DADvocate

How can you not support a man who utters such beautiful words?

I'm going to build a hospital, the biggest that money can buy, and it will belong to you. Any man, woman, or child who is sick or in pain can go through those doors and know that everything will be done for them that man can do. To heal sickness, to ease pain, free - not as a charity but as a right. And it is your right, do you hear me? It is your right. And it is your right that every child should have a complete education. That any man that produces anything can take it to market without paying toll, and no poor man's land or farm can be taxed or taken away from him. And it is the right of the people that they shall not be deprived of hope.

Sounds wonderful, doesn't it? How could you not support this man?

These words weren't uttered by Barack middle name Obama but were spoken by Willie Stark in the 1949 movie, "All The King's Men."

It gives a hint just how long (and longer) politicians have been making these promises and delivering a message of "hope" and how long people have been falling for the same con. One of the greatest weaknesses of democracy is that people fall for this malarkey.

Hat tip to Michael Savage who played this bit from "All The King's Men" on his radio show tonight. Savage may be a mad man at times, but he's also probably the most intelligent person in talk radio today. Visit Michael Savage's website and learn about his fight for free speech versus C.A.I.R.

From this definition, I'd say there are quite a few women who have lots of experience.

"When Hillary tells you that she has lots of experience, she doesn’t really tell you what the experience is, but you’re supposed to imagine what it must have been. She must have been sitting in the Situation Room when the Joint Chiefs of Staff were making their judgments about how to proceed in Iraq and elsewhere. . . . she’s talking about sleeping with the president for eight years as if that’s prepared her to run the country."

Emphasis added.

Hat tip to Instapundit

John Gibson interviews past Democratic vice-presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro and she plays the race/gender card. "If Barak Obama were a white man would we be talking about this as a potential real problem for Hillary?" The comment is towards the end of the interview.



Wow!! Racist and sexist. That's gotta be worse than using Barak middle name Obama's middle name. I hope the media and the Democratic Party take her to task.

Actually, she makes sense but what do liberal progressives care about sense.

This past Monday, my favorite Misguided Blonde wrote about the musical tastes and favorite songs of her's and her boyfriend's. I was pleasantly surprised, because they are much younger than this old boy, that much of our tastes overlapped.

Included in our common likes is the late, great Johnny Cash. I like to emphasize the great by reminding you that he is the only person in all three of the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Music Writer's Hall of Fame.

Johnny shared a special love and life with his wife, June Carter of the legendary Carter family. Their love shines through in my favorite duet, "Jackson". I absolutely love June Carter's voice.

There is hardly a picture of Hillary published in the news or on TV that, some how, doesn't look just a little weird to me. The other night, not the debate last night, I saw her seated in some sort of discussion with Barack middle name Obama seated across from her.

Whenever Obama spoke, she would look at him with what I suppose she thought was a pleasant but moderately serious face. Her mouth formed a small smile/smirk with the corners slightly turned up. It just didn't look natural. It appeared too posed.

Next time I saw Hillary performing her "mocking Obama" routine where everything was going to be great. A truthful mockery but Hillary couldn't pull it off. Her delivery was stilted, her poses stiff. A good stand-up comedienne could have gotten rolling on the floor laughter from Obama supporters with this material. Hillary created moderate enthusiasm from her own supporters.

Hillary's facial expressions and her tone of voice never seem quite right, never really natural. She's quite the opposite of Obama in this respect. But, I just might vote for her in the upcoming primary.

McCain has the Republican nomination sewn up. Somebody tell Huckabee. A vote for McCain would only be symbolic. Barack "Teflon" Obama is an unknown entity. He speaks in beautiful, inspirational platitudes to his flock. But, he says little of substance.

Obama's short record and limited experience provide little insight into what he might really do as president. His connections with the Nation of Islam, the Mansion scandal, and his heavy backing by Wall Street investment companies worry me.

There's not a nickel's worth of difference between the stated positions of Hillary and Teflon. If a Democrat is to be elected, I'd rather it be a person whose actions we can reasonably predict. That person is Hillary.

I'll vote McCain in the general election unless something major happens.

New middle name, more descriptive of the real man. Hillary complained of the preferential treatment Obama receives from the press. He does but it won't help Hillary to complain. The press will just get defensive.

I did hear today on CNN cable that Obama is beginning to take some heat for his connections to Louis Farrakhan and the hate group, Nation of Islam. But, I can't find any obvious evidence of it at CNN.com at the moment. If Obama is taking heat on that issue, it should be obvious.

