Friday, December 25, 2009

Merry Christmas

It is dark out at 6:00 AM and in the mid 40's. Everyone is asleep - they spent the whole night up as Dancer Girl was sick with a migraine. I hope the sleep helps her this morning.
I am off to make some coffee.
9:00AM
Dancer Girl feels better after a little tea and honey. Mom and Kitten Yarn are cooking breakfast.
Mom loves the festive atmosphere on the holiday seasons.
I did mention that the day after Halloween the Christmas Flyer's were in the papers.

Thursday, December 24, 2009

The Night Before Christmas

It is raining and 46 degrees in Marion Kentucky. Mom and Talon are up talking up a storm at the kitchen.

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

44 degrees this morning in Marion Kentucky. It is dark out and we have another day of awareness. We know that time moved forward as we speak - well what do we know about time other than it is gone, I am in it in the present and we can think about tomorrow. Just because our clock is supposed to tick and move in precise segments we can say that it works.
So OK we have measured the day as it pertains to our involvement with the sun.
As the winter chills the bones we must be aware of the dangers we put ourselves in so we warm our bodies with heat and protect ourselves with barriers of wood and brick which makes us comfortable. Winter always reminds me of a small igloo, a warm fire and a blanket of fur. I do not have to go out in windy chilly winds and kill seals so that we may eat. I pay for my heat and I have paid for a furnace to warm my days and I also go to the market to stock my shelves with food.
Being cooped up in winter does a thing with the mind. So I have a defence against that and it is the solstice and all the wrapping of Christmas and the New Year which includes all my electronic toys. The most powerful is the TV.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

The value of politics in the Commonwealth of Kentucky is of my concern. I have two Republican senators that represent me in our state.
I have voted Democratically these past two years and was previously an Independent.
I believe in health care for everyone at no cost other than a tax on everyone for it. That is not going to happen.
The Democratic Party in the United States Senate have voted to keep the government running by a 60 to 40 vote. The Republican Party voted no on the spending.
At least one of my United States Senators for the Commonwealth of Kentucky added an amendment to the bill they voted against to help Kentucky. That is politics.
They may also have added an amendment to the Health Care bill that is moving in toward passage.
Even though both United States Senators voted no politically their amendments are going through.
See MegaVote below.

Carbon Trading or Fart Trading?

The worlds newest economic bubble. You though the housing market was inflated a few years ago. Check out what the world was doing at Copenhagen conference on global warming.
These guys in these big blue suits and red ties are absolutely nuts.

Standing Still for Peace

Mom was sick yesterday from something she ate and my back has been bothersome. Yesterday it hurt and I had to lie down and rest. I am going to see if it is my kidneys or back that is bothering me.
I did not finish putting up the lights outside because I did not want to climb a ladder.
I have lights in the window and lights on the tree outside but no lights on the eves. Mom got me some hooks to use with Vinyl siding and Winter Solstice lighting.

We had a hard block for our red headed woodpecker but he devoured it last month. We thought that he would go away when the block disappeared but he just hangs upside down on on finch feeder and feeds. The Finch's do not mind his presence.

Monday, December 21, 2009

December 21, 2009

In this MegaVote for Kentucky's 1st Congressional District:

Recent Congressional Votes

  • Senate: Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2010
  • Senate: Cloture Motion; Reid Amdt. to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
  • House: Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2010
  • House: Jobs for Main Street Act

Upcoming Congressional Bills

  • Senate: The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

Recent Senate Votes
Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2010 - Vote Agreed to (88-10, 2 Not Voting)

The Senate gave final approval to this bill funding the Department of Defense through September 2010. The bill now goes to the President.

Sen. Mitch McConnell voted YES......send e-mail or see bio
Sen. Jim Bunning voted YES......send e-mail or see bio


Cloture Motion; Reid Amdt. to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act - Vote Agreed to (60-40)

The Senate agreed to this motion to invoke cloture on an amendment making changes to the $871 billion health care bill. The vote allows debate to proceed and prevents a filibuster.

Sen. Mitch McConnell voted NO......send e-mail or see bio
Sen. Jim Bunning voted NO......send e-mail or see bio


Recent House Votes
Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2010 - Vote Passed (395-34, 5 Not Voting)

The House approved this defense spending bill, sending it to the Senate for final passage.

Rep. Ed Whitfield voted YES......send e-mail or see bio


Jobs for Main Street Act - Vote Passed (217-212, 6 Not Voting)

The House passed this $154 billion jobs bill which is partially paid for by unspent money from last year's Troubled Asset Relief Program. The bill now goes to the Senate.

