"What were you thinking?"

From One Happy Dog Speaks:

Once upon a time there lived a king. The king had a beautiful daughter, the PRINCESS. But there was a problem. Everything the princess touched would melt. No matter what: metal, wood, stone, anything she touched would melt.

Because of this, men were afraid of her. Nobody would dare marry her.

The king despaired. What could he do to help his daughter?

He consulted his wizards and magicians. One wizard told the king, ‘If your daughter touches one thing that does not melt in her hands, she will be cured.’

The king was overjoyed and came up with a plan.

The next day, he held a competition. Any man that could bring his daughter an object that would not melt would marry her and inherit the king’s wealth.

THREE YOUNG PRINCES TOOK UP THE CHALLENGE.

The first brought a sword of the finest steel.

But alas, when the princess touched it, it melted. The prince went away sadly .

The second prince brought diamonds. He thought diamonds are the hardest substance in the world and would not melt. But alas, once the princess touched them, they melted. He too was sent away disappointed.

The third prince approached. He told the princess, ‘Put your hand in my pocket and feel what is in there.’ The princess did as she was told, though she turned red. She felt something hard. She held it in her hand. And it did not melt!!!

The king was overjoyed. Everybody in the kingdom was overjoyed.

And the third prince married the princess and they both lived happily ever after.

Question: What was in the prince’s pants?

M&M’s of course.

They melt in your mouth, not in your hand.

Ya Got A Better System Than Free Enterprise?

The late Milton Friedman explains the ABCs of free enterprise to liberal do-gooder Phil Donahue.

Via American Power

Fleeting Power and Beauty

Tonight the big thunder clouds built up again around sunset, so I quickly got the camera, and these were the scenes captured for your enjoyment. Sorry, Jeffro at The Poor Farm, but the thunder is headed your way again tonight.

How's The Recession Going Where You Live?

"What do you call a recession where the economy keeps going up and up, even if a bit sluggishly? Well, my friends, you call that an expansion. And that is what we seem to have right now, despite all the economic doomsaying about a recession or even a Great Depression 2.0. Today, the Commerce Department revised its first-quarter estimate of gross domestic product upward to 0.9 percent from 0.6 percent. That follows 0.6 percent GDP growth in the final quarter of 2007. The revision also makes it more likely that the second quarter will be positive, maybe 1.5 percent, maybe even higher."

So begins the lead paragraph today in a U.S. News and World Report article by James Pethokoukis.

Tonight's Sky Show

When we saw these powerful thunderclouds building up, and flashing lightning, we got a little worried. We kept watch. They moved on upward and eastward toward Kansas.

Time For Creativity

School's out, so time to begin a summer of creative play. Led by our first grade graduate, Greg, the kids have built a city with lots of families and even its own junkyard.

Obama's Latest Gaffe

Lightweight Obama's latest gaffe came on Memorial Day. He said his uncle was a member of the American brigade that liberated Auchswitz. The Auschwitz concentration camp was liberated on January 17, 1945 by the 322nd Rifle Division of the Communist government of Russia.

I think Hillary's uncle was probably there, too, dodging sniper fire.

Reflecting The Sky

Spring has finally arrived here at the the little farm on the high plains. With it are many pleasant surprises. I believe these plants are blue phlox. They are everywhere on the property. These are ones I can see from the kitchen window. They seem to reflect the blue Colorado sky.

Oops!

I think you said what you meant, Maxine Waters.

via The Jungle Hut

Cartoons That Make Us Think About the Meaning of This Day

Via The Cook Shack

Will We Honor Them?

via The Cook Shack

How The Democrats Are Torturing Themselves (And Soon Will Try To Do It To Us)

Via Conservatism With Heart

Rocket Man!

Former fighter pilot Yves Rossy, 48, accelerated to 186 miles an hour May 14, 2008, over the Swiss Alps during his first public flight while strapped to his self-made, jet-powered wings.


Via Sense of Events

Tread Softly and Carry A Big Stick

Have you been following the cases of right feet in running shoes showing up on beaches on the British Columbia coast near Vancouver? Four right feet in running shoes. My advice? Don't go jogging along that particular coast until this mystery is solved.

I've Had It With The Fearmongers and Scammers

Jason Blevins writes today about the culture of fear that envelopes many Americans today, and the politicians and scammers who profit from us cowering in fear. Remember when FDR said, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself?" Here is more from FDR's famous speech.

"This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. . . . The only thing we have to fear is fear itself — nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance."

The Blevins article lists many of the items being promulgated to make us fearful little sheep waiting for some political shepherd to lead us and save us. He appropriately ends his piece with some wise advice and a Biblical admonition.

Bid adieu to the merchants of gloom and go for it. Aim higher. Whistle.

"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of Death, I will fear no evil."

The Buck Stops Here

Holly at her DOGSNHORSES blog posts a link to a story about a teacher who asked her class of five-year-olds to vote on whether a boy should be allowed to stay in class or leave! The boy has been a discipline problem. So, the teacher ducks her responsibility and asks the children to solve the problem! (They voted overwhelmingly to kick him out of class).

I am wondering whether the parents have also ducked their responsibilities to discipline this child. If he is allowed to get away with bad behavior at home, it would be logical for him to think he can try it at school, too. Our four-year-old, Sara, could probably be diagnosed with all kinds of currently popular diagnoses like autism, Asbergers, ADHD, etc. Her birthmom had the whole DSM book thrown at her (meaning that she had many diagnoses, because nobody could figure out how to deal with her).

Nevertheless, Sara is our adopted daughter now, and we know that it is our responsibility to require her to behave. Our daughter Mau Mau would be given the diagnosis of developmentally disabled. Does that mean she should be allowed to get by with behaviors like hitting, kicking or non-stop screaming at the top of her ample lungs? No! Our eight-year-old, Jon, has not lived a day in his life without spilling something and making a mess. Does that mean we should just give up and not expect him to keep trying? No!

