Dad is not lucid anymore. He is on oxygen, but his reduced red blood cell count also means his CO2 levels are rising, which has a narcotic effect. His most lucid moments have come when he realized that he was still in this world and not gone to be with the Lord yet.
At one point this morning he asked me, "so what is this? Did I go to heaven or hell?"
"No," I told him. "You're still stuck here on earth with us."
"Aah, shoot!"
Up 'til late yesterday he was able to get up and transfer himself from bed to chair or toilet. This morning Mom and I need to steady him all the way.
Just now he lay back down in bed, humming a little bit and praying in tongues before falling asleep. (I had been humming an old hymn a while before.)
I'm still at the farm, and will likely stay here until he passes. If Daisycat comes out to help, I may take a day trip into town. I don't think I'd be any good at work right now, and I told my boss I need the time off (FMLA or however they need to account for it). I can't access my e-mail from here, so I'm sorry if anyone has written and I've not replied. When I get back...
Updated update:
Mom badly needed a good night's sleep last night, so she went over to my house to sleep and I stayed near Dad to take care of his needs. At 1 AM when he needed to use the bathroom, he was able to get up with some assistance and make it there and back. At 4:30 AM when it was time for his meds, he seemed to have slipped a notch further. Even though he had woken and called out, he had virtually no coherent response, and I was unable to keep him sitting up to take his meds. Daisycat was there and helped steady him while I put the pills in his mouth and gave him water. (They never went down, just stayed under his tongue. Mom later gave him additional water to help wash some of the meds down his throat.
This morning Mom read the 23rd Psalm to him and he was reciting back portions of it over and over, but other than that, no coherent response to any other attempts at communication.
I think we've come to a decision. Dad wanted to die at home. But now his awareness seems to have slipped beyond recognition of his surroundings, or much of anything else for that matter. Without his ability to cooperate in his care at all anymore, he is beyond our capabilities. He did give Mom permission to transfer him if he got to the point where she could no longer take care of him. Now we're there. (I think that is why he was frustrated that he wasn't dying faster...)
His doctor called this morning and plans a housecall this afternoon (!! When is the last time doctors regularly did housecalls? Fifty years ago?), and Daiscat called a couple of inpatient hospice facilities to see about transferring him. We're waiting for a call back to schedule a visit by a nurse from the hospice also.
If this pans out, he will be in-town, and Mom will be staying in our guesthouse whenever she wants to, to be closer to him, and probably driving back out here every other day or so to take care of her kitty Adelaide.
DENVER (KJCT) -- A new kind of warning has come up about protesters gearing up for the Democratic National Convention.
Denver firefighters have learned of a house full of urine being stored to throw at police. An internal memo is warning first responders that disgusting acts are a significant concern.
"Barack Obama as delusional as the far left he represents"
Well, no. The Washington Post didn't say exactly that. But today's editorial was particularly harsh, and in so many words, that seems to be their message: Mr. Obama in Iraq - washingtonpost.com
Yet Mr. Obama's account of his strategic vision remains eccentric. He insists that Afghanistan is 'the central front' for the United States, along with the border areas of Pakistan. But there are no known al-Qaeda bases in Afghanistan, and any additional U.S. forces sent there would not be able to operate in the Pakistani territories where Osama bin Laden is headquartered. While the United States has an interest in preventing the resurgence of the Afghan Taliban, the country's strategic importance pales beside that of Iraq, which lies at the geopolitical center of the Middle East and contains some of the world's largest oil reserves. If Mr. Obama's antiwar stance has blinded him to those realities, that could prove far more debilitating to him as president than any particular timetable.
Hm hm. Looks like ol' Barry is getting the Ron Paul treatment. Expect to be pilloried if you don't toe the "Party" line. And by "party" I don't mean the Democrat or Republican parties, but "thems what pull the strings".
I hate to give my readers whiplash, but such are the circumstances.
For a period of time, Dad's need for blood transfusions had been lower. This I last reported on a couple of weeks ago. However he has been fighting an infection for the last several weeks. After the first course of antibiotics was through he got much worse last week, and Mom rushed to get the antibiotic refilled. The doctor told us that it was quite likely that an infection would be his undoing rather than the progression of the leukemia itself.
Well when I saw him last on Monday morning, he was doing better--the crisis period from the infection seemed to be past and the antibiotic was doing its job, although he was in more pain than usual and still struggled to stay up and out of bed for more than brief periods of time to eat and visit for a while.
Now Mom reports that he has decided to stop struggling so hard to keep living. He is deciding to forego any further blood transfusions.
This is the equivalent of disconnecting life support. Without new red blood cells, he will grow weaker quickly and probably be gone in a matter of a couple of weeks.
It pains me greatly, although I do believe that it is his right to choose this.
