It was a great day for America

Murray writes:

"I went to a Taxpayer Tea Party today right here in The Villages. It was sponsored by the Association of Mature American Citizens. The Village Daily Sun followed the lead of the rest of the news media by NOT publicizing the rally in advance. In order to get the word out to the villagers the Association had to purchase an ad in the newspaper. In spite of the poor advance notice hundreds of residents turned out with costume, flags and signs. The event was held along side of one of the village ponds and when the protest was over the Association tossed boxes of "stimulus tea" into the pond.

These parties were held all over America in spite of the fact that the news media remained basically silent until today. The people relied on the Internet to communicate and coordinate the rallies. This was a great day for America. It showed that concerned taxpayers were fed up with the reckless spending of their hard earned tax dollars. It also showed the whites in this country are finally standing up for themselves. I say whites because as the evening news cameras panned across the crowds that had gathered at tea parties across the country there was a noticeable lack of blacks. In fact I saw NO blacks. Now maybe, just maybe, it was a coincident and they just didn't get in view of the cameras or the cameramen were prejudice and ignored them. Hmmm? Well anyway, the silent majority wasn't silent today.

Obama countered today ( although he didn't mention tea parties ) by declaring the wonderful tax breaks he is giving the WORKING people and that by the end of the year he was going to have the whole Tax Code rewritten so the average taxpayer could understand it. Gee, have we heard that before? He also said that the rich were going to have a tax increase. Gee, he must have forgot about the AMT that has never been indexed. Obama has received millions of tea bags in the mail but refused to acknowledge them nor have any of our legislators ever mentioned the ones they received. It's kinda like when they ignore your correspondence and inquires isn't it?

Obama just doesn't get it. These rallies today were not just about paying taxes. The main emphasis was on the reckless, wasteful spending the government has been doing the last 6 months and the tremendous debt they're piling up. One little boy was holding up a sign that said " I'm only 9 years old and I'm $36,000 in debt." Yes folks, it was a great day for America. I hope it doesn't go the route of our tax dollars...wasted!"

Good points, Murray. The old Mt. Morris High School put out some smart graduates 50 + years ago who learned a little history and economics along the way--you and me, Bob C., Bill L., Bill & Gayle N., Dave B. and a few others I see on the list who don't want to see our country turned over to the enemies of capitalism. Our tax day/tea day events in Columbus got coverage from the local media--at least on TV. It was headed up by a 19 year old OSU student. However, it was cold and rainy here--something you don't have so much in Florida. I forgot to check the marginal Columbus Dispatch to see if it noticed anything was going on. I didn't watch most of the AB/NB/CB/CNN clones who are Obama's mouthpieces and marketers (did you see that horrid, awful CNN interview where the Obama sycophant op-ed female tried to preach to the person she was interviewing? "Do you realize. . .yada yada. . .")

I noticed that WSJ this morning folded the story into the Obama tax code promises. But Danny Pang and PEMGroup with its alleged theft of $4 billion, a pittance compared to Obama's, made the front page. Sorry, Mr. President. The cap and trade hoaxes, the destruction of the oil and gas industries, the coming inflation as you have to print more money, the millions of environmental and green regulations to support the phony, pantheist gods that all the beltway queens have bowed before--those are all tax increases to make the recent tax on the poor (increase in cigarette taxes) look like harmless sandbox play.

You might be a right wing extremist if

You oppose abortion

Own a gun

Are a veteran of Iraq or Afghanistan

Are concerned about illegal immigration

Are concerned about the way Obama is handling the economy

Believe marriage is for a man and woman

[And maybe we should throw in for good measure]

You've read the Constitution of the United States

You are a Christian

You know right from wrong.

According to this document of the Obama Administration.

“Rightwing extremist chatter on the Internet continues to focus on the economy, the perceived loss of U.S. jobs in the manufacturing and construction sectors, and home foreclosures.” Extremism and Radicalization Branch, Homeland Environment Threat Analysis Division.

That’s really strange. I thought it was our left wing media doing that.

Now if you oppose Obama's policies--any of them, economic, social, military--you are an extremist to be watched by Homeland Security. Well, at least he's finally being transparent.

UPDATE: "Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano apologized to veterans after a report issued by her department said troops returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were at risk for being recruited by right-wing extremists." Isn't that just so sweet. How about apologizing to those of us who don't want the brains sucked out of pre-born, viable babies; those of us who want a free market economy; those of us who don't want the coal industry to be destroyed with its millions of jobs; those of us who are getting 26-28 mpg in our vans and don't want to be stuffed into tiny hybrids slurping corn based fuel; those of us who don't believe that man controls the earth? She, with the approval of her boss, Barack Obama, has insulted over 50 million of us who didn't vote for him for a wide variety of reasons, and he's called us all extremists while groveling to European socialists. We want our apology too!

If you fight this, Janet and BO think YOU are dangerous!

So who told us those myths?

We stopped in Brownsburg, Indiana for gas yesterday and I glanced at a USAToday story about the murders 10 years ago at Columbine high school. Apparently, we all believed some "myths." No bullying--they were the bullies. Not goths. Not suicidal. They were just garden variety liars and psychopaths--just like the guys who killed the police, the immigrants, their estranged families during the past month. Harris and Klebold killed 13 and wounded 24, but they had hoped to kill thousands. Feel better?

"A decade after Harris and Klebold made Columbine a synonym for rage, new information — including several books that analyze the tragedy through diaries, e-mails, appointment books, videotape, police affidavits and interviews with witnesses, friends and survivors — indicate that much of what the public has been told about the shootings is wrong."

So who told us all those myths we believed? The media. It certainly wasn't bloggers--we didn't exist then. It wasn't George Bush or Bill Clinton. The media probably launched a thousand bullying workshops.

OSU student organizes Columbus' tax protest

And they are not "right wing extremists" the way the Homeland Security claims.

"COLUMBUS- Americans for Prosperity, ShotsontheHouse.com, various college groups, and various community groups are once again joining forces to combat reckless local, state, and government spending.

A rally is planned as part of the national tax day tea party movement at 6 PM, April 15th, in front of the Ohio Statehouse.

Justin Higgins, a Columbus area blogger and Ohio State student said that, “these protests really tap into the communities and they’re upset. They’re tired of stupid bailouts, lying politicians, and trillions being dumped down the drain in the name of stimulus.” Justin runs www.ShotsontheHouse.com and served as the Master of Ceremonies for an AFP protest event held on March 14h. He’s assisting in the organization of the April 15th event.

It's OK to fund ACORN protesters, code pinkoes at veterans' hospitals during war time, call pork a "stimulus" plan, and drive vote fraud participants by left wing extremists by bus and van to Ohio in November, but let a few loyal Americans gather on Tax Day to peacefully protest the outrageous behavior of our elected representatives--both parties--and all of a sudden we're a threat to Homeland Security? Elected representatives trotting off to Cuba and lunch with Castro. No threat. Obama taking over the auto industry. No threat. More troops for Afghanistan. No threat. A tax cheat in charge of the Department of Treasury. No threat. Liberal columnists, working for newspapers going under, are grasping for breath and straws, hoping to sell more yellow journalism (when it's the advertisers, i.e. capitalists, not subscribers they need to please) are going crazy. They say it hasn't galvanized the Republican party. Well duh! This isn't about the Republican party, for Pete's Sake. George Bush threw so much tax money at social problems that only Obama has been able to top him. Republicans are the Me-Too Party, not the Tea Party.

Then there's the lefty wackos at Huff and Puff, trying to blame Glenn Beck and talk radio, and reporting that some web site has made a fortune ($48,000) selling tea party memorabilia. Gee, the Democrats spent more than that renting housing in Columbus for the "residents" from other states to come here and register "disenfranchised" voters. They are probably unemployed journalists using a silk screen in the basement to create t-shirts.

LA Times writer thinks Conservatives are glue sniffers

Today is the pro-America, anti-tax, tea parties. It's not about Obama, but about a government out of control. It's about trillions added to our debt in a matter of weeks. It's about the government (beltway pirates) take over through bail-outs with our taxes huge sectors of the economy. It does include, however, a president using an economic crisis to have the federal government take over the means of production and to destroy what's left of our free market economy.

