Sunday Funnies

Cartoon by Matt Wuerker and published 6/26/14 at Daily Kos.

Cartoon by Jim Morin, published 6/27/14 in the Miami Herald and featured at McClatchy DC.

Cartoon by Mike Luckovich and published 6/28/14 in the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

As always, click on the images to enlarge.

Bonus Critter Blogging: Monarch Butterflies

(Photo by Joel Sartore and published in National Geographic.  Click on link to learn about this critter's remarkable guidance system.  Click on image to enlarge and enjoy.)

Friday Cat Blogging

Ace Mouse Catcher

Things I Wish I'd Said

 

 

(Click on image to enlarge.)

 

 

I've come to the conclusion that Ted Rall really is a national treasure.  Not only are his cartoons brilliant, but the comments attached to the cartoons at his blog are deadly on target.  Here's the succinct analysis he posted June 23, 2014:

 

 As Iraq spirals into sectarian civil war, one of the recurring stories on American media outlets is the mixed feelings of the American veterans who served in the invasion and subsequent occupation. While it’s understandable that they are wondering whether their sacrifices were worth it (hint: no way), shouldn’t we be giving at least equal time to the Iraqis who are living through the consequences of our war there?   [Emphasis added]

 

Good question, one that we probably won't see raised or answered in the US press or even mentioned by the Administration anytime soon.

 

I guess we're too close to July 4th.  It wouldn't be prudent.

What Is Wrong With Kansas?

(Cartoon by Alfredo Martirena and snagged from cartoonstock.)

WTF?

Adults spend a lot of time expressing dismay that kids devote entirely too much time tweeting, texting, and playing games on the internet.  So what happens when a kid embarks on a project which benefits his entire community by encouraging his neighbors of all ages to read books?  The community shuts him down.

From the L.A. Times:

The idea of sharing his love of books with his neighbors was thrilling to 9-year-old Spencer Collins. So, with the help of his parents, he set up a Little Free Library in their yard in Leawood, Kansas.
City authorities told the family to take it down.

 

Little Free Libraries are a little like a dollhouse full of books: they sit on a pole or wall or fence, have two or three shelves and may include a protective glass door. An encouraging sign is posted -- "Take a book, return a book" -- prompting people who walk past to take a look and grab something to read. ...

The Leawood City Council said it had received a couple of complaints about Spencer Collins' Little Free Library. They dubbed it an "illegal detached structure" and told the Collins' they would face a fine if they did not remove the Little Free Library from their yard by June 19. 

They did so. It's now set up in the family's garage. But Spencer isn't giving up.

In an interview with local television station KMBC, Collins ruminated on creating a pulley system to raise and lower the Little Free Library to provide access. While that probably won't happen, he is likely to follow through on his plans to appear at the Leawood City Council to suggest Little Free Libraries be allowed.   [Emphasis added]

Spencer Collins is a young man who should be congratulated, not only for his love of reading, but also for his community spirit.  Not only did he provide a rather nifty free service, he's also willing to fight for his right to do so in a perfectly responsible way.  His parents can be very proud of him, as should his neighbors.

Way to go, Spencer!

MOS*

*More Of Same 

(Cartoon by Lee Judge, published 6/22/14 in the Kansas City Star and featured at McClatchy DC.  Click on image to enlarge and then return, please.)
No, I'm not through yelling about this.  I'd set my hair on fire if I thought it would do any good (or if it were longer than 1/8th inch all the way around).  I'm really that furious.

And so should every American be, regardless of political persuasion.  This administration isn't fooling anybody when it says that the 300 troops being sent to Iraq are there merely as advisors to Iraqi security forces.  Yeah, right.  And I was the inspiration for "My Sharona."

From McClatchy D.C.

“‘Combat’ is an elastic term when you talk about special operations guys, because you never know what they’re going to be doing,” [Former Marine Corp Sgt. Andrew] van Wey, who now does marketing for a military apparel firm in Fort Worth, Texas, said in an interview. “The nature of these guys’ jobs is covert. When you send in special operations, they leave a smaller footprint than infantry or other conventional forces. That’s how they get around violating the spirit of ‘no boots on the ground.’”

