Let’s Talk Costumes!

DIY 2 Minutes

As you can see from the above photo, (I am on the left) I love Halloween and costumes. My own mother didn’t recognize me when I showed up at her door for Trick or Treat. My father? he knew right away…lol…

And it doesn’t matter if you’re dressing a little one up for Halloween, or you need a costume for yourself, costumes can be expensive!  But a little creativity and a dollar store can turn ordinary into extraordinary!

This OWL costume requires no sewing (you can sew the feathers on, but gluing is fast and easy.) 

You cut the “feathers” out of old t-shirts or (dollar store to the rescue!) get some of their vinyl tablecloths—in any colors you want—and cut the feathers out of those.  If you’re using those instead of gluing, you can simply tape them!  The mask is simply glued to a pair of sunglasses.

 Click here to download the template for mask and feathers: Download file

If you want to make any sort of bird feet, you’ll need rubber gloves, old shoes, some stuffing and a glue gun.

For making any sort of a hat, here is a great picture of how to make an inexpensive base that can be covered with anything.

Want to be an octopus?  The legs from tights (from the dollar store!) can be stuffed and tied to a belt to wear around the waist.

Do you need a beard and mustache for your costume?  They can be expensive, but with felt, a string and some glue…it’s not expensive at all!

If you’re choosing to be an animal with a mane and a tail (think horse, lion or even unicorn) you could get yarn and cut and tie a lot of lengths together…or you could purchase pompoms from the dollar store.  You may need more than one depending on the fullness you desire.

Wanna be a Minion?  Grab a yellow knit cap and some black pipe cleaners.  The glasses can be made with some black fabric and aluminum foil wrapped around cardboard tubes.

And speaking of cardboard tubes…paint them yellow/orange and glue them to a matching colored shirt to be mac & cheese!

Now if you’re thinking more high tech, and you need a jetpack (LOL), this is a very clever idea.  And it can be upgraded! Plastic soda bottles are painted, then fastened to a strap around the chest.  (Adding a clock dial and changing the color and adding more straps certainly kicks this up a notch!)

If you’re okay with using shirts you won’t wear again, you can make a giraffe costume.  There are 2 ways to do this.  First, get a shirt and pants (if you’re fanatical about having a total costume, lol) in a red/orange/brown color.  Then simply use masking tape to create the look.  This method should not render the clothes unusable afterwards.  The second method will.  Get a white shirt and white sweatpants.  Use masking tape to create the giraffe block pattern, then PAINT the unmasked parts with red/orange/brown paint.  Once dry, remove the masking tape. 

One of the easiest and most clever costumes is the one you don’t have to wear!  It’s a jellyfish.  You get an umbrella, festoon it with twinkle lights and colored streamers.  You can wear a black outfit while you stroll with the umbrella!

I saved this one for last—it’s not cheap or easy I would imagine—I just thought it was just so AWESOME!!!

Published by FJB

Published

150 thoughts on “Let’s Talk Costumes!”

    1. Morning, Pat! I sat up reading until 3 am so I slept until 9 this morning. It was 29 degrees when I got up so anything green is now brown or will be soon, altho not all of the trees. Oddly, the Chinese Elm is just now starting to yellow.

      My favorite costume is the jelly fish – that is something even I could do! One year, when I was an adult, I dressed as a French whore! LOL – other than that….the only costumes I can recall as a child: when I was 5 or 6, I was a cowgirl, complete with cap pistol/holster, boots, hat, vest and fringed skirt. When I was older, after I was adopted, the only costume I can remember was putting a sheet over my head with eye holes as a ghost. There were other costumes every year but I don’t remember any of them.

      Liked by 1 person

  6. Liked by 2 people

  11. Liked by 1 person

  14. gees…GET THEM JOBS
    from tcth

    nimrodman
    October 17, 2022 3:25 am

    Campuses

    Now they get campuses

    Democrat Portland Mayor to Propose Plan to Build 3 Mega Homeless ‘Campuses’

    Liked by 1 person

  15. Liked by 1 person

  16. Like

  19. from tcth

    R Green
    October 17, 2022 6:52 am

    Director Christopher Wray’s use of FBI jet amounts to ‘embezzlement,’ current, ex-agents allege
    https://nypost.com/2022/10/16/director-christopher-wrays-use-of-fbi-jet-amounts-to-embezzlement-current-ex-agents-allege/

    … “A lot of other Americans would like to know why Wray cut short a Senate oversight hearing on Aug. 4 to fly in the FBI jet to his family holiday destination in the Adirondacks, after telling Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) that he had “business” to attend to. “

    … ‘the jet has been flying back and forth an awful lot to Atlanta, where Wray has a house in the exclusive Buckhead district. ‘

    Liked by 1 person

  20. swallowedwell is stealing our money–his expense reports are a joke…
    entire article (because i couldn’t pick just one STUPID listing)

    Rob Pyers is the Research Director for California Target Book, a group that provides information on congressional and state legislative election campaigns in California. Pyers posted some intriguing information about Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) on Twitter that our friends over at Twitchy picked up.

    #CA14 Dem Eric Swalwell, who has submitted the 2nd-highest number of “I am unable to physically attend proceedings in the House Chamber due to the ongoing public health emergency” proxy letters, spent $250K+ on travel & car service in the 1st 9 months of the year. https://t.co/5RQzJrxN1b pic.twitter.com/BrJLYj2Lhp

    — Rob Pyers (@rpyers) October 16, 2022

    “Dem Eric Swalwell, who has submitted the 2nd-highest number of ‘I am unable to physically attend proceedings in the House Chamber due to the ongoing public health emergency’ proxy letters, spent $250K+ on travel & car service in the 1st 9 months of the year,” Pyers said.

