We can only hope that these kids will run the country someday......

A Meditation On the Speed Limit:

BRILLIANT film. BRILLIANT kids.



Rise up people. Do it! Civil obedience!!!!!

"24" My Weekly Addiction

Favorite comment from the live-blog of 24 on Dave Barry's site:

How many would die if this were called "365"?

Posted by: Stevo | 09:57 PM on March 13, 2006

I am so hooked on this show.

Muffin Tops, Valium and Cindy Sheehan

Looks like CindyLooWho was feeling neglected by the media.

These pictures, and statements by the UN, really show what this woman is all about. Publicity.

Nice muffin top Cindy. (Yes, I know that's mean.)

Allegedly, she and her cohorts were asked inside to talk about their complaints. But that's not what Cindy wanted.






This is what Cindy wanted. There's too many press cameras to count.















V IS FOR.....VALIUM!








I hate publicity whores.

Thanks to the brilliant wisdom of Michelle Malkin.

Thursday's Joke

Here's todays laugh:

A woman was at her hairdresser's getting her hair styled for a trip to Rome
with her husband. She mentioned the trip to the hairdresser, who responded:
"Rome? Why would anyone want to go there? It's crowded and dirty. You're crazy to go to Rome. So, how are you getting there?"
"We're taking Continental," was the reply. "We got a great rate!"
"Continental?" exclaimed the hairdresser. "That's a terrible airline. Their planes are old, their flight attendants are ugly, and they're always late. So, where are you staying in Rome?"
"We'll be at this exclusive little place over on Rome's Tiber River called Teste."
"Don't go any further. I know that place. Everybody thinks t's gonna be something special and exclusive, but it's really a dump, the worst hotel in the city! The rooms are small, the service is surly, and they're overpriced. So, whatcha' doing when you get there?"
"We're going to go to see the Vatican and we hope to see the Pope."
"That's rich," laughed the hairdresser. "You and a million other people trying to see him. He'll look the size of an ant. Boy, good luck on this ousy trip of yours. You're going to need it."
A month later, the woman again came in for a hairdo. The hairdresser asked her about her trip to Rome.
"It was wonderful," explained the woman, "not only were we on time in one of Continental's brand new planes, but it was overbooked and they bumped us up to first class. The food and wine were wonderful, and I had a handsome 28-year-old steward who waited on me hand and foot. And the hotel was great! They'd just finished a $5 million remodeling job and now it's a jewel, the finest hotel in the city. They, too, were overbooked, so they apologized and gave us their owner's suite at no extra charge!"
"Well," muttered the hairdresser, "that's all well and good, but I know you didn't get to see the Pope."
"Actually, we were quite lucky, because as we toured the Vatican, a Swiss Guard tapped me on the shoulder, and explained that the Pope likes to meet
some of the visitors, and if I'd be so kind as to step into his private room and wait, the Pope would personally greet me. Sure enough, five minutes later, the Pope walked through the door and shook my hand! I knelt down and he spoke a few words to me."
" Oh really! What'd he say?"
He said: "Where'd you get the shitty hairdo?"

Submitted by Ron Scher
Thursday, March 2, 2006

Once again, thank you Bob and Tom.

Calling Mary Kay! Calling Mary Kay!

This is the second story I've seen in two days about men who have had sex change operations. Pictures have been included with both stories. One of the men was going back to being a teacher in an elementary school; this man (left) is a fireman...firewoman....fireperson....firetrainwreck.

I'm sure that the surgery must be very, very expensive...but both of these men look like my Great Uncle Walter in a wig.

The following article and picture were supplied via Drudge, who got it from WATE Channel 6 in Knoxville

KNOXVILLE (WATE) -- A Knoxville firefighter claims she's being discriminated against because she used to be a man. Fire Capt. Jamie Faucon has filed a grievance against Knoxville Fire Chief Carlos Perez and her supervisor, Mark Foulkes. She accuses them of depriving her of a take-home car, of reassigning her and cutting out her overtime because she is a transgendered firefighter.

Faucon also says in her grievance Foulkes used incorrect gender terms when referring to her in conversations. She says she never thought she would wind up in a situation like this but the actions that allegedly took place earlier this week left her with no other choice.

Faucon had surgery to change from male to female in March 2005.

Since she has legally changed gender from male to female, she wants the misuse of pronouns to stop. "The proper terminology should be she, her or ma'am. Not he, sir, or his." She's asking to be returned to Fire Station 10 with a take-home car and to be referred to correctly by others in the fire department.

Things You probably didn't know...

I'm on a roll today.

Just A Few Things You Probably Didn't Know
You spend about 3 years of your life in the toilet.
Every day, the average person swallows about a
quart of snot.
The slowest growing finger nail is on the thumb nail and the fastest growing is the finger nail on the middle finger.
Scientists say that babies that are breastfed are more likely to be slimmer as adults than those that are not breastfed.
There are more chickens in the world than people.
Pinocchio was made of pine.
One out of 20 people have an extra rib.
Manicuring the nails has been done by people for more than 4,000 years.
People whose mouth has a narrow roof are more likely to snore. This is because they have less oxygen going through their nose.

Via Dave's Daily

A New Feature...

Today I would like to add a new feature to my oft-ignored blog.

It's a joke that made me laugh.

This made me laugh yesterday, and it was hard to make me laugh yesterday; therefore, it's funny joke.

Here goes:

Two elderly gentlemen from a retirement center were sitting on a bench under
a tree when one turns to the other and says: "Slim, I'm 83 years old now and
I'm just full of aches and pains. I know you're about my age. How do you feel?"
Slim says, "I feel just like a newborn baby."
"Really!? Like a newborn baby!?"
"Yep. No hair, no teeth, and I think I just wet my pants."

This joke via www.bobandtom.com
Submitted by Ken G.
Thursday, February 23, 2006

cartoon via http://www.drdudd.co.uk/homelife/HomeMain.htm

Jack Bauer...Why We Need Him to Run The Country

You know, if Jack Bauer were indeed a real person, I believe that the right-minded thinkers of this nation would elect him to a very powerful position in our government. We need Jack to teach our leaders how to deal with terrorists, whiners, liberals, child abusers, sexual abusers, animal abusers, and other people who, for whatever reason, annoy us.

Neal Boortz, in his Boortz Blast newsletter, shared the following facts about Jack Bauer. These facts suggest, no, confirm, this nation's need for leaders who will just get the job done.

Basic Truths About 24's Jack Bauer
Killing Jack Bauer doesn't make him dead. It just makes him angry.

If Jack Bauer was in a room with Hitler, Stalin, and Nina Meyers, and he had a gun with 2 bullets, he'd shoot Nina twice.

If you wake up in the morning, it's because Jack Bauer spared your life.

Superman wears Jack Bauer pajamas.

If it tastes like chicken, looks like chicken, and feels like chicken, but Jack Bauer says its beef. Then you better believe it's beef.

Jack Bauer once forgot where he put his keys. He then spent the next half-hour torturing himself until he gave up the location of the keys.

1.6 billion Chinese are angry with Jack Bauer. Sounds like a fair fight.

Let's get one thing straight: the only reason you are conscious right now is because Jack Bauer does not feel like carrying you.

Jack Bauer was never addicted to heroin. Heroin was addicted to Jack Bauer.

Jack Bauer played Russian Roulette with a fully loaded gun and won.

When life gave Jack Bauer lemons, he used them to kill terrorists. Jack Bauer hates lemonade.

Jack Bauer once won a game of Connect 4 in 3 moves.

Osama bin Laden's recent proposal for truce is a direct result of him finding out that Jack Bauer is, in fact, still alive.

Jack Bauer is the leading cause of death in Middle Eastern men.

Jack Bauer doesn't miss. If he didn't hit you it's because he was shooting at another terrorist twelve miles away.

When Jack Bauer was a child, he made his mother finish his vegetables.

Jack Bauer killed 93 people in just 4 days time. Wait, that is a real fact.

Simon Says should be renamed to Jack Bauer Says because if Jack Bauer says something then you better do it.

Jack Bauer won the Tour de France on a unicycle to prove to Lance Armstrong it wasn't a big deal. He thinks yellow wristbands are gay.

When Jack Bauer pissses into the wind, the wind changes direction.

Jack Bauer's favorite color is severe terror alert red. His second favorite color is violet, but just because it sounds like violent.

When you open a can of whoop-ass, Jack Bauer jumps out.

When Google can't find something, it asks Jack Bauer for help.

You can lead a horse to water. Jack Bauer can make him drink.

Jack Bauer can get McDonald's breakfast after 10:30.

When the boogie man goes to sleep, he checks his closet for Jack Bauer.

Enough said.

If you would like to subscribe to the wit and wizdom of Mr. Boortz, go to his website here.

It'll make you a better American.

Also, make sure to check out Blogs4Bauer, a great place for any and every Jack Bauer fan.

Now go out and have a good day.

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Happy New Year (a little late)

One of my resolutions was to update a few times a week on this blog. As you can see, it's not one that I've kept up with. (Sigh)

It's going to be 60 someodd degrees here in Salisbury, Maryland today. It's almost the middle of January. I'm loving this weather, but I'm now afraid of what February will hold. You know, you always pay for great times with trying times. It's what makes you appreciate the great times.

Here's my resolution list, as of January 12, 2006:

Update blog
Start diet
Exercise
Learn to deal better with my two incurable, chronic illnesses.

That last one is the most important one. I'm a 45 year old woman who's less than responsible with my health, my diet and my attitude.

Now I'm going to go and watch the Alito hearings. I think that today Teddy K may explode.


Now, that's entertainment!

letter-verification thingy

Sorry guys, I'm getting too much spam. I've got to add the letter-verification thingy.

It's Whats for Dinner

One of my first stops this morning was a wonderful website by Wendy which celebrates old Weight Watcher meals. Got there via Dave Barry's blog, where there's a link to other great food pictures.

Here's the text that goes with the Frankfurter Spectacular picture:

I had no idea frankfurters could be so spectacular. Wow!

I would almost be willing to upholster a whole damn pineapple with pork product just to be able to say I was serving Frankfurter Spectacular. Say it with me: Frankfurter! Spectacular!

Why would you even want to eat this? Why, when you could keep your mouth busy for hours just by repeating the life-affirming phrase that is "Frankfurter Spectacular."

FRANKFURTER SPECTACULAR!

I remember looking through my grandmother's cookbooks as a child and seeing photos like these...to my young mind they seemed so elegant...

