Peter's Place

**le sigh** They just don't make'm like this anymore ... At this moment we are passing through a period of great unrest—social, political, and industrial unrest. It is of the utmost importance for our future that this should prove to be not the unrest of mere rebelliousness against life, of mere dissatisfaction with the inevitable inequality of conditions, but the unrest of a resolute and eager ambition to secure the betterment of the individual and the nation. So far as this movement of agitation throughout the country takes the form of a fierce discontent with evil, of a determination to punish the authors of evil, whether in industry or politics, the feeling is to be heartily welcomed as a sign of healthy life. If, on the other hand, it turns into a mere crusade of appetite against appetite, of a contest between the brutal greed of the “have nots” and the brutal greed of the “haves,” then it has no significance for good, but only for evil. If it seeks to establish a ...

I read the memo that Obama wrote in its entirety, and I have to disagree with all of the hoopla that's being made about it--not with anything that he said but with how people are characterizing this as such a monumental change, etc. This is not an order; it's a memo, and there's quite a big difference between the two. If Obama wished to place impetus into his words, he would (or should) have issued an Executive Order, NOT a memorandum seeking advice from the Dept of HHS on how it should be doing its job. In other words, it's a request, a comment, a call to action--not the action itself. Yet, people continue to create fanfare and hoopla and praise Obama for barely lifting a finger. IMHO, this is not NEARLY as big as people are making it out to be. Essentially, this is Obama saying something along the lines of, "yes...well, people shouldn't be discriminated against and they should be allowed to have visitation rights but I'm not going to force the issue and ...

A friend from the UK recently sent this as an explanation of their tax system: This topical explanation may be of help in understanding the recent UK budget! Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to £100... If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this... The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing. The fifth would pay £1. The sixth would pay £3. The seventh would pay £7. The eighth would pay £12. The ninth would pay £18. The tenth man (the richest) would pay £59. So, that's what they decided to do.. The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve ball. "Since you are all such good customers," he said, "I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by £20". Drinks for the ten men would now cost just £80. The group still wanted to p...

Yesterday, 10 April 2010, Dixie Carter, an amazing American actress and lady of extreme talent and class, passed away . She was just 70 years old -- quite young, given today's longer life expectancies, although during her seven decades of life, she provided us with greatness that will always be remembered thanks to the invention we call television. While Ms. Carter was an extraordinary actress on the stage and appeared as a star in numerous Broadway roles, she most likely will be remembered for her role playing "Julia Sugarbaker" from the hit 1980s American television sit-com, Designing Women . Following is a video clip from the hit show, which shows not just the strength of character and talent of the show but but that of Dixie Carter, as well. Having seen Ms. Carter perform in person, and having watched various interviews of her, it's quite hard to make a distinction between Dixie Carter and the role that she plays as Julia Sugarbaker in the clip below. And just bec...

I sent this e-mail to my housing agency; in addition to sending it directly to my worker, I cc'd it to his supervisor and the director of the entire agency, as well as my therapist & a housing advocate. Last night, I cooked a package of chicken wings (contained about 30 wings) belonging to my roommate. As I state in the e-mail, I'm now in a "tit-for-tat" mode of dealing w/ him: getting him to ask me before he just goes and eats my food hasn't been working, so now I just take what I want/need of his (and still, the balance is much more in his favor, as he consumes far more of my food products than I do of his). I ate about 4-5 wings, then went to sleep. Woke up to find that he'd eaten the rest of the chicken. Now granted, this was his food but now I'm left with absolutely nothing to eat but four boxes of pasta. He finished off the rest of my butter, cooking oil, and whatever other ingredients I had left that I could use to make any of the boxes of pasta...

I have just sent the following Letter to the Editors via e-mail: Westchester-Putnam Letters to the Editor The Journal News 1 Gannett Drive White Plains, NY 10604 To the Editors: I recently blogged about the severe fiscal crisis in which the State of New York has found itself . Various state agencies' bills are not being paid and as a result, they are losing services. In particular, the Office of Mental Health is set to lose all of their administrative and support staff as of 1 April 2010 as the entirety of such staff is employed through a temporary employment agency, whose contract has not been renewed by the state. There are rumors abound that state income tax refunds are being withheld until as long as the fall -- refunds that many people are relying upon. Local governments and school districts are still waiting for payments owed to them by NYS . Under New York State law, a Writ of Mandamus can be issued under an Article 78 Proceeding to "compel a government ag...

