FamGuyToday by Aunty Fox

and I watch the news, with several libraries closing in the Denver area, I realize how DEEP George W Bush ravaged our economy and future. I won't go into it any more right now, BUT, that SOB changed our country, and way of life, in ways that we won't fully realize for generations. Mark my words, this recession/depression isn't even CLOSE to being over, and it's on his shoulders. Oh yeah, and the idiots who voted him in....

there was no way I could have known HOW good 'Avatar' was gonna be. No way to describe it, other than it WILL blow you away. The world of Pandora, with the Na'vi and the creatures and plants, is like NOTHING you've ever seen. Sets the bar WAY high, for any other movie. Saw it in 3-D, and would definitely recommend it that way. Won't give anything away, but it's kinda 'Dances with Wolves' meets 'Star Wars'. You just gotta see it. You WON'T be disappointed. Before we went, Carol wasn't sure about it, but WOW!, she says, too. I'm sure we're gonna see it again, and again....

after obviously 'saying that', is the lowest, weasliest way of trying to avoid being proven wrong. This morning on CNBC, Larry Kudlow, the right wing cheerleader, was interviewing Arianna Huffington, and she mentioned, as he was into another of his rants, that he had also missed, very badly, when he predicted Dow 50,000. He immediately screamed back, "I NEVER said that", and they went back and forth for awhile until she tried to get specific, and he cut her off. When she was off the air, he looked at the camera, and again said, "I NEVER said that". WELLLL, yes you did! I Googled it, and in Feb of '99, he was quoted as saying EXACTLY that. Typical rightwing crap. Get caught up being wrong, so just DENY, DENY. I hate it when they do that....

In a recent poll, Mississippi came in FIRST, as the most religious state in America. They also hold the following titles: highest illiteracy rate, lowest median income, lowest percentage of high school graduation, the most obese, AND, highest percentage of Repubs. They should be SO proud...

to a near successful bomb on a plane? Pat down more grannies, confiscate snow globes and lip gloss, AND, in the last hour, no more bathroom breaks and no one allowed to hold anything on their lap. Don't you just love it? If we can’t catch a Nigerian with a syringe full of acid, a man whose own father had alerted the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria, a traveler whose ticket was paid for in cash and who didn’t check bags, whose visa renewal had been denied by the British, who had studied Arabic in Al Qaeda sanctuary Yemen, whose name was on a counterterrorism watch list, who can we catch? TSA should be called IIC, for 'Idiots in Charge'.

of 2009, or any year, I gotta say that my tankless elec water heater has to be the worst I've made in a LONG time. Have already replaced it once, with all that entails w/plumbing, elec, postage, etc, NOW, have just spent nearly the entire day buying and installing a water expansion tank to 'supposedly' fix the noise (water pipes clanging), and uneven hot water issues we have throughout the house. An anti-siphon valve, (more time, headache and expense), did nothing to fix the problem, SO I spoke w/a plumber and he said the tank would fix stuff. After the whole day, running to Home Depot, working over my head on the water line and dealing with a bunch of copper T's and unions , some bad plumbing joints, on my part, large and small leaks,I finally got the water in the house back on. Bottom line, nothing different. A hundred bucks and 8 hours, shot. If I could only get the person who sold me the piece of crap tankless unit to bend over in front of me, I would like to return

parties? I woulda said no, but we were close. Started out with a great dinner party/evening at Ted and Kari's, with the Olson/Labs clan, and all the kids/spouses on Weds evening. A beautiful, light, sparkly snow fell as we had a wonderful dinner/drinks/fun time. The next day, T&K, and Nate, Laura and Piper( who was EXTRA cute) came over for an extended Christmas Eve party, that lasted all day, into the night and until the next morning when the kids went to their spouse's parents, and Carol and I celebrated a laid back, but enjoyable Christmas day. Then, on Saturday, it was the annual Newmas Party (after Christmas, before New Years), at Paul and Kathy's. Another wonderful time had by all. By then it was Sunday, our 38th anniversary, and we were partied out. Just stayed home, and enjoyed finally seeing the sun again. A FANTASTIC Christmas, with family and friends, that went WAY too fast. I thought it was impossible to get more spoiled than last year, but it happened. Tha

