Windows Update error 0x80070020, Meal splurge, monthly shopping

I had been unable to get any Microsoft Updates for a few months, nor was I getting any automatic updates. Had NO idea what was causing the error message to come-up every time I tried. It was an error message right after I went to the update page and a page showed-up saying I needed to update after it checked for the latest update software. And now I just cannot remember what the error number was - possibly 0x80070020. I knew I should've written it down. *sigh* Anyway, I went into the knowledge base and found the answer, and that was to exit Spybot SD Resident and try again. And it worked! When you restart your computer the SD Resident should automatically be turned back on. I also just found out that once you get the updates downloaded and installed, that you don't have to disable the SD Resident anymore. YAY!

Today has been a pretty productive and satisfying day so far. We were paid today, so we went to Lebanon, MO and did our beginning of the month shopping, after we went to the cigarette store and spent more than we should've (bought a month's worth this time), went and filled-up the van's gas tank ($60), stopped at yet another store and got our hope tickets, then did our "payday meal splurge" at Steak & Shake. Last time we were in Lebanon we had noticed it and realized it was new. So today we went there for lunch, and it was de-lish-e-ish! After that we went to the WM Supercenter and dropped-off our van for an oil change (hadn't been done since we bought it 2 years ago. LOL), and while that was being done went into the store and got a months worth of every essential we could afford (cat food, dog food, etc). So now we are good to go for this month. YAY! Even got some more white vinegar and bleach for the pool, which I've already added. Hopefully (probably?) we will be shutting it down before we need to add any more. For now though, the pool is pretty clean and ready for any swimmers who want to dive in (except there's 'no diving' because it's not that deep. *grin*)

Other things that I got done once we were home: Water some plants, cleaned the litter boxes, and ran the dishwasher. The rest of the weekend should be a nice and relaxing one.

Technorati : Spybot SD Resident, Steak and Shake, Windows Update error 0x80070020, Windows XP

Broody chicken and a swimming pool

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. I could say, "Good morning", but I have a feeling that by the time I get this done and sent, it'll be afternoon, at least here. Then again, maybe not, because I really have nothing to report from the homestead. sigh. The weather the last several days have been beautiful, in the high 80 and low 90's. Oddly enough, even when it's been in the mid 90's it's felt nice, when you compare it to the 104+ that it was just a couple of weeks ago.

We have yet another chicken that has gone broody. She's the one that has been sitting in a nesting box in the coop, and either pecked you or threatened to when you went to look under her looking for eggs. She hasn't laid an egg in I don't know how long. We'd toss her out at their supper time to eat, only to find her right back in her box a few minutes later. But apparently she has been eating, because she isn't skinny or anything, just don't know when. Well, a couple of nights ago we decided to take pity on her and put her in one of the empty broody cages. We put 7 eggs under her. Would've put more, but our chickens are not laying very many eggs these days (1 to 3 a day). Anyway, she seems content now that she's destined to be a mom in just 19 more days. My wife said just the other day, "We're almost down to a critical amount of eggs, I've only got 12 dozen in the refrigerator!" LOL.

Umm, not much else happening. I got in the pool yesterday and scooped out a few leaves that had gathered on the bottom. I also took that opportunity to scrub some of the algae that had accumulated, loosening it up so that the filter could, well, filter it. *grin* Left the pool pump running all night so that the floating algae could get caught in the filter. Was just out there a little bit ago and noticed that a LOT more filtering needs to happen, because there is quite a few hundred thousand algae bits floating around. Okay, maybe not THAT many, but quite a few.

