My favorite quote so far from Herman Cain

There were a lot of things to comment on from last night's Western republican debate.  But this was my favorite moment:


Anderson Cooper asked the question, “How do you explain the Occupy Wall Street movement happening across the country? And how does it relate with your message?”  Herman Cain, I’ve got to ask you, you said, — two weeks ago, you said, “Don’t blame Wall Street, don’t blame the big banks. If you don’t have a job, and you’re not rich, blame yourself.”  That was two weeks ago. The movement has grown. Do you still say that?   (APPLAUSE)
CAIN: Yes, I do still say that. And here’s why. (APPLAUSE)
CAIN: I still stand by my statement, and here’s why.

They might be frustrated with Wall Street and the bankers, but they’re directing their anger at the wrong place. Wall Street didn’t put in failed economic policies. Wall Street didn’t spend a trillion dollars that didn’t do any good. Wall Street isn’t going around the country trying to sell another $450 billion. They ought to be over in front of the White House taking out their frustration.

GO HERMAN!!!!!!!

A closer look at a Wall Street "Fat Cat"

One refrain we keep hearing from the protesters trying to occupy Wall Street and other places is that corporate CEOs make too much money.

These Wall Street "fat cats" just sit around in their plush offices - they should pay their fair share.

It's so wrong that these guys get these huge executive salaries and bonuses while the rest of us don't even have jobs.

Really? I think that these protesters may be barking up the wrong tree.

Here's some information I dug up about one of those Wall Street "fat cats" - Jeffrey Immelt, President and CEO of General Electric Corporation (better known to us as GE).

Jeffrey Immelt's salary in 2010 was $3.3 million, and he received an executive bonus of $4 million.

In 2010, Jeffrey Immelt's jobs included:

• CEO of GE
• Trustee at Dartmouth College
• Director of the Robin Hood Foundation, a non-profit foundation dedicated to helping people obtain the dream of home ownership
• Director of NBCUniversal Media
• Trustee of the Ronald Reagan Foundation
• Director, Catalyst, Inc.

It appears that Mr. Immelt owns two homes; one in New Canaan, Connecticut and an apartment in New York City.

Mr. Immelt earned a degree from Dartmouth College and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Now, let's take a look at another famous person. His name is Johnny Depp, a high-school dropout.

2010 income (estimated): $75 million

In 2010, Mr. Depp's jobs included making 2 films:

• Alice in Wonderland
• The Tourist

His charitable efforts included donating a pair of underwear to be auctioned off for the Helen and Douglas House (the underwear sold for $3,000). He also donated a headband that he wore in one of his Pirates of the Caribbean movies to be sold at auction. In early 2010, he played guitar on a single to benefit earthquake victims in Haiti. It looks like Mr. Depp supports several different charities.

Johnny Depp owns the following properties, and possibly more that are unknown:

• Mansion in Somerset, England
• An unnamed island in the Bahamas
• Mansion in West Hollywood
• Penthouse in Los Angeles
• Home in the South of France
• Home in Hawaii
• Palazzo in Venice, Italy

Oh yes, one other thing. The company that Jeffrey Immelt runs employed 287,000 people in 2010.

So remind me again, why are we picking on corporate CEOs and presidents here?

Dusting off the blog . . .

I'm dusting off my poor neglected blog. The Wall Street occupants and the Republican primary process are giving me plenty of stuff to yak about!

But before I go into a new rant, if you read back two posts to my entry about airport security, you'll see my comment about 95% of people not having to go through body scanners at airports.

I TAKE THAT BACK. Things have changed in the past year. More people than ever are going through the airport body scanners for no apparent reason. It seems to be luck of the draw these days, unfortunately. So I was wrong, and I admit it. You probably will have to go through a full body scanner at some point if you travel.

More to come, once I can get my thoughts into a coherent form!

Follow the Rules!!!!!

If you don't fly often, you may not be familiar with the latest rules for getting through airport security. Here's a rundown in plain English.

Before You Go

Ship or mail any questionable items to your final destination if you don't want to check your bags. I'm a jewelry maker and have done this several times. I'd rather go through this hassle than have my tools confiscated!

