arrested without charge for years? almost typical, now...

The Truth Puts You in Jail - New York Times:

Once we had voodoo economics. Now, in the age of terror, we have voodoo law enforcement. Mr. Higazy’s case is far from the most egregious. People have disappeared. People have been sent off to foreign lands to be tortured. People have been condemned to secret dungeons run by the C.I.A. People have been put away at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, with no hope of being allowed to prove their innocence.

For five years now Americans have been chasing ghosts and shadows, and demanding that they confess to terrorizing us. Who’s terrorizing whom here?

We need to ask ourselves: Do we want a just society? Or are we willing to trade that revolutionary idea for a repressive government that gives us nothing more than the illusion of safety?

maintaining the quality of life...

...is, sadly, the only option I have.  They can't do the surgery as its crossed the mid-line of the jaw and the whole jaw would have to be removed.  This would 1) create a very low quality of life as she would have to be fed by tube for the rest of her life, and 2) is unlikely to extend that life past the current 6 month diagnosis in the first place.  Nothing is likely to.  The options of Radio and Chemo are still there to keep the tumor from getting any worse and keeping the pain down, but it won't really stop the eventual spread to the lungs.  In one sense I'm relieved in that if they had done the surgery, feeding would become a chore during the recovery and I'd have had to house her at the vet over the weekends for them to do it since I'm not home for the next 9...

I'm going to go with the chemo, as its the one least likely to have side effects in the expected dosages.  I'll schedule the first session for ibuprofen tuesday as I usually ask to take that day off in the first place.

But for now, as long as she's eating and drinking and sleeping and acting happy, I'm as content as I'll be.

*sigh*

evolution impacts - not just one invasive species, but TWO...

Grey squirrel virus wiping out reds - Yahoo! News:

Britain's native red squirrels, already in headlong retreat, are being wiped out not just by competition for resources with non-indigenous gray squirrels but from a virus the grays carry, research showed on Monday.

The squirrel poxvirus is harmless to the grays but kills reds within two weeks of contact, said the researchers...

"Given that the gray squirrel is an introduced species, and therefore the disease has occurred as a consequence of human action, the onus is very much on us to look for practical solutions to control the disease and protect red squirrels from (it)," said Tony Sainsbury, lecturer in wild animal health at the Zoological Society of London.

more happy kitty icons

    

The Truth remains the Truth

The Vacuum Cleaner remains the most hated noise in all the universe...