EVEN A DAD CAN BE A HERO....R.I.P. JAMES KIM

( Please click the title Anderson Cooper also blogged on this, and raises some good questions).

All of us wonder What we are made of....
Are we Strong enough ?
Are we Willing in a crisis to do what is asked of us?
Are we able to muster all of our Courage when most needed ?
Would we know how to care for our family if dire circumstances occurred ?
Would our Love of people that matter make us stronger ?
Would Our Love save the People that we love ?

Rest in Peace James Kim.
Namaste.

SEARCH AND RESCUE: TECH COMMUNITY ESSENTIAL TO RESCUE JAMES KIM

This is a messege to Blogatopia about the missing Dad in Oregon.
As of today Wednesday December 6th 1pm James Kim remains Missing, but there is hope that
he is Alive and attempting to even assist in his own rescue, please read go to the attached websites
and offer prayers, support, and if assistance if able.
So far the Tech Community had offered great assistance that has enabled to help the Family's car to
be located and Kati and the girls. Now today his father has assisted the Rescue with
Care Packages to be dropped that may assist in his rescue.

This is truly a situation of Hope, Ingenuity and Courage.

**** On another note I have pondered this before in driving cross country and up and down the West Coast,
and I know I am not the first weary traveler to ponder the hazards of travel.
QUESTION: Why can't Google or Yahoo on their maps come up with Hazard Coding on their Maps ?

THE FOOTNOTE:
Sadly I wrote this piece and had just finished it and was adding the link and Breaking News his body had just been found.

OBAMA ROCKS ....and frankly I am not ready for Hillary

Draft Obama . org Launch Celebration Video


Check out the Obama website and see what you think.
He was one of the first to speak out against the war over 3 years ago...
and watch the video below. This man definently has Fire in his Soul.
We need Audacity.
We need Hope.

ENUF IS ENUF

Barack Obama


A Speech by Senator Obama during the 2006 Campaign.

A TUESDAY TUNE.....

Michael McDonald - On Christmas Morning LIVE


Now I am sorry Ladies but finding this under the tree would not be too bad would it ?
A man in a tux singing soulfully ......
( People say silver ain't sexy...I have to disagree)
Yup, no problem....

Eggnog at the Cafe this am.

I think I need to hang some Mistletoe here too...

Have a good Tuesday...New Post up later..

A Christmas Elf dropped Something in my alley

So I went to walk the dog yesterday morning. I have been using the alley because it is easier when one lives in a Giant Construction War Zone.Creative Flexibility is essential for the urban dog walker. Out my front door is just piles of Rubble and holes and stinky abandoned pipes. So to the alley we go. Lilly excited and prancing about in great Basenji style. Now some of you might remember last Summer I wrote a compelling piece about stumbling across an Abandoned Hairpiece on the Pavement.
So it is true I am used to encountering oddities on walks.

I walked along and talked to Lilly, greeted some of the VETS from the Salvation Army, they smiled, more cheerful than usual, even laughing. I wrote it off to it being a Really Sunny day. Silly me.

So got back to the garage and thought I had some gum stuck to my shoe, looked down and there IT was. The Source of Smiles.A BRIGHT, almost glowing GREEN Condom, a Christmas Green, almost luminous. It looked well....hmm, how do I politely say this, Spent ? Used ? Son wisely pointed out that I should always be glad that People are Using Protection. ( I am very grateful). I told him How Green it was, and he laughed and said "Well, maybe an Elf lost it.".

I sat and pondered where the Hell does one buy Christmas Condoms in such a Bright Festive color. Son wisely pointed out "The Internet. Everyone knows that." So I spent last night researching My Find. And my oh my Condoms are so fanciful now, with stunning names, colors, SO MANY Sizes. ( I found some Asian ones called " Speedy", that made me laugh, I mean that is not an encouraging name.) But I was struck WHY aren't they Advertizing more on TV, especially during Shows that promote Sex ( Grey's Anatomy, the OC, etc.). If the Condoms are Cute and Colorful , in Disney Colors, even some on Lollypops ( called Jolly Suckers). Well shouldn't there be more ads? I mean after 6:30 pm we have a gazillion Cialis and Viagra ads every evening. If the Condoms are better made, and better priced and so Friendly shouldn't the Protection be offered, even as a Public Health Service ?

