Thursday, June 18, 2015

The new $10 Dollar, US, Note, will have a woman's portrait on it.

Treasury officials say Alexander Hamilton no longer fits the bill for the $10 note, we need to replace it and plan to replace him with the face of an American woman or women. No one has been picked, so here is a list of prospects.
Sacagawea and Susan B. Anthony are on the list, but they've already been used on US Currency, so we should give someone else a chance.

Here's my My SHORT LIST.

1754-1832
Molly Pitcher - Patriotism in battle
At the Battle of Monmouth, she brought water to Continental soldiers, attended the wounded and also replaced her fallen husband at a gun.

1811-1896
Harriet Beecher Stowe - Antislavery, fiction
Famous for her controversial novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, an antislavery story based on her experiences. Also spoke against slavery.

1860-1926
Annie Oakley - Sharp-shooting and entertainment
Gifted with uncanny marksmanship and star of Buffalo Bill's Wild West show, she established herself as a famous western folk legend.

1897-1937
Amelia Earhart - Aviation
Famous for flying across the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. She attempted to fly around the world, then disappeared July 2, 1937.

1929-1994
Jacqueline Kennedy - As first lady, Jackie Kennedy became an international icon of style and sophistication, and dedicated great effort to restoring the White House with historic furnishings and art.

1929-2006
Coretta Scott King - civil rights, music
Known as the First Lady of civil rights, Coretta carried on the dreams of her husband, Martin Luther King Jr.

AND some others I think that are likely to make the final cut.

1744-1818
Abigail Adams - Politics and writing
She wrote lucidly about her life and time in letters, and exerted political influence over her famous president husband John, and son, John Quincy.

1752-1836
Betsy Ross
supposedly made the first American flag

1821-1912
Clara Barton - Aid to soldiers and free education
Organized and delivered important aid to Union and Confederate soldiers. Started the American Red Cross. Started a free school in New Jersey.

1837-1930
Mary Harris "Mother" Jones - American Labor Movement
“Mother” Jones was present as a labor organizer and speaker at many significant labor struggles of the 19th and 20th centuries.

1880-1968
Helen Keller - Social reform, writing and lecturing
Deafened and blinded by a childhood disease, she overcame her disabilities, then worked for the blind and numerous progressive causes.

1928-
Shirley Temple Black - Diplomacy, acting
Becoming a diplomat later in life, Shirley Temple was perhaps the most famous child star in history.

Click this link for the big list so far.

Who's on your list?


DON'T BE BLUE

Thursday, June 11, 2015

Those squirrels are onto something and George Washington Carver.

That’s what new research published in the International Journal of Epidemiology has found. For the study, researchers analyzed the nut and peanut butter intake of more than 120,000 adults aged 55-69 in the Netherlands, as well as their mortality rates years later.

They discovered that people who ate tree nuts (such as almonds, cashews, and walnuts) as well as peanuts, had a lower risk of dying from cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, respiratory illness, and neurodegenerative diseases — essentially all the major causes of death — during the time period of the study. The results were the same for men and women.

Participants needed to eat at least 10 grams of nuts or peanuts a day to see the benefits, researchers found. Luckily, it’s not hard to eat that amount daily.

While peanuts typically aren’t touted for their health benefits as much as tree nuts, researchers discovered that they were just as effective as other types of nuts at lowering a person’s risk.

Nuts are amazing, they're packed with fiber, have a form of omega-3 fatty acid that can help lower the risk of developing heart disease and can help lower cholesterol, and they contain flavonoids.

Peanut Butter? (best to make your own)
But while researchers found a link between living a longer life and nuts, they couldn’t say the same for peanut butter. The process of getting peanut butter from peanuts (which involves high temperatures) can destroy some of its health-boosting amino acids, and possibly some of the fatty acids. And unfortunately, it’s the same for natural peanut butter as well as sugar-added versions.

If you want the same benefits in Peanut Butter, you have to make your own. I make mine in a micro food processor and I find it best to use five different nut varieties with no peanuts. 
But just using peanuts is also fantastic. 
Keep them refrigerated.

It only takes a small amount to get the health benefits, an ounce of nuts is a serving, and all you should need on a daily basis.


