Peter's Place

I glommed this from a post on UCG BBS : Amount spent each year in Europe and the United States on pet food: $17 billion Cost per year to achieve basic health and nutrition for the entire world: $13 billion Amount spent on perfumes each year: $12 billion Clean water for all the world: $9 billion Amount spent on cosmetics in the US: $8 billion Basic education for the world's children: $6 billion Total amount the US spends on Christmas each year: $450 billion (or 16 years worth of food, water, and education for the world) Initial cost of the US Government bailout of failing financial institutions: $700 billion (or 25 years worth of food, water, and education for the world) Coming to grips with the alarming disconnects of our consumerist society: Priceless

Unlike most folks out there, I've decided not to upgrade to Firefox v3.0 (" FF3.0 ")just yet. You see, there are a couple of add-ons (aka extensions) that I really rely upon, and they're incompatible with FF3.0, which means that if I upgrade, I they won't be able to function anymore. So for the time being, I'm stuck with Firefox v2.0 (" FF2.0 "). The other day (I think it was Monday this week), my FF2.0 was updated to version 2.0.0.19. A message came up on the "Firefox Updated" page that that was going to be the LAST FF 2.0 release, and the further support for FF2.0 would thereby cease. In fact, here's the quote from that page : You’ve been updated to the latest version of Firefox 2. This is the last planned update for Firefox 2. That’s it for Firefox 2… Update to Firefox 3 Today! Mozilla is not planning any further security & stability updates for Firefox 2, and recommends that you upgrade to Firefox 3 as soon as po...

As you may recall, my niece, Jennal, had a stroke when she was two days old resulting in a TBI; she currently is diagnosed with very severe epilepsy and cerebral palsy. Jennal has been attending the John A. Coleman School & Children's Rehabilitation Center in Westchester County , New York. Over the past month (since the new school year has started), the school has been negligent (and in my opinion, grossly negligent) in their care of Jennal by not monitoring her for seizures and by not administering medication to her in a timely manner when she has had a seizure. The latest incident left Jennal seizing for more than three hours as no one checked on her at the school, resulting in Jennal spending a few days in ICU, on a respirator, at the local children's hospital. My sister has been advised that it is too early to determine whether or not there has been any permanent damage. Thankfully, Jennal was well enough to be discharged from hospital earlier today, although she...

Six years ago, today, my grandmother's corporeal existence terminated. I know that she is still with me, in another presence, and her memory is well alive. But I miss her, terribly. I love you, Elizabeth "Betty" Zoel Frank, wherever and however in the Universe you now exist.

This morning I wrote my grandfather's obituary, based on notes that he had provided for the purpose. I went with my sister and my father's brother to the funeral home to arrange for services and what not. The funeral director made a few changes to what I had written, and added in the last two paragraphs (advising as to the arrangements that were made). It cost nearly $1,000 to run the obituary for one day in The Journal News (you don't want to know what the total cost of the funeral came to...): Sidney J. Frank, Jr. , a 60 year resident of Rye Brook, NY died at home June 28, 2008 surrounded by his family. He was born April 6, 1921 in Greenwich, CT to Sidney and Mary Selzer Frank. Raised in Rye, NY, Sidney graduated from Rye High School in 1938. He served as a corporal in the US. Army Air Corps during World War II. He married Elizabeth Zoel of Port Chester at Our Lady of Mercy Church on April 9, 1944. They were married 58 years at the time of Elizabeth's passin...

My grandfather just died. :(

My father just called me. I think I posted how my grandfather had three heart attacks and a stroke last summer. I know I've posted about his melanoma. Well after his heart attacks and strokes last summer, apparently they decided to do nothing about the melanoma. On Monday, my father told me that my grandfather went to the doctors as his legs weren't working and he was getting worse, and they "discovered" that his legs were covered with the tumors from the melanoma. The oncologist decided not to do anything about it because he's lived long enough. So now my father just called and said that the priest was coming to administer last rites and he's apparently unconscious. It's going to take me around four hours to get up there, as I have to take three separate buses. Last weekend my younger brother, John, who's a paranoid schizophrenic with bi-polar disorder, decided to self-medicate as he had stopped taking his medications. He felt a need to "become ...

The Sierra Club has an interesting video/commercial out urging us to take action against Climate Change . I'm placing it here for your convenience, and also because I thought it was pretty damned cool.

