The Attack of the Killer Vegetation

Look at the size of the dandelions in my back courtyard!

That's a size 6.5 beside it!  Do you think the White House has come up with a way to eliminate us with primeval vegetation?

And, where did they get it?

It's conspiracy theory day.

Stolen Humor

Russell's comment on a post at Chicks on the Right about the lunacy that slithers between the lips of Valerie Jarrett:

FINALLY, doctors have figured out what's wrong with the liberal brain!
On the left side..there’s nothing right,
and on the right side.. there’s nothing left…..

Heh.

Happy Mardi Gras 2012!!!

I briefly tried to post a small political distraction on the iPad, but the App gods had other ideas, so . . .

Happy gorgeous, joyful Mardi Gras!!!!

I'm sleeping for the next day or so.

Coming to Terms, With Attitude

I picked up my precious Rosie's ashes from the Vet's office the day before yesterday -- on Valentine's Day.  The "Heaven's Pets" people had snipped a lock of her black and white curly tail and sealed it in a bag.  (I had forgotten they do that -- I learned when we lost Wendy.)  It took my breath away for a moment when I first pulled the translucent black cloth bag out of the envelope containing the Certificate of Cremation and a copy of "The Rainbow Bridge" personalized for Rosie.  But, then, I pressed the little bag to my chest and felt a wave of peace pass over me.  I'll have a little bit of my puppy with me forever.

Early Wednesday morning, she came to me in a dream.  She saw me and pranced over to me with Red Ball in her mouth and nuzzled my hand!  I could feel it as plainly as I feel my fingertips on the keyboard right now.

We did the right thing by letting her go.

Someday I'll post the limerick I wrote for her when she was a puppy.  My children thought I was nuts.  (Still do.)

So, I think I'll try to remember her like she was in the picture above, when she had spunk to spare.

And, Pepper told me that if I get to missing her too much, he'll walk around in circles on the bed, then fall off, and wipe his face on my clothes.  I may take him up on his offer just to watch it.

But now, so as not to be a totally maudlin Debbie Downer, I'll share the new philosophy that I've recently adopted -- kind of Moogie's passive-aggressive version of GOML*:

Sorry.  Have a lovely day!

*Get Off My Lawn

Your Government Thinks You're a Dolt

So.  NPR characterizes the Obamacare/Sebelius contraceptives regulation as follows:

This past week, President Barack Obama offered a compromise to his controversial requirement that faith-based institutions provide contraception in employee health plans. Under the new rules, religiously affiliated employers will not be required to offer free contraceptive coverage. Churches were already exempt. Instead, insurance companies would have to offer and pay for contraception.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, while a bit wobbly at first, has now firmed up and declared the mandate to be a "nationwide government coercion of religious people and groups to sell, broker or purchase 'services' to which they have a moral or religious objection," and "an unprecedented attack on religious liberty."

Last week, while some in the liberal press were heaping praise on Obama as the Great Compromiser, I was scratching my head.  I never saw a "compromise" in the proposed regulations; the only shift I saw in the requirement to provide free contraceptives was in pocketbooks -- providing contraceptives moved from the employer's own purse to the employer's checkbook as he writes a check for insurance premiums, then to the insurer's pocketbook which is filled as he cashes the premium check, whose amount has gone up to cover the insurer's "hidden" increased costs.  Everyone will still have access to "free" contraceptives; however, we must bear in mind, as my Daddy taught me -- there is no free lunch.  Anywhere.  Ever.

When the headlines and pundits were screaming that Obama had won, and brokered a "save" for his mandate, there had been no actual "save."  There had not been any distinctive change at all to Government's dictate that we all not only purchase insurance, but that we also purchase insurance that covers what Government decrees.  Contraceptives will still be paid for by everyone through their premiums, even if they're not broken out by line item.  Trust me on this one. 

Did some people actually believe that, simply because there will not be birth control vending machines onsite at workplaces, those employers and employees won't be paying for them anyway?

I really don't have a dog in this hunt because I'm not terribly passionate about reproductive issues.  But -- come on, people!!!!!  Listen, and think!!!  This is little more than the next step by progressive liberals in their quest to protect us all because they know what's best for everyone, and simple people shouldn't be burdened with having to make their own decisions and choices.  And simple people certainly shouldn't be influenced by religious views because religion tends to be a little too steely in its dogma, and simple people certainly shouldn't be snookered into making a decision based on what their churches teach them.

