were run by two very capable Jewish educators.

On Sunday mornings, the "Y" hosted two Jewish boys and girls organizations:  the AZA boys and the BBG girls.  A Sunday school class of Jewish history was also held for youngsters, ages six to ten.  And at all times when the building was open, adults took advantage of the sauna and steam rooms, the basketball court and attended organizational meetings.

Now don't think that Saturday nights were left out.  This was a Jewish community center serving hundreds of kids every week.  So, we had what could be termed as Shabbatons, a study/social weekend event and invited kids from other Jewish community centers around Massachusetts and Rhode Island to come and spend Saturday afternoon at the "Y" with us singing and learning. Then we enjoyed a dance in the evening and the out-of-towners slept over at kids' houses till Sunday, then back at the "Y" for a last bit of socializing until it was time to go back home.  We had kids come from Springfield in Western Massachusetts, from Marblehead on the North Shore of Massachusetts, from Quincy on the South Shore, from Cape Cod and from Providence, Rhode Island. And, of course, the kids from Chelsea visited these cities for the same purpose.  It was a wonderful way to meet new Jewish friends from out of our area.  The experience was priceless.  When these weekends were not held, dances for the local kids were planned.  Kids came in from the surrounding towns and we rocked and rolled till 10:30.

We even put on variety shows which were performed for our parents.  Tables were set up in the gym making it look like a night club.  Our performances took place in the middle of the floor.  I remember dancing with my partner, Stephen Witten, doing the cha-cha and the mambo.

Then something extraordinary happened.  The powers that be decided to bring in a semi-professional variety show producer and dance instructor from Boston to produce a variety show with the talents of most of the members of the "Y", adults and teenagers.  What a surprise to learn that so many people I knew had gorgeous voices, could really dance and deliver jokes like professionals.  The second year we put on the play, "Pajama Game."  Both shows were hits and were so much fun.  Perhaps that experience was the unwitting impetus when I went with a friend who was going to try out for the college play, "The Tender Trap."  I was asked to read and was selected for a part.

The point of all this 'history' is that my childhood memories bring me so much happiness, a time when things were safer, calmer, more innocent, not so alarming, maybe more fun, filled with interesting and fun activities.  Many things back then were really good.......... really good......... really good.

ANOTHER GUN RANT

I can tell you as a former teacher I would do anything to protect the pupils in my care. But if I was a teacher now and was expected to protect them with a gun, you'd have to pay me, at the very least, the salary of a police officer in addition to my teacher's salary. If I had to be someone who works two professions, I better be paid that way!  And of course the multimillion dollar NRA would never put up the money to pay for all the security they're proposing for schools.

Given my background regarding how I feel about guns, (see my previous post of January 22nd) never in a million years would I take up a gun thinking that I would really be able to shoot the damn thing straight enough to take the bad guy out.  So, arming teachers, most of whom don't want to be armed, is the answer?

And then after we arm teachers, what's the next place to be armed and who?  How about arming the ticket takers, ushers and concessionaires at theaters, the cabana people at resorts, waitresses and waiters in all restaurants, all members of sports teams (they'd have to be extra careful not to bump into each other while they carry) T.V. news camera operators while they're filming reporters doing their jobs on scene, cashiers and stock people at grocery stores, all the seniors who walk the halls of the local mall, every medical person in hospitals and clinics, every student in high school and college, everyone in all office buildings from janitors to secretaries to the business people, : in other words, let's make EVERY SINGLE PERSON living in the country carry a gun.  Will the F***** gun manufacturers and their parasitic NRA be happy then?????

In light of all the guns then being carried by literally everyone, how many tourists would want to come here?  How many scientists, exchange students, business people?  When the thought of everyone you pass on the street or in buildings in the United States is carrying and given the huge amount of nut jobs, gang members and generally pissed off assholes who think (and I use that term loosely) the "guvmint" is coming for their guns and stamping on their "rights" roaming the streets who are also carrying (because the NRA is against background checks and closing the gun show loopholes), why would anyone come here?  There are other countries to visit that are just as beautiful.  There are other ways to do business without actually stepping foot on US soil.  There are other universities in other countries just as good as what we have to offer here.  There is nothing here in the United States that is not offered by other countries.

And please don't start yelling that we have a democracy..... and freedom..... and rights..... That's a bunch of bullshit.  With the crap dished out by the Republican/Tea Party, women's freedom and rights are going down the toilet, along with voting rights, the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  What we have is a desperate war for the very soul of this country and it's being stolen by the rich who don't give a rat's ass for those who are not in their sphere of society.  Those bastards must be stopped but given the bazillion dollars being poured into Republican coffers it's an uphill battle.  If we have any students left in the coming years who haven't been blown away and haven't been infected by the dumbing down of all things taught in those schools which disdain math, science and critical thinking, maybe, just maybe the future can be saved for the good, the intelligent, the caring, the  people who have hearts and souls.

Marco Rubio isn't the one

Marco Rubio looks nice, speaks well but still tells the lies the GOP has been spouting for years. He doesn't offer much by way of original thought.  He relies on GOP sound bites and marches to the GOP handbook, despite its not being relevant to the 21st century. The GOP position is to damn everything President Obama, Democrats and non-Christians say and their narrow-minded, backward thinking will sink them.

Repeating lies long enough doesn't make them true. Bashing the middle class constantly doesn't endear you to them.  Trying to pass laws that hurt the middle class, the elderly, the infirm, children, women and generally most of the citizens in this country won't convince them you're looking out for their best interests. Up is not down and right is not left.  Right is not even right, in this instance.  How can one party be so 'against' everything that helps the majority of Americans?

