Le Chocolate Feast

This morning I went to a fundraiser benefiting NARTI. NARTI is a nonprofit, community-owned, freestanding provider of radiation therapy services to the residents of Northwest Arkansas and surrounding areas. This is where I got my radiation treatments. Of course, sampling various desserts from some of the area's resturants wasn't a hardship.


This was the winner in my book. Rick's Bakery's Cherry Chocolate Pecan Delight. This is as good as it looks! Doesn't your mouth just drool looking at it?

I did contain myself. I didn't eat everything all at one. In my refrigerator is an assortment of cookies, brownies and candy. I will have to stop at Rick's and get some of those brownies.

Eli's New Fan

The neighbor's son(1½ yrs) has discovered Eli. Eli was roaming around our front lawns and B. saw him. B. was running after Eli wanting to give him a kiss. Eli was of two minds. He would roll around on the lawn wanting to be petted, but didn't quite know what to make of this little boy. As soon a B. got close Eli would get up, walk a little away and plop down on the lawn again. My neighbor and I were just laughing watching the two of them. I finally picked up Eli and let B. kiss him.

Gunner Delay, Candidate AG

Yesterday I heard Gunner Delay at the Wa. Co. Republican Women's meeting. I was very impressed with him. He spoke on 3 issues that he was campaigning on.
1. Utility Rates. He said that one of the duties of the Attorney General was to affectively and aggressively fight for the public on proposed utility hikes. He felt that it was a conflict of interest for the Attorney General to accept donations from the electric company when he's suppose to represent the public. He said he would not be accepting donations from the utility companies.
2. Ethics. There is a practice within the legislature for some to accept retaining fees from businesses(clients) and later represent their issues before the legislature. He felt this was fairly close to bribery. He said that if fees were accepted then the representative should be barred from any legislative process involving that client. He wants to establish a Public Integrity Unit for the Attorney General's office. This division would be charged with the responsibility of investigating and prosecuting corruption charges involving public servants.
3. Rule of Law. Gunner felt that the Attorney General should judge issues according to the law and not for political expediency. He cited the defeated Highway Bond. He felt that the bond violated Arkansas' Constitution and that the Attorney General should have looked into it. He also brought up the KELO decision. He didn't think Arkansans were fully protected from eminent domain seizures. He noted that TIF districts have eminent domain power. A property owner falling within that district may lose their property even if it's well maintained.
I liked what I was hearing from Gunner. I hope I get a chance to hear him speak again. I had to go back to work after the meeting so I didn't get a chance to talk with him.

The Wal-Mart Bill

An excellent article about Wal-Mart and Maryland. Maryland's newly enacted law forces companies that employ over 10,000 to spend at least 8% of their payroll on health care or kick any shortfall into a special state fund. Wonder of wonders, Wal-Mart is the only employer in the state to be affected. Wal-Mart now reconsidering a distribution center that would have employed 800 in one of Maryland's poorest county, Somerset.

The rural county is Maryland's poorest, with per capita personal income 46% below the state average and a poverty rate 130% above it. Somerset's enduring problem is weak labor demand that greatly limits its 25,250 residents' economic opportunities.
There are just 0.8 jobs per household in Somerset, barely half the 1.5 figure that applies to the rest of the state. Somerset's top 10 list of employers features sectors like food services (average annual compensation per employee: $9,637), poultry and egg production ($14,320) and seafood preparation and packaging ($19,190).

Hanke and Walters forecasted the economic effect the distribution center would have on the county.

• The center's 800 employees would have created an additional 282 jobs among "upstream" suppliers and "downstream" retailers and service establishments; all told, the center would have boosted county employment by 14% and private-sector employment by 20%.

• Total annual employee compensation in Somerset would have risen by $46.5 million, or 19%.

• Annual output (or "gross county product") would have risen by $128.3 million, or 19%.

• State and local tax receipts would have increased by $19.2 million annually; this would include $8.5 million in property taxes, $5.6 million in sales taxes, and $1.4 million in personal income taxes.

Those losses, though dramatic, probably understate the full extent of the damage in this case. They do not include forgone employment and income from construction of the facility and related infrastructure improvements. What is more, Wal-Mart's tentative plans for a second distribution center in Garrett County, in mountainous western Maryland, also appear dead. Garrett, with a poverty rate that is 70% above the state's, is only slightly better off than Somerset.

