Always On Watch: Semper Vigilans

About Sandra Fluke

2012-03-07T07:08:00.004-05:00

(For material of a non-political nature, please scroll down to today's other post)

From Pastorius at THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS:

Some Thoughts On Sandra Fluke's Claim That A Woman's Contraception Can Cost $3000 Over 3 Years

Her numbers were no fluke. I do not believe Sandra Fluke just made her numbers up. She is a long time activist. She knows how to represent her cause. The podium she has been given here is too big and important for her to just be winging it.

The ONLY way that contraception could add up to $3000 per year is if one has used expensive services repeatedly.

The pill at $9 a year is NOT expensive. Dr. visits and Pap Smears are not that expensive. Not $1000 a year expensive, anyway.

The services which are expensive are

ABORTIONS (which have an average national cost of $468)

and

RU-486 - which, with Dr. visits - have an average national cost of approximately $400

So, here's a possible explanation.

Doctor visit (to obtain prescription): $75

Pap Smear (usually required by the Dr.) : $200

The Pill at $9 per month = $108 per year

1 Abortion or RU-486 = $400-468 per year

or, about $851 per year.

So, $1000 per year would be approxiamtely the cost of 1 pap smear, 1 Dr. visit, the pill, plus one abortion.

Remember, abortion is part of the constellation of contraceptive options to these people.

Also note THIS, posted today by Z!:

[Sandra Fluke] also, apparently, believes that it is discrimination deserving of legal action if "gender reassignment" surgeries are not covered by employer provided health insurance....

Amazing Gymnast!

2012-03-07T04:00:00.000-05:00

(If you must have politics, please scroll down)

The video tells the story:

video platform
video management
video solutions
video player

More information, including photos, HERE.

Sometimes, attitude and determination really ARE everything.

Aging In Place? (With Addendum)

2012-03-05T12:34:00.006-05:00

This morning, I was out running errands and drove by several newer homes, most of them large and beautiful structures with lovely landscaping. I noticed, however, that almost all of these new homes had several steps to climb at the entrance.

I thought back to the time that Mr. AOW was in the nursing home following a devastating brain hemorrhage at the age of fifty-nine. Needless to say, Mr. AOW was the youngest resident of the nursing home.

In part because most people at my husband's age do not live in a handicapped-friendly home, the social worker approached me to discuss the feasibility of bringing my husband home. She asked three specific questions:

1. "How many steps are there to get into your home?"

2. " Is there enough space for a wheelchair ramp with the proper slope from the street or driveway to the front door? Townhouses preclude your husband from wheelchair access. You may need to move to a condominium."

3. " Do you have a bedroom and a bathroom on the first floor?"

Fortunately, Mr. AOW and I live in an older home — quite small, but practical. The designer-builder so long ago had the foresight to design this old house to be a lifetime residence. Therefore, I could answer all of the social worker's questions satisfactorily, that is, in a way that did not preclude my husband's return home.

Although I have often complained about the many quirks of this house in which Mr. AOW and I have lived for over thirty years, I am so grateful that my family had the wisdom to buy this old house. In fact, at the time of purchase, they had a medical reason for buying this property: my five-year-old cousin had osteogenesis imperfecta and was often laid up or on crutches. Many a time, he was confined to a hospital bed in the easily accessible, spacious living room of this old house, just as Mr. AOW is confined to a hospital bed here. Not aesthetically pleasing, of course, but practical and efficient. The kitchen is but a few steps away!

Now, back to the title of this post. If people really do plan to age in place, they should look at the design of their home with a critical eye. Otherwise, they may find themselves having to divest themselves of their home in a hurry if a medical crisis arises. Furthermore, it is a harsh fact of life that if we live long enough, each and every one of us will become disabled to one extent or another. Plan ahead — particularly in this volatile housing market.

Addendum: Also take a critical look at the bathroom doors in your home. Most bathroom doors are much narrower than other doors, and that lack of width for entry into the necessary room can cause no end of grief. Very narrow doors will not accommodate a walker or other mobility aid! This old house has a bathroom entry as wide as the other doorways. Another blessing!

Video: The Story of Obama and Israel

2012-03-04T13:46:00.001-05:00

Please make time to watch the video below the fold (hat tip to The Conservative Lady):

Benjamin Netanyahu will be visiting the White House this week. At least part of the two leaders' conversation will relate to Iran.

Gas Price Hypocrisy

2012-03-03T04:00:00.008-05:00

Click directly on the image below to enlarge it:

Hat tip to Conservative Hideout 2.0 for the video and the larger graphic below the fold:

Nearly every television news-broadcast of the mainstream media has on the screen Obama-shilling anchors who are actually smiling when they speak of the rising cost of gasoline! As the above video points out, when gas prices rose under the Bush administration, these same brainless wonders wore the mask of grief, then proceeded to blame Bush.

What glaring and astounding hypocrisy!

The oligarchs and those shilling for them — all with deep pockets — have zero empathy for those who are suffering in this ailing economy.

Besides, according to Ask Heritage:

With the national average of gas prices hitting $3.65 a gallon, nearing $6 in some parts of the country, and poised to head even higher, America’s families are wondering when the bleeding at the pump will stop. But for Secretary of Energy Stephen Chu, those steep prices aren’t even a concern. In fact, he says his goal is not to get the price of gasoline to go down.

Chu delivered those stunning remarks in testimony before Congress [in February 2012]....

Clearly, the realities of the repercussions of rising energy costs are being shoved under the rug and have fallen prey to another agenda.

Hooper's words in Jaws come to mind:

...You are going to ignore this particular problem until it swims up and BITES YOU ON THE ASS!

Additional reading at Bunkerville. Even more at Bloviating Zeppelin. Worth your time.

RIP Andrew Breitbart (1969-2012)

2012-03-03T03:00:00.000-05:00

(This post stuck here for a few days as a tribute to a conservative trailblazer. Please scroll down for other material)

We lost a great and fearless patriot today, March 1.

Grieve first. Grief is the appropriate first response.

Then, carry on the Breitbart tradition.

The Ethics Of "After-Birth Abortions"

2012-03-01T04:00:00.011-05:00

From Conservative Hideout 2.0, comes the following information, disturbing in the extreme:

Two ethicists working with Australian universities argue in the latest online edition of the Journal of Medical Ethics that if abortion of a fetus is allowable, so to [sic] should be the termination of a newborn.

Alberto Giubilini with Monash University in Melbourne and Francesca Minerva at the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics at the University of Melbourne write that in “circumstances occur[ing] after birth such that they would have justified abortion, what we call after-birth abortion should be permissible.”

]...]

The two are quick to note that they prefer the term “after-birth abortion“ as opposed to ”infanticide.”...The authors also do not agree with the term euthanasia for this practice as the best interest of the person who would be killed is not necessarily the primary reason his or her life is being terminated. In other words, it may be in the parents’ best interest to terminate the life, not the newborns.

[...]

Both a fetus and a newborn certainly are human beings and potential persons, but neither is a ‘person’ in the sense of ‘subject of a moral right to life’. We take ‘person’ to mean an individual who is capable of attributing to her own existence some (at least) basic value such that being deprived of this existence represents a loss to her....

Who gets decides the fate of "potential persons"?

Humanity is sinking to the lowest level and in the name of medical ethics.

Back in the days immediately before and after Roe v. Wade, I recall that pro-life folks warned us of the slippery slope. I viewed those folks were paranoid alarmists. Apparently not! We now see medical ethicists advocating a form of eugenics.

Speaking of eugenics, see THIS, also over at Conservative Hideout 2.0: "UK Docs Agree To Do Abortions Based on Gender."

Will the lunatic fringe in the name of "bioethics" soon become mainstream in the name of "bioethics"? See THIS and THIS. The latter is entitled "‘Bioethicists’ and Obama agree: infanticide should be legal."

Fantastic Flying Books

2012-02-29T07:10:00.002-05:00

(If you must have politics, please scroll down)

Hat tip to Farmer's Letters for the following delightful video of this 2012 Oscar winner (Best Animated Short Film):

Our Devastating National Debt

2012-02-28T04:00:00.000-05:00

From Weasel Zippers comes this grim information about America's future:

Calculate YOUR lifetime share of the national debt HERE. Take your blood pressure medication first.

Today's Recommended Reading

2012-02-27T04:00:00.003-05:00

(Unrelated topic....See the post directly below this one. Absurdity abounds!)

