Barack Obama is dangerous for America

Barack Obama will shut down defense and intelligence capabilities. He is the ultimate naive pacifist. Please make sure this man is NEVER president. This is very scary folks.

Thinking about a trip anywhere in Europe this summer?

Think again. The Euro is bashing the dollar, and it's going to be REALLY expensive to stay anywhere the Euro is accepted.

Read this story about how the Euro is fluctuating and the dollar is taking a beating.

Are you sleeping enough?

Interesting article in Reuters today about how little sleep Americans get. (CLICK HERE to read it)

Here's my favorite quote: "We don't realize that sleep is a vital part of overall health and that chronic sleep loss is related to both physical and mental health issues," she added. "It's getting worse."

Perhaps we all take too many prescription drugs and are just too stressed. But whose fault is that? Pills cannot solve all of life's problems. Stress is something to deal with--not to medicate away. But let's not be simplistic because it's easy to look at medical issues and life's problems in absolute terms. If there's one thing I've learned it's that nothing in life is unsolvable. Persistence does pay and you make your own happiness. Give it a try!

And, in spite of our miserable winter weather, take a walk and thank God for life itself.

GRATITUDE IS AN ATTITUDE

Statistics on people in jail is stunning

Read this story about the number of people in jail.

Here's an interesting quote: " Using state-by-state data, the report says 2,319,258 Americans were in jail or prison at the start of 2008 - one out of every 99.1 adults. Whether per capita or in raw numbers, it's more than any other nation."

Why do you think so many people are in jail? Social liberals will come up with their own reasons, but perhaps it has something to do with the way people are raised--expect everything, you are entitled, you should have what you want, ME ME ME. It's pretty tough to raise kids in this obsessively egocentric society we live in.

The answer--closer family relationships and devotion to God. EAT DINNER WITH YOUR KIDS. Know where they are at all times and question them about everything. Remember, it's YOUR HOUSE, not theirs.

Public Official A (aka The Illinois Scandal du jour)

Thanks to Cal Skinner for posting this most interesting picture and story. Please go to this link to read the blog where this is posted.

It's a good one.

Just another reason I retired from teaching

The headline says it all:

Conn. Girl Lights Teacher's Hair On Fire

Add that to the stories about teachers poisoned by their students, stabbings, sexual attacks, shootings, etc.

Really makes you want to want to go to college to get that teaching degree, huh?

Think twice before you send your child away as an exchange student

Read this story about a young man who spent a summer as an exchange student in Egypt.

"But when he returned home to Maine just four months later, the 5-foot-9 teenager weighed a mere 97 pounds and was so weak that he struggled to carry his baggage or climb a flight of stairs. Doctors said he was at risk of a heart attack.

McCullum says he was denied sufficient food while staying with a family of Coptic Christians, who fast for more than 200 days a year, a regimen unmatched by other Christians."

So much for a close investigation into "host" families.

Ah me, bringing back the days I taught Constitution to my students

Question: What is "natural born?"

Read this story about John McCain's birthplace and issues it raises.

We used to debate this issue in my American Government classes. My answer to my students: it's never come up so we don't know how it would be resolved. Well, I guess it has now. When it all comes down to it I think he's a "natural born" citizen. If his place of birth doesn't qualify him then the years in the North Vietnamese prison camp do.

"VIRTUAL" doesn't work

So it's not entirely a surprise--the "virtual" fence doesn't work.

How about we all make virtual tax payments, or virtual mortgage payments.

BETTER IDEA--how about all democrats place VIRTUAL votes for their virtual candidates and let the rest of us WHO HAVE A CLUE vote for REAL candidates and run the country.

Silly? I think NOT.

Government Health Care Horror Stories

Thanks to Karen for this information about Canadian health care. Hillary & Barack want the government to control health care. NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO

Please do not let this happen. Let's not be asleep at the wheel and allow these leftists to take over this huge part of the economy and dictate to us when you see a doctor, who you see, and essentially if you live or die.

Payment Due ASAP

Check out this debt counter. Governor Rod Blo is expecting your check for $8,422 ASAP

Shows you what a great financial manager our governor is. HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?????

Ok voters, are you listening to the clicking of the debt counter???? We can't pay our bills and Rod wants to spend-spend-spend MORE MORE MORE.

This is lunacy....

Another stupid Blago proposal

As a graduate of NIU and a bedraggled taxpayer I'm disappointed (but not surprised) that our "esteemed" governor Blago would use the tragedy at NIU for political purposes. But of course it was a matter of time that he and Senator Turbin would start their usual public pronouncements to promote their own agendas. (Here's the Chicago Tribune story on it.)

Well the latest Blago thing is to raze Cole Hall (at a cost of $40 million we DO NOT HAVE) and essentially create another building in its place--but instead name it Memorial Hall. His brilliant idea is to sell bonds to accomplish this feat (like Illinois has a good credit rating--ya sure).

Stupid, stupid, stupid. Any shrink will tell you the worst way to deal with trauma is to try and ignore it. LEAVE THE BUILDING THERE. Make it a symbol of resilience and determination to show the world that we are strong and tough and will not let craziness and violence control us.

I watched the Chicago area news coverage on Blago's pronouncements yesterday. I have to commend the students they interviewed who echoed my sentiments and questioned how a state that couldn't pay it's existing bills and whose infrastructure was crumbling could afford this new building. Of course Blago deflected those questions (just like "I'm not Public Official A") and used the camera to promote himself. (NIU President Peters is equally at fault on this--here's his quote on the building: "I talked to a lot of people, and very early on I made the decision that we had to raze that, we had to demolish that building and replace it with something fitting, something fitting our needs and as a memorial," Peters said.)

We know he doesn't give a damn about the students and the campus. He's not funding our state universities properly (U OF Illinois in Champaign/Urbana is a perfect example--they REALLY dislike Blago) and NIU has always been on the short end of the stick financially.

Excellent quote by a student: Lemont Poinsette, a senior economics major from the South Side of Chicago, said destroying Cole Hall would do more to hurt the shooting victims. "It was a sad thing that happened in there, and the worst thing you could do is just tear it down," he said. "We'd erase what they stood for, what they were trying to do in that building."

Thank you Lemont for those words of wisdom. You're obviously smarter than President Peters and Governor Blago. Even the Northern Star (NIU's newspaper) questions the intent of Blago.
Great quote: "NIU has an immediate need in determining the future of Cole Hall, but NIU also has needs that have existed and seemingly been ignored in Springfield for years."

Nothing like tragedy to bring out the worst in our politicians. Shame on them.

Where's the Scrutiny?????

Wow--this is an EXCELLENT read. Check out this article by Daniel Kelley about our very own Barack Obama (who stings when you use his middle name).

Of course if you read the comments below the article they are the same kind of empty garbage name calling stuff that's tossed about when someone asks a REAL question. We all know Senator Obama is a nice man, but he's truly an empty shirt. So why is there no REAL scrutiny of this guy? Why is everyone swooning over him? Is this going to be another Jimmy Carter-like election where personality wins over substance????? OH MY GOD---didn't we have 8 years of that with Bill Clinton??? Can we live through that in today's dangerous world????

A look at me and my friends (We're BABES !!!)

Thanks Peg for sending along the picture of us celebrating our friendship. We're some stunning good looking women, and this picture just proves it!!!

Do you love those inspirational video-ettes???

Check out "The Simple Truths" website for links to their video-ettes.

Thanks to Karen for sending one along.

Wonder what Michigan Avenue looks like?

I love webcams. As far as I'm concerned I'd like to see them on every street corner. No, I don't have worries about the loss of privacy--maybe it'll help our security.

Check out this link to the Michigan Avenue webcam. When I'm out of town I always look it up to see what the weather is. As a Chicago-area native I must admit I love Michigan Avenue--even though I certainly can't afford to do much shopping there. It's fun to stroll through the shops and just lap up the Chicago atmosphere. Everyone born in Chicago (as I was) loves the city. And yes, I think it's always improving--probably due to the heavy-handed leadership of Mayor Daley.

Pink Elephant Talking points - on Insurance

February 20, 2008

Sen. Clinton And Barack Obama Continue To Support Single-Payer, Washington-Run Health Care System

• When Asked By A Yale Medical Student If She Would Support Single-Payer Health Care System, Sen. Clinton Said "Yes." Yale Medical Student: "'Would you sign [a single-payer healthcare program] if it came across your desk?' ... She said yes, and shook my hand." (Marcella Bombardieri, "Would Clinton Sign A Single-Payer Bill?" The Boston Globe's "Political Intelligence" Blog, www.boston.com, 2/6/08)
  
  
• In 2003, Obama Was A "Proponent Of A Single-Payer Health Care Program." Obama: "I happen to be a proponent of a single-payer health care program. ... A single-payer health care plan, a universal health care plan. And that's what I'd like to see." (Laura Meckler, "Let's Go To The Video," The Wall Street Journal's "Washington Wire" Blog, www.blogs.wsj.com, 1/22/08)
  
  
• Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) Was A "Proponent" Of Single-Payer Health Care; He Now Says He Would Only Support It If "Starting From Scratch" Obama: "[I] never said that we should try to go ahead and get single payer. What I said was that if I were starting from scratch, if we didn't have a system in which employers had typically provided health care, I would probably go with a single-payer system." (Sen. Barack Obama, CNN's Democrat Presidential Debate, Myrtle Beach, SC, 1/21/08)

What Does Single-Payer Health Care Mean For You?

• Single-Payer Health Care Would "Use Taxes To Provide Health Insurance" And Allow Government To "Own Hospitals And Employ Doctors." "Under a single-payer system, the federal government would use taxes to provide health insurance for all Americans, much as it does for senior citizens in Medicare. There are variations; a more extreme version would have the government own hospitals and employ doctors, like it does through the Veterans Administration." (Laura Meckler, "Tempering Health-Care Goals," The Wall Street Journal, 1/25/08)
  
  
• "[A] Single-Payer System, Where ... The Government Would Be The Sole Payer Of All Medical Bills, Eliminating The Role Of Private Insurance Companies." (Laura Meckler, "Let's Go to the Video," The Wall Street Journal's "Washington Wire" Blog, www.blogs.wsj.com, 1/22/08)
  
  
• Los Angeles Times' Ron Brownstein: "[T]he idea of the federal government completely replacing the private health insurance industry is so far outside the American experience that even the vast majority of health reform advocates consider it politically dead on arrival for the foreseeable future." (Ronald Brownstein, Op-Ed, "The Plague Or The Cure?" Los Angeles Times, 7/1/07)

Mundane life goes on

So yesterday I tried to get up to Elgin to do the dreaded emissions testing. (If the State of Illinois thinks this is so important and wants everyone to cooperate whey do they make it so DIFFICULT???? There used to be more testing facilities, but now they are inconveniently located!!!)

But my 8 year old vehicle wasn't cooperating. Let's just say we're absolutely anal about our vehicles--always change the oil every 3,000 miles, keep them clean (which isn't easy in northern Illinois' crummy winter climate) and make sure all required maintenance is done. Anyway, a clunk and squeak in the front deterred me. Well a trip to the Merlin store in St. Charles (I strongly recommend them--talk to Mike who is the manager) revealed bad ball joints. OUCH. Thankfully Merlin's was able to take care of the problems with their usual speed and skill. Thanks to them.

So what's the choice? Car payments or maintenance? As much as I like the shiny new cars we all know they're EXPENSIVE. I'm not sure I'm prepared for those not-so-easy monthly payments to burden us.

The point of this--as I was waiting for my car one of the folks in the waiting room said, "There goes your rebate from the federal government." Yep, there it went. My response was, "Money is like manure. Ya gotta spread it around to make things grow." I helped the economy by having car problems. Who woulda thunk it?

Thanks to Cal Skinner for this

Saw this on Cal Skinner's McHenry County Blog.

