tattoo empek empek

Another tattoist submission, Cody Collins sent in this owl and umbrella-ella-ella-ey-ey-ey-ey. Ahem.

This time, a tattoist submission, from Kristin Young of Majestik Tattoo, Tucson, AZ.

Another reader submission, this from Chris Flynn, done at Divine Line, San Antonio.

While bittersweet for the family that will not celebrate Thanksgiving with Brianna this year...her killer was arrested and our city will certainly give thanks for that this season.

James Michael Biela, 27 was arrested and charged with the kidnapping and murder of Briana Denison. Brianna was kidnapped last December when Biela spotted her asleep on the couch through a glass door. Her body was found in January 2008 dumped in a field here in Reno. Two pair of intwined women's thong panties were found near her body. DNA evidence collected at both scenes matched DNA found on another victim who had been attacked but were able to escape.

Biela, a pipefitter by trade left Reno in March 2008 to take a job in Washington state. He sold his white Toyota pickup in that interim that matched the description of the truck law officials were hunting down in this area. The vehicle was sold in Idaho, but officials have now obtained that vehicle and have it as evidence.

In September 2008, Biela's girlfriend and a companion travelled to Washington to help James move back home. The girlfriend's female companion found petite thong panties in his vehicle. When confronted, James Biela stated he had stolen them from a laundrymat in Washington.

A call was later made to the Secret Witness program of Reno suggesting to law enforcement that James Biela might be a likely suspect in the Brianna Denison case. Biela was questioned, but denied any involvement, refused to submit DNA, and stated his girlfriend would provide an alibi. The girlfriend was questioned, and stated they had a tulmutous relationship. She admitted that even though she and Biela had a child together; it was common for him to leave for days at a time, and she could not account for his wherabouts during the time Brianna Denison went missing or was found.

Police obtained DNA from the four year old child of Biela and found a linking match. After further investigation a warrant was issued and following analysis, Biela's DNA proved to be a match in both pending cases ongoing in Reno.

A ten month search is over finally. Beautiful Brianna may now rest in peace knowing her killer has been found. Bring Bri Justice has been a cry throughout Reno for months. We'll see. While DA Richard (Dick) Gammit "says" he'll leave the death penalty option on the table...4 murders have been committed in Reno just in the last few months, and another 3 murders occured last Halloween. Most gang related, and pre-meditated...Gammit did not seek the death penalty with any of the captured murderers. Let's hope he rights those wrongs in this case. It's never too late to begin seeking true justice in Washoe County!

Developments are fast changing in this case, so keep up to date at RGJ.com (Reno Gazette Journal)...

Lance Cpl. Samuel Joyce, from Boston, accepts a bagfull of toys during the Toys For Tots 5k Run at Fleet Activities Yokosuka. Runners donated new toys to the local Marine's Toys for Tots program.


These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Have Every Right To Dream Heroic Dreams. Those Who Say That We're In A Time When There Are No Heroes, They Just Don't Know Where To Look

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Look folks... We; as in WE THE PEOPLE voted by a majority to elect a new President...not necessarily accounting for the mentality of the majority...I'm just saying...the majority won. Just because I don't have high hopes that we're in for a cherry pickin' next four years doesn't mean the FREAKING WORLD IS COMING TO AN END!

We're in for some hard times for sure...but we've got to STOP all the doom and gloom! The markets have fallen by soaring numbers...it's like a SALE at Macy's or even Wal-Mart! The media wants you to believe that Chicken Little let the sky fall upon you! It hasn't! In a capitalist society, we're just correcting things back to where they should have been. None of this is OUR fault...but WE MUST now take notice and make sure THEY don't have the chance again to shove a cattle prod up our butts more than once. WE THE PEOPLE...not just me and you...but EVERYBODY must make it a priority to keep up on what "they" are up to! NIMBY must become a household word (Not In My Back Yard).

ALSO remember that as Spock taught us...in a true society...the needs of the many sometimes outweigh the needs of the one or the few. BUT NOT if the one or the many aren't contributing to the greater good! In my world NOBODY ever gets bailed out. Outside what little my parents could do for me ONCE in my youth and only to the extent they had the capital and the $$$ to do so...IF I SCREWED UP...too bad...so sad...sucked to be me. Where they had no money to help a dumb ass...they didn't! My folks taught me through example that "screw it up bad enough...you're on your damn own...not MY problem you didn't listen to what I taught you!"

Did ANY of your folks ever tell you "We're not MADE of money you know!" Neither is the USA. Just because USA owns a printing press and will print dollars...you CANNOT keep drawing blood out of turnips. I cannot even fathom what these multiple "bail-outs" might really do to our economy or our children's/grandchildren's lives. I know THIS...it hasn't all happened yet, so keep fighting. I also know that we'll live through it! I lived through Jimmy Carter who WRECKED THIS NATION. Possibly Obama will too...but I'm even savvy enough to know that without an administration, House & Senate that allowed it...Jimmy Carter by himself wasn't enough as one man to do the damage he did. Keep your EYES & EARS on your establishment. Obama alone cannot take us down...BOMBARD YOUR CONGRESS and keep THEM accountable to WE THE PEOPLE.

Whether you are a Democrat or Republican or anything in between...STOP BELIEVING everything you are told on TV! The CRAP ALL OF YOU are buying into is driving the markets DOWN farther, plunging everyone into deeper circumstances, and quite frankly making it harder and harder for responsible folk to just keep on keeping you employed and keeping our own heads above water.

I'm a Southerner by raising and when someday my dead ass reaches the Pearly Gates the FIRST thing I'm gonna' say to the Lord is THANK YOU that I was raised in Texas. I can actually live in a tent or in a mansion and be happy in either. Beyond that; FOLKS...stop dyin' on the vine! Didn't ANYBODY ever throw you from a horse? Didn't ANYBODY ever throw you a tough curve ball? Didn't ANYBODY EVER LEAVE YOU TO YOUR OWN DOIN'S' AND MAKE YOU ACCOUNTABLE FOR THEM?

Keep YOURS and YOU and what you hold dear and near to your hearts up front! Markets be damned, crisis be damned, keep your heads up and don't believe everything you hear, AND don't think that just BECAUSE our dumb ass GOVERNMENT might give you a free ride...NOTHING IS FREE! YOU'LL PAY THE PIPER FOR SURE...EVEN THOSE ON WELFARE!

