You make a good point.

Yes. Due process as well. Very messy business. Due process and equal protection under the law are constantly interfering with the State's ability to administer law and order. Just scratch freedom off the list, period. All it does is snare up traffic.

Not great news on Oscar. The vet says if we do nothing it's about 2-6 months. If we do palliative care that might stretch it out to a year. We can also try a four-week radiation treatment to shrink the tumor, and then perform surgery to remove as much as possible. There could also be some follow-up chemo. Slim chance that this last would 'cure' it, but cancer would more than likely make a reappearance sometime down the road. If we go with surgery, he would end up losing his right front leg since it's spreading into the areas of the shoulder joint. Very expensive option.

We're going back the the UW early Friday to get a KittyCATscan. This should tell us whether or not it hit the lymph node or lungs. If it did then we'll just do the palliative treatment. Not sure what to do if it hasn't spread to the bad areas. I think he'll be fine missing the leg but a reappearance of tumors will always be looming on the horizon.

----------

"Of the people, by the people, for the people." The idea being of getting those people who don't live in the ivory towers of the government justice system to be the ones looking at the charges. The criminals and victims theoretically come from situations like you and me, so you and me are in a decent position to look at the case from the eyes of those directly involved. The jury members are probably closer to the day-to-day realities of the accused and the victims than are the attorneys and judges.

On Monday afternoon, I was out on my lunch break. Lunch ran a little longer than expected, so I was heading back to my car to return to the office. The person parked next to me asked if I had a moment to jump their stalled car. Technically, I didn't have the time, but I wasn't about to leave this person high and dry. I popped my hood and made a point to watch as they attached their cables to their battery. Everything seemed fine. Then, I attached the cables to my battery. A little spark, but otherwise all good.

As I turned to get in my car and start the engine, I heard the other person gasp loudly. I turned back and saw a pillar of smoke shooting out of the rubber grips on the clamp handles. I grabbed the handles in an attempt to pull the clamp off my battery, but I could feel the rubber liquifying under my fingers, so I let go. Now, I could see the entire cable was starting to smoke and melt, so things were getting worse at an alarming pace. Thinking quickly, I pulled off my jacket, wrapped it around my hand and pulled the clamps off my battery and then their battery. The cable was a melted mess of wires and liquid plastic, but it was now free of both of our vehicles.

I got a few good lung-fulls of burning plastic smoke in the process, but it wasn't too bad. Alas, I soon learned that the temperature of the clamp handles was so hot that it burned straight through the layers of jacket wrapped around my hands and I had a couple of fantastic burns on my fingers. People were starting to crowd around our cars by this point. I made sure the other person was okay and they apologized for the burns I suffered and the jacket that I lost. They offered to give me money for the jacket, but I told them not to worry about that. By this point, I was comically late to work, so I apologized for having to bail and then I headed back to work. Fortunately, my car started and ran fine.

So, while I could have been a jerk and ignored this person, thus saving us all this pain and confusion, I decided to be the good guy. All I have to show for it is a burned hand (which is, thankfully, healing nicely), a destroyed jacket, and the need to get a new car battery (just to be on the safe side). I honestly have no idea what went wrong with the jump. The cables were attached to the proper points and, from what I've read online, the damage would have been a lot more severe if the polarities were actually crossed. Both cars drove away from the incident (I passed by after work and the car wasn't there, so I'm assuming they are okay). All I can think is that the cable must have had a kink or a short in it somewhere. It may always be a mystery.

Certainly not the worst post in this thread, but this place is for bitching, so that's what I came here to do. :P

- Posted in wrong thread. -

honestly, that sounds like a jury's decision is always emotion ridden, which it shouldn't be.

