Democrats Unite

Election Day is coming soon.  Before it's too late lets look at some facts. 

Forget the past;  lets look at the future under the Republicans if they gain control again.  First, be prepared to be lied to when black will be white and up will be down.  Demagoguery will be rampant and they will try to make you afraid; very afraid.   Reality will disappear and  ideology will replace common sense. 

You think I exaggerate?  Please listen to Keith Olbernamm as he tells you who those small businessmen really are.  You know, they're the ones who will be hurt if the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest 2% are cut according to John Boehner and his brethren.

Do you know the definition of 'small businessmen'?  I didn't either until Keith explained it.    Here  is part of the explanation:

Firms like the billionaire Koch Brothers who are backers of the Tea Party are small businessmen.  You think I am kidding?  No way would I mislead you.  Do you know the reason they are classified as small businessmen?  Because their company  operates as either an S Corporation, sole proprietorship, partnership or a limited liability company.  The companies pass the profits directly to the owners who pay taxes on the profits.  They are, by definition, classified as small businesses because the owners are small in number.  In the case of S corporations the number of owners can be 100.   The term small business has nothing at all to do with the size of the business or the profit it makes.  These so called 'small businesses' earn millions and sometimes billions each year.   Poor babies, they really need that tax cut.

And those, my friend, are the small businesses that the Republicans want to save the tax breaks for.  A lie, by any other name, still smells as bad.

Now if you didn't have to hold your nose after reading the explanation of a small business here is a list of what the Republicans will try to do if they gain control of our government again.  After reading them, if you agree with me that this is a disaster waiting to happen, please   help get out the vote.  This could be the most important vote anyone makes.  Tell your friends that those small businesses are spending billions trying to defeat the Democrats  and we need to stir up the base again.  

As an aside, the Republican deep pocket is paying for an ad against my wonderful Representative, Gabrielle Giffords, and it is repeated endlessly on all of the channels while I have only seen one of her ads.  Her opponent, a real whacko named Kelly, sponsored by the Tea Party, wants to privatize Social Security and Medicare for starters.  He must not be elected.

Now on to an abbreviated list  taken from the  Alter Net and written by Devona Walker.

•  1.   Shut down the government to stop the Health Care bill.  They have a plan to not fund it.  Senator Coburn and Rep. Mike Pence have already made it clear that this is the  plan.
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•  2.   Attempt to privatize Social Security and Medicare.   For those of us on Social Security, this would have been a total disaster when the stock market lost 40% of its value during the financial crisis.
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• 3.   Spend every walking hour investigating the Obama administration.  Michelle Bachmann is proposing issuing subpoena after subpoena and have one hearing after another.   Is this what you want your government to spend their time on?  Remember when nothing got done while they impeached Clinton for a sex act that should have been nobodies business other than Hillary's.  (Before some righteous individual rises up in anger at the statement I will remind the person that one of the leaders in promoting the impeachment is a thrice married man who asked his hospitalized wife for a divorce while she was in treatment for cancer so he could marry his mistress.)  Oh yeah, I mean the loud mouthed Newt Gingrich.
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• 4.   Repeal the 14th amendment - divest immigrants' children of citizenship.
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• 5.   Forget Cap and Trade.   Those small business men, the Koch Bros., have already donated 1 million to suspend the Global Warming legislation in California.  They are oil men, after all.   
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• 6.  Return to the disastrous economic policies that got us in the financial crisis in the first place.  Rep. Darrell Issa wants finance reform repealed. 

• 7.   Kill or drastically slash the Food Stamp Program.  Let them eat cake I guess.
•  
• 8.   Roll back and repeal equal rights for gays.   The party platform has not changed and the Montana GOP platform now calls for making homosexuality illegal.
•  
• 9.   Abandon the unemployed.   During one week 2 million unemployed lost their benefits while the Republicans filibustered the extension of unemployment benefits. 

•  10. Paralyze one branch of our government.   The Republicans will continue to obstruct anything the Democrats do because that is the way they hope to take back the White House.

If you think I am making all of this up, let me assure you that I wish I were.  Those facts have come from statements made by the Republicans who are now in your Congress and Senate.  Unless you agree with the Republican doctrine, please go vote and urge all of your Democratic friends to do likewise.    

