text:
"No individual shall be prohibited, in whole or in part, from accessing the most biting satire, poignant social observations, and tasteless commentary that the Internet has to offer. Snozzbucket dingleberry." -Amendment 28
Children's book author Ted Kennedy, dead at 77
Posted in funny, Government, politics
Tagged humor, news, politics, satire, Senate, Ted Kennedy
Kennedy, a federal government employee, published his well-received children's book in 2006.
Noted children's book author Edward M. "Ted" Kennedy died on Tuesday night at the age of 77. Kennedy, who worked in the District of Columbia, was best known for his 2006 book My Senator and Me: A Dog's-Eye View of Washington, D.C. The story is narrated by a Portuguese water dog named Splash, who takes the reader on a journey through the city and explores the functions of the federal government.
The 56-page fiction book, published by Scholastic Press, cemented Kennedy's reputation as one of the most-admired contemporary children's writers. In a press release, Scholastic praised how Kennedy "rose from relative obscurity to pen a unique and touching story that is also an educational lesson" for young Americans.
Kennedy's writing style was both humorous and earnest, with the main character telling readers that, "If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog." Kennedy's collaborator, Caldecott Medal-winning illustrator David Small, said that "If he is only known for one accomplishment, I'm glad that it is this."
While best recognized for My Senator and Me, Kennedy lived quietly, working for the federal government for many years.
The U.S. needs high-speed rail
Posted in Government, politics
Tagged Amtrak, D.C., high speed rail, Obama, politics, traffic, Virginia
Yesterday in The Washington Post, columnist Robert Samuelson criticized President Obama's plans to finally provide funding for high speed rail projects across the country—the likes of which Europe and Asia have, but we lack. His initial point—that Amtrak only serves a small amount of people—is essentially correct. However, Amtrak is not high speed rail. Amtrak is as much a political tool as it is a transportation network. Politicians agree to fund trains that run through sparsely populated areas so that their constituents are able to have an alternative to driving. Plus, these trains are used as leverage, with more populous sections of the country only receiving support for rail service if the countryside is covered, too.
On balance, though, Samuelson's harangue of high speed rail might have been more credible had he not made a few glaring omissions in his opinion piece:
He argued that train travel caters to only a small percentage of the population, citing daily Amtrak ridership of 78,000. This ignores the fact that more than one million people ride commuter trains (which often are operated by contracted Amtrak employees) in dozens of major cities. The Virginia Railway Express estimates that its operation takes roughly one lane of car traffic off of I-66 and I-95 during the morning and evening rush hours. To imply that no one rides trains anymore is ludicrous.
Samuelson said that the U.S. does not have the population density of other nations which have high speed rail. But no one is talking about building high-speed rail coast to coast, though the less populous states. The plan is to build corridors in California, the southeast, the Midwest, and the Northeast—where the people are.
It is misleading to ask whether all of the train ticket subsidies would be "justified" without asking the same of highway and air subsidies. Trains are much safer than automobiles and have fewer carbon emissions per passenger mile than planes.
Creigh Deeds experiencing a failure to communicate?
Posted in Government, politics, Virginia/DC
Tagged Bob McDonnell, Creigh Deeds, Mark Warner, news, Obama, politics, Tim Kaine, transportation, Virginia
Democratic state senator Creigh Deeds is lagging behind in the gubernatorial polls. What's more, he's running about even with his opponent in Northern Virginia—a majority-Democratic area within a state that voted for Barack Obama and Mark Warner last year…and Jim Webb and Tim Kaine in the cycle before that. What's handicapping Deeds?
Two things: one, it's not a "Democratic year." Independents who were willing to give Obama a chance and are now wary of his policies are taking their frustration out on statewide elections. There is not too much that can be done about that unless the economy turns around (it will eventually, just perhaps not by November). But the other factor is fixable: liberals, particularly in Northern Virginia, are just not that enthusiastic about Deeds.
Which is strange—considering that he beat two Northern Virginians in the primary by large margins even in their own backyards. Former Congressman Tom Davis, who is a Republican but not a staunch conservative, said of Northern Virginia that "People here don't get up in the morning and ask if I can go hunting and fishing." The inference is that Deeds is too much of a backwoodsy, gun-loving, Bible-thumping enigma to be trusted with cosmopolitan issues—even though his opponent fits almost the same caricature.
