Old feminist and wild-eyed liberal

Time to Eat a Little Crow :(

2012-01-24T11:07:00.000-06:00

Ouch, my gentle snowflakes, I may have to eat crow, bite the bullet, swallow my pride, go against my ideals even. I will have to shop at Walmart. I will have to shop at Walmart to get sustainable fish. And let me tell you this, it makes me mad. I quit shopping at Walmart several years ago for various reasons--political differences, treatment of their employees, the fact that the Walton clan just does not need anymore money! Now, I will have to go to Walmart because it is near 100 miles to a Target.

I have quit buying frozen fish from my local market because all that is stocked there comes from China. Besides taking jobs from Americans, it seems stupid to ship the fish all the way across the ocean and half-way across the US to get to me. I know cat fish are farmed in Alabama and Mississippi; trout in Colorado; tilapia surely somewhere on this continent.

No Fish Tale: Sustainable Seafood At Target, Walmart
Lesley Kennedy Who needs to make the extra trip to a pricey gourmet market when you can get your sustainable seafood at Target, Costco, or Walmart?

NPR reports many of the big box stores are now selling seafood with the blue Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) label, meaning it “comes from a fishery that’s met a rigorous set of standards aimed at promoting responsible, sustainable catches.”

According to the media organization, Target stores have gotten rid of unsustainable seafood (think Chilean sea bass) and farmed salmon (due to environmental concerns—wild salmon is available, instead), and are currently stocking 50-plus frozen and fresh seafood options that are MSC-certified or Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP)-certified.

At Walmart stores, some 73 percent of fish was sustainable-certified as of last January, and all seafood will come from certified fisheries by June, NPR adds.

Prices could potentially rise if demand becomes greater than the supply, but so far, a Target spokesperson tells NPR, prices have remained the same.

Sustainable seafood that won’t empty our wallets? And that we can buy at the same time we stock up on paper towels, frozen waffles and Qtips? There’s nothing fishy about that.

Walmart, here I come. Fish only. Nothing else. Cripes, I already have a headache just thinking about it.
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A Letter to the Editor

2012-01-18T20:51:00.000-06:00

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My gentle snowflakes, with some pride, I tell you that my hometown owns and runs a very excellent retirement community for the people who can still live independently. It is called the Homestead Retirement Community.

Since the economic downturn, our little town has been seeking ways to cut costs. Some short sighted people have been campaigning to sell The Homestead. They want to take it out of the public sector (where it is run for the good of the occupants and the community) and sell it to some for-profit corporation or LLC (which must, because that is the duty of a for-profit group, run it with the sole desired outcome of making money--as much as possible). Now, the City Fathers have actually taken that very, fateful step: the Homestead is for sale.

I was personally livid over this development. Consider that: me, livid. I have a nephew who gained a place in our family lore by uttering the phrase, "Careful, Glenna [that's me] will get ugly."

So, being me, I dragged out my soap box, dusted it off, climbed aboard, sharpened my "pen" and fired off a letter to my local paper.

I think it is horrendous that the City is trying to sell the Homestead.

It may be "good business" but it creates a lousy perception of what "society" (as in the social fabric of the community) is in Alva!

If memory serves me correctly, Alva voted for the Homestead because there was a lack of adult living space for those citizens who were not in need of rest home care (Beadles, Share, etc) but who were concerned to keep living alone. [I have, since this letter was published in the local paper, been set straight by a very highly placed source: "citizens did not vote; there was a survey with overwhelming positive results."]

The creation of such a facility in Alva would enhance the community. It would show that the people of Alva valued ALL members of the community. It would allow more people to stay active in Alva, longer. It was to be a contract Alva made with its citizens.

Enid, Wichita, Oklahoma City offered the type of facility that the Homestead became, but they require a BIG buy-in that was forfeited when the residents moved out. In addition, those other places are not Alva and Alva residents are in Alva because they want to be--their friends are here, their church is here.

I have taken several of my friends from out of town to see the Homestead. People from the Dallas-Ft Worth Metroplex, the Boston area, the Denver locale, the San Francisco region, all rave about how wonderful the place is. When I tell them there is no buy-in they all really do a double take in amazement. They bemoan the fact that there is nothing similar in their own geographic area or in the area where their aging parents live.

Alva could certainly do a better job of advertising the Homestead. Also, if residents could bring their pet--say one small dog or one cat or one bird--more would move to the Homestead earlier, at a younger age. Someone bringing a pet could pay more of a "cleaning deposit" than others; they could pay a little more each month for the pet. I am sure some set of rules could be worked out.

I really, firmly believe that Alva should re-think this business of selling such a fantastic asset as the Homestead. Finally, since the oil and gas boom has come to town, surely Alva can find the money to continue offering this jewel to our older citizens.

