The Real State

I missed most of the President's State of the Union address last night. I got stuck in some major traffic.
I'm sure it was full of the usual rhetoric. And, of course, distortions of the truth.
I did a little research and found out some interesting facts.
I present them so that my Republican friends ( you know who you are ) will have all the information they need when they walk into the voting booth come November.

Here is the real State of the Union:

1. The cost of heating oil in 2000: $1.40/gallon.
The cost of heating oil in 2008: $3.39/gallon.

2. The price of gasoline in 2000: $1.59/gallon.
The price of gasoline in 2008: $3.14/gallon.

3. Exxon Mobil profits in 2000: 7.9 billion.
Exxon Mobil profits in 2006: 36.1 billion.

4. Percentage of the federal budget spent on the military-NOT including Iraq, in 2007: 50%.
Percentage of the fiscal year 2007 federal budget spent on education: 6.2%.

5. The National Debt 2001: 5.7 trillion dollars.
The National Debt 2008: 9.2 trillion dollars.

6. U.S. budget balance 2000: 236 billion dollar surplus.
U.S. budget balance 2007: 354 billion dollar deficit.

7. Value of the Euro in dollars, 2000: $1.01.
Value of the Euro in dollars, 2008: $1.45.

8. Total consumer credit debt 2001: 7.65 trillion dollars.
Total consumer credit debt 2008: 12.8 trillion dollars.

9. Yearly number of new private sector jobs created from 1992-2000: 1.76. million.
Yearly number of new private sector jobs created from 2001 to 2008: 369,000.

10. Number of Americans without healthcare in 2001: 38 million.
Number of Americans without healthcare in 2007: 46 million.

11. Percentage of people abroad who view America favorably in 2001: 58.3%.
Percentage of people abroad who view America favorable in 2007: 39.2%.

That, my friends, is the real state of the union.

Farewell To Arms

I know I am behind as this happened early last week.
But, I have to rant about this.

The Bush Administration is going to sell Saudi Arabia 900 sophisticated satellite-guided missiles.

Mr. Bush, demonstrating his stellar understanding of middle eastern foreign policy, intends to sell the $20 billion worth of arms to Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf countries

This is supposed to improve military relations with the Saudi's while at the same time counter the rising influence of Iran in the region.

Let me see....

Saudi Arabia has a deplorable human rights record, they have a strong record for the oppression of women and lack of religious freedom.
So, let's reward them!

Have we forgotten that 19 of the terrorists of the 9/11 attack were from Saudi Arabia?

Apparently we have, since we went to war with a country that had nothing to do with 9/11.

Will giving advanced military arms to Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf countries encourage Iran to further arm themselves? I would think so. Further fueling an already unstable situation in the region.

And, what happens if the Saudi Royal Family is overthrown? Those missiles could end up in the hands of ...who knows?

Our long national nightmare of the Bush Administration will not be over soon enough.
360 days to go.

Good Vibrations

This is a picture of a pen one of my co-workers was using yesterday.
Yes.
It is a pen.
Until she puts in the batteries.

My friend, Chris, called the other night. We have known each other for about 23 years. We worked together at the student union at Cal State Northridge back in the 80's.

We got to talking about how old we're getting. She mentioned that she watches the Ellen Degeneres show and that Ellen is about to turn 50.
"She doesn't look that old. Maybe because she doesn't act that old, I guess", Chris said.
And she continued, "You know some people just don't act their age. Like you, for instance. You don't act 50."

To which I replied, "I don't act 50 because I'm only 47!! "

One good thing about having a blog, is that when you've been insulted, you can post a silly picture of the person who has wronged you.

I guess now I'm acting like I'm 12.

They Are Watching

I have something attached to my blog that I can access to find out who is looking at my blog. Not actually "who" really. It's more like an indication of "where" people are when they look at my blog. It's really quite general and it's hard to really tell "who" is looking at it. It's just kinda fun to see what regions of the country are inadvertently googling and ending up on my little blog.

