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?

Don't politicians ever learn? Why should they?

"After virtually every disaster created by Beltway politicians you can hear the sound of feet scurrying for cover in Washington, see fingers pointing in every direction away from Washington, and watch all sorts of scapegoats hauled up before Congressional committees to be denounced on television for the disasters created by members of the committee who are lecturing them."

Thomas Sowell has a new book, called "The Housing Boom and Bust." His column is at JewishWorldReview.

Jokes that won't get told...

...in 'polite company' for the next few years, anyway. Thanks to Paco, whose link sent me to Doug Powers at WorldNetDaily.

My personal favorite: "If you're wondering why the president is in a good mood, it's because he's glad to be finished with his annual physical

. During his colonoscopy doctors removed two benign polyps and the White House Press Corps."

How's yer mum?

I'm a mother and I didn't see Lovely Daughter at all yesterday - but remember, we had lunch Friday, so I don't feel left out or ignored. I kinda wished I could see my mum, but hoped she got the multi-colored roses I ordered. I went to a meeting, then tried to finish up painting & tidy up for the Pixie's return this morning - there's been a LOT of stuff on the floor that could be trouble in those cute little hands.

The little family went for a visit at his mother's house...or at least that was the plan when we spoke. The Pixie had a bit of...umm..."tummy trouble that requires many diaper changes" so they may have stayed home. I'll find out later.

Handsome Hubby called around 3:30 or so - the hikers were at a hostel, Billy feeling Montezuma's revenge, hoping against hope to get back on the trail today, will see how he feels. Billy wouldn't let Duffy carry his pack, luckily it was a much easier day to hike, but Billy was crashed in a bunk when Duffy called me. I hope they get back out today, I hope Billy feels better soon. Sick on the Appalachian Trail? Not an experience I want.

Around 6 I had cleaned up enough to see about taking a break, got a coke & looked up my mum's number. No answer. Left a message. Lame.

Went back to whatever I was doing, and around 9 the phone rang as I was finishing up for the day. It was my mum. She'd been over to my cousin's house for dinner and an afternoon with that crew. I'm so glad she moved back to Montana, she sounds great. Her own little apartment (little - it's about the same sq.ft. as my little house), to come and go as she pleases. She's involved at the senior center, something she refused to do in Colorado. She got cataract surgery & can drive without glasses. She drives herself to visit other people in the state. ALL over the state. And she goes shopping in the bigger towns by herself, for herself. I think maybe she's finally happy. I miss her. I miss Montana.

*sigh* Oh yeah, she got the flowers, too, and says they're very pretty. *sigh again*

Well, Pixie's here, gotta run! Thanks for stopping by!

UPDATE: No visit to the other M-I-L, Pixie was going through diapers too fast.

An Irishman walks into a bar...

...in Dublin, orders three pints of Guinness and sits in the back of the room, drinking a sip out of each one in turn. When he finished all three, he comes back to the bar and orders three more.

The bartender says to him, 'You know, a pint goes flat after I draw it; it would taste better if you bought one at a time.'

The Irishman replies, 'Well, you see, I have two brothers. One is in America, the other in Australia, and I'm here in Dublin. When we all left home, we promised that we'd drink this way to remember the days we all drank together.' The bartender admits that this is a nice custom, and leaves it there.

The Irishman becomes a regular in the bar and always drinks the same way: he orders three pints and drinks the three pints by taking drinks from each of them in turn.

One day, he comes in and orders two pints. All the other regulars in the bar notice and fall silent. When he comes back to the bar for the second round, the bartender says, 'I don't want to intrude on your grief, but I wanted to offer my condolences on your great loss.' The Irishman looks confused for a moment, then a light dawns in his eye and he laughs. 'Oh, no, ' he says, 'Everyone is fine. I've just quit drinking.'

Heard it before, but swiped it this time from missred, with thanks.

What I've learned that Shamu's trainer also knows

I've mentioned here the retreats we lead a couple times a year, using what we call The Process. I took a break from painting (yes, again, and will get back to it soon as I post this), read the Lori Borgman column at JewishWorldReview.com, and realize the column topic is something we cover on those retreats. I hope it makes you smile!

Such beauty! Such fun!

I took a couple pictures of My Pixie, shortly before Grandpa left for the AT. You may not think she's as adorable as I do, but hey, it's my blog, if you don't want to see her pictures, go get yer own blog. I now return you to your day, while I go paint s'more!

I find something wonderful every day

It figures...I read an Australian blog, and what do I find but reference to an American blog I MUST now subscribe to. Thanks, Boy on a Bike. I don't get out much...

Go check out AfghanistanShrugged. It's well worth your time. Be sure you say Thank You to your Creator for having these guys on OUR side.

Retreat Weekend

This used to be the Girl Scout camp in Clay County. My very favorite place to "cabin" (I don't 'camp' anymore), and it's where we hold our retreats. The weather was perfect! THIS weekend's gonna be miserable hot, so we got it done just in the nick of time. The first pic was taken last Friday, the second was on Saturday and we were so glad for the bit of cloud cover. The last is Handsome Hubby getting breakfast from our good friends Angie and Scott, who fixed french toast and bacon both mornings. Yummo!



















Now that I've had a little break - again - I better get back to it. If you'd like to see more pictures, they're at the MySpace link in my sidebar. Thanks for stopping by!

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!

Household fun

No time to look through headlines or check other blogs today. I have to get the primer coat on my kitchen so I can paint tomorrow. I obviously work slow...because I don't want to fall, and because everything aches today (I don't know what the barometer is doing, but at this time of year that's usually the culprit for my pains). So go check out the folks I link to in my blogroll - they are almost always amusing and interesting and even educational!

