Friday, May 16, 2008

Contest-Giveaway-win a diaper cake! value $55.00

Hope your Friday went well readers,and your weekend be relaxing.
Don't forget about my contest going on now,a winner will be hand chosen from kolby,3 year old grandson on may 25th.. The diaper cake will be personalized for either boy or girl to the winner.Thecake is valued at $55.00 and nice.These make wonderful gifts for the new mommie to be and a beautiful centerpeice for a shower table.Most all the diapers used can be taken apart and used if ever needed...
Contest is in celebration of my newest granddaughter,ANGELICA CHARLEZE MAE QUALLS.
all you need to do is make a comment telling me what size she wore,get an extra entry for blogging contest(make sure you let me know you did this and leave link),and another to email me with the color of her daddys jacket in the pic..so you are able to get 3 entries...
I WILL ALLOW POST ON THIS BLOG AS WELL AS THE ORIGIONAL CONTEST BLOG..BUT YOU DO HAVE TO LOOK BACK TO FIND SIZE WHEN BORN .....


GOOD LUCK...
bETTY~sIMPLY sOUTHERN
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Thursday, May 15, 2008

The Rains Came to Alabama along with Tornado's-Contest Roll~~

The rain is still softly falling outside with a gentle breeze that reminds me of standing by the ocean on a spring afternoon!Oh how i do love it.Smells of lavender and pine with osage and roses.I do love Alabama in the Spring and Summer.The rains i prayed for,the garden and flowers needed it badly.Rain has been around Alabama pretty good the last few month's but us here in the lower counties have not got as much.We have been watering the garden so it would not go bad,me and Kolby harvested some Squash and eggplant this morning and when we came in i cut up some in small chunks and added it to our scrambled eggs.It is so good that way if you have never tried it i recommend it.just do your eggs as usual and add some to it before frying..Yum Yum.
Charlize mae is doing well and gaining weight,as well as kolby .He weighs 43 pounds now ,will be 3 june 2.Billy will be 6 july 16.They are growing so fast and i know will be young men before i can turn around.Just the way it is...Life travels fast,sometimes way too fast.
I have several young birds in their nest as well this year,i enjoy hearing their little squeeks when momma bird trys to drop in with an insect.
Jeff came in last night and said he had read that sam's club could not keep rice on the shelves.It has begun to be rationed and i guess everyone is trying to buy at once.We have 4 large bags put back,just in case.Gas still rising ,but i said would be 4.00 gallon by june .Also just the way it is..way too much greed..everyone should go frugal..that would help..and don't forget.support american made and raised products.Visit the mom and pop stores we have left and buy fresh produce and fruits from your local farmers markets or from their homes your selves. Alot of people open up their crops for a certain amount per item,bushel,bucket etc,,they pck or you pick..It taste better and it leaves the money here in america,where it needs to stay.
Will update later today with contest for you..don't forget to enter mine while you are here for diaper cake valued at 55.00 to be given away to 1 lucky reader may 25th!
simply southern-win a diaper cake

http://www.http://oldwaybecomesnewagain.blogspot.com/2008/05/new-contest-here-starts-today-win.html
diaper cake
Have a blessed day and tell someone you love them!
Betty~Simply Southern

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Adrienne22.com is giving away some Gold Canyon candles. One 16 oz. cucumber melon, and one 9 count Warm Apple Crisp tealights. These are the BEST candles ever, and I was a die hard Yankee girl. These will be awarded to ONE person I will have my kids randomly draw on June 1st.....
click now

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

CONTEST ROLL!-Happy Thursday-win a diaper cake-contest-giveaway

Happy Thursday readers!
DONT FORGET TO ENTER MY CONTEST GOING ON UNTIL MAY 25TH ,CELEBRATING CHARLIZE'S BIRTH.eASY TO ENTER AND DIAPER CAKE IS VALUED AT 55.00...VERY NICE AND PERSONALIZED FOR BOY OR GIRL TO THE WINNER!
ENTER NOW HERE====>>> cONTEST--WIN A DIAPER CAKE