Am-I-Dumb.com - Intelligence Test

So Mom paid for me to get my hair done today--finally! Here's the most recent picture I have of me before the cut (it was taken approximately one month ago so you'll have to imagine my hair approximately another half-inch longer, not that you can really tell how long it was in the photo because my hair becomes curly when it gets long--stepping out of the shower with my hair soaking wet, my hair would hit the nape of my back (you know, that spot between your shoulder blades where there's like a "hole" in your back right below the shoulders), which is pretty darned long--and I hadn't bothered to shave in a while): And here we are this afternoon, after the cut (Mom took this photo of me with my camera phone, a Sprint Sanyo MM-8300 -- completely outdated but I'm waiting for the 2.0 megapixel camera phones to come out before I upgrade): And here we are inside; I took this one myself, so it's not quite as good, and the lighting was kinda crappy. Plus it'...

MTV Networks launches video hub for gay community | Tech news blog - CNET News.com From the article: "This is the kind of content that has only been available at art houses," Sherman said. "But the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) audience, can now check out content that has never been available to them nationally." Some of the full-episode shows that can be found at Logoonline.com are Big Gay Sketch , Noah's Arc , and Outlaugh Festival on Wisecrack . Documentaries include Elephant in the Room and The Two Cubas . There are also short clips, news, and music.

One of my Gather.com buddies pointed out this article to me and straight away I noticed a glaring error. I tried to find a forum to post a comment to the article, and instead could only find a general e-mail address to the web site; I couldn't even find a link to e-mail the individual interviewer/research fellow. I appreciate that this web site is providing both sides of the story; however, I hold firm the belief that it is a journalist's responsibility to do their fact-checking and point out any errors or omissions in the facts contained in their publication. Here's the e-mail that I sent to Pew Research : Hi I couldn't find a way to comment on your articles. I write specifically in reference to your article entitled " Two perspectives on gay marriage ." There is a factual error in Senator Santorum's argument. He states, See, I think that's the foundational flaw with this whole debate. The law is as it has been for 200-plus years, and so the burden ...

I wrote this during one of my hospitalizations, in honour of my niece, Jennal. Kidspeak Dribble dribble dribble drazzle drip drip drip PLOP drip drip drip drazzle drizzle drizzle fizzle. Putt Putt Putt Revvv Putt Putt Rev Putt VROOOOOoooooommmmm Putt Putt Pfizzle Putt Puff Puff Puff Singularity Puff Puff Drip Puff Mechanics Puff Puff Puff Quantum Equations drive Linear Compression algorithms Puff Putter Putter Puff Piddle Puff Puff Pfwiddle diddle little Middle Meddle Faddle Little Fiddle Schwimm Schwamm Faddle Faddle Meddle Middle Little Fiddle Synchronized Sycophant Symphonies Swing in the Breeze of Exhaust created by Temporal Drive Machinations Parliamentary Proscribed Penundrums Expertly Executed by Deus Ex Machina Semper, Semper, Excelsior! Veni Vidi Vici (Fiddle Puff Faddle Drip) Make headway to the mainstay (Puff Puff) And don't stray (Waddle Widdle Waddle) 'Lest one day (Widdle Widdle Waddle) you won't be around (Drip Drop Drip Drip) to see another May (Fiddle Drop ...

I just posted an article on the death of Mildred Loving over on my other blog site, Gather.com. Read about it over there, comment here, there, wherever. But most importantly, please take a moment of your time to remember this great, strong woman who stood up in the face of injustice and fought for what she believed to be right and just.

    Sent to you by Nite*Star via Google Reader:     Manage Depression At The Worksite via Psych Central News by Rick Nauert, Ph.D. on 4/9/08 Depression is estimated to affect more than six percent of the working population. When people with bipolar disorder and other forms of depression are included, the true rate is even higher. Unfortunately, only half of workers suffering from depression receive any form of treatment, and less than half of these receive care consistent with current treatment guidelines. The issue is discussed in a series of new studies found in the April Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. Authorities call for an integrated, evidence-based approach to manage this common, chronic, and often recurrent disorder. The 15 papers in the issue, prepared by experts in their fields, are presented as part of the ACOEM Depression in the Workplace Project, a joint venture of the ACOEM Occupational Mental Health Committee and the ACOEM...

I recently posted an article to my blog about a recent breakthrough in HIV research --the discovery of the TRIM22 gene in humans, and linked to it from an article on my Gather.com account . Unfortunately, a number of the responses to the post on my Gather account were somewhat negative, along the lines of "[yawn] We've heard of this before its nothing new." Take, for instance, one of these comments : old news, this has been out and about for a year now! and Even though this has been around for a little while (as so rudely mentioned early in the comments) it will still be kept relatively quiet until the pharmaceutical companies find ways they can cash in on it. I even had a few friends who read my blog post IM me that the cure for HIV/AIDS exists but is being blocked either by the US Government or various pharmaceutical interests. After receiving this sort of a response to my post and the information contained therein, I went on the 'net and...