George Washington Carver was born into slavery in Diamond, Missouri, around 1864. The exact year and date of his birth are unknown. He was a prominent African-American scientist and inventor. Carver is best known for the many uses he devised for the peanut. Carver went on to become one of the most prominent scientists and inventors of his time, as well as a teacher at the Tuskegee Institute.

Carver devised over 100 products using one of these cropsthe peanutincluding dyes, plastics, gasoline  --- and --- PEANUT BUTTER.


DON'T BE BLUE

Monday, June 8, 2015

1968 Pontiac Firebird 4.1L OHC Sprint




I guess most guys have a fond memory of their 1st car. 
This was mine.

1968 Pontiac FIREBIRD Sprint OHC-6 250ci Engine (4.1L), unusual in that it had a single-overhead-camshaft inline, with six cylinders and a 4 barrel carburetor. The manual 4 speed transmission received a hotter camshaft, which boosted the horsepower ratings to 250 hp, which at the time, meant nothing to me, as I didn't know anything about cars, still don't, except........ 
Pontiac exec John DeLorean designed it.


There were only around 1,200 Sprint models produced (exact figures are elusive), and ragtops are certainly on the scarce side, and I had a phobia about convertibles at the time. Sprints were high-performance and you had to put premium gas in them. 


Should have kept it!



DON'T BE BLUE?

Friday, May 29, 2015

Liar, liar, pants on fire, Hanging by your tongue on a telephone wire…

Liar, Liar, pants on fire, hanging by your tongue on a telephone wire
Bluesbuster


When I was a youngster, this little jump rope chat could be heard daily on the playground as little girls gathered in groups to skip to the beat of the rope. There were other versions too, “Liar, liar, pants on fire, Hanging by a telephone wire!” and “Liar, liar, pants on fire, Your belt’s hanging on the telephone wire!”  are two that I still can recall. Every now and then, when someone is not quite as truthful as I expected, I still hear the little chant inside my head, forever imprinted there.
Liar, liar, pant’s on fire…


Sadly…every now and then, I have to say it to myself.

Not because I have told somebody a lie ( I try REALLY hard never to do that). But because I told one to myself. I don't MEAN to tell a lie. They just sometimes fall out of my thoughts.
Like the famous, “Today, I’m not eating a single bit of white flour or bread. I don’t eat that stuff.” (Liar, liar…I've been scarfing it down for a week now,)
Or, how about, “I’m going to bed early tonight, my sleep is important to me.” (Oh yeah? So why did the clock strike pumpkin time before I ever saw my sheets? Liar, liar…)
I make my shoulders slump. I feel like I let myself down. I feel like a fraud. It creates pot shots in my self-esteem. I question my personal integrity.



Does this ever happen to you?
If you are human, it probably does. So then, if everyone is doing it, no harm done right? We can just chalk it up to being part of the human race and accept that the things we say to ourselves just don't matter.



Except that this is the biggest lie of them all.

The truth is, that when we let ourselves down, it digs a hole. When we make ourselves promises that we don't keep, we feel untrustworthy. We begin to doubt our personal integrity, our motivation, our will power and our ability to make our dreams come true. We begin to look toward outside influences for our accountability because we can't trust ourselves to be accountable to our own internal being.



Does that mean you have to be perfect?
You won’t be. You can’t be. Perfection isn't of this world, we call that place heaven. But what you can be is accountable. You can take stock of what you are saying to yourself, sit down and ask yourself,” Hey Self, What’s up with this?
Get to the bottom of why you are not accountable to your personal word to yourself. There are probably really good, fixable reasons. Here are a few of the most common.



A Few Reasons We Lie To Ourselves
The Goal isn't really important to us. It’s important to somebody else, but secretly, we really don't care. We are people-pleasing all over ourselves and our inner being isn't buying into the program. First available chance and our subconscious mind whispers, “Just kidding! Never had any intention of waking up early to exercise!" And we are more than happy to fall back asleep. We never wanted to get up in the first place!


The Goal is overwhelming. We bit off so much that we are choking and our subconscious is talking back through the ginormous bites screaming that this is unsustainable so why even bother?



The Goal is no match for our fatigue. When we are exhausted, there is very little that can keep us on task and motivated without considerable effort. It’s easy to break promises when we have no energy. In order to have more personal integrity, we need to take better physical care of ourselves. In order to take better physical care of ourselves, we need better personal integrity. It’s a tricky one and the trick is this. Establish a bare minimum, no matter what threshold, that keeps you honest. That way when you are feeling run down, you can institute Personal Pampering Day, and get by on your bare minimum without breaking your integrity. But at least you are doing something!



