Passing of the Torch.....

Well here we go.....now you all knew I would not let today come and go without weighing in!! or at least sending out my two cents on the happenings of the last month leading up to this glorious moment in our history.
The day is unfolding into an energy we haven't seen since...well November 4th :)
While we watch and wait let's do a bit of reflection shall we.....
This past year was one filled with many life-altering changes for EVERY American. Regardless of the side of the road you stand, or if you wander somewhere in the middle, this past year affected you in ways you never thought possible.
Personally I find myself trying to imagine what it is that is going through the mind of Ann Coulter this morning... yep I said Ann Coulter...you know the most hatefilled, self-absorbed right winged bitch to ever be allowed to spew their filth across the air-waves.
You know her...she is the best-selling author a new book that literally blames all of the world's problems on SINGLE MOTHERS!!~ She rants and raves in her usual 'my opinion is gods' fashion while quoting supposed reliable statistics about the over crowding in our prisons is due to children being raised by SINGLE MOTHERS...she slams Obama by name claiming he only identified with his father and speaking ill of his mother...which all know is NOT TRUE!!~
But there we have it...on this 20th day of January 2009 a child raised by a SINGLE MOTHER and his grandparents taking the oath of the highest office in the land!
How can one woman preach such hate and point the finger at one group ....not only blaming single moms for over crowded jails, highschool drop out rates and poverty itself, but in the same breath demanding abortion become illegal??? huh?
well there ya have it...the woman is so set on hate she contradicts her own beliefs and still demands she is the only one right.
My only question to Miss Coulter (yes, that is MISS...who the hell could stand to marry her?) I wanna know just what SHE is going to do to change this? What is she, herself, going to do to help bring about the change she claims we need? or is she going to do what she always does...sit on the side lines, pointing the finger and insisting HATE is the only way to salvation? Will she continue to attempt to rally the world to vote all the single mothers off the island? exile and banish all LGBT ?? demand that everyone become a Christian or be persecuted? Or will Ann Coulter actually make an attempt to do something USEFUL for a change?
nah.....lol* but hey we can dream can't we? hehe
ok....now this may shock you all, but it needs to be said...
George W. Bush....a man I have never been fond of, a man that NEVER should have been allowed in politics let alone Commander in Chief...however....
Anyone that watched his final address to the Nation may have walked away miffed at his insistance he did nothing wrong during his presidency. He stood behind every decision he made, he embraced every screw up as merely a 'disappointment', but never a 'mistake'.
First....would an apology really matter to any of us anyway?
Second....did he not do EXACTLY what we expect of our President?
Seriously!!~ We put a man in office with intent that HE DO exactly what HE believes is in the best interest of the rest of us. We vote for the person we feel shares the majority of our beliefs or at least our key beliefs. We expect them to act without waivering, to stand behind their convictions and NOT crumble to poll pressures. We want a President that truly believes in his country, his purpose and himself. Well we got that man in George W.
He is a man that does NOT waiver, does NOT second guess himself and truly believes he had this countries best interest at heart.
He did exactly what we expect our presidents to do.
Oh sure we NEVER agreed with him, and he certainly screwed up our relationship with the rest of the world, allowed millions to lose their jobs as he gave incentives to send them overseas, didn't react to the imminent threats that brought our entire country to their feet on 09/11/2001, and yes he supported torture, the invasion of a country, all the while he held on to his personal investments in foreign oil, and yes he flew over New Orleans while continuing his vacation and yes he even stopped our research in its tracks putting us behind other countrys by years, then gave away our tax dollars when the banks of America sent Wall-Street into oblivion!
So as we send yet another man into office, hand over the reigns of our country yet again...as we sit by and hope he does exactly what we wanted him to do.....let's all keep in perspective what that 'wish' truly is.
well I will be blogging all day.....so check back often....
as the day unfolds let's embrace the passing of the torch with a new hope, a new energy and a new AMERICA ......

though the road is always winding.....new asphalt feels soooooo good under the tires......

I’m Ready To Go Right Now!

Happy (late) holidays everyone! It’s 2009 and I have a degree just like a real smart person! Finally! Senior year of college is the opposite of senior year in high school, as it’s very intense. Now I have to find a job or something. Goodness! It’s been like… 11 months since I’ve gotten to write about things that we like to waste our time reading! Yay for the celebrity side of news!

John Travolta’s Son
Oh no! What a depressing way to start the year. At only the age of 16, actor John Travolta’s son, Jett, passed away over the new year holiday. A “caretaker” found his body in the bathroom. Upon initial inspection, it is believed that he fell and hit his head on the bathtub. Jett has a history of having seizures so right now they’re guessing that’s what made him fall. An autopsy is being planned for Monday, though, so hopefully they can find out what happened for certain and at least get some peace of mind that way. Losing a child has to be one of the absolute worst things to ever have to experience, and I can’t even imagine the grief they must be feeling. Jett is to be buried in Florida following his funeral services.

