Right As Usual

For starters, how about cruise lines?  Forget the illnesses, the sexual assaults, the possibility of attack by pirates. How about the likelihood that their most numerous clients may well be losing that discretionary income that fueled their rise?  I mean pensions, retirement accounts, and Social Security.  Because it's beginning to look like there are cuts ahead for many seniors. Share

A study that claims conservatives are neat and tidy, and liberals are messy draws the conclusion that the conservative vs. liberal study shows that what is valued by them, respectively, is: stability vs. change, order vs. complexity, familiarity vs. novelty, conformity vs. creativity, and loyalty vs. rebellion I have more than a few questions about that.  Could it not be that the split is: knowing where things are vs. throwing everything into the toybox, order vs. chaos, familiarity vs. the attention span of a butterfly, liking organization vs. haphazardness, and simplicity of not searching every time something is wanted vs. childish refusal to put away things and anarchy? I suspect that the characterizations tell more about the "researcher" than the study ever could. BTW, I am indeed conservative, and my desk is FAR messier than my liberal husband's. Share

A less-understood facet of opposing unregulated immigration is that we risk importing the cultures of violent countries. Share

I've been teaching a long time, and have seen the Sluttification of American Girls as a negative thing. Y'all gotta read a new report on that same topic.   It's a report of the Parents Television Council; the pdf is here. Some of the more disturbing findings: Major Findings:  The presence of an underage female was associated with higher amounts of sexual depictions compared to the onscreen appearance of an adult female. Though an older female character is more likely to have sexual dialogue in the scene, a younger female character is more likely portrayed in sexual behaviors onscreen.  Out of all the sexualized scenes depicting underage or young adult female characters, 86% of those female characters were presented as only being of high school age.  Only 5% of the underage female characters communicated any form of dislike for being sexualized.   One or several instances of implied nudity and/or sexual gestures (e.g. suggestive dancing,...

Mark Tapscott has some straightforward advice for Muslims wanting to demonstrate their "moderateness". Diane Shrader has some New Year's Resolutions - some related to our current political situation, some related to world issues, some culturally based.  One that I hope will be realized in 2011 is the one about not indoctrinating children with misplaced resentment: AZ state superintendent Tom Horne, the author of recently signed legislation banning classes that promote “the over throw of the U.S. government,” the “resentment of a certain race,” and classes “designed for students of one particular ethnic group.” Doesn't that sound "extreme"?  No, it isn't - it's in response to a problem in at least one particular district. How extreme? National Review’s  Liam Julian reported on Horne’s battle with TUSD  back in July 2008 , revealing that the anti-American,  Hispanic  separatists of  La Raza  are behind the curriculum, and that another teacher...

They're B-A-A-A-C-K! The Death Panels, that is. Well, sort of. Medicare patients are gonna to have to have the "voluntary" consultations every year to make sure that they really, really, really want to spend all that money staying alive.  The advance directives will be paid for (unlike many other Medicare procedures - some of which are expected to be provided BELOW COST by the health care provider - the doctor) by the Obamacare regulation's fiat.  You know, the regulations that will flesh out the provisions - the ones that the Senate flatly said "NO!" to. How many seniors and/or sick people want to have the droves of naggers coming into their hospital room to "make sure that you really want all that money spent on your care"? How many people will sign anything - ANYTHING - just to have them finally leave the room? How many will sign anything the doctor suggests?  Or, someone in a lab coat, whether medically trained or not? How many, i...

Come to think of it, I really don't have strong memories of the various atrocities that the Left committed in the 70s.  Oh, sure, I remember the protests - Washington, DC, Jackson State, Kent State - I followed that last one quite closely, as I'm from Ohio, and I had friends who attended Kent State that year as freshmen. But, I really don't remember much about domestic terrorism - the incidents were in the papers, but, other than seeing the headlines, I don't remember many of the details.  My focus, at that time, was on the "atrocities" being committed by the American government - against the protesters. That's how I saw it at the time.  US against U.S.  The government was definitely the enemy, in my mind. What's hard to believe is that I could ignore the "collateral damage" - the many people injured or killed.  I must have been more deeply under the influence of the Leftists than I realized at the time. Share

There's a great roundtable discussion of Israel at FrontPage Magazine. ,  Caroline Glick discusses the difficulty of accepting the "two-state solution". ...the implication of saying that you accept as legitimate, as a negotiating partner, a terrorist organization whose sole purpose in existing is your own annihilation makes it very difficult for you to make your case in international forums.  Because if the PLO is legitimate, then how is Israel legitimate? And you know, one of the things that the Tea Party movement thankfully in this country has been railing against is this whole multiculturalism, post-nationalism ideology that essentially means that nations like the American people and like the Jewish people have no reason to exist and have no inherent rationale for fighting to defend their way of life.  Because if there is no relative benefit to being an American or being a Jew, then you have no right to stand up and oppose the people who are telling you that your ...

