Thursday, July 31, 2014

Collecting vintage jewelry as a hobby

I love finding old vintage antique jewelry at estate sales, yard sales and on eBay.  When shopping online for vintage jewelry it is best to shop from reputable well known websites such as Ruby Lane, Tias,  Tocadero, and shop goodwill.  Vintage jewelry from different era's are really old gems, many pieces are intricate with the art nouveau period, and art deco era from 1920s to 1940s.  Design is very streamlined, bold and geometric in design. 



There are many different periods of jewelry designs in history, a lot of times the jewelry will tell its age because of the design and the wear on it.   Beware of fakes on the market from China;  it is better to shop on well known online antique shops, not the auction sites.



On auction sites there is a small risk of jewelry being reproductions; if purchasing for only private collection it would be risky but okay.  If you are purchasing vintage jewelry as a reseller than the jewelry should be verified as original piece regardless of price.  



Here are some photos of some of my pieces, I really don't spend a lot of money on these pieces but it makes feel good saving a piece of unique vintage jewelry history.









Chinese blessing charm http://www.savingshouse.blogspot.com






1920s scarab earrings http://www.savingshouse.blogspot.com






1933 worlds fair ring   http://www.savingshouse.blogspot.com






1940s era delft jewelry lot   www.savingshouse.blogspot.com






tiny delft ring really cute,  http://www.savingshouse.blogspot.com






1940's era travel gift Cuban wood pin  http://www.savingshouse.blogspot.com






Reproduction cameo pieces and 1970s era pin/pendent tiger pin.  Http://www.savingshouse.blogspot.com






Jelly Belly Spider Pin, starfish pin, vintage clip earrings http://www.savingshouse.blogspot.com






1960s Parrot pin  http://www.savingshouse.blogspot.com






Silver claddaugh friendship ring  http://www.savingshouse.blogspot.com



 

Collecting vintage jewelry as a hobby

I love finding old vintage antique jewelry at estate sales, yard sales and on eBay.  When shopping online for vintage jewelry it is best to shop from reputable well known websites such as Ruby Lane, Tias,  Tocadero, and shop goodwill.  Vintage jewelry from different era's are really old gems, many pieces are intricate with the art nouveau period, and art deco era from 1920s to 1940s.  Design is very streamlined, bold and geometric in design. 

There are many different periods of jewelry designs in history, a lot of times the jewelry will tell its age because of the design and the wear on it.   Beware of fakes on the market from China;  it is better to shop on well known online antique shops, not the auction sites.

On auction sites there is a small risk of jewelry being reproductions; if purchasing for only private collection it would be risky but okay.  If you are purchasing vintage jewelry as a reseller than the jewelry should be verified as original piece regardless of price.  

Here are some photos of some of my pieces, I really don't spend a lot of money on these pieces but it makes feel good saving a piece of unique vintage jewelry history.



Chinese blessing charm http://www.savingshouse.blogspot.com

1920s scarab earrings http://www.savingshouse.blogspot.com

1933 worlds fair ring   http://www.savingshouse.blogspot.com

1940s era delft jewelry lot   www.savingshouse.blogspot.com

tiny delft ring really cute,  http://www.savingshouse.blogspot.com

1940's era travel gift Cuban wood pin  http://www.savingshouse.blogspot.com

Reproduction cameo pieces and 1970s era pin/pendent tiger pin.  Http://www.savingshouse.blogspot.com

Jelly Belly Spider Pin, starfish pin, vintage clip earrings http://www.savingshouse.blogspot.com

1960s Parrot pin  http://www.savingshouse.blogspot.com

Silver claddaugh friendship ring  http://www.savingshouse.blogspot.com

 

Sunday, July 27, 2014

Darth Vader wins Presidential poll over politicians






There was a poll taken that Americans prefer Darth Vader as a Presidential candidate than the leading potential frontrunners of both political parties.




This speaks to the discontent and distrust that Americans feel towards politics in the US.  May be another poll will show that Sponge Bob would make a great vice presidential candidate.



Darth Vader wins Presidential poll over politicians






There was a poll taken that Americans prefer Darth Vader as a Presidential candidate than the leading potential frontrunners of both political parties.


This speaks to the discontent and distrust that Americans feel towards politics in the US.  May be another poll will show that Sponge Bob would make a great vice presidential candidate.

How US media tries to destroy Hillary Clinton for 2016






During this blog post I am wearing my political hat and stating my personal opinion on how the media is destroying Hillary Clinton's potential run for President in 2016. 




The public has been told over and over again about the liberal elite bias media towards favorable coverage of Democrats in general; when it is not true.  The actual bias is on the Conservative media which has control of the Talk radio genre which has greatly influenced the American public in politics and in tone of how politicians should talk and act towards each other. The tone is nasty, non compromising, attacking Democratic politicians as being bad, evil against America; you know all of the wasteland of thoughts perpetuated by fear and ignorance since the election of a black President. 



Hillary Clinton will more likely run for the Presidency for 2016, but there is still a lot of time for her to announce her candidacy.



The media keeps asking, pushing her into answering this question even since she is not ready to formally announce her plans to run.



