The weather has been really bad up in Vermont. We only had a couple of sunny days but the rest has been rainy. I hope it clears up soon.

I am amazed to see that it has been 9 months since I wrote here—long enough to have a baby! And I remember that many things in life are a birth. Since the sentencing, I have not looked back. I have been running this race in earnest.

“Take a deep seat,

Don’t look back

And Ride to Win.”

(-Secretariat’s jockey, in an autograph to me when I was about 10.)

I feel compelled to squeeze the life out of every second. Even quiet moments have their volume turned up emotionally. I can’t figure out if I’m living or if I’m dieing. It seems the same. Both get us closer to the end. I can’t tell if my heart is continually breaking, or swelling with life. A new baby opens its eyes. Do the eyes of a loved one from heaven see her? People fight, but they make up. Friends’ lives go on, but they forget you. Again, should I be happy, or sad? Every breath has its pain and its joy. So I choose the joy, while swimming upstream against the pain. We go on either because of something, or in spite of it.

Above all, catastrophe is not an excuse to fail. It is a reason to succeed.

I have been giving birth to my new life.

"As many of you know, CNN forced the takedown of behind-the-scenes video shot by Andrew Marcus of Founding Bloggers and posted to YouTube. Founding Bloggers has sent and published an open letter to the cable network requesting that the video (which has aired on other TV networks without retribution) be restored;" (from: michellemalkin.com)

On October 29, the Wall Street stock market crashed with disastrous worldwide effects. First in America, then the rest of the world, companies went bankrupt, banks failed and people instantly lost their life savings.
Unemployment soon soared and poverty and starvation became real possibilities for everyone.
The people panicked. Governments seemed powerless against the worldwide economic collapse. Fear ruled. Governments stood on the brink. The Great Depression had begun.
Adolf Hitler knew his time had come.
http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/riseofhitler/quiet.htm

If outvoting them takes longer than outshooting them, at least the results will be guaranteed by their own Constitution! Any lawful process is slow. But sooner or later we shall have a majority - and after that Germany." - Hitler stated while in prison.
http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/riseofhitler/new.htm

Hitler had discovered much to his delight that he could speak well in front of a strange audience, hold their attention, and sway them to his point of view.
http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/riseofhitler/ends.htm

The Nazi Party would be organized like a government itself, so that when power was achieved and democracy was legitimately ended, this 'government in waiting' could slip right into place.
.http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/riseofhitler/new.htm
 

My unofficially, unadopted, child wrote this and all I can say is-

Yeah! That's what I meant!

Down Once More....

Your Honor,                                                                                   

 My name is Allison. I’m Dawn’s sister. We were close in age. I used to be the younger one-- now, I’ve already lived six months longer than Dawn.

 In New Jersey, people are getting away with murder. The dead can’t speak. All a defendant has to do is lie about the circumstances involving the crime, and say he got really upset. The punishment for taking a life should be a life sentence, if not capital punishment. We can see from Dawn’s wounds that the defendant had intent. He chose twenty-one times to kill Dawn. I call upon the entire state of New Jersey to do away with their Passion Provocation Plea laws. Because of them, we had to accept less than what this defendant truly deserves.

 I’ve wanted more than anything for Dawn to be able to speak for herself. Since that is not possible, I have decided to read from some of her e-mails:

_________________________________________

 
January 2006, on becoming a Grandmother:

 "It is indescribable the feeling of holding your child's child.  It is not like holding other new babies.  When you hold your grandchild, you are thinking, 'This is a part of me!' "

About breaking off the relationship with the defendant:

 “I really feel bad for him.”

 “I don't want him humiliated.”

 “I feel like he cheated on me.  He was supposed to love and honor me…not constantly put me down.”

 “Don't let him know I told you specific things that happened between us.”

 “People change suddenly when money is involved.”

October 2006

“I’m beginning to realize I wasn’t tired before [the break-up] either…I was depressed.”
“You’ll be seeing a lot more of me again.” 
“This has turned out to be a most WONDERFUL year!!!”
“I’m ecstatically happy!!! “

 
Thanksgiving 2006, to our Brother

 “This will certainly be one of our most thankful Thanksgivings!”

 “I’m SO looking forward to the Holiday and when the Costa’s come up!!!”

A final e-mail to me:

 “Thanks, sis!  Can't wait to see you all!”

 
And a final one to our sister-in-law Laura:

Man it’s good to be alive!!!

________________________________________

"The original idea was that the annual ships would bring food and supplies, but erratic winds made for serious delays in crossing the Atlantic.

And the rule was that the colonists would share available food equally. This "common store system," an early form of communism, caused enormous squabbling."

(Why squabble? Some worked hard and some didn't work at all. All ate. Food ran out.)

"A few gentlemen tried to lead the colony and failed, so in desperation, they elected Captain John Smith who used the stick of "work not, eat not", which averted total disaster."

(Better? Of course. Even women and children then went to the fields to plant seeds.)

"But the investors in England were becoming restless, and in 1611 a new governor, Thomas Dale, changed the rules to "work more, eat more" allowing colonists to keep the fruits of their labor and profit."

(Now there's some real incentive!)

Found here

And here's some food for thought:
'Benjamin Franklin stated,

"Gentlemen we give you a Republic . . . if you can keep it."'