Meanwhile, at Volunteer Voters all the moonbats have their panties in a wad over Bill Cunningham's comments but are perfectly willing to gloss over Teflon Obama attending a church whose pastor says a racist, anti-Semitic head of a hate group "epitomizes greatness." I guess this is the "tolerance" that liberals are always talking about.

Ann Althouse has an excellent discussion on how Obama avoided actually saying he rejected Farrakhsn's endorsement.

Oh, I love Rep. John Lewis switching his endorsement from Hillary to Obama. He gives a real nice sounding explanation of his switch. The real reason, he's afraid of losing votes for himself and risking not getting re-elected himself.

Vanderbilt Commodedoors beat Tennessee.

Today in Cincinnati, local talk show Bill Cunningham referred to Barack Obama as a "hack, Chicago-style" politician. Cunningham also dared to use Barack Obama's full name, Barack Hussein Obama, three times!

After his speech, John McCain immediately began repudiating and apologizing for Cunningham's references. CNN's John King asked McCain (video) if McCain thought it was appropriate to use Barack Obama's middle name. Huh? Is this kindergarten where we're not supposed to hurt anyone's feelings? Is CNN going to outlaw using Obama's middle name, Hussein?

If Obama can't stand up to someone using his middle name, he will be a pathetic president. Let the candidates fight it out. People constantly ask if the press is biased and practices favoritism. From their response to this incident, the answer is a resounding "Yes!"

What about Obama's Muslim connections? Does he have any? Mitt Romney's Mormonism was a major issue. Why not Obama's possible connections in the Muslim world? After all, Obama has a Muslim father.

Could this be a connection and why do we have to go to a British newspaper to find this article?

A British-Iraqi billionaire lent millions of dollars to Barack Obama's fundraiser just weeks before an imprudent land deal that has returned to haunt the presidential contender, an investigation by The Times discloses.

The money transfer raises the question of whether funds from Nadhmi Auchi, one of Britain’s wealthiest men, helped Mr Obama buy his mock Georgian mansion in Chicago.

Why is this story receiving so little coverage? After all, a McCain non-event made the New York Times.

Will the press question Obama on Louis farrakhan's endorsement of Obama?

Speaking to thousands of members of the Nation of Islam at their annual convention Sunday in Chicago, Minister Louis Farrakhan praised presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama as the only hope for healing the nation's racial divisions.

Farrakhan, 74, the longtime leader of the Nation of Islam, said the war in Iraq, the nation's faltering economy and the increased number of natural disasters were signs of "a nation in peril." He said those problems provide the broader context for Obama's rise.

The Southern Poverty Law Center, with whom I often take exception, lists the Nation of Islam as a hate group. (Nation of Islam should not to be confused with true Islam.) Louis Farrakhan doesn't consider white people to be human.

Louis Farrakhan has stated that "White people are potential humans…they haven’t evolved yet."

Unless we've evolved a lot in the past 8 years.

It was a big deal when Ron Paul got a $500 donation from a white supremicist. Will the press and the liberal progressives focus on the Farrakhan/Obama connction as intently?

Obama advertises that he left Wall Street. Does this list of contributors look like he left Wall Street? It looks like he took Wall Street with him.

Interesting compendium here. And more here.

My middle name is George. When I was a kid I wouldn't tell anyone, afraid they would tease me by doing the "Georgey Porgey" rhyme. But I grew up. Will the press hold Obama's feet to the flame as every presidential candidate's feet should be or will they play the over-protective mommy scolding anyone who dares to use Barack Hussein Obama's middle name? Right now, it appears the latter.

Alex in Essex left me a link to this story: "A&E patients left in ambulances for up to FIVE hours 'so trusts can meet government targets'."

Seriously ill patients are being kept in ambulances outside hospitals for hours so NHS trusts do not miss Government targets.

Thousands of people a year are having to wait outside accident and emergency departments because trusts will not let them in until they can treat them within four hours, in line with a Labour pledge.

The hold-ups mean ambulances are not available to answer fresh 999 calls.

Doctors warned last night that the practice of "patient-stacking" was putting patients' health at risk.

Figures obtained by the Liberal Democrats show that last year 43,576 patients waited longer than one hour before being let into emergency units.

Ah, yes, the equity of socialized medicine. We all get equally poor treatment.

Almost everyone who has worked in a government position or for an entity heavily dependent on government funds knows the importance of "standards" and paperwork. My first job out of college was as a state juvenile probation officer. It took me less than a year to realize that paperwork mattered more than anything. Recidivism didn't matter. Placing kids in the best foster homes, schools, job training possible didn't matter. What mattered was that you documented everything. I quit after 9 months.

