Paul's Elk Hunting Photos ...

Paul and friends went elk hunting in Colo. couple of weeks ago and took some photos.. 

the links to the photos are below:

http://moffatfamilyblog.dotphoto.com/CPListAlbums.asp

or

http://reddirtdiaries.dotphoto.com/CPListAlbums.asp

obama hussein appointed Geithner to head his econ. team... wow... where was he when things went south??

Where was Geithner in turmoil?

By Andrew Ross Sorkin

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

President-elect Barack Obama unveiled on Monday an economic team with deep experience handling economic crises. But does the man at the center of this star-studded cast, Timothy Geithner, the nominee for Treasury secretary, have the chops to take the nation in a new financial direction?

That is what a number of Wall Street chieftains are quietly asking, even after the stock market surged with relief after his nomination.

One reason Obama gave for nominating Geithner was his "unparalleled understanding of our current economic crisis, in all of its depth, complexity and urgency." More important, he suggested, "Tim will waste no time getting up to speed. He will start his first day on the job with a unique insight into the failures of today's markets — and a clear vision of the steps we must take to revive them."

Geithner is clearly a 47-year-old wonder boy.

A graduate of Dartmouth, he has a master's degree from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, did a turn with Henry Kissinger's consulting firm, a stint in the Clinton administration and, for the last five years, has been the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

He will effectively lead the team Obama has chosen to mend a crippled economy. That's important because they won't just be debating economic theory — they will be making deals Wall Street-style, negotiating billion-dollar bailouts and restructuring entire industries on behalf of their client, the taxpayers.

But Geithner's involvement in several ultimately ill-fated efforts to buttress the American financial system is the very reason some Wall Street CEO's — a number of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of piquing the man who regulates them — question whether he's up to the challenge.

"We have only two things to say about Tim Geithner, who we do not know: AIG and Lehman Brothers," said Christopher Whalen of Institutional Risk Analytics. "Throw in the Bear Stearns/Maiden Lane fiasco for good measure," he said, referring to the site of the New York Federal Reserve, where many rescue discussions took place.

"All of these 'rescues' are a disaster for the taxpayer, for the financial markets and also for the Federal Reserve System as an organization. Geithner, in our view, deserves retirement, not promotion."

Ouch.

"He was in the room at every turn of the crisis," said another executive who participated in several such confidential meetings with Geithner. "You can look at that both ways."

While Henry Paulson Jr., the current Treasury secretary, has taken a drubbing for the changeable nature of the government's efforts to bolster the financial industry — some of which clearly contradicted each other — Geithner has managed, for the most part, to remain unscathed. He's been widely praised as a bright, articulate out-of-the box thinker who is a bailout expert, to the extent anyone can truly be an expert at fast-changing emergencies.

Behind the scenes, Geithner was the point person for weeks of sleep-deprived Bailout Weekends. It was Geithner, not Paulson, for example, who put together the original rescue plan for the American International Group.

And, of course, Geithner also oversaw and regulated an entire industry whose decline has delivered a further blow to an already weakened American economy. Under his watch, some of the biggest institutions that were the responsibility of the New York Fed — Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch and most recently, Citigroup — faltered. While he was one of the first regulators to smartly articulate the potential for an impending disaster, a number of observers question whether he went far enough to stop the calamity.

Perhaps what has most people on Wall Street stirring is Geithner's role in the fall of Lehman. At the time of its bankruptcy, he, along with Paulson, appeared to be the most vocal in supporting the government's refusal to bail out the firm, according to people involved in various meetings. With hindsight, many in the financial industry blame a deepening of the global financial crisis on the government's decision to let Lehman crumble.

Perhaps not surprisingly, there have been moves afoot in recent weeks by some in the New York Fed and Obama team to put distance between Paulson and Geithner, whose salary was $398,200 last year and who will take a pay cut to $191,300 in his new role.

These include the suggestion that Geithner was not in league with Paulson over Lehman; that Geithner pressed to save the firm from bankruptcy; that he was a lone voice on the subject and was overruled by Paulson and Ben Bernanke, the Fed chairman, on this issue.

The validity of this new claim is hard to verify. The New York Fed declined to comment.

Many executives suggest it may be a bit of revisionist history. "If that's true, he did a good job of hiding it," said one executive who spent the weekend at the New York Federal Reserve the weekend of Lehman's fall.

Paulson has only praise for Geithner. "I have the highest regard for Tim — his judgment and creativity have been critical to designing and implementing the necessary actions we've taken to protect and strengthen our financial system," he said.

Let's hope he's right.

Did you see who obama hussein picked for his economic team??

former Clinton admin players.. trained by Robert Rubin, who is leading Citibank down the trail to bankruptcy... wow... how lucky can we be to relive another failed administration... oh well, to each his own.. maybe like bill ... obama hussein will put an intern in each of our offices too?  wonder what other stupid moves await us. We are getting it rammed down our throats from the very start... can you imagine picking for a VP a man who failed to get past go when he ran for President? America said NO to the dumbie then and now it's OK???  and on and on and on... everyday is a new day, but the change we are promised is not new...

if you think things are going to get better, here is food for thought. Chris Dowd and Bernie Frank are the two who lead us into this mess... which started on Clinton's watch...   now Obama hussein is using these two and other Clinton retreads to lead us through our worst times... wow... talk about the wolf watching the hen house...  

