The truth is I have been watching my mother die for a year now. It's excruciating and tragic and awful.
Once of a true singularity of emotional destruction, she is now diminished. Her body is giving out on her, the fight in her all gone.
She often made everyone around her so angry, hurt, and confused. She lived a loss of depression and sadness, and created chaos to have a sense of control.
Often petty childish, she drove many people away. There are only a few of us left.
And now it's almost over. Days, maybe weeks. No more.
She's ready to go. I'm ready to let go. Extending her life with aggressive treatment only seems cruel. Give her comfort, let her rest.
And soon, I will reach the moment that I have been inching towards for nearly 29 years. She will be gone. I will have done everything possible to maintain a relationship with her... to love her in spite of her.
She will be gone soon, and I will be here. I will have done something that others could not do...
...I will have survived her.
-The Hippy
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
It happens in slow motion...
The truth is I have been watching my mother die for a year now. It's excruciating and tragic and awful.
Once of a true singularity of emotional destruction, she is now diminished. Her body is giving out on her, the fight in her all gone.
She often made everyone around her so angry, hurt, and confused. She lived a loss of depression and sadness, and created chaos to have a sense of control.
Often petty childish, she drove many people away. There are only a few of us left.
And now it's almost over. Days, maybe weeks. No more.
She's ready to go. I'm ready to let go. Extending her life with aggressive treatment only seems cruel. Give her comfort, let her rest.
And soon, I will reach the moment that I have been inching towards for nearly 29 years. She will be gone. I will have done everything possible to maintain a relationship with her... to love her in spite of her.
She will be gone soon, and I will be here. I will have done something that others could not do...
...I will have survived her.
-The Hippy
Once of a true singularity of emotional destruction, she is now diminished. Her body is giving out on her, the fight in her all gone.
She often made everyone around her so angry, hurt, and confused. She lived a loss of depression and sadness, and created chaos to have a sense of control.
Often petty childish, she drove many people away. There are only a few of us left.
And now it's almost over. Days, maybe weeks. No more.
She's ready to go. I'm ready to let go. Extending her life with aggressive treatment only seems cruel. Give her comfort, let her rest.
And soon, I will reach the moment that I have been inching towards for nearly 29 years. She will be gone. I will have done everything possible to maintain a relationship with her... to love her in spite of her.
She will be gone soon, and I will be here. I will have done something that others could not do...
...I will have survived her.
-The Hippy
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Thursday, August 9, 2007
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Monday, July 9, 2007
Blogging from Wireless Phones...
I'm blogging from my phone. This is a technology that is going to change civilization. Instantly published whining. Totally amazing.
-The Hippy
-The Hippy
Blogging from Wireless Phones...
I'm blogging from my phone. This is a technology that is going to change civilization. Instantly published whining. Totally amazing.
-The Hippy
-The Hippy
Saturday, July 7, 2007
Friday, July 6, 2007
I'm getting old...
Where is the threshold between being in your late twenties and being almost thirty?
I think it may be the ten year high school reunion. It's next month.
What should I wear, given that I will officially be almost thirty?
-The Hippy
I think it may be the ten year high school reunion. It's next month.
What should I wear, given that I will officially be almost thirty?
-The Hippy
I'm getting old...
Where is the threshold between being in your late twenties and being almost thirty?
I think it may be the ten year high school reunion. It's next month.
What should I wear, given that I will officially be almost thirty?
-The Hippy
I think it may be the ten year high school reunion. It's next month.
What should I wear, given that I will officially be almost thirty?
-The Hippy
There is something in the air?
I feel a disturbance in the force. Something big is coming. Can't tell if it's good or bad.
There is something in the air?
I feel a disturbance in the force. Something big is coming. Can't tell if it's good or bad.
Thursday, July 5, 2007
Happiness is found in the simple things...
It's actually quite amazing how things change so quickly. My entire life I have been resistant to change, carefully avoiding anything that might upset the precarious balance of emotional stability that allowed me to function. I didn't like changes to my environment, even if the changes we positive.
I am happy to report that dealing with change has become a farr less scary prospect for me of late. Situations in my life have changed, and I have changed. Some of these changes have been full scale life changes. Some of them have been almost trivial.
I don't wish to under play the sense of loss I feel, for it is very real. But, for the first time ever in my life, I feel in control of my life, my environment, my emotions, and my future.
