Pictures

I have been taking pictures of the beautiful things I see with my shiny new iPhone. Tonight when we left the library, I noticed the beautiful flowers.

On our way to the library, I had to buckle in our books because they were so heavy the car thought they were a person. We returned just over half of what we had checked out - 23/47! We only checked out another 12. (And yes Mom, the car was stopped when I took the picture. We were at a stop sign.)

I think today is a great day to start over on number 89. Take a picture a day for 365 days & post them on our blog! (1/365)

Crockpot Cooking

We've started a lunch club at work. So far we have had some pretty great lunches! Today is my day. I made RR's Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs with Angel Hair Pasta and an Oreo Pie dessert from a box.

I cooked it in my crockpot and doubled the recipe. There is no more room in my crockpot.


I let the meatballs cook for 3 hours on high. I am off to check on them now!

update: They were not done, in fact, they had to cook for another 2.5 hours! Apparently, it is very bad to over-fill your crockpot. Note to self, don't do that.

Richmond

I have only 2 disks left to go on Team of Rivals. We just took Richmond and the Confederate Government has fled. In part, I am sad because I know that Lincoln is going to die soon and Stanton is going to torture the conspirators even knowing everything he needs to know. But I am relieved to hear the end of fighting. This war was really quite terrible and we paid a large toll for the sin of slavery.

Shiny New iPhone

This weekend, I finally bought my iPhone! I am very excited and am trying to figure out how to blog from my phone. Looks like, I might have to blog by email. . . though it would be nice if there was a free blogger.com app.

In the meantime, I've really been enjoying listening to Team of Rivals. I am just past the Gettysburg address. I have really been struck by how unprofessional the Union Generals seemed at times. McClellan so far has struck me as the worst. Based on the letters she has chosen to quote, he seems like a complete asshat.

I also previously didn't know that West Virginia ceded from Virgina during the war.

All of these little facts I've been learning make me wonder what did I learn in school about either American history or the civil war?

I do not have a pitchfork, but I know where I can get one. . .

Jon Stewart had an excellent idea for dealing with health insurance companies. He suggested we "baby-bell'em, trust bust" them. Then he suggested we villify them and chase them with pitchforks. I like that. I don't have a pitchfork, but I bet I can get one at the hardware store in town. I was going to link to just that last blurb but the whole show last night was very funny, so here you go.

End of Life Counseling

Submitted VIA Senator Contact Forms found at http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm for all three Senators.

Dear Senator Grassley:

I am not from Iowa so I am sure my opinion means little to you. However, I was quite concerned about your statement regarding end of life counseling. I do not know if you have had a close family member or friend use hospice services at the end of their life. I have, twice, my father and my grandfather. By the time my father was in hospice, he suffered from severe dementia. When my grandfather entered hospice, he still had a sharp mind, it was his body that was failing him.

End of life counseling provided my grandfather and our family the opportunity to discuss which medical treatments he wanted, which were too painful or pointless, who would take care of him when, and what kind of treatment/assistance with pain he could/would be given. You say that he needed this counseling 20 years before his death. I could not disagree more. While you are right that we all should take the time to discuss our end of life wishes with our families, we do not know the manner or the time in which we will leave this earth. If my grandfather had had this counseling twenty years prior, it would have been useless. The pain medication he received was "new". Twenty years prior to his death, I was an infant. You see, I moved in with my grandparents to help take care of him. The treatment options he needed to consider were also not yet discovered.

I would like to thank you for reminding people to talk to their families about end of life issues. But I would ask you to please not heat up the rhetoric on an issue as important as this one by confusing people with statements like the ones you made regarding this vital service.

Finally, I would like to know your basis for telling people they should be concerned about a government program which would "determine[] if you're going to pull the plug on grandma." I agree wholeheartedly that if such a program were to be proposed, it should be opposed. But no one is proposing such a thing. Why would you intentionally frighten citizens with talk like this?

Sincerely,

Amy

cc: Senators Levin & Stabenow

The NY Times

Obviously, I read NYTimes.com often. I usually stick to the opinion pieces, the political reporting, sometimes the book and film stuff. I don't read much about what is going on in the city, because I do not care what is happening in NYC. I do not care about what is trendy in the city or what the hip and happening are doing. I live in the mid-west. Articles like this one are why people hate New Yorkers and the NYTimes. Jezebel.com's Sadie describes the article as "remarkably nasty." Even after reading that little description I was stunned and very put off by the nastiness of the article. More than put off, I was disgusted by her disgust. I am annoyed enough to have a hard time writing anything more than Who the f-bomb does this woman think she is?

Don't get me wrong, I love snarky as much as the next person. I mean, I love Go Fug Yourself, and those ladies tend to have no mercy. In fact, I just spent the last ten minutes staring at over the horrible choices made at the Nick Teen Choice Awards (and I wasn't even taking into account Miley Cyrus). Between Ms. Wilson's "It took me a long time to find a size 2 among the racks." and her To this end, it has the most obese mannequins I have ever seen. They probably need special insulin-based epoxy injections just to make their limbs stay on. It’s like a headless wax museum devoted entirely to the cast of 'Roseanne.'" I think it has been a while since I intentionally read something so self-involved and condesending.

DOJ Attorney Firings - Newly Reviewed Documents

NYTimes.com reports that documents

"released by the House Judiciary Committee after a protracted fight over access to White House records and testimony, offer a detailed portrait of a nearly two-year effort, from early 2005 to 2007, by senior White House officials, including Mr. Rove, to dismiss some prosecutors for what appear to be political reasons."

Okay, not surprising.

"Bush administration officials have publicly suggested that Mr. Iglesias was dismissed because of a subpar performance and absences from the office — he was a Navy reservist."

What?! Are you serious right now? He worked for the Department of Justice for the United States of America. He missed work because he was a Navy reservist for the United States of America. And this was a problem?? I thought we were engaged in two wars and were taking stop-gap measures. Plus, I gotta say, the federal government is the last one I expected to get worked up about reservists missing work to go to reserve activities.

Another point about this that burns me is the constant Republican & Bush Administration tacit of accusing dissenters (or anyone who disagreed with them) of "hating America." When Democrats and peace activists opposed the war, they didn't support the troops. Yet, here they are citing the "missing of work" by a reservist away from work for reservist activities as a reason to fire this person. This is supporting the troops in what way exactly?

Google Ads

I love it when google ads misinterpret me. I am obsessed with her, I don't actually like her, and there is NO way I'd give her PAC, her campaign, or her any money.

Palin

I've already confessed my love of Palin's hair and my obsession with her. Last Friday, she posted the following on her facebook page:

“The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama’s ‘death panel’ so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their ‘level of productivity in society’ whether they are worthy of health care.”

Seriously, Governor? You know, it is really all I can do to keep this civil and not call you names like the Queen of Crazy (which is how I first started this entry). You do make it quite difficult to refrain. . . But instead, I will remind you what you said at your official resignation. . . "quit making shit up." Try on some of your own advice for a change.