I mean if Elves are using them...why not the rest of us.

SUNDAY TUNE....something to hum- again

Freedom - better quality

AIDS LINKS THAT ROCK

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I realized after I wrote last night that I should have posted some really signifigant links. Please accept my apologies.
If you click the title above you get to the AIDS Combat Zone- a truly great Resource, well organized and full of soild information and good work. One of the Commenters on my World AIDS day post- Ron works on that site as well as has a wonderful blog which I have added to the Blogroll, called 2Sides2Ron that is insightful and beautifully written. He also is working on a Carnival that is collecting articales and posts on AIDS, so please go to both Blogs and have a read.

And finally I need to say My Blog , Watergate Summer is actually more of a Coffee Shop, a place for folks to gather and share. Over a year ago some started calling it the Enigma Cafe, and I run the Counter serving coffee and insight. Like any Good Coffee Shop it is full of Regulars. We Share and talk on all kinds of issues, from our kids to health issues to the War to the Deplorable State of our Government. Most Everyone is Welcome and I always encourage folks to be kind and good to each other. And most days I Sweep the Trolls right out the door- rather quickly. I won't have my Counter Folk besmerched with rude or hurtful Comments. That being said, there was One Very Rude Offensive Patron here at the Enigma Cafe over the Weekend saying some pretty Ignorant Hurtful Bigoted Comments about AIDS.(His Insensitive Comments were deleted as soon as I found them). Such behavior is not tolerated by me, and the person was shown the door and is not welcome here any longer.It is not fair to the Regulars and I count them as Friends, and it is my job to run the Counter and take care of folks even when the Coffee is bitter and the bagels stale. And for those that he might have offended, you have my sincere apologies.

Blog on Sisters and Brothers and other Brave Souls and do what you can to Fight AIDS and help get Our Country Back.

LINKS:

http://aidsblog.blogspot.com/,
http://internationalcarnivalofpozitivies.blogspot.com/,

and don't forget to go over to the Blogroll ( the Coffee Counter) and check out 2sides2ron at the top near the AIDS Blog.

WORLD AIDS DAY

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It Is World AIDS Day. The photos are of What matters, the FACES of AIDS.The Children, the Orphans, and Women are dying daily.No Children should watch their parents die. But who will take care of these children, why are they being left behind by the rest of the World ?How many of the orphans in the pictures above are already dying I don't know ( they all are AIDS orphans). This disease has staggering statistics now, 25 million dead in the past 25 years,39.8 million are infected Worldwide, ONE Million are living with HIV in the US, and yes it has risen under Mr.Bush's Regime. 570,000 children under the age of one are infected in the World, and a child dies every minute.It is a Problem that is Worldwide now. We should not be fighting Wars, we should be fighting this Pandemic. AIDS is not just about a Disease, it is about Poverty, Malnutrition, Economic Starvation and Joblessness,Disenfranchisement and Education Issues, and also the Need for Healthcare to be a Right.

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SOME KIND OF TROUBLE.....
I am an old Nurse, I was a Nursing student in the 1980's when HIV evolved into a Horrorific event. I was working as a nursing assistant on a Inner City Oncology floor , it was winter time and the End of Disco. Young Men, thin, beautiful were ending up on our floor, dying of wasting and pneumonia. They were placed in strict isolation and dying without a diagnosis. Their friends did not come visit , they died alone. I remember thinking that this was something Bigger, a tip of a Ghost Iceberg of immeasurable magnitude. " I'll be home for Christmas" reminds me of being 21 holding the hand of a Young Man named Paul that was only only two years older than me. It was Christmas eve I sat with him waiting for a Priest to come. I sang the song over and over because Paul liked it. He would squeeze my hand everytime I finished. I would sit and look at his skin, the blue glow that outlined his bones, and wonder What had done this to him ? Mere weeks ago he had been dancing at the Hippodrome with his friends. He had had Lovers, could Love have killed him ? I remembered thinking that. I was working with an older nurse, and I voiced this worry to her, and she said " Well, honey if Love is killing folks - then we in for some kind of Trouble."

