weather...wet, windy and political

Last night our area of the nation was invaded by thunder, lightening, rain, tornadoes, and in my parent's case, straight line winds.

I love thunderstorms. When I was a kid I remember sitting in front of our picture window in the living room watching the lightening and counting how many seconds until the thunder arrived. Looking back I think it was something that my mother suggested so I wouldn't be afraid of storms.

Last night Scott and I sat in his dark, electricity deficient house looking a videos like this and this and this on my laptop (we borrowed a bit of internet access from the neighbors across the street that seemed to have the electricity required to power a router). Ghandi, the dog, was at our feet, concerned only about the fact that this was only his second day in the new house, not giving a hoot about the weather (Emmie would've been under the bed, of course).

My mom, dad, and sister were also in the dark....with a very large tree branch on their house.


As I woke up this morning, I heard Bill Clinton talking. I wasn't having a dream. I had left the TV on when I fell asleep last night, and Bill was on Good Morning America. The interview is here. I almost cried. Not because he said anything all that profound, or worth tears. I almost cried because I had forgotten what it was like to have a Leader that spoke intelligently. Bill Clinton, complete with southern drawl, used words other than uhhh.....ummmm....and hard work. Not only did he pronounce the words correctly, he also used them in their proper context, without whining or acting defensive. His tone of voice was that of a confident, intelligent, caring, man. He didn't talk down to anyone.....and he certainly didn't sound like he was power hungry. How sad that I had forgotten what it was like to have a Commander in Chief to be proud of (well, except for that little sex thing -- but at least he knew how to lead, well, and SPEAK).

There was another story on GMA this morning that I found quite disturbing. This story was about a woman suffering from cancer. Her insurance company refusing to pay for treatment. Video here. Story here. Mary Casey was diagnosed with a very rare sinus cancer, "so rare there are no drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat it." The article goes on...

"Despite surgery and months of radiation, the aggressive cancer spread to Casey's lungs. But doctors said her cancer was slow growing, and that there was hope in a popular cancer drug called Tarceva. But when Casey went to fill her Tarceva prescription at the pharmacy, her insurer, Coventry Health Care of Kansas, denied her coverage for the drug, saying it considered Tarceva experimental in her case, even though Tarceva is FDA approved for other lung and pancreatic cancers."

The thing is, a different insurance company did cover it for another woman...with the same cancer....and of course her cancer has stabilized. You might think that I found this story disturbing because of the insurance company's refusal to save this woman's life. And well, yes, that is part of it. I became infuriated, however, when Mary Casey said she would just pay for it...and was told it would cost over $4000 per month. No wonder the insurance company refused.

Don't even get me started on pharmaceutical companies.

I called my mom. She had power by six AM, and was ready to clean up the mess.

Most of their little town was effected by straight line winds. When we drove into town this morning to help out, many of the roads were blocked off by tree limbs and even whole trees that littered the streets. Like many small towns after a storm, there were people driving and walking all around checking out the damage, and helping clean up where ever they could. The city trucks were out picking up the debris and the electric company was fixing the downed lines and poles all around town. There was a constant buzz of chain saws in the air.

My sister drove to the store to get some lunch. When she came back she was concerned because my first grade teacher, Mrs. Tooms, had a large tree down and there was no one helping her. We were lucky to have my brother's in-laws help us with the tree......with no chain saw of our own (an no business using one) we couldn't really help Mrs. Tooms.

We continued to work on picking up the many sticks and leaves littering the yard. Everyone was outside...all the neighbors were working....stopping only for a short recap of where they were when the big storm hit.

It was great to see everyone out and helping each other. With a president like ours, pharmaceutical companies and insurance companies being like they are, sometimes I forget that people can be really, really good.

As we left town, we drove by Mrs. Toom's house. There were a half dozen people in her yard....working....while she and a few wee ones watched from the porch. I called my sister to tell her.

Sometimes I am very glad to live in Iowa.

do you know any?

My nephew sent me the YouTube video that I have embedded below. You should probably watch it...maybe...but as I was watching it I got angry. Very angry actually. It's interesting. It was pretty well done. Watch it, then I will tell you why I am angry....



You might think that my anger would be focused on "the people" that this "movie" wants me to be mad at -- these people that are not "supporting the troops" or "hate" them or whatever.

But that's not it.

You might think that my anger would be about showing photographs of all of these grieving families ....or showing a dead soldier in an open casket.

But that's not it either.

You might think that it would be because this video only shows caucasian men and women (with a few exceptions).

Not it.

Putting a face on war? Nope, I actually don't mind that part.

I know nothing about the person that created this video. Maybe this was some form of healing for her or something. I'm all for that. It's creative...and it may have been therapeutic for her. No problem there.

When I first started watching it....I was thinking that it might be something about continuing to show support for the troops, even though life has gone on back here...they are still there...putting their lives on the line....living in less than stellar conditions....we need to remind them that we are thinking about them, that we love them, that we support them, etc. Maybe some sort of a reminder to send them mail, care packages, etc. Once again, I'm all for that.

But then I got angry. And not even at Bush. :-)

I'm angry because it's really propaganda...Right wing, Bush supporting, oil-mongering, SUV driving, wire-tapping, prisoner torturing, (etc) propaganda. Who in the hell doesn't support our troops? "Some people hate me." it says. Who in the hell hates our troops, as this video claims?????

Is it the demonstrators?

There are many people out there participating in demonstrations that promote peace. They do not hate the troops. They love peace.

There are many people out there that participate in anti-war demonstrations. They do not hate the troops. They hate this war (and probably Bush).

There are many more people out there that do nothing. They don't hate the troops. They are just living their lives.

The majority of people in this country think we should no longer be in Iraq. Some have known that all along...and others have seen the light as this civil war continues to escalate and more and more soldiers are maimed and killed....or just forever scarred emotionally and/or physically. They don't hate the troops. They love the troops and want them home.

There is a very, very small religious group of people that are protesting at various funerals around the country -- soldier's funerals.

They are nuts.

They might hate the troops. In fact, they probably hate the troops. But I bet they don't watch YouTube videos.

Are these the people at which this video is aimed? I have no idea the actual number, but I can't imagine that there is more than a fraction of one percent of people in the United States of America that fall into that category. Yes, even one person is too many....but don't imply...or say outright...that there are all these people that hate the troops. Americans learned a lot from Vietnam (excluding the Bush administration, apparently). Where are the people that is video is meant for?

Maybe I'm naive. Maybe there are more of them out there than I think...but I really find that hard to believe....do you know ANY??

the presidential solution

As usual, I have all the answers...and they were found in a children's book.


Today my students heard a book called The Empty Pot by Demi. It solves our presidential dilemma.

Ping, the main character, is a bit of a green thumb. He can make anything grow. And he's in luck....the emperor is trying to choose his successor. You see, the emperor has no heir, so someone from the village must be chosen. So he gives everyone seeds, and the person that can grow the best plant/flowers, gets to become the next emperor!! Surely it will be Ping.

Well, everyone is successful, except the resident master gardener, Ping. Full of fear and disappointment, he takes his empty pot to the emperor on the big decision day. The emperor is upset with all the flowers and beautiful plants, because he had given COOKED beans to everyone...none of the plants/flowers should have grown. So Ping, the only one with an ounce of integrity is then given his due....and he becomes the next emperor.

See? Now if only I could convince the rest of the world that's what we need.

Where was Demi in 2000???