The stupid...it hurts...

Heard the pup start going bat-shit insane this afternoon, out in her small pen in the front yard (the only really safe place for her to play outside).  I glanced out to see this blonde twit stop halfway up to our front door, turn back, and go lean over to talk to the puppy.  I stepped out in time to hear her: "Oh, what's wrong sweetie?  I didn't mean to scare you!"

Oh, God, lady.  She wasn't scared, she was pissed.  You were in her front yard, and neither of her people were in sight.  She quit going ape-shit as soon as I got out and picked her up, and was a very friendly puppy--while I was holding her. 

If that retarded bimbo had happened to have tried to reach over the fence to pet the puppy, she'd have probably pulled back a stump.

What is wrong with people?  That's what a dog is supposed to do. 

And whose fault is that?

I read a news story recently, about a British man who wrote an angry email telling his kids off for the poor decisions that they've made with regards to their personal lives, decisions which their kids are paying for in tears. 

My first reaction was "Way to go, Dad!"

And then I thought about it a little more.  And came to the realization that he may have been at least as much at fault for their poor decision making process as his kids are.

After all...who raised his kids?  He and his wife?  Or the free government programs starting in day care and ending in college?  And if the latter, why did he let someone else raise his kids?  And how does he get off blaming his kids for not learning things that he didn't bother to teach them?

And if he and his wife raised their kids...again, whose fault is it if they're total morons about personal choices?

Surprisingly common sense for California...

The San Bernardino city attorney has a very good, very common sense suggestion for residents following major budget cuts to public safety budgets: basically, that they should “lock their doors and load their guns.”

It's a good suggestion for anyone, anywhere.

One very smart, the other...not so much.

Yesterday, our kittens demonstrated the difference in their intelligence in one of the funnier ways I've ever seen.  The black kitten (Shadow) caught a mouse in the kitchen, in full view of her black and white sister (Cricket).  They barreled through the living room, with Shadow in the lead, mouse firmly held in her mouth squeaking weakly, and into the hallway and into the imp's room.  A couple minutes later, Shadow came dashing back out into the living room, took a sharp turn, ran up the couch, across the bookcase next to the television, in front of the TV, and across the window, to hide on an upturned box blocking the puppy from getting into my stuff on the floor between my chair and my "desk." 

Cricket didn't see the sharp turn.  She bounced off one side of the gate, then bounced off the gate (which is why she didn't hear the noise Shadow made in her escape), then sprinted into the kitchen.  She searched the kitchen and back room while Shadow hid behind me (and apparently ate the mouse, since all I found were a couple of stray hairs and spots of blood).  She eventually came back through, just as Shadow casually jumped down, and wandered off. 

Cricket sat down, her head cocked, and kind of gave off the impression that she'd forgotten why she'd been chasing Shadow in the first place. 

Pretty much the way Shadow wanted it.

FFOT: Isn't abortion bad enough?

Do they have to starve sick babies to death in the hospitals, too? 

Before anyone starts protesting that that's in Britain, just remember that they have what we will have within five to ten years: complete and total mandatory Medicaid. 

I'd say that the people responsible for such policies have spiritual halitosis resembling disease-rotted queef-stench with a hint of decayed ejaculate, but I am firmly convinced that the monsters that conceived of such a heartless program do not have enough of a soul to be able suffer from such. 

I am beyond angry, and well into numb, horrified, and grieving. 

I'm glad my son was born four years ago, and didn't risk being medically murdered in the NICU while I watched.

Preview of cover art

The original artwork my friend came up with...

This is what I managed to do with Word's picture edit tools.  This will be what's on the cover of my book.

Cosigning on student loans = very bad idea

Don't believe me?  Ask Ella Edwards, who cosigned with her son Jermaine, on his student loans.  Two federal student loans, one private. 

No, he didn't default.  He died.  And she's still on the hook for the private loan.

Great idea!

I'm sure Mayor Bloomberg will love the idea of a $15/hour minimum wage for fast food workers!!  It will lead directly to those dangerous institutions of delicious, salty, fatty food that those stupid poor people eat too much of shutting their doors because they can't afford to stay in business!  Or else they'll have to get rid of their brilliant $1 menus, which is how a lot of homeless manage to make minimum daily caloric intake for basic maintenance.

The stupid fuckers walking out don't seem to realize that they've just quit their job, and likely won't find another at their skill level (nonexistent) in this economy.

Paul Blart strikes again...

Apparently, it's not just shoplifters that mall security let go.  The mall security in Fredricksburg let a freakin' kidnapper go.  No, the creep didn't get away with the little two year old girl he snatched--her father gave chase and got her back--but all the mall's rent-a-cops did was escort the creep from the premises.  They didn't even call the real cops. 

I am so very impressed.  And I plan to never let my kids go to the mall unattended...without several years in martial arts training, and a black belt. 

I can't believe I didn't think of it sooner.

I wasn't...completely happy with the cover art for The Godshead that my friend created.  It felt half-finished, to me, at least.  I got it scanned in, and played with Microsoft's picture editor (very basic), and couldn't get it much better than it was.  I tried Paint.  Nothing doing.

Then, I copied and pasted the image into Word.  And played with Word's photo editing tools.

And fixed my cover.

I'm going to put it through the CreateSpace/Kindle process tomorrow afternoon, after I talk to a couple of our local, independent booksellers.

Finally caught up again...

I've finished grading the past two weeks' blogs, and the make-up blogs I permitted.  This evening, after the pixie goes to bed, I'll be doing...nothing.  And enjoying every minute of it.

Yeah, like that's going to help people...

Minimum wage laws hurt minimally skilled workers.  I have seen first-hand evidence of this.  I have seen, when the minimum wage was raised, the youngest and oldest workers fired first--the youngest because they're the least qualified (seriously--they can't even figure out change for a $4.76 tab, nor what to do with the penny you hand over with your $5 bill), and the oldest because they're the most trouble (sick days, refusal to be bullied by a manager with a lower I.Q., worked there long enough for a raise anyway).  I've seen places pull their "help wanted" signs when the minimum wage was raised, not because they didn't still have that extra job to fill, but because the possible workers coming in to apply simply weren't worth what the new minimum wage was. 

And now there are some doofuses that want to raise minimum wage to $12/hour. 

There are no more full-time minimum wage jobs.  Everywhere that pays minimum wage is cutting employee hours to barely more than half-time so that they can dodge the costs of 0bamacare.  Raising that minimum to $12/hour (from a bit under $8) is going to do nothing but make sure that stores are going to seriously consider whether a clean floor is worth the cost of their employees wasting time sweeping it.  And they're going to seriously consider (if they can) moving emphasis from their physical locations to online sales and service--which is also going to hit states harder as jobs and tax revenue falls. 

Why is it that adults with a clear understanding of how money and business works, and a clear understanding of the consequences of mucking with the rules, are never the ones in the position to halt blatant stupidity from being forced on us?  Why are we stuck with overgrown children with the "It's not fair!  I'm gonna fix it!" mentality?

And here's to the new normal...

Did you know that your annual physical is now "free"*?  Yep, glory be to the 0ne who passed the bill that will eventually drive all health insurers out of business, and will force each and every one of us to submit to government control.

Speaking of such, did you know your doctor is now required to ask about your lifestyle during this visit?  Things like "your weight, exercise, family life, smoking, sexual abuse(!), and even to ask if you wear seat belts"--and they're required to make sure your answers are in your still-private (for now) medical record (my answers to these questions will all be the same: "It's none of the government's business.") 

But they're not going to be allowed to listen to new concerns you may have about current issues that may be moving out of control, or any new issues.  Basically, they're being told to ignore your health, and focus on whether you're doing what the government mandates you should be doing.


*Disclaimers: your free annual physical only involves conversation with your doctor concerning current, managed conditions.  No other concerns may be discussed, and new conditions are not covered.  You will be required to reschedule your appointment to discuss any new concerns, and pay out the ass to cover your doctor's uncompensated expenses for your "free" annual physical.

I am an idiot.

I picked up papers today.  Got 'em graded.  I'm going to be picking up more papers on Friday. 

Between now and then, I have two weeks' worth of blog posts (and however many make-up posts were written for half credit) to grade.

