Sunday, October 31, 2010

Halloween Parties

Since today is Halloween, I thought I'd write something scary.  The last time I posted a Halloween themed picture, I was severely chastized for inappropriate behaviour.

There has been some discussion in bloggerville about the need for more than two political parties in America.  I agree.  I think two more parties would help considerably to separate the sheep from the goats (or something).  Two new parties, one on the extreme right and one one the extreme left. 

We'll start with the extreme right as it is closer to reality than you think.  Lets call it the National Socialist Party.  The NSP vision for America is to turn the clock back a couple hundred years to the days when men were men and women were glad of it.  They want the Constitution enforced as it was written by the Founding Fathers.  Which is to say, only males of white northern European extraction with property can vote.  Women are not considered persons.  What law there is is carried on one's hip.  Anyone who is not white northern European is either a slave or to be killed or run off.

Their economic platform is borrowed word for word from the American Bankers' Association.  Regulations will be eliminated so that huge corporations can rape and pillage both the environment  and the populace at will.  There will be two classes of people; the super rich and the serfs.  This is known as FREE Enterprise.

NSP's social platform is based on THEIR literal interpretation of King James' Little Black Book and is similar to that of the Taliban in Afghanistan.  All the forces of a totalitarian police state will be used to enforce a strict moral code and create a "Godly" society.

Then we go to the extreme left.  This is the Socialist National Party.  The SNP is a bit of a problem to define as it is made up of dozens of single issue groups dedicated to stamping out various and sundry activities that they deem bad for environment.  Or animals.  Or trees. It is hard to say what its vision of America is but it will be GREEN with few if any people and lots and lots of horses which are not allowed to be killed or eaten.   

Their economic policy is simple.  Destroy the economy to save the environment.  ALL coal, oil, gas consumption must be stopped immediately as the sky is falling uh, sorry, the earth is warming  and WE caused it with all our CO2 production in the last 60 years.  Only the evil rich are opposed to this as they became rich exploiting carbon based energy.  The fact that all the rest of us depend on carbon based energy, for which there is no real substitute, for our jobs, such as they still are and for our lifestyle, such as it still is, is irrelevant.  They are even more oblivious to science and reason than the extreme right, if it were possible.

They have no social program.  People's welfare are not the concern of this party.  People are maggots, to quote Dr.  Suzuki, leader of the Canadian affiliate. There are too many of them and they should all leave (except members of the SNP, of course).  This party will be as totalitarian as the right only their Gestapo will look for anyone burning anything to keep warm or keeping an animal even as a pet.  We will all live in caves as cutting trees to make houses will be forbidden.  However the usual animal skins as seen on Clan of the Cave Bear will be forgone in deference to the animals, our equals, and we will wear leaves (or grow more hair, or something).

With either group in power, democracy, even such as it is, will cease to exist as any populace stupid enough to elect them obviously cannot be trusted to govern themselves.

Happy Halloween.

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Sunday is Election Day in Ukraine

Tomorrow Ukraine will vote in Oblast, Raion, City, Town and Village elections.  Since I can't vote, nor understand the campaigning, I have ignored it pretty much; just enjoyed the billboards, promoting this one or that one.  The Governor (and therefore the Executive) of the Oblast is appointed by the president anyhow so how much good the local councils do, I am not sure.

THE power position as I may have mentioned before is the Chief Prosecutor for the Oblast (equivalent to province). He decides who is investigated for what crimes by the criminal police or the tax police.  Any business person of any note MUST have this man as a "Roof" in teh local vernacular.

Some time back, I blogged about the adventures of one of Tanya's "friends", Nadia, who, in the chaos of privatization in the 90's, ended up with the local grain terminal in P'yatikhatki.  She apparently skimmed $20,000,000 of farmer's money and about a year ago, lit a shuck for Greece with her face on a wanted poster.  The charges have since been dropped (see paragraph above), the elevator turned over to her family and the lady returned to Ukraine.

She is running on behalf of the Party of the Regions (President Yanukovych's party) for a Deputy's post in the Dnipropetrovs'k Oblast Rada.  In that party, she will be in good company.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Fall Flowers

The last rose of summer
Blooming Idiots

Another week of warm weather and this one will be covered in blossoms

The Constant Gardener

These survived the dogs' diggings

Ronald looks on while Tanya works

Still a few bravely blooming

Windfall apples

Lots more where they came from

Monday, October 25, 2010

Two more dog stories

When Tanya and I were at the train station to go to Kyiv on our way to Turkey we noticed a dog lying on the walk, just resting.  We stopped top talk to her, a two to five year old Beagle-German Shepherd cross of some kind with a beautiful intelligent head.  She was quite friendly. What we didn't notice until we walked on and she followed us, walking on her two front legs only, was that she had lost both back legs about half way up.  Perils of living in a rail yard, I guess. 