I believe if this was the only food offered, nobody would have a weight problem.

You really need to look at these, and these.

Fifth Anniversary of the U.S.S. Cole Bombing....hello? Is this thing on?

Today is the fifth anniversary of the murder of 17 American Sailors on the U.S.S. Cole. I remember seeing the images of the ship, a huge hole in the side. I remember seeing Yemenis clapping and dancing; celebrating the attack. I remember that it didn't stay in the news for long. It was a sucker punch to America, and unfortunately, the most powerful country in the world did nothing about it. It was part of what was to be the beginning of the war on terror; a war ignored for far too long.

I remember. And thanks to the blogosphere, others do too.

Alan Gray, a police officer in Gainesville, Florida, wrote a wonderful tribute to our fellow patriots who gave their lives on the U.S.S. Cole. Here's a link to his blog. Here's a link to his tribute. Thank you to Michelle Malkin, who led me there.

As expected, the MSM has ignored this day. That really pisses me off, but it doesn't surprise me. I can only imagine how that makes the families of the murdered soldiers feel.

Remember the U.S.S. Cole (DDG-67)
On October 12, 2000 at 1118 hrs a small boat approached the USS Cole, moored in Aden, Yemen for refueling, and detonated a bomb, killing 17 of our shipmates and wounding 39 others. Built in Pascagoula, MS and commissioned in 1996, the Cole is named for a Marine Corps machine-gunner killed on “Iwo Jima” in 1945. Fifty-five years after that epic battle, 17 young sailors, male and female, serving their nation would be killed by suicide bombers intent on bringing their Islamo-Facist global jihad against the West.

On this 5th anniversary, let us remember those who gave their all:

Hull Maintenance Technician 2nd Class Kenneth Clodfelter
Electronics Technician Chief Petty Officer Richard Costelow
Mess Management Specialist Seaman Lakeina Francis
Information Systems Technician Seaman Timothy Lee Gauna
Signalman Seaman Cherone Louis Gunn
Seaman James Rodrick McDaniels
Engineman 2nd Class Marc Ian Nieto
Electronics Warfare Technician 2nd Class Ronald Owens
Seaman Lakiba Nicole Palmer
Engineman Fireman Joshua Langdon Parlett
Fireman Patrick Howard Roy
Electronics Warfare Technician 1st Class Kevin Shawn Rux
Mess Management Specialist 3rd Class Ronchester Santiago
Operations Specialist 2nd Class Timothy Lamont Saunders
Fireman Gary Graham Swenchonis Jr.
Ensign Andrew Triplett
Seaman Craig Bryan Wibberley

True patriots are like those on the USS Cole that gave of themselves for our freedom, for our way of life. For our children’s safety tomorrow, they gave their lives. Each night we sleep in safety underneath a "blanket of freedom" only because those who wear our nation's uniform are standing ever vigilant ready to give their lives in defense of our liberty just as these sailors did on October 12, 2000. And everyone that enjoys the freedom that we have in America, should stop and say a prayer for the families of the sons and daughters that were taken from us and for those who were wounded. We also give thanks to those sailors who brought that terrible situation under control and praise them for their courage and selfless devotion to duty in such a tragic event.

At the Memorial Service for the USS Cole in Norfolk, Va. on October 18, 2000, speaking to the families of those killed, their fellow shipmates, and President Clinton, Admiral Robert J. Natter CINCLANTFLT stated, "Today we gather and pause as a nation, as a Navy, and as a family to remember and honor our shipmates on the Cole. We remember and honor their courage, and we remember and honor their service. But most of all, we remember and honor their answering of that highest call, and we remember and honor their ultimate sacrifice. Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen, when it comes time for our response, remember the Cole."

The sailors of the USS Cole live in our hearts; they live in our souls. Never forget those who died, never forget those who killed them...remember the Cole.

Remember the Cole.

Please Read and re-post on all available sources

Update: Jordan's home with the family who loves him!


Please, pass this along. This is serious. This is from Kim, a fellow blogger.

God Help Us

I have a very serious post.

This is Jordan. He is 6 years old. He is missing. He is our child.




Jordan is a child in my family. He was abducted Tuesday evening by his mother. I know that sounds strange but allow me to explain.

My ex husband fathered this child. He was not aware of his existence until the boy was a little over a year old. The mother, Nancy, approached our family with the news claiming she just wanted him to know about it and to give him the opportunity to get to know all of us.

Shortly after we met Jordan, we began to notice things that didn't make sense. Marks on the child's body, bruises in strange places, odd behavior. Once Jordan was able to talk, we learned that he had been suffering unspeakable abuse at the hands of his mother.

Physical abuse. Psychological abuse. Sexual abuse.

Told to us by this child in his own words.

My ex and my family began a legal battle that has been going on in the court system for more than 3 years. The courts had allowed my daughter Kimmy emergency custody of Jordan and his mother had been kept away from him because there was evidence that she has serious mental health issues and is a danger to herself and others. Jordan has undergone intense psychological therapy to correct the wrongs that were perpetrated against him and his life had just begun to take on a more normal existence including attending school.

Then the court system decided that it would be a good idea for the mother to have strictly supervised visitation with Jordan 4 hours a week.

During her last visit, Tuesday night (9-27-05), she took the child and ran. We have not been able to find her or Jordan since.

The FBI is searching. The police are searching. We are searching.

Yet Jordan still remains unfound.

Please look at this picture. Please read the information I'm about to tell you about him. Please ask your friends and family to learn the same. Contact your local police department if you have any information.

Jordan Rolfe (birth name) or Jordan Barry (name he chooses to use, our name)
Born: March 10, 1999

Height: 4 feet

Weight: 50 pounds

Hair : Dark Brown, straight, medium-short length

Marks: Scar on middle back, rash (exzema) on right arm and wrist, wart on right thumb.

Last seen wearing a grey shirt with a navy blue collar and blue shorts with orange flames on the sides.

Taken from the city of Strongsville, Ohio. Last seen in Lakewood, Ohio on Clifton Blvd. 9-28-05 at 10:00 a.m. We suspect that she will be trying to make her way either towards Mexico, or Florida.

Nancy Rolfe may be driving a White Chevy conversion van with light blue or green pin stripes. She may also be with a friend who drives a white Honda with black trim. Nancy may be going by the name "Flora" and may have altered her appearance to look like an older woman. Nancy is in her 40's, thin, dark hair and approx. 5'6" tall.




Jordan is at risk. He is in danger. We cannot get an Amber Alert issued because there is a custody case before the court, even though the judge, two different psychologists and a Guardian Ad Litum have all demanded that one be issued. There are cracks in the system, please help us to fill them and get the word out.

Please help. He calls me Grandma.

The contact info is:

Detective Sgt. Colegrove
Strongsville Police Dept.
(440) 238-7373

and

Special Agent Timothy J. Kolonick
FBI
(216) 662-6637

If anyone has anything at all to report, please do.

Also, we are offering a $10,000.00 cash reward to anyone offering any information that leads to his safe return.

I am also happy to report that the local news stations have finally aired this report! Keep your fingers crossed!

I Am Pro-Victory : Shout it Out Loud

Here's a link to a script for a wonderful graphic for us anti-anti-war people. The ones who actually support the troops.

Put it where everybody can see it.

Thanks to Jay-Tea at Wizbang, and also to the North American Patriot.

Nagin and Blanco...Both Against the Ropes

In the post-Katrina NOLA world, Mayor Ray Nagin and Governor Kathleen Blanco seemed to be on two very different pages. The finger-pointing began before the storm even started. They screwed up. Everybody screwed up. Local, state and federal governments should have learned a whole lot from this disaster. They probably won't, but we can always hope.

My husband told me an interesting fact last night; Nagin never supported Blanco. Hmmmm, that's interesting.

Nagin was a registered Republican, but switched over to the Democratic Party a few days before filing to become a candiate for New Orleans Mayor in 2002.

Nagin didn't like/support Blanco when she was running for governor. He supported her opponent, Republican Bobby Jindal in 2003.

Nagin also made a controversial endorsement of current Republican U.S. Representative Bobby Jindal in the 2003 Louisiana Gubernatorial Runoff over current Democratic Governor Kathleen Blanco, and only reluctantly endorsed U.S. Senator John Kerry in the 2004 Presidential race. (thanks to wikipedia.org)

His less than shining endorsement of Kerry sounds like he did it begrudgingly.

Could some of this be payback? I hope not. For the sake of those people down there, I really hope not.

Been a While

A few weeks ago, I went for a liver biopsy. Got the results. They weren't good.

While my doctor and I were concentrating on getting my Crohn's Disease under control, my Hepatitis C has been slowly damaging my liver. I have fibroids in 3/4 of my liver. Dr. R. is going to put me on Interfeuron for 48 weeks; it is successful in 45% of patients. I really hope that I'm in that 45 percentile group!

Richard and I spent the last weekend just being together...we seemed to be in a kind of mourning. We just sat quietly, and tried to put our heads together to see how we can handle this financially.

We've got a hurdle to cross, and it's a fairly big one. I have no prescription coverage from Medicare right now, and Richard's company dropped us as a family last January; when we went to get new, individual coverage (not as part of a group) we came to a wall that we couldn't get over...nobody will insure me due to the fact that I'm so sick.

This Pegasys drug that I'm supposed to start costs $750 per week. We're already laying out almost $500 per month for my crohn's meds.

Richard is going to be going on a service call with the CEO of his company, and is planning on leveling with him about our situation. Supposedly he is moving to Delaware, and maybe he's going to move the whole company closer, therefore maybe we could get group coverage again. Or something. Poor Richard, he's got so much on his shoulders right now. I feel so awful putting more of a burden on him.

I've sent in my resume for two jobs, one with Salisbury County and the other with Salisbury City. They have great benefits.

I've worked when I've been sick before, I can do it again. (I did it as a single mom for years!)

Please say a prayer for us if you're inclined to. We need all the grace we can get right now.

Sorry for bitching.....


Sorry, I'm venting.

Amid Katrina Chaos, Congressman Used National Guard to Visit Home

With all the finger-pointing and politicizing, I bet people aren't going to hear too much about this guy. Rep. William Jefferson, (D-La.) had the gall to use National Guard troops to check on his property and rescue his personal belongings, ABC News reports. He tied up two heavy trucks, and one helicopter. No clue as to how many personnel he used. He did this while people were still waiting to be rescued.

How come nobody is pointing the finger at him, and accusing him of "killing" people?

