Jen's Gyrations

Rule by Presidential Decree

2012-02-17T07:26:00.000-05:00

***Why do people fall for these gimmicks? Doesn't anyone care enough to dig a little deeper and find out the truth?

Read Charles Krauthammer's piece, "The Obamacare Trifecta."

Give him points for cleverness. President Obama’s birth-control “accommodation” was as politically successful as it was morally meaningless. It was nothing but an accounting trick that still forces Catholic (and other religious) institutions to provide medical insurance that guarantees free birth control, tubal ligation, and morning-after abortifacients — all of which violate church doctrine on the sanctity of life.

The trick is that these birth control/abortion services will supposedly be provided independently and free of charge by the religious institution’s insurance company. But this changes none of the moral calculus. Holy Cross Hospital, for example, is still required by law to engage an insurance company that is required by law to provide these doctrinally proscribed services to all Holy Cross employees.

We have morally repugnant leaders of low to no character and honesty running this country, and way too many mindless lemmings following them. They're leading us right over a cliff, and nobody seems to care as long as they keep the goodies coming. The average citizen who refuses to look just a little closer and find out what is really going on is just as much to blame as vermin like President Obama and the sycophants in his administration.

Take the time to read the piece. Krauthammer zeroes in on President Obama's assault on the Constitution. This man does not like this country, and he views the Constitution as an irritating roadblock, getting in the way of his transforming the United States into socialist utopia. We had better concentrate a little harder on getting him out of there in November. The United States as we know it will not survive another four years of him.

***

Click to enlarge. Read the quote from the U.S. Secretary of Energy. Then tell me Obama and his administration are not socialist to the core.

***Media Matters' head honcho David Brock accepts $400,000 donation from the Joyce Foundation, specifically earmarked for gun control. At the same time, he was being escorted by ARMED BODYGUARDS. Wouldn't it be nice if this kind of hypocrisy got the media attention it deserves?

The recent revelation that the head of Media Matters walked the streets of Washington with a Glock-toting personal assistant acting as a bodyguard may make it a little awkward for the group the next time it seeks a donation from a gun control advocacy group.
Media Matters reportedly took more than $400,000 from the Joyce Foundation specifically earmarked to promote a $600,000 initiative on "gun and public safety issues." At the same time, Media Matters' gun-guarded boss David Brock reportedly obsessed over his own security.

***Why are we talking about contraception when the country's going broke? One word: Distraction.

***More proof that Obama and his minions are going all out to create a society dependent on them: "Obama Administration Offers $75,000 Grants to Sign Up More Food Stamp Recipients."

Wake up, America!

***

***"Hooker teacher" forced to resign, can't find work. Well, ain't that a shame.

***Space Shots. These are amazing.

Follow the link to see more.

***You gotta be kidding: Elvis' tooth crown up for auction, expected to fetch $16,000. Now that's what I call obsession.

***Who killed the jobs? This chart tells the story:

Click to enlarge.

***

An introvert went to bar and spots a pretty looking woman sitting on the stool. He mustered all his courage for long time, then timidly approached and asked her, "Ma’ am, would be OK if sit here and talk with you?" She was alert, suspecting this man, and responds by yelling, "No, I won't sleep with you tonight!" Customers in the bar started staring at them. The embarrassed guy quickly returns to his table dejected and ashamed. The young woman waits a little and then goes to the guy to apologize. With a smile on her face she says, "I am sorry if I embarrassed you. You see, I am a college student in psychiatry and I am putting together a thesis as to how people react to embarrassing moments." The cunning guy now yells loudly, "What do you mean by $500?"

***No...no...no....the hair, Mrs. Clinton, the hair...

Good heavens.

***DNA robots programmed to kill cancer cells. This looks promising!

***
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno

The Chinese vice president visited President Obama at the White House yesterday. That shows how different China is from us. In China, the vice president is actually important.

President Obama may have significantly reduced our trade deficit with China. He sold the Chinese vice president a billion Jeremy Lin jerseys at $50 apiece.

The new sports phenom, New York Knicks' player Jeremy Lin, came off the bench and helped win six games including a last-second shot to defeat the Toronto Raptors. Where else but America can you drink a German beer and watch a Taiwanese basketball player on your Japanese TV beat a team from Canada?

***Look well into thyself; there is a source of strength which will always spring up if thou wilt always look there. ~~ Marcus Aurelius Antoninus

***Have a great day!

"Demons?" Really?

2012-02-16T05:59:00.000-05:00

***Maxine Waters, Idiot:

Maxine Waters reminded us today that, should Democrats win back the House, she is in line to become the next chairwoman of the Financial Services Committee. If that doesn’t scare you, then just watch this video. In it, she calls Speaker John Boehner and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor “demons” who “would rather do whatever they can to destroy this president, rather than for the good of this country.”
She also told listeners, “Don’t ever let me see again in life those Republicans in our hall on our screens talking about anything.” Anything?

It really is amazing some of the people in positions of power in Washington. Patty Murray, Sheila Jackson Lee, etc. These women are *stupid*. This is from the comments section:

The good ole avowed Socialist is gets testy! The district Maxine represent is an excellent example of Socialism at work. Maxine and her husband are rich, but the district is flat broke and looking for a hand out from the government, how interesting is that! She demonizes the Republicans while torching her constituency. The irony of the whole thing is; they continue to elect her. Could it be education or the handout allowing her to flim-flam the people.

And this:

Doesn't Maxine Waters, who's been named to congress's corruption list 4 times, have more important things to do? Like re-route money from her husband's bank to her re-election campaign? God forbid she find a job in the real world. She's one of those toxic old racial crusaders who's done nothing but perpetuate the impoverishment of her own district. Since when has it become acceptable for members of congress to speak the way she does?

"Toxic old racial crusader." Boy, that describes her to a "T."

***Gallup: Health costs, government regulations curb small business hiring.

Thank you, Obama and big government liberals! Yet they continue to do the very things that are destroying our economy, and promise to do more and more of the same. What's that line about insanity again?

***

***Man suffers heart attack while dining at the Heart Attack Grill. No doubt there are some on the Left that will call for the restaurant's closure.

***10 cars that refuse to die. This is a fun slideshow.

Follow the link to see the rest.

***Obama budget raises taxes on small employers, savers, and families. Remember that the next time he's lying about it on TV.

***

Listen to Debbie Squires on February 1st in Lansing, Michigan, the state capital. She is, again, the associate director of the Michigan Elementary and Middle School Principals Association talking about education, and she had this back-and-forth with a member of the Michigan legislature.

SQUIRES: You know, educators go through education for a reason. They are the people who know best about how to serve children. That's not necessarily true of an individual resident. I'm not saying they don't want the best for their children, but they may not know what actually is best from an education standpoint.
MICHIGAN REPRESENTATIVE: Wow, parents don't know what's best for their child?
SQUIRES: I said they may want what's best for their child. They may not know.

See? They don't think we know what's best for our children. Wow.

***I like a lot of things Chris Christie does and says, but lowering flags to half-staff for Whitney Houston? STUPID AND INSULTING.

***Why do Democrats want to protect voter fraud? Rhetorical, of course. We know why.

***Now that's what I call a load...

***

"If there is no wind, row. If you want it, make it happen."

~ Mike Jones

***Have a great day!

Pure Fantasy

2012-02-15T06:42:00.000-05:00

***Great cartoon over at National Review Online:

Click to enlarge.

Some of us think Obama is just in over his head and doesn't have a clue. Others, like Rush Limbaugh, think he knows exactly what he is doing and is running this country in the toilet on purpose. I can't decide which it is, personally. I just know he needs to be run out of Washington.

Read this monologue regarding Barack Obama's intentions. It's scary.

***Federal agents are inspecting childrens' lunches. I kid you not.

"A preschooler at West Hoke Elementary School ate three chicken nuggets for lunch Jan. 30 because a state employee told her the lunch her mother packed was not nutritious. The girl’s turkey and cheese sandwich, banana, potato chips and apple juice did not meet US Department of Agriculture guidelines, according to the interpretation of the agent who was inspecting all lunch boxes in her More at Four classroom that day."

If I were that child's mother I would be furious! Well, I'm furious anyway. What's it gonna take before people start seeing the government's over-reach into our lives?

The food Nazis -- and, by the way, this is Michelle (My Belle)'s program: No Child's Behind Left Alone.

Geez, what stupidity.

***Obama's budget includes $2 TRILLION in tax hikes. Oh, but he's for the little guy, remember? As long as you fork over your hard earned money, he's for you.

***
MORNIN'!!

***Obama mulls 80% Disarmament of Nuclear Arsenal.

The Obama administration is weighing options for sharp new cuts to the U.S. nuclear force, including a reduction of up to 80 percent in the number of deployed weapons, The Associated Press has learned.

No problem, the world's a relatively safe place, right?

***10 ads that show just how much family life has changed.

A couple of examples:

***Virginia House vote states Life Starts at Conception. Amen.

***It's hard to see stupidity when you're liberal...

***

***"No man is entitled to the blessingsof freedom unless he be vigilant in its preservation." -- General DouglasMacArthur

***Have a great day!

Bleh

2012-02-14T06:41:00.000-05:00

***Ever get up feeling "blah?" I'm having a real motivation problem this morning, but that's a luxury I can't indulge! Too much to do.

***Dick Morris accuses George Stephanopoulos of being a "paid Democratic hit man." Yeah, him and most of the other media clowns on TV and in print.

***Happy Valentine's Day!

Approximately 150 million Valentine's Day cards are exchanged annually, making Valentine's Day the second most popular card-sending holiday after Christmas.

***Brace yourself, you're about to spit your coffee all over your monitor...the Obama Administration has just launched the "Truth Team."

This requires no comment.

***School in Cincinnati to pay kids to...attend school. This, again, requires no comment.

A charter high school near Cincinnati will begin paying students this week as part of an experiment to get more students to attend class.
The principal at Dohn Community High School tells The Cincinnati Enquirer students who are on time every day, avoid trouble and show they’re working in class will get Visa gift cards worth $25 for seniors and $10 for younger students.
When a student earns a gift card, $5 will be put in a savings account that can be paid out at graduation. A combination of private and federal dollars will fund the estimated $40,000 cost this year.

***

Click to enlarge.

***THIS.IS.NUTS. Pentagon may oust troops involuntarily to meet reductions in budget plan. This is absolutely insane. With the world as it is today, we're going to kick soldiers OUT??? Mitt, Rick, Newt - START SHOUTING THIS FROM EVERY AD AND AT EVERY CAMPAIGN STOP. People have to know what an idiot we have as President, and emphasize the urgency of getting him out of there.

The Defense Department may have toforce soldiers, Marines or other members of the military out ofthe services for the first time since the aftermath of the ColdWar to achieve the spending reductions in its budget proposal.
The Pentagon plans to cut 67,100 soldiers from active andreserve Army units and the Army National Guard in the five yearsstarting Oct. 1, as well as 15,200 from the active and reserveranks of the Marine Corps as part of an effort to save $487billion over a decade, according to the budget sent to Congresstoday. The Navy and Air Force would lose fewer people -- 8,600and 1,700 respectively -- because of their role in a strategicshift toward the Asia-Pacific region and the Middle East.

***Love for the long haul. This is a great article. Take the time to read it.

***

***Real life Valentine's Day disasters!

"We were out to dinner, and my fiance leaned across the table to romantically feed me a piece of dessert. But in the process, he knocked the candle over and onto my freshly gelled hair. I ended up in the hospital after my hair caught fire. However, we did get a free meal out of the deal -- and I only had to endure a minor burn on my neck. I guess there’s literally too much fire in our relationship!" -- Christina

There's more, check them out!

***How Do I Love Thee?
by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of everyday's
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with a passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints, --- I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life! --- and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.

***Exercise improves brain function at any age.

***Even though it has been proven not to work again and again, Obama insists on punishing the achievers in this country, and using class warfare to do it.

***I claim there ain't
Another Saint
As great as Valentine.
~Ogden Nash

***Have a great day!

A Handsome Lie

2012-02-13T05:20:00.000-05:00

***Great piece by Rich Lowry over at National Review Online. So many are so smitten by JFK that they refuse to see his sleazy side. And boy, did he have one.

***Great read! Why I Choose to (Tea) Party, Not Occupy.

The Tea Party movement is truly a future-focused movement. While the message may revolve around restoring America’s founding principles and fiscally conservative values we once held, it is a movement about the future of America. The older attendees, in my experience, are passionate about leaving a better America for their children and grandchildren. I entered into the Tea Party movement at 19 years old because I believe America’s greatness can be secured in my lifetime.

The Occupy movement focuses on short-term issues and believes in antiquated ideas of the 1960s and 1970s. They find themselves more enamored with 20th century Europe than in the realities of 21st century America. Whereas the Tea Party movement looks to secure long-term solvency, the Occupy movement has called for items like a foregiveness of student loan debt. That may be good for the severely indebted recent graduates of America’s colleges and universities, but it’s a naively shortsighted call for more fiscal insanity.

Read the rest.

***Here's what happens when the government gets involved - regulations are literally going to start killing people:

***If you're interested: Al Capone's house in Chicago for sale for $450,000.

Here's how it looked when he lived in it:

Bugsy Siegel lived a little more lavishly:

***Wow...check out Tom Brady's new digs:

Eli Manning is a bit more down to earth:

***Clutter-clearing 101. Anyone besides me need this?

***Athens in flames.

Athens is burning tonight, as leftists and others protest against the Greek Parliament’s vote in favor of the measures that are required by the EU in exchange for a 130 billion Euro bailout–enough to keep Greece afloat for now, at least. The rioters have nothing intelligent or constructive to say. They believe, evidently, that Greeks are entitled to consume far more than they produce, forever. Nice work if you can get it.

This is what happens when you create a class of people with entitlement mentality, then realize it cannot be sustained. This is exactly what Obama and the Democrats are steering us toward.

***Obama keeps us hooked on foreign oil. He does indeed.

***Boy, am I out of touch with the current music scene. I've never even heard of Adele, but apparently she did pretty well at last night's Grammy Awards. I think the music today is awful. I mean, come on, some of the top names are Katy Perry and Lady Gaga? Have you ever really listened to their music? Ick.

***This is why he was elected: The color of his skin. Isn't that just as racist as voting against him for the same reason? The color of his skin shouldn't matter, his policies are what is killing our country. But no matter. They'll still use the racist card against conservatives, while practicing their own brand of racism. I really can't stand liberals.

Samuel L. Jackson: In an interview with Ebony magazine, Jackson explained, "I voted for Barack because he was black. 'Cuz that's why other folks vote for other people — because they look like them ... That's American politics, pure and simple. [Obama's] message didn't mean [bleep] to me."

Brilliant. Working out real well, isn't it?

***

***Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great. ~~ Mark Twain

***Have a great day!

Day of Rest?

2012-02-12T07:27:00.001-05:00

***Yeah, like that's gonna happen. I had a busy morning yesterday, then we moved some furniture for my aunt, then I came home and fixed some dinner for Mark & Johnny. I was tired! Jazzercise takes some getting used to. Didn't do any transcribing, so that's on my agenda for today.

***Amen to this:

“It has always amazed me that the people who want the government to do a few important things, and to do them well, are called ‘anti-government,’ while those who want the government to do many things, all of them badly, are not.”

***Romney wins the Maine caucuses and CPAC straw poll. Stop looking for a perfect candidate, Republicans, he doesn't exist. We need to stop shooting at each other and aim at the real enemies: Obama and the Democrats.

***Whitney Houston, RIP. What a waste. She had one of the most beautiful voices I've ever heard. If you've never seen "The Preacher's Wife," rent it and watch it at Christmastime. It's great, and showcases her singing without becoming a concert movie.

***Great point:

MICHAEL WALSH: “A specter is haunting America — the specter of violence that challenges the notion of civil discourse and threatens our democracy. Embodied by the Occupy Wall Street rabble and its imitators, and shamefully abetted by far too many Democratic elected officials, what once masqueraded as ‘dissent’ is now unmasked as partisan thuggery.”

Dissent is okay when it’s really just factional infighting among the elite. It’s only when it becomes actual dissent — see, e.g., the Tea Party movement — that elites worry about civility.

***

***George Allen:" I want to kill Obamacare with my vote." More power to ya, George. I hope you get the chance.

***Jeremy Lin is really causing a stir in New York! Some are calling him basketball's Tim Tebow. Well, we certainly could use more like him.

***Indiana unions expect right-to-work will cost them members. Good. The only workers they'll lose are the ones that didn't want to be involved in the first place. Sounds like a win to me.

*** REDNECK SPORTS STADIUM

***Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once talked about a contest he was asked to judge. The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child. The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there. When his Mother asked him what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, "Nothing, I just helped him cry."

***

***
The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread. ~Mother Teresa

***Have a great day!

Pretty!

2012-02-11T07:50:00.000-05:00

***It's really pretty outside this morning, we had a light snow and everything is covered in white. I didn't have a good night, kept waking up, tossing and turning. I have no idea why. This morning I'm going to Jazzercise with my sister, then pick up my mom for our Amish store run. We are so ready for the yard sales to start up again!

***Occupiers at CPAC are being paid to protest--by labor unions. What hypocrisy.

Protesters at Friday’s “Occupy CPAC” event, organized by AFL-CIO and the Occupy DC movement, told The Daily Caller that they were paid “sixty bucks a head” to protest outside the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C.
One protester told TheDC that all the “Occupy” activists were being paid to protest, and that his union, Sheet Metal Workers Local 100, approached him about the money-making opportunity.
“I have nothing nice to say about Local 100. . . . They just told me ‘you wanna make sixty bucks? So c’mon,’” the protester said.
I thought these people were against the influence of money in politics?

***The founder of Planned Parenthood, Margaret Sanger, was a real sweetheart:

If you aren’t creeped out by the No Birth Control Left Behind rhetoric of the White House and Planned Parenthood, you aren’t listening closely enough. The anesthetic of progressive benevolence always dulls the senses. Wake up.
When a bunch of wealthy white women and elite Washington bureaucrats defend the trampling of religious liberties in the name of “increased access” to “reproductive services” for “poor” women, the ghost of Margaret Sanger is cackling.
As she wrote in her autobiography, Sanger founded Planned Parenthood in 1916 “to stop the multiplication of the unfit.” This, she boasted, would be “the most important and greatest step towards race betterment.” While she oversaw the mass murder of black babies, Sanger cynically recruited minority activists to front her death racket. She conspired with eugenics financier and businessman Clarence Gamble to “hire three or four colored ministers, preferably with social-service backgrounds, and with engaging personalities” to sell their genocidal policies as community health and welfare services.
Outright murder wouldn’t sell. But wrapping it under the egalitarian cloak of “women’s health” — and adorning it with the moral authority of black churches — would. Sanger and Gamble called their deadly campaign “The Negro Project.”

Read the rest.

***There is no compromise in Obama's "compromise." He's getting hammered due to the unconstitutional mandate that that Catholics (and all other such groups) must provide birth control, no matter that it is against their religious beliefs. Obama's trying to mend fences, but this is just more smoke and mirrors.

