So, I was thinking about how many basketball and golf games the Louse-In-Chief will be able to indulge in while on his luxurious seventeen day Hawaiian vacation. He’ll have time to learn a second language, or at least the rudiments.
You could do a lot with seventeen days…
The Six Day War could be fought twice, with time left over for congratulatory dinners.
Read a book. Three books.
When I was very young, no more than 10, my mother gave me a little organ, or pianoforte. Really just plastic glued onto more plastic; a child’s toy. But I learned to play Silent Night by memory in 5 days, so… 3 songs?
Son of a bitch, I’m so sick of the constant picking apart of the candidates. This one has too much ‘baggage’, that one cares more for fiscal matters than social, the other one, well… he’s a damned train wreck. Don’t care what you think personally about the various contenders, looking for perfection in a man or woman is like searching for the perfect shell on the beach; there aren’t any. We all have flaws; they help shape who we are as human beings.
Hey, here’s an idea: instead of tearing our guys apart, how about we go after the monster occupying the White House for a change? Myself included.
Rant over. It was Dick Morris’ piece at The Hill probably set me off…
Evangelicals don’t like Romney because he is Mormon. Unfair, unjust, bigoted — but true. Tea Party types don’t like him because of RomneyCare in Massachusetts, a more legitimate beef. Both groups would probably prefer Gingrich to Romney, but neither is enamored with Newt. Evangelicals choke on his personal baggage and remember that, as Speaker, he tended to put fiscal and economic issues first. Southern Baptists — who make up half the evangelical vote — are not thrilled with a converted Roman Catholic from the South. Tea Party people see Newt as part of the Republican establishment. He’s not as bad as current Speaker John Boehner, in their view, but he’s not simpatico with the Tea Party, either.
In a two-way race, the Tea Party and evangelicals probably would go with Gingrich to stop Romney, but it’s too early to have to settle for a candidate they don’t really like. So there is clearly an opening for another candidate to make it a three-way race — at least in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.
I don’t believe there’s room, at this late date, for a third; but if that’s true, bring it on. Of all the candidates at this point I like Newt the best, but only because he’s more of a hardass who doesn’t shrink from speaking his mind. Whoever wins the primary should get my full support and will, even if it’s Romney.
Nekkid Daisy
I shaved her again; not that there’s all that much actual hair, but those long guard hairs gets tangled and nasty. She’s still Daisy, though.
And Bree is still Bree…
Growing Grandkids
As much as I love the grandkids I much preferred holidays when they were small and a ten dollar Wal-Mart toy brought delight and wonderment. As they grow their intellect and tastes naturally keep pace and we find ourselves purchasing high tech gadgets… at high tech prices. Even low tech things are absurdly expensive.
How do grandparents on a strict budget manage when everything on the list is expensive? Eat dog food that month?
Thank God we can afford to buy them what they want now, but I guess the fear is more for the not-so-distant future when they’ll be lucky to get a card. Children shouldn’t bear anyone’s worry, so this rant is over as well.
There and back in nothing flat.
Opened up my email yesterday morning to find an invitation to join my ex-husband’s network at LinkedIn. So I made up a little poem to express my feelings on the subject.
My hair is still blonde
My eyes are still blue
And I still want nothing
to do with you
He’s lucky it included no jibes at his personal attributes. But no animosity, I hope he has a nice life. The end.
BUT this vid at Jim’s made everything all better… as he says, there is hope… and to end on a high note, his is the last site I’m visiting on the net today.
China has the world’s second-largest naval service, after only the United States.
Rather than purchase warships across the board, it is developing niche capacities in sub-surface warfare and missile technology designed to hit moving targets at sea.
At some point, the U.S. Navy is likely to be denied unimpeded access to the waters off East Asia…
Many hundreds of millions in military cuts means that not only will our dainty bits be exposed but also that people lose their jobs. Not ordinary people, but those who have pledged to give their lives for their country. How does the obama administration reward such loyalty and bravery? They cut not with surgical precision, taking people’s lives into account. They slash and burn with extreme prejudice:
One of the best ways to destroy American military capabilities would be to convince career military personnel — both officers and enlisted — that their commitment to service will not be rewarded with the retirement benefits they have earned by their faithful obedience to orders, no matter the personal cost or risks they endure. The Obama administration seems to be ready to destroy the belief that service will be rewarded as faithfully as duty was performed, one step at a time.
