In Washington, D.C. an old priest lay dying in the hospital. For years he had faithfully served the people of the nation's capital and was well known among the elected officials. He motioned for his nurse to come near.

"Yes, Father?" said the nurse.

"I would really like to see President Obama and Senator Reid before I die," whispered the priest. 

"I'll see what I can do, Father", replied the nurse. 

The nurse sent the request to The President and Congress and waited for a response. Soon the word arrived; President Obama and Harry Reid would be delighted to visit the priest.

As they went to the hospital, Obama commented to Reid, "I don't know why the old priest wants to see us, but it will certainly help our images and might even get me re-elected."

Reid agreed that it was a good thing.

When they arrived at the priest's room, the priest took Obama's hand in his right hand and Reid's hand in his left hand. There was silence and a look of serenity on the old priest's face. Finally President Obama spoke. "Father, of all the people you could have chosen, why did you choose us to be with you as you near the end?" 

The old priest slowly replied, "I have always tried to pattern my life after our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." 

"Amen" said Obama. 

"Amen" said Reid. 

The old priest continued, "Jesus died between two lying thieves; I would like to do the same."

This Date In History


1775: Formation of the US Navy is authorized

CURTAIN RODS

On the first day, she sadly packed her belongings into boxes, crates and suitcases.

On the second day, she had the movers come and collect her things.

On the third day, she sat down for the last time at their beautiful dining-room table, by candle-light; she put on some soft background music, and feasted on a pound of shrimp, a jar of caviar,and a bottle of spring-water.

When she'd finished, she went into each and every room and deposited a few half-eaten shrimps dipped in caviar into the hollow center of the curtain rods.

She then cleaned up the kitchen and left.

On the fourth day, the husband came back with his new girlfriend, and at first all was bliss.

Then, slowly, the house began to smell.

They tried everything; cleaning, mopping, and airing-out the place.

Vents were checked for dead rodents, and carpets were steam cleaned.

Air fresheners were hung everywhere. Exterminators were brought in to set off gas canisters, during which time the two had to move out for a few days, and in the end they even paid to replace the expensive wool carpeting.

Nothing worked!

People stopped coming over to visit.

Repairmen refused to work in the house.

The maid quit.

Finally, they couldn't take the stench any longer, and decided they had to move, but a month later - even though they'd cut their price in half - they couldn't find a buyer for such a stinky house.

Word got out, and eventually even the local realtors refused to return their calls.

Finally, unable to wait any longer for a purchaser, they had to borrow a huge sum of money from the bank to purchase a new place.

Then the ex-wife called the man and asked how things were going. He told her the saga of the rotting house. She listened politely and said that she missed her old home terribly and would be willing to reduce her divorce
settlement in exchange for having the house.

Knowing she could have no idea how bad the smell really was, he agreed on a price that was only 1/10 th of what the house had been worth ... but only if she would sign the papers that very day.

She agreed, and within two hours his lawyers delivered the completed paperwork.

A week later the man and his girlfriend stood smiling as they watched the moving company pack everything to take to their new home ..... 

and to spite the ex-wife, they even took the curtain rods!

I LOVE A HAPPY ENDING, DON'T YOU?

I'm a Christian

and I'll do the same :D

A 9/11 message from Mitt Romney, presidential hopeful: 



"On this somber day, we stand tall for peace and freedom. Eleven years ago, evil descended upon our country, taking thousands of lives in an unspeakable attack against innocents. America will never forget those who perished. America will never stop caring for the loved ones they left behind. And America shall remain ever vigilant against those

 who would do us harm.

Today we again extend our most profound gratitude to our brave troops who have gone into battle, some never to return, so that we may live in peace. 

On this most somber day, those who would attack us should know that we are united, one nation under God, in our determination to stop them and to stand tall for peace and freedom at home and across the world."

Love my Fire!!

See more at  http://amzn.to/TsR7eY

Can't quite justify (yet) buying the  Kindle Fire HD 8.9" 4G LTE Wireless - $499 is a little pricier than I want to spend. $499 (32 gb) or $599 (62 gb)

The Kindle Fire HD 8.9" is a little better priced at $299 (16 gb) or $369 (32 gb)

The Kindle Fire HD is closer to the price I like at $199 (16gb) or $249 for (32 gb).

I didn't buy myself a birthday gift this year, so maybe I'll splurge and get the 8.9" for a combo birthday/Christmas gift. 

Gonna have to see what I can talk myself into   ;D

Analysis of election factors points to Romney win, University of Colorado study says

August 22, 2012 •

Social Sciences

 •

Discovery & Innovation, Discoveries & Achievements, Research Collaborations

A University of Colorado analysis of state-by-state factors leading to the  electoral College selection of every U.S. president since 1980 forecasts that the 2012 winner will be Mitt Romney.

The key is the economy, say political science professors Kenneth Bickers of CU-Boulder and Michael Berry of CU Denver. Their prediction model stresses economic data from the 50 states and the District of Columbia, including both state and national unemployment figures as well as changes in real per capita income, among other factors.

“Based on our forecasting model, it becomes clear that the president is in electoral trouble,” said Bickers, also director of the CU in DC Internship Program.

According to their analysis, President Barack Obama will win 218 votes in the Electoral College, short of the 270 he needs. And though they chiefly focus on the Electoral College, the political scientists predict Romney will win 52.9 percent of the popular vote to Obama’s 47.1 percent, when considering only the two major political parties.

“For the last eight presidential elections, this model has correctly predicted the winner,” said Berry. “The economy has seen some improvement since President Obama took office. What remains to be seen is whether voters will consider the economy in relative or absolute terms. If it’s the former, the president may receive credit for the economy’s trajectory and win a second term. In the latter case, Romney should pick up a number of states Obama won in 2008.”

Their model correctly predicted all elections since 1980, including two years when independent candidates ran strongly, 1980 and 1992. It also correctly predicted the outcome in 2000, when Al Gore received the most popular vote but George W. Bush won the election.

The study will be published this month in PS: Political Science & Politics, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Political Science Association. It will be among about a dozen election prediction models, but one of only two to focus on the Electoral College.

While many forecast models are based on the popular vote, the Electoral College model developed by Bickers and Berry is the only one of its type to include more than one state-level measure of economic conditions.

In addition to state and national unemployment rates, the authors looked at per capita income, which indicates the extent to which people have more or less disposable income. Research shows that these two factors affect the major parties differently: Voters hold Democrats more responsible for unemployment rates while Republicans are held more responsible for per capita income.

Accordingly -- and depending largely on which party is in the White House at the time -- each factor can either help or hurt the major parties disproportionately.

Their results show that “the apparent advantage of being a Democratic candidate and holding the White House disappears when the national unemployment rate hits 5.6 percent,” Berry said.  The results indicate, according to Bickers, “that the incumbency advantage enjoyed by President Obama, though statistically significant, is not great enough to offset high rates of unemployment currently experienced in many of the states.”

In an examination of other factors, the authors found that none of the following had any statistically significant effect on whether a state ultimately went for a particular candidate: The location of a party’s national convention; the home state of the vice president; or the partisanship of state governors.

In 2012, “What is striking about our state-level economic indicator forecast is the expectation that Obama will lose almost all of the states currently considered as swing states, including North Carolina, Virginia, New Hampshire, Colorado, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida,” Bickers said.

In Colorado, which went for Obama in 2008, the model predicts that Romney will receive 51.9 percent of the vote to Obama’s 48.1 percent, again with only the two major parties considered.

The authors also provided caveats. Factors they said may affect their prediction include the timeframe of the economic data used in the study and close tallies in certain states. The current data was taken five months in advance of the Nov. 6 election and they plan to update it with more current economic data in September. A second factor is that states very close to a 50-50 split may fall an unexpected direction.

“As scholars and pundits well know, each election has unique elements that could lead one or more states to behave in ways in a particular election that the model is unable to correctly predict,” Berry said.

Election prediction models “suggest that presidential elections are about big things and the stewardship of the national economy,” Bickers said. “It’s not about gaffes, political commercials or day-to-day campaign tactics. I find that heartening for our democracy.”

as seen on FaceBook

The REAL Homeland Security

When I GET old? I want 'em saying that now!

Poor guy...he really did have a bad week. 

I'm sure he's glad that Congressman Akin spoke up and took the heat off him ;D

Just Unbelievable....

http://twitchy.com/2012/08/19/oh-my-missouri-gop-senate-nominee-says-victims-of-legitimate-rape-dont-get-pregnant/

from the...Oh, no, you didn't! and the putting my foot in my mouth up to my belt buckle files.....

For those who doubt that I would post anything about GOP stupidity:

"Legitimate rape"? "Victims of legitimate rape don't get pregnant"? What the hell is that? Under some circumstances, I'd file this away under, "it's said by a man...'nuff said". But this? No, he needs to answer for this one. 

An oxymoron from a moron. Everything he's done that is good has now been overshadowed by one incredibly stupid statement. 

My Dad's family is from NW Missouri and at this moment, I'm ashamed to have ties with Missouri. Thank God, I know that this was, hopefully, said in a unbelievable lapse of judgment, by one Missourian who does't come even close to representing the beliefs of those in his district, much less my family across the state. I will be proud of my Missouri heritage again. I won't let one stupid statement by one incredibly obtuse man rob me of my pride of my heritage. 

Missourians by birth and Missourians by heritage need to stand up and say, Oh, hell, no! You didn't! and force him to step down. Usually, I can allow a person more than one moronic statement, but I can't let this one go. It's just too much. I personally, can't do much except make my outrage known. Only the people of his district can influence him into doing what is right and step down. There is nothing he can do to overcome this....this...all I can call it is an incredibly stupid remark. 

I'm predicting that Rep Akin will be stepping down soon. I really doubt that he can get past this.

This'll be some picnic!!