Craig Crawford's Trail Mix

I suppose the Clinton machine is downplaying the news to make all the bigger splash if they win, and the splash-out is more "mo" for NH.
I can't ignore the numbers there, but I am surprised. It just seemed Clinton was content for an upcoming Edwards win in the Corn.
Right now, if Edwards wins , it will be an upset...could THAT propel him to a strong finish in NH, and start the steamboat steaming?

Dex,
"upcoming Edwards win in the Corn."

It's "corn and beans" as in soybeans. Those Iowa hogs need protein too...

By the way, when I was a child of nine, I had an appendectomy .
Routine...I spent two weeks in the hospital.
Now a man has his ankle re-worked and leaves in a few hours.
Progress is welcome in this area! Cuz I missed my dog sumthin' terrible!
Glad to see you are OK, on the mend, and writing again.

Yes, dnd, we all know
Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines
Fed his horse on corn and beans....

Dex..
Appendectomy (without complications) almost in and out today...
Healthcare in the capitalistic environment has progressed significantly..... Rising tide floats all boats

It's all in the numbers, and bloggers love numbers...here's a number for you: When tickets became available for the recent London concert by Led Zeppelin, twenty million applications cascading in all at once crashed the system.
Oddly, with all that interest, tickets could be had , day of show, for a measly 900 pounds.

Dexter,

I wouldn't pay $1800 to see God play a guitar.

Dex,

900 pounds of what?

yo soy Horsedooty!

The LA Times/Bloomberg poll has such a small sample size that the margin of error is huge. Translation: meaningless. I'm assuming they know this so it makes me wonder what their agenda is...

I'm surprised they sprung Craig after a few hours. After surgery like that they like to check for infection. Maybe they'll do that today.

Craig, Three hours until you're are on Hardball? Start taking the Vicodin NOW!

Sorry , Senor Dooty, I ain't got that fancy British pounds sign on my keyboard!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
and...well...you guys know I hate the war in Iraq and the ones who put the US military there...but, ... I had an inlaw serve there and a friend who served in Kuwait...so I received this in an email ... that guy received it from his buddy in Iraq...

http://www.flashdemo.net/gallery/wake/index.htm.

from comments on the la times site about this poll
"The anti-Hillary "dems" fancy themselves to be polling experts. Usually after a poll is released, they whine about the sampling size being too small. But oh, no! Here comes OEST (several comments above) who boldly states, "The Iowa sample in this poll is way too large, so the poll is a joke. And the Democrats who think Hillary Clinton is the most electable are clueless."

Not just funny, but too funny!"
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2007/09/breaking-news-n.html

try this one:

http://www.flashdemo.net/gallery/wake/index.htm

Hillary's campaign is likely making its comments based upon its internal polling data rather than the commercial polls. I'm guessing that they see the race being too close to call, so rather than get out there with the delusional braggadocio of Mitt Romney, they are keeping expectations low to damp down the momentum of Obama or Edwards should one of them win.

dex, if you went in for an appendectomy today, you'd comeout with 3 cute little 1/4" round scars either at the end of the day or beginnning of the next.

Craig, it is surprising that they treated your surgery as ambulatory surgery (since you are barely if at all). You need better health coverage.

Ping, the advances in health care haven't been in the capitalistic parts of that system, unless you consider the non-profits and university affiliated research hospitals to be part of the capitalistic part of the health care system. Shorter stays in hospitals have come in large part from the capitalistic side of the system - as the insurance companies have progressively refused to authorize stays long enough to get pain and infection medications regulated post surgery and the rise in health care costs have made self pay for those additional time most surgical patients and doctors would prefer prohibitve.

more bad news for Obama ..spin this tweety
we will robably get a lecture on how the Democrats are failing America

"There is plenty of room for shifts in the final days before the Jan. 3 caucuses, with 19 percent of Democrats and 31 percent of Republicans saying they are likely or very likely to change their minds.

Edwards, a former U.S. senator from North Carolina, has gained 5 points from the Lee Enterprises poll two weeks ago, while Clinton, a U.S. senator from New York, has gained 4 points. Obama, a U.S. senator from Illinois has seen his support drop 4 points. Richardson, the governor of New Mexico, has lost 2 points. The support for Biden, Dodd and Kucinich was unchanged." Iowa newspaper polling data
http://www.wcfcourier.com/articles/2007/12/28/news/top_story/doc4775211182ecc379814340.txt

Ping, I fear you see the world rough Bushian eyes. Healthcare in the US is not excellent for many, even those with health insurance. Women having babies are shoveled in and out as if on conveyor belts. The chances of picking up a staph infection in a hospital are great. Medicine is through the roof. And God forbid you actually have to use your insurance. People cling to jobs strictly because they can't afford to take a chance on losing coverage because they'll not get it again.

I won't even get started on the so-called economy. We are being bought up by other countries.....

Dex,

I knew what you meant just busting chops.

On another matter, in my next life I am gonna be a plumber. Just spent $405 for replacement of 3 outside faucets. Maybe my water bill will be lower next month.

yo soy Horsedooty!

"But soon we can get out of these polling weeds. The only one that counts – the actual voting – is just six days away."