Republican Bob McDonnell may seem like the more urbane candidate on the surface. As a legislator, he represented Virginia Beach in the House of Delegates, he worked at Newport News at an Army hospital as a lieutenant colonel, and he is sure to mention that he grew up in Fairfax County. But Fairfax County in the early 1970s was a far cry from Fairfax County today. In McDonnell's childhood, Fairfax had fewer than half a million residents. There was no Metro, no commuter rail, no HOV lanes, and no corridor of defense contracting and IT firms. Today, the County is affluent, one-third non-white, with large enclaves of Asian and Latin American immigrants, and has excellent public schools.
So, neither of these men is really familiar with the Northern Virginia lifestyle. What are the issues important to us? Well, healthcare and the economy, of course. But the governor does not really have control over those issues. Deeds could try to run away from the controversial stimulus package and healthcare legislation. Or he could embrace what the Obama administration is doing, saying that thousands of teachers, firefighters, police officers, and state workers have avoided being fired because of the stimulus. He could also agree with Obama that every citizen needs quality, affordable insurance—something he can appreciate after growing up in rural poverty.
The issues over which he will have control, however, are essentially two: education and transportation. At George Mason University this week, he made an earnest—though at times stuttering—defense of state-funded public schools and universities, citing his own experience and that of his children in working their way through college. On transportation, he has made only one thing clear: his opponent's plan to divert money from schools and utilize the one-time revenues from liquor store privatization is bad news. Deeds is open to any other means of funding, which traditionally infers that "new sources of revenue" (or higher taxes) are on the table.
These are good core issues around which to run a campaign. But the message needs a medium in order to get through. Deeds needs to stand out on Metro platforms at 7 a.m. and rap with commuters about transportation funding. He should hop into one of Arlington's enviroCAB "green" taxis or get on a bus with local officials and drive through the Springfield Interchange. He and Mark Warner (the most popular elected official in Virginia) should be touring the construction of Metro's Silver Line and talking about how many jobs the Metrorail extension will bring to the Dulles corridor.
Unfortunately, Deeds has hinted at his willingness to bring abortion into the campaign to rile up social liberals. Now, I'm not saying that abortion isn't a fair issue, considering that McDonnell pursued anti-abortion policies quite vehemently as a legislator. And obviously if the McDonnell camp tries to link the moderate-to-conservative Deeds with liberal Obama policies, Deeds is right to pull the mask off of McDonnell's centrist costume. But considering that Deeds won the primary amid misguided negative campaigning by his two rivals, having a progressive plan and demonstrating it to voters may be a better strategy—as is constantly reminding the base that his opponent has a bad plan that is regressive.
Prepare for healthcare reform without the GOP
Tagged Democrats, GOP, healthcare, Jon Kyl, news, Obama, Olympia Snowe, politics, public option, Senate
President Obama has always been very clear on what he wants to see in healthcare reform: 1.) ensure that all Americans have insurance that will provide them with the care they need. 2.) Make reform deficit neutral. And 3.) bring down the costs of healthcare expenditures for families, businesses, and the government in the long term. Being a pragmatist, Obama has remained open to different methods of accomplishing these goals. If the answer lay in a single payer system, he would probably support that; if the answer required as little government intervention as possible, that would be acceptable to him also.
However, there came a point at which universal healthcare has turned into "incremental" healthcare—out of concern for fiscally conservative Democrats and Republicans. But now, each passing week that the Senate Finance Committee cannot come up with an outline for a new system is time in which town hall protestors, Fox News commentators, and the general dynamics of next year's midterm elections may prevent reform from occurring at all.
Obama has given the Finance Committee negotiators until September 15 to come up with a bipartisan bill, at which point he presumably will press for action without the Republicans. While I worry that imposing such a deadline may alienate any GOP senators who are thinking of supporting reform, there comes a point at which thoughtful deliberation turns into purposeful obstruction. There is no point in watering down reform in order to meet Republicans at some imaginary middle point where they will say, "Okay, that's good enough for us."
That point probably lies somewhere to the right of insurance cooperatives—a proposal that the small-state senators in charge of the negotiations have proposed in lieu of a public option. Critics on the left say that co-ops will be too small to be effective competition and will have to negotiate rates with healthcare provides like private insurers. Critics on the right, like Sen. Jon Kyl (Ariz.) are calling co-ops a "Trojan horse" that are just disguising a planned government takeover of healthcare.
