Invader!

Meet Mr. Buckmoth Caterpillar who managed to get INSIDE our house (probably on Bouie. There were some Bouie hairs in its spines); I spotted him on the dining room floor. This kind hasn't popped me -- the Io moth is the kind that taught me about stinging caterpillars.

Maybe we should send some to the C.I.A. These guys ain't, as Ann Coulter says, "adorable."

Ah, the joys of living in S.E. Louisiana -- soon the termites will be swarming!

Obama-Speak: He's Willing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auZt5DVIl50

"Campaign speech" #eleventy-twelve in Missouri on his 100th day in office = mischaracterize, deflect, rag on FoxNews, pander to social engineers.

We T.E.A. Partiers seem to have caught the attention of the Young President. Now he needs to learn to listen to what we're saying.

Come to school, Young Mr. President, but be aware that you may have to sit in the corner and stay in for recess if you continue to mock us.

Panic in NYC? What Panic?

From the White House Press Conference, April 27, 2009, as posted on the White House website:

Second question, do you guys feel you owe folks in New York City this morning an
apology for this incident having to do with the airplane that looks like Air
Force One with two fighter jets? There seemed to be a lot of panic --
MR.
GIBBS: I would point you to the FAA or Air Force.
Q Everybody's pointing
us
to the White House Military Office, so that's why --
MR. GIBBS: Well,
then I
would contact the White House --
Q Well, the White House Military
Office
won't tell us anything -- they'll refer us to you. (Laughter.)
MR.
GIBBS:
Well, then let me go discuss with the White House Military -- I don't
-- I have
seen some news reports but --
Q What was the photo op
for?
MR. GIBBS: I
don't know. That's -- I have no information on this
other than what I saw
--
Q I mean, I understand the way this works. I'm
just saying,
appearance-wise, it's odd that you guys don't have a response.
I mean, this is
the President's aircraft or what looks like --
MR. GIBBS:
I understand. I was
working on other things. You might be surprised to know
I don't know of every
movement of Air Force One or what happens to it. But I
will certainly talk to
the Military Office.
Q -- very edgy about it.

Yeah -- "edgy" might be an appropriate adjective.

I'm thinking Gibbs is protesting just a wee tad too much. Glib s.o.b..

100 Days at 100 Miles Per Hour

And put a little T.E.A. in that I.V. .

Would that we could . . . .

Who Were Those Guys in Hornets Uniforms?

Oh, please. Someone just shoot me in the head now to stop the pain.

121 - 63. Are you kidding me? Tied for the WORST playoff defeat in NBA HISTORY?!?!?!

I promise you -- that wasn't the Hornets team that took the floor last night; it was the Sophie Wright Middle School girls' team in disguise.

I hope they take at least a high school team to Denver tomorrow.

Staying Alive at the Hive!

By the skin of our teeth (and the blood of Rasual Butler's nose), the Hornets stayed Alive in the Hive this afternoon! I guess being at (or below) sea level instead of a mile up agrees with the Bees.

(BTW -- Who schedules an NBA playoff game at freakin' noon on a Saturday? Especially on a Saturday that is also the first weekend of Jazzfest and weekend play at the Zurich Classic?!?! Pepper dropped me off at the Arena and headed out to TPC of Louisiana for the tourney; the streetcar brought me home.)

The pic is of confetti showering down as the clock posted 0:00. (Yeah -- our seats are pretty high up there, but right at mid-court.) The (blurry) scoreboard reads: Hornets 95 - Nuggets 93. Whew!

Next up -- Monday, 7:30, at the New Orleans Arena (a.k.a. The GreenHouse on Girod, a.k.a. The Hive)!

Geaux Hornets!

A Constitutional Convention? A Federalism Amendment?

Randy Barnett, a Constitutional Law prof at Georgetown, published an op-ed piece in the April 23, 2009, edition of the Wall Street Journal entitled, "The Case for a Federalism Amendment."

I need to chew on and digest these ideas before formulating an opinion, but it's a very interesting article.

I definitely like the idea of repealing the 16th Amendment and eliminating income taxes, but a constitutional convention might open the door to every nutjob special interest group in the world. I also like the idea of restricting the federal courts' torturous interpretation of the Commerce Clause to get Congress's hooks into anything it chooses. Taxes other than the income tax should be examined and eliminated, i.e., capital gains and estate taxes. Legitimate study and debate should be engaged concerning a Flat Tax or a Fair Tax. These "income-based" taxes could be considered in addition to, or in lieu of, a federal excise tax.

