View from Cheryl's desk 5 minutes ago

MCKEE, KY. - The folks of this hamlet hidden in the Appalachian foothills have the distinction of having dislikedPresident Obama long before now. They didn't like him as soon as they heard of him.

McKee is the seat of Jackson County, where Obama in 2008 registered his worst performance in all of Kentucky's 120 counties, taking home just 14 percent of the vote.

So for many of the roughly 900 people who live here - many of them older, most of them poor and virtually all of them white - next week's midterm election is an opportunity to reclaim a nation they believe has been hijacked by dangerous Democrats with a socialist and anti-Christian agenda.

"I just feel like they're trying to destroy our government and our Constitution and make a socialistic society," Viola Johnson, 72, said over fried chicken and coconut pie at Opal's restaurant off Main Street. "They're trying to take our freedoms away - no doubt about it. And you know that old saying, 'I'm mad as hell about it?' Well, I'm mad as hell about it."

She looked across the booth at her friend, Edna Banks, 78, who offered a similarly pessimistic take: "I think we're going down. Our money's not going to be worth anything. And there's not going to be any jobs. Our grandchildren are going to suffer trying to pay the debts back."

"I wish I could do more," said Johnson, a retired accountant. "But all I can do is vote, and I fully intend to."

This is a deeply religious town where, according to U.S. Census data, 99.5 percent of residents are white. Like much of Appalachia, McKee has long suffered economically and was in decline well before the latest recession. The data show that about half of McKee's residents live below the poverty line and nearly three-quarters subsist on government money, said a county official, be it from Social Security, welfare or another entitlement program.

By Philip Rucker

Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 29, 2010; 12:45 PM

Bud Grant on hunting nowadays

"For much of my life, conditions were tough while hunting deer in Wisconsin. We didn't have snow machines, of course, or four-wheelers. All of our hunting was done on foot. I could tell story after story about dragging deer through deep snow. 

Compare that to today. The weather is milder. And thanks, I think, to rising deer populations, we've raised a generation of people for which deer hunting has become deer "shooting." 

Some of these guys shoot at anything. I was in the store the other day and a guy said he had shot 37 times while hunting. Thirty-seven times! For many of these people, "if it's brown, it's down" sums up their hunting style. Hunting for them is not about following a track, or figuring out where a deer crossed a creek, or figuring out, in retrospect, what led you to get a deer. It's about shooting. "

Does this foster a sense of the commons? Common Sense?

Only 4 will upload at a time

Vintage Wine, Vintage Friends

I've learned more in my life from my failures than I have from my successes.

Landscaping finished...interior still in progress

Getting Better All The Time...

This has got to stop!!!

I believe any candidate for public office receiving money from offshore and foreign accounts laundered through the Chamber of Commerce (or any other source) should register as an agent of a foreign government. There is no accountability as it currently stands. Do we really want other nations, perhaps even hostile ones, buying our elections?


Take a stand.

Broadwinged hawk bonked it's head on the new window...I held it for awhile and placed it in the back of my pickup along with the pea gravel I'll use to backfill. When I took this pic, the hawk flew easily away.

Construction adhesive attaches Mexican tiles to wall. Small screws at the bottom hold them in place until set.

Meanwhile, I took what was a former shelf and re-designed it for beneath the large window.

Then...I mixed the finish coat of stucco, along with the pigment...and Voila!...a couple of hours later...I'm done with that portion of the project. Backfill tomorrow...Mañana

Trim on, scratch coat on...Bob was a big help.

Faster computers, lighter airplanes, transparent touch screens — the list of potential uses runs on. Some scientists say we can't even imagine what kinds of products might be possible with the substance, which hides in ordinary pencil lead and first was extracted using a piece of Scotch tape..."In this age of complexity, with machines like the super collider, they managed to get the Nobel using Scotch tape"


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101006/ap_on_hi_te/eu_nobel_physics

A thought for the day

I believe (and have for a long time) that our representatives and Senators are each state's employees, representing that state in the federal house...the states should set their individual salaries, could decide if they wish term limits, decide their benefits, subject them to the same type health care of people in that state...etc.  Ridiculous that they become federal employees with pensions for life...and get the best health care in the world, much different than their constituents.  Fly first class, etc...etc.  I also believe that both houses should be in session no more than 30 days at a time...any other necessary voting, discussion etc...can be computer driven and telecommunicated from their home states.  Our representatives should live and work in the districts they represent...and only rarely go to meetings in Washington. 

A little further along

Looking Better

I have to admit to feeling a bit gimpy today.

Buttoned up just before the rain