Leon County Florida, Primary Ballot - August 2014

Leon County, Florida Primary Ballot Blog (Republican Party)

Don't forget to vote August 26, 2014

This is my take and observations on the candidates on my ballot. I include links where I can but really this is an exercise to help ME decide who to vote for. Hope it helps those others out there researching

Governor & Lt. Governor:

Yinka Abosede Adeshina - Who ??? She ran for president as a democrat in 2010 so.....

Elizabeth Cuevas-Neunder - Very focused on Florida Puerto Rican cooperation
Rick Scott -  While he has his flaws and made a lot of state workers angry, I think he has done a pretty good job, especially in promoting business and jobs in the state.

State Representative 9th House District: (both Democrats)
Arnitta J. Grice-Walker - First time running, elementary teacher for 16 years. Wants minimum wage increase

Michelle Rehwinkel Vasilinda - (my pick) Currently holds this office. Lawyer/professor, not bad, has a pro-2nd Amendment stance.
 

Mayor

Andrew D. Gillum - Currently a city commissioner. Very liberal. Works for George Soros funded group "People for the American Way" more like Communist way.
Larry Hendricks - He wants less development and fewer roads. The video interview is entertaining. He works hard at being involved but I do not think he is very competent. 

Zack Richardson - (my pick) CEO of Pivotal Point Enterprises. Supports an independent ethics officer for Tallahassee. Is not Andrew Gillum.

City Commissioner Seat 2  (hard to pick)

Diana Oropallo - (my pick) Says Public Safety is 1st priority.  First time running for office.  Well spoken. Against the city "kill switch" at meetings. Supports "penny" sales tax.

Curtis Richardson - Democrat - Current Florida House Representative of Dist. 8. A Psychologist consultant,
David "Bubba" Riddle - Former Army and former Corrections officer (20 years). Has a hard time answering interview questions. Supports an independent ethics officer.  Supports "penny" sales tax.

City Commissioner Seat 3

Nancy Miller -  Current City Commissioner. Former Project Coordinator of TAPP. Former Urban Planning Consultant. Voted against independent ethics officer.

Steve Stewart - (My Pick) Runs the newspaper "Tallahassee Reports". Electrical Engineer, realtor, business owner that does marketing and printing. Has focused campaign on reducing Utility rates, making City spending more transparent, and making doing business easier. Strong conservative.

 

Leon County General Election

This is my take and observations on the candidates on my ballot. I include links where I can but really this is an exercise to help ME decide who to vote for. Hope it helps those others out there researching.

Research Websites:
WFSU Bandwagon - A bunch of 3-minute videos of each candidate "debating"
League of Women Voters - short summaries of each candidate
Chamber of Commerce guide
James Madison Institute guide
Florida Family Policy Council guide


United States Senator:
Connie Mack - REP - (My Pick) I am really not a big fan of Connie but he is way better than Bill

Bill Nelson - DEM - I have never liked Nelson, I'm sure he is a fine person, but he is very liberal and has been in politics way too long.

Representative in Congress/ 2nd Congressional Congressional District:
Steve Southerland - REP - (My Pick)When I first supported Steve in the last election I wasn't sure how he would actually vote. He has been great, voting conservative often against his own party.
Al Lawson - DEM - I'm not sure how Al got elected previously, he is not a good speaker and avoids debate.

State Attorney, 2nd Judicial Circuit:
I'm not sure who to pick for this one. I think either one will do a good job.
Pete Williams- REP - (My pick) The recent Inspector General for the Florida Department of Education, he has an impressive resume. He as worked in a number of different prosecutor positions in Florida including, Statewide Prosecutor, and director of the Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco.
Willie Meggs - DEM - Overall I think Meggs has done a good job. He has been State Attorney a long time, even retiring then getting re-elected for another term. My one issue is that after being elected he "retired" for 30 days so he could collect retirement and salary at the same time.

State Senator District 3:
This is a hard choice
John Shaw - REP -  27 year old IT professional, small business owner. Irish Step Dancer. One of his major platforms is legalizing industrial hemp. I happen to agree with this issue. More of a libertarian than republican: Pro-choice, pro-2nd amendment, pro-single payer healthcare, non-interventionist, pro-FairTax.
Bill Montford - DEM - (My reluctant pick) Current State Senator. A former teacher and long time school principal has served Leon County Superintendent of schools and as Leon County Commissioner in the 80's.

State Representative 9th House District:
Bradley Maxwell -  REP - (My pick) A really nice guy. I know him from the NE conservative club. A small business owner.
Michelle Rehwinkel Vasilinda - DEM - Our current state representative. She is a fairly moderate democrat but still too liberal for me.

