Remember When?

actually, many of you don't.

Pat Boone's article Welcome to the Nightmare asks us to remember a time when he was young.

Is it just me? Am I dreaming something that never was? Or do you remember the same things I do?

Considering Pat's age, and mine for that matter, fewer and fewer people remember all the things he and I experienced growing up in America.  Few of this blog's readers lived in a world that even remotely resembled life before the 60's or the 70's.

If this wasn't all a dream, if you remember most of this like I do, what happened? How do we find ourselves in this nightmare of contemporary America?  How has it changed so radically, and so fast?

As I reach back into this horrible nightmare, I seem to hear a loud, almost fanatic threat echoing in the night … "We are just five days away from fundamentally transforming the United States of America!"

The easy thing to do is pin the complete blame on Obama.  In reality, the downward spin started way before he was even born.  Obama is nothing more than the culmination of years of sliding morality, Marxist influence in the schools, and puppet masters controlling the dialogue.  

This process of destruction of liberty and cohesiveness has, by necessity, been ramped up to warp speed.  I absolutely believe that the final economic downfall will happen very quickly.  As the revolving door of credit, debt, unfunded liabilities, and entitlement spending - not just here, but in most developed countries, comes to a screeching halt, we will awake one day to a global "solution."  The people who consider themselves the "elites" will not stand for a world that is economically broken. Who would fund their lifestyles if the world was completely destroyed?  They'll push the "reset button" and we will become one big happy family. 

Today's Required Reading:

Pundit Press:  NY Teachers Union Calls for Members to 'Agitate'
NRO:   Obamacare and the CLASS Fraud
Cato:   The Value Added Tax Must Be Stopped  
The BlogProf:   Pic of the Day: The Only Chart You Need To See To Understand Why The US Is Screwed

I just started Rick Perry's book.  He doesn't mince any words.

Faith drives the middle class

Michael Barone has an interesting article about why the middle classes would appear to vote against their economic self interests, and does a good job of voicing the reasons why.

Why Support the Tea Party?
Modest-income Americans vote for the national interest, not their self-interest 

What is missing in his assessment is the part faith plays in the life of most of the middle class.  Ordinary people of modest means who have a faith in a higher power are simply more content.  It's as simple as that.

We could be considered people of modest income, and yet in my opinion we live like a king and queen.  We have a lovely home on five beautiful acres with a roof that keeps the rain and snow off of us. We have big decks on both the front and back of the house, equipped with a gas grill and table and chairs for lounging about in the summer.  The kitchen counters aren't expensive granite, but they work just fine for chopping fresh veggies.  We have two functioning toilets, three sinks with running water, and all the electronics and gadgets we could possible want.

We choose not to spend our money on designer clothes, and are not impressed by people who do. We don't need boxes full of jewels, a private jet, or a yacht.  Beyond the basics of comfort, it becomes a matter of degree.  Will an expensive slate roof keep me any dryer than the ordinary shingle roof we presently have?  Will gold faucets squirt water into a sink better than my chrome ones do?

We don't hold any ill will toward people who have more than we do, and most the people I know feel the same way.  It would take a dissatisfied and unhappy person to vote against what was best for our nation in order to hopefully give themselves a bigger slice of the pie. I can vote to tax the so-called "rich" people until they have nothing left, but I'll still have a shingle roof and chrome faucets.

I don't know the hearts and minds of the teachers who are driving the incivility we're seeing in Wisconsin, but on the surface they appear to be people of more than modest means who crave even more.  And they don't care how they get it.  In their case, the taxing of others in order to fund their lives and get a larger slice of the pie seems perfectly reasonable to them.  The rest of us recognize that it is nothing more than redistribution of wealth.

You see, we don't believe we need a bigger slice of the pie.  Because when all is said and done, we're all going to end up the same.  Some of us, however, believe in life after granite counter tops and private jets.  We believe there is a God and our goal is to spend eternity with Him. 

As Mr. Barone said:

A government intertwined with the private sector inevitably picks winners and losers. It allows well-positioned insiders to game the system for private gain. It bails out the improvident and sticks those who made prudent decisions with the bill.

Modest-income Americans think this is wrong. They want it fixed more than they want a few more bucks in their paychecks.

ObamaCare to be Halted?

that would be good news.

Politico U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson has already dealt the Obama administration a staggering blow on health reform, and this week the administration may get another one from the fiery Florida judge.

The Justice Department asked Vinson to clarify his ruling that struck down the law as unconstitutional. Justice must file its brief on the motion by Monday, and Vinson has said he would rule quickly after that. At issue is whether Vinson meant to stop reform implementation in the 26 states that brought the suit.

The smart money says Vinson will halt implementation, and legal observers are wondering why Justice would take that risk.

Stay strong, Judge Vinson

More About Demonstrations and A New Vision for Idaho

Ok - so most everyone wants to go out and protest and thinks I'm a lazy fraud for thinking demonstrating doesn't make a difference. Of course, they worded it very nicely so as not to offend and make an old lady feel worthless - and I thank them.

Then my buddy Mark, over in Spokane, comes along and gets all intellectual on me by bandying about words like "limbic" and phrases like "participatory republicanism" and "existential threat."  Honestly - who talks like that??  Good grief - participatory has at least six syllables.  Anything over three is showing off.

From the Combox:

Wow, that's a lot of Sunday reading that you posted -- thanks for keeping us up to date on the best of the bloggosphere. As for protesting, I think that it can be of some great utility in certain circumstances -- but it often is counter-productive or at most ineffective.

Better is the idea of people organizing for self-improvement, to share ideas, to have gathering -- like the Tea Parties. Not "community organizing" ala Barak Obama, but real, bottom up spontaneous groups forming not to vent but to reform the government through the democratic process and participatory republicanism.

