He was only being Czarcastic

Image courtesy: Pat Dollard, Young Americans

Newsflash for Obama: making the media the news isn't helping your ratings, but it's sure helping theirs:

It's been a booming couple weeks in the news & ratings for the Fox News Corps: between Imus's debut on Fox Business and the White House banning a Fox News journo from one of their czars' pressers.

Sez the Prez: :

"I think what our advisers have simply said is that we are going to take media as it comes," Obama told NBC's Savannah Guthrie. "And if media is operating basically as a talk radio format then that's one thing, and if it's operating as a news outlet that's another. But it's not something I'm losing sleep over."

To throw out another cliche, the man doth protest too much. This is evidenced by his fleet of talking heads out there all echoing the same sentiments: "Fox News who?" Unfortunately for them, the media didn't go along with the blacklisting and demanded that their colleague be allowed equal access. I'd like to say that some of them are coming around, and that may be the case, but I'm more likely to believe they don't want to be accused of nepotism in any of their published lovenotes to the administration.

Although if the subscription rates for media outlets are any indication... they aren't attracting as many readers & viewers as they'd like. It seems there are a lot of people that would rather go shopping for say... the latest truck accessories than subscribe to the Old Gray Lady or watch Keith Olbermann.

Punt the NFL

The recent story about Rush Limbaugh's interest in purchasing an NFL team gave both my husband and myself something delicious to sink our teeth into. Football and Rush, again! What fun, and what a boost the league seemed to need other than the tired speculations about will-he-won't-he-come-back-or-retire surrounding a certain ex-Packer.

It was not to be, for the ever-tolerant left practically combusted as one entity when the news broke that Rush might become part of a group of owners for the St Louis Rams. Shocker. They still blame him for Donovan "Choke" McNabb's feeble performance at the Super Bowl. Donovan should thank him. If it wasn't for Rush, he wouldn't have anyone of import to blame besides his mother for his failure to seal the deal as it were. And his new teammate... now there's a role model for the kids.



Personally I found it an exceptional embarrassment to both the sport and our team that the Eagles fans gave Michael Vick a standing ovation upon his return from a much-deserved exile. We've all heard that you can read a man based on how he treats animals.

So while we cut up our jerseys, t-shirts and jackets into little pieces and box them up for a return to the NFL league head offices as notice that we are officially ex-NFL fans, I'm looking for the next best sport to follow with gusto: between the rugby clips on Animal Planet's "I'm Alive" series and the frenzied fun of the action on Forrest Gump's ping pong tables I know it won't be long before we find something else to spend our time enjoying.

New Moon on Sunday

Everyone always says that the crazies come out for the full moon. I've encountered so many negative and unpleasant people lately with a sort-of "straw that broke the camel's back" effect today I was sure today was a full moon. Think "Ghostbusters" on a smaller scale: all that negativity floating around making everyone just ... icky.

So I went digging around the local annals and online almanacs, weeding through various interesting items like a recipe for the perfect pie crust, halloween costume ideas, youtube videos of fuzzy kitties (my daughter) and a handy dandy concerta coupon. I eventually found what I was looking for and... nope, it's apparently a new moon today... the perfect new moon, too.

So the effect of a new moon is apparently not to draw out the crazies but the nasties.

Maybe I should make some perfect apple butter pumpkin pie with a perfect pie crust and go feed someone I know to be unhappy. Perhaps that will have the desired effect of spreading a little cheer instead of a the negativity everyone seems to be feeding on.

Touch that dial.

Photo courtesy: Volker

I'm a volunteer at our local YMCA. So I'm on board with volunteers and the good works they do for the majority of our communities in many different ways: guides at historical sites, libraries, hospitals, senior citizen centers, school classrooms, etc.

I've been highly suspicious however of 'Bama's wife's call to service for her husband's administration even before he was "installed" as President. Why? Because their core beliefs for what is good for this country are so drastically different than what this country was founded on, for one. So now that we have the current administration and the grand push to get people young and old to "serve" their country, I knew it was only a matter of time before we got a good idea of what exactly is on the agenda of the socialist first duo. They did not disappoint... and are smartly reaching out to kids (and us) where they can find them: in front of the television set.

