Grandma Daisy's: "We don't dial 911"

I see Renegade Evolution's existential question... and I raise her one! At left, photo reads: Grandma Daisy's: "We don't dial 911" and is punctuated with a nice old-school firearm. (This is an antique store in Fredericksburg, Texas, and of course, I could not resist taking the photo for my blog!)

Not coincidentally, various folks over the years have joked to your humble narrator, that I probably didn't need 911, and they are probably right about that. ;)

Speaking of which: Suitably adorable Grandma photos of my trip, for anyone interested. I loved seeing my grandbabies! (I worried that photos of me and Barbie would ruin my feminist cred, but hey, I think that was already compromised a long time ago!)

~*~

A sort of all-purpose post, as I create links for the Daisy Deadhead show tomorrow. (Commercial: LIKE US ON FACEBOOK!) I suppose I could bring my laptop to the radio station (WFIS, tomorrow, 9-10am), but trying to fiddle with the keyboard and talk, at the same time? Sounds risky to me. I am NOT Wolfman Jack. Maybe when I get a little more proficient at this stuff.

First up, will be the illuminating story in the Austin Statesman, Personal ties key to Rick Perry's wealth:

Gov. Rick Perry might like for people to believe he made more than $1 million while holding elective office in Texas through shrewd business decisions, but in almost every case he was steered to his investments.

From his father-in-law renting space in a building Perry owned back home in Haskell to a high school buddy from Future Farmers of America helping him make a million in a Horseshoe Bay land deal, Perry has been more than just lucky or shrewd. He has been a man with friends.

The question of whether Perry's real estate windfalls have been a result of friends helping friends or are evidence of some sort of corruption has been fodder for some of his past campaign opponents.

"From abusing his power over appointments to getting sweetheart real estate deals from supporters, he's a regular get-rich-quick icon," U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison's campaign manager said of Perry before last year's gubernatorial primary.

During the general election campaign last year, Democratic opponent Bill White said of one deal, "Perry's investment was enhanced by a series of professional courtesies and personal favors."

Over the course of about 18 years , Perry and his wife, Anita, grew from struggling to make ends meet in Haskell County to having a comfortable retirement nest egg built primarily from real estate deals Perry made while he was a statewide elected official.

And rest assured, there is plenty more dirt where THAT came from. Tune in for my personal assessment of Rick Perry's business acumen! NOTE: I DO have my all-purpose, FCC-approved, NO CUSSING sign, as I mentioned HERE, so I am required to keep my anti-Perry commentary squeaky clean. (It's a challenge, but I am up to it.)

On the local front, we will be peeling and digesting State Senator David Thomas (R-of course), who opposes "government spending"--except when the spending is on David Thomas. Another faker, like Governor Haley.

He carefully voted himself a cushy pension for working only A SCANT FEW YEARS:

At age 55, South Carolina state Sen. David Thomas began collecting a pension for his legislative service without leaving office.

Most workers must retire from their jobs before getting retirement benefits. But Thomas used a one-sentence law that he and his colleagues passed in 2002 to let legislators receive a taxpayer-funded pension instead of a salary after serving for 30 years.

Thomas' $32,390 annual retirement benefit — paid for the rest of his life — is more than triple the $10,400 salary he gave up. His pension exceeds the salary because of another perk: Lawmakers voted to count their expenses in the salary used to calculate their pensions.

No other South Carolina state workers get those perks.

Since January 2005, Thomas, a Republican, has made $148,435 more than a legislative salary would have paid, his financial-disclosure records show. At least four other South Carolina lawmakers are getting pensions instead of salaries, netting an extra $292,000 since 2005, records show.

And finally, I will try to include Anna's comments at Mills River Progressive, which came courtesy of Onyx Lynx. (THANK YOU!)

It just seems so obvious, but sometimes, people have to spell out the obvious:

All the Politicos Yapping About "Creating Jobs" Avoid the REAL Solution

Which is to stop sending the jobs overseas. Duh. That would be the logical course of action, if the U.S. Congress actually worked on behalf of the citizenry. Obviously they don't, and therefore none of them will propose the only lasting solutions to our massive unemployment. End our destructive trade policies, restore fair trade policies and practices, invest in new sustainable industries on the domestic front (other than weapons), and sweet pygmy Jeebus STOP REWARDING CORPORATIONS THAT SEND JOBS OVERSEAS!

There. That's not too difficult, is it? It's not rocket science. And it's well within the realm of the possible. But *they* won't do it. They won't discuss it. Almost no one will mention it on the floor of Congress. Why? Why won't the people who supposedly represent our interests do the things that will lead to a reversal of our crumbling fortunes and dismal futures? Because their handlers - their actual bosses, the financial elite, the investor class, the 1% - don't want that.

