Life In Balance

Life hands us good and bad,
The choices we make,
Some good, some bad,
we walk a path at first chosen for us,
The day comes it is chosen by us,
The love we yearn for,
The love we get,
We are not given a guarantee,
Faith gives us life in balance

Grandma's house guests

Son called yesterday and asked if Ryker and Eden could spend the night, of course i said yes. A couple of hours later I realized that so much of the bedding had to be thrown after the basement flood, . Namely all of the pillows. So a call to son # four and asked if he was going to town, he said yes. So I asked, please pick up a couple of pillows for me and I explained why. Problem solved. So First Eden came while Ryker was at CCD Christmas party. ( I will shoot the teacher that loaded 7 year old kids up with candy and goodies at night). I know it is not too Christmasy to want to shoot someone, ( and I am non violent) but bed time and sugar do not mix. Now the kids would have to sleep on Hide a bed, Now time to get out the sheets comforters etc. Where did my CNA put them? Hmm after searching I found then tucked up in a tote in a closet shelf above my head. Okay now I am waiting for the pillows and # four son to come so he can reach the bedding. Finally( grandma is thinking that bottle of wine is sounding good) Steve arrives, gets out the bedding and opens the hide a bed and MAKES it with the help of two tired hyper kids.
Amazingly the two children brush their teeth and crawl in bed. Eden needed an extra fleece blanket to curl up with, and after I read them a book about Christmas, not another sound from them. So instead of a glass of wine I had a warm milk and off to sleepy land, I am not sure if I dreamed of sugar plum fairies or that bottle of wine. So now I am waiting for them to finish their sleep, I am hoping that the kiddie shows entertain them while I get busy baking. Ryker has plans to move all of the snow in my yard, so there will be a lot of wet snow pants gloves etc. They will have fun, after all there is a lot of snow in my yard.

yesterdays wonders

Snow Angels dancing in the wind, flitting here and there, While jack frost etches fanciful images on the windows,The childhood wonder of a storm swirling the angels, making drifts, oh the plans we made while in our toasty warm house watching out the window. Tomorrow the sun will shine and out we will go, To make yesterdays dreams come true, Snow forts for snowball fights, laughing and tumbling making snow angels, but none like the wind did yesterday, Then a snowman so handsome with coal eyes and stick arms, in our world he smiles his raisin smile and his carrot nose wriggling. Would there ever be such simple pleasure in our lives again.

She still loves Christmas

From a child that was left wanting,

Her wishes did not come true,

There would be no doll, but clothes to wear,

The box of cookies from grandmother,

The cranberries and popcorn to adorn the tree,

Santa might come this year,

,

Christmas Eve walking through the snow,

Toes tingling with cold as we walked the two miles,

There was little heat in that little church,

But the warmth of friendship warmed us,

Singing the joyful Christmas songs,

Hearing the Christmas story, Joy in our hearts,

Then Santa handing out a brown paper bag filled with goodies,

Ah the smell of the orange and the apple such a treat

With candy and nuts which to try first,

The flavor of that first piece of Christmas candy,

The filling in the center a special delight

Savoring each piece, wanting more but making it last.

Thoughts today of days long past,

The tree brightly lit, the gifts all wrapped,

The cookies, the goodies all ready.

My prize I found,the old fashioned Christmas candy,

To taste that first piece brings it all back.

The good and sad, she still loves Christmas.

Angels among us?

Angels are like God, either you believe or you do not. There might be some that are willing to think maybe it is possible there are spirits around us and there are others that think when you are dead, you are dead. I say to each to their own beliefs or non beliefs.
My belief is based on actual happenings. So I KNOW they are there. Call them what you want, they just are. Ignore them if you have to, but they do not go away.

My experiences with the higher powers that surround us are so personal. I do try at times to explain the unexplainable. What I do know is that I am grateful that loved ones, the strangers’ feel comfortable to come around me. And sometimes let me know they are there. For those searching for answers, just open your mind and heart to the possibility and see what happens. To those that for whatever reason you either can not or just absolutely believe in nothing after you die you will scoff. What I write will not interest you in any positive way. In this season the word faith seems to become more important, to me faith walks with me everyday.

Now I am no bible thumper, or a religious fanatic, I am mostly a cafeteria Catholic. Is it pagan to believe in these things? Beats me, I know that our ancestors were pagan once upon a time so maybe it is in our genes. Like the Christmas tree, I believe it is a symbol of everlasting life. Or as the Native Americans know that sage smoke is a good thing to clean the air around us. I just accept the unknown as why not? Who are we to decide what can or cannot be proved. That is where faith comes in..

Thoughts from a couple of years ago and still the same today

I wrote this blog there three years to a fellow chatter in answer to some comment that was made, I find it still holds today,

Oh oh Mary this might be political. Or maybe not, maybe just a commentary on people today. When did we start defining ourselves with unnecessary titles or groups? Can't we just be ourselves? Why can't that be enough?

I can understand saying I am American (or whatever country you are from) but why do we need to know your sexual preference, your religion, and your political party? I like to meet people that are real.

Are we nothing without the unreal backing of some group? I hope I can define myself by saying I try to be a good person, I am intelligent, I know a lot, but I know a fraction of what there is to learn. I hope I am nice most of the time. I work on being patient with ignorant people and know it alls. I really have to work on patience when it comes to the mean political commentators that are on television and radio.

Democrat or Republican, whatever party you believe in why do we have to fight about it. Why do we even need these ridiculous titles that really say nothing? Why do these people not realize most people can think for themselves if they choose to? We do not need mean bigoted blowhards harping on the meaningless crap they keep it spouting on the airways.

I wish for a world where people start to talk with each other instead of throwing rhetoric out and keep repeating it like they know more than the next. We really need to get ourselves on a realistic path communicating with each other or our children’s children will have nothing, if they are even here at all.

Storm aftermath

The wind has stopped , the sun is shining the bad part of it is bitter cold out there. Maybe a good thing I am still snowed in. I will not be tempted to venture out. Specially when I have no good reason to.The thing is, I find when its nice out, I do not think much about going outside. Just let it snow and blow into drifts and I have the urge to go some where. Crazy huh?

Blizzard 12-11-10 from my windows starting with my favorite tree

Dec 11, '10 8:22 AM for everyone

9°F Current: Snow Wind: N at 31 mph Humidity: 89%

Sat 12° | -8° Sun -2° | -11° Mon 7° | 0° Tue 13° | 11°

I hope this isn't too cranky, Maybe I should buy a coffee pot with a timer, but then where to set the time? Ah that would be the question!

