Saturday, February 21, 2009

new gas tax in mass.

Today the gov.of mass.said he wants to raise the gas tax by 19 cents a gallon, making mass.the second highest gas tax in the country,right after new york,it was supose to be 20 cents but he's giving his state a break. thanks gov.duval.
I am i the only one who as noticed that people in New England are losing their jobs and houses?
President Obama said today that companies need to start taking less taxes out of wages and its estimated a family will get to keep about $65 a month.I know why don't the residents of mass. just have the money sent to duval patrick and he won't have to raise gas taxes.I mean its headed to him anyways why make the gas station the third person in this.
Personally I'm tired of all these new games to raise money.Our fore fathers threw tea in Boston Harbor we won't even stand up and say stop,your killing our state.
Anyways this whole country is a mess and the goverment is trying to turn us all into welfare recipients.There really is no reason to work hard and get ahead because once you get ahead even a little they tax you to death.
Some govenors have said they will not take the stimulius package because it would cause them to answer to the goverment.Good for them! but you will never see it happen in my state of conn.because they always have their hands out looking for free money.This way when they have new projects they can tell us how it wont cost us a thing because the goverment is paying for it.When ever the someone tells me some thing wont cost me a thing I know I'm in big trouble from step one.
I can't wait to see how this country will look in 4 years.I am hoping for hope.Lets see what happens.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Obama New Stimulus Package

President Obama with great pride signed his new stimulus package over 1,000 pages which our representatives were given less then 2 days to read.
Today while watching one of the finance channels the announcer was talking about what the new mortgage package for Freddie Mac and Fanny Mae would be like.
First people who are at risk of loosing their homes will get a lower interest rate in order to try and stave off the loss.Second a person who has tried different approaches and not been able to keep from foreclose can go to a judge and he can order how the interest rates and payments will be made and thirdly,you'll love this one,once a year the home owner,for making their payments,will get $1,000.00 as incentive to continue to pay off their mortgage.Sweet huh? so if you own your home for 10,20,30 years and are paying your mortgage you could end up with....we you do the math.
Now the rest of us who are hard working,have paid a mortgage for a number of years and have not had to default will get ,you guessed it "NOTHING".Thanks President Obama and all our wonderful representative for keeping us all in you hearts and mind.
I'm sorry to say this but not every one should own a home.Yes people should have a place to live but that does not always entitle you to home ownership.
Now don't get me wrong there are some people out there who need help buying their first home.With the prices of homes being what they are it can be very difficult to try to get a down payment together but if you have a good work record and can afford to up keep a house then I'm all for helping them.
I am not in favor of people who have little to no income buying things they can not possible afford just to have a home.Its very difficult to own a house there is repairs,taxes,insurance and home ownership requires you to be able to maintain and pay for these things.It does no good to give people things that will put them farther into debt.
We are in the mess were in because people got greedy and lenders got predatory.They took advantage of people who were more interested in owning a home then how they were going to pay for it.
This is not just the republicans mess my own Senator,Chris Dodd head of the finance commision and a democrat,was right there helping to push this mess on every one and when it collapsed he said "How could they have let this happen" like he was an innocent.
Now that were in this mess its time to try to get out.If you own a home you can't afford sell it and move back to an apartment where a landlord will pay for the upkeep.If you have to take a loss go ahead sell the house settle with the bank pay whats left for the next so many years and consider it a learning experience maybe next time you wont be sucked in by a con artist and will pay more attention when signing a contract. They say if it sounds to good to be true it probably is.So live and learn.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

