Happy New Year!

I, for one, can't believe we are on the eve of a new year already.

Here is a funny little year in review from JibJab:

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Anyone have any good plans for ringing in the new year? We really don't either. We are supposed to go to a friend's house tonight but, truth be told, I just can't seem to get myself excited about it. Maybe I just need to get moving and get the blood flowing. Maybe do some shopping later, and I'm sure a few shots at the party will do wonders too. lol
In any case, I hope everyone has a very safe, happy, and prosperous new year.

Part of the Problem

Don't ask me how C-SPAN 2 ended up on our TV but we've been listening to Greg Simon spew to students from American University for about half an hour now. And what exactly is he talking about? The merits of raising gas prices to $4 an gallon again to subsidize other things.
And why? Well one of his reasons is because the government knows how to spend our money better than we do. When it came up that people wouldn't be happy about the government raising the price he said it isn't about the individual but about the common good. OK what ever.
Then when discussing the cons someone brought up high food prices and he said that people would just have to buy local and eat what is grown locally and in season. OK so how about the people that live in the North where fruits and veggies don't grow in the winter?

Here is the video. It's really long but you can watch bits and pieces of it to get an idea of what this putz was saying.

And by the way who is Greg Simon. Well if you watched any of the video you would know by now lol. Seriously though, he used to be the chief domestic policy advisor to VP Algore and has recently been named to Obama's transition team. Sign of things to come.

Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas from Georgia!!

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This is what I mean!

As we wait for Santa to arrive I surfing the Internet and I came across this article about President Bush and VP Cheney sending personal letters and privately visiting the families of fallen troops and visiting with wounded troops.

For much of the past seven years, President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney have waged a clandestine operation inside the White House. It has involved thousands of military personnel, private presidential letters and meetings that were kept off their public calendars or sometimes left the news media in the dark.

The First Lady on why these meetings were kept private:

The first lady said that many of the meetings have been kept private because "these are such personal times when people grieve. And we grieve with them. And these are not times when you would want a camera in the room or other people around. They are very emotional, personal times.

I like this story, love how the President took the time out of his day to just sit around with these two soldiers and just talk to them and visit with them beyond what was scheduled.

Some private meetings with soldiers have been publicized at the request of the soldiers themselves. When Mr. Bush met with Spc. Max Ramsey, who lost his left leg in 2006 while serving in Iraq, and Sgt. Neil Duncan, a double-amputee injured in Afghanistan in 2005, it was Sgt. Duncan who asked for news coverage.

"I wasn't sure my buddies would believe me," Sgt. Duncan said, joking with the president. When Mr. Bush had visited him at Walter Reed, the sergeant had vowed to run again, and did so on the White House South Lawn's jogging track in July 2007.

Although it was a Wednesday, Mr. Bush - who had scheduled a brief run - pulled the two soldiers through the trees to the White House pool after their jog.

"The group of us just sat there for like two hours maybe and chatted. On a whim, he just took two hours out of his schedule. ... We talked about personal things, how he feels about the war, what's been hard, what it's like being the president, some of the most difficult times for him. It was very, very cool - priceless."

When I read this article all I could think about was Obama and how he scraped his trip to visit wounded troops at Landstuhl when he found out the media couldn't follow him.

Speaking of Obama, he's on vacation in Hawaii staying at some multi-million dollar place but each morning he has taken the time to Marine Corp Base Hawaii. Are they there to meet with the Marines and their families? Are they there for a morale visit? Well that depends on whose morale we are talking about. They have been going there every morning to work out. After the workouts it's back to the multi-million dollar pads. What, you didn't actually expect them to stay there did you?

Obama and wife, Michelle, made their early morning trek to Marine Corps Base Hawaii just northeast of Honolulu as they had done during the last three days. After about an hour at the base on Wednesday where he went inside a gym for a workout, he walked over to greet more than 60 people who waited for him. The president-elect shook hands while onlookers took pictures with their cell phones and digital cameras.

The only reason these people got this impromptu photo-op with him was because they happened to know he was there and waited outside for him. Had they not been there then Obama wouldn't have been bothered to meet with anyone on that base. Once again he cares more to hit the gym than visit with the brave men and women that serve on the base. So much for a cause close to their heart. What's really sad is that only about 60 people bothered to show up.

Eco-Nuts

File this under the Eco-nuts gone, well, nuts. Seatle refuses to salt frozen roads

Some of the highlights:

"We're trying to create a hard-packed surface," said Alex Wiggins, chief of staff for the Seattle Department of Transportation.

So what he's saying is that they are trying to create a skating rink out of Seattle roads?

"If we were using salt, you'd see patches of bare road because salt is very effective," Wiggins said. "We decided not to utilize salt because it's not a healthy addition to Puget Sound."

Correct me if I'm wrong here but is Puget Sound not a body of salt water? He makes it sound like they are dumping radio active waste on the streets and that Puget Sound is going to turn into a barren wasteland if they clear the streets with, god forbid, salt. By the way isn't salt a naturally occurring mineral that occurs in the water and the land? And I just love how he admits that if they used salt it would clear the streets right up; salt, dangerous substance we sprinkle on our food for flavor.

Seattle also equips its plows with rubber-edged blades. That minimizes the damage to roads and manhole covers, but it doesn't scrape off the ice, Wiggins said.

That leaves many drivers, including Seattle police, pretty much on their own until nature does to the snow what the sand can't: melt it.

The city's patrol cars are rear-wheel drive. And even with tire chains, officers are avoiding hills and responding on foot, according to a West Precinct officer.

Criminals of Seattle here is your chance!

Cheryl Kuck, spokeswoman for the Portland Bureau of Transportation, said her city prepared the streets last week with the "anti-icing" spray. Once the snow started, Portland used chemical de-icers, followed by plowing with 55 plows and treating trouble spots with sand and gravel.

Although the city had plowed 29 of its 36 major routes, "nothing is clear," Kuck said late Monday afternoon. "This is a difficult and challenging situation that's going to take us a long time to recover from."

And another environmentally nutty city refuses to use salt and nothing is clear, and it's going to take a long time to recover. Of course this wouldn't have happened if they used some salt.

If I lived there I would take my box of salt and sprinkle it out in the street in front of my house, hopefully start a trend with the neighbors. We did it in Germany once to clear the sidewalk in front of our building. It works, and it's so safe you can eat it! This is just ridiculous.

It's begining to look a lot like Christmas!

Actually it's been looking like Christmas but at my house we are officially ready for the holiday!

For the last two nights Little Dude and I have been candy making fools. We made pumpkin fudge (sounds weird but it is really really good), and pralines (it's been really hard not to eat it all lol) and tonight he wants to make more so I'm thinking we'll make chocolate fudge.

