Bad Girl's Club

Okay, I have an aberration in the stuff I like to watch on TV because I am a brainless, reality show addict. I let my girls watch shows that I honestly shouldn't. My oldest daughter is having serious issues with the girls that she's so tried to be friends with, but honestly she's hotter, smarter, more mature and she's finally kicked them to the curb, I always regret things like that because it's hard for me to finally get discouraged enough to walk away. One thing is going to grow worse as time goes on. She's going to become more fascinating to boys and she warns them that if they like being her friend that they shouldn't try to ask her out. Some of them actually listen but the ones who are rebuffed usually get mean and call her a 8!tch, but she owns it because ummm, have you met her mother???? Anyway, digression there. One show we've liked is called The Bad Girl's Club. There's not much I want my girls to learn except a lesson from one girl. She is tiny, she's nice, and she does NOT back down from a fight. She doesn't fight like a girl and the only time I've seen her taken down is when they beat her down four against her. I don't want my girls to be fighting, but if someone else starts it, I'd love to see, especially my oldest, take out this little 8!tch Posse, because I know she can. She's not me though, far more mature. So tonight is the finale of Bad Girls and it's going to get ugly. The moderator??? Perez Hilton. Oh yeah, that's going to be effective. I think he should be cast in the next season. How brave would the Laptop Samurai be face to face?? Internet bullies are a dime a dozen. Sharks lurking in dark waters (or mama's basement, not especially brave (again I know who reads my blog, loser). It's gotta suck to be them.

Expect the unexpected.

Obamas Are Personally Paying For White House Renovations

To the average American this may look a little too stand up. Like a really appropriate thing for the First Family to do. Setting a good example of paying our own way in life. Living conservatively within our means. But you KNOW it's a trick. I can't wait to hear Fox and Friends. Oh and the big fat dude with the golden mic that was the answer to the fun guessing game no one even tried to guess, this could be the move that causes an aneurysm.

Oooooo!!!! Fun new game!!

I show you a quote and you guess who said it. (Hint: I am always going to choose living brain donors' quotes)

Speaking of the photos taken of naked prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison, this person said: "This is no different than what happens at the Skull and Bones initiation." (Oh and it not Saddam Hussein and for our Republican lurkers (yeah, I can see who my readers are) Bin Laden is Saudi/Afganistan.. Ummm yeah they lied. I hope you knew that or I've ruined everything for you, huh?)

Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves. -- J. M. Barrie

I have a very very wise niece who has, for a very long time, used a similar motto: "Don't blow out my candle to make yours burn brighter." Don't tell me that she didn't make it up or I will accuse you of being a candle blower outer.

Sometimes I feel like sunshine and candle light is further at the end of the tunnel having had the demon headache for so many years now. I am not the Monica I was before. I don't even know this Monica. Nor do I like her much. Perhaps all that is needed to find a semblance of the old me, is a bit more sunshine, keep my candle lit. I need to learn not to be angry at candle blower outers. I need to learn to pity them. Perhaps the head dwelling demon needs a name. I've always thought so, but nothing even summoned from the depths of hell has even captured the exquisite pain and destruction the headache has wrought in my life. I think I shall try to take a page from Oprah Noodlemantra's life. Live life.

Karma??

So when I was around 13 or 14 this girl moved into my hometown. She was different, she had a different name, and she had nothing to do with the fact that I was very unkind to her. My friends and myself were mean and brutal. When I was 15 I decided to go to Upward Bound (not to be confused with Outward Bound, I wasn't an out of control rebellious sort). She was the only person I knew that would be going too. When I told her, naturally she felt like she'd been kicked in the stomach. We became roomies and then BFFs after that. I seriously thought everyone was fortunate enough to have loyal friends that had your back no matter what. I have never NOT had a friend that I couldn't trust with my life so I took it for granted that these people were common. Since my tormenting of my friend of like 26 years, I've been in various situations that has prompted apologies to her for how I treated her all those years ago. Working with youth, especially girls, I am astounded at their cruelty. My oldest daughter is on the receiving end of a situation like this. Now this is pure honesty, I swear. No parental bias. My oldest daughter is of an age that she is getting a lot of attention from boys. Her 3 friends that I refer to as the "8itch Posse" are the kind of girls that are going to have to find a relative to take them to the prom. The leader of the group is a very unpleasant girl and it's obvious to everyone BUT my daughter that this is jealousy. I see it chipping away at my daughter's self-esteem. I think we've reached a point that my daughter has to give up on this. At least for now. It will be very interesting to see what happens with the 3 of them having no target. They will self destruct, I believe. Meanwhile she is making friends with other girls who are happy, positive, and tells her that she's beautiful and she in turn is happy, positive, and thinks that they are beautiful. She's just over a year and a half away from dating and driving. Life will be a whole new experience for her then.
Now I'm off to apologize to my longtime friend for being mean when I first met her for the hundredth time...

