More Bush?...

The scary thing is people are starting to buy into what McCain is selling them. With the Democrats screwing up their chance of getting someone viable into the White House, it seems we may have another 4 years of Bush-like stupidity!



Maker a donation to help keep McCain out of the White House. Click on the link below:
John McCain = 4 more years of Bush on Iraq

Sunday Morning Confessions...

For those of you religious types, here is "The Automatic Confession Service of the Catholic Church". Since the priest are too busy chasing young boys, you can now make your confessions known only to the automated confessional (and the rest of the church).

It's True...

A Picture is worth a 1000 words, and this picture says it all!!!

Meat Grown in a Lab...

Not sure how I feel about this, but the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has just offered a $1 million prize to anyone who develops a commercially viable "in vitro chicken-meat product." If we can "grow" various parts of the human body and these parts are human, why can't we grow meat for consumption in a petri dish? Would I eat it - not sure. It is grown from a chicken and therefore chicken, but it seems wrong. Where do we lose the "actual chicken" and start to create this meat from modified or genetically engineered embryos. But isn't this what they are already doing? They are skipping the "bird" part and going right to the meat.

Here is an excerpt from Slate:

The idea is simple: Instead of growing a chicken embryo into a bird and cutting meat from it, you skip the bird part and grow the meat directly from the embryo.

If you don't believe this can be done, read up on the blood vessels, livers, bladders, and hearts we've already grown in labs. Check out this month's International In Vitro Meat Symposium. Scan the latest updates on "cultured meat" R&D.

It's no freakier or more far-fetched than what you've been hearing from politicians about stem cells and what they can do for people. Scientists aren't even allowed to try a stem-cell experiment in people till it works in animals. That's all PETA is asking for: "animal stem cells that would be placed in a medium to grow and reproduce."

To put it crudely, if you can grow a hunk of flesh for transplant, you can grow it for food.

I know that this may be a better way, but I still have the fear that people (those who are greedy) will want to find a cheaper way to make this meat. When this happens it is guaranteed that it will once again be unhealthy for human consumption!

Terrier Beaten Accused Dead...

On March 3rd, Rudy the Jack Russell terrier’s body was supposed to be found dead and buried in the snow. The accused, a 61-year-old man, told police that he beat the dog to death and buried it in a snow bank. When the police and the owners went to get Rudy, they found him still alive, but just barely.

According to the police report, the owner called police saying there was a man in the Wells Street area with a firearm, and that he had bludgeoned her dog to death.

Grysko didn't return telephone messages. According to police, Grysko at first denied beating the dog, and then admitted to burying it in the snow bank, and showed officers where he had put the dog.

Grysko is due in Brattleboro District Court on April 1 to answer to charges of aggravated cruelty to animals.

Bemis couldn't be reached for comment Wednesday, and Bellows Falls Police Chief Ron Lake said he had no knowledge about the case.

"I'm glad to hear the dog's going to survive," Lake said.

(via Pet-Abuse.com)

Grysko, the accused, decided that he couldn’t take living any longer so he took his own life.

Edward Grysko, a 61-year-old Westminster man accused of striking a Parson Russell terrier dog and burying it alive in the snow last week, is thought to have committed suicide Wednesday morning, police said.

Grysko decided to end his life, in part, because of his arrest in the highly publicized animal cruelty case, police said.

Grysko was found behind his work place, General Truck and Equipment in Westminster, with a gunshot wound to the head, police said; a handgun and suicide note were left behind.

The type of gun and note’s content were not disclosed. State police did not return a call seeking comment Wednesday evening.

Grysko was “depressed and despondent” over his arrest in the animal cruelty case and the untimely death of his youngest son, which occurred two years ago, police learned through interviews with family and friends.

Grysko faced aggravated animal cruelty charges for beating the 14-year-old Parson Russell terrier early last week; according to police, he said he was angered because the dog “nipped at somebody.”

(via Pet-Abuse.com)

Walking...

Well one of Grandma's vows when she came to visit was that she would have Mikayla walking before she left. Before grandma and grandpa showed up. Mikayla only took two steps on her own and the last step was because she lost balance. Well grandma held to her vow. Mikayla is now taking up to eight steps. She is a little unsteady and cannot carry anything with her when she walks, but she has progressed more over last week.

Grandma started by having her walk whenever she was going someplace. Now whenever she is going from one place to another she is holding our hands and walking. Below is grandma and Taylor helping little miss thing into a restaurant.



So now we are gearing up for the crazy baby run throughout the house. I remember that I used to wish that she was crawling and when that day came I regretted ever saying that. Now I can't wait until she walks but I know when that day comes and she is walking all over I will regret that as well. Below is some of her first steps.

Saturday Escape...

This is my new favorite Drag Queen. I really didn't have one before, but now I do.