The difference has a lot to do with how limbic the response is. Protests tend to be emotional, a response to something that is viewed as an existential threat, to something that pushes the "fight or flight" mechanisms in our brains. Productive gatherings are less limbic, more rational, more focused on long-term solutions to the problems that are facing us as a country.

Of course, limbic responses and futile gestures aren't simply the provenance of the Left -- I would argue that the Idaho legislature's efforts at nullifying ObamaCare fall into the same category of useless gestures.

Cheers!

Notice at the end of his comment he takes a jab at Idaho's attempt at nullification finishing up with his usual, "Cheers."   Oh yes - he couldn't resist twisting the knife in the backs of the people of Idaho innocently trying to farm their potatoes. 

Since I don't think nullification will work, I'm much more in favor of moving straight to secession and saving a sh*t load of time.  And not the entire state of Idaho either.  This will purely be a movement of North Idaho.

In the future, when North Idaho is it's own country, Spokanites will need a passport to slip across the border and buy their dishwashing soap (phosphates are banned in Washington so all their dishes are really dirty -it's  recommended that you use paper plates when you eat there.)  While they're here they grab some cheap smokes and fill up their gas tanks.   We could even charge them a small fee to cross the border and our country will prosper and our citizens will eat free potatoes.  Hot darn!  This is sounding better all the time. 

The bottom line here, if Mark wants to have a bottom up, spontaneous, productive and rational gathering with no limbics attending, I guess I'll be there (because he's a true buddy - even if he lives in Washington.) 

And speaking of demonstrators:

Police won't boot protesters from Wis. Capitol

The occupation of the Wisconsin Capitol by protesters fighting efforts to strip public workers of union bargaining rights carried on Sunday after police decided not to forcibly remove demonstrators and end a nearly two-week-long sit-in. read the rest

 Filthy vermin! 

Do Demonstrations Work? w/ important update

and some random thoughts topped off with some linky-love.

I've never been a big believer in demonstrations.  It seems so pointless to march around with a bunch of signs, chanting slogans, and often, as in the case of the Wisconsin union fight, being in the midst of potential violence.  My Italian heritage demands a sneaky and subversive approach rather than one that is overt and obvious.

For days the big news has been on how many people have shown up at various venues to represent their side of the fight.  This is time (IMO) that could be put to better use in some other endeavor.

I like the way my neck of the woods handles this sort of thing, or doesn't handle it, as the case might be.  A small bunch of teachers hung around the city hall in Coeur d'Alene this past Monday - cold, alone, and completely ignored.  It turned into a big "whatever."

This is not to say we don't have a large and very active Tea Party movement here.  We do.  It's just counterproductive (again, IMO) to rush out in response to what the opposition is doing.  It puts us on about the same level as Pavlov's dog and his ringing bell.  The demonstrations are becoming so numerous that I seriously doubt the public even knows what the hell anyone is mad about anymore. 

Let the union thugs trash the government buildings in Wisconsin.  The public is growing very weary of their childish rants and behavior.  Let's give them the space they need to hang themselves.

Sad news from Teresamerica about blogger Eric Graff.  

I have some very sad news to inform everyone.  It is very sad and shocking news since he posted a comment on my blog, and about 4-6 hours or so before I saw this post on Eric Graff's blog saying this: Eric W. Graff born Dec. 14th 1959, died Feb. 24th 2011.  I knew he had been having some health troubles this past year but did not realize they were so serious.  My thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends.  God rest his soul. 

From Eric's profile:

No guilt in life, no fear in death. This is the power of Christ in me. From life's first cry to final breath, Jesus commands my destiny. No power of hell, no scheme of man, can ever pluck me from His hand. Till He returns or calls me home, here in the power of Christ I'll stand.

Link to:   Eric's Blog: 

Update:  Eric lives!!!

He's been hacked (which is a damn sight better than being dead, doncha know!)

From the combox:  

OH My Gosh!! I am fine… Alive and well. My blog has been hacked into and I can’t even get in it. It will not take me long to figure out who did this but when I do find out, the authorities will be called. I am 275 miles from home in La Cross Wis. right now and can’t get to my computer. I found out just now by checking my site. I posted this comment via email. I am sorry for all this. I had no idea. Wisconsin is under siege right now and apparently I am a casualty of war… So to speak.

Rest assured I am just fine, as is my family. When I get home this will be fixed but at this point I’m helpless. Again, my apologies.

Here and There

Zilla of the Resistance brings us a most excellent new word and some great links.  State of the Goonion


The Blog Prof:   Pro-abort Democrats on Virginia abortion clinic law: "It is purely discriminatory. It makes me heartsick"

Pundette:   Who are the heroes?



No Sheeples Here:   Pouring Money And Fury Into The Fight

Doug Ross:  Newly Released FBI Files:  Ted Kennedy Was a Pompous, Commie-Sympathizing Pervert, i.e., a Perfect Democrat Icon. 

Bread Upon the Waters:  Troops Machine Gun Libyan Children, Obama Parties; Newt Says "Pink Slip Eric Holder" 

MOTUS:  WTF:  The History Just Keeps on Coming  

Green Moutanins Homestading:   The kids next door think "civility" is for chumps. 

Kathryn Lopez:  Catholics vs. Gov. Walker? 

Reaganite Republican:  Sunday Funnies
 
It's almost Lent:

Ordered Liberty:   Preparing for Lent

 

Father Speekman:

Eight Sunday in Ordinary Time:

I can much more easily believe that God exists than that he should love me. Now don’t be alarmed, I do know that God loves me, I have had ample proof of that over the years, but what I am saying is that God’s love for humans has always baffled me more than the truth of his existence. read the rest

From Seth's Blog:

Wonder and anger

It's hard to imagine two emotions more different from one another.