He's supposed to do it in five or six minutes now, right in the middle of this program. President Obama "on Friday will announce that religious employers will not have to cover birth control for their employees after all, The Associated Press has learned. The administration instead will demand that insurance companies will be the ones directly responsible for providing free contraception." And we're supposed to applaud this? We're supposed to think that we have emerged with a big victory here? Obama can mandate that we buy insurance, and now Obama can mandate what insurance companies must offer -- and after mandating what insurance companies must offer, then Obama can mandate what insurance companies can charge for it?
Freedom doesn't mean anything to this guy! Freedom doesn't mean anything to this regime or this administration. To me, this is breathtaking. This is an incredible sight to behold here. So Obama is said to "offer a compromise proposal that is respectful of religious concerns," and everybody's applauding today. Now, look at this. The right to religious liberty in this context is unequivocal in our country and in the Constitution. It's right there in the Bill of Rights. Since when does a president have the power to threaten to issue a rule gutting religious liberty? That's the first thing. And, by the way, I don't think any of this a mistake.

Don't think for a minute that Obama will compromise on ANYTHING. This man is an abomination and a clear threat to our liberties. Yet so many lemmings still follow...

***Funny Products Sold on Amazon:

***The History of Sweetheart Conversation Hearts. Love those things - so I haven't bought any at all this year. I can't stay out of them, even if they nauseate me after a while. Just one of my many weaknesses...

The famous love notes actually made their debut as messages printed on colored paper and tucked into "cockles," or candies shaped like a scallop's shell. The brother of the founder of the New England Confectionary Company, or NECCO, Daniel Chase, was the one who discovered how to print the messages directly on the candy back in 1847. And those like "Kiss Me" and "I'm Yours" sweets have been around since Chase printed his first batch.
It wasn't until the 1990s that the hearts began to change their famous sweet nothings. The updated candies included messages like "Fax Me" and "Email Me." In 2009, the company even produced "Bite Me" and "Live 4 Ever" to tie into the Twilight phenomenon. And "Text Me" and "Tweet Me" came along with the arrival of social media and SMS. This year's sayings, like "XOXO" and "Wink Wink," were generated by a consumer contest.

***

***Peter Breck, RIP. Remember "The Big Valley?" We loved that show.

***Ann Coulter was great at CPAC:

She compared the media’s positive take on unemployment numbers under President Obama to having someone expect you to praise a doctor who treated you for a fever of 102, brought your fever up to 104, and then — over three years — brought it down to 103. (That’s a sneak peek at the future of health care under Obama, she joked, adding that she was only kidding. Under Obama’s plan, you’d have to wait three years to even see a doctor.)

The most sobering of her comments:

If it [Obamacare] is not repealed in the next administration, that’s it. It is here to stay. People start receiving their treats, Newt Gingrich will be denouncing plans to reform it as “right-wing social engineering,” and American begins its inexorable decline into Western Europe without the charming cafés and cobblestone streets.

*** OKAY, OKAY, I POSED! Now get outta here...

***

"Destiny is not a matter of chance; it is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for; it is a thing to be achieved."

~ William Jennings Bryan

***Have a great day!

Outrageous!

2012-02-10T06:40:00.000-05:00

***You know, nothing this administration does should surprise me any more. But this "deal" with the banks announced yesterday is just beyond outrageous. It's a shakedown. Obama and the Democrats are still trying to make people think - and succeeding, in many cases - that the mortgage crisis was caused by the "big banks" who preyed on poor people, tricking them into taking out a mortgage they couldn't afford. Yeah, like that could happen. Here's Rush's take:

So as part of a campaign effort here, reelection effort, $25 billion from the country's mortgage lenders to give to customers who were hit upon and forced, under duress, to take out a mortgage... (interruption) What was that? Can you get a piece? Perhaps. I think everybody's share comes out to as much as $20,000. You might get paid off as much as $20,000 here if I'm reading it right. Now, what this is, folks, is social justice at work, because after all, the banks were forced by the government at the point of a gun to loan to people they knew couldn't afford the mortgages. That's what really happened. That's the root of the subprime mortgage crisis. It was the government forcing the banks to lend money to people that never had a chance, would never be able to repay the loans. Social justice, affordable housing, the so-called good intentions and don't judge us on the failure of our results. So now the banks have the pay the price for making those bad loans. This is all part of continuing the ruse that the banks were the originators of this scandal and the originators of the problem. And so now there's a $25 billion shakedown.

Sickening.

***A nation of moochers. Never forget that this is exactly what the Democrats want. FDR was the biggest facilitator, but it actually started with Woodrow Wilson. This is what they had in mind. The more people dependent on the government, the more power the Democrats have. Who do you think they vote for? People who will keep stealing from the producers and giving to the non-producers. It's never worked before in any country, but that doesn't matter. The liberals in America think they're smarter than everyone else and THEY can make it work. Yeah, look at the economy. How's that workin' out?

It's posted at CNN under a section called "The New American Dream." That's what the title is! It's a story on means-based assistance from the government, and the number is 33%. "One-third of Americans get means-based assistance," and that is reported by CNN under the title, "The New American Dream." Did you ever think you would see the day when more than a third of Americans were dependent on the so-called social safety net and 20% live entirely on government subsidy? Twenty percent! One out of five, two out of ten (however you can best visualize this), live entirely off the government. "The federal government sent out a record," get this, "$2 trillion to individuals in fiscal 2010, up nearly 75% from 10 years earlier."

Not only is that shocking, it's "unsustainable," to use the favorite word of the left.

***I like it!

***Rubio: No Price Too High to Prevent Nuclear Iran.

He's absolutely right.

***More of the same. Now there's an Indian tribe suing beer companies because of their alcoholism. Is this nuts, or what?

***I love practical jokes! Here are a few good ones:

Pop Pot
Put a snap ball fire cracker (the kind you throw down on the sidewalk and they explode) them under the toilet seat, and gently lower the seat. Your victim will sit down with a bang!

Mower Mishap
Rig a friend’s lawnmower with a plastic bag full of feathers or fur and hamburger meat. Secure the bag of stuff with duct tape securely to the bottom of the lawn mower above the blade. When your friend starts mowing, the vibrating will slowly shake the bag loose, and then, “fur” and “guts” will fly everywhere! This one is especially good if your friend has a small dog or pet.

Veggiebabble
Based on the theory that you don’t have to actually be psychotic to act crazy, this routine causes most telemarketers to question their career choice. When a telemarketer begins a pitch, arbitrarily begin inserting the names of vegetables as they try to speak. After the first or second “rutabaga” or “broccoli” they should respond by saying, “What?” Reply by naming another vegetable (“okra” and “Brussels sprouts” work particularly well). The salesperson will begin laughing uncomfortably and hang up. You win.

Tire Sniper
Find some Bubble Wrap® with one inch bubbles (at most office supply stores or in dumpsters behind gift shops). Cut a strip about an eighteen inches long and the width of a tire. Tape this to the tread of the front wheel(s) of a parked car. When the car starts moving, the resultant popping sounds like a machine gun.

I've used this next one several times!

Misbehavin’ Car
If a friend is in the habit of leaving their car doors unlocked, sneak in and turn up the radio, turn on the windshield wipers, blinkers, and anything else that might confuse them. Sit back and watch as they turn on their car and confusion ensues!

ATM Jackpot!
When the money comes out of the ATM, scream “I Won! I Won! That's the third time this week!!!”

More tomorrow. :-)

***Oh good Lord, now Michelle Obama is policing military food.

***Oh, here's a surprise:

On Tuesday night, a student at University of Colorado Denver was arrested by Secret Service for trying to throw glitter at Mitt Romney. Now sources are telling Colorado Peak Politics that the "glitter bomber" worked for the Colorado state Senate Democrats. This session.

***

***I like this story:

During my second month of nursing school, our professor gave us a pop quiz..
I was a conscientious student and had breezed through the questions, until I read the last one: "What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?"
Surely this was some kind of joke. I had seen the cleaning woman several times. She was tall, dark-haired and in her 50s, but how would I know her name?
I handed in my paper, leaving the last question blank..
Before class ended, one student asked if the last question would count toward our quiz grade.
"Absolutely," said the professor. "In your careers you will meet many people. All are significant. They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say 'hello'."
I've never forgotten that lesson. I also learned her name was Dorothy..

***Simple beauty:

***Above all else: go out with a sense of humor. It is needed armor. Joy in one's heart and some laughter on one's lips is a sign that the person down deep has a pretty good grasp of life. ~Hugh Sidey

***Have a great day!

The Face of Clarity, Charity, and Conviction

2012-02-09T05:55:00.001-05:00

***Now there are three things you don't see in a lot of leaders today. Check that, you don't see them covered in the media. Karen Handel, the former co-chair of the Susan G. Komen Foundation, has embodied those values and has handled herself very well during the fracas between the Foundation and Planned (Aborted) Parenthood. Read about her here:

Karen Handel: What was unleashed over this past week was a vicious attack against a great organization and … individual attacks against [Komen founder] Nancy Brinker, an individual whom I admire greatly – and I would think all of us should be saddened that an outside organization (Planned Parenthood) should put this kind of pressure on another organization.

Planned Parenthood is the organization responsible for destroying millions of innocent lives. It was Planned Parenthood’s commitment to aborting innocent life and its partnership with Komen that sullied the breast cancer organization's reputation for so many supporters of life. This was not about Karen Handel.

But we would be wise, I think, to look up and see how the Lord appears to be using Ms. Handel to demonstrate how a Christian under pressure might engage the culture at large.

***More bad news for the global warming crowd. The Himalays and nearby peaks have lost no ice in the last 10 years, study shows. Oh, but I thought they were melting and we're all gonna die...

***I'm sure you've heard about the Clint Eastwood "Halftime in America" ad during the Super Bowl. He and Chrysler deny it, but of course it was an Obama campaign ad.

***Judge throws out PETA lawsuit seeking slavery protection for killer whales. Yep, you read that right. There are some judges with a little sense left, apparently.

An effort to free whales from SeaWorld by claiming they were enslaved made a splash in the news but flopped in court Wednesday.
A federal judge in San Diego dismissed an unprecedented lawsuit seeking to grant constitutional protection against slavery to a group of orcas that perform at SeaWorld parks, saying the 13th amendment applies only to humans.

Ya think?

***

***Breathtaking hypocrisy. Click to enlarge.

***Fun facts:

Most lipstick contains fish scales!

It is estimated that 4 million "junk" telephone calls, phone solicitations by persons or programmed machine are made every day in the United States!

The names of Popeye's four nephews are Pipeye, Peepeye, Pupeye, and Poopeye!

Your body is creating and killing 15 million red blood cells per second!

The sun is 330,330 times larger than the earth!

The average life span of a major league baseball is 5-7 pitches!

The electric chair was invented by a dentist!

The state of Florida is bigger than England!

And something to remember when speaking of our national debt...

If you counted 24 hours a day, it would take 31,688 years to reach one trillion!

***No no no....the hair, Mrs. Clinton. Please do something about the hair...

Is she TRYING to look bad?

***At least they have their priorities straight: LA County OKs $1000 Fine for Throwing Frisbee, Football on Beaches.

When you head down to the beach for a little fun this summer, county officials want you to leave the pigskin at home.The Board of Supervisors this week agreed to raise fines to up to $1,000 for anyone who throws a football or a Frisbee on any beach in Los Angeles County.
In passing the 37-page ordinance on Tuesday, officials sought to outline responsibilities for law enforcement and other public agencies while also providing clarification on beach-goer activities that could potentially disrupt or even injure the public.

Unbelievable.

***CPAC is going on this week. I'd love to go to that sometime.

***

***"Enlightened statesmen will not always be at the helm."-- James Madison

***Have a great day!

Good News!

2012-02-08T05:24:00.000-05:00

***Santorum wins Missouri, Colorado, and Minnesota! Well, that's encouraging. He's certainly my first pick.

***Check it out, online belly dance classes!

***Air Force removes "God" from logo. I am so sick of people caving to small, vocal minorities like this atheist group. They do not represent the majority, but they have a way of bending people in power to their will. Man up, Air Force!

***Big surprise: Liberal 9th Circuit Court in California reverses the will of the people.

California’s voter-approved ban on same-sex marriages is unconstitutional, according to a ruling announced Tuesday by an appeals court.
The long-awaited ruling by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court is likely to lead to more appeals, and marriages probably will remain on hold until that process ends.
The case was pending for months because the court wanted a ruling from the state Supreme Court on whether proponents of Proposition 8 had legal standing under the state’s citizen’s initiative process to appeal the ruling.

Why bother to vote? Liberals will win in the courtroom what they can't win at the ballot box.

***Hate campaign against law-abiding American businesses. By whom? Unions, of course!

Chick-Fil-A isn’t the only one in the restaurant industry targeted by the progressive mob over the past month.
The SEIU has been waging open-borders attacks on restaurant chain Chipotle simply because the company complied with federal immigration law and fired employees unable to provide valid documentation that they’re here legally. Less than two weeks ago, the Purple Army dispatched its goons to Minneapolis to disrupt business at a downtown Chipotle. Similar protests were staged at Chipotle locations in CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, IL, NY and VA.

I know where I'm eating lunch today. That's right, Chipotle!

***Talk about an "Oh Crap!" moment...

***Yesterday was the 200th birthday of Charles Dickens. What classics he wrote! I think "Great Expectations" is my favorite. Lots of great ones to choose from, though.

***Michael Savage says Obama is the type of "petty dictator" the Founders envisioned and the reason they included checks and balances into the Constitution. Obama has said more than once that he finds it "frustrating" at times that he can't change America as quickly as he would like because the Constitution constrains him.

Obama told NBC’s Matt Lauer Sunday that “people” have been “frustrated” that “I have not been able to force Congress to implement every aspect of what I said in 2008.”
“Well, you know,” the president continued, “it turns out that our founders designed a system that makes it more difficult to bring about change than I would like sometimes.”

***

***More evidence that CNN sucks.

KING: Just look at one more as we come down the line here. If you look here, among faith, obviously Governor Mormon is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He's a Mormon, and he won big among Mormons.

RUSH: "Governor Mormon is a member of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, He's a Mormon..." Governor Mormon is a Mormon. "He won big among Mormons." Governor Mormon. He, of course, means Governor Romney. Now, you let some conservative newsperson say "Governor Jew" -- sayonara. "Governor Muslim" -- sayonara, pal! Adios! It's to Tijuana for you. Governor Mormon. Yeah. Governor Mormon, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he's a Mormon, he won big among Mormons.

I like to point stuff like this out when I hear liberals talking about how one-sided Fox News is (which it's not). They can NEVER come up with a credible example, but I can find dozens from CNN, ABC, NBC, etc. All they can come up with is brilliance like "Faux News" and such.

***Former Democrat congresswoman regrets her Obamacare vote. Maybe you should have read it first, lady.

***20 heart shaped dessert recipes - just in case that's what you want to do for your honey on Feb 14!

***
We Thank Thee
by Ralph Waldo Emerson

For flowers that bloom about our feet,
For tender grass so fresh and sweet,
For the song of bird and hum of bee,
For all things fair we hear or see,
Father in heaven, we thank Thee.

For blue of stream and blue of sky,
For pleasant shade of branches high,
For fragrant air and cooling breeze,
For beauty of the blooming trees,
Father in heaven we thank Thee.

For this new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food, for love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends,
Father in heaven, we thank Thee.

***Another Green Prophet defects.

[A] new book, Die Kalte Sonne, written by Prof Dr Fritz Vahrenholt and geologist/paleontologist Dr. Sebastian Lüning, has caused a sensation even in advance of its official publication yesterday. For Prof. Vahrenholt, a renewable energy expert, was one of the fathers of the modern German green movement and believed everything preached by the IPCC. But according to Focus magazine, he is now a far sadder and wiser man:
‘Doubt came two years ago when he was an expert reviewer of an IPCC report on renewable energy. “I discovered numerous errors and asked myself if the other IPCC reports on climate were similarly sloppy.”
‘In his book he explains how he dug into the IPCC climate report and was horrified by what he had found. Then add the 10 years of stagnant temperatures, failed predictions, Climategate e-mails, and discussions he had with dozens of other skeptical elite scientists. That was more than enough. FOCUS quotes: “I couldn’t take it any more. I had to write this book.”’

*** I give up! I give up!

***You cannot plough a field by turning it over in your mind. ~Author Unknown

***Have a great day!

Great Comparison!

2012-02-07T06:11:00.001-05:00

***Found this piece over at National Review Online - I love this comparison of the two Super Bowl quarterbacks:

The game features two high-profile quarterbacks, one great and the other knocking on the door, as we grizzled sports scribes like to say. Tom Brady is brilliant, no question, but he dresses a bit too carefully, fusses continually with his hair, struts camera-ready poses with off-putting regularity. What’s up with that? This is football, not polo. When he steps out with his wife, a Brazilian supermodel, they look as if they’ve been booked in a fashion shoot. I’m an Eli Manning guy. He’s still slogging along in the shadow of his big brother. Eli grinds it out, year after year: When he’s flushed from the pocket and has to run for his life, you can almost hear him say, Oy! In the open field, his gait is decidedly more geezer than gazelle. Eli is also self-effacing, courteous to all, loyal to Ole Miss, loving to his Mom, faithful to his college sweetheart. I know a GOP voter when I see one.

***More evidence that coffee, in moderation, is good for you! Hey, that's great news!

***Obama administration cutting our defense. Why isn't anyone paying attention?

America’s aging tactical Air Force — the jets that protect ground troops and strike hard-to-reach targets — is shrinking just as the Pentagon is cutting even more planes to achieve nearly a half-trillion dollars in spending cuts.
The trend has set off alarms among retired fighter pilots, some of whom wrote to Congress last month warning that U.S. “TacAir” is in trouble.
They fear the political pressure to drive down the deficit will mean there will never be enough money to replace 1970s jets with advanced aircraft to operate against rising militaries such as China‘s, which last year unveiled its own stealth fighter, the J-20.
“With the exception of our airlift fleet, we have a geriatric Air Force,” said retired Lt. Gen. David A. Deptula, a former F-15 Eagle pilot and Operation Desert Storm war planner. “We’re flying fighters that are 30 years old. What people seem to miss is, a fighter is not like an airliner, where you take off from Point A and go to Point B. Our pilots put six to nine [gravitational forces] on these things every day.”
Gen. Deptula, who now heads the Mav6 LLC aerospace company, pointed to a 2007 event that has come to symbolize the collection of elderly fighter jets: An Air National Guard F-15C, the premier air superiority jet, broke apart in the sky during combat training. The pilot ejected safely.

Yet his approval rating is rising. Geez, this stuff can make you crazy.

***Here's how they do it:

A month ago, we joked when we said that for Obama to get the unemployment rate to negative by election time, all he has to do is to crush the labor force participation rate to about 55%. Looks like the good folks at the BLS heard us: it appears that the people not in the labor force exploded by an unprecedented record 1.2 million. No, that's not a typo: 1.2 million people dropped out of the labor force in one month! So as the labor force increased from 153.9 million to 154.4 million, the non institutional population increased by 242.3 million meaning, those not in the labor force surged from 86.7 million to 87.9 million. Which means that the civilian labor force tumbled to a fresh 30 year low of 63.7% as the BLS is seriously planning on eliminating nearly half of the available labor pool from the unemployment calculation.

But gullible Americans and the useful idiots lap it up.

