"Careless, outrageous comments" says Obama

Gosh, you would think it was Sarah Palin who said Barack Obama's election will precipitate an international crisis instead of Joe Biden, that guy on the ticket with all the gravitas, good education and 30 years experience. Although if she had said it, the press would have called her a racist for noting his youth and inexperience.

Earlier Monday, Obama denounced the "say-anything, do-anything politics" of McCain's camp, but said "careless, outrageous comments" won't distract him from addressing the nation's ills.

I think BO's safe. The MSM has him covered. I checked the Columbus Dispatch, USAToday and Wall Street Journal today and there was no mention of Biden's gaffe (a gaffe is when a politician accidentally tells the truth).

When in doubt, blame the parents

Almost on cue, an older woman stopped at my table at the coffee shop this morning to tell me she liked my McCain-Palin button. "Everyone where I work is so young, they want everything given to them, so they think Obama is great," she said. "Lots of Ohio State students."

I had just finished the extensive summary of The Trophy Kids in today's Wall Street Journal.

With Wall Street in turmoil and a financial system in crisis mode, companies are facing another major challenge: figuring out how to manage a new crop of young people in the work force -- the millennial generation. Born between 1980 and 2001, the millennials were coddled by their parents and nurtured with a strong sense of entitlement. In this adaptation from "The Trophy Kids Grow Up: How the Millennial Generation Is Shaking Up the Workplace," Ron Alsop, a contributor to The Wall Street Journal, describes the workplace attitudes of the millennials and employers' efforts to manage these demanding rookies.

Before reading the review I'd been in a "heated" discussion with a school teacher, about how much is expected of teachers when it is the home that is the problem. We'd segued into that from an even more heated discussion about how to remedy the inequity in women's pay (on which I completely disagree with her, even though we are both conservative Christians and both have children and are/were career women). I had just pointed out to her that Columbus is among the bottom five in major cities in the nation in graduation rates, with Detroit at the bottom. All the failing school districts are heavily into the failed policies of the Democrats and the teachers' unions.

It would appear that the adult off-spring of the successful Baby Boomer couples and the adult off-spring of the welfare moms have all grown up with a sense of entitlement, resisting all expectations that they might need to conform to someone's expectations, want to be tied technologically to their music and friends, and take comfort in an inflated view of their skill level and contribution.

It's interesting that these young people who are at opposite ends of the quintiles of household income will overwhelmingly be voting Obama. "Take care of me Mama," should go on their political badge and be their motto for living and contributing to society.

Politics at work

In an article about discussing politics at work, I noticed this comment by one Obama supporter:

I decided now that we're in the final stages of this mega-important event and because I'm more passionate about this election than I have been since JFK, I would wear my favorite candidate's campaign button," said Ms. Geissal, 58, a registered nurse from Monticello, Ill.

Let me do a little math here. I was 21 years old when I voted for JFK and she's 11 years younger than me. She must have been a very astute campaigner for a 10 year old. The How-to of politics at work can be found here.

I see JFK's name (initials) comes up frequently, regardless of the party. Even Rush Limbaugh speaks fondly of his tax cuts. Joe Biden made reference to him in his warning about an impending disaster which he guarantees will happen under President Obama. Generally, historians say JFK failed or flubbed when tested by the USSR. So why bring it up? However, that's not the memory it evoked for me. Senator Biden, I remember the assassination of JFK, I can go clammy just thinking about how we hovered over Fran's little portable radio at work, crying and praying, and then the terrible news that he was gone. I truly wish Biden would have left that name and memory out of his fear mongering threat.

I am wearing my political badge to the coffee shop, but I have already voted. Like the day I ran into the PUMA at the library, it opens the door for discussion.

The ad that makes Ohio's Governor swear in public

But it's all true. It's not even a smear. All of it's out there in Ayers book, in books about the "revolution," in the archives of the Annenberg Collection and in newspapers. This ad hardly uses any adjectives or adverbs, it is so low-key. If you were living back then, it was indeed a "reign of terror." Ayers and his wife were on the Most Wanted List. The reason they aren't serving time is the government used some shady tactics, but they weren't any less guilty--they've even admitted it. It's a badge of pride. So why is our Governor losing his temper in public about robocalls? Obama couldn't be where he is today without some pretty shady, rich white guys helping him, and the money continues to pour in and the origins will never be investigated by a Democratic Congress. Ayers isn't just another aging bald white man in a Cuba shirt, he's an unrepentant, hate-America terrorist.

