Unanswered Questions Found While Perusing Blogs....

"Is Taylor Swift going to hell because one of her albums made a reference to two teenagers being alone and we all know what teenagers do alone?"

I Haven't Been Posting For Awhile, Here' Why....

Last Friday I went to the new Sam's Club on South Campbell to pick up some items. Everytime the PvtRN and I go there is costs us about $150.00, Instead of Sam's they ought to call it Costgo. Anyhow, we picked up toilet paper, paper towels, diapers for the grandbabies, paper plates, trash sacks, wax paper, paper napkins, a couple of cases of beer and a bottle of Ketel One. And a 50 pound sack of Iams dog food for Lexie, our deaf and mature dog who is just about as old as I am in dog years.

The PvtRN and I were in the checkout line when the woman behind me asked if I had a dog.

What did she think I had, an elephant? So since I'm retired and
have little to do and all the time to do it in (I don't know what I did today, but it took me all day to do it) on impulse I told her that no, I didn't have a dog, I was starting the Iam's Healthy Diet again. I added that the last time I was on this diet that I'd lost 50 pounds but I went off it when I started barking at the mailman.

Actually this is essentially a perfect diet and that the way that it works is to simply load your pants pockets with those Iams nuggets and eat one or two every time you feel hungry. The food is nutritionally complete and if you have all your teeth and drink water with it, it ain't too bad. At least it is better than cat food (the PvtRN fed me catfood one time and told me it was a new kind of tuna fish. I was telling her that my taste palate was so sensitive That I could tell the difference between different brands of tuna fish. You know like "chicken of the sea", "starkist","Best Choice". She said I couldn't. You know, with enough Ketel One even pickled herring can taste like Tuna Fish. Sometimes I don't understand her sense of humor).

Every body in the line was asking me all sorts of questions about the diet and I just directed them to the website where I learned about the diet, paid for our items and loaded them in the trunk of the Honda.

The next thing I remember was waking up in a room in 8 East at Cox Medical Center.

The PvtRN was supervising a whole cadre of nurses taking care of my needs. Although still somewhat medicated, I asked what the heck happened to me.

Apparently I was doing fine loading the car until an Irish Setter came by and I started chasing it The setter and I ended up in the middle of the street sniffing each other's butts --- I never saw the truck coming and evidently the truck driver didn't see us either.

Hey Longrooffan, Happy Birthday!

Garden Plots Available At Rutledge Farms

For Immediate Release

The Springfield-Greene County Park Board will begin offering an Adopt-An-Urban Garden Program (AUGP) beginning Thursday, October 1, with the registration of its first 60 garden plots at the Rutledge-Wilson Farm Community Park.

In-Person registration for the 60 plots will begin at 8 a.m., Thursday, Oct. 1 at both the Park Board Offices, 1923 N. Weller Ave., and the Rutledge-Wilson Farm Community Park, 3825 W. Farm Road 146, and will be first-come, first-served. Any remaining plots will then be available by phone registration by calling the Park Board Offices at (417) 864-1049 beginning Oct. 2, or by visiting in person.

The AUGP is the first of its kind through the Park Board. Plot sizes are eight-feet by 16-feet, for $25 per season; 16-feet by 16-feet, for $40 per season. The growing season is March 1 through October 31 each year. Season renewals will be first offered each December to existing participants. Plots cannot be resold or sub-leased by any individuals or group. The Park Board provides soil, fencing, water access, and a sign for each plot.

All food grown is the property of each plot’s owner. Each participant is responsible for maintaining weed control, providing all seeds and other equipment required to grow a garden and removing debris at the end of the growing season.

“The goal of the new Urban Gardens program is to offer a space for people to grow fruits, vegetables, or flowers, who otherwise don’t immediately have the space available in their own backyard, said Parks Director Jodie Adams. “They will also offer an opportunity for youth field trips to see and participate in a working garden, along with generally providing fellowship with others and recreational, exercise and therapeutic benefits to our community.”

The Park Board will use the Rutledge-Wilson Farm as its AUGP pilot site throughout 2010.