The boys were both with me today and last night.Rita got sick and went for observation till 4 this morning and i brought them both back home with me.She was released this morning and due any day.Charlize mae is doing great and mom and dad too.She is already drinking around 4 ozs. a feeding..Julie is breastfeeding and also giving similac at times.I am glad school will soon be out,will make it much easier with everything going on.Billy leaves top of his class..maybe have a contest to celebrate that as well...;)
Rain is just to the west of us ,i hope it continues.I went out this evening and put out chicken manure(all time best fertilizer) and it is free for me,just get it out of the chicken coop!Being frugal and recycling...green is good.I am still very pleased with all my chicken's.I said i wanted more andalusian's but a friend was cleaning out their large chicken house and had 25 left ,so i went ahead and took them.Hey they were free and some excellent layer's.Same hen's you buy eggs from in the store's,except mine don't cost 2.25 a dozen.
Squash,beans ,beets ,onions and a few more veggies are coming in,picked some earlier.The fertilizer, with rain, should kick it in.
My brother robert built the kid's a tire swing and brought it down yesterday.He and darrell placed it in the tree and it was ready when the boys got up this morning.They had a blast,along with their little friend brendon that came over for a while this morning.


well off to get you FEW CONTEST AND GIVEAWAYS....TAKE TIME TO GO OVER TO THESE BLOGS AND CHECK EM OUT....GOOD LUCK!

Betty~Simply Southern

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www.jackiesbizblog.com

birthday congrats goes out to jackie!It's her birthday and she's giving the gifts! How cool is that?
Her PRIZES:

125×125 Banner Ad on JackiesBizBlog.com

1 or 2 Bags of Jerky from JackiesFamousJerky.com

FREE VACATION from YourFunTravelBiz.com

Beer Stock from SiteHoppin

Something from the SomethingStore.com
$10 Amazon Certificate

5″ B&W Portable TV with Radio

If I think of more stuff I will add more Prizes…

SHE IS CHOOSING ONE (1) WINNER - USA ONLY -letting the contest go on for just a few more days! hurry click below...........

www.jackiesbizblog.com
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Stella McCartney's $1000 Online Giveaway! SHE IS CELEBRATING HER GRAND OPENING ONLINE.HEAD OVER TO WIN THE $1,000 GC.
PETA-CONTEST

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Today is the last day to run over to the Beautiful Garden Boutique blog and enter their fabulous bridal jewelry giveaway, worth $250. Enter here!
elizabethannedesigns.com

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tHIS giveaway is from Kangaroom storage, a company full of simple & pretty home organization gear .Petit Elefant is giving away one Joey & Jane Underbed Zip Bag {valued at $25}.
petitelefant.blogspot

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giveaway on Freefroot today for a Pharmacopia's Lavender Spa at Home kit.


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One requirement of entering this contest was that she had to pay it forward. So, two lucky readers will win a prize from her! Don't know what the prize is, but the type and style of prize will depend on the winners, which will be chosen randomly.


The rules: If you win, you have to host a contest of your own. So head on over by tomorrow and get entered!!!
behindhazeleyes318.blogspot
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Miss Caroline is also having a giveaway now.She has had over 3,000(congrats)people come by and read her blog so she is celebrating.head over and check out her things and get entered...WHAT WOULD YOU DO WITH 50,000?
ohio quilter
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THEY HAVE 2 KITS TO GIVE AWAY TO A LUCKY READER...

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have a great day!!!!
Betty~Simply Southern
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Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Main Causes of the Great Depression--Any Resemblance to 2008?

i love comparing things,in doing so i came across this article and wanted to share..Any resemblance? I call it greed and living above the means while other's do without....

Betty~Simply Southern



Main Causes of the Great Depression

by Paul Alexander Gusmorino III May 13, 1996
The Great Depression was the worst economic slump ever in U.S. history, and one which spread to virtually all of the industrialized world. The depression began in late 1929 and lasted for about a decade. Many factors played a role in bringing about the depression; however, the main cause for the Great Depression was the combination of the greatly unequal distribution of wealth throughout the 1920's, and the extensive stock market speculation that took place during the latter part that same decade. The maldistribution of wealth in the 1920's existed on many levels. Money was distributed disparately between the rich and the middle-class, between industry and agriculture within the United States, and between the U.S. and Europe. This imbalance of wealth created an unstable economy. The excessive speculation in the late 1920's kept the stock market artificially high, but eventually lead to large market crashes. These market crashes, combined with the maldistribution of wealth, caused the American economy to capsize.

