Collecting My Thoughts

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Information you can use--or not

When I was researching the very expensive food programs (huge increase during the Bush years) for low income, "food insecure" residents (many not citizens), I was awash in acronyms, so I started to jot them down. Then I found out by following one of my own links, that someone has already done this here. They are hot linked on that page. About 25 years ago I used to work for the Ohio Department of Aging, and I recognize a few of these. I gained new respect for career government workers in that job (although not for those who got offices because of party affiliation). When I volunteer at the Lutheran Food Pantry I meet people whose very lives are controlled by these acronyms, so show some respect. Learn what they mean. These are the methods by which people will remain low income from birth to death because there's no reason to leave if WIC feeds you as a toddler and the school feeds you for 12 years (if you finish), and SNAP (food stamps) provides the bare bones of the diet, and the food pantry goes for the extras at the end of the month, and Medicaid covers the health insurance, and TANF, PHA, FMR, LIHTC or HOME keeps a roof over your head, and AAA sends out the nutritious meals in old age. It's not luxurious living, but it pays the bills and keeps them out of higher end neighborhoods and brings votes for politicians.

Great legs

No one has ever suggested I have them. I had short, stubby legs as a kid, and still do. Fat does shift around. My waist is now larger than my right thigh, but that wasn't the case for many years. I've even tried standing on my head, but nothing worked.

Small waists and pear shape are definitely the healthy plan, but that's not how you get attention. Here's what one of those waist to hip calculators says:

Your shape puts you at reduced risk of coronary heart disease, diabetes and stroke. Frequently referred to as pear shape, you tend to keep fat off your midsection and more on your hips. Your body does not convert this lower body fat as readily as midsection fat, which keeps cholesterol down.Recently I've seen a stunning blonde at the coffee shop. Don't know her age, but if she's not 40, she's at least close (either side). She has long, long legs; high high heels; short short skirts. I'm not usually a leg watcher, but I tell you, she is something else and turns a lot of heads.

I don't know her career track, but it's somewhere at the bottom (or else she's the boss of a small company) because they send her to pick up the morning snacks. Yesterday it was bagels; today it was 8-10 cups of orange juice. I may not have great legs but I gave up being a go-fer when I was 21 and the secretary in an Indianapolis tool and die company.

Come to think of it, if she were the owner treating the staff or clients, she'd buy a gallon of OJ at the grocery store instead of purchasing individually filled cups.

You're in analysis

Most of the fodder for my green-go blogs comes from architectural publications, usually the AIA. They are young and hungry and idealistic, and one of the poorest paid professions (next to librarianship) that requires an advanced degree. So they are on the green band wagon big time. They were so excited about Obama they were crossing their legs so as not to wet themselves. Here's the lastest--a bit more subdued.

The $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) that was signed into law in February has just now begun releasing torrents of tax dollars into an economy plagued by frozen credit markets, consumer anxiety, and a deepening recession. In line with the AIA’s Rebuild and Renew government advocacy initiative, much of this funding is already being applied directly to the built environment as new construction projects, renovations, repairs, and sustainability upgrades, though an emphasis on “shovel ready” projects may limit some design opportunities. Even more is yet to come. Most ARRA money won’t have been spent till next year, according to the Washington Post.Sorry fellas (and a few ladies), it just ain't gonna happen. You people are in business. You design for other business owners (and a few government buildings to keep you going, but those bond issues aren't going to pass if we seniors with limp 401-k's have any say). Obama is a business killer, and so are green regulations. You thought he looked and sounded good (in front of a teleprompter). You thought he actually knew something. Those golden tax dollars you're lusting for are yours, you idiots! You've backed the Trojan horse; he's in the gates. Your profession is dead meat. Link to AIA Stimulus Guide.

Maybe you can get out the Sweets Catalog and brush up on commercial kitchens. While researching the USDA money I saw millions (or was it billions) for new school kitchen equipment. I'm sure it will require a trickle down to wall moving, new outlets, rewiring, pest control, plumbing, etc.

Friday, April 17, 2009

Who is this?

Fortunately, I've never heard of her or seen her. Maybe she doesn't exist?

Link

The Left Wing Media wallows in hate, distrust, misinformation and anger. Only the Left brought up Obama's race during the campaign; and now because the fake messiah hasn't been able to deliver a new age, they've returned to the trough for more mud.

