Oil Spill Hits the Gulf

Pictures from Huff Post; the first bird rescued.

"Drill Baby Drill" ... How's That Workin' Out for ya?

Somebody please hold me back!



She actually had the gall to Tweet that her prayers are with the people of the Gulf today. Perhaps she should volunteer to help clean up the mess caused by doing something she so avidly advocates.

The Art of Caring

My husband, my closest friend and several other people are the featured artists at an upcoming art show fundraiser which will benefit a Haitian orphanage.  The restaurant owner hosting the affair is one of six daughters of the woman who started the restaurant.  Her sister is my closest friend and a very fine artist in her own right.  My husband...well, you've seen his work. (it's good!)

The evening promises to be a lot of fun and will hopefully raise  a decent amount of money, 100% of which goes to the charity.  For $30, you enjoy delicious tapas and martinis made with Van Gogh Vodka, entertainment and art.  There will be an auction for the work on display.

I like the way they are going about this.  It's fun, intimate and  extremely generous because everything served will be donated.  Right now, during a downturn in the economy, getting creative when you fund raise is the only way to go.   

Reverse Colonialization : Wham O!

What happens when it's cheaper to manufacture in the U.S. than China? 

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Wham-O Moves to America
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

Some People Are Just Funny

After posting  my sarcastic comment in the Huff Post under the "Internal Goldman Emails Released:  Firm Had 'The Big Short' As Economy Fell" article, I became enmeshed in reading the comments to this article.  Amazing stuff!  Some very well read and educated posts and others just emotional, some very very funny.  One guy caught my eye and I clicked the link to his web page and this is what I found:

DOUBLE CLICK TO ENLARGE

Friday Funnies: Live Free Or Die

As I'm currently living in the "Live Free or Die" state, this seems apropos.

Earth Day 2010

I hadn't planned to post today but when I saw this tweet from Rachel Maddow (no, not to me personally, I WISH) I had to re-post it and follow up with the latest from New York Times.

Oil Rig Sinks in the Gulf of Mexico

By CAMPBELL ROBERTSON and LIZ ROBBINS

NEW ORLEANS — The oil rig 50 miles off the southeast coast of Louisiana where an explosion occurred Tuesday night has collapsed into the Gulf of Mexico, a Coast Guard official said.

“We have multiple vessels on scene — all response vessels — and they are on scene there to help to mitigate the effects of the pollution,” Petty Officer Atkeson said in a telephone interview. He added that it was not clear how much oil had spilled into the ocean.
Nor was it immediately clear what, if any, environmental implications the rig’s collapse would have.

For more information, go here. 

Between Nests

My husband and I currently live in his mother's farmhouse after selling the home where we raised our sons for twelve years.


Hedi and Me by Cole-Scott

We sold it for monetary reasons.  My husband became disabled in 2006 and unable to work.  He recovered slowly and in terrible pain.  As a distraction, he returned to his first love, photography which he is now pursuing as his vocation.  I work for a local tv station in a small resort area and we make ends meet.  When we sold the house, we had five weeks to move so we moved into MIL's place to see if it might work out.  She has a large home which she offered to share.  Her husband died last year and she is physically frail though mentally sharp.  We took over the upstairs and she took the downstairs.  It seemed ideal but right away there were problems.

For me the biggest problem is I no longer have my own kitchen.  I have unpacked a tenth of my kitchen belongings and I store them in some cabinetry we bought.  I am a pretty good cook and I like to try new recipes and make well-planned meals.  Unfortunately, she likes to hover in the kitchen, be in the way, talk non-stop while I'm trying to concentrate and generally offer to help, oversee or whatever.  I have asked her to consider my cooking the way she considers her art:  personal and private.  Doesn't work.

My husband and I feel the need to keep our voices down when we're upstairs.  She has ears like a bat so you can't be sure if she can hear you or not.  We never feel alone because she seldom leaves the house.  She is 95% sedentary.  Because she is 83, recovering from recent surgery and just submitted to making a will, she wants to know what our plans are.  She wants us to stay.  I want to leave.  My husband doesn't know what to do.

She's a querulous old woman with an opinion on everything!!!! What ever I'm doing or going to do, she's already done it and done it better or with the very best of the best, etc.  You get the idea.

