Cindy’s Island Blog

My latest web project.

From The Grafton News - February 24, 2010

Grafton Historical Society Website

Governor Patrick and Aaron

Aaron’s Letter to the Editor, Grafton News February 17, 2010.

To the Editor,

I was excited to be invited to the Democratic meeting that was held at the Historical Society in Grafton on Saturday. I have been interested in politics for quite a few years and volunteered on both John F. Kerry’s and Barrack Obama’s presidential campaigns. I also held signs in front of the high school for Deval Patrick in 2006 and Michael Moore in the 2008 elections.

I like politics and consider myself a Democrat. I think it is important for young people to get involved in the elections because I have two brothers who have disabilities. I feel that the Democrats are more concerned about people with disabilities, as well as the homeless.

I was very upset when Scott Brown was elected to the Senate and that is why I felt I should get more involved in politics.

I was so happy to meet Governor Deval Patrick. He gave a speech and did a great job. He talked about how he is actually doing some positive things about the economy and that we need to get the word out that things are getting better. He said that our state was in better shape than a lot of states, but the job is not done yet.

State Senator Michael Moore was also at the meeting. I met him back in 2008.

In my opinion we need to use our tax dollars to help those who are homeless and struggling. Of course I also think we should care about people with disabilities and accept all people even if they are different. I believe that the Democratic Party will do a better job at this than Republicans. Deval Patrick said that we sometimes need a helping hand to be the best we can be and that is one of the roles of government. He did say that government can not solve all our problems (like math in school!).

I have been invited to attend the monthly democratic meetings and am in hopes of getting a ride to the meetings with Kim Edgren and Lisa Kelly who are good friends of mine. They were both elected as delegates on Saturday. I was also invited by Ms. Saxe to be a student volunteer at the Democratic Campaign Institute meeting at the end of the month. I am in hopes of meeting John F. Kerry and telling him to keep advocating for my brothers.

Aaron Bissell
Sophomore at Grafton High School

Before

Ripping out closet and cabinets

Need to extend lift track 9 feet

Putting up walls

Installing door

Installing drywall, inside room

Outside wall

New track section installed, modifying door for lift system

tedious plastering and sanding

Painting

Making use of extra kitchen cabinets for storage

Wall Decals

Curtain to hide access to water heater closet

New kitchen wall with iron decor that papa made

Final touch, Anthony’s new electric bed

Michelangelo’s “Creation of Adam” is a famous section of the Sistine Chapel ceiling painted in 1511. It illustrates the biblical story from the Book of Genesis in which God breathes life into Adam, the first man. But was Michelangelo hinting at a different story?

Take a closer look at this painting. First, Adam is very much alive. Is he reaching to God or is God reaching to him?

If you know anything about human anatomy, the depiction of God inside the human brain is unmistakable. I would speculate that Michelangelo was actually saying that God is a creation of man. Man created God in his own image.

Michelangelo was a well educated, multi-talented genius. He no doubt realized that there is nothing outside of the human imagination to prove anything written in the Book of Genesis. Of course he could never admit these ideas in his time, but was this painting a clever way to speak his own mind?

My latest web project:

This year marks the 275th anniversary of the incorporation of the Town
of Grafton Massachusetts. As part of this yearlong celebration, the Grafton News is
compiling a virtual scrapbook of the towns history at
www.grafton275.org. The site will include ‘then and now’ photos, old
historic photos, documents, videos and events celebrating this milestone
in our towns history. Grafton275.org is a volunteer project through the Grafton News to help celebrate Grafton’s Birthday. This site will be a work-in-progress throughout the coming year.

I’m having lots of fun learning about our towns long and interesting history. Grafton, MA is a perfect example of a quaint New England town with it’s Native American roots, and town history dating back before the American Revolution. The Grafton News has been a part of the towns history for over 50 years and we have lots of historic documents and photos to share.

First official death toll release by the Haitian government on Friday following the magnitude 7.0 earthquake that struck Haiti on January 12, 2010.