The "roaring twenties" was an era when our country prospered tremendously. The nation's total realized income rose from $74.3 billion in 1923 to $89 billion in 1929. However, the rewards of the "Coolidge Prosperity" of the 1920's were not shared evenly among all Americans. According to a study done by the Brookings Institute, in 1929 the top 0.1% of Americans had a combined income equal to the bottom 42%. That same top 0.1% of Americans in 1929 controlled 34% of all savings, while 80% of Americans had no savings at all. Automotive industry mogul Henry Ford provides a striking example of the unequal distribution of wealth between the rich and the middle-class. Henry Ford reported a personal income of $14 million in the same year that the average personal income was $750. By present day standards, where the average yearly income in the U.S. is around $18,500, Mr. Ford would be earning over $345 million a year! This maldistribution of income between the rich and the middle class grew throughout the 1920's. While the disposable income per capita rose 9% from 1920 to 1929, those with income within the top 1% enjoyed a stupendous 75% increase in per capita disposable income.

A major reason for this large and growing gap between the rich and the working-class people was the increased manufacturing output throughout this period. From 1923-1929 the average output per worker increased 32% in manufacturing. During that same period of time average wages for manufacturing jobs increased only 8%. Thus wages increased at a rate one fourth as fast as productivity increased. As production costs fell quickly, wages rose slowly, and prices remained constant, the bulk benefit of the increased productivity went into corporate profits. In fact, from 1923-1929 corporate profits rose 62% and dividends rose 65%.

The federal government also contributed to the growing gap between the rich and middle-class. Calvin Coolidge's administration (and the conservative-controlled government) favored business, and as a result the wealthy who invested in these businesses. An example of legislation to this purpose is the Revenue Act of 1926, signed by President Coolidge on February 26, 1926, which reduced federal income and inheritance taxes dramatically. Andrew Mellon, Coolidge's Secretary of the Treasury, was the main force behind these and other tax cuts throughout the 1920's. In effect, he was able to lower federal taxes such that a man with a million-dollar annual income had his federal taxes reduced from $600,000 to $200,000. Even the Supreme Court played a role in expanding the gap between the socioeconomic classes. In the 1923 case Adkins v. Children's Hospital, the Supreme Court ruled minimum-wage legislation unconstitutional.

The large and growing disparity of wealth between the well-to-do and the middle-income citizens made the U.S. economy unstable. For an economy to function properly, total demand must equal total supply. In an economy with such disparate distribution of income it is not assured that demand will always equal supply. Essentially what happened in the 1920's was that there was an oversupply of goods. It was not that the surplus products of industrialized society were not wanted, but rather that those whose needs were not satiated could not afford more, whereas the wealthy were satiated by spending only a small portion of their income. A 1932 article in Current History articulates the problems of this maldistribution of wealth:

We still pray to be given each day our daily bread. Yet there is too much bread, too much wheat and corn, meat and oil and almost every other commodity required by man for his subsistence and material happiness. We are not able to purchase the abundance that modern methods of agriculture, mining and manufacturing make available in such bountiful quantities.

Three quarters of the U.S. population would spend essentially all of their yearly incomes to purchase consumer goods such as food, clothes, radios, and cars. These were the poor and middle class: families with incomes around, or usually less than, $2,500 a year. The bottom three quarters of the population had an aggregate income of less than 45% of the combined national income; the top 25% of the population took in more than 55% of the national income. While the wealthy too purchased consumer goods, a family earning $100,000 could not be expected to eat 40 times more than a family that only earned $2,500 a year, or buy 40 cars, 40 radios, or 40 houses.

Through such a period of imbalance, the U.S. came to rely upon two things in order for the economy to remain on an even keel: credit sales, and luxury spending and investment from the rich.

One obvious solution to the problem of the vast majority of the population not having enough money to satisfy all their needs was to let those who wanted goods buy products on credit. The concept of buying now and paying later caught on quickly. By the end of the 1920's 60% of cars and 80% of radios were bought on installment credit. Between 1925 and 1929 the total amount of outstanding installment credit more than doubled from $1.38 billion to around $3 billion. Installment credit allowed one to "telescope the future into the present", as the President's Committee on Social Trends noted. This strategy created artificial demand for products which people could not ordinarily afford. It put off the day of reckoning, but it made the downfall worse when it came. By telescoping the future into the present, when "the future" arrived, there was little to buy that hadn't already been bought. In addition, people could not longer use their regular wages to purchase whatever items they didn't have yet, because so much of the wages went to paying back past purchases.

The U.S. economy was also reliant upon luxury spending and investment from the rich to stay afloat during the 1920's. The significant problem with this reliance was that luxury spending and investment were based on the wealthy's confidence in the U.S. economy. If conditions were to take a downturn (as they did with the market crashed in fall and winter 1929), this spending and investment would slow to a halt. While savings and investment are important for an economy to stay balanced, at excessive levels they are not good. Greater investment usually means greater productivity. However, since the rewards of the increased productivity were not being distributed equally, the problems of income distribution (and of overproduction) were only made worse. Lastly, the search for ever greater returns on investment lead to wide-spread market speculation.