Sheriff:
Based on my sources I think it is time for a change.
Larry Campbell - DEM - Our sheriff since 1996. I have thought that he has done a pretty good job. I would like to see a little more discipline among some of the officers.
Lisa Sprague - NPA- (My uncertain pick) CEO of private security firm. Former Deputy Chief of Police for Florida State University. Says she has 30 years of law enforcement experience but clear where.

Superintendent of Schools:
Jackie Pons - DEM - (My pick) Our current Superintendent of Schools. He seems to have done a good job and will probably do better than Allen.
Sabrina M. Allen - NPA - A teacher for 15 years in English and reading. Has a MS degree in special ed. I listened to an interview with her. She is a little crazy.

Retaining Judges:
I heard that justices in Florida have always been retained.
I'm voting NO for all the Judges. I think it is time for a change in particular the Supreme court is very liberal.
Supreme Court major decisions.
District Court Judges:
Simone Marstiller
Stephanie Ray
Ron Swanson
Brad Thomas

Circuit Judge, 2nd Circuit Group 2
Barbara Hobbs - Owns Private law firm for 16 years. Attorney for DOT for 9 years
Josefina M. Tamayo - (My Pick) The current circuit judge. She has a more impressive resume being the attorney for 3 different state agencies and a former assistant state attorney.

Board of County Commissioners At Large, Group 1
I don't really like either choice but one is better than the other.
Akin Akinyemi - My favorite quote from him. "I am a very humble man, but I have done more for this county in 3 years than anyone." He is a little crazy. He also likes to spend the county's money.
Mary Ann Lindley - (My reluctant Pick) Newspaper columnist. Has been a part of a lot of local organizations and awards.

City Commissioner Seat 1
Scott Maddox - Former mayor of Tallahassee. Former chair of the Democratic party.
Steve Stewart - (My Pick) I like Steve. I've listened to him speak a couple of times.

Leon Soil & Water Conservation District I Supervisor
Martha Lang - FSU doctoral student in "Philosophy"
Lorin Ann Pratt - (My Pick) Worked for Northwest Florida Water Management District, and the City's Utility Dept.
Ryan Terrell - Self proclaimed activist with no real experience

Leon Soil & Water Conservation District 3 Supervisor
Phyllis Basch Smith - no info
Tabitha Frazier - (My Pick) Current seat holder. MS in environmental engineering.
Evan Power - MS political science.

Leon Soil & Water Conservation District 5 Supervisor
Blas J. Gomez - (My Pick) Current seat holder. Works for the City Utilities Dept. MS Environmental Engineering.
William Helmich - BA Military History. Owns local business consulting firm.
William Howell - no info

The Amendments
In general if you don't understand and amendment it is better to vote NO.
Amendment 1 - (Yes, just for fun) This is basically a protest vote against Obama Care. But since Federal law trumps state law, it doesn't really do much. A “yes” vote means you want the Florida Constitution to include a provision that prohibits the government from requiring you to purchase health insurance

Amendment 2 - (Yes) OK I'm a sucker for Disabled vets and I dislike the whole idea of property tax (you never really own your property).

Amendment 3 - (Yes) This is a measure that already passed through the Legislature but must now be voted on by the public. " Amendment 3 really amounts to requiring a super majority vote of the legislature to pass a major tax increase."(Tax Watch) Supported by the James Madison Institute and the FL Chamber of Commerce.

Amendment 4 - (uncertain No) This is another measure that already passed through the Legislature but must now be voted on by the public. I like that it limits non-homestead property tax increases. While I agree with the premise of the amendment I think it is too complicated and involves too many parts. It could be broken down into 3 amendments. I also worry about how it would effect the budget when (not if) we start having massive inflation.


Amendment 5 - (uncertain Yes) Another measure that already passed through the Legislature but must now be voted on by the public. Allows the legislature to veto Supreme Court nominations and have more control over the rules governing judges. Supported by the James Madison Institute and the FL Chamber of Commerce. Florida Farm Bureau recommends NO.

Amendment 6 - (Yes) Another measure that already passed through the Legislature but must now be voted on by the public. Prevents state funding for abortions, with exceptions for life of mother, rape, etc. Also makes it easier to pass laws requiring parents to be informed before minors can have an abortion.

Amendment 8 - (Yes) Another measure that already passed through the Legislature but must now be voted on by the public. This is basically a repeal of the 1885 anti-Catholic "Blaine Amendment". I agree with the premise of the amendment. Supported by Florida Family Policy Council the Florida Chamber of Commerce and the James Madison Institute.

Amendment 9 - (Yes) Another measure that already passed through the Legislature but must now be voted on by the public. Uggh another property tax amendment for another special group. Did I mention I'm against the whole idea of property taxes? This allows (not requires) the Legistlature to reduce/eliminate property taxes for surviving spouses of Veterans or First responders. Expected to reduce state income by less than 1 million.

