Ginger Gargoyle's Gems

Numerology Class

2012-01-25T15:13:00.001-06:00

FLORIDA GOP PRIMARY PREFERENCE
Average Of Polls
36% Gingrich
32% Romney
11.6% Santorum
9.4% Paul
Real Clear Politics
January 19-23,2012

This state has 50 delegates and its a Winner-Takes-All ...

I think nominees need 1177 delegate points to guarantee the nomination ... So the question becomes - are there enough states that will allow their points broken up (such as NH) that here will be a real NEED for the GOP convention?

Lately it seems like it is just a party zone - they just go through the motions ... By the time the convention comes around you KNOW who's going to get it ... It has lost it's true meaning with the advent of the modern news media.

If the parties really want to get people interested again, they need to do it all on the same day and have the results of the delegates held secret until the convention so there is a mysterious build up

Now that would really get people interested AND it would help keep one state being influenced by the perceived actions of another ...

Only problem would be that candidates wouldn't be stopping by those smaller delegate states to get those votes - like they do in the general elections

Election 2012: GOP

2012-01-25T14:33:00.001-06:00

This could have easily have been called
"Things That Make You Go Hmmmmm"

The self-declared "Most Powerful Woman In The World" Nancy Pelosi was interviewed the other night and asked about newt Gingrich's chances of being the GOP candidate and if she would have issues working with him in the white house ....

She gave a very cryptic answer:

"let me just say this - that will never happen."

When asked why she was so sure she said

"there's something that I know - that will probably, if they chose to nominate him that's their prerogative."

She didn't give any specifics and I did not see the entire clip to see if the reporter/interviewer pressed her for any

For Newt's part - he says put up or shut up! Bring it on!

Romney feels that it has something to do with the ethnics investigation that Newt had ... Romney has already claimed that Gingrich resigned in disgrace (I don't remember any of this, but then I wasn't paying close attention then)

Apparently Pelosi was on the ethics committee at the time of the probe ... Question is - if she is implying that there are things in that hearing that people don't know about and has been kept under wraps, can this be an ethics violation herself?

Let's get a fact out - he was NOT found guilty of any ethics violations ... He was SANCTIONED for what the committee felt was a deliberate delay of the investigation though ...

Which is funny because that is about the same thing that the Clinton/Gore white house was being accused of during the Whitewater/Fundraising scandals of their time.

The Clintons were accused of purposefully delaying getting paperwork to the ethics committee/courts - implying that things were being "sponged" and then there were the mysterious deaths of a couple of key players in the mess ...

For Gore's part there was the campaign fund raising that was taking place from he WH offices and some implication (at least on the publics side) that WH stationary/envelopes may have been used as well.

Then too I wonder why the dems seem so determined that foment be the one Obama goes up against ... Why?

I would think they would WANT Gingrich to run and get the nomination if they think heave got something that will eliminate him with just it's mention...

Are they
(a)unprepared for anyone BUT Romney?
(b)are they scared that Gingrich could run circles around Obama at debates?
(c)are they sure that Obama will lose to anyone BUT Romney so they have to make sure he is the other candidate?
(d)or is it more that Romney is just democratic enough that they figure it will be "business as usual"?

It opens a LOT of questions ...

Almost makes you want to have Gingrich get it just to see what the heck she thinks she's got ...

I don't think she's got crap -- I think she's getting ready for that wilderness!

The View

2012-01-23T11:45:00.001-06:00

REALLY?

The debate was Thursday (yes I know I've got to get that stuff up yet) so I tuned in on Friday to The View figuring that Joy wasn't going to miss a shot at Romney or Gingrich ...

Not a blooming word ...

Not even to defend the networks airing of Gingrich's ex-wife before the primary ...
Not even to make fun of Ron Paul's remark about how he was being ignored for the medical questions ....
[I KNOW ....]

There were several spots in there - Mitt's stumble about his tax returns ...

That they just let slide by ...

UNTIL TODAY ....

Now that the primary is over and Gingrich has come out on top they decide to take notice of the debate and claim
(a)the ABC interview helped him to win
(b)that if the CNN debate moderator hadn't led with the question that he wouldn't have done as well
(c)people identified with Gingrich because for some reason they are mad at the media too
(d)that people were willing to vote for anyone but Romney

REALLY?

You think THAT'S why he won?

How disingenuous of you .... It could never be that there is a group of folks who actually like newt?

Here's the transcript on their Hot Topics segment on the debate/primary:

Whoopi Goldberg (WG): despite all the bad press Newt Gingrich got last week, he won South Carolina, their primaries, and a lot of people feel this moment at Thursday's CNN debate (cough, choke*) - was the turning point, take a look

(clip from debate of Gingrich telling off the CNN moderator)

Barbara Walters (BW): ok I want to say a few things as a member of the elite media, yeah I'm pretty elite - look - John King, I think, made a mistake in asking it as the first question - John king is a superb reporter, it should have been further down and not the first question ... But one of the reasons that Newt Gingrich is ahead is this ANGER at the media [BW raised her voice so I emphasized it with caps] - the elite media, the media's doing this, and the audience - let's face it - is not crazy about the media. They may be crazy about us, we hope, maybe occasionally, but the more he berates the media the higher up his ratings go
Now this was an interview that was done by Bryant Ross it was a perfectly legitimate interview, he came on this program and talked about it. But the fact that Gingrich has this kind of emotion, compared with Romney who doesn't show it - now Romney mistake was from the beginning he should have released his taxes and said 'now look I'm a rich man,' Michael Bloomberg our mayor is a rich man we know that but he is also a great mayor - but it's the fact that Gingrich can r-r-r-each [again she is the one who emphasized the word, I'm just trying to represent it as best I can] this audience, can get people moved by picking on the media - it's working!

Shari Shepherd (SS): well do you think that he won, that he was so far ahead in SC because peep, the actual interview with his ex-wife actually helped him because people might have felt like 'you know what? You're railroading him'; he said he was sorry, he asked for forgiveness - let it go

Elizabeth Hasselbeck (EH): it shows (mumbled) on the part of the American people to actually understand that there could be some motive out there, you never know, in terms of an attack [oooh, she would not look at BW while saying this - I think ultimately the question comes to Do we want a perfect man or a perfect president, because I think ...

WG: well I'm sure that glad they asked that - I wished they'd remember that years ago, you know, when they went after Clinton for being imperfect** and Newt in particular, but people voted, they dint want Romney, that's the vibe I'm getting, I'm really getting he feeling people are not ...

EH: just SC

WG: well, yeah so far it's one state, but I think it's kind of bizarre of him to say the elite media's protecting Barack Obama - I don't think his had much to do with Barack Obama, I think this had kore to do with - you know - people just putting out the garbage like they do

BW: you attack the media, and there's a lot of reason to it - you know there are things that he media does that they don't want - but it's very popular to attack the media. It's interesting, by the way, that Romney is finally going to release his tax returns and he's doing it the night of the ...

SS: he's doing it in April...

BW: now he's moved it up to the State of the Union*** hoping that it will just ...

WG: this is going to be just very bizarre

BW: but he has to be, and the way that people find, Gingrich, whatever it is, refreshing honest - Romney has to somehow capture that because almost in the middle of what he says people say "naw that not what, naw I don't know that's not true"

EH: to your point - he should just be like ' look do you want somebody who has made a lot of money in the past to run this country, or someone who has spent a lot of money to run this country?' just come out and say it and be honest with us and be emotional -I think if he does that I think your right ...

SS: you know that's a touchy subject you better ...

WG: ... all over that, they will be all up in him when they want to you know

That's pretty much it -- looks to me like the media is trying to choose the candidates again.

NOTES:
*: while I would hate to think so, this was the ONLY time during the Hot Topic area where Whoopi appeared to Be having any sort of throat issue.

** : apparently Whoopi has forgotten most of what the impeachment involved and has only remembered his sexual indiscretions ... The case against Clinton started with sexual harassment,
But soon turned into misuse of power, turned into a case of allowing unauthorized personal access to information they didn't have security clearance for (Lewinsky was allowed to stay on the executive bathroom during meetings in the oval office and under the desk during international phone calls while on speaker phone - this is a very serious crime ... Then there was the whole lying to the grand jury thing that happened - the highlight of the whole thing was the word "IS" ... c'mon - to break that whole mess down to just sex does everyone an injustice and trivializes a MAJOR piece of our history - you would never find them doing this to Nixon's resignation and he didn't even get a trial!

***: This is being dubbed an "election year" speech ... But really has there been a year when BO ever stopped campaigning for a second term?

Newt Gingrich

2012-01-20T15:36:00.001-06:00

Breaking news is that Newt Gingrich has cancelled his scheduled appearance this weekend on ABCs "This Week" ...

Well ... DUH!

Why is ABC so surprised that he would not wish to go onto a network who's actions last night were little more than an attempt at character assassination!

I think that he may have waited so long to decide not to go on because he has the debate last night and it wasn't announced until late yesterday afternoon that ABC was planning on running their piece before the primaries in SC ... also I'm sure they had to see if they had any legal obligations to go on the show after promising to do so.

I an working on the transcript of the debate last night .... Or at least some of the main questions with out all the "fluff" in there

Even though I've got to say that the opponents did a pretty good job standing up for themselves and made for an interesting debate that you could actually stay awake for.

Economic education

2012-01-19T14:46:00.001-06:00

New Jobless Claims
DOWN
352,000
New claims last week
(lowest point in 3 years)
•••••
DOWN
50,000
From previous week
(largest week-to-week since APR 2008)
@@@@@
Fluctuations being accredited to seasonal jobs
••••
Will US Firms Be mOre Or Less Able To Compete Globally?
45% LESS
20% more
Harvard business school
9,750 alumni
Oct 4 - nov 4, 2011
•••••

Election 2012: GOP Iowa

2012-01-19T14:29:00.001-06:00

Just when you thought it was over -

Iowa's caucus results will never be certified because 8 precincts did NOT get there forms into the State Secretary's office by last nights deadline ...

BUT to top that all off they have found several mistakes in the counts they DID get ...

These mistakes puts Romney in SECOND PLACE
And Rick Santorum in FIRST PLACE

Just think of all the money he could have had if that had been known ...

Just think of the "bounce" he would of had in the NH primaries if people had known ...

There were inklings on caucus night that there were irregularities in the vote tallies but the Santorum people simply went " oh okay" and let them slide

The difference - in the count that will never be certified - is now only 8 votes difference or something like that ..

It is the closest race in the caucus' history

Well I guess they were testing their system for the vote come next November ... So they can lose those votes hat night too.

Rick Perry

2012-01-19T14:20:00.001-06:00

Rick Perry has decided to drop out of the 2012 race ... Well the nomination race ... And is instead endorsing newt Gingrich

While I can kind of see this since Gingrich was smart enough to take the high road figuring no one wants to throw their support behind an opponent who just spent 6months beating you up in public ...

And polls were showing that he only had 2% support in the upcoming primary - let's hope that Gingrich can pick up some speed and push Paul back into the rear of the pack

Perry entered he race late and is well leaving kind of late too ... I'm thinking he is the last of the single-digits to leave

• his campaign lasted 159 days
• he is the 3rd candidate in 2 weeks to drop out
• entered race on 8/13/11 in SOUTH CAROLINA
• had 10.2% in IA, 5th place
• support dropped 20pts since August

To drop out of the race before he primary of the state that he launched in when it was so early yet ... You have to wonder what writing he saw on the wall?

Maybe he saw that Huntington didn't get a bump in his home state so he was worried hat he would make a bad showing too.

And then there were 4? 5?

It's narrowing down

Election 2012: GOP debate SC

2012-01-18T08:18:00.001-06:00

Ok - found some interesting graphics on Foxnews ... Wanted to share:
These are how TRITTER fans decided whether the candidates where answering questions during the debate - or whether they were dodging the answers ...

Ron Paul did really well - but then they say his followers are those who don't have real jobs yet and have nothing better to do than sit around plunking on the computers - basically democrats who don't want to alienate mommy &daddy because they hold the purse strings ...
Romney did horrid - he came acrossed as the typical politician ... Only once did he ever show any green of being truthful.

Now as usual, you know this app only throws photos at the bottom of the posts instead of burying them within it ... So I'll just posts the photos with as much info as I can get on the screen for y'all

Economic education

2012-01-18T07:47:00.001-06:00

They came out with a new list of Economic Freedom
1)Hong Kong
2)Singapore
3)Australia
4)new Zealand
5)Switzerland
6)Canada
7)chile
8)Mauritius
9)Ireland
10)United States of America

They say this means that the government recognizes the right for people to own private property is SUPERIOR to it's right to take that property (they can't just say 'imminent domain") - and he economy is generated by the free choices of the consumer and investors. Level of taxation, level of regulation.

Really? You think China allows people to choose what they buy? Heck they won't even let people choose what Internet browser/search engine to use ...
They also say that the tax rates are a flat rate for most of these countries, that no matter how much you earn it will always be equal to the same percentage ... Exception being Canada I guess according to the commentators ...

I don't know about this list ... I can understand if it took into consideration the person debt issue - most of those countries work on a nearly cash-only basis ... Of course this also means a larger disparity between the classes ... The poor find it hard to get ahead, the rich have way more than they need.

I was surprised that India didn't show up on the list - although I suppose it is just too hard to paint a picture of equality amongst people when there is still so much coverage over the poor.

No Venezuela? Well Chavez is not going to stand quiet for that one - I suspect that when this list comes out he will somehow paint it that the US fixed it ...

What a piece of work!

2012-01-18T07:31:00.001-06:00

Here is part of the transcript from the exchange between the Italian Coast Guard and the captain of the cruise ship that sank killing at least 6 with about 100 more missing:
Coast Guard (CG): so both you go up then ... You and your second go on board now. Is that clear?

Captain Schettino (CS): commander, I want to go on board, but it is simply that the other boat here ... There are other rescuers, it has stopped and is waiting, there, no I called other rescuers ...

CG: it's been an hour you are telling me the same thing. Now go on board. Go on board!
I saw better transcripts than this, I will search for more ...

First this guy is seen drinking in the shipboard bar when he's supposed to be on duty - then he did an illegal "salute" to the island using a coarse that local fishermen & charter boat companies say are known to have unmarked rock outcrops - but to top all this off, the "brave" captain LEFT HIS POST while his ship sank!

Everyone know that maritime law says that as long as here are hands onboard, the captain goes down wig the ship ... Surely this can't be just a glamour thing? A popular Hollywood/literature generated myth? It has to have some footing in the truth!

I will update this with any new quotes of the transcript I find ... I'll post at the top of this post so you don't have to check thru too far

Ron Paul

2012-01-12T00:19:00.001-06:00

Jimmy Kimmel tonight summed up Ron Paul:

"to me Ron Paul looks like the guy who gets unhooded at the end of every Scooby-Doo cartoon"

and to be an equal opportunity razzer, he showed a photo of Ron Paul's wife and made a comment about her rather flashy sweater:

"... The only thing dangerous really is imagining what kind of damage his wife could do with a loaded Bedazzler in her hand. That is some outfit - maybe he really is an elf and is married to Mrs. Claus"

he also took shots at Gingrich for the use of the term "pious baloney" ... Come on, that's it?

Numerology class

2012-01-10T02:12:00.001-06:00

Some interesting polls in 2011 by Costco:

Should Internet openness be assured by regulation?
39% yes
61% NO

Does Wikileaks serve the best interest of the United States?
45% yes
55% NO

Is offshore oil drilling in the best interest of the United States?
56% YES
44% no

Is College worth it?
66% YES
34% no

Should literary classics be sanitized?
_3% yes
97% NO

Should you seek medical advice online?
87% YES
13% no

Are biofuels actually a good idea?
57% YES
43% no

Should teacher layoffs be based on seniority?
31% yes
69% NO

Ten years after 9/11, is America safer?
26% yes
74% NO

Should paid sick leave be mandatory?
43% yes
57% NO

Should the mortgage interest deduction be phased out?
18% yes
82% NO

Is it OK to thank people by email?
52% YES
48% no
@@@@@
I found of he number surprising and some not - mostly because I would expect Costco members to be more on the conservative side of the line ...

When I think of Costco I think of business owners/managers and preppers - no most aren't crazies, they just think differently then others ... They will leave their children a legacy of food and precious metals.

Things like looking up medical advice online shocked me - after all you don't really know the credentials of the person your getting it from... Just because they have an MD doesn't mean they weren't the last in their class (every class has them too)...

The biofuel question ... I guess I would have thought they would have been more big oil instead of putting their vote behind an industry where we really don't know the effects yet ... I mean we all know they say it's environmentally friendly and it would be cheaper but do we really know this? I mean look at the issues they are finding with the CFL bulbs, it wasn't until after they passed the regulations phasing out the regular incandescent that they found the mercury which makes the CFL work was dangerous to the environment!

Other things like the sanitizing of books or the mortgage interest deduction didn't surprise me at all ... As I would expect that most members would own a home and/or stand by the US Constitution ...

Supreme Court

2012-01-09T08:54:00.001-06:00

I don't remember hearing anything about this case in the news before it hit the Supreme Court ... But I think it's a question we all would like to know about - or at least those who own or expect/hope to own land/property someday ....

EMINENT DOMAIN

A couple in Idaho was forced to stop the construction of their home ... By order of the EPA

The couple bought a lot of land and started clearing the land in order to build their house - but the government showed up out of nowhere and claimed that the land was "wet-land" and was "protected" by law from construction.

But there was no standing water, flow of water ... But the EPA said it was on their "wetland inventory" ... But when they looked up the coordinates into the inventory - coordinates PROVIDED BY THE EPA - it was not there!

To which the EPA tried to cover it up by saying the inventory wasn't always correct ...

Guys - that works both ways too you know ... Maybe the original coordinates you had were entered in wrong and then corrected ... Did you ever think of that?

The couple was also being FINED $100,000's for building where they didn't know they couldn't even thought the government didn't have the proof to show they couldn't ...

The EPA contends that this case shouldn't even have made it to court, that this was an administrative issue and the couple HAD NO RIGHT to take this to court ...

"To treat the compliance order as triggering a constitutional right to immediate judicial review where no immediate right of access to the courts had previously existed would deter a broad range of beneficial agency communications"
EPA Supreme Court Brief, November 2011

In other words - the government doesn't allow people to stand up for themselves or to negotiate. The EPA feels they can act without consequences because they know what's best ...

Thank you frickin' tree huggers!
¥¥¥¥¥
ALSO TODAY

Texas Redistricting of Voting Boundaries
The legislature in TX drew new voting district maps - some minority groups (goated on by groups such as ACORN) challenged the boundaries ... The Federal Court in TX dismissed the legislatures maps but instead of sending it back to the legislature to redo, the Federal Court did it THEMSELVES - doesn't that cross the "checks & balances" line? I think it does ...

Talk about legislating from the bench!
This one is being held on an EMERGENCY basis since it is an election year ...

It will be interesting since at least one of the newer members of the Supremes believes that people are stupid and need the government to think for them and baby them ... And then there is the one who believes that the American government OWES certain members of the general population based on their minority status special privileges and "rights" not afforded to other members of the population based SOLELY upon their race, sex, or sexual preference.

One law for all people - one law for all!

Missing Dallas Teen Found

2012-01-05T14:22:00.001-06:00

A Dallas family has finally found what happened to their missing teenaged daughter ...

Their 14 yr old daughter/grand daughter ran away from home and was caught for shoplifting - but when the police asked for her name she have them a false one and said she was from Columbia ...

The police turned her over to ICE to check out her story as they could not find her in their system ...

ICE took DNA and facial recognition and couldn't find anything in their systems ...

