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Memorial Day. A Day Bought With Blood
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
****************
I worry about America ... a LOT.   We have become so removed from our heritage, our history, and the core values upon which this country was founded that we have lost our way and we are foundering and in real danger of collapse. 

Our culture is now so crude, so repellent, AND repugnant, that the good people of Sodom and Gomorrah would blush -- were they to see us today.

America has become the sort of country to which WE (America) used to send missionaries!

There IS a struggle in progress for America -- but the soul of the country has long been lost.  Nothing much is left today but a hollowed-out husk of a nation that once led the world from the pinnacle of power and influence.  Like the Roman Empire, America died at its own hand.

All we have left today are memories of a time of grandeur.  And even those pictures from the past are fading into nothingness.

And it was quick. Oh, how swiftly we succumbed to the assault on our foundation.  We thought it was solid -- built on granite of the ages -- only to learn that it wasn't granite, it was, in fact, sand, a house built on sand.  And like that proverbial house, it was swept away by our own avarice, our own covetousness, our own selfishness, laziness, our inability to grasp the obvious, which was simply -- that America had chosen the lap of luxury over the eternal fight for freedom. Added to all the above was the loss of American's will to preserve the most precious gift their ancestors had to give -- freedom and liberty. 

When Americans finally reached a point in the evolution of the country that they no longer VALUED freedom, the fate of the country was sealed.

America's founders knew -- and understood fully -- that freedom is not free.  It exacts a price. It is bought, over, and over again, with blood.  It can be obtained no other way.  Blood is the ONLY acceptable currency when purchasing one's freedom.  A people simply GIVEN freedom do not value it.  They cannot -- for the know nothing of its cost. And they soon lose it.  Freedom once lost is almost never regained. 

Once a people have acquired their freedom -- it must be maintained.   It, too, requires blood payment.  Even more important is the fact that to maintain one's freedom WILL is required.  A people must have the will to do that which is necessary to maintain their freedom -- or they will most certainly lose it.

Americans used to take pride in the expression: "It's a free country."  You don't hear that much anymore.  Because we are not a free country -- anymore.

The state America finds herself in today is the culmination of a process that was begun many decades ago to slowly distance Americans from their birthright.  Yes, freedom is, or at least WAS, a birthright of modern Americans.  It was bought and paid for by the men and women we are supposed to be remembering on this Memorial Day.  

G. K. Chesterton once said:  "The way to love anything is to realize it might be lost."  America has had at least two generations without the realization that "freedom" MIGHT be, or COULD be, lost.  They were the low hanging fruit for the leftist/globalist/multiculturalist agenda that has so successfully stripped America of its liberty.

So, how do you go about separating a people, a nation from its heritage, its history, and its core values?   Consider the following words carefully:  "The first step in liquidating a people is to erase its memory. Destroy its books, its culture, its history, Then have somebody write new books, manufacture a new culture, invent a new history. Before long the nation will begin to forget what it is and what it was. The world around it will forget even faster ..."  ......- Milan Kundera

Mr. Kundera was spot-on.  Today we use the word "revisionist" to describe the process he lays out above.  And it is absolutely effective.

We have a generation of Americans who haven't a clue WHO they are.  They have been taught that American culture is no better or worse than the culture of any other nation on earth.  "multiculturalism" has been force-fed our young scholars in the government controlled public education system in America.  Their young minds were soaked in leftist propaganda for twelve years before they are delivered up to the masters of socialist and Marxist thought at the thresholds of the nation's colleges and universities we laughingly refer to as "institutions of higher learning."  I submit, they are a lot of things, but institutions of higher learning they are not.

They no longer believe in American Exceptionalism.  Even the American President denies the existence of an exceptional America pushing his own country from a leadership position in the world to just another member of the pack following ... WHOM or WHAT ... exactly?

Our young have been taught that the way to accomplish anything is to compromise.  Even when you are right ... compromise. 

Right never wins in compromise.

One of the greatest politicians ever produced by the state of North Carolina was Senator Jesse Helms.  As far back as 1959, Mr. Helms said:  "Compromise, hell!  If freedom is right and tyranny is wrong, why should those who believe in freedom treat it as if were a roll of Bologna to be bartered a slice at a time?"

