Life, like a box of chocolates

Peeling a potato the easy way!

2009-08-07T19:10:00.001-05:00

You've got to watch this!

John Boehner on the energy bill

2009-07-31T17:35:00.001-05:00

African thunderstorm

2009-06-18T08:19:00.001-05:00

African thunderstorm

Shared via AddThis

Glenn Beck Rocks!

2009-06-13T17:19:00.003-05:00

I rarely find someone who thinks like me, but Glenn Beck does. And astonishingly enough -- HE'S A MAN!!! Ha ha ha ... whodathunkit?

Here's a video of his episode on 20/20 last night. They did a great job. And an 'astonishingly enough' comment is warranted here too.

Federal Reserve board has no clue ...

2009-06-09T18:06:00.002-05:00

... Where trillions of our dollars have gone. Watch this and weep!

PS22 Chorus singing Landslide

2009-06-01T12:05:00.001-05:00

I have watched this video a dozen times and it still warms my soul -- way down deep.

ABC

2009-05-12T20:02:00.002-05:00

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Obama-man Can!

2009-05-12T17:40:00.001-05:00

This is just wrong!

2009-05-02T23:16:00.000-05:00

Mel Reynolds - You Can’t Make This Stuff Up! »

By Just Stupid on Apr 26, 2009 in Stupid Politicians | 0 Comments

Mel ReynoldsJesse Jackson has added former Chicago Democrat Congressman Mel Reynolds to Rainbow/PUSH Coalition’s payroll. Reynolds was among the 176 criminals excused in President Clinton’s last-minute forgiveness spree.

Reynolds received a commutation of his six-and-a-half-year federal sentence for 15 convictions of wire fraud, bank fraud, and lies to the Federal Election Commission. He is more notorious, however, for concurrently serving five years for sleeping with an underage campaign volunteer.

This is a first in American politics: An ex-congressman who had sex with a subordinate…won clemency from a president who had sex with a subordinate…then was hired by a clergyman who had sex with a subordinate!

His new job? Ready for this?? YOUTH COUNSELOR! It’s true. You can check it here: http://www.snopes.com/politics/sexuality/reynolds.asp

The Giant

2009-04-23T23:32:00.001-05:00

The Giant
==========

After dinner, the children turned to Jacob and asked if he
would tell them a story.

"A story about what?" asked Jacob.

"About a giant," squealed the children.

Jacob smiled, leaned against the warm stones at the side of the
fireplace, and his voice turned softly inward.

"Once there was a boy who asked his father to take him to see
the great parade that passed through the village. The father,
remembering the parade from when he was a boy, quickly agreed,
and the next morning the boy and his father set out together.

"As they approached the parade route, people started to push in
from all sides, and the crowd grew thick. When the people along
the way became almost a wall; the father lifted his son and
placed him on his shoulders.

"Soon the parade began and as it passed, the boy kept telling
his father how wonderful it was and how spectacular were the
colors and images. The boy, in fact, grew so prideful of what
he saw that he mocked those who saw less saying, even to his
father,
'If only you could see what I see.'"

"But," said Jacob staring straight in the faces of the
children, "what the boy did not look at was why he could see.
What the boy forgot was that once his father, too, could see."

Then as if he had finished the story, Jacob stopped speaking.

"Is that it?" said a disappointed girl. "We thought you were
going to tell us a story about a giant."

"But I did," said Jacob. "I told you a story about a boy who
could have been a giant."

"How?" squealed the children.

"A giant," said Jacob, "is anyone who remembers we are all
sitting on someone else's shoulders."

"And what does it make us if we don't remember?" asked the boy.

"A burden," answered Jacob.

~Author Unknown~

Important Facts

2009-04-13T20:04:00.001-05:00

Here is a little bit of humor that I just couldn't resist.

It takes your food seven seconds to get from your mouth to your stomach.

One human hair can support 3 kg (6.6 lb).

The average man's penis is three times the length of his thumb.

Human thighbones are stronger than concrete.

A woman's heart beats faster than a man's.

There are about one trillion bacteria on each of your feet.

Women blink twice as often as men.

The average person's skin weighs twice as much as the brain.

Your body uses 300 muscles to balance itself when
you are standing still.

If saliva cannot dissolve something, you cannot taste it.

Women reading this will be finished now.

Men are still busy checking their thumbs.

Comerica Park, Home of the Detroit Tigers

2009-04-09T13:13:00.001-05:00

You will all note that I changed my profile picture to depict Comerica Park's fountain, which only goes off when one of the Detroit Tigers hit a home run. General Motors has bought and paid for this advertisement area of the stadium since the stadium opened.

Sadly, this year GM informed them that they would be unable to renew/pay for the contract this year.

Gladly, the decision was made to keep the fountain with GM along with adding Ford Motor Co., and Chrysler -- gratis (free of charge).

What would Detroit be without the three auto makers? And can you just imagine it being taken over by KIA, Toyota, or the like and the Tigers home runs would illuminate them? That would be just wrong.

KUDOS to Mike Ilitch, the Tigers owner, for this generous dedication to the Big Three and Michigan!!!

Susan and Cha-Cha in La Ceiba, Honduras

2009-03-19T22:48:00.000-05:00

A wonderful woman and friend of mine doing missionary work in Honduras.

Poppy and me!

2009-03-19T22:36:00.000-05:00

This guy was so adorable. I loved him and I loved his spirit!

Haiti Mission Team, March, 2009

2009-03-19T22:19:00.000-05:00

Alan Keyes TELLS IT LIKE IT IS!

2009-02-26T16:41:00.000-05:00

To the forefront

2009-02-19T16:50:00.002-05:00

He's keeping his promise!

2009-02-19T16:44:00.001-05:00

A REAL way to help a veteran that fought for our country!

2009-02-16T09:35:00.004-05:00

Now there's a way to get personally involved with helping a veteran that is having real problems on a one-on-one basis. A new site is up and running with individual veterans needing help. One might need a washer machine, one might need a crib. Another might need help with a mortgage payment. And YOU can choose who you want to help. This is awesome!

Here is a link to the story that explains all.

And here is a link to the actual site.

Times are hard here right now, but they are especially difficult for returning veterans. Many with injuries. Let's show our support!

House of Cards

2009-02-13T12:49:00.000-05:00

Timeline showing the impending Fanny Mae, Freddie Mac crisis

2009-02-11T16:10:00.001-05:00

Watch this and weep!

Lil Matt

2009-01-31T20:20:00.002-05:00

I am a little late in getting these two pics posted. They are of Lil Matt at Christmas. Yeah, I know it's February! Anyways, they were on my phone and figuring out how to get from phone, to computer, to blog, well, I did it now didn't I? Ha ha ha ...

This one? L' Matt's starting his smiling and daddy's trying to get him to smile for the camera. But he doesn't have eyes for the camera -- only his daddy.

And last? Christmas day. Mommy worked all night and tried so hard to stay up the whole day until both mommy and baby crashed out on the couch.

America's Nanny Dog

2009-01-31T18:44:00.004-05:00

America's Nanny Dog

Tyla Hafstrom/My Word/The Times-Standard

Posted: 09/25/2007 04:27:21 AM PDT

Remember “Little House on the Prairie”? The trusted family pet “Jack the Brindle dog” was a pit bull. Jack was not the only pit bull famous for being a faithful family dog, as Helen Keller's beloved companion was also a pit bull. Then there was Petey, the dog from “The Little Rascals” who was indeed an American pit bull terrier.

It seems that many people have forgotten how America has loved this breed over time, and have forgotten that many choose this breed of dog today for a reliable and loving family dog. This was the breed that was affectionately known as “America's Nanny Dog.”

Many celebrities have chosen this wonderful breed over time, including Fred Astaire, President Roosevelt, Mary Tyler Moore, Thomas Edison, Brad Pitt, Ann Bancroft, President Woodrow Wilson, Humphrey Bogart, John Stewart and Bernadette Peters, just to name a few.

Pit bulls are loyal, stable and intelligent dogs that are eager to please, and strive to take on the behaviors that their guardians instill in them. Their behavior is a reflection of the care, training, and socialization (or lack thereof) given by their owners.

The stigma associated with the breed has been caused by careless dog owners who do not socialize or properly train their dogs. Any breed of dog that is left tied in a backyard without experiencing the outside world is bound to have issues. It also seems that careless dog owners tend to choose the pit bull inparticular, possibly due to it's “tough” reputation.

Therefore the majority of neglected, untrained dogs appear to be pit bulls. But even with all these neglected dogs, there are even more sweet, trained and well socialized pit bulls that belong to loving families. According to rigorous testing by The National Canine Temperament Testing Association, the golden retriever, poodle, border collie, English setter, German pointer and numerous other breeds are considered more likely to become aggressive than pit bulls.

The average score of the 122 breeds tested was a mere 77 percent. Pit bulls scored a 95.2 percent on these testings. (The higher the better.)

Not only have pit bulls scored extremely well on temperament tests, but they have been serving key roles in search and rescue efforts, excel in agility training and work nationwide as therapy and service dogs.

Pit bulls are highly trainable, which has been beneficial for anyone wanting a wonderful companion or service dog, but that same trait has also proven to be a downfall when the breed is exploited.

You might find this hard to believe when what is highlighted in the news regarding pit bulls seems to be negative, but there are many more positive stories concerning pit bulls than negative ones. By simply browsing the Internet, one can find an abundance of positive, reputable information about pit bulls.

Another aspect that needs to be mentioned is that most attacks by other dog breeds are misclassified as “pit bulls” by media reports. The fact is, there are far more stories of pit bulls helping, or saving lives, than endangering or ending them.

