Join us in remembering all our military personnel who serve -- for in their service, their valor and courage serves up daily doses of the freedoms we enjoy. Pay attention. Pay respect. These are our heroes. These are our warriors. Be a patriot and embrace them with love. Quint and I say thank you to each every one!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTd1vRZiZ04&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOKDW7aGG0M&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmwXZZmmjB8&feature=related

MONEY CRISIS IN AMERICA: How it really happened and when did it start? Here's a video that focuses on what happened to the housing bubble: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5tZc8oH--o

November 18 --

Ever wonder how much food for starving nations $23 million could buy? If you wonder about such things, then you aren't alone. All the ruckus came to the front when the UN unveiled this work of art for its European headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. Member countries aren't too terribly pleased with the 16,000 square foot ceiling art because the money to pay Spanish artist Miquel Barcelo came out of the foreign aid budget. Tsk tsk tsk. Now who's going to pay to feed the starving children in all those poor countries? read more: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,454191,00.html

Score: Lieberman 1; Reid 0 -- Joe Lieberman, who got in plenty of hot water for supporting presidential contender John McCain, has announced that he will not be stepping aside, as Harry Reid had threatened him. Lieberman will retain his chairmanship of the Senate Homeland Security Committee. Hear his speech at: http://www.breitbart.tv/?p=223593

For businesses in Chicago, Illinois, you aren't going to have the 5 pm mail pickupanymore. That is, in your buildings. I guess you can still trot the mail down to the corner since the stand-alone blue boxes will still get mail pickup at 5 pm. And I think I read somewhere in the last couple of days that the postal service has a $28 million loss for the year. Hmmmm. Can't anybody manage a budget anymore? http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/1285173,CST-NWS-mail18.article

What are we supposed to do about all those pirates over in the Gulf of Aden? Somali pirates hijacked their 7th ship in 12 days! This time is was grain from China to Iran. On Sunday it was a $100 million supertanker from Arabia. The Saudis say hijacking on the high seas is terrorism. One of these days, the Somali pirates are going to be surprised to see a ship outfitted with anti-piracy equipment, like big guns and/or torpedoes. Bound to happen. Here's an interesting article: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/T332831.htm

This is an interesting dichotomy. Iran says it has enough enriched uraniumto make a bomb by April 2009. But then, I read the other day where Iran says that the economic crisis has forced it to hold back on its uranium enrichment program. And then, there's that pesty little guy from Iran who says he wants to cut back on oil production by a million barrels a day. Desert breezes seem to be blowing the stories back and forth, wouldn't you say? Here's the uranium story, if you're interested: http://www.iranwatch.org/ourpubs/articles/iranucleartimetable.html 

Did you know that auto workers, on average, are making some $78 an hour? That's the fully loaded rate that includes all the benefits. And comparatively speaking, the cost over at Toyota is $47.60; at Honda it's $43; at Nissan it's $42. The average pay for the foreign transplants is $44 a hour. Just something to think about as the Big Three continue their beggar songs on Capitol Hill. read more: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2134086/posts

And the rich get richer! While Obama tries to figure out if Hillary really can be Secretary of State, we now learn that Mr. Bill reportedly got $500,000for one single solitary speech in Kuwait. Wow! And the subject? It was about Mr. Bill's assessment of Obama's foreign and economic policites. The Kuwaitis must have really wanted to hear this speech because Mr. Bill ordinarily only gets $140,000 for his mike time. Read all about it: http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2008-11-17/bills-500000-kuwait-lecture/. Hillary will still have to be vetted if she's ever going to get approved for Chief Ambassador and, get this, Obama's people are supposedly exasperated because the requested records from Mr. Bill are operating on pokey time. Why, of all the nerve! This from the man who has yet to supply proof of citizenship. And he won't unseal his student records at Columbia and Harvard. The question is, how objective and effective could Hillary really be if Mr. Bill is getting all that moolah from foreign types in lots of other countries?

In the meantime, my bread is finished with its second rising and will be ready to bake. I just love my new breadmaking machine. Got it at Wal-Mart for $55.

 

November 17 --

Big showdown at the OK Corral in congress today. The Republicans are threatening to block the bailout for the automakers in Detroit. The matter comes up in the senate today. So we'll have to wait and see what happens.

Lots of buzz making the rounds that maybe the companies ought to go bankrupt and be done with it. In the meantime, the United Auto Workers say they are not giving anymore concessions.

The talk is that it costs the automakers some $1,200 for the auto workers benefit package -- per car. While down south, where they put the Japanese cars together, the benefit package is about $400 per car. So, from the get-go, American cars start out with an $800 disadvantage.

You might want to take a look at this article from the Canada Free Press. In this article, the writer claims that the unions are killing the auto makers. http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/6345

But this lack of pricing competitiveness could also sound like union busting. Or it could be a distraction from the real problem and that is, the credit market is still locked up. Oh sure, about $350 billion has been released to banks so far. But it seems that the banks are holding on to the cashola -- not making loans like they said they would.

Stay tuned. This is going to be a watershed day. In the balance is a $25 billion bailout package for the automakers. Just keep in mind that the automakers have huge lobbies in Washington. I mean we're talking mega millions here.

Wonder if there's anything else of interest happening in the world today.

Japan just announced that it's officially in a recession this morning. Japan is the second largest economy on the planet.

