Word of the Day

amity \AM-uh-tee\, noun:

Friendship; friendly relations, especially between nations.

For at least the first two years of the war, as a Confederate soldier and writer, John Esten Cooke, phrased it, there were "pitched battles once or twice a year," in which the two sides spent all day killing each other, "and then relapsed into gentlemanly repose and amity."
-- Stephen W. Sears, "Valor Couldn't Save Them", New York Times, July 5, 1987

The precise nature of their relationship cannot now be uncovered, and might well have resisted analysis at the time; it remained a matter of mutual services and obligations, the filaments of which over the years created a network of amity and trust.
-- Peter Ackroyd, The Life of Thomas More

He regards Cordell Hull as the bright particular star of the Roosevelt Administration and heartily approves the Secretary of State's efforts to promote international amity and reciprocal trade.
-- Cleveland Rodgers, "Robert Moses", The Atlantic, February 1939

Amity comes from Old French-Medieval French amistié, amisté, ultimately from Latin amicus, "friendly, a friend," from amare, "to love."

"The truest greatness lies in being kind, the truest wisdom in a happy mind."

Ella Wheeler Wilcox
1855-1919, Poet and Journalist

Weekly Savings Tip - New Year, New Goals

It's 2008 and it's time to reexamine your financial future. Make it a New Year's resolution to set and stick to a new savings goal, or adjust one that you already set. Everyday changes in your spending habits can add up, but having set goals will give you something to work toward.

What are your goals for the future?
Take our poll to let us know!

Already investing your savings toward a goal?
Find out how long it will take for you to achieve it.

Visit www.FeedthePig.org for more money-saving tips.

Bill Clinton explains Kiva

Get involved! What are you waiting for?

Cool Gadget

Many computers have webcams built into their frames, but the Clique Hue HD ($80) gives you the flexibility to shoot from all angles. The 1.3-megapixel sensor transmits jerk-free video, and the built-in noise-reducing mike makes sure you come in loud and clear.
huehd.com

John Edwards's Righteous Anger

The corporate media over the last couple of months has been pushing a notion that John Edwards sounds "angry". Are we witnessing another attempt to take down a candidate that threatens the corporate power structure? Do we have a repeat of four years ago when the media made a big deal about Howard Dean shouting over the crowd noise?

John Edwards is angry and he has every right to be. All Americans should be angry at what is going on in our country. Our treasure is being sacrificed in an illegal unjust war in Iraq. Our jobs are being exported overseas. Health care costs are rising while wages decline. Our civil liberties have been threatened by an administration that thinks it is above the law.

Continued...

Life's Laws

1. The most common elements in the universe are hydrogen and stupidity.

2. If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you.

3. Money can't buy happiness but it sure makes misery easier to live with.

4. Deja moo: The feeling that you've heard this bull before.

5. Psychiatrists say that 1 of 4 people is mentally ill. Check three friends. If they're okay, you're it.

6. Nothing in the known universe travels faster than a bad check.

7. It has recently been discovered that research causes cancer in rats.

8. The trouble with doing something right the first time is that nobody appreciates how difficult it was.

9. It may be your sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others.

10. The average woman would rather have beauty than brains because the average man can see better than he can think.

My New Favorite Thing

Run, don't walk to your nearest high end dept store and get a whiff of this stuff. Just one sniff was all it took for me and I walked out with a bottle.

Acqua Di Parma

Colonia EDC Natural/1.7oz

Fresh, sensual and vibrant. This pure Italian essence was created for men and women who are discretely elegant. A perfect fragrant blend of spicy Sicilian citrus fruits, lavender, rosemary, verbena and rose. Eau de Cologne Natural Spray, 1.7 oz.

If you can't go to the philharmonic, the New York Philharmonic can come to you, via iTunes, where recordings of recent concernts are yours for the downloading. (See nyphil.org/buy/estore/itunes.cfm.)

Here's The Joke

A newlywed farmer and his wife were visited by her mother, who immediately demanded an inspection of the place. The farmer had genuinely tried to be friendly to his new mother-in-law, hoping that it could be a friendly, non-antagonistic relationship. All to no avail though, as she kept nagging them at every opportunity, demanding changes, offering unwanted advice and generally making life unbearable to the farmer and his new bride.

While they were walking through the barn, during the forced inspection, the farmer's mule suddenly reared up and kicked the mother-in-law in the head, killing her instantly. It was a shock to all no matter their feelings toward her demanding ways.

At the funeral service a few days later, the farmer stood near the casket and greeted folks as they walked by. The pastor noticed that whenever a woman would whisper something to the farmer, he would nod his head yes and say something. Whenever a man walked by and whispered to the farmer, however, he would shake his head no and mumble a reply.

Very curious as to this bizarre behavior, the pastor later asked the farmer what that was all about.

The farmer explained, "Well, the women would say, 'What a terrible tragedy' and I would nod my head and say, 'Yes, it was.' The men would ask, 'Can I borrow that mule?' and I would shake my head and say, 'Can't, it's all booked up for a year.'"

Killer of Sheep

A masterpiece of African American filmmaking and one of the finest debuts in cinema history, KILLER OF SHEEP was chosen for the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress. In the Los Angeles community of Watts, Stan, a sensitive dreamer, is growing detached and numb from the toll of working at a slaughterhouse. Frustrated by money problems, he finds respite in moments of simple beauty: the warmth of a teacup against his cheek, slow dancing with his wife, holding his daughter. Combining lyrical moments with neorealist style, Burnett unfolds his story with compassion and humor. KILLER OF SHEEP's haunting images and extraordinary soundtrack are a revelation in this new high-definition transfer from the UCLA Film & Television Archive's brilliant 35mm restoration.

