Sad day of mourning...
We lost an angel...
Goodbye Farrah Fawcett.
And a king...
Goodbye Michael Jackson. May you have eternal peace.
June 16, 2009
Once again I find myself in another episode of The Twilight Zone....
while passing by a television this morning I caught 5 minutes of a big
BIG "news" story where the announcement is made that David Letterman
has apologized to Sarah Palin and she accepts his apology. Seems one of
David's jokes in the monologue a few nights ago didn't sit well with
Sarah. Now I heard Dave tell the joke and I'm sure glad I did because
after just spending an hour on line searching, all transcripts of the
joke have been obliterated EVERYWHERE, even on personal blogs. That is
scary to me... it is censorship 2009 and the rewriting of history.
That's worse than the joke, that is unconstitutional in my mind. So...
let me see if they find me... if you see a big gap following this, they
found me! Proceed to the nearest exit and RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!
My paraphrasing of the joke:
Dave says that during the seventh inning of a Yankees game, Alex
Rodriguez passed the time by knocking up Palin's daughter.
My understanding:
Baseball is so slow and boring even the star players get bored and Alex
Rodriguez spent his spare time wooing and having sex with the Palin
daughter who recently gave birth out of wedlock (insinuating of course
that young miss Palin is loose and Alex Rodriguez is desperately bored
with the baseball game). All the jokes in this monologue were Palin in
New York jokes... Palin spending $150K on t-shirts and caps, etc.
Sarah Palin's understanding of the joke:
Alex Rodriguez is a perverted un-evolved ape man who attacked and had
sex with my 14 year old daughter who accompanied me to New York.
This is offensive to all young women and David Letterman should be
fired (and apparently his monologues obliterated because he is
perverted too and NOT funny).
If Sarah's understanding of the joke is correct, the joke has
absolutely no humor in it, it should have never ever been called a joke
and David should have apologized to Alex Rodriguez. If on the other
hand, I got it right, then yep the joke is a little funny (only
offensive to loose
young women), Mr. Letterman did the honorable thing by apologizing and
... hold on to your wigs and keys kids ... now we can expect an
avalanche of "You know you're as evolved as Sarah Palin when..." jokes. At least that's the way I see it but then I live in... The Twilight Zone
June 3, 2009
When I first read about the electronic book (eBook) readers a few years
ago I thought, "Why on earth would I need that?". It seemed to me that
books printed on paper, especially the second hand ones were
inexpensive and required no power to read them during daylight hours.
Add to that the use of public libraries and reading for pleasure costs
me nothing so why would I shell out over $300 for a device to read a
limited number of books available in electronic format?
But low and behold Sony sold over 300,000 readers between 2006 to
2008 and Amazon has sold at least that many Kindles by now. So... the
other day when I tried to wedge the book I had just finished reading in
a tight spot on one of my three crammed bookshelves I said to myself,
"Self, either you need to get rid of most of these books or find a more
practical way to store them". That's when I started researching the
eBook readers in earnest.
Currently there are 3 maybe 4 eBook readers on the market that I would
consider buying. First, I looked at the Kindle 2. It is nice in that it
is wireless and you can download eBooks to the device instantly with
no service plans/monthly fees. Also, the Amazon Kindle books are
reasonably priced (best sellers for around $10). I'm surprised it does
not have a memory card slot though. The biggy for me is it costs about $360 for the device plus
to convert books you can find online for free into a format the Kindle
can handle will cost you a fee so they are no longer "free". Maybe it
is because I grew up watching Jack Benny, I don't know, I just hate to
pay extra. It seems to me that if I shell out $360 for a device it
should come with oh say at least 50 free eBooks! I am having a hard
time getting over the $360 price tag for a device that I will only use
(when I have power) to read books. The iPod Touch with 16 GB only costs
$280 and it is much more versatile with music, movies, Internet
surfing, games and even a limited number of eBooks (on a slightly
smaller screen of course).
Then there is the Sony PRS-505 reader for about $270. It allows me much
more flexibility in file formats and therefore eBook sources but it
lacks the wireless connection so I have to load it with my
computer. For me, that is not a problem, in fact I prefer it
(I'm an old geeky COBOL programmer and the handson is to my
liking) and it has a memory card slot. Now you may be asking, "Why is
that so important? The Kindle holds over 1500 books. How many books
does she need?" That's a good question and I will tell you why a memory
card is important. Let's say you are going to the doctor for a checkup
and while you are on the treadmill you have a stroke and become
incapacitated. The medical staff collects your personal items and they
aren't sure what the electronic gadget is so they turn it on and up
pops a copy of Doctors are Gods: Corruption and Unethical Practices in the Medical Profession.
That is probably not going to work to your advantage in this
case. I don't always want the public to know what it is I am reading
(and you shouldn't either) that is private. With memory cards you can
catalog your books and be selective in what you carry with you when
away from home. See?!?!?
For me the biggest problem with the Sony PRS-505 is the price. I would
probably already have placed my order for one if I weren't still
choking on the price tag. I will have to shell out about the same
number of dollars as for the iPod Touch... now do you know anyone who
would think of swapping an iPod Touch for a Sony PRS-505 eBook Reader?
It just doesn't look like a fair trade does it? It would be like
the kid on the playground trading his peanut-butter-and-jelly for a
bicycle in my mind. So...
I did find a couple of readers for around $200, Ectaco and Cool-er.
These are both cheap versions of the Sony and you really have to dig to
find the low price tag, most of the retail sites want $250-$300 for
these guys. If I could pickup one of these for under $200, I may
consider them, otherwise I would stick with the sony.
For now, I am reading Robin Cook's Foreign Body in hardback that I picked up at half.com used for $3.00. Of course when I'm done I'm not sure where I will put it!
Adios Amigos
An old black man lived alone in the country. He wanted to dig his yearly
collard green garden, but it was too much work for him because the
ground was so hard. His only son, Junebug Jankins III, who used to help him, was
in prison. The old man wrote a letter to his son and described his
predicament...
Dear Junebug Jankins III, I am feeling pretty bad because it look like I won't be able to
plant my
collard green garden this year. I'm just getting too old to be digging up a
garden plot. If you were here my troubles would be over. I know you would
dig the plot for me.
Love Dad
A few days later he received a letter
from his son...
Dear Daddy Jankins, Whatever you do, don't dig up that garden.
That's where
I buried the BODIES.
Love Junebug Jankins III
At
4:00 a.m. the next morning, FBI agents and local police arrived and dug
up the entire area without finding any bodies. They apologized to the
old man and left. That same day the old man received another letter
from his son...
Dear Daddy Jankins, You can go ahead and plant the collard greens now.
That's the best I could do under the circumstances.
Love Junebug Jankins III
Don't worry, be happy!
April 29, 2009
I would like to comment on an article in today's local newspaper (The Advocate). The article, Reports: BR air improves; racial inequity seen, states that "In another report, the American Lung Association’s annual State of the
Air says the Baton Rouge area’s ranking for ozone pollution dropped
from the 10th-worst metropolitan area last year to 21st-worst this year." The data for Baton Rouge in the American Lung Association's report (found here) shows a grade of F for High Ozone Days and a grade of D
for Particle Pollution. I do not know our grades for prior years
but
if we improved, it wasn't enough to crow about. Seems to me that
someone may be making a false assumption that because we went from the
10th worst city to the 21st worst city, we improved. That is one
explanation but a more likely explanation is that 20 cities now have
worse pollution than us rather than just 9. That is very sad news to
me. I consider myself a realist and not a pessimist but the
optimism of the reporter who wrote this article astounds me!
April 16, 2009
This pleases me
... the University of Tennessee in Knoxville will be awarding Dolly
Parton an honorary doctorate of humane and musical letters. It pleases
Ms Parton too I'm sure. Here's a big fist-pumping YES to you Doctor Dolly!
April 14, 2009
I've got "a new way to roll"... yup, I am a proud owner of a 2010 Kia Soul+.
Ever since the first time I watched the TV commercial I have been
attracted to this vehicle (watch the TV spot from the preceding link).
Then I shopped, driving the Scion xB first. The Scion is a nice car but
expert shopper that I am I love to get a bargain and Kia made me an
offer I could not refuse. Besides, after driving both vehicles
around town I found very few differences so I went with the better
price (about $1000 less than the Scion).
The Soul has all the things I liked about my Ion but more of them. 1)
It rides a little higher off the ground and that makes it even easier
to get in and out of. Taller vehicles are a challenge for me at 5'2"
and low riding sports cars are impossible to get out of without pulling
a muscle. The Soul is just right. 2) The rear seats fold down and it is
a wagon with over 53 cubic feet of cargo space. I do believe I could
put a sleeping bag back there and camp out in the Soul
comfortably. I'll let you know if I try it. 3) Lots of pleasurable
amenities. Power windows and doors, a nice big glove compartment and
several storage cubby holes including a compartmental trunk storage
tray under the mat on top of the spare tire, very nice stereo system
with Sirius radio, single CD player and iPod compatible with additional
controls on the steering wheel AND it syncs up with my Bluetooth cell
phone.
Now, I have not gone on a true road trip yet but I have no reason to
believe travel in my Soul will be anything but smooth, comfortable and
a delight. For now, I am in love with this vehicle!
Good news, Doris Day is bloggin for CNN... check out this blog on Prevention of Animal Cruelty. I agree with Doris, pets are more important than property and we need to watch out for our fuzzy friends.