Evolution vs. Creationism

I have always loved science. I think when I was a child I covered nearly ALL branches of science in what I wanted to be when I grew up. When I was in high school my science teacher was called in to the school board superintendents office and told NOT to teach us about evolution because it contradicted his religious faith and his daughter was in my biology class. My teacher was so annoyed by this that he asked us to open our biology books to the chapter on evolution and completely rip it out of our books. Had I been the Briar creature then that I am now I'd have gone to a school board meeting to protest the complete stupidity of this rule because this girl's daddy would have no control on what she learned beyond high school and it also took away MY right to learn about evolution.

One day as a child my parents and I were out riding around on a dusty old dirt road. It was obvious that it was rarely traveled. Someone had decided to dump their junk out there rather than the town landfill. The stuff was pretty old but some of it was of interest to my dad and for me we'd just struck gold. There was a set of science encyclopedias. My parents said no because they were old and weathered and likely had cooties, but I promised to keep them out in my playhouse. I loved them. I would read for hours in them but as it got colder that was harder to do. My dad had an old truck we rarely used and it had a camper shell on it. He moved it so that the sun would warm it most of the day. I moved my encyclopedias in there as well as my microscope and chemistry set (which had to be a relief to my mother because I'd nearly blown up the toilet with one of my "potions"). I hung up my star charts and my poster of Mars I took from a National Geographic. Now I had a lab and I continued to read in the encyclopedias. I came across a chart showing one celled animals, so I ran down into the field below my house to the pasture that had a pond with the BEST frogs ever! I had to take a stick and break away ice, but I managed over time to identify each and every one celled animal on the chart in that book. So not teaching me evolution was more of an injustice than an outrage because I probably could have taught the class myself.
The part that really bugged me is that it's true. Evolution is a fact of nature. NO ONE can deny it. In your younger years you learn about the Arctic fox and hare vs. the Desert fox and hare. Clearly they have evolved to their environment. Many things have changed and we know it well. Maybe people are uncomfortable putting the name to it because Evolution sounds like a dirty word to the ignorant Christian. I learned all the theories of Evolution. I came away feeling skeptical every time. I mean, most things that evolve have to change completely to exist in their everchanging environment. So why are there still monkeys?? This could be a bit of stubbornness on my part but I really don't think that MY DNA was ever part monkey. But I read them all and think about them and I can almost believe it. Like a Stephen King book, it falls apart at the end. I just don't believe that some unknown spark hit primordial soup or primitive fairy dust. THAT would require a miracle that sounds a LOT like God to me and we are right NOW at the point where we try to explain where WE came from....That is as far as I ever got with the science of where I came from.
This explanation has always worked for me:

26 ¶ And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
29 ¶ And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.
31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

(Genesis 1:27-31)

THAT makes more sense to me and twice as much so when I was handed on of my children for the very first time after having watched my stomach grow from flat to round and felt the life inside of me. Feeling my baby having a nasty case of hiccups in MY tummy. There is a lot that science explains for me, most things, in fact. But God did give that spark of life, I've never ever doubted it since I became a mother.

This is what prompted today's blog:
In The Beginning

Polygamy.

When I was a little girl, 3 kids moved into the house next door to my best friend. A girl and 2 boys, the youngest was my age. They were grandchildren of the people who lived there. As I remember the story, their mother had gotten into one of the offshoots of the LDS faith and was in a polygamous 'marriage'. She died of cancer so the kids grew up in my home town. I remember mentioning it to the boy once and he got very angry. I didn't understand any of it. Living in Utah seeing a polygamous family is a common occurrence. They aren't hard to spot because they have this odd dress code. This is a link to some of Warren Jeff's wedding pictures (note the hairstyle and mode of dress and also the ages of these brides):
Sooooo, they are blatantly breaking the law and make no effort to hide it and how lucrative it is living off of the tax payer's dime. Ummm why??? The raid on the Texas sect was a really bad idea. They tore innocent children from their mothers and their homes. It had to be terrifying for them. So that doesn't seem to be the answer, but paying their bills doesn't sit well with me. Why are we giving them money for this? Why not fine them? A set rate for each wife after the first. It seems so odd to me. And if we must make freak shows on them like Big Love, why not send in the Fashion Police? THAT would be entertainment. "No ma'am wearing jeans and sneakers under a dowdy long sleeved long dress is DEFINITELY a fashion faux pas. And the hair! Who one earth came up with THAT??

CNBC employee requirement: Frontal Lobotomy

Okay either someone needs to sit Jim Cramer down and explain what just happened to him on The Daily Show, using really small words OR lock him away until it blows over. People on the high road have no need to crawl and grovel to reach their destination, they can walk proudly knowing Jon Stewart isn't going play a clip showing you flat out lying. No, I'm afraid the high road isn't on his moral GPS. If he thought he was going to weasel out of it by crying to a girl, he chose the wrong one.

Here's the clip:

And don't worry about the public blaming the media too much, sounds like people watch Colbert too.
The New York Times ran an article about angry tax payers stalking AIG execs.
I think he was kidding about hunting down the AIG bonus recipients with pitchforks and torches, but again, COMEDY CENTRAL!!
Next thing we will be seeing is Miss Cleo from Psychic Friends Network giving investment advice. I wonder how many suckers Cramer convinced to invest in THAT farce before it went bankrupt in '98. Yeah Miss Cleo probably got it right far more often than Cramer did and she doesn't throw cows!
If he DID hide out for a while he could come back with a rasta wig and fake jamaican accent and start a new show.

