Jahnke Family Blog

Kid Moment #181 - Thomas takes his medicine for itching with a milk chaser

2008-10-26T21:37:00.001-04:00

Kid Moment #180 - Thomas Campground

2008-10-25T18:39:00.003-04:00

I got a call from school that Thomas had a rash on his back and stomach so I picked him up from school and took him to the doctor. A recent strand a chicken pox has been going around the school that is immune to the vaccine that most of the kids have. It is not full-blown chicken pox, but enough that we couldn't take him to the Y for trick or treat and he couldn't go to cub scouts.

So what did Mom do while I took the girls to the Y? I came home to Thomas' campground, where he setup his tent in our dining room, made a sign and was decorating it. The best part, is I bet he had more fun doing this than he would have going to the Y for trick or treat.

Vote For Dixon for Pet Of The Week

2008-10-21T11:13:00.001-04:00

Click link below and then click vote!

CLICK HERE TO VOTE!

Fact Check - Debate #3

2008-10-16T16:34:00.001-04:00

http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/factchecking_debate_no_3.html

McCain does the right thing

2008-10-10T23:19:00.001-04:00

What's ACORN?

2008-10-10T15:29:00.003-04:00

You might have already started hearing about ACORN and ties to Obama - here's the facts:

ACORN registers lots of lower income and/or minority voters. They operate all across the country and do a lot of things beside voter registration. What's key to understand is their method. By and large they do not rely on volunteers to register voters. They hire people -- often people with low incomes or even the unemployed. This has the dual effect of not only registering people but also providing some work and income for people who are out of work. But because a lot of these people are doing it for the money, inevitably, a few of them cut corners or even cheat. So someone will end up filling out cards for nonexistent names and some of those slip through ACORN's own efforts to catch errors. These reports start buzzing through the right-wing media every two years and every time the anecdotal reports of 'thousands' of fraudulent registrations turns out, on closer inspection, to be either totally bogus themselves or wildly exaggerated. So thousands of phony registrations ends up being, like, twelve.

Now these phony registrations really don't impact the bottom line because it is very difficult for someone to place more than one vote.

Bottom line - it's an ethical dilema, the democrats are going to lower income areas and registering people to vote (who normally would not have voted), hoping they will turn up and vote on election day for a party that has traditionally helped them in the past. History has shown that the more people that vote, the more it benefits the democratic party, and the visa versa is true, the less people that vote benefit the republican party. The prevailing theory here is that those who do not normally vote in lower income areas will vote democrat since they will see more benefit from Obama.

Sounds fishy to me

Land Size does not equal Population

2008-10-09T14:55:00.002-04:00

As the maps of the US come out, one thing that was pointed out to me was just because a state is big (montana) doesn't mean it has a lot of people living it in (electoral votes)

Here are two charts that show the US with actual size, not population

This ones shows the US with states sized by population with

What Each Candidate's Health Plan Means for You

2008-10-09T09:40:00.001-04:00

http://biz.yahoo.com/cbsm/081007/da96853f45ec48da93f80bcecf9da98d.html?.&.pf=insurance

Obama's reform plan would build on the existing employer-based health insurance system, expand access to Medicaid and the state children's health insurance program and require all employers except small businesses either to offer coverage or contribute to its cost.

Obama's goal of universal coverage starts by mandating that all children have insurance and that insurers take all applicants regardless of their health status. He also wants to introduce a government-administered plan similar to the one available to federal employees that would compete with private plans in a new market he calls the National Health Insurance Exchange.

McCain's proposal doesn't aim for universal coverage but would radically change the way health insurance is financed and distributed, experts say. His plan revolves around two major themes: Changing the tax code and loosening state regulations that govern health insurance.

McCain would replace the tax exclusion workers currently get for their job-based health plans with a refundable tax credit of $2,500 for individuals or $5,000 for families, effectively making the value of insurance taxable income for the first time and encouraging people to buy coverage in the individual market.

