Another Media Marvel

Deported gang members are more violent than ever in their own countries and they learned all of their skills on how to use semi-automatic weapons here in the states. Yup. Thats what the CNSnews.com says. Go forth and read for yourselves.

Oh. I know. The entire premise is so false. When did we ever deport any violent gang member? We only go after the legal-at-the-time immigrant wife, married to a US citizen who has passed away. She has been here and gainfully employed for 35 years and upon her husband's death, and he was usually a proud member of our armed forces, we swoop in and put her on a plane back to the war-torn country from whence she fled.

But now, it seems, we are waiting for those violent gang members to hone their sem-automatic weapon skills and as soon as they attain the gold medal - - whoosh. Off they go to their country of origin where now they have some means of supporting themselves.

You know we have sidewalk stands where non-citizens with violent pasts are able to stock up on whatever weaponry they seek. Oh, and those skill providing camps exist in the basements of most churches...you know, the evangelical sort of church where rabid right wingers spout their nonsense about freedoms of all sorts.

Man. We live in a wonderful world don't we?

And to think that I wanted to start this day with a quiet Bible reading.

Separated at Birth

Just a stray thought here. Were Keith Olbermann and Al Gore separated at birth? Seems they might have been. At least the brain part that's connected to the shrieking hysteria part...that much I know is the same. Now if they could only connect the part in both of them that results in rational sane thinking and I guess that won't be happening any time soon.

Maintain Your Rep

Just read a headline where Pelosi states that Bush is a total failure. Man. What standards is she basing that on? She is not doing so well herself, is she? With all the bashing and insults and finger pointing and outrage spinning around, I had a thought. Yes. I did. Do you know that ad with the angry baseball manager? He runs onto the field and kicks dirt and gets into the face of the umpire. You know the one I mean? Well. It looks like they're having a rip roaring knock down drag out battle and they are just yelling things like, "you're looking really good. What're you doing differently?" The last phrase where the manager says to the ump, "you'd better throw me out. I have a reputation to maintain." That's the one that got me thinking.

After these boobs in Washington grab the microphone and scream about the other boobs. Do they leave the room quietly saying to the boobs they just screamed at, "Give my best to the missus."? Is all of this anger real, or do they just have a reputation to maintain.?

Just thinkin'

More Class Warfare.......

So after I wrote that last bit I go to the news and find, in the Wall Street Journal, that the Service Employees International Union, the SEIU is rampaging against all those capitalistic pigs known as private equity firms. They are pounding the drum to that familiar old tune, "they're rich and we're not. Take their money away. Give it to us. We'll be sure to distribute it properly. Lots for us and not so much for you but you'll be thrilled because it's money you didn't have to work for." You know that tune. Well let's see how that union treats their members. From the Wall Street Journal today:

"Public records based on the SEIU's own filings show that the SEIU National Industry Pension plan – which covers some 101,000 workers – was only 75% funded in 2006. Put another way, the plan had only three-fourths of the money it needs to meet its retirement obligations. And the national chapter is only the start. Some 13 local SEIU pension plans in 2006 were less than 80% funded; several didn't reach 65%.

Some of this might be the result of poor investment performance, but the main problem is that the SEIU hasn't negotiated adequate employer contributions to the plans. This is a common practice: Unions and management take credit for bargaining deals that promise generous retirement benefits, even as they ignore how they'll be funded.

On the other hand, SEIU leaders are highly attentive to their own pension funding. A separate fund run by the national union, this one covering the benefits of SEIU officers, was 103% funded in 2006. The top SEIU guns are set for their golden years."


What's that? A separate fund for the pensions of the very important union officials? One that actually has money in it? Why what a novel concept. It sounds like the situation we have in my country, the USA, for elected officials. Did you know their pension is 100% of their salaries? oh, yours isn't too bad. Did you know their medical insurance is never going to be socialized? oh yours will? too bad. Did you know they never have to pay for their insurance even after retirement? Oh you do? and more than you had to pay before you retired? too bad. Hmmmm...do they belong to a different class of people than we do?????



Chauffeur...this big important officer of the union/elected official needs to be carried to his car and then drive him across the street to that luxury restaurant where a glorious dinner awaits him. All those hungry people you have to walk through? Never mind them. They have plenty of food stamps and cardboard for their shacks. Push right through them.