Halloween

"Halloween is probably also the weekend to run over your legislators' records, so you aren't just using the voter guides sent out by your pet group (whether it's NRA or the Sierra Club) for that kind of thing. Particularly given the work Congress and Senate have ahead of them (passing laws, or--my preference--overturning 'em) in order to save the economy, we need to do our homework there. For the record, capitalism is better run by capitalists. And capitalism creates more jobs than any other system. So a few pro-business people in Congress and in your state capitols will help us enormously, given the times we find ourselves in."Little Miss Attila

I don't give a damn

said Governor Strickland, our former Methodist pastor governor elected to clean up after Governor Taft's riotous golf game misbehavior. Put your hands over the kids' ears.

“I don’t give a damn about Bill Ayers but I do care about the people of Ohio and the people who need leadership that will be concerned about them and their problems,” Strickland said. Politickeroh.com

He's upset about robocalls, but not Obama's friendship with his mentor Bill Ayers. Doesn't this seem a bit skewed? Has anyone ever been killed with a robocall, or building blown up? The unrepentant, domestic terrorist, Bill Ayers, who hired Obama to help radicalize Chicago school children with bundles of money from the Annenberg Challenge, and then helped him launch his political campaign when Chicago schools remained mired in the muck. He, the terrorist, is no threat to the people of Ohio, but robocalls are?

Potty mouth.

I am Joe, and he doesn't mean Biden

I am Joe.

I shop at WalMart at least once a week. I take my own car, a Ford Taurus that I bought used, to Jiffy Lube. I’ve lived in the same suburban town all my life and I’m ten minutes away from the house where I grew up. My Sundays consist of two things: church and football. During hunting season my freezer is full of deer meat given to me by my friends who are avid hunters. I’ve been on Jeopardy and consider myself highly-educated, though I don’t have a degree. I’ve worked in a gas station, a hotel, a warehouse, and for most of my adult life, for two different police departments. I fix my own faucets when they leak and unclog my own drains. When I go out to dinner, it’s to Olive Garden or a good burger joint. If you pick a fight with my family or my friends, you’ve picked a fight with me. I roll my own smokes and like a good, cheap cigar from time to time. The wine I prefer doesn’t cost 50 bucks a bottle. It comes from Australia and I’m more likely to drink it with a hamburger as I am a filet mignon. I’ve never ordered “lobster hors d’oeuvres, two whole steamed lobsters, Iranian caviar and champagne” from room service in a hotel. Heck, I’ve never ordered room service from a hotel at all. Though I’ve never been a community organizer, I’ve served on the Board of Directors of two non-profit community musical groups, one of which I helped to start.

I don’t want nor do I need some handout from the Magic Government Fairy. I know better what to do with my money than any bureaucrat in Washington or any socialist goon who believes he was born to “change the world”. I’m sick and tired of people looking down their noses at me and mine because I don’t live the kind of life they believe I should be living. I’m proud to live in a country that threw off that threw off the old class system and says, even today, that you can live your dream if you’re willing to put in the work. I have no intention of letting Barack Obama’s Thugocracy or the media green rooms full of elitist snobs put an end to that “for the common good”.

Come November, I’m thinking that we’re going to find out that there are a lot more Joes out there. They’ve riled us up and, to quote Mal Reynolds, we aim to misbehave.
Little Miss Attila is Joe, too.

from Sundries Shack

Joe Biden does it again!

Maybe he needs Joe the Plumber to stop the leaks! Now he's promising us an international incident when Obama is elected. Holy Moly, and you Dems and Fems and faint hearted RINOs think Sarah Palin says strange things. If this is what 30 years experience gets you, maybe it's good that you're putting an ingenue at the top of the ticket.

"“It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy. … Remember I said it standing here if you don’t remember anything else I said. Watch, we’re gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy.”

“I can give you at least four or five scenarios from where it might originate,” Biden said to Emerald City supporters, mentioning the Middle East and Russia as possibilities. “And he’s gonna need help. And the kind of help he’s gonna need is, he’s gonna need you - not financially to help him - we’re gonna need you to use your influence, your influence within the community, to stand with him. Because it’s not gonna be apparent initially, it’s not gonna be apparent that we’re right.”