Maldistribution of wealth within our nation was not limited to only socioeconomic classes, but to entire industries. In 1929 a mere 200 corporations controlled approximately half of all corporate wealth. While the automotive industry was thriving in the 1920's, some industries, agriculture in particular, were declining steadily. In 1921, the same year that Ford Motor Company reported record assets of more than $345 million, farm prices plummeted, and the price of food fell nearly 72% due to a huge surplus. While the average per capita income in 1929 was $750 a year for all Americans, the average annual income for someone working in agriculture was only $273. The prosperity of the 1920's was simply not shared among industries evenly. In fact, most of the industries that were prospering in the 1920's were in some way linked to the automotive industry or to the radio industry.

The automotive industry was the driving force behind many other booming industries in the 1920's. By 1928, with over 21 million cars on the roads, there was roughly one car for every six Americans. The first industries to prosper were those that made materials for cars. The booming steel industry sold roughly 15% of its products to the automobile industry. The nickel, lead, and other metal industries capitalized similarly. The new closed cars of the 1920's benefited the glass, leather, and textile industries greatly. And manufacturers of the rubber tires that these cars used grew even faster than the automobile industry itself, for each car would probably need more than one set of tires over the course of its life. The fuel industry also profited and expanded. Companies such as Ethyl Corporation made millions with items such as new "knock-free" fuel additives for cars. In addition, "tourist homes" (hotels and motels) opened up everywhere. With such a wealthy upper-class many luxury hotels were needed. In 1924 alone, hotels such as the Mayflower (Washington D.C.), the Parker House (Boston), The Palmer House (Chicago), and the Peabody (Memphis) opened their doors. Lastly, and possibly most importantly, the construction industry benefited tremendously from the automobile. With the growing number of cars, there was a big demand for paved roads. During the 1920's Americans spent more than a $1 billion each year on the construction and maintenance of highways, and at least another $400 million annually for city streets. But the automotive industry affected construction far more than that. The automobile had been central to the urbanization of the country in the 1920's because so many other industries relied upon it. With urbanization came the need to build many more apartment buildings, factories, offices, and stores. From 1919 to 1928 the construction industry grew by around $5 billion dollars, nearly 50%.

Also prospering during the 1920's were businesses dependent upon the radio business. Radio stations, electronic stores, and electricity companies all needed the radio to survive, and relied upon the constant growth of the radio market to expand and grow themselves. By 1930, 40% of American families had radios. In 1926 major broadcasting companies started appearing, such as the National Broadcasting Company. The advertising industry was also becoming heavily reliant upon the radio both as a product to be advertised, and as a method of advertising.

Several factors lead to the concentration of wealth and prosperity into the automotive and radio industries. First, during World War I both the automobile and the radio were significantly improved upon. Both had existed before, but radio had been mostly experimental. Due to the demands of the war, by 1920 automobiles, radios, and the parts necessary to build these things were being produced in large quantities; the work force in these industries had been formed and had become experienced. Manufacturing plants were already in place. The infrastructure existed for the automotive and radio industries to take off. Second, due to federal government's easing of credit, money was available to invest in these industries. Thanks to pressure from President Coolidge and the business world, the Federal Reserve Board kept the rediscount rate low.

The federal government favored the new industries as opposed to agriculture. During World War I the federal government had subsidized farms, and payed absurdly high prices for wheat and other grains. The federal government had encouraged farmers to buy more land, to modernize their methods with the latest in farm technology, and to produce more food. This made sense during that war when war-ravaged Europe had to be fed too. However as soon as the war ended, the U.S. abruptly stopped its policies to help farmers. During the war the United States government had paid an unheard of $2 a bushel for wheat, but by 1920 wheat prices had fallen to as low as 67 cents a bushel. Farmers fell into debt; farm prices and food prices tumbled. Although modest attempts to help farmers were made in 1923 with the Agricultural Credits Act, farmers were generally left out in the cold by the government.

The problem with such heavy concentrations of wealth and such massive dependence upon essentially two industries is similar to the problem with few people having too much wealth. The economy is reliant upon those industries to expand and grow and invest in order to prosper. If those two industries, the automotive and radio industries, were to slow down or stop, so would the entire economy. While the economy did prosper greatly in the 1920's, because this prosperity wasn't balanced between different industries, when those industries that had all the wealth concentrated in them slowed down, the whole economy did. The fundamental problem with the automobile and radio industries was that they could not expand ad infinitum for the simple reason that people could and would buy only so many cars and radios. When the automotive and radio industries went down all their dependents, essentially all of American industry, fell. Because it had been ignored, agriculture, which was still a fairly large segment of the economy, was already in ruin when American industry fell.