I stupidly went to visit my mother today.  And the kids were really acting up.  The imp started pretty early this morning, and just kept escalating the bad behavior.  I don't have any clue why. 

The pixie had an excuse--she's teething, teething hard.  She's having a lot of pain with the last four teeth trying to come in.  Even in the empty spots where I can't even feel tooth buds, the gums are hot and swollen. 

What I should have done was sent the kids up and begged off. 

Because I'm too beat to focus my brain enough to read student blogs, much less assign points. 

Oh, come on.

Oh, boo-hoo.  Grow up.  Yes, you've been lied to.  Anyone anywhere else during presidential campaign season would have known better.

But no.  Donna Vanzant believed 0bama's promises:

"I was very excited and felt warm by the embrace thinking this is really going to happen. I’m going to get the help I need because he promised that. I’ve gotten no help. I’ve gotten nothing but ‘No, you’re not covered for this. No, you’re not covered for that."

If she wants to be upset, she needs to be upset with herself for believing 0bama's campaign promises.  She wasn't the one played--she was one of the tools he used to play the nation. 

Anyone with half a brain knows that a politician's lying if his/her lips are moving and there's sound coming out. 

Bad idea...

...bringing a knife to a gun-fight.  

Good idea: having a gun to take out a knife-wielding home invader.

If anyone's interested...

...there's a new story up over at The Godshead Tavern.

Feeling fried...

I've been working on catching up grading blogs, again.  I didn't have a chance to the past couple of weeks, because of fighting with the templates for the classes I teach, and the templates for the classes a colleague teaches, on the distance learning platform, immediately followed by Odysseus hurting himself and Thanksgiving. 

I've got a lot to go, because I let the students that really needed to make up blog posts that they didn't get done earlier in the semester.

And now, this week, the last papers are coming in from both of my classes.  Yes, that's right: the last first draft I'll have to grade until February.  This week is week 15 in a 16 week semester.  Next week, I'll be grading revisions, and last blog posts.  Two weeks from tomorrow I will be turning in grades, and done for the semester.

It cannot come soon enough for me.  I'm tired of the whole shebang. 

Distinction without a difference.

Yeah, I'm never voting GOP again.  "We won't raise your taxes...just cap how much you get back of what we overcharged you."  "Of course we won't let illegals get away with breaking the law!  We'll just forgive  them!"

Uh-huh.  Basically, you're doing what the other party wants, just putting a different spin on it. 

Here's an idea for you: try listening to what your constituents are asking for (reduce layers of bureaucratic regulation strangling small businesses; act to propose the repeal of 0bamacare; lower taxes for every income class, or institute a flat tax of 13% for all incomes over $40,000/year; act to simplify and enforce the immigration laws we have on the books).  Then do your best to do it.

Tingles Matthews does it again.

He's managed to make himself look even more ridiculous than he did before, by saying that Romney wants to return voting to what the founding fathers envisioned: property owners. 

No, Romney didn't say that.  Romney wouldn't say that.  Romney's too much of a pussy to even think that. 

I, however, will say this: Anyone who earns a paycheck that isn't funded through taking money from someone else should be able to vote.  Anyone who gets a paycheck funded through taking money from productive members of society should be barred from voting.

That would mean Tingles Matthews would be allowed to vote...and the 0bamas wouldn't be. 

Honestly, I think it's sad that Matthews hates himself so much that he extends that to the rest of his race and socio-economic class.

I don't wanna!

I don't want to do things the Chicago way!  I don't want to risk getting shot if I go to a funeral, and I don't want to face the possibility of $105K worth of parking tickets because the city can't be arsed to figure out that a car should be towed, and doesn't belong to me in the first place. 

And that doesn't even count the danger that doing things the Chicago way puts children in.

One step closer...

I remembered recently that we have a HP printer/scanner combo, one we didn't have much use for, that we'd put into storage.  So, I asked Odysseus to go get it from the storage unit today.  I've scanned in the cover art that my friend created. 

I'm not entirely sure that I'm happy with it.  It's really rough, and feels unfinished.   Odysseus says he's going to see if he can find some photo editing software this evening or tomorrow.  I'll play with it a bit, and see if I can't smooth out the rough edges a bit.

If all else fails, I'll scrap it, and figure something else out.

Once I have the cover art done, though, I'll be walking The Godshead through the CreateSpace/kindle publishing process.  I'll post an announcement (and a link to it) when I've published it.

What a winner.

I'm glad this creep got arrested.  I cannot imagine what would posses someone to attend a Christmas parade in order to tell little kids that Santa Clause isn't real.

A sad little man...

If Barack Obama is Jamie Foxx's "lord and savior," that's pretty sad.  Just about as sad as those who believe that human beings are the pinnacle of the universe.

We're so screwed.

He is a Communist without question promoting the Communist Manifesto without calling it so. How shrewd he is in America. His cult of personality mesmerizes those who cannot go beyond their ignorance. They will continue to follow him like those fools who still praise Lenin and Stalin in Russia.  Obama’s fools and Stalin’s fools share the same drink of illusion.

That came from Pravda, the former Soviet Union mouthpiece.  

Wow...

A state spending $45,000 on a survey of something that's none of their business!  Who'd have thought  it?

The survey was allegedly aimed at finding out about women's needs for family planning services, but it asked some very personal questions, and sent a survey about sex to minors.  Some of the questions included

• How did you feel emotionally when you had unprotected sex — were you trying to get pregnant, were you in the “heat of the moment and just went with the flow,” or did you find the man attractive and “thought it would be nice to have a baby with him?” Did you feel “powerless”? Or was it that you “felt emotionally connected with your partner during sex”?

• How old were you when you first had sex? Last time you had sex with a man, did you do anything to keep from getting pregnant? If not, why not?

• Has a sexual partner ever “told you he would have a baby with someone else if you didn’t get pregnant?” “Physically forced you to have sex?” “Hurt you physically because you did not agree to get pregnant?”

I'll answer a lot of questions, and will talk frankly about sex.  I don't think I'd be willing to answer a state survey over the emotional aspect, and probably wouldn't talk about it to any but my closest female friends.

And absolutely not for a $10 gift card to anywhere.  I'm a lot higher priced than that.

...kinda the point, in my opinion...

I think Crown Prince Charles would make a fucking lousy king.  His mother has done too much dabbling in his life, and completely ruined the potential he showed. 

She knows it, too. 

So, today, I ran across a story where Charles is whinging about how he's running out of time to be king.  How he's already been waiting for so long to start the job for which he's spent his entire life training that he's afraid he's going to die before ascending the throne.

I'm half convinced that that's the point.  Queen Elizabeth II is waiting until her son dies, so that her grandson William can follow her reign. 

I wouldn't be surprised if, just as she's on her death bed, she orders Charles poisoned. 

19th amendment fail...

"For First Time, Women Voters Overruled Men in Nov. Election."

For the first time, entitlements and the desire for a surrogate husband to take care of everything for them overruled rationality. 

We need to remove the right to vote from everyone relying on a welfare check.  It's a national conflict of interest to permit them to vote. 

And, since most people on welfare are single moms....

Dig 'im up.

If Arafat was murdered, we need to find out who did it...

I have to admit...

I'm kinda ambivalent on this one.  A couple found out their fifteen year old snuck her boyfriend in their house after everyone was asleep.  So, they made her stand out on the street with a hand-painted sign telling her neighborhood what she did.  The news story asks if the parents went too far. 

I'm honestly not sure.  If it makes the stupid teenager actually follow the rules, then great.  However, the sign isn't just about sneaking boys into the house at three in the morning, and kind of brings the couple's parenting skills into question. 

On the one hand, Jasmine was breaking rules laid down for her safety and the safety of those living in the house with her (parents, siblings). 

On the other...respect must be earned.  Disrespect is often deserved.  And her mother has definitely earned her disrespect by being a total wimp, and making the step-dad the bad guy. 

What, was she afraid her daughter would be unhappy with her?  Was she afraid her teenage daughter would scream "I hate you!" and slam her bedroom door?  Newsflash, honey: that's a teenager.  Deal with it, and enforce your rules.  Let her know why the rules are there.  If you're worthy of respect, she will respect you. 

