Veterans' Day

In honoring our Veterans this November 11, 2009, let us not forget the tragedy that happened at Fort Hood, Texas. It was a multiple tragedy, given that this is the largest, and supposedly best US Army base in the world. It's base hospital is comparable to the best right here in Houston. It is the size of a small city. Some of the best military doctors work there.

So why does a Major who has been a good psychiatrist to many soldiers in Iraq & Afghanistan and at Ft. Hood, go on a killing spree at the best Army base the US has? From what my local newspaper reported, his immediate superior, a Col. Lee, told a reporter that he knows the shooter had wanted to be discharged, had made statements he was against the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, many times. MANY TIMES. The only natural conclusion is that Col. Lee thought that redeployment would "toughen the major up," even though the Major himself was obviously waving red flags about his mental state.

This Col. Lee indirectly set up what the Major ultimately wound up doing: killing, wounding others, in order to remove himself from military participation. What really astounds me is that during the 6 mos. prior to this tragedy, this Col. Lee heard the major's requests, and NEVER ONCE considered a psychological evaluation for him, and I doubt he ever went to his OWN immediate supervisor on how to handle the major. In my opinion, this Col. Lee ought to be horse-whipped and thrown out of the military for gross negligence and exceptionally poor judgment in handling what should have been a straightforward process- get psyche eval, then decide what to do.

Ever since Pres. Obama was made aware of suicide rates among Army recruiters (!), he ordered to find out how widespread suicide is among all the military branches. It's alarming: military suicide rates are now above civilian rates- 20.2 per 100,000 soldiers in the military as of Feb. 4, 2009; 19.5 per 100,000 civilians. A very important point- some analysts believe the rate to be much higher for the soldiers, because some deaths were drug-related, and may have been classified erroneously.

The US military is notoriously late in adapting to issues important to the public- such as recruiting black Americans, gays, women. But through it all, mental health was kept under the rug. Getting help for depression is a career buster, even just talking about it to a friend could mean ouster from the military. There are also a plethora of men in positions of authority who think like the above Col. Lee- if you can't take it, you're a pansy, so suck it up and be a man. I'm former Army, and I've seen what I'm talking about. This train of thought runs rampant, and is why so many of the Reservists and Guards are committing suicides. If superiors won't believe in mental health, then nothing will ever change, no matter what Pres. Obama tries to do.

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/feb2009/suic-f04.shtml

My Adventure In Sending A Wire by Daring Texan

It all started with a plea for help from a dear friend of mine who was in dire straits. She sent me an email describing her predicament, and I replied I would help, no matter what it took to do it. I started immediately, right after I read that in fact, making a phone call to my financial advisor. I explained what I wanted to do, stressing that time was a crucial factor- any delay could undermine what my friend needed. He set up an appointment for the next day, and in the meantime I emailed my friend who lives in the UK, and requested her bank info so I could send her what she needed.
Armed with what she provided and my good intentions, I gave all the info to the receptionist/secretary, filled out the form for the wire, and signed a letter of authorization for this transaction. This put everything into motion. I was happy to inform my friend that it would take 3 business days to complete and have the funds in her account. I left the office feeling like Superwoman in my euphoric rush for do-gooding. We were ecstatic in our joy.

It took only 2 days to sell off enough stock to get the funds required for my friend, and again, I felt things were falling into place. WRONG! The girl at the desk phoned me to ask if I was sending the amount minus the $100 fee. I said I needed that whole amount, so can I come back to the office and write a check for the fee? Yes, she replied, and so I went back. My do-gooding high then fell flat when I realized no one ever mentioned a fee for doing this transaction. I learned she was hired only recently. I overlooked this, because being miffed wouldn't get me anywhere and wrote the check.