*** WELL, HIDY HO NEIGHBOR!!

***
PERFECT IMPERFECTION
Melissa Bachara

I am a contradiction
a perfect imperfection
On looking in from outside
I think I’d pass inspection

My nails are neat, each hair in place
My clothes the latest styles
But look a little closer,
And you can see my trials

The window to my balanced soul
Is stained from too much smoke
A birds eye view down at my heart
Will clearly show it’s broke

My best intentions lead to pain
And complicated messes
My head is filled with wishes,
My decisions second guesses

There was a time I tried to hide
each wrinkle, scar and tear
But I’m learning to appreciate
That I’m more than I appear

Each wrinkle tells a story
The path from there to here
I’ve earned a little wisdom
With every falling tear

My soul will soar in brilliant skies
But then I’ll need to rest
The embers of my passion
Still smolder in my chest

Perhaps I’ll let my hair go wild
And skip the manicure
I’ll wear my favorite color
They’ll say "Hey, look at her"

My hair, my heart, my clothes, my soul
Will walk in one direction
No longer contradicting
My perfect imperfection

***Heritage Foundation collects messages for Ronald Reagan on his 101st Birthday, Feb 6. Some of the examples:

“Happy Birthday to God’s gift to Conservatives. Rest in Peace, Gipper!”
“Happy Birthday, President Reagan! Your legacy is completely intact and your policies are sorely missed. You gave us freedom. It’s hard to believe we’re on the cusp of losing everything. You’re sorely missed.”
“This president brought the nation back to a sense of pride and confidence it has almost never had since.”
“Under you employment went up and my husband was able to get a job in his line of employment.”
“We could use another man of conservative principle – soon!”
“Please come back and fix the mess these Democrats made of things – again!!!”

***

***The Komen Foundation was bullied by the Left. Well of course it was. You do not touch the sacred cow that is abortion on the Left.

The Susan G. Komen foundation succumbed this past Friday to a relentless barrage of political bullying, a fact that is not only sad news for those who cherish the sanctity and dignity of all life, but also for all of us who believe that a private philanthropic organization shouldn’t be subjected to such harassment.
That the Komen foundation apologized for its decision to halt contributions to Planned Parenthood is another illustration that political correctness is running amok.
Speaking on behalf of many who have committed their lives to defending the most defenseless, I lament the loss of principled decisions in our culture.
Consider the facts:
The Komen Foundation is a private philanthropic organization. It has every right to fund or not fund charities or causes of its choice.
That certain individuals and causes are “outraged” over Komen’s announcement is, in itself, outrageous.
To complain about a gift not given is the highest form of presumption and arrogance.

Presumption and arrogance, that pretty much sums up the Left.

*** Pretty. :-)

***"Big government makes everything else small." -Mark Steyn

***Have a great day!

It's Over!

2012-02-06T06:14:00.001-05:00

***Giants win! I went to bed at halftime, so I didn't know until this morning. I'm glad the Giants won because I like Eli Manning.

***Occupy protesters heckled before Super Bowl.

Fail. Only around 50 Obama-endorsed #Occupy protesters turned out today to protest the Super Bowl in Indianapolis.
They were heckled by spectators who told them, “Get a job!”

Further down in the article the Right to Work bill is called "anti-union." It is no such thing. It does not prevent anyone from forming or joining a union. It simply prevents the unions from extorting money from workers who don't want to join them.

***Domino's Pizza sells 11 million slices of pizza on Super Bowl Sunday. Wow. I don't like Domino's myself, especially since they "improved" it. I'm a Papa John's girl!

***Obama hopes to "diplomatically" resolve Iran issue. Yes, let's invite them to tea at the White House! Obama's a wuss, and they know it.

***Ever lost your cell phone? (Rhetorical question, of course) Now there's a web site to help you find it.

***Thanks for clearing that up...

***How to build a fan-worthy Facebook page.

***Tim Tebow hints at a future in politics. Now THAT would be awesome, but I can see the media attacking now, because of his faith. They really can't stand a strong Christian in public office.

***11 arrested at Occupy DC site. Go home, freaks.

Authorities say 11 people have been arrested in Washington's McPherson Square since Park Police began clearing away tents from one of the nation's last remaining Occupy sites.
David Schlosser, who is a spokesman for the U.S. Park Police, said Sunday that one of those arrested was charged with felony assault on a police officer and assault with a deadly weapon. That person is accused of hitting an officer in the face with a brick Saturday evening. The officer was treated at a hospital.

***

***Jim Daly at Focus on the Family:

Why did he do it?

Why has President Obama decided to force Catholic universities and hospitals to pay for health insurance that will cover such services and drugs as sterilization, contraceptives and possible abortifacients for its employees, despite the Catholic church’s teachings against those practices?

Did he decide to do it in order to shore up the radical liberal base in an election year?

Or is he being deliberate in curtailing religious freedoms?

Either answer is very disturbing.

Cardinal-elect Timothy Dolan of the New York archdiocese responded bluntly to the announcement, which Catholic organizations will be forced to comply with in 2013:

In effect, the president is saying we have a year to figure out how to violate our consciences. To force American citizens to choose between violating their consciences and forgoing their health care is literally unconscionable...This represents a challenge and a compromise of our religious liberty.

***

The pessimist sees only darkness in the tunnel.
The optimist sees the light at the end of the tunnel.
The realist sees that the light is the train.
The train driver sees three idiots on the tracks.

***Oh please...Activists seek human rights for animals. Gimme a break.

***

***Have a great day!

Super Bowl Sunday!

2012-02-05T06:20:00.000-05:00

***Well, the big day is here. I'm not excited about it, heck, I won't even watch it. But Super Bowl Sunday is like an American holiday, just about everybody celebrates it. Nothing wrong with that, I'm just not a big football fan. Now if the Colts were playing, I'd be quite a bit more interested because I think Peyton Manning is a quality young man. Same with New Orleans and Denver. Brees and Tebow, both top notch people. See, I'm not a die-hard fan of any team, I just know a few of the players. They're the ones I root for if they're playing. Okay, so I'm a weirdo.

***Romney wins Nevada.

***Wow. Pretty thought-provoking.

In front of the White House a man is sitting on a park bench in the throes of depression. He is surrounded by all 43 presidents. In the forefront, purposefully ignoring the depressed man is President Obama, whose right foot is stepping on the Constitution. James Madison is next to Obama, pleading with him to stop.
This tableau is called “The Forgotten Man”, a painting by Jon McNaughton, an artist who is known for his politically-charged work.

***Family lost for 6 days found alive in Oregon forest.

***Now THAT'S a good idea: Pennsylvania officials roll out drug tests for welfare recipients. It's common sense, and I hope every state adopts this policy. Those of us who work and pay for those welfare benefits have to take a drug test to obtain a job, why shouldn't the recipients?

***Jim Moran, racist pig. Michelle Malkin lets go on this pompous windbag.

***Sneak peak at the Super Bowl ads. Admit it, that's why some of you watch the Super Bowl, for the commercials!

***

***Planned Parenthood's big lie. Read this if you still think Planned Parenthood is about helping women. They're pretty much only interested in you if you want an abortion.

***The Gipper's principles for governing still apply today. Even liberals have taken to quoting him - albeit out of context. You'll never hear a Democrat quoting this one:

“We don’t have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven’t taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much.”

Amen. Oh, to have another President like Ronald Reagan.

***

***Bringing laughter into your marriage. Good advice.

Essayist and biographer Agnes Repplier, who was known for her common sense and good judgment, said, "We cannot really love anybody with whom we never laugh."
We couldn't agree more. And we believe the implication of her statement is also true: The more you laugh together, the more you love your spouse.

Read the rest.

***U.S. Archives unveils Magna Carta after repairs. I'd love to go there and see this!

***Crock Pot Cake. I didn't think it would work, but I tried it yesterday and it was really good! It has a more soft texture, but with ice cream and chocolate syrup, it was awesome!

Cook time:	4 Hr		Difficulty:	EASY
Prep time:	5 Min		Serves:	12

Ingredients

- 1 bx cake mix, chocolate

- 4 lg eggs

- 3/4 c oil

- 1 c water

- 1 pt sour cream

- 1 sm instant chocolate pudding

- 12 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Mix first 6 items till almost mix well (I like mixer set to low).
2. then add choclate chip mix in by hand.
3. Spray a large crock pot with non-stick spray.
4. Cook on low 4 to 5 hours.(DON'T OPEN THE LID !!!)
5. Serve with vanilla ice cream and drizzle with chocolate syrup.

***Wikileaks leaker, Bradley Manning, will be court-martialed. Good.

***U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg tells Egypt not to use U.S. Constitution as a model. Stupid old bat.

***Three Startups Born from the NFL.

***Wow.

***Speed, strength, and the inability to register pain immediately. ~Reggie Williams, when asked his greatest strengths as a football player

***Have a great day!

I'm So Dizzy...

2012-02-04T06:28:00.000-05:00

***Remember that song? It was done by Tommy Roe - way, way back. in 1969. Yeah, I remember it. That's the way I'm feeling again this morning, and yes, I have been taking my blood pressure medicine. I hope it goes away soon, I'm planning to go to Jazzercise this morning with Myra, then to the Amish store and Designer Consignors with Mom. Designer Consignors is a neat resale store here in Richmond, you can really find some nice things in there at a good price. I really need a workout, I've tried to go the pool to lap swim twice since Wednesday and the pool has been closed. Maintenance, I guess. Okay, enough rambling...

***Myra posted this on her blog and I had to repost, it's outrageous. There are a couple of scientists out in California (where else?) who think sugar should be considered toxic and want the government to regulate it. It's nuts. Michelle Obama will probably endorse the idea, then go back to the White House and chow down on some chocolate kisses. Do as I say, not as I do - but I digress. Our government already regulates our lives way too much, now they're getting into what we eat. This kind of overreach has to stop, but it never will as long as there are Democrats in positions of power.

***The Susan G. Komen Foundation caves to the radical feminists. Read here and here. Bottom line? A shakedown. Planned Parenthood and its liberal allies were going to do their level best to crush the Foundation if it didn't reverse its decision. Guess they really don't care that much about women who get breast cancer - only about keeping the money for abortions flowing. How sickening is that?

***Baseline budgeting bill passes in the House. This is big. They play with the numbers in the government to make things seem different than they are (oh, there's a surprise). This has little chance in the Senate as long as the Democrats are in charge, but we have to hope and pray that changes in November.

***

***Amen, Elizabeth Hasselbeck. I think she's pretty squishy with her views most of the time, but she's right on about this one:

I will say this, I don’t understand how a nation where freedom of religion and speech are so highly touted and are highly defended by liberals, how it is so easy to proceed with bigotry against someone who happens to be Mormon. I don’t understand how we can pick and choose certain religions that can be discriminated against, because I dare anyone to put another religion in there for Mitt Romney, and they wouldn’t say a word. Are you truly defending the rights of our country when you attack someone when they are whatever religion? What if Mitt Romney was Jewish? What if Mitt Romney was Muslim? Think about how people act differently toward that. Nobody supports the true idea of freedom of religion if you are attacking someone and using their religion against them for no other reason than political gain and to build suspicion about a religion, then you are not, at all, operating in the pure sense as an American, you’re just not. I think you might be cranky if you’re doing that and you might need a gluten-free diet.

***

***Fun facts to know and tell:

-In Utah, it is illegal to swear in front of a dead person.

-Vanilla flavoring is sometimes made from an ingredient in beaver pee.

-Beethoven, was told by a music teacher that he had no talent for music. In fact, this teacher once remarked, “As a composer he is hopeless.”

-The chances of you dying on the way to get your lottery tickets are greater than your chances of winning.

-There are around 200 corpses on Mount Everest.

-Worms reportedly taste like bacon.

-The MGM Grand Hotel of Las Vegas washes 15,000 pillowcases per day!

***Oh, that's lovely...

***"If you focus on what you left behind, you will never be able to see what lies ahead." ~~ Chef Gusteau in Ratatouille

***Have a great day!

What a Day!

2012-02-03T05:43:00.000-05:00

***Ever just have "one of those days?" That was rhetorical, of course you have. Yesterday was like that for me. Murphy's Law was in full force. Today's gotta be better!

***Check out this blog: One Cute Thing a Day. Wonder if they'll ever ask for my picture?

That's a baby sloth. You gotta admit, he's a cute little fella!

***9 uses for old jeans. Hey, some of these are great ideas!

***Eric Holder displays his arrogance and Obama-like narcissism: "I'm the Attorney General of the United States, okay?" Read this piece and try to keep from gagging.

***Facebook: Ingenious waste of time. I certainly wish I had thought of it.

***Another failed Obama promise. Too bad the mainstream media can't be bothered to report this stuff.

If you will recall, Caesar Obammus promised in 2009 that he would “cut the deficit we inherited by half by the end of my first term in office.”
How has he lived up to that promise?
Not only has he broken that promise, but he has crushed it. For the first three years of Obama’s presidency, he increased our deficit by over $1 trillion every year: $1.4 trillion in 2009, $1.3 trillion in 2010 and $1.3 trillion in 2011.
The CBO has recently crunched some numbers and it looks like Obama is on track to have another banner year of $1 trillion+ deficits. The CBO predicts that the deficit will rise $1.08 trillion in 2012.
To put all of this into perspective, the largest deficit that our country had ever run before 2008 was $458 billion. Thus, even though Obama’s deficit for 2012 is projected to be the lowest of his administration, don’t be fooled. It will be, by far, the largest deficit ever recorded between 1947 and 2008.

But wait, it's all Bush's fault...

***9-year-old girl receives six organ transplants. Wow.

*** NUTS!

AWESOME

OKAY, WELL, THAT'S DIFFERENT...

***Love her or hate her, you gotta admit, Martha Stewart has some really great ideas! Check out her home page or her magazine. I got my first Martha Stewart Living magazine yesterday, and it is really nice to look through.

***Seven secrets of self-made multimillionaires.

***

A couple had two little boys, ages 8 and 10, who were excessively mischievous. The two were always getting into trouble and their parents could be assured that if any mischief occurred in their town their two young sons were in some way involved.
The parents were at their wits end as to what to do about their sons' behavior. The mother had heard that a clergyman in town had been successful in disciplining children in the past, so she asked her husband if he thought they should send the boys to speak with the clergyman.
The husband said, 'We might as well. We need to do something before I really lose my temper!' The clergyman agreed to speak with the boys, but asked to see them individually. The 8 year old went to meet with him first. The clergyman sat the boy down and asked him sternly,'Where is God?'
The boy made no response, so the clergyman repeated the question in an even sterner tone, 'Where is God?' Again the boy made no attempt to answer. So the clergyman raised his voice even more and shook his finger in the boy's face, 'WHERE IS GOD?'
At that the boy bolted from the room and ran directly home, slamming himself in the closet. His older brother followed him into the closet and asked what had happened. The younger brother replied, 'We are in BIG trouble this time. God is missing and they think we did it.'

***

***The fruits of life fall into the hands of those who climb the tree and pick them
Earl Tupper

***Have a great day!

Dummy

2012-02-02T04:10:00.000-05:00

***A bit dizzy this morning, might have something to do with being out of my blood pressure medicine for a week. I keep procrastinating/forgetting to pick it up. Guess I better.

***Indiana passes right-to-work bill. This is great news!

Under right-to-work laws, companies can no longer negotiate a contract with a union that requires non-members to pay fees for representation. The House earlier passed the measure 54-44.
Daniels and other Republican supporters characterized the measure as needed for Indiana to attract jobs.
"Indiana will improve still further its recently earned reputation as one of America's best places to do business, and we will see more jobs and opportunity for our young people and for all those looking for a better life," the governor said in a statement released by his office.

***Starbucks Appreciation Day. I'm up for it!

We have an announcement from the National Gun ~~Control~~ Victims Action Council, an umbrella group for the usual suspects, that they are going to boycott Starbucks on Valentine’s Day 2012, which is February 14th. I am going to declare February 14th Starbucks Appreciation Day, by encouraging gun owners to head to Starbucks to buy some of their fine coffee and pastry products. Bitter and I will certainly participate. I encourage everyone to follow through to the link to the official event to take a look at what they are encouraging folks to do, and do the same, only with a pro-gun or gun-neutral message. You can e-mail Starbucks here. and tell them you appreciate them not taking a position on this issue, and following state laws, and that you appreciate their products. Don’t use the gun control organization’s form, even though you can change the message. They will likely use that to present to Starbucks corporate and spin your name on the list as a supporter of Starbucks banning guns.
I can promise you we can more than offset whatever paltry decrease in sales the anti-gun people will cause. Nontheless, our opponents have once again brought this deceased equine out for a flogging, so we have to once again show Starbucks there are a lot more of us then there are of them.

***The Obama Administration is planning to move Taliban leaders from Gitmo in an effort to appease the Afghan Taliban. Can you believe the idiocy of this man?

The Obama administration has taken “operational steps” to move five Taliban leaders from Guantanamo Bay as part of a confidence-building measure to further peace talks with the Afghan Taliban – a development that comes in advance of a hearing Thursday where senior intelligence officials will testify on national security threats, a senior congressional official told Fox News.
The five detainees were said to be "hand-picked" by the Taliban preparing for the talks.

***

***Going by approval numbers, it ain't lookin' good for The One:

***Look who cut off Planned Parenthood! Good move.

***More good news. House votes to repeal CLASS Act.

By a vote of 267-159, the House of Representatives voted to overturn the CLASS Act, a long-term care provision of Obamacare that would have become a budgetary nightmare.
Experts have concluded, said Rep. Phil Gingrey, R-Ga., that "the CLASS program can't be operated without mandatory participation so as to ensure its solvency." Unless it is terminated, he said, "it poses a clear danger to the fiscal health of our budget and to the American taxpayer."The administration finally has come to the conclusion "that we knew even before the bill passed, that this was unsustainable, it was unworkable, it was fatally flawed," said the bill's sponsor, Rep. Charles Boustany, R-La.

***Wow.

***Trying to maintain order during a legalized gang brawl involving 80 toughs with a little whistle, a hanky and a ton of prayer. ~Anonymous referee, explaining his job

***Have a great day!

February!

2012-02-01T05:43:00.000-05:00

***Wow, that sounds good. March is next, and we always have some really nice days (okay, and some really crappy ones) in March. We certainly can't complain about our winter so far here in Indiana, it was 55 degrees yesterday. I went for a walk rather than lap swimming, it felt so good out. I just wonder if we're gonna pay for all this nice weather this month, or maybe it's just going to be a mild winter all season. I'm all for that, though I have to admit I'd like to see at least one good snowfall.

***Gingrich falters, Romney wins big in Florida. As Roger Simon points out, Gingrich really made a stupid mistake in going after Romney instead of Obama. That's what won him South Carolina, and for an intellectual, it's pretty amazing that he missed that.

For a supposedly smart guy, Newt Gingrich made a bonehead error in Florida that not only cost him that state but almost certainly any serious chance of the Republican nomination. And in so doing, he, almost idiotically, undercut the very thing that had made his candidacy successful in the first place.
After his solid victory in South Carolina, Gingrich did not continue the obvious strategy that got him there – running against Barack Obama by presenting himself to Republican voters as the great orator and thinker who could bring down the noxious incumbent, the man who rose above internecine intra-party squabbles for the greater good of his country.
Instead, he did the exact opposite. He spent the balance of his time in Florida running against Romney when he had already beaten the former governor in South Carolina. Talk about dumb. Newt let his personal antipathy overwhelm his good sense. He played defense about the picayune and the irrelevant when he should have played offense on the philosophical and substantial.

Oh, how I wish Santorum could be the nominee. It's looking more and more like Romney is inevitable. I'll support him, but he's certainly not the best we can do. Perhaps he'll do the smart thing and pick a solid conservative like Santorum, Rubio, or Ryan as a running mate. If he wants any enthusiasm at all from Tea Partiers, he's going to have to.

