The Carroll game is over and the fans are about 50 years older. What a nail-biter at the end! Final score 38-37. The Saints’ defense was able to knock down the 2-point pass that would have given Lindenwood the one point victory. It was a great game that Carroll led all the way through, but some injuries to key defensive players allowed the Lions to draw breathtakingly close. But as they say in the movies, “All’s well that ends. Well.”

Oh – and the Grizzlies won too.

Have a great day – no matter what you choose to do! And here are a couple of chuckles to keep you smiling all day….

1.) In one high school class recently they were discussing the constitutional qualifications to be president of the United States. It was pretty simple – the candidate must be natural born citizen of at least 35 years of age.

However, one girl in the class immediately started in on how unfair was the requirement to be a natural born citizen. In short her opinion was that this requirement prevented many capable individuals from becoming president. The class was just taking it in and letting her rant, but everyone’s jaw hit the floor when she wrapped up her argument by stating, ”What makes a natural born citizen any more qualified to lead this country than one born by C-section?”

2.) Whatever you give a woman, she will make greater. If you give her sperm, she’ll give you a baby. If you give her a house, she’ll give you a home. If you give her groceries, she’ll give you a meal. If you give her a smile, she’ll give you her heart. She multiplies and enlarges what is given to her. So, if you give her any crap, be ready to receive a ton of shit.

The Sun’ll Come Up Tomorrow…

Just read my lipstick: Sarah 2012!

Or just a lack of interest? Seems like the Georgia Obamobots couldn’t muster up the same level of enthusiasm for The One this month. All that youth and energy just couldn’t find the polls twice, I guess. Not enough Hope! and Change! to make it worthwhile, maybe. Even Bill Clinton and Al Gore couldn’t distract over a million Obama voters from their holiday shopping.

But Sarah was down in the Heart of Dixie yesterday drawing huge, excited crowds and rallying them to support Saxby Chandliss. Early results show the incumbent Senator coasting to a sweet 58% – 42% victory in today’s runoff election. Thus denying the majority Dems the much coveted 60 vote threshold. Guess they’ll have to pass legislation the old-fashioned way – smelly as it may be.

And what would Christmas be without a tree decked out in red, gold, blue, and silver and a dozen collectible Beanie Baby 2008 Republican elephants? Certainly, not a Christmas we’d want to miss out on. Be sure to see this charming bit of holiday magic sponsored by Lewis & Clark County Republican Central Committee the at the Festival of Trees at the Helena Civic Center December 3 – 7. We can’t think of a merrier way to start a warm and wonderful Yuletide.

One of the most successful and least touted successes of the Bush Administration – The President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief – has saved the lives of millions of desperately poor and ill across the African Continent. Since 2004, over $15 billion in antiretroviral drugs, medical supplies and training, and education has resulted in what has been described as “the most significant aid program since the end of colonialism”.

Even so – there is much more to be done. This holiday season Starbucks is helping to raise money to fight AIDS in Africa. The Seattle-based Starbucks Coffee and (Red) recently announced a multi-year partnership that will begin next month with the sale of three co-branded products. From Nov. 27 to Jan. 2, the retailer will donate five cents from the sale of (Red) Exclusive Holiday beverages Peppermint Mocha Twist, Gingersnap Latte and Espresso Truffle to the Global Fund, which was established in 2002 to finance programs to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria worldwide.

My youngest daughter, who has been a proud member of the Starbucks family since her freshman year in college and is now a store manager in Lake Oswego, Oregon, and her husband produced this video to share the reality of this epidemic with her partners. I am thrilled to be able to share it with my friends too. And join me in a Gingersnap Latte tomorrow – a nice warm way to remember that helping someone is a very good thing.

Just a thought. For any company that accepts bailout funds from the federal government, financial compensation for ALL employees – from the CEO to the janitor – shall be based on the civil service pay scale – retirement and benefits included. And shall remain at that level until every red cent plus interest of the taxpayers’ money is paid back. No bonuses, period. For anyone. All travel is by commercial airline – coach! – and the frequent flyer miles go into a pool to reduce travel expenses. Little get-togethers and spa-meetings – canceled.

Now, just in case you might be thinking that this austerity program is unfair and unreasonable, let me ask you one question: Was there anything that you would rather do with the $15,000 per person share of the bailout that YOUR family is contributing?

Following my post on Wednesday regarding the countries where my blog has been read, I am pleased to announce that 2 Helena Handbaskets has penetrated the Mongolian blogosphere with a huge jump in readership. We have also shown a significant increase in the European market. Apparently, several people in Belgium, London, and Italy are very concerned with the goings-on in Mongolia and stopped by here to assure themselves that I intended no harm to that far-away country.

Wonder what – or who – may show up with this post out there? Such fun!

My son, the computer genius and tech guru, subscribed to this cool application for bloggers called Mint. It tracks a bunch of stuff about who’s reading your blog, how they’re finding it, where the readers are located. I haven’t totally figured out all the info yet, but it is kind of interesting to check out.

He installed it for me about a month ago and I can now make a few observations: Readership seems to increase when I post something new, and while I have made tentative inroads into the European market, Mongolia remains an untapped opportunity. As does Russia, China, all of South America, and continental Africa. I do have a fan somewhere in the Western Atlantic, however.

And now a word from our sponsor…

We now return to our regular programming. For those of you who came here to read about my choice for Energy Secretary in the new administration, continue below.