The tragedy of the Republican Party is that it has become the party of rabid Christian, bible-thumping white men who pick and choose the parts of their bible which they think authenticates their perverse, misogynistic view of the world.  Those GOP women who agree with them are from a different era when women still "had their place."

The Republicans are not even a whole party anymore.  They are populated by so many Tea Party members, people who are hell bent on destroying the government, people who believe that most, if not all, of government is useless and has no place in a free society. 

The Republicans/Tea Party are not interested in what's good for the country.  Marco Rubio, no matter how he is packaged, can't salvage the savage attacks on President Obama, immigrants, women, the old, the young, the middle class.  He just can't make it all go away, regardless of how well he speaks Spanish or tries to appear as if he cares.  It's just too obvious the he and the rest of his party care only for their billionaire handlers, big corporations and getting the rest of us to pay their way.

Marco Rubio isn't the great hope for the GOP in 2016.  They are just wrong for America.

My Take on Guns

Our lives and how we think and perceive things are formed when we are young.  My parents, grandparents, surroundings, the city I grew up in, the affluence (or not) of my family, the work my parents engaged in, the activities I participated in, the friends I was close to, the interaction between my friends and me, acquaintances, teachers, camp counselors, the grocers, butcher, the bakery people all contributed to how I turned out.

When I was in the sixth grade, my feelings about guns were forever etched in my mind. I lived in a small city right outside of Boston.  Early one morning, I walked to school and saw everyone, and I mean everyone, standing outside the school, some crying, some just shaking, many just silent.  I, too, had heard about what happened.  There had been a terrible "accident" and the older brother of one of our friends was shot and killed.

A neighbor had been discharged from the army and managed to bring home his gun. He was showing it off, or so the story goes, and it went off.  It caught our friend right between the eyes.  Accident?  None of us thought it was an accident.  But, hell, we were young and what did we know.  We were all shielded from the details.  But it was a small city and most of the city mourned.

A few months later, if I remember correctly, the family moved into the house next door, mother and the two remaining children.  I remember "walking on eggs", not ever bringing up the subject.  But it was something I thought about, a lot, for a very long time after that.  I never knew what happened to the shooter, whether it really was an accident, whether he was charged with anything.  I just never knew.  But from that time on, I knew that I hated guns.  And over the years that has never changed.

And so, the current screaming over "gun control" places me firmly in the "We have to do something about these crazy weapons in the hands of crazy people" camp.  I understand those who want to use guns to hunt (I hate hunting), to protect themselves (they are too paranoid).  But no one needs a multiple round firearm, no one needs high capacity magazines, and no one needs to be able to fire continuous rounds without stopping......because that person means to do a lot of killing.... of people.

There have been too many killings, accidental or deliberate, to not DO SOMETHING about these weapons.  And those who scream about their rights via the Second Amendment just don't get it.  They can't get past the horrendous rhetoric of the NRA, an organization which really could do some good but it chooses to galvanize and electrify their minions into believing a total lie: that the government wants to ban all guns. Just how brainwashed are all these people?  They are sheep following the wolf (NRA.)  Will they finally think twice about their intractable position when one of their children, grandchildren or any member of their family gets in the way of a hail of bullets?  When it becomes personal and hits really close to home, will that be enough to soften their hearts and begin to understand how the rest of us feel.

The conversation must take place and a decent compromise reached about the availability of weapons of what must now be known in this country as weapons of mass destruction.  Isn't that what happened in Aurora, at Columbine/Littleton, Virginia Tech, Newtown, Connecticut?  Mass destruction?  For the sake of humanity, let's talk and do some good.  Here is a timeline of mass shootings since 1999:  http://bit.ly/UjlW7e
This just has to stop!

After Sandy Hook, WHAT?

I know I've been quiet for a while but what can I say that hasn't already been said about the horrific events that occurred at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut that hasn't already been captured in print, in video, and on all the social networks.

As I started to read about and listen to the unfolding events via Internet and television, I could not hold back the tears as they just poured down my cheeks.  As a former Connecticut resident, I knew that Newtown was a place where those who live there do so because of its hominess, its friendliness, its aura of safety.  And that vision of the town has been shattered as has the lives of so many of the town's families.

There is no way to make sense of this.  There is no answer to the question, why?  There is just profound sadness.......... and incredible anger.  I cannot bring consolation to those  who lost their precious children or to the families of the brave adults who gave the ultimate sacrifice to protect those youngsters they loved.

What I can do is rail against the NRA and those gun owners who continually utter the lie that the government will take away all their guns.  No one is advocating taking away your guns.  BUT, it's now time to regulate what you can have.   The Second Amendment  does not say you have the right to own assault weapons or military-type weapons capable of shooting 30 rounds in less than ten seconds! 

And I can rail against the dearth of help in this country for those who are mentally ill.  Funds have been stripped to the core  from agencies who service those with mental health issues. 

In our Declaration of Independence, we have the right to the unalienable right of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Those little six and seven year old children never got the chance to pursue happiness because some crazed, mentally ill person had access to guns.

Sane individuals must come together to work out viable solutions without shoving partisan, political and/or religious nonsense down each others throats.  This must not be an 'all or nothing' solution.

Life is More Than Sound Bites: Black Friday? Not Me!

Life is More Than Sound Bites: Black Friday? Not Me!

