"Emmy, I don't make more than 4 or 5 new friends in a day.
More than that is too many."
"Sure, I can tell Daddy is your boy. He looks exactly like you...
except for the earrings."
Monday, December 31, 2012
"Tweet"
Congratulations to new "oldyweds", Becca & Ben!
Heavenly Nest has found a new home.
"Tweet!"
Sunday, December 30, 2012
Saturday, December 29, 2012
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Friday, December 28, 2012
The best!
How about this!
A surprise visit from Caleb. GG was so happy.
And then THIS...waiting for me when we got home!
All lit up with a "PaPa"...
And we all do...ALL the time!
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Saturday, December 22, 2012
Friday, December 21, 2012
Farewell, Old Friend
The Emmy-mobile was sold today.
With it go lots of good memories from the past nine years.
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Weight Loss Hot Pants!
In a Nutshell
Shorts and flares with slimming technology that works when wearers are active to help them increase energy expenditure during exercise
Well, POOH!
I was afraid of that...
I was afraid of that...
It Can Be Done
BUSINESS
GUN BUYBACK PROGRAM IN DEADLY NJ CITY NETS OVER 1,000 FIREARMS, BREAKS RECORD
Guns pile up on tables at a press conference where Camden, N.J., Mayor Dana Redd and New Jersey Attorney General Jeffrey Chiesa announced a record breaking weekend for the state’s cash-for-guns program. (AP)
Days after a deadly shooting in Newton, Conn., that left 26 people dead, including 20 children, a state-sponsored cash-for-guns program held on Friday and Saturday in Camden, N.J., one of America’s deadliest cities, brought in 1,137 guns, easily beating 2009′s previous record of 700.
“A lot of people said they don’t want the guns around the house now,” state Attorney General Jeffrey Chiesa said Tuesday as he announced the results of the buyback program.
“Let me be clear,” Chiesa added, “I am not suggesting that a buyback such as this could have prevented the shooting in Newtown, which was a cowardly act, nor am I suggesting that gun buybacks are some sort of magic solution to the complex and multi-faceted problem of violence in our society.”
“But we have to keep forging ahead using all of the strategies at our disposal.”
An assortment of firearms were traded in including a few sawed-off shotguns, a couple of rusty WWII-era British rifles, and an elephant-gun. (AP)
People traded in rifles, pistols, sawed-off shotguns, a few rusty WWII-era British rifles, an elephant-gun (really), and five fully automatic weapons, according to reports. About 90 percent of the firearms traded in were in working condition.
“Many were illegal weapons under state laws; some were so-called community guns stashed around neighborhood,” the Associated Press notes.
The South Jersey Times provides the details:
… it was revealed Tuesday by the attorney general that many of the “long guns” turned in to authorities over the weekend had been used to kill Camden city police officers.Among the arsenal presented in a press conference were five fully-automatic assault weapons, including two Intratec TEC-DC9 — commonly known as a TEC-9 — and an Uzi 9mm submachine gun.Also collected were two Chinese SKS assault rifles — one with bayonet — a 10-gauge double-barreled elephant shotgun, hundreds of semi-automatic weapons, dozens of sawed-off shotguns and piles upon piles of revolvers and other handguns.
“We heard that there were a number of gun owners on Saturday who had publicly said, in light of the situation that had just occurred in Connecticut, they wanted to turn in their weapons,” said Paul Loriquet, a Camden police department spokesman, in an interview.
The state plans to destroy the stash of firearms.
Twice an many weapons were traded in on Saturday than on Friday, according to state officials.
“The state had $110,000 in cash to give to those who turned in guns, along with $6,000 in gift cards left over from a previous program,” the AP notes.
“At 2 o’clock,” said Chiesa, “we were out of money.”
The program was so inundated with takers that they soon ran out of money. (AP)
After the money ran out, state workers resorted to offering IOUs worth nearly $40,000.
“Individuals were allowed to turn in up to three weapons and were paid up to $250 for each of them,” the AP report adds.
Here’s a video of the gun stash [via Tim Hawk/South Jersey Times]:
Although more than a thousand guns were traded for cash between Friday and Saturday, Camden authorities say there’s still an untold number of firearms stashed throughout crime-ridden the city.
