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.
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