Another departure from the usual. . .

I'm sorry, guys; I don't have the heart for a "political diatribe" today; not that I don't have the material, but I think I'll save that for next week. 

For those of you who actually know me, you are aware how much I love animals.  There seem to be "dog people", and there are "cat people", and then there are folk like myself who just love animals!  In my adult life, I've had, simultaneously, both cats and dogs, as well as guinea pigs, rats, snakes and fish; I have to admit that I didn't love the snake, but the rest have all, at various times, held a special place in my heart.

At Christmas, in 2005, I lost a cat, Kami, that I had had for 18 years, who I somewhat jokingly called "my little feline soul mate"; definitely the sweetest cat I've ever known.  6 months later, I went looking for another cat, as a companion to Miko (another cat that I had at the time), and as the fates would have it, I had to bring 2 kittens home with me from the "rescue place", as I had stumbled across 2 six month olds, that were obviously best friends.  I spent about 3 hours trying to talk myself out of that decision, to no avail; if I took one, I had to take her friend.  One was a Siamese called, "Bella", and the other was what I call a "dark calico", as the colors were all solid; black, orange and white, and her name was, "Kassie".

As most cat owners will tell you (and anybody that has ever had a cat will tell you that you do not "own" a cat!), every cat is "different"; no two are alike, and that can be a trial, because when you get a kitten, there is no guarantee as to the temperament of the animal, or what they will be like as adults.  One of the trials of being a cat "owner". . .

Kassie is the best argument for reincarnation that I've ever experienced; aside from being a different color, I felt as though Kami's spirit had simply relocated into another body, and found her way back to me.  Yeah, there were a few differences, but Kami's "essence" was there, and Kassie was a healthy, happy cat.

Friday was a day like any other; Kassie woke me up, had a "kitty conversation" with me (a very vocal cat with a huge range of sounds at her command!), and the day progressed as usual.  She went past me, at the computer, about 6:30 p.m., tail flying high, with the dog accompanying her, and I went down to fix dinner shortly after that.  At 8, I was back upstairs for a couple hours of TV, and when I headed down for bed, about 10, I didn't see her, so I came back up and called her name. She answered me, from behind the computer desk, with a sound so full of agony that the hairs on the back of my neck stood up.  25 minutes later, we were at the emergency vet's, and about 2 hours later (I just could not stay in the reception room with 3 other people in obvious pain!), the doctor called to tell me that she had just died.  He could provide no reasons; an X-ray showed nothing, and blood readings were all "normal".

So, all I really have to say today is:  stop every once and awhile, and look around you; count your blessings, and appreciate what you've got, because sometimes, Life turns on a dime.  Take time to really enjoy the good times, and when things get tough, know that they will get better.  Kassie was only 6 years old, and next weekend we'd have had our 6th "anniversary" together; not nearly long enough, but I am so thankful for the time that we had!

Have a great week, guys; next week has got to be better than this one!

Arrrrrrggggg! As the weather. . .

gets nicer and nicer, I'm finding it's harder and harder to stay inside and work at the computer; if I was one of those folk who plan ahead, I might not find myself wishing I was out on the motorcycle!

Luckily, with the "silly season" (oh God, there's still 6 months left before the election!) fully upon us, finding things to chuckle at is no problem, and if there were no ramifications attached to the actions, it would all be fine and good, but. . .

How 'bout that little problem that the Secret Service guys had, down there in Colombia?  You know, I just find it hard to believe that adults can be so stupid, sometimes; these guys, when they are "working" in another country, are basically on duty around the clock, and here they are, screwing around on the job!  http://tinyurl.com/7y397m9   In their defense, however, i do have to point out that at the very least, they do have better taste in women than a certain recent ex-president that comes to mind!   And, who knows, maybe they were just being big hearted philanthropists, trying to help one mother with her beauty school and child rearing costs, and another pay for her schooling.  The thing that I find truly appalling is that we, the American tax payers, are going to be footing a minimum $1.6 million dollar bill for the investigation of this little "affair"!

