Alaskan Adventure

Bob, Glenn, and Jay are back from their Alaskan adventure. I was able to put together a very nice DVD presentation for them out of the 300 plus photos that Bob took. I uploaded 100 of the best to Picasa for everyone to look at online. I have embedded a slide show here in my Blog, but to see the full size pictures, go to Picasa. If you want the DVD presentation you will have to see it on their TVs. I did keep a master copy that can be burned to disc at a modest cost. Email me if you want a copy.

Goldfinch

My wife and I set on our patio early in the morning with coffee. We love to just enjoy the sunrise and the birds feeding and nesting. We have several feeders and bluebird houses in our yard. I make a joke saying the bird feed costs more than our food. We have as many as 15 or more Goldfinch feeding at one time. I wanted to know if the Goldfinch would be with us in the Winter or move South as colder weather arrived. I turned to Wikipedia Encyclopedia for the answer. There it was in black & white, isn't the internet great............Jack
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

The American Goldfinch (Carduelis tristis), also known as the Eastern Goldfinch and Wild Canary, is a North American bird in the finch family. It is migratory, ranging from southern Canada to North Carolina during the breeding season, and from just south of the Canadian border to Mexico during the winter.

The only finch in its subfamily which undergoes a complete molt, the American Goldfinch displays sexual dimorphism in its coloration; the male is a vibrant yellow in the summer and an olive color during the winter months, while the female is a dull yellow-brown shade which brightens only slightly during the summer. The male displays brightly colored plumage during the breeding season to attract a mate.

The American Goldfinch is a granivore and adapted for the consumption of seedheads, with a conical beak to remove the seeds and agile feet to grip the stems of seedheads while feeding. It is a social bird, and will gather in large flocks while feeding and migrating. It may behave territorially during nest construction, but this aggression is short-lived. Its breeding season is tied to the peak of food supply, beginning in late July, which is relatively late in the year for a finch. This species is generally monogamous, and produces one brood each year.
Read more

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

HP Compaq notebook

I still have one new in the box never opened, HP Compaq notebook computer left at
$425.00 cash or PayPal.
Call 812-689-5960

Hurricane Katrina - Aug 29th 2005

On the morning of Monday, August 29 in southeast Louisiana. It caused severe destruction along the Gulf coast from central Florida to Texas, much of it due to the storm surge. The most severe loss of life and property damage occurred in New Orleans, Louisiana, which flooded as the levee system catastrophically failed, in many cases hours after the storm had moved inland.
Read the full story

Net Books

I have an Acer Net Book and I just love this little machine. I keep it next to my easy chair just to read email and do a few quick searches. I also write to my Blog and post to FaceBook over my WIFI (wireless Network). It is light wait and small, nice for me, but you may not like it because it has no CD/DVD drive. So if you do not have a home network it is hard to load programs from CD. If you have another computer with a CD ROM and a wireless connection to that computer you can use the CD ROM from it. But if you don't, plan on buying a external CD/DVD USB drive at a cost of $50 to $75. While your there getting the external CD drive get a thumb drive with as much storage as you can afford. Now think about the cost, 50 - 75 for the drive, 35 for the thumb drive, 250 to 350 for the Net Book, it adds up to a nice low end note book. All your gaining is small and light weight. Think it over as it may not be for you.

Freedom Speech by Sarah

Notice there is no teleprompter. In fact I'm not sure she even has a script. Enjoy the speech. Now if only we could get our supposedly leaders to Step-Up and take responsibility for their actions, Maybe, just Maybe, this young lady's speech can and will have some affect. Even her name is...SARAH!!!!!!
Your gonna love this young lady........
YouTube direct link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHieqM1hKsg
Thanks to A.W. for sharing this with us.

Reply from Congressman Baron Hill

August 26, 2009

Dear Mr. Demaree,

Thank you for contacting me about the current health care reform debate. I appreciate hearing your thoughts on this critical matter.

While discussing health care reform, it is important to remember that there are currently five different health care reform bills pending before Congress (three in the House and two in the Senate), and several more steps for them to go through before a bill reaches the President's desk. Enacting such important legislation rightly entails a lengthy and complex legislative process.

This is not a new debate - the discussion about how to responsibly reform our nation's health care system so that it provides timely, quality and affordable care has been debated for the past 60 years. This problem has become more prevalent over the past decade as health costs have escalated sharply, accounting for more than 60 percent of the nation's bankruptcies. Hoosier families have seen their premiums rise four times faster than wages over the last several years. Health care costs are growing at nearly twice the rate of inflation and this trend is unsustainable for our government and citizens. Doing nothing at this point is not an option. Costs will continue to rise, and more and more Americans will go without coverage and care.