Update: And now for a peaceful demonstration on the left. They shout down a former Republican candidate for President and fight with the police. Hmmm. Didn't see any blacks in their group. Must be about hating a white man. They don't know their history, or Janeane Garofalo.

Whatever happened to Food Stamps?

George Bush's administration didn't invent "politically correct," but they certainly grew the obfuscation component of political language. Food Stamps are now (as of Oct. 1, 2008), Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). However, we have the Obama presidential campaign and the loyal Democrat opposition for 8 years to thank for the myth that those mean old Republicans didn't care about poor people when in fact they were throwing money at social programs. A young woman I know who rejoiced in Obama's election and attended the swearing in said, "finally the money will go where it's needed." USDA's food assistance programs totaled $60.7 billion in fiscal 2008, 11 percent more than in the previous fiscal year-the largest percentage increase in 16 years. By cutting taxes early in his first term, Bush freed up money for investment and actually brought into the federal coffers more money than it had ever had--so Congress went a little crazy spending it. Obama plans to discourage investment with higher taxes and increased green regulations, but expand and increase government spending even beyond what Bush did. Guess who gets that bill?

What I've listed below (policy, legislation and regulations for food programs) is just a tiny fraction of what went to the low income and poor. Not for hunger, of course, but for "food insecurity." Not for hunger, but for farmers markets and obesity and nutrition workshops (I watched a training video on how to convert commodities to paper work for pizza--I kid you not). Not for hunger, but to keep huge agricultural interests afloat.** But first you send your taxes to be filtered through thousands of federal, state and local agencies to pay the bi-partisan "peace and justice" salaries, build the government buildings, pay their utilities, hire the PR people promoting the programs, change all the lines in the millions of published documents from food stamps to SNAP, and line the pockets of the various pols we voted in to bring home the federal dollars.

Legislation
School Meals Programs
Child and Adult Care Food Program
Summer Food Service Program
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
Food Distribution Program
Women, Infants and Children

Regulations
School Meals Programs
Child and Adult Care Food Program
Summer Food Service Program
Supplemental Nutrition Asssitance Program
Food Distribution Program
Women, Infants and Children
Farmers Market Nutrition Program

Policy
School Meals
Child and Adult Care Food Program
Summer Food Service Program
Food Distribution Policy Database
Charitable Institutions & Summer Camps
Commodity Supplemental Food Program
Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations
Nutrition Services Incentive Program
Processing Policies
Schools/Child Nutrition Institutions
The Emergency Food Assistance Program

Here in Ohio we have a "model" program (Ohio Benefit Bank) for linking Ohioans to federal benefits, and it was able to access (for a fee) almost $39 million additional dollars that weren't being used by eligible Ohioans, so imagine how much actually did go into the hands of the poor. That $39 million dollars provides extra dollars for Ohio's economy, and actually creates some local tax revenue, because locally spent money for food, medical services, fuel, and tax credits helps fuel Ohio's economy and keep Gov. Strickland's coffers full. It's important, however, to remember that it is robbing Peter Taxpayer to pay Paul Taxpayer. A taxpayer with a family of 6 is eligible for various food programs plus other services (like housing, medical, heating, education) with an income of $56,000. He's probably not paying federal taxes, but he is paying FICA and state taxes, plus a huge chunk for federal gasoline taxes and federal cigarette taxes.

Because of "public partnerships," non-profits and faith based organizations (i.e. churches) have become dependent on our tax dollar to fund their charitable activities and salaries. Second Harvest in Ohio began in 1999 as an organization (funded by the Ohio Dept. of Job and Family Services) to distribute surplus Ohio crops like apples, but now needs almost $3 million a year to run its organization for food distribution to a variety of smaller food banks.

Food programs never decrease in size, although they may get renamed and reconfigured--in fact, they actually grow during times of low unemployment and a robust economy because there is more tax money. USDA had money in the low income mortgage market. Job programs get food money, as do schools. To try to track these programs would be like untangling a plate of spaghetti from garden of weeds.

**This began under FDR to keep farmers afloat at a time when a much larger percentage of the population was rural and has grown with every administration regardless of party.

