My Fellow Americans

I hate to think about the reality of the USA.
On the one hand, there is this movement of humans that can vote who truly believe it is OK to legislate religion- so long as it is THEIR religion, and on the other hand, there is the sad fact that these same people are so insulated from real information that they cannot learn from their mistakes nor take in new facts that might change their opinions.. Like Michel Bachman they would rather run from talking with people and cry rape/wolf (bathroom, ex nun and a lesbian want to talk, she screams and claims held against her will....) than consider that the people who they listen to might be liars with their own agendas.
The third problem? We can't kill them or throw them off the island- they are here, and even if we win this round of arguments, even if we get good presidents, even if the Supreme Court keeps upholding rights, they are here forever, and they will stall us and waste time and money and lie and do everything a spoiled willful child (see reference Karl Rove) does to distract parents from making the best choice. They will drag down Congress so that real laws don't get passed, and they will undermine even the most banal and needed laws if they were introduced by liberals..
They are our worst nightmares, The Never Ending Story of Angry Birds, the wild arsonist in the wheat fields, the nasty wealthy Aunt who uses her money to blackmail everyone in the family into waiting on her hand and foot. They are part of us, and we cannot get away from them any more than Sidney Poitier could escape those chains and get away from Tony Curtis.
Killing them suddenly seems like a great idea hu?
But that is Un-American (which is why Ann the man Coulter proposes it so often).
We are the liberals, the progressives, the forward thinkers and are supposed to be better than that.
Sometimes i just HATE it when I have to be the bigger person. Mom raised me right, but it still rankles.

So what to do, what to do.

These people are truly scum, seriously religiously deranged, and often more than happy to lie and cheat and undermine the Constitution to get what they want. The school yard bullies, our own Eric Cartmans, are impossible to work around or ignore.
They will not wok with us at all- by their own admittance, they find the idea of compromise against their beliefs in a pure and perfect world they both inhabit and create.

President Obama came into power truly thinking that he could forge common ground, could find compromise for the good of all.
These right wingnuts do not CARE about the good of all--or even their own good. They would rather "poison the well" and die right along side their enemies than give in and share. They are the spoiled rotten dirty bastards of history.

So what to do, what to do.

Things are getting worse. They are boiling over. Nice liberals are being shot- and their side does not denounce it, barely gives lip service of a negative nature, and moves along with their bashing. The number of Americans that will vote and give voice is already at a peak, and the ones who DO vote are almost exactly evenly divided about what they want. There are as many of the wingnuts as there are the moral rational liberals that vote. And while we keep cancelling each other out at the polls, their mistakes (judges, laws, school systems, Boy Scout Troops) keep churning along making things worse.
We have a lake polluted beyond repair. With new generations of polluted thinkers being allowed into the ranks of voting adults every day. We cannot educate them about the reality of gay life when they want to kill it on religious grounds, we cannot educate them on the inhuman abuse of personal rights when they refuse to allow abortion for anyone for any reason based on their religious ground, we cannot educate them about religion when the just do NOT CARE and will not even listen- they run away screaming and demand laws to protect them from truth or facts that might disprove their sacred religious beliefs.

So what to do, what to do.

I can see why Europe works so well- they kept those countries small. I propose we do too.
Cut the U.S. into 2 parts and just give the religious wingnuts far right conservatives their own part.
GET RID OF THEM.
Make the GOP illegal in the Free States of America, and refuse to give them our movies, music, books, wine, television, or anything else that takes a creative independent thinker to create.
They can have gun, religion, the current banking system, pollution, jails, and regulated internet, bedrooms, and ovaries.
We will probably have more crime due to our lax beliefs in Zero tolerance and a strong rehabilitation programs-and we will need serious border patrols, because i can guarantee that after living in their own Utopias they will try to come back here and subvert what we have trying to make themselves happy by 'doing it right this time'.... or trying to save us. Or just undermining us so they don't have to watch all the smiling happy people holding hands.
Because when it comes right down too it,they just aren't happy if anyone else is..
It goes against their religion.

Saying Grace and Saving Face

Thanksgiving is the time of year we gather together to argue with relatives we seldom see but love dearly so long as they are not across the table from us in our own home spouting crap.
This year, it will be especially difficult to avoid the dreaded politics, and the ensuing mashed potato uproar.
Most of us are not easily swayed in our basic opinions, and we all need to protect our egos as much as we do our wallets. Saying "I'm sorry" is hard enough, but if you are like many of the people in the USA this year, you FEEL sorry and want to see things change.
How do you do that without 'losing face' and appearing to be stupid, thoughtless, or have to suffer the slings and arrows of indignities your relations will heap on you with that extra helping of pie?
Maybe it's as simple as saying "You know, I do not think I was wrong in the past, and I still believe in my traditional values, but lately, I am not seeing that from my choices in politics".
"I am not hearing what I really believe from any of the candidates/ The President/my congressmen/congresswomen and so I am planning on voting differently".
"I am firmly and forever a true patriot, but like the Republicans when they changed their name to Democrats (or the Bull Moose Party when they changed their name to Republicans), I see the GOP/Democrats reflecting more of what I have traditionally believed in and want to see more discussion".
"I am not wrong, and my beliefs are firm, but my party has wandered off the path".
"I am open to listening to you without debate- could you pour me some coffee?"


Happy Thanksgiving.

The American Red Cross

You probably think of the Red Cross as THE people to call and have arrive at a disaster to help.
Photos of earthquakes appear in your head, and you can see the workers helping people, giving them food, taking care of their injuries and basically being 'first responders".
My whole generation grew up with those images, with the idea that when things are BAD, you want to have the Red Cross arrive fast to help once the ambulances have taken away the seriously injured.
They are the people to call, but all too often, we assume that they are the ONLY people to call, and that the Red Cross can handle, well, everything.

Several years ago a local apartment house went up in flames at 5:30 am. The news was ghastly, every one of the 68 units was gone, and the entire population was standing on the street in their nightclothes. Babies in arms, many of the kids without anything on their feet. Not a toothbrush or a hairbrush or a watch or a set of car keys amongst them.
The call went out on our neighborhood list that the folks needed help, and I just happened to have a car full of donated clothing that was destined for the womens shelter. I decided the people around the corner from me could use it more, knowing that many of them might be thankful for some day wear- even if it was not a perfect fit- to put on while they made calls from the church that had opened to process them. I knew the children would benefit from the warmer sweaters buried in the bags I had, and that the adults could use some of the long sleeved shirts. I had a few pairs of shoes and hoped someone that was barefoot could fit into them, saving their feet until they had time to get things that fit better.
When I drove around the corner and parked at the church, there were hundreds of folks everywhere. 3 fire units cleaning up after putting out the flames, and 3 separate television units reported on the residents. About 200 adults and children, mostly female, were staying inside the church building, waiting in line for food from the kitchen, waiting in line to use the 2 office phones, sitting in halls with whatever they had grabbed in their arms. The upstairs reeked of diapers that were past their prime, as the moms waited for someone to bring fresh diapers for the 20 or so babies and young toddlers that needed them.
Outdoors, the men and the older teens milled about on the grass, talking to reporters, looking for rides to come pick them up, and being interviewed by the fire and police inspectors for information about the fire.
When I pulled up, I parked across the street and went indoors to ask the Red Cross workers where they would like the donated clothing.
I was told, in no uncertain terms, that the Red Cross did NOT accept used items, and would not be responsible for ANY clothing, baby gear, even diapers and that I could NOT bring them on to the church grounds - which were now under the care of the Red Cross.
HU?
The parents were watching me, and several followed me outside when they overheard what I had in the car.
I walked out defiantly, crossed the street, and opened the back of the Jeep, tearing at the bags of clothing.
For the next 20 min, parents and kids pawed through that pile of stuff, holding things up to their kids, checking labels for sizes, digging for things that would work for their children.
i stood next to my car, smiled at the folks, gave hugs, and ignored the media as they came over to interview me.
I used my cell phone to call my own neighbors about donations, and made 2 more trips back to that church that morning, bringing 2 strollers, bags of new diapers, formula, and several dozen flip-flops someone happened to have.
Eventually, the crowds thinned down, the day grew warm, and the crisis portion of the situation was over.