My position on the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce - the House committee with primary jurisdiction over the House's health reform package - has put me on the front lines of this issue. It is a weighty responsibility, and one I take very seriously. We must reform our nation's health care system for my constituents who tell me countless stories about how our system has failed them, for middle-class Hoosier families who can no longer afford their health insurance premiums, for those Southern Indiana residents who are denied coverage because of pre-existing conditions, and for those U.S. citizens who are uninsured.

As introduced, H.R.3200, the America's Affordable Health Choices Act, was not something I could support. It did not adequately address the concerns of Hoosiers, and equally as important, it was moving through the House far too fast.

I helped ensure that this debate was given the attention it merits in the Committee by withholding my vote until we had sufficient time to debate and make significant changes to the bill. Plus, I believe that an issue of this magnitude must be carefully considered and vetted not only by Members of Congress, but by our constituents. Therefore, I am pleased that there will not be a vote on the floor of the House of Representatives on this measure until it is appropriately debated, digested, and further changes are made to the bill.

Some of the changes I was able to help secure are: protecting small businesses by bumping up the requirement for exemption from mandatory coverage to $500,000 annual payroll; making sure rural hospitals are fairly reimbursed under a public option; allowing for the establishment and continuation of state-based co-ops; ensuring that a public option will negotiate rates directly with providers and compete on a level playing field with private insurance plans; strengthening physician opt-out language under the public option; clarifying and reiterating that the public option is entirely voluntary and no American will be forced into it; ensuring that illegal aliens will not receive benefits as a result of this legislation; and committing to produce a final bill that effectively bends the cost curve and has a total cost of less than $1 trillion. As a result of these changes, I felt comfortable allowing the bill to move on to the next step in the process.

The bill moving out of the Energy and Commerce is a single step in a very long process. My next step is returning to Southern Indiana and listening to you about ways in which this legislation can be further improved. In September, I intend to return to Washington and continue to fight for the changes that Hoosiers need in the bill that is ultimately brought before the full House of Representatives.

Thank you again for contacting me about health reform. I appreciate knowing your thoughts on this important bill and I would encourage you to contact me with any additional concerns or comments at 202.225.5315. If you would like to receive periodic email updates on my congressional activities, please visit http://baronhill.house.gov.

one light bulb at a time

Thanks to B.W. for sending this to me..........
<<<<<<<<<<< >>>>>>>>>>>

A physics teacher in high school, once told the students that while one grasshopper on the railroad tracks wouldn't slow a train very much, a billion of them would. With that thought in mind, read the following, obviously written by a good American!

Good idea . . . one light bulb at a time . . . .

Check this out. I can verify this because I was in Lowe’s the other day for some reason and just for the heck of it I was looking at the hose attachments. They were all made in China. The next day I was in Ace Hardware and just for the heck of it I checked the hose attachments there. They were made in USA . Start looking.

In our current economic situation, every little thing we buy or do affects someone else - even their job. So, after reading this email, I think this lady is on the right track. Let's get behind her!

My grandson likes Hershey's candy. I noticed, though, that it is marked made in Mexico now. I do not buy it any more. My favorite toothpaste Colgate is made in Mexico now. I have switched to Crest. You have to read the labels on everything.

This past weekend I was at Kroger. (Can be true for any store.) I needed 60W light bulbs and Bounce dryer sheets . I was in the light bulb aisle, and right next to the GE brand I normally buy was an off brand labeled, "Everyday Value. " I picked up both types of bulbs and compared the stats - they were the same except for the price . The GE bulbs were more money than the Everyday Value brand but the thing that surprised me the most was the fact that GE was made in MEXICO and the Everyday Value brand was made in - get ready for this - the USA in a company in Cleveland , Ohio .

So throw out the myth that you cannot find products you use every day that are made right here .

So on to another aisle - Bounce Dryer Sheets . . . yep, you guessed it, Bounce cost more money and is made in Canada . The Everyday Value brand was less money and MADE IN THE USA! I did laundry yesterday and the dryer sheets performed just like the Bounce Free I have been using for years and at almost half the price!

My challenge to you is to start reading the labels when you shop for everyday things and see what you can find that is made in the USA - the job you save may be your own or your neighbors!

If you accept the challenge, pass this on to others in your address book so we can all start buying American, one light bulb at a time! Stop buying from overseas companies!

