Summer Fruit

With summer almost here I'm more in the mood than ever for fresh fruit. Here is a list of summer fruit with some healing qualities from Eat Drink Better:

Apricots: Great for lung conditions and asthma, used to help treat anemia due to their high copper and cobalt content.

Bananas: Help to lubricate the intestines, treat ulcers, detoxify the body, and manage sugar cravings; are rich in potassium (which helps hypertension).

Cherries: Slightly warming in nature; increase overall body energy, remedy arthritis and rheumatism, and are rich in iron, which improves the blood.

Grapefruits: Treat poor digestion, increase appetite during pregnancy, alleviate intestinal gas and reduce mucus conditions of the lungs.

Papayas: Tone the stomach, act as digestive aid, moisten the lungs and alleviate coughing; contain carpaine, an anti-tumor compound.

Raspberries: Benefit the liver and kidneys, cleanse blood of toxins, regulate menstrual cycles, treat anemia and can promote labor at childbirth.

I also love Mangos which are a good source of vitamins A and C, Potassium and beta carotene. They are also high in fiber and low in calories. I like combining them with fruit that isn't too sweet like strawberries. Strawberries are high in vitamin C and are also an excellent source of vitamin K and manganese, folic acid, potassium, riboflavin, vitamin B5, vitamin B6, copper, magnesium, and omega-3 fatty acids. One of my favorite fruits is the Cherimoya. I first tasted this wonderful fruit in Ecuador when our cab driver bought one off a street vendor and cut it for us in the cab. It was the most wonderful thing I had ever tasted. I've had a few since then but the taste has never been the same and they are pretty hard to find and also very expensive. I guess I need to go back to Ecuador.

I also love blackberries but the ones I buy in the store are never as good as the ones my friend used to pick for me on the side of the road when we were travelling in the northwest.

Poor Ringo

Ringo has had a really bad looking sore on one of his feet for a few days now so today I decided to take him over to the vet at PetsMart. He had to be sedated and they cleansed the wound and increased the size of a hole in the wound so it could drain. The vet thinks he may have been bitten by a snake or a spider. Now he has to wear an Elizabethan collar so he can't lick the area. He isn't too happy about that. He also has to be an indoor kitty so he now has a litter box in the spare bedroom. Technically he isn't my cat but after spending several hundred dollars on him I think of him as mine and the dogs love him and want to keep him too.

UPDATE: He managed to get the collar off but seems to be leaving his foot alone. He also used the litter box after realizing I wasn't going to let him go outside. He's purring again too.

Old Dogs

I've always heard that 1 dog year is equal to 7 human years but The American Veterinary Medical Association has a formula that says the 1st year of a dogs life is equal to 15 years of a humans, the 2nd year, 9 years, and every year after that, 5. This formula is for a medium sized dogs. Smaller dogs age more slowly than larger dogs. You can calculate the age of your dog here.
According to this calculator Sparky is 77, Ginger and Gracie are 65, and Rosie is 56. That means that for a few more weeks, I'm the youngest one in my house!

Hate Groups in America

The Southern Poverty Law Center released it's 2009 report on hate groups in America. According to the report, there were 926 active groups last year which is up 4% from last year and up 50% since 2000. In addition to the report there are several interactive maps. You can use one of these maps to see how many hate groups are in each state, the name, and the location in the state. Texas has 66 hate groups, with 7 in Houston.
Here is the link: http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid=1027

Here's a Desk We Would All Like

Molly The Cow

Molly, the cow that escaped from a NYC slaughterhouse on Wednesday has found a new home at an organic farm on Long Island. Rex Farr who owns The Farrm said "She can eat some good organic hay and hang around with a lot of her friends. She can eat and sleep for the rest of her life. She is not going anywhere. The bottom line is she will have a very good home.”

MustardGate

Do any adults still watch these idiots?