THANK GOD!

the goddamn phone started ringing at 8:30am..... it's been ringing all day long with one campaign or another......

I'm so sick of it!...... and I'm a political junkie.... I can only imagine how "normal" NHerites feel......

oooops..... there it goes again.....
oh goody..... a message from Fred Thompson..... ok... where's my barf bag.....

Rudy is in FL...so tell me...has any of this changed? This is old news, but I can't recall how this shook out in the end...this blurb is from early June, '07. :

"But the candidates may find themselves spending time and money on a race that nets them relatively few delegates to next year's conventions. In efforts to control the primary process, both the Democratic and Republican national parties have said they may take away half of Florida's convention delegates as punishment for moving its primary up in the calendar.

Democratic National Committee spokeswoman Stacie Paxton told the AP that in addition, any Democratic candidate who campaigns in Florida for a primary earlier than Feb. 5 will be ineligible to receive any of the state's delegates."

Dex.. Thanks for the link to Wake. Powerful

Pogo, Absolutely the Univ systems are part of the Capitalistic elements. The value of the amount of funding a researcher obtains is the value of that researcher... This is a segment that I touch.

Also short stays are a good thing, you want to get out of the hospital. My wife has just last week in for very radical surgery and a good Doc gets you up and moving. Much can be done from home and healing is enhanced.

ping, picking up the economic discussion from the past thread - two of the indicators that reflect why people have a dim view of the economy are disposable income and savings. Savings essentially disappeared back in 2005 when net savings for the population became close to 0, and real disposable income has risen between a whopping .7 and 2.1% depending on the year, since 2001 after a 3.7% rise in 2000, presumably as a result of the Clinton economic policies that were in place that year (which also supposedly produced the Clinton recession, which was NOT reflected in personal disposable income).. In other words, the terrific economy that the administration and its hacks tout has been modest at best for real people who earn real wages, unless of course you were a corporation (and I am neither anti capitalistic nor anti corporation), whose undistributed profits have quadrupled during the Bush administration.

Patsi.
Agree - Our Hospitals can be a dangerous place (like the other advanced Countries) The IT systems they use are old and weak compared to overall industry. We need improvements in the "Access", this I agree, and what is medically necessary is subjective in many cases.
With all that said - The USA has the best overall Healthcare. Period.
Is it perfect - No
Need improvement - Yes

Also keep Access and State of the Art in two seperate areas. Many of these procedures are very costly and what was once for the few does become available to all, in time.

Pogo, I share the concern on savings - to many people think the Government will "Take Care" and pay for my needs later in life.
Before they buy a cell phone and ring tones, wide screen tv's and CD's... Put money in the bank.
Which leads to one of my big concerns on the lack of LEADERSHIP and the Hey if I am elected I will Take Care of YOU !!

ANd YES KCG... I know that some people are struggling, These People I have COMPASSION. And not all people "waste"

the faiure of wages to keep up with the cost of living as more to do with lack of savings than cell phones..and by the ping a lot of people only have cell phones now

you are beginning to sound like someone's grandpa

After the last week I feel like someones Grandpa !!

take off those rose colored glasses gramps!

"U.S. economic forecast for 2008: Bleak
The housing crisis and high oil prices may cause a slump, analysts warn.
By Ron Scherer | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

New York
The outlook is for a rocky time ahead for the US economy as it moves into 2008.

Many economists predict that America will move closest to a downturn since the current expansion began seven years ago. If the economy does contract, economic seers expect a shallow retrenchment, most likely in the first six months of the year. Most see only limited improvement in the latter half.

A lagging economy is likely to have wide ramifications. In the heat of a presidential election year, unemployment would start to rise, making the economy a major issue for the candidates. An anemic economy would also present a challenge to the Federal Reserve Board, which might opt to keep cutting interest rates. Soft economic numbers, moreover, could have a detrimental effect on corporate profits – depressing financial markets and lowering tax receipts, straining government budgets."
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1228/p01s07-usec.htm

Ping, of course that medical segment in not for profit and university related hospitals is fueled by medicare and medicaid dollars (is that part of the socialist system you decry?) - 75% of the total revenue the hospital I worked for was from such government reimbursement dollars, not to mention government grant monies that are seen much more in university hospitals than in the private non profits, in the absence of which the advances that you attribute to the capitalistic medical system would have occurred much more slowly, if at all. I imagine that the percentage of university related revenue is less than that of non profits overall, but I also know it's substantial - in fact I know it is for the largest university affiliated hospital in WV, having been in and privy to the financial data for the system it's in. And while I agree with you that getting up and out is generally better for patients, the doctors will tell you should you bother to ask them, that they would generally like at least one more day to help their surgical patients begin their recovery and rehab regimens before sending them home to rely upon their own devices to get to rehab and follow up visits that are critical following surgery.

Ping, the healthcare indicators for industrialized nations do not support your assertion that the US has the best overall healthcare. Period.

http://www.newstarget.com/020493.html

Someone mentioned it here before, but as long as health insurance companies are for profit organizations, health care will suffer. I just won a year long battle with Anthem, where they tried to screw me, the hospital, the doctors and the labs. Their approach was so screwed up and flawed it would have been laughable, had I not been on the receiving end. It would have been cheaper for them to just pay the damn claim, which they eventually did, rather than pay the administrative cost of fighting the claim. They bet I'd just cave. They lost.