(We should have awakened a decade ago . . . . . . )

Let's get with the program . . . . Help our fellow Americans keep their jobs and create more jobs here in the U . S . A .



.

So let me get this straight

This health care plan will be written by a committee whose head says he
doesn't understand it, passed by a Congress that hasn't read it and whose
members will be exempt from it, signed by a president who smokes, funded by
a treasury chief who did not pay his taxes, overseen by a surgeon general
who is obese, and financed by a country that is dead broke.
…what could possibly go wrong?

Thanks J.W. for sending this.

Blog post of H.R. 3200

Wow ! I didn't have any idea my Blog post of H.R. 3200 would bring my email mailbox to overflow. I would like to state that even not one email was in favor of a Government ran health plan. Where are the people that want this bill to pass. Why would our representatives vote to pass a bill that, as I see it, very few want. Don't they know that we will not vote them back into office if they defy what the majority of their district wants? I suppose by putting this down to paper I will be put on the un-American or Brown Shirt list at the Whitehouse. Wait, I hear a knock on the door, I think it may be the Obama hit squad wanting me to surrender my guns.

Hands Across America 1986

I'm proud to have been a part of this event. Also my Ham Radio station helped in the organization of the chain of people participating.
<<<<<<<<<<< >>>>>>>>>>

Hands Across America was a benefit event and publicity campaign staged on Sunday May 25, 1986 in which approximately seven million people held hands in a human chain for fifteen minutes along a path across the continental United States. Participants paid ten dollars to reserve their place in line; the proceeds were donated to local charities to fight hunger and homelessness and help those in poverty.

"On the afternoon of Sunday, May 25, 1986, almost seven million people joined hands to form a line that stretched 4,152 miles (6,682 km) – from New York City's Battery Park to the RMS Queen Mary pier in Long Beach, California. This nationwide event, called Hands Across America, was intended to raise money to fight hunger and homelessness."

In order to allow the maximum number of people to participate, the path linked major cities and meandered back and forth within the cities. There were undoubtedly many breaks in the chain, but enough people participated to form an unbroken chain across the country if the path had been a straight line.

H.R. 3200

Setting here in my rocking chair (as old people do) I ask myself, Just why do I not want a forced government run health plan (H.R. 3200). I worked hard most of my life to finally retire with a health plan that pays for 80% of my health care if needed. Soon my wife and I will be 65 and we will be receiving medicare. I will have a supplement plan, at a reasonable cost, that will cover the 20% not paid by medicare. This works for me. May be you think it will not work for you, if so, make your reasons known, but please read the bill (all of it) before you support it. Old people like me are the most concerned, but you will be old someday too. Think to the future as I and my wife are. The end of life clauses scare us to a premature death. Think about it ! Don't pull the plug on us.

From H.R. 3200
Page 425 Lines 22-25, 426 Lines 1-3: Govt provides approved list of end of
life resources, guiding you in death.
Page 427 Lines 15-24: Govt mandates program for orders for end of life.
Page 429 Lines 13-25: The govt will specify which Doctors can write an end
of life order.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,........................
Copied from the Baptist Press:

Posted on Aug 7, 2009 | by Tom Strode WASHINGTON (BP)–The health-care reform bill making its way through the U.S. House of Representatives “is extremely dangerous legislation to the health and wellbeing of most Americans” for a variety of reasons, the Southern Baptist Convention’s ethics entity says.

The proposal — America’s Affordable Health Choices Act, H.R. 3200 — would endanger the lives of the unborn and elderly, increase taxes and health-care costs, and extend government’s reach into Americans’ private lives, according to an analysis by the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC).

Do it now before its to late

To contact your Representative:
https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml
Below is a copy of the text that I sent to my Representative. No matter what your views are on the health care bill, Please make them known to the people that will vote to decide our future.
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Dear Sir,

I ask you respectfully and as a patriotic American to look at the following
troubling lines that I have read in the bill. You cannot possibly believe
that these proposals are in the best interests of the country and our fellow
citizens.

Page 22 of the HC Bill: Mandates that the Govt will audit books of all
employers that self insure!!

Page 30 Sec 123 of HC bill - THERE WILL BE A GOVT COMMITTEE that decides
what treatments/benefits you get.

Page 29 lines 4-16 in the HC bill: YOUR HEALTH CARE IS RATIONED!!!

Page 42 of HC Bill:The Health Choices Commissioner will choose your HC
Benefits for you. You have no choice!

Page 50 Section 152 in HC bill: HC will be provided to ALL non US citizens,
illegal or otherwise

Page 58 HC Bill: Govt will have real-time access to individuals finances & a
National ID Healthcard will be issued!

