REMEMBERING THE GAYS IN THE MILITARY

Last night the congress voted to repeal the DADT. Congratulations to the democrats and a couple of republicans. As for the rest of the republicans, I want to ask you a question. Are you voting your own personal opinion, what your voters want or are you just sheep being herded by John McCain? I'm not trying to be smart here but you are acting in a very STUPID manner and it is being seen, every day on the news.

President Obama was elected as our president and whether you voted for him or not, he is our president and that alone commands a certain amount of respect. I believe that he is trying EVERY thing he knows how to do to bring this country together and improve life for ALL Americans and that we as Americans need to stand behind him and try to understand what he inherited from the previous administration along with disasters such as the spilling of oil in the Gulf of Mexico, again a gift from the previous administration, those DRILL BABY DRILL people. So think about what republicans are doing to the quality of your life, or what they aren't doing to improve it and vote with your conscience. Republicans let this be your warning to shape up or be ready to ship out.

A THOUGHT OCCURS TO ME...

Maybe the time has come to fire all of our national representatives. NO JOKING HERE. We elected these people to work for us but it seems that mostly they want to work for themselves or make a name for themselves by being assholes. We all have assholes and don't need to pay for a second one. Whether or not you voted for or believe in President Obama, he is the president and was voted in primarily because of his platform. He is so close to helping so many with health problems have health care. Recently I had to go to the emergency room. I have Medicare and Medicaid thankfully, because the bill for everything that was done for me in those 6 hours came to $9,852.00 (I will provide a copy of the bill to anyone who disbelieves me). Now for those who are uninsured, many would put off going to the hospital and could die (or) they might have to find a way to come up with that money and possibly loose their homes. If the problem were worse than it was, that amount of money could go threw the roof. Now, ask yourself, honestly, who doesn't want this program to go through? The insurance companies, and of course those Representatives they own. Is it any wonder that those Representatives will go to any length to get elected in the first place, knowing the amounts of money that they can make and then simply blame the bad shit on their opponents. Is is possible to dump them all? November isn't that far away.

DON'T WANT TO PISS ON ANYONE'S PARADE...

I can understand the horrible circumstances that have led to the shape of Haiti today but you know what? We have people in this country who don't have a place to live and often go to sleep without food. People who live on the streets or in cardboard boxes and who stand in line for food handouts or live out of dumpsters? Ever see someone in a park looking through trash baskets looking for food or do you just look away? It is time to stop waiting for a natural disaster to help the disadvantaged. And what is really scary these days is that many of the homeless are children who's parents have lost their jobs and homes... and hope. And also most if not all of these people have no health care either, and that is a very scary thing as sicknesses among these people can spread like wild fire as they group together for support and comfort.

And then I read that a leader is not going to run for re-election because it's too tough to get bills passed. What you should start doing is fighting till your last breath to make sure that you do the job you were hired to do and serve the people who spent their time and money making sure that you got elected in the first place. I would love to change places with you for just a day.
Mike

JUST WHAT I WAS AFRAID OF IS HAPPENING IN IRAN

If you have been watching the news in the last couple of days then you are painfully aware of what is going on in IRAN. The people there, students in particular, live in fear even as they fight for change. The leader of Iran, and make no mistake religion is behind the leader, is running a dictatorship there and is endangering the lives of all of it's people as well as the rest of the world by attempting to build a stockade of nuclear weapons. Not so different than North Korea but it would seem that there they are afraid to protest. If we as citizens of the world can ban together thru the web or by writing articles and sending them to newspapers and news stations around the world and try to unite with those people and offer our support to them. Wars not only kill people but also trample the earth. Nuclear war would kill all of the inhabitants of the world, not just the people but also the animals and every living thing. There are alternatives to war, we all know that, but now we have to band together to make it happen. If you know of email addresses of people in these two nations contact them or contact anyone you know or anyone that they might know until you find these people or organizations and support them with your words and ideas. Send them to me and I will do the same until we have a world wide effect that will finally bring peace and prosperity to the earth.
Mike