But, tonight I clicked on the counter just see.

This is what I found:

Domain Name house.gov ? (U.S. Government)
IP Address 143.231.249.# (Information Systems, U.S. House of Representatives)
ISP Information Systems, U.S. House of Representatives
Location Continent : North America
Country : United States (Facts)
State : District of Columbia
City : Washington
Lat/Long : 38.9097, -77.0231 (Map)

Language English (U.S.)
en-us
Operating System Microsoft WinXP
Browser Internet Explorer 7.0
Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 7.0; Windows NT 5.1; .NET CLR 1.1.4322; InfoPath.1)
Javascript version 1.3
Monitor Resolution : 1024 x 768
Color Depth : 32 bits

Time of Visit Jan 22 2008 6:10:53 am
Last Page View Jan 22 2008 6:10:53 am
Visit Length 0 seconds
Page Views 1
Referring URL
Visit Entry Page http://godfreysmama....ssion-is-coming.html
Visit Exit Page http://godfreysmama....ssion-is-coming.html
Out Click
Time Zone UTC-5:00
Visitor's Time Jan 22 2008 9:10:53 am
Visit Number 1,000

All I can say is, "uh oh".

The Dog With A Chip Behind Her Shoulder

The Recession Is Coming

Rep. Eric Cantor (VA), the chief deputy Republican whip in the House, introduced his proposal to stimulate the economy. His legislation, called "The Middle Class Job Protection Act", appears to be nothing more than a form of corporate welfare. It supposedly reduces the corporate tax rate by 28 percent.
It doesn't do anything for the middle class.

And, in yet another example of how Washington is out of touch with the American people, we get this quote from Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN):

"I am so proud to be from the state of Minnesota. We’re the workingest state in the country, and the reason why we are, we have more people that are working longer hours, we have people that are working two jobs".

This is how they justify giving corporate tax breaks instead of doing something to help the working class.

Rep Bachmann thinks her constituents LIKE working two jobs.
She seems to have no idea that some people work two jobs just to make ends meet.
Is working 60-80 hours a week the American Dream?
More like a nightmare which we will continue to have until next January.

Godfrey Video

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday Lisa. You don't look a day over 6!

13 1/2 Weeks and Counting

Here's another video using my Flip. Sorry about the editing. But, I'm learning.
Love to Ryan, Briana and Dylan as they await the new little one.

Orangee

I got a Flip video camera. Who better to try it out on than my favorite boy.

The National Debt

Who says Republicans are more fiscally conservative than Democrats?

Judging from this chart, clearly they are not.

Gracie

From my friend Jeanette:

Dear Kathy,

Hope you had a good holiday- unfortunately for me- my beloved dog
Gracie passed away on New Year's Eve- she had terminal lung cancer which was
only diagnosed earlier that day- I am so sad but at least she died at
home on her couch with me holding her!!
Love,

Jeanette

Gracie was a good girl and she'll be missed.

The Booze Test

I took this little quiz. Even though I appear to know a little too much about alcohol, I have a feeling I know a few people who can score higher!


88%DRUNKARD

Find your Match at JustSayHi

Quote For The Day

"I can predict that the historians will say that George W. Bush recognized the threats of the 21st century, clearly defined them, and had great faith in the capacity of liberty to transform hopelessness to hope, and laid the foundation for peace by making some awfully difficult decisions." -George W. Bush

"Awfully difficult decisions"?

Awful decisions is more accurate.

Sen. Clinton

Looking more and more like her campaign is being run by Karl Rove,
the senator had this to say in New Hampshire today:


"We have people who are plotting against us right now, getting ready to repeat the atrocity of Sept 11. We know it, I see the intelligence reports."


Scare tactics.
Well, we aren't scared anymore.
Except maybe of the same old Washington establishment.
I'm looking forward to the debates tomorrow night.
Shame on ABC for not letting Kucinich participate.
Here's hoping Obama does well.