Page 59 HC Bill lines 21-24: Govt will have direct access to your banks
accounts for elective funds transfer.

Page 65 Sec 164: is a payoff subsidized plan for retirees and their families
in Unions & community organizations: (ACORN).

Page 84 Sec 203 HC bill: Govt mandates ALL benefit packages for private HC
plans in the Exchange.

Page 85 Line 7 HC Bill: Specifications for of Benefit Levels for Plans = The
Govt will ration your Healthcare!

Page 91 Lines 4-7 HC Bill: Govt mandates linguistic appropriate services.
Example - Translation: illegal aliens.

Page 95 HC Bill Lines 8-18: The Govt will use groups i.e., ACORN &
Americorps to sign up individuals for Govt HC plan.

Page 85 Line 7 HC Bill: Specifications of Benefit Levels for Plans. AARP
members - your Health care WILL be rationed.

Page 102 Lines 12-18 HC Bill: Medicaid Eligible Individuals will be
automatically enrolled in Medicaid. No choice.

Page 124 lines 24-25 HC: No company can sue GOVT on price fixing. No !
"judicial review" against Govt Monopoly.

Page 127 Lines 1-16 HC Bill: Doctors/ American Medical Association - The
Govt will tell YOU what you can make! (salary)

Page 145 Line 15-17: An Employer MUST auto enroll employees into public
option plan. NO CHOICE!

Page 126 Lines 22-25: Employers MUST pay for HC for part time employees AND
their families.

Page 149 Lines 16-24: ANY Employer with payroll 401k & above who does not
provide public option pays 8% tax on all payroll.

Page 150 Lines 9-13: Business's with payroll btw 251k & 401k who doesn't
provide public option pays 2-6% tax on all payroll.

Page 167 Lines 18-23: ANY individual who doesn't have acceptable HC
according to Govt will be taxed 2.5% of income.

Page 170 Lines 1-3 HC Bill: Any NONRESIDENT Alien is exempt from individual
taxes. (Americans will pay)

Page 195 HC Bill: Officers & employees of HC Admin (GOVT) will have access
to ALL Americans finances /personal records.

Page 203 Line 14-15 HC: "The tax imposed under this section shall not be
treated as tax" Yes, it says that!

Page 239 Line 14-24 HC Bill: Govt will reduce physician services for
Medicaid Seniors, low income and poor are affected.

Page 241 Line 6-8 HC Bill: Doctors, doesn't matter what specialty you have,
you'll all be paid the same!

Page 25! 3 Line 1 0-18: Govt sets value of Doctor's time, profession,
judgment etc. Literally value of humans.

Page 265 Sec 1131: Govt mandates & controls productivity for private HC
industries.

Page 268 Sec 1141: Federal Govt regulates rental & purchase of power driven
wheelchairs.

Page 272 SEC. 1145: TREATMENT OF CERTAIN CANCER HOSPITALS - Cancer
patients - welcome to rationing!

Page 280 Sec 1151: The Govt will penalize hospitals for whatever Govt deems
preventable re-admissions.

Page 298 Lines 9-11: Doctors, treat a patient during initial admission that
results in a re-admission -Govt will penalize you.

Page 317 L 13-20: PROHIBITION on ownership/investment. Govt tells Doctors
what/how much they can own!

Page 317-318 lines 21-25, 1-3: PROHIBITION on expansion- Govt is mandating
hospitals cannot expand.

Page 321 2-13: Hospitals have opportunity to apply for exception BUT
community input is required. Can u say ACORN?!!

Page 335 L 16-25 Pg 336-339: Govt mandates establishment of outcome based
measures. HC the way they want. Rationing.

Page 341 Lines 3-9: Govt has authority to disqualify Medicare Advance Plans,
HMOs, etc. Forcing people into Govt plan.

Page 354 Sec 1177: Govt will RESTRICT enrollment of Special needs people!
Unbelievable!

Page 379 Sec 1191: Govt creates more bureau cracy - Tele-health Advisory
Committee. Can you say HC by phone?

Page 425 Lines 4-12: Govt mandates Advance Care Planning Consult. Think
Senior Citizens end of life patients.

Page 425 Lines 17-19: Govt will instruct & consult regarding living wills,
durable powers of attorney. Mandatory!

Page 425 Lines 22-25, 426 Lines 1-3: Govt provides approved list of end of
life resources, guiding you in death. (assisted suicide)

Page 427 Lines 15-24: Govt mandates program for orders for end of life. The
Govt has a say in how your life ends.