But that is precisely what America did.  We compromised -- and we traded our freedom away.  We made a Faustian deal and the bill has come due.

What happened to our reason and to our common sense?  Regrettably, we traded and compromised it away, as well. 

Our national memory?  Almost gone.  Does anyone even remember what Memorial Day is all about, anymore?

Memorial Day was a day originally set aside as a day to remember our war dead and to honor those men and women who fought in all the wars of the United States.  Here, in the American South, we celebrate the Confederate dead as well as the US dead.  After all, Memorial Day began as a Southern holiday to honor the Confederate dead by cleaning their grave sites and cemeteries.

No longer.  Today we "celebrate" Memorial Day. 

There is something fundamentally WRONG about that. Where's the quiet contemplation owed America's warrior's for their sacrifice.  After all, Memorial Day, indeed, every day of freedom in America is a day bought and paid for in the blood of America's warriors.  This calls for solemnity -- not celebration.

I'd like to recommend you read an article by Daniel Greenfield entitled:  "The Warrior's Tale" sometime before this day is ended.  You will find it here: http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/55469?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

No, I don't expect anything to change as a result of my comments here.  Unfortunately, we are too far down that slippery slope to ever climb back up.  But -- it needed saying.  A friend reminded me, a while ago, "someone needs to say these things."   And now-- someone has.

© J. D. Longstreet

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Liberty -vs- Tyranny

Today we honor those who gave the ultimate sacrifice in the name of freedom and liberty for all.

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Liberty -vs- Tyranny

I like Rand Paul. In some ways he is a breath of fresh air in an otherwise boring and oh so predictable and stale chamber.

Having said this, and yes I think we need to resolve the IRS "scandal" as quickly and ethically as possible, to question the President's moral authority to lead over this is premature and questionable at best at this precise point in time. Especially in light of the small matter that the man in charge when the IRS "scandal" begin was a GWB appointee.

From Mediaite - Appearing on This Week on Sunday morning, Rand Paul challenged President Barack Obama‘s moral standing in the wake of multiple controversies.

“The constellation of these three scandals ongoing really takes away from the President’s moral authority to lead this nation,” Paul said. “Nobody questions his legal authority, but I think he’s really losing the moral authority.”

“I don’t care whether you’re a Republican or Democrat, nobody likes to see the opposite party punishing you for your political beliefs.”

Martha Raddatz, ABC News Chief Global Affairs Correspondent, asked Paul if he’d seen evidence that the IRS had broken the law.

“I don’t know,” Rand said. “The main woman from the IRS that’s involved has taken the Fifth Amendment—she’s no longer cooperating, so I have called for her suspension. The President did respond to that and he has suspended her, however he’s still paying her and I don’t want that to go on forever.”

“I think there needs to be a speedy resolution on this,” Paul said. “[Obama] says he’s going to listen to his new IRS commissioner in 30 days. Well, the investigation’s been going on over a year now, so I would think it wouldn’t tkae very long. If he goes beyond 30 days and if no one is fired over this, I really think it’s gonna be trouble for him trying to lead in the next four years.”

Video:



Patience in the pursuit of truth and justice is a virtue. We ought to expect ALL of our Representatives and Senators to act accordingly.