THE TROUBLE HAS A NAME.....
After working in the inner city of Baltimore for a few years, the Disease began to mold it's course and fate, it became known as HIV, and AIDS. Men that were dying were able to know WHAT was killing them. But even a cough was viewed with incredible fear. I moved North took care of children, and babies in New England. But I was still haunted by this disease. By the late 1980's I had moved to Seattle Washington, and AIDS was more than Real it, it was a Daily Battle but atleast now there was a medicinal aresenal and better care to be given.

I was working at an AIDS Hospice and in the ER. I was working at a Needle Exchange on my days off. I was spending my days off going to highschools and teaching about condoms and also standing on a corner on 3rd ave by the Pike Street Market trying to teach Working Girls that spermicides would save their lives and not to use Lambskin condoms. Yet between the ER, the Hospice and living inner city, I was surrounded by this disease, it was inevitable that I would embrace it. By now I was married and I kept thinking this Disease is not just about gay men, and drug users, it is also about women and children. We had arguments at the Hospice because my global concerns were not considered relevant. ( There were only two of us that were staight that worked at the Hospice, and I was annoyed that they were losing perspective on the bigger picture, it's a People's Disease). A hospice is different- it is a place that has to be a Home while providing care and comfort in someone' s dying moments. And these early AIDS hospices also often provided care and comfort after families had abandoned a loved one. It was one of the better places for me as a nurse, because there was a garden, and a kitchen and books, I could care for my patients in other ways. It was a Home. But trying to reach and teach families and help them get past stigmas and myths and their own bad judgement and misconceptions was another part of the Battle.Illness should never Isolate.

After I worked at the Hospice I moved to Homecare, because I was more appreciative of trying to keep people in their own home. And I worked with AIDS and Cancer, but it was not about people dying, it was about helping people LIVE as long as possible on their own terms.But I was also watching the Religous Right start to effect the Care by effecting the Prevention. Abstinence Contracts Kill young people, I can give you names. I beleive in Condoms as a way to protect, an attempt to help keep people safe, Condoms are not just about Sex, they are about Health. If you have a teenager, and you love them , you will go buy condoms with them.Buy them the expensive ones that have been well tested. Explain that vaseline and oil based products destroy the surface. Explain that Spermicides help prevent STDS, and can be used safely with condoms. If you need to demonstrate and teach I recommend bananas, and cucumbers ( not the waxed ones- they are too slippery). The "Trouble" is more than Out There, it is thriving, and we need to protect our Children.

FINAL THOUGHTS....
I could write on and on about this for days....I have spent most of my Nursing career taking care of AIDS patients and fighting it.....There are Faces I still see at night., not just patients , but also friends....and names....hundreds of Names....There are not enough Tears.

Waiting.....for a Certain Visitor.

Blogatopia is a wonderful thing. A place to form new friendhips. A Place to learn and grow.
Every now and then a wonderful soul stops by and reaffirms something that I think is faltering.
Alphonse B.Gaston if you are out there, stop by, I miss you.
I made fresh coffee, even went and got some Almond Croissants.

Maybe I will get Lucky.

HAPPINESS

What makes you Happy ? Really Happy.....
Is it something small, or is it something that makes you warm inside.

A long distance phone call from a treasured friend ,
even if it is a bad connection from Indonesia.
Crisp juicy red skinned pears and Colby cheese.
Sprinkling cinnamon in fresh coffee.
Sunday Morning papers spread across the bed with Almond Croissant Crumbs.
Lavendar bath salts and a vanilla cedar candle.
Hearing my son quietly snoring, watching him sleep in the moonlight.
My cat and dog asleep together on the daybed, sharing a Sun Spot.
Laundered Sheets fresh off the line, breathing their sun and wind.
Yellow Roses wet with Rain.
Walking in the Rain to pick them....
and Holding Hands on the way.....