Next up!  Man, those cats in the GSA sure know how to party, don't they?  And, apparently, that party in Las Vegas, complete with clowns (wait a minute!  They had clowns for these clowns?) is just the tip of the iceberg:  http://tinyurl.com/7rs3nw2  I don't understand how things like this go on; these guys, who are supposed to be "on watch" to make sure that a blatant waste of money like this doesn't happen, are doing it themselves?  How can they possibly look at themselves in the mirror?  Of course, now politicians from both sides of the aisle are pointing fingers (after all, we all know that they would never waste money, right?), and are pounding their chests proclaiming that this must stop!  Meanwhile, the Secretary of Defense continues to jaunt from coast to coast on his weekends at a cost to us of $32,000 per trip.  Honest; straight from the horse's mouth: http://tinyurl.com/7ybjv7e

And, if you want more to tickle your funny bone, our tireless campaigner, Newt Gingrich, manages to both bounce a $500 check, drawn on a closed account, to the Utah elections office, http://tinyurl.com/6t3sxf9 , and get bitten by a penguin, http://tinyurl.com/76rhknm , in the same week!  The first, I guess I can wrap my head around, if I try real hard, but the second?  Come on!  Again, in Newt's defense, I'd guess that most of us, in our time, may have bounced a check or two, but in his 1992 primary campaign, he bounced 22 checks to the tune of around $26,000 proving Newt to not only be a consummate politician, but a fine musician!

On a more serious note, in case you think that the battle for internet freedom has been won. . . THINK AGAIN!  http://tinyurl.com/cy6kuun It will take you a couple of minutes to read this, but Google co-founder, Sergey Brin, has a few words of warning to convey.  Since the deregulation of the news media, we have very few places to turn for news, other than those provided by about 3 media conglomerates, and be assured that they are not interested in sharing unfavorable views of the actions of governments all over the world, unless it is in their best interests!  So, please people, stay aware of what's going on on this front, because it is going to affect the future of the world!  The internet is our "window on the world", without a giant corporation's filters and biases; it's worth the effort to keep it free.

On the music scene, Neil Young has a new album, "Americana", due out on June 5th.  Neil has made no secret of his disdain for the sound quality of digital media, over the last 25 years, despite the assertion of this article, http://tinyurl.com/6mwnfz6 , and he filed 6 trademarks with the US Patent and Trademarks office, almost a year ago, which will improve the quality of music downloaded from the internet; a blessing for those of us who do not appreciate the low sonic quality of mp3s!

Although it's a few months early, or maybe a few months late, check out this beautiful and haunting tune; Thea Gilmore's "December in New York":  http://tinyurl.com/6m6e3v8  Over the last couple of years, she has become one of my favorite singer/songwriters, and I think you'll like her!

It's Spring and. . .

the sun is starting to stick around to tempt us all into the outside world; working in the gardens, riding motorcycles and walking in the woods are starting to become more and more attractive!  The problem with this is that most of us would rather be outside than inside, in front of a computer ferreting out news, which makes it much easier for the the politicians to slip things past us.  They have not given up on their desire to take control of the internet, and the newest "incarnations" of the SOPA and PIPA bills (if you don't know what they are, "google" them. . .) are a flock of bills coming up that are very loosely written, in order to give them the maximum ability to expand their power over this wonderful medium.  They all have these wonderful sounding titles that are totally misleading, kind of like "The Patriot Act" had, and will have far reaching effects, should they be passed into law:  http://tinyurl.com/cbdx7ey  It is definitely worth keeping an eye out for things like this, and the first of the new bills is called CISPA.  http://tinyurl.com/896dfep  Of course, they deny that it is anything like SOPA, but check it out. . . I love the fact that all of the sponsers of these bills claim, "Well, it's not perfect, but. . ."