The life I have lived has made me who I am, and I am grateful for it. For everyone who has ever wished for me to be happy and healthy, you need to know that I am doing better than I ever have been. And that, hopefully, makes you happy in turn.
-The Oklahoma Hippy
I am happy to report that dealing with change has become a farr less scary prospect for me of late. Situations in my life have changed, and I have changed. Some of these changes have been full scale life changes. Some of them have been almost trivial.
I don't wish to under play the sense of loss I feel, for it is very real. But, for the first time ever in my life, I feel in control of my life, my environment, my emotions, and my future.
The life I have lived has made me who I am, and I am grateful for it. For everyone who has ever wished for me to be happy and healthy, you need to know that I am doing better than I ever have been. And that, hopefully, makes you happy in turn.
-The Oklahoma Hippy
Happiness is found in the simple things...
It's actually quite amazing how things change so quickly. My entire life I have been resistant to change, carefully avoiding anything that might upset the precarious balance of emotional stability that allowed me to function. I didn't like changes to my environment, even if the changes we positive.
I am happy to report that dealing with change has become a farr less scary prospect for me of late. Situations in my life have changed, and I have changed. Some of these changes have been full scale life changes. Some of them have been almost trivial.
I don't wish to under play the sense of loss I feel, for it is very real. But, for the first time ever in my life, I feel in control of my life, my environment, my emotions, and my future.
The life I have lived has made me who I am, and I am grateful for it. For everyone who has ever wished for me to be happy and healthy, you need to know that I am doing better than I ever have been. And that, hopefully, makes you happy in turn.
-The Oklahoma Hippy
I am happy to report that dealing with change has become a farr less scary prospect for me of late. Situations in my life have changed, and I have changed. Some of these changes have been full scale life changes. Some of them have been almost trivial.
I don't wish to under play the sense of loss I feel, for it is very real. But, for the first time ever in my life, I feel in control of my life, my environment, my emotions, and my future.
The life I have lived has made me who I am, and I am grateful for it. For everyone who has ever wished for me to be happy and healthy, you need to know that I am doing better than I ever have been. And that, hopefully, makes you happy in turn.
-The Oklahoma Hippy
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Prety Lazy Independence Day...
Hanging out. It's not raining for the first time in forever. It is pretty hot and humid though. Blogging from my phone. Maybe this will be what brings my blog back to life.
-The Hippy
-The Hippy
Prety Lazy Independence Day...
Hanging out. It's not raining for the first time in forever. It is pretty hot and humid though. Blogging from my phone. Maybe this will be what brings my blog back to life.
-The Hippy
-The Hippy
Sunday, July 1, 2007
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Monday, May 14, 2007
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Saturday, April 7, 2007
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
I can't believe I'm saying this...
...but hooray for Bob Barr! (Yes, Bob Barr.)
Digg it!
Legalize it. Not doing so is totally fucking stupid.
-The Hippy
Digg it!
During the Clinton administration, Rep. Bob Barr of Georgia was one of the most visible Republicans in America. In 1998, the arch-conservative was a House manager of President Clinton's impeachment trial. But since leaving Congress in 2003, Barr has become a vocal critic of the constitutionally questionable policies of Clinton's Republican successor, George W. Bush. In 2004, he declined to support Bush's reelection, and in late 2006 he formally left the GOP to take a leadership position in the Libertarian Party. Two weeks ago, Barr and several other conservative heavyweights announced the founding of the American Freedom Agenda, a group opposed to what it sees as assaults on civil liberties in post-9/11 America. And in another break with his past, last week Barr, an erstwhile anti-drug warrior who once led a congressional effort to block medical marijuana use in the District of Columbia, announced that he is joining the pro-legalization Marijuana Policy Project as a lobbyist.
Legalize it. Not doing so is totally fucking stupid.
-The Hippy
I can't believe I'm saying this...
...but hooray for Bob Barr! (Yes, Bob Barr.)
Digg it!
Legalize it. Not doing so is totally fucking stupid.
-The Hippy
Digg it!
