Comments I Saw

Ramblin's on the Web

I've been enjoying the election showdowns between the Democrats and the Republicans. It's going to be an exciting race between now and November. 

I didn't watch all of the Republican convention, but I saw enough of it on the news to keep up. When I did watch it, I noticed a subdued excitement across the crowds. They seem reluctant to see Governor Romney as their candidate because of all the baggage he carries. He's rich, he's a Mormon, he's a flip-flopper, he's controlled by super-pacs, and he's surrounding himself with the extreme right wing radicals in the party. 

Tell me, do any Christian churches preach that Mormonism is part of the Christian community? I'm curious. I doubt any do here in the south but, if I am wrong, please let me know. I welcome an answer. I wonder if preachers have changed their tunes and support Mormons, and tell their flocks that Romney is the better man. It's ironic that they accused Obama of not being a Christian and now they are going to vote for a Mormon. No offense, if you're a Mormon. To each, their own. It's just that the irony is staggering.

We got the joy of a double whammy in the last two weeks for political junkies like me. The Republican convention was last week and they nominated Mitt Romney for the Republican presidential candidate. They kept saying that they had a plan. Their plan is to continue tax cuts for the wealthy and cut programs for the poor.

This week the Democratic convention is in full swing. President Obama is the Democratic presidential nominee for 2012. For me, it's must-see TV. I'm so excited. President Obama is working hard to help the needy and the poor. He is fighting to shore up social security and to help educate our children so that they can attain a better future. He is working for the people. Romney is working for the corporations.

Let the games begin.

Last time I posted this

A comment about the atmosphere of the 2012 election fervor on a message board summed it up nicely. James Holloway said: So the racists are circling the wagons. The one thing that Mr O's election has done that no one can debate is, it's brought the racists out of the closet into the main street of town. 

It got me thinking about all the other comments I've read.

So I decided to collect a few and give you a peek

At the things I've seen 
Like this . . . 

Magelan Smejkal: listed Obama's Accomplishments: Lilly Ledbetter equal pay act, Credit Card companies thwarted from additional interest, stricter tobacco control, hate crimes bill, 4,000,000 uninsured children now insured, college loan revamping to cut out middleman and waste for more student loan availability, Kennedy service act tripling Americorp, cash for clunkers that rescued falling auto sales, stimulus bill which was the largest tax cut, education investment and clean air support ever, ACA, real health reform that a dozen Presidents tried but Obama completed, the financial reform bill to curb Wall Street excesses to avoid future catastrophes, Veterans reform expanding VA access, 25 tax cuts, land conservation, and formed a consumer protection agency and reduced the deficit, too! The Democrats did this IN SPITE of the Republicans not voting with them. The Democrats risked their political career to stand for what was right instead of just for their own political career. Now, we have a Congress that has obstructed and sabotaged every forward motion for one reason, interest in the benefits of being a career politician. Republicans stand for making Obama fail, giving billionaires and big business tax cuts so that "YOU PEOPLE" must continue to carry the load. VOTE

Some comments were informative, and others more passionate.

Cathy Hosie Roberts: I posted a message on Paul Ryans fb page telling him he is a liar and it was removed so he is a chickenshit too

I pointed out that He knows that the money President Obama took from Medicare he reinvested into programs that actually extend the life of medicare by 8 years and that his own budget takes the same 716 billion from medicare but because it is given to big oil and in tax breaks to the wealthy it shortens the life of medicare by 4 years. So how can he sit there and lie like that and expect our votes does he think we are too stupid to read the budgets for ourselves and know whats up? And now my post is gone. What a chicken shit.

Still others reflect feelings of disilluionment and sorrow.

Jack B. Quik: Sad commentary on our times. Those in politics bare a great responsibility to our country in keeping peace amongst our citizens. Yet many abuse this power, demonizing one side or the other, calling them names, saying one party wants to hurt you or that it is ok if you hurt members of that party.

Intelligent people know this and can disregard political bravado. But politicians seem to forget that there are not only talking to intelligent people. There are sick people, easily misled people, schizophrenic people, scared people and anti social people out there as well. And to these people, threats of government takeover or demons or whatever other boogeyman you can think of are very real inside their heads. The more you joke that hurting the other side is ok, the more people like this believe it. And the more people like this believe it, the more people end up dead.

Holding office is a public service. It is up to you to use that power responsibility, and using it to encourage peace amongst our citizens, not to encourage a civil war. If we keep polarizing the country into two sides, you can bet that that is exactly what will happen.

When Soledad O'Brien put the smackdown on Christione O'Donnell

for misusing communism, socialism, and Marxism

Buck Johnson: Christine put on a little weight since her last attempt at the senate. What Christine needs to understand is if Obama and his administration was communist, why bailout the banks? In a communists nation all those banks would have been nationalized and taken over and it would be all under a name like the National Bank of the US of A. He bailed out those banks (which he should have had them wound down and broken up) to save the US economy. He should have allowed GM go into a real bankruptcy, that thats the free market way. The reason he didn't is because that would have seized up the supply chain and costs millions their jobs and possibly push is right over into a harder depression. And the levee's Soledad is correct that was built with govt. money. Christine is saying that govt. supposed to do that infrastructure but that was a cop out. If the govt. is supposed to look after the good of the whole then what about the EPA or FDA which the republicans want shut down because of to many rules.

Rules just like those levees are there to protect everyone pure and simple. Her logic is so flawed it's amazing. If the govt. was smaller private money wouldn't have built those levee's. Actually they would have for their own protection (homes of the rich, their factories etc. etc.) but for the rest, do it yourself. A pure capitalists society would end up to be a feudalistic structure where it would be impossible unless by the graces of a person at the top for an individual to go up in society or get a loan or start a business.

Politics are like watching a magician but instead of scarves and cards

They use fear and bombard us with lies.