A Spears Wedding
Let me reassure you right now that it’s not what you think. This time it’s Britney’s oldest brother, Bryan, getting married. What a relief, right? The wedding was on New Years Eve. Brian Spears married Graciella Sanchez {Jamie Lynn’s manager (Jamie Lynn has a manager?)} in New Orleans and it sounds like all were present. Britney and her two sons, Jamie Lynn, her fiancé, and her daughter, as well as the divorced parents Lynne and Jamie. There was no sign of a Kevin Federline in sight, so this means everything could only go well! It kind of makes me wonder what they were playing at the reception. Do they play some of Britney’s songs? Also, how crazy would it be to marry into that family? Graciella is now Britney’s sister-in-law. At least she waited a year for things to calm down, I suppose. That was smart! It sounds like she has been working with the family so she already knows what she’s getting herself into!

Playboy Problems
Who would have ever thought that the Girls Next Door would ever move out before Mr. Hefner died?! Not me! I would have assumed he was so old that these three blondes would be his last, but he finds a way to stay alive and gather more girlfriends every time. Girlfriends number 1 and 3, Holly Madison and Kendra Wilkinson, have officially moved out of the Playboy Mansion and have been replaced by twins! Apparently Bridget Marquardt still resides there, though. Not only has he found new girlfriends, but there are also rumors of financial problems on the horizon. With the internet, it’s easy to see how this is possible as I’m sure all magazine and newspaper companies are struggling. Having said that, do you think it’s possible that the girls were only with him for the money? Hm… Holly is now dating “magician” Cris Angel and Kendra is engaged to pro ballplayer Hank Baskett. When she gets married this June, Hugh will be walking her down the aisle and Holly and Bridget will be bridesmaids. I think it was funny that they tried to deny the rumors of a breakup at first, but that’s what happens when the stars want reality show ratings. I wonder what expenses Playboy could possibly cut? Bikini waxing? And what could they cut from their wardrobe expenses? The girls already wear so little! I don’t know how their clothes could get much smaller! And they definitely shouldn’t cut the pool cleaning funds… I don’t even want to know what goes on in the Grotto. It will be interesting to see what happens here as time goes on.

Well, it’s time to write resumes and find a job so I’ll be over here if anybody needs me or wants to hire me. That would just be fantastic! Bye for now!

And So It Begins...

The bell tolls, the ball drops and the proverbial hands of time swiftly move forward into yet another year. While certainly full, 2008 came and went in what now seems a blink of an eye. Although a blink isn’t quite what it felt like most of the time!
January 1, 2008 no one could possibly have predicted the direction of the winds that would creep upon us and sometimes bluster through our doors…literally!

There was no way to know what the future might hold as we began the year with politics and the debates in New Hampshire. While Hillary was whining about her feelings being hurt there was no way to gauge how fast and how furious the political engines were firing. When the green flag dropped and the race was on no one would suspect that in January when the last lap is signaled we would end up in overtime! It didn’t matter your political affiliation or non-affiliations you couldn’t get through the day without being bombarded with the he said she said game of the century!
And as we all gathered to hear the final address of George W, to breathe a giant sigh of relief or was it loathing, perhaps it was just a sigh to signal our ever growing antipathy for the many things beyond our control, we certainly could not have foreseen the smoke upon the horizon as the battle for the highest office in our land veered out of control!
As the democrats finally united we barely got our footing and the republican ticket sparked its own multi-media frenzy! Certainly no one saw that one coming yet we were all very relieved to see it going and taking it with it all the blue-collar ‘joes’ and Nieman-Marcus apparel. Had it not been for the late-night comedy circuit we all would have certainly lost our minds! 2012 however is yet to be determined!

As with any year, it had its share of natural disasters. 2008 set the record for Tornado deaths in a single year and the majorities were actually in a single week! As it all began on Super Tuesday, it would seem all the hot air, back and forth rhetoric between politicians created a whirlwind of atmospheric proportions! 87 Tornadoes broke out over the course of two days, killing 57 people across 4 states.
March brought a tornado to downtown Atlanta Georgia pelting the CNN center and disrupting a basketball conference game at the Georgia Dome as sections of its roof were removed. It wasn’t over as April roared in and 3 tornadoes ripped through central and southern Virginia, by the 28th of May 110 people had died in the United States due to Tornadoes!
For us here in Iowa May 25th stands out as 7 died and dozens of lives shattered as our own Parkersburg was dismantled in a matter of minutes and June brought more heartache as a Boy Scout Camp was shredded killing 4. Tornadoes continued to pelt the United States long into November ending the year with a reported total of 1,489+ and 125 deaths!
Mother Nature wasn’t satisfied and continued to grasp our attention in multiple ways, and with much advance preparation this time it wasn’t the southern states bucketing out of their kitchens; it was the north! Our own Iowa was slammed and dunked for weeks! The University of Iowa saw its architectural history at risk, Cedar Rapids couldn’t function without a boat and numerous families saw their homes by rooftop only. Yet as Iowans do, neighbor reached out to neighbor and the clean up began.