This is what it looks like here:

Black Friday? Not Me!

To me, Black Friday (or Black Thursday night) is an abomination.  This year, many stores opened up early Thanksgiving evening.  I don't understand the greed of stores who just can't give their employees a day off to celebrate a day that should be spent with family and friends and remembering all the things that you enjoy and are so grateful for.

Those of us who don't shop for Christmas just sit back and watch the mayhem gleefully presented by all the news programs.  At first it's a little funny to watch the frenzy.  But when you hear of people being trampled, hurt, spat upon and cursed, it's not funny at all.

It's one thing to try to purchase stuff at remarkable bargains.  It's another to push, shove and elbow through crowds to get something for less money.

When people trample others for cheap goods mere hours after being thankful for what they already have, it's just terrible.  I can't imagine this whole gift-buying frenzied process is something people enjoy.  Hey, I could be wrong but I'm glad I'm not a part of it.

Thoughts As I've Aged

Much as I'd like to think of myself as a little kid still trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up, I am not a young person anymore.  And over the years too many people whom I've loved have passed away, some way too young.  As each family member or friend passed, the state of my own mortality reared its ugly head.

I was just 30 when my parents died.  And now I am among the oldest generation in my family. I am one year older than my mother was when she died.  And over the years the fear of death washed over me at various times.

I reconnected to some high school friends a few years ago.  I wonder if they, too, have had the same thoughts that I do.  We're all still entwined with busy lives, some have had medical issues, others are doing well, physically.  At a special high school class reunion about a year ago (which I did not attend because of distance and timing), the names listed on the In Memoriam page had me reeling.

I simply don't think of myself as part of the "older generation."  And that's probably a good thing.  Perhaps, as 'they' say, age is just a state of mind.  I can't do some of the stuff I did when I was 20 or 30 but I over the years I've learned to do so many other things.  And I've got so much more I want to do.

So, maybe these thoughts of my mortality serve to encourage and stimulate me to continue to be active, to learn new stuff (Photoshop comes to mind), to do things I haven't done before and see things I haven't seen before, to be active politically as a liberal living in a looney red state, to do things to help the community and on and on and on.

Learning and activity can be powerful tools to keeping a younger outlook on life.  I hope those tools and living a healthy lifestyle keep me going for a very long time, at least until I'm 120!

YIDDISH CURSES FOR REPUBLICAN JEWS

I didn't write these.  Someone sent them to me via email but I thought they were funny enough to share.  If anyone knows who put this together please let me know so I can properly attribute this piece and thank her/him profusely!



YIDDISH CURSES FOR REPUBLICAN JEWS

May your insurance company decide constipation is a pre-existing condition.

May you live to a hundred and twenty without Social Security or Medicare.

May you be reunited in the world to come with your ancestors,
who were all socialist garment workers.

May you find yourself lost and stranded in a village of Palestinian Muslims,
and may you be treated only with dignity, kindness and respect.

May you grow like an onion with your head in the ground,
and then may the ground be fracked.

May you grow so rich that your widow’s second husband is thrilled
they repealed the estate tax.

May God give you a daughter-in-law who is as kind as she is beautiful, as patient
as she is rich, as wise as she is devoted, a virtuous woman in every way. And then
may a ballot initiative invalidate her marriage to your fat lump Rebecca.

May the secretary your husband is schtupping depend on Planned Parenthood
for her birth control.

May you feast every day on chopped liver with onions, chicken soup with dumplings,
baked carp with horseradish, braised meat with vegetable stew, latkes, and may
every bite of it be contaminated with E. Coli, because the government gutted the FDA.

May your state outlaw the morning-after pill the day before your daughter
comes home from the NFTY convention.

May your child give his Bar Mitzvah speech on the genius of Ayn Rand.

May you spend your whole life supporting and voting for and sending money
to Israel, and may you one day be actually forced to move there.

May you have a rare disease and need an operation that only one surgeon
in the world, the winner of the Nobel Prize for Medicine, is able to perform.
And may he be unable to perform it because he doesn’t take your insurance.
And may that Nobel Laureate be your son.

May your son be elected President, and may you have no idea what you did
with his g-ddamn birth certificate.

May you find yourself insisting to a roomful of skeptics that your great-grandmother
was "legitimately" raped by Cossacks.

May you have a large store, and have it all dismantled by vulture capitalists.

May you have a hundred houses, and in every house a hundred rooms, and in every
room twenty beds, and then may you fall behind on just one of your mortgage
payments and have the bank repossess everything.

May you live to a ripe old age, and may the only people who come visit
you be Mormon missionaries.

May you make a fortune, and lose it all in one of Sheldon Adelson's casinos.

May your grandchildren baptize you after you’re dead.

May the state of Arizona expand their definition of "suspected illegal immigrants"
to "anyone who doesn't hunt."

May your son the doctor introduce you to his fiancée, Bristol Palin.

May you sell everything and retire to Florida just as global warming makes
it uninhabitable.

I Can't Pledge Allegiance......

If, on Wednesday, November 7, 2012, Romney steals* the election (*What else can I think given the fraudulent voter ID laws, the Romney connection to the voting machines, the throwing out of Democratic voter registrations, the misprinted voter information pamphlets, the incredible amount of GOP lies, and on and on...),  my head will explode, my heart will be broken, my anger will be gigantic and my allegiance to this country will totter on the precipice.