I posted this over on my Gather.com account: Here's a sneak preview but you should really go over there and read the full article : Over and over, governments around the world are recognising that this is not a matter of religion, virtue, tradition, and the like but rather it is a simple matter of equality, fairness, and civil rights. All around the world, foreign governments are recognizing the validity of same-sex relationships . * * * * * From the article: Victoria to recognise gay couples Paul Austin and David Rood March 13, 2008 GAY and de facto couples will be able to formally register their relationships in Victoria after the Legislative Assembly last night passed historic legislation that split the Coalition. Liberal leader Ted Baillieu supported the Government bill, which will allow couples to record their relationships with the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriage. Read my full post on Gather.com now!

This is the announcement we've all been waiting for . From the article: A team of researchers at the University of Alberta has discovered a gene that is able to block HIV, and in turn prevent the onset of AIDS. Stephen Barr, a molecular virologist in the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, says his team has identified a gene called TRIM22 that can block HIV infection in a cell culture by preventing the assembly of the virus. "When we put this gene in cells, it prevents the assembly of the HIV virus," said Barr, a postdoctoral fellow. "This means the virus cannot get out of the cells to infect other cells, thereby blocking the spread of the virus." Barr and his team also prevented cells from turning on TRIM22 - provoking an interesting phenomenon: the normal response of interferon, a protein that co-ordinates attacks against viral infections, became useless at blocking HIV infection. "This means that TRIM22 is an essential part of our body...

Well by now the blogosphere is filled with articles and opinions and what not about the revelation of New York State Governor Elliot Spitzer being linked to a high-priced (at $5,500/hour , I would nominate this description as understatement of the year) prostitution ring that was recently busted by United States federal authorities . Take, for instance, this latest piece by The New York Times : The idea that Gov. Eliot Spitzer — the square-jawed crusader who promised to bring ethics to Albany, the former prosecutor who chased corruption on Wall Street so ferociously that people nicknamed him Eliot Ness — was somehow involved in a prostitution scandal was too much. New Yorkers who thought they had heard everything were, for a change, dumbfounded. They had trouble folding their minds around what law enforcement officials said was contained in a federal affidavit — that Mr. Spitzer, identified only as “Client 9,” had arranged for a high-priced prostitute to meet him in Washington on the ...

It is with deep sadness that I inform you of the passing of Ingrid E. Barnes this past Monday, 4 February, 2008 from cancer of her colon. I will always remember Ingrid as a driving force, a strong and driven woman; one with whom one would not want to find one's self in opposition with. She was an advocate for equality for many, many years, and was politically active throughout most of her life. Her words will hopefully be forever immortalized in the writings on her blog , as well as in Letters to the Editor that you can find by performing a Google web search on her name. Ingrid served as a Co-President of The LOFT: The Gay & Lesbian Community Services Center in White Plains, NY, and also later served as a director on their board. Most recently, she was President of the Hudson Valley chapter of Log Cabin Republicans . Professionally, Ingrid was most recently employed as Associate Director of Adult Services at PACE University . There was a time when I counted Ingrid among the c...

Keep it simple. The more you say, the less people remember. (on a fortune cookie I just ate) This sage advice is ignored most often, I believe, by our politicians .

I'm writing this in my word processing program on the train back into NYC, where I will then take the subway back to Forest Hills. Today was emotionally wrenching for me. I wound up spending the night in Throgs Neck at my friend's because I went over to her place in the afternoon to help resolve a problem that she was having with her computer and wound up working until almost midnight, and by then I was just too exhausted to spend the two hours it would take me on NYC's subway system to get back to where I was apartment sitting for my friend in Forest Hills (remember that I've been homeless for about the past two years and have been couch hopping among friends since then). Originally my mother was supposed to come out and see me in Forest Hills, pick me up, and take me to Yonkers where I could finally get to the police station there and file a complain/report regarding what happened to me in October/November/December, and how a really disturbed individual named Louis...

You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you. ~ Dale Carnegie (1888-1954), American author and lecturer

If you really do put a small value upon yourself, rest assured that the world will not raise your price. ~Anonymous

Well, it's official. I did it. I'm so anxious right now that I'm shaking. And I'm about to s**t my pants! What, what, you're asking, what is it already? Well, I sent a letter (via email) to the law school that I attended but was unable, due to my depression, to complete my studies. At the time, however, I didn't know that I had depression. Hell, I didn't even know what depression was or even that it existed. But now, after a few years of therapy, some psychiatric hospitalizations, and the like, I know about depression. In fact, I know quite a bit about depression. And I have a much better handle on my own depression. I know how it affects me. And I've gotten better at managing it. I know that I have to remain in treatment. I know that I have to take my medications. And I'm doing my best to do both of these things. I have a treatment team that knows mjy situation and is flexible and willing to work with me. I know that if this works and I'm accept...