ABC suggests there is a free lunch (coupons)

ABC News last night was pushing coupons as a way for Americans to save money in “these difficult times.” The usual coupon queen interviews--trying to convince you that companies on stay in business to give away stuff. Manufacturers use coupons to grab a larger share of the market, and since they don’t build brand loyalty, they primarily just reduce competition, and eventually raise prices for everyone as there are fewer companies to compete for your dollar. And since ABC ‘s advertisers are also the promoters of these schemes, this really wasn’t a news story at all but a pay-off for their sponsors and owners.

Whether it's Groupon, the newest version on the internet, the wooden nickle the oldest from my grandparents' days, or S&H green stamps your mother stuck in little books, . . . I tell you for the umpteenth time THERE IS NO FREE LUNCH!

Female mosquitoes tricked by spermless males : Nature News

Unlike human females who are tricked by spineless males.

Female mosquitoes tricked by spermless males : Nature News

Obama's Close Friend Arrested During Prostitution Sting in Hawaii - FoxNews.com

His "friends" list is starting to rival Bill Clinton's.

Obama's Close Friend Arrested During Prostitution Sting in Hawaii - FoxNews.com

Obama will succeedd--in destroying the country!

Obama has succeeded beyond his wildest dreams. Didn’t he warn the Republicans if they didn’t play ball, or call his bluff, or eat their peas, or kick the can they’d be blamed for the downgrad? Laughs are on them. The game was fixed either way. They might as well have played hard ball.

The spending the first day of his new slush fund was higher than the cuts agreed to for the duration. No other President has been able to do what he has done and it took him less than 3 years! As a bonus play, he made the Republicans look like absolute dupes and fools and the Tea Party members brilliant political strategists.

Democrats over 60 hoping to retire with that 403-b or 401-k: I hope you like the change your guy has brought to your living standard. Democrats under 60: unless you work for the government or Hollywood, better stick with the job you have even if there is no hope and lots of change.

Dollar a bag book sale!

At 4 p.m. yesterday the Women’s Club book sale went to a $1/bag, so I went back and picked up some I had noticed earlier.

1. Lutheran Book of Worship, 1978, (the green book). HC. I’ve been looking for one. Our church has not given it up for traditional services, and I often see something on Sunday I’d like to look at later. I've tried some sections of the newest Lutheran hymnal, but it just doesn't have the lovely flow and rhythm of the LBW. Originally Missouri Synod was in on this one, but never adopted it.

2. Founding Brothers by Joseph J. Ellis. (2000) PB originally $14.00

3. A nostalgia for camels by Christopher Rand (c1952, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957). HC. I noticed a number of books on the middle east with Sally Sue Witten’s name in them, but which had been written in and annotated by “Siegfried” and dated 2011. He noted ”54 years later not much has changed but we are deeply involved in A/P (Afghanistan/Pakistan?). Sorry about that.” This collection was written from 1948-1956. Unfortunately, the 2nd owner marked it up with ballpoint ink. Hate that. But for 20 cents, what can you expect?

4. Traveling mercies; some thoughts on faith by Anne Lamott (1999). PB I read excerpts from this about 10 years ago when I discovered her writing.

5. Slow waltz in Cedar Bend by Robert James Waller (1993) HC. Fiction, and this is an example of why I usually don’t buy it--it’s got a pretty cover and a one hit wonder author, but not much else to recommend it.

------------------------------

The "Oslo Syndrome" and the Terror Attack in Norway

Barry Rubin is being attacked for pointing out:

One of the most sensitive aspects of the very sensitive subject of the murderous terrorist attack in Norway by a right-wing gunman is this irony: The youth political camp he attacked was at the time engaged in what was essentially (though the campers didn’t see it that way, no doubt) a pro-terrorist program.

The camp, run by Norway’s left-wing party, was lobbying for breaking the blockade of the terrorist Hamas regime in the Gaza Strip and for immediate recognition of a Palestinian state without that entity needing do anything that would prevent it from being a terrorist base against Israel. They were backing and justifying forces that had committed terrorism against Israelis and killing thousands of people like themselves.

A terrorist on the right takes his justification for terrorism from the left. Now the messenger must be attacked.

If you argue politically that terrorists are justified in the Middle East or, to put it a different way, that they aren't terrorists at all, you are making terrorism more likely to happen. It is tragic--not justifiable or deserved but horrible--that such people or such a country then becomes the target of terrorism.

