Let’s abolish the Senate -

From a Guest Comment in the Chico News & Review

It's only a dream, but we can dream can't we?

Thoughts,

But not Mr. Porter's - From the Edge -

One of my favorite local writers has assembled some 'thoughts' and I picked out the three I liked the best...click the link above and see the rest of them.

• Believe nothing, no matter where you read it or who has said it, not even if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense. —Siddhartha Gautama (c. 566–480 B.C.E.)

• Question everything. Every stripe, every star, every word spoken. Everything. —Ernest J. Gaines (1933– )

• The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself. —Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)

Chances are

Robert Genn, a Canadian painter of some fame, puts out a twice a week newsletter and it frequently has some gems in it. Such as this…

 

Art reboots the cerebral cortex, teaches new skills to underutilized hands, arouses dormant sensitivities and promotes latent passions. If need be, art gives us something to talk about besides the kids, grandkids and celebrities, hence making us more interesting people. And it's cheap--a month of art supplies for the average Daumier is about the same as a round of golf.

 

Done well, art has lots of ploys, feels good, makes you proud, is so frustratingly difficult it makes grown men cry, and it's not golf. (emphasis mine)

Robert Genn – December 31st of the year 2010

 

Mr. Genn notes that there are an estimated 12 million painters in North America. This makes my chances of becoming the next El Greco slim to none.

Life

Living life without Facebook is not as easy as I thought it might be. A couple of weeks have gone by since I gave it up and I do miss the photos and information as to where people, my family, are and what they are doing. I don't miss the constant 'Like'ing without a chance to dis-'like'. Of course the FB powers can't allow any official methods to express displeasure within the FB realm. In fact, there is no way to have a conversation. If you thought email was killing off the art of conversation, Facebook has dug the grave and is now covering it over and tamping it down.

And I noticed that there are fewer people out here on the other side of the FB wall. When I left, I ceased to exist for those still on Facebook. That makes sense; why would you comment on Cousin Susie's photo and then exit Facebook to write an email to Uncle Frank concerning that same photo? A photo that Uncle Frank can't see unless you attach it to the email…which is all sort of a bother. So you don't do either one.

I still have an obscure presence on Facebook; my 'Jim Bob' persona. I created an email account for 'him' awhile ago and then signed him up for a FB account. He has a silly photo and a bio that makes him out to be in his 90's. He was created just for laughs and I may keep him around. But he will have to obey some rules…he can't 'like' anything! He'll be my eyes and ears to watch over a select few of my FB friends. (why can't I just quit?)

On another note; Warren Buffett. One of the wealthiest men in the world.
"He was ranked as the world's second wealthiest person in 2009 and is currently the third wealthiest person in the world as of 2010."
Below are a couple of quotes from him…

 

• If anything, taxes for the lower and middle class and maybe even the upper middle class should even probably be cut further. But I think that people at the high end - people like myself - should be paying a lot more in taxes. We have it better than we've ever had it. 
  

 

• The rich are always going to say that, you know, just give us more money and we'll go out and spend more and then it will all trickle down to the rest of you. But that has not worked the last 10 years, and I hope the American public is catching on. 
  

 

But…those are quotes and nothing much will change just because a rich guy said those words. Warren isn't actually doing something to change the system with his money. He's a philanthropist and not a fighter.

 

I've been painting almost every day and enjoying it. I'm learning quite a bit from the group I paint with on Tuesdays. They are all mature artists and that doesn't mean they are old. They are all very giving with praise and advise and it has been one of the best things I've ever done when I joined up with them; to paint together for three hours once a week.

The art of conversation has not died within this group! We have all sorts of personalities and skills among us. There are two with Doctorates. There are three conservatives and five liberals. One "born' again and two Unitarian Universalists. There are three that regularly show and sell their art work while for some of us, showing is a whole new experience. A humbling one. All of this and we still enjoy each other's company! And for all of this we pay $15 a month for the use of the room at the Art Center. Cheap!

Life goes on and so do I. I'm awake, as usual, at 4 this morning and have started with the usual drugs. Now I wait for the Norco – and maybe the Tizanidine - to do something with this persistent pain. Persistent. Never ending. Always. In pain. I am so tired of it! It was a year ago that I was just a month away from the surgery that would end the pain. And it did for about six months. Slowly, the pain came back. But, I was optimistic and believed that as long as I kept up the 4 mile a day walking regimen, a miracle would occur and the pain would ease off. That didn't happen and instead, I began to need pain drugs once again. I had been off of them for about three months. Yesterday was a five Norco + one Dilaudid day and still the pain persisted, never going below a Level 3.

I sometimes feel presumptive with my complaints. How dare I presume to complain about my 'little pain' when there are so many that are in greater pain and have been for even longer periods of time? How dare I, indeed.

Well, I do dare because like so many things in life, it – the pain - is all about me and sometimes it is next to impossible to focus on someone else in pain. The best I can do is to commiserate. But who wants that?

I am in limbo. After participating in the Run For Food just a month ago, the pain has finally reached a level that makes me wonder if I should sign up for any similar events in the near future. Hopefully, I will have an answer this week. I've had my MRI and I see my neurosurgeon on Thursday. I'll also have an x-ray just before my appointment with him.

There is a part of me that says I should stop fighting it. After all, I'm 70 years old and I can't expect miracles, can I? Genetics say that I only have x number of years to live and I might as well accept that those last year's might not be comfortable. And another point; my career choices abetted my downfall and I can't rewrite history, can I?

But, on the other hand, my mean, hard drinking and smoking grandmother lived to be 93. (Sorry, grandma. You really were mean.) Her daughter, my mother, who was not at all mean, nor a hard drinker, but smoked like a chimney and lived till she was 87. So there is a chance that I, her reformed and somewhat healthy son could live till I was in my mid 90's. Or older. That's at least 25 years from now and I'm not sure I want to accept pain as a lifestyle for that long of a time.

