Toxic Hawaiian Volcano Poses Health Risks to Residents, Crops - FOXNews.com

Toxic Hawaiian Volcano Poses Health Risks to Residents, Crops - FOXNews.com

Legend has it that people were thrown into the volcano to appease the gods. How 'bout we try throwing Akaka and Inouye into the volcano...you know, just to see if it works.

We have here another case of not being able to control Mother Nature. Like the folks who build their home on a barrier island, then want a replacement of house and all contents when it's wiped out by a hurricane, these are obviously cases of ignoring Nature's past...and then expecting payment when Nature comes 'round again...as she does.

From the article:

Those affected note the trade winds are blowing the vog towards Oahu, where the state legislature presides. Their hope is that lawmakers will be able to see and smell the problem a little bit more clearly.

Oh, you can bet the 'lawmakers' will smell a problem - a problem "government money" can solve!

Residents remember that, afterall, there wouldn't be a Hawaiian Islands Chain without volcanic activity — it's what formed and shaped the tropical islands.

Kilauea does what Kilauea has always done. And politicians do what politicians have always done.

I'd put my money on the volcano in this one...if the government doesn't take it and redistribute it to someone else...

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You call this 'classy?'

I call it the ugliest damn doll I have EVER seen.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you The Michelle Doll -

just in time for Christmas!

The icing on the cake of this story has to be that the seller is - ready? - JAILBREAK TOYS! Yes, that's real, and no, I'm not providing a link, you can google it like I did.

Hasn't this made your whole day now? Don't you feel SPECIAL!?!

ADDITION: I can't help but think that Jackie O would have been horrified at any depiction of herself that was this...inaccurate. Of course, she was too classy to have EVER said anything.

Tuesday means Thomas Sowell

Mr. Sowell's column today has nothing at all to do with his opinion - or mine - of the Nobel committee. Aren't you thrilled about that? I DID find a column about that - by Rich Lowry - that you might want to take the time to read. Let's just say that it isn't complimentary to any of the participants.

Mr. Sowell speaks about economics in a way that even I understand, and he uses examples I can understand. Every politician who wears the label 'Elected Official' should be required take lessons from him...but of course, real Servants of the Republic would already know that, wouldn't they. The doublespeak and gobbledygook we get from them is DESIGNED to keep us ignorant of what they're really up to, because serving the cause of the People of the United States is not on their personal agenda. Making money and being reelected is their agenda. Sad, but so true. Some bits from the column that reminds us that THEY DON'T REPRESENT US:

Back in the days of the Soviet Union, two Russian economists who had never lived in a country with a free market economy understood something about market economies that many others who have lived in such economies all their lives have never understood. Nikolai Shmelev and Vladimir Popov said: "Everything is interconnected in the world of prices, so that the smallest change in one element is passed along the chain to millions of others."
...

While this may be easy enough to understand, its implications are completely lost on many people in politics and in the media. If everything is connected to everything else in a market economy, then it makes no sense to have laws and policies that declare some given goal to be a "good thing," without regard to the repercussions, which spread out in all directions, like waves that spread across a pond when you drop a rock in the water.
...

We are now living with those repercussions, which include the worst unemployment in decades. That is the price we are paying for increasing home ownership from 64 percent to 69 percent.
...

Mortgage lending standards were lowered, in order to raise the magic number of home ownership. But, with lower lending standards, there were — surprise! — more mortgage payment delinquencies, defaults and foreclosures.
...

The other big lie is that this was a failure of economists and others to foresee that the housing boom would turn to bust and set off financial repercussions across the economy.

In reality, everybody and his brother saw it coming and said so — including yours truly in the Wall Street Journal of May 26, 2005. As far away as London, The Economist magazine warned about the danger. So did many American publications and individuals. The problem was that politicians refused to listen.

UPDATE: If you can, please forgive any spelling or grammatical errors in post or headline. MOST times, I know how to write according to the way I was taught by mum, grandmother, and a few assorted teachers...but that doesn't mean that what my brain knows necessarily translates to my fingertips!

20 Questions - that's 20 MORE

John Hawkins at Townhall.com has a few more questions he'd like SOMEONE, ANYONE to ask BarryO, at the earliest opportunity. A small sample:

13) So far, you have signed a number of bills that no one in Congress has read before they were signed. Do you think a member of Congress is being irresponsible if he signs onto a bill without reading it or at minimum, having a member of his staff read it?

14) Would you be willing to publicly ask your supporters to stop accusing people who disagree with your policies of being racist?

Now remember, finding a 'reporter' in this world of Journalists For Barry Fan Club who would actually ASK the questions is gonna be difficult. Getting the Whiner-In-Chief (changed that - thanks to No Sheeples Here) to ANSWER such questions - given the staging and planting of Q&A sessions we've already seen - may be asking just a bit much of American Media.

One can only 'hope.'

Onion staff sit on Nobel committee?

Robert Tracinski at JewishWorldReview.com writes:

The Nobel Committee says that prize is "for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples." Which Obama has accomplished by—what exactly? Giving a speech at the UN?

I know, I know, columns and articles and probably talking head news stories (I don't watch television news, so I don't know for sure) on this are all over the place, and after a full weekend, we're probably a bit overloaded on the whole damn topic. But dammit, Tracinski is FUNNY and I never turn down a good bit of snark!

Then there's the part that isn't JUST snark, it's deadly serious:

This is an attempt by the Nobel committee to play on Obama's vanity in order to influence his decisions on Iran and Afghanistan. The message is: how could you possibly let Israel attack Iran's nuclear facilities, or how could you send an additional 40,000 troops to "escalate" the war in Afghanistan—after we've just given you the Nobel Peace Prize?

In appealing to Obama's moral vanity, they know their man well—and it will probably work.

The Nobel Committee may have inadvertantly caused the deaths of American Soldiers, but that isn't what's preeminent in their minds...their utopian idea of 'peace' is uppermost in their minds, and they seem to be of the mind that this will help that plan along.

It would be a very amusing joke...if it weren't for the bloodshed they're going to cause.

Go Navy!