Amendment 10 (Yes) This gives counties the option for a  tax cut that can actually produce jobs for FL. It lets county governments give businesses both large and small the ability to exempt more of there office equipment like computers printers and chairs from further taxes. That businesses are taxed every year on things they already bought and paid taxes on is just wrong.

Amendment 11 (hesitant Yes) This gives the county governments the option (and does not mandate) to grant the 65+ crowd lower property taxes if they have been resident for 25 years. I'm for this because it gives counties more flexibility with their own tax structure.

Amendment 12 (Yes) This changes the pick for student representative to the University Board of Governors from an organization that does not include all FL universities to one that does. This insignificant amendment is here because the FL Constitution is full of stuff that shouldn't be in it and an amendment is required to do anything.

Leon County, Florida Primary Ballot Blog

Leon County, Florida Primary Ballot Blog (Republican Party)

Don't forget to vote August 24, 2010

This is my take and observations on the candidates on my ballot. I include links where I can but really this is an exercise to help ME decide who to vote for. Hope it helps those others out there researching

United States Senator:

William Escoffey III- a doctor no one has heard of, may have a website but hard to find

William Billy Kogut - (My Pick) Would be a great candidate if he had a prayer and some funding. A founding member of "Judicial Watch", wants to repeal Obama-Care, focus on the constitution.

Marco Rubio - (Almost as good) Has served in the FL House of Rep for 8 years part of that time as Majority whip. Really the only one of the three that has a chance. I have liked most of what I have heard from him in interviews etc. this past year. He is a solid conservative candidate.

US 2nd Congressional District: (lots of good candidates hard to go wrong)

Eddie Hendry - I like Eddie Hendry I've met and talked with him, and listened to some interviews with him. He knows his constitution and is a strong advocate for limited government.

Ron McNeil - An inventor with several small businesses and patents focusing on environmental issues. Ran for this congress seat during and supported by Ronald Reagan. A solid conservative.

Barbara F. Olschner - I agree with most of what she has spoken about but I have 2 criticisms. 1. she is open to tax increases to lower the deficit. 2. she thinks that being a lawyer makes her better qualified.

David Scholl - (My Pick by a hair margin) Retired Air Force pilot with a strong conservative background, good sense of humor, well spoken, has a strong understanding of the constitution and current politics.

Steve Southerland - Funeral Director, has lived in NW FL for a long time. I pretty much agreed with all of his issues as stated on his website. Is against off-shore drilling in FL. A solid conservative.

FL Governor: (this is a tough decision)

Mike McCallister - Ret. Colonel. Can't find a website or any real information on him.

Bill McCollum - (My Pick by a hair margin) Current FL Attorney General, retired-Navy JAG corp., 20 years as US congressman. I haven't liked his total focus on negative campaigning. Very little talk of his position on the issues. On a positive note is endorsed by Jeb Bush, Dick Army and Steve Forbes. In the end I think he will have an edge over Rick in winning the general election.

Rick Scott - Ex-Navy, Lawyer, Founder of two health care companies. I like that he is a political outsider and a self made millionaire. I like his stances on the issues, i.e. limited government, supports Arizona immigration law. I had written off Rick because of accusations about a "Playboy" connection, but after research have realized are not true. Accused but not convicted of fraud.

FL Attorney General

Holly Benson - Secretary of Health Administration, Former head of Dept of Business and Professional Regulation. Was FL House of Representative for 6 years. endorsed by Newt Gingrich. Will continue State law suite against Obama Care, supports AZ immigration law. Strong 2nd amendment and pro-life.

Pam Bondi - (My Pick) Was registered Democrat until 2000. Has worked as an Assistant State Attorney for 18 years. Has served on several councils and chairs as a prosecutor. Endorsed by Sarah Palin. She is my pick because she has the most experience as an Attorney and not a politician.

Jeff Kottkamp - Current Lt. Governor. Was FL House of Representatives for 3 terms. Endorsed by FL Right to Life.

FL 9th House District

Kirk Headley-Perdue - (My Pick) Long term clinical social worker, current owner of a graphic design business. Seems fairly conservative. Has a strong focus on personal responsibility. Seems "level headed"

Ann Yarko - A young recent FSU grad. Wants to "protect state workers." A strong conservative wants to pass stricter illegal immigrant laws and supports lower government spending and tax cuts. I like her ideas but I think she is a little too young and inexperienced.

Circuit Judge, 2nd Circuit Group 9 (Check out this Site)

Eddie Evans - (My Pick) 18 years as district state attorney for Leon, Gadsden, Franklin, and Wakulla Counties, former Mayor of Sopchoppy, auxiliary state trooper. A hard choice but my pick because I tend to lean toward the Prosecutor mind set.

Karen Gievers - strong child advocate and has won several awards because of it.

