I feel a little silly having actually cried a little after having heard the news about Ms. Arthur's passing....but when you look at the big picture, these bigger than life characters that fill our lives as we are growing up and make us laugh and forget our problems, even if just for a little while, are a part of our lives and we can't help but feel the sadness when we lose them. As long as these classic programs and people fill our lives, we are forever young, however, as they grow older and pass away, we are all reminded of our own mortality and that we too are growing older. So I'll just say thank God for TV land and Life Time where The Golden Girls thankfully live on and where I get a warm, fuzzy feeling every time I hear that theme music....so Dorothy, say hi to Sophia for us and thank you for being a friend!

Feel free to leave your Golden Girl & Bea Arthur thoughts.

As we embark on 2009, I think we can all agree that 2008 pretty much sucked and we're all glad to see it go! Oh yes, it started out well enough with the excitement of the 2008 presidential election and the prospect of either having our first female or African-American president. Then the proverbial shit hit the fan. The economy tanked and the greedy little tick that is corporate America and big government, finally sucked all they could suck from the American people and popped it's ugly little head, unfortunately bringing all of us down with them. It was official folks, the United States was in a recession...or were we? Well, at least that's what we were told. I don't know about everyone else but one thing about 2008 that really pissed me off was the control the mainstream media had over our lives. It pretty much controlled the presidential race with it's embarrassing love affair with Barack Obama and hatred of Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin was a disgrace...now they were telling us we were in a recession, the worst since the great Depression, it was only going to get worst before it got better, blah, blah, blah. Well I for one am sick of it! My New Year's resolution for 2009 is to not listen to anymore news shows. I will limit myself to a healthy dose of news each day and get just what I need to know. I think the worst thing to ever happen to the USA was the conception of 24 hour news stations. Too much time to fill makes for a lot of useless and hateful information, most of it all hype. Good news just doesn't sell. Yes, we know Wall Street is a mess but what about Main Street? But what about the small business man & woman who make up about 90% of the work force in this country and who will take a pay cut personally before letting an employee go? Why don't we hear about them? The economic crisis is based on greed, pure & simple. They got greedy, they tanked and we paid for it. If IBM's profits fall for the quarter from 25 million to 20 million, it's seen as a financial disaster and the first to go is the labor force, not the CEO's making millions in salaries and bonuses every year. But what about the middle class taxpayer who's cost of living went up but not their paychecks? I guess what I'm trying to say is hang in there people... don't panic and we'll all be fine. We've been through this before and we can do it again. It's like the happy go lucky chubby kid who goes along, enjoying life until some mean kid informs him that he's actually "fat" and shatters his reality. Well, we're that fat kid people and the media is the mean bully just itching to shatter our reality for ratings, but don't you listen, we're are the strong ones, we are the survivors so let's just keep on doing what it is we as Americans do best, living, loving, laughing and spending!

This week, on Tuesday, November 4th, 2008, voters elected our first Afro-American President, Barack Obama. Senator Obama won comfortably and on January 20th, 2009 will take office as the 44th president of the United States, relieving the country of the worst eight years it has experienced in years under the governing of George W. Bush and the GOP.

Although it's safe to say, that because of the disastrous events of the last eight years, it was pretty obvious that any democrat winning it's party's nomination, had a very good chance to win the presidency, however, that should not take away from the historic aspect of this election.

So, now that the dust has settled a bit, and we're all done patting ourselves on the back for being so "cool" and "hip" as to have over come this terrible prejudice that has crippled us for so many years, my question is this....now that we've elected a black president, is the United States still a racist country or has one prejudice just been replaced with another? In light of the way Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin were treated during this election, and the passing of such laws as Prop. 8 in California, banning gay marriage...is "bitch" & "gay" the new black? Is it still OK to be sexist and homophobic but not racist? Is it a process, baby steps first...eliminate racism first, homophobia next, sexism last? I must say I'm a bit confused. Why does it feel that we've made 10 steps forward, 5 steps backwards? Who knows, maybe by 2012 we will have gotten past all prejudice and there will be a viable candidate waiting in the wings to sweep the nation and become the first, Afro-American, Lesbian president of the United States. After that, we can truly say, "we have over come!"

Since the announcement of Alaska govenor Sarah Palin as the Republican candidate for vice president, celebrities in Hollywood and the music industry have made it their mission in life to attack and disgrace Governor Palin as the poster child for everything evil in the world and the ultimate disappointment to feminist around the globe. Well, my question to them after reading the following horrendous story is this... where's the outrage? Why isn't left-wing, liberal Hollywood coming together to make a commercial against acts like this that occur every day in countries like Iran and Saudi Arabia?

