Archive for February, 2010
A Kick-Back Saturday
I realized when I woke up this morning that I missed meeting some of the guys for breakfast. What a bummer. I was really looking forward to it, but for some reason my body decided it needed more sleep than I wanted to give it. My body won.
I had no plans for the rest of the day, and I am not planning anything tomorrow so I can watch the USA v. Canada Olympic hockey final. The race from Las Vegas is on too, but I’m pretty sure Jimmie Johnson is going to win, so why bother watching, right? Go USA!
We watched intently today while Hawaii awaited the tsunami, but thankfully it was minor. I spent a year in Hilo, Hawaii going to college. It’s a beautiful city that was completely devastated by a tsumani back in 1960. I’m glad they didn’t suffer from the same result this time.
I made bacon-wrapped chili dogs for dinner this evening, and I got to thinking afterward, I am going to have to post that recipe. Everything tastes better cooked with a pound of bacon!
I was shocked to learn that Rep. John Linder (R-GA) is retiring from Congress. He was a champion of the Fair Tax movement, and I really hope someone picks up the torch, because something has to be done about our current tax code.
“I made the decision last Tuesday night and notified my staff Wednesday morning. I told them not to share the news because I planned to make the announcment during a speaking engagement Saturday,” said Linder.
Gwinnett GOP manager David Hancock said the announcement, which came at the end of brief speech by Linder, caught attendees off-guard.
“You can’t keep doing things forever and I never intended to stay as long as I did,” said Linder. “Eighteen years is a long time,” he said.
Funny isn’t it? The most effective and ethical leaders are the ones who know when it’s time to step down. Congress was not meant to be a “career path”, and hopefully in the future we can persuade others it’s time for them to go too.
Our Day At Eufaula National Wildlife Refuge
Yesterday was an incredible day.
Our middle son, who is 10, finished reading the entire Harry Potter series of books and as a reward for his dedication to reading, I offered him his choice of location for a day of birding. He chose the Eufaula National Wildlife Refuge.
We learned about Eufaula NWR from a friend of ours, Jim Enterkin, at a recent Sweetwater Camera Club meeting. Since the day he told us about all the birds he saw when he visited the refuge, the boys had been anxiously awaiting yesterday’s trip. It was only natural that we would invite Jim to make the trip with us, so he could see more birds too!
We departed at 6:00 in the morning and arrived for a quick stop at West Point Lake at 7:30 to see if we could spot a few Bald Eagles before continuing on to Eufaula. We were out of the truck no more than three minutes when Jim spotted one mature, and one immature Bald Eagle sitting in a tree. They called out to each other and then flew for a few minutes, landing in a tree directly across the river from us, making our stop a great start to a very incredible day. In fact, our photos show a second adult Bald Eagle sitting in the tree where they landed.
We were not in a good position to get ‘great’ photos, but it was an awesome sight. What a great start to an incredible day! After a quick bathroom break, in heated bathrooms nonetheless, we continued on to the wildlife refuge.
We were 10 minutes out from the refuge headquarters when we spotted another Bald Eagle flying over some water. Moments later, we arrived at the refuge headquarters to learn what birds had been sighted in the area. The ranger told us about other wildlife in the area, but the sighting of the Bald Eagle only pumped us all up for the adventure we were just beginning, so we didn’t pay much attention to the “other wildlife” part.
It didn’t take long to spot Eastern Bluebirds, American Robins, American Crows, Chipping Sparrows, a Purple Martin, an Eastern Phoebe, Northern Mockingbirds, Common Grackles, and a few Palm Warblers.
At the first pond we were able to view a solitary Canvasback, half a dozen killdeer, a dozen Ringnecked Ducks, and five Buffleheads. While we were observing the ducks, our youngest spotted something flying above the grass trying to stir something up. It turned out to be a Northern Harrier trying to rustle up some grub.
