leasheryn's Blog

I've spent hours and hours  thinking of what would be the best song that is most appropriate to describe Pelosi.  Okay I admit it was actually less than 5 minutes but when it comes to Pelosi, 5 less than 5 mins is about all I can spare.  I've much better things to do than waste time on this particular waste of space.  However, this is the only song that is at all appropriate.  LOL  (And for anyone who wants to get on their high horse, this is all done in fun)

Cruella De Vil
Cruella De Vil
If she doesn't scare you
No evil thing will
To see her is to
Take a sudden chill
Cruella, Cruella De Vil

The curl of her lips
The ice in her stare
All innocent children
Had better beware
She's like a spider waiting
For the kill
Look out for Cruella De Vil

At first you think
Cruella is the devil
But after time has worn
Away the shock
You come to realize
You've seen her kind of eyes
Watching you from underneath
A rock!

This vampire bat
This inhuman beast
She ought to be locked up
And never released
The world was such
A wholesome place until
Cruella, Cruella De Vil

It's funny what a topic makes you remember.  Here's a song for you, Floyd:

And the sign said "Long-haired freaky people need not apply"
So I tucked my hair up under my hat and I went in to ask him why
He said "You look like a fine upstanding young man, I think you'll do"
So I took off my hat, I said "Imagine that. Huh! Me workin' for you!"
Whoa-oh-oh

Sign, sign, everywhere a sign
Blockin' out the scenery, breakin' my mind
Do this, don't do that, can't you read the sign?

And the sign said anybody caught trespassin' would be shot on sight
So I jumped on the fence and-a yelled at the house, "Hey! What gives you
the
right?"
"To put up a fence to keep me out or to keep mother nature in"
"If God was here he'd tell you to your face, Man, you're some kinda sinner"

Sign, sign, everywhere a sign
Blockin' out the scenery, breakin' my mind
Do this, don't do that, can't you read the sign?

Now, hey you, mister, can't you read?
You've got to have a shirt and tie to get a seat
You can't even watch, no you can't eat
You ain't supposed to be here
The sign said you got to have a membership card to get inside
Ugh!


And the sign said, "Everybody welcome. Come in, kneel down and pray"
But when they passed around the plate at the end of it all, I didn't have a
penny to pay
So I got me a pen and a paper and I made up my own little sign
I said, "Thank you, Lord, for thinkin' 'bout me. I'm alive and doin' fine."
Wooo!

Sign, sign, everywhere a sign
Blockin' out the scenery, breakin' my mind
Do this, don't do that, can't you read the sign?

Sign, sign, everywhere a sign
Sign
Sign, sign

Do you agree or disagree with this statement and why?

It is an obvious fact, all people are made in the same way, that they are equiped with a definate ability to prosper freely and fortunately. 

By Drew Zahn
© 2008 WorldNetDaily

Stan J. Liebowitz

While many pundits are pointing to corporate greed and a lack of government regulation as the cause for the American mortgage and financial crisis, some analysts are saying it wasn't too little government intervention that cased the mortgage meltdown, but too much, in the form of activists compelling the government to pressure Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae into unsound – though politically correct – lending practices.

"Home mortgages have been a political piñata for many decades," writes Stan J. Liebowitz, economics professor at the University of Texas at Dallas, in a chapter of his forthcoming book, Housing America: Building out of a Crisis.

Liebowitz puts forward an explanation that he admits is "not consistent with the nasty-subprime-lender hypothesis currently considered to be the cause of the mortgage meltdown."

In a nutshell, Liebowitz contends that the federal government over the last 20 years pushed the mortgage industry so hard to get minority homeownership up, that it undermined the country's financial foundation to achieve its goal.

"In an attempt to increase homeownership, particularly by minorities and the less affluent, an attack on underwriting standards was undertaken by virtually every branch of the government since the early 1990s," Liebowitz writes. "The decline in mortgage underwriting standards was universally praised as 'innovation' in mortgage lending by regulators, academic specialists, (government-sponsored enterprises) and housing activists."