See Former Obama Backer Now Thinks Obama More Incompetent than Keystone Kops! over at Mike's America. Mort Zuckerman, who supported Obama in 2008, has had a change of heart.

Mind Boggling

2012-02-26T13:21:00.003-05:00

From MK's blog, citing this source, comes this insane bit of news about what it takes to start up an online business in Greece:

...At the health department, they were told that all the shareholders of the company would have to provide chest X-rays, and, in the most surreal demand of all, stool samples....

Bureaucracy run amok. Literally into the muck.

Birthday Blog Break

2012-02-24T04:00:00.007-05:00

(If you must have politics, please scroll down)
I have no idea as to any specific plans for this weekend of my 60th birthday.

But I know that Mr. AOW has been planning something and enlisting the assistance of some others. I've seen the log on his cell phone.

Meanwhile, In New Hampshire

2012-02-23T07:14:00.001-05:00

Legally armed homeowner catches thief, is jailed for firing warning shot

We live in surreal times!

Our Singing President

2012-02-22T16:16:00.001-05:00

"Soundin' good!" rave the mainstream media outlets.

Who cares if Barack Hussein Obama can sing or not?

A President isn't elected to sing but rather to govern.

The office of President isn't American Idol, not is it supposed to be.

The Entitlement Mentality: Underage Drinking

2012-02-22T04:00:00.007-05:00

Recently, Andrea McCarren, a reporter for WUSA, one of our local news channels, did a special report on underage drinking.

For a time, she withdrew herself from future appearances on camera because of the ensuing threats.

Excerpt from the story:

...The episode began after McCarren’s Feb. 1 report about Town Square Market, a liquor store in Northwest Washington that allegedly sold alcohol to minors as young as 14. McCarren and WUSA news photographer Dave Satchell collected footage of teens carrying out 12-packs of beer. The news crew recorded statements, using hidden microphones, from the minors about how easy it was to buy booze at the store.

The report drew e-mail and Facebook denunciations of McCarren from young people apparently angered that she had exposed an easy supply of illicit alcohol.

“Way to go! Not,” wrote one self-described college student in a profanity-laced posting. “You are now probably the MOST hated woman in the D.C. area. Yay you! What was the point really of doing that story? No one finds it interesting (well that’s obvious anyways because its channel 9 news), but you also just ruined weekends for all kids underage.”

[...]

“We’re surprised by the level and depth of the reaction by parents and students, and especially the students,” [WUSA news director] D’Ambrosi said. “Some of them felt it was a privilege [to drink], even though it’s illegal. They see it as a rite of passage and that we were somehow interfering with it.....”

While reporters in foreign locales are often harassed and sometimes injured or killed, local TV journalists rarely face a sustained bullying response to their stories, said Mike Cavender, executive director of the Radio Television Digital News Association, a Washington group that represents journalists. “I couldn’t say it never happened,” he said of McCarren’s experience. “I would say it’s unusual. It’s not one I’ve encountered” in 25 years in the news business....

Read the entire story HERE. McCarren's children were harassed to the point that their mother feared for their well being and, possibly, even her own.

The entitlement mentality gone wild.

Andrea McCarren has now returned to on-camera appearances covering stories about underage drinking. Please watch the following:

The latest development, and Andrea McCarren is on camera (dated February 20, 2012):

Perhaps even more disturbing than the teenagers' sense of entitlement is the similar sense of entitlement on the part of the parents, who don't want their own lives disrupted when the police call with information that their children are in trouble:

...The teenager had been sexually assaulted. Police called the homeowners.

"We called the parents, notified them of what happened and that we need them to come and take care of their child and they said, well we can't come, we're at a New Year's Eve party," said Cpl. Augustine.

They told police they could come in a few hours, when their party was over.

"They were upset with police that we were disturbing their New Year's Eve plans for that night," he said....

We shouldn't be surprised that today's children have a sense of entitlement if their parents have a similar attitude. But we should be dismayed at the resulting breakdown of American society.

America's History With Islam

2012-02-21T05:41:00.002-05:00

Hat tip to Bob Mack of Be Sure You're Right, Then Go Ahead, for the video below the fold:

As Bob said in his post:

If Barack Obama had been Commander-In-Chief instead of “Hammering” Chuck Martel at the Battle of Tours (known sadly in jihadi lore as the Battle of the Court of the Martyrs), Western Civilization would have been extinguished in 732.

Yet, Obama continues to insist that Muslims have made contributions to America:

Islamification Via Academia

2012-02-20T04:00:00.004-05:00

(Thanks, Mustang, for sending me the video below)

Do you know what's being taught in YOUR child's school?

ACT! for America Education

ACT! for America

A specific example of what's happening at our universities, this example being a recent one at Wake Forest University.

RIP Jill Kinmont Boothe

2012-02-19T08:41:00.005-05:00

Jill Kinmont Boothe (February 16, 1936-February 9, 2012):

Additional information HERE.

Perhaps you saw the 1975 made-for-television film The Other Side of the Mountain, the film about her life before and after the ski accident in 1955. This accident left Olympic hopeful Jill Kinmont paralyzed. Despite her hopes to ski again, she never did. However, she recovered enough to pursue a career as a teacher and lived the remainder of her life largely out media coverage. Her passing did not make the headlines.

Women In Art

2012-02-18T06:10:00.000-05:00

(If you must have politics, please scroll down)

Enjoy this presentation of 500 years of female portraits in Western art! With thanks to commenter FreeThinke:

The Weeping Saudi Sheikh

2012-02-17T14:31:00.002-05:00

What to say about the weeping fool below as he sobs over Tweets that insulted the Prophet Muhammad?

From Mark Alexander's A New Dark Age Is Dawning:

This sheikh is soooo worried that the prophet has been insulted. Well, Muhammad is DEAD.

Furthermore, if Allah is so great and so powerful, why does he always need defending via cutting off the heads of apostates?

The Only One? (Video Added)

2012-02-16T08:22:00.004-05:00

According to this article dated February 15, 2012, "Colorado student quits high school choir over Islamic song praising 'Allah,'" one and only one member of the school choir had the courage to make a stand (hat tip to Infidel Bloggers Alliance):

A Colorado high school student says he quit the school choir after an Islamic song containing the lyric "there is no truth except Allah" made it into the repertoire.

James Harper, a senior at Grand Junction High School in Grand Junction, put his objection to singing "Zikr," a song written by Indian composer A.R. Rahman, in an email to Mesa County School District 51 officials. When the school stood by choir director Marcia Wieland's selection, Harper said, he quit.

"I don’t want to come across as a bigot or a racist, but I really don’t feel it is appropriate for students in a public high school to be singing an Islamic worship song,” Harper told KREX-TV. "This is worshipping another God, and even worshipping another prophet ... I think there would be a lot of outrage if we made a Muslim choir say Jesus Christ is the only truth."..

The school district continues to defend its decision to include the song in the choir's repertoire.

I find it difficult to believe that James Harper is the only choir member with objections to song. Likely, he isn't the only Christian choir member, either.

Revelation 3:16 states the following:

So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.

ADDENDUM
The song to which James Harper objected (Thanks, Debbie):

Obama Refuses To Budge

2012-02-15T04:00:00.038-05:00

(A follow-up to this previous post. Settle in for one of my long posts)

According to this source:

Despite renewed statements of concern by Catholic leaders and lawmakers, the Obama administration is done negotiating and will finalize its plan requiring insurance companies to provide free contraception to women working and studying at religious institutions, President Obama’s chief of staff said Sunday....

What Obama has done is this: by forcing all insurance companies to provide contraception free of charge to insureds, these institutions, including hospitals, will have to (1) knuckle under, (2) stop providing any employer-based health insurance (They may not legally be able to do so), or (3) close their doors. Obama's mandate goes into effect on August 1, 2012.

Suppose you and I worked for one of these institutions? Would we stay as employees if there were no health insurance offered by our employer? Could we stay? Individual policies are expensive beyond belief and offer coverage more limited than that of group plans.

We have one world-famous Catholic hospital here in the Washington, D.C. area: Georgetown University Medical Center. This facility provides services at a level that no other nearby facility can, particularly in the field of neurology and neurosurgery. What happens to people's health care if Georgetown Hospital closes its doors?

And what of the Catholic University of America?

Now let's make it personal.

If you personally believe that Obama's mandate is one that violates God's law, are you going to cancel your health-insurance coverage? After all, if you have a group plan, you personally are voluntarily paying into a plan that funds Obama's mandate, which includes abortion pills.

Uncomfortable thought, isn't it?

