Great Book - Act of Treason by Vince Flynn

For those who have not yet discovered Vince Flynn, he was one of my dad's favorite authors, and since Dad passed, I've inherited Dad's entire collection of Flynn's books. They are ALL great reads. In Consent to Kill CIA operative Mitch Rapp investigates an al-Qaeda–style bomb attack on the motorcade of the Democratic presidential candidate, Georgia governor Josh Alexander, in Washington, D.C., a month before the November election. The bomb kills the candidate's wife and several Secret Service agents, Rapp uses all the tools at his disposal to investigate the claim of the now discredited head of the protective detail that a mysterious figure in a red baseball cap set off the fatal bomb. Rapp soon finds that the motive for the outrage may be personal rather than political. It's a great read!

Reminder to get a Colonoscopy

I (Rob) have to get a colonscopy in the next month, because polyps were found- and I'm having anxiety over it. Of course, my situation is "unique" but I won't go into it. After going to 3 different doctors, I had to find a specialist that can do the procedure. The worst part is waiting a month!
Several friends of ours have had this procedure, and some multiple times. If it runs in your family to have polyps, or colon cancer, get checked. I learned from this adventure that polyps run on one side of my family (of course, I didn't know that before). So, ASK your relatives. It may sound embarrassing, but your life is more important than blushing over your colon.
What is a Colonoscopy? A Colonoscopy is the endoscopic examination of the colon and the distal part of the small bowel with a CCD camera or a fiber optic camera on a flexible tube passed through the anus. It may provide a visual diagnosis (e.g. ulceration, polyps) and grants the opportunity for biopsy or removal of suspected lesions. Colonoscopy can remove polyps as small as one millimetre or less. Once polyps are removed, they can be studied with the aid of a microscope to determine if they are precancerous or not.

Today's Adventure: Karma on the Road

I was driving to a doctor's appointment this morning on a road that was dropping down from 4 lanes to 2 lanes (one lane going each direction) and I was in the appropriate lane for the merge to go straight. As the lanes came together a young woman in a silver sports car raced past me on the shoulder and quickly swung in front of me, cutting me off (and forcing me to brake). She startled me, and I gave a quick toot on my horn. Of course, she put her arm outside her window and gave me the finger. Lovely.
Here's where the Karma part comes in;
1) There was a truck 3 cars ahead of her, so she couldn't speed excessively.
2) When she turned off, I followed (because that was the road I had to go on), and she must've been driving about 80 mph (it was a 40 mph road). She took off like a bullet and was out of sight. A couple of minutes later, I drove past her as she was PULLED OVER by a Police Officer for speeding!
KARMA!!!

"A Wise Doctor" Joke for You

Here's a funny story for you - and appropriate for me because I'm going to the doc's on Friday. (Thanks to Mom F. in Maine for this one)
A WISE DOCTOR: A gorgeous young redhead goes into the doctor's office and said that her body hurt wherever she touched it. 'Impossible!' says the doctor.. 'Show me.'
The redhead took her finger, pushed on her left shoulder and screamed, then she pushed her elbow and screamed even more. She pushed her knee and screamed; likewise she pushed her ankle and screamed. Everywhere she touched made her scream.
The doctor said, 'You're not really a redhead, are you? 'Well, no' she said, 'I'm actually a blonde.'
'I thought so,' the doctor said, 'Your finger is broken.'

Another Closeted Priest- This One Embezzled a Million

I've blogged about this before... the Pope and the Catholic Church (That I once loved so much) just doesn't get it! You CANNOT take people's sexual desires away from them. It goes against human nature. Everyone needs a partner. It causes priests (straight and gay) to have secret rendezvous with women and men. Here's yet another example, and this one is bad because this priest used church money on his romp. - He even gives gay people a bad name. After all, who in the hell spends money on "body glitter?" JEEZ. - The bigger issue is that the church needs to drop that idiotic rule about "not marrying" before they have NO ONE left to say masses.
THE STORY:
Priest Stole $1.3 Million to Spend on Male Escorts, Designer Clothes, Other Stereotypically Gay Things
Kevin Gray, a priest at Sacred Heart Church in Waterbury, Connecticut, is expected to turn himself in after being charged with siphoning $1.3 million from church coffers to pay for his secret gay lifestyle.
After a lengthy investigation, the authorities have charged Gray with first-degree larceny, which could carry a 20-year sentence if he's eventually convicted. Apparently for the past seven years Gray has been spending church money to fund trips to New York and pay for sessions with male escorts, and he also racked up $200,000 in restaurant bills including a large tab at Tavern on the Green.
No word on how much he spent on tickets to Madonna concerts, rare vintage copies of Playbill, body glitter, and vodka sodas on Fire Island. He's been bilking money from his congregation (and also lied and told his congregation that he had cancer).
Brian Moylan, author of this post: brian@gawker.com.
STORY AT ASSOCIATED PRESS: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5i9a60tiFY-4-NODymy6UKDs-LSAwD9GPKQ3G2