***Self-guided bullets. Wow, the stuff they can do. Who says American ingenuity is dead?

The U.S. military has been after self-guided bullets for years. Now, government researchers have finally made it happen: a bullet that can navigate itself a full mile before successfully nailing its target.
The breakthrough comes courtesy of engineers at the government’s Sandia National Laboratories. They’ve successfully tested a prototype of the bullet at distances up to 2,000 meters — more than a mile. The photo above is an actual image taken during one of those tests. A light-emitting diode was attached to the bullet, showing the amazing pathway that the munition made through the night sky.

***This is fascinating: High powered plasma turns garbage into gas. I think recycling is a waste of time. Every other week I see the huge, gas-guzzling trash truck make an extra trip around the neighborhood to pick up what few recycling containers there are. At the grocery store, many of my items have to be double bagged because the recycled bags are too puny to handle more than 2-3 canned items. We have to flush our water saver toilets twice to get the job done. You see where I'm going with this. Recycling is just useless feel-good-ism. This, though, sounds really promising. Follow the link and read the story.

***From Michelle Malkin:

My latest column examines the Obama administration’s continuing war on religious health care professionals, which I spotlighted when the ACLU first launched its salvo against Catholic hospitals in 2010. What’s noteworthy now is the united front that Catholic bishops (who have traditionally taken big government positions) are now taking against the Obamacare abortion edict. Better late than never.
The Anchoress and LifeNews have excellent coverage of the controversy — see here, here, here, and here. As I mention below, the Becket Fund is representing two schools suing over the unconstitutional abortion mandate in federal court. Florida GOP Sen. Marco Rubio is sponsoring a bill to restore the conscience clause protections for health care providers of faith.

***The highest price paid for a Super Bowl ticket? $16,480. Wow. I really don't care who wins, as long as it's not New England.

***No, No, No...the hair...

***From Neal Boortz:

Yet again, Ditzy Debbie Wasserman Shultz is upset with Mitt Romney for being “extreme” and out of step with Americans. About the GOP race, she says that “each of them are trying to out right-wing each other.” She says that “Mitt Romney benefits from the tax loopholes that exist today and he wants them to continue,” which is a “dramatic contrast” from Barack Obama. Yeah … because Mitt Romney keeping more of the money he earns is a horrible offense, compared to Obama who wants to use the tax code to take money from people who earned it and give it to people who didn’t. That’s definitely a “dramatic contrast.”

***

***Gorgeous.

***

* You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity.
* What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.
* The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.
* You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it.
* When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that is the beginning of the end of any nation.

Dr. Adrian Rogers
Amen, Sir.

***The weirder you're going to behave, the more normal you should look. It works in reverse, too. When I see a kid with three or four rings in his nose, I know there is absolutely nothing extraordinary about that person. ~P.J. O'Rourke

***Have a great day!

Ain't It The Truth?

2012-01-31T06:53:00.001-05:00

***

***Getting a late start again this morning! Wonder if my body's trying to tell me something.

***Bill Maher is disgusting.

Remember the good old days when the family members of politicians were considered off-limits?
That of course is never the case for Republicans as HBO's Bill Maher sadly demonstrated on Friday's Real Time when he depicted Newt Gingrich's wife Callista as a Martian (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Follow the link to watch the video. Imagine if it were Michelle Obama being targeted.

***The vermin at Occupy Providence throw condoms at Catholic schoolgirls. Haven't heard much about this in the media, have you? As Glenn Reynolds points out, if you threw bacon at a Muslim, you'd be a racist. But this? Freedom of speech!

***Well, at least they have their priorities straight. Kansas law would make "Toto" breed state dog. What a waste of time.

***

***From A Gift of Inspiration:

Priceless gifts you can give

THE GIFT OF LISTENING

No interrupting, no daydreaming, no planning your responses. Just listen.

THE GIFT OF AFFECTION

Be generous with appropriate hugs, kisses, pats on the back, and hand holding.

THE GIFT OF LAUGHTER

Share articles, positive news, funny stories, and cartoons to tell someone, 'I love to laugh with you.'

THE GIFT OF A COMPLIMENT

A simple and sincere 'You look great in red,' 'You did a super job,' or 'That was a wonderful meal' can make someone's day.

THE GIFT OF SOLITUDE

Be sensitive to the times when others want nothing more than to be left alone.
THE GIFT OF A CHEERFUL DISPOSITION

The easiest way to feel good is to extend a kind word to someone, even if it's just saying hello or thank you.

THE GIFT OF FRIENDSHIP

Without friends life would hardly be worth living, let your friends know just how much they mean to you today.

THE GIFT OF YOUR SMILE

A simple smile breaks all the barriers of language and culture. Smile and the world smiles with you!

Author Unknown

***Michelle Malkin endorses Santorum, torches Newt. Look, I'd love to see Santorum be the nominee, too. He's the most honest and the most conservative. However, I don't see what good completely trashing the other candidates does. One is going to be the nominee, and if we don't want to see another four years of Obama we had better turn our attention toward HIM, not our own guys.

***Oh my.

***Betcha didn't know...

Mendelssohn's Wedding March

Sometimes, it’s hard to fathom that tunes such as “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” and “Happy Birthday” were actually composed. Even the “wha-wha-waaaah” played on the trumpet was composed! Such is the case with Felix Mendelssohn’s wedding march, part of his incidental music for his A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Most people would recognize this march as the music played for a newly-married couple’s recessional.

***Wow.

Almost 50% of the young people in Greece and Spain are unemployed. The growth in unemployment for adults under the age of 25 has skyrocketed, and is a crisis in both Greece and Spain. Now you don’t have to be surprised by all of the photos of youth riots.

***

Working at a theater box-office ticket window poses many challenges in dealing with people.

When a disgruntled customer at a window exclaimed, "No Tickets?" What do you mean NO TICKETS?"

The women waiting on him smiled sweeting. "I'm terribly sorry, sir," she replied. "Which word didn't you understand?"

***

***To see what is right, and not to do it, is want of courage or of principle. ~~ Confucius

***Have a great day!

Woops!

2012-01-30T06:13:00.000-05:00

***I had reset my alarm for 5:00 a.m. yesterday and forgot to set it back to 3:00 or 4:00 for this morning. Rats. Oh well, I got quite a bit done over the weekend, so no harm done really. I also got my office cleaned, which was a big accomplishment. Isn't it funny how you feel more productive when your office is not cluttered? It's also amazing how many times I missed my mouth when eating my trail mix.

***More proof that global warming is a hoax perpetrated by those looking to line their pockets and exert more power over us.

The supposed ‘consensus’ on man-made global warming is facing an inconvenient challenge after the release of new temperature data showing the planet has not warmed for the past 15 years.
The figures suggest that we could even be heading for a mini ice age to rival the 70-year temperature drop that saw frost fairs held on the Thames in the 17th Century.
Based on readings from more than 30,000 measuring stations, the data was issued last week without fanfare by the Met Office and the University of East Anglia Climatic Research Unit. It confirms that the rising trend in world temperatures ended in 1997.

Notice this story is not in an American newspaper. It's from the UK Mail Online. AP couldn't be bothered to pick it up.

***Occupy Oakland decries "illegal" police action after 400 arrests. Well of course they should be allowed to riot at will and break into City Hall without being arrested. Go home, freaks.

***And now, from the Fascinating News You Can't Do Without department: 10 Uses For Dry Cleaning Hangers!

Actually, there are some pretty good ideas here...

***

***Yikes. Temperatures fall to -50 in Fairbanks, Alaska. Sheesh.

***Ew. 107 dogs rescued from "totally filthy" trailers.

***The Super Bowl Village in Indianapolis sounds like lots of fun! Don't know if I'd have the nerve to ride the Zipline, but I'd sure like to go and check out the other stuff.

***Senate Democrats haven't passed a budget in 1005 days. They're breaking the law, but they're Democrats, so who cares?

***Weird tree...

***Yep, that's an ugly dress...

***Pennies From Heaven

A woman of modest means and her husband were invited to spend the weekend at the husband's employer's home. The boss was very wealthy, with an estate home and several cars costing more than the average house.

The woman delighted to experience first hand the life of the extremely wealthy. The boss indulged his guests both at home on his estate as well as out as exclusive dining establishments.

On one occasion as they were about to enter an exclusive restaurant, the boss was walking slightly ahead of them. He stopped suddenly, looking down on the pavement for a long, silent moment.

An awkward silence followed. There was nothing on the ground except a single darkened penny that someone had dropped, a few cigarette butts and assorted litter. Quietly, the rich man reached down and picked up the penny.

He held it up and smiled, then put it in his pocket as if he had found a great treasure. How absurd! What need did this man have of a single penny? Why would he even take the time to stop and pick it up?

Throughout dinner, the penny bothered her. Finally, she causally mentioned that her son once had a coin collection, and asked if the penny he had found had been rare.

A smile crept across the man's face as he reached into his pocket for the penny and held it out for her to see.

"Look at it." He said. "Read what it says." She read the words "United States of America."

"No, not that; read further."

"One cent?" "No, keep reading."

"In God we Trust?" "Yes!" "And?"

"And if I trust in God, the name of God is holy, even on a coin. Whenever I find a coin I see that inscription. It is written on every single United States coin, but we never seem to notice it!

God drops a message right in front of me telling me to trust Him? Who am I to pass it by?

When I see a coin, I pray, I stop to see if my trust IS in God at that moment. I pick the coin up as a response to God; that I do trust in Him. For a short time, at least, I cherish it as if it were gold. I think it is God's way of starting a conversation with me. Lucky for me, God is patient and pennies are plentiful!"

***Now there's something you don't see every day...

***

Life does not have to be perfect to be wonderful
Annette Funicello

***Have a great day!

War Heroes Parade

2012-01-29T06:55:00.000-05:00

***I was so glad to see this. Thousands turned out for an Iraq War Heroes parade in St. Louis.

***Reuters regrets false Rubio hit piece. Words, words. I'll bet nobody loses his job.

Reuters is still kicking itself over an article about Republican golden boy Senator Marco Rubio that yielded five corrections yesterday and may have warranted more.
One senior staffer at Reuters described the episode to me as a "fiasco," another as a "disgrace."
It was so bad, in fact, that the editors and writer involved have been asked not to talk about it. (I reached out to editors David Lindsey and Eric Walsh, but have not heard back.)
The article, by David Adams, had intended to detail why Rubio was an unlikely pick for Vice President: "Rubio may not be as coveted as Gingrich or Romney would have it appear as they press for votes in Florida, where more than 450,000 Hispanics identify themselves as Republicans," Reuters David Adams wrote. "Despite his reputation as a watchdog over federal spending, Rubio, 40, has had significant financial problems that could keep him from passing any vetting process as a potential vice presidential choice, Republican and Democratic strategists say."
But after pressure from the Rubio staff, Reuters was forced to issue corrections that quickly became a larger talking point than the article itself.
Rubio's staff reached out to the editors and the writer early yesterday, prompting Reuters to issue two corrections. But the Daily Caller's Matt Lewis, who spoke with Rubio's staff as well, wrote an item suggesting that there were at least seven errors or exaggerations that warranted mention, and Reuters ultimately issued three more.

This kind of thing is what we've come to expect from the media today. Never see a hit piece like this about a Democrat, do you? Heck, all they'd have to do is tell the truth, and the Democrats would call it a hit piece.

***Now that's chutzpah: Man who killed three people in a Christmas Day drunk driving accident is suing his victims.

***Prayers for Bella Santorum.

The three-year-old daughter of Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum has been admitted to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the candidate has cancelled his Sunday morning campaign events to be at her side.
Santorum campaign spokesman Hogan Gidley said Saturday night that the former Pennsylvania senator and his wife, Karen, were with Bella at CHOP. Gidley said Santorum planned to return to campaigning as soon as possible in Florida, where the Republican primary is Tuesday.
Bella Santorum has Trisomy 18, a genetic condition caused by the presence of all or part of an extra 18th chromosome. Bella was not expected to survive until her first birthday and concerns over her health have canceled previous Santorum campaign events.
During his campaign, Santorum and his wife have spoken openly about the challenges and rewards of raising a child with such a condition.
The Santorums have six other children; they lost a baby boy, Gabriel, shortly after his birth in 1996. Bella was born in 2008; two years later, Santorum wrote about her in an Inquirer column.
“All children are a gift that comes with no guarantees,” he wrote. “While Bella’s life may not be long, and though she requires our constant care, she is worth every tear.”
Bella, whose full name is Isabella Maria Santorum, has become a symbol of his pro-life stance, as he claimed that most infants diagnosed in the womb with Trisomy 18 are aborted.

***Joe Biden the Delusionist:

House Democrats will win the House in November, swinging the gavel back into the hands of Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Vice President Joe Biden predicted Friday.
“Nancy, I think, is not going to be remembered just for being the first woman Speaker,” Biden said, “she’s going to remembered for being the second woman speaker.”
Addressing House Democrats gathered on the Eastern Shore for their annual retreat, Biden said the combination of GOP obstructionism and a strengthening economy will propel the Democrats back into control of the lower chamber after just two years in the minority.
“It’s becoming absolutely clear the decisions that we made … are actually working,” Biden said, speaking softly because he said he’s battling a cold.

Guess what? He predicted the same thing in 2010.

***

***Now here's an idea! Desks for small spaces:

I like this one:

***Turning layoffs into startup businesses. It can happen! These three examples all went into the baking business, but finding something you love and are good at is all you need to start.

***I went to Jazzercise yesterday with my sister. She bought me 12 classes for Christmas (think there's a message there?). Many years ago, before I was married, I went to Jazzercise classes regularly. I like the dancy movements, it's fun and a good workout. It's still a good workout, but geez, the music today sucks. She did play a couple of classic pop tunes, but it was mostly what you hear on the radio today with the same beat, the mechanized voices, the repetitive, dull lyrics. I still enjoyed it, though, and will certainly use the rest of the classes Myra bought for me. I was pooped the rest of the day. I've been lap swimming, but not doing aerobics per se and using weights, both of which she incorporated into the class. I haven't been to a Zumba class, but I'm guessing it's probably pretty much the same thing. I would love to go to a class which only played classic rock/pop songs from the 70s, 80s, and 90s! Boston, Kansas, Electric Light Orchestra, Elton John, Michael Jackson before he went nuts, etc...

***Adbusters calls for Occupy to invade Chicago, and not peacefully:

Adbusters, the radical, Vancouver-based anti-consumerist magazine, credited by many media outlets for launching the Occupy Wall Street protests, has put out an ad calling for 50,000 protestors to “Occupy” the G8 summit in May. And they are not calling for peaceful protest.
The Adbusters ad shows a picture of policemen beating up a defenseless protestor, and comes with the caption: “In the Tradition of the Chicago 8.” The Chicago 8 were radicals who incited riots in Chicago during the 1968 Democratic convention. The 1968 convention unrest became so legendary that the band Crosby, Stills, Nash (and Young) wrote a song about it called “Chicago.” The “tradition” of the Chicago 8 included calling for displays of public fornication and attacking police.
According to the official statement of Adbusters (titled Tactical Briefing #25), “On May 1, 50,000 people from all over the world will flock to Chicago, set up tents, kitchens, peaceful barricades and #OCCUPYCHICAGO for a month. With a bit of luck, we’ll pull off the biggest multinational occupation of a summit meeting the world has ever seen.”

I hope they have the military there, ready to tamp them down when they start breaking the law. Where are the liberal twits calling for "civility?"

***

Sorry, couldn't resist that one...

***One day a Pastor, a Vicar and an Atheist go on a fishing trip together. They are in the boat and the Pastor says," Oh! No! I left the paddles on shore!" So he proceeds to get out of the boat and walk on the water to the shore to get them. Once he had gotten back into the boat the Vicar says," Oh! No! I left the bait on shore too!" And like the Pastor the Vicer exits the boat and walks on the water to get the bait. When the Vicar climbs back into the boat the atheist yells," Well if you guys can do it so can I!!!" and proceeds to clim out of the boat, but he falls into the water. At this piont the Pastor says," Do you think we should have told him where the rocks are?"

***We'd all like to vote for the best man, but he's never a candidate. ~Frank McKinney "Kin" Hubbard

***Have a great day!

Dwarf-Tossing?

2012-01-28T06:09:00.000-05:00

***Have you ever heard of this?

A dwarf-tossing contest scheduled for Saturday at a Windsor, Ontario bar has generated heated controversy but local authorities say there is no law to prevent it.
Barry Maroon, manager of Leopard's Lounge and Broil, told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. he saw no problem with the contest and even claimed he had been getting calls from little people anxious to attend.
He also said any human projectiles would wear protection and would not be in any danger.
But othersagreed with Jamie Danforth of Windsor -- the father in a family of four dwarfs -- who called it "ignorance at its highest level" in an email to the CBC.
"It is insane that in today's society we still have this going on," he said. "I don't need my daughters thinking this is the type of thing they have to be subjected to. We wouldn't throw the elderly or people in wheelchairs."
City councilor Ron Jones, contacted by a local resident trying to stop the event, told the Windsor Star, "there's nothing provincially and no bylaws here that would prevent this from going on."
He added that the dwarf to be tossed had his own agent.

There you have it. The little fella is just making a living!

***Obama fanatic threatens to kill Joe Arapao and his family. Where are the leftist pinheads and their calls for civility??

A "fanatical supporter" of President Barack Obama is the prime suspect in an investigation into an Internet death threat against Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

Adam Eugene Cox, 33, was arrested in Tennessee Friday on an unrelated warrant for assault.

Working with MCSO, deputies in Knoxville, Tenn., served a search warrant and seized evidence from Cox's home on Friday after an investigation into the death threat came to light in October.

In that threat, Cox stated Arpaio and his family would be killed, according to MCSO. His postings read, in part: "I plan to kill Arpaio first. He will be filled with a thousand bullet holes before the year is out. I promise you this. He won’t [expletive] with Obama. He will be buried 10 feet under and his whole family will be murdered along with him."

Can't you just feel the tolerance and love?

***Get it together, guys. Start attacking the REAL enemy rather than each other: Barack Obama and the Democrats.

***

***Great exchange between Rush Limbaugh and a caller. Those of us who actually work for a living are a target in this Administration.

CALLER: I'm calling regarding all the rhetoric that's going on with Obama's administration regarding tax increase and the wealthy pay more. Rush, my husband is a physician. We have five children in college. We don't take handouts. Meanwhile, thanks to Obama, fewer and fewer charges can be collected. I mean in terms of receivables or procedures, what you can collect. So the income gets chopped away practically daily, like doctors are evil and they have to be punished. But yet nobody addresses welfare reform, people who just repeatedly take advantage of the situation. And indeed some of them have issues that prevent them from working or prevent them from educating themselves, and I understand, but some of them just bleed the system dry. Also unemployment reform. What about that? I mean it used to be if you collected unemployment you were expected to take a paper around to the different --

RUSH: You were supposed to look for work. The ChiComs still do that, by the way. If you're unemployed in China you have to prove you're looking for a job. You have to do it, a lot of other countries, particularly emerging countries, and we used to. We used to do that. But see, the answer to your question is simple. Your husband and you are in the 1%, and as such you've been exploiting all of his patients. You've been overcharging them for years and that's led you to have the money to put your kids in college without a loan or without a handout, as you say. And you probably have a fairly nice house, and you've done that by exploiting these poor people. You've charged them much more than they could pay for simple medical care, which ought to be free in a fair and just society. So these people who aren't paying their fair share of taxes, the poor, the middle class, are paying no taxes, the doctor having his payments, his reimbursements cut back, that's only fair. That's how we're transforming America. That's how we're equalizing. We're making the 1% finally pay for the exploitation of all these poor people, it's about time you found out what it's like.

***John Wooden on "If You Had One Day to Live Over."

The late UCLA basketball legend John Wooden enjoyed incredible success as a coach. He won ten championships in a twelve-year period and finished his career with an astonishing record of 664-162. A man of strong Christian conviction, Coach Wooden received his eternal promotion in 2010 at the age of 99.

He once wrote something that strikes me as a fitting lesson for parents as well as players and coaches.

Can you relate?

If I could go back and pick one single day in my life - in sports - to live over again, my choice might surprise you.

Here's the day I would pick...

I would conduct one more day of practice in the gym. For each day of practice was, by far, the most fulfilling, exciting, and memorable thing I did as a coach - teaching those under my supervision how to achieve success as members of a team. "The journey is better than the inn..." for me. Cervantes had it right. My joy was in the journey.

How about for you?

Is the source of your own happiness - joy?

Is it in your journey or only in the prize, the inn?

- John Wooden

*** THE CLEANING GUY? (burp) HAVEN'T SEEN 'IM...

***Talk about stealing your thunder! Sergio Garcia sinks a hole-in-one at the Abu Dhabi Championship, then an hour later Jose Manuel Lara did the same thing!

***Marijuana mouth spray coming to U.S.? Rush has a good point. Wonder if the medical marijuana advocates will be as enthusiastic about a form of the drug that doesn't give you a high? Don't get me wrong, I am in favor of the medicinal use of marijuana, especially in cancer patients when it helps with the nausea caused by chemotherapy. However, I think a lot of medicinal marijuana advocates are only interested in the general legalization of mariuana, and just see medicinal marijuana legalization as a gateway. Their response to this mouth spray will be interesting.

***The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer somebody else up. ~Mark Twain

***Have a great day!

Back To It

2012-01-27T06:12:00.000-05:00

***Had a great afternoon yesterday visiting with Emily, Peter, & Johnathan. We met at Max & Erma's close to the Wright State campus, then went to Target. After shopping a while we went to Starbucks. Sounds exciting, right? Starbucks now has a skinny caramel macchiato, which was really good, and I see on their web site they now have a skinny mocha. That's my next order! I love Target, I miss the one we had in Richmond. It was nice just to get completely away from the computer for the afternoon, and of course wonderful to spend time with the kids. Yes, they're still "the kids," always will be!

***Journalistic malpractice. This is unforgivable.

This Reuters hit piece on Marco Rubio–nowadays, when I talk about Rubio, I have to stop and think whether it’s Marco or Ricky–is an early contender for the title. Reuters’ theme is that Rubio criticizes extravagant federal spending and deficits, but has had financial problems himself. The article is basically one false statement after another, leavened with quotes from Democratic strategists. At the Daily Caller, Matt Lewis deconstructs it:
By my count, there were at least 7 errors or exaggerations:
1. “Rubio also voted against Sonia Sotomayor, Obama’s Supreme Court nominee who is of Puerto Rican descent…”
(Rubio wasn’t even in the senate then.)
2. “He soon had [his house] appraised for $735,000 and took out a second mortgage for $135,000.”
(Rubio did not take out a second mortgage. He took out a home equity line, which is a line of credit secured by the value of the home.)
3. “In 2008, despite earning a declared $400,000 – including his $300,000 salary from the Miami law firm Broad and Cassel – Rubio failed to make a payment on his home for several months”
(Rubio never failed to make payments on his mortgage on his home. He did miss a payment on a second house that he co-owns in Tallahassee because of miscommunication with the bank and the other owner; but it was remedied immediately and was not caused by any financial problems.)
4. “During the same period he did not make payments on a $100,000-plus student loan from his days at the University of Miami, the disclosures said.”
(As far as I can tell, this is simply untrue. He has never missed a payment on his student loans.)
5. “He frequently had used his party credit card for personal use, and later reimbursed the party for about $16,000.”
(Rubio paid American Express directly. The party never paid any expenses, and therefore there was no need to reimburse them.)
6. “Before joining the Senate last year, he was caught up in an Internal Revenue Service investigation of the Florida Republican Party’s use of party-issued credit cards.”
(Rubio’s office tells me they have never been contacted about an IRS investigation.)
7 “Rubio owes far more on his $384,000 Miami home than it is worth, and at times has had difficulty paying his mortgage”
(Senator Rubio has never missed a payment on his Miami home.)
A Daily Caller reader added another one: “Isn’t Reuters statement about Health Care Law wrong too? Passed in 2010. Rubio took office 2011.” That’s right; Reuters wrote that Rubio voted against Obamacare, but, as with Sotomayer’s nomination, he wasn’t in the Senate yet.

Pathetic.

***Hope & Change: FBI to begin monitoring social networks.

***Another stimulus backed company goes bankrupt. Way to pick 'em, Obama.

***Space shots. These are fascinating.

Jan. 17, 2012: These loop structures are made of superheated plasma, just one of which is the size of several Earths. With its ability to capture the Sun in amazing detail, NASA's SDO spacecraft observed it all in extreme ultraviolet light.

This is the surface of Mars.

Jan. 2, 2012: The Sun erupted with with a good-sized solar flare and a coronal mass ejection (CME). Luckily, the blast was not directed at Earth.

Using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have solved a longstanding mystery on the type of star, or so-called progenitor, that caused this nearby supernova. All ideas involved a white dwarf star that somehow increases in mass to the highest limit. Astronomers failed to find any companion star near the center of the remnant, meaning this Type Ia supernova came from a pair of white dwarfs in close orbit.

***Okay, I gotta admit, that's quite a resemblance:

Newt Gingrich as a college professor, and Dwight what's-his-name.

***Indiana Democrats walk off the job again. They should be fired. The makeup of the House and Senate were voted on by the people of Indiana, and they have no right to do what they're doing. They're acting like a bunch of spoiled children, it's sickening.

***

***Top foods adults love and children hate. Asparagus? Not this adult. Ew.

***A little fun at the expense of my charismatic friends...

You Might Be Charismatic If ...

You think the fire safety slogan "Stop, Drop, & Roll" is the title of a new book on Holy Spirit etiquette.
You stay home from church because you’re afraid some prophet will read your mail in public.
Your closet is divided into two sections - clothes that are appropriate for falling and those that are not.
You try to pray down fire from heaven on the dry cleaning outfit that ruined your suit.
When you break a fingernail, you blame it on spiritual warfare.
You think that the movie FREE WILLY is an instructional video on deliverance by the Happy Hunters.
You develop a slight hand tremor, and 40 people ask for your prayers during ministry time.
You lie on the floor to nap through boring sermons and are perceived as super-spiritual when you get up.
Your bumper sticker reads, "Tithe if you love Jesus - so I won’t have to."
You speak King James English when disciplining your kids ... "Be-hold, thou hast sham-ed thyself , and sham-ed thy Gawd! To thy room!"
You praise God daily that your no longer a _______________ (fill in the name of the denomination you came out of).

*** WHOOPSIE!!

***The reason women don't play football is because eleven of them would never wear the same outfit in public. ~Phyllis Diller

***Have a great day!

ZZZZZzzzzz....

2012-01-26T05:16:00.001-05:00

***Dang, had one of those nights where I was perfectly comfortable, wasn't really nervous about anything, but just couldn't sleep. I hate that.

***Obama is a big baby.

Drudge has a story about Obama getting off of Air Force One in Arizona, greeting Republican governor Jan Brewer, and immediately giving her a piece of his mind. Evidently our president did not appreciate something Brewer wrote about him. According to the pool report, they had a testy exchange from which the president walked away as Brewer was still speaking.
Sound familiar? Bobby Jindal got the same treatment when Obama came to visit Louisiana and the governor met him on the tarmac. Jindal would later recount in his book:
I was expecting words of concern about the oil spill, worry about the pending ecological disaster, and words of confidence about how the federal government was here to help. Or perhaps he was going to vent about BP’s slow response. But no, the president was upset about something else. And he wanted to talk about, well, food stamps. Actually, he wanted to talk about a letter that my administration had sent to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack a day earlier.
The letter was rudimentary, bureaucratic, and ordinary. . . . We were simply asking the federal government to authorize food stamps for those who were now unemployed because of the oil spill. Governors regularly make these sorts of requests to the federal government when facing disaster.
But somehow, for some reason, President Obama had personalized this. And he was upset.
There was not a word about the oil spill. He was concerned about looking bad because of the letter. “Careful,” he said to me, “this is going to get bad for everyone.”

This job is too big for him.

***From a commenter at Ann Althouse's blog:

I didn't watch the SOTU because I was washing my hair. But please let me be clear, I have never heard anything coming from O which struck my as remotely interesting, including when he gave the greatest speech on race since MLK's "I Had A Dream" in which he threw his white grandmother under the bus while apologizing for America being so racist. You remember the praise he got for that, right? We don't have that short a memory, right?

Let me be clear, O is and always has been an ordinary political hack who was picked up by a brilliant campaign because he happened to be in the right place at the right time. This brilliant campaign ran him, and ever since he's bee trying and failing to lead the country. He's been a failure from the beginning because he's been a fraud from the beginning.

That pretty much sums it up.

***

***Newsflash! Bacon cures nosebleeds!

***Yikes! Check out the size of this snail!

***James Farentino, RIP.

***Neat new gadget: The Nike Fuelband.

Leave it to Nike to try and create its own unit of measurement. The Nike+ FuelBand ($150) is a wearable bracelet that uses a built-in three-axis accelerometer to track the time, your daily steps, calories expended, and NikeFuel — a normalized score based on oxygen kinetics that awards points equally regardless of physical makeup. You can track your activity using the Nike+ website by syncing over USB, or hook up with your smartphone over Bluetooth and suck data into an app. Integrated LEDs in the wristband keep you informed of your current status and give you an easy red-to-green goal indicator.

***Love this picture!

Wish I could enlarge it, but does that say it all, or what??

***How's your WOW factor?

When was the last time you stood and stared in awe and wonder?

I can remember those early days of fatherhood, when I would quietly slip into Trent and Troy’s room and watch their tiny chests rise and fall with every peaceful breath. It left me reaching for words that never came. Not only was I nearly speechless at the beauty of the new life before me, but humbled that I was blessed to have the new name of “Dad.”

In those moonlit nights, David's words took on new meaning for me:

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well (Psalm 139:14).

***Mitch Daniels' rebuttal to the State of the Union speech was awesome. Read the transcript, if you didn't get to hear it.

***I am a Conservative to preserve all that is good in our constitution, a Radical to remove all that is bad. I seek to preserve property and to respect order, and I equally decry the appeal to the passions of the many or the prejudices of the few.

Benjamin Disraeli (1804 - 1881), campaign speech at High Wycombe, England, November 27, 1832

***Have a great day!

State of Denial

2012-01-25T05:40:00.001-05:00

***I admit, I didn't watch the State of the Union address. If Obama's lips are moving, he's lying. I honestly can't stand to watch him. After reading the roundup of the speech this morning over at National Review, I can see it was more of the same, just as I knew it would be.

Toward the end of his State of the Union address, President Obama delivered a paragraph that was so blatantly absurd and self contradictory as to actually become clarifying—so incoherent that it shed a bright light on his thinking and his grave dilemma. It’s hard to believe he actually said this, but he did:

I’m a Democrat. But I believe what Republican Abraham Lincoln believed: That Government should do for people only what they cannot do better by themselves, and no more. That’s why my education reform offers more competition, and more control for schools and States. That’s why we’re getting rid of regulations that don’t work. That’s why our health care law relies on a reformed private market, not a Government program.

See what I mean? His administration has been nothing if not a series of tighter government controls and more regulation. The most outrageous part of that statement is that Obamacare is not a government program. That one left my mouth agape. Read the whole piece.

But even more galling than the examples was the very use of the Lincoln quote itself, which makes precisely the opposite point to the one made by the rest of the president’s speech. This speech offered a vision of a profoundly technocratic and activist government, with its hands in every nook and cranny of the nation’s economic life—a government guiding particular business decisions and nudging individual choices through just the right mix of incentives and rules to reach just the right balance between fairness and growth while designing the perfect website for job retraining programs and producing exactly the proper number of “high-tech batteries.” The president described the government’s bailout of the Detroit automakers as a roaring success and then said “What’s happening in Detroit can happen in other industries. It can happen in Cleveland and Pittsburgh and Raleigh.”

He actually refers to the government bailout of Detroit automakers as a "success." Hard to believe we elected such a delusional man as president. We simply have to get him out of there.

***Here is the transcript of the rebuttal by Mitch Daniels. I really like this guy, and I'm glad he's our governor.

"The President did not cause the economic and fiscal crises that continue in America tonight. But he was elected on a promise to fix them, and he cannot claim that the last three years have made things anything but worse: the percentage of Americans with a job is at the lowest in decades. One in five men of prime working age, and nearly half of all persons under 30, did not go to work today.
"In three short years, an unprecedented explosion of spending, with borrowed money, has added trillions to an already unaffordable national debt. And yet, the President has put us on a course to make it radically worse in the years ahead. The federal government now spends one of every four dollars in the entire economy; it borrows one of every three dollars it spends. No nation, no entity, large or small, public or private, can thrive, or survive intact, with debts as huge as ours.

Read the whole thing. Here's one of my favorite parts:

"Contrary to the President's constant disparagement of people in business, it's one of the noblest of human pursuits. The late Steve Jobs - what a fitting name he had - created more of them than all those stimulus dollars the President borrowed and blew. Out here in Indiana, when a businessperson asks me what he can do for our state, I say 'First, make money. Be successful. If you make a profit, you'll have something left to hire someone else, and some to donate to the good causes we love.'

***Is Robert Redford reality challenged? Most liberals are. But this is beyond the pale. He says Sundance is for the "99 percent." Uh huh. All those rich celebrities and corporate sponsored events - sure, we see lots of down and out people there. What a doofus.

***

***What can you do in 1000 days?

***Gabrielle Giffords does the right thing. She's stepping down to allow herself to heal, because she knows she can't do the job she was elected to do. Good for her, and I hope she continues to get better.

***$20 Bill

A well known speaker started off his seminar by holding up a $20 bill. In the room of 200, he asked, "Who would like this $20 bill?" Hands started going up. He said, "I am going to give this $20 to one of you but first, let me do this."

He proceeded to crumple the dollar bill up. He then asked, "Who still wants it?" Still the hands were up in the air. "Well," he replied, "What if I do this?" And he dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe. He picked it up, now all crumpled and dirty.

"Now who still wants it?" Still the hands went into the air.

"My friends, you have all learned a very valuable lesson. No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth $20. Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way. We feel as though we are worthless. But no matter what has happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value in God's eyes. To Him, dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased, you are still priceless to Him. Psalm 178 states that God will keep us, "as the apple of His eye." The worth of our lives comes not in what we do or who we are in ourselves, but in WHOSE WE ARE!"

You are special. Have a great day!

***

Slithering stupidity... A clumsy crook who made off with a snake from a local reptile park didn't slither far after a forensic investigator found he not only left his phone at the crime scene, he posted a photo of the stolen animal on Facebook.

Wow.

***Bet you didn't know...

More than 10 people a year are killed by vending machines.

Hippo milk is pink.

Women have a better sense of smell than men.

The human brain has the capacity to store everything that you experience.

Ice cream is Chinese food!

Moths are unable to fly during an earthquake.

***

***It's simple ... go the extra mile and you will stand out from the crowd
Robin Crow

***Have a great day!

Speaking Truth to Power

2012-01-24T04:55:00.000-05:00

***I hate that phrase, honestly! Liberals use it a lot. However, it seems to fit in this instance: Bruins goalie skips White House ceremony honoring team. Here's what he said:

Tim Thomas posted the following statement on his Facebook page regarding his decision to not attend a ceremony at the White House to honor the Bruins for their Stanley Cup win last June:
“I believe the Federal government has grown out of control, threatening the Rights, Liberties, and Property of the People.
This is being done at the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial level. This is in direct opposition to the Constitution and the Founding Fathers vision for the Federal government.
Because I believe this, today I exercised my right as a Free Citizen, and did not visit the White House. This was not about politics or party, as in my opinion both parties are responsible for the situation we are in as a country. This was about a choice I had to make as an INDIVIDUAL.
This is the only public statement I will be making on this topic. TT”

Good for him. Would that more would stand up so publicly.

***This is a great idea! The liberal moderators at most of the debates have asked the lamest questions I've ever heard.

What keeps the candidates from having every exchange go like this:

Democratic Moderator: Please tell us what restrictions on gay rights you want to impose, and whether you would follow up with legalized segregation.

Republican Candidate: In the time it took you to ask that stupid question, the federal government under Barack Obama incurred an additional $200,000 of debt that will have to be paid by Americans. Here’s my plan to cut spending….

What are they afraid of, getting a failing grade from Brian Williams and not being allowed to advance to the next debate? It would be best to have no moderators present, but a very close second would be to make it clear that they are asking frivolous questions – by providing answers to substantive ones.

***Thinking underwear for warriors. You read that right!

Just don’t call them Underoos.

Technically known as a “wear and forget physiological sensing system,” thinking undergarments may be the next-generation drawers for the modern warfighter.
Gel-free sensors form an electronic network in the fabric to monitor respiration and heart rate, activity, body posture and skin temperature -- relaying that data through the warfighters’ layers of clothing to a central system. The technology could provide an unprecedented capability not just to monitor warfighters during combat and identify critical casualties but also to train and select for missions.

***Click to enlarge, this is fun!

***David Limbaugh says Democrats have an "Unre-electability" problem. Let's hope and pray he's right.

***Democratic Senate staffer charged with betraying national security.

Imagine, just imagine if this happened during a Republican administration.

The Washington Post has the story (without mentioning, however, that the criminal defendant, John Kiriakou, was a Democratic staffer):

The Justice Department on Monday charged a former CIA officer with repeatedly leaking classified information, including the identities of agency operatives involved in the capture and interrogation of alleged terrorists.
The case against John Kiriakou, who also served as a senior Senate aide, extends the Obama administration’s crackdown on disclosures of national security secrets. Kiriakou, 47, is the sixth target of a leaks-related prosecution since President Obama took office, exceeding the total number of comparable prosecutions under all previous administrations combined, legal experts said.

Read the whole piece, and see how the liberal press is trying to tie this more to Bush than they are to Obama despite, well, everything.

***Geez, that's a big dog...

***

***This is a bit long, but it's worth reading! Take the time.

Don’t Hope, Decide!