We spotted a total of six Northern Harriers in the area, along with a Red-Shouldered Hawk and a couple Red-Tailed Hawks. As we were observing two Northern Harrier’s in a tree, we had a couple little friends who kept popping up around the truck.
A total of five Yellow-Rumped Warbler’s were hanging out with us at that point in the wildlife refuge.
The roads were all dry and clear, but the “summer” routes were not open and won’t be opened until March 1st, so we were “forced” to walk part of the road in the Houston Unit. Jim told us that they had seen dozens of Great Egrets when he was at the same location just a few months ago, and just steps down the road, the egrets began to fly.
And boy, did they fly! We saw a total of 26 Great Egrets along with three Anhinga, 15 Great Blue Herons, numerous Northern Shovelers, Double-Crested Cormorants, hundreds of American Coots, several Common Moorhens, and quite a few Pied-Billed Grebes.
At one point a couple of Osprey decided to check us out as we walked back along the road. I love how they hover when they check out the water for their next meal.
The Osprey wasn’t the only bird that flew close to see what we were doing on their turf.
After visiting the Houston Unit, we decided to eat lunch in Eufaula, Alabama, and then venture over to the Bradley Unit on the Georgia side of the refuge.
We saw more Great Egrets, Great Blue Herons, Ring-Necked Ducks, Bufflehead, Wood Ducks, American Coots, and Common Moorhens.
Just moments after snapping this shot, we heard something rustling on the shore next to the road. We glanced down in time to see a 5.5-6 foot alligator go running into the water. It was 15 feet away from us. That’s when we remembered the “other wildlife” part of what the ranger had to say. She mentioned some rather large alligators sunning themselves on the banks of the water and on the side of the roadways.
As we walked back toward the truck, we joked with each other about not slowing down. None of us wanted to be the guy in back, in case that gator decided to give chase.
As I said when I started this post, it was an incredible day. I added five new birds to my life list, the boys added 6 to theirs, and we all had a great time, even after we took this final photo at the refuge.
Notice the “visitor” in the foreground of the photo. Do Great Blue Herons not see bumpy backed alligators if they hide their heads under some vegetation? Even though that gator was quite far away from us, it was large enough to make us rethink sticking around any longer. None of us were interested in tempting fate and becoming a dinner item at the Bradley Unit that day.
We still had a few hours to spare, so we drove down to the Walter F. George reservoir dam, but didn’t see too much while we were there except some deer, a lot of Ring Billed Gulls, Double Crested Cormorants, and a few barking Great Blue Herons.
It took us a little over three hours to get home and call an end to one of the best birding days any of us had seen in a long, long, time.
Of course, now that we’re all rested, we’re ready to head down there again. Soon. Very soon.
Gone Birding!
In a daring attempt to escape the mundane cycle of everyday life, I have run away today and won’t be back until tomorrow.
Education, Exploitation, & Examination
It’s been fifty-four days since I had a Coca-Cola. I used to drink 4 to 6 (or more) of them per day, and I quit, cold turkey. I also stopped eating or drinking anything with high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils.
Since the first of the year I have lost seven pounds, bringing me to a loss of 16 pounds since November 1st of last year. I still have about 14 pounds to lose, but I am pretty sure I can accomplish that goal before spring comes to an end.
The only side effect of my new eating habits, is the re-occurrence of headaches, which usually hit later in the day and sometimes last until the following morning. Once I figure out what’s causing the headaches I should be golden with this whole “eating right” thing.
I have quite a few articles piled up here in my browser, so I thought I would pass them on to you this evening. It’s been about a month since I did a “thoughts” post, so it’s time.
Thought #1
I’m all for improving our current education system, but I hardly think increasing the “assessments” will solve any of the current problems plaguing the system.
Obama’s 2011 budget will call for the reauthorization of the 1994 version of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which would require states to meet six tough standards to help high school graduates prepare for college or careers. The administration said schools need to focus on better teacher preparation, improved teaching and tougher student assessments.