He continues, "Although a seemingly noble goal, the tool chosen to achieve this goal was one that endangered the entire mortgage enterprise."

"As homeownership rates increased there was self-congratulation all around," Liebowitz writes. "The community of regulators, academic specialists, and housing activists all reveled in the increase in homeownership."

An article in the Los Angeles Times from the late '90s praised the sudden surge in homeownership among minorities, calling it "one of the hidden success stories of the Clinton era."

John Lott, a senior research scientist at the University of Maryland, however, claimed in a Fox News article yesterday that the success came at a great price.

According to Lott, the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston produced a manual in the early '90s that warned mortgage lenders to no longer deny urban and lower-income minority applicants on such "outdated" criteria as credit history, down payment or employment income.

Furthermore, claims Lott, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac encouraged and praised lenders – like Countrywide and Bear Stearns – for adopting the slackened policies toward minority applicants.

"Given these lending practices mandated by the Fed and encouraged by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac," writes Lott, "the resulting financial problems for financial institutions such as Countrywide and Bear Stearns are not too surprising."

Liebowitz' contention that lenders were under pressure to loosen their standards for racial and political goals was confirmed years ago by the companies at the heart of today's crisis: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

A New York Times article from Sept. 1999 states that Fannie Mae had been under increasing pressure from the Clinton administration to expand mortgage loans among low- and moderate-income people and that the corporation loosened its lending requirements to comply.

An ominous paragraph of the article reads, "In moving, even tentatively, into this new area of lending, Fannie Mae is taking on significantly more risk, which may not pose any difficulties during flush economic times. But the government-subsidized corporation may run into trouble in an economic downturn, prompting a government rescue similar to that of the savings and loan industry in the 1980s."

Liebowitz likewise predicted in a 1998 paper the risk of sacrificing sound financial policy for social activism.

"After the warm fuzzy glow of 'flexible underwriting standards' has worn off," Liebowitz wrote, "we may discover that they are nothing more than standards that led to bad loans. … It will be ironic and unfortunate if minority applicants wind up paying a very heavy price for a misguided policy based on a badly mangled idea."

And though some have speculated that lenders in the '90s dove into sub-prime mortgages in an effort to gouge new markets, the president and chief operating officer of Freddie Mac in 1999, David Glenn, confessed his company was pushed by a federal agenda.

"The mortgage industry intends to pursue minorities with greater intensity as federal regulators turn up the heat to increase home ownership," Glenn said in his remarks at the annual convention of the Mortgage Banker Association of America.

"The federal government in the meantime has increased pressure on lenders to seek out minorities, as well as low-income groups and borrowers with poor credit histories," Glenn said. "Fannie Mae recently reached an agreement with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to commit half its business to low- and moderate-income borrowers. That means half the mortgages bought by Fannie Mae would be from those income brackets."

In that same year, Freddie Mac warned of the logical pitfalls of pursuing loans on the basis of skin color and not credit history.

The Washington Post reported that the company conducted a study in which it was found that far more black people have bad credit than white people, even when both have the same incomes. In fact, the study showed a higher percentage of African Americans with incomes of $65,000 to $75,000 had bad credit than white Americans with incomes of below $25,000.

Such data demonstrated that when federal regulators demanded parity between racial groups in lending, the only way to achieve a quota would be to begin making intentionally bad lending decisions.

The study, however, came under brutal attack in the U.S. Congress and was ridiculed with charges of racism.

A few years later, when Greg Mankiw, chairman of President Bush's Council of Economic Advisers, voiced a warning about weakened underwriting standards, Congress rebuffed him as well.

The Wall Street Journal quoted Congressman Barney Frank, D-Mass., in 2003 as criticizing Greg Mankiw "because he is worried about the tiny little matter of safety and soundness rather than 'concern about housing.'"

Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, rejected a Bush administration and Congressional Republican plan for regulating the mortgage industry in 2003, saying, "These two entities – Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac – are not facing any kind of financial crisis." According to a New York Times article, Frank added, "The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing."

It is my understanding that when one accepts Christ as their Savior, they become followers of Chirst and are indeed respresentives of Christ.  We are meant to live in His spirit and to be Christ-like in our actions and deeds.  As representives of Christ, we are to act in a way in which He Himself would approve and imulate His Words, Deeds and Teachings.  We are in fact to go forth as examples of His Life on Earth and to spread this example to one and all. 

The way we look and act and behave should be Christ-like.  Sure, none of us are perfect and we all have to face temptations and often we are lead along the wrong path even though we may think that we are doing the right thing.  But as we go along in life, we should think of how Jesus would have responded and what He would have done in such a circumstance.  If we realize we have gone wrong, it is up to us to go to Him or go to the Father and confess what we have done.  Not only this but we should make a good attempt to do better or to be better. 

Many of us get too wrapped up in the immediate focus or too interested in the wrongs that others are doing to consider that we, ourselves, may not be facing ourselves or realizing that we too may be doing wrong by getting involved in the salvation of the next guy.  It is for each of us to make up our own minds and to make our own decisions.  If someone wishes to accept Jesus as their Savior, they should do so and, if they do not, then it is for them to face the Almighty at the end of the day.

We should live in peace with each other and we should know that it is God who decides who is acceptable and who is not.  But if we show a peaceful nature and know the joy of accepting Christ is our hearts as our Savior, that should be enough to make others stop, look at us and wonder what it is that gives us that peace when they are living under the stresses of the world.  It is always easy to fall into temptation but the hard work that goes into knowing peace and living with Christ should give each one who believes great joy.  Great joy is truly a reward for a little hard work so who should complain about a little extra effort. 

69BC-30BC Cleopatra held sole rule of Egypt

 AD 60-61 Celtic Queen Boudicca of the Iceni tribe in Britian leads an uprising of the tribes against the occupying forces of the Roman Empire

 1135 Matilda, daughter of Henry I, was the first female ruler, of the Kingdom of England.  Her crown was usurped by her Cousin, known as King Stephen, upon who she raged a civil war, riding into battle at the head of her armies

 1122-1204 Eleanor of Aquitaine, Duchess of Aquitaine, Gascony and Countess of Poitou was one of the wealthiest and most powerful women in Europe.  Eleanor was Queen consort of both France and England (Louis VII and Henry II) and mother of Kings Richard and John.  She participated in the Second Crusade

 1412-1431 Joan of Arc, a peasant girl, who was to become a Catholic Saint and national heroine of France, led the French army to several important victories during the hundred years war and was responsible for the coronation of King Charles VI

 1474-1504 Isabella Queen of Spain often referred to as one of the Most Catholic Kings (the other being Ferdinand) united the kingdom of Spain under one rule, banished the Moors from her Kingdom often riding into battle at the head of her armies and sent Christopher Columbus on his journey of discovery.  She, during her reign, she was the most powerful monarch of her time.

 1519-1589 Catherine de' Medici, Queen Mother of France, rules France as Regent during the reigns of three of her sons, Francis II, Charles IX and Henry III. 

 1473-1541 Margaret Pole (nee Plantagenet) Countess of Salisbury.  Margaret Pole was executed, beheaded by Henry VIII for the simple reason that she stood closer to the English throne than he did.  She was such a threat to his kingship, that the only way to rid himself of the treat was to execute her.

 1505-1544 Margaret Roper, nee More, daughter of Sir Thomas More and student of Erasmus.  Meg Roper was so highly educated that she translated the works of Erasmus.

  1521-1546 Anne Askew was an English poet and Protestant who was persecuted as a heretic.  She is the only woman on record to have been tortured in the Tower of London before being burnt at the stake on orders of Henry VIII.