Word of the Day

benefaction \BEN-uh-fak-shuhn; ben-uh-FAK-shuhn\, noun:

1. The act of conferring a benefit.
2. A benefit conferred; especially, a charitable donation.

Rockefeller's taxable income was then $33,000,000 and that his total fortune was probably more than $800,000,000. At that time he had distributed about $500,000,000 in public benefactions.
-- "Financier's Fortune in Oil Amassed in Industrial Era of 'Rugged Individualism'", New York Times, May 24, 1937

It may be, as some social psychologists argue, that the competitive urge to gain more is in time replaced by an equally competitive urge to win fame and favor through public benefactions.
-- Robin W. Winks, Laurance S. Rockefeller: Catalyst for Conservation

Benefaction is from Late Latin benefactio, from Latin benefacere, "to do well, to do good to," from bene, "well" + facere, "to do."

"The young do not know enough to be prudent, and therefore they attempt the impossible - and achieve it, generation after generation."

Pearl S. Buck
1892-1973, Pulitzer and Nobel Prize Winning Author

A Time For Reflection

In this spirit of annual accounting, I advocate finding a few minutes for your own personal year-in-review.

Get a pen. Check out the form below. Clip it. Or print it. I guarantee that if you fill in the blanks, you'll realize some things about your 2005 you had only half registered before.

When you consciously review your year, you may notice how little you noticed it as it whizzed past. To review is to re-view. To rewind, pause, look again. And in looking again, to see more clearly.

You may be astonished by how much happened. And how much didn't. By how much has changed. And how much hasn't. You may laugh or sigh to notice that your life remains its usual jumble of contradictions.

PERSONAL YEAR IN REVIEW

In 2008, I gained (this does not mean WEIGHT unless you want it to) __________________.

I lost (this does not mean WEIGHT unless you want it to) ______________.

I stopped ____________________.

I started ____________________________.

I was hugely satisfied by ____________________.

And frustrated by ___________________________.

I am so embarrassed that I ___________________.

Once again, I_________________________.

Once again, I did not_____________________.

The biggest physical difference between me last December and this December is_________________________.

The biggest psychological difference between me last December and this
December is _________________________.

I loved spending time _______________________.

Why did I spend even two minutes_________________?

I should have spent more time______________________.

I regret buying __________________.

I will never regret buying_________even though with that money I could have bought __________________.

I __________________________ way too much.

I didn't _____________________________ enough.

________________________drove me crazy.

Was_________________crazier than ever last year? Or was it me?

The most relaxing place I went was:

I feel so_____________________when I write that down.

Why did I go to:

The best thing I did for someone else was:

The best thing I did for myself was :

The best thing someone did for me was:

The one thing I'd like to do again, but do it better, is:


(Feel free to post your 'reflections' in the comments section.)

How Bush Took Us to the Dark Side

There are dire consequences that Americans will have to face now that torture and imprisonment of innocent people is everyday government practice.

Meet Michelle Obama

Life is a Bag of Frozen Peas

A few weeks after my first wife, Georgia, was called to heaven, I was cooking dinner for my son and myself. For a vegetable, I decided on frozen peas. As I was cutting open the bag, it slipped from my hands and crashed to the floor. The peas, like marbles, rolled everywhere. I tried to use a broom, but with each swipe the peas rolled across the kitchen, bounced off the wall on the other side and rolled in another direction.

My mental state at the time was fragile. Losing a spouse is an unbearable pain. I got on my hands and knees and pulled them into a pile to dispose of, I was half laughing and half crying as I collected them. I could see the humor in what happened, but it doesn't take much for a person dealing with grief to break down.

For the next week, every time I was in the kitchen, I would find a pea that had escaped my first cleanup. In a corner, behind a table leg, in the frays at the end of a mat, or hidden under a heater, they kept turning up. Eight months later I pulled out the refrigerator to clean, and found a dozen or so petrified peas hidden underneath.

At the time I found those few remaining peas, I was in a new relationship with a wonderful woman I met in a widow/widower support group. After we married, I was reminded of those peas under the refrigerator. I realized my life had been like that bag of frozen peas. It had shattered. My wife was gone. I was in a new city with a busy job and a son having trouble adjusting to his new surroundings and the loss of his mother. I was a wreck. I was a bag of spilled, frozen peas. My life had come apart and scattered.

When life gets you down; when everything you know comes apart; when you think you can never get through the tough times, remember, it is just a bag of scattered, frozen peas. The peas can be collected and life will move on. You will find all the peas. First the easy peas come together in a pile. You pick them up and start to move on. Later you will find the bigger and harder peas. When you pull it all together, life will be whole again.

The life you know can be scattered at any time. You will move on, but how fast you collect your peas depends on you. Will you keep scattering them around with a broom, or will you pick them up one-by-one and put your life back together?

Michael T. Smith

Today's Quote

Patience is the companion of wisdom.

— St. Augustine

The Return of the SwiftBoaters

The shadowy group that smeared John Kerry in 2004 is ready to do its dirty work again.

Kissing is a means of getting two people so close together that they can't see anything wrong with each other.

— Rene Yasenek

Joan Baez - With God on Our Side (Live 1966)

The 5.75 questions you've been avoiding.

Another Plug For Kiva

I went to the Kiva.org website today to check on the progress of the businesses I have helped fund and found this very exciting message on the home page:

Thanks Kiva Lenders

You've funded EVERY business on the site!!

Our website is experiencing record traffic from recent press we've received, and because generous lenders like you are supporting small business entrepreneurs in the developing world this season of giving.

Please check back again soon. Kiva Field Partners around the globe are approving new loan applications and posting new businesses on the site each day. We hope that you'll soon find an entrepreneur you'd like to lend to.

Now that is news that certainly warms the heart. If you aren't involved with Kiva, I urge you to check out the site and learn what they're about and get involved. It only costs you a few bucks to be a part of something big. Today, they don't need your money, but there will be more opportunities to extend some help to another family soon. Remember, the money you provide is a loan. Odds are, you'll get your money back. You can return it to your own pocket or reinvest it - the choice is yours.

Website of the Day - The Daily Green

For those of you who are serious about reducing the footprint you leave on the planet, here is one of the best websites I have come across that helps you to do just that. The Daily Green brands itself as the consumer's guide to the green revolution and it is just that. They also have a free newsletter which you can get sent directly to your email. Below is a small article I found on their site about bottled water. If you are as concerned about the health of the planet as I am, I encourage you to check it out.