I don't know if the parents took it too far with the discipline in this particular case.  I can, however, unequivocally state that they haven't taken the discipline far enough in her early childhood if they're reduced to humiliating their fifteen year old daughter in public now. 

I don't get the whole hatred of Wal-Mart thing...

If it weren't for Wal-Mart and Sam's Club, there's no way we would be as comfortable as we are.  Yes, grocery stores have a few things that Wal-Mart doesn't, and sometimes they've got better prices when things are on sale. 

However, for the most part, the prices at grocery stores (unless you  get the loyalty card that lets them track your purchases) are much higher than they are at Wal-Mart.  And Sam's Club is even better (even though you have to spend $40/year minimum for a membership--but it's well worth it). 

I don't even get the whole "But Wal-Mart treats their employees so bad!"  Umm...no, they don't.  They treat their employees the same as most other retailers do theirs, and far and away better than restaurants do their waitstaff. 

Thankfully, someone else has taken down all of the anti-Wal-Mart arguments, in 140-character bursts. 

Well done, Mr. Suderman.  Well done.

How...truly wonderful.

Recent numbers suggest that people receiving SNAP benefits outnumber the total population of twenty-four states.

Last year, the total number of SNAP recipients maxed out at 44.7 million people, and paid out $71.8 billion.  This year, as of August (last month available on USDA's page), there were 47.1 million people on SNAP benefits.  We'd already spent $62.8 billion dollars by August.

I am not, by any means, against helping those who truly need it, like the people Odysseus and I helped out (until a couple weeks ago, when they managed to scrape together enough to go back up to northern Missouri to stay with her mom).

However, I strongly doubt that most of those on SNAP and TANF (best figures I could get on that weren't good enough to link) actually need that level of help.

There need to be stronger controls on who can apply for and get help.  Not just a means test, but urinalysis every week, blood tests every six months, and one failure loses benefits and any children in the home until the parent who failed goes through rehab and goes a year totally clean.  There needs to be a class on how to cook and how to buy groceries required as part of the SNAP application, and a class on budgeting worked into the application for TANF.  

EBT cards--both kinds--need to be accepted only at grocery stores, Wal-Marts, and gas pumps--not inside gas station convenience stores.  Neither kind should cover junk food or alcohol.  Neither kind should be accepted at fast food places, like McDonalds or pizza places.  Neither kind should cover tobacco in any form.

If a person wants to drink, smoke, and eat crap, they need to do it on their dime, not mine.

Last, and possibly most important, they need the right to vote removed for the duration of the time they're on government benefits. 

Yay, Missouri!

Missouri has refused to fund the President's brain fart.  Yes, it may well cause problems, but it will cost the taxpayers less than complying with the ill-considered piece of shit legislation passed over the protests of two-thirds of voters. 

Boy, it's going to suck when more doctors start refusing Medicare/Medicaid...for those on it.  Costs will go down for the rest of us.

What is wrong with people???

Here are a few headlines, copied and pasted from Drudge at a bit before 9:30:

'Gang fight' at Black Friday sale...
Man Punched in Face Pulls Gun On Line-Cutting Shopper...
Shots fired outside WALMART...
Shoppers smash through door at URBAN OUTFITTERS...
Customers run over in parking lot...
Woman busted after throwing merchandise...
Thousands storm VICTORIA'S SECRET...
VIDEO: Insane battle over phones...
Mayhem at Nebraska mall where 9 murdered in 2007...
Shoplifter tries to mace security guards...
Men Steal Boy's Shopping Bag Outside BED, BATH & BEYOND...
Heckler calls them zombies... 

Seriously, I am so glad I don't do the whole "Black Friday deals" shopping thing.  This kind of behavior is disgusting.  I'm pretty sure that my probable response to any of this kind of behavior would be rather...frowned upon.  

random ramblings

Recently, Odysseus fell at work (one of the mentally differently-abled individuals he works with slopped water on the floor, and didn't clean it up).  He wasn't hurt badly, but did torque his hip badly enough to need prescription arthritis medication.  It's been...interesting...trying to sort out the best times for him to take it.  Especially since he starts work at about four p.m., gets off at ten, can't get to sleep before the pup's midnight walk, then gets up to walk her at five so that I can stand to get up with the kids at seven. 

We think he's got it figured out.  He worked Thursday, last night, and will be working through Monday.  He works six hours a day, four days a week.  The place he's working is pretty safe from Obamacare requirements.

The imp is starting to understand that setting his body against the pixie and pushing is still pushing her.  It lost them their playing with blocks privilege, yesterday.  But most of the time for the past two weeks, he's come running in, leaned on the arm of my chair to put his face right in mine, and said "Both play nice."  Sure enough...they have been.  Though it usually doesn't last too long past the announcement.

The imp is so darn cute when he's sleeping that it's almost enough to make me forget what a little beast he can be (though he's an angel by four-year-old-boy standards) when he's awake.  When I go in to make sure he's still covered up and warm enough, he wakes up enough to reach up and pull me down for a hug.  I cover him up, tuck him in, and give him a kiss--to which he goes "T'anks!  I love you, Mama."

It's one of the few times he says that without being in trouble, first.

The pixie is having a devil of a time with those last four jaw teeth.  One's partially erupted, two aren't near the surface, yet, but are causing her a lot of pressure-pain in that jaw, and in her ear.  I'm having trouble getting her to eat--it hurts to chew.  All I can do is keep her dosed up with Tylenol and ibuprofen, and Benedryl when the swelling in her jaw interferes with her ears draining. 

She's so funny with her baby dolls, despite the crankiness, and sometimes having sudden pain in her mouth that makes her squeal, grab her mouth or jaw, and start crying.  She wants her babies to eat whatever she's eating, carries them around like I used to carry her (before she hit 25 pounds), and sometimes will sit on the couch with a pillow in her lap, the baby on her pillow, cuddled with its face to her chest, rocking the baby, and going "Shh...go sleep.  Close eyes, go sleep."

It took me a while, but I figured out that she's trying to nurse her babies like I do her. 

The pup has been stir-crazy for the past few days.  She wants to go outside but it's so damn cold in the mornings, and the wind has teeth sharper than hers, so she's down from most of the day spent out in her pen to about three or four hours.

The kitten that just got fixed has the run of the house while the pup is penned up, and is penned up while the pup has the run of the house.  We're still trying to keep her from straining her still-healing tummy too much.

The other kitten--the one that borrows two-thirds of her brain from her sister--is much happier, now that they're not separated.

It's been a nice break from grading, this week.  Back to the grindstone for two more weeks, then I'll be done after I turn in grades--which I plan to do no later than noon on December 12.  And yes, I will be alerting my kids to that fact. 

Then, I'll be free for about five or six weeks.  If you want to know how my writing's going, visit The Godshead Tavern.  I talk about writing there, since I was afraid I was boring y'all talking about it here.  I haven't posted any new stories this week, but there will be one posted on probably Wednesday of next week.

What's next?

Saudi Arabia is taking things a wee bit too far, in attempting to control their female population: when a woman travels, officials text the men in their families to make sure they're aware of it. 

Next thing will be ankle bracelets like they put on criminals under house arrest, here in the US.  And then, when that's too inconvenient, they'll start putting chips in their women, like we do our pets.

Where are the feminists?  Where are the women's rights advocates?  This is what they need to be fighting, not domestic violence where the woman is the one that threw the first punch, even if they take the most damage when their man hits them back.

This is how it should happen.

Remember the whole "Let's walk out on Black Friday!" threatened Wal-Mart strike?

It fizzled.  One single worker walked out.  She walked out on a $12/hour job.  And Wal-Mart isn't going to let her come back. 

Good riddance.  I just wish she could be denied aid because she walked out on a job that was pretty secure, steady work. 

Stupid parent tricks.

When I was thirteen or so (about seventh grade), my class petitioned the school to be allowed to watch The Crow before Halloween.  My school deliberated, then sent home permission slips because the movie was rated R, and parents and school officials worried about our innocence then. 

I brought the permission slip home, let my mom read the letter, and she refused to sign the slip because she didn't want me to see the movie.  Simple solution, and didn't spoil it for everyone else.

Something's wrong with modern parents, though--especially atheists.  Instead of refusing to sign the permission slip, a group of parents are setting up a fuss about a school in Arkansas that had the opportunity to take the kids to see a live, stage production of A Charlie Brown Christmas.  The parents are making the fuss about the school taking the kids to the play--at all--because of the religious overtones to the play, and because the performance is being held inside a church.