Dan Choi

After appearing on The Rachel Maddow show and admitting that he is gay, Army National Guardsman Lt. Dan Choi received this letter from the Army:
"This is to inform you that sufficient basis exists to initiate action for withdrawal of Federal Recognition in the Army National Guard for moral or professional dereliction. Specifically you admitted publicly that you are a homosexual, which constitutes homosexual conduct. Your actions negatively affected the good order and discipline of the New York Army National Guard."
Lt Dan Choi is a graduate of West Point and is fluent in Arabic. He is one of about 12,500 servicemen ejected since the "Don't ask, don't tell" policy was introduced in 1994. 60 of those ejected are Arab linguists. He was part of Operation Iraq Freedom and had this to say about his service "I loved being in the country. My fluency in Arabic enabled me to build strong relationships with the local people and the local government officials, with whom I worked on establishing security and rebuilding efforts."
Choi founded the group Knights Out, a group representing gay and lesbian West Point alumni. West Point's honor code states "A cadet will not lie" yet Choi felt forced to lie about who he was because of the "Don't ask, don't tell" policy and he felt he had no alternative but to come out even if it did mean he would be kicked out of the military.
Choi will be on the Rachel Maddow show again tonight to discuss his ousting from the military. Her show is on MSNBC at 7 Eastern time and again at 9. It follows another favorite show of mine on MSNBC, Countdown with Keith Olbermann.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Banned from the UK

The Home Office put out a list today of 16 of the 22 people banned from entering the UK. Included on this list are Americans Michael Savage, Stephen "Don" Black, Fred Phelps, and his daughter Shirley Phelps-Roper. Michael Savage is the talk radio host who has called the Quran a "book of hate" and has called autistic children brats who haven't been told to "cut the act out."
Don Black is the founder of a white supremacist web site based in Florida. Don Phelps, along with his daughter Shirley have picketed funerals of AIDS victims and have claimed that US soldier's deaths are God's punishment for tolerance of gays.
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said the UK is determined "to stop those who want to spread extremism, hatred and violent messages in our communities from coming to our country" and "Coming to this country is a privilege. If you can't live by the rules that we live by, the standards and the values that we live by, we should exclude you from this country and, what's more, now we will make public those people that we have excluded."
I wonder who the un-named 6 are. If I had a country, I would ban just about everyone associated with the last administration starting with bush and dick.

FluTracker

For anyone interested, here is a link so you can follow the Swine flu (H1N10)
FluTracker

A school in my neighborhood, where 2 little boys I know go, is closed most of next week because of the flu.
Posted using ShareThis

Bob Marley is the latest entry on Stuff White People Like http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/ While reading this I was feeling a little smug because I always liked Peter Tosh better than Bob Marley. Then I got to this paragraph:

"Since so many people are into Bob Marley, it is only natural for advanced white people to profess to only marginally liking Bob Marley (note: it is impossible for a white person to outright dislike him). Instead, these white people will claim to preferring more obscure artists like Burning Spear or Peter Tosh."

This is my favorite Peter Tosh album.

Here is a link to a great video of Mick Jagger and Peter Tosh singing Walk and Don't Look Back http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_I1-KvamTA&NR=1

My Day Off

I spent all morning organizing my garage. I put some shelves together and also put some hooks on the wall so that I could hang up some things. Got to use my power tools! While I was doing this the dogs played outside. Lucy, the Great Pyrenees puppy who is visiting me this weekend played in the mud so she had to have a bath. She was not happy about that. Now we are all resting.

Nancy

The Imaginative Crowd

I'm having a great time watching Obama respond to criticism from the right wing nuts in our country. After being criticised for being too friendly to the evildoer Chavez and even (gasp) shaking his hand, Obama had this to say:
Venezuela is a country whose defense budget is probably 1/600th of the United States’. They own Citgo. It’s unlikely that as a consequence of me shaking hands or having a polite conversation with Mr. Chavez that we are endangering the strategic interests of the United States. I don’t think anybody can find any evidence that that would do so. Even within this imaginative crowd, I think you would be hard-pressed to paint a scenario in which U.S. interests would be damaged as a consequence of us having a more constructive relationship with Venezuela.
Several people on the news have also pointed out the hypocrisy of the RWN's for being critical of Obama for "bowing" to the Saudi King when W held hands with him and even kissed him.
Polls have shown that the majority of people in this country have faith and confidence in Obama and are tired of these ridiculous attacks from people who will do or say anything to see him fail even if it means failure for our country.

More Popular than Republicans

Chris Bowers on his blog Open Left http://www.openleft.com/diary/12937/republicans-less-popular-than-venezuela has an "irregular" series of things that are more popular than Republicans. Today, using poll numbers from CNN, he found that Venezuela is more popular than Republicans. In the poll Republicans are viewed 39% favorable, 54% unfavorable and Venezuela 42% favorable, 54% unfavorable. Legalizing marijuana and China are also more popular than Republicans. I love this and I'm planning to add it to my Bloglines account. With the way the R's are acting, it will probably last a long time.

