Author: Chuck Cheek

My friend, Chuck H, passed this news along to me recently.

To those in North Dakota , Minnesota , and for that matter the rest of the country, including Canada , I must report the sad news that Ole was shot. He was up by the Canadian border on his 4-wheeler cutting some trees when some rangers looking for terrorists spotted him.
According to the news reports, the rangers shouted to him over a loudspeaker, “Who are you and what are you doing?”
Ole shouted back, “OLE…BIN LOGGIN’!”
Ole is survived by his wife Lena and Lena ‘s good friend Lars

The following was posted on a website hosting comments and information exchanges of Veterans.

Help for Veterans’ Assisted Living Costs

Posted by: “Frank Scott” frankpscott@gmail.com frankpscott

Thu Nov 11, 2010 8:01 pm (PST)

Guys,

Many if not most of us probably won’t qualify for these benefits
because of financial reasons, but this is definitely worth
looking into if you might be eligible, or know someone who is or
will be – friend, family, widow of a deceased vet, etc.

http://bucks. blogs.nytimes. com/2010/ 11/11/help- for-veterans- assis\
ted-living-costs/ ?partner= rss&emc=rss
<http://bucks. blogs.nytimes. com/2010/ 11/11/help- for-veterans- assi\
sted-living- costs/?partner= rss&emc=rss>

With only a fraction of veterans using Veterans Affairs
benefits and health care services
<http://www.washingt onpost.com/ wp-dyn/content/ article/2010/ 10/11/\
AR2010101106320. html> , many senior veterans and their families
may not be aware of a benefit
<http://www.jensenes tatelaw.com/ articles/ elder-law/ 54-using- a-con\
sultant-to-obtain- the-veterans- aid-and-attendan ce-pension- benefit\
> that could cover some of the costs of living in an
assisted living community
<http://www.vba. va.gov/bln/ 21/pension/ vetpen.htm# 7> .

Here’s a reminder of that benefit, called the Aid and
Attendance benefit, which can cover nearly $2,000 a month
of such costs for qualifying veterans, depending on the
situation.

“Too many veterans and their families are unaware that they
may be entitled to substantial benefits that could help
offset the cost of living in a senior assisted living
community,” said Kelly Myers, senior vice president of
sales for Sunrise Senior Living
<http://www.sunrises eniorliving. com> , a company with more
than 300 assisted living communities. Sunrise recently
started a national campaign
<http://phx.corporat e-ir.net/ phoenix.zhtml? c=115860& p=irol-newsAr\
ticle&ID=1489673& highlight=> and it is planning information
sessions aimed at reminding veterans of the benefit
<http://sunrisesenio rliving.com/ veterans> .

According to the Department of Veterans Affairs Web site, the
benefit is paid in addition to monthly pension benefits
<http://www.vba. va.gov/bln/ 21/pension/ vetpen.htm2> . To qualify
for the aid benefit, the veteran must generally be 65
or older (if not permanently disabled), have served
during wartime <http://www.vba. va.gov/bln/ 21/pension/ wartime.htm>
and meet certain other income
<http://www.vba. va.gov/bln/ 21/Rates/ pen01.htm> and asset
requirements and medical requirements.

In particular, annual income for the veteran and his or her
spouse — not counting unreimbursed medical expenses —
must be below a certain level. As for medical requirements,
the veteran must require the aid of someone else to perform
everyday “personal functions,” be bedridden, live
in a nursing home because of a mental or physical
incapacity or be blind. The need for assistance must also
be certified by a physician.

The benefits are paid directly to the recipient. While married
veterans may qualify for a nearly $2,000 monthly benefit, single
veterans and surviving spouses may qualify for less. To learn
more about it, veterans and their families should contact
their local V.A. office
<http://www.vba. va.gov/bln/ 21/pension/ vetpen.htm# 7> . If you or
your family have had experience with this benefit, share
your experiences below.

Grumpy old Helen Philpot is back in her writing saddle. She wrote a piece on November 3^rd titled, “Oh Happy Day.” Basically, the story is about the American people’s impatience with their elected representatives. Well, see for yourself at

http://margaretandhelen.wordpress.com/

Cletus is passing by Billy Bob’s hay barn one day when, through a gap in the door, he sees Billy Bob doing a slow and sensual strip-tease in front of an old green John Deere.

Buttocks clenched, Billy Bob performs a slow pirouette and gently slides off first the right strap of his overalls, followed by the left. He then hunches his shoulders forward and in a classic striptease move, he lets his overalls fall down to his hips revealing a torn and frayed plaid shirt.