No, she's not refusing to sign the permission slip--the one quoted doesn't want her child singled out--but she'd sure be as pleased as punch if the school caves to her demands to not take the kids to the play at all.  She'd rather ruin it for everyone, because she can't stand the thought that somebody somewhere might be made happy by something she disapproves of. 

It's not exactly stealing candy from small children to make them cry, but it's close in spirit.

Fonzie's lost his mind.

He's defended the voice actor who played Elmo (before abruptly resigning after the first allegation of child sex abuse--not the act of someone who's innocent, in my opinion) by saying, in essence, that it doesn't matter if the man has been screwing children, that he's too brilliant for it to matter. 

Kind of like Whoopi Goldberg's comment of "It wasn't rape rape," with regards to Roman Polanski drugging and raping a thirteen year old girl vaginally and anally, despite her crying and pleading with him to stop. 

I don't know what's wrong with these people.  Moral relativism is obviously a brain-rotting poison.

FFOT: this.

There isn't profanity bad enough to express my horror at these numbers. 

My poor great-great-grandchildren.

Those boys best hope they don't have a dog...

...otherwise, someone from a different part of the world where dog is a delicacy might decide they're hungry for some.

Oh, wait...most people aren't such bloody sociopaths that they'll kill someone else's pet for something to eat when they don't need to, and don't think anything's wrong with that act.

Unintended consequences...

Those who helped keep the current administration in office for four more years are the ones being hit hardest by the socialist agenda they wanted espoused.

As it should be. 

Wow...

So, since unemployment is so high (and, I would assume, everyone is so badly unqualified to do the work needed), Baltimore has come up with a...unique...solution:

Baltimore’s City Hall is mulling a controversial new mandate that, if passed, would require any business with a city contract of "at least $300,000 or any project that gets a city subsidy of at least $5 million to hire Baltimore City residents for at least 51 percent of new jobs.”

So...this is going to be like something I witnessed while I was in grad school.  A student had a twin sister who applied for (and got) a job at a clothing chain at the mall.

Two weeks later, she was fired.  She was told that she was only hired because she fulfilled a diversity quota that the company had been checking the week before she was hired.  She was fired because they didn't need her to be a token black worker anymore, and she could barely run the register, couldn't count back change, and figuring how much something a certain percentage off would cost when asked by a customer.

How is Baltimore's requirement going to be any different?

I guess the turkey ran afoul of the Obamacare death panels...

One of the turkeys that the President pardoned before last year's Thanksgiving celebrations at the White House has been euthanized after a "long illness," just days before Thanksgiving this year. 

What do you want to bet that the "long illness" was obesity, and the method of euthanasia involved an axe?

Another thing I'm really thankful for...

We have mice.  A lot of mice. 

We have two kittens, both of which are part Siamese. 

Shadow has just been fixed, so she's staying (for the most part) in the hall bathroom with food, water, and a litter box.  When I went to check on her this morning, I found mouse remains.  She was just over two months old when we adopted her on Independence Day (9 weeks old).

Cricket was fixed last month, but is too big of a piece of squirrel bait to be permitted free run of the house while the kids are asleep--one of her favorite things to do is to run up door facings.  This morning, when I let her out of  the laundry room, she darted across the kitchen and immediately caught a mouse.  She spent half an hour playing with it before I took pity on it and took it outside to bash it on concrete and throw it in the street.   Cricket is one week older than Shadow. 

Both kittens are a little crazy, and Shadow is a lot smarter than Cricket (who has a greater proportion of Siamese blood, by her size and shape).  But I greatly enjoy the crazy, and the Siamese blood makes them terrific mousers.

So, I'm incredibly thankful that we managed to luck out with adopting two part-Siamese kittens when we brought those two crazy little fur balls home in July.

I am thankful.

We already celebrated Thanksgiving with family last weekend (his, not mine.  I don't want to celebrate Thanksgiving with mine.), because Odysseus has to work tonight.  I'm thankful he has a job (and incredibly thankful I don't have to eat anymore turkey). 

I'm thankful that neither of our children have any serious, lasting medical issues from having been premature (a lot in the imp's case, and a little in the pixie's). 

I'm very thankful that neither child still suffers from acid reflux--I get bouts of it every so often, and know how much it hurts. 

Both kids were on acid blockers for a while (Prevacid for the imp, and Zantac syrup for the pixie).  I'm thankful both are off their meds, now, both because I'm very leery of long-term usage of medication, and because the imp's cost almost $200/month, and the pixie's was spiraling up as she needed a higher dosage...until suddenly she didn't. 

I'm thankful that we own our home outright, and haven't had a mortgage in three years. 

I'm thankful that we own our cars outright, and haven't had a car payment in nearly seven years. 

I'm thankful that we had the sense to pay off our credit cards, and haven't had any consumer debt in seven or eight years. 

I'm thankful that we can offer a home to two cats and a dog, feed them, and pay for their health needs.  I'm also thankful that our pets are such wonderful fits into our family.

I am thankful that we have between two weeks' and a months' worth of food in our pantry and freezer (barring milk, eggs, and bread--our kids drink between two and three gallons of chocolate milk per week, and we don't eat a whole lot of bread). 

I am thankful for those who are serving in the military, and for those who have served.

I'm thankful I can stay home with my kids without sacrificing my income.  (I'm pretty sure my department head is also thankful that I haven't had to sacrifice my income--they scramble for adjuncts every semester). 

I'm thankful that Survivors has sold as many copies as it has.  I didn't expect to sell more than a few, and I've moved a few dozen. 

I'm thankful that I have another book nearly ready to go, and that I'll be able to publish it without having to sign away all of my rights to a publishing house that would care about nothing but their ability to make money off of my work (though I wish I had a better idea of how to publicize my work, and sell more of it). 

I am thankful that we live in the United States, and I'm thankful that people are starting to wake up and getting disgusted with the government and its intrusion and interference in our lives. 

I am thankful for the opportunity to write my blog, and post my opinions.  I'm thankful for the friends I've made through blogging.

There's so very much for us to be thankful for, and we need to remember that all year, not just on Thanksgiving.

In the comments...

...for the win:

"I feel bad picking on feminists though. They’re so delusional, it’s like taunting 2-year-olds who can’t fit the squares pieces in the circle holes."

Sheer.  Awesome.  I laughed out loud.

(No, I'm not anti-rights.  I'm anti-man-hating radical-leftist doctrine.)

People need to learn how to deal with bullies as children...

...if they don't, bullies never grow up to be anything else.  Like this asshole, who's been terrorizing his entire neighborhood to the point that they banded together and sued him.

Honestly?  They should have shot the worthless son of a bitch.

Umm...I hope the guy got fired.

A Rule 3 violation in a gun store often has very bad results, like here. 

BOOGER HOOK OFF BANG SWITCH!!!  If someone can't remember that, then they don't need to be working anywhere there may be live ammo in the gun they're handling. 

I don't live anywhere near Silver City, New Mexico; however, if I did, you can bet I'd be asking the manager of the Copper County Sporting Arms what name of the employee that shot the customer was, and would not shop at again until he was no longer working there. 

One more example

Yet another piece of evidence that anyone who's a parent should strongly consider either moving away from large cities, homeschooling their child, or both.

How the Grinch stole Christmas

He didn't go around stealing trees and gifts.  No, he now travels around looking for signs of Christianity in small towns, and threatens lawsuits on the grounds of something that was only mentioned in a single letter written by Thomas Jefferson, referencing keeping government from regulating religions. 

Seriously, people.  If a small town has a tradition of a particular Christmas display, odds are that most in the town are in favor of said display.  Stop spoiling other people's happiness just because a small group can't be happy, and can't stand that other people are. 

Ever notice how the most violently rabid fundamentalist evangelicals are either Muslim or atheist?

I am...less inclined to give my family goodie baskets.

Gifts for my family are proving...challenging...once again.  In the past, I've put together goody baskets, but I'm not so sure about this year.  

