"Saturday, December 13, 2008
Fire at Sarah Palin's church
Sarah Palin's home church has sustained over a million dollars damage in a suspicious fire. The fire is being investigated as a crime (Fox). " The Recliner Commentaries: Fire at Sarah Palin's church
Link To Fox Story.
"NWA Wisconsin @ Zielinski’s Ballroom in Pulaski, Wisconsin, USA" Pro Wrestling Digest » Blog Archive » Wrestling Events List - 12/13/2008
Subject: Go Packers - all in jest!
The Green Bay Police are cracking down on speeders heading into Green Bay.
For the first offense, they give you two Packers tickets.
If you get stopped a second time, they make you use them.
Q. What do you call 47 millionaires sitting around a TV watching the Super Bowl?
A. The Green Bay Packers.
Q. What do the Green Bay Packers and Billy Graham have in common?
A. They both can make 70,000 people stand up and yell 'Jesus Christ'.
Q. How do you keep the Green Bay Packers out of your yard?
A. Put up a goal post.
Q. Where do you go in Green Bay in case of a tornado?
A. To the Lambeau Stadium - they never have a touchdown there!
Q. What do you call a Packer with a Super Bowl ring?
A. A thief.
Q. What's the difference between the Green Bay Packers and a dollar bill?
A. You can still get four quarters out of a dollar bill.
Q. How many Green Bay Packers does it take to win a Super Bowl?
A. Nobody knows and we may never find out.
Q. What do the Green Bay Packers and a possums have in common?
A. Both play dead at home and get killed on the road.
GO PACKERS!!!!!!!
"Fewer crashes bad for business
By Megan Loiselle • Wausau Daily Herald • December 13, 2008 " Fewer crashes bad for business | wausaudailyherald.com | Wausau Daily Herald
"Sometimes, I think there are more deer than people," Peggy Olson said, but she estimates this year the business only received 15 calls for crashes involving deer. That's down from about 50 calls last year, though she said the trend is good for everybody.
From Field and Stream.
Biathlon Babes 12-Dec-2008
Like many of the more exotic Olympic sports, Biathlon, which combines cross-country skiing with precision rifle shooting, is savagely underfunded. And so to raise money for training, the five members of the Canadian Womens' Biathlon Team recently put out a (tasteful) nude calendar. Is this the perfect gift for a Gun Nut or what?" Field & Stream
"Climate change addressed at summit
Public, private leaders share ideas, sign proactive resolution" Climate change addressed at summit | greenbaypressgazette.com | Green Bay Press-Gazette
From what a Wisconsin summer could feel like in 80 years to what kind of subsidies are available to install renewable energy systems, there were many useful ideas.
""...state budgets ...allow kids to get a good education, and a chance at a good university or technical college education that their families can afford..." Doyle said." So that's what is threatened: our schools, our universities, our technical colleges...These are the areas that determine our budgets...And these cuts could undermine years of careful progress.""
mid coast views
Santa and Sarah
Three years ago, a little boy and his grandmother came to see Santa
At the Mayfair Mall in Wisconsin . The child climbed up on his lap,
holding a picture of a little girl. 'Who is this?' asked Santa,
smiling. 'Your friend? Your sister?'' 'Yes, Santa,' he replied. 'My
sister, Sarah, who is very sick,' he said sadly.
Santa glanced over at the grandmother who was waiting nearby, and
saw her dabbing her eyes with a tissue. 'She wanted to come with me to
see you, oh, so very much, Santa!' the child exclaimed.
'She misses you,' he added softly.
Santa tried to be cheerful and encouraged a smile to the boy's face,
asking him what he wanted Santa to bring him for Christmas.
When they finished their visit, the Grandmother came over to help
the child off his lap, and started to say something to Santa, but
halted.
'What is it?' Santa asked warmly.
'Well, I know it's really too much to ask you, Santa, but ..' the
old woman began, shooing her grandson over to one of Santa's elves to
collect the little gift which Santa gave all his young visitors.
'The girl in the photograph... my granddaughter well, you see ..
she has leukemia and isn't expected to make it even through the
holidays,' she said through tear-filled eyes. 'Is there any way,
Santa any possible way that you could come see Sarah? That's all
she's asked for, for Christmas, is to see Santa.'