Cari Loveland: How anyone could vote for him is beyond me-- but then again, propaganda and fear-mongering have always been successful techniques for brain-washing the masses. Emotion, not logic, rules the kind of cognitive dissonance that is required in order to vote for the Romney/Ryan ticket and other politicians of their ilk... :-\

People are starting to realize they better speak up and fight back.

They aren't willing to sit back and listen to the lies from the right any longer.

After President Clinton spoke at the Democratic National Convention,

Thomas Bailey: Republicans STILL aren't over Bill getting with Monica? Even after all of his accusers in the Congress (Vitter, Burton, Livingston, Barr, Newt) were found to have love-children, and be having affairs, and Newt was screwing his intern at the very same time while breaking up with his wife by phone? Really? Still? Even after Vitter's hooker scandal, and wide-stance Larry Craig in the bathroom, and Foley chasing intern boys? Really? You still want to talk about Monica? OK, you dirty old hooker-hiring, boy chasing, anonymous-sex-in-bathrooms GOP. Let's talk about Monica then.

I think the tide has turned. Americans are no longer sitting idly by 

Allowing the Republicans to control our economy

And our destiny.

I think, this time, we're in the fight for our lives and nothing could be

More important than preserving our American values for

Our children and future generations of Americans.

FIGHT ON! FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT WHILE WE CAN
OUR DESTINY IS IN YOUR HANDS

AS ALWAYS

PIO

SEPTEMBER

This has been a whacky summer. At first it was so hot I thought we would be in a drought all summer, then it started raining and cooled down to mild temperatures in the 80's. Before you knew it summer was over and fall is upon us. 

My Rose of Sharon bushes didn't bloom out like they usually do by the fourth of July but they are spectacular now. There are big, bright, red berries on our dogwood trees in our front yard. The rains, and the milder temperatures must have confused the cycle of the plants because they aren't acting normal.

We got lots of vegetables out of our garden and the freezer is full again. That will help our food bill this winter. Don has been taking our excess tomatoes and okra to the neighbors to share. We have more than we need so I think we had a very good summer.

Schools have started back and Colt's back at the University so I'm back in my old routine. I've gotten used to not having the boys around and I spend all my spare time playing on the internet and on Facebook. 

I know I'm going to alienate lots of friends between now and November because I can not resist a meme, or an article, or blog about the candidates. I am a big Obama supporter. I dread what America will be like under a more conservative and impersonal Republican presidency. I don't necessarily think Mr. Obama will be reelected but I hope he does. 

The Republicans want to take us way back to 1950's America. I thought that, by the turn of the century, we would be living more like the Jetson's than back in time like in Pleasantville. Talk about going Back in Time. Whew!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Butch, Katy, Kim, Susan, Larry, Corbin, Gail, Melissa, Melody,

Erin, Emily, Debbie, and Jesse

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY

Resaca Rose

RIP

Gary McNamer, Robert Burchfield 

REMEMBER
Labor Day

AS ALWAYS
PIO

Question:  If I post your birthday would you like me to post your last name? 

Apathy and Animosity

Have you noticed that everyone is either snapping and sniping at each other, or they are completely apathetic and don't care? I've been talking to young adults around me, trying to convince them to get out and vote, but they don't think their vote counts so they don't see any reason to vote anyway. It's very annoying. I try to explain why it is so important to vote, and not let a small minority of voters make choices for us all.

I was talking to someone who said they weren't registered to vote and I tried to convince her it was very important to vote. Only about 30% voted in the last election. My friend said their vote didn't count because it was all in the hands of the electoral college anyway. That's just wrong. There are more things to vote on than the Presidential election, although that is a very important reason to vote in itself, You may not be directly picking the candidate but your voice should be heard.

Our electoral system is being torn apart by both parties and their refusal to work issues out and accomplish something. This divisive attitude has been in existence for years but it has never been more prevalent than it is today.

The immediate right wing of the electoral system wants to use their conservative platform to change the face of America and make it a nation ruled by the religious zealots on the right. We do not need zealots with any agenda controlling this country. It has always been a secular country and it should always be. It was never intended to be governed by religion. Thomas Jefferson wrote a letter to Baptists from Danbury Connecticut  in 1802.

"Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man & his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, & not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should "make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof", thus building a wall of separation between Church & State.^" 

The Tea party keeps beating the drum demanding that their candidates refuse to raise taxes ever! The uber-rich want to continue the Bush tax breaks for the wealthy. Taxes were 39% until Bush cut them 4%, to 35%. Wealthy people hire accountants who help them manage their money and apply any loopholes they can find to reduce their taxes. Mitt Romney admitted that he has paid 13-15% taxes for the last few years. That is far below the 35% that you and I pay.

The issues in this election are the economy, and the lack of jobs across America. President Obama didn't have any cooperation in pushing his bills through congress, so he may have thought it would be hard to get cooperation with creating manufacturing jobs and developing a diverse array of products that could be sold in America. I believe it is imperative.

Continuing the tax cuts for the rich is not in the best interest of our country. Tax rates aren't nearly as high as they have been in the past for the wealthy in this country. The highest tax rates were 95% under President Eisenhower's administration. 

I think America is schizophrenic. We have to be. I can't explain any other reason that we would flip-flop back and forth between the Democrats and the Republicans. Nobody seems to remember George Bush and his horrible presidency. He was a very manipulative and divisive president. He took this nation into two wars. He spent billions of dollars for war and he borrowed it from a communist country. Raise your hand if you think that's stupid.

The stress is starting to become too much. People think the economy is in the toilet and their lives are being ruined while congress is dicking around fighting each other. There aren't enough jobs out there and the dangerous economic situation we are in is hurting everyone. The stock market is booming though, and companies are making record profits so it's all good. When will we feel the trickle down effect? I want to know.