How come he's not "responsible"?

I'm so sick of the blame game.

h/t: fark.com

Patriot Day

Silence and respect.

Resolve.

Way too many people have forgotten already. Maybe because I'm a born and bred New Yorker, maybe because my husband was on a plane that morning.

But I haven't forgotten.

One image will bring back all of the emotions of that day; the tears come easily, the pain still there.

When he finally called me and told me he was ok, I laughed and I cried. But the surreal images on the television stay in my mind.

They don't play the scenes on television anymore. They say it's too "painful".

I think that they should show them every hour on the hour. They should be broadcast on billboards in every town.

Maybe then people would remember. Remember how they felt that day. Remember how it didn't matter whether you were Republican or Democrat. Liberal or Concervative. Catholic, Baptist, Hindi, Athiest.

We were one as a nation. We had been ambushed and sucker punched, and we circled the wagons.

But it didn't last long.

Please remember how you felt that day. Remember for every single person who died. Remember for every single person who had a friend or family member die. Remember for yourself.

I'll never forget.

Watch this video. Look at the faces of 9/11. Remember how you felt that day.

Thank you Beth at MVRWC. Thank you www.gunstuff.com for the video.

"A great people has been moved to defend a great nation. Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America. These acts shattered steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve."
George W. Bush
September 11, 2001

My House is a Money Pit

Richard and I bought our house in the year 2000; we fell in love with it on the internet, traveled to Maryland from New York to see it, and bought it on the spot.

They say that love makes you blind. Stupid, rash and impulsive. It's so very true. There were so many things about this house that we didn't notice. And we've been paying out the nose ever since. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love my house. It's beautiful. My gardens are wonderful. It's our first home; it's the first real home that our kids ever had.

The realtor, George, who resembled Col. Sanders without a beard, repeated several times that a neurosurgeon was the seller; he was obviously just trading up. We were (as George had hoped) duly impressed. After living here five years, I truly think that the neurosurgeon had the brains to get out just before things started breaking down.

My sister- and brother-in-law lived here for a year before we moved in; they were building their own house. We stayed in New York and let Maggie finish middle school, so that she would start high school here. It started fairly soon after Diane and Joe moved in. Hmmm, funny smell. Septic system needs pumping. No problem. Must just be full.

Approximately four weeks later, the septic system had to be pumped again. Uh oh, must be something more. It was. It was something MORE. A new leachfield had to be dug. Hello, Mr. Leon Johnson? Can you dig a really big hole in my backyard? You can? $5,000? OK. (Several days pass....) Hello, Mrs. Demers? We need to dig down more...you've got clay. That's going to be another $1,000. OK. " The Big Hole project gets done. Then comes the repair work....topsoil, wheelbarrels, shovels. Grass seed. We're grateful, because at least we'll never have to worry about the septic system again.

Cut to year 2005....mid-August. I've been meaning to call Roto-Rooter and get the septic tank drained (they recommend that you do it every three years). It's a routine thing...we've had a ton of rain. The nice Roto-Rooter man comes (his name is Dwayne, and I'm so sure that this man is horribly underpaid). He gets his big hoses, and he opens everything up. He sets about working on our system. About 45 minutes later, he's at the front door. "Mrs. Demers, uh, can I show you something in the back?" I have a feeling that this is NOT going to be good news.

Our leachfield is backing up into the third distribution box. For those of you who aren't familiar with these things (as I wasn't until Dwayne schooled me)...all the shit is going from the leachfield to the well, instead of vice versa. We need a leachfield rejuvination. Also, there's a cracked cover on one of the boxes.

This is going to cost $1,000.

So now I'm trying to find Mr. Leon Johnson who dug our leachfield. I've got a phone number, but I haven't seen any of his trucks around in a long time. Maybe he took everybody's money and ran. If I can find him, and it is indeed his fault, we're going to try and get him to right his wrongs. Otherwise, we're stuck again.

This is so shitty. (ha ha, a pun....)

Thanks for letting me vent.

NY slTimes Maintains Status Quo...Continues to "Shark Jump"

I just read on Drudge that the NY Times has opened an "exhausive investigative report" into the adoption records of John and Jane Roberts' children, Josie (5 years old) and Jack (4 years old). Both children were adopted from Latin America as infants.

HOW DARE THEY DO THIS.

They can't find anything on Roberts, so they look at his children? This is utterly unbelieveable.

The records are sealed, as they should be. I'm sure that the Times will cry to the ACLU, somehow feeling as though their civil rights are being violated because these files are sealed.

This makes me sick.

Poetic Justice

Once there was a teenaged boy, who was liked by a teenaged girl. The boy toyed with the girl's heart for a while...and then decided to date the girl's very good friend.

The girl was very hurt for awhile, but time has helped heal the wounds.

The girl was kind enough to invite the boy and the very good friend over tonight to swim.

They accepted.

One thing about this boy though...he's really afraid of dogs.

It's nice to see the girl be so forgiving.

However, the girl's mother is not so forgiving. Boys who toy with her daughter's heart are on the list forever.

So when Roxanne, the 204 lb St. Bernard (who has never liked this boy), and Mookie, the 65 pound Lab/Chesapeake mix (who loves to swim in the pool) went running outside, the mother smiled, ever so slightly.

When Mookie jumped into the pool and started to swim after the boy, the mother laughed out loud.

The mother went back into the house, knowing if she heard the boy scream like a girl, as much as she would enjoy it, she would be no more good for the day.

Poetic Justice.

WOOF WOOF

Fear the Stache, U.N.

Shamelessly cut and pasted from Preston at Six Meat Buffet, who says that the stache will be the new red ribbon, the "BOLTON AWARENESS STACHE!"

I think that we should all wear them.

Oh, so true...

Being Bobby Brown's Toilet

Have any of you seen the new "reality" show starring (and I use the term starring very loosely) Bobby Brown and Whitney Houston?

While laying in bed the other night, I was looking on my 100 channels for something to watch, which meant I was just holding the channel up button down, and going around and around and around. There's nothing good on tv.

Until I landed on Bravo's show Being Bobby Brown.

I watched it, not unlike one would watch a train wreck or a car accident. Morbid curiousity, horrific facination, sheer disbelief.

I discovered that I wouldn't want to "be" Bobby Brown. Nor would I want to "be" Whitney Houston. Nor would I want to "be" anywhere around these people.

They are awful. They appear to have a lack of social and parenting skills. (The way the younger daughter looks at her parents...it seems to be a cross between disbelief and hatred.) There seems to be a substance abuse problem.

Words I thought of while I was watching this show:

Self-centered, self-important, blowhard, egocentric, egomaniacal, egotistic, egotistical, grandstanding, hot-dogging, know-it-all, narcissistic, self-absorbed, self-indulgent, self-interested, self-involved, self-seeking, self-serving, selfish, swelled head, egoistic, egoistical, egomaniacal, egotistic, egotistical, megalomaniac, narcissistic, pompous, self-indulgent, self-interested, self-loving, self-serving, selfish, stuck-up.

There seems to be a serious "lack of class" problem here.

Matt Drudge had a link to a story the other day. Seems ole' Bob and Whit were having a romantic moment, Bob just having proposed again to Whit. Unfortunately, the moment was spoiled by Mr. Dumpy coming to call. But wait! Want to know the best part of all of this? It's all on tv! We can share these special moments with Bob and Whit!

But immediately after Houston accepted Brown's proposal, bodily functions became the dominant topic of discussion for the night, with the former NEW EDITION frontman dashing from the table to the bathroom while his wife explained to viewers of reality show BEING BOBBY BROWN, "He's had the runs since yesterday."

But wait! Picture in your head the glamarous Whitney Houston, blessed with one of the most beautiful voices in my lifetime...star of My Bodyguard with Kevin Costner...

Whitney then opened her mouth:

Houston's imminent need to defecate soon followed, after she complained about the cramps she was experiencing.

Before bolting from the table, she showed off her bloated stomach and affectionately told her husband, "I'm about to do the doo. I'm about to drop it on the one - a boat lad."

These are the role models that are on television? Give me a good book instead.

My Zen Moment of the Day

Raising teenagers is like trying to nail jello to a tree.

Truer words were never said.

Lid Blown On Women's Toilet Habits

OK, now here's a story worth blogging about.

Women's toilet habits. Specifically, women's public toilet habits.

It's a pet peeve of mine...ladies, how can you be such pigs when you are going to the bathroom? I have had to wait my turn in the ladies room many times, and many times an impeccibly dressed woman has exited the stall...you know the kind. Beautiful clothes, shoes; hair and makeup just right. Sometimes young, sometimes old. Race doesn't seem to be a factor. They nod to me as they hold the stall door open...I go in...and there's pee all over the seat.

Lid blown on women's toilet habits

July 28, 2005
From: AAP

IT'S enough to make you wonder why they insist on putting the seat down.
A new survey shows 22 per cent of professional Australian women crouch or squat over the toilets in their workplaces rather than risk contact with the seats.

And another 14 per cent - making more than a third of women overall - wipe the seat first, then crouch over the seat just to be safe.

Forty-six per cent of respondents wiped down the seat with toilet paper if they thought the seat appeared dirty, while 18 per cent simply refused to use their work toilets if they felt they were unclean.

I can't tell you how many times I've gone in to use the bathroom, and there is pee all over the seat, all over the floor, the toilet is left unflushed, etc. Do these women live like this at home?

What's worse, though, is the thought of some little minimum-wager earner having to go in there at the end of the day, and clean up after everybody.

I have Crohn's Disease and not using the bathroom at that time is usually not an option for me. Not sure if you know about Crohn's, but our bathroom trips are immediate, urgent and without warning.

Sometimes I wonder what happened to common courtesey and common sense. Use seat covers. Buy Clorox Wipes and carry them with you. There are ways around these nasty little germs that live on toilet seats.

If you feel you just can't make contact with that toilet seat, go ahead and hover over it. But use the muscles your maker gave you, stand still and AIM. And for God's sake, if you pee on the toilet seat, wipe it up.

I think that Dave Barry was making fun of the study (who thinks of these things??), but it touched a nerve in me.

Thanks to Dave Barry's blog, who has a link to what seems to be the Austrailian News Service.

PLEASE HELP Missing Girl in Marin County, CA

Cheryl Ann Magner

From ChristmasGhost, via Jay at Stop the ACLU; this girl is the niece of ChristmasGhost.

This is a photo of Cheryl Ann Magner.