It seems that the term “pit bull” is only splashed across the headlines when the story is negative. Unfortunately, fear and negativity sells, and this breed is paying the price. If only we were to take the time to look beyond the negative hype, we would find the truth about pit bulls.

Now meet our new Nora. Living in SW Florida that has been hard hit in these difficult economic times people are doing all kinds of things just to survive. We adopted Nora from a couple that had to move into an apartment complex that did not allow pit bulls. All this because he'd been laid off from his decent job and had to take a job with much lower pay.

Nora is five years young and has such a sweet spirit. We've only had her a week and she's just fit right into our family (if she would only leave O.C. the cat alone). She gets along well with Charlie and does not run off when we go outside in the yard. She's very intelligent and eager to please and I am glad I helped out the couple by giving her a good home ALONG WITH having the pure joy of her becoming a part of our family.

Obama and Blagojevich

2009-01-23T18:47:00.001-05:00

To understand the next 4 years you have to understand the world according to Chicago . While it is a city of Illinois it is also a completely different country with a whole different set of morals and language.

There are only three rules there which anybody can understand. You don't even need an attorney to understand them and if you need an attorney, well . . . you know too much so look out for Rule #3!

RULE #1 No matter what you see, hear, or do - you don't know anybody and you don't know nutin!

RULE #2 If you capture something on tape or camera - it doesn't reveal nutin!

RULE #3 If you know what anybody knows in Chicago , well . . . dat's da last ting you'll ever know and you'll wish youse never knew nutin!

Now, pay close attention we don't want to have to say this more than once. It's very simple . . . we'll illustrate. If you have too, read slowly!

These two? They don't know each other!

Remember the first picture? Be sure you only remember that they don't know and you certainly don't either! Da fellas in the background in this picture? Well . . . what fellas? We don't see nutin!

Oops! How did that get in here?

Da guy on the left? For all you know he's Santa Claus. And the guy on the right . . .well, he's da Easter Bunny! That's all you need to know and you're better off if you don't know that.

Go to your eye doctor, your eyes is lieing to yas! Capish?

We don't want to know what they're saying.

Remember Jimmy Hoffa!

He knew too much and now . . .well . . . now no one knows where he is.

Is the big picture clear?

Not these pictures gumwad, cuz youse already forgot dem!

Now, ain't that simple?

They don't know nutin and neither do we!

And don't forget it!

P.S. If you pass this on to your friends, don't forget Rule #1 and, that ways, there's nutin to fear about #3!

Ignorance is happiness if you meditate on the right thing.

I do not like Barack Obama

2009-01-21T16:35:00.002-05:00

Sorry, I can't change that. And it's nothing about the color of his skin as I am not a hater racist. Yes, I understand the black people believing this is the ultimate victory for their race. And I'm not against a black president. Heck, soon I will be having cafe con leche grandchildren! And I believe that is the ultimate test of racism. But voting in a man to take the highest office in our country and quite possibly the world because of the color of his skin and not for his qualifications is just plain wrong.

Anyways, I found the following floating around on the internet and I couldn't have said it better. A problem with the source though as it is supposedly from the London Daily Mail and yet when I go to their site I am unable to find it. But, take it for what it says.

An editorial from the London Daily Mail (A BRITISH VIEW)

Obama's Victory

A victory for the hysterical Oprah Winfrey, the mad racist preacher Jeremiah Wright, the mainstream media who abandoned any sense of objectivity long ago, Europeans who despise America largely because they depend on her, comics who claim to be dangerous and fearless but would not dare attack genuinely powerful special interest groups. A victory for Obama-worshippers everywhere. A victory for the cult of the cult. A man who has done little with his life but has written about his achievements as if he had found the cure for cancer in between winning a marathon and building a nuclear reactor with his teeth. Victory for style over substance, hyperbole over history, rabble-raising over reality.

A victory for Hollywood, the most dysfunctional community in the world. Victory for Streisand, Spielberg, Soros and Sarandon. Victory for those who prefer welfare to will and interference to independence. For those who settle for group think and herd mentality rather than those who fight for individual initiative and the right to be out of step with meager political fashion.

Victory for a man who is no friend of freedom. He and his people have already stated that media has to be controlled so as to be balanced, without realizing the extraordinary irony within that statement. Like most liberal zealots, the Obama worshippers constantly speak of Fox and Limbaugh, when the vast bulk of television stations and newspapers are drastically liberal and anti-conservative. Senior Democrat Chuck Schumer said that just as pornography should be censored, so should talk radio. In other words, one of the few free and open means of popular expression may well be cornered and beaten by bullies who even in triumph cannot tolerate any criticism and opposition.

A victory for those who believe the state is better qualified to raise children than the family, for those who prefer teachers' unions to teaching and for those who are naively convinced that if the West is sufficiently weak towards its enemies, war and terror will dissolve as quickly as the tears on the face of a leftist celebrity.

A victory for social democracy even after most of Europe has come to the painful conclusion that social democracy leads to mediocrity, failure, unemployment, inflation, higher taxes and economic stagnation. A victory for intrusive lawyers, banal sentimentalists, social extremists and urban snobs.

Congratulations America!

Moving on

2009-01-16T19:07:00.005-05:00

Before you read this I want to let everyone know that I am not a racist and have passed the highest test proving such. When you are happy that your daughter has a man who genuinely loves and dotes on her and you consider yourself blessed to have such a man in her life -- and that man is black -- you have passed the ultimate test. And I look forward to many beautiful cafe con leche nietas.

Therefore, my dislike for B.O. is not because of his race, but because of his lies and sneaky, underhanded ways which started when he told everyone he didn't know that his (now) ex pastor spewed out such hate. And continued through out the election. Scratch a liar, find a thief. And I truly believe this man was voted into office because of his skin color and not because of his credentials.

But anyways, read on ...

--
Love and peace,
Alicia

Be a first rate version of yourself, not a second
rate version of someone else."
– Judy Garland

In a few short days, an African-American man will move from his private residence into a much larger and infinitely more expensive one owned not by him but by the taxpayers. A vast lawn, a perimeter fence and many well-trained security specialists will insulate him from the rest of us, but the mere fact that this man will be residing in this house should make us all stop and count our blessings - because it proves that we live in a nation where anything is possible.

Many believed this day would never come. Most of us hoped and prayed that it would, but few of us actually believed we would live to see it. Racism is an ugly thing in all of its forms, and there is little doubt that if this man had moved into this house fifteen years ago, there would have been a great outcry - possibly even rioting in the streets.

Today, we can all be both grateful and proud that no such mayhem will take place when this man takes up residency in this house. This man moving into this house at this time in our nation's history is much more than a simple change of addresses for him - it is proof of a change in our attitude as a nation. It is an amends of sorts - the righting of a great wrong. It is a symbol of our growth, and of our willingness to "judge a man, not by the color of his skin, but by the content of his character".

There can be little doubt now that the vast majority of us truly believe that this man has earned both his place in history and his new address. His time in this house will not be easy - it will be fraught with danger and he will face many challenges. I am sure there will be many times when he asks himself how in the world he ended up here and, like all who have gone before him, the experience will age him greatly.

But I, for one, will not waste an ounce of worry for his sake - because in every way a man can, he asked for this. His whole life for the past fifteen years appears to have been inexorably leading this man toward this house. It is highly probable that in the past, despite all of his actions, racism would have kept this man out of this house. Today, I thank the lord above that I am an American and that I live in a nation where wrongs are righted, where justice matters, and where truly anything is possible.

You thought I was talking about Obama? Sorry.

Follow up on our president elects' promise on Change

2009-01-13T19:34:00.002-05:00

This was said so perfectly. I wish I could write my thoughts out like this writer. But these words might as well be coming right out of my mouth.

third rock from the sun has left a new comment on the post "A Sad Day, Indeed":

My comment is written on Jan. 11, 2009.

I thought it would be interesting to scroll down to the Election Day blog post of November 4 2008 and post my comment here. Just to give alittle peek into the future on how BO is leading so far after being elected.

BO's campaign was based on HOPE- CHANGE.

Yet, since the election, I find no hope in his president-elect speeches. His rhetoric is full of fear for the American people. The speeches are all doom and gloom. His cabinet choices are full of people from the Clinton era So, I say....Where is all the Hope and where is all the Change?

The people who voted him in were in a trance. Their eyes were glazed-over as they chanted "Obama, Obama, Obama."

We need a leader. Not a fear monger. Sure, things are tough. But it not because of the American people who pay their taxes to the Feds and the local government. We pay our taxes AND bail out the greedy corporate crooks. What more do you want us to do? Oh yes....listen to the leader of the free world WHINE.

He is whining because he is having to finally make a decision and decisions are hard because you can't please everyone, which is something that narcissistic BO needs: To be liked by everyone. That is why he voted 'present' in the Senate as a junior senator. He didn't want to take a lead and make a choice and perhaps make an enemy.

Things were really scary the afternoon of 9/11. We feared for our lives instead of our pocketbook. To me, that is far more of a crisis than what we are going through now. What did our leader Bush do? He lead. He did not get up there in front of the American people and spread the word of fear. He put the nation at ease that we would prevail! He kept our nation safe while we were 'under his watch'. He promised that and he delivered!

BO promised HOPE and can't even have it himself before he even reaches office. He might as well be saying, "Look, the Economy is bad..we're all going to die!" That's what the leader (ha) BO might as well be saying because that is all I am hearing.

Hope and Change, it seems, was left on the stage at Grant Park in Chicago, Election night. He strutted out on stage, accepted the win and promised his girls a dog. That maybe be the only promise he delivers on.

We're Amercian born and bred deep into our souls

2009-01-10T16:04:00.004-05:00

All the turbulence in our country over the auto industry. Yeah, they blew it, but most of it was dealing with the cumbersome union and they had no choice. Even still, although the union has given some concessions, they are still holding back the auto industry from surviving these turbulent times.