Since she wrote a book and went on the book tour, the media has taken it upon themselves to state that they will treat Hillary Clinton as if she were an unannounced candidate for the presidency in 2016.  So everything she does from this time on, is being scrutinized and analyzed even when she has not declared that she will run in 2016.  Hillary Clinton is already being singled out, treated differently by the media who is anxious to start to tear her apart. 



The audience can see the obvious attempts of the media to destroy her already by the thought of  taking it upon themselves to assume that she will run; why not wait until she formally declares her intention?  What's the rush?  Why hasn't the media been questioning Chris Christie or any other republican candidate about their intentions to run for the presidency in 2016 as consistently as they have done with Hillary Clinton?



The answer is that the media gives these GOP Conservative potential candidates a pass but continue to pressure and not accept a non answer from Hillary Clinton.  The media wants her to declare her candidacy so that they can start to tear down  by taking every little thing she says and taking the comments out of context.  An example was the Diane Sawyer interview where Hillary was asked about relating to the middle class and their struggles, and Hillary answered that she and Bill Clinton knew about the struggles of the middle class and that when "they left the White House they were dead broke".  The media immediately pounced stating that Hillary Clinton said she was dead broke when she had these high speech fees and that the Clintons were worth 100 million dollars. The media immediately started asking, Can she really relate to the poor and the middle class?  Hillary is out of touch with the public.  Notice that she hasn't declared her potential run for President, yet her first interview they started to attack.  Everyone with a brain knew what she said was true, in her interview she said when they left the White House they were dead broke, that's true.  The Republicans in Congress had many hearings and scandals suing  President Clinton accusing him of many crimes such as White water, travel gate, the supposed cover up of the murder of Vince Foster, a white House aide who committed suicide.  The Clintons were accused of a lot of awful things that caused them to hire expensive lawyers to defend themselves during these hearings.   The Clintons spent millions on lawyers and fighting bogus charges.  The GOP continued their strategy of personal destruction as they are doing currently with President Obama; this time they did manage to uncover the Monica Lewinsky affair which led to Clinton's impeachment in the House but not the Senate because it did not meet the standards of high crimes and misdemeanors for impeachment. President Clinton was disbarred from the legal profession at this time during the scandal.

Hillary Clinton was correct when she said that when they left the White House they were broke, it took time for Bill Clinton and Hillary to make money on the speech circuit and to get out of debt.  Average Americans understand that what she said was true, it was the media trying to make hay out of a comment and take it out of context into feeding their narrative about she is out of touch. 

Americans can tell by how relatable a candidate is by the way they express themselves, the clarity of their policies.  The reason why Romney lost the 2012 election was that he did not have the relatable personality to make Americans believe that he would represent all segments of US society.  The 47% video tape solidified that image of rich, elite, disdain of the poor,aloof separated from ordinary Americans.



Most Americans including Republicans and Democrats know that all Presidential candidates are millionaires or of high income status.  Politics are controlled by big money donors, super pacs,

and millionaires that have Senate and House positions to further their personal wealth by changing policies that benefit corporations or the wealthy.   Talk about helping themselves; that is the only reason why a wealthy person would enter politics and it is currently being demonstrated in the house.  The GOP has engaged in the politics of personal destruction of Democratic Presidents, they have engaged in bogging down the Presidency with fake scandals, and have engaged in obstruction to the point of reckless and sabotage of  the US economy.  The GOP did the same to President Clinton in the 1990s.  The Democrats have not engaged in the politics of personal destruction, in fact when Bush was handed the Presidency by GOP Supreme Court, the Democrats worked with Bush despite bitter disagreements.  The Democrats passed the first stimulus under Bush even when his own GOP Party refused to support him in 2008. 



The American public has short memories and short attention spans; this is what the GOP depends upon to win elections.  The aloofness of the American public and the disengagement has allowed the GOP House to bank on Americans not paying attention to local races that determine the placement of  representatives in Congress.



Another media attack on Hillary Clinton was another interview where she got defensive with an NPR reporter who tried to bait Hillary in to saying the she changed her position on gay marriage for political reasons, when Hillary fully explained that she changed her position just as others had because over time she admitted that her anti gay marriage position was wrong.  This reporter wanted Hillary to say that she changed her position for political reasons and Hillary was defensive and countered back stating that the reporter was trying to get her to say something that was incorrect.



Another media attack came on another radio interview show where Hillary stated that she works hard as many Americans do and knows their struggles.  The media immediately stated that Hillary could not possibly know what the average middle class goes through when she makes 200,000 fee for a speech.  Again, the argument she is out of touch, she is aloof.  Many colleges started to demand that places where Hillary would speak that she not charge a fee for speaking engagement. 



Why should Hillary Clinton work for free when she is a prominent person in politics and she is taking valuable time out of her busy schedule to engage in these speaking engagements.  No one demands that of Sarah Palin or of other Republicans that charge for their speaking engagements. 



The media is bent on destroying Hillary Clinton's opportunity to run for the presidency in 2016.   The media is not liberal leaning it is a talking point of conservative media to hide the true landscape of  media today.  