My mother and sister have forsworn chocolate.  Mom says it raises her blood pressure (like coffee--which has been proven to only raise it briefly).  My sister says it makes one of her many, many conditions worse (possibly true, but not by much, and there are more important things to worry about that she doesn't).  My aunts have banned it because it's not good for you (not so, where dark chocolate is concerned), and they think it's coming between them and their relationship with God.  I am disinclined to put together a goody basket that's missing a goody that they all love so much, just because of BS excuses and Puritanical* excesses.

One of my aunts has turned off her home phone in favor of one of the Obamaphones.  I get that she and her husband are trying to make it on $500/month plus church charity.  I get that.  But it doesn't have to be that way--all they need to do is get her on Medicaid long enough to get a needed surgery done (he's against it, though it would save her life, and she's giving in to what he's telling her to do because she's forgotten what comes after that lovely "wives, submit to your husbands" bit in the bible, and I doubt he's ever known it).  I am disinclined to get them anything that will make their lives easier, not after sucking more money out of my pocket, then stating that they deserve the help.

Another aunt is worried that she won't be able to do Christmas this year, because her own poor choices and lack of planning ahead have sucked her "budget" dry.  She's spent money and spent money and spent money all year, and is only now panicking about saving up for the property taxes (which she knew were coming all year, and approximately how much it was going to cost her).  Not to mention the costs incurred by the lightning strike that she didn't have homowner's insurance to help cover.  I'm disinclined to put a goody basket together for her because she irritates the living shit out of me with her spending habits and excuses for why she can't afford things she shouldn't have a problem with.

The third aunt is just, in a word, stupid.  I love her to pieces, but she's fifty-five years old, and still acts like a twelve-year-old.  A flighty one.  Wonder of wonders, she's finally got a job.  She's the one I'm most inclined to put together something for, and I'm still disinclined to put forth the effort because she's been sulking about me not bringing the kids to visit at her convenience, despite my work schedule and Odysseus's not permitting it. 

I think the thing that's annoyed me the most this year is the constant cries of "Poor me!  Pity me!  I'm a helpless victim!  There's nothing I can do to help myself!"  And I am living proof that victimhood is a choice.  I suppose their attitude pisses me off so hard because it's almost like their choices to be a victim squat over my decision not to be one.  Especially when they criticize my choices as not being Christian.

So, yeah...except where my kids and my mother- and father-in-law are concerned, my Christmas spirit is just a little lacking.

And a Merry Bah-Humbug to you, too.

I don't like Pat Robertson.  I think he's a self-righteous prick. 

Sometimes, though, he can hit the nail right on the head, like he did with the whole mean-spirited atheist war on Christmas:

“Atheists don’t like our happiness. They don’t want you to be happy.  They want you to be miserable.  They’re miserable so they want you to be miserable.  So they want to steal your holiday away from you.”

I have never met a truly happy atheist.  I've spoken with a few who claimed to be, but they've always seemed less happy than they claimed.  Usually, they have good reason, but still.

And misery loves company.

I may not enjoy the season anymore, thanks to family and over-commercialization, but I really try hard not to ruin it for anyone else.  I wish others had the same courtesy.

Actions should have consequences.

Stupid should hurt.  Losing her job should be the absolute minimum to happen to Lindsey Stone. 

Better would be random people beating the holy living dog shit out of her once a week or so for the rest of her life. 

I know many male vets wouldn't ever hit a woman, but the number of female vets is growing monthly.  Maybe they'd like the first several hundred cracks at the twat for her...political speech.

"...prohibiting the free exercise thereof..."

This is a dangerous precedent. 

A federal judge has just told a family that they have to go against their beliefs by offering the morning after pill and the week after pill to their employees.*  The family believes that preventing the implantation of the embryo is as bad as abortion. 

The federal government is telling them, through Obamacare, that private individuals' rights to act on their beliefs is not Constitutionally protected, despite the clear language of the first amendment: "Congress shall make no law...regarding the establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."

That does not apply to churches alone.  That, despite the cowardly** idiot judge's interpretations, also applies to individuals, and individuals who own businesses. 

Were I the Greene family, I would either immediately divest my family holdings in any company employing enough people to fall under Obamacare's unConstitutional restrictions, or I'd cut each and every employee back to 26 hours per week. 

I'd expect that the next target will be individuals' rights to worship as they please (with the exception of Islamofacists), and then the churches.

That's the usual order of actions taken by Marxist governments against those who believe in a higher power than government.

*I disagree with their beliefs about the morning after pill--preventing implantation.  However, the week after pill is a bit more problematic.  An embryo implants between three and five days after fertilization, on average.  And after that sucker's implanted, it's a baby.  After that, it's murder, not contraception--but is still between a woman and her conscience.

**The judge's excuse is that the plaintiffs didn't cite any court cases where the "free exercise thereof" applied to a business, instead of a religious organization.

Gotta keep that proportion of voter support climbing...

Is it not enough to basically welcome illegal aliens to the U.S. with a Democrat voter ID?  Do they have to push to get new immigrants added to the welfare/food stamp rolls immediately, too?

News flash: person who couldn't swim drowned when thrown into deep water!

Seriously.  Our government looked at Canada and Britain, at their health care system, and their doctor shortages, and thought, "Yeah, baby.  That's just what we need over here."  The media, enamored by the idea of a single-payer system where no one has to pay for their own treatment (but everyone has to pay the taxes that pay for everyone's treatment), not only overlooked, but tried to bury the information that our system isn't going to be any different: expensive, cumbersome, inefficient, and deadly to those who need it most.

Those who wanted Obamacare went further than just trying to bury the facts: they openly mocked those who tried to make clear what the nation was getting into.  And they threatened those who were openly against it in congress. 

Still, almost 70% of the American people polled said that they didn't want it, or anything like it. 

We've had that violation rammed up our collective national ass, regardless.

And now, the media has the chutzpah to be shocked, shocked, that a hospital system is instituting mass layoffs in preparation for the massive jump in costs that they're facing. 

Has anyone ever seen what happens amongst those on Medicaid?  How they treat doctors and hospitals?  How they clog the emergency rooms because they don't want to pay for anything out of their own pockets (and have no clue--because they never see a bill--how much more an emergency room visit costs)? 

Now, think about how it's going to be when everyone is forced onto Medicaid by ever-increasing insurance premiums, insurance companies going out of business, and the only going concern is "single-payer" health insurance. 

And now, imagine that with about half the medical staff in hospitals. 

This is what we have to look forward to.

Because planes crashing so rarely do damage...

I cannot believe the chutzpah required to say that Israel is overreacting to the rocket attacks because "the rockets are essentially very ineffective, they rarely do damage and that the response from Israelis is disproportional to the threat they’re under."

Go live in Israel for a while, honey.  Then come back and tell us how disproportional it is for Israel to protect its citizens from attacks by an enemy who lives as close to them as Mexico does to us (as in: not only right next door, but interspersed throughout its territory).

Finished. Again.

Here's hoping the distance learning platform doesn't eat this class's grade book, too.

Oh...bugger.

Got my templates done.  Went to my colleague's site.  Found out I had done what needed done...and then the platform locked up. 

It did that during the summer setup, too. 

They had to undo everything, and I had to do it over to fix it. 

Bugger. 

Two down...

I've got my templates for my classes set up.  I'm debating over whether or not I want to edit the blogging chapter to add WordPress to it, or wait until next summer.  Or whether I should bother at all, given how well my students tend to follow written instructions.

I've got a couple days to decide.

Bugger...

I'm going to have to reformat my colleague's gradebooks in his templates for his online classes by Tuesday.  I thought I'd gotten it done and the changes saved, but apparently the site was being an absolute cunt, and didn't save the changes I made.

I'm also going to have to make sure my templates are ready to be copied for new classes, also by Tuesday. 

And the distance learning platform is a slow bitch to try to mess with like that.  Worse than entering grades, because the version we have isn't fully compatible with any of the recent browser updates, neither IE nor Firefox.  And we can't get a good, updated version because we can't just get patches, we have to buy access to a newer version. 

Sounds like the rest of my day today, tomorrow, and Tuesday has been devoured by inanity. 