I wrote this yesterday and today's NYT had the following editorial which is a very good read on this subject.   Please click on the link.   (You may have to click a second time.  When I tested it an ad came up the first time)

 http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/26/opinion/26sun1.html?_r=1&pagewanted=2&th&emc=th

The Travel Bug

Is a travel bug a virus that you can't shake or an insect that gets under your skin and leaves a longing for which there is no cure? Either way, it is an obsession that will never leave you once you are infected. I was bitten by the bug when I made my first train trip as a child. I know of two other people who were victims of the bug. One is Vagabonde who writes a beautiful post on her travels complete with great photography. The other is a friend who is returning from a cruise today and is close to his goal of visiting 100 different countries. I envy them being able to continue their dreams.

My bucket list was long. I never managed to see half of the places on my list and I never made it to the one that always headed the list (Egypt) , but I am grateful for the wonderful places I did see.

Like many travelers I had "the trip from hell" along the way. Here is my story.

I signed up for a trip with Grand Circle Travel, to go to Morocco and Spain. I extended my trip for an extra week in Spain as an add-on option. I didn't want to miss a thing. I was so excited before leaving home that I felt like a child on Christmas Eve.

Being on a tight budget I wanted to avoid having to stay overnight in NYC and I scheduled a plane trip that gave me 3 hours between my connecting flight at JFK airport. That seemed like a safe window in the event that my plane was delayed. I now advise anyone to stay overnight at the connecting airport to give yourself plenty of time to relax before continuing on and to avoid missing your connecting flight. Seasoned travelers already know that this is wise.

I arranged for a shuttle service to pick me up at my home at 4 am for my 6 o'clock flight to Phoenix where my first change of planes was to occur. I was afraid I wouldn't hear the alarm clock and would not be ready when the shuttle van arrived and I am overly cautious in such situations. Because I lived alone, I decided to be ready for the van before I went to sleep. This meant that I needed to be fully dressed with my luggage at the door. I slept sitting up on the couch. At least, that was the plan. I was so nervous with excitement that I only dozed for short periods. Not to worry, I told myself, I will sleep on the plane.

The first leg of my journey was so short that I didn't dare doze. I was on an America West plane and their concourse in Phoenix is spread out in a very long T shape. My arrival gate was at the very bottom end of the T and my departure gate was at one end of the short top of the T. When I got to my departure gate I sighed with relief thinking it would be a piece of cake from then on. Panic struck when I looked at the departure sign and, instead of NYC, the destination was Seattle. I went up to the desk and asked what happened. I was told that my plane was delayed so they were letting another plane come in to that gate first.

Being afraid I might miss my connection at JFK, I walked back up the long concourse to customer service to check on the situation. They called JFK and informed me there should be no problem. Yeah, right! I toted my heavy overnight back to the departure gate only to see that the sign now read Denver. Upon questioning this I was told that my departure gate had been changed. You will never guess where. Since this is the trip from hell, I, of course, had to go back to the first gate; the one that I arrived at.

By this time I was becoming very tense when, at last, I boarded my cross country flight much later. I was so fearful that I would miss my connection that even a nap was impossible. Still, an overnight flight was ahead and I would be able to sleep at last.

We were so late reaching JFK that they were already boarding my plane to Spain. I was on Iberia Air and the Spanish people at the gate were laughing at me when they checked me in. In a great rush I asked for a non-smoking seat and they gave me my seat number and told me the gate was upstairs. I literally ran up the stairs and down the concourse, arriving just as they were about to shut the gate. I guess that is one part of my trip that I can say was very lucky because 3 seconds later I would have been stranded and probably would have missed the first week of the trip. (Another woman who missed her connecting flight did lose about 5 days of the trip.)

I settled in my seat with great relief to have this first harrowing part of my trip behind me. I would sleep as soon as the plane was airborne. Then I found out why the Spaniards were laughing ; they had seated me in the smoking section. (That item alone will tell you how many years ago this all happened). I asked a flight attendant to move me and she told me that if I could find a vacant seat up front to take it. The only vacant seat available was right across the aisle from the galley. I didn't want to smell like a smoke factory so I took it and moved. That row was 3 seats wide due to being next to the galley and the other two seats were occupied by a young Spanish couple who wanted to practice their English on me. Since my Spanish is limited to a few words (some of them unprintable) and their English wasn't much better we had a lot of laughs trying to converse. Dinner was served after we were airborne and I put the open packet of oily salad dressing on the side of my tray which immediately tilted spilling the dressing on my skirt.

