First lady: Skip the Pizza Dinners.........

and donate.



I know your life is full — with work, or school, or family — and yet you still find the time to help out when you can.

You may have a tight budget, but you give what you can afford.

A woman recently told the campaign her family skipped a pizza dinner at their favorite place so that they could make a difference in this election.

That is the commitment that drives this campaign.

If you can support Barack with a donation today, please know it makes a huge difference. If we win, it will be because of what you did at moments like this:

https://donate.barackobama.com/Our-Week

Thanks,

Michelle

Déjà vu, all over again.

"Obama Get Out" Video.

Found this video at www.obamagetout.com via a link from this article on the Lifenews.com website.

Those Long, Long Lines.

As everyone knows, this past Wednesday was Chik-fil-a Appreciation Day. The only lines longer than the ones outside Chik-fil-a restaurants are the unemployment lines.

Sadly for Adam Smith, he left one line only to join the other.

Let's hope Obama and company are joining the unemployed after the November election.

Deck Chairs on the Titanic.

In his article published in yesterday's Washington Post, Charles Krauthammer poses this question -

As an approach to our mountain of debt, the Buffett Rule is a farce. And yet Obama repeated the ridiculous claim again this week. “It will help us close our deficit.” Does he really think we’re that stupid?

Sorry, Charles, but Americans are that stupid.
At least, most Washington Post readers are.

In a poll in today's Post, the question is -
Do you agree with Charles Krauthammer's opinion that "as an approach to our mountain of debt, the Buffett Rule is a farce"?

Sadly, the majority of Washington Post readers voting in the poll said "no". True, the poll isn't scientific, but as of this writing, 57% believe that the so-called Buffett Rule will substantially reduce the nation's debt.

Krauthammer points out that, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation, "this new tax would yield between $4 billion and $5 billion a year. If we collect the Buffett tax for the next 250 years — a span longer than the life of this republic — it would not cover the Obama deficit for 2011 alone."

He goes on - "The Buffett Rule redistributes deck chairs on the Titanic, ostensibly to make more available for those in steerage."

No question about it. We need to replace Obama this election. If he wins reelection, we can say that we as a nation have gone past the point of no return. The entitlement mentality is destroying the country and if the people return him to office, then obviously, it's too late to bring the country back from the brink.

Gas Pump.

No editorial comment necessary:

A Bit of Good News for a Change.

As chronicled in a post from this past October, 28 [Thanks, Mr. President.] the company I work for will be closing down the location where I've worked for nearly 17 years. The plant's last day of operation will be Dec.27.

At the time of that post, I was unsure as to what was going to happen. We were told that transfers were available, but at that time I didn't know where I stood. Now, today, I know for a fact where I'll be working after the current location shuts down. I've been transferred to the distribution center 30 minutes from my house. OK, the drive is a bit longer than the 6 minute drive I've been going, but I'm really happy about it. (I might even get an increase in pay).

We're winding things down at my present location. I don't know if I'll be making the transfer next Monday or if I'll have to wait until the final day here. I'm hoping it's Monday.

The only downside is that I'll have to go to night shift. I'll be on a probationary period for 90 days; after that, my seniority is reinstated and who knows how long before there's a first shift opening. We'll just have to wait and see.

All in all, good news.

Thanks, Mr. President.

It was announced today that the company I work for will be closing down the location where I've worked for nearly 17 years. The plant's last day of operation will be Dec.27.......60 days from today.

There's always the possibility that I could be transferred to another location.....should an opening arise; but, even with 16 years seniority, there's still a few ahead of me and jobs won't be created out of thin air. It would be a matter of someone at another location quitting or getting fired. Not likely.

In this economy, I'm expecting to be collecting unemployment compensation for some time to come.

John Zogby's weekly Obama Report Card.

From usnews.com - Pollster John Zogby's weekly Obama Report Card gives the President a D.

Zogby is being far too generous, I'd say......should be an F. (because you can't give an F minus).

Books.

Sadly, I've fallen behind on my reading. My work is partly to blame. Unfortunately, I am one of those individuals who must spend eight (and sometimes 16) hours a day -excepting weekends- working at a job I am not crazy about. Some of you might be saying that I should be thankful I have a job during the Obama recession, but that is a subject for another day.

Another reason I haven't spent as much of my free time reading as I think I should can be placed upon my love of the Internet...... too much time going over the news......too much time reading my favorite (and not so favorite) blogs.