Others who served in Iraq said that once the new U.S. troops are embedded with their Iraqi counterparts, all bets are off, because there are few safe havens in a very dangerous country.

“It’s a stretch to say they won’t see combat,” Eric Young, a former Marine corporal who fought in Fallujah during two deployments to Iraq, told McClatchy. “More than likely those Green Berets will take up leadership roles in the Iraqi military. They may not be doing a lot of fighting, but they won’t just sit back and call for support. They’re there to lead from the front. You don’t lead from the back.”   [Enphasis added]

 The US troops will get involved, perhaps wounded or killed and certain elements will call for vengeance and then, just in time for November, 2016, it will become the kind of issue the GOP has been dreaming of.

Like I said last week.  Here we go again.

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2014/06/20/231083/iraq-vets-say-obamas-promise-of.html#storylink=cpy

Sunday Funnies

Cartoon by Jim Morin, published 6/17/14 in the Miami Herald and featured at McClatchy DC.

Cartoon by Mike Luckovich, published 6/22/14 in the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

(cartoon by Matt Wuerker, published 6/19/14 at Daily Kos.

As always, click on image to enlarge.

Bonus Critter Blogging: Yaks

(Photo by Michael Yamashita and published at National Geographic.  Click on link to learn the lengths mother yaks will go to protect her young while grazing.  Click on image to enlarge.

Friday Cat Blogging

Everybody needs a Sleeping Assistant.

Send In The Drones ... There Have To Be Drones

(Cartoon by Yaakov Kirschen and posted on his blog.  Click on image to enlarge and then be so kind as to return here, haste-posthaste.)

The nation of Iraq has once again descended into chaos as Sunni and Shiite  forces are battling for control of the country.  The conflict appears to have spilled over into Syria in order to take advantage of the confusion wracking that country.  And the US response?   No surprises here.

From the L.A. Times:

In a sign of the growing danger in Iraq, President Obama notified Congress on Monday that he was sending up to 275 U.S. military personnel “to provide support and security for U.S. personnel and the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.”

Obama also is considering sending 100 or fewer special operations troops to Iraq to advise its armed forces as it battles Sunni Muslim insurgents, according to a senior U.S. official. It was unclear whether they would be among the 275 military personnel or in addition to them. ...

Analysts and military officials said sending U.S. military advisors may prove unavoidable to reverse the insurgents’ momentum. Without U.S. experts to guide drones and manned aircraft to targets on the ground, airstrikes may prove ineffective or accidentally hit civilians.    [Emphasis added]

From a promise of no troops on the ground in Iraq by the administration to the insertion of a "mere" 275 troops and possibly another 100 special operations troops to "guide" the drones.  All of this activity is allegedly to "protect" our personnel currently ensconced in that gazillion-dollar fortress euphemistically referred to as an embassy.

Now I'm just sure that protecting our oil interests in Iraq has absolutely nothing to do with this move.  Not a chance.  Nope, no way.

In other words, here we go again.

Sunday Funnies: Three-fer

Cartoon by Mike Luckovich and published 6/12/14 by the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

Cartoon by Keith Knight and published 6/9/14 at Daily Kos.

Cartoon by Tom Toles and published 6/13/14 by the Washington Post.

As always, click on the images to enlarge, especially on Keith Knight's.

Bonus Critter Blogging: Sea Otter

(Photo by Suzi Eszterhas, Minden/Corbis and published in National Geographic.  Click on the link to learn how hard it is being a sea otter mom.)

Friday Cat Blogging

Just chillin' with my bro's

Tea Is Still Being Served

(Cartoon by Lee Judge, published 6/11/14 in the Kansas City Star and featured at McClatchy DC.  Click on image to enlarge and then bring your attention back here, please.)