Random ramblings

Last week, a good friend of ours came to visit while her oldest daughter was in her Girl Scouts meeting.  Her youngest daughter's had been cancelled, so she had her almost-nine-year-old daughter, her seven-year-old son, and her nine month old son with her.  The imp gravitated toward the older kids, but the pixie got down on the floor to play with the baby.  She'd hug him, kiss him, pet his hair, and then jump up to go get him another toy, or his sippy cup, or whatever she dreamed he might want or need. 

It.  Was.  Adorable. 

After they left, and after I'd gotten my kids bathed, and the pixie was ready to nurse down to sleep, she went and got her Pooh bear, and her stuffed frog, then patted me on the knee, and said, "Mama...want new baby?  P'ease?"

Oh, Lord.

Thursday, the imp got to go up to Grandma and Grandpa's house for a couple of days and nights.  He had a blast, and very much loves spending nights up there.  Two nights.  Only.  Grandma told me this morning that the first thing he said when he woke up this morning was "Pixie, Mama, Daddy come for Imp today.  Play nice.  Go home.  Mama misses Imp." 

She also said he was a lot crankier today than he has been for the past two.  He may well be coming down with something. 

He's starting to try to draw letters with crayons, and on his MagnaDoodle.  He's almost dexterous enough to manage.  Drew a lopsided A, the other day, on a children's menu with a red crayon.  Not long, now. 

We had one of our kittens fixed last month.  Kitten number two got fixed on Wednesday.  She's supposed to not run or jump for a week (yeah, preventing that is possible with a six month old kitten).  We've got her shut in the hall bathroom with a litter box, food, and water, away from her sister and the puppy. 

The kitten with the free run of the house is quite distressed.  Two-thirds of her brain is missing. 

It'll be the puppy's turn sometime in January or February. 

Speaking of the puppy...it's been a full week since we've had an accident in the house (*reaching over and knocks on the wooden end table next to me*).  She's proven to be very intelligent, even figuring out a way to play with the pixie that doesn't scare her.  She's just an absolutely terrific little dog, and I'm so very glad to have her. 

I got a student angry with me, last week.  I had my mom babysit the day after papers were due, and spent the day on a grading spree.  I got all the papers done...and then got two more turned in.  One has a child sick with Roseola, and has a glitchy computer that she didn't know how she was going to get replaced, what with a sick child.  I suggested Amazon, offered what I did when my kids were sick with a fever, and graded her paper--104 is not good, and she couldn't get it down for love nor money, and the doctors weren't doing her any good.  Her little one is three months old.

The other student, on the other hand...that one told me that they'd simply forgotten to turn it in.  I wrote them back and told them that I didn't accept late papers without a very good reason.  The student emailed me back, with a "You can't do this to me!  It was only one day late!"

Okay.  Fine.  That's going to fly real well with an employer later in life.  That student might do that one time with a reprimand, but coming back with that attitude should get them fired. 

And I caught cold pretty much immediately upon finishing dealing with that particular little speshul snowflake.  So TinCan Assassin is probably right that I've got a distinct allergy to stupid.

Ramblings postponed.

We're going to Grandma and Grandpa's house today, to visit and to bring home the imp.  We have a puppysitter, so I'm going, too.

Paying cash for my next house...

...because I refuse to hand over one single dime more than the government forces out of my hands at gunpoint. 

"Your papers, please..."

This is getting ridiculous.  I mean, seriously.  Anyone who wants to smoke is going to have to present a specific license that allows them to buy cigarettes?  One that limits how many cigarettes a person can buy? 

Are they trying to recreate the conditions that permitted organized crime to flourish in the 1920's and '30's? 

In this economy...

I think, if I were a business owner, I'd have a zero tolerance policy for strikes.  I'd write it into the employment contracts that walk-out strike equals "I quit."  I mean, look at what happens when employees go on strike: Hostess, a national name brand in goodies, is going under.  As in, totally gone.  That's 18,000 more jobs gone because of a few who demanded more than what the company could afford to give them. 

Now, Wal-Mart is having issues with strikers.  There have been plans announced that there will be a walk-out strike on Black Friday--perhaps the biggest shopping day of the year. 

Enough of this shit, people.  Stop whining.  You have a fucking job with a fucking paycheck.  You're luckier than almost 20% of the nation.  Suck it up and get to work so that your company can stay afloat, and you can keep your fucking job.

I understand that unions were necessary, at one point--that working conditions used to be a hell of a lot more dangerous, and work hours unreasonable (16 hour days and six or seven day weeks is unreasonable.  12 hour days four days a week is not.).  That time has passed. 

The giant uber-unions (UAW, NEA, et.al.) really need to follow suit. 

Smart, or smart-alek?

My dog demonstrated one of the two possibilities earlier this week.  I'm still not sure which.

I'd gone into the kitchen to get a drink of water, and made note of the bowl of puppy food (half full), then filled the water.  She followed me, and buried her nose in her bowl.  I went back in and sat down. 

A few minutes later, I heard her get a drink, then heard the bottom of her dish scrape over the floor (rubber on linoleum). 

Next thing I knew, there was an empty food bowl sitting on my foot, and a Scotty puppy staring at me.  When I looked at her, she looked down at her bowl, then back up at me. 

Message received.

I took the bowl, filled it, and she emptied it again, but seemed satisfied, that time. 

I thought it was a fluke, until she did it again last night. 

So I ask you: smart dog, or smart ass dog?

FFOT: Uh-huh.

Where have I heard this rhetoric before?  "It's not my fault!"  It's his fault!"

Mr. Romney...fuck off.  Every fucking sitting president who fucking runs for re-election does their fucking best to fucking be re-elected.  Yes, in this case, it was Still-President 0bama fucking bribing fucking welfare queens with fucking free fucking cell phones with 250 free minutes a month (that we, the taxpayers are footing the bill for).  Yes, there are a fuck-ton of fuckwits fucking sucking on the fucking government teat.  It was your fucking job, you fucktard, to figure out a way to get them on your side, instead of his.  You didn't fucking run to fucking win.  You fucking played nice for fear of being called racist.  You didn't fucking nail him on Benghazi.  It was your fucking healthcare plan in fucking Massachusetts that Still-President 0bama used to model his fucking abortion of a law.  You fucking said you'd fucking bring back the so-called "assault weapons" ban, which fucking scared some gunowners off of voting for your worthless fucking boring fucking white-bread fucking.   The only one who lost the election is you.

If I had the power to enact one law tomorrow...I would pass a law that prohibits anyone on welfare/foodstamps, non-military connected disability checks, or taking a paycheck as a legislator on any level from voting.

And you, Mr. Romney, would still lose.  Because you're just so fucking special like that.

Fuck the fuck off, get your fucking fatuous face out of the fucking news, and just go the fucking fuckety fuck away.

Thanks, and welcome...

...to JD Rush for hitting that blue button and following my blog.  Sit down, and put your feet up.  Let me know what you'd like to drink.  I've got bourbon, scotch, Irish whiskey, a teeny bottle of Jack Daniels honey whiskey, and a bottle of Evan Williams honey whiskey.  And coffee, and cocoa, and Irish Cream (plain or pumpkin spice).  Sorry, I'm fresh out of cookies--need to make more of those. 

Oh, and if you drop by tomorrow?  Feel free to vent your spleen on the FFOT (Friday F**k Off Thread). 

Stuck in my head tonight...

This song has been in my head since very early this morning. Came to mind in a dream, and I'm busily writing a story that it inspired. I may have it ready to post by next week if it keeps coming as quickly as it has been. (Again, MSgt B, give it a chance...it's really pretty)

For any who are interested...

There's a new story up over at The Godshead Tavern.

Further fallout from failed philosophies

Next year, the Affordable Care Act will come into all its Orwellian effect.  The Bush tax cuts will phase out. 

So, what's happening? 

Layoffs.  And more layoffs.  Most of which were in states that helped keep those policies in place. 

I am not happy that people have lost their jobs, especially not heading into winter, and Thanksgiving and Christmas.  I feel really sad for the kids that are going to be adversely affected by this. 

As for their parents...well, they're learning a hard lesson.  Stupid should hurt.

AWESOME!!!

Denny's [CORRECTION: a franchise owner that owns forty Denny's restaurants, and a few others, all in Florida] is going to be making sure the average Joe knows exactly how much Obamacare is going to cost the businesses: the owner of the business is going to add a clearly-marked surcharge to customers' bills.