Anyhow, she was pretty mobile on two legs, with massive chest and shoulder development.  Tanya immediately worried about who would look after her in winter, but she was obviously well fed and must have had a warm place to sleep.  Not a great life but a life;  making the best of it.
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About three Februaries ago, I was sitting in the car at the insurance office, waiting for some documents.  Nearby, an old babushka was cutting the small flexible branches from a weeping birch, maybe to weave something, I don't know.  Five or six dogs were playing nearby and one came over to see what she was doing.  She yelled at it and swiped at it with her twigs.  The dog ran off.

A few minutes later it was back with another dog.  the two of them stopped a safe distance from the old lady and proceeded to bark a strip off her hide.  They barked and barked and barked at her.  When they were satisfied that they had told her off sufficiently, they then went about their business.  What sort of names do dogs call people?  "You spawn of a cat"?  "You Mail Delivery Person"?

The Old Bag with the New Bag

And you expected a picture of what?

Not leather, by the way.

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Kids, Cats and Horticultural Hounds

There have been a few families here with preschoolers.  They are always fun to watch. In one family, the boy, about 5 thinks he is so cool and his sister about 3 agrees totally. He swims pretty good and the girl tags after her mom using water wings to help.  No fear.  She found an friend - another three year old and the two of them had a most wonderful time running, shrieking and splashing around. I love the sound of children laughing.

There were a couple of boys maybe 18 months old. Sun hats and sandals mandatory, swimsuits optional.  Neither had any fear of the water, cold as it was, until you got used to it.  One of the boys loved to wander down the beach with his mom and collect rocks.  Last week there was a maybe 9 month old in an inflatable version of the Walker (remember them when they had wheels and your kids rode them down the basement steps?).  This version was like a life buoy with a seat that allowed the kid's legs to stick out underneath.  This little guy loved the water and would paddle like crazy to reach his mom or his babushka.
***************
The hotel seems to support a number of beggar cats.  I counted at least 10 different cats and kittens that show up at meal time and beg food from the guests. They are very friendly and playful and very accomplished at winning hearts and free food.  Not sure how they will fare this winter when the place shuts down.  Maybe they just move down the street to the big hotels that stay open and cater to Germans who come for the winter.

The dog that hangs around the beach can live off its fat for a few months at least.  And the big orange tom I think mooches from the fishing boats as I never saw him at the hotel.  He was up a tree one day stretched out in the sun sleeping peacefully until he was seen by the guests who all stopped to pat him. Two meters up is not enough to avoid being annoyed.
*************
A week or so before we left, Tanya bought four perennials at the market, took them home and transplanted them.  The dogs promptly dug them up.  Tanya had a bucket 2/3 full of manure which she then  filled with water and left for a few days.  She mixed the manure in the soil around the plants and watered them with water from the pail.  The dogs must have figured anything that smelled that good on top must have buried treasure underneath.  Maybe even a dead goat? Hence the digging.

Tanya tore a verbal strip off their hides.  Half an hour later she found all her shoes and slippers from around the front door in the middle of the street.  I expect it was Volk, He never touched mine, just hers. And you think dogs can't give you the finger?

Friday, October 22, 2010

Red Shoes

Written Thursday:

Tanya’s cold was much better today.  The sun was shining and the sky clear so we went to the beach.  Tanya didn’t go swimming which nearly killed her but she soaked up the sun for a couple hours before noon.  I went swimming then tried to get a bit of colour.  I didn’t want to sunburn my tummy – imagine a giraffe with a sore throat and you get the picture.

After lunch we went shopping.  With Valya and Elena gone home, I had to go along.  Bleah.  Tanya was closing deals she had been working on all week.  She bought a leather “Prada” handbag for $25, that she had been eyeing, then went looking for (more) shoes.  The sandals that were $8 yesterday were $10 today so she kept on going.  Found another store with these red shoes that she fell in love with.  She tried on every pair of shoes in the store but always went back to the red.  Did I mention I hate shopping?