An AUGP guide and application is available directly on the Park Board’s Web site at http://bit.ly/4zy8TG or www.parkboard.org. Applications are subject to staff review and condition. Call the Park Board’s main office at (417) 864-1049 for more information.

Walk Naked In America Day September 26, 2009

I received a link to this website in an email message this afternoon. Because I don't consider myself to be a terrorist-sympathizing, lily-livered coward and don't want to put myself in the position of posing as a national threat, I am passing this along as requested. Thank you and God bless.

WALK NAKED IN AMERICA DAY

Don't forget to mark your calendars. As you may already know, it is a sin for a Muslim male to see any woman other than his wife naked. He must commit suicide if he does.. So next Saturday at 4 PM Eastern Time, all American women are asked to walk out of their house completely naked to help weed out any neighborhood terrorists. Circling your block for one hour is recommended for this anti-terrorist effort. All patriotic men are to position themselves in lawn chairs in front of their house to prove they are not Muslims and to demonstrate they think its okay to see nude women other than their wife and to show support for all American women. Since Islam also does not approve of alcohol, a cold 6-pack at your side is further proof of your pro-American sentiment. The American government appreciates your efforts to root-out terrorists and applauds your participation in this anti-terrorist activity.

God bless America ! It is your patriotic duty to pass this on. If you don't send this to at least 5 people, you're a terrorist-sympathizing, lily-livered coward and are in the position of posing as a national threat.

Bribes? Blackmail? Is This Our Roy? What Strange Company He Keeps?

From the transcript of Edmonds deposition:

Q: Why is Roy Blunt in your gallery?

A: One of the individuals who was the recipient of both legally and illegally raised donations, campaign donations from foreign entities.

Q: And what foreign entities?

A: The ones that I'm aware of, Turkish entities. It's just like a network because those people, they worked together, and I don't have expertise in PAC, but a lot of --- there are so many ways that these PAC things can be not very legally distributed from one person's, let's say, Mr. Hastert's campaign to that individual or let's say it's a foreign registered lobbyist, like Livingston can get foreign money, but then clean it and then give it to him. It's just so many ways. it's a very complicated maze-like network on how they get this money cleared and into people, into people's pocket and also their campaigns.

But wait, there's more! Do a quick google search and read more.

If Looking At Pictures Of Naked Ladies Turns You Into A Homosexual, As This Guy Suggests, How Come You're Not Gay?

You Lie, Great Scott, YOU LIE!

Bus riders are talking about Joe Wilson, Roy Blunt's friend and protege, and his plans to visit Springfield October 3, 2009 to speak at a state meeting of the Missouri Republican Assembly.

Roy Blunt of monkey joke fame will introduce Wilson to the group which brands itself as the "Republican Wing of the Republican Party".

The Missouri Republican Assembly calls itself "The Republican Wing of the Republican Party." So does everyother state RA thus MRA loses originality points but scores well in the "Look who's coming to dinner."

William Scott Magill, an OB-GYN DO who is the Missouri president of the MRA says the group has about 500 members statewide with half of them living in the Springfield area.

Last Night, On The Merry-Go-Round....

Glory Days! -- Make It Full Screen, Oh Yeah, Oh Right, Come On Now!

ALL TOGETHER NOW, INCLUDING YOU IN THE BACK OF THE BUS, WITH GUSTO NOW!

0Sing It With US! This land is your land. This land is my land. From California to the New York Island. From the redwood forest to the gulf stream water, this land was made for you and me.As I was walking that ribbon of highways I saw above me that endless skyways. I saw below me that golden valley, this land was made for you and me.Now I walk and I ramble and I follow my foot steps thorgh the sparkling sands of the diamond deserts ans all around me a voice was sounding, it cried this land was made for you and me. .sun come shining and I went strolling, the wheat fields wave, the dust cloud rolling, the fog was lifting, and the horse was chanting this land was made for you and me


As I was walking, I saw a sign there,
And that sign said, "No trespassing."
But on the other side , it didn't say nothing!
That side was made for you and me

Henry Gibson, RIP

Mary Travers 1936 - 2009

From the AP:

DANBURY, Conn. – Mary Travers, one-third of the hugely popular 1960s folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary, has died.

The band's publicist, Heather Lylis, says Travers died at Danbury Hospital in Connecticut on Wednesday. She was 72 and had battled leukemia for several years.

Travers joined forces with Peter Yarrow and Noel Paul Stookey in the early 1960s.

The trio mingled their music with liberal politics, both onstage and off. Their version of "If I Had a Hammer" became an anthem for racial equality. Other hits included "Lemon Tree," "Leaving on a Jet Plane" and "Puff (The Magic Dragon.)"

They were early champions of Bob Dylan and performed his "Blowin' in the Wind" at the August 1963 March on Washington.

And they were vehement in their opposition to the Vietnam War, managing to stay true to their liberal beliefs while creating music that resonated in the American mainstream.

The group collected five Grammy Awards for their three-part harmony on enduring songs like "Leaving on a Jet Plane," "Puff (The Magic Dragon)" and "Blowin' in the Wind."

At one point in 1963, three of their albums were in the top six Billboard best-selling LPs as they became the biggest stars of the folk revival movement.

It was heady stuff for a trio that had formed in the early 1960s in Greenwich Village, running through simple tunes like "Mary Had a Little Lamb."

They debuted at the Bitter End in 1961, and their beatnik look — a tall blonde flanked by a pair of goateed guitarists — was a part of their initial appeal. As The New York Times critic Robert Shelton put it not long afterward, "Sex appeal as a keystone for a folk-song group was the idea of the group's manager, Albert B. Grossman, who searched for months for `the girl' until he decided on Miss Travers."

Their debut album came out in 1962, and immediately scored a pair of hits with their versions of "If I Had a Hammer" and "Lemon Tree." The former won them Grammys for best folk recording, and best performance by a vocal group.

"Moving" was the follow-up, including the hit tale of innocence lost, "Puff (The Magic Dragon)" — which reached No. 2 on the charts, and generated since-discounted reports that it was an ode to marijuana.

Album No. 3, "In the Wind," featured three songs by the 22-year-old Dylan. "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright" and "Blowin' in the Wind" both reached the top 10, bringing Dylan's material to a massive audience; the latter shipped 300,000 copies during one two-week period.

"Blowin' In the Wind" became an another civil rights anthem, and Peter, Paul and Mary fully embraced the cause. They marched with King in Selma, Ala., and performed with him in Washington.

In a 1966 New York Times interview, Travers said the three worked well together because they respected one another. "There has to be a certain amount of love just in order for you to survive together," she said. "I think a lot of groups have gone down the tubes because they were not able to relate to one another."

With the advent of the Beatles and Dylan's switch to electric guitar, the folk boom disappeared. Travers expressed disdain for folk-rock, telling the Chicago Daily News in 1966 that "it's so badly written. ... When the fad changed from folk to rock, they didn't take along any good writers."

But the trio continued their success, scoring with the tongue-in-cheek single "I Dig Rock and Roll Music," a gentle parody of the Mamas and the Papas, in 1967 and the John Denver-penned "Leaving on a Jet Plane" two years later.

They also continued as boosters for young songwriters, recording numbers written by then-little-known Gordon Lightfoot and Laura Nyro.



In 1969, the group earned their final Grammy for "Peter, Paul and Mommy," which won for best children's album. They disbanded in 1971, launching solo careers — Travers released five albums — that never achieved the heights of their collaborations.

Over the years they enjoyed several reunions, including a performance at a 1978 anti-nuclear benefit organized by Yarrow and a 35th anniversary album, "Lifelines," with fellow folkies Ramblin' Jack Elliott, and Dave Von Ronk and Pete Seeger. A boxed set of their music was released in 2004.

They remained politically active as well, performing at the 1995 anniversary of the Kent State shootings and performing for California strawberry pickers.

