Musk Turtle
a.k.a "stinkpot"
We found the crawfish dead next to the turtle. Apparently, the crawfish invaded the turtle's space and lost the battle.
Friday, March 27, 2009
K's Find
As the girls were doing geography and learning about the 12 tribes of Israel, K came running in from outside telling us about his latest find. He was so excited that we wanted to follow him down his trail to see what all the excitement was about. Needless to say, we now have a new pet.
Baby L Adventures
I don't know how she does it, but she's figuring out so many different things every day. As I was checking my e-mail in the living room the other day, I heard silverware clinking in the kitchen. I knew K wasn't in the kitchen because he was beside me, so a little panic struck. I knew she wasn't into the knives, because I keep them too high for K to reach, much less Baby L. As soon as I walked into the kitchen, this is what I saw... she had opened the dishwasher by herself and was trying to unload the dishwasher. I'm curious to see if she is going to be a helper like her brother or be complete opposite and be an undoer. I, of course, will encourage the helping.... ;-)
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Gettn' Dirty
K, who has become very adventurous and loves to be outdoors, was a very cautious baby and didn't like to get dirty. Just recently he started walking outside barefoot. Baby L on the other hand, already enjoys getting dirty/muddy and I caught her sneaking out of the house the other day... and she's not even 1 yet.
Friday, March 20, 2009
Bailout $$$
The below information was taken from an e-mail that I got from getliberty.org today.
Obama's Spoiled Red Herring
By Robert Romano
It might be a good time for President Barack Obama to take a week off. And perhaps go fishing.
This week, the President waxed highly indignant that American International Group (AIG), Inc. gave out some $165 million in contractual bonuses after receiving more than one-thousand times that amount, some $173 billion, in taxpayer-guaranteed bailouts.
Unfortunately for the White House, the whole episode ultimately has unwittingly turned into a net negative for the president. It's an irony, and one that could prove quite damaging in 2010.
The New York Times' Adam Nagourney laid out the beginnings of the Great Bonus Scam just on March 15th in some detail in his piece, “Bracing for a Bailout Over Wall Street Bailouts,” writing that “The administration's sharp rebuke of the American International Group on Sunday for handing out $165 million in executive bonuses… marks the latest effort by the White House to distance itself from abuses that could feed potentially disruptive public anger.”
At first the feigned outrage was nothing more than a contrived red herring to divert and deflect public outrage over bailouts away from government that gave undeserving bailouts onto the undeserving firms that gobbled them up.
Only Mr. Obama forgot to wash the pungent scent of the herring off his hands before posturing and preening at the podium. And, instead of throwing off the trail, once the hounds were done ripping the red herring to shreds, they showed up back on the doorstep of the White House, itself.
What they discovered was the fact that the President had actually signed the legislation—the $787 billion “stimulus”—that guaranteed that the controversial contractual bonuses would be paid. What's worse was the admission by Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) that he inserted the amendment at the explicit direction of Mr. Obama's Treasury.
To be fair to the President, it is possible that he still has not read the 1100-page bill that he made law. So it not altogether surprising that he is the first president to denounce his own legislation—only a month after enacting it. Bravo.
Earlier in the week, the President stated with mock outrage, "This is a corporation that finds itself in financial distress due to recklessness and greed. Under these circumstances, it's hard to understand how derivative traders at AIG warranted any bonuses, much less 165 million dollars in extra pay. How do they justify this outrage to the taxpayers who are keeping the company afloat?"
Well, sir, the way they justify it is by getting to first sign off on it. Pure and simple.
In truth, this is a solid example of pay-to-play corruption. Since 1989, AIG has donated more than $4.37 million to candidates for federal office—including Mr. Obama. In 2008, the company gave $644,218 to candidates, and in return, it received from the Federal Reserve some $173 billion in taxpayer-guaranteed loans. That represents nearly a 27 million percent return on investment 2008 alone.
Of particular note, Senator Chris Dodd received some $103,900 from AIG in 2008—and in the 2009 “stimulus” legislation, he dutifully inserted the amendment that guaranteed that bonuses would be paid by adding language to a spending cap that specifically excluded executive bonuses included in contracts.
The only politician who took more than Senator Dodd, not so coincidentally, was one Barack Obama. He took some $104,332 from AIG in 2008. And he then made sure his benefactors got their bonuses.
In fact, according to OpenSecrets.org, no politician in 2008 took more money from the troubled insurance giant than Mr. Obama.
All of which, of course, leaves a lot of egg on Mr. Obama's face.
Every politician who received donations from AIG, and any other bailout-recipient firms, should return them to the taxpayers who are now paying, as the President noted, to keep these companies afloat. That is the least they can do to avoid the perception—or, more accurately, the reality—of a quid pro quo.