It’s no secret that we homeschool our children. There are several reasons we choose to keep them out of the public school system, and one of those reasons is the current “teaching for the test” mentality. Too much pressure is on too many teachers and when time gets away from them they end up focusing only on the specific subjects and problems that will be covered in “the test”.
We have seen neighborhood kids stressing about “the test”, and we have spoken to teachers who wish they could take time to cover some subjects more in-depth but they are so constrained by “the test” they don’t dare take a even a moment out of their already tight schedule.
I wish I knew the solution to improving our educational system, but I am quite sure it isn’t making the assessments tougher or telling teachers they need to prepare more. Have you spoken to a teacher lately? Do you realize how much time (and personal money) they devote to their jobs as it is?
Thought #2
When was the last time you bought an article of clothing that was made in the United States of America? I feel for the people of Haiti, but I do not think this is the answer to their problem, and it only exacerbates ours.
In the quest to rebuild Haiti, the international community and business leaders are dusting off a pre-quake plan to expand its low-wage garment assembly industry as a linchpin of recovery. President Barack Obama’s administration is on board, encouraging U.S. retailers to obtain from Haiti at least 1 percent of the clothes they sell.
The garment industry in America is dying as it is. One percent doesn’t sound like a lot, but when there is little to nothing being manufactured here in the United States as it is, one percent will actually have quite an impact.
I find it ironic that this plan is endorsed by the current administration. If it had been proposed by a Republican administration (or endorsed by it), there would be cries of exploitation and we would be seen as taking advantage of the Haitian people.
Does it really make a difference if your clothes are made in China, Thailand, Indonesia, or Haiti? No matter which one you pick, the workers are exploited and taken advantage of. I guess it’s okay this time, because they’re calling for it in the name of “hope” for the people of Haiti.
Thought #3
The Washington Post has a pretty good explanation of President Obama’s latest health-care “modification”. Rather than starting over because the majority of the American people are unhappy with the current proposal, he slapped some lipstick on the pig and pushed it out the door.
Mr. Obama, following the advice of nearly every economist who has examined the issue, identified a tax on high-cost insurance plans as a key mechanism for curbing the growth of health-care costs. He was right. Unfortunately, in the legislative process the tax already was whittled down several times. Now the president proposes delaying it until 2018 — long after he leaves office — and raising the threshold at which it applies. Meanwhile, to recoup the $120 billion lost by the delay, Mr. Obama would apply the Medicare payroll tax to unearned income for the wealthiest taxpayers — money that should be used to shore up Medicare’s shaky finances rather than subsidizing cushy insurance.
Go read the rest of the article, it summarizes the President’s health-care changes quite succinctly.
Scott Brown Breaks Promise With First Vote
Everyone is in a tizzy about Scott Brown’s vote on Scary Harry Reid’s jobs bill. They have a right to be upset, but not just because he chose to side with Democrats. They should be upset with him for his “business-as-usual” vote which completely contradicts the very reasons he was running for office in the first place.
When he was elected, Mr. Brown said that the voters were tired of “business-as-usual” politics in Washington, D.C., yet that seems to be exactly what he brought with him as he settled into Ted Kennedy’s former office.
While running for his senate seat, Mr. Brown said he was running because…
America is a great country but we also have some challenges that we need to solve if we’re going to remain the world’s superpower. The most important of our challenges is getting the U.S. economy moving again. People are hurting as they struggle to make ends meet. They’re worried about their future, and that of their children and grandchildren. I want to ensure that we leave them an America that is financially stronger and independent: minus a national debt that we can never repay.
He wants to make sure we leave an America that is financially stronger and independent, minus a national debt that we can never repay. Harry Reid’s jobs bill is a pork filled $15 billion monstrosity which just adds more to our national debt. Nice promise there Scott.
