Happy 6th Birthday Kurt....................

Six short years and 8,000 plus post Kurt Harden has created a large list of readers on a daily basis. If you are not one of the his loyal followers you should be, click here to check out what you have been missing.

Handling the public and journalists..........

"It's true hard work never killed anyone, but I figure, why take the chance"

From TIME.com

"Seated on a chair on stage in an audience hall next to St Peter’s Basilica, the Pope was greeted by the assembled journalists with applause and a few cries of “Viva.” Whether performing mass or giving an address, Francis’ speaking style is more like that of an actor than a preacher: his tone is intimate, with touches of humor and folksiness, but he never loses command of his audience. In his delivery, if there’s a politician he resembles, it’s Ronald Reagan. During one passage in his address thanking the media for their “service” covering the conclave, Francis broke from the text, looked up and said with a smile: “You’ve worked, eh? You’ve really worked.”

Impressed that Pope Francis is compared to Ronald Reagan, click here to read the complete article.

Definition of a Hawaii Moment..........

Presidents Obama's defines what Rahm Emanuel meant by the President's first debate being a "Hawaii Moment":

"What he was probably referring to—he and I, when we were in the Oval Office sometimes and the banks looked like they were melting down and the Afghan war is raging and the auto industry is on the verge of collapse, and we’d sit here at the end of the day and we’d have little fantasies about us taking our families and just moving to Hawaii and opening up a T-shirt shack on the North Shore, and we’d just sell T-shirts and maybe smoothies and sit there and watch the waves. So that might have been the reference he was making."

More about this by clicking here from TIME.com









Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/12/20/obama-interview-his-disastrous-first-debate-was-a-hawaii-moment/#ixzz2FcaQif2e

Campaign faces flak..............

From Time.com

The reelection campaign faces flak after donors at a $35,000 a plate dinner were asked to check their devices at the door.

The phenomenon was first reported by the Washington Post‘s David Nakamura, who described how guests who paid $35,800 to meet the President at the New York City home of Blackstone Group COO Hamilton “Tony” James on Monday were asked to drop their phones in a plastic bag at the door. Here’s the scene setter by Nakamura, as quoted by ABC:

"Dozens of guests, men in suits and women in dresses and pant suits, were seated around elegant tables eating dinner in two adjoining rooms. They were sitting on gold colored dining chairs with green seat cushions, and the table cloths had a gold flowered design. Oil artwork in ornate gold frames hung on the wall. It appeared when we came in that staff had confiscated cell phones, which were stored in plastic bags"

Click here to read more.





 



Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/05/15/obama-campaign-bans-cell-phones-at-private-fundraisers/#ixzz1v8NJS3w9

A lot off the top.................

MY BARBER

 Ralph Lauren's barber

Your state’s senators better have nice ‘dos, because the Senate’s barbershop recently received $300,000 to keep it running, despite the decently high fees for haircuts there.

As reported by The Daily, senators didn’t even know that the shop couldn’t pay its bills, especially considering a basic shampoo and cut runs $27. In stark contrast, Capitol Barber, which serves The House of Representatives, doesn’t claim any taxpayer assistance.

The privatized Capitol Barber doesn’t pay its employees quite what the unionized Senate barbershop staff makes, however, with Senate stylists pulling in between $70,000 and $80,000, not counting retirement, health insurance and vacation benefits. On the other end of the spectrum, Capitol Barber stylists make between $22,000 and $30,000.

The Senate salon, located in the basement of the Russell Senate Office Building, opened in 1859 and served only senators, for free, until the 1970s. Now it serves the public—for a price—and welcomed about 27,000 customers last year, still not enough to not require taxpayer money to keep it humming.

The Senate’s Sergeant of Arms, Terrance Gainer, admits the barbershop staff is well paid and has an obvious advantage against other shops. He also says he understands the barbershop must be privatized for the sake of taxpayers. For some reason, we think senators’ hairdos will come out of this just dandy.

From TIME.com

Cartoon: Reagan vs. Obama-Social Economics 101

Thank you to Brother Dino for passing this along!

Secret Service "Impressions & Observations"

Secret Service views of Presidents and First Ladies


Here are snippets from a book of "Impressions & Observations" of Secret Service personnel assigned to guard U.S. Presidents/First Ladies, and Vice Presidents.

JOHN & JACQUELINE KENNEDY : A philanderer of the highest order. **She ordered the kitchen help to save all the left-over wine during State dinners, which was mixed with fresh wine and served again during the next White House occasion.