 1527-1608 Elizabeth Talbot, Countess of Shrewsbury, known as Bess of Hardwick, owned extensive property in her own right.  She was chosen by Elizabeth I as one of the jailers of Mary Queen of Scots.

 1533-1603 Elizabeth I sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana and Good Queen Bess.  Upon the execution of her mother, Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth was declared a bastard by her father Henry VIII and treated as an outcast.  She was however educated in several languages including French, Spanish, Latin and Greek.  She was taught diplomacy and mathematics.  Despite her background as a bastard child, she rose to the throne of England.  The only person to ever stake a claim above hers was Mary Queen of Scots who was later beheaded for treasonous acts against Elizabeth.  Men like Drake, Raleigh and Hawkins bent their knees to her and explored the world on her behalf. Elizabeth was not only the most powerful woman of her time but the most powerful monarch of the world as she knew it

 1595-1617 Pocahontas, at the point of the attempted execution of Capt John Smith, Pocahontas threw herself across his body, thus saving his life.  Pocahontas was the first Native American woman to marry an Englishman, John Rolfe, and later traveled with him to England 

 1665-1714 Queen Anne, known as Good Queen Anne,  was ruler of England, Scotland and Ireland.

 1717-1780 Maria Theresa of Austria reigned as Archduchess of Austria, Queen of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia and a Holy Roman Empress

 1729-1796 Catherine II or Catherine the Great of Russia reigned for 34 years as Empress of Russia until her death.  Marrying into the Imperial family, she came to power with the deposition of her husband Peter III then presided over a significant period of growth in Russian influence and culture

 1820-1910 Florence Nightingale, known as the Lady with the Lamp, Florence Nightingale took a band of nurses out to the front lines of the Crimean War, to care for the injured soldiers.  She was not only a pioneering nurse but a writer and statistician

 1819-1901 Victoria, born Alexandrina Victoria, she was Queen of England and Empress of India.  Her reign as Queen lasted 63 years and seven months, longer than any other British monarch to date.  Her reign included the Empire Upon Which the Sun Never Set.  It was my intention of list the nations and colonies that were included in the British Empire but it is far too extensive to include each and everyone.  The Empire did include, in short, Canada, several Caribbean Islands, parts of South America, Middle Eastern countries, colonies in Africa and China, the whole of India, Australia and New Zealand, not to mention several South Pacific Islands.  No one, neither King nor Queen, in the history of the world ever held as much territory as the British Empire during the reign of Queen Victoria.  Her name itself means victorious and with the extent of her empire, she surely was.  

 I cannot by any means include all the women who took part in the formation of our history.  Although this is somewhat an extensive list, this is only a small number of them.  Others would include Mary Shelley, Louisa May Alcott, Elizabeth Barret Browning, Jane Austen, and the Bronte Sisters. 

Women in history were well educated side by side with the men of their world, they were capable landowners and heiresses of great estates or used their minds in the creation of their art.  They were royals, nobles and peasants but they were strong of character and willing to take their part in the world around them.  It is these women who paved the way for women of today.  They did not break through the proverbial glass ceiling; they prove, by their existence, that there was no need for a glass ceiling to exist, in their day or ours.   

69BC-30BC Cleopatra held sole rule of Egypt

AD 60-61 Celtic Queen Boudicca of the Iceni tribe in Britian leads an uprising of the tribes against the occupying forces of the Roman Empire

1135 Matilda, daughter of Henry I, was the first female ruler, of the Kingdom of England.  Her crown was usurped by her Cousin, known as King Stephen, upon who she raged a civil war, riding into battle at the head of her armies

1122-1204 Eleanor of Aquitaine, Duchess of Aquitaine, Gascony and Countess of Poitou was one of the wealthiest and most powerful women in Europe.  Eleanor was Queen consort of both France and England (Louis VII and Henry II) and mother of Kings Richard and John.  She participated in the Second Crusade