Harry Reid did not have the votes for cloture on this bill, so he politically bribed Republican Sen. Voinovich from Ohio with a promise to bring a transportation bill to the floor of the Senate, just to get his vote. If that isn’t business-as-usual, I have no idea what is. I’m sure many of Scott Brown’s constituents are happy with his decision, but the moderates and independents who put him in that chair are sure to remember his “business-as-usual” vote 2012 comes around.
If Scott Brown really wanted to stop “business-as-usual” and change things in Washington he should have made his case while voting against this bill. They say actions speak louder than words and right now his actions make his words sound an awful lot like Barack Obama’s.
The Disgraceful Treatment Of The Dalai Lama
Do you remember the news back in April of last year, when President Obama met with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, not once but twice, at the meeting of the Union of South American Nations?
You probably don’t, so I will remind you.
Obama, Chavez Meet; Chavez Gives Obama a Book
Obama has come face to face with leftist Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, one of Washington’s fiercest critics, twice so far at the Summit of the Americas. According to a senior official, when the two men were lining up for the ceremonial entrance last night, Obama strode over to Chavez and introduced himself. Chavez reportedly told Obama he hoped for a new start to relations between the two countries, an account the U.S. official did not dispute. According to the official, Obama smiled and returned to his place in the line. Later that night Obama joked to reporters that he’d said “Como estas?”
This morning, at the beginning of a meeting of the Union of South American Nations, Chavez gave Obama a book: “Las Venas Abietas de America Latina” or “The Open Veins of Latin America”, a scholarly text that analyzes Latin America’s dependence on the north. The media friendly Chavez waited until the press had been allowed into the room for a photo opportunity before gifting the book, which Obama accepted.
Do you remember the photo op that went with that second meeting?
So why am I reminding you of something that occurred ten months ago? It’s simple, really.
I think it’s important to remember who our President chooses to surround himself with, and more importantly, who he chooses to be seen with.
The two photos of President Obama greeting Hugo Chavez are unscripted. They are candid shots taken by photographers at the event who captured that historic moment in time when the leader of the free world met one of the world’s most vicious dictators and smiled while doing so.
Now, fast forward to this week.
Obama meets Dalai Lama; Only one photo allowed
The only photograph of President Obama meeting with the Dalai Lama was taken by a White House photographer. Independent media was not allowed to cover the event. The President of the United States was so worried about offending China that he met privately with the Dalai Lama and released an “official” photo which depicts President Obama with a stern face and the Dalai Lama looking a bit shocked, or something.
It’s clear that the Obama administration staged this photo opportunity so they could whitewash the meeting with the Dalai Lama and save face with China. Articles from the media reveal the real reason that independent photographers were not allowed to record the meeting.
The sensitivity comes for fear of offending China which, as the Associated Press notes, now holds nearly $800 billion in U.S. federal debt. And for fear of reprisals in other areas by the rising Asian superpower. (Gee, what if China used lead in its paints?)
China sees the Dalai Lama as a separatist seeking to overthrow the sovereignty that China imposed militarily in 1950. Well, no one said it had to make sense. The Dalai Lama fled in 1959 after a failed revolt and lives in India now.
If meeting with the Dalai Lama in private without independent media covering the event wasn’t bad enough, just wait til you see what happened next. You see, when President Obama met with Hugo Chavez at the meeting of the Union of South American Nations, they were both allowed to use the front door while entering and exiting. The same cannot be said about the Dalai Lama.
I thought President Obama promised us hope and change. I thought this was the 21st Century. Since when do we, the American people, usher guests in and out of the back door at America’s House?
Didn’t Rosa Parks refuse to give up her seat on a bus so this type of thing wouldn’t happen again? Wasn’t Medgar Evers sacrifice enough? He believed that everyone was indeed created equal.
No one should be ushered out through the back door of the White House, for any reason, let alone to save face with a country that wouldn’t know civil rights if it came crashing through their window tied to a brick.
