Last I Heard...

Last I heard, abortion was legal in this country. Whether you approve of it or not, it's legal. If you don't think it should be legal, then try and get the law changed. I repeat; abortion is legal.

So now, the woman-hating, bible-thumping, anti-health-care-reform, right-wing assholes have attached an amendment to the Bill that would deny ANY insurance company from covering ANY abortion. Not just stating that taxpayer funds will not be used to pay for abortions (which is the way it has been for years), but placing controls on insurance companies and dictating what they will (and will NOT) cover. Let's not forget that these are the SAME PEOPLE who are rounding up so-called "grass roots" activists to say things like "Keep the Government out of Health Care!" I guess they want the government to control certain parts of Health Care. The part that permits reproductive freedom to women!

One of them even had the balls to suggest that women purchase separate "abortion insurance," incurring extra charges. I wonder how that will go? Will women say, "Oh, gee. Someday I might need an abortion, so I guess I should buy insurance for that?"

These jerks KNOW that women don't go thinking they are going to need an abortion sometime in the future. Women who get abortions do so for a variety of reasons, none of which includes planning one!

What if somebody attached an amendment to the health care reform Bill that forbade insurance companies from covering injuries resulting from hunting accidents?

They are trying to put people on the spot. They have ALWAYS hated that Roe vs Wade allowed reproductive freedom to women, and, now that people are beginning to demand health insurance reform, some bright spark is saying, "OK, let's see what people are willing to give up to get it!"

On what grounds do they insert this amendment? 'Scuse me...did you say on RELIGIOUS grounds? Do we not have separation of church and state in this country?

Once again, I am chewing nails and spitting rust!

It's Too Early!

It's too early for Christmas Carols! Every year, it begins earlier and earlier. I can choose to stay out of the stores, for the most part, but it is more difficult to turn off the TV.

The omnipresence of Christmas carols does not make me want to rush out and buy, buy, buy. It makes me want to hurl.

...And every time I see that commercial with the perky voices and Pepsodent smiles, it just reminds me that I will never EVER buy anything from Overstock.com, no matter how good the deals are and how low the prices get and how long I live.

Just sayin'.

Telling My Friends

Guess who's coming to the Saxon Pub?

Tommy Castro!

If you like R & B, come on down to the Saxon on December 3rd, and let's ROCK THE RAFTERS!

My Best Pot

This is my favourite. It's a Royal Dripless, from the Royal Canadian Art Pottery in Hamilton Ontario. Most Brown Bettys have rounder bodies, but this is still the best teapot I have. I paid the unheard-of sum of $15 for it at the Canton TX First Monday Flea Market. The seller wanted twice that, but $15 was my limit, and I would have had to walk away. Notice the lip on the spout. That's what keeps the tea from dripping when you pour. Ideally, all teapots should have this lip.

It used to have leaves and berries painted on it, but they had pretty much worn off by the time it came home with me.

Jim's Gift

This was the last present Jim bought for me, and I think it's beautiful. The spout is nicely shaped, and it doesn't drip when you pour. He thought it was porcelain, but it is creamware. Generally speaking, pottery is better than porcelain for tea...it holds the heat better. It's softer and though it will chip, it is less likely to shatter when you rap it sharply against the tap. Which you will do, occasionally.

Variation on a Brown Betty

OK, this one is charming. I like its bold and cheeful yellow flowers. Teapots made of dark pottery, with a dark glaze are just the very best. I don't know why. Where that spout curves over...the tea pours out on the underside. It has very little drip.

Modern Kitsch

Modern kitsch. Nothing special about this one, except the cherries (apples?). It's a good little pot, though. If I don't break it first, somebody, someday will say, "Oh, what a cute bit of early 21st Century kitsch!"

1960s Teapot

I can't help it. I love 60s kitsch. This charming little pot is full of it. You can see how it's all crazed. It has been well-loved and well-used. I paid $4 for it at a thrift shop. It still has the little silver sticker on the bottom proclaiming that it was made in Japan for the Fredericks Company, San Francisco. It makes a decent pot of tea, but, due to the crazing, it doesn't keep it hot for long.

Boardinghouse Teapots

Somewhere, I have a box of three large teapots; the kind my mom used to call "boardinghouse teapots," because of their size. In the Great Unpacking, I still have not found that box, so I bought this nice white pot with blue lines. I put a little two-cupper next to it to show the size. This one holds seven cups, so, as you can imagine, it's pretty heavy when full.

Teapot for Green Tea

Chandra gave me this lovely little pot. It is unglazed red clay, with a black dragon transfer. It has a lovely gold brocade box, and six small cups and saucers.


