From the Capitol in Madison

From the Capitol in Madison to the Shores of Tripoli
http://warisacrime.org/content/capitol-madison-shores-tripoli
By David Swanson

From the capitol in Madison
To the shores of Tripoli
We will fight the people's battles
And we'll fight them peacefully;
We’ll pledge to be nonviolent,
And we’ll train before we start.
For our fight will be relentless,
We commit with all our heart.

Our flags unfurl to every breeze
From dawn to setting sun;
We will fight in every clime and place
And we'll never touch a gun.
In the snow of far-off northern lands
And on sunny tropic seas
You will find us always on the job
Building new democracies.

Here's health to everyone on earth
Whom we are proud to serve;
Despite the strife we'll risk our life
And never lose our nerve.
If the tyrants and their funders
Wish history to please
They will step out of their palaces
And join our democracies.

Family Disaster

Got a call this afternoon from a family friend, telling me that there had been a fire at one of the family homes in Kent.

No kidding.

http://www.kirotv.com/news/26906135/detail.html

http://kent.komonews.com/news/911/fire-rips-through-kent-home/622080

http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/south_king/cmv/news/116452883.html

My mom will heal. The fire burned her face pretty badly, and she is at Harborview. Nobody else was hurt. They got the dogs down to the other house owned by my family on the same block, and we'll be looking for the cats tomorrow. We're guessing the kittens didn't get out. The bigger problems are on the horizon. My mom had retired from King County on December 31st, and had not continued her health insurance. She also had not had the time to send in the check for Homeowners Insurance. Meaning they have lost everything. All clothes for 2 adults and 1 child, all the toys, all the books collected over 50+ years, ... everything. The only thing we can do is put the lot up for sale.

What we need more than anything right now is clothes. My mom told me to run up her Nordstrom card. I think I'll stop by Value Village and call the Red Cross first.

Don't EVER go without insurance. That's why I got involved in politics in the first place, to push national health care insurance. I'm not giving up until I see my son get a US National Health Insurance card.

I'm checking to see how people can help. Right now the biggest need is clothes for three people. My mom wears a 1x-2x, Alberta wears 3x-4x and Karen a girls 14-15.

Update: My mom's clothes somehow survived. We're just going to have a large drycleaning bill.

If anyone would like to donate money online, please send money to my paypal account. search for my email address, chadlupkes@gmail.com