Rep. Ed Whitfield voted NO......send e-mail or see bio


Upcoming Votes
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act - H.R.3590

The Senate is expected to continue working on this health care reform legislation.

Snap Crackle and Pop

In the language of computers it is a routine that is remembered. The routines are stored in catalogs on computers just as ocean depths are stored in computers. These simple routines spell words in the solid memory of a computer. They calculate the depth of the ocean from space and give you the dot at the end of this sentence. We call these collection of routines programs. Routine is also called source code where one company uses a stored routine and another company uses theirs. Normally the swiftest wins out or is filtered to the top by it's simplest of code.
A lot of new programs we see today are all created with tired old routines that have worked since the 1980's. You can only move electrons so fast before they start to fail.
Flash
New computers flash on.

Sunday, December 20, 2009

The best quote I heard this morning is, " It is easy to be united when the only word in your vocabulary is, "No!"
Does the Sun Day morning image of the day need a salutation? We do have a dusting of snow on the ground- more like we have to look hard to see it. East of us Sandy got 3" of snow east of her a bit deeper.

Saturday, December 19, 2009

35 degrees and light rain. It is dark out. I covered our tree outside with lights yesterday and mom brought home some clips to put lights up on Vinyl siding. Daylight is showing some signs.
1100
Kentucky plays today.

Friday, December 18, 2009

There was time when men and women fought for their rights at work

The Super Bowl

There is a group of people that are going to be very unhappy. This group is the group that those paying for those ads at the Super Bowl were to have been given the millions of dollars those ads would have cost.
Could you imagine that a powerful corporation would give the money to an individual instead to paying for an ad on TV.
That has been the difference in moral values since I was child (1950's).
That will not happen just as corporate America will not have health care for all.
Sometimes it is a shame to grow up in a society that cares more for the banks wealth than the individual.
We started out right but went sour when our clean hair cuts meant thrifty conservatism.

It is dark out and 33 degrees this morning. My back aches but that is normal for me having trekked those miles on uneven cobble stone and rip rap. I did earn a pension for working outdoors and sacrificing my body to physical labor.
Since being run over by a 13 year old boy at work at Walmart mom have been moving slower. Her mind is as swift as it always was and she is making the job she has into something different and not expected. She always does that, that is mom. During times at work when the power was out she could make change swiftly without the automatic computers in the cash drawers. That is the way she is.
We are getting closer to the 25th of December and the new year and we are constantly cheering folks on.
Winters are tough and gray but it is a good time to give thanks to the sun and all it's brilliance. You know that it was the first thing man prayed to. As hot as it is we are thankful that it is so far away and not any closer.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

As I was watching the television this morning I saw where a NFL football player had died from injuries falling from a pickup truck.
This reminded me as to how lucky or unlucky I am. Sometime before moving in with Margie and my dad in Alhambra I had three accidents with vehicles.
1944 - 1949
The first one is that I caught a ride on an ice truck as it was moving down the street. As it moved away faster I jumped off and it was moving so fast that my head was moving faster than my feet hitting the ground that my mouth went to the pavement chipping my front tooth (1/4) and blooding my knees and mouth. My grandparents after everything healed put a silver cap on my broken tooth.
The second is that my grandparents had asked me to go to the store. The store was across a boulevard and I blindly stepped into the street right in front of an oncoming automobile. I do not remember anything but waking in a hospital bed.
The third is me coming home from grammar school I always cut though the gardens of the Huntington Hospital (a short cut) on my way home on my small bicycle. I was racing down a hill and into the street near our home when my front tire caught the back bumper of an automobile moving slowly down the street. The lady driving heard the rattling and stopped to see me hooked on to her back bumper. I had just knee and elbow scratches and soreness.
After 1949
After I arrived at Margie's and my dad's home on third street I got smashed in the mouth with a baseball bat splitting my tooth (vertically(from the root down)) next to the silver cap. It came out in two pieces. After this photo which shows my silver tooth. After this photo there was a blank spot adjacent to my silver tooth.
This photo shows the space the baseball bat left.

World Class Health Care Reform is Dead

My belief is health care for the entire nation at equal cost to everyone.
What I see from the Republicans is no to everything the Democrats propose.
What I see from the Democrats is an ego falling down the tubes with a struggle.
I am on the side of our government when it said,
"We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

In that statement it says to insure domestic tranquility and promote the general welfare.
To me that means to help us in any way they can.
As I see the Health Care Bill it helps no one, it only enforces a few.
The original idea was best - watering it down is corruption (impairment of integrity, virtue, or moral principle) .
What is the original, "World Class Health Care."

