I Did Not Find This Funny At All

It seems that FaceBook has a new toy that calculates ones life expectancy. Not really anything new as I have seen these applications before but this one sends you a headstone with your name on it and a what 'poked' you at death. I take what 'poked' you to be what they expect is going to finally do you in.

My Headstone:

This is not funny and FB needs to have their sense of humor checked!!!

Randy

Easter Eggs And Helicopter Parents

Recently an Easter Egg Hunt in Colorado Springs Bancroft Park was cancelled because of 'agressive behavior' on the part of parents at last years event. It seems that in an effort to make sure their child got an egg parents jumped the boundary markers and rushed out to pick up eggs for their children. This is not a problem specific to Colorado Springs but a manifestation of a phenomenon that has swept the country in recent years.

Parenting observers cite the cancellation as a prime example of so-called "helicopter parents" — those who hover over their children and are involved in every aspect of their children's lives — sports, school, and increasingly work — to ensure that they don't fail, even at an Easter egg hunt.

"That's the perfect metaphor for millennial children. They (parents) can't stay out of their children's lives. They don't give their children enough chances to learn from hard knocks, mistakes."~~P. Solomom Banda (Associated Press)

When I was coaching soccer I saw this situation first hand. Parents would constantly pull me to the side after practice to ask how their child could increase their playing time. My standard answer was to list the skill deficiencies that their child exhibited and to give them a plan to address these deficiencies. That was usually met with strange looks and questions as to easier ways to achieve increased playing time without increased practice.

I realize that no parent wants their children to fail in any way but failing has its place in the personal growth of any child. My father would never have spoken to a coach about my play. He would kick my ass out of the house and make sure I practiced every day and let my playing time be determined by my progress.

I would rather see my child fail at a childhood activity and learn a lesson from that failure than have them fail at something in their adulthood and have no idea how to react to that situation.

My father had a term he used for helicopter type parents--He would say that they are raising 'Mamby Pamby' children. Ones who have to run home to momma because they can not face a situation and solve it without their parents help. Dad hated the Mamby Pambys of the world. I guess it is a generational thing.

It broke my heart when one of my children failed at something but we as parents need to address those failures and use that opportunity to teach skills to address solutions. In the long run we will be doing our children a service toward teaching personal responsibility, problem solving techniques and goal and limitation levels that will serve them well throughout their lives.

Ignore this parental responsibility and at some point you will see your child demonstrating at Zucotti Park and asking for someone else to be responsible for them.

Randy

How Many Hours Are There In God's Day?

How Many Hours Are There In God's Day? When I was young and being systematically brain washed by the Catholic Church this question would have been so trivial it would have never even entered my mind. But many years later and after finding my own way to God this simple question is the basis for being able to reconcile the Religion versus Science controversy.

Religion versus Science ~~Creationism versus Evolution~~ is again in the fore front of the news. Especially with the State of Tennessee trying to legislate us back to the Dark Ages.

The idea that God created man and all that surrounds us is, in my mind, a given. I can not look at the complexity of human beings and think this all happened by chance. I can also not deny scientific evidence of the changes in humans over time.

If Creationism was the only way then how do I reconcile the evidence of Evolutionary change. One way is to stick my head in the sand and deny the change. That is the 'creationists' way but hiding from evidence is not my way.

I could join the creationists in believing every word of the bible but I have problems believing in any book written by man and based on oral history so many generations removed from the days of its happening.

If I was to believe the bible verbatim then I would need to accept that early peoples lived to be 900 years old and had hundreds of children. That is a premise that is a bit hard to swallow. But it does bring into question the concept of 'time frames' and how early peoples perceived time.

Hence my all important question. How many hours are there in God's day?

Creationists would have us believe that in God's 24 hour day and over 7 days HE created all that we see or will ever see. I would postulate that God being God has created everything HE will see or ever see. Not what we will see or ever see.

The hours in God's day are innumerable. God has no calender. No watch. HE is God and time is an unnecessary element for God. Only man needs to quantify life with a length.

