Tag: in the news

Cheesy Sister Act

On my way out to the barn early this morning I got a text from my sister as I was pulling up my boot straps…

S:   I’m ready to go buy Velveeta even though I’ve never used it, lol.

Me:  Isn’t that so ridiculous? Even the name is gross.

S:  LOL I know .. it must be a PR gimmick.

Me:  Well.. out into the Polar Vortex I go…with no Velveeta.

S:  Lol.. Stay alive! I will find you and bring nachos!

Me:   Perfect! …but only if you managed to score some velveeta.

S:  I’ll work on it.

*******

For those of you who are not aware.. on many media outlets it has been reported that there is apparently a dire Velveeta shortage. (  – you gotta be kidding me –  ).    So, the new panic shopping items before a snow storm, if Kraft has their way… will be  milk, bread, toilet paper, Velveeta.

 It just doesn’t get any sillier.

A horror of a decision

Thankfully, not ours to make. But I can’t help thinking about the situation that is plastered all over the media. I’m referring to the  13 year old girl who was declared brain dead after a tonsil surgery that went horrible wrong.. somehow.  The details are unclear, but the end result is the body of a young teenage girl being kept in a state of non-decay by a machine that pumps air into her lungs, keeping her heart beating. There is no question there has been no brain activity, no blood supply to her brain for quite some time now. There is no refuting the cold hard fact that  there is no hope for her to revive where there will be any kind of function at all.  And yet her family will not let her go.

 Understandable, the horror of losing a child in such an unexpected and tragic way.  I hope I never know the awfulness of having to make the decisions before them.   I give no validity to the sincerity of the lawyer who currently stands beside them to fight their fight, however…and he has quite a lot to say.  If he were hired by the hospital releasing her, he would be singing a different tune.  For him it’s all about the money, the case, the prestige. I wish all lawyers had a little more class. Something integral  in that profession gets lost in translation, not meaning to insult the good honest lawyers out there by any means.

  There was a similar case years ago – that of Terry Schia*o – you might remember that one too.  I thought it was a tragedy to let that poor woman languish in a facility for all those years, and I understood her husbands desire to let her go.  I don’t believe he was being selfish.  I think he was truthful when he said his wife was a vibrant life-loving person who would never want to lay in a vegetative state for so many years.  Her parents felt differently and fought tooth and nail to keep her alive, but her quality of life was nothing more than lying in a bed. No food enjoyment, no recognition of family members, no book reading or comprehension of any sort.  This child now being transferred to a facility that will continue her body’s care is in less than a vegetative state.

  I’ve talked to my family about this very difficult subject, and I’ve let them know I would never want to be kept in a vegetative state if there was no real hope for recovery.  That is not life, that is not living.  And that would not be the way I’d want to be remembered or burden my surviving family.  My husband feels differently.. he would want months and months to go by so that it is certain that all hope for recovery is lost. These conversations are not pleasant, but they are so important to have.  Ofcourse, no one ever wants to think that you should have these conversations with a 13 year old.

If it looks like a Duck…

 By now if you pay any attention at all to the media in it’s various forms, you’ve seen the sh*t hitting the fan over the Duck Dynasty Debacle. Maybe you’ve managed to avoid it, and if you want to continue avoiding it… move on to your next blog  now.

  If you’re still reading, to recap very briefly,  the Patriarch of the now very wealthy Duck Decoy making family, Phil Robertson, spewed off his appalling opinions regarding homosexuality in an interview and A & E suspended him from the show.  People are clamoring… Hey, what about freedom of speech??… others, like myself, are cheering.  First of all this whole deal has nothing to do with Freedom Of Speech.  Secondly, in my opinion there is a difference between freedom of speech and freedom to criticize people (and his particular criticism was VILE)  simply because they are different than you.  There’s no specific law telling you you can’t go pee on your neighbors geranium pot, but you wouldn’t do it out of decency, would you.   

I found this on another website and I say.. BRAVO.

