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Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Happy New Year

The Golden Girls Celebrate the New Year and wish each of you a happy and prosperous 2009.

Animated - click on pic to enlarge and animate


Granny Ann, The Gadfly, Worried American

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Blogger Sometimes Saintly Nick said...

Happy New Year, my friends!

May you be blessed with much happiness and many joys in 2009!

May the world be blessed with Peace & Justice in 2009!

Thursday, January 01, 2009 11:18:00 AM

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Blogger The Future Was Yesterday said...

The three of you are golden treasures, each in your own way. Some of you may seem a bit daffy......but that's the spice the makes the stew so tasty!!!

Happy New Year to all of you!!!

Thursday, January 01, 2009 3:36:00 PM

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Blogger Granny said...

Thank you Nick.

Hey there TFWA - which of us do consider not daffy? Certainly not I - it must be WA or Gadfly.

Happy New Year everyone!!

Ann

Thursday, January 01, 2009 4:37:00 PM

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Blogger Worried American said...

Thank you, Nick, for your good wishes, which we echo for you. Every person needs love and happiness. This world needs peace and justice.

Dan'l, May 2009 be a year of great happiness, prosperity, and joy for you and yours. "Some" of us may seem a bit daffy? Perhaps each of us is a bit daffy in our different ways. Vive la difference! We are indeed quite different in some ways, much alike in others.

Saturday, January 03, 2009 1:21:00 AM

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Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Merry Christmas to All Our Friends

Nope! It isn't me. It's my 99 year old Mother. I wish for each of you a happy Christmas and a long, fulfilling life as she has had. In 6 more months, she'll hit the great triple digit in years.

COMMENTS:
Blogger fjb said...

Happy Holidays, everyone. Stay optimistic for '09, it's gotta be better than the last 8 years.;)

Thursday, December 25, 2008 12:47:00 PM

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Blogger Granny said...

Merry Christmas!!

Thursday, December 25, 2008 3:46:00 PM

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Blogger SheaNC said...

Merry Christmas to you, too! :)

Thursday, December 25, 2008 8:38:00 PM

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Blogger The Future Was Yesterday said...

Hi Ann:
A belated Merry Christmas to you! My mom has a year and two months to go, and she's looking forward to it like a kid!:)

Sunday, December 28, 2008 1:32:00 AM

Worried: Thank you all for your good wishes. I hope everyone had a very happy Christmas. I also hope the weather is kind to each of you. So many of our northern and midwestern neighbors are having frightful cold and storms. Dan'l, it is my mother who will be 100 in June.

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Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Jeff Dunham Goes Thru Burbank Airport w/ Peanut








Happy Holidays

Or Merry Christmas, belated Happy Chanukah (sorry), Joyous Kwanzaa, or a fun Winter Solstice.

Did I miss anyone?

My local friend Janet sent me this card the other day. It's so cute, I couldn't resist passing it on.

Our Christmas will be quiet this year. I'm cooking on Christmas Eve for Tim and Juan - the girls will join us for dessert and then spend Christmas day with their honorary grandparents. Ray and I are going to start making pies as soon as I finish this post.

Meantime, here is one of my favorite singers. I don't think we need to be "religious" to appreciate Jessye Norman's beauty and the Gounod Sanctus.



Best to all

COMMENTS:
Blogger Worried American said...

Absolutely beautiful, Granny!

Tuesday, December 23, 2008 8:38:00 PM

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Re: Death of Common Sense; Gadfly's Post Below

This is not to denounce all judges nor our entire judicial system (yet) but to use this video as an example of lack of common sense or justice in too many cases. It appears that many of our government officials also lack common sense. Educated fools, indeed.

Your HONOR??
......................................

.............................................

I grew up in the "mom, the flag, and apple pie" generation. I was reared to believe our policemen were our friends ( and the majority are). I believed that in trials "the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth" prevailed . I believed that Americans always wore the white hat and our government was always honorable. I was naive until well into my adulthood.

