WAITING FOR THUNDER SNOW ON THE ANNIVERSARY OG THER BLIZZARD OF 1978

So many cars were lined up for gas that the station was limiting the sale to only 5 gallons per vehicle.  It doesn't look like I will have anywhere to go, anyway, after the street plows do their job of piling up even more snow to fence in the parking area.  I can only hope that our power will stay on, though I know that is unlikely.  I do not have a generator though I have been trying to contact someone who would put one in.  I would like to plumb in natural gas as I have heard that is now available on the market.

So, if I am not heard on my blog on a day or more, it will be because power is out and the Internet is dependent on it.

We in this area have been exceedingly lucky for now and the law of averages now says it is our turn. One of the things that one cannot fight is the law of averages and Nature's random acts (certainly not always random acts of kindness.).

If it follows the course it did in 1978, 2 feet of snow can reach 4 or 5 feet from the wind, though it may be near ground in some few places. We must be patient.  We can be sure that as long as the sun is in the sky, spring will come along in a few weeks and if not shoveled, the snow will melt a;; that white stuff and turn it into irrigation for the spring plants..,  .

MAJOR LIFE DECISIONS: BUYING YOUR NEXT COMPUTER

There has not been a time since 1980 that I have not owned a computer, replacing them more and more frequently as time has gone on..  As in the English Regency period, it is like needing an heir and a spare.  At times I have had a  lap to to desktop.  It is like never being left with only one key.  Now I have a 2 sick desktops , a five year old laptop, and an iPad.  My desktops (one has been semi-retired for more than a year; one my remaining desktop where most of my primary work is stored is showing signs of old age progressive  dementia.

The real question which arises is, "With what shall I replace it""  I really want an Apple product but have hesitated to free myself from the PC platform because of expensive and necessary software I had run in the past, which I no longer need  The second major concern is learning curve which I may not live long enough to master.

Frankly, I am most weary with learning how to run things that have either no manual or manuals written.for people that have a long lifetime ahead of them to read the 492 pages as in the Step-by=Step Windows 7 manual I recently bought.  I'm still trying to wade through the 140 page manual for my iPad.  Anyone over 12 years old will understand the dilemma.

Nevertheless, though my friends, many of whom are also are seniors, either advise me against making the shift or tell me to make it, though they are having terrible problems getting used to a different platform.  

After very careful consideration I realized that I have been learning things my whole life.  I have owned many technological products, appliances, tools, etc and have for many years owned the equivalent of a Lamborghini while finally having managed to master riding a tricycle.  Having recently retired from professional life. I am often asked what I do with all that free time I must have.  "What free time?". I ask.   I must be doing something wrong because I have never had 'free' time.  In fact, I've never been bored, either.  If I were a praying person I would pray for an extra few hours in a day.  That is not going to happen so I will go back to prioritizing my days 

WHAT ARE THE REPUBLICANSS DOING?

It is assumed that the Republican party knows what their platform is.  Today, Eric Cantor quoted almost word for word a speech given by Barack Obama a couple of years ago.  Admittedly, with some of the people who have been elected to office, our country is full of some very ignorant people.  The ignorance comes from the lack of access to the truth. If you live in some of the red states, you cannot hear much besides Rush Limbaugh, televangelists, and Fox Cable News.

When are the Republicans going to actually look at numbers and understand why they lost the election.  They are trying as hard as they can to cheat but it is not getting the desired results.  The rest of us can only hope there will be a legal way to stop the Gerrymandering.  It certainly seems that the party is emulating the plot of Lord of the Flies.  The leaders lead through fear and threat.  Actually, we really do not know who their leaders are.  The people who ran the country of the eight years of Bush kept themselves hidden from public view.  It could not last forever, so their tricks did not work and Barack Obama became the President of the United States for another four years.  The Republican party seems to allow and encourage people to run for office who seem to be driven either by delusions or are just without integrity and knowledge.

Each day becomes more bizarre from the mouths of Republicans than it was the day before.  As a party, they are such a majority of elected officials who are there to be self-serving and have no notion of what their constituents value, need, or want them to do

LIVES SNUFFED OUT BY GUNS

Noah Posner, at age 6

Noah Posner deserved 'life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness' as we all do.  But, a man who had no conscience or ability to empathize with the result of his actions and the suffering they would cause to so many, too advantage of his misguided mother's guns to commit massacre.

Noah's mother insisted on  and open casket to show the damage 11 bullets can do.  He was missing his mouth and jaw, one hand, and his mother thought people cannot imagine what that looks like unless they see it.  I would have liked to have pictures shown on TV with a warning as to what was to be shown to allow people to protect their children (or themselves, if needed) from the sight.  However, it would not stop carnage, it would help to force people out of the lethargy they have been for too long from only seeing statistics and not the real thing.  We need to address this problem as many other countries have.  No plan will be perfect but if even one life is saved, is that not worth the effort?

To read the opinion article by Mallick, click here.  To demonstrate the far reaching effect  of this tragedy, this was sent to me by a retired teacher in Canada.

To see an article on why Mrs. Posner  

WHAT DID THE CHUCK HAGEL HEARINGS PROVE?

Chuck Hagel had a grueling eight hours of attack.  He is clearly prepared for the job in the eyes of the President, Leon Panetta.  Those who understand what the role entails are quite satisfied with Hagel being appointed.  Click here for Panettes's views.

On Meet the Press this week, Chuck Todd filling in for David  Gregor interviewed :Leon Panetta. Secretary of Defense and General Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. .Both men felt that he was immensely qualified and while the eight hours of hearing would make anyone tired with the attacks on him which he he endured, they felt 

They pointed out that those few Republicans who asked hostile questions in a hostile manner

 Gen. Martin Dempsey
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

seemed to be playing a political game because they asked nothing of the very vital situations this man will face if appointed.It is very sad to see McCain, a man I once admired for his strength, turn into just another mean and small man. Someone needs to scold them but it is clear that neither Boehner or McConnell have the interest of the House or Senate front and center in their goals.

Does this man's face fit the subject?

Pundits seem to believe that Hagel will be confirmed despite the pitiful show put on by McCain and Lindsay Graham, who squirmed in his seat all through his question as though he was being bothered by sitting on his hemorrhoids.  Video playback is really quite enlightening.

Watching the video proved to me that legislators do not know much about the subject of the hearings and only prove their ignorance and lack of fitness for their job.

Gen. Martin Dempsey
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

Read more about Scoop: MEET THE PRESS on NBC - Today by tv.broadwayworld.com

Gen. Martin Dempsey
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

Read more about Scoop: MEET THE PRESS on NBC - Today by tv.broadwayworld.com

RELIGIOUS LEADERS WILL NOT ACCEPT ABORTION EVEN FOR THE NON-RELIGIOUS

Robert Pear has written an article about the compromise President Obama has made to attempt to respect religious institutions, hospitals, schools, etc from having to pay for insurance coverage for free contraceptive pills.  Even though payment is eliminated for religious institutions, that is just not enough.  In my opinion, it is time to make clear to these institutions that they are no different than other businesses and corporations and should no longer have a free ride on the backs of the non-religious.

For Mr. Pear's article which appeared in the New York Times, click here. When will our Constitution  be followed to keep religion out of politics and running our country (which is what politicians should be doing, that is, running our country).

The Republicans claim to see people on medicaid as takers, lazy, and other pejorative terms. They do not deal with cause and effect, it seems.  Can't they see that abortion was made legal to save lives.  There were too many illegal abortions or births needing governmental financial assistance.  Whatever rosy glasses the far Right is using does not work in the real world.,