I have not changed my mind. I still think it is an incredibly BAD idea to sell this community treasure.
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Progress?

2012-01-16T09:13:00.001-06:00

"I'm very happy in my former life; we helped create over 100,000 new jobs."
--Mitt Romney, several weeks go

"We started a number of businesses, invested in many others, and that, over all, created tens of thousands of jobs." --

Romney, several days ago

"...helped create and ran a company that invested in struggling businesses, grew new ones, and rebuilt old ones, creating thousands of jobs. Those are the facts." --new Romney ad

Yes, those pesky, pesky facts! Well, at least, Romney is "flexible:" He will change his "facts" just as fast as those facts ensnare him.
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Should There Be a Parade?

2011-12-29T13:52:00.001-06:00

My gentle snowflakes, Perry and Romney and Gingrich and Palin, etc. are running around this mid-week all a-flutter because there has been no parade ordered up to "honor the troops."

President Obama is somehow being un-patriotic. (Irony here folks.)

Well, it seems to me that a parade is a pretty poor "honor" for what we have put our troops through.

Now, I will admit that I might be out of touch--never having been a member of the military myself and not understanding the military mindset. But, I can not even begin to imagine that a whole lot of soldiers really want (after years of their lives spent scrabbling around Iraq) to march up and down some city streets just so a few people can feel good about the whole "cakewalk" war thing.

Then there are all those troops who came home already--probably to be rotated back into Afghanistan and combat again next year. And all those sent directly from Iraq to Afghanistan.

Seems not to be the time for a celebration of a mess that we have not managed to yet clean-up.

How about this? If we want to thank our soldiers, protect and expand their benefits--healthcare and education. Pay them better. Give them body armor--without them having to write home and ask their family and friends to take up a collection to get it. Make sure, if and when they do get home, that they go to the top of any list for any and all jobs available. Stop the big-banks from foreclosing on their homes.

Hey, I could go on and on and on.... From the sublime to the ridiculous.

Send--that is you, personally--send one or more of them a welcome home card. Put five hundred dollars in it.

And finally, DON'T EVER, EVER, EVER SEND THEM OFF ON ANYMORE WILD GOOSE CHASES like the last 10 years. No more bizarre, ideological machinations to prove the bona fides of a bunch of slimy, smirking chicken hawks.

Just saying.

For the Boomers....

2011-12-19T12:03:00.012-06:00

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Ahh, my gentle snowflakes, I rise for a point of personal privilege. (If you do not understand, I highly recommend you join a group/organization which adheres to some form of Robert's Rules of Order.)

As I age, I have been making my father's noises. For quite some time now, I have been making, especially, his morning noises and, lately, I have added his middle of the night noises. More or less, I have gotten used to it. Sometimes a particular noise will startle me. Mostly though, I have grown to accept them--as just gentle reminders of my father. It could be worse, I could have received the gene that gave him that ski slope of a nose! Bad enough that from the genetic lottery I drew the jug-handle ears.

This morning, though, when I put on my socks--I saw my mother's feet.

Not long and elegant. Oh, no, not long and elegant. No, I saw feet with tendons ropy, toes boney, veins pronounced.

I do not like it. Do not like it one bit.
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Anger Sowing Seeds of a New Consumer Movement

2011-11-20T19:21:00.016-06:00

Posted from truthdig on Nov 20, 2011
By David Sirota

As we all know, America is angry. Really angry. To put it in pop culture terms, we’ve moved from the vaguely inspiring agita of Peter Finch in “Network” to the wild-eyed, primal-scream rage of Sam Kinison in “Back to School.”

When we pay attention to politics, we get peeved at Congress and the presidential candidates. When we tune into sports, we’re annoyed with squabbling players and owners. When we turn on the news, we fume at the smug pundits. And when it comes to the economy, we’re in a tizzy at big corporations.

Most of this indignation is nothing new; it is atavistic fury expressed in the modern vernacular. Yet, one strand of our anger—the kind directed at big business—may be truly novel, as our chagrin is no longer just that ancient animosity toward excessive corporate power. Instead, it has also become a personal disdain toward firms we deal with on a daily basis.

This is the key finding of the latest report from the Center for Services Leadership at Arizona State University. Its findings show that after years of rising anger, consumer rage has reached an all-time high.