Back to the Misery

Just read that our Congress in it's wisdom has passed a House rule that prohibits legislators from using the internet to keep constituents informed. All information must be disseminated from "official" websites. Man. Are we becoming more and more like 1950's Russia or what?

Then again. They use the same controlling mentality about everything. No Drilling. No New Technology unless of course it's the new we want. "Nuclear Power No!!! It only works in France! Let them ride bikes and use blankets. Call the chauffeur. I have to go two blocks to my office. Thank goodness all those peasant cars are off the streets....now we can move about the country. We are the important citizens after all."

The I just read in the New York Post that Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins are being overrun in their Greenwich Village neighborhood by demonstrators who want the construction of a new hospital to go forward. St Vincents would build 3 blocks from their residence. The hospital currently provides massive assistance to the indigent every year and this newer facility would expand their ability to help. The demonstrators were referred to by Robbins, according to the story, as "those people". Oh, and the wildly liberal and charitable couple were attending a meeting protesting the expansion. Oh. I'n sure they want to help those poor things. They just want to help them somewhere other than near their home. Chauffeur!

Now I get that class warfare thing! We have the class....they don't.

Words to Ponder

I'm reading In the Woods by Tana French. I just began and so far so good. I have just read an amazing paragraph that I must quote. "Why must I?" you may ask. "Because" I will answer. And because has to do it, I really can only say that it is one of those thoughts that you mull over for quite some time.

I don't often remember much about all the books I read. Sometimes I will come away with a general mood, you know, happy little story, very dark tale, that sort of thing. Other times just that it was a good read, held my interest, I actually finished it. There are some books, and I don't remember the titles or authors, where the author put a few words together that linger on. One that runs through my mind over and over is "He has just come through the most serious and painful surgery known to man. He had his eyes opened." How can you beat that? Right! You can't.

This thought is another that will stay in my mind. The book is about a fellow who is a homicide detective. This is how he describes their method of enticing a suspect or witness to provide them with information. Here goes:

"I knew what they did was cruel. Humans are feral and ruthless; this, this watching through cool intent eyes and delicately adjusting one factor or another till a man's fundamental instinct for self-preservation cracks, is savagery in its most pure, most polished and most highly evolved form."

I know a person like that, gender will remain unknown. He/She is not in law enforcement, just feral and ruthless. This person is not trained in the skill of manipulation, this person is a natural and no one ever sees how truly savage this person is. I had no words to describe him/her until now.

Summer Stuff

Played golf yesterday for the first time in about 2 years. I LOVE GOLF!!!! Seriously. I do. Today of course I am barely able to move but I don't care. I actually had a par of one of the holes and bogeys on two others. The rest is like horseshoes....close but they don't count.

Today I am on vacation. I am lunching with ladies and talking about fluffy things about which ladies speak. I am learning that the older I get, the less I can talk about. I understand why widows went into the nunnery and chose those orders which included a vow of silence. I am almost ready for that - except for the widow thing. Been there! Done that! Would rather delay a second run for quite some time. Better I go first.

Oh Bother!

Life is such a crazy ride isn’t it? People take off in so many different directions. Everyone has their bag of pain that they drag around some real and some imaginary. The pain in my life has been loss of family and I mean that in both the literal sense in that all of my immediate family has passed away in the last 8 years, and in the figurative sense in that most of the in-laws and offspring have worked themselves in a snit over something or other and have turned their backs. Now some of that back turning began quite some time ago and some of it has been manipulated by others in the past 2 years.

Do I own any of this? I’m not sure. I try to analyze things from others viewpoints. I use that “you have to understand” game on myself. I do understand to some extent. I have realized that understanding why someone behaves badly doesn’t ease the pain if you are the one they are behaving badly with. I have come to the conclusion that it is for the best if they behave badly at a distance. I am now experiencing the frustration of those who want very much to continue the behave badly game but because they have isolated the favorite target, they have no one to behave badly with except each other. Interesting. No?

Some of the bad behavior has gone way too far and now, since there are shared business concerns which must be dealt with jointly, a counselor has been summoned to ease everyone into a spot where communication, even if through others and with witnesses, can take place. The counselor has counseled and feels he has made “great progress” . He hasn’t said this out loud but the instinctive feeling I have is that I am being pressured to “let bygones be bygones and let’s hear it for - - “ Some of those counseled are showing a gentler kinder side and he feels that we should have a group hug. He hasn't said that in so many words but the tones and attitudes speak volumes. He thinks we should not just all get along but turn the clock back to the beginning of time and start over. You know what I mean?