Rosie, Ringo and Blue Dog

A Short Citizen's Guide to Kooks, Demagogues, and Right-Wingers On Tax Day

I found this on Huffington Post and thought it worth posting after seeing the tea-baggers at the Fox News sponsored events yesterday. The best part of this whole thing has been watching Keith Olbermann make fun of them on Countdown (MSNBC) for the last few nights.
A Short Citizen's Guide to Kooks, Demagogues, and Right-Wingers On Tax Day
by Robert Reich
No one likes to pay taxes, so tax day typically attracts a range of right-wing Republicans, kooks, and demagogues, all of whom tell us how awful we have it. Here's a short citizen's guide (that is, a citizen's guide that's short rather than a guide for short citizens) responding to the predictable charges:
1. "Americans pay too much in taxes." Wrong: The United States has the lowest taxes of all developed nations.
2. "The rich pay too much! The top ten percent of income earners pay over 72 percent of all income taxes!" Misleading: The main reason the rich pay such a large percent is they've become so much richer than the bottom 90 percent in recent years. If you look at what they pay as individuals -- the percent of their incomes over and above the highest rate below them -- you'll see a steady decline over the years. When Republican Dwight Eisenhower was president, the marginal rate on the highest earners was 91 percent (after deductions and tax credits, closer to 50 percent); by 1980 it was still up there, at 70 percent (an effective rate of closer to 45 percent); under Bill Clinton, it was 38 percent (an effective rate closer to 28 percent).
Look at the after-tax earnings of families and you'll see what's really going on. Between 1980 and 2000, the after-tax earnings of families at the top rose more than 150 percent, while the after-tax earnings of families in the middle rose about 10 percent. The Bush tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 raised the after-tax incomes of most Americans by a bit over 1 percent -- but raised the after-tax incomes of millionaires by 4.4 percent.
3. "The bottom 60 percent pay only 3.3 percent of the taxes!" Misleading again. Most Americans are paying more in sales taxes than they ever have. Property taxes have also been rising at a steady clip. And Social Security taxes have also risen (thanks to the Greenspan Commission), while earnings over about $100,000 aren't subject to Social Security taxes. So-called "sin" taxes (mostly beer and cigarettes) have also skyrocketed. All of these taxes take a bigger bite out of the paychecks of people with lower incomes than they do people with higher incomes.
4. "Obama is raising your taxes!" Wrong. Obama is cutting taxes for 95 percent of Americans, by about $400 per person a year -- not a whopping tax cut, to be sure, but not a tax increase by any stretch. Only the top 2 percent will have a tax increase, but even this tax increase is modest. Basically, they go back to the rates they were paying under Bill Clinton (their deductions will be limited to 28 percent, which is only fair). And they won't start paying this until 2011 anyway.
5. "The huge debts we're wracking up will cause your taxes to rise!" Wrong again. When it comes to the national debt, as I've said before, the relevant statistic is the ratio of debt to the gross domestic product. The only sure way to bring that debt down and make it manageable in future years is to get the economy growing again -- which requires that, in the short term, the government spend a lot of money (because consumers and businesses won't). In the long term, the biggest source of concern is rising health-care costs. And that's something Obama and Congress are aiming to tackle.
6. "We have a patriotic duty to stand up against Washington taxes!" Just the opposite. We have a patriotic duty to pay taxes. As multi-billionaire Warren Buffett put it, "If you stick me down in the middle of Bangladesh or Peru or someplace, you'll find out how much this talent is going to product in the wrong kind of soil. I will be struggling thirty years later." President Teddy Roosevelt made the case in 1906 when he argued in favor of continuing the inheritance tax. "The man of great wealth owes a particular obligation to the state because he derives special advantages from the mere existence of government."
An acquaintance from law school, now a partner in one of Washington's biggest and wealthiest law firms, explained to me one day over lunch how he and his partners use tax rules to create offsetting taxable gains and losses, and then allocate the gains to the firm's foreign partners who don't pay taxes in the United States. That way, they keep the losses here and shelter their income abroad. I noticed he had an American flag lapel pin. "You're supporting our troops," I said, referring to his pin. "Yup," he replied, entirely missing my point.
True patriotism isn't cheap. It's about taking on a fair share of the burden of keeping America going. Originally posted on Talking Points Memo

Apple Blueberry Honey Apple Ginger Tart

I found this recipe on Eat Drink Better

What You Need:
12 organic graham crackers
1/4 cup (or 1 large handful for those disinclined to measure) crystallized ginger
1 tablespoon sugar
pinch of salt
2 tablespoons soft or melted margarine or butter
1 egg white
1 and 1/2 cups Greek yogurt (you can use coconut milk yogurt here if you want a non-dairy version)
2 tablespoons (or just a good looooong squeeze) of honey
1 and 1/2 cups organic blueberries
1 local McIntosh apple (or whatever kind of fruit you like, really)