The following day I received a message on my answering machine- the transaction didn't go through, because they needed a street address for the bank in the UK. I phoned my friend, trying to constrain the time, because we both have the gift of gab, telling her what I needed. That's when I learned her bank was in the process of merging. She went to her bank the next day and emailed me the info. I then took her info and gave it to the girl at the desk. She then phoned the Home Office of my investment firm to have someone walk her through the transaction. I signed ANOTHER letter of authorization because the bank info had changed. This was a Wednesday, and it was the next Monday that I began to become frustrated and sarcastic.

On Monday, around 4:30 pm CST in the US, 10:30 pm in the UK, I received another phone call that the wire didn't go through. I was pissed now, because they could've called me Thursday or Friday. And calling me at such a late date, it was impossible for me to reach my friend, she'd be in bed already. I wanted to pull my hair out! On Tuesday, yesterday in fact, I woke up early so I'd have the new info from her BANK OFFICER IN THE UK. She had to do it on her lunch break, so I killed time on my computer, got bored, and left a nasty-gram on my advisor's answering machine, told them I'd be there @ 10 am sharp, and I want answers as to why this was turning into a clusterfuck. I also told them I felt I was being treated this way because my account is rather modest. But if this is the service I get, when I DO come into significant funds from the death of my aunt(which could be any time between now and the Rapture-longevity runs in that side of the family) I'll be withdrawing what I have with them and invest my money elsewhere.

At 10 am, I asked why this was taking so long. Why has each new message/phone call revealed yet another delay? The girl at the desk replied, "We have to be careful of terrorists when a large amount is wired internationally." OMG! WTF??? It took every ounce of my self-control not to burst out in anger or laughter! I was FLABBERGASTED! My friend and I are suspected of being TERRORISTS? Dubya's campaign of fear still lingers.

"WE'RE HOUSEWIVES, for crying out loud!", I responded. "I SERIOUSLY doubt our names are on Interpol's, the FBI's, or Scotland Yard's suspected terrorist list. The money is for a mortgage payment so she won't lose her house. I can vouch for her that she has ABSOLUTELY NO INTENTION of using that money for the purchase of large quantities of fertilizer. And even if we WERE terrorists, what can $1500 purchase- MAYBE 2 broken AK47's without ammo!"

That was the best excuse, ever. The other one my advisor told me was that Wells Fargo(ever my arch nemesis since Dad died) is the middle-man for Edward Jones Financial to send international wires of funds. The second delay was "European" wire transfer, and they wouldn't accept it. The wire could've been sent on time- every other damnable bank in the US do it often. Not them. The UK apparently isn't "EUROPEAN" in their minds. No, it's "INTERNATIONAL", and requires a different code! This is why I hate Wells Fargo Bank, and why I support REGULATION Of BANKS.

I hope everyone at Wells Fargo gets sent to the streets to eke out a living with the homeless. Amen.

*footnote: my friend's wire should be in her account no later than this Friday, Nov. 6 or my wrath shall fall like Old Testament plagues. :(

**ARRRGH! MY friend informed me the wire wasn't in her account on Monday, Nov. 9. That means when the wire was sent on Nov. 3, 2 days later it was kicked back and 4 more days of me thinking it had gone through. Errands to run on Tuesday. Wednesday, Nov. 11, my Old Testament wrath smote the advisor @ Edward Jones Financial. I called to ask why wasn't I informed the wire was kicked back nearly a week ago; why did I hear this from my friend? "People make mistakes," my advisor said. "Yeah, I understand human error; but this one is far worse, NO ONE knew it was kicked back, NO ONE double-checks their work, NO ONE called to see if it sent ok, NO ONE but MY FRIEND informed me what happened, and on top of all the other gaffes, you have the balls to ask how do I know??? When you don't know a damn thing for certain in this god-forsaken office??? The British Bank officer TOLD my friend what happened! Are you questioning a Bank OFFICER??? Where is the damn thing now?" I asked. "I don't know what account it's in," he said, adding that the wire was sent. "Are you telling me I can't get a refund? Better think again, it NEVER got to the intended destination- my friend's account. Are you running some kind of con game here?" I asked coldly. "You'd better find which account MY MONEY is in, hadn't you, or you'll be in hotter water than you are now. Today's Wednesday; on Friday a refund check for the wire better be sent to my house. I'm sending the damned check myself, UPS to the UK. After that, when I've had time to calm down, I'm liquidating my investments." This past Saturday it was sent by me. Tomorrow, the 16th, I'm liquidating my account. It's over.

