There was an article in January 29th New York Times. It is a story that we don't hear enough from the Iraqi War. This is a heart breaking story of a man who was shot while trying to help the Iraqi's take back their country. The country that we so violently raped. While reading, pay close attention near the end on how the Iraqi soldiers behave. After reading this article, ask yourself again why we are there. We have spent more than $362,150,916,304 on this clusterf@#k. We are now sending more men and women to die for our just cause. When will this President realize that he made a terrible mistake, admit to it and get us out of this mess. We have lost more than 3080 soldiers (this has toppled the attacks on the World Trade Centers) and more than 655,000 Iraqi civilians have died. The people that support this asshole keep telling yourself its the right thing to do.
Here is the story:
Man Down, When One Bullet Alters Everything
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Car Chase & Arrest...
On Saturday January 6, 2007, as we were heading down to see Mark’s mother, somewhere between White River Junction and Springfield, two Acuras passed us on the left hand side. We were traveling around 70 miles and hour. The first car was a light metallic (possibly green/grey). The car following it was a black. Both had spoilers on them.
When they passed us, the lighter car moved into the right lane. The black car moved to its side and they started to drive side by side for a while – one in the left lane and one in the right lane. Then the two Acuras began to slow their speed together. We had to slow as well. The car in the left lane (black) looked like he was going to pass the lighter colored car, so we moved over to the left lane indicating that we wanted to pass as well.
While we were in the left lane (with about 2 car lengths between us and the black car), both cars began to get slower. They came down to around 60mph. Something didn’t seem right so I called 911 to let them know what was happening.
Since neither car was allowing anyone to pass and there was standing water on the road, we backed off more. We had about 2 car lengths between the black car and us when, before we could move to the right lane, a light colored sedan with New York plates passed us on the right and moved to the left to cut us off. This sedan started to tailgate the black car. We could see the break lights of all three cars going on and off. The Acuras refused to let the sedan pass.
The sedan was swerving from the left lane to the right lane trying to find any opening it could. At one point the sedan thought he could pass between the two cars (in the middle), but the Acuras closed in not allowing the sedan in between them. At no time were either the Acuras or the sedan using their signals to change lanes. Remember we are traveling around 60mph.
As this started to escalate, we backed off more. The roads were still wet and with the three cars in front of us, water was shooting off the road. We were certain that an accident was going to happen. I told Mark to pull over and let them move on. I felt that there was going to be an accident.
Before we could move over, we came to an entrance ramp where the sedan thought it could pass. From the left lane he swerved all the way over to the on ramp on the right (lucky no one was entering) and passed the lighter Acura and then sped up. The lighter Acura then swerved to the on ramp, sped up and passed the sedan and then slowed down. The black car moved in behind the sedan. All three cars were traveling down the highway swerving from one lane to another and sometimes going on the shoulder. The sedan somehow got out of the sandwich and made a break for it. All three cars took off at a high rate of speed and were soon out of our vision. We were sure they were going about 100mph.
A few minutes later we came over a rise and saw all three cars in the distance but then they were out of sight again. We traveled along thinking how these people never get caught and we started to get pissed. Then we came around a corner and sitting on the side of the road was all three cars with the state trooper. A little while later I got a call from the state trooper asking me what happened. From what I understand they were all arrested and Mark and I had to write up depositions about the event. Have not heard anything since.
The two Acuras were clearly working with each other. All three vehicles were being driven in a manor that could have endangered our lives and those of other divers on the highway. There was a time that I feared so much for my safety that I wanted Mark to pull over and let them get far ahead of us.
When they passed us, the lighter car moved into the right lane. The black car moved to its side and they started to drive side by side for a while – one in the left lane and one in the right lane. Then the two Acuras began to slow their speed together. We had to slow as well. The car in the left lane (black) looked like he was going to pass the lighter colored car, so we moved over to the left lane indicating that we wanted to pass as well.
While we were in the left lane (with about 2 car lengths between us and the black car), both cars began to get slower. They came down to around 60mph. Something didn’t seem right so I called 911 to let them know what was happening.
Since neither car was allowing anyone to pass and there was standing water on the road, we backed off more. We had about 2 car lengths between the black car and us when, before we could move to the right lane, a light colored sedan with New York plates passed us on the right and moved to the left to cut us off. This sedan started to tailgate the black car. We could see the break lights of all three cars going on and off. The Acuras refused to let the sedan pass.
The sedan was swerving from the left lane to the right lane trying to find any opening it could. At one point the sedan thought he could pass between the two cars (in the middle), but the Acuras closed in not allowing the sedan in between them. At no time were either the Acuras or the sedan using their signals to change lanes. Remember we are traveling around 60mph.
As this started to escalate, we backed off more. The roads were still wet and with the three cars in front of us, water was shooting off the road. We were certain that an accident was going to happen. I told Mark to pull over and let them move on. I felt that there was going to be an accident.
Before we could move over, we came to an entrance ramp where the sedan thought it could pass. From the left lane he swerved all the way over to the on ramp on the right (lucky no one was entering) and passed the lighter Acura and then sped up. The lighter Acura then swerved to the on ramp, sped up and passed the sedan and then slowed down. The black car moved in behind the sedan. All three cars were traveling down the highway swerving from one lane to another and sometimes going on the shoulder. The sedan somehow got out of the sandwich and made a break for it. All three cars took off at a high rate of speed and were soon out of our vision. We were sure they were going about 100mph.
A few minutes later we came over a rise and saw all three cars in the distance but then they were out of sight again. We traveled along thinking how these people never get caught and we started to get pissed. Then we came around a corner and sitting on the side of the road was all three cars with the state trooper. A little while later I got a call from the state trooper asking me what happened. From what I understand they were all arrested and Mark and I had to write up depositions about the event. Have not heard anything since.
The two Acuras were clearly working with each other. All three vehicles were being driven in a manor that could have endangered our lives and those of other divers on the highway. There was a time that I feared so much for my safety that I wanted Mark to pull over and let them get far ahead of us.
Monday, January 22, 2007
Don't Ask, I'll Tell...
It has been reported in Stars and Strips that 1 in 4 servicemen know of a gay or lesbian serviceman is in their unit. As the article says, this shows that the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy isn't working. Gays and lesbians are not allowed to tell anyone of their sexual orientation. Britain and Israel allow gays to serve side by side in their military. Why can’t the American government see that we are people too? We have families, we pay taxes, and we love and care for the people in our lives. We want to defend our country, but our government has decided that if gays are acknowledged the world will end. Take note of my previous posting about My Rights… I have a list of all the countries that allow gays to live life. Not hide the life they live.
The military wants to fight what they are calling the war on terror. I have a different explanation, but that is for later. So the war on terror needs people who can translate Arabic. There are few people who can do this much-needed job. Since a lot of the Arabic translators are gay, the government who wants to protect us tosses these people out of the service because they will not live a lie. Tell me that this is truly a government for the people. Tell me they want to protect us, me. If this is true, why are they putting us in harms way with pettiness concerning gays?In the U.K. they are looking for gay servicemen. The Navy has put a recruitment advertisement in one of the gay and lesbian paper. Why is it that the world power (according to some) has problems that other civilized countries don't seem to have? I think in George W's head that gayness is still a mental disease. If this is so, I wonder what people would call his disease - oh yeah cocaine addict and alcoholic, but its all OK that he has found god!
Read the complete article from Stars and Strips.
Read about Gay Linguist.
Royal Navy Searching for Gay Recruits
Home Study...
A home study can take anywhere from 3-6 months – depending on many factors. Our home study consisted of two visits our social worker. There is a minimum of two visits, but could go to many more if the social worker felt she needed them. The first visit we had been at the adoption agency. The second was at our home where the social worker could see our home, our neighborhood, and tell us of any dangers that they feel needs to be fixed.
Since Mark and I were ready to go forward with the adoption, we set up a meeting while we were at the “Get Acquainted Weekend”. We took home some papers that we had to fill out. They consisted of various questions that pertained to our past (any problems, concerns, arrest), both of our family’s history (any abuse, substance abuse, and how we got along with them), and what we were doing today and how we plan on raising our child. The first part of our first interview deals with Mark and I as a couple. Did Mark know everything about me and vise versa. How we felt about each other and what problems we foresee with adopting.
The first part of the first meeting lasted about and hour and then she separated us. We each had to talk with our social worker on an individual basis, which lasted around an hour each. She asked us questions about our family life, home life, how we felt about the other and what kind of parent we felt we would make. She also asked how we felt about the other’s parenting abilities. Mark and I had no concerns about any of this. We have talked many hours about our concerns, problems we would/may face and how we see each other as a parent.
The second meeting was at our home. The agency is not doing a white glove test (thank god – we would never pass with four animals); they want to check out the home you intend to share with this new life. This meeting lasted about two hours. She looked checked out every room as well as the yard. Then she sat and talked with us again. We went over everything that we talked about during the first meeting. She did tell us that we needed to fix some things in the house and outside. She thanked us and told us that she needed to write it up and she would send it to us to proof and we should be done.
This all happened in May and June. We got the report from her sometime in the fall and yes we did request it from her many times. When we got it both Mark and I sat down and read it over the weekend. We emailed it back to her and waited. And waited. And waited. Around November we finally got the final Home Study (with some mistakes – grammar), but we had it. We gave the OK and sent it back. The next step on this ride was waiting for our social worker to get nine copies notarized and three sent back to us.
Why three you may ask. Well there are some states (around 45) that will not recognize Mark and my relationship. They will only adopt to married couples. Even though Mark and I have a civil union in Vermont, these states don’t see us as a couple. We would not be allowed to adopt together. So there are three Home Studies, Mark’s, mine and ours.
We redacted all three and sent them to the agency for our files. These redacted copies will be given to the birth mother and her lawyers if requested. So all together our home study took more than eight months. So with our home study done, we are now ready to go live – Nope, not just yet. We need to do our profile.
Since Mark and I were ready to go forward with the adoption, we set up a meeting while we were at the “Get Acquainted Weekend”. We took home some papers that we had to fill out. They consisted of various questions that pertained to our past (any problems, concerns, arrest), both of our family’s history (any abuse, substance abuse, and how we got along with them), and what we were doing today and how we plan on raising our child. The first part of our first interview deals with Mark and I as a couple. Did Mark know everything about me and vise versa. How we felt about each other and what problems we foresee with adopting.
The first part of the first meeting lasted about and hour and then she separated us. We each had to talk with our social worker on an individual basis, which lasted around an hour each. She asked us questions about our family life, home life, how we felt about the other and what kind of parent we felt we would make. She also asked how we felt about the other’s parenting abilities. Mark and I had no concerns about any of this. We have talked many hours about our concerns, problems we would/may face and how we see each other as a parent.
The second meeting was at our home. The agency is not doing a white glove test (thank god – we would never pass with four animals); they want to check out the home you intend to share with this new life. This meeting lasted about two hours. She looked checked out every room as well as the yard. Then she sat and talked with us again. We went over everything that we talked about during the first meeting. She did tell us that we needed to fix some things in the house and outside. She thanked us and told us that she needed to write it up and she would send it to us to proof and we should be done.
This all happened in May and June. We got the report from her sometime in the fall and yes we did request it from her many times. When we got it both Mark and I sat down and read it over the weekend. We emailed it back to her and waited. And waited. And waited. Around November we finally got the final Home Study (with some mistakes – grammar), but we had it. We gave the OK and sent it back. The next step on this ride was waiting for our social worker to get nine copies notarized and three sent back to us.
Why three you may ask. Well there are some states (around 45) that will not recognize Mark and my relationship. They will only adopt to married couples. Even though Mark and I have a civil union in Vermont, these states don’t see us as a couple. We would not be allowed to adopt together. So there are three Home Studies, Mark’s, mine and ours.
We redacted all three and sent them to the agency for our files. These redacted copies will be given to the birth mother and her lawyers if requested. So all together our home study took more than eight months. So with our home study done, we are now ready to go live – Nope, not just yet. We need to do our profile.
Back...
Things have gotten out of hand here and I have not been able to post as often as I would have liked. We went to Michigan for Christmas and New Years. This was wonderful. Got to see my family and talk about the adoption with them. They all had questions that I was excited to answer. They all gave us wishes of good luck.
Then i got sick. I am blaming this on my nephew. He had the sniffles and decided that he wanted to share his little cold with me. I was doing fine with the cold until we started to head back home. Oh I forgot - seventeen hours to get to my family SEVENTEEN!!! So we decided to stay with some friends who live in Ohio and cut off at least five hours from our trip. When we got back home my body decided that it had had enough and my system just crashed. Major head cold that then went into my chest. This is when Mark loves me all the more because I cough and cough and cough. Nothing seems to help. We got home on Tuesday and I start to rest.
Like I said my body crashes and starts to take care of itself. I am starting to feel better and then Saturday morning comes and we head down to see Mark's mother. Another trip n the car (three hours this time) and a new place. The trip to his mother's gave us another story, which will be later. So I am feeling better at Mark's moms house and then on Sunday we head back home. When I get here I crash again, but I have school, laundry, the dogs and many other things that I didn't do.
Mark was wonderful. He took good care of me and this is how I know that he will make a great father. His concern has been for my health and he took on all the responsibilities. He made me dinner and cleaned up as well as making sure I ate healthy food. He made tea for me, which is a new interest for him (I will comment on this later).
Then we got a grinder. We feed our dogs raw food. I will talk about this later as well. The grinder weighs around 80lbs and I think I pulled something in my back. With all the sitting while driving for those many hours, I think my back decided that it needed a rest as well. So for almost three weeks I have had severe back pain. I was unable to sit in my seat at the computer for very long. I was only able to get school work done and then would have to lie down to relax my back. So not much time to keep this updated, until now.
Then i got sick. I am blaming this on my nephew. He had the sniffles and decided that he wanted to share his little cold with me. I was doing fine with the cold until we started to head back home. Oh I forgot - seventeen hours to get to my family SEVENTEEN!!! So we decided to stay with some friends who live in Ohio and cut off at least five hours from our trip. When we got back home my body decided that it had had enough and my system just crashed. Major head cold that then went into my chest. This is when Mark loves me all the more because I cough and cough and cough. Nothing seems to help. We got home on Tuesday and I start to rest.
Like I said my body crashes and starts to take care of itself. I am starting to feel better and then Saturday morning comes and we head down to see Mark's mother. Another trip n the car (three hours this time) and a new place. The trip to his mother's gave us another story, which will be later. So I am feeling better at Mark's moms house and then on Sunday we head back home. When I get here I crash again, but I have school, laundry, the dogs and many other things that I didn't do.
Mark was wonderful. He took good care of me and this is how I know that he will make a great father. His concern has been for my health and he took on all the responsibilities. He made me dinner and cleaned up as well as making sure I ate healthy food. He made tea for me, which is a new interest for him (I will comment on this later).
Then we got a grinder. We feed our dogs raw food. I will talk about this later as well. The grinder weighs around 80lbs and I think I pulled something in my back. With all the sitting while driving for those many hours, I think my back decided that it needed a rest as well. So for almost three weeks I have had severe back pain. I was unable to sit in my seat at the computer for very long. I was only able to get school work done and then would have to lie down to relax my back. So not much time to keep this updated, until now.
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Bailey...
We need to sing praise today sine it is Bailey’s birthday. She turns three today. She is our big little girl. Even though she has the manners of a doll, she is in league with Phoebe for the top position of our little pack.When I first saw bailey she was sitting behind the chain-link cage at the humane society. I had just lost Jules (who needed to be put down at the age of 12) and I was just starting my new job as “kennel help”. I had told myself that I was going to be fine dealing with all the homeless animals that I would be seeing on a daily basis. Little did I know that one would steal my heart!
I didn’t think I was, but when I saw this little bundle of fur sitting there looking at me while her brothers and sisters were all around her playing I knew that I had to take her home. She was one of a litter of six and one of two that were yellow. Her mom was a pure black lab (she was in the shelter as well) and didn’t have the best demeanor.
On a daily basis, I would go over to the cage, bend down and get my little puppy kisses from her. I would open the door and pick her up, holding her to my chest and taking in the smell of poop. Any other place the smell of a puppy would have been the best, but have you ever been in a shelter with puppies? Poop is everywhere and they have no concept of what they are walking through.
The “new own
er” had put her name on this little one. At Central Vermont Humane Society, they do temperament test to find out what type of home each dog should go in to (if at all). When Bailey’s test was done, we called the prospective adoptive mother to come down and we could talk with her. There were still two other pups from the same litter that had not been adopted as of yet. We told the possible adopter that Bailey would be a very hard dog to train. She was going to be a handful. This is what they believed at the time.She asked to see all three possible pups that were from the same litter. We sectioned off an area for her to play with them and I left for a while. When I came back I asked her if she was still interested in the longed haired yellow one. She had no idea of how I felt. My heart was beating a mile a minute. I know I had to be shaking, but I was still trying to keep my composure. She grabbed Bailey and handed her to me and said, “If she is going to be hard to train, then I am not ready for her.” I grasped Bailey to my chest and headed up stairs and told my boss, “She’s mine. I want to adopt her!!”
I was out of work by 4 p.m. that night and headed home with the little one sitting on the passenger seat (which is the only place she wants to be when we are driving) looking at me. I still had not told Mark what I had done, but I wasn’t worried. I knew all would be well. Then again I forgot about Eva. We almost lost Bailey that night because Eva was being her dominant self. She didn’t want anything to do with this new little menace in HER house. I didn’t know dog behavior at this time so I was in fear for Bailey’s life. Eva growled (never heard that before), bit at, and tried to get rid of her.
I called and left a message for Mark at work. I was taking this puppy back to the shelter. Luckily I took the cell phone because Mark called when I was pulling into the shelter parking lot. He told me I had better not take the puppy back and that Eva will get over it. She was just being Eva. Mark talked to me for a while and I felt better so I headed home. Now she is celebrating her third birthday!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY BAILEY!!!!
Monday, January 8, 2007
My Rights...
My parents keep trying to get me to move back to Michigan and be near them, but over many months I have been shinning a little light on what Michigan holds for two gay people and their (soon to be) adopted child. Many people don’t seem to understand that the only places we fill comfortable in is in the North East. In Vermont, we have a civil union (as close as we can get to a marriage). This civil union allows for certain things in Vermont, but not in other parts of the country. As of this moment there are only a handful of states that will allow Mark and myself to be who we are.
Vermont allows us to have a civil union. Since 2004, Massachusetts allowed same sex people to marry, but that is in question now. The lawmakers are trying to overturn a law that allowed more than 8,000 people to get married. Imagine if one day all the married people who have been paying taxes and working for a living, caring for their children or spouses, or planning on getting married were told that what they have is no longer legal. It amazes me that people are so caught up in the “gay” thing that they can’t see good or bad any longer.
We are supposed to be the most advanced country in the world (which I feel is falling slowly), but lets look at other countries that have not fallen of the face of the Earth or exploded because gay people have rights. Here is a list of countries/states currently allowing same-sex registered partnerships / civil unions.
• Denmark, 1989.
• Norway, 1996.
• Sweden, 1996.
• Iceland, 1996.
• France, 1999.
• Vermont, USA, 2000.
• Germany, 2001.
• Finland, 2002.
• Luxembourg, 2004.
• New Zealand, 2004.
• Connecticut, USA, 2005.
• Britain, 2005.
Here is a list of countries/states that allow same-sex marriage – and again they have not fallen into ruin.
• The Netherlands, 2001.
• Belgium, 2003.
• Massachusetts, USA, 2004.
• Canada, 2005.
• Spain, 2005.
• Peru, 2006
So now Mark and I are planning on bringing a baby into our lives. We have so much love to give and the Christian Right (who claim love) seem to have so much hate. What are we doing wrong? Nothing! We are living our lives for each other and making the best of what we have. Why can’t we have the same right that all committed people have?
Did you know when Mark and I adopt in Vermont we are both on the birth certificate, but not all states recognize this “official” form. We were told that if we travel with our child through any states that we should have our paperwork with us. In the mind of most people from the conservative states, why would two men be traveling with a child? They could detain us and possibly take the child away. Here is a taste from Oklahoma: “In a federal lawsuit, Lambda Legal sought to overturn an Oklahoma law so extreme that it left children adopted by same-sex couples in other states orphans in the eyes of the law when the families are in the state of Oklahoma.” This is what we are up against.
Vermont allows us to have a civil union. Since 2004, Massachusetts allowed same sex people to marry, but that is in question now. The lawmakers are trying to overturn a law that allowed more than 8,000 people to get married. Imagine if one day all the married people who have been paying taxes and working for a living, caring for their children or spouses, or planning on getting married were told that what they have is no longer legal. It amazes me that people are so caught up in the “gay” thing that they can’t see good or bad any longer.
We are supposed to be the most advanced country in the world (which I feel is falling slowly), but lets look at other countries that have not fallen of the face of the Earth or exploded because gay people have rights. Here is a list of countries/states currently allowing same-sex registered partnerships / civil unions.
• Denmark, 1989.
• Norway, 1996.
• Sweden, 1996.
• Iceland, 1996.
• France, 1999.
• Vermont, USA, 2000.
• Germany, 2001.
• Finland, 2002.
• Luxembourg, 2004.
• New Zealand, 2004.
• Connecticut, USA, 2005.
• Britain, 2005.
Here is a list of countries/states that allow same-sex marriage – and again they have not fallen into ruin.
• The Netherlands, 2001.
• Belgium, 2003.
• Massachusetts, USA, 2004.
• Canada, 2005.
• Spain, 2005.
• Peru, 2006
So now Mark and I are planning on bringing a baby into our lives. We have so much love to give and the Christian Right (who claim love) seem to have so much hate. What are we doing wrong? Nothing! We are living our lives for each other and making the best of what we have. Why can’t we have the same right that all committed people have?
Did you know when Mark and I adopt in Vermont we are both on the birth certificate, but not all states recognize this “official” form. We were told that if we travel with our child through any states that we should have our paperwork with us. In the mind of most people from the conservative states, why would two men be traveling with a child? They could detain us and possibly take the child away. Here is a taste from Oklahoma: “In a federal lawsuit, Lambda Legal sought to overturn an Oklahoma law so extreme that it left children adopted by same-sex couples in other states orphans in the eyes of the law when the families are in the state of Oklahoma.” This is what we are up against.
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