To show you how out of control our government and its lacky, snarky, failing, almost bankrupt media nut jobs are, the government has announced we--the conservatives and moderates who are protesting--are extremists, and the LA Times' Marc Cooper (op-ed) thinks we are crazy glue sniffers. We are lumped with a psychotic paranoid who murdered 3 policemen (although not with immigrants who shoot up community centers and college campuses). Hmmm. Imagine. When ACORN serfs orgnize under their marxist leaders to threaten CEOs and their wives and children, it's just fine. No extremists there. But Californian leftists and communists (a state with a so-called Republican governor that was financially collapsing from taxes and illegals long before Obama) think people who believe in the Constitution, who complain that taxes are too high and complicated (70,000 pages of instruction compared to about 400 when I was born), and who feel marginalized by the environmentalist wackos and tax-porkies who have taken over our academy and regulatory agencies--those about to fall into the ocean of la-la land--they think we are dangerous? They are the ones who got us here!

Home from our Easter Trip

Isn't this a fabulous painting of Abraham Lincoln? It's the cover of this year's Illinois Travel Guide published by the Bureau of Tourism. Art work is credited to Gregory Manchess.

After Maundy Thursday noon services, we took off for Indiana and spent time with Brother Bob and Sister Jean, enjoying their good company and great accomodations with a yummy dinner at Bob Evans. Also got to see and chat briefly with niece Joan and her son Caleb who were getting reading for their parts in an Easter Passion Play at Cornerstone Baptist. Friday bright and early we hopped on the Indianapolis outerbelt and headed for Oregon, Illinois passing by our old "home towns" of Urbana and Champaign, Illinois where we lived in the early 1960s after college. We never pull off any more--the people we knew there either in the U of I library system or the local architectural scene are gone. Even the buildings and streets, as on most college campuses, are different than 50 years ago.

In addition to my sister and husband, we visited my Aunt Muriel and cousin Dianne in Mt. Morris, my brother and wife in Franklin Grove, several friends from my high school class, and attended Good Friday services at the Mt. Morris Church of the Brethren, and Easter Sunday breakfast and service at Trinity Lutheran in Mt. Morris where we saw many we knew, some younger, some older, and caught up on the news. I think I talked to 6 members of my high school class.

For the Good Friday community service (3 of the 4 churches) we sat with my aunt--how wonderful to hear her voice singing the hymns, still strong at 92 and hold her hand during prayers. The Lutheran teens were raising money with their Easter breakfast for a service project, so it was a win-win opportunity since it was very tasty. At the Church of the Brethren we toured the Loaves and Fish food pantry which just opened in the fall. The community has really gotten behind this new service opportunity and it is well stocked and funded.

Aunt Muriel is quite a collector--and usually I go home with a few books, but this time I resisted. I need to be clearing my own shelves! But if it weren't for her "archives" I would have had a problem with some of my publishing projects when I was a librarian. She was able to lay her hands on a basket of letters and projects I've done over the years. Looking through it, I saw many items I'd forgotten.

My brother and wife live on the "family farm" originally owned by my great-grandfather. I recognize those dishes on the plate rail as being there when I was a child. My grandmother renovated and modernized this 19th century house around 1912-1915 to use as her family home after returning to Illinois from Kansas to help her father. The room we're standing in was part of that addition. About 40 years ago my mother renovated and modernized the house again and used it as a retreat center, and now my brother is restoring it again.

Where to eat, drink and be merry--new restaurants in northern Illinois

Rockford, Illinois has a new restaurant at The Anderson Japanese Gardens, 318 Spring Creek Road. While enjoying delicious, healthful food (year round), you can overlook the fabulous garden (open May 1 - October 31; November through April weather permitting) which instills "a sense of clam and provides a place for quiet meditation." If you have guests coming, this is definitely the place to take them.

There is a new coffee shop/restaurant in Oregon, Illinois called Rachel's and this is definitely a place you need to look into. We visited on the 11th and a lovely young lady, Pam, assisted us. The menu looks terrific and the coffee was good. And desserts? How does Grandma Warner's Southern Pecan Pie sound to you?

Mt. Morris has a new spot for hanging out and munching, called The Mounder Cafe. I met two friends from high school there. I didn't pick up their menu, but everything looked great. Also there was a very nice art show in the hall.

Holy Week Intermission

For Christians the week before Easter is called "Holy Week," or as Buff Delcamp wrote in this week's Cornerstone (newsletter of Upper Arlington Lutheran Church), Major Week, Greater Week, Authentic Week, Passion Week, Week of Salvation, and Sorrowful Week. It tells the story of the last week of the life of Jesus on earth, the week the sins of humanity are forgiven, and the world is redeemed. Jesus' life and teaching were not about man's solution to poverty, or slavery, or politics, or clean water, or green space, or domestic violence or anything else you might hear preached on Sunday morning from many pulpits. It was about God's solution for mankind's disobedience, told from "In the beginning. . ." in a garden to the end where we see a great city, a holy city, a New Jerusalem, dressed as a bride for her husband. Since I've so recently returned from "The Steps of Paul" in Greece, Turkey, and Israel I do want to continue updating my trip photos and log, but will avoid the day-to-day chaos in Washington, the steps of our President, and the world economy while I focus of the events of Holy Week. See you after Easter (unless you'd like to check the Holy Land Cruise 2009 link).

About that populist anger

Wall St. Journal's Obama booster, Gerald Seib, writes yesterday (Capital Journal) about the "populist anger." That makes me so angry--it was SO ginned up, it was ridiculous. So who's responsible for getting everyone hyped about CEOs' bonuses--bonuses (millions) that were a fraction of what Obama and his buddies are stealing from us (trillions) and the future unborn Americans (assuming they can make it past the now free-wheeling, free-for-all abortionists thanks to our President). Wasn't it old Barney's threats in Congress as he grilled Liddy? Wasn't it Obama's ACORN being bussed to the suburbs to harrass law abiding people who actually work for a living?

Can the passions be cooled, Seib asks. Don't know. Can newspaper reporters' jobs be saved when they've gored the ox (advertising for business) that pay their salaries? It depends, Mr. Seib. How angry will Americans get when they wake up and see Obama's poked a hole driven a bulldozer through our dike of protections at the top--our three branches of government with distinctly different responsibilities (and he's not the first to do this, just the worst). How mad will they be if they realize over half of Congress are flunkies slurping up the pig droppings from the pork trough in Washington trying to cover their appetites by shouting "it's the bankers," "it's the Jews," "it's someone else's greed."

Seib can't figure out what happened to the steadily rising median income of the middle class after the 1980s (except for a blip under Clinton, which he happily claims). Well, let's see if I remember my history. When the Great Depression finally ended in the 1940s after the war and inspite of FDRs programming, we did have a bit of prosperity, which made liberals and conservatives feel guilty, so the wealth transfer started big time. We had LBJ's programs and Carter's programs, and the Republicans tried to play catch up every time they got in office (but Congress approves the budget and Democrats controlled that until 1995). All the major cities with the poorest people are controlled by Democrats, from bottom to top. No one was a bigger spender on social programs (until January 2009) than Bush II.

But all you have to do is look at the wealthiest, most successful, most entrepreneurial and smallest demographic group--the Asian Americans--to see what happened in the last 20 years, and why the middle class is struggling to keep what it earns.

The government provides resources to households through cash and noncash transfer programs. These programs may be open to all or limited to those with incomes below set amounts. Holding other income
components constant, transfers from the Social Security Administration, Veterans Administration, and state governments increase household income. Payroll, state, and federal tax liabilities reduce household income. Certain tax credits, such as the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Additional Child Tax Credit, are refundable and may
increase household income. U.S. Census

And we have an awful lot of Americans who never pay any federal income tax (although they do pay exorbitant special interest taxes, like the recently raised poor tax called cigarette taxes). Here again, Asian non tax payers do not reflect their proportion of the population because, well, who knows? Pride? Ambition? Family values? Marriage? Flight from Communism?

"White Americans are 83 percent of total taxpayers, and the percentage of zero-tax filers who are white is 79 percent. African Americans are roughly 13 percent of total taxpayers and 17 percent of zero-tax filers. Asian Americans comprise 3.6 percent of total taxpayers and 3.4 percent of zero-tax filers." Tax Foundation figures for 2004

Of all the groups, Asian Americans lost the most by readjusting their income downward through wealth transfer to the poorer whites, blacks and Hispanics. And so it is with all who will try to succeed under socialism, Mr. Seib. The Asians are just the canary.

Populism? Mr. Seib should probably be putting out feelers for a job if he reads the tea leaves.

Who is more dangerous to society, Michael Vick or Barack Obama?

