Separated At Birth?

(via my sister)

You Know You Are Turning Into A Hermit When

Your dog has more company than you do. We have another dog visiting us for a few days. She is a sweet little Brittany called Babe. I'm not sure if she is named after this Babe or this Babe or this Babe or maybe even this Babe. It really doesn't matter because it doesn't make her less of a sweetheart.

She had been with us less than 24 hours when she did something that only a Brittany can do. Well, other dog breeds could do it too but only a Brittany would react the way she did. We took her and my two dogs up to the cemetery for their evening walk last night. All the dogs took off running the second their paws hit the ground and disappeared into the shrubbery that lines the west end of the property. I followed after them on the road that runs right next to the bushes and trees.

The cemetery roadways are slowly being plowed and four foot mounds of snow lined one side of the road we were walking on. When I walked about 100 feet down the road I noticed that not only had the road been plowed but a large section of burial ground had also been cleared. In the center of the cleared area was a freshly dug grave. Now, newly dug graves fascinate me and, normally, whenever I see one I have to go over and look into it. This time I considered passing it by because it was very cold with a strong wind blowing from the North making it feel even colder. But my need to look into the hole was greater than my need to get out of the cold as quickly as possible.

I walked over to the grave and looked in. At the bottom of the grave staring calmly up at me was Babe. Somehow she had fallen into the grave, something that my dogs had never done in their cemetery walking lives. She wasn't scared, she wasn't frantic, she was even upset about being in there. She just stood there waiting for me to get her out. The hole she was in was a standard size grave, which means it was about eight feet long, four feet wide, and almost six feet deep. I knew there was no way, if I climbed down there, I would be able to lift Babe out or get back out myself. Fortunately my husband was with us so he was the one who jumped down into the hole. There are advantages to being over six feet tall. He lifted Babe out and the instant her paws hit surface dirt she took off running to find Duke and Kate.

Anais Nin once said, "People living deeply have no fear of death." Maybe that is why what we see as a grave dogs only see as an inconvenient hole in the ground.

They Will Never Guess It's Me

The local hospital, in an effort to improve the quality of its services, has sent out the survey form (click photo to enlarge) shown below. The cover letter states that the hospital "is committed to providing quality health care to each of our patients. The enclosed survey gives you an opportunity to express your views on a variety of patient related topic. Your information and ideas about quality improvement will help us be in a stronger position to render the highest quality service."

Then a couple of paragraphs down it says, "The survey will be administered anonymously and all responses will be kept completely confidential."

Now if you carefully study the questions in the Background Questions section you will see that if I do fill out this form and send it back there is no way anyone can find out I'm the one sending it back.

Question one- Date of visit.
This one I don't even have to answer since they have filled in the date and which department I visited.

Question two- Patient's first visit to our Outpatient Center
Answering that one should be OK.

Question three - Patient's sex
I see the need for this question, maybe men or women are being treated differently when they are there.

Question four- Patient's age
Again, checking to see if anyone is being treated differently but this time because of their age.

Question five- How many minutes did you wait after your scheduled appointment time...
Ok, checking to see if people are getting seen in a timely fashion.

Question six- How many minutes did you wait in the test or treatment area...
Again, checking to see if people getting seen in a timely fashion.

Question seven- On what day was your most recent visit?
Why are they asking that? They already know the last date I was there, they filled it in for me. Maybe they are trying to see if there is a problem only on certain days of the week.

Question eight- At what time of day was your most recent visit?
Again, maybe they are trying to see if there are problems only at certain times during the day.

I see nothing in my answers that would give them any idea of just who I am so I guess I will fill out the rest of this thing and send it back. Always happy to help my community.

Been Gone

Now back. Got stuck in Denver when we had another snowstorm over the weekend. May take the rest of the week off while I get back into my normal routine. See you soon.

What's The News Across The Nation? (And The World)

We have got the information
In a way we hope will amuse you.
-Laugh-In


1. From the, "Global warming? There is no global warming," department.

2. Venezuela slides closer and closer toward dictatorship.

3. But did she have a legal passport?

4. Free train rides in Denver.

5. A dear story to warm your heart.

I'm gone. Have a good weekend everyone.