LYNDON & LADYBIRD JOHNSON: Another philanderer of the highest order. In addition, LBJ was as crude as the day is long.**Both JFK and LBJ kept a lot of women in the White House for extramarital affairs, and both had set up "early warning systems" to alert them if/when their wives were nearby. Both Kennedy & Johnson were promiscuous and oversexed men. **She was either naive or just pretended to "not know" about her husband's many liaisons.

RICHARD & PAT NIXON: A "moral" man but very odd and weird, paranoid, etc. He had a horrible relationship with his family, and in a way, was almost a recluse.**She was quiet most of the time.

SPIRO AGNEW: Nice, decent man, everyone in the Secret Service was surprised about his downfall.

GERALD & BETTY FORD: A true gentlemen who treated the Secret Service with respect and dignity. He had a great sense of humor.. **She drank a lot.

JIMMY & ROSALYN CARTER: A complete phony who would portray one picture of himself to public and very different in private, e..g., would be shown carrying his own luggage, but the suit cases were always empty; he kept empty ones just for photo op's. Wanted the people to see him as pious and a non-drinker, but he and his family drank alcohol a lot. He had disdain for the Secret Service, and was very irresponsible with the "football" nuclear codes. He didn't think it was a big deal and would keep military aides at a great distance. Often does not acknowledge the presence of Secret Service personnel assigned to serve him.**She mostly did her own thing.

RONALD & NANCY REAGAN: The real deal --- moral, honest, respectful, and dignified. They treated Secret Service and everyone else with respect and honor. Thanked everyone all the time. He took the time to know everyone on a personal level. **One "favorite" story which has circulated among the Secret Service personnel was an incident early in his Presidency, when he came out of his room with a pistol tucked on his hip. The agent in charge asked: "Why the pistol, Mr. President?" He replied, "In case you boys can't get the job done, I can help." It was common for him to carry a pistol. When he met with Gorbachev, he had a pistol in his briefcase. Upon learning that Gary Hart was caught with Donna Rice, Reagan said, "Boys will be boys, but boys will not be Presidents." [He obviously either did not know or forgot JFK's and LBJ's sexcapades!] She was very nice but very protective of the President; and the Secret Service was often caught in the middle. She tried hard to control what the President ate, and he would say to the agent "Come on, you gotta help me out." The Reagans drank wine during State dinners and special occasions only; otherwise, they shunned alcohol; the Secret Service could count on one hand the times they were served wine during their "family dinner." For all the fake bluster of the Carters, the Reagans were the ones who lived life as genuinely moral people.

GEORGE H. & BARBARA BUSH: Extremely kind and considerate Always respectful. Took great care in making sure the agents' comforts were taken care of. They even brought them meals, etc. *One time Barbara Bush brought warm clothes to agents standing outside at Kennebunkport; one agent who was given a warm hat, and when he tried to nicely say "no thanks" even though he was obviously freezing, President Bush said "Son, don't argue with the First Lady, put the hat on.." He was the most prompt of the Presidents. He ran the White House like a well-oiled machine.*She ruled the house and spoke her mind.

BILL & HILLARY CLINTON: Presidency was one giant party. Not trustworthy --- he was nice because he wanted everyone to like him, but to him life is just one big game and party. Everyone knows of his sexuality.*She is another phony. Her personality would change the instant cameras were near. She hated with open disdain the military and Secret Service. She was another one who felt people are there to serve her. She was always trying to keep tabs on Bill Clinton.

ALBERT GORE: An egotistical ass, who was once overheard by his Secret Service detail lecturing his only son that he needed to do better in school or he "would end up like these guys" --- pointing to the agents.

GEORGE W. & LAURA BUSH: The Secret Service loved him and Laura Bush.He was also the most physically "in shape" who had a very strict workout regimen. The Bushes made sure their entire administrative and household staff understood to respect and be considerate of the Secret Service. KARL ROVE was the one who was the most caring of the Secret Service in the administration. She was one of the nicest First Ladies, if not the nicest; she never had any harsh word to say about anyone.

BARACK & MICHELLE OBAMA: " Clinton all over again" - hates the military and looks down on the Secret Service. He is egotistical and cunning; looks you in the eye and appears to agree with you, but turns around and does the opposite---untrustworthy. He has temper tantrums. She is a complete bitch, who hates anybody who is not black; hates the military; and looks at the Secret Service as servants.

Media Gone Wild....slashing Abe Lincoln

Stolen from Steve Layman's blog, I read it everyday.

American Mustache Institute removes endorsement

Click here to read about the AMI removal of Herman Cain's endorsement.