And yet one can easily replace the other. A sense of wonder and grinding anger can't co-exist.

Great innovations, powerful interactions and real art are often produced by someone in a state of wonder. Looking around with stars in your eyes and amazement at the tools that are available to you can inspire generosity and creativity and connection.

Anger, on the other hand, merely makes us smaller.

Agenda 21 thrown out of Maryland...

which is very good news.

It appears people are starting to wake up to the insidious and very dangerous Agenda 21.  While we're being entertained by the Obama's hiring a homosexual social secretary, news of real import is being hidden.  As an aside, allow me ask once again - why is it only homosexuals that have to be defined by the way in which they engage in sex?  Nobody described the last social secretary by the fact that they were in all likelihood heterosexual.  But I digress - sorry...

I've spoken before about Agenda 21 and UN’s International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI)

• Livable Communities Act S.1619

• More on Agenda 21...

.  Today on Big Government in Agenda 21 part III,  we learn that Maryland has booted Agenda 21 to the curb

Maryland Commissioners Richard Rothschild, Robin Frazier, Haven Shoemaker, Dave Roush and Doug Howard, who abolished the County’s Office of Sustainability. They then voted unanimously to drop out of the UN’s International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI). They are the first governmental organization to do so.

As Mr. Simpson states in his article, "this is huge."  Indeed it is, and I urge you read my previous posts as well as all of Mr. Simpson's posts on Agenda 21.  It's a much more important issue than the White House social secretary having deviant sex. 

The more things change the more they stay the same...

Browsing around my reader this morning led me to one of the most insightful articles I've had the pleasure of reading in quite some time.

It seems lately some of the right-wing pundits are becoming as hysterical as the loony left.  Tabloid style headlines screaming one thing and the body of the article saying something else, or in some cases, the story so sensationalized as to be laughable.  Sometimes, the rapid-fire way in which bloggers jump on something in order to be "first" with the news is dangerous.  People can get hurt when news is sensationalized in order to improve ones SEO.

In the age of the internet, we have become so bombarded with information that sorting it out is a full time job.  While I can see the value of tweeting (in a very limited venue), it is something I don't personally wish to do.  Nor do I have a fancy phone, and rarely even turn on my ancient little flip phone (yes - there are still some around.)  That doesn't mean that at some time in the future I may turn to these technologies, but for now I'm content with my desk top computer.  It feeds me more than enough cr*p to keep me in a state of flight-or-fight all dang day.

LarryD, at Acts of the Apostasy, reminds us all of what's really important in his insightful and beautifully written article I Have Seen the Future, and It Looks Just Like the Past.

He also garners the coveted Quote of the Day award:

These are heady times for us because, well, these are the times in which we live. We're living the history of our great-grandchildren, and the sense that it's crumbling beneath our feet is very real. I don't need to give a litany of the myriad of problems and challenges before us - as individuals, as communities, as a nation, as a world. It seems that the entire Earth is on fire, and the hydrants are gushing gasoline. Our job, though, as followers of Christ is not so much to put out the flames, as it is to rescue the trapped and console the victims.  read entire article

 Allow me offer abject apologies (which are the very deepest and heartfelt of all the apologies) for referring to Doug Ross as Doug Powers in yesterday's article (thanks anon for the heads up.)  That's what happens when you blog when tired.  I hope he will forgive me. 

It's time to wake up...

 and take a stand.


If the events of the past week are not enough of a wake up call to the citizens of this country of how far we have slid down the dark tunnel of socialism communism, then we are lost.

We have a president who decides to not enforce a law because he "doesn't think it's constitutional" while ignoring the courts decision on ObamaCare.  While he has the right to think whatever he wishes about some law or another being 'unconstitutional", he doesn't have the right to ignore it.

 While Idaho continues down the route of nullification of ObamaCare , a total of 26 states is suing the feds, calling the bill unconstitutional.  To repeat what I've said before; if you strip the states of their rights because of massive power grabs by the feds, we live in Amerika - not the United States of America.

The affairs that rightly belong to the states have been co-opted by the feds and the time for it to stop is now, not some vague future date.

The shame of this ObamaCare debacle is that real and meaningful change in the health care industry is shoved into the background while the feds continue to do not what the people want, but what will give them the most power.  Untold billions of dollars are being flushed down a rat hole while the will of the people is ignored by those who still have time to celebrate Motown.

Excellent article by Doug Powers ROSS (Argh!  that's what happens when you blog when tired!!  Sorry, Doug!) with some easy to understand history of governments - and we thank him!  That man's been on fire lately.

The Fork in the Road

[...]Today our federal government's most powerful branch is one never conceived by the Framers: the unelected fourth branch of government -- the enormous federal bureaucracy -- that acts at the president's behest. It defies a federal judge in Florida who has voided Obamacare. It ignores a federal judge in Louisiana who has held the Interior Department in Contempt of Court for failing to lift an unconscionable drilling moratorium. And it now decides which laws it will enforce and which it will not, the "Defense of Marriage Act" being only the most recent example. do yourself a favor and read the entire article

Governor Walker has displayed admirable restraint...

by not throwing the protesters trashing the state capitol in jail.



From the Mpls Star-Trib:

Protesters will have to clear out of the state Capitol by the end of the weekend so custodians can clean the building after days of nonstop demonstrations, officials announced Friday.  read it all

The most interesting thing was reading all 101 comments (as of 5:45 pm Pacific time) and finding that approximately 90 of them not in favor of the unions or the people being allowed to sleep in the capitol.  In the Twin Cities?  Amazing!