If you are still praying, there are a couple of requests I have. First, that Dad's passing into the arms of the Lord will be as comfortable as possible, given the circumstances. Second, Mom needs lots of prayer to bear up during this transition. And I too--although I am the stoic, level-headed one--will need some additional bracing up so that I do not falter. Finally, I don't believe it would be inappropriate to still hold out prayerful hope for a major miracle. We would be looking for a complete restoration--both complete remission of the leukemia as well as remission of his rheumatoid arthritis. Is that too much? I don't believe so. We are children of the Most High, after all.
God's will be done. But I believe it is probably his moment to go. He will be there ahead of me, ahead of us, safe in my Lord and Savior's arms forevermore.
And you people were worried about Bush declaring martial law and making himself "Supreme Leader": Ace of Spades HQ
Obama is either very bad at math, does not know how long the President's term of office is or he's planning on repealing the 22nd Amendment.
Here he is talking about his sold out world tour.
(T)he objective of this trip was to have substantive discussions with people like President Karzai or Prime Minister Maliki or President Sarkozy or others who I expect to be dealing with over the next eight to 10 years.
And it's important for me to have a relationship with them early, that I start listening to them now, getting a sense of what their interests and concerns are.'"
Update: A commenter at Ace's place has what is probably the correct answer: "Obama can change the flow of time. It's an ordinary Lightworker ability. Please tell us you believe in Him. We don't want to put a big X on your front door. We really don't."
Heh.
I have a question, if Bush's repeated verbal stumbles and brain flatulence were supposed to be evidence of his stupidity, what does this ongoing string of bloopers and missteps say about Obama?
Sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander, they say. When do the chimp comparisons begin? (OOH! You caaahn't do thait! That's...that's...RACIST!!!11elevensies!!11)
Americans are beginning to notice Obama's elevated opinion of himself. There's nothing new about narcissism in politics. Every senator looks in the mirror and sees a president. Nonetheless, has there ever been a presidential nominee with a wider gap between his estimation of himself and the sum total of his lifetime achievements?
While Senator and Presidential hopeful Barack Obama has been touring the Middle East, he brought to mind another inspirational leader who made waves in that neck of the woods not too long ago.
That's right, Jesus Christ. While many people see Obama as someone who draws inspiration from Christ, I view it the other way around. I mean, what could Jesus learn from Obama? ... Jesus...took a lot of grief for hanging with the wrong crowd – paupers, thieves – even a "scorned" woman who went by the name "Mary Magdalene." Well, all one needs to do is look at Obama, and marvel at the way he stuck by a life partner with controversial beliefs - as well as his unusual friend in the Weather Underground. I think Jesus could learn a thing or two about loyalty, here. And yet, Obama also knew exactly when it was time to move on from a destructive relationship, as he did with Reverend Wright. If only Jesus had seen that coming with Judas.
When Jesus died for our sins, he was in his early thirties – far too inexperienced for such an undertaking. Aside from carpentry, what experience did he really have in making the world a better place? Did he ever run a corporation, hold public office for many years, or enlist in the military? No, no, and no. A holy Trinity of no's...like Obama. But Obama has roughly 15 years on Jesus, so you could argue he is more qualified to save the world. Plus, he traveled more extensively, can probably speak more languages and experimented with narcotics. He's truly a man of all people. ... And if you disagree with me, then you sir are worse than Hitler.
And it made me late for work today. The washes were raging last night, and this morning it took a rather long time to get through them (I got out and chucked boulders out of my way at a couple of wash crossings).
I only have one photo--when the fire-hose abated just a bit I snapped this one quickly out the window of my camper: This wash never runs except during the most extreme downpours. And it was pretty fierce. Buckets and cats and dogs and strangled frogs for fifteen minutes. It was toward the end of the day and I was planning on hooking up the water to my camper to take a shower. The storm hit before I got it hooked up, so I grabbed a bar of soap and stood out in it. Yes, it was raining hard enough to give me a decent shower.
This morning the river was running--a lovely sight in this desert.
After negotiating the washed-out washes I got to the top of the hill and passed a sign facing the other way: "Road Closed". Yah...
They will be able to use force against criminals who break into their homes or attack them in the street without worrying that "heat of the moment" misjudgements could see them brought before the courts.
Under new laws police and prosecutors will have to assess a person's actions based on the person's situation "as they saw it at the time" even if in hindsight it could be seen as unreasonable.
What a concept, huh?
"New" laws, indeed! This was the norm for centuries under British Common Law.
A funny thing happened over on the Barack Obama campaign website in the last few days.
The parts that stressed his opposition to the 2007 troop surge and his statement that more troops would make no difference in a civil war have somehow disappeared. John McCain and Obama have been going at it heavily in recent days over the benefits of the surge.
