Why donating blood is a GOOD thing

Below is the letter received from the Red Cross.  I'm blessed with O-Negative, so, I can help more people.  Donating is a very small part of anyone's day and it doesn't hurt.  If you're not already a donor, PLEASE consider it.  Thanks!!!

Dear Robert:

Thank you for giving blood with the American Red Cross on 1/31/2013. After first ensuring local needs were met, your double red cell donation was sent to St.-Elizabeth Health-Center in Youngstown, OH and Trumbull Memorial Hospital in Warren, OH to help patients in need. Your donation is on its way to changing lives!

Every day, patients receive blood for a variety of conditions including life-threatening illnesses, blood disorders and traumas. Your blood donations are critical to helping save patients' lives.

On behalf of the hospitals and patients we serve, thank you for being a Red Cross blood donor.

Sincerely,

Richard Benjamin, M.D., Ph.D.
Chief Medical Officer
American Red Cross

Wednesday is not Monday

             

For those of you in the unemployment lines...there's GOTTA be an opening for film and fashion critics.  Hurry and apply NOW! 1. History has proven to me that if I viewed a movie that got "panned," I liked it a lot.  I'm sure many of you might feel the same...so, go for it! 2. I'm not one for perusing the local rag's entertainment section, officially named, "Style & Fashion," but since rain has been falling all day, I gave it a shot.  Yikes!  Of the Oscars' Red Carpet, the critic-ette penned, "No, my shallow darlings, the topic du jour on morning gab fests, quasi-news shows and the endless maw that is the blogosphere was Anne Hathaway's pink Prada dress and its placement of two darts-prominent little tentlike protrusions that, in the mind of many a critic, too closely resembled nipples."  I'm so glad she cleared THAT up for me.  Incidentally, the photo of the aforementioned's article makes her appear to be maybe 9 or 10, so, there's room for improvement.  Hopefully a lot---and soon.  She then continued on, telling us what all the other "experts" called the darts on Anne's dress.  I'd like to read one of her "What I did on summer vacation" reports. Obviously, I was misinformed on the Pope's retirement.  A week ago, it was thought that his excellency had hit the Irish Sweepstakes and left town.  As of this morning, there are more distinct facts mentioned, although I doubt we'll ever know the whole truth and nothing but the truth.  So be it.  According to what I've read and heard, the last time a pope said, "Sono fuori di qua" ("I'm outta here!") was in 1415, even prior to the birth of Chris Columbus.  Benedict XVI was quite the corporate man though, as witnessed by his submission of a 2 week notice.  Wotta guy, huh?  Although, I wonder if they made him sign a non-compete clause.                                                                                               Onward, Christian Soldiers!

2-23-13 Rantz-N-Rave

I no longer see the hairy pig commercials from GEICO.  Thanks to those who helped get them off the air.   Now, if someone can do the same for ads that insist on thinking drumbeats are cool in the background of nearly every TV ad.  All they do is cause people to change the channel or leave the room.  Several years back, those drumbeats were everywhere.  They did stop for awhile, but I noticed a resurgence in the past several weeks.  I surveyed numerous contacts and couldn't find any people who had positive thoughts about them.  In fact, they all questioned the sanity of those who submit and those who pay for them.  C'mon, ad agencies...where's the originality? Cars are getting better mileage.  Just this week, gas shot up 30 cents per gallon in my neighborhood.  A man on the news told the nation that gas is more expensive because we don't have enough pipelines and refineries.  What the ----? All the panic about 1 week remaining before the federal budget goes bazonkers.  YOU MEAN NO ONE SAW THIS COMING?!?  GEEZISS PETE, ALREADY!!!  WHAT THE H--- ARE YOU PEOPLE DOING IN D.C??? Outsourcing = job losses = unemployment and all that goes with it, being taxes, etc.  See federal budget woes in previous paragraph. On the bright side:  Major League Baseball played the 1st game of spring training yesterday and hope springs eternal.  Will this be YOUR team's year?

Time to get REALLY P-----D OFF!!!