I would never pledge allegiance to a country that legislates what I can do for my own body, for my own health, which sticks it's nose in places that must be completely private and off limits, to a country whose legislative body (think GOP) thinks it can foist it's Christian religious views on every citizen through legislation (totally against the Constitution), whose elected officials (again, GOP) think that women are second class citizens and don't need equal pay for equal work, a political party who would deny many of its citizens their civil rights, who would dismantle all the safety regulations we've enjoyed for so long thereby putting our health and essentially our lives at great risk, who thinks education is only for the rich, all for the love of enriching the huge corporations who care nothing for the United States and its citizens so long as they add mega bucks to their bottom line, hide their profits offshore and refuse to pay not only their fair share of taxes but think they are entitled to pay so little or nothing because they are the "privileged."

Our Congress and our political system has been bought and paid for by those who are super rich.  They feel privileged, entitled, and righteous about lording their power over every aspect of people's lives and see nothing wrong with an oligarchic form of government that they laughingly refer to as democracy.  It is not.

And so, if Romney and his ilk get in, we are condemned to a life of subservience to the wacked out views of the GOP.  This will be a country whose shining light will have gone out, replaced by an oppressive "regime", not a country with a government of the people, by the people or for the people.  God help us if Romney gets in.

Life is like Coffee Movie

Life is like Coffee Movie: Do you know people that just seem to be happier in general? Do you say to yourself, "I want to be more like them"? Often, the happiest people in the world don't have the best of everything...they just make the best of everything!

I wish everyone would understand this.  I believe, though, that so many Republicans just wouldn't get this.  Sigh.......................

My Badge of Honor

I am a Liberal.  It is my badge of honor.

Republican Drivel...

"I've been on welfare and food stamps. Anybody help me out?  No!"  These words were yelled out by actor Craig T. Nelson on Fox.  Gawd, like a typical moronic Republican, he doesn't have a clue. And even though he's made money as an actor, he apparently hasn't earned enough to buy some brains!

Ann Romney is continuing her whining ways.  She wants fellow Republicans who are backing away from Mitt's mouthings, to just "Stop it. This is hard."  Yes, Ann, it is so hard to be you. You people just don't know how hard this is: traveling, meeting people who actually have to WORK for a living, stopping in, ugh, diners and such, always having to smile.  And people always saying such mean things about Mitt.  Leave him alone. Just be grateful that he's running.   Well, gawd, Ann, if you can't take it now, get the hell out of the race. And take you lying, flip-flopping husband with you.

So, the tax return for 2011 is being released.  I have no doubt that it took this long to doctor the information.  After all, he knew he was going to be running for President and knew he had to hide stuff.

The other 20 years of tax returns come to us in the form of a letter from the accountant who has "seen" them?  Really?  No specifics given out.  Romney has said that giving specifics would give ammunition to the Democrats.  Well...... if you have nothing to hide.......

And about the Cayman Islands, Bermuda and Swiss accounts?  Nada.  Romney:  a true American patriot....keeping his money overseas.  What a guy!

Doctors reports on Romney's and Ryan's physical health will be coming out.  I'd like to see the mental health reports!

Ah, the patriotic Republican House, blocking a vote on the Veterans Jobs bill just to thwart President Obama.  Nice going, turds.

Mitt thinks if his dad, who was born in Mexico, was born to Mexican parents, he'd have a better shot at winning over Latinos.  Really?????  Mitt, even that wouldn't help you.

By the way, if you don't have an approved voter ID, go get a gun permit.  That will get you into the voting booths.  You don't even have to show your gun, or actually own one!!!!  Getting a gun permit is easier than going through the hoops those f**** states require you to go through just to exercise YOUR RIGHT to vote!

The only reason I look forward to reading about Mittens is to see what other slithering, lying crap comes dribbling out of his flip-flopping mouth.  Each day makes the hole a little deeper.  Heh, heh, heh.

The 11th of September or 9/11?

Thirty-eight years ago today, I gave birth to our second son, Abbott.  It was one of the most amazing, happy days of our lives.  And each year, on September 11th,  we celebrated that wonderful moment...... until 9/11/2001.  On that day we all felt the horror.  Our son was 2500 miles away from us and the telephone conversation we had that day was difficult.  He said to us, "How can I ever think of this day with anything but sadness?"  We said all the appropriate things to him, trying to tell him of our happiness the day he was born.  But it was a conversation that left all of us with a heavy heart.

Each year after that it became less difficult.  Then one September 11th, I told him that there were 2 ways one could think of this day:  Everyone was calling the event, nine-eleven (9/11).  That seemed to be etched into the public mind about the day of the tragedy.  But we should refer to his birthday as having been born on the 11th of September.  That differentiation didn't have the same impact or connotation as 9/11.  And once we started referring to his birthday that way, it became an easy way to separate the two events.

We will never forget the tragedy of that day in 2001, but we celebrate the joy of Abbott's birth, first and foremost.

Happy birthday, my darling son.

A Blog of Note.....a Liebster Award

I was given a Liebster Blog Award today by my cousin, Karen Lebewohl Blessing. It's a tagging award given to bloggers who have, either less than 3000 readers or less than 200 readers, depending on where you read up on this award, and is usually considered a favorite of the one bestowing the award.  I, frankly, don't know how many read my blog because I never check.  However, I am truly flattered that Karen would include me in her list of blogger 'awardees'.

