Common Law Family Support Act

By Chris Lugo

Americans believe they have one of the best, if not the best, standard of living in the world. Indeed, some Americans have a fantastic standard of living, while millions of others live in near third world conditions. Many people who are poor, infirm, elderly or sick will turn to their family or community for aid and support in times of need. When that is not available they will turn to the government for help. The public welfare tradition of government support is a relatively new tradition, started in full force during the great depression of the 1930's through the recognition of government as a positive force for social change. Since that time, there has been a continuous dialectic between supporters of government as a basic safety net and detractors of government who feel that family is the basic social unit of society, and that government interference weakens the family and diminishes America.

Life, the Universe and Everything

By; Samie Jo Mitchell

As you might have noticed, I've not been keeping up with my weekly calendar. I had wanted to do an actual calendar with spraying schedules, planting schedules, and what not. But I cannot figure out how to make blogger go there.

Grayboys, Life in the Balance

Living with Lewy Body

I just read Dr. Thomas Graboys' book Life in the Balance: A Physician's Memoir of Life, Love, and Loss with Parkinson's Disease and Dementia. I liked it very much, but it is definitely a memoir--the focus is on one person's feelings, not on providing useful information.

The Case for Impeachment

By Chris Lugo

George W Bush is perhaps the worst American president who has ever served. To this day it is a mystery to me how the man was able to gain the Republican nomination, steal the election, start two wars, get re-elected and then drag on a failed war for five years and drive the economy into the ground without getting impeached. Although the light is fading on the Presidency of Bush, it is not too late to impeach the man who lied to us about weapons of mass destruction. As of result of the President's deception, over four thousand American soldiers have died in Iraq and tens of thousands have been wounded, not to mention the one million or so Iraqis who have died directly or indirectly due to Bush's interference in their country.

Escape fantasies

Living with Lewy Body

Today with my therapist I ended up trying to come up with escape fantasies. The idea is that I am feeling so trapped; it would be better if I felt I am John's caregiver because I have chosen that role.

Asking for help

Living with Lewy Body

I had a nice bike ride yesterday but was teary in church. Two people saw and gave me a hug after church and that helped a lot. The rest of the day was fine--I'm very lucky that I don't tend to get stuck in depression.

Just Say No to Domestic Spying

By: Chris Lugo

Big brother is watching you and his name is AT&T. Sometimes he goes by the name of BellSouth and at other times he is known as AOL-Time-Warner. Big brother goes by a lot of names. He is listening to you while you talk and watching you while you type and everything you say could be recorded so he can look at it somewhere down the line. Now everyone knows that it is not polite to intrude on people in their private moments. The problem is that big brother doesn't seem to know that peeking into people's private communication is wrong and it should be illegal. Unfortunately President Bush wants to continue to grant immunity to telecommunications companies in the name of the so called 'war on terror' which in actuality is a war on the American people and the telecommunications infrastructure is the front line in the gradual diminishment of civil rights that Congress has permitted in recent years.

Lists

Living with Lewy Body

Over the years of John's ADD, I have found some compensating strategies that work. We have pegs to hang coats on immediately inside the door, and they do get hung up. Google Calendar is wonderful--we share our calendars so his calendar shows up on mine and vice versa. I download my Google calendar to a small palm pilot so I can carry it with me.

Now is the Time to Extend Unemployment Benefits

By: Chris Lugo

America is in the midst of a recession largely attributable to the economic policies of the Bush administration and the Republican party. As a result of this recession, millions of hard working Americans have been put out of work. Almost every family in this country has been touched by the current recession. On top of this consumers are being forced to pay record high gas prices and hundreds of thousands of people have lost their homes due to foreclosure. Now is not the time to cut tax paying American citizens off of their unemployment benefits.

a moment of quiet

Living with Lewy Body

The Magnesium Citrate worked, in about an hour. The severe constipation causes prostate inflamation and John had difficulty urinating afterwards, but I gave him Naproxen and within a few hours that problem had cleared up. So we succeeded in avoiding a trip to an emergency room, thanks most of all to what I have learned from online support groups. None of John's doctors have given him useful guidance when he has brought up constipation as an issue. John did say that this time the problem did build up over several days--he thought he was ok after we got back from Germany and didn't pay attention.