This girl had court dates - so one would assume she had some form of a lawyer that she could have told her real identity to - and she was put thru the system with her assumed name - the one she gave the cops & INS detectives ...

They DEPORTED HER - after all as far as they knew from what she said she was from Columbia and they had no information about her LEGAL entry into the US ...

Her family is laming the INS for deporting her without a PASSPORT ...

Huh?

Yes apparently we are supposed to give those we deport a passport so they can get back in ...

The family found her via FACEBOOK - so its not like this girl didn't have access to the outside world where she couldn't get in touch with her family ... She has/had a job as a maid ...

The grandma says:

"They (the Feds) didn't do their work. How do you deport a teenager and send her to Columbia without a passport, without anything?"

They DID do their jobs - the GIRL claimed to be a girl from Columbia ... They had a hearing where she could have told the truth and told them who she was so they could have contacted someone to see who she really was - she must not have done that ... The family also needs to realize that this girl had been ONLINE for weeks without getting in touch with them - didn't tell any of her friends to contact them ... And we don't know really what info she gave the cops - and we can't be certain of what she says is the truth of what she told them ...

None of that will be known until they look into this whole mess that started with the GIRL'S LIE ...

It's horrible - don't get me wrong, if it were my kid I'd probably be pissed off too ... And we all know how the media loves to glob onto just part of someone's statement - but it all comes back to that one "little" lie ...

Let's all hope that INS watched their Ps &Qs and crossed all their Ts and dotted their Is ...

How Do You Like Them Changes?

2012-01-05T14:00:00.001-06:00

For those thinking that Obama is such a great guy and that all the nations problems were given to him via the Republican party ...

How the hell do you explain this?

We have mr nutty in south America ... You know the one who is always chatting at the UN - I'm not saying the guys name - we will leave it at Mr Nutty .... He is ranching up the rhetoric about America and how we need to be taken down

We've got Mr ImADinnerJacket over in Iran yakking away and threatening our people and our allies ...

We've got crap going on over the otherwise of the border with Mexico that keeps finding its way into our small towns ...

Oh man he list goes on and on ...

So what has "the greatest president of our time" plan to do about it?

$450 billion military funding ... Will be cut!

Yup he is gonna make us more vulnerable ... How you felling about him now?

His plan would
• reduce the number of nuclear weapons we have
• put more troops in the Asain-Pacific (think China)
• 15% reduction in BOTH Army & Marines

The US Army currently has 570,000 to just 490,000 ... Oh look more unemployed - unless they are going to force the retirement of the more experienced soldier in which case we will be getting hit with their military packages sooner than anticipated - unless he's gonna take that away too

Obama explained his plan this way

" ...we will be able to ensure our security with smaller conventional ground forces. We'll continue to get rid of "out dated" cold war systems, so we can invest in the capabilities that we will need in the future - including intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, counter-terrorism (spys), countering WMD, and the ability to operate in invite omens where advisories try to deny us access."

WTF? What is he thinking?

The problem is that we don't have the infrastructure for this ...

We don't have the planes needed to fly to China ... We don't have the tankers needed to keep our Navy & Air Force fueled, we would be as vulnerable as Doolittle's Raiders .... We won't get a new bomber until 2020 so what we have China already knows about, even though they had that one that they went over with a fine toothed comb several years ago (really that should have been seen as an act of war) ...

People - young people - who can't find. a job will no longer be able to "fall back on" the military for a living ...

Between 2011 - 2021:
• defense funding cut by 15.1% (at least)
• defense funding will be 2.5% of GDP (lowest since before our entry into WW2)
• Army will CUT 50,000 soldiers by 2016 (wonder if the illegals we have in our armed forces will be the first ones cut?)
• currently the US Army has about 565,000 soldiers/troops on active duty
• Defense spending accounts for 1/5 of the total federal budget
• US defense spending makes up 43% of the WORLD military spending

So we will be taking these soldiers who had a job and drop them now into an economy where there aren't hardly any jobs ...

How can he not see that this is going to caused more issues?

Or maybe he is seeing the writing on the wall and is trying to leave a mess for the next republican president -- after all they are saying that if he does not win the election, then Hillary Clinton will be running in the next election after that and they feel she will win...

I better start thinking of ways to store up some more food - prices are going to go sky high I just know it ... Good thing it's almost garden planting time ...

Election 2012: GOP

2012-01-03T23:41:00.001-06:00

Most of the numbers are in for the Iowa caucus ....

TIE

25% Romney (29,625)
25% Santorim (29,584)
21% Paul (25,875)
13% Gingrich (16,974)
10% Perry (12,410)
_5% Bachmann (6,016)
_1% Huntsman (732)

Paul made too good a showing ... There will still be jokes about this I'm sure ...

For not doing much campaigning and after that awful quote about Iowa - I have to admit that I was surprised that Huntsman got over 700 votes ...

Santorim - even though my auto-correct wants to change it to sanatorium ... LOL - was in like 6th place until tonight ... But I'd have to look at the last polling data I posted ...

33.9% Romney
_4.2% Santorim

Was the last poll I posted ... WOW what a jump!

But it is the smallest percentage the "winner" has had since bob Dole won in the 90s ... He had like 24% and went on to lose terribly against Clintons second run

Court is in Session

2012-01-03T08:56:00.001-06:00

I was made aware of this through Facebook so I don't have a link ...

But yahoo released a list of the top STUPIDIST lawsuits of 2011

In no particular order:
• a convict is during the people he kidnapped because they didn't help him elude the police

• a guy sued a bar because they didn't check him for illegal weapons before he entered and he got hurt in a fight, presumably by his own weapon

• some kids sued their mother because she sent them cards without any gifts (I assume they wanted $$$)

• woman during a store for $5 million because she got an 80¢ refund for something ... She must have wanted more

• a woman sued her child's daycare because when he child grew up it didn't get into an Ivy-league school ... I remember this one!

• a man sued for "Age Discrimination" ... Says the judge in his original case was too old and didn't side with him

• a man sued a fast-food establishment because the man was to FAT to get into their booths (might I suggest you STOP EATING THERE?)

• a woman sued a movie theater - you'll love this - because she felt the trailer for the movie "Drive" didn't have enough DRIVING in it (now how he heck did this harm her?)

• a passenger took a cruise and the ship swayed from side-to-side and went quickly ... That has got to be one of those DUH moments in life

• Chuck E Cheese got sued because some mom let her kids go there and then said the games encourage gambling
§§§§§
Ok - you kidnap someone they aren't SUPPOSED to help you in any way or form ... What an idiot

If you're too fat to get in the booth - while the food maybe cheap, it might be a really good indication that you need to LAY OFF IT for a while

Think the games are bad for your kids - DON'T TAKE THEM THERE ... I could see a suit over their pizza though - it's awful for the price, but then you don't go there for pizza

now I would love to know the judges reaction to the Cruise Ship story -- had it been me I would have given the passenger the full Judge Judy/Dr Phil/ slap to the head treatment ... YOU'RE ON A SHIP, IN THE OCEAN, gee I wonder why it's rocking?!?!?!?! And maybe it was going so fast so the captain could GET YOU OFF HIS DAMN SHIP ...

I swear now-a-days they sue for everything ... I wonder if I can sue for cutting my finger on new years Eve because the summer sausage rolled as I was trying to slice it ...

Would I sue the maker of the knife, the knife sharpener, the cutting board manufacturer, the store where I got the summer sausage, or the meat company?

Maybe the adhesive bandage company because the band-aid keeps coming off when it gets wet so I can't wash my hands properly?

Hmmmm

Economics Education

2012-01-01T03:03:00.001-06:00

Well there's a load of tax cuts which will be expiring shortly ... Because the President is playing political games ...

• temporary payroll tax cut
• work opportunity tax cut
• deduction for State and Local general sales taxes
• certain dividends of regulated investment companies
• construction of new energy efficient homes
• energy efficient appliances
• conversion credit for plug-in electric vehicles
• Deduction for certain expenses of elementary, secondary school teachers
• enhanced charitable deduction for contributions of food inventory
• enhanced charitable deduction for contributions of book inventories to public schools
• Enhanced charitable deduction for corporate contributions of computer equipment for educational purposes
• certain non-business energy property
• personal tax credits allowed against regular tax and AMT
• electric drive motorcycles, three-wheeled vehicles, and low-speed vehicles
• Alternate fuel vehicle refueling property
• expansion of adoption credit and adoption assistance programs
• alcohol fuels income tax
• alcohol fuel mixture excise tax credit and outlay programs
• income tax credits for biodiesel fuel
• income tax credits for renewable diesel fuel
• excise tax credits and outlay payments for biodiesel fuel mixtures
• excise tax credits and outlay payment for renewable diesel fuel mixtures
• tax credit for research and experimentation expenses
• placed-in-service date for facilities eligible to claim the refined coal production
• Indian employment tax credit
• new markets tax credit
• certain expenditures for maintaining railroad tracks
• mine rescue team training credit
• employer wage credit for active military reservists
• Increased AMT exemption amount
• grants for specified energy property in lieu of tax credits
• qualified zone academy bonds - allocation of bond limitation
• parity for exclusion from income for employer-provided mass transit and parking benefits
• treatment of military basic training housing allowances under low-income housing credit
• premiums for mortgage insurance deductible as interest that is qualified residence interest
• 15-year cost recovery for qualified business improvements
• 7-year recovery period for motor-sports entertainment complexes
• accelerated depreciation for business property on an Indian reservation
• additional first-year depreciation for 100% of basis of qualified property
• special rules for contributions of capital gains real property made for conservation purposes
• increase in expensing to $500k - $2m and expansion of definition of section 179 property
• election to expense advanced mine safety equipment
• special expensing rules for certain film and television productions
• expensing of "brownfields" environmental remediation costs
• deduction allowable with respect to income attributable to domestic production activities in Puerto Rico
• above-the-line deduction for qualified tuition and related expenses
• Tax-free distributions from individual retirement plans for charitable purposes
• special rule for sales or dispositions to implement Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
• modification of tax treatment of certain payments to controlling exempt organizations
• suspension of 100%-of-net-income limitation on depletion for oil and gas wells

71 in total ... And they all get expired TODAY

This of course all adds up to ...

Less money in our pockets

Ron Paul

2011-12-30T14:51:00.001-06:00

(just he name sends shivers down my spine)

Paul-isms
• calls factions against Iran ACTS OF WAR

What others are saying

Gingrich: I think Ron Paul's views are totally outside the mainstream of virtually every decent American.

Bachmann: Ron Paul would make a very dangerous president because of his foreign policy.

Romeny: one of the people running for president thinks it's okay for Iran to have a nuclear weapon, I don't

Santorum: ... A second term with Barack Obama, I'm not sure what hat different than with a Ron Paul administration when it comes to national security.

Now let's remember that this is NOT he first Iranian-sympathetic statement made by Paul ... In fact he has said so MANY times so it's not just being misunderstood or misquoted or even misstatements -- this is how this man REALLY THINKS about Iran.

Let us also remember that he said that Al Qaeda was justified in their attack on the World Trade centers, Pentagon, and attempted attack on the White House ...

How is this guy gaining so much support?

Why?

2011-12-30T14:19:00.001-06:00

Why do people keep using ,Craigs list?

Seems like everyone you turn on the tv there is some story of someone using the list to do something illegal ...

Turn on any of the court tv shows and I'm guessing there will be a case in there involving Craigs list ...

I'd like to say that it's not the lists fault ... And I'm sure they feel that people should be responsible enough to monitor themselves - but I also think the list has to take a certain responsibility to help people who have issues ( and yes I know things happen on eBay too, my own brother was a victim of an attempted fraud on eBay - but they have a recourse system built in)

So here's the latest -- it involves a US Marine as the victim ... His guy came back safe from overseas just to be shot 3 times by the peeps.

The 911 call:
Caller: at least 10 shots. I was working on my car, and heard shots, and he just ran away.

Dispatch: do you still see them?

Caller: I see the truck, the truck is still there, the truck the white guy jumped out of. I don't know who was shooting, they did, the guy guy he was chasing, or maybe him.

The Marine survived by using his own fingers to plug the bullet holes he received.

Apparently he was going in the stead of his girlfriend who was selling a gold necklace - the guy decided to steal the necklace by running and the Marine gave chase .... He also had 5 kids in his car (why did he take the kids?)

WTF? this sounds fishy ... I would think the meeting spot would have been a tip off ... I hope she wasn't involved in this - she is saying the wedding date is going to be bumped up ... Hmmm that will make her his beneficiary ...

Newt Gingrich

2011-12-30T13:59:00.001-06:00

Gained a supporter today, Art Laffer - I think he was Ronald Reagan's economic advisor or worked on the advisory board - he like Newt for his economic plan

Newt's Economic Plan
• drop corporate tax rate from 35% to 12.5%
• end ALL capital-gains tax (this means you buy a house and you sell it for more, you don't have to give half of the gains to the government)
• eliminate death tax (yes they will tax you for dying, or rather your estate)
• optional 15% FLAT TAX rate (also called the national sales tax, but I think he is figuring this as an income tax so EVERYONE pays 15% ... it seems more fair. If you make $35,000/yr you pay $5,250 in tax ... If you $1million you pay $150,000 in taxes ... Hollywood will never go for it)
---
Bring back the GUARANTEED STUDENT LOAN program and you can have my vote!

The GSL program was the single most important program that got the middle-class child into college ... and make the CHILD responsible from the get-go instead of the parents and I'm betting that the state universities will see a great influx of students and test scores will rise in high schools as that college degree will become attainable to students again.

NOAA

2011-12-30T09:11:00.001-06:00

NOAA is trying to justify itself again saying that the number of billion dollar weather disasters has climbed significantly s once the 1980s ...

There chart shows only 8 such storms in the 80s while showing one for every year since the 90s ...

Well DUH

Part of this is because - well in the 80s Reagan was in charge and prices were kept low

Also, the 90s and beyond saw a rise in the demand that only companies who used Union labor be given contracts to fix such areas ...

Then there is just the plain price of things going up ... EVERYTHING is more expensive now than in the 80s (he'll, it's more expensive than it was in 2008 before the election)

And yes I'm sure that in this decade we will even see MORE storms that will cost at least $1billion to recover as prices sky rocket even higher ...

And I predict ....
Before this decade is out we will see our first $1 Trillion weather disaster ... And it really isn't going to be that bad

It's just the price of material & labor and government permits, etc

Donald Trump

2011-12-30T08:56:00.001-06:00

What day is it? Oh a Friday?

Then Trump must be running for president again ... Just wait ... It's like MN weather - it will change shortly

So rumor has it that the Trump man will be making an announcement after the Iowa caucus declaring an independent run ...

There has been a leaked email from someone in the Tea Party asking offices in TX to make sure everything is in place to get his name on the ballot in the state ...

John Fund (senior editor, American Spectator) believes that this will never really happen because if it does Trump would have to disclose his finances and then people will see that "he isn't worth all that he says he is" ... Funds words not mine ...

I don't think he'd run really because he makes more money not running than if he does ... The President only makes $400,000 annually (so they say) but Trump claims to be making millions every year -- if he became president he wouldn't be able to do that ...

All his holdings and dealings would go into a "blind trust" so that he wouldn't know if the laws he passes or deals he makes as president would effect his bottom line ... Of course there is some question as to how effective this blind-trust really is, after all I think as an investor you would have some idea where your money is stashed.

Election 2012: DFL/DNC

2011-12-30T08:34:00.001-06:00

(sport it's the DFL here in MN ... I think it's the only place where it is- HEY HUNTSMAN THE 'F' STANDS FOR "FARMERS" ... just a clue)

With the poling numbers not going his way, Obama is realizing that in order to gain he oomph his campaign needs to possibly win (short of major faux pas on the GOP candidate) .... He will be switching Hillary with Hide-'Im-Biden ...

Apparently there is a quote out there (according to our local talk radio broadcaster) where Obama said he can not afford another gaff and the only way to assure that is to get Biden out of there - and the only way the polls say he would win is if Hillary is on the ticket with him.

Of course my hubby jokes that Obama will never put Hillary on the ballot with him because after a couple of months he'd have one of those "Vince Foster" accidents ... That's right that was ruled a "suicide" .... shhhh

Not so bad when a common citizen jokes about it - but I heard one of the Foxnews guests (John Fund, senior editor American Spectator) while talking on this very subject joke that with Hillary as a running mate Obama would have to hire an official food-taster.

Election 2012: GOP poll

2011-12-30T08:17:00.001-06:00

New Gallop poll numbers

National GOP Poll
27% Romney
23% Gingrich
11% Ron Paul
Gallop
1,169 GOP voters
MOE +/- 4%
22-28DEC2011

This still statistically a tie between Gingrich & Romney
•-•-•-•-•
Rasmussen has a hypothetical poll out

President Obama vs. Romney
45% Mitt Romney (R)
39% President Obama
27-28DEC2011
1,000 voters
MOE +/- 3%
yes - statistically this is too close for comfort for both sides ... take that 3% from Romney and give it to Obama and you've only got a 1% difference - basically it could be another Bush/Gore situation again.

Election 2012 - GOP poll

2011-12-30T07:54:00.001-06:00

Here is how the national polls of candidates are looking right now:

33.9% Romney
30.9% Gingrich
13.3% Paul
_8.2% Perry
_7.1% Bachmann
_4.2% Santorum
_2.3% Huntsman

it sounds like part of Santorum's problem is that he only has offices in Iowa - so without having more out there for the public to see people have to wonder whether he was really sincere with his run or if he just wanted to be an "also ran"

Another note is that Perry is running at 2% in new Hampshire ... Only problem is - Cain & Pawlenty are both getting 2% in NH and they aren't even running anymore ... So one has to ask - why are they still being included in the polling then? Hmmmmmmm

Washington Post

2011-12-30T07:42:00.001-06:00

Okay the Washington Post has released their list of the "Worst in 2011 in Washington" list

That is a lost of who in DC seemed to have the worst year ...

In no particular order:

• Anthony Weiner
• The American people
• Herman Cain
• Congress

Nancy Pelosi

2011-12-30T07:37:00.001-06:00

Foxnews had these stats up to go with the Nancy Pelosi story ... Thought I'd share:

$162 Billion - National Deficit When Pelosi Took "Over Congress"**

$1.29 TRILLION - national Deficit When She Left Speakership

**NOTE:
Fox did a disservice here, Pelosi was never in charge of "Congress" ... She was Speaker of the House. Congress is the collective name for both the Senate AND the House of Representatives ...
And while yes the majority of this jump happened while the Dems were in control of both branches of the Congress - Nancy was only in control of one of them.

Nancy Pelosi

2011-12-30T07:24:00.001-06:00

CORRECTION: I accidentally mention the wrong Senate leader - this has been corrected and labelled in bold type below
@@@@@

Along with predictions amongst political analysts that Nancy Pelosi will be losing her leadership position after the next election (along with Reid) - Nancy's daughter has now come out with an interesting statement:

"She would retire right now, if the donors she has didn't want her to stay so badly. They know she wants to leave, though ... they think she's destined for the wilderness. She has very few days left. She's 71, she wants to have a life, she's done. It's obligation, that's all I'm saying."

So one has to wonder if these donors are so influential to keep her staying when she doesn't want to - how else are they influencing her?

Her daughters quote makes it sound like Pelosi is part of a type of mafia deal --- that she doesn't dare refuse to run for fear of retaliation by these unnamed donors ...

Hmmmmmmmmmm

Makes you wonder doesn't it?

Then there is the aspect of her age - why would that have to be an issue unless Nancy is having age-related health issues such as Alzheimer's or cancers? I know cancer is no respecter of age ... Both the young and old can have it .... I'm just exploring her daughters statement.