Well, it's all just chatter until I talk to the doctor. Hopefully, the MRI and x-rays will reveal the future for me.

Once Again

I found this little bit of data this afternoon. I know it's been on the net for quite a few years; I remember it from some time back. Can't tell you when or where it came from but it's worthy of being re-posted now and then. I can only imagine that the figures have become worse since it was first posted.

  If you have food in your fridge, clothes on your back, a roof over your head and a place to sleep. You are richer than 75% of the world.

If you have money in the bank, your wallet, and some spare change. You are among the top 8% of the world's wealthiest.

 
If you are attending college, or planning on attending college. You are among the top 1% educated globally.


 
If you woke up this morning with more health than illness. You are more blessed than the million people who will not survive this week.

 

If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the agony of imprisonment or torture, or the horrible pangs of starvation. You are luckier than 5OO million people alive and suffering.

 

If you are reading this: you are more fortunate than 3 billion people in the world that cannot read.

Zumbox

Raises $9.7 Million More For Paperless Postal System

I ran across this and thought it could be the perfect way to handle mail. It's about time! (I signed up of course)

Data

Each year, the Economist outs a skinny little book titled "Pocket World in Figures". Since I love data, I look forward to each new volume. And this years' data does not disappoint.

The top 5 nations when it comes to beer drinking…

1. The Czech Republic
   
2. Venezuela
   
3. Russia
   
4. Poland
   
5. Australia
   

I'm certain that some nations are disappointed by the results. Better luck next year!

 

The top 5 nations when it comes to drinking the hard stuff…

1. Finland
   
2. Australia
   
3. Czech Republic
   
4. Russia
   
5. Germany
   

Can we learn something from these statistics? Sure; Finn's don't like beer.

 

How about Press Freedom? The top 5 are…

1. Iceland
   
2. Denmark
   
3. Sweden
   
4. Japan
   
5. Switzerland
   

The US? We ranked #27. That's still no excuse for the poor job they do.

 

Internet. The percentage of households with internet access…

South Korea – 94.3%

Iceland – 87.7%

Netherlands – 86.1%

Sweden – 84.4%

Norway – 84.0%

The US? We're at #25 with 62.5%. Internet access numbers also reflects just how serious a nation is when it comes to education.

 

When it come to computers (per 100 people), we're in 6th place. When it comes to mobile telephones, (per 100 people) we don't even make the top 50 nations. Broadband? We're number 14. We're also #14 when it comes to divorce rates.

 

Now the good stuff; health care costs! The highest health spending, as % of GDP…

1. US of A – 15.7%
   
2. Burundi – 13.9%
   
3. Timor-Leste – 13.6%
   
4. France – 11.0%
   
5. Switzerland – 10.8%
   

 

Most hospital beds? We didn't make that list at all. But the American men scored 3^rd in the world for obesity while American women could only come up with 6^th place. We didn't make the highest or lowest numbers in death rates for infants or adults, so we just assume that we are somewhere in the middle. We are #32 for life expectancy at a combined age of 79.9 years. So if we spend all of that money on health care, what are we getting for the money? And how about DPT and measles immunizations? We don't make the top twenty on that number.

 

I could go on and on, but I won't. For now.

This just in...

"WikiLeaks Founder Released on Bail"


Personally...I think he should make a run for it. I certainly don't believe that he will receive any sort of 'fair trial' by those who wish him harm. I believe Ecuador has offered him asylum. He should take it. 


What's sad about this whole thing is the fact that he is being hunted down when  he has done what the news media has failed to do for the last 12 years? 20 years? 40 years? 


Also forgotten in the brouhaha is the fact that Mr. Assange asked the U.S. to assist in the redacting of the documents. They refused. 

paper cuts

jill sylvia’s paper cuts question the notion of value | Daily Art Muse

Why do I think I should be an art critic? Probably because I'm still trying to find my own way in expressing myself with art.

Anyway, back to the criticism. If you click on the links above you will see a fantastic display of perseverance. Perhaps mania? But is it art?

I struggle with this all of the time as I wonder if I'm creating art or wallpaper samples.

After some thought I have come to the conclusion that no one can criticize art. It is what it is...and you can keep your opinions to yourself.

Stop Motion from Dreamhack Winter 10 (Insert Coin)

Well...

...that was liberating. I just cancelled my Facebook account. It was simply becoming a bad habit. If it had been intellectually stimulating, I would have stayed. Now I have just one bad on-line habit; Google Reader!


Speaking of Google Reader as I was...I read a piece where the author had made a foot pedal style/accelerator for Google Reader. Press down and the entries just fly by! I have to find that article...

Is California a basket case? -

No, it isn't. Read this and see...

From This Corner - Chico News & Review

A quote...

 "Social conservatives never end up on the right side of history. All they have to show for their effort is burned-out brake pads."

Pricing Information from

- Leslie's List

Pick your own favorite drug and see where the lowest price is. Yes, this is from Chicago but it is representative of costs anywhere in the US. We normally use Walgreens (a big mistake!) but they are the closest to us. Costco is about 25 miles away.

Costs of Care

Costs of Care

I was reading the newsletter from kevinmd.com and ran across a story and a link to this blog/website. There are some amazing stories in here that illustrate the fact that our health care system, including patient literacy, is broken.

Middle-Man strikes back! -

From - This Modern World - Salon.com

Couldn't have said it better...

This from Corrupting Conservatives:

Where The Jobs Are

There are some mind bending statistics here. Plus, you might want to click on the image ands see the ship as it should be seen.

The statistic I loved the best... "91% of Wal-Mart products are made in China."

From My Left Wing::

Tuesday Open Thread

"Any dictator would admire the uniformity
and obedience of the U.S. media. "

Oh, so true! Conservatives rule the media...

Corporate profits in America:

Gimme a “V” |from The Economist:

"Since the end of 2008 business-sector productivity has grown at an impressive annualised rate of 4.2% while hourly compensation has crept ahead by just 2.1%. Unit labour costs have fallen at an annualised 2% rate, the steepest cumulative decline since the 1950s. Profits owe their V-shape in great part to employment’s L-shape."

