AARP Letter Part II - The Firestorm.

OH MY! What a firestorm that email/post caused! I never knew that so many of you had so very, very many strong and diverging opinions. (Yes, I'm totally lying!) I am honored that you feel confident enough in our friendship to be able to speak your mind. (And knowing me that well you realize that was my goal from the get-go, don't ya! MWAHAHA!)

First - Please stop with the "You're a racist" stuff. If I was a racist or a bigot, half of you wouldn't be on my mailing list in the first place.

Second - Please stop with the "To hell with them all" comments. If I believed that the only people who belong in America are Americans I'd need to delete about 2/3 of the people I really care about off my Christmas list. Just about the only ones left would be Hubby's paternal family since they are directly descended from Native Americans.

Since most of your comments have to do with just one topic, I'm going to answer you all at once to keep from getting typer's cramp.

1. Immigration: A. The problem is not just Mexicans. B. I am not against immigration. When done properly the resulting cultural diversity makes for a richer and much more interesting life experience. What I AM against is the encouragement of people to hop on over expecting to get all the rights and privileges of those who came here through proper channels or worked their butts of to make it legal once they got here.

I do not want all "illegals" deported. I know and love a great many who either are here or come from families who came here in the dark of night. By and large they are honest, hardworking people who just want what we all want: a better life for ourselves and those we love.

What I DO want is to find a way to make EVERYONE accountable like the rest of us because I also know a number of people - not just Mexicans and not just illegals - who are here doing their prospering thing but never paying a dime in taxes yet enjoying the educational and social benefits afforded by those of us who do.THAT bugs me! No matter who you are or where you are from, PAY YOUR FAIR SHARE OF THE FLIPPING TAX BILL.


While I'm on a soap box, whether one is born here, crawled through the desert or floated for days on end to get here, mooching is not acceptable. Period. And we, as a nation, need to stop encouraging it by allowing people to just take and take without giving anything back. As any good parent knows the more we give our children without expecting them to earn it the more they want and the more they feel entitled to get everything for nothing. There's a lot of infrastructure work out there that needs doing. As far as I'm concerned, every able-bodied person who expects something free should be required to get out and paint, nail, mow, clean, etc., etc., etc....

Come on, folks, we are a bunch of smart sunnaguns. Surely we can figure out a way to allow people to come here and participate in (not mooch off of) our American dream!


2. Healthcare: I am NOT against healtcare reform. I AM against letting the government run it. There needs to be some major changes across the board. I have my opinions and my own fears.
Mostly I fear allowing the government to take over cuz they don't do such a good job at stuff, ya know...

However there's another very sad part of the healthcare thing that dovetails in with the immigration thing. I recently had to take one of my 'kids' to the local county hospital. But that's a story for tomorrow. Come on back for the continuing saga of the AARP letter and its fallout.

Until later,

Peace, Blessings, Love, and Respect to all.

Letter to AARP

I know I promised you a story about unconditional love today. That was before this came into my mailbox. I think it's worth sharing.


I LOVE THIS! I totally agree with it. If that makes you not like me, sorry. I'll love you anyway.

Peace, Blessings, and GOD BLESS AND PROTECT AMERICA!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This was sent to Mr. Rand who is the Executive Director of AARP.

THIS LADY NOT ONLY HAS A GRASP OF 'THE SITUATION' BUT AN INCREDIBLE COMMAND OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE!

Dear Mr. Rand,


Recently you sent us a letter encouraging us to renew our lapsed membership in AARP by the requested date. I know it is not what you were looking for, but this is the most honest response I can give you. Our gap in coverage is merely a microscopic symptom of the real problem, a deepening lack of faith.

While we have proudly maintained our membership for several years and have long admired the AARP goals and principles, regrettably, we can no longer endorse it's abdication of our values. Your letter specifically stated that we can count on AARP to speak up for our rights, yet the voice we hear is not ours. Your offer of being kept up to date on important issues through DIVIDED WE FAIL presents neither an impartial view nor the one we have come to embrace. We do believe that when two parties agree all the time on everything presented to them, one is probably not necessary. But, when the opinions and long term goals are diametrically opposed, the divorce is imminent. This is the philosophy which spawned our 200 years of government.