Every Sunday around midnight, for more than the past two years, I've logged into the New York State Unemployment Insurance web site to certify my weekly claim for unemployment benefits (my whopping $60/week!). This past weekend, around midnight on Sunday, I logged into the web site without any difficulty. When I attempted to certify my weekly claim, as I had always done, I was advised that the site was experiencing technical difficulties and could not be access at that time. I tried, for the first time ever, to certify my weekly claim by calling in to the NYS Unemployment Office Certification number. I got up to the point where I choose the option to certify my weekly claim, and was advised that my request could not be completed at that time due to "technical difficulties." When I am able to certify my weekly claim before noon on Sunday, I receive my money on my debit card (issued by NYS thru Chase bank) very late Monday night. If I complete my weekly unemployment certifi...

Please take a moment and send some healing thoughts & energies or prayers for my sister, Jennifer. She SMSd me (texted me) a short while ago that they her OB/GYN team has been unable to stop her labor and they are therefore going to have her undergo an emergency cesarean section to deliver the twin baby girls she's been carrying for the past nine or so months. Her OB/GYN team originally had scheduled a somewhat-less-of-an-emergency cesarean section for tomorrow afternoon, because my sister had taken aspirin today (or some other NSAID). Unfortunately, when one has taken any NSAIDs 24 hours before surgery, the risks during and after surgery for complications to arise are greatly increased, mostly due to the ease at which a person will bleed with NSAIDs like aspiring in their bloodstream. She actually had been admitted to hospital & was undergoing an intravenous "flush" (using saline solution) to try to clear the aspirin out of her system more rapidly. So right now, ...

I received this e-mail late last night. It saddens me that I didn't get a chance to know Rev Brett better than the little contact I had with him. He was a true pioneer, a soldier, a human being filled with love and compassion, and he will most definitely be missed. Our only comfort is in knowing that his energy persists, and that the mission he started will be continued and carried out by others. [UPDATE] Apparently, Rev. Harris suffered a heart-attack last week. Rest In Peace, good Reverend! Rev. Brett Harris, the founder of Friends of Bryce and Ergonomical Ministries, passed away on New Years Day 2010. He was 48 years old at the time of his death. In honor of the man and his work there will be an online visual here on the Friendsofbryce ning network in the chat room. Date: This Sunday 3 January 2010 Time: 9PM Central Standard Time Where: on the Friends of Bryce network on Ning Come and meet other network members and lets remember the man and his vision that started all of ...

Approximately one decade ago, Westchester County (where I live) was debating the passage of legislation that would establish its own Human Rights Law/Commission. The proposed legislation was extremely controversial because it included "sexual orientation" as a protected class--something the New York State law did not do at the time. As someone who has been politically involved since high school and active in the LGBTQ rights movement, I wrote a letter to the editors of our local newspaper in support of the passage of the county's proposed Human Rights Law. For whatever reason, somewhere around 90% of the letters to editors that I write actually get published, and this was no exception. My letter appeared in the local paper, signed with my name and village of residence. My grandmother, very frail of health (at that time she'd had four major coronary infarctions and a series of minor strokes, along with the usual health problems associated with someone approach...

Christmas is not a time nor a season, but a state of mind. To cherish peace and goodwill, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas. ~ John Calvin Coolidge, Jr., (4 July 1872 – 5 January 1933) President of the United States of America I spend today, Christmas 2009, with my father down in the State of Georgia. He lives near Atlanta. It's quite strange down here; almost nobody decorates (I'd be surprised if but one out of every 25 homes were decorated) and it doesn't feel at all like Christmas. A bit more so in my father's home as I practically forced him to get a Christmas tree. Of course, I had to decorate it. We split the cost for the ornaments & lights, though, and he did pay for the tree. I paid for the stand. It was a fair trade. :) Anyway, I'm just doing a lot of thinking, which I'll reserve for another post. In celebrating your holidays, whatever your tradition, religious persuasion and what not, I do ask that you please take so...

Yesterday, the New York State legislature made an historic statement against providing equality to its citizens: the New York State Senate voted 38 against, 24 in favor of a bill that would equalize the playing field and legalize same-sex marriages in the state. Guess what folks? There are only 30 Republican Senators in the New York State Senate (all of whom, unfortunately, voted against the bill). That means that eight (8) Democratic New York State Senators voted against the bill. What surprised many (but not this jaded) LGBTQ activists was the wide margin by which the marriage equality bill was defeated. According to the Albany Times-Union blog , this is the official roll call for the vote: YES: 24 NO: 38 FULL ROLL CALL Eric Adams (D) — YES “This is about love.” Joseph Addabbo (D) — NO James Alesi (R) — NO Darrel Aubertine (D) — NO John Bonacic (R) — NO Neil Breslin (D) — YES John DeFrancisco (R) — NO Ruben Diaz (D) — NO “Sen. Smith, it is better to keep your word.” Mar...