Thanksgiving Not For Indians

Once again, here we are, all the underground Native Americans grimacing over the day of our greatest loss.

Ghost Toasties

The last time I saw a ghost, it was my own reflection in an old mirror.  Scared the hell out of me.

Economic Class System in the United States

Apparently I was very bad when I published an article on Helium.com, because they out and out deleted it.  Say what!  Just because I said we have always had a class system in this country and the Native Americans were the first group of stompees chosen by the founding fathers. 

I prefer a more truthful analysis than the history books offer, so here it is again.
http://www.helium.com/items/2357854-the-collapse-of-the-economic-class-system-in-the-united-states

Murphy Blue

I just realized that I have been trying to peddle my book in a completely assbackwards kind of way.  I've been pushing the mystery; but just maybe, I should have been mentioning the lateral cat story, because of the kitties we all know and love.  Murphy Blue actually opens with a cat murder, and the man and beast theme continues throughout the book.

The cat story is equally as fascinating as that told about main character, Murphy, the man who lands on death row.
Don't take my word for it.  https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/33542

Easy Country Supper

This is my masterpiece recipe, kind of like a refrigerator stew.



http://www.squidoo.com/country-supper

Eliminate Subsidies to Big Oil, Coal and Gas

Eliminate Subsidies to Big Oil, Coal and Gas

The Whiskers' Syndicate: Mothers' Day Special: The Best Mother Tortie In The World

The Whiskers' Syndicate: Mothers' Day Special: The Best Mother Tortie In The World

Meyer's Pies Recipe Box: Country Fried Steaks with Chipotle Gravy

Meyer's Pies Recipe Box: Country Fried Steaks with Chipotle Gravy

people outside my window: Day 126: Go to Prison, Get a Great Job

people outside my window: Day 126: Go to Prison, Get a Great Job

Tigey, The Geography Cat

Tigey is much better.  In the fifth week of his convalescence, Tiges now drinks water, jumps, and lap sits again.

Here is a picture of him during the second week he was sick, while Flat Stanley was visiting us from Ohio.

http://www.squidoo.com/flat-stanley-visits-california

Tigey The Miracle Boy

My cat is still with me after an apparent stroke a month ago.  He couldn't move his back legs for a few days, but he kept eating and drinking milk.  So I still have my buddy.

http://www.squidoo.com/tigey-miracle-cat

Class System Collapse

I'm right back where I was four years ago.
1. System doesn't work, it's time to share the wealth.  Tax the poor, but not the rich?!!
2. Drug war is a waste of time and money - duh, it's not working.
3. Why on earth aren't George W. and his crew being prosecuted for gutting the country?!

http://www.helium.com/items/2292846-us-class-system-collapse

Easter Bunny Time

Hippity hoppity,
Easter's on its way!

http://www.squidoo.com/easter-bunny-time

Dark Humor Tee Shirts

When you have something bold to say, say it loud and proud, put it on your tee shirt.  And if it is funny, so much the better.

http://www.squidoo.com/dark-humor-tee-shirts

linhah's Lensmaster Page

linhah's Lensmaster Page

My Sweet Laptop

A harrowing account of my time without the computer and the internet, and yes, it was horrible.  The hazards were many as I pounded on my desktop, attempting, in vain, to fix the problem.  After getting progressively crazier, after awhile I took the desktop to the desk shop, sorry I can't help it.  So bing, bang, boom, I now have a desktop and a laptop, oh happy day!

http://www.squidoo.com/my-sweet-laptop

Squidoo Facebook Community

This group is great. It is very results oriented, and friendly as well.
Squidoo Facebook Community

Blogs For Cats

I love my boys, Tigey and Trouble, or Boodles as I call him. My boys are little sweethearts. They tolerate the dog and they are my faithful little watch cats.  So I did a Blogs For Cats page.  Visitors can add their blogs to the plexo and they can vote the blogs up or down.
Also featuring some lovely cat jewelry, for people, and other gifts, for cats and people.


http://www.squidoo.com/blogs-for-cats

US Class System Collapse

The United States is possessed of a class economic system, which does not work. Now that it's finally and completely collapsing, maybe it's time to get a new system rolling, one that's a bit more equitable for a whole bunch of people, and not just the chosen few. It should be fairly obvious to everyone that the class system doesn't work. And the United States has had a class system going since the get go. The words freedom for all are just that, words.
http://www.helium.com/items/2292846-us-class-system-collapse

Big Trouble at Work

Above all, there will be no laughing; the workplace is no place for humor of any kind.

