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Friday, December 31, 2010

Best New Years Cartoons 2010

Check out 22 of the best New Years cartoons from a great selection of cartoonists.



From Denny: Before you go out to celebrate the New Year with all that dancing and champagne sipping, linger here long enough to get a good laugh! Think of all the funny things you will have to talk about with your friends and family tonight. :) Check out some of the links at the bottom of the post too as I've put together some entertaining goodies.

Apologies to those of you who came looking for last year's New Year's cartoons. I'm just now discovering along with you that many of the cartoonists do not continue to support their cartoon embed codes after a year. Bummer. So I went looking, OK, scouring the web, to find the latest cartoon goodies for you to enjoy.

This is my second year of blogging and I want to take the time to thank all of you for your incredible support and deluge of response on all my blogs! What a pleasure it has been to explore the world, the web and write for you.


Happy New Year and may you be happy, healthy and prosperous!


Chip Bok



Thursday, December 30, 2010

New Years: Funny Quotes, Resolutions Tips, Poems

Start your New Year off right with lots of laughter and some smart advice on meeting those New Year resolutions.



From Denny: Before you stay up all night to ring in the New Year, swill some good champagne and watch the fireworks on TV, catch a laugh here. I rounded up the best and funniest quotes about the New Year. Enjoy some New Year's poems too.






New Years Quotes

* New Year's Day… now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual. - Mark Twain

* Youth is when you're allowed to stay up late on New Year's Eve. Middle age is when you're forced to. - Bill Vaughan

* New Year's is a harmless annual institution, of no particular use to anybody save as a scapegoat for promiscuous drunks, and friendly calls and humbug resolutions. - Mark Twain

* The proper behavior all through the holiday season is to be drunk. This drunkenness culminates on New Year's Eve, when you get so drunk you kiss the person you're married to. - P. J. O'Rourke

* Now there are more overweight people in America than average-weight people. So overweight people are now average... which means, you have met your New Year's resolution. - Jay Leno

* Drop the last year into the silent limbo of the past. Let it go, for it was imperfect, and thank God that it can go. - Brooks Atkinson




* New Year's Resolution: To tolerate fools more gladly, provided this does not encourage them to take up more of my time. - James Agate

* An optimist stays up until midnight to see the New Year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves. - Bill Vaughan

* Many people look forward to the New Year for a new start on old habits. - Anonymous

* May all your troubles last as long as your New Year's resolutions! - Joey Adams







* I made no resolutions for the New Year. The habit of making plans, of criticizing, sanctioning and molding my life, is too much of a daily event for me. - Anais Nin

* Good resolutions are simply checks that men draw on a bank where they have no account. - Oscar Wilde

* I'm a little bit older, a little bit wiser, a little bit rounder, but still none the wiser. - Robert Paul

* A New Year's resolution is something that goes in one Year and out the other. - Anonymous

* From New Year's on the outlook brightens; good humor lost in a mood of failure returns. I resolve to stop complaining. - Leonard Bernstein

* The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot. - Michael Altshuler

* Never tell your resolution beforehand, or it's twice as onerous a duty. - John Selden




* It wouldn't be New Year's if I didn't have regrets. - William Thomas

* People are so worried about what they eat between Christmas and the New Year, but they really should be worried about what they eat between the New Year and Christmas. – Anonymous

* The only way to spend New Year's Eve is either quietly with friends or in a brothel. Otherwise when the evening ends and people pair off, someone is bound to be left in tears. - W.H. Auden

* A New Year's resolution is something that goes in one year and out the other. - Anonymous



* New Year's Eve, where auld acquaintance be forgot! Unless, of course, those tests come back positive. - Jay Leno

* It is better to spend money like there's no tomorrow than to spend tonight like there's no money. - P. J. O'Rourke

* Every New Year is the direct descendant, isn't it, of a long line of proven criminals? - Ogden Nash

* Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense. - Ralph Waldo Emerson



New Year's Blessings

* New Year's eve is like every other night; there is no pause in the march of the universe, no breathless moment of silence among created things that the passage of another twelve months may be noted; and yet no man has quite the same thoughts this evening that come with the coming of darkness on other nights. - Hamilton Wright Mabie

* Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true. - Alfred Lord Tennyson

* Look not mournfully into the past. It comes not back again. Wisely improve the present. It is thine. Go forth to meet the shadowy future, without fear, and with a manly heart. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

* I will seek elegance rather than luxury, refinement rather than fashion. I will seek to be worthy more than respectable, wealthy and not rich. I will study hard, think quietly, talk gently, and act frankly. I will listen to stars and birds, babes and sages, with an open heart. I will bear all things cheerfully, do all things bravely await occasions and hurry never. In a word I will let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious grow up through the common. - William Ellery Channing

* We spend January 1 walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched. Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives, not looking for flaws, but for potential. - Ellen Goodman

* The object of a new year is not that we should have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul. - G.K. Chesterton





New Year's Poems

Happy New Year!!
A New Years toast to love and laughter
and happily ever after

A health to you, a wealth to you,
And the best that life can give to you.