The Arizona senator, who advocated the surge for years before the Bush administration employed it, says the resulting reduction in violence is proof it worked with progress on 15 of 18 political benchmarks and Obama's plan to withdraw troops by now would have resulted in surrender.
When President Bush ordered the surge in January, 2007, Obama said, 'I am not persuaded that 20,000 additional troops in Iraq is going to solve the sectarian violence there. In fact, I think it will do the reverse,' a position he maintained throughout 2007. This year he acknowledged progress, but maintained his position that political progress was lacking.
Tuesday, while Obama gave a speech on foreign policy, the New York Daily News was first to notice the removal of parts of Obama's campaign site listing the Iraq troop surge as part of 'The Problem.' An Obama spokeswoman said it was just part of an "update" to "reflect changes in current events,"
Yeah yeah yeah, you were dead wrong, dude. So you had to "update" your website to hide the evidence of your wrongness.
*snort!*
Click on the link above to go to the full story, where there is a "before" and "after" video clip of Obama and his campaign strategist.
Update (since I needed to rush off to work earlier): Obama, dude. Can I give you some campaign advice? You're running against a guy who has a decade-long reputation as a "Straight Talker". This...um, 'pivoting' you're doing? It's playing right into his hands and the hands of his supporters. You've been flip-flopping around like a flounder on the deck of a charter fishing boat. This is 2008. Blogging has gone mainstream and the old mainstream media cannot ignore it anymore. Look, you've got to wake up and see this! Your old reliable Democrat allies like the New York Times and Los Angeles Times--those ancient institutions of left-slanted coverage--are in dire straits in terms of their position in the world of news gathering and dissemination and can no longer ignore the reality around them. Blogging is relevant, and they *are* beginning to pay attention.
What that means is you can no longer rely on them to spin for you. You can no longer rely on them to cover up your 'pivots' or 'flip-flops', or whatever you call your mad dash to the center. Especially not in the face of the 'Straight Talk Express'. You've got to run as who you are, or you will be exposed as a phony, grasping after the reins of power by whatever means. You are a leftist, a hard leftist, and there is abundant evidence in your history to support this. Your books, your legislative history, your associations, it is what your most fervent supporters want you to be anyway. Play it! If you really believe that socialism is the way, then *sell socialism*! Quit worming and weaseling around and trying to make out like you're really a centrist and McCain is the radical. Over here on the right, we *know* that McCain is not one of us. It's bullshit, and everyone knows it, and you will be shamed by it if you continue to pursue this line of deception.
In a dramatic move yesterday President Bush removed the executive-branch moratorium on offshore drilling. Today, at a news conference, Bush repeated his new position, and slammed the Democratic Congress for not removing the congressional moratorium on the Outer Continental Shelf and elsewhere. Crude-oil futures for August delivery plunged $9.26, or 6.3 percent, almost immediately as Bush was speaking, bringing the barrel price down to $136.
Ok, I know some small number of you will somehow see this as further evidence of Teh Eeeval BusHitler!! (*ahem*), but to me this is prima facie evidence of just how much the current price of oil is driven by speculation, and not market fundamentals.
How *else* could talk of possible development of new domestic supplies affect the market price of oil *today*?
And I believe if Congress followed suit and opened up new leases in all the best areas, the price of oil *today* would drop another fifty dollars in short order. But will Reid and Pelosi buck their extremist fringe and do what's right for America?
July 14 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Treasury Department's plan to shore up Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is an `"unmitigated disaster" and the largest U.S. mortgage lenders are "basically insolvent," according to investor Jim Rogers.
Taxpayers will be saddled with debt if Congress approves U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's request for the authority to buy unlimited stakes in and lend to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Rogers said in a Bloomberg Television interview. Rogers is betting that Fannie Mae shares will keep tumbling. ... "I don't know where these guys get the audacity to take our money, taxpayer money, and buy stock in Fannie Mae," Rogers, 65, said in an interview from Singapore. "So we're going to bail out everybody else in the world. And it ruins the Federal Reserve's balance sheet and it makes the dollar more vulnerable and it increases inflation."
Does anyone doubt that stagflation is a reality now? Keep reading...
Update: For those who still doubt the state of things, primarily because you have not seen a dramatic **crash** (akin to a Nascar vehicle hitting the wall at 200 mph), it is because this mighty vessel is going down much more akin to the sinking of the Titanic. Steaming full-speed ahead, the iceberg was hit nearly two years ago now.
But the band plays on...
...and we're told that everything is all right. And it will be most especially "all right" after the next election, when Our New President ushers us into a new golden age of light and splendor.
"Mind now, there's still plenty of hors d'oeuvres at the buffet, and don't you worry about that tilt to the deck. The mighty ship TitaniAmerica cannot be sunk!"