Re: our justice system:
1). My university educated younger sister sat on a jury where a couple of non-English speaking Hispanics had filed a lawsuit against a realty contractor. As per the Law, translators were provided for the non-English speakers. The judge was a Hispanic-American as were many of the jurors. At the end of the trial, the judge lectured the Anglo-American jurors and people in the gallery for being unable to speak Spanish and harangued them to learn that foreign language! Not that the foreign people who came here to live, work, buy homes, send their children to our schools, etc. should learn the common tongue of the United States that enables us to be united!!
Communication is essential for unity among this melting pot nation. But no, his position was that Anglo-Americans should learn the language of Hispanic "immigrants"! Where's the common sense in that? Are English speaking citizens supposed to learn the languages of the dozens of nationalities who come here, or should newcomers learn the common tongue?

2). I attended a trial where the sitting judge was temporarily off the bench and a substitute judge heard the case. During the course of the trial the prosecuting attorney and the defense attorney presented their cases very well, and ofcourse each learned all aspects of their opponents' facts and strategy.. It is not possible for attorneys to accurately "read" a jury but they can assess a jury's reactions to a certain extent. The defense attorney was almost jubilant, thinking he was surely going to win his case. The prosecuting attorney was a beautiful woman who presented a brilliant case for the State, utilizing expert psych buttons to push on the jurors. Yet when she began the final address to the jury, she made an illegal gaffe. The judge slammed down his gavel and reprimanded her, threatening a mistrial if she erred again. She apologized, turned back to the jury and immediately repeated her error. The defense attorney started pushing back his chair to object but before he could arise, the judge slammed down his gavel, pointed it at the defense attorney and demanded, "Counselor, do you want a mistrial?" Of course he did. We were mystified that the brilliant ADA made such a mistake and yet seemed so pleased.

When the new trial began, the regular judge was back on his bench, the same ADA was by then heavily pregnant, and it was quite apparent that the judge and she were old friends. They went to lunch together every day and he was very solicitous of her, hovering protectively over her. She exploited her pregnancy by leaning heavily on the table, holding her hand on her rounded belly, speaking weakly UNTIL forceful speech was called for, at which time she came on like a great white shark. She was GOOD at her job! Since she had learned the defense's strategy and facts in the first trial, she asked that everything he used to defend his client be excluded- and the judge ruled every thing as "immaterial"so it was not allowed to be presented to the new jury. She and the judge effectively gutted the defense.
She won the case and the defendant lost. We then understood why she manuvoered a mistrial; she wanted the case tried by her judge buddy.

3). I was subpoenaed to testify in a murder case in a small town, a real hicksville. The local-yokel media had broadcast "news" full of lurid errors and very biased against the accused. The defense requested a change of venue as every citizen in the entire county had already tried and convicted the defendant in their minds. The judge denied a change of venue. Witnesses were not allowed in the gallery except during testifying and during summations. We had to sit on wooden benches in the hall but we could often hear what was going on in the court room. The local river was on a rise and people were sandbagging their homes and businesses. The River Authority broadcast that a dam was endangered and extreme, sudden flooding was possible. The defense attorney pled with the judge to grant a recess so that people could go home to safeguard their property and farm animals. The judge denied the request and at break time as the jurors filed out, one overalled juror commented loudly that he just wanted to get "this shit" over with. However, the town was celebrating some annual event and the judge granted a recess so the jurors could leave the courtroom for a couple of hours to WATCH THE PARADE and enjoy the festivities!! There were numerous other bad (to me) decisions on the part of the judge and I reported them to my sister. Her law professor at the university was utterly appalled and said that many were actually illegal. Too bad about Justice and a fair trial. The defendant was convicted and sentenced to die- twice - once in the media and once in the court room.

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Obituary of an Old Friend

When my best friend is out of pocket, I take care of one of her blogs and also check her emails for anything important that she needs to know about. This article is one I stole from her email. I want to pass it on.
...................................

Fw: OBITUARY IN LONDON TIMES

Interesting and sadly true.

'Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, ' Common Sense ', who has been with us for many years . No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucrat ic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as: Knowing when to come in out of the rain; why the early bird gets the worm; Life isn' t always fair; and maybe it was my fault . Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies ( don' t spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies ( adults, not children, are in charge).


His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well- intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place . Reports of a 6- year- old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a class mate; teens suspended from school for using mouth wash after lunch ; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.


Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children. It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an Aspirin to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.


Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses ; and criminals received better treatment than their victims. Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault. Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement . Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust . His wife, Discretion , his daughter, Responsibility, his son, Reason.