WHEN we the people understand that simple concept...NOTHING IS FREE...we'll get back to center a bit.

WE STILL HAVE THE POWER! Idiots may be running your show at the moment, but 4 years is a short span of history in the short run. REMEMBER the President is but a figure head! Without your House & Senate of sound mind...the President can't do "much". At least in 4 years.

Our nation's PEOPLE are paying attention more than ever. If the new Obama administration doesn't perform to your liking...VOTE OUT anybody that folds in two years and then again in four. But for the meantime...HALT THE ARMAGEDDON talk! Anything is possible, but let's not make much ado about something until it actually happens please. IF it happens, let's come cocked to rock and dismantle what's in the way of Our America!

I know there are a LOT OF US out here with eyes and ears peeled...but UNTIL something actually happens...CHILL for a few days folks! Have some turkey for Thanksgiving. REMEMBER what you are thankful for and for God's sake...keep fighting for those simple things. And for God's sake...send a special THANK YOU to the folks that actually DIED to give you what you have to be thankful for on Thanksgiving Day.

Remember THIS VIDEO above...as I said...I'm a Southern gal from the Great State of Texas. I don't know where this man is from...but I've lived this and I agree with him! WE ARE STILL LUCKY TO BE AMERICANS! NEVER FORGET THAT!

Josh Fracker

In so many ways she and I are different, but yet the same. This woman lived the unthinkable and regretted her choices. I used to carry a weapon, but like her gave it up. As we've been talking on all our blogs...our 2nd Amendment rights are in danger.

I just purchased another gun after many years of not carrying one. As soon as I re-complete said training so that my exercise of my 2nd Amendment right is not a felony offense...my purse will weigh a little more.

God forbid I ever find myself in Suzanna Gratia-Hupp's shoes, but I will be prepared if I do. My heart goes out to her, and I cannot THANK HER ENOUGH for taking the time, effort, and selfless expenditure of her money to travel to Washington DC and give the Big Boys a real piece of her mind.

Her thoughts are mirrored by MILLIONS of Americans and the big boys better take notice!

Unknown.

Holy owl-verload, Tyler James Densley! Another tattoist submission too. Awesome stuff!

Gen. Ann E. Dunwoody
55 years old from Fort Belvoir, Virginia


Call it breaking the brass ceiling. Ann E. Dunwoody, after 33 years in the Army, ascended Friday to a peak never before reached by a woman in the U.S. military: four-star general.

At an emotional promotion ceremony, Dunwoody looked back on her years in uniform, said it was a credit to the Army—and a great surprise to her—that she would make history in a male-dominated military.

"Thirty-three years after I took the oath as a second lieutenant, I have to tell you this is not exactly how I envisioned my life unfolding," she told a standing-room-only auditorium. "Even as a young kid, all I ever wanted to do was teach physical education and raise a family.

"It was clear to me that my Army experience was just going to be a two-year detour en route to my fitness profession," she added. "So when asked, `Ann, did you ever think you were going to be a general officer, to say nothing about a four-star?' I say, `Not in my wildest dreams.'

"There is no one more surprised than I—except, of course, my husband. You know what they say, `Behind every successful woman there is an astonished man.'"

You can read the rest of Gen. Dunwoody's story here.


These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

I'm going to try hard to make this post seem kind, but I don't think I can because this event is not kind to humanity. The photo came from ABC News, and the video link came from CNN News.

Journey of a Pregnant Man
Thomas Beatie, the transgender man who became famous as the "pregnant man," is seen here with his wife, Nancy Beatie, their daughter Susan Juliette Beatie, and ABC News' Barbara Walters.

"We are a man, woman and child," Thomas Beatie told Walters. "It's, it's ironic that we are so different but yet, we're just a family, just the same as anyone else."
(Steve Fenn/ABC)

All of us live with or/around gay or lesbian people and we are semi-tolerant of their choices in lifestyle because in day to day life, the effort to just bash or lash out at someone personally that has never wronged us keeps us sane for moments. I normally don't say much to them, but DAMN, when you bring innocent children into the picture that have no say in their destiny...I have to speak out for THEM.

I'm sorry...this is wrong on so many levels I think; and I think these children when growing up at some point when adults will have many issues and some vacancy of normalcy. Yep, anyone can say..."Who are YOU to say what's NORMAL?" I'm nobody, and I have no authority on normalcy...but I think life in general does. I am a Christian believer, not particularly practicing (as others would call normal)...but this just goes beyond anything I can comprehend as normal.

In THIS VIDEO these folks seem really sweet and well intending. I'm sure in their world and behind their own closed doors that they swung wide open to Larry King, they are normal in their minds. They are not.

I understand their love for each other, but it's an abomination. The husband is not "really" a man. She is not really a "he". It's a he/she. The wife is a woman, but since she chose this lifestyle with this person...she is simply a lesbian, she's not a wife. This "man" had breast surgery, and underwent harmone therapy. She took some drugs that made her grow facial hair, she cut her hair, and she had her tits removed...called it a day..."poof" she's a man.

The woman fell in love with he/she, had already had a hysteroctemy, and thus at some point conned a physician into letting them order sperm from a bank, take it home, and she placed in "he" the seed of a child via syringe. He/She gave birth to a daughter and our media has the nerve to say a MAN had a baby! THIS ISN'T A MAN! It's a half trans-gendered individual, lesbian wanna be man, and no matter how good his intentions are...or how much he loves his "wife" or she loves him...it's all a farce and our media is really stupid to think WE believe HE had a baby and is now going to have another one! She is having another baby with her lesbian lover thanks to a sperm bank.

Gay rights advocates should look closely here though...given all the raucus they've caused in our downtown streets lately over Proposition 8 in California! These people are actually considered legally married and legally parents. They have health insurance, property ownership, and all benefits granted to heterosexual individuals that ARE MARRIED. If you gays/lesbians want these rights...get some minor plastic surgery, take a few testerone pills/shots, cut your hair, and voila...you're now half everything, but wholly legal in the warped minds of individuals in power all across America. No wonder the foreigners always say, "America...what a country!" Aren't we something. We allow illegal people to have everything for free and we allow half people to be legally whole...aren't we a smart bunch of asshats?