About AMI
Founded in 1965 and committed to battling a demonstrated discriminatory culture against people of Mustached American heritage, the American Mustache Institute is the world’s leading facial hair advocacy organization and think tank protecting the rights of, and fighting discrimination against, Mustached Americans by promoting the growth, care, and culture of the lower nose forest.

Broadly considered the bravest organization in the history of mankind behind only the U.S. military and the post-Jim Henson Muppets, the Institute serves as the ACLU of the downtrodden Mustached American people, making its headquarters in the City of St. Louis, as it is home to the world’s largest mustache – the Gateway Arch.

AMI continues to battle negative stereotyping that has accompanied the mustache since those glory years of the 1970s – the peak of mustache acceptance – fighting to create a climate of acceptance, understanding, flavor saving, and upper lip warmth for all mustached Americans alike.

Read the detailed history of the American Mustache Institute and the long-standing pattern of discrimination here.

This information found by following @TIME on Twitter.

THIS WEEKEND'S PLANS IN DOWNTOWN NEWARK

FRIDAY
After work stop by the Farmer's Market on South Third Street, locally grown produce and great deserts.

SATURDAY
Lite the Night car show with 500 classic cars. Benefits the Christmas lighting of the Licking County Court House

SUNDAY
11:00am, Memorial Service at the Court House gazebo for the victims of the September 11, 2001 attack on our country.

If I was running for public office, this is where I would be. But since I am not, I can enjoy all three events and not have to kiss babies and shake every one's dirty hands.

SPENDING PROBLEMS

As posted by Steve Layman:



It is a spending problem..........

I have seen this handy explanation several places around the
Intertunnel, just can't remember where. My apologies for not
being able to credit the proper source. Anyway, to make our
Federal budget issue easier to understand, remove the extra
eight zeroes and pretend it is a household budget. Enjoy.

U.S. income: $2,170,000,000,000

Federal budget: $3,820,000,000,000

New debt: $1,650,000,000,000

National debt: $14,271,000,000,000

Recent budget cut: $38,500,000,000
-------------------------------------------------------------

After subtracting the eight zeroes it looks like this:

Total annual income for the Jones family: $21,700

Amount of money the Jones family spent: $38,200

Amount of new debt added to the credit card: $16,500

Outstanding balance on the credit card: $142,710

Amount of spending cut: $385

Ouch. The first step to recovery from any problem is to
acknowledge we have one. Can we all agree we have a
spending problem? Please?

Steve Cohen & Screen Machine, a local manufacturer

Steve Cohen, President of Screen Machine a Licking County manufacturer opened his facility to Mitt Romney today. Watch this commercial and see why our country has to change.



Thanks to Naples Girl Blog for passing this along.

This weekend marks the unofficial start of summer, but it's also John F. Kennedy's birthday. And who better to model your easy-going summer style after than JFK? Sure, he was a sharp dresser when it came to suits, but the president was more known for his comfortable nautical style, which he developed while sailing around Cape Cod. Broken-in chinos, salt-washed polos and cotton cardigans topped with tortoiseshell shades and grounded with pragmatic boat shoes or canvas sneakers. They're the kind of effortless, masculine duds that looked just as timeless in the 1960s as they do right now.

Click here for Valet's blog post of JFK's casual wear.