    Let me explain to those who may not know what the “proxy letters” are. During the pandemic, the House started offering its members the opportunity to have other members vote for them because of the “ongoing public health emergency.” That might have been understandable when people were freaked out initially in the early days of the pandemic, although I don’t think they ever should have done it. But it’s been more than two years now, kids. Joe Biden has declared the pandemic over. Why is this still on? It’s an excuse for people not to show up to do their job and skip out if they have other things to do. That’s why the Senate doesn’t do it, because it’s ripe for abuse, as we see now.

    Case in point: Swalwell. As Pyers observes if there’s such an “emergency” that he can’t show up, why is filing 48 proxy letters, the second-highest number? Why is he spending $250,000 on travel and car expenses? He’s going places. What’s preventing him then from getting into work?

    I wrote in January about how he went to the free state of Florida when they were still imposing mask rules in California.

    If Swalwell truly believed his own rhetoric about COVID, Florida, and mandates, he would not take his maskless unvaccinated baby to Loews Hotel South Beach during the Omicron case surge in Miami.

    It’s not hypocrisy. It’s hierarchy. pic.twitter.com/sSHNpHG8Dd

    — Christina Pushaw 🐊 (@ChristinaPushaw) January 6, 2022

    The records also revealed that he/his campaign ate in some pretty nice joints. He/his people were very bad — they also ate at Chick-Fil-A, which is supposed to be a leftist no-no. But some noticed another big question on the records: He spent $33,546 on “childcare for campaign event” in the first nine months of this year? That’s some mighty nice babysitting pay there. But of the “vendor” names listed there, only his name has money next to it. Did he get paid for doing childcare?

    Did he put himself to watch his own kids?!? pic.twitter.com/lFkMF2PzkM

    — Not Apologizing (@steenkyhooha) October 16, 2022

    Swalwell needs to answer up.

    Seriously, it gets silly when they do things like this and it means he’s spending money while blowing off the job. They need to eliminate the proxy so we finally have people doing the job they were elected for and are paid to do back again. That has to be something the Republicans do when they take the House back so we can have some accountability again.

    https://redstate.com/nick-arama/2022/10/16/eric-swalwells-spending-report-for-first-nine-months-of-year-is-raising-a-lot-of-questions-n644210

    Like

          1. still scatter brained trying to catch up from not seeing any news for almost 4 days…LOL
            altho I am up to date on Golden Girls and Everyone Loves Raymond…bwahahahahahaha

            Liked by 2 people

            1. Ah – got it! I do think they’ve been friends for some time, regardless of the Parler deal, and you know she has no fear about going after BLM. Personally, I think that was her primary motivation.

              Liked by 1 person

  25. doj wants Bannon jailed for 6 months for contempt of congress…
    FTA
    Steve Bannon should be sentenced to six months in prison and a $200,000 fine for “his bad-faith contempt of Congress,” the Justice Dept wrote in a legal filing on Monday. Bannon was found guilty by a biased jury on two counts of contempt of Congress in July for ignoring a subpoena from the J6 committee.

    The department submitted its recommendation on Monday ahead of his scheduled sentencing on Friday.

    https://citizenfreepress.com/breaking/doj-seeks-6-months-jail-sentence-for-steve-bannon/

    Liked by 1 person

  26. women pissed at ulta for having men pretending to be women putting on makeup have adopted a new hashtag AND I LOVE IT!!!! it’s WOMANFACE and is reference to “blackface” which no company would ever try to employ to sell a product.
    entire article
    Ulta may be regretting whatever marketing “genius” came up with this idea. In a recent post on Twitter, Ulta highlighted a podcast with two grown men in makeup and wigs chatting about what it’s like to be a “girl.” The makeup giant’s target audience is obviously women. It’s probably a safe bet that over 90% of Ulta’s customers are women. The choice to put men in drag in the marketing material for a company geared toward women is backfiring big time.

    #Womanface and #BoycottUlta are trending on Twitter, and the ratio of angry women telling Ulta they’re taking their business elsewhere is off the charts. It got so bad that Ulta turned off commenting on the thread.

    The headline “Trans Girls Can Do It All!” really irked many women who see grown men pretending to be “girls” as a weird sexual fetish that has nothing to do with being female and everything to do with men appropriating femaleness for their own titillation. This is straight-up autogynephilia, and it’s obvious and not amusing to women in any way.

    Trans 👏 Girls 👏 Can 👏 Do 👏It 👏 All! Tune into the latest episode of The Beauty Of… where host @DavidLopezzz sits down with guest Dylan Mulvaney to chat all things girlhood 💝 Watch now: https://t.co/tCRfEryYkZ pic.twitter.com/uaXJqEBQI9

    — Ulta Beauty (@ultabeauty) October 13, 2022

    The term “womanface” refers to the correlation to the offensiveness of blackface, a thing no company would ever dream of putting in their marketing materials. But women appear to be one demographic no one has to worry about offending with gross caricatures and mockery. The trans activists have made sure that women’s voices are completely silenced in the face of male dominance as long as the males are wearing dresses.

    Teen girls have been punished for asking males to leave their locker room while they are changing. Women are being told we are not allowed to listen to the instincts that tell us when danger is near or we are “transphobic.” And now makeup companies want us to roll over and buy their products as they put these money-grubbing frauds in the spotlight and demand we agree with them that the emperor is wearing fantastic threads when he is really naked.

    Maybe the reign of trans terror is finally ending as women find their voices again and say loudly and proudly, “NO MORE.” We will not be told we aren’t allowed to have our private spaces, our dignity, our titles, and our sex. Being a woman is a biological experience. It is not a feeling. A man cannot be a “mother,” and we aren’t going to pretend like this is okay anymore. Our daughters deserve their sports back and the right to change in a locker room without fear. They deserve the right to privacy in the bathroom without the threat of males encroaching on their spaces as they deal with the challenges of being female, like periods.

