Good old Texas girl...and guy

You can take the good old girl out of Texas, but you can't ever take the Texas out of a good old girl. Jenna Bush's Today show stint made the internets this week, when she tried to teach Ann Curry and Willy Geist some Soulful Dance moves.

Although the main thrust of the debate surrounded how lame it was, or not, what struck me is how completely and utterly natural in front of the camera Jenna is. And graceful, too. And when I thought about it, I realized, why she's just a good old Texas girl, no more complicated than that for an explanation.

When you think of other Texans in the limelight, from Matthew McCounaHunkahay to Beyonce to Owen Wilson to Angie Harmon to George Foreman, this is just the way a lot of Texans are. Okay, sure...Lyle Lovett and Rene Zellwegger are two who don't fit the mold, but they're outnumbered by those who do.

I really can't imagine anyone in Jenna Bush's immediate world who could actually stay mad at her for long. Barbara, Jr, however, remains something of an enigma.

I was very impressed this week with Ky Senator Rand Paul's performance on a number of news shows while pitching his new book. Since he grew up in Texas, he's the guy mentioned in my title.

After listening to him explain in more detail a rational game plan for entitlement reform, reigning in spending, and handling the debt, I decided to go sign the petition for a national right to work act that he wants to propose...since I've been an advocate of right to work for quite a while now. All of this is interrelated and I see that he gets that. I also see that the slowest effective transition is a high priority with him, too. That's pragmatic and a good logical viewpoint, as far as I'm concerned.

I think I saw him interviewed on Fox, CNN, MSNBC and on ABC, I think, one of the networks. And he is unflappable. Now just think for a minute (try to dispassionately, without political bias): can you imagine what the debates in the Paul household were like? Whoa, Lincoln-Douglas probably had nothing on those two getting it on, complete with pocket protectors, even. {Sorry, couldn't resist!}

On the other hand, did they have anything TO debate? Cuz, you have to take opposite sides to have one. Somehow, Rand either got these skills by osmosis or by practice, and my gut says the latter. Perhaps he was assigned the role of his dad's devils advocate around the dinner table?

Embracing the invisible...

Lately, one of the *in* things has been to "embrace imperfection", and I am all for that. You know that old adage "Nobody's perfect"? Well, it was coined for a reason. Reason is, it's 100% true. We live in stressful times right now. Many people are dealing with lives that are not what they planned. Perhaps it makes folks feel better to practice this *in* thing.

However. (Here's where the invisible part comes in.) There has to be some visible imperfection to embrace. I'm not gonna say never, but you usually can't embrace something that you don't really think exists. I bring this up because in real life and online I see a surprising amount of this, and not only is it just a facade or coverup, I also think the people trying to appear to embrace something they don't want to admit exists leaves, shall we say, their naked arsses hanging out for everyone else to see...everyone but them, apparently. Or maybe that's the joke, I dunno. I don't see the humor in doing that.

I'm in a private online chat group that formed a couple years ago as a bit of a rebellion against the attitude that was beginning to prevail about the time that the book "The Secret" caught fire. Nowadays, it is generally known this book is a veritable pile of b.s. for the most part. But the themes of positive thinking and retaining a positive aura were of course mined to the point of overkill and distortion, and suddenly diversity of opinion was the black sheep of the online family. Our online group is not a gossip nasty nook. Au contraire. Mentioning names, links, relationships, and obvious facts are forboden. We bring up more general thematic trends to notice and beware of. And the other day, the invisible imperfection embrace was the subject of a very long convo.

A convo that brought up instances of people ignoring others who asked something they didn't want to answer, instead of using good manners to explain they prefer not to answer, for example. Apparently, there's some folks out there who would just rather completely blow you off if you do anything they think is contaminating their positive aura with anything negative.

A few in my group actually think that kind of behavior borders on supertitious. I'm more in the category that sees it as a little rude, selfish, weak-willed, along those lines. I think back to the generation who made Zig Ziglar a household name, and before him, Dale Carnegie of "How to Win Friends and Influence People" fame. I think both of these men would be turning over in their graves to see how little their landmark strategies are avoided today. I mean, my memory of reading Carnegie is fuzzy, but I know for damn sure that he never advised to just walk away or to chastise with expulsion or to not respond when someone reaches out to you, no matter what they say.

Oh, Great Spirit, cast out all those with negative thoughts from my life! Nope, pretty sure he never would have signed off on that one.

So my group got me thinking. At first, I thought, man what a trivial gripe! Then, I began to see that there were some people that I knew, in my real life and online, who suffer from this. For me it was kinda like when you realize that someone you know and think is condescending as hell is actually terribly insecure and in pain and is covering up. And when I say suffering, I really do think they are. Because it's remarkably freeing and delicious to be imperfect and to be perfectly fine with it. Maybe even proud of it, a little, but just okay with it is the picture of good emotional health. I think.

I really try to give a lot of latitude to others online, so it took me a little while to realize that I do not enjoy what they were talking about...and then I thought about what I do enjoy.

You see, I love reading bloggers who write about their boys' buggers, their daughters' catfights and tantrums, their marital spats, their stupid behaviors, all the real and tangible problems of life. I love hearing about it all from my irl friends even more. This to me screams authentic life, real people.

"Always put your best foot forward" was the literal thing to do no matter what back in a time when knowing these truths about you could result in your spouse losing his job or not getting the better one, or your kid being excluded. Or prove you were a bad mother. Nowadays, it might subject you to a little idle gossip...as long as Child Protective Services cannot be involved, that is.

True, there are still some jobs that require you to appear to be upstanding, but there's also never been a time more understanding of imperfection. And I'm not saying it's okay to take on Snookie as a mentor for good behavior. Not at all. It's just that I lament and feel for those folks who try so hard to only show a perfect family and life picture, because it's transparently showing a cancerous mass of insecurity and self-doubt. And ulcer-inducing stress. Cuz that's a lot of needless burden to carry. And it distances you from others much more than it ever unites.

I admit that I really haven't analyzed it much deeper than that. Instead, my head took me down a back side road of this topic, to thinking about bloggers I love, who need to express themselves no matter what (and more than a photo or a phrase) and blog the occasional long post about their problems or feelings. I don't always know what to say, and I hardly ever comment at all because of my fingers, but they usually have my heart.

Then I think of the couple of bloggers I read who are trying so hard to keep that perfect veneer up that I know hardly anything about them other than what they carefully have chosen for me to know, and I realize that it keeps them from having my heart, even though they may need it just as much or more.

And the longer they hold that veneer up, the more likely I am to just walk away. Even when I don't want to. I hesitate to go where I am not wanted. Even if that is not what they want deep down, it is the message they send. I know well that I've done the same things myself before, even when I didn't mean to or want to. Tis the nature of life, I suppose.

I guess I just prefer, identify more and group with *real* people, warts and all. Among them, I'm not the only smiling face with a wart or two on it. :-) xoxo

Ways of Eating: {everydays}



The Anti-Inflammatory Food Pyramid, 
courtesy of Dr. Andrew Weil

Anti-Inflammatory Diet: Dr. Weil's excellent guide is a must-read!
Fitday's explanation  is good.
Learn more about inflammation and chronic inflammation at Wikipedia's page.

This is basically the WOE (Way Of Eating) that I am supposed to follow. If you have any kind of physiological inflammation, you should look into it. It's hard but not impossible.

