A failing grade for first 100 days

If you haven't guessed by reading the title, my grade for President Obama's
first 100 days in office is a big fat F for failure. There are a number of
reasons I say this. Let me count the ways.

First of all, president Obama and his friends in the Democratic party have
increased the deficit more than President Bush ever did. This means that
our children, grandchildren and great grandchildren will be paying off the
debt that Obama has left behind. McCain was right when he called this
spending "generational theft".

The next failure comes up in the passage of the economic stimulus bill. Oh
did I say stimulus? I meant to say porkulus or spendulus, with both
descriptions fitting this legislation. This, I believe, was the bill with
approximately 9,000 earmarks in it which means that Obama broke his promise
to get rid of earmarks. If you think it's business as usual in Washington,
you would be 100% correct about that.

The next failure comes in terms of appointments. Obama can't find anyone
worthy of appointment to various positions because the only people he can
find are those who haven't paid their taxes or "forgot" to pay them. Can
you say politics as usual in Washington? I can, especially given that Obama
comes from my home state of Illinois where we just tossed a rather corrupt
governor out of office. What took so long to get Sevilius confirmed as
Secretary of Health and Human Services? Could it be that she had some
issues back in Kansas? I think so as there was a rather "controversial"
abortion case there and I have heard that there are questions about her
relationship with the "doctor" in that one. Another sign of failure is the
fact that we don't have a surgeon general yet either amid all of the
hysteria about swine flu.

Then you have Vice President Biden who, no matter how he or his office tries
to spin it, will find out that digital recordings don't lie about what is
said. I heard Biden referred to as the "gift that keeps on giving" because
of his reputation as a one-man gaff machine. He just proved it this morning
and Obama doesn't know how to keep him muzzled. Doesn't that prove what a
questionable choice Biden was in the first place?

I haven't even gone into foreign policy yet; and there are failures here as
well. Where are the troops that were promised for Afghanistan? The
teleband is making inroads, squandering the hard work of those who have
fought and died to free that country. A lot of hard-fought gains,
especially for women, are in jeopardy there. Then you've got the whole
issue of interrogation methods which Obama detests but doesn't say how he
would have obtained the information, except to say he would not have used
the methods that were used under the Bush administration. How many lives
have been saved because of use of those tactics. Terrorists don't
understand nicey nice. They only understand brute force, something they are
extremely good at inflicting on their victims.

Do I think this country is safer now than it was under President Bush? No,
I definitely don't. We are weak and we come across as such. I haven't seen
it this bad since the Carter years and that's scary. Can you say Carter all
over again? I can and probably worse this time too.

We are in danger of seeing Pakistan fall to the teleband and there is no
firm plan to deal with this. This is especially scary considering that
Pakistan has nuclear weapons. If those things end up in the wrong hands,
we're all in trouble. What a potentially bloody mess.

These are just a few of the failures of the first 100 days. There will be
more failures to come, I am sure. I just hope we recognize this country
when Obama gets through because I am not sure we will. That's a scary
thought, isn't it?

Swine flu hype, hysteria or something in between

We have all heard about swine flu. How could you not as the
media won't let you get away from the story. Is this hype,
hysteria or something else? I definitely am not sure it is hype;
but I am also not sure there should be hysteria over this one
either. Something between these extremes would fit here.

If one takes the necessary precautions, which should be part of
any good health practices, they should have no problems. This
also means staying the hell out of Mexico right now until they
get a handle on the outbreak, something which doesn't appear
will happen anytime soon. Should this be a wake up call to
secure the boarder? Absolutely it should but how can this happen
when Secretary Napolitano at Homeland Security is utterly
clueless and incompetent. Screening and quarantine should be the
order of the day at the U.S.. Mexico boarder. That's one way to
stop the spread of this thing. Are liberals that clueless? This
administration appears to be; and it also appears that they don't
want to get Mexico mad at us. Well, this is beyond hurt
feelings. There are lives at stake here. We need to act without
regard for the hurt little feelings of the Mexican government
which doesn't know what it is doing either.

Is the World Health Organization (Who overreacting on this one?
The possibility is there but considering that the Mexican
government doesn't seem to know what it is doing on this one, the
WHO reaction may not be as overblown as you might think.

My advice is don't travel to Mexico. That would be an
irresponsible decision on the part of anyone who makes such a
decision to travel there at this time. Don't come crying to me
when you can't get home because you are sick. Decisions have
consequences and this one is no exception. The difference
between this and other travel decisions is that lives could be in
your hands through the decision you make, including your own.

There is technology out there which can tell if you are hotter
than other passengers with this heat being an indication of a
fever. Why isn't this technology being used? It
needs to be used as one means of stopping the
spread of this illness.

The fact that we don't yet have a Secretary for Health and Human
Services doesn't help either as there is no one leading the
effort on this one. Even the Director of the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC) is in an acting role. This points
out the need to get moving on appointment, not only by the
administration but also by the Senate. If confirmation is
warranted, then let's get it done. If there are issues holding
up the current nominee, then the administration should consider
its options and act in a manner which will best serve the
country. Not having anyone in the HHS Secretary's post is not a
service to the country. Can we afford it right now given the
current situation? I'm not sure we can.

Again, be careful and take the necessary precautions and you
should be fine. We lived through SARS and we will get through
this one as well.

A noisy world

The subject line once again says it all. For those who don't know, I am
blind with a mild to moderate hearing loss. This combination can make life
real interesting and make some situations less than enjoyable. For example,
at conventions I don't necessarily enjoy mixers anymore due to the loud
noise. I don't like real loud places because it makes it hard for me to
hear.

This was evident last Saturday in a few situations. The first of these
situations was at the bar in the hotel where we were staying. There was a
radio on and the TV was also on but I could not pick up what was going on
the TV because of the noise from the radio and elsewhere. Having
conversations can be difficult and it can be difficult to understand the
bartender, especially when that person has an accent. I tend to find people
with foreign accents difficult to understand for the most part but this does
depend on the person and how clearly they speak. Anyway, my husband had to
repeat some things for me, especially when he was talking to someone from
the convention we were at and this person was on his other side. We got out
of there and proceeded to the banquet where the problem was once again
evident.

While the program was on microphone, the conversation during dinner was not.
Suffice it to say, I did not get into too much conversation with others at
the table. Ray was talking to someone whom we both know and had to repeat
some stuff for me because, once again, this person was on his other side.
With all of the noise I was unable to hear the other person very well. When
the guys left to take a restroom break, I definitely did not get into any
conversation. I just wanted my husband to come back. I felt alone and just
wanted that time to end. They did come back; and I could at least talk with
him.

The last situation was in a hospitality room which is equivalent to a mixer.
A couple of these weren't bad but one was especially annoying due to the
volume of the music and other activities. Suffice it to say we did not stay
there long as I think that one even got to my husband.

I was happy to get back to the room and go to bed. As you can see, I don't
like real noisy situations but sometimes end up in them because I cannot
avoid the situation all together. It's not nice, believe me and I try to get
out of them as fast as I can.

Blago leave us alone please

I have not commented on the latest indictment of an Illinois politician
until now. However, former Governor Rod Blagojevich leaves me no choice but
to comment. He was recently indicted on some rather serious charges, the
nature of which I am not sure he understands. He was caught committing some
very corrupt acts such as withholding money from Children's Memorial because
someone didn't get him a campaign contribution fast enough. How despicable
is that? He then tried to sell president Obama's vacant Senate seat and got
caught at that. He eventually put an incompetent also ran in that office.
To say I was not impressed with Burris's office last February is an
understatement.

However, I have digressed. Getting back to Blago now. Why doesn't he just
leave us alone and go quietly to jail where he belongs. Now he wants to be
on a reality show called "I'm A Celebrity; Get Me Out of Here". This is
disgusting on so many levels, it's not funny. What right-thinking lawyer
would even advise him that this is a good idea? None as far as I know; and
don't forget that Blago can't even keep an attorney as he has lost two
already for various reasons. You are also dealing with someone who knows
nothing about reality so how could he be on a show like this? He is also
nothing more than a criminal and a corrupt politician who has put Illinois
through hell. Even the Legislature saw fit to remove the punk from office,
something I was very happy to see.