Dec 8, '10 7:58 AM for everyone

I know I am old, been around for a long time. I have liked a lot of singers, performers etc. I but I will never understand why anyone has to make such a huge deal out of Michael Jackson and now this week John Lennon. Even if I had listened to their music (I do like yesterday and Let it be but i like the songs, the singers did not matter) I still could not work up heartfelt tributes to these people that made music. They did not change my world in any way. Well maybe the fact I used to say turn it down or turn it off. With so much negative sad happenings in this world, is this a way to forget the horrible stuff for a time? I guess personal tributes like playing their music would make sense to me. like I play Conway Twitty, Buddy Holly,or Patsy Cline. but I do not want the media to tell me they are dead every two minutes, I already know that there is more on the news to day about Lennon than the anniversary of Pearl Harbor yesterday..Or Kennedy on November 22.

While I am at it, I also do not care if Jolie has lips or if her daughter wants to be a boy. Also the fact that Elizabeth Edwards passed, a brave strong woman, but the fact they are saying it so often is not so much in honor of her but so they can drag out the fact that her husband was a jerk with a loose zipper. She deserved better than that.
Okay Oprah is in Australia, whoopee is going to stay there? It is nice for the audience that I be was hand picked to go with her, it is probably one of the best experiences in their lives.

And I will bite my tongue over this one, I like the fact that Our president sat down and worked out a compromise for the betterment of America's economic condition. What I do not like is that posturing he has to do to suck up to people in his own party. Are these people so fanatically socialist that they would fight the President ? I think what he and the GOP guys did was Democracy working.I hope he is smart enough to do as Clinton, move to the center and.try to end divisiveness in D.C..
Last but not least Kathy Griffin making fun of Bristol Palin's weight when we are trying to stop gilrs thinking their weight and looks are more important than their brains. Also specially from an over the hill anorexic witch like Griffin. of course obesity is a problem. but making fun of a young woman's weight is not funny nor is it helpful.

Black and White

The swirls of gray fog in the black of night,

Imagination like a child, in days long past,

Seeing eerie shadows, as they seem to take flight,

Step outside in air so raw it seems to bite,

Troubled thoughts are banished sleep at last,

Then in the morning we wake to frosty white.

Blog Entry Julian Asange and Wikileaks,the story of a proper fool

Dec 5, '10 10:19 AM for everyone

I say call his bluff, tell him to release all of the info and then go get him. Him and his Hitler like waves, screw him trying to blackmail the world into letting get away with not only espionage but he is alleged to have committed rape and Sexual abuse in Sweden. But if he is arrested he will create chaos in the world my foot. He is just a celeb wannabe and the media is sucking it all up. Who the hell really gives rats ass what he has to unleash.? A few fanatics like the ones that followed all the other crazies. We will take over the world wannabes, Hitler, Tojo. Stalin,Lenin the list is big and we are still here. Big deal, I say go get him the silly fool.

Cookies for Grandpa Joe

Once upon a time there was a young woman, lets call her Terry, living out in the boonies with three small children and another on the way. Life was hard for her. This almost woman, still young in her early twenties that spent too much time alone , except for her children. She had a neighbor who befriended her, but she was also over burdened with what life had handed her. The one bright spot in Terry's week was when her mother in law drove to the nearest town to sell her eggs and get her groceries.

That morning the bread dough would be mixed and set for the week end and then the weekly batch of molasses cookies would be mixed and then baked. Terry always had the little ones fed and ready for nap. At 1:00 she would make a pot of egg coffee and set out a plate of the molasses cookies . T here would be a knock on the door and there would be Grandpa Joe, the father in law. He would have a tootsie pop for each of the little ones for after their nap and then Grandpa Joe and Terry would have coffee and cookies. He was a simple farmer, but his stories carried the too young to be a mom, to a world where life was good and she could forget her unhappiness for a couple of hours. He told the best stories, and every once in a while he would ask for another cup of coffee, bite into another cookie and say, "darn but these cookies are good, just like what my mother used to make".

When life got to be too much for the overworked lonely young woman, she knew that Grandpa Joe would be there. Later in life she would wonder, why no one else seemed to see him or hear him, he was almost as invisible as she was to his family. Terry's children grew up loving their grandpa Joe, and he was Terry's best friend until he passed.

Why couldn't her husband be like his dad and care what happened to his family? Why did he prefer any bar, tavern, and want to talk to anyone but his wife? Those were answers the young wife never did figure out. But the memory of those simple hours carried her through a lot of tough times. She never did know whether Grandpa Joe actually liked those cookies or just cared for the young woman. Or maybe it was both.

GRANDPA JOE'S MOLASSES COOKIES

3/4 cup shortening

1 cup sugar

1 egg beaten

2 cups flour

4 Tablespoons molasses

1 tsp soda

1 tsp ginger

1 tsp cloves

1 tsp cinnamon

blend egg, sugar, molasses, then dry ingredients. Mix until blended, do not over mix, chill for an hour, roll into small balls and in sugar. Bake at 375 for about 12 minutes. Depends on stove.

Wake up House and Senate, You are getting in trouble with your rumblings about SS

First they should strip THEIR retirement package, their extra expense package when they leave office for four or so years. No money spent on anything not related to the office and if they want to go home. Pay the ticket themselves. Tightening the belt should start with the people that make the decisions or as Truman said " The buck stops here". Even if they are in office one term they get the full package, this is so wrong in many ways, citizens have to earn their retirement. Stop the over the top parties at the White House on our buck. Make sure everyone including the president and his family have the EXACT health care coverage that they expect Americans to put up with.
They say a drop in the bucket, well many drops fill the bucket, so before whittling away our social Security that WE pay for, look to themselves first. First and foremost they should be punching a time card and be required to be on the floor of the house and senate when in session or have a doctors excuse. Election campaigning time should be figured out and their income reduced by the time spent away from their elected jobs. lets actually clean house first, the old adage "sweep your own doorstep before sweeping mine" is still the way to go. Stop the excess paperwork required by government programs ,USDA home loans when there is FHA already available for them is one instance. The best way to express your ideas is to write to your elected officials often.

creative Challenge

God’s gift to us

The call came on a dark dense foggy night,

Anxious voice said what should we do,

There is something wrong the baby is coming

The rush to the hospital, the terrible fright,

As son and I drove through the night,

Following the ambulance, the fog swirling,

Watching the barely seen ambulance light,

At the hospital the doctor said 26 weeks too early,

Prayers silently said while holding son’s hand.

We stayed that way son and I frightened and weary,

The doctor came and said you have a son so small,

Mom and dad just rest a while, the wait will be long,

Today I see Josh so handsome and tall,

I know God had a plan when he saved that tiny child

Holding Jenny in his heart when cancer took her away,

Josh my grandson envelopes us all with his manner so mild.

I wrote this on 11-22-2010

I remember well that day November 22 1963.I was 22 years old and had four children under the age of 5 one a month old. I was sitting on the sofa folding clothes, the children were all napping. My few minutes of peaceful quiet in my never ending hectic day. I was watching one of the soaps, for some reason I do not remember which one. When Walter Cronkite came on Television with a special report. I could not even tell you the exact words that I heard, I sat frozen when it registered, President Kennedy had been shot in shot Dallas. I sat there stunned, for how long I can not say, except when one of the babies cried I looked down and on my lap was a while of baby socks. All of this time I had been folding the socks for their tiny little feet. All I kept thinking as I changed and soothed the baby,was you poor little thing nothing is ever going to be the same again.