Next thing you know, bill ayers will be our new homeland security chief...  and the Chaplin for the US Senate will be the rev. wright....  and we will not find the flag needed anymore under obama huessin...  all we will need to do is salute him.. sound familiar??  then using the incoming first lady's words from the past...   "we will finally be proud to be Americans!" and of course, Sunday mornings at church with the President will be replaced by workout in the gym, much more important to improve ourselves than to give praise and glory to our maker and the principle of which this country was founded on... our faith in God... In God we trust will be gone, the pledge will be gone.. pride in our country will be a thing that will be going next too. 

OK... sorry ...  I know, give change a chance...   but at what price? what price?? 

If the press would have done their part and exposed this nightmare for what it is, we might be finding folks who can lead based on success and not failure... who might not change the system as much as get rid of some of the old hanger-oner's... like Dowd and Frank... and others who need to go. 

I remember the day of the towers falling... how lucky we were to be in the hands of President Bush. The pride in my country going to the ends of the earth to catch them... and you know what, I still am proud of him and his leadership. He has done the right thing. History will remember him more fondly then the late night TV shows. The real scarey thing is that he just might be the last President we have from some time we can be truly proud of. His faith never wavered, in his faith, in his belief in America, and his word was bond, and never changed. The character traits we honor in our heros!! During the last 8 years, one thing was for sure. The world knew who was in charge, and did not have to wonder. Most of the time, if they had any questions regarding our stance, all they had to do was to remember who was in charge. In a sense it was nice to know our President was disliked by most abroad...  This meant to me, he was standing up for America, and making us proud! 

no cowering down and joining in with other countries. We were the leaders... 

but hey.. just one ole man's opinion... and we all have them. 

Jake just called ....

sign of the times we are in...


We all love the 1.56 cent a gallon gasoline...

but the other side of this deal...

Now folks, OK has an economy that has as it's top dog, energy, and next is ag... and both are hurting.. so look out, we all may find times getting hard and harder...

The housing market here is still top of the world and going strong, but in a few weeks, I bet it slows way down too... hold on to your hat, stop that extra spending, and get ready to take advantage of some great deals that will become available soon...

so says one who has seen it before.... and didn't do the above...

so it goes in Stillwater, OK on this 24th day of November, 2008.

Do you need a welder? I know where there is one for hire... and he is an easy keeper. He is fully insured and bonded for up to two million... and has all his own equipment, and understands working early and staying late... even is certified to weld on all thickness and all structures... 4 years in the business...

thanks to family..

Ann and I celebrated our 36th Anniversay together with most of our family on Friday evening. We decided to let Mr. Rib Crib cook dinner and brought it out to our home ... Heather picked up a cake,too, (and I still owe her for that, sorry Heather, I forgot till now) so we could enjoy everyone's company. We also got to see Paul and Friends Elk Hunting photos from Colorado they took the week before while hunting Elk there. Phil and family, Heather and family and Jake and family made it by. I don't know about others, but I do know Ann and I truly enjoyed the special time spent with each other and family. And as a bonus we also got to enjoy watching and spending time with Austyn, Andrew, Madison, and Isabella. My my how they are growing up so fast. 

What a wonderful and gracious and special gift you gave to Ann and I just by sharing an evening with us. Thank you all from the bottom of our hearts. 

the evening was truly "PRICELESS"!

and on board the new truck is my good friend Craig.

Craig is operating the pumps on the truck I believe... I am sure there are names - correct names- for all of this but I am sorry I don't know them.

for those who read this and don't know....

The Perkins Fire Dept is a voluntary fire dept. They are all volunteers and do this to help and aid the community against fire. Because of their efforts, and the hard work and long hours they put in, they have some of the best equipment in the Southwest, and some of the best trained on any fire dept, regardless of the type of fire dept. They are professional in every sense of the word. They train hard and work hard, and their familys suffered too... when the guys work regular jobs and fight fires and have a dept like this, it takes many many hours of hard work that comes only from devotion to it and love of community and wanting to truly make a difference in todays world. ( and as a bonus to the community, Perkins, OK. enjoys low cost fire insurance for it's citizens... )

I am proud to call Craig my friend! and I am proud of all his and many others hard work to make the Perkins Fire Dept. the best.

here you can see the "dumping station" they used to unload fast and get more water to the fire... plus the new Perkins Fire Dept truck in action...

a very fast way to dump into the station and then get on road for more water.

Ingalls Fire Dept. sent a tanker to help haul water, I guess this is the correct name for this type of truck preforming this type of activity...

The Perkins Fire Dept. had a pesky round bale fire they fought Saturday afternoon

This series of photos is from my good friend Craig who is on the Perkins Fire Dept.
I am not sure who took the photos, but I am really glad to have them and be able to share... Can you imagine the 'stink' around this fire.. and the heavy smelly nasty smoke round bales produce... yuck, to say the least!!

From Kent Boatright, Bob Priess's son in law in Sapulpa... comes this ditty...

Enjoy, I sure did...

On a lazy November Sunday, while visions of sugar plums danced in their heads... and dreams were big as life....

sometimes, just to set and take it all in is the true gift of the day...

oh my - these are the lucky ones... the very meek who will inherit the earth... the leaders of our world tomorrow, at peace today...

Andrew flying...

Rock stars All...