[...] “This president, the next president, is gonna be left with the most significant task. It’s like cleaning the Augean stables, man. … There are gonna be a lot of you who want to go, ‘Whoa, wait a minute, yo, whoa, whoa, I don’t know about that decision’,” Biden continued . … Biden emphasized that the mountainous Afghanistan-Pakistan border is of particular concern, with Osama bin Laden “alive and well” and Pakistan “bristling with nuclear weapons.”

As the birthday card I just gave my son-in-law who likes to fish says: Holy Carp! Cover your basses! Look who you're planning to elect, folks. A man whose running mate doesn't know when to shut up about the possibilities for a reign of terror during his watch. It sounds like he hopes someone will take BO out so he can be president--the man no Democrat wanted for President.

Didn't we get into Afghanistan and Iraq because all during the late 1990s and immediately after 9/11 the Democrats constantly beat the drums about WMD and the dangers of Saddam? Go back and listen to the speeches of Kennedy, Edwards, Berger, Byrd, Clinton and others--they were hysterical--and I don't mean funny--while George Bush was minding his own business back in Texas thinking about domestic issues.

"As a member of the House Intelligence Committee, I am keenly aware that the proliferation of chemical and biological weapons is an issue of grave importance to all nations. Saddam Hussein has been engaged in the development of weapons of mass destruction technology which is a threat to countries in the region and he has made a mockery of the weapons inspection process." Nancy Pelosi, December 16, 1998

Now, Nancy, here we go again.

Spasiba--спасибо

While shopping at two grocery stores, I was reminded of why we need immigrants--to keep American workers on their toes! The woman had a thick Russian accent and was extremely careful in her job--even fretted a bit about where the other sack of Honey Crisps were which she was sure she'd rung up (I think she wanted to bag them together). I could understand her English--and especially her big smile and helpful demeanor. She told me she was from a tiny area between Poland and Germany. Poland was part of Russia in the 19th century and was only briefly a country in the 20th before Germany invaded in 1939, so I'm sure many Russian nationals lived there. There wasn't time to sort out world events. She wasn't eager for me to practice my Russian--had to move on to the next customer, but that's OK.

At the other store, which usually has very well trained, polite staff, I got a young man about 25 who either hadn't been to bed yet after a big week-end, had rolled out "on the wrong side of bed," as we say, or thinks clerking is beneath him. I had to ask him several times to repeat his question, and then couldn't understand him when he told me the amount (good thing I checked the little digital thingy because he'd morphed the subtotal and the taxable total). There was a 60s Beatles song on the loud speaker, so I said to him, "That song is older than you," and he replied (I think), "Everything they play here is older than me."

What happens if you question Obama

A media circus.

The market and McCain

I notice when the point spread narrows (I think the latest is about 3-4), the market improves. Investors seem very afraid of Obama and his socialist tax plans. Imagine. No one wants to risk growing their business if they will just be taxed more for their efforts. Of course, it could go the way of FDR. The market was recovering in the early 1930s and then he killed the economy for the duration of the decade with his alphabet soup programs keeping up the high unemployment rate.

Fluff and fold

That's what I call some of the Christian writers on the market today. Wear it no matter where. Calvin, Luther and the Puritans--now that's starch and iron, pull it out of the closet to look and think your best. Straighten up and look 'em in the eye. Neither are wrong. All are saved. But I hear or read so much of the Fluff and Fold I get bored and put the basket away for another day. Often there is little about Jesus or grace. Just a new way to write a "to do" list as if the cross never happened. At Bible study on Saturday I watched a video for 30 minutes of a dynamo, well-known pastor from Chicago who didn't mention Jesus once in his Bible thumper about "faith" driving out "doubt." It was 99.9% Old Testament.

Here's a blend--a little starch, a little lycra. The authorship is uncertain, probably from a black preacher, but I found it in Anne Graham Lotz' book, My Heart's Cry this morning. When I googled the final phrase, I found another blogger using it today.

I'm part of the fellowship of the unashamed. I have Holy Spirit power. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I am a disciple of His. I won't look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still.

My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, my future is secure. I'm finished and done with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, mundane talking, cheap giving, and dwarfed goals.

I no longer need preeminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I don't have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded. I now live by faith in Jesus Christ, lean on His presence, walk by patience, lift by prayer, and labor by power.

My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven, my road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions are few, my Guide is reliable, my mission is clear. I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded, or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of adversity, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity.

