Standards?

Bill O'Reilly has a weekly segment on his show called "Mad as Hell".  It is aired on Thursday.

Right now, I'm mad as hell about something, but it would make no sense to send it into his show, so I'm going to vent here.

There is a man in Kentucky who attended a Halloween party dressed in an Obama mask and a straight jacket.  Word got out to someone who was offended.  Now this man and his fellow employees have to attend diversity training.  For years, people have been wearing presidential masks.  Remember the masks and ridiculing of Nixon, Reagan and Bush?  Oh, that's right, that's OK, they are Republicans.  It's only wrong to poke fun at Obama.  I guess that proves what has long been suspected - Obama is very thin-skinned and the Republicans are mature enough to take ridicule.

While I'm on the subject of Halloween and costumes.  I just heard today that the best-selling costumes for children are Miley Cyrus as that twerking dancer for girls and a pimp for boys.

What is the matter with parents today.  Don't they realize that costume is nothing more than kiddie porn.  Any parent who dresses his or her child as Miley Cyrus should have his or her head examined.  The same goes for any parent who allows his or her child to dress as a pimp.

If these are the standards by which children are living, we are in a lot of trouble.

Fall has Arrived

I know that according to the calendar, Fall arrived last month, but it just hasn't felt like it.  It's been a little warm, but yesterday and today it has cooled down.  Call me crazy, but I love the cooler, even cold, weather.

Today, to celebrate Fall's arrival I made my first pot of soup of the season - beef vegetable.  I started this morning and let it simmer all day.  For dinner, I had a large bowl of soup with a roll from the freezer and they were delicious.  Of course, I washed it all down with a good glass of wine.  Just perfect for a cold October night.

Next week, I will have three friends for dinner.  We're celebrating the end of Daylight Savings Time.  Any excuse for a party.

Fifty Shades of Green

My "bug" has struck again.

Two weeks ago, some friends and I took a trip to Scotland and Ireland.  It was billed as a Taste of Scotland and Ireland.  And it was.

We arrived in Glasgow in the morning and the next day we were off on a tour of the Scottish Highlands with a view of Loch Lomond and a cruise on Loch Ness.

I tried, but I never saw "Nessie". 

The Highlands are beautiful.  The area is very rugged and hilly.  We saw many sheep grazing on the hills, but our guide said that their wool was too coarse to be used for anything but mattress stuffing.

We spent a day in Edinburgh and visited the castle.  It's quite impressive and in very good shape.

I thought this shot would  give the impression of a good mystery story.

We stopped in Belfast at the Titanic museum.  Luckily, we got there before this violin and its case were taken and put up for auction.  I just heard that someone paid 1.5 million for it.  It is the violin of one of the orchestra members who played.  As the ship was going down, he put his violin in its case, strapped it to his body and then went down with the ship.  His body was found a week or so later with the violin.

 

We stopped at Blarney Castle and no, I didn't kiss the stone.  As soon as I heard what was involved, I decided that wasn't for me.  First you had to walk up 80 uneven stone steps, then you would lay on your back while two people held your feet and legs, then you would slide to the stone.  If you can see the hole in the next picture, you can see where the stone is.  Some of the people on the tour were brave enough to do it.

 

 

 We spent a lot of time just driving around the country.  Our tour guide/driver was wonderful.  He knew all the history of the area and included some humor in his stories.  That made it all the more interesting.

The area is as green as everyone says, and there are many shades - at least 50.

We had a medieval dinner in a castle.  I've always wanted to visit a castle.  I'm very happy that I saw so many castles in various conditions.  Some of the hotels where we stayed were old estates that had been turned into hotels.

 It was truly a taste of those countries and I saw many places that I would love to see again.  If I were younger, I'd love to go back.   It would be a perfect road trip if only they didn't drive on the wrong side of the road.

My Ipod

I have the most unusual, or most amazing, Ipod ever.

When I turned it on today, I was surprised to see that today is Thursday, March 5, 1970.  Isn't that remarkable.  I don't think that Ipods were even invented back then.  Of course, it would be nice to be that age again.

