The People Have Spoken – by Dan Bubalo

Excerpt:
"Like him or not, Mitt Romney ran a good race. In fact he ran a great race. He was "presidential", he's brilliant beyond anything I can imagine, he presented an alternative, and the voters of the United States said, "Take a seat on the bench."

WOW. WOW. WOW. The message is still sinking in.

Last night I discussed the lives of Mitt and Ann Romney and asked rhetorically, "Do you think they're sleeping well?" Nobody could ask for a better shot at the prize. Nobody could have picked a better running partner than Paul Ryan, and nobody could have presented a more workable alternative than Mitt Romney, and America said, "NOT INTERESTED."

Watch out what you wished for, because reality is going to land soon with a giant thud. Apparently the country wants foreign energy dependency, the country cannot wait to embrace the excessive taxation of Obamacare, it desires a neutered military, and cares not a whit about a strangling deficit. The questions are how and why did we make this decision, and what prompted the country to accept such a weak man as its leader after he's proven himself to be a naïve and incompetent poser...."

I'm a child of the 60s/70s. Andy Gibb's passing was a real shock to me when I was so loving his music, especially duos with Olivia Newton-John.
Maurice died roughly 15 yrs later and now his twin brother Robin is gone.

I came of age in a time when it was not really cool and kinda geeky but everyone at least secretly liked the Bee Gees. We knew that what we were experiencing was special, but to admit it would automatically draw the lines. "You like disco?!?!" 

I was always confused about that because I also remember desks on which kids had carved "Pink Floyd is gay!" or some such nonsense.   It's amazing I grew up somewhat normal.

Anyway, I am offering my deepest condolences to the Gibb family. I can't imagine Barry's grief over losing all of his younger siblings. God bless and keep you all, you're in our prayers. Thank you for all you've given to us over so many years.

This is probably my favorite live performance of an early song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMFAD3QHCVU&feature=related

The last Bee Gees album I purchased was ESP, for this song alone:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YR7FP0FYJcQ&feature=related

I have said this since I first learned about him at CPAC 2010.

Here he is this year at 2012 CPAC.   Positively Reaganesque.   I hope our GOP nominee chooses West as his running mate.

Not like those who are real-life friends with me don't already know, but we did indeed make the move to Idaho last July. Shortly after the last post about moving, a neighbor's tree fell on our house after a freakish summer rain storm that dumped an enormous amount of water in a short time. In hindsight it was a disaster waiting to happen, and it was miraculous that it occurred when it did since 1) we were mostly packed up, and 2) our buyers weren't moved in!   We're just grateful that they didn't run away from the deal. As it turns out they got better insulation, new roof on almost half of the house, new drywall, paint, new bathroom exhaust fan, and a better master bedroom ceiling fan with lights. Settlement was delayed by only three weeks as the repairs were done in about four.

We drove cross-country in 4 days, settled on our new Idaho house and have been loving living out west. Low humidity has been wonderful both in summer and winter seasons. 

First order of business was purchasing bedroom furniture in prep for my mom's visit last Sept., but prior to that we obtained our new dining room table and chairs and China hutch cabinet.

We are still awaiting our sofas, recliners, coffee table and sleeper sofa for the study in the next few weeks. It really does feel like not only a new chapter, but starting over in many ways.

And I have my dream kitchen which I've been using to the fullest!   Blocking VPN is for Internet safety: Official --China ...:Wuhan, in central China's Hubei Province, tested nearly 10 million residents in a 19-day drive to screen for novel coronavirus infections, with officials hailing the effort as ending "psychological lockdown" for the virus-ravaged city.. I made a half recipe for the Super Bowl, used fat-free cream cheese, and it was terrific! Not your usual "buffalo chicken cheese" recipe which is typically a dip.

I used panko breadcrumbs, and here's what the finished product looks like. I also put them under the broiler for the few minutes to get them golden.

Well, it seemed inevitable didn't it?  I mean, not only has he been an overachiever in his college years with Florida State, but he helped turn around the Denver Broncos to the point where they qualified for and beat the top-ranked in defense Steelers in the AFC wildcard playoffs. 

Here's a fair (IMO) article following the Sunday game about Tebow.     And the obligatory Wiki article so you can see for yourself just how much this young man has achieved in a fraction of most human beings' lives.