O/T for a moment, but as I have mentioned before, I blog as a venting avenue. I have noticed a big change in my traffic and was advised to start being more careful with my blogging structure (paragraphs, he wants paragraphs.) Feel free to use the shout box to critique or advise. I don't ban people for disagreeing with me or constructive criticism. I just ban people who can't keep up intellectually. (Yeah I know you are still hooked JAWS :D ) Oh and I don't always fix typos or weird things that make no sense. I just reread it and say "HUH??" but I figure you all get the gist.

What's next?? Locusts?? Hail?? Pestilence????

I think I have chicken pox...

Again.

Sad...

I was very saddened to hear of the accident and subsequent death of Natasha Richardson. How very sad for Liam Neeson and the rest of her family and friends. Death is never an easy thing, but sudden tragic death of someone so young is unfathomable pain.

The weird cat lady...

So I love animals, but I don't like my house to stink. It's a freaky challenge and yesterday it just got more difficult. I talked about my reef tanks which is my way of pursuing marine biology in the desert. We have lots of little marine critters including a porcelain crab and one that was thrown in for free and I haven't figured out what it is yet. I also have a few fish that I love entirely too much and work with them until they will breach and eat from my fingers. My maroon clown and black and white striped damsel that looks very presidential are well trained. But it's an ongoing thing. I rescued a snake that had to be removed from a classroom due to OSHA laws. Then bought another because I love them so much. When my kids were little we befriended a stray cat and even tamed her enough that I could feel the babies in her tummy. One day she came to eat but she'd given birth but I didn't know where. One day we stood at the window and watched her bring 5 beautiful kittens and entrusted them with us. Unfortunately before they were old enough to be weaned she was hit by a car. We managed to wean them and find homes for all but two. They live in our back yard and are happy and keep mice and even prairie dogs at bay. We had them neutered to keep them less exploratory and to not have grandchildren... I immunize them myself. We also adopted a black cat that was hell on wheels and is so much fun but he is like a lot of cats. Fickle.. Later we found an online adoption agency that we found to be remarkably well run but limited in space. We adopted a cat from them. We tried to help them in every way possible, but due to some health issues they had to give up. I also bought a couple of sugar gliders. The female was missing half of her tail and he fur was patchy and obviously she was neglected. I can feel the mended bones and am happy that she's better now. The male seemed better taken care of. They are taming well and she is beautiful and fat all of a sudden. I am thinking she may be pregnant. *yay w/sarcasm* A while back at my husband's work place, he noticed it was something of a dump site for strays. He and my daughter built a shelter for them to keep them out of the cold, but there are soooo many of them. One small cat is actually tame and my husband speaks of it often. She wasn't getting to eat and didn't look to have long to live. He told me recently that he believed it had lost some toes, or there was some definite deformation of the paws. Yesterday he brought her home. I named her Cinder because she's all black, and I immediately bathed her then fed here and dewormed, just in case. She's skeletal. It's heart wrenching. I need her to fatten up and then I'll immunize her. She hasn't lost toes but the pads on her paws are so swollen it hurts her to walk. She has a cold and infection in her eyes. I will strengthen her as well as possible but she's not litter trained. She won't be able to move outside or into the garage soon. I need to get her well first. I can't keep her inside because of the litter issue and my husband is allergic. I need to find a new shelter where the others can be helped, but I can't help so much because I get attached. In the meantime I am going to try to find a way to keep her. I am looking to start a nonprofit shelter of sorts, but I need a LOT of help. I'll need local donations to help with immunization, food and sterilization. we are going to look for fund raising ideas. My daughter will make a slide show to ask for help at school for the morning announcements, but I have no idea how to set up a non profit organization a very small one.My husband learned a valuable lesson. If he brings it home I will fall in love and if I name it within moments, I'm attached.
Yeah...*sigh* a new cause.

I had another topic to blog about this morning, BUT...