If you're from the McHenry County area make sure and check out Cal's blog. It's a good source of local info.

Please follow this link to contribute to the NIU Alumni Association fund to honor the victims of the 2/14/08 attack on our campus. As an alumni I beg you to honor our loss by contributing what you can to our college students. Thank you for your generosity.

Thanks to Karen

Don't you think about that when you see these young chickies walking around with their tattoos????

Confidence or Derangement?

Read this wonderful column by Peggy Noonan in today's Wall Street Journal.

This is my favorite line: "But imagine if she tried honesty and humility. When everyone in America knows you're in a dreadful position, admit you're in a dreadful position. Don't lie about it and make them roll their eyes, tell the truth and make them blink."

HUH???? Clintons are NEVER honest. Hillary certainly won't try that approach.

I am an NIU Huskie

I am a graduate of Northern Illinois University (BA-Political Science '74). As a kid from the northwest suburbs it was always assumed I would go to college, but I never had the money or vision to attend a school too far from home. I had always wanted to be a teacher--from the first day I walked into Mrs. Vandewalker's first grade class--and NIU seemed like a perfect fit. I still remember the day I got my acceptance from NIU and dorm assignment--how happy I was. NIU was the only college I had applied to (unheard of in these days--my daughter applied to 4 undergraduate colleges). I was fortunate enough to receive a Teacher's Education Scholarship which provided me free tuition for my time at NIU. I had no idea what college would be like, and back in those days there was a reasonable degree of turmoil on campuses about the Vietnam War. I remember the spring before I went to college there was a protest at the Student Center across from Neptune East dormitory, where I would live the next fall. My mother saw that and just about had decided that she wouldn't let me go to NIU because of it. I begged her and things settled down and I started that fall as a wide-eyed kid out to save the world. Ah me the simpler days.

Yesterday I was sitting down watching some inane home improvement show with my 2 dogs when my dad called and asked if I'd seen what was happening at NIU. I immediately turned my television to Channel 2 in Chicago and saw the horror at Cole Hall. It's just steps from my former dorm--I used to have classes in Watson (right next to Cole) and Cole Hall. My heart is heavy for my alma mater and the families of the victims.

Please pray for all of them. When we send our kids to college we never think anything like this could possibly happen, but in today's world I think we always wonder just how safe we are. I'm sure that today God has his arms full of the young people who were horribly killed. I take solace in that, but my heart still hurts for their families.

Check this link to when all the buildings at NIU were constructed.

Please read this column by Mark Brown.
He writes for the Sun-Times and, like me, is a NIU grad.

I'm also a Cary-Grove High School grad. My schools have been in the news (in a bad way) and it really saddens me. When the horrible bus accident occurred in Fox River Grove I heard CARY GROVE HIGH SCHOOL on the news and saw the horror of that situation. And now NIU is in the news for this terrible event. YOU NEVER WANT TO HEAR YOUR ALMA-MATERS MENTIONED LIKE THIS. Please God, no more.

Pink Elephant Info

February 13, 2008

• RNC Chairman Robert M "Mike" Duncan has stated that the Democrat options for President include a candidate who is not trustworthy or a candidate who is not prepared to be Commander in Chief. And while it appears it may take them weeks - if not months - to choose a candidate, Americans already know and widely reject the liberal agenda of Senator Clinton and Barack Obama: higher taxes, retreat in the War on Terror, and bigger government bureaucracy.

• There is a stark contrast in the decision facing people this fall. On the Democrat side, there are two flawed candidates who are fighting it out. The Democrats attack each other, but their proposals are remarkably similar: higher taxes, big-government health care, and weakened national security.

• The Republicans, on the other hand, have offered plans to keep our economy growing by letting Americans keep more of the money they earn; to make health care more available, more portable, and more affordable without handing it over to government bureaucrats; and, most importantly, to keep America safe from threats both abroad and at home.

• The Republican vision for our future is a positive and optimistic one, while the Democrats seem to see only a failed America, one in which we need to pay more taxes, depend on larger bureaucracies, and withdraw from the world stage.

