When exactly did the Constitution and the Bill of Rights get hijacked? I've been reading the article regarding the CBS poll that most Americans want a universal healthcare system. How is this possible? While I don't put a lot faith in polls - I do know that there is always some truth to it.

We are in a nanny state already and universal health care is just one more step closer to socialism. Where have all the independent-minded Americans gone? The role of government in a society is to provide for the basic defense of it's citizens and then let the people do the rest.

Although people in this country today may disagree, health care is not a right, nor should it be provided by the federal government.

This country is going to Hell in a Handbasket.

If you can't beat 'em...

I've decided that since the illegals are here to stay and el governiemiento de los estados unidos will not make them va-moose, well I'll start assimilating. You can too - just click the link!

Your Mexican Name Is...

Doña Thalia

What's Your Mexican Name?

My new favorite blog

And the winner is...

The Assimilated Negro

I spent about two hours yesterday reading his site - and laughing my butt off. By and large the best two hours of workplace productivity enhancers* I've come across in, well, forever.

(used without permission from Dave)

My Reading List

I love to read. I'm mean I realllllly love it. Sometimes I'll skip a whole day of work just because I MUST finish a book. It is a problem. I wonder if it qualifies as an addiction. Hmmmm.

The list of signs and symptoms mentioned in various sources for Addiction includes the 12 symptoms listed below:

Uncontrolled cravings - check - I must have it!
Obsessive thought about the addiction - Check - I should be working - instead I'm obsessing about my books. A vicious cycle.
Energy focused on the addiction - Check - If only I could focus this much at work - I'd be rich!!
Absenteeism - Check - Thank God I'm self-employed!
School truancy - When I was in school... Most definately CHECK!
Nasal congestion - hmmm - not so much
Eye changes - Yessir - Got reading glasses last year - barely 30 years old. Check.
Glassy eyes - see above
Behavioral changes - Well, I get real grumpy when a book ends badly. Check.
Hyperactivity - not quite
Fatigue - and then some. I've been known to stay awake all night to read an entire Harry Potter book from start to finish. Sad. Check.
Over-spending money - I can't resist the Borders' sales - Buy two, get one free! What a bargain. At least $50.00 every time I go in there. Check.

So out of all these, only 2 symptons don't qualify. Yes, I'd say I have an addiction. Well, that kinda blows.

So here's a list of what I'm reading:

The Federalist Papers - I've made a commitment to balance my reading list with as many classics as possible. I don't know if this qualifies as a classic, but I was getting a little bored with classic fiction, so I thought that this would be a nice change. I intend on reading The Art of War next for my "classical education"

The Four Agreements - not too sure about this one. It's a little weird. I'm not really into self help books, but it was on the sale rack and apparently spent a bunch of time on the bestsellers list. It's a little funky. I keep putting it down with thoughts of "bite me". Not very helpful.

The Pale Horseman - If you don't read Bernard Cornwell then you are a moron. There, I said it.

I'm Having a Love Fest with this Kid!

I'm Back!

So I'm finally back from hiatus. What a couple of months it's been - not even gonna go there. Just gonna start fresh like it's January 1! Yay!

Rudeness

I dislike rude people. Here's the deal. I'm in sales. So I go to a company and do a sales presentation. A very excited guy makes an appointment, shows up and wants to do the premium deal. But, he's got to run it by his wife. So, he asks us to call him and we do. Of course we get the runaround, but we perservere, because, after all, he came to us. He asks me yesterday to call him today, he's going to talk to his wife. I just called him. He says, "Can you call back, we're talking about you right now." Then he hangs up on me. WTF?? Jerkoff.

I'll never call him that to his face... I still want the sale.

Having Another Hate-Fest

This time it's with Rosie O'Donnell. I cannot stand that disgusting fat tub of lard. The day she's taken out of the gene pool will be a great day. She is just a gross waste of space. Looking at her makes my skin crawl. How is she still employed?

Atheism Again

I've been reading what Beth has to say at My Vast Right Wing Conspiracy about atheism, and it was a fantasic post!

I also read the original post from Jeff of The Gay Black Jew and I must say that I think Jeff has issues. This is a guy who's neither gay, black or Jewish, but earned the nickname for always defending them from (I suppose) his friends.

Although I think he's a very sad, unhappy man who is hiding from some ugly truth inside himself, one portion of his comment did strike a chord with me:

If there truly is a god, he’s a total asshole for letting billions of people suffer throughout history due to conflicting beliefs. All-knowing and all-powerful…but for the last 2,006 years he’s been stuck in a Verizon commercial, i.e., “Can you hear me now?” Waiting for his only cellphone (Jesus) to fall from Heaven so that He has someone to talk to who can send all non-Christians to an eternity in hell fire while whisking believers up to a magical fairyland hidden in the sky. Nothing could be more violent, BTW.

Clearly, this line is idiotic, because as we all know, the greatest gift God gave to humankind is FREE WILL. Humankind is the source of the suffering. However, the reason this struck a chord with me is because it brought up a question that I have always wondered about. In the main, I'm at a loss to understand why God allows people to be born with debilitating illnesses. I understand the evil that humankind perpetrates upon one another which ends in physical death. I also understand the ravages of disease which can permeate a society and end in physical death. I even understand that a death resulting from an "accident" is due to God's greater plan. What I don't get is the debilitating illnesses such as MS, Parkinson's, etc, that people are usually born with and must suffer with throughout their lives. My faith tells me that it is part of the greater purpose, but I do struggle with that aspect.

I wish Beth a very Blessed Christmas and I pray that God may make his countenance to shine upon Jeff and lead him to the Light.

Having a Hate-Fest with Cindy

I know hate is a strong word, but this old cow really makes my blood boil. I'm beginning to truly hate her. I know my temperature rises when I see her picture in the paper.

What I really wonder, and I'll bet some internet digging would tell the truth, is if this is how Cindy Sheehan's son would have wanted her to honor his memory. Since we have a purely volunteer military, Cindy's son must have volunteered to serve. And I think that he would have been briefed on the possibility that he may have to engage in war with our enemies, and possibly lose his life.

But what about soldiers who don't want to fight what they consider an unjust war? Was her son of this ilk? Most soldiers know the adage about "ours is not to question why, ours is but to do or die" (I have no clue who said that), so chances are that he cared only about the guys out in the field with him.

Reading the milblogs (a way better source for what's really going on), convinces me that most of the soldiers in the field believe in what they're doing, and we have to believe the soldiers since they are the ones in the thick of it. Did Cindy's son believe in what he was doing, or was he fighting an unjust war to avoid a court-martial? I really don't know. But I'd like to.

Tom Cruise Sucks Ass

I think this is true. It must be, because it's what I do. I go out of my way not to see certain movies because of the actors or actresses. That doesn't mean I won't watch when it hits the movie channels. Movie stars I go out of my way to avoid: Tom Cruise, Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Alec Baldwin, Susan Sarandon.

Movies I've gone out of my way to avoid: Brokeback Mountain (it's on the movie channels right now, and I cringe every time I see the title), Syriana, The Deer Hunter (my dad said it's the only movie that really disturbed him, and now I'm afraid to watch it.)

I think the Michael Moore movies go without saying.

I tried to watch Gigli, and Mr. & Mrs. Smith, and Fun With Dick and Jane, but they all sucked within the first 15 minutes so I had to turn the dial.

Good entertaining movies really seem to be going the way of the dinosaur...

I love this!

But only because of the food. I'm sure the boyfriend would love the eye-candy. For me, the it's the meat-o-rama they're serving in there!