She has been missing since the beginning of June. She was last seen in Marin County, Ca.

Please, anyone who has seen this 17 year-old girl please call 415-472-2994. This is her mother’s phone number…please do not call unless you have information that would be helpful.

Or call the San Rafael police dept. @ 415-485-3000 or www.srpd.org.
Any information or help would be greatly appreciated by the family.

UPDATE: The phone number for the Marin County Sheriff’s department is (415) 479-1601; you can contact that number too. (Thanks to Mill Valley Mom.)

ALSO: Anonymous tips can be called in to the Bay Area Crimestoppers at 1-800-2 GIVE INFO (1-800-244-8346).

:!: Please help spread the word :!:

Out of the Mouths of Babes

This was sent to me in an email, and I thought this was so funny...but also so true.

'Moses came down with the Ten Amendments, which were God's Bill of Wrongs.'
- Susie F., age 7

France Raises Terror Alert

This came to me in an email...made me laugh out loud. I love being anti-PC. I beg forgiveness from any persons French whose feelings matter to me....(huh?)

Subject: France Increases Terror Alert (AP)

The French government announced yesterday that it has raised its terror alert level from RUN to HIDE. The only two higher levels in France are SURRENDER and COLLABORATE. According to one French official, the change was not so much due to the recent terrorist activity in London but instead precipitated by a recent fire that destroyed France's white flag factory, effectively disabling its military.

Discovery

Wow.

I hope everybody watched it.

Wow.

GGOOOAAAALLLLL!!!

Pee Goal

The Pee Goal includes a nice pitch, a goal, and a ball on a string. You use your penis to push the ball into the goal, apparently.

Oh wait. Just re-read it. You use your URINE STREAM to push the ball into the goal. It’s about $20 in England, and I suspect you can take this around with you, drop it into a urinal, play a game or two, and then pack it up again. Quite a bit of fun, right?

Thanks to gizmodo.com and Dave Barry for this!

Richard, a.k.a. Clark Kent, a.k.a. A Nice Guy

I saw the following on the net, and it reminded me of my husband...the man it took me almost 40 years to find. A man that I hope is a model for my children; I hope that my daughter finds a husband as wonderful, and I hope that my son treats his wife as Richard treats me.

Richard has told me of the girls who were always his friend, but never more. The girls went for the "bad boys" (I know this for a fact. I married the bad boy. It almost killed me.)

Richard is my hero, my superman. He knows what I need, what I want, even before I do. He refuses to fight with me, even when I'm bitchy and looking for a fight with ANYBODY...he just lets it roll off of his shoulders. He's totally selfless. He dated me, a single mom with one teenager and one adolescent kid, and all three of us had piles and piles of emotional issues...enough baggage to require a large U-Haul to lug it around. And then he proposed, not just to me, but to all of us. We had a big, beautiful wedding. It was magic. And we're soon to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary.

Below is a tribute to the "nice guys". But they don't always finish last. I'm sure sometimes it feels like that to them. But I can tell you I'm extremely grateful to the women who thought they needed something more exciting than Richard. And thanks to Richard for waiting so long for me to find him.

I'm extremely grateful and constantly awed that Richard took a chance on somebody like me. I know I'm a constant challenge to him...mentally, physically, emotionally. He loves me for me, and I love him for him. He's no Tom Cruise, and I'm no Katie Holmes. Thank God for that.

But he is my Clark Kent, and I his Lois Lane. Until we're old and grey, sitting on a front porch in our rockers, watching the grandchildren.

And we're still holding hands.

This is a tribute to the nice guys. The nice guys that finish last, that never become more than friends, that endure hours of whining and bitching about what assholes guys are, while disproving the very point. This is dedicated to those guys who always provide a shoulder to lean on but restrain themselves to tentative hugs, those guys who hold open doors and give reassuring pats on the back and sit patiently outside the changing room at department stores. This is in honor of the guys that obligingly reiterate how cute/beautiful/smart/funny/sexy their female friends are at the appropriate moment, because they know most girls need that litany of support. This is in honor of the guys with open minds, with laid-back attitudes, with honest concern. This is in honor of the guys who respect a girl’s every facet, from her privacy to her theology to her clothing style.

This is for the guys who escort their drunk, bewildered female friends back from parties and never take advantage once they’re at her door, for the guys who accompany girls to bars as buffers against the rest of the creepy male population, for the guys who know a girl is fishing for compliments but give them out anyway, for the guys who always play by the rules in a game where the rules favor cheaters, for the guys who are accredited as boyfriend material but somehow don’t end up being boyfriends, for all the nice guys who are overlooked, underestimated, and unappreciated, for all the nice guys who are manipulated, misled, and unjustly abandoned, this is for you.

This is for that time she left 40 urgent messages on your cell phone, and when you called her back, she spent three hours painstakingly dissecting two sentences her boyfriend said to her over dinner. And even though you thought her boyfriend was a chump and a jerk, you assured her that it was all ok and she shouldn’t worry about it. This is for that time she interrupted the best killing spree you’d ever orchestrated in GTA3 to rant about a rumor that romantically linked her and the guy she thinks is the most repulsive person in the world. And even though you thought it was immature and you had nothing against the guy, you paused the game for two hours and helped her concoct a counter-rumor to spread around the floor. This is also for that time she didn’t have a date, so after numerous vows that there was nothing “serious” between the two of you, she dragged you to a party where you knew nobody, the beer was awful, and she flirted shamelessly with you, justifying each fit of reckless teasing by announcing to everyone: “oh, but we’re just friends!” And even though you were invited purely as a symbolic warm body for her ego, you went anyways. Because you’re nice like that.

The nice guys don’t often get credit where credit is due. And perhaps more disturbing, the nice guys don’t seem to get laid as often as they should. And I wish I could logically explain this trend, but I can’t. From what I have observed on campus and what I have learned from talking to friends at other schools and in the workplace, the only conclusion I can form is that many girls are just illogical, manipulative bitches. Many of them claim they just want to date a nice guy, but when presented with such a specimen, they say irrational, confusing things such as “oh, he’s too nice to date” or “he would be a good boyfriend but he’s not for me” or “he already puts up with so much from me, I couldn’t possibly ask him out!” or the most frustrating of all: “no, it would ruin our friendship.” Yet, they continue to lament the lack of datable men in the world, and they expect their too-nice-to-date male friends to sympathize and apologize for the men that are jerks. Sorry, guys, girls like that are beyond my ability to fathom. I can’t figure out why the connection breaks down between what they say (I want a nice guy!) and what they do (I’m going to sleep with this complete ass now!). But one thing I can do, is say that the nice-guy-finishes-last phenomenon doesn’t last forever. There are definitely many girls who grow out of that train of thought and realize they should be dating the nice guys, not taking them for granted. The tricky part is finding those girls, and even trickier, finding the ones that are single.

So, until those girls are found, I propose a toast to all the nice guys. You know who you are, and I know you’re sick of hearing yourself described as ubiquitously nice. But the truth of the matter is, the world needs your patience in the department store, your holding open of doors, your party escorting services, your propensity to be a sucker for a pretty smile. For all the crazy, inane, absurd things you tolerate, for all the situations where you are the faceless, nameless hero, my accolades, my acknowledgement, and my gratitude go out to you. You do have credibility in this society, and your well deserved vindication is coming

A Hot Sunday in July

Welcome to high summer. I've decided to make an executive decision and not weed anymore today, at least until after dusk, because the sun is hot and the thermometer is reading up above 90 degrees. I'm not complaining, even though this summer has been especially hard with the addition of my oh-so-special hot flashes. My first summer without a uterus or ovaries. Woot woot.

It's been a tough couple of weeks for us, with cars breaking down, Richard traveling every week, working between sixty and eighty hours, and then coming home to me telling him "the Sable is in the parking lot of the KFC, I couldn't get it started", "I picked up the radiator for the truck so you can put it in now...oh, it's the wrong size? I'll go back and exchange it, so you can spend part of next weekend working on the truck". Max spending all his time in Nanticoke with Kala. Maggie either working or with friends. She also got a tatoo last week. The corn in the garden's growth seems to be stunted; however, the weeds are doing wonderfully. The cat peed in the family room somewhere. The pool is getting algae in it and needs vacuuming. The pool light doesn't work.

Ah, but wait. Just wait a minute.

Let's look at this another way. Richard is traveling a lot, but he has a job (unlike other people). He comes home after a few days away (Carol's husband just passed away). Cars can get fixed...at least we have a car that works most of the time, and soon we'll have new ones). Max is spending a lot of time out of the house, but it's nice to see him smile when he talks about Kala. Maggie is working, which means she will be able to pay off her debt to us. Maggie also has been smiling more lately, due to her friends and a crush she has on somebody. The tatoo...well, she's 18, and it's her body. She may regret it someday (I regret the one I got so many years ago), and I'll try really hard not to say "I told you so". So the corn is growing slowly. I can go down the road five minutes and get fresh picked corn. Weeding the garden gives opportunity to be outside in the fresh air and the sun. The cat...well, there's nothing good about cat pee. Chemicals will fix the pool. Max owes me for driving him all over creation and can vacuum the pool. The light in the pool will draw bugs at night...better we don't turn it on.

What changed my mood today, from looking at the glass half-empty to totally full...it was a bald eagle I saw today, flying about 30 feet above my car. It was so beautiful, so majestic. I watched it fly, just mesmerized by it. I've only every seen three others in the wild, and I always feel the same way...grateful, awestruck and thankful for my surroundings. It's such a powerful symbol to me.

It really put everything in perspective.

Thank you, Mr. Eagle.

Now, back to those weeds.....

My New Hat

I ordered a Club Gitmo hat from rushlimbaugh.com



I can't wait for it to come. I'm going to wear it to our brand-new Starbucks. I hate Starbucks. It's full of uppity people who are too insecure to call a cup of coffee what it is...a cup of coffee.

I'll take a picture while I'm there. Woot woot. A good time will be had by all!

Prayers for Carol and Her Family

Carol, the wonderful muse who writes the blog An American Housewife, lost her husband very suddenly. It was only days ago she was talking about his doctor visit, how he was going to have to take it easy, how she was going to take care of him.

I can only imagine how lost she feels. But I've heard that she is surrounded by family and friends, which can only be good for her.

Please pray for her and her children. And take this as a learning opportunity. We never know what will happen. Love your husband or wife, your children, your family, as much and as often as you can.

Carol, be strong. We love you.

