Cherokee Sage Woman

New Florida town looks to ban abortions, porn and contraceptives
Associated PressNAPLES, Fla. -

If Domino's Pizza founder Thomas S. Monaghan has his way, a new town being built in a quiet corner of southwest Florida will be governed by strict Catholic principles, particularly when it comes to sex.
The pizza magnate, raised by nuns in orphanages, is bankrolling the town called Ave Maria with millions of dollars, calling its construction "God's will." Stores won't sell pornographic magazines, pharmacies won't carry condoms or birth control pills, and cable television will carry no X-rated channels, he said in a speech last year to the first annual Boston Catholic Men's Conference.
Civil libertarians say the plan is unconstitutional and promise lawsuits.

"You Don't Know Dick": VP Shooting Action Figure Launched...
The New York Post February 28, 2006 at 09:11 AM

JUST when Dick Cheney thought it was safe to rear his "aimless" head, someone goes and immortalizes the veep's quail-hunting mishap in an action figure. HeroBuilders.com yesterday launched a "You Don't Know Dick" doll, complete with shotgun, scowl and "retractable-spike kick shoes" - just like the pair 007 villain Rosa Klebb sported in "From Russia with Love."

Ohio State Senator Introduces Legislation To Ban GOP Couples From Adopting... | February 27, 2006 at 09:18 AM

State Senator Robert Hagan (D-Ohio) says he will introduce legislation to ban Republican couples from adopting children. According to Hagan, "credible research'' shows that adopted children raised in GOP households are more at risk for developing "emotional problems, social stigmas, inflated egos, and alarming lack of tolerance for others they deem different than themselves and an air of overconfidence to mask their insecurities." Hagan agrees there is no scientific evidence backing his claims about Republican parents -- just, as Hagan notes, there is none backing State Representative Ron Hood's (R) bill banning gay parents from adopting. Hood claims children purportedly suffer from emotional "harm" when they are adopted by gay couples. Hagen admits he created his proposal to mock Hood's proposed ban on gay adoption in a way that people would see the "blatantly discriminatory and extremely divisive" nature of the bill. The GOP House leadership does not support

Dubai Firm Takeover Extended From Six US Ports To 21...
UPI | February 26, 2006 at 08:59 AM


A United Arab Emirates government-owned company is poised to take over port terminal operations in 21 American ports, far more than the six widely reported.

The Bush administration has approved the takeover of British-owned Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co. to DP World, a deal set to go forward March 2 unless Congress intervenes.

"President Bush has okayed a deal to let the government of Dubai control six of our major ports. Boy, first Dick Cheney shoots a guy in the face, now President Bush shoots himself in the foot." --Jay Leno
"We're turning our ports over to the Arabs. We can't even turn Iraq over to the Arabs. ... This is like putting Bill Clinton in charge at a Hooters, it's not a good idea." --Jay Leno

"Who better to manage a seaport than people who live in the desert?" --Jay Leno

"A firm owned by Dubai's government has purchased the rights to operate sea ports in six major American cities. A move the White House approved without telling Congress. Even worse, everyone found out about the sale from that Texas quail hunt rancher lady." --Jon Stewart

"The United Arab Emirates says we will get our ports back if we take Michael Jackson back." --David Letterman

"Having an Arab company keep an eye on your ports is like asking Courtney Love to keep an eye on your medicine cabinet. ... That's like telling Kirstie Alley to keep an eye on the buffet." --David Letterman

"George Bush now wants to end our dependency on foreign oil. Nice to see him nippin' that in the bud." --David Letterman

"Today was the big White House President's Day clearance sale -- all our ports must go, no offer refused, no enemy turned down, Crazy George is insane, come on down!" --Jay Leno

"The White House has given permission for a company owned by the government of Dubai to run six U.S. ports, including the Port of New York. Now Dubai was accused of supporting the September 11th attacks and was one of only three countries to support the Taliban. Now they're going to run the Port of New York. What's next, we'll put Mexico in charge of immigration? How about Dick Cheney in charge of gun safety? Courtney Love in charge of Olympic drug testing?" --Jay Leno

"President Bush now is apparently giving an Arab country control to American ports. Does that seem like a good idea? He's going to give control of American ports to an Arab country. If he keeps this up, people are going to start questioning his judgment." --David Letterman

"An Arab country in charge of ports. That’s like FEMA in charge of disaster relief. That's like Wayne Gretzky's wife in charge of your bank account. It's like Michael Jackson as your nanny." --David Letterman