There's a little insight on why health care is a priority issue with me ;-)

Ping,

I'm not crazy about the report Pogo linked us to, but I think claims that we have the best healthcare system are more jingoistic than valid. I expect our system is not quite as bad as Michael Moore makes it out to be, but I'd hesitate to say it's the best in the world.

The factors mentioned in the article Pogo linked us to, have a lot to do with American eating habits and lack of exercise, as well as lack of health insurance coverage. We can't blame all of that on our healthcare system.

OK, let's see the flipping and floping among the repugs when the defense authoriztion bill that Dumya vetoed comes back up for an override vote. It passed 90-3 in the senate and 370-49 in the house. A hale and hearty FU seems to be in order.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/thecrypt/1207/Democrats_protest_Bushs_surprise_veto_of_defense_bill.html

Craig,

If you're lurking, I sent a message to your cq address.

Craig has HillCo started down playing NH yet? Something that hasn't been mentioned in all this is Florida. Unlike Rudy Hillary may not be able to use Florida to save her campaign as there is still a likelihood that the Florida delegation wont seated at the Dem convention.

from Kos:

The Miami Herald will begin outsourcing some of its advertising and design work.  The kicker?  They are outsourcing the design of the local community news.

Starting in January, copyediting and design in a weekly section of Broward County community news and other special advertising sections will be outsourced to Mindworks, based in New Delhi.

Edwards-Obama-HRC is turning out to pretty exciting, i'd say. Right down to the wire.....On the darker side- I see a Huckabee melt down....

-Hipster

dnd having had to sue an insurance company I can concur completely, the day before trail we set to start we settled. I got exactly from the insurance company what I would have gotten had they paid the claim right, and since in the settlement they had to pay legal costs it cost them more. It took two years for us to settle!

Blaming the American people (the lifestyle issue) for the health crisis in the country to me is tantamount to blaming a rape victim for wearing a halter top.

".On the darker side- I see a Huckabee melt down...." Wouldn't that be the lighter side?

Ed, there are any number of excuses for the US mortality and morbidity numbers in the article I linked, but the fact is, the jingoistic "best healthcare system in the world" crap is not borne out by any metrics that I have ever seen. Outcomes can be affected by diet and exercise, areas in which we admittedly do not do well, but access to care and infant mortality rates certainly aren't results of diet and exercise choices. And I've not seen Sicko, but would probably agree with you that Moore very likely overstates the case. I think the following paragraph sums up nicely what I experienced when I worked in the healthcare industry. And anyone who thinks that it is uncommon for patients, hospitals and doctors to have to wrangle, often as in dnd's and Brian's cases for years, is misninformed. We had 3 full time employees at the hospital whose only job was to appeal insurance company (including medicare and medicaid) denials.

"There are many pockets of excellence in health in this country, but overall we are performing far below our national potential," says James Mongan, a physician and chairman of the commission that performed the study.

Brian, your Huckabee meltdown comment made me chuckle - deeply. And the DNC website lists FL as having 0 delegate votes. Of course even without FL in the mix there's always NY & CA, and without winning either of them Edwards or Obama will have a hell of a time overcoming what looks like Hillary's prohibative leads in both should those leads hold.

Pogo....
I did see Sicko.... I enjoyed it and I like Michael Moore.....
but will admit that I kept thinking while watching it..."this is a lot of hyperbole"...

he made our healthcare system look horrible while making Canada's, Britain's, France's and even Cuba's healthcare systems seem godly

However, I do think it's good that he at least started and added to the debate about our healthcare system.....

Ed, a little grist for the mill - perhaps acess and inefficiency are stronger influences on the outcome of that study than the lifestyle (specifically diet/excercise factors you mentioned) factors many cite.

http://www.health-care-reform.net/causedeath.htm

I just got back from watching Bill Clinton. Good crowd despite the inch or so of fresh snow. Prob. about 3X the size of the Edwards speech yesterday, thank goodness it was a bigger venue. They estimate 350 for edwards yesterday, so prob. a little over !,000 today for Bill. Several people I talked to were there for Bill, and not for Hillary.

He gave a good talk, complimented all the dems. called them all his friends. Nothing at all that could have been construed as negative.

He emphasised the experience that Hillary had gotten in the White House that was not public information, or was behind the scenes.

And best of all I got my grandsons pic. taken with a President. It is pretty easy, he is so cute, when I ask, they can't turn him down.

Bill didn't answer any questions at the end, and stayed within the rope line and shook some hands afterwards. I had to barge my way to the front as the lady handler I talked to said she couldn't get me pic. access like Edwards guy did yesterday. She did tell me he would stay within the rope line, and my best chance was to try to get there. Of course once he saw my grandson he was very warm and receptive to a pic.

Don't know who will show up next week, but will keep my eyes open. Bill Richardson had to cancell today because of the weather.

Renee, hyperbole, from Michael Moore? Nah. LOL Here's a link to an article about the Cuban Healthcare system - the article's very limited, comparing Cuba to other Latin American countries, but interesting reading nonetheless.

http://lanic.utexas.edu/project/asce/pdfs/volume12/sixto.pdf

Pogo I was about to comment on Rene's comment re Sicko. Numbers don't lie, all three countries have a higher life expectancy than we do.

iowarick, thanks for the report.