"These are the times that try men's souls" — in a context different than the original context.

Once a government policy in place, undoing that policy is a Herculean task or an impossibility.

Make no mistake: Even though, thus far, the Catholic bishops have rejected Obama's mandate, Obama has won this round (and even beyond as I will note at the end of this blog post):

...[The bishops] said they still had "serious moral concerns," noting that the proposal didn't contain provisions for religious employers who self-insure, meaning the employer takes on the underlying risk of covering employees' health care....

I venture to guess that many employers cannot afford to take on that risk, particularly if high-risk individuals are in the pool of insureds.

On a Constitutional level, Silverfiddle recently made the following point at his site:

Does the federal government have the authority to tell a business to give things away? That's what Obama's tissue-thin fig leaf of a compromise does.... If the government can do this, why not command grocery stores to give food away?

Do Americans understand that Obama's recent mandate is tyranny most foul and Constitutionally baseless?

Do Americans realize what's at stake?

Additional Reading (contrasting viewpoint): "How Obama Set a Contraception Trap for the Right" by Andrew Sullivan.

Happy Valentine's Day

2012-02-14T00:01:00.005-05:00

(If you must have politics, please scroll down)

Information about Nyac, one of the hand-holding otters in the video above:

...[O]ne of the last surviving sea otters from the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill[,] Nyac came to the Vancouver Aquarium in 1989 as one of the few young survivors of the oil spill. She not only survived the traumatic event, but she overcame incredible odds and became the only known survivor to have successfully had a pup. On November 9, 1993, Nyac gave birth to a healthy female pup, Kipnuk. This event was considered miraculous due to the internal damage she had sustained. During her 20 years of life, she won the hearts of members, visitors, volunteers and staff at the Vancouver Aquarium....

Racism

2012-02-13T06:59:00.003-05:00

In the thread below, commenter Duck's Here pointed out that Peter Brimelow gave a speech at CPAC 2012. Brimelow has a reputation as a white supremacist.

White folks are not the only racists on the planet.

Indeed, Samuel L. Jackson a civil rights activist after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., and today an actor and film producer, is a racist and very proud to say so.

From this source:

Barack Obama's politics meant nothing to Samuel L. Jackson because the "Pulp Fiction" star only voted for the president for one reason and one reason only ... because he's black.

In an interview with Ebony magazine, Jackson explained, "I voted for Barack because he was black. 'Cuz that's why other folks vote for other people — because they look like them ... That's American politics, pure and simple. [Obama's] message didn't mean [bleep] to me."

[...]

"...I hope Obama gets scary in the next four years, 'cuz he ain't gotta worry about getting re-elected."

At his blog, Beakerkin points out that in America today, it is acceptable to excoriate white racists, but not black ones:

Now there are some false hypocritical lefties all worked up about Peter Brimelow at CPAC. Did the same folks express any concern about a President who sat rapt in a Church with a pastor spewing anti-American Black Liberation Theology? Did the same crew say a word about a President addressing La Raza?...

Clearly, we are not living in post-racial America, nor do we have a post-racial President:

Occupy CPAC

2012-02-12T06:59:00.002-05:00

Found at Mike's America:

They don't know who is paying them, and they don't know what they're protesting.

You can't make this stuff up.

How Is This A Compromise?

2012-02-11T07:39:00.003-05:00

(Two posts today. Please scroll down)

Another bluff from the Administration of Smoke and Mirrors!

According to "Obama Revamps Contraceptive Policy":

President Barack Obama announced Friday that the administration will not require religious-affiliated institutions to cover birth control for their employees.

Capping weeks of growing controversy, Obama said he was backing off a newly announced requirement for religious employers to provide free birth control coverage even if it runs counter to their religious beliefs.

Instead, workers at such institutions will be able to get free birth control coverage directly from health insurance companies....

When one gets treatment under the coverage provided by a health insurance policy, the employer never directly pays for that treatment. Employees don't go to the employer's management office for their healthcare needs but instead to the doctor or other provider.

For example, when I had knee surgery in 2000, my husband's employer-based health insurance policy, which also covered me, paid for that surgery according to the parameters of the health insurance contract. My husband's employer didn't even know that I had knee surgery, either before or after the fact.

I can't see that Obama's "compromise" has been any real compromise. If employers are providing health insurance plans to employees and all insurance plans provide free contraception, then those employers with religious objections are still paying for access to something to which they object. Furthermore, Obama has once again dictated to a private company what that company's policies must cover.

Nineteen Americans

2012-02-11T05:59:00.001-05:00

I haven't heard any more about the following for several days. Perhaps you have?

Read the news story HERE.

FEATURED QUESTION: Healthcare Reform

2012-02-11T04:00:00.000-05:00

(This post stuck here for a few days. Please scroll down for other material)

Recently Ann Coulter wrote "Three Cheers for Romneycare!" She stated:

...Until Obamacare, mandatory private health insurance was considered the free-market alternative to the Democrats' piecemeal socialization of the entire medical industry....

Read the entire essay HERE.

How does any kind of insurance work?

According to this source:

Transfer of Risk

Insurance cannot remove the risk or the likelihood that one might become a victim of any of these events, but what it does is transfer all or some of the financial impact of any of these events. Insurance exists to help individuals recover from the financial consequences of these events by pooling the resources of a large group to pay for the losses of a small group.

[...]

Law of Large Numbers

In order to afford to cover the financial losses of its customers, an insurance company needs a very large base of members. For each different type of loss that they insure against, insurance companies have years of statistics that help them calculate how many losses they are likely to have. They are counting on the law of large numbers which, when applied to insurance, states that the more members in an insured group, the more likely it is that the number of actual losses will be very close to the number of expected losses....

Read the rest HERE.

Many bristle at the health insurance individual mandate, primarily because, under the individual mandate, the government is requiring the individual to buy a particular product. Furthermore, according to THIS, the individual mandate has several significant hazards.

A matter that I've been puzzling about for some time:

Considering the rising costs of health care, the rising costs of health insurance premiums, and the coming tsunami of aging Baby Boomers (resulting in reduced opportunity for transfer of risk as well as a reduced tax base for funding private health insurance, Medicare, and Medicaid), what is the viable alternative to the individual mandate for health insurance?

WARNING! The comments thread to this post contains a heated discussion.

The Creation Of A Devotional Movement

2012-02-10T06:23:00.003-05:00

Or, as many of us who oppose Obama often say, "A cult!" — in this case, the Cult of Obama.

Hat tip to A New Dark Age Is Dawning:

Do you need some visuals to go along with what Mark Edward Taylor contends in the video above? Watch the two short videos below the fold.

Members of a cult typically require deprogramming or exit counseling so as to return to sanity. How can the devotees of the Cult of Obama be persuaded that Obama is not "The One"?

The Lunatics Are Running The Asylum

2012-02-09T07:34:00.009-05:00

We live in the Age of the Absurd.

If this nonsense appeared in a novel, readers would cry, "Too implausible!"

Spew alert! Set down your beverage before reading on.

From Be Sure You're RIGHT, Then Go Ahead, citing this source:

A bit of news from a California federal court will cause you to shout along with Charlton Heston that “It’s a madhouse! A madhouse!”

The court is going “to decide for the first time in US history whether amusement park animals are protected by the same constitutional rights as humans.”

The issue is the result of a lawsuit that PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) filed in a “San Diego court on behalf of five orcas named Tilikum, Katina, Corky, Kasatka and Ulises. . . . PETA argues that continuing the whales’ ‘employment’ at SeaWorld violates the 13th Amendment to the US Constitution, which prohibits slavery.”

In a moment of lucidity judge ruled against PETA.

This case ever getting to court in the first place is mind boggling.

Even A Blind Squirrel...

2012-02-08T06:41:00.002-05:00

finds a nut once in a while:

All Is Well

2012-02-07T05:27:00.003-05:00

A follow-up post to "Secondary Cataract":

The YAG laser procedure yesterday went as expected and lasted less than five minutes.

My vision this morning is well defined now that the dilation drops have worn off, and I see better than I have in several months. Post-procedure care involves prednisolone eye drops four times a day for a week and, the following week, another visit with the ophthalmologist.

The only nasty surprise was the cost. Upon admission to the surgery center, I had to write a check for $803 as a deposit; my health-insurance policy is one of catastrophic coverage. Whatever the cost, it is small when one's vision is at stake!

Back to work today and to grading the papers that have piled up during my period of severely impaired vision the past few weeks.

Video: America Stands At A Crossroads

2012-02-06T04:00:00.003-05:00

Created by Political Clown Parade:

Reading: "O-Man the Destroyer" at Western Hero (Silverfiddle's site). Worth your time.

The Choices For Voters In 2012

2012-02-04T12:24:00.004-05:00

Political cartoon below the fold (from Obama Cartoons):

Secondary Cataract

2012-02-03T07:33:00.000-05:00

On Monday, I'll be undergoing this procedure on my right eye — over three years after cataract surgery:

My 1986 experience with posterior capsulotomy was certainly painless and effective. However, seeing and hearing the sizzling inside my head as the capsule burning away was disconcerting. I said, "That sounds like bacon frying inside my head!"

I did have a whopper of a headache for some twenty-four hours and had quite the Draconian schedule with eye drops.

But the results! Stupendous!

I'm looking forward to getting better vision in my right eye. The last several weeks have been tedious as the field of vision on my right has been very cloudy, thus causing eye strain and reduced time on the web.

Tantrums On The Tarmac

2012-02-02T05:00:00.005-05:00

Gotta love the music too (hat tip to Capitalist Preservation):

A little something else below the fold.

How did Jay Carney ever advance as far as the position of White House Press Secretary?

Turn away from the screen and listen to the lack of elocution as well as to the consummate failure of the bureaucracy:

If you watch the video, you can see body language indicative of lie after lie, as well incompetence.

As for the vocal stammering:

Quote Of The Day

2012-02-01T06:02:00.000-05:00

Possibly the quote of the century!

From commenter FreeThinke in THIS THREAD here at Always On Watch:

Sorry to have to be the one to say it, but Obama will win in November simply because he's so "cute." He has "charisma."

The average person doesn't know anything about "policy" and couldn't care less. Obama, whether YOU think so or not, has "Charisma."

Ever since the disaster of the Nixon-Kennedy debates, "Sex Appeal" has largely been the determining factor in American politics.

Most people do NOT think, do not KNOW, and do not CARE. They just FEEL.

If this were not true, why else do you think the Lie Factories of the Ad Industry have been so enormously successful?

The public has been deliberately "dumbed down" for the past hundred years. This has conditioned most of us to ACCEPT the ever growing amounts of [excrement] that gets forced down our throats every day.

We've been SEDUCED and then BRAINWASHED by crafty manipulators. There could be no other logical explanation for what has happened.

Opposing view HERE in "The President Plays Small Ball" by Charles Krauthammer.

Islamophobia Kills

2012-01-30T05:46:00.007-05:00

When Muslims are involved, child-protection laws get thrown out the window for fear of offending Muslims (hat tip to Razor Sharp Claws):

Additional information, including the verdict, HERE (hat tip to A New Dark Age Is Dawning). Brief excerpt:

...The prosecution presented wire taps and mobile phone records from the Shafia family in court to support their honor killing allegation. The wiretaps, which capture Shafia spewing vitriol about his dead daughters, calling them treacherous and whores and invoking the devil to defecate on their graves, were a focal point of the trial.

"There can be no betrayal, no treachery, no violation more than this," Shafia said on one recording. "Even if they hoist me up onto the gallows ... nothing is more dear to me than my honor."...

Shafia also said:

"They committed treason from beginning to end. They betrayed humankind. They betrayed Islam...They betrayed everything."...

This Weekend's Document Dump

2012-01-29T10:04:00.004-05:00

HERE (hat tip to THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS).

What did Eric Holder know, and when did he know it?

Strange, But Interesting

2012-01-29T05:34:00.001-05:00

(If you must have politics, please scroll down)

Please read the story before watching the video below (with a hat tip to FJ):

Obama's Legislative Record

2012-01-28T05:54:00.004-05:00

Obama's populism may not help him on Election Day, after all:

Liar-In-Chief

2012-01-27T05:57:00.011-05:00

(Hat tip to I Hate the Media for the video in this post)

Watch the short video. Then read the information below the fold.

And just who designed the crazy regulations on spilled milk, anyway?

The EPA under Obama. See THIS POST from nearly a year ago here at Always On Watch.

I am so sick and tired of all the smoke and mirrors from this administration.

Additional reading, worth your time: fact check of Obama's 2012 State of the Union Speech. The spilled milk lie is only one of many lies and half truths that the Liar-In-Chief spouted last Tuesday night.

Dumber Than Dumb

2012-01-24T04:00:00.001-05:00

A while back, Bunkerville posted "Next Generation, Dumb As Dumb Can Be?" I found myself returning several times to Bunkerville's post and also reading the more lengthy essay at The American Dream.

Excerpt:

*Only 43 percent of all U.S. high school students knew that the Civil War was fought some time between 1850 and 1900.

*More than a quarter of all U.S. high school students thought that Christopher Columbus made his famous voyage across the Atlantic Ocean after the year 1750.

*Approximately a third of all U.S. high school students did not know that the Bill of Rights guarantees freedom of speech and freedom of religion.

*Only 60 percent of all U.S. students knew that World War I was fought some time between 1900 and 1950.

[...]

[According to a 2009 study of high school students in Oklahoma]:

What is the supreme law of the land? 28 percent [answered correctly]

What do we call the first ten amendments to the Constitution? 26 percent [answered correctly]

What are the two parts of the U.S. Congress? 27 percent [answered correctly]

How many justices are there on the Supreme Court? 10 percent [answered correctly]

Who wrote the Declaration of Independence? 14 percent [answered correctly]

What ocean is on the east coast of the United States? 61 percent

What are the two major political parties in the United States? 43 percent

We elect a U.S. senator for how many years? 11 percent

Who was the first President of the United States? 23 percent [answered correctly]

Who is in charge of the executive branch? 29 percent

Read the rest HERE at The American Dream.

In my view, one of the causes of the disaster that is our education system is the emphasis on promoting self-esteem, particularly the promotion of fake self-esteem. Lo and behold! Along comes THIS ARTICLE in the January 15, 2012 edition of the Washington Post. Excerpt:

In schools, self-esteem boosting is losing favor to rigor, finer-tuned praise

For decades, the prevailing wisdom in education was that high self-esteem would lead to high achievement. The theory led to an avalanche of daily affirmations, awards ceremonies and attendance certificates — but few, if any, academic gains.

Now, an increasing number of teachers are weaning themselves from what some call empty praise....

[...]

Underlying the praise backlash is a hard seed of anxiety — a sense that American students are not working hard enough to compete with students from overseas for future jobs....

Please read THE ENTIRE ARTICLE. Note that it took decades of research to figure out that promoting self-esteem at the expense of learning doesn't work.

The Washington Post article struck a chord with me. I recall my teacher training (1970-1972) and all the emphasis place on instilling self-esteem in students and on avoiding the memorization of facts. As as Spanish major, I kept pointing out that no substitute exists for memorizing vocabulary lists; my words very nearly got me booted from the program. Later on, around 1996, I was instructed by the administration of the private school where I worked at the time not to mark x's on the wrong answers but rather to circle the correct answers — with a purple pen and not a red one. Mustn't "traumatize" the students! To facilitate the use of purple instead of red, the school administration gave us a stock of purple pens and confiscated a red pen wherever they found one. Yes, administrators there regularly searched the teachers' desks to enforce the no-red-ink rule.

The philosophy of self-esteem at all costs is but one cause of the problems with our educational system. Feel free to list other causes in the comments section to this post.

Of more importance....How do we solve the problem(s) with our education system? Or is it too late?

The Sad Inevitability

2012-01-23T07:07:00.006-05:00

Gabrielle Giffords resigns this week:

It's a miracle that Giffords is alive. May she continue to get stronger and to improve as she focuses on her recovery! And may her husband remain encouraged of heart! He's suffering right along with her, you know.

After a year following a traumatic brain insult, recovery slows but doesn't cease altogether.

Mr. AOW and I fully know that fact two and a half years after his devastating brain hemorrhage of September 15, 2009, as he continues to make minuscule improvements. But at this late date, well beyond the window of one year when the most improvement occurs, recovery needs one's full focus.

If Obama Debated Romney

2012-01-22T08:12:00.002-05:00

Video below the fold:

(Hat tip to to 1389 Blog)

Yes, the above video is satiric. Still, Romney does provide Obama with plenty of ammunition for a Presidential debate. Romney is notorious for flip flops and contradictory statements.

Movie Heroes

2012-01-21T06:20:00.000-05:00

(If you must have politics, please scroll down. Some lively discussions going on!)