Now I am starting my trip with a big oil spot on my skirt and no sleep. Ah well, I can soon make up for the latter problem, think I. He He !! They put the movie on and the sound was so loud (this was before individual speakers) that sleep was not to be. At last they dimmed the lights for the night; all lights except those in the galley. Guess where the flight attendants spent their leisure time now that their duties were over. Why, in the galley next to me. Their chatter kept me awake all night. Heck, not speaking Spanish I couldn't even understand the juicy stories they were probably telling.

When we arrived in Madrid for another change of planes I had probably had a total of 3 hours sleep in the past 48. It was afternoon in Spain when I finally arrived at my final destination, Malaga. A feeling of relief was soon dispelled when I discovered that I had finally made it, but my suitcase hadn't.

After the group was assembled at the hotel we were told to be ready at 4 the next morning for a bus ride to the port where we would board the ferry for Morocco. Of course, this meant that I would not be able to make up for my lost sleep that night. At least I didn't have jet lag .

When I came down to dinner in my hot pink travel dress with the oily stain on the skirt the people in my group complimented me on my attire for the evening. It became a nightly joke that was a great ice breaker. As I entered the dining room someone would say, "Oh, Darlene, I love the dress that you are wearing this evening." Believe it or not, I was able to laugh.

A few kind people loaned me bits and pieces of clothing to supplement my pink dress and I had to make do for ten days until we returned to Spain where my suitcase was patiently waiting minus some things that had been removed. (I am sure a man took the stuff because the only things missing were sex neutral, such as a box of instant coffee. a bottle and can opener, etc.)

The tour included a stay in a former palace in Fez and it was fantastic, but, being the trip from hell, nothing could go smoothly for long. I was careful to use bottled water for brushing my teeth and taking the usual precautions to avoid traveler's complaint. In spite of my care, I unwisely ate a salad even though I had noticed that the squash had not been fully peeled and I ended up with many trips to the loo.

The morning we left I made the stupid (I know you are going to say so and I am beating you to it) mistake of leaving my purse in my room when I went to breakfast. Since I only had a carry on, my purse was large and heavy with travel necessities that I had purchased and was a nuisance to hold on my lap when eating. I foolishly decided that since I wouldn't be gone long there was no danger. That was a huge mistake. When I returned to my room I opened my purse to get the money for the tip to the maid. Alas, I had been robbed. My American $1 bills that I used for tips was gone. The $300 worth of pesetas and the remainder of my Moroccan money was gone. You could say I had some good luck there, too, because I had my passport, credit card and traveler's checks in a neck safe. The thief could have taken my airline tickets, but I guess he decided that he would not be able to cash them in without being caught so I did have some resources left.

After we returned to Spain all went well until I pulled a shoulder muscle going up a steep step in the beautiful Generlife gardens of the Alhambra . After many of the group departed for the U. S. I came down with a miserable cold and spent most of my time watching old movies in the hotel recreation room.

During that period of my life I was a collector of David Winter and Lilliput Lane cottages . While in Gibraltar I bought four of them because they were so much cheaper than in the U. S. If you are familiar with them you know that the cottages are small, but the boxes are not. I was afraid to have them shipped home because I had heard of disasters when the 'paid for' purchases in Europe never arrived. By this time I had gotten the message that Murphy's Law was alive and well on this trip; what ever could go wrong, would go wrong. I was taking no chances.

At last it was time to bid adios to Spain. I now had a very large bag with four cottages to take on the plane in addition to my carry on and my purse. That totals 3 items and you are only allowed 2. When I started to board the plane a man standing at the door told me to step aside. He informed me that I was not getting on the plane. And he was adamant. When I asked why , he pointed to my 3 carry on pieces. I was nearly in tears when an American woman who had been on my tour started to board the plane and asked me what was wrong. Her husband had handled their carry luggage so she only had her purse. When I explained the situation she said, "Give me that." and took my bag of cottages. We both quickly got on the aircraft and I thought the man was going to have a stroke. He got red in the face and almost jumped up and down like Rumpelstiltskin when the princess guessed his name. He had been thwarted and I am sure he wanted to kill me. Only later did it dawn on me that if I had handed him my last $20 he would have let me on with no further hassle. I don't think fast when upset. (Sometimes I don't think fast when calm, either).