I started my blog after I moved to Arizona and became aware of the extreme conservative views of many in this state. Years ago, Arizona was not like this and, coming from a liberal and progressive background, the extreme right wing views caused me some anxiety.  I thought the best way to handle that was to vent on a blog. I chose the name of my blog because sound bites are so prevalent and mostly repeated by those who don't bother to do the research to check their facts and, frankly, don't appear to have the critical thinking skills so necessary to understand that today's politicians are not serving the people but only serving themselves.

I blog mainly about politics but on occasion my blogs get personal or I blog about other subjects that interest me.  The fact that I love to write and it is something that I will admit I do well makes it easy for me to blog.

So, now it's my turn to bestow the award on those blogs I really love. Here are my favorites and I hereby give the Liebster Award to  these very worthy blogs.  Their writing is wonderful, intelligent, funny, joyous and full of personal observations that are so diverse.


Enjoy these:

      1.  The Rude Pundit  http://rudepundit.blogspot.com/
      2.  Karen Blessing's Baking in a Tornado:  http://bakinginatornado.blogspot.com/
      3. Michael Galvin's  truthout2prw:  http://truthout2pwr.blogspot.com/
      4. Susan Lerner's Booklerner:   http://booklerner.blogspot.com/
      5. Geoff Fox's My Permanent Record:  http://www.geofffox.com/
      6. Stew Campbell's Stewsbrew:  http://stewsbrew.wordpress.com/
      7. The Political Carnival:   http://thepoliticalcarnival.net/

I may be liberal but...

I may be liberal but I'm not crazy.  Democrats, liberals, and progressives, for the most part, have not gone off the deep left end of the political spectrum.  We are patriots, we are intelligent, we think things through, we analyze. We understand that this is a country blessed by people who have come here for better lives, lives that give them  freedom from tyranny and fear.  America is indeed a smorgasbord of ideas, of individuals who bring their hopes, their dreams, their traditions and beliefs, their skills and abilities.  But mostly, they bring their desire to live in a country which values individual rights, justice for all its citizens and the freedom to be heard, respected and valued.  We were a country which produced the best and the brightest.

But, that doesn't seem to be the case anymore.  Thanks to the Republican Party which has been taken over by the Tea Party, the ideals that I thought described what the United States was all about are systematically and deliberately being sabotaged, state by state, and through the obstinate and narrow mindedness of a group of people intent on denigrating our first black President at every turn.  The vitriol, the venomous comments, the intent to thwart everything Democrats propose, regardless of whether it benefits the country is beyond reason.  They have decimated every program that benefits the elderly, the young, and the infirm. The twisting of words, the outright lies, the breaking of unions, the disparaging of teachers, police officers, and firefighters, the  attempt to dismantle the government's ability to protect the environment, to educate every child, the effort to privatize everything so that corporations can squeeze humongous profits , using race-based politics, the gutting of regulations insuring the safety of of our citizens, the insertion of Christian-based beliefs into law contrary to the separation of church and state, insisting that this is a "Christian" nation when it most definitely is not, denying healthcare to millions of Americans...this is the Republican way.

It is the road to Fascism, led by a selfish, self-absorbed, bible-thumping cadre of insolent, contemptuous, disrespectful, homophobic, racist, and bigoted people from a segment of the American populace who have become the most intolerant human beings the United States has ever experienced. It is criminal, it is shameful, it is unpatriotic, it is un-American, and it is a disgrace.   And they must not be allowed to strip this country of its claims to democracy, freedom, opportunity for all and the pursuit of happiness for every citizen.  We must not let anyone "take our country back."  We must take our country forward, ensuring equal rights for everyone, a government "of the people, by the people, and for the people", not run by the rich and their corporate friends.   Republicans are against a real democracy; Democrats are for a real democracy.  It's an easy decision for those who really care about the welfare of the citizens of the United States.

Reasons for recovery

When one comes close to death and recovers as well as Ethan has, I have to believe that all the loving thoughts, prayers and good wishes had something to do with it, notwithstanding the excellent medical care and physical therapy he has been getting.  On this day of our 46th anniversary, the best gift is not the length of a very loving marriage to a man I just adore and who continues to make my heart soar, but to the gift of Ethan's recovery, to the gift of caring, support and love from Ethan's friends and the knowledge that he is safe and has retained his wonderful sense of humor.

To all Ethan's friends and our relatives and friends, a heartfelt thank you for your healing energy, thoughts and help.  You are truly part of our family circle.  We love you all.

If you have your health....a not so good turn in life...

"If you have your health, you have everything."  Those words are the ultimate truth.  My son ruptured his left ACL and meniscus.  He had to wear a huge, heavy brace on his leg and couldn't move around with it.  That's not a good thing.  When you're taking a long plane ride, you're told to get up, walk the aisle and when sitting, wiggle your feet and bend your legs to prevent clots.

As a result of wearing the heavy brace and inactivity, Ethan developed a pulmonary embolism and collapsed.  He managed to call a neighbor and that's when the drama kicked into high gear.  EMTs rushed him to the hospital where the docs found a HUGE clot that had broken into pieces which were meandering around in both his lungs and his leg.  He was told he was lucky this didn't kill him.

He is now on clot-busting drugs, still hospitalized, being watched, having tests  and generally making his mother's hair turn white!

What is amazing to me, though, is the incredible kindness of his wonderful neighbors and good friends who came to his rescue, got him the medical help he needed, took care of his personal stuff, have visited and helped with the mess in the house from when he collapsed, continue to help and give comfort.  Since Ethan is a vegan (and the hospital food people do not have a clue as to what that entails) his friends have provided food he can eat. These are extraordinary people and to them we are eternally grateful.  Friends and relatives who know about the situation have offered their help, prayers and healing thoughts. 

