DISCONTENT OF THE DOCENTS~

Observation of the Day!

Birthplace of Richard M.Nixon

Nixon Presidental Library

Yesterday, Doe and I and Neal Patton, my teaching pro golf pro in Coronado, took an early morning drive up to Yorba Linda. We lived in Yorba Linda in the late eighties, and it had been nearly twenty years since we had renewed our acquaintance with Richard Nixon’s birthplace. As with any memory journey, the place had really grown. We saw our old house and Neal visited his Uncle’s house, where he spent many Easter family dinners. It was fun trip down memory lane. Yorba Linda was the eighth place we had lived during our married life.

We then went to the Nixon Library and Birthplace. This was our first visit to a presidential library. Doe and I were actually at the groundbreaking ceremony back in 1988. The docents were an interesting group of old Republicans. They seemed impressed by the fact we had attended the ground breaking and the fact that I remembered the color of the birthplace house. Apparently, there is some disagreement among the docents about the color it used to be. I was speaking to the lady that had supported the pale yellow theory. Before the Library was built, the house stood by itself, surrounded by nothing much but empty brown ground, sort of lonely, just like its most famous son.

It was touching to this old observer that the Nixons are buried next to his birthplace where it all began. It was an interesting life in between.

However, your observer has gained an exclusive story about the discontent of the docents.

I was innocently standing in the back of a little theater that was showing interviews with Nixon about various aspects of his life. It was supposed to let the audience randomly ask various questions. It wasn’t working right, and the docent was quick to tell me it was the new director’s fault. He has refused to get it fixed. Then she railed on about the new director from “Washington and the National Archives.” She pointed out how he had removed a painting that was given to the president by Austria because “He didn’t like it”.

The Watergate exhibit was shut down to get a new display. I didn’t see anything wrong with that, but she was upset that the most popular display was gone. She was also upset that he was only forty-seven years old. She said that the docents were subjected to a meeting that apparently praised Obama. She was upset that in his introduction to a film about Nixon ,he wore a green t-shirt with a sport coat instead of a coat, white shirt and tie. I was amazed at the anger she showed to a guest of the Library. Can they fire a volunteer? There is nothing more dangerous than an angry old Republican woman.

Nixon was and still is the most vilified president in history and the only president to ever resign. The Dems still hate him. They don’t seem to remember he did end the Vietnam War, a war started by Democrats, through some lies and half-truths about the Gulf of Tonkin incident. This would seem to be the exact story of today’s Iraq war, repeated by the opposite party. Politicians have short memories.

After the Library, we played golf at our old country club. It served to remind Neal that, as my teaching pro, he has been a complete failure through no fault of his own

It was a great and wonderful day. By the way it was eighty-one degrees.

Have a nice day!

Sam

THIS JUST IN!

News You Need to Know, or Not!

Minneapolis Start Tribune: A pair of agriculture groups has temporarily suspended about $1.5 million in grants to the University of Minnesota to protest a controversial study by U scientists earlier this month about biofuels and global warming.

The Minnesota Soybean Growers Association and the Minnesota Soybean Research and Promotion Council decided to stop paying additional research money until they meet with Allen Levine, dean of the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences, and other officials.

"The university hurt the farmers' feelings, OK? That's probably the best way to say it," said Jim Palmer, executive director of the two groups.

If they don't agree with you, just cry!

Asked about the timing of her announcement coming out as Hillary Clinton continues to slide in her presidential bid, “I don’t need to hurt Hillary. She is doing a fine job of that herself, along with her idiot husband. Karma is an interesting thing. If these two don’t get elected, and they are a team, it will be karma coming back to visit them. It's about time."

Maybe you should just cry, Hillary!

Minneapolis Star Tribune: Dozens of bars are expected to stage "theater nights'' this weekend in which patrons are dubbed actors. The law, which went into effect in October, permits performers to smoke during a theatrical production. "Two weeks ago, we had one bar doing this,'' said Mark Benjamin, a criminal defense attorney who launched the theater-night idea. He estimates 50 to 100 bars could be on tap for theater nights this weekend based on phone calls, e-mails and requests for the how-to-stage-a-theater-night packet that he's devised. And many bar owners are passing on the information quickly among themselves without getting in contact with him.

Those smokers are a creative bunch.

Comment on NY Times story on McCain affair.
A sex scandal that may not be a scandal tucked inside an ethics scandal that may not be an ethics scandal tucked inside an ethics scandal that was a genuine scandal 20 years ago, and for which McCain has begged forgiveness ever since. The Paper of Record.

The NY Times, Paper of Liberal Record?

AUSTIN, Texas - Hillary Rodham Clinton accused presidential rival Barack Obama of political plagiarism Thursday night, but drew boos from a Democratic debate audience when she ridiculed him as the candidate of "change you can Xerox."

Obama dismissed the charge out of hand, then turned the jeers to applause when he countered, "What we shouldn't be spending time doing is tearing each other down. We should be spending time lifting the country up."

Didn't I tell you negative ads and comments will hurt a candidate? The American people have finally awakened to the lies and half truths of this approach to getting elected.

JESSICA Simpson does not want you to know how she fit into her Daisy Dukes. In 2005, during a lull in her career, Simpson starred in a workout tape produced by Speedfit, a fitness video company. Although she signed a multimillion-dollar contract, she later changed her mind and prevented the video from being released by not giving final approval. Speedfit owner Alex Astilean sued Simpson last year for $10 million — and since she's refused to settle, Astilean's now suing her manager dad, Joe, as well. Astilean said, "They are hurting millions of fat people in America." Simpson's rep said, "It's a legal matter that's in the hands of attorneys."

Are fat people crying yet?