If GOP senators feel that even a concept as weak as a cooperative is too much government intervention, then I think that it is time to pull the plug on bipartisanship and return to the public option commitment. The public plan is a compromise that liberals made after a single payer system was taken off the table. What exactly have conservatives compromised? The fact that they seem not to be willing to support anything other than the status quo is hardly a commitment to improving the healthcare system.
To be fair, some Republicans are taking the reform effort seriously. Sen. Olympia Snowe (Maine) was the only Republican on the Finance Committee not to draw a line in the sand in opposing a public option. Like the president, she remains open-minded on the means to the overall end of accomplishing the three key goals. Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and George Voinovich of Ohio may also be open to the Democrats' plan.
Realistically, the Democrats have 60 senators; they do not have 60 votes, however—meaning support from GOP moderates is key. But in looking at the record of the current Congress, the most important votes were taken with almost solid Republican opposition: the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act in January, the stimulus package in February, and Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation in August. Although I don't believe in the helpfulness of drawing strict lines, President Obama should seriously enforce the September 15 deadline. Otherwise, he may not have another opportunity to build momentum to pass this crucial legislation.
Colorado rep.'s strange healthcare invitation
Tagged Betsy Markey, Colorado, Congress, Cory Gardner, healthcare, news, politics
This is a bit of a stretch for me—mostly a geographical stretch—but I thought this story was too quirky to pass up.
Cory Gardner, a Republican state representative in Colorado who is planning to challenge freshman Democratic Rep. Betsy Markey, is bashing Markey for not holding health care town halls in her district over the August recess (she is on an overseas trip to Israel).
Rather than let his criticism simmer, though, he decided to designate himself de facto congressman for the district and hold his own meetings on healthcare (his website has a press release posted entitled "Look who is not afraid of holding town halls").
And the fact that Gardner is stomping on her turf is not even the kicker: not only did he invite her to what is essentially a campaign debate over healthcare, but he sent the letter on his "Cory Gardner for Congress" stationery, revealing his not-so-innocent intention to take her job.
So, here's the recap. Gardner accuses Markey of not representing her district's needs. Gardner proceeds to play the role of pretend congressman in advance of an election for which he's not even the official challenger. Then, Gardner blasts Markey for not accepting his invitation to debate him (in a campaign she is under no obligation to participate in)—even though he is trying to portray the event as a favor to her in being able to listen to her constituents.
It's going to be a looong fifteen months until the midterm elections.
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making supplication for all the saints.
Notice the four "alls" regarding prayer in this verse.
We are to pray at all times in the Spirit. This means that our prayer is to be directed and energized by the Holy Spirit. Our prayer life is to have a Holy Spirit-drivenness.
We are to pray with all prayer and supplication. These words overlap in meaning, but each has a slightly different focus. "Prayer" is often used for expressions of devotion, worship, and love toward God. "Supplication" is centered on asking for specific needs to be met in our lives or the lives of other people.
We are to pray with all perseverance. This phrase should make us pause and think about the fact that discipline and endurance are required in prayer. It is not to be relegated to a "when I feel like it" activity. It requires perseverance because the enemy and our sinful nature will fight against praying the way God wants us to pray. We should expect resistance and not let it deter us from pressing on in prayer.
We are to make supplication for all the saints. We are not to simply ask God to meet our own needs, but we are to persevere in making supplication for all the believers that we know. We have already seen that the word supplication means to ask for something, but how are we to pray for others? Often the way this is modelled in our gatherings is by asking for prayer requests. In my experience, the overwhelming majority of requests at church prayer meetings are for physical healings of one sort or another. We ask God for those healings, say "amen" and then have dessert. This type of praying is a faint shadow of what the bible intends prayer to be.
If we limit our prayer times to those with physical needs, we will never pray for "all the saints" because most saints are healthy! This should be a clue that we need to learn to pray for more than healing. In fact, in the New Testament health issues play a relatively minor role in the prayer life of the church. They prayed for healings and saw God miraculously answer their prayers, but their prayer lives were much more than that. They were hungry to see deeply spiritual work done in the lives of people. They passionately prayed for the fruit and gifts of the Spirit to be displayed. They prayed for open doors for the gospel to be proclaimed. They asked for the courage to walk through those doors and declare the good news fearlessly and with power. And they changed the world through their praying.