RubinReports: The "Oslo Syndrome" and the Terror Attack in Norway

John Kerry: Media Has "Responsibility" To "Not Give Equal Time" To Tea Party

SEN. JOHN KERRY: "And I have to tell you, I say this to you politely. The media in America has a bigger responsibility than it's exercising today. The media has got to begin to not give equal time or equal balance to an absolutely absurd notion just because somebody asserts it or simply because somebody says something which everybody knows is not factual."

"It doesn't deserve the same credit as a legitimate idea about what you do. And the problem is everything is put into this tit-for-tat equal battle and America is losing any sense of what's real, of who's accountable, of who is not accountable, of who's real, who isn't, who's serious, who isn't?"

The only Media source that claims to be fair and balanced about Tea Party coverage is Fox, all the rest are in the pocketbook of the Democrats, so is that what he's suggesting? Or does he want to be the Big Czar who decides which ideas are "real" and who is "accountable?" It certainly can't be that he thinks ABC or NBC has given the Tea Party too much time, unless it is time denigrating them.

I'm amazed that people like Kerry, the war protestor who probably extended the VietNam war with his post-military antics, continue to get elected since they are diametrically opposed to everything that is American, but then I thought that about the Kennedys too. Maybe it's Massachusetts.

John Kerry: Media Has "Responsibility" To "Not Give Equal Time" To Tea Party | RealClearPolitics

Being poor and not too bright is a plus

"OSU is conducting a clinical research study of an investigational oral medication for birth control. Qualified participants will receive at no cost for up to 12 months: periodic gynecological exams, investigational oral birth control medication. Females that are 18-40 years of age, sexually active, and have regular menstrual cycles may be eligible for participation. Compensation is available for time and travel."

I wonder if there is compensation for the abortion or live delivery if the medication doesn't work? Or the health problems if this turns out to be something not so great for the female body. Of course these days, even abortificants are called birth control.

Congress Should Come Back Now says LaHood

It's a labor union issue--card check (aka no secret ballot)--and the Democrats are holding the bill hostage in the Senate. They messed around on the phony baloney ceiling which no one else in the country enjoys who can't print money, and let thousands get furloughed, and returned billions to the flyers in tax money. So the Democrats further mucked up the economy. I doubt that even the Democrats (i.e. everyone) at Obama's birthday party believed him when he whined about it.

"All it will take to end this crisis is for the Senate to pass the House-approved FAA extension," Boehner said in a statement. "I respect the fact that Senators have certain objections, but they have had two weeks to respond to the House bill and done nothing, leaving tens of thousands of workers in limbo. The House has done its job, and now it’s time for Senators to do theirs.”

Ray LaHood: Congress Should Come Back Now And Pass Clean FAA Bill

Obama Tells Donors Debt Debate is all about him

We all know that Obama didn't create our debt--he just expanded it beyond belief. But Obama tells his supporters the debt debate is all about him. Everything is always all about him. He's a total narcissist, but in this case, I agree that people are figuring him out and the "happy days are here again" campaign looks a little grim since he loses against unnamed candidates. I don't claim to understand it, but this kind of whining really gets Democrats to open their wallets. The birthday boy really raked it in.

Obama Tells Donors Debt Debate Shows Stakes in 2012 Election - Bloomberg

A Reader thinks I have Lakeside sand in my ears

Says I don't see (hear) the racism of the Tea Party. Not much sand in Lakeside--it was built on rock and The Rock. 140 years later it’s pretty rock solid liberal Democrat, and if there are any Tea Partyers here, they must be white haired pensioners watching their grandchildren’s future being frittered away by two parties that are tweedle-dumb and twiddle dumber.

I have seen racist stuff on the internet about Obama and I move on, but it is still not reaching the decibel level of the anti-Bush mania of his two terms, but I suppose it could come to that. It's not close to the misogynist, anti-disabled, anti-Palin, ageist, anti-Tea Party nonsense that streams from the main stream media. If Joe 6-pack sends racist jokes to his buddies, it's free speech, but what is it when MSNBC or the View get hysterical about a grass roots quasi-organized non-party? They are talking to thousands (well, MSNBC maybe hundreds).