How bright is this guy if he can’t see that they are tired of kicking the cat….they want me back…….the games can then begin...again.

I’m not going!!

Oldie but Goodie.. Frat Boys.... Rich and All

Got nuthin' and when that happens I go to Sitemeter and see what might bring people here. The term "spoiled, rich, frat boys" is evidently still being googled. Here is what I wrote back in February and as usual, when I read what I wrote, I am amazed that I actually wrote it. What's that about I wonder? Anywho.....here it is.....

I was just breezing through the various spots I always do in the am and in the NRO blogs someone was referring to the Duke mess and the phrase "spoiled, rich, frat boys" was used as it always has been and that has had me pondering, as I often do. Aren't those the words that used to be used to describe GWB?, at least back in the day when we had a "kinder gentler group of critics. The answer is, yes. Then as an amateur student of human behavior I pondered some more. This nasty persecution, sorry, prosecution of those boys is really a classic case of transference. The professors who signed that ridiculous letter condemning the boys are really GWB haters who couldn't get close enough to him to show their contempt on a personal level and here, right in front of them, are living breathing representatives of the qualities they began to hate GWB for. Those terms of hatred have since, in the case of GWB evolved into more "sophisticated and nuanced" areas. What are they now? Oh, yes - Halliburtonchimphitler or something equally intellectual and fact based.No wonder the whole Duke thing is so incomprehensible. It has as much basis in fact as the memes thrown around about everything Bush, Iraq, Cheney ya-da, ya-da, etc.Lucky someone in the press got a grip and turned to the facts when they were reporting the on-going train wreck at Duke. I wish the same would happen in the GWB area. Hope there are no other "spoiled, rich, frat boys" out there without body armor. The natives are lighting their torches and marching on the castle.

Fly Away

Here's what I am sick of ---- the word androgynous-- that's what! In most of the world and I am talking here of the animal world which most of the weirdos would insist we are part of..... there are two of each species..... male and female.... only in this NYT world of mush and such.. we are what we chose to be and often we are neither male nor female but somewhere in the zone of whatever.

Go create your own planet and while you are at it . . . . . fly off to it. Thank you very much......bye now!

That's a Great Idea! Let's Study It

There is a difference between posting directly to Blogger and doing this Word document which will be hashed and rehashed and finally copied and pasted when it’s ready. Somehow, I feel more creative when I am writing direct to the blog. This version makes me self-conscious. The direct route eliminates the “has to be perfect since you can take your time with it” agony. Direct is – wham – spell check – post it. What could be better?

Random thoughts:

Just listened to J. Vernon McGee as he is taking us on the Bible Bus through the Book of Job. He is saying that although Job is a truly righteous man, he is still a man and as such is a sinner. Job’s sin is the sin of pride. He is almost boasting in the proclamation of his righteousness. We know God felt that Job was righteous since that’s how the whole ordeal started. “Look at My servant Job.” And Satan did. There you go. But as the ordeal plays out, Satan was right but wrong. Job does fall victim to the sin of pride and as C.S. Lewis said, that’s the big one Elizabeth. Maybe he didn’t quite say that but you know what I mean. I have to say that J. Vernon always hits the nail on the head. I was always so puzzled about Job. Why, if he is such a righteous man, and he was, did he suffer so? That pride thing was hidden way underneath and had to come to the surface in order to be fixed. I’m not through with that lesson yet…the Bible Bus is still rolling on but thought I would expound on my latest epiphany. This Job thing makes so much more sense now.

As I often do, as I become mired in epiphany, I must search for more sides to the story. I was googling the Job issue and came upon an analysis by Robert Sutherland. The introduction to Mr. Sutherland is that, among other things he is a Senior Fellow at the Mortimer J. Adler Centre for the Study of Great Ideas. Does anyone else find that wildly amusing? Doesn’t it sound to you as if a group of 10 year olds got together and came up with that name? They tossed around a few before zeroing in on that “Study of Great Ideas” part don’t you think? I know these places are “think tanks” and are filled with gigantic brains and those brains think thoughts so wide and deep that I get the bends thinking about how deep they go. I go back to the name of that center and can’t help but think that Rocket J Squirrel is on the Board of Directors along with Mr. Peabody. I hope that I hear the “Great Idea” before I am told where it was studied. Then I might not be taken with the laughing fit and I will actually hear it.

