Zippiknits.......Sometimes

Sweater for me

noreply@blogger.com (zippiknits) — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 17:18:00 +0000

Berroco Knits has a pattern and a new yarn coming out soon; it's a tweed blend of wool, superkid Mohair and Angora. I have another sweater that I've worn for years that is this blend and it's the warmest sweater I've ever had.

HERE is the page to the pattern, and I'm putting this here so it doesn't get lost!

When I finish Manly/Beastly, I'll start a colorwork sweater for my DD and this one for me. And a Vest for my other DD who doesn't knit that is in an Interweave Knits Magazine. That should keep me busy!

10 minutes at day knitting, as per fran's challenge, on M/B should find it finished before too long. My chair was moved back into the northern light. So fine! Light all day without direct sun until late afternoon.

Last night I had a dream that DH and I were young, just married, and we decided to move to Alaska. We stopped in a small farming town up there, and I walked out across a field towards a dirt road that ran along a high chain link fence. At the edge was a some soft dirt. I stepped into the dirt and started sinking until I was up to my chest. I wasn't afraid, just astounded that dry dirt could act that way. I sort of swam up and out if it, like you do with quick sand.

After we got back to where we were staying, I called a local radio/tv station that had a program where you would call them with a question, and others would call in with answers for a prize. The hosts were laughing at this question, but I turned to DH who was in the room with me, and said, "Well, you know, only a farmer would know the answer."

Soon the woman announcer came back all excited, saying that they had a winner for the answer, whom they were awarding $4,000, and she apologized by saying, "I'm sorry, I'm so excited that I'm using my high school voice."

I kept trying to stay asleep to get the answer to this question, but alas, I awoke.

When I told the dream to DH, I said that I still thought only a farmer would know, and that probably it was caused by a snowplow, clearing that road during winter, and then during spring, as the snow melted, everything settled down so lightly along the edge, that it stayed soft and friable, there.

But high school voice? Alaska? Can I hear Sarah Palin all the way from California?

White Dog Puzzle... something fun

noreply@blogger.com (zippiknits) — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 06:31:00 +0000

Watch for the "Talking Point" in the drums of Insurance Industry VS the Sick and worried.

noreply@blogger.com (zippiknits) — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 00:08:00 +0000

This is an excerpt from Amy Goodman's interview of Wendell Potter, as it appeared on DemocracyNow!

"AMY GOODMAN: And what are those talking points? What is the game plan of the health insurance industry?

WENDELL POTTER: Well, the game plan is based on scare tactics. And, of course, the thing they fear most is that the country will at some point gravitate toward a single-payer plan. That’s the ultimate fear that they have. But currently—and they know that right now that is not something that’s on the legislative table. And they’ve been very successful in making sure that it isn’t. They fear even the public insurance option that’s being proposed, that was part of President Obama’s campaign platform, his healthcare platform. And they’ll pull out all the stops they can to defeat that.

And they’ll be working with their ideological allies, with the business community, with conservative pundits and editorial writers, to try to scare people into thinking that embracing a public health insurance option would lead us down the slippery—excuse me, slippery slope toward socialism and that you will be, in essence, putting a government bureaucrat between you and your doctor. That is—you know, they’ve used those talking points for years, and in years past they’ve always worked."

America, we need to beat these people. We need to stop them because they are literally putting at greater risk, or killing, our parents, our children and ourselves.

And as Michael Moore points out, his movie is not NOT just for the poor and the un-insured, it's for the people who HAVE insurance but are at risk for being dumped off the policy whenever they most need the coverage. The industry is in it for the money and they will dump people off in any way they can.

Michael Moore's Movie, "Sicko", on the Movie Channel

noreply@blogger.com (zippiknits) — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 15:19:00 +0000

Hubby and I just saw this movie for the first time last night, and it damning as far as the Nixon administration, with callous greed, putting our health care into the hands of a for profit system. The tapes of Nixon (in 1971) in the oval office, talking with an adviser about starting a Health Maintenance Organization system for Americans which would be modeled after Kaiser Permanente, and using practices of limiting care to maximize profits, show how cold bloodedly they viewed this new way of looking at sick people.

One year later, we ourselves joined Kaiser, as one option in the group policies offered, and that's when my own health care nightmare began. My back was never treated, and it's cascaded into what I fight to this day.

"Sicko" airs tonight on Show Time. The times are to be found HERE

Watch how this system materialized out of one businessman's idea of how to make a profit out of limiting care to his employees, to the gargantuan and ugly system we now suffer under. It's enough to make you sick.