There have been many media talking heads predicting the win of the Senate for 2014 for the Republicans; despite their dismal approval rating and their current status of being the least productive and worst Congress in the history of all Congress. 



The media is influencing the election of 2014 by telling the American public that the Republicans will win the Senate in 2014 because that Democrats don't vote in Congressional elections.  During the second term of the Clinton presidency, the GOP engaged in obstruction, personal destruction tactics, obstruction and finally impeachment.  The GOP over reached and caused an incredible backlash of the American public by causing the Congressional elections to become nationalized.  People came out in droves to vote Republicans out of office; the GOP is in danger of this happening in 2014, especially if Congress goes on vacation and does not pass the VA reform bill or the Border aid package. 



MSNBC and NBC does tend to have some hosts that have liberal leanings such as Rachel Maddow; but the difference between Fox news and MSNBC is that both have political points of views, but Rachel Maddow covers factual news events not covered by traditional media.  She reports the events with her wit and sarcasm but with actual research and articles.  As for Fox news that deals with rhetoric, opinions, misinformation, distortions of Obama care law.  There is a big difference in the news coverage of Democratic policies at both of these news networks.  CNN claims to be impartial but with shows like Real politics with John King; talking heads that are very critical of the Obama administration; Gloria Borgia, and many other hosts that often question Obama's leadership skills.  



MSNBC and NBC has many hosts that have been extremely bias and critical of Obama's administration questioning his leadership, to accusing him of lying to the American public during Obama care problems with grandfathered policies.  



Chuck Todd is one example during an interview with President Obama asked an insulting question questioning president Obama's character and honesty.  He asked the President why should Americans believe you?  The President laughed it off but I am sure that questioning his character let Obama show a lot of restraint during that interview.   David Gregory from Meet the Press, also has bias coverage when he has a panel of mostly Republican media representatives such as the Washington post; usually the panel is like three Conservatives to one Liberal on these panels.  Some of the examples included last week's show where all of the hosts were stating that President Obama was a sleep at the switch, the exact words of one of the panelists.  Andrea Mitchell stated that Obama playing pool seemed to be terrible when he didn't visit the border.

Chuck Todd a regular on the panel always had negative analysis about President Obama and pointed out that the Democrats were exploiting the Hobby Lobby decision to get woman voters. 



Jonathon Carl of ABC News often delivers the unflattering depiction of the Obama administration  during the Obama care website issues and the HMO's cancelling bad insurance policies that did not qualify under the standards of Obama care. 



There are so many more examples of people in the media from the MSNBC and NBC network that have been critical of President Obama; in addition to the bias coverage of Fox News, and the constant brainwashing conservative controlled talk radio.



In summary, all media should be measured by the accuracy of their reporting and not the opinions of  conservative media.  Hillary Clinton is being targeted by media, the public should more skeptical of the news coverage and seek to find unbiased coverage by visiting government statistical data sites such as the CBO, the senate and congressional websites to find which representatives are voting or doing nothing in their office.  



Americans need to become more aware of how the media is engaged in promoting one political party over the other in their biased coverage.












How US media tries to destroy Hillary Clinton for 2016






During this blog post I am wearing my political hat and stating my personal opinion on how the media is destroying Hillary Clinton's potential run for President in 2016. 


The public has been told over and over again about the liberal elite bias media towards favorable coverage of Democrats in general; when it is not true.  The actual bias is on the Conservative media which has control of the Talk radio genre which has greatly influenced the American public in politics and in tone of how politicians should talk and act towards each other. The tone is nasty, non compromising, attacking Democratic politicians as being bad, evil against America; you know all of the wasteland of thoughts perpetuated by fear and ignorance since the election of a black President. 

Hillary Clinton will more likely run for the Presidency for 2016, but there is still a lot of time for her to announce her candidacy.

The media keeps asking, pushing her into answering this question even since she is not ready to formally announce her plans to run.

Since she wrote a book and went on the book tour, the media has taken it upon themselves to state that they will treat Hillary Clinton as if she were an unannounced candidate for the presidency in 2016.  So everything she does from this time on, is being scrutinized and analyzed even when she has not declared that she will run in 2016.  Hillary Clinton is already being singled out, treated differently by the media who is anxious to start to tear her apart. 

The audience can see the obvious attempts of the media to destroy her already by the thought of  taking it upon themselves to assume that she will run; why not wait until she formally declares her intention?  What's the rush?  Why hasn't the media been questioning Chris Christie or any other republican candidate about their intentions to run for the presidency in 2016 as consistently as they have done with Hillary Clinton?

