I am American

Town Hall Meeting with Tn. Representative Marsha Blackburn

WHAT: Health Care Town Hall Meeting
WHO: Congressman Marsha Blackburn and Health Care Expert Dennis Smith
WHERE: Embassy Suites Franklin, 820 Crescent Center Drive
WHEN: Friday, August 14th 10:00 – 11:00 AM

A Time for Choosing - Ronald Reagan

Such great words from a great man.

Dept. of Ag Food Safety recall duck leg and sausage

According to Nation's Restaurant News, "A number of food products used by restaurateurs and institutional feeders have recently been recalled, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety & Inspection Service. Affected products include ground beef, duck confit and kolbase sausage.

~~~

"Schaller Mfg. Corp. (Schaller & Weber), based in Long Island City, N.Y., is recalling approximately 564 pounds of duck leg confit and kolbase sausage products that may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, the FSIS said June 3. The duck and sausage products were produced on May 13, 2009. The duck products were sent to distributors and restaurants in Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. The sausage products were sent to distributors and restaurants in New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia as well as the company's retail store in New York City. The problem was discovered through the firm's microbiological sampling program. The FSIS said has received no reports of illnesses associated with consumption of this product."

Memorial Day 2009

I made this in honor of the people who have served their country at all levels. Thank you for your service and your sacrifices. May God continue to bless America and may the people of America never forget how we are able to be free. Freedom isn't free because someone paid the price for us to be free.

Take the time today to thank them and say a prayer for the ones who are still doing it.

~~~~~~~

Here is a video that I found that was made to honor those who serve as well.

Johnny Cash - "Ridin the Rails"

Thomas Payne - We the People

Book to inspire you to get out and see our country

AMERICAN RUINS, a Merrell publication, is the first photography book to document historic ruins throughout the United States. It presents a stunning visual record of ruins ranging from ancient Native American dwellings in the Southwest to the remains of Gilded Age mansions on the East Coast and a king’s summer home in Hawaii.

Luminous infrared photographs expose crumbled walls, weathered facades, and overgrown flora, and are accompanied by brief essays detailing the historical, geographical and architectural significance of each site. This landmark publication raises awareness of and appreciation for overlooked ruins that remain unknown even to most Americans. It captures the visual poetry of each place and offers a new way of seeing the landscape, the past, and the collective identity of America.

Visit the website and order the book at American Ruins book.

A tribute to honor our veterans today

In honor of the men and women who served and protected our great nation. I can never say enough thank you's.
~Corey

American anthem by Norah Jones

I love this patriotic message

Okay call me corny or whatever but as I sit here this morning building 55 trophies for the upcoming 4th of July parade in our town a strong sense of pride comes from within. The column have the American Flag on it and are extremely patriotic so it has inspired me to ramble on a little bit.

Sure America is down pretty good right now, but as Americans this country will come back as we have many times in the past. I might not be able to bring it back but if alot of us, me, you and many others lift our heads up, pump our chests out, unite and take full pride in the quality of work we provide and do what we can to help stimulate the economy every little bit will help.

I was becoming very negative and going to retire, get out of the business and could care less who bought it but I am now energized and going to do my part 120% and more to bring America back up into its rightful place in this world. We have helped everyone in this world at one time or another and now our America is licking her wounds and we will help mend those wounds to make her the proud, beautiful country in the world envied by all!

This is my country, my ancestors fought long and hard working their fingers to the bones and spilling their blood to make her the great country she STILL is! We are a country of immigrants, Irish, Polish, Jewish, African, Mexican, and on and on from every country in the world, but we must join together as Americans and on 4th of July and every day there after be proud of who we are and make it known that being American and built in America still has the mighty meaning it always did.

Be proud to say as I am, God Bless America and God Bless each and everyone of my fellow Americans!

My closing comment, those that are kicking us in the face when we are down, beware, the Eagle will fly high and mighty very soon and we don't get mad, we get even.

Bob McGinnis
RWM Embroidery & More
Smyrna, DE USA

National food holidays in April

Some of the holidays that people come up with are sometimes weird and funny but I have no problem with celebrating good food. I will do my share to honor these coming days and thus I will be happy to consume large amounts of garlic on the 19th. So beware vampires, you don't want to mess with me that day. In regards to the eggs benedict day, I think maybe I should visit Le Peep in Belle Meade to celebrate the deliciousness.

Not sure if I will celebrate the pigs-in-a-blanket or the cheeseball but who knows. I've been called a cheeseball as well as a piggie before I guess it might be right to endorse those two holidays as well.

Enjoy these days, celebrate and eat and be merry!!!

National Egg Salad Week--April 12-18
National Pecan Day--April 14
National Eggs Benedict Day--April 16
National Cheeseball Day--April 17
Garlic Day--April 19
National Jelly Bean Day--April 22
National Pigs-in-a-blanket Day--April 24
National Zucchini Bread Day--April 25
National Pretzel Day--April 26
National Shrimp Scampi Day--April 29

Marriott ebreaks, February 14-17

Alabama - Florence
$103
New Jersey - Newark
$55-$135
Alabama - Huntsville
$66-$79
New Jersey - Trenton-Princeton
$71-$111
Alaska - Anchorage
$71-$72
New York - Rochester
$119-$175
Arizona - Tucson
$95-$279
New York - White Plains
$111-$127
Arkansas - Little Rock
$56-$87
North Carolina - Greensboro
$71-$143
California - Oxnard
$95
North Carolina - Raleigh Durham
$59-$119
California - Sacramento
$67-$111
Ohio - Cincinnati
$55-$96
Colorado - Boulder
$63-$87
Ohio - Cleveland
$63-$127
Colorado - Colorado Springs
$71-$79
Ohio - Toledo
$71-$79
Colorado - Denver
$47-$159
Ohio - Youngstown
$71-$79
Connecticut - New Haven
$63-$91
Oklahoma - Lawton
$71-$83
District Of Columbia - Washington Metro
$55-$151
Oklahoma - Oklahoma City
$95-$103
Idaho - Boise
$63-$119
Pennsylvania - Harrisburg
$79-$103
Illinois - Chicago
$55-$143
South Carolina - Columbia
$63-$95
Illinois - Multiple Cities
$66-$73
South Carolina - Greenville-Spartanburg
$56-$119
Kentucky - Multiple Cities
$63-$71
Tennessee - Knoxville
$63-$95
Maine - Portland
$71-$87
Tennessee - Memphis
$63-$80
Maryland - Salisbury
$67-$71
Virginia - Richmond
$71-$119
Massachusetts - Boston
$55-$135
Virginia - Williamsburg-Newport News
$71-$111
Massachusetts - Multiple Cities
$63-$111
Wisconsin - Milwaukee
$55-$79
Michigan - Detroit
$63-$119
Missouri - Kansas City
$63-$111
Missouri - St Louis
$55-$123
~~~Outside the U.S.

Canada - Halifax
$87-$95 CAD

Marriott eBreaks for this week; Thursday January 31 through Sunday February 3

Alabama - Birmingham
$75
Missouri - Kansas City
$63-$87
California - Los Angeles
$83-$183
New Jersey - Atlantic City
$79
California - Palm Springs
$159-$279
New Jersey - Newark
$55-$151
California - San Diego
$111-$228
New Mexico - Albuquerque
$55-$96
Colorado - Grand Junction
$111-$119
New York - Buffalo
$79
Connecticut - New Haven
$63-$103
New York - Long Island
$87-$91
Delaware - Wilmington
$95-$119
North Carolina - Charlotte
$63-$127
Florida - Boca Raton-West Palm Beach
$135-$247
North Carolina - Wilmington
$83-$103
Florida - Gainesville-Ocala
$87-$95
Ohio - Dayton
$59-$95
Florida - Miami
$103-$319
South Carolina - Charleston
$88-$135
Florida - Naples-Fort Myers
$79-$247
South Carolina - Myrtle Beach
$56-$101
Florida - Orlando
$79-$223
South Dakota - Sioux Falls
$80-$88
Florida - Tampa
$79-$199
Texas - Austin
$63-$183
Georgia - Savannah
$83-$119
Texas - Houston
$63-$119
Idaho - Idaho Falls
$87
Texas - Multiple Cities
$64-$183
Iowa - Des Moines
$71-$95
Utah - Salt Lake City
$71-$103
Kansas - Multiple Cities
$58-$72
Kansas - Wichita
$67-$95
Louisiana - Baton Rouge
$71-$111

~~~~~

Outside the U.S.
Canada - Vancouver
$111-$151 CAD

Thank You to our Veterans

World War II Memorial


Korean War Veterans Memorial


Vietnam Veterans Memorial

For all the veterans throughout history have done to keep us safe and free, I can never say it often enough or as well as I would like to but thank you so much for you service.
~C.S. Webbspun

Jurys and Liberty Hotels in Boston

The elegant iron-railing balconies were once catwalks where guards stood watch over the inmates to make sure they didn't try to break out. If you look closely, you can still see the outline of the holes from the iron bars on the windows.

At the newly opened Liberty Hotel, it's hard to escape what this building once was: a decrepit jail where Boston locked up its most notorious prisoners.
But that's just the point.

After a five-year, $150 million renovation, the old Charles Street jail is now a luxury hotel for guests who can afford to pay anywhere from $319 a night for the lowest-priced room to $5,500 for the presidential suite. The hotel, at the foot of Boston's stately Beacon Hill neighborhood, opened in September.

Architects took pains to preserve many features of the 156-year-old stone building and its history.

The old sally port, where guards once brought prisoners from paddy wagons to their cells, is being converted into the entrance to a new restaurant, Scampo, which is Italian for "escape."

In another restaurant, named Clink, diners can look through original bars from cell doors and windows as they order smoked lobster bisque or citrus poached prawns from waiters and waitresses wearing shirts with prison numbers. The hotel bar, Alibi, is built in the jail's former drunk tank.

The old clientele included Boston Mayor James Michael Curley, who served time for fraud in 1904 after he took a civil service exam for a friend; Frank Abagnale Jr., a 1960s con artist played by Leonardo DiCaprio in the movie "Catch Me If You Can;" a group of thieves who pulled off the Great Brinks Robbery in Boston in 1950; and a German U-boat captain who was captured in 1945 and killed himself with shards from his sunglasses.

Visit their website at Liberty Hotel

~~~~~~~

Boston also has a luxury hotel called Jurys in the former Boston police headquarters building in fashionable Back Bay. The hotel bar is called Cuffs.

The transformation of the Charles Street Jail is stunning to some of those who spent time in the notorious lockup.

"It's a magnificent place," said Bill Baird, an activist locked up for 37 days in 1967 for breaking a Massachusetts law prohibiting the distribution of contraceptives to unmarried people. His arrest led to a landmark 1972 Supreme Court decision legalizing birth control for unmarried people.

"How you could take something that was so horrible and turn it into something of tremendous beauty, I don't know," said Baird, who visited the new hotel in October, on the 40th anniversary of his conviction.

Visit their website at Jurys Hotel

~~~~~~~

Read the full story at Yahoo News

Turner Endangered Species Fund Saves Species and Habitats

The Turner Endangered Species Fund protects imperiled species and habitats on over 1.8 million acres owned by the Turner family. Turner properties are also home to more than 25,000 bison.

~

Each year tens of thousands of species and attendant ecological actions, fine-tuned by time and place, disappear at the hand of man. These losses strip away the redundancy and certainty of nature and diminish the lives of millions of people. If these trends continue, the world will become a dismal place indeed, with silent springs and hot summers and little left to excite the senses except the weeds. Without doubt, the extinction crisis looms as one of humanity’s most pressing problems.

~

We work closely with state and federal agencies, universities, and private organizations. We operate on the belief that many minds wrapped around a problem builds a certain route to success. Whether we endeavor to manage an existing population or restore an extinct one, our goal is population persistence with little or no human intervention. We believe that self-sustaining populations of native species indicate a landscape that is healthy or at least recovering.

Visit Turner Endangered Species Fund to find out more information.

~

I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by conscious endeavor. - Henry David Thoreau