You know the left is in trouble when...

Jon Stewart starts raggin' on them.

Here's a really great and easy to read synopsis of ClimateGate. It's amazing that "scientists" think that's it's acceptable to "lose" raw data and prevent other scientists from replicating their studies by withholding information using a "confidentiality" excuse. That's not science. That's BS.

I'm not saying global warming doesn't exist. It may or may not. And even if it does exist, the jury is still out on whether or not there's an anthropogenic component. We know that temperatures have changed throughout Earth's history (even before humans roamed the earth in their SUVs). Should we destroy our economy based on possibly faulty data? The point is that the studies espousing the global warming theory have not been sufficiently tested because the "scientists" won't allow it. If you don't have the Goracle's name tattooed on your ass, then you're not getting anywhere near the data.

Science is supposed to be about finding the truth, not advancing an agenda.

Thank you to the true American heroes!

Words are never enough.

I love pumpkin!!

Let me re-phrase that. I love pumpkin in just about anything but pumpkin pie. I should probably try it again, but I've never been a fan of the consistency. Too slimy.

Anyway, the point of this post was to tell you how much I love these pumpkin muffins. No, that's not my picture. I forgot to take a pic of mine and my ghetto camera doesn't take fancy pics like that anyway (read: clear and identifiable). But they looked the same (except mine were a bit puffier on top and I didn't have cream cheese to make the frosting--but other than that, exactly the same!). They were very easy and so yummy!

The other reason why I posted this is because I wanted to share my love for the website this recipe came from. The Pioneer Woman! My sister told me about PW a while ago, but for some reason I never ventured over to take a look for myself. It's such a fun site and PW (A.K.A. Ree Drummond) has a really great life/love story. I actually got so drawn into the tale of how she met and married her husband that I killed several hours reading the whole thing. Mid-term? What mid-term?

You have to check it out. She covers several topics including cooking, photography, homeschooling (she teaches her 4 kids), and home/garden. She also just released her first cookbook and is now touring the country. My sister and I hope to catch her while she's in L.A. By stroke of luck, Heather's visit coincides with PW's! Boggles the mind, I tell ya. Let me know if you wanna join us!

20th Anniversary: The fall of the Berlin Wall

Hey, President Obama, this is how to lead.

June 12, 1987:

No, Reagan didn't single-handedly bring down the Wall. However, he did have the guts to call Gorbechev out in public, something few people would do.

Our current President couldn't bother to attend the festivities today, but he did manage to phone it in. What a guy!

Well, if Sting thinks he's swell...

When will these celebrities learn to shut their pie holes? Sting obviously knows nothing about American politics. He only knows what the Huffington Post, the Daily Kos, and his other celebrity friends think and he takes it as gospel. What evidence does he provide to support his idea that Obama is most qualified to handle the world's ills? Oh yeah, those super specific traits such as "his background, his education". And Obama's experience with Islam has gotten us what? Still waiting for peace in the middle east. I'm sure it's coming any day now.

Via AP:

NEW YORK – Sting isn't a religious man, but he says President Barack Obama might be a divine answer to the world's problems.

"In many ways, he's sent from God," he joked in an interview, "because the world's a mess."

But Sting is serious in his belief that Obama is the best leader to navigate the world's problems. In an interview on Wednesday, the former Police frontman said that he spent some time with Obama and "found him to be very genuine, very present, clearly super-smart, and exactly what we need in the world."

"I can't think of anyone better qualified because of his background, his education, particularly in regard to Islam," he said.

Still, Sting acknowledged the president had a "difficult job" ahead of him.

The British singer, who released the seasonal album "On A Winter's Night" this week, said he's fascinated by American politics, Obama, and also by Obama's opponents on the right.

"It's aggressive and violent and full of fear," he said of the backlash against Obama. "They don't want change, they want things to feel the same because they feel safe there."

Sting, 58, said he's hopeful that the world's problems can be dealt with, but is frustrated that "we seem to be living in a currency of medieval ideas."

"My hope is that we can start talking about real issues and not caring about whether God cares about your hemline or your color," he said. "We are here to evolve as one family, and we can't be separate anymore."

What the heck is he talking about? Because the Right doesn't enjoy the "hope 'n' change" mantra as much as he does, it means they're "aggressive and violent and full of fear"? Is it horrible that we want what our founders wanted...a free society, a republic? We don't need the federal government to tell us how to live our lives. I don't need another mommy, thankyouverymuch.