By TIM HARLOW, Star Tribune: It was a sight that would catch anyone's attention, a woman riding a bicycle around St. Cloud Monday night in bitter cold. Turns out there was another reason a citizen took notice: The cyclist was carrying a gun.

Police caught up to the bicyclist a few minutes after a call came in around 11:15 p.m. They found her near 14th Avenue N. and St. Germain Street with a shotgun strapped to her back, said Sgt. Joe Kraayenbrink.

Turns out the 22-year-old suspect is a felon and had a warrant out for her arrest, police said.

She was arrested and faces charges of a felon in possession of a firearm and carrying a firearm in a public place, as well as her outstanding warrant, Kraayenbrink said.

I have nothing more to say!

Chairman Henry Waxman said they probably should not’t have held the Clemons hearing, but Clemens insisted on it.

Who the hell is in charge Henry?

One last note on the hearing.

“Have you ever been a vegan? Asked Bruce Braley D-Iowa. HUH?

“I don’t know what that is. I’m sorry.” replied Clemons.

That is right up there with “misremembered”.

PETA jumped on that and sent him a care package of vegetarian goodies.

Roger, it is a good thing you are a good pitcher, otherwise you be washing dishes.

In a speech praising faith that also drew fire from secularists, Sarkozy told France's Jewish community on Wednesday that every 10-year-old schoolchild should be "entrusted with the memory of a French child victim of the Holocaust".

The proposal unleashed a storm of protest from teachers, psychologists and his political foes who said it would unfairly burden children with the guilt of previous generations and some could be traumatized by identifying with a Holocaust victim.

More than 11,100 French Jewish children were deported from France to Auschwitz and other Nazi death camps in eastern Europe during the German World War Two occupation.

"The emotional burden can have negative consequences for a child who is developing," Gilles Moindrot, general secretary of the Snuipp-FSU trade union which represents most primary school teachers, said in a statement.

This is just too pathetic to comment on.

Have a nice day!

Sam

MISCELLANEOUS STUFF

I received the following comment from John Stassen about my blog The Reincarnation of Harold Stassen.

The understanding in our family is that Uncle Harold ran because it provided a platform to share his ideas. While it is easy to overlook the things in life that do not come with numbers attached to them, they are still valuable - more important than the two delegates is the chance others had to hear his ideas, form their own, and apply these ideas to their lives.

I appreciate and am honored by Johns's comment and have no idea how he came across the blog. Of course my blog was tongue in cheek. And being the smart ass that I am my only comment is "How that work out for Harold?". I agree that it is important to do things to get ideas out there. It is a noble reason to run, I guess. Nader says there is no difference between Democrats and Republicans and he is in fact different, an extreme lefty, that will take votes away from the Dems.

My Oscar picks were pretty good. I missed the woman. I did not see either of the pictures they were nominated for. I went with Julie Christy because she might be a sentemental fav. That is the same reason I went for Ruby Dee.

Got to go.

Have a nice day!

Sam

OSCARS-MY PICKS

Performance by an actor in a leading role

Daniel Day-Lewis in "There Will Be Blood!

Performance by an actor in a supporting role

Javier Bardem in "No Country for Old Men"

Performance by an actress leading role.

Julie Christie in "Away from Her"

Performance by an actress in a supporting role

Ruby Dee in "American Gangster"

Best animated feature film of the year

"Ratatouille"

Original screenplay

Diablo Cody

Best Director

Coen Brothers

Best motion picture of the year

"No Country for Old Men"

THE REINCARNATION OF HAROLD STASSEN!

Observation of the Day!

Ralph Nader once again joined the political fray in the run for president! Do we have another Harold Stassen on our hands? For those youngsters who may not know about Harold Stassen of Minnesota, he ran for President in nine straight presidential elections (1948-1992) with a bad toupee. In all those runs he garnered all of two delegate votes. Early in his career he may have been a viable candidate, but eventually he became a caricature of himself and loony as a jaybird.

Ralph Nader AGAIN! Oh, Please! Give us a break! The Corvair died a long time ago. His campaign slogan should be, " Loony as a Jaybird and Unsafe at Any Speed"

Have a nice day!

Sammy C.

WORDS!

A writer deals in words, words form thoughts, and thoughts become stories and reveal our thoughts expressed in words. Catchy hey?

Playing with Words

By

Me!

Words in a dictionary are frozen and cold.

Words in a story are flowing when told.

Words of a poem are made of gold.

Words of a memoir are memories to hold.


Have a nice day!

Sammy

BEFORE YOU ARE ALONE!

In conjunction with yesterday's Observation of the Day, I came across an old poem??? I wrote some years ago. When I wrote it, I was into genealogy and much of my research into my mother's side of the family was a result of my great-aunt Tie's interest in genealogy and family history. She was admitted into the Daughters of the American Revolution, through her research in 1912. She died at ninety-nine years of age.

As with any genealogy researcher, I wished I could ask the unanswered questions that emerged in my family's history. We all wait too long.

Before You Are Alone

I sit quietly, patiently, out of the way,

Ready to answer the questions, that nobody asks.
You’re too busy to ask,
Too bored to listen.

Please see me as a whole person, not just an old person.
Look deep behind my eyes,
Beyond the wrinkled and sagging and spotted face.
See a person who lived your life in another time.

Playing, going to school, falling in love, raising a family,
Wars and depression, turning points, hard times, glad times.
I am a resource to your life,
A living witness to a history of a time -- mine.

Please let me search my softer memory and tell you my stories.
Someday in the dark corner of the attic, you will turn to ask,
And you will be alone.

For now, I will sit quietly, patiently, out of the way,
Ready to answer the questions, that nobody asks.

Have a nice day!

Sam