'Evolutionary Creationism' is more of what I believe God put into place. He created us as model 1.0 and then devised evolution to allow us to improve over time. A living, breathing and self improving creation allowed to upgrade itself at a pace set by its needs and surroundings.

The beauty of God's creations is that HE allows them to evolve in a free manner. If God had just decided to create us then we would all be stamped out exactly the same mold and would act accordingly. But we are not the same and we certainly act as individuals.

Stamping all things, from the same molds, would have been an easy task for God. But God does not need easy. If I were God I would want to see my creations grow, learn and adapt. We are interactive toys in Gods world not stand in one place 'barbie dolls' waiting for someone to move us.

We move, we learn and we evolve over time. Evolving is what makes us Gods wonderful creations. God created is to evolve.

In my mind there is no real argument between Religion and Science except that which we create ourselves. I believe that a conversation, rooted in fact and not fiction, will bare fruit toward reconciling this 'man made' argument.

A man has no reason to be ashamed of having an ape for his grandfather. If there were an ancestor whom I should feel shame in recalling it would rather be a man—a man of restless and versatile intellect—who…plunges into scientific questions with which he has no real acquaintance, only to obscure them by an aimless rhetoric, and distract the attention of his hearers from the real point at issue by eloquent digressions and skilled appeals to religious prejudice.~~Thomas Henry Huxley

Randy

A New Way To Buy Votes

When a generation of Americans are given entitlements, handouts, by the government and one political party is associated with those entitlements, the Democrats, these so called 'entitled Amricans' become votes in the pockets of that party. In essence entitlements buys votes and continued entitlements to generations of Americans kills personal responsibility and work ethic.

We have seen this happen with welfare, food stamps and what, in my area, are called Obama phones(free cell phones to those who claim that they can not afford to purchase their own). The way people keep their entitlements is to keep those who are inclined to give them free stuff in political office.

People are always trying to find new entitlements to keep the dependency in the government fresh and ongoing.

This morning Neal Boortz, on his radio show, jokingly suggested a new entitlement program and liberals ran with it. Never accuse a liberal of passing up any good vote buying scheme.

I can not explain this better than Mr Boortz so I will reprint his short article explaining his plan.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yup! Sure do! And I’m willing to give this one to you no charge! You would normally have to pay some consultant big bucks for a wonderful idea like this, or spend tens of thousands on focus groups. But I’m giving it to you for absolutely nothing! Now why would I want to do that? Because I want to show everyone how easy you are, and I want to chalk up another “I told you so” for my incredible record amassed over the past 42 years of talk radio. You see … I’m telling you my motives IN ADVANCE! But it doesn’t matter. The idea is so incredible you will be completely unable to resist.

Here you go … PROGRESSIVE PRICING!

This is perfect! I’m really excited for you. It plays perfectly into your “fairness” mantra. With Obama preaching “fair share” on a daily basis over the past three years, and with the emergence of the word “progressive” to define all that is good, warm and righteous, this can’t miss.

I got the idea listening to some of your fellow proggies complaining about banks charging some customers a fee for their checking accounts if they didn’t use other bank services (such as a credit or debit card) of if their accounts held small balances. Of course it just wasn’t FAIR for these banks to charge customers for the services they provide. But here’s the key: This whining proggies also said that the fees for checking accounts for poorer (she probably meant to say “less fortunate”) customers would consume a greater proportion of their income than it would for more successful (the “more fortunate”) customers.

Ahhhhhhh! The little light bulb (40 watt, in your case) is starting to come on, isn’t it! Right! If it’s wrong for a poorer consumer to pay a higher percentage of their income for checking account fees than wealthier Americans; why, then, isn’t it just as wrong for that poor, poor pitiful poor person to pay a higher percentage for other products or services! Especially things that might be deemed essential!

Why should a poor single mother pay a higher percentage of her income for a gallon of milk for her children than a wealthy suburban married mother?

Why should a poor person have to pay a higher percentage of their income on the three gallons of gas (or more) it takes for them to get back and forth to work every day?

Why should a middle income family have to pay a higher percentage of their disposal income for rent than a higher income family?

