Happy 4th of July

Sunday, 9:33 am

By Cyn

Jul

04

2010

Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend and has something fun to do today!!  I am in awe--a holiday and the weather here in New England is actually gorgeous--right now, anyway.  For what seems like the first time ever, I called my friends in Hawaii yesterday and they were having a rainy day!!  A switch indeed!!

And speaking of Hawaii, just a mere 36 days from now................but, who’s counting?  Me, that is who!! ;) My boss says she is having nightmares I will decide not to come back.  I told her if it were not for our cat, I probably wouldn’t.  Nothing else keeps me here and Joe pretty much feels the same way!!  I wish I could take her with me, but as Linkmeister can tell you, they quarantine animals for (I think) something like 3 months before they can be with you, so obviously makes no sense when we will be there for just a little over 3 weeks--this time!!  Next time, though, should be for a lot longer!!

If you have the time, read the article I posted below this...........food for thought and I really think we had best wake up and wake up quickly or our world as we know it will be totally changed.  The lunatics will be running it (if they are not already).  This should be the rallying cry for all of us who have at least some semblance of common sense left in our heads.  Thanks to Steve (a/k/a Linkmeister) for the link.

Happy 4th of July everyone!

America, the Poisoned: Hold These Truths to Be Self-Inflicted by Charles P. Pierce

Sunday, 9:15 am

By Cyn

"One entire political party has lost its mind, and well may succeed for having done so. A congressional candidate in Alabama is running commercials equating progressive taxation with slavery and the Holocaust. A candidate for the Senate in Nevada seems to deny any role for a central government short of raising an army, and perhaps not even that, since she seems to suggest that, if the election doesn’t go her way, her several followers may go to guns in response. The members of that party in the national legislature have utterly abandoned their duties to the public good for unalloyed obstructionism. On Wednesday, the Senate again failed to pass an extension of unemployment benefits for the first time since the 1950’s, and this in a time of 9.5-percent unemployment. The government is unwilling to bring the criminals of the previous administration to justice, and seemingly unable to bring the corporate criminals of the previous decade to justice, either. Some 20,000 barrels of oil are spilling daily into the Gulf of Mexico, where now huge columns of smoke are beginning to rise from the surface of the sea. And maybe it is time to read Revelations with a fresh eye, after all, except for the fact that the horsemen are not unleashed upon us. We invite them in to ride”...Read the whole article here...State of the Union Essay

For Book Lovers

Friday, 8:38 pm

By Kate

Jul

02

2010

Since this is a long weekend (in the US, at least), maybe this will give a couple of you something to go with your later morning coffee…

Bookshelf Porn..... I might be embarrassed to tell you how long I spent gazing on all of the sumptuous photographs. There are many people out there in the whole wide world who love books. I love peeping into their homes and public spaces filled with books. Maybe you will, too.

While poking though the Bookshelf Porn photos, I found a few of a book shop in Paris, called Shakespeare and Co., that completely captured my imagination. I think that the shop has been around nearly as long as time. It seems to be a most magnificent and magical place. Here is an article in the U.K. Guardian from last March that is a feast of word pictures. For the more visually attuned, watch this You Tube video of the bookshop and interview with the manager.

Shakespeare and Co. is one place I’d really like to visit before shuffling off this mortal coil.

Enjoy the books.

A letter from a friend

Monday, 5:11 pm

By Cyn

Jun

28

2010

Below is a letter I just received from a friend--a woman who used to work for me in another life!  Her son is dying of kidney failure and is desperate for a transplant.  Her other son is a perfect match but they will not allow him to be a donor--read below to see why.  I am posting this to see if any of your readers, Kate, might have ideas or suggestions.  I did forward this to Niki Tsongas, to Sue Tucker, to my friend Deb Silberstein who is running for Sue Tucker’s seat and asked all of them to continue to forward it.  I suggested to my friend she try to get in touch with John Kerry and to even try Scott Brown although I seriously doubt he would care one way or the other.  Any ideas you might have would be welcomed.  Thanks.

Cyn,

I apologize for being such a bother but I need to ask this favor.  So, I am going to explain the situation as best as I can.

Last Tuesday, the 22nd both my sons met with the surgeon and she outlined the situation on paper so they would be able to understand it better.  My oldest son is out as a donor because he has the same gene and because the disease is rare they don’t have a whole lot to go on other than that Peter needs a kidney transplant.  But, he also has a 50% chance of reoccurrence and in order to stop that at this time there is only one (1) drug on the shelve and it costs ---$300, 000 per year --- and the insurance does not cover it.