No offense, mom. :)

I can't wait for 2010.

View from the top

I know I've been MIA lately. Damn school! This is a pic I took today from the helipad at UCLA. My occupational health class required that we take a tour of a large facility to see the "other side" (safety aspects, etc.). I chose to go to the hospital where I work since a.) it's close b.) it's convenient (since the tour was during class time) and c.) I would never have access to these areas otherwise. We started with the loading dock (which was more interesting than you might think), then to the gas storage room (kinda scary), to the helipad (very cool, especially since it was a clear day), and finally through the ER.

It was fun to see how things work in various parts of the hospital. Since I'm always on the 3rd or the 5th floor in patient care areas, it's easy to forget that there's hundreds of people doing jobs that keep the place running. Kudos to the dock workers...we'd be lost without you!

Sunday funny

It's actually a bizarre combination of funny and disturbing.

Click here for a close up of the "bride and groom". I'm guessing that's what they are. Creeeeeepy.

Cran Wow!

Sorry about the photo quality. My ghetto camera doesn't take very good pics in low light and the flash made them look like anemic blobs. Ew.

Anyway, they're super tasty. I hope Ina Garten doesn't sue me for giving away her recipe. I don't think my readership of 5 (holla!) will really hurt her book sales.

Oatmeal pecan raisin cookies (but I used dried cranberries instead of raisins...way better IMO)

1 1/2 cups pecans
1/2 pound (two sticks) unsalted butter, at cool room temp.
1 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
1 cup granulated sugar
2 extra-large eggs, at room temp.
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3 cups old-fashioned oatmeal
1 1/2 cups raisins

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Place the pecans on a sheet pan and bake for 5 minutes, until crisp. Set aside to cool. Chop very coarsely.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. With the mixer on low, add the eggs, one at a time, and the vanilla.

Sift the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and the salt together into a medium bowl. With mixer on low, slowly add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture. Add the oats, raisins, and pecans and mix just until combined.

Using a small ice-cream scoop or a tablespoon, drop 2 inch mounds of dough onto sheet pans lined with parchment paper. Flatten slightly with a damp hand. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until lightly browned. Transfer the cookies to a baking rack and cool completely.

Taken from the Ina Garten's book Barefoot Contessa: Back to Basics.

Tool of the week (or century...too soon to tell)

You know how much I looooooove Kanye. Uh, yeah. I'm not gonna re-hash what he did at the VMA's. Just wanted to chronicle my ongoing disgust. Yes, he has apologized, but apologies lose their sincerity when you continue to exhibit jackassery without an obvious attempt to change your ways.

Kudos to Beyonce for being a class act when she gave Taylor Swift the stage to finish her acceptance speech.

H/T: CW

Czar you sure you know what Obama's up to?

Yes, there have been czars before this administration, but the number of czars appointed by Obama is unprecedented. 17 czars in less than 1yr, 16 of which by-passed the Senate!! Yes, Bush had unconfirmed czars as well, but only 5 over 8 years. This doesn't excuse Bush, but it does show a frightening expansion of the executive branch without any oversight. The above graph doesn't even include the infamous former Green Czar, Van "Truther" Jones, who had a $60 billion budget. That's taxpayer money in the hands of a self-described communist. I would say that's enough evidence to support ceasing any further appointments of uncomfirmed czars (and getting rid of many of the existing positions) . Dontcha think?

H/T: HA

Cleveland Rocks!

Supposedly this is kinda old, but it's new to me. I love local news. My sister thought her Cedar Park news was "craptastic". They got nothin' on these guys!

My favorite quote: "This is what the bear probably looked like...but real."

Awesome.

9/11/01: I will never forget.

When I visited New York last October, I had so many things on my list that I wanted to see and do that it was difficult to narrow it down. The only thing that was non-negotiable was visiting Ground Zero. I just had to witness the loss with my own two eyes. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I knew it was going to be heart-wrenching and I was right. To see pictures of the Twin Towers and then to gaze into the giant hole where they once stood was baffling and devastating. I can't imagine what it must have been like to be in New York at the time. After the attacks, I couldn't stop crying every time I saw a news story on TV or a Powerpoint memorial on the internet (I still cry without fail) and I lived 3000 miles away from the nightmare. To be in the middle of it all must have been unreal and terrifying.

