amazing to stand under all that power and see the bottom of the clouds turn Blue!! camea's don't capture it like the eye sees it...

From other night....

Austyn, Andrew, Kaitlyn, Madison, Dylan and Isabella... I am truly sorry for you to inherit this mess....

and your children...

"The U.S. government and the Federal Reserve have spent, lent or committed $12.8 trillion, an amount that approaches the value of everything produced in the country last year, to stem the longest recession since the 1930s."

from bloomberg http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=armOzfkwtCA4&refer=worldwide

sorry... I want you to know... Grandma and I do not support this stupidity! It is so wrong to put this on you guys and your kiddos and theirs too.... all for the ego of men!

Do you remember Russia? I do.. the pic's of the work farms, etc.. it's now coming here thanks to Obama and his band of crooks and cheats!

Democrats Now Want To Regulate Salaries Of All Employees At Bailed Out Firms

What could go wrong with having Barney Frank decide how much people should be earning?

But now, in a little-noticed move, the House Financial Services Committee, led by chairman Barney Frank, has approved a measure that would, in some key ways, go beyond the most draconian features of the original AIG bill. The new legislation, the "Pay for Performance Act of 2009," would impose government controls on the pay of all employees -- not just top executives -- of companies that have received a capital investment from the U.S. government. It would, like the tax measure, be retroactive, changing the terms of compensation agreements already in place. And it would give Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner extraordinary power to determine the pay of thousands of employees of American companies.

The purpose of the legislation is to "prohibit unreasonable and excessive compensation and compensation not based on performance standards," according to the bill's language. That includes regular pay, bonuses -- everything -- paid to employees of companies in whom the government has a capital stake, including those that have received funds through the Troubled Assets Relief Program, or TARP, as well as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The measure is not limited just to those firms that received the largest sums of money, or just to the top 25 or 50 executives of those companies. It applies to all employees of all companies involved, for as long as the government is invested. And it would not only apply going forward, but also retroactively to existing contracts and pay arrangements of institutions that have already received funds.

Timmy Giethner can't even figure out how to pay his own taxes and now he's supposed to be in charge of setting the pay scale of the kid working in the mail room of some bank?

I get, and am sympathetic to, the idea that if you take the government's money, you dance to the government's tune but this is ridiculous. The goal should be to disengage the government as quickly as possible from these companies, not to further intertwine them with the only organization more decrepit than they are, the federal government.

This kind of involvement will only make it more difficult for these firms to get back to self-sufficiency. Of course, some may see that as a feature not a bug.

"These cats cannot even pay their taxes! Most are involved in scandals, or in cheating someone somehow, and we think they can regulate a business! most have never ran a business, owned a business, or worked in a business... sigh! wow... now it truly it is the blind leading the blind!!

soon he will tell you when you can work and when you can not.. just wait!

Obama Orders Chevrolet and Dodge Out Of NASCAR - Car News

HAPPY APRIL FOOLS' DAY! With their racing budgets deemed “unnecessary expenditures,” GM and Chrysler are ordered to cease racing operations at the end of the season.

BY JARED GALL, ILLUSTRATION BY ERIC WOODWARD
April 2009

In a move sure to spark outrage, the White House announced today that GM and Chrysler must cease participation in NASCAR at the end of the 2009 season if they hope to receive any additional financial aid from the government. Companies around the globe—Honda and Audi, to name two—have drawn down racing operations, and NASCAR itself has already felt the pinch in the form of reduced team spending. A complete withdrawal from America’s premier racing series is expected to save more than $250 million between GM and Chrysler, a substantial amount considering the drastic measures being implemented elsewhere.

“Automakers used to operate on the principle of ‘win on Sunday, sell on Monday,’ but the Auto Task Force’s research just doesn’t validate that as true,” said the statement from President Obama. While fans have decried the Car of Tomorrow for heavily limiting what little personalization the cookie-cutter series had previously allowed to participating manufacturers, and drivers have slammed its brick-like aerodynamics and unpredictable handling, even the governmental oversight committee sees that the full-scale regulation of the cars leaves the manufacturers very little space for research and development. “NASCAR is a racing series that regulates down to the smallest detail of the cars, where a car badged a Chevrolet or Dodge differs only marginally from a Ford or a Toyota. There’s no technological development to speak of.”

The statement goes on further to say the same demand will be made of Ford if it asks for government assistance. “In order to receive this money, corporations must demonstrate they will spend it wisely. Racing has been said to improve on-road technology, but frankly, NASCAR almost flaunts its standing among the lowest-tech forms of motorsport. NASCAR is not proven to drive advancements that transfer from the racetrack to the road, and this nation’s way forward does not hinge on decades-old technology. We need new, and we need innovation.”