Back in 2004, ASU’s researchers theorized that such apoplexy was an outgrowth of affluence. “Households simply have more products and services today, and thus more points of contact, increasing our chances that we will have a problem,” they wrote.
But, of course, 2004 was a comparatively prosperous time. Today, by contrast, recession-battered consumers have access to fewer products and services and yet are angrier at companies, meaning the sentiment likely reflects a response to deeper trends.
One of those is a decline in craftsmanship in the era of free trade and offshore production. With America now awash in foreign wares, we’ve imported the developing world’s lax regulatory standards and, thus, its lower product quality. That means poorly constructed furniture, malfunctioning electronics and all the other shoddiness that drives customers nuts.

Another maddening trend is the corporate sector’s shift from long-term customer care to short-term predation. Though firms have always tried to make quick money off clients, the intensity of this recession, coupled with investors’ insatiable demand for quarterly profit growth, has prompted unprecedented bill-padding, corner-cutting and inflexibility. Today’s typical air travel experience epitomizes the dynamic: You get hit with a baggage charge, shoved into an ever-smaller seat and then stranded in airport purgatory because you missed your connection. With this kind of experience being replicated in everything from debit card fees to interminable customer-service wait times, it’s no wonder we’re ticked off.

Finally, there’s what Mother Jones magazine calls “The Great Speedup,” whereby downsized companies are forcing their remaining employees to do more work at a faster pace than ever. While this means our workforce is generating more output, it also means that output often becomes less satisfying to the end user. So, sure, your energy company’s electrician may be servicing more homes, but he’s also more error-prone and no longer maintains a customer-friendly demeanor—because he’s being run ragged.

All of this is no doubt responsible for a spike in self-destructive temper tantrums. However, there is an upside: The angst is resurrecting the notion of consumer activism. And that’s a big deal.

Recent headlines tell this story. From moving deposits out of big banks to a mass abandonment of Netflix, customers are suddenly channeling the old Ralph Nader zeitgeist. We’re remembering that being a patron comes with power—and we’re finally getting mad enough to use it.

If that ends up bringing back a lasting consumer movement in America, then all the heartburn and stress of being a mistreated customer will have been worth it.
David Sirota is a best-selling author of the new book “Back to Our Future: How the 1980s Explain the World We Live In Now.”

Oh, my Gentle Snowflakes, we can only hope.

The Republican Jobs Plan

2011-10-14T14:50:00.009-05:00

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At last, we see the Congressional Republican jobs plan.

A sharp decline in fertility rates in the United States that started in 2008 is closely linked to the souring of the economy that began about the same time

Now, we can understand (NOT) their do-nothing policy toward helping the recovery of the country. If they can just stand around doing nothing long enough, available jobs will equal ready workers. This will be aided by the deaths of most of those currently seeking work.

Fewer babies now + expected mortality rates = fewer unemployed in 18-20 years. The unemployment rate drops! Problem solved.
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"You Can Get Laid Without Being a Jerk"

2011-10-02T11:09:00.012-05:00

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I just stumbled upon "The Good Men Project."

Today they have posted a letter everyone should read and crib from liberally.

You should never feel like you’ve been convinced to have sex, and you should never feel like you’re doing the convincing. You want partners—one-night-stands or long-term relationships—who want to have sex with you as much as you want to have sex with them. The culturally established “no means no” is too low a bar. Only yes means yes. And I’m not talking about an “I guess we could…” or an “I don’t really care….” or an “Only if you really want to….” or a “Might as well…” I’m talking about an enthusiastic, excited, sustained “Yes!” Are those “yesses” less frequent than the non-committal, hesitant “not-nos?” Yeah, they are, but it’s worth it to know that the people you’re fooling around with really want to fool around with you, too.

Alcohol clouds everyone’s decision-making abilities, but it doesn’t make us deaf. Even at frat row, bar crawls, or crowded house parties, you need to listen for that “Yes!” And you need to be saying it too! If you’re a “Yes!” and your partner is a “Yes!”, then I revert to my original advice: be safe, have fun. Consent is not a traditionally sexy concept, but I absolutely guarantee you that two enthusiastic, excited, sustained “yesses” is what it’s all about.

"Only yes means yes." Send it on to all the young men you know. Send it to their big sisters for those sisters to send to their brothers.
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Myths

2011-09-28T11:12:00.011-05:00

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OK, my gentle snowflakes, here is a another handy, dandy list containing links to the facts that you can easily use to bedevil your Republican/Tea Partier brother-in-law when he starts spouting the myths promulgated by the conservative mind-machine and Frank Luntz.

> Ben Bernanke is the most inflationary Fed chairman in recent memory.
(Except he's not.)
> Cutting taxes is a magical, mystical sure-fire job creator!
(Except it's not.)

> Allowing voters to register on election day results in widespread fraud.
(Except it doesn't.)

> As the Koch brothers' net worth rises, so does employment at their companies.
(Except it doesn't.)

> American companies are overregulated.
(Except they're not.)

