There's nothing better than an old fashioned ghost story just before Halloween. This one is written by the Curmudgeon Gal and Read by Marsh Cassady. Get in the spooky mood with "The Ghost Race Rock." As an aside, Race Rock Lighthouse is a real place in Long Island Sound and is just off the coast of Connecticut near New London. It is one of the spookiest lighthouses I've seen.

Nothing annoys me more than being discriminated against. Here's a new one that has me gnashing my teeth, and so should you, that is, if you like your occasional naughty sweet treat. Have you found that the old slim you has burgeoned a bit in certain places?

The Patriot Act was set into place during the Bush Administration; do we really want it to continue under the new Administration? Has it made us safe enough to pay for with the erosion of our Civil Rights? It's something to seriously think about.

Wing Nuts and crazies have come out of hiding once again in the arguments against Universal Health Care.  What is wrong with America to constantly create enough fear that people are willing to vote and act against their own self-interest?

The Fourth of July, the day America celebrates it's independence just passed. It's a good time for a reality check and taking a good hard look at the country. Sweep away all those misconceptions you have about America's place in the world and take off the blinkers. It might come as a surprise that we aren't really as wonderful as you might have thought.

Drug Wars have made an impact on Mexico. Now Mexico is reeling under other multiple impacts, a lousy US economy, necessity for travelers to have a passport of other Federal documentation to get back home, the swine flu scare, it's own economic problems and slow death by media. How can a country recover from such negativity? We need help.

It's hard to admit you might need a little help. A lie of "I'm OK" comes much easier than admitting you might not be so great and a little help could be needed. That lie could prove deadly on certain occasions.

Now is the time to get even with the developers and auto dealers who kept raising prices with no justification other than greed.  It's about time the tables are turned and I dearly love being out there turning them.

Beheading is the new crime of choice. We have become so inured to violence it takes something horrific to get our attention. The violence of our North American crimes start to make the Somalia pirates and their code begin to look like the good guys.

Everyone is busy pointing fingers at who they think is responsible for the global economic morass.  There are certainly enough to point at, but I have my own ideas, I think it's all the Boomers' fault.

guys getting big bonuses for tanking AIG, angry about where taxpayer money is going? Yeah, me too, but I have a way to punish the guys who were in charge that's both legal and effective.

A love note to Jon Stewart. It's interesting that it takes a comedian to have the guts to ask the tough questions to the financial media..., like, where were you and why didn't you see danger coming? I have a few suggestion of some more guys who need to have their feet put to the fire...so be prepared mortgage brokers, banks, real estate agents, mall developers. I'm sure I'll figure out a few more for the future.

You might think great heists are limited to movies like "Ocean's 11, 12 & 13" but you are sadly mistaken. You have just been party to one bigger than the movies could dream up and the Bush administration pulled it off as a final insult to the working class American public - picture the middle finger salute as they walked out the door of the White House!

I took a look at the Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan. It gives many people a lifeline, but many more are still drowning. there is no way the government can bail everyone out, and it just doesn't seem fair to help a select few. It looks to me like some of the provisions are going to keep the situation going forward with no real heal for the basic problem - real estate has become unaffordable for all but the affluent.

It's tough to live in times when you get screwed coming and going and don't even have the benefit of a kiss first. The banks are sure doing it to us. In the long run,so is our federal government as they search desperately for ways to make our economic machine start to purr again. Can we recover from the reaming we got over the last eight years? It's not looking good!

At a time when the government is handing out money right and left, it is important for us to realize just who the new Welfare Queens reall are. you'll be surprised once you start to think about it.

How the US real estate crash created the world financial and real estate collapse. Not just another little cyclical dip in the market!

Automobile bailouts and observations on how we allowed ourselves to get into such a mess. Some thoughts on how to get the heck out of this dreadful fiasco.

Every year I join the millions of people making New Year's Resolutions. This year I see that mine have taken a different turn, they are all about getting rid of old anger, forgiveness and trying to face the new year with an open mind. How about yours?

Holiday wishes to everyone!

The President finally admitted we're in a recession ... and have been for over a year. How about that? Does that make you think the Republican Party wanted to keep it secret until after the election? I guess he'll finally admit it's a real depression a few days before Obama takes office, or does he want to leave that little tidbit for the next guy in line?

The US Government is busy handing out money to companies with their hands out, but is anyone taking a hard look at who the major owners of these companies are, where and why the companies lost money and who the money will actually benefit? When you take a close look, you might be surprised to find that a bail out might be benefiting a Saudi Prince and the money used to support Kuwait real estate development!

President Elect Obama is facing a real mess, but he isn't the first President to do so, and surely, he won't be the last. Here's a short brush-up on American history - amazing how much sounds familiar and relevant today! Too bad Bush didn't read...

Comments on the election, Palin, African-Americans, bail-outs and how to help the middle class.

Desperation is palpable in the United States. There are many indications, as well as the knowledge that Americans don't have any idea how to cope with it, they have never learned the lessons of their grandparents - you do anything to survive. Let's see if they can cope.