In short, they should put their money where their mouth is.
Instead, Mr. Obama put his foot where his mouth is. Perhaps now that he's finished posturing and preening in front of the prompter, he'll be able to dislodge it while he fishes for some more herrings to distract the American people from what an amateur he really is—as well as what he is really after: the total socialization of American society.
Clearly, the herring isn't the only thing that is red in the Obama White House.
Robert Romano is Senior Editor of ALG News Bureau.
http://alg31blog.timberlakepublishing.com/default.asp?Display=1058
Obama's Spoiled Red Herring
By Robert Romano
It might be a good time for President Barack Obama to take a week off. And perhaps go fishing.
This week, the President waxed highly indignant that American International Group (AIG), Inc. gave out some $165 million in contractual bonuses after receiving more than one-thousand times that amount, some $173 billion, in taxpayer-guaranteed bailouts.
Unfortunately for the White House, the whole episode ultimately has unwittingly turned into a net negative for the president. It's an irony, and one that could prove quite damaging in 2010.
The New York Times' Adam Nagourney laid out the beginnings of the Great Bonus Scam just on March 15th in some detail in his piece, “Bracing for a Bailout Over Wall Street Bailouts,” writing that “The administration's sharp rebuke of the American International Group on Sunday for handing out $165 million in executive bonuses… marks the latest effort by the White House to distance itself from abuses that could feed potentially disruptive public anger.”
At first the feigned outrage was nothing more than a contrived red herring to divert and deflect public outrage over bailouts away from government that gave undeserving bailouts onto the undeserving firms that gobbled them up.
Only Mr. Obama forgot to wash the pungent scent of the herring off his hands before posturing and preening at the podium. And, instead of throwing off the trail, once the hounds were done ripping the red herring to shreds, they showed up back on the doorstep of the White House, itself.
What they discovered was the fact that the President had actually signed the legislation—the $787 billion “stimulus”—that guaranteed that the controversial contractual bonuses would be paid. What's worse was the admission by Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) that he inserted the amendment at the explicit direction of Mr. Obama's Treasury.
To be fair to the President, it is possible that he still has not read the 1100-page bill that he made law. So it not altogether surprising that he is the first president to denounce his own legislation—only a month after enacting it. Bravo.
Earlier in the week, the President stated with mock outrage, "This is a corporation that finds itself in financial distress due to recklessness and greed. Under these circumstances, it's hard to understand how derivative traders at AIG warranted any bonuses, much less 165 million dollars in extra pay. How do they justify this outrage to the taxpayers who are keeping the company afloat?"
Well, sir, the way they justify it is by getting to first sign off on it. Pure and simple.
In truth, this is a solid example of pay-to-play corruption. Since 1989, AIG has donated more than $4.37 million to candidates for federal office—including Mr. Obama. In 2008, the company gave $644,218 to candidates, and in return, it received from the Federal Reserve some $173 billion in taxpayer-guaranteed loans. That represents nearly a 27 million percent return on investment 2008 alone.
Of particular note, Senator Chris Dodd received some $103,900 from AIG in 2008—and in the 2009 “stimulus” legislation, he dutifully inserted the amendment that guaranteed that bonuses would be paid by adding language to a spending cap that specifically excluded executive bonuses included in contracts.
The only politician who took more than Senator Dodd, not so coincidentally, was one Barack Obama. He took some $104,332 from AIG in 2008. And he then made sure his benefactors got their bonuses.
In fact, according to OpenSecrets.org, no politician in 2008 took more money from the troubled insurance giant than Mr. Obama.
All of which, of course, leaves a lot of egg on Mr. Obama's face.
Every politician who received donations from AIG, and any other bailout-recipient firms, should return them to the taxpayers who are now paying, as the President noted, to keep these companies afloat. That is the least they can do to avoid the perception—or, more accurately, the reality—of a quid pro quo.
In short, they should put their money where their mouth is.
Instead, Mr. Obama put his foot where his mouth is. Perhaps now that he's finished posturing and preening in front of the prompter, he'll be able to dislodge it while he fishes for some more herrings to distract the American people from what an amateur he really is—as well as what he is really after: the total socialization of American society.
Clearly, the herring isn't the only thing that is red in the Obama White House.
Robert Romano is Senior Editor of ALG News Bureau.
http://alg31blog.timberlakepublishing.com/default.asp?Display=1058
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
K's Carseat
K got a near carseat that turns into a booster. I'm not sure who liked it more, him or baby L.
Baby L Laughing
Courtney, Baby L, and I were at the store the other day when I needed something off the top shelf. Since I was too short to reach it, Courtney tried to jump up and get it for me... Here's a video of what baby L thought of it.... I was laughing so hard that I was crying and my stomach was hurting.