Just this week, I read 2 stories where a male Saudi student, who had been arrested for asking what the future held for women's rights in the Muslim religion, was sentenced to 20 years in prison, while in Iran, a female student doing research for her school thesis on women's rights was taken from her parent's home and also arrested. Where's the outrage at the despicable everyday treatment of women in these countries and the denial of basic human rights, such as driving or medical treatment? So listen up Ellen, next time you do a political piece on your show against Palin because she doesn't support gay marriage, or Tina Fey, your next SNL skit targets the fact that Governor Palin was an ex-beauty pageant contestant, or The View does a character assassination of her because she's pro-life...I suggest you all stop and read the story below that ran on MSNBC.com........

MOGADISHU, Somalia - A 13-year-old girl who said she had been raped was stoned to death in Somalia after being accused of adultery by Islamic militants, a human rights group said.
Dozens of men stoned Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow to death Oct. 27 in a stadium packed with 1,000 spectators in the southern port city of Kismayo, Amnesty International and Somali media reported, citing witnesses. The Islamic militia in charge of Kismayo had accused her of adultery after she reported that three men had raped her, the rights group said.
Initial local media reports said Duhulow was 23, but her father told Amnesty International she was 13. Some of the Somali journalists who first reported the killing later told Amnesty International that they had reported she was 23 based upon her physical appearance.


"This child suffered a horrendous death at the behest of the armed opposition groups who currently control Kismayo," David Copeman, Amnesty International's Somalia campaigner, said in a statement Friday.
Somalia is among the world's most violent and impoverished countries. The nation of some 8 million people has not had a functioning government since warlords overthrew a dictator in 1991 then turned on each other.
A quarter of Somali children die before age 5; nearly every public institution has collapsed. Fighting is a daily occurrence, with violent deaths reported nearly every day.
Islamic militants with ties to al-Qaida have been battling the government and its Ethiopian allies since their combined forces pushed the Islamists from the capital in December 2006. Within weeks of being driven out, the Islamists launched an insurgency that has killed thousands of civilians.
In recent months, the militants appear to be gaining strength. The group has taken over the port of Kismayo, Somalia's third-largest city, and dismantled pro-government roadblocks. They also effectively closed the Mogadishu airport by threatening to attack any plane using it.

I suggest we all give this article some thought and write a letter to our US Representatives and Senators and suggest something be done. And, oh yes, after the "chosen one" is elected president, maybe he can put his empty words to some good use and make this issue a priority!

It's a wonderful life has always been my favorite movie of all time. It is so for many reasons... from the wonderful cast of my favorite leading man, Jimmy Stewart, and his sexy, (in that school mom sort of way) co-star, Donna Reed, to the wonderful story line that has yet to be duplicated. What if we had never been born and how each person's life, no matter how insignificant it may seem, affects others. A true tear jerker no matter how many times I've seen it. But most importantly, the lesson it teaches us in regards to good vs. evil as George continues to battle the powerful Mr. Potter in order to maintain the dignity of the Bailey Savings & Loan, a small time operation started by his father, Peter and whose success is based on it's investment in people rather than the almighty dollar. Those sure were the good old days!

This week, our country has been held at gunpoint as we wait for Congress, (the idiots who helped get us in this mess in the first place) come up with a way to save the fat cat, greed mongers on Wall Street at the taxpayer's expense. It's kind of funny isn't it, I've actually had my credit card company send me an invoice for .42 cents after paying off a bill. What nerve, now they're asking me for a $700 billion bailout...! There's plenty of fault to go around, from the ruthless mortgage broker who would do whatever it took to get someone into a mortgage they could not afford in order to get those outrageous broker's fees. Then there are the mortgage companies themselves who bundle these loans and sell them to Wall Street, without having any idea who the people are behind them, nor do they care....and here then lies the problem.

The day of the local neighborhood bank, such as the Bailey Savings & Loan, are gone. The days when the bank manager decided who got a loan and who didn't, based not only on their financial background, but most importantly, on the person and their character. He or she knew your name, family background, job history, how much money you had in the bank and what kind of a risk you would be. Call it a hunch or call it intuition, but I bet their method of "sharing the wealth" was a lot more affective than Wall Streets. When there was almost a run on the Bailey Savings & Loan, George was able to keep everyone calm and convinced them, by name, their money was safe, invested in the homes of their Bedford Falls neighbors. When I call my mortgage company, it takes me 20 minutes to get to speak to a human being and when I do, it's some call center in India.

Maybe this is one of those "everything happens for a reason" moments....perhaps we have to experience such ciaos in order to get back to basics....after all, everything old becomes new again and eventually comes back in style. Hopefully we can all survive until common sense makes a come back, but in the mean time, we'll always have this timeless classic....enjoy!

It's official...hell has frozen over! A republican presidential candidate has chosen a woman as his vice presidential running mate. Today, Senator John McCain has once again proven he moves against the grain by choosing Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin in his bid to be president of the United States and has given me, a staunch Hillary Clinton supporter one more reason to consider voting for him.