Save resources by drinking from a glass whenever you can, or use a refillable, stainless steel bottle when you are on the go.

Ever wonder where most of those plastic water bottles go that we knock back from every day? Into landfills, where they live on and on and on and on. Exempt from many state deposit laws, and most often used away from home, where recycling bins are scarce, the majority of water bottles do not make it into the recycling stream.

Not only do they accumulate and stress landfills, they are made from polyethylene terephthalate (PET), a petroleum product, and their manufacturing process uses oil, a nonrenewable energy source, and increases CO₂ emissions.

So kick the plastic water bottle habit. That way you can avoid the controversy over chemicals leaching from both hard and soft plastics into your water, even at room temperatures.

Original

Like to buy a fully-restored farmhouse on 3.2 acres, surrounded by loads of natural Washington County beauty, for just $100?

Who Is the Best Dem Candidate on the Issues?

If you cut through the media coverage on the Dem candidates, John Edwards' positions on health care, Iraq and corporations shine out.

Land, at last

A would-be immigrant rests Wednesday after arriving on the Canary Island of Tenerife by wooden boat. Since Tuesday, 126 immigrants have been picked up at sea by the Spanish coast gaurd. (AP photo by Arturo Rodriguez / January 2, 2008)

Here's Another Joke

These two girlfriends are very close, allowing them to be totally honest with each other.

As one fidgeted in front of the mirror one evening before a date, she remarked, "I'm fat."

"No, you're not," the other scolded.

"My hair is awful."

"It's lovely."

"I've never looked worse," she whined.

"Yes, you have," her friend replied.

Season's greetings from beyond

Chet Fitch lived to make others laugh. Even as a little boy, he plopped a pet turkey vulture on his bike handlebars just to get a rise out of folks.

When he told jokes, the mere thought of the punch line caused him to laugh so hard, he could barely finish.

In Oct. 1987, the practical joker walked into the Modern Barber Shop in Ashland, bloody with scratches and scrapes covering his body. Everyone jumped up and asked, "What the hell happened?"

Fitch responded, "The stock market crashed, you know. I was so distraught I threw myself off the back deck into the blackberry patch."

Fitch loved the idea of putting a smile on someone's face, usually with a joke. So when the 88-year-old jester passed away this October, friends and family thought they'd seen the last of his merry mirth.

But like all comic geniuses, his timing was perfect when 34 Christmas cards recently started arriving in the mail from none other than Chet Fitch, return address — Heaven.

The Card

The postcard features a photo of Fitch and his wife Jessie, of 55 years who passed away in 1995, square-dancing — something the two of them loved doing.

In Fitch's own handwriting, the card reads:

"I asked Big Guy if I could sneak back and send some cards. At first he said no; but at my insistence he finally said, 'Oh well, what the heaven, go ahead but don't [tarry] there.' Wish I could tell you about things here but words cannot explain. Better get back as Big Guy said he stretched a point to let me in the first time, so I had better not press my luck. I'll probably be seeing you (some sooner than you think). Wishing you a very Merry Christmas. Chet Fitch"

"When I opened his card, all I could think was, 'You little stinker'," said Debbie Hansen-Bernard, Fitch's friend for nearly 25 years.

"It was amazing; just so Chet," she said. "Always wanting to get the last laugh."

When his daughter Tangren Alexander opened her card and realized who it was from, she said, "All I could do was laugh and cry, and then laugh and cry some more. It was just so sweet and funny. So much like him."

A Sacred Trust

In 1987, Fitch asked a big favor of his longtime barber, Patty Dean.

"I wonder if you could help me?" he said. "I want to play one last trick on people, after I die."

Dean immediately stopped cutting his hair and looked into his grinning face.

"Thus we entered into a sacred trust," she said.

Dean married eight times and moved even more, "But I didn't make a move until I notified him of my new address. He even had instructions in his safety deposit box that I was to be notified in the event of his death."

Fitch called Dean periodically to update his mailing list, notifying her of someone's death, changed addresses or new spouses.

"He even sent extra money whenever there was a postal rate increase," said Dean.

This year, Fitch looked up his barber, who's back cutting hair in Ashland.

"You must be getting tired of waiting to mail those cards," he told her. "I think you'll probably be able to mail them this year."

He died a week later.

Original

Tent city in suburbs is cost of home crisis

Between railroad tracks and beneath the roar of departing planes sits "tent city," a terminus for homeless people. It is not, as might be expected, in a blighted city center, but in the once-booming suburbia of Southern California.

The noisy, dusty camp sprang up in July with 20 residents and now numbers 200 people, including several children, growing as this region east of Los Angeles has been hit by the U.S. housing crisis.

The unraveling of the region known as the Inland Empire reads like a 21st century version of "The Grapes of Wrath," John Steinbeck's novel about families driven from their lands by the Great Depression.

As more families throw in the towel and head to foreclosure here and across the nation, the social costs of collapse are adding up in the form of higher rates of homelessness, crime and even disease.

Continued...

Let James Brown Teach You How to Dance

Here's The Joke

A little boy was walking down a dirt road after church one Sunday afternoon when he came to a crossroads where he met a little girl coming from the other direction.

Hello," said the little boy.

"Hi," replied the little girl.

"Where are you going?" asked the little boy.

"I've been to church this morning and I'm on my way home," answered the little girl.

"Me too", replied the little boy."I'm also on my way home from church."

"Which church do you go to?" asked the little boy.

"I go to the Baptist church back down the road," replied the little girl.

"What about you?"

