There’s nothing more fun then a good and healthy debate. It can be enjoyable and even help relieve a little stress when you’re really able to argue your opinions. Even though I’ve always been pretty non-confrontational, I still thoroughly enjoy the occasional debate.

What I don’t enjoy so much is the constant third grade mentality that accompanies most of the debates I’ve heard recently. The relentless and very overstated phrase, “if you don’t like it, you can move,” has been grating on my nerves for months and months, and finally, I cannot take it anymore. I know, I know. If I don’t like it, I can leave. Right?

This logic, or lack there of, is stated constantly, especially when issues of politics are being addressed. What? You’re against the war in Iraq? Well, if you don’t like it, you can move to Canada. Oh and you, you disagree with certain political figures? I guess you better be on your way too.

Does anyone see a problem with this reasoning? Imagine what the country would be like today if instead of standing up against things you thought were wrong, you just left. There probably wouldn’t be anyone left in the United States. I don’t like slavery and I think women should be able to vote, but instead of working to change that, I’m just gonna go leave the country.

I know that as long as we have politicians, we are going to have differing opinions on who is right and what policies are valid, but the take it or leave it mentality makes no sense. It reminds me of a particularly brilliant episode of South Park, where the pro-war and anti-war residents were feuding. Of course in the cartoon world, everything was solved with a moving musical number at the end, but the point was if we didn’t have both sides, conservatices and liberals, things would be out of control.

Our government is made for the people, by the people, and that means that all opinions, whether you agree with them or not, should be heard, and if you don’t agree with that, maybe you should get out.

The legacy I leave will be not be tainted nor indecent. The legacy I leave will depict who I was and why I was here. The legacy I leave will not put a dim light on the life that I chose to lead and unlike some clearly identified celebrities in the news today my legacy will not leave a bad taste in the ones mouth.
I am not a celebrity nor anyone particularly important. I am a mother, a friend, a journalist more simply only another human. I can not sing, act, dance, do sports and I personally do not think I will be showing up in playboy anytime in the near future.
Maybe I will be on the wrong side of the fence about certain matters in how reporting on celebrities works but when is enough, enough? Anna Nicole Smith although I personally was not a fan deserves the same amount of respect as any non-celebrity does. (You may not agree) Yes she was promiscuous, perhaps a gold digger, maybe even a no talent at all celebrity that wanted attention no matter the cost, but on the other side maybe she wanted things none of us wanted to hear.
The general public wants to know about pantieless celebrities, the ones who do drugs or have problems and go to rehab, the fluffy and frilly life of a celebrity does not keep us coming back for more. We want divorce, scandalous murder, big breakup’s, money hungry 25 year olds willing to do what it takes to become famous.. Even if it means becoming bald or being featured in a spread in playboy.
Smith led a life that was on the scale to 1-10 of crazy she rated about 54 but showing tact and respect for the dead is one matter that I personally think is important.
Articles do not refer to Smith as Smith anymore but as the former pinup, playmate and centerfold. She did that how many times again? Journalists refer to Smith’s mother as a heavy set woman with bleached blond hair. So what if she is overweight and dyes her hair, does this all change the story of where Smith should be laid to rest? Does it really have anything to do with it at all?
So may your legacy represent you for who are and not the mistakes or mishaps you may have along the way. And for all you celebrities out there be sure to know whatever you do that is good we don’t care, we want the juicy stuff so we can remember you for that one time you had an affair with the hooker and got caught in the fountain so when you die we can we can refer to you as, so and so, formally a fountain strip dancer, died Wednesday at age 73 holding the hand of his young wife so and so age 14.

Shopping cart abandonment in the City of Norwich is not a problem, officials from P&C headquarters say.

That’s like saying “my coffee breath pleases not only myself, but others as well.”

Instead, P&C says they’re being “good corporate citizens” by allowing their shopping carts to be taken from their place of origin, only to be displaced and abused. It seems to them, the theft of a cart isn’t equal to the theft of a candybar, or a loaf of bread, which would put you in local slam for a night.

It’s this unequal treatment that’s got me so confused, and upset.

Why would P&C, who prosecutes shop lifters, not care about $100 dollars of their property walking out (rolling out, in this case) of the store without being paid for?

I know.

It’s because they hate carts. Yes, they hate them, and they are glad to see them go.

But I say we put an end to “Acartheid” (the legalized separation of shopping carts from P&C, their native land).

