Puppy Chow

9 cups Chex cereal (you choice in flavors)
1 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup butter
1/4 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Microwave chocolate chips, peanut butter, and butter on high for 1 1/2 minutes, stirring after 1 minute. (or until fully melted) Add cereal and stir till coated with chocolate mixture. Once cereal is well covered, sprinkle with powdered sugar until completely covered.

I'm thinking that I need to pick up the ingredients for this at the grocery store today when I run to town!

Merry Christmas

To you and yours - on this Christmas eve - hope you all have a great Christmas tomorrow. The government gave you a Christmas present too - a raise on the debt ceiling - to 12.1 trillion (yes, with a T). Imagine every person in the US, man, woman, child, has a credit card. They're free to charge more on that card than ever before. Here's a great article on this subject. Otherwise, its a break from the great news of DC, and the idiots who are up there. Make a point of calling your representative/senator this coming week - even though they are not in the office, leave a voice message. Let them know this crap going on is NOT ok.

A postcard for a soldier

I was reading blogs, and came across this - you can pick a picture, put your name & hometown, and Xerox will print it and send it to a soldier/marine/airforce/navy overseas. A great thing to do.

The best man

I was reading local news..and a best man has robbed the DJ at a wedding in Houston. What did he take? An expensive crystal decanter of liquor. Imagine having that at your wedding... The groom says he doesn't really know the man, his cousin bowed out at the last minute and this is the guy he gets, sumdood he met at a basketball court for a game.

Invite someone you don't really know as your best man? I don't think so. This stinks to high heaven.

On another note, a woman in Kerrville called 911 because her husband wasn't eating dinner. She evidently is a serial caller of 911 according to the police, and has called before because she couldn't find her clothes. They went to the house because there was screaming and a hangup. She now faces charges of 911 abuse.

On a serious note, some senators and a couple of groups, the Fund for Personal Liberty, and the 10th Amendment Foundation, are saying they will challenge the constitutionality of the health care bill, if it passes and goes to Obama's desk.

I don't believe it's constitutional either. I read the Constitution online and it appears that nothing in there says that the government can mandate a purchase of something. Equating it to car insurance is what Obama is doing - however, you're not forced to buy auto insurance, or fined, and it's for liability against others. Plus each state has their own requirements, not a federal one.

10th Amendment: The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

It appears that this health care business is state business. Not federal business. Although the federal government has overstepped its bounds many times, this is the by far the largest bite they're trying to take out of the state's rights.

"That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new guards for their future security"

The above quote is from the Declaration of Independence. When does the government become intolerable and it needs re-doing?

Get out of our House!

While watching the news this morning, the spokesman for this group was on: http://goooh.com/home.aspx

Get out of our House - about replacing the whole House of Representatives. Its been around since 2007 he said - so it predated the tea parties.

I'd just as soon KEEP Ron Paul.

Hah!

How 'bout that global warming blanketing the east coast? I'm watching the news, and it looks like MN when I was a kid, and we had lots to shovel.

About the US and the death of it

This article states a great case for what is happening now.

Takuan Seiyo in one of the installments of his brilliant From Meccania to Atlantis series:

“The strongest, most admired country in the world until just a few years ago is now a cautionary tale of the wages of sin and stupidity told to Chinese schoolchildren. A nation that works for a living can weather perhaps even such great storms. But the jobs of the American lower class have been outsourced to imported Mexicans. The jobs of the American middle class have been exported to China and India. The jobs of the American upper-middle class have been taken from the white males who held them by merit, and given to resentful identity groups that hold them by the fiat of the government’s preferred skin colors and favored genitalia. And the jobs of the American upper class have been reprogrammed from leadership and service, to ripping off the less clever via lawyering, banksterism, and padding one’s golden CEO parachute, and then expiation via funding and leading socialist NGOs. A freefalling dollar cannot help by increasing exports, when you have off-shored your manufacturing, and your main industries are predatory lawsuits, selling shoddy American housing to Salvadorians with faked mortgages, and marketing financial weapons of mass destruction worldwide. And a falling dollar is not a good inducement for the world to keep buying dollar-denominated U.S. debt. The cessation of that buying has such dire consequences to the United States that Chinese strategists have named them ‘the nuclear option.’”

I have sometimes encountered Americans online who are convinced that they will face an armed conflict with a rising China in the future. Perhaps. But they often seem to take it for granted that such a conflict will be triggered by Chinese aggression against “foreign devils.” I’m not so sure about that. Right now I don’t see what interest the Chinese should have in provoking a war. They are currently behaving smarter than the Americans in many respects. I suspect that the Chinese are quite happy with selling cheap toasters to the United States while their presidents are bankrupting the country by making the world safe for sharia, their businesses are outsourcing jobs to Asia and their universities are educating Asian students.

The USA, on the other hand, is a country with a massive national debt and large armed forces, a potent combination which has facilitated wars in the past. I don’t rule out the possibility that Chinese nationalists could create trouble at some point but frankly, if there is a war between China and the United States in the near future it may well be triggered by the USA, not China.

Whether the Americans, whose armed forces are infiltrated by Muslim Jihadists and Mexican gang members, would win a conventional war is a different matter. After the Muslim Nidal Hasan killed many of his fellow soldiers the US military intensified its efforts to recruit more Muslims to the military. Recruiting people from hostile cultures to protect your country is the behavior of nations that want to die, and apparently, that is what the West now wants to do.

The US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke was named Time magazine’s Person of the Year for “saving” the global economy. Man of the Year, as the award was called before our gender neutral age, has earlier been awarded to Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin (twice), the Ayatollah Khomeini and other distinguished gentlemen, so Mr. Bernanke is in good company.

Yet as the insightful financial observer Karl Denninger states, “Bernanke’s actions have singularly done more damage to the American economy - and America - than anyone in the history of this nation. He clearly eclipses Nixon in his dissembling, while making a mockery of the free market.” This is because “By encouraging the bubble economy during Greenspan's time in The Fed (Bernanke was the chief agitator for 1% interest rates - and holding them too low during the early part of the 2000s) and trying to restart the bubble economy this time around through both ZIRP and intentional distortions through the credit markets, shielding those who made bad decisions while cramming the inflationary pressures down the throat of trading partners, Bernanke has guaranteed the loss of global reserve currency status for The Dollar. Our Senate is too stupid to recognize this and stop his re-nomination.”

Regarding the financial crisis of 2008, Denninger comments that “We have fixed nothing in the last two years.” In his view, “…the root problem is an excessive level of debt in the system at all levels, a level of debt that exceeds capacity to pay, and as a consequence any and all attempts to restart the credit-driven consumption economy would fail, and if pressed too far the government will fail. The evidence strongly suggests that you are getting awfully close to your last chance to stop being stupid before the market hands you a lesson that has the potential to destroy both our economy and government.”

In case Europeans believe that the EU is in a much better shape, the same man also claims that the Eurozone is “an absolute train wreck” which is “dancing with jugs of nitroglycerine.”

The price of gold will probably continue to rise. Investors buy precious metals because they no longer trust many currencies, above all the US dollar, and they are right to distrust the dollar. Although the price of gold has already risen significantly, the expatriate American investor Jim Rogers believes this is not a bubble since virtually nobody still owns gold. As a friend of mine comments, “I think gold is going to hold the level for a while now, for some months bordering to half a year. Then, due to the money-printing, the sky will be the limit.”

Another book

I just received one of my orders from Amazon, and the book I bought was Road to Serfdom,texts and documents, The Definitive Edition, by F.A. Hayek. I'm up to chapter two, The Great Utopia, and this book is quite interesting - and although originally written in 1944, looking at England at the time of WW2 socialists which were going to 'make over the country', it was printed in the United States, and was even condensed for the Readers Digest. It talks about classical liberalism (basically western thought) and the socialists, and progressive thought at that time. Progressives promise a 'new freedom', yet their 'freedom' brings servitude to the state. Look at what's happening today in Congress - for the first time, you will be required to purchase something. Never before has this occurred in the history of the United States. Is this despotism under another name, i.e. "good for you, good for the country"? I say that it is.

