What, in the name of God, do you think the results will be of this "spectacle of deliberation?"

What, exactly, does that mean? Is it supposed to be impressive? Because to This Ordinary American it sounds like BLATHER. BarryO the Ditherer is a "spectacle of deliberation?" No, it's his pondering, his thinking, his deliberation! WHAT is taking him so damn long to make this damn decision? My guess, which is worth what you pay for it, of course, is as James Taranto mentions in Best of the Web Today - he doesn't want to DISPLEASE anyone? WHICH ANYONE?

I believe this smacks of an inability to make up his damn mind, possibly because he is overwhelmed at the scope of the Office he holds, and the decisions - which are HIS - he must make that put him in a bad light with the very people whose approval he craves most. Socialist/Communist leaders and organizers around the world will NOT approve of the very thing the Men in charge of the WAR have told their C-in-C they need.

BarryO is not a leader - not even with a small 'l.' He can tell the peons in Chicago where to line up for their handouts, he can supply them with the phone numbers to call their elected officials and spout the Party Line. But a leader is something he never was and never will be. He is, at most, a puppet, a figurehead. And in my online dictionary, one synonym for each of those terms is the other term. Other synonyms - nonentity, mouthpiece, dupe, pawn...nothing.

I am a child of the Cold War.

Grouchy Conservative Pundits has a great bunch of folks who think well and write well what they think. Take this post, f'rinstance - Threats, Then and Now:

I am a child of the Cold War. I grew up with the ever-present threat of nuclear annihilation.

School was frequently interrupted by "duck and cover" drills.

Many popular movies were based on nuclear testing, nuclear war or it's aftermath - Them!, Fail Safe, On the Beach.

Read it all, and the comments. It won't be a waste of your time.

What would Bush do

Rich Lowry at JewishWorldReview.com:

But Obama will need three especially Bushian qualities if he is to spare his country a humiliating retreat or an underresourced, inconclusive slog in Afghanistan: sincerity, perseverance and courage.

I don't know about you, but those aren't qualities I've seen much in evidence recently, either in BarryO personally or in his Administration. Arrogance has replaced even the smallest hint of humility in the White House leaving no room for courage of any kind.

Issa to Emanuel: Back Off!

Methinks the Chicago Machine who've invaded Washington, D.C. may have gotten a tiny bit big for their britches...

In the press release, Issa's letter to RahmmyBaby has this beautiful paragraph:

At what point do you believe your practice of Chicago-style politics violates a public official’s right to speak out in favor of alternative policies. The American people have a right to know what role you played in developing the threatening letters to Governor Brewer and whether you intend to continue to engage in these tactics in the future.

Read this, then click the button at the bottom for the pdf version of the letter. I may print it out and tack it to my bulletin board, as a reminder that we still have a small handful of Elected Officials who aren't complete weasels. Makes me want to stand up and cheer, I tells ya!

So why wouldn't they let this sleeping dog lie? Perhaps because Mr. Reyes is a dimwit.

I would not pass up this phrase as a headline. It's an overwhelming urge I refuse to resist. It's just too beautiful. Read the column, too - Jack Kelly, again at JewishWorldReview.com.

Here's another taste:

There were two problems with Ms. Feinstein's story.

The first is that the assassination plan never got off the drawing board, so there was no program on which to brief members of Congress. The second is that former CIA Director Hayden flatly denied Mr. Cheney had ordered him not to tell Congress about the plan which never got off the ground, and Mr. Panetta's boss, Admiral Dennis Blair, the Director of National Intelligence, wouldn't back up what Mr. Panetta is alleged to have said. Mr. Panetta himself has kept a discreet silence since the flap went public.

The leakers initially got the headlines they wanted, but as the facts come out, the story cannot end well for Democrats. Few Americans are outraged the CIA contemplated killing our enemies during a time of war. We're doing precisely that right now with drone missile attacks on al Qaida and Taliban leaders in Pakistan.

Swing voters are already uncomfortable about the attacks on the CIA, and -- should there be another terrorist attack on the U.S. -- the downside risk for Democrats is enormous. So why wouldn't they let this sleeping dog lie?