What You Do:
1. Preheat the oven to 350°.
2. Combine the graham crackers, crystallized ginger, sugar, and salt in a food processor until finely ground. You can also do this by hand (if you’re gangsta) by crumbling the graham crackers, which is sort of fun, and dicing the ginger and mixing them all together.
3. Mix in the egg white and butter and press into a greased pan. Bonus if you have the pretty fluted tart kind, but assuming you don’t live in the Food & Wine test kitchen, you can just use any pan around 14×4 inches.
4. Bake the crust until lightly browned, about 20 minutes, and let the crust cool down.
5. Mix the honey and the yogurt in a bowl and spread in the crust.
6. Thinly slice the apples and arrange the fruit over the top. Slice and eat. YUM.

Amigo's New Hope

More details are emerging about the new First Puppy Bo. He comes from The Amigo PWD Kennel in the Dallas Fort Worth area which is owned by Art and Martha Stern. He was born on October 9, 2008. Bo's parents are Ch. Amigo's Phor What Its Worth AKA Penny and Ch. Valkyrie's Dr. Watson Is Here AKA Watson.

Here are all the names of the puppies in the litter:

Amigo's Captain Courageous

Amigo's Change To Believe In

Amigo's Great Hope

Amigo's Hope For Tomorrow

Amigo's Hope Of Tomorrow

Amigo's Hope Wilson Will Prevail

Amigo's Hoping For Change

Amigo's Hoping For The Best

Amigo's New Hope

Amigo's Shining Hope

The new First Dog was originally named Amigo's New Hope.

The kennel owners are Obama supporters in case you hadn't figured that out already.

Bo Obama

First Dog

I just read an article saying that the First Dog, a 6 month old Portuguese Water Dog will be making his debut on Tuesday. He's coming from a kennel in Texas, where he was bred, sold, and then returned, so I guess you you call him a recycled dog. He was named Charlie by the original owner but may get a new name once he is adopted by the First Daughters. This is supposed to be a picture of the actual dog but I'm not sure. UPDATE: This is the new puppy and he has been named Bo after Bo Diddley. Michelle's father's nickname was Diddley and that's why the First Girls picked that name. It's also their dad's initials. Bo Diddley is one of Rosies nicknames too. I often sing the Bob Dylan son that has the lyrics "she walks like Bo Diddley and she don't need no crutch" when we're out walking.

Easter Pictures

Here are some old Easter pictures of me and my sister. My mother, her sister, and her parents are in some of the pictures too. Some were taken in Raymondville, some in Robstown, and some at our home on Drummond in Houston. I'm pretty sure my mother made all of the dresses my sister and I are wearing and also the ones she is wearing. She probably made the hats too.

.

This picture of my mother was taken in 1947 in Calallen on the Nueces River. She was sitting in a field of bluebonnets.

Bill O'Reilly and Squeaky the Chicago Mouse

Keith Olbermann read part of Roger Ebert's letter to Bill O'Reilly on Countdown tonight. Here is the complete letter:

Thoughts on Bill O'Reilly and Squeaky the Chicago Mouse
By Roger Ebert

To: Bill O'Reilly
From: Roger Ebert
Dear Bill:
Thanks for including the Chicago Sun-Times on your exclusive list of newspapers on your "Hall of Shame." To be in an O'Reilly Hall of Fame would be a cruel blow to any newspaper. It would place us in the favor of a man who turns red and starts screaming when anyone disagrees with him. My grade-school teacher, wise Sister Nathan, would have called in your parents and recommended counseling with Father Hogben.
Yes, the Sun-Times is liberal, having recently endorsed our first Democrat for President since LBJ. We were founded by Marshall Field one week before Pearl Harbor to provide a liberal voice in Chicago to counter the Tribune, which opposed an American war against Hitler. I'm sure you would have sided with the Trib at the time.I understand you believe one of the Sun-Times misdemeanors was dropping your syndicated column. My editor informs me that "very few" readers complained about the disappearance of your column, adding, "many more complained about Nancy." I know I did. That was the famous Ernie Bushmiller comic strip in which Sluggo explained that "wow" was "mom" spelled upside-down.Your column ran in our paper while it was owned by the right-wing polemicists Conrad Black (Baron Black of Coldharbour) and David Radler. We dropped it to save a little money after they looted the paper of millions. Now you call for an advertising boycott. It is unusual to observe a journalist cheering for a newspaper to fail. At present the Sun-Times has no bank debt, but labors under the weight of millions of dollars in tax penalties incurred by Lord Black, who is serving an eight-year stretch for mail fraud and obstruction of justice. We also had to pay for his legal expenses.There is a major difference between Conrad Black and you: Lord Black is a much better writer and thinker, and authored a respected biography about Roosevelt, who we were founded to defend. That newspapers continue to run your column is a mystery to me, since it is composed of knee-jerk frothings and ravings. If I were an editor searching for a conservative, I wouldn't choose a mad dog. My recommendation: The admirable Charles Krauthammer.Bill, I am concerned that you have been losing touch with reality recently. Did you really say you are more powerful than any politician?That reminds me of the famous story about Squeaky the Chicago Mouse. It seems that Squeaky was floating on his back along the Chicago River one day. Approaching the Michigan Avenue lift bridge, he called out: Raise the bridge! I have an erection!