I'll check back later, here and at Paco's, to see how things are doing. I leave you with a picture of My Queen, who was feeling too fat to even stand up to eat, one day a couple weeks back. She is SO spoiled. Y'all go MAKE IT a good day, thanks for stopping by!

Party at Paco's!

Paco, of Paco Enterprises, has taken the week off to visit with his mum and his children's mum at a place OTHER than The Paco Plantation. As was the habit of of Blair Nation, it seems Paco's People have decided to...umm...guard his place from harm or invasion, in his absence. Could be a LOT of fun to read comments, as this means "open thread" among the RWDB's who hang out there.

Now, back to making potato salad for the festivities!

Some interesting reading

I'm being kinda lazy this morning, doesn't look like I'll make it to the morning meeting...oh well. Got a good cup of coffee, listening to Mike and Mike on ESPN2 (though I don't like it as much without Golic), lovely morning to take it easy.

Some things to read while I work in my kitchen again...

John Stossel - it's from last week, but it's worth the time to read it...as usual. As I refuse to have a credit card (!), I also don't think banks are "evil" for wanting to increase profits. BarryO seems to talk out his other orifice in demonizing the very thing that he's doing to our Nation - sending it so deep into debt that payback is nearly hopeless. What a maroon.

The "bill of rights" seems designed to prevent people from getting themselves in over their heads. That motive is honorable, but government has never been very good at such protection. The law of unintended consequences cannot be repealed, and what government gives with one hand, it inadvertently takes away with the other. Increasing the banks' costs will make it harder for poorer people to get credit cards, and that will only push them into costlier forms of debt, like payday lenders.

I've never understood how the poor are helped by limiting their choices.

Tom Purcell - I used to read his column in whatever Washington paper it runs in, and loved it. Still do, and thanks to JewishWorldReview for carrying it! Being a 'follower' of John Rosemond's common sense parenting, the column today really speaks to me.

Unlike modern parents, she didn't obsess over our self-esteem. She didn't tell us repeatedly we were handsome or pretty or smart or talented. She didn't boast about us in public. If she had any obsession, it was that we better not embarrass her in public.

Lori Borgman has a good column, too, also from last week. As a 'follower' of Dave Ramsey and being an American with no credit card (!) by CHOICE, I like the way she thinks.
When you spend cash, the best part of the month isn't when you load your wallet — it's when you open the credit card bill.

Thomas Sowell - when reading his column, I don't feel the least bit stupid, ignorant or uneducated. This man is a National Treasure, in my opinion.

Those people who just accept soothing words from politicians they like are gambling with the future of a nation. If you were German, would you be in favor of a law "to relieve the distress of the German people and nation"? That was the law that gave Hitler dictatorial power.

He was just another German chancellor at the time. He was not elected on a platform of war, dictatorship or genocide. He got the power to do those things because of a law "to relieve the distress of the German people."

When you buy words, you had better know what you are buying.

Gathering...

my thoughts and unpacking from the weekend. Hope to have something to put up later. I'm studiously avoiding reading politics for a couple more hours, so thanks for stopping by, please come again soon.

UPDATE! Too tired and busy with other things today to download then post pictures. Hubby is in Damascus, waiting on his friend from Indiana, they will shuttle to the trail head tomorrow around the crack of dawn. See y'all tomorrow, with SOMETHING, I hope.

Merlin sends a lawyer joke...

...and I repeat it because even if I HAVE heard it before, we need all the smirks and grins we can muster these days. In my (seldom) humble opinion, that is.

1. Lincoln placed his hand on the Bible for his inauguration. Obama used the same Bible.

2. Lincoln came from Illinois. Obama comes from Illinois.

3. Lincoln served in the Illinois Legislature. Obama served in the Illinois Legislature.

4. Lincoln had very little experience before becoming President. Obama had little experience before becoming President.

5. Lincoln rode the train from Philadelphia to Washington for his inauguration. Obama rode the train from Philadelphia to Washington for his inauguration.

6. Lincoln was a skinny lawyer. Obama is a skinny lawyer.

7. Lincoln was a Republican. Obama is a skinny lawyer.

8. Lincoln was highly respected. Obama is a skinny lawyer.

9. Lincoln was born in the United States. Obama is a skinny lawyer.

10. Lincoln was honest, so honest he was called Honest Abe. Obama is a skinny lawyer.

"HopeyChange" in 2000 years

Over two thousand years ago, Moses said to the Children of Israel, "Pick up your shovels, mount your asses and camels, and I will lead you to the promised land."

Nearly 75 years ago, Roosevelt said, "Lay down your shovels, sit on your asses, and light up a Camel, this is the promised land."

...

Now The Obamanable Congress is going to steal your shovel, kick your asses, raise the price of Camels (and camels), and mortgage the promised land.

Welcome to the NEXT hundred days...

Thanks to Roxanne for sending this to my email!

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...

Please read Bert Prelutsky's columns

Bert has 2 excellent columns in a row, and though he's in my blogroll, you might miss these if you don't make a point of reading his stuff on a regular basis. The first is "I attended a Tea Party" and the kick-ass part for me was this, which points out the things OTHER than taxes and budget that are really scary coming from BarryO and His Band of Renown:

Something that has bothered me over the years is the way the lamebrains in the left-stream media invariably turn into unlicensed shrinks whenever a Republican is in the White House, but toss a dust cover over the couch as soon as he’s replaced by a Democrat.