You may think this was the end of my trip to hell. Au contraire, it was not to be. When we reached Madrid and a change of planes the fog had settled in and all planes were grounded. There was not a chair left to sit on by the time our plane arrived and we had to stand for 3 hours until the fog lifted and we could be airborne once more. I was once again in possession of my 3 pieces of luggage and standing was not fun. However, another kind man took my cottages when we boarded the next time.

Because our plane was also fighting a headwind we were so late in arriving back in the U. S. that nearly everyone missed their connecting flights. We were all lined up at the Iberia counter trying to get chits for an overnight hotel room. There were two lines and I stood in the short line. After they cleared that line they stopped helping when they got to me and they all started attending to the long line while I stood there waiting. I was ignored until a representative from Grand Circle travel came up to check on me. She asked me if they had served me yet. My reply of "no" had her slam her fist on the counter and in her best Brooklyn voice loudly say, "Lets have some action here." I was speedily given a chit for dinner, a room and breakfast. They wanted to kill me too.

I requested that they call my daughter who was meeting my plane to tell her that I was not coming that night. That request, like the 'non smoking' request was ignored, also. By this time I was wondering what I did to Spain that they wanted to punish me for. I always thought I loved the Spanish people, but they were making it hard.

Now I can assure you that all went very well from that point on. Because I did not have an assigned seat on the morning flight I was in the last row in the plane. A tall handsome young flight attendant came rushing down the aisle when he saw me board and he carried my overnight to the back of the plane. After he was through with his flight check duties he asked me if I would like coffee or juice. I had never had so much personal attention before and was happy that my trip was ending on a high note. Later when I got out my my pre-purchased ear buds t0 watch the movie I discovered that they had gotten broken in my carry on. The flight attendant noticed and brought me a new pair. After the movie he sat on the arm of my seat and chatted. Then I found out why I gotten so much attention. He told me that I looked just like his mother. After I wrote a letter to America West telling of the good service he gave me, he wrote thanking me and we exchanged Christmas cards for years.

After telling you my tale of woe, are you wondering if I was sorry I went? The answer is a resounding NO. I would do it all over again exactly the same way, glitches included, if I had the opportunity. After all, you can expect some things to go wrong on a trip, can't you? And, remember, I was bitten by the travel bug. Beside, it has provided me with material to fill up this space.

A Funny Thing Happened To Me On -----

By now anyone who has read my posts, or seen my comments on other blogs, know that I have a hearing loss and had a cochlear implant several years ago. It has been suggested to me that I write about being deaf and how it impacts my life.

My hearing loss was sudden and frightening and occurred in middle age. Prior to that time I had perfect hearing and perfect pitch (for those who might not know, perfect pitch means that I knew the pitch of a note and never failed to get it right. For example, I would hum G, go to the piano and hit G and I was always 'right on.') Now music is no longer pleasurable. It's getting better, however.

Meniere's disease in both ears appeared suddenly with almost total deafness. Through the following months some of my hearing returned, but it was never as good as before. I was able to function for many years without any help other than a supportive family that told me what was said when I had that 'deer in the headlights' look on my face. In time I got a hearing aid and was thrilled to be able to hear the refrigerator run. The next help was a Princess phone with an amplified hand set. That was followed in a few years by a desk phone with stronger amplification in the hand set. A few years later I resorted to a speaker phone as my hearing further deteriorated. Now I have a closed captioning phone and get captions when I am called as well as when I call out. If you telephone me, I might be slow to answer because I need to read the captions. If anyone needs information about this wonderful phone. go to: www.CapTel.com

My Phone.

By the time I was in my 50's I was having a lot of trouble understanding people and I began retreating from going places where I would be embarrassed. No more parties or meetings for me. I didn't deal with the situation forcefully enough and would ask people to repeat; and when I still couldn't understand I would ask for a third repeat. Of course, if I didn't understand the first time, I wasn't going to be able to do so the third time if they said the same thing the same way. By that time, this became embarrassing for both of us and I would wanly smile and pretend I heard.