Susan Roesgen--blind, deaf and rude

CNN has a sorry reporter. Not in the sense of apologetic, but weak, poorly trained, and angry. I looked up Susan Roesgen in Google and got 43,100 hits, many of course not connected to her terrible reporting of the tea party in Chicago where she shouted down the man she'd asked for an interview when she didn't agree with him. If nothing else, she's gotten more publicity with this disaster than any story she's ever done. What a resume enhancer--if she wants to work in Cuba!

The blogger who produced the film below was at the Chicago rally and watched her do her axe job. You may not want to watch the entire 18 minutes, but if you do you'll see Americans of all ages and ethnicities peacefully gathering, singing, lifting posters, chatting with each other and having a good time. Much like the one here in Columbus (I watched the video of John Kasich speaking to the crowd without a teleprompter).

Some numbers from other Tea Parties.

Maggie on the Tea Party in Toledo.

CNN reporter confronted for lack of fairness and balance (must belong to Fox; longer YouTube version)

Will Muslim women remove their burkas for Obama?

Will Amish women take off those prayer veils? Will conservative Catholic nuns slip out of their plain habits? The clothing for men and women members of conservative religious groups is about headship; it's symbolism, not modesty. It's about relationships and spiritual authority: God, then men, then women. It's every bit as symbolic as an IHS on a podium or window that Obama wanted draped and blacked out.

Gerald F. Seib missed it again in Capital Journal in today's WSJ. "Not a single new policy was revealed" at Obama's Georgetown speech. It was a speech of metaphors, he said. Well, Mr. Seib, you didn't see the significance of the trial balloon, did you? You got all warm and fuzzy on the "house upon a rock" thinking it was Biblical. No sir, that just comes from 20 years of Rev. Wright's turning a phrase. Obama didn't know how to speak black when he first got to Chicago, having been raised in a white, agnostic home. You need to dig a little deeper. Let me help.

Obama asked that a Christian symbol be removed, and Georgetown University, one of our oldest Catholic institutions, made the mistake of complying. Seems like a small thing unless you remember some of Obama's promises (threats) during the campaign. That he intended to rein (reign) in "faith based" groups that get government money. He's planning to have all religious symbols removed from buildings that use government money for child care, food distribution, job training, mortgage workshops, voter registration, etc. Churches are going to have to do a lot of "soul searching" and just may need to tell the government that they won't be their go-to guys any more. Remember that the request removed not just a symbol, but a tradition of separation of church and state [i.e., the state doesn't tell the church how to adorn its own buildings and property], and destroyed the historic artistic atmosphere of the room. Georgetown is as old as our Constitution--maybe its crumbling is a sign?

Julie Bataille

The primary command of the church, given by Jesus himself, is

"Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I will be with you always, to the very end of the age."So if the U.S. government decides you can't obey what the Bible says about the primary mission of the church, or that you need to bless the weddings of gays, or that you can't have religious instruction in your schools, or that you can't have a Bible in the classroom, I guess you'll just have to turn down that Faustian compact we've had for so many years.

Ohio's unemployment rate

is now over 9%. When the Democrats and Governor Strickland took over the state in the 2006 elections it was half that. They ran on an "ethics" platform--our former Republican governor hadn't reported some golf outings. This is the state that decided to investigate Joe the Plumber because of Obama clearly telling him he was going to redistribute the wealth. This is the state of Marc Dann and Eric McFadden, Strickland's sexually and ethically challenged appointees.

And what is the Democrats' solution for a recession? Let's spend our way to prosperity! How many of us would teach our own children that? Has it worked at your house? It won't work in the House of Representatives, either. It hasn't worked in past recessions, and it certainly didn't work during the 15 year Great Depression (1929-1945) when both Hoover and FDR violated all sorts of citizens' rights and stole money from our parents and grandparents with government take-overs. Our Governor was told this week by the state auditor that building Ohio's economy on one time stimulus money (pork) won't help--it will actually hurt us. He'll either have to have a massive tax increase, or decrease spending. Duh. He's a Democrat, so we sure know where this is going. The same direction as Kilroy and Pelosi, snug, secure and spending inside the beltway.

"In just 50 days, Congress has voted to spend about $1.2 trillion between the Stimulus and the Omnibus,” McConnell says. “To put that in perspective, that’s about $24 billion a day, or about $1 billion an hour—most of it borrowed. There’s simply no question: government spending has spun out of control." Mitch McConnell, R-KyThink of it. A billion an hour. Where are all those voices who were so worried about the cost of the war? They don't bat an eyelash at the thought of a trillion--most likely because they can't even imagine how much debt that is, or how our next challenge is not going to be unemployment, but inflation as our government will have to print more money to cover its debt.

I never wanted Obama as my president; but I truly never thought it would get so bad so fast. I thought we'd be full blown impoverished by his second term, not his second month.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

If this works. . .

"Trafficking illegal firearms, sending them across a border, is illegal. That is something that we can stop," Mr. Obama said.

"Trafficking illegal ~~firearms~~ aliens, sending them across a border, is illegal. That is something that we can stop," Mr. Obama said.

Thursday Thirteen Miscellany--mostly about food and finances

1) Don't be fooled by this gardening craze to save money. If you want to be outdoors, or want a sun tan, or want fresh tasting food, fine. It won't save you any money--unless you sell the produce to your neighbors. Or you have family of 12 children who will eat their veggies.

2) Last summer I was able to walk to a small farmer's market at Lakeside (about 2 blocks). By small, I mean about 5 or 6 wagons / vendors. There really is nothing like it. I think I'd forgotten what fried new potatoes tasted like. And that gal who made zucchini relish. Heavenly. I'm more than happy to pay them for their labor and equipment.

3) Even without a farmer's market, fresh vegetables and fruit are still your best buy. It really takes just minutes to prepare. Forget the fancy sauces and spices. Today I bought a butternut squash ($.99/lb, higher now that during the season) and I'm guessing we'll get 3 side dishes from it--grilled lightly a few minutes in olive oil.

4) However, fresh items lose a lot of nutrients if they sit around a few days, so frozen is your next best bet--especially for small families (2) like mine. A favorite lunch meal for me is half a cup of frozen peas with half cup of frozen corn, placed in a bowl covered with a damp paper towel for about 90 seconds in the microwave. Little butter, little salt and pepper. Fabulous!

5) If you read my Holy Land Cruise blog, you may know I got really, really sick on the flight home. Today I saw a friend (not on the trip) at Panera's that I hadn't talked to in over a year. After greeting, she asked about my health. I think our entire church (9 services, 3 locations) has heard about Norma on the floor of LaGuardia and tossing her cookies on the plane. Anyway, the old GI track is not quite back to normal, so my sister gave me a huge carton of Activa Yogurt. I just had some for lunch. We'll see. . .

6) I stopped at a little store yesterday and apples were $2.69/lb. Usually, it's cheaper to buy rather than drive, but I knew that was high, so I drove to Marc's and paid $1.39/lb. I eat a lot of apples. Then today I was up north for an errand, so I stopped at Meiers' and apples were $1/lb. I stocked up.

7) I need apples to make a pie. Our Holy Land Cruise group is getting together Monday night, and my end of the alphabet is doing pie. Fortunately, I used to be the 2nd best pie baker east of the Mississippi. Now I do it so seldom, my pies are only so-so, or else it's the electric stove instead of gas which I'd used for 35 years.

8) The reason I was north of Bethel Rd. was I'd heard from my daughter that the Merle Norman store was going out of business. I thought I'd go and stock up. I began using Merle Norman when I was about 39 and a store was near by. And now--well, it's patch, patch, patch, but I still use it, although much less. Women my age make a serious mistake by using too much foundation, or the wrong color, and it collects in our wrinkles. Less is definitely more for retirees.

9) I asked the owner about her closing. She said sales fell off during January, and although she's paying her bills, she's getting nothing. When women begin to drop their cosmetic purchases, we are in trouble! My hair dresser, Melissa at Shear Impressions, says she's seen no change.

10) I recently learned you can freeze milk. Duh. Why didn't I think of that. So when I see the "past due" date coming up, I'm going to put it in a little container and freeze.

11) Be careful about reusing glass and plastic containers. Mold can grow on the lids and on the tiny residue inside the jar. It's awfully hard to get these as sterilized as the factory product.

12) Pass on those deals for cheap paper towels. Oh Yuck! on having those squares turn to mush as soon as they hit water. Buy Bounty. That's a brand that really holds up and you'll save money in the long run.