During the Clinton administration, Rep. Bob Barr of Georgia was one of the most visible Republicans in America. In 1998, the arch-conservative was a House manager of President Clinton's impeachment trial. But since leaving Congress in 2003, Barr has become a vocal critic of the constitutionally questionable policies of Clinton's Republican successor, George W. Bush. In 2004, he declined to support Bush's reelection, and in late 2006 he formally left the GOP to take a leadership position in the Libertarian Party. Two weeks ago, Barr and several other conservative heavyweights announced the founding of the American Freedom Agenda, a group opposed to what it sees as assaults on civil liberties in post-9/11 America. And in another break with his past, last week Barr, an erstwhile anti-drug warrior who once led a congressional effort to block medical marijuana use in the District of Columbia, announced that he is joining the pro-legalization Marijuana Policy Project as a lobbyist.
Legalize it. Not doing so is totally fucking stupid.
-The Hippy
The Media: Our Maligned Little Buddy
Matthew Yglesias on how the media fails to help inform voters:
Facts have a well known liberal bias. That's why the media never had a liberal bias. They only facts that most of the mainstream media seems interested in reporting is what sides A and B have to say on a particular subject.
Reporters: Pointing out that fact that one side is wildly misleading the public in their argument isn't a sign of bias, it's your freaking job.
-The Hippy
In case Rudy Giuliani's penchant for cross-dressing had you doubting his conservative bona fides, doubt no more. "I regard myself as a supply-sider for sure," he told Larry Kudlow on March 27. And just in case you weren't clear that by "supply-sider" Giuliani meant "know-nothing fool and liar," he clarified: "[I] watched Ronald Reagan do it and learned it, saw it work. Taxes get reduced, more revenue comes in."
Taxes get reduced, more revenue comes in. That, to Giuliani, is what it means to be a supply-sider. And a supply-sider is what he proclaims himself to be.
Taxes get reduced, more revenue comes in. It's a nice idea. Nice, but not true. What's more, it's known to be untrue. Reagan did try it, but it didn't work.
Taxes get reduced, more revenue comes in. Again, this is something Republicans like to say -- but it isn't true, and people who follow politics closely all know it isn't true. Elections, however, are decided by the broad mass of voters, the vast majority of whom don't follow politics especially closely. For that, they turn to the professionals -- the corps of campaign correspondents working for the country's major newspapers and television networks.
These professionals do follow politics closely and use their years of experience in the field to write stories that provide meaningful information to their readers. Thus a person who doesn't follow politics all that closely and reads an article about how Giuliani puts a debunked theory at the heart of his economic policy will come away newly in possession of that key piece of information. "Giuliani: Crank or Liar?" reads the headline, as the author explores whether Giuliani is deliberately misleading people or just too dumb to know the truth. That's how the papers cover the story, because the papers are in the business of informing their readers about politics. It's a no-brainer.
I kid, of course.
Facts have a well known liberal bias. That's why the media never had a liberal bias. They only facts that most of the mainstream media seems interested in reporting is what sides A and B have to say on a particular subject.
Reporters: Pointing out that fact that one side is wildly misleading the public in their argument isn't a sign of bias, it's your freaking job.
-The Hippy
The Media: Our Maligned Little Buddy
Matthew Yglesias on how the media fails to help inform voters:
Facts have a well known liberal bias. That's why the media never had a liberal bias. They only facts that most of the mainstream media seems interested in reporting is what sides A and B have to say on a particular subject.
Reporters: Pointing out that fact that one side is wildly misleading the public in their argument isn't a sign of bias, it's your freaking job.
-The Hippy
In case Rudy Giuliani's penchant for cross-dressing had you doubting his conservative bona fides, doubt no more. "I regard myself as a supply-sider for sure," he told Larry Kudlow on March 27. And just in case you weren't clear that by "supply-sider" Giuliani meant "know-nothing fool and liar," he clarified: "[I] watched Ronald Reagan do it and learned it, saw it work. Taxes get reduced, more revenue comes in."
Taxes get reduced, more revenue comes in. That, to Giuliani, is what it means to be a supply-sider. And a supply-sider is what he proclaims himself to be.
Taxes get reduced, more revenue comes in. It's a nice idea. Nice, but not true. What's more, it's known to be untrue. Reagan did try it, but it didn't work.
Taxes get reduced, more revenue comes in. Again, this is something Republicans like to say -- but it isn't true, and people who follow politics closely all know it isn't true. Elections, however, are decided by the broad mass of voters, the vast majority of whom don't follow politics especially closely. For that, they turn to the professionals -- the corps of campaign correspondents working for the country's major newspapers and television networks.