She decided $35 was too much.  $25.  No way.  We left and got about four stores away when the salesman called out $30.  Done.


Written Friday:

Another beautiful day.  We spent an hour swimming this morning and an hour in the sun. Tanya is still coughing but couldn't stay out of the sea.  It was like glass this morning and the water is so clear you can see bottom at almost any depth.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

A 6-S-ful Holiday


We have had a good holiday so far, in spite of some rain and a bad cold.  We had more than a week of sun, sand and sea, enjoyed swimming, sleeping and SHOPPING.  Turkey is a shopper’s paradise, especially in the tourist areas, starting with the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul where you go for gold and silver jewelry and for carpets.  The resort area of the Mediterranean coast on both sides of Antalya is wall to wall resorts close to the ocean and wall to wall shops “across the street” like a giant strip mall that runs for miles and miles. 

In our area, the vast majority of tourists are Russian or Ukrainian and every shopkeeper speaks Russian, though I did find a couple who also spoke English.  The stores feature the products for which Turkey has a reputation and a commercial advantage.  Leather and furs; textiles such as towels and related, clothing such as jeans and related; grocery stores selling fresh fruit, tea, coffee and Turkish Delight; souvenir shops with everything from water pipes to hand carved chess sets and restaurants selling real Turkish food for when the resort buffet starts to look the same day after day.

Valya and Elena, from Mariupol, had come on the same flight as we did and also stayed at our resort, so we had someone else besides ourselves to talk to for the first week.  Tanya and the two “girls” hit it off immediately.  Tanya spent the week with them, shopping up and down the street, about 1 km in each direction.  And I didn’t have to go.  Best part.  They harassed, cajoled, terrorized, flirted and negotiated with the Turkish men in all the shops along the way (Turkish women are rare in retail) driving the hardest bargains they could.  Because it is end of season, bargains can be had.

They found Turkish bath and massage at half the price of our hotel.  They found Ali who will pay us $50 per liter bottle of good Ukrainian vodka next time we come (we can bring four bottles between the two of us).  They found a tour to Pamukkale at $18 under the price quoted by reputable tour companies. 

Tanya found a lovely leather coat that started at $2000 but quickly came down to $600.  By dint of tough bargaining Tanya got it down to $450, after several trips to several stores, playing one against the other.  I went with her when she drove the final bargain and paid for the coat.  The store did alterations on the spot; including an extra button hole for which no matching button could then be found.  Another $10 had to come off the price and there was no backing down on Tanya’s part.

I said to the guy, who also spoke excellent English that eventually Tanya would give him money and go away but I was with her forever.  He laughed at that.  

Tanya, Elena and Valya: Shopaholics Unanimous

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Tsarist Russia 1812. Republican America 2012?

"Moscow in 1812 was a sprawling city of about 250,000 inhabitants in fall. Throughout the winter months, when the nobles and their serfs returned from their country estates the population would increase by about 100,000. Rising out of a sea of single story wooden houses, many of them little more than huts, were the great stone palaces of the aristocracy. . . The palaces situated in large gardens were not nearly so numerous as the 6 cathedrals and 1500 churches that tended to the souls of the Muscovites. As elsewhere in Russia a citizen. . . either had everything or nothing. Everyone was either connected to the great families or served them. The small middle class consisted mainly of merchants and those who provided skilled services for the nobles or for the government. Many of these people were foreigners.

"To describe the Russian aristocrats are “conspicuous consumers” would be something of an understatement. . . This was underlined by the summer exodus of the nobility; when the nobles took their service entourages along, the population of the city was reduced by 28%. Yet even this statistic does not iclude everyone connected with the palaces, because staff remained behind to look after these empty “townhouses”.

"In addition to maintaining residences in St Petersburg (and Moscow). . . the great families duplicated their lavish domiciles in their summer residences outside Moscow and often on their vast agricultural domains. There, amid thousands of serfs, they lived in a grand style. To put it plainly, this very thin elite layer atop the Russian social strata was all the counted. The rest of the population were considered of little consequence. . .

"When word of what had happened at Borodino got around, the nobles at once put their serfs to work stripping their Moscow residences of all valuables. . . About 10,000 soldiers, wounded in battle needed to be moved but there were no wagons or draft teams left because everything that had wheels had been used to transport the property of the wealthy."
****

"Invoking the name of God, the aroused peasants committed unspeakable cruelties and almost every kind of torture imaginable to prolong the agony of their victims. In this they were morally abetted by the fact that the average Russian believed that all west Europeans were unbaptized heathens who had been led into holy Russia by the anti-Christ. This was the way the situation had been presented to the uneducated population; from St. Petersburg, Moscow and the Russian army headquarters, manifestos attesting to these “facts” were circulated in every market square."