Santa blinked and swallowed hard and told the woman to leave
information with his elves as to where Sarah was, and he would see
what he could do. Santa thought of little else the rest of that
afternoon. He knew what he had to do.
'What if it were MY child lying in that hospital bed, dying,' he
thought with a sinking heart, 'T
his is the least I can do.'
When Santa finished visiting with all the boys and girls that
evening, he retrieved from his helper the name of the hospital where
Sarah was staying. He asked the assistant location manager how to get
to Children's Hospital.
'Why?' Rick asked, with a puzzled look on his face.
Santa relayed to him the conversation with Sarah's grandmother
earlier that day. 'C'mon.....I'll take you there.' Rick said softly.
Rick drove them to the hospital and came inside with Santa.
They found out which room Sarah was in. A pale Rick said he would
wait out in the hall.
Santa quietly peeked into the room through the half-closed door and
saw little Sarah on the bed.
The room was full of what appeared to be her family; there was the
Grandmother and the girl's brother he had met earlier that day.
A woman whom he guessed was Sarah's mother stood by the bed, gently
pushing Sarah's thin hair off her forehead.
And another woman who he discovered later was Sarah's aunt, sat in a
chair near the bed with a weary, sad look on her face. They were
talking quietly, and Santa could sense the warmth and closeness of the
family, and their love and concern for Sarah.
Taking a deep breath, and forcing a smile on his face, Santa entered
the room, bellowing a hearty, 'Ho, ho, ho!' 'Santa!' shrieked little
Sarah weakly, as she tried to escape her bed to run to him, IV
tubes intact.
Santa rushed to her side and gave her a warm hug.
A child the tender age of his own son -- 9 years old -- gazed up at
him with wonder and excitement.
Her skin was pale and her short tresses bore telltale bald patches
from the effects of chemotherapy. But all he saw when he looked at
her was a pair of huge, blue eyes. His heart melted, and he had to
force himself to choke back tears.
Though his eyes were riveted upon Sarah's face, he could hear the
gasps and quiet sobbing of the women in the room.
As he and Sarah began talking, the family crept quietly to the
bedside one by one, squeezing Santa's shoulder or his hand gratefully,
whispering 'Thank you' as they gazed sincerely at him with shining
eyes. Santa and Sarah talked and talked, and she told him excitedly
all
the toys she wanted for Christmas, assuring him she'd been a very good
girl that year.
As their time together dwindled, Santa felt led in his spirit to pray
for
Sarah, and asked for permission from the girl's mother. She nodded
in agreement and the entire family circled around Sarah's bed, holding
hands. Santa looked intensely at Sarah and asked her if she believed
in
angels. 'Oh, yes, Santa... I do!' she exclaimed.
'Well, I'm going to ask that angels watch over you.' he said. Laying
one hand on the child's head, Santa closed his eyes and prayed. He
asked that God touch little Sarah, and heal her
body from this disease.
He asked that angels minister to her, watch and keep her. And when
he finished praying, still with eyes closed, he started singing, softly,
'Silent Night, Holy Night.... all is calm, all is bright...'
'The family joined in, still holding hands, smiling at Sarah, and
crying tears of hope, tears of joy for this moment, as Sarah beamed
at them all.
When the song ended, Santa sat on the side of the bed again and held
Sarah's frail, small hands in his own. 'Now, Sarah,' he said
authoritatively, 'you have a job to do, and that is to concentrate on
getting well. I want you to have fun playing with your friends this
summer, and I expect to see you at my house at Mayfair Mall this time
next year!'
He knew it was risky proclaiming that to this little girl who had
terminal cancer, but he 'had' to. He had to give her the greatest
gift he could -- not dolls or games or toys -- but the gift of HOPE.
'Yes, Santa!' Sarah exclaimed, her eyes bright. He leaned down and
kissed her on the forehead and left the room.
Out in the hall, the minute Santa's eyes met Rick's, a look passed
between them and they wept unashamed.
Sarah's mother and grandmother slipped out of the room quickly and
rushed to Santa's side to thank him.