I say we break down these barriers and force P&C to see carts as equals in the land of retail grocery.

I say we round up all our squeaky comrades and bring them from the far corners of exile and take them home.

Why do I care?

Fair question.

I want to take on this problem because; a. it annoys me; and b. I think it’s so unimportant that I’ll be able to fix it.

I want to be Moses, Nelson Mandella, or Snoop Dog (who piloted the “Soulplane”), and wheel my people back to the promised land – for good.

And with your help we can do it together.

Join CARTOON (Carts of Our Nation) today.

email me at mmcguire@evesun.com if you want to get involved.

The snow and the love in the air combined formed a perfect mix romance for people throughout Chenango County. The snow, all two feet of it, was not about to stop the excitement at the courthouse yesterday afternoon.
It was 1 p.m., and I had been out and about a while snapping pictures and visiting with people shoveling and store owners bearing the storm to supply customers with their Valentine’s Day needs. As always being the last minute shopper on this day as usual I huffed it to the candy store which was graciously still open and then around town to do more errands. The snow so high kids were sledding down the banks in the P&C parking lot was enough to make my day complete. Or so I thought.
As I huffed it once again (due to my car getting buried hours before) across town to the court house, my eyes tearing, my ears frozen and snow up to my knees the only thought I kept in mind was the irony of it all and how people bearing the weather to make their wedding dreams come true, I wasn’t about to miss it, I knew it would make a great story.
I climbed the stairs to the main court room and there were people gathered around. Some in dresses and formal attire and others in biker shirts gearing up to take their vows. Judge Sullivan was ready and waiting to marry the couples complete with some of that fantastic bread of his which by the way I told my honey we get free bread if we are married by him just as a bribe. Oh anyway the weddings started at 4 and were complete by 4:35. The first one was well, a little confusing so pay close attention..
Four people were wed, Jimmy and Virginia, Don and Tricia. Tricia and Don dated in high school and Jimmy and Virginia had also dated before and split up. Somewhere in the middle of then and now Don and Virginia were married and divorced and now the couples have gotten back together with long lost loves. Everyone got married at the same time on the same day… Valentine’s Day!! Now that is sweet.
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Phase two–
The second wedding was complete with family and a dinner reception following the ceremony and was a little more planned out. The bride nervously giggling and as usual, our camera man Frank interrupting the ceremony to move people around to get a better picture..

All three couples did not seem to mind the two feet of snow that tried to hamper their love filled day. The courthouse was filled with love and joy as all six people said I do. So off we all went back out into the blizzard to what seemed to be either a perfect Valentine’s Day or the weirdest one I have ever experienced.
Oh… and contrary to what I had recently reported on my honey getting me flowers.. I was wrong and he also ventured out in the storm and brought me a teddy bear and a dozen red roses… True love conquers all.

According to fellow Evening Sun reporter Melissa deCordova, in three months the New York Susquehanna & Western Railroad will be officially and fully abandoning the broken stretch of railroad between Sherburne and Greene. Look for the full story in tomorrow’s edition.

It probably won’t effect NYRI much. They’ll most likely still have a deal with the NYS&W to build the power line there, even if the patch is no longer a right of way. They might even be able to purchase the land outright.

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At the Chamber of Commerce economic forecast breakfast Friday, political analyst David Shaffer said Albany can’t save Chenango County, even though it had a hand in its downturn. This is the second Chamber event I’ve seen Shaffer speak at – he’s pretty funny and seems sharp. His message is simple; we have to save ourselves, and we should be able too. Easier said than done, but definitely true. However, it shouldn’t take an expert to point out the obvious.

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There were 5 shopping carts on Cortland street as of 5 p.m. Tuesday night.

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Spitzer’s budget plans could put hospitals like Chenango Memorial in a tight squeeze, officials with CMH and the Healthcare Association of New York say. Spitzer’s budget would take away $645,000 dollars from CMH in 2007-2008, which is more than 2/3 of the hospital’s projected profit for the next fiscal year. HANY contends that the budget proposal will cost CMH over $5 million in the next five years. The new cuts would create a large problem for the hospital, one CHM official said, considering that decreased Medicare and insurance reimbursements are already putting the pressure on health care providers to float the costs.