Check-in online and use the electronic boarding pass option if you can. You can check-in with your airline up to 24 hours before your flight. If you are not checking a bag, there is absolutely NO reason to check in at the airline counter at the airport.

Have the following four items easily accessible and removable:

• Photo ID
• Boarding pass or electronic device with boarding pass
• Laptop
• Quart size liquids bag (more on this later)

Once you Arrive

Before heading to security, confirm your departure gate on the airline screens. I find that about half the time I fly, my departure gate changes between the time I checked in online to the time I arrive at the airport!

The Three Basics

1. One carry-on and one personal item per person.

You are allowed one small "suitcase" or bag (which must fit in the overhead bin of the airplane) and one personal item on every flight. The personal item may be a purse, laptop bag, briefcase, or shopping bag. As long as the personal item fits under the seat in front of you, it's fine.

I can't tell you how many women I see trying to get a suitcase, purse, and shopping bag/laptop bag/briefcase aboard a plane. Ladies, your purse IS the "personal item." My suggestion: Carry a small wristlet with your essentials in it and tuck it inside your shopping bag/laptop bag/whatever.

2. Liquids must be inside one quart-size plastic zip-lock style bag.

That means one of these little bags per person, not all of your liquid items stowed in 10 separate bags. (Yes, I've seen someone try.) And be aware of what a liquid is. When in doubt, here's my rule: If it's gushy, it's a liquid. Lipstick, lip balm, shampoo, hair gel, even soft-solid deodorants all qualify as liquids. Bar soaps and solid deodorants are OK. (By the way, snow globes are not allowed, period. That's a new rule I learned last week!)

3. You are required to show your photo ID along with your boarding pass.

Period, no exceptions, unless you're not old enough to have a driver's license. So go ahead and get both in your hand before you get in line.

And here are some suggestions to make things easier:

Dress appropriately.

Wear easy on/off shoes with socks. (Especially if you're a germophobe - you DON'T want to be walking barefoot through the security line! Ewwwwwwwww!)

Leave the huge belt buckle, metal earrings, or clunky bangle bracelet behind. If you insist on wearing these, take them off and put them in a bin before you go through the metal detector.

Liquids & Laptops Out

Pack your liquids bag and laptop where you can get them out quickly and easily. Once you reach the screening area, take your laptop out of its bag and put it in a bin all by itself. Take out your liquids bag and put it in a second bin along with your shoes and jacket if you have one. Empty your pockets into one of the little change bins. Don't put your carry-on and personal item in bins; they'll go through the scanner just fine by themselves. There's always a shortage of bins so don't be a bin-waster!

No Boarding Pass Required

You do NOT need to show your boarding pass before going through the metal detector. Once these have been checked, tuck them away.

Get Out Of The Way (My personal pet peeve!)

Once you and your stuff have made it through the scanner, gather everything as best you can and then move on. Most airports have an area right outside the screening area where you can sit down and re-pack. Use this area instead of clogging up the security lanes so that your fellow passengers can move through.

I hope this has been helpful to someone; please feel free to ask any questions and I'll answer as best I can!

Tips from a Frequent Flier

The TSA's new screening procedures have been all over the news this week. From what I've seen, a lot of people have some critical misconceptions about airport security.

*****First and foremost, even if an airport has the full body scanners (AIT, as they are sometimes called), 95% of passengers will NOT be asked to go through the scanners. If you are asked to go through the scanner, you have the option to request a pat-down instead.*****

So how can you avoid being one of the 5% that is asked to go through the extra security measures? Here are three tips, all based on my personal experience and observations as a frequent traveler.

1. Follow the rules. This is a big one. Every person I've seen pulled out for extra screening had done something wrong. For example, that tube of ChapStick in your pocket (instead of your "liquids" bag) may seem innocent to you, but to an agent that little infraction makes you a rule-breaker. And it could lead to extra security measures for you. I'll do a separate post on following the rules shortly.

2. Do not display a defiant, "They're not gonna touch me" attitude. You may not be aware of it, but you are being watched constantly while waiting in airport lines. Don't go attracting extra attention to yourself with cocky declarations.

3. Be kind and polite to every airport worker that you come in contact with. ESPECIALLY the very first person in the security protocol - the agent who checks your boarding pass and ID. That person can actually single you out for extra screening down the line. Also, these folks really appreciate it when you use the electronic boarding pass option. So use it every time you can.

