Saturday Musings

Finally got Dale's hummingbird sculpture displayed on the front porch. It looks pretty nice if I do say so myself, and so far Bouie hasn't digested the mums. The pics are a little fuzzy looking because it was so dang humid yesterday that my air-conditioned camera lens fogged up when moved outside!

We got this rather unsettling notice in the mail the other day. I'm not sure whether I'm an "ignorance is bliss" or "forewarned is forearmed" kind of gal.

President Barack Obama has gone more than 24 hours without an award or international adulation. He is thought to be sedated, resting comfortably, and expected to make a full recovery from this temporary set-back.

Arkansas Razorbacks 44, Auburn confused-multi-mascots 23! Whooo Pig!!! And War Who?

THE Nobel Prize: Descendants of Vikings Heave a Collective Sigh

I am so embarrassed by the Young President's decision to accept the Nobel Peace Prize that I may just have to throw up.

The whole mess reminds me of the state of children's sports, which I deplore, because the practice fails to teach kids how to be either good winners or good losers. We can't make anyone feel bad because he isn't on the top rung of the competitive ladder -- everyone gets a trophy for "participating." You don't really have to do anything, or excel at anything, or even "pay your dues" to get the chance to excel.

That about sums up the YP's contribution to world peace at the time his nomination was submitted -- he had expressed his deep desire to reach out for hands that had unclenched their fists. He delivered an inaugural speech that offered an olive branch, together with nuclear disarmament/non-proliferation, through very pretty words.

Oslo may have intended to encourage the YP and his America-Can-Be-Your-BFF mission, (whatever that may really be), but in the process it slapped many other legitimate nominees in their collective faces and colored their meager efforts as less than worthwhile. Just a few of those nominees, as posted at Moonbattery, include:

"Chinese Human Rights Activist Hu Jia - imprisoned for campaigning for human rights in the PRC, not as worthy as Barack Hussein Obama.

Wei Jingsheng, who spent 17 years in Chinese prisons for urging reforms of China's communist system. -- not as worthy as Barack Hussein Obama. (Not to mention the symbolic value of awarding a Chinese dissident on the 20th Anniversary of the Tianenmen Square Massacre.)

Greg Mortenson, founder of the Central Asia Institute has built nearly 80 schools, especially for girls, in remote areas of northern Pakistan and Afghanistan over the past 15 years - not as worthy as Barack Hussein Obama.

Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad, a philosophy professor in Jordan who risks his life by advocating interfaith dialogue between Jews and Muslims, also not as worthy as Barack Hussein Obama.

Afghan human rights activist Sima Samar. She currently leads the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission and serves as the U.N. special envoy to Darfur and is apparently also not as worthy as Barack Hussein Obama."

Now, those folks have paid some dues.

I'm thinking about renouncing my husband's Scandinavian heritage as a solitary, but stalwart, protest to the Nobel Committee's decision. Unless, of course, the YP decides to donate his big, fat check to my newly-founded charity that will award cash dollars, as reparation for their mistreatment, to all Viking descendants who didn't receive a Nobel medal, even though they like peace and think about it a lot. In that case, "Ahoy, Valhalla!"** will be my cry, cause we won't be getting anything else from the White House any time soon.

Somewhere, Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King, and the scorned Dalai Lama must be so -- um -- thrilled. But, you know who has to be really miffed? Bill Clinton.

Heh.

** "Ahoy. A nautical hail, once the dreaded war cry of the Vikings."

Harry Reid's Sleight of Hand

The Heritage Foundation reported late last month, and confirmed yesterday, that Congress is set to ram health care reform through before Thanksgiving, without detail, and without further public input. Apparently, the Honorable Senator Harry Reid has dug up a technical device that will allow him to fall back on the Bill of Attainder/tax on bonuses that Congress shelved earlier in the year as one means of financing the cloaked beast.

“[A] senior aide to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) told
CNSNews.com that it is ‘likely’ that Reid will use H.R. 1586—a bill passed by
the House in March to impose a 90-percent tax on bonuses paid to employees of
certain bailed-out financial institutions—as a ‘shell’ for enacting the final version of the Senate’s health care bill, which Reid is responsible for crafting.”


This story confirms the four part scenario that would railroad the bill through the Senate using a very unusual closed door procedure to craft the bill with no input from the American people. The four stage plan to pass Obamacare has been publicly
confirmed and is ready to be implemented. . . .