He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers; I Know My Rights; I Want It Now; Someone Else Is To Blame ; I'm A Victim. Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. If you still remember him, pass this on.


If not, join the majority and do nothing

COMMENTS:
Blogger The Future Was Yesterday said...

I remember him well, having lived when he was still alive. He made the world so much better with his presence.

Thursday, December 18, 2008 1:07:00 AM

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Blogger GDAEman said...

I've still got hope in the horse sense of the American people, and more so the people of the world.

The trick is to believe in our own power when we get our proverbial act together, i.e., organized.

Thursday, December 18, 2008 8:12:00 PM

Gadfly: Thanks, Guys. I remember him too. It's too bad he has passed on. We really need him these days. Our leaders (and role models for the new generations) seem to be well educated but are too crooked or lack "horse sense". One of my friend's ex-husbands called them "educated fools". All too true.

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Thursday, December 11, 2008

Fisher House

First, Season's Greetings (or whatever you prefer to call the time between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day). Best wishes to my friend Worried American as she once again tries to cope with family problems. I hope by now her daughter is recovering from the accident.

Fisher House is similar to Ronald McDonald houses here in the United States. It provides low or no cost housing to families of veterans or troops receiving treatment at military hospitals.

My friend, Chris at Rude Cactus, is donating $0.50 for each comment he receives before approximate 5:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time Friday to Fisher House.

You can find the links to his blog and to the Fisher House web site over on Roc Rebel Granny

Regardless of how we feel about the war, I don't think many of us begrudge families the means to spend time with their loved ones.

I spoke with son Jim in Iraq the other day. He's doing well but of course misses all of us. Please keep him in your thoughts.

The girls are doing fine, Ray has more good days than bad, and Tim and new hubby Juan (at least until the CA Supreme Court acts) have found an apartment in Fresno and are busy nesting. Tim will move to Fresno as soon as his semester ends.

Take care everyone.

COMMENTS:
Blogger The Future Was Yesterday said...

Hey!! It's that frisky ole gal from California again!:) Sure is good to see you Granny, and a big ole hug for ya!!

" Tim and new hubby Juan are nesting (at least until the CA Supreme Court acts) "

I can think of no issue fraught with more hypocrisy than that one.

Guns, God, & Gays. And America eats it up every time...(

Saturday, December 13, 2008 8:26:00 PM

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Blogger fjb said...

Happy Holidays everyone! It looks like life has been pretty stressful for everyone lately. I'll keep a positive outlook and believe that everything will take a turn for the better for you gals starting right now.:)

Tuesday, December 16, 2008 8:25:00 PM

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Blogger Gadfly said...

And now the weather is kicking ass. But Happy Holidays to EVERYONE anyway!!

Tuesday, December 16, 2008 9:48:00 PM

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Wednesday, December 10, 2008

worried offline again

Old Worried's daughter Jo and son-in-law Lloyd are on home leave from Iraq and the family has been having combo Xmas and Thanksgiving whing dings with family members across Texas, so she hasn't been blogging much. I've been helping out on the blog, kinda sorta.

Now her youngest daughter, Jeannie, had a terrible wreck Sunday night in her antique pickup truck she was restoring. The kid suffered a concussion, whiplash, numerous fractures of the ribs where they hook onto the breastbone, and bruised her heart. She had her seatbelt on but still slammed into the steering wheel/column . Old Woman and family had a wall eyed fit. . The kid is more worried and having a fit about her effing truck than herself. She loved that truck and had already spent thousands of dollars on restoration and engine souping-ups. The damned steering wheel alone cost $300!! I can't imagine spending that much money on a steering wheel!!

But now the truck is toltaled, completely. She had a bout with 4 closely spaced trees when she had a blowout and the truck flipped.. Trees won, truck lost. The bed was ripped off, the drive shaft was placed behind the seat by the wrecker men and the frame was bent inward in a U about a foot on the driver's side. The hood was smashed down onto the motor. Everyone was very surprised that the kid came out alive, much less with so "few" injuries. She admitted that she was jamming on her bad ass stereo system and kinda speeding. Kinda, hell! But kids do that.

Yesterday Jo and Lloyd went and bought her a nice little silver colored sedan with sun roof and leather seats. I don't know what kind of car it is but Worried said it's real pretty. Jeannie is very grateful to her sister and bro-in-law but still whines about her antique truck. Must be nice to have family to spoil you like that!! Now she's foaming at the mouth to get out and drive it. Doc says no driving for a while to let those ribs and breastbone knit together good. Hope she listens to doc and her mama.