I'm still angry about that day and I really hope that the feeling never fades. I don't want it to be just another memory. I want to maintain that visceral rage every time I watch moving and still pictures of the planes crashing into the towers and their eventual collapse. As long as I continue to feel that, I know I will never forget the animals who tried to instill fear in our hearts that horrific day. I hope they are burning in hell as our fellow countrymen look down on them from the heavens.

Thank you to the troops who risk their lives (and many who gave their lives) to protect our way of life. As they are painfully aware, freedom isn't free.

God Bless America!

Quote from my morning tea bag

I think I may have already posted this one, but I really love it.

Always bear in mind that your resolution to succeed is more important than any one thing.

Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)

I have really found this to be true in my life. Even if I'm not very interested in or excited about doing something, my commitment to succeed usually gets me through. It doesn't have to be anything substantial. At the moment, I have resolved to finish The Wings of the Dove. It's not exactly a page turner, but I'm only on Chapter 2 so I guess I should give it a chance. Henry James is gonna be blowing my mind anytime now. Right? Who knows...maybe it'll be my favorite book of all time!

If you rely on the newspaper for your news, you're behind the Times.

And if you still don't know who Van Jones is, the Obama administration is so very happy.

Mark Steyn reports via The Corner:

A reader reminds me of a famous Chesterton line:

Journalism largely consists in saying 'Lord Jones Dead' to people who never knew Lord Jones was alive.

...and updates it for American newspaper readers:

Change 'Lord Jones Dead' to 'Van Jones Resigns' and you have the New York Times.

Shop at Whole Foods!

I did. It's a little more expensive and doesn't carry everything I normally buy, but I wanted to show my support for John Mackey while he's under attack for speaking his mind. It couldn't hurt my health, either. Some of the organic produce was actually cheaper at Whole Foods than the non-organic was at Ralphs. I was pleasantly surprised! They have a lot of yummy cheeses, soups, salads, etc. that you can grab for a quick lunch. The pastry case looked soooooo delectable, but I gathered all my will-power and ran for the door before I bought a whole chocolate cake. And don't even get me started on the cookies. Damn carbs, why do you tempt me so?

Here's a portion of the WSJ article written by Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods. You seriously need to read the whole thing. He makes some excellent points.

While we clearly need health-care reform, the last thing our country needs is a massive new health-care entitlement that will create hundreds of billions of dollars of new unfunded deficits and move us much closer to a government takeover of our health-care system. Instead, we should be trying to achieve reforms by moving in the opposite direction—toward less government control and more individual empowerment. Here are eight reforms that would greatly lower the cost of health care for everyone:

• Remove the legal obstacles that slow the creation of high-deductible health insurance plans and health savings accounts (HSAs).The combination of high-deductible health insurance and HSAs is one solution that could solve many of our health-care problems. For example, Whole Foods Market pays 100% of the premiums for all our team members who work 30 hours or more per week (about 89% of all team members) for our high-deductible health-insurance plan. We also provide up to $1,800 per year in additional health-care dollars through deposits into employees' Personal Wellness Accounts to spend as they choose on their own health and wellness.

Money not spent in one year rolls over to the next and grows over time. Our team members therefore spend their own health-care dollars until the annual deductible is covered (about $2,500) and the insurance plan kicks in. This creates incentives to spend the first $2,500 more carefully. Our plan's costs are much lower than typical health insurance, while providing a very high degree of worker satisfaction.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not an official Whole Foods shopper now. My bank account can't take the abuse on a regular basis. But I will definitely make a point to give them my business more frequently than I ever have before (which was, I believe, twice in my lifetime).

Guess what day it is...It's National Cupcake Day!!

In honor of this special day, I give you pics of the adorable and delicious cupcakes made for my nephew's birthday. It was a Diego theme (as in Go, Diego, Go!). Martta was the baker/icer and Heather provided the Diego cups and the scary reptiles to top the cakes!

Auntie Martta, cupcake baker extraordinaire. Sorry I chopped your head off!

Birthday boy with a major sweet tooth. He loved them! Duh.

Happy B-day, doodle! Love you!

For some not-so-adorable cupcakes, check out the CCC (cupcake cake) nightmares over at Cake Wrecks. Icing has never looked so sad.

Obama gives two thumbs up to off-shore drilling!