I struggled through life this way and stayed close to someone who would make sure I understood what was being said correctly. My husband became my second pair of ears during all those years. After he died I had to get 2 digital hearing aids to continue to function in a hearing world. My hearing loss was becoming severe. Eventually, it became profound and that was when I got a cochlear implant.

And now for the funny thing that happened to me on the way to DEAFNESS. I made many mistakes that caused me great distress during those years, but some of them were just plain funny.

I was working as a secretary for a Real Estate company and, as such, I had to call the ads in to the newspaper representative. The newspaper gave a party for the newsmen and their counterparts in the corporate world. I had to represent the agency at this party. It was a cocktail party with hor's doeuvres being served at round tables that seated 8 people. The conversation that flowed between the people at my table was just noise to me. It was impossible for me to understand a thing that was being said. Nearing tears, I retreated to the only place I could have privacy; the loo. There was no one in there and, as I walked in, my frustration led to me talk out loud. To my dead husband I said, "Oh Honey, it's no good without you." Then I noticed a pair of feet under one of the stalls. With a very red face I quickly retreated to the other stall and stayed there until I heard her leave. I do hope she didn't notice my tell-tale shoes later.

My son and daughter were visiting me after their father's death. I had a breakfast bar on one side of my kitchen counter and the kids were seated waiting for me to serve them. I made BLT's and handed one to my son. I turned my back to get my daughter's and heard my son whisper to his sister., "Is this all the bacon we get?" I whirled around and asked, "Oh, you want more?" He was so startled that I will never forget the look on his face. Incredulous, comes to mind.
Hearing loss can sometimes do funny things.

My worst faux paux occurred when I was an officer in the Women's group at the church I used to belong to. Once a year we had Women's Day and, as VP, it was my duty to do the part of the service that the minister usually did (sans Sermon, of course). We had two services at that time; a nine o'clock and an 11 o'clock. I had to take the early service. I went into the office prior to going into the sanctuary to get the announcements that I had to give. While I was there the President came in and was teasing me about taking the later service as well since I would be experienced by then. We were in the back of the room and as we talked the office filled up with lots of people. I left and as I went out the front door the president yelled something at me. I assumed (always a big mistake) that she was teasing me again. I threw up my hands and said, "Oh no" and promptly left. The next day the president came to see me and asked me if I heard what she had said. I confessed that I hadn't, but thought she was teasing me again. She informed me that what she had actually said was, "Will you take Rusty (her small son) home with you after you are through?" She told me that everyone turned to her and asked her what was the matter with Rusty? Oh No!!!!

Finally, there was the terrible time that should certainly have taught me to never pretend to hear when I did not. You may have read my previous post for a birthday wish for my granddaughter, Rachel. She was about 3 years old and I was talking to her on the phone. She was telling me a long story, of which I understood nothing. I kept saying, "That's nice Honey. Oh I am so happy, Honey. Wow,that's great Honey." When my daughter took the phone back she asked me if I knew what Rachel was telling me. I told her I didn't have a clue. Rachel had been telling me she had been sick. Well, as you can tell, assume-ing made and ass our of you and and ass out of me again.

I'm sure there have been many times that my misunderstandings have been funny or disastrous, but my friends and family have been too kind to tell me. I doubt that it will stop, because I still have trouble hearing in a noisy place, but I do fairly well when it's quiet and, believe me, that's an improvement. I have also stopped pretending to hear when I don't.

For those of you who may live with a hearing impaired person, or have contact with one, I will pass on some tips to help you make them hear. Do not yell; that makes it worse. Speak slowly and enunciate clearly. Face them so the sound of your voice is directed toward them. And, most important, if they did not understand what you said, please try to phrase it in a different way. Change a few words in your sentence, if possible. 'Store' might become a 'market'. You get the idea.

And have patience with the hearing impaired and make sure they hear you. They really do want to.

Rachel Becomes Seventeen

Happy Birthday Rachel

You have become such a lovely young lady. Seventeen is such a nice age. This is your last year in High School and College looms ahead. Incredible to me that I once watched you emerge into this chaotic world. I know it's trite, but it really does seem like a very short time ago.

