Arkansas Blog

I think this open line should be used to continue the conversation with that nice Lumberjack fellow, who proclaims to be from the promised land of California. He and Muddlingthrough had a really interesting dialogue going on the "Gay Bashing" thread, that's about to get bumped off the site. Lumberjack, who, as I said, proclaims to be from California, doesn't seem to like Arkansas much, but he sure spent a lot of time hanging around here. I don't think his real name is "Lumberjack", though. I think it is Tom Joad.

Yeah, Rick, I figure ole Tom (aka LumberJack) is right out of The Grapes of Wrath, having went out to Mexifornia with Pa, Ma, Casey, Uncle John, and the rest of the Joads back in the '30s. You'll recall that Tom got ta actin' strange after they got out there, but Pa told Uncle John not to worry, that t'wernt nuthin' wrong with Tom except "his nuts is a drivin' him crazy." Looks like they still is.

Yep, Kid. But keep in mind that I ain't shore this here is Tom. Could be Noah. Seems to be a bit on the odd side like him. And a might irritable sometimes. He's right proud he lives out yonder in the promised land though.
I hope we can find out who he is for sure, so we can send him an Arkansas license plate to put on his truck next time he drives through. Don't seem right for people to be pickin' on him just 'cause he's got teeth.

Ealier this week I went home to visit my parents. Mom's Alzheimer problems were much worse and I had trouble dealing with it. So, I went to the Arkansas Alzheimer's agency and got some literature and stuff to help with some of the problems we're going through. One of the items given to me was a catalog called The Alzheimer's Store.
A few minutes ago I leafed through it out of curiosity. I came to an item for a very simplified TV remote (channel, volume buttons and on/off only). I jokingly mentioned it to my wife since she complains often about how complex TV remotes are nowadays.
As I looked further, I saw adult bibs, activity pillows, a handyman's box "full of interesting, shiny latches, hasps, knobs, doors, and compartments," baby dolls, teddy bears and other stuffed animals, conversation picture cards, DVDs about puppies and kittens and farm animals and pretty gardens, and....

I closed the catalog, thought of my mom and these items and I cried. I'm crying now as I think about it again. Soon I'll dry the tears and read the other things they gave me. I really don't want to look at that catalog again.

Jake, that is moving. I'm sorry for you. I really am. I know so many people going through tough medical times right now. I am experiencing some of the stuff you are going through. I don't know your beliefs in God, but if you don't mind, I'll say a prayer for you. It will make me feel better, if nothing else.

Jake, I'm saddened to read about your mom's situation, and know it's a tremendous burden on you, your dad, and the entire family. Both of my parents moved to the great beyond without being taken to the ground by this disease, for which I will always be grateful.

I have not read it, but a good friend, an RN, says that Frank Broyles' little book (I think it's called "the Playbook" or something like that, and I believe it's available free of charge) is surprisingly good and has been quite helpful to family and caregivers of those who have Alzheimer's. As you may know, Broyles was a major caregiver for his late wife who suffered for years from Alzheimer's.

All the best to you and your entire family as you face this troublesome and frightening malady.

Jake, I'm sorry to hear about your mother. My father had Alzheimer's, but he had other medical problems that ended his life before he reached the worst stages. I hope the new drugs that are being developed will help her. I wish I knew something wise and helpful to say to you. As DH said, if you don't mind we will keep you in our thoughts and prayers. The strength you have shown on this blog, patiently and eloquently responding to attacks on the public schools, will hold you and your family in good stead.

"You people are really nuts!"

Waitress lays it on reporters. click on Cato

Thanks. Prayers are always welcome and appreciated. Someday I'll get to meet you guys and thank you in person and enjoy a visit with you. Give LJ from California a little more hell if he shows back up and good luck to you guys cheering on your HS football teams during the playoffs.

I've got miles to go.....

I think I speak for all when I say, you're welcome, Jake. My LR Central Tigers are out of it, so I don't have much to cheer about tonight.

Yep, Cato, the media are totally out of control (OK, nuts!), seems to me. Nothing unusual about that when politics is at the fore. And when is politics not at the fore?

Speaking of Hillary, USA Today ran a story yesterday about the latest USA Today/Gallup Poll. According to it, more than eight in 10 Republicans and more than half the married men say they definitely wouldn't vote for Hillary for president. And 36% of women wouldn't vote for her. Hillary's unfavorable rating in the poll was 45%, vs. 30% for Obama and 31% for Edwards.

Overall, 43% in the poll would not vote for Hillary. Top reasons: They don't like her, her husband or her views. Hillary, who tops national polls of Democrats, is strongest within her party, of course.