On Monday an earthquake destroyed the city of L'Aquila, Italy, killing 260 and leaving 17,000 homeless. With the exception of about 200 people, tents have been provided, as well as food and medication. Not too bad, right? Well, between Monday and Tuesday there was driving rain, hail, and temperatures as low as 39 degrees. Not very nice conditions by most peoples standards, even if you aren't in a tent. In an effort to reassure the public, Prime Minister Berlusconi said that the earthquake victims should think of themselves as being on a "camping weekend." Needless to say, his remarks didn't go over to well with the "campers" and rescue workers who are still searching for survivors in the rubble, and dealing with aftershocks.
This sounds like something dubya, or his insensitive and stupid, rhymes with witch, mother would have said.

Workplace Internet Leisure Browsing

I've always thought this was true, at least for me, but now a study by The University of Melbourne has found that people who engage in Workplace Internet Leisure Browsing (WILB) are about 9% more productive than those who don't. According to Brent Coker, the author of the study, Internet browsing helps sharpen worker's concentration and that a "quick surf of the Internet, enables the mind to rest itself, leading to a higher total net concentration for a days' work, and as a result, increased productivity." The study only looked at people who browse in moderation (20% of the workday) and not at those who might be described as Internet addicts.

I subscribed to a new blog today http://www.mrs-o.org/ which follows the fashion and style of Michelle Obama. It's so nice having a president we know won't embarrass us when he goes overseas. Now I can concentrate on fun things like Michelle's beautiful clothes. This is what she wore to meet the British Prime Minister.

What I did on my day off

Off to Europe

What a beautiful couple. I love her outfit!

Sun, sun, sun, here it comes...

My home state has been an embarrassment to me for the last 8 years or so but here is something that should make any Texan feel a little proud. You may have heard that Texas, thanks in part to T. Boone Pickins, is the leader in wind power, producing more than any other state, but now Texas is trying to become the leader in solar power as well. There are 69 alternative energy bills before the Texas legislature right now and 50 of those have to do with solar energy. Some legislators are actually referring to the current legislative session as "the solar session." Austin, the bright spot in our state, is planning to build a large solar panel just outside of the city. It will be the largest solar panel in the nation.
I doubt if this new interest in renewable energy has anything to do with fears of global warming, but more to do with the declining oil industry, and with making money. I really don't care why people are interested in alternative energy sources, I'm just glad they are. Now if we could just get them to believe in evolution.

The White House Garden

Here is a picture (click to enlarge) of the layout of the new organic garden Michelle Obama started at the White House. This is the first working garden at the White House since Eleanor Roosevelt had a Victory Garden during WWII. Some of the produce will be used in the White House kitchen and some will be given to Miriam's Kitchen for the homeless in DC.
The garden is being tended to by the First Family and by local school children from Bancroft Elementary School.

I'm really enjoying reading my new favorite blog First Guns http://firstguns.tumblr.com/
Not only is it funny but there is also some useful information. This was in the last post I read: "The Essentials of Exercise Physiology tells us that when 63 women in a nursing home began strength training, their muscle strength increased an average of 113% percent. That is not a typo. More than 100%! Imagine how great it would be to improve anything by that much."
I thought is was too late for me and my arms but maybe it's not. I've never done strength training but I'm going to add this to my exercise program which now consists of walking with dogs.