Dance as if no one were watching,
Sing as if no one were listening and
Live every day as if it were your last. - Anonymous


Auld Lang Syne

by Robert Burns

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
and days of auld lang syne?

For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We'll take a cup o' kindness yet
For auld lang syne

We twa hae run aboot the braes
And pou'd the gowans fine;
we've wander'd mony a weary foot
Sin' auld lang syne

We two hae paidled i' the burn,
Frae mornin' sun till dine;
But seas between us braid hae roar'd
Sin' auld lang syne

And here's a hand, my trusty friend,
And gie's a hand o' thine;
We'll take a cup o' kindness yet
For auld lang syne

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
and days of auld lang syne?

For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We'll take a cup o' kindness yet
For auld lang syne




What can be said in New Year rhymes,
That's not been said a thousand times?
The new years come, the old years go,
We know we dream, we dream we know.
We rise up laughing with the light,
We lie down weeping with the night.
We hug the world until it stings,
We curse it then and sigh for wings.
We live, we love, we woo, we wed,
We wreathe our prides, we sheet our dead.
We laugh, we weep, we hope, we fear,
And that's the burden of a year. - Ella Wheeler Wilcox



Funny New Year's Resolutions

One resolution I have made, and try always to keep, is this: To rise above the little things. - John Burroughs

* But can one still make resolutions when one is over forty? I live according to twenty-year old habits. - Andre Gide

* I do think New Year's resolutions can't technically be expected to begin on New Year's Day, don't you? Since, because it's an extension of New Year's Eve, smokers are already on a smoking roll and cannot be expected to stop abruptly on the stroke of midnight with so much nicotine in the system. Also dieting on New Year's Day isn't a good idea as you can't eat rationally but really need to be free to consume whatever is necessary, moment by moment, in order to ease your hangover. I think it would be much more sensible if resolutions began generally on January the second. - Helen Fielding, Bridget Jones's Diary

* He who breaks a resolution is a weakling; He who makes one is a fool. - F. M. Knowles, A Cheerful Year Book

* Every new year people make resolutions to change aspects of themselves they believe are negative. A majority of people revert back to how they were before and feel like failures. This year I challenge you to a new resolution. I challenge you to just be yourself. - Aisha Elderwyn

* For last year's words belong to last year's language and next year's words await another voice. And to make an end is to make a beginning. - T. S. Eliot

* Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each New Year find you a better man. - Benjamin Franklin

* Your Merry Christmas may depend on what others do for you. But your Happy New Year depends on what you do for others. - Anonymous

* We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called "Opportunity" and its first chapter is New Year's Day. - Edith Lovejoy Pierce






It is an amusing human observation that we are a bundle of paradoxes and contradictions, shifting so often, that it can be so swift as to exist on an hourly basis. Talk about change your mind. And, every year, when the new year is beginning, we think about "time."  We think about how we have wasted it or not enjoyed enough of it to do all things we wanted to do.

TIME

Even a temporal calendar is an attempt to grab a hold of ourselves as if to tame our temperaments. Creating artificial time of the past and the future - rather than living fully awake in the present with a lot less stress - seems to be the curse humanity has called down upon ourselves. It is ludicrous, I mean, who in their right mind chooses to curse themselves? Silly.

THE NEW YEAR

Yet, here we arrive every year at what our calendars deem to be the beginning of THE NEW YEAR, like it's a monster from a scary book. Some look forward to it with delight and anticipation, the optimists, and others, the pessimists, dread it, worrying about the future. Hey, people! It's just a silly calendar! :) Take it in stride, laugh with it, laugh at it, but, most of all: LAUGH - and laugh out loud so the whole world can hear you!

