Arkansas Blog

Whole Hog has a trailer out at the Bowman/Kanis intersection in WLR. I made a point of stopping and giving them business today since I no longer work downtown and can't get to Whole Hog on Cantrell for lunch anymore. I told them they need to open a restaurant in WLR. Give them your business and encourage them to get a WLR location soon!

Kansas governor signs executive order banning discrimination
Body: Kansas governor signs executive order banning discrimination in the workplace

Just in time for the federal Labor Day holiday, this morning, Kansas governor Kathleen Sebelius signed an executive order that will prohibit discrimination against GLBT state employees.

The executive order, which takes effect immediately, will protect more than 37,000 Kansas state employees from being fired due to their sexual orientation or gender identity.

Thomas Witt at the Kansas Equality Coalition, who worked with HRC on the language of the governor's executive order that was signed around 11am today, issued a press release calling this a great step of progress:

"We commend Gov. Sebelius for her commitment to fairness and equality," said Equality Coalition Chair Thomas Witt. "We have always known that Kansans are fair-minded people. We are thrilled to see the governor taking this first, important step toward bringing the most basic of rights to state workers."

Kirk Isenhour, one of HRC's political co-chairs who worked with Kansas Equality Coalition, local advocates and Gov. Sebelius during this process, relayed to us this email today on the final moments before the signing of the executive order:

It is with great pleasure that I inform you that history is being made this morning in the state of Kansas! Governor Kathleen Sebelius will be signing at 11AM CST an executive order that will prohibit discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender state employees. With this action, Kansas becomes the second state this year, and the fourth in all, with an executive order prohibiting discrimination against state employees based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

[HRC Board of Governor] Cyd Slayton, Mary Jo & I were invited to a meeting with Governor Sebelius and her staff last month to consult with her on the creation of this Executive Order. We have been asked to keep the matter confidential until the order was signed today. We were able to utilize our resources at [HRC] National through [HRC national field director] Marty Rouse and his staff to equip ourselves to consult with the Governor. As a result of the information we were provided and the timing of the Governor's order coinciding with ENDA - we were well equipped to help craft a strong executive order that you will see is one of the strongest in the country.

This was a great collaborative effort with the Kansas Equality Coalition (KEC) and we have worked with them in lock-step throughout the process to provide guidance to the Governor and 'speak from the same page'.

This great news from Kansas really helps build momentum in support of the federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) as the U.S. House prepares to take action on the legislation in the next few weeks.

The majority of America's most successful corporations have put in place employment protections for their GLBT employees - and 89% of American citizens feel that GLBT workers should have the same job opportunities as straight workers. Congress needs to step up and pass ENDA now.

http://www.hrcbackstory.org/2007/08/kansas-governor.html

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/08/30/btsc.chance.nukes/index.html

America may not be perfect, but we are different. It's largely due to a free press and a free population. You can't explode above-ground nukes in Nevada and not have someone travel to Chicago and tell cousin Norm about it. And even the MSM will probably notice, not to mention Alternatives and Blogs. Human nature is universal and eternal vigilance is still the price of freedom, but we aren't the most evil country in the world by a long, long shot.

Have a good weekend. Hug your family or a close friend (or both). DBI, for at least 15 minutes raise a glass to what we have and not what we don't. Come back on Tuesday and we can start the melee again.

WHY BATHROOM SEX IS HOT.

Aug. 31, 2007 | When Idaho Republican Sen. Larry Craig says, "I'm not gay," I believe him. But that doesn't mean he wasn't cruising for sex last June when he was arrested in a bathroom at the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport on charges of disorderly conduct. Surely any homosexual worth his capri pants saw the loopholes in Craig's televised declaration of non-gayness, amplified by the presence of his wife. Even some straight folks, wised up after the scandals of Ted Haggard and Mark Foley, must have noted that Craig did not add a qualifying phrase like, "Nor am I bisexual,"

bluename

Next time any of you just happen to be buying breath mints and are worried about forect fires, click on my name for something to help you resolve the matter.

Hillary was on Letterman last night, and she was good.
A little too laughy for my taste, but good.