Perhaps because Mr. Reyes is a dimwit. Ms. Pelosi chose him for chairman over the far better qualified Rep. Jane Harman (D-Ca), who'd been the ranking Democrat when the GOP controlled Congress, because of her personal animosity to Ms. Harman. At the time of his elevation, Mr. Reyes didn't know the difference between Sunnis and Shia, an appalling failing in a member of the Intelligence Committee.

Your tax dollars, hard at work, paying the morons we elect. Sad, isn't it.

No more picture

I had a picture posted here that I received in my email - had to do with our upcoming descent into GMC (Government Medical Care). It was FUNNY. Posted quite nice, excellent likeness. But when I came back, picture was replaced by the numerical designation. When checked Google, the only reference was this blog, so I've taken it down till I can get a better copy or till something as funny comes along...though that ain't gonna be easy!

Changing and washing sheets, cleaning the bathroom, and cleaning up wet spots left by a cute lil blond Pixie has been my day so far. My Chief's taking his CDL test today, no idea when he'll be home, so I may have a Coke and something to eat while the Pixie naps, instead of doing up the dishes like I should. Sinus headache is hanging on, it's near 2 weeks now. Bleh.

Thanks for stopping by, y'all have a fine day from here on out, eh?

PS - the Pixie's Great Uncle's initials are GMC, but we don't hold that against him.

Non-government changes

I began this "stage" of my life at the young age of 45. The symptoms began to manifest the summer before we transferred to Hawai'i, but didn't arrive full-blown till September - I remember the FIRST DAY of extreme discomfort...and put it off to moving stress and "climate change" from SoCal hot and dry to tropical balmy and damp. After about 7 weeks of mood swings and lack of sleep, I went to see a doc at Kaneohe. She did the blood test, but gave me Prempro anyway...and within 20 minutes of taking the first dose, I could tell the difference. What would have been a severe hot flash became a THREAT of a hot flash (I was having flashes every 41 minutes, like clockwork - day AND night), and 12 hours later, I wasn't having even those. So I slept for the first time in weeks. I didn't spend hours crying about nothing.

They will pry my HRT from my fingers if they want it back. I ain't givin' it up.

But Celia Rivenbark has a much funnier take than mine!

Karma

A few years back, My Chief (retired) bought a copy of Windows, while deployed for Uncle Sam's Yacht Club and Flying Circus, for ten bucks. It has served us well, and Gates never seemed to miss the money we weren't sending him. However, the time has come when more of some certain things are needed on the computer, and nothing can be loaded without a Windows update...which we can't get, because it's a pirate. Tomorrow, my loving husband is going out to buy us a 'new' computer with a registerable and updatable operating system. Won't that be nice???

Posting and reading and commenting may, once again - for a different reason - be spotty at best and severely delayed at worst. I'll still be checking in now and again, but this'll mean I can concentrate on hanging out with the Pixie, so it's certainly not a BAD thing. She is a lot of fun, and cuter'n Hell, too.

Have a FABulous day..or two!

If it's Tuesday, it must be Thomas Sowell

And it IS Tuesday, I'm sure of it.

From Thomas Sowell's column this week:

One of the many problems of the pay-back approach is that many of the people who most deserve retribution are no longer alive. You can take symbolic revenge on people who look like them but this removes the whole moral element. If it is all right to discriminate today against individuals who have done you no harm, then why was it wrong to discriminate against you in the past? (Emphasis mine)

...

Attempts to claim that Judge Sonia Sotomayor's words were isolated remarks — a slip of the tongue "taken out of context" — have now been discredited by further information showing that she has repeatedly expressed the same ideas, in virtually the same words, at other times and in other contexts.

On a personal note: Tough day for me yesterday, woke up tired again today. This is becoming the way of my world and I'm not crazy about it. All my meds are correct, so once again, I'm going to blame the heat. There are times when it isn't just living in a city that I can barely stand, it's living in a city covered in a blanket of "hotter than Hell!" It's ten minutes till 8 - A.M! - and it's 81F. Gah!