Today I braved the mob and finished my Christmas shopping. I woke up bright and early and made my way down to the mall, which was pretty empty that early, and took advantage of the sales to buy $500 in winter coats for $100. I love getting a good deal. Then I went from wally world to wally world looking for cammo seat covers for Army Dude's truck. There was only 1 left at the first one, so I left and went to the other store and they only had 1 left too. Do they order these in odd numbers or do people only buy 1? And who the heck would buy just 1 seat cover? Weird. So this time I bought the 1 seat cover and went back across town hoping that no one felt the need to buy just one seat cover.

Speaking of Christmas shopping, Little Dude and I went to Target the other day to do some more Christmas shopping, we were walking through the books when he spots a book with Obama on the cover. He picks up the book, reads the title, looks up at me and says: "Ugh mom, the last thing I want to see when I walk through the store is a picture of Obama on a book. That is one book I will not read. I just can't believe he is going to be our president!" OK, thanks seven year old dissenter. I keep telling him that those are things that a seven year old shouldn't worry about but at the same time it brings a smile to my face.

All that we have left to do is wrap all the presents, which for me is 100x's worse than having to brave mobs at the store and the traffic jams to get there. That will come tonight, unless something better comes up like another family tournament of Mario Kart!

Just Another Reason...

Why I absolutely can't stand when the Obamas claim they care about the military so much.

I complained about it a few times during the campaign, especially when he would bring it up in the debates and then there was that clip where he said he would cut funding and another where he said he thought about joining the military once but didn't think it was important. And I would cringe every time I saw Michelle having a "town hall meeting" with spouses at military bases. It always seemed to disingenuous.

But according to Michelle military families are going to be one of her "issues" as first lady:

I would be honored to be first lady. I would work daily on the issues closest to my heart: helping working women and families, particularly military families.

Fast forward to the present day and the Obamas want to move into the Blair House (guest house across the street from the White House) early because their kids start school January 5. Unfortunately for them it will not be available until January 15, which is the traditional move in date for president elects.

OK, as part of a military family all I can think is cry me a river.

But it gets better! On Friday's Good Morning America they had a segment on this story and David Wright tells us the this little nugget of information:

The White House kindly offered up temporary accommodations on a nearby military base. The Obamas politely declined.

HA! Michelle dear, by either moving to Washington on the 15th or staying on the military base you'll finally have one thing in common with a military family: Uprooting your family at a not so convenient time for you school aged children or living in military housing (although you'd be staying in a much nicer house than most other military families). But I guess you are too good for either. I really get a kick out of the fact that they declined to stay on a military base when she says that military families are an issue close to her heart. I guess we are like a charitable novelty. One of those things that sound good in theory but god forbid you have to live where they do for 10 days (horrors!). She always seemed so insincere when talking to these military spouses, bored even. She never cared about them before but all of a sudden they are dear to her heart? I always thought she was trying to repair her image after saying she was proud of her country for the first time in her adult life and that America was a downright mean country. And now I believe that even more.

So next time I hear her or Obama try to tell us that they support our military or that the military families are dear to their hearts I'm going to think about him saying he didn't think it was important to serve, that as president he'd cut defense spending and that they declined to stay on a military base when the Bush administration was trying to accommodate them in their desire to move to DC early and then I will throw up in my mouth a little.

If Only

If only I could get a raise every year no matter how dismal my performance (and it was up to me to decide to vote against it).
That's exactly what congress gets to do this year.

According to the latest Rasmussen telephone survey Congress has an appalling 9% approval rating. That's embarrassing. And yet they voted themselves a raise, an extra $4700 for 2009. That comes out to a 2.8% raise next year. OK here's the deal, if you worked where I work and you had a 9% approval you'd be fired, forget the raise.

I think the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste said it best:

"Members of Congress don't deserve one additional dime of taxpayer money in 2009," said CCAGW President Tom Schatz. "While thousands of Americans are facing layoffs and downsizing, Congress should be mortified to accept a raise. They failed to pass most of their appropriations bills, the deficit is on pace to reach an unprecedented $1 trillion, and the national debt stands at $10 trillion. In addition, this Congress has been ethically challenged, plagued with corruption allegations, convictions, and sex scandals."
"House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) probably rues the day she so blithely promised that Democrats would 'lead the most honest, most open and most ethical Congress in history.' Instead, there has been a relentless degradation of the ethics rules. While Congress has sat in judgment of everyone from oil company executives and financial services industry executives to domestic automaker CEOs, it has failed spectacularly to police itself.

And in the spirit of the season:

"If Congressional leaders believe that the taxpayers should give pay raises to this rogue's gallery of ineptitude and venality, they ought to step away from the spiked egg nog," concluded Schatz

By the way: Did anyone catch 60 Minutes' Leslie Stahl say that Elmer Fudd is the smartest guy in Congress?

Sign of the Times

**NOTE CLICK PAUSE ON BOTH OF THE VIDEOS BELOW** They automatically start playing when you load the page and it's really annoying. Play when you are ready to watch and don't miss them.

This time last year there were so many yummy goodies on the table behind my desk that there wasn't room for anymore. This year we got one tin of yummy pecans (I was in pecan heven!) and that's been it. Hmmm...must be the economy.

Another sign of the times: I swear the insane are running the asylum! On sunday two cops tried to pull over a thug in a stolen SUV, which by the way they had reports that he had drugs and guns in said stolen SUV. When he wouldn't stop for them they boxed him in at which point is started raming the police cars. One of the officers had gotten out of his car to apprehend said thug who then tried to run the officer over. So the officer shot him in self defense. The people of the projects (where this upstanding young citizen tried to run from police and turned an SUV into a deadly weapon) rioted. When his family took him off life support, last night, they held a candle light vigil for the thug and then started throw bottles and rocks at the police. At one point an officer patroling in his car hear gun shots, turns out his car had been hit by a bullet. Thankfully he didn't get hit.
I read some of the comments in the newspaper's story online and it was absolutely ridiculous, people saying things like he was trying to flee they should have let him go. Yes of course because we should let all criminals do as they please. And of course it's a racial thing, damn those racial cops, nevermind that of the two cops involved in the incident, one was African American the other was Hispanic.
What I don't understand is why it is that when a known drug dealing thug who tries to run over a cop while fleeing in a stolen vehicle is shot in self defense riots break out and damned be the police; but if the officer wouldn't have shot the thug and he would have run over and killed the officer he would have been a cult hero in the projects. Where are the riots when a police officer is killed in the line of duty? Why are the no good piece of trash criminals exhalted and the people that go out there everyday and put their lives on the line to keep our communities safe treated like garbage?
Here is a history of the arrest record of this fine young citizen:

By the way all the comments to this video are along the lines of his past doesn't matter, he did so much good and you are making him look bad. No he made himself look bad.

And the outrage!


