Happy Birthday, Lil Sis

BuelahSis 8th Grade Pic

This little girl tagged along with me for many years. Some times it drove me crazy, especially when me and the boys wanted to play in the creek. I was her protectorate and guardian during our entire childhood (and it is amazing some of the stupid stuff I got her to do didn’t get us both killed).

I have shot her with BB guns more times than I can count.

I once was playing darts in the basement, and she would wait until I threw the dart, then run in front of the dart board. Once, I acted like I would throw it, waited a second for her to run, then threw it (it stuck in her head).

She and I (along with our cousin, Dennice) were digging a hole with a hoe. I would hit the ground with the hoe, she and my cuz would reach in and take out the dirt. My cousin, accidentally hit my sister when I was in a down-swing, and I buried the hoe into my sister’s head (had to go to the hospital for that one).

We once caught the entire woods behind the house on fire, nearly causing us to burn down our house. Firemen saved it just in the nick of time.

An older friend convinced us that we could mix tea and coffee together, smoke it and get high. We tried it and got sick.

When I was 8, she and I skipped school and stole the VW, driving it all over the little lake community we lived at (yes, I could drive at 8).

When I was 9 or 10, we went into an old farmhouse that had been converted by some young thugs into a “get high house”. They caught us as we were running away by shooting a shotgun over our heads and capturing the guy with us; then called the law, which, in turn, took my sister and I to the jailhouse for a “tour” (scaring the crapola out of us).

She and I played trumpets. When I was a senior (she was a sophomore), she and I played a duet on the football field during halftime. I had played many solos, etc, but that was one performance I was truly proud of and have never forgotten.

When she was 8.5 months pregnant, she drove up on a car wreck I had been in, which broke my knee and hurt the two girls in the other car pretty badly. She waited with me until the ambulance came to get me (having left me on the side of the road when they took the other two girls to the hospital before me). At the time, my sis was housing me and was under tremendous stress, but she took care of me, until I could manage on my own.

She went thru a horrible divorce (her husband, who once was my best friend, did her wrong). She has since worked harder than anyone I know to take care of her two children as their dead beat Dad married the woman he had the affair with, sold everything they had worked to acquire (my sister making most of the money and having the best job) and bought a beer store in another county… leaving them all on their own. She has put one thru school and she finishes her degree in a couple of weeks (Resource Management).

This is the most truthful, caring, dedicated, hard-working woman I ever knew in my life. Period.

I could go on and on about how wonderful my little sister is. I truly feel as if she is one of the finest people who has graced me with their love and kindness. AND, she is my sister, to boot.

So, to you, my wonderful little sister, it’s a miracle that you even made it with me watching out after you. You should know that you are the one person in my life in which I can count on in any circumstance.

I love you.

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Flash Back

             http://www.planetpuna.com/Dolphin-Birth-Hawaii/index.htm

Dolphin Attended Birth
and
Dolphin Assisted Therapy
in Hawaii

Well– I do believe that back in the 60’s this idea had to come from a ‘head’ on the island….lol. And to be honest– back in the day I just might have done this. Don’t tell my daughter!!! lolololol  Naw, it sounds just ‘out there’ enough to be pretty cool!       

I wanna hold your hand…

Lately, it seems I need a daily reminder that I am a very Blessed woman. A friend sent me this video– I had seen it before, but it is worth the lesson again, and again……

                                      http://www.wimp.com/watchingthis/

                                                …. yes; I am Blessed. AND so is he!!

The Sweetest Deal EVER made—

…. who made it and who was in on it????

Okay folks– just for the sheer sake of jumpstarting your nervous system today. Read this report. I promise you that in it you will discover one sentence that will make you pause your breath for a second– and then you will think “ How did I not already figure that was coming”. What a deal folks, what a deal!!!!!!!!!!!

