Mickey Pig or Porky Mouse

Dateline February 12th 2009: "Pelosi's mouse slated for $30M slice of cheese"

As we anxiously await the full details of the latest economic "stimulus" (of which the Senators and Congressmen all agree they've not read the entire bill), one large piece of piggy pie was revealed in the following article:

"Talk about a pet project. A tiny mouse with the longtime backing of a political giant may soon reap the benefits of the economic-stimulus package.

Lawmakers and administration officials divulged Wednesday that the $789 billion economic stimulus bill being finalized behind closed doors in Congress includes $30 million for wetlands restoration that the Obama administration intends to spend in the San Francisco Bay Area to protect, among other things, the endangered salt marsh harvest mouse.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi represents the city of San Francisco and has previously championed preserving the mouse's habitat in the Bay Area.

The revelation immediately became a political football, as Republicans accused Democrats of reneging on a promise to keep so-called earmarks that fund lawmakers' favorite projects out of the legislation. Democrats, including Mrs. Pelosi, countered that the accusations were fabricated."

Don't get me wrong, I really like mice (they taste like chicken), and every mouse has the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of mousy happiness. Remember Mr. Jangles from the Green Mile... he was one happy little vermin headed to the mousy circus in Florida. Nevermind the bubonic plague, nevermind chewed wires, nor nests in your ventilation system... these little critters are well worth $30mm in taxpayer funds.

Next we will pony up $40mm for the cats it will take to get the mice out of peoples $700K homes... then another $50mm for the animal control officers that we'll need to control the cats from taking over neighborhoods and eliminate their evening choirs (caterwauling). So we'll have to build animal control shelters, hire animal control officers, pay off PETA, etc... All in all Pelosi' mousy friends will cost us $100mm+, and no, there's no pork in this plan :)

I laugh so that I don't cry...

Zune oh Zune

Familiar with the techno gadget pictured to the left? It is a "Zune" media player, Microsoft's answer to Apple's IPOD, you can watch movies, listen to music, play games, listen to the radio, look at your photo albums, listen to pod casts and audio books, shop for songs, and share music with friends. I've owned mine (Zune 30) since February 2006 and have used for many hours as I've drove, flown, spent time in a hotel room, worked, showered, etc... it has become an everyday type of item for me, much like a fork or eye patch (for those who need eye patches).

Having provided you with this brief explanation of what a Zune is, and how much it means to me, you'll understand my hearty chagrin this a.m. when I woke up to find my poor little Zune locked up on the logo screen. I pushed buttons, shook, cried, and tried to plug into my computer to magically "unlock" the poor little beastie. Alas to no avail. Jami was sympathetic and asked if I'd dropped it or something, and I said "no". She went to get hers so that I could look at it in fond memory of what mine used to look like when it worked, when she discovered that hers too was locked, so was Ciara's... (musical interlude) "Gloom, Despair, and agony on me, whoooaaa, deep dark depression, excessive misery, whhhhooooaaa, if it weren't for bad luck I'd have no luck at all, whhhhoooaaa, gloom despair and agony on me." Sorry for the drama :(

I don't think this would have been such a calamity if i hadn't just lost my Zune a few days ago for almost 24 hours. We searched high and low, we dug through boxes of stuff that I didn't even know we owned. I almost pulled the engine from Jami's blazer because i thought maybe I'd dropped it in the engine compartment when i was changing oil. I did sift through the ashes in a fire barrel thinking perchance it'd come unclipped from my belt and fell in. OOohhhh the joy when i found it laying behind my tool box where a kindly kitty must have knocked it when jumping and running from my BB gun tirade. Annie Oakley I ain't! That or the kitty is durned quick.

So we've spent the day "Zune-less" wandering about like an ObamaZombie (one who realizes that words without actions are like a fire alarm in Hell) wondering what to do with ourselves. My brilliant wife finally went on-line this afternoon and found the following statement by those sadistic son's of a motherless goat from Microsoft:

"Early this morning we were alerted by our customers that there was a widespread issue affecting our 2006 model Zune 30GB devices (a large number of which are still actively being used). The technical team jumped on the problem immediately and isolated the issue: a bug in the internal clock driver related to the way the device handles a leap year. That being the case, the issue should be resolved over the next 24 hours as the time change moves to January 1, 2009. We expect the internal clock on the Zune 30GB devices will automatically reset tomorrow (noon, GMT). By tomorrow you should allow the battery to fully run out of power before the unit can restart successfully then simply ensure that your device is recharged, then turn it back on."