This morning I heard a news story on the radio that Michael Vick's bankruptcy "plan" was turned down by the court. Too bad someone doesn't apply the same standards to our President who has unleashed the pit bull of socialism on our people! Our little cock fighter pranced around the ring and sang "peck me" like a Dixie Chick. We're sending tea bags, but I don't think that is going to scare him when he's seen the crowds in Europe chanting and clapping. Even the phony Soros backed demonstrations made him happy. Or Barney Frank, how about a plan for him? He has actually physically threatened Americans. Michael Vick didn't threaten children. Congressman Frank prancing in front of TV cameras was actually going after citizens' children when he demanded names in Congressional hearings on job contracts he approved for the bailout.

I was flitting around the house doing laundry and ironing about 5:30 a.m. (I'm an early riser, obviously.) I decided to turn on the radio in the laundry room, and the reception isn't terrific, so I settled on NPR. Proximity to the WOSU tower seems to allow that when nothing else is up. After five minutes of a guy with a British accent preach about how we needed to teach banks "morality" and reporting with lots of saliva (is it their bad teeth?) the fabulous relationship between Obama and Brown, which just a few weeks ago was in the toilet, I switched to the early a.m. show on the paranormal--it made more sense than that guy. But after 5 minutes of a guy remembering an apparition in blue that came into his bedroom when he was 5 and it looked exactly like his mother who was quite ill and putting up with a gambling husband who was being hunted by the mafia, it really was a draw.

Socialism is a proven failure

So why does Obama want it so badly? Maybe he doesn‘t remember the 20th century?

"Socialism is the Big Lie of the twentieth century. While it promised prosperity, equality, and security, it delivered poverty, misery, and tyranny. Equality was achieved only in the sense that everyone was equal in his or her misery.

In the same way that a Ponzi scheme or chain letter initially succeeds but eventually collapses, socialism may show early signs of success. But any accomplishments quickly fade as the fundamental deficiencies of central planning emerge. It is the initial illusion of success that gives government intervention its pernicious, seductive appeal. In the long run, socialism has always proven to be a formula for tyranny and misery." The Freeman

Mirror, mirror on the wall

who's the most arrogant of them all? Obama!

Arrogant, dismissive, derisive? He's the worst president ever. EVER! George Bush never insulted the Europeans, and he certainly never insulted the people who elected him. Maybe Obama hasn't read our history, especially our recent history. He's only been reading WaPo and NYT. When have European countries gone to war on behalf of Muslims the way we did? (They like to keep their own Muslims immigrants unemployed and poor!) He commented on nothing Bush did that was positive. George Bush never insulted his predecessors, not even the really poor ones like Carter and FDR. Where did Obama learn his manners? In the slums of the third world? He is a disgrace to the office. Although it should be no surprise--this European "tour" is a summary of his campaign speeches. Does he not realize he's the President now? Of all of us? Why is he still running? Literally.

Obama Endorses Soros Plan to Loot America

"At the G 20 summit in London, President Barack Obama won rave reviews from reporters, many of whom clamored like school kids for the chance to ask him a question at his news conference, but the official conference document proves that plans are being made for what can only be described as the further looting of American taxpayers in order to feed unaccountable and corrupt global entities.

This is not “global cooperation,” as so many in the media described it, but a massive new expansion of the power and authority of international agencies and institutions such as the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank." Read entire story here.

It won’t be in Katie Couric’s report--the real meaning of his words, that is. Paraphrase of the news conference I heard. "Yes, we (I) can insult America. Yes, we (I) can be dismissive of the USA." I'm furious that he runs after these sycophants whining and apologizing for breathing. He took advantage of the September "meltdown" (and who knows who engineered that), and has driven the economy even deeper down first by his gloom and doom speeches, then by raising taxes and taking over companies and violating the constitution. But who needs a Constitution when we'll have to report to the UN?

How will this help world peace?

It's nice I suppose to be idealistic, but I do wonder how holding hands around a pyramid built centuries ago with slave labor will help.

More than 1500 students, teachers and parents from 50 nationalities “formed a circle of peace that symbolized peace in the world” at the Giza Pyramids in Cairo, Egypt, Thursday, April 2, 2009, “delivering a message that young people from different cultures and religions can live together peacefully.” It’s hard to imagine what else that much money for the travel, food, hotel, etc. for 1500 might have done if these same students had just stayed home and helped their own countries. Perhaps that wasn't the purpose of the trip--maybe it was just Spring Break for rich kids and they needed a plan to get credit for it. However, tourism is Egypt’s number one industry, so I suppose they did help feed a family or two, just as we did during our recent trip.

Update, April 8: A reader has informed me this was an event of the New Cairo British International School. Upon checking the school's very nice website, I see nothing on the school calendar--no mention at all--but if you click to "parents" that's where you'll find the photos and the information which didn't appear in any of the news sources I checked. The school also celebrates Coptic Christmas holiday and has an Easter egg roll. The Prince of Peace you may recall, spent some time in Egypt when he was very young, and we celebrate his resurrection on Easter Sunday.

Meanwhile, young people of a number of different nationalities, mostly sponsored by radical leftist organizations backed by Soros and various communist/marxist front organizations demonstrated against the G20 and U.S. capitalism (fast crumbling under the weight of Obama’s heavy hand to push us over the cliff into socialism/communism). All these countries are covering their own ineptitude and grabs for power with their "bash a banker" hooliganism, led by the likes of our own Barney Frank drooling and lisping in front of cameras for the world to see.

Update, April 8: You gotta love these capitalists. Some enterprising Frenchman is charging empty headed young people with full wallets $67 a piece to learn how to be street demonstrators against the evil capitalists. Saw it in today's WSJ--with photos of drop and roll.

And here is one of my husband's first paintings of our recent trip--he's moving faster than my blog which is still stuck on our first day in Israel.

Ritalin, Obama, and the economy

Murray observed yesterday that

If my child behaved like Obama our family doctor would more than likely tell me he was suffering from *AD/HD. I mean, just look at what Obama's been up to since he's been in office.

He's at the White House for a press conference, then off to Ohio to give a speech, then over to Illinois to talk up HIS plan, then back to the White House to undo another Bush Policy, then off to Iowa to make some promises, then back to the White House to sign an unread bill. He holds a news conference every other day and hits the TV talk shows. His rapid fire, daily destruction of our country while breaking campaign promises doesn't seem to be enough since he is now over in Europe selling HIS plan. Why... the guy can't slow down or sit still. If that isn't hyperactivity then such a thing doesn't exist. It would be great if such activity was positive for the country, but quite the contrary; he is quickly sabotaging our country's finances and future. Foreigners know it but, out of fear, we seem to be slow to catch on. Even if he was stopped right now it would take years for this country to get back on its feet. We have a handful of legislators who know this, but unfortunately there are too many PORK lovers who are backing him.

When confronted, the backers usually claim that Obama "inherited" all these problems from the Bush administration. Well, that's nothing but a cop out that only separates the two parties even further. Besides, if you take the time to examine the chain of events you will find not only did the Democrats promote sub prime mortgages, Obama himself was part of it.

I've said it before: the only way to get this country back on its feet is to abolish our two party system. First, Obama must be stopped! It ought to be evident to everyone by now that the Democrats and the Republications are never going to agree on anything. Contrary to what Obama promised in his campaign speeches time and time again, that he would bring them closer together, he has done just the opposite. Every day he and his cohorts fire another arrow into the Republican crowd by blaming the crisis on them. Our legislators have lied to us so much that it's impossible to separate the truth or if truth actually exists anymore.
Dr. Murray

*The most common symptoms of ADHD are:
Impulsiveness: acting before thinking of consequences, jumping from one activity to another, disorganization, tendency to interrupt other peoples' conversations.
Hyperactivity: restlessness, often characterized by an inability to sit still, fidgeting, squirminess, climbing on things, restless sleep.

And Tom Barrett who writes for Conservative Truth has a similar theme. He first wants to stop putting kids on Ritalin; he then wants our President to stop ruining the country through his own “hyper” behavior.

Which brings us back to the problem I mentioned earlier. If we stop turning our kids into drug users, what will we do with all the Ritalin?

Because the NEA (National Education Association, the national teacher’s union) and most school systems have jumped on the Ritalin bandwagon, it has become a huge cash cow for the drug’s maker. As a result, huge stockpiles of the drug have been produced based on projected demand. So, even if the schools came to their senses, what could be done with all these drugs? I may have an answer.