Being easy on the eyes is a top consideration here at T.T.   Being conservative is another (or at least if I don't know his political leanings because he chooses to "shut up and sing, act, otherwise entertain, etc."), and being Christian or Jewish is a yet another plus.

I think the only one who is right up there with Tim Tebow is Tom Selleck, one of my first picks a few years back.

Enjoy, ladies!

Good question. I think most of us know the answer.

From Godfather Politics

"What If Tim Tebow Were a Muslim?

Tim Tebow brought the Denver Broncos back from the dead when he took over as quarterback. Denver is 6-1 since Tebow took over in the top spot. In fact, the once beleaguered Broncos are now 7-5 and are the new co-leaders of the AFC West.

Tebow has been maligned by the sports media ever since he landed in the NFL. They declared him “not ready for prime time.” He has repeatedly proved them wrong.

But there is another aspect to Tebow: His Christian faith. More specifically, his understated public display of his Christian faith on and off the field. Jen Floyd Engel asks, “What if Tim Tebow were a Muslim?”

Imagine for a second, the Denver Broncos quarterback is a devout follower of Islam, sincere and principled in his beliefs and thus bowed toward Mecca to celebrate touchdowns. Now imagine if Detroit Lions players Stephen Tulloch and Tony Scheffler mockingly bowed toward Mecca, too, after tackling him for a loss or scoring a touchdown, just like what happened Sunday [to Tebow].

I know what would happen. All hell would break loose.

The “What if Tebow were a Muslim?” question is not that far-fetched. We have a perfect example of a sports figure who is a Muslim, made public displays of his faith, made it part of his very vocal worldview, and is venerated by today’s media. In 1999, he was named Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Century. His name is Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr. Many of you who are too young to recognize the name might know him better as Muhammad Ali.

Originally known as Cassius Clay, Ali changed his name after joining the Nation of Islam in 1964, subsequently converting to Sunni Islam in 1975, and more recently practicing Sufism. In 1967, three years after Ali had won the World Heavyweight Championship, he was publicly vilified for his refusal to be conscripted into the U.S. military, based on his religious beliefs and opposition to the Vietnam War. Ali stated, “I ain’t got no quarrel with them Viet Cong… No Viet Cong ever called me nigger” – one of the more telling remarks of the era.

Today, Ali is considered a cultural icon.

The public display of the Christian religion by Tebow controversy is not as heated and controversial as the public displays of the Islamic religion by Muhammad Ali. After his conversion to Islam, Ali would bow toward Mecca and pray in the boxing ring before a bout. Consider this:

Aligning himself with the Nation of Islam made him a lightning rod for controversy, turning the outspoken but popular champion into one of that era’s most recognizable and controversial figures. Appearing at rallies with Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad and declaring his allegiance to him at a time when mainstream America viewed them with suspicion — if not outright hostility — made Ali a target of outrage, as well as suspicion. Ali seemed at times to provoke such reactions, with viewpoints that wavered from support for civil rights to outright support of separatism. For example, Ali once stated, in relation to integration: “We who follow the teachings of Elijah Muhammad don’t want to be forced to integrate. Integration is wrong. We don’t want to live with the white man; that’s all.” And in relation to inter-racial marriage: “No intelligent black man or black woman in his or her right black mind wants white boys and white girls coming to their homes to marry their black sons and daughters.” Indeed, Ali’s religious beliefs at the time included the notion that the white man was “the devil” and that white people were not “righteous.” Ali claimed that white people hated black people.

Compared to the controversy that Ali’s religion brought to sports, Tebow’s is mild. Is there a double standard? Would the sports media make similar negative comments about a sports figure’s Islamic faith? I don’t think so."

**************
Having moved to Idaho this past summer, I'm glad to be able to root for a winning team for a change.  (Those who don't know me, I'm a VA native, and die hard Redskins fan. Yeah, I know. :-/  But what can I say? It's a loyalty thing.)

It started with Boise State Broncos and the phenomenal Kellen Moore getting me excited about football again.  And now it's Broncos of the NFL kind. 

So yes, my default loyalty will always be with my beloved Redskins (can we replace Dan Snyder, please?) but I'm also becoming an official Denver Broncos fan starting this season.

Don't even remember the last time I posted a T.T. entry, but lately I've noticed Anson Mount. I've only seen him in the new AMC series "Hell on Wheels" so far (which is excellent, if you haven't seen it. It follows "The Walking Dead", also a great series).