I had to laugh today, when I saw that Dick Cheney, of all people, had called Obama's administration an "unmitigated disaster"; as if our country did so well under the administration in which he worked, which left Obama so many problems to try and deal with!  I'm not an Obama fan, but this seems to me to be a case of the pot calling the kettle black.


OK, 'nuff of that!


For your "musical sortie" of the day, try your ears out on Diane Birch: http://tinyurl.com/7od857q in which she sounds a little bit country, a little bit rock 'n roll, or http://tinyurl.com/7kj95vv in which she sounds a bit "bluesy".  A few months ago, my godson asked me if I had ever heard of her, and directed me to a session that she did at Daryl Hall's, "Live From Daryl's House", and I was just enchanted!  The girl has a great voice, and her songwriting takes some unexpected turns, which adds a lot of interest to her tunes and progressions.

And, to close this out so that I can get outside, let your mind wander down these tracks. . .

Have a great week, guys!

They just never change. . .

I apologize for not getting something up, last Monday, but the audio-visual project that I was involved in, all of a sudden developed a serious need to be wrapped up and gotten into the mail.  Once done with that I developed a bad case "Screw it!", and just relaxed for a couple of days.  And then I started to pay attention to what was going on in our world, and found that I had a plethora of things to write about. . .

But first. . . I went online this morning, to find a tune for you guys, and learned that a relatively unknown guitar player whose talents I fell in love with, back in '94, Bugs Henderson, died about a month ago.  I discovered an album called, "Daredevils of the Red Guitar", in the demo bin at Silver Platters (local CD chain, where I worked on the weekends), and started playing it over the PA. about 2 weeks before it was released.  I also wrote a review of it, in our quarterly music magazine, and created such demand for it, that Bug's manager called the corporate headquarters to find out why we were selling more of the discs in the Seattle-Tacoma area of Washington, than anyplace else in the country.  He was a constant on the Dallas-Ft. Worth, Texas music scene, for the last 54 years, and has turned out a bunch of albums, although not nearly enough.  Here's a great example of his playing, although it really isn't a video, and you'll find a lot more of his work posted here: http://tinyurl.com/6v8xefg and for those who'd like a little more "rock": http://tinyurl.com/84kas7t  Thanks for all the good music over the years, Bugs; hope you've got a Paul Reed Smith with you.

Ok, back to "business". . . President Obama signed the STOCK (Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge) Act into law last week, which stops members of the Congress and Senate, the president, and federal workers from profiting from nonpublic information.  http://tinyurl.com/7pxeoso  HOWEVER, the congress did NOT require public reports from people, like lobbyists and friends, who get information from these same sources, which means that they can continue to collect and sell this private information to investors.  Nice little loophole, isn't it?  And, of course, once that information is delivered to someone, it's no longer private, which means. . .

As I've noted before, it continues to chap my butt that no one except the American tax payers and the common people all over the world have had to bear the cost of the economic meltdown of 2008.  Last Thursday, Bank of America, Citigroup, J.P. Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Ally Financial agreed to pay $5 billion to the federal and state governments, and another $20 billion to cut mortgage debts and restructure troubled loans.  Of course, they are not admitting to any of the charges brought against them by 49 states, and the federal government.  http://tinyurl.com/75md92w  Personally, I think that they should be made to hurt, and I suspect that this penalty is a lot like that leveraged against Michael Milken (the "junkbond king" of the '70's and '80's) in 1990; he was indicted on 98 counts of racketeering and securities fraud and sentenced to 10 years in jail; he wound up serving 2 years in prison and fined, if I remember correctly, about $200 million and $600 in restitution, but was left with something like $150 million, gained from his scam.  On leaving jail, he was given a job teaching finances at Stanford!  And as the real "topper", if you look him up, he'll be listed as "an American business magnate, financier and philanthropist", not as a scam artist!  Anybody care to guess how much the banks made off the financial meltdown?  You can bet it was a whole more than $25 billion!