Fisk Friday?

Saint takes apart BarryO's oh-isn't-Islam-grand speech, with a link to a spectacular fisking of said speech.

Paco has a link to a great post on the LACK of respect for the Rule of Law by our esteemed (cough) Present Administration.

Three Beers Later lists some things BarryO declined to include in his speech in Egypt. You know, other contributions the followers of Mohammed have made to "civilisation."

More comment on that speech by The Other McCain.

Some great things to read today, a break in the rain for awhile, gotta shower and get moving to pick up my Pixie, so may be back later and thanks for stopping by!

UPDATE: Love the cartoon posted by Lemuel at Hillbilly White Trash, too. I must be in a snarky mood today. Fatigue does that to me...

UPDATE2: This has been at Tim Blair's for a day or so - hey, I'm slow, so sue me - and it is PRICELESS! The comments are well worth your time, too. What would give YOU better value than this 6-pack/ $15???

Typical "Do as I say, not as I do"

BarryO is a hypocrite. Biden makes things up (or borrows things someone else already said, or plants his foot FIRMLY in his mouth). Pelosi is a liar, too. Are ya proud of Your Elected Officials, America? These upstanding citizens seem to be running your country like they run their own lives, but they SAY the right things (usually, at least in public - most of the time, anyway, right, Joe?), so it's ok with you, right?

A New York Daily News op-ed has this:

A close examination of their finances shows that the Obamas were living off lines of credit along with other income for several years until 2005, when Obama's book royalties came through and Michelle received her 260% pay raise at the University of Chicago. This was also the year Obama started serving in the U.S. Senate. . . .

In April 1999, they purchased a Chicago condo and obtained a mortgage for $159,250. In May 1999, they took out a line of credit for $20,750. Then, in 2002, they refinanced the condo with a $210,000 mortgage, which means they took out about $50,000 in equity. Finally, in 2004, they took out another line of credit for $100,000 on top of the mortgage.

Tax returns for 2004 reveal $14,395 in mortgage deductions. If we assume an effective interest rate of 6%, then they owed about $240,000 on a home they purchased for about $159,250.

This means they spent perhaps $80,000 beyond their income from 1999 to 2004.

James Taranto at Best of the Web Today:

Everyone knows by now what happened: Pelosi was encouraging the Angry Left as it demanded retribution against Bush administration officials for their efforts to protect America from terrorist attacks in the wake of 9/11. Now that she has been exposed as complicit in those efforts, she is reaping the whirlwind of hatred that she helped stir up. And she is going to war with the CIA--a war in which even someone with much more intelligence than Nancy Pelosi would be vastly outmatched.

Hey, Blair Nation - I'll make more popcorn, eh?

I *heart* Dick Cheney

Haven't had much time to post or even read things I'd want to post this week. My Chief (ret.) has made it to Damascus, Virginia for Trail Days . He should be home early Sunday morning. Our friend Billy got off the trail Monday (Tuesday?) with a bit of a tummy problem, so Duffy's last couple days were hiked alone...or at least as alone as you can get during the high point of the season on the Appalachian Trail! If you'd like to read more about it, here's the link to Duffy's online journal. You can start with the prep hikes or look in the drop-down menu for the first journal entry on the trail on the 5th of May.

Now, back to Dick Cheney. I love the man. He's from Wyoming, home of My Favorite Cousin and Her Excellent Husband. His voice does something to my knees that...well, nevermind... I like his politics, I like his sense of humour, and I like his attitude.

Rich Lowry at JewishWorldReview:

Hmm — an executive order protecting secrecy in a sensitive matter involving national security. Who does that remind you of? If it's not enough to make Cheney smile, it should get a well-earned smirk out of him.

On the same topic, from Jonah Goldberg:

In short, these people can't be won over, at least not without apologizing for a lot more than George W. Bush. Admitting a few mistakes or releasing a few photos won't convince them we've turned over a new leaf, because their hatred of America stems from a hatred of modernity itself.