North Korea backed down on its threats against South Korea.  The good news is that South Korea stood up to that crazed dictator, and was justified by his about-face. For those who aren't old enough to remember the actual Korean War (not the terribly inaccurate M*A*S*H version), the DVD of the History Channel's version is on the left. Share

This year, in addition to regular cookies, I'm trying out Splenda-sweetened spritz cookies.  They taste good, but they're more than a little fragile when first taken out of the oven.  I'm working to find a cream-cheese frosting that doesn't use regular sugar or powdered sugar.  I've found a few, but they make BIG batches.  I just want a small batch, to use on the cookies. Other cookie recipes that I want to try are on the Splenda site  - Den would like the fruit-oatmeal cookie, I know. Share

There's a story that's gotten buried among all the noise in politics - DADT, the budget, DREAM Act, as well as all the holiday hype that typically goes on in the late part of the year. It's the Pigford story, in which evidence of fraud keeps getting ignored by the USDA and other government flunkies. It's on Big Government, the people that broke the ACORN story. This time, they got a lawyer to admit, on camera, that "hundreds" of claims were fraudulent - in AK alone. Don't hold your breath waiting for the MSM to report it - you could die waiting for that next breath. Share

I've finished about 1/3 the shopping (some of it on the Internet - Praise God it was developed, it makes the entire thing so much easier), finished about 60-some cookies, cleaned up part of the kitchen, cleared the floor in the bathroom, am currently sanitizing the porcelain (I love those cleaners that work while you do other things!), waiting for the butter to defrost, and taking a break. Whew! I didn't realize just how much I'd done until now.  That's after church, a stop at Panera, and some shopping. If I can just keep up this pace, I can go off to Cleveland by mid-week with a clear conscience, and a house that looks like a house, instead of a massive junk pile. Later today, I'm going to tackle the long-overdue filing, and clear the surface of my desk, Share

Again, found on Creative Minority Report. Share

Found at Creative Minority Report: Share

His parents lay dead, and 3-year old Adam followed the Islamic terrorists that had murdered them, saying "Enough, enough". His gentle admonishment had the expected effect - before long, he, too, lay dead - murdered by the fanatics who are working overtime to eliminate all Christian presence in the Mideast. This is Adam. Dare to tell me he deserved to die for "crimes" against Islam. Share

From Mark Shea: Share

I've been reading about the Gulen charter schools, which are teaching Islam under the guise of international education (primarily Turkish). They are gaming the H1B system to get a huge number of teachers brought in from abroad (they account for over 30% of the total visas) .  This doesn't seem right, at a time when many American teachers are unemployed. I've long known that the H1B visas were a scam to get low-cost workers into this country (and also, to bypass regulations about the number of visa holders from any given country).  The computer industry was a major abuser of that type of visa, bringing in foreign workers while laying off American citizens. Aside from the H1B abuse, there is a bigger issue - that of importing Turkish culture and Islamic religion into the US.  These schools are operating in many states - CA, LA, and OH, just to name a few states with Gulen schools. What is this "Gulen movement"?   Read here. around 1999 the Gulenists began t...

Years ago, James Carville coined the phrase, "It's the economy, Stupid!" I thought then, and still believe, that he was wrong.  Look, we're Americans - we live in the most lavishly-gifted society EVAH!  We've got material goods up the whazoo.  We have access to so much food, we've got poor people who are obese! But, we've allowed our culture to become so coarsened and enfeebled, that we are suffering a true cultural poverty.  We seldom even react to assaults on our sensibilities. We hear truly foul cursing in public - and we close our ears. We turn on a TV at any time of day - and are visually assaulted by coarse language (*&^%$, My Dad Says), sexually-oriented programming (talk shows, Victoria's Secret extravaganzas, children talking about sex in a trifling way), and Share

The Republicans have to learn to introduce a "bare-bones" bill - JUST unemployment benefits, for example. Then, dare Dems to give a straight up or down vote. Then, nail their scurvy hides to the wall when they weasel out. Share