Why the financial industry didn't get picked apart like the auto industry is beyond me. I sure wish I knew what motivates the media. Why some issues are made into horror stories and others escape any attention.

However, today Harold and I took the time out to take a proud picture of our vehicles. The Lincoln MKZ is my first car other than a Chevy in ??? years and I LOVE IT. The Dodge Ram pickup? Well, Harold pulls it out of the garage, washes it, pets it, and pulls it back in so it doesn't get dirty. And oh my, the SS Monte Carlo!!! It is so SWEET! Just a month ago I was walking up to it and told Harold, wow! That car looks so pretty.

May I also add that we've had no problems (Super no jinx!) with any of them? Of course Harold is meticulous with preventative maintenance on our vehicles, which is a large part of keeping your vehicle humming away.

Bella and Tara

2009-01-09T18:58:00.001-05:00

This is so cool!!!

Sarah Palin, one classy lady

2009-01-09T18:26:00.005-05:00

A great video and a great site. I am so impressed with Sarah Palin's classy response to the horrible media/press that she received while running for Vice President of our wonderful country. This video explains it all.

A Fully Cooked Turducken

2009-01-03T23:03:00.005-05:00

In all it's glory! There are no bones in this Turducken. The wings and legs were reattached to make it look like a turkey, but that was the extent of it. That is a solid meat roll. Take your electric knife and slice right through it and all the layers. That is a seafood Jambalaya you're seeing also. Delish!

This delicious Turducken came from www.cajungrocer.com straight out of New Orleans!

My Little Sebring Cuties

2009-01-03T23:01:00.000-05:00

My Little Buckeye Cuties hamming it up for their Christmas picture

2008-12-24T12:22:00.001-05:00

My Turducken's Arrived

2008-12-20T15:02:00.001-05:00

In all his frozen glory!

My Turducken is in Orlando!

2008-12-17T21:04:00.001-05:00

WHAT IS A TURDUCKEN
A Turducken is a semi-boneless turkey that is stuffed with a deboned duck that is stuffed with a deboned chicken. A layer of Cajun dressing is placed in between each bird to create six flavorful layers of stuffing and poultry. This Cajun delicacy is definitely a crowd pleaser for a large group because it serves about 20 to 30 people.

I can hardly wait to try this bad boy!

Off Topics

2008-12-17T20:21:00.002-05:00

I'm tired, which is most times these days. I believe it's those night shifts.

Jobs are scarce, I see gas creeping back up, and I can't stand seeing Obama's face in the news -- constantly -- OMG at minimum for 4 years.

HELP ME!!!

Two out of my six kids working and only one of them is financially stable.

Funny to watch Obama already backing down on all of his promises. Why, the man said anything he could to get elected. And his tongue was slick and it worked. But great speakers do not mean great leaders.

OK. Get off the obsession with the man.

Christmas, just eight days away. I still don't have my mom's gift sent. But I've got everything in a box.

Don't think I'm baking much in cookies. But I am making coconut cream pie, cheese cake, and pumpkin pie. One for me and one for YOU!

Let's get down on our knees and pray. Pray. Pray. God in His almighty wisdom has picked good and bad leaders for His reason.

GOD BLESS THE USA!!!

Straight No Chaser -- 12 Days

2008-12-16T21:41:00.000-05:00

White Christmas

2008-12-16T10:35:00.001-05:00

Spider Documentary

2008-12-09T19:56:00.000-05:00

A Walter Blooper

2008-12-09T19:26:00.002-05:00

This is hilarious! Poor Jeff forgets his lines and the way he improvises is great! Jeff and Walter are human!

Happy Holidays!

2008-12-09T11:53:00.001-05:00

Ackmed, the dead terroist

2008-12-07T02:01:00.002-05:00

This guy is good. Ha ha ha ... SILENCE! I kill you!

Wise words spoken 200 years ago speak for today

2008-11-26T23:58:00.000-05:00

Brilliant statesman.. We could use one like that today!!!

When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, we shall become as corrupt as Europe.
Thomas Jefferson

The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.
Thomas Jefferson

It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes. A principle which if acted on would save one-half the wars of the world.
Thomas Jefferson

I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.
Thomas Jefferson

My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government.
Thomas Jefferson

No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms.
Thomas Jefferson

The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear
arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.
Thomas Jefferson

The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
Thomas Jefferson

My personal favorite
To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.
Thomas Jefferson

In light of the present financial crisis, it's interesting to read what Thomas Jefferson said in 1802:
'I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.'
Thomas Jefferson

NO BAILOUT!!!

2008-11-26T14:55:00.002-05:00

New Plan:

I pay my debt,
YOU pay yours!

He's trying to incite a riot!

2008-11-25T22:09:00.001-05:00

MI/OSU game 11/22/08 more

2008-11-25T22:06:00.001-05:00

I've got to hand it to you Matt ...

MI/OSU game 11/22/08

2008-11-25T22:01:00.001-05:00

I'm betting it's my daughter holding the camera and that is my son, Matt, in the MI gear at OSU surrounded by red. Yes, he does have grande juevos!

First Campaign Promise Broken

2008-11-23T16:20:00.004-05:00

It did not take a month. Not 30 days. Why to be exact, it's just a mere 19 days and Obama's first, broken, campaign promise is just about a done deal. Ha ha ha ... not funny. I wonder how many votes Obama acquired because he was going to "spread the wealth?" My guess is there were a large amount of people wanting to see the rich brought down to their knees. But now that Obama has taken a good look at things with a realistic, not a promising eye, he is sure changing his tune.

First campaign promise broken -- and Obama isn't even officially the president yet.

WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama may consider delaying a campaign promise - to roll back tax cuts on high-income Americans - as part of his economic recovery strategy, two aides said on Sunday.

David Axelrod, the Obama campaign strategist who was chosen to be a senior White House adviser, was asked if the tax cuts could be allowed to expire on schedule after tax year 2010 rather than being rolled back by legislation earlier. "Those considerations will be made," he said on "Fox News Sunday."

Bill Daley, an adviser to Obama and commerce secretary under former President Bill Clinton, said on NBC's "Meet the Press" that the 2010 scenario "looks more likely than not."

President George W. Bush's tax cuts are set to expire at the end of 2010. After that they would revert to 2001 levels, when the top individual tax rate was 39.6 percent.

Obama has called for reducing taxes for the middle class, but requiring the wealthiest Americans to pay more than the current top rate of 35 percent.

His aides' comments suggest Obama may be wary of imposing any additional tax burden at a time of deep crisis, despite the outlook for record budget deficits and mounting national debt. He may also be seeking to bolster Republican support for his recovery measures.

"The main thing right now is to get this economic recovery package on the road, to get money in the pockets of the middle class, to get these projects going, to get America working again, and that's where we're going to be focused in January," Axelrod said.

Obama said on Saturday he was crafting an aggressive two-year stimulus plan to revive the economy, aiming to save 2.5 million jobs by January 2011 through projects including transportation infrastructure, school modernization and alternative energy.

Obama called in October for a $175 billion stimulus measure, but he suggested he was ready to push for a much larger package.

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat who is part of the majority leadership team in the Senate, told ABC's "This Week" that an economic recovery package between $500 billion and $700 billion is needed and could be ready by the time Obama takes office on January 20.

"I think it has to be deep. In my view it has to be between five and seven hundred billion dollars," Schumer said.

(Additional reporting by Donna Smith; Editing by Doina Chiacu)

Should you or shouldn't you take the flu vaccine?

2008-11-18T17:08:00.002-05:00

Hmmmm ... this backs up my firm NO when my employer offers me a free flu vaccine.

Words from "The Rodman"

2008-11-05T20:51:00.002-05:00

I took these words off another blog. They were his comments in response to another post in another place. I went to his blog to request his permission, but there was no way I could find a way to make a contact. However, once you read this you will probably realize, as I did, that he/she wouldn't mind anyway.

I woke up with a deep fear in my heart related to the results of this election and his words gave me peace in my heart again.

Thank you bunches Therodman!
Love and peace,
Alicia

Blogger therodman said...

We as God's people have no reason to fear. As someone already said, God is in control, and He is the one sitting on the throne of glory. We as kingdom citizens should have no fear, but faith and trust in God no matter who is the president. Obama winning does not mean God lost.

The Most High is the true ruler of all nations and He is the one who sets up rulers and takes down rulers according to Daniel 2:21--"And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding:" And also according to Romans 13:1--"Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God."

Let us not be divided now, but come together as one people, especially the household of faith. Let us remember said that any nation divided against itself cannot stand. As far as Obama as president, let us remember the words of Gamaliel in Acts 5:34-3
9--And now I say unto you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought: But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God."

We as God's people must realize our citizenship is in the kingdom of God, but we live and operate in this present world. We have the name of Jesus and power of prayer to make change happen.

No president, whether it had been McCain or Obama can do nothing except the Lord allow them or give them the power as Jesus said to Pilate. John 19:11--" Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above" So Obama can do nothing except the Lord allow him or gives him the power.

We as believers should have no fear, but true faith and love that casts out fear.

We now have to come to understand that God has a specific reason or reasons as to why He has set up Obama to be President of the United States of America. It is part of His overall plan and He foreknew this and now He will work it for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose--Romans 8:28-- "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose."

Obama's heart is in the hand of the Lord and according to Proverbs 21:1--The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: He turneth it whithersoever He will. We should pray and take great comfort in this scripture that God is going to take Obama's presidency and work it for the good of His people, the Church.