The Tea Party movement is more popular than the Republicans and the Democrats, yet the Tea Party movement is not a party, nor does it have a head. I think congress and the senate is in for big changes on these coming up elections.

Have you joined the Tea Party movement? The liberal establishment has taken to calling tea party members an obscene term, I guess they are following Alinsky Rule #3 - "Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon. It is almost impossible to counterattack ridicule. Also, it infuriates the opposition, who then react to your advantage."

However, the Tea Party movement is not going away - people are finally waking up to the government, and taking an interest in politics, people that were not previously involved in things are now. Look at the town halls this past August. Housewives, retirees, etc were standing up and asking hard questions of the elected officials, who often did not have an answer for their constituents.

Glenn Beck, who is often vilified by the left (and people on the right also), has a book out called Common Sense. I have the book, have read it several times, and am re-reading it again. Everyone, left, right, people who don't know which side they are on, should read this book - it's a book that is neither left nor right, but as its title says, is common sense.

I think today, the Republicans and the Democrats are both progressives, just not equal in their views. Both are to the left of center, although some Democrats and Republicans are starting to view this leftist point of view with some dismay. I think the Independent candidates are going to fare better in the upcoming elections than either Republican or Democrat. The people are tiring of the 'ruling elite' that makes up our government. Look at the number of years some of the congressmen and senators have been in office. They've made politics their career, even though this was never envisioned by the Founding Fathers. George Washington was offered the post of President for life, he turned that down, along with a third term.

Enough rambling, back to the Hayek book - even though I am only just into chapter 2, this is another book that I think people need to read today, and apply it today's politics and government. Its not that expensive at Amazon.

Now back to watching GB :P

Here and there

As fond as I am of credit cards, I am not fond of this rate - 79.9%, which is charged by First Premier Bank for their Visa card. I don't know of ANYONE with a brain that would get a credit card with that sort of interest rate. It says it's sent as an offer to those with a low credit score, has a maximum of $300. I'd say only an idiot and a fool would get that credit card.

While I'm thinking about idiots and fools, reminds me of a video I saw earlier this evening of Lord Monckton talking to a Danish woman up in Copenhagen. If there ever was a fool, HERE is one. All 10 minutes something of it. She doesn't let the facts confuse her at all.

While I was reading blogs, I came across The Cat in the Hat Goes to the White House, quite a charming tale of the Cat and Thing 1 and Thing 2. Some good snark there.

A day at the groomers

The dog went to the groomers Wednesday, and he came out looking like this. The stupid upload isn't working, so a link is the best I can do for his picture.

The elitists

While Al Gore flies his private plane, uses 20 times the average household's consumption of energy, and makes millions off selling 'carbon credits' with his business, the elitists and those who make the laws are leaving themselves out of the equation that everyone else has to live by. A good article from Jewish World Review has this:

The contemptible mindset of intellectual elitists can be reduced to just two words: "privileged exemption."


* Al Gore and his soulmates want to "save the planet" from global warming—which completely justifies their flying to conferences in private jets, riding around in gas-guzzling limos, and living in homes that use twenty times the energy of ordinary houses.

* Congress can destroy the best health care system in the world—because they have their own Cadillac health care coverage, and will never have to endure whatever system they foist on us.

* College professors can rail against the injustice of our democratic republic and our capitalist system—because they live in college-supplied housing, have job-for-life tenure, and adjuncts relieving them from much of the "burden" of teaching.

* Politicians and celebrities are overwhelmingly in favor of "gun control"—because they have armed bodyguards and live in protected communities.

* The same bunch wants "social justice," even if it bankrupts America in the process—because they've already amassed so much personal wealth (from the very same capitalist system they ostensibly abhor) that no amount of "income re-distribution" will alter their lifestyles one iota.

* The miserable status quo of public education, due in large part to the intransigence of union contracts which nullify accountability, is acceptable—because the children of the elitists attend private schools, and because elite politicians need union contributions to get re-elected.

* Prosecuting wars without an all-out effort to achieve victory is acceptable—because "other peoples' kids" are doing the fighting and dying, and it's far more important to be "sensitive" to our enemy's concerns.

* Legalizing millions of lawbreaking border-busters is the "right thing to do"—because the privileged in business get cheap labor, and the privileged in politics get cheap votes.

* All attempts to foist world governance on America are perfectly acceptable—because elitists will be running things, and "messy impediments" like the Constitution will be unnecessary.

Look at the system in Russia. There were lines for food, wood, everything down to tiny potatoes, while the elites in Russia shopped at special stores, didn't have to stand in line for everything, and got the buttered side of the bread while making everyone else do what they're told. Look at Cuba as another one. Michael Moore says Cuba has the best health care in the world. Do you really think he got the average person's medical treatment? Reserved for the elites is what he got. They put on the full dog and pony show for him.

Speaking of the Constitution, FDR wanted a second Bill of Rights. Obama is trying to put that into use now - with the health care bill, being a "right" to health care, housing, etc. check this out:

We have come to a clear realization of the fact that true individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. “Necessitous men are not free men.” People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made.

In our day these economic truths have become accepted as self-evident. We have accepted, so to speak, a second Bill of Rights under which a new basis of security and prosperity can be established for all—regardless of station, race, or creed.

Among these are:

The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the nation;

The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation;

The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living;

The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad;

The right of every family to a decent home;

The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health;

The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment;

The right to a good education.

All of these rights spell security. And after this war is won we must be prepared to move forward, in the implementation of these rights, to new goals of human happiness and well-being.

America’s own rightful place in the world depends in large part upon how fully these and similar rights have been carried into practice for our citizens.

Look at what they consider rights. Obama refers to the Constitution and the Bill of Rights as negatives. This has been a long time coming, out of the progressive movement of the early 1900s on through today, each president has been further to the left, including the Republicans. Progressive thought is interwoven all through today's politics, and it's the very few that have not succumbed. (Ron Paul comes to mind). His son Rand Paul is running for the Senate in Kentucky. He's got the same views as his father on government. We need more like that, that stick to the Constitution, and what the Founding Fathers stood for.

All these things that FDR wanted as a second Bill of Rights, are NOT rights. It's more of robbing Peter to pay Paul. Even if we took all the money from "the rich" it would not even begin to cover all the spending that this government is going for. Tax increases are coming for everyone, including the middle class.

From Americans for Tax Reform, comes this:
"What Will Your State's Top Income Tax Rate Be?" When the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts expire at the end of 2010, marginal tax rates will spike back up to 39.6%. This means that top marginal rates will rise everywhere; when integrated with state taxes, the marginal rates are even higher.

This document describes what each state's top rate will be after the tax cuts expire, and ranks them from best to worst. (9 states have no state income tax and are tied for first place with 39.6%; Oregon is 51st, with a top integrated marginal tax rate of 46.24%.) Find it HERE.


Just great. Plus figure in the higher taxes on tobacco, health care, everything else, you'll be paying close to 50% of your income in taxes. Don't forget to throw in your yearly property tax! We chose to live out of town because in this little town, we would have been paying close to $1400 a year for a 3 br house of a bit less than 2,000 sq. feet. Out here we pay much less. Throw in *all* the taxes you pay, and what if taxes had to come out one time a year paid all at once? People would be up in arms, and crying foul because of the amount they'd have to shell out to the assorted agencies. But we're being nibbled to death bit by bit, and people generally don't notice the huge chunk that is coming out of their pay.

From one of my bumper stickers: "You are not entitled to what I earn"

Oh no!

We have a gingerbread village like that this year. It has not been assembled yet.. I wonder if the kitten will attack it like this cat is?

Dec 14,2009

why such a title? because its' a bunch of things.. here ya go..