Peace Out
April 8, 2009
Well, I've been occupied elsewhere the past month. My best friend
Gracie (whose picture is at the top of this page) was gravely ill with
among other things, Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia. This is something
every dog owner should probably know about and if you want details,
just email me and I will gladly share Gracie's story. It looks like she
will be a survivor and for that I am thankful!
March 13, 2009
Health Care Per Person - NOT Per Employer! This
is a very important issue, equal to the economy in my mind. As the
above blog link points out, health care should never ever be something
you have to marry to get or be on a payroll to get. Many people "work"
every day and are valuable contributing souls in our society but they
are not on a pay roll and therefore are not eligible for the same
health care as those who are. Everyone deserves clean water, food,
shelter and health care, that's why our society provides those basic
needs for our citizens behind bars, folks who have committed atrocious
acts against others. EVERYONE should be guaranteed good health care.
March 6, 2009
President Obama dove into the health care problem this week. The
following link does a pretty good job of explaining why we need a
"single payer" health care system. I've included the article here but
if you find it at all interesting or thought provoking or even silly, I
would encourage you to follow the link and all it's subsequent links,
comments, rebuttals. For me, the debate is over when the health care
market place folks say: "Private insurers cannot compete(with single payer/ government run insurance, ie. Medicare) because providing "coverage" is not their primary concern."
Yep, that's what they said...the folks who are against a national
health care system in the United States of America, the ones who claim
they want freedom of choice, are nervous because President Obama
suggests we offer that as one of the choices. Every citizen of the
U.S.A would be free to choose Blue Cross Blue Shield, Humana, etc. or
Medicare. The free market, anti-single-payer folks are certain when that
is the offer everyone will choose the government run system because the
free market health care companies will not be able to compete due to the
fact that health coverage is not and never will be their primary
concern; profit is and always will be their primary concern. Anyway, read it here...
Where is the "freedom" in health care? And where is the security?
Your friendly republican wants you to believe there is a "health care market place" and that market must not be constrained. But where is their "market" located?
Picture
a castle. With lovely turrets. And flags flying from them. The
castle has a wall and a moat around it. And there's nice bridge over
the moat. Beyond the moat there is a lovely lawn. And all over the
lawn little tents are set up.
In every industrialized nation,
except ours, people who need health care go straight to the castle.
Their government has given them the security of being able to pass over
the bridge and into the castle. Inside the castle, there's a lot going
on. People can find a doctor and get treatment. They can find a
hospital if they need one. It's a pleasant place. If someone is very
sick, there's no need to worry about taking out loans to pay for
treatment. No fear of bankruptcy for costly hospital stays or
surgeries or other expensive treatments.
But in America you
aren't really free to cross the bridge and enter the castle, unless you
first spend time in the health care market place - outside the castle.
That's what all the little tents are for. Scattered around the lawn on
the other side of the moat from the castle. The tents are the
marketplace. Instead of going straight to the castle to get your
health care, republicans want to trap you in the market place.
Where you'll go round and round and round, trying to figure out which
health plan you want! You'll get booklets full of plans and doctors
and costs and so on. By the time you've visited 4 or 5 of these tents,
you may be exhausted. But wait! More tents. More booklets. More freedom to choose! There's something in statistics called "degrees of freedom." It's kind of a technical term and you can read it about it here. Or you can skip that and I'll give you the punch line.
for each estimate you make, your model becomes less accurate.
If
you're going to get health care, you want to take the shortest route to
that care. Not the longest. Because the more steps you have to take,
the less accurate the final result. It's that simple!
So
right now we in America are stuck outside the castle! All because the
republicans think that by expanding the "degrees of freedom" - the
number of steps it takes to finally get to health care - that they are
doing us a favor! They're not. The winners are not the human
citizens! The winners are the insurance corporations. The so-called
corporate citizens. They are the ones sitting in the tents, driving
people nuts with so many offers and lists of doctors and plans and
glossy booklets. But no matter how many tents you visit on the lawn - outside the castle -
you never get any actual "health care." And your degrees of freedom
get less and less and less as you make your weary way from tent to tent
to tent - trying to figure out what's already available in the castle!
Every
other industrialized nation, except us, has a simple way to get inside
the castle. We have one too. But you have to make it to 65 first!
Once you get to 65, you can have Medicare. Using your simple social
security number. And once you have that, you can walk right past all
the tents on the lawn, across the bridge (over the moat), and into the
castle. Remember, "for each estimate you make, your model becomes less
accurate," but once inside the castle you're making only medical decisions! They may not be perfect decisions but you can make them alongside your doctor.
If
you talk to the elderly, they love Medicare. Because they can walk
right into the castle and get it - as long as it's medical care or
hospital care. But they hate "Part D" (D stands for Drug. And
also for Deliberate Duping.) It's a plan that republicans designed.
So naturally, it forces all elderly people to wander the drug
marketplace - outside the castle. The place of too many decisions, where - here is our punchline again - for each estimate you make, your model becomes less accurate.
In
geometry we learned that a line is the shortest distance between 2
points. republicans profess to like freedom - so a republican line is not the shortest distance, but the longest distance! Zig-zag, they tell us. You'll have more freedom! Here's what I say: Make a bee-line to the castle!Take
the shortest possible route! Bypass the republican fallacy that there
is freedom to be had by taking more and more steps to make more and
more decisions, which only enrich the insurance companies! The only
sensible, and actually more accurate, health care decision we should
all make is: Single Payer Health Care.
Single Payer. Your direct route to health care. The shortest line between you and your doctor!
Now I just have one
more thing to say ... I am certain that a national single payer health
care system will not be perfect and there may indeed be huge problems,
especially at first but I also am equally certain that there is a
greater, far greater chance the government run, not-for-profit system
will put the health of the people first and our health care will
improve in this country. Heck, the alternative guarantees us it will
NOT put the care of the people over profit (they can't afford to)
so what have we got to loose?
February 26, 2009
Hey kids... just thought you all should know... a couple of German guys, Karl Benz & Gottlieb Daimler invented the automobile. So that means automobiles were invented in
Germany not the United States of America. Yes, I understand the
American auto industry may be on the brink of collapse and it made a
much more rousing pep talk/cheer when the President stated that "I
believe the nation that invented the automobile can not walk away from
it." And...we all make mistakes but we
need to try and get the facts right. If we change the history books
future generations will have it all wrong and we don't want that now do
we?!?! By the way, Americans (Orville & Wilbur Wright)
invented the airplane.
And one more thing kids... it is not a bad thing
to make a mistake. We all make mistakes and we learn from some of them.
When we make a mistake we should acknowledge it and try harder next
time. It is however, a bad thing to be mean and
lack empathy for others. Our Governor, Governor Bobby spoke to us
Tuesday night and he questioned why the federal government was spending
money on monitoring volcanoes. After listening to his speech you may be
thinking that it is silly to monitor volcanoes. But I ask you to please
consider, do you think it is silly to monitor hurricanes? And if we
lived close to a volcano instead of the Gulf of Mexico, would that
change your mind? Just remember kids, ok to make a mistake; not ok to be mean to other people. Now, eat your veggies.
Peace Out
February 25, 2009
Am I the only one who sees the guy sticking his tongue out? This is the
Mayan Calendar, the one that ends 12/21/2012. The stories about the end
of the world (as we know it) are becoming more and more prevalent and
so I keep seeing this picture in articles I read and shows I watch on
TV and every time I see it, my eyes are drawn to the center where I
clearly see a Caucasian, (wearing a crown), with an overly exaggerated
mouth with a red tongue sticking out to his/her right (my
left) between two rows of large teeth. Do you see it? I also see
earrings and a necklace for what it's worth.
Now I will admit, I have not spent much time on the Mayan prophecies, I
did watch a show on The History Channel and read an article here and
there and honestly, ever since last fall it does seem quite plausible,
the end of the world as we know it on December 12, 2012 that is. This
calendar intrigues me as a work of art and I have looked on it a few
times. The message I get is, here you go humanity, here is 5125 years
for you to track and mark your progress. You
have loads of time to master reading and writing and tang and moon
walks and microwave ovens and high definition TV and video games
and cell phones and even cell phones on which to watch high
definition TV and play video games. Anyway, it makes me laugh every
time I see this picture of the calendar. I laugh because it amuses me
to think of a bunch of old guys with long beards sitting in a cave
studying time and how to track it, working from the outer circle toward
the center with intricate symbols of days, weeks, and years and then
after many years of obsessive study, one or all of the old guys has a
vision of the future and quickly finishes up the calender with... 2012 - the end, nah nah na nah nah!. So my friends, today let us eat, drink and make merry.
Peace Out
February 17, 2009
Here is a bit of news worth reading... http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7892588.stm
I've marked it on my calendar so I can remember to send positive
thoughts in their direction in April. May the Great Peace be with you
guys!
This picture(s) was taken with the Gigapan Robot System ($379 - that's
even more amazing, no?) From what I can tell, you attach your point and
shoot camera to the Gigapan Robot and just listen to what the robot
says. The ad makes it sound like any dummy can do it. The magic is stitched together with the Gigapan Stitcher software (included in the $379). I may have to give this a try.