We love each and every one of our children. That is why we are not going to turn our heads when they misbehave. We are going to dole out consequences appropriate to the misbehavior. We are going to teach them how to be civilized little citizens. We are not going to leave it up to their schools or anyone else.

Hillary: Assassinations Are Still a Possiblity

Non-stop lightning

This eleven second video was shot on our back porch the night before the tornadoes hit the next morning. This constant display of lightning went on for four hours with no let up. We should have known that something would happen the next day.

"You can bet your white turban that I’m not raising the white flag.”

Betsy's Page has this from Maureen Dowd. It is what Hillary and Barack would say to each other, if they were really to say what they believe.

“Hillary, you’ve been a great candidate, better than your train-wreck campaign. You’re Churchillian in your indomitable tenacity. You’ve inspired women all over the country. In fact, you’ve inspired some of them to hate me. But now it’s time for you to try to muster a gracious exit.”

“Forget it, Bones. Once Harold Ickes works his dark magic on the delegate rules to count Michigan and Florida, I’ll have the popular vote. And then the superdelegates will grovel back. They know in their hearts that they don’t want to go on a blind date with a guy who’s going to be BFF with Cuba, Hamas, Iran and retired Weathermen. You can bet your white turban that I’m not raising the white flag.”

“Like hell you aren’t, sister.”

“Sexist!”

“Racist!”

“Speaking of whites, you can’t win without them. And if you think your Secretary of Hairdressing, John Edwards, is going to help, you’re more delusional than I am.”

“Hillary, when are you going to realize that these whites you consider your pawns are so sick of the Republicans that they’re going to vote for anybody who has the ‘D’ next to their name, and it’s going to be me. So cool it with the White Fright. Now what do you want? Debt relief?”

“Bill and I don’t need your Netroots arugula moolah. We don’t need your stinking $20 donors. We’ve got Burkle, the Saudis, the Kuwaitis and Kazakh uranium loot on tap.”

A World Record Holder

Laura, over at Ace of Spades posted about this woman who holds the Guiness World Record for the most piercings (over five thousand). If Ace of Spades can post this, and still be the top conservative blog, why can't I seek to elevate the quality of my blog by posting this classy image?

Extinguishing the Flame of Human Liberty

From The Guardian: "A teenager is facing prosecution for using the word "cult" to describe the Church of Scientology.

The unnamed 15-year-old was served the summons by City of London police when he took part in a peaceful demonstration opposite the London headquarters of the controversial religion.

Officers confiscated a placard with the word "cult" on it from the youth, who is under 18, and a case file has been sent to the Crown Prosecution Service.

A date has not yet been set for him to appear in court.

The decision to issue the summons has angered human rights activists and support groups for the victims of cults.

The incident happened during a protest against the Church of Scientology on May 10. Demonstrators from the anti-Scientology group, Anonymous, who were outside the church's £23m headquarters near St Paul's cathedral, were banned by police from describing Scientology as a cult by police because it was "abusive and insulting".

Writing on an anti-Scientology website, the teenager facing court said: "I brought a sign to the May 10th protest that said: 'Scientology is not a religion, it is a dangerous cult.'

"'Within five minutes of arriving I was told by a member of the police that I was not allowed to use that word, and that the final decision would be made by the inspector."

A policewoman later read him section five of the Public Order Act and "strongly advised" him to remove the sign. The section prohibits signs which have representations or words which are threatening, abusive or insulting.

The teenager refused to back down, quoting a 1984 high court ruling from Mr Justice Latey, in which he described the Church of Scientology as a "cult" which was "corrupt, sinister and dangerous".

After the exchange, a policewoman handed him a court summons and removed his sign."

Rich Horton, writing at Blue Crab Boulevard, asks, "So when exactly was the flame of human liberty extinguished in Britain?"

It Ain't Just Us Hill Folks

You have heard the media talk about Obama's "Appalachian problem?" He did not do well with the folks who live in the hills of West Virginia, Pennslyvania, and Kentucky. But what about the people who live in the counties along the Ohio River Valley that stretches across Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, West Virginia and Pennsylvania?

Rich Horton of Blue Crab Boulevard has analyzed the results of voting in those counties. Of the 133 counties in the Ohio River Valley, Obama managed to win 4! He lost 103 counties (77%) by more than 30 percentage points.

It ain't just us hill folks.

When Two Predators Meet

If a shark decides to leave the ocean and head down a river in Australia, he might meet up with a crocodile. Who do you think might win that encounter?

Via Blue Crab Boulevard

No Touching!

A Minneapolis elementary school has banned touching during recess. We wouldn't want to hold accountable the bullies, the hitters, the pinchers, would we? That might damage their self esteem. So, let's just show our power by making a rule that all the kids will have to follow.

I showed this link to my kids. They thought it was "stupid." "Does that mean we could not give someone a goodbye hug?"

And they claim schools are not biased against boys?
Via Lileks

A True Believer

Via Ace of Spades

Aftermath of a Huge Tornado

Another tornado touched down in the same general area of Colorado today, but this time it was a small one. Below are some photos of yesterday's tornado in the town of Windsor. Despite dozens of homes being destroyed, only six people spent the night at the Red Cross shelter. People opened up their homes to those who lost theirs. So many people volunteered to help with rescue and clean up operations, that emergency management has had to ask that no more people volunteer! The photos are from the website of KOA radio.

First Video of Today's Tornado

Amazing story about 130 children from a day care center being led to safety in a bank vault.

Turbulent Skies

You may have heard that we had tornadoes today in Colorado. We are just beginning to learn about the damage. I have heard of only one death so far. The tornadoes were hitting down on rural areas north of Boulder and south of Fort Collins. A train carrying two-ton tankers was lifted up in the air and dropped down off the tracks. A turkey farm was demolished.