In the last 2 weeks, I've watched maybe a dozen episodes of "House Hunters", and in at least 10 of those episodes, the following occurred almost verbatim every single time:
Wife: Oh! This is a nice big closet.
Husband: Yeah, I guess it's big enough for all your stuff.
Wife: HA HA! I get all the closet space! It's mine! You get one drawer! HA HA HA HA!
This makes me want to kill some bitches.
They are so proud of the fact that they own 50 pairs of shoes and two metric tons of cocktail dresses, and that they've shown their husband who's boss by hogging all the closet space. You can see it in their eyes, every time, how cutely sassy they think they’re being. It is absolutely revolting.
I also love how they make a big deal out of pretending that they care what hubby thinks. Some of them are so brazenly unashamed - and proud - of how thoroughly they've emasculated their man that they even look right in the camera with a dull-eyed evil grin and say things like, "I like to let him think his opinions count, too." Die, lady. Just die.
You’d almost feel sorry for these guys but you know what? They’re adults. They made a choice to marry these psychos and knock them up repeatedly, and to allow themselves to be relegated to "just-another-kid" status. Tough shit. Get a helmet. ... Anyway, back to the thesis of this post, which is that if anyone out there ever still wonders why so many men don't want to get married, you really just need to watch more TV. You'll see. Shows you'd think were totally benign and neutral on gender relations aren’t necessarily so. And don't even get me started on "Bridezillas." Oh lord. If that one doesn't turn men completely gay, they're just not being smart.
Rachel Lucas is a breath of fresh air. Because if she exists, then there is some tiny ray of hope for the young men out there that others like her may possibly exist. Whether she represents ten percent, or five percent, or maybe only one percent of her gender, there is still at least some hope that not all women are...as she describes them.
If I were single, I would court her with all my passion, even knowing I am not worthy.
Update: From the comments--"Dear womankind: Men will move the world for you if you let them want to. The instant you make it a chore so you can have your little power trip is the instant you’ve made your husband into a stubborn ass..."
For those of us "ridiculous and narcissistic" end-timers, this is an event to be watching carefully. Some of us see this particular 'union' as the "confirmed covenant with many" written about by the prophet Daniel.
In particular, I am looking for signs of a major peace breakthrough to happen before the end of September this year. Herb Peters pegged January of last year as the start of the seventieth week, based on the renewal of the Barcelona process that went into effect 1/1/07. I've since read some opinion that ties the beginning of the seventieth week with Rosh Hashanah, and not the Roman calendar. Plus, there is this interesting analysis, based on the number of days specified by Daniel, that requires it may only start in certain years.
Update 2: And just what is the New Yorker up to, after all? Via comments at Vox:
It's a convoluted lie that attempts to deflect or suppress legitimate inquiries by those who question OBama's fundamental thinking based on his political history, writings, voting record and policy statements by equating those people with some lunatic fringe who think he's a Muslim. It also attempts to minimize and suppress questions about his association with radical leftists Bill Ayres and Bernadette Dohrn in the same way by creating an over the top caricature of his wife, seasoned with an Angela Davis "fro", garnished with just a hint of domestic terrorism a-la Patty (SLA) Hearst. By creating such an absurd incongruency, it attempts to foster a generalization of those who question either of the OBamas as being the real radicals.
Or, "why government 'faith-based initiatives' have little to do with Christianity." Vox has a quote from Dave Hanson that seems relevant to recent conversation:
Conservative Christians can jive with this analysis of the welfare state's failure. It's clear that Christ spoke not to Caesar when he advocated helping the weak, but to every individual, even the poor themselves. The founders understood this concept. The revolution got the state out of the way so Christ's movement could work in a free society to transform lives. Nevertheless, America has lost its faith in God. We have turned to man to solve our problems. Blinded by ignorance, we have forgotten Washington's warning: 'Government is force.' When man uses force to try to 'fix' lives, he always fails. We are selfish. We do not know how to run people's lives. Institutions we use to consolidate 'power' only highlight this reality."
Pretty Lady: What it Means to Be a Lady: "Rudeness, aggression, pugnacity, cruelty, machismo, spite, illiberality, and vacuous mocking of those with whom one has differences of opinion are all hallmarks of the insecure and undisciplined mind. Such a character has no inner compass; its assessment of self is determined relatively, and is maintained by the perpetual denigration of others."
Of course it must be in the Character of a Lady to denigrate the opinions of those she differs with as only so much "twaddle", and their perspective as "narcissistic and ridiculous", not to mention making an unwarranted insinuation of racist motives behind their religious beliefs.
Yes, she somehow maintains her grip on the high ground despite these transgressions. Because of course, she is a Lady, q.e.d.. (Petitio principii.)
And is it not the classic expression of Ego to project one's own inner struggles onto others, comparing one's alleged enlightened state to the low self-interested grubbing of these beasts round about, while stroking oneself with the conceit of one's alleged superiority?