Barbara Hobbs - liberal judge - admits that her "life experiences" makes a difference in the quality of judge. Has had a lot of different jobs as an attorney, both as a prosecutor and advocate.

Bruce Leinback - VP of Jefferson Historical Society, served as Special Assistant US attorney, US attorney working with Panama Canal, City Attorney for Monticello, Adjunct Professor at FSU, private attorney.

J. Layne Smith - public defender, over 22 years private practice trial attorney

Leon County Commissioner at Large Group 2

Nick Maddox - Former FSU and NFL football player. Real estate Degree. Current VP of Development for Bowden Foundation for Ethical Leadership. Considers himself "a conservative Democrat", is OK with raising taxes, focus on affordable housing in the county.

Rick Malphurs - Former Marine, currently works at family owned CJ Malphurs Septic Service. Has served on local citizen committees. A focus on growing and encouraging small business and limiting county spending. I like Rick definately not a politician.

Scott Matteo - (My Pick) Registered professional engineer. 2nd term Ochlochonee River Soil and Water District Chairman. Favors term limits for commissioners. Promised to not raise taxes. Wants to streamline County permitting. Registered Democrat. Would like a Arts center but not willing to raise taxes to build it.

Cliff Thaell - Has been county commissioner for 16 years. Radical environmentalist. anti-business. Pushed for a Leon County based Health Care program which of course would have had additional taxes.

Tallahassee Mayor

Larry Hendricks - He wants less development and fewer roads. The video interview is entertaining. I'd pick Marks before him.

John Marks - Our current mayor whose main focus has been on trying to get awards for having the "greenest" city. Works full time as a lawyer, part time mayor. Has refused to be interviewed by WFLA and avoids questions at town hall meetings. On a positive note has made Tallahassee parks a priority.

Steve Stewart - (My Pick) Electrical Engineer, realtor, business owner that does marketing and printing. Has focused campaign on reducing Utility rates, making City spending more transparent, and making doing business easier.

Tallahassee City Commissioner Seat 3

Stephen Hogge - Considers himself a political moderate. Silver Life member of the NAACP. Has done a lot of volunteer work for city, even won some awards for it.

Nancy Miller - (My Pick) I met Nancy she seemed very well informed, was well spoken, and has been active in the community and a small business owner.

Bill Rollins - Wants to focus on improving the South side of town. I met Bill, he seems like a nice guy that is fairly well informed and would be OK at this position just probably not as good as Nancy.

Tallahassee City Commissioner Seat 5

Erwin Jackson - (My Pick) I met Erwin at a debate. Not a politician, but very well informed and has a passion for saving money for himself and the city. A poor dresser (a plus in my book) and a OK speaker.

James Moran - FAMU professor of pharmacy. Served in Army. Supports lower taxes, but also a county wide Health Care Program. (how are you going to fund that).

Gil Ziffer - I met Gil at a debate. The current stand in commissioner for someone that quit early. He is smooth well spoken but definitely a politician.

Election 2008

Here we go again: this is a big one

President (if you know me you should already know where I stand)
Just in case you didn't here is a few things you should know about Obama
- He was the only one in the Illinois state senate (that is 1 out of 100) to vote against a bill to save babies that survive abortions (they were sticking viable living children in a closet to starve to death)
- He kicked off his first campaign in the house of an admitted and proud terrorist William Ayers then sat on two boards with him and helped Mr. Ayers promote one of his books. Ayers is responsible for fire bombing peoples houses and the pentagon. On Sept 11, 2001 Ayers said he didn't go far enough and should have done more (referring to the bombings)

2nd Congressional District
Mark Mulligan (REP) - (MY Pick) General conservative views/ against the recent bailout packages/
Allen Boyd (DEM) - blue dog Democrat, voted for both of the 800 billion dollar Bail Outs/socialist take over of our banks even though he admitted 90% of constituents called or emailed against the bill. I am tired of Allen Boyd, I voted for him before... not again

State Representative - 9th House District
Peter Boulware (REP): (My Pick) General conservative views
Michelle Rehwinkel Vasilinda (DEM): big time liberal, I heard her say in an interview that one of her top priorities is raising taxes, her other big priority is providing more benefits to state workers.
John Shaw (NPA): One of his primary issues is trying to legalize marijuana

Judges: Unless I know of misconduct by a judge I won't vote for or against their retainment

Circuit Judge, 2nd Circuit, Group 7, (either one sounds like a good choice fairly even)
Lisa Raleigh (My Pick) lot of community service work, prosecuting attorney office
Frank E. Sheffield has a more experience than Lisa, but has mostly just been a trial lawyer

County Judge, Group 5
Nina Ashenafi Richardson: only legal experience as staff counsel for FEA. A lot of community involvement but little court room experience
Sean Desmond: (My Pick) was Assistant State Attorney for Leon and Franklin Counties, and owned his own law firm and worked at another private firm.