One of the reasons I am an avid fan of Eschaton is that Duncan Black, its host, has a pithy way of expressing his view.  Take one of yesterday's posts, for example:

Cantor will stop being Majority Leader on July 31, at which point the House can continue to carry out its important job of repeatedly voting to repeal Obamacare.

Nice, eh?

Unfortunately, Dr. Black is probably correct.  I don't expect much of change in GOP strategy (although that might be too dignified a word to use for Republican behavior) for the next two years.  Still, I don't think the Tea Party will be calling all of the shots in the House after July.  And I'm even hopeful that House Speaker Boehner will be less tolerant of the whackos, especially as the general election in November and the conventions in 2016 approach.

In my opinion (and that of a few better-credentialed pundits), the primary victories the Tea Party did get this time around can be attributed to low voter turn-out.

Yup.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

The Cuckoo's Nest: A Census Of Sorts

Since moving into the Cuckoo's Nest, I've spent a goodly amount of time outside the building.  I don't play Bingo, and I try to watch as little television as possible (I do watch Jeopardy six nights a week to keep my brain working and to keep a close watch on my memory).  I go outside to smoke, but also to get a sense of a larger world than my small room and the dining hall.  There are two areas I check out each day.  One is immediately outside the main entrance to the facility.  The other is in the central patio.  I am amazed at the diversity of life in this tiny corner of the world.

The building I live in is right next door to the convalescent hospital which is a part of the over-all facility. The grounds take up most of the block and is situated right across the street from a small park and some residences, some of which have obviously been recently converted to McMansions of a sort.  In other words, I live in a truly residential neighborhood, just under slightly different circumstances.

At any rate, I've done a little note taking of just what I have observed over the last 8+ months.  Here's some of what I've noticed.

The gardener at the two facilities has done a marvelous job keeping the outside as beautiful and clean as the inside is.  He has his hands full, because the three trees in the grassy area in the front are of the messy variety:  two liquid ambers and one eucalyptus.  But he manages.  The trees in the patio area are ficus, which are much easier to tidy up after, but the shrubs lining the patio need constant pruning.  He does let those shrubs blossom (tiny white flowers), which makes the hummingbirds, bees, and butterflies happy.

It's in the front where I see the most life in all its natural diversity.  There are small lizards which are either black or green, depending on whether they are doing their push-ups on the grass or on the trunk of one of the trees.  There are worms and flying insects (I actually have seen a couple of monarch butterflies and some moths of various colors), a few mosquitoes, and a gnat sized bugger which also has a bit of a bite which causes itching for at least 24 hours.  There are worms after the gardener waters.

And there are birds!  I feed them daily, usually in the morning, and in addition to the ubiquitous house sparrow, there are mocking birds, huge jet black crows, doves, and a black-capped bird a bit larger than the sparrows.

I also feed the squirrels, and at last count there are five of them who pose nicely for me, chattering away while I put down their food, urging me to be a bit quicker about it.  Three of the squirrels are mere pups, one of whom prefers to hope rather than walk, and will turn somersaults and spin in the air out of sheer joy.

All these critters remind me just how good life is, which brings to mind that wonderful poem by ee cummings:

I thank You God for most this amazing day;

for the leaping greenly spirits of trees

and a blue true dream of sky;

and for everything which is natural

which is infinite

which is yes

 

(i who have died am alive again today,

and this is the sun's birthday;

this is the birth day of life and love and wings:

and of the gay great happening illimitably earth)

 

how should tasting touching hearing seeing breathing any--

lifted from the no of all nothing --

human merely being doubt unimaginable You?

 

(now the ears of my ears awake and

now the eyes of my eyes are opened 

 

Yes.

No Surprise Here

(Cartoon by Jack Ohman, published 6/7/14 in the Sacramento Bee and featured at McClatchy DC.  Click on image to enlarge and then kindly return.)

Yeah, yeah.  I took yesterday off.  Nothing in the Sunday papers moved me and it was just one of those low energy days.  But I'm feeling a little better today.