Keeping it classy in Wisconsin:

Hey Wisconsin. Help me out here...

are those actually members of the house dressed in union t-shirts and colors?  Wouldn't that be highly inappropriate?   And if they're citizens, why are they on the floor of the Wisconsin house causing a ruckus?  Inquiring minds want to know...

Wow! Communists and Socialists Rallying for the teachers in Madison...

 says it all...

Communists, socialists rallying support behind Madison protests

Communist and socialist groups — including the Maoist Revolutionary Communist Party, the Communist Party USA, Trotskyist Socialist Workers Party and the Democratic Socialists of America— are voicing their support for the public-sector unions protesting Wisconsin Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s plans to curtail their collective bargaining abilities. read the rest

 

The World is Melting Down...

Obama "dances"

Doug Ross pares it down to the bare bones...

and we thank him.

Doug manages to put into words what we are all feeling about the unions in this country run amok.

In the blue corner: public sector unions...bought and paid for Democratic hacks...and legacy media,  In the red corner: the American taxpayer.

The future queen Kate Middleton and the first woman...

couldn't be any more different.

Future Queen

First Woman

Future King and Queen

First Woman

Kate rocks some boots

First Woman with yellow legs

Lovely

Not so lovely

We're buried...

in snow. 

This is what happens when you brag tell your Minnesota friends your tulips are already coming up.  High winds have drifted our private road closed and the wind is not expected to quiet down until tomorrow.  

Until the excavating company comes tomorrow to clear the road, we'll be relying on a nice fire in the wood stove, chicken tostadas for dinner (made with homemade corn tortillas), and hot chocolate for break time. 

On the upside the temps will hit close to 50 degrees by Tuesday.  

Life is good! 

How many times does the illegality of public sector unions have to be explained to the loony left...

before they "get it?"

I've explained it, as well as many, many others.  The union thugs just keep spewing their nonsense while the taxpayer takes it in the chops.

T.L. Davis trys once again to explain it in words a mental midget should be able to understand.

"Here's the difference between private sector unions and public sector unions, since that seems to be an intellectual stumbling block for most defenders of the debacle in Wisconsin" read the rest

Governor Walker sums it up nicely.  Bottom line?  It's not about the children.




Comment from the Youtube site: 

These public-sector pitchforks aren't aimed at the governor, folks. They're coming for you! If you're in the private sector and you pay taxes, they want more of what you have. It just looks like they're going after the governor but that's because he's the only thing standing in the way between you and the pitchforks. These are people who aren't used to hearing the word "No". Just look at their retirement plans and health coverage. Chances are, it's better than what you're getting..

 Says it all...

Obama calls the cold-blooded killing of people in Libya "unacceptable"...

That will be 5 minutes on the naughty step, Libya

"Unacceptable" is one of the favorite words of Super Nanny when reprimanding two year old miscreants.  I think most of us could think of a better word - don't you?

Not to worry, though.  After delivering his "scathing" indictment of the goings on in Libya, Obama and the first woman will enjoy a rip-roaring salute to Motown tonight put on by mostly white performers.  Exactly what does Sheryl Crow know about Motown music?  Hope the first woman is sufficiently rested up from her Colorado ski-trip (which cost the taxpayers untold millions of dollars)  to enjoy the festivities.
 
Motus has the real low-down on Motown, directly from Dewy in Detroit - and we thank them.



More:

Business Insider:  Obama Gives Weak Speech On Libya, And Doesn't Even Mention Qaddafi

Jammie Wearing Fool:   After Devoting Five Minutes to Libya Crisis, Obama to Host Yet Another Concert Tonight

Reaganite Republican:   Nervous Dictators from Riyadh to Havana Rushing Out Populist Concessions while Quietly Preparing for the Worst...

Remind me not to drink while drinking...

it could land me in jail.

SPOKANE COUNTY, Wash.— A summons request was delivered to the Spokane County Prosecutor’s Officer Tuesday requesting a former Spokane newscaster be charged with Drinking while Under the Influence of Alcohol.  emphasis mine/source

Wisconsin teachers just "scraping by" on poverty wages?"

I don't think so.

From the Daily Caller:   Send us the names of Wisconsin teachers complaining about Walker to the press, and we’ll tell you their salaries

More salaries in this article:   Wisconsin’s teachers make a little more money than they’re letting on

 

Not to mention:   Potential Pricetag for Wisconsin’s Protesting Teachers: $9 Million  That would be $9 million of taxpayer money.

 

And in Libya people are being slaughtered in the street while Obama remains silent.  Perhaps he's busy catching up with the first woman after her return from the expensive ski trip. Allow me remind you that while the White House reports that the first woman paid for her "personal" expenses, we the tax payers paid for her plane trip and the accompanying plane with all the cars and whatnot.  Cost?  Several hundred thousand.  Glad they've got "some skin in the game."  When was your last vacation?

Eleven Year Old Arrested...

for being an eleven year old?


Everyone seems to be all up-in-arms (ooops - is that too violent of an image?) about this eleven year old kid being arrested for drawing threatening stick figures advocating the killing of teachers.

"The picture, however, was the product of instructions from the boy’s therapist, who told him to draw instead of act out in class when his attention deficit disorder flares up."

 Before going further, allow me to say that I have ADD, and spent several years teaching 4th grade in a private boy's school.  ADD (my preferred designation over ADHD) is a real biological condition.  ADD's location in the brain can be seen in imaging studies, and the neurochemistry of ADD can be described.


Without going into great detail on the medical aspects, one thing is quite apparent to those who study people with ADD; we lean heavily toward the visual learning side of the equation.  Very heavily.  There were several boys in my classrooms, who in my opinion, had ADD.  They were all exceptionally bright and were very good artists.  One of my tactics to help them focus was to allow them to doodle while I was teaching - something the administration of the school did not like one single little bit.  One of the boys loved to draw battleships with big booming cannons.  I never viewed this as a threat, but only as something boys do. 