'My only child is the same age as Sarah,' he explained quietly.
'This is the least I could do.' They nodded with understanding and20
hugged him.
One year later, Santa Mark was again back on the set in Milwaukee
for his six-week, seasonal job which he so loves to do. Several weeks
went by and then one day a child came up to sit on his lap.
'Hi, Santa! Remember me?!' 'Of course, I do,' Santa proclaimed (as
he always does), smiling down at her. After all, the secret to being
a 'good' Santa is to always make each child feel as if they are the
'only' child in the world at that moment.
'You came to see me in the hospital last year!' Santa's jaw dropped.
Tears immediately sprang in his eyes, and he grabbed this little
miracle and held her to his chest. 'Sarah!' he exclaimed. He scarcely
recognized her, for her hair was long and silky and her cheeks were
rosy -- much different from the little girl he had visited just a year
before. He looked over and saw Sarah's mother and grandmother in the
sidelines smiling and waving and wiping their eyes.
That was the best Christmas ever for Santa Claus.
He had witnessed --and been blessed to be instrumental in bringing
about -- this miracle of hope. This precious little child was healed.
Cancer-free. Alive and well. He silently looked up to Heaven and
humbly whispered, 'Thank you, Father. 'Tis a very, Merry Christmas!'
"A Christmas Story for people having a bad day.
When four of Santa’s elves went sick, the trainee elves did not produce toys as fast as the regular ones and Santa began to feel the Pre-Christmas pressure.
Then Mrs. Claus told Santa her mother was coming to visit which stressed Santa even more.
When he went to harness the reindeer, he found that three of them were about to give birth and two others had jumped the fence and were out, Heaven knows where.
Then, when he began to load the sleigh, one of the floorboards cracked, the toy bag fell to the ground and all the toys were scattered.
Frustrated, Santa went in the house for a cup of apple cider and a shot of rum. When he went to the cupboard, he discovered the elves had drunk all the cider and hidden the liquor. In his frustration, he accidentally dropped the cider jug and it broke into hundreds of little glass pieces all over the kitchen floor. He went to get the broom and found the mice had eaten all the straw off the end of the broom.
Just then the doorbell rang and irritated, Santa marched to the door, yanked it open, and there stood a little angel with a great big Christmas tree.
The angel said very cheerfully, ‘Merry Christmas, Santa. Isn’t this a lovely day? I have a beautiful tree for you. Where would you like me to stick it?’
And so began the tradition of the little angel on top of the Christmas tree." An Ol’ Broad’s Ramblings
"Petty releases Labonte, now in talks with GEM
By David Caraviello, NASCAR.COM
December 11, 2008
12:08 PM EST" NASCAR.COM - Petty releases Labonte, now in talks with GEM - Dec 11, 2008
Six months ago, the future could not have been more promising for Petty Enterprises and Bobby Labonte. The historic race team had just agreed to a partnership with Boston Ventures, an investment firm that would provide needed capital to an organization with 268 race wins, but none since 1999. The driver had just agreed to a four-year extension, with the promise that there would be a place for him within the franchise once his days behind the wheel were done.
Obama House Parties: Special Prosecutor for Bush
This weekend, Barack Obama's campaign is organizing "Change is Coming" house meetings to transfer the amazing energy and enthusiasm of the campaign over to the hard work of governing. You can search for a meeting near you:
http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/changeiscoming/
We support all of Obama's top priorities, starting with economic growth based on green jobs, and universal health care. But we do not want him to give in to pressure from Republicans and the corrupt Washington Establishment to sweep the heinous crimes of the Bush Administration under the rug.
This week we asked President-elect Obama to appoint a Special Prosecutor - ideally Patrick Fitzgerald - to independently investigate the gravest crimes of the Bush Administration, including torture and warrantless wiretapping. Our question came in 6th for all questions submitted to Obama:
http://change.gov/page/content/20081211_openforquestions
If you want to help promote a Special Prosecutor, please attend a "Change is Coming" meeting near you:
http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/changeiscoming/
Share your experiences in the comments here:
http://tinyurl.com/5bxe3e
Thanks for all you do!