Actually, this cartoon reminded me that Doyle McManus usually has something to say, so I wandered over to read what he offered in his latest column.  He's reading excerpts from Hillary Clinton's new book (about to be published) and from what he sees, there's no longer any doubt that she will be a candidate for the 2016 Democratic nomination.

Here's what Doyle McManus had to say:

Hillary Rodham Clinton’s memoir of her time as secretary of State isn’t officially being released until Tuesday, but thanks to a deluge of excerpts, we already know most of what’s in the book, and that makes it easy to figure out why she wrote it.

If there was any remaining doubt that Clinton is planning to run for president, “Hard Choices“ should remove it. ...

And, in the most interesting tidbits, she makes it clear that she differed with Obama on some issues: arming Syrian rebels (that divide was already well known), on being tough on Russia’s Vladimir Putin (she says she would have been tougher), on pushing Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak out of power (she counseled more caution), and on avoiding a clash with Israel over settlements in the West Bank. I’ll write more about those issues once I’ve had time to plow through the whole book.

The upshot: Clinton’s not going to run on Obama’s record. Which is exactly what any smart campaign strategist would advise.   [Emphasis added]

I don't think any of us had any doubt that she would run.  Most of us have no doubt that she will win the nomination.  And a goodly percentage of us believe she can win the White House, unless the GOP surprises us with a fairly rational, non-Tea-Partyish type candidate.  So far, I haven't seen anyone who fits the description, but the conventions are still two years away.  She's well-funded and well-positioned for a run, even in the midst of investigation after investigation of Benghazi by House Republicans.

Nor was there any doubt in my mind that she would run as far away from Obama's tenure as Al Gore ran away from Bill Clinton's tenure.  Obama has done a few good things, but he's not come close to fulfilling his various promises for "change."  And he's left too much undone on the big issues, preferring instead to secure his future and his future in history with bland baby steps. 

The problem I see is that Hillary's come with the same DLC background as the current president and is every bit the buddy of Wall Street banksters that he is.  You don't raise the kind of money she has at this point without those "friendships."

So, while Hillary won't be "more-of-same" in every detail, perhaps she will surprise me, especially when it comes to the treatment of women here and in the rest of the world. 

One can only hope.

Sunday Funnies: 3-fer

Cartoon by Jim Morin, published 6/6/14 in the Miami Herald and featured at McClatchy DC.

Cartoon by Matt Wuerker, published 6/5/14 at Daily Kos.

Cartoon by Steve Sack and published 6/5/14 in the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

As always, click on each image to enlarge.

Bonus Critter Blogging: Amazon Horned Frog

(Photo by George Grall and published in National Geographic.  Click on link to learn more about this large and sometimes nasty critter.)

A Perfect System

(Cartoon by Yaakov Kirschen and published on 5/30/14 on his blog.  Click on image to enlarge and then trot on back.)

The blurb that accompanies Mr. Kirschen's cartoon says simply, "The system could also be good for America."

I don't often agree with Mr. Kirschen (he's too conservative and too much a Zionist for me), but I enjoy his cartoons a great deal simply because they make me think.  This cartoon especially sent the wheels spinning in my head bone.

My first thought was, "Oh swell.  Just what we need, trusting Congress to select the next president."  But then I got a series of thought in quick order.

Isn't that what we allowed the Supreme Court to do for George W. Bush?  And four years later what we allowed the state of Ohio to do?

And then I realized that for quite some time we've allowed others not part of any government to make that selection:  PHARMA, Big Oil and Big Coal, the Adelsons and the Soros, those with the big dollars to make the choice for us by donating huge amounts of money to 501c4 and SuperPAC committees to pay for nonstop commercials and trips to every boondock town in the country.

Now, every citizen gets just one vote, but somehow our individual votes don't seem to carry the same clout we used to have, especially when it comes to nominating conventions.  The two main parties have seen to that.  Not that this needs to be the case, however.

But when voters tune out and stay home, that's what happens.  In the recent California Primary, slightly over 13% of the electorate turned out.  I think that appalling, especially since voting absentee (by mail) is so easy.

A wise person once told me that in a democracy we get the government we deserve.

I think we're in trouble, folks.

Friday Cat Blogging

Hey!  Where'd they all go?

Damned If You Do ...

(Cartoon by Kevin Siers published in the Charlotte Observer 6/5/14 and featured at McClatchy DC.  Click on image to enlarge and then please return.)

There are times I actually feel sorry for President Obama.  He keeps getting blindsided by controversy.  Usually, the controversy is exacerbated (if not directly caused) by his administration's bungling and/or opacity, but he should have learned by now that presidenting-while-black is all the excuse his detractors need.  He needs to show some sense.

Still, this latest fiasco involving the swap of five Taliban prisoners being held in Gitmo for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl is a bit over the line, even by this country's low standards.  For an allegedly Christian nation, this place seems to be suffering a severe shortage in compassion. 

From McClatchy DC:

From military forums across the country, a groundswell of anger is rising over the Obama administration’s silence on perhaps the most controversial question surrounding the deal that freed Bergdahl in exchange for five senior Taliban members: Was he a deserter? ...

Military-related blogs, Twitter accounts and Facebook pages were filled with screeds from commenters accusing Bergdahl of being a “traitor” or a Taliban “collaborator.” The online publication The Daily Beast published a nearly 2,000-word first-person account by a former Army infantry officer who said he was privy to details of Bergdahl’s disappearance and who stated flatly that “he was a deserter, and soldiers from his own unit died trying to track him down.” ...
 
Michael Waltz, who as an Army major commanded U.S. Special Forces in eastern Afghanistan at the time Bergdahl disappeared, said the sergeant deserted and shouldn’t have been accorded POW status.

“He just walked off after guard duty and wandered into the nearby village,” Waltz told McClatchy in an interview Monday. “This guy needs to be held accountable when the time is right, of course. Every American deserves to come home. I’m happy for his family. But he needs to be held accountable.”   [Emphasis added]

Ironically, Major Waltz was being more sensible than he realized when he noted that every American deserves to come home.  EVERY American.  If there are claims he deserted or collaborated, then let the military justice system investigate and try him.  Here.

And as for the kvetching about the release of the five Taliban prisoners as part of the deal, I say, "put a cork in it."  I want all the prisoners and "detainees" released from that hell hole and Guantanamo Bay closed . ALL of them.  It's time to return to our obligations under international law and to use diplomacy rather than bomb-carrying drones.

Amen.

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2014/06/02/229148/anger-explodes-over-treatment.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2014/06/02/229148/anger-explodes-over-treatment.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2014/06/02/229148/anger-explodes-over-treatment.html?sp=/99/200/111/&ihp=0#storylink=cpy

Last Gasp?

(Cartoon by Mike Luckovich and published 6/3/14 in the Atlanta Journal Constitution.  Click on image to enlarge.)

The head of the EPA and President Obama have announced a new rule which is intended to cut CO2 pollution and to clean our air.  Like most of President Obama's "initiatives", the move is at best a modest one, a baby step, if you will.

But the critics aren't happy, especially those with a financial stake in coal and oil-burning power plants, in other words, our owners are not happy, even if we can't breathe.

From the Los Angeles Times:

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy offered a blunt defense Monday of the Obama administration’s new rule to cut carbon dioxide pollution, touting its benefits against mounting criticism from the coal industry and some members of Congress.

“Given the astronomical price we pay for climate inaction, the most costly thing we can do is to do nothing,” McCarthy told a room full of staff members and environmental allies at the EPA headquarters in Washington.

 

She added: “There are still special interest skeptics who will cry the sky is falling. Who will deliberately ignore the risks, overestimate the costs, and undervalue the benefits. But the facts are clear. For over four decades, EPA has cut air pollution by 70% and the economy has more than tripled.”   [Emphasis added]

 

Much of the gain Ms. McCarthy is talking about are attributable to measures taken before President Obama took office, but at least he is making some kind of effort, for which I am grateful.  Perhaps Congress will now revisit the issue and move us even closer to some kind of sane energy policy.