When tested the following day, the doodling boys would ace the test on the subject being taught.  The doodling (visual) helped them to focus on what was being said (verbal), because in most cases, words are a waterfall of sounds washing over us ADD'ers that flow into some distant lake with no boat, let alone paddles for the boat.

I don't think any of us can comment on this story without having all the details, although it appears that to arrest him for drawing a "threatening" stick figure drawing is a bit over-the-top.  Particularly in our current culture where violent imagery is everywhere - not just in the halls of the state capitol of Wisconsin (couldn't resist that.)

We also don't know if this boy was on medication, a "solution" that in most cases, in my opinion, is highly inappropriate.  People with ADD have a different way of learning, and it is much more profitable to "teach to their strengths", of which they have many.

I might add that the student perpetrators of every school shooting was on medication of some sort - usually some form of anti-depressant.  We indeed live in a strange world where we line our children up en masse and force dangerous chemicals into their bodies as a way to cover for teaching deficiencies.

Oh yes - find me at a lecture and you'll find me doodling...

The Wisconsin War...

could well decide the fate of this country.

Allow me to repeat what I said a few days ago:

A public sector union is inherently immoral.  Strong words?  Not at all.  When your wages are negotiated with an elected official that your union dues helped elect, and that elected official is not required to show a profit - hell, they don't even have to break even,  in order to tax producers to fund your own lifestyle, and the producers don't have any say so about  the aforementioned wages, not to mention the cushy benefits and hot-dang pension - it is called stealing.  Simple as that!

And a chart:

For all my loony lefty trolls: How public sector unions operate simplified...

 

A H/T and a big thank you to Blue, my adopted "brother", for the heads up on this well written article by Sultan Knish. 

The Taxpayer's Civil War

The protests in Wisconsin represent a split in American politics. Not a split between Republicans and Democrats, but between those who believe that the government should continue expanding, and those who see the continued expansion of governments as the greatest threat to their political and economic freedoms. This is not just a debate over budgets, it is a battle over political power, and it is the country's most fundamental split since the Civil War.  read the rest

Nullification, Nullification, Nullification...

say it three times real fast with your eyes closed, click your heels together, and it may work.

Tom Woods answers all the objections to nullification as a viable resource.  I bought his book and haven't had a chance to crack it yet, but this is a good start. 

Nail Meet Hammer:

From Mind Numbed Robot:

Some Dare Call It Treason

Some would like us to entertain the idea that Barack Hussein Obama is an idiot. ‘He is just inexperienced.’ ‘Give him a chance, he’ll get it right eventually,’ they might say. Or some would say there is a puppet-master lurking in an anteroom of the White House, feeding the teleprompter.

Some would say such things, and they might be right in most cases. But the larger truth is, there can be no doubt of Barack Hussein Obama’s motives. He despises America and everything it stands for. His actions reveal his plan even though his words leave you with whatever impression you want to take away from his convoluted double speak. read the rest

More Nails and Hammers:

From Woman Honor Thyself:    No “Multi Culturalism” for Jews?

Comment registration open at Michelle Malkin...

I'm in.

Happy Presidents’ Day: Comment registration is open

scroll to top when you get there...

For Presidents Day: Lincoln the Railsplitter by Norman Rockwell

On the eve of President’s Day, it’s worth remembering that one of the most famous paintings of Abraham Lincoln, by one of America’s most famous 20th century artists, Norman Rockwell, began as … a Spokane bank advertisement?

Actually, it began as a $4,000 commission for the lobby of a Spokane bank. Only later would it show up on letterheads, logos and a handy jar opener. read the rest

It's still Sunday...

so I have little desire to post anything about those crazy teachers up in Wisconsin, even though the very thought of how they're acting, and the demands being made leaves me in such a state of rage I can hardly breath.

No siree - never mind that a public sector union is inherently immoral.  Strong words?  Not at all.  When your wages are negotiated with an elected official that your union dues helped elect, and that elected official is not required to show a profit - hell, they don't even have to break even,  in order to tax producers to fund your own lifestyle, and the producers don't have any say so about  the aforementioned wages, not to mention the cushy benefits and hot-dang pension - it is called stealing.  Simple as that!

Ok - moving on now.

With special thanks to Reaganite Republican for providing us with our Sunday Funnies (and for making little old me his featured blog.)  Let me be the first to say my devotion to RR does not stem from the fact that he is a handsome hunk, but rather from his fine and talented blogging, although the handsome part doesn't hurt.

Reaganite's Sunday Funnies 

And our always delightful Bunni has graced us with a fun and informative weekend post 

I'm gratified to know that the First Woman and her daughters are enjoying a long ski weekend in Colorado.   I guess when Obama said we all have to have some "skin in the game", he was referring to anything she may scrap off her rear patoot while on the slopes. 

Sunday Dinner

Hubby has a hankering for an old fashioned hot roast beef sandwich.  This used to be pretty standard fare at the dime store lunch counters when I was a girl.  They used to put the gluey mashed potatoes on the plate with an ice cream scoop and gallons of gravy would be poured on the whole mess to hide the mystery meat.

I have a small roast slow cooking in the oven for after church.  Hubby will have to put up with real mashed potatoes but I'll use an ice cream scoop if he insists.

Some Sunday thoughts...

It is not by privileges, special graces, or mystical experiences
that souls are perfected in love;
it is by a total adhesion to my Will,
and by a real death to all that is not my Will.


This life of yours will pass quickly.
In the end, you will take comfort in one thing only:
in the "Yes" that you will have said to my Love for you,
and in your adhesion to my Will as it will have unfolded
minute by minute, hour by hour, and day by day in your life.

