HOUSEHOLD MAINTENANCE IS TIME, ENERGY AND FINANE CONSUMING

I became acquainted me with Zillow,com..  My house was built in 1945 (not 1958 as I had thought).  The basement was made of cement blocks (actually the whole house, though the upper floors was made to look like pink brick).  For years I have watched powdery residue slake off the basement wall.  Seven years ago I had a new furnace installed. The code had changed; there was no longer a vent in the forced hot air system for the basement.  I found this out after I got black mold on the wall and the smell of mold permeating the house..

The first dehumidifier It lost its compressor in a week.  On warranty, I drove to the next state, the closest where repair could be done but not for several weeks.  To keep me healthy and the house from rotting, I bought a twin of the first one.  I used both, connecting one to the furnace pump, draining into a set tub.  The second was turned on in very wet times but had to empty manually.  Last year, my visiting son noted the two running dehumidifiers producing a lot of water.  He told me cement becomes porous after many years it is leached.  There is a great deal of moisture but no standing water..

Solutions are neither simple nor inexpensive. To repair the problem from outside, trenches would have to be dug around the foundation at a cost of 20K-30K.  A second lesser cost but less effective  solution was to paint a sealer on the basement walls.  The basement, after 46 years of storage is like an obstacle course, otherwise known as a blivet.  Trying to move things from the walls would take backbreaking work and incredible amount of  time.

That said, one of the dehumidifiers finally decided to die, noisily.  It is now August and places have sold out their stock for this year.  I can only praise the man who invented the World Wide Web because it saves hours of driving from store to store to find a replacement.  I've earned the art taught to me by the chef in a restaurant I worked in after high school/,  She wisely taught me:  "Use your head and save your feet."  Wise words.  Use the Internet and save driving and wasted time.   The band aid fix tomorrow will be to buy a replacement for the unit that died.

HOMOSEXUALITY AROUND THE WORLD

To those who think that being homosexual is a choice.perhaps they could explain a few things such as:  Why, the, are there essentially the same proportion of homosexuals in all cultures?  Click here to trace homosexuality around the world.  Make sure you scroll down far enough in that article to see the map to the right showing where homosexuality is legal or illegal, as in this reproduction.

To understand what causes homosexuality, there are many theories but this article presents the most widely accepted understanding.  Click here..

THE SUMMER OLYMPICS DID NOT SEEN THE DRAW THEY HAVE BEEN IN THE PAST

In the past, the Olympics seemed to draw more conversation, interest and rooting for favorites than it seemed to be this year.  It bounced through my head why I was experiencing the whole thing as different.  Finally it occurred to me that so many people have ON DEMAND now and DVRs that there are not the dark circles under eyes at work the next morning from staying up to all hours to watch the games.

Today, I decided to take my neighbor's advice and look at ON DEMAND.  I was unaware of the many games I had never known were part of the Olympics.  It was fascinating to watch an Epee competition.  A brilliant American by such a small margin that it saddened me and I knew neither of the gentlemen.

Watching the sadness and pathos of the young women of all teams who fumbled in their gymnastics is heart wrenching.  Unfortunately, I am an emotional sponge   When I see sadness, I tear.  I say this because it seems a contradiction.  I have rarely cried over something in my own life though much has saddened and frightened me over the years.  I chalk up my lack of sobbing to not having a high level of cortisol to rid.  When I tear because someone is so sad on TV, it is just that, a slight, short, tearing of my eyes and a feeling of empathy with their sadness.  I have never felt the same sadness I would feel over something in my own life.

There must be a universal identification with the happiness and joy,justified pride and tearfulness that the struggle to reach the just attained goal after so many years of pain, sacrifice and effort has finally paid off for those few. 

WHAT DOES FREEDOM OF RELIGION MEAN?

The first amendment states: 

first amendment: an overview

The First Amendment of the United States Constitution protects the right to freedom of religion and freedom of expression from government interference. See U.S. Const. amend. I. Freedom of expression consists of the rights to freedom of speech, press, assembly and to petition the government for a redress of grievances, and the implied rights of association and belief. The Supreme Court interprets the extent of the protection afforded to these rights. The First Amendment has been interpreted by the Court as applying to the entire federal government even though it is only expressly applicable to Congress. Furthermore, the Court has interpreted, the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment as protecting the rights in the First Amendment from interference by state governments. See U.S. Const. amend. XIV.  See here for the source.

