Cruises and Floods

Ella Cruise Shannon was the last of a generation. She was the great-granddaughter of Irish immigrants who worked in the mills of the small industrial town of Lambertville, New Jersey which have since faded from memory. In her later years Ella was a school teacher and principal in northern New Jersey. As a younger woman, she served in the American Red Cross in England and Korea during the second World War. But aside from her distinguished professional careers, she held a special place in her family.

Middletown State Homeopathic Hospital

Homeopathic Asylum, Middletown, New York

For 132 years the state psychiatric center in Middletown [photos] has provided care to chronically mentally ill adults. Founded in 1874 as the Middletown State Homeopathic Hospital, in more recent times the facility has been known simply as Middletown State Hospital or Middletown Psychiatric Center.

This week, the hospital will discharge its last patient and close its doors for good.

Attention, please!

Do you or someone you care about have Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder? Essential features of ADHD are a persistent pattern of inattention and impulsivity, with or without hyperactivity. Symptoms first appear in childhood and may persist into adulthood. These are a few links that I've stuck together. I'll add more as time goes by. If you find any that don't work, or if you have any to add or any general thoughts on the subject, feel free to comment. Blogs and websites on ADHD

Who is accountable for Katrina disaster?

The desperation given eloquent voice by Mayor Ray Nagin of New Orleans speaks to the ineffectual leadership in Washington. It's unfortunate that Nagin is not sitting in the White House rather than in a city in ruins.

Bush took advantage of 9/11 to rationalize his looting and conquest of Iraq. He led us into a pointless war against a country that had not attacked us, and has wasted billions of dollars and thousands of barrels of innocent blood to portray himself as a patriotic "wartime president" while pursuing imperialist objectives in the Middle East.