NOTICE: I have pledged $20 toward the purchase of a new and more powerful server for Blogstream. On an annual basis, that works out to be less than a nickel a day. I think I can afford that amount to avoid the frustration of a Blogstream that has slowed to a trickle. How about you? If you would like to donate any amount toward the cost of the server, please go to Biggie T's (The Doghouse) this weekend and make your pledge.
Stop the trickle Each day a nickel
Over the Hill and Still Coasting
My wife and I recently attended a luncheon meeting of an organization to which we belong. During the course of the introduction of new members, a most delightful man who called himself “Uncle Bill” stood up and introduced himself with a strong, firm voice. It turns out that he is 100 years old, lives alone, still drives a car, is enrolled in college classes, still dances, and moves like a person 40 years younger. He doesn’t wear a hearing aid or glasses, doesn’t need dentures, and he doesn’t need the aid of a walker to get around. His body is firm and his mind is sound. What an inspiration he is to all who know him.
I once heard a story about an American anthropologist who went to Ukraine to study a village that had an exceptionally large number of centenarians. As the American began interviewing a man who was 102 years old, the man said, “Oh, I want you to meet my parents. They are 120 years old.”
Centenarians are the fastest growing segment of our population. In October of 2001, the US Census Bureau reported that there were over 50,000 centenarians in a total population at that time of 281.4 million Americans. That number is expected to be somewhere between 800,000 and 1 million in the year 2050. If you were born in 1950, you would join the centenarians in 2050. That increase is quite dramatic when one realizes that in the year 1900, the average life expectancy was 46 years. Many people died prematurely especially in infancy, with families losing on average 1 out of every 4 children to infectious diseases.
With the advent of clean water supplies and other public health measures, much of this high childhood mortality disappeared, resulting in an average life expectancy of 64 years by 1960. Then with marked improvements in medical prevention and intervention for diseases that befall adults, such as hypertension, diabetes, heart failure and coronary artery disease, and numerous cancers, we have seen the average life expectancy climb even higher to 78 years.
If you want to live to 100 or more, the key to longevity seems to be working hard at a job you love and taking care of your body while you're at it. The average lifespan of Americans , however, is about two or three years short of an 80th birthday party. That is mainly because most people don't want to cut out coffee, soda, alcohol, cigarettes and eat healthy foods.
When someone in the audience asked Uncle Bill how he felt when got up each morning, he joked, “I don’t feel anything until about noon. Then I take a nap.” Then he said, “One of the major advantages of being a hundred years old is that there is very little peer pressure.” That’s another thing about centenarians: they invariably have a great sense of humor.
Video. Grandma Holecek celebrates her 101st birthday with her family.
You can put lipstick on a VP candidate, but it's still Dick Cheney in drag.
U.S. Constitution. Article 1. Section 3 (Senate).
Clause 4: Vice-President as President of Senate; Voting Power
“The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided.
“Section Three provides that the Vice President is to serve as President of the Senate, although in practice, the Vice President usually presides over the Senate only when a tie in the voting is anticipated. Neither the Vice President nor the full-time President pro tempore of the Senate preside over the body's routine sessions; instead, the President pro tempore typically deputizes a junior member of the assembly to fill the role. As a non-member of the assembly, the Vice President has no vote unless the Senate is equally divided, in which case the Vice President has what is called a casting vote. This is as contrasted with the Speaker of the House, who has always been chosen from among the Members of the House of Representatives,[38] and as a Member of the assembly can vote to both make or break a tie. This provision is typically seen as one of the "checks and balances" built into the U.S. Constitution, whereby the 3 branches of the federal government (Congress, President, and the courts) are given the ability to influence the others. In this case, the Vice President's ability to preside over the deliberations of the Senate and (more importantly) break tie votes, presumably in favor of the presidential administration's preferences, allows the Executive Branch to influence the behavior of the Senate (and, consequently, Congress)”. (Source: Wikipedia)
"For three decades Vice President Dick Cheney conducted a secretive, behind-closed-doors campaign to give the president virtually unlimited wartime power. Finally, in the aftermath of 9/11, the Justice Department and the White House made a number of controversial legal decisions. Orchestrated by Cheney and his lawyer David Addington, the department interpreted executive power in an expansive and extraordinary way, granting President George W. Bush the power to detain, interrogate, torture, wiretap and spy -- without congressional approval or judicial review.
“The far reaching possibilities, and ramifications, of unchecked Presidential power are precisely what the framers of the Constitution were trying to protect themselves from. There is a reason the three branches of government are co-equal.’ (Source: Excerpted from Reality Sandwich)
Think of a song. Every time you hear it, you think of one person and one occasion. Who is the person, and what is the occasion?
BECAUSE OF YOU
Because of you there's a song in my heart Because of you my romance had its start Because of you the sun will shine The moon and stars will say you're mine Forever and never to part
I only live for your love and your kiss It's paradise to be near you like this Because of you my life is now worthwhile And I can smile, because of you.
Video. k.d. lang & Tony Bennett - Because of You
You Taught My Heart To Sing
We meet and it begins The sound of violins The song of birds high on the wing You taught my heart to sing
Why does this heart of mine Feel like a valentine You smiled and suddenly it's spring You taught my heart to sing
My heart was an empty shell Then you came along Now my heart's a carousel Filled with song
The miracle of you Will last my whole life through You're all I'll keep remembering You taught my heart to sing
My heart was an empty shell Then you came along Now my heart's a carousel Filled with song
The miracle of you Will last my whole life through You're all I'll keep remembering You taught my heart to sing
Oh la la la la la la la
You taught my heart You taught my heart to sing You taught my heart to sing
Video. Ellen Bliek Band - You Taught My Heart To Sing.