While waiting to pick up a friend at the airport in Portland, Oregon, I had one of those life-changing experiences that you hear other people talk about — the kind that sneaks up on you unexpectedly. This one occurred a mere two feet away from me.
Straining to locate my friend among the passengers deplaning through the jet way, I noticed a man coming toward me carrying two light bags. He stopped right next to me to greet his family.
First he motioned to his youngest son (maybe six years old) as he laid down his bags. They gave each other a long, loving hug. As they separated enough to look in each other’s face, I heard the father say, “It’s so good to see you, son. I missed you so much!” His son smiled somewhat shyly, averted his eyes and replied softly, “Me, too, Dad!”
Then the man stood up, gazed in the eyes of his oldest son (maybe nine or ten) and while cupping his son’s face in his hands said, “You’re already quite the young man. I love you very much, Zach!” They too hugged a most loving, tender hug.
While this was happening, a baby girl (perhaps one or one-and-a-half) was squirming excitedly in her mother’s arms, never once taking her little eyes off the wonderful sight of her returning father. The man said, “Hi, baby girl!” as he gently took the child from her mother. He quickly kissed her face all over and then held her close to his chest while rocking her from side to side. The little girl instantly relaxed and simply laid her head on his shoulder, motionless in pure contentment.
After several moments, he handed his daughter to his oldest son and declared, “I’ve saved the best for last!” and proceeded to give his wife the longest, most passionate kiss I ever remember seeing. He gazed into her eyes for several seconds and then silently mouthed. “I love you so much!” They stared at each other’s eyes, beaming big smiles at one another, while holding both hands.
For an instant they reminded me of newlyweds, but I knew by the age of their kids that they couldn’t possibly be. I puzzled about it for a moment then realized how totally engrossed I was in the wonderful display of unconditional love not more than an arm’s length away from me. I suddenly felt uncomfortable, as if I was invading something sacred, but was amazed to hear my own voice nervously ask, “Wow! How long have you two been married?
“Been together fourteen years total, married twelve of those.” he replied, without breaking his gaze from his lovely wife’s face. “Well then, how long have you been away?” I asked. The man finally turned and looked at me, still beaming his joyous smile. “Two whole days!”
Two days? I was stunned. By the intensity of the greeting, I had assumed he’d been gone for at least several weeks – if not months. I know my expression betrayed me.
I said almost offhandedly, hoping to end my intrusion with some semblance of grace (and to get back to searching for my friend), “I hope my marriage is still that passionate after twelve years!”
The man suddenly stopped smiling.
He looked me straight in the eye, and with forcefulness that burned right into my soul, he told me something that left me a different person. He told me, “Don’t hope, friend… decide!” Then he flashed me his wonderful smile again, shook my hand and said, “God bless!”

By: Michael D. Hargrove and Bottom Line Underwriters, Inc. Copyright 1997

***"Liberty means responsibility. That is why most men dread it."-- GeorgeBernard Shaw, Maxims for Revolutions, 1903

***Have a great day!

Here We Go Again!

2012-01-23T07:18:00.000-05:00

***Another week. Glad for a new day!

***This right to work argument is so simple. Why should a person be forced to pay union dues if he/she does not want to join a union? I should know by now not to get into a discussion about this with union people, but sometimes on Facebook I can't help myself. It's not long, though, before I throw up my hands in exasperation. All they can do is regurgitate their union propaganda, none of which has any root in the truth. Yeah, their jobs are all going to be taken from them if people have the right to choose whether or not to pay union dues. It's really a stupid argument, but it's pretty much all they have. Here is some data to chew on:

Best Workforces are in Right-to-Work States

When it comes to America’s Top States for Business 2011, when it comes to a quality workforce, 18 out of the top 20 states are Right-to-Work states. Moreover, all 22 Right-to-Work states are in the top 25 states for having the best workforces.

Since nine out of 10 of the states cited for having the best education are not right to work states, it appears that those who receive their educations in forced-union states get smart, pack up and leave, leaving the not-so-smart union extremists to invent myths about their own superiority while they pay their forced union dues.

Don't confuse 'em with facts. All you'll get in reply is, "Oh, you just don't understand." Powerful argument, that.

***It's the Giants and the Patriots in the Super Bowl. I'm rooting for the Giants!

***Entrepreneurs plot their way around the Obama administration's insane Keystone Pipeline decision.

RUSH: From Bloomberg News: "TransCanada Corp. may shorten the initial path for its rejected Keystone XL project, bringing oil from Montana’s Bakken Shale to refiners in the Gulf of Mexico and removing the need for federal approval. 'There certainly is a potential opportunity to connect the Bakken to the Gulf Coast,' Alex Pourbaix, TransCanada’s president of energy and oil pipelines, said in a telephone interview today. 'That is obviously something we’ll be looking into over the next few weeks.' TransCanada’s $7 billion Keystone XL proposal to bring crude from Canada’s oil sands to the Gulf was rejected yesterday by the Obama administration. The project required U.S. approval because it crossed the border with Canada. The company may seek that approval after it builds the segment from Montana to the Gulf, Pourbaix said."

***In 2011 nearly half the U.S. population received some kind of government benefit. This simply cannot continue.

While politicians may debate whether or not America is the most "generous" (with other generations' money of course) socialist welfare state in the history of mankind, the undoctored numbers make the affirmative case quite clear and without any chance for confusion. The single most disturbing statistic: in 2011 nearly half of the population lived in a household that receives some form of government benefit, which in turn accounted for 65% of total federal spending, or $2.5 trillion, and amount to 15% of GDP. And yet some people out there still think these people, long since indoctrinated to do little but mooch off the welfare state (which will continue subsidizing its existence so long as debt rates are so low that the government can issue trillions each year without fears of consequences) will halt their iTunes purchases, will voluntarily stop subsisting on the government's teat, or will rebel against a government which is their only source of income? Why? Especially since something tells us that there will be a peculiar overlap between this 50% and the 50% of Americans that pay zero taxes.

*** WELL, HI THERE!!!

*** GEEEEZ, IT'S COLD...

***From A Gift of Inspiration.

You've probably read this before, but I've always liked this story.

The Star Fish Story

'It made a difference for that one'

Once upon a time, there was a wise man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach before he began his work.
One day, as he was walking along the shore, he looked down the beach and saw a human figure moving like a dancer. He smiled to himself at the thought of someone who would dance to the day, and so, he walked faster to catch up.
As he got closer, he noticed that the figure was that of a young man, and that what he was doing was not dancing at all. The young man was reaching down to the shore, picking up small objects, and throwing them into the ocean.
He came closer still and called out 'Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing?'
The young man paused, looked up, and replied 'Throwing starfish into the ocean.'
'I must ask, then, why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?' asked the somewhat startled wise man.
To this, the young man replied, 'The sun is up and the tide is going out. If I don't throw them in, they'll die.'
Upon hearing this, the wise man commented, 'But, young man, do you not realize that there are miles and miles of beach and there are starfish all along every mile? You can't possibly make a difference!'
At this, the young man bent down, picked up yet another starfish, and threw it into the ocean. As it met the water, he said, 'It made a difference for that one.'
So, can I encourage you to take the time to do something that will make difference to someone else's life ... and it doesn't have to be much and they don't need to know. Just take a moment, do something special ... the universe will know and that's enough.

Adapted from The Star Thrower by Loren Eiseley (1907-1977)

*** Oh, that hair...

***A deathbed blessing. What a powerful story.

***

***People who say they sleep like a baby usually don't have one. ~~ Leo J. Burke

***Have a great day!

Sweet Sunday

2012-01-22T06:54:00.000-05:00

***There's a lot I should do after church today, but I think I'll just type a little, maybe straighten my office a bit, and then relax. Sounds good, anyway. Whether it'll actually happen, I don't know. I'd love to finish the book I'm reading, because I want to start "American Sniper."

***Blog Comment of the Day: "I remember during the last Administration when the operative MSM narrative was that Bush DOJ was "completely politicized." Now we have important DOJ officials taking the Fifth. More hope and change, I guess."

***Newt Gingrich wins South Carolina primary. That'll shake things up!

***U.S.-based human rights group says Iraq is becoming a "police state." Well done, Obama. It's only a matter of time before the terrorists are back, training and planning against the United States. What an idiot.

Iraq's Shiite-led government cracked down harshly on dissent during the past year of Arab Spring uprisings, turning the country into a "budding police state" as autocratic regimes crumbled elsewhere in the region, an international rights groups said Sunday.
Security forces abuse protesters, harass journalists, torture detainees and intimidate activists, Human Rights Watch said in the Iraq chapter of its annual report.
"Iraq is quickly slipping back into authoritarianism," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director for the New York-based group. "Despite U.S. government assurances that it helped create a stable democracy (in Iraq), the reality is that it left behind a budding police state," she said.

***Apparently piracy pays, for a while. Some guy named Kim Dotcom had a company called Megaupload, which allegedly pirated millions and millions of dollars' worth of entertainment content. Must have been pretty lucrative until he got caught, check out his house:

***Not just a Democrat dirty trick, but a crime. And it gets little more than yawns from the mainstream media.

A Des Moines man has been arrested after police say he used, or tried to use, the identity of Iowa Secretary of State Matt Schultz in a scheme to falsely implicate Schultz in perceived unethical behavior in office.
Zachary Edwards was arrested Friday and charged with identity theft.
The Iowa Department of Public Safety issued a news release saying Schultz’s office discovered the scheme on June 24, 2011 and notified authorities.

Who is he? Well, read on.

Edwards is a former Obama staffer who directed “new media operations” for Obama in five states during the 2008 primaries. Thereafter, he was Obama’s Director of New Media for the State of Iowa. In the Democratic Party’s lexicon, “new media” apparently includes identity theft.
Edwards now works for LINK Strategies, a Democratic consulting firm with extraordinarily close ties to Iowa Democrat Tom Harkin. Its principal, Jeff Link, has served as Harkin’s campaign manager and chief of staff. Link, too, is a former Obama staffer. The LINK Strategies web site says that Jeff Link “served as a media consultant to the Obama for President Campaign, coordinating branding, all paid media and polling in 25 states, including seven battleground states (VA, NC, FL, CO, NM, NV, MT)….”

Don't tell me you're surprised.

***

***Michael Savage: Don't Punish Brave Marines. Amen, Michael.

***
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno

A hiker who was lost in a blizzard said he stayed alive by digging a snow tunnel and burning dollar bills for warmth. Today he was offered a job as President Obama's economic adviser.

President Obama was in Disney World today where he unveiled his new plan to create jobs. He was joined by Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse but not Goofy. He had to stay behind to tend to his vice presidential duties.

You know why President Obama chose Disney World? It was the only place with longer lines than the unemployment office, so it looks better.

***Software for social media junkies. Do you waste too much time on Facebook? I admit, I check it a few times during the day, but I never spend more than 5 minutes, because I just don't have the time. I never chat or play games, I just browse through and see if there are any pictures from Karli, my cousin who is a missionary in Africa, or new pictures of Brooklyn, my new great niece, things like that. I know people, though, who plan to check in for just a minute and are still there an hour later. This article is for you!

***Start a business for under $500. It can be done!

Do you like organizing cluttered garages? Do you make mouth-watering cakes? Do you love to make jewelry? Are you good at planning special events? If you've been thinking about starting a business as your next career, now could be a great time to turn one of these hobbies into a thriving small business -- even on a bare-bones budget.

Starting a business on the side is a smart way to get your feet wet as an entrepreneur. Look first at the services and goods you already provide for free to friends and family. "The best way to start a business for less than $500 is to figure out how to get paid for what you love to do," says Clyde Anderson, a financial lifestyle coach and CNN contributor in Atlanta. "It's crucial for anyone who's looking to start a business to determine what gifts and talents they already have and to convert them into an actual business."

There are a couple of really interesting ones here, such as a Mobile Notary Public. Just about anyone can do that! After taking a course and obtaining a license, the overhead is very low.

***Joe Paterno is very ill and not doing very well. What a sad story, and a sad end to a great career.

***

***

Church Bulletin Bloopers:

"For those of you who have children and don’t know it, we have a nursery downstairs."
"The outreach committee has enlisted 25 visitors to make calls on people who are not afflicted with any church."
"The audience is asked to remain seated until the end of the recession."
"Low Self-Esteem Support Group will meet Thursday at 7 to 8:30 p.m. Please use the back door."
"Anointing of the sick ... If you are going to be hospitalized for an operation, contact the pastor. Special prayer also for those who are seriously sick by request."
"The third verse of Blessed Assurance will be sung without musical accomplishment."
The sermon title this morning: WOMEN IN THE CHURCH
The closing song: RISE UP, O MEN OF GOD
The sermon this morning: GOSSIP ... THE SPEAKING OF EVIL
The closing song: I LOVE TO TELL THE STORY
The sermon this morning: CONTEMPORARY ISSUES # 3 ... EUTHANASIA
The closing song: TAKE MY LIFE

***I've decided that perhaps I'm bulimic and just keep forgetting to purge. ~Paula Poundstone

***Have a great day!

Let's Do It Again!

2012-01-21T05:53:00.000-05:00

***Company again today for dinner. Mark's sister was sick last week when I had everybody over for Johnny's birthday, so I told her I'd cook for her today. Gonna be small, just Mark's mom and Linda. I always invite Mom too, but she stayed at my sister's last night and she's going to my brother's for dinner later today - plus she gets to see Brooklyn, the newest addition to the family and her great-granddaughter. We all try to take pretty good care of Mom. She loves it at my sister's house, she has a wood burning stove in her garage and it's so cozy in there when it's cold out. Plus, they have a channel that shows western movies 24 hours a day. Right up her alley!

***First Obama re-election ad filled with fibs. Noooo...you don't say!!

The Obama re-election campaign is already shaping up as the most deceitful in American electoral history. "For the first time in 13 years our dependence on foreign oil is below 50%," the commercial declares, accompanied by goose-bumpy music.
Major economic downturns, in fact, unfailingly produce declines in oil imports. And so do higher gas prices — which went from an average of less than $2 a gallon at the time Obama took office to nearly $4 in the middle of last year and remain well above $3 today.

But the sycophants and fools will oooohhhh and aaaahhhh and say how wonderful he is...

Then there's this...

Obama's ad dishonestly suggests he's been engineering an alternative energy economic renaissance in America. As hard-hatted workers are shown assembling solar panels, the ad says, "America's clean energy industry? 2.7 million jobs and expanding rapidly."
It's saying Obama created — or "saved" — 2.7 million new clean energy jobs, right? Uh-uh. Turns out that the Brookings Institution report that the ad cites as its source on the 2.7 million was referring to already-existing green jobs.

And on it goes. Read the whole thing, if you can stomach it.

***A nice summary of the press/media and their strategy. Don't ever call them objective, objective journalism is nearly dead in this country.

Perhaps they are in denial. They have a very tidy playbook about how to go about destroying Republican candidates: you call them stupid; you call them crazy; you feature ugly or unflattering pictures of them; you delve into their trash and their college transcripts (but only theirs) or you expose their sins (but only theirs), confident in the knowledge that people are sheep, susceptible to gossip and the media’s leading leash; conservatives, after all, are judgmental “values voters” who will (according to the playbook) be repelled by tawdry stories of narcissistic (Republican, only) politicians who serially cheat on their wives!

***

***9-year-old girl escapes her kidnapper and calls 9-1-1. Thank God.

A missing 9-year-old girl escaped an apparent kidnapper and called 911 herself from a convenience store in Colorado Springs on Friday, police said.

The Pueblo girl was reported missing Thursday night after she failed to return home from school.

***My friend and I are singing "Thy Word" as a duet tomorrow. Great lyrics:

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet
And a light unto my path
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet
And a light unto my path

When I feel afraid
And think I've lost my way
Still, You're there right beside me
Nothing will I fear
As long as You are near
Please be near me to the end

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet
And a light unto my path
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet
And a light unto my path

I will not forget
Your love for me and yet
My heart forever is wandering
Jesus be my guide
And hold me to Your side
And I will love You to the end

Nothing will I fear
As long as You are near
Please be near me to the end

Written by Amy Grant and Michael W. Smith

***Etta James, R.I.P.

***Here's a scary DUmmie FUnnies thread - at least it would be scary if it wasn't so tragic and funny at the same time. The headline: "Why Not Rob the Rich?"

***This is a chalk drawing. Wow!

***Jay Carney at it again: "Obama doesn't really spend a lot of time campaigning." No, only the last three years...

WH reporter: “Do you understand the optics when, at the economy event he was on the ground in Orlando for less than three hours, yet he spent roughly seven hours at these four different campaign events. The way this is viewed, you hear from Republicans…”
Jay Carney: “…I would challenge you to look at what the President does on any given week, including this week and many weeks going back, and not come to the conclusion that he spends a relatively small amount of time — at this stage — on campaign events. That’s a simple fact”:

Wow.

*** UNION BOSSES AT AN OBAMA FUNDRAISER

***

"You can't build a reputation on what you're going to do."

~ Henry Ford

***Have a great day!

Almost!

2012-01-20T03:57:00.000-05:00

***Almost did it again when my alarm went off at 3:00, then I remembered I'm taking my mom for an ultrasound this morning at 7:30, so it's imperative that I get up and get going! So here I am for some quick blogging, then at it!

***Rush Limbaugh: Barack Obama is the problem.

He's right. We have to be careful not to play right into the Democrats' hands and shoot all of our candidates down, leaving no one standing. There is no perfect candidate, people!

Mitt Romney nor Newt Gingrich nor Rick Santorum nor Rick Perry have anything to do with the economic misery in this country. That is traceable to one man and one location: Barack Obama and the Oval Office. Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney, Santorum have not played over 90 rounds of golf in three years while everybody's suffering. Gingrich, Romney, Santorum, the Republican nominees have not flown all over the world on the federal government's dime. They're not having lavish parties and concerts on the public's dime. They're not living like kings on other people's money.
Obama sends his wife on government jets four hours ahead of him to the same destination, or she decides to take the jet herself. The Republicans are not doing that.
Mitt Romney or Newt Gingrich will be taking a pay cut. For Obama winning the White House was a path to wealth. For the Republican nominees all except Santorum, now, it will be a pay cut. Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Santorum. None of the Republican candidates are responsible for the 16% real unemployment in this country. They are not responsible for the increased fuel and food costs. They are not responsible for any of this. That would be Obama, who pretends to care about the middle class but lives like a king at the public trough. Mitt Romney's not the problem. Newt Gingrich is not the problem. Rick Santorum is not the problem.

Remember all that!

***Amazon's all time best sellers. Interesting list! Lots of history buffs - that's a good thing!

***Poll shows small businesses fear health care law. Of course they do! It's going to put a lot of them OUT of business.

Nearly three-quarters, or 74 percent, say the new law is causing an impediment to job creation.
Brad Close, vice president of Public Policy for the National Federation of Independent Business, said: "What they know so far scares them; worries them very much."

Close said the businesses he represents are in favor of health care reform, but his clients ultimately could not support what President Obama has crafted.
"They look at this bill as more of a tax bill wrapped up and packaged as a health care reform bill," Close says, adding, "It really puts most of the cost and burden on small business owners."

***Why teens can't get a job. Apparently there's a lot of competition from adults who can't find work, either.

Brian Levine, co-owner of Tropical Smoothie Café, has had to make tough decisions that weren't even on the table a few years ago -- for instance, having to decide between giving a teen his or her first job or giving adults who are out of work a chance to support themselves and their families.
And it’s no easy task.
"A lot of it comes down to what we can afford, versus the hours they're available to work," Levine says. "We are more or less, the minimum wage type of place. I would obviously prefer to pay minimum wage, but I'd also go for an adult and pay them an extra dollar an hour. They're available, have more experience and are quicker to train."

Makes sense. We've all been ignored at a fast food place by snickering teenagers more interested in gossiping with each other than providing customer service. Of course not all teens are that way, but many employers would rather hire an adult, who is usually going to be more mature and service oriented, than an inexperienced teenager just getting started in the job market. Many adults are having to take whatever they can get in order to support their families, including jobs normally filled by teenagers. Thank you, Democrats!

***School feels "Cougar" mascot will offend women. You gotta be kidding...

A Utah school district decided not to select a cougar as the mascot of a new high school partly because school officials and some parents believed the word is disrespectful to women.
Students in the Canyons School District named the cougar their top choice to become the mascot of the new Corner Canyon High School. The school is expected to open in 2013.

However, district officials overrode the student vote after complaints that that the word “cougar” is offensive and derogatory towards women.
“We heard from folks who were worried about the connotation of the word ‘cougar’ as it pertains to the current vernacular — in a derogatory manner,” Jennifer Toomer-Cook, a spokesperson for the school district told Fox News & Commentary.
In pop culture, the term “cougar” refers to a sexually aggressive middle-aged woman who attracts younger men.

