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Sunday Trolls

Sometimes when you are attacked by left wing trolls, it just bumps up the stats. They didn't like flaws I pointed out in the Clinton team.

Friday Family Photo--Summer of '63

If I knew where this photo was, I'd rescan it because I think I could do a better job. However, I think it is the summer of 1963 and we were probably in Indianapolis because my husband's sister (far right) was visiting from California. Last Friday I showed the Goff family, and the young teen on the far right, is the older woman in her late 70s on the left in his photo, my husband's grandmother, his beloved Neno. I'm not sure why we are "dressed up," but perhaps we weren't--it's possible we just dressed better in those days. Even if it was a Sunday afternoon, I don't recall ever attending church there except when we were dating. You can't see our feet, but we all had on high heels--mine were white.

The smiles look a bit forced. I don't think it was the sun. I'm second from the right and in the middle of what was the worst two years of my life (although I didn't know it that summer, thinking things couldn't get worse) and my sister-in-law wasn't in a good place either, as things would turn out which I didn't know then. Neno had been a widow for 7 years and still grieved her loss, and Aunt Marg, a nurse (2nd from the left), was slipping into poor health and would soon retire and move to California to live with her widowed sister as an invalid.

4308

Lions for Lambs

The reviews have been underwhelming.

Windbags of War--Columbus Dispatch
"Lions for Lambs plays like an off-off-Broadway workshop production assembled by a committed liberal troupe with more interest in expressing its agenda than in involving its audience in human drama."

Lions for Lambs will have you counting sheep--Joe Morgenstern, WSJ

Film Flim Flam--me

Dumpster Diving for Doves--me

And I haven't even seen it. Redford, Cruise and Streep--caricature, hot shot and media babe. How original. It's a no brainer for politics-on-the-left 101. That Redford says he made it "to get people to think," is almost laughable. People who support the mission don't think? Think his way, he means, and if you don't, you're a tool for big oil and that wealthy guy [whoever that is].

"I don’t know [how audience will react] but I think I know what will be pretty predictable–pathetically predictable–and that would be the people in charge of the Swift Boat stories or Sinclair Oil or that institute that wealthy guy has in Pittsburgh. You know where they are going to go and it will be predictable because they will have decided already–in fact, that has already happened on their blogs." Bitchslap

I wonder why reactions are so predictable? Couldn't be that it's a predictable, boring film. Isn't it predictable also that the left has appropriated "swift boat" as their own verb, when all the guys who served with Kerry called him a liar.

4307

Unintended consequences of over protecting children

Yesterday there was an article in the WSJ about "the bubble wrap generation." Using that article, plus my memory of being in public school in the 40s and 50s and having children in the public schools in the 70s and 80s, I came up with a list of what may not be allowed anymore (can vary by district).

dodge ball
tag
chatter on the baseball diamond
chasing on the playground
running in the halls
swings
teeter totters
hugs between classmates, same sex or opposite sex
sand boxes
cops and robbers
cowboys and Indians
touch football
junior ROTC
prayer
moment of silence
Bible reading
Pledge of Allegiance
Christmas programs
Halloween parties
single sex sports
chastity
creation
walking to and from school
unshaded playgrounds
any words that could be perceived as harming another’s self-esteem
pranks of any kind
sharing an aspirin or Excedrin with a classmate (zero tolerance)

Teens are bringing alcohol and drugs to school in candy dispensers and water bottles, but being expelled for sharing an aspirin. I asked a teacher why the zero tolerance rule, and she said school administrators refuse to make judgement calls--they won't accept the responsibility since parents blame them for everything, big or small. What does that teach the kids about personal responsibility and making choices, I asked. She just shrugged.

And yet, on the far side of overprotectiveness--all the way to harmful to the environment--are the blue dyed, shredded and mulched automobile tires spread on the children's playground where we voted on Tuesday. When it rains, the 1/2 inch dyed chips wash out under the fence into the parking lot, get on our shoes, tracked into our car, and I'm guessing animals might eat them, or even small children. All to protect kids from a few bumps and bruises. Green greed turned blue.