BEST NEW YEARS QUOTE

This quote is so true about human nature it just begged to be moved to the top of the line:

* Making resolutions is a cleansing ritual of self assessment and repentance that demands personal honesty and, ultimately, reinforces humility. Breaking them is part of the cycle. - Eric Zorn

CLOCK TIME

By now you have properly figured out that I don't bother to wear a watch. In fact, as soon as I graduated university quite some time ago (feels like a life time, hmmm... maybe it was...) I put away all my watches and the clocks in every room. As far as I was concerned I was done with "childhood." I made a decision then to follow a spiritual rhythm of the day and night which is basically about getting in tune with Nature, Spirit and the Universe.

NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS

My New Year's resolution? They never quite sat right with me as I make course corrections all year long. There was a time in the personal "ancient" past when I tried to do as everyone else in my culture. What I found is exactly like the quote: I ended up rarely honoring the full resolution, maybe parts of it.

HONORING NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS

Over the years I've often wondered why people have such a tough time with it, struggling as I did too. What I decided - I'm big on deciding what my take is on anything which I suppose that's what creates a writer or blogger - well, I thought the reason we rarely follow through well on those resolutions is because of four annoying facts.

FIRST FACT

The first fact is that we get too grandiose in our goals, creating too many high hurdles for ourselves to achieve.

SECOND FACT

The second fact is that we fail to take those resolutions and break them down into much smaller goals that are easier to achieve.

THIRD FACT

The third fact is we allow those striving for goals to drag on far too long, killing our enthusiasm that began the journey in the first place. Choose goals that can be achieved in short spurts of time like a few days or a few weeks. Once you let it drag on too long it is easy to get discouraged and then you end up abandoning your resolution.

FOURTH FACT

And the fourth fact? Waiting all year long to suddenly make a course correction is like taking an old ruin of a 100 year old house and finally deciding to renovate it and so it becomes a dizzying busy of a money pit.

NEW YEARS ADVICE AND TIPS

Do yourself a favor; make small personal Life corrections all year long and then you can do like my husband and I do at New Years: celebrate how much progress we have made for the year. Instead of piling a "To Do List" onto yourself at the beginning of a new calendar year, celebrate with a "Finished List" like a birthday celebration of good things. That way you celebrate what is best about yourself instead of worrying about what is not perfect. Well, it works for me about reducing daily and cultural stress; I never said I was conventional about my outlook... :)

BE KIND TO YOURSELF TOO

As I collected the New Years quotes, New Years poems, New Years blessing and New Years resolutions I was struck by how overwhelmed people felt by it all. Well, The Delphi Oracle here has solved the problem! Treat yourself kindly, make small personal Life corrections often all year long and then you can breathe a sigh of smug relief when THE NEW YEAR begins!

I like this New Year's Resolution the best:

* Resolve to make at least one person happy every day, and then in ten years you may have made three thousand, six hundred and fifty persons happy, or brightened a small town by your contribution to the fund of general enjoyment. - Sydney Smith





*** Check out these posts too: 

New Year Celebrations: History And Trivia - Check out how celebrating the New Year was once considered controversial throughout history.

Best New Years Cartoons 2010

Poll: Most Admired People For 2010 - Check out the most admired people in America for 2010.

72 Posts Roundup at Dennys Blogs - 20 Dec 2010

Funny WikiLeaks Cartoons

17 Christmas Music and Fun Videos

36 Christmas Posts: Music, Humor, Poems, Stories, Quotes

Funny New Years Animations and Clip Art

New Years Reflection: Wine Glass Abyss, Libations Friday! 1 Jan 2010

Wonderful Serious Quotes About Time

8 Easy Yummy New Years Recipes to Warm Your Guests

Fun Kid Recipes, Activities Keep Them Busy For Holidays



 *** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates!

*** Come by for a visit and check out my other blogs:

*** Check out Holiday Recipes From Dennys Food and Recipes

The Social Poets - news, politics
The Soul Calendar - science, astronomy, psychology
Visual Insights - photos, art, music
Beautiful Illustrated Quotations - spiritual quotes, philosophy
Best Spiritual Posts - my own best as well as links to other spiritual posts from all viewpoints
Poems From A Spiritual Heart - poetry
The Healing Waters - health news
Dennys People Watching - people in the news
Dennys Food and Recipes
Dennys Funny Quotes - humor



* * *  Please support Warriors Pearl Foundation - helping homeless female military veterans come home.  Visit Denny Lyon Gifts  @ CafePress.com  -   - see what's new!  (yes, my new charity - why stand on the sidelines when you can actively do something about a problem?)



 Subscribe in a reader to A Truth Journal

* Check out Dennys News Politics Comedy Science Arts & Food - a place where all my other 20 blogs link so you can choose from among the latest posts all in one place. A free to read online newspaper from independent journalist blogger Denny Lyon. * 

*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates!



Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Poll: Most Admired People For 2010

Check out the most admired people in America for 2010. How do Hillary, Oprah and Palin rank?



How do Hillary Clinton, Oprah Winfrey and Sarah Palin rank?

From Denny: Check out the recent Gallup Poll lately? Guess who are the most admired people of 2010? You would be correct if you guessed President Obama as the most admired man in America. Obama, now the 44th president, was listed as the most admired man in America back in 2008 and 2009 too. So far, Obama has risen above the usual iconic religious leaders and former presidents.



*** Be sure to check out the links in the post as it's some interesting reading on their biographies and accomplishments.



Jack Ohman






Most Admired Men 




Most admired man by group polled:

Democrats chose Barack Obama by 46 percent, Bill Clinton by 7 percent and Nelson Mandela by 5 percent.

Independents chose Obama by 17 percent (about one-third of Independents are former Democrats)

Republicans, of course, chose George W. Bush first, yet surprisingly, chose Obama as second.



Ever since Gallup began this Most Admired Man Poll back in 1946 it was sitting presidents who dominated the results. Apparently, it's typical for presidents in their second year of office to be ranked as the most admired of any living man in the world. Talk about "go to your head." That must be some heady stuff to wrap your brain around.

How Obama ranked in recent years since his election:

2008 - Americans chose Obama by 32 percent, extremely high for just a president-elect, though that percentage is similar to when Republican President Dwight Eisenhower was chosen.

2209 - Americans chose Obama by 30 percent, the highest for the first year of office for a president.

2010 - Americans chose Obama by 22 percent this year, clearly less popular, reflecting the frustration of voters with his constant compromise and weak legislation.

A religious icon making his 54th appearance in the top 10 of most admired men is Rev. Billy Graham.  That doubles the number President Ronald Reagan showed when he was in the top 10.  His score was 31 appearances.

President Jimmy Carter was not named for the past two years but showed up in this year's poll for his 27th appearance.  He tied with Pope John Paul II for the third all-time.

Most Admired Women

Who is the most admired woman for her ninth consecutive year?  Hillary Clinton.  She has dominated the Most Admired Woman title for much of the the past two decades.  She has to her credit 15 times she has ranked as number one on this poll since she first appeared on it back in 1992.

Other notables on this year's list?  The same as in 2009 (not in order of ranking):

Queen Elizabeth II
Sarah Palin
Oprah Winfrey
Michelle Obama
Condoleezza Rice

Women most admired by group polled:

Democrats chose Hillary Clinton by 31 percent, Oprah Winfrey by 13 percent, Michelle Obama by 10 percent.
Independents chose Hillary Clinton by 15 percent, Oprah Winfrey by 10 percent and Sarah Palin by 7 percent.
Republicans chose Sarah Palin by 26 percent, Oprah Winfrey by 8 percent and Hillary Clinton by 5 percent. (Remember, Hillary was a registered Republican in her youth, "a Goldwater Girl," later changing to Democrat when she married Bill Clinton)

Queen Elizabeth II has appeared in the top ten of the  poll for 43 times, the highest record for any woman.  Oprah Winfrey hasn't done bad for herself either.  She consistently polls in the top ten, around second or third, for every year since 1997.  She has always been ranked somewhere in the top ten since 1988, a tribute to the longevity of her popularity, though she has never placed as number one.




What do these First Ladies all have in common:  Eleanor Roosevelt, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Hillary Clinton?  All share a strong popularity long beyond their husband's presidencies.  Of course, Hillary Clinton has done many "firsts" like she was the first former First Lady to run for Senator and won. Clinton was the first First Lady to run for President, and was the first First Lady to become the Secretary of State.  Definitely a memorable career that will keep the history books talking for centuries.

Over the years of this poll of most admired women it is First Ladies who figure prominently in the top three spots during their White House tenure.  Unlike their husbands they do not seem to garner the top spot.  The only First Lady to win that top spot has been, you guessed it, Hillary Clinton.  She experienced six number one rankings during Bill Clinton's two terms as president.

How did Nancy Reagan do on the list? She achieved the top spot for three times during her husband's two terms.  What about Barbara Bush?  She soared to the top spot twice during her husband's one term.  What about Rosalynn Carter?  She either tied for first place or won the top spot during three years of her husband's single term.

Top overall ranking?  No one has won it since Laura Bush did back in 2001, the year of the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers in New York City.




What about First Lady Michelle Obama, how is she faring?  Apparently, not well, turning in a single digit performance.  Perhaps she is overshadowed by her husband?  Her numbers are on the low side compared to most First Ladies, though Obama's  are as low as Laura Bush's for most of her husband's presidency.  Rosalynn Carter also experienced low numbers during the first year of her husband's presidency.

One explanation for low numbers turned in for Michelle Obama is because most Democrats give higher mentions to Hillary Clinton, someone with a longer and larger body of public work.  Michelle Obama also trails Oprah Winfrey in mentions among Democrats.  Winfrey is also another long term powerhouse in the public domain.  It will be interesting to see Michelle Obama decades from now as she adds to her current public works.  Tackling childhood obesity and diabetes is an admirable goal.  And reintroducing fellow Americans to good nutrition as an alternative to fast food is a tough sell too.  Michelle Obama, like many first ladies at this point in their husband's terms, is still in the early stages of carving out a niche for herself.

This USA Today/Gallup poll surveyed 1,019 adults over the age of 18, using random sampling from 10-12 Dec 2010.


*** Be sure to check out the links in the post as it's some interesting reading on their biographies and accomplishments.


*** Check out these posts too:

New Year Celebrations: History And Trivia - Check out how celebrating the New Year was once considered controversial throughout history.

Best New Years Cartoons 2010

New Years: Funny Quotes, Resolutions Tips, Poems



*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates!

*** Come by for a visit and check out my other blogs:

*** Check out Holiday Recipes From Dennys Food and Recipes

The Social Poets - news, politics
The Soul Calendar - science, astronomy, psychology
Visual Insights - photos, art, music
Beautiful Illustrated Quotations - spiritual quotes, philosophy
Best Spiritual Posts - my own best as well as links to other spiritual posts from all viewpoints
Poems From A Spiritual Heart - poetry
The Healing Waters - health news
Dennys People Watching - people in the news
Dennys Food and Recipes
Dennys Funny Quotes - humor



* * *  Please support Warriors Pearl Foundation - helping homeless female military veterans come home.  Visit Denny Lyon Gifts  @ CafePress.com  -   - see what's new!  (yes, my new charity - why stand on the sidelines when you can actively do something about a problem?)



 Subscribe in a reader to A Truth Journal

* Check out Dennys News Politics Comedy Science Arts & Food - a place where all my other 20 blogs link so you can choose from among the latest posts all in one place. A free to read online newspaper from independent journalist blogger Denny Lyon. * 

*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates!


Monday, December 27, 2010

Arrested WikiLeaks Founder Signs Tell All $1.3 Million Book Deal

Rape, treason and information-dealing pay off for WikiLeaks Assange.




From Denny:  Well, Assange just can't seem to stay out of the headlines. This guy must be a media exhibitionist. Now he's whining how he isn't rich enough to pay his own legal fees? This guy is supposed to be a billionaire. So, where did all his money go?

Apparently, Founder Assange is worried he can't keep his WikiLeaks "whistle blower" site running. Why? He says it is running out of cash since Paypal, MasterCard and Visa quit allowing payment donations through their sites to the WikiLeaks site. Assange states he has lost as much as  $650,000 since the three sites blocked his donors.  Get this: Assange was raking in as much as $130,000 a day in pure untaxed donations to the tune of almost $4 million per month before the financial crackdown. What a sweet con. And now it looks like the wild ride is over.

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Funny Life and Christmas Cartoons - 25 Dec 2010

Check out the most recent funny Santa cartoons along with some cracked cartooning minds.





From Denny: This year the cartoonists outdid themselves when it came to Santa interpretations. Is there anything, anyone or any situation they did not consider? These guys have some of the funniest perspectives on how we live from moment to moment. It's like we are all in a glass cage and they are on the other side observing, laughing and doodling to their heart's content. :)


The Santa Legend lives!


Nick Anderson




Moderately Confused



Thursday, December 23, 2010

22 Funny Christmas Cartoons

Check out the irreverent cartoonist offerings for the holiday season.