1. The thing that will get you into the most trouble at work is a bad attitude. Some of us are born with it and some manage to finely hone this attribute throughout the years. The remaining  items are also old school versions of a bad attitude.

http://www.helium.com/items/765549-10-things-that-will-get-you-in-big-trouble-at-work

Riding The Rails

For God's sake, why can't we have a fast train in this country? It's not the Middle Ages anymore.


Train travel tips, finest kind.
http://www.squidoo.com/riding-the-rails

Blogs For Dogs

Here are some very impressive blogs I've found, about and for dogs.  Please add to the plexo or send to me if you know of any more.


Dogs are so people-like at times it is amazing. They relish life and show their appreciation in abundance. I've learned how to enjoy my own life more because of my dog observations. Thinking like a dog is the highest honor I can bestow upon myself.
http://www.squidoo.com/blogs-for-dogs

Tips for staying motivated

Another motivational method is affirmations, repeated statements, whether oral or written.  These statements are designed to trick or teach the brain into believing something different.  Repetition  creates belief.  For example, a person with a sleeping disorder might do or say affirmations that in effect present sleep in a positive and favorable light,  I am safe, warm, and cozy, or maybe, I love to sleep.   At first the brain won’t believe it, but with repetition comes belief.
http://www.helium.com/items/2288653-tips-to-stay-motivated

To do or not to do Facebook

It seemed that dang fangled technology was making new rules and regulations again, and it was all an irritation to me, to be sure.  Being the last great Naturalist and curmudgeon after all, I knew instinctively that it was up to me to hold that very fine line between madness and hypocrisy. 
http://www.helium.com/items/2158392-facebook

Trees Please

In praise of trees, their status must be elevated.  Trees require more rights, the right to clean air, water, and soil.  Please let's stop the poison spewing unchecked into the environment.

http://www.squidoo.com/trees-please

Important life skills to teach teens

Life is not exactly as pretty as that presented in fairy-tales.  Teens are no longer the center of the universe; also elders are not servants devoted to their cause.  Some teens may also feel that money is the root of all that is holy, or further that they are entitled to a fat cut, or entitled to the good life.  Many are the lessons they may not have learned by this point.
http://www.helium.com/items/2169216-life-skills-for-teens

Positive body image: Get it now

Rising above the influence of our plastic society is a worthwhile endeavor.  This should be taught in preschool, long before the learned guilt and snobbery of society can taint the well.  Self love and self respect are the result. 
http://www.helium.com/items/2286988-learning-to-accept-ones-body-image

Ways gossip causes trouble at work

Do not engage it and do not try to reason.  Reason is not really part of this equation.  It is more of a seek and destroy mission.  Reason never helps the situation; it just creates a third party with an agenda.  Watch yourself now.
http://www.helium.com/items/2171256-gossip-workplace-gossip-in-workplace-office-politic

Book reviews: Mudbound, by Hillary Jordan

Racism is a fact of life for many people and Mudbound by Hillary Jordan, published in 2008, is a horrific journey through that racism.  It is so sharply felt that it demands to be read a second time.  The reader is left gasping from the shock and the arrogance captured.  It’s an ugly story, with layers of racism, sexism, and cruelty of all manner including murder and incest.  Hatred reigns in the south in the 1940s and the Devil walks and the tension rises.
http://www.helium.com/items/2285138-book-review-about-racism-in-the-southern-us

Should bonuses be paid to executives in bankrupt companies?

The creditors have not been paid and the cash flow is backward, that is after all, what bankrupt means.  The company can no longer operate as before, that is why they are asking for legal protection from creditors.  Should our corporate sponsors then about-face and reward themselves?  Hell, no!  Any sane person would not think so.  For this question to even rear its ugly head is a blasphemy; and the system exposes itself to be deeply corrupt and very arrogant.
http://www.helium.com/items/2172898-corporate-greed-failing-economy-class-discrepancy-corporations-bonuses-bankrupt-company

The disappearance of Caylee Anthony

It was the smell of rotting flesh that finally forced 22 year old Casey Anthony to deal with her biggest problem, her 2 year old daughter Caylee’s body. Casey Anthony apparently was so disassociated in regard to her actions that she just went on about her business until she was forced by the stench to do something.   After leaving the body in the car for a couple of days, then in the backyard for another day or so, she dumped the body.  
http://www.helium.com/items/2173588-casey-anthony-caylee-anthony-murder-trial-court-case-florida-courts-child-abuse-chloroform

Why many women have a negative body image

Women are taught to have negative body images and our plastic society is responsible for much of this.  Appearances are everything and most people do not look beyond the surface.  Advertising, television, and photos of thin models in glossy magazines all glamorize thin women.  Little girls look for the glamour, the heels, the nail polish, the makeup, the jewelry, and the hair.  Advertisers can tell which women are self-confident and are drawn to that image.  Does having the hair, the makeup, etc. cause a woman to feel self-confident?  You bet it does! 
http://www.helium.com/items/2176814-self-confidence-body-image-negative-body-image

Whose fault is childhood obesity?