The answer is that the media gives these GOP Conservative potential candidates a pass but continue to pressure and not accept a non answer from Hillary Clinton.  The media wants her to declare her candidacy so that they can start to tear down  by taking every little thing she says and taking the comments out of context.  An example was the Diane Sawyer interview where Hillary was asked about relating to the middle class and their struggles, and Hillary answered that she and Bill Clinton knew about the struggles of the middle class and that when "they left the White House they were dead broke".  The media immediately pounced stating that Hillary Clinton said she was dead broke when she had these high speech fees and that the Clintons were worth 100 million dollars. The media immediately started asking, Can she really relate to the poor and the middle class?  Hillary is out of touch with the public.  Notice that she hasn't declared her potential run for President, yet her first interview they started to attack.  Everyone with a brain knew what she said was true, in her interview she said when they left the White House they were dead broke, that's true.  The Republicans in Congress had many hearings and scandals suing  President Clinton accusing him of many crimes such as White water, travel gate, the supposed cover up of the murder of Vince Foster, a white House aide who committed suicide.  The Clintons were accused of a lot of awful things that caused them to hire expensive lawyers to defend themselves during these hearings.   The Clintons spent millions on lawyers and fighting bogus charges.  The GOP continued their strategy of personal destruction as they are doing currently with President Obama; this time they did manage to uncover the Monica Lewinsky affair which led to Clinton's impeachment in the House but not the Senate because it did not meet the standards of high crimes and misdemeanors for impeachment. President Clinton was disbarred from the legal profession at this time during the scandal.
Hillary Clinton was correct when she said that when they left the White House they were broke, it took time for Bill Clinton and Hillary to make money on the speech circuit and to get out of debt.  Average Americans understand that what she said was true, it was the media trying to make hay out of a comment and take it out of context into feeding their narrative about she is out of touch. 
Americans can tell by how relatable a candidate is by the way they express themselves, the clarity of their policies.  The reason why Romney lost the 2012 election was that he did not have the relatable personality to make Americans believe that he would represent all segments of US society.  The 47% video tape solidified that image of rich, elite, disdain of the poor,aloof separated from ordinary Americans.

Most Americans including Republicans and Democrats know that all Presidential candidates are millionaires or of high income status.  Politics are controlled by big money donors, super pacs,
and millionaires that have Senate and House positions to further their personal wealth by changing policies that benefit corporations or the wealthy.   Talk about helping themselves; that is the only reason why a wealthy person would enter politics and it is currently being demonstrated in the house.  The GOP has engaged in the politics of personal destruction of Democratic Presidents, they have engaged in bogging down the Presidency with fake scandals, and have engaged in obstruction to the point of reckless and sabotage of  the US economy.  The GOP did the same to President Clinton in the 1990s.  The Democrats have not engaged in the politics of personal destruction, in fact when Bush was handed the Presidency by GOP Supreme Court, the Democrats worked with Bush despite bitter disagreements.  The Democrats passed the first stimulus under Bush even when his own GOP Party refused to support him in 2008. 

The American public has short memories and short attention spans; this is what the GOP depends upon to win elections.  The aloofness of the American public and the disengagement has allowed the GOP House to bank on Americans not paying attention to local races that determine the placement of  representatives in Congress.

Another media attack on Hillary Clinton was another interview where she got defensive with an NPR reporter who tried to bait Hillary in to saying the she changed her position on gay marriage for political reasons, when Hillary fully explained that she changed her position just as others had because over time she admitted that her anti gay marriage position was wrong.  This reporter wanted Hillary to say that she changed her position for political reasons and Hillary was defensive and countered back stating that the reporter was trying to get her to say something that was incorrect.

Another media attack came on another radio interview show where Hillary stated that she works hard as many Americans do and knows their struggles.  The media immediately stated that Hillary could not possibly know what the average middle class goes through when she makes 200,000 fee for a speech.  Again, the argument she is out of touch, she is aloof.  Many colleges started to demand that places where Hillary would speak that she not charge a fee for speaking engagement. 

Why should Hillary Clinton work for free when she is a prominent person in politics and she is taking valuable time out of her busy schedule to engage in these speaking engagements.  No one demands that of Sarah Palin or of other Republicans that charge for their speaking engagements. 

The media is bent on destroying Hillary Clinton's opportunity to run for the presidency in 2016.   The media is not liberal leaning it is a talking point of conservative media to hide the true landscape of  media today.  

There have been many media talking heads predicting the win of the Senate for 2014 for the Republicans; despite their dismal approval rating and their current status of being the least productive and worst Congress in the history of all Congress. 

The media is influencing the election of 2014 by telling the American public that the Republicans will win the Senate in 2014 because that Democrats don't vote in Congressional elections.  During the second term of the Clinton presidency, the GOP engaged in obstruction, personal destruction tactics, obstruction and finally impeachment.  The GOP over reached and caused an incredible backlash of the American public by causing the Congressional elections to become nationalized.  People came out in droves to vote Republicans out of office; the GOP is in danger of this happening in 2014, especially if Congress goes on vacation and does not pass the VA reform bill or the Border aid package. 

MSNBC and NBC does tend to have some hosts that have liberal leanings such as Rachel Maddow; but the difference between Fox news and MSNBC is that both have political points of views, but Rachel Maddow covers factual news events not covered by traditional media.  She reports the events with her wit and sarcasm but with actual research and articles.  As for Fox news that deals with rhetoric, opinions, misinformation, distortions of Obama care law.  There is a big difference in the news coverage of Democratic policies at both of these news networks.  CNN claims to be impartial but with shows like Real politics with John King; talking heads that are very critical of the Obama administration; Gloria Borgia, and many other hosts that often question Obama's leadership skills.  