Her daughter did come out and say she was MISQUOTED ... That she said Nancy was "destined for GREATNESS" not the wilderness

Yeah - that's the part of that interview that needs clarifying ...

Mom must be proud ...

Maybe Alexandra Pelosi is just upset that mom didn't take her to Hawaii with her ...

Election 2012: GOP

2011-12-30T07:16:00.001-06:00

Well the candidates are starting to implode now ... Yesterday it was Bachmann with he defection of her main Iowan supporter ...

Today it appears to be Huntsman, Perry, and RON PAUL ... Yes he may have let that mask of his slip a bit ...
§•§•§•§•§
"They pick corn in Iowa. They actually pick presidents here in New Hampshire" - Jon Huntsman (R)! (quote from CBS news while he was talking to a group of supporters in NH)
This is supposed to be an intelligent man?
So he is going to insult the people who vote first?
The people who will really set the tone?
The ones who vote in an election which will effect the funding you will receive from donors?
Not to mention that he is insulting a good portion of america - the American Farmers!
Way to go ... Jerk!
§•§•§•§•§

"Senator Santorum is a prolific earmarker. And we talk about - you know I love Iowa pork, but I don't love Washington pork and that's the problem - that Washington pork is the one we have to watch out for, that will give you a stomach-ache that lasts for a long, long time! ... Well Senator, I'm calling you out - defend your earmarks, defend to the people of this country and to Iowa those earmarks that I happen to think are the "gateway drug" to the spending problem that we've got in Washington DC." - Rick Perry (R) Cedar Rapids IA, 29DEC2011

Really?
You gonna piss off Washington state farmers too?
I know that's not what you meant, but it is what you said and as a possible presidential hopeful don't you think it would be nice of you GUARDED YOUR WORDS?
on a personal note - I had to turn the closed-captioning on the tv in order to understand this man ... I don't like that ... It wasn't that his accent is hard to understand - He's from TX and can understand people from TX usually without a problem ... And usually the one issue I do have with TX-speak is that it is a bit slower than MN-speak (IA-speak/WI-speak are all the same way ... Quick on the tongue and sometimes an entire sentence can sound like a single word we spurt it out so fast) -- but it's like he is so busy either smiling to be able to enunciate clearly or it's like he's afraid to say it clear lest he get called on it later.
Also until 1989 Perry was a Democrat ... He switched parties just in time to keep his seat in the TX state house of Reps ... He has been Republican ever since - even serving a George Bush's Lt. Governor - well for less than a year!... But still I don't like people who switch parties to keep their government jobs ... and he switched over when Al Gore (whom he supported through the election) lost all the court bids to steal gain the presidency.
I've got an issue with that sort of thing.

Am I saying a person can never change their mind? Of course not, we all grow and change over time - I'm just saying it looks mighty suspicious when it happens around a major political event and the side you were on loses so you join the winning side.
§•§•§•§•§

"... if I were an Iranian I'd probably want a nuclear weapon too, because you gain respect from that ..." Ron Paul (R) at a rally in Iowa

WHOA! Dr Paul - as a pediatrician I would think at some point you have had more than one talk with more than on parent about how there is a big difference between FEAR and RESPECT ... And Iran would not gain respect from the world just fear ... And a dog (or child) that respects you will work with you - but one that fears you will turn on you in a flash!
Then too we have to remember that Iranian leaders have already stated that they wish to eliminate israel and punish the Americans
Why are people not aging attention to what is coming out of this mans mouth?
How can he be ranking so high in the polls?

Oh I can hear the Iowan jokes being formed now if Paul wins this thing ...

Did you hear that Kelly Clarkston got in trouble with her fans?

She reiterate her support for Ron Paul and her followers quickly gave her heck over his being anti-Semitic and anti-gay ... She quickly apologized for her post.
STICK TO YOUR GUNS GIRL - either you believe in what he stands for or you don't ...

Election 2012: GOP

2011-12-29T19:25:00.001-06:00

Well Michelle Bachmann is crying FOUL down in Iowa ....

Sen. Kent Sorenson - the chair of her Iowa campaign - has jumped ship to go work for Ron Paul ... Just days before the primary (I think it's Jan 2nd, that's just Tuesday)

Sorenson went on fox news and claimed that he did it because (a)the people supporting Ron Paul also helped him get elected when the state GOP thought he would never win so they didn't put as much power behind him as he wanted ~ and ~ (b)that there is no way that Bachmann is going to win the primary ...

But Bachmann went on radio and restated her feelings on the matter (she had said something about it in a tv inter wow too):

"I can tell you the conversation that I had directly with Kent Sorenson. He told me himself that he was offered money - a lot of money - by the Ron Paul campaign. And it was very clear that this effort to offer him money happened after the Sioux City debate, after we were gaining tremendous momentum in all 99 counties across Iowa. People were flipping away from Ron Paul - they were coming and deciding to vote for Michelle Bachmann and that was when the Ron Paul campaign offered money - from Kent Sorenson to my ears - telling me that he was offered a great deal of money and that's why he left. "

according to Megyn Kelly - news anchor - FoxNews - Sorenson appeared at a rally for Bachmann and then about 3 hours later showed up at one for Ron Paul saying he was switching candidates ...

Yeah I'd be going WTF too!

Sorenson is saying that Bachmann is lying and hat conversation did not take place (I am SOOOOO hoping she tapes her conversations)

Susan Gettys - a high ranking operative in conservation circles in Iowa and helped in Sorenson's own campaigns (2008 & 2010) - has come out and told AP (Associated Press) that Sorenson told HER that Sorenson himself said -as recently as last month - that the Ron Paul campaign had offered him money to leave ...

Without actually using the words - he called Gettys a liar as well ...

Sorenson says that when the financials for the campaigns come out they will see that there was mo money exchanged .... Of course he knows that there are indiscriminate funds which get spent that get put into lump sums where bits and pieces could get lost ...
And if you've ever gone shopping at a discount store you know how those little amounts can quickly add up

Megyn also pointed out that while Sorenson is denying that he "accepted" funds - that is a different thing from being OFFERED it.

Irony of ironies - during the interview on Fox ... In the background several - or maybe it was the same one - Bachmann campaign vans were driving behind him and showed up very prominently on screen ... LOLz ... Jokes on HIM I guess!

Nancy Pelosi

2011-12-27T08:59:00.001-06:00

Well while congress trying to find new ways to take your money ...

Pelosi has found a way to take more from CA - you know that state that may have to find a way to declare bankruptcy because they can't pay their bills ...

She is on vacation in HAWAII ... Wonder why she didn't go back to her own state ... Oh yeah - the Obamas were vacationing in Hawaii too silly me

So she stayed at the best hotel for the cheapest money for CA to pay right?

WRONG

She stayed at the Four Seasons Hotel ...

Cost?

$10,000 a NIGHT

They don't know if this included food & drinks even ...

Bend over CA!

Then there is the cost of the police escort to get her around town - on the Hawaiian tax-payees back ...

$35,000 for the police staff alone

This is also her THIRD such trip since being in office ... and obama's been in office for three years now ... Naw, must just be coincidence

There is some speculation that she may have paid for this herself ...

And I suppose it's pretty light compared to what we are paying for the President to take a vacation ...

$4MILLION

For his share alone ... Then there's the First Family expenses on top of that ...

Sony you love how our money gets used? And they are now asking for MORE ...

Ron Paul

2011-12-27T08:38:00.001-06:00

More quotes are coming out about Ron Paul ...

A former aide ( Eric Dondero, sorry if I spelled that incorrectly) has been quoted as having said that Ron Paul doesn't believe that the US should have entered into WW2, that we had no business in "saving the Jews" ...

Well a few things wrong here ...

1)Obviously Ron Paul didn't pay attention in history class

2)We entered WW2 after we were bombed by JAPAN

3)We went to the war in Europe to help the BRITISH allies

4)The plight of the Jewish people wasn't known by the general public until AFTER we got there, almost towards the end of the war.

this man is SCARY

He will NOT mean free rights, open arms, etc ... He will be a knee jerk reaction in the other direction...

He will be one that will limit the freedom to Bear Arms in the worry that a militia would be formed ...

He would be one who would veto even a good law in fears of offending someone ...

Like Bachmann, he is better as a single voice amongst many ...

Straight From The Horse's Mouth

2011-12-27T07:46:00.001-06:00

"... When the bar is low enough to include political enemies, our descent into totalitarianism is virtually assured ... The National Defense Authorization Act ... accelerates it significantly. "26DEC2011
phone message to supporters
on the Defense Bill
RON PAUL

In specific the issue is the part of the bill which would allow virtually indefinite prison time for terrorists - or those labelled as terroristic in nature.

Now keeping in mind that the government has now classified Jair about any group which sees things differently than the Democrats a terrorist group - especially Right-To-Lifers (but not PeTA) - I could see where's this could raise some eyebrows.

On the other hand ... If we had this then some of those involved in the acts overseas and those they are quietly keeping in hand here on our native land, would never see the light of day again ...

But wait - there's a bother quote
" ... it contains very basic and very critical stipulations about the due process of law. The government can not imprison a person for no reason and with no evidence presented without legal counsel ..."

One analyst felt that Paul is afraid that we will defend into a Soviet type of tyranny where just speaking out will put you on a list ...

Oh, wait ... We've got that already ...

Ron Paul is pulling out images of the USSR, the Nazis, a Mussolini dictatorship ... that type of thing ...

Like I said - this guy scares me ...

He is so paranoid that we will over step that he is too afraid to do anything - he would be not just our PM Chamberlain, but is more likely to be our Quisling - a man so blinded by not wanting to fight that he gave away his own country without taking a clear look at who've was going to bed with.

Election 2012 - GOP poll

2011-12-27T07:30:00.001-06:00

IOWA
21% Paul
20% Romney
19% Gingrich
_9% Perry
American Research Group
19-22DEC 2012
MOE +/- 4%

What the heck?

This is why there are so many Iowan jokes in MN ...

Critics (not identified) are saying that the Paul campaign is striking home with those who listen to Doomsday scenarios ...

I don't know about that .... I just know I find him incredibly scary!

Election 2012 - GOP polls

2011-12-21T11:45:00.001-06:00

The latest Rasmussen poll for IOWA is out ... Here's the way they say the primary is looking:

25% Romney
20% Paul
17% Gingrich
10% Perry
10% Santorum
_6% Bachmann
_4% Huntsman
19DEC2011
750 likely GOP Caucus participants
MOE +/- 4%
••••••
Compare this with these polls:

Strongest Opponent Against Obama
35% Romney
25% Gingrich
15% Paul
_6% Perry
_4% huntsman
_4% Bachmann
_4% Santorum
(same polling data as above)
&&&&&
Weakest Opponent Against Obama
26% Paul
21% Bachmann
16% Gingrich
16% huntsman
_7% Perry
_4% Santorum
_3% Romney
(same polling data as above)
••••••
So just to make sure - Rasmussen asked about the likelihood that these people wouldn't change their minds later on ... gee, they actually suspect that people are lying saying they are republican for the caucus and then will vote dem come election time - imagine that

Certain You Will vote For Your Candidate or Could Something Change Your Mind?
47% Certain
45% might Change Mind
(same polling data above)

Let's get this straight most of that 45% are going to be people who either really don't care OR are really democrats who are crossing party lines so they can try to get people to vote for a lesser candidate ...

You know this happens ...

How do you think we got McCain instead of Fred last time?

Election 2012: GOP polls

2011-12-21T08:17:00.001-06:00

Time to stick those wet fingers in the air! Let's see how things are shaping up and how the media is trying to sway the primaries today ... that's right - I said it
••••••
GOP National Poll
Amongst "republican" voters
30% Romney
30% Gingrich
15% Paul
_7% Bachmann
_6% Perry
_4% Santorum
Washington post/ABC poll
15-18DEC2011
MOE +/- 3%
§§§§§
IOWA GOP Poll
23% Paul
20% Romney
14% Gingrich
10% Perry
public policy polling
16-18DEC2011
MOE +/- 4%
§§§§§
(funniest poll of the day-thanks FoxNews graphics dept for screwing up ... Again)

NEW HAMPSHIRE GOP poll
35% Romney (by photo of Romney)
19% Romney (by photo of Paul)
17% Gingrich
13% Huntsman
Public Policy poll
16-18DEC2011
MOE +/- 2.8%
Now if that doesn't show how the media is trying to influence this election ... Really TWO poll numbers for Romney?
§§§§§

What's even more funny is the fact that they were discussing a poll in Virginia when the NH polling data was put up ...

OOPS!

Election 2012 - GOP New Hampshire

2011-12-15T12:20:00.001-06:00

WTF? New Hampshire mist be getting the same water supply as Iowa ...

35% Romney
21% Paul
16% Gingrich

500 likely GOP primary voters
13DEC2011
MOE +/-4%
(American Research Group)

WTH?

While I'm not saying Paul isn't a good guy ... but he is the republicans version of Joe Biden ... Half of what comes out of his mouth makes you go "what?"

Actually I'm thinking that Ron Paul is the "Jesse Ventura" of the national election ...

Jesse got in because there were people who didn't want to commit to either party so they voted for him thinking he would never win ... He was the None Of The Above candidate ...

Ron Paul could easily be replaced with "None Of The Above" as well ...
This is scary as heck ...

The best thing I can say about Paul is that he is a dr by profession so when it comes to health care issues he does have an extensive background at his disposal.

Election 2012: GOP Iowa

2011-12-15T12:08:00.001-06:00

New polling numbers coming out just before the debate tonight -- iowans have lost their ever loving minds!

23% Mitt Romney
20% Newt Gingrich
18% Ron Paul
750 likely GOP caucus participants
13DEC2011
MOE +/- 4%

Ron Paul? really?

There's a pig farmer joke in there I'm sure ... especially about pork barrel projects ...

Actually I should be nice to pig farmers - I used to date the son of one ...

And I should be nice to the Iowans too ... After all, Bachmann was born & raised there - and they don't even want her ...

But Ron Paul????

Are you sure you understood the question correctly?

WTH?

Presidential Debate Debacle

2011-12-12T12:07:00.001-06:00

More info courtesy of The View, who showed the Perry remark that started the betting incident ...

Perry: I read your first book and it said in there that your mandate in Massachusetts should be he model for the country - now I know it came out of the reprint of the book [I think he meant it was taken/removed/edited out of the reprints] you know, I'm just saying, you were for individual mandates my friend

Romney: you know what? You've raised that before Rick ...

Perry: it was true then, and it's true now

Romney: you were wrong - no no no - Rick I will tell you what, 10 thousand bucks? $10,000 bet?

Perry: I'm not in the betting business

Romney: oh - ok, okay

„“„“„“„

Economy education

2011-12-12T10:10:00.001-06:00

Of the top 30 largest corporations in America 3years (under Obamas administration) -

Made total of $164 Billion in profit

Taxes paid = less than 1%
(except FedEx which did pay only 1% out of the 35% top corporate tax rate)

Numerology Class

2011-12-12T08:54:00.001-06:00

New poll numbers from the Weekend!

Presidential Characteristics
(no real numbers given, just what the scored highest in)

GINGRICH: strong Leader - true Conservative

ROMNEY: Honest - Presidential - Caring
Dec 5-7, fox poll, republican voters
{}{}{}{}{}
Job Approval
44% approve
46% DISAPPROVE
CBS news poll, Dec 5-7

National Direction
75% WRONG DIRECTION
21% Right Direction
(same CBs poll)

Does Obama Deserve a second Term?
41% yes
54% NO
CBS news
856 adults nationwide
dec5-7
MOE +/- 3%
[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Debate highlights

2011-12-12T08:37:00.001-06:00

Dang! I missed another one! And what I've seen of the clips it was a pretty funny one:

Bachman: ... Newt-Romney were FOR obama care principals - if you look at Newt Romney they were for cap & trade - if you look at Newt Romney they were for the illegal immigration problem - and if you look at Newt Romney they for the $700 billion bailout
~~~
Romney: ... The real difference I believe are our backgrounds - I spent my life in the private sector, I understand how the economy works, and I believe that for Americans to say goodbye to president Obama and elect a republican they need to have confidence that the person they are electing knows how to make this economy work again and create jobs for the American middle class
~~~~
Gingrich: ... He did 4 allegations, do I get 4 responses?