Page 429 Lines 1-9: An "advanced care planning consultant" will be used
frequently as patients health deteriorates.

Page 429 Lines 10-12: "advanced care consultation" may include an ORDER for
end of life plans. AN ORDER from GOVT!

Page 429 Lines 13-25: The govt will specify which Doctors can write an end
of life order.

Page 430 Lines 11-15: The Govt will decide what level of treatment you will
have at end of life!

Page 469: Community Based Home Medical Services = Non profit organizations.
Hello, ACORN Medical Services here!!?

Page 472 Lines 14-17: PAYMENT TO COMMUNITY-BASED ORIGINATION. 1 monthly
payment 2 a community-based organization. Like ACORN?

Page 489 Sec 1308: The Govt will cover Marriage & Family therapy. Which
means they will insert Govt into your marriage.

Page 494-498: Govt will cover Mental Health Services including defining,
creating, rationing those services.

Sir, I guarantee that I personally will do everything possible to inform
others about the dangers of the proposed bills you and your colleagues are
debating.

Furthermore, If you vote for a bill that enforces socialized medicine on the
country and destroys the doctor/patient relationship, I will do everything
in my power to make sure you lose your job in the next election.

Thank you for your time on this important matter.

Sand Animation by Kseniya Simonova

Ever so often you see something amazing,
and this YouTube video is 8 1/2 minutes
of wonder. Please follow the below link
and enjoy this art form.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=518XP8prwZo
Thank you Marsha for this URL

Computers for sale

I have used computers for sale if you are interested or know anyone who is..

Dell Dimension 3000
2.9 ghz windows xp 40gig hard drive, 256gb memory
17 inch lcd monitor
mouse keyboard speakers
cdrom $225

IBM pentium 4 2.4ghz XP
512mb memory
40gig hard drive
keyboard mouse
17 inch monitor crt.
cdrom $150

Hewlett packard 2.8 ghz XP
256mb memory
cdrw
40gig Hard drive
17 inch crt monitor
keyboard mouse $120

Call 812-689-1122 on the above systems - ask for TY

I have a new in the box never opened, HP Compaq notebook
$425
Call 812-689-5960

MARS HOAX

BEWARE THE MARS HOAX: If you have marked your calendar for August 27th to remind yourself to watch Mars swell to the size of a full Moon, go back and add these words: Mars Hoax! Contrary to a widespread email alert, Mars will not come close to Earth on August 27th and it can never rival the full Moon in the night skies of our planet. Science@NASA has the full story.

FinallyFast.com - don't do it

Q.
Have you used FinallyFast? I see it advertized on TV and was thinking about downloading it. Thank you, TG

A.
FinallyFast.com is not a good choice for your computer. That is, if you need to use your computer and internet. If, however, you would like a monitor bookend, an odd computer-shaped brick, or something to use as a coaster, that you pay for with your credit card every month, go ahead and purchase FinallyFast.com. Just don't come back here and complain to me when you do. If you have purchased this service and software, I'd recommend uninstalling it immediately, or take your computer to an authorized service agent you can trust and have them clean it up for you.
Read More
By the way, it is not free !

Elvis Presley 1935 - 1977

August 16th 1977
"The King of Rock and Roll", was officially pronounced dead at Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, after he was found unresponsive on the floor of his Graceland bathroom.
Read More

Surrender of Japan - August 15, 1945

The surrender of Japan in August 1945 brought World War II to a close. By August 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy effectively ceased to exist, and an Allied invasion of Japan was imminent. While publicly stating their intent to fight on to the bitter end, Japan's leaders at the Supreme War Council (the "Big Six") were privately making entreaties to the Soviet Union to mediate peace on terms favorable to the Japanese. The Soviets, meanwhile, were preparing to attack the Japanese, in fulfillment of their promise to the Americans and the British made at the Yalta Conference.
Read More

Les Paul 1915 - 2009

Lester William Polsfuss, known as Les Paul (June 9, 1915 – August 13, 2009) was a pioneer in the development of the solid-body electric guitar which "made the sound of rock and roll possible. His many recording innovations included overdubbing (also known as sound on sound, delay effects such as tape delay, phasing effects, and multitrack recording. His innovative talents extended into his unique playing style, including licks, trills, chording sequences, fretting techniques and timing, which set him apart from his contemporaries and inspired many of the guitarists of the present day. Read more