More recently I worked in the nursing home industry as did my ex-wife. Tremendous amounts of time are put into documenting everything to keep Medicare, Medicaid bureaucrats happy and to satisfy state licensure. All these groups would do annual inspections which consisted primarily of examining, yes, paperwork. Actual low quality patient care was rarely detected, especially if it was documented properly.

However, one nursing home was penalized $20,000 for punching holes medication charts and partially obliterating initials showing who dispensed the medication on a particular day and time. Ironically, this nursing home was considered by us to easily be the best of those of which we were familiar. We had heard some refer to it as the best in the state. Paperwork uber alles.

Is our health care system as good as it could be? No. But we need to be very careful in our "improvements" and remember government is rarely concerned about the person. If you want a major overhaul, remember, fools rush in where angels fear to tread.

Just watched hometown prodigy, Chris Lofton, drain two free throws to nail down a victory over top-ranked Memphis. For the first time in history, the Tennessee men's basketball team should be ranked number ONE!

Having watched Chris Lofton from his sophomore year in high school at Mason County High School in Kentucky and being a Tennessee alumni, I'm doubly happy. Chris is as good a person as you can hope to find. He's humble, hard working, super nice to kids and knows how to find a way to win.

Lofton didn't have a high scoring night. J.P. Prince may have had the game of his life. Wayne Chism played great as did Tyler Smith and the rest of the Vol's team. Phenomenal rebounding by the Vols helped also.

In only his third season, coach Bruce Pearl has brought Tennessee men's basketball to a place where they've never been before. No matter how the season ends, this is a great accomplishment. I'm happy a kid snubbed by Tubby Smith at the University of Kentucky, Chris Lofton, is part of it.

Chris was Kentucky's high school Mr. Basketball his senior year plus a first string all-state wide receiver on the Mason County football team. Chris' work ethic is still held up as an example for athletes at his old high school. Since many know him, they know the stories are true. How Tubby Smith could have overlooked an athlete and person like Chris, I don't know.

Working at home today due to an ice storm, I caught this this emergency landing in Miami by a passenger jet. The jet's nose wheel failed to go down and lock into position properly.

Flying from Knoxville to San Francisco our flight experienced a very similar nose wheel problem. We had a layover in Dallas where a plane had crashed and burned a few weeks before. As we took off from Dallas we got a great view of the burned spot where 13 people on that plane had died. (94 survived) Definitely raises the anxiety level.

Having taken and passed the FAA written test for a pilot's license as a teenager, I know a little more about the technical aspects of flying than the average person. Upon approaching San Francisco airport everything seemed normal until we were directly over runway probably no more than 50 feet off the ground. I felt the plane accelerate and immediately knew something was wrong. I braced for impact but there was none.

We climbed out over the ocean and began to circle back. After about 20 minutes the pilot finally told us that the nose wheel had not gone down and locked into position as it should but that everything was OK now. This was the same or very similar problem the plane had today.

There were several nuns on the flight and plenty of Hispanics. My now ex-wife and I are Catholic plus she was 7 months pregnant at the time. During the second approach the nuns had rosaries in hand and the rest of us made the Sign of the Cross and began to pray also. The landing went so smoothly I couldn't tell the exact moment the wheels touched the tarmac. We spontaneously broke out in applause.

Yet, to this day I wonder if the pilot knew the nose wheel wasn't down but kept trying till the last possible moment or if someone in the control tower was yelling, "Pull up! Pull up!"

Tamara Saunders of Gahanna, Ohio ordered her son to beat up an other boy and then videotaped the event. Only one problem, no two, she got arrested and her son apparently lost the fight.

A mother who ordered her 14-year-old son to beat up another boy and then videotaped the fight behind a suburban Columbus school has pleaded guilty to a disorderly conduct charge.

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She told police she filmed the fight in case the boy fighting her son claimed injuries that he did not receive in the fight. The boy was not hurt; her son got a black eye.

Emphasis added.

Way to go, Mom!!

Poor kid. Doesn't have much of a chance with a mother like that. If you're going to make your kid fight someone, make sure he can win the fight.

A lady generously allows the county dump some brush on her property. In the process, county workers knock over a power line which sets fire to her house. Her home was a total loss. Does the county pay for the damages? Not on your life.

