Monday music

White Bird ~ It's a beautiful day

I worked this weekend, but am off the rest of the week till Friday. That alone makes it a *beautiful day*.
Looking forward to a small family get together here for Thanksgiving.


I know a few more banks went under last week, and now Citibank is getting a huge piece of the bailout pie.
A part of the bailout allows the government to get shares of their stock. Did George think that one up himself?
Lots of useless stock of companies going down..... right out of the Enron School of Cooked Books & the fast track to total collapse?

Agh! I have to pace myself. Maybe even drive me to step away from the computer and get the house cleaned for Thanksgiving? Drastic times call for drastic measures.....

Whoah!!!

It's pretty astonishing to see the way things are changing quickly & dramatically, with the economic downturn.

• Locally, there have been 21 bank robberies since September 1. 

• The county is lacking funds, so they had to shut down a few hundred jail beds, which means many criminals brought to prison, some for serious crimes, are being released the same day, because they don't have jail space. 

• Mr. Ramblings workplace handed out paychecks and pink slips. Don't even know how many more got the axe, but they were already running 2x the work with 1/2 the people. We survived the cut, but it is getting grim & bleak. I can't remember if this is the 4th or 5th wave of lay offs.

They did this one as a sort of "Friday surprise", thereby dodged having to do a press release, or state how many more lost jobs. 

• My workplace has geared up to do a hiring twice, and then reversed course and decided to not hire, because business is slow, and lots of folks are cancelling travel plans. Employees could volunteer to work a 4 day workweek, and sign up daily to be able to leave if things are slow. 

• The State of Oregon has lost 14,100 jobs in September, and the jobless rate is up to 7.3%.

They are officially calling it a recession.

• Oregon's hunger rate is among the highest in the country. 

• Nationwide, unemployment is projected to hit 8%. 

• Foreclosures up 25% in October, nationwide. 

• Unemployment claims hit a 16 year high as 1.2 million U.S. jobs vanish in 2008. 

• If the US auto industry tanks, thousands, perhaps millions of jobs lost. 

• Stores are offering 60% markdowns in November, in a slumped market. Those consumers are just not consuming as the economy gets more frightening & unstable by the day.  Likely lots of stores will go under with a flatlined Xmas sales margin. 

In "happier news"~

• Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac suspend holiday foreclosures.  No Grinch arriving at Tiny Tim's house between Nov 26 and Jan 9.  About 10,000 households will be affected under Fannie, and Freddie about 6,000 borrowers facing foreclosure.  they will then evaluate if they qualify under a foreclosure bailout. 

• Crude oil $48.50 a barrel. I don't know about you, but when gas prices soared, we cut back on driving. Gas has dropped to under $2 bucks a gallon in some place. Not so long ago it was $4.69 a gallon. 

• Heinz ketchup and product sales are up- because more people are eating at home. Smuckers jams & jellies are selling more too.  People are eating more peanut butter & jelly these days. 

Remember- Ronald Reagan declared ketchup a vegetable!

• In densely populated areas, UPS will set up PODS to store bulk packages,  & have carriers ride bikes with trailers to make deliveries. They expect to save $38,000 by using bikes. 






In closing, I know pointing blame does no good, but it is important to recognize who is responsible for this mess. I've already heard pundits blaming Obama for the financial recession, crisis, call it what you will. George W. Bush was driving this bus, he was the decider, and had on his resume 2 previous bankruptcies as a result of his "leadership". For the record, it is Bush, through his ineptitude, who drove this country to it's knees, and into bankruptcy, on so many levels.

Friday Music & An Invitation

Tracy Chapman~ New Beginning

Just hang in there, our regime change is coming.

Here's a thought~

It's so easy to say what we don't like, it's harder to come up with viable solutions.

BRAINSTORM!!!

So can you think of several great ideas, changes you want, solutions or directions we can take to shape our future?

Please send them to soon-to-be-President Obama~ click here to get there.