ownership

have you ever thought about change? the changes in your life ,job or family.Have these changes been things you've had control over or things that were thrust upon you?
Most people are afraid of change and the more they try to grasp on tight the more they lose in the end, it all just slips through their fingers.But when you think about it what have you lost? money,power,glory,real estate,stocks,bonds.
Most material things that we lose we find out in the end were not all that important to us for a successful life, we can live with out them.This is a materialistic society if we don't hold it in our hands or see it on a piece of paper we feel it is not tangible to us.
Last year many churches folded because of lack of attendees and money all these people felt they had to fight as hard as they could to hold on to their churches but in the end it was taken away and though they all thought they would not survive this upset they did,for better or worse.
Yes their lives changed and change is never comfortable, but they have moved on.
Ask your self what exactly does a church mean to me? Is it a place of worship,the house of God, a meditative spiritual place,A warm comfy place to meet and be with friends and relatives,some place we go to once a week,that our parents brought us to that have a familiarity and reminder of our childhood long past.
If an earthquake or fire happened and our church was destroyed would our faith be also?
We as Christians must understand that we go to church to worship God not to worship our selves.The importance of worship allows us to have an understanding that faith is all around us.The first Christians prayed in catacombs if they were not willing to change and bring their worship forward we would still be praying with the dead, having agape meals on Saturday after temple.
Jesus came to this earth for change he wanted people to understand what religion was about to get to the core of faith to be fluid and that does not require a church.In the years Jesus walked the earth,even though he was a carpenter,he never built a church,he taught in peoples homes,on mountain sides,on the shores,in boats and fields.He understood that it was more important to bring his teachings to the people then to erect buildings.
They say that two things happen that do not allow for people to make needed changes.. one is fear and the other is greed..and neither fit with religion.
Ownership is not what religion is about its about bringing the word forward to all people.Not erecting and constructing churches and temples.When the building becomes more important then the reason for being in there,then we have greatly missed the mark.

Monday, February 16, 2009

Valetines day

My husband and I are not real big Valentine celebrators we usually just give each other a card,a hug and a kiss.This year we did a little more for each other.
On Friday I cooked Vic a turkey dinner,his favorite meal,if it were up to him we would have turkey once a week.We have gotten so we have the whole turkey meal down to a system.I tie and put the turkey on the spicket that goes into our rotisserie and when its down we take it out,Vic carves it while I set the table,and of course Christy our dog gets a few pieces as he's carving it,Vic says she has scavenging rights.Once the meal is done we pull the rest of the meat off the carcass put it into zip lock bags and freeze it for future use.
Vic got me a simple card with a cute little white dog on the front wearing a big heart and a miniature rose bush to plant this spring,I got him a small balloon that says i love you a card and a hallmark ecard.
Saturday afternoon when I got home he suggested we go see the new pink panther movie, which i jumped .I have been a pink panther person since the seventies.Peter Sellers was my favorite inspector but David Niven was also good.I must admit Steve Martin is very good in the new panther movies he has that slap stick nack and is able to carry it off.This was an fun evening and Valentine's day ended up being a 2 day event from Friday to Saturday evening.

Friday, February 13, 2009

St.Valentines Day

Tomorrow is St.Valentines day.
When I was a child every Valentines Day my father would bring home a large card and giant box of chocolates for my mother,he would give her these gifts a big hug and kiss.This was one of my fathers favorite days to show how much he loved us all.
Many people see this day as a time to show our love for our special friends and family.But few people know how this day started.
In the 3rd century an oppressive roman emperor, Claudius 11, ordered all Romans to worship his twelve gods making it a crime punishable by death to associate with Christians.But a christian named Valentinus was so dedicated to the ideals of Christ,that not even the threat of death could keep him from practicing his beliefs. For this he was arrested and imprisoned.
During the last weeks of his life a jailer,seeing that Valentinus was a learned man,
asked him if he would give his blind daughter,Julia, lessons for she was young and had a quick mind.
Valentinus read her stories of Rome's history,taught her arithmetic and told her about his God.By his stories she was able to see the world through his eyes.She trusted his wisdom and found great strength through him.
One day she asked him "Does God really hear our prayers"."yes" he answered,"He hears each one".Julia went on to tell him that every morning and every night she prayed to see everything that he had told her about.He said that "God does what is best for us if we will only believe in him" Julia told him that she did believe, knelt down and grasped his hand.They sat quietly together praying when a brilliant light shone in the prison cell."Valentinus,I can see!" she cried out "I can see!"."Praise be to God he said" and knelt down in prayer.
On the eve of his death Valentinus wrote a note for Julia,urging her to stay close to God and he signed it "From Your Valentine" he was executed the next day,February 14,270 A.D., near a gate that was later named Porta Valentini in his memory.He is buried at what is now called the Church of Praxedes in Rome.It is said the Julia herself planted a pink blossomed almond tree near the gate.Today, the almond tree remains a symbol of abiding love and friendship.
On February 14,2006.This special day, my dear father passed away.What he passed on to me was the example of showing and telling the people you love that they are special and will always be close to you in your heart.Take a minute tomorrow and wish some one near and dear to you a Happy Valentines Day help them to know how blessed you are to have them in your life.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Happy 200th Birthday Abe