Navy Midshipmen 63 - Rice Owls 14
	Oct 10 1 2 3 4 T Navy 14 21 14 14 63 « Rice 0 7 0 7 14 Next game: @ Southern Methodist Mustangs, Oct 17 8:00pm ET

I didn't see one play of this game...looks like it was a walk in the park for these young men. Other than being glad of the 4-2 record, I really can't think of anything to say.

GO NAVY!

Tinnitus --- WHAT???

Being the doctor-averse lil broad that I am, I have diagnosed my own affliction. Now I need to figure out what to do about it. My particular 'ringing' seems to be a bit like the computer being on all the time, but with a slightly different pitch. *sigh*

Dr. Gott's column has been mentioning Lypo-Flavonoid for quite some time, but I didn't pay much attention after I told My Chief about it...because HIS tinnitus has been diagnosed for several years. Mine was intermittent and didn't interfere with anything, so I ignored it. Now it interferes with my hearing more often than not. So I'll be checking the price of this stuff, and having a visit with my doc in the near future. Not in the next WEEK, as I'm covered up prepping to lead a Retreat...but NEAR future, anyway.

Think I'll go find something to eat, y'all have a FINE day, and thanks for stopping by! Stay warm - ya lucky dogs...

All Foam...No Beer

I honestly didn't believe I could be more disgusted by BarryO and the Merry Men than I was. I didn't think I could be as nauseated over a "Peace" Prize recipient as I was when the announcement was made that Arafat and Carter had won.

After all, Carter and his Confederates had allowed the country to suffer through the insanity of the hostage-taking in Iran, not to mention helping to drive the country into a deep recession.

Arafat preached and worked toward the destruction of the State of Israel and the death of the Jews, with Jimmuh his willing companion.

I was WRONG.

It seems BarryO has 'won' the "Peace" Prize by his mere existence. Wow. The Nobel committee has handed this jackass the award after less than a full year on the job. Since nothing has changed except the escalation of war in various places around the world, not to mention the world economy - and the AMERICAN economy - going into the sewer, I have to conclude once more that those 'esteemed' geniuses who make up the committee are, in fact, bent on destroying the Free World.

Paco used the term "A World Turned Upside Down." Indeed. You can find the transcript of the official press release at Camp of the Saints.

An exerpt from Meredith Jessup at Townhall.com:

Obama beat out "Zimbabwe's Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, a Colombian senator and a Chinese dissident, along with an Afghan woman's rights activist."

I know we're at war right now and that war is bad, but I would just like to point out this bit of irony: if it hadn't been for "the evil one," President George W. Bush, and the U.S. military's efforts in ridding Afghanistan of the Taliban's tyrannic rule, I'd imagine there would be no "Afghan woman's rights activist" around today to even be considered for this award.
...
So correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't this essentially mean Obama received this award for making some good speeches? Sure nothing he says has actually been accomplished, but it all sounds good!

All mouth, no ass. All booster, no payload. Yep, that's our BarryO.

Doesn't this make ya PROUD, America?

I love Thomas Sowell

Anyone who reads this blog for more than a week knows I think Thomas Sowell is the cat's meow. He writes a "Random Thoughts on the passing scene" column every so often, and I think they may be my favorites. Here are some of his thoughts for today, which I found at JewishWorldReview.com, but are also found at Townhall.com:

When politicians propose some hugely expensive new program and are asked how the government is going to pay for it, a standard ploy over the years has been to claim that they will pay for it by eliminating "waste, fraud and abuse." At a recent town hall meeting, a citizen raised the obvious question: If you can do that, why haven't you done it already?

What is called "universal health care" can turn out to be universal "don't care" medical treatment, when Washington bureaucrats can over-rule what you and your doctor want to do.

After political crusades for "affordable housing" ended up ruining the housing market and much of the economy with it, many of the same politicians are now carrying on a crusade for "affordable health care."

Fidel Castro, Hugo Chavez, Muammar Qaddafi and Vladimir Putin have all praised Barack Obama. When enemies of freedom and democracy praise your president, what are you to think?

Happy Birthday, Pixie!

Two years ago today, Lovely Daughter and Handsome Son-in-law presented me with the best gift ever...well, since Lovely Daughter was born, anyway.

Arrival of this little blond Pixie Bug has changed my life. As we get older, I think we forget how much fun Life can be, how simple we can keep it if we wish, and how fascinating things are when looked at through the eyes of a toddler.

I am truly grateful to have the opportunity to learn, again, what Life is all about.

Happy Birthday, Kaylee!!!

Wish I'd written this column

I've enjoyed George Will's writing on baseball for many years now, even when I don't quite 'get' it. I'm not a detail-minded guru of the game, I'm a lowly little late-comer of a fan. His political commentary, on the other hand, sometimes brings on the computer-age verson of the glassy-eyed stare - click!

This column, however, has so much for me to love about it. In reviewing the pleas from BarryO and his Bride to the IOC, Will says:

Both Obamas gave heartfelt speeches about . . . themselves. Although the working of the committee's mind is murky, it could reasonably have rejected Chicago's bid for the 2016 Games on aesthetic grounds — unless narcissism has suddenly become an Olympic sport.

In the 41 sentences of her remarks, Michelle Obama used some form of the personal pronouns "I" or "me" 44 times. Her husband was, comparatively, a shrinking violet, using those pronouns only 26 times in 48 sentences. Still, 70 times in 89 sentences conveyed the message that somehow their fascinating selves were what made, or should have made, Chicago's case compelling.

I like every paragraph of this column, but in the interest of interest (yours), I'll add just a bit more that says SO much -- about BarryO, about Bride of BarryO, and about those who elected this pompous, arrogant windbag.

Nine days before speaking in Copenhagen, the president, addressing the United Nations General Assembly, intoned: "No one nation can or should try to dominate another nation." What was the speechwriter thinking when he or she assembled that sentence? The "should" was empty moralizing; the "can" was nonsense redundantly refuted by history. Does our Cicero even glance at his speeches before reading them in public?

Becoming solemn in Copenhagen, Obama said: "No one expects the Games to solve all our collective problems." That's right, no one does. So why say that? Then, shifting into the foggy sentimentalism of standard Olympics blather, he said "peaceful competition between nations represents what's best about our humanity" and "it brings us together" and "it helps us to understand one another."