Well, gotta fly - have a 4 day weekend ahead after a grueling 2 days in the office following a week's vacation. Whew.

Happy New Year to all - be safe and avoid the roads on NY'sE. There's lots of crazy drunk folks behind the wheel out there that can just really ruin your day.

Brian, indeed they do. As you can tell, I haven't been Hannitized. Later, dudes and dudettes.

Here's the problem I have with the Democratic health care plans-

little emphasis on taking care of yourself with heavy emphasis on drug costs, etc....big pharma is ready to make a bundle. I see it as just more big corporations writing policy. Maybe some of you candidate supporters can educate me on Democratic plans

-Hipster

Hi Hipster!

By the way, CC, good article- made me think about what to expect on Thursday night in Iowa.

I'm pulling for Obama.

Hi KGC-

Popping in, cant stay away from Iowa political discussion. Will be in and out sporadically through January- lots of work in the gym these days but i dont get the kids back until Jan 3. with season ending Feb 3.

Long story short, i am back and will be blogging back at home base occasionally during January and then full time in February. I will be C-Listing a lot more....a new years resolution to go along with losing weight, making more money......

Hipster....
great to see you again...... welcome back!

yeah..... big pharma is GOD in our healthcare system....
just bought a book about how we are over medicated in this country.....

Brian.... yeah.... all those countries do have higher life expectancy than our's.... no argument from me....

KGC
I admit I have a bit of bias since I have lost about 30 pounds and worked my a$$ off to do it. I didn't need Govt health care to do it. I think we ARE seriously over medicated, and I fear govt will screw it all up if we get them involved. I am particularly soured on Democratic schemes since they took over Congress in 2006 and have failed to produce anything they promised or ran on.

...but I am still voting for Obama.

Edwards leading in Iowa, yee haw!

Hil'ry's commercial is "chicken noodle soup"? I know it was meant as a slam, but shouldn't they have called it something that's bad?

tt - I didn't notice your bionic eye in LV, however, I did have double-vision for awhile myself.

Banking on Grass Roots in Iowa
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20071223_banking_on_grassroots_in_iowa/

Hey Hipster,
Congratulations on the weight loss
It is hard work. Do you have any tips for us proscrastinators?

Tweety called Craig "Eugene Robinson." Maybe it's Tweety that's taking the Vicodin and not Craig...

Craig.... wow.... you've put your neck on the line by predicting Romney will win the Republican nomination..... no one can call you "chicken"......
BTW.... nice green tie..... :0}

dnd.... well, Tweety did have Eugene on in an earlier segment.....
yeah.... I watched the whole show.... could someone please help me with the cooties now.....

Hipster...... actually doing your New Year's resolutions before the New Year is kinda creepy....... only kiddin'..... huge congrats on the weight loss....

Craig is right, Mitt will be the nominee!

Weight loss secret-

Consume less calories and burn more than you take in.

Thats about it. Oh yeah, and use this book!
http://www.health.harvard.edu/books/Eat_Drink_and_Be_Healthy.htm

and since i lost weight and have lived in several southern states- maybe I am qualified to be President like that doofus Huckabee.

Where did they get that guy anyway? Gomer Pyle look alike contest runner up???

I think it was redst3 that lost the 30 lbs not hipster.

yo soy Horsedooty!

Hip,
Congrats on the weight loss. Job well done.

We need more Obama advocates here. I think he has the kind of soaring oratory that the rest of the candidates would kill for. But I find his substance a bit lacking. So keep your opinions coming. Inquiring minds want to know.

eat less exercise more???
what kind of secret is that?

excerpt from Huckabee's speech: RFD-TV must love him. And he makes me laugh, too...

"One lengthy story involved one of his sons, who was apparently difficult at a young age and who was left behind at home one day while the rest of the family went out. When Huckabee returned, his son presented him with a cake he had just baked -- a cake that turned out be inedible.

His son, attempting to interpret unfamiliar phrases in the recipe, decided that "a dash of salt" meant a cup of salt -- and in doing so, ruined the cake. The audience was in stitches as Huckabee described the result, a cake no human could eat, but as he said, if you set it outside, the cows would lick it for a week."

redst3 is Hipster. Its me!

I dont know how to switch back over to my moniker.

Re: Obama- I just like the guy. He's my age, he's a fresh face and I generally nod more in agreement with him than with most of the others.

I like several of the others- i do like Edwards more than in months past.

Particular favs Skinny Dennis, Ron Paul and I like Chris Dodd more and more.

-Hipster

Great job on Hardball Craig....thank you.....and thank you for covering the polls that seem to get lost in the shuffle....