February 6, 2009
Here's
your trouble.... I wonder if there is some creature somewhere, on this
planet or another that we annoy... us human beings I mean... the earth
is lousy with us and when roaches or fleas get out of hand we take
drastic measures to be rid of them. I wonder if maybe we are beginning
to plague something/someone somewhere?
New hobby, cigarette lighters. I have joined the hundreds of thousands
who collect cigarette lighters. I personally have never smoked but I do
use fire and I do appreciate having an almost effortless means of
creating fire whenever I want, wherever I want. The lighter was one of
the best inventions of all time in my opinion. When you think about
what you really need, weeding out the many amenities we enjoy and
decide what you really need, I come up with water, food, shelter, fire
and a blade/tool of some sort. So, if all the lights go out everywhere
I hope to have a pocket knife and a lighter on me at the bare minimum.
January 30, 2009
Hamlet:
What have you, my good friends, deserv'd at the hands of
Fortune, that she sends you to prison hither?
Guildenstern:
Prison, my lord?
Hamlet:
Denmark's a prison.
Rosencrantz:
Then is the world one.
Hamlet:
A goodly one, in which there are many confines, wards, and
dungeons, Denmark being one o' th' worst.
Rosencrantz:
We think not so, my lord.
Hamlet:
Why then 'tis none to you; for there is nothing either good or
bad, but thinking makes it so. To me it is a prison.
So are you in Heaven or Hell today? It is only what you think it is?
You know, I've suspected for years that I am not a white person... now this list quantifies it. I am approximately 22% white. I've been passing!
Peace Out
January 29, 2009
A couple of interesting items. The first is a 30 minute documentary from the BBC concerning America's Healthcare System. The second is a brief commentary from Campbell Brown at CNN concerning the hiring of lobbyists in the Obama Whitehouse.
January 21, 2009
Once again we begin a new era in this country. The whitehouse.gov
website is one source I will use to follow the work of my government.
Since my view of the world emanates from south Louisiana I am
encouraged to read in the agenda that New Orleans and the gulf coast has not been forgotten. Thank you Senator Mary Landrieu for all you do.
Peace Out
January 12, 2009
I am still on the planet, just bored with it. The more things change the more they stay the same it seems to me. Guess I need to step back and look at this thing from a different angle. There, that's a little better.
Peace Out
You can be a criminal (including rapist, murderer, pedophile).
You can be any religion or no religion.
You can be any race.
You can be any nationality.
You can belong to any political party or no party.
You can work in any type of employment or no employment.
You can be rich.
You can be poor.
You can be sick.
You can be well.
You can be disabled (blind, paralyzed, hearing impaired, etc)
You can be attracted to the opposite sex.
You can pretend to be attracted to the opposite sex.
But
in most states, if you want to marry, and you're gay - you can only do
it if you lie. If you're willing to live a lie, you can marry someone
you're not attracted to, and live that way.
But if you're gay and you tell the truth .... you're deemed not worthy to marry?
Why is lying ok? If marriage is "sacred," how is marriage - based on a lie - ok?
Now on a lighter note... USA Today's Top Dog
Can you even imagine what it's like to be that cute? What a sweetheart. You go Gracie girl!
And for those of you who enjoy caroling.... you can find a few new ones to sing this year here...like, While shepherds washed their socks at night All seated on the ground, and Good King Wences' car backed out On the feet of heathens and my favorite Joy to the world! The Lord has gum.
Peace Out
Here's an interesting article... http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2008-12-17-squirrels_N.htm
I'm not going to say much about this other than I'm so very thankful
that someone recognized the problem and they are doing something about
it. Once again, it really is not nice to mess with Mother Nature. We humans just can't seem to look and not touch. Good luck and good night my friends. (Talk amongst yourselves.)
December 15, 2008
What a difference four days makes... it is now in the mid-70s outside
and it will approach 80 later this week! Seems like the 11th was just a
dream, doesn't it?
As to today's headline news stories, another Senator Kennedy is fine with me and Joe the shoeless Iraqi is not a very good shot (he should have taken a few warm up pitches before going out there).
One final note, ignorance and media brain-washing is nonpartisan far as I can tell...http://www.howobamagotelected.com/ is an interesting website by John Ziegler. You can google him and see for yourself but I think of him as a sort of Republican Michael Moore. Be sure to watch the video on how Obama got elected and if you doubt its validity as I did, for what it's worth the Ziegler poll was done by Zogby. I consider myself a progressive free thinker and
I suspect similar results could be found if you polled McCain/Palin
voters. Most people in the United States who vote aren't very
informed... they just know what they like when they see it... they can,
on first impressions, decide who they would most like to drink a beer
with and they vote for that guy. Or they pride themselves on being
able to pick the winner and they vote for him because they like the
rush of being on the winning team (that's why sports fans abandon their
team when they are on a losing streak). Bottom line, in 2008 we are a
nation with very little to be proud of. Now, I choose to remain
optimistic but hold on to your wigs and keys ladies and gentlemen, the
ride could get quite bumpy!
December 11, 2008
Dear Diary,
Snowed today. Wet snow. Not that cold though. Last time it snowed here
in Baton Rouge, Louisiana was in 1988 I think. May have something to do
with Global Warming. At least that was the way it worked in the movie The Day After Tomorrow.... Jake Gyllenhaal was pretty good in that one. Not as good as in Brokeback Mountain though. You know what they say... It's not nice to fool Mother Nature. At least that was what they said about margarine. That was 30 years ago though... now it's not nice to foolwith Mother Nature. Too late probably. You know what else they used to say... The mind is a terrible thing to waste. I haven't heard that one in while. Hum...
Check out more pics here
December 9, 2008
I never saw a purple cow,
I never hope to see one;
But I can tell you,anyhow,
I’d rather see than be one.
Gellett
Burgess
December 5, 2008
An old British justice named Glover
Once murdered his wife and her lover.
A clue was then found:
His wig on the ground!
But you can't book a judge by his cover. Graham Lester
Lots of cute doggy pics here... http://im.knoxnews.com/
Browse the pets and please vote for my girl Gracie in her Halloween costume - thejen57 (currently on the 2nd page of the Featured Gallery). There are some good pet photos on this site!
Peace Out
December 3, 2008
Our main-line, prime-time news media reports too heavily on the hair,
makeup and clothes of our strong women leaders in this country. We need
more, much more coverage like...
Thank you Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, for all you have
done and continue to do for our nation and for humankind world-wide.
Your life-time compassion and dedication to Human Rights and Women's
Rights is much appreciated. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
An important message from Michael Moore here. I agree with Michael, the government shouldn't bail out
the big three automakers, they should buy them out and employ Americans
to build a new transportation system for our country that completely
eliminates our dependence on oil. Let's roll!
While many good people in the land of America
were and still are enchanted with President Elect Barack Obama, some of
us who voted for him even though we have never been enchanted by him
are watching and keeping score ... so here is an interesting blog that ran today. I can not answer the question posed... "Did Barack Obama just break his first campaign promise?" but I can say this would not be the first
campaign promise broken (don't forget public funds... broke that one
before he was elected but it counts as a broken promise on my score
sheet). I sat next to the Duchess at tea; It was just as I feared it would be: Her rumblings abdominal Were truly phenomenal, And everyone thought it was me! 28th President of the U.S., Woodrow Wilson (1856 - 1924)
December 1, 2008
There was a young lady named Alice who peed in a Catholic chalice. It was done out of need, the Bishop agreed and not out of Protestant malice. (The author remains anonymous)
November 13, 2008
I agree with Keith Olbermann on Prop 8 (Watch him here
on YouTube) and I can not imagine why anyone would vote for it. The
reason I hear given over and over has to do with irrational fear and
irrational belief in a god of fear and hate. Now speaking of rational thought... http://www.planetstas.blogspot.com/
Be sure and scroll down to read the entry for Saturday, September 27.... nicely done AND
Stas is 7 years old! Amazing! That is Hope I can believe in. Keep up the excellent work Stas!
November 5, 2008
It is truly a new day dawning in America and the world! Let's take a
big collective breath, then step into the future with purpose.
Congratulations President Obama. Let's roll!
Peace to All
October 31, 2008
Happy Halloween Boo Y'all
October 30, 2008
Wow, check this out... Election-night news to co-star latest technology I'm feeling giddy with
anticipation. The 3-D hologram in High Definition, I can't wait! As a
child I was thrilled when I saw my first broadcast of Bonanza
in color at a family friend's house. Then when I became a charter
member of cable television in the 1980s and watched HBO for the first
time I thought it just couldn't get any better. Three years ago I got
High Definition in my living room and now ... I just can't tell you how
very glad I am to have lived long enough to see this!
October 29, 2008
Early voting ended yesterday in Louisiana. Based on my experience, I don't have any doubts as to the accurateness of this article in
The Advocate. I voted on Saturday (mid-morning) and I waited in line
for over 30 minutes. Listening to conversations around me I quickly
realized that for the first time in my life I was among a large group
of people voting the same way I was! This is new for me so please, bear
with my enthusiasm here. It took me quite a while to decide my vote and
I'm pretty sure the route I took to come to my vote (I actually
listened to Governor Palin speak every chance I got and found her to be
scarier than Bush and Chaney combined. Not only does she not understand
most of us, she seems to enjoy the kill (Chaney) and not too smart (Bush) on top of that) was different than
most of the folks there but nevertheless, I left the Governmental
building on Saturday morning with a distinct spring in my step. After
pondering my voting experience for several days now I conclude that no
matter what it is that brings us all to the same place on the same
side, it is a good thing. Even though the one person at the front
leading the way is not perfect and does not have all the answers, as
long as we all stay close behind and help each other we will succeed! Hallelujah!