Grabbing both sides of his shirt he rips it apart to reveal his stained tee shirt underneath. With a final flourish he tears the tee shirt from his body and hurls his baseball cap onto a pile of hay. Having seen enough Cletus rushes in and says, “What the heck are you doing, Billy Bob?”

“Jeez, Cletus, ya scared the snot out of me!” exclaims Billy Bob. Then, obviously embarrassed, he says, “Me and the old lady been having trouble lately in the bedroom department, and the therapist suggested I do something sexy to a tractor.”

(Thanks to Cousin Pat for sending me the above groaner)

Below is a couple of quotes from the article by Ben Stein describing his recent interview of Warren Buffet. “He’s so smart it makes curls your hair.”

“Look,” he says, with his usual confident laugh. “You could take all the gold that’s ever been mined, and it would fill a cube 67 feet in each direction. For what that’s worth at current gold prices, you could buy all — not some — all of the farmland in the United States. Plus, you could buy 10 Exxon Mobils, plus have $1 trillion of walking-around money. Or you could have a big cube of metal. Which would you take? Which is going to produce more value?”

Read the entire aticle here: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Warren-Buffett-Forget-gold-hftn-727222639.html?x=0&.v=1

Canadian Humor

A man in an Arizona supermarket tries to buy a half a head of lettuce.

The very young produce assistant tells him that they sell only whole heads

of lettuce. The man persists and asks to see the manager. The boy says

he’ll ask his manager about it.

Walking into the back room, the boy said to his manager, “Some ass-hole

wants to buy half a head of lettuce.” As he finished his sentence, he

turned to find the man standing right behind him, so he added, “And this

gentleman has kindly offered to buy the other half.”

The manager approved the deal, and the man went on his way. Later the

manager said to the boy, “I was impressed with the way you got yourself out

of that situation earlier. We like people who think on their feet here.

Where are you from, son?”

” Canada , sir,” the boy replied.

“Well, why did you leave Canada ?” the manager asked.

The boy said, “Sir, there’s nothing but whores and hockey players up there.”

“Really?” said the manager. “My wife is from Canada .”

“No shit?” replied the boy. “Who’d she play for?”

Have you seen the ads claiming that a more effective flu vaccine is available for seniors? My pulmologist says there are no studies or other evidence to suggest that the standard flu shot can be improved upon such that it works better for seniors.

See the following link: http://www.factcheck.org/. As far as I can tell this site does not favor any political party or organization as it corrects incorrect claims regardlesss of the subject matter or authors.

On Being Wrong.

Nothing sucks more than the moment I discover that I’m wrong in an argument. On second thought, there is one thing that sucks more – admitting I’m wrong.

All the political rhetoric during election cycles remind me of an old saying, “You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink.” If that horse could think and vote he certainly could be made to drink. It is done every day in advertising. Although false advertising of products is illegal it is not illegal in political elections. Voters often drink from the trough of false claims and accusations and they draw conclusions that are not based on facts but emotional responses. What to do? If only there was a trustworthy website to find whether a political claim is false or true. There is such a a site. It is http://www.factcheck.org/. This website was created for the express purpose of debunking false claims regardless of political leanings.

Below is the text of an email I received recently on the subject of preventing an infestation of bed bugs. Seems worthy of reproducing here. …John

Subject: Bed Bug Epidemic

Hi All: A bit of information that you might like to know about. We have friends here in our community and one of their sons is an entomologist (insect expert), and has been telling them that there is an epidemic of bed bugs now occurring in America . Recently I have heard on the news that several sotres in NYC have had to close due to bed bug problems, as well as a complete mall in New Jersey . He says that since much of our clothing, sheets, towels, etc. now comes from companies outside of America, (sad but true), even the most expensive stores sell foreign clothing from China, Indonesia, etc. The bed bugs are coming in on the clothing as these countries do not consider them a problem. He recommends that if you buy any new clothing, even underware and socks, sheets, towels, etc. that you bring them into the house and put them in your clothes dryer for at least 20 minutes. The heat will kill them and their eggs. DO NOT PURCHASE CLOTHES AND HANG THEM IN THE CLOSET FIRST. It does not matter what the price range is of the clothing, or if the outfit comes from the most expensive store known in the U.S. They still get shipments from these countries and the bugs can come in a box of scarves or anything else for that matter. That is the reason why so many stores, many of them clothing stores have had to shut down in NYC and other places. All you need is to bring one item into the house that has bugs or eggs and you will go to hell and back trying to get rid of them. He travels all over the country as an advisor to many of these stores, as prevention and after they have the problem. Send this information on to those on your e-mail list so that this good prevention information gets around quickly.