I went shopping today. I had a check that I needed to cash a check for $7.00 and it wasn't from my bank. I decided the best thing was to go to the bank that it came from. It was reimbursement for something I did for the PTA and totally forgot. So I signed it and sent it through the Jetson tube and they sent it back because they needed 2 forms of I.D....... For $7.00??? Yeah okay so I sent it back. They sent it back with an ink pad because they needed my fingerprint...... FOR $7.00????? I'm not asking for a multimillion dollar bonus from a sinking boat being rowed by tax payers. It was SEVEN FREAKING DOLLARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
THEN.... I have 2 12 gallon nano reef tanks so I hit all of the fish/coral stores first. There is one store that actually got me into the nano reefing because they had a beautiful large display tank but they also had a 12 gallon nano that was like a tiny jewel. It was breathtaking. The owners moved to a new location and their display tank is a custom built 800 gallon tank (edited for a wild exaggeration. OOPS!). The space they chose is too small and this tank is WAYYYY too big to be a reef tank and as it cycled they put their old and well-established coral in a holding tank for MONTHS waiting for this tank to cycle. They lost tens of thousands of dollars worth of coral. When it was somewhat established they brought in an anemone (HUGE and beautiful) from Vanuatu and a family of 4 generations of skunk clowns. I wanted my kids to see it, so not long after first seeing it I took them in. The original anemone had died in captivity so they had brought in another large anemone for this generational family to host. This one didn't make it either and so they stopped trying. These clowns are still desperately looking to host something. Anything. I even think that now they are selling off the individual clowns. Mostly the damage to all of this coral has been a slow decline with a lot of odd excuses, chiller crash in a very hot store. The expense of changing light bulbs. Various water imbalances and spikes. There was also a Tridacna that was HUUUUGE. These major losses happened in a time that they were on vacation and no one was minding the store and totally baffling to me there is no back up on any of this.
I had an interesting and ironic discussion with the wife of the husband and wife team on how reef keeping is actually very environmentally great, so long as the keepers are responsible in what they keep and what they sell. I've been trying very hard to buy aquacultured and captive bred coral and fish. (Again the point of something has been wasted on the American Public and that is that Nemo was ripped from his natural environment and stuck in captivity with fish that responsible aquarists and reef keepers wouldn't keep together. They aren't compatible and in most cases a death sentence, due to ignorance.)
I will admit that I have lost a lot of animals myself in learning and I am STILL learning. A few months ago my prize and oldest nano crashed unexpectedly. I was able to rescue a few things, but lost a lot and I don't handle failure well. After it was already a lost cause I took the opportunity to let some pests die in the tank deliberately. One of which is called a tulip anemone. They are pretty little things but the plague because they take over and killing them poisons the tank. So for months I've let them drop dead one by one until I was rid of them and am back on the mend cycling and supporting a little life. I am having a set back and have removed some stuff to allow for the newest algae bloom to cycle through. Also a few times I've mentioned to these store owners that if I had a store of my own I'd do a pest tank so people could identify them, learn to deal with them, and watch how they destroy a tank. Imagine my surprise today when I go in and see these anemones for sale for $4.00 a piece. Also the name they put on them is misleading. They called them rose tipped anemones, and I want to someday own an ACTUAL rose bubble anemone which is breathtaking and something I want very very bad, but I realize that I need to wait until I know more because it's beyond my expertise. I try to be responsible. What they are doing is wrong.
So what do you think?? Did I stay silent??

Seriously people, do you even listen??

Why does no one get this??? This is so simple that even I get it and I have no idea what a bull and a bear has to do with the financial market or why no one sweeps the floor there. It looks as frightening and unorganized as it's suddenly been revealed to be.
So.... YES. Jon Stewart OWNED Cramer and if you listened to the previously posted uncensored clips I put up and you REALLY listened all the way to the end you heard Cramer finally cave and start offering some pathetic excuses and sniveling apologies. He even asks Jon Stewart to tell him what to do that he can change. At one point Jon loosely quotes the Carley Simon by saying "This song isn't about you" CNBC is offended and scandalized. But it isn't about them either. No network nor reporter has cornered the market on irresponsibility in reporting but many have come close. There is a little thing called freedom of press. Does that give them a right to choose sides and print lies and twisted scare tactics about our government officials and making wild guesses on what is a good investment only to say "oops" the next day when people have lost money they can ill afford to lose. Who am I to say that President Obama is succeeding or failing? He promised us a lot of things. Maybe some of them were naive, maybe some were impossible, maybe he's read the deep dark secrets of the previous administrations and is thinking "What the HELL????". My humble opinion is that pleasing the Republicans in general is less likely than stopping all discord in the Middle East. Americans don't know where to turn. We are scared and we all wonder where and when we got to this place. We were so busy looking at who was 'palling around with terrorists' and who was going to end this senseless war we never stopped to ask questions about the people reporting this stuff. Who governs THEM???
When our new President won, we all wait with bated breath to see what he was going to do. He's been a busy man, and as far as I can see he's actually accomplished a great deal, but everyone's "honey do" list is different and many are disappointed. World peace, stabilizing the economy, and overturning laws that would make Niccolo Machiavelli shudder shouldn't take this long. He's been in office for like TWO WHOLE MONTHS!!! Personally, I think a lot the pain in the butt Republican's need to be bound and gagged and thrown in Gitmo. Quite a few Democrats as well. I'd start with McCain, but like with so many people who are bitter and small shells of humanity he's pretty much discredited himself with his foul temper, foul mouth and truly inferior IQ (hmmm does that sounds familiar??). The Obama Administration can officially throw out a song as well: Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire." President Obama needs to (IMHO)ditch the bipartisan efforts and remind this country that Republican and Democrat is a division right now. We are Americans, and we've always proven to be strong enough to overcome if we work together. To wish for the failure of our President is to wish for the failure of our country and we could do with less of that. Who do we believe? Who can we trust? One thing has unfortunately stayed the same through the change of Administrations. Our tax money is being used and we really have no say in the matter. AIG has people contractually owed millions of dollars of bonuses??? And we are paying for it??. These people who have lied and stolen from us should be imprisoned, not rewarded. We have one place that we COULD go for honesty. One group of people we could trust. The media. Not the paparazzi type media who obsessively stalks celebrities and consider that news. Not a financial show on a network touting itself to be the place to go for good financial advice that throws pies and deifies it's host and has audio effects like a cheesy radio station. If these reporters actually have access to information that informs us of financial dishonesty they should be there to tell us. To help us out. I don't care where Paris Hilton is right now, or whether Lindsay Lohan is dating a man or a woman this week. I want to know who to trust and once again, Jon Stewart is the one that's telling me that. These "serious" journalists calling him a "comedian hack" has real problems. He's proven over and over again that his mind is quicker than theirs is. He remains calm and never touts himself as anything other that what he is. THAT is honesty. Sucks to be them.