Actually, sometimes the Olympic Games are a net subtraction from international comity. But Obama quickly returned to speaking about . . . himself:

NOTE: I have something on a more personal level coming up, so link and comments about Thomas Sowell's column will be posted at a later time. Thanks for your consideration!

Roar! 37-17

For ten years now, the Tennessee Titans have been more hated by Jaguars fans than maybe even Osama bin Laden. The Titans beat the Jaguars 3 times in 1999, in what many thought was a sure run to the Superbowl. In 2004, there was another humiliating loss to the rivals from Nashville. Tennessee once claimed that Jacksonville was their other 'home field.' The Jaguars may not go to the Superbowl this year, may not even make the playoffs...but the Titans took a beating at the hands of the Big Cats today, and there is some comfort in that. This is a bit like the Army-Navy game...it's almost ok if that's the only win Navy gets ALL YEAR LONG.

The win today puts my hometown team back to a 2-2 record, which is nothing to be ashamed of in this world...unless you're a Football Dynasty (we'll know about the 'boys later today), and the Jaguars haven't achieved that. They DID hand the Titans a record of 0-4 -- that's ZERO and FOUR. No one deserves that record more.

Go Jaguars!

UPDATE: "America's Team" (I lived there when they were God, separately and as a group - it was disgusting...I wore a Steelers shirt for YEARS in response - and because I had a crush on Rocky Bleier) has a spectacular record of 2-2 after getting whupped by the Broncos today. Last time the 'boys beat Denver was 1995. HA!

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.

Go Navy!!! (from yesterday, been busy, sorry)

Navy Midshipmen Football (3-2)
	Navy Midshipmen 16 - Air Force Falcons 13 Next game: @ Rice Owls, Oct 10 3:30pm ET

Top 10 Reasons Chicago Didn't Get the Olympics

Top 10 Reasons Chicago Didn't Get the Olympics - Rich Lowry at The Corner on NRO

10. Dead people can't vote at IOC meetings.

9. Obama distracted by 25 min meeting with General McChrystal.

8. Who cares if Obama couldn't talk the IOC into Chicago? He'll be able to talk Iran out of nukes.

7. The impediment is Israel still building settlements.

6. Obviously no president would have been able to acomplish it.

5. We've been quite clear and said all along that we didn't want the Olympics.

4. This isn't about the number of Olympics "lost", it's about the number of Olympics "saved" or "created."

3. Clearly not enough wise Latina judges on the committee

2. Because the IOC is racist.

1. It's George Bush's fault.

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Go Irish!

Washington Huskies 30 - Notre Dame Fighting Irish 37
	Oct 3 1 2 3 4 OT T Washington 7 10 7 6 0 30 Notre Dame 3 13 3 11 7 37 « Next game: vs. USC Trojans, Oct 17 3:30pm ET

Jonah Goldberg likes controversy!

Jonah's column at JewishWorldReview.com has this about Polanski and the rallying cry to Free Roman that resounds from apologists and elitists and intelligentsia - you know, Our Betters:

The arguments in Polanski's defense range from lawyerly red herrings to intellectual piffle to horrendous affronts to human decency.

Roman Polanski is a pig - with apologies to the 4-footed animal. He LIKES teenagers. Let me rephrase that - he likes to have sex with teenagers, and he doesn't seem to care if they disagree with that idea.

It all boils down to the fact that Polanski is famous and talented and an Olympian artist, living above the world of mortals. Indeed, if he didn't rape that girl -- and he did -- Polanski would still be considered a pig in most normal communities. This is the man who, after all, started dating Nastassja Kinski when she was only 15 and he was in his 40s. His taste for teenage girls is an established fact.

I remember some things about being a teenager. I was just a bit older than Nastassja Kinski when she started "dating" Polanski. I thought it was pathetic, that she must have some sort of real problem if she could find someone my father's age sexy and interesting enough to "date." (I dated - and I DATED him, not "dated" him - a man who was 9 years older than me, when I was 17, but he wasn't old enough to be my father, fercryinoutloud. After a few weeks I realized he was still FAR too 'old' for me, and I broke up with him - in a typically rude teenager way.) My attitude about that huge age difference, then and now - ick. And my boyfriend never broke the law.

His defenders don't care. They are above and beyond bourgeois notions of morality, even legality.

And that's the main reason I am grateful for this controversy. It is a dye marker, "lighting up" a whole archipelago of morally wretched people. With their time, their money and their craft, these very people routinely lecture America about what is right and wrong. It's good to know that at the most fundamental level, they have no idea what they're talking about.

Mustn't muddy the water with those pesky little "Facts!"

I don't watch the news. I don't read a daily newspaper. Any news I DO hear is posted on someone's blog (and I generally read conservative and libertarian blogs), or comes from the news-on-the-half-hour on the sports-talk or talk radio stations I listen to. I also check my home-state online newspapers free content. And a couple of good friends or relatives email me with links to things they think I oughta read...and I don't mean chain mail. Military funerals, Weather or giant pythons appearing somewhere other than a zoo might get me a link to a story.

It's enough to get me by. Knowing how many thugs were shot by the police or each other, what stupid-ass thing my Representative said as she feathers her nest, and how "hard" the city council is "working" aren't priorities in my life.

As a matter of fact, I don't even need to know what the official unemployment numbers are. Numbers can lie when they're spun the right direction...and then can be spun right back the other way for a WHOLE new perspective.

I know some people out of work. I know a couple people who got work...but left the city of their choice to do so. When it's move or collect welfare, my generation tends to hit the road, I think. Then again, maybe it's not my generation. The ones I'm thinking of ARE my generation, but they're also not "city folk." They're the product of small town and rural upbringing. Are we more self-reliant at this age if we grew up without government intervention in every aspect of our lives? If so, what does that say about government intervention in every aspect of our lives?

John Stossel is one of my libertarian/ Constitutionalist heroes. From his column at JewishWorldReview.com:

OK, economic forecasters make mistakes. Fair enough. But neither the administration experts nor President Obama will acknowledge that their models and strategy are flawed. Instead, they spin the numbers and proclaim success, insisting that the plan is working even though unemployment is higher than they said it would be.