Go see what's cookin' at the Heart Attack Grill

And I'm back from the hunting trip, where I'm pleased to announce the death and imminent consumption of one 8 point buck. Yay me! (It's my first)

So that you know how cool I am, here's the specifics:
1) No, I did not sit in a blind.
2) Yes, I did freeze my ass off sitting on the ground (the West Tx desert has no trees for tree stands)
3) Yes, there was a feeder (ok, so I got a little help)
4) Yes, I used a bipod (well, I'm delicate, and the big ol' gun was too heavy for little ol' me)
5) The rifle used was a Browning .243 (so sweeeeet)
6) I dropped the old boy from 252 yards! (yay me again!)

The boyfriend was very proud of me, he was of course sitting with me when I made the shot (we don't need to discuss the one he missed).

I am a bit disconcerted however, that he actually thinks we're going to grill the backstraps tonight. Silly goose. The only way to eat backstrap, as every God-fearing Texan knows, is chicken-fried. That's what I get for loving a New Yorker.

Girly-Man? I think not...

Emmitt Smith won Dancing With the Stars. I'm not surprised. If he can't beat out Mario "Ra Ra Sis Boom Ba" Lopez then he should emigrate to some salsa dancing country, like, say, Miami, and try again.

Mike Bianchi, from the Orlando Sentinel seems quite downheated about Sir Smith's triumph:

Have you seen those Miller Lite commercials where a panel of manly men discusses a given topic and decides upon a man law? There are a number of readily accepted edicts that real men must live by: No fruit slices garnishing your beer mug, no wine coolers at the tailgate party and no smelling the frosted cranberry spice candles at Bath & Body Works.

Now Emmitt has caused The Official Manual of Man Law to be rewritten with one commandment above all others:Thou Shalt Never Put Dancing Commitments Ahead of Football Commitments.

While I agree with the Man Law commandment, Football Commitments are more important than Dancing Commitments, please keep in mind, Mr. Bianchi, that all women, and this is important, all women equate dancing with sex. Will Smith (no relation to Emmitt, I'm sure) told you this in Hitch. And it is true.

In my neck of the woods, a man that can't two-step has almost no chance to make it into a woman's bed. Conversely, a man that can waltz his beloved right across Texas, well, he can do no wrong in the bedroom.

Mike, my friend, don't cry and let there be a Tear in your Beer, go learn to dance to it. (Hank Sr. and Jr. duet, in case you don't know your country music). I promise you won't lose your manhood. No good, God-fearing woman would make you give up your man-stuff. If you learn to cut-a-rug like Emmitt, your lady will love you for it. I promise.

Hoyer wins by a landslide - better than Murtha, I guess.

Ouch!!

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) took exception with Abizaid's talk of all the steps that the Iraqi government needs to take. "Hope is not a method," she told him. "We've had testimony now for four years about what 'must be done' -- and it doesn't get done."

(Gen. John P. Abizaid, chief of the U.S. Central Command) shot back: "I would also say that despair is not a method." -- The WAPO

hat tip: Right Wing News

The vote is on! Will Murtha win? Let's hope not!

Thanksgiving Feast

The boyfriend is going to be here this Sunday for a few days (not on the real Thanksgiving Day, though), so we're going to do the Big Day this next week. Since he's from New York, he's never experienced the joy of a Fried Turkey. I've only fried one myself once before, although I've eaten them a lot, so I'm a little nervous.

This also means that I'll have to buy pre-made gravy, but that can't be helped. I think the dinner will turn out fine. It better. It's my shameless attempt to prove what a wonderful wife I will make. He better get the hint. The clock is ticking so loudly I can't hear myself think. My devious plan is to feed him good southern cooking and get him fat so no one else will want him. Then when I get him, I will ruthlessly switch to healthy food and get him back in shape. Muwahahahaha!!

The Irony

Catholic bishops reaching out to gays...

How far will they have to reach into their own ranks?

New Dirty Words

I don't ever want to hear this phrase again:

PHASED REDEPLOYMENT

I have a feeling that I'll be hearing it alot, but I cringe every time I do.