The Goal is not part of your routine. Out of sight, out of mind. Routines and systems help us to keep our personal integrity by making habits automatic. The more automatic a habit is, the less time the Liar and excuses voices can sit on your shoulder and tempt you to quit.
Here is a tip. Link your new habit to an existing habit so that your brain will accept it more readily and not argue.

Let’s face it, none of us want to be liars.
Here's another tip. Avoid it. If you don't want it, don't get it, if you have it, throw it away.
Here's another tip. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Start by doing. The hardest step to take is the first one, once taken others follow, willingly.
We all want to have integrity, faith in ourselves and great self-esteem. It isn't like we are TRYING to sabotage ourselves with excuses, lies and broken promises.


When it does happen, be kind. Recover with grace and forgiveness to your struggling self and see if you can implement a few systems or ideas to help your poor self out.
Yourself will thank you for it!



DON'T BE BLUE


Are you leaving holes in your fence?

Bluesbuster

NAILS IN THE FENCE
There once was a little boy who had a bad temper...  His Father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he must hammer a nail into the back of the fence.

The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence...  Over the next few weeks, as he learned to control his anger, the number of nails hammered daily gradually dwindled down.  He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence.  Finally the day came when the boy didn't lose his temper at all.

He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper.

The days and weeks passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone.

The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence.  He said, 'You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence.  The fence will never be the same.  When you say things in anger, they leave a scar, just like this one.  You can put a knife in a man and draw it out.  But It won't matter how many times you say I'm sorry, the wound will still be there.  A verbal wound is as bad as a physical one.

Remember that friends are very rare jewels indeed. They make you smile and encourage you to succeed; They lend an ear, they share words of praise and they always want to open their hearts to us.

Please forgive me if I have ever left a hole in your fence!




The next time you get angry with someone and are about to speak, ask yourself if there was a way to say what you want to say with neutral words. Picture the holes in your fence.
Often the habit of reacting angrily is just that - a habit you learned when you were young and haven´t questioned since. You might have become blind to the effect it has on your life.

It is really so that the world reflects back your own attitude. If you constantly wonder why people are angry at you, perhaps it is you who treated them with anger first? Listen to the words and tone of voice you use. And try, really try to speak neutrally to someone who are angry with. If you know it will be difficult, write the words down first. Rehearse it in your mind. Decide on a prize you will give to yourself if you succeed.

Teach your mind intentionally to use respectful words. And you just might find that life begins to feel a lot nicer - because people aren´t angry at you anymore.




DON'T BE BLUE

Media news bias is ratings driven

Bluesbuster

Just another reason I rarely watch "Prime Time News" or nationally syndicated news shows like 60 minutes, they bend the news to drive up ratings, in some cases they will just make it up.

Why are the major media outlets content to manufacture or bend the hot news stories in order to drive up ratings?
It's because of the mentality of the old saying, "it's easier to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission"! Unfortunately the bastardized news stories last for days or weeks, if not months, and the asking for forgiveness by broadcast media never happens, or in the case of printed news, it's relegated to the back pages or a footnote.

Trayvon Martin didn’t deserve to be lying mute in an underground box at the age of 17. Nobody does. He committed no offense to warrant such a fate. He was simply returning from the convenience store and chatting on his cell phone with his girlfriend , a scene that could be replicated a million times across America on any given evening. http://themoderatevoice.com/142893/pictures-and-prejudice-in-the-trayvon-martin-case/

Here’s all we know for certain about the killing of Trayvon Martin: George Zimmerman noticed the black teen wearing a hoodie while within the confines of the gated community, tailed him as a suspicious character, stepped out of his car to challenge him (despite instructions from police to keep on moving), exchanged words with Martin and they both ended up on the ground. Someone moaned for help around the moment that the gun went off, and Martin died on the spot.

Was the neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman out for blood or just taking his job a little too seriously? 