Finally, some video of Representives working for US in Health care issues.

noreply@blogger.com (zippiknits) — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 00:04:00 +0000

This comes from a friend's blog and I am stealing it from THERE Thank you, K!

Tikehau Atoll, French Polynesia : Image of the Day

noreply@blogger.com (zippiknits) — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 06:17:00 +0000

This image is gorgeous. I want to live there. Now. right now. Or the Marquesas. I could live there and dance and sing all day. That would be good to do.

Tikehau Atoll, French Polynesia : Image of the Day

Shared via AddThis

United (we stand?) Response to that $*@( Guitar YouTube

noreply@blogger.com (zippiknits) — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 00:41:00 +0000

Some profanity slipped through the bleeper here folks but it's to be expected there is so MUCH of it!

Well, he's not quite a pirate, even though he sort of looks like one. heehee

And for the record, Taylors are handmade, like Martins and some of the others from Spain .. you know... they are expensive! They are not $500 guitars. Hahahaha.. the very idea.

*tiny print* Yes, 'tis a spoof..

Hey! What are those red spots on that guy's face?

noreply@blogger.com (zippiknits) — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 18:29:00 +0000

Well, it's funnier than one of my usual RANTS! Click the pic to enlarge.

United Breaks Guitars

noreply@blogger.com (zippiknits) — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 07:39:00 +0000

Since we just went to see an acoustic guitar genius playing on stage, well two actually, this snappy little tune is a joy of toe tapping slaps at anyone who would DARE to mistreat, or not mourn the demise of, anything as wonderful as a Taylor Guitar.

The songs last night were mostly love songs, and I have been missing the guitar used as an instrument of protest. Well, this little ditty popped up just in time to save my faith that such songs still are being written from time to time. Here's it is:

Thanks to Lisa and the SG. Whoot!

Link to the Complete Bill Moyers interview of Wendell Potter

noreply@blogger.com (zippiknits) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 19:07:00 +0000

Americans are going to have to take this into their own hands and get the sort of health care they deserve and not the one their bodies and souls have been assigned to by profit making corporations who lie, steal and cheat their way into the heart of the American Government.

Please don't let them use you anymore. Speak up for yourselves and if not for yourselves, for your children and grandchildren. You would not want your son or daughter to suffer or their children, and if we don't change this thing for something that other countries are doing fine with, then we will keep limping along letting people die when we, as a nation, do not have to put up with such a travesty.

Here's that link

Jimmy Carter, Article from the Guardian UK

noreply@blogger.com (zippiknits) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 17:41:00 +0000

Having once left a church because they refused to let women speak when there were discussions going on- only men were allowed to speak and the women sat silently by, expected to listen only - I am glad to see that Jimmy Carter devoted his time and shared his knowledge on just what the bible actually says about women and equality.

Thank you, L, for pointing this in my direction.

This is the article written by Jimmy Carter, that appeared yesterday in the Guardian:

" 'Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status ..." (Article 2, Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

"There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:28)

I have been a practicing Christian all my life and a deacon and Bible teacher for many years. My faith is a source of strength and comfort to me, as religious beliefs are to hundreds of millions of people around the world.

So my decision to sever my ties with the Southern Baptist Convention, after six decades, was painful and difficult. It was, however, an unavoidable decision when the convention's leaders, quoting a few carefully selected Bible verses and claiming that Eve was created second to Adam and was responsible for original sin, ordained that women must be "subservient" to their husbands and prohibited from serving as deacons, pastors or chaplains in the military service. This was in conflict with my belief - confirmed in the holy scriptures - that we are all equal in the eyes of God.

This view that women are somehow inferior to men is not restricted to one religion or belief. It is widespread. Women are prevented from playing a full and equal role in many faiths.

Nor, tragically, does its influence stop at the walls of the church, mosque, synagogue or temple. This discrimination, unjustifiably attributed to a Higher Authority, has provided a reason or excuse for the deprivation of women's equal rights across the world for centuries. The male interpretations of religious texts and the way they interact with, and reinforce, traditional practices justify some of the most pervasive, persistent, flagrant and damaging examples of human rights abuses.

At their most repugnant, the belief that women must be subjugated to the wishes of men excuses slavery, violence, forced prostitution, genital mutilation and national laws that omit rape as a crime. But it also costs many millions of girls and women control over their own bodies and lives, and continues to deny them fair access to education, health, employment and influence within their own communities.

The impact of these religious beliefs touches every aspect of our lives. They help explain why in many countries boys are educated before girls; why girls are told when and whom they must marry; and why many face enormous and unacceptable risks in pregnancy and childbirth because their basic health needs are not met.