Mom, Dad and brother have all cleared our calendars to fly up to be with him on a round robin basis.  It's what we do, not only because it's right, but because we love him and need him to know we are there with him, for him and always will be. 

It's a lot more complicated than this but we'll get through this together.  And we are feeling the hugs, the love and the strength from all those who have let us know they are thinking of us.

Sterling, my furry family member

Life goes by, a day at a time, seemingly fine. And then, suddenly, things go downhill fast. I have 2 really adorable rescue dogs.  Snuggles is a maltese/shi tzu mix and Sterling is a bichon/poodle mix.

 When I heard a yip from Sterling it didn't seem like a big deal.  When he didn't want to eat, my suspicions started to rise.  When he didn't want to get up off the floor and didn't want to walk, the bells were ringing.

We rushed him to the emergency vet because this was a Sunday (of course.)  We spent several hours there, much of it waiting to see the vet on duty.  There were a lot of emergencies that day.  They did preliminary tests and took x-rays which showed a disc problem.  The vet sent us home with some meds and we were told to keep him as inactive as possible.

On Monday morning, we took him to our vet and the drama was on.   The disc problem was causing him pain.  He refused to eat and drink so he had to stay at the vet with an IV  for nutrition and liquid.  His weight loss was quick.  It was easy to see the difference a few less pounds made on his little body.  He spent two additional days at the vet with the IV in him.  We took him home for the nights, keeping him in a crib so he wouldn't try to jump up on anything like the sofa or the bed...two of his favorite places.  And he was on a regimen of medications for pain, nausea, gastro protection, indigestion, and probiotics.  Except for the probiotic which he took willingly, it was a battle to get the rest of the meds down his throat.  Trying to get him to eat was another test.  I cooked chicken breast for him and he would eat that.  But trying to get him to eat the canned stuff the vet sent home was a different story.  He wouldn't eat it out of his dish but if I put some in a spoon, along with some chicken breast pieces, he would lick some of it.

We spent most of the time during the week, when he wasn't at the vet, either holding him or making sure he wasn't doing much of anything except laying in one of his several beds scattered round the house.  In the meantime, Snuggles, bless her little heart, was extremely concerned about him.  She hovered near him and we could tell from the look on her face that she was worried.  Continuing to reassure her was part of the drama, too.

Sterling is still on pain medication for a few more days, but now we will have to make sure he doesn't jump on stuff.  A wrong jump could result in paralysis.  We'll be getting some doggie stairs for him.  Any bets as to whether we can teach him to use them?

The cost of all this was unexpected and high.  But there was never a moment , not one moment, when we hesitated to do everything we needed to do to get him well, no matter what the cost.  Our doggies are family members, bringing us joy, happiness and giggles all the time.  There isn't anything we wouldn't do for them.  Love my doggies!

MY DELETED COMMENT ON HUFFPOST'S JOBS REPORT!

Today, I posted the comment below on HuffPost under the article about the jobs report.  69,000 is a low number?  After getting 16 people to "fave" the comment, Huffpost removed the comment.  I am designated a Superuser on Huffpost.  Don't know what their problem is. 



It's beyond comprehension that Obama gets blamed for every damned thing. Why hasn't the GOP Congress done something about creating jobs LIKE THEY PROMISED? President Obama has tried and accomplished a turnaround in the jobs picture against all odds thrown at him by the GOP. The GOP hates his guts and will do anything to bring him down. Obama is not responsible for singlehandedly creating every new job here. There have to be consumers to buy the products. The GOP is doing its damnedest to make sure the middle class has less and less money, purchasing power and voting power. Where the hell were the screamers when GW Bush threw the economy and the country in the crapper? 69,000 jobs WERE ADDED. There will be more to come if we can keep the vicious GOP from giving more tax breaks to the damn corporations and making sure a JOBS PRESIDENT like Obama remains in office.

HEADLINES - SEE WHAT'S WRONG HERE?

Major GOP Donor Arrested in $100 Million Veteran Charity Scam

House Republicans Want to Strip LGBT, Immigrant and Native American Protections from Violence Against Women Act

GOP Plans to Dramatically Scale Back Protections for Abused Women

North Carolina discriminates against the LBGT community in their state constitution

House GOP Defends DOMA's Separation of Bi-National Same-Sex Couples

Shaun Winkler, GOP White Supremacist Candidate for Sheriff (Idaho) Hosts Cross-Burning event

House Passes Bombs Not Bread Bill to Spare Military, Cut Food Aid

Reporters Blocked at Romney Event

Boehner Threatens to Take Economy to the Brink Again

Florida Telling Hundreds of Eligible Citizens They are Ineligible to Vote



All of the above are what the GOP is all about.  They are not just conservative.  They are dangerously vicious, misogynistic, bigoted, racist, fascist individuals hell bent on destroying democracy as we know it, replete with stupidity, unable to understand the hell they are reigning on the United States citizenry, and happy to make this country into an oligarchy, creating a society based on two classes: those with money and power and those without and the chasm between the two is so wide it will be impossible to close or change unless the current lunatic-inspired GOP is decimated and reason and humanity seep back into those who still cling to what they think is conservative values.

As it stands now, the GOP has no values that relate to humanity.  They are simply bat-shit crazy.  May they all rot in hell.