A last major instability of the American economy had to do with large-scale international wealth distribution problems. While America was prospering in the 1920's, European nations were struggling to rebuild themselves after the damage of war. During World War I the U.S. government lent its European allies $7 billion, and then another $3.3 billion by 1920. By the Dawes Plan of 1924 the U.S. started lending to Axis Germany. American foreign lending continued in the 1920's climbing to $900 million in 1924, and $1.25 billion in 1927 and 1928. Of these funds, more than 90% were used by the European allies to purchase U.S. goods. The nations the U.S. had lent money to (Britain, Italy, France, Belgium, Russia, Yugoslavia, Estonia, Poland, and others) were in no position to pay off the debts. Their gold had flowed into the U.S. during and immediately after the war in great quantity; they couldn't send more gold without completely ruining their currencies. Historian John D. Hicks describes the Allied attitude towards U.S. loan repayment:

In their view the war was fought for a common objective, and the victory was as essential for the safety of the United States as for their own. The United States had entered the struggle late, and had poured forth no such contribution in lives and losses as the Allies had made. It had paid in dollars, not in death and destruction, and now it wanted its dollars back.

There were several causes to this awkward distribution of wealth between U.S. and its European counterparts. Most obvious is that fact that World War I had devastated European business. Factories, homes, and farms had been destroyed in the war. It would take time and money to recuperate. Equally important to causing the disparate distribution of wealth was tariff policy of the United States. The United States had traditionally placed tariffs on imports from foreign countries in order to protect American business. However these tariffs reached an all-time high in the 1920's and early 1930's. Starting with the Fordney-McCumber Act of 1922 and ending with the Hawley-Smoot Tariff of 1930, the United States increased many tariffs by 100% or more. The effect of these tariffs was that Europeans were unable to sell their own goods in the United States in reasonable quantities.

In the 1920's the United States was trying "to be the world's banker, food producer, and manufacturer, but to buy as little as possible from the world in return." This attempt to have a constantly favorable trade balance could not succeed for long. The United States maintained high trade barriers so as to protect American business, but if the United States would not buy from our European counterparts, then there was no way for them to buy from the Americans, or even to pay interest on U.S. loans. The weakness of the international economy certainly contributed to the Great Depression. Europe was reliant upon U.S. loans to buy U.S. goods, and the U.S. needed Europe to buy these goods to prosper. By 1929 10% of American gross national product went into exports. When the foreign countries became no longer able to buy U.S. goods, U.S. exports fell 30% immediately. That $1.5 billion of foreign sales lost between 1929 to 1933 was fully one eighth of all lost American sales in the early years of the depression.

Mass speculation went on throughout the late 1920's. In 1929 alone, a record volume of 1,124,800,410 shares were traded on the New York Stock Exchange. From early 1928 to September 1929 the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose from 191 to 381. This sort of profit was irresistible to investors. Company earnings became of little interest; as long as stock prices continued to rise huge profits could be made. One such example is RCA corporation, whose stock price leapt from 85 to 420 during 1928, even though it had not yet paid a single dividend. Even these returns of over 100% were no measure of the possibility for investors of the time. Through the miracle of buying stocks on margin, one could buy stocks without the money to purchase them. Buying stocks on margin functioned much the same way as buying a car on credit. Using the example of RCA, a Mr. John Doe could buy 1 share of the company by putting up $10 of his own, and borrowing $75 from his broker. If he sold the stock at $420 a year later he would have turned his original investment of just $10 into $341.25 ($420 minus the $75 and 5% interest owed to the broker). That makes a return of over 3400%! Investors' craze over the proposition of profits like this drove the market to absurdly high levels. By mid 1929 the total of outstanding brokers' loans was over $7 billion; in the next three months that number would reach $8.5 billion. Interest rates for brokers loans were reaching the sky, going as high as 20% in March 1929. The speculative boom in the stock market was based upon confidence. In the same way, the huge market crashes of 1929 were based on fear.