http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/the-10-worst-decisions-of-americas-worst-decade/19287777/

because health care is moving forward. 'It's gonna bankrupt us!'. For them, hundreds of billions for 'oops, bad info' war, is OK. Hundreds of billions to bankers, after the Repubs crashed the entire financial system is OK. BUT, much needed health care reform, that would bring us closer to what the rest of the world takes for granted, takes a back seat to their main objective, which is to take down the Obama administration. We ALL know, they wouldn't support ANY program that would let the Dems move forward on ANYTHING that would help the Dems in the coming elections. Way too much $ involved, that could go into Repub pockets. Whatever it takes to get voted in next time. They just hope the people don't remember who crashed the system. AND, if you watch and believe FOXNews, it is ALL the Dems' fault. Obama should be able fix their mess, soon, and if not, it's HIS fault. They just hope the majority is as stupid as they are. Sorry. A lot of us actually rem

They give hundreds of billions of dollars to bankers, with no strings attached, as Wall St firms give themselves HUGE bonuses, all the while they cave in to the insurance and big drug companies, to keep us from getting the medical care the rest of the civilized world has. You thought there was gonna be CHANGE? HA! Not while we got the Repubs to block any meaningful change. Same ol' shit.

Sarah the guv: "We Alaskans are living with the changes that you are observing in Washington,” the Republican governor said. “The dramatic decreases in the extent of summer sea ice, increased coastal erosion, melting of permafrost, decrease in alpine glaciers and overall ecosystem changes are very real to us.” Sarah the Repub sheep: 'Climate warming is false science, perpetuated by the anti business liberals'. Surprise! She flip flops to parrot the official party line. Who woulda thunk?

Reprinted w/out permission, but I just couldn't resist. Tiger and GWB Have Something in Common: People Really Don't Like Them It's come to this: Tiger Woods is the George W. Bush of the sports world. But unlike the 43rd president, Woods needed less than three weeks to see his popularity plummet to 33 percent. And it's still falling. Bush, who left office with the worst ratings in history, took nearly eight years to become similarly loathed. GWB's final approval numbers? Twenty-two percent . Seriously. That's worse than Nixon and Truman, according to CBSNews.com. Tiger's 55-point falloff from his high to low point matches that of President George W. Bush from 2001-2008. Most amazing: Tiger didn't send the country into war, and as far as I know, he hasn't been responsible for thousands of deaths. And while Steve Williams can kindly be characterized as surly, I'm pretty sure he didn't shoot anybody in the face.

that 22 million e-mails from the Bush admin have just been 'found', after the Bushies tried, unsuccessfully, to lose them. It will be years until the security agencies allow them to see the light of day, but the word is that it's easy to tell the ones from W, because of all the misspelling, and a large part of them include bantering between W and Cheney involving bets as to how high they could take the price of oil. When warned that this, along with his war in Iraq could ruin our economy, he reportedly said, 'Who cairs, all o my peeple got big oil money, ha ha ha'.

saw a couple of different segments. First was Obama, doing a bunch of skipping and dodging, about the policies he ran on, and what he's actually doing. Really sad, when you think about what we voted for, and expected, and what we got. More of a typical politician, than any real change. Then, there was a part about stem cell research, and what is being done, to replace body parts, in a brand new realm of medicine. And I think about W, who fought it, for religious reasons, as he was waging war, for oil and dollars. Makes me really sad, when I think about politics and money. Some things never change. We had 'hope', but haven't seen any real 'change'. The world is 'what it is', and will not change, from what I see. Too bad...

in Copenhagen. One of the major causes of global warming? Tiger Woods. He has way too many 'hot' girlfriends. Makes sense...

for Bailey. As I said, she has been growing, and outgrew her kitty bed. There were always parts 'hanging out'. SO, we went to Petsmart and got her a new bed. She sniffed for a long time, circled and clawed at it, then finally tried it out. I think she likes it. She's gotta wait for her other present, though. Some premium catnip...

about Maine Coon cats, said they, unlike other cats, grew for 3 years. I'd kinda forgotten, BUT, there is no way I could not notice, that Bailey is definitely getting bigger. She doesn't even fit in her kitty bed, anymore. Big kitty. I think she gained at least 30%, in the last few months. Hopefully, Bella won't kick her butt, anymore...