Indulgence has been the name of the game for several generations.  This is the age of I want it, I am having it.  No waiting in this culture.  Television the great babysitter indoctrinates the children.  Buy this, buy that.  Eat this, eat that.  You do not have to wait for one single thing.  The age of entitlement is manifest.  And a pall passes over the land.
http://www.helium.com/items/2180792-childhood-obesityhealthfat-kidsnutritionexercisehealthy-living

Reflections: Mourning

Deep grief has to work itself out.  It cannot be ignored.  Talking to and about the lost one helps, reliving and rehashing, bringing the events close at hand again, touching gently the memory, then harder, to poke the sore point again and again until the pain begins to recede and morph into an altogether different pain.  There is a physical energy involved in this process, which is a stripping of raw nerve from the very heart.
http://www.helium.com/items/2183053-deathmourninggriefgrievingwidowwidowerreflections

rainbow cake

A Horrible Kitchen Accident

Ok, so I wanted a pretty rainbow cake for a party, mostly because I love rainbows, not because I'm gay or 3 years old. I just love the pretty sparklies. Oh, yes, I do.

I am not a glitz person; but If I could find a way to trail a cloud of purple and blue glitter, I would certainly do so. It's all about the color!

Something very bad happened during the cake baking process. Still, I et that cake.

http://www.squidoo.com/rainbow-cake

Humor: Facebook

Alas, the idiocy of my Farmville avatar!  That stupid girl is what I repeatedly call her.  I have no choice, she is on my nerves so badly.  I have no patience with her, when I click for her to move, I expect her to get off her fat ass.  Immediately, if not sooner.   I click and click and click, she slows down even more.  I want the trees harvested, the animals harvested, and assorted planting, plowing, and harvesting of the crops.  There are a bunch of other jobs on my little farm also. 
http://www.helium.com/items/2185879-farmvillefacebookinternet-gamesavatarvisigoth

A guide to corporate ethics

Our corporate sponsors have a Big Business mentality that is predatory, the ethics of the  world be damned. In a rational world the smoke and mirrors method of counting all the pretty beans leaves the rationalist dazed and outraged.  For the individual, it’s a short lived fantasy lark, unless they join hands, hearts, and souls with a corporation, for the betterment of all.  The safe family environment of a corporation sells the concept.
http://www.helium.com/items/2185958-corporationbig-businesscorporate-mentalityethics-in-businesscorporate-ethicspolitical-influence

Inflation in the US

The United States economy is precariously balanced on the price of a gallon of gas.  Heating, cooking, and driving are all dependent on this factor, the price of a gallon of gas.  If the money boys could figure a way for people to eat gas, they would be thrilled.  They have to make do with profits on fuel and heat; and those profits are huge.   Of course the price of food is bitterly attached to the transportation cost of goods.
http://www.helium.com/items/2197737-economyinflationgasfuelpricesconsumerpriceindexproducerpriceindexaveragehourlyearningsgoods

How to best recycle plastics

Plastics come from petroleum, our favorite source of non-renewable fuel. How many strikes is it going to take for petroleum products to be banned? Oh wait, right, we can just wait until they run out naturally. The drastic far reaching dangers inherent in ignoring this problem are stupendous and plastic is the most visible symbol of it all. Extracting oil from the earth costs a fortune, takes a toll on the earth and the animals, affects earthquakes and assorted weather phenomena, and pollutes the air, the water, the earth. And now it has to take responsibility for the huge garbage pile of plastic the earth is becoming.
http://www.helium.com/items/2198440-recycle-plasticgreen-livingsustainabilityhow-to-recycledoes-recycling-count

Ghost Truck

My dog, Katie, and I were out for a walk when we saw the ghost truck. She looked over at it the same time I did, then she looked at me; and at the time I saw it, I believed it to be a funky old truck. That's why it caught my interest. I get a kick out of classic autos, trucks in particular.
http://www.squidoo.com/ghost-truck#module149784715

How to measure your social media personality

It is the quality that counts, not the number of so called friends.   You would think this to be true.  In the virtual world though, things are immensely different.  A new constantly evolving social media personality is seen.  It is about how you come across to others.  In the age of technology this all keeps changing, like a river flowing.  Movement must be made if it does not already exist.  And it does not matter much about the reality of the situation, these creations are made of words and pixels, what is real no longer counts.
http://www.helium.com/items/2207480-avatarsocial-personalityuser-namefacebookinternetonline-persona

What is the best form of travel?