I surely wish we could do this with everything.  I suspect that all those wonderful government programs would quickly be suspended if people realized just how much of the costs is being carried by the businesses that they're targeting (none), and how much is on the customers (all of it). 

The sad part is that I can see this being treated like just another sales tax: griped about at first, then ignored.

I don't get it...

Why was the news anchor suspended for calling Rachel Maddow an "angry young man" in the first place?  I mean, really.  It's an easy mistake to make. 

Not because Maddow is a lesbian.

Because she looks so much like an angry Justin Bieber. 

Heh. Again.

Did you see that a major Obama campaign donor had to cut the size of his business?  The company is laying off almost a hundred people next month, and will be cutting over 1,100 jobs world-wide, solely because of a policy they helped fund:

One of the biggest medical device manufacturers in the world, Stryker will close their facility in Orchard Park, New York, eliminating 96 jobs in December.  Worse, they plan on countering the medical device tax in Obamacare by slashing 5% of their global workforce - an estimated 1,170 positions.

I feel sorry for the people about to lose their jobs.  I'd like to see Jon Stryker take a harder hit in the pocketbook than he's handing out to his workers, because stupid needs to hurt, and it's absolutely nothing less than stupid to vote for a man whose policies actively harm you, much less donate large amounts of money to his campaign. 

Such confidence is awe-inspiring.

A Montana state lawmaker is asking that he be paid in gold coins because of his lack of faith in the U.S. dollar amid a rising deficit.

I wish I could request the same...but it takes two months' worth of my paychecks to equal the worth of one ounce of gold.  And I'm required to use direct deposit.  Which means...they're paying me in electrons, not money.

Dayum.

The average American family found out, not too long ago, that taking out a new credit card when they'd maxed out all of the old ones to keep up with their spending was a bad idea.  Then, they'd declare bankruptcy, wipe the slate clean, and start again with the same behavior.  So many did it that the federal government passed new bankruptcy laws to force people to pay at least a portion of that back, by selling assets, if need be. 

Apparently, that somehow doesn't apply to the federal government.  The 2013 budget is $22 billion larger than last year's budget--which we didn't have the money to cover.  So, this next year's projected budget* is $120 billion over the income. 

I don't think it'll be long before our applications for a new credit card start being declined.

Best start stocking up on necessities now.  This cannot keep going forever.

As for me and my family, we're going to start looking for a place with some acreage outside of town, so that we can start growing some of our own food.  And I'm going to look into learning how to can more than cake.

*This worries me.  Government projects never stay within a projected budget.  How do we expect their spending to stay within budget?

Heh.

Wow, it's amazing what happens when poverty (and people needing help) is defined at a higher level of income.  Suddenly, there's not enough to go around, and people's benefits get cut.  Odd, that.  And really strange timing.

More stupid.

Beck is right.  The petitions to secede are a bad idea. 

Do the people who signed them really think that they're not in for major scrutiny from the federal government?  Do they really think that they're not going to get audited by the IRS, pulled over by the cops, and investigated by DFS and lose their kids for the slightest offense?

I understand where they're coming from.  I really do.  But this is so fucking stupid that I can't even articulate it properly.

...stupid.

Full disclosure, here: I fall firmly on the breast side of the breastmilk/formula debate.  I do for several reasons: it's better for the kids (both kids are rarely sick, and never with tummy issues when teething isn't involved), it's better for me (hello, breast cancer chances cut with each child who nurses for at least a year?  faster baby weight loss?), it's cheaper (have you seen formula prices, lately?), and it's easier.

That said, I don't denigrate those who are unable to breastfeed.  Some simply can't--my cousin never had her milk come in at all.  Some have to go on medications that are harmful to the baby, and passed through breast milk (anti-convulsion drugs, and some antidepressants, for example).  Some find that they can't keep their milk supply up for whatever reason.  Some find their milk supply falling off when they have to go back to work to help support their families.

These women I have no issues with going to formula.  It's what's best for their babies.

Women who can breastfeed, but choose to feed their babies formula, on the other hand...yeah, I agree with judgybitch.  They are shit mothers.

She links to a story in a British paper, an opinion piece written by a sanctimonious feminist twat who whines about how the "breast is best" mafia is making her feel like a bad mother.  Dimbleby, the twatwaffle in question, gasps that toy makers and the "breastapo" are trying to brainwash little girls as young as two. She is horrified that little girls emulate their mothers with their baby dolls, and try to breastfeed them, and that toy makers are trying to capitalize on that.

I have a news flash for that particular dim bulb: LITTLE GIRLS DO WHAT THEY SEE THEIR MOMS DO.  My daughter doesn't have one of these fancy dolls, but pretends to breastfeed her babies, anyway.  She won't be two years old until next month.

And as for being made to feel guilty, maybe she should: "Moreover, I do not feel drained, put-upon and tied by the obligation of being the sole source of my baby’s nutrients."  She even cites an "expert" that recently published a book about how breastfeeding isn't what it's cracked up to be.  

The "expert" is a radical feminist:  Dr. Joan Wolf, Women's and Gender Studies professor.  This so-called "expert" is not likely to be able to get close enough to a man to even have a baby, much less make the choice to hand that baby off with a bottle of formula to someone else to raise while she goes off to do more research backed by her own assumptions.

I have never understood how any woman can justify not putting her child's well-being before her own.  And that is exactly what Dimbleby is doing.

Breast is best, if it is an option.  If a mother is physically capable of breastfeeding her baby and doesn't, then not only is she selfish, but stupid, too. 

Hmm...

I just now learned about a resource called Dropbox, for putting documents and files online to share (thanks, Senior).  Would anyone be interested to see my textbooks (and see just how bad my students are if they can't follow instructions)? 

(Think of it as a free version of my class--one that you don't have to be graded in.)

Update: New page up top contains the links for the textbooks.  Included are basics in how to compose a paper, how to use the online class platform (useless, unless you're actually taking the class), and a section on the assignments.  

I don't know why I bother...

Not only have I written step-by-step instructions on how to write each paper (as well as what-all goes into a well-structured, well-developed paper), but I also have written a sample paper for each chapter. 

So far, I've graded three papers.  Judging by what I've seen, not a single damn one of the first three read the chapter, used the organization worksheet, or even so much as glanced at the sample essay. 

I am sick of stupid.  I'm probably going to have a nasty cold or something after having graded these things. 

Done with colleague's work.

Setting up the distance learning platform's discussion board in the grade book is tedious and time consuming, but simple. 

I'm done with that part.  Now comes my stuff. 

Pray for my sanity.

Settling in...

Kids are off to spend the day with Granny, and let me get work done.

I've finally been able to jump through the shower (I made the mistake of telling the kids what they were doing today, and they were bouncing off the walls excited).

I have my papers all collected. 

Fresh coffee is made (forgot how much I love the coffee made through one of those permanent mesh filters--but I'm not looking forward to cleaning it up), and I have a cup next to my elbow.

As soon as that kicks in, it's time to get to work.

Collecting papers today.

Because only one or two were turned in before midnight, and I'm sure as hell not staying up long enough to collect them as they're turned in. 

The kids are going up to my mom's for the day.  I'm planning to settle in and get as much of my grading done as I possibly can today, and get done my colleague's stuff that he needs done and can't do for himself because of the state of his eyes (and an only-passing familiarity with technology).

It's going to be a long day.  Best get started on that.

Some people just can't walk and chew gum at the same time.

If they can't, then they shouldn't be walking and texting, especially not when they're trying to throw a cigarette off the edge of a cliff into the water below.  And especially not in Alaska in September. 

Here's hoping she learned at least two or three lessons:

1. Don't try to text while walking.

2. The world is not an ashtray.

3. Don't take your surroundings for granted, not even your home and yard.

Semester is flying past

We're starting week 13, this week, out of 16 weeks plus finals.  Next week is Thanksgiving Break--a two day week, with a five day weekend.  The two following weeks are it. 

I can't wait.  I love teaching, but I really need to figure out what the hell is wrong with me (why I keep getting down or sick--or both) and recalibrate my work schedule.  I've fallen behind on my blog grading, my housework, and my writing.  If I'm not depressed, I'm sick, and if I'm not sick, one or both of the kids are, or Odysseus is, or something.