The Red Cross folks passed out debit cards for people to go buy new things like toiletries, clothing, etc. Upwards of $500.00 per person in some cases. They also helped with city workers in finding housing and emergency shelter for many of the displaced families who did not have friends or relatives to put them up. Everyone, however, had to find transportation on their own. Several parents with kids made the trek on foot to the city help centers after they opened. By 6pm the boarded up husk of apartments and some overflowing garbage cans were all that were left of our local tragedy.

I was thrilled the Red Cross was there to feed those nice folks. I was happy they could offer funding to help them out. But I was also left irritated that they had refused to even allow me on to the grounds, refused to consider the reality of the state those people were in, and had no back up plan for when clothing and baby supplies are desperately urgently needed NOW, not hours from now.

~~~~~~~~

Turns out, the Red Cross is not about collecting items, distributing items, or needing to clean up the unwanted items afterwards, and they won't be saddled with the donated unwanted items that people all too often flood disaster sites with. They are not equipped with the vehicles to drive in rolling clothing trucks to emergency sites, nor do their volunteers have the power to accept ITEMS donated at the scene. Their training and abilities do not include the collection, distribution, and disposal of used items. Good Will does that- but they don't travel to emergency sites. Red Cross folks CAN accept cash donations on site, instantly. Materials, clothing, etc. they will not handle. Their policy is also to refuse to allow anyone ELSE to bring those items into the areas they control. They do not want to be left responsible for the trash afterwards.


Their web site http://www.redcross.org/ discussing donations is very explicit:

Donate to the Red Cross

A hot meal delivered to victims after a disaster, blood when it is needed most, shelter when there is nowhere else to turn, an emergency message delivered to a member of the Armed Forces from their family -- these are just some of the ways that gifts are put to work through the American Red Cross. Thanks to the generosity of our donors, the American Red Cross is empowering people to perform extraordinary acts in the face of emergencies.

Our supporters have become part of a network of millions of Americans who donate their time, money and blood to the humanitarian work of the Red Cross. We thank them for their gifts and we are privileged to put their compassion into action.

Ways to Donate

Online

Monthly giving

Other official donation site

2009 Holiday Gift Catalog

By phone

By text message

By mail

Stock

Face-to-Face Fundraising

By wire transfer

Mutual funds

In-kind products

Spare change

Through rewards programs

By raising funds for disaster

Through planned giving

Matching Gifts

Buy & Sell on eBay

Matching Gifts

-- Your gift could be matched dollar for dollar! Many companies offer matching gift programs that will double, even triple a donation's value. Check with your company or visit this online directory of matching gift companies to find out if your company will match your contribution to the American Red Cross. If you have questions about your company's matching gift program, please contact your personnel office.

Once you have determined that your company matches donations made to the Red Cross, obtain the appropriate form from your personnel/human resources office and send it with a copy of your gift receipt to the address below:

American Red Cross
PO Box 37295
Washington, DC 20013
Attn: Kim Davis

The American Red Cross Tax Identification Number (also known as Employee Identification Number or EIN) is 53-0196605.

Please be sure to complete the entire donor portion of the form and to include a copy of your gift receipt (if available). If you would like to designate the gift to a specific disaster, please indicate that on the form. If you have questions about your company's matching gift program, please contact your personnel/human resources office.

The American Red Cross helps people in need -- free of charge -- every single day! Your contribution means a great deal to the organization, but even more to the families who rely on the Red Cross to help them through some of the most difficult times of their lives.

With your ongoing support we will keep America strong, through these vital programs--Disaster Relief Services, Family Emergency Services, Domestic Preparedness for Bioterrorism, Critical Lifesaving Services, and 24-hour military assistance.

But the Red Cross is not a government agency, we must rely on the generosity of the American public. With your ongoing support, we will continue to be there providing people in crisis . relief for today and hope for tomorrow.

The American Red Cross is not a government agency and all Red Cross disaster assistance is free thanks to the generosity of people like you. The value of your donation is increased by the fact that the ratio of volunteer Red Cross workers to paid staff is almost 36 to one. Contributions to the American Red Cross, a tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, are deductible for computing income and estate taxes.

That is a HUGE and much needed contribution to disasters and people. THAT is important work, and I don't knock them for it.
I'm just pointing out that they have a huge hole in their logic about dealing with emergencies at the scene.

Last night, the City of San Bruno experienced a major gas pipe explosion that wiped out 38 homes, injured hundreds, and killed at least 4 persons outright. People ran from their burning homes in whatever they were wearing into the cold night air. Losing their purses, their money, their belongings, their cars- their entire lives on fire, with nothing to prove their identity, no way to contact their friends and family, and no way to travel from the site.
Reporters talk about how wonderful it is that the Red Cross is there to take care of folks. Reporters also report that the people who responded last night with clothes and shoes should stop, because the Red Cross cannot handle the huge influx of donations, unless they are CASH.

This is not unusual. The Red Cross is NOT an organization that can help you immediately when there is a fire or other tragedy. They do not arrive with clothes when you are naked, shoes if you are barefoot, diapers if you have a baby, or ANYTHING you need immediately if it is snowing or cold or dark or wet.
Most Red Cross volunteers for any given area have access to money to buy and provide food- so long as there is a place they can use like a church kitchen or pre-set tent area. They do not have traveling kitchens or set up tents. They are trained organized volunteers that will only be able to work with PRE-EXISTING cooking locations.
What they do have is the access to emergency funding for homeless people. They can pass out DEBIT CARDS that have cash on them for folks to go get clothes themselves. Or shoes. Or baby items.


My questions are simple- How does anyone expect a family that is unable to travel and has no clothing but the nightgown they are in or the pajamas they wear to get on a city bus and go downtown and buy clothes for themselves? WHAT kind of brain trust thinks through homeless people with no purses, no bags, no strollers, being able to take their babies and toddlers and travel to several locations and buy all the things they will need for a short period of time- and then transport them to whatever shelter they are assigned? Who thought through this stupid idea?
The city responders are there first as police and fire. Then comes the inspectors and the debris clean up. County welfare folks do not come out to emergency sites. No one but the Red Cross is usually even allowed in some areas.
So I just want to ask, who is going to put clothes on the naked people, shoes on the barefoot people, coats on the cold people, and provide enough transportation so that folks can get from their emergency to their social worker, their shelter, their clothing stores, or their families elsewhere in town? Who brings in and hauls out the donated clothing to take care of people during those crucial 6 hours between fleeing the disaster and having a plan, some stuff, a place, a change of clothes and a Red Cross debit card to buy things with?

Right now, no one.
My advice is pointedly simple. NEVER get caught without clothing during an emergency. ALWAYS wear shoes when you flee the house. NEVER leave your purse, cell phone, or car keys behind.

