On national health care:
Those who refuse to support national health care reform and condemn its success in other countries must be wealthy enough to pay for private insurance, employed by companies large enough to provide insurance, profiting financially from unregulated health care or incredibly naive/ignorant. Our system or lack of is ridiculously expensive and yields poor results. For a country that values the dollar, we are really stupid when it comes to health care. The insurance companies got themselves into this muddle. They should support national health care as they then will have only the people wealthy enough to pay their fees and few of the people who will use it. That should yield less volume but more profit, shouldn't it? I strongly agree with those who believe that whatever the Congress enacts, they should have to live with it.
On Republicans:
Godde bless 'em. (That's a Southern blessing, by the way.) They need it. We need a new political party for those of us who are neither Democrats nor hate-filled bigots nor religious nuts. We need a new political party for those of us who are fiscally and socially responsible and are willing to listen, learn, develop and try new ideas. We need far fewer of those who say No simply because their controllers on the far right tell them to. This current crop of Republicans is an embarrassment to the US. I can see no hope of returning to sanity so let's dump the party and start a new one. Maybe call it the Realist Party?
On Iraq:
May Godde bless the Republicans whose egos got us into this mess.
On Afghanistan:
May Godde bless the Republicans who got us into this mess by abandoning it for revenge in Iraq.
On Iraq and Afghanistan:
We need to give both countries incentive to get rid of those who seek to control them for religious or selfish reasons. We need to send the National Guard personnel who have talents other than handling guns and vehicles to teach business, music, farming and other skills that help the people become more independent and willing to resist the nasty elements. We cannot win in Afghanistan. The Russians are probably laughing at us and waiting for the wars to bring us to our financial knees. If we can't or won't support a survivable economy, we should admit defeat and leave.
On the pope's offer to Anglicans:
In the midst of all the fuss, people seem to ignore or not understand that the group that seeks semi-reunion with Rome is not associated with the Anglican Communion as we know it. The 400,000 belong to a group that separated from the AC awhile back. I doubt any of the current crop of schismatics would consider crossing the Tiber. The men leading the division are too fond of their pointy hats to yield the hat, the prestige and the authority to the pope. If they were serious, they would have followed former bishop Jeffrey Steenson who did the honorable thing. As far as I'm concerned, the "issue" is a non-issue. And I'm curious to see what nastiness the pope's message tried to hide in the news.
On LGBT issues:
How do homosexual, transgendered or sexually uncertain people negatively affect those who perceive themselves to be "straight"? Is sexuality contagious? Are gay cooties deadly? How does marriage between two people affect the marriage of two other people if there is no cheating among them? Personally I believe that red-haired people should only be allowed to marry red-haired people because that recessive gene is disappearing from our culture and I like naturally red hair. If I look hard enough I can probably find a Biblical reference to support my prejudice for red hair. LGBT prejudice is just that - prejudice. It has no basis in fact but is promoted by ignorance and fear and preached from pulpits in spite of Jesus's admonition to love all and judge none. We need to get over it and accept all people in this Godde-given variety who are not harmful to society.
On Red vs Blue charity:
It is a fact that conservatives are more financially charitable than liberals. I wonder if the same is true for non-financial aid. Given equal social standing, do conservatives give more time - other than fund-raising - also? In other words, do conservatives get their hands dirtier than liberals? Do you know of any studies on this aspect of charity?
There are remnants of a feathered creature on the cathouse roof. This is a first. Nobody has ever carried a protein supplement up there. I suspect the murderer is in the photo. Once he moved I could see lots of tiny feathers on the towel. I don't know who taught Little One to hunt but it might have been PuddyTat as I often see him in her nest under the feeders.
The New York Times featured an article on the food bank service All Saints Episcopal Church in Chicago provides every Tuesday night. This is the last paragraph in the article:
A piper accompanied the casket and pall bearers.
Ann read the first lesson and led the psalm.
Janis read the second lesson.
St Paul's is a pleasant, rather simply decorated church.
The painting on the right and the Stations of the Cross were all created by George and donated to the church.
I tried to capture the incense but it is far too blurry to blog. It was a lovely mostly Rite I service - some of us weren't always looking at the BCP. I suspect George smiled.