These professionals do follow politics closely and use their years of experience in the field to write stories that provide meaningful information to their readers. Thus a person who doesn't follow politics all that closely and reads an article about how Giuliani puts a debunked theory at the heart of his economic policy will come away newly in possession of that key piece of information. "Giuliani: Crank or Liar?" reads the headline, as the author explores whether Giuliani is deliberately misleading people or just too dumb to know the truth. That's how the papers cover the story, because the papers are in the business of informing their readers about politics. It's a no-brainer.
I kid, of course.
Facts have a well known liberal bias. That's why the media never had a liberal bias. They only facts that most of the mainstream media seems interested in reporting is what sides A and B have to say on a particular subject.
Reporters: Pointing out that fact that one side is wildly misleading the public in their argument isn't a sign of bias, it's your freaking job.
-The Hippy
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
What is Evil, Liberal, God-Hating Nancy Pelosi thinking?!?!
Of course, this who dust up is just another example of the social/political phenomenon known as IOKIYAR.
Josh Marshall speaks, you listen:
I would say that George W. Bush is Dan Quayle in cowboy boots, but I have too much respect for Dan Quayle to make that comparison.
-The Hippy
Josh Marshall speaks, you listen:
I knew as a general matter that the White House was just bamboozling the press with this Pelosi-in-Syria malarkey since plenty of Republicans from Congress have recently gone there too. But I didn't know the precise details. In addition to recent trips by other Congressional Republicans there's actually a GOP House delegation in Syria right now, according to ThinkProgress. And in March a senior State Department official held talks in Damascus about flow of Iraqi refugees.
I would say that George W. Bush is Dan Quayle in cowboy boots, but I have too much respect for Dan Quayle to make that comparison.
-The Hippy
What is Evil, Liberal, God-Hating Nancy Pelosi thinking?!?!
Of course, this who dust up is just another example of the social/political phenomenon known as IOKIYAR.
Josh Marshall speaks, you listen:
I would say that George W. Bush is Dan Quayle in cowboy boots, but I have too much respect for Dan Quayle to make that comparison.
-The Hippy
Josh Marshall speaks, you listen:
I knew as a general matter that the White House was just bamboozling the press with this Pelosi-in-Syria malarkey since plenty of Republicans from Congress have recently gone there too. But I didn't know the precise details. In addition to recent trips by other Congressional Republicans there's actually a GOP House delegation in Syria right now, according to ThinkProgress. And in March a senior State Department official held talks in Damascus about flow of Iraqi refugees.
I would say that George W. Bush is Dan Quayle in cowboy boots, but I have too much respect for Dan Quayle to make that comparison.
-The Hippy
Monica Goodling
Monica Goodling is going to be asserting her fifth amendment rights rather than testify truthfully before congress on her participation in the firings of the eight US Attorneys.
Check out this profile of Goodling from the Philadelphia Enquirer:
The Bush Administration is the new standard in putting political favors far above the principle of good governance.
-The Hippy
Check out this profile of Goodling from the Philadelphia Enquirer:
Goodling's background is curious. Now 33, she graduated from Messiah College, an evangelical Christian school, in 1995. After a year at the American University Washington College of Law, she enrolled at Pat Robertson's Regent University Law School in 1996 - the year it received full accreditation from the American Bar Association. She graduated from Regent in 1999. That November, Goodling went to work for the Republican National Committee as a junior research analyst in the opposition research shop. When her boss, Barbara Comstock, left the RNC to head the Office of Public Affairs in the Ashcroft Justice Department, Goodling went with her.
After spending two years in Public Affairs, Goodling was detailed to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia for a two-year stint in order to get the "field experience" typically required for the attorney general counsel's job. She served only six months. (The head of EDVA at the time was Paul McNulty, who, having since become a deputy attorney general, also played a role in the firing of the eight U.S. attorneys.)
According to my research, Goodling was the lead attorney on three felony cases while at EDVA. All three ended in plea agreements; none was of particular importance. To give a sense of the magnitude of her work, the highest-level defendant was sentenced to four months in jail; the other two were given three years of supervised release - one of these also received a $100 special assessment. Nevertheless, upon her return to Justice, Goodling assumed the senior counsel and White House liaison posts. So much for the best and the brightest.
Of course, that's not completely fair. There's nothing wrong with attending fourth-tier schools. The value of college is vastly overrated, and lots of smart people don't go to Harvard. But when you look at the rest of Goodling's bio, it is not obvious why she was participating in serious, senior-level decisions about the hiring and firing of U.S. attorneys.