I say we give it to Obama. He has all the classic signs of ADHD. He can’t stay focused on anything. He’s hyperactive. He can’t stay on one subject for more than a day. And he definitely can’t keep his hands to himself. And his staff shares his problems. The White House is crawling with ADHD!!

Let’s focus just on Obama, and examine his symptoms. The nation is in the midst of a major financial crisis, which he has acknowledged. The problem stems from policies instituted by his party 31 years ago which have resulted in a wave of foreclosures and hundreds of thousands of lost jobs. So you would think he would focus on fixing the credit problems and job creation. But he can’t seem to stay focused. In fact, during his first eight weeks in office he has constantly jumped from one priority to the next, while ignoring the major problems. Sure sounds like ADHD to me.

He told us he would focus on dealing with the so-called “toxic assets” held by financial institutions. Instead he has forced healthy institutions to take bailout money when they didn’t want it and didn’t need it. The president of Wells Fargo said that he when he tried to refuse the money he was told to take it and buy up smaller banks with it! That obviously won’t help the credit crunch, so why is Obama pushing it? Simply because if a few big banks absorb all the smaller ones, it will be easier for him to nationalize the banking system.

Ninety-five per cent of new jobs are created by small businesses. Helping them would be the single best way to stimulate job creation. And the best way to help them would be to reduce the unconscionable federal tax burden. In all of his trillions and trillions of dollars of proposals he has not thrown a crumb to small business. In fact, he has said that he will increase their tax burden, making it difficult for them to just survive, much less create jobs. (Obama has been hearing Republicans complain about him ignoring small business, so in the last few days he has come up with some half-hearted proposals. But they’re all bureaucratic in nature, and will result in more government control over businesses.) and there's more.

Our Bishop's Testimony doesn't reflect that of many Christians

Callon Holloway, Bishop of the Southern Ohio Synod for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), testified before Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce committee.

"I am here today representing both the ELCA, the largest Lutheran denomination in the United States representing nearly 5 million people, and the National Council of Churches (NCC), an organization that represents 35 Christian denominations, 100,000 congregations and approximately 45 million people in the United States."

In my opinion the NCC is a "just us" social justice organization that couldn't find the great commission if someone opened a Bible to it. Even in the 1970s when I was a Democrat (although an evangelical Christian recently converted from humanism), I had no use for the NCC's no-cross, no-salvation gospel. Furthermore, the ELCA for 7 years has been struggling to fight off the gay-marriage, gay-ordination cult, and so far has been unsuccessful. Rather than look at what Scripture says about marriage, it has reinterpreted numerous verses, proof texting to fit a different agenda. So I'm not surprised some in our leadership have fallen for this "Gospel is greener on the other side" with the unbelievers. So Cal doesn't speak for me, or many Lutherans. Nor do I approve of his being part of the testimony (NCC and NWF) of organizations that are falling for this.

I would prefer he fell in with the Evangelicals of the Cornwall Alliance and the Science and Public Policy group (see its journal here), neither of which are a denomination, but both of which have a far stronger Biblical view than the ELCA/NCC representative, Cal Holloway, a man I personally like and admire. Speakers at this March 25 event:

* Tom Karl, Director of the National Climatic Data Center, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
* John Stephenson, Director of Natural Resources and Environment, Government Accountability Office
* Bishop Callon Holloway, Evangelical Lutheran Church in American, On Behalf of the National Council of Churches
* Larry Schweiger, President and CEO, National Wildlife Federation
* David Waskow, Climate Change Program Director, Oxfam American
* E. Calvin Beisner, Ph.D., National Spokesman, The Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation
* Lord Christopher Monckton, Chief Policy Adviser, Science and Public Policy Institute

"The second International Conference on Climate Change concluded its 2-1/2 -day run March 10, 2009 in New York City after confronting the theme "Global warming: Was it ever really a crisis?"

The answer was a resounding "No." Check the link for presentations.

More than 75 papers and keynote addresses were presented by some of the world's leading climatologists, economists, policy makers, and opinion leaders. You can access videos of many of the presentations here. New videos and audio versions will be added as they become available."

Unfortunately, Bishop Holloway didn't attend this one.

Friday Family Photo July 1972

We all used to be skinny--even the kids. My husband and I have added some weight and our children some height (6'1" and 5'8") since this was taken at my mother's farm near Franklin Grove, IL in 1972. At that time we were still buying his suits in the boy's department--I think his waist was 28". But he actually got thinner. There was a serious recession in the 1970s and he lost his job in 1976 after first going to 4 days. It was a very troubling time for us--the marriage, the family, the budget, and especially his weight and health. He was only out of work three weeks, but it really upset everything, and he wasn't that happy at the "new" place where he became an associate and then a partner, and then an owner. It started to show on his slender frame. I don't recall the exact figure, but I think it was around 120 lbs.

We're chubby and fine now--so take heart. Unemployment is a terribly wrenching experience with many layers--lost friends and colleagues, fear, health problems, . . . new opportunities, although they may be down the road a few years. On the bright side--I'm betting our children remember none of this except climbing that cherry tree and running barefoot on the lane.

July 2002

HAMAS fundraiser this week-end in Cleveland for CAIR

While Soros backed anarchists and jihadists link arms in the world's most peculiar street alliance to protest the G20 gathering (for some reason beyond my comprehension these not-so-bright and on-the-payroll young'ns confused our rookie-pres with an evil capitalist conspiracy), HAMAS will be raking in the dollars for more home grown terror activity (can't call it that at the White House) right here in Ohio. As if Cleveland didn't have enough problems of its own making. Read about it here and be sure to follow the links.

Here are the players: Holy Land Foundation (funneled $12 million to HAMAS)
Monzer Taleb, aka Munzir Taleb, Monzer Talib, (singer-fundraiser for HAMAS)
Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) (unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation trial)

Here are a few profiles of CAIR members and what they've said.

The full article reveals all sorts of links and familial relationships of the band members and the conspiratists. Maybe it's time to ask that hotel chain (Embassy Suites - Cleveland Rockside) why it is renting space to known terrorists?

A Thursday Thirteen rerun from 2007

This was blog number 4206--I don't number them anymore--makes a mess when searching for an old one.

Thursday 13--what I do now I didn't do then

Carol at her blog had written a letter to herself of 10 years ago--the Carol of 1997; I couldn't think of anything for 1997, or 1987, so I dropped back to 1977. The children were 9 and 10, I was working a few hours a day in the main library at Ohio State, we'd joined a new and thriving church the year before. My parents and grandparents were alive, as were all my siblings. If it weren't for the fashions, it was a nice, pleasant decade. So what do I do now, I didn't do then?

1. I make lists. I resisted this for years--and still rarely do it, but if there is a time crunch, I do make a list. I didn't even make a list for groceries, most of the time in the 70s. I just kept a typed list in my purse (same list every week) and could remember what we did and didn't have. Whatever automatic list maker I had in my head, got all filled up.

2. I belong to a book club now--joined in 2000, and the group is in its 26th year. However, I think I read less, but I do have more variety because on my own I rarely read fiction or mysteries.

3. I'm more proactive about my health, but still hate to exercise.

4. I occasionally have a glass of red wine--didn't drink at all until after my heart ablation in 2002, and still have never tasted beer (I think it smells like something has been left in the laundry basket).

5. I wear glasses now--prescription. I think I purchased reading glasses at a drugstore in the late 70s or early 80s, but didn't get into daily wear until 1993.

6. I travel outside the country now, but for years travel meant driving with 2 kids in the back seat (Mahhhhhaaaam, she's looking at me!) to visit relatives in Indiana and Illinos. Actually, in 1978 we did drive to Florida. Boy, is that a treat with squirmy, quarreling kids.

River cruise Germany and Austria, 2005
7. I spend more money on myself now than I did in the 70s.

8. Now my kids can cook for me, instead of the other way around. That's really great, and they both seem to enjoy entertaining.

Christmas at our son's home, 2006
9. I control more electronic gadgets in a day than what I would do in a year in 1977--digital camera, scanner, printer, 2 computers, email, blogging, cd player, DVD and VCR, several remotes, microwave, etc. Not into I-podding, blackberry, cell phones or MP3-ing. We have 6 TVs--we had one in 1977. The little photograph printer I bought this summer is still in the box, however, and I haven't connected my new mouse.

10. I pay more attention to political, national and international news, and read several newspapers, business and medical journals, but pay less attention to what's happening locally with the schools and city, and only read the local paper a few times a week.