THE ANSWER TO CITIZENS UNITED

Citizens United is an abhorrent decision that needs to be reversed.  Well, if corporations are people (my friends!) they must be able to vote since every person is entitled to vote.  Therefore if I form a single person corporation, I should be able to register that corporation to vote!  If my attempt to register is rejected, can I not bring a lawsuit saying that, like some minorities, I have been discriminated against because I'm a corporation?  If one person formed a one-person corporation, tried to register to vote and was rejected, and then sued the state for discrimination, how do you think the Supreme Court would rule when the case got that far?

Anyone have any comments?

We are all "illegal"

None of us living here in the United States is "legal."  We can't be when those who came from Europe, the so-called discoverers, actually stole all the land from the original peoples and in which we now live and declare to be the United States of America. This isn't "our country" and really never has been.  We are a bunch of thieves masquerading as "righteous owners" of land we have no right to own.  So, I'm sick and tired of tea party assholes and moronic right wing nuts jobs (read GOP/conservatives) yelling about how they want to "take our country back."  It was never yours to begin with.  Everyone living in this country with the exception of all Native Peoples ("Indians" to you disgusting, right wing, denigrating windbags) is an "illegal alien." Now, stick your nose up your ass and thank your lucky stars that you get to live here.......as guests.  And act like guests...be courteous and kind and grateful to your hosts so they won't kick you out on your fat asses for decimating their gorgeous country with your pollution and your complete contempt for your hosts and their way of life.

What the GOP is about

1.  Scott Walker's quiet repeal of equal pay for women;
2.  Denying full health benefits, i.e. contraception, for women under the guise of "religious freedom";
3.  Not extending the Violence Against Women Act;
4.  Pulling federal dollars from Planned Parenthood;
5.  Voter ID laws designed to discourage the elderly, blacks, college kids, etc. from voting, all because of bogus concerns about bogus voting fraud.
6.  The GOP decimating everything that helps most Americans: wages, unemployment, Medicare, Social Security, healthcare, education, environmental protection, etc.;
7.  The GOP's gift of much lower taxes for oil companies, pharmaceuticals, corporations and the rich, placing a larger tax burden on the average American;
8.  Paul Ryan's incredibly awful budget which would elevate the deficit on the backs of the poor;
9.  Denigrating science and public education;
10.  Blaming teachers, police officers, firefighters, and their unions for the ills of the country;
11.  Still believing in the fable of trickle-down economics which never worked;
12.  Cherry-picking which parts of the Constitution to uphold and which parts to throw out;
13.  Still thinking that somewhere in the Constitution it says this country was founded as a "Christian Nation".............
14.  Reveling in their complete and utter lack of honest intellectualism about science, women, what this country is supposed to stand for, diversity, kindness, compassion, humanity, honesty;
15.  The GOP: the political party bound and determined to bring this country back to the 1930's;
16.  The GOP: a party that has no forward vision for the good of the country, only tired, old ideas from the past that don't work;
17.  Making the United States in a fascist oligarchy;
18.  GOP candidates who flip-flop on issues to pander to the right wing;
19.  GOP candidates who lie continually;
20.  GOP Congressional members who HATE President Obama and don't hide that hatred;
21.  Republicans who publicly disrespect the office of the President of the United States because there is a black man as President;
22.  Stating that their only goal is to get Barack Obama out of office.
23.  The stupidity and audacity of questioning President Obama's birthplace and his religion.
24.  Wanting to "take our country back"..from who?  the Native Peoples from whom you stole the lands???
25.  Conservative:  limit change, preserve existing conditions, inflexible, unchanging, controlling, unimaginative, uncreative, old guard, right wing........... all unflattering definitions.

Why would anyone want to be part of such a horrendous group of miserably mean, stupid, intellectually challenged, unpatriotic and vicious people?

REPUBLICAN AGENDA AND PLATFORM-ALL NEGATIVE

Transvaginal probes, essentially condoning rape by government; drug testing in order to get unemployment compensation; bills denying women's health coverage; bans on reproductive rights; voter ID laws denying thousands who have voted their whole lives, the right to vote now; killing Medicare and Social Security; war-mongering about Iran and Syria; tax cuts for the rich; Republican presidential candidates flip-flopping and lying; advocating for religious doctrine over scientific reasoning; denying proven global warming/climate change; elevating the views of the Christian religion into every political arena and over every other religion; denying those who work their right to unionize; trashing laws which protect the environment; gutting public education in favor of for-profit charter schools; denying people the right to health care coverage; obstructing everything President Obama and Democrats put forth; guns in every nook and cranny; adhering to only selective parts of the Constitution and gutting the other parts they don't like; a very small government but one that fits in a woman's vagina and sticks its nose into everyone's personal life; dispensing with all safeguards for the young, the sick and the elderly; blocking help for small businesses; bashing the LGBT community; supporting the ridiculous DOMA;  ..............AD NAUSEUM!  Everything listed is a negative.  They offer nothing positive for this nation.

The Republican party is peopled with the lowest of the low, the nastiest of the nasty, the craziest of the crazy, the meanest of the mean, the vilest of the vile.  These people have no hearts, no souls, no understanding of what it means to be humane.  They are power- hungry Christian zealots stampeding over everyone else's beliefs, unwilling to listen to reasoned compromise.  They are not just bullies.  They are the demons of politics, course, loutish, uncouth, and dangerous.  They are thieves, stealing our civil liberties, our civil rights, our dignity, our lives and they must be stopped.