You see the greatness of my idea now, don’t you. It’s clearly time for Progressive Pricing! It goes right along with your love for the progressive income tax, which came right out of The Communist Manifesto, by the way. If the rich are required to pay a higher percentage of their income in order to provide the government with revenue to spend propping up the poor, why not require these same evil rich people to pay a higher price for consumer items so that retailers and service-providers can lower the prices for po’ folks? They’re already using a system somewhat like this in some European countries where traffic fines for the same offense go up with a person’s income or net wealth.

No … it really wouldn’t be all that hard to implement. After all, how many EBT cards do state governments issue and oversee?

Here’s just a quick idea on how this tremendous Progressive Pricing idea might work. Buyer’s identification cards would be issued to all residents. These cards would be coded with information relating to the holder’s income level. When a purchase is made the caller would have to swipe that card at the check-out counter, and a computer would decide how much that person will have to pay for that item based on how “fortunate” they are.

Sure .. this will take a while to get going. I would suggest that we start with some basics like rent, transportation and gas and move on from there. Yes; it would be expensive, but no cost is too great when it comes to bringing fairness to your system, right?

You don’t have to give me credit for this idea. Enough people will know where it came from for me to stake my “I told you so” claim; just like I did when we found out recently that ObamaCare would cost twice what your God said it would cost.

Let me know if I can be of any more service.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It is a perfect plan to extend another entitlement and garner votes from those touched by that entitlement.

An example could be:

Income Level     Price/lb Ground Round      Price you pay   Amount the Govt subsidizes

<$12,000                     $3/lb                                $0.50/lb                       $2.50/lb

12,001 - 20,000           $3/lb                                $1.50/lb                       $1.50/lb

20,001 - 40,000           $3/lb                                $2.50/lb                       $0.50/lb

40,001 -100,000          $3/lb                                $6.00/lb                       $0.00/lb

0ver 100,000               $3/lb                               $10.00/lb                      $0.00/lb

This is so fair. The lower incomes will pay less while the upper incomes pay to subsidize the lower incomes.

This program will also be a 'job creator' as the bureaucracy to maintain it will be tremendous.

In the end votes will be bought, liberals will remain in office and the United States will change forever.

Yes this is an extreme example and I am sure would never be put in place.  But kiddies this is how liberals think. This is the United States that many of them envision.

This is why Obama must be defeated in November. It is time to open your eyes and vote with your brains. The alternative America that Obama is offering is frightening.

Randy

The New Street Currency

I hear advertisements every day heralding the use of gold as an investment. Other advertisements tell us about investing in precious metals, oil and real estate. The Street, not Wall Street, finds ways to level the playing field in ways that amaze me every day.

Americans living along the highways and byways in normal neighborhoods find ways to move the economy along that no legislation or political manipulation could. If we are short on good old United States currency we invent our own.

Police and retailers are pushing back against a report claiming that theft of Tide laundry detergent is on the rise nationwide and that some cities are devising special task forces to crack down on the alleged phenomenon. You heard me right, Tide is being stolen in record amounts.

Lt. Matt Swenke of the West St. Paul Police Department in Minnesota described laundry detergent as a "needed commodity" – much like baby formula and toilet paper – that he said is often a target for shoplifters looking to profit by reselling the items to privately-owned retail stores.

Apparently people are stealing to resell the items to other less professional retail establishments.

Law enforcement officials acknowledge that name-brand goods, like Tide, are easily converted to cash on the black market. A $20 shoplifted bottle of Tide, for instance, could be sold illegally for $10 – more than the sale of a lesser-known, generic brand.

"Tide is highly recognizable," former FBI Special Agent Brad Garrett told ABC's "Good Morning America". "It's very difficult to trace and it's easily resold".

In some areas Tide bottles now have security devices attached even though many retailers say that they are not experiencing an increase in Tide theft.

The world seems to find ways for us to 'adjust' the system so it tilts in our favor. Think about those post apocalyptic movies that Hollywood distributes; the economies portrayed in those movies are not currency based but rather commodity based.

I believe that hard times prepare us for harder times. Learning the fine art of 'bartering' may be the salvation for many of us once everything falls down around us. Knowing the value of one commodity against another may be a way to produce the 'Americam Dream' in a post apocalyptic age.