<<<<<<<<<<*>>>>>>>>>>>
I first recall Les Paul 's guitar and Mary Ford's voice coming from a 45 RPM record player that belonged to my sister. Les Paul had done his magic with Mary's voice by overdubbing it slightly delayed. This sound was unique at that time and sounded wonderful. I have most of their hits and still listen to them often .................. jack

Passwords, a necessary evil

It seems you need a password for everything we do in this today world. I seen a sign on the door of my local NAPA parts store that read, You must have your PIN to blank blankity blank. You need a password at the bank, to read your email, post to Facebook, and I even need one to enter these words into this Blog. We have all been warned on password edict, but do we head the warnings, a simple answer for most would be NO. I worked for a large company that required a password to log on to use any computer in the building. The password had to be changed every 30 days. It was a nightmare after a few months, as not only me but most forgot the new password. We could remember last months but not this month's. It was impossible to reset the password that had to be used. As a safety net we all wrote our new password down on a list stored in an unlocked file cabinet, making the complete list available to all. We/I could log on with any other person's password, making the system a complete joke. At home I try to keep all sensitive information off of my computer. I keep my check register, license plate numbers, PIN and passwords, and other sensitive information on a thumb drive that yes, this USB drive requires a password to activate. The gurus that write books on password protection tell us to use long and case sensitive ones, but do you do this, NO. I use a little trick called a pass phase, like, "a big fat cat lives in heaven on Jan 1". Use the first letter of each word for your password. This would translate as, "abfclihoJ1". this is a password that is case sensitive and longer than 8 numbers and letters. Now, don't forget the pass phase, Ha ! Have 3 or more pass phases, If you use the wrong one try the others. I know most of you just use one password and it is your pet's name or something as simple. Try the pass phase to see if its for you. The best idea is make a list on paper and keep it hidden, like on a page in a book. Tell your wife or parent where it is, as they may need it if you are dead. My wife knows the password to access my USB thumb drive.

August 12, 1981 IBM Personal Computer,

The IBM Personal Computer, commonly known as the IBM PC, is the original version and progenitor of the IBM PC compatible hardware platform. It is IBM model number 5150, and was introduced on August 12, 1981. It was created by a team of engineers and designers under the direction of Don Estridge of the IBM Entry Systems Division in Boca Raton, Florida. Alongside "microcomputer" and "home computer", the term "personal computer" was already in use before 1981. It was used as early as 1972 to characterize Xerox PARC's Alto. However, because of the success of the IBM Personal Computer, the term came to mean more specifically a microcomputer compatible with IBM's PC products.
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Aug 9, 1969 Sharon Tate murdered

Followers of cult leader Charles Manson brutally murdered pregnant actress Sharon Tate (pictured) and four others in her Benedict Canyon, Los Angeles home.

I'm Mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore

545 PEOPLE
By Charlie Reese

Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them.
Have you ever wondered, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, WHY do we have deficits?
Have you ever wondered, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, WHY do we have inflation and high taxes?

You and I don't propose a federal budget. The president does.
You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does.
You and I don't write the tax code, Congress does.
You and I don't set fiscal policy, Congress does.
You and I don't control monetary policy, the Federal Reserve Bank does.

One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president, and nine Supreme Court justices - 545 human beings out of the 300 million are directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.
I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered, but private, central bank.
I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason. They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman, or a president to do one cotton-picking thing. I don't care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator's responsibility to determine how he votes.
Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party.
What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of a Speaker, who stood up and criticized the President for creating deficits. The president can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it.
The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes.. Who is the speaker of the House? Nancy Pelosi. She is the leader of the majority party. She and fellow House members, not the president, can approve any budget they want. If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree to.
It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million cannot replace 545 people who stand convicted -- by present facts -- of incompetence and irresponsibility. I can't think of a single domestic problem that is not traceable directly to those 545 people. When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.

If the tax code is unfair, it's because they want it unfair.
If the budget is in the red, it's because they want it in the red.
If the Army and Marines are in IRAQ , it's because they want them in IRAQ .
If they do not receive social security but are on an elite retirement plan not available to the people, it's because they want it that way.
There are no insoluble government problems.

Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power. Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exists disembodied mystical forces like "the economy," "inflation," or "politics" that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.

Those 545 people and they alone, are responsible.
They and they alone, have the power.
They and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses.
Provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees.
We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess!

Charlie Reese is a former columnist of the Orlando Sentinel Newspaper.
What you do with this article now that you have read it........ Is up to you.