Uh oh. All that money and now for nothing! Nigeria's communications satellite is spinning out of control and now headed toward earth. So says the Voice of Americain a report last night. The satellite was supposed to provide broadband and internet services for the Nigerians. Now it's gone dark. The satellite was made and launched by Chinese manufacturers for some $200. China outbid 21 other countries to get the contract from Nigeria. read more: http://allafrica.com/stories/printable/200811150117.html

Obama made the comment a week or so ago that there was one president and one administration of the United States. I guess it was his way of saying that he was going to stay out of the political rhetoric until the time when he was at least sworn into office. But that's all changed, apparently. Take a look at this site for the story, but be warned that these kinds of stories get leaked out from all around the globe to make parties look bad too. The reason I'm putting the link here is because of the map that's presented at Post #17. This map has the location of where the twelve tribes of Israel were settled. For those of us who like to know these pieces of Bible history, enjoy. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2133474/posts

And for what it's worth, here's the article that was published on an e-zine, Zimbio: http://www.zimbio.com/Prime+Minister+Ehud+Olmert/articles/727/OBAMA+FAVOURS+ISRAELI+RETREAT+1949+BORDERS

The article on Zimbio makes the claim that Obama favors Israel's borders reverting back to where they were in 1949. Not sure how Zimbio would get such a quote from Obama. Maybe they're like the National Enquirer and play loose with the verbiage. Then again, maybe they're onto something.

Aha. At last, somebody gets it! Remember those admissions by some media moguls that, well, of course they were biased in the election coverage. Now comes Rupert Murdoch who says, in essence, to shape up or die. It's the biased reporters and editors who are going to become extinct, not the newspapers. Read this: http://news.cnet.com/8301-10787_3-10098194-60.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-5

Murdoch reminded the journalists that it was their condescension and arrogance that cost them the loyalty of the readers. "You dug yourself a hole," he said.

Add-On #1: The New 007 movie had a blowout weekend, coming in at $70.4 million! So, all you Hollywoodies out there on the left coast who keep trying to say that people aren't going to the movies because the economy is so bad, take note. And while you're at it, please explain to me how this could have happened! We're still going to the movies. That is, when something decent comes along. And providing the actors aren't on my growing list of liberal lefties.

If you have an interest in how the other movies fared this weekend, check this list: http://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/

Add-On #2: So now Obama is saying many on Capitol Hill just aren't liberal enough, like Speaker Pelosi and Senate Majority Reid. Well well well. Isn't that something. See -- Obama just kept running around the country basking in the light of screaming, adoring fans. Never one to disappoint, he kept running off the campaign rhetoric promising anything and everything. Problem is, what he said he was going to do when he gets to Washington isn't within presidential power. Rather, congressional action is required for most of the stuff he promised. We're about to see his "Yes, we can" change to "Oh no, you won't" when he meets up with the two leaders who beat him to Washington by a few decades. And his Chief of Staff, Rambo Emmanual, says he'll use every trick he knows, including sharp elbows, to get things done. But wait. Did Rambo just call Democratic politicians weak leaders?!!  Obama says Pelosi and Reid are going to have to learn that change hurts. I just want to know when the "uncle" rule goes into effect. Obama hasn't even been sworn in and he's already telling congress how things are going to be. Actually, Obama has a painful lesson waiting for him when he gets to Washington. He wasn't in the senate long enough to learn how things get done in Washington.

read more: http://electivedecisions.wordpress.com/2008/11/17/obama-may-be-at-odds-with-more-conservative-reid-and-pelosi/

November 14 --

Pro-lifers can take heart in the statements of a pro-life Roman Catholic priest in South Carolina -- Rev. Jay Scott Newman -- who wrote a letter to his parishioners at St. Mary's Catholic Church. In his letter, Father Newman strongly denounced pro-abortion politicians.

Father Newman went a step further and said that people who voted for a pro-abortion candidate when a pro-life candidate was an alternative constituted "material cooperation with intrinsic evil, and those Catholics who do so place themselves outside of the full communion of Christ's Church and under the judgment of the divine law." He went on to say that "persons in this condition should not receive Holy Communion until and less they are reconciled to God in the Sacrament of Penance, lest they eat and drink their own condemnation."

There you have it. A Catholic priest who speaks plainly about the pro-life position. He echoes the sentiment of the Pope. Read more about Father Newman at: http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D94EB4BO0&show_article=1

In fact, Pope Benedict was asked about this very question a couple of years ago when he was in flight to Mexico. The Pope said that "Roman Catholic politicians in Mexico City who voted to legalize abortion should be denied the rite of Communion..." read more: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,271314,00.html

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said in an interview on Meet the Press that the doctors in the Church have not been able to define when life begins. She was taken to task by priests and bishops all over the country because, in fact, the Catholic Church defines (in its Catechism) that life begins at conception. read more: http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?id=15970. Fortunately only 15% of Americans know who Nancy Pelosi is. The only people who vote for her are out in San Francisco. But she is in a powerful position in the House to see what legislation gets passed and what gets buried in committees. And, as speaker she's also third in line to succeed the president in the event of a catastrophe.

And speaking of presidential succession, here's the list of who gets to be president in the event the president is incapacitated:
1. Vice President
2. Speaker of the House
3. President pro tempore of the Senate
4. Secretary of State
5. Secretary of the Treasury
6. Secretary of Defense
7. Attorney General
8. Secretary of the Interior
9. Secretary of Agriculture
10. Secretary of Commerce
11. Secretary of Labor
12. Secretary of Health and Human Services
13. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
14. Secretary of Transportation
15. Secretary of Energy
16. Secretary of Education
17. Secretary of Veterans Affairs
18. Secretary of Homeland Security

However, there's a caveat to this line of succession. For instance, a person must be also eligible to be president either by age or be a natural-born citizen. And it can't be a person filling in for someone who was approved by the Senate, like an Acting Secretary. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_line_of_succession

Changing the subject, where are all those people who thought Obama would do a better job with the economic situation? Did they all pull their money out of the stock market and run for the cave to count their cashola? The DOW is down again today. I think I read somewhere that the DOW has gone down some 1200 points since Obama was elected president. That doesn't sound like a vote of confidence to me. And then he appointed Rambo Emanuel to be his Chief of Staff. Great move there, Obama. You did know that Rambo had been on the board of directors over at Fannie Mae, didn't you? That's where all this credit mess started in the first place. Way back in Carter's presidency, then they got some political enhancements during the Clinton years. And now Pelosi says it's not the Democrats' fault that the economy is in a mess.