County Commissioner At Large, Group 1
Akin Akinyemi: interesting guy, but leans liberal.
Ed DePuy: (My Pick) I'm sure you've heard commercials against him from the police union, they stretch the truth with their accusations, being that Ed is one of only 2 semi conservatives on the County commission, and the ONLY one to vote against raising property taxes I'm voting for him.

Ocklockonee River Soil & Water Conservation District 1 Supervisor
Brian Acosta (NO) 23 years old, FAMU student, doctors aid
Sean McGlynn (My Pick) 52 years old, B.S. in Biochemistry, Doctorate in Biology, Library director for McGlynn Laboratories Inc

The Amendments: My rule of thumb if I don't understand it I shouldn't be voting for it.

Amendment #1 (YES or NO) [it doesn't really matter]
Eliminates some language already in the constitution that gives the legislature power to limit land ownership of people that are ineligible for US citizenship. This has been around since WWII and has never been used, Yes or No I don't think this Amendment matters.

Amendment #2 (YES)
Florida Marriage Protection Amendment. "Protects marriage as the legal union of only one man and one woman as husband and wife." With Massachusetts and now California legalizing gay marriage, this could help protect Florida.

Amendment #3 (NO/Maybe)
Your property taxes can't go up if you put hurricane shutters or a solar water heater on your house — for example. Any storm-hardening or renewable energy source would be exempt.
I agree with the idea I just don't think this should be in the Florida Constitution, the legislature should do this on their own. I'm OK if you want to vote Yes.

Amendment #4 (NO)
Basically land set aside for conservation (by counties or individuals) get tax breaks.
This sounds nice until you realize everybody elses taxes will be increased to make up the difference. There is a lot of conservation land in Florida (est 9.6 million acres)

Amendment #6 (Yes)
Basically changes the tax law so that marinas and oyster slips are taxed based on what they are being used as instead if the lands potential use (high rise condos). This will help Florida's boating and fishing industry as they are currently being taxed at the lands highest potential. It is like you owned a 10 acre lot with a 3 bedroom house but were taxed like a Walmart because a Walmart "could" fit on your property.

Amendment #8 (NO)
This would allow counties to vote on increasing county sales taxes to support their local Community College.
I just don't want Leon County adding more taxes for one more thing.

Wallstreet Blue Light Special

The Market is Down way Down... Should I pull all of my $ from the 401K.... NO, I'm bargain shopping.

Today I scaped together what little money I could find to buy a few shares of an S&P 500 ETF index fund. Specifically Rydex S&P 500(RPV). The S&P 500 is down 16% for the year. On average (except for this year) is has gone up 8 - 10% a year. Unless you think that our country will totally collapse it is going to go back up. I would not be suprised if the stock market continues to go down, even for a few months, but at this level the S&P 500 is "cheap".

Birds of a Feather

For the third time, my friend Sandra and I are pregnant--at the same time. Our daughters were born 2 weeks apart, our sons 2.5 months apart, and now we are about 3.5 months apart. I wanted to take this picture for posterity as it will probably be the last time we have this kinship. She is 38 weeks and I am 23 weeks. She is beginning to have prelabor symptoms and I am nostalgic for this fun bond. I have loved having someone to share this time with and hope we always stick together...even outside of pregnancy.

One thing we haven't talked about....

About 6 weeks ago, just after we found out we were pregnant, Ellie (who did not know we were expecting unil 4 days ago) asked me if she could name one of the babies in my belly. I laughed and said "What?" She said, "There's two babies in your belly, can I name one of them?" This was amusing, although slightly alarming since she had foreshadowed my pregnancy with Clark a few days before we found out. She has since mentioned either "twins" or "the babies" many times in last 6 weeks, including this morning at breakfast where she said she had decided to name the boy-Darren and the girl Dorrie. Spencer just chuckled.

Well, at about 9:30 this morning we had our first appt. and ultrasound. Dr. B put the wand on my belly and turned the machine on. The first image that came up on the screen was a perfect shot of two sacs and he quickly moved the wand, looked at us with a startled face and started to say " Well...one thing we haven't talked about..." . Now this may have worked for some first timers, but we've seen a few ultrasounds in our day. He looked at our huge eyes and mouths agape, and said "Shoot...I was going to try to prep you...but... Congratulations! You're having twins!" We looked at each other and started laughing. We filled him in on our 5-year-old prophetess and he got a big kick out of it and started telling nurses in the hall. He also requested I bring her in on my next visit so he could meet her and possibly get some lotto numbers :-) Spencer says her spiritual gift shall only be used for good, not state-regulated gambling.

Needless to say, we are shocked, thrilled, scared and excited about having twins. All I can say is God's plans are bigger than ours!