Meanwhile, giving the Jihadists propaganda tools to help them say "see, we were right" won't curtail recruitment, it will fuel it. At least that's what Obama's most senior military advisors reportedly told him.

It's good news that President Obama is open to such arguments. It remains to be seen whether he's actually persuaded by them.

Wesley Pruden has this to say about Fancy Nancy:

The speaker has told so many versions of what she knew about what was going on at Guantanamo, and when she knew it, that all we know now is that she can't keep her stories straight.

I don't hold my breath that this administration will do ANYTHING for the good of the Country. It'd be nice if they really DID the "public servant" thing in their work, but - based on past experience - I'd say the chances are (to quote my ol' dad) Fair to Horsesh#t.

Lemme know if that chance goes up, eh?

Household fun again!

Paco's back, go look at his pictures, they're gorgeous.

Got some errands to run, more painting to do, and a few chores I'm not going to detail here (cat box, anyone?), but hope to post a picture or two from our Retreat later today. Have a great day, thanks for stopping by!

UPDATE: If you need something to read that won't rot your brain, Thomas Sowell is always a good choice, especially his columns this week on the upcoming Supreme Court vacancy.

"Empathy" vs Law is here. Then Part II, and Part III. I love Thomas Sowell, have I said that before? Recently? MORE UPDATE! Here's Part IV.

UPDATE: Running always a bit late, Lovely Daughter brought the Pixie to visit for awhile! What a beautiful pair of girls they are!

Sorry, I don't do headlines well

Suffice to say I am not nearly as clever at writing a witty, amusing, daring headline as those in my blogroll, so go see what they have to say. My mind is on things much closer to home - we have a retreat coming this weekend, today is my last "prep" day, when I shop for perishables and things I tend to forget every time, even though we have lists for everything. This will be a nice one, the weather will cooperate, the menu is set, and the retreat site is beautiful this time of year. BEFORE it gets too hot, dontchaknow.

For instance - Lovely Daughter, can I borrow your crock pot, too, please? Bigger group this time, I need more than one! Thank you!

Better get showered before the Pixie arrives, you all go have a BEEootiful day, and thank you SO much for stopping by!

Oh, ok, I cannot resist THIS, the editorial from the Washington Times: The sub-head reads "Obama is less popular than Nixon and Carter."

President Obama's media cheerleaders are hailing how loved he is. But at the 100-day mark of his presidency, Mr. Obama is the second-least-popular president in 40 years.

I know a paper and an editorial staff about to get audited...

Zero Tolerance for Zero Tolerance

I've always had a problem with 'zero tolerance' as a school policy. Even murder charges may have a different level - a nuance, if you will - applied, depending on circumstance, evidence, and intent.

Throwing a student out of school for pointing his 'gun-finger' at someone is silly and immature, not to mention useless. Gun-control and gun-bans work for law- and rule-abiding people. Those who are otherwise don't give a rip about the laws or the rules.

SOME semblance of sanity may be returning around the country, I hope.

It soon became clear that "weapon" could be defined as anything from a pencil to a machete. The result was a rash of horror stories about students suspended or expelled for bringing plastic knives to school in their lunches, keeping nail-clippers in their lockers, even pointing finger-"guns" at other students.

I've even heard of students being punished for pictures of weapons. Drawn by LITTLE KIDS. Exactly who's the grown-up in this situation? Don't most "educators" and "education administrators" have advanced degrees, and shouldn't they have learned that little boys - particularly in military families and/or in the great expanse of agricultural areas of Flyover Country - LIKE to draw guns, bows and arrows, knives, and such? My favorite toy was a rifle of my brother's - I wanted to be The Rifleman or Paladin, and I was a girl!

In Texas, a state Senate committee is scheduled to consider Tuesday a bill that would allow school officials to take into account "mitigating factors" before punishing students for violating zero-tolerance policies. A House committee approved the companion bill earlier in a 6-0 vote.