Death

Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die.
Joe Louis (1914-1981)

I was reading the business section of the Denver Post last Sunday when I came across the obituary page. It caught my eye because this edition of the paper had two pages of death notices instead of the usual one. I started to glance through them, stopping at any notice with a photo included, and I was struck something interesting. I carefully read every notice to see if what I thought I observed was actually true.

Of the 89 obituaries only 18 of the people mentioned had died. Twenty-six people had "passed away." Another person had "passed quietly at home." Two people had "passed away peacefully" while someone else "peacefully passed away." One person just "passed peacefully," while another just "passed on."

Other people had "left this life,"or "joined God", or "unexpectedly entered eternal life," or went to eternal rest." I have also read these other euphemisms when describing death: "went to be with her lord and savior," "went to join her savior," "went home to see Jesus," "went on to glory," and "departed to a greater place."

But the most interesting thing about these two pages worth of obituaries is that out of the 80 listed there, the greatest number of them, 39, never mentioned the word died or any of the other euphemisms used instead of the word died. These 39 people just happened to be at a funeral home and were waiting for people to stop by for a visit.

I am not negating the pain that the death of a loved one brings to the living. I know that pain and saying my mother passed away or that she unexpectedly entered eternal life does not lessen it. The fact is society usually hides behind euphemisms when talking about something that it considers shameful. I remember when the world Cancer was never see in an obituary because people thought that it was a shameful way to die. You must have done something "bad" to died of cancer. Ironically AIDS brought that word out of the closet. People would rather other people know that their male relatives died of cancer at a young age than have them think it was from AIDS.

Is death shameful because it is seen as the ultimate weakness? To die you have to give up in a way. Let go. Turn control over to something else. Is death shameful because of the feelings it brings up in some people? Fear? Anger? Loss? Or is death shameful because we live in a youth obsessed culture? We don't want to acknowledge death because to do so is to acknowledge that fact that we ourselves are going to die some day. How can that be if we never grow old?

The Gladdest Thing

I will be the gladdest thing
Under the sun!
I will touch a hundred flowers
And not pick one.
-Edna St. Vincent Millay, Afternoon on a Hill

Baby, It's Cold Outside

It has been cold here the last week or two. The temps have been in the low 20'sF/-6C and below but nothing like the town of Craig where it got down to -39F/-39.4C last night. Now that is cold. We have been cold enough for me to do something stupid without even knowing it though.

My husband and I take our dogs for walks along the river no matter what the weather is almost everyday of the year. At this time of year we are always the only ones down there and we have cut a nice 12-inch wide trail into the snow. We have walked on that trail enough times to pack the snow tightly and drop the trail about eight inches below the surrounding snow. This has given us a nice surface to walk on.

Yesterday we were on trail with the dogs when I noticed Duke off the trail and on point in a clump of reeds. When my husband noticed Duke he walked over to see what Duke had found. I decided to follow him and stumbled my way through tall grass, deep snow, and fallen bushes. Some of the stumbling was caused by my walking down a small incline. We were in an area that was protected from the snow and once I reached the bottom of the incline I found the snow only two-inches deep and walking very easy.

When I reach my husband and Duke I looked around in confusion not recognizing just were we were. I didn't think I had ever been at this spot before and I wondered why. Then I saw the beaver dam. I looked around again and realized we were standing on the beaver pond. What I mistook as a weather protected area was the river. That small incline had been the river bank and we had just walked out on the ice to a group of reeds that normally would be growing in the middle of the river near the beaver dam. I was afraid to move, just in case the ice wasn't thick enough to support us, but noticed deer tracks in the snow and decide that if the ice was thick enough to support the weight of four or five deer crossing on it then it was thick enough to support us.

It's funny how a different view can change how you see a place. I have been walking along the river for so many years the impact of its beauty had dimmed. But standing where I now stood, I could again see how beautiful it really was and I could also see how lucky I was to get the opportunity to see it that way once again.