> Bloody violence is out of control along the Mexican border, and illegal immigrants are streaming into America at record levels.
(Except it's not and they're not.)

> President Obama's plan to boost the economy doesn’t appeal beyond the liberal hippie fringe.
(Except it does---big-time.)

> Social Security is going broke, it adds to the deficit, and we have to raise the retirement age because people are living longer.
(Except it's not, it doesn't and we don't.)

> Don’t listen to that Paul Krugman---he's not very accurate!
(Except he is.)

> The earth is getting cooler.
(Except it's really really not.)

> Mitt Romney is a member of the middle class.
(Except milk just snorted out my nose.)

All courtesy of Bill in Portland Maine.

Thank you, Bill. I just love facts.

Governor Perry and the Miracle Jobs

2011-08-22T08:27:00.019-05:00

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"Sure, Perry has created thousands of jobs....I'm working three of them."
— joke currently circulating in Texas

Which, my gentle snowflakes, leads to a thought--always a dangerous thing.

While it is true, that since the beginning of 2008 Texas has added about 75,000 jobs, it does NOT follow that 75,000 more Texans are employed now than in 2008.

There may be, as the joke suggests, simply many more minimum-wage, part-time jobs being held by not that many more people. Each worker having 2 or 3 or more "jobs." No one of which would allow that worker to provide shelter and food and a modicum of comfort for her (or him) self and family.

That's what makes it a good joke: a tight, hard kernel of bitter truth.

So, when Governor Perry suggests he can do the same thing for the whole country, are we sure that is what we want? A country of sub-par, minimum-wage (or less), part-time jobs with little or no benefits, little or no worker protections, perhaps even "off the books" so that these jobs do not even accrue Social Security earnings for the employee? A country of economic serfs?

Just saying.
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A Case Could Be Made....

2011-06-07T09:41:00.026-05:00

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When I was a young woman, I was--for the part of the geography where I lived--relatively active in the early women's movement. Oh, I didn't burn my bras or anything--I needed them to keep the girls in check. I didn't march--I would have been all alone (not much of a parade). But I was a card-carrying member of NOW--and the only one in the county in which I lived (NOW had published membership numbers by county, so naturally, I looked for my county--membership 1.)

Then, when we thought we finally had things going in the right direction. Candidate for President Hubert Humphrey's personal physician and confidant, Dr Edgar Berman, said--right out loud and everything--"Suppose, that we had a menopausal woman President who had to make the decision of the Bay of Pigs or the Russian contretemps with Cuba at the time?" Dr. Berman argued that women are limited in their leadership potential by physiological and psychological factors, especially during the menstrual cycle and menopause. (Read more: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,876731,00.html)

Rep Patsy Mink had about the best response. She called Berman a "bigot," guilty of "the basest sort of prejudice against women . . . His use of the menstrual cycle and menopause to ridicule women and to caricature all women as neurotic and emotionally unbalanced was as indefensible and astonishing as those who still believe, let alone dare state, that the Negro is physiologically inferior." Hey, a bigot is a bigot. You gotta' call 'em like you see 'em.

Currently, we have a fairly large crop of middle-aged men in public office going middle-aged crazy: Anthony Weiner, John Ensign, Eliot Spitzer, Mark Sanford, John Edwards, Larry Craig, etc. And that's just within the past couple of years.

Can you think of even one woman office holder who has had some sort of sexual scandal? (I don't count the current governor of Oklahoma who got caught in a compromising position with her body guard while she was still married to someone else. I just figure, she is the exception that proves the rule.)

Anyway, maybe it's the men who should be kept out of office because of their instability?

Just saying.
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Alan Grayson Says:

2011-05-24T11:12:00.006-05:00

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Alan Grayson explained the Ryan Plan to end Medicare. The MSNBC host, Cenk Uygur, asked Grayson why every Republican Presidential candidate has lined up in favor of the Ryan Plan.

This is what Grayson said:

AG: “Listen, only 4 percent of all Americans ever vote in a Republican primary. That’s 4 percent. The other 96 percent are the normal Americans. The 4 percent are people who must never get sick, because they don't want to have Medicare. Now think about that. Every other industrialized country in the entire world not only provides health care for its seniors, but health care for everyone. And the Republican right wing is trying to tell us that somehow we can't afford health care for our seniors. We’ve got 40,000 Americans under the age of 65 who die every year, because they can't afford to see a doctor when they're sick. And now they want to extend that [tragedy] to the most infirmed, most victimized, sickest part of the population, our senior citizens, so that more will die. I honestly believe that if Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck announced one day that they were in favor of the Black Death, you’d see every Republican primary candidate for President go along with it.