Top Ten Hillary Clinton Campaign Promises

10. Bring stability and long term security to The View.

9. Each year on my birthday, every American gets a cupcake.

8. You'll have the option of rolling dice against the IRS for double-or-nothing on your taxes.

7. Having trouble getting a flight and Air Force One is available -- it's yours.

6. My vice president will never shoot anybody in the face.

5. Turn Gitmo into a Dairy Queen as soon as possible.

4. For over a century there have been only two Dakotas -- I plan to double that.

3. We will finally have a president who doesn't mind pulling over and asking for directions. Am I right, ladies?

2. I will appoint a committee to find out what the heck is happening on Lost.

1. One more pantsuit joke and Letterman disappears

MSNBC....17 year old Ark. boy, from the '82 Craig scandal, has a lawyer and coming
out with his story again in light of this latest scandal.
I made a mess of this....trying to listen & type at same time, doesn't work for me.

Gay history on view at the Smithsonian

A collection of artifacts from renowned gay activist Frank Kameny is now on display in the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.
The Frank Kameny Collection includes such objects as the protest signs from the 1960s demonstrations in Washington and Philadelphia, gay rights buttons with Kameny's famous phrase "Gay Is Good" and a photograph of protesters picketing in front of the White House on Oct. 23, 1965, which Kameny helped organize.

"This is the first time the Smithsonian has ever included displays of gay civil rights artifacts," said Bob Witeck, CEO of Witeck-Combs Communications, Inc. "This exhibit gives (the gay rights) story equal treatment alongside other movements."

Kameny's artifacts will rest in the "Treasures of American History" exhibit alongside such historic American objects as the Greensboro, N.C., lunch counter from the 1960 desegregation protest, the ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in "The Wizard of Oz," Abraham Lincoln's top hat and Thomas Edison's light bulb.

The Smithsonian describes "Treasures of American History" as representing "the breadth of American history . . . conveying the significance of each object as a treasure of American history."

Other objects in this case, titled the New Acquisitions of the National Museum of American History, include a pair of boxing gloves worn and signed by Joe Louis from his fight against Max Schmeling, a teapot reading "No Stamp Act" and a rare photograph of a freed slave wearing an American flag.

The exhibit closes Oct. 29. (The Advocate)

Theo - I have it on good authority that DBI is hoisting a glass as we speak. And it is half full.

i heard someone on the radio talking about an old law that says that senators and reps cannot be arrested on the way to or from the way to do their duty. he had voted that morning and probably could have gotten off of the charge if he had talked to a lawyer or had an ounce of intelligence. the fear of those idiots is what got him.

I noticed the Arkansas Times has had nothing to say at all over the Norman Hsu financial fiasco that Hillary and Mark Pryor are wrapped up in.

Wonder why that is ?

It's hard to believe he's been gone 17 years this week.

Stevie Ray Vaughn and Double Trouble perform Texas Flood (9:45) in Toronto, 1983.

A very good reason for saying nothing and why there is no big splash about Hsu & Clinton is that most reports on the matter, whether benign or malign, are just speculation at this point, according to the web site I checked (click on name).

Scarlet, the freeway blogger, reports the Bay Bridge will be closed this weekend.. for her "It's just like the SuperBowl"

party favors at my name

Creep of the Week: Family Council of Arkansas
By D'Anne Witkowski
Originally printed 08/30/2007 (Issue 1535 - Between The Lines News)

Family Council of Arkansas

There's a line in Ernest Hemingway's "The Sun Also Rises" that comes to mind whenever I read about right-wing ploys to ban gay and lesbian couples from adopting children: "Isn't it pretty to think so?"

Without going into a heap of literary analysis, it can be loosely interpreted to mean, "If only real life was the same as the fantasy life in my head."

In the fantasy world the Family Council of Arkansas operates in, all children are born to happily married heterosexual couples and live in a home where the woman has a juicy pot roast on the table by the time the man comes home from work. After dinner they play Scattergories: Bible Edition and thank God that icky homosexuals aren't snatching away foster children from good heterosexual families like them (not that this particular fantasy family has any foster children, but still).

It's a world that doesn't exist. Sure, a few families may live like this, but they're the exception, not the rule. Which is why legislation based on FCA's fantasy world is so reckless.