From Denny: Have you ever noticed how gift giving is always related to crafty politicians? They gift to their rich donors and take from those in need. So when holiday season comes around every year cartoonists are quick on the uptake to notice and offer their observations.

Of course, with the growing need of everyone to be plugged into technology the tech cartoons are growing in abundance too. Santa has to get in the act when it comes to social media.


Chip Bok






Chip Bok



Wednesday, December 22, 2010

GOP Grinch Refuse Healthcare to 911 Responders, Dems Say YES to Pass Bill

Saying yes to American heroes from 911. They deserve proper health care and our respect and compassion in their last days.




From Denny: If this isn't the Hall of Shame for America and the world. Especially the financial sector like Wall Street which was the intended target of the terrorists who did absolutely nothing for the 911 responders who rescued. gave aid comfort and closure to countless thousands and their families in America and around the world.

Jon Stewart sat down with four responders who are all dying of heart-lung diseases and various cancers because of the horrific toxic exposure. It was President Bush and his administration that declared the air quality to be safe for rescuers. Yet now we find these same courageous people to be dying slowly from exposure from the Twin Towers devastated site.  Where is former President Bush now when these 911 responders need him?  Answer: silent.

Monday, December 20, 2010

72 Posts Roundup at Dennys Blogs - 20 Dec 2010

Check out news analysis, political humor, funny quotes, funny videos, cartoons, recipes, science news, music and poetry.




From Denny: This is about three week's worth of posts. Be sure to check out this post over at the science blog, The Soul Calendar, for the rare 500 year total lunar eclipse coinciding with the Winter Solstice tonight.  I like to write my science with a bit of wit.  It's so much easier to absorb facts when the writing is funny.

Also, lots of funny videos, comedy, jokes from the late night comedians lampooning the news and our crazy Congress. Their idea of "logic" is questionable sometimes. :)

For the Christmas and holiday season there are plenty of music videos to soothe the stress after rushing around shopping and visiting.

I've also started developing the arts blog, Dennys Art Sanctuary. It has been languishing far too long. The plan is to feature various artists along with the arts news.

What's also new is that I've started gathering all my poetry onto one blog, Poems From A Spiritual Heart. There are even poems there that have not posted on The Social Poets first.

So, take a look around, decompress, and enjoy yourself! Thank You for all your support this year. It's been a delight to write for you! What a wild ride! :)

Friday, December 17, 2010

What Is The Truth About Unemployment In America?

Check out the status of unemployment across America and how high the figure is for the long term unemployed.




From Denny: The reality is that the recent tax cuts bill that was signed by President Obama on Friday only reinstates and extends unemployment insurance to about one million people. That's it.

The 99ers

Remember all those who have been unemployed for so long - past the two year mark and many for as long as four years - now called The 99ers because they exhausted their 99 weeks of available benefits? There are literally millions of them, perhaps as many as seven million by now.  Every month there are an additional two million added to their roles. Though the statistics are sketchy and infrequent it's believed The 99ers make up at least 10 percent of the unemployed.

Most 99ers over age 50 

Never mind that most of The 99ers are older Baby Boomers, there are those under age 45, many are well past age 50. They have paid unemployment insurance from their paychecks every month, every year, for decades. Now, in their time of need, their own government and politicians turn a deaf ear to them. How long before you, a relative or someone close to you enters their unhappy ranks? And we wonder why we see so much violence on the news every night, as a larger and larger segment of American society grows more desperate?

Economists seem to think maybe the economy is turning around because of the number of initial unemployment claims have trended downward by 400,000 this past month. Let's hope they are correct on their judgment call because this economy has already shed eight million jobs during this so-called "recession."

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Crazy Week of American Politics Cartoons - 18 Dec 2010

What a political week. Now check out how the cartoonists lampooned it all.



From Denny: Obama hitchhiking off President Bill Clinton's popularity to pull his fanny out of the fire on this disliked Bush Tax Cuts extension. The White House and a recent poll tried to claim that 70 percent of Americans approved of the tax cuts plan when just last week they disapproved by 70 percent.

When you read the poll you find that Independents are two-thirds former Republicans and two-thirds of them wanted the plan along with an overwhelming majority of Republicans. Democrats were against the plan by 54 percent.

What broke down inside the polls is that Republicans and Independents don't give a rat's butt about the unemployed and did not want unemployment benefits extensions. What they wanted were tax cuts extensions for the rich. Democrats wanted the opposite - in favor of unemployment benefits vs. against the tax cuts for the rich:


Steve Benson