Thank You

To every single one of you who commented or emailed your support, thank you from the bottom of my cold, dark Libertarian heart. You are truly friends, and dare I say crazy ass family.

And to wirecutter, my Don Quixote, who went off tilting at windmills for me this morning, thank you twice.

Now, let's all just drop it. There is a chasm that can't be breached here, not just philosophically, but psychologically. More is only going to pour gas on the fire, and I really don't want that.

At times like these, I revert back to my high school self and the sage wisdom of a group of female troubadours.

 

 

There's a weapon
We must use
In our defense
Silence

When you look at them
Look right through them
That's when they'll disappear
That's when you'll be feared

Hush, my darling
Don't you cry
Quiet, angel
Forget their lies


Grand Strikes Again...

 

Great comments on 2nd Amendment rights here.

Who knew????

I swear this reminds me of someone....

And for you dudes, because dammit, you're just so sweet.....

Carry on, my wayward sons....

Jiffy Pop will be served at intermission...

Before the election, all that was on the fashionistas' minds was how outrageously expensive Ann Romney's clothes were, and how frugal Michelle Obama was. Post election, just did a quick search for the Michael Kors couture gown pictured above and all I found was dust bunnies. Nothing. Nada.

I honestly don't care how much it cost; just curious that now that it doesn't matter, she's free to splurge without question. And I desperately want to know how much popcorn is gonna come out of that foil frock.

Ch-ch-ch-changes...

Man, what a Monday. After consideration, I did what I said I wouldn't do and dropped a blog. I just think separation is the better part of valor. No sense in kicking up the same old dirt. In it's place, I added my first ever blog addiction, MOTUS (Michelle Obama's Mirror). Truly the Snarkiest Place on Earth.

Get this: I had been reading MOTUS for about a year; and scrolling down her blogroll, I came across this one called Knuckledraggin' with a tag of Milfy Monday. Hmmmmm.... Clicked on it and thought, "WTF?" But I kept reading. Past the Milfs, the tatas, the booties, and the other T&A, I find gold. I find witty, deep, sarcastic, insightful snark with testosterone. And I was hooked. Go figure, I found wirecutter through a women's snark blog. Heh heh heh.

So check out MOTUS. The Secular Winter Season Hawaiian Holiday is coming up, and there's going to be some truly tasty snark.

Unless you're in California...

 

H/T to Devil Tongue

Sigh

After a baffling personal attack by someone who doesn't know me, I spent a few hours stewing over it. People who DO know me told me to file 13 it and move on. Someone told me to delete the person's blog from my blogroll (ain't happening, the diehard journalist in me that still believes in Freedom of Speech can't blaspheme that much). Someone told me to channel my hurt into something constructive, so that's what I'm going to do. Well, a combination of #1 and #3. You can't make people who hate the thought of you like the real you.  Several points NOT personally attacking me were brought up in reference to the benevolence of Big Government, so I'll address one of those.

The first one that caught my eye was the subsidized school lunch program. See? If it wasn't for Big Government providing free lunch for disadvantaged kids, they would  be left by the Mean Old Right-Wing Teabaggers (hey I'm a Libertarian, I'm even more heartless) to starve in the streets. There are several problems with this. Waste, gaps, and redundancy. Let's go to school.
 

Waste

The National School Lunch Program cost $11.1 billion in FY 2011. By comparison, the lunch program's total cost in 1947 was $70 million; in 1950, $119.7 million; in 1960, $225.8 million; in 1970, $565.5 million; in 1980, $3.2 billion; in 1990, $3.7 billion; and in 2000, 6.1 billion.  (http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/lunch/aboutlunch/NSLPFactSheet.pdf)

A butt-load of money is spent annually on subsidized school lunches. How grateful are the little darlings for this largess of the Left? This is something I can speak to with personal experience, having substituted for several years in rural, suburban, upscale urban and inner city schools. One thing I can tell you that runs the gamut of the socioeconomic spectrum is that kids don't like school lunches. It's just a matter of how they respond based on age. In pre-K/elementary, what I observed is that picky eaters are picky eaters, regardless of need. You can't tell an 8-year-old that this is the only meal he's going to get and it was paid for by generous taxpayers so he'd better eat up. What is universally eaten off the school lunch tray? Carbs and milk. Fruit and veggies and whatever that "protein" is will end up in the trash. 

Middle school kids get more creative. I have seen some blatant capitalism going on during lunch time, with these kids bartering what's on their tray for things from their buddies' lunches. Or just outright selling them. Can you think of anything more beautiful than taking a free commodity and selling it for 100% profit? Bless their little hearts. The rest of it ends up in the trash bin.

