Monday, July 27, 2015

The Business 9 Women Kept a Secret for Three Decades

Wonderful women -- wonderful enterprise!

The Business 9 Women Kept A Secret For Three Decades
June 20, 2012, Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/20/it-aint-over-the-business-secret...

"The 9 Nanas" ... gather in the darkness of night. At 4am they begin their daily routine - a ritual that no one, not even their husbands, knew about for 30 years. They have one mission and one mission only: to create happiness. And it all begins with baked goods. Over the next three hours, The 9 Nanas (who all consider themselves sisters, despite what some of their birth certificates say) will whip up hundreds of pound cakes, as part of a grand scheme to help those in need. Before anyone gets as much as a glimpse of them, they'll disappear back into their daily lives. Their master plan ... began 35 years ago. They'd eavesdrop - and when they heard about a widow or a single mom who needed a little help, they'd step in and anonymously pay a utility bill or buy some new clothes for the children. The Nanas would find out where the person lived and send a package with a note that simply said, "Somebody loves you" - and they'd be sure to include one of MaMaw Ruth's special pound cakes. 30 years into their secret mission ... the sisters came clean. They told the husbands, [who then] offered to help. It wasn't long before the couples decided it was also time to tell their grown children. And that's when happiness began to happen in an even bigger way. The children encouraged their mothers to start selling MaMaw Ruth's pound cakes online, so they could raise money to help even more people. That's when the 9 Nanas moved their covert baking operation out of their homes. In the last 35 years, the 9 Nanas have contributed nearly $900,000 of happiness to their local community.

Note: To learn more about The 9 Nanas and Happiness Happens or to purchase one of MaMaw Ruth's special pound cakes, you can visit their website

 


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Saturday, July 25, 2015

FOX SO-CALLED "NEWS" IS REALLY "GOP TV"


I've been watching Fox "News" this past week to see what they are saying about Donald Trump.  It is fascinating to see this Faux news channel spin their agenda.  It is so transparently phony, advertising itself as "fair and balanced" -- when it is Anything But!  Everything about this channel is phony, but those who watch it regularly and get their "news" from it are completely hooked on it.  Why? The brassy flashiness, the over-stimulating quick pace with constantly flashing "Breaking News!" (so viewers won't get bored), the eye candy provided for men viewers, with good-looking short-skirted women who flash their long legs and bat their faux eyelashes (but haven't a brain among them), the propagandist, unmeasured, unreflective rantings of hosts like Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly, with occasional yellings/spewings from such as Ann Coulter who not even Sean Hannity can control.  Ugh. So much spin -- So little truth!  No wonder Fox viewers have been proven to be the most uninformed viewers in the nation.  The following article by Thom Hartmann tells it just like it is:

Fox So-Called "News" Is "GOP TV" in the 21st Century
by Thom Hartmann | July 25, 2015 - 8:24am

It's time to stop calling the Fox cable TV network a "news" network and start calling it what it is: a propaganda network for billionaires like Rupert Murdoch who own the Republican Party.

And, it's Roger Ailes' dream of "GOP TV" come to life.

Even though the network has long called itself a source of "Fair and Balanced News," the reality is that the network produces content that is anything but fair or balanced. And it's certainly not news.

Because much of the content that Fox puts out is propaganda for the Republican party and the billionaires that own the party.

Fox spends an inordinate amount of time, according to Media Matters for America, spreading fear and half-truths that promote the agenda of the billionaires.

You don't have to search very hard for examples of Fox promoting the GOP's agenda that's simply based on fear, hatred and Reaganomics for the rich.

And it really doesn't matter what they're talking about. Many Fox reports try to pack as much of the billionaires' agenda in as possible. They don't even need the points to make sense.

Just take a look at how Eric Bolling and the rest of the Republican parrots on "The Five" discussed lone-wolf terrorism in the US earlier this week.

In one fell swoop the panel manages to dismiss any conversation about over-medication or the state of mental health treatment in the US - because that conversation might be harmful to the Republican's sponsors in the pharmaceutical industry.

And they somehow even managed to take a swipe at climate change, rejecting the consensus of all credible climate scientists as nothing more than conjecture and a hokey liberal explanation for everything.

And that was all before Bolling's actual point: that he's proud to be Islamophobic and that we should assume that one out of every five Muslims are guilty of possibly being radicalized.

In other words, the US still needs to be terrified of the Muslim world.