On Aug. 23, the FCA took the first steps to get a ballot proposal on the November 2008 general election ballot. According to the Arkansas News Bureau, the proposal would prevent children from being adopted or placed in a foster home "if the individual seeking to adopt or to serve as a foster parent is cohabiting with a sexual partner outside of a marriage which is valid under the constitution and laws of this state."

This proposal comes on the heels of an unsuccessful bid before the state legislature to ban gays from being adoptive or foster parents. In other words, the FCA is widening its scope and seeking to limit the pool of prospective foster families even further.

You see, FCA's bid to specifically ban gays from adopting had, to put it mildly, "constitutional problems." The Arkansas Supreme Court said as much.

Jerry Cox, president of the Arkansas Family Council, said the new proposal manages to fix the problem by going after a larger group of "sinners."

"As we studied the issue, we realized that we could accomplish pretty much everything that needed to be done by simply addressing the issue of cohabitation rather than bringing in 'heterosexual' or 'homosexual,' either one," Cox told the Arkansas News Bureau. "The best place for a child to grow up is in a stable home with a mother and father. That's the ideal situation. If the state of Arkansas is going to go out and deliberately create families, they ought to create good ones."

Because all it takes to make a "good" family is married heterosexuals. And if kids have to languish in the overburdened foster care system in order to land one of these spots, so be it.

Of course, if they don't ever get placed they can always set out on their own as 18 year-old adults who've never known a stable home. But at least they won't have had to suffer the indignity of living with a couple of fornicators.

TV news outlets focused on Clinton fundraiser Hsu but ignored Romney finance co-chair Fabian's indictment for fraud

http://mediamatters.org/items/200709010002

Between August 28 and August 31, NBC, CNN, and Fox News all aired reports or discussions on Norman Hsu, the Democratic donor known for being a top contributor and fundraiser to the campaigns of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY). The Los Angeles Times reported on August 29 that, in 1991, Hsu "pleaded no contest to grand theft, agreed to serve up to three years in prison and then seemed to vanish. 'He is a fugitive,' Ronald Smetana, who handled the case for the state attorney general, said in an interview." The previous day, The Wall Street Journal had suggested that Hsu may have funneled illegal campaign contributions to Clinton by reimbursing people for contributions made to Clinton under their names. However, there is no evidence that any candidate or committee who received money from Hsu knew anything about the controversies surrounding him, and many campaigns that received money from Hsu -- including Clinton's -- have since said they will donate it to charity. On August 31, Hsu turned himself in to authorities in California. The August 29 edition of CNN's The Situation Room, for example, teased the story with a picture of Clinton with the caption: "Fugitive Link."

By contrast, when Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's national finance committee co-chairman, Alan B. Fabian was, according to an August 9 Associated Press article, "charged in a 23-count indictment unsealed Thursday [August 9] with mail fraud, money laundering, bankruptcy fraud, perjury and obstruction of justice," NBC, CNN, and Fox News did not air reports or discussions about it during programs available in the Nexis database. The AP reported that Fabian "allegedly ran a scheme to make $32 million in false purchases of computer equipment, spending the money instead on beach real estate and private jet travel." Fabian resigned from Romney's finance committee shortly after being indicted, and the Romney campaign said it would return Fabian's $2,300 contribution, but not, however, "contributions from donors who were recruited by or have ties to Fabian," as The Boston Globe reported. While Fabian's indictment has generated some print coverage, it has resulted in no television coverage on news shows airing on NBC, CNN, or prime-time shows broadcast on Fox News, according to a Nexis database search conducted by Media Matters for America on August 31.

Fabian, a former Bush Pioneer, has also made donations to other Republican candidates and committees, including to Rudy Giuliani, according to the Federal Election Commission's searchable donor database. Giuliani's campaign said it would return Fabian's contribution. At least one other campaign did not immediately return the money. The Hill reported on August 15: "'We have no intention of returning the contribution,' said Matt Leffingwell, spokesman for [Rep. Jon] Porter [R-NV], who received nearly $1,500 from Fabian in 2004. 'Until the individual is convicted in a court of law, we don't return contributions.' " Fabian's arraignment is scheduled for Sept. 28.