You know that fable from the right wing that tells us that if we would only free the rich from this terrible tax burden, then they, the rich, would create jobs for us all and we would all live happily ever after. Wrong. They, the rich, never have done that and they never will. Why would you believe otherwise? This is just more of Reagan's 'Trickle down economics'. It didn't work then and it won't work now. History and facts tell us the truth.

Supply Side Economics? Here's some data on that...

Living in a 'Red' county

Supervisors stanp out food outreach program

This is pretty much typical of the small minds that govern in the County of Glenn. The economy here is focused on agriculture and that means it is one of the poorest counties in the state. Poverty and agriculture go hand in hand. Unless you're a rancher. With federal subsidies and federal crop insurance. Now along comes a program that will cost the county nothing and will bring money into the local economy. The state is trying to distribute federal money to the counties through the CalFresh program but these Reagan loving supervisors will have nothing to do with it. Even though the food stamp recipients will spend that money in local stores, aiding the local economy, the supervisors are doing their 'moral' duty by refusing to help in the outreach of this program. With all of this high morality you would think that they might refuse all federal aid for this county...but you would be wrong. Their sense of right and wrong is very selective.

From Matt Taibbi:

Courts Helping Banks Screw Over Homeowners | Rolling Stone Politics

I just read the article a few minutes ago and just had to see if it was on-line. And it was. It's worthwhile reading every single word of it. Then print it out and go slap a banker with it. Sure, the action takes place in Florida and we all know about Florida...but the same thing is happening everywhere the robo signers were at work and that's the whole country.

Pray tell: from Science Daily

Americans stretching the truth about church attendance

Duh! I'm pretty sure I've been saying this quite awhile...

Religion and such

Every once in awhile I become agitated by the 'Christians' in this country. I just read the other day that over 80% of Americans identify themselves as 'Christians'. I can't confirm that number...but I do know for a fact that there were a few empty seats in the pews yesterday. Maybe they slept in? 


I'm definitely agitated by the 'Christian' response to the fact that Muslims live among us. A mosque was burned in Oregon just the other day. 'Christians' are doing everything they can, illegally as well as legally, to stop the building of mosques in NYC and in Tennessee. Perhaps these people didn't know that Muslims have a lengthy history in the US of A. "When Benjamin Franklin helped establish a non-denominational religious meeting house in Philadelphia, he emphasized its non-sectarian nature by stating that "even if the Mufti of Constantinople were to send a missionary to preach Mohammedanism to us, he would find a pulpit at his service". In 1776, there were over 3 million people in the colonies...you don't think there more than a few Muslims among them? "In 1790, the South Carolina legislative body granted special legal status to a community of Moroccans, twelve years after the Sultan of Morocco became the first foreign head of state to formally recognize the United States" South Carolina? Imagine that!

But I know that ignorance rules these days and my agitation will gain me nothing. But now that I have written this I do feel better...

From Citizen K.

Tearin' o' the Green

The computer was misbehaving (backing up) last night when I called for this article and it wasn't till this morning that I was able to read it. Short and comprehensive. K explains the 'European problem' quite well. Good reading!

Walking

Thanksgiving 2010 is now history. Starting at 9 AM on that day I began the 5k run/walk at Bidwell Park along with thousands of others. Many thousands. As I shuffled along in the mass of humanity, strollers and dogs that were trying to get to the Start line, I realized that I had made a tactical error. Those who had elected to be chip timed were at the very front of this crowd while I was stuck somewhere near the middle. So myself and others who had made the same error began to work our way past those who were at park to enjoy a pleasant walk that benefitted the work of the Jesus Center, our local homeless shelter. As I cut right and left and swerved here and there I was reminded of my previous life as a driver on the freeway system of Los Angeles. My plan was to racewalk the entire 5k but I was soon running along the edges, off the trail, as I passed those groups of walkers who were deep in conversation while blocking the entire trail. This worked until trees and vines forced me back into the pack and I had to walk at the pace of the crowd once again. It wasn't until the second mile that I was more or less free to racewalk as planned. At the end, the clock said 48:50 as I passed the finish line. I deducted the 3:30 that I spent shuffling towards the Start and then averaged out the slow and the fast moments on the trail to arrive at a time of 45 minutes. Sub 15 minutes miles. Compared to my 2006 time of sub 12 minute miles. Oh well, time marches on.

Further evidence

that the majority of Californians are pretty smart!


"More than three weeks after he declared victory in the race for state attorney general, Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley conceded defeat today as he trailed by more than 50,000 votes in one of the closest statewide races in California history.

The decision means that San Francisco Dist. Atty. Kamala Harris will assume the post of California's top law enforcement official, giving Democrats a clean sweep of the statewide offices."


Okay, okay...there were some ballot measures where Californians failed, but overall, not bad.

Dinner

Did I mention the cooking class I attended the other night? I guess not. Anyway, the class was held at our church, the very historic Bidwell Presbyterian in Chico. The class was for three hours and included the dinner we would prepare. All for $18. Our instructor, Pina Taddonio, a native of Torino in Italy, was my kind of cook! Recipes? Nope. It was all spur of the moment decisions on her part. A pinch of this and a handful of that. She said we could take notes if we wanted to but she wouldn’t care at all if we didn’t. I didn’t. We made cannelloni with Butternut squash for the vegetarians and cannelloni with sweet Italian sausage and broccoli for the meat eaters. Now the cannelloni was different; we didn’t fill those premade heavy pasta tubes. We used very thin lasagna pasta which was about 5”x8”. This was then filled and rolled, using brushed on water to glue it together. Then it went into the pan with the others and was covered with a Béchamel sauce. Then cooked for just 20 minutes as the filling had been already been cooked…by us, the eight students. Then we sat down to eat. Heavenly, if I do say so myself. Next month is a baking class and I must attend!