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

As we come up to this 4th of July, as we celebrate our independence and our freedom, everyone should take at least one moment to thank a serviceperson, either in person or through prayer, for the sacrifices that they have made for our country, and for us.

An American Housewife has a piece today about The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier...and it makes me want to see it. Thank you Carol...you've taught me today.

I'm totally cutting and pasting...not only because it's late, but because I couldn't improve on this post.

Tomb Of The Unknown Soldier

Received this via email from a friend and thought I'd pass it on. I have had the opportunity, many times, to watch this respectful and dignified ceremony. It is a sight to see.

As we are between Memorial Day and the 4th of July, two of the most patriotic and inspiring holidays our nation observes, I thought it would be a good time to send this on. I have seen this ceremony every time I have been to Washington D.C. and the impressiveness of it never pales. It is an awesome site that everyone should see at least once. You will never forget it if you do.

This is really an awesome sight to watch if you've never had the chance .. Very fascinating.

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

1. How many steps does the guard take during his walk across the
tomb of the Unknowns and why?

21 steps. It alludes to the twenty-one gun salute, which is the
highest honor given any military or foreign dignitary.

2. How long does he hesitate after his about face to begin his
return walk and why?

21 seconds for the same reason as answer number 1

3. Why are his gloves wet?

His gloves are moistened to prevent his losing his grip on the
rifle.

4. Does he carry his rifle on the same shoulder all the time
and if not, why not?

He carries the rifle on the shoulder away from the tomb.
After his march across the path, he executes an about face
and moves the rifle to the outside shoulder.

5. How often are the guards changed? Guards are changed every thirty minutes, twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year.

6. What are the physical traits of the guard limited to?

For a person to apply for guard duty at the tomb, he must be
between 5' 10" and 6' 2" tall and his waist size cannot exceed 30." Other requirements of the Guard: They must commit 2 years of life to guard the tomb, live in a barracks under the tomb, and cannot drink any alcohol on or off duty for the rest of their lives. They cannot swear in public for the rest of their lives and cannot disgrace the uniform {fighting} or the tomb in any way. After two years, the guard is given a wreath pin that is worn on their lapel signifying they served as guard of the tomb. There are only 400 presently worn. The guard must obey these rules for the rest of their lives or give up the wreath pin.

The shoes are specially made with very thick soles to keep the heat
and cold from their feet. There are metal heel plates that extend to the top of the shoe in order to make the loud click as they come to a halt. There are no wrinkles, folds or lint on the uniform. Guards dress for duty in front of a full-length mirror.

The first six months of duty a guard cannot talk to anyone, nor
watch TV. All off duty time is spent studying the 175 notable people laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery. A guard must memorize who they are and where they are interred. Among the notables are: President Taft, Joe E. Lewis {the boxer} and Medal of Honor winner Audie Murphy, {the most decorated soldier of WWII} of Hollywood fame.

Every guard spends five hours a day getting his uniforms ready for
guard duty.

ETERNAL REST GRANT THEM O LORD, AND LET PERPETUAL LIGHT SHINE UPON THEM.

In 2003 as Hurricane Isabelle was approaching Washington, DC, our
US Senate/House took 2 days off with anticipation of the storm. On the ABC evening news, it was reported that because of the dangers from the hurricane, the military members assigned the duty of guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier were given permission to suspend the assignment. They respectfully declined the offer, "No way, Sir!" Soaked to the skin, marching in the pelting rain of a tropical storm, they said that guarding the Tomb was not just an assignment, it was the highest honor that can be afforded to a serviceperson. The tomb has been patrolled continuously, 24/7, since 1930.

God Bless and keep them.

Get Your Dirt to the Supreme Court

Why is it that when I watch the news, I get sick to my stomach. It's been going on for several weeks now. I feel sadness. I feel helpless.

I feel like the Constituion of these United States has been ripped out from under our feet by the Supreme Court. That the needs of the special interest groups far outweigh the needs of the people. That the real estate investment market is dead.

For those of us upset over the demise of the constitution, i.e. the recent Eminent Domain decision by the SCOTUS, Stephen Gordon over at The Free Liberal has a truly wonderful idea.

He sends a nod to a guy who has decided to file for David Souter's property: "One man is attempting to use this decision to force Justice David Souter from his home -- so that he may establish the 'The Lost Liberty Hotel' and 'Just Desserts Cafe�' in its place.

Love the names.

But then, Mr. Gordon has a brilliant idea, in the manner of the Boston Tea Party:

All of us may not have the opportunity to dispossess the Supremes of their fine homes. While humorous, some of us may even have moral qualms about the stealing part – even if it is from the enemy.

However, we have the opportunity to act in a totally moral and lawful manner in order to express our discontent. Let’s throw some serious sand into the gears of the government machine. They have asked for real property, so let us send it to them.

Real property (land) is composed primarily of dirt. The entire incident in Kelo is over who possesses a bunch of dirt.

The people in the area in which I live are proud of their soil – as is the case in most other places. Perhaps this eminent domain issue may be remedied by providing the landgrabbers a lot of dirt – enough dirt so they won’t have to steal it from the poor and the elderly again.

Radio talk show host Neal Boortz recently stated, “All property isn't dirt”. However, in this case, it is. Let’s give ’em some!

Some addresses to which you may mail your dirt are:

Dave Goebel
Chief Operating Officer
New London Development Corporation
165 State Street, Suite 313
New London, CT 06320

Richard M. Brown
City Manager
City of New London
181 State Street
New London, CT 06320

Justice John Paul Stevens
One First Street N.E.
Washington, DC 20543

Justice David H. Souter
One First Street N.E.
Washington, DC 20543

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
One First Street N.E.
Washington, DC 20543

Justice Stephen G. Breyer
One First Street N.E.
Washington, DC 20543

Justice Anthony M. Kennedy
One First Street N.E.
Washington, DC 20543"

Terrorists in Sheep's Clothing

This is Fred Phelps. He's the so-called "Pastor of the Westboro Baptist Church in Westboro, KS.

Jay Tea, over at Wizbang, posted today about this group of...I hesitate to call them people...monsters. It surprised me, only because I couldn't even imagine people this twisted and sick. (For Jay's post, where he describes how the Marblehead, Massachusetts' Police Department handled this group's "protest" at a soldier's funeral, go here.)

"The Westboro Baptist Church is a truly unique cult of whackoes who manage to simultaneously embarrass the town of Westboro, Kansas, the Baptist faith, and churches in general by their simple existence. Their frothing-at-the mouth hatred of all things homosexual has evolved (or devolved) from "God hates fags" to "God hates America for not wiping out the fags," and now their latest attention-whoring tactics are to show up and celebrate the funerals of soldiers killed in Iraq.

They came to the town of Marblehead, Massachusetts recently to spew their filth at the funeral of Christopher Piper. Piper had served for ten years in the Marine Corps, left the service, then re-joined the Army and won the coveted Green Beret. And recently, he died of wounds from a roadside bomb in Afghanistan."

How sick is it to celebrate the death of someone fighting for the freedoms that we enjoy. How sick is it to condemn others, just because they aren't like you. Funny, this group doesn't sound too different than the 19 who flew into the towers; the Taliban and Osama, who masterminded the plan. Saddam, who killed and had killed millions, just because.

The Westboro Baptist Church group, led by Fred Phelps (I just can't bring myself to call him Pastor), is fueled on hate. Below is text right from their website:

WBC engages in daily peaceful sidewalk demonstrations opposing the homosexual lifestyle of soul-damning, nation-destroying filth. We display large, colorful signs containing Bible words and sentiments, including: GOD HATES FAGS, FAGS HATE GOD, AIDS CURES FAGS, THANK GOD FOR AIDS, FAGS BURN IN HELL, GOD IS NOT MOCKED, FAGS ARE NATURE FREAKS, GOD GAVE FAGS UP, NO SPECIAL LAWS FOR FAGS, FAGS DOOM NATIONS, etc.

Perceiving the modern militant homosexual movement to pose a clear and present danger to the survival of America, exposing our nation to the wrath of God as in 1898 B.C. at Sodom and Gomorrah, WBC has conducted over 32,000 such demonstrations since June, 1991, at homosexual parades and other events (including funerals of impenitent sodomites, like Matthew Shepard). WBC teams have picketed all over the United States, and internationally (including Canada, Jordan and Iraq). The unique picketing ministry of Westboro Baptist Church has received international attention, and WBC believes this gospel message to be this world's last hope.

Upon checking at their site, I see they are going to be protesting in Dover, Delaware at the Dover Air Force Base. July 11th. 8:00 a.m. I'm only two hours from Dover.

I wonder if somehow there can be a group there to meet these crazy people. A bigger group, with bigger signs. Signs that will show support of our soldiers, and of our country. Anbody want to go with me? I'm so mad, I'll go with just my kids, my dogs and my cats!

People need to know about these crazy, scary people. First amendment rights, my ass! There needs to be a limit somewhere, somehow. But no. The SCOTUS is busy keeping us safe from framed Ten Commandments in courthouses.

Check out these losers:
The Westboro Baptist Church Home Page

Special Force Being Sent to Iraq

Git er done.

Thank you to Beth at MVRWC for the following:

The Pentagon announced today the formation of a new 500-man elite fighting unit called the US Redneck Special Forces (USRSF).

These men from Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, Georgia, and North and South Carolina will be dropped into Iraq and have been given the following information about terrorists:

1. The season opened today.
2. There is no limit.
3. They taste just like chicken.
4. They don’t like beer, pickups, country music, or Jesus.
5. They are directly responsible for the death of Dale Earnhardt.

The war in Iraq should be over in a week.

Updating: Family, Bad Prom Dates and Idiot Taxi Drivers

So many things have gone on that I haven't written about....been out of the loop for a while. My Maggie graduated from high school at the beginning of the month, and there was much happiness, drama, comedy and food. (What else?) The family came together, somewhat, for the occasion. I cried at the ceremony, as I watched her cross the stage with her diploma. Yes, I was very proud. Actually, still am. She's a great kid....and growing up (and growing away) way too fast for me.

Max had his first formal dance the night of Maggie's graduation party (great timing, Salisbury Middle School!) So I got to see him in a tie two nights in a row. He and Kala went to the dance, and they had a good time. They actually got a picture together, and are both smiling. Cute stuff. We like her. She seems like a great girl.

