Drew Brees Interview

These Are Truly America’s Most Elite Dogs. What Incredible Animals. | The Veterans Site Blog

These Are Truly America’s Most Elite Dogs. What Incredible Animals. | The Veterans Site Blog

Honest - But Funny Mistake

While compiling a list of websites to include in my last post about the l November 4th election, I had left several windows open to
refer back to them during the construction of the blogpost. I posted at about noon today and spent most of the
day outside, enjoying the weather, reading and keeping my Lab company (he suffers from separation anxiety)

One of the websites I left open on my laptop was Vote Smart dot org.
I didn't register that this website had the sounds of dogs barking and birds tweeting if you leave it idle for a certain amount of time.

After about an hour outside I came into the house and heard a bird chirping, in a certain part of the house. I looked around but could not identify where the bird might be.

When my husband came home I told him about the sound of a bird chirping in the house. He pulled out the aluminum ladder to check the high spaces in our sunroom and living room. Nothing could be found

We thought that maybe our squirrel had decided to sound like a bird, but that proved wrong.

When I finally finished my evening chores and sat down to check my internet sites, I heard the chirping again...in my computer. I laughed when I found out the bird I thought was in my house was actually singing from my laptop

November 4th Ballot

I just checked and there are 14 amendments on the ballot which will require you to do some homework to make an intelligent decision.

Here is a sample ballot for voters in St. Tammany

Here are some websites that explain the ballots in plain english:

The Bureau of Government Research"
The Bureau of Governmental Research is a private, nonprofit, independent research organization dedicated to informed public policy making and the effective use
of public resources for the improvement of government in the New Orleans metropolitan area.

They have created a comprehensive report that details - in everyday English - each of the constitutional amendments on the ballot. This is the place to go to make a wise decision on the amendments.

SOS LOUISIANA DOT GOV
The Louisiana Secretary of State


Vote Smart dot org.
Here you will be presented with all the information you need in making decisions in
this election. It doesn't include the amendments, but is chock full of
information about the candidates and incumbents.

CABL dot org
The Council for a Better Louisiana
In depth information of both the candidates and the amendments.

LA-PAR dot org
Louisiana Public Affairs Research Council
For a pdf guide to the constitutional amendments click here

Vote LA dot org
By putting in your address at this website you will be given a sample ballot
to familiarize yourself with the candidates and amendments. This site doesn't explain the amendments, though.


Proposed Amendments


1. Medical trust fund and healthcare provider base rate
2. Hospital assessment, trust fund and fee formula
3. Sales of property with delinquent taxes
4. Fund transfers for an infrastructure bank
5. Elimination of the mandatory retirement age of judges
6. Higher millage cap for police and fire protection in Orleans Parish
7. Property tax exemption for certain disabled veterans
8. Artificial Reef Development Fund
9. Tax exemption reporting for permanently disabled residents
10. Tax sale of vacant, blighted or abandoned property
11. Increases the number of state departments from 20 to 21
12. Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission membership
13. Orleans Lower Ninth Ward vacant property
14. Tax rebates, incentives and abatements

So there you go. Vote informed.

Monday Morning Smile

I caught this during last week and "squeed" from the first second. I didn't know porcupines made noises like this.

Guaranteed smiles for all of us. Bless you all this week.



watch

Mysterious Memorial

Somewhere deep within Colorado lies a memorial to Vietnam era Veterans. Called "Soldierstone" it was the dream of Lt. Colonel Stuart Allen Beckley, a Vietnam Veteran.

LTC Beckley served in Vietnam from 1962-1973. After the war he was deeply impacted by Vietnam and wanted to do something for his fellow soldiers – as well as the other countries affected by the war.

Beckley's idea to build a stone memorial on national forest land was initially denied. But when the forest supervisor for the Rio Grande National Forest, Jim Webb (now retired), discovered Beckley was dying of cancer, he changed his mind.

According to the Forest Service, Webb received a letter from Beckley that read, "I am running out of life … have 6 to 8 months to live and need all the help I can muster." Beckly passed away on November 5, 1995.


The memorial is a pillar about twelve feet high with text on each side. It’s surrounded by rocks piled into a low wall. Further away stones encircle the Monument. Beckley somehow got Soldierstone located and built on public land, and paid for it. He felt that the nameless, unthanked soldiers deserved this unique recognition. He also felt that it needed to be a low-key monument (like those soldiers), so his desire was that it would be built without government fuss, and after being built, would not be advertised. Very strange. Yet it is somehow moving and there is a sense of the sacred about the place.

Here is a video taken by some kids biking in Colorado when they came upon it.





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PIGS from Tennessee

As a child of the 60/70's I remember the term "pigs" referred to police.

In today's world, the term is only used to the animals who choose to shoot to death young black men.