Scroll down to the bottom of the page~ 

OPEN GOVERNMENT ~ SHARE YOUR IDEAS

Share some of your solutions here too!

End Torture

Good Times!

For all these years, we've been pulling out our hair & dreading what next with the Bush administration.
But of late I find myself shouting Yay! I swear-- it's like Christmas came early this year!

An "internets" scan of the latest news includes:

• Texas Grand Jury Indicts Dick Cheney & Alberto Gonzales on charges related to prisoner abuse in federal detention centers.
Yay!

• Alaskan Republican Senator Ted Stevens loses his seat to Democrat Begich. Yay!
Come on MSM, turn the electoral map of Alaska BLUE & add 3 more electoral votes to Obama's tally & 1 more DEM in the Senate.

• Al Franken votes for the MN Senate Seat are 206 off, a recount begins tomorrow~ Preemptive/ Hopeful Yay!

• Don't ask Don't tell will likely go away in the Obama administration. Double Yay!

• Obama will shut down Gitmo. Yay x 10

• Obama says no more torture. Yay to the International degree!!!!!

Jeez all this good news, and Obama is not even in office yet.

BAILOUT BINGO

I have mixed feelings about the bailout in general, but the so called "big three" auto makers in the U.S.~ GM, Ford & Chrysler.
My gut level feeling is- they are privately owned corporations, if they can't run a successful business, then they would have to fold just like any other unsuccessful business.

But this is a complex issue. We only have three US major car manufacturers in our country, and perhaps it is in our best interest to help save them. I am not so much interested in saving them to support the corporate model, as in corporations over people, but the two are tied together. If a company goes out of business, they take with them the pensions and health insurance of all the worker bees, who may have given a lifetime of hard work to the corporation, with the promise and understanding, they would have a pension, and health care after retirement. It is for those people, and all the family wage jobs, and the concept that we should have American made cars in this country- besides Toyota & Honda. We as a country need to pull it together to have our own thriving vehicle manufacturing going on right here in the US.

But the waters get murky, and this is the part of the bailout that bothers me. GM has a lucrative "war profit" account, supplying the military with Humvees. They all are top heavy, the upper execs get paid ridiculous sums of money and get hefty bonus money and perks. In other words, they squander their profits.

Over the years, they seem to have adopted the philosophy that the main goal is to bow down to the almighty shareholder, pulling in a big profit is king, and cutting corners is the way to get there. US autos have become an inferior product, with low consumer ratings, and a shorter lifespan than foreign made cars. They really missed the boat on Hybrids, and energy efficient vehicles that are sippers rather than gas guzzlers.

Meanwhile American Express credit card company asked the government if they can declare themselves a "bank", in order to get a piece of the bailout pie. Somehow, I think credit card companies have devised every method possible in which to make profits. 24% interest rates, steep fines, and fees. Do we really need to give them a $3 billion dollar bailout? The more money that goes to these bailouts ,means the less money available to help deal with the foreclosure situation.


If the big three are to be bailed out, it has to come with a no more business as usual mandate.
Where do you stand on this issue?

Finding your bearings

I have always been fascinated with Compass Rose designs. Some are quite beautiful and elaborate~ but they are patterns to help find our bearings. Our direction. The only thing that is guaranteed in life is change. Right now I am bridging between my "child" turning into an adult, and elderly parents dealing with some heavy medical realities.
A part of me wants to quit my job and go be of help to family in distant states. Another part is grounded with where we grew our our roots, and many commitments and obligations. I am torn between the two, and doing some soul searching about it all.


Embryonic Journey - Jorma Kaukonen

Support Equal Rights

NATIONWIDE PROTESTS IN SUPPORT OF GAY MARRIAGE

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 15, 2008

10:30 AM PACIFIC  ~ WEST COAST

11:30 AM MOUNTAIN

12:30 PM CENTRAL

                         1:30 PM EASTERN ~ EAST COAST

CITIES IN EVERY STATE IN AMERICA ~ Click to find local information. 