    Enough is enough.

    Mandy Stadtmiller made a video with the thousands of angry responses before Ulta shut off commenting.

    This is a short film I just made called, “@ultabeauty’s Hidden Replies Tell Women Exactly What They Think of Them.” I do hope you enjoy it and spread the word! pic.twitter.com/elUCQpfsww

    — Mandy Stadtmiller (@mandystadt) October 15, 2022

    The fact that #Womanface is trending and thousands of accounts critical of this clown show are not being booted off the platform for saying what we are all thinking is a positive sign. Here are some of the best ones.

    “Imagine being a brand who’s [sic] target demographic is women and then highlighting MEN engaging in misogyny and the appropriation of womenhood. [sic] Pathetic #WomanFace,” said Gina Fonesca.

    “Last I checked, makeup, ponytails and nylons do not make someone a woman, and adult men definitely cannot become little girls. #boycottulta #WomanFace #TransWomenAreMen,” tweeted “FemaleAthlete.”

    “One of the things that bothers me the most is that these men want to claim womanhood and oppression but they have no problem marginalizing women who have a problem with it. No one gets nastier to women than a man claiming to be [a] woman who gets called out. #boycottulta #womanface,” wrote CaitieCat.

    Is this what you think “girlhood” is? pic.twitter.com/gCzIcCORDG

    — Dr. Che Bolludo esq. (@InvestingMerc) October 15, 2022

    Women’s Declaration International took the opportunity to scoop up all the new converts to gender-critical feminism with this tweet asking women to sign the Declaration on Women’s Sex-Based Rights.

    If you find #womanface offensive and want to help fight the new misogyny, please read and sign the Declaration on Women’s Sex-Based Rights: https://t.co/8C8U8lyEod pic.twitter.com/sm468cR6ed

    — WDI.USA (@WDI_USA) October 16, 2022

    My favorite response so far has been this one from Arté.

    I didn’t go through 41 weeks + 1 day of pregnancy, 47hrs labour, 18 months breastfeeding, cracked nipples/ teeth marks, sleepless nights, being shat on and ALLLLLL of that, for men LARPing as women to get to call themselves “mum” and I get “chest feeder”and “uterus haver”. Nah…

    — Arté ♀️🦖 (@varindeus) October 15, 2022

    Word. It’s way beyond time that women stand up together and fight back against the misogynistic movement seeking to remove all of our sex-based rights. They’ve already codified it into law in many places, and our daughters no longer have the right to complain about males in their locker rooms and bathrooms in public schools. It is an outrage, and it must stop now.

    https://pjmedia.com/culture/megan-fox/2022/10/16/makeup-giant-ulta-goes-woke-highlighting-trans-girl-dylan-mulvaney-customer-base-of-real-women-revolts-n1637555

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Huh – that’s a new one for me – from PubMed/NIH:

      Autogynephilia is defined as a male’s propensity to be sexually aroused by the thought of himself as a female. It is the paraphilia that is theorized to underlie transvestism and some forms of male-to-female (MtF) transsexualism. Autogynephilia encompasses sexual arousal with cross-dressing and cross-gender expression that does not involve women’s clothing per se. The concept of autogynephilia defines a typology of MtF transsexualism and offers a theory of motivation for one type of MtF transsexualism. Autogynephilia resembles a sexual orientation in that it involves elements of idealization and attachment as well as erotic desire. Nearly 3% of men in Western countries may experience autogynephilia; its most severe manifestation, MtF transsexualism, is rare but increasing in prevalence. Some theorists and clinicians reject the transsexual typology and theory of motivation derived from autogynephilia; their objections suggest a need for additional research. The concept of autogynephilia can assist clinicians in understanding some otherwise puzzling manifestations of nonhomosexual MtF transsexualism. Autogynephilia exemplifies an unusual paraphilic category called ‘erotic target identity inversions’, in which men desire to impersonate or turn their bodies into facsimiles of the persons or things to which they are sexually attracted.

      Liked by 1 person

    1. nice pumpkins!
      that pumpkin farmer has dropped his prices…$1 for a Large one…I may go back this weekend and grab a bunch…even though nobody is eating the one that’s out there…LOL

      Liked by 1 person

    1. yeah yesterday I posted they were caught sending hurricane relief donations to democrat campaigns…now they’re going after desantis…that “charity” site

      Liked by 1 person

      2. Surely not his wife’s fund? She raised $45M! This is dated the 4th:

        “TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Today, First Lady Casey DeSantis announced that within the first 5 days of activation, the Florida Disaster Fund has raised nearly $35 million in donations to support communities impacted by Hurricane Ian. To contribute, please visit http://www.FloridaDisasterFund.org or text DISASTER to 20222.

        “The support for Florida has been incredible and the Governor and I are appreciative for help from across the country,” said First Lady Casey DeSantis. “As we’ve traveled the state to assess damage, we’ve encountered resilient and strong Floridians who are ready to get back to normal. This $35 million will help with those recovery and rebuilding efforts.”

        Major donations include a generous donation of $5 million from Charles Schwab. Other major donations from across the state and the nation include:”

        https://www.flgov.com/2022/10/04/first-lady-casey-desantis-announces-nearly-35-million-in-donations-for-the-florida-disaster-fund/

        Liked by 1 person

        1. no…a different name

          “However, the real scandal emerged when the phony charity scam was exposed.

          DeSantis War Room pointed to research by the Florida Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee that shows donations to something called the Florida Ian Response Fund — or IanResponse.org.

          Donations made to Florida Ian Response Fund went instead to ActBlue, a website that aggregates contributions for Democratic candidates.

          The site began raising money on Sept. 29, even as Ian had weakened to a tropical storm and was headed out of the state.

          The GOP Senate committee noted that searching for Florida Ian Response Fund in the Check-A-Charity database managed by the state Agriculture and Consumer Services Department yielded no results.