I have a strong sense of family and obligation but I find myself angry and resentful and frustrated.  Our younger son will soon be gone and it will just be the three of us.  She may recover well enough from surgery to take care of herself but my experience with my folks tells me that won't last long.

What to do?

Sunday Painting

Bonnie's Garden 

by Carson Pritchard 

It's A Not So Wonderful Life When the Bank Has You By the Short Hairs

I picked up on the Move Your Money movement after ABC did a piece on it. By that time, we had already moved our money out of one major bank and one financial institution. Pretty soon we will pay off our credit cards and cut them up. I refuse to be dependent on the banks and the card companies and the financial institutions who care so little about people other than those in their echelon. It's a disgrace.

I first wrote about this movement on my other blog. Here's an expanded version of the video done for the movement.

Tina Fey Spins Women's News in America on SNL

I love Tina Fey. I try never to miss "30 Rock". I never missed SNL when she was head writer & part of the ensemble. Last night, she hosted for the second time. She did hilarious skits & another spot on Palin impersonation.

I'm posting the news segment she did for Weekend Update where she always shined best.

Miner Has Premonition Leaves Note for Girlfriend

CNN interview with the mother of a young miner who died in Monday's explosion.  He told her of the "bad ventilation" and left a letter for his girlfriend and mother of his young daughter.  This poor woman lost her brother, nephew and son.  She is a forgiving loving person who, to me, epitomizes the word "charitable".

Two Wrongs Do Not Make A Right, Unless You're Palin & Bachmann

For the love of God, noooooooooo!!!



I guess nobody told Michele Bachmann about Geraldine Ferraro "breaking the barrier" as a female vice presidential candidate all those years ago.

I suppose you could promote them as "Dumb and Dumber The Freakquel".

Another MASSEY ENERGY Mine Disaster

Twenty five miners killed in what is being described as the "worst U.S. mining disaster in more than two decades."   Performance Coal Co, operating in Montcoal, W.V. is a subsidiary of Massey Energy, the nation's largest mining corporation and its worst environmental offender.  Massey Energy has continuously been cited for major safety violations at their mine sites.

ABC News reported:

 The nation's sixth biggest mining company by production, Massey Energy took in $24 million in net income in the fourth quarter of 2009. The company paid what was then the largest financial settlement in the history of the coal industry for the 2006 fire at the Aracoma mine, also in West Virginia. The fire trapped 12 miners. Two suffocated as they looked for a way to escape. Aracoma later admitted in a plea agreement that two permanent ventilation controls had been removed in 2005 and not replaced, according to published reports.

Massey CEO, Don Blankenship, has, over many years, been the subject of articles and inquiries regarding his business practices including political support of those in position to do his company the most good. Massey Energy has been accused and convicted of ongoing safety rules violations usually receiving what is known in the industry as a "soft fine".  For example, a recent case involved a judge who overturned a $50,000,000.00 judgment against the company on appeal.  This judge had long ties with and received thousands of dollars in campaign finance support from Blankenship.   



Rescue efforts were suspended this morning because high levels of methane gas made the operation unsafe, according to the NY Times.
 
You can help by donating to the Salvation Army or Red Cross  both of whom are on the scene supplying aid.
 

April Food Day Is No Joke

I'm lifting this from The Errant AEsthete who blogged about hunger in America on April Fool's Day last week. She movingly talks about the voices of hunger and the faces of hunger and the utter shame we, as "one of the richest industrial nations on earth"  should feel.

At today's Easter service, my pastor pointed out how lucky we are to know where our next meal is coming from, to be unfamiliar with hunger, real hunger.  It resonates particularly on a holiday when one is planning a big meal or attending a lavish brunch.  

The EA strongly supports an organization called Feeding America.  Before writing this, I asked my husband, a former VP Marketing with a major US non-profit organization,

"Where do I go to look up in depth info on non-profits?"

He sent me to GuideStar. where I searched their site for info.  After reading about Feeding America, I am passing this on to you.

Happy Easter!

Cable News & Talking Heads: Who's On Top?

If you think you know the top rated news shows on cable, you may be surprised. 

I know I am.

Nielsen Media Research, the Bible of tv ratings, just announced Q1 results and here they are via Huff Post.

What does this tell us about the viewer profile who spends the most time watching these shows and being persuaded?