More to come!

In Loving Memory

Lora Bell McClure Dodd, born January 17, 1912, died April 12, 2010.

She was the youngest of 13 children. She leaves behind one sister, three children, four grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren, and countless nieces and nephews.

My grandmother is in a much better place now, reunited with her family and in the presence of God.

These Hands

They worked hard on the farm.

They picked cotton.

They sewed in a garment factory.

They embraced a husband on his way to war and embraced him again when he returned.

They held three children, four grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren.

They churned butter.

They made biscuits without measuring any ingredients.

They canned tomatoes, corn, and homemade chow-chow.

They made muscadine jelly and fig preserves.

They made breakfast for her husband every morning.

They sewed beautiful quilts one stitch at a time.

They held bibles and hymnals in countless church services.

They folded in prayer.

They loved.

They belong to my grandmother, Lora Dodd, age 98.

Prayer Requests

I learned of several urgent needs last night and thought I would share them with you. Please pray for these people:

Jen, a 21 year old friend of mine who has learned she has a tumor on her pituitary gland. This appears to be a recurrence of one she had as a child.

Lance, a friend's father who has learned he has lymphoma and begins chemo today.

Trey, an 18 year old diagnosed with melanoma that has now moved into his brain. He faces surgery today.

The Bennett family, who are grieving the loss of their father and daughter in what appears to be a freak electrocution accident.

A friend of a friend in Colorado who has learned that her father has an inoperable benign brain tumor which is causing horrendous ringing in his ears.

"Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. " James 5:16

Massachusetts - the setting of yet another revolution?

Whodathunkit? Massachusetts, home of the Kennedys and John Kerry, is home once again to an American Revolution of sorts.

The election of Republican Scott Brown to fill deceased Ted Kennedy's senate seat has turned the tables on the Democrats. No longer do they have a filibuster-proof majority enabling them to push through any legislation they want.

Now the democrats will have to actually DEBATE health care reform and listen to viewpoints besides their own.

I love America!

I love Etsy, I really do. But . . .

I have a shop on Etsy. For those of you who are not familiar with Etsy, let me give some background.

As its slogan states, Etsy is a place to buy & sell all things handmade. Etsy is a venue that lets sellers open a shop and list their wares for a listing fee of $0.20. Then, if the item sells, Etsy collects 3.5% of the sales price. Prior to selling on Etsy, I had my own website. I gave that up because it is incredibly time consuming to maintain! Etsy makes it easy.

Etsy makes it easy. And that's part of the problem. It is all too easy for people to start up a shop on Etsy and start selling whatever they want. Etsy does not monitor new listings; they trust that you will be listing genuinely handmade items, vintage items that are 20 or more years old, or crafting supplies. But many, many, many shops are nothing but "resellers" who view Etsy as a cheaper alternative to ebay.

To combat this problem, Etsy has a "flagging" system. If you spot an item that is not supposed to be sold on Etsy, you are asked to flag it and bring it to the content team's attention. They are supposed to review each and every flagged item and take down items that are not within Etsy's Terms of Use (TOU).

That doesn't seem to be doing much good. I've flagged lots of stuff that is obviously breaking the TOU, but the items are still there. And from the comments I'm seeing on Etsy's community forums, I am not alone in this.

Etsy recently re-hired Rob Kalin as its new CEO (or whatever muckety-muck title). At first sellers were quite hopeful that he would begin implementing some changes. But so far, the only changes we've seen have been cosmetic and have not addressed the most serious issue - resellers.

So to Etsy, I say this: I can live without coupon codes, the ability to open multiple shops, and changes to Etsy's community forums. First things first. The reseller issue MUST be addressed. It is taking business away from legitimate sellers, and it is bringing seller morale to an unbelievable low - which cannot be good for business.

Before You Give to Relief Efforts in Haiti . . .

No, this isn't a "beware of scammers" warning - although those warnings are warranted.

Before you contribute to relief efforts in Haiti, do some research. If you work for a large company, check to see if they have any type of charitable contribution matching program. The company I work for is matching donations made to the Red Cross up to $250,000. That doubles my donation and makes me feel a little bit better about my contribution!