This past weekend we went up to NY for my father-in-law's 70th birthday party. About 50 people were there, family and friends....it was nice. We stayed with Mom and Dad Demers...Richard got to play golf with his Dad, which was nice. Sunday, most of the males (young and old) played football out in the street. Joe and Richard both tested the hardness of the pavement with different parts of their bodies...Joe with his face, and Richard with his hand and arm. Blood everywhere. But bandaids were applied....and the game continued.

Maggie stayed in NY for the week, seeing old friends, and tonight, going to prom with Nick Spiegel from Hampton Bays. Unfortunately, Nick turned out to be a DICK, leaving her alone at the prom and hanging out with his friends. She ended up calling a cab back to her car, and is currently on the way back to Massapequa, to the safety of her grandparents house.

I would really like to get in my car right now, and head for long island, where I would first deal with Mr. Nick Spiegel; I would like to tell him exactly how I feel about how he treated my daughter. If I could, I would put a pox on him.

Then I'd like to talk to the taxi driver who charged my daughter $40.00 to take her back to her car; first of all, cameljockey, learn to speak english. Secondly, when you have a job as a taxi driver, it's up to YOU to know where the fuck you are going. That's why you have a DISPATCHER. Here in America we have a thing called a MAP. The driver does not yell at the passenger because she does not know how to get to a certain location. That is why he is the DRIVER and she is the PASSENGER.

If anybody reads this who knows Nick Spiegel of Hampton Bays, NY, do me a favor. Somebody please give him a frigging clue about how to treat other people.

Oh The Humanity

Now, I'm a Christian Conservative Woman....and I trust with all my heart in my country and my military....but this is just too horrible.....

TIME Exclusive: Inside the Wire at Gitmo

TIME OBTAINS SECRET INTERROGATION LOG FROM GUANTANAMO; INCLUDES MOMENT-BY-MOMENT ACCOUNT OF INTERROGATION OF DETAINEE WHO U.S. BELIEVES WAS THE ‘20TH HIJACKER’

Dripping Water or Playing Christina Aguilera Music: After the new measures are approved, the mood in al-Qahtani’s interrogation booth changes dramatically. The interrogation sessions lengthen. The quizzing now starts at midnight, and when Detainee 063 dozes off, interrogators rouse him by dripping water on his head or playing Christina Aguilera music. According to the log, his handlers at one point perform a puppet show “satirizing the detainee’s involvement with al-Qaeda.” He is taken to a new interrogation booth, which is decorated with pictures of 9/11 victims, American flags and red lights. He has to stand for the playing of the U.S. national anthem. His head and beard are shaved. He is returned to his original interrogation booth. A picture of a 9/11 victim is taped to his trousers. Al-Qahtani repeats that he will “not talk until he is interrogated the proper way.” At 7 a.m. on Dec. 4, after a 12-hour, all-night session, he is put to bed for a four-hour nap, TIME reports.

Christina Agulera music? Pictures of victims? Forced shaving? Where is Amnesty International when you need them????

Thank God for the mainstream media; otherwise we wouldn't hear of these atrocities.

(This is sarcasm, by the way. Just in case you thought otherwise...)

(HT: Drudge Report)

A Crying Shame

This is an abomination. Beth, over at My Vast Right Wing Conspiracy (What the fuck?!?!), and Jay Tea, over at Wizbang (Pissing on Three Thousand Graves), both have the following story:

The World Trade Center Memorial will break ground this year. When those Marines return in 2010, the year it is scheduled to open, no doubt they will expect to see the artifacts that bring those memories to life. They’ll want a vantage point that allows them to take in the sheer scope of the destruction, to see the footage and the photographs and hear the personal stories of unbearable heartbreak and unimaginable courage. They will want the memorial to take them back to who they were on that brutal September morning.
…
The organizers of its principal tenant, the International Freedom Center (IFC), have stated that they intend to take us on “a journey through the history of freedom” — but do not be fooled into thinking that their idea of freedom is the same as that of those Marines. To the IFC’s organizers, it is not only history’s triumphs that illuminate, but also its failures. The public will have come to see 9/11 but will be given a high-tech, multimedia tutorial about man’s inhumanity to man, from Native American genocide to the lynchings and cross-burnings of the Jim Crow South, from the Third Reich’s Final Solution to the Soviet gulags and beyond. This is a history all should know and learn, but dispensing it over the ashes of Ground Zero is like creating a Museum of Tolerance over the sunken graves of the USS Arizona.
…
Ground Zero has been stolen, right from under our noses. How do we get it back?

Ms. Burlingame is a member of the board of directors of the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation and the sister of Charles F. “Chic” Burlingame III, pilot of American Airlines fight 77, which was crashed at the Pentagon on September 11, 2001.

Yeah, you’re getting the cut-and-paste bit here. I am
fucking speechless. Outraged and utterly fucking speechless. You HAVE to read it.

I have also resorted to the cut-and-paste thing...Ground Zero is not an alter to tolerance. It is a site where thousands of people were murdered by radical islamic terrorists.

There's plenty of other places to build a church dedicated to kissing everybody's ass that ever felt slighted by anybody else.

Ground Zero is hollowed ground. No apologies allowed. No anti-American slogans. No bullshit.

Please please please help to prevent this from happening.

Start by contacting NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Then Gov. George Pataki.

It's a Rainy Wednesday

Blah...it's cold here in Maryland. My Crohn's is kicking my butt (literally) today, so it was a day sitting in front of the computer, listening to Boortz, Limbaugh, and now, the Bob and Tom Show from yesterday morning that I missed. Got the graduation announcements out, so that's a good thing.

Today I learned what a "Rainbow Party" is, and I also learned that Planned Parenthood suggests to 8th graders that they use Saran Wrap for protection so that they can enjoy oral and anal sex.

8th graders???? My son is in 8th grade.

Nothing but good news from the left. 13 year old girls don't need parental consent to have an abortion. My kid can't taken an aspirin to school for menstrual cramps without a note from the Pope himself, yet it's ok for a 13 year old girl to have an abortion without parental consent.

It's been deemed "unconstitutional" that prisoners wear shackles and chains in court. They are prisoners. Prisoners get chained up. You break the law, you lose your right to freedom. With all the recent violence against judges lately, I would have thought they would have put more chains on them.

Damn, there's something wrong with this world today.

I wrote the check for Maggie's entry into Dowling College. Wow. Talk about blood, sweat and tears. I really was hoping that she'd stay local for the first two years; but she said that if she doesn't go away, she'll never know what it was like, and she didn't want to have any regrets. We just don't want her to get in over her head.

BUT ANYWAY....

She did pick a major. My daughter is going to be a Psychologist. Funny, that's what she started with so many years ago. The circle is complete.

The mom is tired. I think I'm getting another fistula...it feels just like that first one. Damn it. Can't do anything about it until after graduation and company leaves!

STAR WARS CRISIS: Two hurt in mock light sabre duel

Two Star Wars fans are in a critical condition in hospital after apparently trying to make light sabres by filling fluorescent light tubes with petrol. Here's the link:

BBC NEWS | England | Beds/Bucks/Herts | Two hurt in mock light sabre duel

These people are STRANGE.

Bill Maher is a Pig

This from Neal Boortz at boortz.com:

"So, Bill Maher thinks that the men and women serving in our military are "low lying fruit." In fact, the words he used are "Low-lying Lyndee England fruit." So, here it starts. Is this our signal that the Hollywood culture and the media thinks that it's time to start denigrating the men and women who liberated Afghanistan and Iraq, and who are putting their lives on the line overseas to fight the war on Islamic terrorism? It would seem so."

Bill Maher has some nerve. He's a pig. What an ass. How dare he. I'm controlling my fingers here, because I would like to be typing some really foul language here.

No matter how you feel about the war on terror, or Iraq, or Afganistan, you must support the people of the military, who sacrifice their normal lives for us; they sacrifice, their families sacrifice. And some pay the ultimate sacrifice.

Bill Maher isn't even worthy of licking the sand from their boots.

Thanks to www. strangemilitary.com for the pic!

WANTED: John Dallas Lockhart

CAUGHT CAUGHT CAUGHT CAUGHT

The U.S. Marshal's 15 Most Wanted List has John Dallas Lockhart on it's list. Why? Do you really want to know? I hope you aren't eating your breakfast. If you are, stop. Sit down and read.

This man is on the Marshal's Most Wanted List because he raped a 4 MONTH OLD BABY and TOOK PICTURES of this horrific act. He is on the loose and authorities say he could be in New York.

Oh, that's not all folks, there's more. He is a lawyer, in Akron, Ohio and apparently some software guys came in to do a regular routine computer maintenance for the law firm he worked for and found the pictures. About 100 pornograhic pictures were retrieved from his computer. I don't think the BABY is his only victim either.

SICK SICK SICK - A 4 MONTH OLD BABY!

Posted by An American Housewife at May 24, 2005 12:49 AM

Thank you An American Housewife for this information. I've simply cut and pasted her entry...because I couldn't say it better.

All my relatives in New York...pass this on.

Keep your eyes open.

Thank You Michael Yon...We Owe You a Big One

Michael Yon/Mosul 2005

This is Michael Yon's pictures...and here is a link to his post. He's a photograher currently in Iraq...with a different side of the story to tell regarding recent goings on....

He's quite a writer....and just what more people need to see and hear. Unfortunately, the MSM won't pick up on a story like this. They're too busy making sure that President Bush doesn't overstep his bounds holding Newsweek accountable for recent stories.

Thanks to Beth over at My Vast Right Wing Conspiracy for this one.

First Amendment My Ass

Michael Crook is one of the most ridiculous people I've seen in a while. He seems to like saying whatever to get a rise out of people. Have you seen his website? He speaks of seat belts and old drivers...divorces and cats and children. So far removed from what I can only imagine is "the dark side" of Michael Crook. The side of him that hates the country that he lives in; the side of him that hates the men and women who are sworn to protect us.

I guess the guy does have the right to say what he wants, but I still would relish removing his spleen with a grapefruit spoon. (This is the dark side of me...I hate trolls who are hypocrites).

What a douche.

He's got a new website coming also...bashing the police.

It's treason. Plain and simple.

I didn't see the interview on Hannity and Colmes (Alan Colmes resembles a turtle in the worst way). I'll try and catch it on the rerun, if I've got insomnia (or if I'm still waiting for my teenage son to get in tonight!)

Thanks to Six Meat Buffet for this.

Tell Us Something We Already Knew

Finally, people are getting it!

Some very sound reasons why everybody hates the French.

And I quote:

Why the French are the worst company on the planet, a wry take on France by two of its citizens, dredges up all the usual evidence against them. They are crazy drivers, strangers to customer service, obsessed by sex and food and devoid of a sense of humour. But it doesn't stop there, boasting a breakdown, nation by nation, of what in the French irritates them. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Britons described them as "chauvinists, stubborn, nannied and humourless". However, the French may be more shocked by the views of other nations. For the Germans, the French are "pretentious, offhand and frivolous". The Dutch describe them as "agitated, talkative and shallow." The Spanish see them as "cold, distant, vain and impolite" and the Portuguese as "preaching". In Italy they comes across as "snobs, arrogant, flesh-loving, righteous and self-obsessed" and the Greeks find them "not very with it, egocentric bons vivants". Interestingly, the Swedes consider them "disobedient, immoral, disorganised, neo-colonialist and dirty".

The French, in their own defense, cried:

"We are admired for our trains, the Airbus and Michelin tyres. But the buck stops there," he said.

Ha.

Thanks to Dave Barry's Blog for this one.

Newsweek and Responsibility

I feel like I haven't written anything humorous or just interesting about my life in a while. I'm still stuck on this Newsweek story, and the subsequent fallout from it.

I can't get past the fact that a supposedly credible news source can just say "sorry" and a whole lot of people say that the apology is enough. It's not.

But I also see the images of the riots, the so-called jihad; the 15 people dead, the hundreds wounded. There's no "sorry" coming for these victims. It reminds me a bit of the L.A. riots, et. al., when something happens you don't like, you destroy your own world, your own town, your own people.

We live in an age of "it's not really my fault". Nobody accepts responsibility any more.

I have tried to teach my own two children that you must accept the consequences for your actions; whatever you do, good or bad, you own it.

It's hard to give them examples of this in life outside our house when everything is excused for one reason or another.

It makes me sick.

Credibility and the Mainstream Media

Wizbang on the Newsweek situation
What do you do about a situation like this...and why aren't more people upset about it?

There seems to be differing opinions at Wizbang, but the majority seem to feel that Newsweek should be hung out to dry.

I'm going to go and think about this while I vacuum my house. I do my best thinking when I do housework (that's why my house is dirty and my blog is boring.. ha ha).

Rebuild the Twin Towers - Bloggermann - MSNBC.com

Rebuild The Towers...almost...
This is a bit of a long read; however, it's a good read.

Wow, this is from a man I don't always agree with, but on this one he makes so much sense to me. I really like the idea of building one of them 229 feet, 4 inches shorter than the other...read on for explanation.

Rebuild them! (Keith Olbermann)

SECAUCUS - They were just a few feet tall and not even as solidly constructed as the old architectural models my father would sometimes bring home from the office for me when I was a kid - but they affected me in a way I never would have imagined.

The towers of The World Trade Center.

They were in our studios yesterday, plastic recreations of the originals, dragged in by groups who are taking advantage of the security concerns about the planned “Freedom Tower” to push the simple idea that the best way to memorialize the victims and restore the community is to re-build the towers exactly as they stood until three and a half years ago.

They’re absolutely right - with one minor caveat. One of the towers should be exactly 229 feet, four inches shorter than the other. I’ll explain why in a bit.

Before that, I have a confession to make. My first job in television was in the lobby of WTC #1 (as they used to call it; I never heard “North Tower” or “South Tower” until the day of the attacks). That’s where CNN’s New York bureau was located until 1984 - behind a two-story thick glass wall that, when we put the studio lights on, made us look like a very cheap high school science experiment.

I hated the place. I mean, if you work in the city’s tallest building and you’re stuck in the lobby, you develop a mean streak about it. The place was comically understaffed (the first two years, we didn’t have a receptionist - whoever was closest to the front door opened it, for staffers, visitors, and bag ladies alike). The commute - from almost anywhere else in the city - was wearying. The mall beneath the towers was a desert, and the neighborhood a wasteland (the dilapidated old West Side Highway still stood - kinda - out the doors to West Street, and the only amusements were those days when big hunks of it would crash to the roadway below). Worst of all, the air conditioning used to go out on an almost regular basis. You’ve never known heat until you’ve worked in a television studio without ventilation. Suits pressed while you wear them.

As I hinted above, my father’s an architect, so I had inherited the typical aesthetic condescension of his profession. What the heck was this Trade Center design supposed to be? The world’s largest salute to Oblong, perhaps - with the faux-gothic grillwork on the outside tacked on in a fruitless attempt to class up the joint.

I went in there to clean out my desk on the afternoon of Saturday, March 31, 1984. I would not return until September 11, 2001.

Suddenly, of course, the sense of drudgery that only a disliked workplace can represent had been transformed into the terrible meaning we all now intuit. And that gaudy grillwork - the only remains standing - stuck out against the smoking pyre of the place with the starkness, and the sudden antiquity, of the Roman Colloseum. The feelings, I needn’t tell you. 40 days as a street reporter in and around the scene of the catastrophe managed to reshape even my memories of the buildings I once dismissed as merely a great deal of weight sitting on top of the place I did my sportscasts.

And as the searing pain of those first few weeks gradually gave way to sadness and thoughts of what, if anything, should be placed on this most hallowed ground, the only thing, the only thing that seemed to make sense, was the towers recreated, as originally designed, oblong boxiness and all - with that one minor caveat about the 229 feet and four inches. I wasn’t among the voices insisting that only rebuilding it as it was would show we hadn’t been “beaten” - merely that all other forms of construction there would offend the sensibility, and diminish, not enhance, the remembrance.

I hadn’t thought much of it lately. The process of healing is a regretful one in a way. We’re designed to forget - not forget the whole, but merely the sharp edges. I hadn’t forgotten the Trade Center, nor my three years in it. Nor had I forgotten the fact that some creatures had managed to use two planes that each contained a friend of mine (Ace Bailey, the former hockey player and executive, was on one, and Tom Pecorelli, who had been one of the studio cameramen for my shows at Fox Sports, was on the other), to kill so many innocents in the buildings, including two college classmates of mine (Mike Tanner and Eamon McEneaney, who happened also to have been the quarterback and the receiver for Cornell University in the first sporting event I ever actually got paid to cover).

Those things hadn’t passed, and they won’t. Nor will the simple reality that it all happened - a reality that will still of a morning unexpectedly punch me in the stomach, or make me wonder for a moment if something so horrible could’ve actually occurred, or if I must have imagined it in a consummate moment in a dream from an endless night.

But I’d forgotten about the rightness of putting the Trade Center back where it stood. Forgotten it, until I saw that model yesterday, and it all came back to me.

The “Freedom Tower” design wasn’t somebody trying to be disrespectful; it was just the unavoidable project of an architectural trend in which everything must look like somebody just built it with a kid’s erector set. The Hearst/Conde Nast building is just getting finished not far from my home, and it’s that same style: Attach Beam A to Side Support B, Tap Support B with a pen to make sure it sounds as tinny as it looks.

But it was wrong.

The best way - the only way - to further soothe the pain is, as the proponents including Donald Trump are suggesting, to rebuild it as it was. Which brings me to my caveat.

I’d use the original blueprints and design the “new” Trade Center exactly as it had been. But I’d insist that one of the towers be exactly 229 feet, four inches shorter than the other. It’s an uncomplicated gimmick to guarantee remembrance. Because, as long as these new towers would stand, someone unaware would ask, “why is one of them shorter than the other?” Whereupon an old-timer could explain, solemnly, that the difference between the heights of the towers is intentional - it’s exactly 2,752 inches.

One inch for each of the victims.

It’s all the memorial we really need.

Thank you Keith. I like the way you think.

Jesus Christ...He Just Wants a License

Last week, I was registering with some website that asked me for a "screename". So I went with repeating my first name two times and then my last name, margomargodemers. Well, I got a nasty message from this website, because I had used an illegal series of letters. The last two letters of my first name and the first letter of my last name spell G O D.

We can't have that now. It might offend somebody.

So when I saw this story from MSNBC.com, I was relating to this guy....I wish they had shown a picture of him though.

From MSNBC.com: Jesus Christ has trouble with graven image

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Even Jesus Christ can’t circumvent the rules for getting a driver’s license in West Virginia.

Attempts to prove his name really is Christ have led the man born as Peter Robert Phillips Jr. through a lengthy legal battle and a recent victory in the District of Columbia Court of Appeals.

“This all started with him expressing his faith and his respect and love for Jesus Christ,” attorney A.P. Pishevar told The Associated Press. “Now he needs to document it for legal reasons.”

Described by his attorney as a white-haired businessman in his mid-50s, Christ is moving to West Virginia to enjoy a slower lifestyle. He bought property near Lost River, about 100 miles west of Washington, and has a U.S. passport, Social Security card and Washington driver’s license bearing the name Jesus Christ.

Original name
But he still falls short of West Virginia title and license transfer requirements because his Florida birth certificate has his original name on it and he has been unable to obtain an official name change in Washington.

“We just need official documentation that that’s his name,” said Doug Stump, commissioner of the West Virginia Division of Motor Vehicles. “He will be treated no different than anybody else.”

Christ applied for the legal name change in May 2003, but it was denied by District of Columbia Superior Court Judge Tim Murphy because “taking the name of Jesus Christ may provoke a violent reaction or may significantly offend people.”

In his appeal, Christ’s attorney argued that Phillips had changed his name to Jesus Christ 15 years earlier, and “has been using the name since then without incident.”

The appeals court last month sent the name-change proposal back to the lower court, saying some required hearings in the case had not been held.

Any comment from the man in the middle of this legal tussle?

“Christ is not speaking to the press at this time,” Pishevar said.

© 2005 The Associated Press.

Stray Dog in Kenya Saves Abandoned Baby

I always knew there was a reason why most of the time I like dogs better than people....

www.winktv.com/x466.xml?URL=http://localhost/APWIREFEED/d8a016rg2.xml

Hat Tip: Wizbang

CNN.com - Father charged in girls' deaths - May 10, 2005

CNN.com - Father charged in girls' deaths - May 10, 2005

Why is this man even alive? Why is he out of jail? He chased people with a chainsaw.

Those poor babies.

THIS is why I'm for capital punishment.

Happy Birthday Maggie

Wow. My daughter is 18. She went to her senior prom tonight, looking very much older than 18. But then, she got the giggles, and she looked way younger than 18.

