President-elect Barack Obama urged congressional leaders today to move quickly on an economic recovery plan, even as some Republicans are saying they want more time to review the details.
Obama said Congress should pass an American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan designed to create 3 million jobs. The Democratic president-elect hasn't announced a final price tag on it, but aides said the cost could be as high as $775 billion.
Some people call the Eye Google. It's satellite shows every niche and cranny on the planet.
Now consider how easy it is for the government, under the auspices of the Patriot Act, to watch your every move with the thousands of satellites available to it.
It's George Orwell's greatest fear. He wrote about Big Brother as a warning to society. It didn't make any difference under the Bush regime which has methodically stripped us of our Constitutional rights.
Will the Eye still be as intrusive when Obama takes office? I wonder. What do you think?
This is not my Millie. She's blog-shy (actually she thinks someone will dog-nab her!). This is a reasonable likeness of her, and I wanted to put some art in this post to get you to stop and read it. Talk about brazen eh?
We just got back from our daily walk, between soft showers that have been cleansing the land. We stopped to say hi! to the donkeys and miniature ponies who were also enjoying the outbreak of sunlight and frisking around. I know for sure what happened to a cluster of fake cranberries that disappeared yesterday. Poop patrol revealed funny white round pellets that I'm sure were once cranberry-colored.
For a small dog she sure sets a brutal pace. After a mile, I have to slow her down before I collapse! We've got an interesting little route that is uphill one way and down the other. I'm hoping to shed some of the pounds I put on during the holidays. We may have to add some more distance to our current route for awhile.
If you already have a pug then I don't have to tell you what a great friend they are. Thinking about getting a dog? Pug's have a lot of good qualities and are awful cute if you dress them up. Millie is not one for flash so I don't bother her with silly costumes, but I admit to making her wear a yellow and purple Laker collar in honor of my favorite basketball team.
Millie is my constant companion, but the minute my wife comes home she drops me like a bad date! She loves Shirley and makes sure to get a lot of snuggle time in with her. Peace is a snug pug!
There's been no word on what Lame Chimp president Bush promised Arnie.
California's financial future is in question and Arnie needs to work with state legislators-as opposed to his current terminator political tactics.
My guess is Dubya showed Arnie some love, but it was fleeting!
During the Great Depression people still poured into movie houses for escape and the industry thrived.
But during our current Great Depression, Hollywood is struggling and facing layoffs
Part of the reason is that people can now be entertained in their home with movie videos that are a lot cheaper than going to movie theaters.
Storm clouds gather before this year's Oscars ceremony at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. The entertainment industry is facing its worst economic outlook in decades.
Photo by Bryan Chan / LA Times
So here we are dear reader.
Another year to pick apart in monthly stages, as the drama of a new presidency presents us with changes. Each day is to be dissected and reflected upon in blog fashion. Indirect, and direct opinions, about the world we live in can be expected from me. I see each day in a sweeping search of online blogs, newspapers, magazines, and conversations with people.
Some readers last year wondered if I was a Christian. One reader even wondered what my platform AS IT STANDS is built upon? Of course that's both a symbolic and theological question. In simpler terms the reader wondered if I believed in God and is my blog God-based?
For some reason I didn't anticipate questions about my religion when I started this blog in July 2008. But in the last six months I've had a fair amount of people responding to my newspaper column and this blog, wondering what my beliefs are? One reader wrote a letter-to-the editor about my Christmas column in the Times-Standard. That reader gently chastised me for not pointing out that it's a Christian holiday honoring Jesus Christ's birth.
In retrospect, I know why I didn't come out and just say that. During my years as a newspaper editor I wrote many Christmas columns. The one's where I made it clear what Christmas was all about always resulted in a negative backlash. Now as a Christian, I should expect that and even be glad because I'm doing the right thing.
All I can say is, when you try to serve segments of the public you pay a price. Everyone's not a Christian. So as an editor, I always attempted to appeal to the general public. Call me a coward. But after enough battering on a yearly basis over the same subject of Christmas, I opted to stand on the fence last year. So someone called me out on my beliefs. Sigh. There's no such thing as a middle ground for some people.
Does this make me a bad Christian? Am I a hypocrite for not preaching God's word in my columns and blogs? I don't think so. I never set out to convert anyone. God did not give me that calling. He did bless me with the ability to write, and I try to be humble about this gift. Sometimes my pride shows and I'm guilty of patting myself on the back. I guess I'm just human after all.
My mission for this year is to entertain readers and present subjects of interest, including opinion pieces, to stimulate readers to respond. The more comments the merrier. I'm hoping to make you laugh and to make you ponder subjects you might not have thought about before. I want to share local, national, and world events with the reader on a daily basis. So that's it. Is this a New Year's resolution? Heck no.
AS IT STANDS, this is just my mission in life!
It's a New Year
It's a new year
Let's give a cheer
Pour us some wine
And maybe some beer
Get all your friends
Party till the day ends
Then the ball will drop
And the balloons will pop
It will be 2009
Give me a high five
Another year passes
Through life's glasses
Happy New Year
New Years are a Chance for a Beginning
New years are a chance for a beginning
Even when there hasn't been an end.
Wheels turn in an interminable bend,
Yet, marked in one spot, seem to wobble spinning.
Each year we hope to do a little better
Although we know that really nothing's changed.
Reason thinks that everything's arranged,
So we must dream if we would fate unfetter.
The New Year is wide open with comics firing on all cylinders in the upper echelons of superhero comics to the vibrant field of modern comics. But who rests at the top? Who are the biggest and brightest – who are the ones who pose to make 2009 a breakout year for themselves? From characters to comics to creators, and even to the wider spectrum of television and movies – who will be the breakout stars?
Click here to read Chris Arrant's take on things for Superheros in the New Year.
I have wisely chosen not to make a New Year's resolution. I've never managed to stick with one, and there's no reason to think I will this year.
I wouldn't say 2008 was great because the economy tanked so badly. I'd like to say 2009 will be fine, but our depression is probably going to get worse before it gets better. Having said that, I still think that we all have the choice to be happy or sad, regardless of the economy, and world events.
I'm not suggesting a Pollyanna outlook on life, but I believe that we do have some control as to how our days go. It's harder to think positive, than it is to think negatively, according to experts.
The answer is, you have to force yourself to think of something positive, but in time it will come easy as you train your brain! Happy New Year's To You!
I finally hit the wall today. I can't think of what to say about all of the madness going on in this country right now. I'm a writer...
