Thursday, September 29, 2011

My Review of Mrs. Miniver DVD

Originally submitted at Turner Classic Movies

As Academy Award-winning films go, Mrs. Miniver has not weathered the years all that well. This prettified, idealized view of the upper-class British home front during World War II sometimes seems over-calculated and contrived when seen today. In particular, Greer Garson's Oscar-winning perform...


You will love this movie!

By KathyG_NC from Newport, NC on 9/28/2011

 

5out of 5

Pros: Original, Engaging Characters, Entertaining

Best Uses: Anywhere any place

Describe Yourself: Movie Buff

This is one of Greer Garson's finest roles. I always enjoy the way she and Walter Pidgin work together. There is such wonderful chemistry between them. Greer is so brilliant in her roles as Mrs. Miniver you won't be disappointed to see her bravery in this one!!

(legalese)

Sunday, September 18, 2011

SPECIAL JAIL IN ARIZONA-

TO THOSE OF YOU NOT FAMILIAR WITH JOE ARPAIO, HE IS THE MARICOPA COUNTY SHERIFF (ARIZONA) AND HE KEEPS GETTING ELECTED OVER AND OVER AGAIN..........




These are some of the reasons why:

Sheriff Joe Arpaio created the 'tent city jail' to save Arizona from spending tens of millions of dollars on another expensive prison complex.

He has jail meals down to 20 cents a serving and charges the inmates for them.

He banned smoking and pornographic magazines in the jails, and took away their weightlifting equipment and cut off all but 'G' movies. He says: 'They're in jail to pay a debt to society not to build muscles so they can assault innocent people when they leave.'



He started chain gangs to use the inmates to do free work on county and city projects and save taxpayer's money.


Then he started chain gangs for women so he wouldn't get sued for discrimination.

He took away cable TV until he found out there was a federal court order that required cable TV for jails. So he hooked up the cable TV again but only allows the Disney channel and the weather channel.

When asked why the weather channel, he replied: 'So these morons will know how hot it's gonna be while they are working on my chain gangs.'


He cut off coffee because it has zero nutritional value and is therefore a waste of taxpayer money. When the inmates complained, he told them, 'This isn't the Ritz/Carlton. If you don't like it, don't come back.'


He also bought the Newt Gingrich lecture series on US history that he pipes into the jails. When asked by a reporter if he had any lecture series by a Democrat, he replied that a democratic lecture series that actually tells the truth for a change would be welcome and that it might even explain why 95% of the inmates were in his jails in the first place.

With temperatures being even hotter than usual in Phoenix (116 degrees just set a new record for June 2nd 2007), the Associated Press reported: About 2,000 inmates living in a barbed wire surrounded tent encampment at the Maricopa County Jail have been given permission to strip down to their government-issued pink boxer shorts.

On the Wednesday, hundreds of men wearing pink boxer shorts were overheard chatting in the tents, where temperatures reached 128 degrees. 'This is hell. It feels like we live in a furnace,' said Ernesto Gonzales, an inmate for 2 years with 10 more to go. 'It's inhumane.'


Joe Arpaio, who makes his prisoners wear pink, and eat bologna sandwiches, is not one bit sympathetic. 'Criminals should be punished for their crimes - not live in luxury until it's time for parole, only to go out and commit more crimes so they can come back in to live on taxpayers money and enjoy things many taxpayers can't afford to have for themselves.'

The same day he told all the inmates who were complaining of the heat in the tents: 'It's between 120 to 130 degrees in Iraq and our soldiers are living in tents too, and they have to walk all day in the sun, wearing full battle gear and get shot at, and they have not committed any crimes, so shut your damned mouths!'

Way to go, Sheriff! If all prisons were like yours there would be a lot less crime and we would not be in the current
position of running out of prison spaces.

Credits: Original author unknown to me, I received this message in a forwarded email from a friend in Scotland! Word sure has spread! The Sheriff also has a Facebook page and a website. Simply search for him by name or by the county name and you’re sure to find him.