Deadliest Earthquakes arranged by Death Toll, Event, Location and Date:

830,000 1556 Shaanxi earthquake China 1556
250,000 526 Antioch earthquake Antioch, Byzantine Empire (now Turkey) 526
242,000 1976 Tangshan earthquake China 1976
240,000 1920 Haiyuan earthquake China 1920
230,000 1138 Aleppo earthquake Syria 1138
230,000 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake Asia 2004
200,000 856 Damghan earthquake Iran 856
150,000 893 Ardabil earthquake Iran 893
142,800 1923 Great Kanto earthquake Japan 1923
137,000 1730 Hokkaido earthquake Japan 1730
111,481 2010 Haiti earthquake Haiti 2010
110,000 1948 Ashgabat earthquake Turkmenistan 1948
100,000 Messina earthquake Italy 1908
100,000 1755 Lisbon earthquake Portugal 1755
100,000 1290 Chihli earthquake China 1290
86,000 2005 Kashmir earthquake Pakistan 2005
85,000 1854 Great Ansei Nankai earthquakes Japan 1854
80,000 1667 Shamakhi earthquake Azerbaijan 1667
77,000 1727 Tabriz Earthquake Iran 1727
70,000 1932 Changma, Gansu earthquake China 1932
69,197 2008 Sichuan earthquake China 2008
66,000 Ancash earthquake Peru 1970
60,000 Sicily earthquake Italy 1693
60,000 1935 Balochistan earthquake British India 1935
50,000 Calabrian earthquakes Italy 1783
40,000 1927 Gulang, Gansu earthquake China 1927
40,000 1498 Meio- Nankai, Japan earthquake Japan 1498
40,000 1797 Quito earthquake Ecuador 1797
37,000 Genroku earthquake Japan 1703
35,000 1990 Manjil Rudbar earthquake Iran 1990
32,962 1939 Erzincan earthquake Turkey 1939
30,000 1707 Great Ho-ei Earthquake Japan 1707
30,000 2003 Bam earthquake Iran 2003
25,000 1988 Spitak Earthquake Armenia 1988
25,000 1978 Tabas earthquake Iran 1978
23,700 Kamakura earthquake Japan 1293
23,000 1976 Guatemala earthquake Guatemala 1976
20,000 Gujarat earthquake India 2001
20,000 1812 Caracas earthquake Venezuela 1812
20,000 1939 Chillán earthquake Chile 1939
18,000 1949 Khait earthquake Tajikistan 1949
17,118 Izmit earthquake Turkey 1999
15,000 1960 Agadir earthquake Morocco 1960
12,225 1962 Bou’in-Zahra earthquake Iran 1962
10,700 1934 Bihar earthquake India 1934
10,000 Apennine earthquakes Italy 1703
10,000 1944 San Juan earthquake Argentina 1944
9,748 1993 Latur earthquake India 1993
9,500 1985 Mexico City earthquake Mexico 1985
9,000 1933 Diexi earthquake China 1933
8,064 1966 Xingtai earthquake China 1966
7,000 1968 Dasht-e Bayaz and Ferdows earthquake Iran 1968
6,433 1995 Great Hanshin earthquake Japan 1995
6,000 1960 Valdivia earthquake Chile 1960
6,000 1861 Mendoza earthquake Argentina 1861
5,300 1974 Hunza earthquake Pakistan 1974
5,000 1972 Managua earthquake Nicaragua 1972
4,000 1945 Balochistan earthquake British India 1945
3,894 1948 Fukui earthquake Japan 1948
3,000 1933 Sanriku earthquake Japan 1933
3,000 1906 San Francisco earthquake United States 1906

Source: Wikipedia: List of natural disasters

Some suggested places donate:
American Red Cross
Physicians for Peace
Unicef

Suggested Reading: My Nephew Nicholas’ excellent article on the Haiti quake: ‘Kléré tankou flanbo sou tè-a

A sampling of the tweets that came through as soon as Browns win was projected on CNN:

Massachusetts What Have You Done?

Congratulations Massachusetts, Derek Zoolander is your new state senator.

What. The. Hell. Massachusetts?

Massachusetts goes to the center . . . fold

Dear Majority of Massachusetts Voters: Thanks for nothing.

So does anyone have the number where we can text to rebuild after the tragedy in Massachusetts?

I really hope the U.S. doesn’t decline into a conservative, close minded nation. Massachusetts, you’re scaring me.

Massachusetts, you should be ashamed of yourselves! Holy shit you suck. Poor Ted Kennedy is rolling over in his grave right now.

Massachusetts voters say, “Our state has a great health plan that we love, but why should you have one?”

Thanks for pissing on Ted Kennedy’s grave, Massachusetts

Massachusetts = Blerrg.

What the heck, Massachusetts? Just… wow.

Of course there were a few happy tweets, but many more like these.  Definitely a major upset that will make moving forward more difficult.  If you are wondering why politicians can’t get anything done, it’s because we are a country divided.  The pendulum keeps swinging back and forth, but it doesn’t go anywhere.

Brown vs. Coakley

Guess which candidate is a lying, cheating scumbag. Scott Brown is a male Sarah Palin. If he wins Ted Kennedy’s Senate seat it will be a total embarrassment to the State of Massachusetts and to the legacy of the Kennedy family.