Read about Charley Reese
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charley_Reese

Friday, August 9, 1974 - Pres. Nixon Resigns

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James Casey, Founder of UPS

Biography: James Casey, Founder of UPS

A high school dropout who started a bicycle messenger service in Seattle in 1907, James Casey lived long enough to see United Parcel Service become the world’s premier delivery company, which it remains today.

Casey was a humble man. A lifelong bachelor, he lived for many years in a simple hotel room and always wore a dark suit and tie. Neither money nor power interested him much. Over the years he and his brother, who also worked at UPS, gave the bulk of their money, $438 million in all, to the Annie E. Casey Foundation, named after their mother. (It grew to become the eleventh biggest foundation in the United States, with $2.7 billion in assets in 2003.) Two things excited Casey-the people of UPS and the packages they delivered. Casey understood that business was a collective enterprise and that UPS’s success depended upon winning the commitment of its people. To that end, he began distributing shares in the company to its managers in the early 1920s. “The basic principle that I believe has contributed more than any other to the building of our business,” he said in 1955, “is the ownership of our company by the people employed in it.” Casey also paid attention to small things. He had a knack for remembering people’s names and went out of his way to thank people for the work they did. He took to heart the task of ensuring that every package entrusted to UPS was handled with care.

When a writer named Philip Hamburger was preparing a profile of Casey for the New Yorker in 1947, Casey send him a long letter in which he said: “Remember that the story is to be about us-not about me. For, in simple fairness to the many capable people who…have been associated with the company, no single individual should be given a disproportionate share of credit for the development of the United Parcel Service you are writing about today.”

More than half a century later, UPS executives mingle with drivers and sorters, office doors stay open and people answer their own phones. People call each other by their first names, no matter their rank or title. The company has no executive dining room, corporate jet or luxurious office suites for the brass. Eskew does not even have his own personal assistant; instead, the twelve members of the management committee share a pool of four secretaries. Like the other two thousand people who work at UPS headquarters, he eats lunch in the cafeteria. Jim Casey would approve. “There have been no supermen in our company-no star performers to hog the limelight,” he once said. “There can be no glamour, no romance, no truly great success, unless shared in by all.”

In the New Yorker profile, Casey could not contain his delight during a visit to a department store where shipping clerks were hard at work: “Deft fingers! Deft fingers wrapping thousands of bundles. Neatly tied! Neatly addressed! Stuffed with soft tissue paper! What a treat! Ah, packages!”

Step inside UPS’s gleaming headquarters, which opened in 1994 in a park like setting on the outskirts of Atlanta, and you can practically feel the presence of Jim Casey. A large portrait of Casey hangs in the lobby, just around the corner from one of the company’s original package cars, a Model T Ford. UPS executives quote Casey all the time, saying things like “Service is the sum of many little things done well” or “Our horizon is as distant as our mind’s eye wishes it to be.” The company published a collection of Casey’s speeches and writing, and a highlight of the annual conference where about 225 top managers from UPS get together is a “Jim Casey evening” where the company’s CEO gives a talk inspired by Casey’s ideas.

Mike Eskew, who became CEO of UPS in 2002, said “Our vision is to be Jim Casey. He knew every package and every customer. We want to come full circle.” UPS has a low-key but impressive commitment to philanthropy—the company and its employees gave $52 million one year to the United Way, more than any other company. Eskew mused that perhaps UPS ought to crow a bit more about its charitable giving, if only to inspire others to be more generous. Then he caught himself. “Jim Casey taught us not to crow. Jim Casey believed in quiet philanthropy,” Eskew said. “I sure hate to disagree with Jim.” There’s no danger of that. Jim Casey died in 1983 at the age of 95, just a month after he retired from the UPS board of directors.

Today UPS serves customers in more than 200 countries using 1,750 operating centers, 2,000 daily airplane flights, 88,000 vehicles and 360,000 people. It has gone beyond transportation to offer what it calls “supply chain solutions,” a range of shipping-related businesses that include running a warehouse for Nike.com, repairing printers for Hewlett-Packard and storing and delivering spare computer parts for IBM. In 2003, UPS generated $33.5 billion in revenues and $2.9 billion in profits. The company is three times as profitable and far more efficient than archrival FedEx, which takes a different approach to business-it adamantly opposes unions, for example. Because UPS still “runs the tightest ship in the shipping business,” it can offer a money-back guarantee on shipments to all addresses in the 48 contiguous U.S. states.

But, as Jim Casey liked to remind people, anybody can deliver packages. What sets UPS apart is the culture that he built with every bit as much care as he devoted to package delivery. UPS’s work ethic, its sense of community, the fact that the people who work there own the place, its policy of promoting from within, even its obsession with neatness-all of these can be traced back to the founder.