I couldn't let this day go by with out taking a moment to say happy 200th birthday Abraham Lincoln.
President Lincoln was our 16th president and led this country through our four bloodiest years,the civil war.We as a country lost more soldier during this war then where lost in all the wars we've fought to this present day.
Who does not know the story of this man's life even 200 years later.He was born in a log cabin in Kentucky,self educated, he became a circuit court lawyer and at a young age felt slavery was wrong.
He married,had 4 sons,two sons died while still children,one died at 18 years of age and one,Robert, made it to be a married man with several daughters.
Lincoln was the first Republican president and had an open door policy to his presidential office allowing any one off the streets come in and speak to him.
During the civil war he educated himself on war strategy and helped run the war from the telegraph office making him not only a leader but truly a commander in chief.
After his re-election he did all he could to get the united states united again.He was assassinated at Fords theater during the play "Our American Cousin"he died on good Friday and was called the great emancipator.
True his presidency was not perfect and if he could have ended the civil war and kept slavery he would have gone along with that in order to save the union.
We are a fortunate country we always seem to have the right president for the right time.
So once again happy birthday Abe,you were a good man and did the best you could to keep us united as a country,even during our greatest division. Lincoln said "A house divided can not stand alone ".
God bless you Abraham Lincoln and may you rest in peace,the peace you are entitled to" and may your memory be eternal.

Odd Day

yesterday had all the earmarks of a crazy day.first not only did i over sleep but i was going to give some one a ride to work,I called her and we ended up being 15minutes late.My day was super busy and i ended up leaving at 4:15pm, to top it all off i had a fever all day at work and felt like i was sweating buckets.
I can not tell you how happy i was to go home all i could think about was taking some cold medicine and laying on the couch.
I decided to take the back road from Webster to rte 12. On my way I saw a dark blue older car with Conn. plates talking to someone in a black van.when they saw my car coming the van drove across the street and half way up a driveway and the car,with a rather large man sitting in the drivers seat,stayed where it was.Thinking this seemed odd,since the van didn't seem to drive all the way up the driveway like he lived there but more like he was turning around,stayed until I passed.
Not paying attention to what was behind me and thinking about my couch and how close i was to it,I made a right turn unto a street when suddenly the dark blue car drove next to me then went speeding by me.I said to myself "what a jerk" and continued my drive home.
Soon the main road toward my street was in sight and who passed me again but my friend in the dark blue car.once again he pulled next to me and sped past.Thinking "now this is odd".I went down my street got out of my car and who should be turning around at the beginning of my road. Mr. Blue car who sped away.
I went into the house took some medicine and when my husband got home I told him what happened he said "now he knows where you live".
He told me I should have gone to the town hall and had someone go out and get his plate number. Which of course he was right and if I had not felt so out of it I probably would have thought of this.
This morning I got up still feeling none to good and decided to go to the Danielson state police barracks to tell my story.First they wanted me to go to the Webster,mass. station and tell them but I assured them this started in Conn.After I told my tale the officer asked me if I saw the plate,I said yes it was a Conn.plate but i had not see the numbers.He said "Lady do you know how many cars there are in this state and exactly what do you want us to do about this?"To which I said "Look I'm trying to make you aware of something,Doesn't it seem odd that these to vehicles split up when I drove by and doesn't it seem strange that this person decided to follow me home when all these two guys were doing was talking to each other?" at which point he decided to start writing my story down.Before I left I told him I would keep my eyes out for this car and if I saw it again I would get the plate number and call the police.
Oh well so much for police security for the innocent,Conn. finest you got to love it.
You know Harry Truman once said "I spend all day trying to convince people to do the jobs they were hired to do".I know how Harry felt, many is the days I feel the same way.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