Stephanapolis: take your time

Gingrich: ok ... let's start with the last one - let's be candid, the only reason you didn't become a career politician is because you lost to Teddy Kennedy in 1994 ...
Romney: now wait a second, wait a second, with regards to the idea that if I had beaten Ted Kennedy I could have been a career politician - that's probably true, if I'd have been able to get into the NFL like I had hoped when I was a kid I'd have been a football star all my life too

~~~~
Gingrich: as speaker of the House I worked with Bill Clinton and following a very similar plan and we ended up with about 11 million new jobs in a 4 year period - went down to 4.2% unemployment
~~~~~
Romney: well having spent my life in the private sector, I understand where jobs are created - they're not created in government, they're not created in Washington ...
~~~~~
MAJOR Faux Pas of the evening: Romney bets Perry

Romney: ... you know what? You've raised that before Rick and, um, you've ...

Perry: - and it was true then - and it's true now ...

Romney: ... Rick, tell you what - $10,000? $10,000 bet?

Perry: I'm not in the betting business ...

Romney: oh okay
•-•-•-•
average income in Iowa where he debate took place? $40,000/yr! Majority of workers are either union or farmers - so they know the money is super hard to come by

(Romney commented this morning saying his wife told him it was a bad thing to do)
=========
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========

There is supposed to be one last one this Thursday - I'm hoping to be able to catch this one

Reality Check

2011-12-12T08:20:00.001-06:00

Obama is PROMISING that by next years election he was going to have the national unemployment rate down to 8%!

Hmmm - let's look at this ...

• in the 2010 budget (signed May2009) he had unemployment at 7.1% by 2011 .... well we know that never happened so the taxes weren't there for what he wanted to do
• in the same budget he also predicted a 4% growth in the job market/GDP
• National unemployment for 2011 was 9%
• job/GDP growth was 1.7% in 2011
• he has never taken any responsibility for the down turn of the economy during his term, even hough his party had full control without enough votes to block anything in the first 2 years of his term he still blamed not only the Republican party but also the "previous administration"

So what needs to happen for this promise to happen? What sorts of miracles is Obama gonna have to pull off this year?

• 200,000 new PRIVATE sector jobs EVERY MONTH until November 2012
• 100,000 people dropping out of work force every month (usually done because they are tired of looking and have ran out of benefits) ... This will add to the homeless issues

Last months 8.6% unemployment has been attributed to people simply not even trying to find a job during the winter months - they sought welfare instead.

Look for them to come up with a "new" way to calculate the numbers to make the picture rosier than it really is ...

It reminds me of how they used to calculate the FTEs at the daycare ... One calculation was used for the kids, another was used for the workers, and a third was used for the state so things looked like they meshed and we were never under staffed ...

Economics Education

2011-12-09T11:59:00.001-06:00

I caught this across the bottom scroll on Fox news this afternoon ... But I had not heard of it on national news yet ...

" ... next years US corn surplus Is expected to stay small, keeping food prices high ... Dept of Ag estimates farmers will have 846 million bushels of corn on hand at the end of next summer, up less than 1% of last months forecast ... surplus would satisfy demand for less than 25 days ... A healthy surplus lasts 30 days ... USDA estimates that food prices will rise as much as 4.5% for all of 2011 and 3.5% next year ..."

HOLY CRAP!

This means that the $3.49/lb you are paying now for beef (based on our local ad for a nation wide grocery store) is going to be going up ...

$3.65 for the rest of the year ...
$3.77 for the beginning of 2012 ...

I found an issue with my numbers, I did not notice that the original price I used was a SALE price ... Actual price is $4.89/lb (boneless chuck roast)

So applying the increases we can expect to see the price per pound to rise to:
• $5.11 in 2011
• $5.29 in 2012

At least that's the way I am reading it ... My guess is that we will be seeing $5 - $6 a pound meat very soon as the stores try to get ahead of the increases ...

The other bog-box grocery store has beef already at $4.50/lb reg priced (boneless chuck roast)

This means the price will jump (per pound):
• $4.70 for 2011
• $4.87 for 2012

I hope the prices stay low for at least the next couple of weeks as I ordered a pressure canner for my Christmas gift this year ... This means I will be able to put-up fresh meat while the prices are still low ...

Until the end of the year Roundys/Rainbow foods has whole chicken leg quarters for $0.88/lb!

I have a feeling I am going to be clearing Walmart out of canning jars and rainbow out of chicken ... When done properly meat is supposed to stay shelf stable for 3 - 5 YEARS ...

All I'm gonna need is shelf space for it all ... Hmmm ...

Taking The High Road

2011-12-08T14:14:00.001-06:00

I was watching The View okay it was my dvr copy ... And they roughy up a book signing of Michelle Bachman ...

Now I'm not a supporter of her presidential campaign - I think she should remain in the senate, face the truth of it, drop out and get back to dc and do her job ...

That aside...

At this book signing a little boy was escorted up to the table by who I assume was the mother and COAXED into talking to Bachman ...

The boy said "my mommy, Miss Bachman, is gay. She doesn't need fixing"

Bachman - backed away from the boy and said "bye bye" as he left - she did however look towards the mother ...

The ladies on The View lambasted her -- what the hell did they expect her to do, tongue-lash the mother for using her child that way??

Could you imagine the headlines?

Even Hasslebeck came up with a suggested answer ...

SHUT UP

At the time, I think Bachman did the right thing by just holding her tongue ... It was very very obvious that the boy was put up to do this and that he was chickening out at the last moment and wouldn't have said anything had the mother not pushed it

The boy was only 8 yrs old

And Joy and Whoopi are sure having fun trying to find ways of not only putting down republicans in general but to shoot down whoever is in the forefront of the GOP candidacy ...

I would love to see that put to a stop right now

BREAKING NEWS: VIRGINIA TECH SHOOTING

2011-12-08T13:38:00.001-06:00

There has been a shooting at Virginia Tech ... Students have reported hearing the sirens going off and announcements saying that all students were supposed to stay in class.

Two people were reported "down" - one of whom was a police officer ....

Another person is reported as having surrendered but they do not match the description given by the university's campus paper - so there is some question as to whether the have caught the shooter yet.

I jumped over to my Internet camera app but only found one which showed an officers car ... This was soon joined by a second and the scooted off a couple who was setting up a camera - I did not see a news van anywhere so I have no idea if they were a news group or not

This photo is of where the olive cars were, but it looks like where the TREE IS DOWN is where the police cars used to be shortly before ... So I'm not completely sure that they were there to look for the shooter ... Perhaps they were there to lend security so someone didn't get hurt when the tree got taken down ...

It could be an incident that nothing to do with the shooting at all

All I Can Say Is ... WOW

2011-12-08T09:36:00.001-06:00

Follow up - Rick Perry appears on Fox news to explain this latest ad ...

The interview was satellite linked from Charleston SC and Perry was going to be stumping it in later in the day -- so let's get that mind set in there ...

First he was asked about Holder (who is supposed to be speaking about the 'Fast & Furious' gun sales debacle later today) ... He said the whole thing rests on the shoulders of the President ... Of course by this thinking then Reagan should have been held liable for the whole Iran-Contra scandal of the 80's ...

I'm thinking he wouldn't agree with that one ..

Fox news asked about the phrase "Presidents war on religion" ... to which Perry brought up the funding being cut to Catholic clinics which don't do abortions, don't sell birth control, and the like - basically theres been a threat to take away the tax-exempt status, but he didn't really support any of this part ... he just danced around it

He did point out that the constitution mentions a freedom OF religion not FROM religion ... That was a good line ...

But that was about it ...
He said that judeo-christian values should be leading this country

That's scary ... Not with the value system, but it is pretty close to establishing a national religion which is exactly what the first amendment was trying to avoid ...

Some of the Fox Facts off to the side bar
• Perry is the longest serving governor in TX history
• this is Perry's first national run
• $15Million in "cash on hand" at end of Sept for his campaign
• will spend $1.2million on ads in Iowa over the next month before the primary

He just seemed out of sorts, worn out ... Or maybe it was the fox news commentator who seemed to be "why am I interviewing this guy who hasn't got a chance?" ... Normally I like the commentator, but he did seem rather uninterested in the interview ...

Where were the questions about his statement about gays?

Where was the press for specifics about a presidential suppression of religion?

Where was the questions about his campaign funds being so far less than anyone else's?

They did ask about Donald Trumps "debate" which Perry won't be participating in ... He said he will be on a bus tour - good for him ... Let King Trump twist in he wind!

All I Can Say Is .... WOW

2011-12-08T08:34:00.001-06:00

I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm a Christian
But you don't need to be in the pew every Sunday to know that there's something wrong in this country when
Gays can serve openly in the military
But our kids can't openly celebrate Christmas or pray in school
As President, I'll end Obama's war on religion
And I'll fight against liberal attacks on our religious heritage
Faith made America strong
It can make Her strong again
I'm Rick Perry
And I approved this message

Holy crap that's scary!

I can't believe he would put that out there ...

And yes I put each major pause in his commercial as a separate line ... As he read it.

WOW

This brings back scary memories of the 80s

Numerology class

2011-11-22T11:08:00.001-06:00

National debt = $15 Trillion

Debt per US Citizen $48,089
Debt per TAXPAYER $133 ,609
(hey those don't match - that's because there is a huge amount of people who do not have to pay taxes but they are NOT part of the rich, they ate those who are taking money from the government in one form or another)

US Federal Spending = $$3.6 Trillion

US federal budget deficit = $1.3 Trillion

High budget items:
Medicare/Medicaid = $825 billion
social security = $723 billion
Defense/wars = $701 billion
Income Security = $407 billion
Interest on Debt = $218 billion
Federal Pensions = $212 billion

Federal Tax Revenue = $2.3 Trillion
State Revenue = $1.18 trillion

US Gross Domestic Product = $15 Trillion
Gross Debt to GDP ratio = 100.0171664 +/-

That's just what I could make out

If Barbie Were Real

2011-11-21T16:36:00.001-06:00

If the barbie doll were real she would be:

• 5ft 9in tall
• 39" bust measurement (that's a size 44 bra, but they didn't give a cup size to go with it
• 18" waist
• 33" hips
• size 3 shoe
• she'd walk on all fours (not sure if that was a joke)
• 110lbs

A couple of problems with these conclusions ...

Barbies shoe size has changed over the years ... She has gotten less toe from when I was a girl ... But then too her foot is pointed - this makes the foot seem shorter than it actually is

And with no cup size it's hard to come up with a "true" bra size - that's how women "see" breasts ... We can imagine a numerical representation but we get a better picture if we know that she is say a 33EE or something ...

Generally a bra size is 5" longer than your under-boob but the cup size is the difference between your underbust and the measurement around the "fullest part of the bustline" - i.e. nipples ... In general each inch of difference is equal to one cup size.

In the USA these go A,B,C,D,DD, DDD, E, EE, F, etc ... In Europe it's different - I don't think they have the triples, and I'm not sure about doubles.

So if she has a 33" underbust then she would be a 38DD ...

But say her underbust was 28 inches (about 10" larger than her waist) ... Then she would be a 34F (always go up to the next even number) ...

Now the national average cup size is a B or C (it falls between) so working back from that ... Her underbust would be 35 inches ... So she would be a 40C (sooty she doesn't look like a B cup to me)

so the next time you see some lady shopping in the Playtex bra aisle at your Walmart - just remember that she could be the same size as Barbie ... Americas standard of "beauty"

Now that waistline - it is possible you know ... It calls for the use of a corset but it can be done ... And you would get that hourglass shape too.

And if you wear a corset for long enough ... Say years ... Your body will just naturally start to take that shape ...
I wonder how women used to wear them when they were pregnant? Maybe that's why pregnant women were sequestered until well after birth - because they could jot wear all the undies they should have ... Or did they have special ones made for pregnant women perhaps?

And we all must be honest that the Victorian shape is what people like - too bad we didn't keep the image of the matriarch as well ... Where it was acceptable for a woman to have a larger frame once she had children ...

Now a days society seems to dictate a skinny rail body no matter the age or what your body has gone through ...

Sigh

Economics 101

2011-11-14T01:53:00.001-06:00

It's been a while since I posted one of these but the congressional Super Budget Committee has only 10 weeks DAYS (23NOV2011) to come up with a budget or the automatic cuts - including big ones to the military ... And with Iran acting up, I'm not sure we want to cut that area.

So what will happen if the Dems & Repubs on the committee don't agree on something?

they must cut $1.2TRILLION over the next 10 years
$600 BILLION will be cut from the Pentagon

Toomey's proposed compromise:
• cuts deficit $1.2 Trillion
• $700 Billion in spending cuts
• $500 Billion in revenue increases (I.e. Tax increases)

Revenue increases broken down
~ $250 Billion limiting deductions especially for top earners
~ Tax Rates Lowered (top rate drops from 35% to 28%)

Contingent on pro-growths tax reform
Only 13 months away from big tax increase in history (when Bush tax cuts expire)

Other Option :
• Cut deficit by $2.3 Trillion over next 10 years
• raise revenue by $1 trillion (I.e. Tax increases
• cut spending by $1 Trillion
• save $300 billion in interest on debt (how they gonna do that? sift it to a new "credit card"?)

where are the spending cuts coming from
• monies saved by winding down Military action in Iraq/Afghanistan (wait - weren't those gonna be cut anyhow? That's like saying "we're saving $2trillion by not attacking Canada - there we saved $2trillion")
HOWEVER - these same funds are then spent anyhow only in a different location/department ... So really we save nothing

I'm betting that they will come up with some sort of compromise at the eleventh hour so everyone gets their extra paycheck for being on the Super Committee ... You know if DC would charge these people for being on these committees instead of paying them, I'm betting we'd see a lot less committees out there

So a few quotes and answers (both from me and commentators)

" ... How do you define the closing of a loop hole as a tax increase is beyond me ... "
Rep. James Clayburn, D-SC

Chris Matthewsr pointed out that if you no longer receive only 2/3 the tax break you did the year before on your mortgage deduction THAT is a tax increase ... The congressman just didn't get it.

Now he did mention the upper 1% who have had a 275% income increase over the last 28years ... That they should bring themselves down to where everyone else is ... do you remember what the economic situation was 28 years ago?

My gods - the US was in the midst of INFLATION ... They had to put a price cap on milk so kids could still drink it, gas was rationed because of the middle east crisis caused a shortage, unemployment was - ok not as bad as now - very high, drug use was running rampant ...

What is this guy thinking?

Both have their pros & cons ... Toomey's plan limits deductions per person, but lowers the tax rate (giving an overall cut even though it raises the number of taxes paid - no word on what loopholes would be cut)

The Other plan wants to take the economy back 28 yrs and just rearranges spending while raising tax rates/closing loopholes used by everyone.

Well with wither one -- we're screwed

Numerology Class

2011-11-10T14:10:00.001-06:00

Time for poll numbers for the GOP candidates ...

2012 Republican Race By State
Pennsylvania
17% Cain
17% Romney
13% Gingrich
13% Santorom
_5% Paul
_5% Perry
Quinnipiac University
31OCT - 7NOV 2011
579 voters, MOE +/- 4.1%

Florida
27% Cain
21% Romney
17% Gingrich
_5% Perry
Quinnipiac University
31OCT - 7NOV 2011
513 voters, MOR +/- 4.3%

Ohio
25% Cain
20% Romney
_9% Paul
_4% Perry
_4% Bachman
Quinnipiac University
31OCT - 7NOV 2011
443 voters, MOE +/- 4.7%

Wow - Bachman has shown up in just one polling, remember when she was the Tea Party sweetheart? She scared me - great congresswoman, scary president.

If my father had realized that Gingrich was going to run for president then maybe he would have survived a little longer to cast his vote ... Then again, maybe not.

According to these polls there are really only three choices:

Cain - NO political experience... Accused of harassment, although there's some questions as to whether what he is accused of really reaches to those levels and the one who came out in the media is suspect (who can remember the exact conversation from 15 years ago?) ... He has a pretty impressive business background ...

Romney - former Governor of Massachusetts (single term) ... implemented his own version of "Romney Care" on the state level in MA (I believe it proved to be a failure though) ... father of 5, his father was Governor of Michigan so he comes from a political background ... He also has a strong business background (financial field) ... Has a business and law degree ... He staved off a budget crisis in MA by raising taxes and cutting funding for higher education (state universities & colleges raised tuition 63% during his 4 year term) and raising property taxes to over 50% of a properties worth (a $100,000 home had to pay $50,000 just in taxes)

Gingrich - a very strong political background ... Served in the US House for 20 years ... He's been married 3 times - not that this is an issue but perhaps the circumstances surrounding them are, his first wife was his h.s. Geometry teacher and they we'd shortly after graduation (19yrs & 26yrs old), he left her for another woman while she was in the hospital to have a tumor removed - he left his second wife for a House staffer while holding trial over Clinton for the Lewinsky matter (although it needs to be stated that he was not in trouble solely for his affair with an underling but mostly for LYING to the Grand Jury) ... But many would see it as ironic for a man who is supposed to support the Moral Majority ...

There isn't really a great candidate - but of these three choices ... if I only had these three to choose from (and I don't like any of them completely) ... Based solely on who I think would be the best PRESIDENTIAL candidate ... I'd have to say Gingrich would be best.

That is so hard to say ... But he has the most experience of all of them even with the flip-flopping of issues.

I have to scrub my fingers now ... Ewwwwww

DONT PANIC

2011-11-10T13:09:00.001-06:00

It's just FEMA

Ok - so Wednesday was the big NATIONAL test of the new EBS (sorry, it will always be the Emergency Broadcast System to my generation) ...

Across the nation for 3 minutes there was supposed to be a test for if there was a nationwide emergency such as nuclear attack, alien invasion, ~~Obama's re-election~~, pandemic, world war, etc... How did that get in that list?

I don't know about other stations or radio programs but here we had just a screen shot of "EAS this is a test of the Emergency Alert System" .... No announcements, no talk over (in fact I was able to still hear the regular broadcast behind the graphic) ...

At least with the local tests there is that annoying sound - either a disharmonious tone or beeping, followed by a voice over announcing that it is only a test and that if it were a real test we would be told where to turn in for information ... Our cable company (Comcast) even switches the channel over to some other channel where we are "held hostage" until the test is finished ...

Now I hear that FEMA is planning to test alerting both cell phones and the Internet ...

HOW ABOUT WE FIX THE TV/CABLE/RADIO ONE FIRST!!!

plus you have to wonder how they will do the next one - since it means they will have to do a Reverse-911 type system for cell phones which should cause more than a few concerns of privacy issues ...

Hell you can't even get a list of cell phone messages for the cell phone you own but your kid uses! We were being charged for something they said my son signed up for via text - so we asked for a listing of the messages to see where the charge was because he swore he didn't sign up for anything ... But because the phone was being used by our son EVEN THOUGH THE ACCT WAS IN OUR NAME we could not get a copy without a subpoena - how stupid is that?

So how can the government get a hold of cell phone numbers?

And are they going to do it by voice, text, both? Will people be charged for the call/text? What if people don't have texting ability (yes there are still some phones out there with out that feature)?

What about those pre-paid phones? Not even the police can track those things - how the heck will the government do it?

Then again how will they know which cell phones of any type to call? I mean if you get a phone through your job the area code will be for which ever city the company made their contract in or where the cell office was - this also means that a person can have an area code for one state while living in another state. Honest!

And how will they do an Internet alert?

Will it be by email? How will they ever get all the addresses? And what to do with those who don't get to check their email every two minutes? After all there are times where I can't check my email for two weeks - I'm sure I'm not alone on this

How will they do an Internet alert?

This one kind of smacks of china's grip on their Internet where they have enough control to where they can block pages from loading nationwide ...

Once this system is in place - the government would be able to control what gets posted, what subjects get rejected, they will be able to track your e-footprints without warrant, and perhaps even monitor your person chats/emails ...

It's a slippery slope.

Then there is the issue that if they are going to alert you via Internet - how can you look up information on the situation if they interrupt the Internet?

And considering how the muffed up the simple cable/tv/radio notice - a system that has been in place since the 1950s - I have a concern of them "locking up" the Internet and then the nation will be going through Internet-withdrawal symptoms --- now that would be cause for an EAS alert!

Rap session

2011-11-08T02:43:00.001-06:00

Ok - so as you may have heard Lindsey Lohan (LILO) has been sentenced to. Something like 30 days in jail ... She spent something like 4 hours there because of over-crowding ...

That'll teach her

Here is a listing of her rap sheet that I saw:

2007