From: 1812: Napoleon’s Russian Campaign by Richard K Riehn. McGraw Hill 1990.

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Carpet Weaving

Our tour to Pamukkale took us through Denizli where we stopped at a carpet factory and warehouse, established as a tourist attraction.  We saw how silkworm cocoons were turned into silk thread and then dyed and finally woven into very expensive hand made carpets.  Each knot is tied by hand.  The women working there make $400 per month which is likely top rate as it is a tourist spot.  You can hardly see their hands move when they are working.  The patterns are very complex and while they have a paper pattern to work from, they seem hardly to look at it.

Carpets are silk, cotton or wool or combinations.  We didn't even ask how much.

Working on a large woolen carpet
Inside the loom


Working on a small silk wall hanging.
Detail of the wall hanging

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Spas-ed out

Hard enough to dull an axe

Cleopatra's fish farm uh, Pool

Modern Pamukkale Spa Town

New Luxury Spa going up
Those who read my Truskavets series from a couple of years ago (starting here) will know I am not entirely sold on miraculous cures from "taking the waters".  The water at Pamukkale is touted as curing everything external or internal.  Judging from the mineral content it should certainly cure constipation.  The Romans knew a good thing when they saw it ie people who think spas are useful must have money and should be parted from it as soon as possible.  Modern Turkey is onto it as well.  Going into the hot pool in Hieropolis is $18.  It reminded me of a fish farm.  The Romans built on top of the hill as it was the source of hot water and easier to defend.  The Turkish spa town of Pamukkale is at the bottom of the hill to escape UNESCO.

Hieropolis - Roman Spa Town

Hieropolis started out a couple of thousand years ago as a Roman spa town complete with temples to Apollo but by the time a final earthquake finished it several centuries later,  Christianity had crept in.  We found a cross on a stone from the ruins of a church.  Again, the website has all the facts so I'll just throw in a few photos.  The whole area is covered with ruins.  As a UNESCO World Heritage site it has money for restorations and archaeological digs so things are happening.  There is enough rock there to rebuild the whole city if they wanted .

Part of the water utility

The main theatre (there were two)

Click to open panorama of part of the city
Ruin among ruins

Pamukkale

Travertines of Calcium carbonate
Pamukkale hot springs are located about 300 km north of Antalya.  Tanya and I took a day trip excursion yesterday.  5:30 am to 9:30 pm.  More on another blog about excursions. The website linked to is awesome and provides all the in depth information you need, but here are a few of my pictures.

Map of the ruins of Hieropolis and of Pamukkale
We walked out onto the travertines to wade in the pools

Click on the picture for a panoramic view
A quiet place to sleep

Monday, October 11, 2010

Kemer Holiday

We are staying at the Beldiana Hotel in Kemer, south west of Antalya.  The hotel is quite nice, no four star though that is how it is billed, but clean, spacious bedrooms and our own air conditioning unit which we don't need.  The meals are plain but good food and for what we paid it is wonderful ($1100 for the two of us airfare incl.)  There are blocks of shopping just across the road, the beach is coarse sand and the water is perfect. I even went in the water today for an hour.  It is warmer and saltier than the Black Sea and easier to float.

Wednesday we are going on an excursion to Pamukale which I visited several years ago.  Last time we were in Turkey on holidays, two years ago, we went to Myra and visited the church of Saint Nicholas.

The narrow strip between the mountains and sea is crowded with hotels and shops

Tanya wanted to go to work immediately trimming up the flower beds

Trees covered with flowers fill the yard

Banana or plantain.  Anyone know the difference?

Beach area for our hotel.  Beach on the right belongs to a hotel which is closed for the season

Antalya is the thin white line on the sea edge far away
More later

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Pew Survey of Questions on Religion

Some weeks ago, the big news was that in a 32 question survey about religion, atheists beat out everyone else.  Not to be proud of.  Average score was 16 and atheists scored 21.  So this morning while Tanya is in town shopping, I decided to find the survey. 

No big deal.  It is all general questions and pass or fail has not much to do with you as a believer (or not) but more on your education and general knowledge.  Though if you don't know the difference between Moses and Abraham. . .