DEAR CITIZENS OF THE WORLD, UNITE

The web can be our connecting point and we, the citizens of the world have the opportunity to change the world for the better. We the people think differently than some of our leaders and it is time to band together and find the solutions to save our planet. There is no reason for us to live in fear of one another when we can all live on this earth of ours and take care of her. The need for going green is something that all of us have to work on and if those elected to power or those who have taken power don't want to work with us then it is time to change them. A difference may not be seen in our lifetime depending on your age but know that you can help change the face of Mother Earth for generations. How? First we stop the wars and find new ways to live in peace, take care of all of the people; feed them, cloth them and give them a decent home to live in. Stop nuclear stockpiles and end the dependency of fossil fuels around the globe. Sun and wind will not only supply us with energy but it will also create possibly millions of new jobs and re stable our economies globally. But it has to start now and it has to start with us. We, the citizens of the world have to find a way to communicate with each other and get started on a plan. Please, email a friend and send them this site address to read and ask them to do the same until we have the attention of the world. Only then can we move forward. Please forward any other ideas to this author and lets get a dialog started now while we still have time. Mike

THANK YOU ANITA BRYANT, REST WELL

Yes, I am a gay man and yes I do thank Anita Bryant. Why you ask? She did more to unite the gay community and create activism for our cause than anyone else I know. Recently HBO started airing the movie "MILK" and I have watched it several times. I was under the impression that Sean Penn was homophobic and that may be true but he played the part of Harvey Milk well. It brought back memories of that time and yes I too would have loved to place a dagger in her heart at the time. But hindsight is a powerful thing and I can see that it would have taken a lot longer for us to come to the point that we are today without her. It was because of the hatred that she spewed in the name of her religion that brought us together and caused us to fight back and fight harder. Harvey Milk was not a saint by any means but he had the courage to follow his heart and mind and make first steps toward the future.
Now we have the Matthew Shepard hate crimes bill and that is a start. It doesn't insure peace yet but it is a start. Lawsuits will soon begin to follow so that the real strength of this bill will be seen. Perhaps the day will come when parents will learn to accept their gay children and not throw them out to the streets and real families can then thrive. Churches may come to understand that being Christian and gay is a possibility as many of us already know. No longer will bosses be able to fire people based on their sexual orientation. And soldiers will be able to serve no matter what their sexual identity is. I was one of those soldiers caught up in a witch hunt back in 1966. Not because I couldn't do my job and do it well, but because I was caught making love with my commanding officer.
So today I say, Thank You, Anita Bryant for all that you did to help up out.
Mike

HEY AMERICANS, GET IT TOGETHER

We elected President Obama by a large majority and now is the time to get behind him and listen and learn. Sarah Palin and others are trying to muddle up the message and intent of his health care program to cover any American who needs it. I spent the last two years with my mother as she went thru 7 cancer surgeries that finally took half of her left leg. She was 78 when they began and she died on her 80 th birthday. During that time, the hospital asked her if she was interested in filling out a living will and she and I talked about it. It was her wish that she not have any more surgery and that she didn't want to be kept alive by artificial methods. She requested that she be given pain medications and be kept comfortable and be allowed to die in peace. Also, she named me as her surrogate knowing that I would respect her wishes and see to things after she was dead. She paid for her own cremation years before and told me who to contact and they would take care of everything. I elected to keep her ashes but she was not concerned about them as she would not be there.

When a person is considered to be brain dead (and in my humble opinion Sarah Palin is almost there) then it is time to pull the plugs and prepare the body for burial or cremation and for the living to move on. The body may still be there but the spirit or soul if you will, has already left and there is no need to keep paying hospital bills or keeping vigil, and I believe that if asked the deceased would have said as much. That is what living wills are all about, pure and simple. Also I strongly believe in organ donations as well if and when it is possible. Because I have AIDS that isn't possible but if it were I would do so.

Disrupting town meetings where people can actually get GOOD information or just altering the truth and scaring the living shit out of people is uncalled for. PLEASE, GET THE FACTS AND DECIDE FOR YOURSELF. A living will is NOT a death sentence but it will let your family and friends know what YOU want and when you want it.
Mike