For instance, how many times did we hear liberals babbling about the psychological demons George W. Bush had to contend with because of his allegedly troubled relationship with Dad. But the fact that Bill Clinton’s father was a drunken bully apparently left no emotional scars on Bill’s impenetrable psyche. Furthermore, I have yet to hear such eminent Freudians as Bill Maher, Chris Matthews, Rachel Maddow, Frank Rich or Keith Olbermann, even suggest that being deserted by both his father and his step-father, spending his formative years in the alien culture of Indonesia, only to be dumped, at the age of 10, on his white relatives in Hawaii, may have turned Obama into a smooth-talking, narcissistic psychopath incapable of telling the truth even if it’s about something as relatively inconsequential as sending his kids to a public school and getting them a mutt from a shelter.

The other column is "Responding to my critics" about a bunch of hate-mail Bert's gotten recently over his personal opinions regarding First Families and Other Untouchables (because Democrats in the White House are PERFECT, dontchaknow?), that started with some guy at a very liberal place that I refuse to name and has been remarked upon by slightly under-educated and talentless followers of said ... blog (I think it's a blog, I've never read anything but excerpts Tim Blair and Paco added to their blogs now and again IF they have done that). Evidently this writer has little chance of being the next Hemingway or Shakespeare.

Now, far be it from me to criticize a fellow writer, but being one of eight or ten guys sitting in a room with Bill Maher coming up with lame jokes about Rush Limbaugh isn’t the sort of thing that John Steinbeck or I considered real writing.

HA!!!

One Hundred Down...the Idiocy Continues

I am so astonished at this latest idiocy by BarryO and His Band of Merry Men, I am practically speechless. I'm not surprised -- the beginning of this administration's reign has been pretty idiotic in more areas than one, but this one almost ranks as just plain mean. There will be a resurgence of nightmares, with no better 'reason' than BarryO wants that look, that style...

Aside from taking no action after the attack on September 11, 2001, how better to minimize the terror (yep, there's that word) most Americans felt - PARTICULARLY those in the greater New York City area - than to pull a stunt like this. The Other McCain always says it well.

My dad's CO had a little sign on his desk. I post it here not knowing authorship, or even if I got it right - it was 45 years ago, after all:

We the unwilling, led by the unknowing,
Are doing the impossible for the ungrateful.

We have done so much for so long for so little,
We are now qualified to do anything with nothing.

So - liberal, fed-up-with-old-white-guy America...how's this 'hip' new Prez workin' for ya so far?

No apology

Since I only have 2 'followers' - one of whom is my Lovely Daughter - and readership in the (thanks, Richard) "low severals" most days, I will assume my absence from this page hasn't been a great strain on anyone's psyche. If I remember correctly, there was a statement in my very first post that blogging here would be "intermittent" at best. Three days absent may be a lot, but hey, there's this thing I have called Life, and - as with television - blogging comes with spare time, not at the expense of something truly valuable to me. Much as I enjoy blogging, much as I look forward to writing and reading the words of other bloggers, the flesh and blood part of my life comes first.

We've gotten most of the shopping done for our Retreat next weekend (see, I'll be among the missing again for 3 more days then). I've gotten some much-needed un-busy time, time with my hubby prepping for this retreat, watching baseball & NASCAR, going to a meeting...it's been a wonderful weekend.

The picture above is my Pixie, learning to eat freeze pops. Maybe it'll make up for my lack of posting, but if not...meh, big deal. Too relaxed and cozy to give a rat's behind, actually. Blogging for the next week will probably REALLY be intermittent, with last minute organizational stuff for Retreat, then being gone Friday thru Sunday, and Handsome Hubby leaves for his section hike on the AT on Monday the 4th. At which time I start painting kitchen cabinets, since Lovely Daughter is taking vacation then & time with Pixie will be minimal. I have SO many things to get done that week!

Thanks for stopping by, please come again soon!

What AlGore doesn't say...but should

The man(bearpig) is a Professional Politician. This makes him a trained, dyed-in-the-wool Bullshirt Artist. Except for a couple Elected Officials with medical degrees, none of them have any real knowledge of anything outside their protected little circle (Average rent for a family of 4 in their home town? Price of a new set of tires? How to run a family of 4 on $40k?) , and AlGore is possibly the worst of the lot, having been raised in D.C. by a tobacco farmer turned Professional Politician who was also a Communist Sympathizer and worked very hard to promote Socialism in the United States. These people couldn't pour piss out of a boot with directions on the heel, that's how (ohhowIdislikethisphrase) OUT OF TOUCH with American Life they are. And tell the Truth? OhfertheluvvaGod, everything that comes out of their mouths is a Lie or a self-serving piece of refuse!

How soon we forget...the REAL Al Gore and his daddy.

Now comes this article - for some REAL information about this new religion AlGore has manufactured...what AlGore would say if he told the Truth, the Whole Truth, and Nothing But the Truth...from Thomas Peep's Daily News.

The Other McCain: Videos: Sens. Cardin, Kyl condemn DHS report on 'Rightwing Extremist' threat

The Other McCain: Videos: Sens. Cardin, Kyl condemn DHS report on 'Rightwing Extremist' threat

RSMcCain has this video.

OhfertheluvvaGod, this bunch is beyond the pale.

Sadness

Received word a couple hours ago that a friend who moved to Virginia last year has taken his own life. What a rotten thing to do to his beautiful girls and his stepson.

Just rotten.

Something missing?

Robert D at Bob's Bites has the links.

Good question, Bob. At least locally, no stories of drugged-out losers, panhandlers, or thousands of cubic yards of garbage left behind...hmmm...which ones would you guess are better stewards of our resources?

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."