According to Media Matters' review, the following shows included reports on or discussions about Hsu, but none reported or discussed Fabian:

CNN Newsroom, August 31
CNN's American Morning, August 31
CNN's The Situation Room, August 30
NBC's Nightly News with Brian Williams, August 30
CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight, August 30
Fox News' Special Report with Brit Hume, August 30
NBC's Today, August 30
American Morning, August 30
Fox News' Hannity & Colmes, August 29
Special Report, August 29
Fox News' The Big Story with John Gibson, August 29
The Situation Room, August 29

Well, here on the eve of the Hogs kicking off the 2007 season, let's see what, if anything, I can stir up. (It's been quiet too long.) So, here's a sample of a much larger ongoing cyber conversation among a large group of fans. The names of writers and recipients have been removed, because their identities are not important, and besides, I don't want any of 'em to hunt me down and try to whip my ass for posting this.

----- Original Message -----

From:
To:
Sent: Sunday, August 26, 2007
Subject:

I couldn't just sit back and not say anything. I know (xxxx) and several other people mean well. I just wanted to let some of you know that the "Springdale 5" weren't as perfect as a lot of you think. My son was (on the team). No, he wasn't a star player, but he attended all the practices and games. He did not have a hard time not playing all the time. We didn't have a problem with him not playing a lot. He was part of the team. Win or lose! We supported him if he was on the bench or on the field.

I just want to mention some of the things that I know went on from the "Springdale 5" and believe me. I am just going to mention a few. During the "Springdale 5's" senior year. Several of the senior parents went to a lot of expense and time to make yard signs for each player after winning conference to place in their yard. Not just for the "Springdale 5". For each varsity player! They put them in the locker room for the boys to take home. Well, some of the "Springdale 5" went into the locker room and destroyed most of them. They used them as swords. When they were told to clean it up, they had the nerve to put the trash in the back of one of the players that his parents helped make them.

Do you think they go into trouble? If they were not the "Springdale 5". I am sure that they would have been in big trouble from coaches, parents and principals. All they had to do was run a little. They were allowed to treat several of the other players terrible. I know if one of my children had done something like that. They wouldn't have to worry about the coaches or principals. They would have to worry about their punishment from their parents.

They were allowed to throw tantrums on and off the field. I am not saying it was all of the "Springdale 5", but it was the majority. Does anyone really know all the other trouble they caused and got away with? How many times did they get to miss practice and not get into trouble? How were their grades and behavior in the classroom? The Springdale football coaches had one set of rules for the "Springdale 5" and one set for the rest of the team! Remember it takes more than 5 to win a football game!

You say Gus answered you're e-mail very quickly. I know I e-mailed him several times while my son was on the football team. I never once got a response back from him. All we heard were about the "Springdale 5". How many players are on a football team? Not just 5! It took the entire team to win conference and state. You know most of these 5 played for several years together. Of course they were going to play well together. So did all the other players on the team.

I can't really say what they were all promised when they went to Arkansas to play. I really don't care. I know they were spoiled brats at Springdale. Which wasn't their fault. They were held so high by the school, parents, media, etc. So I think when they got to college with the big boys they didn't know how to act. They had to start from the bottom again. They didn't know how to do that. I know that some of the things that were done to Mitch were not very nice. But can he and his mom remember some of the things that he did while in high school and got away with.

One last thing. I think if you are a true Razorback fan you would stick with them. Win or lose, good times or bad! I think this is true for anything we do in life.

(durangokid will buy a whole bucket of that last paragraph. GO HOGS!)

Damn, hit the wrong button trying to put in the URL. Let me start over:

A very good reason for saying nothing and why there is no big splash about Hsu & Clinton is that most reports on the matter, whether benign or malign, are just speculation at this point, according to the web site I checked (click on name).

If there is any wrongdoing, it seems fairly clear that Clinton and other Democratic candidates who have received contributions from him are in the clear. All have donated his contributions to charity.

This doesn't even come close in comparison with the Wayne Dumond story or the Lord's Ranch story, in which there are documents and sources showing that Huckabee's version of the facts has strayed from the truth on many occasions (Dumond) or that those suspected of dubious services won't cooperate with reporters or authorities in revealing the truth (Lord's Ranch).