As one of those "18 million cracks" in the glass ceiling, I've been listening to all the candidates and pundits fighting for my soul since Hillary suspended her campaign. But as an independent voter (I was independent before it was cool) I have always voted my conscience and not party so I found it a little offensive they would take for granted that I would automatically change gears and throw my support and vote to Barack Obama. But today, as I listened to the Tina Fey look a like (whom I adore) speak for the first time, I was quite taken with her. Yes, I know...she's against abortion rights and gay marriage, both very important issues, but what you have to respect is she practices what she preaches, having given birth this past April to a son with Down syndrome. She has challenged corruption in her own party and big oil in Alaska and won. Something you do not see too often in Washington, in particular this do nothing congress we elected in 2006. She has crossed party lines on numerous occasions as governor and manages to do all this while raising 5 children, one of which is being deployed to Iraq on September 11 of this year. She refused the funds for the very controversial "bridge to no where" by saying, no thanks...we'll build our own bridge! Come on people, of all the qualities the candidates have been trying to convince us they have, she's the one that seems to have the goods of which they speak!

So while both parties continue to tear each other apart, and as I continue to heal the wounds of Hillary's loss, I'm going to be focusing on Sarah Palin to see what she does. She will be the deal maker or breaker for me. If this campaign was a chess game, Barack's speech on August 28th may have been check, but the choice of Sarah Palin as republican vice presidential nominee was definitely check mate...nice move Senator McCain! But no matter the outcome of this election, I am proud of my country and the barriers it has crossed with it's choices of an African American and female candidates. Perhaps this is Karma's way of apologizing for the past eight years of George Bush and the worst presidency this country has ever seen. In any case, the future looks bright!

Up until now, " The Greatest Story Ever Told" (or sold) was the title of a movie made in the 50's, depicting the greatest stories from the Bible. Whether you believed it or not was up to the individual, but no matter what, it was entertaining. Now, in the year 2008, I have to tell you people, the greatest story ever told is the story being sold to the American public today, and what I believe is the greatest scam, (and may I add, ingenuous,) ever conceived. Here's my theory.



It has been my position for the past eight years, that on September 12th, 2001, the United States should have began it's journey toward energy independence. There was no greater threat to this country than our dependence on foreign oil. But while everyone was waving their flags, and singing God Bless the USA, and torturing the Dixie Chicks, Washington sat back and did nothing. But then again, why would they? The top two in power, George Bush & Dick Cheney were oil men, and their loyalties were with the oil companies and not with the American people.



Even after 3,000 Americans lost their lives on 9/11, they did nothing to solve the problem. They did not ask us to conserve, they did not ask American companies to step up to the plate and do what they do best, come up with new technologies and more efficient methods of energy. They did not ask congress to come together for the good of all Americans. Instead, they made sure the Bin Ladin family was safely out of the US on 9/11, then they pulled our armed forces out of Afghanistan to invade Iraq, (which had nothing to do with the attack on 9/11,) costing over 4000 American soldiers their lives, and taxpayers billions of dollars. In the past 5 years since the war in Iraq began, the price of a gallon of gas has been creeping up, slowly, but surely. Just enough so as not to cause too much of a stir, but enough to bring record profits to the oil companies. I believe it has been the goal of this administration for the past 8 years to do nothing but help their big business buddies ranging from Haliburton, to Wall Street, to big oil. It has also been big oil's goal for over 30 years, to get congress to approve additional drilling off the coast of the US and in Alaska, and with Bush & Cheney leaving in 6 months, it was do or die!



So here's the plan as I see it:

1. Have Wall St. speculators jack the cost of a barrel of oil to record highs, causing the cost at the pumps to hit almost $5.00 a gallon. The outcry from the average American who lives from paycheck to paycheck would be deafening. Then the Bush administration and the talking heads on Fox, would call for the domestic drilling to begin, so as to drive oil prices down, supposedly, immediately. It's a win win situation for everyone but the American taxpayers:



2. The Republicans have a platform to run on in this election, because without the economy, they don't have a chance in hell of winning, unless God forbid, there's another terrorist attack on the U.S.



3. The oil companies get to drill and increase their profits. No new refineries are built, or alternative energies developed. The cost of a gallon of gas will probably drop to about $3.00 a gallon, but I believe never lower. Most will be so grateful, they'll never complain again. The day of the $2.00 a gallon gas will be gone forever and thoughts of alternative energy research will be put on the back burner for another 20 years. Unfortunately, the environment will have been compromised beyond repair and there will be no turning back, but what do we care? Let the future generations deal with the problem. I need my gasoline for my Hummer!