Travers had undergone a successful bone marrow transplant to treat her leukemia and was able to return to performing after that.

"It was like a miracle," Travers told The Associated Press in 2006. "I'm just feeling fabulous. What's incredible is someone has given your life back. I'm out in the garden today. This time last year I was looking out a window at a hospital." She also said she told the marrow donor "how incredibly grateful I was."

But by mid-2009, Yarrow told WTOP radio in Washington that her condition had worsened again and he thought she would no longer be able to perform.

Mary Allin Travers was born on Nov. 9, 1936 in Louisville, Ky., the daughter of journalists who moved the family to Manhattan's bohemian Greenwich Village. She quickly became enamored with folk performers like the Weavers, and was soon performing with Seeger, a founding member of the Weavers who lived in the same building as the Travers family.

With a group called the Song Swappers, Travers backed Seeger on one album and two shows at Carnegie Hall. She also appeared (as one of a group of folk singers) in a short-lived 1958 Broadway show called "The Next President," starring comedian Mort Sahl.

It wasn't until she met up with Yarrow and Stookey that Travers would taste success on her own. Yarrow was managed by Grossman, who later worked in the same capacity for Dylan.

In the book "Positively 4th Street" by David Hajdu, Travers recalled that Grossman's strategy was to "find a nobody that he could nurture and make famous."

The budding trio, boosted by the arrangements of Milt Okun, spent seven months rehearsing in her Greenwich Village apartment before their 1961 public debut.

Travers lived for many years in Redding, Conn.

Mary Travers, your music refreshes in me with good memories and peaceful thoughts. Thank you.

Let The Sunshine In

This just in from "The City":

Springfield motorists are urged to use extra caution during early-morning and late-afternoon driving in upcoming weeks because of the documented affect that sun glare has on crash rates.

For about two weeks before and two weeks after the Sept. 22 autumnal equinox, the sun is almost directly in an east-west alignment, which creates an especially harsh glare for morning eastbound and afternoon westbound drivers. This seasonal glare can affect drivers' visibility to see traffic signals, other vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists.

A similar effect occurs during the weeks around the vernal equinox in March.

Springfield crash data suggests that there are more crashes during the four weeks around the autumnal and vernal equinoxes than during any typical four weeks during the year. In 2008, there were 38 crashes related to sun glare with 15 of them occurring during the two periods around the equinoxes. About 90 percent of those crashes occurred in the two hours after sunrise or the two hours before sunset, which coincides with the morning and afternoon rush hours. The glare peaks about an hour after sunrise and an hour before sunset.

Another seasonal factor that contributes to the glare problem is the dew that develops on the windows of vehicles parked outside when temperatures cool down overnight. Motorists are encouraged to clean off their cars and let them warm enough to prevent windows from fogging.

The City Traffic Engineering Division has taken steps to improve visibility. One of the benefits of the conversion of traffic signals from incandescent to LED bulbs is that the LED lights don't require a reflector, which can cause signals to appear illuminated when the sun is at certain low angles. Backplates also have been installed on all east-west facing signal heads to help shield the sun when it is behind the signal.

Here are some tips for safer driving:

* Glare obstructs vision just like fog. Slow down. If you can't see, find a place to wait for a few minutes without being a hazard to anyone. It is your responsibility to operate your vehicle safely.

* Turn your headlights on so your vehicle is more visible.

* If the sun is directly behind you, make sure the traffic signal ahead is really green and not just reflecting the sunlight, then proceed.

* If you can, avoid driving during high-glare periods on eastbound and westbound streets with school zones and other heavy pedestrian traffic areas. If you are driving away from the sun, then consider that oncoming pedestrians and motorist might be blinded and not see you.

* Sunglasses with polarized lenses are designed to cut through glare.

* Keep your windshield clean inside and outside of dirt, dew or ice, which all appear magnified when the light shines into your eyes at a low angle.

* If you have a light-colored dashboard, consider laying black felt or other material on it to minimize sun reflection.

For more information, contact: Traffic Engineer Earl Newman, 864-1980.