Like I said yesterday ... an old lady can dream, eh? 

 

We Can Only Hope

(Cartoon by Jack Ohman, published 5/2714 and featured at McClatchy DC.  Click on image to enlarge.)

We can only hope that Jack Ohman is as prescient a political pundit  as he is a skilled cartoonist.  With any luck at all, we'll have the results on the news shortly on the various state primaries held yesterday.  It's too early for me to check the confirmed results, but here's what McClatchy DC noted yesterday:

Amid what could be the tea party’s last hope for victory this spring, Mississippi’s neck-and-neck Republican Senate race Tuesday between incumbent Sen. Thad Cochran and tea party-backed state Sen. Chris McDaniel, has the potential to irrevocably impact the anti-establishment group, which has caused a rift in the Republican Party. ...

The biggest — and maybe last — hope could be Tuesday’s close race in Mississippi, where the anti-Washington group has backed state Sen. Chris McDaniel, hoping to maintain some of their fire from 2010 — when the tea party swept elections nationwide.
 McDaniel, with backers like former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, embodies the movement’s prototypical candidate. Removing incumbent six-term Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., would give the tea party further sway over the future of the divided Republican Party.

In California, Democratic incumbent Gov. Jerry Brown leads both Tim Donnelly, a state Assemblyman and tea party conservative, and Republican Neel Kashkari. Donnelly and Kashkari are about even in the polls. The top two finishers advance to the November election.
 Local tea party-backed state Sen. Scott Beason faces national tea party-backed Chad Mathis in Alabama’s primary against five other Republican candidates to replace Rep. Spencer Bachus. But a tea party victory isn’t likely as both candidates trail state Rep. Paul DeMarco.   [Emphasis added]

I'm not familiar enough with Mississippi politics (nor do I want to be) but that really does appear to be the key test for the Tea Party.  McClatchy appears to be predicting victory for the establishment Republican in Alabama and a toss-up in California.  California will return Democrat Jerry Brown to the Governor's Mansion, but a victory for the Tea Party candidate in the primary could keep the Republican Party out of state office for years, something I am not comfortable with.  I want a two-party system ... it keeps the Democrats a little more focused.

If all three Tea Party candidates lose, then we will hopefully see the last of Sarah Palin and Michele  Bachmann and the Republican office holders won't have to waste their time and energy keeping that tiny sliver of the American electorate satisfied.  They will be able to and will have to sit down at the negotiating table with Democrats in Congress and the White House.  That means some things might actually get done by this Congress and the next.

An old woman can dream ....

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2014/06/02/229133/tea-party-pins-2014-hope-to-tight.html#storylink=cpy

Scapegoating Congress Style

(Cartoon by Jim Morin, published 5/31/14 and featured at McClatchy DC.  Click on image to enlarge and then hustle back.)


Congress has promised to take yet another look at the troubled system at various Veteran's Administrations, and our congress critters are trying to impress us by calling for a (wait for it) Blue Ribbon Commission.  Oh, wow!  That'll get it, eh?

In the mean time, after the last set of hearings, the heat was turned up enough that Gen, Shinseki, who was in charge of the VA during the period that the troubles were finally disclosed, has been forced to resign.

From the L.A. Times:

In Arizona, where allegations first surfaced of secret waiting lists at the Phoenix VA and ultimately led to Friday's resignation of Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric K. Shinseki, reaction was swift and pointed.

Shortly after President Obama accepted Shinseki's offer to step down, veterans and their relatives who had experiences with the Phoenix facility said that they expected the departure but that the agency had a long way to go. ...

 

Sally Barnes-Breen, whose father-in-law died while waiting for a follow-up appointment, said Shinseki’s resignation was not enough.

"People are still dying," she said from her home in San Tan Valley, Ariz.   [Emphasis added]

Of course they are ... and will continue to die for lack of timely evaluations and follow-up treatment.  Booting a respected and devoted general, one who served this country well for decades in war and in peace, isn't going to change anything in Arizona, or California, or Wisconsin, or anywhere else until this nation keeps its promise to our service men and women and adequately funds this important department.