          In addition, the Republican Senate group noted, “Florida Ian Response Fund is ‘not tax deductible’ and that it is actually housed at ‘Organize Action,’ a 501(c)4 tax-exempt dark money organization.”

          Liked by 1 person

  30. Good morning ladies …

    Enjoyed all the costume making Pat … much simpler than the ol’ days!

    And so glad you have a new mattress…

    Hang in there with those cold temps Filly … we’re getting them early Wednesday! Bringing in some plants today…

    Y’all stay safe… and warm…

    having to cut my Lantana back to the ground and cover with straw today … the butterflies and birds have enjoyed it!

    Liked by 1 person

        1. we are, thanks!
          the bad mattress was not ours–we spent a few days with my mom. she has an old mattress on the guest bed…hubby told me I was just like the princess and the pea…remember that story? LOL

          Liked by 1 person

  31. EXCERPT: “Two weeks after Pfizer CEO bailed on EU testimony in the wake of a report highlighting a ‘secretive’ vaccine deal between himself and European Commission President Ursula ‘missing texts’ von der Leyen, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) has opened an investigation into the EU’s Covid-19 vaccine purchases, Politico reports.

    EPPO, and independent EU body, is responsible for investigating and prosecuting financial crimes, including fraud, money laundering and corruption, according to the report. In its Friday announcement, the body did not specify who was being investigated, or which contracts were the subject of inquiry.

    That said, two other watchdog agencies have brought attention to the von der Leyen – Bourla deal.

    “This exceptional confirmation comes after the extremely high public interest. No further details will be made public at this stage,” said the EPPO.

    ‘In April 2021, the New York Times first reported on text messages exchanged between von der Leyen and Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla in the run-up to the EU’s biggest vaccine procurement contract — for up to 1.8 billion doses of BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine. The deal would be worth up to €35 billion if fully exercised, according to leaked vaccine prices.

    In January this year, the EU’s ombudsman charged the Commission with maladministration for failing to look for the text messages in response to a freedom of information request. Without confirming the existence of the texts, the Commission argued in its response that “short-lived, ephemeral documents are not kept.” It said that a search for the text messages hadn’t yielded any results. -Politico’

    Last month, the European Court of Auditors published the aforementioned report in which it said the Commission refused transparency regarding details of von der Leyen’s personal role in the Pfizer contract.

    In it, the budget watchdog found that the EU chief went rogue in order to personally hammer out a preliminary deal with Pfizer, instead of relying on joint negotiating teams. While the Commission has been forthcoming with other vaccine contracts, it has refused to provide the court with any documents regarding those preliminary negotiations.

    https://www.zerohedge.com/political/eu-prosecutor-opens-probe-covid-vaccine-purchases

    Liked by 1 person

  32. Holy shit!!! This is awful!!! Man, Warnock is a real POS!!! Entire Article @ FB:

    ATLANTA—A low-income apartment building owned by Raphael Warnock’s church is plagued by pests, maintenance problems, and filth, according to residents—and at least two people have sued the building this year after the elevator allegedly collapsed on them. Residents of the Columbia Tower at MLK Village complained about living conditions in the building, telling the Washington Free Beacon that garbage is left to pile up in the storage rooms for days, creating an “overwhelming trash smell,” common areas aren’t maintained, and the air vents produce a “sickening” amount of dust.

    Tenants also said the elevators often break down, and handicapped residents have had to call the fire department to carry them to their rooms.

    The allegations follow a Free Beacon report that found Columbia Tower had attempted to evict at least eight low-income residents over unpaid rent since the start of the pandemic—including one tenant who owed just $28. Warnock serves as senior pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church, which, through a charity it controls called the Ebenezer Building Foundation, owns 99 percent of Columbia Tower, according to records obtained by the Free Beacon. It’s not clear what Warnock’s role was in overseeing Columbia Tower. A repair grant Ebenezer Building Foundation filed in June, however, said Warnock “works closely” with Ebenezer’s executive pastor “in managing the overall vision, ministries, and operations” of the church.

    The news raises questions for Warnock, who has campaigned as an ally of low-income Georgians and people with disabilities. It could also draw new scrutiny to Warnock’s compensation from the church, which paid him a $7,417-per-month, tax-free housing allowance last year—an arrangement that allowed him to circumvent federal limits on outside income for U.S. senators.

    Court filings reviewed by the Free Beacon appear to back up claims from Columbia Tower residents that there are problems with the living conditions at the building. Two men filed separate lawsuits against the building in February and May of this year claiming they were injured after the elevator ceiling collapsed on them in May 2020.

    One of the alleged victims said he “was in an elevator at Columbia at MLK Village Towers as the elevator ceiling abruptly fell down,” knocking him unconscious and resulting in injuries that cost him over $50,000 in medical bills. “The collapsed elevator ceiling struck the Plaintiff about the head, neck, and back area,” said the lawsuit. “The impact of the collapsed elevator ceiling caused the Plaintiff to immediately lose consciousness.”

    The judge granted the man default judgment in the case, after lawyers for Columbia Tower neglected to respond by the required deadline. The building’s attorneys are currently attempting to get the judgment overturned. The second case is still ongoing. An attorney for the alleged victim said he was unable to comment because that case is “still being litigated.”

    Residents told a Free Beacon reporter who visited the building in October the only two elevators in the building frequently break down. One resident said she has witnessed firemen physically carry wheelchair-bound tenants up to their rooms during instances when both of the elevators were broken at the same time. “The firemen will come and help them up and down the stairs,” one resident said. “For hours they’re stuck waiting on the bottom floor, or stuck on their floor for hours and hours.”