new test-find out babys sex in your 7th week gestation

Today while listening to the news it was announced that a lab as come up with a test called "blue or pink" this test can be taken at 7 weeks of pregnancy and will tell if you are having a boy or girl.
Back when I had my son the doctors would only do sonograms on you if you were a high risk pregnancy. At that time the pictures were pretty scratchy and you had a 50/50 chance of them being able to tell you the sex of the baby. Now days every one has these test done and they know in advance what sex the baby is.
The surprise is gone and that's sad.The joy of giving birth back in the early eighty's was finding out, at birth, what the sex of the baby was,like a double surprise.Well no more we live in a world that needs to know what the sex of the baby is "right now" no such thing as happy surprises everything as to be known right away.
This new test bothers me.Is it really necessary to know at 7 weeks what the sex of the baby is? what if its not the sex you want? do you abort it.What will they do in other countries like China when they get a test like this? there your allowed only one baby and everyone wants a boy.
This lab says they will not allow their kits to be sent to China or India.OK but for how long? and why does this company think China and India will not figure out how to make their own kits or get them through a third party?
When I was in nursing school one of my instructors said "every test you take when pregnant puts you in the position of having to make a decisions when the results come in,and are you willing to make those decisions".
This kit to me is unnecessary and I can not understand what this great need to verify the sex of your baby is.We live in a country were being a woman is just as important as being a man but not every country or every religion has our mind set.What will China and India do when all they have is men? who will give birth to more children?will they be created in labs? Do we have the right to make this choice? are we putting our selves on God's level? This scares me.does it scare you?

Monday, February 9, 2009

no longer v.p. of the ladies group

Sunday was a day in which the women's group from our church held elections for officers at the time I was voted out as vice-president.I have to admit it is a little hard on the old moral but St. Francis said "you should never look to be put into a position of authority, but accept it when given and always be ready to step down when asked."We are not put here to be in authority position we are meant to be servants.So with this i wish the new President and Vice President well in their position and i must say it is a relief to be "free" again.
Although Laura (who was the president)and I did our best while in office,always trying to back the priest and help him to put the churches best foot forward.I feel
this was Gods way of saying move on and try something else.
I personally am looking forward to doing more charitable work and less worrying about how to make money and please every ones needs.Freedom is a wonderful thing and the horizon seems wide open.
To me a real church is about giving and helping those in need not spending more time worrying about how to make and keep money.
While at work today I was talking with one of my aides,he told me they are a new church in the process of buying a building in Webster Mass. They go out into Worcester and help the poor street people he told me that any time our church would like to do some charity work they would like our help.So when God closes a door he opens a window and this may be a step toward where we want to be as charitable giving group.