A couple of things I was made aware of today – an article from Fusion magazine – about the environmentalists, and their shoddy record. I remember while I was growing up, the big scare was “the coming Ice Age” complete with capital letters in order to scare the heck out of us. Then suddenly, it was completely silent during the 80s, until global warming came upon us. Can’t they make up their minds? The earth goes through natural cooling and warming cycles, and it appears we are shifting into a cooling cycle, as the past 10 years have had a gradual decrease in temperatures. Of course, let’s not let facts stand in the way of mass hysteria. I somewhat remember my mother complaining about the lack of good stuff to get rid of mosquitoes, (the state bird of Minnesota), only to find out years later that malaria was almost conquered, but with the bans on DDT, it resurged and today over a million die yearly from malaria. Now that mosquitoes are carrying other diseases, it would be a good thing for us to re-look at DDT and bring it back. I’m seriously considering subscribing to Fusion, either that or Wall Street Journal. I’m finding that I like WSJ more and more.. apart from all those pages of stock figures. Their opinion pages and articles are more relevant than most of the so-called “news” organizations.

And yet we still listen to the loose wing-nuts of the left , with their dire predictions. CNN, MSNBC, et al are not reporting much on, if at all, of the emails that have come to light in climate-gate. Making up data and throwing away original data because it didn’t support the pre-determined conclusion… lovely stuff. Why am I not surprised? The people on the left seem to have no morals or anything that stops them from lying, cheating, etc.

On another note, federal workers are going gangbusters. The average federal worker makes MORE than a private industry employee, at $71,206 per year, with private industry at about $40,331, plus it’s about impossible to fire a federal worker. I remember when I was in the Navy, and we had a secretary in Supply. She slogged off the job quite a bit, took extra-long lunches, and generally did a shoddy job. You can’t fire them, without reams of documentation. They finally shoved her off onto another division, and we got on with our work. Federal workers were a laughingstock when I was in, as most of them were slugs and just plain lazy. Freshman Congressman Jason Chaffetz is calling for investigation into the paying of federal employees. I was reading yesterday how Dept. of Transportation has quite a few making over $170,000 a year. WHAT?

Federal pay is increasing, while private sector pay is decreasing. The two sectors of growth in industry is health care *duh* and GOVERNMENT. Do we really need all that government?

Today I was watching television, and a reporter asked Nancy Pelosi about the Constitution and the requirement that is in a bill to buy health insurance. She stammered “what? What?” and never answered the question. The political whore of a Republican that is in Louisiana, Mary Landreiu (sp?) , paid off by $100 million for her state, said that she would leave it up to the constitutional lawyers as to where in the Constitution it is found that the government can FORCE you to buy something.

I read a couple of blog posts that I found very interesting today, about 2nd Amendment issues. New Jovian Thunderbolt has some information on pending laws that are affecting your dealings with others, and Lawdog has a link to a blog that examines court cases.

In Palestine, the idiots populace marched in green for Hamas, and the end of Israel. Since the inception of Israel, the Arabs have turned down every peace talk that is put towards them, their only wish is the destruction of Israel and the Jews.

On a good note, the youngest had her Christmas Concert at the local HS, they had from elementary school on up to the high school bands play. She is in the percussion section, and seems to land behind the tubas each year, so no good pictures can be taken of her! Also bought some tasty peanut brittle from the little table they had set up as a fundraiser for Band Boosters. I forgot peanut brittle was so chewy once you started eating it. Well the internet is not cooperating, so you get more of my thoughts.

Christmas seemed to come upon us really quickly from last year. This past year I spent some time away from home to help my mother-in-law, I guess that made it go quicker. Also seems like when you get older, the time goes quicker. Each day does not go by so quickly, but next thing you know, another day is gone, and what have you done? I guess being a stay-at-home wife does something to you, makes you look at things in a different perspective. Housecleaning is not all its cracked up to be. It’s boring and dull. When I was a kid, I’d trade my household chores with my little sister, so I could be outside and *do* something, even if it was just mowing the lawn. Now it’s come to the internet, where this is my little outlook on the world, and it’s expanded from just the family, to political turmoil in Iran, and what else is going on in the world. Funny how the internet has changed the the views and outlooks of a s. Texas housewife. Years ago, I was not in any way political. I voted for Mondale against Reagan only because he was from Minnesota, I didn’t know anything about their platforms, or their background or anything. Today I write emails to congress, representatives, and follow on Twitter all the Texas politicians that are on that service, including quite a few Washington politicos.

Ron Paul has finally gotten an amendment into a bill, that will audit the Federal Reserve Bank. It’s about time. He’s been on this since the 80s, to get inside this private company that has the printing capability of our country, and this administration’s wonks have had it on fire, printing up more and more money. I’m noticing grocery prices are going up, and I’m afraid it will only get much worse than it already is. At least rice and beans are still cheap, although the price of specialty beans has risen. Pintos are still cheap.

I guess I’ll re-read Glenn Beck’s Common Sense – which I highly recommend to everyone – right, left, in between, undecided. It also contains Thomas Paine’s Common Sense.

Spend, spend spend

Let's spend our way out of a recession. Spend money we don't have. Don't worry, the Fed will just print more! Hyperinflation? why that will give people more dollars in their pockets. BLAH the politics coming out of Washington is making me more nauseated by the day. Ron Paul slipped in an amendment to audit the Fed. About stinkin time, and the bums are now trying to take it out (guess who - the ones who let money go through their fingers like water through a sieve). oh wait.. made up money at that! It's not even cash in hand and they spend worse than a drunken sailor. GAH!

While cleaning off my desk...

which took almost an HOUR to sort through the assorted junk on it, I came across an old (from the 70s) clipping out of mom's cookbook, for Rhubarb Nut Bread. So if you have some, here's the recipe:

1 1/2 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup salad oil
1 egg
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon soda
2 1/2 cup white flour
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
1 1/2 cup diced rhubarb
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon softened butter

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Combine the brown sugar, oil and egg in a large bowl and beat until fluffy.

Combine the salt, soda and flour. Add to the brown-sugar mixture alternately with the buttermilk. Beat until smooth. Beat in the vanilla. Fold in the nuts and the rhubarb. Pour into two greased 9- by 5-inch loaf pans.

Blend sugar, cinnamon and butter. Sprinkle over batter. Bake for 60 minutes. Do not overbake. Let cool for 10 minutes, then remove from pans. Best second day.

They've not had fresh rhubarb at the grocery store for a while, I think they stopped carrying it, but I am not sure how well frozen rhubarb would work in this recipe. But being I *love* rhubarb, I think I'll try it this week. Mom had 3 large rhubarb plants growing out in the back yard, and she'd barely have enough for one pie, because I was picking them all the time and munching on it.

Charlie Brown Christmas tree

Because Obummer pre-empted A Charlie Brown Christmas on Tuesday, here is the tree to help ya'll out. I have it DVR'd from last year, so I will watch it again (maybe three or four times even) this year. Between the snow and Charlie Brown, it's starting to seem like it's getting to Christmastime.

Snow!

We got snow today - the earliest snow to date! If we get snow at all, its not until later on in December. BRRRR it's cold outside. The cats and dog all want to be inside, even the outside cats. I wonder if it will snow again tonight?

Some good snark

I left the tab open last night on my Firefox so I could get back to it - I hate it when it messes up and I have to start a whole new session - because then I misplace about 10 sites that I've tabbed, and have to go into history to get them all back. Stupid computer, be more smart!

HERE is the Secret History of the United States! I guess its appropriate now because one of the channels on DirectTV did a presentation last night, Before Columbus. Meaning before the eeeeeeeevil white men came and did all sorts of horrible things. I hadn't realized the earth was so peaceful until the the founding of this country. After all, all the indians were peaceful, and gave other tribes large banquets. Other countries throughout Europe and Asia did not fight amongst themselves. Only since the inception of the United States has all this evil in the world has come about.

Why am I up this late?

There's darn good shows on Cspan, on Book TV! My wish list at Amazon is building. In the meantime, for those of you ready to take on zombies after the midnight hour, there are NEW zombies out..and they live in your kitchen.