Thursday Thirteen--13 warnings

1) For the last four days a "low on ink" reminder from HP pops up on the screen in the morning. Actually, I think it's zip, nada, zero ink in the black cartridge. The questions for Monday night bookclub were printed in royal blue.

2) And the microwave beeps to tell me my coffee has finished reheating. If I don't press the off button, it will beep from here to eternity, waiting for me to do something.

3) The other morning about 5 a.m. the microwave started randomly beeping about every 5 minutes--no reason, I hadn't even used it, so perhaps it had started doing it during the night. "Hello--anyone home? Can I help?"

4) The dryer calls from the laundry room when the clothes are not quite dry--just about. I suppose that's for women who plan ahead and already have hangers ready to whisk a few things out at the last minute to hang out the wrinkles. I hear it, but usually don't stop what I'm doing.

5) There's a light on my van dash that warns me when I'm low on gas. My husband responds immediately because he only drives it occasionally, but I know that it is just teasing and it will be a few more miles until we're on fumes.

6) A mild twinge in my lower back warns me that I've been stepping over the baby gate instead of releasing it. It belongs with all the paraphernalia for puppy-sitting. When the children were toddlers, I had a similar gate and tore up my back for several months executing this same maneuver.

7) There's a little 4.5 lb. Chihuahua here in my office, just visiting for the week, but our cat in the hall is issuing warnings. "Hissssss, Hisssss, Arrrrh. Don't you even think of sitting on her lap, that's my lap, you worthless bag of doggie bones." The pup wags her tail and ignores the warnings.

8) Every morning since returning from Ireland in September my bathroom scales has been warning me that I need to get back to a healthier routine like I did last year at this time. Otherwise, all the new clothes are not going to fit by Thanksgiving.

9) I drove my husband's Explorer to the coffee shop today. It doesn't like me. On the dash a red warning light was flashing, "theft, "theft."

10) I have double ovens, but I've never been able to figure out how to set the digital timer, so I have no warning when something is done--like last night's roast, which could be called, "tender crisp." I just have to pay attention to the clock.

11) But the oven also will start beeping on its own--sometimes for a long time--warning about what, I don't know. Usually about 3 a.m. I push a lot of buttons--so many I have no idea why when it finally stops.

12) My PC is making crunching, grinding, moaning noises, and taking longer to boot up. This is a warning I need to heed. Time for service, or time for a new computer. And if you have lots of ads on your TT, or music, or winky-blinky things, it just sighs and won't load.

13) Our investment adviser has never said anything political in the 7 years we've known him, but as we discussed the required draw down of our investments yesterday, he warned us the Democrats will raise taxes (because that's just what they do). When the economy is getting soft (the spreading mortgage meltdown, the cost of oil, etc.), he said, that's the absolute worst thing for recovery. Retired people don't have the time span for recovery when we also have a required withdrawal from our accounts. There's more revenue for the government with lower taxes, so why would they do this? Because they can. A warning, indeed.

Check out Karen's site for TT banners.

I have visited Sandee; Denise; Vicki; Mark; Home with the kids;

Thursday Thirteen

4305

The Writers' Strike

Warnings of the Writers' Strike have been coming for weeks. But I'm ahead of the game (unless the writers contribute to the evening news, radio talk shows, and Book-TV). Except for re-runs, I stopped watching most of our cultural wasteland years ago. Dancing with the Stars was a top rated show on Monday and Tuesday of this week, and I did watch the first season, which was a summer replacement, and the second season. Not sure they use writers. I wouldn't watch Desperate Housewives even if I were desperate, but obviously many people do. John Corby (local radio) suggests they go back to the first season of shows like 24 so that people who joined the series late can get caught up.

I'm sure all the writers make more than nurses, librarians or teachers who contribute much more to society. And they probably don't even have to attend workshops on multi-culturalism or recruiting minorities for writing jokes for white performers. Which makes me wonder, how many in this union are actually minorities? Women? Over 55? Normal? Anyone know?