I like a re-affirmation of states' rights and home rule for non-enumerated powers, as the Founders intended. Hello, 9th and 10th Amendments, and the Republic! We've missed you!

All in all, this is an intriguing prospect, and worthy of serious and legitimate discussion.

Crossposted here.

This Lady "Gets" It: Katrina Pierson at the Dallas Tea Party

I found this posted on I am Simon Jester. This "just a Mom" rocks the Dallas Tea Party. What an elegant and eloquent address!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sV6bNpNU4ls

Tennessee's Legislature: Reason Meets the Second Amendment

Posted on Instapundit:


April 21, 2009
A SMALL CIVIL RIGHTS VICTORY IN TENNESSEE: “The House voted Monday night to allow people with handgun carry permits to take their weapons into state parks . . . . The House also approved a bill that declares the guns of Tennesseans cannot be seized during periods of martial rule. All three bills now go to the Senate, where Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey has predicted they also will win approval.”
Posted at by Glenn Reynolds at 6:15 pm


We gun-owners in New Orleans know just how important that no-seizing-of-guns-during-martial-law stuff is. The post-Katrina experience taught many lessons.

Illegal Immigration Not Criminal? Come Now, Madame Secretary

Yesterday, our Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, was interviewed by John King on CNN's "State of the Union." A transcript of the entire interview may be read here. It's mostly weasel wiggle -- and she dances around the whole incalculably tacky "veterans as right wing extremists thing" again -- but one of the most disturbing things about the interview is her characterization of illegal immigration. When questioned about the government's apparent inability to enforce immigration laws that prohibit illegal entry into the United States, she said (emphasis mine):

What we have to do is target the real evil-doers in this business, the
employers who consistently hire illegal labor, the human traffickers who are
exploiting human misery.


And yes, when we find illegal workers, yes, appropriate action, some of
which is criminal, most of that is civil, because crossing the border is not
a crime per se. It is civil. But anyway, going after those as well.

While there are civil penalties for entering the United States in violation of the United States Code, offenses for which there is the statutory potential for imprisonment are criminal in nature, not civil. See 1325 U.S.C., section 8. A first offense can draw 6 months in a federal pen; subsequent offenses can draw up to 2 years -- both can also result in (pretty unimpressive) fines.

Crossing the border in violation of American law is at best incivil. These "visitors" to our fair land are crooks.

She's in charge of your being able to get a good night's sleep. Feeling sleepy? Feeling SECURE? Not.


Crossposted here.

Mystery of Life: Spring is Sproinging in New Orleans . . .

. . . and I haven't even planted anything new yet! The rosemary may take over the world. (The black thing in the bottom of the pic is Bouie's rear end. He's such a camera hog!)

The doves have nested on top of the garage door opener again. It drives Bouie nuts that he can't get to them, so he paces around the garage a lot, thinking about the birds. Gotta get the birds! At least he hasn't eaten the mulch -- yet.

Internet Sales Taxes: A Return to Blue Law Practices?

Oh, ye gods and gophers. The "Blue Laws" of yesteryear are rearing their bizarre heads on Capitol Hill.

Michelle Malkin reports here that a Republican Senator from Wyoming (?!? Are you listening, brother-in-law?) and a Democratic Congressman from Massachusetts (is there anything but Democrats in Massachusetts?) will introduce legislation requiring internet retail sales merchants to collect sales tax on behalf of all the states. Serious lobbying is expected to ensue on both sides of the issue.

Malkin points out that this is just one more hidden tax that will smack the middle class in the face, and that collecting the taxes will be nearly impossible because the tax structures among the states vary so widely, with one state taxing something one way and another not taxing it at all.

I'll point out how ridiculous the Blue Laws (Sunday Sales Prohibition Laws) were. Let's take a stroll down memory lane.