Alzheimer's And Me

Caring for a parent with dementia is the most rewarding and difficult thing in the world. It's not so bad in the early stages, where conversation is still pleasant, and your parent can still function fairly normally. The middle stage isn't bad either; they can still understand what you talk about, if you keep the words simple and direct.
It's rewarding in the early stage, because you can tap into their long term memory, and keep conversations light about the fun times they remember when they were young, learn about them more. It was good for me, because my mother never devoted as much attention to me as she did my other 3 siblings. It helped me form a better bond with her.
Her diagnosis of dementia was already nearing the end of the first stage, in the second year I began caring for her and my father. That's when we refurbished their house. I included her on everything we undertook because she liked interior decorating, had a good eye for colors and loved the whole process from start to finish. We discovered that every time we asked her to help choose, she went for dark colors every time. Finally we brought only samples of lighter colors in the same color family, so the house wouldn't look like a cavern.
Now, after 8 long years, my mother is in the final stage- she has no short term memory whatsoever, her long term memory is just about gone. She's 81, but in her head, she's 19, at college, and is waiting for her parents to come get her for the summer break. She packs her clothes, some of her personal items(which never include normal things like toothbrush, comb, brush or underwear). She doesn't recognize any of her own children, or her grandchildren, and is completely flabbergasted when we tell her she's a great-grandmother as well.
Her books collect dust now; she says she reads the front page of the newspaper, but when we ask what she's read, she can't tell us. She doesn't recognize her own reflection, because she's 19 inside, and continually tries to rub off her liver spots on her hands and arms.
She hoards things now, like napkins, paper cups; the occasional flatware, cup or glass.
Today, she had a moment of lucidity, but I wasn't aware at first. She finished dinner, I was in another room. She brought her plate, and glass to the kitchen, but left the fork at the table; the knife was in the sink with the cup. But the bowl was nowhere to be found! I looked in her room, the usual place she hoards stuff. No luck! Finally my husband looked in the dishwasher, and there it was- she's wiped it clean, and put it in the rack with the others. Some days ARE diamonds. :)

Drama Queens

Drama queens- we all know one or two. I'm not talking about young children. I'm talking about adults, who should know better than to start rumors, arguments, or tell flat-out lies about others. It's wrong, and at some level they know it's wrong. But they tell themselves what they're doing is right, that they are exposing "sins"(character flaws) in those they target. They will, if necessary, exaggerate and even set up, situations to prove they're right. One drama queen I know uses invisible third parties to back her up on these exaggerations and situations. And with each passing day, the number has increased to an entire block, not just neighbors, as before.

I personally believe drama queens thrive on discord, play on new people's sympathies for the way they've been mistreated by others who told them off! When someone has had enough of their constant state of being permanently pissed, & uses truth to tell them off, what really gets me~ it rolls right off them, like oil on water. The truth of things has no place in the heart and mind of a drama queen, unless they're telling you their own version of truth. Which has a lot of truth, some of which has been omitted or white-washed.

One woman here at Facebook, a friend of someone I know and love like a son, is a drama queen. She creates discord where none exists. She commits criminal acts, and passes them off as the result of 'pms'. Yes! I kid you not. She wants to be perceived as a loyal friend, and took my friend in when he had no where else to go. Then set up a situation, causing his car to be stolen in order to comply with her apartment complex's rules. Claiming she was intimidated. I don't know how she felt intimidated, when she felt at ease breaking & entering, then vandalizing, ANOTHER good friend's apartment.

Yes, this is one drama queen in need of psychiatric supervision, and possibly in dire need of medication. She needs to be in control, negatively, at all times, of all her friends, and driving away all their friends. She is totally unaware she's driving everyone away. She truly believes she's clever; so sad that she doesn't know she's a fool.