Given the enormous beneficial economic impact Wal-Mart would have made to the county, why would Maryland thrust it's nasty little fingers in Wal-Mart's wallet? Most states offer incentives to businesses to entice them to their states. What's different about Wal-Mart? Hanke and Walters have the answer:

How could our legislators turn a blind eye to such areas? Partly, of course, they are simply eager for Big Labor's votes and money and therefore subservient to its interests. The Service Employees International Union actually helped draft what became known as the "Wal-Mart bill." Unable--so far--to organize workers at the company, the union's immediate national strategy is to limit Wal-Mart's competitive reach by raising its costs. Maryland was a shrewdly chosen place to kick off this campaign.

So, what's the problem? Surely Wal-Mart is big and rich enough to pay up. Wal-Mart bills have been drafted in 33 other states. What would happen if lawmakers in some of these states set the threshold for companies to be hit with mandated health benefits as low as 1,000 workers? How many small businesses would go bankrupt because they couldn't pay?

Headline Funny

Grabbed these headlines from DRUDGE!

Snowstorm in HAWAII; Rare Event Causes Concern, Surprise...
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Al Gore to Pen Second Book on Global Warming...
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Deadly freeze claims more lives in Eastern Europe; Minus 13 in Warsaw...

Baking Snafu

This was suppose to be a loaf of bread. I think it looks more like a chicken. I have successfully baked several loaves of bread using the bread machine I received for Christmas. This weekend, I decided to try a mult-grain bread. I used a pre-packaged bread mix. I just added the ingredients as directed, set the machine and left it. Boy, was I surprised when I took it out. Apparently, if I want nuts or fruits in the bread I have to hand knead the dough before the last rise. You have to make sure the nuts and fruits get blended in the dough. Well, the bread was eatable and tasted pretty good. I'm just not able to make sandwiches or toast with it.

Eagles

I got up early this morning and froze my tush off to go American Bald Eagle watching. I went to Swepco Lake in Gentry. This lake is unique. It is a cooling lake for the Flint Creek Power Plant operated by AEP (American Electric Power). As a result, the water is warm year round so it's rich in wildlife. It's a perfect spot for the eagles to hunt. This year the lake was amazingly low because of the drought. Normally one would stand in a covered pavilion and watch the eagles, but I had to walk onto the exposed lake bed to see them. Usually when I go birding there aren't a lot of people around. Today the Audubon Society showed up. What a crowd. One group of people said they were there at dawn. I'm not that committed! I did see about 10 eagles. I didn't get any pictures of them because my camera just isn't that good. I need to save my money and get this. The lake with the steam rising from it looks pretty though.

Done! Finished!

As of Wednesday I am finished with my radiation treatment. I am so happy, relieved, and excited that I am finished. I still have to heal up from the latest treatment but that shouldn't take long. It felt like my life was on hold until I completed this treatment. It feels like I've just been set free.


I was feeling so good that I decided my bed needed to be brighten up. I got a bed set that was definitely said Spring. Tigger liked it so much, he promptly slept on it.


Bows is still eating even though she caught a cold. I received the venison and pea canned and dry cat food the other day. Bows like the canned food. Hooray! I was worried I'd buy this expensive cat food and she wouldn't like it. The box the food came in was immediately claimed as a toy.


This is a rare event. All three cats together. This occurred because they are waiting for food. Bows special diet makes it impossible to have a bowl of food always available. They now get fed twice a day.

Rupple Road

Last month I wrote about the confusion surrounding widening Rupple Rd. Story The Fayetteville City Council has agreed to pay for the part that was initially thought developer Tom Terminella would fund. Although examinations of films and notes verified that Terminella had implied that he pay the cost there was nothing down in writing. No contracts were signed. A bitter lesson for the city council. Shirley Lucas, who represents the area around Rupple, says she's disappointed how it occurred and is determine that the council require all written contracts in the future. Another loser in the issue is Tom Terminella. No one is going to trust him in the future. Who's going to business with a man who goes back on his word?

HollyDud

I've been looking over the films and shows that won at the Golden Globe Awards. What a load of crap, garbage, and manure. Hollywood must really think the American people are so stupid to want to see the crap they've been peddling. Hollywood, get a clue! Nobody is watching this stuff. Studios have been complaining that movie receipts are down and they give awards to Brokeback Mountain ($32,074,517), Transamerica ( $510,766), Syriana ($44,260,777), and paradise Now ($1,090,107). Hey! What about The Chronicles of Narnia( $264,020,859) King Kong ($204,527,690) Harry Potter ($284,361,860) Chicken Little ($133,235,508) and Walk the Line ($98,254,885). Look at the movies people are actually buying tickets for. Not that garbage that tramples on our traditional values, moral fiber, heroes, and good old America. We are not going to see movies that glorifies homosexuality, transgenderism, communism and terrorism. You aren't going to force that crap down our throats. We just won't go to the movies. Hey, we have other entertainment options and apparently we are exercising them.