None of us in line on Saturday morning were impatient or in a
hurry. In fact we all seemed to find the experience a pleasant one. We
chatted and we discovered informally without prying and without
"campaigning" that we were all on the same side. And as one lady
pointed out, we will be hard to convince of our candidate's loss in the
state of Louisiana. Let me be the first to tell you, the CNN maps have
the wrong color over The Pelican State!
October 24, 2008
Eureka! I think I will have to change my mind about Obama! He did it! In all fairness, I would like to point out the Obama-Biden Tax Calculator.
I'm not sure if this was available on October 3rd when I first blogged
about the issue of Taxes and how it was impossible to get the Obama For
America people to answer my questions. If the calculator was available, they could have saved
me some time by pointing the way to it for me. Instead I heard about it today
on CNN and checked it out. According to this calculator, I will receive
a $500 tax savings under the Obama-Biden plan compared to $150 McCain tax savings.
That's nice. But of course I didn't stop there... no siree... I had to
run
the same numbers pretending I had a couple of kids and guess what? I
got the same result!!! Even if I married and we filed jointly and had a
couple of dependents we get $1000 tax savings,
which comes to $500 per taxpayer. No extra for the kids! That's
progress folks! No more rewards for procreating more dependents. Butter
my butt and call me a biscuit!!! This guy just might be on to
something. I do believe we may have a chance at making progress under
his leadership. Now if I could figure out a way to afford a $150,000
mortgage on my same salary I could save $1300 on my taxes (but it
didn't matter if I was married or had children, the same savings for
the mortgage carried). Seems the Obama-Biden team wants us to be
saddled with a mortgage? I'm still pondering that one. But I will
definitely give credit where credit is due. After watching and
listening and reading about Senator Obama's campaign for President for
about 2 years now and over the past 4 months in particular, I am of the
opinion that he and his advisors/staff/whoever are really listening to
the ideas and opinions of the American public and finding ways to
incorporate them into their plans. The Obama-Biden platform is evolving
into one that I can put my support behind. I will now go vote. I do hope they don't let me
down when they get to the White House.
Public Service ad (complements of Opie, Andy and The Fonz) http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/cc65ed650d
Thanks for caring Ron!
And who better to introduce the third runner up to Miss Alaska 1984 than the 4th place runner up on Survivor: The Australian Outback
(2001)? Will she get a new dress and some shoes and all the accessories
to go with? Why, you bettcha'! Next time, why not nominate Reese Witherspoon and Jake Gyllenhaal? They're reeeeaaaallll cute y'all. And Reese has experience; she ran for office in that movie Election and she's Global Ambassador for Avon Products and she's a descendant of John Witherspoon,
who actually signed the Declaration of Independence AND even though I
don't know her personally, I have spent a lot of time in Louisiana
(where Reese was born) and in Tennessee (where her mama was born) and I
hear tell she is a real nice girl. I'm just sayin'. Jake Gyllenhaal... well he was in that movie The Day After Tomorrow, which is about global warming and he recycles. all the real 'mericans in the house put your hands up
all the runners up in the house put your hands up I'm right there with y'all... all the way. (Now somebody pass me the weed. What? You aren't toke'n? You're kiddin, right?)
Don't forget... Michael Moore & the Plumbers for Obama tonight on Larry King Live, CNN 8pm Central/ 9pm Eastern
I don't expect there will be any
pretty girls in bikinis and I hope the plumbers don't bend over but I
bet they will have something interesting to say.
October 22, 2008
Here's the headline news story this morning in case you missed it (and
it is followed by the story on why the stock market is still
falling)... http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1008/14805.html
I'm so glad I didn't invest in
the Republican National Committee! Did any of you reading this
contribute online or mail in a check? If so, how does this news make
you feel? Are you proud to have contributed to the fund that paid for
Sarah's clothes? Or maybe your dollars went to get Todd a new suite or
the Baby Daddy some nice pants with a belt or the Baby MaMa maternity
clothes that didn't look so much like maternity clothes. It was
probably necessary to buy them something presentable since they would
all be standing before cameras all across the nation for a couple
of months. And honestly, now that I think about it, the Governor of
Alaska's family is probably not expected to make public appearances on
a daily basis so maybe Todd only had one suit and needed a couple more. But did it really cost $150,000? Todd & Sarah have a
pretty large family, let's see there's seven Palins and the future
son-in-law/baby daddy so let's say eight (EIGHT IS ENOUGH! bytheway).
I would assume that most of the money went to clean up the Governor
(surely they didn't need 300 pairs of Ferragamo shoes - how many feet
do they have?!) so I have to ask, What was she wearing before she
agreed to run as McCain's VP? She was the Governor of Alaska so she
must have had a few nice suits, no? Would Americans be more likely to
vote Republican if they dressed better? I guess somebody thought
they would or they wouldn't have spent $150,000, right? I'm no Joe
the Plumber and I understand I don't live in the Real America so that
explains why I shop at Burlington Coat Factory, and Kohl's for my
clothes I guess. I just wish Gov. Palin had a better understanding of
the duties of the Vice President of the United States (check out how
Gov. Sarah explains the job to Piper and the Real Americans here).
And here's another thought, why can't politicians pay for their
own clothes and grooming? My employer doesn't pay for mine. Does yours?
I guess some jobs that require uniforms may contribute and that is a
perk of the job but I bet they don't fork over $4000+ for hair and
makeup, right? The only profession I can think of that does is actor/entertainer... (oh no, wait... I just thought of another but that is a sort of entertainer I guess you could say) but politicians aren't actors are they? Are they? Well, I can say for certain I am NOT entertained!
And wait a minute... would a Maverick let anyone tell them what to wear? ...
Real Mavericks Wear Their Own Clothes!
I just watched a clip from The View this
morning, Barbara Walters brought up the $150,000 clothes bill
and Joy Behar said something like..."She seems to be enjoying the
role... usually she shoots her clothing... now she's actually buying it..."
ba-dump-dump And when Barbara pointed out the $4700 for makeup Joy said
something like, "And that's just lipstick for the pig." Now that does
entertain me. I enjoy you Joy Behar! (Elizabeth, not so much... you
need to learn to stay on topic then your views may be taken more seriously. Watch and learn from Sherri on your right. I'm just sayin'. ) She quit watching the news during dinner time... couldn't stomach it. Sissy!
October 21, 2008
Here's my Public Service for the day...
If you are trying to inform yourself in preparation of voting in two weeks here is a link to an invaluable source... http://www.factcheck.org/
I
often suspect the political ads and news articles I read are only
partially true if not out right lies and I run to FactCheck to see what
they have to say about it. After using this website for about two years
now I have concluded they are the best single source of
consistent truth that can be found on the world wide web. FactCheck is
funded by the Annenberg Foundation and they do not take money from big
business, political parties, lobbyists, labor unions, or individuals (I
wanted to donate because the service is so important to me but they do
not accept donations). It is very hard to find someone or some group
that you can trust but I believe FactCheck is worthy of our trust. And
if you go there, be sure to read this story - http://www.factcheck.org/askfactcheck/what_about_that_anne_kilkenny_e-mail.html
This Thursday night on Larry King Live you can see Michael Moore and Plumbers For Obama, CNN 9pm Eastern/ 8pm Central.
October 20, 2008
Note to self...
dig·ni·ty
Pronunciation:
\ˈdig-nə-tē\
Function:
noun
Inflected Form(s):
pluraldig·ni·ties
Etymology:
Middle English dignete, from Anglo-French digneté, from Latin dignitat-, dignitas, from dignus
Date:
13th century
1: the quality or state of being worthy, honored, or esteemed2 a: high rank, office, or positionb: a legal title of nobility or honor3archaic:dignitary4: formal reserve or seriousness of manner, appearance, or language
my name is sarah palin you all know me
vice president nominee of the gop
gonna need your vote in the next election
can i get a ‘what what’ from the senior section
mccain got experience, mccain got style
but don’t let him freak you out when he tries to smile
cause that smile be creepy
but when i be vp
all the leaders in the world gonna finally meet me
how’s it go eskimo
eskimos
tell me what you know eskimo
eskimos
how you feel eskimo
ice cold
tell me tell me what you feel eskimo
super cold
i’m jeremiah wright cause tonight i’m the preacher
i got a bookish look and you’re all hot for teacher
todd lookin fine on his snow machine
so hot boy gonna need a go between
in wasilla we just chill baby chilla
but when i see oil lets drill baby drill
my country tis of thee
from my porch i can see
russia and such
all the mavericks in the house put your hands up
all the mavericks in the house put your hands up
all the plumbers in the house pull your pants up
all the plumbers in the house pull your pants up
when i say ‘obama’ you say ‘ayers’
obama. ayers. obama. ayers.
i built me a bridge - it ain’t goin’ nowhere.
[ohhh]
mccain, palin, gonna put the nail in the coffin
of the media elite
she likes red meat
shoot a mother humpin moose, eight days of the week
[three gunshots]
now ya dead, now ya dead,
cause i’m an animal, and i’m bigger than you
holdin a shotgun walk in the pub
everybody party, we’re goin on a hunt la la la la la la la la
[six gunshots]
yo palin, i’m out
SNL Sarah Palin Rap, Lyrics & Video (Amy Poehler) October 18, 2008 If you don't believe me, watch it here.