Saturday, August 6, 2011

30 Years Ago: The Day the Middle Class Died - Common Dreams

30 Years Ago: The Day the Middle Class Died - Common Dreams

30 Years Ago: The Day the Middle Class Died

From time to time, someone under 30 will ask me, "When did this all begin, America's downward slide?" They say they've heard of a time when working people could raise a family and send the kids to college on just one parent's income (and that college in states like California and New York was almost free). That anyone who wanted a decent paying job could get one. That people only worked five days a week, eight hours a day, got the whole weekend off and had a paid vacation every summer. That many jobs were union jobs, from baggers at the grocery store to the guy painting your house, and this meant that no matter how "lowly" your job was you had guarantees of a pension, occasional raises, health insurance and someone to stick up for you if you were unfairly treated.On August 5, 1981, President Ronald Reagan fired every member of the air traffic controllers union (PATCO) who'd defied his order to return to work and declared their union illegal. They had been on strike for just two days.

Young people have heard of this mythical time -- but it was no myth, it was real. And when they ask, "When did this all end?", I say, "It ended on this day: August 5th, 1981."

Beginning on this date, 30 years ago, Big Business and the Right Wing decided to "go for it" -- to see if they could actually destroy the middle class so that they could become richer themselves.

And they've succeeded.

On August 5, 1981, President Ronald Reagan fired every member of the air traffic controllers union (PATCO) who'd defied his order to return to work and declared their union illegal. They had been on strike for just two days.

It was a bold and brash move. No one had ever tried it. What made it even bolder was that PATCO was one of only two unions that had endorsed Reagan for president! It sent a shock wave through workers across the country. If he would do this to the people who were with him, what would he do to us?

Reagan had been backed by Wall Street in his run for the White House and they, along with right-wing Christians, wanted to restructure America and turn back the tide that President Franklin D. Roosevelt started -- a tide that was intended to make life better for the average working person. The rich hated paying better wages and providing benefits. They hated paying taxes even more. And they despised unions. The right-wing Christians hated anything that sounded like socialism or holding out a helping hand to minorities or women.

Reagan promised to end all that. So when the air traffic controllers went on strike, he seized the moment. In getting rid of every single last one of them and outlawing their union, he sent a clear and strong message: The days of everyone having a comfortable middle class life were over. America, from now on, would be run this way:

* The super-rich will make more, much much more, and the rest of you will scramble for the crumbs that are left.

* Everyone must work! Mom, Dad, the teenagers in the house! Dad, you work a second job! Kids, here's your latch-key! Your parents might be home in time to put you to bed.

* 50 million of you must go without health insurance! And health insurance companies: you go ahead and decide who you want to help -- or not.

* Unions are evil! You will not belong to a union! You do not need an advocate! Shut up and get back to work! No, you can't leave now, we're not done. Your kids can make their own dinner.

* You want to go to college? No problem -- just sign here and be in hock to a bank for the next 20 years!

* What's "a raise"? Get back to work and shut up!

And so it went. But Reagan could not have pulled this off by himself in 1981. He had some big help:

The AFL-CIO.

The biggest organization of unions in America told its members to cross the picket lines of the air traffic controllers and go to work. And that's just what these union members did. Union pilots, flight attendants, delivery truck drivers, baggage handlers -- they all crossed the line and helped to break the strike. And union members of all stripes crossed the picket lines and continued to fly.

Reagan and Wall Street could not believe their eyes! Hundreds of thousands of working people and union members endorsing the firing of fellow union members. It was Christmas in August for Corporate America.

And that was the beginning of the end. Reagan and the Republicans knew they could get away with anything -- and they did. They slashed taxes on the rich. They made it harder for you to start a union at your workplace. They eliminated safety regulations on the job. They ignored the monopoly laws and allowed thousands of companies to merge or be bought out and closed down. Corporations froze wages and threatened to move overseas if the workers didn't accept lower pay and less benefits. And when the workers agreed to work for less, they moved the jobs overseas anyway.

And at every step along the way, the majority of Americans went along with this. There was little opposition or fight-back. The "masses" did not rise up and protect their jobs, their homes, their schools (which used to be the best in the world). They just accepted their fate and took the beating.

I have often wondered what would have happened had we all just stopped flying, period, back in 1981. What if all the unions had said to Reagan, "Give those controllers their jobs back or we're shutting the country down!"? You know what would have happened. The corporate elite and their boy Reagan would have buckled.

But we didn't do it. And so, bit by bit, piece by piece, in the ensuing 30 years, those in power have destroyed the middle class of our country and, in turn, have wrecked the future for our young people. Wages have remained stagnant for 30 years. Take a look at the statistics and you can see that every decline we're now suffering with had it's beginning in 1981 (here's a little scene to illustrate that from my last movie).