Last night we had an amazing lightning show that lasted for hours, and was constant. Those clouds were east of us, toward Kansas. We videotaped it, and I will upload the video if my son can show me how to do it.

Only Nazis Can Do It.

A Texas appeals court has ruled that the children of 48 parents in the Texas Sect were illegally removed from their parents. Texas has just one criterion for removing a child: that the child be in immediate danger. Texas CPS did not prove that the children were in immediate danger. Only Nazis can remove people from their homes without meeting legal guidelines.

"Barn Kitty" Gives Birth to Three More Barn Kittys

Tonight's Sunset

Cleaning Up After Parents' Messes

What is the unity Obama seeks? Dr. Bob at One Cosmos thinks he knows.

Now, Obama is the product of a deadbeat father and a hippy flake of a mother. Is such a person automatically consigned to a leftist hell in search of the Lost Unity? No, of course not. That would be a gross over-simplification. To cite just one example, God's grace is real, and can help deliver one from a fractured state.

D'oh!

What did Obama do? He went and joined a pathological church that repeated the trauma of his childhood, so two wrongs made a Wright! Paranoid, delusional, spiritually fractured, riven by projection, and driven by the chimera of "black unity." Of course he wants Unity, for he wants to clean up after the mess his parents made.

Make Up Yer Minds, I Need To Know Who I am Going To Vote Against

Via Rossputin

Tonight's Sunset

A plane heads south as the sun tucks itself to sleep behind the mountains.

Jay Leno Nails It

The following was written by Jay Leno. I swiped it from Geckofeeder, a blog that never fails to provide food for thought.

'The other day I was reading Newsweek magazine and came across some Poll data I found rather hard to believe. It must be true given the source, right?


The Newsweek poll alleges that 67 percent of Americans are unhappy with the direction the country is headed and 69 percent of the country is unhappy with the performance of the President.

In essence 2/3 of the citizenry just ain't happy and want a change. So being the knuckle dragger I am, I started thinking, 'What are we so unhappy about?''

A.. Is it that we have electricity and running water 24 hours a day, 7 Days a week?


B.. Is our unhappiness the result of having air conditioning in the summer and heating in the winter?

C.. Could it be that 95.4 percent of these unhappy folks have a job?

D. Maybe it is the ability to walk into a grocery store at any time and see more food in moments than Darfur has seen in the last year?

E.. Maybe it is the ability to drive our cars and trucks from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean without having to present identification papers as we move through each state?

F.. Or possibly the hundreds of clean and safe motels we would find along the way that can provide temporary shelter?

G.. I guess having thousands of restaurants with varying cuisine from around the world is just not good enough either.

H. Or could it be that when we wreck our car, emergency workers show up and provide services to help all and even send a helicopter to take you to the hospital.

I.. Perhaps you are one of the 70 percent of Americans who own a home.

J.. You may be upset with knowing that in the unfortunate case of a fire, a group of trained firefighters will appear in moments and use top notch equipment to extinguish the flames, thus saving you, your family, and your belongings.

K.. Or if, while at home watching one of your many flat screen TVs, a burglar or prowler intrudes, an officer equipped with a gun and a bullet-proof vest will come to defend you and your family against attack or loss.

L.. This all in the backdrop of a neighborhood free of bombs or militias raping and pillaging the residents. Neighborhoods where 90% of teenagers own cell phones and computers.

M.. How about the complete religious, social and political freedoms we enjoy that are the envy of everyone in the world?

Maybe that is what has 67% of you folks unhappy.

Fact is, we are the largest group of ungrateful, spoiled brats the world has ever seen. No wonder the world loves the U.S. , yet has a great disdain for its citizens. They see us for what we are. The most blessed people in the world who do nothing but complain about what we don't have, and what we hate about the country instead of thanking the good Lord we live here.

I know, I know. What about the president who took us into war and has no plan to get us out? The president who has a measly 31 percent approval rating? Is this the same president who guided the nation in the dark days after 9/11? The president that cut taxes to bring an economy out of recession? Could this be the same guy who has been called every name in the book for succeeding in keeping all the spoiled ungrateful brats safe from terrorist attacks? The commander in chief of an all-volunteer army that is out there defending you and me?

Did you hear how bad the President is on the news or talk show? Did this news affect you so much, make you so unhappy you couldn't take a look around for yourself and see all the good things and be glad? Think about it......are you upset at the President because he actually caused you personal pain OR is it because the 'Media' told you he was failing to kiss your sorry ungrateful behind every day. Make no mistake about it.

The troops in Iraq and Afghanistan have volunteered to serve, and in many cases may have died for your freedom. There is currently no draft in this country. They didn't have to go. They are able to refuse to go and end up with either a ''general'' discharge, an 'other than honorable'' discharge or, worst case scenario, a ''dishonorable'' discharge after a few days in the brig.

So why then the flat-out discontentment in the minds of 69 percent of Americans?

Say what you want but I blame it on the media. If it bleeds it leads and they specialize in bad news Everybody will watch a car crash with blood and guts. How many will watch kids selling lemonade at the corner? The media knows this and media outlets are for-profit corporations. They offer what sells, and when criticized, try to defend their actions by 'justifying' them in one way or another. Just ask why they tried to allow a murderer like OJ. Simpson to write a book about how he didn't kill his wife, but if he did he would have done it this way......Insane!

Turn off the TV, burn Newsweek, and use the New York Times for the bottom of your bird cage Then start being grateful for all we have as country. There is exponentially more good than bad. We are among the most blessed people on Earth and should thank God several times a day, or at least be thankful and appreciative.' 'With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, and with the threat of bird flu and terrorist attacks, 'Are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?'

Jay Leno

UPDATE! This story should not have been attributed to Jay Leno. Please see comment by Mrs. Who.

Did You Know Men's Brains Are Different From Women's Brains?

A very funny man named Mark Gungor tells us that men have boxes in our brains that are not connected. The nothing box is our favorite. Women have big balls of wire, and everything is connected, and their minds never stop.