MSNBC and NBC has many hosts that have been extremely bias and critical of Obama's administration questioning his leadership, to accusing him of lying to the American public during Obama care problems with grandfathered policies.  

Chuck Todd is one example during an interview with President Obama asked an insulting question questioning president Obama's character and honesty.  He asked the President why should Americans believe you?  The President laughed it off but I am sure that questioning his character let Obama show a lot of restraint during that interview.   David Gregory from Meet the Press, also has bias coverage when he has a panel of mostly Republican media representatives such as the Washington post; usually the panel is like three Conservatives to one Liberal on these panels.  Some of the examples included last week's show where all of the hosts were stating that President Obama was a sleep at the switch, the exact words of one of the panelists.  Andrea Mitchell stated that Obama playing pool seemed to be terrible when he didn't visit the border.
Chuck Todd a regular on the panel always had negative analysis about President Obama and pointed out that the Democrats were exploiting the Hobby Lobby decision to get woman voters. 

Jonathon Carl of ABC News often delivers the unflattering depiction of the Obama administration  during the Obama care website issues and the HMO's cancelling bad insurance policies that did not qualify under the standards of Obama care. 

There are so many more examples of people in the media from the MSNBC and NBC network that have been critical of President Obama; in addition to the bias coverage of Fox News, and the constant brainwashing conservative controlled talk radio.

In summary, all media should be measured by the accuracy of their reporting and not the opinions of  conservative media.  Hillary Clinton is being targeted by media, the public should more skeptical of the news coverage and seek to find unbiased coverage by visiting government statistical data sites such as the CBO, the senate and congressional websites to find which representatives are voting or doing nothing in their office.  

Americans need to become more aware of how the media is engaged in promoting one political party over the other in their biased coverage.






Saturday, July 26, 2014

DIY Disaster Painting furniture





In today's current economy, many Americans are finding ways to save money and help the environment by recycling and up cycling vintage furniture and other items.  




There are many websites, magazines and cable TV shows that teach people to decorate using vintage furniture pieces.  Many of these resources teach how to paint furniture, change hardware and even create a totally different furniture piece from the original intended use of furniture.  An example would be TV armoires; these TV cabinets are no longer used because of Plasma TV's that could be hung on walls.  



These TV cabinets are being up cycled for other uses; some have been converted into craft centers, home office center, linen cabinets, even into wardrobe/ guest room closet.  This is a creative way to reuse good quality furniture that no longer is used as a TV armoire. 



Although, these articles and shows make furniture painting look easy; there are disasters that occur when furniture piece is not prepped properly for painting.



Many furniture pieces have a sealer or shiny finish on the furniture piece.  Most furniture pieces need to be sanded until the shiny finish is off; some furniture pieces need to be primed before being painted.   An example; furniture with a lacquer finish need to be primed and should be painted with a similar lacquer finish paint. Chalk paint is used as a preferred medium for furniture because there is no priming needed and can be sealed with soft wax.  I found amazing video painting on furniture with chalk paint.



After the furniture piece is painted; allow for two days to dry; then use a sealer to protect paint finish.   If painting furniture pieces for outdoor use; make sure the proper outdoor paint is used for the elements outside.  



Sometimes the best way to learn is trial by error; learning what works and what doesn't is the best method to learn and fix vintage furniture. 



Amazing video on using chalk paint for furniture

DIY Disaster Painting furniture





In today's current economy, many Americans are finding ways to save money and help the environment by recycling and up cycling vintage furniture and other items.  


There are many websites, magazines and cable TV shows that teach people to decorate using vintage furniture pieces.  Many of these resources teach how to paint furniture, change hardware and even create a totally different furniture piece from the original intended use of furniture.  An example would be TV armoires; these TV cabinets are no longer used because of Plasma TV's that could be hung on walls.  

These TV cabinets are being up cycled for other uses; some have been converted into craft centers, home office center, linen cabinets, even into wardrobe/ guest room closet.  This is a creative way to reuse good quality furniture that no longer is used as a TV armoire. 

Although, these articles and shows make furniture painting look easy; there are disasters that occur when furniture piece is not prepped properly for painting.

Many furniture pieces have a sealer or shiny finish on the furniture piece.  Most furniture pieces need to be sanded until the shiny finish is off; some furniture pieces need to be primed before being painted.   An example; furniture with a lacquer finish need to be primed and should be painted with a similar lacquer finish paint. Chalk paint is used as a preferred medium for furniture because there is no priming needed and can be sealed with soft wax.  I found amazing video painting on furniture with chalk paint.

After the furniture piece is painted; allow for two days to dry; then use a sealer to protect paint finish.   If painting furniture pieces for outdoor use; make sure the proper outdoor paint is used for the elements outside.  

Sometimes the best way to learn is trial by error; learning what works and what doesn't is the best method to learn and fix vintage furniture. 