Off the coast of Brazil, that is. And he's giving them $2 billion from our Treasury. That's funny, I thought we were broke. And why is it acceptable for Brazilians to make good use of their resources, but Americans who feel the same way are earth-haters? I must be missing something.

Via HA (follow the link for the Soros connection...veeeeeeery interestink):

The U.S. is going to lend billions of dollars to Brazil’s state-owned oil company, Petrobras, to finance exploration of the huge offshore discovery in Brazil’s Tupi oil field in the Santos Basin near Rio de Janeiro. Brazil’s planning minister confirmed that White House National Security Adviser James Jones met this month with Brazilian officials to talk about the loan.

The U.S. Export-Import Bank tells us it has issued a “preliminary commitment” letter to Petrobras in the amount of $2 billion and has discussed with Brazil the possibility of increasing that amount. Ex-Im Bank says it has not decided whether the money will come in the form of a direct loan or loan guarantees. Either way, this corporate foreign aid may strike some readers as odd, given that the U.S. Treasury seems desperate for cash and Petrobras is one of the largest corporations in the Americas. …

But it still doesn’t allow the U.S. to explore in Alaska or along the East and West Coasts, which could be our equivalent of the Tupi oil fields, which are set to make Brazil a leading oil exporter. Americans are right to wonder why Mr. Obama is underwriting in Brazil what he won’t allow at home.

Poor Barack. This is what happens when the TOTUS stays home.

Who wants their health care run by the same dipwads who run the USPS? I do, I do!!

Be afraid...be very afraid!

The DNC must be getting worried to come up with these crazy, but predictable, claims. Um, guys...you control the White House, Senate, and House of Reps. Unfortunately, you don't control the majority of the public (anymore). The people are starting to wake up from their Kool-Aid coma. When the economy is in the hole (or canyon), the Treasury is hemorrhaging cash with no end in sight, and you're trying to take away their abiltiy to make their own health care decisions, the folks are gonna get a wee bit upset. Deal with it.

H/T: IMAO

Cry me a river...

I wonder how many times the President has filled out this form. Record setting, I'm sure. Hopefully, he'll be submitting a couple more after the Health Craptastic bill and Cap and Tax bill tank. (Fingers crossed).

H/T: AOS moron for the graphic

How's that stimulus workin' for ya?

Gee, I never saw this coming. 

H/T: HA

It only takes a second.

STOP the transfer of Gitmo detainees to American soil. Sign the petition!

"It's Independence Daaaaaay..." (that was me singing)

Just for fun, here's some etiquette regarding our glorious flag. You know you're excited!! Hope everyone had a great 4th of July.  I'm sure I 'll get about 3 hours of sleep tonight since my neighbors like to shoot off fireworks at all hours of the night/morning. I had to work today (of course), but we had an awesome potluck. We even made hot dogs on a George Foreman grill in the staff lounge (shhhhh...not exactly "legal")! 

Via USflag.org:

The Flag Code, which formalizes and unifies the traditional ways in which we give respect to the flag, also contains specific instructions on how the flag is not to be used. They are:

• The flag should never be dipped to any person or thing. It is flown upside down only as a distress signal.
• The flag should not be used as a drapery, or for covering a speakers desk, draping a platform, or for any decoration in general. Bunting of blue, white and red stripes is available for these purposes. The blue stripe of the bunting should be on the top.
• The flag should never be used for any advertising purpose. It should not be embroidered, printed or otherwise impressed on such articles as cushions, handkerchiefs, napkins, boxes, or anything intended to be discarded after temporary use. Advertising signs should not be attached to the staff or halyard
• The flag should not be used as part of a costume or athletic uniform, except that a flag patch may be used on the uniform of military personnel, fireman, policeman and members of patriotic organizations.
• The flag should never have placed on it, or attached to it, any mark, insignia, letter, word, number, figure, or drawing of any kind.
• The flag should never be used as a receptacle for receiving, holding, carrying, or delivering anything.

When the flag is lowered, no part of it should touch the ground or any other object; it should be received by waiting hands and arms. To store the flag it should be folded neatly and ceremoniously.

The flag should be cleaned and mended when necessary.

When a flag is so worn it is no longer fit to serve as a symbol of our country, it should be destroyed by burning in a dignified manner.

I'm alive! Time for an obligatory celeb death post.

Just thought I'd check in. I haven't posted in a while because I'm working full time and taking a summer school class. Soooo, that doesn't leave a whole lotta time to post on my beloved blog. Anyway, not a ton going on here. I'm supposed to be studying for a mid-term right now, but that's no fun. 