I didn't know this but when a president takes office, he/she is allotted $100,000 of tax payer money for renovations for the Oval office and their private residence. No big surprise that the Obamas are not using this money or money from the White House Historical Association but will be paying for any renovations themselves. $100,000 isn't a lot of money, but at a time when so many people are losing their homes, it's a wonderful gesture, something the previous residents would never have thought of.

Thunder and Lightning

Michelle Obama's arms have their own blog now: http://firstguns.tumblr.com/

Here is a description from the blog "Everyone's been writing about us. Now we're speaking out. We're Thunder and Lightning, the First Guns."

Potluck #56: To Tweet of Not To Tweet...Twitter

I set up a Twitter account several months ago but have never really done anything with it. Today I tried to add a picture but it was too large, changed the background, added a line about what I was doing, added a brief biographical note, and am now following Keith Olbermann. I am also following another person I know. He was the one who initailly asked me to join Twitter.
1. Through Twitter Elite I found PETA's Twitter account and I Tweeted them. I'm still not sure how all of this works but something from PETA did show up on my Twitter page. I also found a lot of other people who follow PETA.
2. I typed pugs into the search field and got 8 hits. I decided to look at "Pug Tales" which is "The Stories and Adventures of Three Pugs. Otis, Elmer and Mrs. Beasley" This is a cute site so I'm going to follow their adventures. I'm thinking that rather than having my own Twitter account, I might see if one of my dogs is interested in doing this. Of course I would have to help.
3. I'm not sure about the advantages of Twitter. I prefer Facebook and I also think one social network site is enough for me.

Extreme Sheep

This gives me an idea for decorating the dogs next Christmas.

Pot Luck #55: Getting the Most Out of Facebook

1. I've had a Facebook account for almost a year now. I have 35 friends which seem like a lot to me but is nothing compared to what younger people have. My niece has over 400 friends.

2. There are always new people to add to my "friends" list and I found another one and made a request.

3. Because I don't have enough dogs at home, I adopted a little mixed breed dog named Zogby. We went on a long walk and then played Frisbee and fetch. Unfortunately I don't have enough points to feed him. Sigh.

4. I like Facebook. It's a nice convenient way to keep in touch with people I don't see all the time. I also enjoy seeing all the pictures people post, especially pet pictures. When I was taking care of Lucy, the adorable Great Pyrenees puppy, for my neighbors a few weeks ago I posted pictures of her on my page. Then I wrote on the owner's wall telling him about the pictures. He received a message on his phone and looked at the pictures and commented on my wall. This all took less than 1 hour. I don't really care about applications like flair and adopting plants and pets but it seems others do since I get gifts and requests all the time. I don't have a lot of time for this but if I did I would probably do it more often. I do like being able to post a link to an article I've read with one click of the mouse. I also think its fun to join groups like "I have more foreign policy experience than Sarah Palin." Since I am "friends" with Bill White someone was able to contact me and ask for a contribution for his senatorial campaign through my Facebook account. There is also a group associated with this request that I can join. This seems like a useful tool.

Here is a transcript from a speech Obama gave about the AIG bail out and the bonuses paid. It's so wonderful to have a leader in Washington willing to accept responsibility and not play the "blame game." Thank you Mr. President for putting the country's well being before politics. What a refreshing change.

"I know Washington's all in a tizzy, and everybody is pointing fingers at each other, and saying it's their fault, the Democrats' fault, and the Republicans' fault. Listen: I'll take responsibility. I'm the President.
We didn't draft these contracts. We've got a lot on our plate. But it is appropriate when you're in charge to make sure that stuff doesn't happen like this, so we're going to do everything we can to fix it.
So for everybody in Washington who's busy scrambling to try to figure out how to blame somebody else, just go ahead and talk to me, because it's my job to fix these messes even if I don't make them.
But what's just as important is that we make sure we don't find ourselves in this situation again, where taxpayers are on the hook for losses in bad times, and all the wealth that's generated in good times goes to those who are at the very top of the income ladder."

Books, Readers and Beyond: #54 Social Networking Through Books

1. I am not now, nor have I ever been a member of a book club. If I was going to join one I would prefer to join an in-person club.

2. If I was going to implement a book club at a library I would be inclined to go with some of the "Great Books" and not more popular fiction, just because it would force me to read books I'm not disciplined enough to read on my own. I looked at the website for the Houston Great Books Council and found a group called the Philosophy Cafe that I find fairly intriguing. I might model a book club on this one with my first selection being The Plague by Camus or Process and Reality by Whitehead. This would probably be a really small group.