And now there are rumors floating around that the rules are going to change for s-corporations. Used to be that kind-of sort-of sole proprietorships could set up an s-corporation and by-pass some of their income by declaring it as a dividend. Like, for instance, if I made a $100,000 profit, I could take $20,000 as income and I'd pay FICA and Medicare on that amount. Then I'd take the remaining $80,000 as a dividend and by-pass that 13% extra tax. However, if the s-corp plans go by the wayside, there's going to be a whole bunch of people who fall under Obama's "over $250,000" category. People like doctors and lawyers, perhaps. It's possible that they could end up paying forty cents (or more) in taxes for every dollar they make. here's a link that talks about this situation: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2132122/posts

If you're a small business owner, I'd check with the CPA who does your books to see if there's been any news confirmed about this in their upgrade conferences. Might not happen, though, until after the new president is sworn in. I'll just betcha he's gonna make full use of his Executive Order pen. Presidents can do that, you know. Make laws by Executive Order.

November 13 --

Bright sunny day and n the mid-fifties. What's not to like for November in Illinois?

Enjoy it while we can. We still have two huge big maples that are hanging onto their leaves. It rained. That usually brings the leaves down. A few fell. The wind blew. That usually brings the leaves down. A few fell. Now Quint is standing at the kitchen window looking out over the back yard. A few leaves are falling.

We'd just as soon get the leaves all raked up and burned before the snow falls. Makes the soil too acidic if they just lay there all winter under the snow. So, to raise the pH of the soil, we spread ashes around from the fire pit after we burn the leaves. That works.

Not much else going on since the election is over with. The new game in town -- that is in Washington, D.C. -- is bailout. I'm not sure if the rules have been printed yet. In fact, there don't seem to be any rules. Just kind of get in line and let your wishes be heard.

Then there was the $700 billion bailout, remember? And remember all those promises of more transparency in government? So can someone explain to me why the $700 is going to be disbursed without telling anybody (as in We the Peoples) who's getting the money?

And now the automakers was a bailout. And so does Detroit. And so does the state of California. I would say the movie makers except that some $33 million is already embedded in that big hung of cheese amounting to $700 billion.

And like the book Who Moved My Cheese, we're going to find out pretty quick here who are the ones following Hem and Haw, or who's going to follow the rats deeper into the maze who resigned themselves to the fact that someone moved the cheese and it's time to start looking in another direction.

That new direction will be the 112th congress which will be elected in 2010. Time to start working to elect more conservatives.

It seems that liberal, socialist-leaning governments find the way back to conservatism. Like New Zealand just did. Like Germany recently did, and France and Italy.

So why did the voters in these countries turn their backs on the liberal lefties?

Because conservatism works. Smaller government works to reduce government spending.

But why do you think liberals want bigger government? Because big government has to employ people. Armies of people. Armies of political employees go to the polls to vote. Armies of political employees and campaign volunteers alike fill up huge arenas and drink lots of beer and eat pizza and listen to rock star concerts that warm up the workers for liberal speakers. The tickets are free. It's like getting a free play day.

The United States government is the single largest employer in the country. It's in the best interests of government employees to keep big sized government politicos, their bosses, getting re-elected. You can bet on that.

November 12 --

It's a cold November day. Raw all the way down to the bone, even though the temperature says 49 degrees. I can hear the raindrops hitting the windows. Must be raining sideways again. The electric blanket is warming up our cocoon for an early winter nap on a gray can't-do-anything-else kind of afternoon.

Naps are wonderful. It's one thing that retirees have in common with babies. ZZZzzzzzzz

But first I have to tell you that we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves at the workshop yesterday. The topic was self-mutilation, a population group I've worked in the counseling practice. The focus is usually on females and the self-harm generally starts in middle school. Amazing, huh? These students are the attractive and popular students. And as they continue on into high school, we get the copy cats who figure that if they start cutting, maybe they'd be popular and prettier (somehow) too.

All good information. A great deal of it new research. The clinical psychologist who conducted the workshop says he revises the hand-outs every three months to incorporate new research into his material. What I learned yesterday is that the males are hitters. Self-harming hitters. But here's the difference between boys who are self-harmers and boys who suffer from intermittent rage disorder: the self-harms slam their non-dominant hand into the wall, while the rage disordered boys don't have a preference. Apparently they're too rage driven to care about whether they have to keep their dominant hand safe and injury-free.

There's lots more good information that I'll be sharing with you as I go along here.

In the meantime, the DOW is headed south again. And more and more bailouts for companies are being promised. What I don't understand is that the Democrats ran through their campaigns with the thought from the podium that inflation and the unbalance budget was eating up their grandchildren's future.

But maybe these quick change artists could explain to me how printing rubber checks (deficit spending means the United States is broke) is helping their children or grandchildren. I mean, don't worry right now about the grandkids. Your kiddos aren't going to be able to find jobs in the market of spend-spend-spend.

And while you're at it explaining things to me, then please also tell me why executives of these big firms are getting bonuses when they've run their companies into the poorhouse? Seems to me that bonuses ought to reward successes on Wall Street. But get this: the executives are getting the bonuses because the Boards of Directors don't want to discourage the "talent pool."