For what it's worth, I'm posting a list of what I'm currently reading along with a list of what I'll be reading next.

1) The Story of a Soul (L'Histoire d'une Âme): The Autobiography of St. Therese of Lisieux [Kindle Edition]
This particular Kindle edition is free. If you don't have a Kindle, you can get Kindle for PC - also free.

2) Rick Santorum's It Takes a Family: Conservatism and the Common Good. I blogged on that earlier.

3) If Protestantism is True by Devon Rose. (also on Kindle).
I discovered this book via a book review at The Impractical Catholic.

I had originally thought of posting a list of the books I have on Kindle. I'm not going to do that now. There are beaucoup books that can be downloaded for no charge available for Kindle. I've downloaded nearly eighty already.....impossible to say when I'll dive into that library.

Obama's Lack of Leadership Qualities.

Judging by his piece in the Washington Post today [A president without a doctrine] it would appear that Richard Cohen has finally reached the conclusion that many of us came to much earlier. Namely, President Obama is not a leader.

Regarding Obama's "wee war in Libya" - to use Cohen's phrase - he writes, "Libya may now be in for a protracted civil war. Obama botched this one."

Concerning Obama and the Federal budget, Cohen has this:
"The plan is to be announced this week — at last. For some time a bipartisan group of more than 60 senators has been asking Obama a basic question: What’s the plan?"

Many of us looked at Obama's "resume" during the campaign and understood clearly that Obama had no experience leading anything or anyone. He had never been a CEO of a business, he had never been a governor.........heck, he hadn't even been a mayor. He had less executive experience than Sarah Palin.

When he became president, he didn't even show leadership with the healthcare fiasco; he had basically given the Democrats carte blanche and he would sign - and take credit - for whatever the Democratic Congress passed.

Cohen, too, may have seen this during the Presidential campaign had his vision been focused on something that was useful for the country. Instead he, like many others, voted for Obama because of his race. Cohen writes in the same article,
"You could not vote for Obama and not have felt that somehow you had fired a shot in the Civil War or ridden a freedom bus into the Jim Crow South."

Cohen voted for Obama in order to feel good about himself. One would hope that, rather than vote for a candidate because of his skin color, people like Cohen would follow the words of Martin Luther King Jr. :

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."

Don't Pay the Ransom........

......I've escaped.

No, seriously, my first week back at work after Christmas “vacation” was spent pretty much the same as my weeks prior to the time off. That is, taking advantage of some temporarily available overtime at work. The availability of this overtime isn't the result of an improving economy – no, the Obama recession is still with us. The fact is, someone on third shift is out on a medical leave and the work has to be done. This week I've put in 64 hours; 2 eight hour days and three 16s.

After abusing myself with the long hours, I decided that I would “reward” myself by purchasing a few items from my Amazon.com wish list. The list is quite long. I'd buy the last two items I had added recently: "Light of the World: The Pope, The Church and The Signs Of The Times" by Peter Seewald & Pope Benedict XVI and a hardcover edition of "Catechism of the Catholic Church”. (I have a copy of the Catechism in paperback, but it needs to be replaced).

When I put those two books on the wish list, the total price was a few cents over $25 so they'd be eligible for free shipping. When I went to place the order, I discovered that the price of one of the books had been lowered just enough to put the total under $25.......so, no free shipping. The shipping would add 6 bucks to the cost. It made more sense to order something else I wanted from my list. The lowest priced item on my wish list was an audio CD by Leonard Cohen - "I'm Your Man". Using the money I would have wasted on shipping means, I actually get the CD for approximately one dollar.

As I said, this overtime is probably just temporary. Maybe one day soon, I'll have time to read the books.

John Lennon ......a Less Than Favorable Memorial.

As a consequence of the Obama recession, I've found myself obliged to put in the occasional 16 hour work day. By occasional, I mean two or three days a week. Naturally, while working these 16 hour days, I've had little time or inclination to write posts for this blog.

Had I not been working this schedule, I might very well have written something on John Lennon commemorating the 30th anniversary of his death on December 8th. Perhaps that's just as well; I have long since lost any love or admiration I may have once had for the late celebrity.