"Vice President Dick Cheney said today he's not sure he'll ever go hunting again. If he does decide to go hunting again, good luck finding anyone to go with him." --Jay Leno

"I do want to begin with an update on our Vice President, Dick Cheney. He didn't shoot anyone else, but he is a man a heartbeat away from both the presidency and one count of manslaughter." --Jon Stewart

"How powerful a man do you have to be to shoot a man in the face and have that person say, 'My bad'?" --Jon Stewart, on Harry Whittington's apology to Cheney

"Bush concluded his tour today with a visit to the Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Lab in Golden, Colorado. Funny story, actually, two weeks ago, 32 workers were laid off from the lab due to a budget shortfall. This weekend, Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman transferred $5 million to the lab restoring the workers' jobs just in time for the president's visit. Wow, if only the president would visit Ford." --Jon Stewart

"Hillary Clinton said today she finds the administration's refusal to level with the American people troubling, but she also finds it somewhat nostalgic." --Jay Leno

"More problems for the White House. Convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff said he met with President Bush almost a dozen times, contradicting the White House claims that Bush didn't know him. In President Bush's defense, it was pretty dark inside Abramoff's back pocket." --Jay Leno

"There's a new comic book where Batman goes after Osama Bin Laden. You thought radical Muslims hated cartoons before?" --Jay Leno

"Actually, one awkward moment today in Washington. During the 21-gun salute, Dick Cheney returned fire." --Jay Leno

"Dick Cheney is on vacation. He's out in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and so far he has shot two skiers." --David Letterman

"Osama says 'the U.S. will never get me alive'. I think that's probably true. He is going to die of old age." --David Letterman

"In a newly released tape, Osama bin Laden says he won’t be captured alive and he’s not afraid of President Bush. He's terrified of Dick Cheney he's just not afraid of Bush." --Jay Leno

"In New Orleans, the Paris Casino reopened and officials are calling it a sign of progress. If you didn't lose your house before, you can now." --Jay Leno

"Last night I went out with a bunch of the guys and played the 'Dick Cheney Drinking Game' ... it's when you down a beer and then you take a shot at good old granddad." --Jay Leno

"Monday is President's Day and former President Bill Clinton is very excited. He is taking George Bush, Sr. to 'Hooters'. ... George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton have been spending more and more time together. Doesn't that seem like an unusual couple to you, honestly? Earlier today they went to go see that gay cowboy movie." --David Letterman

Cheney's Canned Kill, and Other Hunting Excesses of the Bush Administration
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/022206EA.shtml
In 2003, Cheney shot 70 pheasants released from a net at an exclusive club. The VP's participation in unsporting "canned hunts" is bad enough, says the Humane Society, but now the Bush Administration is changing the rules to let hunters import endangered animal trophies they have shot in other countries.

A Stupidity Tsunami: Bush goes on 3-day tour promoting his energy ideas, plans to stop at a renewable energy lab, but forgets that he just fired 32 lab workers. So, he rehires the workers before the event, but doesn't provide the cash for the workers' projects. Who wants to bet they fire the 32 a few days after Bush leaves? "'You're doing great work here,' said Bush, who picked up a bottle of clear-colored ethanol and smelled it." Houston, we have a problem.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/
article/2006/02/21/AR2006022100156.html

U.S. church alliance denounces Iraq war

By BRIAN MURPHY
AP RELIGION WRITER

-- A coalition of American churches sharply denounced the U.S.-led war in Iraq on Saturday, accusing Washington of "raining down terror" and apologizing to other nations for "the violence, degradation and poverty our nation has sown."

The statement, issued at the largest gathering of Christian churches in nearly a decade, also warned the United States was pushing the world toward environmental catastrophe with a "culture of consumption" and its refusal to back international accords seeking to battle global warming.

"We lament with special anguish the war in Iraq, launched in deception and violating global norms of justice and human rights," said the statement from representatives of the 34 U.S. members of World Council of Churches. "We mourn all who have died or been injured in this war. We acknowledge with shame abuses carried out in our name."

Bush's Chat with Novelist Alarms Environmentalists

http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/022006EA.shtml

Bush invited fiction writer Michael Crichton to the White House last year to chat about his book "State of Fear," which dismisses global warming as a conspiracy by environmentalists. Bush read the book "avidly" according to a reporter, and agreed with everything in it.