(You can bet ALL the world leaders know who she is now. She mumbles as she shuffles to the kitchen for her tea and a saucer of milk for the nice kitty. )
October 17, 2008
Just 18 days until Election Day. For me it is a work Holiday so I look
forward to it for two reasons, 1)I get the day off and 2) I finally
won't have to listen to any more debates, commercials, commentaries and
poll results. WAHOO! (The lies, well all politicians have lied, and
they always will so sadly, no we have not heard the last lie.) As I
have previously stated, I am not excited about either a McCain
presidency or an Obama presidency so there is no winner come November
4th in my opinion. I do believe Senator Obama is right not to get over
confident or "cocky". Polls are not always right and it could be a
close race. I could easily believe there are equal numbers of Americans
for McCain and Obama. After MUCH research I have concluded that Senator
Obama/Senator Biden is a less wrong for this country than Senator
McCain/Governor Palin. Whoever you decide to vote for and for whatever
reason, have you wondered why on earth anyone would want this job now?
I sure have! I may be a little goofy but I'm not that crazy! On a
lighter note, the one good thing, the single one thing we have that we
would not have had without a contest between McCain/Palin -
Obama/Biden is the laughs from the crew at SNL. I applaud you Tina Fey,
Amy Poehler, and all the rest of the writers and cast. Very funny
stuff. I'm not sure I will watch Governor Palin's guest appearance this
Saturday night but I don't expect it will be nearly as funny as the
stuff you guys have already done. Parody is always more enjoyable to me
than tragicomedy, the later often times being extremely painful!
October 10, 2008
The media is starting to refer to this as another Black Friday. Whether
it is or isn't one thing is for sure, this has been a very bad week for
Wall Street. My theory concerning the correlation between the DOW and
Bush/Bernake/Paulson addressing the nation is holding firm. Today Bush
took to the Microphones again to tell us that ...
"Anxiety can feed anxiety and that can make it hard to see all that is being done to resolve the problem."
"Fellow citizens, we can solve this crisis, and we will".
Shortly after he stepped away from the
mic the DOW fell 100's of points to where it sits right now at just
above 8000. Well, thanks for the pep talk dude. Somebody aught to place
a gag order on these three musketeers.
It is lunch time as I write this and I couldn't help but notice what a
$5 bill will buy me right now... a couple of burritos and a coke at
Taco Bell or a share of GM stock. And a vendor is setup in the lobby of
my office building peddling their usual wares - a string of plastic
beads goes for $6. I never understood the Native Americans selling
Manhattan for beads but it is coming in focus a little clearer to me
today.
And one more thing, for all the people blaming this mess on the
Democrats and Clinton/Carter, the guy in charge gets the credit. That's
the way it works. You want to be President and things don't turn out so
well on your watch, it is your problem. If the Republicans have known
this was going to happen since the late 70s and they are so smart
why didn't they fix it before now? They have had 27 years since
Carter left office to put our nation on the right financial track
and 19 of those years were under a Republican President. So if the
Democrats have out foxed you for the past 30 years, with your man in
the Top Chair 73% of that time, you guys are even dumber than I
thought! The sad truth America is we do not have many bright
politicians. Cheers!
October 9, 2008
As I said three days ago, EVERYONE should NOT vote. ABC News' John Stossel seems to agree (http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Vote2008/story?id=5985719&page=1).
I would not necessarily equate politics to brain surgery but you at
least should know more about the candidate than just being able to pick
his/her picture from a lineup. It IS our duty and our right to educate
ourselves about the governmental process in this country and the
candidates running for office. However, we are still free to do as we
please with our spare time and if an American citizen chooses not to
study politics then he/she should refrain from voting. So those of you
who don't know how many Senators there are on Capitol Hill, pass the
polls on November 4th and follow your passion, i.e. DON'T VOTE.
October 6, 2008
I got out this weekend and did my part to stimulate the economy. Perkins Rowe
is the newest commercial development around town. At the corner of
Perkins Road and Bluebonnet Drive, Perkins Rowe is a self contained
community. If you work at the Neuromedical Center or the Baton Rouge
General Hospital on Bluebonnet, you can lease or purchase an apartment
at Perkins Rowe and eliminate the expense of owning a
vehicle. Work, shopping, and entertainment is all within walking
distance and if you are lucky enough to be employed by the Neuromedical
Center, your walk is literally no more than a few footsteps. The 16
screen Cinemark theater seems to be aware of the taste of more
sophisticated movie fans and my biggest hope is they will
eventually be my source for first-run independent films like Downtown
West was in Knoxville. It remains to be seen if Baton Rouge can support
this complex AND the 170+ stores in and around The Mall of Louisiana
too.
On a recent malk (Which
is what I call walking in the mall for exercise. Others just call
it mall walking.) I saw this sign at the Journeys shoe store...
I'm wondering if this ad campaign will sell shoes or get more
people out to vote on November 4th? I guess either way it's a
win-win for America. Or is it? Do we really want people voting who
decided to go register because of a poster they saw in the mall? I'm
guessing most of the young people signing up to vote are not too
interested in politics and government and consequently they have not
spent any time studying the issues and the candidates position on the
issues. Yes, they enjoy free concerts but when it comes to reading a
book about economics or the Vietnam War, well I'm guessing not too many
of them will turn off the iPod or stop texting their bff
to get enough knowledge to make an educated decision. And it's
not just young people.... Michael Moore encourages us to "Ask everyone
you know: are you registered to vote?" There are plenty of people over
45 who have never voted. They don't believe it will matter and since
they too would rather watch Survivor on television than read Hard to Call (McCain) or Change We Can Believe In (Obama) or Bad Money (Kevin
Phillips) they are probably wise to refrain from voting. In my
opinion, we should not encourage people to vote if they have no
interest in the process of government. I'm convinced that is why we are
in such a mess. It is our right and our duty I believe to inform
ourselves and vote. But don't vote if you didn't get around to checking
out the candidates qualifications for the job.
October 3, 2008
5PM
I have been wondering for several weeks now just who the 5% are who
will see a tax increase under Senator Obama's plan. His rebuttal
to McCain / Palin about raising our taxes always includes a statement
something like "95% of tax payers will see a reduction in their taxes".
So who are the 5% who won't see a reduction (and I imagine will
probably see an increase since everyone is going to have health care
and we are going to bring the troops home and create new jobs and
eliminate the need for foreign oil, yadayadayada). My first thought is
Oh I hope it isn't me! So today I spent a lot of time on the Internet
trying to find out who the 5% are. (Michael Moore isn't doing this for
me since it is an Obama Tax Plan and not a Bush Tax Plan.) After
reading ALL of the Tax Plan on Obama's website and Googling my brains
out, late this afternoon I emailed using the "Contact Us" link on
www.barackobama.com and I asked if my taxes would increase since I am a
tax payer filing "single with no deductions" and not "married with
children" (that was a very funny Sitcom by the way). Quick as the speed
of coaxial cable I got the following reply:
Dear Jennifer, Thank you for contacting Obama for America. The volume of messages we're receiving has gone up recently, and we appreciate hearing from you. While we cannot respond individually to thousands of messages per day, the level of interest and thoughtfulness of the comments reflected in these communications are very gratifying. Your thoughts on our campaign and America's future are greatly appreciated. Individual citizens like you are the foundation of this campaign. Since he entered this race, Barack has spoken consistently of working together to reclaim the meaning of citizenship, restore our sense of common purpose and rally the power of millions of voices to demand long overdue change. We hope you will explore our website, www.BarackObama.com, to learn more about Barack, his record and his plans. If you're writing because you want change, we need you to help us fight for it. Please sign up here to volunteer: http://my.barackobama.com/acvolunteer And you can get started from home right now. We've built a set of easy-to-use web tools that empower you to get further involved right now. Sign up for My.BarackObama.com, where you can find events near you, connect with neighbors who support Barack, create your own blog, and do much, much more. And if you're not sure you want to get involved, and are writing to express a concern or disagreement, we appreciate that as well. The open discussion we want to facilitate cannot take place without hearing from people expressing a wide range of views. Thank you again for writing. Sincerely, The Correspondence Team Obama for America --- Here are some more useful links to help you get started: Learn more about Barack's policy positions: http://my.barackobama.com/acissues See Barack in person or attend a campaign event, view the Events section toward the bottom of the front page: www.BarackObama.com. Invite Senator Obama or Mrs. Obama to an event: http://invite.barackobama.com Donate: http://my.barackobama.com/acdonate Buy Obama Gear: http://my.barackobama.com/acstore
Now Senator Obama's
campaign has raised about $427,000,000 yet they can't answer one simple
question? The answer to this question should be on his website under
FAQ but I couldn't find it. If any of you reading this know the answer
or can find it on barackobama.com please let me know. I am a big girl
and I can handle the truth. I suspect I won't like the answer but I am
used to paying more than a single American's
share. And I guess it is my duty to pay for more than one person since
I have chosen not to breed and not to borrow money (I do have living
expenses, in fact rent is the largest portion of my living expenses and
I could fit a few more people in here, like a kid or two. Maybe I
should bring a couple of kids over from oh Iraq or Iran or China and
get my tax dollars worth and big deductions too!) I will always and
forever resent it though since I cause no one any problems and I take
up minimal space and don't need a lot of water/food/air to subsist.