The new poll found that she would defeat Giuliani in a hypothetical match up. Still, some Democrats wonder whether she's potentially unelectable or a drag on candidates lower on the ballot. Interesting.

Jake, I'm so sorry to hear about your Mom. You do have miles to go. I won't go into the details but I lost both of my parents to this dreaded disease about 12 years ago. They both had other medical problems as well and it was not a fun time and being an only child my life became a living hell.

You will be in my thoughts as you travel this road.

What I could add to this thread that would help Jake is .... limited, other than to say my prayers are with he and his family.
If I might, may I offer the following and request comment: Dane Cook is the most overrated, un-funny, flash in the pan (a'la pet rock) comedian going. Is anyone with me? Please explain to me why this putz is famous. I'm sorry, I don't get him. And the mere thought... God help me... that because he's been on SNL and been in a movie he might be mentioned in the same breath with Pryor, Belushi, Martin , Murray, Hedberg, and on and on, just makes me sick.

Blogger's Choice Awards nominations for 2008 are already open, if anyone's interested in promoting this very blog--go, register (painless), and vote! Also, the owners of this site could stop by and "claim" it...just sayin'. This should be the URL to copy/paste and vote for the Arkansas Blog in the Best Political Blog category:

http://www.bloggerschoiceawards.com/blogs/show/33542

While you're there, you can nominate or vote for other blogs you enjoy...I recommend this one, "Notes To Self," from a Newfoundland ex-pat now living in Hillcrest, Kyran Pittman--trust me, she's BRILLIANT--nominated in the "Blogitzer" (award for best writing) category:

http://www.bloggerschoiceawards.com/blogs/show/33541

Let's get some quality Arkansas blogs nominated, then vote early and often! (Actually, you can only vote once, but if we get started early, we'll have plenty of time to spread the word!)

But yesterday was unusually inane. A waitress at an Iowa diner noted that Hillary Clinton and her campaign aides had recently stopped by, but didn't leave a tip. NPR picked up on the "story,"
posted by Cato.

Surprising that the same damn story from 10 years ago is being recycled. No, not surprising just the Rethuglican Attack Machine checking in early for work. Surprised you fell for it Cato.

ARK. BLOG: The story was also wrong. They left a $100 tip. The waitress interviewed by NPR didn't know it. She was interviewed later by the NY Times and said the press was just nuts for focusing on this skind of stuff in first place.

........................A Brand New D-Day ...........

Mark your calendar! 11/07/07 - Today is D-Day, the date the history books will record the start-date of the new Depression. Ironic - those "lucky numbers". It's not hyperbole, and here's why (never mind the 400 point Dow drop, that's happened before):

The Chinese had begun a sell-off of their US securities. They have dollars held by their government and, separately by their treasury (like the Fed).

Today, that entity has made clear that they will be unloading some $400 billion, which they already began in August (according to the China Daily, they sold off $9 billion - without buying any new debt in that month alone) in an attempt to divest of American Government securities. (They still hold over a trillion dollars of, well, other dollars - stock, corporate paper, etc)

The Japanese, not to be outdone, sold off some $24 billion in US treasuries in August.

bluename

My prayers are with you Jake. My grandfather, my uncle, my aunt...all suffered from this tragic disease.
Just hang in there.

My prayers are with you Jake. My grandfather, my uncle, my aunt...all suffered from this tragic disease.
Just hang in there.

God bless you, Jake. I, too, will say a prayer for you.

Jake, I add my voice to those expressing support for you. I dealt with a similar decline in my mother for the last 10 years of her life. It would be false if I told you I know what you're going through, but I can say that I know a version of what you're going through.

If I can offer any advice, it would be to remember to take care of yourself as you deal with her needs. Watching a loved one lose mental presence is excruciating and it takes more out of us than we realize while we're being strong for them.

I also learned to let myself feel what I felt when I felt it, and not apologize for the feelings. After her doctor insisted that I stop providing home care and place her in a care center, I'd visit there every day or so. Some days, I left in tears. Other days, she'd say or do something that made me chuckle--and I learned not to feel guilty for chuckling. She was far out of it, and would laugh with me.

Some days, I left furious at the nursing home, who did their best to take care of her, but never provided the kind of care I gave at home and would have liked to continue giving, had her gerontologist let me do so.

It's not easy. My thoughts and prayers are with you.

Rick and durango, thanks for proposing that the "conversation" on that now defunct thread about ENDA was worthwhile. I must admit, I did learn some things from the interaction.