She's Confusing Me!

Hillary Clinton has been part of the crowd that said we should have used more diplomacy instead of attacking Iraq and has criticized President Bush's "Cowboy" policies. Now she's blasting President Bush for allowing European countries to lead negotiations with Iran. She suggested she would back a military strike on Iran if that country's radical Islamic government attempts to build nuclear weapons. Do these politicians really listen to themselves? Doesn't she realize how dopey she's sounding. I think her neck and spine must be made out of rubber to be able to twist about so much.

Rename Martin Luther King Day

I think we should seriously consider renaming Martin Luther King Day to the Left Wing Idiot Day. On this day in which Martin Luther King was to be remembered and honored, the Left Wing, Democratic, Nuts spewed a treasure trove of outrageous comments.

New Orleans, Mayor Ray Nagin: "This city will be a majority African American city. It's the way God wants it to be. You can't have New Orleans no other way. It wouldn't be New Orleans." So if you are White, Hispanic, or Asian you are not welcomed to live in New Orleans? This sure sounds racist to me. This is from a black mayor speaking on Martin Luther King Day? Here's more: "Surely God is mad at America. He sent us hurricane after hurricane after hurricane, and it's destroyed and put stress on this country," "Surely he doesn't approve of us being in Iraq under false pretenses. But surely he is upset at black America also. We're not taking care of ourselves." Hey, this is not how God works. Mayor Nagin, maybe you should spend some time reading the Bible. I highly recommend Romans, Chapter 3.

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton: Said that the Republican-controlled House of Representatives was run like a plantation. Ummm, Senator Clinton, you might want to check out the history of your own party. They are the one's that owned those plantations, stood in front of the school doors, whose member is a former grand wizard of the KKK. Meanwhile, Republicans ended slavery in the United states and have as current role models, Colin Powell and Condi Rice (Condi '08!). She then said that Bush was the worst President in history. This is a woman who's husband is running around looking for a legacy and is trying to rewrite his Presidential history. President Clinton is going to be remember with a cigar and a little blue dress.

Al Gore: Accused President Bush of "breaking the law repeatedly and persistently" and that Congress should hold hearings into "serious allegations of criminal behavior on the part of the President." What a hypocritical, blow-hard. He, as Vice-President, participated in the same things he's accusing the President of doing. See here and here.

This is what President Bush spoke about:
"At the dawn of this new century, America can be proud of the progress we have made toward equality, but we all must recognize we have more to do. (Applause.) The reason to honor Martin Luther King is to remember his strength of character and his leadership, but also to remember the remaining work. The reason to honor Mrs. Parks is not only to pay homage to her strength of character, but to remember the ideal of active citizenship."

Now, who was more respectful of Martin Luther King?

FundRaiser

I went to a fundraiser tonight. Beans & ham, cornbread and dessert. The dinner was sponsored by the family readiness group for C Battery, 1st Division of the 142nd Fires Brigade, based in Rogers and the brigade's headquarters in Harrison. The purpose of the fundraiser was to pay for a charter plane to bring soldiers home one last time before deploying to Iraq. The soldiers are training in Fort Dix, N.J. and will have 4 days off in March.




This is Douglas Farish, father of Spc. Jerry Farish. He is holding a framed poem (prayer) that was raffled off. Doug wrote the prayer before Thanksgiving. Doug said that the words just flowed as he wrote it. He carries the original poem in his wallet. He presented his son with a copy at Thanksgiving Day. On the back of this particular copy he has all the names of the soldiers in the company. He says if enough people are interested he'll produce more. I'm not able to post the poem here because it's copyrighted, but it you go here, and scroll to the bottom you'll see it. Also, while you're there, check out the pictures.

I add my prayers also, that the Lord would keep our soldiers safe. That they do their job with honor, pride and courage. We know that when tests and challenges come they will meet them head-on and show what an American soldier is.

Beautiful Saturday

Friday I was very tired after the radiation treatment. I was able to tolerate the probe and was finished in no time. The radiation technician checked me out with what look like a Geiger counter. Am I radiating that much? I left work early and went to bed. Slept until 7 PM, ate dinner, cleaned up and went back to bed.



