ShowMeBlog

The Flag is upside down!

"A woman who says she is upset about the direction the country has taken has upset veterans and service members with her protest. She's flying the American flag upside down outside her Fort Worth business..."  Fox News Houston

 This woman is a right wing protester.  Not as many would think some left wing liberal.  She thinks the United States is going to Communism because of President Obama.  She is no fan of former President Bush.  She does not think he was a real Republican.
  The TV report says that people are upset with her because the flag is flying upside down.
  I wonder where those people were when the current governor of Texas was saying, at a tea bag protest, that he might be willing to pull down all American flags in Texas and toss them out and for Texas to with draw from the United States of America.

  If I were the Fort Worth police I would set up some unmarked units to watch this woman's business.  I bet there will be people doing damage and stuff like that...
  The vet that speaks on the video does not seem to understand that he was fighting for freedom in this nation and for the right of people to protest.  This woman is protesting by flying the flag upset down.  She could also protest by burning the flag and if she did that is one reason the vet was in the service to protect and defend our system of government and our way of life.

Air America going to file Chapter 7 bankruptcy

“NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Liberal talk radio network Air America is planning to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, the company said Thursday.

"The very difficult economic environment has had a significant impact on Air America's business," according to a statement on the network's Web site. It cited a "perfect storm" in the media industry and plummeting advertising revenues…”

    I love to tell people “I told you so.”  But I think everyone else here was saying the same thing.  That a liberal talk radio network will not work.
    I was a fan of talk radio back when I was in high school.  I out grew it.  I was a caller to WHB radio (Kansas City, MO) when I was a kid. 
    Liberal talk radio will not work…  The real fans of talk radio now are not the liberal thinking type of people..Mostly, they seem, to be anti people. They want to attack or blame government…They see the world as out to get them… They are sort of the CB people and I was into CB (citizen band radio) when it began.  They are just not open to discussion they already have their minds made up.  They do not listen to learn or to try ways to fix problems..  They want to blame people and attack people.
   Now like any statement there are a few exceptions … There are people that are on the road driving all night and want to listen to something or people that work the graveyard shift and can not watch TV but they can get by listening to radio.
   I do not think that Air America ever had any effect.
   Conservative (right wing) talk radio has fans and followers and it can have an effect. 
   I listened a few times to Air America and they never had a format or a line up that was good.  I am not sure who was making the decisions but they did not a good job.  It may have been run by a group of people and by voting or something.  It seemed like they had a woman’s rights show, a gay show and on and on.. pick some “liberal” subject and put on some person to do a show about it. 
  Al Franken, now a United States Senator, did a show.  He is a smart and funny guy but his show sucked.  He seemed to be trying to prove that he was smart and funny and he seemed be trying out his comedy act.
   The loss of Air America does not matter.  It is not like the lost of that seat in MA.  I think we are better off without Air America. 

Kiva Newsletter

Spread Kiva Love

Hi Kiva Friend,

We are deeply saddened by the devastating earthquake in Haiti, and we're just beginning to hear news from our Field Partner in Haiti, Esperanza. This month's newsletter contains information on Esperanza, the Haitian entrepreneurs supported by Kiva lenders and a link to organizations specializing in disaster relief in Haiti.
Also featured this month are new partners in Latin America, a chance for Kiva to win $1 million, the results of our video contest and more.

Earthquake in Haiti: Update from Field Partner Esperanza

A devastating earthquake has struck Haiti, and many Kiva lenders have been asking how the entrepreneurs in Haiti are fairing. For an update from our Field Partner in Haiti, Esperanza, click here.

Help Kiva Win $1 Million from Chase Community Giving!

Kiva has made it to the second round of the Chase Community Giving contest and has the opportunity to win $1 million!  Voting starts TODAY and ends on Friday, January 22nd.  Learn more about how to vote for Kiva click here »

Kiva Lender Makes 1,050th Loan!

Bob Harris, a writer from Los Angeles, became a Kiva lender in January 2009 and just made his 1,050th loan. Read an interview with him here »

Kiva Now Lending in Chile and Colombia

Kiva is proud to announce that we've added Field Partners in two new countries - Chile and Colombia. Read more about our new partnerships with Fondo Esperanza in Chile here and Fundación Mario Santo Domingo (FSMD) in Colombia here.