As we all sought a little escape we engrossed ourselves in the Olympic Games and for a moment felt united once again. We cheered, encouraged and embraced our country into a symbol of strength and dominance once more; then the glorious ten days came to a close and reality was standing in wait at our back door.
More madness would follow as the ever shrinking American dollar set a new standard for low! The stock market didn’t just crash it collapsed, and as the dust settled the entire country was on its feet. Our attention was commanded and the jobs of millions lay on the line. A dangerous new trend was begun as our government, guided by the hand of George W., set a new precedent and began handing out billions of dollars to the CEO’s of bankrupt corporations who refused to take a cut in their multi-million dollar a year incomes! Henry Poulson, the man entrusted with our money, started buying up stock in insurance companies and banks without any oversight or so much as a bread crumb trail to track it!

Perhaps it was our fore-fathers slapping us all upside the head for screwing up their vision of a ‘perfect union’, or it was simply Mother Nature trying in one last desperate attempt to get our attention; whatever it was it was a year the Universe itself overturned and chaos ensued in every nook and cranny of the globe!
With all the turmoil and pandemonium a year can dish out one thing remained constant and that is our Freedom! America may have lost its standing in the world, our dollar may no longer be worth the paper it is printed on and yes, our many men and women in uniform continue to be harms way, but we still have our voice and in a year when nothing seemed to be going our way, there was a light upon the horizon after all.

On August 28th 1963 Martin Luther King Jr used his voice and told the world of his dream. A dream that one day a man would be judged by the content of his character and not the color of his skin.
On November 4th 2008 King’s dream was realized when a record 135 million people used their one voice. It was a day when one voice became many and a people who long felt unheard rose up and rang the bells of liberty and they were heard!

As we begin 2009 so shall we begin a new chapter in our lives and in our history~ may the long and winding road ahead bring you peace~

Hatred on the Day of Change~

The world is in an uproar !
The entire idea of Pastor Warren even being present at this historical inauguration makes the skin of many boil, not to mention the news he will actually speak on this joyous day!
Warren is no more than a toxic hate monger who seeks to spread his venom through out our country~ Now some can understand the Obama Administrations desire to reach out and embrace those whom we disagree with, but you sure as hell wouldn't invite Hitler to speak would you?
Many feel this goes beyond tolerance.
Warren himself doesn't even seek tolerance, he doesn't seek to embrace the other side!
This man only seeks to spread his filth across the land while he hides behind his god!
Well I assure you I have no clue WHAT god Warren prays to, but it certainly cannot be a loving god.
Its obvious from the hate that spills from Warrens lips, his is not a god that teaches 'love thy neighbor', nor a god who tells his flock to 'treat others as you would be treated'.
Oh NO..Warren's god doesn't remind him there is only ONE judge in this Universe~
Warren himself has decided he IS the judge, the jury and the voice of the almighty!!
His hatred is NOT the format on which our country can move forward!
No amount of embracement will clear his clouded judgements against his fellow brothers and sisters!
I can only hope that those of us that demanded this change in our Country,
in our Government & in OURSELVES rise up above the rhetoric of hatred and fear
that we rise up and embrace one another that we hold onto each others hands and not allow this man to weave his prejudice into the fabric of our world,
our NEW World.
I implore everyone to stand up as one Nation and let Warrens words fall upon deafness
Let that deafness reverberate around the world so that others may hear
Let this country echo our unity
Warren is but one man, one small burr on the side of a wounded people
Do not let his hatred spill over into your lives
Do not let his prejudice rule your world.
Let him speak....and let his words fall upon a Nation who does NOT hear
A Nation that is resistant, strong...
A Nation he cannot penetrate with the loudest of sermons.
Let this man know, We shall not fall
This Nation shall rise up as ONE
Let him know this Nation will not be divided
We will NOT again be persuaded by lies and fear
It is NOT President-Elect Obama's job to wipe hatred, prejudice, fear and filth out of our lives,
It is OUR job~
WE are the ONLY ones that can determine what influences us
What truths WE hold to be true
What lives WE wish to lead
What direction WE want our country to move
"WE THE PEOPLE of the UNITED States, in order to FORM a MORE perfect Union, ESTABLISH justice, INSURE domestic TRANQUILITY, PROVIDE for the common DEFENSE, PROMOTE the general WELFARE, and SECURE the BLESSINGS of LIBERTY to OURSELVES and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the UNITED States of AMERICA"~~
*sound familiar?*
get off your soap boxes and stop pointing fingers~
If Pastor Warren has an influence over your life, your country then YOU ALLOWED IT.