Yesterday her 2 stepchildren also had a wreck and totaled their vehicle about 5 minutes away from the school. They're her ex-husband's kids that the old fart fathered and are younger than some of his and Worried's grandchildren! After Worried divorced his redneck ass he married his comfort woman and brought her and the kids to Texas with him. They live close to Jo's farmette. A man in a rental truck ass-ended the kids when they were stopped at red light. They're good kids and are not responsible for their mama and daddy's assholeness.

I hope that's enough wrecks for awhile. The Old Woman is hassled pretty bad. Jo and Lloyd leave for Iraq tomorrow and she has to drive them all the way to the airport. She HATES driving to the airport. Traffic is a crappy mess, it's bad weather, and the airport is a confusing spaghetti bowl. Anyway, you all will have to put up with me a while longer.

COMMENTS:
Blogger Sometimes Saintly Nick said...

I've added the victims of the wrecks to my daily prayer list. May I suggest that nobody drive for a while?

Wednesday, December 10, 2008 12:27:00 PM

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Blogger Granny said...

Good Grief!! Please send my love and prayers to WA and all her family.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008 1:01:00 PM

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Blogger The Future Was Yesterday said...

This is plain bad shit, scuse my English when you get back, worried.

Know that y'all are in my thoughts daily......

Saturday, December 13, 2008 6:23:00 PM


WA: Thank you all for your kind thoughts and prayers. I returned home tonight but am absolutely exhausted. I plan to vegetate a few days and allow the old bod to recuperateDelete. I may not blog for awhile.

Sunday, December 07, 2008

Pearl Harbor Anniversary

USS Arizona - Pearl Harbor

What Really Happened?
History. President Roosevelt's speech, declaration of war.

Previous Articles re: Pearl Harbor:

  • Today in History
  • The Gonzman
    Today in History2004-12-07 at 6:05 am · This is the 63rd Anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. For those of you who respect and revere our soldiers, you do not need me to tell you what to do. For those who do not, I won’t waste my breath.As usual, this past August, there was much angst and whining about the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. So be it. Know this, you twits - If there had been no Pearl Harbor, there would have been no Hiroshima or Nagasaki. NOTE THIS, you history revisionists who moan and piss about what the mean ole United States did to the poor widdle Japanese!
  • Doug Powers
    Pearl Harbor: Retrieving Lost Lessons of the Greatest Generation2006-12-07 at 8:18 am ·An
    entire generation is about to pass — a generation that knows sacrifice; a generation that has
    confronted and defeated terror; a generation that has beaten back tyranny; a generation from
    whom we should have taken copious notes. Some of us did take note, but many of us didn’t, and
    the rest refuse to participate either way.

    Today is the 65th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the rest of America.
    As the dwindling number of survivors gathered, perhaps for the final time before age takes its toll, we find ourselves at a similar crossroads.

    For many people, Pearl Harbor exists only in a movie – a film that taught the unaware that the
    Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in order to get Ben Affleck and Josh Hartnett to stop banging
    Kate Beckinsale with irresponsible abandon.

    The reason it’s important that the real lesson of Pearl Harbor be passed down through succeedinggenerations encompasses more than Pearl Harbor itself. It’s about victory in the face of daunting challenges and unflinching decision-making despite comparatively ugly choices.

    When you reflect on Pearl Harbor, what’s the first thing you think of? Chances are, “losing” wasn’t among your first thoughts. Though the attack was a temporary and overwhelming victory for the Japanese empire, the ultimate lesson is that tyranny was put down in the course of the years following the attack. When we think of Pearl Harbor, we should think “victory,” not “defeat.”

    Then vs. now

    Fast-forward the tape to 2006. Remember how you felt on 9/11/01? Much the same as Americans felt when they heard the news from Hawaii 65 years ago today. The enemy has changed and isn’t as definable as being able to point at one nation and yell “they did it,” but the ultimate goal should be the same: Victory. The problem is that Victory in those years meant something quite different than it does today. Today, Victory means establishing hegemony over the oil rich nations, starting with Iraq, and setting in place a puppet government designed to cooperate with the US.