I dare say that one who was truly a Lady would not preen so about it.
Update (final, one hopes): A rousing bit of projection here, eh? It was precisely the Lady's inability to abstain from ridiculing my religious beliefs, engaging in various forms of condescension, and unjustly imputing ill motives that lost her a place on my regular sidebar. She's still in my RSS feed, but that will probably not be for long. It is disappointing to see that after an absence of a couple of weeks, her first act is to take yet another swing.
Charming...not so much anymore. I frankly do not have the time nor the psychic energy right now to deal with this kind of negative bullshit.
Some of you may have wondered from time to time why this guy is on my sidebar, since he often seems to be just another Washington state leftist.
Well that he may be, but he is also crazier than me (in the good way), and he writes it often enough. Reading his stream-of-consciousness-like writing is therapy to me. Give me surreality--stuff that doesn't quite line up, and yet is evocative of a mood, a mindframe, and I'm transported.
And most everything else (excepting some of the political stuff) is pretty good too.
I was musing upon this piece over the weekend, and snorting in laughter to myself over the particulars, remembering from the last time I read it. It takes a bit of concentration to read the archaic style he wrote it in, but it is well worth it (if you are male, and may very well be mildly amused if you are female):
CONVERSATION, AS IT WAS BY THE SOCIAL FIRESIDE, IN THE TIME OF THE TUDORS.
YESTERNIGHT toke her maiste ye queene a fantasie such as she sometimes hath, and had to her closet certain that doe write playes, bokes, and such like, these being my lord Bacon, his worship Sir Walter Ralegh, Mr. Ben Jonson, and ye child Francis Beaumonte, which being but sixteen, hath yet turned his hand to ye doing of ye Lattin masters into our Englishe tong, with grete discretion and much applaus. Also came with these ye famous Shaxpur. A righte straunge mixing truly of mighty blode with mean, ye more in especial since ye queenes grace was present, as likewise these following, to wit: Ye Duchess of Bilgewater, twenty-two yeres of age; ye Countesse of Granby, twenty-six; her doter, ye Lady Helen, fifteen; as also these two maides of honor, to-wit, ye Lady Margery Boothy, sixty-five, and ye Lady Alice Dilberry, turned seventy, she being two yeres ye queenes graces elder.
I being her maites cup-bearer, had no choice but to remaine and beholde rank forgot, and ye high holde converse wh ye low as uppon equal termes, a grete scandal did ye world heare thereof.
In ye heat of ye talk it befel yt one did breake wind, yielding an exceding mightie and distresfull stink, whereat all did laugh full sore, and then--
Ye Queene.--Verily in mine eight and sixty yeres have I not heard the fellow to this fart. Meseemeth, by ye grete sound and clamour of it, it was male; yet ye belly it did lurk behinde shoulde now fall lean and flat against ye spine of him yt hath bene delivered of so stately and so waste a bulk, where as ye guts of them yt doe quiff-splitters bear, stand comely still and rounde. Prithee let ye author confess ye offspring. Will my Lady Alice testify?
Lady Alice.--Good your grace, an' I had room for such a thundergust within mine ancient bowels, 'tis not in reason I coulde discharge ye same and live to thank God for yt He did choose handmaid so humble whereby to shew his power. Nay, 'tis not I yt have broughte forth this rich o'ermastering fog, this fragrant gloom, so pray you seeke ye further.
Ye Queene.--Mayhap ye Lady Margery hath done ye companie this favor?
Lady Margery.--So please you madam, my limbs are feeble wh ye weighte and drouth of five and sixty winters, and it behoveth yt I be tender unto them. In ye good providence of God, an' I had contained this wonder, forsoothe wolde I have gi'en 'ye whole evening of my sinking life to ye dribbling of it forth, with trembling and uneasy soul, not launched it sudden in its matchless might, taking mine own life with violence, rending my weak frame like rotten rags. It was not I, your maisty.
Ye Queene.--O' God's name, who hath favored us? Hath it come to pass yt a fart shall fart itself? Not such a one as this, I trow. Young Master Beaumont--but no; 'twould have wafted him to heaven like down of goose's boddy. 'Twas not ye little Lady Helen--nay, ne'er blush, my child; thoul't tickle thy tender maidenhedde with many a mousie-squeak before thou learnest to blow a harricane like this. Wasn't you, my learned and ingenious Jonson?
Jonson.--So fell a blast hath ne'er mine ears saluted, nor yet a stench so all-pervading and immortal. 'Twas not a novice did it, good your maisty, but one of veteran experience--else hadde he failed of confidence. In sooth it was not I.
Ye Queene.--My lord Bacon?
Lord Bacon.-Not from my leane entrailes hath this prodigy burst forth, so please your grace. Naught doth so befit ye grete as grete performance; and haply shall ye finde yt 'tis not from mediocrity this miracle hath issued.