Here's an interview with Mount re "Hell On Wheels": "There Are No Heroes or Villains"





Gotta say, just like puffin浏览器官网 as Aragorn I think he looks best with facial hair! But then again, I'm partial to that.
And by the way, Mr. Mo wears it well.

Current-day males with long hair + facial hair often look like bums (Yeesh! What's up with the Dallas Cowboys D-coordinator Ryan?),



but for some reason when they're an actor portraying a character that existed in another time, that's quite OK with me.

If you could travel back in time, what would you tell your 10-year-old self?
Submitted By madamelafarge

*****

You're going to feel your life is over after sudden fame/success is followed by quick rejection all at the tender age of 21. It isn't. Don't make drastic decisions. It gets better. You'll be glad you waited. Life gets even better at the "OMG OLD!" age of 40+ :-) Hang in there, you're just beginning the journey. Expect to be disappointed at times (that's life), but expect to be deliriously happy as well. Just don't forget to whom the glory goes, and you'll do well. (I'm still telling myself this at age 47, and I hope I never forget to tell myself this decades into the future, if it's God's will to keep me on this earth for that long.)

Settlement is June 24th, and we're heading out the day before. Settlement on our house in Boise will be the 28th.

My first cross-country drive, and it's kind of a shame that we can't take time to visit landmarks along the way, but we'll be in a race with the movers and also need to get there in time to close, of course!

And we decided to take the BatschMObile, too, via car hauler. Will be fun to drive along the foothills this summer.

Sometimes it seems like this day has taken forever, other times it feels like the lightning round.

We're finally selling our house.



We aren't listing it until Fri. the 13th (hope that's not bad luck!). The original plan was for this weekend, but it's Mother's Day weekend, and we're not as ready as we ought to be. Besides, the new shed arrives this Wed., so it will be better than to have just a concrete slab in the corner, plus we'll be able to store some items in there that are currently under a tarp.

Really have mixed feelings about leaving, but we've felt the calling for a number of years now. It's just weird when it finally starts happening.

We have such a nice neighborhood, and a real sense of community here. Just couldn't ask for better neighbors.

Snapped these photos of kids riding bikes and scooters. It's great to see them out and playing, just like when we were little.






We know that whomever ends up owning this house will love it here.

This cracked me up.

Haven't posted a "Tuesday Testoterone" (or anything else for that matter ;-) in ages. But with the Super Bowl only a few days away, Aaron Rodgers seemed a good choice to me.
Hubba, hubba!












Nevermind that he was born the year after I graduated high school!!
I could be his...
er...
older sister. :-/



As usual, the obligatory 极光vpm破解无限版, for actual info on the man.

Go Packers!!


BTW, glad he decided to go for a shorter haircut. This doesn't work, IMO.

Never been here, and what a change from 25+ years ago, according to Mr. Mo. As soon as you crossed the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, it was just trees, and he used to waterski there.

As we crossed the bridge last Saturday, the lights to our right were just jaw-dropping. Is THAT our destination? As it turned out, it was.

Here we are last week at the Gaylord Convention Center for Mr. Mo's company's holiday party.







Glad to be able to go to these places while we're still living here in Northern Virginia.

That's my gal pal Kerri. The Better Business Bureau isn't reliable these days. Do your own research.

We lost our little Cairn Terrier last night after a long bout with kidney disease which may have been exacerbated by Lyme disease. We never saw a tick on her except many years ago, but we can only assume that the rare deer we saw in our yard before daybreak in late 2008 must have been the carrier.

Whether or not there was a direct correlation between the two doesn't negate the critical need for flea and tick preventive medication, and she wasn't on it regularly.

We had nearly 16 years with Pixel. She was always in Darwin's (RiP 12/2004) shadow, but they got along very well even though she could be a bit "bitchy" around other dogs, especially large females. That's pretty common for the breed. In the last few years of her life she mellowed greatly, and only showed aggression when another dog went after her food.
She was ALWAYS submissive towards humans, and so loving.

We have been treating her for kidney disease with special Hill's K/D diet and Epakitin (miracle worker!) for a year and noticed an amazing improvement.

She took a turn for the worse a few days before Labor Day. She was throwing up her K/D kibble. We were going out of town that weekend, and our vet graciously took her in, checked blood, gave IVs, switched her to K/D canned. Things were going well, but in a day or so Pixel started upchucking again. Vet switched her to baby food and rice and kept the IVs going. When it looked like we could bring her home, we took her in for a few Sub-Q treatments and switched her to a homemade concoction that Hill's recommended, and she did wonderfully. It wasn't until Thurs. late morning that she upchucked that, and later plain baby food.