From JoAnn Davidson

Thanks Peg for the inspiration

I hope for a rainbow at the end of every day.
We all need some inspiration.
Thanks Peg for sending this along.

Ok Republicans, time to get our house in order

If you don't want to lose the election in November to either Obama (Mr. Generalities) or Hillary (EGAD--Billary????) then us Republicans need to stop all the McCain yammering and start working together.

No, I did not vote for McCain, and I don't think he's a serious conservative, but honestly at this point I don't care---HE'S NOT HILLARY OR OBAMA and he is a Republican. Do you want the White House in THEIR hands? NOOOOOOOOO, so let's stop bickering and figure out how to BEAT THEM and be a party united in our efforts to WIN.

I want to win. I want to make sure Hillary is no where near any real power, because if she's there Bill's there---EGAD---that would be disaster. Obama may be a nice man, but he's Bambi in the headlights of the terrorists, and he's kiss up to people like Pelosi and Reid and we'll be back in the same fix we were with Jimmy Carter-----------OUCH. PLEASE NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So let's start getting along. It's McCain --- not Huckabee who would LOSE BIG TIME to the Democrats.

I'll say it---Pelosi is NUTS, and a political whore for the Democrats & San Francisco

"Pelosi calls Iraq a 'failure'"

That's the title of the news article. Nancy Pelosi should be tried for treason--or should lose her post as Speaker of the House.

Can you imagine Denny Hastert saying such a thing? Can you imagine anyone who is SANE saying such a thing?????

Here's the article: READ IT.

Please keep a bucket next to you while you read it--you'll probably want to vomit. Or maybe you'll just want to punch something.

I'm jealous--I don't have a boat !!!

Drew Carey got it right. The "struggling middle class" isn't exactly as poor as the political pundits lead you to believe. Carey says it: "Bad news sells. Americans are richer now than at any time."

"It's not the high cost of living, it's the cost of living high."

Watch this video from Drew Carey's site.

Don't listen to the pundits--us Americans are richer and happier than ever before.

But I don't have a boat--so am I poor?

Super Tuesday and voting

Now that I'm a retired teacher I must admit that for the first time I miss not giving my American Government students the lecture I used to give every new class--especially since it's an election year. One of the most important things I used to drum into them every first lecture was that "voting is not your right---it's your responsibility. Voting is a requirement of this class."

I wonder how many people who are registered Illinois voters will ACTUALLY vote on Tuesday, Feb. 5th. I'm very hopeful that EVERYONE who can vote WILL vote. I used to tell my students, "If you don't vote, don't bitch." No, that's not exactly a VOTE OR DIE kind of thing, but I sure get tired of those people who just sit around and bitch about how bad they think everything is and then you find out they NEVER vote. Don't vote? SHUT UP and let the rest of us who give a damn about our country run things.

Everyone in my home did early voting due to travel and weather issues. Good thing because for example, I have been pleased to tell the Oberweis campaign folks when they've called (at least 3-4 times) that Jim got 3 votes from my home already. They usually say thank you and hang up. I've had the good fortune to tell the Kay Hatcher campaign workers the same thing.

So candidates, PLEASE NO MORE CALLS. We voted--because we know it's not our right, it's our RESPONSIBILITY. We do give a damn about our country--we've earned the right to bitch because we voted. (So please, can we go to bed early now without the phone constantly ringing????)

Is anyone else tired of winter?

Well it's been a week that's tested everyone in my family. We drove through the blizzard last Thursday--yes, BLIZZARD, and thankfully made it home safely. Today I drove through some awful fog and was supposed to catch a flight out of Midway Airport. When I left Southwest Airlines and WBBM AM said all the flights out of Midway were on time. By the time I got there EVERYTHING was canceled. I've never seen so many people in line to check bags or talk to ticketing agents. Rather than wait for hours we decided to simply call SWA. They were very accomodating. I think I'll stay home.... Here's a link to check out current weather conditions at Midway Airport--shoulda used it earlier !

Here's another link to check the status of Midway Airport.