[Tho' ye subjoct be but a fart, yet will this tedious sink of learning pondrously phillosophize. Meantime did the foul and deadly stink pervade all places to that degree, yt never smelt I ye like, yet dare I not to leave ye presence, albeit I was like to suffocate.]
Ye Queene.--What saith ye worshipful Master Shaxpur?
Shaxpur.--In the great hand of God I stand and so proclaim mine innocence. Though ye sinless hosts of heaven had foretold ye coming of this most desolating breath, proclaiming it a work of uninspired man, its quaking thunders, its firmament-clogging rottenness his own achievement in due course of nature, yet had not I believed it; but had said the pit itself hath furnished forth the stink, and heaven's artillery hath shook the globe in admiration of it.
[Then was there a silence, and each did turn him toward the worshipful Sr Walter Ralegh, that browned, embattled, bloody swashbuckler, who rising up did smile, and simpering say,]
Sr W.--Most gracious maisty, 'twas I that did it, but indeed it was so poor and frail a note, compared with such as I am wont to furnish, yt in sooth I was ashamed to call the weakling mine in so august a presence. It was nothing--less than nothing, madam--I did it but to clear my nether throat; but had I come prepared, then had I delivered something worthy. Bear with me, please your grace, till I can make amends.
[Then delivered he himself of such a godless and rock-shivering blast that all were fain to stop their ears, and following it did come so dense and foul a stink that that which went before did seem a poor and trifling thing beside it. Then saith he, feigning that he blushed and was confused, I perceive that I am weak to-day, and cannot justice do unto my powers; and sat him down as who should say, There, it is not much yet he that hath an arse to spare, let him fellow that, an' he think he can. By God, an' I were ye queene, I would e'en tip this swaggering braggart out o' the court, and let him air his grandeurs and break his intolerable wind before ye deaf and such as suffocation pleaseth.]
Every other week since he was diagnosed with untreatable leukemia (AML), my dad has required a blood transfusion to stay alive. Last time his test came back indicating that he barely needed the transfusion. This week he will be skipping a transfusion entirely!
Prayer, ongoing. And much time spent in the presence of the Lord. And a plethora of nutritional supplements targeted toward dealing with leukemia.
That he is doing this well after this amount of time is a minor miracle in itself. So his doctor says. There's no telling what the future may bring, but it appears that he will be with us a little longer than we thought.
Every day the Lord gives us on this earth is precious. Though we know the circle will be unbroken by and by, the parting here on earth is a hard thing. Perhaps he will tarry until the Lord returns.
Those of you who have prayed, and are continuing to pray, thank you!
I always enjoy unpopular people attempting to explain to me the real reason they are unpopular, don't you? Because, after all, they should know, right? In this one paragraph, Kelly sheds a great deal of light on how she managed to become that rare bird, the female militant atheist. If she had even a smidgeon of the social awareness that God gives the average computer programmer, she'd understand that the reason no one looks askance at Christian accoutrements is that the Christian who makes a public statement is making statement about himself and his own beliefs. Atheists, on the other hand, are making a statement about everyone else and everyone else's beliefs. Unsurprisingly, everyone else tends to look on this askance.
Let me see if I can explain this in sufficiently simple terms. If I wear a shirt that says "I like chocolate", this does not offend anyone who prefers strawberry or vanilla. It is merely providing you with information about me. If, on the other hand, I wear a shirt that says "Vanilla is evil and everyone who likes it is stupid and bad", then I should not be surprised when those who happen to like vanilla are not favorably disposed towards me. It is not only providing you with information about me, it is providing you with information about my negative attitude towards you. And to those atheists who are so narcissistic as to believe that another individual's religion is a statement that somehow concerns them, I merely say: Get over yourself! Life, the universe and everything are not about you!
Most non-socially autistic individuals are aware that their actions don't take place in a vaccuum. By announcing "I am an atheist", one is also announcing to the world "There is a high probability that I possess a lot of the same fundamental personality defects that the annoying snot-nosed loser you hated at college did." Christians understand that they are lumped in with annoying doorknockers and sanctimonious Biblethumpers, which is why they often behave in a manner intended to put at ease those who find such behaviors annoying. If atheists don't like being regarded as annoying atheists, then they should stop behaving in an annoying manner and make it very clear from the start that they have no problem whatsoever with whatever religious absurdity the other person happens to believe. It's really not that hard... if you're not myopically self-obsessed.
But hey, if you take Federal dollars, you better be prepared to say that vanilla and strawberry are *just as good* as chocolate! Oh, and *take that damn shirt off*!! How dare you offend the strawberry lovers so! Keep your trap shut about chocolate, would you? It's so rude, you talking chocolate chocolate chocolate all the time.
