My Name is Kris and I Blah-g

I don’t read the daily paper any more. I usually get my news online from various sources. Lately, I have been noticing an ad for refinancing a mortgage popping up on my screen. This has appeared on multiple sites. It’s not unusual to see the same ad in different places. But the picture that accompanies the ad is puzzling. What is up with this weird guy on the ad? Is it supposed to be ironic that he’s homeless or something? Is that the point? Is he a caveman? I don’t know. But whoever is the “marketing guru” who thought this one up must have been on something…

I woke up this morning to learn about the news that the Nobel committee had awarded President Obama the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize. This has weighed on my mind most of the morning as I thought about how this could have come to be, who nominated him, what the people of Israel and places like Georgia (the Georgia in Europe, people) think of this and mostly, what a farce this “prize” has become. Nominations for each year’s prize are due in February. Obama took office in the last 10 days of January. His nomination came a mere two weeks after he was in office. To be considered, one would think that they would have to reflect on the previous year’s and beyond work of the individual. So to award Obama this prize is laughable. He’s done nothing to merit such an “honor”. So what can one gleam from this other than the people who gave him this thing are either (1) a bunch of kooks, (2) easily bought, (3) easily manipulated or (4) all of the above. So I reflect on the past 9 months because the president of the Nobel committee is weakly explaining their decision as one based on Obama – the president, not the man or junior senator that he was before he took office. This and of itself should nullify his consideration because he hardly garnered any world peace in 9 months let alone the measly 2 weeks he was president before nominations were due. The Nobel committee president  champions Obama’s diplomacy efforts and how he has brought hope to the world. Um, yeah.. did he base this on a CNN/MSNBC poll of 475 people,  52% of which are democrat, 19% republican and the rest independent? Spare me.In all the amazement and disgust that I have experienced in these early morning hours, I have come to the conclusion that this will do one of two things. The first is that this will be used to try to bolster Obama’s credibility. And two, if the other side is smart, it will be used to expose the insignificance the Nobel Peace Prize has become. Obama received it after having done NOTHING. I take that back. He’s vowed to shut down some of the defenses that have been put in place by other administrations that have kept our country and our allies safe. In doing so, he has pretty much bent over his desk the American people and the good people in Israel and parts of Europe who have come to rely on these defenses. He has pretty much given those who seek us harm an opportunity to strike and a message that their terroristic tactics have worked. He’s taken back his promise of bolstering up Afghanistan and is now hemming and hawing about whether or not we should send in more troops to support the ones that are already there. Yeah. Great commander in chief.Domestically he’s proven what a dictator he intends on becoming. He will pass a healthcare bill with his majority in the House and Senate despite large opposition by most of America. His bill will FORCE us to pick coverage and if we don’t, they’ll tax us…HEAVILY. His bill will strip down Medicare so drastically that the people who come to rely on it won’t have to worry about selective euthanasia that the left supports so well, they’ll die off before they can even be treated because their coverage won’t help them.  Worse yet? The health care bill? None of us will be allowed to read it before it’s voted on and passed… think about that.Other crap….His intention of cap and trade will destroy small business which employs the majority of Americans. His promise of unemployment not rising above 9% was a total lie…it’s now about 10% and getting worse. We have states like California in the midst of utter failure because liberal agendas have driven them to do unspeakable harm to their constituents. Farmers can’t grow their crops because the water has been shut off to save a small fish. Banks have been taken over by government, their accounts frozen, their customers pawned off on larger, government owned banks and forced to adhere to their new rules. Customers (me!) have had their mortgage payoffs LOST, are being intimidated by the banks for non-payment of a mortgage for a house they no longer own and live in daily fear over how it will destroy their credit for the years to come. So, don’t ask me if Obama’s policies have come to harm me because they have. And it’s just the beginning. There is nothing peaceful in his intent for the American People.

There have been months of partisan bickering that is really not solving anything. If it’s doing something, it’s further allowing my faith in the people working in our government (on our behalf, I might add) to dwindle. I’m not sure there’s anything left to believe in when it comes to our rights as citizens of this great country. There is just too much divisiveness. I think it’s almost impossible to get anything done without compromise and both sides are unwilling to budge.  The President has spoken twice this week to large national audiences and what he has said has been both good and bad. However, I don’t trust the man. I don’t like him and had it not been for the furor and the negative public opinion about what he had to say to our children, we would have gotten a different speech than what he gave. And what gets me about the left and those who vigorously defend the President is that they are missing the point. Although there are some who adamantly opposed letting their children hear the President talk, there were many of us who objected more to what came after the speech. I would have been willing to let my daughter hear what the President had to say (which was mostly all good, btw) had it not been for the lesson plan that they were requiring teachers to follow and the activities that they were forcing our kids to partake in. Call me crazy but I don’t want my kid being used as a tool to help shape public opinion of ANY President. Finally, amongst all this hoopla, it was reported (although not covered by admittedly pro-Obama media) that President George H.W. Bush spoke with students too and his speech not only was heavily scrutinized by the Democrats, they opened up an investigation and hearings to find out if Bush had broken any constitutional law. Hypocrisy, anyone?Last night the President spoke to a joint session of Congress about his plans for healthcare. Despite the majority of Americans not supporting his ideas for healthcare reform, the President pretty much said that your either with us or against us and no matter what side you’re on, we’re going to do what we’re going to do. Part of me would like to see this come to pass just so we can see the colossal failure that it will be and how we can trace it right back to this yahoo and his minions who currently hold the majority (not for long, folks). But the main part of me is freaking out that this could actually happen. He’s talking about FORCING all people to buy a health plan and if you don’t, you’ll be taxed. The latest number being reported is that a person who opts out of health care insurance would be taxed about $3500/year. So take me for example… I am a widowed mother to a 7 year old child. I was laid off from my job a year ago and currently remain unemployed and uninsured. I live on a meager social security benefit that provides the main staples of my life to my daughter and myself. It works out to about $10,000/year. I will be penalized because I am exercising my FREE WILL to not participate. Obama says that for those who cannot afford the public option, there will be assistance for you but then in the same breath says that this will not add ONE DIME to the DEFICIT. How???President Obama invoked Edward Kennedy’s name last night as some sort of inspirational “Let’s win one for Teddy” moment. But he failed to acknowledge that Teddy’s own state of Massachusetts already has a law that requires people to get health insurance. You have to have it there. Employers who want to offer employees a discounted plan because their employees either work part time or don’t make enough to justify the large cost of a full plan cannot offer them the discounted plan because it doesn’t meet the requirements set by law. Therefore, employees who are struggling as it is, are forced to go out and buy their own insurance. This surely doesn’t add any incentive to move to Massachusetts. And the program there is failing.They call it a public option but there is nothing optional about it. We’ll have to do it. One way or the other. Obama said it himself. It would be just like how states require us to have car insurance. But there is a reason for the car insurance requirement, Mr. President. It’s to protect us from other people who hurt us – those noninsured who drive the wrong way on the freeway or those fender benders we have in the intersection. What or who is this forced insurance protecting us from? I would think that the most important issue is the fact that the cost of being seen by a doctor and getting care is so expensive. Anyone who has stayed in a hospital and has seen their itemized bill will tell you that $50 for a pair of those ugly blue socks they make you wear and $20 for a Tylenol is excessive. Why don’t we try fixing that first?The bottom line is that I am against – as we all should be – anything that will hurt us rather than help us and anything that will control us and keep us from being FREE.

I can’t be the only one who thinks this picture is hilarious. It just goes to show you that a picture can be taken out of context…or can it? Is the President really looking at this woman’s butt? Who knows? What I do know is that I certainly wouldn’t want the press following me around all the time. Who knows what kind of crazy stuff they can catch me doing…nah…I’m not that interesting!!

Say what you will about the people the world has lost this week. You know who I am talking about – Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson. Each has had their share of turmoil and has had to live it out publicly like none of us regular folk ever will. It’s unfortunate and sad that their lives had to be so open to scrutiny but it goes with the territory with being famous. And at times like these, was the price they paid worth it? In the moments of media confusion surrounding Michael Jackson’s death, it was very easy to joke about him. I am guilty of it myself. But regardless of how I saw him, he was still someone’s father, son, brother, uncle and friend. And for those people I join them in mourning. I know what a shock this is for them. And the days ahead for them will be horrifying, confusing and mind-numbing. It’s important to remember that we are all here for but a small moment. Live your life full. Live it as if there is no tomorrow. Live it and don’t leave it with regret over what might have been and never will be.  And most of all, hug your children a little tighter and when you think you’ve said all of your I love you’s, say them at least 1 more time. Rest in peace Farrah, Michael and Ed.

Just found this story this morning:

Scientists claim fish ‘learn like humans’

This doesn’t bode well for my fishing! Yeesh! I don’t mind fish that put up a fight but I’m a big supporter of stupid fish. Here’s to hoping that the fish this summer are as dumb as their brains are small…