I was un-cool before being un-cool was cool

Being a Patriot, and believing the U.S.A. is the best nation on earth in spite of the weasels we've put in public office, I knew I was going to be even more vilified by this administration and the drama-queens in the mainstream media than usual (cuz, y'know, I was a Navy Wife for a long time, from a long proud line of TRUE Public Servants and Defenders of the Constitution).

Evidently Axelrod (no, I'm not going to use an honorific for these dolts anymore, they've proven they HAVE no honor) is of a mind that we're more loved now than we were before the last election?

Top White House adviser David Axelrod on Monday said that President Obama's trips to Europe, Turkey and Latin America in the last three weeks have made anti-American sentiment uncool and "created a new receptivity" to U.S. interests.

All BarryO has done is say he's sorry we've been such a bad, bad little boy/nation, and HE'S not going to allow that anymore. Oh. Dear.

Listen, Barry - this country, young as it may be, has saved the ass of more nations, more often than all the rest of the world in the rest of history combined. Overstep our bounds in some areas sometimes? Absolutely. This was because of greed on the part of the Elected Officials and their puppeteers, NOT because it is a hallmark of our PEOPLE! Our PEOPLE save lives of friends and strangers every day, no thanks to you and your pontifications about us.

BarryO the First, the Second Coming of Jimmeh, first turns his back on our ALLIES, then kisses the ass of a country with a lot of oil (a country run by men who believe women and other outsiders are lower forms of life), then - what's this? - kisses the ass of ANOTHER country with a lot of oil (with a Dictator for Life who is taking individual property for himself and his cronies in the interest of...fairness?). Hmmm. They don't love us more now, Barry - you've projected weakness, and IF you studied military history - or CHESS - at all, you'd know that's a dangerous move.

Think I'll stick with being the uncool and unsophisticated Patriotic flag-wavin' little bumpkin I've always been, and continue to voice my disgust for the scum we have in office.

Please, BarryO - tell Axelrod and the others to Just. Shut. Up. And take that advice for yourself, too. This is embarrassing all of us.

Feel a bit better today, tiny bit dizzy with a bad headache still, but at least not sick at my tummy. Y'all have a wonderful day, thanks for stopping by!

Not feeling it

I have had a headache for 3 or 4 days now. And it's worse right now than it has been, so I think I'll continue to not post anything, because looking for anything amusing is just too painful...and I don't mean just because our Elected Officials are painfully ignorant, supercilious, and criminal. I mean it hurts me to look at the monitor. Go see all the fine places in my sidebar, you KNOW they have good stuff to tell you...ok, maybe not so "good" but at least it's usually well-written, spelled correctly, and it's mostly amusing, too, which is Numero Uno in my world!

By the way, took the Pixie and her mum grocery shopping today, it was SO much fun I almost forgot about the headache. Thanks for stopping by, maybe I'll see you Monday!

Quickie UPDATE! Added Carol's Closet to the blogroll in the sidebar, she was over at Paco's, so she must be cool. Hi, Carol!

MONDAY UPDATE: Dizziness, nausea, headache, even my hair feels funny...being this woozy ain't a lot of fun. Pixie won't be here today, so I'm back to the couch. Have a great Monday!

WEDNESDAY UPDATE: Seems this dizziness thing is a viral screw-up of the inner ear. Well, I've had vertigo off & on for over a decade, so I get that. Friend of Lovely Daughter had it, so did TWO friends of mine, only theirs was worse. Glad I wasn't laid low(er), evidently it can get REAL bad. Whew!

Sue the Bastards!

I'm probably the least easy person to insult that I know. When I said that at a gathering of friends and acquaintances once, a man I'll call Bob (cuz that's what he calls himself) told me that's because he hasn't figured out which button to push yet. I replied that, especially in his case, I have no buttons. This is NOT to say that I don't get red-faced furious over the antics of some people, sometimes. But really, it's so seldom I take offense that I might be a pushover, if I didn't have standards.

I also don't believe we've done the right thing by becoming such a sue-the-bastards society.

There are exceptions.

The following is one of those, sent to me by an Air Force Veteran in Colorado. Thanks, Merlin!

Federal Lawsuit Filed Against Janet Napolitano Over Homeland Security’s Rightwing Extremism Policy Thursday, April 16, 2009 ANN ARBOR, MI – The Thomas More Law Center, a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, announced today that it has filed a federal lawsuit against Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. The lawsuit claims that her Department’s “Rightwing Extremism Policy, ” as reflected in the recently publicized Intelligence Assessment, “Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment, ” violates the civil liberties of combat veterans as well as American citizens by targeting them for disfavored treatment on account of the political beliefs.

Read the whole thing at the Thomas More Law Center website.

From GlennBeck.com - "I don't care if it rains or freezes, I am safe with my plastic"...nope, not "Jesus!"

GlennBeck.com - check out his store for this great item! Loved his show from the Alamo on Wednesday. Ted Nugent and Janine Turner were on, it was inspirational. NOT like this, though!

Dashboard Obama You can now make Obama your co-pilot with this miniature bobblehead version of our great leader! Put dashboard Obama in front of a teleprompter and it will make just as many inexplicable decisions as the real thing. The Estimated Delivery date is July 1, 2009. ONLY $12.95 Size: Overall Height (including the spring): 5 inches

Napolitano defends report that calls me a terrorist

From The Washington Times:

No surprise here -
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Wednesday that she was briefed before the release of a controversial intelligence assessment and that she stands by the report, which lists returning veterans among terrorist risks to the U.S.

Is he the only one who's "dumbfounded?"
"This report appears to raise significant issues involving the privacy and civil liberties of many Americans - including war veterans," said Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, in his letter sent Tuesday night.
...
Ms. Napolitano insisted that the department was not planning on engaging in any form of ideological profiling.

"Let me be very clear: We monitor the risks of violent extremism taking root here in the United States. We don't have the luxury of focusing our efforts on one group; we must protect the country from terrorism whether foreign or homegrown, and regardless of the ideology that motivates its violence," Ms. Napolitano said.

"We are on the lookout for criminal and terrorist activity but we do not - nor will we ever - monitor ideology or political beliefs. We take seriously our responsibility to protect the civil rights and liberties of the American people, including subjecting our activities to rigorous oversight from numerous internal and external sources."

Never thought of myself as a Rightwing Extremist, being more libertarian-leaning than that...but it looks like I may get away with being a Domestic Goddess Terrorist...

"Watch out, France and co., there is a new surrender monkey on the block."

Jack Kelly column at JewishWorldReview.com - which was updated before the start of the last set of Passover holy days.

President Pantywaist? HA! That's what columnist Gerald Warner of the London Telegraph called the Commander-in-Chief after his little jaunt on the Continent...sheesh...

THEN, almost miraculously, a bunch of scum kidnap an American ship's Captain after failing to seize the vessel itself.
As the crisis dragged on, and the lifeboat containing the pirates and their hostage drew ever closer to the Somali shore, many — myself among them — feared the president's reluctance to use force would result in another humiliation for the United States, akin to that we suffered when Iranian Islamists seized our embassy in Tehran during the Carter administration. But the president had authorized the use of deadly force if the on scene commander should determine that Captain Phillips' life was in " imminent" danger.

You could get dizzy from the spin!
After the fact, some Obama aides and his sycophants in the news media are pretending the president was more actively involved in the rescue than in fact he was.

OhfertheluvvaGod, you'd think he chose the men personally AND cleaned their weapons for them, giving instruction all the while...
All Mr. Obama did was to assent to standard operating procedure, procedure that every American president save Jimmy Carter and perhaps Bill Clinton would have followed.

Credit where due...
Mr. Obama did not stand in the way of the use of deadly force, as Jimmy Carter might have.

Thankfully, President BarryO also kept his umming mouth shut while negotiations were ongoing. Yay. Will he remember for more than one news cycle?
Cmdr Castellano and the SEAL snipers have presented Mr. Obama with an invaluable gift. God willing, he will use it wisely.

I won't hold my breath.

Report from SwampWoman

SwampWoman, who blogs at A1A South, posts this report on the Tea Party at Jacksonville Landing. -envious sigh-

Some excerpts:
...
There were Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, and Independents. There were current military and retired veterans, lots of small business people, cubicle dwellers, and parents worried about the debt load on their small children. The speakers were of all ages (high school students, college students, 20-somethings, Navy wives, a “professional” blogger, and retirees). There were a lot of Fair Tax supporters in evidence.
...
The difference between a “right wing potential domestic terrorist” protest and a left wing protest of any kind: No references to genitalia, sexuality, no nekkid sagging boobs or scrotums, and the signs were spelled correctly.
...
Whenever I lowered my arms, I elbowed the people around me. Good thing that they were all nice people. Of course, I’m sorry that ACORN organizers didn’t show up (where I could see them, anyway) so that I could take pictures from beside THEM. I hate accidentally bruising nice people.
...
“We Are All Domestic Terrorists Now”

Right beside ya.

Thanks for all you do, Swampie.

By the way - I'm a Domestic Goddess Terrorist, as I'm sure Swampie is.

UPDATE: Paco has some wonderful pictures and witty commentary from the Tea Party in HIS neck of the woods - aka Washington, D.C. (in case you didn't know).

Mental Floss

Are We Lumberjacks? had a link to this quiz.

Ben & Jerry's Flavor or Pottery Barn Paint Color?

I got 50%!

Enjoy!

Tax Day Tea Party!

USA! USA! USA!

I won't be able to attend the local tea party today, and I am pretty bummed about it. Will follow online to the best of my ability, AND I sent Dopey, Dopey, Dopey and Dopey virtual tea bags, with an online post card and tea bag I found at El Campeador's blog.

YOU can send one, too!

I love this, particularly because after September 11, 2001 and the anthrax scare(s), it may take months for a real teabag to be received by my Elected Officials in Washington. And I'm not so sure ANY envelopes, containing ANY substance, are passed through to the CongressWeasels in D.C.

On a personal note, eleven years ago today I began my own personal Boston Tea Party - I began the fight to stop smoking. So far...so good. Marlboro Lights box were $4.25 at Albertson's in Poway, California at that time. I decided not to pay that tax anymore, and have been not paying it ever since.

Words mean things

Words mean things. But the thing does not change, just because we use a prettier word, a word to make a thing more acceptable.

Thomas Sowell says, "Some of our biggest political fallacies come from accepting words as evidence of realities."

"Investment." "Rich." "Stimulus." "Rent control." "Gun control." "Nuclear free world."

Remember the lipstick on a pig comment on the campaign trail? Same difference. "That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." On the other hand, you can call it a landfill if you want - it's a garbage dump all the same.

I have a friend that gets kinda peeved at me on a regular basis because I ask her to explain the meaning of the words she uses. She might think I'm being overbearing and know-it-all, but what I'm REALLY trying to do is understand the language she speaks. Y'see, 'progressive' and 'communist' and 'socialist' mean pretty much the same thing in my mind, when used in the context of what we want (or don't want) from our government. She wants 'progressive,' 'fair' government by intelligent, educated people. I want Constitutional government, of the People, by the People and FOR the People...not just certain people.

See what I mean? Words MEAN things!



(thanks, Swampie and Robert D)

Kinder, Gentler Pirates

John in Carolina (thanks, Paco!) remarks on Secretary of Defense Gates' blather about the Somali "teenagers" who were responsible for the kidnapping of Captain Richard Phillips and attempt to seize the Maersk Alabama.

SecDef Gates is another in a long line of embarrassments here. These pirates are, like their forebears, thugs who terrorize and murder and steal anything civilization holds valuable. They should be treated as such - sink their vessels, confiscate their "treasure" and send 'em to Davy Jones Locker. Yes, I've said that before. I think I'll continue to say it - so many pirates, so few yardarms.

"Good Girl" makes me cry

I took my Pixie to the doctor today for her 18 month vaccinations. Grandpa drove. I fed her pretzels and we laughed and chatted like old friends. Waited a long time in the office, but she was angelic the whole time, not getting bored till more than an hour into the wait. That's understandable, she had other people to listen to and watch, she likes doing that - a real sociable, observant child.

Finally, the nurse was ready and we prepped for FIVE innoculations, so every limb would be poked. How I dread these trips, the ones with her mother used to tear my heart out, though SHE never knew that (I told her when she was older). My BEEootiful little granddaughter cried as though her heart would break, great gulping sobs after the second stick. Poor baby!

Finally, we were done, and I stood with her cuddled in my arms, holding her with her blanket bunched in front of her...and she stopped crying, smiled through her tears at the nurse, clapped her little hands together, and said, "Good girl."

I burst into tears when I told Grandpa about it outside.

What a little trooper she is.

UPDATE1: SwampWoman, SwampMan, congratulations to both of you on 32 years of wedded sometimes-bliss. You have my admiration...and I'm hoping I make it that far myself! Sa-LUTE!

UPDATE2: The little blond angel is happy as a clam today, you'd never know she'd had a rather trying time yesterday afternoon! No fever, no grumpy, just not real happy with rain and storm that keep us inside most of the day. For that matter, I'm not thrilled with losing internet/tv/house phone for 5 hours either, but it COULD be worse, so I'm ok with it.

So THAT'S it!

Better than a Harvard basket-weaving degree, more prestigious than Community Thug-I-mean-Organizer, more ego-stroking than a wife with a $300,000 "job" - the icing on BarryO's cake is a Nobel Peace Prize???

Bert Prelutsky:
At a time when Iran, not to mention North Korea, is shaking a nuclear-armed fist at the world, Obama is telling Russia he’d like to dismantle our nuclear weapons. I’m afraid that, as a means of providing America with a viable national defense, his approach verges on the suicidal. On the other hand, if it’s his intention to join the likes of Kofi Annan, Yasser Arafat, Al Gore, Le Duc Tho and Jimmy Carter, as Nobel Peace Prize winners, it’s an absolutely brilliant strategy.

It does makes frightening sense, when you think about it...

Happy Ending

I am SO proud of these unsung Heroes..., from Pauline Jelenik at Townhall.com.

Military officials were widely praising the snipers for three flawless shots, which they described as remarkable, coming at night and from the stern of a ship on rolling waters.
...

The Navy released images of the scene from an unmanned drone, Scan Eagle. It showed that the snipers had positioned themselves on the fantail of the Bainbridge. The snipers fired simultaneously. One of the pirates was in the pilot house.

The SEALS arrived on the scene by parachuting from their aircraft into the sea, and they were picked up by the Bainbridge, a senior U.S. official said.

Thank you, SEALS, and crew of USS Bainbridge. You are Finest Kind.

And no, in my heart and mind, the BarryO Administration gets NO credit here. None. Zip. Zero. Zilch. Nada. If our nose-in-the-air/ head in the sand/ Ivory Tower-dwelling government had done the right thing in the FIRST place, pirate scum wouldn't feel free to terrorize the seas as they do. These animals understand one thing - Power. FIRE power. Sink their ships, confiscate their loot, and send 'em to Davy Jones Locker. I want that bumber sticker that says "So Many Pirates, So Few Yardarms."

Our Marines and Sailors have been fighting this scum since the first breath of this Nation. We CAN either wipe out it out or at the very least make it a rare thing tried by a stupid few.

Somehow I doubt BarryO believes that would be something worth fighting for. Well, I don't think he has ANYTHING on his list of Things Worth Fighting For, to tell you the truth. No standards, no patriotism, no nuthin. Suit of clothes, looking for an Emperor (gleefully and gratefully swiped from Paco). And he gets more like that stupid, ignorant, arrogant Emperor strutting his stuff in his birthday suit EVERY day he's in office. His Advisors tell him he's good, and he's good with that.

Makes me wanna puke.

So, as my Aussie friends say, GOOD ON YA, NAVY! Thanks for making this another GREAT DAY, in spite of you-know-who!

UPDATE: El Campeador covers this quite nicely, with a bit of clarification from his commenter.

Good Monday Morning!

I LOVE Mondays! Picked up my Pixie, put some gas in my BroncoII, now she's flinging Cheerios all over the dining room with unnatural glee and I hope I get everything linked and posted before she gets bored.

Before I'm even fully awake, I find David at The Empiricist mentions a book on global not-warming and un-man-made climate change even I'd like to read. The review is by Paul Sheehan at the Sydney Morning Herald.

