an Innkeeper...it sounds so delicious...

Dream? Yes I have one...I want to be an Innkeeper. That is to say. I would love to own a Bed and Breakfast. So, to that end, I am working toward that goal. First, the education. What it takes to be a good innkeeper. I don't want to be just a good innkeeper...I want to be the best. So that people from all around the globe will want to visit, and thus...give me the opportunity to be gainfully employed in something I love...in a home I would enjoy, and truth be told...retire from work that just does not suit me.

So what is it like to be an Innkeeper?

Just ask these people. They have 10 reasons...

Top Ten Reasons I love being an Innkeeper:

I get to meet the most awesome people.

I love people and have so many opportunities to express that love.

I enjoy watching people unwind, relax and mellow each day they are with us.

Sometimes I feel I was born to serve people, so innkeeping makes me feel personally fulfilled.

I had a restaurant (now that was a hate thing).....and the only part of that business that I really enjoyed...was serving people, talking with people and giving them a wonderful experience.

I can't tell you what reading the comments in our guest books does for me emotionally. I turn to mush, not really believing it could have been that great an experience.

I love to cook simple, normal breakfast food and I have no place to put the accolades I get for that.

It blows me away that people just want to sit and chat for hours...I listen to their stories and tell mine.

To feel their gratitude because I waited up late and welcomed them to the inn after traffic problems, endless drives, airport delays, snow storms, etc., etc., .....what a blessing that is to me.

I still can't believe (after five years of innkeeping) I can make a living doing something that is so much fun! I am one happy innkeeper!

Philip & Ellen Wolff,


Now that is the ticket...I love that. And so...I will be an innkeeper, it makes sense.

Wish me luck...

Love,
The Lass

Oh...and for a little inspiration.



Now...I am not saying that I would have such a visit...but who really knows what visitor will come...looking for comfort...or simple conversation...a bale of hay...and that is a very nice thought. And in my Inn...all will be welcome...hearth and home.

Love,
The lass

Quote by Jewish Proverb
The innkeeper loves a drunkard, but not for a son-in-law

The Tao of Pooh...think not??? Ah...follow me...rabbit

Ah, yes, the teachings of Pooh, the great master and philosopher. This is the premise for the book "The Tao of Pooh" by Benjamin Hoff. In it, Pooh is characterized as a simple bear who provides "invaluable lessons on simplicity and natural living". Basically, Pooh's simple-minded phrases can be pause for deeper thought when used in or out of context.

"I think, therefore I am." --- René Descartes
"Think, think, think." --- Winnie-the-Pooh

You scoff at this? How can you?

With such poetic wisdom as this...

Aha!" said Pooh. (Rum-tum-tiddle-um-tum.) "If I know anything about anything, that hole means Rabbit," he said, "and Rabbit means Company," he said, "and Company means Food and Listening-to-Me-Humming and such like. Rum-tum-tum-tiddle-um. So he bend down, put his head into the hole, and called out: "Is anybody at home?" There was a sudden scuffling noise from inside the hole, and then silence. "What I said was, 'Is anybody at home?'" called out Pooh very loudly. "No!" said a voice; and then added, "You needn't shout so loud. I heard you quite well the first time." "Bother!" said Pooh. "Isn't there anybody here at all?" "Nobody." Winnie-the-Pooh took his head out of the hole, and thought for a little, and he thought to himself, "There must be somebody there, because somebody must have said 'Nobody'".


Could a stuffed bear really come up with these gems?

If you live to be 100, I hope I live to be 100 minus 1 day, so I never have to live without you.

“You can't stay in your corner of the Forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes.”

“Sometimes, if you stand on the bottom rail of a bridge and lean over to watch the river slipping slowly away beneath you, you will suddenly know everything there is to be known.”

A little Consideration, a little Thought for Others, makes all the difference.

“"I don't see much sense in that," said Rabbit.
"No," said Pooh humbly, "there isn't. But there was going to be when I began it. It's just that something happened to it along the way."”

Those who are clever, who have a Brain, never understand anything.

And who can argue with this wisdom?

You can't help respecting anybody who can spell TUESDAY, even if he doesn't spell it right; but spelling isn't everything. There are days when spelling Tuesday simply doesn't count.”

Yes indeed the Tao of Pooh...and quite honestly Descarte was so full of himself...and little Pooh...well he never really saw himself as that much to think about. Thinking about oneself can sometimes lead to things you would rather not think about. Or something like that.

I do believe I am...and I am certain I think...I am just not so certain that it adds up to a hill of beans. Diana Miller whoever she is...

Love,
The Lass

I had a conversation with one of my friends...about being a mother...

The difficulty with describing what mothering is...is there is too much to describe. Not all mothers are good ones. As for me...well I believe it is a little like this..


To Jannine, El Cid, Carlene,Cindy...and all of the mothers I love...this one...is yours.

And how proper it is that it should be done...so efficiently. I just love that.

Love,
The Lass

Gloria in Excelsis Deo

Love,
The Lass

Happy Birthday, Dear Yeshua, Happy Birthday to You!

Happy Birthday indeed

Love,
The Lass

a soldier's christmas

Santa don't cry...this life is my choice...

To all the guardians of light...

May God bless you this night.


Love,
The Lass

Joy to the world....JOY JOY

Merry Christmas. And much joy to the world !!!!

And may this joy find your hearts. This is a day for celebration. And although I will work later tonight...I am am at the moment filled with the joy I experience each year.

I miss my family...and third year..no tree. Yet heaven and earth are in such a joyful state...nothing can erase my feelings....nothing.

And so...for all those I love, and hold dear...it is a day to be joyfull...and praise the King of Kings, Lord of Lords.



Thank goodness...we were blessed with this wonderful gift...

Happy Birthday...to our Blessed Saviour.

Love,
The Lass...

Oh...and keep a candle in the window for me....

Missing you all...so very, very much.

A fire as it is reported..but I know the rest of the story

Here is how it was reported in the Seattle Post Inelligencer....

Two fires Tuesday in Everett
Everett firefighters responded to two fires early Tuesday, but no major injuries were reported.

In the first fire, an Everett house in the 1900 block of Highland Avenue burned at about 3 a.m.

Nobody was home at the time, and no injuries were reported.

"Balloon-frame construction had allowed fire to quickly spread into the ceiling and crawl space causing extensive damage," Everett Fire Marshall Glen Martinsen said.

The structure was a total loss, and the cause is under investigation.

In the second, a double-wide mobile home was destroyed in the 7700 block of Hardeson Road.

A woman who alerted her two sons to the fire was hospitalized, but expected to survive. Her sons made it out safety.

The mobile home was a total loss, and the cause was under investigation.

The Red Cross is providing shelter for the family, Martinsen said.


The second fire...

The second fire involved two people I work with. One is Kate..."the mother of the two sons" who is currently in the hospital. Kate is 75 years old. She is a fantastic woman...and she did get injured. She lost everything. As Kate says..."all of her memories...a lifetime of them" And this is a sorrowful thing for Kate...sadly, Kate's daughter in law works with us as well. Tracy is suffering for her mother in laws loss...and this Christmas will be difficult...for this family.

To Kate, all my love. To Tracy...the same.

I wish that this had not happened at this time. I saw Richard tonight, one of Kate's sons...and he said..."Why on December 23rd?" I had no answer. While others are celebrating the birth of Christ...or some secular day...This family is struggling.

Our little Corporate family will help...and did respond immediately. Kate is one of us...and we are praying for a speedy recovery.

My thoughts and prayers are with you tonight Kate...come back strong...and fiesty. Just the way we have grown to love you.

Love,
The Lass

a birth....and all is changed.

There may be people who do not believe, but they have been touched. There are people that will scoff, but they will wonder...could I be wrong? If you do not believe, there is little that will make you do so...because what evidence of the Divine will intrude on your secular belief? None...but I believe...why? Because, I have no other way to explain the Divinity of love...and the promise of hope for the redemption of man. Do we need redemption? We have always needed that.

And so we near a celebration of a birth...and this birth...changed something. You may not think so...



But I do...

Love,
The Lass

Go home with Bonnie Jean....

I just love this song...

And it reminds me of the joys...of all things Celtic.

So...enjoy



You cannot be sad...when you watch this...if so...you are just not human.