The county offered Ridings a settlement of $120,000, in writing, in October. Ridings then got her own appraisal from Tennessee Valley Appraisal Services showing the property was valued at $230,836.12.

In November, Ridings said the county came back to her with another settlement proposal of $157,100, and said it was their “final offer.”

In January, Ridings was notified that due to the Tennessee Governmental Tort Liability Act, which caps property damage claims at $100,000, she would only receive $100,000 from the county for her home.

Do we want our health care system operated by the same bureaucrats?

Consider this case in England where a woman suffering from breast cancer was not allowed to pay extra for treatment she needed.

Officials said that allowing Mrs. Hirst and others like her to pay for extra drugs to supplement government care would violate the philosophy of the health service by giving richer patients an unfair advantage over poorer ones.

Don't think it can't happen here. It can and will if we follow the same path. "Fair" is more important than your life.

Of course, liberal socialists and lefties have a perverted view of "fair." Getting a good education, working hard and making a good living isn't "fair" if you make "too much" money. In order to correct this unfairness, you will have your money forcibly confiscated in the form of taxes. A significant amount of this money will be given to or used for the benefit of people who weren't willing to put forth the effort to get a good education or be self-supporting.

"Fairness" is an ephemeral dream. I'll take my chances in a system that allows me to be in control rather than some bureaucrat.

Speaking in Wisconsin, Hillary claimed she went duck hunting in Arkansas sometime in the past. DrHelen posted on Hillary's use of Saul Alinsky's rules for radicals in communication. Making a few comments myself and reading the other comments, something struck me - no matter what Hillary says regarding her past experiences, the first impulse is not to believe her.

Even liberals and lefties seem to be viewing her with ever more jaundiced eyes. Perhaps this is why Barack Obama has won 10 consecutive primaries. I believe all along the liberals and lefties knew Bill and Hillary were the "notorious prevaricators" we all know they are. But, the liberals and lefties tolerated this because they felt the Clintons represented their best hope.

Now that a charismatic, younger, eloquent man has arisen, the left is abandoning the Clintons with much of the same scorn that right has held towards the Clintons for years. I almost feel sorry for Hillary. Hillary could state, "I remember when Bill and I made love one night under the light of the moon...." and everyone would think, "OK, because we know you have a child, ONE night! But, I bet the moon wasn't out."

Every so often one of my kids will ask me why something costs what it does. I give the usual reasons - the cost of materials, availability of materials, costs of production, plus demand. The best example I've come up with for simple supply and demand dynamics is chicken wings.

Until recently, chicken wings were the cheapest piece of chicken you could buy. Grocers practically had to give them away or package them with whole cut up chickens to get rid of them. When we bought buckets of fried chicken at KFC, the unwanted wings usually ended up in the garbage. Then an enterprising person in Buffalo, New York, came up with the idea for buffalo wings.

Slowly, the taste for buffalo wings spread across the country. Now there are restaurants that specialize in buffalo wings with several variants. You can buy pre-seasoned wings at the grocery or make your own with some hot sauce, butter and a fryer. The price of wings has skyrocketed.

Each chicken has an equal number of wings, legs and breasts. Breasts used to be the prime piece of the chicken. Boneless, skinless breast ranks tops. The supply of each of the pieces is equal. But the demand has changed tremendously.

During Super Bowl weekend, the price of chicken wings in whatever form I could find in the grocery was higher than chicken breast fillets. With numerous restaurants serving wings plus all the Super Bowl parties that would serve wings, the demand was very high. Thus high prices for chicken wings in any form.

My son loves hot wings and asked me why the price for wings kept going up. When I gave him this explanation, he seemed to understand fully. And, for once, I did too.

Last night there were reports of a pimpin' incident at Sully's Bar in Cincinnati. Numerous local citizens expressed concern over the incident. One of my co-workers stated, "So what? No biggy." Stay tuned for further details.

An interesting juxtaposition in the Cincinnati area is the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in downtown Cincinnati and the Creation Museum in nearby Petersburg, Kentucky. The Freedom Center has struggled financially from before day one and the Creation Museum is a rousing success.

The Freedom Center opened in 2004. Despite large donations and public funding for construction, etc, the center requested public money in 2006 to continue operations. Now it is requesting $3.7 million in state funds for capital expenses. A big part of the center's problem is low visitation.

The $80 million Freedom Center opened in August 2004. Attendance was 280,000 during its first year but has dropped significantly.

The center expects to finish its second year with 160,000 visitors, Bernish said, and has a goal of having 200,000 visitors a year.