If the Republicans get into the White House, and take control of the economy, and cut programs, and continue to disenfranchise voters, we will all pay. Every time I have seen the federal government cut spending and taxes, states pick up the slack and start taxing it's citizens. When our state isn't able to tap into the federal budget and get earmarks for pork barrel projects like roadwork, schools, and pet projects everybody is disappointed.

Gordon County has been working for several years trying to line up money for big projects. Some money is needed to revamp ramps on the freeway. They also want government money to create tourist parks and a driving tour throughout places where battles were fought during the Civil War.

I've noticed that when the federal taxes are lower my state taxes are higher. But it doesn't even stop there. My local taxes are higher, too. And I'm not finished. Every freaking bill we get goes UP in cost when the economy gets bad. 

I guess the cable company is losing too many customers when they lost their homes so they have to start gouging the customers they have to keep their profits high. Don't even get me started on everything else that goes up. Oh God! The property taxes! Everyone who owns a home or property is struggling under a crushing debt of taxes. I think the government has a wicked sense of humor because all our taxes are due around Christmas time. I guess they want to crush the human spirit.

The same goes for the other companies that raise rates and slip in hidden charges in our bills. My telephone bill is chock full of coded services and indecipherable information. 

I'm talking about my taxes to let you know that it is impossible to get away from paying taxes. Everybody has to pay the piper. Nearly everything you purchase is taxed. Your YooHoo, your Twinkie, your gasoline, your home. It's all taxed by the man.

If you know me, you already know I'm a Democrat, and if you're ever around me you know I'm adamant. As we roll closer to the end of this electoral battle, I have become very vocal and very insistent in trying to educate and explain why it is important to vote for Mr. Obama again for President.

When Barack Obama ran for president I wasn't enthused to have him stepping into the limelight and stealing Hillary Clinton's thunder. I was poised to celebrate the inauguration of the first female president. 

Obama happened to be at the right place at the right time. Senator Ted Kennedy was instrumental in helping Obama secure the nomination. 

There was no choice between McCain and Obama after McCain picked Sarah Palin for his Vice Presidential running mate. McCain had been a Senator for decades and knew lots of people but he chose an unknown first term governor from Alaska. If that was an example of his first policy choice, it didn't give me any confidence in him. 

George Bush used fear tactics and intimidation to whip the public into supporting two wars. Every time a hearing in congress came up concerning funds, or dissent from anyone, the Republican machine went to work calling people unpatriotic, or traitors. They were quick to label people communists, or socialists. Everyone still throws around those terms today. They still want to control with fear and propaganda and it works!

I think George Bush and his evil sidekick Dick Cheney took American politics to a new low. They tried to instill a sports like frenzy as they distributed playing cards with terrorist's pictures on them. Every time they bombed something, or killed anyone, it was splashed all over the news. They used every tool in the book to promote and inspire a team spirit in America about the war.

People were on such a frenzied high because of the war that they became rabid when they talked to anyone who didn't support the war or the excuses that were used to explain why we were invading Iraq. Bush first expressed hostility when Iraq refused to allow nuclear inspectors in their country. Before a resolution could be reached, and without the consent of the United Nations, Bush ordered the invasion of Iraq.

The news played it as a historic occasion when we "freed the Iraqis" and suggested that we would be greeted as liberators. Bush claimed that Iraq had Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD's). Some sketchy information confirmed this suspicion. When Joe Wilson's report became public that he couldn't find any evidence of Iraq trying to buy uranium from Niger, Dick Cheney allegedly uses his friend and cohort Scooter Libby to out Jim Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, as a spy. Holy Double-cross Batman!

Politics is a dirty business. Backstabbing, and double-cross, and lies are strongly enmeshed in politics. I see it all the time on a small scale when I watch the wranglings of the local politicians but it is becoming very disturbing to see that the federal government is getting deeper in the cesspool now. Their job is to take care of the nation and to help their community. Those two jobs shouldn't be held hostage by politicians who went to Washington to prevent any progress and to block any legislature that would benefit Obama's administration.

People are afraid of Obama. The immediate right paints him as the devil incarnate. He isn't the one who got America in two wars and squandered million upon millions of dollars that would be better spent here in America. He was just the man who had to clean up after it. America and the rest of the world would have sunk into a depression to rival the one in the '30's if Obama hadn't propped up the stock market and auto industry. A Judge in Texas is predicting a Civil War if Obama wins again. The right wing is going dangerously towards the edge. They are creating more loonies every day. Honestly! Can we say Koo-Koo for Coco Puffs?

The rabid right is going to come out in force in November to assure themselves of dethroning Obama at the expense of common sense and their own best interests just to rid themselves of an educated, intelligent, thoughtful, diligent, leader who happens to be black and a Democrat. They are blind to the needs of the less fortunate and the possibility that they may need government assistance some day, probably when they are in a nursing home. I wonder what we will do when families have to face that full financial burden without government assistance.


I saw a comment about the atmosphere of the 2012 election fervor over Obama on a message board which summed it up nicely.

Jame s Holloway said, "So the racists are circling the wagons. The one thing that Mr O's election has done that no one can debate is, it's brought the racists out of the closet into the main street of town."

Nobody should be uninformed in this day and age. Go online and read about each candidate and the issues. If you are not rich, why would you vote for someone who only cares about the rich, and will cut programs for the needy?

Everybody should get out and vote. We shouldn't leave it to the few. Research politicians and issues then go vote in November and help choose our next president. It doesn't matter if you vote for Romney or Obama. The important thing is to exercise your citizen's right to choose. Many people around the world have died fighting for the right to vote. Don't squander your freedom. Don't let someone take the right to vote away.