Love,
The Lass

a gift...and a parable there... I think

Love, generosity, and the various definitions of wealth and poverty are central themes in "The Gift of the Magi," in which a poor, loving young husband and wife sell the only valuable things they own to give each other special Christmas gifts. Delia Young sells her beautiful hair to buy Jim a platinum watch chain, and Jim sells his heirloom watch to buy Delia some tortoise-shell hair combs. These gifts are useless, in one sense; Delia cannot wear her combs without her hair, and Jim, without his watch, cannot use his watch chain.

And you know...I rather think that no matter what the language. We all understand the gift...and what it really means.



The theme for 'The Gift of the Magi' is that love is more important than any material item. Della and Jim, the two main characters, demonstrated the theme. This theme also occurs in the 'real world.'

The theme in this short story has a deep meaning. One way to interpret the theme is that love will last a lifetime, and material gifts will not. Another interpretation is that people will always remember how much they love someone or how much someone loves them, but they will not necessarily remember a certain material gift. Also, many people can give more love than money can buy and it is often valued more.

This is a thought for all those couples who love and all of us...not coupled who know its meaning...no matter what the language.

It is almost time...getting closer. The very special day...I love to celebrate.

Merry Christmas,

Love
The Lass

oh...and if you are planning on getting your loved one a gift...you may want to remember...that those two souls gave and received the wisest and most precious gift - that of human emotion and affection. Just a hint for those who are struggling with the economy...

the ecstasy of moment...and Lewis's conversion...

this is the story...of a man's conversion...and I cannot write better...than what he has written himself.



maybe the journey is like that for some...not easy to explain the moment...but it is so powerful, that even an athiest can give rise to it. What a source...to bring a man closer to truth. I love that.

And I love C.S.Lewis. And I love what he felt for his wife Joy. I have often visited that relationship and thought...how wonderful to have such a love...even for a short time. It is for me, a witness to the possiblity of it happening.

A christmas gift to me.

Love,
The Lass

a missle crisis and a carol...think not?...think again...

In the midst of the cuban missle crisis...a married couple, sat down and wrote a song. In 1962, while we ducked...and covered, this couple, wrote a tune. That tune would become one of the most popular of Christmas Carols.

The Lyrics:

Said the night wind to the little lamb,
"Do you see what I see?
Way up in the sky, little lamb,
Do you see what I see?
A star, a star, dancing in the night
With a tail as big as a kite,
With a tail as big as a kite."
Said the little lamb to the shepherd boy,
"Do you hear what I hear?
Ringing through the sky shepherd boy,
Do you hear what I hear?
A song, a song, high above the trees
With a voice as big as the sea,
With a voice as big as the sea."
Said the shepherd boy to the mighty king,
"Do you know what I know?
In your palace warm, mighty king,
Do you know what I know?
A Child, a Child, shivers in the cold;
Let us bring him silver and gold,
Let us bring him silver and gold."
Said the king to the people everywhere,
"Listen to what I say!
Pray for peace, people everywhere,
Listen to what I say!
The Child, the Child, sleeping in the night,
He will bring us goodness and light,
He will bring us goodness and light."
"Bring us Light!"


And so you know the rest of the story...


and here is Bing...



And this is what we all heard...



We heard and so did someone else...and that I believe also had a little to do with the fact, that we can still hear...the carol. Prayers are answered in most unusual ways.

Getting closer to the day...

Merry Christmas,
The Lass

oh...and the couple?

Noel Regney (1922-2002) was a Frenchman trained as a classical composer who was drafted into the German army in World War II. He deserted and joined the French Resistance. After the war ended, Regney joined the French Overseas Radio Service and worked out of French Indochina until moving to Manhattan in 1952. He met Gloria Shayne while she was working as a pianist in a hotel dinning room and married her a month later. With Regney writing the music and Shayne the lyrics, the pair had a string of successful songs in late '50s and early '60s, including "Dominique" in 1963 by Soeur Sourire, the Singing Nun.

the beginnings of a story...and then we read on

All stories begin with a sentance...and that one phrase, leads us on. We are hooked in a few words. But some beginnings, are remembered and become part of our lexicon...like these...

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times; it ws the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness; it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity; it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness; it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair; we had everything before us, we had nothing before us; we were all going directly to Heaven, we were all going the other way." - Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens


It is a curious thing that at my age, fifty-five last birthday, I should find myself taking up a pen to try and write a history. King Solomon's Mines - H.R. Haggard

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen

I had the story, bit by bit, from various people, and, as generally happens in such cases, each time it was a different story. Ethan Frome - Edith Wharton


Call me Ishmael. Moby-Dick-Herman Melville

and so it is with all beginnings. We remember a word or may a look...or maybe just a sound. But we move on...read on, and that begins the story.

I think of beginnings, and then I wonder...how many beginnings have I encountered, and wondered...where will this story take me...and what will be its end.

One of my favorite movie openings...I had a farm in Africa...such a few words, and I felt every one.

We are coming close to the holy day. The holiest of holy days.

Merry Christmas,
The Lass

oh holy night...and a little miracle

The journey of the beloved carol "O Holy Night" began in France, eventually making its way around the world. This simple song, inspired by a request from a clergyman, would not only become one of the most beloved anthems of all time, it would mark a technological revolution that would forever change the way people were introduced to music.

In 1847, Placide Cappeau de Roquemaure was the commissionaire of wines in a small French town. Known more for his poetry than his church attendance, it probably shocked Placide when his parish priest asked the commissionaire to pen a poem for Christmas mass. Nevertheless, the poet was honored to share his talents with the church.

In a dusty coach traveling down a bumpy road to France's capital city, Placide Cappeau considered the priest's request. Using the gospel of Luke as his guide, Cappeau imagined witnessing the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. Thoughts of being present on the blessed night inspired him. By the time he arrived in Paris, "Cantique de Noel" had been completed.

Moved by his own work, Cappeau decided that his "Cantique de Noel" was not just a poem, but a song in need of a master musician's hand. Not musically inclined himself, the poet turned to one of his friends, Adolphe Charles Adams, for help.

The son of a well-known classical musician, Adolphe had studied in the Paris conservatoire. His talent and fame brought requests to write works for orchestras and ballets all over the world. Yet the lyrics that his friend Cappeau gave him must have challenged the composer in a fashion unlike anything he received from London, Berlin, or St. Petersburg.

As a man of Jewish ancestry, for Adolphe the words of "Cantique de Noel" represented a day he didn't celebrate and a man he did not view as the son of God. Nevertheless, Adams quickly went to work, attempting to marry an original score to Cappeau's beautiful words. Adams' finished work pleased both poet and priest. The song was performed just three weeks later at a Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve

Initially, "Cantique de Noel" was wholeheartedly accepted by the church in France and the song quickly found its way into various Catholic Christmas services. But when Placide Cappeau walked away from the church and became a part of the socialist movement, and church leaders discovered that Adolphe Adams was a Jew, the song--which had quickly grown to be one of the most beloved Christmas songs in France--was suddenly and uniformly denounced by the church. The heads of the French Catholic church of the time deemed "Cantique de Noel" as unfit for church services because of its lack of musical taste and "total absence of the spirit of religion." Yet even as the church tried to bury the Christmas song, the French people continued to sing it, and a decade later a reclusive American writer brought it to a whole new audience halfway around the world.

Not only did this American writer--John Sullivan Dwight--feel that this wonderful Christmas song needed to be introduced to America, he saw something else in the song that moved him beyond the story of the birth of Christ. An ardent abolitionist, Dwight strongly identified with the lines of the third verse: "Truly he taught us to love one another; his law is love and his gospel is peace. Chains shall he break, for the slave is our brother; and in his name all oppression shall cease." The text supported Dwight's own view of slavery in the South. Published in his magazine, Dwight's English translation of "O Holy Night" quickly found favor in America, especially in the North during the Civil War.

Back in France, even though the song had been banned from the church for almost two decades, many commoners still sang "Cantique de Noel" at home. Legend has it that on Christmas Eve 1871, in the midst of fierce fighting between the armies of Germany and France, during the Franco-Prussian War, a French soldier suddenly jumped out of his muddy trench. Both sides stared at the seemingly crazed man. Boldly standing with no weapon in his hand or at his side, he lifted his eyes to the heavens and sang, "Minuit, Chretiens, c'est l'heure solennelle ou L'Homme Dieu descendit jusqu'a nous," the beginning of "Cantique de Noel."