Laura needed someone to watch Piper today, while she went shopping, SO, we volunteered, and a wonderful time was had by all. She loved the Christmas tree and the kitty, and esp her grampa. Smart girl.

to see if anyone knows of any particularly deserving charities, specific situations, (or ?), as I look to share with those who need/deserve some help, this special time of year. Lots of needs out there, and looking for a special place to help. Let me know if you have any good thoughts/ideas. Thanks.

Dear Abbey had a thing about someone whose cat drank out of the fish bowl, and the fish kept dying. They wondered if it was germs or if they were being scared to death. Bailey has been drinking out of Bob's dish for years, and loves playing with (scaring) him. It's the only place she drinks.

I know some of you are looking for that perfect gift, this time of year, and I just wanted you to know, I'm here for you. Most of you are familiar with my homemade salad tongs (foldable), and the little tongs just right for getting that olive or pickle slice, or getting toast out. Also good to use as chopsticks. I also made some jewelry, (gave most away) with the sea glass we got while we were in Positano (Italy). The pebbly beaches yield colorful pieces of glass, worn smooth by wave action over the years. Mostly green (wine bottles), but also some white, blue and brown. Different clasps available. Most on leather (or hemp) strings, with silver or black beads. Will take requests, for custom stuff. Also have some ear rings. Prices range from $10-$20. Click on to enlarge. Just a thought...

a clear split between Dem or Repub, Lib or Con, it is in "global warming". It is science vs. anti-science. Environment ve Big business. It is fact vs. propaganda. The anti science crowd would have you throw out 95% of educated opinion, because some e-mails were altered. They would have you believe that an isolated cold spell, could negate world-wide statistics. The glaciers are melting, worldwide. I'm not saying we know the truth about WHY it's happening, or how to fix it, or if it's worth the cost to fix. I'm merely saying it's real, unlike the FOXNews crowd that likes to dismiss inconvenient facts.

on national TV today. On CNBC, the Financial News Network, one of the pundits, commenting on the Repubs criticizing Obama's speech this morning, said, "It's like an arsonist complaining the fire dept didn't put out the fire, they set, soon enough." That was my quote, originally. Had no idea I am so widely read. I still think it's a great analogy. They set the fire, then bitch about the people trying to fix the damage. What a bunch of hypocrites. SO obvious, if you think about it....

but, I got nuthin else to blog about. We went to Appleby's today, for lunch, and got their 2/$20 deal. It was a great lunch, including salad, shrimp, steak, etc. Bottom line, there was SO much food, we are having leftovers, and there are STILL leftovers, as we have it for supper. Do people really eat this much for lunch? Good food, BUT, give me a break, this is crazy...

that, with all the publicity about Tiger, the word doesn't get out, about all the golf groupies out there. The courses are too crowded now, and this could make it much worse. Who can blame the women? What's sexier than a golfer? Used to be just the rock stars that got all the attention. Hope Tiger didn't ruin it for all of us...