Now you are driving and seem so very grown up. I am so proud of all you have accomplished and I know you will continue to make me proud as the years go by, my bright pretty granddaughter. I love you and hope for a happy and successful life for you. I love you so very much.

Rachel Christine

September in Arizona

This is why Jan Brewer will not drive me out of Arizona. These are the scenes that greeted me this week. This is a Mexican Bird Of Paradise. It blooms all summer long.

I was told that this is Forsythia. If you know otherwise, please let me know.

These are blossoms on a Barrel Cactus. See the bee enjoying the nectar?

In a May blog I posted photos of the yellow blooms on a Prickley Pear cactus. This is the fruit that some use for making candy, jam and wine. My late husband made wine once and it was undrinkable.

The color on this tree is not good, but it is covered in pink blossoms. I do not know what it is.

This is a Texas Ranger in my backyard.

A typical sunset.

Another sunset. Not as colorful, but pastel sunsets are nice, too.

A large Barrel Cactus blossom.

Four blossoms have opened. More to come.

Arizona In the Spotlight

Arizona is making headlines again and they are not good. Our dimwit governor, Jan Brewer, embarrassed herself by giggling through a senior moment and by using bad grammar. Will that turn the voters off? Probably not. Given the fact that voters have the attention span of a flea, it will be forgotten by election day. Gov. Brewer will not make that mistake again because she has refused Terry Goddard's repeated request for more debates. The lady knows her brain is on hold.

Here are a few things going on in my State that I wish were not happening, but remember we have the Grand Canyon and the Sonora Desert. Please don't write us off because of a few nutcases in our government.

Excerpts from the Gail Collins op-ed piece in this morning's NYTimes:

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The evening ended when she stomped away from reporters who were yelling: “Governor, please answer the question about the headless bodies.”

Brewer is an unelected governor, a Republican who moved into the job when Janet Napolitano, a Democrat, was named secretary of homeland security.

The governor has been on national programs on Fox 20 times since April to talk about illegal immigration, but she has been generally unavailable to the Arizona reporters.

Inquiring minds wanted to know about the beheading part. “Oh, our law enforcement agencies have found bodies in the desert — either buried or just lying out there that have been beheaded,” she said in an interview. This was both memorable and untrue.

Politicians, in search of a winning issue, created the fear all by themselves. During John McCain’s sterling performance in his primary campaign this summer, he contended that cars full of illegal immigrants “are intentionally causing accidents on the freeway.”

The nonexistent beheadings and alleged drive-by assaults are being brought up at a time when, as Goddard (Democratic candidate for governor) points out, “violent crime is at the lowest level it’s been since 1983 and crime along the border is at least at a 10-year-low.”

Goddard, who is the state attorney general, is absolutely passionate on this subject. He can go on for hours about the Treasury Department’s failure to follow the dirty money. He worked with Western Union to stop the smugglers’ ability to receive payments by wire for their human cargo. He’s outraged about the way our laws limiting the amount of cash people can carry across the border haven’t kept up with the modern methods of transferring money.

Brewer also said that the difference between her and her opponent was that “I’ve done something. Terry hasn’t did anything.” one of these issues, alas, are nearly as exciting as headless bodies or demonic drivers.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Amy Collins is an Arizona resident and she had this to say as posted on Truthout.:

~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm only assuming that Brewer's community college radiological technician training, which makes up the sum of her formal education, did not likely include debate as part of its curriculum.

A recent report by the Pew Hispanic Trust shows that illegal immigration numbers are down by over two-thirds, and recent reports by the FBI have indicated that crime is significantly down in Arizona. Another government report shows that undocumented immigrants actually improve the economy and boost wages and jobs. The drumming up of fear tactics on the part of Brewer, has now revealed to be the only ace she is holding to guarantee her election bid. Her mendacity about balancing the state budget, an inability to articulate how she plans to bring jobs to the state and her sidestepping the fact that her top advisers have well-publicized ties to prison corporations - prisons that are now shown to be unsafe to the general public - all added up to show a woman who is sadly out of her depth and is clutching the life preserver of the "immigration problem" as her only hope.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

More news from the state of the weirdos. Arizona may finally get justice. The sadistic sheriff, Joe Arpaio is being sued again. This time the DOJ is not headed by a Republican administration that turned a blind eye to his shenanigans. From Truthout, Nadia Prupis writes:

The US Justice Department (DOJ) filed a lawsuit against controversial Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio on Thursday for alleged civil rights violations and refusal to cooperate with a federal probe.