In a previous post [Goo Goo Ga Joob.] I mentioned that my favorite version of Lennon's I am the Walrus was the version done by Frank Zappa. The Beatle's recording of the song was the brain child of producer George Martin; Lennon could never had done the song in a live performance as Zappa had done. Zappa's treatment is especially ironic considering the bad blood between Zappa and Lennon over John and Yoko's "performing" (I use that term loosely) with the Mothers of Invention at the Fillmore East in 1971. Recordings were made of the concert with Lennon releasing portions of the collaboration on his Some Time in New York City LP. - The release of the recordings by Lennon was in contraction to an agreement he had made with Zappa. Adding insult to injury, Lennon took writing credit for Zappa's King Kong which Zappa had previously recorded on his album from 1969, Uncle Meat.

I know my low opinion of John Lennon is not a popular one.....particularly with my fellow members of the Baby Boomer generation. True, the music of the Beatles was an important influence, back in the day. Hopefully, as we grow older, we also grow as individuals. I've gone from being in awe of the Fab Four, to indifference, to downright hostility to much of what John Lennon represented.

His assassination was, indeed a tragedy. However, over the years I've come to believe that, had a poll been taken during the Beatles' heyday, which asked the question, "Which Beatle do you believe is the one most likely to be assassinated?" we all know who would have been the....huh.....winner.

Last Man Standing?

In a piece on Slate.com, Curtis Sittenfeld asks the question, Am I the last person in America who still adores President Obama?

Oh, Lord, I hope so.

As November Nears.........

Conventional wisdom -and the polls- tell us that, come the November election, thanks to Obama's attempt to push this country to the Left of France, the Democrat Party will receive a will deserved shellacking from the people.

More, the common refrain seems to be, when they take control, the Republicans need to do something.......no more Party of No.

It's unlikely that the GOP will even attempt to make the changes I'd like them to do - that is, basically demolish the Federal government.

If they don't do anything else, my wish would be that the Republicans put forth one Catholic teaching that would turn the country around; subsidiarity.

( For those too lazy to click on the link, subsidiarity is defined as an organizing principle that matters ought to be handled by the smallest, lowest or least centralized competent authority. Political decisions should be taken at a local level if possible, rather than by a central authority.)

Our money should remain in our pockets, the decision as to what's best for our family and our community should be remain as close to home as possible. Trying to manage everything from Washington and giving "someone else's money" to everyone who might have his or her hand out, our government is destroying the country.

I'm not optimistic.

President Obama's New Theme Song.

In an opinion piece for the Washington Times, Ted Nugent explains that President Obama's mojo is missing.

More to the point, he's got his mojo working, but it just don't work on you - or me, or anyone else.

Democratic Desperation.

In desperation, Obama attacks Bush and the Chamber of Commerce.
Pitiful.

I've Been Busy.

Thanks to my wife having changed jobs, she's now able to drop off and pick up our son from school, which has allowed me to take advantage of the overtime available at work. This increased time at work has put a damper on my time available for blogging, but, as far as I've been able to tell, this hasn't seemed to have torn a fabric in the blogosphere.

There will be more posts in the future - once I've gotten into this new routine. In the mean time, I'll just drop by whenever I can. Feel free to check out my archives.

Let's Hope I'm Wrong.

It seems that despite polls showing that Americans are opposed to Obamacare, Congress seems determined to give us their version of health care come Hell or high water.
I'm afraid that we will regret this fiasco when it is finally realized. I hope I am wrong. It would be great if this were to accomplish the wondrous things some of it's proponents claim.
I hope I'm wrong. I hope this doesn't really destroy the health care that we now have. The opponents believe this will bankrupt our nation ....I agree but, I hope I'm wrong.

All we can do is vote against the Democrats in November. Maybe we can turn this around. I'm not optimistic. I hope I'm wrong.

Life During the Obama Recession.

As I mentioned in Sunday's post [Every Little Bit Helps.] the Obama Recession has forced many of us to tighten our belts. I'm able to work - thank God - . We have enough for the basic necessities but certain luxury items have to wait.
This past October, when it came time to pay the web host for my Dumaguete web site I couldn't come up with the money. I could manage to maintain the domain name but hosting it was too expensive.

Fortunately, thanks to a windfall, I was able to sign up with another host yesterday for a lot less than what the previous host was billing me. So now it's just a question of getting all my files uploaded onto the new host. I'll be chronicling that process on another blog - dumaguetewebsite.blogspot.com.