"I go to the Methodist church back at the top of the hill," replied the little boy

They discover that they are both going the same way so they decided that they'd walk together. They came to a low spot in the road where spring rains had partially flooded the road so there was no way that they could get across to the other side without getting wet. "If I get my new Sunday dress wet my Mom's going to skin me alive,"said the little girl. "My Mom'll tan my hide too if I get my new Sunday suit wet," replied the little boy."I tell you what I think I'll do," said the little girl. "I'm gonna pull off all my clothes and hold them over my head and wade across." "That's a good idea," replied the little boy. "I'm going to do the same thing with my suit."So they both undressed and waded across to the other side without getting their clothes wet. They were standing there in the sun waiting to drip dry before putting their clothes back on when the little boy finally remarked ... "You know, I never did realize before just

how much difference there really is between a Baptist and Methodist."

Word of the Day

unfledged \uhn-FLEJD\, adjective:

1. Lacking the feathers necessary for flight.
2. Not fully developed; immature.

It is most likely that this parrot was caught when very young, even possibly unfledged, and was totally nurtured by humans.
-- D'vora Ben Shaul, "A parrot in a man's world", Jerusalem Post, June 15, 1997

Some also charge the leaders with sheltering unfledged youth from the real world or, as one public education official quoted in the Washington Post put it, "prolonging a cocoon existence."
-- Helen Mondloch, "Homegrown Virtue on Campus", World and I, November 1, 2001

He is not naive, unfledged, but he is always in some way a "Johnny come lately."
-- Robert Creeley, "Austerities", Review of Contemporary Fiction, March 22, 1994

Unfledged is from obsolete fledge, "capable of flying; feathered," from Middle English flegge, from Old English -flycge

A man isn't poor if he can still laugh.

— Raymond Hitchcock

Liquor Warning

Of course these do not apply to me, but you may want to pass this on to other people to warn them.

Liquor manufacturers have accepted the Government's suggestion that the following warning labels be placed immediately on all varieties of alcohol containers:

WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may leave y ou wondering what the hell happened to your bra and panties.

WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may make you think you are whispering when you are not.

WARNING: The consumption of alcohol is a major factor in dancing like a retard.

WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may cause you to tell your friends over and over again that you love them.

WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may cause you to think you can sing.

WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may lead you to believe that ex-lovers are really dying for you to telephone them at four in the morning.

WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may make you think you can logically converse with members of the opposite sex without spitting.

WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may create the illusion that you are tougher, smarter, faster and better looking than most people.

WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may lead you to think people are laughing WITH you.

WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may cause pregnancy.

WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may lead you to believe you are invisible.

WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may cause a disturbance in the time-space continuum, leaving you unable to account for large chunks of time.

WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may make you think you have mystical Kung Fu powers, resulting in you getting your ass kicked.

WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may cause you to roll over in the morning and see something really scary.

WARNING: The consumption of alcohol is the leading cause of inexplicable rug burns on the forehead , knees and lower back.

WARNING: The crumsumpten of alcohol may Mack you tink you tpye reel gode

Best Products for Dry Skin

Keep your skin soft and supple with a customized plan for hands, feet, body, and face

Website of the Day - Slow Down Now

The official website of the International Institute for Not Doing Much. Humorous slow-lifestyle articles and stories from the almost true to the truly absurd. Click HERE to check it out.

What If America Were Invaded and Occupied?

"Suppose Iraq invaded America. And an Iraqi soldier was on a tank passing through an American street, waving his gun at the people, threatening them, raiding and trashing houses. Would you accept that? This is why no Iraqi can accept occupation, and don't be surprised by their reactions," says "The Imam," a young man from a mixed Sunni-Shia family, as he explains the genesis of the insurgency in Iraq and its exponential growth.

He is one of the protagonists that Meeting Resistance presents as unmistakable evidence that the root cause of the conflict in Iraq is the occupation itself. The film has resistance fighters themselves tell their story.

Journalists-turned-filmmakers Molly Bingham and Steve Connors were compelled to film this documentary during their early reporting of the U.S. occupation of Iraq. They used the al-Adhamiya neighborhood of Baghdad to explore and depict an insurgency that has been caricatured by the Bush Administration.

Bingham, who has reported previously from Rwanda, the Gaza Strip, and Iran, was the official photographer to the Office of the Vice President of the United States from 1998 to 2001. She believes that it is imperative to understand the people within the resistance if the United States is to find a solution to the Iraq quagmire.

Bingham teamed up with Connors, a photographer who has covered ten conflicts and is a former British soldier who served in Northern Ireland in the early 1980s. Between the two of them they share thirty-three years of experience in covering conflicts around the globe.

In August of 2003, they began working on the film. The project kept them in Baghdad for ten months, as Connors filmed and Bingham wrote the script.

The eighty-five-minute groundbreaking film focuses on ten members of the Iraqi resistance. Interspersed with stunning footage of the aftermath of car bomb attacks, of frightened soldiers aiming their weapons at crowds of Iraqis, and of burning remains of destroyed military vehicles, the meat of the film is the words of the fighters themselves.

Continued...

How to save money all year long.

Smile Often!

Pool Tricks

Hospital Bloopers

These were actual hospital patient reports...enjoy!

-While in ER, she was examined, x-rated and sent home.

-The skin was moist and dry.

-Occasional, constant infrequent headaches.

-Patient was alert and unresponsive.

-Rectal exam ination revealed a normal size thyroid.

-She stated that she had been constipated for most of her life, until she got a divorce.

-I saw your patient today, who is still under our car for physical therapy.

-Both breasts are equal and reactive to light and accommodation.

-Examination of genitalia reveals that he is circus sized.

-The lab test indicated abnormal lover function.

-Skin: somewhat pale but present.

-The pelvic exam will be done later on the floor.

-Patient has two teenage children, but no other abnormalities.

Word of the Day

draconian \dray-KOHN-ee-uhn; druh-\, adjective:

1. Pertaining to Draco, a lawgiver of Athens, 621 B.C.
2. Excessively harsh; severe.

The Irish Government last night announced a package of measures it described as "draconian" as part of an unprecedented crackdown on dissident republicans.
-- "Draconian crackdown to help end the violence", Birmingham Post, August 20, 1998

In October 1996 Allen publicly admitted that his draconian cost-cutting campaign had had devastating effects on Delta's workforce.
-- Daniel Goleman, Working with Emotional Intelligence

The most straightforward solution would be a draconian crackdown on all unrest -- curfews, house-to-house searches, firing on armed rioters, mass internment, widespread use of capital punishment for terrorists, and so on.
-- John O'Sullivan, "Dangerous Restraint", National Review, April 6, 2004

Draconian refers to a code of laws made by Draco. Their measures were so severe that they were said to be written in blood.