Paul's letter to the Colossians gives us great insight into the types of things that we can be asking God to do in the lives of other believers. Let's take a look.
We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ when we pray for you because we have heard of your faith in Jesus Christ and the love you have for all the saints, because of the hope stored up for you in heaven (Colossians 1:3-6).
Paul begins by saying that when he prays for the Colossians he always gives thanks for them. He is specific in his thanksgiving. His focus is on their relationship with the Lord as he prays. He praises God for their faith in Christ. He rejoices that he has heard that their hope has activated love for other believers. He sees fruit in their lives and recognizes it comes from understanding God's grace.
This is an excellent place to begin praying for others. We give thanks for who they are and the work of God in their lives. Often in prayer we focus on the lack that we see in people's lives. We continually ask God to fix people or their situations. This can lead us to have a critical spirit. Giving thanks opens our hearts to truly love other people. So begin by giving thanks for other believers. Be specific about the ways you have seen God working in their lives. You may find this difficult, especially when you are having relationship problems with someone or see many faults in their lives. Remember that the church in Corinth was beset with severe problems, but Paul was able to give thanks for them (1 Corinthians 1:4-9). So give thanks for others and be specific!
(We ask God that): you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God (Colossians 1:9-10).
Paul prays that the Colossians would better understand the will of God. This will require spiritual wisdom and understanding. Paul often prayers for believers to grow in their experience of the Lord and their understanding of his ways (Ephesians 1:17). He asks the Lord to open their spiritual eyes and give them greater understanding of the will of God. He doesn't doubt their salvation at this point. Their eyes have already been opened. Instead, he is praying that their spiritual vision would be more and more acute.
Isn't that what we should really be praying for one another? We would all like to have people praying for us like this!
But Paul is not simply praying that they would have greater intellectual understanding. He also prays that the knowledge of God's will would transform their behavior. He wants them to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord. This phrase does not mean that they need to live in a way that makes them worthy of salvation, instead it is that they would live in a manner consistent with the fact that they are saved. He prays that they would act more and more with who they are: redeemed children of God.
He then specifies what that looks like. Their lives will be fully pleasing to the Lord. There would be less and less need for the Lord's discipline in their lives because they are responding to his will in love-based obedience. Their lives would be bearing fruit for the kingdom of God. They would know the works that God had called them to do and they would be doing them (Ephesians 2:10). Their knowledge of God would be increasing. Their experience of God, his character, and his ways would not be stagnant, but would be constantly growing.
Praying like this releases the power of God to transform people's lives. It builds kingdom character and grows healthy churches. It causes the gospel to go forth and bear fruit both down the street and around the world. No wonder the early church changed the world!
Paul then prays for strength and endurance. Life is hard. We all have difficult days at work and at home. For some, these difficulties come as a direct result of their relationship with God. They suffer persecution for their faith. Paul prays that all those facing various trials would be built up in the faith. He prays that they would have perseverance and fortitude in the face of these struggles.
He doesn't stop there. He asks for more than simply perseverance. He prays that they would be so filled with power that they would experience joy in the midst of their troubles. This joy is rooted in their salvation. He prays that would reflect on what the Lord has done for them in Christ and this would cause rejoicing in the midst of their affliction (James 1:3-4; 1 Peter 1:6-7).
This is how we can pray for all the saints!
Can you see how praying like this broadens our prayer lives? Not only that, God delights in answering these prayers and when he does the church deepens and grows in impact and power. Why not take the prayers of the epistles and use them in your own prayer life as you intercede for others?
Here is a detailed list of the key prayer points drawn from the prayers of Paul.
His Return - How Close Are We?