The latest step in that direction is the announcement that 157 Air Force majors will be terminated prior to retirement, without the opportunity to complete the 20 full years of service necessary to qualify for retirement pay. Caroline May of the Daily Caller writes:
The Chapman University of Military Law and its associated AMVETS Legal Clinic are blowing the whistle on what they say is an injustice set to be perpetrated on 157 Air Force majors on the last day of November.
“The Obama administration has ordered massive reductions in forces, resulting in many officers who are near?retirement?being involuntarily separated without retirement or medical benefits,” explained institute director Maj. Kyndra Rotunda.
The Department of Defense specifies that service members within six years of retirement normally would be retained and allowed to retire on time with benefits,?unless extenuating circumstances exist such as disciplinary issues.
According to lawyers at Chapman and the AMVETS Legal Clinic, the Air Force has deviated from the six-year protection “without any legal authority.”
Baiting birds and awaiting their inevitable visit, while cloaked in the shadows, is among the various things I do to amuse myself. They’re much smarter than I, the grackles, mockingbirds and mourning doves, and I’m grateful when they tolerate my presence.
I love this mourning dove, her reflection, her downy breast. Click to embiggen.
Just a mockingbird.
Not a great photo, but I like it nonetheless. The morning light broke through, illuminating the the bird as she prepared to take flight.
I was reading some Robert Frost this morning and came across something that seemed perfect for this particular day on this particular strip of sand:
‘Neither Out Far Nor In Deep’
The people along the sand
All turn and look one way.
They turn their back on the land.
They look at the sea all day.
As long as it takes to pass
A ship keeps raising its hull;
The wetter ground like glass
Reflects a standing gull.
The land may vary more;
But wherever the truth may be—
The water comes ashore,
And the people look at the sea.
They cannot look out far.
They cannot look in deep.
But when was that ever a bar
To any watch they keep?
While cleaning this bed out I stumbled upon a vine. It’s clearly not poison ivy, but I’m trying to identify it.
Virginia Creeper? I’d hate to put my hands into anything noxious.
I found it! Balsam Apple vine. Discovered the other part of the vine further along was covered with yellow flowers.
“This invasive and virtually indestructible vines are all over peoples’ yards and fences here in Florida. Seed germination rate is extremely high. This small but highly bitter fruit is a very desirable vegetable to Asian Indians. There are two other but larger varieties (Momordica charantia), Chinese Bitter Melon which is not as bitter as the Indian Bitter Melon.”
It’s very invasive; the other half of the bed is eaten up with it… I’d take another picture but the wind’s blowing so hard the things are whipping around pretty good.
As regular readers know, I rarely listen to talk radio — the reception is lousy in the house and when I’m driving I like to listen to my cd’s. But I was monitoring traffic on the all-news station and something annoyed me so I started flipping around. I hit the Mark Levin show and was stopped in my tracks by a conversation between Levin and a caller who identified himself as a neurosurgeon. Now I need to confirm if this is real.
The caller said that he had recently gone to Washington to participate in a conference involving both the American Association of Neurosurgeons (AANS) and the Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS). I couldn’t take notes while driving, but the gist of the call was this: these surgeons were told, by a member of the Department of Health and Human Services that under the new health insurance legislation (aka Obamacare) government-insured people over the age of 70 who present with brain issues — stroke, hemorrhages, etc — would see no automatic surgical intervention, as they might now. Before any surgery could be begun, an “ethics” panel — made up not of doctors but of administrators and bureaucrats — would convene assess whether the person would be treated. “As a general course, though,” the caller said, “only ‘comfort care’ would be offered if you’re over 70.”
“So, generally speaking, it will be ‘comfort care only’ for patients over 70? That will be the rule, rather than the exception?” Asked a horrified-sounding Levin.
“Yes, but they’re not referred to as patients, or even subjects,” the caller corrected, “they’re called ‘units’. That’s what they called them.”
Read the entire article, complete with links to audio at The Anchoress.
My beloved husband is 5 years away from 70. His mother is in the hospital again with C-Diff and now I find myself wondering just how much help they are really giving her…
Sacred Heart of Jesus, wounded by our sins, have mercy on us.
I remember Tamitha Freemen. Harvey says: “She’s got beautiful puppies”.
"Lord, keep our servicemen and women safe, whether they serve at home or overseas. Hold them and their families in your loving hands and protect them as they protect us."
December 5, 2011
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