MAY - arrested for DUI, possession of cocaine
JULY - 2nd DUI, driving on suspended license

2010
MAY - missed court date, claims stolen passport on France
JULY - sentenced 90 days, served 14 days (due to over-crowding)
SEP- fail court ordered drug test, goes to Betty ford clinic

2011
FEB - court for theft, pleads "not guilty" to stealing $2500 necklace
OCT - probation revoked, failure to do community service
NOV - sentenced to 30 days, serves 4 hours (due to over-crowding)

And people wonder why CA has such a high crime rate?

Maybe because they don't PUNISH people unless they do some thing major like killing someone ... Or want to write a book about the experience ...

Bullying gets the wink

2011-11-07T21:51:00.001-06:00

I was watching tv and a new commercial for Walmart's layaway program

To do this the showed people Ina family and the possible things you could get them

1)a little boy gets a Lets Rock Elmo {I will not remark on the kids Partridge Family hair cut}

2)a young girl gets a Lalaloopsy hair doll {don't ask me ... I just report it}

3)a tween gets a Star Wars a ultimate Light Saber {with that 1970's bubble hair cut - what is with this family?)

4)over-weight husband/brother gets a Zumba Fitness video game for iDrect ...

WTF?

I could see it if he were a fitness buff ... Or one of the ladies in the commercial ... But why did they have to pick on the guy who is just this side of Biggest Loser? Well okay he isn't that large to the AVERAGE person, but he looks that way to those who are skinny as a rod and doing the advertising boards

Though I'm betting they are trying to be comical - of this "joke" we're told in the school system you can bet that your child would be getting hauled down to the principal's office ....

I think it's real important that of we are trying to tell the kids hat there is a "zero tolerance" on bullying then we need to carry that out into the media as well ...

So we either need to tell kids that there is a certain amount of bullying which is tolerated, certain groups which it is okay to pick on ... or grow up and live by the same rules we want to hold the kids to

One liners

2011-11-04T20:36:00.001-05:00

V: I have 19¢ in here (shaking her wallet)

J:you should have sense in here (pointing to her head)

Lol

Family Time

2011-11-04T19:16:00.001-05:00

If this oats twice my apologies

Once a year around bonfire season our local high school puts on their latest production .... Last time we came it was a murder mystery ... This time it is supposed to be a comedy about an Iowa family going on a rv vacation ....

So how does my family feel about going out for a cheap 'family fun night'?

A picture is worth a thousand words

Reality check

2011-11-01T08:20:00.001-05:00

So I'm watching the news his morning and they have a segment on companies hat are hiring ...

Marriott inns have 30,000 entry level jobs on the hospitality (housekeeping) line .... They say they like to hire from within the company - so getting in on entry level is a good thing ... But let's face reality here ... These are jobs that are most likely to go to recent immigrants who are willing to do a LOT of work or grungy work for little pay - it has been said by owners/managers that American born workers expect too much from their work place, where those from other countries simply want the paycheck to live

I9Sports is looking for franchise managers, program directors, sports coordinators ... $22,000starting - franchises cost about $45,000 ... They want 500 people across the nation ...
I've never heard of them before, at least not under this name

Comfort Keepers - they have about 900 positions for IN HOME care ... Nurses, caregivers, but there are some sales positions ... Wages go from $8-$20/hour depending on what your position is - expect to need not only a skill/certificate but also job experience to get these jobs ... Very few will start at the entry level.

Walmart - now this news story shocked me because the reporter was so totally oblivious to reality - are opening "Walmart Express" stores, they are walmart on a smaller scale in order to get into the bog cities & malls where they normally would not have fit before ... The reporter mentions that FT starting wage at Walmart is $12.31/hour - what she doesn't mention is that IN THESE STORES more than 70% of the payroll is PT workers, and a good chunk of those are less than 20 hours/week.

The new trend in sales - that is retail - is to be open on thanksgiving ... So if you are planning on having dinner that day it might have to be either super early, or really late for those that need to work.

But what they aren't saying is that if you haven't gotten job experience by now - you better be ready to do the basest job here is at the smallest wage to get it because the others are going to be swallowed up by those who have job experience .... And if you are counting on the Obama plan of paying companies cash/tax breaks for hiring people off the unemployment rolls, don't because companies are finding that the plan will actually cost them more money than hiring just anyone ... In other words
, you won't have any advantage for it

Numerology class

2011-10-26T13:13:00.001-05:00

Next time you hear what a great writer and how popular a book is by a president remember this ...

$79,000
Money spent to buy obama's three books
By the STATE DEPARTMENT!
(used in embassies around the world)

English Language copies
$41,000 worth sent to Egypt
$6,000 to Seoul US embassy
$4,800 to Jakarta US embassy

Foreign Language copies
$3,700 (Turkish) Ankara US embassy
$20,000 (French) Paris US embassy
$3,800 (Indonesian) Jakarta US embassy (yes they got two batches)

But the thing is all these books were written BEFORE he became President

State Dept Response

For decades, our embassies overseas have used books to engage key audiences in discussions about the US political system and foreign policy.
Every embassy has a budget to buy books on US history, culture, politics for their own libraries and to give to host-country libraries and contacts.
The embassies themselves make the decisions on what to buy, based on interests of their hostcountries.
These decisions are not made or directed from Washington.

Since the president is still making royalties on these books - he may have earned an extra few thousand dollars on the spending of federal funds ...

Boy that sounds like a big no-no

Numerology class

2011-10-25T09:28:00.001-05:00

They have finally come out and said that we were in a double-dip HOUSING depression ... But only the housing side ... They aren't willing to take the label to the entire economy ..

But here is some of the newer numbers

Home prices
UP
.2%
In half of MAJOR US cities
August 2011

existing Home Sales
DOWN
3%
Sept 2011

Existing Home "Supply"
8 1/2 months
Current market
(I have no idea what this means, how can you have a 'housing supply' unless you are renting and it's a waiting list?)

2011 Home Sale Rate
Expected to equal 2010
Worst in 13 years

Home Ownership
Lowest level
Since 1998

Home prices
expected to fall
5%
2011
¥¥¥¥¥

National Unemployment
9.1%

Nevada Unemployment
13.4%

Job Loss
82,000
Private sector jobs
Nevada (alone)
(since election day2009)
|^| |^| |^| |^| |^|
Existing Home Sales
4,910,000
2011
(annualized/predicted rate)
(would need 6,000,000 to make a healthy economy)/i>

Economic education

2011-10-25T09:01:00.001-05:00
So who owns the majority of the US debt?

Well China is the SINGLE biggest share holder, but the majority of our debt is owned by "other"

46% other
24% China
20% Japan
9% UK

But to make things even worse - we are sending AID to China as well

Now this is not considered a "payback" of the loan they gave us, it is separate and severed - they are two different things

They get a total of $300 Million a year ...

Die Quickly ....

2011-10-25T08:53:00.001-05:00
Remember that big Statement that caused all that controversy during the 2009/2010 congressional season? Some dem (can't recall his name off hand) said the republican plan for long term health care was for people to "die quickly"?

Well Hawaii must have taken it as a mandate because they just signed a law that limits Medicare patients visits to hospitals to only 10 per year!

Yup so people who are sick/dieing are unable to giro the hospital more than once a month on average .... Actually less than that ... There's two months where they better not get sick at all

I understand that states are supposed to cover about 40% of the costs and that many of them are struggling - a LOT - but let's not make the elderly pay for it. Most of whom severed their country during war times and many of which lived thru the Depression and Dust Bowl just to be suffering now

I think part of he issue is the mix up of mediCARE and mediCAID ...

MediCAID costs will go up at least 11% this year, and 19% more next year

CA - you know, Liberal Central - is going to take away coverage for Adult Daycare ... A place where people can take their elderly parents or grandparents or even there adult handicapped child who need all-day care because of not only health issues but perhaps behavioral ones as well - so that their PRIMARY caregivers have a chance to go out and work to bring in an income ... They can meet other people and relieve some of the stress they feel - hey it's hard to care for people who can't be self reliant ... People talk all the time about how stressful it is taking care of a kid, try doing the same stuff with someone who weighs 150lbs and is all arms&legs

Hey also want to limit Medicaid patients to 7 doctor visits a year ... So they aren't even talking about hospital visits, they are talking even going to see the dr ... We do that here easily once school starts and the kids start to share germs

CT (another liberal state) has cut dental visits down to ONCE A YEAR for adults ... Hope you don't have cavities!

Now on foxnews their medical expert was complaining that on Medicaid you are allowed to buy a new wheel chair every two years ....

What does he think that people can get the same quality as hospital chairs? Hospital wheel chairs are maintained by a crew of staff - they have plenty of them so they don't get overly used/stressed at the joints/welds ... Hospitals generally have someone to push patients around and the floors are smooth so the cheaper models with the skinny wheels will work just fine -- that doesn't work in the real world.

And if you have a child in a wheel chair their needs can change drastically in two years ... Heck the needs of my own mother changed in just two years - she could have really benefitted from having an electric chair for doing simple things like grocery shopping.

Have you seen the tiny baskets on the scooters the stores offer? There is no way you could do an entire weeks worth of shopping in those things and it's impossible to push a big cart at the same tome - and even if she could, how would someone reach into the cart to put things on the conveyor belt at the check out?

Naw - this is an Americans With Disabilities issue ... They acnt eliminate this one

Let's not go back to the 30s when it comes to elderly care

His Poll Numbers Must Be Down Again

2011-10-21T20:58:00.001-05:00
FOLLOW UP
Obama did get a boost in his numbers, he jumped to a 44% approval rating ... I think that tied him with Jimmy Carter, but still lower than NIXON!
•••••

Well well what do you know ... His numbers were down and suddenly they got Bin Laden ...

Not getting as big of a boost as he had hoped, they suddenly got the second in command as well...

His numbers slumped again and suddenly news came yesterday (thursday) that they got khaddafi/Gaddafi/Quadaffi or whatever the spelling of the week is -- why can they never get this right?

Strange enough that the media was getting away with showing photos of this man having what looked like a shot to the head ... "execution style" as one main-stream, network, noncable news channel put it ...

But then to have the president come out and say that while the US didn't have any troops there we worked with them to get the intelligence needed -- way to try to take credit!

But he must not have gotten a boost from that because now today he has announced that he is going to pull out troops from Iraq by the end of the year ...dubbed as a "fulfillment of one of his campaign promises" ... ri-i-i-ight... It has less to do with the last election and more to do with the one coming up next year.

Some of the interviews I've seen of "experts" have been very revealing ...

Such as the fact that as soon as Obama left Iraq last time (his "Apology tour" one expert labelled it) the Prime Minister of Iraq went to Iran to make alliances ...

Nor has there been much talk about how the generals feel that we need to keep a minimum of 12,000-30,000 troops on the ground as "peace keepers" ...

One station said the Iraqi PM did NOT want us to pull out, while others have been reporting that it was a "mutual" agreement for the troops to leave ...

Any way you slice it -

Libya is pretty much up-for-grabs by any extremist group over there ...

Didn't Egypt just go thru a shake up?
Saudi Arabia has been having it's own issues...

Pakistan just went thru a power shift ...

Palestine is doing their own share of "saber rattling" ...

India has it's wary eye on Pakistan...
Isreal has one on Palestine ...

Then there is Turkey who should worry about what will happen to Iraq since they let our troops cross the border and they are fearful that the Kurds will cross the border into their country if hostilities start within Iraq's borders ... Then there's the Sunnis and Shites as well (interestingly enough, SUNNI and KURD are both in the iPad dictionary, but Shite is not ... Those poor people aren't even recognized in autocorrect)

I think we will find that this is a horrible move ... But I hope not ...

It just seems so unstable over there right now ... And not just in the middle east but in Africa's nations as well ...

I'm really worried that we may find ourselves closer then ever to WW3

Baby Lisa

2011-10-19T12:34:00.001-05:00
New developments this morning as police have sought, gotten, and executed a search warrant on the family home -- not only that but police have told the family that they can not return to the home until they are finished with it ...

The family's high priced attorney- Joe Tacopina - was on Foxnews this afternoon ... Instead of with the family ... His feeling was that he had an attorney there on the ground (probably an associate) and that was good enough for them - remember that the family isn't paying for this lawyer some anonymous benefactor is as far as we know ...

When asked if the police didn't have to have some overwhelming "probable cause" in order to obtain the warrant he answered no, that is just for proceeding with criminal charges

No - the whole issue with HLS/patriot Act warrants was that they could initiate the warrant and then shown the proof for execution afterwards ...

The police are dotting i's and crossing t's .... They've got something ... Or maybe they think the baby is still there someplace ...

My guess too is that they cleared out the family because they are going to rip walls/rooms apart and they don't want them to see it ...

Or it could be that they are afraid that they
May contaminate the crime scene ... Of course why they'd let them back into the house while it's still a crime scene is beyond me.

Tacopina's contention is that there is no reason why this family should need to be looked at ...

Oh I don't know ...

Maybe because she can't keep her story straight?
Maybe because she was he last one to see the baby?
The time line of what's happened isn't lining up?

And he should know that the family is primary suspects until they are cleared ... These people haven't been cleared yet

This lawyer is a slick one

He was hired by Michael Jackson for one of his assistants during one of those child-abuse suits of his ...
He has defended several rap stars in criminal suits
He's a sports agent - so he works with those guys
He got one of the NY cops off which abused a Haitian immigrant with a plunger.
But the biggest case that he's had lately is Husen Troot ... The guy who was accused of killing Natalie Hollaway ... And then confessed to beating that gal down in south/central America ... Hmmmm

This guy does not have a good track record of defending "innocent" people ...
I wonder who's paying for him ...
The private investigator has said that he was hired by a family friend because they felt the parents were guilty - he has not been able to find proof against them - so far

Baby Lisa

2011-10-18T14:14:00.001-05:00
Normally I put up missing person notices - but there isn't an Amber Alert for this little girl ...

Fox News did an exclusive interview with her parents and I was trying to watch it on my computer but it wouldn't give me a full shot, all I could see what the husband's reaction ... and it was quite interesting.

he was totally devoid of emotion
he didn't look at his wife as she was being questioned - she glanced at him out of the corner of his eye
he didn't say a word until directly asked
he just sat there
he is obviously to the point of detachment, its a defense mechanism
not even when his wife admitted that she was drunk that night did he flinch
in fact he said about his wife's drinking that it doesn't change who a person is or how they act... he obviously has never heard of an "angry drunk" or a "crying drunk" who's emotions are more easily sparked.

I beg to differ -- if she is "blacking out" to where she can't remember then either (a)she wasn't drinking just wine or (b)she had bigger than average sized wine glasses ... if she drinks like this about twice a week as she claims, then it would not be wrong to assume that her brain has built up a tolerance for it - 5 glasses of wine would be enough to put hubby out and he's a big man.

well here - you watch it and let me know what YOU think ...

The View: Hot Topics

2011-10-18T12:54:00.000-05:00
Dad's Designated Driver

They showed video footage from a gas station servalance camera of a van pulling up, filling up ... and inside the clerk noticed the man seemed to be staggering a bit - he admitted that he had been drinking but not to worry, he had someone who would be driving ...

then the clerk saw the 9 year old daughter get behind the wheel!

She sat in a booster seat and drove well -- in fact if the clerk hadn't called the cops, chances are they would have made it home.

The one question that none of the ladies asked, but was the first in my mind -

HOW did she reach the peddles? especially if she was in a booster seat?
This would mean that while she had control of the wheel, her father still had to be working the peddles ... so he was in control of speed & stopping ...

the girl has been taken away and he has been charged with "Child Abuse"

Shari said it should mean jailtime for the man ...
Whoopi however didn't think so -- she seemed to think that education would help the man ...

I feel bad for the girl ... she was taken away from her mother because of something the mother did ... placed in the care of her mothers parents and then taught to drive when daddy got too drunk. Did I mention that this was at 3AM?

what will become of this girl? as it was ... she couldn't understand why the officer pulled her over ... she thought she was driving just fine.

so if nothing else - dad taught her that the law only applies if you get caught.
()()()()()
Harry Belefonte falls asleep while waiting for satellite interview ...

Thank you Whoopi for sharing that you fall asleep waiting too. very funny.
()()()()()()
World Population:

Whoopi shared that within the next few days the Worlds Population will be hitting 8 Billion ... but she didn't say where the majority of the population will be located (India/China/etc) .... but the gals had a few quips of their own:

Shari: Its that damned Octomom

Barbara: 8 billion people and the Republicans still can't find a candidate that they like
(this got her a roar of laughter and applause, but Lizbeth took back her basketball)
()()()()()()
Basketball

Lizbeth made an interesting slip of the tongue today when she was talking about why they were playing basketball on the set ...

"In an effort to torture basketball team owners ... and players ... into ending the NBA lock out ..." blah blah blah.
but yes - the way she said "and players" made it sound like they were an 'after thought' and that she was blaming the owners for not settling up.

this is a case of millionaires being pissed that other millionaires aren't giving them more millions .... you do realize this right???

I think "Occupy Wall Street" should go protest at those stadiums instead of Wall Street and banks ... talk about "stealing" money ... oh thats right - they wont do that because the players belong to a UNION.
()()()()()()
You know - it was a much more enjoyable show without Joy .... I did not miss her at all.
It was wittier
had a better pace
was less of a downer
and there was no bickering
and the time with the guests seemed more pleasant

and we didn't have to listen to that voice .... nails on a chalkboard that voice is for me ... sends shivers down my spine.
)()()()()(

Numerology Class

2011-10-18T09:50:00.000-05:00
2012 Presidential Race
possible candidates
43% Cain (R)
41% Obama (D)
1,000 likely voters
Oct 14-15 2011
MOE +/- 3%
Rasmussen Reports

this is really reflecting what the "Tea Party" people, unaffiliated, and disillusioned Dems are thinking.

Now that is just if these two men were running ... and one of these men has joked about putting an electrified fence around the southern border.

rumor has it that the Dems are going to push for a different candidate, forcing Obama into being a one term president.

Economic Education

2011-10-18T09:40:00.000-05:00
While it isn't pretty -- I will admit that the numbers aren't as bad as they were just a few years ago ... but don't think we are out of the woods just yet ... the American economy is just lashed to a thinner tree is all - but its still taking a whipping.
$$$$$$
Government Spending
2011 Fiscal Year
(18Oct2010-17Oct2011)
$3.6 Trillion
$$$$$$
Government Income
2011 Fiscal Year
$2.3 Trillion
$$$$$$
American Debt
$4.2 Billion/Day
(average increase)
$$$$$$
Us Government Spending broken down:
$6.6 Million/minute
$111,111/second
(wouldn't you love that shopping spree? I'd feel like one of those gals on one of those Housewives reality shows)
#####
Pure commentary here:
Fox News was making a big deal out of spending more than last year - yeah well we all spent more this year than last year, its called cost of living guys ... even government can't escape cost of living increases, the rising costs of paper/ink/electricity/fuel/gas/etc ... of course it would be nice for them to throw some weight behind all the purchases they do to try to keep companies from charging so much ... but then I suppose those companies would just pass that cost onto the regular consumer - since they still have to pay the raises that their employees and the unions insist upon each year (don't get me wrong, hubby and I expect him to get something of a raise each year too - but some of it is ridiculous)
#####
Government over-spending
70 out of 81 fiscal years
more outgo than income
$$$$$$
Deficit % of GDP
2007: 1.2%
2008: 3.2%
2009: 10.0%
2010: 8.9%
2011: 8.6%
$$$$$$
China Economy
+
Japan Economy
=======
US Economy
$$$$$$
Amt of accumulated debt
1,000 days (present, latest)
=
79,135 days (past, nations first days)

######
I don't know ... it looks to me like things are getting better a bit ... the 10% of GDP was when the banks started slipping - the mortgage fiasco that we are still suffering from.

and the numbers they are comparing them to (pre-election) are "false" numbers since it sounds like books may have been getting 'cooked' and we weren't getting the full picture here.

Also those rotten numbers for 2009 would have ran from 17Oct2008-18Oct2009 ... which was the last few months of Bush's term and just as the mortgage bubble burst ... so for this particular fiscal year it would be much more handy to break it down by the MONTH rather by the year ...

I may not be Obama's biggest fan ... not even close ... but I can't see blaming the guy for something he probably didn't do while he was in office. He did it on the campaign trail.