Types of inflammatory conditions include all forms of arthritis (including lupus and fibromyalgia), other diseases including parkinsons, alzheimers, pelvic inflammatory disease (pid), irritable bowel (ibs), crohns, colitus, dermatitus, ulcerative colitus, atherosclerosis, and most forms of allergies.

Inflammation destroys body tissues and worsens over time (destructive effects are cumulative). It can be caused by...

...a deficiency of the essential fatty acid Omega 3
...a diet high in acid foods, particularly animal proteins
...a lack of cortisone in the blood
...a high level of estrogen

It has been found that people with any of the inflammatory diseases can have a saliva pH of as low as 5, almost 1000 times lower than normal. It's been found to be helpful to concentrate particularly on eating alkaline foods (to bring the pH up) and the anti-oxidants: vitamins A, C and E, selenium, zinc and particularly Omega 3. You should also try to find your specific food allergies (everyone has atleast one, even if the reaction is nil) and avoid those foods as much as possible.

The following natural anti-inflammatories should be considered:

...arnica, gingko biloba and ginger to improve circulation and healing
...the citrus bioflavonoids to prevent vascular disease and bruising
...quercitin, glutamine and progesterone to inhibit inflammation
...silymarin to detoxify the liver

So....looking at this food pyramid, what we immediately see is that after the veggie and fruit predominance, a grain level makes up an almost equal amount of the diet. 3-5 servings per day of grains? How is one to find that much healthy unsugared and complex grainage without becoming a whole earth mother?

I have two answers for you that work for me: brown rice and homemade fresh muesli.

I buy Texmati brown rice and make some every week, which I put into individual serving containers of about 1/2 cup each and refrigerate. If the Hubs wants rice with an evening meal, we cook more. Leftovers can easily become desert with some dried fruits and a little honey or brown sugar.

Martha Stewart also has a delicious recipe for fresh muesli, but here is a basic one that is good:
Homemade fresh muesli (makes 8 servings at approximately 199 calories per) 
Ingredients:

4-1/2 cups old-fashioned uncooked rolled oats
1/2 cup toasted wheat germ
1/2 cup wheat bran
1/2 cup oat bran
1 cup raisins (you can use other dried fruits of your choice)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (you can add other nuts of your choice)
1/4 cup packed brown sugar (or less depending on your taste)
1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds

Preparation:
1. In a large mixing bowl combine the rolled oats, oat bran, wheat germ, wheat bran, dried fruits, chopped nuts, seeds and brown sugar. Mix the ingredients very well.
2. Store the home-made muesli in an airtight container. No refrigeration needed.
3. Soak each serving in liquid just before eating.

It is always best to soak muesli well before eating it. It is far more digestible and, once you get used to it, you will probably find that it is delicious that way. (It is more digestible because phytates in the fibre break down. Phytates are a problem for some people because they block absorption of some nutrients.)


Soak it overnight or for at least half an hour before you want to eat it. You can soak it in milk, water, fruit juices or any number of milk substitutes such as soya milk or rice milk. It's really nice soaked in a mild apple or cranberry juice. Orange juice and other citrus fruits are not so good as cereals and citrus tend to not mix well.

Martha toasts her oats prior to mixing hers and it is tasty but also adds to the prep, so I only do that on occasion.

Muesli mix is a great breakfast, but is also a great snack -- super high in fiber, stabilizes blood sugar. The Swiss even eat it sometimes as an evening meal. The thing to remember is to keep the ingredients as raw and natural as possible, and do not add sugars or corn-based sweeteners. Don't turn it into super sugar crisp or fruity pebbles, ok? If you must use an artificial sweetner, try stevia products. But the liquid you soak the oats in can help sweeten it, so don't overdose on the sugary taste. In fact, try learning to like the taste of less sugar!

Also, eat it sparingly at first in order to gauge how well your digestion handles it, as you would when introducing any very high-fiber food.

Muesli has similar properties to brown rice, which I have previously mentioned, so I won't go into them again, but if you are serving white rice with your evening meal, you are completely missing an excellent opportunity to improve your diet and digestion and nutrition by not simply changing over to brown rice.

If you regularly include muesli and brown rice in your diet, they will improve your overall health, leave you more full and satiated, give you more energy and start your road back to natural food eating. Two ways to begin that are pretty quick and easy, and can also help you comply with this new food pyramid that most experts are getting behind.

Sharing: {everydays}

How do you file your digital photos? I file mine in folders by year and month, with older photos of unknown date getting the miscellaneous treatment within the year I'm able to best guestimate. I've tried other ways, but it seems that my brain remembers our memories chronologically 99.999% of the time. I am working on tagging my photos in order to dimensionalize them. (Tags create additional *virtual* files, which come in handy when you are looking for, say, all of dd's halloween costumes thru the years, etc.). But I'll probably always group the actual digital files by year folders, then by month folders.

Brown rice with marshmallows? Noooo, that's cut up string cheese melting in there...

So, it's fun for me to look through a month folder of photos, because I see *everyday* snippets of my life, a photography practice that's in vogue right now with scrapbookers and art journalers. When I see the shots of the healthy foods I'm trying to eat more of (like the brown rice, above), this reinforces my good behavior and helps me remember to do it. I caught myself the other day looking at a plate of food that The Hubster cooked that was not all that healthy and thinking, oh I shouldn't photo that. (As it was, I decided to not censure my record, but my camera battery was dead, so no photo got taken after all.)

Now, I wish I had a photo of that high-fat-high-calorie fare, because I think it would trigger "bad dog" self-criticism and help me say no next time. I probably didn't explain that the best way, but I hope you get the basic gist of it.

The photographic truth of our lives can trigger the memories we might not want to recall when we need to...

So, what else have I found in my January photo file beside brown rice? Well, this photo, above, of my recent genealogy software purchase, reminds me of a goal I wanted to achieve in 2011: get my main ancestor lines down on paper in a narrative and in charts. This photo reminded me that just buying the software unfortunately has not and will not make that happen on its own, darnit.

Over on my Paper-Paisleys art blog, I've been recording photos of some of my clothing combinations that I've worn during the cold weather. This has, in a small but important way, helped me take more of an interest in what I wear {ie, when dressing, I sometimes think, will these take a good photo? I still wear the "no's", but more and more I do wear the "yes's"}.

Here's a record of a new habit that The Hubs and I have begun again after 5-6 years: subscribing to the daily local paper. While the jury is still out on whether it was a fruitful change to make (local news being what it is), this photo will remind me that we did it.

Some of my naughty food meals are ones I love to eat so much that health be damned, lol. This was our Super Bowl Sunday meal: pulled pork bbq sandwiches, cole slaw and ranch-style beans. Oh gosh, I could probably eat this every day for an entire year (well, month for sure). I smile just looking at the photo. Yum......

So, anyway, you get the idea. Take photos of your life. Take lots. You can always delete them. But you can't get back what you never took, right?

All Ice and No Snow

There's an old Texas / Western saying that's used when someone is boastful or a braggart and has nothing to back up what they say or represent themselves to be: "He's all hat and no cattle", a reference to back in the cattle rancher days.

So, all I've heard for 3 days is, we're gonna get snow, and although I fought hard not to be taken in (I've heard this a few times in my 5 decades), it finally got to me and I could feel my excitement building.

