House Panel Recommends Censure for Rangel -

When it comes to corruption in the gov't we have NO tolerance.  The House ethics committee on Thursday recommended that Representative (Democrat) be formally censured for ethical misconduct, the most serious punishment the House can mete out to a member short of expulsion. Charles B. Rangel    WHAT WAS HE FOUND GUILTY OF? 11 counts of ethical violations, including improper fund-raising, failure to pay taxes on rental income and failure to report personal income on his Congressional financial disclosure forms. The committee also ordered him to pay thousands of dollars in unpaid taxes from rental income on a villa he owns in the Dominican Republic.

   The NY Times said: "A censure would mark a momentous downfall for Mr. Rangel, a Democrat who for 40 years has represented Harlem, where he was born. As a decorated Korean War veteran and civil rights advocate, he became a combative and irrepressible voice for liberal causes and, in 2007, snared one of the most powerful positions in Congress, the chairmanship of the Ways and Means Committee."

  He needs to GO. We think that censuring isn't harsh enough. This kind of Corruption has no place in running the country.  Democrat or Republican, it doesn't matter.

Green Lantern's "Computer-generated" Costume...

The filmmakers behind “Green Lantern,” due next summer from Warner Bros., approached that challenge digitally; star Ryan Reynolds will appear in a costume that was essentially “drawn” on him via CG effects and there has been considerable curiosity to see how the final product would look. On Tuesday, a new trailer for the film will premiere on ”Entertainment Tonight” and here’s a short advertisement for that anticipated reveal.


The Los Angeles Times reporter said "Well, one thing we know about the computer-painted costume — those movie fans who enjoys seeing every gym-sculpted inch of the Reynolds physique will certainly get their money’s worth." Now I'm really looking forward to it! :)

What in the heck does "Refudiate" mean?

More stupidity from Sarah Palin. Making up more words.
It all started with this tweet from Sarah Palin: "Ground Zero Mosque supporters: doesn't it stab you in the heart, as it does ours throughout the heartland? Peaceful Muslims, pls refudiate."
 But refudiate is not a word. (Okay, John McCain said it in 2008, so maybe he got it from her or vice-versa. Regardless, it's NOT a WORD!)
   It is agreed that Palin was mixing the words "refute" and "repudiate" to create the never-before-heard term. Regardless, or maybe I should say "irregardless" (that would be a Palin-ism), don't you think public speakers would NOT use a word if they were unsure of what it meant, or if it was even a word?
 How embarrassing.
 - What's more embarrassing is that her reality show from Alaska on The Learning Channel (and her having a show on THAT channel is incredibly ironic, is it not?) garnered 5 million viewers for the first "episode."
  WELL... maybe I do understand the high ratings. After all, people always want to look more closely at a car wreck!
   I can't understand the fascination with this woman. She's dumb and hasn't completed an elected office. I certainly don't want this fool running the country. She probably thinks New Mexico is a foreign country.
Enough said!

Some Additional Halloween Photos

Patty and Trixie the Pixie

 I neglected to post these last three fun photos from Halloween...
The first is of our neighbors/friends Patty (dressed as Velma from Scooby Doo fame) and her daughter Trixie.
 - The others are a scarecrow that Tom and I put together and had sitting on the front chair. It did scare one little kid. -
 - Halloween only brought 10 kids, and this year Rob didn't dress up.. just handed out the candy.

Our scary Scarecrow

We even made the skeleton scarecrow a canine companion

Here's Something You Never Hear on the News... Good Budget stuff

 I just thought you should know about one of the President's challenges to federal workers, that will help with the Budget. For some reason, this is something we NEVER hear on the news, but this is a FANTASTIC idea on how to save in the Federal Budget.
  Earlier this year, President Obama launched this year’s SAVE Award contest —offering every federal employee the chance to submit their ideas for how government can save money and perform better.

   The response was fantastic: many of you sent in ideas and across the entire federal government, employees submitted more than 18,000 ideas and weighed in with more than 164,000 votes to help the Administration identify the best ideas. Now, we need your help again – to pick the winner from the Final Four of finalists.