When my older daughter was a baby, Arkansas had yet to do away with Blue Laws and the sale of clothing was prohibited on Sunday. Okay, no serious clothes shopping on Sunday -- deal with it. But, some nimrod in the Revenue Department came up with the brilliant decree that disposable diapers are "clothing." No Sunday sales of disposable diapers. Have you ever had a baby with tummy issues and no diapers? Not a pretty picture (or memory!). Also, you couldn't buy a leather belt because it's an item of clothing, but you could buy a leather dog collar. No sales of hand tools, no sales of tools enabling you to cook. So, you could buy plastic wrap because that was only a food storage tool, not a food preparation tool. Aluminum foil, on the other hand, could be used to prepare food, so no aluminum foil on Sunday for you.

Figuring out what and how to tax internet sales will be as difficult to figure out as what could be sold under the Blue Laws.

Egad.

Cross-posted here.

The Genesis of My BFF Relationship with Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and the Young President

Ok, my new plan is to correspond with Washington every couple of weeks to keep reminding them that we're the boss. They need my input, so I'm gonna let 'em have it (Harry Reid and Young President Obama will receive the same letter, as tailored for their positions). Please consider doing the same, or at least come visit me after they throw me under the prison.

This was placed in snail mail today:

April 18, 2009
Dear Speaker Pelosi:

I am a taxpayer in both Arkansas and Louisiana, registered as an Independent voter. You are the leader of my House of Representatives, so I am writing to let you know that I was a participant in the Grassroots 2009 Tax Day Tea Party in New Orleans -- a participant with a purpose.

My purpose was to be part of a message -- a mass message -- to our federal government, enlightening our elected officials that our Constitution is being ignored and our very form of government is being transformed, at breakneck speed, into European statism. Congress should be aware that We, The People, will campaign our hearts out against politicians who fail to listen to, comprehend, and support our message.

I will no longer stand idly by as Congress enacts Bills of Attainder, using the Tax Code to punish a small group of American citizens. I will no longer stand idly by as both Democrats and Republicans race like giggling schoolchildren to enact behemoth spending and budgetary bills that have already mortgaged our grandchildren's future. I will no longer stand idly by as medical decisions are removed from my hands and the hands of my private physicians and turned over to a bureau of the federal government. I will no longer stand idly by watching the first step in the demise of the secret ballot while American workers have no choice but to submit to union thuggery, and more jobs pour out of the country. I will no longer stand idly by as the federal government wrests more and more control over education from the states. I will no longer stand idly by as volunteerism is corrupted into nothing more than government service. I will no longer stand idly by as the Second Amendment is shot full of holes. Ill-conceived and uncontrolled spending will earn my wrath.

I will no longer stand idly by and merely observe as my Republic devolves into an intrusive nanny state, and I certainly will not tolerate a Speaker who dismissively talks down her nose about me. The Tenth Amendment is alive.

I will actively campaign against any Member of Congress who attempts to usurp the power reserved to the states by the U.S. Constitution. I will actively campaign against any Member of Congress who continues to vote on important legislation without adequate study and debate. I will actively campaign against any Member of Congress who continues to ignore the will of her constituency. I will so campaign through the sweat of my brow and the depth of my pocketbook.

On April 15th the world bore witness that I am not alone.

Sincerely,
Terry C. Paulson, J.D. (Mrs. W. A.)

Let's see just how long it takes them to invite me to tour Gitmo.

Cross-posted here.

Obama-Speak: Everybody Except the Cabinet?

The Young President delivered a lengthy speech to the students at Georgetown earlier this week.

In the speech, he returned to his recurring theme of "hope" in reference to the perilous state of our economy. He didn't couple his reference to "hope" with its campaign companion, "change." Instead, in this speech, he associated it with "a glimmer." So, now I suppose we have "glimmery hope."

My favorite passage of the speech? It had to be the audacious amnesiac tax reference:

We must restore a sense of fairness and balance to our tax code by shutting down
corporate loopholes and ensuring that everyone pays what they owe.

Is he kidding us? Can you say Timothy Geithner, Nancy Killefer, Tom Daschle, etc., etc., etc.?

The rest of the speech was Johnny Three-Notes: Healthcare reform, blah, blah, blah; Energy policy reform, blah, blah blah; education reform, blah, blah, blah. It came off just like The Bard and Mr. Faulkner phrased it: a lot of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

Tea and Sympathy

Found this on Town Hall. Everyone loves puppies!

NOLA Tax Day Tea Party: A Resounding Success!

My serious post about yesterday's T.E.A. Party will have to wait until tomorrow. Right now, I'm still basking in the afterglow; basking in the exhilaration that my husband and I shared at the Veterans' Memorial on Veterans Avenue in Metairie across the street from a major mall where our economy is stimulated everyday.