 So…. WHATEVER HAPPENED TO FREEDOM OF SPEECH?!”
I can’t count how
many times I’ve explained this, but I’m going to keep doing it. Was Phil
Robertson put in jail or fined by the government? Then his freedom of
speech is fully intact. That said, should A&E actually be suspending
him for his comments that in no way shape, or form should’ve surprised
them, it’s in his contract that they can. A&E is Phil’s private
employer, and at some point during negotiations
for the show, his lawyers were given a contract that included a clause
saying A&E can terminate him at any point if he does anything that
negatively affects the network or Duck Dynasty. That is standard,
perfectly constitutional procedure, and something Phil agreed to in
exchange for $200,000 an episode. And if he suddenly doesn’t agree with
those conditions, then he’s a sinner who gave false testimony.

This, that and a whole lot of JUST SAYIN

  Are you ready for the holidays?  For a time of year that was originally designed to be such a joyous, celebratory season, why do we have to be ready?   Why?  Because the powers that be (read that as media, retailers, etc.) have blown these once spiritual holidays into a money spending, guilt promoting, tension building headache causing some of the joy to be sapped right out of it.  This year Christmas was in stores at the same time as Halloween.  Are ya kidding?  I actually saw the Thanksgiving decor on shelves in July.  It’s packed away already, have you noticed?  I’m pretty sure Easter is  sitting on the loading dock.

  That being said, I love this time of year.  My Thanksgiving menu is mapped out and I have visions of that big juicy turkey leg dipped in cranberry orange walnut sauce.  And the Cheeses!…  Have you ever been to a Cheese Shop?  Believe it or not, I have not.. until recently in a town not far from here.  I went, I sampled …OMG and then some.    Once you’ve had really good quality cheeses like those you get at a good cheese shop…. you’ll never be satisfied with cracker barrel again.  My recommendation is Cambozola Black – the creamiest brie infused blue cheese I have ever tasted.   If you’re local… go HERE for your holiday cheeses, even if you’re just treating yourself.  

*******

  The Affordable Care Act.   *sigh*   Well.. I’m gonna say it right here right now.  I am so thoroughly disappointed.  I had hopes, I had dreams, I had confidence.. TWICE… that this administration would be the- change – the country needed after my thorough disgust with the previous administration.   I believed in the vision, the concepts, the forward thinking. I still believe it was genuine.   Apparently the country is not mature enough to handle it, and it’s not working out for a myriad of  other reasons either. You and I probably won’t agree that many issues can’t be blamed soley on our President, but some of the blunders are his,  they are big, and they are not the blunders I thought he might make.

  ** Our insurance is cancelling us.  Doesn’t matter that there is a year of _stay_ to sort this mess out…. they are still cancelling us regardless.  They are not honoring that particular new stay, they don’t have to.  Oh, there are other plans… and we can shop around, but my family already pays $1900 per month for insurance, and we are all relatively healthy.  Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, we are being cancelled by our current insurance company, but if we want to come back, they’ll take us.  At an additional $400. per month, plus an $11,000. prescription deductible.     I’m sorry, Mr. President, that’s not my idea of affordable.

***********

  Michael Skakel  is getting out on bail, a new trial awarded.  You may or may not know anything about the murder of  teenager Martha Moxley here in Connecticut many years ago –  surprise surprise, a few Kennedy cousins were in the mix, one convicted for the murder.  One Michael Skakel, who was 15 years old at the time of the murder.  I read one of the books written about the crime, and it sure as hell looked like they had the right guy to me, but someone now thinks differently and he’s being given another chance many years after his conviction. My sister and I were talking about it yesterday.. and she made a great point…

WHY is this man OBESE??  Hasn’t he been in prison for ten years?…. Who’s providing him with all the extra food it takes to maintain that obesity?  Apparently withholding junk food is too harsh a condition to impose on convicted murderers.

*******
 Speaking of Kennedys –
50 years later, Despite all the research,  books, documentaries, TV specials and commemorations
of the tragic death of President John F. Kennedy,
who I think I would have approved of highly had I been alive and mature at the time,
we won’t ever really know for certain who was responsible for his assassination, will we.
Think what you will,  my belief is he was a visionary, he had real courage, the kind
Presidents should be made of, and he loved his country.
Off topic but not really – I will never give a flying f*ck what a person in office does with his or her 
private parts as long as it doesn’t involve children or abuse or the use of our tax dollars. 
That’s none of our collective business, period. 
You want government out of your business, right?  
I hear it time and time again, and I agree!
Well, no double standards then, ok?
Ok. 
********
– Just sayin.