You don't have to be a marketing research expert to realize that not a lot of white folks are going to visit a museum to feel guilty.

In contrast, the Creation Museum is exceeding expectations.

Officials with the museum say they surpassed the one-year attendance goal in only seven months, drawing 290,000 visitors through the end of 2007. When the museum opened on Memorial Day with protesters outside, Creation Museum officials said their 12-month goal in attendance was 250,000. They passed the 300,000 mark Jan. 9.

The Creation Museum was built entirely with private funds.

I don't care to get involved in the creation/evolution debate. I don't support teaching creationism in public schools. But, if you want to build a Creation Museum, go for it. I found it amusing the reactions of the evolutionists.

Gene Kritsky, evolutionary biologist, says, "At the risk of sounding really mean, it's almost like intellectual molestation."

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"What they are doing is no less an attack on the very way that science and enlightened thought works to produce the modern world. They want to substitute mythology for knowledge. Ignorance is a form of terrorism."

But, obviously, a lot more people are interested in the Creation Museum than the Freedom Center. Is this a tragedy? Not really. Indeed, I can easily come up with a tour of local homes and sites that would better ingrain in the minds of participants the horrors of slavery than an air conditioned museum.

High winds roughened up the waters of the normally placid Ohio River the other day. This picture was taken the same day tornadoes hit Memphis and Jackson, Tennessee. The vertical streak is from my car window. I'm crossing a small bridge that spans the creek that runs behind my house and into the Ohio River about a quarter mile past my backyard.



When I was a kid Sunbeam Bakers advertised on a lot of children's shows on TV. I also saw a lot of billboards similar to this one in downtown Cincinnati.



Downtown Cincinnati. I like the sign. 105 rooms and 60 baths. Quite a bit of bathroom sharing going on.



This modest, two seat, I believe, barbershop is the place to get your hair cut in Cincinnati. According to local publications, several big whigs patronize Ferrari's. The barbers look rather old. I doubt they're as fast as the cars.

Moonbat lefty wackos always get a charge out of claiming conservatives call anything they don't like "communist." I kinda like Obama although I won't vote for him, but this worries me.

Barack Obama won’t wear an American flag on his lapel, but on the wall of his Houston campaign office: a Cuban flag with a picture of Communist mass murderer Che Guevara.

I realize many will say Obama can't oversee the wall hangings in all the campaign offices. But, if he can't control this sort of thing, how will he perform as president? Or, does he think flags of communist nations and images of Che Guevara are OK in his campaign offices? Will these items hang in the Oval Office if he is elected?

Kentucky, Gov. Steve Beshear (D) largely won election by pointing out the corruption in the Ernie Fletcher (R) administration. Most Kentucky voters, rightly, agreed Fletcher's administration was corrupt. I wonder how long the "absence" of corruption will last. Beshear supports casino gambling in Kentucky. William Yung III has gambling interests and contributed $1 million to Beshear's campaign.

William Yung III contributed $1 million to a political group that worked to elect Beshear, a Democrat who made a proposal to legalize casinos in Kentucky a centerpiece in his campaign against former Gov. Ernie Fletcher.

Yung also made a $1,000 campaign contribution to Beshear for the November election campaign, and contributed $10,000 to help pay for Beshear's inaugural party in December.

Beshear said Monday the contributions don't give Yung an edge on getting one of several potentially lucrative state casino licenses if lawmakers and Kentucky voters decide to legalize gambling in Kentucky. License sales, Beshear said, could generate hundreds of millions of dollars for the state over the next two years.

"Nobody's going to have an inside track on them," Beshear told reporters on Monday. "It'll be all transparent and above board.

Yeah. Uhuh!

Having either lived in Kentucky or very close, half a mile, for the past 18 years, I've been amazed at the level of corruption and patronage in Kentucky state politics. I'm not a gambling man but I'm ready to make a bet on a particular guy getting one of those "lucrative state casino licenses."

A veteran deputy sheriff, Charlotte Marshall Jones of Hillsborough County, Florida, was caught on video dumping a quadriplegic man out of his wheelchair while he was being booked on Jan. 29. Apparently Jones decided Brian Sterner, 32, was faking his paralysis and dumped him out of the chair to prove it. Another deputy can be seen in the foreground smiling about the situation.

Watch the video. There is no question that this was a purposeful action by the deputy. Sterner is simply sitting (What else could he do?) in his wheelchair when Jones steps behind him and summarily dumps him on the tile covered concrete floor.

