Tis the season and there are celebrations of Christmas all over the world. Here are a sampling of some of the trees that are displayed around the world.

The Capitol Christmas tree in Washington, D.C., is decorated with 3,000 ornaments that are the handiwork of U.S. schoolchildren. Encircling evergreens in the 'Pathway of Peace' represent the 50 U.S. states.

A token of gratitude for Britain's aid during World War II, the Christmas tree in London's Trafalgar Square has been the annual gift of the people of Norway since 1947.

 Drink a glass of gluhwein from the holiday market at the Romer Frankfurt's city hall since 1405 and enjoy a taste of Christmas past.

The world's largest Christmas tree display rises up the slopes of Monte Ingino outside of Gubbio, in Italy's Umbria region. Composed of about 500 lights connected by 40,000 feet of wire, the 'tree' is a modern marvel for an ancient city. 

 Ooh la la Galeries Lafayette! In Paris, even the Christmas trees are chic. With its monumental, baroque dome, plus 10 stories of lights and high fashion, it's no surprise this show-stopping department store draws more visitors than the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower

The largest Christmas tree in Europe (more than 230 feet tall) can be found in the Praça do Comércio in Lisbon, Portugal. Thousands of lights adorn the tree, adding to the special enchantment of the city during the holiday season.

Moscow celebrates Christmas according to the Russian Orthodox calendar on Jan. 7. For weeks beforehand, the city is alive with festivities in anticipation of Father Frost's arrival on his magical troika with the Snow Maiden. He and his helper deliver gifts under  the New Year tree, or yolka, which is traditionally a fir.

A Christmas tree befitting Tokyo's nighttime neon display is projected onto the exterior of the Grand Prince Hotel Akasaka.

In addition to the Vatican's heavenly evergreen, St. Peter's Square in Rome hosts a larger-than-life nativity scene in front of the obelisk.

The Christmas tree that greets revelers at the Puerta del Sol is dressed for a party. Madrid's two-week celebration makes millionaires along with merrymakers. On Dec. 22, a lucky citizen will win El Gordo (the fat one), the world's biggest lottery.

Against a backdrop of tall, shadowy firs, a rainbow trio of Christmas trees lights up the night (location unknown).

What ever your Christmas traditions amy be or the type of tree that may or may not be put up, it's a worldwide tradition that appears to be non-secular. Merry Christmas

XEROX IS DOING SOMETHING COOL

If you go to this web site, http://www.letssaythanks.com you can pick out a thank you card and Xerox will print it and it will be sent to a soldier that is currently serving in  Iraq . You can't pick out who gets it, but it will go to a member of the armed services.

How AMAZING it would be if we could get everyone we know to send one!!!    It is FREE and it only takes a second.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if the soldiers received a bunch of these?    Whether you are for or against the war, our soldiers over there need to know we are behind them.

This takes just 10 seconds and it's a wonderful way to say thank you.    Please take the time and please take the time to pass it on for others to do.  We can never say enough thank yous. 

The cards are originals that have been done by children from all over the country and sent directly overseas. By logging on, you can pick from many choices. insert a pre-printed script or create your own. In this season, 10 seconds means nothing, but to somebody overseas at this time of year it will mean much.

I know there have been similar posts, but I don't think putting this up again is improper.

Thanks for taking to time to support our military!

We got it and it won't be the last, the first real snow of the season left us with 4" of the white stuff, and the weather pattern is starting to resemble the pattern we've had all summer. That would be precipitation every 4-5 days, only in July and August we would call it rain. With the temp hovering in the low 30's, it's snow.

This was the view from the deck at 8:00 AM this morning, and it appears to be the view I'll have until sometime in late March. Mowing the lawn is a lot easier than shoveling this stuff, I hope my wife doesn't mind it!

December 7, 1941 A Day That Will live in Infamy.

The attack on Pearl Harbor (or Hawaii Operation, Operation Z, as it was called by the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters)^[6] was an unannounced military strike conducted by the Japanese navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of Sunday, December 7, 1941 (Hawaiian time, December 8 by Japan Standard Time), which resulted in the United States becoming militarily involved in World War II. It was intended as a preventive action to keep the U.S. Pacific Fleet from influencing the war the Empire of Japan was planning to wage in Southeast Asia against Britain, the Netherlands, and the United States. The attack consisted of two aerial attack waves totaling 353 aircraft, launched from six Japanese aircraft carriers.

Many of us here do not have first hand memories of that day, and in reality had our fathers or mothers not survived that period we might not be here or what we are.