Via: Memeorandum

As usual the President has cleverly distanced himself from these horrific abuses by sending subordinates to take the heat from the media and Congressional committees. Benghazi massacre no longer appears to be a sequence of incompetent actions caused by various segments of our government. Evidence emerging from various sources displays that a profound cover up, directed by the White House, is enforce. Deaths of four Americans, which include an Ambassador chosen by the President, still remain a mystery more than 8 months after the tragic incident. Twelve separate explanations, lacking any substantiation, have been expressed by various members of the Administration and the President himself. When the story of an anti-Muslim video didn’t capture the public’s attention, a dozen other variants were introduced in an attempt to explain away this massacre. From the perch of many Obama put the safety of Muslim extremists before those of four Americans. Someone ordered the military not to respond to an ongoing assault in Benghazi, and that person may be in residence at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. As the Benghazi tragedy continued to swirl through Congressional corridors, abuse of Internal Revenue resources came to light, in the last few weeks. Groups that lean to the right were targeted for audits or even denials of tax exemptions in a frequency well beyond statistical averages, as noted in an Inspector General’s report. Coincidently, the abuse started in March of 2010 when Obamacare was signed into law. An uptick of IRS harassment of these same groups and individuals occurred as the 2012 election approached. Officials, at this egregious tax service, have denied for over a year these occurrences were taking place, when recent evidence surfaced displaying otherwise. In civil tones, IRS officials lied to Congress and the American people. Many believe the intimidation of the right was purposely initiated to keep Barack Obama in power. These revelations came to light 7 months after the 2012 election, when the facts were known 6 months before Obama won a second term. Obama’s henchmen and women had one goal, manipulate the outcome of a presidential election. There is no other explanation, with the facts presently available. Even more insidious than a manipulated election, is an attempt by the White House and Department of Justice to suppress the free flow of information in the media. Unbeknownst to Fox News, the Associated Press and others news organizations of note was the Department of Justice’s quiet acquisition of reporters’ emails, contacts, phone numbers and other information that could be harmful to President Obama’s reelection bid. With various excuses the DOJ quoted national security or some other hypothetical to obtain this information. Reality speaks in other tones, meaning this was another form of intimidation by an out of control Administration that feels empowered to step on the Constitution. Similar to the other scandals and tragedies Obama and his minions have sudden amnesia when approached to explain any aspect of this Administrations overreach. The time has arrived for the President to drop the charades and come clean concerning these three scandals and others from his prior term. White House machinery to cover the President’s tracks is being peeled away daily. Soon, Congressional investigators will find the path that leads to the back door of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. When this occurs, it will be too late for Obama to be contrite before a Nation that made a mistake in 2008 and again in 2012. Mark Davis, MD platomd@gmail.com, President of Healthnets Review Services, www.healthnets reviewservices.com, Author of the book, Demons of Democracy and the forthcoming book, Obamacare: Dead on Arrival, A Prescription for Disaster. Manager of the group on LinkedIn, Government in Transition.

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Liberty -vs- Tyranny

RIGHT WING WATCH - On his radio program today, Bryan Fischer weighed in on the decision by the Boy Scouts of America to drop its ban on gay scouts last night.

Admitting that he was shocked by the vote since he was positive that it was going to be retained, Fischer declared that the BSA should change its name to the "Boy Sodomizers of America." Fischer eventually read a passage from the Book of Luke in which Jesus says it is better to have a stone tied around ones neck and be tossed into the sea than to lead a child to sin as a warning to BSA leaders that they will face the judgment of God for endorsing this change in policy:

Now that the Boy Scouts of America has made the right and proper decision granting ALL boys the right to membership REGARDLESS of their sexual orientation we're certain to here more from the judgmental moralizers in days and weeks to come, perhaps even for years.

Sure would have been useful if Jesus would have written down his positions on such weighty matters as the naturally occurring deviation from what is considered normal sexual preferences. Rather than leaving it to subjective interpretation by those who wrote the Gospels some 90 to 100 years following his death.

Christs views were quite possibly nothing like the Catholic Church has presented them over centuries.

Via: Memeorandum

Welcome to a new GIVEAWAY!
Today's is all about the leather goods. You can win one of these leather clutches from ME CHAR, in your color choice. I own a few of these pieces and I can tell you that you will love it too. I wore these clutches recently HERE and HERE, and now is your turn to own one. To participate please follow the requests:

                                                                  - Follow me with Google Friend Connect and/or Facebook HERE
                                                                  - Follow ME CHAR on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE
                                                                  -  Leave a comment bellow with your favorite clutch color( or number) and your email address.

                                                                    This is a worldwide giveaway and the last day to enter is June 8.
                                                                                                    Good luck!



                                                                    1. Edith clutch (magenta/white snake) Here
                                                                    2. Edith clutch (kelly green/black) Here
                                                                    3. Edith clutch (grey/white snake) Here
                                                                    4. Edith clutch (brown) Here

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Liberty -vs- Tyranny



The voice of intolerance and bigotry.