Barack Obama first appeared on the scene for the presidency about 18 months ago. Since that time, he has been thoroughly investigated, interrogated, castigated, and eviscerated. Fox News has slandered and smeared him 24/7. Obama had to overcome the baleful blathering of bloggers and the malicious venom of talk show hosts who also blasted him on a daily basis. He was engaged in numerous debates on the way to the nomination, and in spite of the corrupt Clinton machine, he won his party’s nomination. Yet there are those individuals who say that they don’t know enough about him.
Suddenly, one month ago, from out of nowhere (Alaska), Sarah Palin was introduced by McCain to the nation at the Republican National Convention as the VP choice and future queen of the Republican Party. Since that time, Palin has been shielded from public scrutiny, except for a few short interviews in which she performed poorly. We know very little about her up to this time, and if we are bold enough to ask for more information about her and to request that she appear in public forums where she can be subjected to unrehearsed questions, we are called Palin haters, sexists, and rude bores who do not give her proper deference.
It is unfortunate that after Thursday night’s “debate” we will still be in the dark regarding Palin’s competency to assume the role of vice-president, with the possibility of later becoming the most powerful leader in the world. The so-called debate is structured in such a way that Palin can deliver the talking points given to her in a 3-day rehearsal for the occasion.
UPDATE: "In a CBS News interview aired Wednesday (Palin) criticized the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion but was unable to name any other Supreme Court decision she disagreed with, though she said there were other decisions that divided Americans.
"'I think it should be a states' issue not a federal government, mandated, mandating yes or no on such an important issue,' said Palin, who opposes abortion except in cases where the pregnancy threatens the woman's life.
"Asked what other Supreme Court decisions she disagrees with, she replied:
"'Well, let's see. There's, of course, in the great history of America rulings there have been rulings, that's never going to be absolute consensus by every American. And there are, those issues, again, like Roe v. Wade where I believe are best held on a state level and addressed there. So you know, going through the history of America, there would be others but ....'
"Asked again to name another decision she disagreed with, Palin replied: 'Well, I could think of, of any again, that could be best dealt with on a more local level. Maybe I would take issue with. But you know, as mayor, and then as governor and even as a vice president, if I'm so privileged to serve, wouldn't be in a position of changing those things but in supporting the law of the land as it reads today.'" (Source: Breitbart.com)
Video 1. Sarah Palin according to McCain's Republican base.
Do you feel like you are getting poorer every year even though you are making more money? Could it be because the U.S. dollar has depreciated against other major currencies by an astounding 52 percent since the year 2000? Could it be because the Bush administration has given us a $10.6 trillion debt? Could it be because the U.S. Treasury is flooding the world with cheap dollars?
Our ancestors originally used the barter system in their economy - I will trade you a bushel of apples for two bushels of corn. As trade became more complicated, the shift was made to gold as a store of value. Next, paper dollars were used, but they were certificates that could be traded for gold, which was pegged at $35 per ounce. In other words, at this time the paper dollar was as good as gold. Then, in 1913, the U.S. Congress created the Federal Reserve System. That ended the sound monetary policy of the United States.
The United States was soon expanding the money supply to pay for wars, manipulate the economy as needed , and to cater to special interests. Early on, there was no problem with this arrangement because the US had a huge gold supply, but after a while the Federal Reserve started printing paper money with no gold backing it.
During the 1960s, the French had a huge amount of US dollars for which they demanded payment at the rate of $35 per ounce. By 1971, President Nixon finally had to declare that the US would no longer honor the paper certificates with gold. In other words, the US was insolvent. After that, paper certificates were issued without the backing of any hard assets, only by one’s trust in the survival of the United States government.
Still later, an agreement was made with OPEC, the oil-producing nations in the Middle East, whereby the United States would protect the oil-producing kingdoms of the Middle East in return for their unofficial backing of the dollar with oil. The dollar soon became the currency used in purchasing oil all over the world. The Federal Reserve soon had the printing presses going day and night, flooding the world with cheap dollars.
Today we talk about inflation, but the prices have not gone up. The value of the currency has gone down to the point that it requires more dollars to buy something now than it did last year. Remember when 35 paper dollars could buy an ounce of gold. Well, today it requires about 875 paper dollars to buy an ounce of gold.
In 1913, when the Federal Reserve was established, the US dollar was worth 100 cents. In 2008, it is worth 4 cents. Perhaps that is one reason that sad little bunch of five green onions was recently priced at $1.29 at a local supermarket.
Video. Ron Paul: Bernanke is deliberately destroying the dollar.
QUESTIONS:
1. How about you? Are you making more money than you did last year? Do you feel like you are poorer than you were last year?
2. Are you financially better off now than you were eight years ago? Four years ago?
ATTENTION: Biggie T and some other bloggers are going to hold a "telethon" this weekend to take pledges for a new Blogstream server. They hope to raise the required $2500 by next Monday. You can make your pledge at Biggie T's site starting on Friday. You would later make your donation to Blogstream, Inc.