13) On our trip to Illinois for the Easter holiday our Dodge van got 26 mpg going and 28 mpg coming back. Don't let the global warming hysterics force you into an uncomfortable car at pirate ship prices. Although now that the government is starting to buy up the auto makers, you may not have a choice on model and size.

Meanwhile, by diverting grain and oilseed crops from dinner plates to fuel tanks, biofuels are jacking up world food prices and endangering the hungry. The grain it takes to fill an SUV tank with ethanol could feed a person for a year. Harvests are being plucked to fuel our cars instead of ourselves. The U.N.'s World Food Program says it needs $500 million in additional funding and supplies, calling the rising costs for food nothing less than a global emergency. Soaring corn prices have sparked tortilla riots in Mexico City, and skyrocketing flour prices have destabilized Pakistan, which wasn't exactly tranquil when flour was affordable. Time Magazine, Mar 27, 2008

She's so afraid, she doesn't even have an e-mail address!

So much for Obama being the 2.0 President. The e-mail I sent to the DHS website notifying them that the Head has no e-mail was returned to me to use the U.S. mail address. So if you want to write to her, use that.

How many millions of veterans do you think have mustered out of the armed forces over the life of this country? And Janet Napolitano manages to insult them all by comparing them to Timothy McVeigh.

Note, we don't use the word "terrorist" when referring to Muslim extremists, only to conservatives who didn't vote for Obama, those dangerous Americans who don't believe in killing babies, or who own guns, or who are concerned about the economy, or who believe in end-times prophecy. What left wing groups is she monitoring? What are her criteria? Were they the Bush haters? Were they people who read Karl Marx? Recruit out of state voters to come to Ohio? Who join ACORN? Who are they monitoring on the left? Will that be part of the series? Why is she worried about veterans and not La Raza who want her home state returned to Mexico? Is she watching Asian male minorities on this anniversary of Va Tech shootings? Inquiring minds want to know.

My Message to Janet

(This was sent to the web site e-mail comment form, because she doesn't have one.)

Dear Secretary Napolitano,

You have no e-mail link on your web site.

Your recent document on the dangers of home grown terrorism insulted about 50% of the American voters who did not support the current president. Is this finally the president’s transparency promised us?

I don’t own a gun--never have. I do not support abortion--our president is the most pro-abortion official we’ve ever had, willing even to kill a viable child as it emerges from the mother’s womb, if that is her wish. That was my primary concern about his presidency. Fortunately for him, his mother, a teen involved with a married man, did not believe as he does. That the baby would be too much of a burden and deserved death.

I think immigrants are the back bone of this country. The inventor of Google is an immigrant. My ancestors in the early 1700s were immigrants from Germany and Ireland. Illegal immigrants will break the bank--what’s left of it--and in case you didn’t notice when you lived in Arizona, LaRaza wants your state returned to Mexico. Our illegals who send money home are propping up a failed, unfair economy on our border. For your records, I didn’t support President Bush on his “guest worker” plan, either.

I am not an Iraq or Afghanistan veteran, but you have insulted all veterans, including those deceased veterans of the greatest generation, smearing them all with the crime of Timothy McVeigh. Are all Asian immigrants guilty of the New York recent massacre or the VA Tech massacre? Are all husbands and fathers guilty of the crimes of that father who killed his family a few weeks ago?

I am a Christian, but not a dispensationalist, I care nothing about "end times." But you intended to smear all conservative Christians who believe the Bible. I doubt that you care about end times either, but you do care about millions having an allegiance to something other than the government.

Yes, I am concerned about the economy. You should be too, if you are a real American. We have a president raising taxes and demonizing capitalists when he should be cutting taxes and supporting business to stimulate the economy. You madam, by accepting a position in this administration, are the extremist. Not me.

The worst anti-Semites are on your side, the left, the communists, the marxists, not on the right. All during the Bush years they were spreading lies because it fit your goals. They were all over the place during the campaign--and they certainly bring up the Jew question whenever Israel defends itself.

Madam, you owe all Americans an apology. The left has run rough shod over our rights for years, every demonstration they had since the 1960s was nasty and violent, and now the right has a peaceful, logical response to trillions and trillions of future debt, and you call us terrorists.