The reality is that our lives are of no importance to them. In fact, we're obsolete. They make enormous amounts of money by sending our industries, our (former) work to the third world. They're profiting like never before; why on earth would they want to return to the bad old days, when profits were hampered by trade policy, by benefit packages, by paying a middle-class wage?

I will try to quote the whole thing, if there is time. We hope to be hearing directly via telephone from Green Party members who are currently occupying Wall Street. YEAH!

I will also slip in a mention of Duke Energy's intention to raise our utility-rates, and the necessary information about the local public hearings. The print on the teeny-tiny postcard recently mailed out by Duke Energy is nearly microscopic, and very difficult to read.

I'm sure that's only a coincidence. They wouldn't try to dissuade people from coming to the hearings, now would they?

If Disney did a horror movie, might look like this

Left: Victoria's birthday party; she is the one in yellow who looks just like me.







My granddaughter turned six on September 11. I certainly DO wish her birthday was NOT a national day of mourning. To my daughter's credit (that's her in the photo), she has always tried to make her birthdays happy. I don't think Victoria will become self-conscious about the date until she is older, and maybe not even then.

As one commenter on a blog recently said to me: If we let them take our happiness, they have indeed been successful in totally destroying the day. I agree.

Meanwhile, my granddaughter is SIX whole years old! I will be seeing them next week for the first time in over a year, and I am very excited.

And don't these partiers look a little scary? ;)

Wordless Wednesday: swimming baby

It's my son-in-law and his little clone, my adorable grandson! (((preens))) He just turned a year old.

Casey Anthony trial, week 2

Wow, ladies and gents, this trial is so hot, it's like having an unseen, shiny brand new season of LAW AND ORDER on DVD from Netflix. Yow! I can barely tear myself away to buy groceries.

Scandalmongers throughout the land, I can attest that this trial is where it's at--as we used to say.

To spice up the proceedings, we have Detective Yuri Melich, who was reprimanded for posting on a crime blog about the case, under the name Dick Tracy Orlando (Mr Daisy approves of comic-book reference). I hope this isn't an issue on appeal; my personal opinion is that anyone--including law enforcement--should be able to post anonymously (or under a pseudonym) about anything they please ... the question is whether he was as anonymous as he should have been. Did everyone know who he "really" was, and does that count for anything? This is an important First Amendment matter, and I hope this case sets some kind of precedent.

Admission: I love it that blogs are taken seriously in such a high-profile case. All power to the bloggers!

This week: The testimony of Casey's mother, Cindy Anthony, was wrenching. It nearly did Cindy in completely, and me too. Before this testimony, I didn't realize that Caylee, her deceased granddaughter, was born only a month before my own. She would be six years old this year, starting school, if she had not been murdered. Cindy wept upon seeing photos of Caylee's playhouse and bedroom, especially her little stuffed bears and other toys. Just imagine, your granddaughter is dead, and you may lose your only daughter to the death penalty.

Tellingly, Casey showed no emotion during her mother's continuous sobbing. Similarly, when her future sister-in-law Mallory Parker testified and also started to cry, she succeeded in showing more emotion than the child's own mother.

Today: We are now listening to the tape recording made at Universal Studios, when it was finally made obvious that Casey Anthony was lying about working there. She walked around looking for her fictional office at Universal, three cops trailing behind, and then she finally stuck her hands in her back pockets and admitted, "I don't work here." What? You don't work there? And for years, you have told everyone that you do, including your own family?! Holy shit, this woman is a world-class sociopath, making Diane Downs look like very small potatoes indeed.

On the Universal tape, the Orlando detectives are grilling her ass so bad, a mere mortal would have caved long ago. The lead detectives would make Lenny Briscoe and Robert Goren proud. This stuff is great! The incredible ability of Casey Anthony to reel off one well-spun lie after another, without even pausing to think about it, is astounding. I can truthfully say that I have never seen such a thing before. One of the legal commentators wondered aloud if she is the kind of person who could even pass a polygraph, believing her own detailed, in-depth web of fairy tales.

Casey just keeps repeating: the (non-existent) nanny took Caylee. Even though it has been definitively established that no one by the non-existent nanny's name ever lived in the mystery apartment where Caylee was supposedly dropped off; the last place Casey claims to have seen her. Casey keeps repeating these 'facts' anyway. And the Briscoe/Goren duo keep at her, in cop-tones that would make most of us curl up into a fetal position.

But it is quite brazenly obvious on the tape: Casey isn't scared and holds her ground. Freaking bloody amazing!

Tune in tomorrow.

Wordless Wednesday: Granddaughter and dolphin

At the Texas State Aquarium last month.

Wordless Wednesday: Discovering coolness

Daisy's grandson dons sunglasses, appears momentarily confused. I'm sure he'll catch on later!

Wordless Wednesday: Your Future Mr Right

My grandson is your Future Mr Right! (((beams proudly)))