 

Agreed!

   I saw this on Facebook this morning… and while I do not follow a specific religion or God and I consider myself more of a spiritual person who gives a damn about my fellow humans and animals, I agree with  a lot of what he has to say. The Idols we worship today, some of the things we choose to take offense to.. are cringe worthy.  Who’s driving this ship, anyway? …  So  If you’re so inclined, read below…

   AN UPDATE TO EARLY POST:…. the following statement is not true, you can visit snopes to see for yourself.. however it has been a widespread rumor, thank you Vickie B. for clearing it up… Apparently the White House refers  to Christmas Trees as Holiday Trees now.   False statement.  But…something  prompted CBS presenter, Ben Stein,
to write  the following…. .or didn’t.  Regardless, I agree. 

 ”

My confession:
I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does
not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit
up, bejewelled trees, Christmas trees. I don’t feel threatened. I don’t
feel discriminated against. That’s what they are, Christmas trees.

It doesn’t bother me a bit when people say, ‘Merry Christmas’ to me. I
don’t think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a
ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers
and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn’t bother me at
all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near
my beach house in Malibu. If people want a nativity scene, it’s just as
fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.

I don’t like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don’t think
Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think
people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around,
period. I have no idea where the concept came from, that America is an
explicitly atheist country. I can’t find it in the Constitution and I
don’t like it being shoved down my throat.

Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we
should worship celebrities and we aren’t allowed to worship God? I guess
that’s a sign that I’m getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who
are wondering where these celebrities came from and where the America we
knew went to. 


In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a
little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it’s not funny,
it’s intended to get you thinking.

Billy Graham’s daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane
Clayson asked her ‘How could God let something like this happen?’
(regarding Hurricane Katrina). Anne Graham gave an extremely profound
and insightful response. She said, ‘I believe God is deeply saddened by
this, just as we are, but for years we’ve been telling God to get out of
our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our
lives.And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out.
How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we
demand He leave us alone?’ 

In light of recent events… terrorist attacks, school shootings, etc. I
think it started when Madeleine Murray O’Hare (she was murdered, her
body found a few years ago) complained she didn’t want prayer in our
schools, and we said OK. Then someone said you better not read the Bible
in school. The Bible says thou shalt not kill; thou shalt not steal,
and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK.

Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn’t spank our children when they
misbehave, because their little personalities would be warped and we
might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock’s son committed suicide). We
said an expert should know what he’s talking about. And we said okay.

Now we’re asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they
don’t know right from wrong, and why it doesn’t bother them to kill
strangers, their classmates, and themselves.

Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it
out. I think it has a great deal to do with ‘WE REAP WHAT WE SOW.’

Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the
world’s going to hell.
Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the
Bible says.

Funny how you can send ‘jokes’ through e-mail and they spread like
wildfire, but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people
think twice about sharing.

Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through
cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and
workplace.

 Are you laughing yet?

Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on
your address list because you’re not sure what they believe, or what
they will think of you for sending it.

Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us
than what God thinks of us.

Pass it on if you think it has merit.

If not, then just discard it…. no one will know you did. But, if you
discard this thought process, don’t sit back and complain about what a
bad shape the world is in.

My Best Regards, Honestly and respectfully,

Ben Stein”

I heart Robert

Robert Redford sat down with CNN for an interview about his new movie (who knew?)…  but the conversation turned political.  I have to tell you, I like what he has to say very much, agree with it whole heartedly, especially (and here is where some of you will tune out)…  how he acknowledges why our President never stood a chance.