Okay I just have to say this

What the hell is the media thinking ? I am so sick of them making celebrities out of hookers and porn actresses. Do we need to hear this bull shit? Its bad when I have to hear the crap they repeat incessantly. Give me some real freaking news !!!! People are starving. Living in the streets freezing to death. North Korea is threatening the global world with the leader's insanity and they feel the need to interview these low life's? I bet their families are proud for cripes sake.
I for one am going to go to each network's web site and complain. every time I hear it. it is time for all people to complain,and turn off the shows. Mayne their low ratings might make news shows real news once again.

These are my thoughts about an interview on FOX news with the president of atheist .org

Fanatics live and believe in many things but stealing the season?

Nov 28, '10 6:16 AM for everyone

What is Christmas? Is it winter solstice? Alright does anyone care if people that believe in the pagan holidays celebrate in their own way. I have friends that believe in Wicca, I do not worry about their soul or lack of it. Isn't winter solstice on the first day of winter. Do we not honor that day in some small way and not be considered pagan?I thank them by the way for allowing us to adapt their evergreen for a symbol of everlasting life. There are people that believe we are from outer space. There are people that think we just exist then die.do we care ? We do not throw stones at people that believe in other religions. Well maybe a few Christians do, but I think that every group has radicals in it. No matter the religion and as I just heard from some leader of a radical atheist group that atheists are starting a war on Christians because we stole the season from others? Billboards and going on FOX news to explain the theft no less. Now I do not think that atheists for the most part give a thought to whether all other religious and pagan groups are being excluded. I do believe that the majority of believers and nonbelievers of any group just live quietly respecting other people's beliefs what ever they are.

More Right to Bear Arms Another Thought

How often does a confused, hurt maybe broken child ,and at 15 still a child think of doing this.. I will say that when my youngest son, fighting for his life as a baby was in the hospital and a young native American boy about 9 years old would come into the room ever y day and ask how Scott was. He would say he will get better won't he? he seemed to care so much. I would tell him as long as he is here he is doing good. One day I asked him why he was in the hospital and he showed me his wound. It was a rope burn. He had tried to hang himself. Shocked by the horror I let him tell me the story and how sad. This child endured such abuse by the adults in his life that he wanted to die. I gently spoke to him about Scott's struggle to live and that life was going to be better for him also when he healed because no one would let him go back to the abusers. His answer was,"If I go back, this time I will do it right." I learned a lot from that little child. There are too many people in this world that do not value a child and its potential. All they need is love, and the basics to live.

The Right to bear arms another thought

I still am thinking of that young man that took the hostages in WI yesterday, not the guns. He had to be desperate to be heard to do this. Everyone said he was a god student and friendly. But sometimes our pain on the inside does not show. it is like the young people hanging themselves for being ridiculed passed the point of no return. Most teenage one car accidents hitting a bridge or a pole or from high speed are suicides, no one says take away cars. We need to change what the schools the parents are doing. These children are lost in the cracks way too often. Now instead of help he will be thrown in some prison and learn to be a murderer.

The right to bear arms

Nov 30, '10 8:20 AM for everyone

We will have this discussion every time we hear of a school situation. or domestic violence. It is not the fact that we can have weapons.It is the way society is raising their children or lack of good parenting. The fact that school lose students with problems in the mix of things.
I raised 6 sons and 2 daughters. five of the sons have guns. My brothers each have a room full. None of these people would take a gun out and kill someone.
Anger, hurt frustration mental illness, wanting help and no on listening are more the culprits than the weapon.
How many children are beat to death by their parents fists? How many drunk drivers are given back their license and go get drunk and kill someone. Students hanging themselves because of meanness and hatred of the group misfit and by misfit I mean someone that does not follow the group for any reason. Now there is drugs, every year I hear more and more that drugs do not hurt or kill.That is pure crap like cigarettes do not kill, or booze does not kill.
People make quick assumptions so they can move on to the more important daily lives and not have to think is there something we are missing here?

Just something I needed to say

PAIN THAT DOES NOT SHOW

When I was a child not feeling love,

Feeling hands that should not be there,

So helpless in my prison of bed,

Wait, I said this little child,

Crying inside, I hear the bus,

The bus was my savior,

When it stopped, he stopped.

Creative Challenge 11

Life In Motion

As a child the days were long, tomorrow a dream,

Running carefree in summer with the sun on our faces,

Or in winter sledding, making snowmen all bundled up,

The first date, the first kiss that jolt of emotion,

First love, not the final one but special anyway,

Saying, “I do” with promise so bright,

Thinking everything is perfect, this life we chose,

Reality sets in, the pain, the laughter,

Finding perfection was but a dream,

Pretending it will get better,

Living the false life dragging you down,

Who is this person that never used to be,

Where did you go, this person I do not like,

From time to time a flash of her, then gone again,

Then finding that life does have wings,

To step away, to find that child

In that image, you find the courage,

Real love is letting you be free,

To be the person you were always meant to be.

Creative Challenge 11-30

Go away Stinking Thinking

Looking out at the ice and little snow,

Winds blowing the trees, the street light blinking

I wonder where in the world I could go,

Can’t walk out and get the mail,

Grumbling aloud to myself, the mood is stinking,

Slipping in Bathroom grabbing onto a rail,

Making a mess with bowl of cereal.

Remembering the night of pain,

Wishing it away does not work,

A Monday Tuesday is what I am thinking,

Life is a choice I always say.

So choose to be happy, and plan a day.

Filled with music and laughter,

Let the wind blow, the gray sky be dreary,

This home is where I really want to be.

Creative Challenge ~ Time to Time

Life In Motion

As a child the days were long, tomorrow a dream,

Running carefree in summer with the sun on our faces,

Or in winter sledding, making snowmen all bundled up,

The first date, the first kiss that jolt of emotion,

First love, not the final one but special anyway,

Saying, “I do” with promise so bright,

Thinking everything is perfect, this life we chose,

Reality sets in, the pain, the laughter,

Finding perfection was but a dream,

Pretending it will get better,

Living the false life dragging you down,

Who is this person that never used to be,

Where did you go, this person I do not like,

From time to time a flash of her, then gone again,

Then finding that life does have wings,

To step away, to find that child

In that image, you find the courage,

Real love is letting you be free,

To be the person you were always meant to be.