Source: Marc Gunther, Faith and Fortune, Crown Business 2004, p. 89

Warning

Anyone sending me fishy emails concerning the health care bill will be turned into Obama's storm troopers as he has requested. Sorry, I'm just doing my patriotic duty.

Hiroshima Japan Bombing Aug 6 1945

The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were nuclear attacks near the end of World War II against the Empire of Japan by the United States at the executive order of U.S. President Harry S. Truman on August 6 and August 9, 1945, respectively. After six months of intense fire-bombing of 67 other Japanese cities, followed by an ultimatum which was ignored by the Sho-wa regime, the nuclear weapon "Little Boy" was dropped on the city of Hiroshima on Monday, August 6, 1945, followed on August 9 by the detonation of the "Fat Man" nuclear bomb over Nagasaki. These are to date the only attacks with nuclear weapons in the history of warfare.
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Trumann hiroshima bombing speech

Norman Huelson 1919 - 2009, Others and I will miss Him

The first time I met Mr. Huelson was in 1967, I was called by phone and was told to report to the police post. Upon arriving I was escorted into Norman's office, it seemed I had possession of top secret State Police signal and ten codes. I obtained these codes from a lady that was attending a dispatcher class at the Vocational School. Several of my radio friends had tunable police receivers (this was before scanner radios) and wanted a copy of these codes. Where I made my mistake was having a high school radio friend take the codes to school to copy. He gave the papers to a girl in typing class to retype with carbon paper inserted to increase the number of copies made. She didn't have the free time in her class so she took it home to retype on her dad's office typewriter. Copies were made and the carbon paper was put into the waste can next to the desk. Oh, I forgot to tell you, the girl was Mr. McClain's daughter, and Mr. McClain was the Sheriff of Ripley County. It seems he found the discarded carbon paper in the trash. The sheriff thought this was super top secret material and reported it at lightning speed to Mr. Huelson at the State Police Post. Mr. Huelson ask if I had the codes, I said I did at home. He ask why I had the codes, I told him I did not have them memorized yet and needed to look a few up as I heard them. I told him they were not secret or illegal to have. He said just set there while I call Conersville. Wow ! he was using the green phone. I had only heard about the green phone and now I was seeing it in action. The green phone was really the color of green and it was a direct microwave link to Connersville or who knows where else. I was close enough to hear him say OK, yes sir, all right, and thank you, then green phone was hung up. Mr. Huelson just said go over to the sheriff's office, he wants to talk to you. Off I went across Versailles to see the sheriff. I walked in the office and said I'm Jack Demaree, Mr. Huelson said you wanted to see me. He said I don't like the public looking at these codes and furthermore I don't like you involving my daughter in illegal acts. He had a real gruff tone to his voice and I must say I was beginning to get very nervous. I took a deep breath and said I don't think there is anything illegal about having these codes, they were passed out at the Vocational School by Mr. Canon a radio operator for the State Police. The Sheriff said, just set there and be quite. He picked up the phone and I presumed he called Mr. Huelson at the State Police Post. It was a repeated conversation of what I heard from the green phone. A lot of OKs and alrights. He hung the phone up, turned toward me, and with an evil look just said, "Here is your codes, I don't want to see you in here again", Out I went.



Later in years I would run across Norman Huelson many times, Norman would always say in a joking manner, "Have you memorized those ten codes and signals yet"? "How are you and the sheriff getting along"? Norman and I became good friends later on in years. Many others, I included, will miss Norman greatly.
By: Jack Demaree












Photos borrowed from:
http://madisoncamerunning.com/248/248.html
http://madisoncamerunning.com

Cars.gov Gives U.S. Government Access to Your Computer

Would they do this ?
Sure they would !

Write Your Representative

Just click the link below

https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml

I like Ike

Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th President of the United States from 1953 until 1961 and a five-star general in the United States Army. During the Second World War, he served as Supreme Commander of the Allied forces in Europe, with responsibility for planning and supervising the successful invasion of France and Germany in 1944–45. In 1951, he became the first supreme commander of NATO.

As President, he oversaw the cease-fire of the Korean War, kept up the pressure on the Soviet Union during the Cold War, made nuclear weapons a higher defense priority, launched the Space Race, enlarged the Social Security program, and began the Interstate Highway System. He was the last World War I veteran to serve as U.S. president, and the last president born in the 19th century. Eisenhower ranks highly among former U.S. presidents in terms of approval rating.
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