1412-1431 Joan of Arc, a peasant girl, who was to become a Catholic Saint and national heroine of France, led the French army to several important victories during the hundred years war and was responsible for the coronation of King Charles VI

1474-1504 Isabella Queen of Spain often referred to as one of the Most Catholic Kings (the other being Ferdinand) united the kingdom of Spain under one rule, banished the Moors from her Kingdom often riding into battle at the head of her armies and sent Christopher Columbus on his journey of discovery.  She, during her reign, she was the most powerful monarch of her time.

1519-1589 Catherine de' Medici, Queen Mother of France, rules France as Regent during the reigns of three of her sons, Francis II, Charles IX and Henry III. 

1473-1541 Margaret Pole (nee Plantagenet) Countess of Salisbury.  Margaret Pole was executed, beheaded by Henry VIII for the simple reason that she stood closer to the English throne than he did.  She was such a threat to his kingship, that the only way to rid himself of the treat was to execute her.

1505-1544 Margaret Roper, nee More, daughter of Sir Thomas More and student of Erasmus.  Meg Roper was so highly educated that she translated the works of Erasmus.

 1521-1546 Anne Askew was an English poet and Protestant who was persecuted as a heretic.  She is the only woman on record to have been tortured in the Tower of London before being burnt at the stake on orders of Henry VIII.

1527-1608 Elizabeth Talbot, Countess of Shrewsbury, known as Bess of Hardwick, owned extensive property in her own right.  She was chosen by Elizabeth I as one of the jailers of Mary Queen of Scots.

1533-1603 Elizabeth I sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana and Good Queen Bess.  Upon the execution of her mother, Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth was declared a bastard by her father Henry VIII and treated as an outcast.  She was however educated in several languages including French, Spanish, Latin and Greek.  She was taught diplomacy and mathematics.  Despite her background as a bastard child, she rose to the throne of England.  The only person to ever stake a claim above hers was Mary Queen of Scots who was later beheaded for treasonous acts against Elizabeth.  Men like Drake, Raleigh and Hawkins bent their knees to her and explored the world on her behalf. Elizabeth was not only the most powerful woman of her time but the most powerful monarch of the world as she knew it

1595-1617 Pocahontas, at the point of the attempted execution of Capt John Smith, Pocahontas threw herself across his body, thus saving his life.  Pocahontas was the first Native American woman to marry an Englishman, John Rolfe, and later traveled with him to England 

1665-1714 Queen Anne, known as Good Queen Anne,  was ruler of England, Scotland and Ireland.

1717-1780 Maria Theresa of Austria reigned as Archduchess of Austria, Queen of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia and a Holy Roman Empress

1729-1796 Catherine II or Catherine the Great of Russia reigned for 34 years as Empress of Russia until her death.  Marrying into the Imperial family, she came to power with the deposition of her husband Peter III then presided over a significant period of growth in Russian influence and culture

1820-1910 Florence Nightingale, known as the Lady with the Lamp, Florence Nightingale took a band of nurses out to the front lines of the Crimean War, to care for the injured soldiers.  She was not only a pioneering nurse but a writer and statistician

1819-1901 Victoria, born Alexandrina Victoria, she was Queen of England and Empress of India.  Her reign as Queen lasted 63 years and seven months, longer than any other British monarch to date.  Her reign included the Empire Upon Which the Sun Never Set.  It was my intention of list the nations and colonies that were included in the British Empire but it is far too extensive to include each and everyone.  The Empire did include, in short, Canada, several Caribbean Islands, parts of South America, Middle Eastern countries, colonies in Africa and China, the whole of India, Australia and New Zealand, not to mention several South Pacific Islands.  No one, neither King nor Queen, in the history of the world ever held as much territory as the British Empire during the reign of Queen Victoria.  Her name itself means victorious and with the extent of her empire, she surely was.  