European Stocks Climb for Sixth Day; BMW, BP Shares Advance
July 13, 2010, 12:14 PM EDT

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-07-13/european-stocks-climb-for-sixth-day-bmw-bp-shares-advance.html

July 13 (Bloomberg) — European stocks climbed for a sixth day to a three-week high as Alcoa Inc. began the U.S. earnings season with profit that beat estimates, Bayerische Motoren Werke AG raised its forecast and BP Plc gained.
BMW, the world’s biggest maker of luxury cars, jumped the most in 15 months after saying higher volumes in 2010 will boost profit. BP increased 2.9 percent after installing a new cap on its leaking oil well in the Gulf of Mexico and as Abu Dhabi said it’s considering making an investment in the company.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index advanced 1.9 percent to 255.99, erasing this year’s losses. The measure has risen 8.2 percent over the past six days amid easing concern about the economic recovery and speculation that the selloff in equities since April has overshot the outlook for company profits. The gauge remains 5.9 percent below this year’s high.
Earnings “forecasts look too low and we expect a strong majority of companies to beat their numbers,” said Graham Bishop, the London-based head of pan-European equity strategy at Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc. “We already know a great deal about the performance of the global economy through the second quarter. Consensus economic forecasts have actually been revised materially higher.”
Portugal’s PSI-20 Index was the second-weakest western European market today as Moody’s Investors Service cut the nation’s credit rating by two notches to A1 because of a growing debt burden and weak economic growth prospects. The gauge gained 0.1 percent, while the U.K.’s FTSE 100 and France’s CAC 40 surged 2 percent. Germany’s DAX rallied 1.9 percent.
Greek Bond Sale
Greece’s ASE Index surged 2.6 percent as the nation sold 1.63 billion euros ($2.1 billion) of 26-week Treasury bills at a rate below the 5 percent charged by the European Union for its bailout package, easing concern the country faces punitive costs to borrow.
BMW rallied 8.3 percent to 42.13 euros, leading a gauge of auto stocks to the biggest gain among 19 industry groups in the Stoxx 600. The luxury-car maker forecast 2010 sales volumes will rise by about 10 percent to more than 1.4 million units, with a full-year profit margin of more than 5 percent expected for the automobiles segment. Rival Daimler AG advanced 5.4 percent to 43.81 euros.
Automakers Advance
Peugeot SA climbed 5.3 percent to 24.37 euros and Volkswagen AG preferred shares gained 5.2 percent to 77 euros. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its price estimate on the French carmaker by 3 percent to 34 euros and on the German automaker by 4 percent to 78 euros, saying increased demand and “attractive valuations” favor the industry, according to a report today.
BP advanced 2.9 percent to 410.35 pence, extending yesterday’s 9.4 percent jump. The oil company installed a new cap on its leaking Gulf of Mexico well and will start testing today whether this will stop the gusher while work continues on a permanent plug. Separately, the Financial Times reported that BP expects to be able to write off the oil-spill cleanup costs against taxes, without saying where it got its information.
Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan said the emirate is considering making an investment in BP.
‘Still Thinking’
“We are still thinking about it,” he said in an interview in Abu Dhabi today, when asked about potentially buying a stake in the London-based oil producer. “We are looking across the board. We have been partners with BP for years.”
Alcoa, the largest U.S. aluminum producer reported second- quarter profit that topped analysts’ projections as higher metal prices boosted sales. Earnings from continuing operations were 13 cents a share, exceeding the 11-cent average estimate of 17 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
Profits for S&P 500 companies are projected to have increased 34 percent in the second quarter and by the same amount in 2010, according to analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Intel Corp., the biggest maker of semiconductors which reports quarterly earnings after the close of U.S. exchanges today, is among 23 companies in the index to announce results this week.
Burberry Group Plc surged 3.7 percent to 818.5 pence, the highest level since at least 2002. The U.K.’s largest luxury retailer posted a 27 percent gain in first-quarter sales, beating analysts’ estimates, led by growth in Asia and deliveries to wholesale customers.
Unilever, BAT
Unilever, the world’s second-largest maker of consumer products, gained 2.9 percent to 1,898 pence and British American Tobacco Plc advanced 2.6 percent to 2,277 pence as Goldman Sachs Group Inc. upgraded both companies to “buy” from “neutral.”
SEB AB surged 4.9 percent to 48.75 kronor after the second- largest bank in the Baltic countries returned to profit in the second quarter as loan losses in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania decreased.
DNO International ASA rallied 4.9 percent to 8.74 kroner, the highest close since April, after the Daily Telegraph reported that RAK Petroleum Pcl has made an offer to buy the remainder of the Norwegian oil producer. DNO Chief Executive Officer Helge Eide said he had “no comment and no information” on the report.
–Editors: Andrew Rummer, David Merritt.

