Just a Note . . .

to let you know that I have had, or will have, so many operations that I can’t even remember them. They’re no great thing, but I want to be sure that you all feel terribly sorry for me.

The first thing that I can remember happening is that I tripped over a carpet at the bank and fell flat on the floor, without even having time to put my hands out to break the fall. (I intend to sue the bank for property rights to the security film.) Anyway, I fell very hard on my right hip (the one I shattered a few years ago), and right knee. The blood from the knee quickly worked its way down to the bottom of my foot, leaving bruising all the way. My hip still hurts, so we will watch it, but it may not have done any further injury to the previous injury.

Next came a biopsy to a lump on my left eyelid, which turned out to be a basal cell carcinoma, and she didn’t get it all, so she will be sending me to a specialist for a second operation.

Next came several treatments for my arthritic spine, followed by a more invasive operation in which they severed some of the nerves in my spine. My pain has already begun to lessen, and I am standing straighter, though working with either a stroller, a staff, or a cane. I hope that portends a better future.

Next comes my operation on and around the thumb on my right hand. Something was done in a previous operation having to do with the nerves, but this time it will be more involved. There will be a carpal tunnel release, surgery to the thumb to replace the basal tendon, and on the joint above that.

I am crying so hard that I can hardly see through my tears to write down how pathetic I am. (At least I didn’t break my thumb, which is what my dear friend Judy did to hers, so I’d better dry my tears and shut up.)

The only really bad thing is that my right hand and thumb will be out of service for a while. Anyway, I’ll write when I can. Carl is looking for a new mouse for such injuries. In the meantime, I’ll have plenty of time to read your stuff.

Obama Grabs Headlines

Click on this!

I double dare you!

And then, keep on clicking!

Scroll some, and click some more!

Test of Faith, Addendum

Test of Faith Addendum

In my previous blog titled Test of Faith, I mentioned the article about the Gulf War which recounted the war atrocities committed by American soldiers. Here is the link:
http://digitaljournalist.org/issue0211/sloyan.html.

Written by Patrick J. Sloyan, the title is What Bodies? It was printed in November 2002.

ARW
9/7/08

Tough Times

Gasoline prices going down right now are a help, but many other important commodities are going up, and chief among them are groceries, which everyone needs. It has occurred to me as an atheist socialist that the people hit hardest by these times are those at the lower end of the income ladder. So I decided to give a raise to my housekeeper and my gardener. Both were surprised and each told me no one else had made such a gesture. My housecleaner said none of her employers had offered financial help with her operation for breast cancer either, and she rides the bus and walks the rest of the way to work. For many people in her position, the easiest approach in this land of opportunity will be to just let their employees go.

ARW
11/6/08

Test of Faith

This country, once thought to embody freedom for all citizens, regardless of color, origin, or belief, has turned into a religious oligarchy with Christianity at the zenith. Other faiths are tolerated as long as they are led by some supernatural being. Actually, that may have been an a myth which we were all encouraged to accept as true.

Those who do not believe in such a myth, whatever they think, are both suspicious and unacceptable to membership in this “democracy.” Regardless of their education, experience, intelligence, and just plain goodness, nonbelievers somehow just don’t fit in if they are “known” for what they are.

And so it has come to pass that the main theme of this election has become religion. And as the myth continues to grow, those with education, experience, intelligence, and just plain goodness who find solid ground without the necessity of the certitude of salvation by God take on a malevolent cast. They are comingled with but unwelcomed by many who worship their God in the hope of receiving their own personal salvation. And many of the believers, especially those known as evangelical Christians, and their crusade, like Sen. McCain’s, must be military, with enemies who must be conquered and destroyed in order to satisfy the Word of God.

It is not a welcoming, accepting form of worship; there is an onslaught of evil which must be conquered and converted by the forces of good, or utterly destroyed if it cannot be convinced or converted to the Will of God. Thus, the lives of our soldiers are sacred and surrendered to the Christian God, while those of the enemy (also created by God) are as nothing. (Incidentally, long before the two years during which I have had a computer and have become an old-lady geek, I read a magazine article, and possibly wrote about it, I read a horrifying description of Bush One’s armies moving across the Sahara(?) Desert, digging ditches in the sand with bulldozers to bury the dead enemy (with the same bulldozers), among them many who were still alive but injured and unable to help themselves. I’ll try to find it for you in the days to follow.) Oh, God, I love religion!

Now that the election is over, I rejoice in the election of Barack Obama with millions
of other people, and place all of my trust in his education, experience, intelligence, and just plain goodness to lead us into a century of great of intellectual and spiritual growth
which does not require membership in any specific belief other than caring for the earth and all of its inhabitants, whether animal or mineral.

What worries me, however, is the continuing involvement of religion, especially the evangelical Christians, who will allow no belief in any philosophy other than theirs, and insist that the rest of the nation be governed accordingly. The rights of women to deal with their own bodies as they see fit, and the right of other humans to end their own lives as they near death, with the help of supporters if necessary. But the attempt to refuse gays who love each other very much, and are devoted to their own God the right to dignify their union in their own church, is probably the meanest intervention of all. If their pastor is also your pastor, and he is willing to perform the ceremony, then you might want to change pastors. In most cases, you do not even know the people involved. If their marriage would sully your church, it would seem best to try another church, or even another religion.

The attempts across the country to codify these various attacks on the rights of others is what I would call heresy. Even if none of these legal attempts by others make it into (or out of existing) law, you should kneel and pray to your God for forgiveness for even considering them.

The Republican Party has some evolving to do

I've just read a very important article by William Edelen in the Santa Barbara News Press. The editorial article is titled "Republican Party has some evolving to do". Here's a brief exerpt from the article and a link to it on the News Press website. However, you will need to register on the website to read the remainder of the article. I believe it's worth it to register to read it.

http://www.newspress.com/Top/Article/article.jsp?Section=OPINIONS-LETTERS&ID=565396672541229156&Archive=false

November 2, 2008: Sarah Palin has said that she does not believe in evolution. Neither does the Republican Party, which has not evolved since Reagan in pandering to and groveling before the Christian fundamentalist movement. But no one has gone so far as to choose a born-again Christian fundamentalist to be one heartbeat away from the presidency of the United States -- a nation formed by Jefferson, Adams and Madison, who were not Christians but Deists. One Republican senator, Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, had the guts to say it in plain language, that putting Ms. Palin one heartbeat away from the presidency was the "height of irresponsibility and an insult to the American people." Ms. Palin says she wants creationism taught in all public schools. She does not believe in global warming and says whatever is happening is "God's plan." She believes that the Bible is infallible, without error. More»