And what will happen to all the little guys, who probably make much less and may not be unionized, like the caterers, chauffers, parking lot attendants, make-up artists, hair designers, clothing alternations, set designers, or the stores and restaurants where these strikers shop and eat, etc. You gotta hope these folks didn't have adjustable rate mortgages.

4304

The Robber Barons

Good observation, but I think they were called that even 50 years ago when I was in school--

After seeing a piece of my son's history curriculum at school, I realized for about the hundredth time just how poor an understanding most people have about the great industrialists of the 19th century, so unfairly painted as "robber barons." While it is said that "history is written by the victors," I would observe that despite the fact that socialism and communism have been given a pretty good drubbing over the last 20 years, these statists still seem to be writing history. How else to explain the fact that men who made fortunes through free, voluntary exchange of products can be called "robber barons;" while politicians who expropriate billions by force without permission from the most productive in society are called "progressive." Coyote Blog

4303

Two words sum up crazy politics

Pat Robertson. Not to say anything negative about Rudy, I'm sure he's a nice guy, but he's beyond RINO--he's a conservative Democrat. He is not pro-life, pro-marriage (except for himself--3 times married), pro-secure borders, or anything else conservatives admire in a candidate--except he's strong on security (just not at the border) and did a wonderful job in his city after 9/11. The only explanation I can come up with is that Robertson is more afraid of an honest, conservative Mormon than he is a controlling, conniving, liberal Methodist. Not that he's said much worth listening to in the last 10 or 15 years, but this was a huge surprise, and if he has a "base," I'm guessing they feel dusted and kicked.

Campaign for Children and Families
Wildmon endorses Huckabee

4302

Liberals and Uppity Blacks

Liberals turn up their noses at Clarence Thomas' autobiography, "My Grandfather's Son." Thomas says it was all about abortion, and I wish it were so, although I'm pro-life. It is racisim, pure and simple. Look out Obama--don't you dare go after Hillary. Daniel Henninger in today's WSJ writes about Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird" which has sold 30,000,000 copies. She has received the Presidential Medal of Freedom award.

"By now, "To Kill a Mockingbird" is wholly folded into the political life of the country. It is safe to say that most Democrats would consider the book to be an iconic testament to their legacy, liberalism's greatest achievement. One imagines that Harper Lee would agree with this. . ."

"But as with Justice Thomas's famously sphinx-like demeanor during oral arguments at the Supreme Court, there has been nary a peep in more than 40 years about the book's meaning from Miss Lee (it would sound absurd to refer to her as Ms. Lee). While schoolchildren today are assigned the book as an exercise in the formation of social virtue, Harper Lee herself saw the novel as about more than that. Indeed, one reads nearly 90 pages into the novel's account of Scout and Jem Finch in Maycomb before the racial drama arrives.

"We may assume that Harper Lee composed her remarkable story about the unjustly accused and gunned-down Tom Robinson so that some day a Clarence Thomas could rise from Pinpoint to the nation's highest Court. If so, we then have to account for this famous and still-astounding statement by Judge Thomas toward the end of his corrosive confirmation hearings for the Supreme Court:


"From my standpoint, as a black American, it is a high-tech lynching for uppity blacks who in any way deign to think for themselves, to do for themselves, to have different ideas, and it is a message that unless you kowtow to an old order, this is what will happen to you. You will be lynched, destroyed, caricatured by a committee of the U.S. Senate rather than hung from a tree."

4301

She must be my age

My husband and I almost always go out to eat on Friday night. If he wore a baseball cap and athletic shoes, even to a sports bar like Rusty Bucket, I'd take it personally. It doesn't flatter me or our relationship. For a picnic with friends, or a walk along the lakefront it would be fine (although I just can't wait for the day when the baseball cap for adults will be history for anyone off the diamond). Now a reader of WSJ has expressed my thoughts on today's casual dress and behavior and what it says about the people you're with or the event you're attending. It's all about expect and respect.

"Envision a 50th anniversary party where the husband plays video games with his buddies and the kids lounge in front of the TV, because that's what they want to do.