Once upon a time, we looked forward to being part of the senior demographic. We also looked to AARP to provide certain benefits and give our voice a power we could not possibly hope to achieve on our own. AARP gave us a sense of belonging which we no longer enjoy. The Socialist politics practiced by the Obama administration and empowered by AARP serves only to raise the blood pressure my medical insurance strives to contain. Clearly a conflict of interest there!

We do not understand the AARP posture, feel greatly betrayed by the guiding forces that we expected to map out our senior years and leave your ranks with a great sense of regret. We mitigate that disappointment with the relief of knowing that we are not contributing to the problem anymore by renewing our membership. There are numerous other organizations which offer discounts without threatening our way of life or offending our sensibilities.

This Presidential Administration scares the living daylights out of us. Not just for ourselves, but for our proud and bloodstained heritage. But even more importantly for our children and grandchildren. Washington has rendered Soylent Green a prophetic cautionary tale rather than a nonfiction scare tactic. I have never in my life endorsed any militant or radical groups, yet now I find myself listening to them. I don't have to agree with them to appreciate the fear which birthed their existence. Their borderline insanity presents little more than a balance to the voice of the Socialist mindset in power. Perhaps I became American by a great stroke of luck in some cosmic uterine lottery, but in my adulthood I CHOOSE to embrace it and nurture the freedoms it represents as well as the responsibilities it requires.

Your website generously offers us the opportunity to receive all communication in Spanish. ARE YOU KIDDING??? Someone has broken into our 'house', invaded our home without our invitation or consent. The President has insisted we keep the perpetrator in comfort and learn the perp language so we can communicate our reluctant welcome to them..

I DON'T choose to welcome them.


I DON'T choose to support them.


I DON'T choose to educate them.


I DON'T choose to medicate them, pay for their food or clothing.


American home invaders get arrested.


Please explain to me why foreign lawbreakers can enjoy privileges on American soil that Americans do not get?


Why do some immigrants have to play the game to be welcomed and others only have to break & enter to be welcomed?


We travel for a living. Walt hauls horses all over this great country, averaging over 10,000 miles a month when he is out there. He meets more people than a politician on caffeine overdose. Of all the many good folks he enjoyed on this last 10,000 miles, this trip yielded only ONE supporter of the current administration. One of us is out of touch with mainstream America . Since our poll is conducted without funding, I have more faith in it than one which is power driven.


We have decided to forward this to everyone on our mailing list, and will encourage them to do the same. With several hundred in my address book, I have every faith that the eventual exponential factor will make a credible statement to you.


I am disappointed as hell.


I am scared as hell.


I am MAD as hell, and I'm NOT gonna take it anymore!



Walt & Cyndy

Miller Farms Equine Transport

http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/aarp.asp

I ENCOURAGE EVERYONE TO KEEP THIS MOVING FORWARD

Need Glasses?

My great bloggy friend Margie sends me the coolest stuff! Take a look at this picture. It is a test of your powers of observation. Look closely. After you've spotted everything you think might be the target scroll down to the bottom for the answer.

OK, what'd you see?  Did you see the bare hiney on that girl in the pink shirt?

If so YOU NEED GLASSES!

Look again, silly. It's just the arm of the girl holding the camera. Now we know where your mind was!

It's always a good idea to look twice when we see something that looks offensive. You never know when what you thought you saw is actually something altogether different. Same thing applies to how you hear what people say. Before you judge, check again... you may need to clean your emotional glasses.


Peace, Blessings, and Get your mind outta the gutter!

Teach the Children Well & Honor those who do.

The other day I was standing in line at the grocery store behind a couple of moms with school-age kids in tow. They were complaining, in front of the kids, about the supplies they were having to buy for an upcoming class project.