I Have A Dream

And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" -- one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together."

This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.

With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

And this will be the day -- this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning:

My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.

Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride,

From every mountainside, let freedom ring!

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.

And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.

Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.

Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of
Pennsylvania.

Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.

But not only that:

Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.

From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:

Free at last! Free at last!

Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!

-Martin Luther King (January 15, 1929-April 4, 1968)

Sugar (do,do,doot,doot,doot,do)

I have shoveled wet snow, dry snow, heavy snow, and light snow. I have walked through falling snow made up of hard little pellets that stung as it bounced off my face. I have walked through falling snow made up of snowflakes so large and so great in number that it was like walking inside a snow globe. I have walked through crud, lumps of soft packed down snow alternating with ice patches, and through slush. I have even walked on the top of crusted snow, snow that has had the top layer melted and refrozen then becomes hard, and on corn snow, snow that has melted and refrozen enough times to change the consistently of the snow and make it more granular and coarse. I have heard of powder, a type of snow which is light and fluffy enough to allow you to kick it away with your boot, but had not seen it before. Well, until this morning.

Last night it snowed again and when I walked outside this morning I was struck by how different this new snow looked. My yard looked as if someone had carefully spread a two-inch layer of sugar on it. At the same time this new snow glittered like one of those old textured ceilings they used to put in apartment buildings about twenty years ago. I started shoveling it off the walkways and the way it moved reminded me of sea foam. It seemed to float above the snow shovel blade and move out of the way on its own accord. When I dumped a shovel full of this stuff off the front porch it looked and acted like Cottonwood fluff;lightly floating in the air before it dropped slowly to the ground. I have never had so much fun or been so fascinated by shoveling snow in my life.

Ain't life grand?

Bloghuh?

My sister is mystified by:
How so many people with driver licenses have no idea what those lines in parking lots are for.

My husband is mystified by:
Thermos bottles. They keep hot things hot and cold things cold but how do they know which is which?

I am mystified by:
Those tiny containers of Half and Half on restaurant tables. Since they are not kept cold, why don't they go bad? I am always hesitant to use one after my fingers touch the warm plastic.

Millions of people are mystified by:
Tootsie Pops. How many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center?

Read more about things that mystify others at participating Bloghuh? blogs this week:
Alley Kat
Aprosexic
Blue Witch
bob's yer uncle
Changing Places
Depthmarker
In the Aquarium
Jen&HerBoat
Kitchen Witch
La Que Sabe
London Daily Photo
Pewari's Prattle
Purple Pen
Quixotic Evil
Tabula Rasa
Tiger Feet
Who Knows Where Thoughts Come From?
wintermute

Bad Boys! Bad Boys!

What you gonna do when they come for you?

I watched two "reality based" television shows last night Armed & Famous and the president's speech. Funny thing, Armed And Famous, a show about five C-list celebrities who, after 3 weeks of training, are given uniforms, guns, and patrol cars, then let loose on the citizens of Muncie, Indiana, was the one most based in reality.

George Bush gave this speech with the grim, focused, determination of a toddler heading for something dangerous while ignoring his mother's words of warning. At one point Bush said,"The situation in Iraq is unacceptable to the American people -- and it is unacceptable to me, with no clue that what was unacceptable to the American people is not the same thing that is unacceptable to him. America wants out and Bush thinks leaving will lead to a domino effect with terrorists going on to "topple moderate governments, create chaos in the region, and use oil revenues to fund their ambitions." If this theory is vaguely familiar to you it is because it has been used before to explain our government's involvement in another civil war-Vietnam. Only then the bugaboo was named Communism.

In contrast to The George Bush Show I liked Armed & Famous enough to admit it could become a guilty pleasure. Sure it's stupid, most guilty pleasures are. Sure we as viewers are being manipulated and badly I might add. The seams are showing on this one. Let's see, LaToya Jackson (Michael's sister) as the strange one. Jason "Wee Man" Acuna as the ladies man. Trish Stratus as the blond with brains. Jack Osbourne as the the young guy. Eric Estrada (Ponch!) as the older guy.