Tell me, then, that what I will, you will.
Tell me that all that is outside of my will for you is so much rubbish.
Ask me to cleanse your life of the accumulated rubbish of so many years.
Ask me to make you clean of heart and poor in spirit.
Seek nothing apart from what my Heart desires you to have.
Ask only for what my Heart desires to give you.
Therein lies your peace.
Therein lies your joy.
Therein lies salvation and glory.

Your plans, your desires, and your anxieties
are but puffs of smoke blown away by the wind.
Only what I will endures.
Only what I will gives you happiness.
Seek then what I will, and trust me to give you what you seek.

Souls who chase after rainbows
pass by the treasures that I have laid beneath their feet,
leaving them behind to pursue a future that is not,
and that will not come to be.

This is an exhausting exercise for you
and for so many souls like you,
who, enchanted by an ideal,
fail to see my work, and the splendour of my Will for them,
revealed in the present.

Live, then, in the present moment.
Choose to be faithful to me
in the little things that I give you
and ask of you from minute to minute,
from hour to hour, and from day to day.
It is foolish to pin your hopes and to spend your energy
on an imaginary good,
when the real good that I offer you is here and now.

It is not forbidden you to dream dreams
or to imagine a future that you think will make you happy
-- I give you your imagination and I am not offended when you use it.
The imagined good becomes an evil, however,
when it saps you of your energy;
drains you of the vitality
that I would have you offer me in sacrifice
by being faithful to the reality that is here and now;
and when you use your imagination
to flee from obedience and submission to me
in the circumstances
and in the places where I have placed you at this time.

Plan for the future by living in the present.
Open your heart to my voice each day,
and cling to the smallest manifestations of my Will.
Renounce all that springs from your own desires and imaginings,
and say "Yes" to all that springs from my most loving and merciful Heart.
Therein lies your peace, your joy, and your salvation.

From In Sinu Iesu, The Journal of A Priest

H/T and many thanks to Father Mark of Vultus Christi

Facing Facts About Islam...

is a wise thing to do.


Zilla of the Resistance puts a point on it with:

"Conservative" Dhimmitude

The greatest threat to the safety and well being of the United States and the entire free world are islamic supremacists who wish to establish dominion over the entire world by any means necessary. Leftists have gotten into bed with them because they admire the totalitarian nature of islam, despite the fact that the useful idiot enablers of islamic supremacism are the same people who claim to care about women's and gay people's rights (women are treated horribly under sharia law and homosexuality is a crime punishable by death in islam). Conservatism is opposed to totalitarian tyranny, and yet it has been thoroughly infiltrated by stealth jihadis and islamist apologists. read the rest

For all my loony lefty trolls: How public sector unions operate simplified...

and why they need to go away.

I'm going to use the Post Office as an example, since I am most intimately acquainted with its workings.  Our company, before the blessed advent of the internet (thank you Al Gore), was predominantly mail order, which involved almost daily trips to the post office.  After close to 30 years of dealing with the ineptness of the average postal employee, a deep and abiding hatred distaste for public sector unions developed in our household. 

Today, the average postal employee manning the front desk is paid approximately $25.00 per hour.  They receive top notch health benefits that include paying for such things as stomach stapling, and subsequent body lift surgery to remove excess skin. After a number of years, their vacation time is up in the six to eight week range, and they retire with healthy pensions and health plans.

Who pays for this?  The taxpayer.

And what do you get in return?  Overpriced and bad service. 

Here's how it works:

The Federal government takes a bunch of money away from you

They redistribute it to a bunch of postal employees who are almost impossible to fire no matter how lax and ugly a work ethic they possess

 

The postal employee pays a bunch of money to a union to "protect" their interests

The heads of unions, after skimming off an obscene amount for themselves, in turn hand it out to mostly democratic politicians who promise to leave them alone.

Lather, rinse, and repeat...

Which brings me to our quote of the day from Melissa at The Lonely Conservative when writing about the possibility of a government shutdown:

What I want to know is – how will we be able to tell? I had the pleasure of going to both the Post Office and the Social Security Administration yesterday, and, judging by the speed at which the government workers functioned, I thought the shutdown already happened!

More on Unions:

Teresamerica:   Pittsburgh Union Thuggery: If You Thought Chicago Was Bad...
RWN:    Getting Rich Off the Taxpayers: School Administrators Double Dipping Pensions
John Fund WSJ:   What's at Stake in Wisconsin's Budget Battle
The Economic Collapse:   Are The Wild Teacher Protests In Wisconsin A Prelude To The Economic Riots That Are Coming To America?
Professor Bainbridge:    The case against public sector unionism
Always on Watch:    Insurrection In America's Midwest?
and
Doug Ross:  Brief Illustrated History of Public Unions that, Together With the Democratic Party, are Waging War on the Taxpayer

Doug's title sort of says it all - and we thank him!

"I Stand with Scott Walker Rally" planned for Madison tomorrow...

and I'm not convinced it's a good idea.

While I stand in support of the anti-public union folks of Wisconsin, I'm not sure that people from outside the state should be showing up to have their own rally.  The Obama organization has bussed in thousands of union thugs who's sole goal will be to cause trouble.

I understand the importance of winning this battle against public union members continuing their rape of this country, but I fear for the safety of all involved.

Your thoughts?

Facebook:  I Stand with Scott Walker

State of Washington taxpayers paying bail for welfare cheats...

taxation without representation??

Loophole exploits EBTs as a 'get out of jail' card 

SPOKANE -- A KREM 2 Investigation has found that tax payer dollars can be used to bail out of jail.  It is a loophole in the state of Washington's welfare program.
The EBT Quest card replaced the food stamp program.  It is a state funded debit card.  State welfare dollars can be used to bail out of jail and it is perfectly legal. read the rest

 

Join Matthew Archbold's Wonderful and Compassionate Group...

save people from "death by oriental noodle." 

