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The world is so exquisite, with so much love and moral depth, that there is no reason to deceive ourselves with pretty stories for which there's little good evidence. Far better, it seems to me, in our vulnerability, is to look Death in the eye and to be grateful every day for the brief but magnificent opportunity that life provides. -- Carl Sagan
Well, there haven't been many changes in my neighborhood in the last 25 years or so until recently, about 16 months ago when my neighbors of 33 years that lived two houses up the road abruptly sold out and moved to Seattle. An elderly couple, she was disabled and he couldn't take care of her anymore and their daughter insisted they move in with them. The house sold in two days.
The new owners immediately started cutting down many of the huge red oaks that surrounded the house in order to let in some sunlight. I can't fault them. I took down a lot of trees around my house back in '75 just to open things up. They even hired a bucket truck and a 120' crane. That house and my closest neighbor's house practically lived in a dungeon amidst these towering oaks. Last May my closest neighbor died and her grown children spent the next several months cleaning out that big rambling home and it sold a few weeks ago. The first thing the new owner did was to remove four massive red oaks, three of them within five feet of the house. The fourth one, biggest of all, sat on the property line between them and us. I would guess it's age at 250 years and it's broad trunk was obviously rotting and leaning ominously toward his house. He wanted to take it down and as it was over 200 feet from my house and a line tree I told him to go for it. He hired the same contractor as my other neighbor and brought in the same crane and bucket truck. Now they both have these huge piles of wood in their yards. So here I am, the guy who HAD the biggest woodpile in this neck of the woods suddenly being challenged by two new neighbors (who obviously don't know anything about working up firewood). I have a mere ten cords of wood split and stacked outside and maybe two cords in my cellar. These new neighbors have thrown down the gauntlet on the "BIGGEST WOODPILE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD". I figured I'd let them have their glory until late fall when I would have another eight cord load of wood dropped off. Well, I have trumped them! Last week the guy I buy my wood from had a job in town and asked if I wanted a load now rather than wait 'till fall and dropped the price a bit so he didn't have to haul it the 35 miles to his yard. Yesterday he dropped off a load bringing my total to about 20 cords of wood in my yard. Take that muthafuckas! I can't wait 'till they come over and ask to borrow my homemade hydraulic wood splitter. I am such a tool.
Aaron Russo was an accomplished movie and music producer who had produced award-winning films such as "Tading Places" (starring Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd) and chart-topping musical acts such as Bette Midler. He made millions, which allowed him to rub elbows with some of this country's most rich and elite. While doing so, he learned something that caused him to take his life down an entirely new and different path. He got heavy into activism and politics. Unfortunately, he died of bladder cancer on August 24, 2007. However, before he passed, he produced, directed, and narrated a documentary that he funded out-of-pocket with his own money. The name of that film is "America: Freedom to Fascism", and it is linked below. It is about an hour and fifty minutes long, and I implore anyone and everyone to take the time to view it.
Quote:
This is a documentary about an honest search for the truth about the Federal Reserve Bank (a private bank) and the legality of the Internal Revenue System. Through extensive interviews with recognized experts and authority, the director shows an astonishing revelation of how the Federal Government and the Bankers have fooled the American public by taking their wages and putting it in the pockets of the super-rich. The director goes so far as to interview one of the "master-minds" of the IRS Code, and you the viewer can draw your own conclusions as to how the system works. This is NOT a documentary filled with opinions, conjecture or editorial comment. It is a true documentary with a purpose, and that is to educate every wage earner about the Federal Reserve Bank and the IRS, how they got started, and where the money goes. It is well done, and it will make you laugh, and it will make you ANGRY! ~ from IMDB.com
My mother's death was very painful. She had a brain tumor which they tried to remove........ unsucessfully. She died on her mother's birthday at the age of 70 and we buried her on her own birthday a few days later. My father was the one who had the burden of pulling the plug on her and the toll on him was crushing.
But it had to be done. She was beyond help. I left home at age 19 and never went back except for visits. I miss my mother but it was 30 years after I left home when she died. I have lived every day with this dog for 10 years and he has been the best buddy anyone could ever ask for. I posted an article here back in '02. His life took a turn for the worse in the last two weeks. Tests showed that his pancreas had stopped functioning and he was losing bladder control. Diabetes. We bathed him and our sons came by to say their goodbyes. Now that big rubber band between he and I has been cut and I am the bastard who did it. Yes, I could have spent huge amounts of money to prolong his life....... maybe ........but he was 12 years old. He might have gained a year or maybe two on the outside..... to what end. The Vet came to the house Tuesday to do the deed. I thought I had the courage to do him in myself but I failed..... I could not do it. The Vet assured me that we were doing the right thing and that trying the other route would have been unfair to him and us. .  The last vision he had was from the table on our patio........ his throne overlooking his kingdom of our pond and field. It cost extra to have the Vet come to our house but I felt I owed it to him. I held him as his life was leaving his body and he let out a howl that I took as a whatishappeningtomeIloveyougoo dbye. It tore through my heart like cold steel. I will hear the echo of that wail for days to come. There have been many dogs and cats pass through my life but there have been none to compare with this guy. Our lives were in lockstep for over a decade and I'm having a bitch of a time adjusting. My wife and I have shed a lot of tears in the past few days. He was a real member of our family. This post is for you, Calvin. I love you. Rest well.
Watching the evening news tonite and amazed at the hype regarding a 'major' snowstorm for the east coast....... Virginia, North Carolina, Washington DC, Pennsylvania, Deleware, New Jersey.......etc....etc.... all paralyzed by a typical Nor'easter.
Fuckin' wimps. PREPARE! OK. They put plows on their garbage trucks. Come on now! We here in Maine are prepared to handle two feet of snow as easily as two inches of snow. They know it's gonna happen. We know it's gonna happen. Yet the country comes to a standstill due to a foot or two of snow in Washington DC. After last year's 23" blizzard we had school the next day. DC schools will be closed all week. We attack the storm. They fold under the storm's assault. It happens every year yet they are never prepared. I am fucking amazed. |
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