Via Last of the Few

Self Deprecating Humor...The Best Kind

I like this McCain ad, which I think he did as a skit on Saturday Night Live. Good for him.

The Americans With No Abilities Act

WASHINGTON , DC–Congress is considering sweeping legislation which will provide new benefits for many Americans. The Americans with No Abilities Act (AWNAA) is being hailed as a major legislative goal by advocates of the millions of Americans who lack any real skills or ambition.

“Roughly 50 percent of Americans do not possess the competence and drive necessary to carve out a meaningful role for themselves in society,” said California Senator Barbara Boxer. “We can no longer stand by and allow People of Inability to be ridiculed and passed over. With this legislation, employers will no longer be able to grant special favors to a small group of workers, simply because they have some idea of what they are doing.”

In a Capitol Hill press conference, House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid pointed to the success of the U.S. Postal Service, which has a long-standing policy of providing opportunity without regard to performance. Approximately 74 percent of postal employees lack any job skills, making this agency the single largest U.S. employer of Persons of Inability.

Private-sector industries with good records of nondiscrimination against the Inept include retail sales (72%), the airline industry (68%), and home improvement “warehouse” stores (65%). At the state government level, the Department of Motor Vehicles also has a great record of hiring Persons of Inability (63%)

Under the Americans with No Abilities Act, more than 25 million “middle man” positions will be created, with important-sounding titles but little real responsibility, thus providing an illusory sense of purpose and performance. Mandatory non-performance-based raises and promotions will be given so as to guarantee upward mobility for even the most unremarkable employees.

The legislation provides substantial tax breaks to corporations that promote a significant number of Persons of Inability into middle- management positions, and gives a tax credit to small and medium- sized businesses that agree to hire one clueless worker for every two talented hires.

Finally, the AWNAA Act contains tough new measures to make it more difficult to discriminate against the Non-abled–banning, for example, discriminatory interview questions such as “Do you have any skills or experience which relate to this job?” “As a Non-abled person, I can’t be expected to keep up with people who have something going for them,” said Mary Lou Gertz, who lost her position as a lug-nut twister at the GM plant in Flint, Michigan, due to her lack of any discernible job skills. “This new law should really help people like me.” With the passage of this bill, Gertz and millions of other untalented citizens will finally see a light at the end of the tunnel.

Said Senator Ted Kennedy: “As a Senator with No Abilities, I believe the same privileges that elected officials enjoy ought to be extended to every American with no abilities. It is our duty as lawmakers to provide each and every American citizen, regardless of his or her adequacy, with some sort of space to take up in this great nation.”
Via Daily Pundit

Drudge is Calling It The "Obama Mass"

A crowd estimated as 75,000 people extends "as far as the eye can see" in Portland, Oregon today. He did not draw crowds like this in Kentucky or West Virginia. Let's hope Portland is in the minority.

A Beautiful Colorado Day

Here is a woman truly in her element. I wish she had more chances just to relax and ride and have fun.


The sun is setting, so it is time for the humans to come inside. However, the horse/lawnmower has a wonderful night of grazing ahead of him.

A Different Election

Michael Barone points out that this election is different than any in our nation's history. Neither party's candidate will have massive, overwhelming support within their own party. The two presumptive nominees have no regional identity. Money and advertising has not made much of a difference. The most tested candidates did not run the best campaigns. For details on all these points, read Barone's piece here.

On Speaking Softly and Carrying a Big Stick

Mark Steyn weighs in:

President Reagan talked with the Soviets while pushing ahead with the deployment of Cruise and Pershing missiles in Europe. He spoke softly — after getting himself a bigger stick. Sen. Obama is proposing to reward a man who pledges to wipe Israel off the map with a presidential photo-op to which he will bring not even a twig. No wonder he’s so twitchy about it.

The New Ten Commandments

The rules are different this year. You thought you knew and understood the rules of conduct for a presidential campaign? Think again. Victor Davis Hansen has been doing just that, and here lists the ten "Obama Rules" we are all expected to follow.

Seeking and Telling the Truth...With A Smile

In getting my daily nourishment from reading One Cosmos, I was referred by the author to this piece by Roger Kimball. The part that struck me was this paragraph.

Conservatives are realists. They like to call things by their proper names. Like Oscar Wilde’s Cecily Cardew, they call a spade a spade, unless it is explicitly outlawed, just as they prefer to call “affirmative action” “discrimination according to race or sex,” taxation “government-mandated income redistribution,” and “Islamophobia” a piece of Orwellian Newspeak foisted upon an unsuspecting public by irresponsible “multiculturalists” colluding more or less openly with Islamofascists.

Do you have the gift of truth-telling? Calling things by what they actually are, rather than accepting the politically correct nomenclature? Do we possess the sense of humor that can deal with reality but still smile? Can we see through the whining of the left, and focus on the virtues that are permanent? It ain't easy sometimes.

A Gardening Weekend

Today was the first day of garden planting. I put in three small plots, and much more to come. I could not resist these two bougainvilleas to hang just outside our kitchen window on the front porch.

I know the economy is supposedly bad, but the crowds at the garden center were in the thousands, not hundreds. Few were looking at price tags. Everyone was just picking what they liked.

Methinks Thou Dost Protest Too Much...

When President Bush gave his speech about not appeasing terrorists, Barack Obama reacted indignantly. He should have just said, "I agree!" President Bush did not mention him in the speech. The fact that he got defensive just shows how "stupid Bush" outfoxed the left once again.

Pavaratti Sings Shubert's Ave Maria

Via Finestkind Clinic and fishmarket

He Doesn't Look Fat To Me

Via Finestkind Clinic and fishmarket

Actions Speak Louder than Words

Someone pointed out that many of the judges on the California Supreme Court got there because they were appointed by Republicans. Also, of the two most liberal U.S. Supreme Court Justices, Judge John Paul Stevens was appointed by Gerald Ford, and David Suter was appointed by the elder Bush. All the more reason to distrust John McCain, when he says he would appoint people in the Alito/Roberts mold. Since he sides with liberal Democrats on most issues, why should we believe his appointment of judges would displease Democrats?