The Texas legislation comes partly in response to a 2008 article in the Texas Tech Law Review, "Zeroing Out Zero Tolerance: Eliminating Zero Tolerance Policies in Texas Schools," which concluded that such laws have failed to reduce school violence while moving more students into the juvenile-justice system.

"I believe that we should strive to keep our schools as safe as possible," said state Sen. Mario Gallegos, the Democrat who sponsored the bill. "However, I also know that in the real world, nothing is black and white. In a world filled with gray areas, we must give our school districts the discretion to choose the appropriate punishment for those students who break the rules due to mitigating circumstances."

Random Thoughts

No, not mine, those of Thomas Sowell. I'd like to show the whole thing here, because picking a few excerpts is NOT easy, but I want you to give my friend the Rabbi some bidniss at JewishWorldReview.com. He does an amazing job over there, and I'm grateful for everything I've learned - or unlearned - as a result of his work. Starting today, I've got a permanent link on the sidebar, there's always something good there, so check it out once in awhile and see what you think.

Back to Mr. Sowell...my favorites in his list are, in no particular order:

Barack Obama's favorable reception during his tour in Europe may be the most enthusiastic international acclaim for a democratic government leader since Neville Chamberlain returned from Munich in 1938, proclaiming "peace in our time."

...
How a man who holds the entire population of a country as his prisoners, and punishes the families of those who escape, can be admired by people who call themselves liberals is one of the many wonders of the human mind's ability to rationalize. Yet such is the case with Fidel Castro.
...
What does "economic justice" mean, except that you want something that someone else produced, without having to produce anything yourself in return?

Livin' like no one else...

Before I go sit down in front of the tv for a bit, hoping to see the Braves pull off a stunner in Philly, a bit of a thing that happened earlier today.

Me & My Chief (Retired) went to a morning meeting with some people we know. Afterwards, a group does about a 3 1/2 mile walk, down River Road a ways & back up to the meeting house. Duffy walked with them today, carrying the same amount of weight in his pack he'll have when he starts his hike on the AT. Out of the group of 6 were 3 retired Navy Chiefs, a retired Navy Reserve Officer, his wife the retired labor& delivery nurse who delivered the Pixie, and another guy...I think.

One of these gentlemen is in a recent new job (he sold cars when I first met him) selling something on a draw against commission. Not selling something might be a better term. He got married for the 3rd or 4th time a couple years back. His boss at the car lot was murdered & that job went away so he took the real estate school thing & became a licensed realtor. I think his wife did, too, but not sure. He was bagging groceries at the commissary for awhile, don't know if he still does that, he hasn't been there when I've been there, which means less than nothing. Wife drives a very nice little new(er) car (Mercedes? Beemer? Don't remember), and he has an Escalade. They bought a new house about 4 years ago in a very nice little neighborhood. None of which has a small payment, y'understand.

During the walk, this man was talking about how worried he is about all the payments he has to make that aren't getting made. On top of those other payments to be made are a few credit cards that are about maxxed out.

We probably get close to the same amount of Navy retirement, and for us that pays the mortgage, the power/water/sewer bill, the phone/cable/internet, the cell phone, the auto insurance, and part of the grocery bill. For him, I'm not sure it covers the mortgage and electric.

We decided a long time ago to live within our means, to spend less than we brought in, and, a few years ago, to NEVER use a credit card. Duffy also got us almost completely out of debt - except for my dentist - before he retired. We re-financed the house to a 15-year fixed, for much less than it was appraised. We have almost 4 months of operating costs in a money market account, in case of emergency. Our vehicles are paid for, and we're not shopping for the newest and shiniest. We have everything we need, we do everything we want, we're slowly working on our little old house, and even this hike on the Appalachian Trail is coming out of money that is NOT household money.

Duffy has a job that doesn't stress him out, doesn't pay a lot, but gives him a lot of satisfaction, is different every day, and lets him help people.