AS ALWAYS

PIO

Baby's Going To School

It's that time of year again. Time to go back to school. We had a good long summer but it's time to get to work again. It's a big shock for little ones who are starting school for the very first time. This is the beginning of many firsts in their lives. The first time many of them are away from their mother. The first time they learn to obey teachers. The first time they go to class all day with other children. The first time they stand in line at the lunchroom. The first time they ride a school bus. The first holiday at school. 

There will be so many things they will learn and get to enjoy. Their innocence is precious and fleeting. I envy them getting to learn so many things for the very first time. 

I loved school holidays. I remember the decorations we made for the holidays. Every occasion became a time of joy as we cut colorful construction paper and pasted it together, as we learned to celebrate each season. School was fun when I was little.

The new school year is no less stressful for the older kids. School is a time of learning and socializing and, as they grow older, the pressure mounts. 

By the time I was in my teens I had to worry about fitting in and looking attractive. I did the best I could with what I had. 

The red and white checkered shirtwaist dress Momma wanted me to get was not attractive. I refused to let her buy it. Everyone would have made fun of me, comparing  my dress to a tablecloth. I can just imagine the comments they would have made. 

If you survive your school years and graduate with your peers you should be proud of yourself. School is much harder than it was when I was young. I'm not sure I would survive it today. I'm glad my boys didn't take after me.

My baby's going back to school again. This will be his fourth year at Southern Polytech. I'll be so happy when he graduates. I've worried about him, and chided him, and encouraged him when he needed it. My baby ain't no baby no more. (Yes, I know that's a double negative.)

I usually stand at the window crying as I watch him drive away. This year I saw him off but I was so tired and sleepy I forgot to cry. 

Colt had been working all summer with Scout but Friday was his last day of work. He took Scout to work on Monday, and I took him Tuesday and Wednesday. I didn't get my usual nap out in the morning and I've been tired ever since. That's why I forgot to cry. 

Sometimes when Colt is around he bothers the crap out of me. I have to go around behind him, telling him to "pick this up" or "don't leave that there" like he is five years old. I don't see know how he takes care of himself when he's living in Marietta. I know he doesn't do any laundry because that's what he expects me to do when he comes home on weekends.

Every time I get used to having him back home, he has to go back to school. Then I have to get used to being alone again. Don isn't much company. When he comes home, he is so tired he plops down in his recliner and watches TV until time to eat or go to bed.

Colt and I have a confabulation every night. The computer is in his room so I spend a lot of time there. When he is not around, I can play on the computer all night. When he is home, he makes me get out of his room so he can sleep. Can you blame him?

We will have to get back into the school year routine. He will be gone through the week but I can expect him to come home with his laundry, and his burdens, ready to unload and relax. I try to give him well balanced meals when he is here. There's no telling what he eats through the week. Probably a lot of ramen noodles and too many energy drinks. I imagine Colt and his roommate, Bob, are typical college guys. By that I mean really, really messy.

I will be so happy when Colt finishes college. I have my fingers crossed that the job market improves soon and he is able to get a good job. We have high hopes. Just one more year. Just one more year. That is my mantra now. Whew! Hang in there baby. You're going to make it. We have faith in you. 