Is the Tea Party a party like the two who have put us in this financial mess? Do they have talking heads reading script on ABC, CBS or NBC? Has the Tea Party run up a deficit? Have they put people out of work? What subversive action have they taken? Have they shot up a military base and had it hidden by the MSM? Have they sold guns to Mexican organized crime like our Attorney General and kept their jobs? Have they been tweeting pictures of their naked skinny bodies like Weiner? I’d like to know what qualifies as terrorism and racism to a Democrat. Apparently, protected free speech, disagreeing with an unqualified black president, and ridiculing his attempts at restoring the economy would be three. Those are the ones I've heard from Tea Party representatives on news shows. I don't count the ridicule by the liberal comedians like Maher and Letterman. You have to consider the source. Maher calls Tea Partyers "morons" and "Zombies" so I doubt that he's too reliable.

I've never been a member of a Tea Party group, but I have been a registered Democrat. I know how they think--or don't think. It's why I left. Too much feeling and not enough thought.

Cleveland Landmarks Commission to vote on demolishing century-old Columbia Building

It came down this week. That's what Ohio needed--another Casino where people could throw away their money. Legal gambling hurts the poor the most. Especially the lottery. The "something for nothing" appeal is very strong--much stronger than work, save, invest, and enjoy the fruits of your labor. Ohioans voted down casino gambling year after year, but the big boys finally won. Going to help our tax base. Yeah. Sure.

Cleveland Landmarks Commission to vote on demolishing century-old Columbia Building | cleveland.com

Back to school shopping

Schools in Georgia are already in session (hope they have AC). In the Columbus area I think they start in about 3 weeks. When I was young, it was usually around Labor Day week-end. One year, I think it was 1953 or around then, it was so hot we were dismissed to come back after the week-end. Wal-Mart has been showing back to school items since right after the July 4th stuff went to the remainder stores.

What were your "must have" items in your back to school wardrobe? In 1956-57 it was pencil straight wool skirts (mid-calf, getting shorter), sweater sets, cool colors pink and grey (even for cars), white collars, fake flowers for neck pins, cute scarves, winter "car coats," boy's jeans for casual wear, saddle shoes, or bucks for the feet, and 3" heels for Sunday dress up. Within a year the empire waist was replacing the cinched look and skirts were right below the knee cap.

From my blog Memorypatterns: "Young ladies of the 50s usually had four wardrobes. School. Sunday. Leisure/casual. Party/prom/dance. Our styles had flare and balance. Darts and starch. If you had a nice figure it would show; if you didn't you could cover it. You could sit down and not see London or France. You could twirl and swish, or run the bases in a softball game."

I think we can kiss that civility schtick good-bye--Democrats have gone over a cliff

James Taranto counts the ways the Democrats have gone bonkers on the wild, violent language to describe the Tea Party. And so soon after Obama launched his 2012 campaign at a funeral where people were shot by a crazy man who was inflamed by Palin's use of the word "cross-hairs."

Joe Nocera rants: You know what they say: Never negotiate with terrorists. It only encourages them. These last few months, much of the country has watched in horror as the Tea Party Republicans have waged jihad on the American people. . . . Their goal, they believed, was worth blowing up the country for, if that's what it took. . . . For now, the Tea Party Republicans can put aside their suicide vests. But rest assured: They'll have them on again soon enough.

Last Wednesday Thomas Friedman described the Tea Party as the GOP's "Hezbollah faction." The same day Maureen Dowd approvingly quoted "some Democrats" as describing the Tea Party as "the Republican 'Taliban wing.' " (In fairness we should note that the Times's Roger Cohen registered a partial dissent: "Hatred of Muslims . . . is a growing political industry. It's odious, dangerous and racist.")

We're hanging Christmas lights

We've never participated in the Light up Lakeside week-end, but this year bought several strings of lights. My husband is on the roof seeing if he can make this work. I don't think they'll do much lighting up, but it's our first try. Maybe they'll look better at night. I passed a cottage on my morning walk that had created two American flags on their hedge out of decorative lights and chicken wire.

Met a man at the coffee shop with a nice fawn colored short legged dog this morning. "A corgi?" I asked. "Yes," and then he told me they'd found her at the Humane Society a few weeks ago, they thought she was about 3 years old, and she was a wonderful pet, already one of the family. I don't know much about the breed except they are Queen
Elizabeth's favorite. This one didn't have a distinctive white collar, but she had a beautiful face and eyed me a bit suspiciously like she should be protecting her newly found savior.