Don't you just love when this guy says they can't fight these men with their guns. That's how he talks about the deputies. Here's a thought, quit breaking the law!
It just seems so simple. Instead of inciting hate and the victim mentality why don't you teach your children to respect the law and to be good responsible citizens?
And by the way, in one of the comments I read from the news paper today it said that witnesses said he was just stoped at the stop sign when he was shot, but notice the stolen vehicle is on the grass. I guess things must be different on that side of town, you don't drive on the asphalt you drive on the lawn.

Pictures

Finally! Here are some pictures from the Chambliss rally last week:

This first one is a view of the line. This is actually about halfway through the line. Here we were standing at the corner, that building in the distance is the James Brown Arena.


We got a kick out of this sign:


Gov. Perdue introduced Senator Chambliss:


Senator Chambliss and his lovely wife:


And of course, the reason everyone got up bright and early to stand in line out in the cold, Gov. Palin:


It really was great, mother's took their young daughters, high school kids went with their friends, men and women both went wild when she came out. She really has gotten people into politics that normally would not be. I would be willing to bet that most people there that morning would not have stood out in below freezing temperatures if she was not going to be there. I wold have rolled over and gone back to sleep under my nice warm blankets myself.

Random

I’m supposed to be working on an assignment for the Political Theory class I’m taking, not to mention the term paper I have due in a week. I can’t think of anything that I want to write and instead I find myself watching game shows with the Little Dude on GSN. We’ve been watching GSN (which is Little Dude’s new favorite channel) for the past 2 hours and I’ve come to realize that they will turn any and every idea into a game show. I’ve also come to realize that Little Dude is an old man trapped in a little kid’s body and that anything and everything will distract me from doing my school work.
Earlier today Little Dude was in the yearly G’town Christmas parade, on the Cub Scout float. It was so much fun. There is nothing like a small town parade and this one does not disappoint. The starting point is in one of the first subdivisions when you come in to town, that’s where all the floats and bands line up, and it goes down past the fire and police department and city hall about two miles to the IGA. The participants throw candy to the crowd and if you sit in the right spot (right at the start of the parade route) you can get as much candy as you would going trick or treating with none of the effort. I have to download the pictures I took today and I’ll post some.
Speaking of pictures, Army Dude downloaded all pictures that I had trapped in my camera. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll have some time to post pictures from the Saxby Chambliss rally. But first I want to finally get down to the Christmas tree farm and buy a wreath and work on these last two assignments for this term (yes really work on them). By the way I just got an email from the professor from the other class. I got an A on the final, add that to the fact that I got an A in all the assignments turned in and YAY!!! I survived that crazy lady’s class! HA!

The Latest

There is a possibility that the Army Dude will be going somewhere in Korea that I can go with him. Last night we briefly talked about it but we didn't really go into details. We just talked about him possibly not finding out till he gets there and how it would be difficult for me to get everything situated here to go over there and do we really want to do that for one year. I think he's right, there would be an awful lot that I would have to do: get the house ready to rent, get our stuff packed and shipped, do something with the boat and four-wheeler, and so on. But then I thought about what a great opportunity this would be for the Little Dude to see a different part of the world (like really different not just Europe different) and I would love to get that opportunity for myself as well. Then I went back to thinking about having to leave everything here to go there for a couple of years only to come back here. And then I thought about how not many people get a chance to live there, and then I thought that this PCS (permanent change of station) is already putting a hold on expanding our family and if I go it would do so by an extra year. But it really would be an exciting opportunity. I don't know.
And speaking of our family planning. I had the Little Dude young. And when I had him we said we would not have another one until he started kindergarten. When that time came I really didn't feel like I wanted another one, I guess I wasn't ready. Now I'm ready but it's a bad time. If he does go for a year that would put me at having another baby when I'm 30. I thought for sure that I'd have a second child when I was 26 maybe 27. When I think that I had Little Dude when I was 21 it seems like such a long time and it makes me wonder if maybe I waited too long. I don't realize how long we've waited until I think about what age I had my first and what age I would have my second.

More on the bailout

The Mayor of Lansing MI on the Bailout:



What he fails to mention is that the Motor Trend Car of the Year is the Cadillac CTS MSRP for a base, manual transmission CTS: $34,420. Yeah let me run out and buy one of those. And the MPG is comparable to the MPG I get from my SUV. He makes a big deal about it being an award winning car but come on I don't care what Motor Trend says, a person is going to buy what they can afford and what they want.

As far as the safety goes, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety There were 72 winners of the Top Safety Pick award. Of those 72 winners 55 are foreign vehicles (some of which are made in America by the way which the mayor very conveniently left out). I also thought it was interesting that there were no American made minivans, and most of the SUV's and pick-up trucks are foreign. Typical American vehicles you'd think that the American car makers would run away with those. Another interesting fact, Chrysler didn't have any Top Safety Picks, didn't they already get a bail out and paid it back and now are asking for another one? Why is that?

Busy Little Bee

That's me!

I have been super busy lately. That's why I haven't been able to post much, although, trust me, I have wanted to!

Like I said before, last week I got sick just in time for Thanksgiving and didn't start feeling better until Monday afternoon. While I was sick I slowed down on school work because I couldn't concentrate so now I have to pick up the pace. The term is almost done, today I did the final for the political geography class and now I have to finish working on the term paper for political theory which is due next weekend. We also have our town Christmas parade that little dude is going to be in again this year (we have to set up the float Friday too) and of course the SEC Championship is Saturday as well, ROLL TIDE! and next weekend is little dude's birthday. I can't believe he's going to be 7 already.
Oh and did I mention the Army Dude has a new assignment. Looks like Korea. I don't really know what to think, I'm relieved in a way that we get to stay put but then again I want to go with him. I love to travel and to experience new places and Korea would be so cool. I've had a couple of friends who have been there that liked it and one of my good friends lived there when her dad was in the Air Force and she loved it too. We've done the year separation before so we know what that's about but it wont hit me until he leaves and we don't know when that will be.

What a Jewel

Senator Reid on tourists:

Who forgets to vote?

What kind of people forget to vote in a run off election? People like me. After all these weeks of watching the commercials and hearing about the run off in the news and even going to the rally yesterday, today I forgot. Luckily I tuned into the news and they mentioned it yet again. So with half and hour to spare I ran out and voted.

Sunday evening, when we got back from our trip, The Army Dude checked our messages and told me I had one, it was a robo call from Michelle Obama, very funny. She said thank you for supporting her husband, then I deleted the message, obviously it wasn't meant for us because we didn't support him.

Yesterday we went to see Sarah Palin at the Saxby Chambliss rally. When we got there the line to get in was down to the corner, by the time we parked and got it line it was wrapped around the corner and half way down the block and there was a steady stream of people getting in line behind us. We didn't get too close because the floor was standing room only and I still wasn't feeling too great so we sat. Decent seats but I was just glad to be there. She was great, the energy in the place when she came out was great. She was the only one to get a standing ovation and she spoke longer than everyone else put together. I have some pictures but I haven't had a chance to download them. As soon as I do I'll put some up.