AUSTIN - Gov. Rick Perry today issued the following statement regarding the vote to admit openly gay Boy Scouts:

The Boys Scouts of America has been built upon the values of faith and family for more than 100 years and today's decision contradicts generations of tradition in the name of political correctness. While I will always cherish my time as a scout and the life lessons I learned, I am greatly disappointed with this decision.

Once again proving the bible thumping socons are part of the problem rather than part of the solution.

Way to go Governor Perry. Not that anyone with a rational mind is surprised by your backwardness.

Via: Memorandum

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Liberty -vs- Tyranny

Sometimes it just makes sense to review precisely what it means to act in the rational self interest of ones nation.

Perhaps we have reached a point where infrastructure must take precedent over engagement in never ending global conflicts. Especially when the conflict has little to do with our national security. Start by thinking Iraq and working backwards. Of course Afghanistan is exempt from the exercise.

Business Insider - The big news today is that a bridge in Washington collapsed, throwing cars into the water. Amazingly, nobody died.

This may revive debate about the need to spend more on infrastructure, which would have multiple positive effects.

Nothing is likely to happen, however.

That being said, here's a chart of public construction spending (TLPBLCONS) as percentage of GDP.

You can see, public construction spending is lower than its been in over 20 years.



Click graph to enlarge

Given the current mood of the Tea Parry, the MIC, and the pro military neo-cons (lets find a war at any cost types) I'm guessing things just might bet worse before they get better.

Via: Memeorandum

Who's ready for a nice long weekend?. School is officially out (cue Alice Cooper) so we are going to do some of this


a little of this


lots of this


and hopefully this


Ahh summer. I'm ready for you baby! What are your plans this weekend?

And don't forget to check out Kelly's feature over at the Simply Baby blog party!

Just a Name on a Chart
A Bar Code on a Wrist Band
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
*****************
America's medical community is in a state of severe decline.  The way medicine is practiced and care given to America's medical patients has dropped to a level I have never experienced before in my lifetime and I have been hospitalized at least eighty times since the mid 1960's. 

I blame two things:  Government and computers.  There are other reasons, to be sure, but these are the two most prominent to me, at least.  Combine the two and you have something akin to chaos in a medical facility.

Understand:  When a chain of computers is used in any process, that process is only as fast as the slowest computer user within the chain.  Some people's computer skills are excellent.  Others are not. 

RN's now have those little roll around computers they constantly roll from one patient's room to another.  Everything they do -- to and for the patient -- is entered in the patient's records on that computer. 

In the good ole days, before computers, patient care was a hell of a lot faster and, in this semi-professional patient's opinion,  way more efficient.

Like nearly all businesses, and that's what hospital's really are, these days they are trying to do more with fewer employees. 

The recent recession affirmed something in business's collective mind.  The fewer employees you have the wider your profit margin -- if you can maintain production at a sufficient level. 

Of course, it's a bit more complicated than that.  The staff must be able to do more, to work harder, and in some cases work longer hours.  They will do it because the number of unemployed people waiting for their job is staggering.  (High unemployment is a boon to business.) The employee knows his employer will have no problems replacing him immediately.  So he produces to the maximum for the boss. 

For the company, production goes up, payroll comes down, and the profit margin grows wider -- all good for business. 

I expect the above will be the new normal in American business -- if not in global business.
Hospitals are a service industry.  I know that doesn't sound sexy today. Nevertheless, at bottom, ALL  hospitals are just that. 

Operating any service industry at the bare minimum will, over time, reduce the services and the quality of the services administered by that business.  That's bad for both the consumer of those services and the business, itself.

Many hospitals have cut their staffs just as other industries have done. In my opinion, there is no way a healthcare facility can avoid reducing the quality of care the patient receives when they don't have enough people to keep the operation running smoothly and efficiently.

To all of the above -- add government regulations -- and you have a nightmare. And it will only get worse, much worse, under Obamacare.

You know, one of the great inventions in America was the community or county hospital.  They were a source of pride for the citizens of that community.  Admittedly small with limited resources, they were, however, staffed with people from the community whose families would be receiving care in the institution in which they worked.  These small hospitals did yeoman's work in their communities.

In small communities patients knew the individual members of the staff and vice-versa.  Doctors were referred to by their first names, because the patient went to church with them, attended PTA meetings and Little League ball games with them.  They, too, were an integral part of the community. 