100 Degrees in the Shade Today

Here's a photo I took today at 12:20pm EDT of our backyard Thermometer. What's interesting is that its inside the covered patio, so it sits in the shade!
It's 100 degrees Fahrenheit IN THE SHADE here in central Maryland today! The temperature already hit 100F at Reagan National Airport this morning around 11am and clouds that moved in dropped it to 99F. Thaaaat's great.

July 4th and 5th Cook-Ins

On July 4th it was about 100 degrees Fahrenheit (A local bank thermometer at 4pm said it was 104F). It was too hot to eat or cook outside (besides, we don't have a grill), so Rob cooked homemade spaghetti sauce with all the fixins, and Tom's parents came over for a nice dinner. Around 9pm when it was getting dark we heard all the fireworks going off in locations around our house and we walked the dogs. They're not afraid of fireworks, and walking them outside as they were booming made them less afraid.

JULY 5th- Again at 100F! It's too hot to do much during this heatwave, so we got up early and walked the dogs, went to the gym for an hour and did home projects. In the afternoon our friends Susan and Cary invited us over for a cook-in, which was fun! Here are some photos from the fun afternoon, with Cary, Susan and Ed (and Cary and Susan's 3 dogs); and all of us together).

EMBARRASSING - GOP Nat'l Committee Chairman Doesn't Know How Afghanistan War Started

Okay, you know I'm not conservative, but this is really embarrassing for the GOPers, too. I just read that Michael Steele (former Lt. Governor of Maryland) is leading the Republican National Committee and doesn't even know that George W. Bush is the one that brought our troops to Afghanistan after 9/11. 1) It's embarrassing 2) Jr. High School students know who brought us into Afghanistan 3) Can't the GOP get a more intelligent, charismatic leader?

HEADLINE: Conservatives Say Michael Steele Should Resign Over Afghan War Remarks
Conservative strategist William Kristol, former South Carolina party chairman Katon Dawson and other Republicans are calling for the resignation of Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele over Steele's suggestion that the U.S. effort in Afghanistan is doomed.
At a fundraiser in Noank, Conn., Steele blamed the U.S. troubles in Afghanistan on the Obama administration and expressed doubts about coalition forces' ability to succeed in the violence-torn country.
"Keep in mind again, for our federal candidates, this was a war of Obama's choosing," Steele said. "This is not something the United States had actively prosecuted or wanted to engage in."
"It was the president who was trying to be cute by half by flipping a script demonizing Iraq, while saying the battle really should be in Afghanistan," Steele said, referring to Obama's insistence during the presidential campaign that the U.S. should be focused on Afghanistan instead of Iraq.
"Well, if he's such a student of history, has he not understood that, you know, that's the one thing you don't do, is engage in a land war in Afghanistan? All right, because everyone who has tried, over a thousand years of history, has failed. And there are reasons for that. There are other ways to engage in Afghanistan."
Former president George W. Bush ordered U.S. troops to Afghanistan in October 2001 in response to the Sept. 11 attacks by terrorists based there. Obama has said publicly for at least eight years that while he opposed the invasion of Iraq, he supported the war in Afghanistan.
Steele's comments, including using the word "comical" to describe the events leading to the forced resignation of Afghanistan commander Stanley McChrystal, sparked an outcry from commentators as a video of his remarks made its way around the Internet. FULL STORY: http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/07/02/michael-steele-says-afghan-war-doomed-republicans-call-for-resi/ LA TIMES: http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jul/02/nation/la-na-rnc-steele-20100703 PBS NEWS HOUR: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/military/july-dec10/news_07-02.html CBS NEWS: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20009569-503544.html and 1,482 other articles. AND... if you don't believe it, there's video of it on-line.

What to do on a HOT Saturday?