So much to learn with no idea how much time we have to learn it.

Randy

Pink Slime?

I was cruising along the Internet highway this morning looking for something interesting to write about. The news generally is depressing and I am in need of a lighter subject to lift my spirits. Pink Slime is probably not exactly what I was looking for but as I, and most of you, have been eating it I thought maybe knowing more about it might be a good idea.

Supposedly Pink Slime is meat by products that have been treated with Ammonia Hydroxide that “creates an environment that is unfriendly to pathogenic bacteria” and “provides a significant food safety benefit “, according to MeatMythBusters.com. I always get a little queasy when I hear the words 'by products'.

Pink Slime sort of looks like pink play dough. Kind of looks harmless but do I really want it in my burger?

When I first heard about Pink Slime I pictured my children fighting it like Steve McQueen in the movie The Blob.

More like this:

WOW! A bath and dinner all in one bathtub sitting. Yummy to the max!

What is pink slime? Whenever a cow is butchered there are pieces that are cut off that aren’t considered for human consumption. There is a greater risk for E. coli and other nasty stuff in those parts of the cow. It use to be mainly just for pet food. A dog’s stomach can handle the kind of stuff ours can’t. However now this pink slime is ending up in our foods. Using a centrifuge they can separate the fat from the meat. Once they salvage this meat, there still is the concern of potential illness in humans. So to make sure that won’t be a problem, they pull out a chemical – ammonia. Yes, the meat industry actually uses ammonia to kill anything that might be in the meat and the United States Department of Agriculture is perfectly OK with this. In fact, they are so OK with it that no one has to list on their labels that ammonia was ever used. The meat industry convinced the USDA, that the ammonia is just a “processing agent”. There is some limits put on pink slime. You can’t use more than 15% of it in ground beef. So it’s basically just used as a filler, but the filler saves the meat industry some serious dough.

How Can You Avoid Pink Slime?So how do you avoid this kind of beef? Good news is that McDonald’s, Burger King, and Taco Bell have all stopped using pink slime (which means they were using it in the first place). But that doesn’t mean all fast food places stopped using it. You may also encounter it at the grocery store. You should never ever buy ground beef labeled as hamburger. That is almost a guarantee that you will be getting some grounded up pink slime in there. Recently, I have read reports about the USDA purchasing 7 million pounds of pink slime for school lunches.

ABC News did a follow-up report, asking some grocery stores if they use pink slime. According to that report, these stores claimed they do not use pink slime: Publix, Costco, HEB and Whole Foods. I am sure that there are others but you will need to ask them.

One way you can avoid Pink Slime at the grocery store is to purchase beef marked 100% ground chuck or 100% ground sirloin for example. An even better way is to by the meat whole and grind it yourself. Meats marked 'organic' do not contain Pink Slime.

                                     Poor Wimpy never knew what hit him

Randy

PS....Much of this information was gleamed from Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution.

It Is Time For Us To Come Home

I have supported the missions in Iraq and Afghanistan although my support has been waining lately. Looking at the pictures of the Afghan civilians murdered, there is no other word to describe this act other than murder, is a very hard thing to do. Women, children and men senselessly slaughtered by one United States Soldier. It is an act of a mad man without excuse.

The perpetrator of this crime was on his 4th tour, 3 in Iraq and the present one in Afghanistan. He is married with children of his own. I am also sure that something snapped in him to commit such a horrendous act.

The men and women of our armed services are tired and burned out on war. They need a long rest and need to heal both physically and mentally. But still this is no excuse for what occurred in this case.

The Afghan people deserve better. Our men and women in uniform deserve better.

This year both the allied Afghans and the coalition forces have perpetrated atrocities on each other and no profound excuse is forthcoming.

I believe that Afghanistan does not have the 'national will' to become the country we have envisioned. Actually I will go out on a limb here and predict that once the coalition leaves Afghanistan will return to its old ways. The so called budding democracy will die on the vine and wait to be rekindled when some other western country attempts to plant the seeds.

A sad commentary indeed.

