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Stuff Healthy People Say to Sick People

I've heard every one of these, except the skinny comment of course.

Oppose the War, Not the Warrior

There is a hashtag on Twitter today called #HowLiberalsSpendThe4thOfJuly. I cannot speak for others (and it's a pretty stupid hashtag anyway) but this liberal is spending the 4th of July remembering what Republicans have done to John Kerry, Max Cleland, and are now doing to Tammy Duckworth. They have demeaned these veterans not for their political views, but for their actual service to our nation. They have lied about their service records and their heroic actions. And beyond anything even remotely comprehensible, they have made truly despicable comments about Cleland's and Duckworth's injuries.

My father was in the Air Force for 19 years. He was gone for most of my childhood-- a tremendous sacrifice for him and for our entire family. He served honorably and with dignity, believing that he was protecting our country.

My stepfather was also an Air Force veteran, a bomber pilot. He was in his early twenties when he was shot down over Germany in WWII, lost his entire right arm and was taken prisoner. He harbored not a trace of resentment about what he endured, not even towards the Germans, who treated him quite horribly. He was proud to have served his country.

For over 40 years of my life I have been witness to at least some of what it means to serve in the military. It isn't a path I chose myself; I have always been opposed to war. But I have deep respect for those who are willing to live on meager incomes, relinquish all control over where they and their families live and work, and walk into battle risking life and limb for others, for me.

After what we did to Vietnam veterans our nation supposedly learned that it was fine to disagree about wars but not to dishonor those who fight them. When Republicans "swift-boated" John Kerry's military record and heroism (led by John McCain, of all people), they sank to a new low. I don't know how they can even live with themselves for that. And yet they continued on and have done even worse to Max Cleland and Tammy Duckworth.

Personally I don't believe that wars make us safer--not a single one ever has. Maybe temporarily but the conflicts always deepen and resurface later when the weapons are more advanced and when much greater harm is done. But opposing the war is one thing and opposing the warrior is another. By expressing gratitude for our soldiers we don't necessarily condone war.

As a Buddhist, I contemplate the choices Republicans are making and feel great sadness for them. To deliberately harm another being results in future suffering for one's self. To denigrate people who have volunteered to risk their lives for you is some pretty awful karma. To denigrate people who have voluntarily lost limbs for you...so much worse. I will dedicate many prayers to those who would do such a thing AND to those who would remain silent in the face of it. And in a mundane way, I will take every action possible to see that they are stopped and that all participants are called out for their actions.

Yeah, Baby

Note to Self: Read Note to Self

Every time I do this month-long series of treatments I go through the same exact pattern. After the first of four treatments I think, "Well this is awful but not as bad as I remember. Maybe I'm tolerating it better." Then it gets worse all week and the second treatment hits like a brick. Still I think, "Well, closer to what I remember but not as bad. I think my body is definitely tolerating it better." Then it gets worse all week and the third treatment is straight outta hell. That's when I think, "Oh man, this IS what I remember and I'm definitely NOT tolerating it better."

Though I'm curled up right now with intense nausea, pain, weakness and a pile of other side effects, I can still step back and find the humor in the whole thing. Not every second-- that would be neurotic-- but in an overall OMG-just-believe-your-stupid-notes kinda way.

Ungagged

It's been a long time since I've written about William Cassidy, the man stalking Jetsunma and harassing our sangha since 2007. It was a forced and difficult silence; we were all prevented from discussing the case or responding to his continued online attacks while the legal proceedings were underway. It was brutal seeing Jetsunma tormented every day for years without being able to rise to her defense and watching helplessly as her health deteriorated to the point where she is now living with severe pain and multiple stress-induced conditions.

Unfortunately justice did not prevail. Several months ago we learned that the judge dismissed the case, concluding that William Cassidy was merely expressing his First Amendment rights to free speech when he bombarded Jetsunma with those 8,000+ tweets and blog posts-- a sickening collection of vulgar, hateful and threatening messages. Additionally, the judge asserted that since Jetsunma is a public figure she's basically fair game and Cassidy's comments weren't a "true threat." Really. Here are a few of Cassidy's "not-a-true-threat" tweets using various accounts:

("Tora, Tora, Tora" is the phrase Japanese kamikaze pilots shouted before striking their targets)

As disturbing as those tweets would be coming from anyone, remember that William Cassidy is a violent, convicted felon, not some teenage boy firing off scary-sounding tweets to mess with people. We take his threats quite seriously even if the judge didn't.

Since Cassidy's release from federal prison, he's resumed his online attacks on Jetsunma, our sangha and KPC. Of course.

So that's the update on Cassidy. The final piece to add is that--as if Cassidy weren't enough-- in February, 2011, we learned we had a second stalker named Andrew Wilson. This article gives the background on how that happened and the ways he's joined forces with Cassidy in cyberstalking Jetsunma. Due to various investigations we were also forced to remain silent in the face of Wilson's harassment and threats, so as William Cassidy awaited trial in federal prison Andrew Wilson was running amok online.

The charge of cyberstalking would have made legal precedent and saved countless lives. Someday it will, no doubt. It's just a matter of time before someone (statistically likely to be a woman) is killed by someone (statistically likely to be a man) after a period of intensifying cyberstalking. Having lived through this nightmare, I can tell you that cyberstalking is no different from "real life" stalking, in which the violent threats escalate as the victim tries in vain to protect herself. The law fails victims of "real life" stalking every day, and it has now failed victims of cyberstalking as well.

What Jetsunma has had to endure deserves to be told. Stay tuned.

Bye Bye Fishies

Alright. I finally sat down and tried to fix the busted blog template-- no go. As far as I can tell, "New Blogger" will have nothing to do with "Old Blogger" and has turned up its bloggy nose at my offensively outdated template. There's no way those fishies are coming back, folks.

Well, that's how samsara is-- the fact that something begins means it has already shaken hands with the ending. The fishbowl has expired. It's dead. Deceased. Pushing up daisies. It is an ex-template (respectful but giggly nod to Monty Python).

By the time I got wise to it, the fishies had already been scooped out of my karmic net. They're off on another dimensional string (nod to quantum physics, which I don't really get but like the idea that quantum physicists don't really get, either).

I don't know about the plant theme. But I have things that must be said and it buys me space to do that. And just in case I eventually fall in love with it, I'm gonna say goodbye to it right now so it won't break my pathetically weak heart when it falls into the inevitable abyss of Stuff You Wish You Still Had.

Update: The plant theme has been uprooted! Now I'm all about the Orange Sherbet look. This is eerily reminiscent of shopping for shoes. Don't make me tell that story. Just don't.