Modern Western Armenian is considered an endangered language by UNESCO. Today Western Armenian is essentially a Diaspora language which was dramatically impacted by the Armenian Genocide of 1915. The post-Genocide period has posed a great challenge to the continued vitality of this important language. For the past few years, scholars have discussed how to best teach Western Armenian and to transmit the language to future generations. This volume brings together experts in the field of Western Armenian who focus on theoretical questions as well as practical suggestions in dealing with outdated pedagogical approaches. The volume presents the latest research in the field of language acquisition, which benefits from theoretical and practical approaches in the field of teaching minority languages in a diasporic situation. This collection of essays is a striking response to the crisis of contemporary Western Armenian. It offers articles from multiple, heterogeneous perspectives, written by experts who have both theoretical and instructional experience and articulate views ranging from the importance of creating linguistic communities to the use of creative writing in language classrooms. Even the most visionary article also offers some strikingly innovative yet practical suggestion. The broader public of the Armenian diaspora and in particular its language teachers, school trustees and administrators, as well as writers, can and must learn from it. Khachig Tölölyan, Wesleyan University Western Armenian's future is one of the most frequently debated topics in contemporary discussions of the Armenian diaspora. Reaching beyond the sensationalism that often frames the discourse of language vitality, this compelling collection of essays opens up new approaches to Western Armenian instruction, training, and transmission. The result is a fabulous volume that will become an integral resource for educators, researchers, and language activists. Talar Chahinian, UC Irvine.


We use proactive engineering to reduce the risks associated with automotive cybersecurity and privacy; specifying and assessing the resilience of defence-in-depth cybersecurity measures to develop robust cybersecurity concepts for our clients.
We use and build upon the high-level guiding principles for cybersecurity as they relate to cyber-physical vehicle systems established in SAE J3061 and the emerging ISO/SAE 21434 standard.
We are also the lead partner for 5StarS (UK Government supported collaborative research project) aimed at the research and development of an innovative assurance process to assure that vehicles, components and systems have been designed and tested to the relevant cybersecurity standards throughout their whole lifecycle.


We have an exciting opportunity for a Level 3 qualified and experienced Senior Nursery Nurse to cover a maternity contract in June 2019 on a full-time basis within a 'good' Ofsted rated nursery in Gosforth, Tyne and Wear.
Working in their Under 2s room; you will support a team of 6-7 Nursery Nurses ensuring that they work to a very high standard, and their observations and planning is kept up to date. The nursery is very welcoming with an extremely good reputation in the local area. This contract will be for at least 6 months.
They are a very spacious setting with a fantastic outdoor area where the children thrive in their care, which is led by an extremely supportive and passionate management team.
You will have previous experience working with babies and toddlers and applicants MUST hold at least a Level 3 qualification in Early Years (or equivalent).
Working 40 hours a week between 7:45am and 6pm (8.5 hour shifts) the nursery are open all year round, you can expect to receive 20 days holiday PLUS the 8 bank holidays.
Salary range is £18,250-£18,479 depending on experience.
Applicants must have recent and up-to-date knowledge of the EYFS curriculum and be able to provide at least two employment references, which are relevant to childcare.
If you are passionate about working with children and have a strong work ethic, and are at least Level 3 qualified please contact us today for further details.


I am definitely EXTRA when it comes to dressing! Therefore it should come as no secret to you, that I own a few gorgeous fur coats that probably cost more than $15K in total. Yet, my fur collection has cost me, under $100. I am absolutely not exaggerating, nor lying. The Thrift Gods have blessed me thoughout the years with some exceptional fur scores. But, this fur coat has got to be the absolutely best thrift score for me, period!
My son is on a travel soccer team, and one of the family activities after his games when visiting new areas, is to check out the nearest thrift store. On this occasion, we ended up at Goodwill in Gaithersburg, MD on South Frederick Avenue. It was my first time in this Goodwill, and I did my normal sweep. I checked the shoes first, then made my way to the dresses, then home goods, then sweaters. I did find a few cute items, but nothing to write home about.
However, as I walked around the store, I spotted a carousel with coats and jackets next to the dressing rooms. As I walked up, two coats immediately caught my attention. The first one was a rabbit hair, short black fur coat. It looked absolutely gorgeous, and it was priced at $50. Now, for me, rabbit hair is the one fur coat I actually stay away from, as it sheds like crazy. Of course, I know you can take care of it in such a way that it doesn't shed as much, but you won't get rid of the shedding completely.
The next coat I pulled appeared to be a fur coat: the feature of this blog post. Now, I have to admit that I am not a fur expert. I have learned a few tricks to determine whether something is real or not, however, I am still not confident that I have it clearly figured out. But, in this case, I wanted to at least take the fur off the hanger, and try it on. Can I tell you that when I tried on this beauty, this fur coat slid on like it was waiting for me and only me. Perfect fit. Perfect color. Perfect extraness!