Here are survey questions from The Christian Science Monitor Pew Survey of Questions on Religion  For some reason it starts at question 32 and works backwards to question 1 which also has the answers.

I got two wrong.  Good luck.  Let me know how you do on the comment section.  Snowbrush, I know you got 100% and would have expected nothing less from you. Number ONE Son, I expect the same from you (no pressure).

Thursday, October 7, 2010

War and Peace

War and Peace has been on my "to read" list since I saw the 1956 movie starring Henry Fonda and Audrey Hepburn when in highschool.  It was one of those "I'll read it before I die but since I don't plan to die immediately, it can wait".  I'm still not planning to die immediately but having reached the age where one realizes one is not immortal, I have started on the "before I die" list.  I still need to live to be 107 to get through the entire list.

War and Peace (Wordsworth Classics, Maude translation approved by Tolstoy) is no light tome.  The 960 pages of dense prose in small typeface made it hard on my old eyes, I can tell you. It is really three books in one: historic novel, history and commentary essays.

The historic novel, with over 500 characters from tsars, emperors and nobles to serfs, servants and soldiers,  charts the Rostov, Bolkonsky and Bezukhov families from 1805 through 1820, in particular the romance of Natasha Rostovna and Pierre Bezukhov.  One gets an amazing feel for life among the Russian Gentry during the tumultuous years of the Napoleonic wars.

The history is of the wars between Napoleon and Alexander, beginning with the Russian defeat at Austerlitz in 1805 and ending with Napoleon's invasion of Russia in 1812.  The Battle of Borodino, the looting and burning of Moscow and the annihilation of the French forces as they retreat into the Russian winter are described in some detail. Tolstoy, is not a historian per se but never the less very well researched on the subject, uses the context of his novel to bring out information that other historians had overlooked or glossed over.

The commentary essays are Tolstoy's thoughts primarily on history and the forces which motivate and move men and nations. Tolstoy believed that no event was the result of one man's or a few men's actions but rather the result of the accumulated interrelated actions of all people to that point.  Events are captive to history and none of the participants could have done anything different than what they did.

It is an incredible book and has renewed my interest in the Napoleonic wars.  My current reading is Richard K Riehn's 1812: Napoleon's Russian Campaign.


Monday, October 4, 2010

Volk is the next dog going on Ebay

Volk was being his obstreperous self last night and refused to come home when called.  So I left him.  He treed a cat in the walnut trees across from our bedroom window and barked.  I went out to get him; he ran off. By the time I was back in bed he was back barking at the cat.  After several repeats, I gave up.  Thirty minutes of barking at the cat later, so did Volk. 

At 1:00 am, I went outside and he was huddled on the front porch in the corner behind the door, where he usually waits when he has been bad.  I picked him up, patted him (he is so dejected and woe-ed when he is bad) and carried him to the dog run.  I saw a shoe on the road.  Not a good sign.

We have a basket outside the front door to keep our yard shoes and spare slippers in, along with other tidy-up stuff that accumulates around doors.  After barking at the cat and before hiding behind the door, he hauled my runners, Tanyas runners and a pair of slippers out onto the street.  I found my runners, one of Tanya's and one slipper along the block.  Tanya's other runner showed up this morning in the grass and the slipper is still missing. 

May-B has the right idea.

Unholy Trinity: Katrina, Albaugh and Brown

Suzan of Welcome to Pottersville 2 posts links to and quotes from a great many other news sources and political blogs. 

Bush era foreign policy and contempt for the constitution is continued under Obama. Obama Argues His Assassination Program Is A "State Secret".

 Goldman Sachs is considering a PR campaign to improve their image after helping create and then profiting from the greatest depression since the 1930's (and it ain't over yet) Here are the Top 10 suggested ad slogans.

Here is another worth reading.  the FBI have begun raiding anti-war protesters.  Peaceniks.  To prevent "violent extremism".  It Is Official: The US Is A Police State I read an old news article somewhere I can't find now that in 2005, using the Patriot Act, a university student was interrogated by American secret police of one stripe or another because he ordered by interlibrary loan a copy of Mao's Little Red Book.


The clincher is this article on how political connections worked in the Bush era to put incompetent Brown in FEMA in time for Hurricane Katrina.  Cleaning up disasters pays better than preventing them as this in-depth investigative journalism shows.
(The real tragedy of Katrina of course being that it exposed, for all the world to see, how well the "American Dream" works for ALL its citizens).