Huh?

Isn't profit what this talent pool is supposed to be delivering? grrrrrrr

November 10 (for November 11)

Today is Veterans Day. Please join me in expressing a mountain of gratitude for all the veterans who had kept America free since the beginning of our nation.

I will be attending a "continuing education seminar" on Tuesday. The subject matter is self-mutilation.

Be back on Wednesday.

November 10 --

First of all, Happy Birthday today to the United States Marine Corps. -- 233 years of keeping America safe on land and sea. And while we're at it, thank you to all our vets who deserve a giant round of applause a bit early (since tomorrow if Veterans Day).

Well, yeah, this is a conservative voice orbiting its way around the solar system. Or at least, all the way around the planet earth.

I am so happy for all our conservative friends in New Zealand. You must have been absolutely thrilled to get back to conservatism and get the liberals out of your government. No doubt, you have sympathies for those of us who will be held prisoner by the liberal leftwingers who took over the US government. But just wait until 2010. By that time, the voters who elected Dahlibama will realize that the world leaders really don't like him all that much.

Changing the subject, take a look at this article that likens John McCain to Yosemite Sam and Obama to Daffy Duck: http://www.conservatismcentral.com/index.php/2008/11/09/duck-season/

In the meantime, you need to know that there is a plan in the works to confiscate your 401(s) and IRAs in the U.S. House of Representatives and put these accounts under the jurisdiction and management of the Social Security Administration. Read more: http://www.carolinajournal.com/articles/display_story.html?id=5081

These confiscated accounts would be called Guaranteed Retirement Accounts. It's a fairly lengthy article but well worth the read. But I'll bet you see red before you reach the end of the article. It's just the beginning, folks. If you're disciplined enough to put aside some money for a rainy day, be prepared to turn it over to the people standing out there in the rain who didn't buy an umbrella.

And of my goodness, for all the euphoric liberal leaning voters who think they are going to get the type of change that will bring them free gas for their cars and free mortgages for their homes, take a look at what Obama's change is really going to be. Then get ready for the conservatives to get back to their stronghold and evict the moderate conservatives out of the group.

If you truly think that this country is ready to lean way left, then you are grandly mistaken. You'll have to first explain why the gay marriage initiatives in a whole bunch of states were defeated at the polls. There is still a strong conservative base in the United States. Millions of voters did not vote for Obama. Millions and millions and millions voted for somebody else.

Read this: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/09/barack-obama-change-liberal-radical

November 8 --

Is this something new whose time has come? Education officials in New Hampshire are considering the position that 10th graders could be ready to go to college. That is, if the sophomores pass a sufficiency type test at the end of the 10th grade. If they do, they'd be allowed to go to college two years earlier. Students in Europe do just that.

From my own personal experience when I was teaching freshman psychology courses at both Moraine Valley College and Joliet Junior College, high school seniors were present in each of the classes. And they did very well. In fact, it was these students who read the text more frequently and were ready to discuss the material in class. They had their homework ready to turn in when it was due. They did just as well on the exams as the students who were in the more traditional age category. read more: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1857336,00.html?xid=rss-topstories

Further, I suspect that students who can go to college at their former 11th grade level might just stay in school longer. Could very well mean that high school dropout rates would be much lower if the upper classmen could go off to college.

More on the schoolteacher in North Carolina who was caught on tape browbeating a young student. Read more: http://www.fayobserver.com/article?id=309848 

We get an answer as to who was taping the lecture of the teacher, Ms. Harris. It was a Swedish film crew producing a documentary about the American election. Harris now claims that the tape was doctored by McCain supporters and even though she claims that she didn't hold a partisan position, she was sporting an Obama button in the video.

The video prompted quite an uproar. It got 18,000 views in the first three hours after Drudge posted the link. Now the school has to explain the ugliness and even though the school officials have prompted a thorough investigation, North Carolina law requires that the results of any actions taken in the matter cannot be revealed.

How's that for transparency? She's a government worker for crying out loud. And worse than that, she's a teacher who has been entrusted with the education of young children. Why shouldn't the taxpayers of North Carolina know what happens?

And here's a glimpse at something you probably already figured out. The brains of bullies light up when they are causing pain to their "victims." In an article in Biological Psychology, the finding is that bullies actually enjoy watching the discomfort of others. Read more: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/11/081107-bully-brain.html

Another article published some time ago said that there is an indication that violence may be genetically predisposed. That would be an interesting topic to research too.

November 7 --

And now, coming to a world near you --

The disillusions of Obama's campaign promises showed up in the hints of his acceptance speech. In the first of what will probably be many reneges came in this comment, "We may not make it in one year, or one term ..."

read more: http://theamericansentinel.com/2008/11/06/obamas-big-dilemma/

All those ungrounded, ethereal campaign promises that came beautifully wrapped in political rhetoric are about to go flying out the window. Sounds like "yes we can" will ring in a new mantra that says, "no we can't." Some of us suspected as much. It's not that we're psychic or no-it-alls. Far from it. It's just that we've heard all those campaign promises before. It's the language of political rhetoric that all candidates use.

So listen up, left-leaners. This credit fiasco started way back when Carter was in the White House. And the housing mess continued, veiled in the Clinton promises that everybody deserved to have a piece of the American pie, even if they didn't have jobs or even if they didn't have good credit, or even if they didn't have a down payment.

Obama will find out soon enough that the roadway paved with blame for everything that goes wrong leads  to the White House door. Not that the Democrats will ever accept any responsibility for anything.

Oh no. They'll try to blame Republicans for leaving the country in this mess. Even though the Democrats have been in control of congress for the last two years.

