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.)

Memory Lane---What were YOU doing?

By: Mark Johnson, newsnet5.com CLEVELAND - During the week of Jan. 26, 1978, a major blizzard struck Ohio and the Great Lakes. Ohio, as well as several surrounding states, was shut down for a week. As OhioHistory.org describes it: "The worst winter storm in Ohio history struck before dawn on Thursday, January 26, 1978. The Blizzard of ’78 continued through Thursday and into Friday. Transportation, business, industry, and schools were closed statewide for two days with the normal pace of society not returning to the state for five days. Atmospheric pressure fell to 28.28 inches at Cleveland, the lowest ever recorded in Ohio, as the center of the blizzard crossed Ohio. This rapidly intensifying storm pulled bitterly cold air across Ohio on winds of 50 to 70 mph. These conditions, combined with heavy snow and blowing of deep snow already on the ground, caused extreme blizzard conditions all across Ohio. Enormous snowdrifts covered cars and houses, blocked highways and railways, and closed all airports for two days." While more than 5,000 members of the Ohio National Guard worked tirelessly to clear roads and help electric crews, 45 helicopters went on more than 2,700 rescue missions. Volunteers took stranded doctors and nurses to area hospitals on snowmobiles and four-wheel drive vehicles. A total of 51 people died, making the Blizzard of 1978 the deadliest winter storm in Ohio. Read more: http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/weather/winter/Blizzard-of-1978-34-years-ago-this-week#ixzz2J5jo2oye

Unending Soapbox

I've "preached" forever about learning as much as one can prior to making an intelligent decision, regardless the situation, person, and yes, even a teevee program! That in mind, I'm introducing you to Mr. Niel, (That's the way he spells it), Young.  Niel has a radio program and writes a column for The Weirs Times in New Hampshire.  He presents a view of our nation that you might not have yet considered.  Neither am I pulling his wagon, nor am I suggesting you hop on, rather, it's an invite to read what others take the time to offer. I tried to copy the article, but it seems today that one must "log on" to most everything prior to forwarding, etc.  I shy away from social sites and the like.  As I told the friend next door, "I don't even like that my neighbor knows where I live!"  Anyway, if you'd like to read the article, kindly use your address bar to type in: www.weirs.com  Once there, you'll see the current edition, whereupon you can use the page-turning arrow on the right, until you reach page 13.  You can also enlarge the page...directions are easy. Thanks, and, Have a Nice Country!

Charities

When there's such an abrupt denial as shown below, I can't help but wonder how many back pockets are being filled from those who lost the class action suits.  Oh well, just another case of arrogance by those who were elected.  Obviously, this is Ohio, but I'm certain other states could use the help. By the way, might there be other instances?  By: Sarah Buduson, newsnet5.com COLUMBUS, Ohio - Ohio lawmakers have no plans to reintroduce a bill that could make millions of dollars available to charities and non-profit organizations. "We've been told we shouldn't waste our time on something that's dead on arrival," said Pat Perotti, an attorney with the northeast Ohio law firm Dworken & Bernstein, who helped draft the legislation. The legislation would change state rules regarding settlement funds from class actions lawsuits. "We asked for the legislation to be passed in the state of Ohio that would require that every single class action settlement have specific language that indicates what happens to unclaimed funds, and if it does not say what happens to them, then they automatically revert to charity," said Perotti. Currently, when class members cannot be located, unclaimed settlements funds revert to the defendant. For example, International Precious Metals Corporation, a commodity futures brokerage firm, paid approximately $22 million out of a $40 million settlement resulting from a 1990 lawsuit that accused the firm of defrauding its customers. "That's simply not fair, it's not right and it's not honest -- because that's not what the court understood and intended," said Perotti about defendants keeping unclaimed funds. When the legislation to spell out what happens to the funds was introduced in 2010, Perotti was optimistic. The bill had bipartisan support. But HB 427 went nowhere. There were no house or senate committee votes. Former Ohio Rep. Mark Okey (D) was chair of the house committee reviewing HB 427. Okey said members liked the idea, but disagreed on the details, like which charities would be eligible to receive funds. "I couldn't get a majority of votes. I certainly wasn't going to bring it to a vote and then just have it fail," he said. There was also strong opposition from the Ohio Chamber of Commerce. "They did not want to see the bill go forward at all," said Okey. During a two week period in December, NewsChannel5 tried repeatedly to schedule an interview with Linda Woggon, the Ohio Chamber of Commerce executive vice president who lobbied against the bill, but she declined our requests to talk on camera. Perotti said he believes some of the chamber's members feared the legislation would affect their bottom lines. "Certain of their members were parties in our lawsuits, they were defendants, and they had committed fraud against our customers and they frankly didn't want to pay the money out," said Perotti. Dworken & Bernstein avoids allowing unclaimed class action settlement funds to revert back to defendants by using a little known legal rule called cy pres. "It's a legal doctrine which means 'as nearly as possible' and it makes sure that when there's an intent to pay out a certain amount of money that if you can't give it to the intended recipient, as nearly as possible, you give it to that person's benefit," said Perotti. Dworken & Bernstein founded Ohio Lawyers Give Back in order to promote cy pres. The organization has given more than $24 million to dozens of charities and non-profits operating in northeast Ohio. The Arc of Greater Cleveland, an advocacy group for developmentally disabled individuals, was on the verge of shutting down when it unexpectedly received a $74,000 donation from Ohio Lawyers Give Back in 2011. "I was looking at becoming unemployed and so were the rest of my staff. I mean, it was that dire of a situation," said Cindy Norwood, the executive director. Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital Division of Pediatric Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery received a $250,000 donation. The donation helped the hospital maintain the team of specialists that treated Westlake resident Meredith Farrow's 2-year-old daughter, Presley. Presley was born with a cleft lip and palate. "It was very difficult. I cried. I wasn't prepared for that," said Farrow. "The pediatric plastic surgery unit at Rainbow Babies made me feel like it's going to be OK," she said. "About three months of age, she was operated on for almost four hours to correct her nose, her lip and her gumline. She's a completely normal, healthy child now," said Farrow. Both Farrow and Norwood were surprised no Ohio lawmakers plan to reintroduce HB 427. "I'm here to say, as a charity, that people don't always choose to give to charity," said Norwood. "There would be so many more people helped. Just seems like a no-brainer," said Farrow Read more: http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/news/local_news/investigations/no-ohio-lawmakers-plan-to-reintroduce-bill-that-could-mean-more-money-for-charities#ixzz2IoJd63gE

One of the Things I do When I'm not doing Other Things

A Lot More---For LESS!!!!! Date: 2013-01-24, 1:30PM Please visit Jennifer at Fantastic Finds---8113 Broadview Road---a small stone's throw from Wallings Road. Lose the cabin fever and have some fun while you discover great bargains! Fashion, Furniture, Home Decor and MORE! Tuesday thru Saturday, from 10 til 4:30. Tell her Bob sent you! Location: Broadview Heights it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests Original URL: http://cleveland.craigslist.org/gms/3568552676.html