The Reason Behind Separation Between Church And State

This is a continuation of the premise only slightly touched upon in my Amercian Churches blog. The main reason that separation between Church and State is imperative is that government should never intrude into people's beliefs, as long as those beliefs don't break a law.
Thus, it's acceptable for organized religions to hold beliefs about creationism; prophets; miracles; supreme beings or just one supreme being. They can also believe that there is a better place and a worse place for us all to go, when we die. But it's only perception, not actual fact. Mythology gets thrown into that mix, which doesn't make it any more factual. It appears to me that dodges were perpetrated at that Nicene Council way back when!

I'm apalled some people's faith is so deeply reverent that they wish their beliefs were made into law, or an edict, to compel government funded institutions to teach a certain set of beliefs over any others, to validate their own religious views. At the same time, I'm glad some people's faith is so deeply reverent that they don't need that kind of validation. This last group is in the minority, I fear.

Well, I'm the "doubting Thomas," and I trust science & Darwinism over Biblical creationism, as there have been great scientific discoveries through the ages that seemed not to come from God, but appear to have been methodically discovered, through trial and error, a very human trait. I think mankind deserves much more praise than it collectively gets from believers of organized religions, dare I say it, even God, if God even exists, who though they seem disgusted by it, are equally human, and part of mankind, with all its flaws, virtues, and habits.

This is my America. May it regain its footholds on common sense, integrity, truth, and justice FOR ALL. Amen.

American Churches

I was brought up to be a good Christian. But when I became an adult, I saw too often how many self-professed Christians are really the back-sliding reprobates so often denigrated in the teachings of Paul.
I've tried several times to join a Christian church, but I just can't get on board with organized religion. Too controlling, too intolerant, and too political. For a group that promotes brotherly love, forgiveness, and charity, there's far too much hate, bigotry, and hypocrisy to spout what they obviously don't practice in their own personal lives. For those of you who ARE good Christians and reading this, I apologize now, for what I've just observed.
Too many churches have only one race in their congregations. Too many have become so enraptured by the conservative movement in the past 2 decades, that they are now lobbying amongst Republican Congressional members to get the Bible taught in public schools. Here in Texas, some of our own state's legislators have already done so.
They don't like anything remotely liberal. But if they'd just think about what they're saying, the United States of America's Constitution is just about the most liberal document ever produced by enlightened men after the Revolution.
They have several arguments they use to address people who believe in separation of Church and State: the motto, "in God we trust" is on all our monetary currency; there's nothing wrong with the Bible's teachings in a public school; the 10 commandments are in many courthouses throughout the country.
Those are nice sentiments. I have nothing wrong with putting the 10 commandments in a public school, because it is a code of conduct, a set of laws. The rest of the Bible needs to remain in Sunday school classrooms, not public ones. That's why there are schools sponsored by organized religious groups.
The divide comes when the Bible should be taught in science classrooms for it's creationism as an alternative BALANCE to Darwinism and science in general. Also, they seem to be using only the Protestant Bible. There are many Bibles, so if it is to be taught, then it follows that ALL BIBLES, and ALL RELIGIONS AND THEIR FACTIONS/GROUPS should be taught as well.
My argument is this: there is already a place for all the religions and bibles to be taught. It's called THEOLOGY, and is taught in many universities and colleges throughout the world, in HIGHER EDUCATIONAL ENVIRONMENTS, as well as SEMINARIES throughout the country and the world.
There is no place in public schools for the Bible, any Bible, or other religious tome, in the public classrooms, even as an elective. It belongs in the Churches, their private schools, in homes, and in seminaries. It SHOULD NEVER BE SOMETHING THAT CAN BE REGULATED BY GOVERNMENT. NEVER. This movement by conservatives is a form of passive anarchy to turn our democracy into a theocracy. These people who advocate this are the most UN-AMERICAN Americans since Nixon's witch-hunt for communists. For shame.
I'm sick to death already of one religious group starting a jihad against us in the West. But I'm even more disgusted with so-called American Christians shoving their dogma down MY throat in an attempt to legislate moral virtues which they themselves don't, nor can't, exhibit in their daily lives.