I know in this country we have freedom of religion (or none) and I respect that and will always fight to keep freedom. But many religions look to the Bible for guidance. The same way Mr. & Mrs. He/She have the right to believe and say what they wish...so do I. I believe Leviticus, a book written by Moses. I am publishing the "New American Bible version" for those who need more literal copy, but if you would like to see the original, it's in the King James version of the Bible. Take heed to verse 22. The other verses are for any other imaginable freak out there that thinks they've found normalcy in their kum-ba-yah version of existance.

Leviticus Chapter 18:

1 The LORD said to Moses,

2 "Speak to the Israelites and tell them: I, the LORD, am your God.

3 You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you once lived, nor shall you do as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you; do not conform to their customs.

4 My decrees you shall carry out, and my statutes you shall take care to follow. I, the LORD, am your God.

5 Keep, then, my statutes and decrees, for the man who carries them out will find life through them. I am the LORD.

6 "None of you shall approach a close relative to have sexual intercourse with her. I am the LORD.

7 You shall not disgrace your father by having intercourse with your mother. Besides, since she is your own mother, you shall not have intercourse with her.

8 You shall not have intercourse with your father's wife, for that would be a disgrace to your father.

9 You shall not have intercourse with your sister, your father's daughter or your mother's daughter, whether she was born in your own household or born elsewhere.

10 You shall not have intercourse with your son's daughter or with your daughter's daughter, for that would be a disgrace to your own family.

11 You shall not have intercourse with the daughter whom your father's wife bore to him, since she, too, is your sister.

12 You shall not have intercourse with your father's sister, since she is your father's relative.

13 You shall not have intercourse with your mother's sister, since she is your mother's relative.

14 You shall not disgrace your father's brother by being intimate with his wife, since she, too, is your aunt.

15 You shall not have intercourse with your daughter-in-law; she is your son's wife, and therefore you shall not disgrace her.

16 You shall not have intercourse with your brother's wife, for that would be a disgrace to your brother.

17 You shall not have intercourse with a woman and also with her daughter, nor shall you marry and have intercourse with her son's daughter or her daughter's daughter; this would be shameful, because they are related to her.

18 While your wife is still living you shall not marry her sister as her rival; for thus you would disgrace your first wife.

19 "You shall not approach a woman to have intercourse with her while she is unclean from menstruation.

20 You shall not have carnal relations with your neighbor's wife, defiling yourself with her.

21 You shall not offer any of your offspring to be immolated to Molech, thus profaning the name of your God. I am the LORD.

22 You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; such a thing is an abomination.

23 You shall not have carnal relations with an animal, defiling yourself with it; nor shall a woman set herself in front of an animal to mate with it; such things are abhorrent.

24 "Do not defile yourselves by any of these things by which the nations whom I am driving out of your way have defiled themselves.

25 Because their land has become defiled, I am punishing it for its wickedness, by making it vomit out its inhabitants.

26 You, however, whether natives or resident aliens, must keep my statutes and decrees forbidding all such abominations

27 by which the previous inhabitants defiled the land;

28 otherwise the land will vomit you out also for having defiled it, just as it vomited out the nations before you.

29 Everyone who does any of these abominations shall be cut off from among his people.

30 Heed my charge, then, not to defile yourselves by observing the abominable customs that have been observed before you. I, the LORD, am your God."

God bless the children these two have brought into this world. I'm sure the extra testosterone fed to the first daughter will cause some effects, but the mentality in general makes me take great pause as to the mentality of those in the next generation responsible for us as we get old.

No matter HOW you personally believe; at least give me this...THERE ISN'T NOW, NOR HAS THERE EVER BEEN A PREGNANT MAN...no matter what the media tells you! Just because you call her a man...the fact that she still has a vagina and a uterus and can give birth...HE'S A WOMAN!

I have no personal beef with these people other than biblical abomination...and I wish them as well as someone like me far on the other side of their fence could, but I'm sorry...WRONG!!!

On behalf of my family and all the families of Reno/Sparks, and the Sparks Republican Women...we'd like to take a moment to think in silence, bow our heads, and give a moment of reverence to Christian Humphreys of Fallon, NV; and through our tears thank him for giving his life for our freedom and the sovereignty of our great United States of America.

Our community has lost many fine young men in our current wars, and none go unnoticed or forgotten. May God bring peace and comfort to his loved ones, and may his sacrifice never be taken for granted. RIP Christian...

Army Chief Warrant Officer Christian P. Humphreys, 28, of Fallon died Saturday when a helicopter crashed in Iraq, the U.S. Department of Defense announced Monday. The latest casualty in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

An OH-58 Kiowa observation helicopter crashed while on a mission over Mosul, the military said. The cause of the crash was not known.
Chief Warrant Officer Donald V. Clark, 37, of Memphis, Tenn., also died in the crash. It was unclear who was the pilot.

Humphreys was assigned to the 6th Squadron, 17th Cavalry Regiment, Task Force 49, U.S. Army Alaska, Fort Wainwright, Alaska, the Pentagon reported.

Messages were left with the military in Alaska.

The crash remains under investigation.

Sources:

Reno Gazette Journal

KTVN Channel 2 News Reno

The Gateway Pundit again provides some insightful reality post election. How did Obama get elected? Here's an example of the folks that believed...

The Zogby Poll after the election was sadly disheartening! This is the mentality (or validity of it so to speak) of the people that elected "The one".

"Zogby Poll - After Election

512 Obama Voters 11/13/08-11/15/08 MOE +/- 4.4 points

97.1% High School Graduate or higher, 55% College Graduates

Results to 12 simple Multiple Choice Questions

57.4% could NOT correctly say which party controls congress (50/50 shot just by guessing)

81.8% could NOT correctly say Joe Biden quit a previous campaign because of plagiarism (25% chance by guessing)

82.6% could NOT correctly say that Barack Obama won his first election by getting opponents kicked off the ballot (25% chance by guessing)

88.4% could NOT correctly say that Obama said his policies would likely bankrupt the coal industry and make energy rates skyrocket (25% chance by guessing)

56.1% could NOT correctly say Obama started his political career at the home of two former members of the Weather Underground (25% chance by guessing).

And yet.....

Only 13.7% failed to identify Sarah Palin as the person on which their party spent $150,000 in clothes

Only 6.2% failed to identify Palin as the one with a pregnant teenage daughter

And 86.9 % thought that Palin said that she could see Russia from her "house," even though that was Tina Fey who said that!!

Only 2.4% got at least 11 correct.

