Who Really Supports the Troops? - The Democrats, That's Who

Thanks to Hunter at the Daily Kos and Bob Geiger for this cool comparison chart. The Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America compiled a list of over three hundred legislative votes from the last five years. This non-partisan group put together this ranking of our Congress men and women and whether they actually supported the troops with their votes, not just with their words.

Republicans are always making a show of how much they support the troops, how much they respect the fine men and women that have dedicated their lives to the defense of the United States, etc. Here I link to an earlier post I made about the Republican leadership replacing one of their fellow Republicans as chairman of the Veteran's Affiars committee. The first Republican was actually doing a good job and voted often in favor of more benefits, better protection, etc., but then the Republican leadership didn't like that so they replaced him with a rank and file stooge who would do their bidding and vote against all of those benefits.

Anyway, let's get right to the heart of the matter. Check out the chart here showing the grades that our Congress people received regarding their actual votes concerning our veterans...notice that every single Democrat on the list ranked higher than all of the Republicans...big surprise. Ha!

Bipolar treatment update 10-12-06

I figured it was time to post another update on my bipolar odyssey. In a previous bipolar update from January, I had talked about getting enrolled in a school to complete my degree by the end of 2007. Well, I actually did that. Surprise, surprise...I actually committed to something, stuck with it so far, and am doing well at this point. I began taking online classes in the late spring so I could qualify for the degree completion program this fall. So after three classes and a six-week course to assess my prior learning, training, and other classes, I am now a senior! Huzzah!

I have started the actual business management degree program and have classes once a week on Tuesday nights. The first class was a little scary and I wasn't totally comfortable there, but it got better as the evening went on. Since I'm still a little bit 'off' lately it was tougher than it probably would have been.

Recently I've had a big depression thing, and this is while I am still on the 100mg of Lamictal. It had been working great, but all of a sudden once October hit, I started to slide away into the darkness again. The fall is my favorite time of the year, but it's also when I've traditionally had the worst of my 'mental situations', let's call them. So I moved up my appt. with my psychiatrist and she gave me some Prozac to go along with an increased dosage of Lamictal. My daily cocktail now consists of 20mg of Prozac, and 150mg of Lamictal. I hope it does the trick, because this time the depression hit me lightning quick, and it was almost as severe as I've had in years.

That's the update I guess...new drugs, new school, new depression...and I'm trying my best to stay on top of it all. That's the shit thing about this brand of bi-polar that I've got; I never know what's going to happen, or when, or how severely. So I just try to roll with it, using my experience with it all to do what's necessary before it's too late and I just don't care enough to help myself.

Take care everybody. Have an awesome October!

A Self Portrait

Self portrait of me as I truly am...

In two versions...




I Can Hear the Laughs - by Freedy Johnston

You can really fall
Wake up in a ruined house
Wrapped up in a torn down curtain

And when I get to hell
Will the lovely girls come down
To the banks of that red, red river

I can hear the laughs
When they find I've fallen down again
I can hear the laughs
And it hurts so bad I have to smile

You can take a lot
Put back not a thing
Still come home looking thinner

And when I get to Oz
Will the lovely witch come down
Kiss my pale, bleeding brow

I can hear the laughs
When they find I've fallen down again
I can hear the laughs
And it hurts so bad I have to smile