So long Betty Page, Queen of the Pin Ups during the 50's. She was a curvaceous 5'5" icon with a killer smile. She became deeply religious later in life but rarely, if ever, went to church. From 1951 to 1957 her killer curves graced many a publication. She was a sexual trailblazer with her photos of cheesecake and bondage. She modeled the taboo.
Modeling wasn't what she wanted---she wanted to be an actress. She was born, April 22, 1923,the second of six children. She grew up in poverty working on a family farm 30 miles west of Nashville. After her father got a 15 year old pregnant her mother fled with the children to Nashville and the poverty got worse. She and her sisters played make believe acting to escape their dreary life. Things were not good. Her father had molested her and she became very introverted because of it.
In her late 20's and early 30's she became a pin up hit. She was considered the most photographed model of the day.
She'd relished the attention but when her modeling days ended she lived a fairly reclusive life. She has a place in history.
So, so long Betty, have a wonderful journey. We'll always remember you.
In these economic times it pays to do whatever you can to save money. Even though my husband and I are not really affected financially, we're frugal cows! We are fortunate to own our home free and clear; same with our vehicles.
When we came to look at this home to purchase it we were surprised. Why? Well, because it had something that I knew a great deal about. It had Der "Original-Kachelofen" von Sommerhuber. Now, you ask, "what the hell is that?" LOL It's a German ceramic stove. You see, I lived in Germany for 5 years and had these things in my home there. The ceramics for the stove are made by the Sommerhuber company in Germany. The people that owned this home before us were German and had the thing imported and built. It's awesome, huge---and heavy! It weighs a ton and they had to have steel beams put in under the flooring to hold it. It is wood burning. It contains a tall, narrow firebox. Because of that we only need to burn 6 pieces of hard wood twice a day. That heats the entire kitchen, breakfast room (formerly a wasted family room) and master bathroom. It radiates heat outward for 12 hours per burn without drying the daylights out of everything. It also helps that we have ceramic tile floors in these rooms. Needless to say, it cuts our heating bill dramatically.
Not everyone can have one of these but if you ever consider adding a fireplace---forget it. Get one of these instead. If I were to build a home today that's exactly what I'd do. They come in many shapes and sizes. Some you can even cook in, some have benches attached and others you can view the fire better than ours. We absolutely love it. We also have another one in the basement. We have a full basement and it has no heating but this stove. For safety purposes the basement stove is connected electrically to a thermostat. We only need use it when we're hanging out down there. The basement one is interesting in that the tiles are 3-D reliefs of German forest animals. The upstairs one is in traditional German green and gold tiles...not exactly a thrilling decorative choice but, hey, I'm not one to complain.
Here are some photos of my stove. As you can see it wraps around from the kitchen into the breakfast room. We put all kinds of crap on it! Like dog food cans because it makes them warm for the critters.
This site has some photos of other styles of the stoves. Click on stoves/fireplaces in the left hand column to get some other views.
Other things we do to cut the heating bill are keep the thermostat at 66 for the rest of the house, wear sweaters and socks and we have many lovely blanket throws. We also check the doors and windows for any cold leaks. Any and every thing you can do helps to keep you warm and save money at the same time.
Well, it just never fails to embarrass. That "it" would be Illinois politics and today the Governor, Rod Blagojevich. He was taken into Federal custody this morning at his North Side home. His Chief of Staff, John Harris, was also arrested. They are expected to be arraigned this afternoon. Needless to say , this has been a long time coming. Blago has had issues for as long time...like the one with his in laws and then we have Rezko.
The Illinois Governorship has always been a powerful office. It's also been filled with tons of patronage junk. That makes it very easy for corruption to flourish. As if Blago didn't have enough problems it seems he was apparently "selling" the office of replacement Senator to the highest bidder. He wanted to "make money" because he was financially distraught. Waaaa. Stupidly he had conversations about that and they were recorded. DUH! You'd think after our previous Governor, Ryan, was convicted and now sits in prison that Blago would have been smarter. Not so apparently. Power and greed seem to overwhelm common sense and decency. Frankly, Blago deserves this.
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS, EASTERN DIVISION UNITED STATES OF AMERICA UNDER SEAL V. CRIMINAL COMPLAINT ROD R. BLAGOJEVICH, and JOHN HARRIS
Count One
From in or about 2002 to the present, in Cook County, in the Northern District of Illinois, defendants did, conspire with each other and with others to devise and participate in a scheme to defraud the State of Illinois and the people of the State of Illinois of the honest services of ROD R. BLAGOJEVICH and JOHN HARRIS, in furtherance of which the mails and interstate wire communications would be used, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1341,1343, and 1346; all in violation of Title 18 United States Code, Section 1349.
Count Two
Beginning no later than November 2008 to the present, in Cook County, in the Northern District of Illinois, defendants ROD R. BLAGOJEVICH and JOHN HARRIS, being agents of the State of Illinois, a State government which during a one-year period, beginning January 1, 2008 and continuing to the present, received federal benefits in excess of $10,000, corruptly solicited and demanded a thing of value, namely, the firing of certain Chicago Tribune editorial members responsible for widely-circulated editorials critical of ROD R. BLAGOJEVICH, intending to be influenced and rewarded in connection with business and transactions of the State of Illinois involving a thing of value of $5,000 or more, namely, the provision of millions of dollars in financial assistance by the State of Illinois, including through the Illinois Finance Authority, an agency of the State of Illinois, to the Tribune Company involving the Wrigley Field baseball stadium; in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 666(a)(1)(B) and 2.
It's a 76 page indictment.
A Portion of the Press Release from the U.S. Dept. of Justice.
ILLINOIS GOV. ROD R. BLAGOJEVICH AND HIS CHIEF OF STAFF JOHN HARRIS ARRESTED ON FEDERAL CORRUPTION CHARGES
Blagojevich and aide allegedly conspired to sell U.S. Senate appointment, engaged in“pay-to-play” schemes and threatened to withhold state assistance to Tribune Companyfor Wrigley Field to induce purge of newspaper editorial writers.