This war brought the United States out of it;s isolationalism, which was just the opposite of the purpose. This involvement would forever change the perception of the United States in the world, and until a few years ago have us as one of the lone super powers in the world and a country that the rest of the world respected and looked upon for assistance.

Franklin D Roosevelt, where are you now that we need you again!

All the signs were there. Another UConn melt down in the 4th quarter. With a 14 point lead the team on both sides of the ball were struggling to keep this game intact. Right down to the last 5 minutes UConn is doing everything to keep this victory intact. The offense sputters and has to hand the ball over to the Bulls with under 4 minutes to go. South Florida wasts no time, in returning the ball upfield with the assist of a bad kick and a foolish penalty. With 40 seconds left in the game, South Florida goes ahead 27-26; tries a 2 point conversion and fails.

UConn comes right back to the South Florida 25, where Dave Teggart nails a 42-yard field goal as time expires to give UConn a 29-27 victory. The same Teggart that missed several key field goals throughout the season that contributed to the Huskies failures. From Goat to Hero in 6 seconds and all is forgiven.

UConn will get a bowl, maybe not as important a bowl as there record could have given them, but with the season they had, it matters little. C O N G R A T U L A T I O N S Huskies!

A great 5 bedroom Colonial, ideal for a large family; 3 full baths; formal living and dining room; 1 car garage; everything gutted and redone within the past 5 years updated electrics new furnace; raised patio deck at rear of house; end of street location convenient to shopping!

Everybody has Heard of the WPA Hoover Dam project back in the 1930's which was an incredible engineering feat at the time plus put a bunch of American workers into jobs. Evidently the traffic accross the dam is having an effect on the structure so an alternate span is being constructed to bypass the Dam. Here are some photos and facts on this venture. I just had to share it!

THE WIDER VIEW:  Taking shape, the new bridge at the Hoover Dam
 
Creeping closer inch by inch, 900 feet above the mighty Colorado River, the two side of a
$160 million bridge at the Hoover Dam slowly takes shape.

The bridge will carry a new section of US Route 93 past the bottleneck of the old road which can
be twisting and winding around and across the dam itself.

When complete, it will provide a new link between the states of Nevada and Arizona .
In an incredible feat of engineering, the road will be supported on the two massive concrete
arches which jut out of the rock face.

The arches are made up of 53 individual sections each 24 feet long which have been
cast on-site and are being lifted into place using an improvised high-wire crane strung between temporary steel pylons. 
The arches will eventually measure more than 1,000 feet across.  At the moment, the structure looks
like a traditional suspension bridge.  But once the arches are complete, the suspending cables on each side
will be removed. Extra vertical columns will then be installed on the arches to carry the road.

The bridge has become known as the Hoover Dam bypass, although it is officially called the

Mike O'Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge, after a former governor of Nevada and an American Football
player from Arizona who joined the US Army and was killed in Afghanistan. Work on the bridge started in 2005
and should finish next year. An estimated 17,000 cars and trucks will cross it every day.

The dam was started in 1931 and used enough concrete to build a road from New York to San Francisco .
The stretch of water it created, Lake Mead , is 110 miles long and took six years to fill.
The original road was opened at the same time as the famous dam in 1936.

An extra note:  The top of the white band of rock in Lake Mead is the old waterline prior to the drought
and development in the Las Vegas area.  It is over 100 feet above the current water level.

 The U.S. Treasury on Monday set long-awaited guidance on a plan for mortgage companies to speed "short sales" of homes and other loan modification alternatives to stem a rising tide of foreclosures. The Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives Program provides financial incentives and simplifies the procedures for completing short sales, a growing practice in which a lender agrees to accept the sale price of a home to pay off a mortgage even if the price falls short of the amount owed.

Guidelines address barriers that have often sidelined short sales by setting limits on the time it takes a bank to approve an offer, freeing borrowers from debt and capping claims of subordinate lenders.

Financial incentives for completing short sales or similar deed-in-lieu transactions -- in which the deed is simply transferred to the lender -- include a $1,000 payment to servicers, and a maximum of $1,000 to go to investors who sign off on payments to subordinate lien holders, the Treasury said. Borrowers would receive $1,500 in relocation expenses.

Real estate agents and community groups favor short sales over foreclosure because they can preserve the borrower's credit rating and leave the property in better condition than when a homeowner is evicted. Even though a primary lender will realize steep losses on a mortgage, their recovery with a short sale is typically far better than under foreclosure.