I tried to find the originl post but seems to be missing

One summer day in August I was sitting a the computer just chatting with friends and I heard some one walking in my house. I thought, one of the kids, so I gave a"hey who is there ," There was no answer and I thought what the dickens. I got up and went to check, no one was there. but when I left the room (Kitchen) and came back to computer the walking, I should say stomping stared up again. The clump clump clump would go from the kitchen to the middle of my Living- dining room combination.Then it would turn around and clump back.
This went on for a few days. I gave up wondering about it, thinking who ever it was would get sick of it if I ignored it. When on the next Sunday came, which was four or five days later after this all started, I got a knock on my door. When I answered it there was a woman maybe in her 40s standing there. I asked her what she wanted and she explained that her family was having a reunion at out local park for the last few days and as she was leaving she got the urge to come to my house . It seems her grandparents built the house and she asked if she could look through it to see the changes. I said okay. after she had looked and told me what was changed. For some reason I told her about the stomping. She had a strange look on her face and said grandpa stomped when he walked. I showed her where the sound started and stopped. She said the spot where it stopped was where the kids would sit to play board games and grandpa would walk in and pretend to step on the board, then he would laugh and walk away.. We chatted for a bit and she left. I never heard the sound again.

This was posted 7 months ago and I found it again while looking on old blogs for something else.

I am anti abortion,
I am anti rude,
I am anti mean,
I am anti bigotry of all people that are bigots,
I am anti liars.
I am anti corrupt elected officials.
I am anti starving children while we fight over who is the meanest or craziest of the two parties
I am anti slander.
I am pro kindness,
I am pro faith,
I am pro helping people that need help
I am pro manners
I am pro understanding.
I like interesting
I like people that are able to think outside the box
I like people that would never think of saying rude, false things about people they do not know
I like people that use their brains to form opinions instead of copying and pasting someone else s thoughts, whether they know what they are talking about or not.
I like people with good sense of humor.
I like people that do not take themselves so seriously that others get the feeling they are snobs.
I like Minnesotans. Americans, Canadians, and most of the rest of the world.
I feel sad that our country has come to this dissension
I am sad that people are losing their jobs.
I am sad the people are losing their homes.
I am sad that children and their parents go hungry,
I am sad that they will go to bed cold or sleep on the ground or in a box
I was raised to not judge others until I walked a day in their shoes.
It always amazes me when someone I thought was open minded was not.

ELECTION TIME AND GETTING IT RIGHT

This election is going to be hard. I thought the last one was but I think this one has it beat. I will be crisscrossing the ballot sheet a lot.
The best candidate for governor will not win, so do I vote for him anyway or vote for one of the tow bad choices the Democrat And the Republican. Shaking head as I write. I will vote Republican for some candidates for the house and various other positions and I will vote Democrat for a couple.
I do not believe in the party line. I will vote Democrat for the best person even though the official party line is too liberal and I am antiabortion. I will also vote for the Republican because I also think aside from my objections to some of their party line the candidate is the best one. I really wish that the independents had a better backing but maybe they are the least corrupted because no one is buying them.
I wonder how many others will take the time to think all of this over before voting. I hope that even if they do not , they go and vote.

Another old 360 blog

FLIGHTS OF FANCY

I was in my favorite chat room when I noticed the time. I said I have to go watch Dancing with the stars. I just I can't miss it, I think I am addicted to people that can move.

I do love watching skaters glide and twirl with such grace and ease. Dancers swaying, swinging, doing cha chas or what ever dance that is picked for them also. Some part of my mind moves with them almost like I am actually doing it too. Good thing I have a vivid imagination. It is like reading a good fiction novel, I can plant myself in those scenraios also.

Maybe it is a coping skill to get through days when you would rather be doing anything else but what you are doing. I can sing beautifully when I am alone and no one can hear me. I could paint wonderful works of art if I had the paint, the canvas, the time. In our minds we can reach great heights. Solve world problems, invent the best gadgets.

Isn't a good imagination wonderful? Dreams can take you anywhere. if I could wish one thing for everyone, it would be imagination. The possibilities are endless. It can even get you through a bad day.

Another 360 blog after the 2008 elections

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Blog Home> November 2008

time to stop the blame

The election is over people time to stop the madness!! I have never in my life heard and seen so much mud slinging by people that supported Senator Obama, I thought the republican party went over the line in the first Bush years with their abuse, but Democrats really out did them royally this election! I do not understand it,I am a Democrat and the childish name calling and dire warnings of doom made me ashamed to be a Democrat. Not only family members ,friends in life and in chat. The worst of it was and is the celebrities that are taking advantage of their positions on talk and news shows to keep the rhetoric up about McCain and Palin.

Now I do not and did not believe in Obama. I am an American, I will give this guy the chance to prove me wrong. No mud slinging. But day after day, night after night I hear personal insults about McCain and Palin. There is no reason to keep saying nasty insults! They have not stolen anything, murdered anyone, hurt anyone in anyway I ever heard, so what is it that frightens people to the point of slinging mud when these people have gone back to their homes, to their jobs ( which by the way both did quite well) and they will continue to do their jobs to the best of their abilities.

When is the real problem going to be talked about? The legislature, the people we vote in to do our bidding. Where is their loyalty to the voters , not to lobbyists, big business( and if you believe that democrats do not take the perks and the gifts from big business, I have some bridges to sell you) They as a whole, have not done their jobs and haven't for the last 20 or 30 years. It does not matter who is president if our elected Congressman and Senators do what they want without regard for the will of the voters.

Why not start writing letters, emails to your local representatives weekly, telling them what you like or dislike about how they are doing their jobs. We need to stop acting like spoiled 5th graders and do something about the problem instead of blaming the other side of the isle. There are no isles in America that can not be crossed. There should not be isles at all, it should be all for one and one for all. Discussion without rudeness. Debate means explaining you side of a subject , not try to destroy the opponent.

I wrote this on Yahoo 360, I thought it still should mean something

Entry for October 19, 2007

I wonder when intolerance, cruelty, violence become part of the world we live in. Are we born with all of these prejudices negative feelings?

Or are we taught from our parents as they were taught from theirs.When does a person stop caring about another's feelings? How can anyone love when their hearts and minds are filled with intolerance,hate and violence? Albert Einstein said peace must start with the children. I raised my family to be kind, to care about others, to be considerate. I was raised to live by the golden rule,"Do unto others" And hopefully I passed it on.

I get frustrated when I hear others speak of hurting others, good or bad.Then I think when does it end. How can it end. I do know it must end.We are meant to live in this world peacefully. Allowing each other the right to their own beliefs and traditions.

Maybe if everyone that reads this does something nice for a stranger, it will be a start. It would also be nice if everyone that reads this, comments on what they think the words, kindness, tolerance , and peace means to them. Maybe it is just one little step at a time by strangers to overcome the horrors that happen in this world.

I am told at times I do not live in the real world. If that is true. I am happy to be in the one I am in. I do believe anything is possible!