CHICAGO – Illinois Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich and his Chief of Staff, John Harris, were arrested today by FBI agents on federal corruption charges alleging that they and others are engaging in ongoing criminal activity: conspiring to obtain personal financial benefits for Blagojevich by leveraging his sole authority to appoint a United States Senator; threatening to withhold substantial state assistance to the Tribune Company in connection with the sale of Wrigley Field to induce the firing of Chicago Tribune editorial board members sharply critical of Blagojevich; and to obtain campaign contributions in exchange for official actions – both historically and now in a push before a new state ethics law takes effect January 1, 2009. Blagojevich, 51, and Harris, 46, both of Chicago, were each charged with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and solicitation of bribery. They were charged in a two-count criminal complaint that was sworn out on Sunday and unsealed today following their arrests, which occurred without incident, announced Patrick J. Fitzgerald, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Robert D. Grant, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Both men were expected to appear later today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Nan Nolan in U.S. District Court in Chicago.
I would say Blago is most likely toast. Maybe he'll get a cell next to Ryan. We've had 2 previous Governors serve prison time: Democrat Daniel Walker who was Governor from 1973 to 1977. He was convicted of "improprieties" during the Savings and Loan scandal in 1987 and served two years in federal prison. And our latest, George Ryan who was Governor from 1999 to 2003. Before that he was Secretary of State and that's where he screwed up. The "license of Bribes" scandal led to many other investigations and in 2003 he was indicted on 18 counts of Federal racketeering...he was convicted of all 18 counts in 2006. As Secretary of State, his office took bribes from large companies to get truck driving licenses for their employees, instead of having them pass a test. When a truck driver with an illegal license killed six children from one family in a horrific traffic accident, the feds took notice and began investigating the Secretary of State's office. Instead of halting the practice of issuing licenses for bribes, Ryan allegedly tried to halt the investigation. He's now sitting in prison. Oh, but before he left he eliminated all the death sentences...saying he personally read all the cases which is a big freaking L.I.E. Whatever, he's crying now.
When you have to raise millions of dollars to get elected you are ripe for corruption. Especially here in Illinois where corruption in King/Queen.
UPDATE: State Representative John Fritchey (D) (from Blagojevich's home district), head of the House Judiciary committee, said impeachment proceedings will begin immediately. Excellent! Let's see if they really do this. I guess they're going to convene a special session of the legislature in order to get some things passed that will allow for a special election. Otherwise, in Illinois, it's the Gov and the Gov alone that has the power to appoint a replacement Senator.
Oh, it just keeps getting better. It appears that Rahm Emmanuel may have contacted Fitzgerald in expediting Blago's arrest. Why? Well, one of the suggested people for Obama's Senate seat was Valerie Jarrett. Then, abruptly, her name was withdrawn. We'll have to see how that bit of speculation on Rahm and Jarrett pans out. Apparently, Obama refused to give Blago anything in exchange for this seat but "appreciation" and Blago didn't like that. Blago's response was "f them". Heh, we shall see who getting F'd now for being a corrupt asshat.
According to some local Fox news video:
CONATY: We did receive a tip this morning that perhaps all of this came together so quickly because the Governor may have reached out to Rahm Emanuel, the president-elect’s chief of staff, in attempting to leverage filling the Senate seat. And it may have been Rahm Emanuel who tipped the scale and made this move as quickly as it did.
Ok, now Rahm's people are saying that story about him dropping a dime on Blago is baloney. Just the result of overzealous reporting. Probably true. At this point I couldn't care less if my cat had called Fitz. I'm just glad Blago is finished. He should just resign and let our Lt. Gov. Quinn take over. He's a good guy.
Yes, today the SCOTUS denied Donofrio v Wells. This was for an emergency stay only. A stay designed to stop the Electoral College from certifying Obama as President. Now, Donofrio may still file a writ for certiorari but good luck with that. What a maroon.
Of course, he's not the only one enlisted in the tin foil hat brigade. There's also P. Berg and Alan Keyes and a host of other sycophants ready with their time-wasting BS petitions. All this birth certificate nonsense is just that---nonsense.
No matter how many fact checkers have shown there's nothing wrong with Obama's BC these freepers would still rather see this:
HA!
Oh yes, and some think it's highly weird that Justice Thomas (the absolute worst SCJ eva) referred this silly thing to the full court for consideration--- it's not. Let's be clear on the process here, Donofrio handed this garbage to Justice Souter and he denied it. Now, the next action was for Donofrio to take it to another Justice---which he did. Weird? No.
Per SUPREME COURT OF THE U.S. - RULES ..Part V. Motions and Applications, Rule 22.4 :
4. A Justice denying an application will note the denial thereon. Thereafter, unless action thereon is restricted by law to the Circuit Justice or is untimely under Rule 30.2, the party making an application, except in the case of an application for an extension of time, may renew it to any other Justice, subject to the provisions of this Rule. Except when the denial is without prejudice, a renewed application is not favored. Renewed application is made by a letter to the Clerk, designating the Justice to whom the application is to be directed, and accompanied by 10 copies of the original application and proof of service as required by Rule 29.
Of course, I don't expect the insanity to stop as long as Obama is President. Meanwhile, the freepers' heads explode as they think up another stupid trick to make them more irrelevant. Alas, they're sinking fast, hoping against hope for a marvelous outcome that will deny Obama the Presidency. So, while they're sinking I'll throw them this
Yes, I have returned. It's been crazy here and my time was better spent off line. Anyway, so much has happened; in the world and locally.
Locally: The trial is over for now. There were 3 defendants: 1 female Dr. and 2 males. The case was medical malpractice related to the death of a child. It was one hell of a case. The female Dr. had a judgment rendered in her favor the rest was a mistrial. This was also the second time this case has been to court. The Judge will retain the case. I think it's nuts to try it again. Let me give a synopsis of the case.