I want to get dressed up and be taken to my favorite restaurant, and that's what I get. But I started this pattern 60 years ago." Judith Martin, WSJ 11-07-07

Huckabee on Health

When Mike Huckabee was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, he took charge of his health, began to eat a more healthy diet, and started an exercise program. Whether it's his personal health, or the nation's health, he says there is no quick fix. He was a big loser in weight loss; let's make him a big winner for the White House.

The health care system in this country is irrevocably broken, in part because it is only a "health care" system, not a "health" system.

We don't need universal health care mandated by federal edict.

We do need to get serious about preventive health care.

I advocate policies that will encourage the private sector to seek innovative ways to bring down costs.

I value the states' role as laboratories for new market-based approaches.

When I'm President, Americans will have more control of their health care options, not less.

As President, I will work with the private sector, Congress, health care providers, and other concerned parties to lead a complete overhaul of our health care system.

Our health care system is making our businesses non-competitive in the global economy. It is time to recognize that jobs don't need health care, people do, and move from employer-based to consumer-based health care.

Details at his web site

Mike Huckabee

Mike is now third in the polls

From the POTUS Blog (over 2 years ago): "Four out of the last five presidents elected were governors. (President George H.W. Bush was VP). Of the four last presidents, three where southern governors. He has a truly successful record of accomplishments in Arkansas. He has demonstrated his ability as a communicator. Gov. Huckabee also has the proper perspective on leadership."

Photo from POTUS Blog
Huckabee is now ahead of McCain and Romney in the Rasmussen poll. Among Republicans, Rudy is first, then Thompson. He was 5th until October 25, then he moved to 4th, now to 3rd.

Mike Huckabee

4298

Planned Parenthood's Plans for Denver

Deception or just clever tactics for meeting a goal? Probably makes no difference, because we know the outcome. Story here about creating a corporation to purchase the property, then lying about ownership on the construction permits by the company that is a donor to PP. Go to a PP website that is advertising for positions--I'm assuming their new employs have to be clear on their own values and support the goals and mission of PP. I wonder if the construction workers and subcontractors had a right to know that they were building a clinic to take the lives of the unborn?

Here's an organization I've been supporting about 20 years, Nurturing Network--a plan that benefits both mother and child.

4297

I voted today

but not for this, "#1 Referendum on Substitute Senate Bill #16." I read through it (very long) several times and couldn't figure out the wording, so I skipped over it, and went to the next issue. When I got home I looked it up on the League of Women Voters website, thinking that if I had no distractions and figured out which verb went with what, I would understand it. Nope. So I read the League's summary and explanation and what would happen with a Yes, and with a No. Still don't understand (not the issue, but the wording). This isn't the first time I remember an issue being written to confuse voters--especially referenda--so the vote count is low, and then the supporters can slip it through. Still, it would be nice to know what I didn't vote for.

Update: The exterminator-guy at the coffee shop explained it to me this morning (Nov. 7). Because it dealt with touching and strippers, apparently it had been discussed at his church (Heaven forbid Lutherans would do that!). The Senate Bill would have put a few strippers out of work since fewer would have been needed if bars closed earlier (there had been some murders or assaults at various places around town where stripping was involved). However, because so many of the signatures were bogus on the petition to get it on the ballot, it was invalid, but by then the machines were set to go. No votes were even counted, and it would have cost the state about $330,000 to advertise that, so it was just left on the ballot. So Senate Bill #16 has passed (the referendum was to remove it).

What's on your pantry shelves?

Lots of NOINFOCO--no information on country of origin. Have you noticed how many canned and prepared food items say only "distributed by" instead of "product of USA" or product of any country? If I choose to buy banana chips, as I did this week, I know the package says "product of the Philippines," and I can decide if I trust our long relationship with that country, and are the standards for pesticides, herbicides and cleanliness the same. Many of the items I put in the basket say, "product of Canada." I'm OK with that. What's more American than pumpkin pie in November? But do you know from the Libby's label? "100% pure pumpkin produced and distributed by Nestle USA." That really doesn't tell me where the pumpkin was grown, stored, cooked, canned or shipped does it? NOINFOCO.