I have spoken elsewhere about the label "Doomer," and I've come to believe that this frame is outdated. Instead, I would like to suggest that we must stop asking ourselves, given the lateness of the hour, why there are those pessimistic about the future, and begin asking, instead, why there are those still blindly and enthusiastically optimistic about it. Could this be a disorder, in itself? Here's my proposal:
Panglossian Disorder: "The neurotic tendency toward extreme optimism in the face of likely cultural and planetary collapse."
So far, Obama has faced less taxing tests, such as whether to wear a flag lapel pin. So far, he has scored an incomplete after three tries. First he decided to wear a pin. Then he thought better of it and announced that he no longer would wear the pin, explaining: "You know, the truth is that right after 9/11, I had a pin. Shortly after 9/11 -- particularly because as we're talking about the Iraq war, that became a substitute for, I think, true patriotism, which is speaking out on issues that are of importance to our national security -- I decided I won't wear that pin on my chest. Instead, I'm going to try to tell the American people what I believe will make this country great, and hopefully that'll be a testimony to my patriotism."
Then on his third try, during the heated climax to his primary campaign, he started wearing the pin again, I suppose as -- in his previous words -- "a substitute for true patriotism." Hard to know for sure what his calculations are on this vital matter. But that he does calculate constantly whether to wear the pin or not, there can be no doubt. The demands of patriotism are sometimes hard to know. What's a patriot to do? Life can be hard, very hard, out on the old campaign trail.
Please note: I am not questioning his patriotism. Many patriotic people -- including me -- never have worn a flag lapel pin. (We have to be so careful these days because Obama is offended more easily than a convent-schooled virgin. I am stocking up on eggshells to walk on for the duration of the campaign.)
Anyway, John McCain had it easier over the North Vietnamese skies. He didn't have to decide about such things. He was required to wear his dog tags -- evidence of his patriotism. Some people get all the breaks.
Hey, is this the "change" part of "Hope! Change!"? More here.
Of course there's nothing much new in what the senator has done. In the lexicon of modern American politics, it's called a pivot. You campaign hard to the party's extreme in the primary election, where the base voters tend to be. Then, when the nomination is secure and there are no more idealists to be humoured, you pivot back to the centre. The only difference is that in Mr Obama's case the pivot is so hard and so fast that the entire Democratic Party is suffering from whiplash.
A whimper of pain has gone up from the base. Those who really believed in the Audacity of Hope now fear a Timidity of Despair.
Har! There's your "hopeful changeyness". As one sage commenter put it, Bill Clinton may have been the first black president, but Barack Obama will be the first black Bill Clinton.
...on two fronts. This was a four day weekend for me, since I usually have Friday's off.
Thursday and Friday I finished setting the tile in the guesthouse: Yaay. This is more work than it looks like. Next task is to clean up any excess mortar and apply the grout.
Then Friday evening, Daisycat and I headed out to the farm. A rattlesnake was there to greet Daisycat, buzzing in the dark and making her jump six feet high. One of these times very soon we're going to have rattlesnake chili if he decides to stick around. I should really get a .38 revolver and keep it loaded with snake shot for times like that.
The mammilara cactus that I transplanted are in full bloom. Granny J calls the hedgehog cactus "mammary" cactus, but I've only ever heard that name applied to members of the genus Mammilara. Hedgehogs belong to a different genus.
During the week, the septic boys at Cummings Plumbing were busy installing our septic system.
One thing I like about their installations is the innovative drainfield. Instead of the usual perforated drain pipe laid over a bed of crushed rock, they use a plastic drain tunnel system. This drain is shaped like an inverted "U", open on the bottom with a fine mesh of slots in the side. The result is a system that drains very well and allows the total length of the drainfield to be shorter than a comparably sized rock drainfield.
My tasks included setting the front fence back up, where the mobile home came through. It was just propped up loosely before now, and not especially secure against bovines and canines.
The above-ground PVC piping that I installed last year needed to be covered to protect it from sunlight. With the County inspector showing up soon, I needed to finally get them covered. I opted to wrap them with insulating foam and reflective foil tape.
The electric outlets at the ramada were buried to allow the mobile home to drive over them. I needed to get them set up again to avoid any questions by the County inspector. Since I had to remove the deck and ramada to get the home in, I set up a couple posts and mounting board.
After that, I brushed out and marked the fence line for the garden fence that I will be setting up around our new home. This will be cat-proof from one side and coyote-proof from the other. It is often hard to get a picture of the mesquite bosque because of it's density, but this photo of a cleared path gives a pretty good sense of it on either side. Now closer to the river it just gets thicker. My property is right on the edge of where it begins.
I marked out the path of the new gas line. The reason I am doing all this marking is that a couple weeks from now I need to rent a trencher, and I'm getting things laid out in advance.