Sad but true (hat tip to Beamish, who entitled his post "Gunslingers Vs. Gumflappers"):

The Sad Irony

2012-01-20T07:00:00.001-05:00

(Hat tip to Reliapundit for the graphic in this post)

The facts about jobs related to tourism:
Obama touts low-wage tourism jobs, nixes high-wage energy jobs

A day after President Barack Obama nixed up to 20,000 high-wage Keystone XL pipeline construction jobs, he flew down to Florida to tout his support for low-wage tourism jobs.

[...]

The 1.7 million workers in the “traveler accommodation” category earned an average wage of $27,210 in 2009, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

That’s barely half the wages earned by the estimated 98,210 workers in the “heavy and civil engineering construction” category. In 2009, they earned a mean wage of $50,730, according to the BLS.

[...]

In contrast, tourism jobs are mostly low-skill service jobs — serving dinners, cleaning bedrooms, guiding visitors....They can also be accomplished by immigrants who will accept lower wages than U.S.-born Americans....
Whoever the GOP candidate is should be sure to point out the facts about jobs related to tourism. Such jobs will not drive our economy!

We need a higher GDP to bring this economy out of its doldrums, not what Obama is lamely touting as the solution as he zooms all over the country for photo ops to promote the illusion that he's doing something for our ailing economy.

All American Muslim Girls

2012-01-18T04:00:00.000-05:00

With a hat tip to Infidel Bloggers Alliance:

Note the following words:

You're supposed to talk to people peacefully first.

What, then, comes second?

More On Solyndra

2012-01-16T06:54:00.002-05:00

A different kind of Watergate, one that has really fleeced the American taxpayer (hat tip to Be Sure You're RIGHT, Then Go Ahead):

Will the mainstream media harp on the above story enough to damage Obama's chances for re-election?

Recommended reading: "Anybody But Obama, 2012" at Be Sure You're RIGHT, Then Go Ahead. Nine more reasons not to vote for Obama in 2012!

Miserable Cold

2012-01-16T06:49:00.000-05:00

(This post stuck here for several days. Please scroll down)

I have several posts queued up to auto-publish, so I'm not taking an official blog break.

Thanks to this miserable head cold, however, my participation in comments threads and making of blog rounds will be limited.

Your Weekend Funny

2012-01-14T07:10:00.002-05:00

With a hat tip to Be Sure You're RIGHT, Then Go Ahead:

Pretty much sums up all the GOP division and divisiveness that we're seeing these days.

Americans are indeed a contentious bunch!

Check These Graphs

2012-01-13T04:00:00.000-05:00

From Infidel Bloggers Alliance: but you may need to be taking anti-depressants not to crash and burn:

How is economic recovery possible?

Add to the above the following from News Bleat, words that spell political doom for a free America, an America that adheres to the checks and balances of our Constitution:

...the excesses [Barack Obama] gets away with in even one term will be repeated by a Republican president if elected. I have never seen one single reversal of gained power in my life.

The Entitlement Mentality

2012-01-11T08:04:00.001-05:00

Spew alert!

Set down your beverage before watching the video below the fold (hat tip to TOTUS):

The "majorette" in drama actually said the following:

"They don't have a lot of cuts and stuff for everybody."

"Cuts and stuff"? As in "I want my share of the loot"?

This "majorette" in drama should become the poster girl for Occupy Wall Street.

Mitt Romney's Convictions

2012-01-10T04:00:00.013-05:00

What are they?

Also see Stogie's evaluation of the present field of GOP candidates.

I'll close this post with this "Freudian slip" from John McCain last week. Make of it what you will:

The Arab Spring

2012-01-09T04:00:00.005-05:00

Video of Egyptian Cleric Yousuf Al-Badri below the fold (hat tip to Alex):

William Butler Yeats's 1919 poem "The Second Coming":

TURNING and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

Wikipedia's information about the above poem is HERE.

This Blog Is A Winner!

2012-01-08T04:00:00.008-05:00

As bestowed by Zilla of the Resistance:

Mr. AOW and I have won a Zilla Award for Awesomeness in the Dextrosphere: Blogging Super Couple (U.S.A.)!

Read Zilla's announcement HERE. She has listed several winning dextrosphere blogs to visit.

The Present Constitutional Crisis

2012-01-06T12:31:00.003-05:00

Listen to the brief audio HERE.

Comparing Carter And Obama

2012-01-05T04:00:00.008-05:00

(hat tip to Reliapundit of THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS for the video below)

Maybe we've reached the 1980 tipping point: the White House incumbent will lose in the next national election. That's what happened to Jimmy Peanut when Reagan, the non-incumbent, won the highest ever number of electoral votes against incumbent Carter:

Obama's economic record:

Additional reading: President Barack Obama's Complete List of Historic Firsts. Worth your time.

Indoctrination In Albemarle County, Virginia

2012-01-03T05:12:00.004-05:00

Of all places! Usually, this area is more conservative than to allow the following:

Lyrics:

Some people have it all
But they still don’t think they have enough
They want more money
A faster ride
They’re not content
Never satisfied
Yes — they’re the 1 percent

I used to be one of the 1 percent
I worked all the time
Never saw my family
Couldn’t make life rhyme
Then the bubble burst
It really, really hurt
I lost my money
Lost my pride
Lost my home
Now I’m part of the 99

Some people have it all
But they still don’t think they have enough
They want more money
A faster ride
They’re not content
Never satisfied
Yes — they’re the 1 percent

I used to be sad, now I’m satisfied
’Cause I really have enough
Though I lost my yacht and plane
Didn’t need that extra stuff
Could have been much worse
You don’t need to be first
’Cause I’ve got my friends
Here by my side
Don’t need it all

I’m so happy to be part of the 99

See the pamphlet HERE.

DHS Surveillance

2012-01-02T15:18:00.007-05:00

Robert Spencer of Jihad Watch states as follows in this announcement on January 2, 2012:

Welcome, DHS agents!

I've just learned that the Department of Homeland Security has Jihad Watch under surveillance, along with a broad spectrum of sites all over the ideological and political map, including Live Leak, Vimeo, Youtube, Flickr, Counter-Terrorism Blog, Danger Room, Drudge Report, Foreign Policy, Global Security Newswire, Google Blog Search, Homeland Security Today, Huffington Post, LongWarJournal, MEMRI, Newsweek Blogs, NYTimes Lede Blog, Plowshares Fund, Popular Science Blogs, Science Daily, STRATFOR, Technorati, Terror Finance Blog, and many, many others.

Clearly there is no commonality here -- in other words, the DHS isn't just watching anti-jihad sites, or conservative sites. The explanation given is this: "This is a representative list of sites that the NOC [National Operations Center] will start to monitor in order to provide situational awareness and establish a common operating picture under this Initiative. Initial sites listed may link to other sites not listed. The NOC may also monitor those sites if they are within the scope of this Initiative."...

I suppose that any of us on the blogrolls of various sites or any of us commenting at various sites might also be under surveillance.

Full disclosure: Always On Watch is on the blogroll at Jihad Watch.

HERE is the pdf with the initial list.

Folks, there are the times that try men's souls. Make your stand as you will. I've already made mine!

Today's Recommended Reading

2012-01-02T09:35:00.001-05:00

See Your Share of Unfunded Public Pensions is $424,500 over at Maggie's Notebook. Apparently, each of us owes that amount on top of the taxes we already pay! This problem is even more serious than the national debt.

Happy New Year!

2011-12-31T06:29:00.002-05:00

(If you must have politics, please scroll down)

By the close of 2012, may we be celebrating regime change in Washington! In the words of this old song:

Until then we'll have to muddle through somehow.

As I think back on 2011, I have three personal things that I'm most grateful for:

1. Stable health. In fact, Mr. AOW's health has improved! Now he has an iPad and a blog of his own!

2. Our beloved Cameo's return to health. Back from the brink!

3. The generous Christmas gift from my homeschool families. Cash!

What three events of 2011 are YOU most grateful for? Your responses can be personal or "big picture."

New Year's Eve music from days gone by:

Silencing Voices

2011-12-30T04:52:00.005-05:00

For the second time in a month, CAIR has managed to get get Wordpress to take down the web site Bare Naked Islam. See the update at the bottom of the post below.

You can keep up to date with what's happening with Bare Naked Islam by following BNI's Twitter feed.

Make no mistake: what's happening with this silencing of the voice of Bare Naked Islam could easily spread to silencing a wide range of voices on the web.

This morning, I posted the following at Infidel Bloggers Alliance:

We are living in Orwellian times.