From the the CMR Institute for Advanced Suicidal Studies:

   

The Euthanoodle

GoProud and CPAC getting a divorce?

It appears so...

I read this last night at American Power:

CPAC Boots GOProud

Specifically, new ACU President Al Cardenas has announced that CPAC will screen sponsoring groups for next year's event.

And now Hot Air is reporting on this development:

GOProud out of CPAC 2012?

After two years of participation and controversy, new management at the American Conservative Union have decided to start “vetting” organizations for participation at CPAC — and that means that GOProud, in all likelihood, won’t be admitted as a participating organization in 2012. 

After vowing to myself I would not post on the CPAC/GoProud kerfuffle back before the conference was held, when Chris Barron - head of GoProud, made some very nasty comments directed toward "social" conservatives, I broke my vow.

Many conservatives were supporting the idea of parking "social" issues at the doors of CPAC, as though fiscal issues and social issues were entirely separate entities.  I wrote an article that I worried would garner heaps of abuse.  Instead it was crickets chirping.  Conservatives need to understand that the schizophrenic concept of "social" conservative vs "fiscal" conservative will sink the entire movement. 

My original article:

CPAC and GoProud...

or don't be surprised if you invite a snake into your tent and it bites you.  read the rest

And allow me to repeat:


From Mark of Ordered Liberty

"Conservatives need to stand for conservative principles, not for political victories that result in the destruction of those principles."

Idaho moving forward with education reform...

teachers not happy.  Tough.

Idaho Senate panel passes heavily-opposed education reform measures

BOISE – A controversial plan to raise school class sizes in Idaho while boosting technology and teacher merit pay cleared a Senate committee late Thursday, after two weeks of intense hearings that saw strong public opposition to the move.

The key piece of the package squeaked through the Senate Education Committee on a 5-4 vote. That measure, SB 1113, contains the most-disputed pieces: The increases in class sizes in grades 4-12, online high school course requirements, and laptop computers for students. read it all

I don't know anyone who "heavily opposes this reform. Not one person...

Meantime: 

Nampa police: Tom Luna threatened, vehicle vandalized

NAMPA — Idaho Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna's vehicle was vandalized overnight at his Nampa home and he and his family have received threats, he told police. read the rest

 Think on this, folks.  If this is how so-called educated teachers behave (just check out their behavior in Wisconsin), imagine what would happen in this country if the government tried to cut welfare.  Ugly.

And how about the economic impact of teachers "calling in sick" and closing whole school districts.  How many citizens were unable to go to their jobs because their kids weren't in school? 

T.L. Davis said it beautifully back in December...

and we thank him.

Wisconsin Blues 

What is the first sign of catastrophic fail? Where is the moment of epiphany? At what point does the general public look up from the television, the sports page, the sly motel rendezvous and realize that they are the targets of a government gone berserk?  read the rest

 

 

Tennesee jumping on the turnip truck with Wisconsin...

and I don't think either will be falling off.

From: Knoxnews:
  
Bill OK'd to end collective bargaining with schools

NASHVILLE — The Senate Education Committee voted along party lines Wednesday to abolish collective bargaining between teachers unions and school boards across the state.
The vote was 6-3, with all Republicans on the panel voting for the bill and all Democrats against.
Sponsor Sen. Jack Johnson said passage of the bill — SB113 — will remove 'an albatross from around the neck of our school boards across the state' and remove a roadblock to education reform. read the rest

H/T Instapundit

Do people actually allow their children in a classroom with these people?

Good grief!

From Doug Ross:  Top 15 Photos the Wisconsin Hate Rallies You'll Never See in the Legacy Media

This is going to get much worse and trust me, said the spider to the fly, Obama is loving every minute of it.  This is what he lives for,  Chaos! 

Green Bay Press/Gazette:  Nine arrested in third day of Wisconsin labor protests

Let's start the weekend early...

with some real fun!

Thanks to my buddy Mighty Mom for sending these links to me...

Meet Sarah "Paddy" Jones - 75 year old salsa dancer.

Wisconsin Democrats Call CNN with list of demands...

 please tell me this is a joke.

 AWOL Wisconsin Democrat calls CNN with list of demands

State Senator Mark Miller, a member of the missing band of Wisconsin Democratic lawmakers who fled Madison Thursday to avoid a vote on a budget bill, called into CNN with the group’s list of demands for Republican Gov. Scott Walker. read the rest

What - so they want tuna sandwiches sent in before they release the other senators?  This is hilarious.  Really.

However, Senator Miller has given us our quote of the day - and we thank him.

“The economy’s recovering and the governor is completely ignoring the fact that we have a… recovery going,” Miller said. “The only thing that hasn’t recovered has been the rate of unemployment.”

That statement deserves a big, huh?

 

Proving you can take the boy out of the lawyer, but you can't take the lawyer out of the boy...

or something.

My favorite attorney and blogger buddy Mark over at Ordered Liberty, is going all lawyerly and professorial over Idaho's move to nullify Obamacare.  His teeth are grating (ok - maybe that's a bit over the top) over this post:

Idaho's State House tells Obama to pound sand...

While I'm well aware that this move by Idaho will probably be ruled unconstitutional, it still begs the question of what rights do states have when the feds overstep their bounds as I clearly believe they have with Obamacare (one of many things they have done I consider unconstitutional.)

I'm holding to the idea of throwing stuff against the wall until something sticks.  So far the Obama administration is ignoring the legal decisions already handed down by the courts that the individual mandate is unconstitutional.  The feds continue on their merry way hiring IRS agents to enforce what the courts are calling unconstitutional.  Why?  I think because the pay-off has been made to members of the Supreme Court to decide in their favor and they don't want to waste one second of time furthering the destruction of this county.