Over the years we have known each other on the internet from the Anglican/Episcopal board on beliefnet.com thru the blogs and Facebook, Janis and I have become friends, sharing our lives usually via Instant Messaging and several times in person. I would feel like I was avoiding family if I didn't attend her dad's funeral. So I will be going to Weston, WV Thursday. And praying for the Jensen family all the way.
My WV beliefnet/blogger/Facebook friend Janis's father died this evening after a long vigil. He was an artist. You can learn more about him here. I met him once. He was a fellow scotch drinker with a great sense of humor. May Janis, her mother and the rest of the family find peace.
From Kathy Jensen on Facebook:
So far I have cut the 1 x 2s I use as supports and have them primed. I will get a coat of paint on them in a bit.
Eventually I hope to have a conservatory built to provide a vestibule of sorts and a better cathouse. The doubling of the cost of the garage and the decline of the value of my investments has forced me to put that off indefinitely. Hopefully this will last a couple of years as a new water pump, tanks and filters seem to have a higher priority.
UPDATE: The supports have their first coat of paint. I should have chosen different paint as this has to dry overnight. I have two space heaters going in the garage to help the drying process. I will turn them off later and on again early tomorrow morning. The forecast is for a significantly cooler day tomorrow. I hope they can raise the temperature high enough to paint!
Anyhow I had some spare time in Pittsburgh after one of my ear appointments and wandered thru Home Depot looking for ideas as I had often done here. I was surprised that corrugated plastic was available in clear panels. That could solve the light problems and also channel the rain and snow which tend to ruin the usual flexible plastic. 
I hate the barberry hedge most of the year but the cardinals like it as long as the berries are there. This is an especially prolific berry year - maybe because I never trimmed it this year?
This apple tree doesn't want to let go of all its apples. The deer will eventually get a treat.
The silver maple is the only tree left with greenish leaves.
The two oaks will hold on to theirs till spring. Really nasty winds stripped the top of the one but the lower limbs are still full of dead stubborn leaves.
I know. Burning is not good for the environment but I burn paper a few times a year, usually when I have accumulated a pile of fallen branches.
Tommie eats his canned food first then goes to the dry then explores the places the other cats eat to see what he can finish for them. He is quite portly these days.
PuddyTat got a special treat.
Dudie dislikes it when Little One intrudes on his meals but he has had to get used to it. LO rarely eats unless he can share someone else's meal. He craves the company of other cats. They don't like him however. Poor kitten.
As usual Jellico prowls and waits. He won't eat the separate food I put out for him. He waits for the others to finish then jumps up on the cathouse roof to finish what the others leave. He isn't quite right in his head. And he is getting meaner and meaner with me and with the others. They do not like him at all.
While reading the comments on a blog this morning I had a somewhat unusual word come to mind. Fortunately this website provided the image. The word is a fitting response to the following:
Some oaks lose their leaves in fall. Some wait till spring. The two trees on the right will keep their leaves until long after the silver maple has burst into its springtime debris. I have nursed and protected them since we found them as foot tall saplings. 
and Tosca and Sunday in the Park with George. This is the program for the first concert of Bach Choir of Pittsburgh's 2009-2010 season this weekend at the New Hazlett Theater in Pittsburgh. Our conductor Thomas W Douglas has arranged Mussorgsky's masterpiece for chorus. It has been a most interesting journey learning the words and notes to music many of us have known for years as a piano or orchestral piece. This concert honors visual art and will have painters working live during the concert. Do come and experience Pittsburgh's most innovative choral experience. Tickets are available from ProArts Tickets. Then hang around and say Hi to me after the concert.
I'm glad Tzaki and I are friends now. She didn't know what to do with me at first because she hadn't seen a kitten in many years. She doesn't always want to play but every once in awhile we chase each other and wrestle. She's a good big sister.
On national health care:
Our friend Padre Mickey of Friday Red Mr. Peanut Bank and Gallito Mescalito Blogging fame has experienced a tragedy of monumental proportions. Well, actually his venerable Mac Mini has gone to the other side. The cost to repair it is the same as the cost to purchase a new Mini - approximately $700. 
Of course his sister had to receive something too.
Isn't she a cutie!
He's pretty handsome too, here stealing a bit of icing.
Cake and ice cream. Yum!
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