Had it not been for LumberJack, I would have been blissfully unaware of the personality who is, I now discover, his mentor: one Michael Savage. After LumberJack mentioned him, I went to his website and to Media Matters' website, since they have incurred his wrath and monitor him and his noxious, slimy attempts to interject hatred into practically any discussion of issues of social import in our nation today. Or so I have concluded after a cursory reading of his and Media Matters' materials.

I also learned the source of LumberJack's "facts" about CDC statistics re: the longevity of gay men, AIDS, and the homosexual mafia. It's talk radio. And as we all know, if they say it on talk radio, it has to be true. They wouldn't say it otherwise.

A choice quote from Michael Savage, from a July 3 broadcast of his program "Savage Nation," as transcribed at the Media Matters website: "Most of the country is in this kind of dozy, lazy, sleepy business as usual. I don't blame you. I don't blame you for wanting to pretend America is what it was when your father was in this country. No, it's not your father's America. It is not your father's America at all. The radical Islamists are amongst us. They are in cahoots with the radical leftists. They are vigilant and they work 24/7. The radical left, the homosexual mafia, and the Islamists are all working together to undermine talk radio to begin with."

Soooo, I learn from this quote that 1) only our fathers (not our mothers and sisters) count when we look backwards, which means that 2) Savage's audience is most likely angry white men who feel they are in danger of losing control of "their" women and everything else in the new America, 3) these folks need someone to blame and hate on as they deal with their rage, 4) radical leftists, the homosexual mafia, and Islamists are all to blame, and 5) their ultimate goal is to shut down talk radio.

Fascinating! Living in the sheltered little backward state of Arkansas, I've been blissfully unaware of the important things going on in the world around me. Silly me for thinking that AIDS is, worldwide, predominantly a disease of heterosexuals, so that it makes no sense any longer to blame a homosexual mafia on the prevalance of AIDS. In fact, silly me for even doubting the existence of some kind of organized homosexual mafia, or of gangs of fearsome lesbians riding motorcycles, wearing pink, and assaulting teens in big cities--a scare I think Bill O'Reilly got spinning earlier this year.

Silly me for not listening to angry white men on talk radio and learning the real "facts" about the world beyond my little study. Silly me for taking part, all unknowingly, in an organized mafia-like conspiracy to shut down that scintillating source of little-known "facts" and hard-hitting political analysis that is talk radio.

It does intrigue me that so many of the bloggers on that thread were beaming into our little state from "outside," including from Topeka. I gather that people "outside" think we need to be educated. And they are kindly offering to educate us.

Which must mean, they're afraid we're not going to be predictably hateful and homophobic as time goes on. They are nervous they can't count on us as they can our sister Southern states where hating on others is perhaps more advanced. As we well know, Arkansas has often gone its own refractory, cantankerous way. These are folks who want to keep us in the red column, and who don't hesitate to try to stir up ugly social hatred to do so.

What fools we'd be if any of us keep listening to them. As LumberJack has made abundantly clear, they don't really care about us or our state. They despise us. They want to use us. Ironically, if there's any "mafia" out there or organized conspiracy of the kind LumberJack keeps trying to sketch in gay land, it's their conspiracy--a conspiracy to commit hatred in this green and pleasant land.

These are folks who are apparently not educated enough to realize that, when we make the pie higher, everybody benefits. When more and more people have access to fulfilling jobs regardless of skin color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, and so on, we all benefit from the outpouring of their gifts and talents. When more and more of us have access to good educations and health care, we all benefit from the increasing health and critical awareness of our citizenry. When states open the doors to creative new folks by enhancing education and the quality of life and by removing prejudice-laden obstacles to the pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness, we all benefit.

Make the pie higher, LumberJack. You'll still get your share of it, and you may be surprised by what some of those homos out there offer you by way of cultural and intellectual enrichment, when you stop hating on them and start loving them. Heck, you may eventually learn why you're so fixated on them and what they do in bed, and why you seem so nervous about your own masculinity that you chose that LumberJack handle, or why your freres on that thread needed to use manly men names like bigdog, etc., to convince us they are true-blue men, straight arrows aimed at the right targets.

We just got through putting in a ramp from my mom up in Springdale, Jake, something I thought I'd never have to do. You've got my sympathy.

As for the Hillary tip story, I agree that's been overblown, but on the other hand, Dan Coody has a reputation as a stiff among Fayetteville restaurant workers---not at political functions, just as a human being out for dinner with the wife--and frankly, that's a dealbreaker for me. A man who has enough money to eat out and chooses not to tip is not going to follow policies friendly to working people. (Such a man is also human scum, but that's a different story.)