I was up early this morning. I went grocery shopping after breakfast. I like beating the crowds. After shopping I threw all the cats and dogs outside since it's so nice. Bows is eating better and decided to nap out on the firewood. I worked on putting a barricade around the bottom of the fence so Casey won't dig out. I hope it works.

Now I'm tracking a whole bunch of dirt into the house. I'll have to vacuum and mop tomorrow. I finish one choir and another one pops up.

Our doctor's Visit

I started my High Density radiation on Monday. I was suppose to start last Wednesday, but the doctor's attempt to insert the probe hurt too much. Hey, 5 weeks of radiation has made everything down there hurt. Any way, I yelled(loudly) several times when he try to insert it. A doctor doesn't like it when their patient yells in pain with a roomful a patients in the waiting room. The nurse tried to tell me not to scream but to just breath. To which I answered, yelling made me feel better! He gave me several prescriptions ordering me to take them just before my next visit. He gave me a pain killer and "something to make me relaxed". Heh, heh, heh!

Well, it did work. I got through the first treatment. It had an unexpected side effect. I made me really exhausted. Every day this week I've come home, ate, do a few chores and go to bed. This has been the first night I've actually had some energy. Bad news though! I have my next treatment tomorrow. I'm really dreading it!

While I've been have my health problems, Bows has been having one of her own. She had not been eating since Friday. She's been throwing up saliva and hunching over as in pain. I decided to take her to a vet clinic that deals exclusively with cats. It was the smartest thing I've every done. The vet gave Bows the most thorough exam she's ever had. She look over the most recent history I brought with me and even has my other vet fax over some information.

The vet told me that she thought Bows had inflammatory bowl disease probably due to food allergies. To make a really definitive diagnosis she'd have to do a biopsy, but didn't feel that was necessary. I could just change her diet, have an occasional steroid for pain and if she got better then it would confirm her diagnosis. If it didn't help then she'd investigate further.

Bows is now eating although she is not too happy with the food. I've decided to try her on a venison and pea dry food. Of course, this is stuff I can't just pick up at the pet store. I'll have to get it from the vet or special order it. And talk about expensive! Bows had better give me a whole lot of loving!

Busy Weekend

Boy! What a weekend. I've been busy but I don't feel like I got anything done. Casey started the weekend out wrong. He figured out how to dig under the fence and get into the next door neighbor's backyard. I only had a chance to do a quick fix, so Saturday morning he did the same thing. I was lucky both times. Casey didn't go far and came when I called (A Miracle!.) My neighbor instead of returning him to me or even calling Animal control just tossed him out into the street. When I confronted him about it he kept giving excuses. Basically, he's a slimeball, scumbucket of a human being.



I did a little more cleaning. I've been cleaning up the fireplace mantle. Tigger got a rare chance to play around on the mantle. He has this thing about getting on high places. He really wants to get on top of the roof. I'll have to let him just to see what he does.



Today I took the dogs up to Monte Ne. Beaver Lake is very low because of the drought. It has uncovered the amphitheater that was buried in the 1960's by the completion of the dam. The was a suprising number of people there. I thought there would be few people because I was there early in the morning. If the drought continues I'll have to go back and see how much more was uncovered.



More pictures and history

American Traitors

I am amazed at how far President Bush's opponents will go to destroy him. The NY Times and NY Times Reporter James Risen have decided that Bush's attempt to safeguard the American people can be interpreted as being illegal. In their rush to find something to destroy Bush they've ignored history. America has been spying in some form or another before the founding of this nation. Every President has used their Constitutional power to spy on our enemies in a effort to protect the nation.

Risen's pathetic attempt to justify their actions only illuminates the motives of the people leaking the NSA's program. We know that people within the bureaucracy of the State Department and the CIA have clashed with the Bush administration. These bureaucrats believe that they are the ones in charge of the government and are angry that the Administration are setting policies and making decisions. Policies and decisions that they don't agree with. I'm not ruling out the possibility that some Democrat who knew about this program leaked this to the NY Times.

The NY Times has been trashing President Bush for years and were more than willing to partner with these people. It just demonstrates how low these people are. They have now crippled a secret operation that helped keep America safe from terrorists. These people are willing to do something illegal to get at Bush and would compromise the safety of the American people to do it.

I think the NY Times should pay the cost for turning their back on America. It's stock has already dropped 50% since 2002 and has become the worst performing newspaper stock in 2005. I think that it should get tanked, bankrupt and flushed down the toilet. I think those that would harm the American people for their own selfish agendas should suffer the consequences.