A few days ago, I posted THIS at Infidel Bloggers Alliance: "The End Of Blogging?" SOPA looms. Its power to silence voices is nearly unlimited.

It's not farfetched to realize that our days of freedom of speech on the web are numbered.

Furthermore, I expect that 2012 will bring the closing of all sorts of web sites, particularly blogs that are controversial.

I won't quit speaking out until my blog is shuttered by the forces of silencing voices, until I'm in jail, or until I die. After all, I'm an old woman. I don't have much to lose, really. The life I loved ended when Mr. AOW had his crippling stroke in 2009.

But I doubt that younger folks feel the way that I do. And I can't blame them for feeling that way.

"Life goes on, even after the thrill of living is gone."

Pigs And Dogs In Pakistan (Updated!)

2011-12-29T04:00:00.004-05:00

From Bare Naked Islam:

BNI points out:

In Pakistan, unlike other Muslim countries, they don’t kill dogs, they use dogs to kill pigs. Then they kill the dogs.

Additional information HERE at Bare Naked Islam.

Update: Wordpress has closed down Bare Naked Islam. Yes, CAIR is involved. More information HERE.

Christmas Day 2011: Texas Honor Killings?

2011-12-28T07:01:00.009-05:00

See Texas Christmas Honor Killings: Mass Murderer Didn’t Want Daughter Dating Non-Muslim at Gateway Pundit. MORE at Bared Naked Islam, including family photos and news video.

(Two posts today. Please scroll down)

The Ugly Side Of George Barnard Shaw

2011-12-28T04:00:00.001-05:00

You are likely familiar with one particular work of George Barnard Shaw, who wrote numerous works and won both the Nobel Prize for Literature and an Oscar for Pygmalion, upon which the delightful musical My Fair Lady was based:

But what of George Barnard Shaw the man? Facts you didn't learn in school:

George Barnard Shaw was a eugenicist and a Socialist (hat tip to Bunkerville for the video below):

How interesting and how dismaying that a mind could conceive of the delightful story presented in Pygmalion and also support wholesale murder!

No Matter What Your Reservations About The EDL

2011-12-26T04:00:00.008-05:00

You must watch this video all the way through:

Information about the English Defence League (EDL) HERE and HERE. Also see THIS LENGTHY INDEX of posts at Lionheart UK.

Yes, much controversy exists with regard to the EDL.

Nevertheless, much of what Tommy Robinson says in the video above the fold is clearly happening.

Furthermore, notice the following, which I posted last week at Infidel Bloggers Alliance:

Tommy Robinson violently beaten up to shouts of "allah ackbar" and "Merry Christmas Tommy".

Gates of Vienna has the story, including more photos.

If political leaders in the UK are so awash in dhimmitude and living in their ivory towers, are these political leaders not setting up the UK for the unthinkable, namely submission or civil war?

As long as I'm dipping into this controversial matter of the EDL, I might as well post THIS LINK to Enoch Powell's 1968 "Rivers of Blood" speech. You can learn more about that speech HERE at YouTube.

Christmas Is Here

2011-12-25T00:02:00.000-05:00

Let the joyful bells ring!

Rejoice! (hat tip to Matt):

Merry Christmas!

Cameo And The Christmas Tree

2011-12-25T00:01:00.000-05:00

(This post stuck here through the Christmas season. Please scroll down)

With many thanks to Stogie, who made the graphic for this post! Click directly on the picture to enlarge it:

I wrote the story below the fold in 2005. Within the past several months, Cameo has mellowed (somewhat, anyway, in large part due to her recent illness). But the memories of those bygone days Cameo's terrorizing the Christmas tree still bring a smile to our faces. I hope that the anecdote will bring a smile to your face too.

Cameo, our youngest cat of a little over four years, is one-fourth Siamese. As she is mostly Russian Blue, she doesn't have the appearance of a lean Siamese; in fact, she's smoky-gray, except for the dainty white spot on her chest and built like a little fireplug. Every annual check-up at the vet brings the warning, "You'd better watch her weight." Keeping Cameo's food intake to a lower level is easier said than done, however, because she steals the other cats' food before she eats her own — and none of the other three girls mess with Cameo's feeding station.

True to her Siamese heritage, Cameo is busy, busy, busy. I suspect that Christmastime is her favorite time of year because the season provides her with more opportunity for getting into trouble. From the moment that I wrestle the decorations out of that miniscule guestroom closet (A man built this house in 1940, and apparently he didn't believe in closet space or in enough electrical outlets, for that matter), her eyes glow with mischief.

As soon as my husband struggles into the front door with the large box containing the artificial tree dragged from the rafters of the shed, Cameo dives headfirst into the box. We guess that she detects the scent of mice as our shed is infested with those vermin. As the box gets progressively empty, she watches intently as we assemble the tree. First, we lay out all the branches so that we can match the back prongs to the now faded color scheme on the "trunk." It never fails: Cameo leaps from the box and drags off one of the branches into the dining room, and I shout, "Cut that out! Leave that tree alone." But after a few minutes of struggle with her, the tree is up. We loop a piece of twine around the trunk and fasten the tree to the window ledge. I don't want that tree tipping over and coming home to find the angel-topper's porcelain head in pieces on the floor!

Next come the lights. Of course, strings of lights have to be plugged in and tested, and Cameo participates in checking the lights too. The string itself is interesting, but when those bulbs come on, Cameo seems to feel that it's her duty to double-check that each bulb works, and she makes every effort to bite each one. As we wrap the lights around the tree, the trailing strands probably remind her of her favorite toy, the laser gun, so she becomes ecstatic with the thrill of pursuit. Again, I scream, "Cut that out!" followed by "Leave those lights alone!"

The first decorations to be placed on the tree are the strands of beads. We store the beads in plastic bags and, no matter how carefully we've put them away at the end of the Christmas season, somehow they get all tangled up, so we have to disentangle them. Cameo has no interest in a ball of tangled strands, but once they're laid out as separate strands, she goes into action. "Cut that out! Leave those beads alone."

Assembling the tree and putting on the lights take less than an hour. But then the real fun begins for Cameo — putting on the ornaments! She watches carefully as each ornament is placed. Then she spies the empty boxes. Small though they are, Cameo feels that it's her obligation to inspect those boxes and to try to secrete herself therein. "Cut that out! Leave those boxes alone!"

After hours of work, the tree is glowing with lights and ornaments, and all of us — my husband, the four cats, and I — sit back to inspect the results. Our tree has no tinsel, of course: tinsel can be fatal to cats. They love to eat it, and tinsel and digestive tracts are not a good match. We learned that lesson with a previous cat; fortunately, the vet got to her in time, and Laxatone took care of the problem. But my husband and I decided that, from that point on, our Christmas tree would go tinselless rather than risk losing a beloved pet.

As soon as the tree is completely festooned, Cameo goes after those ornaments on the lower branches. Unlike another cat I once had, she has no particular favorites to scramble for. Rather, any ornament on a lower branch is her target. I grab the water spritzer and soak her good. "Cut that out! Leave that tree alone!" Sheepishly giving me that what-did-I-do look, she goes to the radiator, which is still tantalizingly close to the tree, and pretends that the tree isn't really there.

Inevitably, we have to leave the house within hours of decorating the tree. Either work calls or we have to run an errand. You guessed it! When we return home, the lower branches are bare. Sometimes the ornaments disappear, only to be found during spring housecleaning; sometimes the ornaments are just below the branches or in the gift bags. We put the ornaments back on, once again, with "Oh, Cameo, can't you just leave that tree alone?" Her eyes are round with innocence.

Every evening, we go through the same routine: Cameo secretes herself under the tree as soon as the switch is thrown, I shout "Cam-eee-ooooooo!," she swats at an ornament, and I grab the water spritzer. "Cut that out! Leave that tree alone!" Sometimes the very sight of the spritzer does the job, and I don't have to soak the tree skirt and any presents under the tree as I attempt to shoo her out from under the tree. Being a little klutzy, Cameo usually dislodges an ornament or two in her scramble to the radiator. I sigh and readjust the tree. My husband says, "Leave that cat alone."

Cameo's first Christmas was the most disruptive for the tree, but the most entertaining as well. After several days of the above routine with the spritzer, Cameo decided to be sneakier in her approach. While I was busy polishing the silver tea service, she removed all the ornaments on the lower branches. My hands were full, so I let that defiance go and waited to see what she would do next. She went to her toy box, and, one by one, retrieved her toys and placed them on the lower branches. If I hadn't seen this with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed it! Then she sat back to survey her work. Within a few minutes, she stalked, then attacked the tree and swatted her "ornaments" all over the house. To our regret, Cameo has never again repeated her tree-decorating efforts.