CU: (Laughter). You know, it depends. If Obama said, “Hey I’d like to cure the Black Death,” they’d be like, “Oh, I don’t know, the Black Death sounds pretty good.” So, now look, I think they’ve done tremendous damage to themselves. The polls are 70 percent and higher. They’re on your side, Congressman Grayson. They say, “We don’t want you to touch our Medicare.” So what are they doing here? Do they have a plan? You know, is Rush Limbaugh or Fox News, are they doing some sort of strategy that we can't understand? Or are they just plain stupid?

AG: They are tools. It’s that simple. They are tools. You know, George Carlin said it back in 2005, they have made us ignorant, these people who own the country. They have made us ignorant and they have made us poor. And now the next thing they want to do is to take away our Medicare and our Social Security. He said that in 2005, and it's taken six year to make it obvious that that’s true. And God bless them, these Republicans like Ryan, you know, they may be cruel, they may be heartless, but at least they're honest. They’ve told us exactly what they want to do with the power that they have accumulated. They want to take away Social Security and Medicare from our senior citizens.

CU: You know, I think you nailed it. I think what it is, is corporations that have, you know, run amuck. It’s out-of-control greed. Whether it's the banks with all the risks that they're taking, it’s gonna crash our economy again. Whether it's the oil companies at the height of being the most profitable companies in the world, they still want to take billions in subsidies from the American taxpayers. And whether it's these guys trying to cut your Medicare so they can cut taxes for the rich. I think they got the note from the, you know, the richest people in the country, from the corporations who said: “Hit the gas pedal. We don't give a damn. We're going to out-raise these guys. We're gonna get more money, and this is the time to put ‘em away. Just tell ‘em what you’re going to do. It doesn't matter; we're just going to outspend them during the elections.” I think that's what's happening. Now the problem is they are going to outspend the Democrats in elections, so how do you deal with that problem?

AG: Well, it's apparent now that what these owners want is nothing from the rest of us except for cheap labor. And that makes the senior citizens particularly vulnerable to their plans, because the senior citizens don't work. So from the perspective of the owners of this country, they're useless. Their time in the economy is over and therefore they serve no purpose. But senior citizens still do vote and they voted in huge numbers in the last election, because the Republicans lied to them, and they told them that the Democrats wanted to take away their Medicare. Now they see that the Democrats are the only ones protecting their Medicare, and Republicans are out to destroy it. There’s a reason why we call Medicare “an entitlement.” It’s because you're entitled to it. It’s not Medicare any more if you are not entitled to it any more. They want to take away the privilege of Medicare. They want to take away the right to Medicare, and replace it with a piece of paper they know will not be enough to cover the costs of care. And that’s how malevolent they really are. So I will say to senior citizens of this country: “Now you see the truth. You see their true colors. And the only thing you can do about it is turn out and vote for the only people in this country who are actually trying to protect you and your interests: the Democratic Party.”

Medicare for All.

It Is Time

2011-03-20T10:42:00.014-05:00

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The disaster in Japan is gut-wrenchingly horrible.

That is a given. We all stipulate to that.

The only thing that can be gained is that we must STOP even considering building more or re-licensing older nuclear plants. Period.

You say, you aren't satisfied? You say, you want more for your money? More. More. More.
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I Need a Break

2011-03-15T12:11:00.017-05:00

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The world truly seems to be going to hell in a hand basket. And I need a break. I just can't think about this anymore. I can't "put pen to paper" (in this not-too-literal sense) and comment on anything. There is just NO good news.

So, I will turn my attentions elsewhere until I can, once again, deal with the horrors that be.

I will deal with the hazards of growing old: assuming that any of us are going to be allowed to get any older--which seems to be in doubt now. And, I plan to tell you the stories of my family.

Here we go. As I was changing the toilet paper roll this morning, an image popped into my head. My maternal grandmother struggling to get together the spring loaded bar that holds the roll and, then, get the whole thing back into the holder, crying in frustration because she could not get it to go together.

Here was a woman who had supported herself and my mother since 1921. A woman who had taught in early Oklahoma schools where she was the teacher, the janitor, the coach, the school nurse and anything else that was needed. And had done it in years when married women and women with children did not work. (Well, technically she was not married; she had been, but my grandfather had gone missing when returning home from working. But, that's another story we may get to someday.)

This incredibly brave, heroically strong woman was in tears. Why?

She could not get the damn toilet paper holder to go back together.

True, now, we would know that she was probably beginning to suffer from Alzheimer's. In the 1960s, I never heard it mentioned.

What struck me enough at the time to make that indelible and returnable memory, was her utter dissolution by what had been, theretofore, a task she had accomplished hundreds, thousands of times. It also frightened me.