Well, that's all I've got! So I guess I can go ahead and say it. GOOD MORNING! :-)

Tags: chickens, broody, swimming, pools, weather in Missouri

Our week

As someone else mentioned, we went to a birthday/unbirthday party on Monday. Had a good time visiting with friends like Ameryeth whom we hadn't seen for close to a year. Also hadn't seen the Whimsperation lady and her family in a long time either. There was also the writer of the blog called "Thoughts of a Goddess" and her family who we hadn't seen in way too long as well. Although I had originally planned on swimming that day, the trip there was precarious - it rained the whole way there, which put a damper on my swim-mood. That and my son had said, "It's cold!" after he jumped in the water. Hence, although it was warm enough, I chose not to partake in the water games. Yeah, later on I felt kind of guilty for not swimming, and thinking I probably came off as a party pooper. I hope not, but  I still feel like I may have. *sigh* Well, part of the reason I was a little down while there was because I grew more and more envious of everyone except me who had high speed Internet, and I let it get to me. That's because just about everyone we know has it - and we don't. *sigh* And until we can get better fencing and some meat animals (cows would be the easiest to prepare for, but they cost money too), we can't afford $50/month for Satellite Internet. Oh, we have chickens, but because their free range area is quite large, they're very tough after butchering them. Besides which, one can only eat so much chicken/one thing. Even if was had cows, it would take a while before we ate them, most likely because they're cheaper to buy when they're young, and that's probably when we'd buy one or more with our on our limited income (social security disability). Anyway, our daughter decided to stay with our friends until today, Thursday, so we came home on Monday evening without her. That's the first time since 1999 that she's been gone overnight and us not tucking her into bed. Even our dog missed her. She (the dog) went out and sniffed the doors of the van thinking our DD would be coming out. Was very cute! I can hardly wait to hear of her adventures, and give her a big hug and kiss. We've missed her!

On Monday I also had a doctor's appointment (neurologist). Nothing to report of any significance. It was just a check-up. I was hoping he would give me samples of the 2 medications that he prescribed that the prescription insurance won't pay for (each would be over $100), but he didn't give me any samples.

Today we went to the store, got some groceries and a switch for the pool pump. I installed it shortly after getting home, and I was right, the switch we had installed just a few weeks ago had gone bad. We think water must've gotten inside the casing and caused the switch to burn out. There was a hole in the bag we had over it, where the switch protruded. I put on a new bag today, and will check it more often to make sure another hole doesn't develop.

How's your week/day been?

Tags: birthday, unbirthday, party, swimming, switch, pool, prescription insurance

Hungry kitties. Rain. Visiting w/friends

Meet our kitties. I was sitting at the computer when my wife went in to feed them, when the table just filled-up, so I figured it was a good idea to take a picture. *grin* Guess we had some hungry kitties, eh? :-)

We finally got some glorious rain last evening. We also got plenty of thunder and lightening. The temperature dropped from 95 to 80 within an hour of the rain starting (plus it was evening). We sat out on the porch for a while just enjoying the coolness that we had so been missing. So, if the scorching temps (100's) are indeed passed, and it rains a little more frequently than once a month, I will finally have to mow the yard. I haven't mown for over 3 weeks. It's been SO hot and SO dry that the grass hasn't been growing. Even after about a half an hour of the rain last night, you could see how much the grass liked it and looked a little more green than it had in quite a while.

Some friends visited with us on Wednesday! The temperature that day register 109*F on our porch, in the shade. Their son and our son played video games for a while while we adults talked. Eventually their daughter just HAD to swim, so everyone who was going to swim, got ready and headed for the pool. Since we (parents) get to swim pretty much any time we want, we let our guests and our son enjoy to pool. As far as I could tell, they had a great time. I was LOVELY, AWESOME to see them again. It had been way too long! They say they might come back one day next week. That would be wonderful!

Speaking of visiting friends, we have an appointment with a doctor on Monday morning, and while we're in town we're going to drop by another friends place. They have a pool too. Plus if everything goes as planned, there'll be two other families with kids there and we will have a blast!

Technorati : cats, family, friends, kittens, kitties, pools, rain, swimming

10 Impeachable offences committed by Bush and Cheney

1. Launching an illegal war of aggression against Iraq which violated the U.N. Charter, using fraud to justify the war to the U.S. Congress and the public, and misusing government funds to begin bombing without Congressional authorization.

2. Violating U.S. and international law by authorizing the torture of thousands of captives, which resulted in the deaths of dozens, while hiding prisoners from the International Committee of the Red Cross.

3. Violating the the Constitution by detaining Americans, legal residents, and non-Americans without due process, charges, or access to council.