Huckabee has shit in his pants and tried to convince everyone around him that he's not connected to the nasty odor they smell while someone near Hillary has farted and the window has already been opened to clear out the room.

"Get your facts first and then you can distort them as much as you please." - Mark Twain

GOP Officials: Craig to Resign Saturday

Aug 31 06:55 PM US/Eastern
By JOHN MILLER
BOISE, Idaho

Idaho Republican Sen. Larry Craig will resign from the Senate amid a furor over his arrest and guilty plea in a police sex sting in an airport men's room, Republican officials said Friday.
Craig will announce at a news conference in Boise Saturday morning that he will resign effective Sept. 30, four state GOP officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The announcement follows by just five days the disclosure that he had pleaded guilty Aug. 1 to a reduced misdemeanor charge arising out of his arrest June 11 at the Minneapolis airport.

The three-term Republican senator had maintained that he did nothing wrong except for making the guilty plea without consulting a lawyer. But he found almost no support among Republicans in his home state or Washington.

Idaho Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter appeared Friday to have already settled on a successor: Lt. Gov. Jim Risch, according to several Republicans familiar with internal deliberations.

Craig has been out of public view since Tuesday, but Republican sources in Idaho said he spent Friday making calls to top party officials, including the governor, gauging their support.

There has been virtually none publicly.

Asked Friday at the White House if the senator should resign, President Bush said nothing and walked off stage.

Republican officeholders and party leaders maintained a steady drumbeat of actions and words aimed at persuading Craig to vacate his Senate seat.

GOP lawmakers, hoping to get the embarrassment to the party behind them quickly, stripped Craig of leadership posts on Wednesday, one day after they called for an investigation of Craig's actions by the Senate Ethics Committee. Craig complied with the request.

With his wife, Suzanne, at his side, he said he had kept the incident from aides, friends and family and later pleaded guilty "in hopes of making it go away."

Craig, 62, has represented Idaho in Congress for more than a quarter- century and was up for re-election next year.

Republican officeholders and party leaders wanted Craig to give up his seat in the Senate as soon as possible. Their preference, according to several officials, was for a successor to be selected and ready to take the oath of office when the Senate returns from its summer vacation next week.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell called Craig's conduct "unforgivable" and acknowledged that many in the rank and file thought Craig should resign.

Republicans, worried about the scandal's effect on next year's election, suffered a further setback Friday when veteran Virginia Sen. John Warner announced he will retire rather than seek a sixth term. Democrats captured Virginia's other Senate seat from the GOP in the 2006 election and have sought to line up former Gov. Mark Warner to run if the seat became open.

The contest for control of the next Senate was already tilted against Republicans, who must defend 22 of 34 seats on the ballot next year, before the Craig scandal and Warner's announcement.

With a GOP candidate other than Craig, Republicans would stand a much better chance of keeping his Idaho seat in 2008.

Idaho is one of the nation's most reliably Republican states. The GOP controls the statehouse and all four seats in Congress, and Bush carried the state in 2004 with 68 percent of the vote.

Cartoon time. Click on Cato

Durango,

That letter sounded like a whining momma to me.

My kid this, my kid that, why doesn't the whole city gush about my kid like they do the Springdale 5?

My kid doesn't complain if he doesn't get to play all the time like the Springdale 5. (maybe your kid sucks and knows it and would be very embarrassed if he knew you were whining about him!)

Maybe the Springdale 5 were pretty good, they seem to have persuaded top notch programs to accept them such as USC. Do you remember a score somthing like 700 to 4 about a year ago right about this time?

Good one, Cato.