Modern travel methods in the United States include the headache of the airlines, the hassle of driving, and the torture of bus riding, leaving the only viable method Amtrak trains.  The worst problem is speed as Amtrak likes to poke along slowly; while its best asset is the relaxed atmosphere and the view. It is no plastic coffin in the sky, with passengers jammed in like grains of sand in an hourglass.  And it is not a smelly uncomfortable bus ride.  What it is is sublime to ghetto, all in one trip, is what it is.
http://www.helium.com/items/2257728-amtrak-train-travel

Making high-speed rail a viable solution

High speed trains should have been a fixture in the United States years ago. Now that the government is offering more incentives for this purpose, there is no reason not to. The United States is the only highly civilized country that has no high speed trains. The reasons for this are political and corporate in nature. The low- level hostility between Amtrak staff and passengers trickles right on up through the channels of governmental and corporate entities.
http://www.helium.com/items/2258137-making-high-speed-rail-a-viable-solution

Tips for traveling the US by train

Train travel is absolutely lovely at its best; at its worst, it is a tortured ride through hell, Amtrak hell that is.  Trains are the only viable alternative to flying, which is another tortured ride through hell, first shaken down by security, then jammed into a plastic cattle car with nowhere to run.  At the very least on a train, it is possible to go for a walk; and survival is statistically more possible when crashing from ground level.   There are a few things you can do to be prepared for the train trip.
http://www.helium.com/items/2258791-tips-for-traveling-by-train

Failures of the US Prison System

More and more prisons are built every year. The United States just cannot get enough of them. 
http://www.helium.com/items/2258979-failures-of-the-us-prison-system

The rich get rich faster: The poor get rich slower

Everyone has to pay a bit in order for society to move on, grow, and evolve into a better society.  Development of all forms is essential to life. However, the poor by their very definition are stagnant.  Their growth is likely to be on the loss side, whether in terms of health, education, or employment. They sink to the lowest dregs of the bottom of the barrel.  Here there is no room for movement, very much like the fact that the elite really have nowhere to go to get away from the rest of us.  It behooves them to play nice.
http://www.helium.com/items/2260373-the-poor-get-poorer-the-rich-get-richer

Rehabilitate or punish: How should society treat criminals?

When the young go to prison, they are impressionable and still learning. If there is no organized method, learning will be sought by whatever means. The brain is programmed to constantly take new information and organize it, make it fit into the changing landscape.
http://www.helium.com/items/2260669-rehabilitation-or-punishment

To legalize or to not legalize: Should marijuana be legalized?

The anti-drug stance of the United States costs big bucks.  And the underground economy brings in big bucks, with no tax liability at all.  It is difficult to sympathize with a country that spends so very much on a drug war that was obviously lost long ago, and one whose economy is upside down.  Not only is this anti-drug money being spent in huge amounts, year after year, also huge amounts of taxes are not being collected or paid out on the marijuana industry alone. And yet the marijuana industry is only a small portion of the total underground economy, millions as opposed to billions.
http://www.helium.com/items/2260721-legalize-marijuana

Should medical marijuana be legalized?

Sixteen out of fifty states plus the District of Columbia have legalized medical marijuana. It is a progressive notion, at once frightening and witchy. Nonetheless, the feds keep making raids and laying down the law, the federal law. Law is a precious thing, full of rights and honor, whether lacking in common sense or not.  
http://www.helium.com/items/2262271-should-medical-marijuana-be-legalized

What improvements are needed in today's prisons?

It would seem the worst of the worst go to prison, but such is not the case. Statistically, the United States locks up not only poor people, but a great many drug offenders. In 2005 there were two million inmates in the United States; of these two million, 25 percent were convicted on drug related charges. Drugwarfacts.org states that from 1990 to 2010 in federal prisons, drug convictions accounted for very close to half of all convictions. They state also that the amount of federal prisoners grew from 57,000 to 190,000 during this same time period.
http://www.helium.com/items/2276592-improvement-in-todays-prisons

How to start a daily Yoga routine

In terms of philosophy, all movement is yoga, all breathing is yoga.  A simple awareness of such is all that is necessary to start a daily yoga routine.    Humans unconsciously do  movements to reduce stress or to flex muscles.  The human brain is a marvelous thing, it is programmed to keep the body healthy and demands food, sleep, and exercise when it is needed.  Focusing on these unconscious bits brings them to the surface where they can be ordered into a daily routine.
http://www.helium.com/items/2278510-daily-yoga-routine

Book summary: The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton

This classic tale detailing the class system in action is a story of survival, trust and learning the hard lessons.  It is three brothers against the world.  The gang they belong to is not only a bolster protecting them from harm, but a bulls-eye as well that attracts the wrath of a rival gang, the police and society in general. 


http://www.helium.com/items/2277636-the-outsiders-book-summary