Vote For Abby

VOTE FOR ABBY

I've sponsored Abby in a couple of pageants - and she has entered the Gap casting call! Please vote for Abby!

The 20 finalists chosen by Gap for this year's Gap Casting Call will be announced December 7, 2009.

RH

Crazy Discount at Ultra Diamonds

I had to post this - never seen an offer like this before: Ultra Diamonds is offering $50 Off any order of $79 or more...I don't get how they can make money like this, but I guess it's not my problem. Need jewelry? Coupons don't get better than this one...

1. Ultra Diamonds Coupon Code: $50 off any purchase of $79 or more. Redeem this coupon by using ad code 50off at checkout.

Diary Of A Central South Dakota Farm Woman - December 1936

(Editor's Note: Here starts the diary of a woman living on a farm in Beadle County- She will give readers a peek at the daily routine, the joys and sorrows, the work and play of an average Central South Dakota farm family. Other farmers will recognize in it the story of their own lives. It will help give city dwellers a better understanding of the problems of their brothers and sisters on farms.)

DECEMBER 1

Monday: Fourteen, degrees below zero this morning! Rather hard on little toes and fingers that had to walk to school. Our youngsters were ready and waiting when the bus that carries them to high school came along.

I washed this morning and hung everything out. All but the heaviest pieces dried. I think if it continues cold I'll begin hanging things upstairs to dry and on the porch. Lucky is the woman, who has a light, warm basement on wash day in the wintertime.

Canned sausage this afternoon. Instead of cold packing as one does with most meat, I packed this in pound coffee tins and cooked in a slow oven. When done the lard nearly covered it, so I put on the covers tightly and put away. It will taste mighty good with pancakes in the spring when all our other meat is gone.

We caught all the chickens that were roosting other places than the henhouse tonight and shut them in. The four of us got at it and it wasn't so cold a job as we thought. I held the flashlight, Dad caught them and tbe children carried them in. Jerry insisted he had school work a mile high to do and Jane had a headache but I noticed that both the work and headache disappeared like magic after we got in. There was time and energy for a rousing game of monopoly. Be true to me now, memory o' mine, was I ever like that?

DECEMBER 8

Tuesday: I'm horribly late but nevertheless I baked eight fruit cakes today, about a pound in each cake. We are invited out for Christmas dinner so surely these will be all right for New Year's. Ironed, baked bread and scrubbed the porch floor. Should be doing some mending tonight, but I just didn't feel "patchy".

Bought a book Saturday for a Christmas gift and since I've wanted this particular book for so long myself, I'll have to read it before I wrap it and give away. It's "'R You Listenin' " by Tony Wons. Our entire neighborhood used to listen to his broadcasts a year or two ago. Some mighty good advice and I have his philosophy of life. If our club women ask for suggestions on a study book again I think I'll suggest him.

Jerry wants a watch for Christmas! I wonder if we can manage it. Of course he's sixteen, a man of the world now! Done with childish gifts. His father suggested we get him a shaving outfit of his own and did that please him. He's bean waiting years for the first sign of a whisker and at last the day has come. Jane insisted it was only "fuzz" and then the battle was on.


RH Note: This series: Diary Of A Central South Dakota Farm Woman, continues for I year or so. I thought I would start posting the installments and see how it goes. If people like to read this column (from 1936 - 1937), and I don't get sued, then I will try to post them all. It is a bit of work to edit out all of the "copyos" so I'll get to it as often as I can, if there is interest.

RH

Memo To: Newspaper Editors, Freedom Fry Munchers, 'Hate Speech' Nazis, The British Government, Boomers

I found America. You won't believe where! America was hiding out in 1935 South Dakota. Perhaps with a little coaxing, we can convince America to come back to 2009. We need her.

I must say, it is really impressive to see how much wisdom there was on just a single page of a small town South Dakota newspaper in 1935. First, in the Open Forum (letters to the editor section) there is a quote by a famous Frenchman:

"I do not agree with a word that you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"

VOLTAIRE (1694 - 1778)

There is something so familiar about that quote... defending the right to say what you want, to have a right to speak one's mind, to speak freely, to have the freedom to voice one's opinion... nope - just can't put my finger on it.