Someone explain to me why we should bail out homeowners who didn't have sense enough to figure out the their mortgage payments would go UP, UP, UP in a few years when they got an ARM. Someone explain to me why folks with two or three hefty car loans and credit cards nearly maxed out think that their low credit score is the fault of the credit reporting agencies. Then you know they had to get all new furniture and knick knacks for that new home -- just couldn't bring all that old stuff into a new house, no sirree. And don't forget the boat, the his, hers and junior four-wheelers, the motor home, the monthly jaunt to the "boats" and that yearly cruise on the Love Boat.
Tighten your belt? Pack your lunch? Cook (gasp!)? Get rid of the kiddie's cell phone and 200 channels of TV (double gasp!)?
Nope, tain't gonna happen. Someone get GeorgieBoy on the horn. I got this little rocket for him (and Congress): I don't want to pay for these folks' dumb mistakes.
On the other hand, I still see ads that advertise a quarter million buck loan with payments less than $1000 a month. It's amazing how many folks fall for that BS. Since it doesn't look like many folks are going to get any smarter real soon, I say this is where the government needs to step in.
There's a phrase, truth-in-lending, that's ricocheting around in my head. Seems like that concept got lost somewhere. I'd say we need a massive dose of it, pronto.

Anyone ever bothered to look in the closets of these people over at Family Council? I mean with the David Vitter & Larry Craig scandals coupled with Mark Foley & Ted Haggard, chances are......

Oops.

Justice department looking into Hsu's alledged straw contributors. Mums the word from Clinton and Pryor.

Follow the money, I mean link.

Check the FC Closets? Sorry Drew, you would have been disappointed. No sequins on the shirts, no platform shoes, just regular old normal-person clothes.

I heard a rumor that Asa was next in line to be named U.S. Attorney General. Any truth to the rumor?

citizen home i am at the point that i hope we never have to put up with the fans from springdale again. the parents of a college football player do not publically bitch. the citizens of a town do not threaten boycotts because their high school coach moved to assistant is moved along slowly. he went from high school to the toughest confrence in the country and should have been glad. we should not have had to have bowed to springdale because we had the privelege to have him and his golden babies step on campus. parents of freshmen do not go to athletic directors complaning that freshmen don't start, if they had done that to bear bryant it would have happened different. he would have had the manager throw the kids clothes in an alley without telling him he was kicked off the team. as for them going to good schools, mustain went to usc but he is one of 6 really good quarterbacks, i wish him well but he has a lot of competition. we will now find out how good he is. gus won last night so he got off to a good start at tu so good for him.

I spent the day loading Ma up and moving her into a rest home with more mixed feelings than I have hairs on my head. Truly, the 3rd act of my life begins tomorrow.

Radiating positive thoughts your way DBI; hang in there. . . .

hugh we need start a little music on weekend open lines like other blogs. levon doing chest fever. i saw a magazine raving about his improvement from throat cancer. god bless em'.

i am sorry. ignore the previous post. i didn't listen beforehand and it is short and bad. this one, atlantic city is recent and shows levon being able to sing again.

Yes indeed, good vibrations in Deeb's direction.

zonker, I enjoyed both of those Levon clips. Perhaps you missed a clip I put up at 8:12 on this thread. It got kindly buried. Buckle up, though.

>>But as Redstate notes, that was only a portion of the amount that he has given to her. In fact the Wall Street Journal reported that Norman Hsu has raised over $1 million for Hillary's Presidential campaign, "Earlier this year, he co-hosted a fund-raiser that raised $1 million for Mrs. Clinton at the Beverly Hills, Calif., home of billionaire Ron Burkle"<<
Citizens Journal.

Note how wingnuts create scandal. Read the link from CJ post. the key word is not donated or given, the key word is "raised." Nowhere do we see evidence that the million plus was "given" or donated to HRC campaign.

Btw CJ, how's about I ask some 'dealers' to sell a couple of kilos so to "raise" money for your website?
When they get busted think of the scandal you could be in.
Makes just as much sense.
.

Why not take it from Doris Chandler Duke, a former ambassador and a major Clinton supporter who said, "The man may be cleared of all charges and it could blow out to sea, but in the meantime, you don't want to be associated with any donations that might be dishonorable."

Or from Former Bill Clinton strategist Hank Sheinkopf who said, "They've taken money from criminals in the past; now we learn that Sen. Clinton took money from people when they don't know where their money came from -- bundled money from a convicted felon. That ain't good."

It ain't good, no creating scandal here.

Been there, DBI, and know the feeling. But there may be more positives than you can calculate right now. Citizen home, I agree about the whining; but in this case, it was a whining dad! And I do recall that 700-4 score. zonker, let's hope lots of lessons were learned from "the Springdale thing," and that those mistakes won't ever be repeated. Here's wishing a good Labor Day Weekend to all.

