Poor Jimmy

Did you see the interview with Jimmy Carter on the news yesterday? It seems that former worst President ever Carter was shocked and slightly hurt when the reporter asked him if he thought much about the comparisons between the current administration and his tenure in the office. Honestly, the level of denial in the man's brain was actually somewhat pitiful. He practically became incensed and quickly retorted that his presidency was very effective and successful. Jimmy Carter was actually hurt by being compared to Barack  Obama. Is that a hoot, or what? Poor Jimmy, he is about to lose his place in history as the worst leader the U.S. has ever had.

Hey look, it's another one of those bumper sticker things...

Let's give it a try!

Do you believe God loves you? Then, why do allow yourself to get stressed out? That is the question I am asking myself this morning. If we believe God loves us, then we should also believe that God is available to help us conquer any problem we are facing. I believe God wants us to be joyous, grateful, positive contributors. Through the Holy Spirit He is here to help, and all we have to do is turn to Him throughout our days and nights, especially when we feel stress, anxiety, or loss. Let's give it a try!

Quotes that have meaning to me

Here are some quotes I have recently read. Most of them I cannot remember who said them. They just have meaning to me at this moment in my life.

"If you are going through Hell, keep going." (Winston Churchill)

"When a woman is done, she is well and truly done." (I saw this at the Washington Rebel blog.)

"Some friendships are formed as an alliance against a common enemy." David Sedaris, in his book Dress Your Family in Cordoroy and Denim

"What is the most beautiful sound in the world? Hearing the footsteps of the one you love approaching outside your door." (from William F. Buckley's book The Reagan I Knew"

"What is it like to live in the vortex of an impossible yearning?"

"It is better to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool than to open it and erase all doubt."

Chasing The Perfect Cup Of Coffee - With Science!

Gizmodo has an article about a new tech gizmo that can tell you with scientific certainty and precision whether the coffee you make at home stinks on ice or not. It's full of actual scientific data and charts, and it's about coffee! Put some 50's cool jazz in the background and I end up in some kind of geeky-jazzy-coffee ecstasy. Oh, pardon me, my French Press is calling...Ah, yes, the perfect 19!

Bumper Stickers continue

Yet another Obama Sticker for your bumper

We ARE all in this together

Lost Decade for Family Income

By CONOR DOUGHERTY And SARA MURRAY

The downturn that some have dubbed the "Great Recession" has trimmed the typical household's income significantly, new Census data show, following years of stagnant wage growth that made the past decade the worst for American families in at least half a century.

The bureau's annual snapshot of American living standards also found that the fraction of Americans living in poverty rose sharply to 14.3% from 13.2% in 2008—the highest since 1994. Some 43.6 million Americans were living below the official poverty threshold, but the measure doesn't fully capture the panoply of government antipoverty measures.

The inflation-adjusted income of the median household—smack in the middle of the populace—fell 4.8% between 2000 and 2009, even worse than the 1970s, when median income rose 1.9% despite high unemployment and inflation. Between 2007 and 2009, incomes fell 4.2%.

"It's going to be a long, hard slog back to what most Americans think of as normalcy or prosperous times," said Nicholas Eberstadt, a political economist at the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute.

(more at wsj.com)

Kingdom Quotes - Erwin McManus - God's will

God's will for us is less about our comfort than it is about our contribution. God would never choose for us safety at the cost of significance. God created you so that your life would count, 

not that you could count the days of your life.

 - Erwin McManus from The Barbarian Way

Can The GOP Win Graciously?

  I'm seeing a disturbing trend, and maybe you've seen this as well. It seems that it is a forgone conclusion that the Republicans will "take back the House and Senate" this November. And already you can see the wheels turning in their minds as to how they are going to stick it to the Democrats. And I must admit, part of me wants to see the sharks come to the blood in the water. And so, for my part, I realize that there is that impulse for wanting some kind of reckoning and a clear victory that will force people to see things the way I do. Somewhere I read about the heart being so dark that no one can understand it. (Hmm, where was that?)
   And then there comes this still, small voice that says "Will this solve anything or get the country going in the right direction?" And then comes the answer, "Not necessarily." In fact, if things go the way they look like they will, we are looking at the most contentious and difficult two years in history. Think about this with me.
  The presidential election season will begin in earnest next year, and with it all the negative rhetoric and name calling that we Americans call debate. We'll also have a two year logger head situation in Congress that will frustrate the public and exasperate those in office. The forecast is cloudy, with a chance of storms of frustration. What to do? This all seems inevitable.
   I have an idea. How about on November 3rd, we have a humble assembly acknowledging that things are difficult, and that real people are really suffering in real ways because of the real hard times we are having. Think of this like receiving the most votes for your party on the eve of a great battle that you knew would not go well, something like Winston Churchill becoming PM in Britain in the shadow of WWII.
  Yes, the Republicans are going to do well in November. And now I ask the question rarely uttered: "To what end?" What strong, unifying vision do we offer the people? What actual plans do we have that will turn things around and bring strength and honor back to our civil life and public discourse. Can the GOP win graciously, and unify people behind them and help prepare them for the difficult times ahead? I hope so.

Yet Another Obama Bumper Sticker

Obama Bumper Stickers #2

Obama Bumper Stickers

As I had previously mentioned, there is a virtual plethora of wonderful Obama negative wear out there. And from about now until the November election, I  thought I'd share them with you. If you like 'em, go out there and purchase one for your bumper.