And.... if you are near a real disaster, collaborate with neighbors to send in some shoes and clothes and bags for parents to carry the stuff they have in their arms as they leave the scene and head into a very unknown future. Don't rely on the Red Cross to help you (or even allow you inside the emergency lines), don't rely on the shelters to provide. It's a long way to walk between the fire or flood and the housing and donated clothes when you have nothing but your kids and your lives.

September is

High Times in High School

This morning was the "Back to School" Principal's coffee with parents meeting.
As my son is now a full time student in our public system again, I am behind on what's happening and how to make sure that he gets all the possible advantages to success, so I made sure to attend.
My high school is over populated by about 100 kids, but the district is seeking extra teachers and staffing for them.
Several classes were under booked and needed to be incorporated with others, creating situations that *used* to be called "teaching tracks", whereby some students learn a lesson at a slower pace than others or with more detail than others. It was never a bad system, but sometime in the 80's it was abolished as being emotionally punitive to the slower learners.
Year books are $85.00 each. I doubt if anyone in their right minds is noticing that cost, but I thought it appalling.
The school is considering combining the Jr. Prom and the Sr. Prom to the same night because last year, only 40 Jr. couples attended. The principal went on to explain that the amount of time, hard work, and money needed to rent the hotel, food, etc. was just not justified for the kids and the class leaders were looking into this change. Of course, we all also noted that the Seniors- we work very hard to have a prom all to themselves- would be at a disadvantage.
My own thoughts ran along the lines of "You have got to be kidding! More than half the parents of students here are unable to pay all their bills, more than 20% qualify for food assistance and free meals under Title 1, almost 30% need to come by bus from very poor neighborhoods, and yet we are promoting these damned expensive proms where the average kid spends over $1,000 dollars for a NIGHT? That is NUTS! Why not just have a Jr. dance for the class at a lower price where more kids can attend?".
I voiced my opinion about parents losing houses while kids encourage lavish proms- the room went silent and then every parent there (all of whom are boosters, involved in support, and either have jobs or have spouse's with great jobs) just moved on with other events.
It made me rather disgusted. Spoilt, rich, selfish, ridiculous spending is part of the reason our great country is so divided. CHILDREN do not need to spend money on themselves to such a horrendous degree just to celebrate graduating High School, and the *junior class* certainly does not need a special 'formal' prom at such a cost.
Obviously, the parents in charge of the school are in the wealthy category that cannot possibly hear my thoughts. They need- yes, *need*- to indulge their children with rites of passage far beyond the means of the other kids. It's why they, and their families, are special, and wonderful, and loved by their creator, and destined for better lives and happier things than all those other kids. They can afford it.
The roosters, as my granny would say, have now come home to roost. The costs of such an overblown expression of self esteem and celebration means that most of the Jr. class last year just could not attend, probably because of cost more than any other factor. I was given no other reason for the low attendance rate. So now, the Sr. class is going to have to either allow their younger classmates to share in their 'special night'- making it not so special- or the Jr's are going to have to forgo having a special 'prom' all to themselves 2 years in a row and just wait to be seniors.
I am not feeling badly for either group.
Costs quoted can go as high as $1500.00 for a prom at some schools. Washington DC writers broke down actual costs for a Senior year to more than that.
I am afraid of how much just getting my son an education is going to cost, and to have the school ENCOURAGE wasteful spending on a *junior* prom just makes me gag.
I want to have kids happy about school, involved in projects, dating in safe environments, learning how to be grown ups, and celebrating their victories.
I do not have to spend money to do any of those things, and I dislike the wealthy parents using displays of wealth as a rite of passage that only a very small percentage of students can participate in.
It creates a 2-tiered school system, with kids that can afford it all (limos, hotel rooms, $80.00 dinners, $40.00 flowers, $100.00 tux rentals, $200.00 adult dresses, shoes, purses, pictures, bands, decorations, etc.) showing off how lucky they are while the larger majority of students smile and look the other way, scuff their shoes on the ground and mumble that they "really don't want to go to a prom" as the only excuse that salvages their pride.
It is hard enough when kids are seniors to justify this kind of show. It is ridiculous to foster it on 16 year olds.
Do these children really understand the value of money? The kids who cannot attend sure do. Their feelings are not valued as much as their classmates parents money.

Repeal the Zealots.

The initial vote in California last November 8th, 2008, was a lie, a sham, and a farce. Voters in California are notorious for their liberal, well educated voting policies and views- when they are aware of an issue and believe it to be important.

Last year's Presidential elections were important. A nation's future hung in the balance, and we in California were no less worried that the incompetent lackluster leadership of the latter day "Know Nothing" party would drive the country past it's breaking point and leave millions on the streets and in 21st century Hoovervilles while the handful of ultra-hawks and their well paid, well trained parrots finished the rape and pillage of the American coffers, borrowing rather than taxing to pay for their own oil laden masturbatory fantasies and blaming it all on anyone who was not in power and could not defend themselves.

California was, and is, a bastion of tolerance, charity, purpose, liberty, and liberal thinking where most residents truly do not want to impose on their fellow Californian's so long as those same people don't impose upon them.
Californian's are also busy. We have lots to do, carrying the 6th largest economy on EARTH- not the US, but the EARTH, including the heart of the entertainment industry, the US wine industry, the US electronics industry and computer industry and hand held media industry and internet industry. We also contribute such varied things as Almonds, light oils, Non-industrial worked diamonds, and medical needles,catheters and parts. *
We work hard. We also play hard, and have always kept our eyes on the important issues, leading the country in reducing automobile emissions, enacting clean air and water policies, and protecting the environment.

Last November however, Californian's did not understand that a stealth movement by out of state religious zealot agitators had been afoot for months to fuel a religious earthquake with misinformation and medieval threats to a small but incredibly well organized group- the California Mormons. Their goal?
To take a minor proposition that every right thinking human in the state felt was a ridiculous pipe dream, and in the space of several weeks flood the state with messages designed to lead the weak minded to the ballot box with their brains full of mush and the fires of righteousness in their bellies.

While millions of us were working to elect the first Black President and bring some balance and a sense of intelligence back to the White House, the Mormon Church was using their TAX FREE status to influence politics in our state and deny our citizens their fair and equal rights under the guise of "separate but equal".
NO ONE in their right minds believes that separate ever means equal, from our schools in the south to medical access in the Midwest to jobs to water fountains. There are haves-- and there are have nots.
We were focused on the needs to stop a war and save young American lives in Iraq instead of the machinations of a religious party who still allow their members to take multiple under age wives.