California Facism

Reason number 324 why I don't want to live in California. Here is a good way to make sure your kids don't get taught crazy things like religion or unbiased history.

California Court Rules Parents Must Have Teaching Credentials to Home School Kids, Friday, March 07, 2008

read the Full Story

Facism:1 : a political philosophy, movement, or regime (as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition (Websters dict.)

Long Overdue

I can't believe its March already....especially since I'm getting ready to post Christmas pictures :-) Ellie's class had a very sweet Christmas party. Then there was the Christmas play...which, thanks to Sandra, Ellie had the standard uniform for (no shedding of the sheep this year).

We spent Christmas with all the Mitchells' in Ocala. We decided to be very brave and try to get a group photo of the cousins. The best option was after the Christmas Eve service when they were all still dressed up. By the way, if you've ever wondered what Christmas would look like with 6 children receiving gifts (from many families, check out the MOUNTAIN of gifts behind the kids. It's hard to tell in the picture, but it comes out about 6 feet or so...it was so much fun on Christmas morning. Jay, Jo, Spencer and I all slept on air mattresses in their play room and were totally free game for pouncing early in the morning.

For New Years', the Ocala Mitchells' and Mary's family all came to our house...which was CRAZY FUN! Ellie & Clark got an easel for Christmas and Thatcher and Rylee decided to try it out. Joanna was reminded of why she doesn't have such an easel with paint at the ready. ;-) We also had a very hard freeze while the Keels' were still here and Spencer left the mister on all night to make icicles for the kids. They loved eating them.

Ellie has really enjoyed her easel and for about the first 10 paintings, they all looked the same as in the picture. They were variations on a princess with very long hair. She's very comtemplative as she paints and studies her work often. Clark likes the chalkboard side which we put lower at his height, and try to keep him from eating the
chalk.

Presidential Primaries

The Republican Primary ... as I see it.

It is a hard pick between all of the Republican Candidates. Most have good qualities that if cobbled together would make a great president. Because of the number of candidates and huge number of issues this is oversimplified. Fox News gives good overviews for more info.

Because the Florida Primary is so early this year (Jan 29) it will really make a difference in who gets elected!!!

In Alphabetical order:

Fred Thompson DROPPED OUT of Race (aka. the guy on Law and Order, my #1 pick)
Experience: Assistant US Attorney in Nashville, TN, private attorney, council on Watergate committee, actor (18 films), 8 years in the Senate, (Chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee)
Positives: has 100% Pro-life voting record, strongest conservative in the bunch, Good ideas on Social Security, strong stance against illegal immigration, strong supporter of less government spending and lower taxes.
Negatives: Got in the race late, Has a hard time expressing his opinions on TV

John McCain (aka the Maverick)
Experience: 22 years as Navy pilot, Arizona rep. US House of Representatives since 1982-1986, US Senate 1986-present
Positives: Strong supporter of Troop Surge and finishing work in Iraq, Strong anti-pork/earmarking. War Hero former POW
Negatives: Voted against Bush Tax cuts, Wrote McCain-Finegold which limits free speech possibly more than any other bill ever. Supports radical changes to policy to prevent Gorebal Warming (not misspelled). Wrote McCain-Kennedy would have basically given amnesty to illegal aliens (bill did not pass)
Personal Note: I don't like McCain, he loves the press and will say stuff just to get on camera

Mike Huckabee (aka the Southern Baptist Preacher)
Experience: 1996-2007 governor of Arkansas, past chairman of the National Governors’ Association, Southern Baptist Preacher
Positives: Very Strong Pro Life (as Pro as you can get). Personality, has a great wit and is very likable. Supports the Fair Tax plan, supports Marriage Amendment, Strong 2nd Amendment supporter.
Negatives: Immigration (supports scholarships and instate tuition for illegals), Endorsed by the NEA (national teachers union), Raised taxes a lot more than cut taxes while governor. Very little foreign affairs experience
Personal Note: Jimmy Carter was a Pro-life Southern Baptist too...

Mitt Romney (aka the wealthy Mormon, my #2 pick)
Experience: Former CEO of venture capital firm (Domino's, Staples, and Sealy) Governor of Massachusetts (2002-2006), Credited for turning around Utah winter Olympics from near failure to a success,
Positives: lowered taxes and helped to balance budget in Mass., claims strong pro-life stance, successful businessman, strong health-care plan
Negatives: Is longtime member of the Mormon faith, was once pro-choice, has implied possibly increasing taxes on rich.

Dr. Ron Paul (aka the Libertarian)
Experience: Air-Force flight surgeon, several years in specialist in obstetrics/gynecology, US congress for many years,
Positives: Anti-government control, wants to lower taxes and decrease spending, a federalist, strong Pro-Lifer, wants to reduce the size of government, good health-care ideas
Negatives: Is a nut job. An Isolationist, Wants to take ALL of our troops around the world back to US soil. Basically said Israel is on their own and he wouldn't help if they were attacked.