It all began on this day, 30 years ago. One of the darkest days in American history. And we let it happen to us. Yes, they had the money, and the media and the cops. But we had 200 million of us. Ever wonder what it would look like if 200 million got truly upset and wanted their country, their life, their job, their weekend, their time with their kids back?

Have we all just given up? What are we waiting for? Forget about the 20% who support the Tea Party -- we are the other 80%! This decline will only end when we demand it. And not through an online petition or a tweet. We are going to have to turn the TV and the computer and the video games off and get out in the streets (like they've done in Wisconsin). Some of you need to run for local office next year. We need to demand that the Democrats either get a spine and stop taking corporate money -- or step aside.

When is enough, enough? The middle class dream will not just magically reappear. Wall Street's plan is clear: America is to be a nation of Haves and Have Nothings. Is that OK for you?

Why not use today to pause and think about the little steps you can take to turn this around in your neighborhood, at your workplace, in your school? Is there any better day to start than today?

P.S. Here are a few places you can connect with to get the ball rolling:

Main Street Contract for America
Showdown in America

Democracy Convention
Occupy Wall Street
October 2011
How to Join a Union by the AFL-CIO (they've learned their lesson and have a good president now) or UE
Change to Win
MoveOn
High School Newspaper (Just because you're under 18 doesn't mean you can't do anything!)

Michael Moore

Michael Moore is an activist, author, and filmmaker. See more of his work at his website MichaelMoore.com

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Heavenly Father We Need Your Strength

I feel that for some reason God hasn't been helping as he once did. In the Bible it speaks of his visits and the miracles he performed. That was all in ancient times, there has been little done to show he is there watching, helping, and guiding us.

Oh heavenly Father, please let your presence be known so that those who do not believe in you in spirit alone will believe in you and your word and, lead a life that is more pleasing to you.

We all need your help today, more than ever. Evil is growing at an alarming rate and there is so much chaos and destruction that I am sure the Devil has brought it on us.

We need your strength to help fight off the depression and disbelief these things lead to. We need you to fight the Devils attempts to take over the beautiful world you created.

So many are suffering, many don't even have a home to live in nor food to eat. Please pray with me to gain God's favor for all and to help everyone by making his presence known to all. Pray that he will send us help to exist in the turmoil the Devil has created and to give us the strength to fight off the personal attempts the Devil brings us to dishonor our Father.

Monday, May 23, 2011

How Most Fights Start! (Humor)

My wife sat down on the settee next to me as I was flipping channels.

She asked, 'What's on TV?'

I said, 'Dust.'

And then the fight started...

******************************************

My wife and I were watching "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" while we

Were in bed. I turned to her and said, "Do you want to have sex?"

"No," she answered.

I then said, "Is that your final answer?"

She didn't even look at me this time, simply saying, "Yes."

So I said, "Then I'd like to phone a friend."

And then the fight started....

******************************************

Saturday morning I got up early, quietly dressed, made my lunch, and

Slipped quietly into the garage. I hooked up the boat up to the van, and

Proceeded to back out into a torrential downpour. The wind was blowing

50 mph, so I pulled back into the garage, turned on the radio, and

Discovered that the weather would be bad all day.

I went back into the house, quietly undressed, and slipped back into

Bed. I cuddled up to my wife's back, now with a different anticipation,

And whispered, "The weather out there is terrible."

My loving wife of 5 years replied, "Can you believe my stupid husband is

Out fishing in that?"

And that's how the fight started...

******************************************

I rear-ended a car this morning. So, there we were alongside the road

And slowly the other driver got out of his car. You know how sometimes

You just get soooo stressed and little things just seem funny? Yeah,

Well I couldn't believe it.... He was a DWARF!!! He stormed over to my

Car, looked up at me, and shouted, "I AM NOT HAPPY!!!"

So, I looked down at him and said, "Well, then which one are you?"

And then the fight started.....

*****************************************

My wife was hinting about what she wanted for our upcoming anniversary.

She said, 'I want something shiny that goes from 0 to 150 in about 3

Seconds.'

I bought her a bathroom scale.

And then the fight started...

******************************************

When I got home last night, my wife demanded that I take her some place

Expensive... So, I took her to a petrol station.

And then the fight started...