Prices had been drifting downward since September 3, but generally people where optimistic. Speculators continued to flock to the market. Then, on Monday October 21 prices started to fall quickly. The volume was so great that the ticker fell behind. Investors became fearful. Knowing that prices were falling, but not by how much, they started selling quickly. This caused the collapse to happen faster. Prices stabilized a little on Tuesday and Wednesday, but then on Black Thursday, October 24, everything fell apart again. By this time most major investors had lost confidence in the market. Once enough investors had decided the boom was over, it was over. Partial recovery was achieved on Friday and Saturday when a group of leading bankers stepped in to try to stop the crash. But then on Monday the 28th prices started dropping again. By the end of the day the market had fallen 13%. The next day, Black Tuesday an unprecedented 16.4 million shares changed hands. Stocks fell so much, that at many times during the day no buyers were available at any price.

This speculation and the resulting stock market crashes acted as a trigger to the already unstable U.S. economy. Due to the maldistribution of wealth, the economy of the 1920's was one very much dependent upon confidence. The market crashes undermined this confidence. The rich stopped spending on luxury items, and slowed investments. The middle-class and poor stopped buying things with installment credit for fear of loosing their jobs, and not being able to pay the interest. As a result industrial production fell by more than 9% between the market crashes in October and December 1929. As a result jobs were lost, and soon people starting defaulting on their interest payment. Radios and cars bought with installment credit had to be returned. All of the sudden warehouses were piling up with inventory. The thriving industries that had been connected with the automobile and radio industries started falling apart. Without a car people did not need fuel or tires; without a radio people had less need for electricity. On the international scene, the rich had practically stopped lending money to foreign countries. With such tremendous profits to be made in the stock market nobody wanted to make low interest loans. To protect the nation's businesses the U.S. imposed higher trade barriers (Hawley-Smoot Tariff of 1930). Foreigners stopped buying American products. More jobs were lost, more stores were closed, more banks went under, and more factories closed. Unemployment grew to five million in 1930, and up to thirteen million in 1932. The country spiraled quickly into catastrophe. The Great Depression had begun.



©1996 by Paul Alexander Gusmorino III

Monday, May 12, 2008

You -Need- To -Read -This- America -! Look- What Big Brother's Up To Now.

Hello Readers and happy Monday...I was going over a few forums this morning and came across this..From time to time i see something that makes my hair stand up and see red flags all over it.THIS IS ONE OF THEM...If you like i,knew nothing of this,Take time to read and act on it.In these times we live now,we must take time to have a say while we still can.If we as a people set back and just hope nothing comes of it,we will soon be living in a time and place where we literally have no say ....act on this now for our safety as well as the safety of our grandkid's...

Betty ~ Simply Southern

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Let's poke Big Brother in the eye

The USDA proudly boasts on its website
that nearly 385,000 people have registered their premises to participate in the National Animal Identification System. They do not say how many of these people were registered without their knowledge, as was done in Idaho. They do not say how much money they distributed to various entities in exchange for soliciting registrations. They do not say that many of the registrations were coerced by requiring registration before participating in 4-H events, county fairs and other shows.

They do not provide any information about how a person can withdraw from this "voluntary" program.

Until a couple of months ago, a person could not withdraw his registration from the database. Then, Carol and Calvin Whittakerhttp://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53913

discovered that their premises had been registered in thE
NAIS database when they renewed their brand registration. For months, they were told by the state department of agriculture and by the USDA that once registered, their premises could not be removed.

Within days after the Whittaker's plight was publicized, the USDA decided that since the program was now "voluntary," they would develop a procedurehttp://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53978
to allow a person to remove their premises from the NAIS database.

A person who is registered in the NAIS database, or who thinks they may be registered, must write a letter (which should be sent by certified mail) to the state NAIS coordinatorhttp://animalid.aphis.usda.gov/nais/contact_us/directories.shtml
and formally request that their premises registration be removed from the NAIS database. The state coordinator must then advance the request to the USDA.

The Whittakers followed this procedure precisely – and waited for more than two months. Nothing. How could they know whether their registration had been removed or not?

The USDA has now formalized a protocol for this process, and the states are just now learning about it. When a name has been removed from the NAIS database as the result of an individual's request, the state coordinator is so notified by the USDA. It is the state coordinator's responsibility to notify the individual that the registration has been removed.

Idaho's state coordinator has not yet notified the Whittakers that their name has been removed. USDA says that the Whittaker's name has been removed, but is not yet sure that the state has been notified. A spokesman for the Idaho state coordinator says that they are in the process of developing a media campaign to notify people who may have been registered without their knowledge about the procedure for having their names removed from the NAIS database.

Every person in every state who does not want to be in the NAIS database should contact their state coordinator to determine whether they have been registered, and if so, request immediate removal. This procedure could reduce the total number of registered premises significantly.