Mom 1: I don't know what she thinks they're going to learn from such a stupid project.
Mom 2: I know It is so totally lame! You know we are going to end up doing them just to get it done.
Both: HA HA HA HA

Mom 2: The thing that bothers me the most is why WE have to buy the junk to make it. Doesn't the school have a budget for that?
Mom 1: Well even if they don't the teachers get paid enough that they should have to buy the stuff to do it. If nothing else that would cut down on the number of stupid projects they want to do each year.
Both: HA HA HA HA HA!

The whole time the kids, who looked to be about 5th graders, were listening intently to every word. I wonder how long it will be before those two moms are getting notes home about their Little Johnnies acting out in class and disrespecting the teacher? And I wonder who the two mombos (my new name for bimbo moms) will blame it on?

I wanted so desperately to say something, but I knew that whatever I said at that moment would sound something like: "You stupid dumbass b****s! What the hell do you think you're doing undermining your child's education?? Grow the F up you mombo!" which would only have resulted in the total loss of my point. Instead, I opted to (uncharacteristically) bite my tongue and drag out this email from Grandmamargie that I've been saving for a while....

TEACHERS' SALARIES
Teachers' hefty salaries are driving up taxes, and they only work 9 or 10 months a year! It's time we put things in perspective and pay them for what they do--baby sit!
We can get that for less than minimum wage.

That's right. Let's give them $3 per hour and only the hours they worked, not
any of that silly planning time. That would be $24 a day (7:00 AM to 3:30 (or
so) PM with just 25 min. off for lunch). Each parent should pay $24 a day for
these teachers to baby-sit their children.
NOW...How many do they teach in a class, 30? So that's $24 x 30 =$720.00 a day.
However, remember they only work 180 days a year!!! We're not going to pay them for any vacations.
LET'S SEE....That's $720 x 180 = $ 129,600 per year.
What about those special teachers and the ones with master's degrees? Well, we could pay them closer to minimum wage. Just to be fair we'll go $7.00 an hour. That would be $7 x 8 hours x 30 children x 180 days = $302,400 per year.
Wait a minute! There' s something wrong here! Average teacher salary $50,000/180 days = $277/per day/30 students =$9.23/8 hours = $1.16 per hour per student.
A very inexpensive baby-sitter and they even try - with or without your help - to EDUCATE your kids!
WHAT A DEAL....And you don't even have to buy them pizza!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Make a teacher smile; show this to someone else who appreciates teachers...

Or someone who SHOULD!

Peace, Blessings & Thank God for those who teach.

Either way, it's all good...

The there are those who say I was overly worried and wrong to think that people would act out. I prefer to believe that our prayers for peace last night and today have been answered. Either way, I'm good with it because the bottom line is that everything turned out alright.

The outcome was no huge surprise. I am actually thrilled that so many turned out to have their voice heard. And heard it was! Wow! Even though it didn't go the way I thought it should have, I respect the process even if I don't respect Obama. That, he has to earn through his actions, not just words.

Congratulations to all the winners of last night's race. May you go forward with pure hearts and end your journey with clean consciences. Now THAT would be change we could all get behind!

Peace, Blessings, and That's it for my political commentary. FOREVER. Maybe.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And now for just a wee but of post-election fun. Hubby found this last night. I just HAD to share it. (If you haven't seen it before, be sure to watch all the way to the end!)

As Erma Bombeck says, “If you can't make it better, you can laugh at it.”



Somebody had entirely too much free time on their hands! LOL!

Choose Peace

Carl Sandburg said:

Choose.
The single clenched fist lifted and ready,

Or the open hand held out and waiting.

Choose.

For we meet by one or the other

==================================

An now for what I have to say.

I fear our world will change dramatically on Tuesday. No matter who wins this election, there will be those who cry foul and express their disappointment violently. No matter how the losing candidate's camp pleads for calm and rationality, there will be those who choose riot and imprudence. The world we awake in on Wednesday morning may be a very scary place for a while.