Still, any “gun taken off the street is worth the effort,” said Camden Mayor Dana Redd. “We know the community is excited for these kinds of efforts — we had attempted a similar event last year, but this year is has picked up quite a lot.”
She added: “I’m sure there are other guns still out there we would like to get in another buyback.”
“Individuals were allowed to turn in up to three weapons and were paid up to $250 for each of them.” (AP)
Camden, with a population of 77,000, has more than 700 people on parole, 600 registered sex offenders, and has suffered 67 homicides in 2012.
We Must Try
We Must Try
19 December 12
ne of the country's largest billboards is next to Fenway Park, facing the Massachusetts Turnpike. It has a giant number counter.
When I was running for the Senate, I passed that billboard nearly every week, sometimes three or four times in a single day. I always looked at the counter to see how it had changed since the last trip, counting the change -- up two, six more, another one.
The counter is from Stop Handgun Violence, and it shows the number of children killed by guns in the United States. Every time I saw it I thought about another small coffin.
Over the past two years, more than 6,000 children have been killed by guns. The number jumped by twenty little children last Friday, and then it climbed on Saturday, on Sunday, and kept on climbing as other children died.
Like millions of people across this country, I was heartbroken by the news of Sandy Hook Elementary School. I don't know how to explain their deaths, or to explain why six heroic teachers and staff members needed to make the ultimate sacrifice for their kids. And I don't know how any of us explain what happened to our children and our grandchildren.
The ultimate causes of such tragedy are impossible to understand fully, but the difficulty of untangling all the elements is not an excuse for failing to do what we can to make our children safer. We have a responsibility to ourselves and to our children to take the steps we can to stop the violence.
There may be no foolproof solution, but that doesn't mean we can't do better.
As Mayor Tom Menino -- co-founder of Mayors Against Illegal Guns -- said, "Now is the time for a national policy on guns that takes the loopholes out of the laws, the automatic weapons out of our neighborhoods and the tragedies like today out of our future."
That's why, when I get to the Senate, I will sign onto Senator Feinstein's bill to re-instate a ban on assault weapons and other commonsense gun control measures.
I grew up in family that used guns. My older brothers hunted, and I learned to shoot when I was in grade school. I understand the role that hunting and guns play in many communities across the country. There can be a place for responsible gun ownership in our society.
But no one needs military-grade assault weapons to hunt, and no one needs Rambo-style high capacity magazines to protect their family from intruders.
The facts are simple: 83 Americans die every day from gun violence in America. Eight of those people are children or teenagers. Eight a day, every day -- thousands a year, tens of thousands in the last decade.
If eight children were dying every day from a mysterious virus, our country would mobilize to put a stop to it. Gun violence is an epidemic that is taking our children's lives in our schools, on our streets, and in our neighborhoods.
As with other epidemics, we must do everything we can to make a difference for people through prevention and treatment. We must renew our commitment to mental health care -- to ensure that children and adults can receive both the physical and psychological health care they need in America.
And we must put in place commonsense gun laws and enforce those laws. Right now, 40% of gun sales are not subject to a federal background check because they are purchased privately at gun shows, online, or person-to-person. The Fix Gun Checks Act would close this huge loophole. We must look for other reasonable measures like this to protect our kids as we move forward.
Re-authorizing the assault weapons ban is a responsible first step that we can take now. Is that all we can do? Of course not. Is it a full solution that will stop all gun violence? No, but it is a start.
It is not possible to explain to our children what happened in Sandy Hook, but it is possible to make changes that will help keep them safer. We owe this to all our children.
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Favorite Things
President Obama plays with the son of a staffer
in the Outer Oval Office on Oct. 26.
in the Outer Oval Office on Oct. 26.
(Pete Souza/The White House)
U.S. President Barack Obama reacts as Joey Hudy of Phoenix, Arizona,
launches a marshmallow from his Extreme Marshmallow Cannon in the
State Dining Room of the White House during the second White House
Science Fair in Washington February 7, 2012.
launches a marshmallow from his Extreme Marshmallow Cannon in the
State Dining Room of the White House during the second White House
Science Fair in Washington February 7, 2012.
REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
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