Of Cooling

Living in South Georgia, the air conditioner gets turned on in April and doesn’t get turned off until October. It also runs all day long and while we do keep it high during the day time (75 degrees), we turn it down to 71 at night, for sleeping. (I’d rather sweat in the day time than try to sleep when I am hot.)

Our first full month electric bill last summer almost killed me. It was, if I remember correctly, over $350. I understand this is not unusual down hear and have heard stories of $500 electric bills. (What!?!)  However, I am not one to sit back and pay that kind of money each month, without working to make my house more energy efficient. Last summer we had new windows put in and this past spring we added more insulation.

Let me tell you they both made a big difference. Our electric bill this month was $226. That makes me so happy.

Filed under: General Stuff

Audit the Fed Bill

Please pick up the phone, call the Capitol Hill switchboard at 202-224-3121, and tell your representative to vote FOR the Audit the Fed bill.

 

The Federal Reserve, the unelected central bank of the U.S., enjoys a monopoly over the flow of our nation’s money and credit but has never been completely transparent and accountable to Congress since its creation in 1913.

Over its nearly 100 year history, the Federal Reserve has presided over the near-complete destruction of the United States dollar while Congress has kept its hands off and its eyes closed.  Since 1913, the dollar has lost over 95% of its purchasing power, aided and abetted by the Federal Reserve’s loose monetary policy.

During the current economic crisis, Congress, the Treasury, and the Fed have put us on the hook for over $14 trillion in bailouts and loans.  This is in addition to our over $16 trillion national debt.  When testifying before Congress in 2009, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke refused to disclose which institutions received trillions of dollars in these bailouts and loans or to give our representatives details about what deals are being made with foreign banks.

Despite the limited audit passed as a result of grassroots activism in the 111th Congress, the Fed still refuses to fully disclose key details of its emergency lending.

Although the Fed is currently audited by outside agencies, these audits are not thorough and do not include monetary policy decisions or agreements with foreign central banks and governments.

The crucial issue of Federal Reserve transparency requires an analysis of 31 USC 714, the section of US Code which establishes that the Federal Reserve may be audited by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) but which simultaneously severely restricts what the GAO may in fact audit. Essentially, the GAO is only allowed to audit check-processing, currency storage and shipments, credit facilities (limited) and some regulatory and bank examination functions, etc. The most important matters, which directly affect the strength of the dollar and the health of the financial system, are immune from oversight.

Currently, the GAO is prohibited from auditing:
1. transactions for or with a foreign central bank, government of a foreign country, or nonprivate international financing organization;
2. deliberations, decisions, or actions on monetary policy matters, including discount window operations, reserves of member banks, securities credit, interest on deposits, and open market operations
3. transactions made under the direction of the Federal Open Market Committee; or
4. a part of a discussion or communication among or between members of the Board of Governors and officers and employees of the Federal Reserve System related to clauses (1)-(3) of this subsection of US Code.

The GAO is also prevented from conducting on-site examinations of banks or bank holding companies without the written consent of the appropriate regulatory agency.

HR 459 and S 202, The Federal Reserve Transparency Act, would eliminate these restrictions and mandate a thorough GAO audit of the Fed, finally delivering answers to the American people about how our money is being spent.

Many politicians like to constantly laud the benefits of transparency but fail to turn their campaign rhetoric into results.  With trillions of dollars and our nation’s monetary system at stake, the time to take action is now.

With Ron Paul serving as chairman of the House Domestic Monetary Policy Subcommittee and Rand Paul leading the fight in the Senate, our chance to pass Audit the Fed has never been better.

By opening all Fed operations to a GAO audit, HR 459 and S 202 would result in an historic level of transparency and accountability from the Federal Reserve.

Filed under: American Liberties

Monday Musings

I am linking up with Nadja for Monday Musings

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Right now…I am parked on the couch, listening to Benedict sing as he is falling asleep. Karol is about to go out to chase some chickens and the girls are cleaning up their tent mess.

This weekend…we started on the painting of the toy room. That room is so dark and drab and not all that pleasant to be in. The kids don’t mind, but I do. Not to mention it is right off the dining room, and the color tends to “bleed over”, making the dining room seem drab. Of course, like every other project we’ve done in this house, it was just buy the paint and slap it on, no, there is major repair needed to happen as well as sealing the walls and the ceiling. So we spent a good part of Saturday doing that.

Later in the afternoon, we got ready and headed up to the town about 25 miles north of us, for Confession and Mass. I hadn’t been to confession for close to a month and a half and was really feeling it. The parish up there has a new pastor, a young priest, who is wonderful.

That night we came home, fed the kids, then sat down and ate dinner by ourselves, with a movie on.