He's dangerous

I was surfing my blogroll, and just read some posts on Dissecting Leftism. There was a link to an article by David Horowitz, about Obama and his ideals.. Alinskyism. Horowitz gives a short bio of Alinsky, and goes further into Obama's madness. I call it madness, because it's all about power.

Unemployment taxes

Are rising like crazy. This spending is out of control, and now they are raising unemployment rates in your pay. Florida is raising the minimum unemployment tax from $8.40 to $100.30! Your pay is going to go down, and the chance of more people getting hired? Not as likely, because businesses are not in the charity line of work, they will make those dollars they have stretch further, either by not giving pay increases, bonuses, or hiring new workers. This unemployment that's at 10.2% is going to get higher, I think much higher. The spending that the government is doing is not going to help the US get out of this recession. If you include people that have given up on finding a job, or take part-time jobs instead of full-time, the unemployment rate goes up a tad over 17%. The Great Depression was a jobless rate of 25%, and we saw how well government did with that. Government tinkering lengthened the depression, and it was business that got us out of it, with the ramping up for WW2.

FDR did a great disservice to this country with all the government programs he instituted, but he was only one in a line of presidents who were progressives. Woodrow Wilson was the first progressive, with a whole administration of people who 'wanted to get something done'. They had the idea of bringing the kingdom of God in on the US also, with Prohibition, and the rise of fascism in the United States. Mussolini and Hitler were admired here in the states, by the Progressives. Read Wilson's writings. He talks about it in there.

To quote from Jonah Goldberg, "The progressives were the real social Darwinists as we think of the term today - though they reserved the term for their enemies. They believed in eugenics. They were imperialists. They were convinced that the state could, through planning and pressure, create a pure race, a society of new men. They were openly and proudly hostile to individualism. Religion was a political tool, while politics was the true religion. The progressives viewed the traditional system of constitutional checks and balances as an outdated impediment to progress because such horse-and-buggy institutions were a barrier to their own ambitions. Dogmatic attachment to constitutions, democratic practices, and antiquated laws was the enemy of progress for fascists and progressives alike. Indeed, fascists and progressives shared the same intellectual heroes and quoted the same philosophers.

The progressives are here today, in the White House, in the Senate, in the House, and all over the administration. Heck, there are self-avowed communists in this administration.

These higher unemployment taxes are only the start of new taxes, to pay for Paul's agreement. Poor Peter. He's being robbed blind.

Trip to Houston

We were up in Houston this week, while hub had grand jury duty, and I got to walk the tunnels underneath Houston. Kind of interesting, long walk from Fed. building to the huge Macy's a few blocks away. That store is huge, 5 stories tall, lots of stuff on sale on their 1-day sale. I think I will go again when they have that type of sale again! Wednesday night, we weren't sure where to dine out, so I started going through the 'inside the loop' yellow pages. Lots of restaurants to pick from, but we ended up going to a Sicilian restaurant - Buon Appetito - at 2231 W. Holcombe Blvd. Wow! We just knew what was basically on the menu from the menu page. This place is a really neat find - its in a blue with white trim house - the minute you walk by the front door, you can already smell good stuff inside. Inside there are 2 rooms, the room we sat in had 5 tables - to seat 4 each - and an older guy playing guitar and singing in Italian. (of course he did Volare) The food was great, and the tiramisu was excellent, along with an espresso after dinner. Hub had the linguini and I had the conchiglie stuffed with crabmeat. We had an appetizer, the stuffed calimari, sauteed. Wow, that stuff is great. I really enjoyed this restaurant. Nice for a romantic night out.

Thursday we had the symphony, so we ate at Cabo's on Travis. Good food, especially their habanero shrimp salad. Hub had the burrito, he wasn't feeling that hungry. If I had my camera, I would have taken a picture of it! It was huge. Symphony was great, had Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde - The Song of the Earth. We hadn't heard that before, but really enjoyed it. It was nice not having a 1.5 hour drive to home after the symphony let out, just a short drive to the hotel.

Thursday noon we ate at DiMassi's Mediterranean Buffet off 59 south, just south of 8. It has Arabic music videos going on while you eat. Weird. But good food, plus baklava at the end for a dessert. Shopping at Kohl's, Ross, and Academy then off to the grocery store for a turkey and a ham.

It appears that 30 lb turkeys are a thing of the past! The largest I found was a 22 lb turkey.

Music Monday

Oops!

This car drove into a lagoon by Galveston. !! This car is a Bugatti Veyron, is one of 15 in the US.

The two-seater, with 16 cylinders and four turbo chargers, can reach speeds of more than 250 mph. New models sell for about $2 million.

The news said the enginge gurgled for about 15 minutes after landing in the water, and then died. I wonder how much it will cost for an engine replacement? Plus the water damage inside. It will stink like a swamp after this, that water is not clear, but nasty.

The report said "The man jerked the wheel, dropped his cell phone, and the car’s front tire left the frontage road and entered a muddy patch, which foiled his attempt to maneuver away from the lagoon."

Bummer. I guess lots of money doesn't make you less stupid. The car was one of only 200 made also. I bet he's crying into his beer (or champagne) now about his car. Makes another case for not paying attention to your cell phone while driving. First there's people running into the backs of other cars because they're busy texting, idiots driving around ESPECIALLY SLOW because of their cell phone (I was behind someone doing 10 in a 30 zone Sunday), and now this. Maybe they're not the conveniences that everyone seems to think.

Runaway bat!

Ok so I watch basketball, but I missed this game (even though we have freeview through DirectTV for NBA league pass for a few days). Spurs were playing, and Manu Ginobili snagged a bat! We usually watch Laker games.

Basketball Player Snares Pesky Bat - The most amazing home videos are here

Deer season

Deer season is either upon us or really close. I remember years gone by, with my dad going deer hunting out west, and coming home with the guys with dead deer tied with ropes all over the vehicles when they returned. Each year they used mom's laundry pole to hang the deer from, and gut them, cut off ends of legs, whatever they do. A distinct memory I have is playing in my sandbox and trying to hide deer legs in there. The things people let their kids play with :P

Tax Hikes in Health Bill

Employer Mandate Excise Tax (Page 275): If an employer does not pay 72.5 percent of a single employee’s health premium (65 percent of a family employee), the employer must pay an excise tax equal to 8 percent of average wages. Small employers measured by payroll size) have smaller payroll tax rates of 0 percent (<$500,000), 2 percent ($500,000-$585,000), 4 percent ($585,000-$670,000), and 6 percent ($670,000-$750,000).


Individual Mandate Surtax (Page 296): If an individual fails to obtain qualifying coverage, he must pay an income surtax equal to the lesser of 2.5 percent of modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) or the average premium. MAGI adds back in the foreign earned income exclusion and municipal bond interest.


Medicine Cabinet Tax (Page 324): Non-prescription medications would no longer be able to be purchased from health savings accounts (HSAs), flexible spending accounts (FSAs), or health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs). Insulin excepted.


Cap on FSAs (Page 325): FSAs would face an annual cap of $2500 (currently uncapped).
Increased Additional Tax on Non-Qualified HSA Distributions (Page 326): Non-qualified
distributions from HSAs would face an additional tax of 20 percent (current law is 10 percent). This disadvantages HSAs relative to other tax-free accounts (e.g. IRAs, 401(k)s, 529 plans, etc.)

Denial of Tax Deduction for Employer Health Plans Coordinating with Medicare Part D (Page 327): This would further erode private sector participation in delivery of Medicare services.

Surtax on Individuals and Small Businesses (Page 336): Imposes an income surtax of 5.4 percent on MAGI over $500,000 ($1 million married filing jointly). MAGI adds back in the itemized deduction for margin loan interest. This would raise the top marginal tax rate in 2011 from 39.6 percent under current law to 45 percent—a new effective top rate.


Excise Tax on Medical Devices (Page 339): Imposes a new excise tax on medical device manufacturers equal to 2.5 percent of the wholesale price. It excludes retail sales and unspecified medical devices sold to the general public.


Corporate 1099-MISC Information Reporting (Page 344): Requires that 1099-MISC forms be issued to corporations as well as persons for trade or business payments. Current law limits to just persons for small business compliance complexity reasons. Also expands reporting to exchanges of property.