Farmer's Market was in really good shape today. I bought collard greens, onions, beautiful tomatoes, green beans, and small potatoes. Earlier in the season there wasn't much, and last Friday it rained so hard that there were only two vendors.

Walking to the little store this morning I passed a really cute wicker rocker in a drive-way for sale for $55, so I bought it. I now have my side chair wicker in my drive-way for $30. Switched the cushions. This one could use some paint touch up, but right now it's too hot.

I stopped at the community hoe-down last night, which is sort of country dancing in the street. Lots of fun to watch people from 3 years old to 80 dancing together. There was a live band--3 women and 2 men. Everyone got a bandana and dessert and soft drink.

ACORN Thugs Stink Up the Wrong Bank - Big Government

"Predatory lenders Herb and Marion Sandler paid ACORN $11 million over the years to attack Wells Fargo, the main competition in California for their lending institution, World Savings Bank. The Sandlers are radical left-wingers who belong to George Soros’s Democracy Alliance, a club of billionaires that funds political infrastructure aimed at pushing America to the left.

The Sandlers are loan sharks whom Time magazine included in its “25 People to Blame for the Financial Crisis” list. They preyed on the poor for years and paid ACORN, which also preys on the poor, to help them."

» ACORN Thugs Stink Up the Wrong Bank - Big Government

"In the early 1980s, the Sandlers' World Savings Bank became the first to sell a tricky home loan called the option ARM. And they pushed the mortgage, which offered several ways to back-load your loan and thereby reduce your early payments, with increasing zeal and misleading advertisements over the next two decades. The couple pocketed $2.3 billion when they sold their bank to Wachovia in 2006. But losses on World Savings' loan portfolio led to the implosion of Wachovia, which was sold under duress late last year to Wells Fargo."

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1877351_1877350_1877343,00.html #ixzz1TolDsX00

"Through their charity, the Sandler Family Supporting Foundation, they gave at least $5,723,222 to the ACORN network. Specifically, the charity gave $4,498,222 to American Institute for Social Justice (since 2003), $700,000 to Project Vote (in 2005), $525,000 to ACORN (2000–2001 according to Activist Cash). This excludes any contributions that either Sandler may have made personally to ACORN or its affiliates." American Spectator

Every Move You Make, Every Click You Take, I’ll Be Watching You

Just like the anti-Bush war protesters--the anti-Bush privacy protectors seem to have disappeared. This administration doesn't want a warrant for a search--just wants all your information, "just in case." I have serious doubts that this is about child pornography and is all about those who don't like Obama. All the lefties who objected to filters on library computers to protect children must be behind this. After their conversion, of course.

Belmont Club » Every Move You Make, Every Click You Take, I’ll Be Watching You#more-16002#more-16002#more-16002

The end of Obamanomics

What a ridiculously racist statement--Obama can't tax and spend his way to prosperity!

"As the U.S. debt crisis drags through next week and then spills over into next month and next year, one thing seems clear. These may well be the last days of Obamanomics and the general idea — adopted around the globe — that governments can tax and spend their way to prosperity via mass redistribution of income and wealth."

The end of Obamanomics | Economy | Financial Post

Yes we Spam: Phone calls to House spike again following Obama plea for action

Obama urges Americans to spam their congress people.

Phone calls to House spike again following Obama plea for action - The Hill's Hillicon Valley

A letter from 43 Senators about

Harry Reid's plan: "The plan you have proposed would not alter the spending trajectory that is putting our economy and national security at risk. In return for an unprecedented $2.4 trillion debt limit increase, your amendment reduces spending by less than $1 trillion over the next decade. Setting aside the $200 billion shortfall between the CBO scored savings and the $2.4 trillion debt limit increase, identified by the Congressional Budget Office, most of the proposal’s alleged savings are based on a false claim of credit for reductions in war-related spending that were already scheduled to occur. This amendment proposes no change to our military posture and, for that reason, these savings are the sort of widely ridiculed accounting gimmick that breeds cynicism about our ability to tackle our fiscal challenges. The only possible justification for a $2.4 trillion increase in borrowing authority is to allow the President to avoid any accountability for these issues before his 2012 election. " Signed by 43 Senators