Gosh, and all this time I thought a cougar was a mountain cat. What mushballs we're becoming.

***
FEED ME NOW, OR SOMEBODY'S GONNA DIE...

***Loss of Keystone pipeline affects small businesses. Of course it does. You think the Democrats care? The more people who are out of work and desperate, the more sheeple they have to herd right into their corrals. Vote for me! I'll give you freebies!

***

Burned Biscuits !

When I was a kid, my mom liked to make breakfast for dinner every now and then. I remember one night in particular when she had made breakfast after a long, hard day at work.
On that evening so long ago, my mom placed a plate of eggs, sausage, and extremely burned biscuits in front of my dad. I remember waiting to see if anyone noticed! Yet all my dad did was reach for his biscuit, smile at my mom, and ask me how my day was at school. I don't remember what I told him that night, but I do remember watching him smear butter and jelly on that biscuit and eat every bite!
When I got up from the table that evening, I remember hearing my mom apologize to my dad for burning the biscuits. And I'll never forget what he said: "Honey, I love burned biscuits."
Later that night, I went to kiss Daddy good night and I asked him if he really liked his biscuits burned. He wrapped me in his arms and said, "Your Momma put in a hard day at work today and she's real tired. And besides - a little burnt biscuit never hurt anyone!"
Life is full of imperfect things.....and imperfect people. I'm not the best at hardly anything, and I forget birthdays and anniversaries just like everyone else. But what I've learned over the years is that learning to accept each other’s faults - and choosing to celebrate each other’s differences - is one of the most important keys to creating a healthy, growing, and lasting relationship.

Author unknown

***

***Talk about a caffeine addiction, this guy has invented inhalable caffeine.

Sleek and plastic, the size of a lip balm tube, the AeroShot is the brainchild of David Edwards, a Harvard professor of biomedical engineering who also invented breathable chocolate. (Don’t ask.) The AeroShot contains a puff of lime-flavored caffeine powder; one squeeze, and it dispenses about 40 mg of the drug in your mouth, like an asthma inhaler.

***

***The commercial that led them to Christ.

In the process of providing some background and detail on our commercial featuring the Bible verse John 3:16, I noted that we had received some remarkable news about a simple two-line tweet. It read:

Both my sons just saw your commercial and gave their lives to Christ as a result. Thank you. #John316

The father in question was named David Grumme. But that was all we knew about him. So, Karla Dial, the managing editor of Citizenlink and a deft interviewer as well as a talented writer, decided to track him down. I'm so glad she did.

Read the whole thing. Awesome!

***“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. You're on your own.
And you know what you know. You are the guy who'll decide where to go.” ~~ Dr. Seuss

***Have a great day!

Darn It!

2012-01-19T04:46:00.000-05:00

***Set my alarm for 3:00 a.m., that's what I've been doing every day, and made the mistake of turning it off for "just a minute." That minute turned into an hour. You'd think I'd learn...

***Never thought I'd be writing about Justin Bieber, but here's something I didn't know about him.

Justin Bieber's Biggest Fan

Like many victims, she didn’t tell anybody about her years of sexual abuse. When she was a teenager, she resorted to drugs and alcohol to numb her pain. She left home at fifteen, lived in a house with a bunch of guys, became a thief, and skipped school. By the time she was seventeen, she was so desperate she tried to violently take her own life by running onto a busy street in front of a truck.
Fortunately, the driver swerved and the girl landed in a psychiatric ward instead of the morgue. A youth minister visited her many times and spoke to her about God’s love. Eventually, she felt God’s presence within her while alone in her hospital room. After this experience, she cleaned up her act and even went to church. But she was drawn back to her old lifestyle and drugging friends. At eighteen, she became pregnant.

Read the rest of the story to find out who she is.

***Sabotage:

Thought you’d appreciate this: I was just over at Costco, and the front corner of the book table had about 12 three-foot tall stacks of Mark Levin’s new book, “Ameritopia.” Someone had very neatly turned the top book in each stack face down so passersby could not see the title. Additionally, in the “other paperback” area, a copy of his other book was also upside down.
I turned them all back over…
Someone is a bit touchy, huh?

The liberal version of maturity. As Glenn Reynolds says, shows what they're afraid of. The truth!

***Obama administration rejects Keystone pipeline permit. This is another big mistake in a long line of mistakes by this administration. This needs to be thrown right back in his face every time he says something about creating jobs and/or energy independence. This is pandering to the environmental wackos, putting their interests above the interests of all other Americans.

Obama is despicable.

"Until this pipeline is constructed, the U.S. will continue to import millions of barrels of conflict oil from the Middle East and Venezuela and other foreign countries," TransCanada said in a statement Wednesday, saying it is "disappointed" by the administration's call. "Thousands of jobs continue to hang in the balance if this project does not go forward."

Big deal. He doesn't care.

Newt Gingrich called the decision "stunningly stupid," on the grounds that it kills construction jobs and endangers energy security. He also warned that the decision would compel Canada to sell its oil to China.
"What Obama will have done is kill jobs, weaken American energy security, and driven Canada into the hands of China out of sheer, utter stupidity," he said.

"Stunningly stupid," "Sheer, utter stupidity." That about sums it up. Right on, Newt.

***Steve Jobs on education in America:

Here's Jobs in 1996 on education: "I used to think that technology could help education. I've probably spearheaded giving away more computer equipment to schools than anybody else on the planet." Remember, this guy's a New Age leftist (a Buddhist, in fact). "But I've had to come to the inevitable conclusion that the problem is not one that technology can hope to solve. What's wrong with education cannot be fixed with technology. No amount of technology will make a dent. It's a political problem. The problems are sociopolitical. The problems are unions. You plot the growth of the NEA [National Education Association] and the dropping of SAT scores, and they're inversely proportional.

***

***The costliest regulation you've never heard of.

***Looks like Newt Gingrich's ex-wife really unloaded on him in her interview with ABCNews. Boy, wouldn't it be nice to see the news outlets go after Democrats like this?

***

***

"I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish humble tasks as though they were great and noble. The world is moved along not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker. "

~ Helen Keller

***Have a great day!

The Food Stamp President

2012-01-18T04:09:00.000-05:00

***Newt made a great point at the debate a couple of nights ago, over Juan Williams' protestations.

Newt Gingrich has labeled President Obama the food stamp president. In last night’s South Carolina debate, Juan Williams, in an already-famous exchange, tried to push back on that characterization, unsuccessfully. “The fact is more people have been put on food stamps by Barack Obama than any president in American history,” Gingrich told Williams. The White House apparently doesn’t like the association between Obama and food stamps; Jay Carney said that the claim that President Obama’s policies have added to the food stamp rolls is “crazy.”
As happens so often with White House statements, Carney’s characterization had no basis in fact. We wrote about the metastasizing food stamp program in Food Stamp Nation:
Food stamp use has exploded during the Obama administration, reaching an all-time high of 45.8 million in August. This chart, prepared by Republicans on the Senate Budget Committee, depicts the extraordinary growth in the program that began when Barack Obama took office in 2009:

You kind of have to feel bad for Jay Carney. He has to go out and defend Obama's policies every day. That can't be easy.

***The 100 hottest cars of all time.

***Sarah Palin fires back. Good for her.

Newsweek accomplished at least one thing by running a cover story calling the country’s critics of President Obama “dumb” — they awoke the mama grizzly.
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin took to Twitter on Tuesday to criticize the magazine and writer Andrew Sullivan for piece titled “Why Are Obama’s Critics So Dumb?” And her beef with the writer and liberal-leaning weekly is personal. Sullivan is infamous for calling into question whether Palin’s son, who has down syndrome, really is her own child.
Directing her message to “@Newsweek,” Palin wrote, “Know what’s truly ‘dumb’? Giving a cover story to the TrigTruther conspiracy kook writer who thinks I didn’t give birth to my son.”

***Presidential nonsense.

Last week, President Barack Obama, at a Capital Hilton fundraising event, told the crowd, "We can't go back to this brand of you're-on-your-own economics." Throughout my professional career as an economist, I've never come across the theory of "you're-on-your-own economics." I'm guessing what the president means by -- and finds offensive in -- "you're-on-your-own economics" is that it's a system in which people are held responsible for their actions, that they take risks and must live with the results, that people can't force others to pay for their mistakes, and that they can't live at the expense of other people.

***

***
There was a young lady named Rose
Who had a large wart on her nose.
When she had it removed
Her appearance improved,
But her glasses slipped down to her toes.

***Rush Limbaugh on Mark Levin's new book, "Ameritopia."
Looks like another one in the queue!

***A new Obama spending record!

For a while now, Caesar Obammus has held the infamous record for accumulating more debt than all presidents from George Washington to George H. W. Bush combined. He has now managed to beat his own record! Obama is on pace to accumulate more debt than was accumulated by all presidents from George Washington to Bill Clinton combined. Wow! What a presidential stud!
To put it into perspective, this means that the national debt has increased an average of $4.24 billion each and every day that Dear Ruler has been in office. By the end of his first (and hopefully only) term, he will have increased our national debt by $6.2 trillion. We are currently at the point where our national debt ($15 trillion) is equal to 100% of our gross domestic product (GDP)
Despite what Obama and the proggies will tell you, this is NOT a hole that we can dig our way out of by taxing the rich. If you confiscated everything that the evil 1% earned in 2010, that would be about $1.6 trillion. Even the government educated fools could look at that and tell you that we are in a deep pile of horsesqueeze.

***

***"Liberty without learning is always in peril and learning withoutliberty is always in vain." -- John F. Kennedy

***Have a great day!

Reform This!

2012-01-17T04:09:00.000-05:00

***The federal food stamp program is totally out of control. Read this college student's account of how easy it was to receive an EBT card - that's like a debit card that food stamp recipients get and spend at the store. This is sickening.

Approximately one month after I had received the first letter, another letter found its way to my mailbox from the Department of Human Services. I opened it up to find an EBT card with my name on it, instructions on how to activate and use the card, and the amount I could access on it per month — 200 dollars. Nothing followed-up my interview, other than the evidently pointless letter I received during the previous month. No one ever asked for a copy of my birth certificate or Social Security card, nor for my student identification card. I answered all of their questions truthfully, but how were they to know that I was who I said I was? Is it really this simple to obtain welfare benefits here in the United States?

Question it, though, and you're a heartless conservative who wants people to starve to death. Many of the people receiving government money every month to buy their groceries are just as able to buy them on their own as I am. But why should they? You and I don't think that way, but a whole lot of Americans do. It's the entitlement mentality that has been drummed into them by liberals who have convinced them that they're owed something because they're American and breathing.

***America before the entitlement state. This is a great piece on what America was like before massive government handouts existed.

Reacting to calls for cuts in entitlement programs, House Democrat Henry Waxman fumed: “The Republicans want us to repeal the twentieth century.” Sound bites don’t get much better than that. After all, the world before the twentieth century–before the New Deal, the New Frontier, the Great Society–was a dark, dangerous, heartless place where hordes of Americans starved in the streets.
Except it wasn’t and they didn’t. The actual history of America shows something else entirely: picking your neighbors’ pockets is not a necessity of survival. Before America’s entitlement state, free individuals planned for and coped with tough times, taking responsibility for their own lives.

***How to be more interesting (in 10 simple steps).

***

***
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno

Researchers found a frog in new guinea that is so tiny, they believe it's the smallest vertebrate on the planet. It has the tiniest backbone of any living creature, except members of Congress.

There are now more obese people in the United States than there are overweight people. I think it's safe to say that after all these years, Diet Coke is a complete failure

***Dr. King's niece says if her uncle were alive today, he'd be a pro-life conservative. Man, you can bet the Left hates that!

***Snowshoer missing on Mount Ranier since Saturday found alive. That's good news.

***

***

CARVING A NAME
by: Horatio Alger (1832-1899)

WROTE my name upon the sand,
And trusted it would stand for aye;
But, soon, alas! the refluent sea
Had washed my feeble lines away.

I carved my name upon the wood,
And, after years, returned again;
I missed the shadow of the tree
That stretched of old upon the plain.

To solid marble next, my name
I gave as a perpetual trust;
An earthquake rent it to its base,
And now it lies, o'erlaid with dust.

All these have failed. In wiser mood
I turn and ask myself, "What then?"
If I would have my name endure,
I'll write it on the hearts of men,

In characters of living light,
Of kindly deeds and actions wrought.
And these, beyond the touch of time,
Shall live immortal as my thought.

***Oh my gosh. Please, somebody get her another hairdresser...

***Michael Medved on why it's so popular to hate Tim Tebow.

The NFL is generously stocked with forgiven felons, including millionaire wife beaters and dog killers. So how did a clean-living quarterback with deep commitments to charitable service and miraculous last-minute victories become the most controversial player in the league?

***

People who make a difference in life have . . . .

Initiative - being a self-starter with contagious energy

Vision - seeing beyond the obvious, claiming new objectives

Unselfishness - releasing the controls and the glory

Teamwork - involving, encouraging, and supporting others

Faithfulness - hanging in there in season and out

Enthusiasm - providing affirmation, excitement to the task

Discipline - modelling great character regardless of the odds

Confidence - representing security, faith, and determination

Charles R. Swindoll

*** It is not enough for a man to know how to ride; he must know how to fall. ~Mexican Proverb

***Have a great day!

Looooong Day

2012-01-16T04:24:00.000-05:00

***I don't think I'll ever climb out from under the work I have to do today. I spent the weekend cooking and entertaining and didn't get much work done. Time to pay the piper, as they say.

***Newsweek has really become a joke. It has always leaned to the left, but now, especially since Obama's election, it is really over the edge. Andrew Sullivan, once sorta conservative, has lost his mind. Check this out:

“[I]t remains simply a fact that Obama has delivered in a way that the unhinged right and purist left have yet to understand or absorb. Their short-term outbursts have missed Obama’s long game … [T]he president begins by extending a hand to his opponents; when they respond by raising a fist, he demonstrates that they are the source of the problem; then, finally, he moves to his preferred position of moderate liberalism and fights for it without being effectively tarred as an ideologue or a divider. This kind of strategy takes time. And it means there are long stretches when Obama seems incapable of defending himself, or willing to let others to define him, or simply weak. I remember those stretches during the campaign against Hillary Clinton. I also remember whose strategy won out in the end.”

Apparently we're just too stupid to see how brilliant Obama is. Forget the lost wars, the sky-high deficit, the unemployment, etc. etc. etc. It's all part of the plan! That's true, but not the way Sullivan means. I believe Obama wants to cut this country down to size, and he's doing an admirable job of it.

***Jon Huntsman is dropping out of the GOP race.

***Galapagos turtles are not really extinct.

Scientists have located members of a giant Galapagos tortoise species thought to have gone extinct in the 1840s, USA Today reports.

***

***David Limbaugh on Barack Obama and his plans for America:

We can endlessly debate whether he is such a devoted ideologue that he's blind to his policy failures, whether he's willing to sacrifice the economy and the fiscal integrity of the United States for his perceived higher good of radical redistribution, or whether he really intends to do harm, but these are moot questions anymore. Under any of these possibilities, the fact remains that he is hellbent on accelerating his present course, not reversing it, on dictating, not working within his constitutional constraints, much less building a bipartisan consensus.

Hubris and defiance are his trademarks, not humility. He said, "If you're willing to work even harder in this election than you did in the last election, I promise you, change will come."

This should send cold chills up our spines. By "change," he means more of his unpopular, failed agenda. He has repeatedly indicated that he is frustrated with the process of republican government and that he would be much more comfortable as a dictator.

***Israel worried that Obama is mishandling Iran crisis. Ya think?

***I've seen some really dumb things on Facebook, but this has to take the prize. Click to enlarge:

***My sweet & sour chicken turned out great yesterday! Here's the recipe. It's done in a crock pot, which makes it even better.

6 med. carrots, peeled & cut into 1/2" chunks
1/2 c. chopped green pepper
1/2 c. chopped onion
3 skinless whole chicken breasts (6 half breast portions)
1 (10 oz.) jar sweet & sour sauce
1 (15 1/4 oz.) can pineapple chunks, drained
3 tbsp. cornstarch
3 tbsp. cold water
Hot cooked rice

In a 3 1/2 to 4 quart crock pot, place carrots, green pepper and onion. Top with chicken breasts. Pour sweet and sour sauce and pineapple chunks over all. Cover. Cook on low setting for 7 to 8 hours on High setting for 3 1/2 to 4 hours.Remove chicken and keep warm. Blend cornstarch and cold water; stir into pan juices. Cover and cook on High for 10 to 15 minutes or until thickened. Season with pepper. Serve over hot cooked rice. Serves 6.

***

Make sure the outside of you is a good reflection of the inside of you
Jim Rohn

***Have a great day!

One Down, One to Go!

2012-01-15T06:24:00.003-05:00

***We had a really nice time at our Secret Sister reveal party yesterday. We have such great ladies in our church. I didn't plan games or anything. We started with eating (of course), then I passed around conversation starters. Everyone picked one, such as "What was your most embarrassing moment?" or "What's the craziest thing you've ever done?" After that we just talked. For two hours! That's a great way to get to know one another a little better. We had a very pleasant afternoon.

***Today's Johnny's birthday dinner! I'm trying Crock Pot Sweet & Sour chicken, already put it on this morning. I've never tried it before, I hope it turns out okay! If it doesn't, we have a KFC nearby.

***Lots of good observations on the current Republican race here.

Yes, nothing is damaging the "Conservative Brand" lately more than the rolling stupidity that is lumping itself around the failure of the Republicans to come up with a viable candidate that is more "Conservative" than Mitt Romney. This "failure", which was predictable as long as four years ago, is causing many online 'conservatives to drop into premature political menopause with whining, hot flashes of anger, and the grinding of dull, old, axes. They are pissed, it would seem, because nobody other than Romney can carry the fight to Obama in the coming election. The more demented among them are declaring, shades of McCain/2008, that they will take their retracted balls and go home on election day rather than vote against Obama.
These people are deeply stupefied and confused. Ideology will do that to you. They seem to think, to actually believe, that this coming election is about only voting if you can vote for a candidate you like. Let me disabuse these kids of this silly notion right away. The election of 2012 ain't a conservative popularity contest. It's a war to, first, last, and always, destroy any possibility of a second term for Barack Hussain Obama.
This is not a "Vote-For" election. This is a "Vote-Against" election. This is not a "Sit-It-Out-And-Pout" election. This is a "Get-Obama-Out" election. That is what it is about and that is all it is about.

Here is some reassuring news:

Political ideology in the U.S. held steady in 2011, with 40% of Americans continuing to describe their views as conservative, 35% as moderate, and 21% as liberal.

We have to be careful not to shoot ourselves in the foot and bloody our candidate too much, no matter who he is. Newt has crossed the line. Too bad, because he really is brilliant, especially when it comes to fiscal matters.

This is my favorite part of the article:

***Knoxville homeowner foils a robbery in his home, with a shotgun:

A Curtis Road homeowner shot and seriously wounded a burglar early this afternoon, according to the Knox County Sheriff's Office.
The burglar was hit twice with a 12-gauge shotgun.
Suspect Christopher Wayne Reno's wounds, which include an injury to the buttocks area, "appear to be serious," KCSO Chief Deputy Eddie Biggs said.
Despite those wounds, the burglar ran out of the house and was driven away in a car driven by a companion who then abandoned him outside the McDonald's Restaurant on Millertown Pike.
"People say he just pushed him out of the car," Biggs said.