AS ALWAYS

PIO

~~~~

pass it on!

Little Layla started kindergarten this year, too.
Good luck little lady.

Best Laid Plans

I planned on cooking turkey and dressing last weekend for my birthday dinner but didn't get it thawed in time. I tried thawing the turkey in a cooler, but made the mistake of putting ice on it right away. It froze into a block of ice. I should have let it start thawing first, before covering it in ice. Live and learn, I reckon. I finally cooked it on Sunday.

The turkey turned out great and, despite a couple of meltdowns when I panicked, everything was delicious. To make it feel like a festive celebration, I made deviled eggs, and potato salad, to go with my turkey and dressing. 

I tried calling my parents but nobody answered the phone so I called Scout and told him I was fixing my birthday dinner, and invited them. Scout promised to come by later for leftovers. He had already eaten because he forgot I was cooking.

Oh well. So much for my family party. I didn't mind, though. Donny, and Colt, and I were more than willing to tear into everything and stuff ourselves silly with our feast. I don't cook turkey and dressing very often so it was a treat.

I got to eat turkey and dressing sandwiches for a couple of days, too. I love leftovers.

By Wednesday I knew I wanted something else to celebrate my birthday, so I made a pear pie. I know people usually have birthday cakes, but I love pies.

One year a friend of Donny's gave him some pears and I made a pear pie out of them. It was delicious so now I make pear pies whenever I can. If you like apple pies, you will probably love pear pies, too. 

There is a pear tree where Scout lives so he's given me some pears that I put up in the freezer. I got out a couple of boxes and thawed them. I added sugar and cinnamon after they thawed. I also made a flaky pie crust. 

I don't usually brag on myself but I have to admit it turned out really good.

I had a nice low key birthday and got to celebrate it over several days like I wanted to. It's easier to celebrate birthdays when you get older. You don't have to try to impress anyone, or do anything you don't want to do.

Nobody pays attention to your birthday when you get older so it's not a big deal. I got simple presents from my family this year and I was happy with everything I got.

I had to pick Scout up from work on my birthday so I talked him into putting my new tag on the car for me. I really appreciated that.

Colt went to Dairy Queen and bought me a hot dog and a banana split one night. I thought that was really sweet.

Donny came in with an empty 2 gallon bucket they get belzone in at work. I like to use the 2 gallon buckets for mulch buckets because they have a lid and insects can't get in them. That was useful. 

Momma called and sang to me. Who could ask for anything more?

My birthday would never be complete if I didn't get something for myself. This year I went to Kmart and bought a ceiling fan for the washroom and a bunch of yellow rubber ducks for my swimming pool. I also got a cool pink and yellow straw hat for $3 the other day.

I know we're supposed to be in a drought but it's been raining for weeks now. Every day I think about getting in our swimming pool it gets cloudy and thunders so I haven't been in the pool very much this summer.

I can't wait to get in my pool wearing my pink and yellow straw hat, and cheap sunglasses, surrounded by rubber duckies, floating around and around in circles in my backyard.

I may be old but I still feel like a little kid inside. That's why I thought it would be fun to have rubber duckies floating in our pool. Everybody needs a little whimsy in their lives. 

That's how I celebrated my birthday this year. How was yours?

AS ALWAYS

PIO

*****

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AUGUST

Ah, sweet mystery of life . . . August is my favorite month. The sun is high, the days are long, and the temperatures are really hot. As long as I can find a shady place, or an air conditioned room, with a cool drink I'm happy. At least, I'm lucky. I can go inside where it is cool when I want to. People who work outside don't have that advantage in this heat. People across the world who don't have those luxuries don't have a choice at all.

Last week Scout had some kind of bug and was sick all week. Colt had to work without him. Colt said he and Bob dug 14 post holes by hand one day. Bob dug a few near some underground power lines and Colt dug the rest. Colt said the soil was rocky and hard to dig. It took all day. He came in from work looking beat, covered in dirt, and dog tired. 

I was in the front yard hanging a new bird feeder under my Magnolia tree one day when Colt's friend, Brent, came to visit. He watched me wrap a metal coated coat hanger around a limb to hang my feeder on it. Brent remarked how he couldn't understand how I could stand being in the heat. I didn't think it was too hot. I'm used to it. We were in the shade under the Magnolia trees. It's like being under a gigantic umbrella. 

We use air conditioning in the house but I don't ever turn my A/C on in my car. I like riding with the windows down, soaking up the sounds and the smells around me. I like smelling fresh cut grass in the evenings and listening to the frogs and crickets as they begin their evening orchestration, don't you?

Living through the heat of summer is what makes us who we are in the south. If you can suffer the heat of a southern summer you can just about endure anything. Ain't that right, sugar?

Anyway, we had a couple of extremely hot weeks where temperatures hovered around 100 degrees and then it started to rain off and on for a few weeks. Anybody that's lived in the south knows that causes a summer sauna as the steam rises from the ground and engulfs you in it's hot, humid embrace. I don't know if the weather is extreme because of global warming but I certainly can believe it. It's rained so much we haven't been able to use our little swimming pool. I was just beginning to enjoy it.

My birthday is in August. I've decided to thaw out the frozen turkey in my freezer and fix myself a feast for my birthday. I love turkey and dressing but nobody seems to want to cook it in the summertime. I'm going to fix deviled eggs and potato salad and invite my family over to share it with me. I have two reasons to fix turkey and dressing for my birthday. First, and foremost, it's my birthday and I can do what I want, and second, I need to make room in the freezer for all the food I've been putting up out of our garden this summer. I already filled up one shelf and need room for more.

I have broccoli, cauliflower, turnip greens, tomatoes, and okra, among other things. Right now we are getting plenty of tomatoes and okra so I am stocking up for winter. I found out that fresh frozen food is better than canned food. It's also lots easier to freeze food than it is to can it, although I have plenty of experience canning food. I have a huge pressure canner and lots of jars that I can use if I run out of room in the freezer. I sound like Suzy Homemaker, don't I, but I'm not really.

The green beans we planted didn't do as well as we hoped so we didn't have many of those to put up but I found out that frozen beans from the grocery store are delicious and a great addition to my food supply.

A couple of years ago I decided to use my freezer more wisely in order to save money on my food bill and to decrease waste. I don't like buying canned goods because after they are opened, you tend to have so much waste to carry off. After I started eating more frozen food and found out it tasted better than canned food, I was hooked.

Everyone should learn to put up their own fruits and vegetables so that they can eat healthier and be assured of their food being put up under the best conditions. I hope you will consider joining me in my quest to cut down on waste and garbage. And remember, a mulch pile is a good place to throw out your scraps and it makes a wonderful worm bed. Talk about recycling!

