Happy solstice

And to all a good night!

It’s official.

Santa and I had a confab yesterday. Due to one of us being disorganized and well behind schedule, (I will not point fingers) we agreed to postpone Christmas until sometime in mid-January! I’ll keep you updated as details are worked out!

I have just sent my first email to my elected official.

"Dear Greg,

This is Mac, I work at the Hood River Inn.

You always have said you wouldn’t vote to raise my taxes. So why did you just vote to do that?

In truth, I can afford the additional taxes. I’m not personally offended on that level. But you have just voted what is best for the Republican Party, not what is best for the people of Oregon (and America). That offends me.

I know you are secure for re-election. You and I don’t agree on most issues, but this is over the top. People will be hurt by your vote."

Greg Walden is my representative in the Congress of the United States. I live in a strongly Republican district. Greg and I have know each other for something like 25 years. 'Friends' might be stretching the term, but we always greet each other warmly when we see each other.

My name is not Opal.

But I do bear some similarities.

The Inaugural Pac-12 Championship Game.

For those of you the missed last night’s game, let me give you the highlights:

OREGON WON!!!

World AIDS day, 2011

I have a jaded view of the AIDS epidemic. I had the honor of knowing a man who was at the epicenter of the crisis. A man who knew more than history will ever announce.

Wayno was as bartender in New York City in the late 70’s and early 80’s.He knew people who died of “Consumption” in the late 70’s. AIDS was officially discovered in 1981.

We had a president at that time: a conservative president who was particularly anti-gay, and apparently particularly stupid. Despite the ravage that AIDS was wreaking in the third world, he was silent.

It was 1987 before Reagan ever mentioned AIDS out loud. Almost six years into the crisis (in America), he finally said the disease’s name. (Would anyone like to compare that to Swine Flu or Bird Flu or any of those other great health crises lately?) Over 41,000 Americans had died of the disease, and god only knows how many millions had died in sub-Saharan Africa and other third world countries before our president announced that the disease existed.

The AIDS crisis is not over. It lives.

Crushing news for a comic lover

Bill Keane, the creator of the Family Circus has died.

I was never the greatest fan of the Family Circus, but I know the world is a lesser place.