So.............head over to Ordered liberty and read what Mark has to say (including nice things about moi.)  It's really very good.

Idaho takes first step to nullify ObamaCare -- now it is time to rally 'round the Union

 

To: Political Junkie Mom   We have mountains, skiing, lakes, and a long summer.  We'll keep the light on for you...

Obama sides with unions... w/ Update

why am I not surprised?

Let's put this in perspective.  Are the teachers being asked to take a 50% cut in pay?  Pay 100% of their health insurance costs?  Why no.  They're being asked to to cover half of their pension contributions and 13 percent of their own health insurance costs.  That's it. 

Obama Sides With State Government Unions Against Cuts

To repeat:  Fire them.  Immediately.  

Update:

From Gateway Pundit:

Shocker… Obama Administration Is Behind Chaos in Wisconsin – Students Used as Props

this is outrageous!!!  

Democrats flee Wisconsin...

Excuse me but weren't they hired and collecting a paycheck to do a job? It seems the police have been sent to round them up. 

AP: Senator: Missing Wis. lawmakers left the state

Check out the pictures on Althouse showing the condition these "educated" teachers left the Capital building in Wisconsin.


Allow me to repeat this:  Fire them.  Immediately.

Great roundup of links at Pundette - and we thank her! 


Did I mention those teachers should be fired? 

Wisconsin: Reason Number 4,085 to Homeschool

These are the faces of the people teaching your children...



There have been reports that teachers actually dragged students to some of these protests. Is that even legal without the parents consent?

I have long advocated for the privatization of schools. Dump the Department of Education, the local school boards, over-paid administrators, principals who make more money than the average attorney or doctor, and let the cream rise to the top.  Quit stealing money from taxpayers to fund a failed system that turns out functional illiterates.

As for the teachers marching around in Wisconsin protesting?  Fire them.  Immediately.

From Doug Ross:

At the federal level, President Obama's budget calls for $77.4 billion to be allocated to the Department of Education, which represents a 22 percent increase from 2010, and a 35 percent increase from 2008.

Take a look at how the game works.  As always - Doug has some fine graphics - and we thank him!

Increasing funding for the Department of Education has nothing at all to do with education. It has to do with getting more Democrats elected -- using the taxpayers' money. read it all

More:

Patrick McIlheran at Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:  Unions want to overturn election result 
Hot Air:  Have teacher unions nuked the fridge?

Idaho's State House tells Obama to pound sand...

proud to live in a red state.

 

 Idaho House votes to defy health care reform

BOISE - Idaho’s state House passed legislation Wednesday attempting to nullify federal health care reform, ordering state employees not to do anything to carry it out - despite two state attorney general opinions warning the move was unconstitutional.
The bill, HB 117, passed on a 49-20 vote and now moves to the Senate, where its fate is uncertain. The opposition was bipartisan, and nearly an hour and a half of debate preceded the vote. read the rest

 

Play nice while I'm gone and use your indoor voices...

Haircut/Costco/Errand day.  While I'm gone take a few moments and read:

Dr. Sanity:  THE VIRTUE OF INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM  (reminding us that we are not a democracy)

Mark at Ordered Liberty:   Abraham Lincoln and the minimal state: Lincoln is the classical liberal...

The Camp of the Saints: 

Meet The Chaotics

The war we are engaged in to restore our freedoms and liberties is one of the toughest kinds of war to fight: our enemies are launching attacks on many fronts, on many different kinds of terrain, all at the same time.

Those who would see America perish are attacking our morals, traditions, laws, families, sacred and secular institutions – the list seems endless. Not a single area of our lives is not, at this moment, undergoing the onslaught of the forces of the Left and of Islam. read the rest

Building on the theme presented by The Camp of the Saints we have John Carey with:  Pushing Back: What the Right is Up Against 
  
 Rush:  Tea party was under assault at CPAC.  Blasts gathering for drowning out social conservatives

I'm giving Rush a hearty Amen!

Doug Ross:  The Obama Budget Apocalypse  Excellent as usual - and we thank him!

$1.5 trillion tax hike in Obama's budget...

and he's just getting started IMO.

Tax hikes as reported by Americans for Tax Reform:

• Raising the top marginal income tax rate (at which a majority of small business profits face taxation) from 35% to 39.6%.  This is a $709 billion/10 year tax hike

• Raising the capital gains and dividends rate from 15% to 20%

• Raising the death tax rate from 35% to 45% and lowering the death tax exemption amount from $5 million ($10 million for couples) to $3.5 million.  This is a $98 billion/ten year tax hike

• Capping the value of itemized deductions at the 28% bracket rate.  This will effectively cut tax deductions for mortgage interest, charitable contributions, property taxes, state and local income or sales taxes, out-of-pocket medical expenses, and unreimbursed employee business expenses.  A new means-tested phaseout of itemized deductions limits them even more.  This is a $321 billion/ten year tax hike

• New bank taxes totaling $33 billion over ten years

• New international corporate tax hikes totaling $129 billion over ten years

• New life insurance company taxes totaling $14 billion over ten years

• Massive new taxes on energy, including LIFO repeal, Superfund, domestic energy manufacturing, and many others totaling $120 billion over ten years

• Increasing unemployment payroll taxes by $15 billion over ten years

• Taxing management capital gains in an investment partnership (“carried interest”) as ordinary income.  This is a tax hike of $15 billion over ten years

• A giveaway to the trial lawyers—not letting companies deduct the cost of punitive damages from a lawsuit settlement.  This is a tax hike of $300 million over ten years

• Increasing tax penalties, information reporting, and IRS information sharing.  This is a ten-year tax hike of $20 billion.