My husband and I have had cats all our married lives, and we've noticed that most cats lose interest in a Christmas tree as they get older. In fact, because of that waning interest, until we got Cameo, we had become accustomed to using only felt and plastic ornaments for each cat's first Christmas tree and returned to using the breakable ones as the years passed. But Cameo seems to be a true Siamese — ever curious — and we don't foresee adding many breakables during her lifetime, especially on the lower branches.

I hope that I don't have to soak Cameo too many times this year. After all, it is Christmas and the season of good will. I don't want "the little portly" to catch cold!

Uh oh! She's staring at the tree again right now. Where is that spritzer?

Fröhliche Weihnachten!

2011-12-24T05:00:00.004-05:00

The beloved Christmas carol "Silent Night" in the original German:

The Obamabots' Sacrilege Of Christmas

2011-12-23T07:27:00.003-05:00

(THREE posts today. Please scroll down)

With a hat tip to Matt of Conservative Hideout 2.0:

Note this accompanying blurb at YouTube:

This coming holiday start a conversation with your friends and family members about why you support President Obama. Whether you're heading out of town or crashing at your parents' house, this holiday season is the perfect chance to talk to your friends and family about why you're working to re-elect President Obama.

Puke!

Now the video:

As one YouTube commenter said:

That's funny, they want you to "Spread the good news of President Obama", doesn't there have to actually BE some good news, before you can spread it?

A Christmas Miracle

2011-12-23T05:47:00.004-05:00

See the story that Mr. AOW has posted. On Christmas 1993 Mr. AOW and I had a personal reason to rejoice!

Ronald Reagan's Christmas Address (1981)

2011-12-23T04:00:00.000-05:00

Musical Interlude

2011-12-22T04:00:00.005-05:00

(If you must have politics, keep scrolling)

"O Come, O Come, Emmanuel"

2011-12-21T08:56:00.002-05:00

(If you just have politics, keep scrolling)

A lovely version of the old carol (hat tip to Bunkerville):

Video: A Voter's Guide To Republicans

2011-12-20T08:30:00.001-05:00

With a hat tip to Z!:

The Ego Of The Man!

2011-12-19T11:49:00.004-05:00

Have we ever had such an arrogant and self-worshiping President of the United States?

60 Minutes didn't air the following astounding and narcissistic portion of the shows December 11, 2011 interview of Barack Hussein Obama, the current occupier of the Oval Office:

No wonder he has declared that he can govern by fiat and regulation! He thinks so highly of himself!

No doubt, Obama actually believes that we should be worshiping him for being such a great President.

(Note to readers: Also see the post below)

Today's Recommended Reading (Plus Video)

2011-12-19T07:09:00.006-05:00

Recently, in a speech in Kansas, Obama "channeled" Teddy Roosevelt.

How much do you really know about Teddy Roosevelt? See Obama Unmasked: Calls for National Socialism and Will the Progressives Run the GOP? over at Mark America. Worth your time.

Brief excerpt from the first essay below the fold, plus a video (hat tip to Conservative Hideout 2.0 for the video).

...Teddy Roosevelt was a progressive, little different from Wilson, or any of the others, varying only slightly as the Europeans of the day who were either internationalists(Wilson) or more nationalist(Teddy Roosevelt.) They were all monstrous leftists....

Cue the video to 3:16:

Pepsi Cans In Afghanistan

2011-12-18T09:26:00.003-05:00

From Bare Naked Islam (Click directly on the image to enlarge it):

Those Pepsi cans were manufactured in Dubai.

Is the image a rendering of the Twin Towers? Evaluations on that matter have been mixed.

Excerpt from Bare Naked Islam (citing this source):

So yesterday I was in the chow hall on my Forward Operating Base here in Afghanistan, and, as usual, I grabbed a diet cola to go with my meal. The Diet Pepsi served in our chow hall is not from the United States. It is manufactured in Dubai by Pepsi Arabia and says so right on the can.Yesterday, for some odd reason I looked–I mean I really LOOKED–at the subtle “clip art” on the background of the can.And I did a double take. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing… I examined the can for several minutes while my food grew cold, wondering if my eyes were deceiving me.

But there was no getting around it. To either side of the Pepsi logo, there was an image of a jet airliner over tall buildings. Looking at the image, I couldn’t help but think it alluded to 9/11.Three other soldiers were sitting with me at my table. One of the other soldiers asked what I was looking at so hard. Instead of answering, I handed him the can and said, “Look at the artwork on this can. Do you see what I see?”

He looked. His eyes grew wide. He turned the can from side to side. The other soldiers at the table looked, too. None of us said anything. The phrase “9/11″ never passed from our lips. We could LOOK at each other and understand we all saw the same thing, a “sneaky allusion to 9/11.”

Obama Campaign: Supporters Should Snitch On Their Republican Friends

2011-12-17T09:34:00.001-05:00

You can't make this stuff up:

The Obama presidential campaign is launching an effort [Read that link! Gotta see it to believe it!] to collect Republican email addresses by inviting its supporters to submit information about their Republican associates to the Obama 2012 website.

The effort could help the Obama campaign build a database that would enable it to target Republican voters during the general election campaign. But, more perniciously, it could also become part of an Democratic effort to influence Republican primary voters to select a candidate Democrats think Obama could most easily defeat.

[...]

The Obama information collection effort is cast under the mischievous guise of asking Obama supporters to “have a little fun at the expense of a Republican in your life” by signing them up to get an email from the Obama campaign ribbing them for having “inspired” the Obama supporter to donate....

The result, however, is that the Obama campaign gets a new trove of Republican email addresses that it could never have collected through voluntary submissions....Just imagine if this were happening in reverse: GOP contenders "having a little fun" at the expense of the private email addresses of their Democrat associates!

This kind of nonsense cheapens the campaign and election processes. Demeans them, even.

And what kind of list will the Democratic Party then have? A list of dissenters to torment or, possibly, to "investigate."

Musical Interlude

2011-12-17T04:00:00.000-05:00

(If you must have politics, please scroll down)

A wonderful song with an interesting historical background (hat tip to Bunkerville):

Indefinite Detainment

2011-12-16T07:04:00.002-05:00

At Infidel Bloggers Alliance, Midnight Rider states the following:

If you don't already realize it, the measure passed yesterday all but scuppers the Bill of Rights. Off the top of my head the First, Second, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth and Ninth can ALL be swept aside and denied to American Citizens if they are deemed to be substantially supportive of Al Qaida and their ilk.

[...]

This is not a slippery slope. It is a landslide threatening to engulf your Constitutionally protected Freedoms.

This could make Waco and Ruby Ridge look like a sandlot scuffle.

Find out how your Congress critter voted HERE.

Video below the fold:

Typically, those of an opposing political party get downright paranoid at times. We see both the Right and the Left decrying an executive of the opposite political party as "Stalin!" and "Hitler!" All of us have observed and even participated in such rhetoric for several years now.

Here is my question to my readers: Is it paranoia to be concerned about this piece of legislation that potentially shreds our Constitution?

The Occupier Mentality

2011-12-15T05:06:00.006-05:00

Surreal and fanatic "mother love":

Children as tools of the Leftist agenda in the disturbing video below the fold (A must-see!):

As Matt of Conservative Hideout 2.0 said:

If they are willing to do this with their own children, what would they do with yours?

November 2012 Can't Come Soon Enough

2011-12-15T04:00:00.001-05:00

Please take a few moments to watch the video is below the fold hat tip to Will):

Fundamental Restoration from Genxpolitics on Vimeo.

Buy Lowe's!

2011-12-13T05:34:00.001-05:00

(Hat tip to THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS)

Exercising its prerogative as a business, Lowe's has pulled its sponsorship of the television show All-American Muslim.

The usual suspects are all riled up over Lowe's decision.

And get this!

A state senator from Southern California said Sunday he was considering calling for a boycott. Calling the Lowe's decision "un-American" and "naked religious bigotry," Sen. Ted Lieu, D-Torrance, told The Associated Press he would also consider legislative action if Lowe's doesn't apologize to Muslims and reinstate its ads.

Legislative action to force a business to sponsor a TV show? Why? Because Muslims (and Islam) must always have the upper hand, even to the point of violating capitalistic principles.