   Go to www.SAVE.gov  and choose the idea you like best. The winner will get to present his or her idea directly to President Obama at the White House.

SOME BACKGROUND ON THE PROGRAM: 

President Obama believes the best ideas usually come from outside of Washington.  That’s why in 2009 he launched the SAVE Award (Securing Americans’ Value and Efficiency), seeking ideas from frontline federal employees to make government more effective and efficient and ensure taxpayer dollars are spent wisely. In just three weeks, OMB received tens of thousands of ideas on how to make government more efficient and effective. Not only did the winner go to the White House to present her idea to the President, but 20 SAVE Award ideas made their way directly into the 2011 Budget, and others helped identify cost-savings across an array of areas.

A Classic Song Redone! Coal Miner's Daughter

We love Loretta Lynn, and as a tribute to her 50th year in country music, there's a new CD of other artists singing her hits. One hit she joins in on is her trademark "Coal Miner's Daughter" with Sheryl Crow and Miranda Lambert. Here's the video from last night's CMA music awards. (We've ordered the CD, and looking forward to Alan Jackson and Martina McBride's version of Conway and Loretta's "Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man.").

A MUST READ: "Helping Ghosts" by Louis Charles

I recently finished reading a great book called "Helping Ghosts: A guide to understanding lost spirits" by Louis Charles.
 - I actually "met" Louis through the Facebook page for my book on ghosts. Louis contacted me and we've befriended each other through our authorship and our insight into ghosts.
- Louis' book is a MUST READ. He really makes readers look at ghosts as not something so much "paranormal" as "they were once people." He really humanizes ghosts and explains that they all need our help to cross into the light, even the angry ones. 

- There are a lot more insightful things in this book, and I can't recommend it enough. Every "Ghost Hunter" group and television program should have a medium or someone like Louis who can help these wayward entities cross over. They don't belong here. 
TO ORDER THE BOOK: http://www.amazon.com/Helping-Ghosts-Understanding-Spirits-Angels/dp/145284707X
  Just as some background about Louis from his website:
http://www.angelsghosts.com/helping_ghosts_louis_charles Louis Charles was born in Canton, Ohio and raised in a small farming community nearby. While growing up, he always had a fascination with ghosts and spirits. Through various careers, Louis Charles honed his skills in sales, marketing, speaking, and invention. He never lost his passion to learn more about ghosts and haunting.
  In 2004, he launched the website Angels & Ghosts in order to better study ghosts and spirits. By using the submissions he received from around the world, Louis began comparing potential evidence shared in stories, images, videos, and audio recordings. CHECK OUT THE ANGELS AND GHOSTS WEBSITE: http://www.angelsghosts.com/
WHAT IS THE WEBSITE ABOUT?  Ghost pictures. Proof that ghosts & angels exist?  Ghost pictures, photos, web cams of ghosts; angel pictures & stories. Study paranormal & spiritual ideas about angels & ghosts. Investigate stories of ghosts & angels. Explore evidence of ghosts & angels.