Nowhere does it state the people not of that religion must provide payment by eliminati8ng taxes, income taxes, or some of the other perks that towns , states and the Federal government provide for many religions.  Since no everyone is welcome into churches, mosques or temples, I would think they are technically not public buildings and that the rest of us are under no obligation to be forced to pay for private institutions..

Rob Boston has written an article about 5 ways that churches get preferential treatment and benefit from legal loopholes.  1. Tax Policy; 2. Criminal Investigations, 3. Political Lobbying. 4. Employment Law; 5. Ceremonial Uses of Religion   

To read this article in its entirety, click here.

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ROMNEY WHO PLANS TO USE BUSH POLICIES DOES NOT HAVE HIM AT CONVENTION

The 2012 Republican National Convention (RNC) will be held in Tampa, Florida from August 26-30, 2012.  Security will be so tight (I see no connection to the next statement)

that Tampa residents will be charged a toll to drive their cars into their own city.More that I do not understand about that convention is that neither GW Bush not Dick Cheney will be present.  Which faction is trying to distance the other.  It would be hard to say whether GW and the man that held his puppet strings, Cheney, will do more harm to Romney than Romney can do to their memory as Republicans.

WATCHDOG reports the Department of Homeland Security Prepared For Large Scale Protests At RNC, DNC Conventions  Despite the current RNC cringing away from Cheney and Romney, the RNC will have President Bill Clinton present and speaking as his approval rating stands as 66%.   Romney who plans to use the Bush/Cheney policies will not see either of them at the convention.  Who is distancing whom, i ask??  Or are they declaring 'Mission Accomplished" and now jumping ship?

WASTED DOLLARS WHILE CHILDRENH AND OTHERS STARVE

It is reasonable that in the USA, private donation support the Olympics.  However, when billions of dollars get spent for the pre-Olympic extravaganza, I cannot help but think of that money being spent that does not directly relate to the athletes' performances.  As a senior citizen, I am not going hungry, I live adequately and frugally, and have a comfortable roof over my head which is my own (no longer belonging to a bank) and can manage to pay the taxes and everything else everyone bleeds out of us (the average citizens as in one of the 995 below $250,000 in income yearly.

Our legislators for the past several years have treated the American budget like their very own credit cards, the plastic that brings goodies but you don't have to pay a cent.  Just find another competitor of the card you hold who will readily take on your debt, interest free for some length of time which gives you time to find another similar deal.  Many of us, for whatever reason of integrity, do not want to leave the taxpayers stuck with a bill when we die to the credit card companies who have been gauging people for years.  No one seems to give credit to the fact that President Obama has prevented those banks and card companies from continuing charging their outrageous usury practices.

I understand that people need some sublimation in order to survive.  However, there are other sources than the Olympics to do it.  (yes, i understand that even that waste of money gives some people jobs.l Bowls provide it and get paid for it by advertising.  Despite the people who will call me a Socialist, which I am definitely not, or a Christian, which I am definitely not, I believe I agree with whoever wrote as though they knew what Jesus Christ would have said and done and that is to share with the poor.  Hypocrisy abounds in our society.  People will give more money to animals than to starving and malnourished children who they forced into the world because abortion is taboo to them.  It doesn't matter if they starve to death after they get here, no sperm will go to waste!  It must be a 'male' thing because it certainly is not something I can understand.

EVEN WHEN THE PRESIDENT DOES HIS JOB WELL, HE IS MISUNDERSTOOD

Helene Cooper has written an article for the blog of The Times which is:  An Ocean Away But Still Shadowing His Competition.  She goes on to ask if things that President Obama has done during the past few days while Romney is on his ;foreign policy' tour, are because of the tour...the implication that they are.  However, on closer examination most of what President Obama is doing has been in a pipeline that has finally reached its goal.

This Blogger clearly misunderstands our P{residents constant global presence as Romney seems to do. Romney criticizes President Obama in the States while intimating that he will not do so on his tour.  He doesn't need to say a word elsewhere.  Everything that happens in the US (or any other place for that matter) is global within seconds.  That Romney does not see this is yet another reason he is not ready to be President of the USA.  If the Republicans don't cheat their way to the White House with the attempts to fool the public that they are trying to curb voter fraud, we the people may be fortunate enough to get to continue another four years with a competent person.  Further, with luck, some of the incompetents currently in the Legislative positions who are stonewalling all progress might not be re-elected.