When we got home we decided to take a little nap and I was sleeping really good when the phone rings. When I answer it's Obama's voice urging me to vote for Jim Martin. What?? I got woken up for that!? Another robo call this time Obama of all people? It was actually rather creepy.

Happy Thanksgiving

There are a lot of things to be grateful for: Being able to celebrate with my family, all of us are here and healthy, my job, my friends, and this years especially: Nyquil!!!
One of the worst days of the year to be sick is Thanksgiving. I slept most of the trip to mom's house and most of the afternoon after getting here and in a few minutes I'm going to take another shot of nyquil and go back to bed. But tomorrow is another day and hopefully I'll feel better then. And now nyquil is calling.

Brenden Foster

Have you heard about Brenden Foster. He's the little boy that had Lukemia whose final wish was to help the homeless.



That is so touching and so sad. When I first read about Brenden earlier today all I could think about was my own little dude, who is a year younger than Brenden was when he was first diagnosed with Lukemia, and really make me gratefull for everything in my life and for every moment that I'm with him (yes even when he is driving me insance). I can't imagine how trying and how hard this has been for his family. My heart goes out to them. He was so selfless in his final days, he knew what really mattered.

So Excited

Gov. Palin is coming to Georgia!

I am so excited. I signed up for the event here in Augusta on the Saxby Chambliss website and we are ready to go. I actually had already asked for the day off to run errands and go to appointments and the rally is at 8:30 am and my first appointment is at 9:45 so bright and early I'm going to call and try to get it pushed back a little. I can't miss this! I told the Army Dude about it and he said he was coming with me. He likes Gov. Palin. I think he has a crush on her, shhhh.
So bright and early Monday morning we are going to be making our way downtown to the James Brown Arena. I'm wearing my shirt. and I'm taking pictures and I'll probably act like I'm at a rock concert lol.

Speaking of Senator Chambliss: all you Georgia Voters, please don't forget to vote. Early voting is taking place this week and the polls open Tuesday. I can't imagine what a Democrat super majority would mean to the country. Imagine the same party having all the power in Washington and not just control of all branches but a super majority in the Senate at that.

By the way, do a yahoo search for images of Gov. Palin and then do one from Google and tell me there isn't a difference in the types of pictures that come up. I was appalled by what I saw from yahoo.

Gitmo

Obama has said over and over that he plans to close Guantanamo Bay and move the prisoners. He's even said that he wants them tried in open civilian courts.
Here is a little clip on closing Gitmo and moving the prisoners and what it would mean to give these terrorists civilian trials:



But what did his nominee for AG say about the Gitmo detainees?
(back in 2002)



I wonder if he still believes this or if he has conveniently changed his position to match that of his new boss.

Real(?) Housewives

I got hooked on Real Housewives of Orange County a couple of years ago. It's fun to watch and see what those ladies are up to and how wonderfully spoiled their kids are. It was just fun.
Then came Real Housewives of New York. Not as fun as the original but it was OK. This time around it was fun to watch how self absorbed the ladies were and give commentary about what I think the maid is thinking when one of the ladies keeps barking orders at her (get it yourself B**!!!).
Now they came out with Real Houswives of Atlanta. When I first heard about it I thought OK now this is going to be good, this is going to be like the original but choc full of southern belles showing them what the south is about. Yeah not so much. It's a bunch of northern transplants that think they are the best things since, well actually there was never anything better than them. The season is now over and Bravo had a marathon going Saturday night. I watched a few episodes before it finally got to unbearable to watch anymore. It was painful really. I really hope that, if they do decide to revisit the ATL that they find people that are really from here instead of these clowns. I have never seen a group of people that were so stuck on themselves. There was the self proclaimed "power couple" they were awesome, or so they thought. There was the one divorcing her football player husband who is demanding a 7 figure settlement because she wants to keep the same standard of living and fabulousness, because she is "it" in her own mind. There was the wife of the basketball player who needs a full staff including estate manager and chef and maids and such to do everything for her because she's so busy doing nothing that she can't do anything for herself. And the single mother who plopped down 18k on her 11-year-old's birthday (WTH?) no doubt funded my her married sugar daddy. The last character was actually real. She seamed like the poorest of the bunch and she tried but you can take the girl out of the ghetto but you can't take the ghetto out of the girl. She was my favorite one though.
That show was a HOT MESS!

Who forgot to pay the heat?

It is so cold! This morning we set a new record low for the day with 18. Wow! It was 18 degrees when the little dude was born too, in December, in Germany, and it was snowing. I don't expect that in Georgia. This has been the coldest November since we've lived here. This November is even colder than last December! Where is Al Gore and his global warming when I'm freezing here?

This cold weather makes me think about Christmas, and my favorite Christmas movie, A Christmas Story. I've been thinking about that movie a lot since the Army Dude said he was going to have Santa bring little dude a red rider BB gun for Christmas. HA!

Funny Videos

I thought this video was funny. It's one of those man on the street deals where they ask people current event questions:



The video on this one isn't great but the sound is good and it's classic:



And staying on the automaker bailout theme:



Standard practice for security reasons?

This Week's Developments

Can I just say TGIFF (Thank God it's finally Friday!)? It's been on hell of a week.
It started Monday, I still wasn't feeling well about five people asked me if I was pregnant, too many cars in front of every CVS on the way home so I didn't stop. Tuesday, still felt sick, went to a sushi place for lunch with some girls from work and the overpowering smell of raw fish smacked me when I walked in and I thought I was going to lose whatever I had eaten the day before. Someone else asked me if I was pregnant, stopped at Walmart got a test, wasn't.
Wednesday two of my good friends got laid off (I'm so sad about this).
Thursday, still don't feel well, passed my Karate test, received red belt (YAY!) felt so bad I almost didn't make it through and things started to go downhill after throwing one of my male classmates three times, luckily that was with about 10 minutes left in the test. The Army dude wasn't feeling well so he left school early and stopped by the studio on the way home to watch the rest of my test which was a nice surprise, and then he says he's impressed with how well I'm doing because he didn't think I had it in me when I started. Gee buddy thanks for the vote of confidence!
And today it's finally Friday and we found out that the Army Dude is no longer on assignment for Colorado (WOOO HOOOO!!!!). And I find out that, according to my political theory text book, I am a right-wing extremist. Apparently, anyone that isn't in step with Al Gore on the environment, is against the government raising our taxes and miss using what they are already taking from us, is for the Second Amendment and thinks Socialism and Liberalism is suspicious or bad is a right-wing extremist. And by the way if you are a right-wing extremists are also racist OK... that's news to me... I have a whole laundry list of complaints about this book, there are a lot of margin notes where I have written "Is this guy serious?" "What the hell?" "This never happened!" and so on. But that is another post all together. But at least we aren't going to Colorado! And knock on wood that we don't end up somewhere worse!