3. On Goodreads, Animal Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver has an average rating of 4.20 with 11,313 ratings. I'm not sure what the rating means but I enjoyed this site and reading reviews by members. It also has recommendations for other books if you like this one.
The Readerville Forum has no way to search for specific titles so I couldn't look up this author or title. Shelfari has over 233 reviews of this book and over 11 discussions. Almost all of the comments are positive but I couldn't find a specific rating.

Books, Readers and Beyond: # 53 Finding Books Online

1. Since the West University Branch is the one closest to my house I decided to look for bookstores in that area rather than the Adm. building. The bookstores that I found are Brazos Books on Bissonnet (my favorite bookstore in Houston), Murder by the Book (also on Bissonnet) and Half-price Books on University at Kirby. Brazos has a wonderful website: http://brazos.booksense.com/NASApp/store/IndexJsp They include many features including what Houston is reading, Brazos picks, Brazos Kids, Indie picks, and information about upcoming events and signings.

Murder by the book also has a great website: http://www.murderbooks.com/ with award winners, book discussion group events, book signings, best sellers, and a lot more.

Half-price books books has a store locator and map for the specific store I choose but individual stores don't seem to have their own websites.



2. When I searched Barbara Kingsolver in the search field at the Brazos bookstore website I got 72 hits. One of her latest books Animal,Vegetable, Miracle is available in all of these formats: 26.95 (hc), 14.95 (pbk), 39.95 or 99.95 (CD), Audiocassette (94.55), Adobe, Microsoft and Palm e-reader (all 11.95).



3. I went to the HCPL website and tried to download a book. First I had to install an Adobe program and while I was there decided to look through their (Adobe's) selection of books. I downloaded The Geography of Bliss: One Man's Search for the Happiest Places on Earth / by Eric Weiner. I didn't actually download the whole book, but the introduction and contents. Then I went back to HCPL and downloaded The Ultimate Chocolate Cookie Book / by Bruce Weinstein & Mark Scarbrough. Even though I don't cook or bake I like looking through recipes. This book has some wonderful recipes including one chocolate cookie made with tofu!
I work in 2 libraries and live withing walking distance of 2 major bookstores so I probably won't download ebooks I also prefer to have an actual book in my hand. I would have loved this when I was a child because I never had enough books to read. ebooks would be great for people in rural areas or for people who for one reason or another can't leave their home.

Books, Readers and Beyond: #52 What to Read

1. For this exercise I choose the author Barbara Kingsolver. Some of the recommended read-alikes suggested by Novelist Plus are books by Lorna Landvik, Billie Letts, Sandra Dallas, Rachel Carson, Hannah Holmes, and Michael Pollan. I tried Fiction L Booklists but could not find a place to enter an author. I instead looked at A Sense of Place 1 Novels where the scene, the setting, or the environment is a major character because I knew I would find Kingsolver on that list and her book The Bean Trees was on the list. Even though it didn't work like Novelist Plus I like this site better because there are so many options/genres to choose from. It's very detailed and has some great lists like "Books for porching." What should I read next didn't work even though I tried it many times. Library Booklists and Bibliographies has at least 2 different lists of recommended books, many of which I have read and enjoyed including books by Jonis Agee, Charles Baxter, Gail Godwin, and Louise Erdrich. Of all the sites I looked at I would probably use Fiction L Booklists again because I really like the very detailed lists.

2. Since it's spring and she is almost in 5th grade and precocious I decided my 4th grade girl who likes animal stories would like to read Julie of the Wolves by Jean C. George which is for grade 5-6 and Star in the Storm by Joan Hiatt Harlow.
For her older brother who like ghost stories I recommend: Get that ghost to go by Catherine MacPhail and John Bellairs's Lewis Barnavelt in The whistle, the grave, and the ghost by Brad Strickland. For this assignment I used Novelist Plus.

3. For the reader who likes Dean Koontz, Novelist Plus recommends Dan Simmons and John Saul. Library Booklist recommends Peter Straub and Greg Bear.

4. For the reader who has read Alanna: The first adventure by Tamora Pierce and wants to read the other books in the series I looked at Novelist Plus. The name of the series is Song of the Lioness and the titles in that series are: In the hand of the goddess (2); The woman who rides like a man (3); and Lioness rampant (4).

Prescott Public Library

Prescott Arizona is one of my very favorite places in the US. My friend and I went there every time we would go to Arizona, which was a lot, and we would always climb Thumb Butte Mountain and go to the Sharlot Museum downtown.