C'mon, admit it - before the campaign of 2008 everyone thought the economy was fine ... the banks were quietly shutting their doors thru merging and no one labelled it an issue until the candidates got out there with all their scare tactics.

yes more people were losing their jobs - unemployment is always going to be there, sad but true, but it was still only around 5% - but once the McCain & Obama (mostly Obama) started screaming that we were headed towards a new Depression that number doubled!

But the single event which should have given the heads-up to the voters who are belly-aching over the President they put into office should have been the economic meeting that Obama refused to go to ...

Bush realized that something - anything - had to be done to help ... he set up a 'summit' of sorts with both Dems and Repubs to try to figure out what to do ... McCain jumped off the campaign trail to go to the meeting - as a possible future President - Obama decided to continue to campaign ...

and yet he still won ... and even now, three years later, claims he "didn't realize how bad the economy was" ... well maybe, Mr. President, had you gone to this dang meeting you would have LEARNED how bad it was ...

it reminds me of one of my kids who dared to use the excuse with me of "I didn't know there was going to be a test that day" when they got the really bad grade and I wanted to know why they were playing the day before instead of studying ...
my response was "you mean to tell me that there was no way for you to know? It just fell from the sky?"

THIS WAS YOUR NOTICE, MR PRESIDENT and you chose to IGNORE it -- so no excuses dude! You weren't paying attention in class ...

told you people not to go naming schools/streets after this man until after he got out of office because you didn't know what kind of president he was going to be yet ... but you didn't listen to me .... you just wanted to jump on that history-bandwagon ....

listen to Ginger ... she knows.

Weather or not

2011-10-13T08:30:00.001-05:00
Well yesterday was quite the day - we were expecting some thunderstorms, the first of the fall season - really the first in over two months, first "significant rain" in 2 months (actually a little more than that were we are) ....

What we didn't expect:
0.60 inches of rain
2 inches/hour rain fall (that's a lot in a little time)
18 mph wind speed
20*F drop in about 20minutes (the local news weather radar was reporting snowfall not that far from us - I suspect it was just the really cold air)

And all this is based on my weather station - which hubby is talking about returning for a new one since there seems to be some issues with both the wind speed/direction and the temperature gauge.

The wind thingy tends not to read ANY wind speed less than 3mph even though it's obvious that the trees are really blowing - I mean the cups don't twirl at all, not that they are just going too slow to read ... In fact the local school will be reading a 10 mph wind, my windmill will be spinning lickity-split, and my weather station will say it's calm out.

And when the official temp is 81*F, we've noticed it can read anywhere from 80*-108*F - we know this was being caused by sunshine (temp in the sun) ... But are also wondering if this is effecting the readings we are getting

My "fear" .... No, CONCERN is that since it is the end of the severe weather season, that he won't be able to find me another unit or one that is at least as good as this one was when it started.

I love this unit!

When I first got it I will admit I was like "are you serious?" since it was a birthday present from hubby - but you know what?

I USE IT EVERYDAY!

I absolutely love it!

As a farmer, even a small farmer like me, I find it indispensable!

I am constantly looking to see what the temp is or the humidity level or the wind speed or the pressure or the prediction for the weather ... In a storm I have this thing right next to me keeping an eye on the wind & rain rate

I absolutely love it.

If he takes it and can't replace it until next year ...

sniffle

I'll be so sad!

Go grandma!

2011-10-06T15:08:00.001-05:00
Look at these two mug shots ...

If I did this right - the photo should be there, if not use the link below

(http://www.autoevolution.com/images/news/71-year-old-woman-arrested-for-indecent-exposure-in-a-car-39373_1.jpg)

See how happy that woman is? That's because she is 71 years old and was arrested for having sex in a car ... Whoop-whoop ... She was arrested for indecent exposure - after all the car they were in, her caddy, was rocking away ... rocking so hard that someone called it into the police because they thought someone was being hurt inside I'm sure.

Now look at the guy - he doesn't look so happy does he? That's because he told the cops when they asked him what he was doing admitted that they were doing the naked rhumba - and he found out how old she really was ... He is 54 yrs old ...

Making her old enough to be his MOTHER!

LOL - I hope when I'm 71 yrs old I am still able to get arrested for having public sex ... Of course I also hope that it's still with my husband and not some guy I picked up in a bar.

How To Kill An Already Sluggish Economy

2011-10-06T09:28:00.001-05:00
Part Deux (sorry if I spelled that wrong - I don't do French)

So remember the other post about BoA charging people to get at their own money?

Citibank couldn't let BoA be he only one milking this cash cow so they have now jumped into the fray ...

They are going to charge a $20 monthly fee for balances UNDER $15,000!

If you have less than $6000 (like most of us) will only be charged $15/month IF they switch over to an EZ-checking acct.

Currently if you are not charged if you have/keep $6000 in the bank - don't know if that is JUST for checking or for all your Accra total though

Citigroup is the third largest bank in he US, that means that a lot of people who are hurting are going to be hurting even MORE now.

across the banking industry, monthly fees for NON-interest bearing accounts (you don't get any money back for letting the bank use your money) has risen 75% since just last year (2010)

The amount you need, on average, to avoid fees has risen 100% since 2010

The American people are being held hostage here and congress will be doing nothing about it - because they are either part if the banking industry themselves or they have enough $ in the bank that it doesn't effect them!

Fox News is reporting that as of now CapitalOne and P&C still offer what they are calling "true no fee checking" accounts ... I have a feeling they will be getting a LOT of business.

Like I said before - for a lot of people they have no choice but to have an account of some sort because so many businesses have switched to direct deposit only.

If you are paid by those gift cards, you have to be careful - we found that (a) only he FIRST use is fee free (b) transactions fees are generally higher than those of a regular credit card for each subsequent use (c)after a certain amount of time they will begin to TAKE money from the card just because you have a balance on it.

Granted you could take the card to the nearest bank and cash it out - but that would leave you open to not only robbery by a criminal ... but also from the bank who will likely charge you a fee for cashing it at their bank when you don't have an account there.

I remember in college going to the bank to cash baby-sitting checks ... They would be small, maybe $10 (I only charged $3/hr or something) like that ... was I pissed when they would take out $3 to cash them, not for the single transaction but for EACH check.

I remember when I opened my first checking acct at TCF ... You not only got a gift as a thank you, you got free checks, and you only had to have $100 to open the account - that meant that you could open the account with just a single paycheck ... you had to keep a minimum balance of $50/month but that wasn't tough to do - well not for me, I still lived at home so other than clothes, bus fare, and student loans I didn't have a whole lot of expenses.

I digress - surprise surprise - it all boils down to the banking industry shooting themselves in the foot here ...

If they think that people aren't going to find away around this they better think again. I suspect that people may start putting their paychecks directly into their credit card accounts and then using them to pay their bills ... no they won't get interest on their money - but they won't be charged fees either for carrying a credit balance either

Today's Thomas Edison or Graham Bell ...

2011-10-06T08:25:00.001-05:00
That will be the way that Steve Jobs will be remembered.

While Bill Gates/Microsoft changed the way business in America and around the world is done - Steve Jobs changed our everyday lives!

The best way he did this was to put his computers into the schools in the early 1980s for low or no price - the Apple IIe was the first computer that was accessible to the general public ... The first home pc ...

While, yes there were things like the TSR-80 from Radio Shack (our first computer at my house in college) it was based for the work-place/home office work.

Apple was designed for those who wanted to do their own programming - any one could learn Basic language and design their own programs - there were magazines published soon after the Apple's release to the general public that contained programs that you could plug in for working higher concepts.

Yes there was a time when Microsoft/IBM where kicking his butt and it seemed that Apple would die at the turn of the century ... He pulled them out of the hole with a device which didn't seem to have anything at all to do with he computer ...

iTunes!

A way to save all your music onto a single device - no more swapping out tapes, platters, or CDs - just a touch of a keystroke and you could have music all night for your gatherings.

You could make personal mixes of music onto CD-Rs to share, you could download music from the web (granted these were considered bootleg/pirated copies and that alone could have killed Apple had they been held partially liable)

But I would say the one thing that he had his company develope - the thing that made he first HUGE difference in our lives - was the iPod.

Unlike cd or tape players you didn't have to carry a ton of extras with you - you just down loaded the 10 CDs or so that you liked he best and took it with you ... perhaps it was a few more than that but it wasn't a lot the first time ... they only had about 350mb or so - yes we were still talking mb, a "gig" was a booking for a band.

The Internet was in it's infancy ... There was IMB-compatible and apple systems and ne'er should the two meet ...

At least until the turn of the century when suddenly apple offered an open-ended programming concept that allowed just about anyone who wished to to program in apple-language.

Hackers were almost encouraged to try to break their programs so security-holes could be patched - so there were very few viruses designed to attack an apple product.

From there everything sky rocketed ...

So where we use the phone everyday (even the cell phone) and electricity without a thought or care - Steve Jobs is in our lives everyday as well.

From the blogs we write up, to the devices we use, to the way we view music, to the way we shop ...

We wake up with Apple ... many work everyday with Apple in one form or another ... and we go to sleep with Apple as well.

Car sound-systems have been designed these days around the Apple music system ...

Work systems are now being formed around the iPad product line -

But the thing that really makes Apple such an intricate part of everyday life is how it's devices work TOGETHER and not just together but in such a way that you can set it up so that when you download something onto one device it is instantly downloaded onto the others.

The invent of Apps (the name itself congers a subconscious link to Apple) allowed anyone willing to do the work/programming a piece of Apples pie ...

THAT is the real contribution that Steve Jobs will leave behind - the feeling that ANYONE can do it ... That anyone could be the next Steve Jobs.

(just wait until I have to write one of these homages about Bill Gates, I'm not even that big of a fan of Apple in reality)

The View: Herman Cain, GOP presidential Hopeful

2011-10-04T14:12:00.001-05:00
Herman Cain who has sky-rocketed to the top of the polls for GOP Presidential candidacy was on "The View" today ... He was given a short time around the round table with the ladies (as opposed to the whole show as Obama & Biden both had during their runs).
Here is a transcript:
(HC=Herman Cain
BW=Barbara Walters
JB=Joy Behar
WG=Whoopi Goldberg
EH=Elizabeth hasslebeck
S?=Sherri [I don't know her last name anymore])
BW: the self-made millionaire and business mogul, he was the former CEO of a pizza company, Herman Cain has quickly gone from republican long-shot to neck-in-neck with front runners Mitt Romney and Rick Perry. He recently won the FL straw poll and the "National Federation of Women"s straw poll and 70% of those who saw the republican debates say the more the learn about Herman Cain the more they like him. So we would like to learn some more too- welcome you, mr Cain.

HC: than you, I'm delighted to be here, a pleasure

BW: so, you have said that Chris Christie you thought was too liberal, now he's not running so I assume you're pleased with that

HC: I'm pleased with that for his sake because the advice I had given by way of interviews, if his hearts not in it he should not do it. So I have to conclude that he made this decision for the right reasons - because if he had decided to do it because of the media hype it would have been the wrong reasons. I know for a fact

BW: I didn't mention it and I should have because your hearts in it, that you have a book "This is Herman Cain ...

HC: yes...

BW: ... My journey to the White House"
I should have mentioned that - but let's talk about you - you have never held a political office ...

HC: true ...

BW: you admit that you don't know too much about foreign policy ...

HC: not anymore...

BW: well you've been studying yeah - have you been to foreign countries by the way?

HC: I was in Israel in august as an example, I have been to south Africa, I have been to Australia, so I've been to a number of countries

BW: so you've been to a number ...

HC: most recently I was in isreal last august

BW: ok, but in general you have said you are not up to speed in foreign policy - I'm quoting you - and most of your experience has been as the CEO of a pizza company, where I must say you worked very hard and you little by little worked your way up to your great credit - but what makes you qualified to be president of the United States?

HC: well let's not just focus on the pizza company, remember I worked my way up to become the Vice-President of Pillsbury Company, then worked my way up to become Vice-President of the Burger King Corporation, they then appointed me President and CEO of Godfather's which was supposed to go bankrupt but I "didn't get the memo" so we saved the company, then I headed u the National Restaurant Association, I've also served as chairman of the Board of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, my first job was as a ballistics analyst, as a mathematician with the department of Navy working on fire control systems, I've served on the Board of Strategic Air Command citizen advisory board, earlier in my career - so I'm a problem solver. That's what I've done for over 40years.

BW: (kind of tough to hear over audience clapping) ... You've never held elected office ... Foreign policy ...

HC: let me respond to that one - when I speak to groups all over the country, as you would imagine, when I get to the part where #1 I don't have national name i.d. like some of the some of the other candidates, #2 I don't have a kagillion dollars like some of the other candidates, and when I say I have never held public office I get a spontaneous applause because they're tired of "politicians as usual" - the American people are ready for someone who is a businessman problem solver first.

S?: I want to go back to this, we had a discussion yesterday that involved Rick Perry and it was a story about his family using a hunting lodge and apparently this had the racial slur of N-head on a rock ...

HC: yeah ...

S?: now you were critical of him over the last few days about this, he has since said that - I want to get this right - his campaign said that the rock was painted over soon after Mr Perry's father was given hunting rights there in 1983, although some people have said it was even there's in the 90's,

HC: right, right ...

S?: but is that apology, is that enough for you? Because you had said it was insensitive

HC: I will say I still stand by my statement that it was insensitive for it to be there up until 1983. And the statement thats been issued by governor Perry's campaign I accept that, I do not believe that that represents how governor Rick Perry feels about black people in America - it was insensitive to leave it there as long as they left it.

EH: interesting. Can I ask about another statement that you made too? You said if you do run against Obama you'd probably get about a 1/3 of the African-American vote but you said the other 2/3, you said to Al Blitzer, are brain-washed into voting for Obama again - you received backlash for that as well- do you still stand by that statement?

HC: I absolutely do, and here's why - I'm glad that you pointed out that, and I said this in my statement, the good news is that a lot of Black Americans are thinking for themselves, now there are some that are so brainwashed that they won't even consider a conservative idea.

EH: what do you do about that?

HC: well, you save the savable, and if heyre not savable because they don't even want to hear the idea about my 999 plan - I tried to give that to some people and they didn't want it because they saw me as a republican, they saw me as a conservative - I call that being brainwashed, not being openminded to another idea

JB: (interrupted HC) well that isn't exactly - the republican party hasn't been "black friendly" over the many centuries of this country ...

HC: I never said that

JB: well I'm saying that ...

EH: .... -gion? (couldn't here her full question)

WG: sorry?

EH: I just think that that's not necessarily true

WG: just to be clear she's talking about the last 205 years

EH: to be fair, unemployment right now within the African-American community right now I believe is over 18%? so right now in terms of business, and you made this point, this actually right now the toughest time for that community eight now in terms of being fair to a certain community, we may not be.

(silence from everyone)

WG: I want to ask this because we were talking about unemployment and stuff, and I'm assuming you are giving this a great deal of thought ...

HC:yes

WG: ... and so I'm gonna ask you just - not you know the specifics, but an idea of how you would get corporations to stop stuffing their pockets and actually look at he people that they fire, the thousands of people that they've fired, and start rehiring and getting manufacturing going because you're a business man I'm asking - just in general and quickly because I see everybody has questions, how would you do it?

HC: he first thing you do is throw out the current tax code which creates too much uncertainty for the business community, and this is why I've proposed my 999 plan. Very quickly, it imposes a 9% business flat tax, a 9% personal income tax, and a 9% national sales tax - it expands he base so everybody has a lower rate and it is not regressive on the poor. Now, when you add certainty by passing this thats what's going to cause the business community to be inspired to put together growth plans now - one of the reasons you've seen so many corporations do so many cut backs in the last 3 years is ...

WG: well it's longer than the last three years ...

HC: ... Longer than the last three is out of necessity. I've served on the board of directors on several corporations and one of the things we've talked about in this economic down-turn, especially when the melt down of 2008 happened, "what do we do to continue to serve our stockholders and try to make a profit" so they had to look at ways to be more productive that's what's happened. But businesses want to grow, I have never sat in on a board meeting where they've said "how can we stay the same, or get smaller?". They want to grow when you provide some certainty to the business environment.

JB (talked right over S?'s spot): I want to ask you your conservative position on gay-marriage and civil unions ...

HC: you gonna change he urstion on me?

JB: yeah, I'm changing the topic a little bit because your a social conservative ...

HC: yes

JB:... strictly I think

HC: yes

JB: you would like to roll back, bring back "Don't ask, Don't Tell". I think hat you believe that being gay is a choice ...

HC: yes

BW: and he also believes that no abortions even if the woman is raped or a incest victim

HC: thats my feeling, that's just my position

BW: you are a very conservative candidate

HC: yes

JB: but it's been basically, I think that to think hat being gay is a choice - I don't know how to respond to that, I mean I don't think that anybody in this world wants to be gay considering all the vilification that is brought upon someone who is gay - why would you chose that?

HC: well, you so me the science that says that it's not, and could be persuaded. Right now it's my opinion, against the opinion of others who feel differently. That's just a difference of opinion ...

EH: would you govern based on that? Because there are politicians now that do separate now actually - Mitt Romney's a great example - he separated his personals beliefs from how he governed. Would you serrated your personal beliefs from how you would govern?

(BW tried to get in some words here too)

HC: ok, you want me to answer that one question at a time or two questions at a time?

BW: yes or no ...(ladies all talk at once)

S?: ... You're an associate minister, I know this, you're an associate Astor at your church

HC: yes

S?: ... Are you gonna separate that - because you have to run with caution with a lot of people

HC: yes

S?: with different beliefs

HC: I'm gonna make my decisions based upon the constitution of the united states of America - that's what the president has the responsibility to do. Some of my personal feelings are not gonna influence decisions I need to make on behalf of the American people, that is what a president is supposed to do.

WG: that's what Obama said too

EH: yes

BW: you certainly are not Obama. I just want to say that one of the major things that you've talk about that people should examine, I'm sorry we didn't have more time is this 999 ...

HC: yes

BW: because it is very controversial to a lot of people - people think it hurts the poor people, but it something that's new and fresh in this campaign and I commend you for that - that's something that examine more.

HC: yeah, take a look at the 999 plan - people can find it at my website
As far as his views on being gay and on DADT ... Those questions will be settled by the Supreme Court and as president he will have to abide by them -- this reminds me of the controversy of JFK being Catholic, where people thought that if he got in that the Pope would suddenly become the invisible hand in the White House ... they even said something about having a special phone that went directly between the White House and the Vatican.

I don't know about not having abortions for those raped or victims of incest - as a younger woman I used to think "who am I to determine that this life shouldn't go on?" BUT they didn't give him the chance, and he didn't take it, to explain where he - as an older man and minister - is coming from with his view. That would be more interesting to me than anything else. I mean I know people who think that it's just a clump of cells like a blood clot until it's born, I know people who believe that it's not a life until it can live by itself unaided outside the womb, and I know people who believe it's a life from the moment of conception. I think it's interesting that the law says that you can have an abortion up until the time of birth (late term abortion) but if you are Ina car accident the driver who caused the accident can be charged with vehicular- homicide if a fetus dies. It's a inconsistency in the law.

I would have loved to have heard about his ideas on health care - if he isn't for requiring health care for all Americans, is he for requiring businesses to offer it for their full-time employees? How about caps for deductibles? Or a requirement for each state to come up with a plan for their residents.

That is one question that really needed to be answered

Totally Inappropriate!!!!

2011-09-30T10:45:00.001-05:00
PeTA has really gone too far ...

I want to know if they are getting federal funding now ...

Have you seen their new ad?

It shows a persons leg hanging from the mouth of a shark with the words "payback is hell" next to he image, the words colored to look like blood floating on the water.

SICK!

Fox news had the President & founder of peTA, Ingrid Newkirk, on this morning who said:
he looks fine (commenting on man attacked by shark and received 800 stitches in his leg, who's family is offended by the ad) he's all stitched up, but I think it's a chance to give people a little food for thought. If you go in the water armed with a weapon that's going to shoot a spear through an animals middle it's not going to be very comfortable for them. He went out to kill animals- just because they're fish doesn't mean they don't feel pain - so our point is whether your eating fish standing at the seafood buffet, or you're setting out to hook them or spear them, maybe it's time to have a second thought and don't be surprised when some fish gets you back."

I kid you NOT ... I honestly think she is of the opinion that if you go swimming in the water and you're unarmed the sharks will pass you by!

But she continued on .. When told she comes across as insensitive to this family and putting up this sign in the same area as the shark attack would be hurtful to the family ...
... this isn't deeply-hurtful, I think the press is hosting the family on "aren't you offended, aren't you offended". He himself has said that he doesn't blame the shark. He's sensible about that, and we hope that he doesn't go back killing fish, spear fishing for fun again. So what we are saying is "let's look out for all life". we've send him our sympathies, we haven't been mean to him, we wouldn't be, but we've also said there are other living individuals who are in jeopardy here and maybe it's not such a nice thing to do is to spend your afternoon out hunting them/killing them ...

Yes - she is totally oblivious to the reality of he situation

She got even better:
... Fish, because we grow up not thinking of them as we do he same way as dogs, or children, or any other animal ...

SHE CALLED CHILDREN ANIMALS!

So the time between the shark attack and this ad? ONE WEEK

this woman and her ~~worshippers~~ followers are totally delusional!

How To Kill An Already Sluggish Economy ...

2011-09-30T09:41:00.001-05:00
Well we can thank the banking industry for this one ... Led by Chase Manhattan and Bank of America, we can expect the industry which pushed for "electronic cash" to kill the monster of their own creation.

Beginning tomorrow (October 1st) it will now cost you if you use a DEBIT card ... Not a credit card.

Remember that a DEBIT card draws money straight from your acct - it's basically YOUR MONEY which you are getting without needing to stop off at a tellers window ... If you use the machine at the mall which uses several different banks cards - there is usually a fee for them to do the transactions with all those other banks ....

THIS IS DIFFERENT AND ON TOP OF THOSE FEES

BoA will be charging you $5 ... This is to make up from the revenue loss they anticipate when the Durban Transaction law takes effect.

This law is meant to protect small businesses from paying exorbinate amounts to the banks for letting people use their debit cards instead of a regular credit card.

Most people do not realize that not only do businesses which use credit cards have to pay a rental fee on that little scanning machine, but they had to pay a portion of what they sold to the card company as well ... according to my father Discover card would take/charge he most so he tried to stay away from accepting them at his business for the longest time.

Under the Durban Law, the cost that businesses have to pay banks is limited to a maximum charge of 21¢ per transaction - no longer a percentage of the total goods sold, which AVERAGED to 44¢/purchase.

In a society where quicker-is-better I think the banking industry is slitting their own throat here... they will be forcing those of middle & lower income to stop using not only their credit cards, but also their debit cards.

Many stores & restaurants have switched over to a "no checks" policy ... or banks have made sending checks back to people an extra charge if they do it at all ... or charge for each check written ... or even charge if they have to send you a paper statement in the mail (the real reason behind the postal crisis, but that's a different story)

Even worse is the fact that many
People don't have the option of getting to their money any other way ... most companies force their employees to use direct deposit because it saves the company money on their transaction fees ... it saves them the cost of have to buy the machines to print up pay checks ... it saves them from having to have separate paycheck paperwork on hand, a pay-stub can be drained and ran off on plain paper if need be where a check has to follow very strict guidelines.

Wells Fargo & Chase banks say they already are "testing" a $3/month fee but only in certain locations ... You can expect that to go across the nation now.

Also beware of BoA's online acct ... It will charge you an extra fee if you use or go through a branch bank ... Even if it's THEIR bank ... Yes, BoA will charge you for using another BoA bank.

FAST FACTS
BoA issues about 15% of the debit cards on he market (largest share)

BoA customers spend $260Billion/yr using JUST debit cards

BoA Q2:Fee income DOWN 23% in 2010 ($1.9 Billion)

ATM Fees: record highs for 7 straight years

$$$$$$
I heard one tip on the radio finance program this morning ... but it is very risky.

They suggested using your credit card to make your purchase - but then as soon as you got home from your shopping trip, before the debt even hit your credit card account -- go online and pay of what you just put on (get out that calculator).

It sort of makes sense - that way you are not incurring monthly fees for running a balance ... and most fees charged by banks for any online fee is going to cost you less than the monthly interest fees you would pay on the credit card ...

Expect the banks to soon close this loophole as well of it seems to be the practice people adopt.

Testing

2011-09-26T01:19:00.001-05:00
UPDATE
This app is "stuck" in portrait mode - so those of is who like/prefer landscape mode for larger keys and that keyboard-feeling are ... screwed.

I've got chunky fingers - which is why I had to make sure my cell had a keyboard for texting instead of trying to use the regular # pad like others ... And I had to be sure that the keys were large enough for using with my finger nails.

You can't use finger nails to type with on an iPad - it needs the finger tips in order to type. Even if they came up wig some sort of stylus- you just can't type fast enough with one to be able to get a blog post off quickly.

There is much room for improvement on this app

@@@@@
Looks like blogger has finally caught up with the rest of the world and has made an app for publishing from your iPhone/iPads!

So this is a test post.

If this works - YEA GOOGLE

If not - back to the drawing board I guess

The View: Palins biography

2011-09-21T12:46:00.000-05:00
Ok - this really bugged me so I have to post about it ...

Let's first cover the statement from Barbara Walters that has gotten everyone in an up roar ... AND RIGHTLY SO ....
" ... The worst thing to me that you said was that the down-syndrome child, Trig, may not be hers ..."
Oh Barbara - couldn't you identify the child and then caveat with "the down-syndrome child" if you needed to mention it at all? surely you knew there was going to be a photo of her holding Trig, why would you even bring his condition up?

Now to "mr wonderful" ... How did this guy ever get credibility? Here's what I mean ....

Barbara asked him about his claim that Trig isn't really Sarah Palin's biological child.
His response(s):
" Barbara you've been pregnant haven't you?"
WTF? What does that have to do with anything? My pregnancies were totally different from my mothers, hers were different from her sisters' and mine were different from my friends ...
Barbara answered no but that she had several miscarriages (which Joy made a tasteless joke of Babs being in management not labor)- I did love how Whoopi looked around like "WTF? What kind of answer is that?"
"Sarah says she woke up at 4 o'clock in the morning, she was awaken by contractions and found that her water had broken - this is 4 o'clock in the morning in Dallas TX - first of all as a mother in the late stages of pregnancy over the age of 40 with a high- risk baby I don't know why she would even go to TX, that's a very risky thing to do ..."
why are Texans hard on women over 40 who are pregnant? Do they not like high-risk babies? Are women forbidden to travel in late-stage pregnancy? I dont get his response here ...
" ... But she's down there to make a speech, she awaken, her waters breaking, and she's having contractions - please - she calls her obstetrician, who's not really an obstetrician he's the family physician ..."
so what? I was birthed by our family physician! As were hundreds of people in America before it became the fashion to go to specialists in the 70s ... There is NOTHING WRONG with having a single doctor multitask, as a matter of fact I prefer a GP to specialists because they don't seem to get hooked on the latest thing down the pike - worst doctors I've dealt with were "specialists"
" ... In Alaska, and reports this and says 'i'll stay in touch with you'. Eight hours go by before she goes to lunch to make a speech, actually Rick Perry was there too, during all that time she does not go to a hospital to get checked, she completely ignores the possibility that she could be going into early labor, that she could be giving birth to this high-risk situation. After the speech, she gets on a plane, she flies to Seattle, the airline attendants on that flight said she showed no signs of being pregnant. There's a 2 hour lay-over in Seattle where she sits in the airport club there and chats with a fellow from Alaska who's on his way back to Juno ..."
here even Barbara gets bored with this string of non-answer, nonsense and tries to rush him to his point and asks point blank - who's baby is it if it isn't hers?...
" ... I have no idea, I have no idea, (joy jokingly asks if it's his) ... I plead not guilty to that one Joy, no way!"
is that "no way" because it's sarah palins baby? Or because the baby has Downs Syndrome?
What a jerk! There were much better responses ... How about, not mine I couldn't find the business end of a woman with a gps system ... How about, only kids I have are with my wife? ... Jerk

I did love that Joy pointed out that even after the water breaks that you have many hours to go before birth! It pains me - but props to Joy!

" ... All that m saying is that the story she tells gives rise to questions that are still out there that haven't been answered. And the main-stream media has ignored this story - Andrew Sullivan has been about the only responsible journalist to express any interest in this for the past 18 months. If this story were not true it would be the most outrageous hoax ever played on the American people"
the story I think he is referring to is the story of Trig's birth, not the sack of crap he is trying to sell.
But it gets better - after all this venom ... And after printing the story IN HIS BOOK ... He says
" ...i'm not saying that, there are thousands of people out there who believe that's not her baby, I'm not one of them"
Really? If you don't believe it - then why did you make it such a big part of your book @$$hole! I wish I could post a clip as he is telling this story, he looked like some high school girl with a juicy bit of gossip.

This guy is little better than the paparazzi! He is a tabloid journalist and he belongs writing for the "Star", the "Globe", or the "National Enquirer" ... He does NOT belong on a national tv show getting a free plug for his garbage.

Everyone in the audience got a copy of his book - let's hope they have a giant book-burning ceremony. Not to support Palin but to protest the publication of such gossip-mongering as news.

Another disappointing moment for Barbara ... When Joy asked him what he thinks the motivation for pretending to have the child would have been ... Barbara jumped in with "to look good politically" ... Made you wonder if she doesn't believe the story.

Todd Palin's response about the book (read by Barbara and given by Todd in the past, not for this particular interview)
" this is a man who relentlessly stalked my family to the point of moving in right next-door to us, to harass us and spy, his book is full of disgusting lies, inuedos and smears."
I know barbara was rushed for time and all at the end of the segment - but she read thru it so fast that it hardly gave justice to the words

I will say it ...

DON'T BUY THIS BOOK!!!

He is only trying to profit on the politics and gossip of the day.
Someday Trig is going to find this book and read it ... The poor kid ... I hope he sees it for the pack of filth that it is.

Even if Trig were adopted - it's no ones business!

Spoiled Rotten

2011-09-20T10:34:00.000-05:00
In what was really a blatant plug for not only the store but also the products ... Fox & Friends allowed themselves to be used as a giant INFOMERCIAL for KMart ...

(roll eyes here)

They, the store, hired Manny from 'Modern Family' to get out and speak about some of what KMart is deeming to be the "hottest" toys for the season ... well the ones they showed ... and you will get the idea.

Not only pay attention to the toy but the PRICE as well ... oh I will list that first.

$69.99 Lets Rock Elmo .... he has a set of bongos and you can hardly understand a word he says. I can't see any interaction appeal to this one at all.

$29.99 I Am T-Pain Microphone ... this thing is supposed to "auto-tune" your singing voice ... so you too can be a "Real Housewives of Atlanta" star. basically it reverbs to a point where your ears cant tell the difference ... it seemed way too loud and then add to it the 'beat box' buttons that come with it and you've got a fist full of migraine right there. They should just call it I Am Pain.

$31.99 Barbie Hairtastic Doll. You design hair extensions on the computer and print them out, these extensions can be put on the doll or your own kids hair. You must have an ink-jet printer for this, laser printers will not work. COME ON - ITS A BARBIE DOLL!! NO BARBIE DOLL IS WORTH $32!! Your kid is gonna play with this for about a week and its going in the toy box with all the other dolls she doesn't play with.

$54.99 Cookie My Playful Pup. She makes chewing noises when a bone goes in her mouth, barks when you pet her, They couldn't get it to work, but it reminds me of the Cubs-Alive toys. I wouldn't pay this much for the toy, but the ones from WowWee are well made and have lasted years for my kids ... I do not know who the manufacturer of THIS toy is though.
*****
You know .... I have my own list of things to look for:

Legos - they are timeless and are just as much fun in later years as your child grows. And in most cases the old set is compatable with the new sets so a little goes a long way. I suggest staying away from those huge kits that cost over $10 ... your kid will build their own big buck set over time.

Pipe Cleaners and Pom Poms ... I know its very low tech - but you would be surprised at the hours of fun your kid will have creating their own toys. My kids range from 11-22 and they still enjoy putzing with twist ties and pipecleaners just to see what they can make.

Learn to Knit/Crochet kits ... this is a lifetime skill which will come in handy later in life as a stress reliever and money saver. In the short term they will make scarves etc, but in the long run they will be able to make gifts for other people.

American Girl Dolls - I know they are like $100 each BUT they are quality made. They will last your daughter up into her adulthood and are expandable - there are some very nice inexpensive accessories which you can get at Walmart & Target as well (My Generation).

18" Dolls - there are several CHEAP versions of the American Girl dolls out there which are good for girls under age 8 or those who are not quite mature enough to care for the $100 doll. They do have the cheaper hair which mats up rather easily and does not lend itself well to combing/brushing out ... but for a first big doll they are a good choice ($5-$20)

Im Alive Cubs from WowWee ... These are more expensive but I have to tell you - I have had good experiences with these. We have two of them ... a large panda and a wolf cub for my son ... even at 15 yrs of age he still snuggles with them. I have found them worth the money as a cuddle toy - but be advised - they are stiff and have a hard body.

Handheld Game Systems - I know these are expensive to start ... but once the machine is purchased you can get the games second hand for sometimes just a few bucks ... and Walmart runs specials for games that are $5/each!!! You can't beat that!

Warren Buffet Bill

2011-09-20T09:56:00.000-05:00
Ok - a few things about this bill that people may not know ...

A)It taxes people twice on the same income ... thats as stupid as paying income tax on the refund you got. (oh don't get me started on that one)

B)The reason Warren Buffet doesn't pay as much as his secetary is because
(a)he uses an accountant to find every tax loophole there is for him
(b)he is not paid a salary - he gets a share of profits.(if he drew a straight salary he would pay more taxes out of the chute)

C)He still has not paid taxes to the IRS that he has owed since 2002!!!

So when people sit back and point the finger and using him as an example - lets take a REAL look at it all.

You know .... nothing prevents him from NOT cashing that refund check that he gets. The money would then circulate into the "general fund" to be redoled out.

He can NOT simply write out a check like everyone says ... that would smack as a bribe.

He could simply pay himself a salary, fill out a 1040EZ by himself, not take any itemized deductions, and then actually PAY the IRS what they are owed IF his concious was really bothering him.

I'm wondering how long before we find him running for either office or getting a cabinet seat.

this whole thing smells of yesterday's diapers.
baby herman, "Who Framed Roger Rabbit"

Solemn Ceremony —or— Political Show?

2011-09-20T09:33:00.001-05:00
NOTE: this was meant to post on 9SEP2011 ... due to an error it was posted late ... very late

I had not meant to post today - but I have to make a public complaint on several things about today's ceremony of the laying of the wreath at the pentagon ...

1)People were giving "cat calls" when the President walked to the place where he was to "lay" the wreath .... FMON PEOPLE! This is a solemn ceremony not a rock concert

2)the President did NOT carry the wreath, it was given to him by a marine and he never really had a hold of it since e marine never let go of it - the marine had it by one hand so I can't see it having been that heavy, but then marines are pretty strong guys and the President is just a skinny toothpick next to them,

3) the President didn't put the wreath on the frame, the marine guided from behind ... Cmon, he couldn't do that much?

4)the camera man was swinging the camera all over the place, so it was an obvious mobile unit - he should have been staying on the president and the news stations should have had a second camera there to catch any fly-overs (which there wasn't one by the looks of it)

Ok - I guess its fairly normal for the President to just 'ceremonially' carry the wreath ... but I think the part that really burned my britches was when the camera man swung back to look at the President and he -- WAS SIGNING AUTOGRAPHS!!!

Ah C'MON!

He couldn't politely tell these people that this wasn't the occasion for that sort of thing -- or even better, just not do it?

I don't get it myself ...

I know that those running for President really need to have that 'self-center' gene in their system that runs full-tilt fast foward ... but I think this is taking it way too far!

It felt less like a solemn ceremony for those who lost their lives and more like the red carpet/velvet rope at the Oscars.

In Their Own Words

2011-09-15T10:30:00.000-05:00
Nothing quite gets a politician in trouble quite like their own mouth ...

Social Security is not a Ponzi scheme, um, social security has worked for 75 years pretty darn well. You guys have not taken advantage of social security, you contributed to it, it a savings plan, a pension plan - there are no bad guys in social security. So I don't call it a Ponzi scheme. Is it financially in trouble down the road? Absolutely. And are we gonna need to change the structure some how to make it work for the next generations? Yeah.
these words were spoken by Sen. Romney to a group of seniors ...

It is NOT a "savings program" nor is it a "pension plan" as he said ...

It was never set up that way ...

It is a "redistribution of wealth" program basically ... The money that comes out of people's paychecks goes to (a)run the program and (b)senior collecting now (and sometimes their caregivers) and (c)those determined to be handicapped enough not to be able to work

What we need to do is cut down on the fraudulent claims through class (c) there ...

It may not 'save' SocSec but it will help a bit

Numerology Class

2011-09-15T10:02:00.000-05:00
Ok new poll numbers out ... It ain't getting any better

President Obama Aprroval Ratings
(Virginia)

54% Disapprove
40% Approve
Quinnipiac University Poll
1368 registered Voters
MOE +/- 2.7%

2008 Presidential Election
Virginia results

53% (1,958,370) Barack Obama
46% (1,726,053) John McCain
(first Dem to win since Lyndon Johnson)

Numerology Class

2011-09-15T09:53:00.000-05:00
More stats from this week ...

Jobless claims
UP
428,000
(increase of 11,000 more than Jul)
(highest in 3 months)
(only partially explains by hurricane Irene)

Total Public Debt
UP
$14.7 Trillion

job Gains/Losses
STEADY
0

New Home Sales
DOWN
0.7%

GDP
UP
1%

Mortars Rates
DOWN
4.12% 30-yr fixed

Foreclosures
DOWN
2%

US Gov Budget
UP
$-132 Billion
(spending more than taking in for week)

Gas Prices
DOWN
$3.83/Gal

Inflation
UP
0.4% for Aug

Hourly Wages
DOWN
$0.03

Heating Oil
UP
$2.945/gal

Oil Prices
DOWN
$88.91/barrel

Existing Home Sales
DOWN
3.5%

New York Stock Exchange
DJI
11,246.73

•••••
$38 Billiob program to help the "Green" industry make jobs
3545 jobs "created"
After 2 hrs (only $19 billion spent so far)
Was SUPPOSED to make 60,000 permanent jobs
That's $640,000 per job

Current nemployment rate is at 9.1% but according to the CBO (congressional budget office) it needs to be at 6% in order for the economy to be considered "healthy"

beep Beep

2011-09-12T12:07:00.000-05:00
CA is trying to pass a law which gives greater legal PROTECTIONS to those driving WITHOUT a drivers liscence INCLUDING ILlegal immigrants

In some counties in CA police set up drunk driving checkpoints (which is pretty unconstitutional because it assumes thT you are guilty and need o be checked) as it stands now if they find someone who is sober but unliscenced they are now allowed to seize their car.

The bill would put a stop to that ... And allow the unliscenced driver to continue on the road ...

Oh and unliscenced drivers will NOT have insurance in most cases because they need a liscence in order to qualify.

UNDER THE BILL (CA Bill AB 353)
Police must locate legal owner or authorized Los en Ed driver to get car at check point

if the police make a reasonable effort and fail to find a driver, THEN they impound the car

unliscenced driver would only be cited/ticketed but not arrested

Impoundments at CA checkpoints generated $40million for towing fees & fens

Only 13% of inpounded (from the checkpoints) cars were connected to charges of DUI

Between 2007 - 2009, number of cars seized went up 53% at the checkpoints

ILlegals are PROBITED from having a liscence in CA

Unliscenced drivers are 5 times more likely to be in an accident
Unliscenced drivers are 4 times more likely to be in a DUI accident

Numerology class

2011-09-12T10:48:00.000-05:00
Waiting more remarks from president - I'm late, was dealing with device guy- and why he's sending the bill (insert chuckle here) to congress now

But some facts they've been throwing on tv while waiting:

14 million unemployed

2.43 million jobs lost since Obama took office

7.2 million people on unemployment

1 in 3 unemployed have been so for more than 1 year!

40 weeks is average unemployment time

Unemployment has been above 9% for 26 months

51.8% of population working, lowest since 1983

Bret Hume, fox commentary/reporter guy had this to say
"you have to understand that it is not in the DNA of the President and his party to reduce spending or reduce the deficit by any other way than by raising taxes on those they don't consider their own, real constituency - this is just not what they believe in, partly it's political but partly it's a real policy difference, it's a matter of political conviction. And as far as they are concerned the spending that the government does is good and the need to reduce it is unfortunate, and something they'd rather not have to do."

(LOTS of empty seats waiting for President to speak)

Numerology

2011-09-11T16:40:00.000-05:00
Just a few stats they've been putting up comparing economic stats from 10 hrs ago when the Trade Centers & Pentagon were hit and now

2001//2011

GDP 3rd qtr(2001)//2nd qtr(2011)
-1.1%//-1.3%

Dow Close 9/17/01= 8,920
Friday 9/9/11= 10,992

Jobless rates
2001: 5%
2011: 9.1%

median Home Prices
2001: $156K
2011: 173K

Gold Prices
9/10/01: $271/oz
9/911: $1856/oz

Numerology class

2011-09-07T09:48:00.000-05:00
With the GOP debate tonight they are coming out with some new poll numbers this morning

LA Times (democratic stronghold of the most major kind)
From Drop Box
This may be tough to read ...

60% of those polled ... And it was a small number, only 1500 voters ... Or about 900 voters ... DISAPPROVE of how the President is handling the economy. This is broken into 40% STRONLY disapprove and 20% somewhat disapprove.

That's a pretty large percentage in an area which has always been looked at as a haven for liberals ... The home of Haight-Ashbury ... It is also a place where nearly half the population (47.8% but this does not include those who live there illegally) is Hispanic which is a strong democratic group ... Where 62% of the population is between the ages of 19 - 62 yrs ... Where 15.3% of the population is living beneath the poverty line ... Where approx 20% of the population doesn't have a high school diploma (about 2 million out of 10million) ...

Al those are factors which tend to "feed" the democratic party ... And come on let's face it - they elected Pelosi!

These are the people who are saying that President Obama has dropped e ball or at least taken his eye off of it ... To be clear - the ball is the economy as a whole (as opposed to jobs or stock market as specifics)

Numerology Class

2011-09-03T01:38:00.000-05:00
31.5 MILLION Americans expected to drive this Labor Day weekend

Avg gas=$3.63
that's up 35%in one year (almost a dollar)

Airfare up9% from 1 yr ago

Hotel rooms up 7% from last yr

Gas $3.99reg in CHicago, $4.13spec, $4.25super, $3.95deisel

ABC news explained about "rockets and feathers" and how it effects gas at the pump:
Rockets=when oil & gas prices soar up together
Feathers=when oil comes down but gas prices lower at much slower rate

Price reductions in oil can take up to 1month to hit the pumps

States where prices fall the quickest
ND

SD

NE

KS

OK

TX

MN

IA

MI

AR

LA

WI

IL

MI

IN

OH

KT

TN

MS

AL

Everyone else lowers much slower

On Sept 16th winter-blends can be sold which ABC reports is cheaper ... It's not

Police State Over Steppng ... Humor of the past

2011-09-01T22:48:00.000-05:00
I ran across this on the web ... It's from one of the old newsletters which was given to participants of the Minnesota Renaissance Back when it first started ...

I don't know who the talents were behind it, but with the recent posts about smoking bans ...

Well you'll see ... Have a good laugh!

If the image is too small, clicking it should take you to the original ... I hope ... See blogger hates iPad so I had to "cut/paste/replace" the coding.

Health care ... Coming soon

2011-09-01T10:22:00.000-05:00
Just to give you a heads up as to what you can expect. If Obama-Care ever goes through...
%%%%%
84% of running program
UK Govt spending
-----
48% of running health care
US Govt costs
%%%%%
10% UK GDP
17% US GDP
Healthcare expenditures
%%%%%
2.7 UK
2.4 US
Physicians per 1,000 people
%%%%%
UK whas provided:
Free primary care (@ point of use)
Preventative
Mental
Hospital care
%%%%%
8.5 weeks UK
Avg wait-time for general SURGERY
(although in the UK this may mean a doctors appt and not getting an operation - their terminology doesn't always translate well)
@@@@@

So why is this information coming out? Because they are talking about a pre-"Logans Run" situation over there.

While facing an increasingly elderly population, they are proposing to SHUT DOWN HOSPITALS which serve mostly the elderly.

They also purpose that NURSES take over patient care and not doctors ... Not nurse practioners (who should be allowed to treache)

They also purpose making more of the elderly Receive caring at home by family members instead of at care-facilities With trained personnale!

The main call for these cut backs are from the dr who was in charge of their system when the hospital boom took place ... Now the government is finding that they simply can NOT support the system they think was so good.

If you want a good idea of what the health care system is like over there - watch a few of the British sitcoms & dramas ... They may not be totally accurate but they are a big glimpse ....

High mortality rates for diseases we have lowered greatly (like breast cancer & diabetes - while we haven't cured them, your chances are better that you will live a long and happy life afterwards)

Less likely to have a private room unless you have private insurance anyways ... Awe aren't talking just one or two room mates here, while we aren't tLking about 20 to a room like pre-70s they still have 4-6 people in a room and they don't group them according to ailment either ... So you could be in for a broken leg and you neighbor could be in for typhoid ... Okay maybe not typhoid (they'd have to isolate for that) but you get the idea

But the thing that gets me is 8 1/2 WEEKS to see a doctor! This doesn't make sense ... They have more doctors for their population but they take longer? It has to be all the damned paperwork - that's the only thing I can think of.

An operation can be turned down if the GOVERNMENT paper-pusher thinks your chances of survival aren't worth the cost. Like a prostate operation if you are over 50 years of age.

I expect to see the UK go back to a private heLth system within the next 20 years

Police State Over Stepping ... Yet AGAIN!

2011-09-01T09:26:00.000-05:00
South Carolina ... I remember as a freshman in high school going on a trip to visit my aunt & uncle who lived in NC ... During this visit we took a trip to SC to go to the beach (sorry don't remember which one) ... But along the way my aunt pointed out to us the tobacco farmers and it struck me as to how much the economy down there DEPENDED on the tobacco industry.

Not just the farmers but the people who handled the warehouses, the drivers who took the crops to market, etc.

So it is shocking to me to hear that SC is now going to make it illegal for you to smoke in your own car if you have children.

Yeah

The way I've heard the law stated (from an interview by the congress man who helped draft the stupid thing) is that it will be illegal to snake in your "enclosed car" if you have children with you under the age of 6 years old.

I am not completely without sympathises here - I do think that if you have SOMEONE ELSE'S children in your car then you shouldn't be smoking ... You don't get to dcide the health issues of another persons child ...

My issues are

A)it allows the police to enforce/apply a TRAFFIC LAW which has absolutely nothing to do with traffic issues

B)the law equates smoking with TXTING while driving ... No it's equivalent to eating while driving, it is the same motion as getting a piece of fruit or a fry to your lips, it is the same motion as drinking from a cup of soda or coffee while driving.

C)it interferes with that pesky "Right to Privacy" thing they've got going on

D)(as my daughter who is going into Law Enforcement said) The police have more important things to do than pull someone's ass over for smoking in their car!

look - people smoked for GENERATIONS around children ... Even in enclosed vehicles ... And they didn't have the issues they are equating to this.

I think it's time the government stop the BULLYING of smokers now

Police State Over-Steppng ... again

2011-08-31T22:59:00.000-05:00
I just received an email from babies-R-Us, which is supposed to be doing some big trade-in program ... in the email it stated two new guidelines they are going to enforce regarding car seats --- totally asinine if you ask me ....

1. Children should remain in rear-facing car seats until the age of 2 years old!!!!

2. Children should remain in Booster car seats until they are 12 years old

While I understand that the American academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has children's safety in mind (as well as all that study money they get from the car-seat manufacturers) in mind ... Have you ever tried to get a toddler to want to sit backwards in the car? Can you imagine the number of kids who are going to suffer from motion-sickness as they try to look out the side windows while the car is going? I'm sorry but as a mother and having a degree in Child Psychology from one of the leading colleges in the field ... I have to say ... BULLOCKS!

Now about those boosters - when my kids turned four (before the law changed) they couldn't WAIT to get out of those damned things ... My youngest missed the new "boosters until 8yrs" by one month, you try to tell an 8 yr old that they have to sit in a booster like some baby after having nearly 4 hrs of freedom! Now you are going to have to plug them in until they are 12? BULLOCKS!!!

What will happen when these kids start school? Will the school districts require parents to send Booster seats with their kids in order to ride the school bus? Oh wait that can't happen because they somehow have convinced the government that it is safer NOT to belt kids in on the buses ... when I talked to the transportation dept at our old school district, and probably got the most honest answer I've ever heard:
they won't do it because the belts could be used as a weapon against the driver but more probably against another student, and since the district cut funding for bus aides to watch the kids they felt that the driver could not control an over-crowded bus of children

I'm surprised that they haven't recommended that anyone with a child under the age of 15 ness to drive a vehicle with third-row seating so that children will be better protected from front impacts.

Actually I'm really shocked that the Feds aren't dictating that no vehicles that hold more than 4 passengers can be sold because they have too big of a carbon-footprint (gag gag gag wretch) ... This will force people to have fewer children because they wont have room for them in their cars ... Else it will force people to use public transportation - which already have sky-rocketing pricing to cover operating costs because NOBODY WANTS TO RIDE IT as it is now ... then they can dictate that cars be made thinner so that people won't be able to fit in them unless they are as skinny as one of those 14 year old models who have been starving themselves since age 5 and don't even register in a size of the ladies department ...

Sorry ... Government over stepping their boundaries just gets my dander up!

Here's an idea ... LOWER THE SPEED LIMITS ... As speed limits go up, the number of & degree of injuries have increased ... limits were increased as people became overly confident of their cars equipment - air bags & anti-lock brakes led to speed limits on roads of 70 mph and above! Car seat or not, of you get in an accident at that speed someone is going to get hurt ... and the majority of hospital visits after an accident are going to be children who can not adequately describe any injuries they might have.

Economic Education

2011-08-31T08:37:00.000-05:00
It's time for some more job/economic numbers

August Job Growth (private sector)
91,000
¥¥¥¥¥
July Job Growth
117,000
(includes public jobs as well as private sector)
¥¥¥¥¥¥
this number does not reflect public sector lay-off/furlough/firings ....
(estimated 10,000 of these throughout the nation)
Nor do I suspect does it reflect losses of part-time workers which generally do not get counted until they look at the "under-employed"
€€€€€
number of lay-offs
UP
47%
in August
(if only this would mean that there were so few the months before that just a few jobs meant a big percentage jump - but unfortunately it means that there were HUGE numbers of people out of work)
%%%%%
July unemployment rate
9.1%
over all
#####
Unemployment Rates YTD
JAN 9.0%
FEB 8.9%
MAR 8.8%
APR 9.0%
MAY 9.1%
JUN 9.2%
JUL 9.1%
@@@@@
So let me ask ...

How's that CHANGE going?

Numerology Class

2011-08-25T08:58:00.000-05:00
This weeks New Jobless rates are out .... They ain't pretty!
@@@@@@
UP
417,000
NEW Jobless claims
(yes this includes those who went back to work for the 3 or 6 months that it took to requalify)
@@@@@
12,000 higher than hoped for
@@@@@
Above 400,000
154 out of 162 weeks
@@@@@
7.3 million Americans are collecting unemployment now
(the stat is very "American" specific, so I'm thinking there may be non-citizens collecting unemployment as well .... That would interesting to see)
@@@@@
The CBO expects unemployment to stay at over 8% for another 3 years ... Or about midway thru the next term ...
Under-Bush the unemployment rate was around 5%
@@@@@
13.9 million
Unemployed in July 2011
@@@@@
6.2 million
Unemployed for 6 months or more
UP
130%
from Jan 2009
@@@@@
They expect this number to rise considerably if hurricane Irene makes landfall
@@@@@
Labor Department says that the newest rise was because of claims made by striking Verizon workers
@@@@@
Continuing benefits
DOWN 80,000
3.64 million
For week ending aug 13
@@@@@
Economists saying economy stopped in mid-July (no growth/no fall)
{###}{###}{###}{###}{###}
I'm wondering how these new rates/numbers are split across the nation ... I mean is NY and CA skewing these numbers? Does there seem to be one or two particular events that caused it to rise so drastically (as hurricane Katrina did)?

Or is it the horrid economy of CA that seems to be effecting it ... Well ok, not all of CAbut certainly L.A. County which seems to skew the CA numbers - I know they take most of the benefit/entitlement money for the state even though they are one of the lowest earning regions of the state (and not just because so many people are getting federal monies)

The head of the Labor dept. says the worst is still ahead ... So at what point are they going to stop blaming Bush for this? A what point are they going to look at this situation and wonder how anything can get fixed if the president refuses to stay in DC to fix it?

I know that Obama is saying he would like to see some sort of national jobs program ... does this man have any original ideas? I can see this going one of two ways:
1. A CCC or WMP program where the government pays an inordinate number of people to do "make work" ... Hopefully necessary work ... Work that won't give priority to union workers - as so many government jobs do these days.
2. Assigned workers ... Where like the soviet union of old, they will tell people where the jobs are, how many are needed, and where they belong. That lack of freedom of choice,

I can also see a trend where if you are a stay-at-home mom ... A single income family .... You will be SCREWED over when it comes to benefits and old-age ... As the Tea-Party candidates go to the other extreme and pull everything away.

Oops ... I have strayed off point again haven't I?

I think that's the clue to stop now

Cool News For Scrappers

2011-08-23T12:08:00.001-05:00
It's been a really long time ... A lot has happened in the world ... Even more in our personal lfe ... But I just had to share this for any readers who scrap:

You know when people look at your scrap book pages and then comment on how they would "love a copy" of that photo that's been glued/adhered down?

Now at Archivers (check their website for your nearest location) you can get full sized 12 inch copies ... Yes you can get a copy of the entire page! You can even get it shrunk down to a smaller 8 inch size if you want to make a sort of "souvenir" album.

I called my local store and they said that copies start at $3.49 a sheet ... I would assume (but I could very well be wrong) that to shrink it might cost a tad more.

I can see where this would come in handy for weddings - one main album for the bride/groom, and copies for the parents and the people who stood up - maybe even the officiate if they are a personal friend ...

Maybe that favorite aunt who couldn't make it ...
One for each of the kids later in your life ...
Or grandiose ...

How about baby books? Make the main one for your family and copies for each set of grandparents ...
Ones for the Godparents ...

What about bridal/ baby showers? Same thing ... Main one for mom/dad/baby ... Some for the grandparents .... Maybe a book that not only has pictures of things like baby's sonogram but also photos of mom &dad as kids thru the years for comparison ... What a precious gift this would be! Just make copies of the parents baby pictures so that the grandparents can get their photos back ... Most grandparents will have them either loose, in some of those albums where the photos just slide in, or in one of those albums that had the tiny sticky dot pages ...

HINT: if you do have photos on those old photo books with the sticky dots,be very careful removing them ... after being there for 20-30 years we found that they will be PERMENATELY stck and maybe damaged while trying to remove them from the page.

Check at Archivers (sorry but they are the experts on this one) and see if they have a product to dissolve the glue without damaging the photos.

I mean I know there is something out there - it's like Goop-Off or lighter fluid ( BUT DON'T USE THOSE) but it's a liquid that comes in a nozzle bottle that you squeeze on and it will gently eat the glue but the photo has minimum damage to it.

Any how ...

Just wanted to share about the copies ...

I think it's a wonderful idea ... Even if it is expensive - you are probably only to need/want this type of service so price will be a smaller factor in the long run.

Share time

2011-07-19T00:58:00.000-05:00
The news is so depressing .... I hardly listen to it anymore really ... Not true ... Just nothing I really feel needs much explaining other than to say ...

Nuts to them ...

So I'd like to share this bit of music with you all instead ...
I first heard it about 5 years ago on a podcast called WPBN ... Don't bother to look for it, they folded up their shop shortly afterwards .... But the music I heard on that show have stuck with me and I just love this one ....

Can't listen to it without wanted to sing with ... But always by myself ... Which is probably better for the world, at large.

Song of the Sea by Sharon Knight

I have got to get a copy of this ... But I'd want the CD instead of just the song so that I can put it on all my devices no matter what apple decides to do with their updates (evrytime they update, they screw up my library)

Number logy class

2011-07-08T08:56:00.000-05:00
It's been awhile since I've posted one of these
-----
JUNE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE
9.2%
UP
:-( :-( :-( :-(
NUMBER OF JOBS CREATED
18,000
(they were expecting 90,000 jobs for last month)
:( :( :( :( :(
TO GET TO 8% unemployment
(where it was under Bush)
217,000 jobs
Per MONTH
Until ELECTION DAY 2012
-----

The President is expected to speak in a couple of hours about the jobs report ... I expect it to be another CAMPAIGN speech more than a way to help the nation.

There will be little substance to it .. I'm thinking it's gonna be "look what wonderful things I've done" type of things.

If this is true then it means that there are fewer pele to pay the taxes needed to pay for all the programs they want to have to help those who have lost their jobs.

Look out - here it comes!

Obama-ville USA

UN to take Our $ in Exchange for Kick in Pants

2011-07-08T08:30:00.000-05:00
"A comprehensive global energy transition is urgently needed in order to avert a major planetary catastrophe."
The World Economic and Social Survey, 2011

so what does this mean to us in the US?

Well it means $76 TRILLION over the next 40 years (although if it's that urgent, you can expect it to be sooner than that)

That's an average of $1.9TRILLION a YEAR ... But it wasn't that long ago they said it would only cost $600 BILLION a year to go "Green" ...

This will be another "while you're sleeping" program ... It is a backdoor to a GLOBAL GOVERNMENT ... This is a massive move to redistribute wealth ... A global Communism, if you will.

Half of the money will go to developing countries - who are the biggest polluters per capita - but if you are wondering who is going to put up the majority of these funds ...
"... The United States of America is a country that people around the World admire for it's CAN DO attitude - here people believe that no problem is too big for human ingenuity to solve. The world has never needed that ingenuity more than it does today. The world needs your leadership"
Sha Zukang
Chinese diplomat
Rio summit
the US pays 22%of the UN budget as it stands now ... Even though the UN owes us money for rent of the space in New York and several other issues ... You'll have to do a site search to find the previous posts of the money battle that WAS going on with the UN ...

BUT the UN really needs to get it's act together ... You see LAST WEEK (maybe the week before) they released a report that was scathing towards China over their policies which was going to lead to Global COOLING!

Ok - so I can understand the UN coming out with "statements" ... but I don't understand were they have the POWER to force countries to make certain cars or light bulbs or gas blends. ......

That was not what the Body was created for!

The UN has lost sight of their original purpose ... And the nations had better rein them in before it gets even more out of hand.

"Who Cares About the Economy?"

2011-07-08T08:06:00.000-05:00
Those words came from my 11 year olds mouth today as I listened to the radio and Comte plated this post ... And that is probably the same thing that most adults feel too when they listen to the news.

Who cares?

We all better start caring ... Not just Our economy in the US but around the world as well.

Because very quietly ... Almost as we slept ... They ... Whoever "they" are ... Have moved us into a Global economy.

Affront from the first loan from France to fund the revolutionary war to where other nations actually own the debt ... To other nations making the products we need for everyday life ... To ~~criminal charges being dropped for financial favors~~ I guess I better not say that since it's just specukation on my part - but the coincidence was awe-inspiring.

But just to show the extent of this new Global economy ... You will have to read the next post about the UN ...

It is so sad that everyone has their hand in our pockets ... But the cost will really be - not our grandchildrens future - but our own children's future as the problems which everyone is sweeping under the carpet for contemplation "later" are making a bigger and bigger bump under that rug.