High school "young adults" are a whole different kettle of fun. There is literally no lonelier place than a high school cafeteria at lunch time; even on a closed campus, they can go to the gym, library or commons instead of the cafeteria. A note about the subsidized lunch program: schools are reimbursed based on the number of students "actively" participating in the program. That means if the kids aren't picking up a tray, the school doesn't get the money.  So, after the kiddos skip out on lunch, the school dietitian sends out letters informing mom and dad that starving Junior isn't showing up for his free lunch. This rarely gets a response. Second step is closing the on-campus escape routes, basically herding ungrateful, pissed-off teens through the lunch line. I spent two months subbing English at an inner city school where 80% of the student body was enrolled in the SLP. Cafeteria duty had me standing at the trash barrels to make sure eating utensils weren't pocketed (weapons) or thrown away.  I watched kid after kid move through the lunch line and head straight for the trash barrels, sneering at any adult in range as they tossed their Government largess before heading out the door.

Bottom line, the kids aren't benefiting.

 

Gaps

So what happens to the starving youth of America on long weekends and extended school vacations? Who's providing the free lunches then? Or does it matter? I can guarantee you, it ain't the Government; they're off the clock and can't be bothered. This is where sectarian charity steps in and covers Uncle Sam's ass. I have seen it in every school district large and small where I've worked. And I have heard that large, predominantly Blue cities have never experienced it. Churches around here rotate a Backpack program and Holiday lunch program, serving all kids regardless of church membership or affiliation.

The Backpack Program is simple, the churches find out how many kids need a backpack and then fill it with food for 2 meals a day through the weekend. I have never seen this fail. Granted, Michelle Obama would probably have kittens over what is in the packs. Short on arugula and Kobe beef sliders. Same with Holiday Programs. Boxes of food sufficient for extended school breaks are delivered to the kids' houses, more than enough to feed the whole family.

The churches rotate so it doesn't fall on one set of shoulders, and not a word is ever said about Government reimbursement.

 

Redundancy

This one is simple, folks, and the thing that irritates my hardened Libertarian heart. 100% of the kids receiving free lunches come from families who receive one or more other forms of entitlement, the most common being EBT cards. Let that sink in. These families are already receiving benefits for food, presumably lunches being covered. AND THEN they are receiving free breakfasts and lunches through the school. So typically, the only meals that they are required to cover with their EBT benefits are dinners. Government redundancy at its finest.

The argument, "But my EBT benefits aren't enough to buy groceries for packing lunches." Bullshit. There was a VERY LONG TIME when I fed a family of four on $50 a week. $200 a month. About the average for an EBT monthly benefit.

The problem is most of these families have come to rely on the government for everything, including feeding their kids. The thought of getting up every morning and packing lunches for their kids just never occurs to them. And even if the money wasted on the school lunch program was magically shifted to their EBT cards, it STILL wouldn't occur to them. It just isn't how things are done these days.

So there's my RANT for Monday. Bureaucratic Benevolence is the least practical, least cost effective and least appreciated form of helping. And in most cases, it is actually crippling our society.

Liberals, God love you (even if you don't believe in Him), bring it on. I'm ready.

Scary as Hell

 

I refuse to allow Liberals to define me as selfish or immoral simply because I don't believe in Government-mandated charity.

"The Psychopathology of the Liberal Mind"

If the culture of entitlement is illustrated by 47% of the population believing they have a right to live off the country's teat, then what could be termed a "culture of pseudo-idealism" is the mindset that gets its self-worth from assisting them to do that.
Pseudo-idealism is a term coined by the Australian biologist Jeremy Griffith to describe apparently charitable behavior that on scrutiny is revealed as selfish, because the giver is engaging in it only so that he or she can feel good about him- or herself. It is a characteristic commonly found among the left, and it constitutes what the author Geoffrey Wheatcroft recognized as the left's inherent dishonesty.


Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/12/the_psychopathology_of_the_liberal_mind.html#ixzz2Dxbx2oQb

Heh Heh Heh

What's the difference between a golf ball and a g-spot?

 

A man will spend 20 minutes looking for a golf ball.... (rimshot).

 

Thank you, don't forget to tip the waitstaff.

Blondes are STILL more funner...

 

There's a double decker bus driving down the street full of passengers, blonde and brunette.

On the lower level of the bus, the brunettes are having a good time, talking, laughing, and singing along to the music playing.

On the upper part of the bus, the blondes are seated... they're in a panic. They're screaming, terrified, and holding onto each other as the bus moves along the street.

Finally, a brunette gets up and walks to the top of the bus to ask whats wrong, and one of the blonde's replies, "what's wrong?!? well, you'd be screaming too if you didnt have a driver!!!"

 



American Innovation

A lot of preppers think about cleanliness and clotheswashing after the SHTF. I know several who have purchased tubs and scrub boards. And then I came across this ~ the GiraDora washer/clothes spinner. Created to alleviate health and productivity concerns in Third World countries, it would also be great to have a few on hand in case of, well, Armageddon.

The beauty of the machine is it takes minimal water, is foot-powered, compact and CHEAP. Production costs are estimated at $40. It's expected to hit markets sometime in 2013.

 



A Companion Piece to Is It Sunday Yet?