Delay in Worldwide Allocation of Interest (Page 345): Delays for nine years the worldwide allocation of interest, a corporate tax relief provision from the American Jobs Creation Act

Limitation on Tax Treaty Benefits for Certain Payments (Page 346): Increases taxes on U.S. employers with overseas operations looking to avoid double taxation of earnings.


Codification of the “Economic Substance Doctrine” (Page 349): Empowers the IRS to disallow a perfectly legal tax deduction or other tax relief merely because the IRS deems that the motive of the taxpayer was not primarily business-related.


Application of “More Likely Than Not” Rule (Page 357): Publicly-traded partnerships and corporations with annual gross receipts in excess of $100 million have raised standards on penalties. If there is a tax underpayment by these taxpayers, they must be able to prove that the estimated tax paid would have more likely than not been sufficient to cover final tax liability.

Source.

0% interest and reality

I was just reading THIS article and it seemed to be spot on. Reality is not a 0% interest rate, and let's face facts, many assets were being speculated on (that's what helped drive the 29 crash also). The price to earnings ratio was skewed on many companies too, being overvalued. Same with housing prices. The town where I grew up in, a small town in Minnesnowta, the average real estate range for lakeshore property is in the 900,000$ region. Talk about overpriced! Although when I went back there for my 20th class reunion, it had been built up more. Where we once had a nice public beach to go sit and swim at, is now condominiums, and a private beach. It seems to have lost its small-town feeling. But again, to the markets. Here is another chart, showing that we are back to the Carter years for stuff:


I'm expecting hyperinflation, with the treasury printing off more and more money, making the dollar even weaker against other currencies, dairy farmers are killing off their cows because milk prices are so flat; I know of a shrimper who went out of business a year ago because the bottom fell out of the shrimp- they were only paying 85c a pound for the jumbo extra-large shrimp..and lesser prices for the smaller shrimp. This economy is going down the tubes, and in the meantime, the government is growing, and spending more than they could possibly accumulate.

Journey

My husband says the guy is nothing to look at, but dang his voice is so great. here's the vid I like

UIL Area competition

Our band made it through the first two rounds, but got knocked out by Industrial and Kelly HS. VV made it however. So we spent the day in San Antonio, watching them march and twirl flags, then went to the Riverwalk to Schilo's to eat. Our table was under the moose head mount.



This is what I saw when I looked up. Across the room there were more mounts of deer and an elk also.


Here's the kidlet with her flags, marching out to wave and twirl them around. She is the one with the red sash in the front.

I don't believe it!

Someone got ARRESTED for washing out their kids' mouth with soap!! Is this silly or WHAT? First, you can't spank them, you need to "take and reason with them" however kids are not adults, their brain is wired differently, and they just don't get the concepts that you are trying to 'reason' into their brains. The little ones, you're supposed to put in a time-out. Good luck with that. When you've got a kid throwing a full-blown hissy fit, kicking and screaming on the ground, sure, just sit them in a chair and tell them to sit there for a bit. It'll work. And I'm the queen of England. What about swearing? A bit of soap in the mouth works wonders. And despite what Ralphie thinks in A Christmas Story, no one ever went blind from soap in the mouth. Neither will you 'shoot your eye out, kid' from a BB gun. Unless you're the stupidest person in the world, and point it at your eye. But whose mom DIDN'T wash out their kids mouth when they swore? To this day, I cannot stand yellow Dial soap. I smell that, and I get this taste in my mouth. Yellow Dial soap has a mild flavor, and does NOT go well with Mountain Dew or anything else. What is this world coming to? Are the local police insane? I already know CPS is out-of-whack, but to arrest someone for child abuse for putting a bar of soap in the kids' mouth is about the lamest thing. TG: would like your opinion of arresting people for soaping mouths.

Think it's over?

Does anyone (besides Obummer and his cronies) think that this recession is over? They talk about "the great recession" .. according to the graph above, we're following in the tracks of the Great Depression, not something we're likely to get out of soon. There is 1 out of 6 not working, or only working part time because they can't find a full-time job. And the government is only spending MORE tax dollars, yet they are taking in less. They are racking up trillions in debt, yet keep printing money. I say there is not a sane person heading this up. They're all trying to spend the way into extra money. It just doesn't work that way. Spend what you don't have, and you owe more and more. Some journalists are starting to wonder if the US will become a banana republic. Most of the media says nothing bad about Obummer's policies, and spending. Obummer blames it on Bush, however, Bush was not there making him sign these bills spending all this money. It's all on his own darn head. Congress is just as insane, voting on bills that aren't even put down on paper, at least ONE congressman has said what's the use of reading the bills. (That was Rangel, by the way) They've outlived their purpose up there in Washington DC. If they haven't the guts or the clues to do what needs to be done, get someone in there that WILL. Get rid of all of em. INCLUDING the pResident. And his buddy, Joe. Top that off with princess pelosi and reed, and the rest of the jackanapes. To quote Big Daddy, from Cat on a Hot Tin Roof "There ain't nuthin' more powerful than the smell of mendacity!"

10/24/09 Bubbafest 10:00am-5:00pm

Karankawa village in Matagorda is having Bubba fest. Come out where they showcase their Chateau Bubba Wines. Artists are invited to sell their artwork for this festival even though there are several Bubba activities going on. They have their annual Spam Sculpting Contest as well as the Casserole Contest. There will be live entertainment. come down to Matagorda and stop by Karankawa village.

all day event Invest in Wellness Goblin Gallop Race at 1700 7th St. in Bay City. registration is at 6:30am 5k run and 10k run starts at 7:30 am. The Family Stroll starts at 8:00am and Abby McConaha at 7:15am

Palacios Harvest Moon Dinner will be held at the Palacios Recreation Center. The evening will begin with a reception and silent auction at 6:00pm and seated dinner at 7:00. Tickets may be purchased for $35 each. For additional information, please call 361-972-3234

10/30/09 4:00-6:00pm
The American Legion will hold a free Halloween Party. Children up to age 12 must be accompanied by a parent. Free games, prized goodies, movies and more. the location is is at 2106 Cottonwood in Bay City

10/30/09
4:30-6:30pm
JOIN THE HAPPY RADIO CREW AS WE HOST A TAIL GATE PARTY BEFORE THE BAY CITY BLACK CAT EL CAMPO GAME. THE TAIL GATE PARTY WILL BE AT MEMORIAL STADIUM JUST OUTSIDE THE GATE. WE WILL BE GIVING AWAY HALLOWEEN CANDY, AND FOR JUST $3 YOU CAN GET A HOT DOG OR HAMBURGER WITH CHIPS AND A DRINK. ALL THE PROCEEDS WILL GO BACK TO BAY CITY HIGH SCHOOL. THIS EVENT IS SPONSORED BY H.E.B., ALLSTATE INS., SISK HARDWARE, CAMPBELL HUITT INS., NICAS 10 SALON&SPA, DAVIS BROS, EASY STREET CYCLES, THE BURLAP SACK, TRAVEL WORLD, TETTS JEWELERS.
10/30/09
7:00pm
THE OLDEST RIVALS IN TEXAS. BAY CITY BLACK CATS VS EL CAMPO RICEBIRDS AT MEMORIAL STADIUM IN BAY CITY. IT IS ALSO HALL OF FAME NIGHT. LISTEN TO THE GAME ON HAPPY RADIO 92.5 OR STREAM ONLINE AT KKHAFM.COM

Church tonight

This week is a revival at church, Robby Pollard from a north Houston Baptist church is speaking.. Sunday through Wednesday. He showed a video tonight before his sermon.. I don't know how he managed to get through it himself, being one of his children died at birth.. I had to go sit in the ladies room for a while to collect myself and blow my nose alot. The video is titled 99 balloons, all 6 minutes of it.



He was preaching out of Acts.. where do you draw the line? What are you willing to give up.. and this went along with it.

Just some thoughts.

