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Today Dawnell took J out shopping for summer stuff. We had our voucher from the state and it expired on the 21st so it was a good thing she went today. She got a good deal and saved a lot of money and actually got about 250 dollars worth of stuff for 150 so we saved the state money. After that they went to a movie and then to lunch.
Shane didn’t want to get up this morning so he stayed home with me and did house work while I slept. I had two of the cats in bed with me who decided to play most of the day but I still slept like a rock.
Shane would have been really upset tonight, I drove past truck after truck of aircraft. Two had big wings on them and others had the rest of the aircraft. They must have been going to the SAC Museum west of Omaha.
Oh, if anyone was trying to get to my photo blog “Ted’s Picture Soapbox” . I fixed my mistake and it is no longer password protected. Sorry about that.
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CHENEY AND THE KING
Cheney’s national security adviser said they would discuss “a co-operative way forward” to stabilise oil prices, which have hit record highs. Oil prices have risen about 16% this year, but the oil producers’ cartel, Opec, has declined to raise output.
Cheney is staying the night at King Abdullah’s al-Jenadriya horse farm, where he was given a warm welcome. “Mr vice-president, we’ve been friends a long time,” the king said.
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TRAITOR TO THE CAUSE
Richardson — who sought this year’s Democratic nomination for president himself — joined Obama at a rally in Portland, Oregon, where the senator from Illinois is campaigning.
“Barack Obama will make a great and historic president,” Richardson said, Obama standing at his side. “[It] is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our nation and you are a once-in-a-lifetime leader.”
Obama and Clinton both lobbied Richardson for his endorsement after he dropped out of the race January 10. Richardson called Clinton Thursday to tell her of his decision, Clinton’s campaign said.
The campaign shrugged off Richardson’s endorsement of her rival.
“Both candidates have many great endorsers, but the voters, not endorsers, will decide this election, and there are still millions of voters in upcoming contests who want to have their voices heard,” Clinton spokesman Jay Carson said.
Richardson said his “affection for Hillary Clinton and President Bill Clinton will never waver” but that “it is now time for a new generation of leadership.”
Obama “can bring us the change we so desperately need by bringing us together as a nation here at home and with our allies abroad,” he said.
He drew laughs with a story about how Obama had bailed him out when a moderator called on him unexpectedly during a Democratic debate.
“I was about to ask the moderator to repeat the question when Barack whispered to me ‘Katrina, Katrina.’ And I gave my Katrina answer. He could have thrown me under the bus, but he stood behind me.”
*** I don’t understand how Richardson can support someone who refuses to end the war or commit to ending the war. At one point, Richardson could never support anyone who wouldn’t commit to that.
Now we only have Edwards who is still standing by his principals. Who will buy him? ***
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EASTER TIDBITS
As you may know, Easter is always the 1st Sunday after the 1st full moon after the Spring Equinox (which is March 20).
This dating of Easter is based on the lunar calendar that Hebrew people used to identify Passover, which is why it moves around on our Roman calendar.
Based on the above, Easter can actually be one day earlier (March 22) but that is pretty rare. This year is the earliest Easter any of us will ever see the rest of our lives! And only the most elderly of our population have ever seen it this early (95 years old or above!). And none of us have ever, or will ever, see it a day earlier! Here are the facts:
The next time Easter will be this early (March 23) will be the year 2228 (220 years from now). The last time it was this early was 1913 (so if you’re 95 or older, you are the only ones that were around for that!).
The next time it will be a day earlier, March 22, will be in the year 2285 (277 years from now). The last time it was on March 22 was 1818. So, no one alive today has or will ever see it any earlier than this year!
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SHROUD OF TURIN
There are very few Christian relics as important and as controversial as the Shroud of Turin.
This linen cloth, measuring about 4.4m by 1.1m (14.4×3.6 feet) holds the concealed image of a man bearing all the signs of crucifixion.
Scientific tests have proved that there are blood stains around the marks consistent with a crown of thorns and a puncture from a lance to the side.
Until the 1980s, millions of Christians around the world believed the Shroud to be the burial cloth of Christ.
Put simply, it meant that for millions of people the Shroud was, in effect, a Polaroid of Jesus’ death – a snapshot of the defining moment in Christianity. It put the Shroud in a league of its own in the realm of the most important Christian relics.
But in 1989, the significance of the Shroud seemed to evaporate after a radiocarbon dating test pronounced a stunning verdict – the Shroud of Turin was indisputably a medieval fake.
If it is a medieval forgery, then how was this image made? So far, no one has been able to explain it. And from this simple question tumble a multitude of other questions.
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FROM RALPH NADERS BLOG
President Bush believes that the war in Iraq is “worth the sacrifice.”
The question then becomes – sacrifice by whom?
What about George Bush’s daughters – Jenna and Barbara?
Prince Harry served in Afghanistan.
Senator Jim Webb and Senator John McCain each have a son who has served in Iraq.
During World War II four of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s sons entered the armed forces, as did General Eisenhower’s son, John Eisenhower.
No double standard for them.
So, why not Jenna and Barbara Bush?
And why not military service for the children of all members of Congress – who have funded this criminal war in Iraq?
There is a certain moral authority to govern – setting an example – sharing in the sacrifice initiated by the White House – that escape George W. Bush and Dick Cheney and their enablers in Congress.
They have children who have declined to serve during the Iraq war.
While almost four thousand young American men and women have died in this needless, criminal war.
And tens of thousands have been seriously injured.
Why the double standard?
We have a simple cure for this double standard.
It’s called – draft at the top.
Pass a law that says this – whenever Congress and the White House take our country to war, all able-bodied military-age children of every member of Congress, the President and the Vice-President will be conscripted automatically into the armed forces.
Nader/Gonzalez supports draft at the top.
Clinton/Obama/McCain are opposed.
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“We want our teachers to be trained so they can meet the obligations, their obligations as teachers. We want them to know how to teach the science of reading. In order to make sure there’s not this kind of federal –” federal cufflink.”
–George W. Bush, at Fritsche Middle School, Milwaukee, March 30, 2000
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304 Days Left
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Number of Operations Iraq Freedom and Enduring
Freedom casualties as confirmed by U.S. Central
Command: 4458