Our historic California tolerance extended to the foibles and peculiarities of a religious cult that sprang up in the Eastern US a little over 200 years ago complete with it's own "bible" and a belief that God hates dancing and coffee. We thought they were no worse than any other sect- or, in the words of Douglas Adams, "mostly harmless".
Their mother church in the church-state of Utah however, abused the tax status of a church and violated states rights * to decide their own fate and used their well attended churches to spread a noxious and vicious belief that marriage was in danger and that children would be defiled should we come to the rational, logical, reasonable, and fair decision to finally tear down the emotionally charged vocabulary barrier disallowing gay couples the same rights as everyone else.
It was with this comfortable belief that California was already tolerant and fair that we, the majority, the folks who do not believe in marrying 12 year olds to middle aged men, focused on the larger issues and ignored that evil, fear soaked proposition buried on our ballots until it was too late to rally our numbers and awaken the sleeping voters to the threat towards our progressive and fair marriage rights and their march forward one hard fought victory after another.
We were, to put it sadly, asleep at the switch while the ballot box was being stuffed with lies and stretched truths, fright scenarios and defensive partisan religious fake facts.
I am not surprised that the Church of 'latter day saints' (um... no. Check with the Catholics on who is and isn't a 'Saint') got enough votes to pass this absurd twisted vote through.

With enough money and fear, in 6 months time I can convince the residents of any state in the nation to cut off their own genitals. They will do it to "save their children", to "protect and defend their country" to "stop the abominations" or to "defend their rights", but they will do it.
They will do it gladly, and they will do it as willingly as the residents of Oakland California were when they drank Kool Aid and committed suicide for the Reverend Jim Jones in Ghana, 1978, they will do it with as much surety as Yossele Schumacher's grandfather had when he kidnapped the small child from the child's parents to save his religious soul, with as much burning passion as McCarthy felt when he held the hearings on Un-American Activities, with as much damnation as the American public felt avenging the attack on Pearl Harbor, with as much blind determination as the entire inner Nazi circle had while enacting the 'final solution'.
Human nature loves to have an evil to hyper-focus on, and the religious zealots of nations throughout history have known this, and used it to their own advantage.
Sadly, the voters who DID vote for Prop 8 did not use any logic. What exactly will allowing gay couples to marry do to them?

Nothing. Not one damned thing.

There is no limit on the number of marriages that the state allows per year, so no one is going to be turned away from taking vows due to some quota being filled by happy gay couples.
Having gay people married doesn't change the quality of our air or fill up the car pool lanes any faster. Allowing our fellow Californians their RIGHT to do exactly what any one else can won't bring the wraith of God down on us- many of us not only don't believe in that God (or any God), but our *country* is built upon the belief that NO RELIGIOUS BELIEF shall over ride any other nor shall any one religion dictate the laws of the land to our citizens.
Married gay folks won't change the taste of the shrimp at Monterey Bay, won't make the sun go down any faster in the West, and won't matter a rats ass to anyone but those individual couples safe in their cocoons of love and harmony.
The religious fear mongers- and every religion is full of fear mongers and those preaching hellfire and damnation to anyone that challenges their authority- cannot show any of us a single blessed thing that will change for the worse in recognizing marriage as a right of 2 people to enter into.
They cannot make 'unions' as legal as 'marriage', and they cannot show us proof positive that unions are not second class papers without all the legal and equitable rights that the national usage of 'marriage' instantly grants 2 people anywhere in the *world*.
Citizens of California are not demanding that anyone MUST allow marriages in their church-- that *is* for the church itself to decide, and should the righteous voters of our state continue to push the situation, I can see a time when we outlaw marriage itself, at least as a right of the church.

We can legislate that *ALL* unions must be performed at the County Clerks offices of each county to be legal and valid marriages, and whatever the individuals involved wish to do separately, without the blessings of the state, in their own churches before or afterward are their own business, but they will carry NO legal advantages or be acknowledged by any agency of the state.
Yes, you heard me right. You can get married at the clerks office, or you can have some elaborate affair at a church- but still be living in sin without the benefit of a marriage license unless you do it our way.
Yes, we CAN push that vote through.
We WILL make it right for ALL our citizens to share equally and justly in every facet of citizenship that we offer in this state.
Zealots be damned.

California Exports
* Courts have ruled that the church violated laws during this campaign and have been fined.

Hypocrites beware

Those Poor Victims

I love a good underdog.
I support all the 'victims' of bigger bullies that have pushed them around illegally.
I feel that everyone deserves a chance to speak and not have the majority shut them up, even if they are wrong.

On the other hand, I deplore hypocrites and liars that paint themselves as the little guy for sympathy while they are in charge, while they have historically been powerful, and while they are actually not a victim.



Republicans LOVE this strategy.
They have just as large a voting population as the liberal honorable folks that just voted in a real human for President, yet we are immediately seeing their screaming faces talking about how they are the victims.
Victims of the "liberals now in power".

If you define 'victim' as one who is not getting their way, then yes, I can see how they could cast themselves in that brand of sheep's clothing.
If you define 'victim' as one who, after being caught doing illegal acts, is then punished by lawful means, then yes, they can use that term.

They are victims of the men and women who were arrested and held without any recourse or legal aid or contact with anyone at Gitmo, an off shore prison deliberately designed to be out of legal US jurisdiction and completely under White House control.
They are victims of the people who watched Valerie Plame be outed as a CIA agent as personal revenge by the Vice Presidents office.
They are the victims of the thousands who were illegally kept from the polls in Florida, Ohio, and overseas during the 2000 and 2004 Presidential Elections.

They are victims who run to hide behind the innocent voices of Beck and Limbaugh and O'Reilly, all stalwart citizens who have never been caught in a lie, never done anything illegal, and never misspoke a word.

They are victims of a president in office for 15 weeks who has not done a single thing to any of them.


Nope. I don't buy it for a second.
There are plenty of REAL victims to go around.
The native American people are victims of every administration since Washington's.
The Muslims of America have been victims of discrimination since 9-11.
The women of America are victims of pay inequity, promotional inequity, and discrimination in the work place. They are also victims of medical abuse when denied the right to legal abortions or cancer treatments.


Republican voices of hate and violence, of greed and spending, of silver spoon attitudes, are just angry that they are losers. Sore losers who ran the country into the ground and irritated so many of their fellow citizens that they now have to lie and scream they are victims in an attempt to just gain all the power back-- so they can do it AGAIN.

I don't think so.