I was thinking ( you all know how dangerous that is)

Why are so many people fighting tooth and nail over something that is going to happen whether we like it or not. November 2 -2010 we will vote. Some will win, some will lose. Now think about this, Is it really going to make a huge difference in our lives? The world is not going to end. The price of everything ebbs and flows. As long as we can feed our families, keep them warm. and hope there is a roof over our heads. Can we not reach out and work together to help others in worse shape rather than having the government force us to? Or have them borrow more money ( that we can not afford) that they will spend inefficiently.
Is all of the rhetoric pro and con worth the dissension?
people are too angry. The right is angry, the left is angry at the right for being angry. so it is a vicious circle. And the propaganda bloggers fire up all the dissension. I say shame on them, they are paid to create hate, to destroy what our fore fathers built. It is time to tell them to shut up. We need to stop the madness or we will implode as a nation. and that is not so far away if this keeps up.

So Much anger

I read a blog and saw on the news about the poor woman who was attacked by a couple of angry people outside a political meeting. How sad is this? There has always been high emotions at election time. I thought the 2000, 2004 2008, mud slinging elections were bad, but this mid term election is the worst. I could go back in time and show terrible pictures taken at election time, the riots, but it does not excuse this horrible behavior by anyone
I see on Multiply the anger the "my way or the highway" attitude is rampant. It does not matter if you are liberal, moderate, democrat,conservative ,Republican the anger is overwhelming at times. There are some like me that sees both sides the good and the bad. I like facts, I do not read political blogs written by people paid to make everyone angry. I can see they are succeeding. The sad part is both sides blame the other for the anger. It is not the people who believe in a platform on either side that is at fault. Well believing the shit stirrers is wrong.
I registered as an Independent the year, after being a Democrat all my adult life this was a hard decision. I will continue to vote for the person that I believe is the best candidate no matter what party. That is the way it should be.
This anger has boiled over into a ot more than politics as I saw yesterday. What happened to discussion with manners? When did usually nice people became shamefully mean? If you have the answer to that please feel free to explain.

We are being told that SS meicare and MA are sucking the blood out of the budget, here is 2009

I hope these graphs show up

John

John Quincy Adams - 6th President of the United States

By Martin Kelly, About.com Guide

See More About:

• john quincy adams
• american presidents
• corrupt bargain

John Quincy Adam's Childhood and Education:

Born on July 11, 1767 in Braintree, Massachusetts, John Quincy Adams had a fascinating childhood. He grew up during the American Revolution. He lived and travelled throughout Europe. He was tutored by his parents and was an excellent student. He went to schools in Paris and Amsterdam. Back in America, he entered Harvard as a Junion. He graduated second in his class in 1787. He then studied law and was a voracious reader his whole life.

Family Ties:

Father: John Adams - Second President of the United States.
Mother: Abigail Adams - well-read and a huge influence.
Siblings: One sister - Abigail Smith; two brothers - Charles and Thomas Boylston.
Wife: Louisa Catherine Johnson - the only foreign born first lady.
Children: George Washington Adams, John Adams II, and Charles Francis who had an ilustrious career as a diplomat.

John Quincy Adam's Career Before the Presidency:

Adams opened a law office before becoming a minister to the Netherlands (1794-7). He then was named Minister to Prussia (1797-1801). He served as a US Senator (1803-8) and was then appointed by James Madison as Minister to Russia (1809-14). He became Minister to Great Britain in 1815 before being named as James Monroe's Secretary of State (1817-25). He was the chief negotiator of the Treaty of Ghent (1814).

Election of 1824:

No major caucuses or national conventions existed to nominate candidates for president. John Quincy Adams had three major opponents: Andrew Jackson, William Crawford, and Henry Clay. The campaign was full of sectional strife. Jackson was much more a "man of the people" than Adams and had widespread support. He won 42% of the popular vote versus Adams 32%. However, Jackson received 37% of the electoral votes and Adams got 32%. Since no one received a majority, the election was sent to the House.

Corrupt Bargain:

With the election to be decided in the House, each state could cast one vote for president. Henry Clay dropped out and supported John Qunicy Adams who was elected on the first vote. When Adams became president, he appointed Clay to be his Secretary of State. This led opponents to claim that a "corrupt bargain" had been made between the two of them. They both denied this. Clay even participated in a duel to prove his innocence in this matter.

Post Presidential Period:

Adams became the only President elected to the US House in 1830 after serving as president. He served there 17 years. One key event during this time was his role in arguing before the Supreme Court to free the slave mutineers aboard the Amistad. He died after having a stroke on the floor of the US House on February 23, 1848.

Historical Significance:

Adams was significant mainly for his time before being president as Secretary of State. He negotiated the Adams-Onis Treaty. He was key in advising Monroe to deliver the Monroe Doctrine without the joint agreement of Great Britain. His election in 1824 over Andrew Jackson had the effect of propelling Jackson into the presidency in 1828. He also was the first president to advocate federal support for internal improvements.

Events and Accomplishments of John Quincy Adam's Presidency:

John Quincy Adams served only one term as president. He supported internal improvements including the extension of the Cumberland Road. In 1828, the so-called "tariff of abominations" was passed. Its goal was to protect domestic manufacturing. It was strongly opposed in the South and led Vice President John C. Calhoun to argue again for the right of nullification - to have South Carolina nullify it by ruling it unconstitutional.

Andrew Jackson

More nearly than any of his predecessors, Andrew Jackson was elected by popular vote; as President he sought to act as the direct representative of the common man.

Born in a backwoods settlement in the Carolinas in 1767, he received sporadic education. But in his late teens he read law for about two years, and he became an outstanding young lawyer in Tennessee. Fiercely jealous of his honor, he engaged in brawls, and in a duel killed a man who cast an unjustified slur on his wife Rachel.

Jackson prospered sufficiently to buy slaves and to build a mansion, the Hermitage, near Nashville. He was the first man elected from Tennessee to the House of Representatives, and he served briefly in the Senate. A major general in the War of 1812, Jackson became a national hero when he defeated the British at New Orleans.

In 1824 some state political factions rallied around Jackson; by 1828 enough had joined "Old Hickory" to win numerous state elections and control of the Federal administration in Washington.

In his first Annual Message to Congress, Jackson recommended eliminating the Electoral College. He also tried to democratize Federal officeholding. Already state machines were being built on patronage, and a New York Senator openly proclaimed "that to the victors belong the spoils. . . . "

Jackson took a milder view. Decrying officeholders who seemed to enjoy life tenure, he believed Government duties could be "so plain and simple" that offices should rotate among deserving applicants.

As national politics polarized around Jackson and his opposition, two parties grew out of the old Republican Party--the Democratic Republicans, or Democrats, adhering to Jackson; and the National Republicans, or Whigs, opposing him.

Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, and other Whig leaders proclaimed themselves defenders of popular liberties against the usurpation of Jackson. Hostile cartoonists portrayed him as King Andrew I.

Behind their accusations lay the fact that Jackson, unlike previous Presidents, did not defer to Congress in policy-making but used his power of the veto and his party leadership to assume command.

The greatest party battle centered around the Second Bank of the United States, a private corporation but virtually a Government-sponsored monopoly. When Jackson appeared hostile toward it, the Bank threw its power against him.

Clay and Webster, who had acted as attorneys for the Bank, led the fight for its recharter in Congress. "The bank," Jackson told Martin Van Buren, "is trying to kill me, but I will kill it!" Jackson, in vetoing the recharter bill, charged the Bank with undue economic privilege.

His views won approval from the American electorate; in 1832 he polled more than 56 percent of the popular vote and almost five times as many electoral votes as Clay.

Jackson met head-on the challenge of John C. Calhoun, leader of forces trying to rid themselves of a high protective tariff.

When South Carolina undertook to nullify the tariff, Jackson ordered armed forces to Charleston and privately threatened to hang Calhoun. Violence seemed imminent until Clay negotiated a compromise: tariffs were lowered and South Carolina dropped nullification.

In January of 1832, while the President was dining with friends at the White House, someone whispered to him that the Senate had rejected the nomination of Martin Van Buren as Minister to England. Jackson jumped to his feet and exclaimed, "By the Eternal! I'll smash them!" So he did. His favorite, Van Buren, became Vice President, and succeeded to the Presidency when "Old Hickory" retired to the Hermitage, where he died in June 1845.

Visualizing Obama's "Budget Cuts"

This Will Rot More than Your Teeth

The hospital's consulting dietitian was giving a lecture to several community nurses from the Southampton area of Hampshire.

'The rubbish we put into our stomachs and consume should have killed most of us sitting here, years ago. Red meat is terrible. Fizzy drinks attack your stomach lining. Chinese food is loaded with msg. Vegetables can be disastrous because of fertilizers and pesticides and none of us realizes the long-term damage being done by the rotten bacteria in our drinking water. However, there is one food that is incredibly dangerous and we all have, or will, eat it at some time in our lives.

Now, is anyone here able to tell me what food it is that causes the most grief and suffering for years after eating it?'

A 65-year-old nursing sister sitting in the front row stood up and said, 'Wedding cake.'

100 Years Ago...

A lot of this is applicable to our grandparents, and even some of our parents.

It May Be Hard to Believe That A Scant 100 Years Ago...

• The average life expectancy in the United States was forty-seven.
• Only 14 percent of the homes in the United States had a bathtub.
• Only 8 percent of the homes had a telephone. A three minute call from Denver to New York City cost eleven dollars.
• There were only 8,000 cars in the US and only 144 miles of paved roads.
• The maximum speed limit in most cities was ten mph.
• Alabama, Mississippi, Iowa, and Tennessee were each more heavily populated than California. With a mere 1.4 million residents, California was only the twenty-first most populous state in the Union.
• The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower.
• The average wage in the U.S. was twenty-two cents an hour. The average U.S. worker made between $200 and $400 per year.
• A competent accountant could expect to earn $2000 per year, a dentist $2500 per year, a veterinarian between $1500 and $4000 per year, and a mechanical engineer about $5000 per year.
• More than 95 percent of all births in the United States took place at home.



• Ninety percent of all U.S. physicians had no college education. Instead, they attended medical schools, many of which were condemned in the press and by the government as "substandard."
• Sugar cost four cents a pound.
• Eggs were fourteen cents a dozen.
• Coffee cost fifteen cents a pound.
• Most women only washed their hair once a month and used borax or egg yolks for shampoo.
• Canada passed a law prohibiting poor people from entering the country for any reason, either as travelers or immigrants.
• The five leading causes of death in the U.S. were: 1. Pneumonia and influenza 2. Tuberculosis 3. Diarrhea 4. Heart disease 5. Stroke
• The American flag had 45 stars. Arizona, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Hawaii and Alaska hadn't been admitted to the Union yet.
• Drive-by-shootings, in which teenage boys galloped down the street on horses and started randomly shooting at houses, carriages, or anything else that caught their fancy, were an ongoing problem in Denver and other cities in the West.
• The population of Las Vegas, Nevada was thirty. The remote desert community was inhabited by only a handful of ranchers and their families.



• Plutonium, insulin, and antibiotics hadn't been discovered yet. Scotch tape, crossword puzzles, canned beer, and iced tea hadn't been invented.
• There was no Mother's Day or Father's Day.
• One in ten U.S. adults couldn't read or write. Only 6 percent of all Americans had graduated from high school.
• Some medical authorities warned that professional seamstresses were apt to become sexually aroused by the steady rhythm, hour after hour, of the sewing machine's foot pedals. They recommended slipping bromide, which was thought to diminish sexual desire,into the woman's drinking water.
• Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available over the counter at corner drugstores. According to one pharmacist, "Heroin clears the complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind, regulates the stomach and the bowels, and is, in fact, a perfect guardian of health.
• Coca-Cola contained cocaine instead of caffeine.
• Punch card data processing had recently been developed, and early predecessors of the modern computer were used for the first time by the government to help compile the 1900 census.
• Eighteen percent of households in the United States had at least one full-time servant or domestic.

Author Unknown

Sam Adams history

Samuel Adams

1722-1803

Representing Massachusetts at the Continental Congress

by Ole Erekson, Engraver, c1876, Library of Congress

Born:	September 27, 1722
Birthplace:	Boston, Mass.
Education:	Master of Arts, Harvard. (Politician)
Work:	Tax-collector; Elected to Massachusetts Assembly, 1765; Delegate to the First Continental Congress, 1774; Signed Declaration of Independence, 1776; Member of Massachusetts State constitutional convention, 1781; Appointed Lieutenant Governor of Mass., 1789; Elected Governor of Massachusetts, 1794-'97.
Died:	October 2, 1803

Samuel and John Adams' names are almost synonymous in all accounts of the Revolution that grew, largely, out of Boston. Though they were cousins and not brothers, they were often referred to as the Adams' brothers, or simply as the Adams'. Samuel Adams was born in Boston, son of a merchant and brewer. He was an excellent politician, an unsuccessful brewer, and a poor businessman. His early public office as a tax collector might have made him suspect as an agent of British authority, however he made good use of his understanding of the tax codes and wide acquaintance with the merchants of Boston. Samuel was a very visible popular leader who, along with John, spent a great deal of time in the public eye agitating for resistance. In 1765 he was elected to the Massachusetts Assembly where he served as clerk for many years. It was there that he was the first to propose a continental congress. He was a leading advocate of republicanism and a good friend of Tom Paine. In 1774, he was chosen to be a member of the provincial council during the crisis in Boston. He was then appointed as a representative to the Continental Congress, where he was most noted for his oratory skills, and as a passionate advocate of independence from Britain. In 1776, as a delegate to the Continental Congress, he signed the Declaration of Independence. Adams retired from the Congress in 1781 and returned to Massachusetts to become a leading member of that state's convention to form a constitution. In 1789 he was appointed lieutenant governor of the state. In 1794 he was elected Governor, and was re-elected annually until 1797 when he retired for health reasons. He died in the morning of October 2, 1803, in his home town of Boston.

George Soros part 2

In 1947 Soros' family relocated from Hungary to England. Five years later, George graduated from the London School of Economics. He subsequently worked for a London stockbroker.

In 1956 Soros, with meager personal assets, emigrated to the United States. He would go on to become one of the world's leading hedge fund investors and currency traders. In 1969 he started his enormously successful Quantum Fund, which, over the ensuing three decades, yielded its long-term investors a four thousand-fold gain on their initial 1969 investments.

In a $10 billion 1992 deal whose success was contingent upon the devaluation of the British Pound, Soros earned himself a $1 billion profit and the title, "the man who broke the Bank of England." To date, he has amassed a personal fortune exceeding $7 billion. In addition, his management company controls billions of dollars more in investor assets.

In 1979 Soros established the Open Society Institute (OSI), which serves as the flagship of a network of Soros foundations that donate tens of millions of dollars each year to a wide array of individuals and organizations that share the founder's agendas. Those agendas can be summarized as follows:

• promoting the view that America is institutionally an oppressive nation
• promoting the election of leftist political candidates throughout the United States
• opposing virtually all post-9/11 national security measures enacted by U.S. government, particularly the Patriot Act
• depicting American military actions as unjust, unwarranted, and immoral
• promoting open borders, mass immigration, and a watering down of current immigration laws
• promoting a dramatic expansion of social welfare programs funded by ever-escalating taxes
• promoting social welfare benefits and amnesty for illegal aliens
• defending the civil rights and liberties of suspected anti-American terrorists and their abetters
• financing the recruitment and training of future activist leaders of the political Left
• advocating America's unilateral disarmament and/or a steep reduction in its military spending
• opposing the death penalty in all circumstances
• promoting socialized medicine in the United States
• promoting the tenets of radical environmentalism, whose ultimate goal, as writer Michael Berliner has explained, is "not clean air and clean water, [but] rather ... the demolition of technological/industrial civilization"
• bringing American foreign policy under the control of the United Nations
• promoting racial and ethnic preferences in academia and the business world alike
• promoting taxpayer-funded abortion-on-demand
• advocating stricter gun-control measures
• advocating the legalization of marijuana

Things I CAN do today

I already helped someone find phone numbers to order fuel for winter
I wished an old ( and I mean Old) HAHA friend a happy birthday
I did not throw my shoe through the television when Joy Behar ran her mean bigoted mouth ( I deserve a gold star for that one)
I can research some dude named Horowitz that is some health guru in Canada ( son thinks I will have a miracle cure if I listen to him)
I explained to my kids dad (ex) that the sore on his face could be cancer and to have it looked at. Now I am trying to get the smell of old cigarette smoke out of my house. whewwwwwwwww! I hope I did not smell that bad when I smoked.
Going to work with grand daughter on the body's CNS for anatomy when she gets here later. Gee I am much busier than I thought.

Wednesday wisdom

A bit of where our money is going

DOL
Department of Labor
OASAM
Combating Exploitative Child Labor by Promoting Sustainable Livelihoods and Educational Opportunities for Children in Egypt
Modification 3
http://www07.grants.gov/search/search.do?&mode=VIEW&oppId=58210

more grants available

USAID
Agency for International Development
Tanzania USAID-Dar es Salaam
21st Century Basic Education Program
Grant
http://www07.grants.gov/search/search.do?&mode=VIEW&oppId=58493
 
 
 
DOS
Department of State
Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs
Middle East Partnership Initiative
Supporting Civic Activism and Advocacy in the Middle East and North Africa
Grant
http://www07.grants.gov/search/search.do?&mode=VIEW&oppId=58494

Just a couple of grants that I wonder why we need to be paying for this

DOL
Department of Labor
OASAM
Combating Exploitative Child Labor by Promoting Sustainable Livelihoods and Educational Opportunities for Children in Egypt
Modification 3
http://www07.grants.gov/search/search.do?&mode=VIEW&oppId=58210
 
 
 
DOL
Department of Labor
OASAM
Combating Exploitative Child Labor by Promoting Sustainable Livelihoods and Educational Opportunities for Children in Jordan
Modification 1
http://www07.grants.gov/search/search.do?&mode=VIEW&oppId=58353
 

What are entitlements good and bad

Social Security, Medicare are considered entitlements,Ones that are paid for by the recipients. For the most part these people worked hard all their lives and paid without complaint for these benefits.So why are they called entitlements? Which by the way would not be in trouble if the government would put all of the stolen SS money back in the fund. The stealing started soon after SS was established and every President since has used it illegally or at least immorally. What surprised me was military benefits are entitlements.How screwy is that.
SSI for illegals,Welfare,food stamps ,college grants are not paid for directly from pay check.
I think people using this word as a detriment to belonging to a cause is so wrong. College grants should be used more carefully .Grants should only be granted for a specified goal only and if the goal is not reached they should have to pay it back..Education grants should be revoked if the grade point average is not at least maintained at a C or above.If You are arrested for drugs or drinking under age or even legal age then they should be revoked. Grants to other countries for some obscrue project should be stopped. Grants to count woodchucks or little fish in a certain area should be stopped. Any grant that is not for education or to make people's health and life better. Grants to find out how many people have grants should be stopped.
Why isn't the hiring of over 15,000 new employees to over see our health care system by the IRS considered entitlements? Why isn't retirement for all elected officials considered entitlements? They never earned them. The Presidents Czars should be entitlements(and I mean any president) All of these should be stopped before attacking the elderly and the disabled who have paid thei money all their lives while these other people have no investment. Military benefits for cripes sake Why isn't laying your life on the line a way of earning benefits without being grouped by politicians that need to fight about something.
The liberals and conservatives should wake up and smell coffee, The people that wanta sociatist society should wake up and smell coffeee. This not about who is right or wrong in an election year. This is about the Tea Party wanting smaller government. The Tea party does not want old people or disabled to live on the streets or starve. They want a smaller more efficient government, not hiring more people to shuffle papers and make decisions about which they know nothing about.Our new health care system will be the same as calling a computer tech in some country that barely speaks English and has to read from a list of steps to tell you what is wrong and what you should or should not do about it. Makes me feel that every one has my best interests at heart.

I was thinking ( and that could be a mistake)

I decided all elected officials should punch a time card and only be paid for hours worked , and should only get what he national average scale is.
I also think it should be illegal for any sitting President to go campaign against any party. the moment the President takes office he takes office for all of the countries citizens. I am not saying this because of Obama, I thought this with Reagan, the Bushs, Clintons. I do not remember a lot of others doing this. Just an example more than 52,000,00 voters voted for Obama.Over 49,000.000 voted for someone else. But they are still Americans and the oath of office insures that the president will work for all Americans. It does not say all Americans except at election time.
I also really think there should be a time limit on campaigning, to be honest if they can not convince us in 90 days , they are not worth voting for. All campaign ads should be illegal. Campaigning should be in person debates so we can compare. Not this Bull shit negative crap from all sides. I am ready to go buy a manure spreader and I do not have a tractor.