In the voter poll, the biggest gap appeared to be on the issue of securing health insurance, where Obama carved out a lead: 45% of uninsured people said Obama's proposal would be more likely to provide them with coverage compared with just 14% for McCain, according to the survey.

What's more, 31% of currently insured people said they'd more likely be protected from losing their insurance under Obama's plan versus 19% who said the same about McCain's proposal.

Bring A One Dollar Bill To Giants Game

2008-10-08T19:00:00.001-04:00

The Cleveland Browns and National City encourage fans to support the �One Dollar - One Cause' campaign at the Browns Monday night game against the Giants on October 13.

Upon entering Cleveland Browns Stadium, volunteers will be at the gates collecting donations in support of breast cancer research.

http://www.clevelandbrowns.com/article.php?id=8943

Election Update

2008-10-08T13:26:00.004-04:00

Contrary to some comments made on the site, I am not a democrat not do I know who i am voting for yet, but who cares about that.

Some have asked why I am posting about politics, and to be honest I have been extremely ignorant to politics most my life and I am still learning. My goal with these posts is to spread "unbiased" facts about the election that I found helpful in decided who I will vote for.

With that being said is the fact check from debate #2:

Fact Check Debate #2

Also here is the chart again for the financial plans of both candidates

Also here is a good site for a consoladated list of polls (not that any of them are that accurate):

http://www.pollster.com/

Fear is a bad motivator

2008-10-06T09:37:00.003-04:00

This comment is from a co-worker's facebook page that made me think

Chelbeigh quietly asked us not to vote for Obama. We ask her why. She said, �because he is going to make us go to school all year.� One of her Republican classmates told her this on the bus.

We explained to Chelbeigh and Delaney that Obama is not going to make her go to school all year. Pam and I got a big chuckle out of the entire conversation."

How do these things get started? Other false statements I have heard:

"Obama isn't american"

"Obama hangs out with terrorists"

All these things are to put fear into you so you will vote a particular way. I'm not saying that you won't hear similar false statements about McCain, but anytime I hear someone using fear as a persuasion tactic I immediately disregard the statement.

Fact Check - Biden/Palin Debate

2008-10-03T08:55:00.001-04:00

Great information here

http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/factchecking_biden-palin_debate.html

Debate Fact Check

2008-09-27T13:39:00.001-04:00

Kind of depressing how both candidates twist the truth around - but check this out: Fact Check Debate #1

Dixon has whipworms - think about not using HeartGuard

2008-09-26T13:23:00.005-04:00

Dixon went to the vet yesterday and at the ripe age of 8 1/2 is considered a senior dog. Everything looks okay except he had whip worms in his stool. These types of worms are not part of Heart Guard's protection against similiar worms, which stinks cause it is so expensive you would think it would, but anyway.

So Dixon is on medicine for the next 3 days to clear his worms up. If you wish to prevent your dog from getting whipworms use other preventives than HeartGuard like Intercept.

Interview with Palin

2008-09-25T09:14:00.003-04:00

Katie Couric sat down with Palin for an interview. Check out the video and transscript below

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/09/24/eveningnews/main4476173.shtml

Tax Plan For Upcoming Presidents

2008-09-15T09:19:00.000-04:00

UPDATE: I posted this about a month ago. I think it is a good thing to reference if you plan on listening to the debates.

McCain plans to decrease taxes for all incomes, though more tax cuts for the more you make.

Obama plans to decrease taxes for lower incomes and raise for very high incomes.

This chart does a good comparison of the tax plans from McCain and Obama.

Kid Moment #180 - Thomas and the football book

2008-09-08T21:15:00.004-04:00

When I was in 2nd grade, I made a book along with my teacher Mrs. McMillan and the student teacher. At the time, I was a huge football fan (still am) and I created a whole book with pictures about it. Well, I found the book and caught Thomas making a book himself later in the day . . . he copied the words and pictures . . . it was pretty cool

Sarah Palin on politics and religion

2008-09-03T19:27:00.005-04:00

JESUS, GIVE US A PIPELINE! Three months before she was thrust into the national political spotlight, Gov. Sarah Palin was asked to handle a much smaller task: addressing the graduating class of commission students at her one-time church, Wasilla Assembly of God.