 For the full article, click HERE

For a brief excerpt at the end of the article regarding our current state of government affairs….. read below…

  “Something new is starting to happen that offers hope. Susan Collins, who is a
Republican, is saying: ‘Enough of this. This is not the job I signed up
for. I’ve got to do something,’ ” said Redford, referring to the U.S.
senator from Maine.  
“So she’s bringing a bipartisan group together of
women. I think the future should belong more to women and young people.” Women must save the
country “because a lot of men that were in control were behaving
stupidly,” Redford said. “I mean, sometimes you say: ‘Can we actually be
this dumbed down, or am I actually hearing what I’m hearing from some
of these people? Are they really, is that really happening?’ It’s sad.”


Does this mean Redford is already throwing his support behind Hillary Clinton in a 2016 White House bid?


“No, I wouldn’t single out one woman over another,” he said. “I think it’s time to give more women a chance.”
– Amen, brother.  Just sayin.

Say what you will….

 
The letter below is a facebook post I read this morning by Brooke Wilson.  I don’t care if you are an Obama hater, a Democrat, a Republican, a Right Winger, a Left Winger, a member of the Tea Party, a Socialist, a bleeding heart Liberal or a hermit living under a rock.  I urge you to read it, because in our constant need to rant and purge and point fingers, accuse and scorn… quite often we lose the truth.   When I post something with a political flavor, I realize it  may offend some of you. That’s not my intention,  but I found it to be an honest take on the current state of govt. affairs and I urge you to read it anyway.

 *******

People:

Before you begin your rant about how terrible everyone in Washington is, make sure you get the facts straight.

This is NOT about the President, who is asking Congress to pay for
expenses they’ve already approved, including the Affordable Care Act,
which was approved by two houses of Congress, signed into law, upheld by the Supreme Court, and, when made into a central issue of the 2012 election, was not overturned by the voters.

This is NOT about the refusal of Democrats to compromise. Obamacare IS
the compromise. It was the Republican counterproposal to the
nationalized health care plan from the Clinton administration. That’s
why Mitt Romney pushed it through in Massachusetts (yes, the economist
who wrote the Massachusetts plan said Romneycare is the same as
Obamacare). It’s a mandate for people to buy PRIVATE health insurance.
Nothing could be more Republican. Many Democrats hate/d the Affordable
Care Act because it didn’t nationalize health care, but they . . .
compromised . . . so 40 million more Americans, including people with
pre-existing illnesses, could get health care. There’s been no
Republican counter-proposal because OBAMACARE IS THEIR PLAN. Obama
adopted it because he thought they’d support their own plan. How crazy
was that?

This is NOT about “Congress.” The Senate — which
has brought the House resolution to the floor multiple times, and
amended and approved the amended bill by majority vote — has approved a
“clean” funding resolution, but the Speaker of the House WILL NOT ALLOW
THAT RESOLUTION TO COME TO THE FLOOR OF THE HOUSE FOR A VOTE. Were it
to be voted on in the House, there’s a reasonable probability it would
pass with support of Democratic members and a significant number of
moderate Republicans.

Why won’t the President and the Senate
accept the Republican proposal to delay a year? Because it’s already
been delayed. The Republicans are trying to stall until after the 2014
elections, hoping to win both House and Senate so they can overturn the
law. They also are terrified that once people sign up and get
healthcare and like it, they’ll think — as they did with Medicare and
Medicaid and Social Security — that it’s a pretty good thing. THAT,
Senator Cruz, is the real message of “Green Eggs and Ham,” which you
completely misunderstood.

This IS about a small group of about
30 legislative terrorists who would rather blow up the government than
permit legislation they don’t like, even when approved by majority vote,
to be enacted. It’s also about a Speaker of the House who will not
permit a bill to come to the floor for a vote unless the terrorists
approve.

This is really about whether we believe in democracy
— in majority rule — or not. You don’t get to wreck the country every
time you don’t get your way.

If all the Border Patrol officers
— who as of this morning are working without pay — would go home, I
wonder how long it would take the Senators from Texas to get the
message?

 

Frightmare on Victoria Ave.