4. Violating the Geneva Conventions by targeting civilians, journalists, hospitals, and ambulances, and using illegal weapons, including white phosphorous, depleted uranium, and a new type of napalm [Leave it to these murderous assholes to bring back napalm!]

5. Violating U.S. law and the Constitution by the warrantless wiretapping of the phone calls and e-mail of American citizens.

6. Violating U.S. and state law by obstructing elections [in at least three states] in 2000,2002, 2004, and 2006.

7. Violating the Constitution by using signing statements to defy laws passed by Congress.

8. Violating U.S. law by paying [so-called "journalists"] to disseminate propaganda and misinformation, leaking classified information, and exposing the identity of a covert CIA operative for political gain and retribution.

9. Subverting the Constitution and abusing presidential power by asserting a "Unitary Executive Theory" giving unlimited powers to the President, by obstructing Congress and the Courts review of presidential actions, and by promoting and signing legislation negating the Bill of Rights and the Writ of Habeas Corpus.

10. Gross negligence in failing to assist New Orleans residents after Hurricane Katrina, in ignoring warnings of an Al Qaeda attack prior Sept. 11, 2001, and in increasing air pollution and [failing to recognize and deal with the threat of global warming]. http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/
http://tomdegan.blogspot.com/2007/08/liberal-talking-points.html

Tags: Impeach, Impeachment, Bush, Cheney, war crimes

To send this to a friend, or to read more dispatches, go to tomdispatch.com

Tomgram: Michael Klare, Tough Oil on Tap

News stories just out report that the Bush administration is planning to designate Iran's entire Revolutionary Guard Corps a "specially designated global terrorist" in order to tighten sanctions on that country. This follows a many-months-long drumbeat of U.S. claims against Iran -- for arming not just Shiite militias (and Sunni insurgents) with the most sophisticated roadside bombs to attack American troops, but the Taliban as well (an especially unlikely charge). It also follows a growing eagerness in Congress for passage of the Iran Counter-Proliferation Act; reports of rising administration frustration over the UN Security Council's unwillingness! to pass a third round of sanctions against Iran; a flurry of insider leaks that the Cheney wing of the administration is again pushing for military action against the Iranians and that the Vice President himself has urged the launching of "airstrikes at suspected training camps in Iran run by the Quds force, a special unit of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps"; reports that neocon think-tanks and pundits are joining the attack-Iran fray; constant claims from the President's commanders and diplomats that the hand of Iran is behind any administration misstep in the Middle East. In this context, it's worth remembering that the President has long claimed he would not leave office with the Iranian nuclear situation! unsettled.

Michael Klare's latest piece offers perhaps the crucial context within which to consider Cheney's urge to launch an air assault on Iran. If we are, as Klare writes, entering a "tough-oil era," if global oil supplies are already under intense pressure and oil prices ready to leap on any hint of possible oil disaster anywhere on the planet, then imagine what a major air assault on Iran before January 2009 might mean. Actually, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates helped us imagine just this at his confirmation hearings back in December 2006 when asked about the effects of such an attack: "It's always awkward to talk about hypotheticals in this case. But I think that while Iran cannot attack us directly militarily, I think that their capacity to potentially close off the Persian Gulf to all e! xports of oil, their potential to unleash a significant wave of terror both in the -- well, in the Middle East and in Europe and even here in this country is very real."

Such an attack would, of course, be a straightforward act of global economic madness; but, given the cast of characters ? a classic neocon quip of the pre-Iraq invasion period was ""Everyone wants to go to Baghdad. Real men want to go to Tehran..." -- that hardly takes the possibly off the hypothetical "table" where all "options" so obdurately remain. An assault on Iran aside, Klare, author of the indispensable Blood and Oil: The Dangers and Consequences of America's Growing Dependence on Imported Petroleum, suggests the nature of the hair-raising energy world we are now entering. Tom

Entering the Tough Oil Era

The New Energy Pessimism
By Michael T. Klare

When "peak oil" theory was first widely publicized in such path breaking books as Kenneth Deffeyes' Hubbert's Peak (2001), Richard Heinberg's The Party's Over (2002), David Goodstein's Out of Gas (2004), and Paul Robert's The End of Oil (2004), energy industry officials and their government associates largely ridiculed the notion. An imminent peak -- and subsequent decline -- in global petroleum output was derided as crackpot science with little geological foundation. "Based on [our] analysis," the U.S. Department of Energy confidently asserted in 2004, "[we] would expect conventional oil to peak closer to the middle than to the beginning of the 21st century."