11. I write more--I always wrote a lot (letters, essays, work related things)--a few hours a week, but now it is several hours a day.

12. I drive an older car now--in 1977 I had a 1976 Buick; now I drive a 6 year old van. Of course, I kept that Buick until 1985--tip for you parents: old sedans are great for teenagers.

13. I eat out more--it's a social thing, and there are many more restaurants to tempt us than 30 years ago. I go out earlier now for coffee--used to wait until the kids were in school, now I'm often the first customer.

New York Times reports

Now that Obama is president and NYT helped put him there. . . "It turns out there are terrorists in Iraq, retreat does embolden the enemy, the U.S. military was not just locking up innocent Iraqis for no reason, and American troops have improved the situation in Iraq considerably, not made it worse, at least over the past couple of years.

Now they tell us! What's changed, of course, is that Iraq is no longer the partisan flashpoint it was between 2003 and 2008, when opponents of the Bush administration saw American failure there as the key to their own political success. As it turned out, they were able to succeed politically even as America was at last succeeding militarily in Iraq. But now the tables are turned. It is President Obama's responsibility to ensure that success does not turn to failure." James Taranto, Apr. 1, 2009

Small wonder that the print press is slowly dying.

Losing the game with a rookie

"Barack Obama is a rookie in a sense that few other Presidents in American history have ever been. It is not just that he has never been President before. He has never had any position of major executive responsibility in any kind of organization where he was personally responsible for the outcome.

Other first-term Presidents have been governors, generals, cabinet members or others in positions of personal responsibility. A few have been senators, like Barack Obama, but usually for longer than Obama, and had not spent half their few years in the senate running for President."

Soft on our enemies and hard on our allies; his "change" is a throwback to a very old, and tired regime no longer taught in our schools. Read the whole article about how rookies can lose the game for you, by Thomas Sowell.

Clinton White House or April Fools Day?

"Journalists seeking to talk a little foreign policy with high-profile Obama administration officials live from the G20 meetings in London this week were solicited for phone sex instead after ringing up the toll-free number given by the White House.

In a press release, the White House accidentally listed a sex line number for journalists seeking an "on-the-record briefing call with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and National Security Advisor Jim Jones to discuss the NATO summit."

But after dialing, a soft-voiced female recording that was clearly not Clinton asked for a credit card number if you "feel like getting nasty." " Fox News

And then someone who watched the G20 press conference wrote on a wiki (blog?): "First and foremost, why isn't the national and international media making fun of President Obama for being a stammering idiot with a puny vocabulary? I didn't believe it until I just watched for myself, but Obama is a stuttering fool and seems to barely be able to manage a coherent sentence. He speaks worse than I write!

After President Obama's G20 press conference was over, I was stunned. Again he made numerous gaffs and can't seem to answer a question without going off on some tangent that has nothing to do with the original question. Obama continually called on reporters that are allies to the socialist cause and Obama knew would ask softball questions that would make himlook good, which is know easy task.

From day one, the American media attacked G.W. Bush for speaking exactly as Obama does, stammering and making little or no sense. I would readily admit that Bush was much worse at public speaking than Obama, but Obama clearly lacks the ability to speak without a teleprompter in front of him."

I was in the car, but I think I picked up a few -er, -uh, -um's during a news break and changed the station. That man hurts my ears. Even the sentences that do make sense, seem awfully elementary and repetitious. Doesn't he rehearse?

The city Easter Egg Hunt (Roll)

Maggie in Toledo writes:

"The City of Toledo is facing a $27.7 million deficit. The mayor is talking about laying off police officers, cutting salaries by 10% and voiding all labor contracts.

But we've somehow got enough money for an Easter Egg Hunt????"

Yes, Upper Arlington is having one too--Civic Association--probably not parks and rec. I have no idea how much it costs. They are awful. Just awful. I think our kids were about 5 and 6 when we finally decided they might be old enough for a little group fun. OHMYGOSH. It was a stampede--kids screaming and yelling and fighting. I'd never seen anything like it. My little ones were terrified and cried. I was horrified. Even 50 cents would be too much to contribute to watching spoiled suburban kids knocking each other down to grab a piece of smushed chocolate.

Dye and hide the eggs at home; it's a lot more fun and much safer.

How Obama has killed the economy and ambition in only 2 months

See my Coffee Spills blog.

Coast Guard and a domed stadium

Fargo has it all. The Coast Guard crews in boats and helicopters were rescuing people from their homes in Fargo. There apparently was even a heroic sheriff's deputy [unnamed by USAToday] as the river crested near the stadium. Now, I know the line of responsibility between the North Dakota Governor and the President of the United States, but where are the lashings from the press and the ridicule from the comedians who should be reporting that President Obama doesn't like white people. After all, he is prancing around Europe while people in the midwest are fleeing their homes in blizzards and floods. Where are the movie stars in hip boots or do they only show up when NOLA floods?

President Barack Obama has dispatched the acting head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to the region.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Nancy Ward is in Fargo and Obama has personally spoken with the governors of both states and with Fargo's mayor.

Gibbs said the federal government is working closely with state and local leaders to give them any help they need. He also implored citizens in both states to be vigilant in tracking flood conditions.

The vacuous USAToday actually praised Obama for even noticing in a radio address that they were in trouble. Sweet.

The stories of sharing and survival on the shores of the swollen Red River have mounted in recent days, almost as quickly as the flood waters rose. There was the sheriff's deputy who rounded up 2,000 sandbags and a college wrestling team to stack them, trying to save a stranger's rural home. And the thousands of volunteers who gathered in the domed stadium in Fargo, N.D., to fill 2.5 million bags with sand in a five-day race against the cresting river.

President Obama, inspired by their stubborn battle against nature, used his Saturday radio address to praise the sandbaggers and the college students who gave up spring breaks to help.

Pay for Performance

Neil Cavuto screams at the bill sponsor, H.R. 1664, who won't answer any questions except that Timmy "the Dodge" Geithner will be able to set the pay scale--probably of anyone, because this isn't limited to Wall Street. He sounds like a pouty teen (Alan Grayson), "Why would you say that? Why are you being rude?" Now that Obama has fired a CEO of a private company, which as President of the United States he had no constitutional authority to do, he has emboldened Congress to start their sneaky tricks again, ala Barney Frank and Chris Dodd and the country's melt down. They're pretending that salaries are the problem. That's a huge smoke screen. We've got lawless bandits in Congress who refuses to honor contracts.

Pew Report on the 2008 “Lessons of the Election”

Very little in depth journalism; little investigative punch; reporters drowning in information from various IT sources; newsroom cutbacks hurt.

“But the bottom line is this: In 2008—and much the same could be said in 2000 with the election of President George W. Bush — we elected a president about whom we knew remarkably little, and most of it came from the impression they wanted to create, not from things the press uncovered. That was less true in the elections of Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush or Ronald Reagan.”

Link here.

Obama--a race to the bottom?

Here's more from that The Obama Deception movie. I'm not familiar with any of the people interviewed in the film--except the former MN governor. Maybe talk radio personalities and "experts" far right of Beck and Rush? Lots of anti-Bush and anti-Iraq war stuff. But they definitely think Obama is worse than Bush, whom they also hate. (Note, this is not word-for-word)

George Humphrey, economist and author: "They [there are a lot of "they" and global conspiratorial ideas in this film, but I think this refers to Wall Street Bankers] have created a power elite-- we are not talking about your millionaire down the street. You can't even be a member of their club unless you are a multi-billionaire. And friends, this is not about 'rich vs poor', this is about a very small handful of the worst criminal element on this planet, manipulating and destroying the good people of this nation and this world."

Gerald Clemente, future trends forecaster: "Now this Obama with 'change'-- look at the people he's put in to 'mastermind' the economic recovery. Larry Summers-- I love it.. Every time they talk about Larry Summers, he's always 'brilliant', he's another 'brilliant' one.. he's the one that helped dismantle the Glass-Stegall Act.. the banking act that was put in place in the 1930's, so the banks couldn't become the gangsters that they have become."

Webster Tarpley: "In the 1990s, you have the beginning of the 'derivatives bubble', thanks to people like Alan Greenspan, Rubin, Summers-- people who are now back in the Obama administration. And the derivatives I think are the centerpiece of this entire problem today."