I might not love every move the Obama Administration has taken, and i disagree with some of his decisions and failures to push through major reform fast enough for me, but I felt much worse about millions of things with George W. as well-- and didn't cry about it. I got mad over the BIG issues, not if George failed to pull out a chair, vomited on a head of state, screwed up the meaning of words in speeches, even acted like the hick alcoholic puppet he was born to be. I didn't scream that we had an elected president who's wife KILLED SOMEONE while driving drunk. I didn't even bring up the fact that both the Pres and the VP and their wives were all alcoholics when elected, provided they just didn't get bombed while in office.
I focused on the big foul ups.
But this administration doesn't DO big foul ups-- so the losers have to cry over every glass of milk spilled and underling's bad judgment calls.

If you are a Republican, you are not a victim of anything but your own party's actions and arrogance over the last 4 years, and trying to pin it on anyone but yourselves is just more proof of how shallow, ignorant, and whiny you can be.

Some days, although it is not very polite, I want to post bumper stickers on my car and notices on my web sites that convey the message in my head:

Crazy Like a Fox

Misleading.

That's the latest term being used to describe Fox News.
There is no dearth of proofs that Fox has crafted it's 'news' department to be the propaganda arm of the far right wing taking it's talking points verbatim from the Bush White House Press Secretary and the G.O.P.'s ongoing verbal krystalnacht .
Downplaying or ignoring obvious gaffs, blunders and violations of law- from the basic abuse of a Vice President who shoots someone in the face and yet is not instantly in touch with the CIA/White House (oh please!) to the disgraceful abuse of power with the operations at Gitmo, in some absurd attempt to claim that having a US operated jail not on US soil was exempt from US law, the Fox News Team (isn't THAT an oxymoron!) consistently supports what the Republican party does and attacks what the Democratic party does.
Now we know that they also are more than happy to splice and dice video to say whatever they want it to say.
Legal forensic experts would have a field day with the reality of what they have obscured and twisted.
No news organization has been accused of more blatant tactics and partisan reporting than Fox, including Fox's ongoing finger pointing at anyone and everyone that *is* doing a fair and unbiased job.
Today's Huffington Post report even has a 'side by side' video to illustrate the reprehensible tactics. Not since Hannity claimed to be a reporter have we seen such sham by a news person or group.
I don't blame the millions of Americans that believe them. Propaganda artists are *specialists* at creating distraction, making claims about their opponents without proof, mishandling information and trying to destroy the credibility of their opponents when they are undermining truth.
It takes a person with a lot of time and some education to be able to read and research all the various claims both parties have made over the years. But it doesn't take a rocket scientist to remember something as blatant as the Cheney White House and their talking lackeys screaming that anyone who spoke badly about the Bush Presidency was a traitor and undermining America and Godless swine. Ann Coulter dragged her bones across the airwaves and through publishing houses for 8 years demanding that Democrats be burnt out of their homes if they so much as disageed with the President.
Yet now that they do not have the control, they violate their very words and, under their own rules, should be called traitors rather than what they are. Bias, manipulative liars.
They get away with it because human nature demands that we feel proud of our decisions, and shame at our failures, so for millions of Americans, admitting they were taken in by the GOP for the last 8 years would be a shame they cannot admit to, and require they re-evalutate how they think, how they vote, and exactly how much they really know about the 'news' they ingest like bottled water.
Meanwhile, they are misled further and further away from the truth, and closer to a bankrupt, empty, jobless future for the US and encouraged to vote against the very things that are in their own best interests.

Have mercy, I'm an Orphan!

Nice looking woman that Lizzie Borden. She killed her father and his 2nd wife. She was set free by a jury who could not prove she did it, and for some, felt sorry for her for being an orphan.

See these guys? They are the public figureheads and talking spokesmen for the GOP, which is now standing over the financial body of millions of Americans. They want to pretend they are innocent and that we should pity them.
They want to stop Americans from fixing what they broke.
They want to freak you out.

A new GOP advertisement goes so far as to accuse the Democrats of planning to do what the GOP HAS been doing for 6 of the 8 last years until they messed up so badly that Americans put some Democrats back into one of the branches of government.

"These liberals want complete control of government in a time of crisis, all branches of government," the ad's narrator states. "No check and balances, no debate, no independence. That's the truth behind Kay Hagan. If she wins, they get a blank check."

Crying foul, pointing fingers and trying to ignore the fact that THEY have been in total power in all branches of government, have not shared power with the Democrats, and have done everything they could to keep TOTAL GOP control, they are now nervous.
They are afraid that the Democratic party will do to them- and the country- what they did to us.

Not a chance.
Democrats have no interest in stripping the country bare, lining their own Halliburton Enron Lehman Brothers pockets and then taking the golden parachute and ignoring what hell they wrought.
We have to clean up their mess.

They stood there and hacked America up with deregulation, retribution wars, and a daily claim that THEY were the victims of the big bad old Democrats that they had left for dead on the couch!

It turned out that the claims in 2000 that the Democrats had glued the drawers shut and stolen the W's on the typewriters in the West Wing were deliberate lies spread to discredit outgoing Clinton staffers.

It turns out that the 'invasion' of Iraq was a sham planned even before Bush took office, in collusion with Tony Blair's administration, to deliberately get rid of a dictator in an oil rich country, and war in Afghanistan conveniently bombed out the EXACT path for an oil pipeline that would have otherwise been too expensive to create.

It turns out that while claiming voter fraud, the GOP fired lawyers that would not illegally and without cause prosecute groups like ACORN when they did their jobs and followed the law.

It turns out that, without any help from anyone , McCain was part of the securities and exchange commissions scandal with Keating- but rather than mention it, his campaign wants to tie Obama to felon years after the man paid the price and turned over a new leaf, and on the flimsiest of excuses.

It turns out that while standing around talking about family values, Sara "I'm almost as qualified as Paris Hilton" Palin had someone fired for NOT illegally firing her ex brother in law.
And she padded state accounts for her kids to travel.
And she did NOT sell a plane on EBAY- but she tried.
And the GOP spent over $149,000.00 to clothe "Mrs. Everywoman".
And BROKE THE MCCAIN WRITTEN LAW ABOUT SPENDING CAMPAIGN MONEY ON CLOTHING.
WTF is up with that kind of logic?

Considering that the GOP is desperately ignoring that RIGHT NOW her predecessor, Ted Stevens, is on TRIAL for corruption, it's kind of funny how they can just ignore everything when cornered.

Be kind to them! Listen to them! They know what they are talking about when they mention destruction-- they are orphans!

Just a Thought on "One of the People".

Why I am a Democrat

Ontario police arrest man in voter fraud case

Mark Jacoby, who owns a firm hired by the California Republican Party, violated state laws with his own registration, authorities say.

By Evan Halper, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
October 20, 2008

SACRAMENTO -- The owner of a firm that the California Republican Party hired to register tens of thousands of voters this year was arrested in Ontario over the weekend on suspicion of voter registration fraud.

State and local investigators allege that Mark Jacoby fraudulently registered himself to vote at a childhood California address where he no longer lives so he would appear to meet the legal requirement that all signature gatherers be eligible to vote in California. His firm, Young Political Majors, or YPM, collects petition signatures and registers voters in California and other states.