Incredible. Jones needs about 10 years of meaningless clerical duty at best. Everytime I see a video tape like this I wonder how many other times something similar happened and there was no tape or witnesses.

Susan Estrich recognizes the role of racism in the Democratic race of the presidential nomination. I've addressed the role of racism in the Democratic race before.

Estrich opens with

A funny thing keeps happening to Barack Obama on his way to victory against Hillary Clinton.

It happened in New Hampshire. It happened again in Nevada. It happened last week in California, Massachusetts, New Jersey and even in New York.

Notice anything? No southern states are mentioned. A small victory for the good ole boys of the South who are at least no more racist and probably less than their uppity Northern neighbors.

I saw Obama attacking Exxon Mobil on one of the cable news channels last night as an aside to his "new" energy policy. I couldn't find the transcript on the www. Maybe it'll come later.

Exxon Mobil is a private, publicly traded company. That means anyone who buys stock in the company can share in its profits. Sounds pretty good to me.

Who's making the real money off oil? Your friendly federal and state government, that's who. The average oil company makes 10 cents per gallon profit on gas. In Ohio, where I live, the state makes 26cents and the federal government makes 18.4. That's over 4 times the company profit. (Find your state HERE.) Microsoft's profit margins are over double that of Exxon Mobil. Where's the outrage??

Liberal politicians never saw a dollar they didn't want to take. They talk about corporate greed. Is there a greedier bunch of people than the politicians who want to take the money you earn and the corporations earn and use it to build their power base and control over your life? They don't just want your money. They want control.

Oil companies do a damn good job getting gasoline to the citizens. I rarely wait in line for gas. Gas is available in thousands, if not millions, of convenient locations. The clerks at the stations are generally friendly and helpful. Compare that to your last visit to the DMV or other government agency.

I'd be much more impressed (especially since I'm not impressed at all now) if politicians promised to make government as efficient and cost effective as Exxon Mobil.

The Anchoress makes a good case when she talks about Hillary's righteous anger concerning David Schuster's comment about Chelsea. I do agree that it was rude, crass and uncalled for. Anyone with half a heart would feel a certain pity towards Chelsea. I mean, Gawd, look who her parents are.

Mostly I'm with Sister Toldjah on this one.

I wonder when MSNBC will get around to scolding Shuster’s idol Keith Olbermann about the tawdry insinuations he made about the Bush twins back in November 2006:

Oh, wait, Chelsea's parents are liberals. Never mind.

UPDATE: MORE PIMPIN' with Olbemann plus Extreme Mortman.

Instapundit points out a column by Lori Gottlieb on settling for a good enough man rather than continuing the eternal search for the man of your dreams. Interesting that women need to be told this, men do it all the time. Unfortunately, men too often find themselves being divorced because the woman wants to continue her search for Mister Right.

The column is insightful, frank and humorous. If I have a problem with any of it, it is this :

But it was also decidedly not the dream. The dream, like that of our mothers and their mothers from time immemorial, was to fall in love, get married, and live happily ever after.

For many societies, this is not the dream. A much more pragmatic view of marriage is taken. American women increasingly choose to live with fairy tale expectations of life. Prince Charming will come galloping into her life kisses her, she becomes fully aroused, and they live happily ever after. Or, at least until the glow wears off and she goes off seeking another Prince Charming.

Ladies, it’s not called “settling.” It’s called living in reality. I’ve yet to meet the woman who outwardly showed she thought she was a great catch who really was. The great catches are more humble. Once “caught” the great catches are appreciative of their husbands. Their husbands are usually equally appreciative. (Yes, there are guys with money, looks, great personalities, etc. that no woman should touch.)

If Lori Gottlieb and the others want to find a good mate and father-to-be, stop looking at it as “settling.” Look at it as entering into the realm of reality.

(Saint) Valentine’s Day arrives in less than a week and the merchants heavily push products to sell. Valentine’s Day has become another celebration of male subservience to females. A casual perusal of advertising readily shows this.

A Wal-Mart flyer I received in the mail holds four full newspaper size pages of nothing but gifts for Valentine’s Day. The front page consists of candy, jewelry, cards and Cds all intended as gifts for females.

On the second page are food items. Men would probably only be interested in the rib eye steak. But, as Maggie Nemser, accurately states in Things Not to Get Your Sweetie for Valentine's Day:

Dinner. It's a blatant cop-out. Saving him the 80 bucks does not a romantic gesture make. A gift should come in a box. (Unless it is a kitty or a pup, which are other things you should not get him. See rule #2).

I agree. Dinner is great as an unexpected surprise, not a Valentine’s Day gift.