When filled with boiling water, the dragon turns gold.

Misty Morning

I went for a little walk this morning...well, actually, I stepped outside just around dawn, coffee cup in hand, to notice an intriguing mist settled on the neighbourhood. I traded the coffee for a camera, and strolled down the street. Never mind that I'm wearing plaid pajamas, with an old fleece sweater thrown over (and no bra). Nobody is up...

On the way back, I spotted Banshee sitting in a neighbour's driveway. I stopped to give him a bit of a lecture about that. I just happened to glance up at the garage door right behind my ridiculous cat, and, guess what? There was a man looking out the garage window.

Oops. Caught!

Encouraging!

My FOX Houston reports that a jury took four and a half hours to convict Royce Zeigler of murder in the case of "Baby Grace," AKA Riley Ann Sawyers. Riley's mother was convicted in February.

I wrote about this story here and here.

So now both these killers are behind bars. For life. The prosecutors didn't go for the death penalty because they weren't sure they could convince a jury that the scumsuckers present an ongoing risk to society.

If you can figure that one out, let me know...

Depressing

Well, hell!

I just don't feel like writing today.

More dead in Ft. Hood...I guess a couple of the injured succumbed. This isn't going to be pretty. Of course I wish it hadn't happened, but as well as that, I wish it had not been a Muslim who did it.

Of course, nobody is making noises about terrorism in the Orlando case, where some guy who was fired TWO YEARS ago showed up at his former workplace and killed one and injured six. THAT one is deemed "workplace violence." So why isn't the Ft. Hood case considered "workplace violence?"

I hear the body count is up to twelve in the Cleveland mass murder, serial killer (whichever it turns out to be) case. You know...the one where police walked up to the front door on Sept. 22, and then walked away, in spite of the odor of human decomposition...members of the same police department that can't find time to investigate missing persons reports because the missing are black women, allegedly into drugs.

Never mind the jobless rate is up to over 10%--and that doesn't count those who have been forced out of jobs due to ageism, or have just given up.

Document dump in the Caylee Anthony case with info that a syringe with chloroform in it found near her body. Might not be connected, of course, but with searches for chloroform on the computer and chloroform found in the trunk of Casey's car, this seems to be a horrible hint as to how that poor baby might have died.

Remember the census worker found hanged in the Daniel Boone National Forest? Kentucky officials are now thinking it might have been suicide. In spite of the fact that he was bound with duct tape, had his census taker ID taped to his face, was stark naked and had the word "FED" written on his chest, the fact that they didn't find any defensive wounds lets them doubt that there are anti-establishment hicks in them thar hills...

I give up. I'm going to take pictures of teapots.

THREE YEARS!

Three years ago today, Meredith Fisher, acting on a phone message from her brother-in-law, Jason Young, went to his and her sister's house. There, she discovered her pregnant sister, Michelle, beaten, bloody and very dead. The Young's small daughter, Cassidy, had left footprints in her mother's blood. Here is a link to WRAL's archive of stories on this case.

Jason clammed up and lawyered up immediately, and has never cooperated with the investigation. Neither has he been arrested, in spite of a plethora of circumstantial evidence pointing to him as the most logical suspect. He high-tailed it for his home town, where he has moved back in with his mother and step-father. He lost his job, lost a civil suit, lost custody of his daughter and got kicked out of nursing school.

This article, from MyNC.com, sounds hopeful that an arrest will happen soon.

I, too, am hopeful that justice will be served for Michelle and her unborn son, Rylan. It just seems to be a long time coming.

Words for Women to Live By

1. Aspire to be Barbie - the bitch has everything.

2. If the shoe fits - buy them in every color.

3. Take life with a pinch of salt... A wedge of lime, and a shot of tequila.

4. In need of a support group? - Cocktail hour with the girls!

5. Go on the 30 day diet. (I'm on it and so far I've lost 15 days).

6. When life gets you down - just put on your big girl panties and deal with it.

7. Let your greatest fear be that there is no PMS and this is just your personality.

8. I know I'm in my own little world, but it's ok. They know me here..

9. Lead me not into temptation, I can find it myself.

10. Don't get your knickers in a knot; it solves nothing and makes you walk funny.

11. When life gives you lemons in 2009--turn it into lemonade then mix it with vodka.

12. Remember where ever there is a good looking, sweet, single or married man there is some woman tired of his bullshit!

13. Keep your chin up, only the first 40 years of parenthood are the hardest.

14. If it has Tires or Testicles it's gonna give you trouble.

15. By the time a women realizes her mother was right, she has a daughter who thinks she's wrong.

Many thanks to Cora Lynne!