No sleep

I'm awake quite early as that is my 'normal'. The first thing I did was check on the woodstove as I was expecting to see some extremely low temps this morning but it's close to 50˚ outside. What? Yesterday, we pulled all of the Mandarin oranges off the tree and had harvested all the green tomatoes just so they wouldn't be harmed by the freeze. Well, the weatherman now says that tomorrow morning it will be 25˚ at this hour. He's a day late or we were a day early.

Will we go walking today? The winds are in the 12 to 20 mph range and rain is forecast. I guess we'll make that decision when the sun is up. Now yesterday was a great time for walking as the park was at its best. A Kodak moment at every turn of the trail. I have a feeling that this wind will strip most of the colorful leaves off of the trees and leave us with a stark winter scene for the weeks to come.

I'll be back in the park on Thursday morning for the Jesus Center Run for Food, a 5k walk/run. I did this race in 2006 and haven't been able to participate since then. I did a practice walk a week ago and was able to come up with four 15 minute miles in a row. I should be able to do that easily in a 3.1 mile race. I just looked at my journal and I see that I did the 2006 race in just under 37 minutes, giving me a sub 12 mile pace. 11.94 to be exact. Ah! The good old days when I was only 66 and my lower spine wasn't fused.

Yesterday, I was reading Nance's blog, Mature Landscaping, and she was writing about pain. Constant pain. Something she knows only too well. And it made me so thankful for the surgeon I had/have. He still has me on Gabapentin, which I hate because of the muddleheaded feeling I have to live with. And live with it forever, or so he says. So why am I thankful? Because he told me right away, as soon as I became his patient, that pain was the enemy and he was going to make sure that I had very little of it. He gave me Dilaudid and Norco and told me that he would take care of the addiction problems when it was time to do so, but in the meantime I was supposed to stay pain free if possible. Shortly after the first surgery the pain was just bearable with those narcotics. I can't imagine waiting all those months for the bones to fuse without those drugs. It's been ten months now since the last surgery and I only have to take a Norco on a rare occasion and it's been three months since I last needed a Dilaudid. The pain will never go away but I'm adjusting to it. Or so I hope. I know that I spend too much time thinking about it. And commenting about it. At the same time, I do know that my surgeon told me that if the pain becomes too much for me, he had another plan for me, an implantable spinal cord stimulator. Very cool! No, I'm not ready for that yet. I have my Wellbutrin to keep me happy. Yikes! We live in a chemical age. And I'm a willing participant in it. Perhaps I just need more nap time with Boo the Magical Cat. And more painting.

Speaking of painting; today is Tuesday and that means I get to spend three hours at the Chico Art Center with all my friends. My artistic friends. I have some Derwent Inktense pencils I want to share with them. They're great watercolor tools for accents as they won't wash away.

There are about ten of us in the group and all are better artists than I am. I'm the one in the group that tries every new thing to come along while they spend their time honing their skills. But…they all encouraged me when they exclaimed over my entry in the Small Canvas, Small World exhibit. I'm growing in my art and it's really exciting at times. I have half a dozen canvases now that I'm really happy with and I will post them to my art blog as soon as I can figure out a good way to photograph them.

Warren Buffett: says...

Cut Taxes For Middle And Lower Classes; Rich Should Pay Much More

Good article. By the way, Bill Gates says the same thing...

State taxes

"Strong majorities of Democrats and Republicans, men and women, and voters of all ideological persuasions overwhelmingly said that the deficit could be overcome by cutting waste and correcting inefficiencies."


Fools. It will not happen. We already have one of the lowest state employee to citizen ratios in the nation. We have been undertaxed for years. Corporate taxes are almost nil...and we want them lower yet? 

Elections

The House leaders have been elected and the results are as expected. Boehner and his boys will be in a position to do what they do best. Nothing. And they will make sure that we have plenty of it for the next two years. Treason.

Nancy Pelosi is the best man the Democrats have and they should be grateful for all that she has done for the party. But they won't. The usual blue dog Democrats will whine and snivel for the next two years, all the while they will be cozying up to the Boehner Boys in hopes of being tossed a scrap. Hopeless.

I never thought that I would applaud the election of a Republican but Lisa Murkowski is my hero today. She beat the Palin/tea party in Miss Quittypants own backyard. And she did it the hard way with a write-in candidacy...who would have thought that such an idea had a chance?

BIG

This is how I wish I could paint...if so, it's obvious that I will need a bigger garage/studio. Much bigger!

But, at the same time, I really love her smaller paintings, such as the 'Colour of Light' paintings.

Click here to see her website

From Tom Tomorrow - This Modern World

I try and read this great comic strip every week and I always enjoy it. This week it's better than usual.  Click here to see it for yourself. I could comment for half an hour on each panel...but I won't.

From my Left Wing

Facts. Yes, some facts about Social Security. Good article here...

 1. Social Security isn't broke.  In fact it currently has a $.7 trillion surplus and is solvent through 2037.

2.  Social Security doesn't increase the deficit.

3.  The best way to ensure the long-term health of Social Security is through good-paying jobs and a stronger economy.  

4.  If you truly are concerned about Social Security running out of money in the future, the $4 trillion projected long-term shortfall is conveniently the same amount of money which would be generated over ten years by letting the Bush tax cuts expire on the top 2% of Americans. (Oh, and BTW, those tax cuts to the very rich--they don't stimulate the economy for squat.)

5.  If you want to shore up Social Security over the long-run eliminate the cap.  Why should a worker making $105,000 a year pay exactly the same number of dollars into SS as a CEO taking home $50 million?  

This from Citizen K

Click here

I read this when we were traveling in Arizona a few days ago and although I wanted to share it at that time, I had to wait till I had my own computer in front of me. This piece really lays out the facts for 'single payer' health care, something that even the Democrats didn't want to hear about.