For example, Christina Romer, chief of the president's Council of Economic Advisers, preferred to emphasize that the 216,000 jobs lost in August were about half a million less than six months before. Never mind that the economic strategy hasn't restored any of those 700,000 jobs previously lost. They'd rather distract us by focusing on the slowing rate of loss rather than the losses themselves.

Lord knows these brilliant folks can't be WRONG in their predictions. Of course, I don't give them as much credit as Stossel does. I think they knew what would happen all along and lied. And since "journalism" no longer requires investigating and reporting FACTS, no one catches the lies.

UPDATE: Track-A-'Crat has written about the Road to Hell...of course, he doesn't call it that, and neither do our helpful socialist friends in government bureaurcacy, but it is what it is. Thanks, Track!

Tuesday is time for Thomas Sowell - "Do we want to become the world's largest banana republic?"

Thomas Sowell's column this morning is spot on about the dangers of brilliant people running things. I don't know about you, but I was under the impression that everyday workin' folk know more about living Life, solving Problems, and overcoming Troubles than any book- and classroom-educated Ph.D. Of course, Intelligent, Educated People with the right letters after their names, having been 'educated' far beyond their own intelligence at The Finest Centers of Learning, don't believe that for a second. Doesn't change the facts, does it?

There is usually only a limited amount of damage that can be done by dull or stupid people. For creating a truly monumental disaster, you need people with high IQs.

Such people have been told all their lives how brilliant they are, until finally they feel forced to admit it, with all due modesty. But they not only tend to over-estimate their own brilliance, more fundamentally they tend to over-estimate how important brilliance itself is when dealing with real world problems.

Many crucial things in life are learned from experience, rather than from clever thoughts or clever words. Indeed, a gift for the clever phrasing so much admired by the media can be a fatal talent, especially for someone chosen to lead a government.

Make no mistake about it - most people, most Americans, for that matter, are not dull or stupid. Eventually, by relying on our God-given instincts and following the principles of the Constitution of the United States, we come around, even when we've been lied to by omission or commission, even when we've been somewhat willfully blind and deaf to Reality.

Lead Balloon

Lovely Daughter asked me last week if I'd like to go to a Jaguars game for my birthday. They're playing Kansas City (kc!) and Matt Cassel is quarterback...such a nice name for such a nice boy ( /cheek-pinching old lady ). But I don't think I really do want to go, at least not enough to overcome the ambivalence I feel. While I certainly appreciate the offer, please let me explain why I hesitate.

First, we're all kinda short on cash. Expensive hobbies are not on my "gotta spend this money" list. My dryer just crapped out, repair of which is a necessary expense. Second, my birthday is just another day for me - I didn't DO anything that evening so many years ago, it's MY mother who should get the gifts and accolades, in my opinion. Third, I injured my back a few years ago...well, more than once and the first time was much more than "a few" years ago. Sitting in the stadium for several hours seems to cause spasms when I just THINK about it. And finally, I don't drink anymore, and I don't like being around drunk drunks. I don't do well in crowds in the best of conditions, and drunk, obnoxious crowds are surely going to be worse than I remember from when I DID drink. Much as I'd love to spend the day with Lovely Daughter and Handsome Son-in-law, I just don't think I'd have much fun...

I see from Mitch Albom's column at JewishWorldReview.com (updated BEFORE Yom Kippur began) that I'm not the only one avoiding such things for such reasons...

So, Lovely Daughter...can we just go eat like gluttons at Sticky Fingers instead? And if you go to the game that day, we can wait till the next week to go eat...I can wait!

You might be from Florida if...

Number 4 is my favorite, followed closely by #16 and #19.

1. You smirk when a game show's "Grand Prize" is a trip to Florida
2. You think a mountain is any hill 100 feet above sea level.
3. You think everyone from a bigger city has a northern accent.
4. You know the four seasons really are: almost summer, summer, not summer but really hot, and February.
5. You don't know what soda, cola, or pop is, "What kinda coke you want?"... regardless of brand or flavor
6. Anything under 95 is just warm.
7. You've hosted hurricane parties.
8. You understand the futility of exterminating cockroaches.
9. You can pronounce Okeechobee, Kissimmee , Ichnatucknee and Withlacoochee
10. You understand why it's better to have a friend with a boat, than have a boat yourself.
11. You get angry when people say " Florida isn't really part of the SOUTH."
12. You wear shorts and use the A/C on Christmas.
13. You recognize Miami-Dade as " Northern Cuba."
14. It's a perfect 72 degrees outside, but you run the A/C just to keep mildew from growing on your shoes.
15. You actually see someone from last nights episode of America's Most Wanted
16. Deer are smaller than your labrador
17. You're more scared of the freaks who live down the street than gators
18. You know someone who's been struck by lightning
19. You consider plywood a window treatment.
20. The term "huge fan" has nothing to do with sports.

UPDATE: In reference to yesterday's college football game, there's a player named Tyrod Taylor on one of the teams I was listening to. We were wondering...does he have a sister named Wheel Bearing?

New Addition on My Blogroll

My brother has a post at Parrothead Jeff - Las Vegas Latitude, Parrothead Attitude.

In case you don't know, Glenn was recently discovered to have a 'mass' on one of his kidneys. Throws the whole world into a bit of a spin, and I had funds standing by in case they wanted me to fly up there. Thankfully for all of us, my presence was not required (or wanted), as surgery was a resounding success and recovery is proceeding at a brisk pace. I suppose I could've gone just to get in the way and feel important, but I'm glad it worked out so well. For all of us. Glenn's Lovely Bride and Beautiful Daughter kept me in the loop, and I'm so grateful to them for that. (I am, however, disappointed I didn't get a trip West...dammit)

Now, go read Glenn's 'new' perspective - when the going gets tough, Navy Wives get tougher. Thanks, Sharon!

Michael Yon - The Kopp-Etchells Effect

My Chief sent me this link a few days back. I've just now taken the time to read and look at it.

*sigh*

"truly flabbergasting fatuities"

The headline for this post is from a column by a writer I seldom read anymore...but I cannot in good conscience ignore such FABulous snark!

Mona Charen at JewishWorldReview.com - I love this paragraph as she 'disects' The Speech By The President Of The World:

Obama is, we are told, the smartest man to sit in the Oval in many a year. And yet he is capable of truly flabbergasting fatuities like this: "In this hall, we come from many places, but we share a common future." You don't say? That's right up there with Warren Harding's declaration that "the future lies before us."

Bulls-eye.

When a tax is NOT a tax...

Here's a column - Jeff Jacoby at JewishWorldReview.com - for those of us who believe words mean things. They are a specific description meant to explain specific concepts or items. Today's word is 'tax.' George Stephanopolis looked it up! Tax: "a charge, usually of money, imposed by authority on persons or property for public purposes."

BarryO has a different idea, it seems: "George," chided Obama, "the fact that you looked up Merriam's Dictionary . . . indicates to me that you're stretching a little bit right now."

BarryO, when does the meaning given in Merriam-Webster become stretching??? That IS the meaning of the damn word "TAX," in proper use, clearly stated and understandable even to those of us with high school and technical school educations.

Do you need more proof of this administration's opinion of the electorate?

Then there's this: It is a myth that those who don't buy health insurance are basically free riders who unload their medical costs onto the backs of more responsible Americans. In truth, most of the uninsured are young, fit, and unlikely to need medical care. Why should they be forced to pay for expensive health insurance they don't need?

I have a theory - and since it's 'theory' I needn't use scientific principles to PROVE it - that lifelong politicians, those who wear the name Public Servant as a Badge of Righteousness, believe the Average American doesn't know what's good for him, that we're not really smart enough to pour piss out of a boot when the directions are on the heel (as my dad used to say). They live such sheltered little lives that they can't imagine anyone could survive without their help. Sad, isn't it? And sadder still is that our Declaration of Independence and the Constitution should tell them this was the attitude we got from the King - and it lit the fire under the Revolution in the first place...

AND ANOTHER THING:
This has been percolating in my mind for a few days and is only now coming clear. So forgive my disjointed rambling if you can, thank you.

Glenn Beck is not The Devil Himself. Glenn Beck is a God-believing, Family-loving, Constitution-trusting American Patriot. He MUST be doing something wonderful, because the leftists take his name in vain and and spit and belittle every damn thing about him. Well, in a bit of a continuance on my previous posting (above), Patrick Henry was a bit of a hell-raisin' rabble-rouser, too - if I remember my US History at all (which I can doublecheck easily these days).

Don't know about you, but I kind of admire that in a Man.

Some good columns

I'm not feeling particularly perky today, so I'm posting links to a couple columns I found interesting.

First up is Thomas Sowell at JewishWorldReview.com, on underdogs.

Next is Jonah Goldberg's tribute to Irving Kristol.

I also found a movie review by Walter Williams...of a movie he hasn't seen...which isn't really about the movie at all, come to find out. What it is is a short lesson on history and capitalism.

Last but certainly not least is my salute to "going green" in a money-saving and time-tested manner. I grew up in a working-poor family, and being frugal is something I understand. I'm not fanatical about it, but safety, simplicity and saving money are things I believe in. So here's a column on some of the ways I use vinegar in my home. One thing I do with white vinegar that's not mentioned in this column is I put it in the little cup meant for fabric softener in the washer. Clean, fresh clothes and soft towels with no soapy buildup on the fabrics OR in my washer. UPDATE: I forgot to add that in this climate, with extreeeeme humidity and heat, fabric softener tends to make clothes stink, in my opinion. I don't know if it degrades after a little time, or what, but those scented sheets are used very seldom in this house, for things that may have a problem with static cling...so the only time I really find a need for them is in the winter!

Now I think I'll find something to eat. Y'all have a fine day, and thanks for stopping by!

Tuesday - Thomas Sowell!

When I saw the title for this column, I almost went against Pixie Place Tradition and skipped Sowell's column for today, replacing it with the always-enjoyable Mark Steyn or a video about Yom Kippur. Then I read the first couple paragraphs, and I have to post it. Despite the subject being FAR from anything in my personal life today, Sowell's writing and point of view have value.

This, for instance:

Among the things you need to know about a particular college is whether it has a real curriculum or just a smorgasbord of courses, so that it is possible to graduate knowing nothing about history, economics or science, for example. Some of the most prestigious colleges in the country are places where you can graduate completely ignorant of such fundamental subjects.

In discussing "Choosing the Right College," Sowell points to some things that aren't discussed about most institutions of learning, things it seems many people find out The Hard Way. I may yet look into finding it, just to set my mind at ease over my...umm...sneering, snarky (but hopefully well-hidden) attitude, shall we say...toward some people I know...

Second example:

"Choosing the Right College" also presents information on such things as black separatist organizations at Lafayette College, for example. Whether you are for or against such things, you need to know about them, in order to choose what you think is right for you.

I've had an attitude about "the Best" schools for a long time now, believing that giving money to a place to NOT learn anything was an exercise in foolishness and ego. To use the name of a university as a resume-booster may seem important to some...but at what cost.

More:

It also tells you whether the intellectual atmosphere is free or is hidebound with political correctness, and plagued by professors who think their job is to use the classroom as a place to sound off about their political ideology to a captive audience, even when the course is about chemistry or accounting.

Good stuff for a Tuesday morning, isn't it? Thanks for stopping by!

The Old Guy does it AGAIN!

Have I mentioned previously that I love Mark Martin? If not, here's notice - I love Mark Martin. Crusty Old Fart of NASCAR. Just love it. Him. Them.

The man is SO good at what he does, with a terrific team behind him. His FIRST win at New Hampshire puts him in the lead for the Cup...whoa! Told My Chief he needs to buy me a new twenty dollar hat...cuz I am a BIG fan.

Enough for now, back to puttering around the house.

Honeymoon in increments

My Chief and I got married in February of 1985. He wasn't a Chief then. We dressed in our cleanest Levis and running shoes, said the proper words in front of a judge in Memphis, Tennessee, then spent our last $12 on a bottle of Asti and 2 packs of smokes. I took him back to the barracks at zero dark thirty and didn't see him again till the following Tuesday.

We decided some time later that instead of the one fancy blow-out honeymoon most brides insist upon, we'd take our honeymoon in bits, over time, with little regard to the time of year. It's been nearly 25 years now, and we are off on another bit of honeymoon. Living happily ever after, now and then...

This time, we're packing up the kids and the Pixie and heading for Damascus, Virginia. My Chief and kids will ride the Virginia Creeper Trail early on Saturday, and will try to catch the Gators game later. My Pixie and I will stroll around town enjoying each other's company and the truly AUTUMN weather!

Taking Monday off to rest from the trip, I hope to be back here Tuesday morning. Those of you who MUST contact me have my cell phone number. Y'all have a FINE weekend, and thanks for stopping by!

UPDATE: We're back, and I'm tired. LONG weekend, but worth every muscle spasm I'm having. The Pixie is well and truly potty trained, the kids had a good time blasting down the Creeper Trail, and Grandpa seems pretty happy, too. Glad we got home before dark. Cats are fed. Now I'm resting.

"Struck deaf by ego and narcissism..."

My title for today is taken from a comment left after this article by Jeffrey Lord at The American Spectator. Very astute. Not so sure Old Media has been struck deaf, or if it's a classic example of "none so blind as he who will not see." If I have an agenda to be advanced at any opportunity, I ignore any differing opinion, view, or evidence. Old Media are Old Hands at that game...and Mr. Lord provides examples.

The article itself is fairly long, but well-written and certainly worth the few minutes of time it takes. In it, Mr. Lord writes a letter to Tom Brokaw, detailing instances of non-reporting in Old Media and Brokaw's condescending remarks about the New Media (Talk Radio and the Internet) on a recent Meet the Press episode, where he was joined by Thomas Friedman.

Part of his smarmy line: And my line to them is you have to vet information. You have to test it the same way you do when you buy an automobile or when you go and buy a new flat-screen television. You read the Consumer Reports, you have an idea of what it's worth and what the lasting value of it is. You have to do the same thing with information because there is so much disinformation out there that it's frightening, frankly, in a free society that depends on information to make informed decisions.

Pathetic. This would be one reason I don't watch network television anymore.

Friedman's 'quote of the day' is this gem: "... the Internet is "an open sewer of untreated, unfiltered information.""

Personally, I think they sound jealous: Since ACORN has received millions of federal tax dollars over the years, and has been connected to President Obama in terms of his rise to prominence in Illinois politics, not to mention election activities while he was running for president, one would think this a major news story. Not for the Old Media. As reported by Glenn Beck a full two days after the story broke on Andrew Breitbart's BigGovernment.com, here's the record of reports on this story:

Fox News -- 19
CNN -- 3
MSNBC -- 0
ABC -- 0
CBS - 0
NBC -- 0
New York Times -- 1 (an AP story)
Washington Post -- 1 (an AP story)

One more excerpt before I go finish the dishes: In other words, across five decades of American journalistic history, the instinct of many Old Media institutions -- specifically including NBC and the New York Times -- has been to deliberately withhold the truth. To quite deliberately use their journalism skills and tools to misrepresent those whose politics they do not favor.

This is NOT the kind of reporting I thought I was learning in high school journalism. Makes me glad I didn't pursue it as a career - I really don't like being embarrassed because I've been lumped in with liars and cheats.

Tuesday - Thomas Sowell!

Were you ever told the fable about the dog who had a bone, then seeing his reflection in the river and deciding to take what he believed was a bigger bone, he dropped the bone he had in the river, and ended up with neither bone?

Thomas Sowell's column at JewishWorldReview.com:

While I was told a story in my childhood to help me understand something about the real world, today adults are being told things to reduce them to childish thinking.

Not just numbers...

...but blatant lies and half-truths and purposeful ignorance. What else can you call it when media outlets OTHER than American Mainstream (cough) Media post numbers and estimates and pictures and bits of interviews with participants...but CNN and other American networks don't even attempt to get facts, figures, pictures or TO TELL THE TRUTH once they DO get on the story.

Patriot blogger Track-A-Crat discusses his participation at his place. He says he's never experienced anything like it...and I think that's because there's not BEEN anything like it.

The Other McCain was on the scene, as was Barbara Espinosa. I'm certainly going to believe them before I believe any talking head on any American network. Oh, and don't forget Glenn Beck!

Sixty thousand...what utter rubbish.

BarryO and His Merry CongressWeasels aren't the ONLY liars, are they?

UPDATE:
Don't forget the photoshopped time-lapse video at YouTube...it's gotta be 'shopped, because Patriots/ conservatives are too stupid to grasp this brilliant concept. Aren't they?

The New Tea Party - The March on D.C.

I'll hold judgement on crowd size - but MASSIVE seems to be the gist of it, anyway. I am SO proud of this bunch of My Fellow Americans. Driven by the principles of the Constitution of the United States, they are exercising their God-given Rights and demonstrating the BRILLIANCE of the Founders.

Read all about it!

Is it physically painful for these jerks to tell the truth now and then? What the HELL does this show them to be? From the article at FoxNews...The White House on Friday claimed it was unaware of the planned rally. What a pathetic bunch of weasels this is! Did they stop maturing in middle school???

Paco, maybe your last wish could be for grown-ups who believe in the principles of the Constitution of the United States to hold the positions of authority in the country?

The 912 Project

I bet you've heard about the Tea Parties and the 912 Project. Here's some coverage - by FoxNewsChannel, no surprise - of the march on Washington today. I would love to have been there, and at some time in the future I may get to join one of these, but the time was not now for me. I walk with them in spirit, though I know how little that helps.

The 912 Project marches on Washington -- "Turn this thing around."

PATRIOT DAY -- NEVER FORGET

"Where were you when the world stopped turning, that September morn?" ~Alan Jackson

When the radio alarm went off that morning, we knew immediately something was wrong, because Rick Hamada was shook up. Marine Corps Base Kaneohe at Kailua, Hawai'i is several hours behind Ground Zero's time zone, so the planes had already struck but the Towers had not yet collapsed. Husband went to work at his squadron, daughter went to school. Around noon, Hawai'i time I went to pick up daughter and a couple friends. It took 3 1/2 hours to get back on base because every car was stopped at the gate. We didn't leave again for 3 days. Every business on base was closed and armed squads patrolled the streets.

The first guess-timates of the number of casualties were wrong.

Two thousand nine hundred ninety-six WILL NOT BE FORGOTTEN.

NOTE: This Tribute was posted a week or two ago (linked so you can read comments if you wish)...I have since been assigned a second name to honour, and will post that Tribute separately.

PROJECT 2,996

Remembering: James D. Cleere

I found a reprint / repost of a Washington Post list of House Document No. 107-285, Commemorative Joint Meeting of the Congress of the United States In Remembrance of the Victims and Heroes of September 11, 2001. It gave me my idea of how to write this Tribute. You see, I volunteered to write and post a Tribute after finding my way to a site called Project 2,996. The name I was assigned belongs to a man who was...well...a man who was in one of the Towers of the World Trade Center that day.

It's a very plain-looking list, as are most of the other reprints of that long long list - no frills or fanfares, no candles or flowers or flags waving in the breeze. Most of us live lives that don't come with public fanfare or frills or parades or widely posted Tributes. The Americans killed that horrible day were mostly just like you and me...going about their business in the ways they knew best. Though they worked in a talked-about building - or compound, as there were more than 2 "towers" - their everyday lives involved the same kinds of things we all do - taking out the trash, answering the phone, losing a cell while crossing a bridge, talking to the kids, the grocer, the neighbor, folding a load of laundry, picking up a prescription, grabbing a quick bite. Ordinary...yet so very extraordinary, and now never to be forgotten.

James D. Cleere was living his life. He was 55. He was from Newton, Iowa.

He was sentenced to Death by the murderers that day because of where he was and who he was. They did not know him personally, or care about him or his family or his friends. They didn't know how he got from Iowa to New York City, where he'd gone to school, or what he had for breakfast every day. They only cared that he die that day because he was in that building.

I didn't know him, either. But I will never forget him.

James D. Cleere was on the 49th floor of the South Tower, in the offices of Seabury and Smith Insurance, when the hijacked Flight 175 out of Boston slammed into the building at 9:03am on September 11, 2001.

James D. Cleere - you are not forgotten.


This Tribute was posted earlier in this week - here's a link so you can read the comment(s).

Remembering: Brian Bilcher

Unlike Mr. Cleere, Brian Bilcher was an easy name to research. Being a member of Squad 1, FDNY means he was well-known and well-loved and remembered by so many people. Details are not difficult to come by. Many have memorialized him, and done so better than my paltry research and writing skills will do. There's a letter from his mother that made this crusty ol broad tear up some... Brian Bilcher's name graces the tribute pages and lists of every firefighting unit in the country that has posted a remembrance, I think.

Firefighter Brian Bilcher, you will never be forgotten. May God continue to bless your friends and family and your beautiful son Grant.

You dedicated your life to helping others and saving lives. You gave your life so that others may live. Thank you, your Brothers and Sisters and Friends and Co-workers... from the bottom of my heart, thank you.

And, on this anniversary of the attacks on our country, to everyone who's been on the front lines - or the rear echelon - of the Global War On Terror, fighting to protect our way of life - and our very lives - THANK YOU, too. Thanks go to your families and friends and anyone else who loves you and supports you in your efforts, whether serving on Active Duty or keeping a candle in the window to light your way home...Thank You.

Read more Tributes here.

Project 2,996: Brian Bilcher

Unlike Mr. Cleere, Brian Bilcher was an easy name to research. Being a member of Squad 1, FDNY means he was well-known and well-loved and remembered by so many people. Details are not difficult to come by. Many have memorialized him, and done so better than my paltry research and writing skills will do. There's a letter from his mother that made this crusty ol broad tear up some... Brian Bilcher's name graces the tribute pages and lists of every firefighting unit in the country that has posted a remembrance, I think.

Firefighter Brian Bilcher, you will never be forgotten. May God continue to bless your friends and family and your beautiful son Grant.

You dedicated your life to helping others and saving lives. You gave your life so that others may live. Thank you, your Brothers and Sisters and Friends and Co-workers... from the bottom of my heart, thank you.

Project 2,996: James D. Cleere

NOTE: This Tribute was posted a week or two ago (linked so you can read comments if you wish)...I have since been assigned a second name to honour, and will post that Tribute separately.

I found a reprint / repost of a Washington Post list of House Document No. 107-285, Commemorative Joint Meeting of the Congress of the United States In Remembrance of the Victims and Heroes of September 11, 2001. It gave me my idea of how to write this Tribute. You see, I volunteered to write and post a Tribute after finding my way to a site called Project 2,996. The name I was assigned belongs to a man who was...well...a man who was in one of the Towers of the World Trade Center that day.

It's a very plain-looking list, as are most of the other reprints of that long long list - no frills or fanfares, no candles or flowers or flags waving in the breeze. Most of us live lives that don't come with public fanfare or frills or parades or widely posted Tributes. The Americans killed that horrible day were mostly just like you and me...going about their business in the ways they knew best. Though they worked in a talked-about building - or compound, as there were more than 2 "towers" - their everyday lives involved the same kinds of things we all do - taking out the trash, answering the phone, losing a cell while crossing a bridge, talking to the kids, the grocer, the neighbor, folding a load of laundry, picking up a prescription, grabbing a quick bite. Ordinary...yet so very extraordinary, and now never to be forgotten.

James D. Cleere was living his life. He was 55. He was from Newton, Iowa.

He was sentenced to Death by the murderers that day because of where he was and who he was. They did not know him personally, or care about him or his family or his friends. They didn't know how he got from Iowa to New York City, where he'd gone to school, or what he had for breakfast every day. They only cared that he die that day because he was in that building.

I didn't know him, either. But I will never forget him.

James D. Cleere was on the 49th floor of the South Tower, in the offices of Seabury and Smith Insurance, when the hijacked Flight 175 out of Boston slammed into the building at 9:03am on September 11, 2001.

James D. Cleere - you are not forgotten.

"...we females want to talk all the time about everything. Conflict is just another excuse to gab."

Betsy Hart at JewishWorldReview.com:

One of my own best women friends recently sent to me a piece that her husband (without comment, it turns out!) had e-mailed to her: "How to Improve Your Marriage Without Talking About It" by Barbara Graham from O, the Oprah Magazine. Its subtitle says it all: "Forget everything you've heard about frankness, sharing your feelings, getting him to express his. Research into the functions of the male mind makes it clear that discussion may be the fastest way to shut down communication. (Oh, you noticed that, have you?)"