Gerald Clemente: "These are the same people.. 'Geitner' of the Treasury Department.. imagine that, we now have a US Treasury Secretary who also is a Robert Rubin Protege of the Larry Summers Group, that dismantled Glass-Stegall and broke apart the regulations that would have prohibited the banks and brokerages from becoming these criminals. He was the former President of the New York Federal Reserve and now he's our Treasury Secretary?. As we all know, the Federal Reserve is no more federal than Federal Express, it's a private bank. And now we've put this guy in charge of it? Wall Street has hijacked Washington in broad daylight."

. . . George Humphrey: "Every single one of his appointments support the status quo, every single one of his appointments are there to screw the American People, every single one of his appointments are people who are working to bring down the Republic and the Constitution of this country."

Alex Jones: "Even if Barack Obama was the most wonderful person in the world, he was groomed and brought to power by the global elite [yes, there's that term again--I think it's code for Jews] to carry out their agenda. Humanity [he has a very annoying habit of calling people "humanity"] must look past their agenda and realize that presidents come and go, but the shadow government and their program of global enslavement continues."

. . . Webster Tarpley: "Generally speaking, this [Obama] is already the biggest liar and the biggest disappointment that we have seen in recent history-- qualitatively beyond the rather low standards set by Bush the Elder and Clinton in terms of delivering on promises." [I'd certainly agree with this statement.]

Alex Jones: "Bottom line: Obama is a fantastic actor, and an even better liar. His track record is clear-- he has done the opposite of everything he told the people he would do."

Someone said on the film, forgotten who, that if they cataloged all his lies, the film would never end, because they continue. Yes, I'd agree with that charge, too. It is truly amazing that a man who worked as a "community organizer" for nearly a decade, and never became a tenured law professor or wrote a law article or even practiced law, but wrote 2 autobiographical books, got hired by Illinois to represent a district for which he did nothing and which is still poor, and then got elected President on the basis of his looks and ability to speechify and talk black (something he had to learn as a foreign language as an adult). Call it a conspiracy against the American people if you wish, but really, Obama simply makes us look like a bunch of vacuous fools. . .if we're so great and wonderful and good, why would we let this happen?

Update: Apparently the conspiracy includes Google and YouTube, too: "YouTube is acting as a political police goon squad for the establishment, attempting to make sure as few people as possible see this important documentary."

April Fool--first new tax on the poor

As I noted yesterday, I have little sympathy with smokers, but Obama's new cigarette tax which will impact low-income smokers the most with an average of 13.3% increase and a decrease in state services which depend on those taxes, is really regressive. The SCHIP increase isn't helping those who don't have health insurance, it's pulling most enrollees off the insurance of the working parents' companies, which will cause other insured rates to go up, or companies to fail, so the government (Democrats and clueless RINOs) can further increase SCHIP to include 50 and 60 year olds not yet ready for Medicare. What a plan our great leader has for our low-income families.

This sin tax now is up from $.39 to $1.01 and the cigarette smuggling business is booming. See Brad Schiller article in WSJ. It really is a throw back to the days of FDR, taxing anything that was enjoyable like candy or movies, which hit the unemployed the hardest, and then enroll them in the WPA. Obama's new mandatory "volunteer" act to keep millions from working and on the dole just passed a few days before his April Fool tax--do you suppose they are related?

Also, the duplicity is amazing. Stop smoking programs and drugs have been shown to do nothing, but they are still funded by the government. Even the "quit help lines" which may be private and non-profit, use government grants. Then the researchers get grants to study the drugs, to whine about how the drugs aren't getting to the low-income, and then to do studies on how they don't work anyway. See JAMA, March 11, 2009, "Setting the National Tobacco Control Agenda."

There are now smoking cessation quit lines in every state, but because there are few resources, they can help only 1$ to 2% of smokers quit."

Notice, it's always the money and not the method that fails? And then in the front of that issue you find,

"Emerging evidence suggests the smoking-cessation drug varenicline is among a growing list of medications that might cause serious psychiatric adverse events."

To say nothing of the weight gain problem that often results from the non-smoking programs.

How to use the new code words

USAToday and WSJ editors are struggling with the new terrorism language in English. It's come down from on high--don't say anything mean about those guys threatening to blow up the White House--if we act really weak maybe they'll choose another target. Here's what appeared in the USAToday story about the terrorist attact (Taliban/ Mehsud) on the Pakistani police station.

"deadly assault"
"retaliate"
"militant bases"
"Mehsud plans to attack Washington and White House" [this was said twice in both articles; apparently repetition for emphasis is good if you can't use plain English about terrorism, and if you live in DC]
"striking targets"
"killed Benazer Bhuto" [the WSJ didn't get the memo, and used the more volatile "assassinated"
"harbor foreign fighters"
"revenge"
"launch and attack"
"sparked a stand-off"
"stormed a compound"
"some gunmen blew themselves up" [good-bye suicide bomber language]
"seige-style approach"
"seige of Mumbai" [remember when this story first came out before the language revision rules?]
"men arrested"
but here's the phrase that replaced EVIL, TERROR, etc. "cancer of extremism"

The WSJ actually used "terrorist attack on the U.S. capital" twice and called it Bhuto's assassination, but then downgraded to

"assault on a police academy"
"raided"
"avenge"
"attack"
"retaliation"
and it calls al-Qaeda "a group," "loyalists," "growing power of Taliban factions."

And so the U.S. print media, waiting for its bailout from Obama, continues on the search for wimp-out words. Do you suppose fewer would fail if they weren't just megaphones for the Democrats?

The GIVE Act. Does it violate the 13th amendment?

The bill, HR 1388: The Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education Act otherwise known as the "GIVE Act," has already passed. Here’s the roll who voted for it.



Did Congress read this bill? What was missing in VISTA, AmeriCorps, Peace Corp, Foster Grandparents, and the bazillion of local opportunities, funded by government, non-profits and churches? Is there an area not already covered by Sertoma, or American Legion, or the Lung Association, or Rotary or AARP? I never had the feeling that Points of Light was mandatory, did you? And didn't Democrats ridicule Bush I or is that why--because he didn't make it mandatory?

Did we really need another massive stack of federal dollars bundled in acres of paper co-opting volunteerism? Surely, they can't call this a "stimulus." Something like $22,000 per volunteer--but then, it takes a bunch of bureaucrats to run a program like this. And what in the world is a "social entrepreneur?" More people to join the unions that get out the Obama vote. More people to look to Obama has their savior in the White House. It makes them that much more dependent on the government.

The bill, promoted by the Obama administration as a means of “encouraging America's youth to participate in voluntary community service,” (if you read it, you’ll see it goes far beyond “encouraging,” that it opens the door to conscription) has received little scrutiny from Congress or the public. It provides funding for Obama’s favorite leftist organizations, especially ACORN, but starves out the churches that have traditionally been vehicles for volunteerism--in fact, the almost 50 year old Peace Corps was modeled after what the Mennonites, Brethren and Quakers did after WWII.

Did the RINOs read this bill before they voted for it? Time to call them home. Next time the Republican Party head guy sends out that envelope pleading for money, ask about the voting records of the RINOs. Senator Voinovich voted Yay, as usual; when anything wasteful or socialist comes along, he's all for it.

So the Senate will allow funding to ACORN, but they won't allow any religious expression in the "youth brigades?" Gateway Pundit And to think we spent American lives and money to free the women of Afghanistan from the fundamentalist Taliban, only to conscript our own.

Oh yes, “Requires states to develop comprehensive plans for volunteer and paid service by Baby Boomers and older adults.” (from summary of text)

And now, tax us to death

I have no patience with smokers or any addictions (except blogging, of course), but expecting nicotine addicted people to pay the tax increases so children (up to age 28) of middle class parents can drop their insurance and let the government pick up the tab is pretty silly. Take over the auto industry, create cars no one wants, stop producing and refining oil so prices soar, make current cars illegal to drive. Hit 'em again, harder, harder. Welcome to your 95% tax cuts and $5/gallon gasoline.

Before he finishes with us, Obama will have taxed us to death. “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” Benjamin Franklin wrote 1789. An earlier version comes from Daniel Defoe in, The Political History of the Devil, ” Things as certain as death and taxes can be more firmly believed.” Hmm. Maybe we need to take a look at the Defoe title.

A heads up for Christians

I recently watched a few minutes of an anti-Wall Street, anti-Federal Reserve, anti-U.S. government film called, "The Obama Deception." If you believe this film, you're in trouble.

“The Obama Deception is a hard-hitting film that completely destroys the myth that Barack Obama is working for the best interests of the American people.”