Orange Rolls

We had "breakfast for dinner" tonight at my house, and I pulled out a recipe that I haven't made in a long time. I had forgotten how delicious these are! So easy, too!

Orange Rolls

1 can refrigerated biscuits (not the flaky-layers style!)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
One large orange

Remove the zest from the orange and chop into very fine pieces. Combine orange zest with the sugar and cinnamon in a shallow bowl.

Cut orange in half and squeeze the juice into a shallow bowl.

Dip the biscuits in the orange juice, then dredge in the sugar mixture. Put biscuits into a 9-inch round pan coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle any remaining sugar mixture over biscuits, and drizzle any remaining orange juice on top. Bake at 350 degrees (F) for 25 minutes. Serve warm.

YUM-O!

Icy in Georgia

We got a little snow yesterday afternoon and last night. Not a lot, but enough to cause complete havoc! It's only 22 degrees and the snow that fell has turned into nasty ice on our roads.

I tried to go in to work this morning but had to turn around due to all the ice. Yuk, yuk, yuk!

The Sky This Morning

Here's the lovely view I was greeted with on my way to work this morning. WOW.





I won't attempt to wax eloquent. A picture is worth a thousand words!

I thought I lived in Georgia.

Apparently I was wrong. I must be in Minnesota or something. 'Cause it's 19 degrees outside! No snow, but 19 degrees!!!!

BRRRRRRRR!

(Photo from http://www.icanhazcheezburger.com/)

Happy Birthday To Me!

It's my birthday! What, you forgot? No big deal. I'm used to it. :-)

To answer the inevitable questions, yes it does SUCK having a birthday so close to Christmas. Yes, I got lots of "Merry Christmas / Happy Birthday" presents and cards when I was growing up. Yes, people - even close friends and family - forget my birthday.

But you, my lucky blog readers, get to share this amazing birthday cake with me! And the best part is, ZERO calories! So enjoy!

"The True Meaning of Christmas"

There are so many movies, cartoons, cards, books, songs, and what-have-you that want us all to remember "the true meaning of Christmas" at this time of year. Usually the theme is that Christmas isn't about getting stuff; it's about giving. Or it's about spending time with family and friends. Or that you can't steal Christmas just by stealing gifts, like the Grinch tried to do.

Hey, I love these Christmas specials just as much as anybody. But none of them gives us the true meaning of Christmas, except perhaps for Charlie Brown.

The true meaning of Christmas is this: God became a man and lived among us in the person of Jesus. Jesus' sole purpose was to become the perfect sacrifice for our sins, so that whoever chooses to acknowledge their sinfulness, put their trust in Jesus and ask him to forgive them for their sins would be reconciled to God and would have eternal life.

It may sound trite, but it's true - Jesus is the Reason for the Season.

Merry Christmas!

One Day Sale 12/18/09!

I'm having a ONE DAY SALE today! 25% off everything in my shop, and if your order totals $100 or more, then 30% off for you!

The prices showing in my shop are the original prices; the difference will be refunded to your PayPal account after purchase.

Click here to go directly to the Sale!

No more consignment at Salon = New listings on Etsy

I am no longer selling any of my jewelry in the local salon due to a disagreement with the salon owner about the quality of some of the merchandise she is selling there. Her loss is your gain!

I've listed most of what I had there on Etsy and will list a few more pieces tomorrow. So check out the new stuff in my shop! I've got some really cool pieces for sale!

Half A Heart Earrings

Mystic Topaz & Sterling Silver Chain Dangle Earrings

Sterling Silver Hoop Earrings with Sterling Silver Beads & Freshwater Pearls

Sterling Silver Open Hoops with Crystal Accent

Red Crystal and Sterling Silver Diamond Dangle Earrings

Hematite Bracelet

Tiger Eye & Copper Bracelet

Rhyolite and crystal Earrings

I hope you like them!

One of my Pet Peeves

One of my pet peeves is all the inserts I find stuck into magazines. Drives me absolutely nuts. As a matter of fact, as soon as I receive a magazine in the mail the first thing I do is remove all the inserts and toss them into the garbage.





But if I found this insert, well, I might just have to hang onto it.





from www.icanhascheezburger.com