She had no energy for the last 24-48 hrs, and doubtful she would have survived the night, and certainly would have been in severe discomfort. She was more than ready, and went very peacefully and quickly.

Pixel had a very full and loving life, and although we grieve right now and try to adjust to the strangeness of life without our furry beloved, our sorrow will soon be replaced with the countless memories of all of the joy and extra quality she brought to our lives, as all dogs do.

And now, she gets to reunite with and romp with her "brother" Darwin the Westie, somewhere around Rainbow Bridge. We'll look for you guys a little later.

This one's for you, our faithful Scottish Best Friends.
"Battlefield Band--Norland Wind (Magheracloone)"

I've just about given up my LJ blog. I'm on Facebook now, and I just can't say things as well as others. I was there last Saturday too, and everyone who was there who posts about the same things I experienced capture the feeling and then some, just like last year's 9-12 march.

http://politicalderby.com/2010/09/01/reflections-from-828-on-the-national-mall/

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I’ve been a fan of Col. Allen West’s ever since I heard his CPAC speech earlier this year, and subsequent speeches/interviews.

He’s a plain-speaking (like Sarah Palin, I might add), no-nonsense common sense American.

He is infinitely qualified to serve as a congressman, governor, and eventually POTUS. Frankly, I’d trust him 100x more as POTUS than Obama, and some other Republican candidates for that matter.
West “gets” our Constitution and what it means to be an American.
If you agree, send him a donation for Florida’s 22nd district. With luck, we may see him for a long time to come.

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Doesn't matter if you have kids or not. Once you're a mature adult, you should be able to appreciate it.

My favorite part, "Daddy, oKAY."

Pretty much what I figured.

H/T Jeffro

Don't lose the faith, folks. We WILL get our country back come November.

Question is, will we hang onto it?

What a treat. The "Blue Collar Comedy" tour is officially over, but four minus Ron White are still touring around. I wish I could remember more of their jokes. A few of them I'd heard before, but it's still great to hear it again especially live. Most of it was new material.



The guys ended the show with the "I believe...." shtick and the last one that closed it was Larry saying "I believe.... that the only good that came out of the 'Cash For Clunkers' program is that there are fewer cars on the road with Obama bumperstickers."
That got a huge round of applause. (I've heard him say that one before, but it was still great).

Oh, another thing from Larry (during his solo act) was "Man, y'all had a tough winter up here with the blizzards and stuff. How many of you were saying 'Al Gore, you're an @$$hole!'?"

You have no idea, Larry.

A Long Post: The Complete List of Obama Statement Expiration Dates - Jim Geraghty

Pretty comprehensive rundown of broken promises from "The One". Health care mandates and negotiations on C-SPAN, raising taxes, recess appointments, border security, etc.

No wonder so many people voted for him. I mean, he wasn't Bush, and he campaigned as a moderate. Of course as soon as he was elected he began pushing his true agenda which is that of a socialist the rest of us knew he was. We knew because we looked at his past and his associations over the years.

He fooled a lot of Americans who weren't interested in knowing the truth about Obama -- it was too easy to listen to the mainstream media who didn't vet him properly.

They were taken in by his speeches -- speeches that made them feel good but were very general in nature, very repetitive, and very numerous (even after his election--continual "campaign" mode.)

And every time FOX News or a conservative blogger brought up an issue of concern, a seeming contradiction to his past record... diversionary tactics were immediately deployed to deflect examining the allegations.

Not only that, but anyone who dared to criticize or point out anything in a negative light was immediately trashed and demonized by the water-carrying leftwing media, which liberals in overwhelming numbers tune to. No wonder they hate FOX News, Rush, Hannity, Levin.

But thank God for these relatively few who tirelessly seek the truth and to expose the hypocrisy.

The fact that Barack Obama has pleaded that you not listen to them should be a huge red flag.

I mean, seriously. Think about that for a moment. When has a POTUS ever done that? And if you can point out an example in the last 100 years I'm all ears.

OK, this is getting ridiculous. Not only did we have snowfall on three separate days last week, tomorrow night we're supposed to get anywhere from 10-20" on top of two feet.

