new ugly year's grim eve = craps-o-crooked-crack-head of the century

crappy joke day

Italian kids vs.. American kids

American kids: Move out when they're 18 with the full support of their parents.

Italian kids: Move out when they're 28, having saved enough money for a house, and are two weeks away from getting married....unless there's room in the basement for the newlyweds.

American kids: When their Mom visits them, she brings a Bundt cake, and you sip coffee and chat.
Italian kids: When their Mom visits them, she brings 3 days worth of food, begins to tidy up, dust, do the laundry, and rearrange the furniture.

American kids: Their dads always call before they come over to visit them, and it's usually only on special occasions.
Italian kids: Are not at all fazed when their dads show up, unannounced, on a Saturday morning at 8:00 , and starts pruning the fruit trees. If there are no fruit trees, he'll plant some.

American kids: Always pay retail, and look in the Yellow Pages when they need to have something done.
Italian kids: Call their dad or uncle, and ask for another dad's or uncle's phone number to get it done...cash deal. Know what I mean??

American kids: Will come over for cake and coffee, and get only cake and coffee. No more.
Italian kids: Will come over for cake and coffee, and get antipasto, wine, a pasta dish, a choice of two meats, salad, bread, a cannoli, fruit, espresso, and a few after dinner drinks.

American kids: Will greet you with "Hello" or "Hi".
Italian kids: Will give you a big hug, a kiss on your cheek, and a pat on your back.

American kids: Call your parents Mr. and Mrs.
Italian kids: Call your parents Mom and Dad.

American kids: Have never seen you cry.
Italian kids: Cry with you.

American kids: Borrow your stuff for a few days and then return it.
Italian kids: Keep your stuff so long, they forget it's yours.

American kids: Will eat at your dinner table and leave.
Italian kids: Will spend hours there, talking, laughing, and just being together.

American kids: Know few things about you.
Italian kids: Could write a book with direct quotes from you.

American kids: Eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on soft mushy white bread.
Italian kids: Eat Genoa Salami and Provolone sandwiches, Rabe sandwiches and Meatball and pepper sandwiches on crusty Italian bread.

American kids: Will leave you behind if that's what the crowd is doing.

Italian kids: Will kick the whole crowds' ass who left you behind.

American kids: Are Friends for a while.
Italian kids: Are Friends for life.

American kids: Like Rod Stewart, and Steve Tyrell.
Italian kids: Worship Tony Bennett, and Sinatra

American kids: Will ignore this.
Italian kids: Will forward it.

craps-o-crooked-crack-head of the century

Was the "Credit Crunch" a Myth Used to Sell a Trillion-Dollar Scam?
Monday 29 December 2008
by: Joshua Holland, AlterNet


US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's plan, also known as the Troubled Asset Relief Program, has been accused of having little oversight and little effect on the financial meltdown. (Photo: Getty Images)

Even as the media continue to repeat the claim that credit has frozen up, evidence has emerged suggesting the entire story is wrong.

There is something approaching a consensus that the Paulson Plan -- also known as the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP -- was a boondoggle of an intervention that's flailed from one approach to the next, with little oversight and less effect on the financial meltdown.

But perhaps even more troubling than... (More)

happy new ugly year

happy new year at disneyland


craps from the west

TWO DIFFERENT DOCTORS' OFFICES

Two patients limp into two different medical clinics with the same complaint. Both have trouble walking and appear to require a hip replacement.

The FIRST patient is examined within the hour, is x-rayed the same day and has a time booked for surgery the following week.

The SECOND sees his family doctor after waiting 3 weeks for an appointment, then waits 8 weeks to see a specialist, then gets an x-ray, which isn't reviewed for another week
and finally has his surgery scheduled for 6 months from then.
Why the different treatment for the two patients?
 
 
The FIRST is a Golden Retriever.
The SECOND is a Senior Citizen.