The President realizes this will be an unpopular call, but stands behind the decision, saying, “This is an obvious cut to make, but it is not an easy one. This administration is not ignoring the tremendous sentimental value and emotional appeal NASCAR holds for so many Americans. But now is not the time for sentiment and nostalgia; now is a time for decisive financial action. If our automotive industry is to emerge from this recession intact, then these difficult decisions must be made.”

Both Chevrolet and Dodge see the move as only temporary, and fully expect to resume racing in NASCAR as soon as they have stabilized and the government’s hand in their operations is minimized. “There is nothing really to say at this point,” said one representative, who wished to remain anonymous. “We’ve been doing this since the beginning, and we always assumed we’d be doing this until the end. Heck, nobody ever thought to think that there would be an end. But we ain’t done. As soon as this is over, we’re taking back our spot at the top.”

NASCAR officials remain tight-lipped about the call, but sources say series president Mike Helton and team managers are exploring several options, including other manufacturers to fill Chevrolet and Dodge’s vacated positions. Given the company’s recent interest in motorsport and the steady cash-flow and V-8 engine provided by its new Genesis sedan, sources indicate that NASCAR is pinging Hyundai to gauge the Korean company’s interest in occupying a spot in NASCAR. “Toyota was not well-received their first year in the sport, nor was their first season an easy one,” the source says. “But they learned, they applied the lessons, and they have proven very competitive this year.”

If Hyundai does indeed join the series, there will no doubt be a steep learning curve, and the move would leave Ford the lone domestic battling a pair of Asian makes in America’s most popular racing series. We wonder, however, how long NASCAR could hold that title without two of its most storied participants.

in my mail box this am... from Austyn

HAPPY APRIL FOOLS

from,austyn

How proud we are.... thank Heather for sharing!

Walking before school

Darla Slipke - Stillwater NewsPress

Last month, Highland Park students walked 3,200 miles - the distance from Portland, Maine, to Hollywood, Calif. - to get to their book fair, which was called "Lights! Camera! Book Fair!"

They counted their steps throughout the month and tracked their path across a map of the United States, researching stops and using math calculations to determine their distance along the way.

Now school officials and students are continuing their efforts to stay active by implementing a "walking bus" on Wednesday mornings. A team of faculty walks from the school in two directions, picking up students along the way. 

"That's the idea," said Principal Kurt Baze. "We walk a certain route, and parents get their kids to that route."

On Wednesday morning, they started at the school with a group of nine kids bundled in coats and hats. As they stood at the stop sign intersection of Ninth Avenue and Stallard Street to wait for stragglers, Baze called to a group of girls on the playground, and seven came running to join them.

Heather Mastin, the physical education teacher, took off with the girls toward the park on Third Avenue. The others started off down Stallard Street.

Tammy Moffat, a pre-kindergarten teacher, walked two weeks ago before spring break on the first day of the program, and she encouraged her students to join in this week. Moffat said the morning exercise got students going so they were ready to learn when they got to class.

"Instead of coming in all groggy, their blood is flowing and they're alert," she said.

For more information about the Safe Routes to School program, read Monday's print edition of the Stillwater NewsPress.

From Austyn..... to his Grandpa M

What do you mean! Oh o.k. Oh no I'm late to work

Today is a rock'in day. It means :today is a great day.

The one with the Mohawk is the leader of the band.

The one with the steering wheel is drummer of the band.

HAVE A ROCK'IN DAY

Love, Austyn

Ann and I had company overnight Sat/Sun ....

Andrew and Madison spent the night with us Sat night while their Mom and Dad went fishing at Miami, OK. It was a blast... Aunt Trisha helped us out and we were glad... We all had a ball, and Trisha and Madison got really good on the Wii Fitness Board.

Andrew found the freekidsgames.us and had a ball playing kids games online with the headset on Grandpa's big laptop...

and we had the short effects of a winter blizzard but it was all gone Sunday and Sunday night the low was in the 50's.... but the effects of the cold weather killed off all the tomatoe and pepper plants we had put out. We had only planted part of them, just in case.. haha... but the radishs, snow peas, spinach and lettuce.... are all coming on great.. will have to see in a few weeks what else it effected..

have a great day... beware, if you are a boss or own a business, Obama might fire you next..!

Andrew gaming....

Multimedia message

snowing

 

--
Thanks
Stan Moffat

Nothing burns longer besides hay... haha... but then there is wet wood... sigh...

after the storm

squirrel eating lunch just now

last snow of season?

From Austyn this am, through his dad to me.... i think.. hehe

 

IT'S SNOWING IN SPRING!?!?$

Multimedia message

Multimedia message

Notice: Virus Alert

Notice: Virus Alert

OSU Information Technology has received information that a dangerous virus is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, April 1 (April Fool's Day). The virus, named Conflicker C, will travel through peer-to-peer communications and local network traffic and will attempt to figure out your passwords. It also can be carried from one computer to another on a USB thumb drive or any other portable storage device.
 
It is recommended that you make sure your computer operating systems and anti-virus software are up to date and that caution is used with any e-mail and peer-to-peer communication (especially BitTorrent users), as well as the use of social networking Web sites.
 
For more information about the virus alert, please visit http://www.crn.com/security/216400017.

from Phil, hail in Cushing

Town & Gown

Hello Town & Gown friends! Just reminding you that the box office will open next week for The Bad Seed, which opens next Thursday night!

 

Make sure that you notice that the performance dates have changed for the second week of the show. The show will run Thursday thru Sunday, April 2-5, and the second week it will run Wednesday thru Saturday, April 8-11 (due to Easter Sunday).

 

For more information about the show, you can look online at http://www.townandgown.org/current.htm

 

Don't forget to get your tickets...and don't forget to bring a friend! :)

 

Sincerely,

 

Shane O'Mealey

President

Town and Gown Theatre

P.O. Box 934

Stillwater OK 74076

405-372-9122

www.townandgown.org

Light plane crashed on North side of 92nd about 1.25 miles west of 177 last night

not much has been released other than earlier, pilot was heading to Stillwater for fuel... didn't quite make it, plane took off from a private strip not far from where it went down, killing the 58 year old pilot George Waller, Jr. of Stillwater.

What planed looked like before it crashed...

shame our president was not in attendance to hear this.. cuddos to Dan Hannan for voicing what needs to be said everywhere!

Dan Hannan MEP for SE England in Speech yesterday... OBAMA needs to hear this as it is so true for us
March 24, 2009

Daniel Hannan, MEP for South East England, gives a speech during Gordon Brown´s visit to the European Parliament on 24th March, 2009. Read Daniel´s blog at www.hannan.co.uk

hummmmm and the circus goes on and on

March 23, 2009

Dodd's Wife a Former Director of Bermuda-Based IPC Holdings, an AIG Controlled Company

By Kevin Rennie

No wonder Senator Christopher Dodd (D-Conn) went wobbly last week when asked about his February amendment ratifying hundreds of millions of dollars in bonuses to executives at insurance giant AIG. Dodd has been one of the company's favorite recipients of campaign contributions. But it turns out that Senator Dodd's wife has also benefited from past connections to AIG as well.

From 2001-2004, Jackie Clegg Dodd served as an "outside" director of IPC Holdings, Ltd., a Bermuda-based company controlled by AIG.  IPC, which provides property casualty catastrophe insurance coverage, was formed in 1993 and currently has a market cap of $1.4 billion and trades on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol IPCR. In 2001, in addition to a public offering of 15 million shares of stock that raised $380 million, IPC raised more than $109 million through a simultaneous private placement sale of 5.6 million shares of stock to AIG - giving AIG a 20% stake in IPC. (AIG sold its 13.397 million shares in IPC in August, 2006.)

Clegg was compensated for her duties to the company, which was managed by a subsidiary of AIG. In 2003, according to a proxy statement, Clegg received $12,000 per year and an additional $1,000 for each Directors' and committee meeting she attended. Clegg served on the Audit and Investment committees during her final year on the board.

IPC paid millions each year to other AIG-related companies for administrative and other services. Clegg was a diligent director. In 2003, the proxy statement report, she attended more than 75% of board and committee meetings. This while she served as the managing partner of Clegg International Consultants, LLC, which she created in 2001, the year she joined the board of IPC. (See Dodd's public financial disclosure reports with the Senate from 2001-2004 here.)

Dodd is likely more familiar with the complicated workings of AIG than he was letting on last week. This week may provide him with another opportunity to refresh his recollections.

Kevin Rennie, a former Republican state senator, is a columnist for the Hartford Courant. He can be reached at kfrennie@yahoo.com.

I wonder.... is there a bigger cheat in congress.... oh yeah.. Barney Frank... sigh... almost forgot!

The Toxic Assets We Elected

The Toxic Assets We Elected

By George F. Will

Tuesday, March 24, 2009; A13 

With the braying of 328 yahoos -- members of the House of Representatives who voted for retroactive and punitive use of the tax code to confiscate the legal earnings of a small, unpopular group -- still reverberating, the Obama administration yesterday invited private-sector investors to become business partners with the capricious and increasingly anti-constitutional government. This latest plan to unfreeze the financial system came almost half a year after Congress shoveled $700 billion into the Troubled Assets Relief Program, $325 billion of which has been spent without purchasing any toxic assets.

TARP funds have, however, semi-purchased, among many other things, two automobile companies (and, last week, some of their parts suppliers), which must amaze Sweden. That unlikely tutor of America regarding capitalist common sense has said, through a Cabinet minister, that the ailing Saab automobile company is on its own: "The Swedish state is not prepared to own car factories."

Another embarrassing auditor of American misgovernment is China, whose premier has rightly noted the unsustainable trajectory of America's high-consumption, low-savings economy. He has also decorously but clearly expressed sensible fears that his country's $1 trillion-plus of dollar-denominated assets might be devalued by America choosing, as banana republics have done, to use inflation for partial repudiation of improvidently incurred debts.

From Mexico, America is receiving needed instruction about fundamental rights and the rule of law. A leading Democrat trying to abolish the right of workers to secret ballots in unionization elections is California's Rep. George Miller who, with 15 other Democrats, in 2001 admonished Mexico: "The secret ballot is absolutely necessary in order to ensure that workers are not intimidated into voting for a union they might not otherwise choose." Last year, Mexico's highest court unanimously affirmed for Mexicans the right that Democrats want to strip from Americans.

Congress, with the approval of a president who has waxed censorious about his predecessor's imperious unilateralism in dealing with other nations, has shredded the North American Free Trade Agreement. Congress used the omnibus spending bill to abolish a program that was created as part of a protracted U.S. stall regarding compliance with its obligation to allow Mexican long-haul trucks on U.S. roads. The program, testing the safety of Mexican trucking, became an embarrassment because it found Mexican trucking at least as safe as U.S. trucking. Mexico has resorted to protectionism -- tariffs on many U.S. goods -- in retaliation for Democrats' protection of the Teamsters union.

NAFTA, like all treaties, is the "supreme law of the land." So says the Constitution. It is, however, a cobweb constraint on a Congress that, ignoring the document's unambiguous stipulations that the House shall be composed of members chosen "by the people of the several states," is voting to pretend that the District of Columbia is a state. Hence it supposedly can have a Democratic member of the House and, down the descending road, two Democratic senators. Congress rationalizes this anti-constitutional willfulness by citing the Constitution's language that each house shall be the judge of the "qualifications" of its members and that Congress can "exercise exclusive legislation" over the District. What, then, prevents Congress from giving House and Senate seats to Yellowstone National Park, over which Congress exercises exclusive legislation? Only Congress's capacity for embarrassment. So, not much.

The Federal Reserve, by long practice rather than law, has been insulated from politics in performing its fundamental function of preserving the currency as a store of value -- preventing inflation. Now, however, by undertaking hitherto uncontemplated functions, it has become an appendage of the executive branch. The coming costs, in political manipulation of the money supply, of this forfeiture of independence could be steep.

Jefferson warned that "great innovations should not be forced on slender majorities." But Democrats, who trace their party's pedigree to Jefferson, are contemplating using "reconciliation" -- a legislative maneuver abused by both parties to severely truncate debate and limit the minority's right to resist -- to impose vast and controversial changes on the 17 percent of the economy that is health care. When the Congressional Budget Office announced that the president's budget underestimates by $2.3 trillion the likely deficits over the next decade, his budget director, Peter Orszag, said: All long-range budget forecasts are notoriously unreliable -- so rely on ours.

This is but a partial list of recent lawlessness, situational constitutionalism and institutional derangement. Such political malfeasance is pertinent to the financial meltdown as the administration, desperately seeking confidence, tries to stabilize the economy by vastly enlarging government's role in it.

georgewill@washpost.com

close .... but no cigar!!!!

KFOR Copter Standing guard for Stillwater in the distance...

Stillwater downtown in middle of photo about 5 miles...

The weather this evening is playing around with us promising rain... haha.. yeah right...

The Big Takeover... by Matt Taibbi, Rolling Stone

The Big Takeover... by Matt Taibbi, Rolling Stone

why we are where we are the unspoken truths regarding it....

everyone should read this....

and then think about how folks that are supposed to be leading are in fact.... not leading!!! and why!

Grandma Moffat and Grandson Dylan playing last Saturday....

Uncle Mike and Isabella