Of course, CAIR is involved:

Dawud Walid, Michigan director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said his group felt "extreme disappointment" at Lowe's "capitulation to bigotry."

Walid said he has heard expressions of anger and calls for a boycott by Muslims but said a key to resolving the Lowe's advertising controversy will be how non-Muslim religious leaders and others react to Lowe's decision....

"Others"? As in legislative bodies and courts?

Lowe's had better not back down on this!

Fellow infidels, if Lowe's stands their ground, buy at Lowe's this Christmas.

Musical Interlude

2011-12-11T06:10:00.003-05:00

(If you must have politics, please scroll down)

The lyrics:

Mary, did you know that your Baby Boy
Would one day walk on water?
Mary, did you know that your Baby Boy
Would save our sons and daughters?
Did you know that your Baby Boy
Has come to make you new;
This Child that you delivered
Will soon deliver you.

Mary, did you know that your Baby Boy
Will give sight to a blind man?
Mary, did you know that your Baby Boy
Will calm the storm with His hand?
Did you know that your Baby Boy
Has walked where Angels trod?
When you kiss your Little Baby,
You kiss the Face of God!

The blind will see, the deaf will hear,
The dead will live again.
The lame will leap, the dumb will speak
The praises of the lamb!

Mary, did you know that your Baby Boy
Is Lord of all creation?
Mary, did you know that your Baby Boy
Will one day rule the nations?
Did you know that your Baby Boy
Is Heaven's Perfect Lamb?
This sleeping Child you're holding
Is the Great I Am!

Jihad In Hollywood?

2011-12-10T09:32:00.002-05:00

On December 9, 2011.

The story is HERE. Check time marker 2:42 in the video:

According to the article cited above:

Police have so far found no motive in the shooting.

The 12 Days Of Obama

2011-12-10T08:56:00.002-05:00

An all-too-true parody:

(If Attack Watch is still up and running, that is)

The Shape of Things To Come?

2011-12-09T04:00:00.002-05:00

Not a good sign for the future of an America which is not The Nanny State:

Also see Indoctrination Outrage: California Teacher Uses 'Media Matters' Anti-Fox News Article in 'World History' Class. Excerpt:

Imagine watching Fox News one night and your high school child walks into the room and proceeds to tell you that “Fox News lies!”

That happened to Nick Benson, a Californian who had two students enrolled at Barstow High School in San Bernardino County.

“How do you know that,” Benson said he asked the boy. “My teacher told me,” was his grandson’s response.

Sure enough. His grandson’s “World History” teacher, Jim Duarte, fed a steady dose of radical left wing propaganda to his students, disguised as classroom assignments. It was like students were receiving their news from a slightly more sophisticated source than The Daily Show....

Much more HERE.

Of, course, neither academia nor the mainstream media will mention THIS.

Between our education system and the mainstream media, is it any wonder that more and more young people are Leftists?

Ode to the Welfare State

2011-12-08T04:00:00.002-05:00

A 1949 poem (hat tip to Z!. Click directly on the image to enlarge it):

As FreeThinke pointed out in a comment in this thread over at Western Hero:

TRUISMS TO LIVE BY

1. You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity.

2. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.

3. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.

4. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it!

5. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that is the beginning of the end of any nation.

Over and over again, history bears out those truisms. Why do modern governments choose to ignore them?

Remembering Pearl Harbor

2011-12-07T06:08:00.002-05:00

Even though 70 years have passed since December 7, 1941, interment services continue in Honolulu:

Pearl Harbor:Final Wishes from Andrew Breese on Vimeo.

Gag!

2011-12-06T07:55:00.004-05:00

The following email soliciting funds for the Obama campaign sounds like a googoo-eyed teeny bopper's fan letter (hat tip to Weasel Zippers):

My name is Wendi, and about a month ago, I had dinner with President Obama.

It was one of the most significant experiences of my life.

It all happened because I responded to a “Dinner with Barack” email in my inbox. I was planning on making a donation anyway, so I thought I might as well do it now.

When I got the call, I couldn’t believe it — and when I flew out to D.C. for the dinner, I really couldn’t believe it. I’m just one of more than a million grassroots supporters of this campaign. But a few hours later there I was.

I never imagined that I would sit down for a conversation, let alone a meal, with the President of the United States.

If you’ve thought about entering but haven’t taken the chance yet, I urge you to do so now. You never know what might happen.

And I hear the First Lady is going to be there for this one, too. . . very cool.

Donate $3 or whatever you can today to be automatically entered to win dinner with Barack and Michelle.

I’ve supported Barack Obama for a long time, and in 2008, I phone banked and canvassed for him near my hometown of Corydon, Indiana.

To be able to talk to him in person, to connect with him across the dinner table, was very special.

I told him about my son and his college loans, my work as an artist, and asked him about public education — I could tell that he was genuinely listening to each of us, even though I’m sure he had a lot going on that day, and his own family back at the White House.

When I got back home, I told my husband and friends that the President was exactly the man we all thought he was: modest, genuine, engaged, and very caring.

It’s a memory I will cherish for the rest of my life. I’m so glad I decided to enter....

Is this what passes for an intelligent voter? Sheesh.

Change We Pay For

2011-12-05T05:49:00.000-05:00

And pay and pay and pay!

With a hat tip to Bloviating Zeppelin:

From this opinion piece in the Washington Times:

...For the past 36 months, Americans have hoped for the best. But it hasn't turned out that way. In fact, some argue that Mr. Obama actually made the economy worse - the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said last week that his 2009 stimulus package may have sustained as few as 700,000 jobs at its peak and that over the long run it will be a net drag on the economy....

[...]

...Mr. Obama offered a $3.8 trillion budget this year, to be paid for by - $2.1 trillion in revenue (read: your money)....

Vote "Anybody but Obama!" in 2012 — before we are totally ensconced in serfdom via taxation.

Musical Interlude

2011-12-04T04:00:00.001-05:00

The story that never grows old:

Patriotism Does Live!

2011-12-03T05:00:00.004-05:00

With thanks to homeschool parent CG, who emailed me the following video, best viewed in full-screen mode (Click on the button on the bottom right, the button with the arrows):

Where's The Beef?

2011-12-02T06:16:00.001-05:00

(Two posts today. Please scroll down)

Or should I say horse meat:

President Obama last month quietly signed into law a spending bill that restores the American horse-slaughter industry...

If a Republican President had signed this bill, the story would be all over the mainstream media and PETA would be out rioting on Pennsylvania Avenue.

How safe is horse meat for human consumption?

The Muslim Brotherhood's Inroads

2011-12-02T04:08:00.002-05:00

Please watch the video below the fold (hat tip to Will):

Now, for some good news. From this source (hat tip to Dcat, who emailed me the information):

New Law Cuts Ties Between FBI and Terror-Tied Groups

When Barack Obama signed the continuing resolution this past weekend averting another potential government shutdown, it’s doubtful that he was aware that tucked into the bill, which funds several federal agencies through the fiscal year and extends the continuing resolution for the rest of the government until December 16, is a provision that may dramatically impact what Islamic groups and leaders the FBI and other law enforcement agencies can continue to work with.

Under Division B, Title II of the bill, under the Federal Bureau of Investigation-Salaries and Expenses section, is the following provision:
Liaison partnerships- The conferees support the FBI’s policy prohibiting any formal non-investigative cooperation with unindicted co-conspirators in terrorism cases. The conferees expect the FBI to insist on full compliance with this policy by FBI field offices and to report to the Committees on Appropriations regarding any violation of the policy.
The most obvious group that this will impact is the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which was named unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation case — the largest terrorism-finance trial in American history....

A pleasant irony: Obama didn't know what he was signing. After all, in the past, he has admitted to signing bills without reading them.

Some reading: Please see Bob Mack's post on Obama's relationship with the Muslim Brotherhood.

Today's Recommended Reading

2011-12-01T05:15:00.009-05:00

See They are no different than Richard Nixon at Infidel Bloggers Alliance. Worth your time and consideration.

Meanwhile...

Obama has stated that he needs another term to finish the job, particularly with regard to banking regulations, updated energy policies, and health care implementation in 2014.

Video: Islam's Secret Santa

2011-11-30T06:12:00.002-05:00

(Two posts today. Please scroll down)

Wrap your mind around this "logic," that Allah wants mankind to sin (hat tip to Will):

The Disconnect

2011-11-30T04:00:00.005-05:00

I don't often post a Glenn Beck video because I'm not particularly fond of his delivery. The statistics included in the video below are significant, however. Please watch:

Your thoughts?