Dear Lord, am I the only one who sees what idiots people are???

"Tucker Carlson repeatedly blasted Jon Stewart for his grilling of Jim Cramer on "The Daily Show" last Thursday. Carlson, appearing on CNN's "Reliable Sources," called Stewart a "partisan hack," just an operative for the Democratic party, who only took on Cramer and CNBC because they criticized President Obama's budget. Carlson also predicted that Stewart was becoming "so self-serious and sanctimonious that it's just a matter of time before he becomes unfunny." "

So Tucker Carlson is all hormonal over Jon Stewart's spanking he gave Cramer on the Daily show. Could it be that Carlson is still smarting from a similar butt kicking of his own by Jon Stewart?? Or is it that his mother was one letter off of prophecy when she named him? He's calling Stewart a "Partisan Hack"??? I've watched Jon Stewart take pot shots at the Dems and President Obama as well. But is Carlson forgetting that Jon Stewart has never claimed to be anything that a comedian? HE'S ON COMEDY CENTRAL!!!!! He is also an American that has a right to express his opinion ON COMEDY CENTRAL!!!! He's not claiming to be the God of the financial market. He just got the idiot on his so that DOES claim to be just that "In Cramer we trust." No one goes to Comedy Central for news, they go to CNN and CNBC to the people who ARE claiming to have the answers. If he's going to be called out for showing his anger and opinion on that sniveling idiot Cramer and be called "an operative of the Democrat party" then just WHAT in the HELL is Rush Limbaugh??? Now there's a smack down I'd love to see. A man who claims to know EVERYTHING up against a man who claims nothing more than his opinion. The Comedy Central folks would be cleaning THAT massive grease spot for years to come. Again, their mistake is underestimating the fact that Jon Stewart is actually amazingly intelligent. Cry, Carlson, cry. You've been owned as well.

You have the right to remain silent, I highly recommend that you do.

In an "debate" (and I use that term VERY VERY loosely) I quoted something that Jon Stewart said which gained me a "pshaw" and Jon Stewart an insult to his intelligence. Neither of us will have lasting scars, LOL! I maintain that he is far more intelligent than most people realize, in fact, downright brilliant. There are some things in life that are unfair. People who deserve to be dragged into court for crimes they committed will never get what they deserve because of their wealth, power, and connections. Frustrating and unfair, but true. A prime example is this:

"Now, therefore, I, Gerald R. Ford, President of the United States, pursuant to the pardon power conferred upon me by Article II, Section 2, of the Constitution, have granted and by these presents do grant a full, free, and absolute pardon unto Richard Nixon for all offenses against the United States which he, Richard Nixon, has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from July (January) 20, 1969 through August 9, 1974."

September 8th 1974. A man who betrayed the people he was trusted to represent was pardoned of all wrongdoing after less than a month of the shame he deserved to be held accountable.
Justice in the end came from an unlikely source. David Frost. A man who was a self important fluff host and not even an American citizen and never even had a vote.

Jim Cramer is no one so important other than giving irresponsible financial advice in a time that people are uninformed and frightened. And take him serious. Jon Stewart just tried and convicted him in the court of freedom of speech. It was an azz whooping. I am going to post the interview that comes in 3 parts. THIS IS UNEDITED AND UNCENSORED. There ARE f-bombs. Watch it at your own risk.
Stewart vs. Cramer:
Part one
Part two
Part three

Oh yeah, never judge a book by it's cover. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that Cramer was out of his league. Do people NOT watch The Daily Show ON COMEDY CENTRAL???

Blogging... Weird word.

So I started to blog because I have delusions of grandeur that some day, long in the future, my name will be spoken with reverence and awe, like Aristotle or Plato. Then I remember that if you abandon internet accounts for long they get deleted, so that brings me hurtling into the reality that I'm never going to be anything more than a domestic goddess. A remarkably smart, intuitive bordering on psychic, almost always right and EXTREMELY humble domestic goddess, but that all goes mostly over most people's head... Sad, that.
I've never been good at keeping a written journal, partly because I'm too lazy and partly because it could be used as evidence to convict me in some heinous crime. Blogging is much simpler and I usually do it when I'm irate at someone. So it's mostly a daily thing. I moved it to protect my family from the harsh reality that I'm the remarkably smart, intuitive bordering on psychic, almost always right and EXTREMELY humble member of the family and my opinions not only offend, but I think there are family members who would shave their heads, give up worldly possessions, and wear only a gunny sack if it gave them a reason to disagree with me. So I started my blog here with a very clear warning. I WILL likely offend, so if you read this and get mad, don't call me screaming in tones only dogs can hear. Because I can only respond to that like I do in most of these things. I TOLD YOU SO. It interests me who reads my blog. I am usually logged on to voodoodoll.com for a different reason each day. (Again I changed the name of the website to protect the idiots who actually check this stuff so if you go there, I can't promise you what you will find because I just made it up, you might get hexed.) And the really weird part is that at first because I figured my genius was going largely unnoticed, I called my mom or read it to my family which all responded with a groan like it's a punishment or something. Then I discovered something very interesting.I actually have a small following. An odd assortment of people, and some even make me go "HUH???". Since I didn't believe anyone would actually come here I usually use the label thing for one last insult so it makes me wonder.... Just what, exactly, were some of you looking for when you found me???