The marketing/advertising "specialists" are always busy trying to induce the public into buying their products.  One method is called subliminal advertising.  If you've been on this planet long enough, you'll recall the quick flash of a soft drink and pop corn on the drive-in movie or local bijou theater screen, causing you to waltz to the lobby, not really knowing why...just that you had to have refreshments at that moment.  Those methods continue.  I see specific items being subliminally presented on a constant basis, but those can be addressed at another time. Other ads truly upset me because they seem to think so little of our intelligence.  One example is the blue bear family whom we now see in the bathroom, with a specific brand of toilet paper.  My astonishment is not only with the designer of the ads, but I wonder what is in the minds of those who authorize payment and distribution of those commercials. And...now, the BOMB!  For nearly a week, I've been shocked at watching the GEICO Insurance Company literally inferring and condoning beastiality.   You see a hairy pig with a young lady, who doesn't even seem to be 18 years old, seated in the front seat of a disabled car.  Mr. hairy pig holds a phone, stating that a tow truck will be there in 30 minutes.  Miss young lady(?) has a look of disappointment on her face and utters a question seemingly about not being able to "make out" instead. This has already been copied to my local newspaper, The Cleveland Plain Dealer.   I implore you to do the same in YOUR locale. If you want your children to be continually subjected to these kinds of ads, you may choose to delete this, then wonder years hence, "What happened?"

Harry & Bess: As received from a friend

Harry Truman was a different kind of President. He probably made as many, or more important decisions regarding our nation's history as any of the other 32 Presidents preceding him.  However, a measure of his greatness might rest on what he did after he left the White House. The only asset he had when he died was the house he lived in, which was in Independence Missouri . His wife had inherited the house from her mother and father and other than their years in the White House, they lived their entire lives there. When he retired from office in 1952, his income was a U.S. Army pension reported to have been $13,507.72 a year. Congress, noting that he was paying for his stamps and personally licking them, granted him an 'allowance' and, later, a retroactive pension of $25,000 per year. After President Eisenhower was inaugurated, Harry and Bess drove home to Missouri by themselves. There was no Secret Service following them. When offered corporate positions at large salaries, he declined, stating, "You don't want me. You want the office of the President, and that doesn't belong to me.  It belongs to the American people and it's not for sale." Even later, on May 6, 1971, when Congress was preparing to award him the Medal of Honor on his 87th birthday, he refused to accept it, writing, "I don't consider that I have done anything which should be the reason for any award, Congressional or otherwise." As president, he paid for all of his own travel expenses and food. Modern politicians have found a new level of success in cashing in on the Presidency, resulting in untold wealth. Today, too many in Congress also have found a way to become quite wealthy while enjoying the fruits of their offices. Political offices are now for sale. Good old Harry Truman was correct when he observed, "My choices in life were either to be a piano player in a whore house or a politician. And to tell the truth, there's hardly any difference!

Hoopdee "Dupe" and other observances

From today's paper:  "The Energy Department says U.S. households spent an average of $2,912.00 on gasoline, or almost 4 percent of their pretax income, the highest percentage in 30 years."  ON WHAT PLANET?!?  Using the Energy Department's 4%, that $2912 translates to a pretax income of $72,800.  There are no absolute income numbers published that I could find for 2012.  The most current I located was for 2006, which listed approximately 68 million households had less than $58,000 for pretax income.  I'm going to let some other financial whiz extrapolate for current year percentages.  In essence, many households are below $72,000 annual income, thereby increasing the gasoline outlay above 4%.  Proof again that numbers can be made to say whatever the accountants wish them to say. Car commercials 1:  Subaru shows a mom who's very proud of her safety conscious son.  While son is driving with a friend, son is not lured into doing stupid stuff.  Preparing to turn into the driveway, the camera shows a dry, sunny street.  The camera in the yard shows everything as being wet.  Son exits the car and the scene is once again sunny.  (I don't do drugs). Car commercials 2:  The northeast Ohio Ford commercial shows many vehicles with a distorted Ohio license plate, but, wearing my Polish CSI cap, I determined the plate to read, 6NX 9704.  Question?  Why distort the number and why is the same plate on different vehicles, while other cars and truck have no plate at all? TeePee commercial:  When are we going to see the blue bears actually USING the toilet paper?!? GACK-OH:  What the #!+*! is up with the lizard and now a pig selling insurance?!? My favorite TV ad disclaimer at the screen's bottom on a Progressive Insurance ad..."Prices vary based on how you buy."  REELEE? Separated at birth:  Atlanta Falcons coach Mike Smith and comic Steve Martin Who exchanged the very 1st email?  Who was YOUR first? Off to the next mystery: seeking the forest where man and wife sit in dual bath tubs...

Photo Experimentation

While the world gained weight during last night's super bowl, I tried photographing the half-time activities showcasing Beyonce.  Perhaps a real TV would make a difference in quality, but my PC has a TV tuner that shows via the computer's monitor. Photos are at    flickr.com/photos/jajabob You might have to copy and paste to get there.  Enlargements are accomplished by clicking on the photo. (Also included is my feeble attempt at origami, during the power outage.)