What The People Say Does Not Matter To These Four

Today four judges in California decided that a vote of the people of California (60 to 40 percent) was not as important as what these four judges believe. Now, in California and Massachusets, two people of the same gender can marry.

I'm Sure He's Out There.

Via The Cook Shack

I Was Planning To Go To The Bedding Plant Nursery, But...

I am ready for the gardening season, but I don't know what to think about this sign.
Via Cookie at The Cook Shack, who I am glad to see is back blogging.

Incredible Technology

"The sniper never knew what hit him. The Marines patrolling the street below were taking fire, but did not have a clear shot at the third-story window that the sniper was shooting from. They were pinned down and called for reinforcements.

Help came from a Predator drone circling the skies 20 miles away. As the unmanned plane closed in, the infrared camera underneath its nose picked up the muzzle flashes from the window. The sniper was still firing when the Predator's 100-pound Hellfire missile came through the window and eliminated the threat."
Via The Wall Street Journal

When Moms Were Comfortable With All Aspects Of Parenting

Via Protein Wisdom

We Found Obama's 57 States!

Power Line reader Porter Yates created the 57-state map below in honor of Obama's recent slip of the tongue. The map highlights all 18 states that voted for Kerry in 2004, all 31 states in Mexico, the six provinces in Canada that didn't vote conservative in 2006, Jamaica and Cuba naturally).

Some Kids and Moms

This guy has been to 57 states, with three more to go!

Here is the video of Obama saying that he has been to 57 states. My just-turned sixteen-year-old stepson said, "I like that guy." Then I asked all the children, how many states are there?" They all knew that there are fifty states. However, sixteen-year-old said, "Well, there are some other places that should be states, but aren't yet, and that is probably what he was thinking about." Obama has a complete and total pass with the young voters.

It kind of reminds me of an experience I had when I was a freshman at Hardin-Simmons University in Texas. My roommate, who was a popular guy on campus, introduced me to three different people as we walked across the campus one day. He told the first guy I was from Iowa (which I was). He told the second guy I was from Ohio. He told the third guy I was from Idaho. To my roommate, all three of those states were the same; all were filled with yankees!

"They Promised, and They Didn't Deliver"

Via Powerline

My First Grader Knows This One

So Barack Obama wants to be President of these "57" states? Remember when Dan Quayle was relentlessly ridiculed for misspelling potato as "potatoe"? I am sure that will not happen with Obama, though, because he is the clear choice of the "journalists" of the MSM.

Remember when he said that 10,000 people died in the tornado in Kansas (when the actual number of people who died in the tragedy was 12! He wanted to somehow tie it in to Iraq, saying that the National Guard of Kansas was too strapped to be able to help residents of the town, because they were all in Iraq.)



Via Gateway Pundit

Q: How Many Women with PMS does it take to Change a Light Bulb?

A: One. Only ONE!! And do you know WHY? Because no one else in this house knows HOW to change a light bulb! They don't even know that the bulb is BURNED OUT! They would sit in the dark for THREE DAYS before they figured it out. And, once they figured it out, they wouldn't be able to find the light bulbs despite the fact that they've been in the SAME CUPBOARD for the past 17 YEARS! But if they did, by some miracle, actually find them 2 DAYS LATER, the chair they dragged to stand on to change the STUPID light bulb would STILL BE IN THE SAME SPOT!! AND UNDERNEATH IT WOULD BE THE WRAPPER THE STUPID @*!#$% LIGHT BULBS CAME IN! WHY? BECAUSE NO-ONE EVER CARRIES OUT THE GARBAGE! IT'S A WONDER WE HAVEN'T ALL SUFFOCATED FROM THE PILES OF GARBAGE THAT ARE 12' DEEP THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE HOUSE. THE HOUSE! IT WOULD TAKE AN ARMY TO CLEAN THIS #@*$!#@ HOUSE!

I'm sorry ... what did you ask me?
via Boinky at Finestkind Clinic and fish market

The Facts Don't Fit the Stereotypes

A blogger for the National Review On-line named Michael G. Franc has been delving into information that has been made available by the Federal Election Commission regarding who is contributing money to the political candidates this year though May 1. The results may surprise you.
The Democrats have CEOs ($5.7 million, as opposed to $2.3 million for the Republicans.

Chief financial officers, general counsels, directors, and chief information officers also break the Democrats’ way by more than two-to-one margins.

Corporate Presidents, executive vice presidents, vice presidents, and managers are also going for the Democrats. So much for all the Marxist rhetoric about the evil corporations!

Wall Street firms, long a symbol of American elite accomplishment, also tilt decisively toward the Democrats. Employees in storied Wall Street institutions such as Lehman Brothers, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, and Morgan Stanley have all favored the Democratic field by a large margin. Even both sides of the recent Bear Stearns/JP Morgan Chase deal choose Democratic candidates over Republicans by two-to-one margins. Democrats also enjoy enormous fundraising advantages among well-educated professionals — lawyers, teachers, accountants, journalists and writers. They carry practitioners of the hard sciences, winning solidly among physicians ($8 million to $4 million), biologists, chemists, physicists, and plain old scientists. Republicans must settle for a slender advantage among rocket scientists.

As Betsy Newmark says, "We all know who is getting the votes and money from actors and professors."

So, what groups are giving to the Republicans?

The white-shirt/red-tie brigade of Republican presidential aspirants holds a nearly three-to-one edge among janitors, custodians, cleaners, sanitation workers, factory workers, truckers, bus drivers, barbers, security guards, and secretaries. While Democrats command the financial loyalty of architects, Republicans successfully woo contributions from the skilled craftsmen who turn their blueprints into reality — specifically, contractors, hardhats, plumbers, stonemasons, electricians, carpenters mechanics, and roofers. This trend extends to the saloons, where the Democrats carry the bartenders and the Republicans the waitresses. The GOP field even secures more financial support from teamsters, steelworkers, bricklayers, and autoworkers.