Just posted a comment from Mike Miles (Ninety Miles) on the Sunday post. His observation that something is wrong when the "poorest among us is also the most obese" reminded me of an article I read and wanted to pass on to y'all. It's about punishing the productive, making it less lucrative to work for a living than to live on public assistance (pet peeve alert: how exactly is paying for everything "assisting"?).

In the article, Tyler Durden of Zero Hedge discusses the grim reality that, after taxes and expenses, a family of four with a $60,000 annual income has LESS disposable income than a Head of Household of Four (stated like that because many are single parent homes) making minimum wage.

 

As quantitied, and explained by Alexander, "the single mom is better off earnings gross income of $29,000 with $57,327 in net income & benefits than to earn gross income of $69,000 with net income and benefits of $57,045." (quote from article)

 

We faced this ourselves. When the girls were diagnosed with autism, we were a family of four making around $28-$32 K a year, depending on the bonus. Small company, no group health insurance but the company paid a percentage of the premiums on a personal plan. Unfortunately, no insurance provider will cover Autistic kids. So, with around $480 per girl per month in meds, we blew through our savings and my retirement funds from teaching in about two years. This is where we got desperate and where we were introduced to SSI.

 

The girls qualified easily and the first month's SSI checks were promptly deposited. I sat there and looked at the financial boon, sick to my stomach. All we needed was insurance, and here was over $1000 of government money plopped in our laps. We swore not to touch it until the transmission on the van went out. Shit. A few months later, the SSI payments had become a part of our budget. WE RELIED ON THOSE PAYMENTS. In just a few short months.

 

This year, hubby got a job that takes him back on the road, but with Platinum benefits and a substantial increase in salary. What I am ashamed to admit is the calculating we did. We would lose the SSI payments; not a problem, his new salary made up for it. We would lose the girls' Medicaid. For three years, we had paid NOTHING for doctors visits or prescriptions. Not a dime. With the new insurance, their specialists would be $50 a visit and their meds about $450 a month for both. This started eating into the new financial boon very quickly, and we started debating. Were we better off in the old job making $36K a year and collecting benefits or taking the new job and paying for everything? Sickening. Ten years ago it wouldn't have even been a question. But we had been thoroughly seduced and hooked. We had become entitlement addicts.

 

We took the job. It hasn't been easy; but with some negotiating with the pharmaceutical company that makes their most expensive med, I managed to cut about $200 from the monthly med bill. You make adjustments, you survive.

 

And this last month, I got notification from the Government that they deemed the girls had been overpaid because the new job pushed our "annual income" over the limit. We now owe the US Government $2600, payable immediately or they start garnishing his wages. Ah, now I understand why those are the scariest words to hear: We're with the government, we're here to help.



Adam Carolla: Mexican Culture vs. US Culture

Found this over on Chicks on the Right.



http://chicksontheright.com/categories/the-makeover-and-or-miscellaneous/item/23481-adam-carolla-on-us-v-mexican-culture#pagejump

One of these days, I'm going to have to figure out how to import the video itself.

Update: Thank you to Wirecutter, my Mentor, my Hero. 'e taught me to blog like a regular lady, 'e did.

Football Player vs. Male Cheerleader

 

 

 

Okay, dudes, move your eyes down.

Lower. Lower. There.

See those hands holding her feet? Know what's attached to those hands? Yep. Male Cheerleader. Now ask yourself, on the field taking the hits or under the female cheerleader? You decide.

 

UPDATE

For Further Debate:

 



Football Player or Male Cheerleader?

Is it Sunday Yet?

Today was the day of massive shopping in Big A. Wal-Mart, Sam's Club, Vitamin Cottage, etc. What day is it? December 1. First of the month. Checks hit accounts today. Frustrating when you stand in line with your carefully planned purchases falling well within budgetary restrictions. And you stand behind a woman with 6 kids, a cart full of sodas, meat, and junk food that she pays for with her EBT card, and then pulls out a wad of cash to pay for the three cases of beer, two boxes of wine, and two cartons of cigarettes. Sigh.

I have absolutely NO problem with people who need help getting back on their feet I have absolutely NO problem with seniors getting back what they worked all their lives paying. Even knowing our social security taxes are going to pay that promise the government made and the probability that we'll ever see a Social Security check is slim to none, I have no problem. But the wannabe gangsta with his gold grill, sideways ball cap, and jeans clinging precariously to his thighs doesn't get my sympathy. The 20-something hipster with 20+ piercings from ear to ear and forehead to mouth sporting an Obama button doesn't get my sympathy. The woman with 6 kids by multiple baby-daddys doesn't get my sympathy. I know, I know. Don't judge lest ye be judged. You don't know their story. Sorry, don't want to know their story. I know my story, the sacrifices I made, the choices and consequences I embraced, and the fact that I didn't ask for others to pay for my choices. When people start having to pay the consequences, maybe they'll change their choices. Until then, we watch the takers multiply.

So I load my groceries into the momvan, turn on the radio (remember radios? the momvan sports state of the art AM/FM/casette), and my life-long theme song comes blasting out at me. Gotta love that.