Coming soon to a reality/sitcom/dramatic series you no doubt watch: sublots and storylines involving characters performing such Good and Charitable Works such as:

If your 12 year-old hears about this volunteer initiative and follows the lead of her favorite TV star, she will go to www.createthegood.com and type in her favorite cause. If she’s been paying attention to the news these days (or listening to the lectures from most public school teachers) she will know that “Health Care” is a big deal these days. All she has to do is type “Health Care” into the search engine with her zip code (let’s say 90210 cause we love those adorable Beverly Hills high school kids) and she’ll get a whole host of opportunities to serve.

Go ahead… open that link and you’ll see twelve opportunities to serve. Look at items “H”, “I” and “L.” All are from Planned Parenthood:

“With President Obama’s focus on health-care reform, now is an exciting and crucial time for us to broaden our support and make sure that the new health-care plan includes women’s health. We’re holding a series of phone banks to identify new people who share our commitment to reproductive freedom.”

When I clicked for more info I found out that the phone bank listing was a month old, but there was a handy link for other opportunities to serve Planned Parenthood, like this one:

“Planned Parenthood Los Angeles is currently seeking adults to volunteer as our High School Speakers.”

(Make this reason #724 why I home school my kids).

Amen.

And there's more!

This nifty bit of propaganda encourages you to troll on blogs and leave comments, call in to talk radio shows and generally be annoying when people discuss ObamaCare by injecting Administration talking points found on AARP’s web page under the Orwellian header ”Myths vs. Facts.” A sample of the health care “facts”:

“Health reform isn’t about rationing; it’s about giving people the peace of mind of knowing that they will be able to keep their doctors and that they will always have a choice of affordable health plans.”

Uh, huh, that doesn’t sound like a partisan talking point or anything.

Back over at www.iparticpate.org (that’s the one our pal Ashton tweeted about), if you are in, say, Virginia and want to volunteer on an environmental project, the very first opportunity you get is to volunteer as a Global Warming Ambassador.

“As an Ambassador, you will introduce NWF and global warming concepts, how it affects wildlife habitat our country as well as your state, and what persons can do on an individual level …”

And who or what is “NWF”? NWF is National Wildlife Federation and they have a lot to say about the President’s Cap and Trade proposals.

If you are in, say, Massachusetts and are interested in Iraq, The top response you get is an opportunity to volunteer for “The Crane Project.” What is “The Crane Project?” It seems to be a pacifist-Christo-wannabe trying to get people to fold origami cranes to represent the casualties of the Iraq War. They are claiming deaths of over 100,000 so far.

Abortion ambassadors. Al Gore cheerleaders. Paper birds. Even a truther interview between Obama and Charlie Sheen! And if you already thrown your television out and started shopping mobile homes to go and live off the grid, we might be right behind you.

And for all you atheists out there wanting to get on board this whole Service thing:

And, my personal favorite (remember, you are paying for this):

“Secular Student Alliance is an educational nonprofit for students across the nation who identify as atheist, agnostic, humanist, skeptical, and nonreligious. Our mission is to organize, unite, educate, and serve students and student communities that promote the ideals of scientific and critical inquiry, democracy, secularism, and human based ethics. We’re looking for volunteers to create videos that will bring this message to non-theistic students, and let them know that they are not alone!…. Will YOU help us mobilize, unite, and organize freethinking students for the new Enlightenment?”

It’s a support group for atheist kids! I’m so proud to be an American.

Brought to you by your taxpayer dollars. And at the probable expense of American lives.

Penne for your thoughts

Photo courtesy: Fotoos VanRobin

Cook it:

Teresa's Mezzani With Walnuts and Gorgonzola

l pound mezzani (or substitute ziti, penne, or long macaroni)
5 to 7 ounces Gorgonzola cheese
1/3 to 1/2 cup walnuts, quartered
l tablespoon butter
Salt (for pasta water)
Parsley, if desired, for garnish

Bring 4 quarts of salted water to a full boil and add pasta. Cook according to package directions.

Meanwhile, cut the Gorgonzola into small pieces and put into a large pan together with the butter and about three-fourths of the walnuts. Set the pan aside.