This week I had one clear winner for clarity in the grocery cart. The bag of Eagle Eye Idaho Potatoes said "grown in Idaho" 3 times, as well as "produce of USA," and "packaged in Idaho." Can't be anymore forthright about their product than that.

Compare that to these Meijer brands I bought: Select Black Beans, Chunky Applesauce, Lite Pear Halves, and Cream of Mushroom Soup. All are "Distributed by Meijer of Grand Rapids, MI" with no information on where they were grown, produced or packaged. I'm told on the label percentage of calcium and Vit. C, the mg of sodium and cholesterol, the grams of fiber and protein, the serving size, how many servings in the container and the calories, how many calories are from fat, what ingredients are inside the can or package, how to cook it or serve it, how to store it after it's opened, and a "use by" date. And depending on the company, I could practice my Spanish, or have a label so cluttered, I can't even find the English words. Even the Meijer Organics Golden Sweet Corn with a seal that reads "USA organic" just may be saying there's a standard in the USA for certifying something is organic. It doesn't really say it was produced here.

Now that we're seeing corn being grown everywhere so we can burn it in our gas tanks, I think it's time to make sure you know where the food is coming from that used to be grown in Ohio or Indiana or Iowa. This is a safety issue just like the lead paint in toys or the salmonella in lettuce greens. Anything can happen even with locally grown produce, but the USA does have standards and regulations governing production and distribution. We learned from the China toys and pet food fiascos that neither the corporations nor the US government were checking to make sure those products were produced the way they were supposed to be. (China has no tradition of contract law and feels no obligation to do what they say they will do.)

So why can't we consumers be a bit more proactive, why doesn't the FDA and the USDA require "country of origin" or "product of. . ." which would be more helpful than having everyone switch from transfat to palm oil? Ask your congressional representative to . . . represent YOU. This is not a liberal or conservative issue. It's about being an informed consumer. Let's not have another food scare which will create another layer of bureaucracy after finger pointing and hearings with movie stars giving us advice. Act now.

We need Mike in the White House!

"Governor Huckabee cut taxes 94 times in Arkansas; championed the first broad-based tax cut in Arkansas history; led the charge to implement pro-family policies by protecting the sanctity of life and traditional marriage in Arkansas; cut welfare rolls by nearly half, and believes in a strong national defense, beginning with sealing America's borders. Furthermore, he does not support "sanctuary cities." Chip Saltsman, National Campaign Manager.

The Presidential election is a year off, but today is the first Tuesday of November. Across the nation people are going to the polls. Get some practice; exercise your vote. Don't neglect your rights and duty as a citizen and sit around and whine about what's going on locally, state-wide, or nationally. And don't let illegal aliens get drivers' licenses so they can become motor-voters while you sit at home.



Mike Huckabee

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Driver has no money

As I was returning from the super market this morning I passed a bread truck with "Driver has no money" painted on the side. I know just how he feels.

Checking out the religion blogs

I saw this at WDTPRS, a Catholic blog. The California Catholic Daily reports on a refresher course on the Latin Mass and Sacraments.

"The Tridentine Mass for Joe Sixpack” is the name for the first class, to be held Nov. 7. The titles for the classes to be held over subsequent weeks are “Getting Married the Way Grandpa Did It” (Nov. 14), “The Requiem Mass” (Nov. 21), and “How to Baptize Babies the Old Way” (Nov. 28)

They're expecting 200+.

Story at The Evangelical outpost Why is the Club for Growth trying to derail Huckabee?

"If the Club for Growth had been around in 1980, Reagan might not have become President. The influential fiscal conservative group would surely have done everything in their power to prevent the Gipper from gaining the nomination. They would have attempted to derail Reagan's campaign just as they are now doing to Gov. Huckabee."

He concludes, after 5 pages of analysis: "I've always considered The Club for Growth to be a respectable conservative organization. But their attempts to deceive their fellow conservatives by misrepresenting Huckabee's record have proven they are unworthy of such trust. Pat Toomey and his organization owe Governor Huckabee--and the rest of us--an apology for their attempted deception."