"To be a great champion you must believe you are the best. If you're not, pretend you are."

Muhammad Ali
World Champion Boxer

Obama Wins Iowa: Why Everyone Has a Reason to Celebrate

Even if your candidate didn't win last night, you have reason to celebrate. We all do.

Barack Obama's stirring victory in Iowa -- down home, folksy, 92 percent white Iowa -- says a lot about America.

Because tonight voters decided that they didn't want to look back. They were warned that a vote for Obama would be like rolling the dice, and they went ahead and rolled the dice -- as if a country exhausted by the last seven years wanted to recapture its youth. Obama's win might not have legs. Hope could give way to fear once again. But, for tonight at least, it holds a mirror up to the face of America, and we can look at ourselves with pride. This is the kind of country America was meant to be, even if you are for Clinton or Edwards -- or even Huckabee or Giuliani.

It's the kind of country we've always imagined ourselves being -- even if in the last seven years we fell horribly short: a young country, an optimistic country, a forward-looking country, a country not afraid to take risks or to dream big.

Continued...

Activist Tells Congress About Suicide Epidemic Among Vets

PHENOM!

Barack Obama Speech after winning Iowa Caucus

He looks like a 17 yo kid you'd see on a HS basketball court! Admittedly, Obama wasn't my candidate. I don't think he's shown enough leadership and has been too careful and calculating on many issues and therefore I question his strength to stand up against many of the powerful forces I want a leader to stand up to in our country. I think the dangers facing us from within are more threatening than the dangers we face from an outside force (corporate power, media conglomeration, partisanship, election fraud, etc.) BUT Obama IS a very a powerful orator. I found this moment in our history and his speech to be very moving. I can't deny that I am pleased that someone of the same racial makeup as my children was selected by the white state of Iowa. Makes me think it is possible for my kids to be judged by the content of their character rather than by the color of their skin.

Now, coming out of Iowa - watch the spin in the press. The press doesn't like Hillary, the press doesn't like Edwards. The powers that be don't like Edwards and Huckabee because of their populist stances. Will be interesting to watch how this unfolds.

Word of the Day

cacophony \kuh-KAH-fuh-nee\, noun:

1. Harsh or discordant sound; dissonance.
2. The use of harsh or discordant sounds in literary composition.

New York was then a cacophony of sounds -- a dozen accents ricocheting off surrounding buildings as immigrant mothers called their children home for supper, noon whistles blowing, vendors hawking their wares on the streets, children shouting, horses whinnying, and people yelling.
-- Herbert G. Goldman, Banjo Eyes

The mammoth central station towered over the platforms, and with the cacophony from whooshing steam, shrill whistles, shouts and the heaving of hand and horse carts, not only was it the biggest, noisiest, most confusing experience any of them had ever encountered, but the city was almost unimaginable.
-- Christopher Ogden, Legacy: A Biography of Moses and Walter Annenberg

Cacophony comes from Greek kakophonia, from kakophonos, from kakos, "bad" + phone, "sound." The adjective form is cacophonous. The opposite of cacophony is euphony.

Love is an act of endless forgiveness, a tender look which becomes a habit.

— Peter Ustinov

7 Essential Tips to Make 2008 Your Best Year Ever

Weekly Savings Tip - Holiday Savings Accounts

As the holiday season comes to an end, are you looking at a pile of credit card receipts and wondering how to pay them off? It's never too early to start saving for next year so this does not happen to you. Many banks offer special Holiday Savings Accounts that you can contribute to periodically or can set up to automatically withdraw funds from your paycheck. Or, when you plan your budget, be sure to include savings for next year's holiday season or any other event that you can anticipate (e.g. birthdays, anniversaries, etc). Establishing a budget ahead of time will save you money in the future.

Visit www.FeedthePig.org for more money-saving tips.

Snow sculpture expo

Workers sculpt "Romantic Feelings", which will debut at the 20th International Snow Sculpture Art Expo in Harbin of Heilongjiang Province, China, on Dec 17. "Romantic Feelings", measuring approximately 115 feet high and 656 feet long, is designed to be the world's largest snow sculpture. The 20th International Snow Sculpture Art Expo starts on Dec. 20 at the city's Sun Island Scenic Area. (Getty Images/China Photos)

Republican Sexcapades

Another Blonde Joke

As a trucker stops for a red light, a blonde catches up. She jumps out of her car, runs up to his truck, and knocks on the door.

The Trucker lowers the window, and she says "Hi, my name is Heather and you are losing some of your load." The trucker ignores her and proceeds down the street.

When the truck stops for another red light, the girl catches up again. She jumps out of her car, runs up and knocks on the door.

Again, the trucker lowers the window. As if they've never spoken, the blonde says brightly, "Hi my name is Heather, and you are losing some of your load!"

Shaking his head, the trucker ignores her again and continues down the street.

At the third red light, the same thing happens again.

All out of breath, the blonde gets out of her car, runs up, knocks on the truck door. The trucker rolls down the window. Again she says "Hi, my name is Heather, and you are losing some of your load!"

When the light turns green the trucker revs up and races to the next light.

When he stops this time, he hurriedly gets out of the truck, and runs back to the blonde.

He knocks on her window, and after she lowers it, he says..."Hi, my name is Kevin, it's winter in New Hampshire and I'm driving the SALT TRUCK!

The Cartoon Mitt Romney Doesn’t Want You To See

That it's got over 500,000 views on YouTube can't help someone like Mitt Romney

Thoughts For Today

1. There's always a lot to be thankful for if you take time to look for it. For example I am sitting here thinking how nice it is that wrinkles don't hurt.