When the pasta is done, remove it from the stove and turn the burner to high. Drain pasta, reserving about 1 cup of the cooking water. Immediately add the hot pasta and 1/4 to 1/2 cup of the hot pasta water to the cheese mixture in the large pan. Place the pan on the hot burner for about 1 minute, stirring to blend. Add a little more hot pasta water, if necessary, to achieve creaminess.

Sprinkle with chopped parsley and divide among 6 dinner plates, garnishing with remaining walnuts and parsley sprigs.

Ticking clock

Image courtesy: Busby SEO

When you work in these "trying/difficult/uncertain economic times" you're constantly walking around feeling as if one of your feet is walking along the edge a frozen pond: sooner or later it's going to break and into the pond you go. Especially when you work in an industry that provides something that many people consider luxury items: fast cars, plasmas, pool tables, boats, etc.

So when our own family learned its main breadwinner might not be working in such an industry for too much longer, it was not as surprising as it was accepted. We're about to get all wet.

So until things turn around (I'm thinking after the next 2 sets of elections, minimum), we'll just keep plodding along and make do however we can. We've done it before, I know we can again. And I'll stash the fancy color brochures detailing rv financing and weekend getaways I've been eyeing for when we might have some quality family time. I always knew that blessings come in all kinds of packages. I'm hoping however our situation turns out, it can be one as well.

Paper Bag. What's yours?

Photo courtesy: Write Out Loud

If you're at all familiar with the coffee creamer section of your market's dairy section you've probably seen an explosion of flavors in recent years. It's to the point that every time I go shopping I can buy a new flavor to test. My husband has his standby: hazelnut. I admit that's my all-time favorite also. But ever since I was at a friend's house talking to her about her idea to look into medical coding training courses and tried her own coconut cream creamer, I was hooked on flavoring my coffees with an assortment of sweet touches. Tonight it's Vanilla Caramel Brownie. I was sure it would be way too sweet, because honestly, I don't think I'd enjoy eating a vanilla caramel brownie. But I love my coffee and love adding different depths to the taste.

As for the color? No matter the flavor it's all by sight: paper bag. As in: the color of. Hubby happens to share that particular affinity. It's pretty hard to attain that hue when using chocolate-based flavors, so I tend to avoid those. Believe it or not, they don't taste right no matter how much cream I put in if the color is off. And I'm not one of those "a little coffee with your creamer?" types. I like to TASTE the coffee in there.

I'm also trying to decide on whether we need an espresso maker. I love my coffee big. Lots of it. How to balance that without the caffeine overload?

Hopefully I'll figure it out by Christmas.

Somewhere in Hope a Clinton is Crying

Wherever you live you probably woke up the way I did this morning...

To more of that promised Change we've been Hoping we'd seen enough of:

BREAKING: BARACK OBAMA WINS IDITAROD!!!!

Okay, maybe he didn't actually win THAT. Put away your Rocky Patel cigars Palin-haters.

I was actually referring to this other story that became so virulent on the cable channels I'm fairly certain there is already a tie-in on a few shopping channels:

"It would be wonderful if I could think why he won," said Claire Sprague, 82, a retired English professor as she walked her dog in Manhattan's Greenwich Village. "They wanted to give him an honor I guess but I can't think what for."

Hospital worker Itya Silverio, 33, of Brooklyn, said: "My first opinion is that he got it because he's black. What did he do that was so great? He hasn't even finished office yet."

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, who won the prize in 2002, said Obama's win showed hope he had inspired globally.

"It is a bold statement of international support for his vision and commitment to peace and harmony in international relations," Carter said in a statement.

Some Americans resented Obama's popularity in Europe and other parts of the world.

"Obama gives speeches trashing his own country and he gets a prize for it," said conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh, who has a wide following.

The peace prize announcement quickly became one of the top discussions on social networking website Twitter. One user commented: "Why not give him the literature prize? At least he's actually written a couple of books."

Political blogger Jon Henke tweeted: "So far, the right, left and media all seem to agree that the Nobel Peace Prize committee just beclowned itself."

You think?

Apparently noone on the SuperDuper Secretive Nobel prize committee remembers 'Bama's Good Works campaigning for his cousin Raila Odinga down Kenya-way:



The committee already made a mockery of itself and its name when it awarded Al Gore the prize for his powerpoint presentation on global warming, thereby completely exposing themselves for what they were and are: political puppets.