Enjoy:

Jackie Beat - Filthy Whore

Visit...

I forgot to mention that the parents (mine) made a visit this last week. This is why I have not been writing any post. My niece took over the office (where my computer is) and spent a great deal of time on my computer. I also wanted to spend more time with my family, so writing post got pushed to the back burner. Sorry for this, but I have much to talk about and will do so starting tomorrow or Monday. One of the biggest things is that Grandma told us she would have Mikayla doing something by the time she left and she did. I will talk about this tomorrow. Changes a coming daily with the little one - and its all good!!!

Until tomorrow - Make a Memory Every Day!!!

Rights AND Equality...

Once again we visit the reason (one of many) why Mark and I will never live in a state that does not allow (or acknowledge) that there can be a meaningful relationship between people of the same sex. On many occasions my mother (mainly) keeps asking us why we will not move back to Michigan. My father jokes that we should move back to Florida so they have someplace warm to visit during the winter months. The problem is that Florida is one of the worst states to live in if you are not heterosexual. If Mark and I stayed in Florida, yes we would have warm weather (sometimes as bad as Vermont is cold) but we would never had been "allowed" to adopt Mikayla. This is something that many people don't understand.

And its not just about adoption. Its about not being recognized as a "true" family member. Not being able to know what happened to your loved one, your significant other, your partner. That is just what happened to Eric Breidenbaugh when he had to find out that his partner of 6 years and his partner's parents were killed in a plane crash.

His partner and his partner's parents were all missing – hours overdue from a family flight aboard a small private plane.

Eric called his local airport, near Pinellas Park, Florida, to see if they had any information. They did, but they wouldn't give it to him. They said he was "not an actual family member," so they couldn't tell him whether his partner was alive or dead.

He searched the TV news, where he soon saw footage of the plane he himself had ridden in many times. That was how he found out that his life partner of six years, Joseph Bellamy, had been killed with his parents in a plane crash.

(via Miami Herald)

Here is the video from Eric:


Why is it OK for people who say they are following the "Word of God" to take away my rights? These people pick and choose what they want to follow from the Bible and ignore other parts. Let's look at some of what people are ignoring from the Bible:

Leviticus, chapter 11

7: And the swine, though he divide the hoof, and be clovenfooted, yet he cheweth not the cud; he is unclean to you.
26: The carcases of every beast which divideth the hoof, and is not clovenfooted, nor cheweth the cud, are unclean unto you: every one that toucheth them shall be unclean.

Leviticus, chapter 15

19: And if a woman have an issue, and her issue in her flesh be blood, she shall be put apart seven days: and whosoever toucheth her shall be unclean until the even.
20: And every thing that she lieth upon in her separation shall be unclean: every thing also that she sitteth upon shall be unclean.
21: And whosoever toucheth her bed shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even.
22: And whosoever toucheth any thing that she sat upon shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even.
23: And if it be on her bed, or on any thing whereon she sitteth, when he toucheth it, he shall be unclean until the even.

So your telling me that these people that believe the Bible when it comes to homosexuality, don't see anything wrong with the other sins they are committing. If you eat pork, you are unclean. While a women is menstruating she is unclean for seven days. If anyone has sex with her, they are then unclean and this is a sin against their lord! But we all know this. The problem is that people are too attached to a book that was written over two hundred years AFTER their savior, Jesus, died. You cannot pick and choose.

So back to Eric. If you want to help the Human Rights Coalition (HRC) stop bigotry, then donate today. Either your time or money.

It's simply wrong that GLBT Americans should be treated like second-class citizens, denied the right to care for their loved ones. Yet even in Eric's' own state of Florida, anti-GLBT groups won't rest. They're trying to write a ban on marriage equality into the constitution, and get right-wing voters to the polls while they're at it.

We need to strengthen our field program so we can fight this battle and others, including electing fair-minded candidates and passing key legislation. Your activism and your commitment are critical, as is the financial support so instrumental to our efforts.

Help HRC defeat anti-GLBT amendments and advance our pro-equality agenda across the country.

The coming weeks are critical. In Florida, the referendum to enshrine discrimination against GLBT couples in the constitution has officially qualified for the November ballot, and opponents are already gearing up and spending cash. A dirty campaign is likely. And in California, right-wing groups are collecting signatures for a similar measure, with a deadline of mid-April.

If either measure passes, our community could be unable to pass laws preventing heartbreaking stories like Eric Breidenbaugh's. Basic information or access to your partner denied in an emergency. Right-wing extremists that much closer to making inequality permanent nationwide.

Make a difference!!!

Blood Sugar Level...

Hi, again! I decided to write another post, so yeah....

Hi, peeps! ;D Happy Easter!

Well, for the past few days, my blood sugar's been very... odd.......

In the mornings, it'll be low, like in the 50s or 60s, then it'd shoot up to the 200s or 300s by lunch, and THEN it would drop back to normal by dinner. So, I was like, "Well, now... What the heck is up with this?" So my mom called the doctor and we had to monitor my blood sugars for three days (including midnight and 4 a.m. checks... D8 *le gasp*). We still don't know why it's doing what it is..... Odd, huh?

So.... Yeah. I found out that it takes about three hours just to go through and listen to all 43 songs (yes, I counted) on the Rent soundtrack. Since there aren't many speaking parts in the play and it's mainly singing, it's like the entire play on a CD. So I thought that was shweet. X3

Anyway, I decided to post a picture of mine that I did while waiting for the plane to take my family and I to Alabama to go on a cruise to Mexico. _w00t_

Signing out,
Taylor *salute*

It's A Vagina...

Adults are funny when it comes to talking about the body. We all have one and we all know (or should know) all the parts of the human body. If this is so, why do we make up names for our genitalia. Not names like Mr. Happy, names that make adults sound like they are three years old.

Even before Mark and I knew that we were going to have a baby girl, we talked about how we were going to raise her. We wanted to be sure that she was comfortable with her body and her decisions. The only way that I feel that she could be both was to answer her questions truthfully when asked or be open about everything that she may be dealing with. The first part of this is the understanding that she has a vagina. She doesn't have a who-who, or a va-jay-jay. She has a vagina.

I knew this silly naming of the genitalia got out of hand when our vet's tech was told that Eva had discharge from her vagina. The tech then clarified the situation by asking if there is a lot of discharge from her "who-who". It's a vagina people. I have never strayed from this. When she was only three months old and my parents were out visiting, my mother was worried that she had UTI. Mikayla wasn't upset or hurting so I told my mother that her vagina was alright. Then looked at Mikayla and said, "your vagina's fine. Isn't it?" I think I may have startled my mother, but her vagina was fine.

From Saturday Night Live. It takes a minute to load, but very funny.

Gas Prices...

Lets take a walk down memory lane. Why is it that in just seven years we have gas prices that seem to benefit only the oil companies. When Bush took office on January 20, 2001, the gas prices on a national average was $1.46/gal. Now, just seven years later we are at $3.29/gal. This is more than 125% increase!! Compounded annually, this represents about a 18% jump each year Bush has been in office.

When Clinton took office on January 20, 1993, the national average gas price was $1.06 per gallon. six and a half years later, the national average gas price had jumped to $1.22, roughly 15% higher. Compounded annually, this represents about a 2% jump each year.

Now ask yourself why prices have taken a steep climb in the last seven years. Can we blame the Iraqi war. The same didn't happen when we declared war in 1990. The problem seems to be once again the Bush administration. We have a group of people that have close ties with the oil companies. There are just too many people in the Bush administration that have their hands in the pants of the oil companies.

When the oil companies tell us that they made BILLIONS in profits over the last year and we have to pay for it, who is getting screwed. Then we have Bush telling the American people that "America is addicted to oil" (State of the Union, January 31, 2006 ) and that his administration was going to help rid us of this addiction:

To break the addiction, Mr. Bush announced new research into clean energy, including pollution-free autos and a push to make ethanol

"Breakthroughs on this and other new technologies will help us reach another great goal: to replace more than 75 percent of our oil imports from the Middle East by 2025," Mr. Bush told a joint session of Congress and a national prime-time television audience.

(via CBS News)

We need to take the next President to task and find a way to help relieve the stress of oil from the American people. We have the technology, but why haven't we created the answer? Bush and his administration helped to destroy America in many ways, the next president will have a long hard task in front of them. That is unless the next President is McCain. Then he will just follow in Bush's footsteps. God help us all if that happens.

With all that said, we are not the country that is paying the highest price for gas. How would you like to pay $4.00/gal. That is what India is paying. Still not the Highest though. Turkey is paying over $7.00/gal. Nice!

Mourning...

It's been a week since Eva left us, and I think I have finally made peace with the fact that she is gone. The hardest part of the mourning process this time was dealing with everything else that was happening around the house. Mikayla doesn't understand what happened and she still needed my attention. School for Mark and myself still had to be done. There was no where I could go or turn to have a moment to myself. The same goes for Mark.

Writing an email to my friends and family was the start of the healing process. The tribute video was not for me, but for Mark. Mark mentioned that Eva didn't look happy in her pictures. Eva rarely took a good picture. Don't get me wrong, she was a beautiful dog, but whenever the camera came out she is like Chandler from Friends taking a picture (see video):



I wanted to show Mark that Eva was very happy and that he gave her the best 13 years she could have asked for.

So here's to Eva, you will be missed!!!