And that is the job of Congress and the President.  All in panels and investigations and commissions in the world won't make up for that basic need:  funding.  And both sides know it.

Shameless morons ... the lot of them.

The Cuckoo's Nest: Ain't Dead Yet

I got a phone call several days ago from one the angels on Eschaton.  Folks noticed that I hadn't dropped by there to chat and hadn't posted anything here in weeks.  She called to see how I was doing.  Needless to say, I was deeply touched.  Human kindness always warms my heart, especially when it is headed in my direction.

I assured her that I was doing fine, at least when all things are considered, and I am.  No, neither the diagnoses nor the prognosis have changed.  I'm still dying, although a little more slowly than any of us expected and (to be frank) than I had hoped.  But that's OK too.  I am not exactly suffering.

What pain I do have is eased by some mild opiates.  My lungs are scrubbed often enough to keep me breathing.  I'm pretty much dependent on oxygen all the time, save for the times I go out and have a few puffs on a cigarette.  Thanks to another drug (Prednisone), my appetite has returned and I've not only stopped losing weight, I've actually gained a little, putting me back over the 100 pound level.  I get all the food I want, and a sweet friend keeps me supplied in chocolate.  I get spoiled by the staff on a regular basis, and that has become more necessary as my energy levels have dropped and become shorter-lived.

I do, however, still have enough energy to walk, using my wheelchair as a walker.  I still am able to feed the birds and the squirrels, although my funds are getting a little short in the bird and squirrel food account and I've had to resort to spreading dried bread and crackers on a few occasions.  My critter friends have been very understanding, as have the meal servers who sneak me the bread and crackers.

Although my energy is low, my brain is still working, and that's very important to me.  I've taken to memorizing things, like song lyrics and poetry and biblical passages which seem to have a deeper message for me now.  I shouldn't have worried about the Alzheimer's curse.  It hasn't really taken root yet.

I do have difficulty getting the connection from my headbone to my hands to work reliably, which is why I haven't been on line much either at Eschaton or here.  I seem to be doing better the last couple of days, and I do hope it continues, especially with election season at hand.  Lots of great cartoonists are already sharpening their pencils and lots of pundits are already making predictions.

So, I really am doing fine, sustained by friends and caretakers and the sense that I am exactly where I am supposed to be (literally and figuratively) doing what I am supposed to do.  For that I am grateful.  Each day is a blessing for me, and I appreciate all the beauty that life holds for all of us if we will just pay attention.  Since I have plenty of time right now, I'm doing just that.

And when it's time, I'll exit and be grateful for that as well.  I'm not afraid and haven't been since I got the news that my life was going to be a little shorter than I anticipated.  None of us have been guaranteed immortality. In fact, getting that news was a well-timed kick in the butt.  It enabled me to wrap us some things I'd been ignoring, like appointing someone to make decisions for me if I became too ill or too screwy to be rational, like making it clear that I did not want any heroic measures to keep me alive, like sending my body to the nearest school or lab for taking tissue samples and useable organs via an organization which would then cremate me at no cost (I selected ScienceCare.com, but there are others), and like saying "thank you" and "I love you" when it was appropriate.

I'm not going to give you any New Age-y or evangelical baloney of what comes next, because, frankly I really don't know.  I'll find out soon enough, and that's good enough for me.  The only advice I would give you I saw on a tee shirt a fellow resident wears on occasion:  "Live each day as if it were your last ... one day you'll get it right."

And that's just what I'm doing.

For those who would like to assist in any fashion, the only thing I need right now is a little cash for the critter food fund, but even that's not crucial.  If you're in the mood, just hit the donation button above.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to watch the doves and house sparrows come down for breakfast.  It's a great way to start the day.

Sunday Funnies: 2-Fer

(Cartoon by Joel Pett and featured at Mc Clatchy DC).

(Cartoon by Mike Luckovich and published in the Atlanta Journal Constitution.)


As always, click on images to enlarge.