Recently, however, a spate of high-level government and industry reports have begun to suggest that the original peak-oil theorists were far closer to the grim reality of global-oil availability than industry analysts were willing to admit. Industry optimism regarding long-term energy-supply prospects, these official reports indicate, has now given way to a deep-seated pessimism, even in the biggest of Big Oil corporate headquarters.

The change in outlook is perhaps best suggested by a July 27 article in the Wall Street Journal headlined, "Oil Profits Show Sign of Aging." Although reporting staggering second-quarter profits for oil giants Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell -- $10.3 billion for the former, $8.7 billion for the latter -- the Journal sadly noted that investors are bracing for disappointing results in future quarters as the cost of new production rises and output at older fields declines. "All the oil companies are struggling to grow production," explained Peter Hitchens, an analyst at the Teather and Greenwood brokerage house. "[Yet] it's becoming more and more difficult to bring projects in on time and on budget."

Click here to read more of this dispatch.

Tags: Tom Dispatch, Tomgram, Michael Klare, Tough Oil on Tap, peak-oil

Getting up early, and later hunting a coon

*WARNING: Picture of a dead raccoon below*

We have just been trying our darndest to stay cool in this heat. It's been in the high 90's or low 100's for over a week now. Really glad we have that pool! *smile* In fact, we (the whole family) just got through swimming a little bit ago. And yeah, it felt GOOD.

Don't really know what else to say. I'm feeling alright, although I definitely feel better when I'm not roasting to death. *grin* I tend to stay inside most of the day, except for quick excursions to do things outside that aren't too labor intensive or take too long. Yes, we have an air-conditioner, one in the livingroom window, but when it's as hot as it has been, it struggles to keep the livingroom in the low 80's, but when it's 104 outside like it was today (and the last several days), 80 feels really good. *smile*

Rain and the kids are doing well too. Dear Son has become a night owl and usually doesn't go to bed until after 2-3 a.m., lately even later (around 5 or 6 a.m.). Don't know why he won't go to sleep any earlier. *sigh* He started sleeping in the livingroom several months ago when he was sick, and just hasn't moved back into his bedroom, mostly because Dear Daughter confiscated it. So now we have to decide whether to get her to move BACK upstairs, or just have Dear Son move up there. *ponder* Actually, the last few days, Rain has been sleeping up there because there's an A/C up there, and with her getting hot at night, it makes it so she gets somewhat decent sleep. Oddly enough, although heat typically isn't good for people with MS, I am able to get to sleep in our bedroom with just a window fan and a ceiling fan (both on 'high'), and stay asleep most of the night, even though it's usually around 85 in there when I go to bed.

We ALL got up early this morning (as opposed to Dear Daughter and I or Rain), fed the chickens, and were out of here not long after 7:30. We ran (drove really) up to Lebanon and bought a couple of hope (lottery) tickets, went to Wal-Mart and got a few things (not much, didn't need a lot), and stopped at McDonalds for breakfast, and were home around 9:30-9:45. We wanted to get that done before it got hot, and even then it was in the high 80's by the time we got home. *wiping sweat off of my brow* The rest of the day went well. Rain, Dear Daughter, and Dear Son all laid down for a nap. Meanwhile, I vacuumed the bottom and the inside walls of the pool. After that I continued refilling it with water, and dumped 3 bottles of vinegar and 3 of bleach into to it. It looks better than it has all year. I had been putting off doing the vacuuming because of the heat, but I decided I had put it off long enough, and it wasn't too bad as long as I was IN the water. *smile*

All 22 cats are doing well. They stay outside most of the day, except there are usually a few inside trying to stay cool, and several of them stay out all night.