Heatwave! It's 35 here now.. & it's gray. I'm suffering S.A.D., no doubt. (seasonal affective disorder). We knew this would come, moving away from the Disney-state of eternal bliss & sunshine. But it still hits you in the 'solar' plexus when you search the skies for any sign of the weary orb that warms our world, to no avail.
On the upside, the birds are clueless to this melancholy.. & are singing their hearts out, trying to awaken the sap in the trees.. preparing for a glorious spring. So hurry up already!

On the homefront, our plumbing is balking. Sometimes yes.. cha-ching! Do a little victory chicken-dance around the commode. Other times.. sorry, maybe next flush buddy. And a tiny part of your soul is diminished.
The things we take for granted, huh?

And on the national front, Cheney's approval is at 29%. What 29% of foolery is backing this bozo?? 99.9% of my GOP friends (& yes, they're out there) say this man is just mean & evil. The 'rules' they just keep a changin' for the White House, eh? Whether to 'classify' or 'de-classify', that is the question.

On the world front, here's praying more survivors will be found in the Philippines today. A hopeful report that sounds are coming from the mud-covered school building..
Joining positive thoughts w/ yours..

Happy Monday!

From the Huffington Post:
Armstrong Ranch: A GOP Bada Bing?

We've only scratched the surface, but the more we learn about the Armstrong Ranch, site of the Cheney shooting, the more it feels like the GOP equivalent of Tony Soprano's joint, the Bada Bing.

CNN described the remote 50,000-acre Armstrong ranch as "a private getaway." It's the kind of place the goodfellas of the Republican crew can go to kick back, put their feet up, have a beer (or two) with lunch, talk a little business, raise a little money, make a few deals, maybe meet a girl.


Of course, at the Bada Bing the girls are strippers; at Armstrong they're the ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein. But both hot spots feature quite a bit of gunplay.

Cheney, 'A Beer or Two' and a Gun

By John Nichols, TheNation.com. Posted February 15, 2006.

If alcohol was involved in the Texas shooting incident, it is appropriate to ask if an official inquiry was blocked to protect the vice president.

Vice President Dick Cheney, who was forced to leave Yale University because his penchant for late-night beer drinking exceeded his devotion to his studies, and who is one of the small number of Americans who can count two drunk driving busts on his driving record, may have been doing more than hunting quail on the day that he shot a Texas lawyer in the face.

Katherine Armstrong, the wealthy Republican lobbyist who is a member of the politically-connected family that owns the ranch where Cheney blasted his hunting partner, acknowledged to a reporter for MSNBC that alcohol may have been served at a picnic which was served Saturday afternoon on the dude ranch where Cheney shot Harry Whittington.

Bush Hides U.S. Report Card In Sock Drawer
February 14, 2006 | Issue 42•07

CRAWFORD, TX—According to White House sources, following yet another disappointing grading period for the nation he leads, President Bush hid the national report card in his bedroom sock drawer Monday. "We, as a nation, got a D in international relations, a D in economics, and an F in military history," Bush reportedly said. "We must work hard to make sure no one finds out about this." Critics say the report-card-hiding effort is immature, and point out that the sock drawer is the first place The New York Times will look.

The Man Who Couldn't Shoot Straight
And he's just one step away from having his hand on the button!

What more is there to say?

(From the Huffington Post)

And PLEASE read my friend Mark's blog today.. chilling.
www.salisburymark.blogspot.com

The Governator risks another fat lip at the hands of the homobigot crowd.
By way of 429 News comes the news that California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is facing a potential Republican Party rift, and risks losing the state GOP's endorsement for reelection, if he doesn't shitcan his lesbian--and Democratic--chief of staff.


Conservative Republicans are threatening to withhold the party's endorsement of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's bid for re-election unless he fires LGBT activist Susan Kennedy, Democrat, as his chief of staff.


The group is demanding a vote on what it calls its "Susan Kennedy Resolution" at the Republican Party winter convention in San Jose…


The resolution says Kennedy "has spent most of her adult life pursuing a partisan Democratic agenda for higher taxes, greater government spending, gay rights, abortion rights ... and other anti-Republican policy issues."


The measure calls on the party to withdraw its endorsement of Schwarzenegger, effective March 15, unless the governor fires her.