This guy is hilarious!  My sister sent me a link to this article and ooh,  do I love a good laugh ..and a clever writer.   And even haunted houses, but maybe not this one.
(CNN) Editor’s note: Each week in “Apparently This Matters,” CNN’s Jarrett Bellini applies his warped sensibilities to trending topics in social media and random items of interest on the Web.
 It’s been quite a while since I last soiled my pants. Easily a week or two. Maybe three. But temptation is
everywhere, and the other day, as I was driving down the highway, I
noticed a big sign for a haunted house. And I thought, “Welp, better
stay away from that.”  You know. To keep the streak going.
But as I passed this haunted house, I also sort of did a double take, for it occurred to me that it was still only September.  Granted, it’s the end
of September, but seeing this caused a slight shock to my system,
reminding me that, yes, fall is officially upon us and October is
stealthily hiding right around the corner, chain-smoking clove
cigarettes. October’s such a hipster.
When I finally got home
later in the afternoon, I sat down, like I often do, at my computer to
scour the Web for things people are talking about online. And that’s
when I surfed upon several mentions of some other haunted house — a
rather famous year-round facility at Niagara Falls called Nightmare Fear Factory. 

For all you nature lovers, it’s just down the street from Planet Hollywood.  Seriously, if you’ve
never been to Niagara Falls, understand that the town, which rests right
along the Canadian side of the river, is one of the tackiest places
you’ll ever visit, and the entire area exists solely to vacuum-suck
money out of your wallet as soon as you’re done taking romantic selfies
in front of Big Splashy.
“I love you, Megan. Let’s get an overpriced cheeseburger.”
“And a commemorative paperweight?”
“Anything for you, babe.”
So there’s this big
haunted house right on Victoria Avenue, and, according to their website,
the location was once the Cataract Coffin Factory where, many years
ago, they claim the proprietor, Abraham Mortimer, was killed when a
stack of solid oak coffins collapsed and crushed him to death. Naturally, his ghost still wanders the halls and haunts anyone who passes through his “beloved and now abandoned factory.”
As opposed to just chilling out in heaven with Jimi Hendrix.
I’m not saying the legend isn’t true. But it seems like a rather poor use of time in the afterlife.
“Naw, Jimi, you go on without me. I’m just gonna float around my old factory and be bitter.”
But what really makes
this haunted house famous, especially this time of year, isn’t the
legend. It’s the photos. As visitors wander the haunted halls in pitch
darkness, huddled together following a trail of red lights, they reach a
point where they are confronted by a car full of ghosts. Lights
suddenly shine and secret cameras snap their terrified reactions.
Nightmares Fear Factory is just blocks away from the big splashy of Niagara Falls.
The images are amazing. Picture your grandparents watching Miley Cyrus at the VMAs. With their pastor.
Those are the faces.
As a bonus, some of the images are then fed to a photo stream on flickr so the rest of us can laugh at people clinging to each other in sheer terror. And if that wasn’t
hilarious enough, Nightmares Fear Factory has another way of humiliating
patrons. If someone happens to get too scared during the 10-15 minute
walk through of the house, all they have to do is scream “Nightmares”
and something will take them out.
Something.
That’s their word. Not mine. So, it might be a zombie. Or it might be a ghost. But it could also be, I suppose, a taco shell.
Just something.
Once you’re removed, you
are unceremoniously added to what they call the Chicken Count, which,
at the time of this being published, stands at 124,212 people.  So, as we say goodbye to
September, it’s time to say hello to Nightmares Fear Factory and all
the other seasonal haunted houses that come to us in October. None of
which I’ll be visiting.
You know. To keep the streak going.

You gotta wonder… what the heck are they look’n at?

When common sense goes out the window

   …first, let’s kill all the lawyers.   Just kidding, some of them do an excellent job.  Others take on cases that are clearly absurd for the sole purpose of acquiring money and fame…and horridly, they win.  And then there are the plaintiffs who bring on the absurd case in the first place.  Remember the woman who sued McDonalds for coffee that was too hot and burned her mouth when she drank it?  She won a lot of money.

  There is a case once again before the Supreme Court right now stirring in Connecticut. It’s caught the attention of many because of its absurdity and the possible affect it will have on the horse industry at large.