America is not cursed, we are blessed.
Could it possibly be unknown to us that the election of Obama is according to God's will for the purposes He has for this nation? I know for many this would be absurd and ridiculous. But let us ultimately remember we are not God, and He knows more than we and what He intends to do to accomplish His will in the earth. Let us remember what the Lord said in Isaiah 55:8,9--"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts."

Lastly lets us remember our man is the man Christ Jesus and no matter what as he said in Matthew 28:20--"And, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen

Tami, thank you for your convictions, faith and beliefs. It is now time for you and the other ladies to pray more, but not in fear, but in faith in our Lord Jesus and His plans for this nation. We are admonished to pray for our leaders and Obama will need the prayers of the citizens of God's kingdom. Not prayers against him, but for him to be what the Lord desires. Let us remember what God has done for all us who are called Christians. He saved us and gave us a new heart, mind and spirit. Nothing is impossible with God and again America is blessed!

November 5, 2008 9:52 AM

A warning from a Cuban American about CHANGE

2008-11-05T18:57:00.001-05:00

An Obama Supporter's 'modest' Expectations

2008-10-31T14:55:00.006-05:00

Ha ha ha ... bless your soul! Nobama did not pay for his uncle's mortgage when he was evicted, nor did he help his beloved Aunt out of a Boston slum. And did you know his half brother, who lives in Kenya and makes a $1/day and lives in a hut could probably use a bit of help too. But go ahead and believe in the change.

Yeah, I guess I'll just chip in and help her pay for that mortgage and fill her gas tank -- mandatory by 'change' via payroll deduction if NObama gets elected!

And the winner is ...

2008-10-29T16:40:00.003-05:00

Moi!!! At Tammy's baby shower I had snapped a picture of the two of us together and thought to myself, self, she's as big as you! So when the game started, and we all know the game I'm talking about. You know, where you guess how big the baby's momma is by cutting off a piece of string and wrapping it around the momma's belly. The one that's closest to the correct size wins the prize?!!? Well, when it came time for me guessing the size I just stood my big butt up, wrapped the string around my belly, and VOILA!!! I was off by about 2 inches. And I was the winner of the prize!
And by the look on Tammy's face she thought, self, am I really as big as she is? Ha ha ha ...

In Colombia at the Lucky Stone

2008-10-22T18:56:00.002-05:00

The lucky stone is in El Pinon (a squiggly is over the n). You climb it and you have good luck. There are almost 700 steps to get to the top. I chose to languish at the bottom. Teehee. With a snake.

Oh, and there is a restaurant at the bottom of the stone where I had the best fish I've ever had in my life. Ever. Anywhere. It was cooked to perfection.

Barack Hussein Obama -- birth certificate fraud

2008-10-18T10:52:00.002-05:00

Obama is such a smooth talker that his following doesn't care about his history. The multiple incidents in his past that he continues to hide. If you're for Barack Obama, please watch this video and know this is just one of his many secrets.

Condom Stretching

2008-10-17T22:33:00.001-05:00

We all need a bit of humor now and then. Sarah Palin is going to be on SNL tomorrow night and I thought I'd join her in the humor. I cannot tell you how many times I've laughed at this one.

Glenn Beck speaks with the Maverick

2008-10-14T15:35:00.002-05:00

October 14, 2008 - 13:08 ET

Senator John McCain

GLENN: We have Senator John McCain on with us now. Welcome, Senator, welcome to the program. How are you, sir?

SENATOR McCAIN: I'm just fine, Glenn. How are you?

GLENN: I'm very good. I noticed today, breaking news, that in Florida ACORN has registered Mickey Mouse. I'm wondering if you are going to go for the mouse vote.

SENATOR McCAIN: Well, frankly some people, having worked in congress for some period of time, I prefer Goofy. But the fact is this ACORN thing is something that's been done before in the 2004 elections and 2006 elections and other elections, and it needs a full and complete investigation, and Senator Obama's ties to ACORN need to be known to everybody as well.

GLENN: In the House and the Senate, the President signed it, a bill over the summer actually gives now 4% of our mortgages. If you sign a new mortgage, 4% goes to fund ACORN. How did this happen?

SENATOR McCAIN: The way these things happen, I don't know if you recall but when this first rescue plan or bailout bill, whichever one you call it, was first developed before I came back from Washington, ACORN was going to get something like 20% of the additional funds that would eventually be raised thanks to Chris Dodd and the Democrats who had protected Fannie and Freddie and have been advocates of this forcing banks to extend home loan mortgage money to people that couldn't afford to pay it back. That's one of the major, the major factors in this housing crisis which then, of course, led to this meltdown. People, the pressures, enormous pressure from congress, the Community Reinvestment Act which basically set corridors for lending money to people that couldn't afford to pay it back and mortgages which were sooner or later going to go under. Meanwhile their executives, as you know, took 10, 20, 30, $50 million in compensation. It's one of the great scandals in American history.

GLENN: I will tell you, Senator, I thank you for being on the right side of this issue in the past with Community Reinvestment Act. You have been fighting against Freddie and Fannie. You did have it right, and I look at some of the stuff that has gone on. It's absolutely criminal some of the stuff that has happened. You know, I look at Barney Frank. How is it that the people that were responsible for this are now leading the charge along with Barack Obama to say we're going to reshape America and we're going to provide the oversight for it?

SENATOR McCAIN: You know, I don't know how it happens. I don't know why because as you go back -- and actually the Wall Street Journal and a couple of others have carried their quotes about when there was a movement to try to rein in and reform Fannie and Freddie. "You can't do that, this is scandalous to try to..." amazing greed, political contributions. It's amazing. And some of us did stand up and propose legislation to fix this problem and it's a fact two years ago Senator Obama didn't lift a finger and he got the second most amount of money from Fannie and Freddie in campaign contributions than any senator in history outside of Senator Dodd who, as you know also had a very interesting mortgage. So the point is that Americans are angry, have every right to be angry, they are not able to stay in their homes and it's -- and meanwhile they believe that all we're doing is bailing out the institutions that were co-conspirators in this and that's why I've focused so hard and so much effort to try to get people to be allowed to renegotiate their mortgage so that they can stay in their homes because it was a housing crisis that started this issue as you know, Glenn, and it's going to be fixing the housing by finding a floor on the declining home prices and have them start up again is when our economy's going to start up again.

GLENN: But how is it -- you know, I saw a guy who I thought was right on the money on a lot, the way a lot of people feel that was at your rally, stood up and said, "I want you guys to stop the socialist."

SENATOR McCAIN: Oh, yeah.

GLENN: Our country has been hijacked by socialists. So how are we ever going to find the floor on housing prices if the government, as you suggested, bail out the mortgages and buy up all of the bad mortgages? How do you find a floor when the floor's been artificially created by the government?

SENATOR McCAIN: Well, Glenn, the same way that they did in the Depression. There was a thing called a Home Ownership Loan Corporation. They went in, they said, okay, what's the value of your home, what's their mortgage payment you can make, people stayed in their homes, started making their mortgage payments and because there was interest rates associated with it, over a long period of time actually the government made a tiny bit of money. But the point is when someone is sure the value of their home, they are sure they can stay in their home, then they are going to start making those payments, et cetera. It's got to go along with economic recovery, creation of jobs and all those things. But if the value of homes keeps plummeting -- and one of the things you are going to bring up very legitimately, suppose the guy next door struggled, made his home mortgage payments at the level they are, paid his or her taxes and sees this good deal for the neighbor next door. Well, what happens to your home if the neighbor, the house next door is empty and vacant and deteriorating? Then the value of your home continues to decline.

Look, I admit this is radical treatment, but it seems to me that's better to go in and try and help the innocent bystander in this crisis than the institutions that caused the problem to start with. We bought up Fannie and Freddie, as you know. We're now going to pump $300 billion into these banks and other people who were co-conspirators in this, either knowingly or unknowingly. See my point? No?

GLENN: No, I see your point, and actually I was for the bailout at the beginning when it was three pages because I think you needed to do something but then I was with -- I was actually with you when you said it would be obscene for anybody to put pork in there and then we had --

SENATOR McCAIN: And they did.

GLENN: -- $150 billion in pork. But why did you sign it? Why didn't you stand up and say, no, it's obscene; the bailout is important but it's obscene?

SENATOR McCAIN: I came back and we got several solutions to put in to protect the taxpayer to give more options including insurance, to rein -- to put some restraints on CEO pay, to make several improvements in the bill. The stock market had just wiped out $1.2 trillion in American savings and pensions, et cetera. Hopefully this volatility will level off, and yesterday's incredible rebound in the market will stabilize the market. But to do nothing at that particular point, everybody I know told me was not the right thing to do, and I agree with them.

GLENN: I agree with you that we're facing something that we've never faced before. Are you concerned at all with the amount of money that's being pumped in? Are you concerned --

SENATOR McCAIN: I'm very concerned. I keep hearing --

GLENN: Are you concerned about a Weimar Republic situation in time if we don't stop this?

SENATOR McCAIN: I know this, that if something doesn't turn around, and again I go back to a whole lot of aspects of our financial system but what was the fact that lit the fire was home values and home loan mortgages and that has in my view. I think it depends on what we do, Glenn. If we do the right things for the American people, we don't continue this spending as Ronald Reagan used to say, like a drunken sailor, although that's an insult to drunken sailors, then remember part of the crisis that we were facing here is the out-of-control spending, the $10 trillion debt we're laying on future generations of Americans, the trillion dollars that we owe China. Look, it wasn't just the housing crisis at fault. It's the spending, out-of-control, unfunded debt that we're laying on future generations of Americans. So if we keep taxes low, we get the economy to grow, we stop the spending spree and not more and more just pouring money into the problem and writing everybody checks, the last package went into people's gas tank, right?

