On September 11, 2001, my friend Rosaleen was attending a meeting in Washington DC. She, and all the others in the room, heard the jetliner hit the Pentagon.

When President Jimmy Carter forgave the Vietnam draft dodgers who fled to Canada, my then husband, Nick, agreed with the decision, immediately. Nick served honorably in the USMC, including 13 months in Vietnam, in 1968+. His reaction still amazes me. I don't think that I have that kind of forgiveness in me.

I am completely amazed that people are just discovering what a complete piece of shit is Mel Gibson. I've known this for decades. He takes misogyny to new heights.

In 1975, my daughter Stephanie (aged nine), received her wish for a baby sister, who we (Nick and I) named Jennifer. A couple of days later, Jen and I came home from the hospital. At this time, we had two pets, Tiger the cat and Princess the dog. Nick said that we needed to introduce Jen to Princess so that she (Jen) wouldn't threaten her position in the hierarchy of the house. When we came into the living room, Nick set Jen, in her carrier, onto the floor so that Princess could meet her. Princess snuffed and sniffed her for about 15 minutes. From that moment on, Princess apparently considered Jen to be her pup. She would follow her around all over our property. The mother instinct, when it exists, is very powerful.

I am a great believer in suicide when you have brought great shame upon yourself and/or your family and/or the outside world. Apparently Tony Hayward is a sociopath because I'll bet he hasn't even considered falling on his own sword.

Simply put, we were given, by nature, a lovely place to live and we've set it on fire. We have no place to which we can escape, but we still set the place on fire. What a lovely species are we.

Misha Mayr, age 9, of El Paso Texas wrote this poem some years ago.

I am the ill earth

People have cut down the trees, which are my lungs

They have polluted the air, which is my brain

They have polluted the streams, which are my blood vessels

They have polluted the oceans, which are the chambers of my heart

My wrath has gotten gigantic

My wrath is hurricanes and tornadoes

I am the ill earth

If people trash me, I will die, and so will they

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1918_flu_epidemic

My maternal grandfather, Edward Sawers, died of influenza in 1918. He rose from his sick bed to tend to his pregnant wife, his daughter Emeline (age 2) and his son, Bruce (age 1), who were all extremely ill. After his death, his dog took a trip north, (a trip which my grandfather and he had taken several times), looking for my grandfather. The dog came home and died. This story is not imbelished. It is, simply, what happened.

"Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action."

George Washington