I went to bed last night nice and early (9:00pm) and was so anxious that I promptly woke up at 12:30am to check....no snow yet. The tv weather gurus said there was also going to be ice and sleet -- the whole enchilada. Well, it was cold, but dry as a bone, and to top it off I ended up wide awake and staying up.

I stayed busy with this and that, waiting...waiting...waiting. Finally, about 4:30am we began getting a drizzle. Actually it was really a misting...a fine intermittent misting so slight, so minimal that it made no sound. I usually will hear rain eventually drip off the roof at some point. This rain was silent and stayed on the roof and wherever it fell, turning to ice. Still no snow, however. A renegade layer of warm air had snuck in undetected and blew our chances for powder.

Ice my grill, Bro!

...the cold, hard facts (ice chunks on the morning paper)...

...our flags were stiff with ice trimming...

...icicles hanging out on the overhang: look out below!

We fared much better out in suburbia compared to Houston. I stayed entertained for several hours watching the Houston news station document various fools trying to drive on the freeways and overpasses, and hittinh ice patches that caused wrecks, blocked roads and stranded motorists until well into the late morning when first responders could reach them without putting themselves in danger.

I'll admit to worrying about where Missy was (as she lives in Houston now in her own apartment). But about 8am I broke down and texted her, after seeing one too many wrecks from her area of town. She was working at home, safe and sound. Mayor Annise Parker had declared a veritable work holiday for today and urged everyone to just stay at home until temps rose above freezing (not expected until Saturday afternoon) so the road ice could have a chance to thaw. I finally quit watching around noon as the roads began to fill up with motorists. I just hope the sun comes out to help the thaw. There are already 4 vehicular fatalities and a couple dozen injuries requiring hospitalization.

More wet cold weather is expected to hit us Wednesday. The tv guy said just keep the pipes wrapped; we're not through yet. Oh, my aching thumbs!

KO'd off the island...

I could never be accused of being a fan of MSNBC anymore. Although, prior to the eve of the 2008 NH primary I was one of the cable channel's biggest and most loyal fans. Up until that fateful night, MSNBC was my tv's de facto channel and you could win a little fast cash by betting that it was on at my house unless they were airing those docu-dramas like "To Catch a Predator"...remember those? Ugh, not even I could stomach them.

I practically worshipped at the Altar of KO, aka Keith Olbermann, and was known far and wide as actually being able to pay attention through an entire Special Comment (which in those days were always about The Evil Dubya and lasted upwards of an hour). I even enjoyed most of them and could and did quote entire paragraphs as friends and family rolled their eyes...a lot.

The way that KO and most of MSNBC reacted to Hilary's tears that night (and in the process shed their objective facade in favor of outright salivating over Obama) just made me ill, a reaction that continues to this day whenever I'm forced to watch more than 15 minutes of their tripe. So, it gave me a bit of joy to hear that Keith was fired finally, although I did experience a dejavu-ey sentimental moment remembering the good old days before Olbermann went insane/was abducted by aliens/sold his soul to Chris Matthews. Good Night and Good Luck to you, KO, as lon g as I don't have to see you anymore or hear your name...how about giving radio a try this time? winkwink

Speaking of cable show hosts, I cannot believe someone posted this shot comparing Rachel Maddow to Ralph Macchio...yet the resemblance is a little eery, eegads. Ralphie's almost unrecognizable from his former youthful personna, but he's become a handsome man, hasn't he? I enjoyed seeing him, his wife of 23 years and his two cute kids in Funny or Die's video spoof of his, well, niceness:

Wax On, F*ck Off with Ralph Macchio from Ralph Macchio

I think my favorite part was in the driveway when Ralph's {really cute and hip} son counselled him, "You know he wasn't being nice, right?" after some guy drive-by insulted him and Ralph smiled and waved. My second fave part was the 'I'm not Chachi!!!" bar incident scene. But then, there's also the hooker who told him to come back when he was 18 ("Damnit, I'm 48 years old!"). It's all too dangggg funny!

Let's hope wholesome makes a comeback so we can see him in something besides men's face cream commercials, lol (you have to watch the video to get that joke).

Speaking of MSNBC and their general survival, I enjoyed reading various comments around the blogosphere. The gang at the Activity Pit (late night FNC show Red Eye's fan site) had me in stitches with their idea that MSNBC should rev up their stinking ratings by adopting a "Survivor" type of format.
Here's some snippets:
"Every week, someone gets voted off the island. It will be a lot of fun coming up with what sort of immunity challenges you could put their "personalities" through - and how each would fare in them."
And:
"I have an idea for one of the Immunity Challenges. How about a group stroll thru the south side of Chicago at midnight? Good thing the city has strict gun control laws, eh?"



I find myself really wanting to see this played out (is that wrong of me? lol) and I especially would love to see both Chris Matthews and Andrea Mitchell humiliated beyond words and voted off the island, followed close behind by that chubby little idiot Ed Schultz. It would definitely tempt me into watching again to see all that!

Are you listening, Comcast? winkwink

Updates on the updates

I realized today that it has been awhile since I updated the blog on the various personal projects ongoing here at Casa Winans, so without further ado...

Somehow, don't ask me how, I managed to get through the holidays only gaining 2 pounds, which were quickly shed once I got back on my plan. And I've managed to continue to maintain and lose a little more. My adventure with Nutrisystems ended right before Thanksgiving when I cancelled the December food shipment. At that time, I had quite a lot of their food left, which I began integrating into a loose diet regime of mostly lower fat and lower calorie grocery store foods.

My recently re-organized pantry, above, shows the last remains of my Nutrisystems inventory and the addition on the bottom shelf of our new inside toolbag that was one of Hubster's Christmas presents. Since this pantry sits right next to our laundry room, it's a great place to keep frequently-used tools that are too nice to get gunked up or lost in our garage. And since it's a bag, we can just throw the tools in after using and every so often straighten up the bag's contents. Workable. Do-able.

Hubster finished my bathroom project right after the holidays, and I've been enjoying my like-new bathing place. It's the first time since I was single and living alone that I've had a bathroom to myself, and I do love it.

This is the new Peerless showerhead I chose. The big circular head looked like a great idea, but it's not really all that. The removeable handheld head is all that, though. So, overall, glad I chose it.

Along with the regrout and caulking, the new shower door enclosure, showerhead and faucet fixtures make a huge difference. Here's hoping I can keep it this fresh and clean!

We did have one little plumbing problemo a few weeks ago. Our house is built right on a concrete slab, meaning there is no wood subfloor. Over time when the house and foundation settles, the pipes can break and this has been happening to us. First was the kitchen plumbing a few years ago which we had redirected around the house. Now, the washing machine has followed suit. So, we had to move the washer and dry out the wall. Hubster preferred replacing the drywall with some leftover panelling he had. It was quicker and he didn't have to drywall (always a plus, as he hates doing that).

Then the plumbers dug the trench connecting this cleanout to the kitchen sink cleanout further down the wall.

And by the end of the day, the job was finished.

Hubster didn't pay much attention when the kitchen sink drain was re-directed, so he asked our plumber to find where it intersects our front walk. This time we took photos with a measuring tape to remind us where it lay, just in case. Not a bad idea for putting in the old This Old House book if you have one.

Now we know exactly how many inches from the front porch the pipe is buried. Would be nice if it was buried treasure, but oh well.