That’s the good news for the GOP. The bad news is that fewer of these politically active citizens contribute to campaigns and, when they do, they contribute far less than their elite brethren.

What Says "Spring" Better than the Blooms on a Crabapple Tree?

Spring Comes to the High Plains

These are just a few of the red tulips which are coming up all over our property. Actually, most are inside of our house, as I just can't seem to resist the temptation to cut them and bring them inside and put them into vases.

The Gratitude Campaign

Via Last of the Few

"If you don't like my opinions, then here are some facts."

Via Last of the Few

Tonight's Sunset

Let's Call A Spade A Spade

And I was so looking forward to a new season of gardening!

via Nancy's Garden Spot

Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: a Lie?

Today my pastor preached about having a purpose in life. He said that America's promise of Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness was a lie. He warned the congregation not to get caught up in a materialistic lifetyle.

I resented his remarks about Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness being a lie in America. I guess he was referring to the last of the three, the pursuit of happiness, as being a mistake for Christians to follow. But, what is wrong with pursuing happiness? Pursuing happiness does not mean pursuing materialism. I am just sick of all the America-bashing Barack Obama's candidacy has made vogue. Because of liberty, a pastor can criticize America. I would rather be around a happy person than an unhappy one.

Here are some excerpts of a commencement speech P.J. O'Rourke would give to this year's crop of college graduates.

Well, here you are at your college graduation. And I know what you're thinking: "Gimme the sheepskin and get me outta here!" But not so fast. First you have to listen to a commencement speech.

Don't moan. I'm not going to "pass the wisdom of one generation down to the next." I'm a member of the 1960s generation. We didn't have any wisdom.

We were the moron generation. We were the generation that believed we could stop the Vietnam War by growing our hair long and dressing like circus clowns. We believed drugs would change everything -- which they did, for John Belushi. We believed in free love. Yes, the love was free, but we paid a high price for the sex.

My generation spoiled everything for you. It has always been the special prerogative of young people to look and act weird and shock grown-ups. But my generation exhausted the Earth's resources of the weird. Weird clothes -- we wore them. Weird beards -- we grew them. Weird words and phrases -- we said them. So, when it came your turn to be original and look and act weird, all you had left was to tattoo your faces and pierce your tongues. Ouch. That must have hurt. I apologize.

So now, it's my job to give you advice. But I'm thinking: You're finishing 16 years of education, and you've heard all the conventional good advice you can stand. So, let me offer some relief:

1. Go out and make a bunch of money!

Here we are living in the world's most prosperous country, surrounded by all the comforts, conveniences and security that money can provide. Yet no American political, intellectual or cultural leader ever says to young people, "Go out and make a bunch of money." Instead, they tell you that money can't buy happiness. Maybe, but money can rent it.

There's nothing the matter with honest moneymaking. Wealth is not a pizza, where if I have too many slices you have to eat the Domino's box. In a free society, with the rule of law and property rights, no one loses when someone else gets rich.

2. Don't be an idealist!

Don't chain yourself to a redwood tree. Instead, be a corporate lawyer and make $500,000 a year. No matter how much you cheat the IRS, you'll still end up paying $100,000 in property, sales and excise taxes. That's $100,000 to schools, sewers, roads, firefighters and police. You'll be doing good for society. Does chaining yourself to a redwood tree do society $100,000 worth of good?

Idealists are also bullies. The idealist says, "I care more about the redwood trees than you do. I care so much I can't eat. I can't sleep. It broke up my marriage. And because I care more than you do, I'm a better person. And because I'm the better person, I have the right to boss you around."

Get a pair of bolt cutters and liberate that tree.

Who does more for the redwoods and society anyway -- the guy chained to a tree or the guy who founds the "Green Travel Redwood Tree-Hug Tour Company" and makes a million by turning redwoods into a tourist destination, a valuable resource that people will pay just to go look at?

So make your contribution by getting rich. Don't be an idealist.

Via Betsy's Page

"Everything Seems New"...

Thomas Sowell wrote this piece last week about our hopes that one day America will have a black president. But should it be Barack Obama? Here are some of Sewell's thoughts.

Although Senator Obama has presented himself as the candidate of new things -- using the mantra of "change" endlessly -- the cold fact is that virtually everything has says about domestic policy is straight out of the 1960s and virtually everything he says about foreign policy is straight out of the 1930s.

Protecting criminals, attacking business, increasing government spending, promoting a sense of envy and grievance, raising taxes on people who are productive and subsidizing those who are not -- all this is a re-run of the 1960s.

We paid a terrible price for such 1960s notions in the years that followed, in the form of soaring crime rates, double-digit inflation and double-digit unemployment. During the 1960s, ghettoes across the countries were ravaged by riots from which many have not fully recovered to this day.

The violence and destruction were concentrated not where there was the greatest poverty or injustice but where there were the most liberal politicians, promoting grievances and hamstringing the police.

Internationally, the approach that Senator Obama proposes -- including the media magic of meetings between heads of state -- was tried during the 1930s. That approach, in the name of peace, is what led to the most catastrophic war in human history.

Everything seems new to those too young to remember the old and too ignorant of history to have heard about it.

The American Economy Continues To Expand

Is "R" for recession? Or is "R" for right, as in George Bush being right about us being in a slowdown, but not a recession? Larry Kudlow weighs in, and says so far Bush is right, and all the other economic forecasters are wrong!

Interesting — isn’t it? — just how durable and resilient our low-tax, free-market, capitalist economy truly is. Hit by soaring food and energy prices, a bad housing downturn, and a Wall Street credit crunch, the economy continues to expand, albeit slowly.