Take a look at the video - this is a GREAT example of incredibly biased reporting. The Black guy at the end is the only one with his head NOT up his - well, you know. Share

It's the custom in majority-Muslim countries for followers of Islam to demonstrate their piety by converging in the streets to pray.  This has two effects - it allows Muslims to show that they are faithful, and it keeps non-Muslims aware of their inferior status. For, you see, during that time, non-Muslims are pressured to stop all activity and commerce.  If they continue working, or selling anything, they are often targeted by Muslims, and, often, the business is trashed by the "outraged" Muslims. Furthermore, by moving their prayers to the streets, they maximally inconvenience the non-Muslim population.  They arrange their prayer rugs to impede foot and auto traffic, thereby forcing the non-Muslims to stop their lives for that time, too. Shown below is a video of that custom in France from the JihadWatch site.   The deliberate tactic is becoming increasingly common on the streets of Paris and other parts of France where Muslims have settled. Will it be...

I'm not a huge Bradley Whitford fan.  I found his work on West Wing to be "ehh" - and he personally always struck me as a whiny, pretentious liberal. BUT - if you haven't seen him on Fox's The Good Guys - you're really missing something.  He's funny, terrific, and the show is goofy but great. Share

I agree - there's no place like home, there's no place like home. I'm tired of being on the road - today, I was working late, and, although I knew that I should check into a hotel close to work, I kept thinking, I want to go home. It's nearly the weekend, and I can have my wish.  Within a week, I'll be able to spend time with my family - for the next 2 weeks. At that point, I'm almost 1/2-way through the school year, and I can re-assess just what I want to do for the remainder of my teaching career. At this point, I'm beginning to think that the life of a gypsy is over-rated. Here's a  video of Judy singing her most famous song.  Enjoy. Share

Y'all might want to consider using Bing, rather than Google in the future.  If you want to know why, go here , than compare with the lack of remembrance here . Share

First, some good news - the US is dropping the pressure on Israel to freeze settlements.   The US never had any business butting into what Israel did, let alone what they can do in their own country. The WikiLeaks documents leak has caused some to consider re-thinking putting all medical records in electronic format.  Good.  I've seen too many screw-ups to think that enshrining the supremacy of the electronic record is a good idea.  I've seen physicians and other health professionals ignore the live patient's protests that the record was inaccurate, and cause harm.  Of course, I'm also concerned about privacy.  I'm kind of a grinch about privacy - when I get calls from telemarketers or credit agencies, I just tell them, "send me the information in hard copy.  I do NOTHING - not give them ANY information, nor "pledge" a donation, nor sign up for electronic payment, NOTHING over the phone.  I'm the same way about political calls - I just tel...

This is absolutely too weird. They're barcoding embryos. Share

I'm getting discouraged about the future of Jews in this world.  1/2 the people who hate them, hate them for being Jewish.  The other 1/2, hate them for being "Zionist". Think I'm kidding about that title?   Watch the videos at the link - IF you have the stomach. I've heard so many lies about Israel in the last few years. That Israeli forces deliberately killed a young Palestinian boy  - In fact, it was totally faked footage, passed on to a foreign correspondent by PA propagandists That Israel deliberates targets civilians That Israel harvests Palestinian organs by deliberately killing the "organ donor" That the Palestinian Authority only desires peace That the "2 state solution" will result in harmony - with the Jews being allowed to live That America is controlled by Jews Some of those lies circulate on the Internet.  Some are passed on by leftists eager to indoctrinate the young - often in schools.  Sadly, many of those lies are...

After reading the above review of Dupes, I've decided to add it to my wish list. Share

Warning - Do NOT download if you're the paranoid type. Share

Bob Greene writes about a long-ago time, when sports figures would play their entire (or most) of their career in one town, with one team. I'm from Cleveland, and I know what he means.  It took the heart out of the great Cleveland Indians team when Jim Thome left.  That team, with players that eerily seemed to echo those of the film Major League, was magic in a way that could not be re-captured. Lebron's leaving caused the same kind of wrench.  Cleveland took it personally; he wasn't just changing teams, he was divorcing his high-school sweetheart. I think he made a major mistake.  Money, after a certain level, is just paper.  But, Cleveland is the kind of town that sticks with its sports heroes, even after they no longer have the ability to be in the game.  There's money in the Cleveland area for formers, long after. And, there's love.  Which is what we feel for our guys who've made our days so full of pride. Share