Only .5% got all of them correct. (And we "gave" one answer that was technically not Palin, but actually Tina Fey)"

I'm not a redneck, I'm a CRACKER!

This post is again in honor of Aunty Belle…a VERY INTELLIGENT and BRILLIANT writer…she just writes in the style of Mark Twain. or perhaps Mark Twain “tried” to write like her. Doan know how she pulls it off, but she is the craftiest person I know in mixing modern day reality with old school literature and old school people. Something dawned on me though…I say old school and my kids think 1960’s or 1970’s, when their mother was raised, or the fact that “we” wear “tightie whities” for underwear instead of the “now fashionable” boxers (little do they know huh?)…or the fact I cannot STAND a bra strap showing, and now “it’s fad”. Old school means 8-track tapes and green shag carpet…all not true! OLD SCHOOL truly means the times when things were right and kosher. Old School refers to times when folks were centered.

I, born in 1962 was raised by Mama Ann and Papa Bill (Born 1913 & 1898 respectively) (along with Mama Rice her mother, Uncle Otho, Aunt Mary, Uncle RJ (was at Normandy +), Mallie Lou my Grandmother, and Paw Paw (also a veteran) in his old radiator shop… (yes my Mother that raised me was my Grandmother’s OLDER sister)…Aunt Margaret that was Papa Bill’s sister, and Aunt Nita…etc. I was raised an only child amongst VERY OLD people. However, I was adopted into my own family…so I kept in touch and was around the “younger” group, my real father…(My Daddy at my second wedding) mid sixties now, my real sibling and half siblings from that generation and so forth from time to time. I love my “real” Daddy more than any daughter can…this story however is about my early childhood and that Daddy that formed my brain and my soul. Brains & souls are living and growing creatures…Daddy’s never go away they just improve on things someone else started :)

In honor (dishonorably probably…I can’t do it the way she does) of Aunty…I’m gonna do my own post in that style…because I believe in it SO MUCH…I was raised in it and without it…we’re gonna lose a lot of America. Yep…folks back then in cities believed like us, but spoke with “distinction and properness”…their message doesn’t get across today the same way though, as if it was said the way it was said in “our country…meaning literal country, wilderness, deep south, wide open space” in OLD SCHOOL.

SO…this post will have spelling errors and grammar errors, but the message will be better than any primer could teach.

Times have changed. The news folks say a lot of stuff that makes no sense to me or you. We even have a new word fer it…called spin. Politics really has nothin’ to do with it… it’s just how we’ve all been accustomed to herin’ it. I grew up in a different era, and I want THAT ERA to come back. In MY era…folks jest said what they had to say…life was wat it was, and NOBODY ever talked much ‘bout politics. Good was as good did and it worked fer all. The Gov’ment was up there to watch over it all, make sure it didn’t get out of hand…keep an eye on the globe, defend us if the bad guys were a comin’, and make a few laws kinda like the 10 commandments to keep us all in check. It was an honor to be chosen as Gov’ment…that meant you’d succeeded in being a good guy and leadin’ the folks. Somehow…they’s all jumped in together and thought Caesar or somethin’ was a good idea? How’d we let that happen?

We had movies then, but we enjoyed the stories them movies had. It were after all a picture show! Nobody ever thought much about the real folks in the picture show…hell my folks watched pichures when they weren’t no sound…we’s jest watchin the story! Yep, we KNEW they’s real folks playin the parts…but we figured that was they’re job and we appreciated them for bringin’ us a good tale. We never cared who’s they dilly dallying with…we just liked the story. Now’s we’s got to hear all ‘bout they mistresses, misters, clothes, hair & cars…iffun we was to ever give a damn ‘bout ‘em. We’d like to knows how they kid’s are a fairen…how’s they Mama, did Missus Claire get over her consumption? That’s what we care about…we don’t care none how they want to carry on and be all fluffy & above the other folks that pays their way by purchasing the movie tickits n all! Movie stars were probably the first politicians on that scale perhaps…we WERE their bosses. Without US buyin the movie tickets…they’s be out of a job! The ingrateful bastards!

I’m not much of a reader…books that is…my bad…but one of the books a good ole’ teacher made me read was Lord Of The Flies. Makes one wonder ‘bout whether folks is born bad, born good, or all born the same…and it’s just that given certain obstacles put in front of ‘em whether some folks makes it out, or caves in and uses others to gain, or one tries to ride the middle and truly make a concerted effort to ride the middle thus doin’ the best they can for all.

Doan know if any of ya ever thinks on such lines…but ridin the middle done correctly is the toughest road to hoe. I’s will emphasize that again…done correctly. Hoein’s a hard thing to do, and if not done correctly…the weeds come creepin back up and crops wither. Hoe too close to the plant and ya loses some desired profit. Git tired of hoein row after row, dawn to dusk…git a little lazy…leave a few…the plant is in jest the same danger. 160 acres ain’t much in landowner world back in cotton farm country…dirt poor actually…but it’s a shitload to hoe if you’re the only daughter, Mama & Daddy. Try to lie…no folk can put an eye on a whole 160 acres…can’t see that fer…so’s one of three says “Yep…I hoed all them weeds”…when ya really didn’t…got tired, bored, felt abused, and left a few… Think it’s all just OK, but then wait for the crops to grow…and it don’t take long for to notice it was yer patch that grew short. Just ask somebody who’s Daddy made ‘em actually hoe some cotton rows & keep a particular patch fer they own. Hoein is a craft sometimes, ‘specially on a bad weather year.