Just when you thought it was safe to open a newspaper, there's some bad news: There could be an additional 4.8 million foreclosure sales between 2009 and 2011, said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com in West Chester, Pennsylvania in an interview with Reuters.That's almost twice the 2.7 million foreclosure sales that happened between 2006 at 2008, Zandi says. Those earlier foreclosures battered our economy, almost destroyed our financial system, and cost many of us our jobs. The argument for another foreclosure spike is straightforward...There are 47.4 million U.S. homeowners with mortgages, and 23 percent of those, or 10.7 million borrowers , now owe more money to their mortgage lender than their homes are currently worth, according to the third quarter report from First American CoreLogic. Even worse, close to 10 percent of homeowners with mortgages have loans that are more the 25 percent larger than the current value of their homes, according to CoreLogic

All our 'limited time offers', on our 'bundle', of phone service, high speed internet, and cable TV expired and the monthly bill went to over $212. I freaked out, when I realized it, and went to work researching better deals. Ended up getting the same internet and phone service, and upgraded the TV substantianally. The new price? $104, plus taxes. BUT, it wasn't easy. Ran into problems with the installation, but the guy (Joe) stayed with it, and finally got everything working. Just gotta learn all the ins and outs of the new system.

on the 8th hour of our DirectTV installation. He got here a little before 8 this AM, and it's now 4:15. He's getting close, but not done yet. I had no idea. Will get back to you later, if and when it all works. Whew....

when the full moon comes thru the 'eyebrow window", high on the east side. Really cool when it happens, esp on a cold, clear mountain night. NICE...

Have decided to leave Comcast, for a better deal. Before we lose our HD-DVR, I been watchin' my favorite stuff. Gotta love Neil Young, 2006 documentary, 103 mins, Ryland Audit. Also, David Gilmore, Live at Gdansk. Amazing. SO, for those who need a Christmas list, burn those for me. Thanks, a bunch

a Neil Young concert, and realize I want the song, 'Old Man', played at my funeral. Like it ain't gonna happen, someday. Anyway, please, remember. Thanks

Tiger jokes - It was just reported that Phil Mickelson contacted Tiger's wife to pick up some tips on how to beat Tiger! Apparently the police asked Tiger's wife how many times she hit him. She said "I don't know exactly… but put me down for a 5. "Tiger Woods is so rich that he owns lots of expensive cars. Now he has a hole-in-one. What's the difference between a car and a golf ball? Tiger can drive a ball 400 yards……... What were Tiger Woods and his wife doing out at 2.30 in the morning? They went clubbing. Tiger Woods crashed into a fire hydrant and a tree. He couldn’t decide between a wood and an iron

the Repub pundits will jump on, after this AMAZING speech by Obama, BUT, I guarantee they will. They will take some tiny, inconsequential part, and expound on it. These guys have one agenda, and that is to defeat Obama. No matter whether it be by defeating necessary health care reform, or fighting any change in war strategy. I was totally against more troops in Afg, but he made sense. I am ALL about logic/rationality, and that's where he hit me. The rest of you, the FOX audience, will find faults. Never mind...... Today, we found out. The Repubs jumped all over the date to BEGIN withdrawal. As if an 'end date', to begin an exit is totally unacceptable. So typical of those with such an obvious agenda...

Am posting now, before Obama is even finished with his speech. I was totally against more troops in Afg, BUT, he has won me over. I am against sending troops overseas, to further the current agenda. BUT, I can see his vision. Hopefully, it can work. We have made MANY mistakes, but, I think we are the shining beacon in the world, today, and it shown tonight, in his speech. Ain't gonna be easy, BUT, hopefully, the American ideal can blosson on the world stage. Call me idealistic, or ignorant, BUT, I believe we, as a country, can make a difference. I just know, we need leadership, in the right direction.

Silver closed at over $19/oz today, with gold right near $1200/oz. Guess I'm not the only one that sees the US dollar in trouble. Thanks, George....

to AM radio, BUT the car radio was tuned in, to the same station where I had listened to the football game, SO, I accidentally got to hear my favorite bloviating windbag. Rush was preaching about the 'universe of lies', which, according to him, is every news outlet but his. HE is the lone UNbiased source out there. He explained how the liberal news outlets STILL hate Bush with a 'purple passion', and are trying to blame Obama's economic problems on Bush. NO SHIT! I listened until I was worried I might run into a fire hydrant/tree, or puke in my car. Unbelievable, that there is a market, out there, for his kind of crap. BUT, there is. Scary...