Kiva Video Contest - Results Are In!

Congratulations to everyone who placed in the Kiva Instructional Video Competition hosted by Tongal and thanks to everyone who voted. See the winners here »

Join Kiva's Blogger List

We are looking for bloggers who want to help spread the word about Kiva! For more information, click here »

Community Conference Call for February

You're invited to our next Community Conference Call on February 10th. Join us to stay up to date with what's happening at Kiva! Call details »

Tell us What You Think of Lending on Kiva!

We want to learn more about how to help you make a bigger impact! Give us feedback on your experience lending on Kiva. Please take our short survey so we can keep improving. Click here for the survey »

Kiva © 2009. All rights reserved.

My ticket number is 7014

Have you heard of Peggy Robertson? After having her second child, her insurance company required that she get sterilized if she wanted to receive health insurance. Peggy fought back, and testifed before Sen. Barbara Mikulski's committee hearing this month on how insurance companies discriminate against women.¹

Members of Congress heard about it. The media reported on it. But we wondered, do our friends, family and neighbors realize how insurance companies have turned being a woman into a pre-existing condition?

Take your ticket for gender equity. Get in line here: seiu.org/ticket

Women want equal coverage for the equal premiums they pay - plain and simple. Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) is leading the charge, but we've got to get the word out. We built a tool to do just that - to demonstrate that any bill passed by Congress needs to end gender discrimination by insurers.

 

When you take your "deli counter ticket," you'll receive a unique number. Post the number, along with this automatically-generated status update to Twitter, Facebook, and elsewhere: I'm [your number] against discrimination by health insurers. Women deserve equal coverage for equal premiums. http://seiu.org/ticket #hc09

Your ticket is waiting. Take it, here: seiu.org/ticket

Right now, millions of American women aren't involved in the health care debate. They haven't called or written Congress. They haven't thought about health insurance reform much at all. But they're dealing with the health insurance system every day - paying more and getting less.

Women pay 30-40% more than men on the private insurance market. Common pregnancy and c-sections are considered "pre-existing conditions." And in some states, insurers can even deny coverage to victims of domestic violence. The bills before Congress will guarantee, once and for all, that women are treated fairly by insurers.

Already, more than 6,500 tickets have been taken. Let's demonstrate that women (and men!) across the country are calling for an end to discrimination against women by health insurers. Take your ticket now.

Thanks for speaking out,

Jessica Kutch
Online Campaign Manager
SEIU Healthcare

P.S. Yesterday's announcement by Senate Majority Leader Reid that the Senate bill will include a public option is great news - but there's still much work ahead. We must keep up the drumbeat for reform by spreading awareness on key issues like this one. I hope you'll join us by taking your ticket for health care equality.

Kiva and withdrawing money

 

  Since February of this year (2009) I been making loans via Kiva.  I have told you about Kiva and recommended them here.  I still do.  I think it is an excellent cause and I will keep on putting $25.00 each month into Kiva so they can loan to people that need it.
  My plan is to put $25.00 each month out in loans to help people.
  It was never my plan to take any out.  You may know I never read fine print I just click on accept unless I am buying a house or a car or something.
  It is the middle of the month and I only get money one time each month and so I decided what the heck I have $26.00 in Kiva that has been paid back to me…I will just take it out so I have a few dollars this week and then when I make my  loan this month I will do $50.00 instead of the $25.00 I do each month.  So I used the withdrawal option of Kiva.  I got the above message and an email that said the same thing.  They deposit the money in one to three week. 
  So that is something you need to be aware of if you sign up with them.. I am sure it is in the fine print.  It seems to me that since I deposit $25.00 each month by PayPal and it goes right away to them that if I take out money that same thing should happen if I take it.
  This is just my two cents…Please do support Kiva…I will let you know how long it takes to get the money.  If it is one week that is not bad.

Waves of new fund cuts imperil US nursing homes

“By DAVE COLLINS, Associated Press Writer Dave Collins, Associated Press Writer – Sun Oct 4, 3:14 pm ET

HARTFORD, Conn. – The nation's nursing homes are perilously close to laying off workers, cutting services — possibly even closing — because of a perfect storm wallop from the recession and deep federal and state government spending cuts, industry experts say.