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Joseph

Every now and then I try to do some reading out of the old testament,it takes some effort because its not always that clear to me about whose who and whats going on, especially when they talk about different brothers and their families.
This morning I read what has to be my favorite storys the story of Joseph. Now I'm not really sure why this is my favorite but I think if you have ever come from a family with siblings this story just seems to hit home.
Joseph was his fathers favorite,the baby of the family born to his father when he was very old,he liked to tell his father every thing that was going on with his brothers and his father admired that in him,so much so that he gave him a coat of many colors.
OK who has grown up with siblings and not thought that at least one child was being treated better then you? been ratted out repeatedly by someone who takes great joy in always being right and telling on you? and who has not felt like their sibling got special treatment and gifts because they were either older or younger then you.
Now his brothers were none to happy with Joseph especially when he told them about the dreams he had been having where in the future he was to be a great leader and his family would bow down to him like he were a king.
I'm sure this went over very well with his brothers,as it would have with the rest of us,if our pesty pain in the butt sibling stared telling us their tall tales about how great and important they will be one day,yeah sure you'll be great, now stop bothering me and go tie your shoes.
One day Josephs father sent him out to check on his brothers but when he went where he was told the brothers were not there.A man he met,explained to him where they could be found and he went after them.
When his brothers saw him coming they decided that enough was enough not only had he followed them but now he would tell their father where they really were and he would be angry with them.So the brothers planned to kill him.But his oldest brother said no,lets throw him in a dry well and leave him.The oldest brother,Ruben planned to come back and rescue him, but by the time he got back the other brothers sold him into slavery.
If any of you have had an older sibling you know that they almost always feel responsible for you and though the other siblings would go out of their way to hurt you,the oldest usually just wants to teach you a lesson so you'll leave them and their friends alone,unfortunately it went to far and now they needed to think up a lie to tell their father.How many times has this happened to you either you had to go along with their lies or you had to plan the lie and make it convincing hoping your parents would buy it so you would not get into trouble.
As the story goes the brothers ripped Josephs coat and poured blood on in so the father would believe Joseph was torn apart by wild animals. Josephs' father believed his sons death and went into moaning for many years.The brothers then realized how badly they hurt their father but had to continue with the lie.
Joseph becomes an honorable man with great leadership material,although he ends up being thrown in jail because of false accusations he finds that through this ordeal he is able to interpret dreams,in so doing he interprets a dream for the king who deems him an honest and wise man by making him a high ranking official in Egypt second only to the king.
He is the sibling that we as children made fun of and teased because they were sensitive,introverted maybe said and did odd things but we found out later in life that they were truly the gifted ones, the artist,the poet,the musician the writer and really could run their own lives.
Later when the famines hit Josephs' brothers had to go to Egypt to barter for food since they had little.Joseph was very excited and found out he had a new brother whom his father now favored.The brothers were now very protective of this brother and keep him near to them.In the end Joseph is reunited with his family and his brothers are terribly sorry for what happened but Joseph,who was now married and had children of his own, understood how things turned out the way they were suppose to and his father and brothers moved to Egypt to be with him.
In the end we grow up and understand how close we our to our family.We may never get along with all our siblings but we know we can probably trust most of them when things are down to stand by us.Once we grow up we understand we all have a place in this world and we share with pride each others accomplishments and understand we are not children any more but grown adults equal to each other with a special common bond and a special love for each other.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Should Bishop Williamson Be Brought Back Into The Fold

Should the Pope have allowed Bishop Williamson to be to be unexcommunicated even though he has denied the Holocaust ever happened?
I don't know how any one in their right mind can say this never happened.Did the people who did not die in these prisons go out of their way to lie about it?Can the tattoos they were forced to bear,to this day,be a fantasy? Pictures were taken,records were kept by the Nazis and even some survives who are still alive tell the tale of horror they were forced to endure as children.
Someone once said "A country that denies its history has no future".Every country has done things they are not proud of,we had slavery and pushed the Indians off their land but at least we admit it and have tried to live with our mistakes.
I feel Pope Benedict for whatever reason feels this Bishop is worth the forgiveness or he would not have brought him back into the fold.Now that he is forgiven this Bishop needs to make right the things he said and truly mean it or there is no point in allowing him back into the Catholic church.
I feel bad for the Jews it seem like they are always getting slammed by one group or another and to deny the Holocaust ever happened is a slap in their faces.
Today on the history channel I watched a show about the trial of Eichmann and how he denied and try to blame everyone but himself for what he did,he even tried to say it was a way to help the Jews move to Jerusalem and establish Israel,I guess the Jews just didn't know they needed to move good thing Eichmann help them or they would have remained ignorantly happy in the old country.
I guess you can spin things any way you want to convince your self your not a murderer.But even Eichmann paid for what he did with his life.The spin didn't work for him and the people he treated so badly in the concentration camps got a small amount of satisafaction. At least he was allowed a trial which is more then he gave the people he helped kill.