MY DISCUSSION WITH LIFELOCK REGARDING LIMBAUGH'S SHOW

Lifelock is still advertising on Limbaugh's show.  I wrote to them requesting that they drop their ads.  What follows below shows what a miserable corporate entity they are.

This was my initial email, sent on March 6, 2012:

You sponsor the Phoenix Mercury. And you STILL advertise on Limbaugh's show? How can you be blind to the fact that continuing to have ads on his show means you support his hateful and disgusting attitude toward women. This is not a free speech issue. He is free to spew his brand of hatred. Your company does not have to appear complicit, agreeing with his stance. And by remaining as one of his advertisers, that is precisely how your company is perceived.

As a sponsor of a pre-eminent women's basketball team you have an obligation to not sully your reputation. Have the courage to stop advertising on his program and show that you have respect for women.

Do the right thing. It's long overdue.

Respectfully,

Reisa Miller
Chandler, AZ

This is the answer I got today, March 7, 2012:

 Response Via Email (Annie Kobus)    03/07/2012 01:30 PM

Reisa Miller,

Thank you for your email and for the feedback that you have provided.

We have received a considerable amount of comments regarding our advertising with Rush Limbaugh. Like many Americans, we were shocked and offended by his language, insensitivity and approach which was not what we expected from an advertising partner. We immediately expressed our concerns to Rush and felt that an apology was needed. We are glad to see that he has made repeated attempts to apologize for his remarks.

While this continues to be a topic for discussion, LifeLock has stated our position and continues to focus our efforts on working relentlessly to protect our members from identity theft. We remain committed to protecting the identities and personal information of all of our members, regardless of gender, creed, race, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status or any other qualifiers.

LifeLock works with a variety of advertisers and radio personalities and the views expressed by the host do not, and have never, represented LifeLock’s views. The reason we have maintained long-term relationships with our advertising partners is because they do share our commitment to fighting identity theft.

If at any time you have questions or need to make changes to your account, just visit your secure online member portal by going to www.lifelock.com. For additional support, email us at member.services@lifelock.com or contact us at 1-800-543-3562. We're here 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Sincerely,

LifeLock Member Services



I didn't think much of the answer from Lifelock so this was my reply to them today!



Your answer below is a disgrace.  You obviously just don't get it.  Your feigned shock and offense at his remarks mean nothing if you still run your ads on his show.  His attempt to apologize was nothing more than a little fear about his bottom line.  His sincerity is really questionable in light of his comments today about a female author.  The man is toxic to women.  He has a problem with women and continually says things that cross the line.  There is a difference between expressing your opinion and ranting and raving in the lowest  and vilest of terms.

There are other right wing talk shows you could advertise on if that is your bent, but continuing to sponsor Rush Limbaugh tells me you really don't care what he says as long as that money rolls in for you. 

If I were a member of the Phoenix Mercury I would be mortified to have your name on my shirt.

And if you think that Limbaugh shares your commitment to fighting identity theft, he has already stolen the good name of several women.  Nice company you keep.

I'm sorry you are digging in to the position you've taken.  It boils down to character. Neither Rush Limbaugh nor your company has it.


Reisa Miller
Chandler, AZ

REPUBLICANS ARE NOTHING BUT COWARDS

 What more proof do you need that the Republican/Conservative/Tea Party/Moron Party is quaking in its boots at its total lack of balls to go after one of their own.  That Rush Limbaugh, or as I prefer to call him, Rushing Limpballs, can open that pisshole of a mouth, trash someone he doesn't know over the airwaves and expect his Republican henchmen to jump on that potty-mouthed bandwagon is beyond comprehension.

But, sure enough, his army of asshole stooges not only jumped but asked "how high."  Here are some of the detestable, ugly, drooling drippings that came out of their disgusting, smelly mouths (courtesy of Eric Boehlert of Huffington Post):

-Fox News contributor Michelle Malkin denounced Fluke as a "femme-agogu tool."
-The right-wing site Jawa Report illustrated a post about Fluke with a picture of a tattoo that reads "Semen Demon."
-Pam Geller wrote that Fluke is "banging it five times a day" and that "calling this whore a slut was a softball."
-Accuracy in Media's Don Irvine called her a "skank."
-Former CPAC Blogger of The Year, Ace of Spades, called Fluke a "shiftless rent-a-cooch from East Whoreville."
-Michelle Malkin guest blogger Doug Ross used "Got Slut?" in a headline and suggested Fluke suffered from "nymphomania."
-Dana Loesch complained the controversy surrounding Limbaugh's three-day "slut" campaign represented a "manufactured" story. (This, before Limbaugh responded to the "manufactured" story by issuing a rare public statement.)

And then there are the feeble, idiotic responses of the Republican so-called leadership: Romney apparently would have used other words to convey the same message, Boehner said it was "inappropriate," thereby proving what a wuss he is, Santorum-Cantor ....anything????   Too scared to beat the shit out of Limpballs and tell him where to go.  They cower before him, all doing his bidding.  They are cowards of the first order.

The whole Republican gang is just that:  a gang of backward, nasty, mean, vicious, haters of everything and everyone who isn't white, male, and Christian.  They are a bunch of old farts belching their stinkin' wind and trying to suck the life blood out of all those who don't think as they do.  Perhaps their collective belching and farting of their scare tactics, their lies, their creepiness, and their idiocy will shortly bring them down into the sewers they like to wallow in.  And with some luck they will never rise again out of the muck and the mire they have created.