Along the same line, the government is trying to bring one MF Global (and, no, folks, "MF" is not slang, in this case!) executive to task for his bank's part in the meltdown.  http://tinyurl.com/87doz3h However, with the legal staff he has, who knows what will come of this; private industry has the ability and desire to hire the absolute best people in their field to go against the government's "public servants".  In this article, the reporter stated that no one has been held responsible for the economic meltdown because, "the vast majority of what happened in the years leading up to the financial crisis was legal, courtesy of silly laws championed by the industry and enacted by Congress. But Congress can't admit that, so Congress instead blames prosecutors and regulators for being too wimpy."  This just makes me sick!

Despite the fact that the U.S. is slowly and tentatively recovering from our recession, the International Monetary Fund is asking the U.S. to kick in and help out the European nations.  http://tinyurl.com/bpz55se  Although it claims that our financial security is dependent on the stability of the European nations, we would have to borrow that money, since we are already deep in the red, and in an election year, it is somewhat unlikely that the politicians will want to go there!

Oh man, enough!  I'm sorry. . . I'm gettin' pissed off and frustrated, and that is just not right on Easter!  I hope you had a great one, and I'm outta here for a ride on the bike!

I've been involved. . .

 with an audio-visual production that's taking up waaaaaay more time than I thought it would, and I've gained an amazing amount of respect for people that do this for a living!

I've also learned that if you have any old photos that you value, and you're intending on digitizing them, that the sooner you get to it, the better results you're going to have.  "Back in the day", when I was taking pictures with my 35mm camera, and I had to take them in for processing, I was offered the option of having them printed on "Kodak paper", for an extra 25¢ (I think!) a picture.  Because I didn't have a lot of money, a lot of the time I'd skip the extra expense, because you never knew, at least at my level of photography, how they were going to turn out.  Well, despite the fact that I have always taken pretty good care of my pictures, always keeping them away from the light, and in photo books, the ones printed on stock paper have faded, and some of them, drastically!

If you're in college, or have a kid in college, you might want to investigate this article.  I warn you, it is not a short read; it has a ton of links to be investigated, but it is a very scary expose of  the growing involvement of "Big Brother" on campus.  I guess that I shouldn't have been suprised, but I was. http://tinyurl.com/c8ja85c

Luckily, the politicians are still behaving themselves, hoping you'll forget what they have or haven't done or accomplished in the last 2 years.  And, of course, since the media is owned by just a few big corporations who support both parties, they are not out there investigating what kind of crap these guys have been up to, lately.  So, once again, just on principle, I urge you guys to vote a strict anti-incumbent ticket, because it should be obvious to everyone that the Congress and Senate, as is, is broken; they are not taking care of the business of the country.

"NEW" GUITAR PLAYER:  http://tinyurl.com/cvsqfec   This 28 year old Texan is obviously an "old soul", and has been playing since he was 12 years old.  He was on Eric Clapton's 2010 "Crossroads Festival" video.  Enjoy!

OK, it's time for me to get back to my "little" project.  Until next week. . .

A "hard left" from the usual. . .

"Girls", no matter what age, are the most wonderful of God's creations, at least to most of my gender!  No doubt about it, these mysterious and magical creatures are capable of bestowing great happiness, or inflicting immense pain on us; inspiring us to heights that we didn't realize we were capable of achieving, or plunging us to depths that we didn't know existed, and the best of them seem to be sprinkled with just a touch of fairy dust.  And I met one, last night!

Keep in mind that yours truly, while having lived what I consider to be a really good and happy life, have been "flying solo" for the last 18 years, so. . .

I was visiting with one of my very best friends, down in Oregon, and we were out wandering around a combination street fair and farmer's market.  Bobby's one of those guys that can pick up seemingly any  instrument, and have beautiful music flowing from it in a very short time.  Understand, this is a trait that I find extremely irritating, because I have had to work hard, to make progress on one instrument!  When I met him, back in the winter of '67, he was already a pretty good guitar player, but since then, he not only continued to develop his abilities on the guitar, but has also acquired considerable facility on the piano, harp (and no, I'm not talking about the harmonica!), violin, cello and, much to my disgust, the penny whistle, which I find to be an annoying instrument, but which, I guess, has a place in Irish music.  However, to watch him play duets with himself, one inserted in each nostril, I do have to admit, is quite entertaining.