Jacoby's arrest by state investigators and the Ontario Police Department late Saturday came after dozens of voters said they were duped into registering as Republicans by people employed by YPM. The voters said YPM workers tricked them by saying they were signing a petition to toughen penalties against child molesters.

The firm was paid $7 to $12 for every Californian it registered as a member of the GOP.

Dan Goldfine, an attorney for Jacoby, on Sunday denied any wrongdoing by his client and called the charges "baseless."

He said the arrest outside an Ontario hotel, which involved seven squad cars and nine police officers, was part of a "long pattern of harassment against Mr. Jacoby for an entirely valid voter registration effort."

Goldfine said the case that prosecutors are bringing against his client involves charges that are rarely pressed.

Jacoby was released on bail Sunday evening from the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga, Goldfine said.

After complaints by voters and Democratic Party officials, several agencies launched investigations into Jacoby's activities. They included the Los Angeles County district attorney's office, which issued the warrant for his arrest earlier this month on felony charges of voter registration fraud and perjury.

"We contacted people at the addresses where he registered, and they have no idea who he is," said Dave Demerjian, head deputy of the public integrity unit at the L.A. County district attorney's office.

Goldfine said his client does business in many states, traveling frequently, and his permanent address has been his parents' Los Angeles County home, where he received mail and registered to vote.

Demerjian said his office is continuing to investigate allegations that YPM workers improperly re-registered voters with the GOP.

Several dozen voters recently told The Times that YPM workers said they had to become Republicans to sign the petition, contrary to California initiative law. Other voters said they had no idea their registration was being changed.

YPM has been accused of using bait-and-switch tactics across the country. Election officials and lawmakers have launched investigations into the activities of YPM workers in Florida and Massachusetts. In Arizona, the firm was recently a defendant in a civil rights lawsuit.

In a written statement Sunday, the state Republican Party called the charges against Jacoby "politically motivated." The party said the charges do not support accusations from voters and Democratic officials that YPM has been duping voters into joining the GOP.

The statement accused Secretary of State Debra Bowen, who announced the arrest, of "using her office to play politics."

Bowen is a Democrat.

evan.halper@latimes.com

TRY THINKING!!!!

I have been living in a world for 7.5 years where "the rulers make their own reality", where "non-conformity is traitorous" and where "real Americans and Good Christians" have to pass a litmus test that changes from zealot to zealot and pastor to pastor , but always ends with people believing whatever the hell they have been told.

HEAVENS TO BETSY ON A HUMP ARE YOU PEOPLE TOO STUPID TO GOOGLE????

I had a dear friend and very liberal thinker decide to post this:

Back in 1990, the Government seized the Mustang Ranch
brothel in Nevada for tax evasion and, as required by
law, tried to run it.

They failed and it closed.

Now we are trusting the economy of our country to a pack of
nit-wits who couldn't make money running a whore house
and selling booze?

We are in big trouble folks! Think about it.

I was disgusted that my friend was so easily led- and that so many other SMART people on my group would swallow this whole.
But hey-- it SOUNDS GOOD.
It is the classic example of "Truthiness".


It is, after all, catering to their sincere belief that the government cannot handle ANYTHING and that it is an entity in and of itself like "Puff the Magic dragon" or "Idi Amin" or "Santa Claus" rather than a a huge conglomerate of various good people and bad people all working for us Americans to varying degrees of intelligent ends.

This kind of post was short sighted-- it made a GREAT sound bite. It was, of course, wrong.
No one would know that-- and they would have their beliefs reinforced as well as be able to spread more misinformation if I had not had the time to Google the reality.

The history of the ranch was not just bad taxes... it was a bit deeper than that: racketeering and siphoned funds no taxes paid, etc:

Last month, in the latest of a long saga of court verdicts against the infamous brothel, a former Mustang madam and the bordello’s two operating companies were convicted in federal court of racketeering and fraud.

Prosecutors said the two companies were established to hide the identity of the brothel’s true owner, Joseph Conforte, a toupee-wearing bordello baron who founded the state’s first brothel in 1955.

Skimming $500,000 a year from brothel profits, insiders used Swiss bank accounts to siphon money to Conforte, who authorities believe has been living in Rio de Janeiro since fleeing the country to avoid tax evasion charges.

Officials auctioned off the Mustang in 1990 after Conforte failed to pay a $13-million tax debt. A year later, from his Brazilian hide-out, Conforte orchestrated the repurchase of the ranch, prosecutors say.

“It’s a sordid story,” said Assistant U.S. Atty. J. Gregory Damm. “And it involves a worldwide network of bogus companies and deceptive transactions, all designed to obscure and frustrate the efforts of law enforcement to trace the Mustang Ranch’s true ownership.”

On July 9, a jury ruled the federal government could seize the brothel’s assets and ordered owners to turn over the two bordellos, Mustang I and Mustang II.

And, it turns out, the government did not fail... they deliberately closed it the moment they seized it and then re-sold it after going through the books... so, really, there is no *failure* of governemnt here-- they did their jobs, got the $ they could from illegal ope rations, then found new owners:

Women pop their hips, introduce themselves, and line up along a full-length mirror. The madam touches a man with limp hair and asks him if he's ready to pick a girl. The man's friend answers for him. No, he tells her, they want to wait a in the bar a little longer.

Lance Gilman, the brothel owner, said that helping lonely men - along with saving women from illegal prostitution and giving back to Storey County - is why he is reopening one of the most famous brothels in the world, the Mustang Ranch.

"We are proud to take care of the people that have been maybe left out in society," Gilman said. "You know, a lot of folks are not born to beauty. There's all kind of infirmities, and not everyone was treated kindly by Mother Nature."

Gilman said this while sitting in the ranch's Italian courtyard-themed parlor, which sits across from the other brothel he owns where the two men watched the girls line up.

"Where are they going to go with dignity?" he asked. "And how are they going to bring people into their lives?"

Gilman answered: By going to the Mustang Ranch.

He said he has spent more than $5 million restoring and relocating the ranch he bought on eBay in 2003 and will reopen Saturday. The public party will include an interview with Joe Conforte, the former owner and man who opened the Mustang in 1971 as the first licensed brothel in the state. Conforte will give an interview via satellite from South America.

Susan Austin, the madam at the ranch, said one of the ways to honor Conforte is treating the working girls with respect. She said Conforte made sure the women were well-fed, given medical treatment and taken care of with facials and manicures. Keeping this tradition of respect, she said, is the most important part of her job.

"Are they happy? Is it a comfortable place to work? Is it a safe place to work?" Austin said, adding later, "While they're here, it should be a wonderful, pleasurable experience."

In making the building a nice place to work, Austin was in charge of restoring and decorating the interior. She said she loved the original, but also created themed VIP rooms, added more than $100,000 in art, and redesigned the domination room.

Working girls also now have a separate room to negotiate prices and check customers for sexually transmitted diseases. Before, they had to do that in their bedrooms.

Gilman said the biggest reason he's in the brothel business is to help women in illegal prostitution move to ranches like his.

"Illegal prostitution is the ugliest of the ugly," he said.

On the brothel grounds, Gilman has preserved pieces of the original ranch's own notorious history: An oil painting20of Conforte while he was in prison, the Mustang guard tower from where a world-class Brazilian boxer was shot, the incinerator Conforte used to burn records.

"I wish it could talk," Austin said, referring to the incinerator. "So does the federal government."

Before the ranch opened, Conforte served time in prison for extortion and tax evasion, and his body guard was convicted for fatally shooting the boxer in 1976. The boxer was allegedly having an affair with Conforte's wife.

In 1998, Conforte was indicted by the Internal Revenue Service on charges of fraud, conspiracy and money-laundering.

But by then, Conforte was gone to Brazil, and the IRS had confiscated the brothel. Mustang Properties Inc., later found to be run by Conforte, then bought the property, but had it closed again by the IRS in 1999.

Gilman said Storey County realized more brothels would open soon and approached him as an operator. County Commissioner Greg "Bum" Hess said Gilman has done a great job, and Gilman said he's happy to contribute to the county with the money he pays in taxes and fees.

Hess said the brothels add $700,000 to the county's annual $9 million to $10 million budget .

Getting almost 1/10th of the counties budget from the taxes generated at the place (which still makes a healthy living for the owners) is not something i would ignore either...
no one would.
We would scream bloody murder if we found out that we were paying taxes but that some company had just skipped out on them and the local governemnt had done nothing to recoup that money.

So what do YOU do?


Hey- let's try THINKING rather than just believing something because it feeds into your beliefs of how awful or wonderful something is. Let's try Google and read the actual information from some 3d party non-biased sites.
RADIO personalities are not non-biased, nor do most of them really show any bent for being very careful fact checkers.
Neither do most NEWS STATIONS in America right now.
We reward them for feeding us what we want to hear.

We frequently only bother to READ or LISTEN to things that we ALREADY KNOW spout our feelings- and we never check to see if they are telling us the truth, or just telling us what we want to hear to save their advertising dollars and keep those numbers up for listeners and subscribers.

My very Libertarian friend got HOGSWADDLED because he hates the US Government and several other people with other agendas created that lie, fed him that lie, and he repeated it without bothering to question it.

Back in the 60's we chanted QUESTION AUTHORITY.

I want you to QUESTION EVERYTHING.
Try thinking, will you?

WE are SHEEP

I need to become a politician. There isn't a ONE of them I feel we can trust. Checking out the grand jury report on Mayor Ron Gonzales and his buddies in the Waste Disposal Business, I wanna just chuck all my trash inside HIS house.

How DARE these men (and women) think that it is OK to screw us over for a deal?

What the hell happened to "serving for the public trust"?

WHEN did these allegedly intelligent, honest, religiously pious people suddenly throw out their morals and start assuming we will look the other way?????

I want them all in jail.

I want them ALL in jail.

Then I want the serious criminals allowed to room with them.

The report:

http://www.sccsuperiorcourt.org/jury/GJreports/2005/SanJoseTrashDeal.pdf

I love EBAY, and find most of the impossible pieces of pottery that I have spent life searching for there- things that I cannot get anywhere else.
I also like convenience, but then again, not at the hands of rip off artists.
I had Paypal for a while- but they had a nasty tendency of just suddenly saying "you MUST 'verify' this account or we won't let you use it-- with VERIFY meaning LINK IT TO A CHECKING ACCOUNT.

So I left.

I am glad I did. The proliferation of problems there scares me, as does the *reasons* for some of those problems.
I ran across this on a search about freedoms-- and it was VERY interesting and rings true.


The Malignancy We Won’t Cure
By Jack Rinella

Since last July I have found prosperity of sorts by selling my books on my website and collecting payment through Paypal. It was easy to use, didn’t cost a great deal, and there was no worry about bounced checks or fraudulent credit cards. I had even begun to sell packages to our up-coming D/s Intensive. Years of hard work, I thought had begun to pay off.

That is until last night when Paypal shut me down. Accused of violating their terms of agreement, I can’t even (right now anyway) retrieve the more than $1,200 in my account -- sitting there to help pay for the next printing bill. Now I’m sure that once I get all references to Paypal off my website, that the money will be forth-coming but resolving all this is a mini-crisis of sorts.

The major crisis that is hidden in all of this is a malignancy we won’t cure. Cure? Hell we hardly even talk about it. Haven’t seen a workshop on the topic for a long, long time, if indeed I ever have. There’s no stories about it in the New York Times, never heard about it on the radio, seldom ever seen a movie about it, and you certainly don’t see any hospitals or health organizations doing anything about it. What’s it? Our negative attitude about sex.

As far as I can tell, Paypal shut me off because they think that my writing about relationships between consenting adults is salacious, dirty, shameful, illegal, immoral, and pornographic. I think it’s just 100% natural.

Now this isn’t just a Paypal thing, though they’re the ones who’ve set me off to writing this morning. Negative attitudes about natural human functions permeate our existence and sex negativity, as far as I’m can see, tops the list. I’m not in favor of rape or the sexual molestation of children or animals. I’m not in favor of spreading diseases through intimate contact either.

I am also opposed to the self-hatred, the repression, and the psychoses perpetrated by an outright deception about the beauty, appropriateness, and sacredness of sexual expression. It is as simple as that. Still we do damn little about it. We are held captive by puritanical mores and morals that dictate what we can and can not do with our bodies.

The old-fashioned Judaic-Christian standards rule our lives: virgins come first, then widows, and wives are a far third. Sex is for procreation and marriage is allowed just so we won’t burn. That’s a quote as St. Paul wrote “It is better to marry than to burn.” (I Corinthians 7:9, KJV) All of this, of course, isn’t limited to Christianity. As far as I can tell, all the major religions place a pall over sexual activity and the ones that didn’t have long since disappeared from public view. The temple prostitutes in Athens or Thebes haven’t been seen in centuries, to name just a few.

It’s not just a Judaic-Christian thing either. We are besieged with the Platonic idea that Idea is better than body, that somehow matter is evil. When will we return to the thought that creation is good rather than see all this as a “vale of tears?”

Hidden in all of this ranting is a serious question. How do we overcome our fear and loathing of sex? How do we purge from ourselves the millennia of training that echoes that sex is dirty and shameful? That demands we hide genitalia, not teach the truth to our children, engage in sexual acts only furtively?

When do we proclaim that masturbation is a good and healthy activity? That sex is for solace, for comfort, for pleasure, for bonding, for friendship, for exploration, for enlightenment, for itself without bounds and reasons? When do we honor our own bodies as beautiful and that our own bodies and those of others are real dwelling places of the divine? When do we respect both self and mutual gratification? When will the roles we take sexually be seen as equal and complementary rather than top (better) and bottom (not as strong)? When will gender roles disappear?

Basically when will each of us become authentic? How can we free ourselves from the “shoulds” that have been drilled into our psyches since the day we were born? When can we let go of the expectations imposed upon us by those who said “I know what’s best for you?” We are, after all, many drives and many talents. We have many possibilities before us. When will we be able to attain not our parents’ desires, not the propaganda of church, school, or state, but the goals of our highest and most authentic selves? When will we be free to us?

This is, after all, more than just about selling a few books. It is about the health of the individual, every individual. Starting there, it goes beyond the individual to society and the planet. It takes healthy individuals to create a healthy society and a healthy society to insure a healthy planet. Environmental disaster, after all, is caused one person at a time.

So my rant comes back to myself. What can I do to become healthier? How can I rid myself of self-loathing, of the echoes of the “Thou shalt nots” that rise up from my past? How do I become free to be me? Then, and here’s the hard part, how do I help liberate my fellow men and women to be themselves as well? It’s not, after all, about Paypal but about each and every one of us doing the work, the hard work, to become authentic.

Authenticity is not an easy way to live. It demands we be honest with ourselves and that we recognize the ways we pollute, negate, and deny our real selves. It means that we ask hard questions and then work hard to answer them honestly. It means that we take time for ourselves to improve ourselves, that ultimately we are more important than our schedules, our careers, our families, and our society. It is not that we forsake any of those but that we live knowing that a better self insures a better schedule, a better career, a better family, and a better society.

The process of being authentic means that we have to evaluate our priorities. We can’t dismiss as unimportant the work of personal growth, of reflection, of learning and probing, of doing those things that that are most helpful and (here’s the rub) giving up some of those things that maintain an unhealthy status quo. Growth as a couch potato is not the same as growth as real person.

Sometimes we have to choose between healthy activity of the mind and body and the same old status quo of relaxing and zoning out.

Right now, though, I have to take Paypal buttons off my website. After that I’ll be able to think about what I’ve asked. Don’t hold your breath for answers but join me in asking them of yourself anyway. "

Not a bad article- and it also hit on one of my favorite buttons, sexual freedom of action for consenting adults. But more about the morals police in another post at another time.

Back to Payhell!




A small quote from the site Pay pal sucks:
" PayPal's SPP: The Seller Punishment Policy

PayPal's Seller Protection Policy is a farce, and at least one PayPal employee admits it.
By PayPalSucks.ORG Created 10/19/2005

PayPal made a huge mistake when it published one of it's pages on the web with some internal comments still included. The comment was, "too strong I think given the limited ability to comply with SPP." (Referring to the PayPal SPP, i.e., Seller "Protection" Policy, but we call it the Seller Punishment Policy.) It's supposed to help sellers from being ripped off. However, it doesn't work because it's impossible to comply with all the requirements of the SPP. For some reason, there was only a little media coverage and it focused on the mistake, not the admission or what it meant."

All in All, I think I will continue to avoid Pay Pal and use money orders or my credit cards directly-- after all, the credit companies make it possible for everyone to dispute charges and items- and don't freeze every dime you have.

Chocolate Chip Cookie

It may be hard to believe, but before the 1930s no one had ever had the pleasure of biting into a chocolate chip cookie. Why? The sweet world-famous treat had not been invented yet.

Ruth Graves Wakefield was the woman responsible for coming up with the concoction. Ruth graduated from the Framingham State Normal School Department of Household Arts in 1924. After graduation, she worked as a dietitian and food lecturer. In 1930, Ruth and her husband Kenneth Wakefield purchased a Cape Cod-style toll house located halfway between Boston and New Bedford, on the outskirts of Whitman, Massachusetts. The house had originally been built in 1709, and at that time it had served as a haven for road-weary travelers. There, passengers paid tolls, changed horses and ate home-cooked meals.

More than 200 years later, the Wakefields decided to build on the house's tradition, turning into a lodge and calling it the Toll House Inn. Ruth cooked home-made meals and baked for guests of the inn, and as she improved upon traditional Colonial recipes, her incredible desserts began attracting people from all over New England.

One of Ruth's favorite recipes was for Butter Drop Do cookies. As she prepared the batter one day she discovered she had run out of baker's chocolate. She found a semi-sweet chocolate bar that had been given to her by Andrew Nestle, and so she cut it into tiny bits and added them to the dough, expecting them to melt as the cookies baked in the oven. However, the chocolate did not melt. Instead, it held its shape and softened to a delicately creamy texture. Needless to say, the cookies Ruth had created became very popular with guests at the inn, and soon her recipe was published in a Boston newspaper, as well as other papers in the New England area.

Meanwhile, Nestle saw sales of its Semi-Sweet Chocolate Bar jump dramatically, and Ruth and Nestle came together to reach an agreement that would allow Nestle to print the "Toll House Cookie" recipe on its packaging. Part of this agreement included supplying Ruth with all of the chocolate she could use for the rest of her life.


Nestle, meanwhile, began scoring the Semi-Sweet Chocolate Bar, and packaged it with a special chopper for easily cutting it into small morsels. Then, in 1939, Nestle had a better idea, and began offering Nestlé Toll House Real Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels. The rest is "chocolate-chip" history. Ruth continued to cook up a storm, producing a series of cookbooks including "Ruth Wakefield's Recipes: Tried and True," which went through thirty-nine printings. She and Kenneth sold the Toll House Inn in 1966 to a family that tried to turn it into a nightclub. In 1970 it was bought by the Saccone family who turned it back into it's original form. The Toll House burned down, however, on New Years Eve in 1984.

Ruth Graves Wakefield passed away in 1977.

Here is a great chocolate chip cookie recipe from the net. It makes 3 to 4 dozen delicious cookies.

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 cup white granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt, ideally with a wire whisk, and set it aside.

In a large bowl, mix the butter, brown sugar, and white granulated sugar with an electric mixer to form a granular paste. Add eggs and vanilla extract, and mix at medium speed until thoroughly mixed.

Blend in the flour mixture, then the chocolate chips (and optional walnuts), at low speed until the ingredients are well distributed.

Drop by rounded tablespoons onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake for 17 to 19 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand for a minute or so, then remove to wire racks or other cool surface with a spatula.

Enjoy!

http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/tollhouse.htm
http://www.joyofbaking.com/ChocolateChipCookies.html
http://www.verybestbaking.com/recipes/detail.aspx?ID=18476
http://www.verybestbaking.com/recipes/results.aspx?keyword=chocolate+chip+cookies
http://www.chocolate-chip-cookies.info/Results.aspx?query=Chocolate%20Chip%20Cookies&sessionid=1d3sdy55zs4skgqapuf5kwju&cc=us&ns=1&eas=pFTf-vkejlGwzQ1CjJfVDA..&epsi=USy6f4oq5dE.
http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/9-14-2005-76776.asp
http://store.aetv.com/html/product/index.jhtml?id=76488
http://www.thinkingfountain.org/c/chocolate/chocolate.html
http://www.premiersystems.com/recipes/desserts/cookie-chip.html
http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blchocolatechipcookies.htm
Chocolate Chip Cookies:

6 ounces brown sugar
6 ounces sugar
9 ounces softened butter
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
13 ounces bread flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp soda
12 ounces lrg chocolate chips

Heat oven to 375 F. Cream the butter, sugar and then the eggs and vanilla. Sift the flour and baking powder and mix into the batter. Once combined add the chocolate chips.

Using a spoon or scoop place on a cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Once slightly browned around the edges remove the cookies from the oven and cool.