The death of a 10 year old girl from Crohn's disease, DIC...she bled out because of severe internal rupture of GI system. Now, the case was sad but unfortunate and I don't believe these Doctors could have done more than what they did with the information they were given and the time line involved.
Time line:
Mother goes to regular Pediatrician for check up in Nov. 2001 ( female and male Dr.'s), no complaints. Mother next takes daughter to Peds Docs in March of following year for school check-up and says during this time that child had blood in stool. CBC done and manual exam done. No frank blood seen. Hgb (hemoglobin) comes back normal for child's age (12.1, all other signs normal: pulse, resp., BP, weight, etc.) If any signs recur to contact Dr.
Next medical contact is August of that year in the ER. ER Dr. (1 of the defendants) sees child...he's never seen her previously. Mother says child has had blood in stool for a year and has abdominal pain. BP normal, pulse:110, Resp. 20...Now pulse and resp and high but could be attributed to child being scared and in pain (these 2 factors can raise these values...in a perfect world a second set of vitals would have been done...we don't live in a perfect world). Stool culture done and was normal...no occult or frank blood. Blood work shows child's Hgb now at 10.3 which is very low for a normal 10 year old...could indicate internal bleeding. Child shows no pain upon exam. Mother told to contact regular Dr. or the Hospital's Pediatrician if problems recur. Child released to parent.
Next contact is Nov. when Mother takes child to regular Peds Doc and says blood in stool and abdominal pain. Makes no mention of ER visit in August. Dr. exam negative for blood in anal canal/stool /pain but indicated weight loss of 13 lbs. since previously seen in March.. Writes order for blood work but lab is closed so Mother comes back in 2 days, gets blood drawn and results sent to Dr. Child's blood work again shows Hgb of 10.3. Dr. spends 2 days leaving messages and playing phone tag with Mother. He's not sure what's going on but asks her to bring child in again for further exam. He doesn't hear from Mother that weekend and by Monday child is dead.
Autopsy shows Crohn's disease and DIC are cause of death. Mother sues on behalf of child's estate.
Ok, this case is a heart breaker. However, part of good medicine is parents giving appropriate info and taking action immediately, not months later. At the final Dr. visit this Pediatrician had no idea there had been an Hgb level of 10.3 since August. The Mother didn't mention it and no test results were forwarded to the regular Dr. This was his first time seeing this. Had he seen it previously, he would've taken different action. For me there was too much time between child being seen and bouts of blood in stool. Keep in mind that Crohn's disease has flare ups and remissions and is not easy to diagnose in a child. The child should have been seen by her Dr. the day the Mother saw the blood in stool or if unavailable, taken to ER and regular Dr. contacted immediately. None of that was ever done.
Now, the female Peds Doc was not seeing this child regularly and so a judgment was rendered, in her favor, that removed her from the case. As far as the ER Dr., he had no other info than what the Mother gave him. He did tell her to see her regular Dr. or the Hospital's Peds Doc if problems recur. Now he (or the nurses) could have taken another set of vitals. He could have referred her to a Pediatric GI Doc or even called in a Peds GI Doc but ER's being what they are that didn't happen. He did what many Er docs do...refer to regular Pediatrician.
The regular Peds Doc was at a loss for information. He had never seen the child's Hgb at 10.3 previously, had no info from the ER visit, didn't even know she went to the ER in August(there was no process in place at the time to forward the ER info to the regular physician) and did call the Mother when he got results for further exam. He was really being sued because he didn't have a crystal ball that could tell him the past and possible future outcome.
It was a tough case but this happens in many medical malpractice cases...they sue everyone possible hoping someone pays up prior to going to court. I seriously doubt this case will be heard again in court. According to the Mothers' statements there were many occurrences of bloody stool for which she did not have the child seen. My question was that if she told the ER Dr. that this had been going on for a year then why was there basically no documentation to support that anywhere.(One instance back in March but nothing previously and since she saw the Er Dr. in August that would presume the child had these occurrences since the previous August but that was not the case according to the records.) I hate to say this but if it isn't documented it wasn't done is a pretty cardinal rule in medicine. While the loss of a child is horrific it is incumbent upon parents to take action immediately and give all relevant info to the physician.
The problems with Crohn's disease are that the remissions may be long and while seen in younger children it usually occurs in the early teens. There are so many symptoms that may be confused with other diseases. Doctors are not God.
McCain has been beaten by the same people that killed him in 2000. The only difference? This time they were working for him! Karma, baby, Karma. Hopefully this is the END of Atwater/Rove dirty, nasty campaigns. Back to the Senate for McCain. Maybe he'll retire since he's lost his dignity, honor and integrity. Say hello to President Barack Hussein Obama!
Here's part four of the Wasilla Project. This discusses her use of private email accounts. Very interesting. She's a very sneaky person. So much for open and transparent government in Alaska---or anywhere else she may end up.
Oh yeah. I had to go downtown to the Daley Center today to hang around with my jury duty notice to see if I ended up getting picked. I did! Yikes! LOL It's going to be civil case and the judge said it will likely last 2 weeks. That's a ton of time for a civil case. All I can say is that it's a medical malpractice case.
I'll write about it after it's over. I will say that voir dire was an interesting thing.
So, for 2 weeks I have to drag myself out of bed and wake up early, drive downtown with my husband and hang out in my husband's office for 2.5 hours before floating to court. The people there crack me up. They tried grilling me about the case and I said "no, no no---you all know husband is a lawyer, he'd have to report me!" LOL They were just kidding anyway. Not sure how much posting I'll feel like doing after I get home.
One cool thing though. I met this woman in the jury pool and we had a great time chatting. Found out we both have a great many of the same interests and are the same age, similar backgrounds and will be meeting up downtown to get together. She did not get chosen for the trial. Interesting way to meet new people.
Now we enter the Panama Canal. It was breathtaking in it's beauty. An incredible feat for the men that built it.