Take, for instance, Carol Lam. She graduated cum laude from Yale, attended Stanford Law, and clerked for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. After serving as an assistant U.S. attorney in the 1980s, Lam was appointed to the bench in the San Diego Superior Court, before becoming a U.S. attorney in 2002. She is a past recipient of the Attorney General's Award for Distinguished Service. This is the woman whom Monica Goodling - Messiah, Regent, RNC - was working to help remove.
The Bush Administration is the new standard in putting political favors far above the principle of good governance.
-The Hippy
Monica Goodling
Monica Goodling is going to be asserting her fifth amendment rights rather than testify truthfully before congress on her participation in the firings of the eight US Attorneys.
Check out this profile of Goodling from the Philadelphia Enquirer:
The Bush Administration is the new standard in putting political favors far above the principle of good governance.
-The Hippy
Check out this profile of Goodling from the Philadelphia Enquirer:
Goodling's background is curious. Now 33, she graduated from Messiah College, an evangelical Christian school, in 1995. After a year at the American University Washington College of Law, she enrolled at Pat Robertson's Regent University Law School in 1996 - the year it received full accreditation from the American Bar Association. She graduated from Regent in 1999. That November, Goodling went to work for the Republican National Committee as a junior research analyst in the opposition research shop. When her boss, Barbara Comstock, left the RNC to head the Office of Public Affairs in the Ashcroft Justice Department, Goodling went with her.
After spending two years in Public Affairs, Goodling was detailed to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia for a two-year stint in order to get the "field experience" typically required for the attorney general counsel's job. She served only six months. (The head of EDVA at the time was Paul McNulty, who, having since become a deputy attorney general, also played a role in the firing of the eight U.S. attorneys.)
According to my research, Goodling was the lead attorney on three felony cases while at EDVA. All three ended in plea agreements; none was of particular importance. To give a sense of the magnitude of her work, the highest-level defendant was sentenced to four months in jail; the other two were given three years of supervised release - one of these also received a $100 special assessment. Nevertheless, upon her return to Justice, Goodling assumed the senior counsel and White House liaison posts. So much for the best and the brightest.
Of course, that's not completely fair. There's nothing wrong with attending fourth-tier schools. The value of college is vastly overrated, and lots of smart people don't go to Harvard. But when you look at the rest of Goodling's bio, it is not obvious why she was participating in serious, senior-level decisions about the hiring and firing of U.S. attorneys.
Take, for instance, Carol Lam. She graduated cum laude from Yale, attended Stanford Law, and clerked for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. After serving as an assistant U.S. attorney in the 1980s, Lam was appointed to the bench in the San Diego Superior Court, before becoming a U.S. attorney in 2002. She is a past recipient of the Attorney General's Award for Distinguished Service. This is the woman whom Monica Goodling - Messiah, Regent, RNC - was working to help remove.
The Bush Administration is the new standard in putting political favors far above the principle of good governance.
-The Hippy
Monday, April 2, 2007
Medicare Prescription Drug Bill...
Those of us who have been paying attention for the last 6 years know all about this. The rest of you should go over to Crooks and Liars and watch the video of the 60 Minutes report on the totally shady way the Medicare Prescription Drug Bill was passed and what it means for this country.
The Republican Party has sold our country to the highest bidder. I hope every Republican voter out there is very proud.
By the way, Roe v. Wade is still the law of the land. You've all been punked.
-The Hippy
The Republican Party has sold our country to the highest bidder. I hope every Republican voter out there is very proud.
By the way, Roe v. Wade is still the law of the land. You've all been punked.
-The Hippy
Medicare Prescription Drug Bill...
Those of us who have been paying attention for the last 6 years know all about this. The rest of you should go over to Crooks and Liars and watch the video of the 60 Minutes report on the totally shady way the Medicare Prescription Drug Bill was passed and what it means for this country.
The Republican Party has sold our country to the highest bidder. I hope every Republican voter out there is very proud.
By the way, Roe v. Wade is still the law of the land. You've all been punked.
-The Hippy
The Republican Party has sold our country to the highest bidder. I hope every Republican voter out there is very proud.
By the way, Roe v. Wade is still the law of the land. You've all been punked.
-The Hippy
Sunday, April 1, 2007
Monday, January 1, 2007
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