Then I turned on the calendar feature and it is now Tuesday, December 22, 2009.  Where did the years go?  I haven't even done my Christmas shopping or decorating or even baking yet!

According to the weather ap, which was updated back to March 5, 1970, the temperature is 86 degrees, and the time is 12:10 AM.

At least it's the right date, day and time for the stockmarket report.

I know I can change the settings and bring everything up to date, but I think I'll keep it, I feel so young.  Besides, how many people do you know who had an Ipod back in the 70's?

Government Shutdown

We've been hearing for a few weeks that the government will shut down if the house and senate don't agree on a spending bill.

Yet, while the house has been working on such a bill which they sent to the senate, and which the senate returned (I doubt they even read it), the senate under Harry Reid took the weekend off.  The house worked on Saturday and passed a compromise bill.  The senate won't even start working on the compromise until 2:00 PM TODAY.  They wasted yesterday.

Of course, the president won't even try to work on a compromise.  He won't consider even a little change to his precious law.  He won't speak with members of the house unless they are democrats.

Maybe I'm being naïve, but it is my belief that in an emergency (as we are led to believe), the president should meet with both houses of congress to try to work out a compromise, or at least let each side offer suggestions and reasons for their ideas.  They should not be dismissed and they should be working around the clock to reach some sort of compromise.

The president, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi will make sure that their friends in the media spread the word that the republicans would not budge on the spending bill.  They will make sure that the republicans will be blamed for the mess.

It's up to us, the thinking citizens, to set the record straight.  The republicans in the house sent one bill to the senate which was rejected.  The republicans then worked until late on Saturday night to make a compromise so that the government would not shut down.  What was Harry Reid doing on Saturday and all day Sunday?  Why couldn't he call the senate in to work, that's what they are getting paid to do?

What was the president doing during all this?  We need answers.

Religion of Peace?

This morning while checking the news I saw that there was an armed siege at a Kenya shopping mall and that at last count there were 59 dead with 49 people still unaccounted for.  So that I wouldn't get only the conservative viewpoint on this, I checked the msnbc.com website.  This is where I got my report.

Some of the survivors reported that the gunmen told Muslims to stand up and leave and that only non-Muslims were to be targeted.  A militant Islamic group claimed responsibility saying it was in retaliation for the lives of Muslims killed by Kenyan forces leading an African Union offensive against that group.  Instead of fighting back against those forces, this group has decided to kill innocent non-Muslims.

In other news on this same website, there was a report of a Sunday morning bombing at a Christian church in Pakistan that killed at least 75.  These people, including women and children, were just leaving a morning service when the blast occurred.  One man reported that the police did nothing and just stood around.

The Christian population in Pakistan is about 4% of the 180 million and try to keep a low profile in a country where Islamist militants frequently bomb targets they see as heretical.

Let's also not forget about the Coptic Christians who have been killed in Egypt during the presidency of Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood friends.

Will we ever hear outrage from President Obama about this attack on Christianity by the so-called Islamist Religion of Peace?  I think not, he wouldn't want to offend his friends in the middle-East.

Problems

Tomorrow we are having an Arts & Craft show in our community.  I'll be submitting my photos.

I had thought I was all caught up and ready for the show, but I was sitting at my computer this morning and one of the pictures in the screen saver caught my eye.  I suddenly realized that I hadn't seen any of my Yellowstone pictures.  I went to the file and started printing them.  I particularly liked these

I started printing them.  Then my problems began.  The printer stopped; I checked to see the problem.  I was out of ink even though I just put in a new cartridge yesterday.  So, I changed my clothes and went to Staples to buy more toner.  Unfortunately, they were out of the kind I needed.  Oh well, I can always use my other printer which doesn't print as well, but I can use it in a pinch.

I checked the ink supplies there, replaced where needed and started to print.  After letting about 5 pictures go through I noticed that there are lines all through the pictures.

I guess I'll have to make do with the many photos already printed and save some of my favorites for next year.

Now, I better start ordering enough ink and paper for those pictures.

Now all I have to do is make some refreshments and wrap some door prizes for tomorrow.