A Medicare rate adjustment that cuts an estimated $16 billion in nursing home funding over the next 10 years was enacted at week's end by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services — on top of state-level cuts or flat-funding that already had the industry reeling.

And Congress is debating slashing billions more in Medicare funding as part of health care reform.

Add it all up, and the nursing home industry is headed for a crisis, industry officials say…” 

  I do not think there is one American that wants to end up in a nursing home.  But thank God there are nursing homes. 
  My mother and father made it clear they never wanted to end up in a nursing home and they never had to see the inside of one. My father died at a hospital and my mother died at home.  My mother could die at home because one of my daughters (Hillary) moved in with her and took care of her.

Turnout in DC for Right Wing Protest

  I have not commented on the protest in DC the other day and I did not plan to comment on it.  But I got an email saying that 2 million people turned out for the protest and showing photos of crowds.
  The AP and The New York Times reported “thousands” AND Fox “news” reported “thousands.”  
  Right wing bloggers are attacking The New York Times and the “media” for not reporting two million people at the protest.  Some of the bloggers are reporting that the Capitol Police estimated the crowd at 1.2 million.  That is a flat out lie they Capitol Police did not say the crowd was 1.2 million people.
  A few Republican blogs that try to be more honest and are not as crazy as the right wing blogs are saying that the number might have been close to 750,000 and that would be a very good turn out for a lost cause made up by a lot of stupid racist people.  
But all the news media are reporting tens of thousands and NOT hundreds of thousands.
  The problem with all of this is that right wing lies…They lie all the time…They lie about everything…Even things that are not important and do not matter…They just lie…  I just find it odd that people that want the Ten Commandments in our court houses, schools and government building do not remember that one of them is that you should not lie.
  If you use PhotoShop on photos or use photos from other events that is a lie.  Why should anyone trust?  Why should anyone listen to you?  
When they lie and say that they had 2 million people at the event and they only had 60,000 it makes their entire cause a lie and fake.  Then I am not going to believe anything that they say…because they have lied.
  If they just told the truth and said that they got a turn out of 60,000 people then we could say…well that was a pretty good turn out.
  The right wing can not tell the truth…  They are calling the 09/12/2009 event the “Conservative Woodstock.”  Now that is that is a great name for the event…That was some smart PR on their part…All the right wing bloggers used it and that was smart…If you search for it on Google you will find all the links listed for pages are right wing blogs…So that was smart.  It is also a lie I think.   
  Woodstock has 600,000 people attend.  The right wing got 60,000 attend.  Keep in mind I can not even be sure they had 60,000 because some of their photos are not photos of their event and some of their photos have been doctored by PhotoShop or PaintShop.  
  Woodstock or The Woodstock Festival was the music event of all time.  I remember the event…I remember watching TV in Kansas City and news reports breaking in to report that roads in New York state were shut down and the  Republican Governor (Nelson Rockefeller) wanted to send the New York National Guard and declare a state of emergency.  Sullivan County did declare a state of emergency.
  My fellow Americans the event that took place on 09/12/2009 was no “Woodstock” event.  I am only commenting today because of the lies being told about the event.  The Woodstock Festival took place in 1969 and we still remember it and talk about it today. 
  The event that took place last week is already forgotten.  It is over and it is dead and no one is going to remember the “Conservative Woodstock.” 

40 Days for Health Reform Campaign

“Over the past month, Catholics United has joined other faith-based organizations for a 40 Days for Health Reform campaign. More than 300,000 people of faith participated in advocacy events over the August recess. Together we sent a clear message that reforming a broken health care system is an urgent moral imperative.
We can't stop now.

 

Hot Angry Green Girl and the Bikini Car Wash

  Great video…  Smart idea for car wash place …  Pretty girls.

What is Kiva?

  I am a big fan of micro-lending and of Kiva and so it is time I give a little plug for them again.

“Kiva's mission is to connect people through lending for the sake of alleviating poverty.

Kiva is the world's first person-to-person micro-lending website, empowering individuals to lend directly to unique entrepreneurs around the globe.