And A Bargain At $800,000.00

My daughter, in her blog 5 acre dream, will occasionally post a link to a horse that she would like to buy if she had the money. Part of her 5 acre dream.

Not everyone in this part of the country has to dream.

Not Racism, Projection

From Andrew Sullivan's "The Daily Dish"---a reader writes:

A common meme on the left is that racism is driving the hatred of Obama. I think the root is deeper and scarier: it is shadow projection.

Our ego wants to believe we are wonderful, and so cannot tolerate evidence to the contrary. Consider America. As good as we are, we have a dark side and our actions often have dark consequences. We are large and cast a large shadow. If we were a more mature people we would simply own our dark side, integrate it into part of our self knowledge, and act accordingly. However American mythology says that we are the good country, and to maintain that the pure version of that belief, we are willfully ignorant of our faults. In the minds of many “patriotic” Americans, we have no dark side. Unwilling to own our dark side, we project our shadow onto others.

The Cold War gave us a long period as “the good country” as the Soviet Union gave us a steady (and objectively evil) force onto which we could project our shadow. After the fall of communism we finally found Saddam Hussein to play that role, which clouded our perceptions of the real Saddam (and again, he was objectively evil). Since the Iraq war we’ve looked for a new target onto which to project our shadow. Perennial candidates China, North Korea, and Iran don’t quite suit our needs, and “the terrorists” finally wore thin. I have wondered who our next victim would be. Now we know.

It is Obama.

The right is projecting its shadow onto Obama. The same qualities that make him a saint to the left make him the devil to the right - he is easy to project onto.

That is why he is the out of control spender when they sat on their hands through all of Bush's malfeasance. That is why his talking to schoolchildren is dangerous when our government wiretapping its citizens wasn’t. That is why saving the financial system from years of Republican regulation is taking away our future. The more evil revealed about the right’s excesses on torture, or wars of choice, or nearly destroying the economy, the more evil Obama will look in their eyes, as they cannot tolerate owning responsibility, because in their own minds they are only good.

That is why he is the Fascist/Communist/Socialist/Muslim… that is the list of our shadow projections over the last 60 years. In their minds he is now the USSR ("my grandchildren will have to stand in line for toilet paper!") or even the Anti-Christ. The Obama they see is a projection of their own psyche, not that actual man in the White House. Missing birth certificates, death panels, indoctrinating children, these are all the projections running in their own heads, not things happening in the real world.

Racism makes Obama the Other, but shadow projection is an even more powerful (if interrelated) force than simple racism, and it is very susceptible to the mob mentality – think Goldberg in Orwell’s 1984. This will not end well. Now that Obama is carrying their shadow, only a dramatic event from outside could change it. (Or, they could gain awareness of their disowned dark side, and tolerating the inevitable pain of that experience, integrate into a healthy whole. This would require white, middle-class, middle-aged Americans - the primary protesters - to acknowledge that white middle class Americans are not all goodness and light and start taking responsibility for white privilege, their environmental choices, effects of class on economic status, etc. Don’t hold your breath.) The more those on the right deny their own failings, the more their internal unease will increase, the more the hatred to Obama will grow, and the more the need to do something will increase.

No wonder the far right is going bat shit crazy. In the movie playing in their minds, the enemy is within the gates.

Other Dish readers have joined in on the conversation:

It's really much less complicated, and the answer is tucked neatly in the phrase, "I want my country back." What that means is, the country that recognizes me and people like me as the cultural core of the nation, deserving of disproportionate influence and income. Race is the dominant theme -- but running through the same current are appeals to religion and cultural values, including education, or lack of it. While it might seem radical, even crazy, that a certain segment of the population strongly devalues education and educated people, it's part of the American experience. That's why many hyper well-educated elected officials, including presidents, try to pretend that they are "just folks."

Another writes:

That psychological interpretation was fantastic. To take it one step further and incorporate some innate racist tendencies that many middle class whites may not even be aware of in themselves: for the United States to be called on the carpet, chastened for our collective excesses and asked to come to our senses by a black man now that decades of Great White Fathers and their laissez-faire spending and social awareness have failed us all – well, of course puny minds are blown.