I also love the Prescott Library and would love to work there. When I went to their website tonight I found this nifty Library Use Calculator where you enter the number of time you use different services offered by the library (like checking out DVDs) and it calculates how much money you save by using the library. Here is the link: http://www.prescottlibrary.info/index.php/about/89.html

The calculator was developed by the Maine State Library and their website explains more about how these figures were calculated and how you can customize one for your own library. There is a link on the Prescott site to the MSL.

This beautiful picture which I didn't take shows the library in Prescott with beautiful mountains in the background

Here is a letter I received today from the chairman of the Texas Democratic Party:

Dear fellow Democrat,
Today, Governor Perry announced that he intends to turn down $555 million in stimulus funds that would provide additional benefits for unemployed Texas job-seekers who are trying to get by in the wake of layoffs caused by the Republican recession. After his announcement, it was clear the Governor cares about only one job - his own. First, he compared out-of-work Texans to junkies, and now he's using them as political pawns to appeal to the talk show bosses that drive the agenda of his Republican base. We don't need a right-wing candidate masquerading as Governor; we need a leader who will work with mainstream Texans in a bipartisan effort to rebuild our economy. It's shameful that Rick Perry would rather play politics to keep his job than help Texans who have lost their jobs. In these tough times, Texans should be able to count on our elected officials to look out for our best interests. But we're not getting any help from Gov. Perry -and our U.S. Senators, Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn, have refused to condemn Perry's destructive actions. Call on U.S. Senators Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn to oppose Gov. Perrys' stunts. Sen. Hutchison's Washington D.C. Office: 202-224-5922Sen. Cornyn's Washington D.C. Office: 202-224-2934Here are the latest facts on our unemployment crisis in Texas. According to the Texas Comptroller and the U.S. Federal Reserve: * The Texas economy will lose between 180,000 to 300,000 jobs in 2009* The Texas unemployment rate is expected to rise from 6 to 8.2 percent by October * 26,000 Texans are filing new unemployment claims each week* The unemployment fund is already running low and will reach zero by October 1st
Your fellow Democrat,
Boyd L. Richie
Chairman Texas Democratic Party

3D cities in Google Earth

So many stupid people

I was driving the other day and saw a bumper sticker with Sarah Palin 2012: real change for America. I honestly couldn't believe it. Are people really that stupid? I turned to the woman in the car and said: "are you a f*** ing idiot?" Of course my window was rolled up and her window was rolled up and she wasn't looking at me so it didn't really matter.

Today I read that Bristol Palin and the father of her child are breaking up and that Bristol won't allow the father's family access to the baby because they are white trash. Takes one to know one I guess.

Meanwhile, the stupid republicans continue to embrace Rush as their new leader. Rush wants Obama to fail even it means our country fails. Our incredibly stupid Governor Goodhair has rejected 555 million dollars of the stimulus package intended to help unemployed people in Texas. I guess he would rather punish the people in this state than take a chance that Obama and the democrats might succeed in getting us out of the mess caused by his predecessor.
I can't understand how any person with a conscious or a brain could support any of these horrible people. I also don't know any democrats who wanted Bush to fail, especially after 911. Even though I didn't support his stupid war I said to several people that I hoped I was wrong and that there were WMD's in Iraq. I would never put my party before the good of our country. To bad most republicans would rather see America destroyed than see a democrat succeed.

Jail for the Hero, Mansions for Murderers

The courageous Iraqi journalist Muntader al-Zaidi who threw his shoes at the mass murderer bush received 3 years in prison for his actions. According to a recent poll by ABC News and the BBC, 62% of the Iraqi people consider him a hero with only 24% seeing him as a criminal. Meanwhile, the real criminal sits in his multi million dollar mansion in Dallas, polluting my state.

Iraqi artist Laith al-Amari was inspired by the incident to built this huge shoe statue with a poem honoring al-Zaidi. It resides in Tikrit.

Lucy in the Garden

Lucy and Sparky

Lucy slept in my bed last night along with the other dogs. She is supposed to sleep in her crate but we decided we wanted her with us. She is getting spoiled here. Good thing her parents don't read my blog. This morning she went on a long walk and then she and Sparky took a nap together.

Lucy

I'm dog sitting for my neighbors this weekend. They adopted a Great Pyrenees mix puppy from the SPCA a few weeks ago and she is staying at my house. I'm having a great time but my dogs are a little annoyed because she is jumping on them wanting to play with them. Her name is Lucy but I can't help calling her Little Bear or Knut because she looks like a little polar bear. If you are a little depressed or down I suggest borrowing a puppy for a few hours.

One of the pictures is of Knut.