Later

In Poor Taste

Coming up empty but these headlines caused me to think...there are more wildfires in California and they're heading to the Big Sur...what can be left to burn? From my vantage point here on the East Coast it seems that between the mudslides and the fires of the recent past there can't possibly be much left to burn. Just sayin'.

Save the Planet?

Just read on a blog that they were disabling their ice-maker because it uses so much energy and that is soooo green. Have to ask. How does using less energy in my house bring more energy to those third world countries that have none? (I guess my next question might be, shouldn’t we be trying to help those countries raise themselves up instead of rushing to join them in poverty and lack of comforts?) How does my lack of an icemaker help reduce the temperature of the planet? Will fewer ice cubes here increase the life of the planet by one breath? Isn’t God in charge of all of this? I read somewhere, oh yeah, the Bible that we are unable to add one minute to our lives. Is it different for the planet?

It just all fits in with the Communist Code or is it the Mother Earth Code or the Goricle's Code. Don’t try to work to get what your neighbor has, take it away from him and make him as miserable as you are…..now that’s fair and balanced.

I know, there are no Communists in existence and if there were they would be swell and self sacrificial and not at all like Stalin or Marx or Castro or Chavez or -- I forgot. They were/are all swell and remarkable if I am reading the papers correctly. Sorry don't read the papers anymore.

Developing Capitalists

Just read on a psych type blog that young people, regardless of the age, support socialism since it lends itself to the illusion that it is fairer. Well, when I was young, I never went for that nonsense. I think it was because life was never fair and no one in my living area ever said it was. Life was sport. Life was competitive. Living well meant that you had to play the game, show no weakness, be tough, in your face, well - - you get it. And I was the girl and I was the baby so imagine what the older boys were like!!! My Dad was a self employed, hard working, great provider for his family. He had room for everyone in his home and never said a word about his wife’s family ever. My uncles and aunts. . . my mother’s brothers and sisters came to our house for dinner, for weekends, for weeks and months at a time when they needed to. My oldest brother, who always had a hair across his you know where about my Dad, finally said, after my Dad died, that he always admired my Dad’s generosity. He realized how tough it must have been for a young family to take on more people and when quarters were not spacious to include other families. For us, the kids, it was no big deal to shove over and let anyone else in our rooms or beds or space. It just was the way it was. For the adults, it must have been kind of squeaky to have all those other people and only one bathroom. You are the only one working and all the others are home, eating the food you pay for and using all your stuff. Of course, back then, we didn’t have much stuff.

One of my many, many cousins was asked how many were in her family. “Oh I have one sister.” “That’s it?”, the questioner responded in amazement. “You always appear, to me, to have come from a large family.” My cousin then explained how all of us, from whatever age always piled in together, especially in the summer since we had a summer place right near, not on the ocean. “We put boards on the kitchen chairs to provide more seats. The table leaves were in and the table extended as far as it could go. Add water to the soup or the beans and open another can of something or other.” We always laugh about those summers. We agree that that is what made us neat travelers. Never unpack or you lose your stuff. We learned to keep our very few things in small areas and put away. If it could be seen it was up for grabs. That communism stuff is ok when it comes to family and friends who are going through hard times but honestly. Every one of my relatives who bunked in with us found jobs and got their own place and every one of us missed them when they left but honestly, when there’s only one bathroom? Give me a break! That turns out capitalist kids every. single. time.

More Chesterton

because I love him and find this statement to be so relevant....If he only knew what the Nanny Staters were doing to us.



Can we throw smoking into this, maybe seat belts and helmets and baby seats for 12 year olds and cell phone use and on and on and on...........

"The free man owns himself. He can damage himself with either eating or drinking; he can ruin himself with gambling. If he does he is certainly a damn fool, and he might possibly be a damned soul; but if he may not, he is not a free man any more than a dog." - Broadcast talk 6-11-35

GK Chesterton

My country, right or wrong," is a thing that no patriot would think of saying except in a desperate case. It is like saying, "My mother, drunk or sober."
G. K. ChestertonEnglish author & mystery novelist (1874 - 1936)


How right is he???