Religion of Peace Alert: FBI Advises ‘Draw Muhammad’ Cartoonist to Disappear

By Andy McCarthy (NRO)

Fox News reports that, at the urging of the FBI, Molly Norris, the “Everybody Draw Muhammad Day” cartoonist from Seattle, has gone into hiding and changed her name after being threatened with death for insulting Islam. Maybe she can hide at Justice Breyer’s house.

As I mentioned in Tuesday’s column, the Obama administration last year co-sponsored a UN resolution to encourage countries to enact laws that would make it illegal to criticize Islam. The president was on the “Repeal the First Amendment” bandwagon before the justice hopped aboard. But if top levels of government are going to signal that Islam should get special immunity, and states like New Jersey are going to follow suit by firing people from state jobs for criticizing Islam, the FBI better be prepared to reassign a few thousand agents to the new “We Can’t Protect You” division.

I didn't know the U.S. co-sponsored the resolution with Egypt to "encourage" countries to enact laws to protect Islam. Did you? That just didn't come up last year in the mainstream media. What about protecting the artist from harm instead of telling her to disappear? It's official folks, the world has just gone plain nuts. -Cliff

Falling Smile, Inc.

Greg (9) and Jon (10) have formed a corporation. Well, not one sanctioned by the state, but they just like the sound of the word "incorporated." Jon actually asked me "What does incorporated mean?" I started to formulate an answer, but before I did, the conversation had already rushed on to other topics.

The name of their "corporation" is "Falling Smile, Inc." It is Jon's idea, so I asked him what it means. An impish smile appeared on his face, but he only offered this answer: "I just have this HUGE imagination." Both boys like to draw humorous pictures. This morning I could not find the one Jon did last night as I was tucking them in for the night. Greg drew this one. It is a pencil drawing of "Pumpkin Man," who is smiling while wearing a necktie and cowboy boots. In the upper right hand corner, purposely upside down, is the logo of Falling Smile, Inc.

Can she convince Barack?

A new book co-written by Carla Bruni quotes Michelle Obama as saying that being America's first lady is "Hell." "I can't stand it," Michelle tells Italian actress and wife of French President Sarcozy. Now, if she can just convince Barack that one term is enough...

Nancy Pelosi is the Wicked Witch of the West

Here you go, eveybody.  No "powers that be" at my house. Enjoy.

Would that be cheating?

Sara was getting her "Sisterlocks" done today, so Jon (10), Greg (9), and I went on a bike ride on the sandy country road. Greg's bike is perpetually under the weather, since he rides it like a cowboy riding a bull, so he took Sara's. First, though, Greg had to make a sign to cover the Barbie bike bag on Sara's bike. "NOT MY BIKE" read the sign.

When Sara (6) got home from getting her hair done, I read her some stories and tucked her in. When it came time for prayers, I ended with "In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit." "What about the Daughter? Sara yelled indignantly. I told her "I don't know." I suggested she ask God about that the next time she sees HIm. She immediately responded that God is with her all day long. He usually sits in Ian's chair, because Ian is usually absent. The only time God is not with Sara, she asserted, is when she is doing a spelling test. "That would be cheating, to ask God how to spell a word."

How much longer can he play this "poor me" game?

via Theo Spark

Tuesday Humor

Checking out Mike Rosen's humor page is always gratifying. For example, there is Doug Powers' column on what leftists wish were different about the Bible. Here are a few of my favorite quotes from that column:

Instead of gold, frankincense and myrrh, they should have brought hummus, incense and a representative from Child Protective Services.

And the thing about the Bible that drives the left the most crazy? People can find salvation without their assistance.

Then, there is this one on Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder:

Diagnosed with AAADD
Recently, I was Diagnosed with AAADD - Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder. This is how it manifests:

I decide to water my garden. As I turn on the hose in the driveway, I look over at my car and decide my car needs washing. As I start toward the garage, I notice that there is mail on the porch table that I brought up from the mail box earlier.

I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car. I lay my car keys down on the table, put the junk mail in the garbage can under the table, and notice that the can is full. So, I decide to put the bills back on the table and take out the garbage first.

But then I think, since I'm going to be near the mailbox when I take out the garbage anyway, I may as well pay the bills first. I take my check book off the table, and see that there is only 1 check left. My extra checks are in my desk in the study, so I go inside the house to my desk where I find the can of Coke that I had been drinking.

I'm going to look for my checks, but first I need to push the Coke aside so that I don't accidentally knock it over. I see that the Coke is getting warm, and I decide I should put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold. As I head toward the kitchen with the Coke, a vase of flowers on the counter catches my eye--they need to be watered. I set the Coke down on the counter, and I discover my reading glasses that I've been searching for all morning.

I decide I better put them back on my desk, but first I'm going to water the flowers. I set the glasses back down on the counter, fill a container with water and suddenly I spot the TV remote. Someone left it on the kitchen table. I realize that tonight when we go to watch TV, I will be looking for the remote, but I won't remember that it's on the kitchen table, so I decide to put it back in the den where it belongs, but first I'll water the flowers.

I pour some water in the flowers, but quite a bit of it spills on the floor. So, I set the remote back down on the table, get some towels and wipe up the spill. Then, I head down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do.

At the end of the day:
1) The car isn't washed
2) The bills aren't paid
3) There is a warm can of Coke sitting on the counter
4) The flowers don't have enough water,
5) There is still only 1 check in my check book,
6) I can't find the remote,
7) I can't find my glasses,
8) And I don't remember what I did with the car keys.

Then, when I try to figure out why nothing got done today, I'm really baffled because I know I was busy all day long, and I'm really tired. I realize this is a serious problem, and I'll try to get some help for it, but first I'll check my e-mail.