Usually the community hospitals were run by an administrator who answered to a board of trustees, who answered to the county commissioners, who answered to the citizens of the community. 

Across much of America that has now changed -- and change is NOT ALWAYS GOOD!

Many community hospitals have now been leased to large corporations that manage and operate hospitals for profit all over the country. 

Suddenly that community (or county) hospital becomes a regional healthcare facility.  At this point, two steps have been taken away from the community where the hospital was born. It is no longer a community hospital and it is no longer answerable to the citizens who ultimately own it.

Then the company running the facility brings in staff doctors.  Some are known by a relatively new title -- "Hospitalist."  They may be great doctors but they have nothing in common with the community and do not have the bond or the trust of the patients they see.

If you are not familiar with the term hospitalists, you're not alone.  Even my thesaurus didn't have it.  Turns out the term hospitalist was first coined by Robert Wachter and Lee Goldman in a 1996 New England Journal of Medicine article.  Hospitalists' activities may include patient care, teaching, research, and leadership related to hospital care.  SOURCE:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hospital_medicine 

Many patients attempt to avoid the hospitals employing hospitalists.  I'm one of them.

We have gone from being greeted in the admitting office or the emergency department by our first names to this: "Please give me your full name and date of birth."   During my most recent visit to a medical facility I reckon I was asked to provide my full name and date of birth several times and hour.  It was even required just to receive my food tray from the hospital kitchen.

In my opinion, we are observing a massive make-over of the healthcare delivery system in America and, frankly, I don't like it -- at all.

Patients are now only a name on a chart or a bar code on a wrist band.  It's just one more thing about this new America that I don't like.

© J. D. Longstreet

America Doesn't Need A President
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
***************

By now we all recognize that the current occupant of the Oval Office is definitely NOT a type "A" personality.

For a time, the President -- and his family -- were enjoying, on average, a vacation a month at taxpayer expense. 

In a December, 2011, ABC News interview, Mr. Obama told Barbara Walters, “There is a deep down, underneath all the work I do, I think there’s a laziness in me. It’s probably from, you know, growing up in Hawaii, and it’s sunny outside and sitting on the beach.”  SOURCE:   http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/mar/13/the-true-confessions-of-a-lazy-president/#ixzz2TmHB242p

Obama's work ethic HAS been called into question from time to time.   Of course, the
person having the temerity to mention it is instantly hammered by the President's "Press Phalanx."

But it remains a nagging point of interest what with well over a hundred rounds of golf under his belt and all the vacations and traveling, making campaign speeches -- even when he is not a candidate -- plus all the travel he does to fundraisers, etc..

It all begs the question:  Who's minding the store?

You'd think that with the country in the mess it's in, the Chief Executive would be hard at work making a yeoman's attempt to solve the nation's problems and get the country back on course.

Nope!  Ain't happening.

So -- who IS running things?  Darned if I know! 

When there is good news to report it seems everyone in the West Wing is ready and willing to step forward and take credit.  But -- when something goes wrong, nobody knows anything about anything -- period.  Funny how that works, eh?

I mean, consider the Benghazi mess.  Nobody even knows where the President was!  Well, they won't admit it if they do.  Of course, all this just makes me wonder -- even more -- where the hell WAS the President, anyway?

So far as the mess with the AP telephones and the IRS strong arming conservative groups, nobody at the White House knows anything.  

So what do they do all day, huh?  I mean besides planing menus, and scheduling fund raisers for the President, and speaking engagements, that sort of thing, do they ever get around to running the government?

In an article at The Washington Times written by Eric Golub the point is made thusly:  "Conversations must begin honestly. It is perfectly legitimate to analyze leaders with critical lenses. People fight and die for this freedom.