Lot of different reasons for pain

A bit of election history

Campaigns and Elections

The Campaign and Election of 1836

William Henry Harrison began to spend time with others in his region who had been dealt out of the Jackson regime. Opposition to the powerful, popular Jackson ran so strong in some sectors that they had formed their own party, called the Whigs. Observing Andrew Jackson's war hero popularity and political success, the Whigs reasoned that it would take another war hero to oppose Martin Van Buren, Jackson's chosen successor in 1836. Harrison was chosen as a Whig candidate, but not the only one. In an attempt to deny Van Buren an expected victory in the electoral college, the Whigs actually ran three regional candidates, including Harrison in the West.

Although the strategy didn't work, Harrison did make a good showing, coming in second and carrying nine states out of twenty-six in the Union. His moderate success and promise demonstrated to the Whigs that he was the candidate to support in 1840 to unseat Van Buren.


The Campaign and Election of 1840

Even before Martin Van Buren took office, it was evident that the nation was on the brink of economic disaster. Andrew Jackson's war with the Bank of the United States resulted in high inflation, unemployment, and business failures. Van Buren inherited this situation, which became known as the Panic of 1837, and was reluctant to take corrective action. His mismanagement of this economic crisis, combined with his seemingly uncaring image (he lived well and dressed well while the public feared for its economic future), made the President unpopular among the electorate.

Not surprisingly, the Whig Party saw many opportunities for advancing a candidate in the 1840 election. Well before the 1840 campaign, they knew a candidate giving voters a strong contrast with the drab, aristocratic President would win easily. They held their convention in late 1839, months before the usual time for nomination proceedings. Neither of their leaders -- Daniel Webster or Henry Clay -- enjoyed broad popular support. However, William Henry Harrison, a born southerner and war hero, seemed to make a perfect foil for the incumbent. In addition, both Harrison and his running mate, John Tyler, were from Virginia, the core state of Van Buren's Democratic Party. While Clay led after the first canvassing, he fell short of the needed majority. By the time of the first ballot, Whig delegates had turned to Harrison.

Both the President and his party made serious errors in the conduct of their reelection campaign. Van Buren underestimated the Whigs by assuming that they were a party of wildly diverse philosophies, united only by their hatred of Andrew Jackson; how could they organize a coherent opposition? To the Democrat's surprise, the Whigs organized and attacked Van Buren for being lordly and uncaring toward the nation. The Democrats then stumbled into a bad trap. One of their newspapers ridiculed Harrison as a dull rustic: "Give him a barrel of hard (alcoholic) cider and settle a pension of two thousand a year on him, and take my word for it, he will sit the remainder of his days in his log cabin."

This delivered the election into Harrison's hand. The Whigs jumped at this Democrat-drawn contrast with the sophisticated Van Buren and drove it home. They flooded the electorate with posters and badges extolling the virtues of their colorful, down-home "log cabin and hard cider" candidate, the hero of Tippecanoe. In their image remaking of Harrison, the Whigs misrepresented him to the electorate. Harrison was actually from an established Virginia family, a learned student of classics, and a man who enjoyed luxurious living to the point that he was continually in debt. But voters wanted to identify with a war hero who shared their down-to-earth values. Hence, the Whigs' strategy worked. They offered to the electorate "Old Tip," transforming a genteel blue blood into "One of Us." It became the first true use of political "handling," or public image-making, in an American presidential race. While Van Buren tried to run an intelligent, issues-driven campaign -- not the best of strategies when one's country is mired in depression -- Harrison's went straight for the emotional heart.

Since Jackson's 1832 presidential campaign, politics had become a form of entertainment for the masses. Campaign rallies, meetings, bonfires and barbecues were now firmly entrenched in American life. The Whigs employed these tactics from Jackson (whose campaign was managed by Van Buren) to turn the tables on the Democrats.

One group of Whig party members pushed a ten foot, paper and tin ball emblazoned with pro-Harrison slogans for hundreds of miles. Others handed out whiskey in log cabin-shaped bottles supplied by the E.C. Booz distillery. (Thus came two additions to the American vocabulary: "keep the ball rolling" and "booze.") The Whigs mass-marketed their candidate, flooding America with cups, plates, flags, and sewing boxes with Old Tip pictured on them. Countless popular songs left little doubt who the Whigs were for and against. One of the campaign song lyrics included:

Old Tip he wears a homespun coat
He has no ruffled shirt-wirt-wirt
But Mat has the golden plate
And he's a squirt-wirt-wirt.

Roughly translated, this ballad said that while Harrison was a humble, simple man in the dress of the working class, Van Buren was a decadent snob who ate off expensive dinnerware and liked to perfume himself.

The name-calling came next: Van Buren was called "Martin Van Ruin" and "A First-Rate Second-Rate Man." Above all else, Harrison inspired the first and most famous of campaign slogans: "Tippecanoe and Tyler Too."

The Whigs also ridiculed Van Buren's vice president, Richard Johnson. Even though Johnson was an old comrade of Harrison's who was widely credited with killing Tecumseh, Johnson's Indian fighter fame was not enough to deflect the revelations that he had sexual relations with African American women. In response, the Democrats dropped him from the ticket and fought back with campaign propaganda. Meanwhile, Van Buren stayed in the White House, trying to appear above all the indignities.

In contrast, Harrison got into the act on the campaign trail, sharing and entertaining the public with his impressions of Native American war whoops (loud calls). These sorts of events were popular because they took people's minds off the nation's economic troubles. In June 1840, a Harrison rally at the site of the Tippecanoe battle drew 60,000 people! By the end of the campaign, there were parades three miles long of voters singing, chanting and drinking.

During the 1840 presidential campaign, political cartoons captured the themes, events and sentiments of the times. Many of the cartoons poked fun at Van Buren's ill-fated attempts to follow in Jackson's footsteps as well as the President's inability to effectively deal with the country's economic problems. A comparison between the two candidates also served as the focal point in some of the cartoons. Parodies of both rival political parties were also fair game. Most biting were the cartoons that showed Harrison having a clear lead in the presidential race.

Perhaps the political cartoons were correct in their predictions of the election results. When all the ballots had been counted, Harrison won nearly quadruple the number of electoral votes as Van Buren. The incumbent President had only won seven states, compared to Harrison's nineteen.

At age sixty-eight, Harrison was the oldest President elected in his century. It is possible that he was already feeling unwell, for in addressing supporters before leaving for the White House, he said he probably would not see any of them again. His wife, too, expressed similar misgivings. Now sixty-five, her health had declined badly in recent years; several papers described her as an "invalid." Yet another one of their offspring had died in recent weeks, and she was reportedly very saddened. On advice of her doctor, she did not accompany her husband to Washington. There were reports of an unusually cold winter there, and she decided to stay behind and wait for warmer weather. Harrison, however, was far from alone journeying to Washington. The Whigs, thrilled with their new found power, escorted him there in grand style.