O.K. I agree. Yes, about 50% of the electorate realized he is a socialist and/or marxist. (And about 40% of those who voted for him did so for the novelty and guilt factor, never even looking at his politics, only his ethnicity.) But that’s a long way from believing this. . .

“The Obama phenomenon is a hoax carefully crafted by the captains of the New World Order.

“The Obama Deception is not about Left or Right: it's about a One World Government. The international banks plan to loot the people of the United States and turn them into slaves on a Global Plantation.”

Covered in this film: who Obama works for, what lies he has told, and his real agenda, and how his initial appointments and actions prove he serves the corporate oligarchs, not the American people. If you want to know the facts and cut through all the hype, this is the film for you."

The films claims Obama works for the same interests that George Bush I & II worked for. The film claims to be non-partisan. However, “new world order” has always been code for “the Jews did it.” Or, in the 19th century, "watch out for the pope." Tarpley can say it’s the “Anglo-American” world order, but we’ve certainly been hearing this conspiracy theme since--well, during my entire lifetime. “Military-industrial complex” (warned by Eisenhower) in the 50s; and we were railing against this in the 1970s. “Oligarchs,” “Wall Street fat cats,” “international bankers,” call it what you will, but remember, we've heard it all before--and not all that long ago, either.

Update: Ted Anthony, AP: "Here's an incomplete list from the history books: Indians, Quakers, witches, Englishmen, the federal government, Southerners and Northerners, Chinese "Celestials," Tammany Hall Democrats, Germans, Jews, Japanese, North Koreans, communists, socialists, Vietnamese, liberals, conservatives, gays, lesbians and Muslims. The Evil Empire and the Axis of Evil.

Now, a fresh group has been dropped into the cultural dunk tank. Bin Laden? Back-burnered, at least for now. Saddam? Gone and forgotten. Instead, in these jumbled days of economic uncertainty, fairly or unfairly, America's newest Snidely Whiplashes bear faces like those of Bernie Madoff, AIG executives and the private jet-flying heads of the Big Three automakers.

October 2008 seems years in the past

But here's what I wrote to someone supporting the candidacy of President Obama, who just couldn't fathom my fear and loathing.

"At the top for me is abortion, and Your Man as you call him, would advise his own daughters to abort his grandchild; McCain, whom I don't even like all that much, adopted a child, darker than Obama who would have died from starvation and neglect. Your Man is in bed with so many far left organizations I'm surprised there is room for Michelle--who hates our country. (You should have heard her in Ohio talking to blue collar moms) Your Man, as you call him, listens to racist hatred for 20 years in his church. Your Man promises to raise your taxes. He promises to sit down with terrorist regimes with no preconditions. I think McCain, who definitely isn't my first choice, understands the enemy but respects them and their power. He has experienced it personally. Morally, Obama's such a light weight I fear for our future just so white folks can stop feeling guilty over a past they had nothing to do with. David Axelrod, his handler, seems a bright man, he's in media, but I don't know how much he knows about international issues.

Yesterday we were visiting friends in another city. They are about our age and would like to sell their home which is in a lovely neighborhood. They said it wasn't as nice as their old one. So they drove us through that neighborhood--it was gorgeous--kind of like our "south of Lane" area in Upper Arlington. We saw nothing wrong with it--every home was in pristine condition, yards beautiful and palatial, but they kept saying they had been afraid because it was changing (years before) and the house had been broken into. Then we started noticing the neighborhood people washing cars, raking leaves, etc. African-Americans--middle and upper class, probably college professors, lawyers and doctors. But oh yes, these friends are for Obama--they had a sign in their yard.

I regret the election is a done deal, and I think both parties have behaved
miserably during the past month [mid-September melt-down], mostly the Democrats, but they are the best liars the U.S. Congress has ever produced, and this can and will be blamed on Bush, not their social engineering.

8 years coming of a perfect, non-racist society, with a Katrina-like plan for
our health care, education, and security. In 8 years, I'll be too old to care, but I'm not sure he'll allow any opposition by then anyway, so it may be longer."

And now a few words from Murray, guest blogger

Instead of sending updates on the old neighborhood's health and obits, today I received this. Something to think about.

I would like to see a show of hands from those people who have mailed their congressman or Obama a tea bag. If you haven't I'll be thinking that you still plan to or you are going to march on Washington instead or you agree with Obama's mass destruction of this country or you don't believe this country is being put down or you are such a staunch Democrat you have confidence that they will pull these miracles off with your money or you just don't give a damn!

I have often said that the main objective of our elected is to keep the masses confused. For years they have used diversions like immigration, the tax code, social security, medicare, abortion, war, the AMT, budget, PORK, bipartisanship, etc., etc., to keep us confused to the point that we, their constituents, couldn't come together and focus on any one cause. This my friends was by design and it is bipartisan. Our elected do not solve problems, they create them.

Now, at the risk of being labeled a Republican, I'm gonna tell you that the Democrats miscalculated when they sabotaged this country's financial structure trying desperately to make the Bush administration look as bad as possible... all in the interest of securing political power for themselves. If you don't want to believe this all I ask is that you look back on the events leading up to the mortgage mess and the pursuit of the "America Dream". I'm somewhat sure they didn't mean for it to tank this far but when you consider that they and the Republicans are unable to focus on any problem for any length of time or resolve them it became inevitable this country's financial structure was in an unstoppable downward spiral.

So what's the Obama game plan? Well, he's using the old tried and true method that has never failed either party. He's swamping us with everything at once in order to keep the masses confused. Plus he pretends he and his cohorts knew nothing was amiss and blamed everybody else. Feeling the need for a little insurance however, he has emptied the Treasury along with destroying individual wealth to create fear thus establishing a feeling of reliance on the federal government to "save" us. Just think about it for a minute. What can you do? Are the people going to march? I don't think so. Not at this time anyway. Impeachment will more than likely be out of the question [and you know why.] But, there are elections coming and that usually strikes fear in the hearts of the some incumbents. So sending in the little tea bag to your elected officials at this time is a way to be heard and just might get their attention. It could be the best 42 cents you ever spent. Besides, you'll feel much better for it! Murray

I have sent an empty tea bag to Obama, and a full one to Mary Jo Kilroy. Yesterday I received in the mail a seed package of "Forget-me-nots." Now if you like the stimulus package, you want to the government to AMTRAK the auto industry and FEMATIZE health care, and you're feeling like the government owes you for taking up space, send Congress a package of those. Takes about a year to really get going and then they will spread like crazy to your neighbors.

Visitor from Troy Ohio

If your site meter shows a visitor/commenter/reader from Troy Ohio, it's just me. I'm at the library. That's how I'm showing up on mine. Aren't libaries weird since they've turned into computer terminals? At least I'm in the main reference area where I can see books. Lots of books. Like Who's who in Amerian politics," and "Contemporary Authors," and "Feminist companion to literature in English." I'm in the 900s of Dewey--I'd tell you more, except I have on my older glasses--the ones I can read with but not see distance.

On the library terminal, I've lost at least 20 lbs--the screen is all squished. And the type font on my blog is different. So I apologize to all my regulars. I looked much better at home. My home, not yours. I probably look squishy on your too.

Cable connection down

Going to the library. Some days I hate technology.

Star Parker, back on the plantation

She thought she'd left. She wrote a book about it.

"I talked about government programs like Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training (JOBS), Emergency Assistance to Needy Families with Children (EANF), Section 8 Housing, and Food Stamps.

A vast sea of perhaps well intentioned government programs, all initially set into motion in the 1960's, that were going to lift the nation's poor out of poverty.

A benevolent Uncle Sam welcomed mostly poor black Americans onto the government plantation. Those who accepted the invitation switched mindsets from "How do I take care of myself?" to "What do I have to do to stay on the plantation?"

Instead of solving economic problems, government welfare socialism created monstrous moral and spiritual problems. The kind of problems that are inevitable when individuals turn responsibility for their lives over to others.

The legacy of American socialism is our blighted inner cities, dysfunctional inner city schools, and broken black families.

Through God's grace, I found my way out. It was then that I understood what freedom meant and how great this country is."

But now she sees rich Americans running to climb the fence to get on the plantation she tried to leave.

"Instead of poor America on socialism becoming more like rich American on capitalism, rich America on capitalism is becoming like poor America on socialism.

Uncle Sam has welcomed our banks onto the plantation and they have said, "Thank you, Suh.""

Read the whole article here; and weep for the country.