Bob Fertik
From the Wausau Daily Herald"Wausau Tile secures National Mall in time for inauguration
By Mark Multer • Wausau Daily Herald • December 12, 2008 " Wausau Tile secures National Mall in time for inauguration | wausaudailyherald.com | Wausau Daily Herald
ROTHSCHILD -- Call it planter power -- hundreds of concrete flower pots that will bring a touch of greenery to the streets of Washington, D.C., but built tough enough to stop a truck threatening harm to a government agency.
The U.S. State Department this fall hired Wausau Tile to design, manufacture and deliver 228 of the planters to provide perimeter security for its offices. There was only one catch: Everything has to be in place prior to Jan. 20, when Barack Obama will be sworn in as the 44th president of the United States.
I was listening to 620 WTMJ and Diamond Jim Doyle was being interviewed by Miller"Pay raise for judges tucked into bailout plan
By ANDREW TAYLOR, Associated Press Writer Andrew Taylor, Associated Press Writer – Wed Dec 10, " Pay raise for judges tucked into bailout plan - Yahoo! News
WASHINGTON – If the $14 billion bailout plan for U.S. automakers passes, it will help more than just Ford, Chrysler and General Motors. Federal judges would get a pay raise, as well.
The raise — an annual cost of living adjustment, or COLA — would bring U.S. District court judges up to par with members of Congress, who will receive an almost $5,000 boost on Jan. 1. District judges and lawmakers now earn $169,300 a year but are expected to be awarded a 2.8 percent raise next year, said Dick Carelli, a spokesman for the Administrative Office of the United States Courts.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., insisted that the judicial pay raise go into the automaker loan measure, which is the only item of business on Congress' lame-duck agenda.
"Another TV spat: WBAY dropped from Dish Network
Press-Gazette • December 11, 2008 " Another TV spat: WBAY dropped from Dish Network | greenbaypressgazette.com | Green Bay Press-Gazette
"12/9/2008 9:28:00 AM
Zoning panel votes to keep county pier regulations
The question is, do the regs violate state law?"
Zoning panel votes to keep county pier regulations
News Analysis
Oneida County is the only county in the state that regulates piers and other berthing structures, and, for that reason, supervisors of the zoning committee have thought long and hard - for months and even years - about jettisoning them.
On Wednesday they decided to keep them in place, at least in part because of distrust of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. But some observers believe the county has no authority to impose some of the requirements it has on the books.
"Paper Mills Swept Up in Debate Over Chrysler Aid
December 9, 2008, 10:52 am" Paper Mills Swept Up in Debate Over Chrysler Aid - Mergers, Acquisitions, Venture Capital, Hedge Funds -- DealBook - New York Times
From Louise Story, a DealBook colleague:
Cerberus Capital Management’s vast web of investments is becoming an issue in the battle to bail out Chrysler.
Steve Kagen, a Democrat lawmaker from Wisconsin, said on Monday that he would not support any taxpayer money for Chrysler until two paper mills in his state are re-opened.
Cerberus fired back, saying that Mr. Kagen is well aware that behind its decision to close the mills is a trade issue that it is presenting to the World Trade Organization. Cerberus believes that Asian companies are dumping paper on the United States market at unfair prices, said Mark Neporent, the investment firm’s chief operating officer. NewPage lost its initial case and is preparing to repeal it, Mr. Neporent told DealBook.
“You have to understand this company employs over 4,500 people,” Mr. Neporent said. “We’re talking about 600 jobs here. We obviously take that seriously but this mill, the Kimberly mill in particular, was our highest cost mill. We had absolutely no orders keeping it open and running paper through would have cost about $400 million per year.”
"Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich taken into federal custody " Gov. Blagojevich taken into federal custody :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Gov. Blagojevich and Operation Board Games
"LIFE AFTER 'DOOM'
DON'T BELIEVE THE BIG THREE"
LIFE AFTER 'DOOM' - New York Post
By PATRICK MCILHERAN
Last updated: 2:00 am
December 9, 2008
Posted: 1:49 am
December 9, 2008
MILWAUKEE
SPOT us $34 billion, say the Detroit carmakers, or it's doom, doom for all. They fling threatening figures like "3 million unemployed." Suppliers, said an industry CEO last week, may "implode."