Hawaii - Day 7
Today was our last full day in Hawaii. With it still raining, we decided to go to the Summit where the world's best observatory is located far above the clouds at 13,000 feet. It's also the highest point in the U.S. As we got to the visitor center at 9,000 feet, we noticed road blocks and realized we probably weren't going to make it to the observatory. We were right.... the roads had been closed due to hazardous road conditions due to rain and snow. Did I mention that Hawaii has 11 of the 13 different climates on it's islands? I never imagined you could go skiing in Hawaii.
As we drove down, M noticed the off road trails and of course we had to use our 4 wheel drive. 
It seems as though watching a movie on vacation has become a "tradition" of ours, so when we got back to Kona, we watched Watchmen. Although I would never recommend the movie to anyone because I didn't know it was based on a graphic novel, it was kind of weird sitting in a movie theater only a few hours away from an active volcano.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Hawaii - Day 6
It's Saturday. After eating breakfast we sat out for Volcano Park. The sky seemed to be clearing as we ventured out for the 2.5 hour dive, opting to visit the Park instead of going zip lining. We were wrong. On our way to Volcano Park we ventured out to find Green Sand Beach, which happens to be the most southern point of the U.S. and is one of only 2 green sand beaches in the world; the other being in Guam. As we started down a road that said "do no enter" and there were absolutely no other cars coming or going down that small rocky road, I got a little nervous. We drove about 15-20 minutes before I finally asked M to turn around. I didn't think it would have been likely for such a famous beach to be so hidden and unadvertised. I was wrong, we should have kept going. Maybe next time.
After the beaches, it was on to Volcano Park. Before heading to check out the volcano, I had to buy an actual raincoat because the rain parka wasn't cutting it anymore. After checking out the lava tube, we hiked 4 miles around and through Kilheau Ike Crater in the rain. When we weren't on the hardened volcano keeping warm with the steam vents, we felt as though we were actually going through rain forests. It was incredible to see such different climates so close together. We walked right out of a rain forest onto volcanic rock, which was almost desert like (except for the rain of course). Had it not been raining, we wouldn't have been able to see the steam vents that are actually caused from the rain seeping through holes to find it's way to the hot rock below. Just as recent as the 80's the ground several feet below us was still molten.
On our drive back to the hotel, we stopped at another lookout point to see the Sea Arch.
Next stop, Black Sand Beach. I can imagine that the beautiful blue ocean beating against the black sand would be absolutely beautiful in the full glory of the sun, because it was amazing in the cover of gray clouds.
After the beaches, it was on to Volcano Park. Before heading to check out the volcano, I had to buy an actual raincoat because the rain parka wasn't cutting it anymore. After checking out the lava tube, we hiked 4 miles around and through Kilheau Ike Crater in the rain. When we weren't on the hardened volcano keeping warm with the steam vents, we felt as though we were actually going through rain forests. It was incredible to see such different climates so close together. We walked right out of a rain forest onto volcanic rock, which was almost desert like (except for the rain of course). Had it not been raining, we wouldn't have been able to see the steam vents that are actually caused from the rain seeping through holes to find it's way to the hot rock below. Just as recent as the 80's the ground several feet below us was still molten.
On our drive back to the hotel, we stopped at another lookout point to see the Sea Arch.
Hawaii- Day 5
Today was our first full day on the Big Island. We got up early and drove to the other side of the island, about 3 hours, to Hilo for our Circle of Fire helicopter tour with Blue Hawaiian. Once again, M and I were fortunate enough to be able to sit up front near the pilot. We both liked this tour a lot more. We were able to see active lava flow and a Bed and Breakfast that was only accessible by helicopter because lava had destroyed EVERYTHING around it, including all the houses and roads.
After the tour, we drove to the macadamia nut plantation, Moana Loa. The smell was absolutely delicious and almost narcotic. Have I ever mentioned that white chocolate macadamia cookies are my favorite? Needless to say, I was excited about visiting the factory. We were able to see the storing process and buy lots of different macadamia nuts. Our choices included roasted garlic, toffee covered, coffee dipped, salted, onion, and some others that I don't remember. We bought a couple of them, but my favorite was the toffee covered. We bought a large bag, but they didn't last long. Oh, and did I mentioned it rained.
I'm not sure where we took these pictures, but we saw these trees everywhere and they were huge.
