Samantha Pierce

Yeah I know it's Saturday but still I'm thankful for/that: The rain stopped long enough for us to not get soaked during the hayride on Friday night. Ethan got to roast marshmallows. I was able to intercept the flaming marshmallow that Ethan wanted me to blow out before it touched anyone. The trees are putting on their fall finery. Chef Ethan helping dad make dinner. Isaiah goes to bed when we tell him it's bed time. I wish he would rub off on his brother and sister in that respect. The opportunity to speak with law makers about autism and disability issues. What are you thankful for?

It seems that autism is on people's minds again. I've been made aware of two up coming opportunities for central New Yorkers to discuss the topic with local politicians. I'm planning on taking advantage of both opportunities. Any suggestions for what I should say/ask? Assembly Republican Regional Forum on Autism Awareness Thursday, October 2, 2008 10 AM- 12 Noon Onondaga County Legislative Bldg 401 Montgomery Street Syracuse, NY The public is invited, BUT YOU MUST CALL TO RSVP first: contact Bernadette VanDeinse-Office of Public Affairs (518) 455-5073. Meet the Candidates Forum on Disability Issues When: Thursday, October 23, 2008 1:00pm to 4:00pm Where: Rosamond Gifford Community Room 518 James St., Syracuse Sponsored by ARISE- Consumer Council, ADAPT/Disabled in Action of Greater Syracuse and Self-Advocacy Association of NYS. Program: 1:00pm – 2:00pm – Candidates for U.S. Congress 2:00pm – 2:15pm – Break, refreshments 2:15pm – 4:00pm – Candidates for NYS Senate and Ass

Fall off the wagon last week but I'm back this week. Today I am thankful for/that: A combination of hubby's supper geek computer skills, his near pathological patience and persistence with electronic equipment, and God's grace and mercy saved us from a very expensive data recovery process. Ethan and Sophia building a time machine on the back porch. Isaiah: Pennygon. Pantygon. Pantygon. Pentagon! Pen Ta Gon! Pentagon! Apparently there was a discussion about pentagons in his classroom sometime this week. Sometimes he reminds me of those language translator gadgets/programs that you see on scifi shows trying to learn a funky new language that is nothing like anything the show regulars have encountered before. The program/gadget struggles to learn the new language occasionally spitting out a word here or there that the regulars understand with the rest being unintelligible. Isaiah's going to take a bit longer than one episode to figure out this whole spoken language thing

Seven years seems like so long and at the same time not so long at all. Seven years on the edge of the shock, anger and sadness has dulled a bit. But there are still times when it feels like it is all happening right now. We can't ever forget what happened that day seven years ago lest we relax our vigilance and the ravening horde strikes again.

A lot of um, stuff, has hit the fan since the announcement of Sarah Palin as John McCain's vice presidential pick. One doesn't expect someone to carry their political opponent's water but this is a bit much. You can keep track of the worst of it at the blogs below. Sarah Palin Sexism Watch Palin Rumors ( backup site in case the main one goes down) If I find more such sites I'll post them. Technorati Tags: mccain , palin , rumors Generated By Technorati Tag Generator

Now here is an interesting argument. A pro-life stance is the lesser of two evils when the other choice is aborting a particular segment of the population based on their genetic profile. The linked post is a call to support McCain/Palin because of the demonstrated pro-life stance of the Republican ticket. I have noticed a certain cognitive dissonance in the online autism community on the issue of abortion. For the most part it seems that abortion is okay unless the individual to be aborted was selected for termination based on their genetic profile. Armed with the knowledge that upwards of 90% of babies who test positive for Down Syndrome are aborted autistic advocates and advocates for autistic individuals rightly fear the development of prenatal tests to detect the potential for autism. The post I linked to above generated the following comment that illustrates the conflict between wanting to protect the life and rights of the unborn autistic individual and wanting to continue abort

I needed to catch up on sleep last night so I skipped the RNC broadcast. Anne Althouse live blogged the whole thing though. Technorati Tags: mccain , palin , rnc , election , obama , biden Generated By Technorati Tag Generator

Today I am thankful for/that: The first day of school. Although I don't think I'm as thankful for it as the kids are. Ethan was ready to go back on Tuesday. Apple picking season. In a few more weeks I should be recovered enough to take advantage of it. My church family. They are keeping us well fed as I recover. Jewel is diligently working on growing a double chin. All babies should have a double chin. What are you thankful for?

I wasn't planning on staying up for the convention but the baby intervened. Since she refused to sleep I'm still up and watching. I caught some of Michael Steele's speech, "Drill Baby! Drill Baby!" Yes please! I also caught most of Romeny's speech, not bad. Now I'm listening to Huckabee. It was worth losing sleep to hear Huckabee drop a Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure reference with regard to Obama's trip to Europe and the comment about Palin getting more votes running for mayor of Wasilla than Biden got running for president. 10:09 PM EDT Oh Giuliani is being rough on Obama. He's got the crowd chanting, "Zero! Zero! Zero!" with regard to Obama's experience. That whole voting present business will be hard to dodge. "Change is not a destination just as hope is not a strategy." Ouch. 10:20 PM EDT "If I were Biden I'd get that VP thing in writing!" Oh Giuliani is merciless! 10:27 PM EDT That whole busines