GLENN: Right.

SENATOR McCAIN: So the point is if we get our fiscal house in order, emergency measures but then get back to good government the same way every family and every state government in America is supposed to do and that's live within our means, then I'm confident that the American worker, the American innovative system, Silicon Valleys all over this country, productivity, all of those things can lead us to a bright future. But it depends on what we do and do the right thing.

GLENN: Senator, we haven't spoken since you named Sarah Palin. We were on the Sarah Palin bandwagon, you know, months and months and months ago. I think she's fantastic. But I will tell you that I don't know if you've seen these. There are shirts now being sold that -- and excuse this -- but that say Sarah Palin is a C word, and I saw that. I was so outraged. I see that Larry Flynt is making an X-rated movie with a look-alike. Some of the bumper stickers that are out about her and yet nobody says anything about this, nobody seems to say anything about Florida Representative Hastings that says anybody toting and stripping moose don't care much about what they do with Jews and blacks, and we keep getting hammered, the conservatives keep getting hammered for being racist and sexist and everything else. It is an absolute outrage on what has been happening and how race is being used in this election. How does America survive when you try to have a decent dialogue with somebody and because you question their connections to Marxists, terrorists, or question even their policies, you're called a racist for it and yet they can get away with saying some of the most outrageous things ever?

SENATOR McCAIN: I'll leave that analysis to you but I would like to add one other point that is the most astounding that frankly I've seen in my political life and that was Congressman John Lewis who I admire, who I've written about. Yes.

SENATOR McCAIN: Who is an American hero, said that Sarah Palin and I were connected to segregation, to George Wallace and even mentioned the bombing of a church in Birmingham, you know, of a bombing in Birmingham where children were killed. That's the most outrageous and unacceptable statement I have ever heard in my life. Senator Obama has yet to repudiate that statement.

GLENN: Nor is he going to.

SENATOR McCAIN: John Lewis, I can't imagine why and how outrageous the statement was. But as importantly, every time there's been some comment or statement made by some idiot about Senator Obama questioning his patriotism or those kinds of things, we've directly repudiated it. Senator Obama has not repudiated John Lewis' remarks which are the most outrageous that I have ever seen in politics connecting Sarah Palin and me to the racist and segregationist policies of the 1960s, and I am astonished, I'm astonished that there's not been more of a reaction to it.

GLENN: Will you confront him with this tomorrow in the debate?

SENATOR McCAIN: If the opportunity comes up. But I made it very clear, I expect a repudiation and so do the American people.

GLENN: Okay. Senator, we look forward to your economic policy being released today and thank you very much for being on the program, sir.

SENATOR McCAIN: Thank you, Glenn. I always appreciate your great work. Talk to you soon. Bye.

GLENN: Thank you. Bye-bye.

McCain/Palin Tradition by Hank Williams Jr

2008-10-14T00:01:00.001-05:00

Haters -- stay away!

2008-10-13T16:31:00.004-05:00

Is this what it has come down to? Unbelieveable, horrific hate towards our female VP candidate? Where is the maturity of NObama's following? If there was this kind of hate towards NObama's minority status the NAACP, Rev. Sharpton, Rev. Jackson, etc., would be screaming bloody murder. But the media has been slow in reporting this. Even Madonna wants to fight her. Huh? I'm saying it again, HUH?

I saw a quote earlier to the Hollywood's with their opinions and I loved it. They are clowns, and the clowns are likened to the court jesters of yesteryear, and are for entertainment purposes only. Ha ha ha ...

Check out this blog and look at the hate that is spewing out there for Sarah Palin. Seems to me when feelings get this stirred up there is jealousy in the works. I feel compelled to write her a letter of apology -- for how obscene people can be. What is the matter with people? Come on women! We've gone through too much to resort to and tolerate such tactics! And men! Do you call your wife or/and mother those kinds of names?

Here comes Communism

2008-10-13T13:42:00.004-05:00

Never before an other election have I had such fear of one man becoming president. This man brings it all out. Today it was on the news where he said, we need to share the wealth. The unmotivated get on welfare and disability and those that have motivation bust their butts for everyone. If that isn't socialistic thinking I don't know what is.

Hail Hitler! Hail Obama!

2008-10-13T13:10:00.001-05:00

Only God can help us.

Jerry's high school band

2008-10-09T16:23:00.003-05:00

Jerry works with me at the hospital and he had the remarkable chance to bring one of the best bands in the area to Sarah Palin's rally. What an opportunity! The band was able to play on a national stage. And boy did they save the day when Sarah was late. They kept the crowd fired up. Good job!

More like minded folks

2008-10-06T21:22:00.001-05:00

And this line ...

2008-10-06T21:05:00.005-05:00

... was huge. My friend from the hospital, Carol, and I met at the rally at 10am. Sarah Palin wasn't scheduled to arrive until 3pm. The line was nuts. And there were over a 1000 people that couldn't go inside. Germain arena had reached capacity.

But on the other hand, I chatted and met a lot of people while waiting in line. Lots of like minded people, which was a lot of fun.

And Speaking of the Line ...

2008-10-06T19:49:00.004-05:00

This was the line I had to stand in just to get my tickets for the Sarah Palin rally today.

Cubanos mujers para Sarah Palin!

2008-10-06T17:44:00.006-05:00

I met these women today while in line to get into the Germain Arena to see Sarah Palin, SW Florida. These women are from Cuba, currently living in the Miami area, and told me they knew very well what it was like to have a wolf in sheep's clothing making false promises. The following article explains more, much more.

Oh, and they're quite vocal about it. They have a site at www.moms4sarahpalin.blogspot.com

Propaganda Cuban Style

Celeste Christi
Before Fidel Castro was elected Fulgencio Batista ruled Cuba. Things were bad under Batista and change was needed, but only the right change could produce peace, wealth and prosperity for Cuba.

During the election campaign many tried to warn the Cubans about Castro. Critics cited Castro's past acts and communist associations as evidence that he was a communist wearing "change you need" like a cloak, hiding his true intent.

Castro dismissed such assertions as nonsense. Instead of answering the questions surrounding his bad associations and past acts, Castro attacked the smears themselves with indignation and misinformation.

Obama's fight the smears campaign employs the same strategy Castro used to convince Cubans to elect him. Cuba has been paying the price of falling for Castro for over four decades. Turned out the "smears" about Castro were true. He is a communist.

Like Castro, Obama is mixing umbrage, half-truths and outright lies to weave a net of misinformation about his past deeds, projects and associations. He's hoping with the convenience of a web address we'll just "take his word for it" and not vet him.

A Pistol Packing Looby-Loo

2008-10-06T17:20:00.001-05:00

I'd love to give credit for this article, but sadly, I have no clue who the writer is. But this story ROCKS!

* British View on Sarah Palin

London Daily Mail

A pistol-packin' Looby Loo: the Left's worst nightmare

Frank Sinatra would have got the joke. In the words of the great political philosopher, they all laughed at Christopher Columbus when he said the world was round.

They're all laughing, too, at John McCain for choosing Sarah Palin as his running mate. The usual suspects took one look at this pistol-packin' momma and reacted like John McEnroe to a disputed line call: you cannot be serious!

Certainly, the pick came, as the Americans say, out of left field. But Sarah Palin is centre stage now, and suddenly it's game on.

Stern, God-fearin', gun-totin' Sarah Palin. Will she get the last laugh?

At the very least, McCain has got a wonderful sense of mischief - a quality sadly lacking in most politicians.

The way the L eft, both here and in America , are contorting themselves is a joy to behold. Sarah Palin is every Guardianista's worst nightmare.

It's reminiscent of how they used to patronise Mrs Thatcher 30 years ago. What did this small-town girl know aboutanything?

How could any woman expect to run a country and raise a family? What does she know about foreign affairs?

Of course, they weren't saying that a woman couldn't be Prime Minister, you understand. Just not this woman.

Shirley Williams would have been fine, but this ghastly, lower middle- class Snobby Roberts woman from Grantham, of all places - AAARGH!

It's been hilarious watching the sisterhood tie themselves in knots over Sarah Palin.

They've been in full Glenda Slagg mode - dontcha just hate her, dontcha just love her?
On the one hand she's a feisty, capable woman shaking up the political establishment, while juggling a family and career. I don't know how she does it.

But on the other, she's a Godfearing, gun-totin', good ol' girl. She hunts, she fishes - she's a Republican, for goodness' sake.

Sarah Palin is every red-blooded redneck's fantasy figure, every randy schoolboy's Mrs Robinson. She could have stepped straight out of one of long-lost cousin Michael's Ripping Yarns.

Cheerleader, beauty queen, dominatrix of the Harper Valley PTA, mother of five, mayor, governor and now a heartbeat away from the Vice-Presidency.

You couldn't make her up. Law And Order's Fred Thompson, once a presidential candidate himself, hit the baby seal on the head when he said the Left were in a blind panic over what to do about Palin.

Enlarge

Joke's on you: John McCain, displaying a sense of mischief rare in politics, with his choice of Sarah Palin, surrounded by her family, as his running-mate

What they are doing is what they usually do when confronted with something which offends their world view - character assassination. Every 'liberal' newspaper and TV network has sent hatchet men north to Alaska to dig for the dirt beneath the tundra.

What they discovered is that 80 per cent of Alaskans think she's doing a great job.

A supermarket tabloid is claiming she had an affair, which she denies. Apart from that, the worst the scandal-hounds have come up with is that Palin, as governor, put pressure on a police chief to fire her former brother-in-law.

Gi ven that said brother-in-law had beaten up her sister and threatened to kill her father, I'd say that far from abusing her office, she showed considerable restraint. I'm surprised she didn't put a bullet in his head.