Old age is not for sissies.
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Gloom, Despair, ... Excessive Misery

2011-02-28T12:13:00.032-06:00

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With apologies to Hee Haw:

This country appears to be doomed. There is no realistic way out of the proverbial hole we have dug ourselves into. Especially, since we refuse to quit digging.

Add that to the fact that the plutocracy has purchased the media, all of the Republican party, most of the elected Democrats - and a prevailing majority of the Supreme Court.

The plutocracy now controls not only the media message but the resulting uninformed electorate as well. The American people will continue to stupidly vote against their own best interests, and the implosion will continue to compound.

A perfect example is Scott Walker, elected in 2010, he is currently attempting to turn Wisconsin into North Alabama. His way is the way the laws are in Mississippi. Do you want your state to turn into Mississippi?

What about living in Alabama or Mississippi is appealing to you?

Perhaps the soaring teen pregnancy rate?
The high school dropout rate?
The proud ignorance?
The "right to work" at a brutally low paying job?
The crushing poverty?
The crumbling infrastructure?
The political corruption?
The seething racism?
The 49th ranked standardized test scores?

Please, be as specific as you can.
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OK, Now I Am in Trouble!

2011-02-05T19:36:00.019-06:00

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Help! Stop me before I download again!

Last week I downloaded the ∩ook for PC app to my HP Mini laptop. That was OK. I could access my ∩ook library from the Mini. Groovy.

But today, I downloaded the Kindle app for PC to my HP Mini laptop. Then I immediately downloaded an ebook for Kindle. I did this because the Kindle (Amazon) price was cheaper (about 60% cheaper) than the ∩ook (Barnes & Noble) price.

My tiny, 4'11" Scotch-Irish grandmother would be proud of the savings. That is, until the bill comes due at the end of the month!

I have already exceeded last month's purchases.

I am doomed!
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My "Download" Habit

2011-02-03T10:32:00.016-06:00

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Well, my gentle snowflakes (YIKES! how appropriate), I have received my first credit card statement that includes the ∩ook downloads of the past month.

I am pretty proud of myself, the total was under $11 for books downloaded. If that holds as the average for the year, I can certainly live with it. (Especially since reading is virtually my only form of entertainment.)

OK, there was also that $33 for gadgets--a light. Actually 2 lights. One for each end of the house--1 by the big chair and 1 by the bed. A fairly significant indulgence, I would say. Oh, well. They sure are handy and make reading in bed even easier than it was.

I love my ∩ook!

E-readers

2011-01-25T11:12:00.018-06:00

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Yesterday as I was going to visit my 92 year old mother in the independent living facility where she now resides, I passed by a woman (about 80), who used to live next door, sitting in a chair in the common area. Guess what? she was using an e-reader!

As she had a different reader from the one I use (which is a ∩ook), I stopped to discuss the various aspects of each and why we chose diverse models.

Turns out hers had been chosen for her by adult children. But she said she likes it especially because she could access her email from it. In fact, she said she likes it better than her laptop for reading/writing her email. I didn't take the time for her to show me how the email works on her unit. Maybe I will go back and ask for a demonstration.

The ∩ook I use has the capability for email and it would do in a pinch. I can read email OK, but I find it way too slow for me to use to write email--the keyboard has no tactile response and, therefore, I make a lot of errors! Either that or I just haven't found the magic yet.

Periodically, I am reading a booklet called Nook Survival Guide. Actually, "reading" is too strong a word. I dip into it when I can't do something. In this case, I must follow my own advice: "When all else fails, read the directions."

All in all, the ∩ook is turning out to be a lot of fun. I even downloaded the app to read ∩ook books onto my mini laptop. Now, no matter which portable device I have at hand, I can read my book.
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Confession Is Good for the Soul

2011-01-01T11:47:00.023-06:00

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Yes, my gentle snowflakes, I have a confession--and God knows, my soul can use all the help it can get.

One more Christmas present to myself. Since I have managed to set up wifi, I wanted more than just my ∩ook to use it. All that capability just called out for more attention. And nature does abhor a vacuum.

So, I bought myself a mini laptop--Hewlett Packard. An HP Mini 210-2000 CTO PC, to be precise. I think I like it. I picked the HP largely because of the keyboard. It has really nice tactility. And large keys. The screen is very adequate--just takes a lot more scrolling to read the articles that come over my rss feed.

The only thing I would wish for is MORE SPEED! And that has been my cry with every computer I have ever owned--ever, since 1978!
The HP came with Windows7. That is proving to be a little challenge--switching back and forth from XP to 7, that is the challenge. I can work with Windows7 and I can work with Windows-XP. It is switching back and forth from one to the other that boggles my old, not-so-limber brain. But I will master it, hopefully. And the mastery should help my brain stay young--that's what the research is saying, "Use it or lose it."