After completing all three verses, a German infantryman climbed out his hiding place and answered with, "Vom Himmel noch, da komm' ich her. Ich bring' euch gute neue Mar, Der guten Mar bring' ich so viel, Davon ich sing'n und sagen will," the beginning of Martin Luther's robust "From Heaven Above to Earth I Come."

The story goes that the fighting stopped for the next twenty-four hours while the men on both sides observed a temporary peace in honor of Christmas day. Perhaps this story had a part in the French church once again embracing "Cantique de Noel" in holiday services.

Adams had been dead for many years and Cappeau and Dwight were old men when on Christmas Eve 1906, Reginald Fessenden--a 33-year-old university professor and former chief chemist for Thomas Edison--did something long thought impossible. Using a new type of generator, Fessenden spoke into a microphone and, for the first time in history, a man's voice was broadcast over the airwaves: "And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed," he began in a clear, strong voice, hoping he was reaching across the distances he supposed he would.

Shocked radio operators on ships and astonished wireless owners at newspapers sat slack-jawed as their normal, coded impulses, heard over tiny speakers, were interrupted by a professor reading from the gospel of Luke. To the few who caught this broadcast, it must have seemed like a miracle--hearing a voice somehow transmitted to those far away. Some might have believed they were hearing the voice of an angel.

Fessenden was probably unaware of the sensation he was causing on ships and in offices; he couldn't have known that men and women were rushing to their wireless units to catch this Christmas Eve miracle. After finishing his recitation of the birth of Christ, Fessenden picked up his violin and played "O Holy Night," the first song ever sent through the air via radio waves. When the carol ended, so did the broadcast--but not before music had found a new medium that would take it around the world.

Since that first rendition at a small Christmas mass in 1847, "O Holy Night" has been sung millions of times in churches in every corner of the world. And since the moment a handful of people first heard it played over the radio, the carol has gone on to become one of the entertainment industry's most recorded and played spiritual songs. This incredible work--requested by a forgotten parish priest, written by a poet who would later split from the church, given soaring music by a Jewish composer, and brought to Americans to serve as much as a tool to spotlight the sinful nature of slavery as tell the story of the birth of a Savior--has become one of the most beautiful, inspired pieces of music ever created.

Reprinted from "Stories Behind the Best-Loved Songs of Christmas" for educational purposes only, from Zondervan.

O Holy Night
O holy night! The stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of the dear Saviour's birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining.
Till He appeared and the Spirit felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees! Oh, hear the angel voices!
O night divine, the night when Christ was born;
O night, O holy night, O night divine!
O night, O holy night, O night divine!

Led by the light of faith serenely beaming,
With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand.
O'er the world a star is sweetly gleaming,
Now come the wisemen from out of the Orient land.
The King of kings lay thus lowly manger;
In all our trials born to be our friends.
He knows our need, our weakness is no stranger,
Behold your King! Before him lowly bend!
Behold your King! Before him lowly bend!

Truly He taught us to love one another,
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains he shall break, for the slave is our brother.
And in his name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
With all our hearts we praise His holy name.
Christ is the Lord! Then ever, ever praise we,
His power and glory ever more proclaim!
His power and glory ever more proclaim!

What do I love about this story? I love the words...and some more than others. Such as...

Long lay the world in sin and error pining.
Till He appeared and the Spirit felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices

That is it isn't it, the fact that the world in sin and error pining...I just love that line.

And here is how it sounds, when song by those who know how to do it well.



enjoy...and the story...is a good one.

getting close...

Love,
The Lass

a song...and a little story.

I love songs and the stories that go with them. Now you all know the great carol, Silent Night. But as is my custom, I will share with you the story of that wonderful piece of music.

It was a 'Silent Night' indeed when this beloved song was first composed. If not for a broken pipe organ, the world likely would have been without its most popular Christmas carol.

Perhaps it was that very silence that inspired the Reverend Joseph Mohr to pen those now-famous words in 1818. At the time, it was probably sheer desperation rather than inspiration that motivated him.

As Father Mohr prepared for Christmas Eve Mass in his church in the small Austrian village of Oberndorf, someone discovered that the church's ancient organ was out of commission. With only a few days to go and the nearest repairman several days journey away, it appeared as though Mass would have to commence without musical accompaniment.

Feeling thwarted in his efforts to plan a memorable Christmas, Fr. Mohr set about to manufacture another plan. This was in the midst of all of his regular parish duties, including the blessing of a newborn infant. On this particular call, Fr. Mohr was suddenly struck by the words to what is now known as "Silent Night," or "Stille Nacht" in his native tongue. Quickly, so as not to lose the lines that were rapidly filling his brain, he finished his call and raced home. Here he penned four stanzas, the first of which reads in English:

Silent Night, Holy night,
All is calm, all is bright,
Round yon' virgin, Mother and child.
Holy infant so tender and mild,
Sleep in Heavenly peace.

When he had set his words to parchment, he called upon his colleague, Franz Gruber, the musician who trained the parish choir. He managed to finagle from him the fact that, in addition to his organ prowess, Gruber was also a guitar player. Gruber emphatically informed him, however, that his guitar skills were less than proficient. Undeterred, Mohr presented the words to his new poem to Gruber. Rounding up a dusty, little-used guitar, the two men composed the song that would provide music for Oberndorf's Christmas Mass.

It was unlikely at the time that either Mohr or Gruber had any inkling of the impact they would have on history. In fact, the song disappeared into near obscurity for a decade. It was then that "Silent Night" fell into the hands of the Strasser family of Zillertal Valley.

The four young, musically-trained Strasser children spent many an hour drumming up business for their parents' glove-making business by singing in front of the shop. In a manner not unlike a modern talent agent discovering some secret talent in the unlikeliest of places, "Silent Night" was introduced to the Strassers. Rearranged from two-part to four-part harmony, the Strasser children were catapulted to instant renown with their rendition. Valley residents renamed it "The Song From Heaven," since the Strasser children sounded so much like a choir of angels when they performed it. They sang so beautifully, in fact, the Strassers were invited to perform it before kings and queens.

It may have been a king who placed "Silent Night" indelibly on the lips of Christendom. King Frederick William IV of Prussia heard it sung some 22 years after the Strasser children began performing "The Song from Heaven." Afterward, he declared that it should "be given first place in all future Christmas concerts" within the domain of his rule. Whether it really was or not isn't certain. What is certain is that "Silent Night" breached King Frederick's bounds to become loved the world over.

Now enjoy the many voices of Silent Night



The Original so beautiful







I love this song...

so silent night...and holy night...and to my friends...enjoy your time with loved ones and family, and to my family I say, I love you, and we will spend another Christmas together. You can count on it.

Love,
The Lass

it is getting nearer...to a wonderful event...

Christmas, and all of its wonder.

Now...here are some things you may not know...
To avoid persecution during the Roman pagan festival, early Christians decked their homes with Saturnalia holly. As Christian numbers increased and their customs prevailed, the celebrations took on a Christian observance. But the early church actually did not celebrate the birth of Christ in December until Telesphorus, who was the second Bishop of Rome from 125 to 136AD, declared that Church services should be held during this time to celebrate "The Nativity of our Lord and Saviour." However, since no-one was quite sure in which month Christ was born, Nativity was often held in September, which was during the Jewish Feast of Trumpets (modern-day Rosh Hashanah). In fact, for more than 300 years, people observed the birth of Jesus on various dates.

In the year 274AD, solstice fell on 25th December. Roman Emperor Aurelian proclaimed the date as "Natalis Solis Invicti," the festival of the birth of the invincible sun. In 320 AD, Pope Julius I specified the 25th of December as the official date of the birth of Jesus Christ.

In 325AD, Constantine the Great, the first Christian Roman emperor, introduced Christmas as an immovable feast on 25 December. He also introduced Sunday as a holy day in a new 7-day week, and introduced movable feasts (Easter). In 354AD, Bishop Liberius of Rome officially ordered his members to celebrate the birth of Jesus on 25 December.

However, even though Constantine officiated 25 December as the birthday of Christ, Christians, recognising the date as a pagan festival, did not share in the emperor's good meaning. Christmas failed to gain universal recognition among Christians until quite recently. In England, Oliver Cromwell banned Christmas festivities between 1649 and 1660 through the so-called Blue Laws, believing that Christmas should be a solemn day.