While enduring the rain, again, we went to Rainbow Falls, although we did not see a rainbow, it was still very pretty. From there, we went to Akaka State Park for a very short hike to see 2 breathtakingly large waterfalls, neither which were in reach, but were still something you would definitely see in a brochure. In all we saw over 10 waterfalls. I'm sure we saw a lot more, but I don't want to risk overexaggerating.... ;-)
Friday, March 13, 2009
Hawaii - Day 4
Since we are leaving for Kona on the Big Island today, we didn't have a lot of time to do much, but we had to do something, so we hiked Diamondhead. It was worth it. They said it was about a 1.5 - 2 hour hike, but M and I were pretty confident we could better than the average. Although it wasn't easy, we made it up and back in about 45 minutes. Our timing was perfect. As soon as we got to the bottom and sat down to eat our shaved ice, the tour buses started rolling in. There would have been NO way we could have done that hike that quick with that many people. The trails are narrow and the steps, and there are a lot of them, are even narrower. We got back to the hotel and checked out by noon to catch our 1:30 flight.
While we were waiting for our plane, I overheard the guy across from us say, "Lafayette". Oddly enough, that was the only thing I heard, so I had to interrupt him to see if he was a neighbor. Come to find out, he and his friend were from Iowa state and he currently works and lives in Lafayette. They too were flying to the Big Island, but to the other side to stay with some friends. They had no idea what they were planning on doing while they were there, so M gave them a few ideas. What a small world to be able to travel thousands of miles to meet someone that lives about an hour away from you.
The Big Island is so much different than O'ahu. It's not nearly as commercialized and there's not a lot of greenery, at least not in Kona, the volcanic side of the Island. It was absolutely breathtaking, relaxing, and didn't seem to be too commercialized.
Our hotel lobby area
While we were waiting for our plane, I overheard the guy across from us say, "Lafayette". Oddly enough, that was the only thing I heard, so I had to interrupt him to see if he was a neighbor. Come to find out, he and his friend were from Iowa state and he currently works and lives in Lafayette. They too were flying to the Big Island, but to the other side to stay with some friends. They had no idea what they were planning on doing while they were there, so M gave them a few ideas. What a small world to be able to travel thousands of miles to meet someone that lives about an hour away from you.
The Big Island is so much different than O'ahu. It's not nearly as commercialized and there's not a lot of greenery, at least not in Kona, the volcanic side of the Island. It was absolutely breathtaking, relaxing, and didn't seem to be too commercialized.
Our hotel lobby area
By the time we landed, we were hungry, again. Once we settled into our hotel, we ate at Bubba Gump's. Yes, it was a Forrest Gump montage but it was absolutely delicious and the view of the beach was beautiful.
the beach
Sea urchins (I think). There were tons of them ine shallow waters.
The City of Refuge where natives went to be cleansed from their evil ways hundreds of years ago.
Hawaii - Day 3
We started the day off with "Breakfast on the Beach". In truth, it was around the pool of our 
hotel, but you could see the beach, if you stood on the balcony or sat in 
the bar area while you ate.
hotel, but you could see the beach, if you stood on the balcony or sat in 
the bar area while you ate. There were birds looking for food everywhere. The birds were so used to people, that if you weren't careful, you would have stepped on one because they didn't seem to care too much. M almost stepped on a few several different times and I fed a couple, although I don't think I was supposed to. We did see a rainbow while we were eating breakfast in the rain, that was nice.
After breakfast, we went to Pearl Harbor. As we walked into the visitor center, actual survivors
of that dreaded day were signing books, giving autographs, and taking pictures. The entire tour was historically enriching. We were able to tour the U.S.S. Arizona and the U.S.S. Missouri. I think I learned more about Pearl Harbor in those few hours than I ever learned in history class. Did you know every shoulder on deck during Japan's surrender was at least 6 foot tall and they all wore their casual attire instead of their uniform because that's what they were wearing when Japan attacked? Did you know that Pearl Harbor still leaks 2-4 quarts of oil a day?
After breakfast, we went to Pearl Harbor. As we walked into the visitor center, actual survivors
of that dreaded day were signing books, giving autographs, and taking pictures. The entire tour was historically enriching. We were able to tour the U.S.S. Arizona and the U.S.S. Missouri. I think I learned more about Pearl Harbor in those few hours than I ever learned in history class. Did you know every shoulder on deck during Japan's surrender was at least 6 foot tall and they all wore their casual attire instead of their uniform because that's what they were wearing when Japan attacked? Did you know that Pearl Harbor still leaks 2-4 quarts of oil a day? 
After our visit to Pearl Harbor, we took a helicopter tour over O'ahu. It was pretty. It was especially nice because M and I were able to sit up front with the pilot. I'm glad we didn't pay the extra fee for first class. We flew over Diamondhead, Sacred Falls, Pearl Harbor, and Waikiki. Sacred Falls is no longer open to the public through means of hiking because of an erosion that injured and killed several people years ago. With that being said, we were just fine seeing what little we could via helicopter.
After our helicopter tour, we headed back to Waikiki for food and shopping.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