    Another resident described an incident in which a police officer and a firefighter had to “tote” a wheelchair-bound African-American man up the stairs because the elevators were broken down. The Atlanta Fire Rescue Department has not returned numerous requests for comment asking if firefighters have been called to Columbia Tower to carry people up to their rooms. The fire department has also not returned an open records request seeking copies of all incident reports at Columbia Tower since the start of 2020.

    Residents said they had no idea their building was owned by Ebenezer Baptist Church, or that it had just received a $5 million grant from Georgia in August to fund building repairs. The grant was bankrolled by funds provided to the state from the American Rescue Plan, legislation that Warnock voted in support of in March 2021.

    “It’s not being seen here. They’ll cut the grass and the bushes, and fix the elevator sometimes,” a resident said. “But the vents haven’t been blown out for years. The dust, it’s sickening, actually. They change the furniture. The furniture is new or different from when I moved in here, but that’s the most I’ve seen. I haven’t seen any upgrades or anything like that,” the resident added.

    Ebenezer ended 2021 with over $1.2 million in cash and “cash equivalents,” according to audited financial statements obtained by the Free Beacon. Throughout 2021, the church received “general undesignated offerings” of $4.3 million and rental income of $202,000, the financial statements show.

    Also in 2021, Ebenezer paid Warnock $120,964 in salary and housing benefits while he served in the Senate. That same year, Ebenezer incurred just over $69,000 in “repairs and maintenance” expenses across all its program areas, including pastoral services, local ministries, and support services, the financial statements show. Warnock’s office did not return a request for comment.

    Columbia Tower residents expressed concerns about the building’s living conditions. “We have a smell here,” one resident said. “The trash room has this overwhelming trash smell. As soon as you come in the building it inundates you. It’s just in your face. And it’s embarrassing.”

    The 12-story building has a garbage chute on every floor that connects to the trash room on the bottom floor. But residents said nobody clears out the trash over the weekend. With 96 rooms in the building, residents said the trash room quickly overflows with waste on Saturdays and Sundays.

    “They’ll leave on a Friday, and the trash chute will fill up to the 12th floor. And they don’t come back until Monday to clean it out,” the resident said. “The aroma of the trash was so horrific and ridiculous,” said another resident, who lives on the first floor of the building near the waste room.


    Photo of the trash room at Columbia Tower at MLK Village provided by building resident


    Photo of the trash room at Columbia Tower at MLK Village provided by building resident

    One resident described horrific conditions living next door to her former neighbor, who she said suffered from schizophrenia. “We complained. He had odors coming out of the apartment. He never cleaned. The maintenance didn’t want to go in. Never mind the pests. I was totally infested living near him,” the resident said. “After people were complaining so much they did get someone to come in and clean up.”

    “There’s a lot of turnaround when it comes to office management and, of course, with the upkeep of the building. They can’t keep anybody, and they can’t keep the building up,” the resident said. In lieu of regular maintenance staff, the mostly elderly residents of the building say they have to pool their own resources and labor to keep common areas clean.

    Columbia Residential boasts on its website that the apartment has a community garden, but one resident said the garden is frequently littered with trash. The garden was nothing more than a plot of dirt and weeds when a Free Beacon reporter visited the property this month.


    Columbia Tower’s “community garden”

    Ebenezer itself acknowledged that the building’s lack of maintenance is a major cause of concern when it applied for $5 million from Georgia to fund building repairs. “The cost of increasing annual capital repairs at the property is impacting the lives of the residents, making it increasingly difficult to fund the needed resident services and maintain housing stability for this vulnerable, formerly homeless population,” Ebenezer wrote in the grant application. “The purpose of this grant request is to make the needed repairs to the building and preserve the ability to house and serve this specific population.”

    The Ebenezer Building Foundation also disclosed problems with Columbia Tower’s elevators in the grant application, writing that the “failures are becoming more frequent.” “When the elevator needs repair, it takes several days,” said the group, calling the problems “detrimental” to residents.

    In a court filing responding to one of the elevator injury lawsuits, however, a lawyer for Columbia Tower suggested the machinery was damaged by an individual. The “issue with the elevator may have been the result of persons who rode the elevator immediately before the plaintiff,” said the attorney for Columbia Tower.

    Columbia Residential told the Free Beacon that Ebenezer “contracted with Columbia Residential property management to manage the day-to-day operations of the property on their behalf.” The property management company said Warnock has no involvement in the daily operations at Columbia Tower.

    “Due to the age of the property, the need for capital repairs, and the desire to keep rents affordable to extremely low-income tenants, the owners applied for the Georgia Investments in Housing Grant, which was specifically targeted to support housing for individuals experiencing homelessness,” Columbia Residential told the Free Beacon.

    The grant, which Georgia Republican governor Brian Kemp awarded to Ebenezer in late August, will be used to fund building repairs, as well as to replace all faucets and toilets with low-flow systems, install LED lighting in the building, and upgrade major appliances in the building to energy star standards.

    Ebenezer did not return requests for comment.”

    Liked by 1 person

  34. Entire Article @ EpochTimes:

    “FLORISSANT, Mo.—There is significant radioactive contamination at an elementary school in suburban St. Louis where nuclear weapons were produced during World War II, according to a new report by environmental investigation consultants. The report by Boston Chemical Data Corp. confirmed fears about contamination at Jana Elementary School in the Hazelwood School District in Florissant raised by a previous Army Corps of Engineers study.

    The new report is based on samples taken in August from the school, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Boston Chemical did not say who or what requested and funded the report. “I was heartbroken,” said Ashley Bernaugh, president of the Jana parent-teacher association who has a son at the school. “It sounds so cliché, but it takes your breath from you.”

    The school sits in the flood plain of Coldwater Creek, which was contaminated by nuclear waste from weapons production during World War II. The waste was dumped at sites near the St. Louis Lambert International Airport, next to the creek that flows to the Missouri River. The Corps has been cleaning up the creek for more than 20 years.