Short sales have been very frustrating for borrowers, real estate agents and prospective buyers as the transaction is often hung up by negotiations with multiple lien holders and mortgage insurance companies. Real estate agents have complained that sales fall through as lenders bicker over the sales price, what they should receive from the proceeds, and whether the borrower will be held accountable for the debt in the future.

Among requirements, mortgage servicers have 10 days to approve or disapprove a request for short sale, and when done the transaction must fully release the borrower from the debt. By releasing the borrower from the debt, the borrower can quite possibly move on with their credit rating only being moderately scared.

In one of the most contentious issues gumming up negotiations between lenders, the guidance caps the aggregate proceeds to subordinate lien holders at $3,000. Second lien holders in recent months have begun demanding more money from the first lender, seller, buyer or agent in exchange for releasing their claim, agents have said. Because primary lenders would face larger losses in a foreclosure, some subordinate lenders have felt empowered to demand more money in order to be bought out of the property using this as their leverage. That leverage has quite possibly been removed.

Do you know anyone who is behind on their mortgage and doesn't know what to do? I may be able to help them.

Earlier this week, Ambassador Richard Weisser wrote a blog about the legacy that could have been left by some of the great individuals of our past that could have been memorialized had the Internet been here hundreds of years ago.

Coincidentally I received an email from a friend that must have read Richard's blog post. Here's the text of that email:

"It has been   said the greatest volume of sheer brainpower in one place occurred when Jefferson dined alone..."  John Kennedy       

HOW DID  JEFFERSON KNOW?????? 

When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, we shall become as corrupt as  Europe.  Thomas Jefferson   

The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.   Thomas Jefferson 

It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes. A principle which if acted on would save one-half the wars of the world.   Thomas Jefferson   

I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.   Thomas Jefferson      

My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government.   Thomas Jefferson   

No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms.   Thomas Jefferson   

The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.   Thomas Jefferson   

The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.   Thomas Jefferson   

To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.   Thomas Jefferson   

Thomas  Jefferson said in 1802:

'I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered..'

Where was this thought when the banks were going crazy with the Sub-prime loans?

'If you don't read the newspaper you are uninformed, if you do read the newspaper you are misinformed.' -Mark Twain

Apply Mark Twain's quote to the Internet of today.

Some people were such visionaries that they could well anticipate the path that the generations that would follow would take. Sometimes the easiest path is not necessarily the best path.

A home owner in a distressed loan on their mortgage faces many concerns, not only to their immediate situation, but also to the down the road consequences of their decision. For some owners that are so deeply under water foreclosure may be the only option. However, this is a decision that they must thoroughly analyze and consider with the assistance and guidance from either a qualified lawyer or a Realtor familiar with the short sale process, or both. There are numerous issues that impact their decision, and if they choose the wrong mechanism for relief it will take years to recover, if at all.

Here is a compilation of the more common issues and their impact on a consumer. 

Future Primary Residence purchase if the consumer elects a foreclosure:

• Homeowner will be ineligible for a Fannie Mae mortgage for 5 years
• For an investor, the Fannie Mae period is 7 years
• Future rates will be impacted because of the foreclosure
• Credit scores may be lowered from 250-300 points for a period of at least 3 years
• Foreclosure will appear on their credit scores and as a public record for 10 years or more
• Any security clearance will be affected as this is considered a misdemeanor or felony conviction. If the borrower is in the military, or in any position that requires a security clearance, their position can be terminated
• With some employers a foreclosure can be considered a reason for immediate termination
• Future employers that require credit checks may challenge the prospective employee
• Banks can pursue a deficiency judgment for the outstanding loan value with interest and collection costs

Future Primary Residence purchase if the consumer elects a short sale:

• Homeowner will be eligible for a Fannie Mae mortgage after 2 years
• For an investor, the Fannie Mae period is 2 years
• There should be no future complications with credit rates
• Only late payments may show if the final settlement is not correctly terminated, which could result in as little as a 50 point drop for 12 to 18 months
• A short sale is not reported on credit history
• A short sale on it's own does not affect a security clearance
• A short sale is not reported on a credit report and is no challenge to current or future employment
• In some successful short sales, it possible that the lender will surrender the right to any future deficiency judgments against the homeowner.

It becomes very important that once the home owner recognizes their problem and has investigated all other possible avenues to resolve their financial problems that they meet with a qualified real estate agent as soon as possible and set up the plan to get the house sold and get the banks assistance and cooperation to get the loan closed with the least complications to the homeowner now and down the road.