We will all make our apologies and soon after we will go back to killing each other. It seems that has been the course of Afghan history.

Randy

Republicans Fiddle While Washington Burns, Part III

Less than eight months until election day and in my mind the Republicans have no direction and are in disarray. I remember this time last year thinking that Obama would be gone next year and we would start putting our country back on track. Our train ran off the track during the last Bush administration and Obama has run us out on the bayou so far we can no longer see the tracks.

Four men remain as possible Republican nominees, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum and Ron Paul. If I could meld them all together one decent nominee may appear.

The process of picking a nominee will probably drag out until the Republican convention this summer. A very bad thing for the Republicans as Obama will have all that extra time to campaign while Republicans argue among themselves.

This is a crucial time in our history. No President, with the exception of Jimmy Carter who was to inept to accomplish his goals, has been more poised to change the direction of our democracy. I mean change it in ways that try and make The Constitution irrelevant. We are in a fight for our very existence and most Americans do not or can not see what is happening.

The defeat of this president is not just desirable but essential to a United States that should be leading the world. Let me repeat, I am not solely blaming President Obama. I am also blaming President Bush for creating a climate that allowed the rise of Obama and his policies.

How many times have Democrats said publicly that Republicans want to take social security away, or step on the necks of the poor to keep them poor, or destroy medicare and now Republicans want to attack women. The period between President Reagan through President Obama we have had 20  years under Republican administrations and 12 years under Democrat administrations and yet none of the things that are claimed as throw aways for conservatives have been tossed.

But people still believe that they will lose vital services if conservatives are in charge. Democrats keep crying wolf and the drive by media keeps backing them up. When will conservatives have the balls to yell BULLSHIT. Instead they lay down like dogs and get stepped on. Disappointing indeed.

Conservatives, for the most part, will line up behind their nominee in November. I fear that will not be enough.

Four more years of Obama could be devastating unless conservatives hold congress or the senate or both. At least that will cause gridlock and slow Obama down.

My question is, Can we afford another four years of gridlock and survive? The alternative is frightening.

No matter how things develop, go vote and exercise you constitutionally given rights. You never know when those rights may disappear.

Randy

Republicans Fiddle While Washington Burns, Part II

We have had distractions from all directions this past two weeks. Both 'enemy directed  distraction' and 'self inflicted distraction'. What has come out of all this misdirection and hocus pocus?

Under the distracting hands of those who gave us such catch phrases such as 'the war on drugs', 'the war on poverty' and 'the war on social security', the drive by media, we have a new catch phrase to describe perceived conservative evil. 'The War On Woman'!!!!

The steaming pile of doo doo now says that conservatives want to suppress women's reproductive rights, force women back into the kitchen and 19th century servitude and control women in every way possible. The new slavery is the conservative plan for women.

"Keep them down on the farm pregnant, barefoot and cooking my dinner. Later they can care to my other needs"

Unquestioned long lines of liberal pundits and hacks lined up to give testimony to their view of 'conservative values'. No hard questions are asked. No real facts are give. If the drive by media reported it it has to be true, RIGHT?

Who is to blame for the mess Republicans now find themselves. In my mind the Republicans themselves are to blame for all that has occurred. The Democrats are in campaign mode and doing a very good job of muddying the waters from what was, some 6 months ago, a weakened position behind a failed President.

It is the Republicans that have drilled holes in their own boat and seem unprepared to repair the holes and stay afloat.

Republicans, through a long and unnecessary debate season, spent the past 6 months sinking their own boat. They literally did the Democrats work for them. Twenty debates that were moderated, for the most part, by liberals were used to expose the candidates weaknesses and allow Democrats to plan using our own words against us.

What did we learn from these debates that we did not already know about the Republican candidates? NOTHING!!! What we knew before debate one is what we know today after debate 20. A total waste of time for the conservative cause and a major weakness finding mission for the Democrats.

At every turn Republicans found ways to put their feet in their mouths. The crowning misstep came from Rush Limbaugh himself. His choice of words, to describe Ms Fluke, were inappropriate and far below a man of his intelligence. Had he chosen his words using the high moral ground rather than taking the gutter route he would have possibly given conservatives a victory. Victory was pissed away and in its place apologies and crow eating took center stage.

The lesson I take away from all this post Flukegate situation is that Rush Limbaugh is more powerful within the Republican party than I had believed. I guess fifteen million listeners will produce that kind of power.

I also now see that the party fears him and his listeners. That, to me, is evident in the response the Republican candidates gave when asked about Flukegate. None of the candidates gave answers that in any way shape or form challenged Mr. Limbaugh.

Every answer was generic and meant to stay in the good graces of Rush. The shame here is that each and every candidate missed a chance to show some leadership on this issue. All failed miserably.

At this rate President Obama will be elected without him or his campaign firing one original thought across the bow of the Republican nominee. He does not need to as the Republicans are loading his cannon for him.

Randy

Republicans Fiddle While Washington Burns, Part I

To paraphrase Neal Boortz, "The Democrats threw down a steaming pile of dog doo and sat around waiting for the Republicans to step in it". True to form the Republicans rushed to see who could get more crap on their shoes.

Two facts jumped up and slapped me in the face this past two weeks. First, on social issues Liberals will always win as this is their bailiwick. Conservatives try, and fail at, taking what they think is the high ground. The high ground most of the time places conservatives on the wrong side of an issue. The wrong side being opposite the thinking of the American public. The moral side of an issue is a wonderful place to be in normal times. We are not living in normal times.

Secondly, Liberals are the masters of 'distraction' and conservatives love to be distracted. The waters get muddied and conservatives run in all directions looking for the shore while liberals stay on message whether that message is fact or fallacy.

Enter President Obama's attempt to force all employers to provide 'contraception' as part of Obamacare. Going in the President had to know that this was a divisive issue. It steps on the religious rights of many individuals and attempts to control sexual behavior by giving a get out of jail free card for promiscuity.

Those who take the Catholic Church's stance on birth control lightly will tell you that 98% of all catholic women use birth control so why does the church care who pays for it. Church doctrine is a fact whether it is being followed by the rank and file or not and the government has no business trying to stand on the pulpit and influence church doctrine.

The government also has no business in regulating our behavior in our own bedrooms. If a woman or a man wants to behave a particular way it is their personal right to do so. It is not their right to expect the rest of us to pay for that behavior. I will happily stay out of your bedroom so please stay out of my wallet.

The Republicans looked down at their dog doo covered shoes and decided to hold hearings to discuss the contraceptive issue. What was happening here was the Republicans taking the distraction laid down by the Democrats and distracting themselves even further away from what we should be talking about; the economy, jobs and world threats.

Republicans hold hearings on contraceptives and invite distinguished leaders from religious organizations and insurance companies. But wait! A hearing full of testosterone's and not a lick of progesterone in the house. Their stupidity here was glaring.

The Democrats hold their own hearing and invite, Sandra Fluke who is originally described as an innocent 23 year old coed, to testify. She testifies about her belief that contraception should be provided free of charge to all women. She gives her now well documented reasons for this opinion.

The next day Rush Limbaugh decided to stick his formerly nicotined stained fingers into the steaming pile of dog doo and check the temperature. The Democrats could not be happier. Rush, through the use of the words 'slut' and 'prostitute' made a sacrificial lamb out of Ms Fluke. Rush adds his own distraction to that produced by the Republican hearings. I am not sure that at this point any one remembers that it was Democrats who laid out the original distraction.

Contraceptive issues now had legs of their own.

Sandra Fluke a 23 year old innocent coed? I think not. Ms Fluke is a 30 year old Feminist Activist who chose to attend Georgetown University, s Catholic university, to help change the contraceptive attitudes of that university by attempting to make changes in its student insurance program.

A post at Jammie Wearing Fools notes: For me the interesting part of the story is the ever-evolving “coed”. I put that in quotes because in the beginning she was described as a Georgetown law student. It was then revealed that prior to attending Georgetown she was an active women’s right advocate. In one of her first interviews she is quoted as talking about how she reviewed Georgetown’s insurance policy prior to committing to attend, and seeing that it didn’t cover contraceptive services, she decided to attend with the express purpose of battling this policy. During this time, she was described as a 23-year-old coed. Magically, at the same time Congress is debating the forced coverage of contraception, she appears and is even brought to Capitol Hill to testify. This morning, in an interview with Matt Lauer on the Today show, it was revealed that she is 30 years old, NOT the 23 that had been reported all along.

You can read more about this here http://www.jammiewf.com/2012/sandra-flukes-appearance-is-no-fluke/

More from Jammie Wearing Fools: Fluke attended Cornell University from 1999-2003, where she received a B.S. in Policy Analysis & Management and Feminist, Gender, & Sexuality Studies. While at Cornell, Fluke’s organized activities centered on the far-left feminist and gender equity movements. Fluke participated in rallies supporting abortion, protests against war in Iraq and efforts to recruit other womens’ rights activists to campus.

During that period, she gained experience engaging in disputes concerning abortion with religious organizations.

It seems that Ms Fluke was held for just such an occasion as she fits the Liberals view perfectly and adds to the distraction. Of course Republicans have only themselves to blame for her being an issue and Rush Limbaugh is personally responsible for making what should have been a far left insignificant attack into a larger than life gorilla in the room.

In a nut shell; no one in the drive by media asks any hard questions and the Republicans mishandling of this is glaringly pathetic.

In his article titled 'Rush Limbaugh, Sandra Fluke and Why is Contraception Part of Health Insurance Anyway?  (http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2012/03/03/rush-limbaugh-sandra-fluke-and-why-is-contraception-part-of-health-insurance-anyway/) Tim Worstall lays out the case for not having contraception as part of the over all health plan. It is an important read to understand this issue.

After all this distraction where does that leave the Republicans on their Presidential election bid?

Remember that shit creek and the paddle thing. That is pretty much where Republicans should be finding themselves this morning.

We will continue this tomorrow with a discussion of how ineptly the Republicams have handled the Presidential campaign and more importantly how their incompetence has put the future of the nation in jeopardy.

Randy

Who Am I?

I am loved by those who hate each other.

I am courted by those who can not agree.

I have dinner with the tax collector and the military enthusiast.

They hang on my every word.

I am happy because I am in control.

I walk the line only stepping off when it suits me.

I pull ideas from every where and mold them to my ways.

I live life according to no set scripture.

I am religious and yet not religious.

I will love you today and hate you tomorrow.

You are my bitch and I know it.

I give support only when it suits me.

I crave the attention my path affords me.

You have to satisfy me multiple times to get any satisfaction in return.

I sleep with you tonight and your enemy tomorrow.

You love me and shower me with gifts.

I am the object of your desire.

I am the path to your goals.

You tread lightly around me because I am all important to your goals.

I might be gay.

I might be straight.

I am white, or black, or latino or oriental.

I am an American Indian.

I live in every state and every city.

I am in your family.

I am out of the closet.

I was never in the closet.

I am loved by the left, the right and everyone else.

I am needed more than the base.

Without me you are unemployed.

With me you can make the changes I want or I will fire you.

I am the desire of your campaign.

I AM THE AMERICAN MODERATE VOTER AND I HAVE ALL YOU POLITICAL HOPEFULS BY THE BALLS.

Now go get me an ice cream sundae and make it quick!!!!

Randy

Unlike Golf~~Life Comes With No Mulligans!

I love playing golf and a day spent walking along the links enjoying the weather and exercise is just about perfect. Before we go on; I suck at golf. If you let it that little white ball will frustrate the hell out of you and bring grown men to their knees.

Although I like playing a round with a partner playing alone is my favorite way to enjoy the game. Early morning rounds when it is not to hot and the couse is sparsely populated is a good day for me. Plus, I get to play by my rules and do not have to adhere to the' rules of the game' that is required by playing with a partner.

The 'mulligan' is my best friend, lol. When I play with friends we give each other two mulligans; one each on the front and back nines. When I play alone I give myself EIGHTEEN mulligans, one per hole. Damn I treat myself so well. Hell sometimes I do not even get my score card out.

There is this saying that goes something like "To play golf is to spoil an otherwise enjoyable walk". I never allow this game to ruin my walk and the mulligan plays a very big part in achieving that goal.

Unfortunately the 'game of life' allows no mulligans. The strokes you play are the ones that define how your life is judged. Remember that the judgement of man means nothing to your life. Only the judgement of God and yourself counts.

What would you change from your past?

What would you do differently?

This is a good exercise for judging yourself. I can honestly say that I would not change anything in my life. Every circumstance, every road taken leads to a result. Making changes in your decision making will change that result. Can you live with those changes?

I was married three times. I have often thought, "what if I had not shown up for that wedding?" Would my life be easier? The answer to that is of course it would. But would my life be happier? My life would have been much poorer for not being married.

One look at my children and I know that being married three times, while the outcomes of the marriages were less than desirable, my children make it all worth while. The marriages were not mistakes. They were stopping points on my journey that have and will give me happiness everyday of my life.

Life does not have to be perfect to be a happy life. In my opinion perfectionists are quite unhappy people because what ever life's outcomes they will never be satisfied.

So in the end I would change nothing. I can easily live with my decisions every time I think about my children; Kimberly Lynn, Elizabeth Rose, Antonio GianPaola and Andrea Lauren.

I will take my mulligans on the golf course but never on my life decisions.

Randy

Apologies Are Hard And Many Times Unnecessary

 I have always had problems apologizing for my missteps. This problem stems form my belief that I am never in the wrong. Yes kiddies I actually thought like that a long time ago.

With age comes the realization that our imagined infallibility is just a dream we perpetrate upon ourselves. Apologizing does not become easier with age but the realization that one must do it becomes glaringly clear.

After all the build up here I really have nothing to apologize for today anyway. But if I did I would apologize myself for what I did and not for someone else's mistake or misdeeds.

Presidents, and I am not just picking at President Obama here, have a habit of apologizing for the American people. Apologizing for us, in my opinion, is not a Presidents job nor should it be expected of them.

If soldiers accidental burned Korans in Afghanistan then those soldiers should apologize for that act. A blanket apology for all Americans is unnecessary as the deed was localized to a particular group and some Americans, which is their right, may not want an apology issued in their name.

But the Koran burning is a little issue. One that can be over looked. As many of these Presidential apologies are self serving and  pure rhetoric put forth to appease people while they travel the world giving speeches.

"When you realize you've made a mistake, make amends immediately. It's easier to eat crow while it's still warm." ~Dan Heist

The worst apology a President can make is one that is meaningless as the subject of that apology is many generations past. I am sure I will get some hate mail on this but Slavery's apology is long past.

Many Presidents have come close to an apology for slavery but  none have actually made one. But if they did, who would be the recipient of said apology? No American living has experienced slavery from any aspect. So an apology here would be a shallow feel good exercise by someone who has no connection to the misdeed.

If an American President apologizes for American slavery; should every leader of ever country apologize for slavery that took place in their countries many generations ago? Slavery was not an American innovation. In my ancestral home, Italy, slaves were the fuel that kept the engines of Roman society running.

Slavery was the punishment for losing a war where the vanquished found their society sold off as slaves to line the pockets of the victors.

If an American slave still lived today I would personally apologize to them. We all know that is impossible. Giving reparations to someone because they had an ancestor who suffered under slavery does not give peace to those that suffered. It is just another government handout that would hold little meaning beyond what the money could buy.

I chose to talk about slavery here as it is a devise subject but there are many others that could fall under this heading. Internment of the American Japanese during WWII. Eviction of Italian Americans from coastal areas and the loss of their homes and fishing boats during WWII. Governmental mistreatment of Native Americans.

All those could be apologized for, and I believe some have been, but the deeds were done and an apology changed nothing.

Some have had reparations paid. If the reparations were paid to the people that are aggrieved I would support them and this could be possible with misdeeds done in the 20th Century. But no reparations should go to anyone who did not experience the misdeed first hand.

I know my stance may be considered a hard one but we live in very hard economic times that require fiscal responsibility and paying more government handouts  destroys that responsibility.

Randy