Have Gun, Will Travel, Wire Paladin

City of Springfield News Release, September 14, 2009:

Wayne T. Miller, 62, of Springfield has been charged with 1st Degree Assault after shooting his roommate, Mat Andrews, Saturday night at their home. Springfield Police were called to the 2200 block of N. Golden just after 11:30 p.m., and found Andrews with a gunshot wound to his upper chest. Andrews was transported to a local hospital and is expected to recover from the wound.

Miller was arrested at the scene. His bond was set at $75,000 after being charged.

City of Springfield News Release, September 14, 2009:

A Greene County man has been charged with Unlawful Use of a Weapon regarding an incident that occurred Friday night in Springfield.

Charles R. Webb, 61, was arrested Friday night after he fired several shots at a vehicle being driven by a suspect, who had stolen a purse from a female on the parking lot of the Price Cutter, 3620 E. Battlefield.

At 9:15 p.m. a 75-year old Springfield woman was walking to her car when a white male described as being 18-20 years old with black hair, ran past her and took her purse. Webb witnessed the theft, and saw the male get into a gray colored 1980’s model SUV. Webb got into his car and pursed the suspect.

Webb’s pursuit, which reached speeds up to 80 miles an hour, ended on a parking lot of a motel near Battlefield and Moulder. During the pursuit, Webb fired at the vehicle with a 9mm handgun on or near the lots of two motels in the area of Battlefield and Moulder.

Webb, who has a carry and conceal permit for the handgun that he used, was arrested after the incident. He was charged Saturday morning with Unlawful Use of A Weapon (Class D felony) by the Greene County Prosecutor’s Office. Webb posted a $2,500 bond

.

Jeep Junkyard

Jeepjunkie, the link is here.

Old Ladies Make Sense

In my lifetime I have known quite a few old ladies. Must be something about getting old that enabled them to cut through the bogus baloney and cut right to the chase.

Not that I always agreed with them, I have been known to sometimes not agree with something that makes sense.

Check out Margaret and Helen's blog, they've been best friends for sixty years and counting.

They made a comment that makes sense AND I agree with:

When exactly did we become so enamoured with health insurance companies that we are now so adamantly fighting for their rights to make a buck off our misfortunes? None of this makes any sense to me.

Cry Out America Is A Cross-Denominational, Non-Partisan Group, (Wink, Wink)

From a press release in today's SN-L:

The 2009 Cry Out America prayer event will be at the Greene County Courthouse.

The cross-denominational, non partisan prayer event will be held noon-1 p.m., when those present will "unite in prayer for a spiritual awakening in the church and in our nation; acknowledging the need of God's help in the midst of the moral, spiritual and economic challenges faced by all."

Cry Out America is a national event organized by Awakening America Alliance. General seating on the courthouse lawn will not be available, but attendees may bring lawn chairs.

A shuttle service will be provided from lots near Central Assembly of God, 1301 N. Boonville St. In case of rain, Central Assembly will be the back-up location.

Here is their website, complete with a page of the history of the movement and the movement's leadership.

And, while you are perusing the Awakening America website, explore the connection between Awakening America and our present moral decline.

Did You Wonder Why We Didn't Hear A Peep From The Chair Of The House Tourism Committee Regarding Nixon's $7M Cuts To The State's Tourism Commission:

He was busy.

For the past several weeks the main stream media (MSM) and bloggers (including this one) has been ablaze with articles and postings about Governor Nixon's cuts to the Missouri Tourism Commission.

Everyone connected with tourism in Missouri has had a word or few to say about Nixon's cuts.

Everyone has given their opinion.

Everyone has denounced Nixon's cuts.

Everyone has said their piece.

Well, almost everyone.

What?

Well, he's been busy.

WHAT?