Why was the only picture used by ABC, NBC, CBS, the NY Times and every other major newspaper, from when Trayvon Martin was only 14 years old?
The contrasting photos of cute Trayvon and nasty George undoubtedly contributed to the call for vengeance.
Was the exposure on Zimmerman’s photo altered in some versions to make the half-Hispanic killer look “whiter”?
George Zimmerman is multi-racial. In fact, it’s been said that he has black relatives.

For most of the black community and the left-of-center crowd, it’s an open-and-shut case of a light-skinned racist murdering an innocent African American kid for the crime of “walking while being black.” The Revs. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton showed up to make racial politics, just to add fuel to the fire. The fact that Trayvon was wearing a hoodie has catapulted that essential item of hip-hop apparel to unprecedented glory as a political symbol of unjustly maligned black youth. By now, every Trayvon Martin sympathizer and his brother has been photographed wearing a hoodie. Congressman Bobby Rush was even kicked out of a congressional hearing because he showed up wearing a hoodie. He was kicked out because he did not adhere to the dress code for appearing before congress. Dress code? 'That' is a subject for another day.

NBC altered the 911 call by Zimmerman to make it seem as if Zimmerman was race obsessed, and every news story used it as part of their coverage. 

Photographs, videos, and recordings can be indispensable clues, but our biases, conscious or not, have a way of tampering with the evidence.
Neither man was all saint or all villain. Both should be given an equal chance to be vindicated or judged by proper authorities.

NBC News has since fired the producer who was involved in the production of a misleading taped segment about the Trayvon Martin case in Florida. On April 6th, 39 days after the maelstrom, it appeared as a blip in the news, but not on any prime time news broadcast.

The action came in the wake of an internal investigation by NBC News into the production of the segment, which strung together audio clips in such a way that made George Zimmerman’s shooting of Mr. Martin sound racially motivated. Ever since the Feb. 26 shooting, there has been a continuing debate about whether race was a factor in the incident.

Of course the damage has been done in the wake of a rioting public driven to the media frenzy,
 just as they wanted.



Sometimes you just can't help but be BLUE!

About Heroes, Terrors and Terrorism

Bluesbuster

A couple of notes on Heroes, terrors and terrorism.

March 29, 2012
US Soldier Killed Trying to Save Afghan Girl
Sgt. Dennis Weichel, 29, of the Rhode Island National Guard died saving the life of a little girl in northeast Afghanistan.

According to the report, Weichel was in a convoy in Laghman Province last week when he noticed some children were in the path of the moving vehicles. Weichel and other soldiers got out to move them out of the way. while most of the children scattered away, one girl went back to the road, as a Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protected vehicle continued moving toward her. Weichel saw the massive truck moving toward the girl and grabbed her out of the way. The girl survived, but Weichel died after the armored vehicle ran over him.

These types of stories go unreported every day. Our soldier's heroic actions are unnoticed by most, if not all, of our major news stations. Certainly lost to the journalists of MSNBC and CBS, who most likely just throw the stories in the trash, deemed not worthy of the liberal rhetoric.

I found this story below and also decided to add it to the mix.

After reading the headlines today about the US soldier who shot up Afghanistan civilians, I couldn’t help noticing an irony.  There is all this clamor to try this guy quickly and execute him, never mind his having suffered a traumatic brain injury.
His actions were that of a disturbed mind and should be delt with by the harshest of penalties.

Yet (another soldier) Major Hasan, who shot up Fort Hood while screaming Allah akbar, still hasn’t stood trial, and they are still debating whether he was insane, even with the clear evidence regarding his motive: slay as many infidels as possible.

So we have a guy in a war zone who cracks, and he must be executed immediately.

But this Muslim psychiatrist who was stateside in a nice safe office all day, murders 13, wounds 29 of our own guys,and they try to argue the poor lad suffered post-traumatic stress syndrome, from listening to real soldiers, and heroes, who had actual battle experience.

Two and a half years later, they still haven’t tried the murderous bastard.

Poor lad my ass, he murdered our own soldiers!
All fanatical terrorists, regardless of their religion are actually Satan's Little Helpers, and worship Satan.

The only thing necessary for evil to triumph 
is for good men to stand by and do nothing.


All religious leaders need to take a stand against Satan's followers.
Any terrorist who wages war for their God has fallen away from the teachings of their church, synagogue or mosque and is now in league with Satan, the god of evil, the god of hate.



DON'T BE BLUE