America's (and my) Impatience With Politics

I looked back at what happened 2 years after Presidents Clinton and Bush were in office for 2 years. Americans thought that they weren't coming through with their campaign promises "Fast Enough" so they fired a lot of the Congressmen in the interim elections that supported those presidents. Americans just did the same STUPID thing to President Obama.
* Why are Americans so damned impatient?
* It requires ONLY common sense to know that that ANY president can't accomplish EVERYTHING they promise in 2 years.
* Now "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" will likely NOT be repealed and hatred and inequality will continue under a GOP-run House.
* Why do people who vote for Republicans think that EVERYONE should live under the Christian Bible? - A LOT of Americans aren't even Christian!  Would they like it if they were forced to live under another religion? NO.   Our forefathers outright stated religion should be "tolerated" but NOT rule the land.
--- The Democrats passed a health care bill that takes care of SO MANY that didn't have health care, people who were before denied coverage, and extends coverage to kids up to 26 for families. Yes, it will cost a little more, but they NOW can have coverage. People seem to complain about everything and expect everything for free. I have 4 words; GROW UP. TAKE RESPONSIBILITY. (okay, 2 more: Shut Up!).
* SO,  Now that the GOP has more Congresspeople coming in, what's their plan? A: "Reverse everything the democrats did."   What kind of STUPID plan is that? How about doing something constructive instead of destructive?  So, that means they want more years of how it was under the Bush Administration? I don't know about you, but I thought those were 8 years of pandering to the rich, inciting Fear into the public, and rewarding a lot of bad behavior.
* I just heard "Boner" (as I call him) who is vying to be Speaker of the House, say "Republicans will NOT compromise with the President on ANYTHING. We were elected to be the ruling party." 
WHAT?!?!? People didn't elect this fool to create gridlock. The election showed that people want more of a balance in politics, NOT a takeover. How totally arrogant.  People like him are what is totally wrong with the GOP.  How disrespectful and arrogant.
    So, that's what we're in for. The President wants to meet in the middle, and the GOP says "to hell with that. We're doing things our way ONLY." Idiots.
Congratulations people, YOU brought these hateful GOP people into office. Enjoy the gridlock and hatefulness.

A Birthday Observance

This morning I'm remembering my dad, whose birthday is today. It's difficult to believe that Dad passed over 2 years ago in August 2008, because he's always still around in some way. Either through the letters I write to others (which he always did) books I read, Dunkin' coffee (he liked it black with sugar- yes, I remember) or many other things. So, today in honor of what would've been my dad's birthday I started reading a book by one of his favorite authors. I'm reading Vince Flynn's "Extreme Measures" (fiction) which is a thriller featuring Mitch Rapp, a character who works for the CIA. I think that as I read it (even through my thoughts) that dad can hear it, as if I'm reading it to him. Happy Birthday, Dad. You'll always be around. Love, Rob

Perfect Fall Day / DVRs!

I've been lax at blogging, because I've (Rob) not been feeling well... but I'm back together, so here goes! 

DIVINE DVR - We recently got a DVR from our cable provider, and it's been nice to finally see programs that typically air too late for us, like The Mentalist, and Hawaii Five-O. Usually we try to find TV shows on off nights and Tom winds up watching HGTV while I read. Some of our other favorites include 1) The Amazing Race 2) The Big Bang Theory 3) NCIS 4) Glee (which is on the same time as NCIS, but NOW we can see 'em both!).

A PERFECT FALL DAY- We needed this day (Saturday). It's been a long week for both of us. We did grocery shopping at 6 am before everyone else, took the dogs for a short walk and a drive. Because it's mostly in the upper 40s here today, warm soup was perfect for lunch. We then put on sweatshirts and took the dogs for a long walk with hot tea and coffee in to-go cups, while we admired the beautiful fall colors. THIS is the type of day that we wait for all week. We hope yours is just as relaxing! 

A beautiful tree in our neighborhood!

Halloween Party at Work

Clark Kent (Rob) and Lois Lane (Lynn)

Here are some pictures from the Halloween party at Rob's office. Lynn organized the entire thing, and it was fun. Because Rob and Lynn call each other Clark  (Kent) and Lois (Lane) in the office,they dressed up that way for the party. Lynn made a Daily Planet Newspaper complete with Superman and Perry White photo (from work's Halloween party in 2006), and press badges!

Rob and Holly as Knave and Knight at their castle

All of the costumed people from the office.

Vote Tomorrow

Hi all - There's been a lot going on and I haven't had the time to blog. I've been stressed out lately. I've got doctor appts this week and one person is causing angst, whom I believe is purposely not being nice. Hopefully a resolution will come soon and it will be forgotten. Meanwhile, I've got Dog events to blog about, lots of photos to download, and preparing for another book-related event this Sunday. I just need to get through the week. Oh yeah, vote tomorrow.