Now Christians will have to choose

The problem I had with "faith based" agencies (like our church, Upper Arlington Lutheran which is an ELCA church) accepting government grants for housing, employment training, child care, and after school and summer lunch programs was that they were not allowed to preach the gospel to any of the recipients because taxpayers were footing the bill. Not even distribute literature--although it could be put out for pick up. But worse, it caused these churches to become dependent on the government, while they were providing the free labor for government programs.

Barack Obama during his 2008 campaign PROMISED to have any visuals and symbols removed from religious sites in order for them to receive government money for social programs. This will be no problem for mainline "peace and justice" Christians--they wouldn't know the gospel if it dropped on their pulpit in the form of a Bible (it's pretty clear if they'd just preach from that Bible). For evangelical Christians, such as UALC, it's a bit less clear. Now we've made a pact with the devil and the invoice has come due. What will the churches do? Apparently what Georgetown did. Founded in 1789, the same year the U.S. Constitution took effect, Georgetown University is the nation's oldest Catholic and Jesuit university. IHS, the symbol in question, is a monogram of the name of Jesus Christ.

American freedom of religion, rest in peace

Does CNN hire real reporters

or just Obamamas?

"CNN correspondent Susan Roesgen could barely get through her live shot at the Chicago tea party this afternoon. Over shouts of, "You're not a reporter," Roesgen quickly wrapped up an interview with an attendee, then said, "I think you get the general tenor of this. It's anti-government, anti-CNN since this is highly promoted by the right-wing conservative network Fox."This reporter was so biased, she's become dead meat on talk radio, because this interview is being played over and over--and much more than this left of center site quoted. Observers started chanting "You're not a reporter," because she kept interrupting the father with a small child she was interviewing and inserting her own left wing agenda. It was one of the worst wing-nut interviews I've heard--there was no way she was going to let that guy tell America what the tea party was about. On CNN and other stations I've heard these tea parties attributed variously to Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, the Republican party, conservative Christian end-timers, and now to Fox. Will the real organizers please stand up and wave the flag. There are thousands of you.

But, also apparently Obama knew nothing about the tea parties. His Homeland Security Department head, Janet Nutpoliano, decides we need to be watched and investigated (remember Janet Reno thought a compound filled with children was dangerous), and he knew nothing? Maybe he should pay attention if we're all a threat to his administration.

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.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

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.

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.

ShotsontheHouse.com

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.

www.ShotsontheHouse.com

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.

Collecting My Thoughts

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Information you can use--or not

Great legs

You're in analysis

Friday, April 17, 2009

Who is this?

Whatever happened to Food Stamps?

Susan Roesgen--blind, deaf and rude

Will Muslim women remove their burkas for Obama?

Ohio's unemployment rate

Thursday, April 16, 2009

If this works. . .

Thursday Thirteen Miscellany--mostly about food and finances

She's so afraid, she doesn't even have an e-mail address!

My Message to Janet

Now Christians will have to choose

Does CNN hire real reporters

It was a great day for America

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

You might be a right wing extremist if

So who told us those myths?

OSU student organizes Columbus' tax protest

LA Times writer thinks Conservatives are glue sniffers

Home from our Easter Trip

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

About Me

Contact Norma

Search This Blog

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Ladies and Gentlemen

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weather, time and technorati

Collecting My Thoughts

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Information you can use--or not

Great legs

You're in analysis

Friday, April 17, 2009

Who is this?

Whatever happened to Food Stamps?

Susan Roesgen--blind, deaf and rude

Will Muslim women remove their burkas for Obama?

Ohio's unemployment rate

Thursday, April 16, 2009

If this works. . .

Thursday Thirteen Miscellany--mostly about food and finances

She's so afraid, she doesn't even have an e-mail address!

My Message to Janet

Now Christians will have to choose

Does CNN hire real reporters

It was a great day for America

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

You might be a right wing extremist if

So who told us those myths?

OSU student organizes Columbus' tax protest

LA Times writer thinks Conservatives are glue sniffers

Home from our Easter Trip

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

About Me

Contact Norma

Search This Blog

My Other Blogs

Favorite topics

Archives

On Line Media

Ladies and Gentlemen

Social Sciences

Library Stuff

Blog skin

Subscribe To

weather, time and technorati