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Norwich residents Josh Morris and Steve Squires and Oxford resident Lisa Brooker (along with 13 other friends and family from the area) are going to jump into Goodyear Lake in Oneonta this Saturday to help raise money for four local children with life threatening illnesses. The Polar Bear Jump was created 12 years ago by a couple from Milford to help raise money for local kids and organizations in the area. Morris’ 3-year-old nephew Quinton, the son of Squires’ girlfriend, has Joubert Syndrome and is one of the children who’s sponsored in this year’s event. Go to www.pbjump.com if you want to make donations or get more information.

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The Chenango County Historical Society is having it’s capital campaign fundraising dinner on February 22. It’s open to the public, call the society at 334-9227 for more information on the dinner. The goal is to expand the CCHS Museum on Rexford Street. I respect any initiative that tries to get people interested in their own community – especially because it’s like pulling teeth.

Okay, no fair. So the snow is finally supposed to be coming, tonight of all nights. Happy The forecast is calling for a total of…well, it’s a whole lot of snow, and I am really not looking forward to it.

I’m not the type of person that shrinks away from physical tasks. In fact, a lot of times I enjoy them. After I’ve helped put up the fence around my yard or moved all the furniture in my house 18 times until it’s in just the right spot (only inches away from where it was in the first place) I feel a certain sense of accomplishment, even if I am covered in bruises from tripping over various objects and falling down non-stop. Remember, I’m graceful.

The problem is, I don’t do very well in the cold. If you ask anyone in the office, they’ll tell you it’s true. As soon as the thermostat hits 68.9, I’m shivering and my teeth are chattering. The general opinion in the office is that if I ate a “freaking hamburger” I wouldn’t be so cold, however, I’ve found no scientific data to back this up, so I’m going to continue my non-meat eating practices. It’s also been stated that eating a hamburger would minimize the effect that alcohol has on me, make me less likely to bruise so easily and perhaps make me fly. I can’t quite remember if that was said out loud or not, but I’m sure if I ate a hamburger my memory would be better too.

Anyway, back to the point at hand. I’m dreading the insane amount of snow we’re said to be receiving tonight, because I have no idea how long it will take to shovel out of the mess, but I’m sure it will take an amount of time significant enough to make me freeze my buns off. I’m equally sure that tomorrow morning, I will be waking up much earlier than usual to make sure the shoveling is done before I leave for work. The real problem is with the high probability of ice and the even higher probability that it will cause me to fall and possibly decapitate myself with the shovel. Nothing says Happy Valentine’s Day like that.

Do you remember when you were a kid and going to the store to get a new bike or toy or anything really simply made you excited. The thrill of going in to the store and picking out what at the time you thought was the greatest gift on the face of the earth. This is exactly how I felt the day my dad surprised my sister and I and said we were headed to Jamesway to buy a Nintendo entertainment system. At the time it was the best thing he could have told us besides a new pony or a trip to Disney.
So we bundled into the good ole mini van and off we went. At the time I still remember the system cost at least $100 and me being me and only 9 years old or so that to me was an unbelievable amount of money.
Needless to mention but I will anyway is the fact that although my dad said the system was for Emily and I, I am sure now that he just really wanted to get his hands on one for himself. We bought the Nintendo and hurried home to play it, to this day I can not really recall if I or my sister got a chance to try it out that night or not but I do recall my dad having to “test” the system to make sure he got his money worth.
Getting his money worth is exactly what he did too!! He bought Metroid and the rest is history. My sister and I would play tetris and mario and various other games and for years this was our source of entertainment. Next came the Sega which I still like road rash the best because you can hit people with crow bars but anyway now that I am a parent and there are much more advanced gaming systems which by the way do not give tetrais justice I am amazed that there are so many but none that I like as much as the original NES. I know I am old school but come on you know you agree with me…
So last night as I sat on my computer and ordered an $80 refurbished original Nintendo with duck hunt and the gun to shoot those ducks while you sit on your couch and call the dog that arises from the bushes to chuckle at you I felt pretty good about myself. I tell people I bought the system for the kids so that they do not break daddy’s x-box but the truth is I bought it for Nick and myself of course, just don’t tell my kids….
I guess no matter how old you get there are certain things that you had or did when you were a kid that you just can’t resist when your an adult either.

Of everything I’ve done in my celebrated 16-year career here at The Evening Sun, nothing has garnered me more fame and glory than the comments that I occasionally intersperse in ‘30 Seconds.’

Sad, but true.