It was dusk, that time of day between light and dark, when the color hovers between dark blue and purple, and the sky was clear and full of diamonds.  We just kind of flopped down on the grass, by the edge of the river and were indulging in a favorite pastime of ours, people watching, when one of Bobby's friends asked us if we could run an errand for him.

Unfortunately, Bobby was scheduled to perform in just a few minutes, so the task fell to me, so he threw me a handful of keys and told me to take his car.  A few minutes later, I found myself in a driveway, beside his car, trying to figure out which key it was that would permit me entry, and finally finding it, inserted it, only to have it snap off in the lock.  I'm standing there thinking, "Oh, great!" because the car is blocking the alley, and I look behind me to find a guy driving some kind of convertible (I can't tell what kind, because his head and shoulders are protruding from a car cover. . . Don't ask!), and tapping his fingers, in aggravation, on his steering wheel.  A couple of minutes later, in frustration, he just pulled into a parking space, and walked off.

So, I'm headed off to find out if my friend has an extra key, and walking in front of me, is a girl in an emerald green (my favorite color; the first time I remember seeing it, it was on a little '40 Ford coupe, and looked about 3 feet deep!) full length dress.  Her hair was a gorgeous dark auburn, and pulled up in kind of a haystack, doubled over and bunched.  Entranced, I walked by her and glanced at her face, and couldn't help but exclaim, "Freckles!", a spattering of which were under both eyes, and sprinkled across her nose, and I could not help but notice her skin color, which was that kind of golden brown that is particular to just a few redheads.

She smiled and looked over at me, and. . . Holy crap!  Set in this beautiful, heart shaped face, her eyes were this, I don't even know how to convey the beautiful dark gold color, with a kind of lighter gold wavy line around the iris, and I was just . . . Lost!  Completely forgetting what I was supposed to be doing, we proceeded on down the street, talking, and entered an artists' loft, where another friend of mine, KC, from Ashland, was displaying her stained glass work, and we separated, with me headed upstairs to see KC, while she was looking at other stuff downstairs.  KC's studio had an open window, overlooking the first floor, and while I was telling her about "the girl", I heard her voice from below, telling a friend of hers about me and saying, "He was just going all 'New York' ", and I burst out laughing, and woke myself up!

Now, I've got to tell you, that was a 5:00 a.m., this morning, and those of you that know me, know that I'm not a morning person, and describing me as being "New York" is about as far from the truth as anything could be, but waking up laughing is a real treat, and I decided to just get up, savor the feelings that were running around inside my head, and go ahead and enjoy the day.

For your audio treat for the day:  http://tinyurl.com/7wqgelu  I've been hearing this song as "bumper music" on the Coast to Coast AM radio program for the last couple of months, and although I'm not usually too fond of this song, this version of it has completely changed my mind about it!

Have a great week, folks!

I can't believe I did it!

Before I get into "it", here's a treat for your ears:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgmHkSED2cY  Jonell Mosser is an incredible talent, who sings some wicked blues.  I became acquainted  with her work through a demo album called, "Around Townes", a cover album of Townes Van Zandt's work, that she did back in 1996.  A couple of years ago, I discovered a video on youtube, a duet with Mati Haskell, called, "Blessing" (available on Amazon, and well worth the 99¢!), that still sends shivers down my back.  Unfortunately, the video has been removed, but these 2 ladies can really sing!  Take a couple of minutes, and enjoy yourself before reading on. . .