We've got (had?) a raccoon sneaking around outside. Usually only see it's paw prints on the burn barrel, but a couple of days ago Rain saw him in the back yard. We tried to scare him away with a shotgun blast (we couldn't see him anymore). Then today (Aug 11) Rain saw him in the FRONT yard, but he got away before we could shoot him. Fortunately for us, not him though, of course, he came back and we heard the chickens making a ruckus and saw him in the chicken coop. While he was in the chicken yard, we MISSED him 12 times, and then he ran up a tree. I came in and got some more bullets (4 or 5), but by the time I got back out he was back by the lagoon. While I was wandering around getting annoyed by a horse fly, Rain saw him and I followed him into the woods (not far) where he went up another tree. 5 shots later he was down and wounded, but before I could finish him off, I was out of bullets AGAIN. *sigh* Rain ran in and got some more, and I shot him/her (raccoon) in the head about 4 times just to makes SURE he/she was dead. We're NOT going to eat it after all because we don't have a knife sharp enough to butcher it. *frown* Well, maybe by the next time we get one we'll have sharper knives. *crossing fingers*

Well, just when I thought life wasn't too exciting, I got to hunt for the second time in my life, and I killed my second wild beastie (the 1st one was a month or so ago and was an opossum in the hen house). *proud smile*

Tah-tah for now!

Technorati : heat, hunting, opossum, pool, raccoon, wal-mart

Katydid's and life

I posted this on my gather page to get points which will eventually be turned into either a gift certificate or cash. More than likely a gift certificate because I don't accumulate points all that quick. I have a little over 800 right now, and that only earns me a $10 certificate, not enough IMO to cash-in. Really, I'm not trying to 'do' gather to have a 2nd income, although that would be nice, but I just don't think it's feasible in my case. Not a good enough writer, or consistent enough maybe, to earn loads of points. Anyway, what you see in the picture in a Leaf Katydid that sat on our porch for a few hours until a cat chased it off. I have other pictures, but it takes what seems like hours to upload them, so I'll maybe do those later.

Haven't been up to much. It's been in the high 90's or low 100's for several days now, so we don't do much outside. Consequently, life is not real eventful right now. About the only thing that's noteworthy is the behavior of our chicks. They will follow us wherever we go if we're not careful. It's kind of interesting that they've bonded with us so well, even though we don't handle them, just feed them and lead them to their family members that went another direction when they weren't looking. Like I said, life isn't all that exciting right now, hence why I've been quiet on-line.

So without further adieu, I'll let you go and I'll go and watch some preseason NFL football. Stay cool, yawl!

Technorati : chicks, leaf katydid

Pix of a cat, chicks, hens, roosters, book, and flies

Just happened to feel like taking some pictures, so now I'm just going to share them with you :-)

This first one is of "Spot" sleeping like a baby on my wife's lap

clik 2 enlarge

This next one is of the latest and last Harry Potter book that my wife and daughter each read in 2 days.

clk 2 enlarge

The next 3 are of some of the chicks. All but one is approximately 7 weeks old (it's the one in the last chick pic in the middle of the 3). The smallest one is only 3 weeks old.

clik 2 make bigger

clikking enlarges

Yep, it can be biggened :)

Go ahead... click

Make it grow

Speaking of the kind of wildlife we get to see every so often, late yesterday afternoon my wife saw a big ol' raccoon. Hopefully we were able to scare it with the sound of a shotgun going off, and he won't be back anytime soon. *crossing fingers*

Then today I saw what I think was a young doe. I stood as still as I could and just stared at it for a few minutes before it wandered off. Pretty and pretty cool, if'n I do say so myself.

And last and probably least, I wanted to see just how close I could get the camera to the fly on the log, and these are the results. I must apologize in advance because they're not as focused as I was hoping for. And of course all it takes is a click on any of them to see a larger view.

Technorati : birds, chick, chicken, chickens, chicks, harry potter and the deathly hallows, hen, hens, poultry

Bush Isn't Spying on al Qaeda ... He's Spying on You

I got this from an article titled...

Bush Isn't Spying on al Qaeda ... He's Spying on You

Robert Parry, Consortium News

Rights and Liberties: The extraordinary secrecy surrounding the spying operations revealed in Alberto Gonzales' Senate testimony is not aimed at al-Qaeda, but at the American people.

http://tinyurl.com/2bdjcd

1) Do you wear a Casio watch? If the answer is yes, pack your bags - you're headed for Gitmo.

2) Do you have a MySpace page? If yes, you're busted. Prepare to be dragged out of your cushy classroom at any moment by the Secret Service.

3) Are you studying electronics, computer technology, or telecommunications? If yes, you probably also know someone who speaks French. That's a Category 1 / Urgent Priority / Red Flag for Federal investigators. Gitmo.

4) Is there a book or a map anywhere on your campus that describes or depicts anything from "Middle-East-North-Africa"? If yes, you're definitely a terrorist. Here's how the Feds singled you out.

5) Do you own a whistle? If yes, you will probably be mistaken for a "whistle-blower" and are at least a legitimate surveillance target.

Now that you know you're a terrorist, do you think the ACLU can help you? Forget it. The ACLU is bugged, tapped, shadowed, keystroked, hacked, cracked, and otherwise monitored on an hourly basis by the NSA / DoJ / FBI and 20 other black-hat Fed operations. They're even taunting the ACLU about it.

Want to hire a lawyer? Again, forget about it. The DoJ is free to issue a waiver that forces an attorney to break the attorney-client-privilege agreement and turn over all records of communications to Gonzo.

If you really want to understand the situation you're in, read this story about Jerome Heckenkamp's saga at the University of Wisconsin. It's all about private companies, campus system administrators, and the freedom to label a social outsider an "enemy of the corporate state".

Here's the big lesson: forget about spending your college years stealing and trading music files. Get an advanced degree in engineering and study every hour of every day until you graduate. You'll be employed every day for the rest of your life either repairing or rebuilding the infrastructure of the US that's falling apart as I type.

http://tinyurl.com/2bdjcd

1) Do you wear a Casio watch? If the answer is yes, pack your bags - you're headed for Gitmo.

2) Do you have a MySpace page? If yes, you're busted. Prepare to be dragged out of your cushy classroom at any moment by the Secret Service.

3) Are you studying electronics, computer technology, or telecommunications? If yes, you probably also know someone who speaks French. That's a Category 1 / Urgent Priority / Red Flag for Federal investigators. Gitmo.

4) Is there a book or a map anywhere on your campus that describes or depicts anything from "Middle-East-North-Africa"? If yes, you're definitely a terrorist. Here's how the Feds singled you out.

5) Do you own a whistle? If yes, you will probably be mistaken for a "whistle-blower" and are at least a legitimate surveillance target.

Now that you know you're a terrorist, do you think the ACLU can help you? Forget it. The ACLU is bugged, tapped, shadowed, keystroked, hacked, cracked, and otherwise monitored on an hourly basis by the NSA / DoJ / FBI and 20 other black-hat Fed operations. They're even taunting the ACLU about it.

Want to hire a lawyer? Again, forget about it. The DoJ is free to issue a waiver that forces an attorney to break the attorney-client-privilege agreement and turn over all records of communications to Gonzo.

If you really want to understand the situation you're in, read this story about Jerome Heckenkamp's saga at the University of Wisconsin. It's all about private companies, campus system administrators, and the freedom to label a social outsider an "enemy of the corporate state".

Here's the big lesson: forget about spending your college years stealing and trading music files. Get an advanced degree in engineering and study every hour of every day until you graduate. You'll be employed every day for the rest of your life either repairing or rebuilding the infrastructure of the US that's falling apart as I type.

Tags: spying, terrorist, ACLU, al-Qaeda, bush, gitmo, myspace, casio, alternet, fisa, wiretap, surveillance

From the Desk of Senator Claire McCaskill (on healthcare)

Another letter from one of my representatives, probably a "form letter", but still.

----- Original Message -----

From: Senator McCaskill

Sent: Friday, August 03, 2007 11:49 AM

Thank you for contacting me regarding the U.S. National Health Insurance Act (H.R. 676). I appreciate having your comments and welcome the opportunity to respond.