Yes, I received a public education but I do believe I have more
than paid for it already, thank you very much! So any way, I
responded to the Correspondence Team to thank them for their prompt
reply. I know my taxes will increase under a McCain/Palin regime so I
guess it is just going to be Lose/Lose for me. C'est la vie
12:45PM
I'm going to go out on a limb here and expose my ignorance... the U.S.
House of Representatives passed the Senate version of the Bailout Bill
about 15 minutes ago and the Dow Jones Industrial Average has dropped
over 200 points. Is that the way it was supposed to work?!?!?!? OUCH and oh, everybody line up orderly now ok!?!? http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/03/california.loan/index.html
Did I watch the Vice Presidential Debate last night? You betcha. I'm
still trying to decide if that was Palin doing Fey doing Palin or Fey
doing Palin doing Fey doing Palin. Whatever, both candidates were
lying or for those who can't handle such a strong word, fudging the
facts. Biden's tone and body language better aligned with how I'm
feeling lately, i.e. angry and about to burst into tears any
minute as I watch my Traditional IRA plummet like it is on an elevator
with a cut cable. You-betcha-Sarah on the other hand, well I wasn't
surprised. If you think about it for a minute it makes sense. Alaska is
a beautiful state (based on the pictures I've seen) but it is cold
(duh) and unlike Baton Rouge, the days there really do get shorter
until you reach the winter solstice (which means less than 6 hours of
sunlight per day in the winter months). So for a sub-tropical gal that
sounds pretty miserable. The type of person who would choose to live
there must be a chipper-sort by nature or else they just wouldn't make
it. I am all for diversity and I love the fact that this old world has
many different types of people, I wouldn't want it any other way.
I appreciate Sarah's chipper up-beat attitude but I myself
related more to Biden's sense of urgency that is, it is now or never and we
better get it right. Also, while both candidates had tremendous
pressure on them last night, Sarah was visibly nervous. I'm magnanimously going to attribute her not answering most of the questions to her big case of The Nerves. For her sake,
I'm glad that event is now history and I do hope she gets to spend a
lot more time with her family in good ole Alaska real soon! Keep on the sunny side
Always on the sunny side
Keep on the sunny side of life
It will help us every day
It will brighten up our way
If we keep on the sunny side of life
Doc
Watson
October 2, 2008
Anyone out there still trying to decide who to vote for in November? This article in Rolling Stone is interesting reading. And for a little humor try this article.
I'm not sure the vote last night in the U.S. Senate was a good thing.
They voted 74 to 25 in approval of the "Bailout Plan". John McCain,
Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, all voted for it. The last
time I had this feeling in my stomach was when they voted to authorize
the use of the United States Armed Forces against Iraq (Well let's be
clear, John, Hillary and Joe voted, Barack wasn't there yet.Dennis Kucinich voted against the Iraq war AND the Bailout). I
just knew they were wrong then and I'm pretty sure they are wrong now.
One difference in then and now is the polls, that attempt to measure
what the American people think, show about 2/3 of us are against the
bailout whereas in October of 2002 about 9/10 were for the war in Iraq.
Maybe the people are getting smarter (and the politicians haven't changed
even a little bit). One item of note in the Senate Bailout Plan is the
provision for mental health coverage equal to physical health coverage
for those with health insurance. Is that to keep the numbers of folks
jumping out of windows down? That was a smart move because if all of us
John Q. & Jane Q. Publics out here off ourselves, who will pay for
the Bailout?
If they get
around to paying off mortgages for people who bit off more than they
could chew, well I will just kick myself for being so damn responsible!
And did you catch the tax break to Hollywood that was added to the
Senate Bailout Plan? It will give over $470 million worth in tax breaks
to TV and movie producers who film in the U.S. WAHOO! That's great, if
we can all still afford cable and a movie ticket that is! Now if it
will just pass in the House of Representatives (and what about that pesky little rule in the Constitution that says "All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives"? Is this not backwards?) we can all run out and borrow some money again like we used to. As Roseanne Barr put it on her blog, "Apparently, we're beyond screwed if we don't HURRY UP and borrow 700
Billion to give them so we can borrow it from them." Come on America, RISE UP!
The view here in Baton Rouge on Saturday was all
about FOOTBALL. Whether you love it or hate it, it is that time of year
and LSU is off to another very good season it appears. Saturday night
they beat Mississippi State here in Tiger Stadium. I watched most of
the game on television. There is one thing I really wish the networks
broadcasting football games would do differently. I wish they would
show at least half of the Half-Time show. It seems to me that there are
at least as many (if not more) students playing music in the band
as there are students playing football. When these students become
alumni and get jobs making big bucks, the alumni band members surely
donate to their schools just like the alumni athletes, no? So why don't
we get to watch the bands perform on television? Also, sponsors,
musical instruments and all the accessories are not free. Musicians
just like athletes are forever shopping for the best reeds,
mouthpieces, drum sticks, etc. to get them First Chair. ESPN please
listen up, you can ADD sponsors like Yamaha (did you not see that
screen shot in the University of Florida's video?), Getzen, Bach, etc.
LSU has for many many years offered an outstanding marching band to
rally the fans around their Fightin' Tigers. (I would actually rather
watch a good marching band perform than watch a football game myself.)
So what do you say ESPN? Are you listening?
ESPN is holding an online Battle of the Bands and Quest for the Crystal competition.
Seven college bands have recorded the Indiana Jones Theme and you can
view them and vote for your favorite. Yes, I am a bit biased but in all
fairness I viewed all seven. Four of the seven moved me with their
music. I particularly enjoyed the University of Georgia Red Coat's
musical arrangement. The percussion section is excellent. LSU gets my
vote however because they have musicians who play with their entire
bodies, they incorporate movement into the music while they are
playing. Also, they managed to sneak a bit of the "Pregame/Touchdown
for LSU" theme into their rendition of the Indiana Jones theme song,
nice touch guys and gals. And lastly, LSU is the only contestant to
include a plea for your vote. At the end of the video Head Coach Les
Miles asks you to "Vote for LSU and have a great day". In my opinion,
while the University of Georgia had the best musical performance, LSU
had the overall best performance for a marching band and they deserve
to win. Whether you agree with me or not, all seven videos are
worth taking a look at. And maybe we should all email ESPN and request
more band coverage on Saturdays!
September 26, 2008
Bumper sticker wisdom:
A conclusion is the place where you got tired of thinking.
Meet Henry Earl... http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2008/0925082henryearl1.html As
you can see from this article, Henry has spent almost 14 of his 58
years on earth in jail for public intoxication. From the look of his
mug shots, he is none the worse for it! In fact, it appears to me that
Henry is quite happy in 13 of the 30 mug shots shown here. That tells
me that 43% of the times Henry has been arrested by law enforcers he is
happy about it. In only 4 of the mug shots does he appear to be ticked
off (13%) so we can conclude that about 1160 out of 1333 times
arrested, Henry was having a pretty ok day, if not down right
enjoyable. Now I have to wonder, why do they keep arresting him? If it
is to rehabilitate him, the
laws and the folks responsible for the laws and enforcing the laws
are insane ("Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and
expecting different results." Albert Einstein). They are keeping
Henry in jail because he chose to become intoxicated on alcohol and
that is bad for him. So why not arrest all the overeaters? They
continue to eat too much and that is very bad for them. The cops should
be hauling all the overweight people they catch eating to jail then,
right? If I may go one step further, to attempt to legislate morality
is insane. I can support laws that hold people responsible for actions
that bring direct harm to others but laws that attempt to stop people
from actions that bring harm to themselves is a waste of time and
money. Deny Henry Earl a driver's license. Legalize marijuana. Have a
nice day!
Now... for those of you who are trying
to wrap your brain around the headline news story of the week... this
explanation makes sense to me... http://scienceblogs.com/goodmath/2007/12/the_total_stupidity_of_crowds.php
but
I must warn you, read at your own risk. It is NOT a feel-good story! I
wish somebody would make it required reading for Congress!!!
Which
reminds me, I saw Dolly Parton interviewed by Ellen Degeneres this
week. When Ellen asked Dolly, "Your fans have actually said that they
think you should run for office someday, that you should run for
President. That's how much your fans believe in you. Is that something
that you'd even be interested in, to run for office?" Dolly replied,
"No, don't you think we've had enough boobs in the White House?" (Watch
her say it here)
Made me chuckle. I love Dolly Parton. The outer package may be an
artificial caricature of a woman but the inner Dolly is the most
authentic true and honest soul I have come across so far. Dolly Parton
- I Salute you!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Backwoods Barbielyrics by Dolly Parton I grew up poor and ragged, just a simple country girl.
I wanted to be pretty more than anything in the world,
like Barbie or the models in the Fredricks' catalog.
From rags to wishes in my dreams I could have it all.
I'm just a backwoods Barbie, too much makeup, too much hair.
Don't be fooled by thinkin' that the goods are not all there.
Don't let these false eyelashes lead you to believe that
I'm as shallow as I look 'cause I run true and deep.
I've always been misunderstood because of how I look.
Don't judge me by the cover 'cause I'm a real good book.
So read into it what you will, but see me as I am.
The way I look is just a country girl's idea of glam.
I'm just a backwoods Barbie in a push-up bra and heels.
I might look artificial, but where it counts I'm real.