While USDA continues to claim that the program is "voluntary," producers and other animal owners are not at all convinced that the program will remain voluntary. The USDA has already demonstrated its willingness to coerce "voluntary" participation by encouraging organizations to limit participation or services for people who are not registered in the NAIS database.

Moreover, there's talk in Congress about attaching a mandatory NAIS to the Country Of Origin Label legislation that is scheduled to go into force later this year. USDA has always claimed the authority to make the "voluntary" program mandatory at any time they determine it to be necessary.

Should there be an instance of tainted meat products similar to the recent tainted pet food incident, it could easily serve as an excuse to convert the "voluntary" program to a mandatory program, with nothing more than the stroke of a pen.

People who are already registered would have no choice but to comply with whatever requirements the USDA may impose. People who are not registered could offer powerful resistance to arbitrary registration and arbitrary bureaucratic control.

People who are opposed to the NAIS have developed a variety of organizations such as the Liberty Ark Coalition and NoNais.org, and are working together to get legislation introduced into more than 12 states, as well as in the Congress, that would limit or prohibit participation in a NAIS.

The more people who learn about the government attempting to inventory and track the movements of every livestock animal in the country, the greater the possibility of stopping the program. Opponents are convinced that the program would do nothing to prevent a disease outbreak, whether natural or induced, nor could it actually improve the remedy process. It would just be another massive government bureaucracy to monitor every livestock owner and force them to pay the cost of Big Brother's ever-seeing eye.

==============thanks given from me t0 this this post for this article..please click to read more and act on this!
worldnetdaily-by By Henry Lamb

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Happy mother's day-Win -a-Diaper-Cake-CONTEST-GIVEAWAY-enter now


Hello all and happy MOTHERS DAY!!! As with my prior post ,you know my new granddaughter has arrived! To mark that special occasion ,i'm giving away a diaper cake beginning Friday to one lucky reader.Will be personalized for either boy or girl for the winner.value is $55.00..
All you have to do is look back on my previous blog ,
CHARLISE MAE ARRIVAL





and tell me how much she weighed at birth and how long!THEN go HERE and post your answer
,Then email me @ oldplace.betty(at)gmail.com and tell me what color jacket darrell(daddy in last picture) is wearing,that way i know you really looked.lol. If you mention my contest and link back here ,i'll give you an extra entry,leave me the link to contest mention.
Deadline to enter is may 25th at 6pm and winner will be announced the next day,may 26st.(All finished entries will be put in a basket and kolby will pull out a name) ).
Make sure you leave me your email for contact to the winner.
Here is a pic of one of my diaper cakes,



good luck to you all....And continue to check back,i'll be having a different contest every month.Maybe 2 when comments grow. So enter now.....


HAVE A BLESSED DAY~~~TELL A KID YOU LOVE EM(AND MOM TOO)

Betty~~Simply Southern

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Happy Mothers Day~Just Another Sunday in the South~

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY READER'S.....
And for all the grandparents ,nanna's ,aunt's ,etc...who are in the parent's role(just the way it is all over the place now i am afraid,) Happy mom's day to you!!!and hat's off for taking care and loving these babies/children who needed you and you were/are there.....
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DON'T FORGET TO ENTER MY CONTEST GOING ON NOW..STILL HAVE A FEW MORE DAYS TO ENTER....
click on the link to go and enter....It is in celebration of my newest granddaughter's birth,ANGELICA CHARLISE MAE QUALLS.!!! SO CHECK OUT HER PICS AND WIN A DIAPER CAKE...THEY ARE BEAUTIFUL.I SELL THEM ANYWHERE FROM 45.00-125.OO...

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I found some very beautiful poems online for mother's day and i wanted to send you my readers a few of them!!!
HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO YOU ALL.....

GOD BLESS THE MOTHERS...AND THOSE OF US WHO BECOME MOTHER'S TO OTHERS.....

Betty~Simply Southern
(Back this afternoon with contest added...))

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Mom lived her life for love

Mom lived her life for love of friends and family,
Neither asking for nor wanting a return.
Her days became a sunlit homily,
With others' joy her joy and main concern.
When we were ill, she also became sick;
When we were cut, she, too, began to bleed.
Of our oil lamp she was the wick,
Drawing her bright flame from our need.
Some say that such behavior's out of date:
That self-fulfillment is the way to grace.
But Mom, without much choice, then chose her fate,
Finding greater truth in an embrace.
She lives on in the sparkle in our eyes:
Laughing, quiet, gentle, loving, wise

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Her life was not as glorious as some

Her life was not as glorious as some,
Devoted to her children and their children,
Taken up by quiet tedium:
What's left when dreams are scattered to the wind.
She loved too well, perhaps, and fought too hard
To make a marriage work that wasn't right.
She was, of all bright loveliness, a shard
Struck off to bring our lives the gift of light.
There are those whose lives are shaped by love;
Whose pleasures, rich and full, are found in giving;
Who make our wild hearts bloom and passions move
Into measured fields made lush by living.
Without her all the gold's gone from the day;
She will be missed far more than we can say.
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a life of fantasy and terror

I've lived a life of fantasy and terror,
Plunging now and then headlong towards death.
I cannot think what agony it must be
To see your child burn in such a hell.
I've fought your love with all the madness in me,
Screaming at my stubborn love for you,
The one thing in my heart that will not let me
Toss my tortured soul into the sea.

I do not know what pain your love has cost you,
Or with what courage you have seen me through.
I only know I love you so much for it
That life becomes too beautiful to hold.

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We are not your children

We are not your children, but
We write you nonetheless
To wish you Happy Mother's Day
With sweet, sad tenderness.
We loved your child, who cannot write
The words that he would say,
And so in memory of him
We send you this today.

There is no comfort can assuage
The passing of a child,
But we must do what we can do
And know he would have smiled;

And know that love is like a wave
That sweeps past those who love
To break upon the edge of death,
Time's traces to remove;

And break again, and break again
Across that distant shore
That all who love might taste of life
Yet yearn in peace for more

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To the mothers of children who never were children

To the mothers of children who never were children,
Who died in the womb unnamed and unknown:
You also were mothers, albeit but briefly,
And loved with the love given mothers alone.
Yours was the stirring of life within life,
The being of being all one being knew,
The love of a love that knew only your love,
The world to a world that knew no world but you.

Yours the unspeakable pleasure of giving
Your substance to nurture the creature within;
Yours the inscrutable song of creation,
Bringing to being the dust of the wind.

Death is the end, but never the meaning;
Life is a gift, no matter how long.
You, too, are mothers, the bearers of beauty,
The icons of love to whom this day belongs
===========================


loved us as your own
You took us in and loved us as your own
Though you were old enough to need some rest.
Now you are eighty and alone,
Rattling on within your empty nest.
Though we no longer live within your doors,
You will always live within our hearts.
I think of you, and that sweet thought restores
My happiness, as my own Red Sea parts.
This you've done for me, more than the toil,
The prostrate nights, the scarce funds spent, the pain:
Your love and selflessness have been the soil
In which my life can always bloom again.
I cannot think what I would do or be
Without the love that you have given me.=======

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You took us in and loved us as your own

You took us in and loved us as your own
Though you were old enough to need some rest.
Now you are eighty and alone,
Rattling on within your empty nest.
Though we no longer live within your doors,
You will always live within our hearts.
I think of you, and that sweet thought restores
My happiness, as my own Red Sea parts.
This you've done for me, more than the toil,
The prostrate nights, the scarce funds spent, the pain:
Your love and selflessness have been the soil
In which my life can always bloom again.
I cannot think what I would do or be
Without the love that you have given me.
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mother with her newborn child

Behold the mother with her newborn child!
An icon of a hope that never dies.
Death may label all we cherish lies,
Yet this love lies too deep to be defiled.
We clear an inner field where fate has smiled,
Letting play the pleasures of surmise,
Holding back all contrary replies,
As though our thoughts might turn the winters mild.
Despite the well-known travesties of time,
Each time a child is born we dream anew,
For only thus our losses are regained.
Though we must share the destiny of slime,
No passion in our palette is more true
Than that which cradles innocence unstained
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Close your eyes and wish for the one thing
You cannot do without, and when you do,
Near your heart you'll find it, always there,
Treasure that is dear but not so rare,
Held in the mesh that all your dreams flow through.
In truth, no gift more happiness can bring,
And so this day I give my love to you.
======================


GRANDMOTHERS

Grandmothers are mothers who are grand,
Restoring the sense that our most precious things
Are those that do not change much over time.
No love of childhood is more sublime,
Demanding little, giving on demand,
More inclined than most to grant the wings
On which we fly off to enchanted lands.
Though grandmothers must serve as second mothers,
Helping out with young and restless hearts,
Each has all the patience wisdom brings,
Remembering our passions more than others,
Soothing us with old and well-honed arts

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY.............

thanks going out to Nicholas Gordon-free poetry and more!!