A pox on both houses

No, you don't have to change your astrology sign...here is a great explanation why. I'm still a Pisces, Phew!

***

On the First Lady's open letter to parents...Mrs. Obama, since you brought up tolerance, I expect you and those you influence to demonstrate this by being more tolerant towards Sarah Palin. Oh-oh, better have a talk with your bud James Clyburn, aka The Race Baiter. He just made a no-no comment. Not that I'm surprised.

***

Not that I'm entirely happy with Sarah's video remarks. Yes, she has been horridly maligned. Being wrongfully accused of accessory to murder does demand a rebuttal and defense. She was 100% within her rights to reply.

***

I just think that her timing was off...late...I suspect there might have been a lot of debating within her ranks whether to rebut and what to say. She must have read Glenn Reynold's reference to "blood libel" in his Wall Street Journal piece on Monday (see, she reads WSJ, take that, Couric! winkwink). What he can reference about Sarah, apparently she can't?

***

Reynold's piece is quite good and I think we all should read it, because it reminds us that this current blame game against anyone on the Right (ie, anyone not on the Left, and that's where they include me, as I am in the middle) is just the latest in a long string of accusations that ended up being wrong wrong wrong.

***

Remember the guy who flew the plane into an Austin IRS building? Remember the Army psychiatrist who shot up Fort Hood? Remember the Times Square bomber? All were accused at the get-go of being Tea Partiers. Now Jared Loughner receives the same fate.

***

You'd think this would embarrass our public voiceboxes after awhile but it doesn't and I think it is time to call this what it is: a political tactic. A sad one, especially used repeatedly without conscience and without intelligence (take that, Clyburn! Me thinks you cannot handle it intellilectually, plus you are pretty butt-ugly if you ask me. Just sayin').

***

Let us remember that Loughner did not vote in 2010. He did vote in 2006 and 2008. Now, if you were an angry Tea Partier, would that be your voting track record? Since the Tea Party did not even form until 2009, I think not!

***

My real and sincere kudos go to President Obama for his speech Wednesday evening at that pep rally at the U of Arizona. Yes, he had to have known it was going to be a receptive audience to whatever he said, being that it was a liberal venue filled mostly with his supporters. But compared to his track record of uber-partisan speech audiences, how is that shocking? I was very happy that his speech did not further inflame the situation. And more importantly, in his own way, he did speak to his supporters and told them enough. He told them that the verbal vitriol did not cause the Az. shootings...to quote his ad-lib in his speech: "It did not." ***

I suspect that was a bold and rebellious thing for him to say, given how his minions are still spewing partisan crap against the other side and refusing to apologize for their knee-jerk conclusions. Anyway, I appreciated it. And may I say that most of the GOP voices are saying the same thing, and I appreciate that. If only the Lefties would calm down and quit positioning for political advantage over this, maybe we could move on. I'm not holding my breath, though.

It Takes Two

Okay, I got something unpleasant to talk about and I'm just gonna get it out and over with.

First, concerning the horrible, horrible tragedy in Tuscon, AZ on Saturday, I'm incredibly sad. Apart from being devestated at the death of a little girl born on 9/11 for godssake, and a federal judge and Congresswoman and many others shot, some killed...apart from all of that senseless misery, it should be no surprise that Gabby Gifords was my kind of legislator, even if she was a Dem and voted for some bills I wouldn't have. She believed in compromise and centrism, and she believed in helping Arizona, not boycotting and suing it. Had AG Holder felt likewise, I very much believe there might not have been a massacre on Saturday.

And that brings me to the other thing. Listen, no matter how much the Far Left tries to blame the Far Right for Laugher's actions, until they acknowledge their mistakes that directly led to this as well (AG Holder suing AZ instead of trying to help them out, Pelosi's and Obama's inciteful speech, the Leftwing bloggers causing as much evil as Talk Radio, just to name a few), bad things are going to continue to happen and it's only gonna get worse.

You might be asking, what mistakes? 

As I said before...

AG Holder suing Arizona instead of figuring out a compromise way to help them deal with the border violence and infiltration/invasions. Arizonans didn't ask for any of it and they've been suffering in silence with it for years now. Nobody on the Leftie Blogs shed a tear for the border rancher, a US citizen, when he was murdered, now did they? To them, the state was only a place to travel to for protests and then to tell what to do otherwise. A place to be against. Certainly living with that kind of stigma (ask any resident of Dallas or even Texas in the 1960's and 1970's, believe me!) will bring out stressful emotions on both sides of the aisle.

And that brings me to President Obama. America elected a president who is comfortable with unleashing CHAOS, let's face it. And inciteful words? Remember these?

•“If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun.”  Barack Obama in July 2008•“I want you to argue with them and get in their face!” Barack Obama, September 2008


•“Here’s the problem: It’s almost like they’ve got — they’ve got a bomb strapped to them and they’ve got their hand on the trigger. You don’t want them to blow up. But you’ve got to kind of talk them, ease that finger off the trigger.” Barack Obama on banks, March 2009

•“I don’t want to quell anger. I think people are right to be angry! I’m angry!” Barack Obama on ACORN Mobs, March 2010

•“We talk to these folks… so I know whose ass to kick.” Barack Obama on the private sector, June 2010

•“A Republican majority in Congress would mean ‘hand-to-hand combat’ on Capitol Hill for the next two years, threatening policies Democrats have enacted to stabilize the economy.” Barack Obama, October 6, 2010

•“We’re gonna punish our enemies and we’re gonna reward our friends who stand with us on issues that are important to us.” Barack Obama to Latinos, October 2010

(Many thanks to the BlogProf for gathering these quotes.)
 
And here's another very long list of violence against Republicans...not just words...actual deeds.
 
Now, when you read or hear that Sarah Palin caused the 22-yr. old Jared Loughner to unleash his violence Saturday because of her Facebook crosshairs map graphic , just remember, as I've shown you, BOTH sides have used violent metaphors, phrases, and images.
 
I could go on (Pelosi and Reid both have a list of quotes as well, but thinking of them gives me indigestion. And that Sheriff Dupenik aka Dopenik even has some partisan choice quotes). I don't listen to right wing talk radio or read their blogs, but I'm sure they have their quotes, too. The whole thing makes me angry, sad, sick, and more convinced than ever that moderate centrist compromise is the only thing that will save us. But the possibility of that happening gets more and more remote by the day.
 
Gabby Gifford is what you would call a moderate centrist. She's a Blue Dog Democrat who is pro-Second Amendment and pro-border security. I don't pretend to know if Jared Loughner had a political agenda that fit into any of the little square or round pegs we use, or if he just operated by the Wild Hair Rule. And, I don't think even the FBI's gonna be able to find a clear path to either political extreme. But both sides will use him against the other, sure enough, even if it's not accurate.
 
I have more to say, but not today. I need to get John Brown out of my head....

Chameleon-in-Chief

Well, I'm back now. Hope everyone is having a happy holidays.

Michael Barone's latest article, Even After Shellacking, Obama Looks OK In 2012, is in my opinion required reading for those who keep up with politics regardless of party or position.

Barone is a conservative columnist and author as well as a historian of sorts. While most conservatives are touting the 2010 midterms elections results as the beginning of Obama's end, Barone's insights should be good cause not to be so glib and confident about it.

Ever since the midterms, Obama has begun to dance the Two-Step, albeit not our Texas version down here. He has shown at least a little bit of willingness to broker compromise while managing to end up with a lot of the spoils on his side.