I can take it to bed with me and check my email one last time. I can look at Twitter for that last tweet of the night. I can check Facebook to see what my grandkids are up to in the wee small hours of the morning. [Caught the posted cell-photos of one grandson at a school dance. I would never have seen that without facebook. :) Candid pictures of him at a dance? Said photos taken by a friend of his? Never would have seen them. ]

OK, enough confession. Soon you will know all my secrets and vulnerabilities. There will be no more mystery woman behind the blog.

Have a Happy New Year!
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The Trouble With "Tribbles"

2010-12-16T08:13:00.015-06:00

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[For all you non-Star Trek fans, I apologize for the title of this piece, but you have a google button. Look it up.]

OK, I love my ∩ook. I really, really do. I hardly ever move from room to room without taking it with me. I haven't carried a "book" with me this dedicatedly since I was in high school with a book report due in two days and a couple hundred pages still to read!

BUT, BUT it is wa-a-a-ay too easy to go onto Barnes & Noble website and click that button to "Buy." Consequently, my credit card statement is looking pretty grim (read large balance). Whoa.

Alright, it is a small problem of self-control. And I probably should have expected it--given my aforementioned love of books and reading and all. Oh, I thought, I will only buy a few. At a time, just a few. Thank goodness I started this escapade in the middle of my billing month!

Now, I am not asking for pity nor is this a solicitation for funds. I am just warning you.

I love my ∩ook. I really, really do.
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A Christmas Toy

2010-12-06T05:05:00.002-06:00

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Ahhhh, my gentle snowflakes, I am a bibliophile. From the tender age or 6 or so, I have loved books. I love to hold books. I love to read books. I love the smell of books--both new and old. I love books more than a party. I love books more than clean sheets. I love books more than...well, you get the idea.

If you follow this blog, you know I travel to Texas as much as I can to see some very, very dear friends. When I go, I take books with me--lots of books. Books tend to be heavy. Heavy luggage is not a good thing. Of course, the answer is an e-reader. Note, that I did not say, "The easy answer..."

I resisted getting an e-reader for a long, long time. Everywhere I looked someone was reading from a Kindle or some other e-reader that I did not recognize. (Well, not everywhere, but I did see a lot of them.) And I resisted because I thought I would only like holding an actual book. Turning the pages. Feeling the cover. Smelling the paper. You know, just holding the book. I thought, somehow, holding an e-reader would be a lot different.

I have friends who have Kindles. I have held them and tried to use them. The Kindle felt a little awkward--kind of big with a tendency toward too heavy for comfort and not well balanced in my hands. I had trouble remembering how to do whatever it was I was trying to do. (Maybe, I just didn't spend enough time using a Kindle.) Also, I found the controls at the bottom hard to manipulate. It just never felt comfortable in my hands.

Now, I know that Kindle has made several changes since I held one of them. And I know there are newer versions. And I almost had myself convinced to buy one of the newer Kindles, then I watched a couple of YouTube videos on the differences. That pretty much made me decide on the ∩ook. Then, I found a comparison questionnaire about how I planned to use the device and what I liked to read and where/when I read. And I settled on the ∩ook b/w--not the newer, more expensive color version. Also, I opted for a Barnes & Noble certified reconditioned ∩ook at a much lower price.

As we all know, the price of books--even paperbacks--just keeps going up and up and up. The e-books are much, much cheaper than books--even paperbacks. Then, of course, where I live, I have to drive 75 miles or so one-way or else order whatever I want online and wait for the delivery. E-readers will "run out there and get" the book through a wifi connection. The first book I bought was only $4.75--total--and, for want of a better word, "downloaded" in less than 3 minutes (I timed it). That was a 322 page "book. " That is faster than "check-out."

Also, I think what contributes to my satisfaction with the ∩ook is that I bought a real leather cover. I am sure that aids my tactile enjoyment. I can hold it open like an "open book." Or I can turn the cover back without "breaking" the spine. Then it feels much like a large paperback.

Another thing, since I have had to use reading glasses (in addition to my contacts), I can't read lying in bed anymore without a big hassle: the book is never in the right position; when I have to turn the page, I have to change hands and reposition the damn book; and as I have aged, I tend to drop the book occasionally and lose my place. I used to enjoy reading in bed so-o-o-o very, very much. Well, I took that ∩ook to bed with me last night and read and read and read. Didn't drop it once. Didn't have to change hands. (Pages turn at the press of a handily-placed, easily pressed "button.") The sensation of holding a book is surprisingly similar to holding the ∩ook.