Maybe I really am Suzy Homemaker . . .  Nah!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Tommie Lyn, Pat, Pam, Myra, Nancy, Nancy, Brenda, Chris, Randy, 
Jonnie Bell, Glo, Blake, Bob, Justin, Cole, Jerry

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY

Susan and Bob

AS ALWAYS

PIO

What's Going On

People go to the movies for escapism and fantasy. When you're watching a movie you can become part of the action. You can live vicariously through the characters on the screen. That's the beauty of movies. 

I used to love going to the movies with a few good friends who shared the experience with me. We fell in love with the characters, or wanted to be some of the heroes on the screen. We were transported to exotic or thrilling locations. The movies stimulated and inspired us. 

I think I saw every Hayley Mills movie ever made when she was a young movie star. I suppose she was my idol. I wanted to be a spunky, cheerful, bright young girl. I loved her English accent although it was hard to buy in the movie Parent Trap with two American parents. Still, I was willing to suspend reality to enjoy the movies.

That is why it bothers me so much that some crazy guy chose that location to  enact his heinous crime. He burst the magical bubble of fantasy, and he tarnished the joy of going to the movies.

At midnight July 20, 2012 James Holmes stood up front, in a packed theater, at the screening of The Dark Knight Rises, a Batman movie, and began shooting into the audience. He sent shock waves of terror through a crowd of movie goers, killing 12 people and wounding 58 others. There has never been a theater shooting until that day. Less than a week later, another such plot was thwarted. Insanity breeds insanity. 

The first school shooting was August 1, 1966 at the University of Texas. Charles Whitman climbed a 28 story clock tower overlooking the campus around noon and killed 14 people, and his wife and mother beforehand. He ended up killing himself. After his death, officials found suicide notes requesting an autopsy. Whitman had been a model student, husband and son until recently before his rampage. He became an Eagle Scout when he was 12 years old. Nothing in his life could account for his bizarre murder spree. The autopsy revealed a brain tumor on the area of the brain that controls impulses. Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) teams were created to prepare for any future attacks because of Whitman's massacre. 

There have been 27 mass casualty shootings since Columbine High School in Denver, Colorado on April 20, 1999. The Columbine killers, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, gunned down classmates, killing 13, and themselves. Ten years after the massacre, evidence came to light that everything that had been reported in the media about them was untrue. They were not in the Trenchcoat Mafia, they were not bullied, but they were bullies, and they hated everyone. Harris, by all accounts, appeared to be a psychopath. Klebold felt worthless and miserable. Together they created a caustic team. Information was gleaned from personal diaries, witnesses, police reports, and emails.

The most deadly killing was the Virginia Tech massacre which happened April 16, 2007 when Seung-Hui Cho shot and killed 32 people and wounded 17 others in two separate attacks two hours apart. Six other people were injured escaping through classroom windows. Cho committed suicide.

The massacre at Virginia Tech was also the worst act of mass murder on college students on campus, since Syracuse University lost 36 students in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103. It was better known as the Lockerbie bombing which happened on December 21, 2008 killing 259 passengers and crew, and 11 people on the ground from falling debris. 

A rash of killings has spread across our nation. The expression "going postal" refers to several postal carriers who carried out attacks on management, fellow workers, police, and civilians from 1986 to 1997. More than 40 people were gunned down in the workplace by irate postal workers.

November 4, 2009 another disturbing attack took place at Fort Hood Military Base when an American army psychiatrist, Major Nidal Hasad, age 39, fired on his fellow soldiers, attacking and killing 13 soldiers and civilians, and wounding 31. Hasad was shot and paralyzed by armed soldiers on the base. Hasad was a radical Muslim who exhibited signs of anti-Americanism, who disturbed his fellow soldiers but warnings were ignored until it was too late. He is awaiting trial.

Attacks have been carried out by lone gunmen, or sometimes two or more gunmen, working together to take down people. The Beltway snipers sent a chill of fear throughout Washington D.C., Maryland, and Virginia until they were apprehended in October 2002. Two men, John Allen Mohammed and Lee Boyd Malvo, killed 10 people from the camouflage of a 1990 Chevrolet Caprice sedan, that had been altered for them to lie down and shoot from the car. One drove as the other shot victims. Mohammed was executed. Malvo is serving life in prison.

No normal person can understand how someone can go on a murderous killing spree and very few people can understand the grace of forgiveness. That is why it is so heartening to also mention the tragic and senseless killing of the children who were gunned down by a madman who held them hostage in a one-room school house in an Amish community in Pennsylvania. 

On October 2, 2006 a milkman, Charles Carl Roberts Jr., converged on a small classroom of students and adults with weapons and held them hostage. He released the women and boys but kept the girls behind. He terrorized the little girls until two girls offered to be the first to be executed, hoping to buy time for the others to escape. He killed 5 of the little girls, and wounded 5 others. He shot them in the back of the head. Suicide letters told of deviant, uncontrollable desires and past indiscretions which were later denied by the supposed victims.

The Amish communities reaction was unexpected and truly remarkable. They forgave the killer and even reached out in compassion to the shooter's family. Even in their sorrow they had compassion for a madman's family who were just as confused and shocked as the community around them. The Amish people do not believe in having insurance so the community raised funds to help them pay medical bills. Some victims will have medical requirements for the rest of their lives.

Three school shootings happened that week. Two others were the Platte Canyon High School shooting on September 27, 2007 and Weston High School shooting on September 29. The National School Safety and Security Services has statistics on school shootings.

Each time a violent attack happens people debate the value of stricter gun laws and whether or not we as a society perpetuate the violence and rage that people experience because of music, or video games, or movies, or some other nonsense. The debate has been going on since Charles Whitman climbed the tower steps on his fateful journey into madness 46 years ago. The same debate goes on today.

Violence and destruction are ingrained in our culture. Television has taken us into the midst of war. The power of television helped end the Vietnam war. Seeing death and carnage on the evening news, watching human suffering and an endless war gave us no appetite for war during my youth. Too bad young men grow up to be old men ready for war. Young men dance on marionette's strings. 

I don't know how we can stop people from going on a murderous rampage but I do know that it is too easy for people to get weapons. I cannot understand how anyone would think it's a good idea to have an assault weapon. The only people that need to handle them are the military and law enforcement. Hunting with an assault weapon is unsportsmanlike.

