The following is taken, word for word, from The Charleston Gazette’s Obituaries page. I’m copying it here because I have no idea how long they store these, and Doug was a good man who deserves to be remembered… and if the only contribution I can give to that is to copy his obituary onto my blog, then I’ll do that.

I worked with Doug for nearly two years, and he was an extremely kind man with a good sense of humor. He’ll be sorely missed.

MORGANTOWN – Douglas Moore McGuigan of Elkins and Morgantown died Tuesday night, July 27, 2004, at 8:01 p.m. in Morgantown’s Ruby Memorial Hospital. He was 50 years old.

Mr. McGuigan was preceded in death by his parents, Jack and Jean McGuigan of Beckley.

He is survived by his sister, Jean Ann, of Morgantown.

A graduate of West Virginia University, Doug provided mental health services to Randolph County residents for many years through Appalachian Community Health. He counseled students at the Elkins Mountain School and, prior to his death, he traveled West Virginia as a quality auditor for state-run care facilities.

Mr. McGuigan served on the board of directors of Elkins Area Community Theater. He directed several plays that entertained Randolph County audiences and wrote dozens of reviews for shows performed in Elkins and Buckhannon.

An avid sports fan, Doug followed the Mountaineer football and basketball seasons enthusiastically. Year-round, blue and gold were prominent colors around his home.

Doug was a mentor to many young people in and out of his work and he is also survived by a large, loving collection of young men and women currently spread throughout the country. A man of uncommon generosity and seemingly endless resources of compassionate support, Doug provided many area youth with a thoughtful, creative vision of successful adulthood. He instructed the hearts of those he met and through his kindness, has guaranteed a legacy of selflessness and humor that will prosper in memories and stories.

Friends may call from 3 to 5 and 7 to 9 p.m. Friday at the McCulla Funeral Home, in Westover.

Graveside services will be conducted by Dr. Ken Ramsey at 11 a.m. on Saturday July 31, at the Beverly Hills Cemetery.
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Other than the fact that the poorest man isn’t talking on a cell phone throughout dinner, then handing the bill to the others to pay at the end, this is an interesting exercise in looking at how the tax system works. (Whether it’s entirely accurate or not, I couldn’t say, but it’s interesting.)
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Today, on my local radio station, they were discussing a new leash-free park that one of the nearby towns is putting in (or planning to put in , or whatever). 
 
One of the morning hosts said (I’m paraphrasing.  It was very early) that he wasn’t sure it was a good idea — after all, what about the lawsuits from when “Fido” attacks a 4 year old who’s pulling his tail.
 
This is the same stupid type of argument that leads to smoking bans (I don’t smoke, and I still acknowledge that bans saying that John Doe can’t own a restaurant in which he allows customers to smoke if they want are stupid as heck).  “We can’t allow people to have a little bit of freedom in a small area, because my being free to do what I want EVERY WHERE ELSE isn’t good enough.” 
 
You can breathe smoke free air (or enjoy a park with no loose dogs) in a whole lot of places.  It’s not that big a deal to allow dog owners a small area to enjoy playing with an unleashed dog (leashed dogs don’t do well with, for example, fetch), or to allow smokers a small restaurant to eat in. 
 
Still, for the sake of argument, what does happen when a four-year-old kid in a leash free park gets bitten by a dog whose tail it’d been pulling?  Well, first, measures are taken to determine if it was known the dog was aggressive, or if the dog was only attacking because the kid was torturing it.  If it was previously aggressive, then the owner gets a hefty fine, and the dog is removed from his/her care to go live with someone that can exercise some degree of control over his her animals.  Then, four year old kid is taken away from his parents (who, to avoid getting too much stupidity in our gene pool, should be sterilized), and sent to live with some people who can watch their freakin’ kid!

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Don’t click this link unless you want to be extremely sick.

Look, the state wants to take my money to feed poor people, I’m mostly okay with that. They want to take my money to provide housing for people who can’t pay for it? Okay.

People who have little money want a cell phone? Tell them to get a second freakin’ job, or a third, if that’s what it takes. A cell phone isn’t a need. Food, water, clothing, shelter. I think that private programs would spring up if the government would leave people the money to support them, but if the government wants to help with those four things for needy families, fine.

Everything else? They can suck it up and work, or do without. That’s MY money that I worked hard for… well, worked for, anyway. That’s the physical labor of any number of WV citizens, and it goes to provide a cell phone for someone who’s too unambitious to get a job that pays half well.

A CELL PHONE! A CELL PHONE!! Now, every time someone in a restaurant or theater pulls out a cell phone, I’m going to wonder if I helped pay for it.

I work with some people in the department that apparently manages this travesty of a governmental policy, and I’m now disgusted with all of them.

This is an outrage.
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