When many Protestants escaped persecution by fleeing to the colonies all over the world, interest in joyous Christmas celebrations was rekindled there. Still, Christmas was not even a legal holiday until the 1800s. And, keep in mind, there was no Father Christmas (Santa Claus) figure at that time.

So this is my traditional beginning. A sogourne of sorts, leading to a blessed day and and event, which simply needs a lead in, from a lass, whose heart and soul...celebrates the occasion.

Merry Christmas to all...

and as usual there is much more to come.

Love the lass

If I had a million dollars...hmmm

Now...my baby sis is just a hoot. And she loves things that make her smile...who knew?

But, in this family of silly people...there are moments we just love to laugh...and this little video...made her smile...and then made me smile.

If I had a million dollars? Well I would be semi-rich...and that is something that makes Obama...want a little more...and thus...I would have to spend it...or place it...in a bank acount...in the Camon Islands...so he could not get his little hands on it...



Oh...and I would also want to visit...Australia...yep...my dream...

Love,
The Lass

god bless the broken road...I just love that song...

sometimes you string words together and they just make perfect sense. This song has a lyric I particularly like...because it really is about a journey we all make...or take. We all are on a broken road. I rather like that thought. It makes it all seem worth the journey.

My wandering years may be long...but one day...this broken road will bring me to someone...or him to me. Nice thought considering it has been a long and lonely road.

To all my fellow travelers...hoping for you to find...the road leads...

a song can tell a story...this is one I understand

a feeling...well, it does feel like that now...doesn't it?

Love,
The lass

She is good...and they say...she is the best. Now, I don't know about that...but she is good.

battle of wits...and I just love that...

There are people who get it...and those who don't. I love the Princess Bride, mainly for its wit. Just have to love...a good battle of wits. I do love that. Mainly because it sparks something in me. A good banter...does it get better? I think no...

So...here is the battle...haha...enjoy.



Don't feel like a battle? Oh...too bad...I personally love them.

Love,
The Lass

This is George...and I agree

I love to converse...I do. And me being me will engage just about anyone in conversation. But, rarely...do I ever get satisfied with the engagment. Why...well I think George got it right...People are boring...well most...



My sister and I have discussed how diffiuclt it is to find someone to talk to...and you know...I think that I will simply save the conversation for something important...like...unilateral military intervention. Now that is a conversation...haha

Love,
The Lass

I really do love this song....hello and goodbye...

the best part of life is truly hello. Although this song really isn't about a goodbye...it is about the grand goodbye. The grand goodbye...that moves us to other places...other things.

There are times to say goodbye...and I swear...if I were to say goodbye...I would say it this way..



There is a time to say hello...and a time to say goodbye. These are two sides of the same coin...and I love that thought. But the toss of fate, sometimes reveals a goodbye...even when it is quite unexpected.

So...goodbye....and hello...and goodbye...and we shall leave it at that...

It's a Kwazy life: One of the better commentaries on the bailout

It's a Kwazy life: One of the better commentaries on the bailout

from my kwazy brother's blog. Go figure...

Love,
the lass

aliens...and love...well if you don't believe it

watch this



maybe this gives new meaning to men are from mars...women are from venus.

I hope so...

Love,
The Lass

my baby brother seems to be in love...why yes indeed...he called and confirmed it...good luck baby brother...with your intergalactic romance. haha

sometimes...we must think about what we say.....like this story...

A story is told about a soldier who was finally coming home after having fought in Vietnam. He called his parents from San Francisco.
"Mom and Dad, I'm coming home, but I've a favor to ask. I have a friend I'd like to bring home with me."
"Sure," they replied, "we'd love to meet him."
"There's something you should know the son continued, "he was hurt pretty badly in the fighting. He stepped on a land mind and lost an arm and a leg. He has nowhere else to go, and I want him to come live with us."
"I'm sorry to hear that, son. Maybe we can help him find somewhere to live."
"No, Mom and Dad, I want him to live with us."
"Son," said the father, "you don't know what you're asking. Someone with such a handicap would be a terrible burden on us. We have our own lives to live, and we can't let something like this interfere with our lives. I think you should just come home and forget about this guy. He'll find a way to live on his own."
At that point, the son hung up the phone. The parents heard nothing more from him. A few days later, however, they received a call from the San Francisco police. Their son had died after falling from a building, they were told. The police believed it was suicide. The grief-stricken parents flew to San Francisco and were taken to the city morgue to identify the body of their son. They recognized him, but to their horror they also discovered something they didn't know, their son had only one arm and one leg.

The parents in this story are like many of us. We find it easy to love those who are good-looking or fun to have around, but we don't like people who inconvenience us or make us feel uncomfortable. We would rather stay away from people who aren't as healthy, beautiful, or smart as we are. Thankfully, there's someone who won't treat us that way. Someone who loves us with an unconditional love that welcomes us into the forever family, regardless of how messed up we are.

I can't tell you how many friends have sent me this story in emails...and I can't tell you how many times...I have thought about this story...and how it reminds me of my own moments...of foolishness...and each time I remember a word I spoke that altered a relationship...

The truth is we love because the act of loving gives us something. That something is hard to define...but it is there, holding us up, and giving us the gift that was promised...we love, because we must...no other thing is as important...

So...never give up on those you love. Never stop believing in them...and never turn your back on those you call friend. You see...you might be a soldier...making a call...let's hope the person on the other end of the phone...loves unconditionally.



Listen...we all need to be cut a little slack...and that is just the way it is...so to all those who have loved me...thank you...and to all those who I have loved...welcome home...soldier...

Love,
The Lass

Oh...and comrades...there is still time. Don't give up on our wonderful system of government...we can still salvage...this great democracy...and economic system. I haven't given up El Cid. Your daughter is not a quitter...just a little discouraged.

YouTube - Andre Rieu & Akim Camara - Dance Of The Fairies

YouTube - Andre Rieu & Akim Camara - Dance Of The Fairies

a song...a chilling reminder...what were they thinking?

There are songs that light up the soul...they inspire us...they transport us. So is it any wonder that song has been used..to make something appear to be something it is not...

The left's view of the world seems to take form in song. They love to "sing" their way through ideas...and that is not a new approach at all.

That is why the song of Obama's choir has had such a chilling effect.

How so? Well the internet is now full of the explanation...and examples of why you do not use children to deify a political person.

But Lass, you are being so hard on these people. What harm can come from such innocent voices singing the praises of a leader?

Hmmm? Let's think about that.



But Lass, that is clearly unfair...Obama is no Hitler.

You may be right. I am sorry.


He is the One...beg your pardon...and here is his little ditty...


Lenin described the supporters of communism in the US...as "useful idiots". Well, he was right.

These parents are as foolish as the parents of brown shirts, Mao's children, and Lenin's children...and you get the picture.

We do not sing praises of our leaders...not even JFK had a song...dedicated to his being elected. Why can't you find any other songs to presidential candidates? Because never before, has there been a cult of people...so devoid of any vision...that a song...was enough to inspire them to vote...or even to use their children...for political gain.

Oh...and for you music/political songsters out there...here was a secret weapon...used to defy those who would use children to support their vision...



so...the lesson here? Do not use children for your cause. The result of all this? A nation that has been torn apart...now has reason to fear our fellow citizens. I never thought I would see this here...in our great country...but I have. And I for one would like to say...


and for those of you who "do not like politics"...because it causes such discord...or hate...goody for you...you no doubt will be singing the songs to your new leader....or whatever singer you want to emulate....like I said...Lenin was correct..."useful idiots"...I am counting on a few million "hockey mom's" to help change their tune.

Love,
The lass

Into the breach once more...

Yes Wall Street fell...and yes there will be tension. But we are still here. And we will not fall. The Democrats did not prevail.

The rescue plan, a result of tense talks between the government and lawmakers, was rejected by 228 to 205 votes in the House of Representatives.

Now what?

Back to work. Back to solving the problem that created the mess.

How big is the problem...well looks at the world...banking is collapsing worldwide.

We need a plan...but we need a plan that will change the rules.

Banking crash hits Europe as ECB loses traction

The Dutch-Belgian bank Fortis, Britain's Bradford and Bingley, and Iceland's Glitnir, were all partially or fully nationalized after failing to roll-over debts in the short-term money markets, while the French state pledged support for the Franco-Belgian lender Dexia after the share price collapsed on reports of a capital shortage.