Rebecca is using November to post something at her blog she's thankful for every day. Then if you contribute what you are thankful for in the comments, she'll add you to her next "thankful for" entry. She lives in the Yukon and writes wonderful posts on theology and hymns. Even if you don't comment, her blog will bless you.

4292

Punishing the married, college graduate for her success

After reading 1776 [David McCullough, 2005], I've been thinking a lot about taxes--how they are used for many things other than raising revenue for the common good--like the so-called sin taxes and luxury taxes and success taxes. Charlie Rangel's latest proposal is just one example, but the Brits were doing it to the colonists back in the 1760s too. The economic system in those days was called "mercantile." After repealing the Stamp Acts because the Americans raised such a fuss, they came up with some minor taxes, for the sole purpose of showing them who was the boss, so they wouldn't get too cocky. Edmund Burke in the House of Commons, with a passionate, long-winded 18th century speech, essentially said, "Are we crazy? Why are we killing our golden goose (obviously a very loose paraphrase)?"

So a letter that appeared in the Nov. 3 WSJ written by Steve Walde is instructive. Why, he asks, is our government punishing people who went to college and married each other? Well, Steve, that's the "close-the-gap" mentality of most Democrats, but a lot of RINO's think along those lines, too. First tax parents/workers and force them to send their kids to government schools, then add in some regulations that will assure that female students soon outnumber the male students, and if they meet a future spouse and marry, since that's what young people with common interests do, tax the graduates even more. It's only fair, the liberals reason, because they are more successful than the people who didn't go to school, didn't get married (but had babies) and pay very low taxes.

What's happened is that women entered the workforce and in the past few decades educated women have had their incomes match or even exceed that of men. Educated and upper income people have a tendency to marry one another. And because lower-income people are less likely to be married than upper-income individuals, the statistics are skewed even more. To have an honest discussion on this subject you first have to start out with honest statistics.

I know it's a waste of pixels to ask why either party does anything, but sometimes you've just got to smack them when they are trying (and succeeding) to steal your wallet.

Are these quotes by Hillary real?

This e-mail is going around. Giving dates isn't exactly references. She sort of said them, but the lines are usually out of context. Like the first one--she said to rich Democrats at a fund raiser. Check all the quotes at Urban Legends.

Always check out the forwarded e-mails you get--most aren't worth passing along, whether on health, immigration, religion or politics. At least google it to find out the origin. The real Hillary is probably much scarier.

Guess Who Said:
1) "We’re going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good.”

A. Karl Marx
B. Adolph Hitler
C. Joseph Stalin
D. None of the above

2) “It’s time for a new beginning, for an end to government of the few, by the few, and for the few…and to replace it with shared responsibility for shared prosperity.”

A. Lenin
B. Mussolini
C. Idi Amin
D. None of the
Above

3) “(We)…can’t just let business as usual go on, and that means something has to be taken away from some people.”

A. Nikita Khrushev
B. Josef Goebbels
C. Boris Yeltsin
D. None of the above

4) “We have to build a political consensus and that requires people to give up a little bit of their own…in order to create this common ground.”

A. Mao Tse Dung
B. Hugo Chavez
C. Kim Jong Il
D. None of the above

5) “I certainly think the free-market has failed.”

A. Karl Marx
B. Lenin
C. Molotov
D. None of the above

6) “I think it’s time to send a clear message to what has become the most profitable sector in (the) entire economy that they are being watched.”

A. Pinochet
B. Milosevic
C. Saddam Hussein
D. None of the above

Answers:

(1) D. None of the above. Statement was made by Hillary Clinton 6/29/2004
(2) D. None of the above. Statement was made by Hillary Clinton 5/29/2007
(3) D. None of the above. Statement was made by Hillary Clinton 6/4/2007
(4) D. None of the above. Statement was made by Hillary Clinton 6/4/2007
(5) D. None of the above. Statement was made by Hillary Clinton 6/4/2007
(6) D. None of the above. Statement was made by Hillary Clinton 9/2/2005