Other brave conservative columnists such as Charles Krauthammer come right out and posit that Obama did some shellacking of his own with a Tax Bill that the lame duck Congress passed, ending up with extended unemployment benefits, a payroll tax holiday and various other credits in exchange for continuing the Bush tax cuts for everyone. Obama then wrangled deals to pass a repeal of DADT and a continuation of START.

Krautie even dubbed Obama the new Comback Kid. I find that I must acknowledge a newfound respect for the guy, and I wouldn't have passed that tax bill (too much cost and the rich can afford a tax increase is pretty much how I see it). I think Krautie is spot-on in recognizing Obama's stubborn cunning when it looked like he was about as down as a President could get.

I know this marks a change in how I look at Obama and I needed to note it. There is still A LOT I cannot abide in him. But where I can abide, I want to recognize.

What he did with the Lame Duck Bunch is classic Generation X Just-Do-It ruthlessness. Watching it in action is almost breathtaking because it defies the odds and shows maximum risk-taking. This is part and parcel of the greatness that I knew he possessed, my beef was that he was not yet ready for prime time, an observation that I think has been well proven by now in the many ways he has bombed on the job. Yet, he does exhibit a penchant to be a quick learner, so he may yet grow into the job.

I think that both Krautie and Barone sense what I've described and they know it's special talent. They are both going against their party powers-that-be and proverbial thinkers by writing their columns, too, by the way. I follow what Krautie writes and he heretofore had been biting about Obama's behaviors that Krautie perceived to be childish and immature for the most part. My take is that Krautie finally has found some behavior in Obama that he admires, that Obama has finally begun to rise to the occasion, something that is expected in American presidents.

Whether Obama continues to please remains to be seen, but the most important thing that I take away is that the man cannot be underestimated or predicted. That alone makes it impossible to rely on election results or mandates from the public, because all Obama has to do is appear to mirror those mandates. Conservatives/Republicans would do well to remember that as they take leadership of the House and sport a more powerful caucus in the Sentate. Obama is doing everything he can to put the ball in their court so they can screw up as he lays in wait.

I find myself saying a nightly prayer for Speaker Boehner, because I feel that he has the talent to be a statesman and above the fray, as long as he doesn't fall into a defensive trap laid by Team Obama. If he's alowed to be the statesmen, we all win. If he becomes a defensive snipe, we all lose.

This Video is Amazing!

Since I love history so, this is like giving me crack cocaine, I imagine. I admit, I got a thrill watching it. What a cool way to show this over time! Enjoy!

~Click on the square in the lower righthand corner of the YouTube menu to watch fullscreen. ~

Kick-in-the-Pants Kind of Week...

~ Cartoon by LISA BENSON ~

I was just thinking about how partisan everything seems to be nowadays, how that shadows both of the topics I wanted to blog about.

First topic: the Palins. Loved Sarah's new show. The next morning I surfed around to read several reviews of it. I got a diverse mix of different points of view on Sarah and Bristol, but one thing that rang consistent was the comment sections.

Best jewel mined from the comments was this: after the exchange grew partisan (as they all do), one particularly nasty insult to Sarah resulted in a responding comment "you are just jealous, you know you can't wait for TLC to produce "Alan Grayson's Florida!"

LOLOLOLOLOLOL, that was histerical.

And then it devolved back into hideous partisan crap-throwing when later that day, Willow Palin was getting slimed on her Facebook about the tv show, and Willow -- in typical teen fashion, trust me, my child was recently a teen -- shot back with replies like, "you're gay". So the next day, the Huffington Posts of the press came out with suggesting she's guilty of gender bullying. omg, that is what teens say and the fact that it's not politically correct is part of the sarcastic humor in using it. I'm not defending the practice, but I have attempted to understand it. And it is so prevalent as to not be bullying. Bullying has to have some degree of measurable effectiveness, and this is a ridiculously lame attempt and does not succeed. I mean, if you use humor to make fun of something and your accuser chooses to not see the humor, are you guilty of what they accuse? Just sayin...

Then, the story broke about all the pooping over Bristol beating out Brandy to go on to the finals on *that dancing show* (that I used to watch religiously). My gawd, you'd think it was something worth a crap. Here's the deal. Was there even a peep of a comparative whine when Emmett Smith kept winning every single week and even won the dang thing? No? Well, them's the rules, live with it and get over it. Damn, when Emmett beat out Mario, I was whining loud. I clearly remember criticizing the taste of his fans, but that's it. Now, the going comments are full of it being a tea-party cheat party of vote fixing...when what Bristol's fans are doing is...following the freaking rules of DWTS.

What the heck? And what's your point? and Really?

Okay, so here is where this led. Into one of my daydreamin' what-ifs. It's best to say that if Kanye West is seated in the audience, look out for a repeat, jumping on the stage as Bristol wins and saying that Brandy was robbed! LOLOLOL Just kidding. My wild imagination!

T minus 5 minutes and counting...

~TLC "Sarah Palin's Alaska" promotional photo~

As I sit here waiting for Sarah Palin's Alaska on TLC, I am reflecting upon the fact that now is the first time I've felt like President Obama is in a *sincere* compromising spirit. And yet, my suspicion is running high for it not really being what it appears. I'm not alone either, by any means.

It's a public reaction that I have to wonder if Team O anticipated or fully recognizes. I often see analogies in current events to books and film. The parable fables Emperor's New Clothes and The Boy Who Cried Wof leap to my mind in this circumstance. We may look back on this time and realize that when Obama lost the majority of the American people it was because they lost their trust in him. He may win it back, but that's still a future possiblity and as of now, not a sure thing.

The current event I'm thinking of is the posturing around the tax cuts expiring. My personal opinion is that neither side has it right. I don't think that any income level should be getting permament tax cuts. This consistent, if you think about it, with my position that everyone should own some tax liability. Logically, you would extend the cuts to everyone in this recession but re-visit it year to year. Since yearly is not long enough a time frame for business investment decisions, then 2 or 3 years max. We have problems and those millionaires are only delaying the inevitible. I am looking at it dispassionately and without ideolgy.

I do have to mention my utter amazement at Speaker Pelosi. She has no shame at all, and is becoming increasingly similar to one of those creatures in Invasion of the Body Snatchers, in that you could not seem to kill them. Her decidion to stay in leadership feeds the suspicion of insincerity for real compromise.

Well, time for Sarah. Laterz...

A New World Every Day

Reggie poses with his new heater

Did you ever have one of those weeks, where something breaks or messes up everyday? You solve the day's problem and the next day something else totally random occurs? Yeah, I've had a whole week of that, and it ain't stopped yet.

I'm typing this on my laptop, which I am very fortunate to have, but I usually blog on my desktop where all my photos are stored. About an hour ago, my desktop's monitor died. I went outside for a while and came back to a black screen and the on button was lit. A reboot did nothing. I could hear the cpu do all of its normal noises and then I remembered...this has happened to me before and it was the graphics card that time.

Makes me wanna cry, because I am going to have to access that hard drive, so I am forced to get a third graphics card for this computer that I should have replaced a while back but I was unsure about getting another desktop versus a laptop.

I have a Laserjet that I love that only talks Windows XP and nothing more recent. That was one big reason I was hanging onto the desktop. So, I have some decisions to make right away. One lesson learned is to move my online bills over to my gmail account. I think the next time something is due is 11/18 as I just paid some bills the other day. Worst comes to worst I can go to every bill website and see if I've paid or not, lol. Guess I shouldn't laugh cuz that may be what I have to do.

The upside is, that is all that is top priority on my computer. The rest that is valuable to me on the hard drive can wait until it can be retrieved. And I can access my email accounts via the ISP webmail site. I need to keep repeating the upsides to keep my stomach from churning...not supposed to stress out per the doctors. But that is only the latest thing that's fallen out of the sky to bless me...

Let's see, in no particular order:
---> the kitchen faucet cracked on the handset and sprouted a leak. Luckily Price Phister is sending us a replacement, free. Lifetime warranties rock, as that unit cost us $100 just 3 years ago.
---> Hubster has 3 grinder molars all in a row that are gold-capped and the middle tooth cracked in two, popping off the gold cap that he almost swallowed. So, he goes to the dentist who tells him that he can't have a bridge since the surrounding "pillar" teeth are capped and not sturdy enough, and referred him to a specialist who says he needs an implant and that'll be $2302.00 since our dental plan does not cover implants. So, I call the insurance in disbelief and they recommend that I ask for a "pre-determination" which will probably end up with the same results but there might be an alternative treatment agreed upon. I can't get past the fact that we have the high plan. I also cannot quit imagining that between us we'll probably end up needing our entire mouths implanted before it's over and spend all our savings. Ugh.
---> Right in the middle of the last cool snap (low 40's at night), Reggie's doghouse heater quit. To be fair, it was past time, and I discovered it in enough time to order another one on Lowes website so Hubs could just go pick it up before they closed.
---> Hubs cannot seem to get the wallboard above the bath tile cut right. The walls and ceiling are not plum or level exactly, so he has had to shop for appropriate trim. He's been avoiding nails, opting for adhesive, and nothing he buys is working that great. The front bath is 99.5% finished, but already Hubs is talking like he's sick of this house. Ha! He is so predictable -- the talk is due to him actually having to do some repair work around here. Can you tell, I am not impressed or paying attention. Like we could sell the house right now. Anyway, it seems like we have been working on this bath forever.
---> My dad has announced plans to move back down here by 12/31 so he won't have to pay 2011 state income taxes where he is. That means a pre-Christmas or Christmas move. I think. I don't really yet know exactly what that means. He is still figuring it out himself. Two weeks ago, it was just fuzzy tentative plans, then a friend warned him about the income tax residency. But even before that, Missy's apartment lease is up and she is moving Thanksgiving weekend. Hubster has taken off a day to help her, and every time she moves some kind of drama happens. I can't wait.
--->My playroom redo is inching along in slow motion, more like watching grass grow. I am beginning to wonder if I'll even be able to make Christmas cards now. Every day I plan to move something or do something in there and every day something else pops up. I have been able to organize lace and ribbon, but that is really trivial compared to getting a few more big furniture pieces ready and moved.
---> We need to get serious about getting our mortgage refinanced if we are gonna do it. We've been working on it, but annoying little obstacles keep appearing to thwart success. Tried Lending Tree and our balance is not high enough. Tried our local bank (just barely made the balance minimum with them) and Hubs thought the interest rates were too high. Going to try to get it together to go next days off to our current lender and see what they can do.
---> I was supposed to figure out if we should keep our medical insurance with the PPO plan or move down to an HMO plan, but I let the open enrollment deadline pass without doing a thing. The whole thing gives me a headache and makes me wanna cry every time I try to research it. I finally told Hubs that he was the one who needed to ask his coworkers pros and cons on their experiences, so suddenly it was 'let's just keep what we've got' from him. I swear, he needs a whack upside his head sometimes. However, I'm too lazy to do it myself, so he lives to fight another day.

So, as you can see, nothing deadly or dangerous or really worthy of complaint, just annoying crap day after day like waves hitting the shore, never ceasing. Some of you may read this and be wishing your days were this easy and I shouldn't complain. But my days are usually uneventful, so this is a bit traumatic for me. I guess it's all in the perspective and the ability to handle stress (which I suck at). I have been working hard at pretending that I'm just waking up in a new world every day and it's all a great big adventure.

Not my best fantasy....winkwink

Midterm Call

~created in Paint Shop Pro Photo X2, public domain images from google, snark by me~

Feel free to copy, forward, link... click on image to see larger...right-click to save...

Lots of Treats for Me

Well, today was Election Day nationwide and I waited to post until a couple of my favorite races were called. I can honestly say that I'm very happy overall with the results.

My favorite news was hearing Fox News call the House of Representatives majority change from Dems to GOP, which of course means NO MORE SPEAKER PELOSI!

There is truly a God (winkwink).

My second favorite news was hearing that John Kasich eeked a victory in the Ohio Governors race. IMO, Kasich isn't necessarily someone you might like personally (he's a bit of a stuffed shirt...I'd be nervous around him), but he is someone you want handling your stuff. He is very fiscally prudent and pretty hard core. Let me just say I'm jealous of Ohioans tonite.

My third favorite news was early on in the evening when Rand Paul's Kentucky Senate race was called in his favor.

My fourth favorite news, heard just now, is that Republican Mark Kirk just won Obama's old Senate seat in Illinois. WOW~!

Shocker - Dem incumbent Russ Feingold lost in Wisconsin!

Oh, and a truly wonderful moment was when I heard that Florida Congressman Alan Grayson lost his re-election. What a nutso jack ass. ;-))

Also enjoyed seeing McCain re-elected handily for his last Senate term out in Arizona. We will need him there.

Finally, Harry Reid's son Rory has lost his race to be Nevada's Governor. I'd hoped the voters there would have ousted Dad, too, but it was not to be.

Now, let me say something. The Left is saying that because the GOP didn't sweep both Houses, then they failed. I completely disagree. To begin with, a Dem-controlled Senate is great in my book, because I do not want one party controlling all of Congress. That was part of the problem that we just voted to correct. Hello!

I like a divided government. So, I tend to focus only on the amount of House seats the GOP is picking up and it is historic. Just as important, though, is the fact that tons of state offices are changing into GOP hands. The Governorships changing are awesome. Re-districting is coming up and that affects the 2012 election.

So for all those reasons and more, I am enjoying the election returns tonight and am pretty darn happy. I thought that incoming House Speaker John Boehner's speech tonight was very touching and heartfelt. I'm happy with him in that job (he's another Ohioan, those lucky ducks -- I thank you, Ohio!).

Not as bad as I thought

Mr. Bipartisan-in-Chief

In 2008 when I voted for a Republican for the very first time in my life, I still did not vote a straight ticket. But Friday we early-voted and I voted a straight GOP... to send my little message.

We have only one early voting location in my town versus dozens on election day. Still, I've voted early lots of times in the past and even at peak times like after work it's never been more than 10 people in line ahead of me.

Friday we went in the afternoon and the line was out the door. Hubs walked to the bathroom and counted 50+ people in line in front of us and it took 45 minutes to get into a booth. It was uneventful and the line did move, although not as fast as we would have liked. I tried to fixate on being lucky to be able to vote, unlike many servicemen and women in other states. Running into a few old friends helped to pass the time, too.

Like Houston, my town had a proposition on the ballot to limit the use of red-light cameras. I voted in favor of ours, although I'm a bit conflicted as to how I feel about them. Encroachment of Big Brother finally swayed my vote, I guess.