******************************************

After retiring, I went to the Social Security office to apply for Social

Welfare The woman behind the counter asked me for my driver's License

To verify my age. I looked in my pockets and realized I had left my

Wallet at home. I told the woman that I was very sorry, but I would have

To go home and come back later.

The woman said, ‘Unbutton your shirt'. So I opened my shirt revealing my

Curly silver hair. She said, 'That silver hair on your chest is proof

Enough for me' and she processed my Social Welfare application.

When I got home, I excitedly told my wife about my experience at the

Social Welfare office.

She said, 'You should have dropped your pants. You might have got

Disability, too.'

And then the fight started...

******************************************

My wife and I were sitting at a table at my school reunion, and I kept

Staring at a drunken lady swigging her drink as she sat alone at a

Nearby table.

My wife asked, 'Do you know her?'

'Yes,' I sighed, 'She's my old girlfriend. I understand she took to

Drinking right after we split up those many years ago, and I hear she

Hasn't been sober since.'

'My God!' says my wife, 'who would think a person could go on

Celebrating that long?'

And then the fight started...

******************************************

I took my wife to a restaurant. The waiter, for some reason took my

Order first. "I'll have the steak, medium rare, please."

He said, "Aren't you worried about the mad cow?""

Nah, she can order for herself."

And then the fight started...

******************************************

A woman was standing nude, looking in the bedroom mirror. She was not

Happy with what she saw and said to her husband, "I feel horrible; I

Look old, fat and ugly. I really need you to pay me a compliment.'

The husband replied, ‘Your eyesight’s damn near perfect.'

And then the fight started.....

Monday, January 24, 2011

Carolina Coast Online :: Tideland News-times - Winter storm leaves mark; roads dangerous (updated)


"Kathy McDonald enjoys a scenic walk through the snow Saturday on George Taylor Road in Broad Creek. (Cheryl Burke photo)"




Carolina Coast Online :: Portal to the News-Times, Arts Alive, This Week Magazine, Topsail Voice, Tideland News > Archives > News-times > News > Winter storm leaves mark; roads dangerous (updated)


Roads are still covered with ice and a lot of them still have much snow. Caution should be used if you're driving this morning. If you can wait until the sun comes out and melts things a bit more you're better off and a whole lot safer. The article link shown above includes images of some of the area. Mostly the Broad Creek area by the looks. Thanks to the local folks who have helped contribute these images to give the rest of us an idea what other areas are facing. We're in Newport, just off Hwy 70 behind Sam Garner Farms and the roads are just starting to turn slushy. Many icy spots remain. In the dark there was a lot of black ice to be careful of. The temperatures will be up into the 40's again today but there is also rain in the forecast. We could be facing icy roads every morning this week by the sounds of things. - KathyG_NC


"The B. Cameron Langston Bridge along N.C. Hwy 58 in Emerald Isle seems to disappear into the sky as low cloud cover and heavy snow moved through the area Saturday morning making crossing the high rise treacherous for drivers.
John Althouse/The Daily News"


Additional information from the JD News:
Carteret, Onslow under winter weather advisory advisory, eastern, onslow - Forecaster - Jacksonville Daily News

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Windows 7 if you don't have it - Get it!

I have to say I have never been happier with a MS OS as I am with my Windows 7 Ultimate x64. This system almost thinks for you! Gone are all the problems they have with Vista. It's like a smarter, smoother than XP. If I could afford it now, I would upgrade my Vista laptop to this. It's amazing and the integration seamless. Things work as they were meant to work. Dell, as I have a new tower a Dell XPS 9100. I maxed out the memory to the full 24 GB. I chose to go with the newer i7 2.8 Ghz. I know I could have gotten a 3.2 Ghz but don't believe that it would have changed much for my purposes.

I've broken down and bought a book to help me out so I can learn all the little lesser known bits about my new OS. One part that I love the most is that any software you install, you can choose to operate it under XP and any of the 3 Service Packs. So no worries about using your old software on this baby. It will take it and own it in any format you'd prefer. With Vista it seemed they wrote it so that it wouldn't work with any software written before it. Not Windows 7. The finally got it together and learned from their past mistakes. It embraces most any software you wish to use as long as it was made for XP or above.

So, if you've been holding off buying the upgrade for fear it would turn out to be another Vista disaster, fear no more! You'll love what they've done with it and how well it runs.