It's official. According to the Stone County Website, Dennis Wood has resigned his seat in the Missouri General Assembly (and his position as Chairman of The House Standing Committee On Tourism) and assumed the position (after appointment by Governor Nixon) of Presiding Commissioner of Stone County, replacing George Cutbirth who resigned due to health problems.

According to a frequent bus rider, both the Democratic and Republican central committees of Stone County made their recommendations for Cutbirth's replacement to Governor Nixon. Wood wasn't on either organizations' list.

Why did Nixon appoint Wood to the position?

Why did Nixon appoint Wood to the position after both the Republican and Democratic committees recommended different individuals?

Wood, a real estate agent who was first elected to the Missouri House of Representatives in 2002 and perhaps best remembered for championing the crawdad as the official state critter, gave away wooden nickels during his inagural campaign. His other lack of major achievement was in voting for a bill which allowed Robert Plaster to begin the process of creating the Village of Evergreen on Hwy. D, in Stone County.

Of course, he blamed whole affair on then Speaker of the House, Rod Jetton, rather than admit he, too, failed in his duties, the most major of which is to simply pay attention.

Wood told the Kansas City Star: “This is a horrible law, and it got pushed through because I didn’t catch it and because many others didn’t either,” said Dennis Wood, a Kimberling City Republican. “The speaker himself promoted it and got it through without the knowledge of the rest of us.”

Some are theorizing that Nixon's appointment of Wood as Stone County Commissioner was a reward for keeping out of the fray over the tourism monies.

Will the Tour Of Missouri (that old cash cow) now be going through Galena?

Most of us are probably having the same thoughts Steve Justus voiced when he was interviewed by David Catanese:

Justus said he had heard Wood was interested in the county commission, but was more surprised at how he landed there.
"I'm a little bit surprised the Governor appointed a Republican. That's the biggest thing I'm surprised about," Justus said.

Its not like there aren't many Democrats in Stone County.

Can you even buy a decent hotdog in Stone County?

Kelly Swanson is Commissioner, Division of Tourism, and co-owner, Port of Kimberling.

and she wrote this article that was printed in the SN-L on September 4, 2009.

In the article she takes Governor Nixon to task for reducing the state's tourism budget.

But wait, there's more!According to a frequent Bus rider, who knows this kind of stuff, Kelly Swanson is married Randy Swanson, the son of Ralph and Mary Swanson who have had a virtual lock on the Corps of Engineer controlled boat docks and surrounding activities in Kimberling City area since the 1970s.

The elder Swansons retired but somehow, someway, the control of the Hwy. 13 Boat Dock, Port of Kimberling, What's Up Doc, and surrounding campgrounds remain in the control of the family. Try to find out the dollar amount of annual sales and lease amounts returning revenues to the taxpayer. It has been impossible to get accurate information from the CofE. The Swansons' led the efforts to reduce reporting and set up fee schedules more favorable to them.

Now, Kelly Swanson is the mouthpiece to criticize Governor Nixon for having to address budget shortfalls. She wants it all. A monopoly on the revenue stream from federal owned resources and the taxpayer to buy all of the advertising for her business by supporting the tourist industry. They run the business with seasonal employees who receive no benefits other than deep, dark tans.

Why is she qualified to snipe at the Governor. It could be that she and the other Swansons have given over $50,000 to Bond, Blunt, Talent and now Goodman in recent years.

As a member of the Missouri Republican Party State Committee she understands the importance of having more than normal access to representatives in the federal government concerning the Corps of Engineers and in Missouri as a Blunt appointed member of the Missouri Tourism Commission she has unequaled access, almost as good as Pete and his brother Jack.

For several years there was talk about her influence in Roy Blunt's choice to have a condo on Table Rock Lake as his 7th District home address. While it was reported on his disclosure forms as required to disclose assets and income, the debt load and value of the condo was questionable. When questions arose, Roy quickly sold out.

She replaced Raeanne Presley who is now the mayor of Branson.

Arthur? Is That You, Arthur? Oh, Arthur, What Strange Company You Are Keeping

And now you are marching in the Labor Day Parade with the manchild who wants to be our next state senator, the one who has never voted labor's way on a labor issue.