The big talking point is the pregnancy of Palin's 17-year-old daughter, Bristol , who is soon to marry her boyfriend. That's what I call a shotgun wedding!

Still, it kills the wild rumour that Bristol is really the mother of Palin's Down's syndrome baby, Trig.

You've just got to like a woman who calls her son after a character in Only Fools And Horses. Although it's probably fair to assume she doesn't have a working knowledge of Cockney rhyming slang, otherwise her daughter would never have been christened Bristol .

When Palin talks about shattering the glass ceiling, the sisters are supposed to chee r - except most of them suspect her idea of shattering a glass ceiling would be with a both barrels blast from a 12-bore.

She epitomises the 'God and guns' mentality at which Barack Obama and his supporters sneer. They use 'small town' as a pejorative term. That's not how Middle America sees it.

John Mellencamp wrote his hit song Small Town as an ironic take on Hicksville , USA . He even performed it at an Obama rally earlier this year.

Back at you: Democrats say Sarah lacks the experience for the top job - but neither do Obama or Biden

But that hasn't stopped Middle Americans adopting it as an anthem. Mellencamp must be just as horrified as Springsteen was when Ronald Reagan purloined his anti-war Born In The USA as a campaign song.

It's not that the Americans don't do irony, as European 'sophisticates' always maintain.

It's just that sometimes, my dear, they don't give a damn. A good song is a good song - and to hell with the message.

Most Americans were born and raised in a small town. Her values are their values.

The mantra from the Obama camp is that she lacks the experience to be VP. In truth, she has more executive experience than either Obama or his Neil Kinnock-impersonator sidekick mate Joe Biden, neither of whom has ever run anything.

But, wail the sceptics, what about foreign affairs? Admittedly, Palin has never slagged off her country at a mass rally inBerlin. But Alaska 's next door to Russia . She's got more experience of dealing with Russians than anyone outside of corporate hospitality at Stamford Bridge .

Who is Putin more likely to be wary of - Barack 'we must negotiate with dictators' Obama, or Looby Loo packing heat?

To paraphrase the Duke of Wellington, I don't know what she does to the enemy, but she scares the life out of me.

Palin reminds me of the old joke about what's the difference between the IRA and a woman with PMS? You can negotiate with the IRA.

What she does have in spades is experience of the energy industry - the number one concern right now. Palin would drill, drill and drill some more - polar bears or no polar bears. And when the oil companies got greedy, she imposed a windfall tax. Unlike Gordon Brown, who'd keep it, she gave every Alaskan a $1,200 rebate.

With all the hoop-la, it's easy to forget that she's running for Vice-President, not President. Not yet.

Sarah Palin: The next Margaret Thatcher? Time will tell...

That's what really frightens her condescending opponents. Not that we've a leg to stand on in Britain . We've got Harriet Harman a chewed fingernail away from the top job - and she 's never shot a moose in her life.

Remember, they all laughed at Margaret Thatcher.

But ho, ho, ho, who had the last laugh?

Fidelity's Letter on the Current Financial Crisis

2008-09-30T15:35:00.001-05:00

Government focused on stemming turmoil

By Dirk Hofschire, CFA

September 15, 2008

The U.S. financial crisis has entered a new, but perhaps necessary phase with the government balking at a Lehman Brothers bailout and focused on stemming turmoil. Here is a summary of recent market events (as of the morning of September 15, 2008) and what it means for investors.

Rapid share price declines for some major financial institutions made new actions necessary:

Merrill Lynch agreed to be acquired by Bank of America
Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy after failing to find a buyer
AIG and others scrambled to sell assets and shore-up balance sheets
The federal government did not participate in a bail-out of Lehman Brothers
The Fed expanded its emergency lending facilities
Ten large banks created a $70 billion pool loan program to protect firms against near-term liquidity issues

Lessons from the past
Throughout the current credit crisis, the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department have followed a blueprint that draws from many lessons learned during previous crises, including Japan's banking crisis in the 1990s and the Great Depression. Japan and the Great Depression -- both traumatizing economic catastrophes that lasted more than a decade -- provide plenty of examples of what policymakers should not do. For instance, in the aftermath of the 1929 stock market crash, the Fed was slow to lower interest rates and the federal government slow to provide economic stimulus to prop up flagging demand. Bank failures proliferated, the financial system teetered near collapse and the U.S. economy experienced its worst economic downturn of the past century.

The lessons of what a government should do during a financial crisis can be grouped into three general categories of activities.

The financial crisis must be prevented from spreading in a way that threatens the entire system with collapse.
Aggregate demand should be bolstered to mitigate the negative impact of tighter credit and de-leveraging on the rest of the economy.
Bad assets must be disposed of quickly, so that surviving financial institutions can recapitalize and be unencumbered in future lending, which is necessary for both the economy and the financial system to get back on their feet.

Government response so far: focused on crisis and demand
The government response to the 2007 credit crisis (including the Federal Reserve) has focused heavily on emergency measures to avert a systemic meltdown, as well as actions to prop up demand in the housing and consumer markets (see Exhibit 1, below). They include aggressive interest rate cuts and several hundred billions of dollars of credit facilities offered by the Federal Reserve, direct federal government management and support of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the stimulus package approved by Congress.

Source: FMRCo. (MARE)

All of these measures are therefore designed primarily to fulfill the first two items on the government response agenda -- avoiding systemic collapse and propping-up aggregate demand. They provide only indirect support, however, for recapitalizing the financial system. (See the chart How Write-Downs at a Financial Firm Can Influence Its Capital Base, below.)

Understanding the capital positions of U.S. financial firms
Massive write-downs of assets (such as securities with uncertain market value) can reduce the capital that allows financial institutions to provide credit to customers and businesses.

If the capital positions of a financial firm become negative, then the firm is technically insolvent. Capital is simply the difference between a firm's assets and liabilities, and the more capital a firm has the more credit it can provide to consumers and businesses, or use for other activities. With the massive asset write-downs of mortgages and other securities, capital has shrunk considerably for many U.S. financial firms making recent headlines. The Federal Reserve has taken many steps in an effort to inject liquidity into struggling financial institutions, including the emergency expansion of lending facilities on September 14, 2008. However, neither the Fed's nor the Treasury Department's actions, in and of themselves, directly recapitalize the financial system. Recapitalization occurs through retaining profits, issuing new shares or potentially through a direct capital infusion from the U.S. government (similar to the savings and loan bailout in 1989).

Moving to the next phase: need pain for gain
The third action step in the financial crisis playbook -- disposing of bad assets -- is somewhat at odds with the first two and is thus the most difficult balance to achieve. While preventing systemic collapse and boosting aggregate demand are positive actions by the government, the third involves writing off bad assets and allowing insolvent financial institutions to either be acquired or to fail.

If a government goes too far in protecting the system through "bail-outs" of financial companies, it can actually prolong the time it takes the system to recover. In Japan during the early 1990s, for example, officials did lower interest rates and moved to avoid a systemic collapse, but they allowed insolvent banks to survive and maintain large amounts of impaired assets on their balance sheets. As a result, the banking system only got worse, as lenders were saddled with massive amounts of bad loans, and their inability to make new loans had a severe impact on the economy. The Japanese financial system did not begin to recover until actions to remove bad loans began in the mid-to-late 1990s, with the system really not stabilizing for more than a decade after the onset of the crisis.

No "bear" rescue for Lehman; limits to government involvement
When the federal government decided not to provide rescue financing for an acquisition of Lehman Brothers, as it did with Bear Stearns in March, it entered a new phase of the credit crisis that is marked by more discriminate use of government support. Lehman was different than Bear for two main reasons. First, unlike Bear, Lehman's demise has been a possibility for months, which made a Lehman collapse much less of a threat to the overall financial system because other financial entities had time to plan for such an eventuality.* Second, if the systemic threat can indeed be contained, it was time to move to the phase of the clean-up marked by more asset write-downs and institutional failures -- a painful but necessary stage to ensure the government does not prop-up insolvent institutions in a manner that prolongs the crisis and impedes recovery (i.e. Japan).

The rationale for this latter phase of the crisis is that if the system itself is secure, healthy financial institutions will gobble up distressed firms and assets at attractive prices, allowing them to improve their own profitability. Bad assets that no one wants will be removed completely from the balance sheets of financial entities. Through this admittedly painful process, the healing will begin as financials regain their footing, investor confidence, and are able to recapitalize themselves through greater profitability and/or new share offerings.

Will it be enough?
Disposing of bad assets and allowing financial firm failures are a necessary part of restoring order to a financial system after a crisis. Whether they are sufficient depends on the speed and ability with which the surviving firms are able to recapitalize their balance sheets. Financial firms are struggling to recapitalize themselves because the two primary methods of building capital are severely challenged in the current environment. First, shrinking profits are constraining efforts to increase capital positions. Second, declining share prices are making it increasingly difficult to raise equity capital by issuing new shares to private investors.

The one thing the federal government has yet to do is use public funds to directly recapitalize the financial system. Much public assistance has been pledged, but things such as Federal Reserve rate cuts and lower mortgage lending rates from Fannie and Freddie take time to work through the system.

Directly injecting taxpayer money into the financial system has been done on previous occasions, most recently in 1989 during the savings and loan crisis. Back then, the Resolution Trust Corporation was created basically to put insolvent banks out of business, sell off their assets, and recapitalize (with taxpayer money) the healthier banks and lenders that remained solvent. The cost was significant (about 3% of GDP), but the program was generally successful in getting the banking system back on its feet. Today, understandably, the government has been reluctant to pledge public money to directly recapitalize the financial system. Whether it will be able to maintain that luxury will depend largely on how well financial institutions cope with the latest bout of turmoil.