OK, I have a confession to make; back in 1998/9, I actually gave money to a politician!  And not just any politician, but one who is now pushing to involve our country in yet another "police action". like North Korea (which is still continuing), or Vietnam.  Yes, I decided that John McCain was a straight shooter (no pun intended!), and that I would support him in his bid for the Republican nomination for president.  Now, in my own defense, I still believe that he would have been a better president than George W. Bush, but, c'mon. . . Almost anybody would have been!  McCain now seems to be the main instigator for getting us involved in Syria, and I have little doubt that although our county's financial situation is dire, that we are going to get involved.

President Obama and Secretary of Defense, Leon Panetta, are itching to take action, but are looking toward NATO and the United Nations for the authority.  Congress also seems to want to get in there, but are threatening the President with impeachment, if he doesn't come to them for permission!  http://tinyurl.com/753sf7h 

Agreed, what is going on over there is horrendous, but there are a lot of horrible things going on in nations all over the globe, but if nothing else, we should have learned, over the last 25 years, that there are consequences to sticking our noses into other country's business.   Of course, our government has the audacity to claim that all these military actions are in our "national interests", but when it comes right down to it, what they are actually interested in, is preserving the profits of "big business", at the cost of thousands of young lives, and hundreds of billions of dollars, and the welfare of our nation.

While I'm ranting on the stupidity of government, are you aware, that with millions of families  losing their homes in the past couple of years, that the current administration now wants to provide financial bailouts for investors that bought multiple homes for investment purposes, before the housing crash?  
http://tinyurl.com/7yf77r2  It sounds outrageous, to help out the "buy and flip investors" who helped drive up the cost of housing, during the real estate boom, but the government, banks and mortgage companies have decided that empty houses are in no one's interest, and therefore, the taxpayers should bear the cost of helping everyone out. . .

I looked for something lite and happy to end this post with, but the only thing I could find, was an article that is fairly ironic, after the above examples of our government's "big heartedness":  http://tinyurl.com/779xz63  It seems that a former marine wants to adopt a bomb sniffing dog who served our country in Iraq, and for some stupid reason, is being refused.  If you'd like to sign a petition to help her in her efforts, go here: http://www.change.org/petitions/help-speed-up-sgt-rex-s-adoption

Until next week. . .

Forget 2012; 2013 is LOOMING!

There has been a lot of talk, over the last 37 years (that I have been aware of, although the intensity of the talk has greatly increased lately!), about the upcoming date of December 21st, 2012, and the end of the Mayan calendar, and what it means for both man and the earth (google it; either the date or the calendar).  Should the cataclysmic event happen, and nobody seems to know what that might be (although there is an abundance of speculation out there), we wont have to worry about February of 2013, when an asteroid, approximately 190 foot long, discovered by Spanish astronomers, will pass within 17,000 miles of the earth!  http://tinyurl.com/885ozzh  That is approximately 3/4 of the distance from the earth to the moon, and there is the possibility of it hitting either the earth or the moon; it's a short article, about 2-3 minutes to read. . . Give it a shot!

Luckily, the pols continue to be somewhat quiet, except for their silly season oratory, in which they continue to tell us how much they do for us, and care for us, and how responsive to our wishes they are, and what they are planning on doing for us (more like to us!). .  . So listen to what Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia says: "In the commercial context, we allow a decent amount of lying. It's called puffing. 'You won't buy it cheaper anywhere,' " and "So maybe we allow a certain amount of puffing in political speech as well. Nobody believes all that stuff, right?"  They call this, "Freedom of speech"; I'm not sure that is what the framers of the Bill Of Rights were talking about.  Again, is it any wonder that the people have so little respect for our politicians?  'Nuff!

 Last Saturday, in an attempt to bring something "new" into my exercise program, I dipped back into my high school football days, and dredged up "squat thrusts", of which I did 5; HUGE mistake, for which I've been paying ever since, and although the "bill" is almost fully paid, sitting in front of the computer is not the way that I want to spend my time, so today's post is going to be short!  And, by the way, I've decided that I will not be adding this exercise to my repertoire!