Monday Memories--MLA San Antonio 1994

One of my New Year's Resolutions was to join an exercise class, so here I am in my 1994 San Antonio "Walk with Majors" shirt getting ready to go to class today. Majors was (or is, don't know for sure) a book distributor, a nice family operation. Even if your library didn't use their services, they always bought breakfast for and gave a t-shirt to anyone who "walked with Majors."

One of the great things about being the veterinary medicine librarian at Ohio State was the terrific cities I visited and the conferences I attended. Several times my husband took a few vacation days and joined me. The Veterinary Medicine Section of the Medical Library Association is the best professional group ever. The OSU Libraries was poorly funded for professional meetings, but the college dean would usually find the money to pay for my registration, hotel and travel.

The next photo is Jerry and I; she was a hospital librarian from Detroit and we met at our first MLA in Boston in 1988. Although she started library school about 20 years after I did, we had both joined this organization at the same time, and are both now retired but I still hear from her at Christmas. I had a scrunchy perm in those days, and it looks like I didn't scrunch that day--I think these Majors Walks were very early and we probably hadn't yet hit the showers.

Here's an excerpt from a letter to my parents about that trip:

My friend Jerry from Detroit sent me a packet of photos this week which she took of San Antonio and us when we were there for the Medical Library Association in mid-May. It is a lovely city, and they really cater to tourists--must be one of their biggest industries. They had a river that was forever flooding and during the Depression the WPA corralled it in stone walls, into a lovely river walk, and it has been extended to other areas. The city business sort of goes on above it, and you never see the traffic or hear it when walking along the river. We did a lot of walking and picture taking; I attended meetings, and an architect (friend of a friend) took us on a city tour and we got to see some of the more unusual things the ordinary tourist doesn't see. We also visited an artist's colony and bought a nice watercolor of the Alamo. One morning the Majors company took us on a long hike through the King William restored residential section where we saw all these fabulous homes, and they gave us breakfast. Jerry had a photo of the two of us standing side by side in our Majors t-shirts and we look like librarian-Siamese twins because the shirts blend together.

Another treat was going to the air force base and seeing how they train the dogs. We vet librarians always do something with an animal interest. That base is incredible, and even though I'd heard a lot about it, you almost have to see it to believe it.

Obama fired the wrong guy

I opened one eye and half an ear to see what I hoped was the ghost of Tim Geithner on Meet the Press. TOTUS says it was a hired actor, but I don't think so. It was the real, flesh and blood lie-baby. The more he lied, the faster he talked, the more my jaw dropped. I don't know who was doing the interviewing, and I can't find the YouTube, nor would it be worth it to look at it again. Here's a guy who was working for FED which helped create the housing bubble and approved the AIG bonuses and when the TARP came down, now working for a former Senator who approved the d-d thing and got the wet snowball of financial disaster rolling down hill. Tim sounded like he was using Obama's teleprompter--not the machine, but the keyboardist/writer. Then they interviewed John McCain, who was very careful not to be disrespectful (which he didn't mind being when Bush was President), but he was truthful. Sarah Palin was his best feature, but oh my, he sounded so good after Tim the Two-Faced.

Hope and Change in Health Care

• Within three weeks of his inauguration, President Obama has succeeded in a dramatic government take-over of Americans’ health care, although he is unable to nominate a tolerable candidate for Secretary of Health and Human Services. [He tried to sneak in another tax cheat like Geithner.]

• More than half of kids roped into Mr. Obama’s kids’ health program will drop their families’ health coverage, and the SCHIP explosion has an unhealthy addiction to tobacco funding. [Remember, the President himself is a smoker, but the low-income are more likely to smoke, so the new tax increase hits them hardest. So many people have stopped smoking, that they may soon need to recruit them in order to pay for SCHIP!]

• By bailing out state Medicaid programs that have spent beyond our means, Mr. Obama punishes fiscally responsible states, and Medicaid’s failure to pay its bills will result in a “cost-shift” causing private premiums to rise by about $18 billion.

• Subsidies to COBRA, the already flawed program that allows departed workers to continue coverage with their previous employer, dramatically favor unemployment or part-time work, instead of full-time work with benefits

For the details, see "Obama’s Unhealthy Start: SCHIP Explosion, Medicaid Bailout, COBRA’s Bite" By Adam Frey, Public Policy Fellow, and John R. Graham, Director, Health Care Studies, at Health Policy Prescriptions, Feb. 2009.

"President Obama plans to build on the way
he mobilized millions of volunteers and small
donors in his successful election campaign,
and his administration will use similar
strategies to sell its health care proposal. A
patchwork of progressive organizations is
poised to unleash its activists to rally grassroots
support for any health care legislation.
And, perhaps most importantly, business
groups will be much less hostile – if not
openly supportive – of the effort to radically
transform health care."

". . . One such group that hopes to play a key role
in the effort is Health Care for America Now
(HCAN), a coalition formed last July with
the stated intention of spending $40 million
on grassroots organizing and multi-media
campaigns. The founding steering committee
for the organization is comprised
of 13 groups: Association of Community
Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN),
the American Federation of State, County
and Municipal Employees (AFSCME),
Americans United for Change, Campaign
for America’s Future, Center for American
Progress Action Fund, Center for Community
Change, MoveOn.org, National Education
Association, National Women’s Law Center,
Planned Parenthood Federation of America,
Service Employees International Union,
United Food and Commercial Workers, and
USAction. Later additions include the Children’s
Defense Fund, Leadership Conference
on Civil Rights, and the National Council
of La Raza. Remember these names: All
are likely to be in the vanguard mobilizing
support for left-wing activism during the
next four years." CRC Trends, March 2009

Massachusetts Health Care--coming soon to your state?
"In Massachusetts's latest crisis, Governor Deval Patrick and his Democratic colleagues are starting to move down the path that government health plans always follow when spending collides with reality -- i.e., price controls. As costs continue to rise, the inevitable results are coverage restrictions and waiting periods. It was only a matter of time." WSJ story, March 27 here.

Hollywood lefties will change their tune

when Obama tries to cap and trade their salaries and spread their wealth. Although, he probably won't do that. The suit may be empty, but the wallet knows where the money came from.

“You know, the last eight years I was the loyal opposition and now there’s another loyal opposition,” Carter told CNSNews.com at the Green Door gala. “The only problem I really have is the spreading of hate by right wing, you know, super right – the spreading of hate, I don’t get it. I don’t understand it.”

Interesting, isn't it. When she disagreed with Bush, it wasn't hate. But when we disagree with her guy, it's hate. The Bush haters were just bizarre and deranged, but now when we've got a really dangerous guy in the White House, they see nothing, hear nothing, say nothing. I doubt that anyone younger than 40 remembers her, but she played Wonder Woman and looked just like my daughter, who was actually prettier. LinkOh yes, and she thinks it's kinder to let mentally ill homeless wander the streets with their prescription drugs than to provide supervised shelter. Now there's a big heart.

What media bias?

". . . none in the media are complaining about Big Guy not doing any live TV interviews, where he could get hit with "gotcha" questions about the budget deficit, veteran health-care cutbacks, or how much Michelle spends on shoes." Barack Obama’s Teleprompter . One of the best written, well researched blogs out there. Don't miss it.

I've forgotten most of my Russian

but not Russian and east European history. E. J. Dionne Jr. is just plain wrong, if he doesn't see the danger in this leftward drift.

Still, that doesn't make us socialist. There is, as yet, no broad demand for a government takeover of big companies or a widespread desire to replace capitalism with a cooperative system.

We've got the petty regulators, the bureaucratic bullies, the power hungry, pedantic feminists, the ridiculers and deniers of religion (except global warming) and a full blown marxist with clay feet and a closed mind with a sycophant following. Neither Rudd nor Obama have had a "fresh idea" or "hope for change" that wasn't tried in the mid-20th century, failing miserably and causing millions of deaths by democide. Maybe this isn't the "old socialism"--it just might be the new communism. Wake up, folks.

If you love the West

or even if you don't, you will after viewing Zack Thurmond's paintings. I love his shades of purple. Just makes me want to take a trip to Idaho with a camera and bag of paints and stretched paper. He's posting his work--daily--on his blog. Now that's a challenge. Here are some other artists doing a daily challenge. Zack writes:

So if you see that I haven't posted a painting in several days, leave me a comment deriding me for my laziness and lack of artistic conviction. I have no excuse not to put brush to canvas, regardless of the subject matter around me."