After one episode I feel confident enough to make the following predictions:

1. Most likely to shoot an innocent civilian- LaToya Jackson. In training she was a little trigger happy.

2. Most likely to get shot by a criminal during a traffic stop-Eric Estrada. Since Eric played a police officer on television he thinks he has a edge over the others. That can make you cocky.

3. Most likely to be really good at the job- Jack Osborne, Trish Stratus, and Jason Acuna. All three of them seem to have a nack for it and all look good in the uniform.

4. Most likely to be caught in the backseat of their patrol car with a drunk college student- Jason Acuna. Old Jason just loves the ladies.

I am happy to report that there is another episode on tonight and that I will be watching it.

Bloghuh?

Robert Nardelli got to take home $210 million (107,968,215.06 GBP) when he was fired from his position as CEO of Home Depot this month. When Carly Fiorina of Hewlett-Packard was fired from her job as CEO, she got $21 million (10,796,896.43 GBP). Former CEO of Gemstar-TV Guide Ed Yuen got $30 million (15,424,159.17 GBP) when he was terminated. Last year Exxon Mobile chairman Lee Raymond was given almost $400 million (205,655,455.63 GBP)when he retired. The thought of listing all bonuses handed out to the top honchos of other corporations in America that has amounted to billions of dollars this year alone just depresses me, so I won't.

Even though I know these amounts of money are obscene in a country where some of its people are paid wages that keep them below the poverty line, what mystifies me is how the stock holders in these companies can allow this to go on? Even if the are not bothered by the morality of this issue, you think they would understand that every dollar they overpay these people comes out of their own dividend checks. You would also think this would outrage them.

Read more about things that mystify others at participating Bloghuh? blogs this week:

Aprosexic
Blue Witch
bob's yer uncle
Changing Places
Depthmarker
In the Aquarium
Jen&HerBoat
Kitchen Witch
La Que Sabe
London Daily Photo
Purple Pen
Quixotic Evil
Tabula Rasa
Who Knows Where Thoughts Come From?

Blughuh?

What really, really, really mystifies me is Paris Hilton.

1. Why is she such a media star?

2. And why does she bear such a uncanny resemblance to Donald Trump?





Read more about things that mystify others at participating Bloghuh? blogs this week:

Aprosexic
Blue Witch
bob's yer uncle
Changing Places
Depthmarker
In the Aquarium
Jen&HerBoat
Kitchen Witch
La Que Sabe
London Daily Photo
Purple Pen
Quixotic Evil
Who Knows Where Thoughts Come From?

Small Town Life

We have another storm heading our way this weekend and are still recovering from the last two. Many of the older residents are finally venturing outside after five days of being snowbound. The streets are still a mess with what used to be six foot tall piles of snow at almost every intersection now melting into dirty, icy, rock hard, four foot high lumps of snow. Every street except Main is either rutted, icy, and slushy or has been plowed down to a rock hard table covered with a thin layer of ice. Since most of the sidewalks on the side streets are still not shoveled walking is treacherous. Diving is not much better.

The storm has been hard on us, some more than others, but the ones that have suffered the most are the wild animals. I went by the grain elevators last week and saw a large flock of turkeys picking at some spilled grain they had found on the ground. A farmer I talked to over the weekend told me he saw a herd of around fifty antelope standing in a corn field near the highway when he was driving to town . Other people have seen pheasants standing along side county roads near their houses. All the animals are looking for food.

When the first storm hit my husband knew the pheasants, quail, and prairie chicken would be having a hard time finding food so he went over to one of the grain elevators and bought enough corn to fill two 15 gallon garbage cans. He then drove out to the country and spread it in areas where the birds could find it but still have cover; windbreaks, culverts , and dense tall grass. The last thing he wanted to do was create fast food outlets for the coyotes by spreading it out on top of the snow in the middle of an open area.

After thinking about it some more he knew that the little he was doing wasn’t enough and started making some calls. When he was done he had about 1,500 pounds of donated waste grain in twelve 30 gallon barrels, a flat bed truck and driver to bring it all to a central point in town, and a soon to be published article in the town newspaper. The article informed people that the grain was available free to anyone who wanted to help out the wild birds. It requested that farmers coming to town stop by and pick up some of the grain to spread under any cover available on their CRP land. As of today only four barrels of grain are left but my husband said, if needed, he will be able to get more. My husband is definitely one of the good guys.


No Bloghuh? post today.


Read more about things that mystify others at participating Bloghuh? blogs this week:

Aprosexic
Blue Witch
bob's yer uncle
Depthmarker
Jen&HerBoat
Kitchen Witch
La-Que-Sabe
Purple Pen
Quixotic Evil
Who Knows Where Thoughts Come From

Bloghuh?

Bloghuh? starts today. What is Bloghuh, you ask? It is a group blogging exercise thought up by Blue Witch that is..."an attempt to reinspire the uninspired and revive some of the old bloggy community co-operative spirit that frequently seems to be so far away these days". For the next seven day we (the participants) will be writing about the things in life that mystify us. You know, like where that missing sock goes when you are doing the laundry.

Now, the best part about this exercise is that you do not have to actually have a blog to participate yourself. You can e-mail me or any of the other bloggers with your contribution and we will post it for you. You don't have to use your name if you don't want to either, being shy is OK with us. You can use a pseudonym or post it anonymously.

Quick, what do chimpanzees eat? You thought or said bananas, didn't you? Why wouldn't you? You have seen Cheetah eating bananas in Tarzan movies. You have seen chimps eating bananas in Jane Goodall's documentaries. You have seen chimps eating bananas at any zoo you have ever visited during feeding time. You have seen chimps eating bananas in cartoons and on TV shows. You have seen chimps with bananas in the books you read when you were a child. You have even seen Curious George eating a banana.


Two Facts about chimpanzees and bananas:

1. Chimpanzees are from West, and Central Africa.

2. Bananas originated in Malaysia.

Most people consider bananas as the primary food source of the chimpanzee but chimpanzees are omnivores and eat a combination of meat and plant material. They do eat fruits in the wild but not bananas. They also eat leaves, seeds, flowers, insects and small mammals like bushpigs, monkeys, baboons and bushbucks.

What mystifies me is how bananas got connected in our minds with chimpanzees in the first place.


Read more about things that mystify others at participating Bloghuh? blogs this week:

Aprosexic
Blue Witch
bob's yer uncle
Depthmarker
Jen&HerBoat
Kitchen Witch
La-Que-Sabe
Purple Pen
Who Knows Where Thoughts Come From

Well, so that is that

W. H. Auden (1907-1973)

Well, so that is that. Now we must dismantle the tree,
Putting the Decorations back into their cardboard boxes-
Some have got broken-and carrying them up to the attic.
The holly and the mistletoe must be taken down and burnt,
And the children got ready for school. There are enough
Left-overs to do, warmed up, for the rest of the week-
Not that we have much appetite, having drunk such a lot,
Stayed up so late, attempted-quite unsuccessfully-
To love all our relatives, and in general
Crossly overestimated our powers. Once again
As in previous years we have seen the actual Vision and
failed
To do more than entertain it as an agreeable
Possibility, once again we have sent Him away
Begging though to remain His disobedient servant,
The promising child who cannot keep His word for long.

Epiphany

We three kings of Orient are;
Bearing gifts we traverse afar,
Field and fountain, moor and mountain,
Following yonder star.

Meme Time

THE RULES: Each player of this game starts with the ‘6 weird things about you.’ People who get tagged need to write a blog of their own 6 weird things as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave a comment that says ‘you are tagged’ in their comments and tell them to read your blog.”


Kathryn over at Knit Together tagged me back in the middle of December and it has taken me this long to get my list down to six. Here we go.



Six Weird Things About Me

1. I like the smell of gasoline. I'm not a sniffer or a huffer but I do find the fragrance of gasoline pleasant.

2. I was very limber as a child. Flexible enough to bite my own toenails, which I did until about the age of seven.

3. Bright light, including sunlight, makes me sneeze. Light reflecting off a white wall can also make me sneeze.

4. If given the choice I would pick a green salad over a piece of cake any day. I cannot stand anything too sweet.

5. I do not eat the heels of store bought bread but love the end pieces of fresh baked crunchy bread. When I was a child sometimes eating the bread heels meant we might be out of food for the next day or two.

6. Because of a quirk in my brain I am a bad speller. I can not visualize words in my head. Even now I can be typing and think of a word but not know how to spell it. I had to change a sentence in #5 because I could not think how to spell the word anxiety. I could not even misspell it well enough to get it to come up in the spellchecker. It is spelled correctly here because I went to IMDd and looked up Mel Brooks and then searched his list of movies for High Anxiety.

I am not going to tag anyone else but if you would like to play, feel free, it is kind of fun.

Some Have Greatness Thrust Upon Them

Gerald Ford was a nice guy. And college athlete. And a World War II veteran. And a former Congressman. And a member of the Warren Commission; which investigated and released a report on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. And the only person to become both Vice-President and President of the United States without being elected to either office by the people. And...a nice guy.

Gerald Ford was appointed Vice-President by President Richard Nixon when his running mate and current Vice-President Spiro Agnew resigned after being charged with income tax evasion in October of 1973. This was in the middle of the Watergate scandal. When tapes of conversations in the Oval Office (the President's private office) showed that President Nixon had participated in an attempt to cover up the scandal and in attempts to block the investigation into it, he resigned rather than face impeachment proceedings. He did not want to go down in history as the only President removed from office for committing a criminal act. On that same date, August 9, 1974, Gerald R. Ford became the 38th President of the United States.

Now, even though the US Congress could no longer impeach the former president for his actions, criminal charges could still be brought against him. On September 8, 1973 Ford using "the pardon power conferred upon me by Article II, Section 2, of the Constitution." granted Richard Nixon a full and unconditional presidential pardon, which meant Nixon could never be prosecution for any crimes he committed while he had been President of the United States. Ford justified this action by saying in his speech to the nation he was doing it in order to put an end to the "bad dream" of "bitter controversy and divisive national debate."

He also said that, "In this,(pardoning Nixon) I dare not depend upon my personal sympathy as a long-time friend of the former President, nor my professional judgment as a lawyer, and I do not.

That last part was a lie as he admitted to journalist Bob Woodward during an interview in 2005, "I looked upon him as my personal friend, and I always treasured our relationship," Ford said. "And I had no hesitancy about granting the pardon. I didn't want to see my real friend have the stigma.".

Gerald Ford was a nice guy. He was also a man who, when the chance of greatness was thrust upon him, threw it away when he put friendship ahead of the oath of office he took when he became President of the United States.

Some Achieve Greatness

I must admit here and now that I watched the cellphone video of Saddam Hussein's hanging. The tape that played over and over on cable and network television news since last December 30th (the one that stops just after they put the noose around his neck) was not enough. No matter how many times they played it, no matter how many times I heard or read that the man was now dead, deep in my heart I had a suspicion that Hussein was not dead. It was not beyond believe that he had been smuggled out of that little room the second after the tape ended.

So, when I heard that the execution was caught with a camera phone I started searching the Internet and quickly found a website that was showing it. By the time I got there almost three million people had watch this video. I hesitated for a moment before I clicked the play button as bubbles of nervousness percolated in my gut. What I saw was crude camera work with the image bouncing around and the sound of angry voices in the background. When the phone was held steady I could see Hussein standing on the hanging platform as the noose was placed around his neck. The voices got louder and then there was a loud bang and Hussein's body and head dropped quickly out of the frame. He's there one second, then he is not. Next there was darkness. I knew what was coming because I had read a description of what is on this video and I wanted to turn my eyes away. I could not seem to do this but I did turn my body away from my computer screen. I was still trying to decide if I wanted to see what is next but before I could make up my mind I saw a close-up of Hussein's head and broken neck in a circle of bright white light. Shock and a slight feeling of nausea raced through my body.

Oh God, why did I want to watch this? Because I no longer believe what I see on the news or what my government tells me. The news is censored and our government lies to us all the time. Ok, writing "all the time" is a little paranoid but I do believe that this administration lies to us quite a bit. After the execution of Hussein we were told that President Bush went to bed before the hanging took place and that his staff did not awake him to tell him Hussein was dead. That was upsetting to me. I thought it showed a lack of respect for the troops that are over in Iraq and especially the ones who have died. Wasn't Hussein the great evil of the 21st century? Wasn't his death Iraq's only true hope for democracy? Now all of a sudden his death is meaningless? So meaningless that the President did not even stay awake for it?

But wait. What if the story of Bush sleeping thorough the execution is a lie. What if the story was one of his adviser's idea? Tell the world that Bush slept thorough the hanging. Thus send a message to our enemies over in the Middle East that Hussein was such a nobody the president of the great United States Of America did not think his death more important that that of a dog. My, my aren't we tough? I am so sick of this game. Why don't we get to the real issue in all these power plays on the part of Bush and our perceived enemies. Let's get them all in one room, give them each a ruler, and have them drop their pants. We'll quickly find out who the big man really is here.

Some Are Born Great

The deaths of three famous men during Christmas week got me thinking. I am talking about James Brown, Gerald Ford, and Saddam Hussein. I mean, could you ever imagine any of those men in the same room at the same time? That the three of them should die in the same week is a little mind boggling to me.

Some men are born great and James Brown was born with a talent so large that if he had been an automobile he would be a turbo jet engine rocket car. In comparison most entertainers today are a KIA OPTIMA.

Whoa-oa-oa! I feel good, I knew that I would, now
I feel good, I knew that I would, now
So good, So good,
I got you

James Brown died early Christmas morning. I was shocked when I heard the news. James Brown? The Godfather of Soul? Soul Brother Number One? The Hardest-Working Man in Show Business? Dead?

...this is a man's world
But it wouldn't be nothing, nothing without a woman or a girl

James Brown fascinated me when I was a teenager. Calling himself "the hardest-working man in show business" was not just ego on his part. I can see him in my mind's eye on a stage with all that processed hair piled high above his ugly/handsome face. He is wearing a skin tight suit with drainpipe pants that stop right at his ankles. His feet, clad in a pair of black pointy shoes with a bit of a high-heel on them, are moving so fast they are a blur.

Baby baby baby, Baby baby baby,
Baby baby baby,Baby baby
I got the feelin', baby baby

With sweat pouring off his face and that rough almost scratchy voice screaming out the lyrics of the song he was singing James would give us all he had.

Get up, (get on up)
Get up, (get on up)
Stay on the scene, (get on up),
Like a sex machine, (get on up)

Then would come the moment we, the live audience and us at home, were waiting for.

We're people, we're just like the birds and the bees
We'd rather die on our feet
Than be livin' on our knees
Say it loud, (I'm black and I'm proud)

James would fall to his knees in exhaustion and stay there with eyes closed and head bowed. One of the members of the band would come over and put a cape across his back and then help him to his feet.



He would slowly lead James, head still bowed and shoulders hunched forward, off stage. But...right before he reached the wings James would do it! He would straighten up, fling the cape off his back, race back to the microphone and start singing and dancing again while the crowd roared its approval.

Please, please, please, please me (You don't have to go)
Baby please, baby please, please me (You don't have to go)
Baby please, baby please don't go (You don't have to go)

Was it corny? Hell yes, corny-er than the state of Iowa but it was also a bit of showmanship and James Brown always had that.

Come here mama....and dig this crazy scene
He's not too fancy....but his line is pretty clean
He ain't no drag,
Papa's got a brand new bag

Mister Brown, you will be missed.

Oh Papa! He's doing the Jerk
Papa!...he's doing the Jerk
He's doing the twist ... just like this,
He's doing the Fly ev'ry day and ev'ry night
The thing's....like the Boomerang.
Hey....come on
Hey! Hey!.....come on

This Year's Resolution

Keep it simple.

Rose Is Rose