Kennedy, who served as a top adviser to former Gov. Gray Davis, was hired by Schwarzenegger in an attempt to mollify the LGBT community and many moderate voters who were irked by his decision to support a state bill seeking to prohibit gay marriage. Now the wingers are pissed off. Poor guy--I just feel so sorry for him that his flaccid attempt to pander has only enraged his wingnut, gay-hating base.

Yesterday I watched a national news story on a lady coach of one of the Virginia colleges. She has lived with pancreatic cancer for the past 5 yrs. It has taught her to be so extremely grateful for each & every day that she has here on earth. She now teaches her students, "Yesterday is filled with regret. Tomorrow is filled with anxiety. Live in the moment.. for this day." If we could take that premise & apply it to our daily lives, how much better off we would be.

Here & now..

Can Ken's Makeover Win Back Barbie?

NEW YORK, Feb. 10, 2006
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(CBS) Barbie's old flame, Ken is back, sporting a more sophisticated look.

The question is whether the new appearance will be enough to send Barbie's heart aflutter all over again, after she dumped Ken two years ago in favor of a surfer dude named Blaine.

But, Hickey asserts, Ken's had a lot of loser looks over the years, which may be the reason Barbie got rid of him to begin with.

Now, Ken is back, after a makeover from a stylist to the stars, Phillip Bloch.

"It's really about getting in touch with the new him," Bloch explains, "little pieces of jewelry, great necklaces, jeans worn-in, because he's been traveling so much. He just doesn't look like a doll now, he looks like a real person. … Sort of."

So, who can say if Barbie and Ken will live happily ever after?

That, says Hickey, may be too much to ask, but they're officially expected get back together in time Valentine's Day.

And next year, Mattel plans a makeover of Barbie herself, Hickey says.

Activists: Yahoo Ratted To Chinese

BEIJING, Feb. 9, 2006
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(AP) Yahoo Inc. provided Chinese authorities with information about one of its users that was used to jail the man for eight years, an activist group said, marking the second time Yahoo has been accused of helping authorities jail a Chinese user.

Yahoo's Hong Kong unit provided information about Li Zhi, a man from southwestern China who was sentenced to prison in 2003 on subversion charges after posting comments online criticizing official corruption, Paris-based Reporters Without Borders said.

House Committee Squashes Torture Queries
By WILLIAM C. MANN, Associated Press Writer
Wed Feb 8, 7:56 PM ET

WASHINGTON - Republicans easily defeated three resolutions seeking information about the Bush administration's policies on torture after a heated committee hearing.

Rep. Henry Hyde (news, bio, voting record), R-Ill., chairman of the House International Relations Committee, said Democrats who submitted the resolutions should "at least silently confess to themselves that their actions pose real dangers to our country."

Hyde accused Democrats of playing politics, with an eye on November's congressional elections, by offering the three resolutions demanding:

_Information on a practice that has been called extraordinary rendition, or sending suspects abroad to countries where they would allegedly be tortured for information.

_Documents about U.S. policies regarding U.N. anti-torture conventions.

_Documents and records involving Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's December trip to Europe, during which she was dogged by reports of alleged secret European jails.

All three proposed resolutions were defeated on almost straight party-line votes.

The Association of Southern Schools is pursuing taxpayer dollars through
Washington by designating Southern slang, or "y'allbonics," as language
to be taught in all Southern schools. The following are excerpts from
the Y'allbonics/English dictionary:

HEIDI - (noun) - Greeting

HIRE YEW - Complete sentence. Remainder of greeting.
Usage: "Heidi, Hire yew?"

BARD - (verb) - Past tense of the infinitive "to borrow."
Usage: "My brother bard my pickup truck."

JAWJUH - (noun) - The state north of Florida. Capitol is Lanner.
Usage: "My brother from Jawjuh bard my pickup truck."

BAMMER - (noun) - The state west of Jawjuh. Capitol is Berminhayum.
Usage: "A tornader jes went through Bammer an' left $20,000,000 in
improvements."

MUNTS - (noun) - A calendar division.
Usage: "My brother from Jawjuh bard my pickup truck, and I ain't heard
from him in munts."

THANK - (verb) - Cognitive process.
Usage: "Ah thank ah'll have a bare."

BARE - (noun) - An alcoholic beverage made of barley, hops, and yeast.
Usage: "Ah thank ah'll have a bare."

IGNERT - (adjective) - Not smart. See "Arkansas native."
Usage: "Them bammer boys sure are ignert!"