Sunday was a bit odd, as we went to the Vigil Mass, so we didn’t have to run around getting ready. We at breakfast and Joshua went to work on the room for a bit more. We made two dishes to take for a potluck dinner at the parish in Valdosta. We had a great time at the indoor picnic. We got to meet the new Parochial Vicar at St. John. He was great to sit and talk with and get to know. We ended up staying a lot longer than I had planned, so we came home and I was exhausted. We got the kids into bed and Joshua cleaned up the kitchen for me. (Thanks)

Some plans for this week…We have the “Welcome the New Pastor” gathering on Thursday after Mass, so we will be going to that. Other than that, things are pretty open right now. It is really too warm to go out and do things.

If I find time for myself, I would like to…eh, I can’t think of anything. I think I have reached a good point where we have things settled here and I don’t feel like I need to have “me time”. Or maybe I just know that there isn’t much to do around here, so I am just content to sit and have quiet time on the couch in the evening.

I am grateful for…priests who “say the black, do the red”. Young men who say “yes” to God and enter the Seminary to be formed into good holy priests. I am also thankful for an answered prayer, for a wonderful husband, for a Benedict who doesn’t have a hard time taking naps, for my husband’s wonderful job and super awesome boss.

Prayer intentions for this week: For priests to have holy courage to do the right thing. For a return to the understanding of the sacredness of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. For our country and religious freedoms, all religions.

Something that makes me smile:  This doesn’t have a picture, but I was cleaning out my twitter account,  and came across a tweet Joshua posted years ago, a little thing that Karol used to call the camera “Doggie Eyeball.”

Filed under: Monday Musings

St. Benedict!

St. Benedict of Norcia

“We must know that God regards our purity of heart
and tears of compunction, not our many words.”
Rule of St. Benedict, Chapter 20

Today is the Feast Day of St. Benedict of Norcia. We have a special place in our hearts and home for St. Benedict. Our dear friend, Father Basil is a monk in Norcia, Italy, the birthplace of St. Benedict . Our youngest is named after this wonderful saint as well!

tHappy Feast day to the Monks in Norcia and to Benedict Thomas!

Filed under: General Stuff

Post Mass Etiquette

Do you see those people in the pews, kneeling, after Mass? Do you know what they are doing? If you said “Praying” you are probably right.

Guess what? Your loud talking or cackling laughter is very rude. Not only is it rude for those in the pews, trying to make a thanksgiving, it shows disrespect for our Lord.

Most churches have a vestibule/narthex or a space outside where those conversations can take place.

And while I am on my soapbox, why is it that as soon as the last note of the recessional hymn ends, laughter and talking erupts in the church?  As adults we should be able to “contain our excitement” (read: hold in trivial stories about our lives) until we have reached the doors of the church, so as not to disturb those wishing to pray.

You know, this goes for before Mass as well. How can we prepare to meet our Lord on the Blessed Sacrament, if we are being distracted by our own idle chatter or the chatter of those around us?

Filed under: Catholic

A House Call in 2012

Today, MyCia (as she calls herself) was trying to be a baby with a laundry hamper, a pillow, and the fireplace hearth. Somehow she managed to fall and hurt herself pretty badly. There was a lot of blood, a lot, but I couldn’t figure out where it was coming from. My first check is usually the mouth, as she bleeds easily when she is hit in the mouth.  After a bit of washing up I finally found the spot on the back of her head where she had done a good job of scraping her scalp.  (yes, I was on the phone freaking out to my husband, who was on his way home from work) .

The bleeding stopped before I could even locate where it was coming from, and after doing a quick check for a concussion, I made a spot for her on the couch. She sat and talked and sang some while waiting for Joshua to get home.  She seemed fine, so I decided that we would just keep an eye on her and take her to urgent care if she threw up or indicated a head trauma.

Shortly after dinner, she was wrestling with her Papa, when he noticed she was bleeding again. We decided then, that she would probably need to go to the ER to get checked out. Joshua called a friend of ours, also the local doctor, to find out which hospital would be best to take her to. The doctor asked Joshua what symptoms Cia had told him that he didn’t think she had any major problems. Then he offered to stop by to check her out.

No really, that happened.

He said heads are bleeders and after looking at her head, said that the extra bleeding came from a hematoma breaking loose and that she is fine. (She is acting like the same MyCia that we love. She is sleeping next to me right now and I may sleep on the couch to be next to her.)

So, we paid him with two dozen chicken eggs (fresh from the back yard, of course!) and he laughed. A true country doctor now.

 

Filed under: General Stuff

On Being Saints

“We are deeply moved, and our hearts profoundly shaken, when we listen attentively to that cry of St Paul:
‘This is God’s will for you, your sanctification.’ Today, once again, I set myself this goal and I also remind you and all mankind:
this is God’s Will for us, that we be saints.”

St. Josemaría Escrivá

Filed under: General Stuff