And I'm all dolled up and hopin' for a chance to prove my worth,
And even backwoods Barbie's get their feelings hurt.
I'm just a backwoods Barbie, too much makeup, too much hair.
Don't be fooled by thinkin' that the goods are not all there.
Yes, I can see where I could be misjudged upon first glance;
But even backwoods Barbie's deserve a second chance.
I'm just a backwoods Barbie just asking for a chance,
just a backwoods Barbie.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
September 15, 2008
Mother Nature's Bossom
For the past two weeks I have viewed the world from East Tennessee. It
is a beautiful spot on this grand planet, one of Mother Nature's best
in fact. This picture was a view along the Tail of the Dragon. For
those who don't know, the Tail of the Dragon is a portion of US Route
129 in Blount County Tennessee. It is a world reknowned motrocycle
trail that snakes through the mountains and it supposedly has 318
curves in 11 miles (I say supposedly because I have not counted them but I take their word for it). Several movies have been filmed along this road, The Fugitive with Harrison Ford and the 1958 Robert Mitchum film, Thunder Road which
is appropriately about running moonshine. Since I was staying at the
end of the tail, a few miles from Hoot's Deli, I finally got around to
riding it into North Carolina last week. It is a bit dangerous but
something to see. Here are a couple of other good spots along the
tail...
My view every morning...
and afternoon...
Otherwise, I did a lot of this...
and a little of this...
and my best friend did a lot of this...
and a little of this...
We don't go anywhere without working in a trip to the mall for some shopping...
And of course it isn't vacation without a few splurges...
but in the name of all that is good and wholesome we also partook of fresh veggies...
So... that's what I've been up to... it was a lovely two weeks !
Peace Out
August 31, 2008
If you did not see any of the Democratic convention in Denver and feel
like you might have missed something, here is a link to Time Magazine's
video montage. It only takes about 3 minutes of your time and from one
who watched pretty much the entire convention, it is a very good
summation. Enjoy... http://www.time.com/time/video/?bcpid=1485842900&bctid=1760455467
And... I would like to go on the record by saying I am opposed to
spreading rumors. No where on my blog will you see rumors about
political candidates' personal lives. I do not care what church a
political candidate goes to. I do not care who his/her friends are. All
I need concern myself with is their political platform and their
political behavior and that is all you will see thoughts on here.
Within 24 hours of Friday's announcement of McCain's running mate,
there is lots of rumor
about Sarah Palin and her youngest child and that is offensive to me
and it should be to you too. I don't care about any politician's
personal life. Our great country was changed for the worse when Ken
Starr went after Bill Clinton and the stained dress. Yes, it was wrong
for Bill to lie but what difference did it make for anyone except his
family? No one died. Now if Sarah's teenage daughter had a child out of
wedlock and Sarah suffocated it with a pillow and you can prove it,
then please by all means let us know. Otherwise, it is no business of
mine. The blue dress was TMI (too much information) for me too.
I am not a Republican. But neither am I a hypocrite and after 51+ years I don't feel any need to become one now. No Stones Jen
Peace Out
August 29, 2008 (AM)
I did watch Senator Barack Obama's acceptance speech last night at the
Democratic National Convention in Denver. Senator Obama is known for
giving good speeches (that is why he is where he is today) and last
night's was no exception. It was well written I thought and of course
he delivered it well. He did not give us his own "I have a dream"-"Ask
not what your country can do for you"-"The only thing we have to fear
is fear itself" quote to repeat for the next 200 years but maybe he is
saving that one for the swearing in ceremony. And when you factor in the truth of content, well, maybe it was a B-. So my final grades for the three major speeches come to this:
Hillary - A+
Bill - solid B
Barack - B-
I do believe
Senator Obama has a very good chance of winning the election in
November. The conventions have a way of making it appear (to the people
who watch them anyway)that a candidate is very popular and sure to win.
It is not a given however, and he has a lot of work to do between now
and then. I'm concerned the debates (if and when they get around
to it and it will be a big mistake if they don't have a couple of
debates) will hurt him. And I know it is petty and I don't think it is
fair or right but the media will have a chance to spin like with this
story... http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2008/08/28/moos.mouth.kissing.cnn
Television addict that I am I had already noticed this but I wasn't
going to say anything. While watching this montage of video clips of
Obama kissing Mrs. Biden and hugging Nancy Pelosi I couldn't help but
wonder what would happen if it had been Bill Clinton instead or maybe
Barney Frank kissing Joe Biden on the mouth. (Actually the Denver
police would probably have arrested poor Barney if that happened) I
have never seen so many blatant double standards than I have in this
election year. All I'm saying is, whoever is in charge of marketing (or
whatever you want to call it), Senator Obama needs to reign it in a
little. Don't forget, about half of the people in the country do not
think that highly of him and they still need to be sold. And some of us
older folks still put a high value on decorum and protocol. Senator
Obama may be a very affectionate person but he needs to keep his
Presidential-face on, at least until after November 4th! Count yourself
lucky Barry O because others would have been crucified by the press for
this. Just my humble opinion.
And now a word about Gustav...
I was not residing in Louisiana three years ago today when Hurricane
Katrina made landfall but from my view here in Baton Rouge on this the
anniversary I see that most everyone has a plan. The federal, state and
local governments are all seen together in the same room at the press
conferences anyway and I know for a fact that moving vans and
supplies arrived at a nearby nursing home on Thursday with
preparations being made to receive extra clients on Saturday. All
except the premium grade of gasoline was sold out on Wednesday at the
Chevron station where I normally purchase the champagne for my Saturn
but I did get the old girl's tank topped off just down the street at
the Shell station for a few more cents per gallon. The price of regular
went up 10 cents per gallon between Wednesday and Thursday and I
haven't priced it yet today but I expect another 10 cents more soon. I
have a plan and I will begin to implement my plan later when my work
day is over. My plan is to leave the state so after today I will not
have a view of Baton Rouge other than what CNN and others choose to
give me. I am not leaving because I am afraid of the storm. I am
leaving because I am due a vacation and this seems like as good a time
as any to take it! (Besides, I am a HUGE fan of electricity and
air-conditioning!)
I would like to offer a little sympathy for the Republican Party. It
looks like the storms (Gustav & Hannah) and the news stories they
will spawn will surely have an impact on the convention in
Minneapolis-Saint Paul next week. Hurricanes have not been kind to the
Republicans to say the least. Neither
Democrats nor Republicans are bad evil people. Everyone has both
good and bad in them and I look forward to hearing about the good
things they have done in their lives. We have listened to Biden &
Co. and Obama & Co.'s stories this week and next week we will get a
chance to hear about John and Cindy and Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. I
have heard and read John Boy's story but I am most interested in Cindy
and Sarah's! In case anyone is wondering, I watch the conventions for
entertainment, not for deciding who to vote for. This is their "best
foot forward" campaign air-time and not a good place to learn truth.
But it amuses me more than Big Brother or some football game. (And my research on Sarah has already begun) Please Alignak or whoever is in charge here, have mercy and compassion. Amen
(noon)
Ok... I just viewed Gov. Sarah Palin's acceptance video (don't worry, he doesn't kiss her on the mouth, ugghhh)...
And I've been reading about her all morning and I've got to say ...
somebody has underestimated John McCain. Go on... check the headlines.
Here we are at noon on the day after the Democratic convention in
Denver, the embers from the made in China fireworks have barely burnt out, Barack Obama the brilliant orator gave the biggest speech of
his life last night on the 45th anniversary of Doctor Martin Luther
King, Jr's "I have a dream speech", and crazy old John McCain has blown
that story away with his announcement of a VP running mate. And he did
it without a media biased in his favor, in fact they seem to be biased
in the opposite direction this time around. So that makes this even
more remarkable. Now I'm not saying that this will cinch it for him,
far from it. All this was intended to do was to dampen the fire or
squash any points gained in the polls after the Democratic convention.
And based on the buzz (there was more web traffic
on Gov. Palin's website right after the announcement than there is on
the evacuation route here in Louisiana right now) I would say it was
(and I hate to use these words but they are appropriate here) a mission accomplished. I've got to repeat myself... DNC,
you are running the wrong horse in this race and you missed your golden
opportunity to recover that flub by making her the VP choice. Pssst...
hey guys, pointing out Gov. Palin's lack of experience is
not the way you want to go here. And don't forget, even though she
would be a heartbeat away, she will not be the one taking the lead in
January. (It's kind of scary that I am having to tell you this, but I'm
trying not to think about that. Maybe y'all should try sleeping in shifts.) Let me draw you a picture....
Senator Obama's Resume
Nov 2004-present
U.S. Senator
(July
2004)
gave a speech at the DNC
1997
- 2004
Illinois Senator
Governor Palin's Resume
2006-present
Governor of Alaska (90% approval rating)
1996-2004(?)
Mayor of Wasilla where she lowered the property
taxes 60%
1992-1996
Two terms on the Wasilla City Counsel
1984
Won the Miss Wasilla title and placed second in the Miss Alaska pagent
(OMG! A POW war hero and a Beauty Queen. Come on Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, stand up and take your bow. I
know you wrote this script. You can't fool me!)
Ha Ha Tee Hee Chuckle Chuckle This can't get any better, can it? Go
ahead and laugh people, yuck it up, enjoy yourselves. The world as we know it ends in 2012 (according
to the Mayans and Shirley McClaine)!
