Bridge Woes

Talked to an engineer with the town today and, unless there is a miracle of money, the bridge will be completely out until sometime next spring. The town has started working on the steel frame, but the decking will not be put on until after April 15th of next year.

Yes, that means Patrick won't be able to walk over it to get to work. So now he will have to ride his bike over a mile in the dark both ways to work because of a 20 foot span.

I'm pissed about this. Finally, finally I had him in the perfect location. This took years and many moves and much money (mine, not his) and now he's back to riding his bike on dark windy roads with no lighting.

Tomorrow, I will go over and check this bridge situation out and see what the options are! There has to be a better, safer way for him to get to work besides me taking him and picking him up each day, which would be impossible to do on some days. Geez, I'm really pissed. Just about takes all the enjoyment out of the fact that we've had a dead end for months.

Bridge Work

I knew this day would come, but I was sure hoping it would be later.

They're fixing the bridge! The wonderful, broken bridge that has made my road a dead end since May 1st!!

When the bridge was first closed, I was upset. But after a day of realizing that barely any cars were coming down the road, I was in heaven.

I heard some noise from there today and thought that maybe work had started. Patrick confirmed it when he got home from work. He had to ride all the way around. Probably over a mile instead of just a few feet.

Let's hope now that they fix the bridge quickly so that Patrick won't have to ride the loooong way to and from work in the dark! Because, yes, of course, now that we've moved the clocks back it's dark in the morning when he goes into work and dark when he gets out of work.

And the whole reason for moving here was so that he would no longer have to ride his bike in the dark!! So much for the best laid plans.

A Gun In The House

Here's the best reason I can think of to not have a gun in your home:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33251920/ns/us_news-life/

From Michael Moore

Friday, October 9th, 2009

Dear President Obama,

How outstanding that you've been recognized today as a man of peace. Your swift, early pronouncements -- you will close Guantanamo, you will bring the troops home from Iraq, you want a nuclear weapon-free world, you admitted to the Iranians that we overthrew their democratically-elected president in 1953, you made that great speech to the Islamic world in Cairo, you've eliminated that useless term "The War on Terror," you've put an end to torture -- these have all made us and the rest of the world feel a bit more safe considering the disaster of the past eight years.

In eight months you have done an about face and taken this country in a much more sane direction.

But...

The irony that you have been awarded this prize on the 2nd day of the ninth year of our War in Afghanistan is not lost on anyone. You are truly at a crossroads now. You can listen to the generals and expand the war (only to result in a far-too-predictable defeat) or you can declare Bush's Wars over, and bring all the troops home. Now. That's what a true man of peace would do.

There is nothing wrong with you doing what the last guy failed to do -- capture the man or men responsible for the mass murder of 3,000 people on 9/11. BUT YOU CANNOT DO THAT WITH TANKS AND TROOPS. You are pursuing a criminal, not an army. You do not use a stick of dynamite to get rid of a mouse.

The Taliban is another matter. That is a problem for the people of Afghanistan to resolve -- just as we did in 1776, the French did in 1789, the Cubans did in 1959, the Nicaraguans did in 1979 and the people of East Berlin did in 1989. One thing is certain through all revolutions by people who wish to be free -- they ultimately have to bring about that freedom themselves. Others can be supportive, but freedom can not be delivered from the front seat of someone else's Humvee.

You have to end our involvement in Afghanistan now. If you don't, you'll have no choice but to return the prize to Oslo.

Yours,
Michael Moore

www.michaelmoore.com

Very well said. acdc

WoW

President Obama wins Nobel Peace Prize - that is something!

Priorities

Being a news junkie (though I wish I weren't) I check the home pages of all the networks a few times a day. Listed on CNN's page tonight in the following order is:

Students can't name the first President http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2009/09/20/holmes.perry.dumbkidz.cnn

Kid scores 1,019,000 on Guitar Hero http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/tech/2009/09/15/dnt.guitar.hero.record.king


You think maybe one has to do with the other?? Hmmm...

Is This Less True Now?

I was watching VH1 Classics tonight, which is something that I do quite often. They show concerts and I watched a John Lennon concert from the early 70's.

One of the songs that he sang was his "Woman Is The N-word Of The World" and the audio cut out when he sang the N-word. He stated before he began to sing and play that "Yoko had said this to me in 1968 and it took me until 1970 to dig it" or something to that effect.

I honestly don't know what to think about that. It's such an awful word. I think I remember that the song was banned in some places...

Mostly I wondered what John Lennon would think of that? Would he be upset that his artistic message was changed by the omission? Or would he be glad that his song about women's subservience to men was still making people think, and who cares that it's been changed?

Either way, I thought many years ago that it was a song with a powerful message and I still feel the same way.


