Mary Flaig's Blog

The people are speaking! The "Occupy Wall St." movement is in it's second week in downtown Manhattan--protesting 2008 bank bailouts, foreclosures, and high unemployment...1000 people were there today, while smaller protests were happening in Boston, Chicago and San Francisco. Frustrated, demoralized citizens have had enough!

While watching "The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell", on MSNBC, I was inspired by his guest of last night, Van Jones. He was discussing his "Rebuild the Dream" movement to counter the "Tea Party". He wants the American people to stand up for the best values of the country and recapture the magic of 2008, when President Obama was running on the "Yes, We Can" platform. He aspires to have a movement where peaceful protests throughout the country will give us back the hope we've lost through the greed of big business, banks and a Republican Congress that wants to destroy our progress. He wants graduates to have job prospects, he wants to safeguard Social Security and Medicare, stop financing the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, etc., through the American people having a voice to say "Yes, We Can" have our rights protected...He stated the "American Fall" will be like the "Arab Spring"...a revolution for "Hope"... A conference will be held on the grounds of the US Capital, on October 3-5. Progressive leaders, workers and the unemployed will be involved.

Had lunch at Celestino's in Chatham village with a friend today who's going to Italy on Thursday. C. has just been assured she can hold off on a root canal she thought might make her trip impossible. Her dentist, however, couldn't figure out which tooth was causing her problem and sent her to a specialist. I should have taken that as a warning, as on Tuesday I had my first appointment with him...I had a cap removed and a new one designed that would be a little bigger than the original and a tooth filled next to it. Probably, my first mistake was having such a big job done by a new dentist. It was the most uncomfortable dental process I've ever experienced, with particles from the drill getting caught in my throat from the beginning of the session. I was injected with so much novacaine that I didn't feel the discomfort of his pulling my mouth all over the place...the cap size had to modified...the technician was pulling it on and off, over and over again, and then the debris from the dentist's tool, to size it, floated onto my face and clothes. That evening, my lip and jaw swelled up to 3 times their natural size. I was instructed to call their emergency # if I had any questions or concerns, 24 hrs a day. Never having experienced a reaction like this, I called. However, the answering machine never clicked over to the dentist's cell as it was supposed to, that evening or the next morning. When I finally spoke to him, after calling his office #, and explained my situation, he sounded very nervous...kept swallowing....and, to top off the mistake I made in ever setting foot in his office, called in a prescription to the wrong pharmacy. 6 days later, I'm beginning to eat normally as the damage caused by his rough manipulations is almost healed...the crepe I had for lunch tasted so good. Larry, how would you handle this?

My mother's birthday was 9/9...I wanted "Amazing Grace" sung at her funeral Mass, but, to my disappointment, no singer was found that knew the song. When I heard it sung at the 9/11 anniversary ceremonies, I think of her, of course. But, my sadness extends not only to the people killed in this country on 9/11, but, to all who have lost their lives in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan...those who fight and the civilans who couldn't leave the fighting arenas. The journalists and photographers who were targeted attempting to show the truth of war to the world should be remembered. So much loss and sorrow in the last 10 years...

Once again, Michelle Goldberg, of "The Daily Beast", has enlightened us about Rick Perry. She mentions that his condemnation of abortion is clear and unequivocal. His crusade to stop abortion is reflected in this statement when he spoke about the Texas Alliance for Life..."I commend Texas Alliance for Life for not only submitting to governing authorities with humility, but also working hard to change the laws so that they better reflect God's character instead of man's." He's referring to overturning "Roe v. Wade". Michelle states that he's committed to restricting his Cabinet appointments to people who share his opposition to abortion, should he become president. "The Texas Tribune" states, "In the nearly 11 years since Perry became governor, he has supported at least 6 high-profile anti-abortion bills. "The Dallas Observer" reported, on Wednesday, that 6 Planned Parenthood clinics and 9 independent family planning providers will be losing their state funding starting this week. He's at war with women...

To me, his sadistic, misogynistic approach to governing, under the guise of religion, is scarier than anything I've ever witnessed in the political realm. Any person that would vote for him, is giving up their freedom and rights as a citizen in a democracy...where choices regarding their bodies, health and spirituality should be their own.