The ticker flickers, lives are held in the balance. How could the Dow foster tolerance in a chosen few while spitting in the eye of most us.

the financial crisis in the USA is having unexpected ramifications. "The Undocumented" a new truth fable.

Palin and nose wrinkles, the non-maverick B.S., the bail-out and how the big boys come out on top while the taxpayers - once again - are stuck with the bill...along with the foot in their butt!

Americans conquer countries and cultures in many way, sometimes the most invasive look like the most innocuous - like gifts of superstores, movie houses, fast food and convenience.

Some neighbors are better than others and America is busy showing Mexico just how bad a neighbor they are. What an embarrassment for those of us who live in this beautiful and welcoming country.

Well ladies, we know what the Republican Party thinks of us now. They figure we'll vote for just about anyone with ovaries. Didn't they know the supermarkets tried the old bait and switch game for years until we caught on. What don't they get about the difference betweenSarah and Hillary? How stupid do they really think we are?

Even a curmudgeon needs some simple pleasures once in a while. Here are some more of mine.

Want to know how to "disappear" a population? It's easy if you just follow the strategy of the Bush administration and FEMA. Where are all the people of the 9th Ward? No one seems to care anymore. After all, most of them were just poor African-Americans, the population of least interest in the Republican sphere of reference.

Orphans, matriarch or patriarch - whatever we want to call ourselves, there comes a time when we just have to go it alone. In some odd ways, it can even have a few benefits.

No wonder there's a fight about gay marriage - what if the divorce statistics for gays are lower than heterosexuals? Then whose got the high ground on family values?

Negativity fills our lives in this moment in time - money worries, mortgage rises, oil and food costs escalating out of control. Take a day off to think positive and clear your mind, everyone needs a vacation and this is one from stress.

Baja California Mexico has a pharmacia on every corner, and most of them advertise "Viagra" for sale. This is the story about trying one of the "little blue pills" and the amazing consequences.

Now tell the truth - are you vain? Be honest, how often do you check yourself out in the mirror . . . and how big is your butt . . . really?

How Americans became victims of the Federal Reserve and greed and the surprising bedfellows of the banks. Would you want to be the next President with this mess to clean up?

Being in Hollywood makes me nostalgic for the place where I worked for so many years. I learned early what it takes to find love in Tinsel Town.

There are more hands in your pocket than you can imagine and the government is helping them steal from you. What we really need is a good plan to get their hands out and get our country out of the deadly financial hole it's in, or we face the end of an era and the handing over of world economic and financial power.

Throw the old guys out on their butts! We need younger, tech savvy leaders who understand new media and communications to deal with future global problems.

If you can't be important, at least you can get revenge!

There is another nail in the coffin where the American Dream rests in not much peace - thank you corporate greed. The oil companies report record earnings while Americans stagger under escalating costs for the necessities of life/

Sharing can be more information than we need or want. Seems that these days I'm getting much more information than I want or need. I have definite limits on my interest or I start to feel like a data dump.

Mexico is suffering the fallout from drug wars. If you look behind the curtain it may surprise you whois the cause of this problem.

Where are your priorities America?  Let's consider our concerns - Miley Cyrus' bare back or the real state of our usnion - you decide which is the most important.

A cruise through the eyes of a bi-coastal family. Culture shock is evident.

The pros and cons of service people.

Non-entitlement is starting to sink in. The new chic is cheap.

Entitlement bites, the price to be paid is too high.

How about no religious symbols for a year and let's see if it helps us all get along.

Want to feel good? Buy a condo with advertised prices starting at five million!

The Exxon Valdes case has finally reached the Supreme Court and Chief Justice Roberts is concerned - you won't believe why!

It's a non-Curmudgeon day, sun shining and warm - a time to think about the simple pleasures of life and enjoy them.

Evil hides behind many faces. We find a few and understand there are many more.

There are all kinds of bodies and Curmudgeon Gal explains in her own way how to tell the difference between celestial and human. If perfection is the key what do we do if we are less than perfect? Join this wacky quest and see where it leads...

Harald Lankisch reads his poetry about war, love and other subjects that catch his interest. Harald brings emotion, philosophy and a different slant on todays culture, politics and society. His hope is to open eyes and create tolerance for other ideas or at least have his audience thinking about their own point of view. Poems included are "The Game," "Position," "The 11th of September," "Machine Beings," "The Patient," "Peace Is Coming Soon," "The Trolley," "The Kiss," "Season of Love," and more.

When is enough enough? Explore the pitfalls of a society that is never satisfied and wants it all.

Vampires are all around you, generally in the guise of friends and family. Curmudgeon Gal shows simple tools to recognize and deal with them.

Ever wonder who is buying all those monster homes with the high price tags? So do I. I call it the castelization of America. Curmudgeon Gal mulls over the trend to "big" and it's true cost.

Curmudgeon Gal makes New Years Resolutions for herself and the government. After all, if she can get slimmer and cut the fat for 2008, so can our government.

Curmudgeon Gal and friend discover how Americans save money and think about the analogy to political spin in the presidential campaigns.

A look at the joys and pitfalls of being non-relevant (over 30) in todays world.