I pray to God that this feeling in my gut is wrong; that our children will not have to suffer because of the stupidity of adults who cannot accept defeat graciously. Or worse, cannot accept victory graciously.

I pray that regardless of which side wins, we don't all become losers in the process.

I pray the winner's supporters accept victory with grace and calm.

I pray the loser's supporters bow out with dignity in diplomatic acceptance.

I pray that the change that so many are clamoring for is not heralded by menace and mayhem regardless of who brings that change.

I pray that each of you takes time to pass on a prayer for peace, whether it's this message or one of your own. No matter what higher power you believe in, now is the time to call on it for strength and wisdom for all. In the days to come, this country will need all the positive energy we can muster.

Peace, Love, and

NOBama for this Mama

After Bug’s, Lady N’s, and now Lady T’s comments, I began to wonder if I’d given the topic enough consideration before publishing that last post. I have, therefore, spent a good part of the day researching the exact crux of this unsavory topic. While the questions about why Obama orchestrated the demise of the Illinois bill may never be fully understood (especially in light of his using the chicken way out of taking a stand by voting "Present" instead of Yay or Nay), there is one thing that is crystal clear: Barack Hussein Obama supports, with all his heart and soul, the ‘‘Freedom of Choice Act’’. And according to his website, he will pass it into law as quickly as is humanly possible should he become president. And the Freedom of Choice Act allows for the post-delivery murder of infants.

While I personally could never choose abortion (a fact for which Bug should be eternally grateful), I have always defended a woman’s right to make that decision for herself. With one caveat: I don’t think the option should be available past the first trimester unless there are specific, extreme, extenuating circumstances. I have always based my decision on the fact that somewhere between the 13th and 16th weeks of gestation, the tiny being, whether you want to call it a fetus, a baby or a blob, begins to feel pain (Read the first paragraph under ANATOMICAL AND FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR PAIN PERCEPTION for a quick overview of this topic). As a mother, hell as a human being, the thought of causing any other living being pain is simply unacceptable. (We even mandate the humane (pain-free) killing of animals and death-row inmates by law!) And once you understand the stages of development of a fetus, I personally can’t understand how anybody could choose abortion. Especially after the 12th week.

Even with this personal opinion, I have never judged any woman who chose to have an abortion whether out of selfishness, desperation or ignorance of other possible options. I have counseled women, some my own “kids,” while they cried and agonized, trying to decide what to do. I’ve supported them through the days, weeks and months after the abortion as they worked through the process of grieving and the reevaluation of their lives. (Yes, even the ones who knew in their hearts that they’d made the right decision for their own lives went through some sort of grieving process whether it was for the lost child or their own lost innocence.)

I’ve walked with them through what I call the Wondering Times: I wonder what he/she would have looked like in that outfit. I wonder if he would love baseball as much as my dad does. I wonder if she would have wanted to play dress-up like my niece does. I wonder... I wonder... I wonder... and on it goes even for those who KNEW they’d ultimately made the right decision for their own lives. Not that they all would have made a different decision even now, but there is still (at least for everyone I’ve worked with) a bit of pain in living with the aftermath of that final decision.

That pain is often magnified 1000 fold upon the birth of their first full-term baby when the reality of that long-ago decision blasts them full force in the heart. The only thing more painful than being the person who has to watch her suffer through the guilt and grieving process all over again is being the woman who has to live through it. But none of this is why I’m revisiting this topic. I am back here again to talk about why Obama’s stand on the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) concretes my decision to NOT vote for him.


I have a MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR issue with the provision allowing a woman (as stated on page 8, lines 6, 7, and 8), “...(C) to terminate a pregnancy after viability where termination is necessary to protect the life or health of the woman...”