The right wing smear masters are spending over a million dollars on attack ads against Martha Coakley here in Massachusetts. We are not use to all the ads and phone calls we are getting recently. We are the most progressive state in the union, everyone knows we are a blue state. But the ‘tea partiers’ are poring money into the state, because they know that just one vote can stop health care reform, as well as other needed changes that we have been fighting so hard for since the 2008 presidential election. They have even set up a website called “Red Invades Blue.”

Not only are they trying to steal Ted’s legacy, they are trying to block progress. Massachusetts has always been the leader for progressive change in the US, this dates back to the colonial days and yes, the Boston Tea Party. The conservatives calling them selves ‘Tea Party Patriots’ is a joke. Here in Massachusetts, we started the American Revolution. We are the birth place of education, we already have universal health care, we were first in marriage equality. We know what needs to be done to move this country forward. And after more than 200 years, we still prefer coffee over tea.

As Massachusetts’ first woman senator, Martha Coakley will fight to advance Senator Ted Kennedy’s legacy. If you are a Massachusetts registered voter, please vote for Martha on January 19th. The stakes are extremely high. Your vote is needed to keep the entire country moving forward!

Martha Coakley for U.S. Senate

Want to know what’s worse than this freezing cold New England weather? Hot flashes in the freezing cold weather. Heat on, heat off; layers on, layers off; covers on, covers off; my internal thermostat is all out of whack. I’m freezing one minute and roasting the next. I’m in the midst of ‘The Change’; what I’ll change into I’m not yet sure. But no doubt about it, hormones are powerful little chemicals.

I’ve been reading up on menopause lately and have many of the common symptoms: Hot flashes, night sweats, palpitations, mood swings, trouble sleeping, fatigue, difficulty concentrating, memory lapses, headaches, electric shock sensations (this one is fun). But being a nurse, I knew all of these symptoms were normal. What did surprise me was a look at the history of the treatment of menopause.

I’m sure glad I’m not living in Victorian times when ‘The Change’ was seen as a sign of lunacy! It was generally felt that these women should be locked up. And many were. In addition to the asylum, women were subjected to all sorts of unnecessary and dangerous ‘treatments’ and surgeries.

Here is a short but fascinating summery of the history of the treatment of menopause. After reading this it appears that the male doctors were the lunatics, not the poor women.

The mad, mad menopause: LOUISE FOXCROFT charts its fascinating, and sometimes gruesome, history…

My treatment for menopause? Let nature take it’s course.

Bissell Boys - 2001

2010; sounds like a year out of a science fiction movie. Today we celebrate a new year and a new decade. Hard to believe it’s 2010! I remember when I was a kid thinking how ancient I would be in the year 2000! Well, now I’m 10 years older. The young get old and the old get cold…

On the home front, the boys went from 6 to 16 in what seemed like the blink of an eye. They have changed in many ways, but largely – because of their disabilities – some things have not changed at all. The reality that our children will soon be adults and we won’t be around forever to care for them is a constant worry. We are beginning to plan for their future and hoping the boys will be able to stay at home. We will need to gradually add staff, as we get too old to care for them. They are so vulnerable and dependent on others. We need to get all the necessary supports in place to be sure they are taken care of after we are gone.

Looking back on the past 10 years, the toughest part of this decade for us had nothing to do with the boys, it was a near-death accident that I had back in 2002 and the complications that followed. This is a long story that really needs it’s own post. But let me just say that this accident drained a lot from our emotional reserve, which tends to run near empty much of the time. Physically, I haven’t gotten back to where I was before the accident and probably never will.

Continuing with this rather depressing post, Time Magazine dubbed this “The Decade From Hell”. Not a whole lot of good news in the past 10 years. Things started going down-hill with the election of George W. Bush (who didn’t really win). I can’t help wondering where the US would be now if Gore had become president. Than came 9/11, and then we invaded Afghanistan. We never did find that bin Laden guy. Then on to the Iraq disaster and Bush’s re-election. Never underestimate the stupidity of the American people. Add to this the disintegration of the space shuttle Columbia, the tsunami, Katrina, the Virginia tech shooting, the recession, the swine flu, what did I miss? Ugggg…. When I started this post, I didn’t plan on it being such a downer.

But on the bright side, Obama was elected and he brings us “hope” for “change” in the new decade. Hope may not be enough, but at least we have someone sane and intelligent in the White House. All things considered, I’m still an optimist with my cup of life half-full. Looking at the big picture, I’m pretty lucky and looking forward to 2010.

Bissell Boys - 2009