Graham sat down with psychotherapists Patricia Love and Steven Stosny. They teach extensively on gender differences, and last year co-wrote "How to Improve Your Marriage Without Talking About It."

Stosny explains that "talking about feelings, which is soothing to women, makes men physically uncomfortable. There's literally more blood flow to the muscles. They get fidgety and women think they're not listening."

"Durh!" Any woman worth her salt knows men are different than women and should NEVER be required to replace the women who are close to her in her life, just as any man worth his salt will not expect his woman to be his 'buddy.'

Now, if we could convince the super-intellectuals that there are deeply ingrained differences in the genders, that each of us is part of the Whole, not The Same, we'd be MUCH better off as a Society...not to mention that we'd have MUCH happier marriages AND children.

Chick fil A Giveaway!

Wear your favorite team logo to Chick-fil-A on Monday from 10:30am to closing time, get a FREE Original Chicken Sandwich...that would be the one buttered...with a pickle. The BEST!

Sounds good, I'll have to find my Hawai'i shirt again...or Navy...or borrow a Gator shirt from Handsome Son-in-law! Don't have one for the Northern Lights, which is MY alma mater...*sigh*

Well, I'm outta here for now, we're going for an overnight stay-cation in the camper...in the front yard. Needed to move it and open it and clean it, don't feel like fighting crowds, traffic, and drunk drivers, so here we are. Gotta love it!

Y'all stay safe. Thanks for stopping by.

UPDATE: What a yummy lunch with hubby! TONS of Gator gear and Jaguar jerseys, with a smattering of Georgia and Florida State University. Saw one Clemson, a Navy Hockey, and one Florida State College at Jacksonville (formerly Florida Community College - Jacksonville). I had the only Hawai'i shirt and My Chief was wearing the only Padres shirt I saw.

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.

Uphold Volunteer Volunteerism

Read the American Spectator. This is from Tuesday, columnist Matthew Vadum:

As I wrote last week, about 60 groups including ACORN, Apollo Alliance, Color of Change, and Rainbow PUSH Coalition are trying to help the Obama administration modify the meaning of 9/11. They want to turn each Sept. 11 into a National Day of Service focused on the importance of bicycle paths, ethanol, carbon emission controls, putting solar panels on your roof, and radical community organizing. It has nothing to do with healing the nation and everything to do with easing the nation along in the ongoing radical transformation of America that President Obama promised during last year's election campaign.

Might be just me, but as I read what these self-described "organizers" want 9/11 to be, I couldn't help but remember something I was told a long time ago. Wish I could quote it exactly, but it was something to the effect of - "If you're forced to do it, you are not a volunteer. Forced 'service' is slavery." (from my online dictionary: involuntary subjection to another or others. Slavery emphasizes the idea of complete ownership and control by a master)

Surrender - on the installment plan (Thomas Sowell but NOT on Tuesday)

Thomas Sowell's column, today from Townhall.com, where there are dozens of other great analyses.

From the column:

It is not just a question of looking backward. The decision to second-guess CIA agents who extracted information to save American lives is even worse when you look forward.

Years from now, long after Barack Obama is gone, CIA agents dealing with hardened terrorists will have to worry about whether what they do to get information out of them to save American lives will make these agents themselves liable to prosecution that can destroy their careers and ruin their lives.

This is not simply an injustice to those who have tried to keep this country safe, it is a danger recklessly imposed on future Americans whose safety cannot always be guaranteed by sweet and gentle measures against hardened murderers.

Those who are pushing for legal action against CIA agents may talk about "upholding the law" but they are doing no such thing. Neither the Constitution of the United States nor the Geneva Convention gives rights to terrorists who operate outside the law.

What IS the rationale for giving murdering terrorists more mercy than they ever showed their victims...or anyone else, for that matter.

Never Forget

It's almost time for me to post the Tribute I wrote this year for one of the 2,996 people killed in the attack on our country as part of Project 2996. It seems the 11th of September is being put forth by the Adminstration as a day of Service? Bull.

September 11th is the anniversary of the ATTACK on our country by devout members of a religion, many of whose members wish the destruction of the Western World, Civilisation as we know it. I'm not going to "serve" that section of Mankind, sorry, BarryO. They would like no better than to enslave us, and I refuse to bow to their wishes. Take your organization skills to the field where Flight 93 ended. Watch video of people jumping from the upper floors of the World Trade Center. See the heroism displayed at the Pentagon. Why would I want to forget that?

I will remember that our country was attacked. Our citizens and guests were murdered. I will NOT forget.

Little League World Series Champion CHULA VISTA!

I've had a touch of flu or something all weekend, so didn't do my usual routines...finally feeling up to sitting here and reading (despite my wishes to commiserate with Swampie about her job). My Chief had to make do for himself while I lounged on sofa and snored away in bed most of yesterday AND today. We DID watch the final game of the Little League World Series together, as has become custom, and congratulations to San Diego County's own Chula Vista!!! Woo Hoo!

When My Chief came home from his 'mandatory fun' meeting at work, he brought me a get well card and a bag of Chili Cheese Fritos. I have something to live for! These things are supposedly bad for my heart... and arteries... maybe even my brain... but they are SO good for my SOUL.


Oh, what the heck - let's see TWO non-pc commercials from my younger days...

Bob Tyrrell, founder and editor in chief of The American Spectator

Holy Crow. I knew I liked reading Bob's columns...and I know he must be good at tearing the masks off clowns and impostors, but THIS one really takes BarryO and His Band of Merry Marxists to task. Whew! Make sure you read the comments, too, especially Becky and Grzmlyk.

Here's just a taste of Bob's genius:

My belief, based on reports in the news and from my private network of seasoned agents and provocateurs, is that this White House is a carousel of incompetence. How else do we explain the ravening push on all fronts, health care, the environment, fiscal reform, intelligence reform, and a foreign policy of humility and apology? Unsurprisingly, on every front the President is in trouble. Remember chief of staff Rahm Emanuel's, callous enjoiner, "Never let a serious crisis go to waste"? This White House is a serious crisis.

Ya think???