2. A penny saved is a government oversight.

3. The real art of conversation is not only to say the right thing at the right time, but also to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.

4. The older you get, the tougher it is to lose weight, because by then your body and your fat are really good friends.

5. The easiest way to find something lost around the house is to buy a replacement.

6. He who hesitates is probably right.

7. If you think there is good in everybody, you haven't met everybody.

8. If you can smile when things go wrong, you have someone in mind to blame.

9. The sole purpose of a child's middle name is so he can tell when he's really in trouble.

10. Did you ever notice: When you put the 2 words "The" and "IRS" together it spells "THEIRS"

Word of the Day

frangible \FRAN-juh-buhl\, adjective:

Capable of being broken; brittle; fragile; easily broken.

That's because Federal Aviation Administration regulations call for a "sturdy" but "frangible" -- or breakaway -- door. "It must be able to break away at the lock, the hinge or the door handle" to allow pilots to get out in emergencies, Olsen says.
-- Blake Morrison, "Flight decks vulnerable to passenger attacks", USA Today, January 5, 2001

The red-gray, meringuelike substance ices some of the cave's surfaces and ledges like cake frosting, from a millimeter to several inches thick, and is so frangible you could cut it with a butter knife.
-- Peter Nelson, "The Cave That Holds Clues To Life On Mars", National Wildlife, August/September 1996

Frangible ultimately derives from Latin frangere, "to break."

A good teacher is like a candle - it consumes itself to light the way for others.

— Author Unknown

On the Tube

As the writers strike continues - most all, if not all of the series shows have come to a screeching halt. Masterpiece Theatre comes to the rescue begining January 13th with The Complete Jane Austen - more than 900 minutes of wooing and spuring - includes tried-and-true versions of Pride and Prejudice and Emma and new adaptations of Asuten's other novels. Check your local PBS schedule for times.

Naomi Klein on the Shock Doctrine

In a wide-ranging interview with Truthout's Geoffrey Millard, bestselling author and investigative journalist Naomi Klein discusses the catastrophic failures that have ensued from the free-market reforms that have spread throughout the world over the past few decades. Klein explains that the rise in "disaster capitalism" is also leading to an increase in worldwide violence that will only get worse. She refers to the issue as "The Shock Doctrine," which is also the title of her groundbreaking new book.

See the interview HERE.

World's First Face Transplant, Two Years Later

Two years after French doctors stunned the world with the first partial face transplant, other doctors remain cautious about pursuing the surgery. The French patient, Isabelle Dinoire, has a new face that resembles and moves like the one she was born with. Her doctors celebrate how far she's come in an article this week in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Continued...

2007's Best Quotes

'Don't Tase me, bro!'

--Andrew Meyer, a University of Florida student, shocked with a Taser by campus police after persistently questioning Sen. John Kerry at a university forum

'I was trying to get tickets to the show.'

--U.S. Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald, on why he appeared as a guest on Chicago Public Radio's "Wait, Wait ... Don't Tell Me!" a comedic quiz show

'Dumb as hell.'

--Assessment heard on White House audiotapes by then-President Richard Nixon of former Sen. Fred Thompson

'I think we're setting the bar too low when we say, "Look, isn't it great that we haven't had a statewide elected official go to jail recently?"'

--Bobby Jindal, Louisiana's new governor, who said his first priority is to change the state's reputation for corruption

'Don't you think I'm humiliated?'

--Don Imus, apologizing on the Rev. Al Sharpton's radio show for calling the Rugters University women's basketball team "nappy-headed hos"

'I'm Prince Tomohito the alcoholic.'

--Member of the Japanese royal family who broke a taboo by speaking about his drinking problem

'I blame myself. What mother wouldn't?'

--Lynne Spears, on her daughter Britney's trouble

'That old, eh, that old Beach Boys song, "Bomb Iran." Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, anyway, ah ...'

--Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), briefly singing the chorus of "Barbara Ann," a song made popular by the Beach Boys, in a joke about Iran

'As always, I rely on the jury system.'

--O.J. Simpson, facing 12 criminal charges in Nevada, including kidnapping and armed robbery

'I bet I can stay up longer than they can.'

--Republican Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, on Democrats who staged an all-night Senate debate on the Iraq war

' When I first heard about it I spent about a half-hour going around my house crying.'

--Oprah Winfrey, on learning of allegations that a dorm matron at her South African academy for disadvantaged girls had abused students

'I'm hiding under the desk. I'm very far under the desk.'

--Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.), on his dilemma of whether to support Barack Obama or Hillary Rodham Clinton for president

'I'm a textualist. I'm an originalist. I'm not a nut.'

--U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, on his strict adherence to the words of the U.S. Constitution

'There is a harsh reality here: When it comes to food, "Made in China" is now a warning label in the United States.'

--Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), on potentially deadly products reaching U.S. shores from China

Continued.....

Man Finds Birth Mother at His Workplace

For years, Steve Flaig, a delivery truck driver at the Lowe's store on Plainfield Avenue, had searched for his birth mother.

He found her working the cash register at the front of the store.

For several months, he and Christine Tallady had known each other casually as co-workers. Last Friday they met for the first time as mother and son.

Continued...

Website of the Day - Advancement Project

Advancement Project is a democracy and justice action group. Using law, public policy and strategic communications, we act in partnership with local communities to advance universal opportunity, equity and access for those left behind in America.

A restaurant with no checks

At the Karma Kitchen in Berkeley, Calif., customers pay what they want – including nothing – for a meal.

Good Calories, Bad Calories

Author Gary Taubes challenges common myths about obesity and explains why Atkins might well have been right.

Another Blonde Joke

I pulled into the crowded parking lot at a Target store and rolled down the car windows to make sure my Labrador Retriever Pup had fresh air.

She was stretched full-out on the back seat and I wanted to impress upon her that she must remain there. I walked to the curb backward, pointing my finger at the car and saying emphatically,"Now you stay. Do you hear me?""Stay! Stay!"