RANCH - (noun) - A tool used for tight'nin' bolts.
Usage: "I thank I left my ranch in the back of that pickup truck my
brother from Jawjuh bard a few munts ago."

ALL - (noun) - A petroleum-based lubricant.
Usage: "I sure hope my brother from Jawjuh puts all in my pickup
truck."

FAR - (noun) - A conflagration.
Usage: "If my brother from Jawjuh don't change the all in my pickup
truck, that thing's gonna catch far."

TAR - (noun) - A rubber wheel.
> Usage: "Gee, I hope that brother of mine from Jawjuh don't git a flat
tar in my pickup truck."

TIRE - (noun) - A tall monument.
Usage: "Lord willin' and the creek don't rise, I sure do hope to see
that Eiffel Tire in Paris sometime."

RETARD - (verb) - To stop working.
Usage: "My grampaw retard at age 65."

FAT - (noun), (verb) - a battle or combat; to engage in battle or
combat.
Usage: "You younguns keep fat'n, n' ah'm gonna whup y'uh."

RATS - (noun) - Entitled power or privilege.
Usage: "We Southerners are willin' to fat for are rats."

CHEER - (adverb) In this place.
Usage: Just set that bare rat cheer.

FARN - (adjective) - Not domestic.
Usage: "I cuddint unnerstand a wurd he sed... must be from some farn
country."

DID - (adjective) - Not alive.
Usage: "He's did, Jim."

ARE - (noun) - A colorless, odorless gas Oxygen.
Usage: "He cain't breathe...give 'im some ARE!"

BOB WAR - (noun) - A sharp, twisted cable.
Usage: "Boy, stay away from that bob war fence."

JEW HERE - (noun) and (verb) contraction.
Usage: "Jew here that my brother from Jawjuh got a job with that bob
war fence cump'ny?"

HAZE - a contraction.
Usage: "Is Bubba smart?" "Nah...haze ignert. He ain't thanked but a
minnit'n haze laf."

SEED - (verb) - past tense of "to see".

VIEW - contraction (verb) and pronoun.
Usage: "I ain't never seed New York City... view?"

GUBMINT - (noun) - A bureaucratic institution.
Usage: "Them gubmint boys shore is ignert.

Rove Threatens Republican Senators... Support The President On Wiretapping Or Else...
Insight Magazine | February 6, 2006 at 10:58 PM

The White House has been twisting arms to ensure that no Republican member votes against President Bush in the Senate Judiciary Committee's investigation of the administration's unauthorized wiretapping.

Congressional sources said Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove has threatened to blacklist any Republican who votes against the president. The sources said the blacklist would mean a halt in any White House political or financial support of senators running for re-election in November.

Bush's Troubling SOTU Guest

By Jeremy Scahill, AlterNet. Posted February 6, 2006.

Cindy Sheehan wasn't welcome -- but a Saudi accused of supporting al Qaida was.

While Cindy Sheehan was being dragged from the House gallery moments before President Bush delivered his State of the Union Address for wearing a T-shirt honoring her son and the other 2,244 U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq, Turki al-Faisal was settling into his seat inside the gallery. Al-Faisal, a Saudi, is a man who has met Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants on at least five occasions, describing the al Qaida leader as "quite a pleasant man." He met multiple times with Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar. Yet, unlike Sheehan, al-Faisal was a welcomed guest of President Bush on Tuesday night. He is also a man that the families of more than 600 victims of the 9/11 attacks believe was connected to their loved ones' deaths.

I found this site, via the Google ad over my blog.. powerful!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"It was remarkable to learn that National Guardsmen who return from Iraq are not entitled to use the services of the VA if they are disabled in the war. It was shocking to hear that it can take almost a year to get an accurate diagnosis and reasonable treatment for a serious back injury.



It was frightening to learn that one can be seriously disabled and yet not be allowed to leave the military, and that soldiers who have been seriously injured are being returned to Iraq.



Are U.S. soldiers hostages of the state? Why is the price for "protecting" this nation from the Iraqi people is falling so very hard on so very few. Why are some soldiers on their 4th and 5th deployments. How many times will we ask them to return? Post traumatic shock, physical injuries, repeated separation from their families. Why won't the people of the United States stand up for the soldiers who have served us so well?



What is clear is that when this war is over, and soldiers who have been stop lossed are allowed to leave, the military will be eviscerated. The national guard will be so harmed that their ability to defend the nation in the event of another 9/11 will be terribly compromised.



