My Aunt Olive took another bad fall and is temporarily in a nursing home. Mom and I went to see her yesterday. Olive looked the worst I had ever seen her, almost shrinking it seemed. She was on oxygen and as lucid as she normally is. But she looked horrible. She will refuse to stay in the nursing once it is time to make a decision whether or not to send her home after all these tests; should the decision be she is better off in the nursing home, she won't stay.
But she can't walk or travel very far. Mom keeps wanting to take her down to the shore or visit Aunt Isabelle in Georgetown but the 90 minute drive is too much for Olive. I have taken her on rides in recent times and 45 minutes is about all she can endure sitting in a car. She becomes so stiff it's hard to get her out of the car, let alone walk anywhere.
I worry.
Monday, March 09, 2009
Friday, March 06, 2009
There really is more to life . . .
I was very surprised that my posting on various sides of the Second Amendment issue netted so many personal emails rather than comments to the blog. While I appreciate the feedback, I am somewhat disturbed at the amount of time many of those email authors seem to devote to guns in general. It goes beyond caring about defending the Second Amendment; it's a mindset that is, frankly, a little scary.
I care about the Constitution, all of it, not just one or two Amendments. I care about the choices I make to protect myself in my home. I am active in defending the Constitution where I feel it is being threatened. But too many of the emails I received yesterday were from people whose entire lives seem wrapped up in the whole gun thing. I have a problem with people whose entire lives are wrapped up in ANY one thing. I feel strongly about many issues affecting our society today but in order for me to be able to have perspective and understand the world around me, I think about many things affecting my immediate world and the society in which we live.
Maybe it's the teacher in me that wants to scream to such individuals: do something else besides ONE THING!! Think about other things. Do something different. There is a big world out there. Geez. It's really hard for me to understand the obsessive mindset whereby one thing is all one thinks and talks about.
I don't want any more emails from gun nuts. I believe in the right to bear arms but if you want your gun to be a second dick for yourself, that's up to you. For heavens sake, are you so limited that there is nothing else in life worth doing or talking about? If nothing else in life is interesting to follow and this is all you can talk about, I feel sorry for your obsessiveness. I never heard of these folks I got email from yesterday but they were vehment as if the presentation of various sides of a controversial issue was going to erode their collective stand somehow.
No, it's called looking at different sides of an issue; doing so will not cause you to combust. Some of you who sent me email yesterday really need to get a grip. Get out more. There's a big, wonderful world out there. Honest.
I care about the Constitution, all of it, not just one or two Amendments. I care about the choices I make to protect myself in my home. I am active in defending the Constitution where I feel it is being threatened. But too many of the emails I received yesterday were from people whose entire lives seem wrapped up in the whole gun thing. I have a problem with people whose entire lives are wrapped up in ANY one thing. I feel strongly about many issues affecting our society today but in order for me to be able to have perspective and understand the world around me, I think about many things affecting my immediate world and the society in which we live.
Maybe it's the teacher in me that wants to scream to such individuals: do something else besides ONE THING!! Think about other things. Do something different. There is a big world out there. Geez. It's really hard for me to understand the obsessive mindset whereby one thing is all one thinks and talks about.
I don't want any more emails from gun nuts. I believe in the right to bear arms but if you want your gun to be a second dick for yourself, that's up to you. For heavens sake, are you so limited that there is nothing else in life worth doing or talking about? If nothing else in life is interesting to follow and this is all you can talk about, I feel sorry for your obsessiveness. I never heard of these folks I got email from yesterday but they were vehment as if the presentation of various sides of a controversial issue was going to erode their collective stand somehow.
No, it's called looking at different sides of an issue; doing so will not cause you to combust. Some of you who sent me email yesterday really need to get a grip. Get out more. There's a big, wonderful world out there. Honest.
Thursday, March 05, 2009
Second Amendment Rights
Below is a surprisingly good resource on understanding the controversy over the right to bear arms and what does that exactly mean.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution
I believe everyone has the right to own a gun if they wish. Having the right does not translate into everyone wanting to own a gun (for example, my mother doesn't want one in her house and she grew up in a household where having multiple guns was the norm) or suddenly our nation becomes the wild, wild west (anymore than it is right now).
My grandfather Walls loved guns. He could not afford the higher quality guns but he loved what he had and enjoyed target shooting and hunting. He taught his children how to use a gun. His wife, Margaret, was a champion sharpshooter as a young woman. To Grandpop, the weapon was nothing more than a resource to use to put food on the table and defend the family if necessary. The denial of his right to have a gun would have made things difficult for his family.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution
I believe everyone has the right to own a gun if they wish. Having the right does not translate into everyone wanting to own a gun (for example, my mother doesn't want one in her house and she grew up in a household where having multiple guns was the norm) or suddenly our nation becomes the wild, wild west (anymore than it is right now).
My grandfather Walls loved guns. He could not afford the higher quality guns but he loved what he had and enjoyed target shooting and hunting. He taught his children how to use a gun. His wife, Margaret, was a champion sharpshooter as a young woman. To Grandpop, the weapon was nothing more than a resource to use to put food on the table and defend the family if necessary. The denial of his right to have a gun would have made things difficult for his family.
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
Ignorant Redneck Alert . . .
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/03/04/leahy.commission/index.html
While I am glad to see a discussion on torture and not using it as a "fishing expedition" on a prisoner, I would like to see more talk on devising a policy on the use of torture to retrieve vital information from a prisoner who does indeed have life-or-death information on matters of national security.
Condoning the use of torture for a fishing expedition on any prisoner is talk of ignorant rednecks. We've seen what having that type in charge of the government for the past decade has cost us.
My view is that is a prisoner is known to have information that could save American lives, that prisoner can avoid being tortured by giving up that information. It is our right to know that information. An example of this was a recent episode of "24" where Jack Bauer was prevented from torturing a prisoner who admitted to having key information which would lead to the deaths of Americans. My view is the prisoner should be pressed for that information. The length and intensity of the torture is something the prisoner brings upon himself.
If things were only that simple in life.
While I am glad to see a discussion on torture and not using it as a "fishing expedition" on a prisoner, I would like to see more talk on devising a policy on the use of torture to retrieve vital information from a prisoner who does indeed have life-or-death information on matters of national security.
Condoning the use of torture for a fishing expedition on any prisoner is talk of ignorant rednecks. We've seen what having that type in charge of the government for the past decade has cost us.
My view is that is a prisoner is known to have information that could save American lives, that prisoner can avoid being tortured by giving up that information. It is our right to know that information. An example of this was a recent episode of "24" where Jack Bauer was prevented from torturing a prisoner who admitted to having key information which would lead to the deaths of Americans. My view is the prisoner should be pressed for that information. The length and intensity of the torture is something the prisoner brings upon himself.
If things were only that simple in life.
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