The driver of a nearby car, a pretty blonde young lady, gave me a strange look and said,"Why don't you just put it in park?"

Martini Lunches

When the wise company president learned that his employees were tanking up on no-trace vodka martinis during their lunch hours, he issued the following memo:

To all employees; If you must drink during your lunch hour, please drink whiskey. It is better for our customers to know you're drunk than to think you're stupid.

Girl Gets Gang-Raped: Cover-Up by U.S., Halliburton/ KBR

Word of the Day

dishabille \dis-uh-BEEL\, noun:

1. The state of being carelessly or partially dressed.
2. Casual or lounging attire.
3. An intentionally careless or casual manner.

People meant to be fully clothed lounge around in dishabille.
-- John Simon, "Tangled Up in Blue", New York Magazine, March 26, 2001

But, unlike the Black Knights, Princeton . . . was in varying states of dishabille -- some players in warmups, some in uniform, some halfway between.
-- Daily Princetonian, December 13, 2000

She was dressed, that is to say, in dishabille, wrapped in a long, warm dressing-gown.
-- Alexandre Dumas, Twenty Years After

She imagines the shocked faces of Josiah or her father or her mother were any of them to come around the corner and catch her in her dishabille.
-- Anita Shreve, Fortune's Rocks

Dishabille comes from French déshabiller, "to undress," from dés-, "dis-" + habiller, "to clothe, to dress."

May all your troubles last as long as your New Year's resolutions.

— Joey Adams

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had a happy Christmas and that 2008 will be a year filled with many blessings for you and yours.

I spent the majority of the first day of the new year in bed nursing a headache. I wish that I could say the headache was a result of a night of over indulging at an off the chain New Years Eve party but the story is not that sexy. I've suffered with headaches my whole life and this was just one of those run of the mill headaches I'm accustomed to. I spent the day dosing myself with analgesics and caffeine and it finally evaporated late this afternoon. A whole day, wasted.

My son went back to Albuquerque yesterday. I was scheduled to work but called off sick. After getting him to the airport, I found I was tired and came home and for the first time in two weeks I laid around watching television while awaiting his call telling me his feet were safely on the ground in New Mexico. That call came around 2 AM. I had dozed off before midnight.

Anyway --------- Phillip's stay went well. A bit boring for him since I really didn't have more than three days off the entire time he was here but he kept insisting he didn't mind. It was a relaxing time for him. My son is in Job Corps and lives in a dorm environment so the quiet was nice for him. He was a witness to a very tragic event in early November. A 17 yo friend of his was playing with a gun in a car. My son and three others were in the car. The gun went off, the kid was shot in the head and died while being med flighted to a trauma center. I can't even imagine the pandemonium in that car. They drove him to a hospital and my son called his family. My son, is naturally very traumatized. I resisted the urge to be the "mom" and say "What in the hell are you doing in a car with a kid with a gun?" I didn't even go there with him. I just listened. This was the first any of us knew he was actually present at the event. All we knew up until this time was that a friend of his had accidentally shot himself.

On Christmas he seemed to be really down and he confided that he felt as if he were to blame because he should have taken the gun from him. I did my best to assure him that he was not to blame. I think Phillip was glad to be in a place where he was free to grieve and cry and mourn the loss of his friend with some privacy. He did seem to be in better shape when he left than when he first arrived. The kid that died was also in Job Corps - so JC did provide counseling. I urged Phillip to continue with the counseling. I'm worried he will develop PTSD down the road. How could he not?

In any event - I was worried about him coming here for a visit because the reason he doesn't live here with me is because I had kicked out of my home due to his out of control behavior. I thought his father was better equipped to deal with him so sent him to live with him. He seems to have matured a great deal and I really didn't have any issues with him while he was here. I am happy, however, to have my space back. One becomes accustomed to the peacefulness of living alone. I just wish he didn't live so far away. He is into some things I don't approve of. He's twenty and I can't control any of what he does - so I don't even go there. I just try to be a positive influence on him and and give him some guidance without being a nag. The biggest thing I tried to get drilled into his head while he was here is to always have a back up plan and become as self sufficient as you can.

He seems to have a lot of friends as the phone never stopped ringing while he was here. The picture in this post was taken yesterday with my cell phone. We went out to eat on our way to the airport and this pic was taken at the restraunt. (He is playing with a wrapper to a straw in this photo, not rolling a joint!)

Kenny G - Auld Lang Syne Freedom Mix

If you'd like to download this mix - click HERE.

Today

Today is the day to begin. This new year is a blank canvas upon which you have the delightful opportunity to paint.

As you do, be authentic. Your greatest accomplishments are the ones that contain the greatest quantity of you.

Be innovative and creative. The challenges you face will melt away when you apply fresh, original thinking to them.

Remember not to take yourself too seriously. You'll climb much higher when you're thoroughly enjoying the effort.

As you move forward, do so with genuine and persistent integrity. That way, the results you create will be results that are actually worth attaining.

Today you stand at the beginning of a grand adventure, with the very real and present opportunity to shape this year into the best one ever. Begin now, take the initiative, and never stop living life according to who you know you are.

How Do YOU Eat An Oreo Cookie?

Psychologists have discovered that the manner in which people eat Oreo cookies provides great insight into their personalities. Choose which method best describes your favorite method of eating Oreos:

1. The whole thing all at once.
2. One bite at a time
3. Slow and methodical nibbles examining the results of each bite afterwards.
4. In little feverous nibbles.
5. Dunked in some liquid (milk, coffee...).
6. Twisted apart, the inside, then the cookie.
7. Twisted apart, the inside, and toss the cookie.
8. Just the cookie, not the inside.
9. I just like to lick them, not eat them.
10.I don't have a favorite way because I don't like Oreos.

Your Personality:

1. The whole thing:
This means you consume life with abandon, you are fun to be with, exciting, carefree with some hint of recklessness. You are totally irresponsible. No one should trust you with his or her children.

2. One bite at a time:
You are lucky to be one of the 5.4 billion other people who eat their Oreos this very same way. Just like them, you lack imagination, but that's okay, not to worry, you're normal.