In some Islamic nations, women are restricted in their movements, punished for permitting the exposure of an arm or ankle, deprived of education, prohibited from driving a car or competing with men for a job. If a woman is raped, she is often most severely punished as the guilty party in the crime.

The same discriminatory thinking lies behind the continuing gender gap in pay and why there are still so few women in office in Britain and the United States. The root of this prejudice lies deep in our histories, but its impact is felt every day. It is not women and girls alone who suffer. It damages all of us. The evidence shows that investing in women and girls delivers major benefits for everyone in society. An educated woman has healthier children. She is more likely to send them to school. She earns more and invests what she earns in her family.

It is simply self-defeating for any community to discriminate against half its population. We need to challenge these self-serving and out-dated attitudes and practices - as we are seeing in Iran where women are at the forefront of the battle for democracy and freedom.

I understand, however, why many political leaders can be reluctant about stepping into this minefield. Religion, and tradition, are powerful and sensitive area to challenge.

But my fellow Elders and I, who come from many faiths and backgrounds, no longer need to worry about winning votes or avoiding controversy - and we are deeply committed to challenging injustice wherever we see it.

The Elders have decided to draw particular attention to the responsibility of religious and traditional leaders in ensuring equality and human rights. We have recently published a statement that declares: "The justification of discrimination against women and girls on grounds of religion or tradition, as if it were prescribed by a Higher Authority, is unacceptable."

We are calling on all leaders to challenge and change the harmful teachings and practices, no matter how ingrained, which justify discrimination against women. We ask, in particular, that leaders of all religions have the courage to acknowledge and emphasise the positive messages of dignity and equality that all the world's major faiths share.

Although not having training in religion or theology, I understand that the carefully selected verses found in the holy scriptures to justify the superiority of men owe more to time and place - and the determination of male leaders to hold onto their influence - than eternal truths. Similar Biblical excerpts could be found to support the approval of slavery and the timid acquiescence to oppressive rulers.

At the same time, I am also familiar with vivid descriptions in the same scriptures in which women are revered as pre-eminent leaders. During the years of the early Christian church women served as deacons, priests, bishops, apostles, teachers and prophets. It wasn't until the fourth century that dominant Christian leaders, all men, twisted and distorted holy scriptures to perpetuate their ascendant positions within the religious hierarchy.

I know, too, that Billy Graham, one of the most widely respected and revered Christians during my lifetime, did not understand why women were prevented from being priests and preachers. He said: "Women preach all over the world. It doesn't bother me from my study of the scriptures."

The truth is that male religious leaders have had - and still have - an option to interpret holy teachings either to exalt or subjugate women. They have, for their own selfish ends, overwhelmingly chosen the latter.

Their continuing choice provides the foundation or justification for much of the pervasive persecution and abuse of women throughout the world. This is in clear violation not just of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights but also the teachings of Jesus Christ, the Apostle Paul, Moses and the prophets, Muhammad, and founders of other great religions - all of whom have called for proper and equitable treatment of all the children of God. It is time we had the courage to challenge these views."

• Jimmy Carter was US president from 1977-81. The Elders are an independent group of eminent global leaders, brought together by Nelson Mandela, who offer their influence and experience to support peace building, help address major causes of human suffering and promote the shared interests of humanity."

Bill Moyers Interview Preview : Sicko Conspiracy on YouTube.

noreply@blogger.com (zippiknits) — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 19:35:00 +0000

After all, it's all of our money they "play" house with in Washington.

Thank you L, for sending me the YouTube link. <3

Something too too cute

noreply@blogger.com (zippiknits) — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 00:40:00 +0000

This is old but I'm just seeing it. If you are having a bad, awful day, this will bring you right back onto the rails and headed to a corner of Happiness. lol

Enjoy it! It was posted on Fog Knitter's, a fibromyalgia group at Ravelry. I'm sorry I haven't kept up there much because it's a great support group.

Post Cards are a coming in!

noreply@blogger.com (zippiknits) — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 18:00:00 +0000

This cute little Mutts cartoon came yesterday. Gosh, Art imitates Life again!

I have to be fair and not share the postcards until they have been seen by the others. But I can show you this one since everyone has gotten one.

It is made in celebration of the strawberry season in the Fraser Valley in British Columbia. All the California Strawberries seem to be done for with the summer weather, but British Columbia is booming along now. The Sioux Nation called June the Strawberry Moon. It's a lot nicer name than August, "the Moon when the ponies grow long hair". or something to that affect.