The bad news bears always focus on areas of economic weakness. But parts of the economy are doing splendidly. This includes agriculture, energy, export firms operating in the global boom, and all manner of private-sector business, professional, health, and education services. Incidentally, these are the exact sectors producing the highest-paying jobs. What’s more, at 154 million employed, the civilian labor force just hit a new all-time high.

Another significant data point: Corporate profits are outperforming all expectations. With three quarters of the S&P 500 companies reporting, profits outside the banking system have increased 10 percent over a year ago.

Profits are a dirty word on the campaign trail. Hillary and Obama, who blame American corporations for most every problem under the sun, want to tax profits heavily. With ExxonMobil and other oil companies reporting strong earnings, Democrats are now calling for a windfall profits tax. Last time we tried that — under Jimmy Carter — foreign energy imports rose 8 to 16 percent and domestic energy production fell 3 to 6 percent. (This according top a study by the Congressional Research Service.)

A Senate Republican group led by Pete Domenici has a much better idea: Expand drilling and production both offshore and in Alaska. Domenici’s group estimates this would produce up to 24 billion barrels of oil, enough to cover five years of U.S. energy use without a single import.

It’s a vastly better plan than penalizing American businesses and their profits, which are the mother’s milk of stocks, jobs, and the economy. Senator John McCain gets this. His plan to slash the corporate tax rate is the single-best proposal on the campaign trail. McCain also understands that you don’t raise taxes during a slowdown. Nor do you raise taxes when the economy is bouncing back.

Right now, optimism seems to be returning to the stock market. None other than the New York Times ran a front-page story stating, “Wall Street Sees Signs of Sunshine.” That’s like the Daily Worker announcing the end of socialism. But let’s credit the old Gray Lady with reading the tea leaves right.

As a result of mighty efforts by the Federal Reserve, the credit crunch is easing and bond-market risk spreads are falling. The stock market just finished its best April since 2003, with the Dow running above 13,000. The Fed has come to the end of its rate-cutting cycle, and the U.S. greenback is starting to gain strength. With the dollar turning stronger, gold and other inflation signals are coming down.

Even tax rebates for working people will help a bit, although I’m no fan of temporary tax cuts. The much better idea is to make President Bush’s investment tax cuts permanent. McCain is for it. Hill-Bama is against it.

Whose call is it going to be?

Recessions and slowdowns come and go in the free-market economy. But even so, it looks like President Bush — against all odds — may have the last laugh. If he’s right on his no-recession prediction, Sen. McCain and Republicans down the electoral ladder are likely to benefit.

Setting the Table

Via Last of the Few

Colleen's Latest Farming Project

Our chicks are now almost one month old.

So, it is time for them to go out into the world. Or, at least, time for them to go into our homemade contraption we call our pasteured poultry wagon. Each day we will move it to a different part of the property, so they can eat new bugs, and we can fertilize a new area. In four weeks, seven of them (the Rhode Island Reds) will go to a hen house, where they will become laying hens. Fifty of them, all roosters, will go into our freezer.


P.S. Fifty more "broilers" are coming Monday.

Walk Softly and Surely. At All Times Keep Your Focus.

From Wikipedia: El Caminito del Rey (English: The King's pathway) is a walkway or via ferrata, now fallen into disrepair, pinned along the steep walls of a narrow gorge in El Chorro, near Álora in Málaga, Spain. The name is often shortened to El Camino del Rey.
Via Fausta

If Obama is the Nominee...

From the No Quarter blog:

"Republicans take heart — if Barack is the nominee, your only problem will be deciding whether to focus your campaign attack ads on Obama’s questionable ties to the corrupt Tony Rezko, the racist Jeremiah Wright, the terrorist group Hamas, or the unrepentant bomber, William Ayers."

Yes, Mr. Ayers. Ayres hired Obama as Director of an effort (which failed) to reform Chicago's public schools. Ayres was co-founder of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge. He hired Obama in 1995 and Obama continued to serve until 2003. Returning now to the No Quarters blog:

Now, let’s revisit Obama’s claim about Ayers in the ABC debate:

“Not someone I’ve accepted endorsement of, it’s not someone I exchange ideas with on a regular basis…” That is a lie. Both parts of Obama’s statement are obviously false. Obama not only evaded Stephanopoulos’s question, he was deliberately deceptive and misleading.

Ayers helped select Obama to exercise a leadership role on the Annenberg Challenge. And Obama wants us to believe they never talked? Never exchanged ideas? Never identified issues to raise and policies to pursue? What is Barack hiding?

Mark Steyn Sums Up Obama's Week

"Whatever one thinks of Sens. Clinton and McCain, they're as familiar as any public figures can be. Obama, on the other hand, is running explicitly on a transcendent "magic." It doesn't help when the cute girl in spangled tights keeps whining about how awful everything is, and the guy you sawed in half sticks himself together and starts rampaging around the stage. The magician has lost control of the show."

Of "Mental Anorexia," "Being One's Own Breast," and "Curing Ourselves of Our Own Attempt at Self-Cure"

Once again today Gagdad Bob at One Cosmos discusses something we find very relevant. He writes about the fact that people, wanting control, close their minds, and, therefore do not benefit from the wisdom of people who could help them.

Every day we fight this battle with Linebacker Dude. It is always about control. Wandering through his second year of life without a trustworthy parent, he learned to make his own decisions about everything. He stubbornly refuses to heed parental direction, but the parent cannot allow him to delude himself into thinking that at age three he knows best. So, every day there are several confrontations. After each confrontation, the blood pressure of the parent goes way up, and awful words come out of LD's mouth. The conflict wears on the parent, whose blood pressure remains high for a long time afterword, but LD carries on happily as though nothing ever happened. Here is what Dr. Bob at One Cosmos has to say on the subject.