Our country has had enough oppression and division. It's time to pull together to demand Equal rights. Our neighbors to the north, Canada have same sex marriages, protected in their constitution.
We don't need segregation and discrimination in the 21st century.

Veteran's Day

Where does Peace Start

by Judy Puckett

He looked me in the eye
And then he told me his heart
He said I cry like you cry
And I'm afraid of the dark
He said I'd like to put this gun down
And go home today
But it seems
That war won't go away.
He said, I bleed like you bleed
And it tears me apart
I need to know,
Where does peace start?
He said I cry like you cry
As I watch your flag fly
He looked me in the eye
and he told me his heart
And then he said,
Where does peace start?

©2003, Judy Puckett


UNTITLED

This is the field where the battle did not happen,
where the unknown soldier did not die.
This is the field where grass joined hands,
where no monument stands,
and the only heroic thing is the sky.

Birds fly here without any sound,
unfolding their wings across the open.
No people killed – or were killed – on this ground
hollowed by the neglect of an air so tame
that people celebrate it by forgetting its name.

by William Stafford
USA (1914-1993)


Peaceful Prayers

Let there be peace in the world.
Let us all see peace and not war.
Let us all have peace in the world.
Let all our statesmen know no violence,
Let all love peace with warm vehemence,
Let all be clothed with passionate patience,
Let all respect peace with real reverence.
Let peace pervade every political terrain,
Let peace calm the spirits of every domain,
Let peace be at peace with every reign,
Let each achieve peace with poor pain.
Peace, to you we plead: come to us.
Peace, we entreat you: deign on us.
Peace, we want you: envelope us.
Let our homes be adorned with peace,
Let our streets be paved with peace,
Let our cities be set on a hilltop of peace.
Let peace taint our every thought.
Let there be peace, let peace never cease
Let there be peace, let war forever cease.

Jude Ogunade


Just some poems today, to honor Veterans, and embrace peace.

Hair Dont's and a Scathing Expose about the First Lady elect

JIM FESTANTE/ The Root

I'd never pictured Barack Obama in a James Brown hairdo..... too funny!

Now for a scathing expose about Michelle Obama......

Michelle graduated from Princeton University and Harvard Law School. After completing her formal education, she returned to Chicago and accepted a position with the law firm Sidley Austin, and subsequently worked as part of the staff of Chicago mayor Richard M. Daley, and for the University of Chicago and the University of Chicago Hospitals.

Michelle Obama and her brother Craig skipped the second grade. Michelle squandered her high school years, on the honor roll for four years, took advanced placement classes, was a member of the National Honor Society and served as student council treasurer.

In 1993, she became Executive Director for the Chicago office of Public Allies, a non-profit organization encouraging young people to work on social issues in nonprofit groups and government agencies. She worked there nearly four years and set fundraising records for the organization that still stood a dozen years after she left.
In 1996, Obama served as the Associate Dean of Student Services at the University of Chicago, where she developed the University's Community Service Center. In 2002, she began working for the University of Chicago Hospitals, first as executive director for community affairs and, beginning May, 2005, as Vice President for Community and External Affairs. She still holds the position, though she is working part time in order to devote more time to being a mother.

Michelle contributes more to the family finances, making much more than Barack's Senate salary of $157,082.

Michelle's Dirty Little Secret....

Here it is folks. What's behind all this hype about Michelle being a well educated, bright woman, mother of two children in wedlock?

Michelle Obama as well as her daughters are said to be avid hula hoopers. Barack Obama told People Magazine that one of his wife's secret talents is that she can really hoop. "She is the best Hula-Hooper I know. Once she gets the rhythm going, she can drop to her knees!"

That's right! Michelle Obama had been a closet Hula Hooper all these years.

This is the first I've heard about it, and AFTER the election!!!

Hrumph! Maybe that's why she can pull off wearing a dress like this & look great in it? The truth comes out... it always does....

So for all those talking heads who want to obsess over Michelle Obama with a focus on fashion..... give it up. The lady has a brain, and fully intends to use it!

* Thank you Wickipedia for these factoids.