The people you see on Kiva's site are real individuals in need of funding - not marketing material. When you browse entrepreneurs' profiles on the site, choose someone to lend to, and then make a loan, you are helping a real person make great strides towards economic independence and improve life for themselves, their family, and their community. Throughout the course of the loan (usually 6-12 months), you can receive email journal updates and track repayments. Then, when you get your loan money back, you can relend to someone else in need.

Kiva partners with existing expert microfinance institutions. In doing so, we gain access to outstanding entrepreneurs from impoverished communities world-wide. Our partners are experts in choosing qualified entrepreneurs. That said, they are usually short on funds. Through Kiva, our partners upload their entrepreneur profiles directly to the site so you can lend to them. When you do, not only do you get a unique experience connecting to a specific entrepreneur on the other side of the planet, but our microfinance partners can do more of what they do, more efficiently.

Kiva provides a data-rich, transparent lending platform. We are constantly working to make the system more transparent to show how money flows throughout the entire cycle, and what effect it has on the people and institutions lending it, borrowing it, and managing it along the way. To do this, we are using the power of the internet to facilitate one-to-one connections that were previously prohibitively expensive. Child sponsorship has always been a high overhead business. Kiva creates a similar interpersonal connection at much lower costs due to the instant, inexpensive nature of internet delivery. The individuals featured on our website are real people who need a loan and are waiting for socially-minded individuals like you to lend them money”

  My Kiva page is:  http://www.kiva.org/lender/hnbbs
  You can see some of the people that I have made loans to at that page.  Think about joining and loaning via Kiva. 

Send girls in Ghana to high school

  If ten or more of you join SocialVibe I could end up getting a trip to Africa.  Truth is I am not real sure I want to go to Africa ... smile...
But this is for a good cause.  SocialVibe is trying to raise $5,000.00 to send girls in Ghana to high school.
  
  

Jim Howard invites you to SocialVibe.com    

Well Fargo RSI

Image via Wikipedia

  As you know I am a fan of Kiva and I loan money each month.  Well Wells Fargo has a short little RSI test. It is very short and very simple and they do not ask for your email address or ask you to sign up or anything. 
  They will donate $1.00 to Kiva for each person that takes the test.
  I took the test…  My RSI score was 0.0 yes I know it is sad… Smile

  I have two lottery tickets for Saturday.  The Florida Lotto is $5 million and the Florida PowerBall is $120 million.  I could make a lot of microloans with that last amount. 

 
 

Python Hunting in Florida a Response

  The following is not my views on the subject but a comment left on one of my blogs and I think it is a point of view that needs to be heard.
  The one major concern I do have is these “experts” are going to be in the Everglades and no telling what they will kill or mess with when they are there.

“J. Michael says:

Well, Friday, July 17th, 2009, marks a wonderful day that will go down in God’s history book of how humanitarian his #1 animal was to the rest of God’s creatures, with the State sanctioned mass execution (can’t even take them alive if you wanted) slaughter of Pythons in the Everglades. We should all be proud. The unfortunate accident of a child’s death from improper foresight of the snake’s owners, in the eyes of GOVERNOR CRIST and SENATOR NELSON, is cause enough to conclude, in their eternal jungle wisdom and political logic, that all the Pythons in the Everglades now need to be exterminated, eradicated, and hunted down by “experts” familiar with such animals, and killed on the spot. Then their scientific studies is to cut the bowels open and see what the snake had to eat. Oh, this is done of course by the hunter, a no doubt trained forensic scientist.”

If I had $25 (The Kiva Song)

Using the tune "If I Had $1,000,000" by the Barenaked Ladies, here's Yassie and John’s tribute to the microlending website kiva.org--a place where you can make $25 loans to poor people around.

I wanted to let you know about Kiva (www.kiva.org), a non-profit that allows you to lend as little as $25 to a specific low-income entrepreneur across the globe. You choose who to lend to - whether a baker in Afghanistan, a goat herder in Uganda, a farmer in Peru, a restaurateur in Cambodia, or a tailor in Iraq - and as they repay their loan, you get your money back. It's a powerful and sustainable way to empower someone right now to lift themselves out of poverty.
  I have six people that I have loans out to at this time.  It is very easy to do and it helps people and makes you feel good.