Open Letter from George to Rev. Coleman

One of the posters at StLToday, on the Coleman case, posted this letter there a while back. It was deleted by the mods as "off topic," and the author was encouraged to send it directly to the Reverend. I don't know if he has, but thought it deserved some further discussion.

I have given this a lot of thought over the past 5 months and espcially one night last week when I had trouble falling asleep. I have 3 sons in thier 30s who I love dearly and I tried to think of what I would do, God forbid, if one of them were accused of a crime similiar to the one that Chris Coleman was arrested for. After debating myself for a couple of hours I came to this conclusion. I DON'T KNOW WHAT I WOULD DO. However I believe I do know what the Rev. Ronald Coleman should do. Right now he is sticking to the story that his son was somehow framed. This is somewhat understandable in his mind because no son of his that he raised and taught what's really important in life would be capable of such an atrocious crime. A few more months when most of discovery evidence will be given to the defense and Ron will be notified by Margulis and Son of all the damning evidence and testimony. This man who heads up Grace Church in Chester, Ill. has a keen mind. Grace Church has done many positive things for this and other distant communities under the leadership of Ronald Coleman all these years. He will come to realize that Chris is indeed the killer. His main job from that moment on will be to save his son's soul. This process may cost him his pastorship and if it does then so be it however it might have just the opposite effect and elevate him in the eyes of those who support him. His decision should not be affected by what effect it will have on him personally but should be guided solely by his love for his son and his desire to save Chris's soul. This is most likely the most difficult task he has or will face in his lifetime. It's easy to say what's the right thing to do when it's not your family involved but this plan of action will take a huge amount of courage. I would only hope that I could do the right thing if it happened to me. I now have compassion for this man and will say prayers that he does the "right" thing.

We won't get into the treatment of the victim's family by this inlaw minister...or maybe we will.

Wrongful Death Suit in Coleman Case

STLToday has a story that the family of Sheri Coleman has added the Joyce Meyers Ministries to the defendants' list for their Wrongful Death suit. From the article:

The suit, filed on behalf of Sheri Coleman's family earlier this year, didn’t originally name the Fenton-based ministry as a defendant. Last month, they filed a motion to add the ministry based on information obtained through the discovery process. The family alleged the killings might not have occurred if the ministry had followed its own guidelines and better investigated anonymous threats against Coleman and his family.

I've read that the Ministry has pretty strict rules in place, regarding the behaviour of employees, and the SOP for handling threats, etc.

From the ministries' lawyer:

“Joyce Meyer Ministries had no knowledge prior to these tragic deaths of an extra marital affair involving Chris Coleman,” the ministry’s lawyer said in a statement last month. “Neither did the Ministry have prior knowledge that Chris Coleman allegedly was the source of threats against his family.”

I don't see that that statement helps them much, as, if they had followed their own guidelines, they would have known, and the suit alleges that they, in fact, failed to follow those guidelines.

I'm sure that such guidelines are honoured more in the breach (as my dad would have said), but getting caught...that's a different story. In this case, the breach involved dire consequences.

The message boards are being haunted by organized supporters of Joyce Meyers Ministries, attacking the family of the deceased. Sheri's relatives are being referred to as "money-grubbers" and "opportunists." The commenters spout the same old arguments about their going after the "deepest pockets" they can find. They seem to forget that the family, in person and through their lawyer, has stated that any money received will be spent on a memorial to their murdered family members.

Methinks there may be an SOP manual with procedures outlined for what to do on the internet when the Mother Ship gets sued...

Steampunk Halloween

Almost Ready!

I don't "do" Halloween at my house. Oh, Mike and Vanessa will bring Ethan by, and I'll take a picture or two of Dr. Q. T. Patootie. Then I'll put candy on the porch in a bowl, turn off the lights and go to Andy and Renee's party. Hopefully, Vanessa can help me get dressed while they're here.

Usually, by the end of Halloween at work, I'm ready for my jammies, but the party is always a lot of fun, so I stumble into a costume, suck down a cup of coffee and head out.

This year, I discovered Steam Punk, thanks to Frank. Steam Punk is a costume/clothing style that is difficult to describe. Sort of Jules Verne meets Wild Wild West meets Goth. Now...that gives a pretty wide range of looks. I posted pictures a while back that I found on line, and I've put together a costume for myself. I hope it works, because I haven't waxed experimental with a Halloween costume in many years. My boots aren't quite right, but they're comfortable, and some of the bits have come from work--petticoats and such.

But, I will need help putting the bits together. I had best lay in some safety pins...

Tonight, I'll attach small decorative bits to my freshly-dyed skirt, and we'll see how it goes.

I'll post pictures, even if it doesn't quite fly!