Reality. Click on Cato

CJ, you must be brain dead. Didn't you read that all Hsu's donations to Democratic candidates had been contributed to charity?

Man, you are so pathetic with your aborted facts. If you're going to get this chicken to fly, it had better flap its wings a helluva lot harder 'cause it aint gonna make it.

My heart goes out to you, DBI. I've been there and know how wrenching it is to have to make that decision. But as you well know, sometimes the care our loved ones need far exceeds our ability to provide. You know you've made the best decision for everyone involved. In time your head will overrule your heart. I promise.

hugh i saw your stevie ray post and enjoyed it so much that i put up one my self.

DBI, I've been there too and I know how you feel.

that decision was made much easier for me when I found a lit cigarette in an ashtray in my mother's bed..........which is bad enough, but she was in the living room at the time.

I figured if I waited for a more obvious sign from God, He might smite me with a big rock or send mike huckabee to live with me or something.

Im sure you knew the time was right. And you have to take care of yourself, and mrs. dbi, too, or you can't take care of your mother at all.

I feel your pain here, I really do, but you must know you have made the right decision. instead of beating yourself up for finally putting your mother in a nursing home, why not pat yourself on the back for keeping her out of one for so long?

DBI, though I rarely post comments, I read the Ark Times Blog faithfully and have been for over a year. I have been both intrigued and touched by your love, care and committment to your "Ma". So, though I don't know you personally, I am deeply saddened by the difficult decision you obviously have had to make in regards to her need for coninuous care. Please know that you are in my thoughts and prayers (to Allah or Whomever...wink, smile). And you should not have to wonder about at least one thing; you are a good man and a good son. Thanks for letting us see some of these things about you through your writing.

BabyBear

DBI, sometimes a cliche becomes a cliche because it really is true; so I'm going to invoke one now: all you can do is all you can do. Sometimes dealing with an elderly parent seems for all the world like Iraq -- there are no good choices, just less bad ones, and plenty of guilt whatever you do. But, any fair-minded person knows you to be someone who would do no less than the best you possibly could for your mother. And your mother, whatever her present state of mind, must be a wonderful person -- she gave us you. And although we don't hear so much about them, there are some very fine nursing homes out there with kind, caring and capable employees; and you are obviously bright enough and full of enough piss and vinegar to make sure that is what your mother gets.

That's the nicest I will ever be to you, so enjoy it; now suck it up and get back to helping us insult the obnoxious repubs. So many foot-tapping hypocrites -- so little time.

DBI,

Praying for you and for calm for your heart to know that you did the right thing.

I am nearing the same decision and dreading it every day. We told my mother she couldn't drive anymore last month. For all the correctness of the decision and the steps we took to ensure her freedom to continue her her life her way, I admit to a leaden heart and a lot of guilt.

Perhaps that is the price of being an adult and a loving son.

P.S. Good one, Cato! I shudder at how true it is.

Thanks Hugh Mann for the reminder, I was listening to SRV on the road today.

I'm giving the CD to my great niece. She was born in 1989 (one year before the helicopter crash) and is starting at UAF. She likes blues, but had never heard or heard of Stevie. Perhaps, she's being polite, but she claims she likes some of the "moldy oldies" I have in my music collection.

Thanks people....your pixel friendship means a lot to me, especially since I have been nailed to the floor for nearly 3 years. Day 2 went well, but I know it will take a week or two to actually realize she isn't in my living room setting fire to everything like tina's mother. I found Ma at 3 am about a month ago, sound asleep with a cigarette that had burned thru the covers and was making its way thru her Depends.

I actually stood there for a minute and thought maybe my point would be made much clearer if I let her get burned. But of course....I couldn't do that and the next day she told me I must have dreamed it. At least now I'm pretty sure she and I won't go in a big house fire.

Anyway thanks again for the kind words and thoughts.

Late to this thread, but wanted to say you did the right thing, DBI. It can get to that point where it takes a crew to keep an eye on someone. It's just too much for a family to do it, unless it's a very big family.

Now you can put your time with her into quality bonding and loving time, without so much anxiety what could happen if you don't pay constant attention.