Next time take me to a veterinarian!

craps-o-creeps

Israel's failure to learn
By Nir Rosen

Will Israel make the same mistake with Hamas that it made with Hezbollah? [GALLO/GETTY]

VOICES FROM GAZA

Gazans: 'We are living a nightmare'

Palestinian women and children flee an area hit by an Israeli air strike [GALLO/GETTY]

stuck between x'mas & new year

no-nonsense dog



crap-o-day

I THINK YOU'RE THE FATHER OF ONE OF MY KIDS
A guy goes to the supermarket and notices an attractive woman waving at him. She says hello. He's rather taken aback because he can't place where he knows her from. So he says, 'Do you know me?' To which she replies, 'I think you're the father of one of my kids.'
Now his mind travels back to the only time he has ever been unfaithful to his wife and says, 'My God, are you the stripper from my bachelor party that I made love to on the pool table with all my buddies watching while your partner whipped my butt with wet celery??'
She looks into his eyes and says calmly, 'No, I'm your son's teacher'.

a peaceful sunday after the X'mas

click on this link or the below picture to watch msnbc Year in Picture video

CNN news craps

Israel deploys tanks and troops around Gaza

Fire burns late Sunday or early Monday in Gaza, where Israel has been bombing what it says are Hamas targets.

MSNBC news craps


Palestinian rescue workers carry a wounded prisoner in the rubble of the Saraya prison after it was hit by a missile strike on Sunday.

age old hunger

the day after christmas... a little love for you...

... and the world

driving in the chilly rains...

come away with me to the world of my dream


where everything is pure, white, clean, calm, simple and crystal like...


yet, wild, misty, opaque, qualm, intertwined and obfuscated... in the meantime.

hi, santa...

where's the gift of love & peace on earth that i've asked for?

love & peace & merry crazymass

Merry Christmas To Us All

seasoning greeting -- biggest heart & best love for all


i want my christmas stuffed toy now -- -- no kiddin' !!!

long hard week ahead...

da ol' white craps



The Grinning Skull: The Homicides You Didn't Hear About in Hurricane Katrina
by: Rebecca Solnit, TomDispatch.com

Donnell Herrington was shot twice by vigilantes after Hurricane Katrina in Algiers Point, a mostly black community across the river from New Orleans. (Photo: Chandra McCormick and Keith Calhoun / The Nation)

i heard she sing

i heard she sing "Diamonds & Rust" again today... it sounded still so sad as ever...

craps-de-light

craps-de-press

UAW's Sacrifices Look to Some Like Surrender
by: Peter Whoriskey, The Washington Post

United Auto Workers (UAW) President Ron Gettelfinger. (Photo: mlive.com)

Blacks and Immigrants Bring in the Union

by: David Bacon, t r u t h o u t | Perspective

Workers at Smithfield win union contract after 16 year fight. (Photo: smithfieldfoods.com)

A World Enslaved

by: E. Benjamin Skinner, Foreign Policy

Marchers protest kidnappings in Port-au-Prince. (Photo: Ariana Cubillos / AP)

GDIFA - God Damned It's Friday Again

Well, once again... another Xmas Craps... 'round the corner...



Last Year's Merry-- Christmas--

Time Square


Washington, D.C.


The world's largest Christmas tree display rises up the slopes
of Monte Ingino outside of Gubbio, in Italy's Umbria region.
Composed of about 500 lights connected by 40,000 feet of wire,
the 'tree' is a modern marvel for an ancient city (Below)


aglow beside a tiny chapel in Germany's Karwendel mountains,
a Christmas tree is a wondrous sight. (below)


the Christmas tree in London's Trafalgar Square


St. Peter's Square in Rome hosts a larger-than- life nativity scene in front of the obelisk.

Moscow celebrates Christmas according to the Russian Orthodox calendar on Jan. 7. or weeks beforehand, the city is alive with festivities in anticipation of Father Frost's arrival on his magical troika with the Snow Maiden. He and his helper deliver gifts under the New Year tree, or yolka, which is traditionally a fir.


The largest Christmas tree in Europe (more than 230 feet tall)
can be found in the Praça do Comércio in Lisbon, Portugal.


now -- the daily lousy craps...

Obama Chooses Rep. Hilda Solis as Labor Chief
Jesse J. Holland, The Associated Press: "President-elect Barack Obama's choice to be labor secretary, Democratic Rep. Hilda Solis of California, is expected to advocate greater union influence in the workplace and more 'green' jobs. Solis, the 51-year-old daughter of a Mexican union shop steward and a Nicaraguan assembly line worker, is in line to be the third Hispanic nominee in Obama's Cabinet. Obama planned to announce her nomination on Friday, said a labor official who spoke on condition of anonymity because an announcement had not been made yet."

Gilles Anquetil | Let's Negotiate With Iran!
Gilles Anquetil, Le Nouvel Observateur: "Former CIA Chief for the Middle East Robert Baer has published a provocative essay in which - in order to avoid war - he exhorts the United States to stop demonizing Iran."

A Car in Every Port
Agence France-Presse: "China's first mass-produced hybrid electric car hit the market on Monday, its manufacturer said, in a move aimed at driving the nation to the cutting edge of the world's green auto industry."

whisky river can't run dry

angel with roses

growing in an ol' pot

This will delight you and, hopefully, inspire you.

THE OLD FISHERMAN
Our house was directly across the street from the clinic entrance of Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore . We lived downstairs and rented the upstairs rooms to out-patients at the Clinic.

One summer evening as I was fixing supper, there was a knock at the door. I opened it to see a truly awful looking man. 'Why, he's hardly taller than my eight-year-old,' I thought as I stared at the stooped, shriveled body.

But the appalling thing was his face, lopsided from swelling, red and raw. Yet his voice was pleasant as he said, 'Good evening. I've come to see if you've a room for just one night. I came for a treatment this morning from the eastern shore, and there's no bus 'till morning.'

He told me he'd been hunting for a room since noon but with no success; no one seemed to have a room. 'I guess it's my face. I know it looks terrible, but my doctor says with a few more treatments...'

For a moment I hesitated, but his next words convinced me: 'I could sleep in this rocking chair on the porch. My bus leaves early in the morning.' I told him we would find him a bed, but to rest on the porch. I went inside and finished getting supper. When we were ready, I asked the old man if he would join us. 'No thank you. I have plenty' and he held up a brown paper bag.

When I had finished the dishes, I went out on the porch to talk with him a few minutes. It didn't take a long time to see that this old man had an over-sized heart crowded into that tiny body. He told me he fished for a living to support his daughter, her five children and her husband, who was hopelessly crippled from a back injury.

He didn't tell it by way of complaint; in fact, every other sentence was prefaced with thanks to God for a blessing. He was grateful that no pain accompanied his disease, which was apparently a form of skin cancer. He thanked God for giving him the strength to keep going.

At bedtime, we put a camp cot in the children's room for him. When I got up in the morning, the bed linens were neatly folded, and the little man was out on the porch.

He refused breakfast, but just before he left for his bus, haltingly, as if asking a great favor, he said, 'Could I please come back and stay the next time I have a treatment? I won't put you out a bit. I can sleep fine in a chair.' He paused a moment and then added, 'Your children made me feel at home. Grownups are bothered by my face, but children don't seem to mind.'

I told him he was welcome to come again.

And on his next trip he arrived a little after seven in the morning. As a gift, he brought a big fish and a quart of the largest oysters I had ever seen. He said he had shucked them that morning before he left so that they'd be nice and fresh. I knew his bus left at 4 a.m., and I wondered what time he had to get up in order to do this for us.

In the years he came to stay overnight with us, there was never a time that he did not bring us fish or oysters or vegetables from his garden.

Other times we received packages in the mail, always by special delivery; fish and oysters packed in a box of fresh young spinach or kale, every leaf carefully washed. Knowing that he must walk three miles to mail these and knowing how little money he had made the gifts doubly precious.

When I received these little remembrances, I often thought of a comment our next-door neighbor made after he left that first morning. 'Did you keep that awful looking man last night? I turned him away! You can lose roomers by putting up such people!'

Maybe we did lose roomers once or twice. But, oh! If only they could have known him, perhaps their illness would have been easier to bear. I know our family always will be grateful to have known him; from him we learned what it was to accept the bad without complaint and the good
with gratitude to God.

Recently I was visiting a friend who has a greenhouse. As she showed me her flowers, we came to the most beautiful one of all, a golden chrysanthemum, bursting with blooms. But to my great surprise, it was growing in an old dented, rusty bucket. I thought to myself, 'If this were my plant, I'd put it in the loveliest container I had!'

My friend changed my mind. 'I ran short of pots,' she explained, 'and knowing how beautiful this one would be, I thought it wouldn't mind starting out in this old pail. It's just for a little while, till I can put it out in the garden.'

She must have wondered why I laughed so delightedly, but I was imagining just such a scene in heaven. There's an especially beautiful one, 'God might have said when he came to the soul of the sweet old fisherman. 'He won't mind starting in this small body.'

All this happened long ago -- and now, in God's garden, how tall this lovely soul must stand.

The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.'

Friends are very special. They make you smile and encourage you to succeed. They lend an ear and they share a word of praise. Show your friends how much you care.

Pass this on, and brighten someone's day.

Nothing will happen if you do not decide to pass it along.

The only thing that will happen if you do pass it on is that someone

might smile (or cry like I did...) ~ because of you!

********Friends Are Special Hugs from GOD!!!

the cable guy came

art farts





recent


youth



see more of his youth photos:
http://blogxilla.com/blog3/2008/12/17/barack-obama-the-college-years/

daily (un)human craps

UAW Busting, Southern Style

by: Bruce Raynor, The Los Angeles Times

Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker (pictured here) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) represent states that subsidize foreign nonunion auto companies. (Photo: Matthew Cavanaugh / EPA)

crowning of an ol' molar day

good goofy kids' craps

What Love means to a 4-8 year old ....

Slow down for three minutes to read this. It is so worth it. Touching words from the mouth of babes.
A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4 to 8 year-olds, 'What does love mean?'

The answers they got were broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined See what you think:


'When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore. 
So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love.' 

Rebecca- age 8 



'When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. 
You just know that your name is safe in their mouth.' 

Billy - age 4 



'Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other.' 

Karl - age 5


'Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs.' 

Chrissy - age 6 


'Love is what makes you smile when you're tired.' 

Terri - age 4 



'Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK.' 

Danny - age 7 



'Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. 
My Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss' 

Emily - age 8 



'Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.' 

Bobby - age 7 (Wow!)


'If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate,' 

Nikka - age 6
 (we need a few million more Nikka's on this planet) 



'Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday.' 

Noelle - age 7 



'Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well.' 

Tommy - age 6 
 


'During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. 

He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore.' 

Cindy - age 8


'My mommy loves me more than anybody 
You don't see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night.' 

Clare - age 6 



'Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken.' 

Elaine-age 5 



'Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford.' 

Chris - age 7

'Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day.' 

Mary Ann - age 4 


'I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones.' 

Lauren - age 4 



'When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you.' (what an image) 

Karen - age 7 



'Love is when Mommy sees Daddy on the toilet and she doesn't think it's gross.' 

Mark - age 6


'You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget.' 

Jessica - age 8 


And the final one 

The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. 

Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there. 

When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, 

'Nothing, I just helped him cry'

wait, here's one more...

"Well..., love is when my tooth hurt, judy was here with me; when my hip sore's gone bad, judy went with me to a doctor; when my back went out, judy took care of me; and when i was lost one time, judy found me, and judy's still gonna look for me, if i get lost again. (i hope)" me - age 55.75

a low-back went-out day

photos: CBS News website
info: Don Cooley/Mavis/Doyle by emails

HOW BIG IS WAL-MART?

This should boggle your mind!! And scare you as well!

HOW BIG IS WAL-MART?

1 . At Wal-Mart, Americans spend $36,000,000 every hour of every day.

2 . This works out to $20,928 profit every minute!

3. Wal-Mart will sell more from January 1 to St. Patrick's Day (March 17th) than Target sells all year.

4 Wal-Mart is bigger than Home Depot + Kroger + Target + Sears + Costco + K-Mart combined.

5. Wal-Mart employs 1.6 million people and is the largest private employer. And most can't speak English


6. Wal-Mart is the largest company in the history of the World.

7. Wal-Mart now sells more food than Kroger & Safeway combined, and keep in mind they did this in only 15 years.

8. During this same period, 31 Supermarket chains sought bankruptcy (including Winn-Dixie).

9. Wal-Mart now sells more food than any other store in the world.

10. Wal-Mart has approx 3,900 stores in the USA of which 1,906 are Super Centers; this is 1,000 more than it had 5 years ago.

11 This year, 7.2 billion different purchasing experiences will occur at a Wal-Mart store. (Earth's population is approximately 6.5 billion.)

12. 90% of all Americans live within 15 miles of a Wal-Mart

13 Let Wal-Mart bail out Wall Street, and GM, and Ford, and Chrysler......

here comes the other craps

GOP Budget Plan: Slash $10 Billion From Schools

by: Matthew Yi, The San Francisco Chronicle

War Talk, the Death of the Social, and Disappearing Children: A Lesson for Obama

by: Henry A. Giroux, t r u t h o u t | Perspective

Mr. Obama, Weigh the Price of War

by: Douglas MacGregor, Defense News

Former Army Col. Douglas Macgregor urges Obama to look at war in a different way than President Bush. (Photo: Getty Images)

The Crisis: An Opportunity to Save the Planet

by: Antoine Reverchon, Le Monde

"It would be a very serious mistake to believe that we must hold up long-term investments and policies because of the crisis," argues Sir Nicholas Stern in favor of policies that address global warming and speed economic recovery. (Photo: David Rose / The Sydney Morning Herald)