I won't give up, shut up, let up, until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up, preached up for the cause of Christ. I am a disciple of Jesus. I must go 'til He comes, give 'til I drop, preach 'til all know, and work 'til He stops me. And when He comes for His own, He will have no problem recognizing me--my banner of identification with Jesus will be clear.

"I won't give up, shut up, let up, until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up, preached up for the cause of Christ."

Now that's worth hanging a blog on.

What are we doing here, a Catholic asks

And all Christians should too.

"The truth is, the first thought that came to my mind [Alfred E. Smith Dinner with McCain and Obama] was a simple one: What are we doing here? If abortion really is what we say it is -- the gruesome murder of unborn children -- do our actions reflect that belief? And if those who support abortion are guilty of facilitating such a horror, how should we respond to them?

If this were 1855, would we be inviting pro-slavery politicians to take a break from a hard fought race, and share a laugh and a meal? As one who finds courage and inspiration in the example of the Radical Republican abolitionists, I just can't imagine it. . .

Maybe it's time we step back and re-evaluate some of our own traditions and habits to make sure they square with what our Faith demands. Should we be honoring or featuring pro-choice politicians (from any political party) at Catholic events? The bishops have spoken out against this as regards the universities, but what about Catholic functions in general? Should we have a common policy? In 2004, neither John Kerry nor George W. Bush were invited to the Alfred Smith dinner, owing to Kerry's support for abortion. That sounds like a fair approach to me.

Obviously, Jesus dined with sinners and publicans -- true. But he didn't give them a platform to preach to the faithful. That's the difference here." Deal W. Hudson

Wagging a finger at other institutions and organizations just got a whole lot harder.

America should follow the Little Red Hen

This one's good. Takes you back to some good stories--The Little Red Hen, The Three Little Pigs, and the Little Engine that Could. Stories of thrift, hard work and how to handle the shiftless and the big bad blow hards.

In a couple of weeks, a large number of voters, likely even a majority, will go to the polls to choose a political Pied Piper to lead them to an America where everyone shares and hugs and plays patty cake in equal-size houses. Nolan Finley, Detroit News

Sarah's not as skilled at the dodge

The other three are much more evasive, but just more experienced at hiding from the voter, according the the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin has gotten the most heat for being evasive in this season of political debates, but new research suggests that the contrast between her and the other top-of-the-ticket candidates has less to do with her lack of responsiveness than with the three senators’ skill at dodging questions without seeming to.

When she point blank told Gwen Ifill that she was going to change the subject--I almost cheered, because I've been waiting for a candidate, any candidate, to tell the press the question is either stupid or out of line, but apparently voters are so accustomed to the clever dodge and weave play

"Voters say they prefer candid politicians, but the experiments suggest politicians may pay a higher price for intellectual honesty than dishonesty.

“When (Palin) acknowledged the question and said, ‘I don’t want to talk about it,’ it was intellectually honest, but it alerted people that she was not going to answer the question,”

Top Tear Jerker movies

I think I'd agree with most of these, except I'm old enough to remember the Lassie movies and the original National Velvet.
1. Bambi (1942)
2. Ghost (1990)
3. The Lion King (1994)
4. E.T. (1982)
5. Titanic (1997)
6. Beaches (1998)
7. Philadelphia (1993)
8. Watership Down (1978)
9. Boys Don’t Cry (1999)
10. Steel Magnolias (1989)

However, this is the one that will make you weep buckets, Gallant Bess (1947). I probably had to be carried home. What's the saddest movie you ever saw?

Seen at Neatorama. I had to visit there because Laundress must still be sick from cleaning her basement. Her site was a one stop for the odd and unusual.

Penny wise and pound foolish

I don't live there, so I don't know why Illinois is in such tough economic shape. Democrats? Unions? High taxes on new business? Young people leaving the state? Illegals slurping up the social services? Obama's policies when he was in the legislature upping the ante for health insurance? All the taxes going to Washington, DC then riding the rails back to Chicago?

Anyway, we never got over to see Frank Lloyd Wright’s Dana-Thomas House, which ranks 114th on the list of the AIA’s America’s Favorite Architecture. We love FLW's architecture, but the buildings don't wear well, and are horribly expensive to renovate and maintain. Now it's on the chopping block with other historic sites and parks and is set to close December 1. Not sure how they'll keep it from deteriorating.

I looked at the Democratic House web site, but they sure aren't taking any responsibility. Not sure it's been updated since March. Then at the party site, I clicked on press releases, but it was under construction. Couldn't find much except links to other Dem states.