This event has been dubbed "Z2K"... tell me, how can 100 engineers at the world's most prestigious computer company all fail to account for leap year in the software that operates Zune? Yikes, darn glad they didn't program the autopilot software for the Space Shuttle, or something more meaningful to the world than a little bitty Zune. Come On Bill Gates, get em straightened out!

Thanks for letting me vent.

Superluke :)

Daddy's Little Girl

As I peruse my daughter's senior pictures this morning, I'm reminded that she is no longer a "little" girl. (This say I with a tear in my eye).

My little girl is growing up... when did this happen? Not long ago we were discussing the merits of veggie tales, and her little fingers were stretching to reach middle 'C'. Now we're discussing World Economics and her little fingers are stretching across the steering wheel. Every now and then she asks those questions that causes a parent to know that soon their first born will be (quasi) on her own... questions about: "rent, phone bills, tuition, insurance, etc."

We visited Fort Hays State University last Friday where she will begin full time classes next fall. The entire tour I had a lump in my throat and a feeling of bittersweet melancholy. Her institution of higher learning is very excited to get her bright little mind in their grip... Thank God she is well grounded! Ciara's mind is extremely sharp, and her judgement is a direct reflection of her faith. What a blessing she is to her mother and I. We cannot wait to hear of her first debate with a college professor about the origin of mankind:)

Thanks for letting me brag on my baby a bit... I cannot wait to see her salt and light impact this tasteless and dark world for the glory of God and the benefit of mankind. Tear em up sis your Daddy loves you!

Obama on "Wealth Re-distribution".

When our sweet tiger cat heard that the pending president desires to re-distribute income from the wealthy to the not so wealthy... well lets just say that kitty's views on socialism are a lot like mine. Picture on the left is our normal lil kitty, Picture on the right is our sweet lil kitty after discussing socialism and wealth redistribution... can't say I look much different post discussion.

Some interesting facts taken from an article on Worldnet Daily: "Socialism, according to Karl Marx, is the transition between capitalism and Communism. To achieve communism, Marx says, there must be continuing revolution in which the fundamental principal is: The end justifies the means.

For more than half a century, capitalism in the United States has taken a beating from the socialist revolution. Despite the best efforts of conservatives since the Roosevelt era, socialists have made great strides toward converting the nation to socialism. Apparently, the majority of Americans either fail to recognize the transition, or welcome it. The enthusiastic support for Barack Obama, especially among young people, is abundant evidence.

Obama has declared that he believes every person has a "right" to health care. The Socialist Party USA believes every person has a "right" to health care.

The Socialist Party USA believes that "capitalism is fundamentally incompatible" with socialism. For years, Obama worked in Chicago through the Annenberg Challenge, along with Bill Ayers, to funnel more than $50 million to anti-capitalist education projects. In November 2006, Ayers traveled to Venezuela to speak at Hugo Chavez's Education Forum where he railed against "the failings of capitalist education," and praised the "Bolivarian Revolution and the profound reforms in education made by Hugo Chavez."" (*Henry Lamb author)

So... Wealth redistribution is a Marxist tenet to Socialism, and Socialism is the illogical transition from Capitalism to Communism. Hhhmmmm. That's pretty scary Mr. President, will we be asked to wear uniforms of gray, and be forced to live in concrete barracks so that all are the same? Where will it stop? Forced health care??? Ask any Canadian with a toothache how they like their Government ran Health Care system... ask em every 3 months since it'll probably be 9 months before they can get in to have their teeth worked on.

Obama made some very concerning remarks in defending his tax policies to Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, an Ohio man now better known as Joe the Plumber. Obama, who was canvassing Wurzelbacher’s neighborhood last weekend, told him, among other things: “When you spread the wealth around, it’s good for everybody.”

Spread the wealth... good for everybody??? Take from those with the ability and desire to earn a good living and give it away to those who'd rather sit on their keesters and let others take care of them. . Can you say Welfare State? Can you say Entitlement State? Can you say Hell in a Handbasket? How is that good for EVERYBODY, it appears only to be good for those who'd rather not work and provide for their own families.

1Timothy 5:8 But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. ESV

Socialism - Bad
Communism - Bad
Wealth Redistribution - Bad
Obama - (you decide)