Amazing video on using chalk paint for furniture

Start a Travel USA small town campaign






Congress is failing the American public; the tea party conservatives have control over John Boehner who is one of the worst House leaders in the history of Congress.  When the leader allows a loud minority control his actions, by allowing what would be brought to the floor to vote.; it demonstrates how ineffective a leader he is.   The job as a leader of the House is to allow legislation on the floor to allow members of both parties to vote, Boehner will not place Immigration reform on the floor because he knows that east and west coast republicans will vote for the bill.  By not allowing the vote, he is keeping these Republicans from voting on this bill, and the Democrats from ultimately passing the House. 




President Obama has taken actions on his own because republicans are determined not to pass any legislation to sabotage President Obama's agenda and weaken the US economy.  By Congress obstructing the President, the GOP has slowed down the economy; but hasn't succeeded in destroying it.  President Obama managed to pass tax increases and now after a decade of tax cuts; the US economy is slowly creating jobs about 9 million in the past six years; and the US deficit is dropping for the first time in over a decade.  President Obama has not been given credit for this by the media or the public; instead the media tends to allow the GOP criticism, false scandals to cloud Obama during his Presidency.  



With the inaction of Congress and the economy still not as robust as it could be if it weren't for all of the obstruction by the GOP; American towns should consider creating their own stimulus.



ABC started the made in America campaign about three years ago, since then Americans have shopped specifically for American made products creating new jobs in America.



What if small towns in America started a "travel our small town campaign" to attract Americans to spend their vacation dollars in America instead of foreign countries.  There are methods for small towns that may not have tourist attractions to attract Americans to visit their towns by creating tourist events such as art fairs, unique annual events created specific to that town.  An example is Roswell, Arizona where UFO enthusiasts have come to visit because of the story of UFO parts being found in a farm. Americans were told that the parts were from a weather balloon; many conspiracy theorists believe that it was a real UFO that crashed because of individual stories from citizens in Roswell area .



Another idea would be for neighboring small towns to pull resources together to form travel packages where tourists can visit each town where visitors can stay at these towns for a set number of days.   Local businesses could offer discounts as incentives for visitors to shop, and spend in local economy. 



There are many free methods for local towns to advertise their events or local travel deals; such as twitter, face book, You tube, other social media.   Press releases are free and is a great way to get media attention if press release is very news worthy.  Many media outlets and journalists use Press releases to find news to write about and report . 



American towns should give themselves a stimulus, because as long as Congress has obstructionists interested in power and politics and not the good of the country; Americans are on their own. 





Side note:  House republicans refuse to pass VA bill unless there are offsets to pay for VA Hospital reform.  Funny, when Congress sent Americans to fight in two unpaid wars, they didn't ask for offsets back then. 



GOP House demands offsets for VA reform bill

Start a Travel USA small town campaign






Congress is failing the American public; the tea party conservatives have control over John Boehner who is one of the worst House leaders in the history of Congress.  When the leader allows a loud minority control his actions, by allowing what would be brought to the floor to vote.; it demonstrates how ineffective a leader he is.   The job as a leader of the House is to allow legislation on the floor to allow members of both parties to vote, Boehner will not place Immigration reform on the floor because he knows that east and west coast republicans will vote for the bill.  By not allowing the vote, he is keeping these Republicans from voting on this bill, and the Democrats from ultimately passing the House. 


President Obama has taken actions on his own because republicans are determined not to pass any legislation to sabotage President Obama's agenda and weaken the US economy.  By Congress obstructing the President, the GOP has slowed down the economy; but hasn't succeeded in destroying it.  President Obama managed to pass tax increases and now after a decade of tax cuts; the US economy is slowly creating jobs about 9 million in the past six years; and the US deficit is dropping for the first time in over a decade.  President Obama has not been given credit for this by the media or the public; instead the media tends to allow the GOP criticism, false scandals to cloud Obama during his Presidency.  

With the inaction of Congress and the economy still not as robust as it could be if it weren't for all of the obstruction by the GOP; American towns should consider creating their own stimulus.

ABC started the made in America campaign about three years ago, since then Americans have shopped specifically for American made products creating new jobs in America.

What if small towns in America started a "travel our small town campaign" to attract Americans to spend their vacation dollars in America instead of foreign countries.  There are methods for small towns that may not have tourist attractions to attract Americans to visit their towns by creating tourist events such as art fairs, unique annual events created specific to that town.  An example is Roswell, Arizona where UFO enthusiasts have come to visit because of the story of UFO parts being found in a farm. Americans were told that the parts were from a weather balloon; many conspiracy theorists believe that it was a real UFO that crashed because of individual stories from citizens in Roswell area .

Another idea would be for neighboring small towns to pull resources together to form travel packages where tourists can visit each town where visitors can stay at these towns for a set number of days.   Local businesses could offer discounts as incentives for visitors to shop, and spend in local economy. 

There are many free methods for local towns to advertise their events or local travel deals; such as twitter, face book, You tube, other social media.   Press releases are free and is a great way to get media attention if press release is very news worthy.  Many media outlets and journalists use Press releases to find news to write about and report . 

American towns should give themselves a stimulus, because as long as Congress has obstructionists interested in power and politics and not the good of the country; Americans are on their own. 


Side note:  House republicans refuse to pass VA bill unless there are offsets to pay for VA Hospital reform.  Funny, when Congress sent Americans to fight in two unpaid wars, they didn't ask for offsets back then. 