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

It is a warm winter night in Western Kentucky, no snow some bright lights Christmas spirit and some hands that warm our hearts. Everywhere I turn someone is greeting us with a warmth of the holiday.
The chill air seeps under the door and the above holly says something nice.
It was 19 degrees when I got up at 0630. The windshields are heavy with ice and our trash man came during the night. Brrrr. I remember down at the dam and walking those walls with the 20 degree wind hitting you in the face. Say I was a tough guy and so were the rest of us down at the dam. I know that farmers in these parts of the country still have to do what they have to do and so did we at the lock and dam. You do not pick the times you want to work our days and nights were scheduled and that is when we worked. Rain or shine sleet or snow it did not matter.
On your computer there are two routines of instructions that are important in my thought this morning. The first is copy and the second is paste.
The copy does the job of copying the instructions bit and no bit in a sequence (byte).
If man can give a computer an instruction then a robot can fulfill that instruction.
In the movie Star Trek a mans genes are replicated to copy and paste him elsewhere just as we do here.
As we speak it is possible to create life from a gene of our own body.
Just like gun powder, fire works, the wheel, the round earth, spirituality and the colorblindness of the species and as they say, "The hat is out of the bag." copying and pasting is here to stay.

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Health Care for Everyone is Dead

What a terrible thing to wake up to. I thought the a Democratic Government would usher in a Health Care Program for everyone.
Where does the United States rank in the world as far as health care goes?
37th between Costa Rica and Slovenia


Who is profiling with the system we have now? The insurance companies. Those companies are not creating anything that I am aware of, I do not see a two year supply of free health care under my Christmas Tree this Holy Day Season.
Do you remember those guys in the Mafia movies, "Yo gonna be protected or lose yo sto!", "I'll be bac tomoroo for da thousand!" That is my insurance man talking with a blue suit and a red tie and not a hair out of place and probably the most Christian looking human being I have ever met.

We Wish You A Merry Christmas

Walmart in the Year of Our Lord 2009

My wife's United States Government Medicare Insurance and my wife's Federal Blue Cross and Blue Shield paid for the exams that Walmart 's Workers Comp Insurance by law should have paid for but refused to pay for which has delayed my wife's diagnosis all these months. Those two exams found that the large hematoma in her back from her collision with the 13 year old boy running through the Walmart store while she was at work had gone down to just a speck. If you have ever had your thumb smashed in a door and your thumb is in throbbing pain until it is finally relieved or it goes away or dealt with then you can picture how my wife has felt since the collision.
CRAP...... ARRRGGGH!
We went to see her doctor yesterday and now we have some sort of plan to work on after the United States Federal Programs examined my wife.

Monday, December 14, 2009

Federal Government and Walmart

Walmarts Workers Comp refused to pay part of my wife's entire health bill after she was run over by a 13 year old boy while working at Walmart. By doing so they put the burden of paying for my wife's Workers Comp on the Federal Government. She has Federal Medicare and Federal Blue Cross and Blue Shield which are not limited to state or commonwealth boundary's. Why Walmart decided not to pay is beyond belief. But now they will have to deal with the Federal Government.
Wealth and arrogance makes some corporation think that they are larger and stronger than our government.
I missed every football game yesterday and watched a Sunday evening celebration by Kitten Yarn's girls in Murray Kentucky.
I did some work on creating pages and putting photos on the Lock and Dam website, I'll do the same today.

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Saturday, December 12, 2009

December rain and snow

The river is rising on the Ohio south of Evansville. I did not look above that but the snow that I have seen on TV should melt as the weather warms above 32 this month. Just watch the notice in the papers and on this website.

Wonderful Wonderful

It is 28 degrees here in the Western part of Kentucky. I moved furniture around yesterday and some cat sprayed our house so it stinks like hell. Oh what a wonderful smell to wake up to.
Today I add more to the tree and if it is nice out I will add more color to the Solstice.
I have bags of Christmas Goodies just laying around and mom has a baby Jesus to put up on her mom's and dad's cabinet.
Time for some nog.

Thursday, December 10, 2009

It is 18 degrees here in Western Kentucky. The skies are clear and there is a heavy frost on the pumpkins. The water is frozen at the top of our pool.

We Wish You A Merry Christmas

Walmart in the Year of Our Lord 2009

Walmart.com: Save money. Live better.