The Supreme Court cannot hear the challenge to this whole tyrannical scheme too soon to suit me, but how much money will have been wasted, how many tears shed, and how much more divided will the nation be by the time an opinion is rendered?

If we still have a nation.

Sorry.  Today is a doom and gloom day.

Roseldy Poseldy, Cutest of Puppy Dogs . . .

Pepper and I held her as she crossed over the Rainbow Bridge this afternoon.  She was peaceful and ready to go, having shared my turkey wrap for lunch, plus having snarfed down several treats after the sedative.  They gave her the hiccups.

Now she can see again, and chase Red Ball, and Sit Pretty, and she has a voice again so she can yap at passersby.

And she told me that she'd be waiting for us at the Bridge, and will show us around when we get there, along with Wendy and Chewy and the others who preceded her.

She hasn't steered me wrong in 17 years -- why should she start now?

(Believe it or not, I'm not crying in this pic, taken this morning in the good light -- I just have a bad cold.  But Younger Daughter told me last night that I needed to have a picture of just Rosie and me, especially since I'm the one usually taking the pictures of Rosie and somebody else.  I think she was right.)

Farewell, Rosie Posie. We love you more than you can know.

Invite in the Inbox

I received an invitation in today's email.  It's not as good as the Democrat Refrigerator Magnet Poetry kit, but maybe better than the Holiday Tree ornament offer.

MoveOn.org has invited me to a movie party!

Dear Moogie,

When's the last time you saw a movie that made you put down the popcorn, leap from your couch, and do something? Maybe it was An Inconvenient Truth or Michael Moore's Capitalism.

The Academy Award-winning documentary Inside Job is that type of movie. Narrated by Matt Damon, the film shows how Wall Street's greed—and Washington's corruption—led to a global economic meltdown. And the 1% will do more of the same again—unless the 99% stop them.

The five largest banks are using their clout right now to avoid accountability for hundreds of thousands of illegal foreclosures.¹ Wall Street's influence must be curbed. That's why MoveOn members are throwing more than 800 movie parties this weekend to watch Inside Job—so that we can be inspired to take action. This is a people-powered movement, and we need to get everyone we know to understand what Wall Street did so that it doesn't happen again.

There's a movie party in New Orleans on Sunday at 7 p.m. Can you attend?

Yes, I'll be there!

I can't make it, but keep me updated on the campaign.

We know that Wall Street greed cost millions of Americans their jobs, homes, and retirement savings. But it's not easy to explain the impact at lunch with co-workers or friends. Inside Job breaks down how the economic meltdown happened, who's responsible, and where we go from here. Most importantly, it gives you the facts you need to sound the alarm in your social network.

This weekend's Inside Job parties will spark more conversations and action on how to fix the economy for the 99%. There's a party in New Orleans this weekend that you and your friends can attend.

Can you gather with local MoveOn members to watch Inside Job at 7 p.m. on Sunday?

Yes, I can be there!

I can't make it, but keep me updated on the campaign.

According to The New York Times, "It is hard to imagine a movie more serious, and more urgent, than Inside Job."² Find out for yourself—watch the movie this weekend with people in your community who care about making this country better.

Thanks for all you do.

Gee.  There are Mardi Gras parades this Sunday, so I guess I'll have to skip this blockbuster.

And, to think that the movie came out in 2010, maybe before the 99% had even stopped bathing.  So, to me, this little gathering is just another method to capitalize on Useful Idiots.  Of several varieties.  And, oddly enough, when I Googled the movie title to get a little background info, among the pictures that popped up were Ben Bernanke and George Soros.  Dang!  How many fingers does that man have to get into so many pies!

What do you want to bet that I'd need an extra dose of blood pressure meds if I went to the screening?  Just reading the name "Michael Moore" gives me the creeps!  What do you think?  Should I click that I'm attending so I can get some more info (because, once again, they've not given me a location in the invitation), or do you suppose the black helicopters would show up at the Mansion after I was a no-show?

On another, sad, note, please be thinking of us tomorrow -- it's going to be a hard day.  We have to say goodbye to our little Rosie.