I cannot by any means include all the women who took part in the formation of our history.  Although this is somewhat an extensive list, this is only a small number of them.  Others would include Mary Shelley, Louisa May Alcott, Elizabeth Barret Browning, Jane Austen, and the Bronte Sisters. 

Women in history were well educated side by side with the men of their world, they were capable landowners and heiresses of great estates or used their minds in the creation of their art.  They were royals, nobles and peasants but they were strong of character and willing to take their part in the world around them.  It is these women who paved the way for women of today.  They did not break through the proverbial glass ceiling; they prove, by their existence, that there was no need for a glass ceiling to exist, in their day or ours.   

The 22-year-old brunette is auctioning off her virginity in a desperate bid to pay for her college tuition.

The San Diego brunette, who is using the pseudonym of Natalie Dylan for 'safety reasons', was introduced to the RJ by the owner of a legal Nevada brothel, where her sister already works. 

The winner of the auction will get to consummate the relationship at the brothel.

"We live in a capitalist society. Why shouldn't I be allowed to capitalize on my virginity?

Dylan is willing to submit to a polygraph test and a gynaecological exam, in case anyone doubts her virginity.

The girl, who already has a bachelor's degree in women's studies at Sacramento State, wants to study for a master's in marriage and family therapy

My kind of loyalty was to one's country, not to its institutions or its officeholders. The country is the real thing, the substantial thing, the eternal thing; it is the thing to watch over, and care for, and be loyal to; institutions are extraneous, they are its mere clothing, and clothing can wear out, become ragged, cease to be comfortable, cease to protect the body from winter, disease, and death." Mark Twain

I've posted this into one of my other topics but thought it interesting enough to place seperately as well. 

There is a certain four letter word that Obama uses again and again and again in his speeches.  Many people will find this word offensive; many are allegeric to this word and many so badly that they will actually claim to break out in a rash at the mere thought of such a word effecting their lives.  There are people who will certainly not vote for Obama if he continues to disrespect them by using this word over and over.  Many may not vote at all since this word scares them so much and they certainly don't want any thing to do with it or any thought that it might someday be a part of their lives! 

And you might wonder what exactly this four-letter word is that is so offensive and so terrible.  Well, it's WORK!   

Drastic and terrible  events have unfolded in America.  Surely we all feel as though we have been devastated, as if the unspeakable has happened.  To have lost so much and so many lives in one day is a loss that we will long remember.   

I, like many, watched with awe as a hijacked plane flew directly into the World Trade Center in New York City.  Moments later another hijacked plane attacked the second of the twin towers.  And again, in moments, In Washington, yet another hijacked plane struck the Pentagon.  Surely, surely we are lost in this total, unexpected, devastation.

Yet, as I watched the second of the twin towers collapse, sinking to the ground, followed by the first one that was hit, the skyline of New York appeared complete except for the addition of a billowing cloud of ugly smoke that hid the fact that the towers were gone. 

Yet, yet...

Standing firmly, bold and straight in New York Harbor (just as she always has for generations of immigrants who believed in our country enough to leave their homes in search of a new and better life), despite the devastation, is our defiant Lady Liberty with her torch upraised to the sky.  Our country's symbol remains to encourage.    

"Oh say can you see             

By the dawn's early light

What so proudly we hail'd

In the twilight's last gleaming"

Think of these immortal words written so long ago by Francis Scott Key, also under fire and thinking the worst had come.  It was the end of a horrible time, and he could see a great symbol of our country still boldly waving in the wind.  Our flag was still there!

Our Lady Liberty is still there!

Firm and bold and strong! There is nothing that will stop us or hold us back.

Sarasota Herald Tribune Sunday September 16, 2001

These were my views seven years ago shortly after 9/11.  I share them with you in memory of the fallen.

Even though there is an infinitismal number of worlds in the English language, a person of moderate education knows approx. 1% of those words and maybe as many as 5%.  An intelligent person understands far more and if they don't understand, they know they have the ability to discover not only the words but the meaning behind those words. 

There are words that are synonyms: words having the same meaning as others and there are antonyms: words having an opposite meaning. 

All sorts of words mean different things but may express the same thought or idea.  Having a grasp of the language gives the advantage of communication.  Having less of a grasp gives a disadvantage and leads to misunderstanding or an inability to grasp the meaning of a discussion. 

Each of us has the responsibility of our own education.  We can improve ourselves and our language but only if we wish to.  If we are comfortable with our present level of education, we can stay in one place all our lives.  If we are dissatisfied, we can contunue to expand our minds. 

How we talk to each other depends on our ability to understand the words we use and what they mean. 

Although this is a question for PastorD, it is certainly opened for discussion or for anyone who wishes to respond.

Pastor, at what point in time can a member of clergy deny anybody the right to enter or to join a church?  It is my understanding that Jesus taught that all who come are welcome and embraced within the church.  If this is the teaching of Jesus and if the person who comes is truly sincere in their beliefs, is it right for a member of clergy to dismiss that person from entrance within the church.  And if that person has done nothing to offend and has been nothing but be honest and sincere, what reason would a clergyman or woman have to turn them away? Also if a man is going to marry a woman who has every desire to join his church, does a member of clergy have any right to pursuade such a man that his choosen bride has no intent to join his church and turn her away?   Does this clergyman have the right to do this without even taking the time to speak to the woman and discover what her mind is on this subject?  Wouldn't this be considered dishonest and unprofessional? 

I ask because I know of someone who has faced this circumstance  and in which the man in question left his bride because of statements by such a member of clergy. 

Welshtaff was admitted to Sarasota Memorial Hospital early in August with a blood sugar level of nearly 1400.  It was discovered that his insulin pump had failed.  It was registering that he was getting the insulin but he wasn't which was what shot his blood sugar up so high. 

He was hospitalized for 10 days.  It was thought that he had a hernia but when the surgeon opened him up, the doc discovered that instead of a hernia, it was a huge accumulation of pus instead--2 tall styrofoam cups of pus.   This infection was also attributed to the insulin pump.  Perhaps the needles he received from Animas were not sterile as they were supposed to be. 

It was a scary event for the entire family since if we had waited any longer before rushing him to the hospital, he would not have made it.  A sugar count of 1000 is death and he was far above that.  So we are all very lucky that he is still with us. 

Welshtaff is doing very well now and on the way to recovery although it is still going to take a long time before he is fully restored to his old self.  His surgery wound is healing well with the help of a wound vac and it looks like he will be off that next week which has made him very happy.  He was supposed to be on the vac for 16 weeks but has only had it for about three. 

It's going to be day by day but every improvement is a step in the right direction.   He is working hard to keep his sugar levels down around 100 and seeing his doctors regularly.  Otherwise he sleeps much of the time but is up doing little things for himself now.  So again it's all moving in the right direction. 

Thank you everyone for your support and well wishes.    

I was talking with Welshtaff the other night and he has come up with a terrific Welfare to Work Program. 

Take for instance Hurricane Katrina or perhaps the wild fires in California.  Or  all the tornados in the mid-west.  Or in fact any natural disaster where communities have to be rebuilt or revitalized. 

The Federal Government should send out call-up notices to anyone who's on welfare, put them on buses and ship them into these location and PUT THEM TO WORK!  If they don't show up or refuse to do the job assigned to them, the welfare check is AUTOMATICALLY STOPPED.  Further, NO EXCUSES ALLOWED.

As long as anyone is on the governmental t*t, they are no longer their own person and no longer able to make their own decisions.  They belong to the government and are entitled to do only what the goverment asks them to do. 

Let's put these people to work and make them earn their pay instead of receiving free hand-outs from our tax dollars.