    After the Japanese launched the attack on Pearl Harbor, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto is reported
    to have said, “I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible
    resolve.”
    I fear that American politicians today are filling that giant, which was temporarily re-awakened
    on 9/11, not with resolve, but with Sominex.

    For many, victory isn’t the goal. If The Greatest Generation, as Tom Brokaw dubbed them (click
    here for some debate on the Brokaw label), would have hemmed and hawed like some of our
    politicians are doing today in the years immediately following 1941, what would have happened?
    If America in 1941 had the Congressional class of 2006 and 2007, the only item to remain open to speculation is if we’d be speaking German or Japanese.

    When our children, their children, and their children, are sitting around on the 65th anniversary
    of 9/11, will that date remind them of victory, or defeat? Primarily shame.Will America as we know it even exist? Probably NOT!Will our children, their children, and their children even be alive? Not if the idiot leaders succeed in starting a nuclear holocaust.

    If pondering those questions gives you a moment of unsure pause, then you’ve already answered
    them. We should be very concerned about the course that is being set by our politicians and those for whom American defeat and resignation is the only way to ensure a “fair” world.


    At Pearl Harbor anniversary, U.S. hails response to attack


    COMMENTS:
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    Blogger The Future Was Yesterday said...

    "Know this, you twits - If there had been no Pearl Harbor, there would have been no Hiroshima or Nagasaki. "
    A voice of reason about that tragic day is so seldom heard anymore.

    My ship was home ported in Pearl Harbor. I got to see history every time we went in and out of the harbor, in the form of the USS Arizona, forever lying on the bottom.

    Thank you for remembering!!

    Wednesday, December 10, 2008 12:25:00 AM


    WA: I remember the awful day that the news came over the radio, the wailing of the family women folk and the somber faces of the family men. I remember everyone huddled around the radio when President Roosevelt addressed the nation. I remember the news shorts at the movie theater before the feature films, seeing the terrible carnage at Pearl. I remember my young uncles and older cousins in their uniforms, going off to war. I remember the death notice of a happy-go-lucky cousin on some god forsaken Pacific island . I remember his funeral rites at our little country Baptist church and the funeral rites of our neighbors' sons, the grief and pain. Yes I remember all too well and time has not eased the feelings of those times.
    I remember, I remember and it enrages me to hear/read the asinine history revisionists pule and wail about how bad the US was to use atomic bombs on Japan. The horror of an atomic attack on the populace was terrible indeed. So were the horrors of combat and deaths of our military men, allies, and civilians stranded on those islands as the battles were gradually won, slogging inch by inch to victory only to face another island and another and another. How many more would have been mutilated and killed in warfare and POW camps had America been forced to continue, had been forced to force the Japanese to surrender. Modern people cannot image the absolute fanaticism of the Japenese military and even civilians of that era.

    You are damned right I remember. Just as folks remember 9-11 today. And will they conveniently forget those feelings when the time comes that the U.S. is all buddy-buddy with the Arabs we now war against, as we now buddy up to Japan?

    Some whine that more were killed at 9/11 than at Pearl Harbor, as if the number of deaths was some sort of ain't- it-awful, our- tragedy- was -greater -than -your -tragedy contest! ONE death was one too many in either case. Just for the record, check out these stats:

    "There were 2,974 fatalities, excluding the 19 hijackers: 246 on the four planes (from which there were no survivors), 2,603 in New York City in the towers and on the ground, and 125 at the Pentagon.[38][39] An additional 24 people remain listed as missing". The resultant wars have killed over 4,000 American troops.

    "The 2-hour Japanese attack [...] killed 2,290 military personnel at bases throughout Hawaii, along with 48 civilians".The resultant wars in the Pacific Theatre against the Japanese= "USA: 106,207 killed, 248,316 wounded and missing". USA stats only, does not include Allied stats.

    [Does not include all casualties from WWII. The USA and Allies were also embroiled in war against Germany and the Axis in the European Theatre and the African Campaign.]

    So you revisionists or "braggarts" about how 9/11 was worse than Pearl Harbor, just back down. I wept in horror at 9/11 right along with other Americans. I lived through that attack on my country, my people. And this old woman lived through the earlier attack on my country, my people. I am here to tell you it ALL was terrible; Pearl and the following war was much greater - so far, god forbid it grow worse!

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