February is Black History Month here in the United States, which is good timing, because it’s clear to me that our own President needs a bit of a refresher course. If anyone in the White House should understand the significance of ushering people out the back door, it’s our current President.
It’s time to change, Mr. President. This is no time to be yellow.
Tea Parties & Mount Vernon
This has been a busy, and hectic, week. My sister is in town for the weekend, so posting will be a bit light. I did, however, want to mention a couple things.
Did you see what Glenn Reynolds had to say about the Tea Party Convention? Here are some excerpts.
The political elites have failed, and citizens are stepping in to pick up the slack.
He sure got that right. For years we have depended on our elected officials to get the job done, and they have failed. It’s time to make sure things get done and sometimes, especially this time, the only way to get something done is to do it ourselves.
While writing about Sarah Palin’s appearance at the convention, Reynolds went on to add,
Right now, the tea party isn’t looking for leaders so much as leaders are looking to align themselves with the tea party.
The Tea Party movement does not need leaders. The heart of the Tea Party movement is the collective voice of the citizens involved within it. It wouldn’t make sense to silence so many people just so their “leader” could speak would it? That’s the problem that started the Tea Party movement in the first place. Our political leaders failed us and refused to listen.
Never again. It’s time for real change.
The Mount Vernon Statement
Constitutional Conservatism: A Statement for the 21st CenturyWe recommit ourselves to the ideas of the American Founding. Through the Constitution, the Founders created an enduring framework of limited government based on the rule of law. They sought to secure national independence, provide for economic opportunity, establish true religious liberty and maintain a flourishing society of republican self-government.
These principles define us as a country and inspire us as a people. They are responsible for a prosperous, just nation unlike any other in the world. They are our highest achievements, serving not only as powerful beacons to all who strive for freedom and seek self-government, but as warnings to tyrants and despots everywhere.
Each one of these founding ideas is presently under sustained attack. In recent decades, America’s principles have been undermined and redefined in our culture, our universities and our politics. The self evident truths of 1776 have been supplanted by the notion that no such truths exist. The federal government today ignores the limits of the Constitution, which is increasingly dismissed as obsolete and irrelevant.
Some insist that America must change, cast off the old and put on the new. But where would this lead — forward or backward, up or down? Isn’t this idea of change an empty promise or even a dangerous deception?
The change we urgently need, a change consistent with the American ideal, is not movement away from but toward our founding principles. At this important time, we need a restatement of Constitutional conservatism grounded in the priceless principle of ordered liberty articulated in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.
The conservatism of the Declaration asserts self-evident truths based on the laws of nature and nature’s God. It defends life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It traces authority to the consent of the governed. It recognizes man’s self-interest but also his capacity for virtue.
The conservatism of the Constitution limits government’s powers but ensures that government performs its proper job effectively. It refines popular will through the filter of representation. It provides checks and balances through the several branches of government and a federal republic.
A Constitutional conservatism unites all conservatives through the natural fusion provided by American principles. It reminds economic conservatives that morality is essential to limited government, social conservatives that unlimited government is a threat to moral self-government, and national security conservatives that energetic but responsible government is the key to America’s safety and leadership role in the world.
A Constitutional conservatism based on first principles provides the framework for a consistent and meaningful policy agenda.
- It applies the principle of limited government based on the?rule of law to every proposal.
- It honors the central place of individual liberty in American?politics and life.
- It encourages free enterprise, the individual entrepreneur, and?economic reforms grounded in market solutions.
- It supports America’s national interest in advancing freedom?and opposing tyranny in the world and prudently considers what we can and should do to that?end.
- It informs conservatism’s firm defense of family, neighborhood,?community, and faith.
If we are to succeed in the critical political and policy battles ahead, we must be certain of our purpose.
We must begin by retaking and resolutely defending the high ground of America’s founding principles.
February 17, 2010
If you agree with the Mount Vernon Statement, head over to the Mount Vernon Statement website and sign the petition. As of right now, there are more than 24,000 signatures.