And the real point at the end of the Fox rabbit hole is simply that we need to be prepared to continue our wars in the Middle East, because the invasion of Iraq didn't make quite enough money for the oil barons and arms dealers who own so many Republicans in Congress.

It isn't a wild conspiracy theory to say that Fox is a propaganda machine for the GOP, according to Media Matters, it's a matter of historical record.

Back in 1970, when he was working in the Nixon White House, Roger Ailes had a dream.

He called his dream "GOP TV," and his vision was to run a so-called "news" operation that could rapidly push the Republican issues and messages of the day.

He marked up a memo called "A Plan for Putting the GOP News on TV News" arguing that more and more Americans were getting their news from TV in 1970.

And he envisioned the GOP taking advantage of the fact that, in the words of the memo: "44 percent [of Americans] say TV is more believable than any other medium."

The memo also detailed exactly how a Republican politician would record a message for their constituents about a hot-button issue, and then how that message would be rapidly edited and distributed so that the message could be in the hands of local stations in less than a day.

The Nixon White House rejected Ailes' vision because Nixon couldn't raise the funding needed, but Ailes didn't give up on the idea and apparently managed to share his idea with billionaire Rupert Murdoch.

And now the Fox network, owned by billionaire Murdoch and chaired by Roger Ailes, is one of the most watched cable networks in the country. It surpasses even ESPN in viewership on some nights.

And it's paying off with Republican electoral wins that would have been unimaginable before Fox.

Here's how they do it: Watch as Sean Hannity sets up Republican presidential candidate John Kasich to walk back his claim that the GOP is waging a "War on the Poor."

That's not journalism. That was a leading question that set Kasich up to give the response that made the Republican party look good.

Because Fox isn't news. It's a place for Republicans to pander to their base and to tell their viewers what to believe.

And if a Republican strays from the party line? The network swoops in and sets them up to clarify themselves for the base.

And if that politician doesn't take the opportunity to return to the party line? Fox will be there to discredit and disown the traitor to the party.

Just look at the coverage that Donald Trump has gotten. After he called immigrants "rapists" and "drug dealers" the network flung open its doors to let the Trump on so that he can appeal directly to the base.

But Fox didn't press Trump on his statements. Instead, they gave him a safe space to reiterate them.  (Hannity adores Trump -- it's pathetic to watch him interview the Donald and hang on his every word while he tries to ingratiate himself with the Big man.)

Which is exactly what Fox does best. It provides a safe space for the Republican message to be repeated and folded into every news story of the day. No matter how outrageous or dishonest that message is.

Sure, they talk about current events.

But they only use those events as a frame to push their agenda 24-hours-a-day and seven-days-a-week.

Because Fox isn't a news channel. It's a propaganda network.

It's "GOP TV" - alive and well in the 21st century - and it's time we start calling it what it is.


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Wednesday, July 22, 2015

DONALD TRUMP: FRIEND OR FOE OF GOP CONSERVATIVES? Take your pick.

The right wing seems to be divided on its opinion of Trump, with the Tea Party base still hanging in with him.  Though some military veterans have deserted him, for the most part FOX and Friends seem willing to give him a pass on his remarks about McCain and continue to speak glowingly about him.

As we watch the Trump circus show spin out on our TV screens, our minds wander back to the days when the Donald was the rabid right wing's hero, with his ridiculous "birther" claim that Obama was not an American-born citizen. Republicans loved him then and very few of them spoke up to call his claim the idiocy that it was.  He was "their" guy and they rallied behind him, not realizing what a monster they were creating in their midst. Now the monster has staked his claim on their territory and is ravaging their more serious candidates, stomping on them as if he were Godzilla.  It's karma playing out for all to see. They nursed him, supported him and fed him with their admiration and joint enthusiasm in hatred of Obama--and now, to their horror, they find out they own him. 

I've been watching the FOX "news" hosts like Sean Hannity and Geraldo Rivera struggle with their words about Trump. Hannity wants SO much to see Trump stay in the race and keeps making excuses for him--and Geraldo rolls over and plays Beta dog to Hannity's Alpha. Hannity is so transparent in his egomania and unbridled hatred of Obama that he couldn't hide it even if he tried (which he doesn't).  In an interview with the mother of one of the murdered Marines in South Carolina, he goaded her over and over to say something bad about Obama. The poor woman was overcome by grief at the loss of her son; she was noticeably still in shock about it all. But Hannity paid no attention to her stricken condition, giving only cursory--and obviously unfelt--words of "sympathy," while he doggedly kept at her with leading questions, trying to get her to blame Obama--even framing the words for her to agree to.  What a pitiful thing to see.  Hannity appeared to be an unfeeling sociopath.  