I wonder how many intelligent, educated, able bodied men will be willing to "sign on the dotted line" now that they know they can be stop lossed past their exit date, can be sent over and over again to a war zone, can be ordered to torture, and may have to wait months or years for treatment from the federal government if they get it at all.



Thank God so many people in the Anti-War movement understand why we aren't being made safer by this war. Communicating those insights to our friends and neighbors and to our elected officials is all we have to do . . ."

Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, gave nearly $150,000 to colleagues from his leadership political action committee to influence today’s vote for majority leader, according to fundraising records he filed with the Federal Election Commission Tuesday and reported today in a Capitol Hill newspaper.


The Hill today reported that Rep. Boehner gave $150,000 to 30 Republican colleagues on Dec. 15, according to his filing for his leadership committee, the Freedom Project. More than a dozen Republicans receiving money from Rep. Boehner declared their intention to vote for him ahead of today’s vote, including Rep. Gresham Barrett, R-S.C., Rep. Charles Boustany, R-La., Steve Chabot, R-Ohio., Rep. Melissa Hart, R-Pa., Rep. Joe Knollenberg R-Mich., Rep. Steve LaTourette, R-Ohio, Rep. Thaddeus McCotter, R-Mich., Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev., Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Calif., Rep. Dennis Rehberg, R-Mont., Rep. Jean Schmidt, R-Ohio, and Rep. Lee Terry, R-Neb.

I decided to write in my own words today. Even tho there's plenty of fodder for politico genocide out there.. sometimes something comes along that stops you in your tracks & makes you put things back into perspective.
Because for all the ilk in D.C, & all the scams going on in high places.. there are still some things that bear pausing & contemplating..
Today I received an email from my ex-husband. We were together for 11 yrs, back in those fun days of the '80's. Both of us had come from repressed childhoods, steeped deeply in that 'old time religion' that never allowed a teen one iota of fun. So in our 30's we finally got to become 'grown-up' teens. We partied til we dropped, dressed to the 9's, & traveled the world. This man made me my 1st birthday cake at age 35.. from scratch.
He made me feel adored on many levels. (Granted he made lots of women feel this way)But for me it was the 1st time of feeling the giddy heights of being placed on a pedestal, & I liked the air up there. He took me to my 1st Mardi Gras in New Orleans, where we dressed up & lived out some crazy little fantasies. He took me to Ireland, where we both enjoyed the 'fatherland' of our heritage. He took me to Rio to see how the 'other half' lives & we did love our long walks on Ipanema beaches there. Again & again we went to the Bahamas.. feeling this was our truest home. We sailed many times on the Windjammer ships, falling in love w/ the sea over & over again. One Valentines day I took him to San Francisco, where we left our hearts, & took my 1st helicopter ride. He took me to Germany, Paris, London, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium, Lechtinstein, Amsterdam.. on & on. The world was ours for the taking..
And then, he could not take me to Kuwait. In 1991, we were worlds apart.. in more ways than miles. He came home a changed man, & I was indeed a changed woman.
And we went our own ways.
Not long afterwards, he was given the cruel diagnosis of Myelocystic Leukemia.. a gift from the Gulf War chemicals, that we were assured were never there. He fought the system for good care, paying for his own for the most part. Underwent chemo numerous times, for any remissions he could garner. He married a fellow soldier & enjoyed several years w/ her, their kids, horses & dogs. On a cruel night this fall, he was forced to watch as she came to him, & shot & killed herself. He tried valiantly to save her, but could not. I don't think one ever gets over that horror.
Early this winter he had to undergo a major surgery, & again, more debilitating chemo.
So today I get this note from my 'ex', that says, 'I have have metz to the brain, lungs, & liver. I won't beat it this time.' and he wished me well.
I sat stunned at my desk, w/ all those shared memories flashing thru my heart & mind like a wild fireworks show..
And it suddenly came to me that all the crooks & liars in the government will live to cheat another day. All the guns & bombs will still be firing when this good man has left this world. Life will go on for those of us left on the path. But the world will be a lesser place. The sun will not shine quite as brightly as it did.
For this moment, for this day.. I am thinking of my 30-something-teen-age-heart throb
and I pray his journey is a stellar flight w/ a soft landing.

NBC: Charges against Sheehan to be dropped
Antiwar mom removed from State of the Union for wearing protest shirt

WASHINGTON - Charges against antiwar protester Cindy Sheehan, who was arrested after an incident involving a T-shirt she wore to the State of the Union address, will be dropped, officials told NBC News Wednesday.