I love the title of Sheehan's column - Beware the climate of conformity. To quote Mr. Sheehan's column: What I am about to write questions much of what I have written in this space, in numerous columns, over the past five years. Perhaps what I have written can withstand this questioning. Perhaps not. The greater question is, am I - and you - capable of questioning our own orthodoxies and intellectual habits? Let's see.

ChangerBelievers are NOTHING if not conformists, aren't they, requiring conformity - or silence - from UnBelievers and Skeptics.

A downer of a read from Caroline B. Glick at JewishWorldReview.com makes me just sick(er) at heart for my country.

Jonah Goldberg. George Will.

Back later!

Jax Air News

The Navy base has a newspaper called the Jax Air News. We've been reading it since our first set of orders here in 1985. It's a pretty decent little paper, and one of the columns is just about my favorite thing to read locally all week long. Sarah Smiley has an always-interesting and mostly humorous look at all things to do with Navy Wife and Navy Family. This week she took a serious look at that ridiculous idea of BarryO's administration that thinks medical care for veterans wounded in combat should be billed to third party insurers. Please read, even though that proposal has been tabled...for now. With this bunch, the idea won't go away, they'll simply wait for a more opportune time. You knew that, didn't you?

Sarah says:
When I was a military dependent of my active-duty Navy dad in Portsmouth, Va., I broke my leg jumping off my piano teacher’s front porch.

I was taken to Portsmouth Naval Hospital (the old hospital, where tales of health care – and especially labor and deliveries – are legendary).

On this particular day, there was a shortage of the lightweight fiberglass material used in modern medicine to stabilize broken bones. In its place, Navy doctors wrapped my leg in plaster of Paris, which is the same material used to make some walls. Unlike its sleek fiberglass counterpart, plaster of Paris casts are thick, bumpy and somewhat chalky. I left the hospital with what felt (and looked) like a 10-pound chunk of wall on my leg. “But hey, it was free,” I said laughing when I explained the situation to my high school government class.

“Your cast wasn’t free,” a boy in the back of the class said. “All of our tax dollars paid for it.”

I was a knobby kneed teenager who still cared about what her peers thought. I didn’t come up with a good comeback until the class bell had rung and I was hobbling on crutches to my locker.

Free? My health care isn’t “free,” I thought. What does that punk know about “free” anyway? The next day, I told my classmate how “expensive” my health care really is. My dad had paid for it when he was halfway across the world, in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, when his first daughter was born. He paid for it when he didn’t meet me until I was seven months old. He paid for it with every missed piano recital, Christmas, and birthday.

He accumulated 11 years of sea duty by the time I was 22 years old. Our family also paid in ways most people would consider unacceptable and too “costly.” Imagine: instead of paying a monthly premium, your insurance company requires you to be at their service, at any time, in any place, even if it means that you will miss half of your child’s childhood.

Oh, and you might have to put your life on the line, too. True, my classmate and his parents had also paid in part for my health care, but then, they never had to deal with deployments either.

Read the whole thing!

OK, OK, I have a couple quiet minutes. I found these columns at JewishWorldReview.com, a bit from Paco...but let's start with something I heard about on the radio that I thought I'd share here - Exurban League tells us about Obama and the Pirates.

On the eve of Passover, we had this from Jeff Jacoby. I remember his writing a letter to his son when he was born, too. And yes, I'm kinda behind, this column is dated yesterday. My apologies for that.

George Will writes about a new book - having to do with baseball! Not stars and egos and steroids, this book is about the umpires. I think I want to read it.

Paco Enterprises offers the latest of the lost Che diaries. Brought tears to my eyes!

I'd also like to thank Lovely Daughter for spending her lunch hour with us here at Pixie Place. I'm eating your leftovers!

UPDATE! I think I need a new Category. Something along the lines of "OhfertheluvvaGod." It will cover such ridiculous crapola as this, which arrived a short while ago via James Taranto at Best of the Web Today. Instead of making you scroll to find it - and not being able to link to the link James provided, for some reason - I copy the whole little blurb, including the link in the title James gave, for your perusal:

Where Do the Pirates Stand on Card Check?
Pirates in the Indian Ocean the other day captured a U.S.-flagged freighter. Although they still hold the captain hostage, the rest of the crew quickly regained control of the ship--leading Nick Baumann of Mother Jones to file this entry in the Most Strained Political Argument of All Time contest, under the title "Another Miracle Brought to You by America's Unions":

It's important to note that like all the people involved with the safe landing of US Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson River in January, the crew members of the Maersk Alabama are union members. . . . As former safety chairman of the Airline Pilots Association, Chesley Sullenberger, the hero pilot of Flight 1549, fought to make sure his colleagues got the training they needed to do what he did in January. And as I just heard on Fox News (and confirmed with the SIU [Seafarers International Union]), crew members of the Maersk Alabama received anti-piracy training from (where else?) their union.

By this logic, school shootings are an indictment of the teachers unions.

UPDATE 2! One more before I shut this down for the night. DaddyDave, who comments at Tim Blair's, now blogs on his own at The Empiricist, linked in the sidebar here. He's posted something that I heard about yesterday...Neal Boortz, I think? It's a book that posits a VERY unpopular point of view, from someone who seems to know the topic quite well. Dead Aid: Why Aid Is Not Working and How There Is A Better Way For Africa by Dambisa Moyo. Anyway, give David's blog a read, it's worthy of your time.

Good Friday

It's a beautiful Friday here at Pixie Place.

The Pixie just undid her training pants & is investigating how they work while we listen to Mickey's Clubhouse. My Chief worked a short shift & has taken his AT-weight pack to the gym to work on the stairclimber for 30 minutes. And Lovely Daughter will be here for lunch in a little while.