Hopefully the judge will not allow him to do this so-called show. Hell,
Blago can't even travel out of the country but that doesn't seem to phase
him because he has no concept of reality. I hope the judge puts his sorry
little ass in prison as a flight risk. There Blago will get a dose of
reality, something he has lacked for quite a long time if he ever had it to
begin with. Maybe putting his sorry miserable little ass in jail will rid
us of him from the news until he is convicted of all the charges against
him. He definitely screwed the taxpayers of this state and Quinn was left
to clean up the mess that Blago left behind. Blago just get lost and leave
the people of Illinois alone. You've caused enough damage as it is.

Liberals and what they know or don't know

You might wonder about the title of this entry. Well, let me explain.

First I will talk about what liberals seem to know a lot about and then what
they don't know a lot about.

Let's start with what they know a lot about, and that is how to spend money
and control every aspect of life if allowed to do so. Why do I say that?
Well, there is the summit by the EPA on bed bugs. I kid you not. That was
a story in the news yesterday. Apparently all o the big problems are solved
so we can go after this one which I feel is nonexistent. To add to the
nonsense on this one, they can't even explain why it is a "problem". They
attribute it to changes in insecticide, more international travel and other
reasons too stupid to remember right now.

Liberals are quick to swoop in if they think there is a problem and they
think that only government can solve the problem. That's not true and
conservatives need to beat on that drum. You have moves in places such as
Milwaukee to mandate 9 paid sick days a year. What will that do to jobs?
Naturally it will kill them. So will higher taxes, something Wisconsin
politicians haven't figured out yet. Then we have AT&T here in Illinois who
is mandated by the Citizens' Utility Board (CUB) to offer three phone plans
for under $25 a month because they think you are paying too much for monthly
service if you pay over $25 a month. Once again the consumer should be
allowed to make that choice but liberals don't think that way because you
might not make the decision they want you to make. It shows how liberals
don't understand business and how it operates which is why you see
politicians saying we have to close loopholes and make corporations "pay
their fair share". This is a jobs killer which is aimed at business because
they don't do what the liberals want. Then there is the issue of unions
which is a subject for another day and another blog entry.

Now let's talk about what liberals don't know and that comes in the area of
science. Did any of these people take a science class in school or did they
just take what they needed in order to graduate? They don't know junk
science when they see it, which global warming is junk scieince as far as I
am concerned. My understanding is that the model they use for this was
invalidated by a University of Wisconsin Milwaukee (UWM) math study
recently. This should call much of the global warming "theory into
question; but the environment is nothing short of religion for liberals.
While we do need to take care of the environment, it is not necessary to
mortgage the future to do it.

Then there is their ignorance of physics which is tied to their love
of environmentalism. This manifests itself in their push for CAFÉ which is
a higher fule economy for cars. What they don't realize is that the smaller
the car is, the worse it will do in crash tests, especially with another
moving vehicle of midsize range. Test of that exact type were done recently
by the American Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (AIIHS) and the small
cars did not fair well against the midsize cars. Let's just say the
occupant of the small car like the Honda Fit or the Toyota Yaris would wind
up dead in such a collision. In other words, there is a tradeoff for better
gas mileage and that trade-off is safety. Cars like the Corolla which is a
midsize get good gas mileage and give you safety. I'd love to know what the
crash results are for the hybrids. As some would say, CAFÉ kills people and
the auto industry; and you know the government would love to shove CAFÉ down
the throats of the auto companies, something which is likely given the
recent bailout of that industry. That's a subject for another blog.

Suffice it to say, liberals know how to swoop in when they see there is a
problem except when the problem doesn't fit the template of their agenda.
These people need to be stopped. Conservatives need to have a voice and
speak up against control by liberals of all facets of life. If we who are
conservative don't speak up, we won't recognize this country and that
process, sadly, is well under way.

Computer unknown

I had an experience this morning that should teach anyone to be weary of the
unknown, especially in the world of computers. I was going to a website,
someone's blog, and got a strange message about a piece of software or
something. I don't know where it came from either. I kept trying to
contact my husband but he wasn't answering his phone and I desperately
wanted to know what to do. That led to the kind of voice mail I don't like
to leave behind for him or anyone else either. Once I got a hold of him,
the matter was resolved.

I certainly am glad I reached him because I wasn't sure what to do with this
little beast and would have done the opposite of what he told me to do. So,
yes I am glad I reached him.

BTW it was something about JAVA technologies and stopping the running of
said thing. It just goes to show that if you see something that you are not
sure about in the world of computers, it is probably best to run from it as
fast as you and your little mouse or fingers can do so. You'll stay much
safer that way.

Goodbye to another family farm from a distance

As I write this we are in the process of losing another family farm. I say
that because the sale is going on right now. When it is over only memories
of those years will be left. Does this sadden me? You ;bet it does because
there is one less family farm; one less farmer who knows and loves the land;
one less farmer who cares about the product that he grows or raises; and one
more link to this life lost forever.

As someone who grew up in the city, I do appreciate the farmer and what he
contributes to the economy as well as the food chain. To paraphrase one
song by Dan Reilly, food doesn't grow on supermarket shelves. Now we will
see some good land carved up and sold in quarter acre lots which is not
something I want to see.

What will replace the family farm? You guessed it, the big corporate farm
where they know about making money but know nothing about the land or
nature. They also don't care about putting out a good product and probably
use more chemicals than necessary. Are we better for it? I don't think so.

You might ask about the from a distance part of this title. That is
mentioned because I am watching this sale from a distance as I am not there
directly. I am told that not many women attend these things; and I guess I
can see why. Most of the items being sold relate to the equipment and
machinery which is usually the man's area in a farm family. This is why
mostly men are involved in these sales. A woman would be vastly outnumbered
at one of these things.

My only solace is that at least my husband's parents are going out on their
terms. They are both in good health and able, I hope, to enjoy the years
ahead of them. Maybe now they will be able to do some of the things they
have wanted to do, such as traveling, now that they don't have to worry
about the farm. For once, they don't have to worry about whether we will
get enough rain, whether it will be too hot or any of the other worries that
come with farming. They were in it for 35 years and now it's their turn to
enjoy the fruits of their hard work.

I say with some bitter sweetness, goodbye to another family farm from a
distance.

Saying goodbye to another family farm from a city girl

The title once again says it all.  In two days my husband's fammily will sell the farm and then all that will be left of those days will be the memories and the stories that will be shared.  My father-in-law has been in farming for 35 years and it's time for him to move on  in his life.  There have been many hours and years of blood sweat and tears on that farm; and now all of the farm equipment and buildings will be sold.  Another famly farm is lost.

 

It doesn't make me feel good because it is in the family but more importantly, I appreciate the fact that farmers grow our food and that for much of the world as well.  Where do city people think their food comes from?  It doesn't just appear in the supermarket, although some city kids probably think that this is the case.  It has to be grown somewhere and then turned into the food that we eat.  The farmer is part of this chain and he is the first part of that chain.  Without the farmer, the food would not be grown or harvested.  Without the family farm, you don't have the love for the land and the sense of pride that goes with had work. 

 

Is there some sacrifice to living this lifestyle?  There certainly is and one of these is that you don't get to travel because you have to make sure that the work gets done on the farm.  You also have the sacrifice of income, especially in years when Mother Nature doesn't cooperate and give you good weather.  Working on a farm is not easy work either.  There is the planting of the crop, tending that crop and feeding the animals and caring for them if you raise them.  Raising animals, from what I understand, was not always profitable and the farmer did not always get a good price either.  The middle man did better than the farmer who raised the animal and the farmer is the one who invested much more effort in the raising of that animal than did the middle man.  Can you say fair?  I can't.  It's why my husband's father got out of the hog business when he did.

 

What might you ask will replace the family farm?  It is the corporate farm which is in business to make money and doesn't always care about the whay they use the land or the quality of their product.  It is so impersonal and the people who work on it don't have the love of the land that the family farmer has.    They probably don't have the knowledge that the family farmer has either and the corporate farms don't necessarily have the attention to detail that is needed.        They don't understand nature and how that works.  They only know about making money.  Is that what we want for our food producers?  I don't and I am sorry to see another family farm relegated to a memory.