The government should have a national computer data base and require every gun buyer or seller to register all guns and ammunition bought or sold. Anyone buying and stockpiling artillery in patterns or large quantities could be red flagged and local law enforcement could investigate suspicious activity. We have data bases tracking automobiles and drivers licenses and auto insurance. It would be very easy for the government to monitor gun sales and safeguard our country so that we don't put ourselves in the hands of people who would do us harm when we least expect it. Homegrown terrorists are a frightening reality. 

I'm not saying every gun owner should have to register his weapons. I'm just saying that we can start from here to create a safer society in which we will be able to trace a terrorist stockpiling weapons if all weapons bought or sold are put in a monitored data base.

When we grew up, boys went hunting all the time and knew how to use a shotgun. Society has changed and most men don't go hunting anymore but the ones who do deserve the right to own and use their weapons. They provide a valuable necessity to the community keeping the animal population manageable. But owning powerful, dangerous, weapons that can kill dozens of people in seconds should not be condoned in America.

We need to invest more time and money in medical and psychiatric care. Too many people fall through the cracks. There are bound to be more instances of violence in the coming years. God help us all. 

AS ALWAYS

PIO

http://xfinity.comcast.net/articles/news-general/20120723/US.Colorado.Shooting
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-04-13-columbine-myths_N.htm
http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/on-this-day/July-August-08/On-this-Day--Texas-College-Student-Kills-13-in-First-U-S--School-Shooting.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Tech_massacre
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan_Am_Flight_103
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Hood_shooting

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beltway_sniper_attacks

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amish_school_shooting

http://www.schoolsecurity.org/trends/school_violence.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_laws_in_the_United_States_(by_state)

4-11-13 The BRAD BLOG

http://www.bradblog.com/?p=9781

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What A Week

I had to make an emergency appointment with my dentist this week when I noticed my gums were inflamed. My gums weren't the healthy pink color they normally are. They were a greyish pink color and swollen. I pressed on my gums with my finger and some puss oozed out. That sent me into a frenzied shock because I have worked so hard trying to take care of my teeth after surgery a couple of years ago. My dentist had used donor tissue to help build gums around my loose teeth. I could hardly wait to call his office the next morning and schedule an appointment to be checked.

Dr. Phillip confirmed my suspicions about having infection in my gums. He gave me antibiotics to take to fight the infection and told me that I was lucky because if I hadn't had the previous surgery I would have likely lost my front teeth. I will have to go back to see him in 10 days to make sure the infection has cleared up. I'll let you know how it goes.


The other day a man knocked on my front door and told me he was cutting the trees on the right-of-way and wanted to let me know he was going to cut my beautiful Magnolia trees. I saw how they cut our neighbor's Magnolia trees and told him not to cut ours that drastically. Only cut the limbs that are next to the power line. He told me they would have to cut them ten feet away from the power lines, straight up the trunk. I was furious! I cuss like a sailor when I get mad. After blasting them with my salty language, the leader of the crew promised to have someone from the electric company come down to discuss it with me.


I had trouble with the tree cutters last time when they tried to butch my Magnolia trees. I don't know what it is about me, but I'll fight anybody over cutting a tree. I had a meltdown with them last time and they told Don to contact them if we ever had any trouble again. We lost the phone number, and the name of the guy, so I guess that won't help this time. I'll just have to stand up to them and demand they don't destroy them.


We have two beautiful big Magnolia trees in our front yard parallel to the highway. The trunks of the trees are very big around so they are pretty old. We've been living here 23 years, and they were grown trees when we first came. I don't know how old they are now but they are too beautiful to be destroyed by some idiot in a lift-bucket and a chainsaw. They are my favorite part of our front yard. I have a little park underneath the Magnolia's. Sometimes I sit out on a bench, enjoying the shade, and watching cars go by.


I used to try to figure out what my purpose was in life, or what I was meant to do and the only thing I have come up with is the fact that I am not afraid to engage anyone in a battle if I think I am in the right. I get sick of having to stand up to people and argue with them about every little thing in the world, it seems, but I realized that if I don't protect the things I care about somebody is going to come along and try to destroy them. It doesn't matter if it's a tree, or a dream, or a person. When it concerns me, I don't give up without a fight.


My grandparents used to have a beautiful, majestic Live Oak tree. It was in the backyard near the creek. I've seen them hang hogs up in the branches to butcher them. When we were little we played in the hard packed dirt underneath the tree like it was a sandbox. We took little sticks to make fences and mark off our 'farms' and homes. We played with little cars and plastic farm animals creating what we thought were magnificent farms.


My grandparents threw scrap metal at the base of the old oak tree and lightning struck it once. It had a scar down the trunk of the tree. The tree still looked strong and health but my uncle and cousin convinced my grandparents that the tree was rotting and becoming dangerous. 


My grandparents hired someone to cut down the beautiful old tree before informing anyone of what they were going to do. I didn't realize they were going to cut it down until I saw a crew out there, starting to cut on it. 


I went out to my grandparents and demanded to know why they were cutting their old tree. My grandmother said that my uncle and cousin thought the tree was dying and needed to be cut down. I blew up and pitched a bitch fit about it. I kept saying "Why are you cutting the tree?" I was so mad. I've never been as mad at my grandparents as I was that day.


I couldn't stop the tree cutters from cutting down the tree and I was disgusted to see my uncle and cousin standing by with their chain saws getting ready to cut the tree up for firewood. 


The sad thing about cutting down the tree was when the Dalton Daily Citizen News sent a man down to document the cutting of the tree and wrote in an article that the three was over 150 years old! And, it was not damaged, or diseased, or rotting. It was a perfectly healthy tree that had been willfully destroyed because of ignorance and manipulation. I'll bet dollars to donuts that my uncle called the paper to get the story in the paper.


All my uncle and cousin cared about was the free wood that they would get out of the deal. I couldn't understand why my grandparents agreed to have the tree cut down. 


Years later I figured out that my grandparents must have come to despise the tree because it kept growing and being strong and beautiful, year after year, while their own bodies were weakening and becoming more useless as the years went by. They probably knew the tree would be here long after they were gone so they decided to have it cut down so that it wouldn't survive after they died. That is the only explanation I can come up with for them cutting their beautiful old oak tree down. Instead of getting a professional to assess the tree, they got a tree cutting company to come check it out. Naturally, they said the tree was unhealthy and needed to be removed.


If the tree had survived it would be nearly two hundred years old today. I am sickened to think how destructive, and disrespectful people can be towards nature. I think that is why I get so upset when I see a magnificent tree and fight for it not to be cut down.


We used to have an old pine tree in our backyard. Don wanted to cut it down but I wouldn't let him. It finally became infested with Pine Bore Beetles. Limbs started falling out of the tree. 


We had to hire a tree cutting service to remove the tree because we didn't want it to fall on the house or the neighbor's house. The beetles had sucked out all the sap and the wood was hard as a rock. It took a long time to burn up all the wood and the huge chunks of the trunk laid in the backyard for years getting harder and harder.


I hated having to cut down our big pine tree but realized it couldn't be saved. I don't believe the same rules applied to the oak tree at my grandparent's. I certainly don't believe the road crew should be butchering our beautiful, healthy Magnolia trees in our front yard. Magnolia's grow slowly and don't get close to the power lines for years. A little snip and cut around the power lines, about three feet back from the lines should take care of any problems until the next time they come through here cutting overgrowth.


I know I'm being a bitch but who else is going to protect my trees? Not the power company, that's for sure.

AS ALWAYS

PIO

JULY

Americans are a sturdy lot. We have the advantage of being a melting pot. That's a polite way of saying that we're mongrels. Everyone is a mix of nationalities and cultures and ethnicity's. I wonder what American's will look like in the next hundred years. I imagine the face of America will be much different than it is today.

Speaking  of  Mongrels . . . 

The other day I took a dip in our backyard pool. It's one of those with the blow up ring around the top. It's big enough to hold a floating chair, a couple of beach balls, and two rubber duckies. It's a cheerful little pool. 

I've been trying to get Don to come swimming with me. I was playing in the pool one day when I saw him trudging toward the pool wearing his swimming trunks. He finally took the plunge, so to speak.

It's very pleasant floating around in a warm pool of water looking at the clouds in the sky, and the tops of the trees touching the sky. It's almost hypnotic lying on a float relaxing in the water.

Tuesday I bought a big beach ball and got Don to help me blow it up with the air compressor. I left it in the pool and came inside. I went into the washroom and looked out the window and noticed the ball wasn't in the pool anymore. Then I saw the top of Colt's head bobbing in the pool. 

Colt popped up and jumped out of the pool, marching towards the bridge in our backyard. Before I could figure what he was doing, he grabbed Buddy up and pivoted around, marching to the pool. He threw Buddy in the pool and then jumped in with him. I ran to open his bedroom window and yelled at him for throwing the dog in the pool! 

What is the matter with that boy? You'd think I wouldn't have to keep an eye on him all the time but that's not true. There's no telling what he might do. I thought I wouldn't have to monitor him after he was grown but I guess I was wrong.

Wednesday is the fourth of July. Don promised to cook chicken on the grill so I invited family over. Maybe we can have a nice peaceful 4th of July. I just doubt anybody will want to take a dip in the pool after Buddy's been in it. 

Temperatures are still dancing around a hundred degrees and this is just the beginning of summer. Whew! It looks like it's going to be a long, hot summer. Stay cool y'all and Happy Fourth of July. Welcome to the early dog days of summer.

*****

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Krista, Jeremy, Athena, Connie, Jennifer, Christy, Nathan, Madison, Holly, Coven, Tristan, Evitt, Tillie, and

everybody celebrating this month

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY

everybody celebrating this month

REMEMBER

the 4th of JULY

Snakes and Snails

It's been hotter than blazes around here. This week it got up to 100 degrees. It's so hot that the grass has stopped growing and started turning brown in spots. It's so hot that I've been putting out lots of water for the dogs and cats and filling the birdbath every day. I even put a dish of water out for the little critters that creep around on the ground. I got that idea from Scout. He has a little dish sitting on the ground with water for the frog that lives under his porch.


So many critters are suffering from the heat. It only stands to reason that they will turn up wherever they can find water. Scout and Kim have a swimming pool in the backyard. This king snake probably smelled the water or was searching for food in the surrounding undergrowth.

My boy Scout likes to be a snake wrangler. Okefenokee Joe (http://www.okefenokeejoe.com/) came to Dug Gap School and gave a demonstration about snakes when he was in kindergarten. Scout has been charmed ever since.


Scout probably got his love of snakes from my grandfather. He was notorious for not killing snakes. Grampa thought everything was good and he didn't eliminate snakes in his philosophy. Grampa had a pet little snake that lived in a rock wall in his yard. Momma saw it one time and tried to kill it but Grampa stepped in and told her not to hurt his little snake. He said he had burned some brush near the wall and he thought he had blinded the snake. He felt sorry for it and would feed it grubs and insects when he saw it. He said it was his friend.

My grandparents moved from town to Crow Valley later. They lived there several years before a dam was built near them. Grampa's property was below the spillway. Grampa and Gramma loved fishing at the bottom of the dam. Grampa also liked fishing in the lake. 


Grampa said he went to the top of the dam to go fishing one day and saw a stringer at the edge of the water. Someone had left their stringer of fish in the water. A snake had tried to swallow a fish on the line and the fish was stuck in it's throat. Grampa picked up the snake and the fish and tried to work the fish out of the snakes mouth. He said he worked slow so as not to hurt the snake until he was able to get the fish dislodged from the snakes mouth. 


He put the snake back in the water until it got it's strength back. It finally swam away from the bank, away from him. He said the funniest thing happened. The snake turned around and swam nearly up to him and swam in place with it's head sticking out of the water. It just looked at him. It began to swim away again and got a little farther but stopped and turned around and swam back to the bank where Grampa was standing. It swam in place with it's head raised above the water looking him in the eye again. It swam away again but stopped, again and swam back to him one more time to look at him. It finally turned around and swam away.


Grampa said he thought the little snake came back to thank him for saving his life. He was so proud of saving the snake's life. 


Momma laughed and said she bet the snake wasn't thanking him for saving his life. She bet the snake was sizing him up and wondering if he could swallow Grampa.


We all had a good laugh over that but I think Grampa was right. The snake understood that Grampa saved his life and wanted to thank him. Animals may not think like we do but they do understand more than we give them credit for.


God put everything here for a purpose and that day Grampa's purpose was to save that snake's life. That's kind of cool if you think about it. 

AS ALWAYS

PIO