U.S. Capitol Police took Sheehan away in handcuffs and charged her with unlawful conduct, a misdemeanor, when she showed up to President Bush’s address Tuesday night wearing a shirt that read, “2245 Dead. How many more?” — a reference to the number of soldiers killed in Iraq.

But Capitol Police will ask the U.S. attorney's office to drop the charges, NBC News’ Mike Viqueira reported Wednesday.

“We screwed up,” a top Capitol Police official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

He said Sheehan didn't violate any rules or laws.

Sheehan, whose son Casey died in Iraq, was not the only one ejected from the House gallery. The wife of a powerful Republican congressman was also asked to leave, but she was not arrested.

Beverly Young, wife of Rep. C.W. Bill Young of Florida — chairman of the House Defense Appropriations subcommittee — was removed from the gallery because she was wearing a T-shirt that read, “Support the Troops — Defending Our Freedom.”

The Capitol Police official said officers never should have approached Young.

Criticism from Rep. Young
Holding up the shirt his wife wore, Rep. Young said on the House floor Wednesday morning: “Because she had on a shirt that someone didn’t like that said support our troops, she was kicked out of this gallery.”

“Shame, shame,” he scolded.

Beverly Young was sitting about six rows from first lady Laura Bush and was asked to leave. She argued with police in the hallway outside the House chamber.

“They said I was protesting,” she told the St. Petersburg Times. “I said, ‘Read my shirt, it is not a protest.’ They said, ‘We consider that a protest.’ I said, ‘Then you are an idiot.”’

They told her she was being treated the same as Sheehan, who was ejected before the speech. Sheehan had wrote in her blog Wednesday that she intended to file a First Amendment lawsuit.

She did not issue an immediate response to the charges being dropped.

“I don’t want to live in a country that prohibits any person, whether he/she has paid the ultimate price for that country, from wearing, saying, writing, or telephoning any negative statements about the government,” Sheehan wrote in her blog.

Sheehan was invited as a guest of Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-Calif. She later was released on her own recognizance.

Told she could not wear shirt?
Capitol Police Sgt. Kimberly Schneider said police warned Sheehan that such displays were not allowed in the House chamber, but Sheehan did not respond, she said.

Sheehan, however, told a different story in her blog.

“I was never told that I couldn’t wear that shirt into the Congress,” Sheehan wrote. “I was never asked to take it off or zip my jacket back up. If I had been asked to do any of those things, ... I would have, and written about the suppression of my freedom of speech later.”

She said she felt uncomfortable about attending the speech.

“I knew George Bush would say things that would hurt me and anger me and I knew that I couldn’t disrupt the address because Lynn had given me the ticket,” Sheehan wrote. “I didn’t want to be disruptive out of respect for her.”

She said she had one arm out of her coat when an officer yelled, “Protester.”

“He then ran over to me, hauled me out of my seat and roughly (with my hands behind my back) shoved me up the stairs,” she wrote in her blog. She was then cuffed and driven to police headquarters a few blocks away.

Sheehan was arrested in September with about 300 other anti-war activists in front of the White House after a weekend of protests against the war in Iraq. In August, she spent 26 days camped near Bush’s ranch in Crawford, Texas, where he was spending a working vacation.

Gold Star Families for Peace alert.

GSFP co-founder Cindy Sheehan was arrested last night at the state of the union address. She was invited to attend by Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey. . She was escorted into the chambers by a representative of Congresswoman Barbara Lees office. Cindy had no intention of disrupting the speech. Partly out of respect for Lynn Woolsey . It was released by someone from the capital that Cindy unfurled a banner and was disruptive.

The truth is Cindy was wearing a t-shirt the VFP had made to commemorate the grime milestone of the death of the 2000th soldier in Iraq. The shirt says 2245 dead how many more. Cindy had been wearing this shirt all day and wore it to the SOTU. I was told by a congressional staffer that as far as they were aware there was no dress code guidelines for the guests who sit in the gallery. Cindy was in the gallery.

She was seated at 8:30 pm. It was hot in the building so Cindy unzipped her sweater to remove it. Before she even had it off a capital police officer began shouting “protestor” and hustled her out of the chambers. They were very rough and rude with her. She was given a citation for demonstrating inside the capital building…..after being detained for 3 ½ hours.

This has got to stop. How many of your civil liberties are you willing to give up?