And this morning I heard about the San Francisco City Council voting to ban fast food meals for children that use toys to entice the children...unless the meal contains less than 600 calories, 600 mg of salt and 35% calories derived from fat. Plus it has to include a fruit or vegetable snack. I can already hear the republicans yelling about how this is government interfering in private business. Darn right it is! Because without that interference, our children and grandchildren will be enticed into eating lethal doses of fat and sodium just to increase the bottom line in the fast food industry. I can't even begin to imagine why a child would need a 600+ calorie meal; can you?

Just wondering

I see the sun. It's 6:45 in the morning and I see clouds and blue sky. Alright! We're going walking this morning. Now if we were still in Arizona we would be seeing the darkness. (in more ways than one. Okay, I'm being political here.) Arizona is one of the few states that remains Daylight Savings Time free. And I couldn't help but think about the fact that this state is run by the Tea Party now and as that means that they should be free of all government interference in their lives…why don't they simply allow the citizens of the state to determine their own time? Set their watches as they feel moved? They won't?

Hypocrites.

And speaking of hypocrites; do you think the republican congress will dismantle their own health insurance program. It appears suspiciously like a socialist program to me. Let's ask them. At every possible opportunity.

No infection...yet

I'll take the 'Left Coast' over the 'heartland' any old time! It seems that California (not my little part of it...sigh) has resisted the insanity and has rejected the 'big money' Republicans. And it looks like the tea party fascists haven't made a lot of progress here but the chances for that kind of infection are too close for comfort.

From Chez NamasteNancy:

VOTE!:

I wish I had read and shared this yesterday...still, the story should be read.

From Time Goes By -

Time Goes By -

You have to read the quotations here. My favorite?

“The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.”

- Sir Winston Churchill

This just in

I'm not Twittering this morning but I will pass on this Tweet...

Meg Whitman's personal spending on her campaign: $163 million. National Endowment for the Arts 2010 budget: $161.4 million 

Give me a few minutes and I can come up with a hundred things that could have made better use of the $163 million. When she loses today, I hope she moves to some other state...

BettyPehme - an art blog

BettyPehme: "-

I ran across some of her work a few months ago and was very impressed. We exchanged emails just a little bit ago and I was directed to her new blog. I'm still impressed, maybe even more so...

Now I have to get busy and clean up my own art blog...

Getting old...

Wally Herger is getting old. He has held his safe seat in Congress for 24 years now and we pay him $174k a year (plus benefits) to do whatever it is that he does. And that is always what the Republican leadership tells him to do. Nothing else. This year he is being challenged by Jim Reed, a centrist Democrat with little funding from the Democratic Party and no hope of unseating Wally. Mr. Reed has challenged Wally to debate and Wally refuses. Then, Mr. Reed intimated that Wally might be showing early signs of Alzheimer's. (Based on stories he had read in a local newspaper) OMG! You would think that a bomb had gone off...how dare he say that! Of course it was actually a kind thing to say and Wally should take the time to see a doctor and make sure of his health. He should do it for us. After all, his idol, Ronnie, spent the last 4 years of his Presidency in the haze of Alzheimer's and perhaps Wally wouldn't want to do the same. We certainly don't want him to...

What I found unsettling was the reaction of everyone to the word 'Alzheimer's'. Mr. Reed didn't say 'Syphilis'. Or Gonorrhea. Alzheimer's can strike anyone, it's very 'democratic' in that way. And avoiding the word won't make it go away. And avoiding a debate on specious grounds makes it seem that this particular disease might have found another victim.  

PolitiFact

Obama says most job losses occurred before his economic policies took hold:

Yes; four million jobs lost by the Republicans. Now that we're regaining some jobs, the 'people' want to go back to that business model. Go figure. I'm baffled...

U.S. Economic Growth

Picks Up Slightly : NPR:

See the graph? Way down at the bottom is the date where Bush left us. Yet here we are (but not me!) ready to elect the same crooks that got us into this mess. Why on earth would you elect Republicans again after what they did to you? And will do to you again. Guaranteed.

Once again

The silliest of seasons is upon us; it's midterm election time and although I may have started out by calling it 'silly' it is far from it this year. Those who wish to harm America are out in force this time around and are doing whatever it takes to get themselves elected. Truly; I don't remember a time quite like this. Lies and liars abound on the far right. It's hard to find the truth spoken from the candidates of the rightwing.

I've been voting for a long time now and I will continue. I cannot concede a thing to these evil forces
idiots misguided citizens. It's truly an all-out assault on our intelligence this year as 'intellect' is something that the conservatives have always hated; as they know that an intelligent voter will never vote for the conservative agenda. Sure, there are intelligent 'conservatives' but this year they are being lumped together with progressives by those of the lunatic far right with a conservative mindset. With these people, there is no middle ground and so any conservative official who fails to buy into the tea party ideology is targeted for dismissal.

It's hard to believe, but it is almost 2011. A full decade into the 21^st century. And those idiots
fools that are fooled by the tea party ideology believe that it's still the 18^th century and we need to live as the Constitution dictates. Which it never did. Never has. But you can't tell these people anything. If they had their way, all the Amendments would be repealed. Especially the one regarding slavery. And women. They don't understand or read history, they simply parrot whatever the Koch brothers tell them via their stooges. Oh, if only they could read!

But they can't and so we're stuck with these idiots tea party types until this election cycle is over.

On the bright side…we will survive this assault on our liberties. Hoover was a tool of the rightwing. McCarthy, the drunken fool tried to ruin us and so did Nixon. Reagan and the two Bush's made devastating runs on our freedom but we're still here. If the Republicans take the reins of power again it will be only a short time before they are revealed as the true idiots
fools misguided leaders that they are. Or were. It's two steps forward and then one step back whenever the Republicans take over from a progressive administration. We're still making progress but it is so darn slow!