    The Corps’ report also found contamination in the area but at much at lower levels, and it didn’t take any samples within 300 feet of the school. The most recent report included samples taken from Jana’s library, kitchen, classrooms, fields and playgrounds.

    Levels of the radioactive isotope lead-210, polonium, radium and other toxins were “far in excess” of what Boston Chemical had expected. Dust samples taken inside the school were found to be contaminated. Inhaling or ingesting these radioactive materials can cause significant injury, the report said. “A significant remedial program will be required to bring conditions at the school in line with expectations,” the report said.

    The new report is expected to be a major topic at Tuesday’s Hazelwood school board meeting. The district said in a statement that it will consult with its attorneys and experts to determine the next steps. “Safety is absolutely our top priority for our staff and students,” board president Betsy Rachel said Saturday.

    Christen Commuso with the Missouri Coalition for the Environment presented the results of the Corps’ study to the school board in June after obtaining a copy through a Freedom of Information Act request.

    “I wouldn’t want my child in this school,” she said. “The effect of these toxins is cumulative.”

    Liked by 1 person

  40. step in the right direction. SOS of PA tells counties to COUNT votes without dates even tho Supreme Court and State law say you MUST sign AND DATE your mail in ballot for it to count.
    entire article
    Republicans have sued Pennsylvania officials after the state’s top elections official said mail-in ballots without dates will be accepted, in contravention to state law.

    A group of Pennsylvania voters, the Republican National Committee, and the Pennsylvania Republican Party filed the lawsuit (pdf) with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, asking justices to quickly declare illegal guidance from the Pennsylvania Department of State regarding ballots that do not have dates.

    Acting Pennsylvania Secretary of State Leigh Chapman said Oct. 11 that “every county is expected to include undated ballots in their official returns for the Nov. 8 election, consistent with the Department of State’s guidance.” The guidance (pdf), last updated in September, says that “any ballot-return envelope that is undated or dated with an incorrect date but that has been timely received by the county shall be included” in the vote count.

    State law says that any voter who uses an absentee or mail-in ballot must “fill out, date and sign the declaration” that is printed on the envelope used to submit such a ballot, Republicans noted in their suit.

    “Petitioners ask the Court to issue a declaration that the date requirement is valid and mandatory, and that the Acting Secretary’s contrary guidance is invalid. Moreover, to preserve the rights of all voters and candidates, the Court should immediately issue an order directing county boards of elections to segregate any undated or incorrectly dated ballots received for the 2022 general election,” they said.

    Some counties have said they intend to segregate undated ballots but many have not, the Republicans said, underlining the need to act quickly with the midterm election taking place in November.

    The National Republican Congressional Committee also joined in the lawsuit.

    “As the Pennsylvania legislature and U.S. Supreme Court have made clear, undated mail-in ballots should not be counted,” Tom Emmer, chairman of that committee; Ronna McDaniel, chairwoman of the Republican National Committee; and Lawrence Tabas, chairman of the state GOP, said in a joint statement.

    “Republicans are holding Pennsylvania Democrats accountable for their brazen defiance of the Supreme Court and the rules duly set by the legislature. Pennsylvania Democrats have a history of election integrity failures and Pennsylvanians deserve better: this lawsuit is the latest step in Republican efforts to promote free, fair, and transparent elections in the Keystone State,” they added.

    The Pennsylvania Department of State did not respond to a request for comment.

    Chapman issued her latest statement after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on the matter, vacating an appeals court decision that required officials in Pennsylvania to count mail-in ballots even if there were no dates on the envelopes.

    Chapman claimed that the order did not affect a previous decision by Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court, which ruled that both state and federal law bar officials from not counting ballots without dates on the envelopes.

    https://www.theepochtimes.com/republicans-sue-over-pennsylvania-officials-saying-theyll-accept-mail-in-ballots-without-dates_4800912.html?utm_source=partner&utm_campaign=TheLibertyDaily&src_src=partner&src_cmp=TheLibertyDaily

    Liked by 1 person

  44. France is waking up fast!!!

    EXCERPT: “A project designed to move 70 migrants and their families to the small rural French town of Callac is being fought by local residents. Despite calls for a referendum on the issue, the mayor refuses to hold such a referendum, conceding he would lose the vote if it were to take place.

    During rival protests on Sept. 17, Callac Mayor Jean-Yves Rolland stated that he would address the constituents of Callac with a letter, which was released on Oct. 14. He said the letter would bring “the official version of our project in the face of rumors and misinformation,” the Le Télégramme daily reports.

    In the letter, the mayor rejected a referendum on the issue and instead tried to assuage the town that a citizen’s council should decide on how the project is implemented. The move comes after Sud Radio reported that a witnesses during a meeting with the mayor, which included 12 other eyewitnesses, related that the mayor said he would not hold a referendum because 80 percent of residents are against the measure. He reportedly said: “I would lose it.”

    At the national level, 62 percent of French say they want to hold a national referendum on continued immigration, with other polls showing that a majority of French are both opposed to further immigration into France and worried about the Great Replacement, which describes the ongoing displacement of Europeans by non-European people in the West.”

    https://rmx.news/article/mayor-pushes-great-replacement-project-in-rural-france-despite-citizen-protests-refuses-to-hold-citizen-referendum-on-accepting-migrant-families/

    Liked by 1 person

    2. I am not against migration per se, but a country must be able to decide for themselves when and how much their country can and will accept. other countries may be overpopulated, but if they send their people away, and the remaining families continue to propagate profusely, that country will be in the same boat over and over again.
      it’s like constantly bailing out your kid when he gets in trouble, he never learns to be responsible.

      Liked by 1 person

  45. I have waaaay too many links – I used to have a link to an Army Regulation about managing the US population during a big crisis. It talked about confiscating all food supplies and other items, including even dog food, moving citizens into “refugee” camps, etc. But I can’t find it, dang it!