3. Slow and Methodical:
You follow the rules. You're very tidy and orderly. You're very meticulous in every detail with every thing you do to the point of being anal retentive and irritating to others. Stay out of the fast lane if you're only going to go the speed limit.

4. Feverous Nibbles:
Your boss likes you because you get your work done quickly. You always have a million things to do and never enough time to do them. Mental breakdowns and suicides run in your family. Valium and Ritalin would do you good.

5. Dunked:
Every one likes you because you are always up beat. You like to sugar coat unpleasant experiences and rationalize bad situations into good ones. You are in total denial about the shambles you call a life. You have a propensity towards narcotic addiction.

6. Twisted apart, the inside, and then the cookie:
You have a highly curious nature. You take pleasure in breaking things apart to find out how they work, though not always able to put them back together, so you destroy all the evidence of your activities. You deny your involvement when things go wrong. You are a compulsive liar and exhibit deviant, if not criminal, behavior.

7. Twisted apart, the inside, and then toss the cookie:
You are good at business and take risk that pay off. You take what you want and throw the rest away. You are greedy, selfish, mean, and lack feelings for others. You should be ashamed of yourself. But that's ok, you don't care, you got yours.

8. Just the cookie, not the inside:
You enjoy pain.

9. I just like to lick them, not eat them:
Stay away from small furry animals and seek professional medical help immediately.

10. I don't have a favorite way, I don't like Oreos:
You probably come from a rich family, and like to wear nice things, and go to upscale restaurants. You are particular and fussy about the things you buy, own, and wear. Things have to be just right. You like to be pampered. You are a prissy.

5 Powerful Reasons to Make Reflection a Daily Habit, and How to Do It

Orangina Naturellement Pulpeuse

From VSL:

In the year-end spirit of generosity, it should be mentioned that not every single cultural artifact we highlight at Very Short List is celebrated for its greatness. A few merely aspire to greatness but instead achieve weirdness — and if weirdness were greatness, this Orangina commercial would be the Sistine Chapel.

The concept is simple: A decidedly anthropomorphized bear and deer meet in a forest, where they engage in a Vegas-y, sexually suggestive dance (accompanied by flamingos, zebras, and octopuses with similarly human anatomies) while sprinkling Orangina all around. Okay, so maybe it’s not that simple — did we mention that this campaign was originally intended for French audiences? — but it’s still an extravagant use of computer animation you’ll never see on American television. And if the thought of eroticized woodland creatures still creeps you out, take solace in the fact that somewhere, Walt Disney is spinning in his cryogenic chamber.

Website of the Day - How Stuff Works

The Unexpected Gifts of Alzheimer's

By Jane Plitt
Special to Newsweek

My 87-year-old mom never stops teaching me, even as her mind clouds with memory loss from Alzheimer's disease She is regressing into a simpler time and mindset. Unlike her earlier lessons, which were deliberate and subtle, her current lessons are unintentional and sometimes blunt. But what they lack in finesse, they make up for in simple truth. A few things I've learned:

1. Be in the Moment
Since my mother lost her memory, each moment holds a surprise for her. She experiences life afresh, again and again. I notice this when I pick her up from the memory-support facility where she lives in Sarasota, Fla., to take her to lunch. As she approaches my old Toyota Camry, she exclaims, "Is that your car? It is so beautiful." I used to be annoyed at her forgetfulness, but I now realize she has the power to concentrate only on what is in front of her. There are no comparisons. What is, simply is. When she sips her glass of soda at lunch she will declare, "This is the best soda I have ever had" and mean it. I nod perfunctorily, but inside I giggle, thinking how wise she is, and wondering what it will take to make my glass of water the best water I have ever had.

2. Touch Connects
Nowadays when my mom walks into a room, she has a compulsive need to touch everything. She believes once she has touched an object, it becomes hers. This habit made me crazy, until I realized that she is like an infant who knows the world only through what she can touch, taste, shake or see. Life becomes real only when it is up close and personal. Perhaps there is a powerful truth in her need to touch. When I am all aflutter, what calms me down is being touched, being held, being massaged. Now when my mother reaches out to touch things, I recognize her need to be grounded, and I hold her hand.

3. Choose Your Memories
My mother fought with my father and her sister often, but to hear her talk about them now, my father and aunt were pussycats, instead of the fighting tigers that I remember. Of her sister she says, "We never fought. We were just the best of friends." Although her children laugh at her selective memory, my mother is having the best laugh of all. She never liked confrontations. Now she remembers her family the way she wants to, and they can't fight back.

4. Meet and Greet
My mother sees everyone as a potential friend. She never hesitates to start up a conversation with a child, a ticket taker, a waitress. "Treat others as you would like to be treated," she lectures me. That helps my embarrassment as she repeats questions to her new contacts. In the past, I found myself trying to restrain her outreach, not knowing where it would lead, and afraid she was annoying others. Now I model my mother's meet-and-greet philosophy. A year ago, I left the hubbub of a big city, where people rarely look each other in the eye. In my new community, as I run daily, I often stop and offer to take a photo of the tourists together, discuss how the fish are running with locals, or give a thumbs up to a youth riding her new bike.

5. Use Things Up
My mother never believed in saving things. She never put plastic on her furniture, nor covered lampshades. Things were to be used, not preserved. When anything wore out, whether it was a favorite sweater, or a piece of furniture, she would declare, "How wonderful. You enjoyed it!" Even when I empty a jar of peanut butter, I feel good, because I hear her declare, "You finished it!" As my mom's mind diminishes daily, I often bemoan the loss of the vibrant, wise mother she once was, knowing that soon she will no longer recognize me and then it will be all the more painful to witness her deterioration. But recently I was reminded about her delight at using things up, and it helped me realize that she is nearly used up. She lived a full life and perhaps now she is saying a slow goodbye, giving me time to adjust to the loss of her once powerful force. But I wouldn't say she's completely used up yet. She is still busy teaching me.