I'm hoping that the polls are wrong on some of these races and I have good reason to believe they are. I read an article recently which explained the trouble that pollsters are having; cell phones. Almost 30% of Americans have given up their land lines and pollsters hate to shell out the bucks to call you on a cell phone. So they are calling a large number of older citizens and these also happen to be the few who will even sit still for a poll. Most citizens under the age of 50 are quick to hang up when they are asked to be polled.. It's much older citizens that make up the sampling base so you can see the demographics being skewed in favor of conservatives and unfortunately, this is also the group that votes more often.

There is one poll number that I do like and that's the one that shows Jerry Brown leading over Meg Whitman. She does have more money yet to spend and spend it she will. She's certain that being governor is akin to being Empress and all will do as she says once elected. Not! She was a CEO once and everyone did have to obey her, but the legislators, a Democratic majority, will do as they please because she has no political skills…and she can't fire them.

Back to my painting. Writing about politics has soured me and I need to vent with some bold colors on a big scale!

"Race Tightening

In Final Days Before Midterm Elections" - from Liberal Values: "-

I thought this was well stated...

"Regardless of how the Republicans do, long term they cannot overcome the facts that their reactionary views are opposed by the vast majority of Americans. A party which requires supporters to believe so many things which are contrary to fact, which denies modern science, and acts contrary to human desires for individual liberty, will not thrive in the twenty-first century."

Once again

We fall behind. The US of A has fallen to 49th place in life expectancy. Ten years ago we were in 19th place. And during those ten years (7 under a Republican Administration) we spent more per year on health care than any other nation. Facts don't lie. Yet we seem poised to elect Republicans to high office once again. Are we stupid as well as in poor health?

Makes sense to me...

...the word algebra comes from the Arabic language (al-jabr, الجبر literally, restoration) and much of its methods from Arabic/Islamic mathematics, its roots can be traced to earlier traditions, most notably ancient Indian mathematics, which had a direct influence on Muhammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī (c. 780-850). He learned Indian mathematics and introduced it to the Muslim world through his famous arithmetic text, Book on Addition and Subtraction after the Method of the Indians. He later wrote The Compendious Book on Calculation by Completion and Balancing, which established algebra as a mathematical discipline that is independent of geometry and arithmetic. The roots of algebra can be traced to the ancient Babylonians. (Modern Iraq)


I confess, I got a D in Algebra. But, the next year, I received a B in Geometry. Go figure. It's a Personality Type thing...


Anyway, I have a feeling that my youngest grandchildren won't have to worry about learning Algebra; not once the word is out that it's really a Muslim plot. I knew that...

From Corrupting Conservatives:

I'm Not Discouraged; I Am DISGUSTED

Even though I'm trying not to waste my time writing of things political; others do so much better! I ran across this post (link above) in my Feeds and really think it should be read by many. By all. Of course you have to read the whole thing! It's not that long and you will be a whole lot smarter when you finish...

Another weekend

And another 4+ miles. Plus the farmers market. And a trip to Lowe's and Home depot to see if I could get some very large pieces of cardboard. 'Ima Wizer' told me (comments in the last post) to start thinking and painting 'LARGE' and so I was going to try...but to no no avail. No cardboard at all. Now I have to look around town or perhaps I could contact Janet Turner (see the last post) and ask her where she buys it.

Since neither Lowe's nor Home Depot carry un-tempered hardboard, I had to buy some birch panels to make some 'canvas' to work on. But I really like these; much nicer to paint on as they can be scrubbed hard with the brush. Plus, I enjoy making the wooden frames to support them.

Early this morning (4:30) I was cutting up tomatoes and roasting them in preparation for making sauce. By 5:45 I had a pot full of juice, spices and garlic simmering on the stove. This afternoon we went out to the garden and picked another 20 or 30 tomatoes. Those will be sauce in a few days; except for the delicious 'Carbon' tomatoes...those go in the salads.

I did finish another painting and this one is also on birch ply. I really enjoyed painting it; putting heart and mind into the effort. It's titled Christmas 1944.

Back out to the 'studio'...I have another canvas calling me.

Last weekend

It was a good weekend. We started with our usual 4 mile walk in the park and then continued on to the farmers market, only an additional quarter mile. We browsed and enjoyed the sights of all the fall produce. We noted that tomatoes are really decreasing in price as the last of them hit the stands. There were tomatoes everywhere. It would be a good time to make some tomato sauce and I just happen to have three baskets of them from our own garden so there was no need to buy any. Finally, with a cup of freshly brewed coffee in my hand, we made our way back to the truck and drove home…only to return in just a few hours. Saturday also marked the second weekend of the Open Studios art tour and we wanted to see what was being offered to view in the local art world. We started with a visit to the home of Michael Mulcahey. His garage is his studio, much like mine, but he had his work lining the walls of his house and it was great! I asked him about the framing he used and he gave me some tips as to how to frame my own pieces. Cheap. I really liked the size of his paintings although I would probably be intimidated by that size if I tried one of my own. I have to work on that fear. After leaving his home we toured some other not so memorable studios until we got to the home of Janice Porter. She was busy working on projects while standing at a table in her driveway. She showed me how she used 'door skins' for support for her paintings, an idea that I might try for those larger pieces that I hope to work on some time. Janice Porter is married to Anthony Peyton Porter, a writer that I much admire. She was also working on some fantastic cardboard creations. She used a small craft knife to cut away, in a design, just the top portions of the cardboard sheets. Then the remaining top of the cardboard sheet was painted, leaving the brown underside revealed wherever she had cut it away. It's hard to describe and I couldn't find a photo anywhere on the 'net. Anyway, they were spectacular and they were pinned to the outside walls of her house for display. I wonder where she gets such large flat pieces of cardboard? They were at least 5'x3' or larger. After leaving the Porter house we drove over to a very old building that houses one of the few remaining blacksmiths in the state. Here, Dave Richer does his magic with iron and steel. The website doesn't show his latest creations; stainless steel bowls. I won't attempt to describe them as I couldn't do them justice. A few more stops and then it was time to go home…where I am looking at two large and blank surfaces for my imagination to fill. They're only 30"x30" but that's gigantic…for me.