Yum, Pico

I like pico de gallo on my fajitas, on taco salads, etc. I found a quick and easy recipe from a San Antonio restaraunt of the same name -

3 medium tomatoes
1 medium sweet yellow onion
3 jalapenos (more or less, according to how hot you want it)
1 bunch of cilantro, chopped (or less if you don't like as much cilantro as I do!)
salt

Cut up the tomatoes into a 1/2 inch dice, along with the onions. Cut the jalapenos a bit smaller, around 1/4 inch dice. Mix it all together with the cilantro in a bowl, and put it in the fridge to mellow a bit. Add a pinch of salt if desired. I usually put in 2 pinches of salt. Makes a good amount of pico, and it's way cheaper than the grocery store's. Theirs at HEB is 3.99 for a 10 or 12 oz container, and this makes more for less, or around the same price depending on tomato prices.

What!?!

Finland has now declared high-speed internet to be a RIGHT. France has already succumbed to this lunacy, but Finland was the first to mandate it. The UN (naturally) is in favor of this, CNN says the US is the only industrial nation without a national policy to promote high-speed internet. WHAT! Who's business is it, especially the governments, to make this a "right"? Since when does a thing that is not a right, become a right? because liberals say so? GEEZE give me a break. I'm so sick of this stuff that it's giving me trouble sleeping at night because my mind cannot shut off. I was up last night till around 2 am, and just wondering what the hell happened to common sense? A good number of people would be well-served by READING common sense by Thomas Paine, and hearkening to it. I'm so sick of the politicos in Washington, they only serve themselves. Forcing stuff on people that they don't want, need or can even pay for. "Hi, we're the government and we're here to help you" since when is that a GOOD thing? it makes me crazy!

A plant at church

This plant, when I bought it, was around a foot tall. The sign didn't say it would get over 5 feet tall, and as bushy around as it said. I planted it at the church this spring, and now we have to have ropes around it to contain it so it doesn't whack people along the sidewalk. I put my purse and camera case (blue) in front of the plant to give a bit of perspective on how large this thing is. It's a medium sized purse, not a small one. If you are looking for a big, ornate plant that looks pretty nice, attracts butterflies, this is the one for you - it's a Texas native plant and I am not sure what it is called.. but here is a couple of pictures of it. The bottom picture is of it when it was small and under control.

No more fishing?

I was reading my Tweetfeed this morning, and off John Cornyn's facebook page of links was THIS LINK, from Shimano (the fishing reel company).


"IRVINE, Calif. USA – October 5, 2009 – A recently published administration document outlines a structure that could result in closures of sport fishing in salt and freshwater areas across America. The White House created an Interagency Oceans Policy Task Force in June and gave them only 90 days to develop a comprehensive federal policy for all U.S. coastal, ocean and Great Lakes waters. Under the guise of ‘protecting’ these areas, the current second phase of the Task Force direction is to develop zoning which may permanently close vast areas of fishing waters nationwide. This is to be completed by December 9, 2009."

Close fishing? Talk about ridiculous. Fishing is big in our community here, and also where I grew up (land of 10,000 lakes). I grew up fishing, catching sunnies, perch and crappies. One or two bass also, but not very often. They didn't seem to like worms as much. This is another one of our freedoms, looking to be taken away by legislation, and the consequences could be serious - What about the water quality when there are too many fish in the water?

If they take away most of the fishing areas, this will close down businesses further, creating a worse job report. Unemploying more people, affecting even the little kids who go out and grab up worms to sell to the bait shops, or to fishermen at a dock.

Growing up, we had a great fishing spot, and always caught plenty of sunnies and threw away the perch, and lots of crappies, sold some to guys on boats that would come by so we could get candy and soda money, and then take a bunch home to fry up for dinner. Bullheads too, but they were only good in the spring when they were firm and not all nasty.

I remember growing up, we'd take out the boat for a day of fishing, and we'd go through the narrows under bridges, people from Minneapolis would come out for the day and go fishing along the bridges. You always had to go low wake and watch out for lines.

In the winter, there would be semi trucks out on the ice, getting carp to sell back east (why they would want to eat carp, I have no idea!), and like the movie Grumpy Old Men, every winter it was normal to see the stands of fish houses out on the lake, people driving out there to their spot, till it started warming up. The first one to go through the ice, that signaled it was time to get your icehouse off the lake. My dad was a diver that used to go with the police and help get cars and snowmobiles out of the lake.

If they take away fishing, kids will not have something fun to do with dad or mom. It would probably affect crabbing, with some chicken necks and a piece of rope, and a catchnet.

This is a disaster all around as far as I can see.

Evolution

Heh. Reading an article about a Kent state professor, who has been studying that new skeleton found, Ardipithecus ramidus, or "Ardi". Lucy, who was constructed from various pieces from being scattered over a mile around, while Ardi was found more composed than Lucy, in one spot.

from the professor:

“People often think we evolved from apes, but no, apes in many ways evolved from us,” Lovejoy said. “It has been a popular idea to think humans are modified chimpanzees. From studying Ardipithecus ramidus, or ‘Ardi,’ we learn that we cannot understand or model human evolution from chimps and gorillas.”

To watch a video of Lovejoy discussing the research findings of Ardipithecus ramidus, visit www.kent.edu

I find this interesting. Here we've had a theory (not proven) taught as fact in the schools and universities, now suddenly "oops, we were wrong, it's not really true that we descended from apes and monkeys". We also share similarities in DNA with white mice, but that doesn't make us mouse-men. (For a good read, check out Maus)

You know there is not much to say about evolutionists being INCORRECT except "nyah nyah nyah". Take your theory and shove it.

Arguing with idiots

I just *finally* went to the post office and picked up my box from Amazon.com that had this book in it. Started to read it, and the first argument is about how "capitalism has failed".. The argument against it is a good one.. I think I will enjoy this book, and be able to use it against the idiots that I run across. In the meantime, enjoy this video :D

Do you have one?

This is kind of old.. but was just reminded of the Trunk Monkeys!



There are ten commercials, found HERE.

Everyone needs a trunk monkey, and maybe cops need a squad of trunkmonkeys.

Government regulation?

Or rather strangulation.. of blogs. If you get a product from a company, and decide to review it, guess what the government wants to get their meddling little fingers in on! the FTC issued a guidance document yesterday requiring bloggers who write testimonials about products to disclose large gifts or payments, or they will run afoul of the FTC’s regulations on advertising. They want to regulate broadband internet, or any internet (hence Obama's internet czar), and they've put forward a bill to be able to take down the net 'in case of emergency" including private companies. They regulate everything else to the nTH degree, why not your internet and computer. :|

Paul got some shots of these little buggers on his trip to Australia back in 85. He was on Heron Island up on the north part of Australia.


This is taken from Mt. Fuji in Japan.

I have more photos at Flickr

A book you sh ould check out

I'm STILL reading Liberal Fascism, by Jonah Goldberg, when my usual book speed is 2 days per book. This one is taking over 2 weeks, because it is very well-put together history of the progressive movement in the United States. It puts to rest the lie that the conservatives are the "nazis", where liberals have whitewashed and just hid under a rock their roots, which were right in line with what Hitler and Mussolini were doing. American progressives looked up to Mussolini as bright shining example for them to follow, as was Hitler. Chapter 3 is about Woodrow Wilson and the birth of Liberal Fascism, 4 is FDR's fascist new deal, the 60s, and talks about the myth of Kennedy, and then going on from there. This is an important, light-shedding book on the cockroaches scuttling around in the corners. HERE is the link for the book on Amazon.

Cap & Trade Bill

I was reading my facebook page today, and Dan Patrick (a state senator up in Austin) said that

"I joined Governor Perry today as he convened a panel on the Obama Cap & Trade bill. If passed would impact TX & Houston, the hardest. Bill has language that actually says "oil is a clear and present danger." Liberals willing to destroy our economy on theory of global warming Everyone wants a clean environment, but at what cost ? Bill would cost us 300,000 jobs in TX, raise electric bills 30% plus & increase gas 40% per gallon."

and

"Governor convened business leaders from a range of industries to discuss Cap & Trade today in Houston If Obama bill passes it could cost Texas over 300,000 jobs"

My electric bill during the summer is already something scary, and a 30% higher bill would be outrageous.