 Blog friend Cindi sent me this article, which tells me news of this ridiculous ruling is  reaching all over the country.  I’m glad.    Read newest information HERE .




HARTFORD – The Connecticut Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday in
a case that may result in horses being declared “vicious” animals. The justices are hearing the appeal of
a ruling in which the owner of a Milford horse farm was found
responsible for one of his animals biting a child back in 2006.
The appeals court ruled that signs and
fencing did not sufficiently protect the child, especially since horses
are inherently and naturally vicious.


The owners of horse farms and equestrian businesses
say that if the new labeling sticks, insurers will no longer cover their
businesses and they’ll be forced to close down. 

   In a nutshell, a father was visiting a horse farm and held his 1.5 year old son up along a fence to give a horse some grass. There were signs posted along this fence… Please don’t feed the horses.  Using his own poor judgement, the father did anyway… and the horse reached over the fence and nipped the kid on the cheek.   The first case threw the family’s claim out because hey, the signs were posted, it was a stupid move on the fathers part. There was no record of malice on the part of the farm owner or his animals.   On Appeal, the court ruled all horses inherently vicious, overturning the ruling.  If this newruling sticks …. it will change the face of the horse industry forever, at least in this state.

   I am thoroughly disgusted every time I hear a case like this, where the plaintiff is seeking damages for their own poor judgement, seeking financial gain by punishing those who are so undeserving of the punishment. The farm owner took the proper precautions.  There are no precautions for stupidity.

    I’ve worked with and owned horses for 30 years now.  Never have I seen a vicious horse. Some have been abused and are not as trusting of humans and caution should be used around them.  Can you blame them?  And.. anything with teeth has the potential to bite. Humans are far more vicious than any animal.

   What a shame it would be for one idiot who decided to hold his infant child up to a large horses mouth to be able to demolish an entire horse industry.  I sure hope the Supreme Court demonstrates common sense this time around.

 Vicious?  My A**. 
Common Sense.. now there’s a concept. 
 Being awarded for not having any?
 Please, Connecticut… Say it ain’t so.  
Just sayin.

Thursday thoughts

 
  My computer hard drive is still missing in action – Computer guru Wayne ended up in the hospital with complications from Diabetes. Say a little prayer for him and Lord give him the strength to stop eating the donuts and sweets.  We just had a discussion about that very thing last week… when you don’t smoke and you don’t drink, eating is your source of emotional comfort and joy.  I get that! But when you risk losing a foot, it’s time to get control of it and I’m wishing him the best  in healing and strength to overcome.   
 
   My thoughts on Mr. Castro, torturer of three women for many years – Coward. For those of you who feel sorry for the asshat because he was clearly mentally ill, he deserved a fate worse than his own suicide and a part of me is glad he’s gone and tax payers won’t cover his sorry ass expenses for the remainder of his pathetic life. The other part is disappointed that he won’t feel the full wrath of his horrible actions for a very long long time.  While I sympathize with the mentally ill, for they do not ask for the mental anguish they suffer, that kind of illness is raw evil.
 
  Syr*a –  what to do, what to do.  I’m glad it’s not my decision. What they are doing to their people over there is so inhumane, it deserves the wrath of the entire world.  I don’t believe it’s Americas responsibility to come to the aid of every suffering group of people because of the corruption and inhumanity of their leaders and rebels without the entire world stepping in as well.  I’m tired of handing  American money and American military lives over to other countries who are not our allies to begin with… and doing so as the rest of the world watches and threatens and scolds.  We have problems right here, we owe money BIG TIME.  OUR people are suffering in many ways all over the country.   
 
   For all  the Obama haters out there, it is never the actions of just one man or even one party that we can blame for the mess we are in. When you start pointing a finger and your rage and hate at just one source, you lose credibility with me… because we should all know by now…it takes a village… the idiot village we have in Washington –  term after term it seems as of late.
 
  Regarding the paleo diet… well, I can tell you we are not strictly paleo and probably will never be, because it’s just too dang hard to do so.  But, we are already feeling better and losing a little weight by avoiding the breads and pastas and overload of dairy we consumed before. 
 
  Rant over 🙂