WATCH TELEMUNDO- WATCH MEXICO'S STOLEN DEMOCRACY

So today Calederon swore himself in at Midnight. And in the Chambers today he was not allowed to speak due to jeering ( not cheering crowds). And CNN susposedly is having trouble with the audio ( cough). So I am watching Telemundo- which means that I only understand every other word- but I did hear them comparing this election and all of it's troubles to the United States problems in the last two elections being suspect -the words "corruption" and "stolen" were used...It is actually nice to hear a LOUD Noisy Congress....Turn it on...

( and Calderon could not even address the Congress, actually if you watch the footage- the Podium was physically dismantled- I am going to have to search YouTube for the footage- it was amazing).

[[ Hopefully Democracy Now will have more on all of this....since MSM lost their compass on this story too.....AGAIN ]]

Martin Luther King preaches against war

Mr Bush and MrCheney and yes, MrMcCain need to see this video

Ed Bradley 1941 - 2006

MSNBC Tribute to Ed Bradley....

John Mellencamp: Our Country (live)

WE GOT OUR COUNTRY BACK....THANK YOU FOLKS....

JOHN EDWARDS ON LETTERMAN TONIGHT.....(sigh)

John Edwards is on Dave tonight. He has a new book, HOME, about how lives are created, the Blueprints that set our lives in motion. Check it out over at One America , or on Amazon. John stomped his heart out this Election, remembering the Middle Class and also remembering that Many Working Americans are Living in Poverty. He also has spent the past year working hard on Katrina Issues. Show him some love.....Tune in tonight....

THE MORNING AFTER: HONORING THE VOTE

Dear Mr.Bush,
THE PEOPLE OF OUR COUNTRY HAVE SPOKEN.....ARE YOU LISTENING ?
Change has now come to this Country, Our Country. But it came because of people , We the People , had Courage and went to the Polls and voted for What Mattered. It was our ONLY Voice against your Dangerous Regime of Corruption and Greed that has been harming people in Our Country and around the World. This is OUR Purple Finger Moment, a moment to reclaim OUR Democracy and Our Country that was stolen in 2000 and has been on a path of Destruction and Corruption ever since.
It was time for Truth and Justice to reach the Doorsteps of the White Castle.

There are many Good People and Entities that need to be Thanked and Honored for their perserverance in this Battle.

(1) The People, the people who VOTED, even though they had been beaten down and mistreated for six years.

(2) All of the Democratic Legends that hit the tarmac and the airwaves to speak to the Intergrity of the People. And yes, I think Clinton's Meltdown on FOX was a Turning Point Moment. And yes, Mr.Bush President Clinton is still Relevant and a Force. But new Forces made this Race a watershed moment, Obama, Ford, and the Edwards, and Murtha and so many others became Voices in the Dark.

(3) Micheal J.Fox , who basically was quietly handed the Torch by the Reeves. Cell Research is a Matter of Life and Death, especially living with this reality daily. Bless him for taking a stand and being a Voice. He was Courage in Motion and Grace under Fire. Mr.Bush there are more Heros in this world, and not all wear a military uniform.

(4) YouTube: Amazing that such a technological wonder could educate and connect millions around the world, and deliver Messeges of Hope and Change. It made the Internet the Velvet Hammer you had feared for so long Mr.Bush. The Photos and th Video kept the reality in our hearts and our minds. Mr.Bush I reccomend that you have Laura show you how to work that white box in your office, you might learn a bit about Our Country and the World.

(5) The Internet and Blogatopia , it is much like the French Resistance, a time of Underground Newspapers and Messeges bringing change and hope far and wide. Where in the middle of the night, moms and dads, college students, and grandparents could Fight to get OUR Country back by hitting the Keyboards. These were people you wrote off the first time you laid your hand on the Bible in 2001. And to the Bloggers, You did ride at Midnight, you carried this wave of Hope and Change. I know Somewhere Thomas Paine and Paul Revere are cheering Blogatopia.

(6) VETS and their families also are to be thanked for all of their hard work and sacrifices and heartache that mostly goes hidden under than a few glossy photo-ops. These families and these fine Military Minds need to be Respected and Heard. Murtha should seriously be offered Rummy's Job....not some other suited Puppet. And yes, Mr.Bush , never underestimate the power and strength of a Mothers Love. Cindy Sheehan , Bless you.