On another note, the van driving did not go too bad last night. I was surprised. During AWANA was another story, we had 12 children, and only 2 leaders.. not really enough for the smaller kids to get their bible verses learned.

Tonight

Well, tonight is the first night I will be driving the church van to pick up kids for AWANA, from the housing areas. I already know they will try to sneak on their littler brothers and sisters (the under kindergarten age); and they will act up on the bus. It's a matter of who gets kicked off the bus and why. I've read Tales from the Schoolbus blog, and I wish I could get his glare down, but these kids don't react to glares. They don't listen to women mostly, is what I've gathered. They are raised by their moms, and when a guy tells them to sit down and be quiet, they will..but not when a female does. Tonight should prove interesting. More will follow tomorrow on how the van ride went, both to church, and afterwards. I am at least going to make the little kids sit up front where I can keep an eye on them, to keep them from leaping over from back seat to the next seat.

Netanyahu's speech at the UN

I watched the speeches at the UN, however, I missed Ahmadinnerjacket's speech, although I have heard about it, rambling bits of insanity and inanity, along with the usual tripe he spews about the Holocaust being a myth. I watched Netanyahu's speech, and it was a great speech. He put to rest the lies that the others had spoken out about. The full text of his speech can be found here.

On another note, Obama's speech was "oh can't we all just get along and let's all throw our nukes away" pipe dream. Even Sarkozy, the French president, said that it is unreasonable. It's pretty bad when the French are standing up for what needs to be done, and the US just is a wishy-washy 'oh gee goodness me" type. I don't know what Obummer is stuffing in his cigarettes and smoking, but it has to stop.

Frog-gate

I was watching Glenn Beck the other day, and there is frog-gate! not just watergate, clintongate, whatever.. liberal bloggers said GB boiled a frog alive.. so here's his rebuttal over the poor lil ole frog



Enjoy.

Never in a million years...

Would I eat the canape that looks like the pair of eyes in this little cooking booklet from 1971 that I picked up at one of the local resale shops. I think that is the main reason I bought this for a quarter. I've looked through the booklet, and I *think* it is a sardine canape, with chopped olives around, and a green stuffed olive on top. This is definitely an unfortunate food. However, it did have some tasty looking recipes in the back for desserts, but the canapes I'll pass on. Especially the suggestion under "ham spreads" - 1 cup ground ham, vinegar or pickle juice to moisten, 4 teaspoons peanut butter, salt, pepper, celery salt. No wonder it appears that everyone had martinis and other libations during the 50s, 60s and early 70s in the party pictures. They had to get drunk to stomach the nibbles.

What a baby!

A woman in Indonesia gave birth to a - get this - 19.2 lb - baby boy. For those of you on the metric system, that's 8.7 kilos. She had him delivered C-section, he's 24.4 inches long (62 centimeters). He's heavy, but not that tall.. my oldest was 22 inches long when she was born. He's just BIG. This was her fourth baby, the only one not delivered by midwife. The mother has diabetes, and according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, when a diabetic mother's glucose level is high during pregnancy, the baby can receive too much glucose and grow too large.

And I thought my almost 9 pound babies were big. They fit right off into medium baby clothes, the small stuff I had bought was too tiny for them.

We had our first at the Navy hospital in San Diego. Cost all of a tad under $17 to have her, including my 3 day hospital stay. Totally put us off having babies in a hospital. Second one we had at a birthing center, with a midwife. If we had more, that would have been the route we would go.

Hmm a new day!

Today is Marry Your BabyDaddy Day, 3rd annual one in Charlotte NC. Turns out this seems to be necessary, because so many today do not marry before they start turning out children. Turns out marriage is on the decline all around. Seems like a lack of morals or shame. It used to be, even when I was a kid, that someone had a child out of wedlock it was something that was not looked upon kindly. Its not bad enough that morals have pretty much gone to heck in the past 40 years, but that a day is needed to prompt women to marry the father of their child. Its turning this country into a big welfare nation is what its doing. Woman has child.. dad skedaddles, and there she is, left to take welfare or if she's lucky, has enough money or family to take care of the baby while she works. And the cycle continues..

U.S. distributes fertilizer to Afghanis, Afghanis use fertilizer to make bombs to blow up Americans

About 1,050 metric tons of fertilizer will also be distributed in conjunction with the seed, giving the farmers a better opportunity for success, said Purves, who works closely with the Marines of 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment. The Marines established security in the area and will continue to have a presence while the local government solidifies, but this distribution effort is spear-headed by the Afghan government.

Guess what? alot of the afganis work for the government during the day, the taliban at night. So they're getting bomb-making material handed to them, courtesy of US Marines.

"U.S., Afghan Lives Increasingly Lost To Roadside Bombs," by Tom Bowman for NPR, August 2, 2009:

U.S. soldiers serving in Afghanistan and local civilians now share a grim common enemy: death by roadside bomb.

July was the deadliest month for American troops since the war began in the fall of 2001. At least 43 U.S. servicemen lost their lives, with about two-thirds being killed by roadside bombs....
Most of the bombs are crudely made, sometimes including fertilizer and diesel fuel packed into plastic jugs. They have little metal, so they're difficult to find with metal detectors and other sophisticated equipment. So U.S. Marines are bringing in dogs to help sniff out the components....

Just great. Just like the British afghanis and iraqis were sending cell phones to iraq to detonate bombs IEDs, now WE are sending the makings of bombs over to Afghanistan to blow up our young men and women.

And Obummer blithely goes on, all above the dirt and wear and tear of war.

a blog post you should read

Its over at The Dispatcher and Her Officer. Evidently she's from Kommiefornia. She has a great fix for the problems of that state, HERE. Maybe other states will see this and employ it in their own states.

By the way, AUDIT THE FED!

A game to play

Here's from Sunday, Obummer talking to Stephanopolous >>



Here is a list you can use for bingo, or for other games :P There are lots of videos on Youtube with Obummer speaking.

1. "The time to act is now."

2. "Critics of this plan would have us do nothing."

3. "For too long, we have spent too much money to get too little care."

4. "The current path is unsustainable. Nothing less than a complete overhaul will give Americans the care they deserve."

5. "Under my plan, nothing will change for you and your doctor."

6. "This plan will cover more people, and give better care for everyone."

7. "This plan will spend less money."

8. "This debate has been far too divisive, with proponents losing heart, and opponents losing fingers."

9. "The public option is the best choice, a serious solution, and absolutely necessary for real reform. (applause) Now, that's not a veto threat."

10. "Yes, some say we've overestimated the savings from preventative care, perhaps exponentially. But others who I will not name say we've underestimated the savings."

11. "It's unsustainable for Americans like [insert tragic anecdote here]."

12. "It's time to put aside silly, meaningless terms like 'socialized medicine' and 'death panels' and 'the CBO says' and 'Douglas Elmendorf.'"

13. "People look at our national deficit ballooning, trillion after trillion, and ask, 'How can we afford this?' I look at the same numbers and ask, 'How can we not?'"

14. "I am tired of hearing insurance companies complain about preexisting conditions. It, like the economy and two wars, is just another problem I inherited from my predecessor."

15. "As I have said many times before . . ."

16. "Last year, I attacked my opponent for proposing a new tax on employer-based health insurance benefits. Tonight, I will reach across the aisle . . ."

17. "Now I will attempt to undermine potential future rival Mitt Romney by talking about how his plan in Massachusetts is a lot like mine . . ."

18. "I look forward to the day when no 11-year-old girl has to ask me about mean signs in the parking lot."

19. "Everything about this plan tells us it will be as effective at providing care as the stimulus is at creating jobs."

20. "By some estimates, wellness programs could reduce our medical costs to zero."

21. "Let me be clear."