I haven't "weighed in" with a diet update in a while. I'm still trudging along with Nutrisystems. I'd hoped to lose a minimum of 16 pounds by today (10-31), but I've only lost 12.5 total -- that's 3.5 pounds off. I weigh again tomorrow and hopefully I'll have lost some of those 3.5 pounds. I can feel a little less fat in my gut, so I know that something good is happening somewhere.

I still like Nutrisystems and plan to continue on with it, but it's a bit like watching grass grow for results. Slowly is the best way but it's torturous.

Healthcare Spin Cycle

When I read today about West Virginia Governor and Senate hopeful (D) Joe Manchin's flip-flop on his support for the Obama Healthcare bill, I had that little moment when you just don't know whether to laugh or cry or throw a fit. I ended up laughing because I've had a pretty calm day, but still...

I seem to have that little moment a lot lately when I talk to people about some of the news lately, like major employers considering dumping insurance coverage or applying for compliance waivers to avoid having to cover children over 21 on their employee parents' policies, or insurers jacking up premiums like the price of bottled water after a devestating hurricane.

I end up asking, prodding them: Now think. How in the world does the government get to be the insurance carrier from this employer-based system we've had for 40-50 years? Think like Columbo. There would have to be incentives to dismantle the current system. If it costs a company less to shift their employees over to gov't care, they totally will try. And at the same time, if the insurers can price their product as high as possible to offset the reduction of group coverage customers, they totally will try. Oh, wow. Bingo. They are trying now.

In other words, this is exactly the game plan that Obama and Co. knew would happen. It's what they want to happen, because it brings them closer to the day when government care is all there is for a lot of us. And that was their original objective, wasn't it? Make us all like those 30 million estimate without healthcare?

That they did not tell us, well, what else is new... Playa in Chief, remember? Back when the premiums increase stories came out and Secretary Kathleen Sebelius stood at her podium hemming and hawing, spewing baseless lame threats to the insurance companies, I knew it for sure. Lemme ask -- how many insurers have had charges filed... or even been investigated? Anyone anyone Bueller? Oooh, that lady makes me quake in my boots. Not.

My friends, Obama and Co. will stand there the entire time this *transition period* lasts and while it gets uglier, costlier and riskier for all of us, they will chant their bullshit and do absolutely nothing, because they know it brings them closer to their objective: single payer givernment healthcare.

And when asked about it point blank, they'll deny, because they think we are stoopid thought lemmings and just take what they say as word. Some of us are but most of us are not, eventually. This is one area where I'm almost shocked by how much Obama and Co. have underestimated the American people. They must be one cynical and superior bunch to assume that people don't defend against being spun and lied to. If there is one phrase among folks I know who voted for Obama, it's "never again", "won't be fooled again", etc. It's like that old saying, "Burn me once, shame on you. Burn me twice, shame on me."

And I'm also amazed by how they just keep repeating the offenses. Remember the gaff during the campaign when Obama addressed a Leftie crowd in San Francisco and was taped describing folks in Pennsylvania as bitter about life passing them by, clinging to their guns and religion? You'd think he would know better after that, but just last week Obama blamed “tribal attitudes” for a recent rise in racial incidents among Americans who are hurting financially. And at a Boston event, he rationalized that voters who have gone anti-Dem have done so out of  "fear and frustration”. Oh, Wise One, Heaven forbid that any of us are using simply our logical brains to arrive at our opinions. I tend to suspect that after it is explained to him how he has eaten his own foot, he cringes not for being so lame-brained and insulting to fellow Americans, but because he didn't ace the challenge or because he had to communicate for the benefit of so many beneath him. There is just something wrong with that.

The presidency is not a video game or a science experiment, and neither is our healthcare system. If the choice is to burn down the village in order to save it, or not, I'm voting not...on Nov. 2.

It's All Bush's Fault...

To my list from yesterday's blog entry, you can add this: as much as I'd personally love to blame George W. Bush for everything (like President Obama always has, continues and maybe always will), I know in my heart that it's just another lie pandered by our Playa In Chief. In my opinion, only a Zombie could believe his bullshit by now. I mean, it is Halloween season, but seriously?

Consider this bit of info from HotAir.com . There is a graph and a timeline that pretty clearly shows that Congress owns more blame for our present situation than the Executive branch ever did, and the party that controlled Congress wasn't the GOP.

Look, I'll be completely honest here. I have a very strong suspicion that 9/11 was caused by a family feud, where the black sheep of one family (Osama bin Laden) hated the influence that the Bush family had over his Saudi royalty family. No matter the circumstances, I will never ever condone any American using this country to fight a family feud. That's what mafia, kings and dictators do, not American elected officials. No matter what's been done to your family, you take it outside of the government and fight your battle on your own.

So, you can see how tempting it might be to agree that it's always Bush's fault...except that the facts don't support it. And frankly, since I know that our economic crisis was caused in very large part by the housing financial corruption that resulted from allowing (some argue requiring) unqualified buyers to participate in home ownsership, and as early as 1998 when we bought our current home and I saw firsthand how risky the process had already become -- under the Clinton admin and a Dem Congressional majority I might add, then Obama's spin to blame Bush for said crisis becomes almost laughable.

The above-linked article reminds us that GWB asked Congress 17 times for more regulation over Freddie and Fannie or to end it, as early as 2001. That's pretty damning and not for GWB. Congress clearly dropped the ball. A Democratic Congress for much of that time, I might add, including the Clinton years when this  housing scam began as a new way to grow the market and help those who...well, who couldn't afford to own homes own homes. Wow, in retrospect, WHAT PRESRIPTION DRUGS WERE THEY ABUSING????

To illustrate just how ridiculous this problem had already gotten by 1998, we owned one home (FMV: $75,000 / Mtg balance: $11,000) and were buying another with the intent of selling the first house as soon as we made cosmetic repairs within the next year. We go to the mortgage broker, who checks out our credit and then tells us we can buy the $80,000 house we want with ZERO money down and we can add another 25% to the loan balance if we want, for those "extras" or whatever we needed the cash for. All this without requiring a second mortgage on House #1 or anything, really.

Just so you know, we declined the loan of 125% of House #2's FMV and instead put 5% down on the closing price with a loan for the balance. In our case, paying two mortgages turned out to be pretty do-able until we sold House #1, so the broker was right about our ability to pay. But, my problem with it even then was, if they are willing to take us out on such a limb, what are they doing with folks less credit worthy or risk-seeking or both? I remember thinking that, hand over heart. And some part of me wanted to make a citizen's arrest, as in you people cannot do that! You know, I knew back then it wasn't right. I'm proud that we did not take the bait and it was tempting, lemme tellya.

So, the next time you hear it is all Bush's fault, ask exactly how is it that way, and demand specifics. Remember the chart and the timeline, and that you are too smart to be blinded by the hyperbole of spinmeisters and others who have no respect for the quality of the average American's thinking mind. We're not all Zombies out here!

On a related note, I'm currently reading Jason Mattera's book Obama Zombies: How the Liberal Machine Brainwashed My Generation. Mattera goes into detail to illustrate and document exactly how the Obama Spin Machine operated. Of course, reading it now just crystalizes how stupid his believers were (and some still are). You can look back on this blog to the Spring of 2008 to see that I didn't take the bait or drink the Koolaid, so I have to confess that it's been satisfying to read this book and see further confirmation that I was right all along.