. . . CNSnews.com has confirmed that “the actual final text of the
legislation will be determined by Reid himself, who will consolidate the
legislation approved by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions
Committee and the still-unapproved legislation from the Senate Finance
Committee. Reid will be able to draft and insert textual language that was not
expressly approved by either committee.” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will
write the final version of Obamacare to be considered in the Senate with no
input from the American people. This is an extremely complex procedure that will not be done in public, or in the form of a hearing, or a public conference committee, and only Senator Harry Reid, some other Senators chosen by Reid and Obama Administration officials will be allowed to read the bill before the Senate debate starts.

If the foregoing is true, we are in a world of so much hurt that there may not be enough band-aids in the world to stanch the bleeding in the public's trust of its elected officials.

Regardless of the substance of Reid's bill, the process through which he plans to get a "fill-in-the-blanks contract," if you will, to the President is so contrary to representative democracy -- especially concerning so large a percentage of our economy -- that a bloodbath at the 2010 ballot box is inevitable (although that's not necessarily a bad thing).

A federal mandate requiring every American to purchase a product (health insurance) that is not tied to any government-issued privilege such as driving, or face a penalty (including potential imprisonment in one House version!), is not only unconscionable, it's constitutionally suspect in so many respects that it certainly cannot withstand a court challenge.

And the smoke-and-mirrors plan to fund the whole debacle is another matter entirely. Even the CBO, while declaring the Senate Finance version deficit-neutral, noted that it didn't have the requisite legislative details to calculate the bill's actual cost or effect on the deficit.

It's time to fire off a few more letters and melt the phone lines again. We must not go gently into this good nightmare.

Easter: A Preview

This will probably make a re-appearance next spring, but a friend sent it yesterday and it's too funny not to share.

Just don't give Bouie any big ideas!

Halloween Brings Visitors!

Too much heavy-duty housework today to expect much in the gray matter department, and waaaaay too much action going on in D.C. to digest. Sometimes I do miss the days when I would go to work and come home to a clean house!

Our girls, and at least one of their precious friends, are coming for a visit at the end of the month so that Shay's bridal portrait can be shot in New Orleans! Yep -- on Halloween. What a hoot. I asked Shay if she was going to dress up as a bride to go Trick-or-Treating; can't you just picture how widely she rolled her eyes on the other end of the phone conversation?

Anyway, it turns out that Halloween was the only open date the photographer had, so she jumped on it. Odd -- you'd think that someone in New Orleans would want to get married on Halloween!

So, we get a lagniappe visit from the girls!! That calls for some good old-fashioned Halloween decorations, and Moogie isn't one to let down the kids when it comes to holiday over-adornment! The glowing ghosties haven't been hung on the side porch yet because it's been a bit too rainy to mess around with electrically-powered things outdoors, but I'm making progress inside.

A fun menu is next on the agenda -- but there will definitely be a big pot of traditional Chicken Chili using JB's recipe (sometime in the late 80s when the fathers took the kids on their rounds while we cooked, somewhere between the pre-drinking and precise spicing of the Chicken Chili, we came up with the enactment and imposition of the infamous "Halloween Candy Parent Tax," in which the parents, under the auspices of inspecting Halloween treats for razor blades or strychnine or some such devilment, get first pick of the really good stuff!).

I love Halloween!

(Stolen) Olympic Moment

Couldn't resist.

Besides -- it's a football Saturday and the Razorbacks are coming up after the LSU game, so I deserve a little time off courtesy of "borrowing!"

Whoo Pig Sooooiiiieeee!!!!!!!!!!

Courtesy of Death By 1,000 Paper Cuts and Daily Mail.

Moogie's Thoughts on the 2016 Olympic Games

You only have seven years to work up the courage to get a Brazilian Wax!

Denizens of Ipanema Beach will probably be a little easier on the eyes than a bunch of Bears fans lolling around the Lakeshore, anyway.

Buck up, Chicago -- on the whole, you will save a boatload of money by losing out on the Olympics bid.

A comment following a British analysis of Obama's speech in support of Chicago's bid suggests that the YP really had no chance of winning over the Committee -- that giving emerging nations and regions a chance holds more sway with the IOC than the amenities and experience western powers have to offer. The commenter ventures an opinion that Africa or the Arab nations are most likely to win the 2020 Games. Hmmm. Women's Water Sports and Beach Volleyball in an Arab nation -- what could possibly be wrong with this picture?

There is some good news on the homefront that spins out of Denmark -- I've only heard one interview so far that suggests Chicago's loss is George W. Bush's fault! Plus, Oprah's star must be dimming -- and that's waaaaay overdue!

And, an upside for the White House did emerge from the IOC meeting -- Michelle and the Young President got to have yet another lovely date night, this time in Copenhagen! Ahh -- the simple moments of young love!