Obama begins his presidency-elect with an approval rating of only 52% according to Rasmussen. (http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/daily_presidential_tracking_poll)

That seems low. But then, Obama had nearly half the country voting against him.

What absolutely blows my mind is that some 54% of the Catholics in this country voted for Obama. It looks like one of my delusions is that Catholics held the lives of the unborn innocents to be sacred. I would have thought that the anti-abortion position would have saved the Catholic vote. Silly me. My estimation of the Catholics just went down a notch or two.

If you want to see how the arrogant Obama tone has trickled down to teachers in the classroom, take a look at this disgusting video of a teacher in North Carolina browbeating a student who was a McCain supporter: http://patriotroom.com/?p=4002

If this bothers you to the extent that it does me, the school board's web site is: http://www.communications.ccs.k12.nc.us/Board/BOE.htm. Because of the national "black eye" that this teacher has brought to this district, they are promising to make a comment later today on their web site.

To completely change the subject away from politics to something more useful, the Oxford languagenistas have come up with a new list of the ten most annoying phrases in use today. If you guess that "at the end of the day" to be at the top of the list, you'd be correct. Also on the list is "24/7" and eight others. Go here to see the entire list: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/debates/3394545/Oxford-compiles-list-of-top-ten-irritating-phrases.html

In the frozen north where global warming is nowhere to be seen, South Dakota is digging out from a 48" snowfall. The governor of South Dakota has advised folks to stay out of the western part of the state.

And down in the south waters, there's a tropical storm brewing -- Paloma. It threatens to be a Cat 2 when it makes landfall. If it does. Paloma is going across Cuba just about now. If you look at the satellite photo, I swear it looks like this storm has two distinct eye patterns. That's not possible, is it? If it makes a right turn and heads north, New Orleans could really be in trouble this time. All over again. http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/weather/11/07/hurricane.paloma/index.html

November 6 --

Is this a portent of things to come? (http://www.wthr.com/global/story.asp?s=9299280)

Maybe it's just a small, but isolated, story that comes out of WTHR in Indianapolis. Obama's campaign workers didn't get all the money they were promised. There were hundreds of them waiting in line to get paid for the jobs of last-minute get-out-the-vote campaigners.

They had been given a prepaid Visa card worth $30, but that wasn't what they were promised. The "Yes, we can" chants apparently gave way to "Where's my money," or "I want my money now."

What I found truly interesting was the note at the bottom of the article. You know, that little note that encourages people to make comments about the article itself.

Instead, here's part of the note: The comments tool has been disabled for this story...because of the large volume of comments generated by this story, we do not have the time to approve them .. while it is our goal to encourage interactivity on our site, in this case, we simply do not have the staff to devote the time to approving comments.

How's that for the promised transparency in Yes-We-Can Obamaland?

And that landslide that was promised for Obama? Well, hold on. The numbers didn't measure up to a landslide. Not by any stretch of the imagination. Unless, of course, you count some 64 million votes out of the 120 million voters who went to the polls. If you count that, then you have to also give George Bush credit for arousing 121 million to go vote in 2004.

Well, if you aren't willing to do that, then keep in mind that some 56 million voters expressed the tennis-shoe opinion that they want no part of Obama's socialistic brand of any "new deal."

And, in closing for today, do yourselves a favor and watch this video In God We Still Trust. Keep in mind that 86% of the American people profess their Christian faith. What we need to do is squeeze back that 14% of unbelievers to zero. We are God's people. Never forget that! And yes, most certainly, He is watching over us as a nation. If the distance between us and God has gotten wider, it's because we moved, not God. C'mon, people. Get closer. Get back to your prayer life. Get back to reading His Word, the Bible. If you are in the distance space, let Him touch your heart. You will always be welcome when you come home again.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PLwsDvaURY

November 5 --

The 2008 election is over. The 2010 election begins today, some say. That's when 1/3 of the senate seats are up for grabs, and of course, all of the representatives again -- all 435 of them.

But consider this: there are some 130,000,000 registered voters in the US. Of that total, some 55 million Republicans and 72 million Democrats. The rest are something else, like Green, Libertarian or Independents.

So a total of 118,225,916 voters went to the polls yesterday to vote either Republican or Democrat. Obama got more than 62 million votes, while McCain came in with 55-1/2 million. Looks like the Republicans got the vote out -- there just weren't enough of them.

And what about that feverishly sought after young vote that the politicians lusted after? You know -- the under 30 group? Well, 18% of the voters fell into that category. That compares with 17% from the last presidential election. That's not a huge march but it looks like it could be about 4 million voters. Not really enough to make up for the 7 million vote difference in Obama's lead.

My point is there were 12 million registered voters who just didn't quite get to the polls. There were some 10 million Democrats who didn't vote, or if they did, they crossed over to McCain. I suspect that's the case because I just can't believe that the Republicans got 100% of their votes out. In the final look-see, Obama did not get a landslide. Not by any stretch of the imagination. It wasn't the slimmest of margins for victory though, not even 5%. But it was enough to move him into the White House. Now all he has to do is figure out how he's going to tell the people who voted for him that he doesn't have the constitutional authority to deliver on all those campaign promises.

Well, I don't know about you but I can get some work done now that the election is over. No more political ads. No more phony pollsters hocking their wares with victory numbers that were way off the beam. I think they were all predicting an Obama win by at least 10%. But that's what happens when polls are not conducted scientifically -- they lose predictiveness.

My fear is that inflation is headed our way. We need to hunker down for a recession that I fear is coming.