With friends like that...

Anyway, it's a good thing this homeowner doesn't live in New York. HE would be the one arrested, for protecting himself with an evil firearm.

***Third survivor found in wrecked ship. Geez, how scary would this be??

***Bet you didn't know...

A bigger cup doesn’t mean more coffee

Starbucks’ Venti (20 oz) and Grande (16 oz) each contain two shots of espresso. The Venti just has more milk. So if it’s caffeine you’re after, size doesn’t matter.

Yes, I went to school for this.

Starbucks sends employees to barista school for two weeks, where they study the history of coffee, the entire coffee menu, and how to turn milk into velvety foam.

Tip

I know your coffee is already overpriced, but a dollar bill in a tip jar earns you infinite goodwill. I’ll carry that happy feeling over to my interaction with my next customer. Karma works, and it only costs you a buck.

*** "Obama seeks power to streamline government." C'mon, people, does anyone really believe he wants to "streamline government?" Where have you been for the last 3 years?

***

***I've always liked Haley Barbour. But his blizzard of pardons on his last day in office mystifies me.

***The Tebow hate just keeps on comin' from twits and jerks in the media.

"I couldn’t believe it and then I looked up at the screen and there he was on his knees with his hand up to his head in the pose that he has now made famous. It was Tebow doing the Tebow and I just wanted to throw up," lamented Press. "Ruined the moment, ruined the moment by trying to make it an act of God, by trying to make it an act of religion instead of what it was, a lucky pass if you ask me – uh, ‘cause he’s not known for having a great throwing arm." The hate also flowed from his executive producer, Peter "I Hate His Face" Ogburn, who wanted callers to denounce Tebow.

On Monday's Bill Press Show, Ogburn was filling in, and he ginned up the callers: "I’m looking at you to weigh in at 866- 55-PRESS. I am so tired of Tebowmania and I’m so tired of people telling me I shouldn’t be talking about Tebowmania, cause it matters and Tim Tebow is a jerk and I want him to shut up. I hate his face and he’s not that good of a football player."

Read the rest of the psychotic rant. Tim Tebow doesn't claim divine intervention when he has a good game. These people just continue to parade their ignorance of anything Christian.

Jim Daly's take on Tebow.

*** Somebody needs a shave...

***

Most look up and admire the stars. A champion climbs a mountain and grabs one
Author Unknown

***Have a great day!

Party Time!

2012-01-14T05:05:00.000-05:00

***Boy, is it going to be a busy weekend! Today I'm having several church friends over for our "Secret Sisters" reveal party. I typed all day yesterday, then late afternoon did some cleaning, baking cookies, and baking banana bread and pumpkin bread. Don't get too impressed - the cookies were refrigerator dough, and the breads were from mixes. But they're good! Today I'm going to type, clean some more, then make taco dip and spinach dip. I love having company! Tomorrow we're having Mark's family and my mom over for dinner for Johnny's birthday. I can't believe my baby's 23! I'm trying sweet & sour chicken - wish me luck!

***Again with the wrist - by the end of the day yesterday my wrist was really swollen and hurting. Yeah yeah, I'm gonna call the doctor Monday.

***Mayor Bloomberg of New York is despicable, it's embarrassing that he calls himself a Republican. Mark Steyn calls him a "tinpot toad," and here's why:

One of the most disturbing features of the US justice system is its ever more grotesque loss of proportion, at the federal level and in far too many states and municipalities. On his radio show this week, Derb discusses the case of Meredith Graves, the Tennessee nurse who, upon visiting the 9/11 memorial in New York and seeing the signs forbidding firearms, asked the staff if she could check her pistol (lawful and licensed in her home state). She was handcuffed, arrested, and now faces three and a half years in jail for firearms possession – for the crime of being unaware that the Second Amendment does not apply in New York City.
Asked about the case, New York’s thuggish mayor decided to add insult to injury:
Let’s assume that she didn’t get arrested for carrying a gun. She probably would have gotten arrested for the cocaine that was in her pocket.
There was no cocaine. The white stuff in her pocket was analyzed by Bloomberg’s cops and found to be, as the nurse had said it was, aspirin powder. So this loathsome slug of a man has slandered an ordinary American citizen on tape in front of the world. Why? Because he can.

***Mitt Romney surges nationally, especially among conservatives. Well, I think he's gonna be the one. I know, he's not my favorite either, but he's not Barack Obama and he does have some good qualities. He may not be as conservative as we'd like, but I think he's a decent man who will not harm the Office, as it seems every Democrat does when he gets there. Clinton was a horny toad who made a mockery of the Oval Office, and the current occupant is an arrogant Socialist who doesn't respect the Oval Office. At least Romney will recognize that he should respect the office he holds, and serve with honor. And did I mention that he's not Barack Obama? Now, if we could get him to pick Marco Rubio as his VP, THAT would be awesome!

***Synthetic windpipe used to replace cancerous one. This looks promising!

***Well, we know exercise is good for you, but here's more proof.

***

***More "objective" reporting:

“You’ve got what appears to be the Republican equivalent of the jihad underway down in South Carolina with Gov. Perry and Speaker Gingrich going hard after Mitt Romney,” explained the former anchor of NBC's Nightly News” today on MSNBC.

Right. Compare the political back-and-forth between primary challengers as a Muslim holy war, insinuating violence and bloodshed. Weren't you one of the pinheads calling for civility in public discourse, Tom?

***Email in your eye? Okay, this is taking work on the go a bit far.

As advances in computer technology make gadgets ever smaller and more portable the idea of carrying a screen of any kind could soon be outdated.
Consumer products with screens have dropped in size from computer to laptop to tablet via phone.
But one company specialising in cutting edge visual technology waIsraeli company Lumus has shown off the PD-18-2, which may look like a cumbersome pair of shades but allow the user to see high-quality images while they walk.nts to beam information directly into your field of vision.

Do those scream GEEK!!, or what??

***Well, the Virginia primary certainly isn't going to mean anything. The only two on the ballot will be Romney and Paul.

***
If Biblical Headlines were written by Today's Liberal Media

On Red Sea crossing:
WETLANDS TRAMPLED IN LABOR STRIKE
Pursuing Environmentalists Killed

On David vs. Goliath:
HATE CRIME KILLS BELOVED CHAMPION
Psychologist Questions Influence of Rock

On Elijah on Mt. Carmel:
FIRE SENDS RELIGIOUS RIGHT EXTREMIST INTO FRENZY
400 Killed

On the birth of Christ:
HOTELS FULL, ANIMALS LEFT HOMELESS
Animal Rights Activists Enraged by Insensitive Couple

On feeding the 5,000:
PREACHER STEALS CHILD'S LUNCH
Disciples Mystified Over Behavior

On healing the 10 lepers:
LOCAL DOCTOR'S PRACTICE RUINED
"Faith Healer" Causes Bankruptcy

On healing of the Gadarene demoniac:
MADMAN'S FRIEND CAUSES STAMPEDE
Local Farmer's Investment Lost

On raising Lazarus from the dead:
FUNDAMENTALIST PREACHER RAISES A STINK
Will Reading to be Delayed

*** Cuteness Overload:

***I've had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this wasn't it. ~~ Groucho Marx

***Have a great day!

Weenie

2012-01-13T04:31:00.001-05:00

***Me, I mean. I'm going to have to go back to Dr. Miller and let him inject my wrist. It's sure not getting any better and at the end of every day I'm in the recliner with a heating pad. Should have let him do that in the first place, but I was hoping the brace would do the trick. Unfortunately, it ain't.

***Remember when I blogged about the guy who was arrested at a New York airport for legally declaring his legally obtained and permitted firearm? Well, the case against him has been dropped, but they won't return his firearm. This is an unbelievable story.

I am pleased to announce that the criminal case against me has been dropped. Although I was originally charged with a violent felony, the case against me was resolved with a plea to “disorderly conduct. ” Disorderly Conduct is not a felony or a misdemeanor, or even a crime. The facts underlying my plea are that I declared a legally purchased, properly licensed and unloaded firearm at an airport counter. Apparently, much to my surprise, in New York City, it is considered “disorderly conduct” to exercise your constitutionally guaranteed, Second Amendment rights.
Strangely, now that the case against me is over, the authorities refuse to return my firearm. There is no law that allows them to confiscate a weapon in this manner. They simply say “no” when you ask for your weapon back. This is apparently their “policy.” It is done regularly in New York. This is government robbery. Not only is New York City anti-Second Amendment rights, but they are depriving citizens of their legally owned property.

That is tyranny, and it has to be fought.

I’m not alone in this fight. There are so many laws, that no one can possibly know or understand them. We are all affected. From the inner city to the farm, from the heartland of America to the coasts, people are under pressure from a government that no longer serves them. From my home in California, to the farmland of Kansas… from the small towns of South Carolina to the metropolis of New York, every year the legislatures pass thousands of laws and regulations that do not serve the people.

He's right. To continue to turn a blind eye because it's not happening to us is short-sighted. It DOES affect us all when our liberties are slowly eroded. During this administration they have been eroding much more quickly, and it has to stop. Call, write, DO something when you see this stuff happening.

***Some good advice for Romney, from Facebook, of all places:

If I were Romney, I’d highlight one company per week that government regulations have either forced overseas or out of business.
I’d start with Gibson Guitars.
I’d be downright belligerent about the administration working hard to kill jobs.
Second, the Keystone Pipeline project.
We could do one a week and never run out of examples. Force the administration to defend their actions.

***Angelina Jolie is "disappointed" in Obama. First of all, I couldn't care less what Angelina Jolie thinks. I just think it's interesting that while the rest of us are appalled at his Socialist ways, Hollywood types don't think he's liberal enough.

***26 ft of snow in Alaska since November! Wow. We finally got some in Richmond yesterday; not much, just enough to be pretty.

***Seaweed, a great addition to your diet? No thanks - I think I'll just pop a vitamin.

***

***Crowdfunding. Now there's an idea!

Pastry chef Jessie Isaacs quit her day job to start her own bake shop, only to see those dreams dashed as the recession hit. After investors backed out, she turned to crowdfunding to raise money to open her storefront.

***Judge orders removal of Rhode Island school prayer mural.

The atheist student who brought the suit said it made her feel "excluded" and "ostracized." She was a mouthpiece of the ACLU, of course, as most litigants in these cases are. The poor baby, a mural that's been in place since 1963 all of a sudden made her feel so bad that she had to have it removed, no matter that students since 1963 have been getting through their days unscathed with the mural there. The poor dear was probably having nightmares about that banner, don't you think?

***Neal Boortz on Ditzy Debbie Wasserman, the chair of the DNC:

Just when you thought she had hit some sort of ignoranus peak, she comes out with this unbelievably partisan quote:
"We need to make sure that we tone things down, particularly in light of the Tucson tragedy from a year ago, where my very good friend, Gabby Giffords -- who is doing really well, by the way, -- [was shot]. The discourse in America, the discourse in Congress in particular . . . has really changed, I'll tell you. I hesitate to place blame, but I have noticed it take a very precipitous turn towards edginess and lack of civility with the growth of the Tea Party movement."
Now we all know at this point that the guy who did the shooting in Tucson is a certified lunatic who had no desire to score any political points whatsoever. That doesn’t matter to Democrats. They will continue to do everything they can to paint the tea party as extreme. Their focus group sessions show them that people don’t like the word “extreme.” They associate it with extreme weather, extreme temperatures, being extremely sick, etc. So use it to refer to Republicans every chance you get. For Ditzy Debby to try and pin the blame of one deranged man’s actions on the rhetoric of the tea party is beyond insulting to the American people.
Oh .. and need we bring up the OccuTards? There has been no amount of violence at Occupy demonstrations around the country, and you can’t find one verified report of violence from a participant in a Tea Party rally. OccuIdiots left their occupied sites full of trash .. and sometimes dead bodies. Tea Partiers always cleaned up. And I’m still waiting to see the a picture of a Tea Partier taking a crap on a police car. Edginess? Lack of Civility? That’s the occupiers, not the Tea Partiers.

***

***"A Dream Within a Dream"
By Edgar Allen Poe

Take this kiss upon the brow!
And, in parting from you now,
Thus much let me avow --
You are not wrong, who deem
That my days have been a dream;
Yet if hope has flown away
In a night, or in a day,
In a vision, or in none,
Is it therefore the less gone?
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream.

I stand amid the roar
Of a surf-tormented shore,
And I hold within my hand
Grains of the golden sand --
How few! yet how they creep
Through my fingers to the deep,
While I weep -- while I weep!
O God! can I not grasp
Them with a tighter clasp?
O God! can I not save
One from the pitiless wave?
Is all that we see or seem
But a dream within a dream?

***The difference between a moral man and a man of honor is that the latter regrets a discreditable act, even when it has worked and he has not been caught. ~~ H.L. Mencken

***Have a great day!

Voter Fraud

2012-01-12T04:12:00.001-05:00

***New Hampshire doesn't require voter ID in order for its citizens to vote. The Democrats love that! Here's video showing poll workers handing out ballots for dead people - all you had to do was ask for them. No wonder the Democrats fight voter ID laws!

***Obama's Florida free fall. Let's hope this translates to the rest of the country.

***Major victory for religious liberty against Obama administration attack.

***This is awesome! Remember the song "St. Elmo's Fire?" John Parr, inspired by Tim Tebow, has re-recorded it as "Tim Tebow's Fire." Follow the link and watch the video, it's great!

***Steve Forbes: Hey GOP, bash Obama, not GM and Chrysler. Amen. We have to remember who the real enemy is.

***I love practical jokes! Here are some great ideas...

***High fat foods damage brain? Uh oh.

***The Little Things
by Mary Dawson Hughes

It really is the little things
That mean the most of all...
The "let me help you with that" things
That may seem very small
The "I'll be glad to do it" things
That make your cares much lighter,
The "laugh with me, it's funny" things
That make your outlook brighter...

The "never mind the trouble" things,
The "yes, I understand,"
The interest and encouragement
In everything you've planned
It really is the little things,
The friendly word or smile,
That add such happiness to life
And make it more worth while.

***

***Abandoned baby found in Occupy tent. Geez, these people are despicable.

***You go, girl. Sarah Palin rips Michelle Obama. Oh, I'd love to see those two debate, one on one. What a bloodbath that would be.

***Amen, Rush.

***Tebow gets it.

We’ve all seen the ads: Pro sports star wins a huge game, and in the ensuing celebratory bedlam encounters a camera and a voice behind it that says, “You’ve just won the biggest game of your career. What’s next?”

The answer, a stroke of marketing genius by the House That Walt Built: “I’m going to DisneyWorld.”

But Tim Tebow – if we’ve learned anything at all about him by now – is not your typical NFL star. The young man known on the field for orchestrating thrilling last-minute comebacks for his Denver Broncos, and off the field for his uncompromising Christian faith, got the well-worn “How does it feel?” question after the team’s astonishing overtime win against the defending AFC champion Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday. And his response had nothing to do with a theme park – and not much to do with winning his first-ever NFL playoff game.

“Football is amazing. We love it. We're so passionate about it,” Tebow said in his postgame news conference Sunday. “But the real win, at least I would say today, is being able to comfort a girl who has gone through 73 surgeries before the game and get a chance to go hang out with her now.

“That's the biggest win of the day. They're both exciting, but that's what I'm even more proud of."

***The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance; the wise grows it under his feet. ~James Openheim

***Have a great day!

Romney Wins New Hampshire

2012-01-11T05:01:00.000-05:00

***I still hope for Santorum or Perry, but it's hard to deny the fact that Mitt Romney is the unmistakable frontrunner. Oh well, he's still better than Obama. I know, I know, we should do better than "Oh well," but it is what it is. From his speech:

President Obama wants to put free enterprise on trial. In the last few days, we have seen some desperate Republicans join forces with him. This is such a mistake for our Party and for our nation. This country already has a leader who divides us with the bitter politics of envy.

Well, that's certainly true.

***Hostess (the makers of Twinkies!) filing Chapter 11. What's this world coming to??

***Woman gives birth to identical quadruplets. There's gonna be some confusion in that house!

***Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (head of the DNC) is a big fat liar. Must be #1 on the list of imperatives on the DNC application: "Must be able to lie convincingly."

***Florida woman attacks her husband with a hammer because he was watching "Judge Judy." Think there may be some other issues there?

***

***Jay Leno:

A group calling itself the Courage Campaign is trying to win support for a millionaire tax by running an ad showing Kim Kardashian. They want the Kardashians to pay more. This is part of the plan to raise taxes on the dumbest 1 percent.

***From Jim Daly's blog at Focus on the Family:

More and more, the desire grows in me simply to walk around, greet people, enter their homes, sit on their doorsteps, play ball, throw water, and be known as someone who wants to live with them. It is a privilage to have the time to practice the simple ministry of presence.

Still, it is not as simple as it seems.

My own desire to be useful, to do something significant, or to be part of some impressive project is so strong that soon my time is taken up in meetings, conferences, study groups, and workshops that prevent me from walking the streets. It is difficult not to have plans, not to organize people around an urgent cause and not to feel you are working directly for social progress.

But, I wonder more and more, if the first thing that should be is to know people by name, to eat and drink with them, to listen to them, to listen to their stories and tell your own, and to let them know with words, handshakes, and hugs that you do not simply like them, but you truly love them,

***

***Top 5 "Let Them Eat Cake" moments of the Obama White House:

Oh yeah, they're just regular folks like you & me.

***Reminder: Obama to lay off 80,000 soldiers.

***

One day an employee sends a letter to his boss to increase his salary!!!

Dear Bo$$

n thi$ life, we all need $ome thing mo$t de$perately. I think you $hould be under$tanding of the need$ of u$ worker$ who have given $o much$upport including $weat and $ervice to your company.

I am $ure you will gue$$ what I mean and re$pond $oon

Your$ $incerely,

Norman $oh

The next day, the employee received this letter of reply:

Dear NOrman,

I kNOw you have been working very hard. NOwadays, NOthing much has changed. You must have NOticed that our company is NOt doing NOticeably well as yet.

NOw the newspaper are saying the world`s leading ecoNOmists are NOt sure if the United States may go into aNOther recession. After the NOvember presidential elections things may turn bad.

I have NOthing more to add NOw. You kNOw what I mean.

Yours truly,
Manager

*** IS THIS REALLY NECESSARY??

***If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door. ~Milton Berle

***Have a great day!

Jen's Gyrations

Rule by Presidential Decree

"Demons?" Really?

Pure Fantasy

Bleh

A Handsome Lie

Day of Rest?

Pretty!

Outrageous!

The Face of Clarity, Charity, and Conviction

Good News!

Great Comparison!

It's Over!

Super Bowl Sunday!

I'm So Dizzy...

What a Day!

Dummy

February!

Ain't It The Truth?

Priceless gifts you can give

Woops!

War Heroes Parade

Dwarf-Tossing?

Back To It

You Might Be Charismatic If ...

ZZZZZzzzzz....

The Blog

Thou Shalt Not Write Bad Things About Obama

State of Denial

Speaking Truth to Power

Don’t Hope, Decide!

Here We Go Again!

The Star Fish Story

'It made a difference for that one'

Sweet Sunday

Church Bulletin Bloopers:

Let's Do It Again!

Almost!

Darn It!

The Food Stamp President

Reform This!

People who make a difference in life have . . . .

Looooong Day

One Down, One to Go!

A bigger cup doesn’t mean more coffee

Yes, I went to school for this.

Tip

Party Time!

Weenie

Voter Fraud

Romney Wins New Hampshire