What Makes A Bitch, Bitch?

This question occurred to me after I wrote the previous blog today. I'm sure many people are curious as to what makes a bitch, bitch. I will attempt to discover the reasons.

• They crave power, because deep down they're inferior; that feeling could be anything they know they don't have.
• When they have power, they bash others over the head with it needlessly, to make themselves feel even better.
• Occasionally they make big faux pas. They will address the issue by reducing the offense until they can finally accept it as the right thing.
• When the reduction has been effected, then they will twist it and try to make YOU the galling idiot.
• As long as they are NOT the target, bullying mercilessly is fun to them.

I've heard it said, but it can't be proven: some people are born bitches.

Other People's Friends Are Not Always My Friends

Just made a new friend recently about 2 1/2 weeks ago, through a good mutual friend. Yeah, it was on Facebook. Funny thing about other people's friends. They should remain just that.
Sometimes a small circle gets along very well, until an incident occurs amongst them. I was just a virtual online bystander, wasn't involved, except for the flood of messages from the 2 who were there, one of whom was the receiver of the incident in question, & who both asked me for some advice, which I gave them this past weekend.
I am a new friend. But the incident in question, which will not be discussed here, caused me to delete the brand new friend, yesterday. Then I thought better of it this morning, after I'd learned she'd apologized, and re-added her. Had it not been for the snotty announcement on her "what's on your mind" thought for the day, I would have just commented that I was glad things were getting sorted. Especially since she re-added me. After reading her b*tchy & self-serving commentary, my good thoughts changed, and added my own superior thoughts. Yeah, she deserved what I said. I deleted her for good.
I then told the mutual friend what I'd done, and said- "she can bloody F***K OFF AND DIE," adding, "I'm sorry." I really am.
I didn't know her as well as our mutual friend, so I'm not that upset. But I know our mutual friend probably is disappointed that I don't approve of her, his "best m8", as he thinks of her, not only for the incident that occurred, but for the sheer childishness of her statements after I re-added her.
Yes, I shouldn't have deleted her after the myriad messaging from the mutual friends yesterday. I should have left it alone. But I was so shocked at the opposite of what our mutual friend had said of her, that I still can't reconcile the two extremes. Particularly when I know what happened. The day after the incident, she was happy and crowing about what she did on her home page. It was a true criminal act, that is usually paid for with jail time.
I've learned my lesson. I will stick to the friends whom I select, that I know from the test of time are my true friends.

The Crap Parade

I want to get away from the crap parade. Too much, too soon, all bad news. In less than a month, I've learned that my daughter & brother have aggressive forms of cancer. I haven't had time to absorb the news, and during that time, Ashley's news was worse, because after her 3rd chemo treatment, she was dropped by her insurance provider under false pretenses. Thankfully, that is in the process of being resolved.
It's disgusting. It's horrible. It's insane. I hope Mark isn't treated like Ashley by his insurance company.
I don't think I can take anymore bad news. I already have a migraine from the previous news. Right now I feel numb; can't cry, can't even get mad. I don't answer the phone anymore, afraid of it being more crappy news. I went off on one telemarketer hawking funeral plans! That person will never call here again.
I've been back to an old blog site, because there are some ultra-conservatives who are so oblivious to reason that I'm able to vent my frustrations by baiting them and smacking them with facts! Yeah, it's a turkey shoot. It makes me feel better. :) I respect their opinions, but not when they use their own opinions as facts, resort to dodges, or lies.
But in the end, I'm still left feeling helpless to help my daughter and brother. I can do what I can, but it's not enough, to me.

The Sea Change

Pres. Obama's State of the Union address last night will keep both houses of Congress busy these next 4 years. All the media refers to his programs as "sweeping changes" and one guy called them, "audacious and ambitious changes." They are: health care reform; education; the economy; and balance our trillion+ dollar deficit by the end of his first term.
Everyone is saying how impossible it is to make so many promises and keep them. Most of the people saying so just happen to be Republicans. Republicans who allowed the problems we're facing to continue, even when opportunity was at their doorstep 16 years ago to prevent this. Republicans who NEVER conducted oversight of themselves. Republicans who've profited by the lack of non-enforcement of regulations, laws, and unethical practices in our banking system, Justice Dept., our tax laws, and the blatant favoritism at the hands of Pres. George W. Bush, IN THE NAME OF FREE-MARKET ECONOMIC CAPITALISM.
Now that Democrats have more power, the wind has shifted to the left, which strikes fear into the very core of staunch conservatives. It HAD to shift, because government under Republican ideology(see above) was manipulative and abusive, and neglectful of the very things that keep a country healthy. Capitalism, under laissez-faire economics, only works when responsible, ethical people are at the helm. It's only right that now the Republicans aren't controlling government any longer. New regulations have to be put into place by Democrats( it would be nice to have Republicans participate when it's the RIGHT thing to do), to keep our government, its agencies, and major corporate institutions from behaving as though the Old West were in full sway once more. History DID repeat itself under George W. Bush. And now we're all paying for it because Republicans couldn't restrain their abject greed.
The one thing that Republicans refuse to see is that change IS necessary, because THEY ACTIVELY PARTICIPATED IN THE DOWNFALL OF OUR ECONOMY, through NEGLECT and ADEHERANCE TO A FAILED IDEOLOGY. They cannot change what they believe, so they attack those who adapt to change. Everyone, everything evolves over time. So too, economics. The time is ripe for capitalism to evolve, from an antiquated ideology to something combining capitalism and socialism. It's NOT a bug-bear, to those who research what I'm saying. It's a natural maturing of our successful economy. When people are successful, people demand more services, and pay for them with their taxes. Under Republican dominance, we got NOTHING for our tax dollars. Under socialistic reforms, we will get what we voted Democrats into Congress for--the programs we kept INSISTING we needed, but were not given, by Republicans. This is only the first month of Pres. Obama's term in office. If one of his reforms is successful, I will look at him as a miracle worker, and wait for the others to take place.
The time is right for the Republicans to pull their collective head out from their collective ass and become good, loyal Americans once again and put the country above themselves.

I LOVE ABSOLUTE RADIO!

Absolute Radio(aka AR) in the UK is simply great. I've never had such fun, made such good friends, as I have on their blog site. The sites I've been on in the US were ok for a time, but a lot of people are mean-spirited, selfish, confrontational, and tend to form cliques, which makes it difficult to establish friendships. I like making friends, keeping them, and having fun.

I've thought about this dynamic for sometime now, and in my view it's because of our culture in the US. It's markedly different from AR, even though the culture on that site is as diverse as ours. Yes, weirdos, lonely people, neurotic people, are out there blogging, joining public chat groups, etc. But they don't manifest FEAR! whenever they are on site for the first time. Nervousness, perhaps, caution, definitely, but not FEAR.

The US media, through terrible actual incidents directly connected to internet contact, which is aired/printed in various media, have instilled abject fear into people whenever they surf the internet. It's almost as if Americans EXPECT to be victimized, or to DO the victimizing first! I understand the dangers of the internet fully, but I doubt anyone has used common sense in explaining this to others!
The US media just love dangers, victims, suspicious people/circumstances, criminal behavior, and blare it LOUDLY, REPEATEDLY, until one has become desensitized to it all.

When will people learn to use common sense and stop acting like decapitated chickens????