Thanks again guys. I spent more time ast night looking through the books (36-hour Day & the Broyles book) and a booklet (driving & dementia) as well as short help sheets. It's like arming yourself for battle. As you vets of this experience know, you can train all you want and prepare yourself as much as possible, but it still doesn't make the agony or trouble from getting to you now and then.
My wife's mom also had Alzheimers and she has been a great help to me about this. The roughest part has been the false memories, the suspicions, and the paranoia she's going through. She has said the meanest things about her own mother, my dad, and many of our relatives and friends. Dad's afraid that she will say something entirely inappropriate to her Sunday School class; we're worried she'll get in her car and cause an accident when she's driving.
I'm learning that I need to respond to what the disease is doing to her and not react to what it is causing her to say. Again, I'm finding lots of answers in the Alzheimer's material. Practicing it will be the key. Living with it will be a constant battle and test. I'll be meeting with a support group later this month.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts and experiences. They have helped a lot and are geratly appreciated.

Jake

Jake, I can tell you from personal experience that the support group route really does help. Since I had both a mother and aunt in declining health at the same time, and was providing primary care for both, I was able to take advantage of a support group at my aunt's nursing home. It helped me a great deal. Even though each of us has a different experience with our relatives, there's still a lot of commonality, and it helps to hear the stories of others in the group.

Please pace yourself, Jake, and don't be afraid to feel what you feel at the time. I went through those paranoid-fantasy experiences with my mother, and until I realized she was beyond controlling those and didn't even know she was having them, they were hurtful. Now, looking back, I have say, I find some of them funny. She once came to visit me before she had become completely helpless, became enraged for no reason at all, and insisted on flying home sooner. I went to the airport and arranged the flight change for her, using her credit card. She later accused me of charging a flight for myself on her card.

It's not easy at all, but it does help just to roll with the punches, and accept any help others can offer you. I will be sending you such healing thoughts as I can muster.

I agree Arkansawyer...generally not tipping says a lot about the character/heart of a person. The sad truth (feminist wise) is that women, in general, are the worst tippers...and 'older' women are the worst. Men, in general, tend to be very generous, tip wise. But one tip truth that crosses the gender/age gap is that those who appear to have wealth (clothes/jewelry/cars) ARE the worst tippers; and those who appear to be 'poor' are the most generous. (I've worked as a waitress and have several friends who have.) I have no first-hand evidence for this, but I'd guess the same can be said about those who're kind to animals vs. those like Huck's prodigy.

So sorry Jake, and ditto to all the heartfelt sentiments of my fellow bloggers.

Hang in there, Brother Jake. I haven't yet had to face what you're going through, but I watched my own mother (now 79) care for her mother under those circumstances. Just make sure you don't neglect your own needs. We'll keep you in our thoughts and prayers.

MuddlingThrough, your post about LumberJack and Savage says it all. It really does, and I concur entirely with every word of it.

The sad thing --- nay, tragic thing --- is that even if LumberJack should read the post, he doesn't possess the intellectual capacity to comprehend it.

He's not unique in this regard, however; the same could be said, with certainty, about most of those out-of-state square heads that showed up here yesterday spouting their venom. Their tired old, pathetic, chatter was so obviously orchestrated.

On to better things, I say! Best wishes for a splendid weekend to you and all others whose eyes may fall here. (Oh, and by all means, GO HOGS GO!)

The past few days have been perfect for just reading the threads without contributing much, except for my two cents here and there--my monk's mite, as it were.

Great, stimulating reading, even though I have to grind my teeth to get through some of the hate and ignorance that pops up. You guys contribute gold and jewels to the sanity box.

Arkansawyer and Zelda -- remember that the tip story, like most derogatory stuff printed about Hillary, turned out to be totally false. A $100.00 tip had been left on a bill that amounted to about $160. That seems pretty generous to me. And for God's sake, why is Hillary responsible for Dan Coody's tipping?

I worked as a waitress the summer between high school and college, and I totally agree that the ones who can most afford to tip are the ones most likely to be stingy, but I disagree that women are worse tippers than men. I think this is just another one of those "women are more (fill in the blank)" stereotypes like women hate all other women or women are more gossipy, etc., that have been repeated until they are now accepted as fact by people who buy in to the whole "Eve (or Hillary) is responsible for everything bad in the world" theory of things.

This can be damaging to a campaign, however. I read a comment from Rod Bryan (I think that's his name -- the guy who ran for governor) that women were bad tippers, and after that I wouldn't have voted for him if he had been the only candidate in the race.

Wow! I'm in here for one day and I'm like a god! You hillbillies have made my day. Thank you.

Nah, LJ. You got it spelled backwards, just like your thinking. We don't confuse narcissism with omnipotency in these parts. Apparently it remains a problem in your neighborhood.