"But believe it or not, there are mental anorexics, people who refuse to take anything in, since they value control over truth, and want to "be their own breast." "In order to be cured, we must first cure ourselves of our own attempt at self-cure -- in other words, we must go from being a closed to an open system."

It is easy to see how LD made the decision to "be his own breast," when there was not a trustworthy adult in his life. Now, however, he has two such adults in his life, however flawed they might be. How long will it take for him to drop his "mental anorexia," and how high will our blood pressure go?

A Wonderful Blogger

I encourage all my readers to stop in at Webutante's blog. She is writing a series about our energy predicament and "How We Got There." She has interviewed truckers along the interstate. Her interviews are always so respectful and very well done. Her insights about our economy are very knowledgeable.

"Self-Perpetuating Orgy of Negativity"

Are things really as bad as the media keeps telling us? That's the subject of the latest post by David Harsanyi, who asserts,

A self-perpetuating orgy of negativity regarding the economy begins with the media, which collect every morsel of daunting economic news and jump to a logical conclusion — which is to say, Armageddon.

Oil prices will sink the Republic. No, the stock market will. That mortgage crisis will put you in a shantytown. This is all terrible news.

Recession? What recession?

There is so much recession talk, in fact, that according to a Gallup poll back in March, 75 percent of Americans already believed the U.S. economy was in a recession. A recession, defined by most economists as economic contraction for two or more successive quarters, has not happened.

Many economists — most of them still arguing over why we have recessions at all — believe that with a credit crunch, the housing market falling and high oil prices, the economy growing (as it did slightly last quarter) is a sign of resilience.

As market strategist Ed Yardeni (hat tip to U.S. World and News Report) claimed, "this profits recession is very much limited to the Financials sector and the Homebuilding industry . . . . Removing these two reveals that profits rose 15.9 percent in Q4 and around 12.0 percent during Q1. The resilience of 'core' profits and of the economy in the face of the worst credit crisis since the 1930s is impressive indeed."

That kind of perspective is, typically, lacking in economic coverage. Take, for instance, the housing crisis. It is real. It is painful. Yet more Americans own their own homes now than ever before. Those evil corporate warlords who had the audacity to offer low-interest mortgages put millions of families that otherwise would never have been able to afford it into homes. Only a fraction risk losing their investment.

Many of those borrowers made bad decisions. Many lenders made bad decisions, as well. A lesson could have been learned. Instead, government has reinforced irresponsible behavior with massive bailouts.

Let's not forget that overstating our troubles is also part of the political season. Isn't it curious how often we're on the precipice of economic ruin during a presidential election? The candidates, naturally, have all the answers — tax holidays, tax hikes, increased regulations ... until, that is, the next downturn comes around and we start it all over again.

A Pitcher Helps His Own Cause

Via Last of the Few

A Little Humor

"I was walking past the mental hospital the other
day and all the patients were shouting, '13....13....13....'
The fence was too high to see over, but I saw a little
gap in the planks and looked through to see what was
going on.
Some bastard poked me in the eye with a stick.
Then they all started shouting, '14....14....14....'"
Via Cookie at The Cook Shack

I WENT TO A BOOKSTORE AND ASKED THE SALESWOMAN, 'WHERE'S THE SELF-HELP SECTION?' SHE SAID IF SHE TOLD ME, IT WOULD DEFEAT THE PURPOSE.
Via Last of the Few

"The True Source of Liberation, Black or Otherwise"

Gagdad Bob at One Cosmos had some more observations yesterday about Obama and Wright.

This is just the same cold and dark Marxism trying to steal a little warmth and light -- or heart and mind -- from Christianity. If Obama and Wright were not such jihasbeens, they would understand the true source of liberation, black or otherwise: The "great holy war" is the struggle of man against the enemies he carries within himself, that is to say, against all those elements in him which are contrary to order and unity. Thus, the "unity candidate" is anything but. We will become the ones we've been waiting for only once we become more like the One who's been waiting for us.

The "Invocation Rebuttal"

The Democrat National Committee (DNC) announced today it would allow the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the Official Disavowed Pastor of the Obama for America campaign, to deliver the “invocation rebuttal” at the party’s convention in Denver this August.

“After the traditional opening prayer and the singing of ‘God Bless America’,” said an unnamed DNC source, “the Rev. Wright will have five minutes to call on the Almighty to reject our plea for blessing, refuse to shed his grace on us, and to give our nation what it really deserves.”

Sen. Barack Obama, who this week rejected his pastor’s racially-charged preaching, protested the DNC move, noting, “I would sooner wish to see my racist, white grandmother on the convention stage doing a minstrel show routine, than to allow that bigoted America-hater even one more minute in my spotlight.”

The above satire was written by Scott Ott for the Scrappleface blog.

The Empire Strikes Barack

Via Kathyrn Kean Lopez at The Corner

Growth Industries

There is one area of our economy that is growing by leaps and bounds. Lobbyists spent 2.8 billion dollars lobbying the federal government last year. That figure is double what it was in 1999. Now there is a growth industry! Tell your kids to study to be lobbyists. Oh, wait, they don't need to study. They just need truckloads of cash, and it would help if they had no conscience.

Speaking of lobbyists; I go about every two weeks to the cardiologist's office for a protime. That is where the nurse draws some blood to see if my blood has thinned sufficiently on the medicine they are prescribing (Coumadin). I still haven't gotten it to the right thinness.

Every time I go to the doctor's office, which is located in a wing of a large hospital, I see swarms of lobbyists from pharmaceutical companies. They are all dressed in suits, and all have briefcases full of samples...wait, maybe it's cash! Come to think of it, I have never seen what is inside those briefcases. I know they are heavy, though, because the salespeople, especially the female ones, always are pulling them on wheels.

May Day Colorado Style

Spirit was game, but had a hard time finding the tennis ball this evening, because it always got buried in the snow that has been falling all day. We had the third driest March on record, and the fifth driest April, so this is greatly appreciated moisture.