NEW & IMPROVED GOP

At long last, the RNC has finally realized that they've alienated people for only 8 years, according to the news article I read this morning in my paper, the Houston Chronicle. It seems everyone was on the same page during the Clinton years. With the election of Michael Steele, the first black RNC chairman, the GOP will be working to "improve its image" after the media and Democrats have wrongly accused them of being out of touch with the public, dictatorial, and careless of the well-being of our country.
"Wrong?!" Sounds like the whole party is in denial of their actions under the leadership of G.W. Bush and is trying to sweep the last 8 years of complete dismissal of the public's needs and wants, gross abuse of power, and the rule of law(US Constitutional law and precedents) under a giant rug. Not to mention total non-bipartisanship, though that was the campaign theme when Bush ran!
"Cleaning the slate" is going to be a tough sell, involving the "leopard changing its spots", which, as everyone knows, is code for no change at all. Underneath is the same old cat, waiting for the chance to pounce. Then too, the House and Senate Republicans have to do the same thing, and they've already shown how "bipartisan" they are: voting unanimously in one body against Obama's economic stimulus package.
Until the GOP stops regarding people who are moderately liberal as FOES, instead of fellow Americans, NO change AT ALL, NO image improvement, will ever take place. Wake up idiots and smell the coffee! Bringing in minorities is just a token facelift, and a pretty empty gesture at that. Bringing your ideology into REALITY is what's really needed if you want to be trusted again. Your party and Dubya drove this country and the economy into the ground. You are to blame. And you're still in denial.

Dubya's Legacy

This is Bush's last contribution to his own pedagoguery- a once grandiose design for 2 buildings located on the campus of Southern Methodist University, now, sadly, or fortunately for us little people, the design is now calling for a "single building with two separate wings, with design elements distinct from each other", according to Laura Bush.
The President's response? "It will be cool-looking."
I googled for Stern's sketch of the proposed building, (albeit a cursory search), but it proved fruitless so far.
According to the blogs, the backers for this project are all Bush cronies, who all seemed to get the same urge at the same time- donate money to SMU! Why is this NOT surprising! A partisan project initiated by a partisan President, and paid for by partisan money!
I have just one burning question: why isn't his Presidential Library and Freedom Institute being built on the campus of his alma mater, Yale University?

End Of An Error!

Don't know about yall, but I'm ready to begin the count-down of days until Dubya leaves office, and Obama takes the oath of office Tuesday, Jan. 2o, 2oo9! T-minus 3 days and counting...
Let's review the past blunders of Dubya's 2 terms:

1. Removal of the 1972 Nuclear Arms Non- Proliferation Treaty;
2. Defining terrorists as armed combatants not affiliated to any country's military, but conducting combat in a specific country;
3. Using above definition, this allowed Dubya to abuse our signatories of the Geneva Convention Articles of 1957 re: torture, capture, and human rights;
4. Ignorance of several Bills of Rights in our Constitution, namely: warrantless wiretapping, habeus corpus, freedom of speech; freedom of assembly;
   
5. Reinstatement of the Cold War, by placing a missile base in Poland only miles away from the Russian border;
6. Crossing the line of separation of Church and State, a precedent set by past Presidents, by allowing employers to use religious beliefs as a basis for hiring or firing employees, in a Presidential signing statement(it was his first act in his first term, on his first day);
7. Abuse of military troop rotations, creating vets with severe PTSD; appalling treatment of wounded soldiers in our VA hospitals in Washington, D.C. and elsewhere throughout the country! ;
8. Getting rid of Justice Dept. fully qualified attorneys based on political beliefs;
9. Interference in a State's(TEXAS!) justice procedures when 2 Border Patrol agents were railroaded for shooting a drug lord; (they're STILL in prison!) the judges who heard the case and the appeal were Republican toady appointees by Dubya;
   
10. The insistence by Dubya, Dead-Eye Dick and other administration officials of the truth re: lead up to Iraq invasion;
11. The stupid waste of billions of dollars that could have gone to worthwhile projects(LIKE BRIDGE REPAIR) on a 700 mile border wall, of which only approximately 100 miles was built... where'd the rest of the money go? Because they stopped working on it...
    

Dubya still has time to do more damage, let's pray Laura gets him so drunk he can't talk or pick up a pen. Amen.