My wife is a tough woman.
She looks fifty and worked very hard all her life.
This past year she was at work going back to the break room at Walmart (where she worked) when a 13 year old boy ran out of the video section of the store and ran over my wife.
Do you remember that back then you could not see over the aisles at Walmart and that the young man who was running in the store had no clue that my wife was going to the break room.
Well my wife got hurt and Walmart took her to the hospital and after waiting four hours checked her out.
Well it turns out that the clinic where she went was not capable of finding a problem with my wife's pain so she was sent to a specialist.
He asked workers comp for the funds to check out my wife and they refused to do that each time the doctor asked (four times).
My wife did not do any better as time went by and our doctor was asked to send her back to work.
She is now working in pain at Walmart. She refuses to to take any pain pills because she knows that Walmart will certainly pay the hospital for a drug test for her.
You know if she fails a drug test then Walmart can remove her from her job.
Something is wrong with the system Walmart uses as a formula to help their employees. They will pay for a drug test to fire an employee but will not pay for a procedure to help her get well.
Did I mention that this was the 2009th year after our lord.
What ever happened to, "Honor thy Mother and Thy Father."
I still shop at Walmart this is just a message to help them improve their employee policies when folks get hurt within their walls.

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Merry Christmas to Walmart

Again

Let's start at Christmas; a lot of people celebrate Christmas.
We behave quite well at Christmas. We sing about Peace on Earth and smile when we do.
Red rosy cheeks and a comfortable glow in our fires and eyes are normal behavior at this time of year.
We put aside all grievances for a time.
We do this every year.
Thanksgiving is another time that we reflect about abundance and good
food. We gather around a table and thank god for our good welfare.
Red rosy cheeks and a comfortable glow in our fires and eyes are normal behavior at this time of year.
We have also put aside our grievance for a time.
We do this every year.
We celebrate the day of our birth. We flower a cake with icing and flame. We sing together and make a wish.
Red rosy cheeks and a comfortable glow in our fires and eyes are normal behavior at this time of year.
We have also put aside our grievance for a time.
We do this every year.
We listen to Paul and sing along. We hold hands at concerts and light flames for peace.
Red rosy cheeks and a comfortable glow in our fires and eyes are normal behavior at this time of year.
We have also put aside our grievance for a time.
We may do this every year.

We can put aside our grievance for a time.
We can do this every year.
It is what we want
or
if that is what we want?
badaba,
Tomas

Wallmart and Kentucky Workers Comp

Mom was at work and got run over by a 13 year old boy in the Walmart store where she worked. Mom was just walking down the aisle and BAM! she got hit. She was on the clock and on the job.
Walmart would not help her get repaired by viewing her body with a scan of any kind. Their doctor asked them repeatedly for help and they refused.
Mom went back to work on a limited work load and she left this morning in considerable pain. She thinks Walmart will wait it out until she quits or tells them to go to south. I keep telling her that she was on the clock and Walmart has some responsibility as to how young boys play in the aisles.
The Commonwealth of Kentucky Workers Comp Program has washed their hands with Clearasil so as not to offend doctors and keep them in the commonwealth.
Walmart has bought the best lawyers in the country to put obstacles in front of hurt employees when they need help.

Public Option Out Democratic Party Out

I believe in health care for everyone in the United States at a fare price. If congress drops the Public Option to please the insurance industry then I will drop the Democratic Party as a favorite of mine and vote as an Independent in the next election.
The Republican Party loves the idea of the Democratic Party splitting as I am doing. That was their purpose and they have achieved that in the United States Senate.
Dropping the Public Option Drops Me.

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Kentucky Senators

December 7, 2009

In this MegaVote for Kentucky's 1st Congressional District:

Recent Congressional Votes

  • Senate: Amendment to clarify coverage for preventive services for women
  • House: Permanent Estate Tax Relief for Families, Farmers, and Small Businesses Act of 2009

Upcoming Congressional Bills

  • Senate: The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
  • House: Tax Extenders of 2009
  • House: Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009

Recent Senate Votes
Amendment to clarify coverage for preventive services for women - Vote Agreed to (61-39)

The Senate adopted this amendment to the health care reform bill, which aims to guarantee that women of all ages receive an annual women's health exam at no cost. The Senate is still debating this bill.