I said a silent thank you to the Thrift Gods and began the most thorough inspection of a coat. I literally spent 15 mins inspecting for the tears, holes, stains, missing buttons etc. Nothing. The coat was in immaculate condition. Next up, I needed to know the price. A small green price tag, with the handwritten number, $19.99. At this point, my heart sank, because although I truly believed it was a true fur coat, there was no way Goodwill will sell a real fur coat for $19.99. This had to be a faux fur. But, something told me to get it anyways, and have it appraised for sure. Besides, if it turned out to be a fake, then $20 was not the end of the world to spend for a winter coat.
Later that week, I brought the coat to someone I always rely on to examine my furs and give an appraisal on the cost. I trust his opinion when it comes to this authentication because he has had significant experience working at Maximilian Fur in Bloomingdales and with the Fur Collections in Fendi. The moment I showed him the coat, he looked at me and said — you hit the jackpot! He stated that the coat is definitely real and that it was a 7/8 length sheared ranch mink coat with dyed Orylag shawl collar. The next words made me stare at him, with my mouth hanging open for more than a few seconds. The coat retails for $9-$12 THOUSAND dollars! I paid $20. Twenty one dollar bills! I just had to say that again. As he examined the coat, he himself was amazed by the immaculate condition the coat was in and provided me some tips on what I needed to do to keep it in that condition for years to come.
As the winter season has been frigid this year for me, I have used my coat on more than a few occasions. As I said above, I am extra, so I don't necessarily need a fancy occasion to rock my furs. Being cold is an occasion enough for me to roll out the fur coat. Heading to dinner with hubby one evening, I decided to wear my thrifted fur coat with my thrifted Anthropologie dress and thrifted Badgley Mischka pumps. I felt amazing. I was wearing at least $10,000 worth of clothing, and had spent a total of $60 for this look. SCORE!!!!!
What has been your best thrift score to date?
Wow that is truly amazing. My best thrift was a Vince Camuto genuine leather bucket bag. I thrifted it for $5 and it's worth $80-90.
I just missed the mark on scoring a vintage Levi denim jacket. I got it for $5 and was worth $40, but if it was the older generation just before they started making the one I had the appraiser said it would have been worth thousands. Awesome post!
This fur coat is absolutely dazzling on you babe! Such a great find too! Love the bow heels as well. Super pretty winter look!
I am still in disbelief! That's amazing. The best bargain i have gotten at a Goodwill is a $5.00 Banana Republic jacket. Obvs, I'm doing something wrong!
Rock that extraness! I love it!
My best score has been a NEW pair of Valentino Rockstud Wedge Leather shoes. Goodwill must not have know what they has as they were $7.00! Not a mark on them, serial numbers, etc. they are stunning!
If only it was hot enough here in Vegas to wear a fit coat!
So smart that you went and had it appraised you clearly have a good eye for this. That coat is GORGEOUS!!!
Awesome find! I love thrifting. You really can find some amazeballs stuff there cheap as chips. That coat looks great on you too By the way.
WOW this is such a great find and I am so jealous! I am with you, I definitely dress extra too haha. I love wearing faux fur (or real if it is thrifted) and I think it is kind of extra too, but I just moved to London and everyone is wearing fur here! I bet next winter everyone in the US will be wearing fur and you have the perfect coat to rock the trend (and you are ahead of the game)!
Passing you a trophy because I've never had a score that big. Wow! And I like the cut and trench style of this coat a lot. I say again, wow!
My most memorable score is probably the Eibar El Casco Espana pencil sharpener I paid $15 for at New To You. Eibar El Casco Espana is a Spanish luxury office goods supplier, and the pencil sharpener retails for over $400. I wasn't even aware they made $400 pencil sharpeners but who am I to ask why. It does a great job on pencils, lol.
AMAZING!! My best thrift score was a pair of Frye Campus boots for $7 – exactly like ones I had been searching for – but your fur definitely wins! Fantastic!
What a deal!! This coat is absolutely fabulous on you!
YESSSS! I also love to thrift and I finally found the coat of my dreams (I've been looking for three years). A black directional (vertical) mink in perfect condition (who gives that away????) that fit me perfectly, which is usually not the case. It is easily in the same price range as yours for appraisal and honestly, I wear it out all the time. I live in Boston and the weather/wind here is awful ALL THE TIME so I pull the fur our at least once a week to make myself feel a little more glamourous! My price was $75, and worth every penny. It is by far the best thing I've ever found at a Goodwill.