THINGS I LEARNED IN CHINA #3

1. Above you will see the skyline of Shanghai at night. Shanghai is the "NYC" of China, 30 years ago the city had 3 skyscrapers, today almost 100. All lighted with energy efficient fluorescent lighting including a bridge changing colors every few moments.
2. Sixty percent of the population is a member of the Communist Party. You see many churches, one is allowed to practice their own religion. Marco said you are just not allowed to stand on the street corner and peddle your faith. But, on job and loan applications there is a line item asking for party affiliation. You either write in the blank: member or none. If a police officer is a member he wore a red ribbon on his uniform jacket. I often looked and saw very few.
3. My first morning in Beijing I took a walk before breakfast expecting to see pedestrians with mask and the smell of heavy pollution. No mask and no odor. When I asked I was told the pollution has been gone since the 2008 Olympics. We did have a tan sky, the results of a high speed wind storm in Mongolia thousands of miles away. The 2008 Olympics was not viewed as a money maker, but a way for China to display their country to the world.
4. China's recycling industry is a giant. They buy plastic water bottles from the USA to recycle. Recycling as a income was shown several times. As an example, there would be ladies standing outside our bus when we would stop asking for our empty water bottles.
5. The one child rule is for real. Yes, you can have more than one baby. When your doctor confirms the pregnancy of a second child the doctor is mandated to call the government. The next day the new parents expect a call from the government to pick up their $20,000.00. If your first birth are twins, you get two for free. Unless your blood lab work shows hormone medicine was used to increase the odds of twins, then you pay for #2. Chinese children are dressed well, smile a lot as do their parents when showing them off.
6. Bathrooms and food was not an issue. We were encouraged to carry bathroom tissue in our day packs. I never used mine except toward the end of the 15 hour flight home. The flight stewards could not leave and pick up a role. Our guides always announced when there would be a "Happy Toilet" close by. HTs were of western designed. Food was not a barrier, I was a little disappointed, because I was ready for the battle. Chop sticks were not necessary, but a fun and new skill to use. One of the highlights for me was to pick up a peanut with my chop sticks.
7. Audi appeared to be the mid size car of choice. In a parking lot we saw a really good looking four door sedan, sleek in style. After walking around, it turned out to be a Ford. This car after a short investigation is not available in the USA. Semi Trucks are not aloud to drive through Beijing and Shanghai during the daytime. This helps keep the highways unclogged. Several years ago there was a 26 mile traffic jamb taking six days to unclog.
8. Watching ladies do laundry and kids swim in a canal of filth, seeing villages with community bathrooms and showers, not seeing a bird for days and toddlers playing in the streets with soiled legs due to not having diapers was not a surprise. When we would see a dog walking around, we thought of him as a lucky one.
9. There will always be more to tell. The one thing that I will never forget was being able to share the moments with 30 bus mates from Licking County, Ohio.

Reagan made Americans beleive in themselves

"What I would really like to do is to go down in history as the President who made Americans believe in themselves again."--Ronald Reagan

Ronald Reagan did this well for many Americans. For several years in my life, everyone was interested to listen what the President had to say, watch his mannerisms, humbleness, gratitude, humility and of course, what he was wearing.

President Reagan made you feel good about yourself and our country. He words were listened to because he could deliver them in a manner that accomplished his goals. His smile you trusted, most everyone felt like they were in good hands, not just in our country, but around the world.

I don't have a paperweight on my desk with a nifty statement, but if I did it would be the one on his desk in the Oval Office: "There is no limit to what a man can do, or where he can go, if he doesn't mind who gets the credit."

Happy 100th Birthday next month Mr. President, hope Marilyn does not sing it to you.

Read more about President Reagan: here, here & here.

Tennessee School Requires iPads

"We're sure the kids have no problems with the school's proposition. But it's up to the faculty to learn how to use the iPad-or else the students will become the teachers in this case."

Click here to read Time's complete article.

One more article to read:
Emanuel Booted From Chicago Ballot

AS SEEN ON TV HAS GONE TOO FAR

The best isle to hit when in CVS or Walgreens is the shelves of As Seen on TV

products to look over the inventions that have made it to the open market.

Some of them I am not too sure of and I am not sure if this new Chia Pet is appropriate

or not. I have several As Seen on TV products and will skip this one.

Click here to watch the television commercial. It is for real!

DIFFICULT DECISIONS

Steve Layman issued on his blog this morning a post concerning the economy. As I read, one paragraph struck me:

"Miller sees a future less bright than the past, but he also sees a people who are learning to solve the problems they face by accepting the responsibility for those problems and by then making different- perhaps difficult- decisions. Sounds healthy and positive to me."

After six years of the mess our country, business, government and education has seen, maybe it is time to step back. Everyone is not polished in every one's profession.

Every day we find government and education trying to get the upper hand on each other in order to compete with the private business sector. I do think it is time to privatize some segments of government and for government to depend a little more on the private business sector for producing several of their goals (if they know how to establish a goal).

The same goes for education, we should not be relying only on the government to figure out the education problems, but the real educators and their management should be involved. As I see it, obtaining more programs instead of supporting the business sector to get a job done, is a grab for a larger budget request and gives the ability to pound on their chest a little louder amongst each other.

As well, not everyone is fit to manage certain aspects of private industry, but for some reason in private business this eventually solves it self.

It is time to accept responsibility of what has taken place during the past, tuck it up and make one very difficult decision: working together.

Proposed 28th Amendment

"Congress shall make no law that applies to the citizens of the United States

that does not apply equally to the Senators and/or Representatives;

and, Congress shall make no law that applies to the Senators and/or Representatives

that does not apply equally to the citizens of the United States ."

Thank you Bill Cost.

DON'T THINK ABOUT IT TOO LONG!

Stolen from Steve Layman's post this morning.