Thankfully, we didn't lose power from the weekend blizzard, but we still haven't seen a plow in our neighborhood, so this afternoon we desperate neighbors decided to shovel our street. Fortunately, a few of the neighbors have snow blowers, too. With everyone pitching in, we managed to clear pathways to everyone's house in a matter of a few hours.






Witness two feet of Global Warming:





Since we managed to dig out, we decided to grab a bite somewhere this evening and pick up a few more items in case we're shut in again. I just pray we don't lose power. We have a wood fireplace but not copious amounts of firewood... enough for a few days, maybe.
We do have gas cooking, though. I'm so glad we kept that and didn't opt for electric.

So, coming bills are paid or scheduled to be paid via online, in the event the mailman can't get to our houses. We're as prepared as we can be.
If power goes out, I'll be doing a lot of reading and moving around to keep warm. I'll also be relying on the Slanket like never before :-) That thing is amazing at trapping body heat, and the "Ultimate" version is remarkably soft!

I just realized that my last post was before our record-breaking blizzard in December just before Christmas.

After that, Mr. Mo and I went on our first cruise (officially celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary) where the temps were cooler than usual, but I still managed to get a sunburn in St. Thomas.




When we drove back from Florida to Virginia we heard of record lows, plus high winds.

Our gaslight lid had been blown off, the mantles were long gone, and our grill cover was blown off; we found it in the back corner of the yard.

Since then we've had two more snows, both 4-6 inches.

These are pics of the last one, this past weekend.





And tomorrow we're supposed to top what we had in December.

Holy frijoles, this promises to be the most snow I've seen in a Northern VA winter in my life. And we're talking 46 years, folks.

This time of year always takes me by surprise, but I'm always happy when I put the single electric candle lights in each window of the house, and then wrap the gaslight in a combo of fake pine garland and lights, put the lighted garland over the door, the lighted wreath on the door, and little trees on either side. This time I also added some multi-colored lights over the kitchen window.

Not good pics cuz of no flash, but you get the idea. Not the Griswolds, but still festive. That's how we like it.






Indoors I've been gradually putting up lighted hearth garland, stairway garland, and touches here and there.

We'll be getting our tree this weekend, hopefully, but it's supposed to rain and possibly snow. It might need to hang out on our patio to dry off if that's the case.

Merry Christmas to you all, and a happy New Year.

Update: It snowed Friday night into Saturday. First snow of the season.



Along with a roaring fire. Life's good.

Over at Political Derby, Brian writes this piece about the Obama Administration's decision to try Gitmo detainees in New York City, including the confessed murderer, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.

Money quote:

It is often easier to simply scoff at President Obama as “The One”, “The Massiah”, “TOTUS”, etc. etc. but the reality is that he is the President of the United States. As such, his actions have serious consequences on millions of people and a Constitution that he swore an oath to “preserve, protect and defend” to the best of his ability. What we have been witness to thus far from President Obama is not a man that is enlightened or worldly but a man that is aloof to the world around him and aloof to the consequences of his actions.


Indeed. As much as I disagreed with some of George Bush's policies (esp. around immigration) I never doubted his sincerity in protecting our country.
Additionally, Bush never gave off this "air" of the presidency being "about HIM". Obama rarely DOESN'T convey that message whenever he speaks.

We're not even a full year into an Obama presidency, and I'm imagining things in our country getting worse.. much worse.

I don't think we had made our way to our final destination on the front lawn before this pastor spoke, which is why I don't remember much of his speech. The video doesn't come close to capturing the true sound of the crowd. Being there was indescribable. I think we heard part of this excellent speech live, and I'm glad that others have posted their videos of that day.



"The most passionate speakers at the 9-12 Tea Party were the black speakers and I know why. THEY see the black community being manipulated and used to start a race war, civil war and to push their agenda of slavery.

This is a Pastor from Louisiana...GOD BLESS this man, he was the best speaker of the day...

Reverend CL Bryant of Shreveport, Louisiana"

A Facebook friend suggested I "become a fan" of The Black Sphere. So I did, and I also added him to my Links list on the left.

Kevin Jackson also has a radio show on the blogosphere. Always refreshing to see another young black conservative out there. He has enormous common sense, and truly "gets" it.

Check him out.

Oh, and here's his most recent YouTube video:

Saw the band on Huckabee and Hannity shows, and didn't realize they (well, half of the band, anyway) were conservatives.




I think it's about time I purchased an album of theirs. This one will do nicely.