Back to the Wal-Mart flyer. The third page shows cookies, candy and Many Kisses Elmo. All items appeal to women and children, not men.

The top half of the back page is jewelry for women. Did you know you can spend $698 on a ring at Wal-Mart? Below that are other gifts for women and pets. Not a single gift specifically geared towards men in the entire flyer.

A JC Penney commercial has been shown repeatedly on TV this morning. It shows a necklace with a diamond encrusted heart slowly swinging back and forth. The male voice says, “When you’re happy, I’m happy.” Thus, the message that a man’s mission on Earth is to make women happy and to further increase many a woman's sense of entitlement. Isn’t that much of the message of militant feminism: “Men must behave the way we want them to behave so we can be self-fulfilled and happy.”

So guys, expect nothing on Valentine’s Day. (Which is fine with most guys.) If you get your significant other something adequately expensive, you might get some of the good sex implied in the woman’s twinkling eyes in the TV commercials. Of course, your significant other probably doesn’t look like the model on TV and a good hooker is cheaper.

BTW - Later in the year we’ll have to deal with this all over again on Sweetest Day. How did Sweetest Day come about? Is it a St. Valentine’s Day for atheists?

The starting quarterback/safety on the football team at my son's high school is going to Harvard on a football scholarship.

Last season, Cox threw 16 touchdown passes, ran for six TDs and returned an interception for a touchdown.

Harvard is known for its high academic standards, and Cox should fit in academically. He has a 4.05 grade-point average, which is bolstered by advanced placement classes. Cox said he wants to get into pre-medicine and plans to major in biology.

So much for the "dumb jock" myth.

Two other Mason County football players, Wylie Brace and Ray Huron, signed to play at Kentucky Christian University. Wylie and Ray are both great guys and are an inspiration to my son. Not only are they great football players but tremendous leaders and teammates. They both have given my son strong encouragement in his efforts to play football.

I feel fortunate that my son gets to follow in the footsteps of these three guys. I also feel fortunate that Mason County Schools helps kids develop to be such classy guys as these three and many others.

Go Royals!!

Watching the Super Tuesday results, I heard all sorts of analysis of why so-and-so did well here and not there and what it all means. The one factor largely avoided was bigotry. When it was touched upon it was mostly in relation to women voting for Hillary. Of course, this wasn't ever referred to as bigotry.

From the American Heritage Dictionary: Bigot - "One who is strongly partial to one's own group, religion, race, or politics and is intolerant of those who differ."

Using that definition, women who vote for Hillary because Hillary is a woman (or at least we believe she is) are bigots. So Hillary gets the bigoted female vote.

The Clintons have skillfully played the race card in their fight against Obama. It seems the "first black president" doesn't want a second one any time soon. Hillary gets the votes of bigoted white Democrats who don't like blacks like those in New Hampshire.

You could argue that Obama is getting the votes of bigoted blacks who don't like whites. I'm sure this is the case with some. But I believe Obama's black support is mostly from the excitement among blacks of the first truly viable black candidate. I am old enough, barely, to remember the excitement of Catholics when John Kennedy ran for and was elected president. Coincidentally, the first viable Mormon candidate is running for president now.

Religious people, especially conservative Christian sects, suffer more discrimination in running for national office now in the U.S. than, maybe, ever. Many the liberals and most lefties have disdain for conservative Christians and call them derogatory names such as "fundies." Here you can read all the comments by lefties and liberals arguing that Mormonism is a cult.

A "discussion" started by Sean Braisted an active member of the Davidson County Young Democrats (Tennessee).

The difference between a cult and a religion is numbers and political power.

In a later quote, he tries to clarify.

I think, from what I’ve seen, Mormonism is a silly religion…sort of like Scientology. I support a Mormon’s right to believe it, I support their right to run for office, and would even consider voting for a Mormon if they shared similar political values as myself…but seriously, golden tablets? Thats just funny.

But, remember, if you oppose illegal immigration, you're a racist. From the Davidson County Young Democrats blog:

We have an illegal immigration crisis that has nothing to do with immigration itself or the War on Terror (Securing our borders is like airport security ... a red herring) but rather a stigma perpetuated by racism and ignorance.

Oops! I stand corrected. You're racist AND STUPID.

The Democratic bigots against Mormonism wouldn't vote for any Republican in a primary anyway. If Romney were to win the Republican nomination, I'm sure the Democrats would skillfully time and again point out Romney's Mormonism, a la Ted "Can you swim?" Kennedy. John McCain will benefit from conservative bigots who won't vote for a Mormon.