2:12 - "And pray about that also, I think god's will has to be done in unifying people and companies to get that pipeline built, so pray for that."

2:31 - "People's heart isn't right with god (people who oppose pipeline)"

2:40 - "Your job is to be out their reaching people hurting people throughout Alaska . . . make sure god's will is done"

3:48 - "Our national leaders are sending them out on a task that is from God"

Read this poem out loud

2008-08-25T14:16:00.001-04:00

I take it you already know,
Of tough and bough and cough and dough.
Others may stumble, but not you,
On hiccough, thorough, laugh and through.
Well done! And now you wish, perhaps,
To learn of less familiar traps.
Beware of heard, a dreadful word,
That looks like beard and sounds like bird.
And dead - it�s said like bed, not bead,
For goodness� sake, don�t call it �deed�!
Watch out for meat and great and threat,
(They rhyme with suite and straight and debt).
A moth is not a moth in mother,
Nor both in bother, broth in brother.
And here is not a match for there,
Nor dear and fear for bear and pear.
And then there�s dose and rose and lose �
Just look them up � and goose and choose.
And cork and work and card and ward,
And font and front and word and sword.
And do and go and thwart and cart �
Come, come, I�ve hardly made a start!
A dreadful language? Why man alive!
I�d mastered it when I was five.

English is great isn't it?

Fact of the day

2008-08-20T08:32:00.000-04:00

"It is estimated that at least one-third of baby twins had been accidentally mixed up by the parents at least once."

I found this one interesting. I don't think Andi and I have mixed up the girls where Alexis is really Maci or visa versa. We had the braclets on their legs for a good couple months after birth and then always painted Alexis' toe nails before we could distinguish them.

Death Probablities

2008-08-18T10:38:00.002-04:00

Randy Newman - A Few Words in Defense of Our Country

2008-08-17T09:21:00.000-04:00

Day 9 - 2008 OBX Trip - Saturday 8/9

2008-08-10T13:58:00.003-04:00

Click Here To See All The Pictures

We headed to the beach at 9am Saturday and got our last bit of surfing and sand in before we left. We headed to the go-kart place one more time so Thomas and Catherine could get one last race in.

Thomas spun out

We left for home around 1:30pm and arrived back in Chardon, OH at 2:30am. It was a great vacation!

Day 8 - 2008 OBX Trip - Friday 8/8

2008-08-10T13:48:00.002-04:00

Click Here To See All The Pictures

Friday was just like Thursday. We got to the beach early and stayed there for a long time. We surfed and did the same things but Jeff and I also took the girls on a beach drive to the Virginia / North Carolina border.

The border

One of many horses

Dixon had a blast

When we returned to the house and got ready for pictures on the beach.

The Kids

The Jahnke Family

We decided to leave later on Saturday instead of early like we did years prior. This gave us extra time to hang out.

Day 7 - 2008 OBX Trip - Thursday 8/7

2008-08-10T13:39:00.004-04:00

Click Here To See All The Pictures

Woke up with the kids got the things together and we were on the beach by 9am. We stayed there until 4:30. We surfed, boogie boarded, built a sandcastle, made mermaids in the sand, went tubing on the waves and caught crabs. Pretty much a great day at the beach.

Thomas and Catherine are ready for the next wave

Thomas got a crab

Jeff and Marcia surfing

Jeff and I pulled this guy out of the sand

Alexis the mermaid

Maci the mermaid

When we returned to the house we swam at the pool and ate hamburgers and hot dogs. We went up the top deck of the house and had a dance party during the sunset.

Girls ready for dance party

Later that night Jeff and I headed out to the beach where we saw a couple cars broken down or stuck. We hung out on the beach for a while and then called it a day.