"The actions of the sheriff's office are unprecedented," said Thomas E. Perez, assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division. "It is unfortunate that the department was forced to resort to litigation to gain access to public documents and facilities."

Tthe DOJ has attempted to investigate Arpaio for a litany of alleged civil rights abuses, including racial profiling, unconstitutional searches and seizures and enforcement of English-only policies in his jails.

A separate probe launched this year by a grand jury is looking into abuse of power charges against Arpaio after he conducted baseless prosecutions of political opponents. In 1997, the DOJ also investigated Arpaio for civil rights abuses within his jails, alleging that he deliberately failed to discipline guards who subjected inmates to excessive use of force. Arpaio's compliance in that case led to the implementation of more humane jail policies, including the limited use of pepper spray, stun guns and restraint chairs.

Arpaio expressed disappointment in the ongoing investigation. Arpaio said. d to proceed with "I'm going to continue, maybe tomorrow, to enforce all the illegal immigration laws ... As [State Senator Russell Pearce] always says, 'Take the handcuffs off the cops.' I'm not going to be intimidated by the federal government going to court against us."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lest you forget, the same Russell Pearce is the one responsible for that unconstitutional law, SB1070.

Helen and Contest Winners

Instead of writing my blog I am directing you to one of my favorite blogs. If you want to read a really good post from a funny lady go to this link.

http://margaretandhelen.wordpress.com/2010/09/01/100-grand-bore/#comment-45468

Helen is so very funny that it is no wonder that she has so many followers. I envy her and admire her and wish I had her talent. Unless you think Sarah Palin has a brain you will love her post.


I just had to share this.

Once again, The Washington Post has published the winning submissions to its yearly neologism contest, in which readers are asked to supply alternative meanings for common words.

The winners are:

1. Coffee (n.), the person upon whom one coughs.

2. Flabbergasted (adj.), appalled over how much weight you have gained.

3. Abdicate (v.), to give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach.

4. Esplanade (v.), to attempt an explanation while drunk.

5. Willy-nilly (adj.), impotent.

6. Negligent (adj.), describes a condition in which you absentmindedly answer the door in your nightgown.

7. Lymph (v.), to walk with a lisp.

8. Gargoyle (n), olive-flavored mouthwash.

9. Flatulence (n.) emergency vehicle that picks you up after you are run over by a steamroller.

10. Balderdash (n.), a rapidly receding hairline.

11. Testicle (n.), a humorous question on an exam.

12. Rectitude (n.), the formal, dignified bearing adopted by proctologists.

13. Pokemon (n), a Rastafarian proctologist.

14. Oyster (n.), a person who sprinkles his conversation with Yiddishisms.

15. Frisbeetarianism (n.), (back by popular demand): The belief that, when you die, your soul flies up onto the roof and gets stuck there.

16. Circumvent (n.), an opening in the front of boxer shorts worn by Jewish men.

The Washington Post's Style Invitational also asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and supply a new definition.

The winners are:

1. Bozone (n.): The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future.

2. Foreploy (v): Any misrepresentation about yourself for the purpose of getting laid.

3. Cashtration (n.): The act of buying a house, which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period.

4. Giraffiti (n): Vandalism spray-painted very, very high.

5. Sarchasm (n): The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it.

6. Inoculatte (v): To take coffee intravenously when you are running late.

7. Hipatitis (n): Terminal coolness.

8. Osteopornosis (n): A degenerate disease. (This one got extra credit.)

9. Karmageddon (n): Its like, when everybody is sending off all these really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it's like, a serious bummer.

10. Decafalon (n.): The grueling event of getting through the day consuming only things that are good for you.

11. Glibido (v): All talk and no action.

12. Dopeler effect (n): The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.

13. Arachnoleptic fit (n.): The frantic dance performed just after you've accidentally walked through a spider web.

14. Beelzebug (n.): Satan in the form of a mosquito that gets into your bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out.

15. Caterpallor (n.): The color you turn after finding half a grub in the fruit you're eating.

And the pick of the literature:

16. Ignoranus (n): A person who's both stupid and an asshole.

Made you laugh, didn't I?