Implosion? Doom? Been there, at least in Kenosha, Wis., a place with a useful lesson.
The industrial city had a pair of car plants for decades, making Ramblers, Pacers and, finally, Chryslers until 1988, when much of it shut down and 5,400 people lost their jobs. That's a lot in a city of, then, 80,000 people.
"MON., DEC 8, 2008 - 11:04 AM
Let workers keep secret ballots
A Wisconsin State Journal editorial
The Democrats in Wisconsin's congressional delegation -- all of them -- have lost their way on an issue essential to democracy.
Voters should urge them to find their way back."
WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL
The issue is secret ballots, one of Americans' most fundamental rights.
Democrats in Congress have made it a high priority to pass early next year legislation that would take away the right to a secret ballot in union-organizing elections.
Wisconsin Democratic Reps. Tammy Baldwin, Ron Kind, Steve Kagen, Gwen Moore and David Obey, along with Sens. Russ Feingold and Herb Kohl are all co-sponsors.
"Rodgers was 19-of-30 passing for 295 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. His passer rating was 104.2." Texans 24, Packers 21: Playoff hopes fade | greenbaypressgazette.com | Green Bay Press-Gazette
"6 December 2008, 11:50 pm. No Comments. Filed under Congress.
La. voters oust indicted Rep. William Jefferson
Voters in Louisiana ousted indicted Democratic Rep. William Jefferson on Saturday, instead electing a Republican attorney who will be the first Vietnamese-American in Congress.
Unofficial results showed Anh “Joseph” Cao denying Jefferson a 10th term. Republicans made an aggressive push to take the seat from the 61-year-old incumbent, who has pleaded not guilty to charges of bribery, laundering money and misusing his congressional office.
Cao, 41, won a predominantly black and heavily Democratic district that covers most of New Orleans.
Finally….a bit of common sense!" An Ol’ Broad’s Ramblings
"TED WANTS CAROLINE
KENNEDYS LOBBY FOR HILL SEAT"
TED WANTS CAROLINE - New York Post
By BRADEN KEIL, GINGER ADAMS OTIS and FREDRIC U. DICKER
Powerful senator and family patriarch Ted Kennedy has been working back channels to promote niece Caroline as the replacement for Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Senate, family sources told The Post.
A family member told The Post that a second Kennedy in the Senate is a "strong possibility."
Caroline may have been the most famous young girl in America in the early 1960s when dad John F. Kennedy was president, but she has never held public office and has spent most of her adult life out of the limelight.
Caroline had been more interested in being ambassador to the United Nations, the source said. But after that position went to Susan Rice last Monday, she called Paterson and the two discussed Clinton's Senate seat, the governor confirmed Friday.
"Preparing our Hearts and asking for the Grace
We prepare this week by stepping up the longing. We move through this week by naming deeper and more specific desires.
Each morning this week, if even for that brief moment at the side of our beds, we want to light a second inner candle. We want to let it represent "a bit more hope." Perhaps we can pause, breathe deeply and say,
"Lord, I place my trust in you."
Each day this week, as we encounter times that are rushed, even crazy, we can take that deep breath, and make that profound prayer. Each time we face some darkness, some experience of "parched land" or desert, some place where we feel "defeated" or "trapped," we hear the words, "Our God will come to save us!"
The grace we desire for this week is to be able to hear the promise and to invite our God to come into those real places of our lives that dearly need God's coming. We want to be able to say:
"Lord, I place my trust in your promise. Please, Lord, rouse your power and come into this place in my life, this relationship, into this deep self-defeating pattern. Please come here and save me."
Each night this week we can look back over the day and give thanks for the moments of deep breath, that opened a space for more trust and confidence in God's fidelity to us. No matter how difficult the challenges we are facing - from the growing realization of our personal sinfulness, to any experience of emptiness or powerlessness, even in the face of death itself - we can give thanks for the two candles that faithfully push back the darkness. And, we can give thanks for the graces given us to believe that "Our God will come to save us" because we were given the courageous faith to desire and ask boldly.
Come, Lord Jesus. Come and visit your people.
We await your coming. Come, O Lord." Second Week of Advent - 2008