22. "The American people did not send you here to squabble. They sent you here to help me create a fantastic and historic bill-signing ceremony."

23. "Remember Ted Kennedy. One look at this man, and you knew he understood the importance of good health to all Americans."

24. "Sometimes your tonsils are just fine."

25. "As I said in March, the time to act is now."

Left-wing or right-wing?

Does the following fit the left or the right?

- That every citizen willing to work and capable of working shall receive a just and living annual wage which will enable him to maintain and educate his family...

- I believe in nationalizing those public necessities which by their very nature are too important to be held in the control of private individuals.

- I believe in upholding the need of private property yet of controlling it for the public good.

- I believe not only in the right of the laboring man to organize in unions but also in the duty of the Government which that laboring man supports to protect these organizations against the vested interests of wealth of of intellect.I believe in the event of a war and for the defense of our nation and its liberties, if there be a conscription of men let there be a conscription of wealth.

- I believe in preferring the sanctity of human rights to the sanctity of property rights. I believe that the chief concern of government shall be for the poor, because, as is witnessed, the rich have ample means of their own to care for themselves.

Does this sound left-wing today's progressive (i.e. democrat) or does that sound right-wing?

You'd be surprised to know that the person called a right-winger by today's liberals is Father Coughlin, with his upstart political party, and everything he said was on the left, he was an avid supporter of FDR and his New Deal. They're denying their own history. I am reading a book about the history of progressivism in the US.

to quote:

In the liberal telling of America's story, there are only two perpetrators of official misdeeds: conservatives and "America" writ large. Progressives, or modern liberals, are never bigots or tyrants, but conservatives often are. For example, one will virtually never hear that the Palmer Raids, Prohibition, or American eugenics were thoroughly progressive phenomenon... Meanwhile, real or alleged "conservative" misdeeds - say McCarthyism - are always the exclusive fault of conservatives and a sign of the policies they would repeat if given power. The only culpable mistakes that liberals make is failing to "fight hard enough" for their principles., Liberals are never responsible for historic misdeeeds, because they feel no compulsion to defend the inherent goodness of America. Conservatives, meanwhile, not only take the blame for events not of their own making that they often worked the most assiduously against, but find themselves defending liberal misdeeds in order to defend America itself.

Quoted from Jonah Goldberg's Liberal Fascism.. which has a smiley face with a little mustache scribbled on it. I highly recommend this book, which can be found at Amazon.

Today's liberals are only the progressives of the Wilson and Roosevelt era, under the Democrat title. Look up the history of these guys, with their politics.

Acorn gets slammed

Acorn has been voted on today, in the House of Representatives, to be defunded. That is not the only defunding bill that has come across and been voted on. The vote was 345 to 75, with only Democrats voting to keep the funding in Acorn. NY Democrat Meeks said "he needed more evidence" to make sure the fraud was systemic. Its been filmed five times now.. at five different Acorn offices across the country. It's ingrained in ACorn, entrenched, and it goes all the way from the top to the bottom. 70 Acorn employees have been convicted in voter fraud in twelve states (so far).

Sen. Mike Johanns (R-Neb.) has sponsored another amendment prohibiting the use of federal money for ACORN in the Interior and environment appropriations bills.

An amendment passed Thursday by an 85-11 vote was sponsored by Sen. Mike Johanns (R-Neb) prohibiting the use of federal money in the Interior and environment appropriations bills.

Earlier this week, Acorn got hit by that vote that was 83-7 prohibiting the use of federal money in Transportation and Housing and Urban Development spending bill.

It appears more amendments are going to make their way to the floor every time Acorn pops up. Its about time this wolf is stripped of its sheeps clothing, and put away.

Full story from The Hill.

Today and yesterday

Yesterday's big news for me, was the people going on about how culling a lamb for slaughter is so darn bad. The future of Britain (and the US) rests on farmers. Whether they are large conglomerates or small organic farmers, cattlemen, sheep farmers, whatever. The crying masses of idiocy came out against the culling of a lamb named Marcus yesterday, in Britain. A school has a program showing children how to raise and breed animals. All very well. That also includes taking said animals to slaughter, as the time arises, or else you will be a very poor farmer. The children prevailed over objections of parents and the assorted nutjobs that make up animal rights organizations, and sent Marcus to slaughter. Marcus didn't have very much of a future in front of him. He had already been cut, so he was useless for breeding. All that was left for Marcus, was to become lamb chops and stew. The children voted to send Marcus off, and they wanted to buy piglets with the money that they would get from the sale. Smart kids, they were doing the right thing, acting in common sense fashion. Now the whole program is up in the air, due to the animal rights nuts and parents who feel that the 'poor animules' should not go off to slaughter. How do they figure that the food gets on their plate? When they eat a chop, it used to be someones Marcus. Although probably not named, but if it was, it was still sent off to where it should eventually go. It doesn't look like a bright future for the farmers of Britain. Full story here.

As for today, we only subscribed to 6 of the 18 concerts at the Houston Symphony this year. So tonight is our first night out for that. Tonight's fare is:

Conductor: Hans Graf
Guests: Ingrid Fliter, piano
Programs:
W. Schuman: Showcase-A Short Display
Chopin: Piano Concerto No. 2
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5

I'm looking forward to Symphony #5. We sit in the front orchestra, to the left, so we get a great view of the pianists or whoever is playing a concerto.

One of the things we saw in the past couple of years at the symphony was Richard Strauss: Eine Alpensinfonie in Bildern - photography by Tobias Melle. Its available on DVD at Amazon, and I intend to pick on up Sunday when I get my grocery money (ok so the computer desk keeps getting put off). The pictures are from the hike on the route that Strauss took to create this symphony. I highly recommend it. Here is the link to Amazon where it is. I think I may get it for my mother-in-law also, as a Christmas present. The pictures are amazing, the music sets it off to perfection. At least there are used copies now. Last I checked, it was only available from Tobias Melle's website.

The only thing I HATE about going to the symphony is the Houston traffic. Its a lot of idiot drivers out there, either creeping along at 55 in a 65 zone in the fast lane sometimes, or else doing 90 down the road in a pack. Usually not on Thursday nights at least. That's when we get the poky drivers out who imagine the speed limit is a suggestion that they actually put their foot on the gas pedal, especially on that area coming out of downtown Houston past the Fiesta and Sears. They just creep along doing 40 or 45. Drives me crazy.

One little acorn

falls, and then another. One video, and then another. The whole ACORN thing is rotten. And the fruit of acorn is rotten also. Check it out at Atlas Shrugs. She also has links to the dirtbags that voted for not defunding ACORN. I can tell you what, 9 of the idiots didn't vote in it. Including Kay Bailey Hutchinson, who is fixing to run for governor of this state. I'll be damned if I'd vote for that piece of crap. She hasn't the guts to stand up and vote for something that needs to be defunded, she doesn't have the backbone to be the governor of this state. She's a wishy-washy ditzy blonde (well if she isn't blonde, she may as well be, no offense to any blondes that may be reading this). Last time I emailed her was about the health care bill, voting on that. I think I'll contact her again and everyone that lives in Texas ought to also. Look at this list of who didn't vote for defunding:

Burr (R-NC)
Byrd (D-WV)
Coburn (R-OK)
Graham (R-SC)
Gregg (R-NH)
Hutchison (R-TX)
McCain (R-AZ)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Vitter (R-LA)

If they're yours, WRITE THEM, CALL THEM, BUG THE SNOT OUT OF THEM for this! They need to know that they need a backbone, or else they will be thrown out, kicked out, ignominiously dragged kicking and screaming out of their posh offices they have at our expense. If yours is on the list that voted FOR still funding ACORN, do the same. Contact them, and let them know what you think, and where your vote will be going, et&.

I'm off to start composing an email to Ms. Hutchinson to voice my displeasure, and my intent of NOT supporting her for her run for governor. In any shape, manner or form. And that she makes people ashamed to say that they're a Republican (which I have left, being they left me long ago). They're no different than the other political whores up there in Washington, except for a handful. And even that handful is starting to look pretty thin.