I need the five weeks without having to think about classes to figure out what the hell is wrong.  And to set up a schedule of habits to try to get into again. 

One thing we will NOT be doing...

We will not be moving to any large city. 

I wouldn't go jogging in our local parks on the west side of town (the run-down, poorer side) unarmed.  No way would I go jogging in any park in any city larger than the small one where we live (recently updated population signs put the city proper at 50,000; with another 25-30,000 in the outlying bedroom communities that are blending into the larger city).  Especially not Central Park where everyone but the criminals are disarmed by diktat of Saint Bloomberg.  If some teen thug wannabe rapist is going to grab my bits, he's pulling back a stump at least, and more likely gonna get dropped. 

I also would rather brave city traffic than ride a city bus.  Especially in a union-policy-run cockroach motel like Detroit.  I'm sorry, but I refuse to risk being shot for a bus hitting a bump, causing me to step on some thug's foot. 

So, yeah: I am absolutely not moving my family into a city.  No way, no how. 

Our next home is going to be outside of town, have room for a large garden, and probably room to raise meat rabbits and maybe a couple of milk cows. 

Oh, GAWD!!!

Elmo's touchin' the chillun!  Somebody do somethin' about the most annoying muppet ever invented!  Oh, JEEZUS!  We gots ta find PBS another cash cow, so we can make Elmo stop touchin' the chillun!

I really hope it's not true.  I hate Elmo.  The imp hates Elmo.  But I strongly suspect it's Elmo's speech patterns (which is what the imp hates most) that got the imp comfortable with speaking up for himself, even though it's not adult speech patterns (which is what he tries very hard to emulate, and gets upset and bothered when he can't).

I am so sick of politics I could spit.

Yes, the nation screwed the pooch on the last election.  Yes, everyone's going to be paying for that for decades at best, and years at worst.* 

I'm sick of thinking about it.  I'm sick of hearing about it.  I'm sick of reading and writing about it.

I'm done.  I'm not going to write about the problems anymore.  We all know how it happened, and why. 

I'm not going to write about how to fix the problems, either, because there's no way in hell, short of total catastrophic breakdown, my ideas would ever be enacted.  It starts with the abolition of any "social safety net" provided by the government and ends with civics tests for those who would register to vote (and the removal from voting rolls of anyone taking a government paycheck on any level who is not serving in the military).

If I do write about any of these topics, they'll probably be written about on Fridays.  You know the posts.

What I am going to be writing about is going to be limited to the economy, any effects on my family, and how we're dealing with it.

I may also add more recipes, as I either run across or come up with good ones. 

If you have other topics you'd like to see me handle, let me know.

*If we're going to have a major collapse--or a major terrorist attack that causes such--it's more than likely going to happen within the next few years.  If not, we'll just keep on the long slow decline.  If we wind up with the incredible good luck of getting a congress that has the testicular and intestinal fortitude to fix things, it'll take decades, if not a century, to get back to where we were before we lost our triple-A credit rating.

I think it's time to start teaching the kids formally...

The imp is starting to try to draw letters on his MagnaDoodle.  The pixie held up a block two days ago, and told me there was an -s on it (and there was). 

The problems right now are that the imp already knows most of the kindergarten curriculum book I got for him--he's got shapes, colors, and letters down, and is currently monofocused on learning his numbers.    The pixie can't speak clearly, yet (though she's getting better every day), but she knows colors and shapes pretty well.  She's aware of what letters and numbers are, and she knows the difference between the two if she sees them.  I'm going to be willing to bet that she's going to know as much in the book as the imp by the time she turns three. 

I'm going to have to start researching homeschooling curricula, like now.  Both kids really want to learn, and I want to take advantage of that. 

If any of y'all have any recommendations, please let me know.

Our kittens are either entirely too trusting...

...or as dumb as a bag of hammers.  I hesitate to firmly state which is the case.

When there is a four year old--one tall enough to reach the knobs on the faucet--giggling and telling the kitty "Shadow, get out sink!  I need brush teeth!" you know the next item in the chain of events is going to result in a wet kitty butt. 

And it did.  Worse, it took her about half a minute to realize that her boy had, indeed, turned the water on, and her rear was actually getting wet.  She was in such disbelief that her boy would do that to her that she had to stick her nose into the water falling out of the faucet to confirm that it was, indeed, wet. 

It took her another five to get the brain cells rubbed together right to jump out of the sink.  And then, when he turned the water off, she got back in, starting the chain of events over again.

Sometimes, the things they do are funny enough to make an exhausted and exasperated parent laugh hard enough to forget that they beaned their little sister in the head with their brand-new Hot Wheels car, not four hours earlier.

Tom and Jerry can be a real hoot, sometimes...

There's an episode where Tom is dressed as a cowboy, and trying to impress a pretty little girl cat in a black hat and boots.  I thought I heard something specific, and sure enough, the song does reference a gun.

I love old cartoons.  They don't sacrifice the funny for political correct.



lyrics are below

I was ridin' down the trail from Santa Fe
When I met a purty gal along the way
I said "Ain't we met before"
Then she drew her forty-four*
So I tipped my hat and slowly rode away


I was ridin' down the trail from Santa Fe
When I met another gal along the way
I said, "Baby, you're a dream
She said, "Touch me and I'll scream"
So I tipped my hat and slowly rode away

I continued down the road to Santa Fe
When I met another gal along the way
I asked "are you taken to"
She said "honey I'll take you"
So I tipped my hat and settled down  to stay !

*Emphasis mine 

To all those who served when I could not...

Thank you.

To those who served in WWII, and are still alive to tell the tales...thank you.

To those who served in Korea, in the first campaign where our military might was held back from winning...I'm so sorry our politicians fucked you over like that.  Thank you for serving anyway.

To those who served in Vietnam, and came home to radical leftist jobless twats spitting on you, calling you nothing more than a deranged psychopath baby-killer...I'm sorry our politicians fucked you over like that.  We should have won that one, too.  I'm sorry our media fucked you over like that--without them, the anti-war cretins wouldn't have had any coverage, and likely would have gone away.  And I'm sorry that the people whose freedom you were fighting so hard to protect were so determined to kick you in the balls for it.  Most of all, I'm sorry that Jane Fonda hasn't been stood against a wall and shot for what she did to those of you who spent time in the POW camps.  Thank you so much for serving so faithfully in the face of such ingratitude. 

(Incidentally, John Kerry--this does not apply to traitors, and you are a traitor to the country you wore the uniform for.  You were a traitor then, and you are still one today.)

To those who have spent the last four decades in foreign countries in peacekeeping missions and unnamed police actions, trying to hold back the tide of savagery and protect the helpless in nations who don't give two shits for their own citizens...thank you.

To those who have spent the last ten years in the sandy hell-hole of barbarism over in the Middle East...I'm sorry that you're being prohibited from protecting yourselves from savages who smile to your face then try to shoot you in the back, much less prosecute this war to a successful conclusion.  I'm sorry the politicians fail to understand that the culture of the enemy precludes a campaign that tries to win over hearts and minds, and requires a definitive show of strength and power to not only punish sneak attacks but to discourage others.  Thank you for serving, for keeping the worst of the jihad in their back yard rather than ours.

To those suffering disability, whether mental or physical, from wounds and trauma sustained in serving our country, you have my deepest and most profound gratitude.  To those who have escaped relatively unscathed, I thank God that you have, and you also have my deepest and most profound gratitude for having served.  

Happy Veteran's Day. 

Update: TinCan Assassin pointed out a group that I completely missed: those who served  and stood ready in peacetime.   As Milton said (more regarding service to God, but I think it's also appropriate here) "They also serve who only stand and waite."  Thank you.

I love cold, rainy days...

...when I can stay inside and watch the rain come down between turning pages and sips off coffee.

Sadly, with a puppy needing walked every few hours, I can't just stay inside.  And with two kids running around, screaming, and pounding each other, I can't afford to get lost in a good book. 

At least it's also a good excuse for ham and cheese sandwiches and potato soup.*

As for the rest--right now, the kids and husband are down for a nap, the pup is in her kennel cage, and I'm going to go get another cup of coffee.

*Interesting point of fact: you can use dehydrated hash browns, as long as you soak them in hot water, drain it, then follow the recipe.