Makes Ukraine and Russia seem almost transparent, law-abiding and scrupulously honest.  Of course, we are all amateurs over here.

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Michael Moore has Blog

Michael Moore has a blog, I just learned from my friend Rob-Bear.  This is his most recent posting:

Memo To: President Obama and the Democratic Party Leadership
From: Michael Moore
Subject: 5 Things Dems Can Do to Turn It Around by November 2nd
1. Immediate Wall-to-Wall TV Ads, Internet Videos, and Appearances Hammering Who the Hell Put Us in the Misery We're In.
We Americans have very short attention spans (Quick: Who Won the Oscar for Best Picture last year? The World Series? Exactly.). People need to be reminded over and over that it was the REPUBLICANS who concocted and led the unnecessary invasion of two countries, putting us in our longest war ever, wars that will eventually cost us over $3 trillion. Bush and Co. also caused the biggest collapse of our economy since the Great Depression. I don't know a single person in Hollywood who wouldn't shoot and produce those spots for you for FREE. Dems: Do not pull a single punch on this. Quit being a bunch of wusses and let the bastards have it! The public will be astonished that you've found your courage and your spine. We expect you to be Muhammad Ali, not Ally McBeal.
2. Indict the Criminals.
Announce that the Justice Department will seek indictments against both those who caused the economic collapse and those who became war profiteers. Call it for what it is: organized crime. Use the RICO statutes. Use the basic laws that make fraud of any kind a crime. Get in the face of those who stole the billions, make them pay for it -- and the people will love you. We want Dirty Harry, not Dirty Dancing.
3. Announce a Moratorium on All Family Home Foreclosures.
Last month (August) there were more home foreclosures than in any month in U.S. history. Worse than any month in the worst year ever, 2009. The bleeding hasn't stopped -- it's only gotten worse. And now, this week, two of the largest crime organizations who are throwing hundreds of thousands of people out of their homes (GMAC and JPMorgan Chase) have been forced to momentarily stop doing this. It turns out, they don't really have the paperwork to prove they actually own these houses! It's madness. So if you do one thing for the middle class this week, do this. It will take an hour of your time to draw up the decree and issue it. We'd rather watch "It's a Wonderful Life" than "Poltergeist."
4. Announce a New 21st Century WPA.
"Who's hiring? THE GOVERNMENT IS HIRING!" Put together a simple plan to hire enough people to repair our roads, fix up our aging schools, and rebuild our infrastructure. Fund this by taxing the richest 1% who have more financial wealth than 95% of Americans combined! Unemployment will drop to 5%. Can you pass it? Well, you sure can't unless you try! And as you're trying, announce that you will force the Republican senators (who until now simply have had to say they "intended" to filibuster in order to kill a bill) to have to actually filibuster! Make them stand on the floor of the Senate and read from the phone book 24/7. They won't last a day. And America will see them for who they really are.
5. Declare That No Democrat Will Accept ANY Wall Street Money in the Next Election Cycle.
Pick a day in the coming week. Have all your fellow Democrats in Congress stand in front of the Capitol (with President Obama) and pledge that if America allows you to retain control of Congress, none of you will take a penny from Wall Street for the 2012 election. Instead, promise to accept donations of only $2, $5 and $10. You will also pledge not to take a job as a lobbyist or lawyer for ANY corporation for ten years after you leave Congress. The message will be a powerful one to the average American fed up with corrupt political hacks. Act like Honest Abe, not Fast Freddie -- and see what happens.
And here are two bonus suggestions: Use what sense of humor you have and go after these candidates and their agenda with all the hilarious ridicule they deserve. And quit complaining about "the base" not doing enough to help you. You want help? Do something this week to earn it. I've offered five suggestions. I'm sure the rest of "the base" has a few more.
Yours,
Michael Moore

Blog Readership

I love numbers, charts, figures and statistics.  Especially about cows and stuff like that but about almost anything.  On my blog is a map showing where people are located who have hit my blog on a given day accumulated over a month and if you click on it, it gives the stats by country.

This past month, the blog was viewed 1100 times, which is a record for me.  I guess I can thank May-B for linking me to Facebook via Twitter.

Canada supplied 653 views, USA 261.  Other countries are listed below.  Disregard Ukraine as most of it is me.  (Yes, it counts when I go to my blog to comment or check to see how it looks after I post).



I expect the low level hits , 1-4's are casual wanderings, but would love to know who reads my blog in Europe and why.