No matter the eventual winner, bigotry will play significant enough role in the selection of the next president to be the deciding factor. Sad.

A couple of days ago, DrHelen wrote about people burning down their houses because they can't make their mortgage payments. Seems that may not be the only reason. In Cincinnati, it appears a mother of two sets of triplets (Yes, two sets.) was passing bad checks despite receiving significant charitable help from the community.

Cincinnati disc jockey, Gary Jeff Walker, isn't too happy.

Last week,(you can check the archives) I wrote about the Lasita family. On Monday night I and several other musicians performed at a benefit for this family. Tuesday, I started feeling very foolish for doing so.

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The thing that the rest of us didn't know is that Victoria was questioned by investigators the day before her Delhi home burned down. Again, I don't believe in coincidence .

I don't mind doing whatever I can when someone truly needs help. Neither did two Biggs stores when they collected $9,000 to help the family. Or, the Lasitas' church family that collected all that cash for the twin sets of triplets who now had no home.

No, when Victoria Lasita was busted on Tuesday on these theft charges and the others against her, I was left feeling pretty bad about the human race. On the plus side, look at all the people who turned out to help someone who truly didn't deserve a second look?

Some people just make life hard on themselves, to say the least.

GM Roper has a post that illustrates the differences between Mitt Romney, John McCain and the Democratic hopefuls.

	Clinton	Obama	McCain	Romney
Support amnesty or rewards for illegal aliens	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Oppose oil exploration in the US	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Tax gas 50 cents a gallon more for global warming	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Restrict freedom of speech during elections	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Oppose Bush tax cuts	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Close Gitmo, prosecute POWs in U.S. courts	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Surrender Iraq to Iran	Yes	Yes	No	No

Of course, left wing religious bigots won't vote for Romney. For the rest of us, this is useful information.

I wonder how many of the left wingers who have been harping and crying about Bush robbing us of our rights will vote for someone who actually supports our rights.

More HERE and HERE.

Going to college in the 1970's, I could work part-time and earn enough money to pay my expenses. Something that would be difficult at best these days. (Full-time tuition at the University of Tennessee was $110 a quarter when I started in summer of 1969.)

Another way I would make money was to go to Manpower Temporary Services during the breaks between quarters. With them I could get in 40 hours of work a week, usually at minimum wage or slightly above. They were happy to have me and I was happy for the opportunity to earn some extra money.

I still value the work experiences I had doing this. Jobs I worked on ranged from unloading 130 pound burlap bags of coffee beans at JFG Coffee to helping install safety deposit boxes in a bank. I spent 3 days unloading coffee beans and still consider it the hardest physical labor I've done in my life.

I also worked at the JFG instant coffee plant for a week. Other jobs via Manpower included working several construction several times, boxing table formica table tops at a factory, and mowing the grass at a huge truck stop with a push mower.

The placement that prompted me to think of writing this post was in the Tom's Potato Chip factory for a week. Yesterday my son and I stopped at at gas station to get a drink. There on the snack rack were Tom's products. I told my son how a semi full of potato chips didn't weigh hardly anything and was easy to load.

But, more than anything, I enjoyed meeting the people who worked on these jobs full-time and permanently. I got to know and respect the blue collar worker. For the most part they were good natured and hard working. They put forth more effort than most professional people ever imagine doing.

I learned to relate to them as one of them. The conversations were without the vagueries and twisted nuance you often find with intellectuals. I never found the condescension you see in the educated.

Thinking of the primaries and presidential candidates and their promises to "help" the average American, I look back at these people. I wonder how much these candidates from mostly rich, privileged backgrounds understand or care about their daily lives. Although John Edwards and Bill Clinton (surrogate candidate), can claim to be from similar roots, it seems that have forgotten what it's like, if they ever knew.

Politics in this country, especially on the national level, is not about what you do for the people. It's about getting to know the right people, sucking up to them and getting your palm greased. You only promise the people what you think they want to hear to get you elected because that's what matters.

Occasionally someone gets elected who really cares about the average American. Do any of the candidates we now have fall into that category? Hillary Clinton does not. Neither does John "You can't do it" McCain. I'm still not certain about Obama and Romney. Romney's background is privileged but he's shown skill in working with people. Obama has also shown obvious people skills but his policies will end up being cures that are worse than the problem.

Sometimes I think every college student should be required to work at some of these jobs in order for them to see another side of life. It would make many look at others with a better perspective.