Investment implications
The credit crisis is not over. The most recent unsettling events, including the disappearance of two of Wall Street's oldest and largest independent institutions, are part of a painful yet necessary process of healing. The government, through both the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department, continues to be extremely active in providing liquidity to the financial markets, acting to boost housing demand, and committed to averting a financial system collapse. It is too fluid a situation to know how these latest developments will affect the trajectory of the economy and financial markets, and as a result it remains to be seen whether a larger taxpayer-funded effort will be necessary. However, as bad as the current headlines appear, the silver lining is that the government is acting to avoid the worst mistakes of the past, when policymakers prolonged credit crises into decade-long catastrophes.

(The Market Analysis, Research and Education (MARE) group, a unit of Fidelity Management & Research Co. (FMRCo.), provides timely analysis on developments in the financial markets.)

Read more analysis on the financial markets from MARE.

(Please e-mail any comments to Investor's Weekly at Investors.Weekly@fmr.com.)

Investment decisions should be based on an individual's own goals, time horizon, and tolerance for risk.

* Perhaps the largest risk to the broader financial system posed by both Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers was based in their role as counterparties to various financial contracts, such as credit default swaps and other derivative transactions. If a counterparty is not able to meet its end of an agreement, the value of the contract becomes zero for both parties. Some others voiced concerns over the impact a Lehman bankruptcy would have on trading, since Lehman acted as a specialist (or market maker) in large parts of the securities markets. In order to prevent such circumstances, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association, federal officials, and agents of various Wall Street financial institutions convened a special trading session on Sunday, September 14, 2008 for several hours to assuage these fears. During this window, financial institutions began transferring trades in which Lehman was involved to other parties, contingent on a bankruptcy filing by the end of the day. According to the ISDA, "This exercise is designed to mitigate counterparty credit risk through the establishment of offsetting positions with other market participants."

#505365.2

Michigan Fans even in Colombia!

2008-09-29T19:25:00.004-05:00

Check out his hat!!! Con permiso tu photographia senor? Que rico! A Michigan fan in Colombia!

Please note: I did not see one fan from that other state!

You ain't seen nuthin yet!

2008-09-29T17:14:00.001-05:00

Juan Paul of Medellin, Colombia

2008-09-27T10:05:00.000-05:00

And here is Juan Paul. The opposite of Fernando. Soft spoken, quiet, but don't let that fool you!

Meet Fernando of Medellin, Colombia

2008-09-27T10:00:00.001-05:00

He is funny, has a great personality, and is looking for a U.S. chica. Anyone interested?

Glenn Beck - Current Events & Politics - Picture of the Day - September 26, 2008

2008-09-26T19:17:00.000-05:00

Glenn Beck - Current Events & Politics - Picture of the Day - September 26, 2008: "Palin is carved into cornfield
A 16-acre corn maze near the town of Whitehouse, Ohio has been carved in Palin's likeness, complete with her familiar updo hairstyle and eyeglasses."

Sunshine Skyway to the Tampa Bay Rays vs Yankees Game

2008-09-04T20:29:00.000-05:00

Tampa Bay!

2008-09-04T20:23:00.001-05:00

Sure of a win, but to no avail.

Q's and Clara's First Day of School

2008-09-04T20:13:00.001-05:00

Ms. Adele

2008-08-26T21:35:00.004-05:00

Does it again. Enjoy, Chasing Pavements.

Adele

2008-08-26T20:32:00.003-05:00

I've just discovered her and I adore her bluesy
styling. Here she is with, Cold Shoulder.

Double Rainbow

2008-08-26T12:59:00.000-05:00

Here's another double rainbow. Lucky for me!

OMG!

2008-08-15T21:22:00.000-05:00

No, I didn't eat it all. Just barely a third of it. Sheesh!

Peanut Butter Cake

2008-08-15T18:26:00.004-05:00

Smitten Kitchen did it again. I can't help myself when Deb's email comes into my inbox. Ugh. A ton of calories and I'm going to have to give away at least 3/4 of this cake that weighs about 10 pounds. Oh, and that's what's going to happen to my weight too. Another 10 pounds. So? Perhaps I won't eat a dinner tonight. Perhaps I'll just eat cake!

This is a triple layer 9 inch chocolate cake with a cream cheese/peanut butter frosting and a peanut butter ganache poured over the top. Ugh. And don't even think of wrinkling your nose to cream cheese and peanut butter together. I have learned to trust Deb and I cannot believe what heaven this frosting is. The only thing I did different from Deb is make 1 1/2 recipes of the cake batter as I had 9" pans and the recipe called for 8" pans. It probably would have been just fine the way it was, but ...

And although mine isn't as pretty as hers, I'll bet it tastes just as good. Nothing like chocolate and peanut butter together. Why, that's how I found Deb's Smitten Kitchen Blog in the first place. Looking for a recipe for peanut butter brownies.

Happy Birthday Missi!

A monkey getting the best of two cubs

2008-08-13T22:36:00.001-05:00

This is really cute.

Since 7th grade

2008-08-10T15:09:00.000-05:00

Whitey's Diner, Fremont, OH

2008-08-05T19:05:00.005-05:00

I sat up at the counter, which was always my favorite seat when I lived there and frequented the joint. Chatted with Mark for a while and picked at his memory until he remembered me.

Gosh! Have I been gone that long???

And talk about some grub. Lord have mercy! I ordered eggs, bacon, Mark's famous potatoes and could only eat half of it. Unfortunately, I attacked my food with gusto before I thought of taking a picture of the enormous amount of food set in front of me, but that plate of food I shot is a close resemblance of mine. Add the bacon and replace the white toast with whole wheat.

I had to take half of it with me. Even the bacon. I was given 7 strips of thick, crisp bacon. I ate 3 of them. They didn't go to waste though. Ha ha ha ... Sandy's son saw them and just like that, they were gone!

A visit to Fremont, OH

2008-08-05T18:56:00.003-05:00

While driving back to Michigan I decided to make a slight detour. To the small town I lived in while married to Art. What a man!!! Anyways, I stopped to visit him in the early morning hours on a Saturday morning.

Then over to take some pictures of Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken joint.

Matt? The menu is for you to make any comparisons. Ha ha ha!

I interupt my Yankee trip to rantings -- 400 Billion mortage bailout

2008-08-05T16:37:00.005-05:00

Check out this cartoon. This guy got it right and this was the initial reaction to the 400 BILLION bailout of homeowners. That is until a mere few days later it was a must sign bill to save all. Ha! What is wrong with this picture? Note the poor taxpayer on the left with all the gluttons on the right. Ugh.

Excuse me! But those homeowners signed those papers. And if they didn't take the time to read what their obligations would be, then that is their problem. Live with it!

But oh. Now it's going to be ours, the taxpayers, problem. Come on now. Puleeze! Quite frankly I RESENT MY SOON TO BE INCREASED TAXES to go to this.

Are you kidding me? I am no spring chicken and have made many mistakes in my life and when I signed my life away I was responsible for my signature. And the ensuing credit report and all other repercussions related to that signature.

During the housing boom I was sitting back and thinking, are these people nuts? There were many, many people taking out 2nd's and 3rd's on their home to finance (I gotta have it NOW!) shopping sprees.

And dumb shit brokers encouraging interest only or ARM's when the interest rate was at historical lows. ARE YOU KIDDING ME???

There was no way I was using my home (MY HOME!) for a tanning bed or vacation. Absolutely not! And neither would I have gotten a trick loan when I could've gotten a fixed rate at 5% for the life of the loan. But oh, excuse me, I could've gotten it for 3% for 3 years and then take a chance on the interest rates being even lower (ha!) and paying those extreme closing costs (how did they get to be so high???) and have it made -- until the time was up. Or better yet -- an interest only loan and you'd never get away from owing the debt you signed for. Another gamble that homes would increase in value and you'd be able to pay the Realtor fees when you decided to move.

But they didn't increase. They dropped -- like a bomb!

And dear God, please help us. The GOVERNMENT is going to handle this. I can't wait to hear how much of the 400 billion actually went to these crappy mortgages and how much was used to 'manage' them.

UGH!

And now the time is up. Our country is in bad financial shape. Our dollar is dropping. Oil is insanity AND inflation is rearing it's ugly head.

There had better be a lot of heads rolling -- all the way up the jailhouse steps over this crap!

I am pissed!

Oops! Almost missed this pic

2008-08-05T16:35:00.001-05:00

More of Ohio

2008-08-05T16:22:00.002-05:00

The trip to the beach has been a habit now of ending with an ice cream treat. Boy did Cooper make a mess of that cone. But boy did she love it also.

And then it was off to Ohio

2008-08-05T16:12:00.001-05:00

A visit with Missi and the grandkids along with our annual trek to the beach.

Alicia Ramos

2008-08-03T20:46:00.002-05:00

Along with Sandy Bauer, Judy Willis, and Donna Esch. OMG!!! It'd been at least 35 since I'd seen the latter two gals. We spent four hours at Bennigan's Restaurant having lunch. We poured over our high school year book and reminisced about many, many things.

More pics out on the lake

2008-08-03T20:29:00.002-05:00

It was a good time. And it was a good meal we all enjoyed afterwards. We had salmon marinated in teryaki sauce. And not just any teryaki sauce either, but Soy Vay brand. I grilled salmon tonight marinated in one of the bottles I'd brought home from MI (not sure I can find it here in FL). YUMMY!!!

Yes, that's my leg!

2008-08-03T20:21:00.002-05:00

The one that isn't all red that is. Sandy and I went a had matching tatoos put on. She picked the style and leg (mine is on the left leg and hers is on the right) and I picked out the colors. And silly Sandy wasn't thinking when she picked the leg with peripheral artery disease (PAD). Hence the reddened areas and the slow healing.