Edwards can beat Mitt. I think the best shot the GOP has is probably McCain.

later gang good to be back

-Hipster

Well it sure seems to have been a busy day at Crawfordlist. I spend a couple of hours skiing up in Henniker, NH and miss all the discussion. Speaking of missing things, I missed Romney when he was at Pat's Peak Ski Area the other day. What a chump.

http://www.patspeak.com/gallery.php?idx=233

I saw many Fred 08 signs up around Geoffstown. Fred who? (One of my sons friends came up with a campaign slogan for Fred: "Liver Spots you can trust")

And a bunch of HUGE Ron Paul signs. No Guiliani signs and several Gravel signs by St. Anslem College outside of Manchester. I think that NH residents are unhappy that Iowa is stealing the limelight of the candidates attention. After the Iowa Caucus, the candidates will be here in NH for "Wham Bam, Thank you Mam" and then off to South Carolina.

I was encouraged that all of the candidates for the democratic nomination were able to speak in complete sentences and to articulate thoughtful responses to the horrible assination of Benazar Butto. Even though Hillary is not a favorite of mine, I thought that her comments were appropriate and dignified.

Hi Everyone,

I am working in Palm Beach. I am sad about Butto and I voted for Obama.... ;0)

Let the cards lie where they may. Glad you are all still kicking.

well guys (and i'm not making this up) would you believe that the numbness in my leg wore off from yesterday's surgery at precisely the moment i predicted Romney's nomination? perhaps i was channeling Joseph Smith, he made me do it. think i even winced as i uttered the fateful words -- it felt like somebody had just jammed a steak knife into my foot. gonna have to break on through and finally dig into the pain pills, sign off for the weekend. they said the nerve blocker in my leg would last 24 hours and they were exactly right. see you on the other side . . .

Dex you almost make sorry I don't get redneck TV, almost. :)

SHEILA!!! so good to see you back. MadMustard had to play substitue Hall Monitor the other day when the kids got a bit rowdy.

Dex,

Huckabee should get a bit part with Larry the Cabel Guy. Then they can give his son a cameo part in the next Jackass video. After that we should just ignore them.

Hang in their craig, and remember there is nothing commendable about toughing out post-op pain! Take the meds as needed and you'll mend better and faster.

Sheila it's about time! Did you get your laptop back from repair?

LOL Craig! Good to be remembered.

You know, Mad is my twin. he is perfect for a subsitute!

Well I thought that when this day came I would be ready for it. It sure didn't turn out that way though. I was not prepared for what I knew was coming eventually.

I believe I had mentioned that my sister had her cancer return for the third time a while back. Well last year she spent the holidays in the hospital and this year she was home so I thought that we would have a better Christmas this year than we had last year.

Last Saturday she called me to remind me to go over to the house around noon so I was surprised when my niece called me Christmas Eve and told me she was in the hospital.

It seems she had fallen and they had a ambulance take her to the emergency room at the hospital. They admitted her over night and had said they were going to send her home.

My niece wanted them to keep her and try to find out what caused her to fall. So with that another Christmas in the hospital was all that was left.

Christmas day I went over to the house and after dinner my niece and I drove to the hospital to see her. She didn't look to bad and she was doing better than the day before according to my niece.

She still hadn't talked to the doctors yet and she was hoping to catch one of them in the morning. Well Wednesday morning she saw the doctors and then she called me. They told her she had about a week to live and had wanted to get the family through the holidays before telling the family.

They were going to have Hospice talk to them and send her home. I thought that she would be sent home either Wednesday or even Thursday. My niece visited on Thursday and told me afterwards that she didn't look good, however they were going to release her Friday to go home for her last days.

Friday morning {this morning} my niece called me and gave me the news I really didn't want to hear. My sister had died.

She had a turn for the worse Thursday night and they even tried to do a transfusion to help improve her condition, but to no avail. They called my niece at work and told her that she was going and if she wanted to be there she needed to come in as soon as possible.

When she got to the hospital she found out she was too late. My sister had passed away ten minutes before she got there. She called me and I immediately headed for the hospital.

I thought that I would be fully prepared for this day and here I was in shock and not believing that she went so fast. Today I lost my BFF and the greatest sister anyone could have.

I will miss her terribly. As she was the baby of the family I never thought that she would pass before me or my older brother.

So if you have a sick relative, family member or even a good friend take time to spend with them as you will never know when it might be the last time you have to spend it together.

God Bless all.

Hey Craig,
Wish you were here, we could have wheelchair races after taking pain pills. Woo Hoo! Behave and mend fast.

Hi brian,

its been fixed since a couple of days before I got here. But DAMN (quarter) I have been working since Hannukah. You know that.

Plus, I'm off all males until Lent. I've had enough for one year.

Bowmanc, good suggestion about Larry the Cable Guy, but has anyone noticed that Huckabee looks EXACTLY like the chef in the Campbell Soup low-salt commercials? It is un"canny"

Wow....anon-P. So sorry and God Bless your Family!

our prayers with you anon, hang in there

Craig....your right....Huckabee...campbells soup guy....

Sorry for your loss AP, hang in there.

Lent, that's in mid jan. right?

anon-p,
I'm so sorry to hear about your sister. Our prayers are with you and your family.

Brian,
You jew......lol

Hi Craig...
I'm glad your surgery went well and that your back recovering.

Shiela...
Thanks, I really struggled with posting this. I didn't want to sour the blog with more death and destruction type talk, but had to let it out.

At least she is no longer suffering.

God Bless.

Well,

Anon you are with friends always. We may not see each other physically, but we know and care about each other.