So, I'm outta here with only 1 comment: "Getting older is not for pussies!"

A very "lite" week!

It's pretty obvious that the politicians are well aware that there's only about 8 months left until the national elections; either that, or the 3 main media organizations have decided not to report their shenanigans!  No huge scandals, no super controversial bills in front of the houses, so we just get a "breather for the blood pressure"!

Despite the cautious proclamations of an increasingly better economy, a 15 year veteran police officer (ex), in Columbus, Ga., decided to rob a bank of $1,000, in order to "enroll" himself in the "Federal Health System".  http://tinyurl.com/77uqhnk

And in San Francisco, a rather large naked lady was offended by the fact that John Knight was driving a blue Volvo station wagon!  http://tinyurl.com/7zshg66

It seems fairly obvious that we are now fully involved in the "silly season", and I can hardly wait for the first week of November to be gone!  The worst part of the next few months will be the frantic phone calls that we will be receiving from the pols who thoughtfully exempted themselves from the "Do Not Call" law they passed, a few years ago. . .

A couple of weeks ago, a friend of mine sent me this link to a band that I've been aware of for a number of years, but had never heard:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUMyKcNL-Vs  The quartet is from Minneapolis, Minnesota, and formed in 1985, and it just blows me away that they've turned out 8 albums, and aren't better known.  They are a good guitar-driven band, that put out some really nice sounds, and actually seem to have something to say.  Enjoy; they have a lot of videos up!

Good week for music; not so much for politics!

So let's start with a music link for a guy who should be famous: http://tinyurl.com/7ugw4el  His name is Paul Thorn, and I picked up on him back in '97, when I pulled his first album, "Hammer And Nail".  He's the son of a preacher and he spent a few years boxing, and the guy sings of Life with both insight and humor, and straight from the heart.  He's a good guitar player,  a great songwriter, and a very good performer.  This song, "Things Left Undone"is one that really touches my heartstrings:  http://tinyurl.com/6u6mx3p   And here's one that's pretty funny:  http://tinyurl.com/7xwdktn

Hey, do you guys remember when "Presidents' Day" was actually 2 holidays, celebrating George Washington's birthday, and another celebrating Abraham Lincoln's birthday.  Nowadays,  from what I see in the newspapers and TV, it seems to be "All About The Benjamins"!

Apparently, America is not the only country with an "obesity problem". last week, a man in England was involved in eating a 6000 calory hamburger, at the aptly named, "Heart Attack Grill", when he suffered. . . You guessed it; a heart attack!  http://tinyurl.com/8xr9qsq  Truly a study in irony.

And on to the things that do, can or will affect our lives.  On Feb. 14th of this year, ABC news reported that Iran is "allegedly" involved in attacks on Israeli citizens and Jewish interests around the world, although not here in the States.  If war should erupt between those 2 countries, America would undoubtedly be drawn into the conflict, since we are Israel strongest ally, and this article, http://tinyurl.com/77lw4lw lends credence to that speculation, going so far as to predict action commencing in September to October.

And onwards, to the shenanigans of our politicians!  Somewhere in the last 4 to 6 months, it's come to light that many of our Congressmen and Senators have been enriching themselves by activities that would land any other citizen in jail, and that is, the practice of insider trading.  When John Stewart brought this to light on his "Daily Show", http://tinyurl.com/8yx5adn , he also brought to light the fact that on Feb. 9th, these fine, upstanding examples of morality passed the "STOCK (Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge) ACT", http://tinyurl.com/7sopqyd , which would supposedly put a stop to this. . . Riiiiiiight!  Instead, what Congress passed was a watered down bill that eliminateed "“political intelligence” registration requirement and dropping anti-corruption legislation". . . Nice, eh? Here, you want a quick read, guaranteed to raise both your ire and blood pressure:  http://tinyurl.com/7s33fem  And they have the audacity to wonder why only 8% of the public has a "favorable" opinion of Congress?