Very early on in the cultural phenomenon which is ‘30 Seconds,’ I decided that while the whole idea for it was to be a reader response line, I just couldn’t keep my mouth shut. So, when the sheer stupidity of a certain call moved me to break my silence, I’d chime in with a comment of my own – in bold italics, and signed with a simple “Ed.”

It wasn’t long, of course, before Ed.’s pithy retorts became an integral, and anticipated, part of ‘30 Seconds’ lore. Pretty much every time I shot back in print, level-headed people would encourage me to do more of it. Well, those people who recognized that “Ed.” and I were one and the same … I have a feeling that most ‘30 Seconds’ readers think there’s some guy here named Ed making fun of them.

Either way, it works for me.

When “30 Seconds” spread via this site to the rest of the universe, it took on a new life of its own, another permutation of the virus. But something was missing – the fetid ramblings were unchecked by Ed.’s rapier-sharp wit.

So, this week, Ed. makes his debut in the online version of “30 Seconds.” And the fun never ends here at evesun.com ….

Relying on sure things should be the emphasis from here on out in the NYRI fight.

Sure thing=citizens.

From what we’ve seen, I don’t think there will be a piece of legislation that could legally and completely stop NYRI, or companies like it. Let’s put it this way, if politicians could or wanted to craft such a bill, they would have done it already.

But honestly, the constitution and the law books shouldn’t have to be re-written to fit our needs every time something happens that we don’t like.

For example: Let’s say you’re in a bar and somebody bought your girlfriend/boyfriend a drink while you were over at the jukebox – selecting $20 dollars worth of Meatloaf tunes. You wouldn’t ask your congressman to make hitting on people in a bar illegal – you’d ask the weasel who tried to move-in on your old lady/old man if they would care to step outside and partake in a loser-leaves-town street fight.

We have to take NYRI head-on – and the loser will literally leave town. We have to prove that 16 people do not know what is best for us. We have to prove that we know what’s best for us. No matter how much we’d like to, we can’t railroad NYRI by changing the rules as we go along – not only giving them something to cry about later, but giving them ammunition to say we can’t, and won’t, take care of ourselves.

Political opposition keeps the project in the news – but organization, research, testimony, and information are what is going to beat NYRI. As Sherburne’s NYRI opposition Attorney Dan Duthie says, “We have to offer a proposal that is superior to theirs.”

All the upstaters I’ve ever known have only wanted a level playing field - whether it’s for us or our enemies. Winning a fair fight feels a lot better than winning a rigged one – unless your a real POS (pardon my Quebec).

So I say bring on the PSC. We’ve got the rules, we’ve got a place to play, all we need is the equipment, the players, and a bad attitude.

I say let the politicians raise the funding – and let the citizens do the fighting.

Tags: NYRI, stop NYRI, citizens do the fighting

OK fine, I’m a hypocrite. I know I complained about theSuperBowl only a week ago, but I did watch about half of it last night. I didn’t intend to. My shopping trip ended early. Who knew that you could take five women and a baby to a bridal store, try on your bridesmaid’s dresses and get out in under an hour?

I repeated my anti-football stance multiple times throughout the day, resulting in my best friend disowning me and my baby puking on my shoes. (Well, that may not have been a result of the football comment, but I could see the resentment in his eyes.)

I arrived home with plenty of time to spare before the big game and began doing laundry. It was during this particular event that I found a sweatshirt with an old and faded Chicago logo on it. Interesting, I thought, but it wasn’t enough to convince me to watch the game. There was after all a Monk Marathon on USA (I love Monk) and a puppy bowl on Animal Planet, besides, I had plenty of things to do around the house, and not enough time to do them in.

I attempted to continue my laundry, painting, mopping and shoveling projects, but a certain baby was in no mood to allow me to set him down, so after a few hours of pacing and bouncing, not the best idea, we sat down and turned on the television. As it turns out, the puppy bowl isn’t as exciting as it sounds and, thanks to the last eight weeks of weekend Monk marathons, I’ve seen every episode ever made, so I took out my football sweater and decided to root for Chicago.

Now you understand why I don’t watch football, the team I was cheering for lost and my baby has some strange ailment where he gets sick every time a touchdown is scored. (At least that’s what it seemed like.) We turned the game off after way before the end and settle in for a long night of over tired crying and grumpiness, and the baby was no picnic, either.

After all that, I’ve decided that my original assumption was right. Football is not for me. I’ve also decided that there are way too many Monk marathons, but that’s a topic for another day.

Tags: SuperBowl, anti-football, Monk Marathon