Rudy Giuliani (aka the country's Mayor)
Experience: assistant attorney general under Regan, US prosecuting attorney n NY, Former two term mayor of NYC
Positives: Turned NYC from a dirty crime-ridden city to clean and low crime, A strong leader during the 911 tragedy, is now strongly against illegal immigration, wants to lower taxes, strong supporter of reduced gov. spending, strong on anti-terrorism
Negatives: weak on 2nd Amendment (outlawed guns in NYC), pre 911 was soft on illegal immigration, strong supporter of gay "rights", use to be pro-choice

Financial Geek continues....

I hate when I miss opportunities.

Last night after checking my email I did some of my homework on the two stocks I own Regions Financial (RF) and Toyota (TM). Both stocks have been knocked down due to the housing market troubles, but I'm in it for the long term esp. with Regions since it pays a good dividend.

Anyway I saw two articles on Regions Financial that both had just been published after the stock market closed that day. I new in my gut that Regions was headed for a big drop the next day. Being by nature lazy I decided not to do anything and went on to play video games.

The next day it dropped about 3 dollars per share.

What I should have done is sold Regions after reading the news, so I could have bought it back the next afternoon or following trading day after it had taken the major hit. Even if it had continued to drop I would have saved myself 3 dollars a share (minus the trading costs). I could have sold the shares and invested in something that I knew wasn't plunging the next day. Either way I should have sold.

Lesson to Self: Don't be afraid to cut your losses and run. As Jim Cramer says "worry about the downside of a stock the upside will take care of itself"

Our multi-ethnic family

I saw this fun link on the Walworths' blog that takes your picture, decides which celebrity you most resemble, then morphs your face into theirs. Sounded pretty fun...Darcy and Madeleine were Reese Witherspoon, Nena - Lindsay Lohan, and Jeremy - Bill Gates....pretty good matchups, I thought. Then there's our family. Here's who they thought we most resembled (no joke):

Carey - Lacey Chabert (who?)
Ellie - Rebecca Romijn (Dutch model actress)
Clark - Ai Otsuka (a female Japanese pop-singer)
Spencer - Usher (African American rap/R&B singer)

Our family is bound by neither ethnicity, nationality, race or gender...apparently.

For the financial Geek

WARNING!!! Boring financial blog Only read if you care about stocks.
OK so I like looking at stocks. I don't really have money to buy stocks but I like to learn and play.
One if not the hardest thing about picking stocks is determining valuation. (how cheap or expensive is a particular stock).

Looking at the ratio of a company's market capitalization (total value of all the company's stock) to its book value (total value of a company's assets) is a good starting point for determining the proper price of a stock. The price determination is more valuable when you also include the total liabilities of a company in the comparison.
I calculated the ratio of the market capitalization to the book value minus the total liabilities for several car companies (compare).
Prices are from 11/4/07

	HMC	TM	NSANY	VLKAY	DAI	GM	F
market cap	67	180	47	29	111	21	18
Assets	105	285	108	194	270	186	278
assets/cap	1.57	1.58	2.30	6.69	2.43	8.86	15.44
liabilities	66	182	78	156	221	191	282
Compare	1.72	1.75	1.57	0.76	2.27	-4.20	-4.50

The results are interesting. It looks like the lowest number (that is not a negative number) would be the best stock value (the cheapest).
First off both GM and Ford have more liabilities than assets would lead me to not buy their stock (how can their stock be worth anything??).
It may be important to look at the companies in there respective regions.
Out of the 3 Japanese companies it looks like Nissan has the cheaper stock
Out of the 3 US companies Daimler Chrysler with less liabilities than assets is the clear winner.
Volkswagen being a European company is kinda by itself and the clear winner out of all of them. Even after subtracting for liabilities the companies assets are 1.3 times the market capitalization. Meaning that if the company ended today and sold off all its assets and paid its debtors first, the stock owners would still make a 30% profit.
I may be selling my TM stock to by VLKAY soon.
I know there are problems with this method as with all valuation methods but it seems like a good starting point.
What do you think? Criticisms and suggestions welcome. I'm still learning.

Halloween Party!

Some pictures of the Halloween party with our fun friends. They had a great time bobbing for apples, jumping in the "hay" (pine straw) and eating Spencer's delicious homemade caramel apples and white chocolate "ghosts" strawberries. Oh, and I knew I was too busy with hostessing duties when 45 minutes into the party, I noticed Ellie had forgotten to put on half of her costume-the bloomers and shoes. Of, course this was after all the pictures were taken :-) Oh, and isn't Julie creative with her belly? Penelope Jane was born 6 days later!