We were there with 1,500+ like-minded American citizens who are fed up with Congressional raids on the 10th Amendment and our wallets. (The number of folks who showed up is quite impressive, considering that there were 2 other, separate T.E.A. Parties in Mandeville and Covington just across Lake Ponchartrain). Scores of passing cars honked their accord all the way down the Memorial. There were even 2 Jefferson Parish Police cars stationed nearby to watch after our security. Many people observed the scene from the Macy's parking deck across the street.

Then -- when we got home and watched some of the television coverage (not MSM, obviously) and began to appreciate the massive numbers who took time to "Come Together" (there's a golden oldy Beatles tune!) to vent their outrage, we were overwhelmed.

Okay, I'm getting a little gooshy now, so I'll lighten up until tomorrow and share a few pics of a few of the clever signs.

Cross-posted here.

T-Day, Minus 1

There are now 16 confirmed Tax Day Tea Parties scheduled around Louisiana!

Tiedye Judy has some great pre-Tax Day Tea Party ruminations on her blog HERE. My favorite is her idea to call Congress and the White House from your TEA Party to "share the wealth" of support out there for smaller, smarter government. A great idea, no? The phone number for Congress is 202-224-3121 and the White House is 202-456-1414.

I've come up with a few protest sign slogans. We've been advised to keep the signs relevant and family-friendly. One of mine treads the line, but I live in New Orleans, for crying out loud! We'll see if I take it along or not. How do you vote?

"Turn ON the Lights, the (political) Parties are OVER"

"The Tenth Amendment Rocks!"

"Size DOES Matter -- re: Government, Smaller is Better!"

Yesterday's Times-Picayune ran a nice article about our TEA Party tomorrow. The posts on the e-version are predictably volatile; most of the againsters are typically clueless about the purpose of these protests, choosing to Bush-bash rather than accept the fact that D.C. is out of control.

My purpose is to be part of a message -- a mass message -- to our federal government, enlightening our elected officials that our Constitution and our very form of government are being transformed, at breakneck speed, into European statism. And we will not stand for it.

I will not stand idly by as Congress enacts Bills of Attainder, using the Tax Code to punish a small group of American citizens. I will not stand idly by as both Democrats and Republicans race like giggling schoolchildren to enact a behemoth spending Bill that has already mortgaged our children's future. I will not stand idly by as medical decisions are removed from my hands and the hands of my personal physicians, only to be given to a bureau of the federal government. I will not stand idly by watching the first step in the demise of the secret ballot while American workers have no choice but to submit to union goon thuggery, and more jobs pour out of the country. I will not stand idly by as the federal government wrests more and more control over education from the states. I will not stand idly by as volunteerism is corrupted into nothing more than government service. I will not stand idly by as the Second Amendment is shot full of holes.

I will not stand idly by and merely observe as my Republic erodes into an intrusive nanny state.

The Tenth Amendment still lives -- let's pump a little life into it before the federal government suffocates it.

The Tax Day Cometh

I'm getting ready for Wednesday's Tax Day Tea Party by filing for an Extension and planting a sign in the front yard.

There's an atmosphere of enough-is-enough in the air. Smells like a shrinking government.

I know, I know. I'll go take my meds now. To sleep, perchance to dream of a smaller, smarter, thriftier, more self-assured federal government that keeps its nose out of my business and its hands out of my pockets -- and doesn't wait 5 days before dispatching scurvy pirates to their bitter afterlife. Go Seals!!

Happy Easter!

HAPPY AND JOYOUS EASTER! HE IS ARISEN!

Ed Freeman, Your Memory Lives

I just received this in an email and it needs to be posted for the world to see. It has special meaning for me because my husband is a Vietnam era chopper jock. This hero went to his eternal reward on 20 AUG 2008. God rest his soul and thank him for his selfless service.

Ed Freeman

You're a 19 year old kid. You're critically wounded, and dying in the jungle in the Ia Drang Valley ,

11-14-1965, LZ X-ray , Vietnam . Your infantry unit is outnumbered 8 - 1, and the enemy fire is so intense, from 100 or 200 yards away, that your own Infantry Commander has ordered the MediVac helicopters to stop coming in.
You're lying there, listening to the enemy machine guns, and you know you're not getting out. Your family is 1/2 way around the world, 12,000 miles away, and you'll never see them again. As the world starts to fade in and out, you know this is the day.
Then, over the machine gun noise, you faintly hear that sound of a helicopter, and you look up to see an un-armed Huey, but it doesn't seem real, because no Medi-Vac markings are on it...
Ed Freeman is coming for you. He's not Medi-Vac, so it's not his job, but he's flying his Huey down into the machine gun fire, after the Medi-Vacs were ordered not to come.
He's coming anyway.
And he drops it in, and sits there in the machine gun fire, as they load 2 or 3 of you on board.
Then he flies you up and out through the gunfire, to the Doctors and Nurses.
And, he kept coming back.... 13 more times.... And took about 30 of you and your buddies out, who would never have gotten out.

The email's author noted that there was little if any MSM coverage of Mr. Freeman's passing. I'd have to agree.

At least MSNBC covered his story in their 2007 series on MOH winners. Here's a link. A small pittance.

Let's keep his memory and his heroics alive.

A Hero's Unfathomable Loss: R.I.P. Sweet Dasy

I heard this interview on satellite radio while driving back on Monday to New Orleans from Little Rock after a delightful weekend of many celebrations. It broke my heart to learn that this hero -- a man who risked his everything to preserve my freedoms and the hopes of Afghanis -- inexcusably lost his best friend yet again.

Marcus Luttrell wrote a New York Times best seller entitled Lone Survivor chronicling "Operation Redwing" in Afghanistan in which all the members of Seal Team 10 were killed, except Luttrell. His rehabilitation has been long and hard, but he was helped by the company and affection of Dasy, a sweet yellow labrador whose name is an acronym of some of the Seal Team 10 buddies' nicknames. Until last week.

In the wee hours of April 1st, Luttrell heard a gunshot on his mother's farm and discovered 4 punks who were riding around west Texas shooting dogs for a lark. And he discovered his precious Dasy in a ditch, lifeless.

Fortunately, the punks were stupid punks and didn't realize that Luttrell would chase them across 3 counties at high speed, on the line with 911 the entire time. The authorities set up a road block and stopped the evil, soul-less men; two are charged with cruelty to animals. I'd like to have a few minutes with them and a dull butter knife. Here's a newspaper account in the Houston Chronicle.


My sympathy and rage are with Marcus Luttrell. Pray for him and the soul of his precious pup.

My Buddy, Mary Landrieu, Blows Me Off

No response yet to my email of April 1 from my buddy, Senator Mary Landrieu.

Maybe she hasn't replied because she thought my comments about the Young President's proposed budget were an April Fool's Day joke. Or maybe it's because she voted for the budget anyway.

My thoughts were no April Fool's Day musings, but the budget's a horribly cruel joke.

New Orleans Pothole Fodder: a Wave of the Future?

Hot Air posted this video about a new joint venture between General Motors and Segway. It's a sort-of two-person Segway that can run about 35 miles on a single charge. As practical and trendy as this thing might be, it would get devoured by an Uptown New Orleans pothole quicker than you can skin a cat. And, where would you stash your Po Boy bread?

There are a couple of videos here

Chatting with my buddy, Senator Mary Landrieu

E-mailed to Senator Mary Landrieu (and Rep. Cao) today:

Re: the proposed budget and your mention in today's
Times-Picayune: Keep thinking no. The proposed budget is so bloated
and underfunded that it could literally break us for generations.
Taxpayers are tired of our government treating us like cash cows; we're more
like the goose that laid the golden eggs. Remember what happened to
her? That's how we have felt since the first blunderbuss, catastrophic
economic stimulus package and it's getting worse.

Please. No. Cuts must be made. Period.

Taxpayer Tea Parties, April 15th, all over your state. Check it
out.

P.S. -- the GIVE/SHARE Kennedy Act is a mistake. In trying to
"help" people volunteer, you've undercut the substance of volunteerism, at the
very least (listen to Sen. DeMint). Shame on you all for rushing this
through before adequate debate. Additionally, The Congressional Commission
of Civic Service Act creates the opportunity to do more harm to American society
than we've seen since the days of slavery. Remember the 13th Amendment
before you vote.

The tone of my communications with our elected officials remains civil, but I hope I'm conveying my growing sense of urgency that the country is going to hell in a handbasket at warp speed. Across the board.