"...Thank God we have a president who at least will try."

My daughter told me about this today and I searched to find it. She also mentioned that a kid in her class said that his family has a picture of President Obama hanging in the house that they throw darts at. How refreshing. People teaching their children respect and patriotism.

WASHINGTON — For nearly 150 years, a story has circulated about a hidden Civil War message engraved inside Abraham Lincoln's pocket watch. On Tuesday, museum curators confirmed it was true. A watchmaker used tiny tools to carefully pry open the antique watch at the National Museum of American History, and a descendant of the engraver read aloud the message from a metal plate underneath the watch face.

"Jonathan Dillon April 13 - 1861," part of the inscription reads, "Fort Sumpter (sic) was attacked by the rebels on the above date." Another part reads, "Thank God we have a government."

The words were etched in tiny cursive handwriting and filled the the space between tiny screws and gears that jutted through the metal plate. A magnifying glass was required to read them.

Jonathan Dillon, then a watchmaker on Pennsylvania Avenue, had Lincoln's watch in his hands when he heard the first shots of the Civil War had been fired in South Carolina. The Irish immigrant later recalled being the only Union sympathizer working at the shop in a divided Washington.

Dillon's story was passed down among his family and friends, eventually reaching a New York Times reporter. In a 1906 article in the paper, an 84-year-old Dillon said no one, including Lincoln, ever saw the inscription as far as he knew.

Dillon had a fuzzy recollection of what he had engraved. He told the newspaper he had written: "The first gun is fired. Slavery is dead. Thank God we have a president who at least will try."

For years the story went unconfirmed.

The watchmaker's great-great grandson, Doug Stiles, first heard the tale of the engraving from his great uncle decades ago. He said the story had reached extended family as far away as Ireland.

A few months ago, he used Google to find the New York Times story, and last month he passed the information along to Smithsonian curators, who knew nothing about the engraving.

On Tuesday, watchmaker George Thomas, who volunteers at the museum, spent several minutes carefully opening the watch as an audience of reporters and museum workers watched on a video monitor.

"The moment of truth has come. Is there or is there not an inscription?" Thomas said, teasing the audience, which gasped when he confirmed it was there. He called Stiles up to read his ancestor's words, drawing smiles and a few sighs of relief.

"Like Pearl Harbor or 9/11, this was the reaction he had (to the Civil War,)" Stiles said of the inscription.

Later, Stiles said he felt closer to the 16th president.

"My gosh, that was Lincoln's watch," he said, "and my ancestor put graffiti on it!"

Lincoln's family kept the watch until it was donated to the museum in 1958. It was Lincoln's everyday pocket watch, one of the president's only valuable possessions he brought with him to the White House from Springfield, Ill., said Harry Rubenstein, curator of the museum's politics and reform division.

"I think it just captures a bit of history that can transform you to another time and place," he said. "It captures the excitement, the hope of a watchmaker in Washington."

The watch will go back on display at the museum by Wednesday as part of the exhibit, "Abraham Lincoln: An Extraordinary Life." It will have a new label to tell Dillon's story and a photo of the inscription.

Mean girls.

I find myself approaching the point as a mother that I have less control over the protection of my children. Not so long from now they will both be teens, but cruelty and deceit has begun so much earlier than I remember it. I should have had sons. The male species (for the most part) are less drama and friendship is not so complicated nor risky. I don't know how to teach them anymore. In the movie the Changeling, Christine Collins tells her son "Never start a fight, but always finish it." Advice I have given over and over, and for the most part they have taken my advice. My oldest is in a unique position among her friends. She's smart, she's fun, talented and beautiful beyond the average and I'm not speaking this as a mother, but as a helpless spectator. She brings me notes that are passed to her during class, from boys asking her out or for her phone number. She has never became involved with any of that and has no problems with the fact that she isn't allowed to date for over a year. She learned quickly the a boy is a better friend if he remembers that is all he will ever be. It doesn't stop them from asking or from reminding her that she can lie about where she is. So far, she's taken my advice. Her girlfriends are not so blessed or cursed as the case may be and they make her pay, dearly. It's here that I'm lost. How do you fight such breathtaking cruelty? How do you stay uninvolved as you watch them reduce her to tears. Make her question what she sees in the mirror? In her heart and in the hearts of everyone who knows and loves her. I can only hope that one day she will be blessed with a friendship that I've had with many people throughout my life. Wonderful, amazing people who have added to who I am and not tried to take away.
As for my youngest? I remind her over and over don't start it... She doesn't always follow my wisdom, but she definately finishes the fight. Boy or girl, she's settles it like a guy. Yeah, I know... But pretty cool, huh?