These are the days...

Working in the environment I do, I am often reminded by patients (usually after they find out the ages of my children) that these are the most wonderful years. Their eyes light up and this wistful smile spreads across their face as I see them going back in time to the memories of the days when their own children were young. Sometimes, they ask what new milestones mine are accomplishing, or their favorite activities. This usually leads to what their own children are doing now, but its different somehow. I'm grateful for this frequent reminder of how preciously short this phase of my children's lives will be, and that one day a wistful smile will fall on my face.

"...Your right hand will hold me fast"

Our niece, Rylee Mitchell (Jay and Joanna's daughter) is scheduled for open heart surgery on Tuesday 9/25. They are going to correct a congenital hole at the top of her heart. Please pray for her, her doctors and her family. The doctors anticipate she will be in the ICU for about 5-6 days, then going home.




O Lord you have searched me
and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down,
you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue
you know it completely, O Lord.

You hem me in--behind and before;
you have laid your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.

Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there,
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.

If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,"
even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.

For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.

How precious to me are your thoughts,
O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand.
When I awake,
I am still with you.

Psalm 139:1-18

Good News!

It's a funny thing when a parent realizes that their children are actually listening. Sometimes, this may be worrisome, sometimes inspirational. We had this experience last week. Our friends, the Walworths', came to visit, which is always fun. One afternoon, the conversation turned to making mistakes and what we should do about them. I was in the middle of an explanation when this happened:

Madeleine : Yeah...if you spill something, like juice or Sprite, you can't go be with God.
(I start to say something about God always loving us....)
Madeleine : Yep...if you spill rootbeer or coffee, you can't go be with God.
(At this point, Ellie who was sitting nearby listening jumps in...)
Ellie: No, no, that's not true! God still loves us even if we do bad stuff. Jesus took the bad stuff away on the cross so we can be with God. Isn't that great?
Madeleine: Oh yeah, that's great!

Simple message. Genuine response.

More getaway pics

Ellie working on her blowfish impersonation















Panning for gold in Lake Blue Ridge















Ranen comtemplates what goes into his grouper sandwich
















This guy tries to make a deal with Clark to let him out.




















Ellie really wanted to touch some of the fish.




















We encountered a exotic species locally known as Sandraeus Bennagium. She is rumored to be nocturnal and is rarely photographed in her natural environment.

Retreating to the hills...

My three little geologists...















Clark was able to combine his two great loves in life: being outside and physically attached to his daddy.



















Ellie gets a lesson on skipping rocks from her Dad (who's got the mad skills)


Ellie created a family of rocks and played here with them for quite a while as the rest of us swam.


We were able to get away this summer, and it was rejuvenating . What made it especially nice was that we were able to do it with friends. We spent the week in a cabin just outside of Blue Ridge, GA. Day activities included hiking in the mountains, swimming and fishing in Lake Blue Ridge, visiting Ducktown (more on that later), playing in the creek behind the cabin, naps, computer games (well, for some of us), some serious Catan-playing and stopping at the Georgia Aquarium on our way back.

Some favorite highlights include:

* Ellie and Adah playing in their "cellar" or the basement/rec room which also was where their bedroom was. I think they liked having a floor all to themselves.
* Ranen trying make friends with Clark. He was often attempting interactions like hugging, petting and sitting beside him, all of which Clark interpreted as signs of agression and immediately began crying. Ranen was persistent though, and by the end of the week, the two were able to coexist more peacefully.
* Ducktown, which is a "environmental train-wreck of a town" where the copper-mining in the 1800's went awry. The result was sulfuric-acid rain that created a barren wasteland of 32,000 acres that took over 100 years to rehabilitate. Spencer loved it and the blackberry bushes nearby that we found had the most ENORMOUS blackberries we've ever seen. Gotta love environmentally-mutated fruit.
* Visiting High Falls State Park, a place I frequented as a student at Mercer. I have fond memories of frolicking on the rocks, wading in the river and having picnics right by the falls. Unfortunately, since then, they have put up fences and signs everywhere forbidding getting in the water or climbing on the rocks. It saddened me to think about all the adventures our children won't be able to participate in to ensure our "safe" world.
* Listening to conversations between Ellie and Adah in the car. They sound so grown-up when conversing on their own.
* Watching my husband and children examining rocks together. Although for Clark, there was a little examining and a lot of throwing :-)
* Discovering that both my children really enjoy rock-climbing. Their Uncle Jay will be proud.
* The Georgia Aquarium (Atlanta)--largest aquarium in the world and very cool. I highly recommend it, but you're better off visiting on a weekday, as the weekends are very crowded. Whale sharks, beluga whales, penguins, huge viewing walls, walk thru tunnels of water, touch pools for the kids.
* "Chillaxin'" with the Bennages'. They rock!