Death Panels.  Yeah.  Just like Sarah Palin said - they WILL be part of Obamacare. No, they won't be called Death Panels.  But, they will be the same thing.  Some bureaucrat deciding whether or not (my guess is, mostly not) you will be allowed to have the treatment or surgery you need to survive. Who will suffer? The elderly - hey, Granny, you've lived long enough The senile - the quality of their life will not be high enough to entitle them to care The medically handicapped - many people already consider them better off if terminated before birth The poor - they have to take what they can get The unfavored - who don't vote correctly, or have connections I just don't think the Death Panels will turn down our new elite, no matter what. Share

I was alerted to this book by Jihad Watch .  Roland Shirk pointed out the similarities between the intolerant, ideological religions - Islam and Communism. I'm going to add it my Kindle wish-list. Share

A Tampon Gun - I'm not kidding - check out the link. Share

Obamacare changes have forced a company to drop its insurance for children - 6000 of them!  How Awful!  That Nasty Company - they should be forced to continue coverage, even if it bankrupts them! Oh, wait - it wasn't a company, it was a UNION!   A very BIG union - SEIU.  They are one of Obama's biggest supporters, both in donations, and in sending their members to turn up at every Obama event. Never mind. Share

I'm reading A Cracking of the Heart, by David Horowitz.  It's the story of his examination of his relationship with his adult daughter, Sarah, who died young.  I read the reviews, and thought that it would be a god gift for my daughter, Shannon, as there were some similarities between Sarah and her. The gift was a hit - when I asked her about it later, she was enthusiastic, saying it was one of the best gifts she'd received that year. Unfortunately, I hadn't read the book before I gave it.  I meant to borrow it back, but hadn't.  Therefore, I was pleasantly surprised to find it was available digitally through the library. Share

I'd really never thought of it before, but this makes sense: Maybe it’s just me, but inviting previously fired employees back to make key decisions for the  company  seems like a really bad idea. This is the sad reality that America faces each November. Disgruntled and unaccountable government, almost fired, employees are allowed to cast votes for which they will never be held accountable. A  Denver Post  article about Lame Duck Session abuses sparked my curiosity about the history of Lame Duck legislation. The examples of legislative overreach and abuse that I found in just a few short minutes of research are enough to warrant a nationwide  call to end the practice. Lame Duck Sessions became the law of the land with the ratification of the Twentieth Amendment under President Franklin D. Roosevelt in January, 1933. The original intent for the law was that it be used for emergencies and to tie up financial loose ends, not as ...

He's speechifying.  No warmth comes through.  He's lecturing them, wagging his finger. He's bringing in Michelle again - that she is supporting military families. Lord, he sounds cold - like he's ticking off a list of "stupid military things I have to mention, even though I don't give a *&^%$!" Share

I'm blogging from the network feed now.  The CNN feed wasn't in sync. He's doing the customary thank-yous to the leadership.  Petraeus was careful to mention that the President had already visited the hospital, and had given out Purple Hearts. He's apparently going extemporaneous (well, as much as any modern leader does) for some of his remarks.  Keeps looking down at his notes. Mentions the "holiday" season - it's Freaking Christmas!  Can't you bring yourself to actually say the word? Says that on behalf of "me, Michelle, Malia, and Sasha, and the 350 milliion people of the US" he is thanking the troops.  Always himself first. Share

Petraeus is informal and chatty with the troops.  Talking about leadership qualities. Obama enters.  No tie, wearing a brown leather jacket. Didn't start with Hail to the Chief?  Hmm. They're cheering and applauding, just not taking the roof off. Share

In other news, the latest DSM III revision (that's for mental disorders) has dropped narcissistic personality disorder as a diagnosis. Just saying. General Petraeus is on stage. They're applauding - they like him. Share

BTW, the link is directly to the CNN feed. Even the Black soldiers are looking around - they're not leaning forward eagerly, hoping for a glimpse. Just not that excited. Share

I keep checking back to the feed - nada. I don't recognize the music - martial-type, but not Hail to the Chief. More guys with video phones out, trying to get a shot. Still, I've seen more excitement at the start of a football game. Share

Still waiting..... The advance people are working hard to get the crowd excited. The crowd isn't having any of that. Wonder whether this trip was timed so Obama wouldn't be around to answer questions about the lousy unemployment numbers? Guys in dark suits are entering the room.  I presume Secret Service? Share

There is audio; apparently, I had turned the sound down so it wasn't audible (at least to me - with my hearing out today - due to my cold - I can't hear very much, unless it's pretty noisy). They're playing generic country-type music - I don't recognize it, but I'm not a huge fan. The crowd is a mix of ethnicities.  Just like the services. Still playing country, trying to fire up the crowd.  This crowd isn't having any of it. They have the look of a crowd that's been ordered to assemble to hear some speech from the brass.  Not excited; resigned.  Their expectations are not high. Share

There are some advance people, trying to warm up the audience.  From what I heard, she couldn't get an enthusiastic "Hoo-rah" or whatever the Army equivalent is, out of the crowd.  The presidential seal has already been affixed to the podium.  I don't see the TOTUS (Teleprompter of the US) in sight. Either no one is saying anything (no music, either), or the feed is silent.  My guess is the feed is not sending audio at this time. The troops appear to be in wait mode - chatting with friends, standing around.  No one is pressing to be close to the front. Share

Scroll down to the end of the first page , and continue to the next - I promise that it will be worth it. FWIW, I'm with the Derb - illegal immigration isn't a complicated moral issue, it's a relatively straightforward legal one - it's ILLEGAL! When we catch them, deport them - posthaste!  With their kids - you have two choices here - either you take away their "birthright" citizenship, on the grounds that it was obtained in the course of an illegal act on the part of the parents, or you give the parents two choices: Take the kid(s) with you when you leave - the kid(s) will have an expedited right to apply for return upon reaching 18 - assuming no criminal convictions, ability to support oneself, etc. Leave the kid(s) - we'll arrange for adoption. Sounds hard-hearted?  Well, yes - IF you think only of the illegal trespassers.  OTOH, if you consider that every border-jumper is taking the food out of the mouths of American citizens, and that the c...

The DREAM Act could be costly, in the financial sense. Not to mention that it would bring in another wave of serial amnesty - that practice of those, once amnestied, bringing in every relative or friend they have ever known, I'm still having a hard time understanding how people who, after all, received a free K12 education they were NOT entitled to, now have the gall to insist on getting their college costs at US citizen rates. Share

It would be lovely if the "bad people" could always be clearly identified.  Maybe they could have some characteristic, like skin color or eye color, that marked them as "bad". No, that would be racist. Well, unless that marker were white skin or pale eye color. That, in a nutshell, is the concept of reparations.  That we can can clearly ID the "bad people" (or, in this case, the descendants of those people). Even more clearly, that, by virtue of skin color, we could ID the "good people" - those who have been wronged. Sorry, it's just not that simple.  This post explains why that's so. Finally, I bring up a point that has apparently not occurred to the reparations yearners - when in your life have you ever found that people of ANY color are eager to give you cash because of your skin color? What makes you think that will change now? Share

Listen to what one man,  Thayer Verschoor,  a State Senator from AZ, has to say about the situation: Senate Bill 1070 — quite frankly, all it does is it allows Arizona law enforcement officers to enforce federal law.  It’s already the law.  The problem is that for 30 years, Arizonans and many other people, in Texas and California, have been asking the federal government, Enforce your damn laws!  And thy won’t do it!  They’ve refused to do it!  And until they start doing it, we’re going to continue to see this escalation that we’re seeing. How many of you have seen the movie “Amazing Grace?”  In one scene in the movie, William Wilberforce is taken to see these slave ships, where these slaves are hauled from Africa to the Western Hemisphere.  Okay?  Folks, this is very similar to what is occurring in this illegal migration smuggling that’s going on. They will pile 20, 30 people into a truck or a van that’s only made to seat eight or nine...

There is a translation, although it's hardly needed.  You can see his anger, and his justified rage at the Turkish Ambassador. This may be the moment when at least part of Europe develops a spine. Thanks to Ace of Spades. Share

The FCC is still trying to get its hands on the Net.  In the words of a Socialist ( interview from The Socialist Project) : There are three overriding and connected issues that are central to media democracy activism in the United States. The first issue is the Internet. The battle for network neutrality is to prevent the Internet from being privatized by telephone and cable companies. Privatization would give them control over the Internet, would allow these firms to privilege some information flows over others. We want to keep the Internet open. What we want to have in the U.S. and in every society is an Internet that is not private property, but a public utility. We want an Internet where you don’t have to have a password and that you don’t pay a penny to use. It is your right to use the Internet. The benefits of a public Internet are numerous. It would end the digital divide, which remains a very serious problem in the U.S. and worldwide. Oy, where to start? First, I'm real...