Sen. Mitch McConnell voted NO......send e-mail or see bio
Sen. Jim Bunning voted NO......send e-mail or see bio


Recent House Votes
Permanent Estate Tax Relief for Families, Farmers, and Small Businesses Act of 2009 - Vote Passed (225-200, 9 Not Voting)

The House approved this legislation that would lower the maximum rate of estate and gift taxes to 45% after 2009. The bill now goes to the Senate.

Rep. Ed Whitfield voted NO......send e-mail or see bio


Upcoming Votes
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act - H.R.3590

The Senate is expected to continue working on this health care reform legislation.



Tax Extenders of 2009 - H.R.___

The House is scheduled to work on this bill intended to provide individuals and businesses with about $30 billion in tax relief.



Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009 - H.R.4173

The House is also expected to take up this legislation that would reform financial regulations.

Red ribbons, green trees, gold bows, blue lights, white snow. Snow falling from windows,icicles clear, stars on horizons, candy canes line the streets, rosy cheeks and
mittens. Warm toddy, apples and oranges, nuts and candies. Cheers and songs, laughing and tickles. The mind glows with life, eyes sparkle, a twinkling of an eye, merry thoughts and friendship. A red suit and cap, antlers and red noses, sleighs and Clydesdales, dancing and song. The spirit lifts ones sights to the stars.
Goodwill toward men. Peace
This is really a Holy Day Season. The cold weather brought our leaves tumbling to the earth while the goblins danced in the streets and Walmart filled our newspapers with Christmas Flyers. NBC spent the whole Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade promoting someones book and dance routine. Christmas music hit the airwaves November 1st in Kentucky. The city of Marion, Kentucky is all aglow with lights and window arrangements.

Monday, December 7, 2009

Pearl Harbor Images

I was born in 1941. Today 68 years ago Japan attacked the United States Fleet in Pearl Harbor and we declared war on Japan soon after.
2,402 human beings were killed because of the attack that day.
At the end of the war Japan had lost 2,350,000 human beings.
So much for war.
Someone this morning said that nuclear energy has a small footprint as far as being dangerous to our communities.
Tell that to the folks that have died in Paducah Kentucky where the nuclear footprint is still doing a thing to the water in Western Kentucky.
Read all the stories about nuclear energy that I have written or pointed to.
Just type Nuclear in the search box above and read the horror stories about Western Kentucky and what happened to the water south of the nuclear plant in Paducah it is almost unbelievable what spoiled water can do with steel.
I wrote the president about creating jobs in Kentucky. I t was an easy solution just undo what Reagan did. Reagan made the government smaller by hiring contractors to do government jobs. What Reagan did not understand was that those contractors hired their help from outside the United States. Well that helped the small businesses but it did not help our local labor force.
My solution is to deepen the rivers and lakes across the country. Hire more help to government jobs like the postal service and the Army Corps of Engineers and fill the government warehouses at each job location as they were prier to Reagan. All government warehouses were stocked at all the locks and dams. When we needed supplies we bought a box of screws. Today when they need a screw they go to town and buy just as many to do the job (6 or 7 screws).
I remember national warehouses (GE, Kenmore, Sears, etc.) kept supplies in stock. Keeping warehouses full gives workers full time jobs to keep warehouses full.
Just hire four more government employees at each agency to fill to the jobs that contractors hired out to foreigners.
What I hear is jobs done by contractors are not maintained to government standards. Government employees can maintain government agencies to government standards.
Government employees can do electronics, plumbing, painting, welding, typing, writing, drafting, warehousing, mowing and cleaning up after themselves. We did it before Reagan we can do it again.

Or we can just sit and let them send their money back home to wherever they live outside the United States.

Sunday, December 6, 2009

This Sunday morning it is 22 degrees here in Western Kentucky. No snow but I heard from Reva that in Berea they had snow on the ground yesterday.
I looked out and our skies are streaked with red and gray clouds with sun lighted blues skies. That is a snow forecast.

Friday, December 4, 2009

We have a blue sky in Western Kentucky and it is a chilly 22 degrees. Our pipes are comfortably wrapped and warm. Our heaters are running in the quiet background.
Mom was patted on the back (it is really Bu ??) by the doctor, Walmart and the Kentucky Workers Comp and said I hope you feel better soon after she was run over by a 13 year old boy in the Walmart store while she worked. As a society we are done with your pain. There is nothing we can do. We may send you a get well card if it makes you feel better.
As the saying goes you can't fight city hall.
Mom does not like me posting stuff like this because it does not help her at all.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

We have a pink sky this morning in the eastern skies. So I may assume that rain is in our forecast for this evening.





Happy Birthday Sylvia