O'Reilly remains the same blowhard he always was, with himself as his main hero and favorite "talking point." While watching him, all I can think of is how lucky for his ex-wife and children that they were finally able to get away from him. What a terrible fate to have to live with such an inflated raging-tempered egotist.  He had many affairs and once pulled his wife by her hair down the stairs.  A fine man. NOT. But a hero of the right wing Bubble dwellers.

So far, the polls don't seem to show too much of a drop in Trump's lead of the GOP candidates, even after his terrible remarks about McCain. It looks like he can get away with saying anything he wants, with no repercussions. I feel sorry for the military veterans who trusted/supported Trump and agreed with him in his remarks against the Mexicans but never saw his dissing of war heroes coming down the tracks. His remarks against McCain must have hit them like a ton of bricks. It's a hard lesson to find that your once-thought-of stalwart hero has feet of clay.

The August 6th GOP debate on FOX will be interesting to see the other 9 candidates (only the top 10 of the field of 16 are allowed by Fox to participate) try to outdo each other in verbal wrestling matches with the Donald, with the intent of being the one to bring him down.  Hey, we're talking about the right wing here, so maybe they'll get into a real wrestling match with him!  No holds barred!  For sure, it will be the best entertainment on TV that night.  Read the following to keep updated on the infighting going on in the GOP about Trump:


DONALD TRUMP: GOP CONSERVATIVE FRIEND OR FOE?

Rupert Murdoch and Roger Ailes differ in their views


By David Ferguson

On Sunday, the Murdoch-owned Wall Street Journal published an editorial calling Trump's campaign a "catastrophe" for the Republican Party.

"All too many conservatives, including some magazine editors, have been willing to overlook his hucksterism as he's risen in the polls," the editorial read.

"As a standard-bearer for conservative ideas, Mr. Trump would likewise be a catastrophe. His only discernible principle is the promotion of his personal brand. His main message seems to be that because he's rich and doesn't care what anyone thinks, he can afford to tell everyone to go to hell," it went on.

However, Gabriel Sherman — author of the Fox News exposé The Loudest Voice in the Room — wrote at New York magazine that at the conservative news channel, chairman and chief executive Roger Ailes is "pushing Fox to defend Trump's most outlandish comments."

Ailes — a former Nixon aide de camp — has reportedly charged certain Fox personalities, like The Five's co-host Eric Bolling, with continually backing Trump in on-air discussions.

"A review of Bolling's comments shows that over the past week, he's gone to bat for Trump numerous times," said Sherman. "Last Friday, for example, Bolling complained that conservatives shouldn't be criticizing the real-estate mogul. 'There's a problem in America, and it's not Donald Trump,' Bolling declared."

Media Matters' Lis Power noted that Trump has had a consistently laudatory, gushingly approving media home in Fox News' morning show Fox and Friends and its hosts, Steve Doocy, Brian Kilmeade and Elisabeth Hasselbeck.

"(W)hen Trump received widespread backlash for attacking Sen. John McCain's military record, claiming he is 'not a war hero' because he was a POW during the Vietnam War," said Power, "the Fox & Friends hosts quickly rallied behind the presidential contender. Doocy tried his best to spin Trump's remarks and claim Trump was criticizing McCain's Senate record, not his military service. Brian Kilmeade argued that Trump had called McCain a war hero four times (a claim that Politifact rated 'Mostly False,' as Trump's point was that McCain is a war hero 'because he was captured')."

On Tuesday, Doocy squealed that "someone told me yesterday Donald Trump is like a Navy SEAL."

During his South Carolina press event on Tuesday — in which he gave out Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-SC)'s cell phone number — Trump thanked the Fox and Friends crew for their support so far in his campaign.

"They're great people," said Trump.


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This video is magically breathtaking: twin babies just born, being bathed in water

https://search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?p=twin+babies+just+born+in+water+youtube&ei=UTF-8&hspart=mozilla&hsimp=yhs-001

If ever one needed to see a miracle, here it is.  Heart-touching and beautiful.  Welcome to the world, little ones -- may your lives be blessed with love.  You are surely getting a sweetly gentle start! (~.~)


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Wednesday, July 15, 2015

Gracious touching speech given by Caitlyn Jenner

She received the Arthur Ashe Courage Award tonight at ESPYS...and her acceptance speech was simple, sincere, and beautifully heart-touching.

http://espn.go.com/espys/2015/story/_/id/13264599/caitlyn-jenner-accepts-arthur-ashe-courage-award-espys-ashe2015

Watch the short video that follows her acceptance speech -- it gives a short biographical sketch of Bruce/Caitlyn's life.  It's a wonderful tribute to a truly brave person who is finally living the truth of who she feels she is, in body and in mind.  It has taken great courage to live the life of Bruce Jenner and now Caitlyn Jenner.  In both parts of this life, he/she has proven to be a true hero and genuine role model.  Because of Caitlyn's heroic actions, imagine all the transgender people who now are finally experiencing freedom to live as who they feel themselves to be. She has unlocked the locks and opened the doors of the secretive prison they previously have been forced to live in.   

I am very grateful there is an award of this kind -- for courage -- and that it has been given to Caitlyn Jenner, who so well deserves it. 

I'm feeling hopeful that the acceptance of gays and transgenders now taking place in our world is representative of an overall more open-minded and compassionate awareness in people everywhere, so that we can all move forward in actually living true Christian/spiritual principles and unconditional love, as taught by Christ over 2,000 years ago.

I love Caitlyn's mother.  I think you will, too, when you watch the short video and hear the loving words she has to say about her child. (~.~)  You might want to have a kleenex at hand. I needed one. (~.~)
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Friday, July 10, 2015

Incredible story of two sets of twins switched at birth

Stranger than fiction!  http://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2015/07/10/two-sets-of-twins-switched-at-birth-silverstein-intv-nr.cnn

One twin in each set was switched, so went home with the wrong parents and was raised with the wrong twin brother--grew up not knowing about the switch...Until.... Read the story.  Amazing.   Now the two sets of twins, reunited with their correct twin brothers, all live together.
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Monday, July 06, 2015

Eisenhower's warning prediction has come to pass

The influence that present-day GOP "leaders" have on right wing voters is insidious and tragic because it keeps them voting against their own interests.  Before he left office, President Eisenhower gave a dire warning against the "military-industrial complex" attempting to take over our country and destroy its founding principles. This was the last speech he gave while in office, just as he was leaving the White House to the incoming Kennedy administration. You can see his full 15-minute speech at: https://search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?p=Eisenhower+military+complex+speech&ei=UTF-8&hspart=mozilla&hsimp=yhs-001  

Here is a short analysis of it by a noted historian, with documented proof that this was not a speech simply written by a speechwriter, but were Eisenhower's strongly held true beliefs, which he had wanted to express for some time:
https://search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?p=Eisenhower+military+complex+speech&ei=UTF-8&hspart=mozilla&hsimp=yhs-001

The most important parts of that speech were in his warning to people of that time and of the decades to come.  If you don't have time to watch the entire 15-minute speech, a 2-minute clip of these warnings can be seen at:
  https://search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?p=Eisenhower+military+complex+speech&ei=UTF-8&hspart=mozilla&hsimp=yhs-001

Eisenhower was a prophet of his time.  To our great misfortune, his fearful predictions and dire warnings have come true in our time.  Compare him now to the GOP candidates you see before you. (Sob). There is no comparison. He was a giant. They are miniscule midgets with the mental capacities to match. 
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Saturday, July 04, 2015

OMG! WHERE TO START? (Sigh)

The pollution of this planet is now at a place where only extraterrestrials with advanced technology could make any progress with cleaning it up. (And I pray they start soon!)  We Earth humans have successfully ruined our planet, and there isn't even any interest from the world's greed-and-power-driven leaders to stop the pollution and start a cleanup. 

Interesting that they named this middle-of-the-ocean concrete dome of radioactive plutonium toxicity "Runit" -- if they add one more "i" it would be spelled right:  Ruin it.  That's what they've done to our once-pristine-and-beautiful Mother Earth.  And instead of really, intensely looking for non-polluting alternative sources of energy, they just keep on making more nuclear waste... (Double sigh!)

We MUST start electing sincerely concerned leaders if our children and grandchildren are going to have a chance.  Let's start with BERNIE SANDERS!!!

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/07/this-dome-in-the-pacific-houses-tons-of-radioactive-waste-and-its-leaking/
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Friday, July 03, 2015

Loving Act by little girl saves wounded cat ignored by others

http://www.hefty.co/gueluemser-the-cat/

Very touching story!  Given medical attention and caring love, the change in the little cat was dramatic, proving beyond words the healing power of Love! (~.~)
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