Panama Canal entrance from the Pacific side at 5:00 A.M.
The ships behind us entering the first set of locks.
The Bridge of the Americas.
Our ship, the Infinity, tendered in Gatun Lake. We then took off on a side trip.
Boating up the Chagres River in Panama.
More Chagres River scenery. We jumped out of our boat and took a 45 minute walk in the rainforest.
The Gatun Locks. We hung out watching the big ships maneuver their way through.
The Embara Indians of Panama. These people still live the way they did hundreds of years ago.
Aruba!
Dad on our deck as we were leaving Aruba.
One of our last sunsets at sea. We were at sea for 2 days before ending our trip in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.
I took over 500 pictures on our cruise and will always have those memories. I'm thrilled that I got to do something such as this for my Dad. Never take for granted that your parents will always be around. Spend as much time as you can with them because you never know what may happen. Do something wonderful for them if you can. Love ya, Dad.
I have spent the last few days dealing with my Dad's diagnosis. I had to call siblings and family and explain what it meant. Was not fun. But now I want to show you some fun.
In 2006, my husband and I asked my Dad where he would like to visit if he could go anywhere in the world. He replied: "The Panama Canal." So we went about booking a 2 week cruise through the Panama Canal. We had a fantastic, huge room at the back of the ship Infinity with an awesome view. After the cruise was over my Dad wrote me a letter stating that it was the trip of a lifetime. He'd never taken a 2 week vacation and had never been on a cruise ship or out of the U.S.A. really---ok, I don't count taking him to Tijuana when I lived in San Diego. Anyway, the 3 of us had a blast. Enjoy the photos.
In L.A. getting ready to begin the cruise after going through emergency procedures. Dad is such a nut!
First stop in Cabo San Lucas
Winning at the slot machines!
Acapulco, Mexico cliff divers.
Huataulco, Mexico. We spent the whole day on the beach with drinks, food and beach chairs for only $31.00!
Passed out in the sun on our way to Costa Rica.
In the hills of Costa Rica. These 2 little girls were lovely and spoke English and Spanish to my Dad. They followed him around and he met their father. He thought they were beautiful.
In part 2, Palin gives her definition of what constitutes a terrorist. Bill Ayers of course but not abortion clinic bombers according to Sarah. McCain still ragging on about not knowing the extent of relationship of Ayers and Obama. How utterly stupid.
Next they both give their definition of who or what is an elite. My gawd, this woman can't string a coherent sentence together. McCain insults. NYC and DC.
Buwahahaha Palin is asked if she's a feminist! Remember McCain went after the liberal feminists. Oh sheesh, she really thinks she represents American women...I don't think so..also, also, also.
Brian Williams interview with McCain and Palin. My heavens that woman is clueless. She never answers a question. She just talks word salad, you betcha, also. Gah! Help save the English language from her. McCain reminds me of, well, just ewwww. That nasty smirk of his is annoying. These 2 people look very uncomfortable with each other. She'll release her medical records she says when all along the campaign said no way. John seems a tad testy in parts. It's a long video---nearly 12 minutes. I think they know they are losing.
EDIT I have now developed an unnatural fear of using the word ALSO! Arghhhhh!
Yes, today I received bad news---about my Dad. He visited my MI. home for 3 weeks this summer and I noticed he wasn't the same man. He would forget things I had just told him although his long-term memory was pretty good. Being a nurse, I called my stepmother and told her what I had seen. She, too, had been noticing changes. He was angry and argumentative and forgetful more than usual. I told her then he needed to see a Doctor. She did take him to see a Neurologist. The diagnosis is exactly what I assumed---Alzheimer's Disease. Damn! This bites. He's on meds but I know this is an ugly progressive disease. My great grandmother had it ( not his grandmother, my mother's). So, it falls to me to tell the rest of my siblings. What a sucky day.
My Dad knows and understands his diagnosis but he's trying to keep his sense of humor for now. I could just cry my eyeballs dry over this. I love ya, Dad. I'll be there for you.
John McCain and Sarah Palin have spent the last few days slamming Barack Obama for his comment to Joe the plumber. Needless to say they have completely left out the context of the entire conversation. McCain has used this as a talking point to press his idea that it means higher taxes on small business and middle class people. This is false. If your net income is $250,000, yes, your taxes would be higher but that is NOT middle class. He's throwing the word "socialism" around a great deal and so are his supporters. I highly doubt many of them know what that word even means but it's a good buzz word. Alas, here's a what socialism really is:
Social and economic doctrine that calls for public rather than private ownership or control of property and natural resources. According to the socialist view, individuals do not live or work in isolation but live in cooperation with one another. Furthermore, everything that people produce is in some sense a social product, and everyone who contributes to the production of a good is entitled to a share in it. Society as a whole, therefore, should own or at least control property for the benefit of all its members.
Barack Obama, raising taxes on those making $250,000 or more is not socialism. No one has proposed nationalizing anything. In fact, it will only be a 3% raise to 39%---back to where it was during Clinton's Presidency when we ended up with a surplus.
For some reason McCain , this election season, doesn't think the rich should pay higher taxes. But that's NOT what he thought in the year 2000. Watch this video and question from a Doctor's daughter.
Here's a partial transcipt from McCain's remarks to that young lady:
But I believe that when you really look at the tax code today, the very wealthy, because they can afford tax lawyers and all kinds of loopholes, really don't pay nearly as much as you think they do when you just look at the percentages. And I think middle-income Americans, working Americans, when the account and payroll taxes, sales taxes, mortgage pay -- all of the taxes that working Americans pay, I think they -- you would think that they also deserve significant relief, in my view...
I did notice that young lady shaking her head. Guess she doesn't think wealthy Daddy should pay more. Maybe Daddy needs to manage his money better. Our progressive tax code does make those making lots of money pay more as they should. I'll never understand how someone making lots of money has the temerity to whine. My husband and I certainly don't whine about what we pay. We expect to pay more because of the money my husband makes. It is patriotic to pay your taxes.