    Liked by 1 person

  46. Remember Jade Helm 15?

    EXCERPTS: “JADE HELM 15 is a (SOC) Special Operations Command (RMT) Realistic Military Training planned drill for the South Western United States covering seven states which broke in alternative media almost a week ago. Freedom Outpost’s Joe McMaster covered this on March 20, 2015. I will not sit idly by and allow our alternative media to be portrayed as “conspiracy theorists” by those that are ignorant or liars. I stand in defense of all the alternative media that have reported and helped to expose this very real “exercise/drill,” JADE HELM 15, to the American Public. I challenge the propagandists, liars, and PSYOP’s to debunk this! You have been caught with your pants down and now you are trying to do “damage control.” It’s not going to work.”
    ————–
    Military.com “Army SpecOps Command Pushes Back Against Alarmist Claims on Exercise” states:

    ‘Army Lt. Col. Mark Lastoria, a USASOC spokesman, confirmed that there is an upcoming exercise called Jade Helm 15 which is scheduled to take place this summer at locations in Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, California and Nevada. But he denied the event is preparation for some sort of military takeover.

    “That notion was proposed by a few individuals who are unfamiliar with how and why USASOC conducts training exercises,” he said in an email. “This exercise is routine training to maintain a high level of readiness for Army Special Operations Forces because they must be ready to support potential missions anywhere in the world on a moment’s notice.”

    He said the only thing unique about this particular exercise, which is slated to take place between July 15 and Sept. 15, is “the use of new challenging terrain” which was chosen because it is similar to conditions special operations forces operate in overseas.’

    Really? And just when are they planning on taking LEO’s, DHS, FBI, and other “Inter-agency Partners” to go overseas at a moments notice? Does that even sound plausible?

    Now that we have established that JADE HELM 15 is REAL, and it was previously covered before it broke all over the alternative media. Let’s look into some of the other questions that have been asked surrounding this drill.

    What could (SOC) Special Operations Command possibly mean within their insignia of “MASTERING THE HUMAN DOMAIN”? According to an unclassified document written by Lieutenant Colonel Mitchell D. Franks of the United States Army
    titled “USAWC “Civilian Research Project” ref: pg 15

    https://investortimes.com/freedomoutpost/jade-helm-15-is-real-heres-the-proof/

    Liked by 1 person

    1. you reminded me of this….

      2022 Great ShakeOut

      ShakeOut is an annual earthquake preparedness drill held on the third Thursday of October. This year, the ShakeOut drill will take place on October 20th at 10:20 a.m. (local time).

      Date: October 20, 2022

      Time: 10:20 a.m. EDT – 11:59 p.m. EDT

      Onsite
      Event Details

      2022 Great ShakeOut – Practice your DROP, COVER and HOLD ON!

      October 20, 2022, at 10:20AM (local time)

      Location: Wherever you are at the moment – at home, at work, at school, anywhere.

      Register now to Join FEMA and millions across the world in the largest earthquake drill. With over 335 million people living and working in the United States, a major earthquake could cause unprecedented devastation. Knowing what to do before a big earthquake will determine how well you survive and recover.

      Text “Shakeout” to 43362 to be added to the Great Shakeout distribution list.

      ShakeOut is an annual earthquake preparedness drill held on the third Thursday of October. This year, the ShakeOut drill will take place on October 20th at 10:20 a.m. (local time). When an earthquake hits, you don’t know where you’ll be! It is important to ShakeOut wherever you are, whether that’s at home, work, school, or through a video conference with people working or taking classes from home.

      Check out Ready.gov/earthquakes for preparedness and safety tips.

      On the day of the event, share your participation or preparedness tips on social channels. Tag @fema #shakeout #earthquakepreparedness

      Liked by 1 person

  47. Remember this? From 2016 – speaking of fertilizer…..

    EXCERPT: “With the stroke of his pen, Obama has total and absolute control over all food, where his EO 13603 states:

    e) “Food resources” means all commodities and products, (simple, mixed, or compound), or complements to such commodities or products, that are capable of being ingested by either human beings or animals, irrespective of other uses to which such commodities or products may be put, at all stages of processing from the raw commodity to the products thereof in vendible form for human or animal consumption. “Food resources” also means potable water packaged in commercially marketable containers, all starches, sugars, vegetable and animal or marine fats and oils, seed, cotton, hemp, and flax fiber, but does not mean any such material after it loses its identity as an agricultural commodity or agricultural product.
    (f) “Food resource facilities” means plants, machinery, vehicles (including on farm), and other facilities required for the production, processing, distribution, and storage (including cold storage) of food resources, and for the domestic distribution of farm equipment and fertilizer…”

    This unconstitutional EO is particularly disturbing in that it clearly states that the government has control over anything that is “capable of being ingested by either human beings or animals…” If you thought that you and Fido were going to get through the coming food crisis by storing and consuming dog food, think again.

    How will farmers maintain the nation’s food supply when all fertilizer, their farm equipment and all of their vehicles are under the control of this sociopathic President or the next power-hungry President?

    The Wide-Ranging Food Control Policies of EO 13603

    The term “all food storage facilities” includes your refrigerator, your pantry, and even your cabinets, as well as your kitchen table. In short, anywhere you keep food is now under the control of the government and can be seized and redistributed. Those who are storing food: you had better find a way to hide at least a portion of your stockpile.

    Have you recently been scratching your head in bewilderment as you watch on the news as the Amish have had their farms raided, raw milk producers are jailed, and the kids running lemonade stands are being shut down and ticketed? Now you know why these abuses are being perpetrated by the government in that it represents a mere conditioning process designed to get all U.S. citizens used to the idea that the government owns all food and food production. Welcome to the Hunger Games, American style.