And I guess in that same breath, we need you Mr.Bush to acknowledge that all the Pain and Agony that Iraq is suffering , because it is now being acknowledged by the American People with this Vote. Because the Americans, the Voters did indeed Remember Iraq, not just the Soldiers, we remembered millions of Suffering Iraqi Families of that region.

(7) The Comedians and Music Folk and for keeping the Facts in Perspective by using their music and their humor to be Wise and caring. And yes, Mr Bush that means the Dixie Chicks, Neil Young, Green Day and U2, Sean Penn,Geroge Clooney. The "MrBush does not care about Black People" Moments effected Millions that have Conscience and Intergrity.....and many others. And of course John Stewart, Dave Letterman, Stephen Colbert, Bill Maher.

(8) Mr.Bush , You now do have to acknowledge the Victims and the Survivors of Katrina, as these people are now scattered thoughout the Country, and all of the Country and the World, saw that you dishonored the Poor, the Elderly and the Black of this Country. Shame on you, because the Black, the Minorities, the Women, and the Poor of this country, Our Country deserve More, Much More.

(9) Keith Olbermann, for giving us Journalistically what We the People were searching for all these monthes. You gave us Courage, Hope and Strength in the Special Comments.We will always tresure these Edward Murrow Moments.Bless You. Mr.Bush you need to listen to the People and Keith is speaking for millions of us.

(10) The Grassroots People of the Country, that you Mr.Bush threw under the Bus on Day One. You should never underestimate the Endurance and Heart and Minds of We the People. And yes, I mean Move On and AARP and United for Peace and Justice, and hundreds of other groups and organizations that pounded the pavement and the issues.
These organizations and the Internet educated millions of important issues,including on your Regime's Criminal Activities and Policies,and Abuse of Power.

And last I say Mr.Bush, I Know that for the past 6 years I have watched my son grow up in a Country that is battered and beaten and causing Harm to the World. That your Regime poses Harm, signifigant harm to his Future and all of the Children of the Country and other Countries. Families Voted, Parents Voted, maybe now you can see the Power and Wisdom of America's Families. We Voted because we want Our Country Back, We The People Know What Democracy means. Do you ?
The People Have Spoken, they Voted.

WE THE PEOPLE HAVE THE SENATE AND THE HOUSE AS OF 8:47PM TONIGHT ANNOUNCED ON COUNTDOWN

12:02 NEWSFLASH: MSNBC IS REPORTING THAT RUMMY IS STEPPING DOWN

AP is reporting that Rummy is stepping down.
He susposed to resign, no time or date being giving.
He susposedly has offered to resign.
I guess the Decider has had his ass handed to him.
Holy shit, we voted and within hours the First War Criminal is going down.

( I had already written the above post, then posted it, and then half hour later ended watched the Bush Press Conference, where he petulently admitted he was in the process of replacing Rummy- and started that process on Sunday. His jokes are falling
deaf ears, and he is sweaty and rattled. Why a CIA person is being chosen by him to replace Rummy with a failed war, holy hell....)

FREEDOM... A Messege to King George

Freedom

WHAT ARE WE VOTING FOR...
( I THINK GEORGE MICHEALS SONG IS PERFECT FOR THIS)

"It is not an Election anymore, it is an Intervention"
( Andrew Sullivan on CNN last week)

***** NOVEMBER 7TH AT 11;30PM LET THE INTERVENTION BEGIN, ELECTION NIGHT IT LOOKS LIKE THE
KING IS BEING SENT A MESSEGE******

"Freedom is not merely a word or an abstract theory, but the most effective instrument for advancing the welfare of man."
John F.Kennedy

"Those who expect to reap the blessings of Freedom, must ,like men, undergo the fatigues of supporting it."
Thomas Paine

"Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves, and under a just God cannot long retain it."
Abraham Lincoln

And finally a Special Messege from the Grave for the King and his Cronies:
"Yet we can maintain a free society only if we recognize that in free society no one can win all the time.No one can have his way all the time"

Free Coffee for a week at Enigma Cafe for the first one to identify the Writer of the above quote....Think hard.
(Hint: think about Where you are having your am cup of joe).