Daisycat spent the weekend priming the grooves in the siding. It seemed to me that the original paint job on this house (from fourteen years ago when it was manufactured) did not get into the grooves of the siding very well. There was more weathering of the wood in the grooves than on the faces. Since I plan to spray paint the house, I wanted to make sure we got a good coat of paint in the grooves first. Often spraying does not penetrate grooves as well as brushing does. This is not the color it will be. We had chosen this color originally (with a white trim), but she was having mucho second thoughts all weekend, so I told her, "whatever. Pick a color and I will paint it." It will be a darker green that approximates the color of the mesquite leaves, with white(ish) trim.
The dangers of gun ownership the right doesn't like talking about -- here, for example, two respectable and upstanding robbers busted into a Subway brandishing weapons and terrifying the staff when a 71-year-old vigilante, most likely suffering from 'White Rage' and psychopathic dementia, callously opened fire upon them.
A casualty no one mentions -- civility. Not to mention racial justice.
Gadson's grandparents told Local 10 on Thursday that Lovell was wrong for pulling the trigger.
'He should not have taken the law in his hands,' said Rosa Jones, Gadson's grandmother.
It should be noted that virtually every jurisdiction permits the use of deadly force against those unlawfully offering deadly force themselves, particularly when there is a substantial threat of bodily injury.
I'm pretty sure we need to find a 'national consensus' against this racist Wild White West bullshit pretty fast.
And those of you religious organizations that bought in under the Bush version? Bad Nooz 4 U!
But Mr. Obama's plan pointedly departed from the Bush administration's stance on one fundamental issue: whether religious organizations that get federal money for social services can take faith into account in their hiring. Mr. Bush has said yes. Mr. Obama said no.
"If you get a federal grant, you can't use that grant money to proselytize to the people you help and you can't discriminate against them - or against the people you hire - on the basis of their religion," Mr. Obama said. "Federal dollars that go directly to churches, temples and mosques can only be used on secular programs."
Mr. Obama's position that religious organizations would not be able to consider religion in their hiring for such programs would constitute a deal-breaker for many evangelicals, said several evangelical leaders, who represent a political constituency Mr. Obama has been trying to court.
Oh no kidding. But did you fools really believe there wasn't a barbed hook in that bait?
You *know* who runs the world system, and yet you willingly put your organization under his control? You, yes you First Baptist Assembly, will now be required to hire flamboyant transvestites to run your outreach programs. What a *wonderful* witness you will now have, all at Federal expense.
Obama is skating gingerly past his previous position on the issue.
The Illinois senator has said repeatedly that he believes marriage should only be between man and a woman. When the California Supreme Court overturned the state's ban on same-sex marriage in May, Obama released a carefully nuanced statement saying he respected the court's decision, believed states should make their own decisions on marriage and 'will continue to fight for civil unions as President.'
But civil unions, gay activists argue, aren't the same as marriage, which would put Obama on the wrong side of what's increasingly seen as a civil rights issue.
Echoes of an infamous flip-flopper of four years ago.
You think gas prices are high now? Wait until we have a new Arab Oil Embargo. You think we're teetering on the edge of a serious recession? Guess what is unleashed when that happens? You think the fact that we have not been successfully attacked again since 9/11 means "Bushitler" and "Teh E-Eval Neocon Conspiracy" have been overstating the threat? Watch what happens in this country if Israel goes postal on Iran.
Do any of you, especially you Obama-worshippers, foresee how this will *not* go down. Will your demi-god utilize his Magic powers and convince the Iranians to give up their nuclear program when all the world's diplomats have failed? Oh I know. You think he will convince the Israelis to buckle in the face of this *existential threat*. They are not fools, but sometimes their leaders foolishly give in to US demands.
Maybe. But you know that sets the stage for Armageddon next. For that matter, either outcome is fairly conducive to Armageddon. (And lest the scripturally ignorant fail to understand, Armageddon is a combined attack on the State of Israel by all of the major military forces of the world (can *you* say UN sanctioned military action? Ah *knew* ya could...) It is not a worldwide military conflagration, or the 'end of the world'. It *is* however the last gasp, the last show of strength by the world system, the 'powers of this present darkness', ahead of the return of the King.) Either Iranian nuclear blackmail will render Israel defenseless and open to attack, or Israel's preemptive strike will outrage the world and result in an attack.
Good luck and hold on to your hat.
Update: This is only loosely related, but I found this map of the total rainfall in the first half of June this year:
Any resemblance to this map? A very small number of you may recognize that map and it's significance. Since the rains have abated, the flooding has of course continued downstream the Mississippi. I don't know if the first is the fulfillment of the second, because the second was supposed to be the result of an earthquake on the New Madrid fault, but it seems a bit too coincidental to entirely dismiss.
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