Those riders who have been around long enough to remember "The Normal Heart" will remember the manchild's mother, former state representative Jean Dixon, who was against the play it turns out, (to coin a phrase) because she saw how her oldest son struggled with his own homosexuality.

Back in 1992, Robert Edwards, now the voice of MoDOT, was a reporter for the Springfield News Leader and he wrote in the SN-L, Sunday edition, March 8, 1992:

Although she didn't say so at the time, Jean Dixon says now her vehement opposition to "The Normal Heart" was motivated in large part because she saw how her older son struggled with his own homosexuality.

Her son, Bob Dixon, says he lived as a homosexual for about five years until a religious experience caused him to change in late October, 1988. He told his parents shortly after Jean Dixon, a Republican, was elected to the Missouri House in November 1988.

Bob Dixon, 22, now planning to marry a Springfield woman, talked publicly about his former life as a homosexual in a Springfield City Council Meeting in May 1991 when he spoke on a bias-crimes ordinance.

Jean Dixon says her son's guilt almost caused him to commit suicide. Her son says one night in early October 1988 he considered crashing his car off a road.

She says she fought "The Normal Heart," a play about AIDS and homosexuality produced at Southwest Missouri State University in 1989, because she saw it as affirming the homosexual way of life, which she says is harmful to those who live it.

"I wasn't just some hard-nosed so-called Christian out here ranting and raving," says the former lawmaker who was outspoken about her strong Christian beliefes during her two years in office. "It had been a heartache I had to deal with, and it was a tough one."

Asked is she would oppose the play again, she says, "You bet. I believe it was the right thing to do."

An unlimited bus pass to those riders who are able to identify the object in the photo above and relate how it relates to this post.

Thieves hitting St. Louis community gardens

Many provide food for area shelters.
The Associated Press • September 6, 2009

St. Louis -- Community gardens in St. Louis are becoming less open to the community following a surge of thieves helping themselves to the bounty of fruit and vegetables.

In some cases, the people who pay a fee for the land and volunteer their time to cultivate the plots are being forced to place their gardens under lock and key.

"We've had people come in periodically when the tomatoes were especially ripe and taking a few," said Terry Lueckenhoff, one of the gardeners at the Fox Park community garden. "But this year, people have come in and cleaned the garden out."

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that the garden's 30 beds, filled with tomatoes, peppers and eggplants, are now locked behind a gate.

"We have a nice patio in there, with a pergola, with seating, and we certainly wanted to encourage people in the neighborhood to take advantage of that," Lueckenhoff said. "We hate to cut those people off."

While the disappearance of an occasional vegetable is normal, gardeners said the number and amount of thefts has dramatically increased over the last two years, and especially this season. They added that the economy is likely an issue.

"Anything that anybody's growing has been taken," Lueckenhoff said. "I had cabbages taken, which makes me think people are actually using them."

There are around 180 community gardens in St. Louis with up to 120 growing vegetables. Gateway Greening, which organizers and helps pay for more of the city's gardens, said it already has two dozen applications for new gardens next year.

Many of the gardens provide extra vegetables to homeless shelters and community organizations, meaning the thieves are taking from some of the most needy, gardeners said.

"These community gardens are willing to share," said Matthew McBride, a member of the Fox Park community garden. "But whenever someone takes an opportunity, tempers flare."

Other gardeners said the thieves may not understand that the gardens belong to whoever paid to rent the individual plots and take the vegetables, thinking they're for the community.

That has led some gardens to post signs explaining the purpose of the land.

For example, the City Seeds Urban Farm is tended by homeless people as a way to provide job and life skills. After losing two beds worth of mustard and collard greens, the garden installed signs explaining the garden's mission and hasn't reported any thefts since.

Gardeners at the City Greens Garden, which provides produce for Midtown Catholic Charities, caught some thieves as they were stealing vegetables.

"We encourage them to help us," said garden manager Bobbie Sykes. "To come back and work."

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