All posts are opinions meant to foster comment, reporting, teaching & study under the “fair use doctrine” in Sec. 107 of U.S. Code Title 17. No statement of fact is made or should be implied. Ads appearing on this blog are solely the product of the advertiser and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of BuehlahMan’s Redstate Revolt or WordPress.com

General… oh General….

Nation building in Afghanistan is not our job— it is theirs.

By Eugene Robinson
Friday, June 25, 2010
Washington Post

The good news? Nobody has to pretend anymore that Gen. Stanley McChrystal knew how to fix Afghanistan within a year. The bad news? No
President Obama was absolutely right to sack the preening McChrystal, whose inner circle, as portrayed in Rolling Stone magazine, had all the seriousness and decorum of a frat house keg party. And it was a brilliant political move to turn to Petraeus, who is made of purest Teflon. Critics who might have been tempted to blast the president for changing horses in midstream can hardly object when he has given the reins to the man who averted a humiliating U.S. defeat in Iraq.
Note that I didn’t credit Petraeus with “winning” in Iraq. He didn’t. What he managed to do was redeem the situation to the point where the United States could begin bringing home its combat troops. If the Obama administration’s aims in Afghanistan are recalibrated to accommodate objective reality, then Petraeus can succeed there, too. But this means that the general’s assignment should be a narrow one: Lay the groundwork for a U.S. withdrawal to begin next summer, as Obama has pledged.
After relieving McChrystal of his command Wednesday, Obama called in his national security team and read the riot act. No more bickering, sniping, backbiting or name-calling, the president ordered. Play nice.
But all the comity in the world doesn’t resolve the essential tension between those who believe our goal in Afghanistan should be defined as “victory” and those who believe it should be defined as “finding the exit.” Two thousand years of history are on the side of the “exit” camp, and the fact is that at some point we’re going to leave. The question is how much time will pass — and how many more young Americans will be killed or wounded — before that inevitable day comes.

McChrystal, who designed the counterinsurgency strategy being attempted in Afghanistan, didn’t disguise his opposition to administration officials such as Vice President Biden, Ambassador Karl Eikenberry and special envoy Richard Holbrooke, who questioned whether the strategy could work. Petraeus is far too good a politician to fall into that trap. He won’t allow any daylight between himself and the civilian leadership.
But ultimately, there’s going to be no way to avoid the central question: What kind of Afghanistan will we leave behind?
One answer would be that we have to leave in place a durable, functional central government that has full legitimacy and control within the nation’s borders. This would provide the United States with a reliable ally in a dangerous region and also ensure that Afghanistan would never again be used as a launching pad for attacks by al-Qaeda. But to get the country to that point, given where it is now, could take a decade or more of sustained, concentrated attention. It would mean not just defeating the Taliban but molding the regime of Afghan President Hamid Karzai into a reasonably honest, effective government. This would be a tall order even if Karzai were a stable, consistent, loyal partner. Does anybody believe that he is?
A better answer would be that it’s enough to leave behind an Afghanistan that no longer poses a serious threat to the United States or its vital interests. Nation-building would be the Afghans’ problem, not ours.
Petraeus was successful in Iraq because he realized that he couldn’t create an Athenian democracy in Baghdad. But the highly imperfect Iraqi government is light-years beyond what the general is likely to be able to achieve in Kabul. Even after the war, Iraq was left with modern infrastructure, a highly educated and sophisticated population, and a sizable percentage of the world’s proven oil reserves. Afghanistan has none of these advantages. The political culture is stubbornly medieval; the populace is poor, uneducated and wary of foreign influences. Afghanistan does have great mineral wealth, apparently, but no mining industry to dig it out and no railroads to get it to the marketplace.
In recent testimony before Congress, Petraeus was less than definitive when asked about Obama’s July 2011 deadline. Because he has such credibility and standing in Washington, his view on when we can begin to leave Afghanistan will be more important than McChrystal’s ever was. I hope that by putting Petraeus in charge of the war, President Obama hasn’t consigned us to a longer stay. His comments Thursday seem to indicate the possibility.

Oh– and I can bet you that Petraeus told the President that he would accept this position with a few conditions– Like ‘Hey I am a Battle Field General.. And I want to WIN, [ like there is such a thing as win] not mandy-pandy around. I am going to make a few changes to your rules of combat– LIKE allow the men to shoot!!!!!” “ Oh and by the way, Rolling Stone Mag, set up McChrystal!”

My Best Friend

She may not even know I feel this way (although there is a deep connection between us that seems to “know” these things), but I need to tell you about my best friend… a little 4-12 year old girl I knew back in the late 60′s and early 70′s. I talk about those days because it was those tight, but tough times we had growing up together that solidified my “best friend” status with her.

I’m a couple of years older, so when I hit about 14 or 15 I started moving off in my own direction, looking for girlfriends, hanging with the buds, etc. Of course that never stopped the friendship, just that it had become so concrete that we really don’t need to say it (we did hang out some in high school, playing trumpets together in duets… pretty good, I might add).

We can go weeks and months without speaking, but we still “know”.

As a matter of fact, I can’t remember ever even saying to her what I write here today. Maybe I assume too much?

There are ways to judge friendships and surely by comparing those that you have or had, you can figure out who is “best”. Well, to me, the number one characteristic of the relationship must be love… followed by (and actually is enveloped within) trust. Of all the people in my lifetime, this one little girl (now 44) is a person that I love dearly, but trust as much as any other person I know (more-so).

This little girl loves those around her deeply and gives her all in her relationships (many times to her detriment, for she is often taken advantage of). Her daughter is her most important responsibility and love (I am sure). She sacrifices in many ways so that Ms Milla can have the best chance to survive in this world (and I know my darlin’ niece loves her mom very, very much… you can see it in her, even read it on her Myspace page, or hear about the observation from Milla’s friends).

You see, I trust Julia more than all others because of that love we have for each other. Even more than my mother… especially more than my father.

But, I must admit, we are long time partners in crime. We have been taken to jail together when we were both younger than 12 years old (after having a shotgun blast scare the hell out of us).

We once placed tacks across a local road (hundreds) for some stupid reason, then hid and watched as cars drove over.

We started a fire in our back lot (just behind the house in a pine thicket) which damn near burned our house to the ground.

We stole a car when I was 8 (she was 6), a VW, at that, and drove it all over the lakes we lived at… skirting water and almost falling off bridges.

We smoked coffee and tea mixed once, experimenting (nasty).

I almost chopped her head off with a hoe, once and FREAKED out as she bled so bad (it WAS an accident caused by Dennice) we were all panicking (and wrapping her head in the old time baby diapers).

I have shot her multiple times with a BB gun and once threw a dart that stuck up in her head (it was her fault).

The one thing I knew about that little girl (and the beautiful woman she is today) was that I could trust her and she trusted me. When it comes down to the nut-cuttin’, we GOT each others back. When there is no one else we can count on, we know we have each other.

I have so many tales to tell about her (and may do at some point). But this ain’t no book.

I love you, my best friend, Julia Maria. You know that and I know you know that. But I want the rest of the world to know.