GOP House demands offsets for VA reform bill

Saturday, July 19, 2014

How to organize home with reused items







There are creative ways to save money by using items around the home intended for other uses and recycling them for a new purpose.


Shower hooks could be hung on the closet clothing hanging rod to hang purses, scarves or belts. 



 The empty cardboard toilet paper holders can be reused to hold and store unused electrical cords and label the outside of the cardboard. 



  The cardboard cylinder tubes used in wrapping paper rolls could be reused by cutting them into 4- 5 inch sizes to reuse as wrapping paper holders. By slipping the cardboard over the wrapping paper on both ends to keep paper from opening from storage.

   Reuse old ice cube trays to organize jewelry in drawers.

  

 Reuse old checks boxes to organize a desk drawer to store clips, rubber bands, odds and ends. I use it to organize my junk drawer and it works well. 

 Use a small magazine rack as a pot lid holder on the inside of a cabinet door. 

  Some of these ideas were from the Simple Dollar Blog. 

 I love that blog.

How to organize home with reused items







There are creative ways to save money by using items around the home intended for other uses and recycling them for a new purpose.

Shower hooks could be hung on the closet clothing hanging rod to hang purses, scarves or belts. 

 The empty cardboard toilet paper holders can be reused to hold and store unused electrical cords and label the outside of the cardboard. 

  The cardboard cylinder tubes used in wrapping paper rolls could be reused by cutting them into 4- 5 inch sizes to reuse as wrapping paper holders. By slipping the cardboard over the wrapping paper on both ends to keep paper from opening from storage.
   Reuse old ice cube trays to organize jewelry in drawers.
  
 Reuse old checks boxes to organize a desk drawer to store clips, rubber bands, odds and ends. I use it to organize my junk drawer and it works well. 
 Use a small magazine rack as a pot lid holder on the inside of a cabinet door. 
  Some of these ideas were from the Simple Dollar Blog. 
 I love that blog.

How to Spring Clean your porch









The best way to clean your porch is to use a solution of warm water and a
safe cleaner named Simple green on the concrete patio, leave the mixture on for
15 minutes scrub with a brush then rinse. Let the concrete dry naturally.  After power washing, the concrete should look very clean afterward. Use simple green on the light fixtures too, it should get it all clean as well.
 
To get rid of stains on concrete add 1
cup of bleach to a 10 x 10-foot patio. Another trick to remove mildew stains is to get a pool cleaning stick used to remove calcium stains.  Wet the concrete area and the stick then rub the stone stick on the stain, it should remove the mildew rust stain.  Use a pressure washer to clean steps to remove dirt, mildew. 




If you have a teak wood patio deck it should
be washed, then dried, then a teak sealer should be used for protection. A teak sealer will protect the teak wood from rotting and the elements.
To clean wicker furniture use a soft brush
and a mild dish detergent soap to wash the surface without damaging it.




Wipe
down outdoor lighting fixtures with a damp cloth. 
Clean outdoor cushions
with a sponge, water, and mild soap and let dry in the sun.

How to Spring Clean your porch







The best way to clean your porch is to use a solution of warm water and a safe cleaner named Simple green on the concrete patio, leave the mixture on for 15 minutes scrub with a brush then rinse. Let the concrete dry naturally.  After power washing, the concrete should look very clean afterward. Use simple green on the light fixtures too, it should get it all clean as well. 
To get rid of stains on concrete add 1 cup of bleach to a 10 x 10-foot patio. Another trick to remove mildew stains is to get a pool cleaning stick used to remove calcium stains.  Wet the concrete area and the stick then rub the stone stick on the stain, it should remove the mildew rust stain.  Use a pressure washer to clean steps to remove dirt, mildew. 

If you have a teak wood patio deck it should be washed, then dried, then a teak sealer should be used for protection. A teak sealer will protect the teak wood from rotting and the elements.
To clean wicker furniture use a soft brush and a mild dish detergent soap to wash the surface without damaging it.

Wipe down outdoor lighting fixtures with a damp cloth. 
Clean outdoor cushions with a sponge, water, and mild soap and let dry in the sun.

Sunday, July 13, 2014

Politics that divide America help our enemies








When terrorists attack Americans, they don't ask whether we are
Republicans, or Democrats.  They only ask
if we are Americans.  We have to come
together, compromise and remember that the politics that divide us; only make
our enemies stronger and us weaker as a country. 





Why is it that one political group always
wants to force their will on another even when voters have spoken twice that
they want the country to follow another direction? Is it because they are
afraid that their political agenda will succeed and that the country will note
that popular political groups agenda will keep them in power for decades like
FDR. 


The other political group could
take advantage by keeping true to their ideals but creating new policies and
new ideas that include all populations and all social classes to their
political party.  The GOP has to create
policies that address job creation, paying down the deficit  and IMMIGRATION REFORM. Along with the current immigration crisis that has to be addressed urgently for Americans and for these children coming over the border. 