It's that word "viability" that sticks in my craw. By the document’s own definition on page 7, lines 10-15:
10 (3) VIABILITY.— The term ‘‘viability’’ means
11 that stage of pregnancy when, in the best medical
12 judgment of the attending physician based on the
13 particular medical facts of the case before the physic-
14 cian, there is a reasonable likelihood of the sustained
15 survival of the fetus outside of the woman.

Did you read that? “...there is a reasonable likelihood of the sustained survival of the fetus outside of the woman.” And this document is proposing that it should be killed even though it has a “reasonable likelihood of ... sustained survival....” And by the way, doesn’t a “fetus” become a “baby” once it’s outside the woman? Yet FOCA would allow for the post-delivery death of that baby if its life might cause some sort of problem to “the life or health of the woman...” This begs the question, WHAT HARM CAN IT DO THE WOMAN AFTER IT’S OUT OF HER that would be serious enough as to require the baby’s death??

It’s not MURDER, though, says FOCA – it’s “abortion” even though the baby was viable at the time it was removed from the uterus. Really? If it comes out alive and has a reasonable likelihood of survival, but is then allowed to lay there and die instead that's not murder?? Well then what does that say about the teenagers who give birth in bathrooms and put the baby in the trash can? What’s the difference? Is the scared, desperate teen’s act a crime simply because there was no doctor there to get paid for having induced labor so the child could be left to die? Why should these girls be raked over the coals in the press, be more traumatized and ostracized by the public outcry over their heinous choice and then sent to prison to PAY for their CRIMES, but the women who choose to pay a clinic or a hospital to kill the kid are allowed to go home and get on with the rest of their lives? Can anybody explain that to me??? WHAT. IS. THE. DIFFERENCE??? If one is OK, then they both should be. If one is not, then NEITHER SHOULD BE ACCEPTABLE!!

Second, I have a HUGE problem with the fact that they want to make this whole thing retroactive: (Starting on page 8 and continuing on page 9.
23 SEC. 6. RETROACTIVE EFFECT.
24 This Act applies to every Federal, State, and local
25 statute, ordinance, regulation, administrative order, deci-
1 sion, policy, practice, or other action enacted, adopted, or
2 implemented before (emphasis added), on, or after the date of enactment
3 of this Act.

Plus.. P.L.U.S. they want it to be enforceable by Civil action:
Page 8:
13 (c) CIVIL ACTION.—An individual aggrieved by a vio-
14 lation of this section may obtain appropriate relief (include
15 ing relief against a government) in a civil action.

Guess what, folks. If they make it retroactive and allow “relief...in a civil action” it could be interpreted to mean that any woman who feels that her civil rights according to this new document have EVER been violated can go back and sue the government. I know I'm excited about the idea of having MY tax dollars be paid out to every woman who ever made the choice to have an abortion even though it was against the law at the time. Hey, how about if we just go ahead and legalize ALL killings and then pay off the murderers who were "unlawfully imprisoned" by that bad law??? (Please note: In case you didn't notice it, the last two sentences were dripping with sarcasm when they came out of my head!)

Just one final note to all my kids: I applaud the fact that you are free thinkers and speak your mind. However, I also require that you all be polite and mindful that you (like your Damama) are not always right. As always, you are welcome to state your opinion as long as you don't go on any personal attack missions.

Ok - I'm done ranting. For tonight.

Peace, Blessings, Wisdom, Patience, and Love to all.

Why?? Has the world gone insane?

I know that there are always other things in bills that politicians don't want passed so they have to vote no on some really good legislation to keep the crap out. But WHAT THE HELL COULD BE WORSE THAN THIS TYPE OF MURDER???

You all know that I don't usually get into the political stuff. However, this one has got me so mad that I cannot in good conscience disregard it. I didn't like this man before, but after this, I wouldn't vote for him to be put out if he was on fire. If this offends you to the point that you don't want to come back here anymore, I'll miss you but it won't change my opinion.



Peace and blessings to all. And God HELP us all through this election year. No matter what happens or who wins, I fear it's going to get a lot worse before it's over and this nation re-finds its balance.