Perhaps there is a clue in the dates, the period of time in which Voltaire lived: 1694 to 1778. Didn't something else happen in the 1700's? Closer to 1778, if I am not mistaken?

Maybe not. I mean Voltaire was French. What could the French possibly have to do with America? It's not like they ever did anything for us, right?

Anyway, I found a quite remarkable description of the purpose of a newspaper:

The newspaper that would serve best must first of all, publish the news truthfully, interestingly and fairly, with neither fear nor favor. That the people might know and judge. To the best of its ability it must lead and inspire leadership toward improvement and progress. If this means battle, it must ever be ready to do battle But it must fight fairly, always with a willingness to act as a forum open to all opinion.

As it goes into the home, it must enter as a gentleman that it might deserve the respect and confidence of all of its readers.

As a guest bringing in interesting information and valued guidance, It should also brighten its visit by furnishing cheer and entertainment. As it seeks influence, it must also accept responsibility. It must be a newspaper for today, published with a constant thought for tomorrow.

RH

RE-EMPLOYMENT REALISM - The More Things Change...

RE-EMPLOYMENT REALISM

Christian Science Monitor

President Roosevelt's radio address Thursday night expressed more of a conservative attitude toward the relief problem in the United States than he has yet voiced. In this respect, so far as the words are borne out by action, the present attack on the question of re-employment should be more satisfying and reassuring to those who believe the nation should get quickly back to reliance on private rather than governmental methods.

The points in which Mr. Roosevelt indicated this change of direction, or rather change of emphasis, toward retrenchment were these:

• He hailed the increase of employment in private industry by 350,000 in September, bringing the total gain, to 5,000,000 since the bottom of the depression.
  


• He hoped that the necessities of government relief furnished by funds received by taxation should decrease as rapidly as human needs will allow.
  


• He appealed for greater support of local and private
  charities to assist in making it possible to turn back the care of the needy to the states and to these organizations.
  


• He stressed the word "work" and added, "Neither private charity nor government relief wants to continue to help people who can work but won't work."
  

These all represent commendable purposes. Private business deserves a continued "breathing spell" from political heckling in order to show what it can do in keeping the recovery
ball rolling. Every bit of taxation that can be reduced or avoided by lightening the relief load will help in this process.

A measurable return of local, neighborly and personal responsibility for the legitimate demands, of charitable aid will be far better than a continued drift into the easy and lazy courses of governmental paternalism.

Sternness must be judiciously mingled with humaneness, but in the long run it has to be remembered that only work produces goods and only the willingness to work merits their enjoyment.

Evening Huronite, Huron, South Dakota, October 31, 1935 - Editorial Page

RH

P.S. In 1935 the country is still right smack in the middle of the Great Depression.

Blast From The Past - 1937

Hoover warns the Republicans they can't hope to succeed without setting up some principle other than mere dislike of the administration in power. Why not? Didn't the Democrats do it in 1932?

Herbert Hoover, a Republican, was president from 1929 - 1933. It would be 20 years before another Republican called the White House home; Dwight D. Eisenhower became president in 1953.

Here is what his page on www.whitehouse.gov says about him:

In domestic policy the President pursued a middle course, continuing most of the New Deal and Fair Deal programs, emphasizing a balanced budget. As desegregation of schools began, he sent troops into Little Rock, Arkansas, to assure compliance with the orders of a Federal court; he also ordered the complete desegregation of the Armed Forces. "There must be no second class citizens in this country," he wrote.

Have a nice day,

RH


P.S. The name Eisenhower is an anglicized version of the German "Eisenhauer" which means iron smasher or blacksmith.

The Swine Flu Theme Song

Oink, Oink,


RH

Zombieland - Observation

Note to anyone who is familiar with the 4Th Turning. Zombieland is a rather perfect example of a Thirteener (X'er) assisting Millennials in a rather Topsy Turvy crisis world. Boomers are completely absent with one exception where a famous Boomer appears to provide for comical distraction but is ultimately done in by ignoring the reality of the situation.

RH

Towing The Party Line Right Off The Cliff

In today's Boomer-ized America, rational discussion of what ought to be the goals of our nation and which course to set to achieve them, is next to impossible. As somebody who keeps up with what both the left and the right are currently ranting about, it is quite obvious to me that very little will be achieved by our nation as long as this continues. I find this somewhat annoying, as there is really no deep reason why the guilty parties couldn't behave themselves and start a serious, productive dialog to resolve our national issues, and get us the hell off the cliff that we as a nation are teetering on at the moment.

The reason we are where we are is that we seem to have an entire generation of people, members of which are running the country, who absolutely refuse to deal with reality, instead opting to tow the party line, no matter how absurdly wrong for the given circumstances the party may be. Any attempt at discussion or debate invariably results in a word for word recitation of the official party doctrine. This happens on the left and on the right - none of you are innocent.

For example, our country is overrun with foreign nationals who ignore our laws, use our resources, and meddle in our politics while their own government cheers them on - (they would of course, as it takes the burden off of them and allows them to avoid any serious reform which would eliminate the need for millions of their citizens to flee their own country). Instead of doing something about THIS situation the democrats still want to amnesty the millions upon millions of people who have absolutely no respect for the laws of this country. They fight every attempt to ensure that available jobs go to American citizens and legal residents despite an unemployment rate of at least 10%, most likely substantially higher. They try to include illegal aliens in their health care program despite the fact that this country is broke, states are broke and people are broke. The magic money tree that they rely on will ultimately exact such a cost on this nation that we will end up considering ourselves lucky if we manage to still be a member of the 1st world when all is said and done.

On the right, the line is simply to call everything socialist and compare it to France. They completely ignore the fact that even the purest of the pure free-market economic theory recognizes the need for government intervention, regulation, oversight and administrative duties. The right embraces capitalism as a religion and awards it the same faith awarded God within the context of their real religion - only capitalism is not God, and blind faith in it is not warranted or justified.

Capitalism is an efficient way to allocate resources, being based on the assumption that everybody acting in their own interest will produce the biggest pie with the least overhead. The free market will keep costs and prices to a minimum, redistribute excess profit and generally cause society to produce that which society wants and needs. All in all a great system, and one that we should embrace as a nation, while at the same time, keeping in mind the well documented flaws of capitalism and proceeding to put in place sensible measures to deal with these flaws.

Economic theory tells us that monopolies are bad and will cause too little of a good to be produced and sold at too high a price. Therefore, smart people in government enacted anti-trust legislation.

Economic theory tells us that there are certain types of production costs which will not be incorporated into the final price of the product as those costs are borne by entities external to the production process. An example of this is pollution. If a factory is allowed to toss its waste into the nearby rivers, smog up the surrounding air, and generally make a mess of things, it is being allowed to make a profit at other people's expense. There is nothing anywhere in capitalist theory that says that this is OK, and again smart people with authority (theoretically our government) will have to step in and take some measure to deal with this externality.

The question is not IF something should be done, it is WHICH of the various tools at our disposal is appropriate for this particular situation. The debate should be occurring on the WHICH, not the IF, as it is now.

We are not slaves to a thing called capitalism, in general it is our friend. We the people decide what we want and then if we are smart we look to economic theory to assess the costs and benefits of our various options. Capitalism isn't a values system either - again that's up to us to decide. It also doesn't say we shouldn't as a society have a public school system, take care of our poor or that we should invade Iraq. Again, people decision.

So quit blaming everything on capitalism and quit expecting capitalism to do your dishes and save your soul. Sit down and talk to each other like those grown-ups you see in the old movies - you know, the ones your parents used to watch.

RH

Arnold @ Work

Our Governator got a new mug:

RH

NEST-BUILDING TIME

(By Mrs. Edith Nell Nichols.)

A Bride.

One day I asked one of my neighbors why she didn't keep household accounts. Her reply was the same that millions of American women gave. She said she couldn't keep track of every cent she spent, so she stopped trying to keep accounts.

This general feeling among housewives has led American brides to think that there is something mysterious about keeping household accounts. I didn't try to keep a record of how I spent every
cent. If at the end of the week I had spent five cents for something I could not account for. I placed the expenditure in my account book under the head of miscellaneous. I forgot to weep about it.

To me the household account book is a history of past expenditures which will guide me in my future purchases and in making my budget. In my account book the following expenditures were listed: Food, fuel, rent, clothes, education, investment, insurance, laundry, savings, transportation, tales and miscellaneous. Under food I had the following sub-heads: Meats, groceries, ice, dairy products, fruits and vegetables. At the end of every month I added all my expenditures together so I could tell at a glance how much I had spent for food, clothing or any item during the month. Using my household accounts as a guide, I made a household budget for every month. A budget is a plan of the expenditures for a month or for a given period of time. I'm happy to say I found it to be one of my best friends and I hope it will not be a stranger in many homes long.

The budget helped me in two ways:

1. To distribute my expenditures evenly so there would be no "fat" days
   followed by "lean" ones.


2. To make both ends more than meet so there would be some savings.

The necessities are: Food, clothing, shelter and operating expenses. The operating expenses are gas, light, telephone, fuel, soap and the replacement of utensils when they wear out. Under higher life come savings, education, religious activities, health, insurance and luxuries.

In making my monthly budget I looked over my household accounts for the previous month. If I spent $30 for food, I am safe in allowing the same amount in the plan or budget for next month. Suppose one should find that the expenditure for food for the month had been $50. The budget would not plan such an extravagant amount again. The household account would show the housewife her extravagance. The budget for the next month would not allow the mistake to be made again.

No one can make a budget for you. You have to do it yourself. No two families live under exactly the same conditions. Here are some of the family budgets which have been tried in millions of American homes:

If the income is $1,200 a year, during one month $30 is spent for food, $20 for rent, $10 to $15 for operating expenses, $20 for clothes and $15 to $30 for higher life.

If the Income is $2,400 a year, during one month the expenditures are: Food, $30; rent, $30; operating expenses; $20; clothes, $13; and higher life, $102. All of us expect to have greater incomes in the future. If we organize our expenditures so that a sufficient amount is allowed for the necessities, as the income grows, we will have more for cultural life and savings.

Women the world over wish to put housekeeping on a business basis. We wish to more than make both ends meet. If the bride starts to keep household accounts and make a household budget, she will be doing her bit to make the business of housekeeping successful.

Source: Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette, June 6, 1919

C'est Un Kangourou Fou - Uh Wait - Crazier Japanese

Here is a fine example of a cultural difference between the Japanese and, well any other human beings on the planet...



Or This One, The Old "Sniper Kills Your Co-Workers And Comes After You" Joke...




RH

Columbus Day Coupons + Others

Happy Columbus Day Week-End - Isn't this a big week-end for shopping? Not that I have any extra to shop with - just had to dump Farmer's insurance and go with Geico Insurance - so there goes the little I had saved up. Anyway, if you have money to shop, keep some of it!

1. Amazon Coupon Code for Senseo: Save Up To 35% Coupon Code: PODSL232 exp. 12/31/09
   
   
2. Gap Coupon Code: Get 25% OFF your Gap purchase Enter coupon code HOORAH at checkout. Offer ends 12/16.
   
   
3. Sears coupon code: 2-Days Online Only! Save An EXTRA $10 Off Purchases Of $75 Or More! w/Coupon code: EXCLUSIVE Coupon code valid from 12/15-12/16/09.
   
   
4. Lots of Macys Coupons.
   
   

Hoping Obama Fails

I would like for those of you who are cheering our Country's misfortune regarding Chicago's bid to host the Olympics, as well as "Hoping Obama Fails" to take a look at the above picture. Nice house, isn't it? It belongs to Rush Limbaugh.

I am not criticizing him in the least for owning that house - it is a great house, a beautiful house. I want one too!

Here's the thing. Rush Limbaugh can afford it if Obama fails. Can you?

RH

Moral Bankruptcy II

I am disgusted by all you so-called patriots who cheered upon learning that Chicago didn't get the Olympic Games. Our President and his wife go to Copenhagen to try and bring the games to the USA and you revel in our failure?

You don't have to agree with President Obama on anything, you can fight him step for step on the issues if you think he is wrong -that is what democracy is about. I laud your efforts and probably agree with you on many issues.

But what I am seeing and hearing out there makes me sick. It may not fit the legal definition of treason, but it is certainly treason of the heart and mind. Congratulations. You have now sunk to the level of Nancy Pelosi.

When I hear Rush Bimbo say that he wants Obama to fail, I think "Goddamn Boomers can't act responsibly or reasonably to save their own necks and I'll be damned if they're not going to try and drag the rest of us with them."

And that, my friends is what is at the heart of this country's problems. The egotistical, naval contemplating, self centered, tunnel vision Baby Boomer. Everything has to be one extreme or another; from the left they bleat racist, sexist, hate crime, hate speech, hate broccoli and from the right everybody's a socialist.

Only in Boomerland could a radio talk-show host publicly wish for our elected President to fail and not be run off the airwaves with pitchforks to his backside.

The Boomer left has elevated whining to an art form; and has developed a singular hatred of the proletarian, which, my darling budding pinko commies out there in commies are cool cafe-land, is the left's bread and butter, meat and potatoes, main squeeze. Joe six-pack's your guy - not Gianni Versace.

The Boomer right is just as fanatical and nutty. Put Boomer Left and Boomer Right together and you can be certain that nothing useful will come out of it. We will be forced to hang up a few of their scribbles on the fridge, and act as though Van Gogh himself would be put to shame.

But don't let the Boomers take away your love of country and respect for the office of the President.

I stand behind my President - be it Bush or Obama in all things concerning foreigners. That is the ONLY ACCEPTABLE WAY TO BEHAVE.

Don't let me catch you behaving otherwise!

RH

Watch This Video

Moral Bankruptcy

Dear Swiss people, Thank you for arresting Roman Polanski.

To all you sick, perverted, sadistic bastards who have signed this horrendous petition, how about y'all subject yourselves to similar treatment? I am sure that can be arranged. Then, we can discuss the artistic merits of your rapist, and who knows? Maybe you will be inspired to draw a pretty picture.

I am not a fan of boycotting people based on things they say, so I am not going to. But it will be a very long time before the gag reflex has subsided enough for me to even entertain the idea of seeing another Pedro Almodóvar movie - which really bites because Women On the Verge is one of those I could watch over and over. Pedro Almodóvar stop being such a monster. This is not about prude Americans freaking over sex. This is about a grown man taking brutal advantage of a child. Read the transcript. Don't tell me that some 13 year olds are mature enough. Read the transcript. There is nothing artsy about this - the girl is scared and just wants to go home, the man doesn't give a rat's ass - he will use IT for whatever he pleases. I am sure he wished IT would stop trying to get away.

Read The Transcript Of The 13 Year Old Rape Victim's Testimony - This is not a case of statutory rape. This is rape of a child who not only said NO every chance she could, she tried as best as she could to get away from him and concocted a story that she needed her asthma medication so he would take her home. If this isn't rape, then what is Andrew Luster doing in Jail? His "victims" were all well over 18 and at least one had no qualms about having sex with another man in the car on the way over to Mr. Luster's beach side house. In short, they were sluts.

Andrew Luster's crimes pale in comparison to what Polanski did. Luster failed to get the stamp of approval for one act in a series of consensual acts. Polanski was repeatedly told NO by a child who was using all the means of a child to try and escape from the clutches of that pig.

Luster used GHB, Polanski used Quaaludes and Champagne.

Luster was sentenced to 124 years in prison. Polanski was sentenced to France.

Now that he is no longer in France, but in a Swiss jail, I would expect that Polanski's sentence be at least as high as Andrew Luster's.

RH

PS: This is not a "Liberal Feminist issue" this is an issue of common decency and one which should be of concern to every person on this planet who thinks that being able to physically and mentally overpower another human being is not a license to violate them.

Petition 1 **** Read the transcript.

Divorce and The Monster Under The Bed

This blog post is about parents who hate their ex-spouse or soon to be ex-spouse more than they love their children. It could very well be you.

A very good friend of mine went through a divorce recently. I was very sad to see them divorce, I liked them both very much and was hoping their marriage would last. As far as I can tell, the big issue that ultimately caused their divorce was, of all things, health care. Without getting too caught up in the details, she had complaints about him, and he had complaints about her. Both were convinced that the other was an ass and was being unreasonable. Neither felt that they were at fault and both became increasingly convinced that the other was a really nasty person.