Nother thing is…used to be life wasn’t so much ‘bout every penny…but a lesson learned in earnin’ it. Men these days in some parts is kinda fluffy iffun you ask me… My Daddy could fix anything (both Daddys), could do anything, and for damned sure they KNEW everythang that was goin on ‘bout the place. My Daddy would let my little patch of cotton I’s responsible for hoin’ to wither a bit jest for the sake of teachin me the lesson of right n’ wrong, profit be damned. It’s been a lot of years…but I remember that once my patch withered a bit compared to the work I thought anal retentive and overdone by the folks which produced bountiful crops…I made sure from that point forward…my damn patch of cotton would grow strong…bigger and better… ‘Course that was when hard work competition was fun and a family thang…we no longer compete to see who can work the hardest and appreciate the bounty of ALL the hard work…folks now compete to see who can get the most for less. I tried it once on a cotton farm…didn’t work out so well for me…

Then…’long came welfare (I finally noticed welfare)…was meant to be to help Missus Claire with her age and consumption get a hand up. Then po ole’ Mr. Jones had no family, fell and broke a hip…none of us minded helping him…but then…other folks started thinkin’ that with a little whining and carryin on…they’s too could get a piece of the Gov’ment pie. A penny here & there from all of us to help Missus Claire or Mr. Jones made sense…but then…they’s lazy folks not willin to hoe their own row of cotton started to get part of my Papa Bill’s hard earned lucre! I’d done already learned that “actin’ like yore hoin” ain’t by NO MEANS really hoin! By now…I’m a teen. I remember standin’ by Papa Bill hoin that cotton one day ‘n asking him WHY didn’t he fight the folks in the city? (Our “town” had 5000). He was just old n’ tired I think and tired of fightin’. He’d seen a lot in his years…hell…his family horse drawn buggy still sits in the dusty ole’ museam we have back home. And yep…you guessed it…there’s some ole’ tired senior sits there every day as a volunteer…and nobody comes to see what our town was in the boom back in the railroad days…back in the days of saloons where women weren’t allowed…ceptin for those with not many clothes on even with a corset and a long dress!

He was so old he saw television come up and always swore to me that man didn’t really go to the moon…it was impossible…it was all TV hoax :) I guess born in 1898…from horses & saloons to people in a glass box, to Gov’ment craziness…one might wonder :)

He stood up once when we was a waterin the plum trees and hoin weeds and I was a “talkin my craziness” again ‘bout why he didn’t stand up and make the “city folk” play by the same rules he made me play by on the farm…when I was beggin’ him to fight the wrong ways…he shushushed me and parked his hoe in the ground with force…and told me a strange story for a teenager in 1978 or so still hoin away with the only Daddy she was raised with born in 1898…

I doan no much ‘bout history…(I’m learning in this Obamanation I should have paid more attention…)…but my Daddy stood all dirty and sweat born ‘n told me that Howard Taft came up on his farm one day a campaignin’ He was little…12-14 or so he thunk, and his folks were all for him and it was quite the honor to see the man all dressed up in finery with a twisty mustache ‘n all… and he was sparked. He was all for it all…Taft lost he says…’cause a couple of the same kind of folk tried to war over a chair and then with a nation divided a lesser man won the chair…I don’t even know who that was…I don’t know history. But my Daddy told me we’d be more suited to worry ‘bout these weeds creepin up on the plum trees than we need to be worried ‘bout fancy suit men tryin to come on a man’s farm and tell him how good he’s gonna have it. He said unless Taft or any other was willin’ to pick up a hoe and do some good while he’s a talkin’ he ain’t much of a man…he told me that outside the 160 acres I’s lookin over Taft nor any other city folk would ever know ‘bout hoin. My Daddy loved that land and hoed it and made it beautiful until the day he died. He could never see beyond his and ours and if we weren’t hungry or cold…we were fine. I’m glad I have that instilled in me…I see the day coming again and I will be fine hoin cotton, livin’ in a tent, and cannin’ blue lake beans or black eyed peas.

I graduated high school and left home and them cotton rows 4 days later. I could never understand how my folks jest shook they heads and let the lazy bums that never hoed a row of cotton take they hard earned Sunday Mornin grocery and paper money…didn’t even fight. But now…I see…in 1980 when I graduated high school…and wanted more (not that Route 3 in Colorado City Texas wouldn’t be enough to sustain a gal forever)…I was on a mission. My Daddy had ham radios in his garage…my Daddy created amazing works of art in his woodwork…but it was all just for us. The simpleness of my Papa Bill, his conservative ideas and work ethic made me who I am. However, his thoughts of jest hoe this row of cotton…make THIS PLACE the best place on earth and we’ll have no worries…kept him from realizing truth. Just sitting back and letting it all happen around him is the part of him that made him a Democrat.

RINOS today, folks that know how to hoe a row of cotton, but just sit back and hoe three rows so as not to a’fend the lazy bastard that won’t even hoe ½ row…they’re Democrats too. I used to get beat…granted I’m alive today at 45…don’t suppose the beaten’ was too harsh…but my Daddy or Mama when I done wrong would MAKE me pick a limb off the Sycamore tree for my own beaten’. Guess what?...Better pick a fair sized stick…cause one too small meant Mama or Daddy would pick one more suitable…and pickin’ one TOO LARGE brought arrogance into the scene and you would get one whack with the large one just to show ‘ya! Folks back then understood from livin’ how to ride the middle, didn’t need to put no political party title in front nor behind it all.

The middle is the smoothest spot on the lake. The middle is the sweet spot in the ice cream…not too hard & frozen…not melted either. Hell…if we can’t see past the literature that teaches this…remember the Three Little Bears…where one was too hot, one was too cold, and one was just right. The Three Little Pigs searched for the middle and so did Little Red Riding Hood!

I wanted to be cool when I was a pre-teen gal. I wanted to sport a short skirt and wear tight jeans. My Mama didn’t approve, and clothes cost too much money. She pretty much sewed all the clothes we wore. She chose hideous double knit fabric (the crap on sale at the 5 & Dime store)…and I had to wear it. Fights brewed…I rebelled. Finally, Papa Bill found the middle…he told me…if I didn’t like the clothes my Mama sewed for me I could certainly get a job and buy my own…or I could go naked to school…I had a choice.

I got a job. I thought I was going to get to spend all my money on clothes, fun things, my car, and whimsical desires of a teen. OH HELL NO! Living on a dirt poor cotton farm I don’t suppose Mama Ann sewed my clothes because she LIKED doing it (I see that now), it was a necessity. So…when at 14 I got a full time job AND still attended school…I was then to contribute to the household. Buckin’ the system (my parents were the system) and thinkin’ I knew it all…I still respected my Daddy, and he was right. I had to give my folks ½ of every paycheck I earned until which time I moved out and could sustain myself. My Daddy always TOLD me that if my WHOLE paycheck COULD land me on my own…no need to give ½…move out. Until I made ENOUGH THOUGH to where I didn’t NEED THEM for a home…give up ½.

My Democratic Daddy told me that for ALL THESE YEARS…THEY provided all I needed without asking a dime. Now that I COULD earn…I should give back and support the family household with at least ½ until my whole would leave me independent. He also told me that I should use MY half wisely…save it…spend it on things to make me self supportive.

