Posted by Tina

My Husband Was a Blackwater Hero, by Marybeth Laguna

** My husband, Art Laguna, was a hero. He was a man of honor — he kept his word and he valued truth and honesty, and he expected no less from anyone else. His life was spent in service to his country and his family. **
Continue reading “<font color=black>BLACKWATER HERO</font>” »

Posted by Tina

With a single party owning the big three, White House, House of Representatives, and Senate, all eyes will be focused on Democrats over the next two years. The new president has yet to be sworn in but already he is being treated as the leader, the man who is to direct the long awaited progressive power surge. So far Obama has managed to surprise, infuriate and disappoint many of his staunch supporters. The rest of us remain in a holding pattern with some, even in fawning foreign countries, ready to draw a little blood, fearing the worst:

President-elect Barack Obama proposes economic suicide for US, by Christopher Booker Telegraph (UK)

** If the holder of the most powerful office in the world proposed a policy guaranteed to inflict untold damage on his own country and many others, on the basis of claims so demonstrably fallacious that they amount to a string of self-deluding lies, we might well be concerned. The relevance of this is not to President Bush, as some might imagine, but to a recent policy statement by President-elect Obama. **
Continue reading “<font color=black>All Eyes on Obama & Democrats</font>” »

Posted by Jack

Nancy Pelosi refused to fly first class and insisted on her own private jet. She got it too! One problem, it had to stop mid-way to refuel. This became tedious for Princess Pelosi so she demanded a bigger jet and she got it! Why not, heck the government has unlimited amounts of free money, right? Yeah, sure.

Pelosi, like all our legislators, works 3 days a week, then flies home in her personal jet at the cost of about $120,000 round trip. Do the math, that is $480,000 per month at an annual cost to the taxpayers of $5,760,000.

No wonder she complains about the cost of the war, it might cramp her style.

The example she sets is one of indifference to plight of the average Amererican who is now dealing with the harsh realities of a recession. Ironically Pelosi badmouthed the CEO’s of the Big 3 auto manufacturers for flying in corporate jets to Washington DC looking for a handout.

Princess Pelosi says she wants you and I to conserve our carbon footprint, but what about her? Princess Pelosi says she wants us to buy smaller cars, but what about her? She drives big, fat luxury cars, which is fine by me if she didn’t want to take mine away!

The President could have taken a stand and said no way! He could have said, “You fly commercial like everyone else in the Senate and Congress and be dang glad you get to go 1st class!” But, he didn’t do anything. So if you get mad at Pelosi for wasting fuel and your money, you might as well be mad at the Bush Administration for not standing up and making this an issue. Then again, considering President Bush’s track record of incredibly wasteful spending (worst in history), he’s probably too embarassed to criticize Pelosi. So, if we don’t like it I guess we have no where to turn, except back to ourselves…but then I am reminded it was “ourselves” that elected her in the first place!

If the American taxpayers/voters had any guts and the common sense to match they would be calling Pelosi to demand she stop the waste and fly commercial! If Obama wanted to match deeds with his big words he would be saying, “Nancy, …look at the image you are setting for my new administration! Get rid of that big, gas guzzling jet and act like you’re an elected official, not royalty! From now on you fly coach from now on and thats an order!” Yeah, fat chance of that happening too! Well, I say, let her know how much we disapprove! Do your part right now. Call Pelosi or email her. Look, I’ll make it real easy for you:

(202) 225-0100 or go to her website and email her. Click http://speaker.house.gov/contact/here. I dare you!

Federal employees wasted at least $146 million over a one-year period on business- and first-class airline tickets, in some cases simply because they felt entitled to the perk, congressional investigators say.

A draft report by the Government Accountability Office, obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press, is the first to examine compliance with travel rules across the federal government following reports of extensive abuse of premium-class travel by Pentagon and State Department employees.

LONDON (Reuters) – Mice fed junk food for nine months showed signs of developing the abnormal brain tangles strongly associated with Alzheimer’s disease, a Swedish researcher said on Friday.

The findings, which come from a series of published papers by a researcher at Sweden’s Karolinska Institutet, show how a diet rich in fat, sugar and cholesterol could increase the risk of the most common type of dementia.

Posted by Tina

Black Friday wasn’t as bleak as was feared but with deeply discounted prices retailers are still concerned this year:

Early data shows strong Black Friday, by Ashley M. Heher – AP

* CHICAGO The holiday shopping season got off to a surprisingly solid start, according to data released Saturday by a research firm. But the sales boost during the post-Thanksgiving shopathon came at the expense of profits as the nation’s retailers had to slash prices to attract the crowds in a season that is expected to be the weakest in decades. *** Across the country, sales in the South were up 3.4 percent from last year while they climbed 2.6 percent in the Northeast as shoppers began scouring store aisles at midnight hoping to snag the best selection on early morning specials, some as much as 70 percent off. Elsewhere, sales rose 3 percent in the Midwest and 2.7 percent in the West. *

by Jack Lee

I mentioned this trip earlier on the blog, but I thought it was worth showing you a few pics too, so here it goes again with some news about a really neat train vacation package.

Other than I had to meet the train in Chico at 4 a.m., the trip to San Jose was fantastic. I had to pick up my new car (a snazzy platinum silver Jag XJ8), well, it’s new to me anyway. I’m too tight to buy a brand new car! It’s a matter of preference; I would rather let somebody else pay the big depreciation and I’ll buy later, barely used, and save the huge difference in price, tax and insurance! And on this particular car the savings was enormous.

The train ride was by far the cheapest part of the trip, a mere $35! These are a few of the early morning shots I took. Note the spacious dining car, incredibly roomy and the price for a good breakfast was under $7 with coffee. In my passenger car the coach seating was equal to 1st Class in an airplane, reminded me of my soft leather recliner in my living room.

I’ve traveled to the bay area hundreds of times, but I never saw these sights, it was a whole new perspective. Needless to say, I enjoyed every minute and I’m planning my next train on the “Fun Train” to Reno.

As the Amtrak ad says, “Party your way through the beautiful Sierra Nevada Mountains during daylight hours for a weekend of fun.” You arrive in the heart of Reno and a variety of good hotels are within easy walking distance of the Amtrak station.

Some of the hotels available in the package are Sands Regency, Circus Circus Main Tower, Nugget, Eldorado, Peppermill, Silver Legacy, Harrah’s East Tower, Harrah’s West Tower, Circus Circus Mini Suite and the Eldorado Player’s Spa Siena.

The Round-trip can start from Emeryville, Martinez, Suisun or Sacramento and then on to Reno. Meals are served aboard the train – A light dinner served Friday evening, and a lunch on Sunday’s return. The trip includes two nights hotel accommodations.

If you want to know the fares, you will have to call because they vary on your date of travel. Here’s the number 877-929-7245 for rail fares and information. It’s really, really, affordable!