OMG the Economy is going where? And how fast is this happening?

noreply@blogger.com (zippiknits) — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 03:26:00 +0000

God Bless the Onion!

And I've added a little fish pond at the very bottom of the page. The fish follow the cursor and if you click the water, you can feed them tiny orange treats!

Sicko, the Conspiracy

noreply@blogger.com (zippiknits) — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 03:16:00 +0000

I lifted this right out of an email and am posting it here:

--------------------------------------------------------

Bill Moyers Show Tonight Reveals Insurance Lobby's Secret Plan to Attack 'Sicko' and Michael Moore

Friday, July 10th, 2009

ALERT: We've just been informed that Bill Moyers, on his show later tonight, will expose for the first time the health insurance industry's secret campaign against Michael Moore and his film, "Sicko." It contains a stunning revelation and admission by a top health insurance executive -- the former head of publicity for CIGNA, one of the top health insurance companies in the country -- that the disinformation and attacks on Michael and the film were extensive and well-planned. Their job was to stop the movie from reaching a wide audience (and, more importantly, from having the widespread political impact the industry feared "Sicko" would have).

Wendell Potter, former Head of Corporate Communications at CIGNA (which provides health insurance to nearly 70 percent of the Fortune 100 companies) admits that, in fact, "Sicko" "hit the nail on the head" and told the real truth about how much better people in other countries have it when it comes to their health care.

The show airs tonight at 9:00 PM on PBS. (Check your local listings for exact times. Many areas show it on Saturday night, too.)

You can check out the segment about Michael and "Sicko" here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mv1FwOCNoZ8

Be sure to tune into Bill Moyers Journal tonight at 9:00 PM for the full program. Check here for local listings (and rebroadcasts):

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/about/airdates.html

If you get this email too late, their website will soon post the full show soon:

http://www.pbs.org/moyers

Finally, the truth comes out. From one of their own. Amazing.

Yours truly, Webmaster
MichaelMoore.com

webguy@michaelmoore.com
-----------------------------------------------

And we thought they were just playing footsie with the guys, off camera of course, in the Lobby of the White House.

Midsummer clouds, Steamy Day

noreply@blogger.com (zippiknits) — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 21:26:00 +0000

Watching the beautiful sky shows, day and night, keeps me from running off the rails. DH and I were talking about how tiny the earth is, and how we are very tiny and potentially lethal little animals running around on the surface. He told me about how Hubble screens out the "noise" from the solar wind, in order to get a clear view of deep space. He said they just found a galaxy way, WAY out there with billions of stars in it. So, he said, "That just makes whatever we do here so very insignificant to the whole of Creation, wouldn't you say?"

So, in reality, if we really think about this, the Earth is only significant to the Earthlings who depend on it for everything in their lives. That's a good thing to wake up and think about every single morning. Yes?

F22 Fighter Jet

noreply@blogger.com (zippiknits) — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 16:42:00 +0000

Several weeks ago when I wrote to Duncan Hunter, he wrote back and said that we had an "aging" jet fighter in the F-16's, and needed to replace it. He also said that this new plane would provide 95,000 jobs. Why support such a boondoggle with the jobs it creates? This is why:

In an article at the Washington Post, if you can get the link, these salient points were made.

"Its troubles have been detailed in dozens of Government Accountability
Office reports and Pentagon audits. But Pierre Sprey, a key designer in
the 1970s and 1980s of the F-16 and A-10 warplanes, said that from the
beginning, the Air Force designed it to be "too big to fail, that is,
to be cancellation-proof."
Lockheed farmed out more than 1,000 subcontracts to vendors in more
than 40 states, and Sprey -- now a prominent critic of the plane --
said that by the time skeptics "could point out the failed tests, the
combat flaws, and the exploding costs, most congressmen were already
defending their subcontractors' " revenues.
John Hamre, the Pentagon's comptroller from 1993 to 1997, says the
department approved the plane with a budget it knew was too low because
projecting the real costs would have been politically unpalatable on
Capitol Hill".

If these expensive horrors are built, that means lots more jobs maintaining them and upgrading them, etc., and who has the expertise to do that? Why, the very people who designed and built them in the first place, of course!

And soon the call will go out for an even newer design correcting or upgrading for what, space flight? But before that happens, we can sell all our, and they are OURS, our money bought them after all, we can sell all our retired planes to a secondary market full of who knows whom? Isn't this special?

Duncan Hunter is in town soon, probably to receive accolades from his adoring followers. I hope someone has the guts to ask him just why he's pushing this thing? It can't be because it's a great plane or that we need it.

Who's responsible in this country for a runaway arms building industry? People like him, supported by people like them. The Pentagon doesn't want this plane, and we the people can't afford to throw away any more of our money. We have serious domestic problems to solve, like where did all the OTHER jobs go? Hmmmm???

To any government trolls wanting to make nasty degrading comments, I say "Go to Hell". That's where you belong, and you can't take your money with you, Nanner! If my friends want to criticize, that's fine, but no one else even gets a look in.

Salt Marsh Harvest Mouse

noreply@blogger.com (zippiknits) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 23:59:00 +0000

Fox News would have you think this is a major joke, but this mouse is so completely unique even amongst the wee mice in general that saving it, and it's habitat, is critical.

The Salt Marsh Harvest Mouse can drink brackish water, and one of the small populations of it's two sub-species prefers salt water.

What the mouse drinks is pretty unique. It's just not another mouse that roared. It is a very unique little critter occupying part of the last salt marshes along California's long sea coast. It's worth saving, no matter what that freakish White Topped Large Mouthed Newt stands up to say about it. Now there's an animal that needs to head to extinction if ever there was one.

Dante Bucci Trinidad Hang Drum

noreply@blogger.com (zippiknits) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 20:29:00 +0000

This young musician has an album on CD. I'm getting it!

I could listen to this beautiful, peaceful music all day.. Good for your blood pressure, eh?

Africa

noreply@blogger.com (zippiknits) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 19:15:00 +0000

This beautiful video is other places, too. But I didn't like some of the link outs so found it here on YouTube. Prepare to be amazed! And thanks to Pogo for the original link to this.

Toto did this song, with the title of "Africa" and it was a big, BIG, hit in the 1980s. I am so happy to hear it again.

An aside: The little Wild Dogs of Africa, which are mentioned in the song, are severely endangered now.

How I lost my Healthcare at the Hairdressers

noreply@blogger.com (zippiknits) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 02:02:00 +0000

You really REALLY have to read this post from the Progressive Fox blog.

http://www.progressivefox.com/?p=721#more-721

This is happening to real people everyday in this country. We have to get that fat middle man out of the middle of our health care delivery system. We really, really do have to change it.

This appeared in the Daily Kos, and the original is a personal story from the Progressive Fox blog. My daughter sent me the link. She has her own little health care stories to tell.

Don't count on the Obama administration. He just declared that people in Gitmo will still be imprisoned there, even if they are found INNOCENT. Shall I hit you again with a large trout? Yes, that's what he supports.

So, watch what a public health plan does as it tries to compete with the greedy damn sharks of the health care insurance industry. This isn't funny and it's not going to be pretty. Not only that but these stories can get really personal really fast.

Absolutely the only thing I find comforting these days is that Planet Earth is a very tiny planet in an as yet unmeasurable Universe of Celestial Bodies. I just hope there are a lot better beings on a planet somewhere else who are untouchable, and that the kind, generous, and peaceful who suffer so much here actually get to go there when they get off this one.

*END RANT FOR THE CAUSE*

PC's finished and out the door today, Yay!

noreply@blogger.com (zippiknits) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 16:44:00 +0000

I'm not getting a very good satin stitch out of my machine but I'll have to figure out why. It looks like absolute trash. Usually my old machine does very well. Maybe it was all that fleece sewing this past Spring? Time for a tune up! Then again, maybe it's the Gutterman threads. She doesn't like them nearly as well as her favorite floss, Mettler. What a picky little wench is this Nina.

Books. I finished reading The Captain this morning. We had gotten woken up very early again, and that makes three days in a row around 4:30. Something is chewing on our house, and it sounds like a Beaver! I'm sure it's probably only a raccoon since they have been known to do this in our area. We must serve it an eviction notice in the next few days. The small rodent is gone, gone. But this is much bigger and a whole lot clumsier. We live in a big Urban area for Heaven's sake!

So, anyway, I'm off to the Post Office, and then to the Dentist's, this time to see the gal with all the picks and shovels. Ouch! But she's very nice and very gentle, too.

Beware the Twitacons! They are coming...........

noreply@blogger.com (zippiknits) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 06:50:00 +0000

Happy Fourth of July

noreply@blogger.com (zippiknits) — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 19:11:00 +0000

I am always at war with myself on July Fourth and on Thanksgiving. It's no wonder I get indigestion on both days. nahahahaha!

If I could find the webpage URL this picture comes from again, I would attribute it to them.