I didn’t…I spent MY half on “stuff” a kid wants. My Daddy NEVER judged me for my expenditure of my half…but also never wanted to hear me cry when I didn’t have enough money to “do” something I “really” wanted to and couldn’t afford. He just told me…should’ve not needed that stereo, or shouldn’t have needed that fancy outfit…should’ve let Mama sew you one at ¼ the price! My Daddy & Mama fought me conservative to the core and taught me the values…but themselves sat at home and never ventured out to see the rest of the world, nor try to change any of it. They truly rode the middle. I think from 1898-1913 they had just seen it all. I think at that time in their lives they were content finally to become part of the problem rather than the solution for at their age it was easier…I think at some point they had to be fighters…otherwise they wouldn’t have raised me the way they did…and I think they finally gave up. I think Papa Bill & Mama Ann (obviously due to age and stories told) LIVED through the depression of the 30’s and just wanted to make sure I knew how to survive. Survival was the key then, and they did it. I think that survival took the wind out of their sails and beyond the simple peace of surviving that ordeal…they needed nothing more. But BOY…if either of them could be alive today and be mentally competent to see what they actually raised me to believe and accomplish……….I suppose they see it from Heaven.

I don’t know a lot about history from say 100 years or so…but I did live with folks that lived that history. What scares me today is that not only is history repeating itself before our very eyes and ears…I too am now guilty. I lived their history through their example of teaching. I made it pretty good and got complacent in that comfort the way they were complacent in their meager existence. So…all the things I wanted Papa Bill to fight for…I thought by being successful and having a few dollars in my pocket that I won that fight…I didn’t! I just kept hoin weeds. I just kept plowing rows. I just did for me and mine and struggled through many hard times. BUT…I DIDN’T EVER TAKE THE TIME…outside my own children to TEACH others how to see that light.

I sat blindly by while millions of others were being raised by traditional generational parents much younger than the parents I had and never talked to them about what I thought was crazy. I didn’t ever ask others why they didn’t know how to hoe…whatever rows of cotton they had in their lives…I just kept hoeing my own rows bent over and head down (assholes & elbows – elbow grease) I never shared with others the gift of a hard lesson. I tried a couple of times, but the old cliché’ still stands…No matter HOW MANY times you tell a fella “I’ve been there…trust me”…they never do. History goes on and on.

We are in a very strange time. I see things going backwards like the things Papa Bill used to tell me of from his life when we hoed cotton or picked fruit together. My Papa Bill was always so proud to tell me those ole’ Texan yarns (plus yarns of North Carolina, Raliegh) and assure me that I was lucky…for if I worked hard and stuck it all out…at least spent ½ of my money responsibly…I’d NEVER have to see those kind of things happen in my lifetime. He used to tell me (God wish it were true today) that if I just cared for this 160 acres of Texas dirt God blessed us with, I’d be OK.

My Texas dirt is long gone now…but to a family I knew then…and I wished I still had it. Life was simple there. I’ve been fortunate to have dined with stars, met influential people, (having a career in gaming helped)… heck…this political season alone I’ve learned the lessons Papa Bill learned when meeting Howard Taft… I’ve learned that for the most part the political “echelon” I’ve met are like minded, some others weren’t…but they were all just folks…just people like you and I. Some want to make a difference while their hands are tied…some made a difference tied hands be damned, and some you can tell just want a photo op, get a donation, or get to the next level so they don’t have to ever look back at us hoers again. I wish I would have thought just once to ask any of my politicians if they’ve ever hoed a row of cotton or had the opportunity to have learned life’s lessons while feeling the dirt of Texas between their toes as they watched their Papa Bill do it.

OLD SCHOOL…that’s where it’s at. We don’t even need political parties…we just all need to spend a summer in red dirt hoeing a weed or two and knowing what a day’s work really feels like. If you haven’t seen it…PLEASE RENT THIS MOVIE…

THE ULTIMATE GIFT…My Papa Bill gave it to me, his ancestors gave it to him, and thanks to Aunty Belle, I learned that I am NOT a REDNECK that I always joked to be…I AM A CRACKER!

A veritable raft of reader submissions today (well, 4, but its a record).

First is a fantastic full backpiece owl from Paulo Coruja, by Gu Tattoo, Tattoo You Studio, São Paulo, Brazil.


Next, Rae Fleming sent in this cute owl.


Paul sent us this owl-tline, can't wait to see finished article.


...aaaand then last but not least is this literary owl, submitted by Mattson Zust. It is "the owl who was god" illustration from "the thurber carnival".

Whoah, Jeff Gogue!

Annie Frenzel, again.

Another great reader submission! Steve sent this in, done by Jeff Rassier of Blackheart Tattoo in San Francisco, CA. Thanks!

Another tattoist submission, from Meighan Mary at Impact Tattoos. Thanks!

And now for something a bit different...

I got a great email from Kevin Dunn, creative director of 530medialab, who writes, 'Early this year my company hired tattoo artist Juan Puente from Spotlight Tattoo in Los Angeles to come in and tattoo our companies owl logo on anyone that was brave enough to get one. Here are pics from that night, thought you might be into it.'

Superb stuff, thanks Kevin!

I think I can speak for millions of women on earth...

Without a father or mother none of us comes. Without many years and decades of existence, none of us evolves. Our Fathers & Mothers raise us to be who we are, and they loved every minute of it. Our fathers too, love their sons :) Our Mothers too love their daughters and love their sons, BUT there is no relationship quite like that between a mother and a son, or a brother and a sister.

In a family where women are predominant, folks grow and more women come into the picture, and even other men.

When, in a family where three strong women that came before him, and boyfriends, husbands, nieces and nephews came between him and his own sometimes...the little brother...the youngest in a line of four... sometimes hails strong just because he keeps the balance and listens to his sisters rant on and on even into their 40's when he's ten years younger.

In case any of you lately have FORGOTTEN to just say hey to YOUR LITTLE BROTHER, let's give him a bit of praise today and to his wife and children that give up some of their time for chatty sisters to just call and go on and on.