Interestingly, in 2000, McCain thought wealthy people should pay more. Ah, but now he sings a different tune. I guess John doesn't understand yet that you tube exists and what he says is actually recorded! Just another one of McCain's flip flops, er, changes of mind. Yeah, right.
Even The Daily Show showed a portion of this video from 2000 to call out McCain.
Amazing how eight years have changed his tune. What's also amazing is how utterly ignorant so many of his supporters are of the tax codes and the deductions allowed.
Many of us take our right to vote for granted. Imagine what is must have been like to want to vote but told you weren't allowed because of your gender or race. Thankfully, I'll never have to experience that. Someday I hope to be able to vote for a qualified woman for President but I have no problem voting for Barack Obama. It gives me hope that this country will make more extraordinary changes as time goes by.
Now imagine being an African-American woman aged 106! Yes, Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old and cast her vote for Barack Obama. Although she's now in a wheelchair she was dancing until she was 103. She was assisted to the voting booth and used the touch screen to do just that today.
An incredible woman with an incredible story.
Ann and her husband, the late Dr.Albert Cooper, a dentist, taken in 1922
The African-American centenarian remembers a time not long ago when she was barred from voting because of her race. Now she hopes to see the day that Obama is elected as the nation's first black president.
"I ain't got time to die," Cooper said with a smile.
"Even if he didn't win, I was happy for him just to be nominated," said the former socialite. "The first black president -- isn't that something, at 106 years old?"
At the Fulton County government center, Cooper was greeted by Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin.
"I thought that I would accompany her today to support her, but also to say to all people that this is a choice we have," Franklin said.
"As all Americans, we should cherish the right to vote and take every opportunity we have to vote our opinions. She is an inspiration to me personally, but she is also quite an inspiration to all Atlanta."
Never stay home. Always vote. Never assume your vote doesn't count. Even if you have to leave a blank by a specific candidate there are always others on the ballot. If you don't vote you waste a chance to make a difference. It takes all of us to contribute to this great nation. VOTE!!
OK, this is bizarre. We all know that McCain is hurting for money. As of October 1st he had $47 million cash on hand to use in his campaign. We've also just heard Rick Davis hold a conference call questioning the validity of Obama's small donors. Well, don't they have cojones! Now the McCain campaign has sent a letter to Russia's Permanent mission to the U.N asking for a cash donation of $5000 for his election campaign!
Russia's permanent mission to the UN has received a letter from U.S. Republican presidential candidate John McCain asking for financial support of his election campaign, the mission said in a statement on Monday.
"We have received a letter from Senator John McCain with a request for a financial donation to his presidential election campaign. In this respect we have to reiterate that neither Russia's permanent mission to the UN nor the Russian government or its officials finance political activities in foreign countries," the statement said.
Enclosed was a request for a donation of up to $5,000 to McCain's election campaign to be returned with a check or permission to withdraw the money from the donor's credit card until October 24.
Oh.My.God. $5000??!! Knowing that by law campaign contributions are capped at $2300 and can NOT be accepted from foreign nationals.It's just too funny! HA! Whether this is an error or a prank is irrelevant to me at this point. McCain has destroyed any honor he thought he had before this vile, ugly campaign.
Well, I just wasted 15 minutes of my life. I called in to the conference call given by Rick Davis regarding the McCain campaign's questioning of Obama's fund raising in September. Here's the rundown of what Davis hit on.
1.) Question qualifications of donors.
2.) Not reporting on donors that gave less than $200.
3.) Not enough transparency.
4.) Obama never called McCain about taking public financing. Wants public dialog.
5.) Looking for improprieties now instead of later. People in Gaza bought $30,000 worth of t-shirts. ( that money was donated to charity )
6. )Wants all donations publicly searchable.
7.) Says Obama could get largest FEC fine ever.
8.) ACORN, ACORN ACORN
9.) McCain will be audited because of taking FEC funds but lingering questions as to whether Obama will be audited
End of Davis's whining. Next up were 5 questions.All questions asked by trad media and none allowed by anyone else that called in. That's bull. He should take questions from "regular" people since that's their big mantra in the campaign. I used my business identification but to no avail. Questions were asked by Laura of WSJ, Klein of ABC, Jim of AP, Jill of Chicago Trib and J Martin of Politico.
Questions were about the financial mismatch McCain finds himself in, does Obama's fund raising surprise you, they spent $22 million in Sept and how much of that was in conjunction with the RNC so as to stretch the money, why do your internal poll numbers differ from what's been reported and why are you still campaigning in PA., and what is your cash on hand and do you expect any help from outside third party groups that have been dormant.
Basically I heard massive spin: Yes they'd like more money and there must be something sinister about Obama's fund raising, ie., the donors, all McCain has to do to win is win his base, vast majority of September ads were hybrid ads with RNC, we love PA. and don't believe the naysayers and think we will win PA because Clinton beat Obama there in primaries, and no clue on third party groups and wants to know that every one of Obama's donations came from legitimate U.S. groups.
I think they see the handwriting on the wall. McCain couldn't get the numbers of people to donate that Obama did so , of course, question the source. The average small donor to Obama gave $84. Plus donors of less than $200 do not have to be disclosed. Oooo sour grapes. I hate to tell Davis but you can NOT win with just your base. McCain needs independents which he has lost with his erratic and vulgar campaign. Denial is an ugly thing. They're getting slammed even in traditionally red states. I believe he knows exactly what third party groups are up to. Davis has been in politics a long time and he'd have to be totally stupid and clueless to not know. I assume Davis hasn't heard about that Republican that owns YPM getting arrested for voter registration fraud---his own by putting a false address down so he could legally operate in CA. Tsk, tsk, naughty boy. Plus the guy fraudulently got registrations from people by having them sign a so-called petition regarding child molesters. The people found out their party registration was changed, unknown by them, from Democrat to Republican. Davis talked a mile a minute like a man on meth and kept repeating things over and over. So, I learned nothing really except they are looking for any angle to shore up their flailing campaign and I guess insulting small donors is the ticket for today.
