On the other hand, I can empathize with your son. Being adopted, family was a (and still is) a huge deal. Being on the outs with my own adopted family, I too hoped for some long lost relative to help me feel a sense of continuity ... that I came from and belonged to something rooted beyond my own time. Folks with birth families have that "life" line that just gets lost with adoption. My "foster" sister with whom I maintain contact, has birth family and non-birth family. Family is tops for her as well - on both sides. Hard to explain.

Anyway, I was excommunicated from my adoptive parents because I refused to let the past bury the past. Ultimately, I "divorced" them via a letter - complete with the reasons why. Of course, it was never answered. About 6 months later my foster mother had a stroke, and about a year after that she died. I never knew. However, my foster sister informed me that my adoptive father blamed me for his wife's death. Oh well, as good a person to blame as any as I had broken the taboo and shoved the truth in their faces.

This is not quite totally off the point. I maintained a relationship with my foster parents for almost 30 years after I had bailed out of their home at 15 BECAUSE of the importance of having some family - no matter how bad. Maybe Jordan feels some of that too. Having a family - being plugged into that continuity (history)- is just assumed. It is an assumption that plays itself out in a million ways in a hundred million stories and references. And when you don't have that connection it makes a hundred little cuts.

I am glad, that for that brief period of time you all could connect in a more positive way. That is a gift.

Blessings upon you and your family.

Regarding the depth of the Montara leak ... Timor Sea oil leak fix 'days away' (ABC (Australia) News 8/23/09)

"The leak emanates probably from 2,500 metres below the ocean floor and is coming up through the well platform and the West Atlas drilling rig is sitting alongside the platform."

The leak was at a depth roughly 1.5 miles below the sea level.

In its 2009 exploration plan and environmental impact analysis for the well, BP suggested it was unlikely, or virtually impossible, for an accident to occur that would lead to a giant crude oil spill and serious damage to beaches, fish and mammals.

Further, the platform that sank was called "Deepwater Horizon," and somehow Halliburton is one of the contractors as they are mentioned casually in the article. Haven't heard that name in a while.

Although the cause of the explosion was under investigation, many of the more than two dozen lawsuits filed in the wake of the explosion claim it was caused when workers for oil services contractor Halliburton Inc. improperly capped the well — a process known as cementing. Halliburton denied it.

You are right of course. Such incidents are just part of the costs of our energy "independence." (As long as we count a British company as "us.")

I do tend to disagree with the conclusion; however, that it comes down to economic injustice.

Economic justice is justice writ large; when that's equalized, we'll have been well on the road to all the rest.

Social class and race are tightly bound in the U.S. of A. but they are not the same thing. Your son being dragged off and interrogated would not have been avoided if he had a million or so in the bank. In fact, they probably would have assumed he was a drug king pin on top of everything else.

There is economic injustice and disproportionately those who are not perceived as "white" face higher economic barriers. On the other hand, we make "whites" without economic resources the butt of jokes and derision.

The problem with the construction of social class in the US is that social class is defined as a "choice" and "individual." Those who are poor choose to be poor because they lack gumption or whatever. Economic justice, therefore becomes a moot point because we have this totally open class system where each of us find our own level based upon our skill, choices and effort.

Of course all of this is lies, but that is what we are taught. Race is frequently translated into a class issue to make the race discussion go away. However, once it is a social class issue it goes away because it is a "personal" problem.

I read a book a while back titled Jennifer Government by Max Berry. An excellent book and portrays our likely future in the US (and the world if monopoly capitalism wins).

Nice thinking miguelitoh2o!

The person passes, but the love does not.

The pain of the loss lingers - sharp in the beginning, and growing softer edged as we file the edges with love and special memories. The special moments; that certain loving look that always warmed our soul.

May your family be there for each other in this time of letting go.

Hugs and love to you and yours.

A double thanks and big (((hug))) to Wendy for having the concern and taking the time to share this saga with you.

You have lifted my spirits and made me feel less isolated.

Please also send a loving and supportive thought for my sweet partner who has not only had a tremendous load of work thrust onto her shoulders, but the worry of my condition to deal with. I don't think she has gotten a sound sleep since this all started - listening for anything which might signal I am in trouble. I don't know how I would deal with this disaster without her and her loving support and care.

Courtesy of the L Curve explanation of income distribution in the US.

The purpose of pursuing crimes of the powerful is not retribution, retaliation, or even justice, but to make clear to the ones that follow that such behavior won't be tolerated.