In the past

In the past, I would wake up early and start reading the blogs and the on-line newspapers. That would usually generate enough steam for me to post half a dozen pieces on this blog. But now I paint. I still get up early but now I'm reading the blogs of artists along with my usual dose of news. Then I go to my studio (the garage) and work. I have at least four paintings in the works and hundreds more in my head. And I'm getting better. My skills are increasing and I'm not quite as scared of the white surface of a new canvas. Since I'm a painter of abstract art, some people will never know that my skills have increased...

We have a new order in our lives and it begins each morning (after the paintings are set aside) with a trip to Chico for our 4 mile walk in Bidwell Park. The park has already begun to show signs of the change in seasons and it's beautiful. Good for the soul! Then we go for coffee or do some shopping before heading back home. Then it's back to the art until I have exhausted my ideas for the moment and everything I have painted is wet. Around 2 PM it's time for a nap. Now that I have a CPAP machine, I strap the appliance on and 'oxygenate' for an hour or more. It works and I feel better, more energetic, when I wake.

Today I had to mow the orchard after I woke and I also picked tomatoes (a dozen!) and harvested a good amount of walnuts. The pecans are very close to being ripe enough to be shaken out of the tree. I should also mention that I saw the first tomato hornworm of the season. He was about 2 months too late but he was trying to catch up. His appearance made me angry enough to pick him off the plant with my bare hands (yes, I did!) and threw him as far as I could.

After that it's usually time to read for awhile. We will read for a few hours and then it's time to make dinner. I'm preparing some Red Snapper tonight and will try steaming it for a change.

After dinner it's time for a Netflix show. We watch one episode of 'The Good Wife' each night before going back to our reading. Yes, it's a pretty quiet life now and I'm not really sure why I decided to give you a play by play of today's 'life'? I just kept on typing and the words made their way onto the blog. Oh, well...

Our boy in Congress

Little Wally Buffoon is at it again...doing exactly what Mr. Boehner wants him to do and ignoring the needs of his constituents.
 

Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act - Vote Passed (237-192, 4 Not Voting)

The House passed the final version of the financial regulation reform legislation in June.

Rep. Wally Herger voted NO......

---

Education Jobs and Medicaid Assistance Act - Vote Passed (247-161, 25 Not Voting)

In August, the House passed this bill to provide $16.1 billion to extend increased Medicaid assistance to states and $10 billion in funding for states to create or retain teachers' jobs.

Rep. Wally Herger voted NO......

Once again

Small Business Jobs and Credit Act of 2010 - Vote Passed (237-187, 9 Not Voting)

The House passed a bill that would provide for a variety of small-business tax provisions, including a revival of an expired bonus depreciation provision to allow companies to write off assets more quickly. The legislation was sent to the President, who is expected to sign it.

Rep. Wally Herger voted NO.....

Wally Herger, from the Party of No, shows off his mental acumen once again as he votes AGAINST small business...the same people he claims to champion.

I was reading...

The billionaire Koch brothers’ war against Obama : The New Yorker: "-

Another former Koch adviser said, “They’re smart. This right-wing, redneck stuff works for them. They see this as a way to get things done without getting dirty themselves.”--Jane Mayer, The New Yorker, August 30, 2010

As I was saying, I was reading Mature Landscaping and happened to notice the quote above. Of course I had to follow the link and I'm glad I did. I really didn't know that much about the Koch brothers and now I may know too much! Disgusting! We're seeing far too much of this; where the ultra-rich are going into politics to game the system for themselves. They are buying the government they want and unfortunately it's for sale. We see it here in California where there has been and continues to be a sale for the governorship. Only Jerry Brown can save us from ourselves and he's tied in the polls with a know nothing billionaire. I suppose if I looked closer I would see the same thing happening across the country.

Wealth does not make a good representative for the people. Wealth does not confer intelligence upon its owner. Wealth gets in the way of good governance. When will we ever learn that? The wealthy do not deserve admiration (or your vote). You want to admire someone wealthy? Admire Bill Gates and Warren Buffett; they give their wealth away to help others...not to buy them.

Some ◇ ☼ ∻ Liberal Propaganda ∻ ☼ ◇

California: Killing the Environment to Save Jobs:

Yes, this post from liberal Propaganda was written a few months back but the facts are still the same. The oil companies want to destroy the environment legally and Prop 23 will allow that for them. Prop 23, written and funded by the oil companies, is a lie...a piece of subterfuge that will allow the oil industry to continue business as usual. Think about it; why would the oil industry suddenly feel the need to protect your job? They don't care about you! Now here's the scary part...polls show that the public is close to evenly split on this. What!?! Doesn't the public do 'due diligence' when it comes to ballot initiatives? (ROFLMAO) Okay, enough; now it's time to cry.

From PolitiFact

The Truth-O-Meter report card on Michele Bachmann:

"...a Republican from Minnesota who had never earned anything higher than a False."

By the way; she and Sarah Quittypants are pals.

The Party of NO

Rural Energy Savings Program Act - Vote Passed (240-172, 20 Not Voting)

The House passed a bill that would authorize $5 billion over five years to create two energy efficiency loan programs. The bill now goes to the Senate.

Rep. Wally Herger voted NO.....

Wally Buffoon...A man for all of the people. (As long as they are rich and/or Mormon)

From The Rude Pundit

The Rude Pundit: "

I was reading this at the home of the 'Nameless Cynic' and thought it was worth passing on. Really.

Now tell me again why anyone would vote for a republican? Despite all of their lies to the contrary...8 years of republican malfeasance has brought us to this sorry state of affairs.

Once again I wonder why 'conservatives' get any vote at all. Name one thing that a conservative leader has done for America. One thing. Uno. I'm waiting... (I said 'for' America and not 'to' America)

Only liberals, or call them progressives if you must, have created those things that have made for a better life for all. Only liberals care for ALL Americans.

Time flies

Yes, it does. Here it is, the middle of September and my mind is still in August. All we need is a week or two of chilly nights and the leaves will begin to turn those lovely autumn shades of color. We're walking in the park every day, except for Sunday, and we're already seeing the signs that summer is fleeing. I'll soon have to accept it.

We will be out in the park early this morning and getting in our daily 4 miles of fast walking. We're in the 16 minute/mile range now and the goal is 15 minute/miles. Well, it's my goal and not necessarily the goal of my LSW. We'll have to work that out somehow. I definitely want to be walking faster and longer now. We've talked about my LSW bringing a book to read so that I can take another half hour to racewalk a few more miles. The fall racing season is coming up and I am tempted to see how I can do in a 5k race. Besides, my t-shirt collection has remained static for the past two years and it's time to add some fresh color to it.

We went to see my favorite surgeon the other day and he has cut me loose. He doesn't need to see me again. He told me that he didn't know if I could race again but I am free to try so I might as well. I'm thinking, at my age, 70, I have a good chance of picking up a medal for placing first in my age group and that has to be a great psychological lift. On the physical side, he told me that I will have to take some nerve pain meds for the rest of my life. Still, that's better than the alternative. His final words for me were 'Stay away from doctors!'

Today is my favorite day of the week, as after our walk I will spend three hours at the Art Center. Our painting group has taken on the painting of a newspaper vending machine. The local 'Alternative Press' has given 10 of these metal boxes to local artists and we will decorate them as we are moved. They will then be coated with a good sealer and placed around the downtown area. We're a group of nine artists and we have one box to paint. Only two of us do much work with acrylics and the rest are watercolorists. It looks like acrylics are the best option for the boxes so this is going to require some serious give and take on everyone's part if we're going to come up with a finished piece we can all love.

Later; the walk went well and so did the painting. I managed to spray a good coat of primer on the newspaper box and divided the painting surface into 16 separate 'canvases'. Now for some inspiration.

On a different subject altogether; politics. I find it hard to comment on that subject during these waning days before the fall election. The crazies seem to have taken over all discourse and I fear for our country. Their cries of 'taking our country back!' probably disturb me the most, as if I and others didn't have some valid claim for our citizenship. We do and it's our country as well. We're all Americans, for better or worse…unfortunately.

Breaking news?

I just received two 'News Alert' messages about the Florida yahoo that was going to burn the Qur'an in some sort of public ceremony. Now he's not. Me? I'm disgusted that the news media created this story and gave the man exactly what he wanted; attention. This story never should have seen the light of day and now others just like this yahoo have seen how to manipulate the press.


What if you had a book burning and no one came? It could have happened...

Tell me

it isn't true! I just read that Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Arizona has gone traveling to New Hampshire and his political consultant (Sheriffs have political consultants?) is hinting that Sheriff Joe is under a lot of pressure from his fans to run for the presidency.

This is all a bad dream, right? I'm going to wake up in a few minutes and all will be well, right?

Working

Labor Day is here once again and the Sacramento River is a mess. Well, not all of it, just some parts of it. The annual Labor Day float is still in progress and it looks like it will take a lot of effort to clean it up. We drove across the bridge this morning and noted that there were still close to a hundred cars parked around the boat ramp area. And trash. Amazing. It's as if the revelers were determined to leave all evidence of their party right there on the ground. See? This is how much fun we had! And in the river. I wonder how many beer cans litter the river bottom?

But I digress; some of my favorite blogs reminded me of a post I had been thinking about. The post where I tell you about my union background and how my union job as a carpenter gave our young family the ability to be a productive member of society. We bought a house. A car. Our children had a mother that was able to enjoy their young lives and didn't have to drop the kids off at a day care center. That same union ensured that I received a pension and now I can still be a productive member, though older, of society. We're not on welfare and it's because the union made sure that I was paid the contracted wage and that all my contracted benefits were paid. Yes, 'contracted'; the union and the contractors signed a contract. And with that contract, the contractors were assured of high quality labor and we were assured a living wage. Why do low wage 'Red State' voters not see that it would be in their best interest to support unions?

The last company I worked for was the nation's largest specialty subcontractor and we employed the largest number of union carpenters in the nation. Why weren't we a non-union firm? We were big enough to do it. The union could never have stopped us. But we didn't because we were highly successful and that was because of our skilled labor force.

But who remembers what Labor Day is all about? Not many. I think that some, no, a lot of Republicans would refuse to take the day off if they only knew of the history leading up to this important holiday.

With brush in hand…

Now that I'm safely ensconced within the seventh decade of my life I guess I can look around and see if anything has changed. Nope. It's all the same. The idiots still outnumber the intellectuals about 4 to 1. How else do you explain Glenn Beck, Jan Brewer, Sharon Angle, Sarah Quittypants, John Boehner, Mitt Romney, John McGrumpy, Rushbo, et al? Yes, I left a lot of names out of that list but you know who they are.

Here's the question; do I need to get all exercised about these dimwits? At the end of the day, they are still idiots and I'm simply furious…if I allow them to do that to me. I need to learn to walk away more often.

Let me talk about the President; our President. Yes, I'm constantly miffed at him. But that's only because of my personality Type; INFP. You see, this Type believes that what you say or infer is very important, otherwise, you wouldn't have said it. An Introvert thinks long and hard before uttering a word because it's understood that words are a reflection of their very soul! But…an Extrovert talks simply to fill the silence. Most politicians are Extroverts. Duh!

I got off track there. Back to the President. Despite my perpetual state of 'miff', I can't think of a better President since F.D.R. As a nation we would be toast if we didn't have President Obama. I wish I could be as positive about the Democratic Congress and Senate. Not one has risen to the occasion. But…on the other hand, with an electorate that demands noise, smoke and mirrors from its representatives, what else can we expect. We elect them because they are low class and so we shouldn't be surprised at how they behave.

Oh, oh. I'm getting exercised. Time to do some painting.