Where is our government Cyn? that allows these Pharmaceutical companies to make their own prices and make their own rules at people’s expense? This disease attacks mostly children and rarely grownups.  How can families afford such a price?

I have heard that some pharmaceutical companies are helpful for people that cannot afford their medication.  I am not sure if this applies to this high priced drug but I thought..... If you can tell me how to get in touch with Niki Tsongas maybe a letter to them from her office might be helpful OR she might be able to tell me what else to do.  It is all I am asking because you have met her and maybe she can help.

Again, and again I apologize but I have to reach out and do what I can do to help my son.  Thank you, Martha

Good Morning!

Saturday, 8:49 am

By Cyn

Jun

26

2010

We are having such (unusually) nice weather for this part of the country, that I have just not had time to pop in and say hello.  Between work, driving around in my new convertible (LOL), reading on the deck, the time just flies by.  But the weather has been nice, sadly, too dry cause our lawns are burning already (again unusual), but at least we have seen a lot of sunshine.

Just wanted to say hello and bitch about something for a second...Why do you think there are so many naysayers about President Obama and his policies and his administration?  How can these people stand there with a straight face and complain, complain, complain.  And yet when you suggest that for 8 years the foxes were guarding the henhouse and that is why we are in such a mess, they just sneer and make some inane comment about our president and walk away.  I get so mad. 

I honestly believe some of these people--no make it MOST of these people, would have been happier with an old war hero - who is not in the best of health and an ignorant hillbilly running this country instead of an extremely intelligent, thoughtful black man?  And there is the key I suspect, a “black” man. I think racism is more rampant in this country then we ever thought.  Everyone knows there are certain parts of the country where it is pretty obvious and we all know people who are either outwardly racist or quietly racist, but I think there is far more than we ever believed.  I mean, how else can you explain it?  Sarah Palin, and she is ignorant--not stupid, she is definitely not stupid, but she is NOT intelligent.  She is little more than a hillbilly with a gift for public speaking (well to some people--personally I would rather listen to cats howling in the middle of the night) or you have someone who not only can string a lot of words together, who actually KNOWS what those words mean.  Ahhh well, what can you do.

I am going to start carrying a list of the accomplishments of this administration around with me and just hand it out to people who make nasty comments.  I met the VP of a company the other day--a company my boss works for, I was introduced to him and the person introducing me felt the need (why??) to mention that I am a huge Obama supporter etc.  It was all done in a nice way and in a joking way, all was fine.  But this AH, felt the need to turn it into something else and absolutely sneered as he made several untrue and well, quite frankly, not very nice comments, ending up with, well, enjoy it now, cause he is only here for a short visit.

There are some republicans that make me want to separate their head from their shoulders with a baseball bat and he was one of them.  You know the type, tight-ass, sneer, look down their noses.  I so wanted to take this guy on you cannot imagine.  But, because I have the utmost respect for the person who introduced us and affection for this man and his wife (who I work for), I had to shut my mouth, smile and say something inane and walk away.  GRRRRR

But I think I am going to come up with something I can carry with me (no not a baseball bat) and hand to these idiots. 

And on that note, I have to close, thrift shop volunteering today and since it is closed for the month of July, everything in the shop is $1 today, should be bedlam.

Have a good one--any and all suggestions for putting jerks in their place are appreciated--welcomed!!

President's Speech

Wednesday, 8:48 am

By Cyn

I am curious if anyone has an opinion on last night’s speech.  I am not sure what I had hoped for or expected, but did not get whatever it was I wanted.  But then, I have to ask myself, do I spend too much time listening to the talking heads - Matthews, Olberman, Maddow - and do they build up my expectations to an unreasonable level.  I just don’t know.  I listened, I watched and felt like I feel when someone gives me a cup of decaf instead of caffeinated coffee.

If anyone is swinging by here, I would love to know what you think.  I honestly do not know what more Obama can do, I do not know what more he should say.  If he gets angry, people clobber him; if he says ‘kick some ass,’ well then he is using gutter language (and whoever said that clearly comes from another planet); if he is calm and cool, he is too professorial.  I realize you cannot please all the people all of the time yadda yadda yadda, but this poor man seems to please no one. 

Someone not long ago was passing around something dumb (as most things are) on Facebook and it went something like, ‘today I am grateful for....’ and you fill in the blank.  Well, I did not do it then, but today?  Well, today I am grateful I am not President Obama!!

Just got back from the gym....a new me--was there at 7AM, am going to go at least three times a week before I go to work.  Yeah, and if you believe that one..............  But my brain is tired, my body is tired and I need my caffeine.

Ciao’