By the way the Army Dude had a good idea for bailing out The Big 3. Since OPEC makes so much money off of us driving around in our SUV's and such and because without The Big 3 and their gas guzzlers OPEC would stand to lose money, OPEC should bail the car makers out. With all the money that we have sent to these "friends" of ours they can bail out our car companies and send that money back our way. It's a win win situation, Our tax money doesn't bail them out, they get their money, and OPEC keeps them in business to make more cars that will need more gas. What's not to love? Army Dude in 2012

They want my help?

When I checked my work email this morning I had an email from GM, an urgent message to its suppliers:

Because our futures are linked, I want you to know that General Motors is doing everything possible to deal with the impact the financial crisis is having on the domestic auto industry. Yet despite our successful efforts to restructure, reduce costs and enhance liquidity, we are facing an uphill battle with the current administration and Congress in securing a bridge loan.

That's why we need your help now. Simply put, we need you to join us to let Congress know that a bridge loan to help U.S. automakers also helps strengthen the U.S. economy and preserve millions of American jobs.

Despite what you may be hearing, we are not asking Congress for a bailout but rather a loan that will be repaid.

The consequences of the domestic auto industry collapsing would far exceed the $25 billion loan needed to bridge the current crisis. According to a recent study by the Center for Automotive Research:

• One in 10 American jobs depends on U.S. automakers
• Nearly 3 million jobs are at immediate risk
• U.S. personal income could be reduced by $150 billion
• The tax revenue lost over 3 years would be more than $156 billion

Discussions are now underway in Washington, D.C., concerning loans to support U.S. carmakers. I am asking you to support this vital effort by contacting your representatives.

Please take a few minutes to call your representatives by dialing 1-866-471-5332. Just state your name and address, and your message will reach your legislators. You can review a script that will help you state your support at gmfactsandfiction.com. Under the "Mobilize Now" section, click on "I'm a Supplier." If you would rather e-mail your representatives, use the link "I'm a Concerned American."

Please share this information with friends and family using the link on the site.

Thank you for helping keep our economy viable.

Yeah, I don't think so. What exactly is throwing money at the problem going to resolve?

I like Mitt Romney's ideas much more.

Without that bailout, Detroit will need to drastically restructure itself. With it, the automakers will stay the course — the suicidal course of declining market shares, insurmountable labor and retiree burdens, technology atrophy, product inferiority and never-ending job losses. Detroit needs a turnaround, not a check.

First, their huge disadvantage in costs relative to foreign brands must be eliminated. That means new labor agreements to align pay and benefits to match those of workers at competitors like BMW, Honda, Nissan and Toyota. Furthermore, retiree benefits must be reduced so that the total burden per auto for domestic makers is not higher than that of foreign producers.

Second, management as is must go. New faces should be recruited from unrelated industries — from companies widely respected for excellence in marketing, innovation, creativity and labor relations.

Read the whole article.

And today I found myself doing something I don't do too often anymore. I agreed with Shep Smith:

Dodd Interview

Senator Chris Dodd is one of the clowns that's in the middle of this financial meltdown we are having. He is the chairman of the Senate Banking Commitie. He is also the Congressman that has received the most campaign contributions from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and apparently got a sweetheart loan from Country Wide (remember them in this mess?)

So here is conservative talk show host Tom Scott interviewing him:

Link:

The station that Mr. Scott works for has decided no to air this which prompted Mr. Scott to leave.

As I was Saying

So what exactly is wrong with the automakers? According to the president of the UAW it's the economy:

"The focus has to be on the economy as a whole as opposed to a UAW contract," Gettelfinger told reporters

"We have made dramatic, dramatic changes and the UAW was applauded for that," he said.

Instead, Gettelfinger blamed the problems the auto industry is suffering from on things beyond its control — the housing slump, the credit crunch that has made financing a vehicle tough and the 1.2 million jobs that have been lost in the past year.

"We're here not because of what the auto industry has done," he said. "We're here because of what has happened to the economy."

That's right it's nothing that the auto industry has done because they really haven't done anything to become more competitive.

According to Forbes the top 10 most reliable and least reliable cars of 2008, none of the most reliable was an American car:

The best-performing cars, according to our rankings, are all made by these two car makers, with Toyota claiming six spots and Honda four in the top 10.

How about the 10 least reliable cars?

It therefore shouldn't come as any surprise that when the performance of cars is examined according to their predicted reliability, recalls and rate of depreciation, Chrysler vehicles dominate the list of the poorest performers, with seven of the 10 models on our list. All the vehicles have multiple recalls, ranging from airbags to door latches, along with mediocre resale values and bottom-level reliability scores for market-research groups.

Maybe he's right. Maybe it's not the labor costs that are driving the Big 3 to the poor house, but I wouldn't blame the economy either, I'd blame making a crappy product.

Because the Army Hates Me

We are going to Colorado. I don't even know what to think abou it. I don't even want to think about it because everytime I do I start to cry. Back in June he found out that he was on assignment to go to Colorado but he told me not to think about it or get worked up about it because it would probably change and he would try to change it. Then he got a date, which was this past Monday. Because he was in school we thought they would delete those orders. Today he found out that the date has been changed to the spring. I have spent the rest of the day crying, sleeping, crying, staring blankly, and crying.

Didn't they see it coming?

Talk of the bailout plan for the Big 3 has been in the news for almost a week now and I've been wanting to say something about it since the first time I heard about it so here it is:

They got $25 billion back in September for R&D and now they want another $50 billion on federal loans. Half of that would go to retooling their factories because the geniuses running these companies thought that the SUV craze would last forever even amid the rise of gas prices and the increasing sales of more efficient foreign cars. There has been talk about building more fuel efficient vehicles for years and year and yet they continued to make these gas guzzlers and didn't bother with fuel efficiency and hybrids. That's besides the point though. Let them retool, save jobs pay us back our tax money with interest.
The big problem is the other half of that $50 billion. It's going to pay for union benefits. Us tax payers are going to pay for union benefits. According to Bloomberg:

United Auto Workers says it wants $25 billion to help fund the union- run retiree health-care trusts being started in 2010.

Why should we pay for this? Because they can't afford it. Common sense would then ask why would they have this health care plan if they can't afford it. If they can't afford to pay for it maybe they should adopt one that they can instead of using our tax money to pay for it. In a perfect world I guess...
Can you imagine if the EFCA passes and it becomes easier for unions to take over? How many businesses are we going to have to bail out because they can't afford union demands and how many are just going to close down because the government doesn't see them fit for saving. Common sense tells me that this is just not the best idea.

Moving on. Camille Paglia has this to say about Sarah Palin:

How dare Palin not embrace abortion as the ultimate civilized ideal of modern culture? How tacky that she speaks in a vivacious regional accent indistinguishable from that of Western Canada! How risible that she graduated from the University of Idaho and not one of those plush, pampered commodes of received opinion whose graduates, in their rush to believe the worst about her, have demonstrated that, when it comes to sifting evidence, they don't know their asses from their elbows.

Liberal Democrats are going to wake up from their sadomasochistic, anti-Palin orgy with a very big hangover. The evil genie released during this sorry episode will not so easily go back into its bottle. A shocking level of irrational emotionalism and at times infantile rage was exposed at the heart of current Democratic ideology -- contradicting Democratic core principles of compassion, tolerance and independent thought. One would have to look back to the Eisenhower 1950s for parallels to this grotesque lock-step parade of bourgeois provincialism, shallow groupthink and blind prejudice.

I like Sarah Palin, and I've heartily enjoyed her arrival on the national stage. As a career classroom teacher, I can see how smart she is -- and quite frankly, I think the people who don't see it are the stupid ones, wrapped in the fuzzy mummy-gauze of their own worn-out partisan dogma. So she doesn't speak the King's English -- big whoop! There is a powerful clarity of consciousness in her eyes. She uses language with the jumps, breaks and rippling momentum of a be-bop saxophonist. I stand on what I said (as a staunch pro-choice advocate) in my last two columns -- that Palin as a pro-life wife, mother and ambitious professional represents the next big shift in feminism. Pro-life women will save feminism by expanding it, particularly into the more traditional Third World.

Read the whole article it's really good.

And now I'm going to study. The book I'm reading tonight is infuriatingly biased but that is a post for another day.

What's wrong with society?

Apparently, according to Jim Moran, it's that we let the wealthy keep their wealth and don't redistribute it:

Digging for the Truth

I'm sure by now you have all heard about those rumors that Gov. Palin didn't know that Africa is a continent and the like.

Here's a clip of Carl Cameron telling it to Shepard Smith:



Come one Shep, did you REALLY think that she didn't know that Africa is a continent? Did you seriously believe that? Because I find it hard to believe that you would actually believed a rumor as absurd as that.

And considering that it was such an absurd rumor and the the "source" was unnamed I didn't give it any credence at all. Nothing but hearsay. But it spread like wild fire through the MSM and soon every "news" show had something to say about Gov. Palin not knowing that Africa was a continent or what countries were in NAFTA.

Apparently this "leaker" was a hoax. It was supposedly leaked by M. Thomas Eisenstadt

HOAX WARNING RE "M. THOMAS EISENSTADT" AND THE "HARDING INSTITUTE FOR FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY"

"M. Thomas Eisenstadt" is a pseudonym used to describe someone who claims to be a "Senior Fellow at the Harding Institute for Freedom and Democracy in Washington, D.C.[1] A "bio" note claims that "Eisenstadt" is the "founder and president of the campaign consulting firm The Eisenstadt Group and was an advisor to the Rudolph Giuliani presidential campaign in 2007-2008."[2]

According to the "bio" note, "Eisenstadt" was described by the Wall Street Journal as "one of the foremost commentators on issues of U.S. policy towards the Middle East and is one of the bright lights of the neoconservative movement."[2] He cites National Journal’s The Hotline as referring to himself as “a rising GOP pundit” and “a clear-spoken advocate for Rudy Giuliani.”[2]

In June 2008 blogger William K. Wolfum concluded that "M. Thomas Eisenstadt (who originally started a blog named www.michaeleisenstadt.com and was referred to as "Michael") was a hoax. As was his "think tank" called "The Harding Institute for Freedom and Democracy" (which seems to be a joke, being that Warren G. Harding is widely considered to be one of the worst Presidents in U.S. history)."[3] After being outed, the "biographical" note was changed to "Martin Eisenstadt."[2]

I also looked up a list of Senator McCain's campaign staff and I pulled up several and M. Thomas Eisenstadt's name was not on any of them.

So what did Smith have to say about this new little nugget of information? Nothing. They were quick to put out the bad information about her but nothing about it all being a lie. I would expect Smith to research this kind of garbage before he puts it out there and act like it's just amazingly true on TV but that would have been my expectation earlier this year or last year. Not anymore. It doesn't surprise me that he would allow that kind of garbage to be put out unquestioned and I'm also not surprised that he didn't say anything about it being a lie. Very disappointing. As I said before he used to be my favorite but I just can't take him seriously or trust him like I used to.

Even worse, Carl Cameron has been traveling with this campaign for how long now? You would think he knows pretty much everyone in that staff by the end. So explain to me then how Greta Van Susteren (by the way catch her interview with Gov. Palin, it was good) could talk to someone and find out that it was all false, that the Gov. never said that Africa was a country. Greta could get that information so easily and yet Carl couldn't do that? I don't buy that for a minute. That was nothing but laziness and sensationalism. Shame on both Cameron and Smith and right on to Greta.

Weighing the Options

A couple of days ago The Army Dude and I were talking about our next move. We had said before that we would like to go somewhere in the North East or Mid Atlantic. But my friend Sarah brought up Alaska and that set the wheels turning. Back when we lived in Germany a friend of mine and her family moved to Alaska and I talked to her when she was there and she went on and on about how much she liked it. In fact everyone I know that has been stationed there has loved it. I really wanted to go to Alaska then and was really pushing The Army Dude on it (not that he has any say anyway). Once we got to Georgia I fell in love with the area and got used to the heat and thoughts of Alaska vanished from my mind faster than a snowflake in our part of GA.
I told The Army Dude, who was not at all interested in Alaska last time, and he actually thought that was a good idea. He went on and on about the hunting and fishing there and said if we were going to Alaska he wanted to buy a 4-wheeler to take hunting in the summer. Today he bought one. YAY! Those of you that know me and know how I don't like the cold, or the snow, are wondering what the hell am I thinking. I know it sounds weird, especially coming from someone that didn't want to go to Colorado because it was too far and too cold (by the way we are still scheduled to be there Monday!). Alaska is different, it would be like a totally different experience. I know we would not live there were it not for the military and I would love to be able to have the chance to live there if even for 3 years. Now we just have to see if the Army is as enthusiastic about sending us there as we are to go.

What are people thinking?

With everything that has happened with our economy and Barney Frank (Elmer Fudd) in the middle of it all please tell me how the hell that man gets reelected?!?



What the heck:

House 4 County Results 208 of 208 Precincts Reporting

Party Candidate V% Votes
D Barney Frank* 68% 202,255
R Earl Sholley 25% 75,319

I don't understand people. I think this was the biggest shock for me off all the results last night, even more so than Murtha getting the "racist redneck" vote up in PA.
All I can think is that people get what they deserve. And when you reelect this clown, by such a large margin at that, then you get what you deserve. And now that they will have their chosen one as President who exactly are they going to blame now?

She had it all wrong...

A couple of weeks ago I posted this clip from the Ellen Degeneres show where she goes off on Sarah Palin wanting to change The Constitution to ban gay marriage. OK at that time I pointed out the obvious that the one was against gay marriage also but that's beside the point.

Here is the clip:



So Prop 8 passed in California yesterday which defines marriage as between a man and a woman.
So it looks like Ellen maybe should have spent less time bashing Gov. Palin about how she would supposedly change the constitution (apparently where Ellen comes from VP's can do this) and spent more time actually campaigning and telling her fellow Californians her story and why she feels passionately about it. Gov. Palin was not her enemy when it came to gay marriage, her neighbors were.

Final Thoughts

For the last couple of years almost, and especially since the beginning of this year, I have been following the elections. I watched coverage of all the primaries, watched all the debates on both sides, watched both of the conventions. At times it felt all consuming and I thought that's it I'm done with it only to turn back to the news after a few minutes. I've had FNC on so much in the last year that their logo is burned into my plasma screen right there on the bottom left!

I have figured for a while that McCain was probably going to lose. I still held out hope that something would happen to put him over the top but nothing ever did. I do, however, think it is a testament that even after being outspent as he was and after having dealt with the bias in the media for the past few months that the race ended as close as it did (as I write this it's 51% 48% in the popular vote).
And let me just say that I am very proud to live in the Great State of Georgia where the margin by which McCain won was so big.

But in any case, I have to say that even though I'm disappointed with the outcome of the election I also keep reminding myself that it's not the end of the world. Civilization is not going to cease to exist. Tomorrow, the sun will come up again and we'll wake up and start our day over like we did this morning and yesterday morning and countless other weekday mornings and go about our day. And even though I'm going to have to hear President Obama yell at me every time he gives a speech for at least the next 4 years, life will go on.

My mom always tells me that I seem to have a knack for landing on my feet or for at least making it all seem so easy, as far as life goes. I got married when I was 18 and moved away with The Army Dude and started our life. When I was 19 I left my job and everything that was familiar on this side of The Pond and moved to Germany. We started over there and started our family and 3 years later we settled back in Georgia and bought a house. Each time we have up rooted and started over and each time we bettered our situation. It was never easy but we always just made the best of everything. We never expected anything from anyone every time I had to give up the latest well paying job to start over somewhere else, not even pity. Tonight I'm telling myself the same thing, we just have to make the best of it.

The Army Dude and I have been half joking about claiming a bunch of exemptions on our taxes next year so we don't pay anything from our checks and then just pay all the money back at the end of the year. We weren't really serious about it, or at least I wasn't, until tonight. My friend, the same one that thinks Sarah Palin is stupid because of what they say on the view, called to gloat earlier. She mentioned how mad she was about her daughters not voting today for the person that will keep their entitlements going. Wow, just wow. After we hung up I kept thinking about it and the more I thought about it the madder I got. I started thinking that right now there is money that I earn every day that I never see because it goes out in taxes. This is money that I earn that goes out and helps pay for things like these entitlements. Now I get up every day at 6:30 to go to work, I work from 8-5 Monday through Friday. After work I come home, do our extra curricular activities, feed my family, take care of my home and study for school. I usually don't go to bed till at least 2:00 am just to start over again in 4 and half hours. In other words I work my butt off, why should this money come out of my check every week to pay for entitlements for these people that think it's a right (and that they need to vote for the person that will keep it going)? And that's when I thought no more. I will gladly write the check at the end of the year and pay my taxes in full but it is not going to come out of my check every week before I can even see it after I worked for it. I guess that feeling comes from my mom, who always told me that the only person I should ever depend on is myself and that I never should expect anyone else to take care of me, that was my own responsibility.

And with that. I'm going to spend some time with The Army Dude and then go to bed.

It's officially out of my hands

That's what I told my mom after I cast my vote this evening.

I spent the day envisioning long lines in the cold rain but was very pleased to find that there were like 7 people in front of me. We were in and out of there in about 20 minutes. Of course I had already seen the ballot and knew how I was going to vote so there was not much thought once I went up to the machine. My experience at my polling place was fantastic, very friendly workers and no problems.
And most important no thugs!

Check these videos out:







I am happy to report that none of that nonsense was taking place here. I think people down here in Georgia are either more civilized or know better. I bet it's a bit of both.

I have to run to Karate now. I was going to skip out on it today and just stay home and obsess about the results but I think it would do me some good to step away for a little while. I'll be back later with more thoughts.

But before I leave I'm very happy to say that McCain is winning. It's 8 to 3 but it's something and it means I leave the house with a smile on my face.

One more thing

Here's a clip from some woman in Miami. She must be watching the same "news" coverage of the elections as my friend that thinks Gov. Palin is stupid:



LOL WAIT A MINUTE!!!!! Obama is paying for gas and mortgages!!! Now THAT'S a game changer!

E-Day

That's Election day and it'll officially be election day in about an hour and a half.

I'm going to go stand in line as soon as I get off of work tomorrow and the more I think about it the more I wish I would have voted early. I know who I'm going to vote for so what was I waiting for?

Someone told me something Friday night that made me think about where people get their information from. This is someone that, back when I actually liked Obama (horrors!), told me they couldn't stand him and that he would be the worst thing that could happen for this country. This same person told me they would not vote for McCain because he'd put that stupid woman in the White House. ??? So I asked said person why she thought Sarah Palin was stupid and she said "Don't you see what they say about her on The View and Regis and Kelly?" OK seriously? How about doing some research on the matter instead of believing what they say on a show where they also say that slavery is legal under the Constitution. So I tell her that you can't take what they say on those shows as fact because it's opinion and she says, "I've heard her talk in that stupid way she does talking about we have to drill she doesn't know what the hell she's talking about." This is the same person that when gas was $5 a gallon in September and none of the gas stations had gas she was bitching about needing to drill. Kool-Aid drinker.
This same person wants me to take her to the polls. HA!
But it really does go to show you that what those idiots say on the View and other dope shows like those sways people. Granted it's people that obviously can't think for themselves but how many people are like that? Hopefully not enough.

Did anyone watch Chris Matthews on Hardball. I didn't either, but I came across this clip of Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour. He totally one-up's Chris.



He can't do anything but agree with Gov. Barbour. I wonder if Barbour gave him a tingle...nah.

And have you heard the RNC's latest robocall? It's pretty good actually:




On to other things:

Yesterday we went all the way to Atlanta to enjoy some yummy Cuban food. I had been craving it all weekend. My mom told us about a new restaurant in Alpharetta called Mojito's Grill. Let me just say it was worth the 2 hour drive! That's the best Cuban food I've had since I left Miami. I had the chicken steak, which is my favorite Cuban restaurant meal, and it was fantastic. I ate so much I thought I was going to be sick and then when we told our waiter that we had driven from the other side of the state, he gave us free dessert. I chose Tres Leche, my personal favorite, and it was fabulous! There was no way I was going to make the drive all the way back home after eating all that. I was surprised I made it to the car! They get two very enthusiastic thumbs up! We also took advantage of being on that side of the state and went to visit mom for a little while.
I must say I was surprised at how many Obama signs and stickers we saw when we came into Atlanta and when we first got off the interstate. Maybe we are just sheltered here but we noticed that as we started getting into the better areas, and the suburbs they became very few and far between and it started to look like our area, about 1 obama sign for every 10 McCain signs. I don't get how some polls are saying that GA is so close now. Not from where I sit.

And with that let me remind everyone who cares to read this how important it is to vote tomorrow, if you haven't already done so.

It's over...

for this year at least. I'm talking about Halloween, not the election. Even though I'm not that hopeful about Tuesday I'm still trying to keep my head up.

Halloween was great though. I wore my witch hat at work and even the CEO got a kick out of it (I was embarrassed when he came down though).

I came home and had to do a mad dash to get things and myself ready for the party between answering the door for trick-or-treaters. Loved the kid's costumes, they looked so cute!
The trick-or-treaters loved the decorations. The Army Dude said that he was hearing people when he was down the street talking about our house and telling other people they had to go down to our house and see it.
And of course the party was great, we all had a great time and even some of the grownups that didn't dress up last year did this year, everyone got into the spirit. I'm already thinking about next year, even though we don't even know if we are going to be here.

But today has been a day of recovery. It's not that we partied so hard, it's more that the prep was so much leading up to it that today I didn't want to do anything but relax, and it was great.

And now we are watching the Texas - Texas Tech game and Texas Tech just won which hopefully means that Alabama will be 1 now. We are happy, Army Dude more than me ;op

Little Tidbit of Information

I really hope that the great people of Massachusettes have the where-with-all to not vote Barney Frank (Elmer Fudd) back for another term. I really don't know how anyone can take that man seriously (for starters) and how, after all the mess that he persided over, they can let him stay in and ruin us even more.
I'm sure you have heard by now where he said that we need to cut military spending by 25%:

After the November election, Democrats will push for a second economic stimulus package that includes money for the states' stalled infrastructure projects, along with help paying for healthcare expenses, food stamps and extended unemployment benefits, U.S. Rep. Barney Frank said Thursday.

In a meeting with the editorial board of The Standard-Times, Rep. Frank, D-Mass., also called for a 25 percent cut in military spending, saying the Pentagon has to start choosing from its many weapons programs, and that upper-income taxpayers are going to see an increase in what they are asked to pay.

The military cuts also mean getting out of Iraq sooner, he said.

"The people of Iraq want us out, and we want to stay over their objection," he said. "It's extraordinary." The Maliki government in Iraq "can't sell (the withdrawal deal with the U.S.) because it sounds like we're going to stay too long."

"I was teasing (U.S. Rep.) Jack Murtha (a key supporter of military budgets) and I said to him, 'For the first time, somebody else has got a bill that's almost as big as yours.' We don't need all these fancy new weapons. I think there needs to be additional review."

How can anyone believe it is a good idea to cut military spending when we face the kinds of threats that we do now? How can anyone believe it is a good idea to cut military spending when our troops are in harms way on two fronts? Does he really believe that by cutting military spending by 25% that would make us get out of Iraq sooner? And if it does it wouldn't be on our terms, it would be a quick withdrawal because we dont have the money to be there and I think this would be even worse than Obama's misguided withdrawal date.
And how can he say that the Pentagon needs to pick between it's weapon's programs? Don't we want them to look into as many systems as they can to find the one that will best defend our troops in combat and us here at home?
He thinks "we don't need all these fancy new weapons"? Is he serious? What does he want our guys to go out with some revolutionary era bayonetts or something? Or better yet some rocks and sling shots? Or maybe spears. Our troops need to stay on top of the technology. They need to have the best of what is available to them so that they can get their job done and come home safe. How can we, in good consience, send them into harm's way with nothing but the best we can afford them? These very brave men and women go into harms way so that low-life POS's like Elmer Fudd there can sit back and try to cut their funding.
As part of a military family, I take it as an offense that this cartoon character of a person would even suggest this.
If they do cut spending by 25% and the military is forced to abandon some of their weapon's programs then maybe we should consider using Elmer Fudd as a human shield when we go into combat, our guys can just stand behind him with their slingshots at the ready.
By the way it's not just weapon's systems that the military budget supports. That includes all the morale and welfare money and pay.


By the way. I'm also getting really sick and tired of Obama and his camp saying that Bush only cut taxes for the rich. The Army Dude and I were talking about this the other day and I made the comment that I believed we paid lower taxes since Bush than we did before and he said we did. So I looked it up and sure enough. Bush didn't just cut taxes on the rich, he cut taxes for just about everyone. In 2000 we were in the 28% bracket in 2008 we are in the 25%. Let me tell you we are FAR from rich, so I don't buy the claim that only the rich have been helped. In fact, the lowest percentage in 2000 was 15%. Bush cut that down and now in 2008 it's 10%. that's 5%. Of course you don't hear about that part when they are shoving their talking points down our throats.

And finally. This is just sick. I debated if I should show the picture and I am because I want people to see just how hateful and nasty people can be:

It is just sick. And it's not a hate crime by the way. But the police dept. said that if it was an effigy of Obama hanging then it would have to be looked into to see it's a hate crime, because they are evaluated on a case by case basis. All hell would break lose and then it would be a hate crime. That is beyond hateful and if it would be consider hate for one then it should for another.

Granma America

Saturday I posted the clip of the Joe Biden interview. How dare this Florida anchor ask such tough questions!?
Not surprisingly the interview that was supposed to take place later with the Senator's wife was canceled and then the Obama campaign put out a statement that pretty much says that the station will not be able to interview the ticket until at least the election. Wow! That's really telling actually. If you go off the campaign script they'll just freeze you out.
Isn't that what happens in countries like, oh I don't know, Cuba?
What do you think the American State News service will be named?

I must say that Shep Smith has redeemed himself, ever so slightly LOL, today. Not only did he have "Joe the Plumber" on Studio B this afternoon (and didn't openly mock him like he has done) but he actually had some pretty harsh words about the Obama campaign cutting off access to that Orlando station for asking tough questions.





Here is the latest audio clip of Obama's to surface. This one comes from a 2001 interview. He was already talking about redistribution back then. It's got Fox and Friends commentary:



And of course the Obama campaign response to this little nugget of information was to attack none other than Fox News. Never mind that he said it or that Fox wasn't the one that broke the story but how dare they at Fox broadcast anything that does not show the one in the best of lights?
Here is a clip of Megyn Kelly giving Bill Burton a piece of her mind. It's so typical.
It's a little bit long but it's really worth the watch:



I must say that I was not a big fan of Megyn Kelly but in the last couple of months she has really impressed me.
But someone needs to tell them at Fox to watch out because they'll be the first ones to have their access cut off if Obama is coronated.