What's the best thing to do on a hot summertime Saturday? How about breakfast out at Panera Bread, lots of laundry, an early morning 1 mile dog walk, playing rope toss in the backyard with Dolly (the Weimaraner) and shopping at IKEA for a new desk chair? Well, that's what we did. Tom and I spent some time in IKEA trying out the chairs until we found one we liked (Pictured is Tom trying out chairs in IKEA). We're also in search of a daybed/futon/small couch the becomes a bed. We found one in IKEA we liked, but it only came in dark gray - ICK. So, we're still looking.

New Website Healthcare.gov Really Helps Clarify

The Federal Government launched a website this week to clarify healthcare reform and make it EASY TO UNDERSTAND for everyone. You can find it at http://www.healthcare.gov
**I went there and entered in "Pre-existing condition, state of Maryland, Over 55, can't afford it - and the site gave me FOUR OPTIONS to obtain health insurance. WOW. Where was this when I was 22, working 3 jobs without health insurance and couldn't afford to go to a doctor? TEST IT YOURSELF. I'm not just taking the White House's word for it - I investigated it!
******************************************************
ANOTHER GOOD SOURCE TO CORRECT MIS-INFORMATION:
I've heard MANY lies and misinterpretations of the health care law to scare people.
If you want the FACTS, go to the WhiteHouse.gov website to get them. The media and right-wing mouthpieces will distort and introduce fear to get people to follow them. Why not get the information from the SOURCE?
I found this great site with 8 videos about subjects that were misinterpreted. It's well-worth educating yourselves!
http://www.whitehouse.gov/realitycheck/
REALITY CHECK ON 2 MISCONCEPTIONS:
*Linda Douglass of the White House Office addresses the myth of Congress being exempt from the reform. THE TRUTH: CONGRESS DID NOT EXEMPT THEMSELVES FROM THE REFORM. This is a myth: there is no exemption and there has not been any such vote. To the contrary, reform gives all Americans access to an insurance exchange much like the one Congress has enjoyed, and just like Congress, Americans will be free to make their own choices.
* MYTH: The Health Care reform would eliminate wasteful subsidies to insurance companies in the Medicare Advantage program, without hurting benefits or care and leaving the trust fund intact. THE TRUTH: It will strengthen Medicare's long-term stability and save seniors money.

Wonder Woman Gets a New Costume After 69 Years

(PHOTO: Wonder Woman's New Costume)
Wonder Woman has been around for 69-years, although she's only about 30 in the comics. Wonder Woman's comic book hit number 600 this week!
The monthly Wonder Woman comic is published by DC Comics and this issue marks a HUGE change for Wonder Woman. She'll don a new — and less revealing — costume. The costume ties into an alternative history for the character devised by J. Michael Straczynski, the new writer of the series, and into a quest by DC to shine a critical and creative spotlight on the heroine, who stands with Superman and Batman in its primary triumvirate of superstars, despite her series’s modest sales.
In the revised storyline, Wonder Woman is smuggled out as a baby when unknown forces destroy her home and slaughter its inhabitants (instead of growing up on Paradise Island with her mother, Queen Hippolyta, and her Amazon sisters). *I personally would rather keep the greek island theme*
“She’s been locked into pretty much the exact same outfit since her debut in 1941,” Mr. Straczynski wrote. “If you’re going to make a statement about bringing Wonder Woman into the 21st century, you need to be bold and you need to make it visual. I wanted to toughen her up, and give her a modern sensibility.” The new costume was designed by the artist Jim Lee, who in February was named co-publisher of DC, alongside Dan DiDio.
Straczynski added, “What woman only wears only one outfit for 60-plus years?”
The new costume will almost certainly be better received than the curveball thrown Wonder Woman in 1968, when she lost her powers, dressed mod and practiced martial arts. It took the attention of no less than Gloria Steinem to protest the change, and to help get the Amazon back into her star-spangled duds. Ms. Steinem went on to use Wonder Woman, resplendent in red, white and blue, on the cover of the first issue of Ms. magazine in 1972.

We Love Canadian Weather!

We're very grateful for Canadian High Pressure that settled over the eastern half of the U.S. yesterday, today and will be here tomorrow. For the first time in June temperatures were out of the 90s and upper 80s during the day, thanks to Canadian High pressure and cool Canadian air. Temperatures are in the upper 70s/low 80s during the day, and last night temps cooled into the upper 50s!