So please people, I beg you, be patient. As soon as the election is over in November and Bush and Cheney are finally gone, I would bet the farm that the price of oil will come down drastically. This crisis is a man made one created for one reason only. This president and administration, has screwed the American people in so many ways over the past 8 years, please don't let him get away with this last great deception against the American people. If we fold, the consequences will be felt for many years to come.

It's been over a month now since democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton suspended her campaign, and I have to say, I'm still in denial. I still wear my Hillary Clinton 2008 bracelet and still get excited when I see a Hillary for President bumper sticker on the car in front of me, then slowly reality sets in and I just can't believe it. What happened, what went wrong? This was the year, it was in the bag...a democrat would take the White House and that democrat would be Hillary Clinton, but most importantly, the first woman president. Well, the more I think about it, it wasn't just one thing that went wrong and quite frankly, I am pissed off. So I thought making a list of what I thought the problems were might make me feel better so let's give it a try.

Problem No. 1- Barack Obama

A junior senator from Illinois who thought that after 2 years in the US Senate, he was qualified to be president of the United States. Who's claim to fame was that he didn't vote for the war, which, didn't matter because he was not in the US Senate at the time and it was irrelevant. For that matter, I didn't vote for it either. His other claim to fame was "change". He was the candidate of change, and not politics as usual. I've got news for you, when you go into politics, you are a politician. When you join a band you're a musician, when you join a baseball team you're a baseball player, etc. there's no getting around it, and based on his record lately, he is proving that he is, indeed, a politician. He just waited to show us his true self and basically, sold the American people, who were hungry for some good news, a bag of goods.

Problem No. 2- The American People

Shame on them for falling for it, hook, line and sinker. Did we not learn anything from the past 8 years? Do your homework people, ask questions ....don't be afraid to say, "the Emperor has no clothes"!

Problem No. 3 - College students

Barack Obama probably won the nomination based on 2 facts, his Internet campaign and his voter registration drives on college campuses. Let's hear it for generation "me" for suddenly finding their voice and finally developing a social conscience after 5 years of war and not one protest, or uprising . They were too busy with their Ipods and MySpace pages to deal with such things. But thank God that herd mentality kicked in and they knew they had to vote for Barack Obama, oh that and a free Dave Mathews Band ticket. He was, after all, the young, hip candidate and Hillary Clinton was so 90's....I've got news for you kids, the 90's weren't that long ago and although most of you were just being born, It was a pretty cool and prosperous decade and we were proud to have President Bill Clinton lead us into the 21st century, Monica or no Monica! Oh, and just to let you know, 46 isn't that young and Obama is certainly old enough to be your father!

Problem No. 4 - The DNC

The Democratic National Committee and it's top players, pretty much abandoned Hillary Clinton early on in this race and no one knows why. From Howard Dean to Ted Kennedy and John Kerry to Bill Richardson . Once it was known that Barack Obama was going to run for president, the conversation should of went something like this..."Look Barack, we think you'd be a great candidate but here's the plan...you're a young man and need to get a few more years under your belt so you let Hillary run and get the nomination, you're her choice for vice president, she serves 2 terms, you run in 2012 and serve for 2 more terms...Democrats occupy the White House for 16 years with the first woman president and the first black president!" Who knows, maybe that conversation did take place, but Obama being the super star he thinks he is just would not accept it. So I'm afraid, this is a decision that will come back to bite them in the ass the way of Mondale, McGovern and Dukakis, and if it does, they deserve it!

Problem No. 5 - The media

This one is pretty self explanatory. Anyone who owned a computer, television or radio or read a newspaper could judge for themselves the blatant sexism and bias against Senator Clinton. It took a sketch on SNL to finally state the obvious and put it on the table. However, it changed nothing. The media's love affair still continued to the point where it was almost "uncomfortable" to watch, like when Chris Matthews of Hardball almost got a woody every time he was near him. The love affair continues, only now it's John McCain taking the heat.

Problem No. 6 - Women

If the women in this country had rallied behind Senator Clinton from day one, the way they did at the end, the outcome would definitely have been different. I think there was a genuine dis-belief that a woman could win the presidency, but once we realized "yes she can," it was too little too late. Lesson learned, hopefully!

Problem No. 7 - Hillary & Bill Clinton

Maybe they were a little too cocky in the beginning, but rightfully so. Once it became apparent they had a fight on their hands they should have gone into over drive. Shake up the campaign, beat Obama at his own game. Bill should have kept his comments to himself instead of playing right into their hands. He's a smart guy, he knows how this works. And last of all...Hillary. Why couldn't you have shown the charm and charisma we knew you had all along? You became the candidate at the end, we all knew you were capable of being.

Well, I feel a little better, but a little part of me still fantasizes about the convention on August 28th, in Colorado. I hope by then they finally see Senator Obama for what he really is, all fluff, no stuff, and the delegates cast their votes for Hillary Clinton for president in 2008!