Goovy
Peace Out
August 27, 2008
How about that Hillary on the mile-high Hill last night?!?!?!?!? DNC you are running the wrong horse in this race! I'm just saying. Hillary Clinton is clearly the best qualified for the job. While
I have always respected and admired Hillary Clinton (in spite of her
flaws) for her lifetime of service to this country and for her amazing
intellect I have never personally thought of her as a "hero". Today
Hillary Rodham Clinton is my hero. She is my hero because she is
one of the most honorable and selfless civil servants in our country.
She has not always been so in my opinion but she demonstrated last
night that she is now. She was gracious, diplomatic and totally
focused on what is truly best for this country. She did this most
effectively and without any contradiction or inconsistency. She did not
say she was wrong when she stated that Obama is less qualified for the
job of President than she or McCain because it would be a lie.
She is absolutely right. (Barely a) Senator Barack Obama does not
have enough leadership experience. This experience does not need to be
in Washington or even in politics but he has to know how to lead.
Giving speeches and deciding which side of an issue is the most popular
then taking it is not leading (off-shore drilling, Cuba embargo,
decriminalization of marijuana, illegal immigration, etc.). Hillary
Clinton was a leader for universal health care when it wasn't
cool (1993) and 15 years later she is still leading this effort, she
"keeps going". Hillary did an amazing job last night of "leading" her
supporters to vote for Barack Obama. I have no doubt that she persuaded
some of them to vote for Obama.
The Democratic Party leaders asked Senator Clinton to unite the party
and win the election for Barack Obama because everyone knows, even the
DNC, that he can not win this election on his own merit. James
Carville pointed out the absurdity of that notion on Good Morning
America on Tuesday morning. Mr Carville said something very close to,
"There is nothing that she's going to do that the people are going to
say, 'Gee, you know what? That was really a great job she did.' The
Hillary people need to get over that. No such words are going to be
uttered by anybody in television. Now, I think there's a little bit of
a flaw here because the commentators look at Clinton voters as a sub
prime mortgage. The Clinton Voters can be packaged up and bundled up
and delivered to Senator Obama. The truth of the matter is Senator
Clinton or President Clinton can say some very complimentary things but
that's part of the deal. Senator Obama has to go out and close the
deal. He is the one that needs their votes. So the more important of
the three speeches in terms of those voters is to be his speech on
Thursday night. I expect him to do a very good job. HE is the person
who has to move these voters - we tend to forget this."
James Carville is absolutely right when he explained that the Clinton
voters can not be packaged and delivered to Obama. Senator Clinton did
not hypnotize and/or brain-wash her voters to vote for her. She can not
control who they choose to vote for now that she is no longer an
option. Yes, she pointed out the differences in herself and Senator
Obama while campaigning and stated that she believed she was the better
qualified (sometimes with a dramatic tone), any
candidate would. But Senator Obama has to convince them now that
he is the better qualified candidate to win their vote in the General
Election. If Senator Barack Obama loses the general election it is
because he was not a good enough candidate, end of that story!
And with all due respect (and I do respect the brilliant mind and keen
wit of Mr. Carville), James Carville was wrong about one thing... I am
hearing a lot of commentators on television noting what a great job
Hillary did with her speech. I would love to know who wrote the speech
because it was genius. If I had to guess I would say Hillary with
contributions from Chelsea but maybe I am just hoping.
Thank you Senator Clinton and "keep going", I am behind you all the way!
Don't waste any time (or any more time) on the VP picks and the polls
ladies and gentlemen. This is all you need to know. Actually, I'm
thinking maybe this is a better way to pick the next president of
the United States of America. No need for primaries and campaigns and
national conventions and general elections... just let Howard Dean and
Mike Duncan pick a party candidate then race a couple of thoroughbred
cockroaches, one for each party and let the best roach win. That is
sort of how we do it now but we spend about 2 or 3 billion dollars
before it is all over on election day. Adios Cucarachas
August 19, 2008
And the wheels on the bus go round and round... http://www.usatoday.com/news/military/2008-08-18-iraqtanks_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip
This is so sad to me. War is sad and totally useless. No good comes
from it. Humankind has been at it for as long as there has been
humankind and that is a very long time. Enough time to learn better. It
is hard to find any optimism for nobility, excellence and/or altruism
on this planet. We seem to be devolving fast!
On a lighter note...
Check out this short video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghSq0z0IZbI&NR=1
and tell me, who is amusing who? Is the dog amusing the girl or the
girl amusing the dog? Maybe the girl is annoying the dog? Clearly, the
girl is amused. Adios muchachos
August 9, 2008
This morning's Sunrise
What is that on yon horizon? The 2008 Pennington Hot Air Balloon
Championship in Baton Rouge, Louisiana is what that is on yon horizon.
This morning was the most perfect morning for a balloon event. It was around
70 degrees fahrenheit with a comfortable humidity and just a slight
breeze. The guys and gals in the baskets were dropping flags at a
target. They were allowed to come within one inch of the ground. Some
came down low and others took longer shots. A time or two the announcer
asked the spectators to move back in fear they would get clipped in the
head by a basket. It is quite breath-taking to watch a balloon descend
right over your head! This was my third hot air balloon event and if
you have never been to a hot air balloon competition I suggest you try
to attend at least one in your lifetime. It is worth getting up for in
this viewer's opinion.
Peace Out
August 3, 2008
Well I finally got around to it... this is the newest Bass Pro Shop and
it is right here in Denham Springs, LA. I am familiar with Bass Pro
Shop only because they brought one to Sevierville, TN when I lived in Knox county and I remember
reading about the controversy in the Knox News at the time. I'm not
sure why there is controversy ... it seems like a sure way to bring
retail business to a city but none the less, some people are agin' it.
Maybe it is the same people that don't want a Walmart in their
neighborhood. I'm not sure, I just know the Bass Pro Shop
catches your eye from the Interstate.
The Denham Springs store opened February 6, 2008. It has a 65,000
person capacity and 15,000 showed up for opening night. Bass Pro Shops
have been described as part museum, part art gallery, part conservation
education and entertainment centers. For the record, I am not an
outdoor/sporting/fishing sort of gal so I knew there would be
nothing in
the store that I wanted to buy but... I am a museum sort of gal and I
had read and heard enough about
the sights to see inside that I knew I would have to go check it out.
So check it out I did.
It was just as I expected. Mostly a big warehouse sporting goods store
with moderate prices (I've seen better and I've sure seen worse price
tags). But the interesting sights were the art work, (almost every inch
of wall space is a mural) the taxidermy (I'm not a fan of taxidermy but
if you are you should check this place out) and as with all retail
stores, the customers (if you are a people watcher that is).
Now I've been there and done that and I had myself some fun. I don't
think I will ever have a need to return but it was worth seeing once.
July 24, 2008
Here's one for you...
Teachers taught what not to wear
(http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/25841174.html)
When I read this I had a couple of thoughts ...
1) Is this a joke? Just some fun with irony maybe? I hope?
2) Do you think the teachers have trouble reading and comprehending the
Dress Code so that the management/leaders had to demonstrate to them
what not to wear? Really?
3) Who wrote the Dress Code? They do have one, right?
4) Is this News?
1 a: a report of recent eventsb: previously unknown information <I've got news for you>c: something having a specified influence or effect <the rain was good news for lawns and gardens — Garrison Keillor><the virus was bad news>2 a: material reported in a newspaper or news periodical or on a newscastb: matter that is newsworthy3: newscast Merriam Webster
Alrighty then... I guess so. Let's just throw this on the pile of wacky weekly news stories!
For a really good time, be
sure and read the comments at the end of the article. And I won't close
out this topic (A Wacky Week of News Stories) until Saturday night just in case there are more... don't want to miss anything. Peace Out
July 22, 2008
Say, I know it's only Tuesday but I'm predicting a wacky week. Yesterday I read the following news story...
Four years ago I would not have believed this could happen...http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/07/17/presidential.putdown.ap/index.html
A sewage plant needs a name - no problem - name it in honor of George W
Bush - there could be no more fitting honor for the man. Four years
ago I would have thought it appropriate but at the same time
I would have bet money that not many others would agree (and they
probably wouldn't have). But what a difference a few years make! Oh I
do hope the people of San Francisco vote to have a George W Bush
Sewage Plant this fall.
July 7, 2008
Hypocrite: 1. a
person who puts on a false appearance of virtue or religion 2. a person
who acts in contradiction to his or her stated beliefs or feelings.
(Merriam-Webster) http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/24001269.html
WELCOME to Jen's
view from Baton Rouge, Louisiana
There, that's a little better.
It is truly a new day dawning in America and the world! Let's take a
big collective breath, then step into the future with purpose.
Congratulations President Obama. Let's roll!
Well I finally got around to it... this is the newest Bass Pro Shop and
it is right here in Denham Springs, LA. I am familiar with Bass Pro
Shop only because they brought one to Sevierville, TN when I lived in Knox county and I remember
reading about the controversy in the Knox News at the time. I'm not
sure why there is controversy ... it seems like a sure way to bring
retail business to a city but none the less, some people are agin' it.
Maybe it is the same people that don't want a Walmart in their
neighborhood. I'm not sure, I just know the Bass Pro Shop
catches your eye from the Interstate. 
Say, I know it's only Tuesday but I'm predicting a wacky week. Yesterday I read the following 