I got triggered by someone who should have known better, and was pushing me to do something I wasn't ready to do. In the process, they made me feel worthless, guilty and desperate.
So that started the whole depression cycle I was attempting to get out of. In essence, they pushed me off the tightrope I was walking and there's no safety net.
I've been falling for a while (2 weeks), and every time I try to grab a safety rope, I ending up breaking mental fingers.
I really don't want to descend to the state I was in eight months ago when everything looked so bleak and hopeless. I managed to get a weekend job in a library. Granted, it's only one day a week, but I was hoping to get more hours. Now, I'm not sure I can handle it again.
Frak. Frak, frak, frak.
I was so hoping I was getting better.
I don't want to have to go to hospital again. I don't want to have to put my life on hold. I don't want to have to stop working. I'm living off savings and redundancy money. Any money coming in is needed.
And I hate that the only anger I can really feel is against myself. I'm already too depressed again to be more than weakly angry at this person who triggered me. They feel guilty because I told them what they did, but if they knew how bad it is, they'd be suicidal themselves at what they've done. So I've hidden it.
I'm so tired of everything, especially of having to fight to get the courage to face yet another day of my existence.

Sorry, I needed to unload a bit. :(

Not sure how that would necessarily be the case. I mean, sure, emotion could be a single factor of many, and by no means is a judge immune from the same thing. At least from a jury I get 6-12 people - with at least some chance of sharing a life of experiences similar to mine - passing judgment, whereas I don't share much in common with a judge that might have been a partisan appointment.

Yeah, I'll take the jury.

come on, you cant seriously think, letting that policeman get away was righteous.

I'll take it to PM

I am tired. I am burned out. I am alone.. I am not sure I can keep my head up anymore.

I am tired of the hate, the petty bullshit, the drama.

I am done being walked on.

My condolences for a challenging time with your kitty. I have been in a very similar situation to yours and cannot offer any advice other than to do what feels right for you and your loved one. Instead I will share a brief story that relates.

In 2002 my life was going well. I was studying at the University of Sydney, doing my Bachelor of Arts(offers for honours in every subject), I was fairly fit, social, busy, 'happy' and I awoke to notice that my beautiful blue Burmese companion Lucy, had something wrong with her. She couldn't see out of her left eye. It was covered by a grey film and I panicked and took her to local vet immediately and he said that it was just a fungal infection and prescribed anti-biotics. Her sight returned and I thought all was well. It wasn't.

She started to lose balance and her eye began to bulge out of the socket, so I took her back. She had a scan and it was revealed that she had a large mass on her brain. He recommended that we take her to the veterinary clinic at the University, as they had the best feline oncology unit in the state(or country). After waiting for tests to be completed, the news wasn't good. She was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. I was told that I had two options:

1/ Pay $4,000+ for surgery and ongoing treatment which may extend her life by a further 6 months but drastically reduced her quality of life, and risk complications and/or death, or

2/ Take her home, give her love and be prepared that she wouldn't be here for much longer.

I was heart-broken. She was the reason I didn't kill myself when I was a teenager. She was the one reason I awoke every morning and chose not to take my own life. She used to lick my tears away and sleep cuddled up to my face. She was so gentle and loving.

I would have paid any amount of money to save her or improve her quality of life. I took her home and stopped going to university to care for her. I selfishly asked her to 'hang on until my birthday', which was 3 months later. She was the best gift that my father gave me when I was 14, before my parents divorced.

She held on but it wasn't pretty. She developed severe nystagmus, constantly lost her balance and fell over. But she she ate, still purred and still groomed herself; three signs to look for regarding a cat's health. My birthday(July 30) came and went, and I couldn't handle seeing her the way she was, so I called the vet to get her "put to sleep". She still didn't appear to be in any pain but I was. I couldn't sleep for 2 nights before hand, and I still can't get the picture in my head of the shocked look she gave me, when she was in my arms and the vet gave her the lethal injection.

I could never make that decision again. RIP Lucy 7/4/90 - 6/8/02.

I wish you the best of luck with your decisions regarding Oscar. Not matter what they are, they will be challenging and you obviously care a lot from your words <3

Know the feeling. My advice: walk on others. Literally. Push them over and walk on their faces. It's really uplifting.

My only problem in these days is this cat

Edit: I can't upload the image..

Doesn't matter. It's still your responsibility. No one MADE you depressed or triggered anything. We are constantly reacting to our physical environment. How we interpret the experiences we have is through our filter and out filter alone. Learn to cope and stop feeling like someone (including yourself) always has to be blamed for everything. Believe in yourself and realize that the world isn't spinning solely for you. We all have good and bad days. Understanding those experiences and realizing our common ups and down is one way to find a better outlook.