November 4 --

We voted already! It took us a grand total of 28 minutes from the time we pulled into the parking lot until we put our ballot into that little tally machine. We did not have any lines going around the building at the polls. In fact, I was voter #86.

I read that there's an expectation of 100,000,000 voters turning out to vote in this election. That would be phenomenal if it turns out to be true. If you use the 129,000,000 registered voters in 2004, that would be a 77% turnout. But then, there are more registered voters now. Not sure what the final figure is since all the new registrations have been filed. But then, a lot of the ACORN new registrations are headed for the courts because of ridiculousness, like a registration for Mickey Mouse, and the Dallas Cowboys being registered in Nevada or New Mexico. Can't remember which state called them on it.

I also read a headline this morning on one of the sites that John McCain has gone to court to make sure that the military ballots from overseas get counted. You may not know this but the overseas ballots weren't counted in prior elections. Overseas people vote absentee ballots. And I'll tell you one thing. If there's a group of voters who absolutely ought to have their votes counted, it's those very people who are fighting for our freedom to vote in the first place!

I was surprised to see the return of the paper ballots here in Illinois. We had used computer readouts in prior elections. Not that I mind. It just takes longer to color in all those little ovals on the ballot. But just in case there needs to be a re-count, I like the idea of a piece of paper for each voter.

I guess I'm just too skeptical of computerized voting booths being tamper proof. And just because politicians say they are tamper proof doesn't make it so. In fact, that may be a good reason not to believe it.

The race I'm watching today is Murtha in Pennsylvania. An Iraqi vet -- I believe a colonel -- is running against Murtha the Mouth. We'll just see how much Murtha's constituents liked his calling them racists and/or rednecks. Not nice, Murtha. It's bad enough that you treat your constituents like "the little people," but out-and-out insulting them may find you headed for the unemployment line.

Well, folks. It's going to be a long day. If you haven't voted already, I pray that voting is high up there on your priority list for today!

November 3 --

This comes under the general heading of something I found while I was on the way to looking something else up. I discover Coach Collins' web site. And boy, does he do a fine job of slicing and dicing the poll data.

The one thing I don't understand is the need for all the weighting. When pollsters start putting weights into their data system, they lose all scientificness. And because of that, their polls lose predictive qualities. Isn't that predictiveness why people want polls in the first place?

Even Obama must not believe the polls because he's spent some $21 million for his own internal polls. This time last week, his polls were showing that he was two points down. Wish I could remember where I read that. But I didn't bookmark it; just remembered it. No, I don't bookmark every little thing that interests me.

But here's the site for the Collins Report: http://www.collinsreport.net/. Read his bio while you're at the site. He's a Viet Nam vet and a former New York police detective. That makes him credible as far as I'm concerned.

Uh oh. Circuit City is closing a whole bunch of stores. They're just not going to open 155 stores on November 4. They're going to be doing some internal restructuring, starting with "closeout sales" on November 5 -- just in time for holiday bargain hunters. Too bad for some 46,000 employees who will feel the axe by February. That's going to make for a lousy Christmas for employees and their families. Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSTRE4A235120081103?feedType=RSS&feedName=domesticNews&rpc=22&sp=true

So why is Obama's position on coal so important? For starters, coal fuels about half of the nation's electrical systems. (http://www.energybulletin.net/node/45005). And for all you readers out there in West Virginia and other places where coal plays an integral part of your financial survival, here's the article from the Pittsburgh Tribune that spells out Obama's position on coal and how he's going to tax the mean old global warming aspects of carbon spewing coal: http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/blogs/fortyfourthestate/.

We need to recognize, once and for all, that climate changes are God-made, not man-made. Climate changes have to do with what's happening on the sun, namely sunspot activity. We need to join with the 30,000 scientists around the world who have signed off global warming and have said that global warming is not caused by man.

I mean, next time there's a 40 mph wind in your neighborhood, go stand out on your front porch and spit in the wind. Just see what happens. That will give you some little idea of just how small the effect you have on the weather, and global warming in the larger picture.

And for everybody in the Pittsburgh area, WPXI reports that Congressman Murthawalked out on an interview that ask too many hard questions. Like explaining his controversial comments about his constituents being racists. No, he took that back. What he meant was they were rednecks. Okay, so I have a really tough question: which one of those comments was the insult and which was the compliment? Wait, come back Mr. Murtha. Enquiring minds want to know! read more: http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/*/index?more=2123456. Methinks you're toast, there, Mr. Murtha. Besides, you have a perfectly viable candidate running against you in the form of an Iraqi veteran. He's going to make you so sorry you ever accused our red-blooded Marines of crimes that they were found not guilty of. I hope each one of them sues you for $10 million each.

KDKA has a video you can watch of Murtha's challenge, Bill Russell at: http://kdka.com/politics/Bill.Russell.Murtha.2.854760.html. Time to round up all the folks in Pennsylvania who can vote for Bill Russell, the war hero who now wants to represent his district in Pennsylvania.

But truthfully, each one of us has our own individual reasons for wanting to vote for pro-life candidates. This web site is my reason for making sure I do everything I can to keep pro-abortion candidates out of the White House. Warning, this video is very graphic. Every woman who is even considering having an abortion needs to see this: http://www.durarealidad.com/

Tomorrow is election day. My vote is going for protecting all the unborn babies in the United States who are presently riding around inside their mother's wombs! Maybe they're taking innocent little baby naps thinking they are safe. It's our duty to make sure that they are safe!

November 1 --

Two things to take a look at this morning. I know it's Saturday and I don't usually post on weekends. But this is the eve of the eve of the eve of election and we have a lot to think about in this election. It will be a watershed for the United States.