They're just like the Ohio Democrats who took over in 2006. Same message, lots of promises, but absolutely no progress except in voter fraud and scandals in the governor's staff, both of which went up.

"With your help, we can build on the remarkable Democratic successes in the 2006 elections and retain our majorities in the Illinois House of Representatives and Senate

"About once a year we have the joy of experiencing Chicago traffic when we drive to Mt. Morris from Lakeside (otherwise we have a peaceful drive through corn fields and wind farms coming up from the Champaign-Urbana area). It's never any different--always under construction, with one overpass where I just have to shut my eyes and not look at all the broken concrete (I'm not driving, btw). The tolls go up and up and up; the traffic is like a moving parking lot no matter what time of day we go through. But here's where some of the money is going, according to the Governor's web site.

In an effort to reduce congestion, cut down on emissions and invest in Illinois jobs, Governor Rod R. Blagojevich today unveiled a new Illinois Tollway Improvement Plan which will include the introduction of Green Lanes and interchange construction. Building on the successes of the Tollway’s current Congestion-Relief Program, the second phase – Tomorrow’s Transportation Today – is a $1.8 billion project designed to continue congestion-relief efforts, improve the environment and enhance mobility across Northern Illinois.

New words for increased taxes: invest in jobs, green as a prefix to anything, and relief. Oops. Almost forgot spread the wealth around.

How to push us over the cliff into a depression

"Most people now living have never seen a credit crunch like the one we are currently enduring. Ms. [Anna] Schwartz, 92 years old, is one of the exceptions. She's not only old enough to remember the period from 1929 to 1933, she may know more about monetary history and banking than anyone alive. She co-authored, with Milton Friedman, "A Monetary History of the United States" (1963). It's the definitive account of how misguided monetary policy turned the stock-market crash of 1929 into the Great Depression."

". . . firms that made wrong decisions should fail," she says bluntly. "You shouldn't rescue them. And once that's established as a principle, I think the market recognizes that it makes sense. Everything works much better when wrong decisions are punished and good decisions make you rich." The trouble is, "that's not the way the world has been going in recent years."

Fighting the last war.

Too pretty to stay inside today

Can't remember if I posted this poem here. Originally wrote it this summer for my other, other blog on retirement after an e-mail from . . . forgotten whom. . . oh well.

Song of the Other Sister
by Norma Bruce

Glucosamine chondroitin
maybe some ibuprofen
Viactiv with calcium
fish oil and Senior Centrum.

Ohioans need vitamin D,
build those bones for all to see;
Stretch and bend, wear socks and shoes,
Take a walk after the news.

Breathe deeply now, in and out,
wave to your friends give a shout,
life is good we can't complain,
but we'd settle for less pain.

Thursday evening I asked my husband how much he weighed because I wanted to see if he was "government approved."

"160," he shouted from his lounge chair in the other room.
"Oh, you've never weighed that in your life." I said.
"But I have my check up tomorrow, so we'll find out."
"Are you 5'8"?"
"No, I'm 5'9" same as always."
"Can't be. You're getting shorter." I said.

Turns out he was 156 and 5'9" so I guess we were both half right. Dr. Wulf says he has the body of a 55 year old. Must be all that dancing with the ladies he does (leads an aerobics class and he's the only guy). So now what do I do? I'm married to a younger man. How will I keep up?

A U.S. citizen should be able to:

If the citizens were more knowledgeable on these seven points, we'd have fewer problems and misunderstandings during the Christmas seasons, fewer misinformed school officials and better collections in our public libraries.

1. Explain the position that religious liberty is a universal human right, the preservation of which depends upon a reciprocal responsibility to respect that right for everyone.

2. Explain how the constitutional principles of religious liberty are the ground rules that enable people of all faiths and none to live together as citizens of one nation.

3. Explain the principles of religious liberty or freedom of conscience as found in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

4.Explain various interpretations of the constitutional relationship of religion and government in American political life.

5. Explain the significant role religion and religious belief have played in American history and politics.

6. Explain the relationship of religious liberty to the strength and diversity of religious life in the United States.

7.Take, defend, and evaluate positions on constitutional issues regarding religious beliefs and practices.

Finding Common Ground; a First Amendment Guide to Religion and Public Education, on-line edition, “Appendix B, “A history of religious liberty in American public life.” The on-line edition has more material than the print edition, 1997, as well as an article from 2007 by the editor, Charles C. Haynes of the First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt.