Uncle Jay: 7/24/09

Great Video/Politics: "Newsbusted: 7/28/09"

Politics/Economics: "Obama repeats lie that 'all economists' agreed stim bill was necessary."

clipped from www.americanthinker.com

Obama repeats lie that 'all economists' agreed stim bill was necessary

Writing in the Weeky Standard Blog , Stephen Hayes points to Obama's interview in WaPo where he repeats, for the umpteenth time, the lie that "all economists" believed some kind of stimulus package was necessary to save us from a "Great Depression:

Right. Except for these 200, a list that included several Nobel laureates. What makes this fib by our president especially galling is that the content of the ad taken out by the Cato Institute that listed these economists. It began by correcting Obama's claim, on January 9, that "there is no disagreement that we need action by our government, a recovery plan that will help jumpstart the economy."

The economists wrote: "With all due respect, Mr. President, that is not true."

The president is not only a serial liar but when he's not lying he's exaggerating, like when he says that Republicans don't have any new ideas on what to do about the economy or health care.

"Catholic Nurse Forced to Perform Abortion?"

clipped from www.creativeminorityreport.com

Catholic Nurse Forced to Perform Abortion?

The New York Post reports that a Catholic nurse from Brooklyn, New York is claiming that the hospital where she's employed ordered her to assist in a late term abortion or be fired.

Bosses told the weeping Cenzon-DeCarlo the patient was 22 weeks into her pregnancy and had preeclampsia, a condition marked by high blood pressure that can lead to seizures or death if left untreated.

But the nurse, the niece of a Filipino bishop, contends that the patient's life was not in danger. She argued that the patient was not even on magnesium therapy, a common treatment for preeclampsia, and did not have problems indicating an emergency.

She said she later learned that the hospital's own records deemed the procedure "Category II," which is not considered immediately life threatening.

Slightly more awful from a hospital called "Mount Sinai" named for the mountain where God gave Moses a list of commandments which included "Thou Shall Not Kill."

Politics/Health Care/Great Video: "Reforma" RNC ad against Obama's health care scheme

Politics/Great Video: "President Obama, Talking Crap"

Oh...my...goodness, this guy is hilarious.

What I believe is the most threat to our national security.

I really think that people who crunch candy should be arrested.

Forget, health care & this imaginary "climate change" hoopla, Pres. Obama, this is serious! I have a reasonable amount of personal research to believe that candy crunching is a major player in all the wars in all the times.

Write your Congressman today & demand they put an end to candy crunching...before they break for the holiday!

Great Video: "Darth Vader Meets M.C. Hammer"

Probably the most awesome video I've ever seen. LOL Loved it!

News: "Newsbusted: 7/21/09"

Another hilarious video. I'm loving these Newsbusted videos.

Great Video: "Hey There Obama (Drink the Kool-Aid)"

Hilarious video.

WARNING: If you like Obama, you won't like this video.

Living in Texas

A fellow blogger & Texan now living in Nevada recently posted on her blog the following sentiments about some of the great attributes associated with living in this state.

YOU KNOW YOU ARE IN TEXAS IN JULY WHEN:

The birds have to use potholders to pull worms out of the ground.

The trees are whistling for the dogs.

The best parking place is determined by shade instead of distance.

Hot water now comes out of both taps.

You can make sun tea instantly.

You learn that a seat belt buckle makes a pretty good branding iron!

The temperature drops below 95 and you feel a little chilly.

You discover that in July it only takes 2 fingers to steer your car.

You discover that you can get sunburned through your car window.

You actually burn your hand opening the car door.

You break into a sweat the instant you step outside at 7:30 a.m.

Your biggest bicycle wreck greatest fear is, "What if I get knocked out and end up lying on the pavement and cook to death?"

You realize that asphalt has a liquid state.

The potatoes cook underground, so all you have to do is pull one out and add butter, salt and pepper.

Farmers are feeding their chickens crushed ice to keep them from laying boiled eggs.

The cows are giving evaporated milk.

Ah, what a place to call home.

God Bless Our State of TEXAS

A poem for all Texans

Bless this house, oh Lord, we cry.

Please keep it cool in mid-July.

Bless the walls where termites dine,

While ants and roaches march in time.

Bless our yard where spiders pass

Fire ant castles in the grass.

Bless the garage, a home to please

Carpenter beetles, ticks and fleas.

Bless the love bugs, two by two,the gnats and mosquitoes that feed on you.

Millions of creatures that fly or crawl,

In TEXAS, Lord, you've put them all!

But this is home, and here we'll stay,

So thank you Lord, for insect spray.

Politics: How the White House spends money.

clipped from www.americanthinker.com

Gov paying over a half million dollars a pound for sliced ham?

According to Recovery.gov, the new Obama website showing us how much the country is being stimulated by government spending, the taxpayers are buying sliced frozen ham at $550,000 per pound. I wonder what they would pay for fresh ham?

clipped from www.americanthinker.com

Recovery.gov: $1.4 million to repair a door?

First it was frozen sliced ham for $550,000 a pound. Now, Recovery.gov is found to show paying $1,444,100 to fix a door.

Biden must have been in charge of these projects.

Great Video/Politics/Health Care: "Ronald Reagan Speaks Out Against Socialized Medicine"

A reward system I may just try.

Ok, after writing that post this morning & thinking through things & talking to a couple of friends...& buying a new Wal-Mart brand Spanx like thing so I'll feel a little less jiggly in my bridesmaid's dress, I'm feeling a little less depressed & on the verge of tears. Ok, so maybe I was never really on the verge of tears, just dissappointed in myself & wanting to have an out of body experience in which I smack myself upside the back of my head. Don't get me wrong, I'm angry as heck at myself, but there's point in dribbling in a dark corner over my mistakes when there is work to be done.

I've never done the whole reward thing but I'm thinking it may be time for that. I think I talked about this a bit in another post. Anyway, I've decided to give myself a small reward for when loose 5 lbs & a bit bigger of a reward when I get to a 10 lbs loss. Since I'm trying to also live a little more frugally, I'll appreciate each of these prizes more.

For my first 5 lbs reward, I'm thinking about some new underware from Victoria's Secret. My sis got some from them the other day that she really liked them. A bit more expensive than Wal-Mart, nicer too, I'm sure.

For my 10 lbs, like I mentioned in that previous post, I think I'll get the new Sims 3 game. I was going to wait till I got to be under 170 but I think if I can loose 10 lbs in a decent amount of time (aka, by the end of Sept) then I'll be "back in the groove" & I'm afraid I may give in & buy it if it takes too much longer. :)

For my 15 lbs mark (the second 5 lbs), I'm thinking one of these rings. I love almost every one of the ones they offer but these two are my favorite. The first has a portion of Philipians 4:13 on the outside & the reference to the verse on the inside. Philipians 4:13 has been a kind of mantra for me since embarking on this journey. I would chant it over & over to myself when my trainer would want me to lift an impossible weight "just 5 more" times.

The other ring, references Proverbs 31 on the top with the rest of the band made of the letters making up "Woman of God." This ring seems to have more meaning to me now for some spiritual things I am going through. Maybe I'll get one of them at this mark & the other at another point.

I'm not sure what the rest of rewards will be. If I haven't had to purchase a new cell phone by the point I hit the 150's & given it fits into the policy I share with others, I would like to get an iPhone. I will also be needing some new running shoes soon but I'm not sure that would be as much of a reward as much as a necessity...& they're certainly not as fun as a game or something like that.

Anyway, I'm excited to get my new things so I better get cracking. :)

I'm loosing ground & loosing control

I just weighed tonight &, as expected, the out come is not good. No surprise there. Granted I am on my "girly time" & last week I was as sick as a dog & still coughing quite a bit but, let's be honest, I'm sucking big time. Eating is out of control & exercise has been non-existant. I have been struggling since Christmas &, since April, it has just gotten worse.

I feel gross, my clothes that were getting big are now fitting, & I'm not feeling as comfortable & confident as I was. I'm depressed & I hate myself for it. How did I let myself fall back into these patterns & why can't I stop myself?!

I have two weeks before Kim's wedding to get myself back into feeling better & loose at least 5 lbs. Next week won't be too difficult since I don't have any meetings or plans during the middle of the week so I plan on killing it on the eliptical for an hour Mon-Thurs. Thursday I'll be going home to the parents for about 10 days for the wedding & week-before-preparations. That will be a little more tricky. I tend to get lax when I'm at my parents. I still plan on exercising while I'm there. I have my kettlebell & I need to get back into running. It is in the 100's here in TX right now so running outside is not that safe so I'll have to get my butt out of bed early to beat the sun's rays.

The other problem is I may have to deal with people "encourageing me" or suggesting I eat right or exercise. That is NEVER the best way to deal with me on anything. If I even suspect you are mentioning anything about exercise or food to me, I rebel & either eat as much as I can or do as little physical movement as possible. When someone even asks me if I want to go for a walk with them, it translates in my mind as "You are so enourmousely fat. You aren't worthy." I know this is a mental issure with me but still that is how my mind works.

I hate running but it is one of the cheapest & easiest (easy as in you can do it pretty much anywhere & it requires no equipment) forms of exercise around. I do have a couple of motivations to get back into it though. I have a friend who's father told me that she is planning on coming to Dallas in December for a 5K. I would love to do it with her & that gives me pleanty of time to get back into it. Also, another friend of mine has a friend that wants to do a triathlon with three people, meaning, each person does one of the events. My friend wants me to do it with them. I have the choice to either run or bike. Since, I haven't done much biking, I'll probably choose to do the running. So, I guess it is back to it. I'll pretty much be starting the Couch-to-5K over again since I haven't run since April.

Oh, well, this is a lifestyle not a diet, right? Ugh, still, SO frustrating!

Health Care: "Health Care 'Change' You Shouldn't Believe In"

clipped from bighollywood.breitbart.com

Health Care ‘Change’ You Shouldn’t Believe In

While running for President, Barack Obama used the word “change” as his mantra. A lot of people thought he meant that in a good way.

They’re finding out they were wrong.

Recently, President Obama said one of the ways we (aka: the government) can cut back on health care costs is by denying medical care to old people. If you think that was heartless, check out the thoughts of Obama’s science czar. Apparently he’s for “forced abortions, mass sterilization, and a ‘Planetary Regime’ with the power of life and death over American citizens.”

This administration made a lot of promises it has broken.

When the government health care plans we already have are set to run out of money in a few years, there is no reason to assume this one would be any more efficient. Especially considering what a spendthrift Obama has been already.

The author went on to say:

"When the government has people dependent on a medical system it starts to treat them like property and tells them how to live. It also makes decisions on whether they live or die by telling them whether or not they will get an operation."

"The change Obama wants for America is fundamentally inhumane and dangerous. Real change begins next November when we clean house and start sending politicians home. Take away those who vote for his bills and he becomes a paper tiger with the words “One-Termer” on his forehead."

Politics: A History Lesson: "Separation of church & state"

Trivia question:Where in the US Constitution does the phrase "separation of church & state" reside?
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Answer: No where. The phrase has been tracked down to have first occurred in a letter between Thomas Jefferson & the Danburry Baptist Association in 1802.

Many people claim that the First Amendment is speaking of "separation of church & state."

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Well, I guess it is a bit.

It does say that the government cannot make a law against or exalting a particular religion, but it says nothing about a religion getting involved in politics.





As a bit of interest, it does appear in another country's constitution. Here is a direct quote translated into English with the country's name removed so you can guess the country:

ARTICLE 124. In order to ensure to citizens freedom of conscience, the church in ______ is separated from the state, and the school from the church. Freedom of religious worship and freedom of antireligious propaganda is recognized for all citizens.

Can you guess which country?
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Answer: The USSR

Great Video: Ted Nugent on the Second Amendment

Who knew Ted was this logical. Best argument I've heard for the Second Amendment in a long time if not ever.

Travel: Buffalo National River

clipped from www.nationalparkstraveler.com

Traveler's Checklist: Buffalo National River

The Buffalo National River in northern Arkansas features over 100 miles of free-flowing river, massive sandstone and limestone bluffs, and excellent opportunities for a variety of outdoor activities in a scenic setting. Here are some suggestions to help you plan a visit.

Download a map and a copy of the park's Currents newspaper. This is a long, linear park, and only a few roads parallel or cross the river, so good information will make it a lot easier to find your way around.

There are 22 river access points along nearly 100 miles of navigable waters, but confirm water levels before your trip.

In general, spring and early summer offer the best floating conditions.

The park's FAQ page include some good tips.

Enjoy the scenery. Although there are few roads in the park itself, the surrounding area offers some fine scenery, and this section of the Ozarks is especially appealing in the spring and fall.

Great Video/Politics: "Republic vs Democracy"

Very informative video.

Politics: A couple of more visualizations on Obama's lovely budgeting

clipped from www.youtube.com

The Obama Stimulus: Predictions vs. Reality

When pushing the stimulus package, President Obama claimed that the stimulus would save 3 million jobs. How have his predictions turned out so far? This video compares those predictions with how the jobs numbers have actually turned out

clipped from www.youtube.com

The National Debt Road Trip

How do the Obama deficits compare with past presidents? And how did the national debt get so big anyway. This video tries to answer those questions by looking at the debt as a road trip and seeing how fast different administrations have been traveling.

Health Care: Some visualiztion videos about Obama's proposed reform

clipped from www.youtube.com

Health Care Reform Cost Visualization

This was the video that was shown on Fox and Friends on July 7th, 2007 about the cost of the health care reform package. (They edited it for length, which confused me since it's so damn short.)

clipped from www.youtube.com

Obama Health Reform and Wait Times Visualization (In Lego!)

In 2006, Massachusetts passed health care reform that implemented a number of policies that are now being mirrored in the Obama health reform plan. The president has repeatedly claimed that his plan will lower health care costs but not decrease health care quality. This visualization looks at how the Massachusetts plan has panned out in terms of cost and wait times.

Health Care: "In Defense of the Frail Elderly" & a comment I recently read

clipped from www.americanthinker.com

In Defense of the Frail Elderly

Even the most modest towns across our nation have nursing facilities, home health agencies, and community resources available to help maintain the dignity, function, and quality of life of the frail older adult. There are organizations and niche providers such as Hospice and Meals on Wheels who work in the trenches daily with the elderly and their families to make the best of an oftentimes hopeless situation. We as a nation should be thankful to this arm of the healthcare industry, and shudder when we reflect that, if Obamacare reforms are successful, it could sound the death knell for these types of services which the frail elderly population depends upon and deserves.

A physician at our local Tea Party stated one platform of healthcare reform is to withhold vital treatment in the last 6 months of the patient's life.

Do we really want our government deciding when our last 6 months have arrived?

A friend of mine posted a comment on her Facebook page about socialized medicine recently which sparked quite a debate. Most commenters were very much against Obama's plan but one commenter was quite for it. This idiot went on to say "BUT everyone should must have the same opportunities to Health care. And that includes limiting treatment to the "hope less cases" empty the nursing homes!!!"

Wow. Nice guy. Now this guy is 49 yrs old & not in prime condition by the looks of his profile pic so, I guess he is either planning on taking advantage of Obama's plan to make euthanasia available so that he can all spare us the cost. (I won't even go into his issue with grammar & writing...I guess, using my logic, since he isn't a teenager, he must have been drunk when writing this comment.)

Most people assume they will either drift off in their sleep or have a massive heart attack & that will be that. But with the technology we have today, that is not often the case. The problem is we survive. We go on. We don't die. We continue for months sometimes years. Now, this sounds great, but is it? Working in health care, I would say most of the people who come in that need immediate intervention to continue to live get it & survive. However, many of these lives are changed forever. They may be as bad off as to remain in a coma for years & years to come or may just need the assistance of a walker for the rest of their lives. But, do we really want the government to say when our time is up? If this particular man has a stroke but survives leaving him unable to care for himself completely but still coherent & able to carry on a conversation with someone, do you think he will still be in support of "emptying the nursing homes?"

Obviously this buffoon has never had anyone close to him suffer. While not everyone on the left may feel like he does, I have a feeling more than we think do.

Interesting...not really sure about the validity but it is still kind of interesting.

clipped from flowingdata.com

Maps of the Seven Deadly Sins

Geographers from Kansas State University map the spatial distribution of the seven deadly sins in the United States. These types of maps are always kind of iffy as they draw from data from various sources gathered with different methods and usually use some kind of researcher-defined metric. Still interesting though... right?

Politics: Gibbs grilled by the press...finally

Finally, even the "liberal" media is loosing confidence & patience with this administration.

Wow, what a jerk this Gibbs guy is. He brings to mind the court jester of the Dark Ages.

Hollywood: Mrs. Slocombe dies at 86

clipped from news.bbc.co.uk

Actress Mollie Sugden dies at 86

The TV star, best known for playing Mrs Slocombe in long-running BBC sitcom Are You Being Served?, died at the Royal Surrey Hospital after a long illness.

Mollie Sugden had a long and successful acting career In pictures: Mollie Sugden

Sugden found early TV success with comedy series Hugh and I in 1962 and in Coronation Street as the gossiping Nellie Harvey.

But it was The Liver Birds in the late 1960s and early 1970s that enabled her to make her first real impact, as Nerys Hughes' snobbish mother Mrs Hutchinson.

And then in 1972 came Are You Being Served? and the role she became best known for - the blue-rinsed Betty Slocombe, with her affectation of middle-class gentility and her outrageous use of the double-entendre.

Sugden went on to have her own slot on consumer programme That's Life and even found new fame in the US where re-runs of Are You Being Served? transformed both Sugden and co-star John Inman into cult figures in the early 1990s.

Hollywood: Karl Malden dies at 97

I remember him best as the preacher from "Pollyanna."

Weigh In #61 - 64

Gained 7 lbs but lost 2 lbs

Kyle & Brent: http://www.youtube.com/user/KyleAndBrent

The Year of The Home: Finally taking care of one job

As I mentioned in a previous post, I am reading a book called "Sanctuary: Creating a Blessed Place to Live & Love" by Pamela J. Bailey. Well, this morning, intending to sleep until about noon or 1pm (I didn't get in bed until about 2:30 or 3 am), I actually woke up about 9:30 am, so I decided to read a little. Well, the chapter that I read inspired me to take care of a project I have been procrastinating on for probably 3+ years. I painted 3 canvases a few years ago but I never hung them. They have been leaning against a wall for years now. But no longer. They now are hanging over my beautiful couch. :)

The Year of The Home: Frugality

Frugality is a very important part of homemaking. You have to guard your finances. Money, according to almost every poll I've ever read, is the number one stressor in people's lives & the number one reason many marriages fall apart.

I was quite lucky to have been raised by great parents that stressed the importance of minding your finances well. I am so far ahead of many of my peers. The only debt that I have to my name is my car & that is very close to being paid off. I was lucky enough to escape college without having to take out any loans. I would say the majority of people cannot say this & there is nothing wrong with that, I'm just very lucky. The other major form of debt comes from credit cards. Again, my parents made us swear that we would pay off our credit card in full every month or we couldn't have one. That one rule will save you from so much grief later on.

Even though I don't have any real debt, finances still stress me a bit. I want to buy a house sometime soon & don't have the money saved that I would like to have before buying. I also love to travel but don't get to do it near to the extent that I would like. So, in hopes of growing a bit of a nest egg, dreams of travel, & aspirations of being a smarter homemaker, I'm going to start living a bit more frugally.

Last month I had a higher than usual credit card bill & made a commitment to not buy anything unnecessary (ie, no makeup, no music, no movies, no clothes, etc...) until after Kim's wedding in August.

Well, you know when you make a commitment, Satan cocks his gun & attacks. If you aren't familiar with the computer game The Sims, it is not exactly a game with an ending. Basically, you create a family, buy them a house, get them a job & let them live. You tell them when to eat, go to the bathroom, shower, sleep, go to work/school, socialize, etc... Essentially, you play God. It is basically like playing with dolls for the more sophisticated. :) I've owned both The Sims & Sims II. I love the game & play it all the time for the first few months of owing it, then I'll sit it down & not touch it again until the next edition comes out. Recently, they came out with Sims III. I wasn't planing on getting it but then I found this blog & it really got me interested in the new attributes of the game. So, naturally, I want it. Now, normally, I would have given in to our society's new culture of instant gratification like I have become so guilty of lately, & bought the $40+ waste of time. But, Kristy, you made a commitment, remember. CRAP! Ok, so I'll have to wait, fine.

But then, I decided to one up myself. As of late, I have been having difficulty getting back into the weight loss mode. Granted, I am supposed to be plateauing until after Kim's wedding but I have recently gained about 7 lbs back. Not good. Not enough to freak me out but enough to slap me in the face & say "get your butt back in the gym." So, as an incintive, I have said that I will buy myself the game once I get into the 160's...that's about 15-17 lbs to go. I've never done the whole reward system thing. Never really needed to. I thought loosing the weight was reward enough. However, now that I've lost as much as I have & I'm feeling healthy & sexier, it is getting harder to stick with it, so maybe this will do the trick. Just to end this part of my story on a good note, I've lost about 2 lbs this week & kicked my butt in the gym all week.

Ok, back to the frugality issue. This week I went in to Wal-Mart for some groceries. Well, evil WM has now rearranged their store so that the makeup & stuff are right next to the groceries. Before, I would have had to walk to the other side of the store & I am usually too lazy to do that unless I just have to. Well, instantly, I turned down the nail polish aisle. Ok, here, I must say, I rarely paint my nails except my toes & that is usually done when I get a pedicure & even at that, I have some nail polish in the cabinet at home. I do need to get some lighter pink for Kim's wedding if she wants our toes painted, plus I had split one of my nails this week & thought I should get something to repair that. Well, after several minutes, I had decided on a color, a repair, & a base & top coat combo. Each of these over $5. Then I started toward the groceries all the while feeling quite guilty. Then I stoped. I remembered that we will be getting pedicures before the wedding & she may paint our toes, plus, I don't know if Kim even wants our toes done or if she just wants us to have French tips. So, I U-turned & put back ever last bottle. After doing a victory lap around the forbidden section, I moved on to my list. Even though this was a little thing, I felt like I had won some huge battle. Yay me! :)

Here are a few links I just found that I liked about the frugality:
6 Great Reasons to be Frugal
Free frugal budgeting & personal finance advice

Great Video: Steven Crowder: Obama and N. Korea (Featuring Lil KimJong)

Politics: "Stossel on Socialized Medicine"

clipped from www.americanthinker.com

Stossel on Socialized Medicine

Shirley Healy, like many sick Canadians, came to America for surgery. Her doctor in British Columbia told her she had only a few weeks to live because a blocked artery kept her from digesting food. Yet Canadian officials called her surgery "elective."

[W]e did find one area of medicine that offers easy access to cutting-edge technology -- CT scan, endoscopy, thoracoscopy, laparoscopy, etc. It was open 24/7.

Patients didn't have to wait. But you have to bark or meow to get that kind of treatment. Animal care is the one area of medicine that hasn't been taken over by the government. Dogs can get a CT scan in one day. For people, the waiting list is a month.