Monday Morning friends report

Here under the BIRCHES, we are very grateful for the friends we have and for the deep comfort of knowing they are in our lives. We are especially glad that so many of us are healthy and prosperous in this season.

Thank You for looking in on BIRCHES and for contributing to both the silliness and the serious side of this blog.



Here is some of what we've seen and heard from friends this week. Please stay in touch, dudes and dudettes.
(Usually, if you click on pictures, they will enlarge.)

Here are causes some of you are interested in:
BILL FROM WNNCO - sent this email which says "The American Flag Fights Back" wherein a demonstrator attempting to burn the U.S. flag manages to set fire to himself:



JERRY - is promoting an effort by Xerox to send thousands of postcards in the name of as many individual Americans as possible to say thanks to the troops. If you would like to participate, it's free. Go here: click

Excerpt: "Wouldn't it be wonderful if the soldiers received a bunch of these? Whetheryou are for or against the war, our guys and gals over there need to know weare behind them."

DIG S: has been telling friends to get agitated about the recent decision by the FCC to allow more large media companies to dominate more and more local market share. This is a threat to democracy, he says. Independent news outlets are being swallowed up, so we will hear fewer independent voices.

Go here to sign a letter to Congress protesting this decision: click

GIGI - also is concerned about this issue and asked her friends to sign a petition on the matter.

JIM THILL - over at Pinholery, began a discussion of anarchy. He refers to his attitudes as "anti-statist" which seems to reflect a deliberate iconoclasm that I can definitely sympathize with about 10 times a day, and that's no shit. His posting prompted a number of interesting comments and thoughts which you can read here: click

ALICE - is on the warpath about price fixing in the chocolate industry. Evidently, a food group this important to her is too critical to have artificially high anything, much less artificially high prices. You can read about this problem here: click

On a similar note, she sent a picture of what can happen to women if they eat too much chocolate. Their feet shrink.


DASHMANN - He read an opinion by Andrew Heller criticizing our government for being unresponsive to the popular will. He thinks maybe it's time for a little revolution. Dashmann has sent the article to many friends.

Here is an excerpt:Republicans and Democrats have no intention of doing much about jobs, health care, global warming or anything else.

It's no mystery why that is -- elected officials are bought and paid for by the various industries that don't want change.

Campaign finance laws could fix that, but guess who's in charge of approving new campaign finance laws? Heh, heh. Good system, eh?
None of this is new, of course. Politicians have been in corporate pockets since time began, but like I say, there's something different these days.
In the past, idealism would at times win out, and we'd get some of the things most of us see as necessary.
But no more. We seem to have passed some tipping point. Lock-step allegiance to party and donors has trumped conscience and representing the views of voters.

Government is broken. We need to fix it.
Anyone up for breaking out the torches and pitchforks?

Read it all here: click

Dashmann also sent a YouTube reference to an amazingly cynical song by Tim Wilson, a country music icon. If you aren't offended by bad language and negativity, you might find this hilarious. You've been warned, but then, we're all adults around here: click
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JERRY - sent this site to watch "Mrs. Hughes" talk about her family. This is pretty funny and is not at all nasty: click
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Known Travel Plans:
FELIX has gone to Boston for the holidays.

MARSHA is off to be with family in Ohio for Christmas, and then to see friends in Michigan.

TRASE and SCOT - are off to Australia on Christmas Day.
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MIKE CARROLL, almost from Carrollton - had to hire a well digger. He was very impressed by the man's ability to work in freezing temperatures, getting wet and still carrying on. Mike says the saying about a well-digger's ass is certainly true.
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GUINNESS CLUB- A lot of members of the Guinness Club, which meets on Fridays, had a special get-together, because their favorite bar tenderness, Katrina, is leaving her post. A great celebration was held with Kat receiving gifts for the new baby and for herself. With a new college degree, she'll be going on to an exciting new life. Here she is, with some friends.



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SPARTY - who is incidentally, a founding member of the Guinness Club, forwarded this joke:

I was depressed last night so I called the Suicide Hotline.
I got a call center in Pakistan.
I told them I was suicidal.
They got all excited and asked if I could drive a truck or fly a plane.
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PAT - Mother and son enjoying a beer and a laugh. Lots of you will recognize them:


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FELIX - read a recent list of "why is it" 's on BIRCHES, and had to add a couple of his own:
Why is Jesus in the pictures always pretty well-groomed?
Why do shoes come in .5 size increments...but, sox come size 6-12?
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PEACE TO YOU ALL IN THIS SEASON OF JOY.