P.S. On the subject of yesterdays post... There is a big brouhaha over a certain show that is violating a moral issue by showing things that are sacred to my faith. I will not address it further because I won't promote or advertise it. People lacking in all respect for others are not taking away from us, they are displaying how very sad and wrong they are. Disrespecting someone's faith for entertainment is so very wrong. Like I said yesterday. Fetid. Fetid people.

Censorship or exploitation??

Hugh Hefner bought the rights to use Marilyn Monroe's pictures in Playboy. She was given the choice and she was given $500.
There are pictures of Elizabeth Short all over the internet. Most often if the Administrator is running a respectful site, the death and morgue shots won't be there. If they DO then they are no better than fetid.com. People who are seriously working towards a theory has looked at them, but not often and very clinically. You rarely need a second glance, you definitely don't want one. Forget stealing pictures from lame obsolete (when WAS the last update??) sites about Beth. If you need to go to fetid.com for your sick jollies, you are twisted.
Am I asking for censorship? Maybe. She was a loved daughter, sister, friend. Her nude layout has been well published but Beth didn't make that choice nor the money. Any site that publishes the name of the Fetid.com site (I hope you've really been stupid enough to try LOL!!)is advertising sick thrills.
People who KNOW the case wouldn't set foot on those sites.
One always has to explain their motive in this case obsession. Some are pure, some have lost a great deal to the study of the case. Some people want to be on TV and hailed as the Queen of all Things. Fetid Things.

You too could become the next Republican President

One of the strangest things that I noticed during the election was the odd preoccupation with liquor and candidates. Especially in light of the fact that the current President, at that time,(G.W.Bush)was a recovering(?) alcoholic. I actually saw online polls that said "Which candidate would you rather have a beer with?" And who can forget Joe Six pack?? Hilary was throwing them back pretty good, too.
I'd really not base my vote on which candidate could drink me under the table, but education never seems to be an important factor. It's also interesting to me what occupation precedes politics for some. It was Rush Limbaugh that got me thinking about this. I mean the man is moderately intelligent, some people find him entertaining, but he is truly leading the GOP right now. Isn't that a bit frightening?? You know he'll never run for President because he would totally suck and being a critic is so much easier and it's likely a pretty hefty (pun not intended, but accurate) pay cut. So I got looking at some of our more famous politicians and their credentials.
Here is a sample of what I found:
Ronald Reagan (R): Actor. Former California governor. Former U.S. President.
Fred (Gopher) Grandy (R): Actor. Former U.S. Representative, Iowa.
Fred Thompson (R): Actor. Incumbent U.S.Senator, Tennessee.
Sonny Bono (R): Singer/ actor. Former mayor of Palm Springs. Former U.S. Representative, California.(Ironically, despite his own history of drug addiction, he felt that drug addicts should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Also needed cue cards to recite the Pledge of Allegiance)
George Murphy (R): Actor. Former California Senator.

I didn't list all celebrities, just the ones who can "act" like a politician. The majority of my findings as you can see are Republicans, but to be fair, I found a couple of Democrats, as well:

Al Franken (D): Comedian and Author of the book "Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot" Senator of Minnesota (although I think they will be alternating for years to come each time they recount the votes.
Ben "Cooter" Jones (D): Actor. Former Georgia Rep.
Arnold Schwarzenegger(R): Actor/ bodybuilder. Current California governor

I have to say.. My new Dahlia home is pretty freaking awesome!!

Most anyone who knows me they knows I am never going to forget the day I saw the special on tv about Elizabeth Short. Nor will I ever forget Beth. I guess only other "Dahlia-Philes" can understand it. Also it's pretty well known that I recently asked to be removed from moderating and being a member of BethShort.com A site that has some really wonderful people that I hope to be friends with for life. But the site is woefully neglected and people have been abused for far too long. Grown ups that could learn maturity from my children. I had little power as I watched some of the most intelligent people I've ever encountered driven off by the most unpleasant people on the face of the planet. Not long ago I brought a link to a new site to our message board. I was astounded at how quickly it grew and improved. Pictures I'd never seen and quotes I've never read. When I left BethShort.com I intended to try to shake off the whole thing, but I wandered onto that new site. TheBlackDahliainHollywood.com. I was shocked to see the amount of work that was done since I'd last visited and the fledgling message board I'd joined there months ago is awesome. It's well moderated and the Admins there are on top of everything. I mentioned that a chat room would be cool, but we'd never expected much because on the old one and anyone who had access to GOOD info, that we could use, was either chased away or wouldn't set foot on there in the first place.
Tonight we chatted with Steve Hodel for hours. Time flew by and I got to do something I haven't been able to do in a LOOOOONG time. Express my opinions. I remain open to any and all ideas, but it's nice to be able to ask questions and politely disagree with other opinions. I don't have a solid theory in my head, but I collect info that makes sense to me. To NOT be open to differing opinions would be stupid. I'm not stupid.
Great night! Thanks everyone :)