I will close with a quote from Mohandas Gandhi~
*The Difference between what we CHOOSE to do and what we CAN do, would suffice to solve all the worlds problems*

~ahh just another bump in this ever winding road~

Hand Out or Hand Up??

Here we are again, debating yet another bail out!
Now the auto industry wants a piece of the Poulson Pie~ claiming the economy has sent them into the abyss of potential mass lay-offs and factory closings.
The 'Big Three' slithered into the Capitol begging for relief, yet they arrived in style on a Private Jet!?
Hey if your gonna need to make an impression of poverty upon the likes of Henry Poulson you better do it in a over priced suit, a private jet and a personal income of 23 million a year! yep...that will do it~
I don't know about you, but when our government starts rewarding bad business practices our economy is doomed for sure. The price of free enterprise will sky-rocket and the middle-class once again will be footing the bill.
Instead of asking our government for a hand-out, how about cutting those CEO wages, selling those jets, sending a hatchet into corporate? Imagine the MILLIONS you would save then!
These automakers do NOT need a bail out funded by you and me, they need a good ole fashioned brow beating and sent home with wallets emptied!
Of course those pathetic, self-centered, egotistical white collar money mongers are not about to give up their cushy wages to save their own companies...why should they? If the factory closes they may be out of a job but you can guarantee there is some Golden Parachute standing in the wings to cushion their fall.
On the flip side, if they don't get their 'bail out' money we still pay the price for it!
With over 20thousand jobs hanging in the balance you and I will still be held by our purse strings to cover the cost of such a catastrophe. Sure some will get unemployment benefits, but those of us in the real world know that is a minimal compensation for supporting a family. Food assistance and medicaid programs will have record enrollment and although we are not in Michigan, keep in mind those programs are funded with matched Federal dollars~aka YOU & ME!
So either way we pay for it!
I tell ya what I am gonna sit myself down today and write up my own proposal for a Bail Out, and I am not going to include all the years I have paid my bills on time, or that I have always lived within my means~ that doesn't matter to our government....nope. I am going to list all the credit cards I am going to decide to just stop paying on, the mortgage I have had for the last 7 years and how I am just going to NOT pay it anymore, then I am going to make a list of all the bad things that are going to happen to my local economy if I go bankrupt. How the 2 people I employ will be without jobs, how all those houses will be left with filthy, dirty carpets without my business to clean them. And of course since I won't be working anymore I won't need to put gas in my vehicle as often, and as one who always fills up locally my neighborhood convenience store will miss me. Just like the 'Big Three' want us to ignore the great success of Toyota in the U.S, I am going to ignore the facts my competitors are doing well. They don't matter...what matters is ME!!! I Will have to buy less groceries, no more movie nite, no more donations to local charity's, and to hell with the little kids at my door trying to sell me candles for band equipment!!
Yep..then I am going to file for assistance benefits, food stamps, medicaid and whatever else I can get my hands on...you know ...cuz I can.
Then I am going to make my final plea, I will board a charter plane (hey I don't have a private one), fly into Washington and insist that the millions of dollars I pay myself (just because it sounds good) is justified and necessary yet without a millions of dollars hand-out my company just wont make it.
Hey...isn't that the NEW American Way???
Henry Poulson has already proven he IS NOT responsible either when it comes to managing that kind of money~not a single dime spent thus far has stopped a single foreclosure, saved a single blue-collar job or stimulated a single economy! Yet he continues to be in charge of all that money!
WTF??!!
The pundits screamed that Obama was going to turn us into a Socialist Nation...hmmm perhaps their own reflections were confusing them!
Our government now OWNS 80% in the Largest Insurance Company in America..you know otherwise we couldn't give them all those millions of dollars to fund that snappy vacay they all took before the ink was dry! Now we are buying up an interest in hundreds of Banks.....hmm perhaps the Auto-industry is next!! and all BEFORE Obama takes office....
I can't help but wonder how many people, 4 years from now, will remember it was the Bush Administration that started all this? How many will only remember Obama for being the 'Bail Out President'?
Nothing like a hurdle at the starting line of this winding road ....