Good day to stay home, stay in & read a good book (or a slightly trash book) on my new ∩ook. Yippee!
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Who Benefits?

2010-11-30T10:10:00.040-06:00

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Now, that we have established that the richest of the nation do NOT deserve nor need a tax break, just how much will they personally benefit if the top tax rate is left artificially LOW?

Here are a very few representatives of this particularly blest group, i.e., the top 2% of this country:

Rupert Murdoch, the CEO of News Corporation, whose donation of $1 million to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce led to well-publicized shareholder outrage, would pocket more than $1.3 million.

Don Blankenship, a former U.S. Chamber Board member and the CEO of Massey Energy, whose company owned the mine in which twenty-nine miners died in April 2010’s mining disaster, the worst in forty years, would take home more than $700,000.

David Cote, the CEO of Honeywell and a member of the National Fiscal Commission, who keynoted an address to the National Chamber Foundation expressing concern about the national debt over the next ten years, would get a tax cut of over $1.2 million.

CEOs of big banks on Wall Street, who helped collapse the economy and then used the U.S. Chamber to fight stronger financial regulations, stand to reap between $700,000 and $1.6 million EACH.

The CEOs of the health insurance industry, whose industry saw an overall increase in profits this year even while they slashed benefits and instituted breathtaking premium increases, are looking to personally benefit from another hit on the middle class by taking in between $335,000 and $875,000. [Pictured: Angela F. Braly, CEO of Wellpoint]

U.S. Chamber President and CEO, Thomas Donohue, who has shifted the Chamber’s mission from serving mainstream business to serving the interests of the CEOs whose corporations write the biggest checks, will personally gain over $200,000. >(All emphasis mine.) [from U.S. Chamber Watch]

While this is really nice for these folks, do you or anyone you know, make (that is, earn) anywhere near what these people are going to save (not pay, but save) in taxes?

I am not much of a betting woman, BUT, I will give you really good, nay terrific, odds that none of these folks or any of the other plutocrats who are going to get another gift of YOUR money, need it as much as you do.
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--from the Congressional Budget Office

2010-11-29T10:38:00.012-06:00

Advocating a tax cut for a class of people who have more money than they will ever be able to spend is beyond grotesque.

Must Be the Weather----

2010-11-10T05:39:00.004-06:00

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OK, even old feminists have to eat. And besides, the 17-yo grandson gave this one an "Oh, my God, this is so-o-o-o good!" And the 62-yo room-mate declared, "Hey, this is tasty."

I ate leftovers the next day, zapped in the microwave for lunch. Still remarkably good for something so easy. Some crunchy, chopped ice-berg lettuce would be nice with.

Exploded Enchilada Skillet

1 lb extra-lean ground beef
1 clove garlic, minced or pressed
1 packet taco seasoning mix (recipe below for homemade--no strange additives)
4 to 6 burrito-sized flour tortillas
1-15oz can pureed or crushed tomatoes (about 2 cups if homemade)
½ to 1 cup shredded Monterrey Jack/Cheddar cheese
½ cup salsa

Garnish (all items optional):
Salsa
Sour cream
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
3 to 6 green onions sliced, white & green portion
6 to 10 sliced radishes
Cilantro, roughly chopped

1) Slice tortillas into 1-inch squares. A pizza cutter or scissors works well for this. Set aside. (This is seriously the hardest part of this recipe.)

2) Heat a large skillet over high heat until hot. Spray skillet with a good spritz of oil. (Or, hey, drizzle some oil in the bottom of the skillet.) Add ground beef, garlic and taco seasoning. Cook until beef is barely browned, breaking it into small pieces with the side of a large spoon and mixing everything together.

3) Add tomatoes, ½ cup of salsa, cut-up tortillas to skillet and cook on low for 5 minutes. If it seems dry, add a little water or beer. Once it is heated through, sprinkle cheese over top, cover and remove from heat. Once the cheese is melted, it is ready to serve.

4) Garnishes can be sprinkled on top or served along side in individual dishes so that each diner can garnish to taste. Tortilla chips are also a nice thing to serve along side.

Note: I had only 12oz of ground beef so I added 3 or 4 big, heaping soup spoons of cooked Anasazi beans with the tomatoes, etc. Didn't miss the beef and the beans added a creaminess.

Taco Seasoning Mix
(Equivalent to 1 packet, 1.25oz)

1 Tablespoon chili powder
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon onion powder
slight ¼ crushed red pepper (cayenne)
¼ teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon paprika
1½ teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon sea salt, medium grind
1 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground

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If I were the Pioneer Woman, I would have pictures. I am not. I don't.
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Who Are the Tea Party?

2010-11-08T09:16:00.006-06:00

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