Times are serious, and Obama may not be. The question of whether Obama is lazy evokes everything from discomfort to rage. Yet asking and answering questions provokes “national conversations” that President Obama cherishes.  SOURCE:  http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/tygrrrr-express/2013/jan/7/president-obama-lazy/#ixzz2TmNjMZZh

Mr. Golub goes on in the same article to note the following:  "Not one example exists of anything significant happening specifically because of intense Obama engagement and effort."  Mr. Golub continues:  "Obama loves speaking but appears to loathe governing. Speaking is glamorous. Governing is boring and tedious. He constantly tells everybody else to 'get to work' while he is AWOL. SOURCE:  http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/tygrrrr-express/2013/jan/7/president-obama-lazy/#ixzz2TmP086lb

Mr. Golub concludes his column with this:  "It insults millions of hard-working Americans of all races to give him unearned credit. Once the platitudes are removed, supporters will not find a single policy accomplishment in his entire first term that has anything to do with him.

Others did the heavy lifting while he took credit and deflected blame.

This does not make him a bad guy. It just makes him unmotivated, or in simpler terms, lazy."  SOURCE:  http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/tygrrrr-express/2013/jan/7/president-obama-lazy/#ixzz2TmR4Iym

Mr. Obama has proven that America really doesn't NEED a President.  Heck, we could have someone sent over from "central casting" to fill the slot for photo ops, and such.   The Press Secretary could handle press conferences -- as he does nearly every day, anyway.  And there are any number of polished public speakers in the cabinet.

Maybe we have reached a point in the evolution of the country at which we ought to reevaluate the importance of the Executive Branch of the government. Maybe we ought to change the office of the Presidency to merely a ceremonial post -- I mean, now that we know we don't really NEED a President -- thanks to Obama. 

© J. D. Longstreet

So since my wrist has been giving me troubles, I've had a chance to catch up on other things; like gardening, reading, butter churning. You know, vintage pre-computer things. I even got out my old design binders. Those glorious files of tear sheet after tear sheet stuffed into six (yes six) binders. Basically the paper version of Pinterest.


And while searching thru my old piles of inspiration I found this.

source

An image from one of my all time favorite articles on Fran Keenan in Cottage Living (hand over your heart. How I miss that magazine). I have been looking for a way to spruce up my plain white curtains in the dining room since, oh the day I got them. I'd even toyed with adding ribbon along the leading edge of the curtains, but it just looked dinky so I never went thru with it.

But this looked more... substantial. And big key, simple(ish) enough to attempt. I tried several different sizes of ribbon from my stash (c'mon, like you don't have a ribbon stash?!) to figure out how big the ribbon needed to be. 1" was too thick and 5/8" was too small, leaving lucky 7/8". Before I knew it I was putting the girls in the car and we were off to Michael's to buy a 20 yard roll of 7/8" navy grosgrain.


This project went down so quick I didn't take many pictures of the process but I will tell you it is as simple as making an X with two ribbons, repeating it about 50 times and then trimming the whole thing with more ribbon. I just tried out a few different size Xs to see what I would like best and then once I found the right length, I cut 24 strips in that length to make the Xs. I glued down each one and then finished them off with trim at the top and bottom of the X and along each side of the drape. One thing to note, this takes A LOT of ribbon. My 20 yards wasn't enough and I had to go back and buy another 13. Crazy, I know.


Very simple and a great detail against the white curtains. I knew I kept all of those old magazines for a reason!




Can't show you the right side of the dining room as there are some other projects over that'a way that I'm finishing up. Soon enough my friends.

So spill it. Have you been so inspired by an image that you needed to create something right away? Is there an old magazine article that is burned into your brain? Have you ever used 33 yards of ribbon?

 Just a mini break from my New York posts to show you this WHITE outfit c/o Lulu's.com.
With Memorial Day approaching soon, I use this as an excuse to dress head to toe in white. This Summer I plan to wear all my white garments for sure. If you are thinking the same and you want to add some new pieces to your wardrobe, I have for you a VIP code to use on Lulu's.com website: they have great sales and with this code:VIPMemorial you will have another 15% off the sale on sale prices. This code is valid until the 23th, so hurry up to catch some goodies!







                                                                              Sweater: RD Style thanks to Lulu's.com/ Here
                                                                              Jeans: Makers of True Originals thanks to Lulu's.com/ Here
                                                                              Sandals: Chinese Laundry, thanks to Lulu's.com/ Here
                                                                              Bracelets: thanks to Lulu's.com/ Here and another great version Here 
                                                                              Rings: thanks to Lulu's.com/ Here