Timmm55

If I did indeed call that IP wrong, it will be the first time I've ever been mistaken. That's not to say I can't make mistakes. If in this case I did, I truly apologize. I hope you remember well what I am like and that I pass no judgment on anyone. The frustration I feel at being categorized as this ultra conservative church with unlimited resources to decide the fate of a couple or a family who are loving and whole is that so much of what has been said has been untrue. But faith aside, my politics are very much in alignment with yours. I didn't mean for some of my frustrated remarks to sound callous and un-PC. What I didn't understand was how I was under attack when I was the person that deleted the very inappropriate jokes and gay slurs. I don't think low class behavior belongs on a board dedicated to Beth Short.
As I said. If I've wrongly accused you Tim, I am truly sorry.

HA!! My daughter is going to be President someday!!

Two blogs in one day! Whoa. But this was too good to pass up. My youngest daughter just won a multitude of awards one of which was a Gold Patriot Award. She had to memorize things even I didn't know. She also ended up singing the National Anthem to her teacher because she couldn't recite the lyrics. She asked to sing them to her teacher who promptly ran out of the room in excitement to tell everyone that she had a soloist for the Patriot Program, which NOW has led to a solo at a HUGE high school event that is giving ME hives. But I digress.. I was just read part of Rush "stroke waiting to happen" Limbaugh's speech where he accuses President Obama of bastardizing the Constitution. Then utters his brand of profound idiocy:

We want every American to be the best he or she chooses to be. We recognize that we are all individuals. We love and revere our founding documents, the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. [Applause] We believe that the preamble to the Constitution contains an inarguable truth that we are all endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights, among them life. [Applause] Liberty, Freedom. [Applause] And the pursuit of happiness. [Applause] Those of you watching at home may wonder why this is being applauded. We conservatives think all three are under assault. [Applause] Thank you. Thank you.

Okay so I read it to my daughter and said what is wrong with this??? She said "First off, that isn't the Preamble to the Constitution and second he said three things were under assault but he stated four things one of which he made up. Freedom isn't in the that sentence that is from The Declaration of Independence, DUH!" Looks like my daughter's Golden Patriot Award beats Rush Limbaugh's Golden Microphone. Not to mention she's 1/10 the body mass, and nowhere near as annoying. I think that the above example more than demonstrates her higher IQ. Looks like President Obama is onto something when he says that investing in our children is investing in our future. Let's just hope that by then the GOP isn't going to fat camp for their candidates.

PTA

Okay I love the PTA but I kinda feel like I've served my time. It's KINDA like being a governor but you don't get paid, you don't get free wardrobe, you have REAL responsibilities, and you actually do more than pay your $5 and put it on your "I'm qualified to be President of the USA" resume. I have a hard time saying no to the stupid time consuming hard things. So today I worked the book fair and they found out I'd been treasurer for 2 years in the past and said they need a treasurer for next year. I was saying NO WAY but I'm so easily talked into these things. Then the light went on and I remembered.. I don't have a child in that school next year! Phew!

Oh snap!

Just when the GOP didn't think that they could sink any lower...

RAHM: RUSH IS THE VOICE, ENERGY AND INTELLECT OF THE GOP. "Whenever A Republican Criticizes Him, They Have To Run Back And Apologize To Him And Say They Were Misunderstood"
(HuffPo headline)

Also:
The Governor I love to hate just made sense... Whoa!

Huntsman thinks the party's challenge is more profound, owing less to its excessive spending practices during the Bush era than to sweeping demographic and political changes that threaten to consign
Republicans to a long-term minority status and confine their appeal to narrow sections of the country.

The party needs to be more intellectually rigorous, and to compete for the votes of the young, the elites and minorities, he said in an interview with POLITICO. To do so, the GOP needs to tack toward the middle on environment, gay rights and immigration. And, yes, Ronald Reagan is to be admired – but as much for his oft-overlooked pragmatism as for his conservative principles.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0309/19455.html

Meanwhile Grandma Palin has decided that CONTROLLING your children is the answer:

Palin Backs Parental Consent Abortion Bill

Problems with this from her abound. She can't control her own daughter well enough to get her to practice abstinence and imagine her surprise when she pops in on Bristol only to find her shooting the breeze with Greta Van Buttkisser from Foxpublican News telling her that abstinence is an unrealistic expectation from teens. I'm guessing when the younger Palin girls are faced with the option of sex, they are going to be thinking long and hard about how many kids they've already raised for the Palin chicks that love to love (and I also hear that they love variety!) The problem with parents deciding whether or not their child can have an abortion is that they can be forcing their child to bear a child out of incest. Also food for thought: Cindy Anthony went postal when her daughter Casey mentioned aborting her unwanted pregnancy. I wonder if Cindy would make that same choice now.. Abortion vs. her daughter murdering her granddaughter.
Free agency isn't just a Mormon idea ya know.
So... I'm thinking that the GOP has two viable choices for 2012: Limbaugh/Palin OR Huntsman/Romney (only Romney should get a sex change to appear more relevant and openminded. Mitzy Romney 2012. Cool!