I was a tough bird and made just a few grimaces during the process. Whereas Sandy suffered through it and said, I don't believe I'll ever get another tattoo. Ha ha ha ...

The tatoo artist? Meet Scoob.

Bob Seger's House on Upper Straits Lake

2008-07-30T18:32:00.001-05:00

Sandy and I went to see my first boy crush from the 9th grade. He and Kimber, his girlfriend, took us out on Upper Straits Lake. Well, the sun was shining and all was well as we cruised around the lake and low and behold Steve points out Bob Segers home. I say, huh? Was this where he wrote Fire Lake?

All Summer Long

2008-07-30T17:18:00.000-05:00

OK already! So it wasn't all summer long, but just a mere 10 days. But it was great!

And little did I realize the meaning of that the picture of my left foot in the soft, sweet smelling, yankee,Michigan grass would have so much meaning! Because if you look at the picture of the two feet, mine and my oldest, most sincerest, dearest friend since we were 11 years old, Sandy, and we'd gotten matching tattoos. Mine is on my left foot and hers is on her right foot and hers is all red and such where as mine healed just beautifully.

That reminds me. I've got to call her and see how her ankle is.

Anyways, the pictures will be coming. I flew in yesterday and then had jury duty today and I'm like -- swamped. But I'm starting on the stories and I've got the stories to tell.

Dang. Looking at that picture again of that sweet grass. How I wish I'd come across a yankee vine ripened tomato!

And that was my first tatoo. Not as bad as I thought it would be. But then even if it was I'd never tell!

I Can Only Imagine, Naomi Judd

2008-07-15T18:40:00.001-05:00

This one is powerful!!!

I Am Yours, NSA

2008-07-15T18:16:00.001-05:00

Click to watch this video. Awesome! Thank God he catches me. I fall all the time.

Tampa Bay Rays, my adopted team

2008-07-10T21:19:00.003-05:00

Did I say the trip to Seahorse Key was the highlight of my trip? Well, I'd be hard pressed to make a choice of seeing the Tampa Bay Rays playing some good baseball as we headed towards home. This game was great! It was their 7th win in their streak.

I had to adopt this team. Harold had them on while they were playing the Chicago Cubs and I was shocked to see that the Cubs fans in the Rays home field were much louder. How horrible! That was that. I always want to take in the under dog. But I was surprised when I got to the game. Yes, there were new fans there, and why wouldn't there be? They're #1 in the nation! But a lot of old fans came out of the woodwork also. How did I know? Lots of new Rays shirts were being worn, but lots of old shirts were there also. COOL!!!

Seahorse Key

2008-07-10T21:10:00.005-05:00

So what to do the whole day of the 5th of July? The 4th's festivities were over and done with. Well, it was $350 for a half day of charter fishing or $700 for the whole day. Ay! And then there was the tour to Seahorse Key where there is a lighthouse that was built in the mid 1800's. The following year a hurricane whipped through there. Then the Civil War started and darned if the Union soldjiers didn't use it as a prison. Now the U.S Fish and Wildlife has it and it's a nature reserve and is only opened to the public twice a year. The 4th of July and during Cedar Key's clam festival in October. The boat ride was $21/person. OK. That's doable. And I was intrigued. It was the highlight of our weekend.

But that only took half a day. What were we to do with the other half? Did I mention that I'd had too much to drink the day before and slept through the fireworks??? Well, there was no way I was going to drink again (like so many others were doing). Ugh. So we went shopping. But when you're in a town that is old Florida and as cute as that may be, everything is expensive. So a lot of looking was done and then a meal at a horribly overpriced restaurant. Harold doesn't eat seafood so he had the only thing on the menu that wasn't seafood. A hamburger for $12. And it was tasteless. Horrible. Harold was whining for Red Robin. Me? I had an overpriced variety of seafood that was mediocre at best. Believe me, I know. There are better restaurants around Fort Myers. Pinchers Crab Shack is one. Shoot! Red Lobster is better. And the meal cost $30. Ha ha ha ... next time I'll pack a cooler and grill. Ha ha ha ... and byob! The price wouldn't have bothered me if the food was good. But ...

Harold's BIrthday Cake

2008-07-10T17:17:00.003-05:00

I interupt talking about last weekend to put up Harold's birthday cake. This cake is so incredibly good. Let me tell you where I got the recipe from. A few weeks ago I went looking for a peanut butter brownie recipe online and came upon her blog and her recipe. That was it. I was hooked and I signed up to get regular emails from the Smitten Kitchen blogger, Deb. And she does an unbelieveable job of bringing us, her readers, her escapades in her small New York City kitchen that doesn't even have a dishwasher.

Fortunately for me I signed up just in time to experience her making a wedding cake for her friend. She wanted to give her a great tasting cake, not just some old humdrum dried out been sitting there for days wedding cake. I'd been following her creation for a couple of weeks and wanted very badly to try it out.

What better excuse to make this cake than for Harold's birthday? When I asked him what kind of cake he wanted he told me a yellow cake. When questioning a chocolate cake, after all, I'm female and adore chocolate, he told me that if I wanted to make a chocolate cake for me to go ahead. But if I was making one for him, well, he wanted a yellow cake.

I was able to take Deb's vanilla butter cake recipe along with her Swiss buttercream icing recipe and came up with the above pictured creation which is a three layer vanilla cake with Swiss buttercream icing. Now I'd read in Deb's many comments from more than one person that the icing recipe would/could collapse after beating it for 15 minutes and that you just had to keep beating and it would pull together. Mine didn't collapse when it started pulling together although I beat that bugger with my kitchen aid hand mixer for at least 20 minutes. But ooo la la, the taste of it all. It was totally worth the effort. I just added some fresh strawberries for appearance.

I'm not going to try to copy and paste and credit and whatever all Deb did with her cake that turned out beautifully. But I did give you the link in an above paragraph. Just click on the words wedding cake. I'm betting you're going to enjoy her blog as much as I did if you like going in your kitchen. Her story telling and her husband's photography are superb!

Cedar Key, FL on the 4th of July

2008-07-09T18:24:00.004-05:00

Harold and I needed a laid back place to get away. We both have high stress jobs and we didn't want a hectic pace while off. Enough of that at work. A coworker suggested Cedar Key stating if we didn't want to do anything but relax that would be the place.

Well, darned if we didn't happen up there on a wild weekend (for Cedar Key). Pixie, the gal that ran the motel told us right from the start, If you don't drink, fish, or like seafood, then don't come to Cedar Key. Boy was she right. Even landing there on the 4th of July festival weekend didn't make things crazy. And Harold and I wondered what we'd have done if it wasn't the 4th. Ha ha ha ... As it was, it was perfect. Walk around the festival, eat, go buy some absolut vodka along with orange and cranberry juice, get drunk (me, not Harold), and crash for the fireworks, waking up at mindnight with a headache.

And what good is the 4th of July without a watermelon???

Cedar Key is toted to be the largest farm raised clams in Florida, the country, the world? I don't know which it is or even if it's true, but they were good.

Life, like a box of chocolates

Peeling a potato the easy way!

John Boehner on the energy bill

African thunderstorm

Glenn Beck Rocks!

Federal Reserve board has no clue ...

PS22 Chorus singing Landslide

ABC

Obama-man Can!

This is just wrong!

The Giant

Important Facts

Comerica Park, Home of the Detroit Tigers

Susan and Cha-Cha in La Ceiba, Honduras

Poppy and me!

Haiti Mission Team, March, 2009

Alan Keyes TELLS IT LIKE IT IS!

To the forefront

He's keeping his promise!

A REAL way to help a veteran that fought for our country!

House of Cards

Timeline showing the impending Fanny Mae, Freddie Mac crisis

Lil Matt

America's Nanny Dog

America's Nanny Dog

Obama and Blagojevich

I do not like Barack Obama

Moving on

Follow up on our president elects' promise on Change

We're Amercian born and bred deep into our souls

Bella and Tara

Sarah Palin, one classy lady

A Fully Cooked Turducken

My Little Sebring Cuties

My Little Buckeye Cuties hamming it up for their Christmas picture

My Turducken's Arrived

My Turducken is in Orlando!

Off Topics

Straight No Chaser -- 12 Days

White Christmas

Spider Documentary

A Walter Blooper

Happy Holidays!

Ackmed, the dead terroist

Wise words spoken 200 years ago speak for today

NO BAILOUT!!!

He's trying to incite a riot!

MI/OSU game 11/22/08 more

MI/OSU game 11/22/08

First Campaign Promise Broken

Should you or shouldn't you take the flu vaccine?

Words from "The Rodman"

A warning from a Cuban American about CHANGE

An Obama Supporter's 'modest' Expectations

And the winner is ...

In Colombia at the Lucky Stone

Barack Hussein Obama -- birth certificate fraud

Condom Stretching

Glenn Beck speaks with the Maverick

McCain/Palin Tradition by Hank Williams Jr

Haters -- stay away!

Here comes Communism

Hail Hitler! Hail Obama!

Jerry's high school band

More like minded folks

And this line ...

And Speaking of the Line ...

Cubanos mujers para Sarah Palin!

A Pistol Packing Looby-Loo

Fidelity's Letter on the Current Financial Crisis

U.S. Financial Crisis Enters New Phase

Government focused on stemming turmoil

Michigan Fans even in Colombia!

You ain't seen nuthin yet!

Juan Paul of Medellin, Colombia

Meet Fernando of Medellin, Colombia

Glenn Beck - Current Events & Politics - Picture of the Day - September 26, 2008

Sunshine Skyway to the Tampa Bay Rays vs Yankees Game

Tampa Bay!

Q's and Clara's First Day of School