Still.. even as people on "both sides of the aisle" expressed surprise at the president's being named winner, I thought this was one of the more shocking items of the day:

"OBAMA WON?"

An online straw poll by MSNBC asked whether Obama deserved the honor. About 62 percent of more than 194,000 answers said no, about 24 percent said yes, while 13 percent said some day, but the award was premature.

62% of people voting on an MSNBC poll think Obama DOESN'T deserve the award? The only sense I can make of that statistic is that they're all people who bought the Obama "Si Se Puede!" t-shirt in the NBC gift shop and watched it shrink in just one washing.

Crackdown 's a'comin'

We already know that Sec. Napolitano and Homeland Security aren't really worried so much by that pesky illegal alien problem as they are downright bothered, nay obsessed, (Yes. I said it.) by us conservative patriots on the right side of the street. But then to cover their biased and partisan tracks comes this story:

U.S. to overhaul immigration system ~ Detainees will be ranked by risk factors, and new detention centers will be built.:

"We accepted that we were going to continue to have - and increase, potentially - the number of detainees, so with that, we want to accomplish several goals," Napolitano said, including greater federal oversight and accountability of more than 300 local jails, state prisons, and private facilities.

Napolitano said that by next October, ICE would rank detainees by flight risk and public danger, set new detention-facility requirements based on those risk levels, and issue bids for two new-model detention centers.

Morton will meet with contractors at the end of this month to explore converting residential facilities to house noncriminal and nonviolent persons, such as those seeking asylum, that could be cheaper to operate and less restrictive for occupants.

On Sept. 1, ICE housed about 31,075 illegal immigrants. Of those, 51 percent were felons; 11 percent of those had committed violent crimes.

I wonder if the detention centers will parallel the conditions of our prisons? You know... complete with online access (ever wonder whose answering the phone at that catalog you love to order from?), big screen TVs hung on those wondrous wall mounts, smokes and drugs galore... oh wait. Maybe I'm thinking of Congress?

I digress. So, when Obama legalizes all the illegals with one sweeping stroke of his pen, what will they be using all those fancy "detention centers" for?

Oh wait, I remember!

Never Judge a Book by its Cover...

... or a man by those he associates with.

I'm thrilled that one of the great sleeper stories from the 2008 elections is getting a little more media traction thanks to the tireless efforts of Jack Cashill. In his recent article Literary Lion Obama Will Roar No More, Cashill writes of how this has been further expanded upon in a recent biography on the first couple:

The major media will not likely tackle the emerging evidence of Obama's stunning literary fraud, but the days of Obama's boasting about his writing skills are just as likely over.

The immediate cause of concern at the White House is Christopher Andersen's largely benign new book, Barack and Michelle: Portrait of an American Marriage.

Andersen contends that the ambitious Obama, unaware of JFK's own literary fraud, hoped to launch his own political career with a book as did John Kennedy with the discreetly ghost-written Profiles In Courage.

Despite a large advance, Obama found himself "hopelessly blocked." After four futile years of trying to finish, Obama "sought advice from his friend and Hyde Park neighbor Bill Ayers." This he did "at Michelle's urging," she being the more pragmatic half of the couple.

What attracted the Obamas were "Ayers's proven abilities as a writer." Barack particularly liked the fluid novelistic style of To Teach, a 1993 book by Ayers. This he hoped to emulate for his own family history. In fact, he had already taped interviews with many of his relatives, both African and American. The key sentence in Andersen's account is the one that follows:

"These oral histories, along with his partial manuscript and a trunkload of notes were given to Ayers." Adds Andersen, "Thanks to help from veteran writer Ayers, Barack would be able to submit a manuscript to his editors at Times Book." The manuscript in question would become Obama's 1995 memoir, Dreams From My Father, what Joe Klein of Time Magazine called "the best-written memoir ever produced by an American politician."

Fans and followers of Cashill will no doubt recognize the work of the two videos linked in the article as they were produced by the same person, politikoz, who also produced Cashill videos for the 2008 elections. So while the rest of the lemmings struggle with the age-old question of the ages are you protected by life insurance?, I humbly offer 2 more selections for your viral video library:

Part I:



and

Part II: