I am shutting down the computer for the night. Happy New Year to All! I will be listening to Jimmy Buffet and Nanci Griffith to welcome in the new year. I have some champagne to help with that too. God bless you all. I look forward to blogging with you all in 2010! Good night.
iggydonnelly
Filed under This humble little blog...
This is a photo of my grandmother (on the right, a picture of my mom, on the left, and me below). The date was December, 1955 – I was not quite two years old. The auto featured was either a 1949 or 1950 Plymouth. The best car my dad ever owned – according to him.
My maternal grandmother was born on February 29th, 1896. Her birthdate was the subject of many a small town Oklahoma newspaper article – such as – in 1980, Viola Abel able to vote after all these years – hahaha…
My grandmother was born in Missouri, but was raised in Minnesota. Her father was a physician. She always hated the idea that she would be buried in the red dirt of north central Oklahoma, but that was what happened, despite her long years of dreading. She claimed to have the best of lifes – she recalled riding in horse-drawn buggies, but lived long enough to see a man land on the moon.
I have been thinking a lot about my grandmother today, and I am not sure why. She passed away in the winter of 1991. I was a pall bearer at her funeral. The man who is the head of the Sonic Drive-In Corporation was in attendance – my grandmother would have been proud of that.
My grandmother was born at the end of the Victorian era. Health and well-being in her time were not to be taken for granted. I recall that when me or my sister would put our arms out of the rolled down back-seat windows, she’d nearly have a fit – as our arms could be taken off by other autos. She was very anxious about health – all of the time. She was sharp as a tack until about her 93th birthday – after that she was pretty demented.
When my senior high english class read the book “To Kill a Mocking Bird” – I was sure the neighborhood described by Harper Lee, was where my grandmother lived – even though it was Oklahoma, rather than Alabama.
My maternal grandmother was a life-long Republican. To describe how hopeless in this regard she was, she thought Richard Nixon had “a nice smile”.
I miss my grandmother. I hope her soul rests in peace…
iggydonnelly
Filed under family
I watched this great video. It was a wake-up call for me.
It is way past time that we think about ourselves and our food!
Let’s take the next few steps forward and help those who follow after us!
iggydonnelly
Filed under Ethics
Once in a blue moon there is one on New Year’s Eve. And this year, revelers ringing in 2010 will be treated to the rare sight. But don’t expect it to be blue—the name has nothing to do with the color of our closest celestial neighbor. A blue moon, by definition, is the second full moon occurring in a single month. A full moon was visible on December second, and will appear again just in time for the New Year’s countdown.
And, in case you were wondering, the last blue moon that occurred on New Year’s Eve was nineteen years ago, in 1990. We won’t see another until 2028.
Filed under The Public Square
When Richard Reid attempted to blow up an airplane using explosives in his shoe in 2001, President Bush was on vacation and did not comment for six days. The Democrats and the press hardly complained. In contrast, President Obama almost immediately took flack for the failed Christmas Day underwear bombing, particularly from Congressmen Peter King and Pete Hoekstra. Hitting back, the Democrats noted that Hoekstra invoked the attack to raise campaign money. They also blamed Republicans for holding up the nomination of the man Obama has appointed to head the TSA—and Harry Reid has now moved to break the hold on the nomination. “This hypocrisy demonstrates Republicans are playing politics with issues of national security and terrorism,” DNC spokesman Hari Sevugan said. “That they would use this incident as an opportunity to fan partisan flames.”
What we all know is that travelers will pay with ever-increasing dog and pony show hoops to jump through. Could this also mean good things for our Wichita aircraft industry? Will commercial airline travel become such a burden we’ll see an increase in the demand for private planes?
Filed under Playing Politics, terror
I found this article in The Daily Beast to be fascinating! I haven’t checked out all the recommended links and don’t know whether their list is one to be relied on, but I’m betting at least a few of these hints will be appreciated! Here is a shortened synopsis, but be sure to check out the entire list and reasons why these ideas made the list! Continue reading
Filed under Creativity, Life Lessons, Media, Progressive Ideals, Research
My son received an ipod touch for Christmas from his mother. With it he is able to connect to the internet where he can check his email and surf the web almost like he does when he sits before his computer. My son’s and my PC are wired into our router in our basement. My daughter has a wireless connection to the router for her computer in her upstairs bedroom. Given that we had a degree of space to cover with the wireless option, I got a router that blasts quite a bit more signal than I really need to cover my house.
I thought my wireless connection was password protected, but when my son set up his ipod touch in my house, we found that it is not, and thus anyone who has a wireless card could pick up my signal – throughout my block, I would guess. This discovery led to my current ethical dilemma: should I password protect my wireless connection? Am I diminished in any way when someone, I don’t know, uses my wireless connection? Does it cost me more if someone else uses the connection? Since I think the answer to both questions is “No”. I plan to leave it unprotected. Am I missing anything in my thinking here, is what I am wondering?
If someone was using my internet access to commit cyber-crimes that would make me reconsider my decision, but I don’t know of that happening, and doubt I could ever know if that happened or not. Should this possibility be enough to make me reconsider? Thanks for any help you may be able to provide.
Filed under Ethics, The Internet
According to NPR’s review of the Decade, YouTube had a significant impact on how fame is generated and has since its inception in 2005. Cats are our musicians, whereas dogs star in our most beloved videos on sports and acrobatics. YouTube has shortened our attention spans perhaps – why watch a whole movie when you can get the highlights in less than a minute?
Share your favorite YouTube vids if you like… The first post is found under the google search of “coolest music video ever”.
iggydonnelly
Filed under Uncategorized
Paula’s heart-throb opines in this NYTimes Editorial that the 10 year period from 1999 to 2009 should be labeled the “Big Zero” – as in zero net gain in any economic sense. Job Growth = zero; housing value gains = zero; economic gains for the typical family = zero; read the article there are more zeros to behold.
Krugman is distressed by our nation’s inability to learn from its recent mistakes. He pointedly chides Republicans, whose policies of tax cuts and deregulation fostered in this economic mess, now are loudly recommending tax cuts and deregulation.
Paul stops short of saying it, but let me help him, Libertarian stupidity is beyond help – let’s drown them all in Grover Norquist’s bathtub – he probably wouldn’t even notice…
I really don’t want to drown anyone, but I thought the allegory was too good to pass up.
Iggy Donnelly
Hope Santa brought everyone a spirit of peace and goodwill toward man and it lasts all year long.
Stay warm!
Filed under The Public Square
Paul Krugman is accepting of the compromise that is the current Healthcare Reform legislation. He identifies three groups of critcs: 1) teabaggers, 2) conservative fiscal scolds, and 3) progressives who wanted a single payer system. Krugman takes the position that the perfect should not be the enemy of the good. He evokes the Dickens’s story “A Christmas Carol” to make his point.
I am hoping that ole Paul is correct. We will see. What say you out there?
Filed under Healthcare
PrairiePopulistsAndProgressives.net 