    The most clever aspect of this EO is that no Hegelian Dialectic (i.e., false flag event) is needed as a pretense to seize food and imperil survivability. Section 201(b) of the Obama EO clearly states that this EO is enforceable under both emergency and non-emergency conditions.”

    https://investortimes.com/freedomoutpost/obama-is-on-the-verge-of-starving-millions-of-americans-into-submission-absolute-proof/

    Liked by 1 person

  48. In my searches, I also ran across this link from last year:

    EXCERPT: “Christians should be informed about politics, but should they really determine which political side is correct?

    How can one claim that it is important for Christians to be informed about politics if the conclusion one draws from the information is deemed irrelevant or off limits? It is, after all, conclusions that lead one to act, and to act is to take sides.

    We are not just watching a movie or playing a game here. It defies human reason to suggest that we inform ourselves about political matters without taking sides. It would be like telling someone it is important to read recipes but not make meals; to look at menus without ordering food; or to chew but not swallow.

    The belief that our deepest convictions should not inform our political views is a manifestation of the endless effort to separate consequences from ideas. Yet politics are merely a practical means of implementing a body of beliefs about the human condition. And since our views about the human condition are informed by our religious beliefs, it is entirely appropriate for our Christian faith to inform our political views and lead us to decisions.

    The suggestion that we not advise which side is correct presupposes the possibility of neutrality. But claiming neutrality on political issues is akin to saying one has no worldview – no beliefs – on political issues. Is not the demand that we discuss the importance of politics while insisting on neutrality really just an attempt to silence opinions that differ from our own, or to avoid being put in the uncomfortable position of having to make one’s views known?

    Neutrality is a myth. If I claim moral relativism, for example, that there is no absolute truth, my claim presupposes that what I believe to be true (i.e., no objective moral standard) is more true, or closer to the real truth, than what you might believe (absolute truth). In doing so, I am not neutral. I am taking sides, attempting to distinguish my beliefs from yours, which only makes sense if there is a standard beyond or outside of your beliefs and mine against which we can measure or compare the truth of our beliefs.

    Scripture does not celebrate neutrality. Indeed, Jesus had some harsh words for the lukewarm. We’re unlikely to be excused by failing or refusing to take a stand on issues, including political ones.

    Is America a Christian Nation? Did our Founding Fathers intend to establish a Christian nation?

    This line of inquiry is often used to suck unsuspecting Christians into a debate regarding Thomas Jefferson’s Bible, what George Washington or Ben Franklin meant between the lines of their writings, or the various proofs of which founders were Christians, which were deists, and who might have been an atheist.

    Indeed, scholars have devoted volumes to those details. The question, however, is not so much whether America was founded as a Christian nation. Christian, after all, is a personal rather than a national identifier, associated with one’s beliefs about Jesus Christ. And while many of our founders were Christians, and while it is an undisputed historical fact that the American colonies were established, nurtured, and governed according to a moral order that was unapologetically rooted in Biblical principals for 150 years prior to our political separation from England in 1776, to focus on those particulars misses the point.

    The subject hinges on understanding what our founders – those who drafted our founding documents and implemented our governing philosophy – believed about the nature of man and the duty of government. It is without question that our founders understood that absent a moral order – that is, order in the soul – there could be no order in the community. It was the permanent problems of the human condition that led our founders to structure an enduring Constitution, whereby men’s tendencies to fraud, violence, ambition, and avarice could be restrained, without unduly limiting the liberties of the people.

    These views were informed by the religious beliefs of our founders, many of whom were Christians, and all of whom acknowledged that Rights come from God, and that the role of government is limited to securing those God-given rights, as so plainly described in our Declaration of Independence.”

    https://investortimes.com/freedomoutpost/taking-sides-the-christians-responsibility-in-civic-affairs-2/

    Liked by 1 person

  49. From The Bee:

    BRUSSELS — In response to Russian Dictator Vladimir Putin’s war with Ukraine resulting in the deaths of tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians, the European Union has unanimously voted to designate Putin “a real jerk.”

    This official designation serves as the EU’s most severe, surpassing “A big ol’ meanie face,” and “Wow, just wow.”

    “Let this be a lesson to Putin and his cronies that we Europeans don’t take invasions lightly,” said the president of the European Union, Franz Pierre Guttierez. “The warmonger is surely shaking in his sarafan at the very thought of what kind of official designation we would slap him with were he to engage in nuclear war.”

    Foreign policy analysts across the globe are dismayed at the EU’s violent use of official designations at a time when so much blood has already been spilled. Some fear this vote to call Putin “a real jerk” could trigger a global holocaust of nations launching bad words at each other.

    At publishing time, the EU declared Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky “a swell guy in need of more money.”

    Liked by 1 person

    2. LONDON — Sources at the National Gallery revealed today that a self-portrait of Vincent van Gogh cut its own ear off so that it would no longer have to hear the anguished cries of climate change protesters tossing tomato soup on his masterpieces.

      Going into a mad rage and reportedly losing consciousness for several minutes, van Gogh took a nearby knife and used it to viciously hack his ear off after the climate protesters went on and on about humanity needing to end its oil usage now.

      “If they keep it up, I’m going to cut off the other one, too,” van Gogh said in disgust as the protesters chanted, “Stop big oil! Stop big oil!” after attempting to destroy his priceless work “Sunflowers.” “This is just too much to take. Am I right, Dukey Boy?” he added to a nearby painting of the Duke of Wellington.

      “I asked you to stop calling me that,” responded the Duke. “But yeah. These people are the worst.”

      “Quite,” agreed van Gogh.

      “Quite,” agreed the Duke.

      “I don’t mind them so much,” chimed in Judas Iscariot from a nearby painting of Jesus’s agony in the garden.

      “Shut up, Judas.”

      Liked by 1 person

Comments are closed.