Brian, dnd...
Thanks for the kind words. The cancer was in her bones and her body just couldn't handle it anymore I guess.

And this all started out as Breast Cancer on the first go round, to under her armpitts {lymph glands} to her bones. The body can only take so much punishment before it gives out.

God Bless.

Annon P

Please accept my condolances. I wish you and yours all the best in 2008.

Zoey, you're on! Percocet-induced wheel chair races. But it sounds like a plan for more broken bones. We're counting on you for those Iowa reports. Curious how Edwards' return to attack mode is going over (heard that he unloads on Obama and HRC on ABC world news tonight). Kinda surprised by that.

Oh come Sheila no one can give up men for that long, why I'd die, just die.

anon-p,
I am so sorry for your loss. Please know you and your family are in my thoughts and prayers.

Sheila...
And I still have to tell my daughter. I told her she was sick and she wanted to fly down to see her. She's coming down in April to visit me and I would prefer that she not fly down now.

She can't fly unless its non-stop as she is special needs and if a storm forced her to do a plane change she could end up getting on the wrong plane. I'll call her tomorrow and try to convince her to wait until later in the spring.

Thank you Bowmanc. Now I really wish I could retire next year at 62. Lose too much between pension and SS if I take early retirement. I don't want to work anymore and not get to have a few years of enjoyment before the Lord calls me before HIm.

God Bless.

anon p

God Bless you and your family.

Be brave my friend,

She would want to know and I'm sure she will be alright getting a thru flight. Do you really think she would want to stay up there during this time?

zoey...

I'm so mad that a good person like my sister and many other good people are called before {what I feel} is their time when we have people as all the evil we have right now sitting in the peoples house and getting away with murder as well as the destruction of our country.

When is the Lord going to call them before Him? They need to go more than my sister and all the good Americans dying over seas for OIL.

God Bless.

oh anon..... I am so very, very sorry about your sister.... you and her will be in my prayers tonight......

Sheila...... well.... there you finally are, girl..... welcome back.....
sorry if the "guy thing" didn't work out......

Craig..... so glad you haven't lost your sense of humor in your pain.....
take care, buddy......

Craig I think Edwards is now looking to NH. He's got nothing to lose by going more negative in NH. If Edwards comes in second place in NH, and first in Iowa I rate his chances at getting the nomination at 75%. I think the big surprise of Iowa will be not that Edwards wins, but frankly how badly Hillary is going to lose and from that point on it's all going to get very nasty. I think Edwards is following the strategy he followed over the summer, come out hard early and then soften up as we get closer to the vote.

Yes Craig, I thought angry John was gone but now he seems to have resurfaced. I would love to see his internals. All I know is he is running strong in my precinct and will probably win it. Hillary should do well too but I know there are a few second tier supporters who will move to Edwards if their candidate is not viable.

I went to check out my caucus location today. We are in a Baptist church and the Repubs from my precinct are meeting there too. When you walk in the door, we are on the left and the Repubs are on the right, what a hoot.

The fun part will be that we are in the sanctuary and the Repubs are in the family room which ajoins the sanctuary. The two room are separated by windows and sliding glass doors. I can only guess the Repubs will enjoy our show since many have probably never witnessed a Dem caucus. We will probably have so much fun, they may want to join in the future :)

Shiela...
She lives with her mom now and with her being hard of hearing and her other special conditions she can not be left to fly anything but non-stop.

With all the bad weather any flight plan change and she could end up on the wrong flight in a strange airport or maybe not even making the flight change she may be given because of weather related issues.

God Bless.

On the dem side I think Iowa is going to shake out something like:

Edwards 38%
Obama 34%
Clinton 28%

Zoey, would there be any way you could live blog for us from your caucus on thursday night. that'd be nifty.

and yes, Edwards as most popular second choice among also-ran supporters is one of the major findings inside today's LAT/Bloomberg poll (i read all 34 pages of the thing). For those who can stand all the number crunching, lots of interesting stuff inside:

http://www.latimes.com/media/acrobat/2007-12/34461017.pdf

Thanks rr...
I knew that this day would come since it was the third occurrence of her cancer.

Also it is the same kind as Elizabeth Edwards has and I had heard its usually 1 to 5 years survival. I think of you and the others who have re-occurrences. At least she is no longer suffering.

God Bless.

ok, the percocet kicking in, must break away before i say something really foolish. take care anon.

The order in Iowa will be
Edwards
Clinton
Obama

Speaking of Elizabeth, good move on the Edwards camp to have her featured in the latest campaign ad, and great images of john, very presidential.

oh come on Craig, let your freak flag fly, we won't tell anyone.
:)

Zoey,

I just wanted to belatedly introduce myself as one of the oldy moldies. I took time off for romance and to get the moths out of my head.

I'm sometimes called the unofficial Hall Monitor. Hoever, Jamie and Mad do quite a good job to shake out the bad manners too.

Craig,
I wish I could live blog on Thursday but I am going to have my hands full running the caucus and making sure everything is above reproach. Yikes, you know there is math involved. If I figure out a way to communicate some info to you guys that night I will let you know. I might have an idea.

In half an hour I get to go test the touch tone reporting results. I hope it works. Why don't you come and live blog. I am finding out people are pretty nice to you when you are in a wheelchair.

Care to back up that prediction with some numbers KC?
:)

Craig...
Same too you friend. I'm glad things worked out for you with your surgery. I see you on the MSNBC shows and must say your looking really spiffy.

Take care and...

God Bless.

Nice to meet you Sheila. We definitely need monitoring. I am not sure what goes on over in the dark corner of this blog, but I'm askeered.

good night Craig,

have a good buzz........zzzzzzzzzz

I don't think Edwards is going to hit 38 but I'm not sure on the numbers

I think Obama needs a 10% + cushion to make up for his support being first time voters and caucus goers for the most part...and all the trends show him losing and Clinton picking up support.

zoey...
Be careful you don't step out of line. Sheila will put you right back in your place if you do.

Just kidding zoey. Sheila is the Official Hall Monitor, but she's also a great chef and puts recipes up sometimes.

God Bless.

Zoey,

Brian is in the "Dark Part" of this blog, but his bark is bigger than his bite.... :0) LOL

"ok, the percocet kicking in, must break away before i say something really foolish."

From the latin:
In codine veritas.

*snarls and growls*

Got to run for a while. Will check back later.

God Bless all.

Oh Sheila while you were away I've also be labeled the blog sexiest (have you ever heard anything more absurd)!

Shelia,
I am so glad you're back.

Blue, My reaction to the "chicken soup" was "that's bad?".

Note Giuliani laughs whenever he gets a tough question. In all fairness shall we dub this the Giuliani Guffaw to go with the Hillary cackle?

Brian, I just couldn't fathom why you would be labeled a sexist....

dnd,

I was thinking of you when i found the most delightful carrot cake recipe. Are you a sweet fan?

KC ever action taken by HillCo over the last week tells me that their internals say the are losing support big time.

Jamie,

I haven't heard anything endearing out of Giuliani's mouth this past year, including that inappropiate laugh.

Jamie,
"In all fairness shall we dub this the Giuliani Guffaw to go with the Hillary cackle?"

Sounds about right to me.

Brian
Your obsessive hillary hatred blinds you to common sense. Every poll shows her with upward movement and Obama stalled or dropping.

Sorry for your loss , Anon. You have my sympathy.
Get well , Craig.
Welcome back , Sheila.

Zoey,
Shelia has the best tamale recipe ever.

And her politics are even better than her cooking..

KC we'll know soon enough, and just remember he who laughs last....

AP my deepest condolences. It won't be the same, but you have years and years of joyful memories once the grief and loss are more muted. You were fortunate to have a sister you loved so well.

Dnd! I resemble that remark!

Next Thursday Brian....you will be eating crow! You can make it into an ice cream sundae if that's better for you...or maybe just bake in a pie

Hi Sheila...
Palm Beach .....!

Shelia,
"I was thinking of you when i found the most delightful carrot cake recipe. Are you a sweet fan?"

Actually I'm more of a savory fan. In particular, I crave starchy carbs over sweets. But, that said, I'm on the see-food diet. if I see it, I eat it!

Mom loves carrot cake, so please post the recipe.

Sheila,

Welcome back. The one thing I can say in all honesty about Giuliani is that he is almost as creepy in person as he appears to be in interviews.

4 & 20 baked in a pie. And yes I will concede to wanting to see Hillary decapitated early, but I do see a major shift taking place.

Another point. Who ever came up with that 9/11 commercial for Rudy should be fired. The entire 9/11 issue is over as far as Rudy is concerned. He better come up with a better rational for people to vote for him or go home.

Craig,

Just caught the end of Hardball. You did wince when the painkiller died. You were able to come back and smile for the camera, but it was obvious you were not having fun.

Enjoy the percocet and I hope you feel a great deal better tomorrow.

Classic Movie Time - In The Heat of the Night

Sweet dreams everyone.

Ok Here Goes;

Grand Marnier Spiked Carrot Cake with Ginger Orange Frosting.

5 Eggs
2 Cups Sugar
1 teas Salt
2 cups All Purpose Flour
1 1/2 teas Cinnamon
2 teas allspice
1 teas Nutmeg
1 1/2 teas baking Powder
1 1/2 teas Baking Soda
3 cups Shredded Carrots (1 pound)
4 ounces Grand marnier

375 2 10inch cake pans

Beat Eggs on high until they are light and frothy. Reduce speed and add oil. Reduce speed to low and add sugar and salt.

Sift all dry ingredients. Add the wet ingredients and mix. Fold in the carrots.

Divide the batter between two pans. Bake 35 - 40 minutes. Cool Completely.

Ginger Orange Frosting.

2 sticks softened butter
1 lb cream cheese room temp
1/2 powdered suger sifted
1 tablespoon ginger
1/2 freshly squeezed orange juice.

Blend all ingredients together until smooth

To back up Craig's claim that Mitt will win Iowa and the nomination...he has one of the best Republican organizers in the state in his corner, Doug Gross. I don't know if Huckster's local guy is as good at organizing. Doug and the other guy ran for Gov and Lt. Gov against Culver/Judge in the last election. They should certainly know how to organize the Repubs.

Jaime,

So good to see you!

I almost forgot to tell you that there was some good news. Ginger had her yearly shots and exam Wednesday. I had to do the full exam since she was poisoned by her contaminated food.

Her urine and bowl sample test came back good. The only bad thing was she gained weight. She is no longer a 22lb. 5oz cat.

She is a full Quarter Pounder. That's right, she's 25Lbs.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

corey...
Thank you.

zoey...
I told you she would post a good recipe.

jamie...
The only thing I regret most is that she didn't get to spend Christmas with her family. I would rather have seen her go after the first of the year, but we have no control when were called before the Lord.

God Bless.

Yum, the frosting sounds wonderful.

WOW.....I forgot to poke holes in the cake and pour the Grand Marnier over it.....well, its time for bed. Palm Beach From Hell is not over yet.

Talk soon.

Zoey, i will be most interested in your commentary.

"forgot to poke holes in the cake and pour the Grand Marnier over it"

Huh. I figured the Grand Marnier was for the cook, not the cake...

god I miss Bill Maher, when is this writer's strike going to end!

anon-p my condolences for the loss of your sister. Be tough.

welcome back Sheila good to hear your voice again.

yo soy Horsedooty!

Miss a little miss a lot...
Anon, I am saddened to hear of your sister's demise. I recall your blogging on her cancer a while back, but still, to lose a younger sibling must be tough. Add my condolences to the list here .
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sheila, nice to see you posting.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I was fixing dinner and missed all this last rapid-fire chat/bloggin'.
Pork chops with candied ginger toppng...you really have to love ginger for this dish. I thought it was excellent but my wife refused to even taste it and my visiting grandson scraped off the candied ginger. That's the chance ya take with Dexter on the grill.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Good call, Craig, the soup-dude and Huckabee. I still am sticking with the 1967 Gomer Pyle and Huckabee as look-alikes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
24 hours ago I posted that I was surprised Madame Bhutto lasted as long as she did, with all the hatred for her and her family...her father was hanged, fer chrissakes...her brothers tortured...it just makes me wonder...Cornholesleezza Rice brokered the deal for Bhutto to return to Pakistan, but she couldn't obtain first-rate security ?
Bhutto's people tried to hire Blackwater...yes! THAT Blackwater, to run security and Blackwater , those tough guys when it comes to shooting 17 civilians to death in co;d blood, chickened out totally when presented the opportunity to guard and protect Madame Bhutto.
She was in so much peril from the get-go that she couldn't even hire protection.
The hard facts of this blog entry are available at msnbc.com, click Nightly News with Brian Williams.

Dexter, I make pork chops with peaches, brown sugar, and ginger. Your recipe sounds great but too cold to grill here. Shoot it is hard to even find the grill under all the snow. I had roast pork stuffed with raisins and apples tonight. Pork, the other white meat. I love ginger too.

zoey...I used "grill" as a moniker for general cooking ; my chops were pan-fried, 7 minutes per side, spiced a bit and dotted with candied , strong ginger. I simmered them a few minutes longer to let the candied ginger melt...wow, they were great!
Way too cold to grill outside...today at noon it snowed a good three inches FAST...maybe in just a few minutes, then it turned to "raining ice", then it just plain rained all afternoon. (NW Ohio)
We have mush-slush here now. I spent a half hour shoveling heavy snow and then the rain melted everyone else's sidewalks before they even had to shovel! Foiled again! Rats!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At least my mechanic did not charge me for scanning my car to see what may have been the reason for 4 loud bangs from my car on the way to Columbus and back...best guess now is "bad gasoline". I B Dam !

Brian, I still can't get over Bill Maher giving a big thumbs up to Bush after Shock and Awe left thousands burned out of their homes and many dead in Baghdad.
I know you are a big fan of his and I admit he sounds like he's against the war lately...still I don't trust him.
I wish I hadn't watched that night, years ago, when Maher was curtsying to Bush.
Maybe things will change soon...Letterman returns next week WITH his writers and Leno returns without his, but normally these strikes last longer than this one has, so far.

My timing on this blog is bass-ackwards! It's always REAL slow when I log in!

Dex, Wow that's what I call bad gas!!! I thought maybe you were one of those hard core grillers like we have around here. You shouldn't have burst my bubble. We got more snow today, maybe 2.5 inches or so. We have several inches on the ground but I have lost track and I am too lazy to look at the snow guage in the back yard. I just want it to all go away. I am not enjoying this winter since I can't go out and play with the other kids.

I was even looking at job postings in Kentucky and Tennessee one day when I was being a shut in. I might have to get serious about looking before next winter.

My timing's bad, too, dex. I see I missed some excellent conversations today...so I'll have a bit to catch up on.

Zoey...I'm thoroughly enjoying your perspective on the Iowa caucuses!Thanks for providing it. And how I'd love to be at your caucus next week to peer at all those Republicans through the glass doors...LOL! "I was lookin' back to see if you were lookin' back to see if I was lookin' back..."

Anon...

Read your post about your little sister with tears in my eyes. You are both lucky to have loved each other so well, and to have found such a good friend in life. Jamie's right...it'll take awhile, but your memories will be so important, and will always keep her alive for you.

God bless. You're in my thoughts....