Ray of Hope

What a ray of hope to read that neither Mugabe nor Ahmadinejad were included in the UN Summit Dinner held in Italy. Equally hopeful is the number of demonstrators protesting the Iranian madness and the sanity that seems to have made a return to public discussion. It seems that men of substance are blaming Mugabe for the horrors in Zimbabwe. Well at least they are blaming him for the hunger there. Mugabe, as he has done in the past, blames Bush (why not) and Blair. This time the press actually printed the blame Mugabe story first and his dribblings as an after thought. Funny isn’t it? Perhaps that sanity has always been there and it just was not part of the press’s party line. Why quote men of character and good sense when there are tyrants and dictators to prop up. The press and our vocal politicians have never met a socialist/communist they didn’t love. Push the agenda until perhaps you can read in the winds that the people, that great unwashed mass out there in the hinterland, yes those typical tax payers, gun lovers, bible toters, those people of all shapes, sizes and colors, those people are just not buying it. Ever one to be on the winning side those people of the press are perhaps realizing they had better throw us a crumb and appear to be real reporters without bias. Riiiight! I’m liking that ray of light whatever the reason it is being given the opportunity to shine.

Snake Pit

I have been in a terrible slump. The news and keeping away from it is so hard. The constant drumbeat of "gloom, doom, doom, and we are the problem" is driving me nuts. In addition to that I have been facing huge chunks of disappointments in real life. People are not who they seem to be. I trust too much. I am an idiot! There are so many knives in my back that I look like a porcupine. Some of those knives went in so easily I barely felt them and they had to be pointed out to me. Some day this will all be a book.

Behind the door of my home, when I'm there, all is well. My husband and dog are there for me. I have a few close and wonderful friends. I am lucky they are there. I must concentrate on the good and leave the snakes to feed on themselves. They will you know. They only have each other and they know they're snakes. I will pray for them.

Pre-Show Publicity

Yesterday I had this thought on that silly squirrel of a man who used to be the President’s press secretary. You know. What’s his name? The man who was invisible after he left the position. You know. The man who was beaten like a redheaded stepchild every time he opened his mouth. You know. The man, or should I say, silly boy dressed like a man, who is the darling of the press today because he is doing Finally! What they wanted him to do for all the time he was at the podium.

As far as I am concerned his book is nothing but a way to donate millions of dollars in advertising and propaganda to the DNC and avoid all those silly rules the rest of us have to follow. The publisher gives this guy who knows how much money and he spews forth all of the pent up garbage he has squashed since he was called fatso in the 3rd grade. He is wined and dined and on the news and seen as a “whistleblower” although it is long after the fact. He will be and has been on every news show morning noon and night. If he isn’t on personally someone will read some skanky tidbit of nothing but his insecure and poor me rantings that have no factual back up. Everyone will ooooh and aaaah about “Bush Lied” as if that hasn’t been disproved time and time again. The people who want to believe that still do. The people with an independent mind have done the research and know the truth. The release of this garbage is timed to carry the drumbeat through July and bring the convention into the world as the place where the Messiah will be announced. Like Kerry not many years ago, he will march to the podium, light will shine down upon his head and the world will breathe a sigh of relief that we will finally be free. Free at Last!!!

Oh Bother. What a load. Yawn. Get a new director. That show folded real fast the last time it came around.

Aches and Pains

Hit a bucket of golf balls yesterday. Last season my husband had a high ankle sprain that was delayed healing by his continuous stepping off curbs incorrectly and falling while carrying heavy loads of laundry and basically not wearing that huge boot that he was ordered to wear ALL the time. Couldn't golf without him as he would feel very bad so we both sat out the season. Now! He has been healed for the whole winter and we are ready. We went to the driving range with a buy one get one free coupon. I, as one would, went for the biggest bucket to get the most bang for our buck. Fortunately my husband was the voice of reason and talked me down to the medium size. I can't imagine how much pain I would be in now if I hadn't listened to him. We shared the coupon so we got two medium buckets for the price of one. We are so frugal. By the time we were almost to the bottom, the groans and moans from both of us as we bent down to pick up a ball and then bent down to tee it up. That was before the true muscle pain set in. Should have gone for the small bucket. Motrin!!! You should have been there last night.

Now I have to meet my friends for a 3 mile walk. In my case it might be called a shuffle. At least the sun is out, the sky is bright blue and all the dogwood trees are blooming. I will be the creaking groaning woman sneezing as I try to keep up with the others. Later.