Every GOP President has always had a high
deficit, it is only under Clinton that the deficit has been reduced
significantly and now under President Obama. The reasoning is common sense, if you advocate for tax cuts, there is not enough revenue collected to pay bills therefore you borrow more on credit.  It's true of all households and its true when it comes to government spending.
The tax increase went towards paying down deficit; which is going down and the lowest in years. If Obama would have
gotten his Jobs act passed; the economy would have been working better and more infrastructure jobs
created.  The GOP obstruction since 2010 has kept
President Obama's agenda from fully being implemented.


During the state of
the union, the Republicans with their four addresses all said Mr. President
where are the jobs?  After, they have
purposedly obstructed every piece of legislation this President has placed on
the floor of Congress, the Job Acts Bill, the Budget bill, the infrastructure
bill, the immigration bill all turned
down.  These people have the nerve to
say, Mr. President. Where are the Jobs? 
Despite all of the obstruction, the President managed during the two
years that he had with a functional Congress when Pelosi was leader, the
stimulus went to save car companies.  The
loans were paid back, and the jobs were saved now this past June 2014, 288,000
new jobs were added. 





Meanwhile Congress,
has done nothing but name post offices, and hold hearing on Benghazi and the
IRS which have cost US taxpayers 14 million dollars to investigate supposed
scandals.  Both hearings have uncovered
nothing but mistakes and incompetence but no coverups or illegal activity;
Darryl Issa the Republican Committee chair has become a celebrity on Fox
getting his cues from Megan Kelly on what to ask next. Government has to become
more efficient, less partisan because the world is looking at the U.S. and our
politicians as immature and unable to get our act together. 


The world's despots and dictators laugh at
our Democracy saying if this is what it means to be free that you can't even
agree on running your own country, then whats the point.  It makes the U.S. look weak in front of the
world, especially when politicians that hate the President go on the
media to praise Putin and to say how weak Obama is.  As an American I was looking at those morons
and thinking to myself, we don't need the Russians or the Chinese to throw
bombs here, all we need are some Rudy Guiliani's or John McCain's and Lindsey
Graham's. 





These guys don't know when the
politics should end; other countries read and see our media, read our blogs,
when they hear our own politicians disparage their own President, then what can
you expect other dictators or rogue leaders to think.  These morans open their mouths; its really
upsetting because President Obama is black he gets so little respect form these
southern and Republican party politicians; which is created to encourage their base to engage more in politics. 





The politics of the day are ruling
the common sense of these politicians who no longer do what is right for the
country but what is right for their interest groups.  The Supreme Court decision allows
private citizens to contribute unlimited amounts to political campaigns, it is
a continuation of the citizens united case. 
These cases allowing big money into political campaigns only allows for
corruption of the system and the drowning out of the voices of the average voter;
the average person gives a donation of 200 or less.


 


Supreme Court has decided that private corporations have religious identity like individuals and can not be forced to follow laws that violate their religious viewpoints.  This protects the Business owner but what of the religious or nonreligious views of its employees.  This decision will open a can of worms that will change society back to the pre civil rights days. Any private for PROFIT corporation can use religion as a method to circumvent US protective laws of minority groups, woman, gays and lesbians, children, and everyone else based on employers religious views.  So to the baker that refuses to make a wedding cake for gays and lesbians, the Supreme court gave them a green light to do so under religion.  In addition to Supreme Court claiming the narrowness of decision; the justices know that many new cases will arise from decision because this court has basically defined a corporation as a living identity with the rights of an individual such as that of religion and freedom of speech through the Citizens United case. 



The GOP conservative Supreme Court should be careful in creating corporations and organizations as people because there are many laws that could be changed against corporations as well.  An example Congress has created a law protecting the NRA from lawsuits by private citizens and victims of violence; since corporations are people too with religious protections and free speech protections, why should the law protecting the NRA by Congress be constitutional since it prohibits private citizens from suing them; if the corporation and organizations are to be treated under the law with individual rights, then why should the average citizen have their rights abridged to suing an entity that now has the same rights under the law as an individual.  This can work both ways so be careful for you wish for;  I hope that Moms for Gun Sense read this post.






 Democracy for sale
that's a future blog post. 
Meanwhile, my point is that politics have always been divisive but in
this age of social media, the tone has been more vile, disagreeable, ugly,
hateful. I can think of a lot of other adjectives to describe how politics has
become so bad.  It is to the point, that
one group thinks they have all of the answers and they don't want to compromise. The GOP has engaged in the politics of personal destruction of its opponents, it started under the Clinton administration and since Obama has become President has reached epoch proportions. Ted Cruz when he was welcomed back in Texas as a hero, after
the government shutdown in Washington DC, he said he was glad to be back in Texas, in the united States of America so I guess Washington DC and other cities aren't. 
I guess that was a dig at the rest of urban
America, you know the part he doesn't consider part of the U.S.  Politicians like Ted Cruz want to divide
for their political ambition have no interest in serving America; only
themselves, if only their voters opened their eyes and became aware of the
facts and read the issues instead of biased media coverage. I think the voters
would  have a change of heart on some of
the issues and will chose better candidates to represent them in
Congress.

How Inflation is affecting the thrift stores

  It seems that Inflation has hit a 40 year high affecting everything from gas prices, housing, food, and consumer goods.  Inflation s...