First is an article that talks about a longstanding study that was done and has been replicated many, many times. It defines the "Spiral of Silence." This theory goes beyond the truism that if you tell a lie often enough and long enough, it will start "walking." This Spiral of Silence is far more dangerous. The article is only a few paragraphs long and well worth your read. Here it is: http://townhall.com/columnists/WyntonHall/2008/10/31/obamas_spiral_of_silence

The other is a video of McCain's barnburner, "We're Americans!" Watch it and be proud that you're American: http://patriotroom.com/?p=3669

And for a little levity, this 30 second video compares the Three Stooges to Obama-Pelosi-Reid running the United States. http://www.gop.com/news/NewsRead.aspx?Guid=0a51a3f3-5f9c-4257-9030-24eb01bdea69&sid=rnc&t=obama&r=stooges

And if you want to do a little deeper research -- since it's Saturday -- into the origins of capitalism, take a look at this good read that Forbes published: http://www.forbes.com/2008/10/30/medici-banks-meltdown-oped-cx_ms_1031simonetta_print.html. You'll quickly see that the mainstream media and political pundits who go back to the Great Depression to find precedents for what went wrong with capitalism should have gone farther back. All the way to Italy to the times of Medici in the 1400s. Some of you will gobble this up. Some of you may be writing economics papers this weekend. If you are, you'll get an A for sure if you research the effect of Medici on capitalism. And your paper will be absolutely unique! It will be one of the few "gotcha moments" you may ever know in your life.

Here's an interesting article about campaign donation fraud that comes from The Canada Free Press: http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/5958. The writers say they are reporting this allegation of fraud because America's free press doesn't seem to be working, meaning the mainstream media is leaning very heavily to the left.

And here's an "oh my goodness" site for you to plug into on election night. It has all the poll closing times: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2121594/posts. Isn't that neat?

And with all the beauty of autumn, here's my favorite tree poem by none other than Joyce Kilmer:

I think that I shall never see /// a poem lovely as a tree. /// A tree whose hungry mouth is prest /// against the sweet earth's flowing breast; /// A tree that looks at God all day, /// and lifts her leafy arms to pray; /// a tree that may in summer wear /// a nest of robins in her hair; /// Upon whose bosom snow has lain, /// who intimately lives with rain /// Poems are made by fools like me, /// but only God can make a tree.

And tree colors? Lots of variety there too. If you're out driving about, all those pretty yellow trees are soft maples. The crab apples turn red in autumn. Gold colors are usually redbud and hickory. And some maples turn a brilliant red. 

The redbud in my front yard that I planted in memory of my mother has just started to turn. Its leaves are part yellow, part green right now. Very pretty, mom. You ought to see it.

October 31 --

Happy Hallowe'en to all you cute little goblins out there!

For us Lutherans, it's Reformation Day. Today is the day in 1517 when Martin Luther posted 95 reasons that he opposed the sale of indulgences. Luther wanted to debate the theses with the Dominicans. Debates were called "diets." The place where the debate was to take place was a town called Worms, pronounced "Vorms." 

But more than Reformation, this is the time when I remember that it's the third anniversary of my mother's death. I pray that she is enjoying her peaceful place in heaven in the company of so many loved ones who went before her.

Well, we're getting down to the wire in this election. Only four days left. I do hope that it won't get ugly. And since Republicans tend not to respond to poll workers as they conduct exit interviews, the word will get out that Obama has won by a landslide. When the votes are counted, they'll show a lot more Republicans than the poll watchers figured in. Always seems to work out that way. Then when the Democrats predict landslide elections that turn out not to be true, Republicans will get to hear again how they stole the election. The "theft" occurred only because there were more Republicans who showed up to vote.

There's not a lot going on this morning. That is, unless you count the political speeches. And even those are filled with talking points that have been repeated about a zillion times.

Oh, but there is one little juicy tidbit. Obama has removed three reporters from his plane. No, the plane wasn't flying. These reporters were less than enthused about him. They were from the New York Post, Washington Times, and Dallas Morning News. I guess the Obama campaign only embraces freedom of speech when the reporters say the right thing about him.

It's a constitutional thing, this freedom of speech. It's one of the most cherished freedoms of the United States. It's been purchased time and again with the precious blood of American soldiers on fields of battle all around this planet.

It's a freedom that must be preserved. It ought not to be diminished by the smallmindedness of political power plays.

October 30 -- here's an add-on

For you readers in Pennsylvania, you know who Murtha is. For those of you who don't, he's the representative who said the voters/taxpayers in his congressional district were racists. Well, that heated things up a'plenty. So, after all the heat from his voters caught up with him, he said he didn't mean they were racists. No, after thinking it over, I guess, Murtha then said they were rednecks. !!!?? What was he thinking? But now comes this article in The Hill: Murtha is sending out a hurried message to his voters that he needs a lot of money so he can win the election he's running against a retired Army vet from Iraq -- a Lt. Colonel I believe. Murtha says it's all those mean old Republicans' fault -- and the 527s -- and the swiftboaters -- and everybody else but himself and his mouth -- that he's so far behind in the polls. Read more: http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/murtha-pleas-for-1-million-after-racism-comments-2008-10-30.html. Murtha is thisclose to Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the House.

And speaking of the House, here's the final wrap-up for the 110th congress. There were some 13,500 pieces of legislation introduced. But if you take out all the bills that had to do with naming post offices, parks, employee appointments where required, there were actually only 40 pieces of real legislative type laws that were passed. According to this article, most of the resolutions had to do with African-American matters and complaints (including motions to impeach) about President George Bush. read more: http://www.influencecongress.com/files/2008_Final_NL.pdf. Do you think there could possibly be a connection between this number of bills passed (3%) and the disapproval rating of congress (91%)?

October 30 --

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D944H6EO0&show_article=1 -- Read this if you want to take a comparative look at what Obama said in his spinfomercial last night and what reality is.

We'll have to wait and see if money talks. Some claims are that he's going to top $230 million in advertising before the campaign ends with Tuesday's election. Read more: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/95d649b8-a5df-11dd-9d26-000077b07658.html

Want to know which You Tube video has had the most views in this election? It's the soldier from Iraq who sends a message: "Dear Mr. Obama" (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/us_elections_2008/7699509.stm). It's been watched 11 million times. It's riveting, so if you haven't watched it yet, take a look.

I read a headline on one of the places I visit regularly that the homeowners have taken down the mannequin that was dressed up to look like Sarah Palin hanging from the roof in the front of their house. The local police out there in Los Angeles says it was just bad taste, not a hate crime. There was quite an uproar that rippled its way through the country so the homeowners eventually responded to the outcry.

And on to the economy. For the first time in a long time, the economy shrank during the third quarter. Not a good sign at all. The GDP fell 0.3%. That's not a big fall but it's on the wrong side of zero, so it counts as a contraction of the economy. Read more: http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D944RBT81&show_article=1&catnum=0

And in the meantime, the media is wanting a $300 billion bailout. Ad revenue is way down for all the major news gatherers. Mainly because readership is down all across the country. And why could that possibly be? Well, if they ever took a look at their editorial policy which swings much too far to the left, they might just figure it out.

In the meantime, even though the United States is broke (definition of deficit spending), the Treasury keeps on printing money. Hey, guys. Those are rubber checks you're writing! Just because you can print more money doesn't mean the money is good. One more quarter of contraction in the GDP will define recession. And then we're heading for inflationary times if we don't quit writing rubber checks.

And here's what Ronald Reagan once said as he quoted that perpetual presidential candidate, Norman Thomas: The American people would never vote for socialism. But he said under the name of liberalism the American people would adopt every fragment of the socialist program. (read more: http://commonsenselogic.blogspot.com/2008/10/ronald-reagan-on-spreading-wealth.html). Norman Thomas, I believe, is the grandfather of Evan Thomas over at Newsweek. If so, that would explain the left-leaning policy at that magazine.

Oh brother. The politics is certainly getting steamy. So let's change the subject to something safe, like the weather. Quint says that September is the first month in a long time, if ever, that there has been no sunspot activity. That's going to make a very cold winter, folks. Bitter, record-breaking cold. August saw sunspot activity slowing down a lot, but down to zero in September! Brrrrrr. Fortunately the price of natural gas is also going down, along with the temperatures. Price of heating oil is also going down. I do feel sorry for the folks out in the northeast who thought they were making a good move by locking in heating oil prices at what turned out to be a higher cost. Now they're stuck with their contracted rate.

And I'd just like to remind all of you conservatives out there that if you want to get some straight talk on what's going on, go on over the www.freereublic.com. There's interesting debates on the threads, lots and lots of patriotism in full bloom, prayer chains, religious news, and political news that is not bent toward liberalism or socialism.

For instance, here's a thread that you'll not see on any of the front pages across this country. It's written by a man who's been stiffed by Joe Biden. To the tune of $150,000. Wouldn't you think that Biden's running mate, the ever-rich Obama would help out his buddy/partner with those campaign debts? I mean, after all, Obama has collected $600 million so far. Surely he must have a few nickels left over for his pal, Joe the Bloviator! read more: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2119587/posts.

Since I've hit politics and the weather, I may as well go on and put in a plug for prayer. I do hope you are beginning your day with prayer. Husbands and wives, take a few moments to join hands in prayer every morning. Don't have time, you say? Don't kid yourselves. You have a couple of minutes before you head out for your day.

We start out with [Martin] Luther's Morning Prayer: I thank you, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, your dear Son, that you have kept me this night from all harm and danger; and I pray that you would keep me this day from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please you. For into your hands I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen. Follow this prayer with your list of concerns. At the top of our list, after we have prayed for our kiddos and grandkids, is a prayer that this great nation will be blessed with continued Christian leaders who will lead and guide the United States along a Godly path. Remember, Jesus promised that ... where two or more are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of you.

And finally, since many of you have asked how you can support this web site, I thank you for your generous thoughts. Truth is, all donations would be appreciated. But does it mean the site is in danger of being shut down? No no no. But our good friends from around the globe -- all the way from Israel to Singapore to Iceland have asked. So if you have a Pay Pal account, all you need to do is go to Pay Pal and use my e-mail address: jane@janereinheimer.com (as the payee) and Pay Pal will get your donations into our account. And if you don't want to or can't, that's okay too. This is not going to become a "private membership" for viewing site.

October 29 --

Wow! If you didn't watch the DOW yesterday, you'll be happy to know that it went north like a rocket. It rose $889. That ought to make a whole bunch of 401(k)s start to look a little bit healthier.

Earthquake is back in the news this morning. This time in Pakistan, along the Afghan border. A 6.4 biggie jiggled the mountainous region this morning. So far, about 150 people have died. Prayers lifted for lost souls. Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,444669,00.html

And back to the politics that's in the air. If you believe the Dems and the mainstream media, you'll hear a lot of talk about the country being in a recession and more accusations about the "failed economic policies" of George Bush in the White House for the last eight years.

However, since this web site's readership has a higher bent toward truth and facts, you'll want to take a look at this article, for comparative purposes: http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/10/exactly_wrong_again.html

A recession is an economic condition, not a political accusation. A recession has to do with economic growth, or lack of it. And the fact of the matter is, for all of Bush's years in the White House, we ha