I love anything connected to science. This short gif comes from a story reported earlier this month about a Solar storm that ripped the tail off Comet Encke.
From the article:
Comets are known as dirty snowballs. As they approach the Sun, the constant solar wind picks away at their snowy exterior, creating the beautiful tail we see trailing behind. But sometimes the solar wind is replaced with a solar hurricane, and in the case of Comet Encke, its graceful tail was completely torn off.
Yep, 100,000 people showed up today in St. Louis according to the Wall Street Journal. Simply amazing.
I am so tired of Republicans trying to divide this country by calling those of us not supporting McCain/Palin anti-American or un-American. Yesterday we had Palin talking about pro-American parts of the country and Rep. Michele Bachmann(R-MN) asking the media to begin an in depth anti-American McCarthyesque expose on Democratic members of the House and Senate. Bachman's rhetoric may nail her as her opponent, El Tinklenberg, has raised over $177,000 ( at this time of writing and climbing ) from over 4000 donors in the 24 hours since she made her ignorant remark. You can donate to him here if you wish. I did because that woman needs to leave Congress. Then this afternoon we had Nancy Pfotenhauer say that Northern Virginia is not the real Virginia. Sheesh, what the heck is with these people? Desperation is not a pretty sight in the McCain campaign.
This is the third video in a wonderful series on the real Sarah Palin. This video discusses her claim as a fiscal conservative. In today's economic distress, it's fundamental that voters understand Palin's slight of hand when it comes to fiscal responsibility. Her economic understanding and ability appears to be non-existent.
OK, here's a story about a clueless man. My husband is an attorney. Last week he was in a meeting with the executive board and he felt something weird near his neck---a bump in his shirt. He thought maybe he left a dryer sheet in his shirt. So he gets up and goes into his office. He reaches down the back of his shirt, right below his neck and pulls out this:
BAHAHAHAHAHA, a flippin' cat toy! Oh. My. God!!! Good thing he didn't pull that out in the meeting. Can you imagine the looks he would have gotten? How the hell do you get dressed and not feel this thing? BAHAHAHAHA, he cracks me up...so clueless.
In last night's debate we heard about health care plans from both candidates. Now, as a nurse and respiratory care practitioner ( I'm retired now ) health care plans/insurance have always been of interest to me. I will agree that Americans have a responsibility to try and keep themselves healthy. However, there are health situations that can crop up unexpectedly and those situations can kill a family's finances. I've read both candidates' plans and McCain's plan is fraught with problems. Take a look at these 2 videos from last night.
Although my preference would be universal health care, I'll be happy with Obama's plan for now. Under his plan small businesses would be exempt from paying a fine for not having employee health care. Large businesses can afford to pay for employee health care. But I have seen and experienced, in the past, how large business reduces benefits in lieu of more profit. If you have an employer-based plan you would be able to keep it and if not you would be able to purchase insurance at a lower cost than you can now.
The annual premium that a health insurer charges an employer for a health plan covering a family of four averaged $12,100 in 2007.
If you didn't have employee health care and had to purchase it you could get a much lower rate by being able to purchase from a large national pool. As a singular family trying to buy insurance now you're screwed. You have no bargaining power or power to request a discount the rate. Another thing to keep in mind is that if someone gets ill and that amounts to many claims your renewal rate will increase or you could find your insurance nonrenewable at present. When you spread the risk over a large pool you pay less.
McCain's plan may sound good but in reality it's not. His plan has the potential to ruin the employer paid health care system we enjoy now. Where would you get the extra thousands to pay for your own plan? Plus, taxing that $5000 he'll give you as income just sucks. I was shocked when McCain condescendingly mocked "Cadillac" plans---oh, you mean like the plan YOU enjoy, John, through your job as a Senator? John likes to throw out that "government will control your health care" line but I don't hear him griping about his government plan.I'd like him to tell me what "transplants" he was mocking with that remark.
McCain's claim of being able to purchase insurance from out of state and of portability don't hold water. His idea is to open up health insurance to the market by deregulation just like the stock market. He actually stated that proposal in a magazine article last month. Needless to say that would be a nightmare. Turning this over to the individual states would be an insurer's dream because the disparity between state regulations on insurance coverage would turn into a circus. I can just see the mess that would create. How would he propose to get every insurer on the same page? How is he going to force insurers to not penalize people with pre-existing conditions? I can already see the Pavlovian insurance dogs salivating.
It's apparent to me that McCain just doesn't get it when it comes to health insurance. He's never had to pay for insurance on the market. Since the day he was born he's been covered by a government sponsored health plan. If he had to go out tomorrow and buy a private plan he'd be in trouble because of his pre-existing cancer. He'd either be paying through the butt, something McCain could actually afford to do, or un-insurable altogether.
This will not be an easy thing to fix but we must at least try to find a way to lower medical costs and provide affordable insurance. I'd welcome any feasible ideas.
In last nights debate Joe the plumber's name was mentioned approximately 27 times. Now, McCain's message was to leave the impression that Obama is a socialist with his "spread the wealth around" remark to Joe and Joe is average Joe-six pack, lowly working stiff. Not so fast. Let's examine who Joe is and what Obama's tax plan would mean to him.
First, here's the video of Obama talking to Joe in Ohio.
As far as I'm concerned the whole "spread the wealth around" comment was taken out of context. Plus if Joe is planning on purchasing a company that makes $250,000 to $280,000, he's not average Joe-six pack.
Yes, his tax rate will increase 3% from 36% to 39%, a marginal hike, but that won't affect his hiring. Plus if his net personal income is over $250,000 then his business is wildly successful. Obviously this guy has no clue about business finance if he thinks this increase would be a deal killer and he either should never buy the business or get a better accountant ( he shouldn't be a schedule C filer if he's making that much money ). Has this man never heard of business tax deductions? Does he understand the difference between gross and net business income?
The other question is who is Joe the plumber? Well, he's Joe Wurzelbacher and says he's from Toledo, Ohio. He also thinks Obama's plan is socialism. Interesting how his interview with Obama went straight to Fox News and the next day he shows up in Neil Cavuto's show. While he says he's surprised his name was mentioned in a presidential debate, I think he's little more than an opportunist or how else would we have a photo of Joe watching the debate in his living room.
In an interview with Katie Couric last night he said:
WURZELBACHER:"I mean I have a pretty good idea who I’m going to vote for but you know that’s my - you know, the nice thing about going into the booth is only me and the lever knows," he said. "I think McCain did a fine job this evening, I think he brought up some good points. I do like his health care and I do like his, where he stands on taxes."
COURIC: Well, he supposedly will raise taxes only on people who make over $250,000 a year. Would you be in that category?
WURZELBACHER: Not right now at presently, but, you know, question, so he's going to do that now for people who make $250,000 a year. When's he going to decide that $100,000 is too much, you know? I mean, you're on a slippery slope here. You vote on somebody who decides that $250,000 and you're rich? And $100,000 and you're rich? I mean, where does it end? You know, that's - people got to ask that question.
That's bit weird because I can't imagine anyone dropping the amount of net pay to see a tax increase. But that's a line Republicans continually use. Basically he's a guy that's supporting McCain.
From the Couric interview he's billed as uncommitted. Baloney.
Here's another thing---how can this guy act surprised when he's already being interviewed as soon as the debate ended? Something smells here with this guy. This guy also gave an interview to the conservative web site Family Security Matters on Oct. 15.
PM: Do you fear this is the possibility of America turning more down the socialist road if Obama does become elected and if he is able to implement these policies?
JW: Very much so. You start giving people stuff, and then they start expecting it – and that scares me. A lot of people expect it now. They get upset when their check’s late, they get upset when they don’t get as many benefits as they used to, or when different government agencies are cut or spending is cut here and there for whatever reason – people get upset at that. And that’s because they’re used to getting it and they want more. I mean, everyone’s always gonna want more. People work the system left and right to get more out of welfare, to get more out of state assistance, federal assistance. And if government’s there for them, they’re gonna keep on trying to manipulate it to get more out of it. You got people that come along and say, “Hey, I wanna help you people,” I mean, they’re all ears! They’re like, “Hey, you can help me more, I don’t have to work as hard, I don’t have to do as much, and you’re gonna give me this? Man, that’s great, you’re a good guy.”
Good grief, what horse puckey! Again with the poor people or struggling are going to get hand outs. Tell me, Joe, that it wouldn't be "working the system" for you to find every way to legally reduce your taxes. Sheesh!
Today Joe is making the rounds on teevee shows. He said on Good Morning America that he's registered to vote. Yet when looking through the Ohio voters registration his name doesn't show up at all. Now some have said his first name is Samuel but I couldn't find anything under that name either. He also said on GMA that McCain had called him before all this and asked him to come to rallies. Interestingly his name doesn't show up in the Ohio License lookup as a licensed/registered plumber and you must be licensed/registered as a plumber to buy this plumbing business he talked about in Ohio. Some blogs are also reporting that he already owns some businesses but I haven't seen that substantiated yet, so who knows. I am puzzled as to who this guy is really.
Whomever this guy is there's something just not right about him so conveniently coming on the scene. I have news for this guy. He's about to be investigated by every news organization out there and if there's anything fishy going on it won't end well for Joe the plumber.
UPDATE: I just heard Joe on MSNBC say he was registered in the Natural Law Party. WTF? He also did repeat that McCain called and asked him to come to rallies. He's not a small business owner either; he's a worker bee like many others. He sounds like an advocate of the flat tax...Ron Paul anyone? I don't like this guy and his 15 minutes of fame needs to end. He doesn't speak for everyman. He certainly doesn't speak for the blue-collar workers in my family.
SECOND UPDATE: Gah, now it appears Joe is a registered Republican.
Linda Howe, executive director of the Lucas County Board of Elections, said a Samuel Joseph Worzelbacher, whose address and age match Joe the Plumber’s, registered in Lucas County on Sept. 10, 1992. He voted in his first primary on March 4, 2008, registering as a Republican.
So, a name misspelling. Another reason NOT to purge voting rolls until things check out.
Tsk , tsk dude, you should know better. Plus there's all kinds of stuff in public records.
FOURTH UPDATE: Joe works for A. W. Newell Inc. It was incorporated in 1996 and has a grand total of 2 employees...Joe and the owner. Last year the company listed $130,000 in sales. So, according to that if Joe bought the business he WOULD get a tax break under Obama. Oh, this just makes this guy a liar since he told Obama the company made between $250,000 to $280,000. Joe also says he has no business plan ready to purchase the business. What a jerk McCain needs to stop portraying this dude as a business owner...he's not.Sheesh, I really don't like this guy. I still say this all sounds fishy.
...Um, whatevers. Yes, today the two fur bearing demons pictured below were neutered. They survived and are now in the process of finding every cat toy and beating them around the house.
Bacchus the beastly
Symba the psycho
Thank God. Once they hit puberty and the testosterone started flowing they became the household sex offenders. No animal was safe...including the poor hapless dogs. It was running, jumping, performing lewd movements, and meow howling! Hahaha. Oh my, hopefully they'll settle down in a week or so. Teenagers! I tell ya!
So this morning I woke up to the first day of early voting here in Illinois. Then I went and looked in the mirror. Oh. My. God. I have an infection in my left eye and it's all swollen, red and hurts to blink. Crap. I should go to the Doc. But I really want to vote. Sooooo, I take a shower, get dressed and don my sunglasses to hide my oh so attractive eye! Over to Arlington Heights I go at about 11:30 A.M. Not too bad a line. Mostly elderly people. The woman behind me is Republican ( she's carrying a republican fact sheet ) and she begins chatting to me. She was a pleasant person but I'm sure she was voting McCain/Palin.
So I wait. Chat and wait some more. My eye is hurting me. The woman in front of me is a nurse like me so we chat about nursing stuff. She's from India originally and is voting because she's leaving to fly to India to visit family. She says this is a very important vote and she wasn't going to miss it. She tells me she's voting Obama. I smiled.
OK, it's my turn to get my voting card. Off I go to the touch screen and I think it took me less than 7 minutes to finish. I read up on who's on the ballot so there's no messing around. Geezez, I really want to rub my eye. I vote: Obama/Biden, Dick Durbin for Senator and Dan Seals for Congress ( I really hope we say good-bye to Mark Kirk this time ). Yaaaaay, I'm done.
As I leave some overweight man in shorts ( Republican because he, too, is carrying a Republican voting guide ) says to me "I hope you voted the right way." I looked at him and said "Yes, I believe I did, the Democratic way." He looked floored and grumbled. I smiled and left. I swear it must be my white hair that makes people think I'm old and must be voting Republican. Hahahahaha I'm not that old! And I'm not dying my hair!
All in all, a good experience and I felt great after voting. I hope to see an Obama Presidency in November. Now, I'm going to go put a cold compress on my eye and call the Doc.
I just love this man. It was announced this morning that Paul Krugman, a Princeton professor and New York Times columnist, won the Nobel Prize in Economics...alone! He won "for his analysis of trade patterns and location of economic activity" according to the Nobel Prize website. He really is the smartest man around when it comes to economics and the mess we're in now. The announcement was in Yahoo biz news. You can also view the announcement at Nobel Prize dot Org
Krugman has been a harsh critic of the Bush administration and the Republican Party in The New York Times, where he writes a regular column and has a blog called "Conscience of a Liberal."
He has come out forcefully against John McCain during the economic meltdown, saying the Republican candidate is "more frightening now than he was a few weeks ago" and earlier that the GOP has become "the party of stupid."
The 55-year-old American economist was the lone of winner of the 10 million kronor ($1.4 million) award and the latest in a string of American researchers to be honored. It was only the second time since 2000 that a single laureate won the prize, which is typically shared by two or three researchers.
This bodes well for America. Mr. Krugman is also the author of many textbooks on macro/micro economics and one of his best books is The Conscience of a Liberal. You can find that book at your local book store or Amazon.com. It's a great book. Mr. Krugman also has a blog of the same name in the New York Times.
I love earrings and things but can never find what I really like or something that 10,000 other women don't have. I always want something simple, original, don't want to pay a zillion bucks and the department stores leave me disappointed. That led me to begin making my own many years ago. Now I make what I like and sell them. I love natural stones and Swarovski crystal so I try to find interesting colors. I use the most natural materials I can find. I love stones such as the different jaspers, agates, wood and others. For me, Swarovski crystal is simply the best. When I lived in Germany I had the opportunity to drive to Austria and visit their factory. That was impressive!
I have tons of earrings and necklaces and am always ready to show people what beads I have so they can choose something they like. They tell me what they want; color, material, necklace, earring and then I put together a design. I've found that when you let a customer design their own they are never happy with the result! When I make the wire earrings ( not the threaders ) I sell them with stoppers because there's nothing worse than losing an earring. I also make earrings that have post backs. I keep my prices reasonable and sell through email contact because I work out of my home or at my girlfriend's shop on occasion. It's fun and keeps me busy.
Here are some of the simple things I make.
Made with fresh water pearls, Swarovski crystal and bali silver. Focal bead is hand blown glass
Made with leopard jasper, Swarovski crystal and sterling silver beads and clasp
Made with fresh water pearls and gold vermeil and 14 kt. gold-filled threader ear wires.
Made with hand made glass focal bead and Swarovski crystal and sterling silver ear wires
Made with Murano glass focal bead ( Murano glass is incredible and is fused with gold in the glass blowing process ), vintage crackle glass secondary bead and gold vermeil, bead and ear wires.
Here's their second video.This video discusses Palin's social conservative stance and her use of religious affiliation to advance her political career. I take issue with using religion in the political arena. I remember reading how Sarah announced herself as the Christian running for mayor in Wasilla as though her opponent, John Stein, was something other...think Jew because of his last name. He's not, he's a Christian. But things got so ugly that he and his wife were forced to produce their marriage certificate all because his wife had kept her maiden name. Even with that done there were people that said it could've been forged! Sheesh, reminds me of all the nonsense over Barack Obama's birth certificate. The film discusses the issue of abortion that came up in Wasilla due to Sarah's injection of religion in local politics. This is another in their series of well made informational films.
What was the McCain campaign thinking in having Palin drop the puck at the opening game of the Flyers at the Wachovia Center? While the owner of the Flyers is huge GOP fan not all the audience were as noticed by the chorus of boos when Sarah Palin stepped on to the ice. Now hockey fans at NHL games are notoriously rowdy so why did she bring her 2 daughters Piper and Willow? She had to know she would get booed, right? Well, in fact, she did expect that and used her daughter Piper as a political shield. Courtesy of Fox News:
The GOP Vice-Presidential nominee said at an earlier fundraiser that she would stop some of the booing from the rowdy Philadelphia fans by putting her seven year old daughter, Piper in a Flyers jersey. She said, “How dare they boo Piper!"
Wow, that's just despicable. I'm stunned a parent would use a child in this fashion. She needs to stop trotting out the kids and then having the McCain campaign complain when anyone brings them up. Funny how Sarah doesn't seem to think they're off limits when she thinks they'll provide her some political capital.
Here's video of the event. You can hear the booing but you can also hear how they turned the music up to try and drown it out. People that attended the event said it was deafening...but you'd never be able to tell that from the AP reports in most papers. AP is such a tool.
What was funny were the Obama/Biden signs held up while Palin was on the ice.