Woman is the Nigger of the World
John Lennon

Woman is the nigger of the world
Yes she is...think about it
Woman is the nigger of the world
Think about it...do something about it

We make her paint her face and dance
If she won’t be slave, we say that she don’t love us
If she’s real, we say she’s trying to be a man
While putting her down we pretend that she is above us

Woman is the nigger of the world...yes she is
If you don’t belive me take a look to the one you’re with

Woman is the slaves of the slaves
Ah yeah...better scream about it
We make her bear and raise our children
And then we leave her flat for being a fat old mother then
We tell her home is the only place she would be
Then we complain that she’s too unworldly to be our friend

Woman is the nigger of the world...yes she is
If you don’t belive me take a look to the one you’re with
Woman is the slaves of the slaves
Yeah (think about it)

We insult her everyday on TV
And wonder why she has no guts or confidence
When she’s young we kill her will to be free
While telling her not to be so smart we put her down for being so dumb

Woman is the nigger of the world...yes she is
If you don’t belive me take a look to the one you’re with
Woman is the slaves of the slaves
Yes she is...if you belive me, you better scream about it.

We make her paint her face and dance
We make her paint her face and dance
We make her paint her face and dance

Blah

blah

Seasonal Flu

Here are some healthy habits that everyone can follow to avoid the spread of germs this flu season:

- Frequently wash hands with soap and water, or an alcohol-based cleanser

- Refrain from touching the eyes, nose or mouth - the virus can only be caught in the membranes of these body parts

- Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you sneeze and dispose it in the trash

- Cough into your elbow or tissue

- Avoid contact with people affected with cold and flu

- Use a germ-killing disinfectant to clean surfaces

- Stay home from school or work if you become infected with the flu

This info should also help to keep the H1N1 swine flu away.

Ted Kennedy

Driving through Warwick today, I was happy to see that flags were at half staff in honor of the life of Ted Kennedy. He deserves the fuss being made over his passing.

Rest in Peace, Teddy. You did more good than most.

A Sad Loss For America

Sgt. Bill Cahir

As I have posted before, I am particularly fond of our military and veterans. One of my favorite bloggers is Jon Soltz, Co-Founder and Chair of VoteVets.org, is a leader of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans community and is originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

From May to September 2003, Soltz served as a Captain during Operation Iraqi Freedom, deploying logistics convoys with the 1st Armored Division. During 2005, Soltz was mobilized for 365 days at Fort Dix New Jersey, training soldiers for combat in Afghanistan and Iraq.

He also served his country with distinction in the Kosovo Campaign as a Tank Platoon Leader between June and December 2000. Soltz is a graduate of Washington & Jefferson College with dual degree in Political Science and History. He has completed graduate work at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public and International Affairs.

Here is some sad news from Jon:

This week brought tragic news that particularly hit hard for the VoteVets.org family. Among the painful and heartbreaking losses of those Killed in Action was Bill Cahir, a Marine Sergeant, killed in Afghanistan.

Bill epitomized what is so great about so many who serve our nation in uniform. At the age of 34, he enlisted, motivated by the September 11th attacks. But, his first action wasn't taking on al Qaeda in Afghanistan. He was deployed twice to Iraq, from 2004-2005, and again from 2007-2008. If Bill, a political progressive, thought Iraq wasn't the war we should be in at the time, his willingness and readiness to go and stand by his men sure took precedence over his personal feelings. Then, this May, he was sent to Afghanistan, serving in the Helmand Province, which is one of the most violent areas in the region that very few Americans know about.

Between his time in Iraq and his service in Afghanistan, Bill ran for Congress. It would have been incredibly easy - and everyone would have said advisable - to come back and rest after two tours in Iraq. But Bill, whose line of work was journalism, saw that Capitol Hill needed more leadership. His own comfort took a backseat to his sense of responsibility.

The seriousness with which he took that responsibility is why VoteVets.org PAC endorsed him in his primary race, which he ultimately lost.

And though he will never be able to make a run for office again, we at VoteVets.org are not done talking about him, or the people like him all over America who are still alive, and mix patriotism, progressivism, and sense of duty. Continuing to remember Bill and what he stood for, and standing up for the people like him, is the best way to honor his memory.

It's essential that everyone know about people like Bill Cahir, whose overriding purpose in life was to help and defend others. That's why we were heartened to see Chris Matthews devoted a segment to Bill's memory on Hardball the other day.

We're hopeful that other news shows took notice, and remember that as we debate health care or energy or stimulus funds (all of which ostensibly are meant to improve America) there are real American lives being risked every day in Iraq and Afghanistan. They want to make America better, too. It doesn't take much for the news to put a talking heads segment aside for the day (including any that I might be called to do) to tell amazing stories like Bill's.

Note: Bill left unborn twin daughters and a wife. A memorial fund has been established to help provide an education to the daughters who will never be able to meet their amazing father. You can help by making checks payable to the "Bill Cahir Memorial Fund" and sending them to: Burk and Herbert Bank, c/o Mark Ragland, P.O. Box 268, Alexandria, Va., 22313.

Crossposted at VetVoice.com and http://www.huffingtonpost.com/

Bill Cahir will be buried at Arlington Cemetery. Funeral plans at this time are incomplete.