For when a husband won't talk...a little brother ALWAYS WILL :) I LOVE MY LITTLE BROTHER :) For he lets me be chatty when my husband or my sons will tell me enough is enough, it's time to go to bed :) He's always there. And he's not just there for me...he has TWO other sisters to keep him up too late :)

I love his wife for letting us love him, even when we push the limit :) For Mothers know they would NEVER take on another task so important as a child wanting to talk, and the same goes for sisters to brothers...we have so little time to just sit and talk living so far apart...sometimes we just talk into infinity :)

With all the turmoil in the market today; with all the failures, acquisitions, bail outs, and lay offs... I thought you could use some good investment tips :) Look for these mergers soon to come and invest now so you can get in on the ground floor of the new economy.

1. Hale Business Systems, Mary Kay Cosmetics, Fuller Brush, and W.R. Grace, Co. will merge and become: Hale, Mary, Fuller, Grace
2. Polygram Records, Warner Bros., and Zesta Crackers join forces and become: Poly, Warner, Cracker
3. 3M will merge with Goodyear and become: MMMGood
4. Zippo Manufacturing, Audi Motors, Dofasco, and Dakota Mining will merge and become: ZipAudiDoDa
5. Fed-Ex is expected to join its rival and competitor UPS and become: Fed-UP
6. Fairchild Electronics and Honeywell Computers will become: Fairwell Honeychild
7. Grey Poupon and Docker Pants are expected to become: Poupon Pants
8. Knott's Berry Farm and the National Organization of Women will become: Knott NOW
9. Last but not least...Victoria's Secret and Smith & Wesson will merge under the new name of: Titty Titty Bang Bang

Invest now and invest wisely :)

Patriotism, Obamanism, Socialism, Marxism, WhatIfIsm, ImGonnaBeOKIsm, or...

CONSERVATISM... How could you know that there was a CARTOON made just for us...the Conservatives? Echotig found it...and I want to SHARE HER love of it with you!

Remember when cartoons WERE what we watched! I haven't watched a cartoon in years, but AFTER SEEING THIS ONE...I remembered how valuable they can be :)

AND...judging from the timeline...of the 160 year reference...ONLY eludes to 1848. Our nation was founded in 1776. Is this cartoon relevant to 232 years ago, or only a mere 160 years ago? OR is this cartoon RELEVANT TO TODAY? You decide...I say TODAY and I say we need to get back here or all my efforts and those of Echo are for naught!

This cartoon is said to be a mere 60 years old...not EVEN near the 160 or 232 I might suggest for relevance sake...I'm a mere 45 years old, but my folks that raised me were born in 1898, 1913, and much beyond...

This is a hard post for me to write on many levels. It's the RIGHT post for me to write ALSO on many levels. The signature photo will be the worst that I might say for a while...unless...

I've never been so involved in politics as I have been over the past campaign. Heck, the last two Presidents Clinton & Bush took up the last 16 years of my life, that's basically a generation. My youngest son is 19. Before that, Bush Sr. took up 4. For 20 years, our nation has been ruled by the same two families.

I fought HARD for the GOP this year, and our candidate John McCain lost tonight with grace, and losers must be gracious as winners should be. My Mama also taught me that whether or not you respect the person sometimes, it's important to respect the position of a person if they are managing that position in a responsible way.

Barack Hussein Obama will not take office until January, 2009. I'm not happy that he won and I have a lot of fear that life will change drastically for the worse for ALL OF US in the next four years. However I see that as HOPE and I see that as CHANGE. BECAUSE, if I have to pay that detrimental price for four years to FINALLY get our country back on track, I'll just work harder, do better, and be glad that the NEXT generation doesn't have to live through what I had to live through with Jimmy Carter!

With the last 20 years being consumed by not much in Washington and most to our detriment in a lot of ways...it just might be time for CHANGE. (I LOVED BUSH JR. FIRST 4 YEARS)... It may not be GOOD change that's coming our way, but folks that don't take interest in the big picture are the same people that just don't educate themselves on the "end result" of what their politicians will do to them. (THIS ELECTION...EVERYBODY was taking notice!) If BAD change happens, then FINALLY in 2012 we will see a trend back to normalcy and common sense. Sometimes you have to let people learn the hard way that something for nothing is never good, if it sounds too good to be true it probably IS, and NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES anybody tells you "Trust me, I've been there", THEY never "get it" until they've been there themselves.

I HOPE that we as a nation have not let or raised SO MANY people to believe that hand outs are better than hard work and success to the extent that it becomes the nation's standard forever. For if that's true, we are all doomed because if I keep having to pay for more and more of others' needs because they don't feel it necessary to do it on their own...guess what...we will have another Civil War. I will NOT continue to bust my ass and employ people that think I owe them everything (and BELIEVE ME...it's NOT all of MY employees I worry about) (My employees make pretty good money and as long as I CAN under Obama's rule, I WILL appreciate them!). I owe you the decent paycheck you are earning, as many benefits that I can offer you (government allowing), and bonuses anytime you do something really cool. Beyond that, I don't owe you shit. And if you cry shit, poor mouth, oh poor me,...if you do substandard work because you "just don't think you feel like working hard"... then look at your own surroundings or circumstances. I do the very best I can for everyone that I can that works for me.

Also...when the Obama supporters shrug a nose down at me...don't forget this. I grew up on a dirt poor cotton farm in West Texas raised by some of the best people on earth. Because I OWN the business YOU work at? Don't EVER THINK I don't know what "living in a tent" is like. I've been there. I've been a single mom, I've BEEN the gal that counted change in a zip-loc bag just to buy necessities on an occasion or two. I've left my children in daycare that was less than appropriate for them, but all the while making the decision whether to work and feed them or stay at home and hope like hell someone would feed us. Guess what...I had to work, WORK... It may seem to employees that business owners have the "cushy life", but we didn't get there but for learning THE HARD WAY that nothing viable comes without sacrifice and scratching. When at the "top" (while we pay all the taxes), you may think we look down, but each and every day we LOOK UP, and thank God that we survived, learned, and have folks willing to make no less than $14 per hour to help us along the way...and REALLY HOPE those making $28 per hour see it more :)

THERE ARE NO EMPLOYERS THAT WERE NOT EMPLOYEES AT SOME TIME! I look up yesterday, I will look up tomorrow, and I will FOREVER LOOK UP at the people that make America work, and THAT'S ALL THE EMPLOYEES! I used to be one, and many days I wish I was one again :)...and still we are still employees of our own companies :) Working managers of small businesses have the rare opportunity to see BOTH SIDES of the fence. Strange place to be some days :)

IN MY LIFETIME - 4 of 11 Presidents had "uncanny" circumstances lead them into or out of office! That's a LOT! Weird things CAN change a nation! NOT TO MENTION 9-11! You think George Bush, Jr. was "expecting" THAT to happen? Again...don't be so quick to judge that you are not so quick to remember! At that time YOU gave him the unprecedented 71% approval ratings. TODAY, your Congress has a 9% approval rating and Bush STILL has a 26% approval rating! Do ANY OF YOU understand NUMBERS?

If Obama promised you so much more, and you truly believe that he will provide you so much more then my hat's off to you for voting for him. However, when it DOESN'T happen? When Obama turns out NOT to be the knight on the silver horse? Guess what...don't come crying to me. My new mantra will be, "Call Obama...he promised it to you...I tried to tell you...I didn't vote for him...YOU DID!".

On the other hand...what IF he turns out to be OK. I will be the first one to tip my hat to you and admit that he was the good idea you all had to make it better. None of us has a crystal ball, so that has to be a conversation for later...

Shit has been in a bad way or at least an uncanny way for a LONG TIME...even before I was born! Check out the time line...

Kennedy (JFK): 1960-1963 - Last GREAT speaker and Democrat of our time - Democrat taken down by a bullet in his first 1000 or so days. We'll never know how great he would have been...

Johnson: 1964-1968 - Won by default when Kennedy got shot. Kennedy was much like Obama in the charismatic way...the country MOURNED, the last assassination since McKinley in 1901. Johnson won a new term one year later, but the country never got over Kennedy. "The New Guy" NEVER has a chance after a disaster like that, even though Johnson accomplished some great civil rights acts, tax cuts, AND HE TOOK US TO THE ORBIT OF THE MOON! BUT...he did not end Vietnam, and the country still MOURNED. He was NOT the charismatic speaker Kennedy was.

Nixon: 1970-1972 - Republican Nixon wins big. Nixon accomplished profit sharing, end of the draft, appointed Conservative justices to office, LANDED folks on the MOON, and debated successfully for better peace in USSR, Egypt, etc. He even started the "green" movement with better environmental policy...BUT THEN CAME WATERGATE! That was back when "scandals" meant something. His own Vice President Spiro Agnew had skeletons in his closet, so EVEN BEFORE Nixon "quit", Agnew "quit" and thus...Nixon APPOINTED the next president Gerald Ford! THREE GUYS in the course of a mere 4 YEARS HAD the opportunity to lead this nation...quite an historical shakeup!

Ford: 1972-1976 - Ford got thrown into a big shit box! Battling increasing inflation, energy shortages, world peace with Russia (USSR) all up in arms, being "the guy" that took over for the "guy that screwed everybody over"...he never had a shot either! He won the nomination again, but lost to Jimmy Carter. HOW BAD does the nation's mindset have to be to let a guy like Jimmy Carter WIN! The world as we knew it then was in a BAD STATE OF AFFAIRS!

Carter: 1977-1980 - Carter will forever be known as the worst President in our nation's history. It was his fault that I had to leave my home state of Texas. He de-regulated petroleum, trucking, and airline industries...which immediately the prices went UP, UP, UP... He formed the Dept. of Education (good concept...bad policy his way), he appointed the largest numbers of folks to government jobs in history that were unqualified based merely on the fact they were women, or people of colors, and he raised our nation's interest rate to 21% in some states. He had a few good days in the Panama Canal and with Egypt. Otherwise, he CRUSHED our nation. Some of his de-regulation policies are just seeing their fruition TODAY, thus our economy again CRASHED! Yet, the unknowing, unstudying, "all for the poor that don't try" generation gave this freaking guy a Nobel Peace Prize! Go figure! It was the prize alright, just the prize for the guy that gave away the biggest PIECE of your pie anyone ever has! Peanuts & Billy Beer...remember him?

Reagan: 1981-1988 - ALONG CAME REAGAN! Hollywood actor, Governor of California (LORD, I bet he flops in his grave each day if he could see CA now!), just an average guy (he was...some Hollywood types used to be average guys!)... America saw peace in his term. He tore down the wall in Berlin through policies of peace through STRENGTH, not "negotiation", or "let's talk". Reagan understood consequence and he led it. Not to mention that he was SHOT 69 days into his term AND LIVED! Folks like heroes that live through bullets when you're POTUS! He reformed the income tax code, bombed Libya because they terrorized a West Berlin night club, maintained free flow of oil during the Iran-Iraq war (bet you guys DON'T remember THAT...everybody NOW thinks it's all US wanting to start business with Iran or Iraq!) During his TWO TERMS, USA enjoyed its longest period of peacetime prosperity without recession or depression. The country once again let a POTUS have TWO terms (LAST ONE SINCE EISENHOWER in 1953 who was BEFORE Kennedy OVER A GENERATION AGO! History, what a trip!

I'm beyond needing to give you a history lesson here. Since Reagan, and the folks just liked FOR ONCE since 1953 to get used to having a guy that could last two terms...they tried it again a couple of times. We then had Bush Sr. that only lasted 4 years...but then Clinton lasted EIGHT YEARS...then Bush Jr. lasted EIGHT YEARS...and folks...again...20 years "poof - gone". The last 20 years of America has been ruled by two families. It's no wonder the "unknowing", the "unstudying" decided to give a new guy a shot. Good luck to us all.

Didn't want to bring race into this story...but my phone's been ringing & my e-mail's been hopping tonight from some who worry. My answer to you is THIS! If you are approached by folks all happy and high fiving' to the fact that the black man won...and you are GOP...PLEASE REMEMBER THIS!

Barack Obama is as white as you are as the white man and he is as black as the black man is! His Mama was white and his Daddy was black. On the race issue, it doesn't get any more equal than that. So for the "banger" types, and the "klan" types...it's a misnomer! He's MIDDLE on that issue above ALL! Get OVER it! He's our next President and guess what? WE'RE HIS BOSS! HOW COOL IS THAT!

Barack Obama won tonight. WE elected HIM! Give him a chance, slam him if he wrongs us...AND ABOVE ALL...REMEMBER...POTUS IS OUR EMPLOYEE!

Also...remember THIS...the President or POTUS is but a mere figurehead...it's the CONGRESS that runs the country. If you don't like how things are going...worry more about your local, city, county, state, and national representatives! THOSE are the folks that carry the nation!