Mattera's book is what Game Change should have been, or at the very least it proves that Game Change was just so much propoganda for Obama. After reading Game Change, I remember deciding that it was proof that even the most awesome campaigner in history does not a governor make (governor, as in one who governs). And neither does the most awesome orator. God, I do hope we have all learned that lesson by now.

JUAN-a Boycott?

Leave a comment on NPR's Facebook page about Juan's firing:

http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=10643211755&topic=21389

Join the Boycott NPR For Firing Juan Williams Facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Boycott-NPR-for-Their-Unjust-Firing-of-Juan-Williams/160464413984353?v=wall&filter=1

Contact your local NPR radio station and tell them no more money!

I am so stinking pissed off and have been all day long. It's Oct. 22 now, but ever since waking up on Oct. 21 (yesterday) and hearing right off the bat that NPR had fired Juan Williams...for being honest about one of his fears. He was a News Analyst for Npr and one of my favorites on The Factor on FNC.  He was not analyzing news, he was voicing his personal fears and feelings. Juan Williams is and always has been one of the fairest and most thoughtful talking heads on TV even back in his days guesting on CNN's "Crossfire", and I believe that because he treats FNC with respect like it's a legitimate news network, he was fired. That's what I think caused this. And now, fellow NPR analyst and FNC commentator Mara Liasson appears to be next on the chopping block.

Now, here is the lamestream media's account of what happened  , which you can find a story to read if you need to know the basics of what happened. THEN, I'll add the very very very important other fact that they leave out (conveniently) that helps us see clearly what the FUCK is going on here. Go ahead and read the link if you need to, my lovelies, I'll wait.

Tick Tock Tick Tock... okay. Enough time. Here is the important info you must know: World Gazillionaire (whose holding company is based in Curacao where he can avoid most taxes) George Soros just recently gave NPR $1.8 million. He also gave Media Matters $1 million (the PC Nazi intimidation machine run by gayguy David Brock who, before outing himself and deciding to defect to the other side, was a hit author for the Conservative Right back in the 1980s and 1990s -- he wrote vicious unfair books like "The Real Anita Hill").  Michelle Malkin has all the poop here. Soros almost ruined the British economy a decade ago by breaking the Bank of England with short-selling....apparently just because he could! And, lest we forget, he was one of the benefactors of one Barrack Hussein Obama in his run for president. Ten to one, most of those unnamed little donations were Soros contribs. But I digress...

According to NPR's "news", the Chamber of Commerce is the devil, Tea Party members are teabaggers, and Sarah Palin is an idiot, right? And now, if you candidly confess that seeing Muslims in Muslim clothing on your airplane makes you nervous, well then you must be unobjective scum and you must lose your job.

You know what? I have had it up to here trying to accept that:

1. my president socialized and worked former Weathermen terrorists like Bill Ayers yet we are supposed to believe that none of that mindset was shared;

2. he sat in a pew of a Black Liberation theology church for 20 years but I'm supposed to believe none of it was ingested or agreed with (or that his children who sat right alongside didn't either);

3. he trained others in community activism using Marxist activist Saul Alinsky's book Rules for Radicals and a huge amount of his campaign and administration's actions have mirrored this book's axioms yet we are supposed to believe that none of that was absorbed between Mr. Obama's elephantish ears;

4. he comes from the Thug Capital of the World aka Chicago, IL (and you are reading this and live in that piece of shit town, SHAME ON YOU for letting it continue, I'm tired of it), yet we are supposed to believe that neither he nor any of his thug underlings operate under the rules of The Chicago Way - HA!);

5. and now, it is becoming less of a secret every day that George Soros owns Obama's ass as well as all of the DNC's asses and now NPR and Media Matters, yet I'm supposed to believe that he is just an innocent citizen of the world who does super good deeds with his Tides Foundation (Ariana Huffington's Daily Beast just got a little cash infusion by Soros as well since she is losing her shirt);

When are we gonna face facts and The Truth? George Soros runs this frickin country right now. He's made no bones about his belief that Fox New Channel is not a real network...and lo and behold, Obama said that, right? Hell, he fashioned part of his ridiculous press strategy with it. Soros has long believed that pot should be legalized and now we are closer to that happening than ever before, and wow, there is a Mexican drug cartel problemo at our border that Obama just kinda ignores? I am beginning to wonder if the Mexicans aren't fighting US as much as they are fighting Soros' influence, the more I think about it. I have to wonder how much money Soros has spoon-fed the Mexican gov't to ignore their cartels...

And that economic meltdown we had one very convenient month before the 2008 election, when McCain looked like he might inch ahead of Obama and take it? You could not TIME a meltdown any better for Soros' candidate, could you? Hmmm....

Now, I ask you: after you have broken the Bank of England and brought the British economy to its knees (the reason he gave has been "to teach them a lesson"), WHAT IS YOUR NEXT CHALLENGE? Seriously, really. What? Get an American preseident elected who is your puppet, maybe?

Let me also ask: where is the thorough explanation of what exactly happened to cause that meltdown? Huh? I've heard lots of people partially explain about short-selling those bogus refinancing derivatives until they were exposed to be the junk they were, hereby causing the fake walls to tumble down. But only partially, like they don't wanna have to be asked too much.

Just saying. This country, as long as you vote for Obama or anyone who supports him, will continue to be owned by a very rich man who does not care about our country or about us nor is he accountable for doing that, except for what it can do for him and what he can buy. Is that what you want, because you should just know what you are "BUYING" with that vote.

Time to quit staring at the malignant facial mole and saying you don't see it, Doctors!

And Juan Williams is the first poor scapegoat. Mara Liasson, another NPR contributor, and someone who appears on FNC's News show with Brett Baer, and who like Williams has been asked by NPR to not appear on Fox in the past, is the next target. Media Matters is among the Nazi Left asking for her head next. What good little puppets THEY are, eh?

Now, the Lefties will say that ultraconservative Richard Mellon Scaife ran this country in the 1990's, so it's just the other side's turn, but wait a minute. Who was president in 1990's and what party did belong to? Kinda apples and oranges, idiot Left. Yes, Scaife's minions (of which David Brock was one, remember) did probably try to bring down Clinton, but they did not succeed. All the MORE REASON to keep Soros from succeeding, and I say that as one of the biggest proponents of pot legalization in existence. My country means a little more to me than that.

We cannot let anyone own this country except us, because once it changes hands, it is gone baby gone. Where else can we move to? Where else is there an America?

It just makes me so angry. I am boycotting NPR and even my local NPR stations. I'm writing letters (snail mail ones that they have to open and look at).  The NPR Radio app is gone from my ipod. I do not even mention I want their government funding yanked because it is only 2% of their budget. This is their little fundraising week and I want the phones to be silent! I want them to hurt so bad that they have to rely solely on the Soros Devil's money and then what kind of organization are they? Faux News? Oh my!~ ;-)))

Oh and since my gloves are off and I'm all ticked and pissed, I'm closing down commenting here again. I'm only getting around 5 spams a day but they are annoying. And as I detest turning on CAPTCHA, my only other option to not have to deal with the spam is to just close down the comments. Just read and move to the next blog. Email me if you want to comment. I'll even quote you in my next post if you want (be sure to let me know that).