Today, the term "pigs" is used by me to describe humans who abuse a wonderful, sweet breed of dogs. Pit Bulls.

Pitties are sweet, easy going and funny looking dogs. They are lovers.

This story is about pigs from Tennessee:



These pigs include

Monday Smile - October 20th, 2014

Woops, I just realized I've been remiss in doing my Monday smiles.

As you watch this, please know that I am smiling because I attended a wedding of a very special girl yesterday and my heart is happy.

If you use the train on Mondays, or a bus - imagine this happening.

His Final Recording

I blatantly stole the writeup below from Taste of Country dot com .

No I'm not a big fan of country music, but I grew up with Glen Cambell music. Some of my favorites were By the Time I get to Phoenix", " Wichita Lineman" and many more.

A few years ago, Glen was diagnosed with Alzheimers. We all know how that ends up. The following verbage is a set-up for the video which - if you ever liked him as a kid - will put a lump in your throat. Here is the article from the taste of country website:



Glen Campbell has been very public about his battle with Alzheimer’s, bravely staging a farewell tour after his diagnosis in 2011 and even allowing camera crews to capture those performances for a new documentary.

Now, he has released a new single, taken from the final recording session of his career.

According to Radio.com, Campbell went into the studio in January 2013, just months after his final public performance. The resulting track is ‘I’m Not Gonna Miss You,’ a rumination on everything that Alzheimer’s is slowly taking from Campbell as he enters its advanced stages. Campbell co-wrote the song with Julian Raymond and recorded it specifically for ‘Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me,’ which is set to open in theaters in late October.

The track is both sad and almost unbearably resolute, as the singer pays a final farewell to his wife and his life while acknowledging that much of the burden for what’s ahead will not fall on him: “I’m never gonna hold you like I did / Or say ‘I love you’ to the kids / You’re never gonna see it in my eyes / It’s not gonna hurt me when you cry / I’m never gonna know what you go through / All the things I’ll say or do / All the hurt and all the pain / One thing selfishly remains / I’m not gonna miss you.”
Interspersed with scenes from Campbell’s final tour as well as flashbacks from his life, the video serves as a testament to the legend’s impact in both his musical and personal life, as well as a fitting farewell to one of the leading musical lights of his generation.

Campbell was moved to a full-time care facility in April, and his wife, Kim, has said that it is unlikely that he will ever perform in public again.

‘Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me’ features commentary from fellow musicians Blake Shelton, Sheryl Crow, Keith Urban, Brad Paisley, Taylor Swift and Vince Gill, as well as friends and fans like Steve Martin, Bruce Springsteen, U2‘s the Edge, Paul McCartney, Jimmy Webb, Jay Leno and Bill Clinton. After premiering at the Nashville Film Festival in April, it is set to open in a limited theatrical release in New York and Nashville on Oct. 24 before playing in theaters nationwide.

Police Brutality

From the Daily Kos website TUE OCT 07, 2014 AT 12:17 PM PDT
Indiana man tasered and ripped from car during routine traffic stop
Below was reported on Daily Kos:

Lisa Mahone, her two children, and her boyfriend Jamal Jones were rushing to a Chicago hospital to see her mother after receiving word from hospital officials that her mother was near death.

She was pulled over for not wearing a seatbelt, handed the officer her license and insurance information and informed them they were in a hurry to see her mother before she passed. For whatever reason, the officers decided they need to see ID from her boyfriend as well. He did not have a current license due to a traffic violation and rather than let it go, they asked him to get out of the vehicle. He reached into the backseat to show them the paperwork and that is when all hell broke loose:

Jones said he didn't have an ID to give to police because he recently got a ticket. When he reached into his book bag in the back seat to get the ticket, police drew their guns.
"I don't know you and I don't know what you're going to do," an officer told Jones. He responded, "That's why I have my windows up. I'm not no harm to you right now. I got my kids in the car and you're drawing your weapon."

Jones told FOX 32 News, "So once the kids were scared, I wasn't gonna get out of the car and leave my kids in the car. He was being so aggressive."

Meanwhile, Mahone was talking to 911 operators, pleading for them to send a supervisor as her son taped the encounter on a cell phone. See their terrifying experience:

Tab Benoit

Beautiful song. The first time we heard this song we were driving through the Smokey Mountains. When it came time for the DJ to give credit for this song we lost the signal due to the mountains. So we called Sirius and asked who the artist was and he told us Tab Benoit (Ben-wah), a Louisiana native (Houma boy).



Please enjoy.

This is my second favorite Benoit song. The first one is "When a Cajun Man gets the Blues", penned while he was away from Louisiana (in Colorado) during Hurricane Katrina.

Monday Smile October 6, 2014

I found this via Twitter this evening. It's not HILARIOUSLY funny, just mildly so.

If you like Bob Dylan's music (this song is from the "Blood on the Tracks" album) and Bill Murray, watch this.