"The European financial sector is on trial: we have to support our banks." said French President Nicolas Sarkozy. He has reportedly ordered the state investment arm Caisse Des Depots to shore up Dexia, even though the bank is based in Belgium.

Germany's Hypo Real Estate, a commercial property lender, was rescued with a €35bn lifeline from a consortium of local banks. The lender has $560bn in liabilities, almost as much as Lehman Brothers.

Hypo Real's share price crashed 74pc, setting off a masse exodus from financial stocks in Frankfurt. Commerzbank fell 23pc and Aareal Bank was off 43pc.

Anglo Irish Bank was down 44pc in Dublin on wholesale funding fears.

Europe's credit markets have come close to seizing up as three-month Euribor jumped to a record 5.22pc and OIS spreads rocketed to 113 basis points.

"The interbank market has collapsed," said Hans Redeker, currency chief at BNP Paribas.

"We're now seeing a domino effect as the credit multiplier goes into reverse and forces banks to cut back lending to clients," he said.

Mr Redeker said the latest alarming twist is a move by banks to deposit €28bn in funds at the European Central Bank in a panic flight to safety. This has jammed the mechanism used by the authorities to shore up the financial system in a crisis.

"The ECB is no longer able to inject liquidity because the money is just coming back to them again. This is extremely serious. If monetary policy is no longer working, there is a risk that the whole system will blow up in days," he said.

The euro plunged on Monday as the wave of bank failures hit the newswires, dropping 2pc to $1.43 against the dollar. It recovered slightly as the US Federal Reserve flooded the markets with $630bn of dollar funding with fellow central banks in the biggest liquidity blitz in history.

Analysts say German finance minister Peer Steinbrueck may have spoken too soon when he crowed last week that the US would lose its status as a superpower as a result of this crisis. He told Der Spiegel yesterday that we are "all staring into the abyss".

Germany - over-leveraged to Asian demand for machine tools, and Mid-East and Russian demand for luxury cars - is perhaps in equally deep trouble, though of a different kind.

The combined crises at both Fortis and Dexia have sent tremors through Belgium, which is already traumatized by political civil war between the Flemings and Walloons. Fortis is Belgium's the biggest private employer.

It is unclear whether the country has the resources to bail out two banks with liabilities that dwarf the economy if the crisis deepens, although a joint intervention by The Netherlands and Luxembourg to rescue Fortis has helped Belgium share the risk. Together the three states put €11.2bn to buy Fortis stock.

This tripartite model is unlikely to work so well in others parts of Europe, since Benelux already operates as a closely linked team. The EU lacks a single treasury to take charge in a fast-moving crisis, leaving a patchwork of regulators and conflicting agendas.

Carsten Brzenski, chief economist at ING in Brussels, said the global crisis was now engulfing Europe with devastating speed.

"We are at imminent risk of a credit crunch. Key markets are not functioning properly. The Europeans thought the sub-prime crisis was just American rubbish that the US should clean up itself, but now they are finding out that it is their rubbish too," he said.

Data from the IMF shows that European banks hold 75pc as much exposure to toxic US housing debt as US banks themselves. Moreover they have mounting bad debts from the British, Spanish, French, Dutch, Scandinavian, and East European housing markets, where property bubbles reached even more extreme levels that in the US.

The interest spread between Italian 10-year bonds and German Bunds have ballooned to 92 basis points, the highest since the launch of the euro. Bond traders warn that the spreads are starting to reflect a serious risk of EMU break-up and could spiral out of control in a self-feeding effect.

As the eurozone slides into recession, the ECB is coming under intense criticism for keeping monetary policy too tight. The decision to raise rates into the teeth of the crisis in July has been slammed as overkill by the political leaders in France, Spain, and Italy.

Mr Sarkozy has called an emergency meeting of the EU's big five powers next week to fashion a response to the crisis.

Half of the ECB's shadow council have called for a rate cut this week, insisting that the German-led bloc of ECB governors have overstated the inflation risk caused by the oil spike earlier this year.

Jacques Cailloux, Europe economist at RBS, said the hawks had won a Pyrrhic victory by imposing their hardline monetary edicts on Europe. "They have won a battle but lost the war. The July decision will hardly go down in history books as a great policy decision," he said.

The Dow just went down 700 points. However, it could not have been solved with this plan. There is still time.

Go back to the drawing board...and legislate.

A lesson from the Swedes

A BANKING system in crisis after the collapse of a housing bubble. An economy haemorrhaging jobs. A market-oriented government struggling to stem the panic. Sound familiar?
It does to Sweden. The country was so far in the hole in 1992 -- after years of imprudent regulation, short-sighted economic policy and the end of its property boom -- that its banking system was, for all practical purposes, insolvent.

But Sweden took a different course than the one now being proposed by the United States Treasury. And Swedish officials say there are lessons from their own nightmare that Washington may be missing.

Sweden did not just bail out its financial institutions by having the government take over the bad debts. It extracted pounds of flesh from bank shareholders before writing cheques. Banks had to write down losses and issue warrants to the government.

That strategy held banks responsible and turned the government into an owner. When distressed assets were sold, the profits flowed to taxpayers, and the government was able to recoup more money later by selling its shares in the companies as well.
"If I go into a bank," said Bo Lundgren, who was Sweden's finance minister at the time, "I'd rather get equity so that there is some upside for the taxpayer."

Sweden spent four per cent of its gross domestic product, or 65 billion kronor (RM33.7 billion) , the equivalent of US$11.7 billion at the time, or US$18.3 billion in today's dollars, to rescue ailing banks. That is slightly less, proportionate to the national economy, than the US$700 billion, or roughly five per cent of gross domestic product, that the Bush administration estimates its own move will cost in the United States.

But the final cost to Sweden ended up being less than two per cent of its GDP. Some officials say they believe it was closer to zero, depending on how certain rates of return are calculated.

The tumultuous events of the last few weeks have produced a lot of tight-lipped nods in Stockholm. Lundgren even made the rounds in New York in early September, explaining what the country did in the early 1990s.

A few American commentators have proposed that the US government extract equity from banks as a price for their rescue. But it does not seem to be under serious consideration yet in the Bush administration or Congress.

The reason is not quite clear. The government has already swapped its sovereign guarantee for equity in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage finance institutions, and the American International Group, the global insurance giant.

Putting taxpayers on the hook without anything in return could be a mistake, said Urban Backstrom, a senior Swedish finance ministry official at the time. "The public will not support a plan if you leave the former shareholders with anything,"

The Swedish crisis had strikingly similar origins to the American one, and its neighbours, Norway and Finland, were hobbled to the point of needing a government bailout to escape the morass as well.

Financial deregulation in the 1980s fed a frenzy of real estate lending by Sweden's banks, which did not worry enough about whether the value of their collateral might evaporate in tougher times.

Property prices imploded. The bubble deflated fast in 1991 and 1992. A vain effort to defend Sweden's currency, the krona, caused overnight interest rates to spike at one point to 500 per cent. The Swedish economy contracted for two consecutive years after a long expansion, and unemployment, at three per cent in 1990, quadrupled in three years.

After a series of bank failures and ad hoc solutions, the moment of truth arrived in September 1992, when the government of Prime Minister Carl Bildt decided it was time to clear the decks.

Standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the opposition centre-left, Bildt's conservative government announced that the Swedish state would guarantee all bank deposits and creditors of the nation's 114 banks. Sweden formed a new agency to supervise institutions that needed recapitalisation, and another that sold off the assets, mainly real estate, that the banks held as collateral.

Sweden told its banks to write down their losses promptly before coming to the state for recapitalisation. Facing its own problem later in the decade, Japan made the mistake of dragging this process out, delaying a solution for years.

Then came the imperative to bleed shareholders first. Lundgren recalls a conversation with Peter Wallenberg, at the time chairman of SEB, Sweden's largest bank. Wallenberg, the scion of the country's most famous family and steward of large chunks of its economy, heard that there would be no sacred cows.

The Wallenbergs turned around and arranged a recapitalisation on their own, obviating the need for a bailout. SEB turned a profit the following year, 1993.

"For every krona we put into the bank, we wanted the same influence," Lundgren said. "That ensured that we did not have to go into certain banks at all."

By the end of the crisis, the Swedish government had seized a vast portion of the banking sector, and the agency had mostly fulfilled its hard-nosed mandate to drain share capital before injecting cash. When markets stabilised, the Swedish state then reaped the benefits by taking the banks public again.

More money may yet come into official coffers. The government still owns 19.9 per cent of Nordea, a Stockholm bank that was fully nationalised and is now a highly regarded giant in Scandinavia and the Baltic Sea region.

The politics of Sweden's crisis management were similarly tough-minded, though much quieter.

Soon after the plan was announced, the Swedish government found that international confidence returned more quickly than expected, easing pressure on its currency and bringing money back into the country. The centre-left opposition, while wary that the government might yet let the banks off the hook, made its points about penalising shareholders privately.

"The only thing that held back an avalanche was the hope that the system was holding," said Leif Pagrotzky, a senior member of the opposition at the time. "In public we stuck together 100 per cent, but we fought behind the scenes." -- NYT

Falcon...a regulator...a video...and we have been taken over.

Please America view this.

This is who is fixing the problem...they created. Wake up America. Wake UP!!!!!



Top Regulator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to Depart
By STEPHEN LABATON

Published: April 6, 2005

WASHINGTON, April 5 - Armando Falcon Jr., the top regulator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two mortgage finance giants that have struggled through accounting scandals, announced on Tuesday that he would step down next month after a tumultuous tenure of nearly six years.

Mr. Falcon was a little-known Washington lawyer and former Congressional aide when he was appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1999 to head a small agency, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, known as Ofheo. He and his agency were often the target of political attacks by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and were ridiculed by lawmakers who viewed the office as ill-equipped to oversee such large companies.


Perhaps the lowest point in his tenure came in 2003, when his agency declared that Freddie Mac had effective auditing and internal controls shortly before the company disclosed that shortcomings in its accounting had caused it to misstate earnings by billions of dollars over several years.

But Mr. Falcon was ultimately vindicated, first by his aggressive handling of the problems at Freddie Mac that resulted in a major management shake-up and other institutional changes, and then last December, when the Securities and Exchange Commission agreed with his central conclusion that Fannie Mae had violated accounting rules.

In the months leading up to the S.E.C.'s decision, Mr. Falcon steadily steered Ofheo through a thicket of criticism, much of it orchestrated by Fannie Mae. The decision by the chief accountant of the commission prompted the resignations of Fannie Mae's two top executives, Franklin D. Raines and J. Timothy Howard, and in recent weeks the company has acquiesced to every demand of its regulator.

Mr. Falcon, a 44-year-old native of Texas, was a top aide to Representative Henry B. Gonzalez, a Texas Democrat, when Mr. Gonzalez headed the House Banking Committee. In a letter to President Bush, Mr. Falcon said that he was proud of his agency's achievements and that he would step down on May 20, "absent extraordinary circumstances."

"The agency has successfully dealt with serious problems at two of the largest financial institutions in the world," he wrote. "We did so in a manner that avoided disruption in our financial system, while allowing both companies to continue fulfilling their vital public mission."

Corrine Russell, a spokeswoman for Ofheo, said Mr. Falcon had "no firm plans" about his future career. He continued to serve as director of the agency even after his term expired last October. The White House has not named a successor, and if one is not confirmed by the Senate before he departs next month, the agency would come under the control of its deputy director, Stephen J. Blumenthal.

Mr. Falcon's announcement came on the eve of his appearance before a House subcommittee considering legislation to change the regulatory oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and impose new constraints on their businesses.

At a news conference on Tuesday afternoon, Representative Richard Baker, the Louisiana Republican who heads the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets, announced that he had filed legislation to create a new agency with broader powers to oversee the companies, increase their capital levels, reject new business products and force them to liquidate parts of their huge portfolios of mortgage-backed securities.

The legislation is not expected to reach the floor of the House before the summer at the earliest.

The Senate has also begun to consider legislation. Alan Greenspan, chairman of the Federal Reserve, and Treasury Secretary John W. Snow are set to testify this week before the Senate Banking Committee on plans to overhaul the regulation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

They are coming!!! They are here!!!!!

Call your senators...Tell them NO...we won't accept this.


Love,
The Lass

Paulson's Folly

Why folly?

1: lack of good sense or normal prudence and foresight2 a: criminally or tragically foolish actions or conduct bobsolete : evil , wickedness ; especially : lewd behavior3: a foolish act or idea4: an excessively costly or unprofitable undertaking5: an often extravagant picturesque building erected to suit a fanciful taste

Well I would say that about sums it up. I have read The Economic Stabilization Act and it is imprudent and lacks foresight. It is criminally and tragically foolish.

Well what the enemies of freedom, and free enterprise could not do...our own government has done. And Mr. Paulson, you gave us this answer? It appears to me that you think "A lie told often enough becomes the truth".

John Adams must be rolling over in his grave...requesting God in his heaven to allow him to come back...and slap the hell out of the men who have seemingly destroyed everything our founding fathers so bravely fought for.

John warned...There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with power to endanger the public liberty.

True John...but you could not have envisioned these predators...these cowards, these lazy men with a pen. And how could you? A little tea...and a revolution was sparked...Mr. Paulson and the House of Representative hacks are asking us to drink Kool-Aid, and it looks like we are drinking it, bottling it for future generations, and making it sound so good as to ask for more.

The science of government it is my duty to study, more than all other sciences; the arts of legislation and administration and negotiation ought to take the place of, indeed exclude, in a manner, all other arts. I must study politics and war, that our sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy. Our sons ought to study mathematics and philosophy, geography, natural history and naval architecture, navigation, commerce and agriculture in order to give their children a right to study painting, poetry, music, architecture, statuary, tapestry and porcelain. John Adams...

Decency has left the halls of government...and we are now in the hands..of the few and the corrupt. So I suppose these guys remembered only one statement from the founding fathers..."We must all hang together, gentlemen...else, we shall most assuredly hang separately" Sorry Ben...they are certainly hanging together...my thought, they should hang separately.

Dark day today...



To my fellow Americans...We must hang together now...they came in the middle of night, and stole our future...and we drank their Kool-Aid and have been made ill from the taste.

Oh... and to the Congress of the United States...“Comrades! We must abolish the cult of the individual decisively, once and for all” I guess you prefer Nikita Khrushchev to John Adams.

Love the Lass...

Experience teaches us that it is much easier to prevent an enemy from posting themselves than it is to dislodge them after they have got possession.
George Washington

They have got possession...

This is a manufactured crisis...and they got possession.

all you sinners....

This how they dealt with it...hmmm...we are going to the promised land.

I think we need our own theme song.

Gosh...I will have to think about that one. Any suggestions? I have an opinion. But, I love to know what other people think.

Meanwhile...all you sinners.

Love,
The lass...oops comrade. I am going to get this straight...looking for a pitchfork and torch...gotta run.

There is a reason we don't want to see this...

who is Jeffrey Sachs? A prophet that is who.

“We had a booming stock market in 1929 and then went into the world's greatest depression. We have a booming stock market in 1999. Will the bubble somehow burst, and then we enter depression? Well, some things are not different."

Jeffrey D. Sachs is the Director of The Earth Institute, Quetelet Professor of Sustainable Development, and Professor of Health Policy and Management at Columbia University. He is also Special Advisor to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. From 2002 to 2006, he was Director of the UN Millennium Project and Special Advisor to United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan on the Millennium Development Goals, the internationally agreed goals to reduce extreme poverty, disease, and hunger by the year 2015. Sachs is also President and Co-Founder of Millennium Promise Alliance, a nonprofit organization aimed at ending extreme global poverty.

He is widely considered to be the leading international economic adviser of his generation. For more than 20 years Professor Sachs has been in the forefront of the challenges of economic development, poverty alleviation, and enlightened globalization, promoting policies to help all parts of the world to benefit from expanding economic opportunities and wellbeing. He is also one of the leading voices for combining economic development with environmental sustainability, and as Director of the Earth Institute leads large-scale efforts to promote the mitigation of human-induced climate change.

In 2004 and 2005 he was named among the 100 most influential leaders in the world by Time Magazine. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan, a high civilian honor bestowed by the Indian Government, in 2007. Sachs lectures constantly around the world and was the 2007 BBC Reith Lecturer. He is author of hundreds of scholarly articles and many books, including the New York Times bestsellers Common Wealth (Penguin, 2008) and The End of Poverty (Penguin, 2005). Sachs is a member of the Institute of Medicine and is a Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research. Prior to joining Columbia, he spent over twenty years at Harvard University, most recently as Director of the Center for International Development. A native of Detroit, Michigan, Sachs received his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees at Harvard University.


Hmmm...I am not sure that he and I share the same politics...but then again...I don't think I really share that with anyone these days. But I do like the quote...and considering he is right about a few things...I think you all should get to know him too.

Now...here he is...



Now don't worry...I am still a conservative...but if you know me...then you know, I am a feisty gal...and I love to mix it up a bit.

Love,
The Lass...that is comrade Lass for my dear friends.

fellow comrades....JUST SAY NO!!!!

A few of our fellow comrades sent a letter to our new czar...Paulson. Well...if you don't know about it....you should.

To the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate:

As economists, we want to express to Congress our great concern for the plan proposed by Treasury Secretary Paulson to deal with the financial crisis. We are well aware of the difficulty of the current financial situation and we agree with the need for bold action to ensure that the financial system continues to function. We see three fatal pitfalls in the currently proposed plan:

1) Its fairness. The plan is a subsidy to investors at taxpayers’ expense. Investors who took risks to earn profits must also bear the losses. Not every business failure carries systemic risk. The government can ensure a well-functioning financial industry, able to make new loans to creditworthy borrowers, without bailing out particular investors and institutions whose choices proved unwise.

2) Its ambiguity. Neither the mission of the new agency nor its oversight are clear. If taxpayers are to buy illiquid and opaque assets from troubled sellers, the terms, occasions, and methods of such purchases must be crystal clear ahead of time and carefully monitored afterwards.

3) Its long-term effects. If the plan is enacted, its effects will be with us for a generation. For all their recent troubles, America's dynamic and innovative private capital markets have brought the nation unparalleled prosperity. Fundamentally weakening those markets in order to calm short-run disruptions is desperately short-sighted.

For these reasons we ask Congress not to rush, to hold appropriate hearings, and to carefully consider the right course of action, and to wisely determine the future of the financial industry and the U.S. economy for years to come.

Signed (updated at 9/25/2008 8:30AM CT)

Acemoglu Daron (Massachussets Institute of Technology)
Adler Michael (Columbia University)
Admati Anat R. (Stanford University)
Alexis Marcus (Northwestern University)
Alvarez Fernando (University of Chicago)
Andersen Torben (Northwestern University)
Baliga Sandeep (Northwestern University)
Banerjee Abhijit V. (Massachussets Institute of Technology)
Barankay Iwan (University of Pennsylvania)
Barry Brian (University of Chicago)
Bartkus James R. (Xavier University of Louisiana)
Becker Charles M. (Duke University)
Becker Robert A. (Indiana University)
Beim David (Columbia University)
Berk Jonathan (Stanford University)
Bisin Alberto (New York University)
Bittlingmayer George (University of Kansas)
Boldrin Michele (Washington University)
Brooks Taggert J. (University of Wisconsin)
Brynjolfsson Erik (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
Buera Francisco J. (UCLA)
Camp Mary Elizabeth (Indiana University)
Carmel Jonathan (University of Michigan)
Carroll Christopher (Johns Hopkins University)
Cassar Gavin (University of Pennsylvania)
Chaney Thomas (University of Chicago)
Chari Varadarajan V. (University of Minnesota)
Chauvin Keith W. (University of Kansas)
Chintagunta Pradeep K. (University of Chicago)
Christiano Lawrence J. (Northwestern University)
Cochrane John (University of Chicago)
Coleman John (Duke University)
Constantinides George M. (University of Chicago)
Crain Robert (UC Berkeley)
Culp Christopher (University of Chicago)
Da Zhi (University of Notre Dame)
Davis Morris (University of Wisconsin)
De Marzo Peter (Stanford University)
Dubé Jean-Pierre H. (University of Chicago)
Edlin Aaron (UC Berkeley)
Eichenbaum Martin (Northwestern University)
Ely Jeffrey (Northwestern University)
Eraslan Hülya K. K.(Johns Hopkins University)
Faulhaber Gerald (University of Pennsylvania)
Feldmann Sven (University of Melbourne)
Fernandez-Villaverde Jesus (University of Pennsylvania)
Fohlin Caroline (Johns Hopkins University)
Fox Jeremy T. (University of Chicago)
Frank Murray Z.(University of Minnesota)
Frenzen Jonathan (University of Chicago)
Fuchs William (University of Chicago)
Fudenberg Drew (Harvard University)
Gabaix Xavier (New York University)
Gao Paul (Notre Dame University)
Garicano Luis (University of Chicago)
Gerakos Joseph J. (University of Chicago)
Gibbs Michael (University of Chicago)
Glomm Gerhard (Indiana University)
Goettler Ron (University of Chicago)
Goldin Claudia (Harvard University)
Gordon Robert J. (Northwestern University)
Greenstone Michael (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
Guadalupe Maria (Columbia University)
Guerrieri Veronica (University of Chicago)
Hagerty Kathleen (Northwestern University)
Hamada Robert S. (University of Chicago)
Hansen Lars (University of Chicago)
Harris Milton (University of Chicago)
Hart Oliver (Harvard University)
Hazlett Thomas W. (George Mason University)
Heaton John (University of Chicago)
Heckman James (University of Chicago - Nobel Laureate)
Henderson David R. (Hoover Institution)
Henisz, Witold (University of Pennsylvania)
Hertzberg Andrew (Columbia University)
Hite Gailen (Columbia University)
Hitsch Günter J. (University of Chicago)
Hodrick Robert J. (Columbia University)
Hopenhayn Hugo (UCLA)
Hurst Erik (University of Chicago)
Imrohoroglu Ayse (University of Southern California)
Isakson Hans (University of Northern Iowa)
Israel Ronen (London Business School)
Jaffee Dwight M. (UC Berkeley)
Jagannathan Ravi (Northwestern University)
Jenter Dirk (Stanford University)
Jones Charles M. (Columbia Business School)
Kaboski Joseph P. (Ohio State University)
Kahn Matthew (UCLA)
Kaplan Ethan (Stockholm University)
Karolyi, Andrew (Ohio State University)
Kashyap Anil (University of Chicago)
Keim Donald B (University of Pennsylvania)
Ketkar Suhas L (Vanderbilt University)
Kiesling Lynne (Northwestern University)
Klenow Pete (Stanford University)
Koch Paul (University of Kansas)
Kocherlakota Narayana (University of Minnesota)
Koijen Ralph S.J. (University of Chicago)
Kondo Jiro (Northwestern University)
Korteweg Arthur (Stanford University)
Kortum Samuel (University of Chicago)
Krueger Dirk (University of Pennsylvania)
Ledesma Patricia (Northwestern University)
Lee Lung-fei (Ohio State University)
Leeper Eric M. (Indiana University)
Leuz Christian (University of Chicago)
Levine David I.(UC Berkeley)
Levine David K.(Washington University)
Levy David M. (George Mason University)
Linnainmaa Juhani (University of Chicago)
Lott John R. Jr. (University of Maryland)
Lucas Robert (University of Chicago - Nobel Laureate)
Luttmer Erzo G.J. (University of Minnesota)
Manski Charles F. (Northwestern University)
Martin Ian (Stanford University)
Mayer Christopher (Columbia University)
Mazzeo Michael (Northwestern University)
McDonald Robert (Northwestern University)
Meadow Scott F. (University of Chicago)
Mehra Rajnish (UC Santa Barbara)
Mian Atif (University of Chicago)
Middlebrook Art (University of Chicago)
Miguel Edward (UC Berkeley)
Miravete Eugenio J. (University of Texas at Austin)
Miron Jeffrey (Harvard University)
Moretti Enrico (UC Berkeley)
Moriguchi Chiaki (Northwestern University)
Moro Andrea (Vanderbilt University)
Morse Adair (University of Chicago)
Mortensen Dale T. (Northwestern University)
Mortimer Julie Holland (Harvard University)
Muralidharan Karthik (UC San Diego)
Nanda Dhananjay (University of Miami)
Nevo Aviv (Northwestern University)
Ohanian Lee (UCLA)
Pagliari Joseph (University of Chicago)
Papanikolaou Dimitris (Northwestern University)
Parker Jonathan (Northwestern University)
Paul Evans (Ohio State University)
Pejovich Svetozar (Steve) (Texas A&M University)
Peltzman Sam (University of Chicago)
Perri Fabrizio (University of Minnesota)
Phelan Christopher (University of Minnesota)
Piazzesi Monika (Stanford University)
Piskorski Tomasz (Columbia University)
Rampini Adriano (Duke University)
Reagan Patricia (Ohio State University)
Reich Michael (UC Berkeley)
Reuben Ernesto (Northwestern University)
Roberts Michael (University of Pennsylvania)
Robinson David (Duke University)
Rogers Michele (Northwestern University)
Rotella Elyce (Indiana University)
Ruud Paul (Vassar College)
Safford Sean (University of Chicago)
Sandbu Martin E. (University of Pennsylvania)
Sapienza Paola (Northwestern University)
Savor Pavel (University of Pennsylvania)
Scharfstein David (Harvard University)
Seim Katja (University of Pennsylvania)
Seru Amit (University of Chicago)
Shang-Jin Wei (Columbia University)
Shimer Robert (University of Chicago)
Shore Stephen H. (Johns Hopkins University)
Siegel Ron (Northwestern University)
Smith David C. (University of Virginia)
Smith Vernon L.(Chapman University- Nobel Laureate)
Sorensen Morten (Columbia University)
Spiegel Matthew (Yale University)
Stevenson Betsey (University of Pennsylvania)
Stokey Nancy (University of Chicago)
Strahan Philip (Boston College)
Strebulaev Ilya (Stanford University)
Sufi Amir (University of Chicago)
Tabarrok Alex (George Mason University)
Taylor Alan M. (UC Davis)
Thompson Tim (Northwestern University)
Tschoegl Adrian E. (University of Pennsylvania)
Uhlig Harald (University of Chicago)
Ulrich, Maxim (Columbia University)
Van Buskirk Andrew (University of Chicago)
Veronesi Pietro (University of Chicago)
Vissing-Jorgensen Annette (Northwestern University)
Wacziarg Romain (UCLA)
Weill Pierre-Olivier (UCLA)
Williamson Samuel H. (Miami University)
Witte Mark (Northwestern University)
Wolfers Justin (University of Pennsylvania)
Woutersen Tiemen (Johns Hopkins University)
Zingales Luigi (University of Chicago)
Zitzewitz Eric (Dartmouth College)

Oh...in case you don't understand the words..

United forever in friendship and labour,
Our mighty republics will ever endure.
The Great Soviet Union will live through the ages.
The dream of a people their fortress secure.

Long live our Soviet motherland,
Built by the people's mighty hand.
Long live our people, united and free.
Strong in our friendship tried by fire.
Long may our crimson flag inspire,
Shining in glory for all men to see.

Through days dark and stormy where Great Lenin lead us
Our eyes saw the bright sun of freedom above
And Stalin our leader with faith in the people,
Inspired us to build up the land that we love.

Long live our Soviet motherland,
Built by the people's mighty hand.
Long live our people, united and free.
Strong in our friendship tried by fire.
Long may our crimson flag inspire,
Shining in glory for all men to see.

We fought for the future, destroyed the invaders,
And brought to our homeland the laurels of fame.
Our glory will live in the memory of nations
And all generations will honour her name.

Long live our Soviet motherland,
Built by the people's mighty hand.
Long live our people, united and free.
Strong in our friendship tried by fire.
Long may our crimson flag inspire,
Shining in glory for all men to see.

I ask you...do you like the sound of this? Is this where we are headed?...Mr. Paulson...we don't need a Czar...we need a miracle...what would that be? That miracle would be that you would all go home...and let the market fall...we may suffer the result...but we would still have a Republic...and a free market...

Go home gentleman...get on your knees...and ask whatever god you pray to...for forgiveness..I do not forgive you...


Love,
The Lass...that is Comrade..oops forgot where I am now living.

I will always remember...

I will always remember a September day that shook our country and changed the world...in a way that no one could have predicted. So today I remember my fellow Americans who fell that day...and those that have fallen since then...

Today is a day for solemnity .



In loving memory of those who lives were cut short...and the brave who stopped a flight from being used as a missile of destruction. Who are we? We are them...and thank God for that.

Love,
The Lass

Sarah...that is all they have?

Well Sarah....if this is all he has...whew...piece of cake.



Obama...just a little tune to remind you....about something you have forgotten...



We are a common people...with an uncommon view. We are a great people, with a not so common heritage. We do not come from royalty...nor do we bow to princes. We are the common man...with an uncommon history...legacy...and future.

Yes Obama...lipstick on a pig, doesn't change the pig...but...there is this...



Maybe you just haven't met Dorothy yet...Oh my goodness...perhaps you have...maybe there is hope you can find your brain now...but alas, me thinks that...Sarah ( I mean Dorothy) will still be a pit bull and you sir, will still be a scarecrow...wishing you had brain.

Love,
The Lass...

Oh...and Obama...don't give up your day job.

Sarah Palin...I am proud to have been an Alaskan.

I know her, my family knows her...now America will know her....Congrats lady...Give them Hell.

Love,

The Lass


I am smiling....ok family and friends...let's get behind her....oh and Randy...eat your heart out...hahahha

The brain in love.

No one gets out of love alive. That is the brain...in love.

or...



Romantic possess you...and someone is camping in your head...

Love,
The Lass

for Mandela...my favorite song...for many reasons.

This song haunts my dreams...and it reminds me that we all need to THINK...about what courage means. I do...and I am constantly humbled by that thought. Would I stand? Well...I did once. My mother did once...and we found we stood alone...for a little time...then...others joined. That was a very long time ago.

It doesn't matter now...It wasn't roaring it was weeping....My God...this is a tune.

Happy Birthday Nelson.

Love,
The Lass

statistically speaking...there is a possiblity for error...with fatal consequences.

and to prove my point....



Oh you may think that you are smarter than the jury...or the statistician....and that may be true. But when it comes to important things...I rather refer to my old friend Solomon. While all the evidence, arguments and pleas did not furnish an answer...one statement did. "Cut the baby in half" Now...that seems to me to be a very good way to determine the answer. Or at least it makes sense to me. Why?

Because...well I think you already know.

Love,
The Lass

happy fourth of july....and memories of better times...

Have a safe...wonderful celebration. We really are a revolutionary lot. So...drink your iced TEA...and enjoy the illuminations...and remember...our Thomas Lamb arrived here in 1630...no doubt he never would dream that a woman would be celebrating the men and women who lived so long ago...well Thomas...thanks for taking the trip...and thanks for giving me a shot...at a life in the greatest nation on this earth...you better believe it.

'

Have to work...but I did spend some time sharing the day and the festivities with my fellow Seattle immigrants...

Love,
The Lass

when in the course of human events...

what words can do...



This document was signed on July 2, 1776...well at least some signed it...that day...and by the way, Hancock never said anything about the king...or his signature...that is lore. But I rather like lore...just need to make sure we don't get too wrapped up in it. The truth is...He had a very flamboyant signature...but if you ask me...I rather like the lore. But that is me.

What men were these? Well they were men who had a vision...and a mission...and we are here to tell the tale.

Thank you forefathers...and I am thinking about you today.

Love,
The Lass

america the beautiful...and a garden...well of sorts...

A garden...of the god's...a woman...a poem...and the rest is history...

O beautiful for spacious skies, For amber waves of grain . . . The author of "America the Beautiful," Katharine Lee Bates, was born in Falmouth, Massachusetts in 1859 and grew up near the rolling sea. Her graceful poetic style came through in poems such as "The Falmouth Bell:" Never was there lovelier town Than our Falmouth by the sea. Tender curves of sky look down On her grace of knoll and lea. . . . Bates, who eventually became a full professor of English literature at Wellesley College, made a lecture trip to Colorado in 1893 and there she wrote the words to "America the Beautiful." As she told it, "We strangers celebrated the close of the session by a merry expedition to the top of Pike's Peak, making the ascent by the only method then available for people not vigorous enough to achieve the climb on foot nor adventurous enough for burro-riding. Prairie wagons, their tail-boards emblazoned with the traditional slogan, "Pike's Peak or Bust," were pulled by horses up to the half-way house, where the horses were relieved by mules. We were hoping for half and hour on the summit, but two of our party became so faint in the rarified air that we were bundled into the wagons again and started on our downward plunge so speedily that our sojourn on the peak remains in memory hardly more than one ecstatic gaze. It was then and there, as I was looking out over the sea-like expanse of fertile country spreading away so far under those ample skies, that the opening lines of the hymn floated into my mind." Happy Independence Day... Love, The Lass