Stand Up America And Be Heard

It seems in the past several days I have read on blog post and heard many people complain about President Obama and his signing of the bill that allows other countries planned parenthood to be supported for abortions.Now I have to ask one question of all the people who are complaining about this passage,me included, how many of us have sat down and written the president a letter about our disappointment of this event?
You know the majority is allows silent when things like this happen people are upset and outraged but always silent to the leadership.
Maybe its because we feel no one will listen to our complaints but how do you know if you don't take the time to voice what is upsetting you, saying nothing is a sign of defeat before you've even started. We have representatives who are suppose to represent us and should be called to task when they do not.Why do people vote the same officals in when they will not do the job we want them to?
When Bill Clinton got into his first year, of his eight year term I sent him a letter about his idea of universal health care I expressed my views about how catastrophic health care needs should be addressed first then later when this planned worked move on to universal health care. Because if you end up with cancer,heart disease or a stroke it is a bigger financial burden on the family then just paying for an office visit for a cold.
Do you know that he sent me a typed letter with his signature on it and although we did not agree I knew that some one heard me.
The other day one of the priest on EWTN said he was very upset with the lack of news coverage about the abortion march,not one station carried any of it or even mentioned it.Why you ask? Because the media covers what they want and that was Obamas' first week in office.Now I ask where is the out rage? Why did the media stations not get flooded with letters,phone calls and emails showing peoples disapproval for not doing their job and being balanced.All I can say is speak up,who cares if no one reads your letters or emails let them know your out there and you will be heard.Stop being the silent majority and show your disapproval.
Rome was a great country but became fat and lazy.They lost their money and their military.They spent all their time being entertained,watching games and feeling entitled.You know what happened to them? They fell and so will we if we don't start getting our morals and values out there.Stand up America be heard or become Rome a great has been nation.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

taxes

Well its that time of year again.what time of year you ask? Tax time!!!
Today I decided to spend my afternoon doing my sons' taxes,he files a 1040ez,so lets call this my warm up to doing my own.Unfortunately as i have gotten older my tax forms have become more complicated.
Personally I think we should go over to a flat tax if you make so much money a year then you pay a percentage and call it quites.I know people who try to claim everything it just seems all so silly to me because lets face it the only ones who can really hide what they make are the people who have a great deal of money,good lawyers and own corporations.
This February seems to be the month of the politicians who forgot to pay their taxes,it amazes me how people who are lawyers and politicians can not figure out how to pay their taxes,seems like they get very fuzzy and confused when you put numbers in front of them,hmmm,you know that explains alot.
Leona Helmsly said "only the little people pay taxes" you know back then that helped get her thrown into jail.Now days you can get appointed to a cabinet position,even head of the IRS,by just saying "I had no idea I owed that" and "I wouldn't have paid it if I wasn't getting a cabinet position"...Excuse me... how bold.
In California their residents are getting ious for their state tax rebates maybe they should send the IRS their iou rebate checks to pay their federal taxes and see how well that flys,they can always say its their new states currency.You know I'd laugh but I'm afraid at this rate my own state is going to think this is a pretty good idea,luckily for me I work in Mass. my income gets paid to them, Now why does that not make me feel any better? Oh I know because Mass.is over a billion dollars in debt and trying to find things to cut back on.I guess I'd better file fast so my check can be in the mail,not my iou...Wow,now I think i'm starting to feel fuzzy and confused.