I hope the Department of Justice finds out who's behind the leaks of the NSA surveillance story. These people need to be found, convicted and sent to jail.

I am amazed at how far President Bush's opponents will go to destroy him. The NY Times and NY Times Reporter James Risen have decided that Bush's attempt to safeguard the American people can be interpreted as being illegal. In their rush to find something to destroy Bush they've ignored history. America has been spying in some form or another before the founding of this nation. Every President has used their Constitutional power to spy on our enemies in a effort to protect the nation.

Risen's pathetic attempt to justify their actions only illuminates the motives of the people leaking the NSA's program. We know that people within the bureaucracy of the State Department and the CIA have clashed with the Bush administration. These bureaucrats believe that they are the ones in charge of the government and are angry that the Administration are setting policies and making decisions. Policies and decisions that they don't agree with. I'm not ruling out the possibility that some Democrat who knew about this program leaked this to the NY Times.

The NY Times has been trashing President Bush for years and were more than willing to partner with these people. It just demonstrates how low these people are. They have now crippled a secret operation that helped keep America safe from terrorists. These people are willing to do something illegal to get at Bush and would compromise the safety of the American people to do it.

I think the NY Times should pay the cost for turning their back on America. It's stock has already dropped 50% since 2002 and has become the worst performing newspaper stock in 2005. I think that it should get tanked, bankrupt and flushed down the toilet. I think those that would harm the American people for their own selfish agendas should suffer the consequences.

Arkansas, Praying for Rain

Fort Smith Mayor, Ray Baker has signed a proclamation asking residents to pray for rain Sunday, January 8th and 15th. Fort Smith may have to start using water from the Arkansas River if the drought continues. Mayor Baker hopes that people's prayers will bring desperately needed rain. Video

Excitement in the Neighborhood

The fire department is currently working a few houses down on a neighbor's chimney and roof. The fire seems to confined to that part of the house along with part of the roof. The fire department got here fast enough so that the whole house didn't go. The wind is blowing and some sparks were flying across to some of other houses. With 6 fire trucks on hand I don't think anything will happen. My neighbor is OK. He managed to get the dogs out, but doesn't know where the cat is. Hopefully hiding somewhere.



All the neighborhood is out watching. It's quite a show. Two of the trucks had the ladders out to reach the roof. The firemen seem to have everything under control. It doesn't look like there will be that much damage. My neighbor is very lucky!

Tired of talking to machines?

Have you ever called a company's help line only to enter the company's interactive voice response (IVR) system. IVRs are those damn annoying computers that answer phones. They are universally thought to be developed by Satan. Thank God for people like Paul English. His IVR Cheat Sheet Web site, gives you shortcuts to bypass many vendors' IVR systems and speak to a live human.

Fayetteville High School Band

Fayetteville High School Band Marches In Rose Parade
First Rain In 51 Years Fails To Stop Procession

OK, let's turn this lemon into lemonade! Rain on the Rose Parade is a rare and unique thing. The band participated in something that many bands in 51 years have never done. Instead of saying "I march in the Rose Parade", they get to say "I marched in the Rose Parade during a rainstorm". They have become unique part of the Rose Parade history.

Bloggers 2005

In the middle of 2004 I discovered bloggers. The more I read the more I got hooked. I discovered that the bloggers I was reading were more accurate than the MSM. I also found that if bloggers were wrong they was quickly corrected. I liked the bloggers because they were more accurate. They made an effort to research a subject and made logical arguments. I like the fact that people could leave comments, many of which were insightful. Michelle Malkin, one of my favorite bloggers, has composed a list which sums up the reasons why I read bloggers. Clash of the bloggers vs. MSM

New Year

I've started the New Year cleaning up the house. I've packed away all the Christmas stuff and started with clearing out the junk in my closet.


Bows, of course, has been extremely helpful with the boxes. This is one reason why I rarely buy toys for the cats. They much prefer boxes, paper sacks and balls of paper.


The problem with organizing and cleaning, once you finish one project, two more crop up. I just keep falling behind. A three day weekend isn't enough time.


Tigger is helping me with filling up the cat food container. I believe it passed the test.





One thing I've been watching is the fires out in Texas and Oklahoma. Arkansas is just as dry and susceptible to fires. December 2005 has broke the record for the least amount of rain for the month of December in Fayetteville. Our rainfall was over 15 inches below normal in 2005. I sure wish California would send us some of that rain.