Both of them were right and both were oh-so-very wrong. That is nothing new - divorce is ugly - and couples who once crossed oceans and continents for each other wind up convincing themselves that they married the devil him-/herself. If there are no children involved, make some popcorn and get ready to watch a first-class drama unfold, I say. You will witness the dark side of human nature acted out right before your very eyes as the once loving couple sinks to depths you didn't even know existed.

Pity the children, however, who are forced to join this cast of Misèrables.

When children are involved, it's no longer amusing. If you care at all about your children, you will put your own feelings aside and behave yourself. You will act like an adult. Here are some guidelines in case you are unsure about what that means:

1. Do not try to get the children to take sides.
2. Do not say nasty things about the other spouse in front of the children.
3. Do not withhold child support because your wife is a bitch.
4. Do not try and prevent your husband from seeing his children - under any circumstances except when there is sexual or physical abuse occurring and you know it for a fact. If this is the case, then a crime is being committed and you need to call the police.
5. Do not accuse your husband or wife of sexually or physically abusing your children if it is not true. A spanking, a slap or some other past event that you didn't think warranted police intervention at the time, should not be dug up and used as evidence against your spouse now. If you do this, you are a monster and should be ashamed of yourself.
6. It doesn't matter what your spouse did to you, if he/she didn't do it to the children, keep it out of any discussion of custody or child support.
7. Let me elaborate: it doesn't matter if your husband had an affair with your sister, your mother and your best friend - this does not give you the right to try to prevent him from seeing his children.
8. Let me elaborate some more: if your wife decides to bed the entire line-up of your home football team, you will speak of her only with respect when the children are within earshot.
9. Do not pack up your children and move. Until they are grown, you should make every effort to stay in the same city as your ex. If you have to forgo a great job, relationship or spiffy lifestyle on the beach because of this, tough luck.
10. Encourage your former spouse to be involved in the lives of his/her children. Do not make it uncomfortable when they do. Even if your ex-husband shows up with his 20 year-old reason he walked out on you.
11. Don't try and prevent your kids from seeing grandparents or other family members.

I am sure my list has missed some dos and don'ts. If you are ever in doubt as to whether you are acting like a jack-ass and hurting your children, consider this: You will never stop your children from loving the other parent. They will never have an epiphany and realize that you are the wonderful one who was right- and oh what a martyr you are you should be granted sainthood. At least, this will never happen without them killing off a little bit of themselves as well.

That's right. Without killing off a little bit of themselves as well. When you trash their mother, you trash your children. When you trash their father, you trash your children. In fact, you might as well say to them: "You are a horrid person who betrayed me and I hate you" - if that is what you say about the other parent in their presence.

You don't have the right to decide that your children would be better off without the other parent. They won't be.

So, suck it up, behave yourself, and do your complaining to a friend or therapist when your kids aren't there. You married the guy/girl. At the end of the day you are also making a statement about your own judgement and ability to make good decisions.

However you got to where you are, it couldn't have happened without you. So accept responsibility and do what is best for your children. It may be one of the hardest things you ever do, but your children will love you for it.

RH

PS: In my friend's situation, his ex-wife packed up the children and moved back to Germany. He is Chilean and American, but the drama unfolded in Chile, where the Chilean "Tribunal de Familia" granted her full custody and allowed her to leave the country with his kids. She makes it very difficult for him to visit his two boys in Germany, insisting on "supervised visits of no more than an hour or two". Imagine traveling from Chile to Germany to see your kids for an hour. She is punishing her children because of a dispute over the amount of child support. She has also claimed it is harmful for the boys to see their father because they get upset when he has to leave. Her solution is to try and prevent them from seeing him at all.

I know this because I have been helping him communicate with various German social services agencies to try and persuade or force her to allow him to see his kids. I wish she would realize how much she is hurting her boys, and make it easier for them to see their father.

Greetings From Turks and Caicos

Greetings from the beautiful islands of Turks and Caicos.
The ocean is beautiful here, the people are warm and friendly and we are having a jolly good time. Sadly, tomorrow we go back home. Well, home is nice, too but this water!!!

RH