Dave Ramsey says (quoting the Bible?) that the borrower is slave to the lender. This household is more free than almost everyone at our stage of life. We lived like no one else, so we can live like no one else. Dave teaches what he does as a wealth-building tool, but we don't have to be and don't want to be wealthy (especially with the you-know-who's running the country)

We sleep very well at night, knowing we don't owe anyone anything but the mortgage. My Financial Advisors are Stephen, at our credit union, and Dave, who can be heard on radio stations around the country and online every day. It's a damn good life, and it makes me hurt for my friends who over-extended themselves so they could have pretty stuff, and are now going to have to pay the piper. There's ALWAYS a piper. Always.

UPDATE! Braves win 4-1 at Philly! Sleep well, I know I'm going to!

Buckle Up!

I don't know how many cities and towns and counties around the country have seat belt laws (have you noticed they've morphed into "safety" belts?) but I'd guess MOST of them. Some places are so Big Brother that they can stop you JUST BECAUSE the cop doesn't see you wearing one, while most places I've lived so far are only allowed to ticket for seat belts if there was another infraction or accident as the primary reason for the traffic stop.

Seat belt rules on military bases have been around much longer than the civilian world, so we made it a habit long ago that the durn thing is on before we leave the driveway. This center-conservative libertarian-leaning Constitutionalist woman doesn't AGREE with the laws, but to the best of my ability, I try to follow the Law of the Land, if for no other reason than I don' t have a lot of money to be throwing away on fines. And it IS just as if I were throwing money out the window, except if I threw it out the window, someone who REALLY NEEDS it might find it and use it for something worthwhile.

What brings this up is a friend of mine was recently ticketed for not wearing her seat belt. The fine is $99! Her income is from unemployment and odd jobs, so this hundred bucks is a HUGE chunk of her monthly pay. Even those of us with really good jobs don't need to be THROWING MONEY AWAY like this. Your Government - at every level - takes your money in enough different ways that you can't control. Don't give 'em extra just because you're lazy or your dress might wrinkle!

Stuff

Paco calls this kind of post an "Assortment." When I find a suitable non-Pacoism name, I'll use it, but for now, it's just stuff I read that I found interesting, amusing, sarcastic, ironic...or all of the above!

1. "It's a victory for the environment and public health; it was never an issue of religious freedom" for the county to padlock the school and outhouses on an Amish man's property. If he'd JUST pay the proper FEES and fill out the proper paperwork, this wouldn't happen, dontchaknow?

2. My home town wants 4 lanes thru town on Hwy 2, which is known as 4 for 2 in their ad campaigns, and is making some progress it seems. What I want to know is why Ken is known as Kim?

3. There'd never be anyone this side of the Mississippi floating this proposition! Law would allow concealed guns without permit

4. Also out of Helena, the legislature is evenly divided between Democrats & Republicans. Can you say " gridlock?" They have 27 days to deal with some "divisive bills."

5. Last, but certainly not least, USS Roosevelt comes home! If you've never seen a carrier group or an aviation squadron come home, you are missing one of the greatest heart-warming, heart-wrenching scenes ever. It never gets old, even when I don't know anyone aboard.

I'm a grown woman

I don't need a mommy anymore. Or a nanny (not that we even knew of such things in the small towns of Montana). Or a babysitter. I'm a grown and grown-up woman. My parents did an admirable job of letting me grow up and mature, with AND without their help.

Sure wish my government had the same faith in me that my parents did. John Stossel in JewishWorldReview.com.

Should I be surprised at the...well, I don't want to use the term too often, but...LIES BarryO and the Disciples tell anymore? Does the line "Some are more equal than others" ring a bell? Nat Hentoff, also at JWR.com.

Now, filed under More Important and More Interesting:

My Pixie got her first training pants yesterday, and knows by looking at the picture on the package what to do with them. Did you know they make those things for "children" up to 65 pounds? She's barely 22 lbs - the regular training pants for 18 month olds look like they'd fit ME, so we're sticking with disposables for now.

May not get back on here much today, I'm making up menus for the next Process Retreat. Wednesday is also my day to clean the bathroom and change the sheets, so might not be around till this evening. Go make it a wonderful day, thanks for stopping by, and remember - Never judge a day by the weather!