Monday Blues, October 18th

One thing that helps me get started on Mondays is a good cup of coffee. I admit that in this area I have spoiled myself terribly. I got hooked on Kona Coffee from Hawaii. If you have not tried it, don't. It's lack of bitterness and it's rich smooth taste will have you searching the stores frantically for it -and paying a premium for the pleasure.I brought some back after my first trip to the islands and gotten several of my friends and relatives nearly as addicted to it as myself. My mother (bless her) tried it once and it was instantly the only coffee she would serve in the house. I buy mine from Cornwall Estates in Kona, Hawaii and have it flown in - an unnecessary extravagance but the one I enjoy indulging myself with. When I first started on Kona it cost me about $17.00 a pound - it is now double that but, sitting here on a cold, blue Monday, trying to get the energy to get started there is something about this cup of Kona that just makes me smile -and that makes it worth it.....

I have warned you about this before. In an effort to reduce the excessive Federal spending, (and because they are running out of cash) a group of more than 50 senators and representatives, led by Reps. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and Ron Paul (R-Texas), are calling for major cuts to the defense budget. Joined by Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, they say we should look at what a press release calls “excessive defense spending” when we want to find ways to reduce the federal deficit and national debt. They plan to send a letter about this on Wednesday. The Pentagon’s spending should, they argue, “be subjected to the same rigorous scrutiny that non-military spending will receive.” (and just what “rigorous scrutiny" is that, I wonder?). These cuts can be made in ways that “will not endanger national security,” according to the release. This is the same group that said in June that $1 trillion could be cut from the defense budget. The presidential commission is expected to make its recommendations public in December. That should be an interesting Christmas present for outgoing Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

Are they crazy? The US government, in it's divine wisdom, has determined that people living on fixed Social Security and Disability income will not get an increase again this year. The reason? They say that for the second year in a row there has been no inflation in the Untied States! Are you flipping kidding me? They are seriously trying to tell us the price of bread, meat, gas, electricity and everything else is the same as it was 2 years ago!  No increase, nada.... And they wonder why American voters are angry......

I know one young man who is having a hard Monday… A teenager who just passed his driving test crashed into a state driver license center in western Pennsylvania. The accident happened Wednesday afternoon as the teen was trying to leave the parking lot of a driver license center in the Pittsburgh suburb of Bridgeville. Officials said at least three people were injured, but their injuries were not considered serious. The accident happened when the teen pulled into the parking lot of the driver license center to drop off the man who had administered the test. The teen thought the car was in park but it wasn't.

Here’s another person with a driving problem… State police said an Ohio woman proved that not all drivers are welcome at one Erie-area golf course. Forty-nine-year-old Susan Fishpaw, of Bucyrus, Ohio, remained jailed Wednesday on assault, reckless endangerment and other charges for allegedly driving her Cadillac DeVille on several holes at the Crab Apple Ridge Golf Course on Monday afternoon. Course owner Rusty Tracy said his course was busier than usual on the Columbus Day holiday. His son hurt his arm trying to stop her in his pickup truck, which police said was rammed by Fishpaw, along with several golf carts. No serious injuries were reported. State police said she wasn't drunk or on drugs at the time.

In our era of reality TV shows and high profile socialites, one of the most profound questions has been, is it worth being famous if you're only famous for being a total jackass? Apparently the Los Angeles-based band Imperial Stars has answered the question yesterday with a resounding "Yes!" In an attempt to promote their new single, “Traffic Jam 101,” the group decided it would be a good idea to take a truck and purposefully cause an actual traffic jam on LA's 101 Freeway during the morning rush hour. Congratulations, Imperial Stars, we now know your name. Also, an entire city is probably wishing for your death.

1867 US takes formal possession of Alaska from Russia ($7.2 million) and in 1892 the 1st commercial long-distance phone line opens (Chicago-NY)

Live Long and Prosper....