I don't know if it's a Maryland thing, a southern thing....or just a today thing. But, my god, you would have thought that the Reverent Sun Myung Moon was having another mass-wedding at the Salisbury Civic Center. There were so many white gowns (suitable to be married in), white tuxes, top hats, tails and canes....I thought I had gone to bridesmaid hell. I hate to be so cynical, but this has become so out of control.

I'm not sure if it's the parents or the kids who need to outdo and outspend each other. There were limos with disco floors in them, $700 prom dresses, manicures, pedicures, professional make-up and hairstyling. Then there was flowers. And the dinner. And the hotel room in Ocean City tonight.

I don't want to say these kids aren't worth it. They are. But whatever happened to a nice dinner and a nice dance and that was prom?

Tonight we went to "Grand March", admission $5.00 each, to have the opportunity to see the kids enter as their names were announced. We got to see a disagreement over seats that went on to become a disturbance that only the sheriff could solve.

These kids were announced, and it was like a trunk show for Acme Formalwear. Tiaras, sparkles and glitter everywhere. Some of the kids looked like they enjoyed it. Most seemed so uncomfortable and were just trying to get through it.

Maggie, however, came out, and there were cheers and whistles from her friends in the audience. She just started laughing, and waving...she looked so damned happy. It was wonderful to see.

She called after Prom was over, and she said that she had had an awesome time...danced and danced and danced. I'm so glad it's going to be a great memory for her.

But I'm glad it's over. Too much stress. I feel like for the past week I've been running around town spending money and doing nothing else.

Jawa Report and a Reader Find a Terrorist

FUCKING-A!! That's the only way to describe it.

An illegal alien TERRORIST is behind bars because somebody decided to be a stand-up guy. Excellent work guys. One down....thousands to go.

Great story....

My 24 Obsession

I am so addicted to the Fox show 24. I have noticed that it's a show that seems to be popular with conservatives....is it because it's not policitcally correct? I watch the show, and the next morning hit the blogs to see what other's thought. My favorite has to be Superhawk over at RightWing Nuthouse . He's got great insight.

On 24, when people need to be killed, they are killed. Lives are given for the greater good.

I've heard Rush Limbaugh and Laura Ingraham talk about it....Bob and Tom (of the Bob and Tom Show) are hooked and even have "Jack Bauer" call into their morning radio show (much hilarity ensues).

I wonder if left-wingers like this show??? Probably not...they're made to look like idiots. For example, the "ACLU-type" lawyer. What a bubblehead. Kept telling his client "Don't worry, you'll be ok. Just call my cell phone if you need me." Five minutes later, his client lay unconscious, with fingers broken, and spent from the truths he was forced to tell. Ha ha. I'm Jack Bauer, bitches!

Family

Sometimes it's so hard to reach out to others for help, or support. I know it's hard for me. I talk to Richard about everything, and to my Mom about most things, but beyond that, it's hard for me to talk about things that trouble me.

But today my sister-in-law came to me, because she heard that things might not be a-ok over here with one of my children. She was afraid to talk to me, afraid I'd be offended, or hurt, or whatever.

But the only thing that I was, was touched.

Thank you Diane.

The Joys of Home Ownership

Today I went to the bank and deposited $911.00 in dollar bills, quarters, dimes and nickels. This was money that we saved using the "change jar" technique, and also the "Dollar Bill Savings Program" (which is a great thing...you can never spend dollar bills. You can only spend fives, tens, twenties, etc. Dollar bills must be saved and put away in the proverbial cigar box).

This was supposed to be our cruise fund. Unfortunately, it became our roof fund.

Yes, we're having a new roof put on our house. To the tune of $6,000. Poor Richard is driving a twelve year old Sable with our daughter's old Good Charlotte bumperstickers, I'm switching off between my 1985 Dodge Ram Pickup and our twelve year old Volvo (whichever happens to be running that week).

But the roof is beautiful. It kind of made me feel like a grownup, telling my parents that we were putting a new roof on the house.

This has just been a rough patch of luck for our whole family...Murphy's Law times five. I keep telling myself that it's times like these that make you really appreciate the smooth sailing.

I'm not kvetching though.

I love my husband and my kids and my dogs and my cats and my garden and my house and my funny old truck. And they love me right back.

That's the sunshine peeking through the clouds right there.

Saddam's Knuckle Sandwich

Wow, way to seize the moment...congrats on the punch heard round the world!
http://sixmeatbuffet.com/archives/2005/04/28/give-this-man-a-medal/trackback/

Ever have a day like this???? I am having one.

Here's a tip: Never attempt to go to the bathroom while you are in the middle of putting down floor tile glue, especially if the glue has dried on your hands. It's a mother to get rid of the toilet paper.

Nuff said.

General Patton's Ghost

Very very powerful. Should be required viewing for all. Click on the title to go to the site. Haven't quite figured out all of this trackback and ping stuff. Bear with me!

Monday, Monday

What a busy day, what a productive weekend. You know how sometimes you work and work and don't take any time for yourself, and it feels like you didn't make any headway....well, Richard and I definitely made headway this weekend, with painting, Richard putting a manual choke in my 85 Dodge Ram....woo hoo hopefully it's going to get me where I'm going consistently. As much as I say I would love a new vehicle....I do love that truck. It's got character.

Sitting here watching Nanny 911 waiting for 24 to come on. I am so hooked on 24. Don't talk to me, don't call me, don't ask me a question Monday nights between 9:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m.

Oh, how nice. The guy that was being a positive jerk in the beginning of the show did right by his wife. All it took was one day with his out-of-control kids. Now he's giving his wife diamonds. Damn skippy she deserved them!

Started cutting out Maggie's Junior Senior dress today...did everything that I could to NOT start it (only because it's intimidating me...come on now, it's a dress). But it's all cut out, and ready to be sewn together. Now I only have to finish the dress. finish painting the trim in Max's room, lay the tile floor in Max's room, paint the playroom-guestroom, get a bed for that room.....ah, it makes me tired just thinking about it.

Gotta go, Jack Bauer time.

Happy Birthday! 

My "babies"...as crazy as they make me, I love them so incredibly much. 

Happy Almost Birthday Max!

Wow, my baby is turning 15. I can't be that old! He'll get his learner's permit in 9 months, he'll start driving, he'll get his license, he'll be scared to drive by himself at first, and then we won't ever see him. I'm being a bit dramatic, but that's the way it went with Maggie. Funny, they still seem so small to me, so little, so in need of my help. But they're not (at least not when it's something they want to do....when it's something like cleaning the cat litter, knowledge and maturity go right out the window... ha ha!)

So tonight we're going to the Outback. This is our first year of Max wanting to go "out" for his birthday dinner. Up until now, it's been hamburgers and Kraft Macaroni & Cheese (the kind with the powder cheese only.)

So now we're waiting for Maggie to come home from her job, which she needs because she has a car loan and is getting ready to graduate from high school and go to college.

We went and got her prom dress the day before yesterday. For all my hemming and hawing and griping and bitching, she got what she wanted, without a fight from me. I was ready to plunk down $580 for the first dress....but then we found another one, more suitable for her, for less, plus we found shoes and got out of there for about $500. I think Maggie was surprised that I was going to go ahead and get the expensive dress....especially after all my talk about "how it's not a wedding", "my wedding dress only cost $400", blah, blah, blah. But when it came down to it, I just wanted her to be happy, and to remember this.

Boy, do I feel old.

Random Act of Kindness

I got to do one of these today.

I'm still waiting for the power wash guys to come and get the green stuff off of my house. They are proving to be as unreliable as the cable company.

UPDATE:
They came. They washed. And I saw that it was good.

Eastern Shore Power Wash has redeemed themselves, and will be invited back for a return engagement next year. :)

Terri Schiavo...Another Sad Day

This poor girl. This poor family.

People are using her for their own political devices.

How sad.

Long Time No Blog Hello Spring

It was a beautiful day here in Salisbury, with temps around 60 degrees, sun shining. Tomorrow is the first day of spring. Went outside and dug, chopped, pulled, planted, raked....and inhaled deeply. This is like the best day; the first one that actually feels like the real thing. Like winter may go away soon.

But my mind wasn't still while I was working. Yesterday was a day full of tears, today a day of reflection. Yesterday was the intensely emotional battle over Terri Schiavo. They pulled her feeding tube yesterday, and I cried, although I think that she should be let go. I cried for her, and for her family, and for her husband. What a horrific thing to have to deal with. When my tears dried, I marched upstairs to my computer, downloaded a living will/medical power of attorney program from the internet for $30.00, and made my wishes known. Richard is going to do his also. Maggie also needs to think about it, as she's going to be 18 in May. If anybody learned anything from this case, it should be that they need to take care of their wishes NOW. You can't just tell somebody what you want or don't want. You have to have it in writing.

Then, at dinnertime, they announced that that poor little 9 year old girl missing in Florida had in fact been taken by that human scum pedophile, and he had murdered her. My God. I cried all over again.

Today I kept thinking about how life is so short and not promised. We need to live in the moment.

I'll be praying for all these people.

Yes. 

Wizbang

This is the blog that got me blogging.


http://wizbangblog.com/cgi-bin/mt-tb.cgi/4493

Grant, one of Maggie's baby-sittees, and his recipe for making Rice Krispies cerial...this is a VERY serious recipe. 

Maggie, my high school senior daughter, who really was just in first grade two or three years ago. She is such a beautiful young woman, and one of the things that I am most proud of in life.  

A Neopolitan Mastiff puppy....would I love to find a few of these guys under my Christmas Tree! 

Mom and Roxy...the world's biggest lap dog. 

Love the smile. 

I love this bumper sticker!

Virgin Marymania

Wow, everybody is jumping on the Virgin Mary/Grilled Cheese bandwagon. When you do a search on eBay using "Virgin Mary Grilled cheese", you get a plethora of religious icons that are made of Wonder Bread, Processed cheese, and congealed fat.

There's even a DIY kit for $15,000.

All this in a country where some want to remove the words "under God" from the Pledge of allegiance. Hmmm......

It's only a matter of time until Michael Moore shows up on a loaf of ciabatta bread.

OK, here we go.

I feel like I'm trying to jump on an already moving train, and I've got a bum ankle.

Going to learn as I go on this blog...before November, didn't even know what a blog really was. Now with all the liberal left media spewing forth, I feel a need to voice my opinion....to anybody that will listen.

Here goes something.....hopefully.

First Post

Welcome to the clearinghouse for the right minded moral thinker.