America's medical care is arguably one of the best quality and most modern in the world. But its disgraceful that so many Americans don't have access to this kind of care because they can't afford it and so they go without until they are their loved ones need serious care. As health care costs continue to soar, and the pool of uninsured Americans expands, this country is near the deep end of a healthcare crisis.

In Missouri, well over 600,000 people are uninsured. One proposal is the U.S. National Health Insurance Act, which establishes a new national health insurance program by expanding the Medicare program. Other proposals include expanding the State Children's Health Insurance Program that would provide more low-income children to receive quality health care coverage. I strongly support this legislation, which I am hopeful Congress will approve before the program expires this fall.

There are no easy solutions to America's health care crisis, but it will only get worse the longer we ignore it. While I support healthcare to everyone, we need to fully debate the issues before endorsing one proposal over another. There are a number of measures through which we can reach universal coverage, some are dramatic restructurings of the healthcare system while others bring about gradual change. Congress plays a key role in shaping future health care policies, and I assure you that while I'm in the U.S. Senate I will fight for proposals that would provide the assistance needed so all Americans have access to affordable and quality health care.

Again, I appreciate your taking the time to share your views. Please do not hesitate to contact me in the future regarding other matters of interest or concern to you.

All best,
Senator Claire McCaskill

From the Desk of Senator Claire McCaskill (About Gonzales)

I actually wanted her to vote to IMPEACH his ass, but I guess this'll have to do... FOR NOW.

 

----- Original Message -----

From: Senator McCaskill

Sent: Friday, August 03, 2007 11:04 AM

Thank you for writing me regarding our nation's Attorney General, Alberto Gonzalez. I share your concerns.

As our nation's top law enforcement official, the Attorney General is responsible for setting the standard of justice for our nation, and it has become all too clear that Mr. Gonzales is failing in this duty. I am extremely concerned that the decision to dismiss eight U.S. Prosecuting Attorneys was based on partisan concerns, and not professional performance. As a former prosecutor, I understand that once a prosecutor takes their oath, they are to remain loyal only to the rule of law, not partisan politics. We must not allow the Department of Justice to be reduced to a political arm of the White House.

The Department of Justice plays a crucial role in the investigation, pursuit, and prosecution of criminal activity. In this effort, we must have prosecutors who feel free to act independently of party politics, as well as a credible Attorney General who holds the confidence of Congress and the American people. I do not believe that Mr. Gonzales can fill that role. Mr. Gonzales' testimony before Congress, full of contradictions and failed memory, did not restore my confidence in his leadership and priorities. So, I recently joined my colleagues in an effort to hold a vote of no-confidence in Mr. Gonzales - not to play partisan games, but to express my heartfelt belief that our country deserves better. Today, I remain as convinced as ever that the Attorney General should resign and the President should quickly replace him with someone who can provide strong, responsible leadership.

Again, thank you for sharing your thoughts with me. Please do not hesitate to contact me if I can be of further assistance.

All best,
Senator Claire McCaskill

Hay bales and pictures of (plus chicks & hen)

Haven't been up to much because it's been friggin' HOT! Today it in the high 90's F. Yesterday it was only in the low 90's. We planned on going to the homeschool playday at the park this afternoon, but due to reconsideration because of the heat, we changed our minds. And instead invited those who also feel it's too hot for the park, to come here and have a dip in the pool. So far haven't heard anything.

A couple of days ago the neighbor up the road came and brush-hogged the pasture and other field which would eventually be turned into bales of hay. Yesterday he came and made 7 large, round bales. If you click on the pictures, they appear to get larger :-)

Here's his tractor and one of the bales he made.

This is one of said bales.

And a couple more.

This is almost the same as the one above, 'cept you can see 3 instead of 2 bales.

And last but not least, a picture of a momma hen and her babies who're 5 weeks old, running away from me. *grin*

Guess I was wrong about the previous one being the "last" one. Here's a picture of our pool water, close-up. Bet you can't guess who's head that is. LOL.

Technorati : baler, bales, farm, farmers, farming, farms, grass, hay, hay bales, homestead, homesteading, missouri, mo, pasture, round bales, tractor