No politics today - just listen to this and have a wonderful rest of your day! Thanks for stopping by!

Bright Bright Sunshiny Day

According to WOKV, it's a 10 on the weather gage. I'll go along with that. Sunny, bright, bit of a breeze, and +75F. I'd prefer just a touch more humidity, but I take what I can get from the weather in Florida.

I've been listening to reports about the pirates that have an American as their hostage. I will keep the family and friends in my prayers, as well as the men and women serving in the Navy who have been called for assistance. We love 'em all, we really do.

Lovely Daughter sent a link to the article about the pirates earlier because it mentioned P-3's, the plane her daddy flew aboard as Inflight Technician for the majority of his Navy career, but I can't find that link right now.

If you hear mention of planes taking pictures or being the eyes in the sky, that's our boys & girls, it was part of our lives for a big part of the 22 years My Chief was in the Navy. P-3 crews train here in Jax, and the sound of a P-3 in the pattern is part of almost every day in this house. We were stationed with P-3 squadrons in Maine, Hawai'i, and here in Jax, plus the Test Pilot School at Patuxent River, Maryland.

I'm going to miss them.

Brrr!

Ah, Springtime in NE Florida - the sun's coming up over Ben's house, pink flowers show themselves on the redbud tree, the school bus is late (again), there's frost on the BroncoII in my front yard, and the birds are singing "It's beginning to look a lot like January!"

Hubby covered the tomatoes - when I went to bed it was +42F, I'm guessing it was colder than that when he got up at 0230.

I am going to invest my next paycheck in a decent thermometer for this place. My computer WeatherChannel thingy says it's +40F (feels like 34!), but once again, when did frost start coming down when it's 40?!? Suggestions for brand or type are welcome, but keep 'em inexpensive, my paycheck is SMALL.

In baseball news, My Padres got their first win of the season, beating the ManRam Dodgers 4-2. Hey, that means they're tied for either 2nd or last place in their division at 1-1. SF Giants are in 1st place with one win but no losses. Yeah, you can tell it's the first series of the season, can't you? This stuff changes on a moment by moment basis for months!

Go Cubs Go

A long time ago, in a little old mobile home in a trailer park not far from where I sit now, I would curl up in a beanbag chair with my baby girl in my arms and watch Ryne Sandberg and the Penguin on our black and white television. I used to tell that little brown-haired doll that she was welcome to marry Ryno if she wanted when she got older, cuz he was just about as cute as they come. The hapless Cubs won 70 games that year, with names I recognize but don't remember as playing for the Cubs. I wasn't a rabid fan, I was a new Navy Wife and mama at the beginning of a new adventure...as I said, it was a long time ago.

The Cubs are retiring Number 31, which was worn by Fergie Jenkins and Greg Maddux. I've seen Greg Maddux pitch...for the Atlanta Braves, against My Padres, in 1998 in San Diego. He wore glasses then. Never remembered then or since that he wore a Cubs uniform before 2004.

By the way, I kinda like this Baseball Hall of Fame site, and the other one that's been helpful is the Baseball Almanac. I like The Baseball Page, too, just found that one. Wow!

I'm off now, cold with possible freeze in the morning forecast, so need to cover my tomatoes before I bed down. I wish you mud puddles and dandelions!

This is why I pray

Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live. — Norman Cousins


I better warn you - this is a very disturbing column. It took me all day, going back again many times, to get all the way through.

Caroline B. Glick at JewishWorldReview.com:
On the murder of a 13 year old boy - but not really...
But as far as the right-thinking people of the Western media are concerned, Israeli Jews like Nativ, who live in Gush Etzion in Judea, are simply asking to be murdered.
...
Today, the media's view is shared by both European governments and the Obama administration. For years now the Europeans have accepted the legally unsupportable Arab claim that all Jewish presence in areas beyond the 1949 armistice lines is illegal. Since 1993, supported by the Israeli Left, the US government has gradually moved toward adopting this view. And today this view stands at the center of President Barack Obama's emerging policy toward Israel and the Palestinians.

I won't hate BarryO or those like-minded who are sick in their souls but don't know it yet. I won't hate them because it gives them too much power over me and hate like that poisons anyone it touches.

It takes a special type of person to murder a child. And it takes a special type of society to support such behavior. Palestinian society is a special society. It has become routine, indeed it has become expected that in the aftermath of successful murders of Israelis - including children - Palestinians distribute candy in public celebrations.

President BarryO is a scumsucking, perverted, disgusting excuse for a human - as are all the others who believe as he believes - and if I was going to hate anyone, it would surely be them.

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!

More from the Wild Wild West

The Great Falls Tribune is one of the papers I read online, keeping up a bit with life in northcentral Montana. Long long ago, Great Falls had the only mall between Minneapolis and Seattle, Holiday Village Shopping Center. I have very little memory of going there, though lots of folks from Havre made at least one trip every year to shop for Christmas (we stuck with Buttrey's Department Store in Havre).

Sorry, got a bit nostalgic there...back to the topic at hand:

Reading a bit today, after finally getting my weekend chores done, I find that there are some in the state legislature itching for a fight with the Feds on gun "control." Yeah, there's a surprise. Wonder how much money Ted Turner (scroll down to #5) will spend fighting THAT little brawl?

I don't like Ted. Not even a little. He was a jerk in my eyes long before he married Hanoi Jane. He might not be Little Hitler, but some of his plans sure smack of genocide.

I wonder if he voted for BarryO.

Ch Ch Ch Chia!

It has been said that imitation is the sincerest (most sincere?) form of flattery.

So, what does that make this???

Remember, makes a great Easter basket stuffer!