I'm sure you've all heard by now that MJ (that would be Michael Jackson, not Michael Jordan) died. If this is news to you, you need to emerge from your cave more often. I'm sure even Osama bin Laden has heard about it (and heartbroken, no doubt). I was actually at work when he was brought in. It was pretty crazy outside. One of my patients had a great view of the front of the hospital where all the action was. Tons of fans chanting Michael's name, lots of news crews (including E!, of course). Totally bizarre. I thought I was never gonna get home that night, but they had transported him to the coroner's office before I left, so no problems. At that moment, I wasn't really upset about it given his sordid personal life. But the next day, I was actually kinda bummed. His music was part of my chilhood and you can't really erase that.  I'm still compelled to sing along when one of his songs plays on the radio (well, most of them- before the Dangerous album). You gotta admit, the man had talent and I still think "Thriller" was one of the best videos ever made. 

If you're on MJ overload, sorry to push you over the edge. Just something I had to get off my chest. There's a picture somewhere of my sis and I in the backseat of the family car and Heather was reading a magazine with the Gloved One on the cover. Awesome! I'll have to find it and post it. Unless I look bad in it. In that case, you'll just have to use your imagination. 

Hopefully, it will be DOA to the House floor.

Here's an excerpt from a great article by Ed Morrisey: 

And that in itself is remarkable, considering the second dirty little secret of a public plan. While Sebelius and the White House disdain and completely misunderstand the private market, the private market in fact subsidizes the already-existing public plans of Medicare and Medicaid. A correspondent from within a major insurer explained to me exactly how that works:

At a recent leadership meeting, our CEO mentioned that the providers are very nervous about the government program expanding. Currently, the government dictates to a provider how much they will be reimbursed for a given procedure. That reimbursement does not cover the actual cost, which leaves the provider to spread the remaining portion of the cost to the rest of the people who have insurance.

If the government program were to expand, the number of privately insured people to absorb that extra cost would shrink, driving up the cost of insurance for everybody else. Eventually, two things would happen.... First, nobody could afford the non-government program, and secondly (and this is what the providers are truly afraid of), providers would not be able to cover their costs. This would drive them to bankruptcy. We would then either be in a position where there are no health care providers, or the government would have to nationalize them as well.

I really hope the American public wakes up soon and puts pressure on Congress to abandon this disaster of a plan. Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. 

Iranians are fighting back

Without modern technology, we probably wouldn't have a clue about what was going on in Iran. I'm so glad the Iranian people are finally standing up against tyranny. It's been a long time coming and I hope it ends well. It would be helpful if our President would take a stronger stance against the violence being perpetrated by the regime against the protestors and issue our support for the people's cause. 

Obama the comedian

"I think the irony … is that I actually would like to see a relatively light touch when it comes to the government," he said Tuesday in a White House interview.

Unfortunately, he wasn't kidding. Is this guy delusional or what? I don't care which President preceded him, Obama never saw a government program he didn't like. Who does he think believes this BS? 

Welcome to L.A., Conan!

Some advice: Neutrogena makes a SPF 100 sunblock. I should know. 

I've always loved Conan, so I hope he's a big success on The Tonight Show and kicks Letterman's ass in the ratings. 

Beer is better for you than water?

This makes me want to exercise waaaaay more. 

Unemployment stiiiiill climbing

Climbed to 9.4% in May, up from 8.9% the previous month. Ouch. The above graph was created by the Obama administration to show the projected unemployment numbers with the stimulus package (dk blue) and without the stimulus (lt blue). Those pesky red dots represent REAL unemployment values. Uh oh. 

I don't even need to read/watch the news to know the economy is struggling. The hospital I work for has initiated a hiring freeze. When even nurses can't find work, you know there's trouble in River City. I'm definitely grateful for my paycheck now!  

H/T: Innocent Bystanders for the graph.

Yep.

You should have been allowed to fail, but the government just couldn't keep it's sticky fingers out of it.

Winner of D-Bag of the Year

Pardon my french, but Kanye West just brings out the worst in me. Mr. self-proclaimed "voice of this generation" is basically telling our impressionable youth (his fans) that he's a "proud non-reader of books", but wants them to buy his lame book of "Kanye-isms".  Huh? The funny thing is that it's only 52 pages and he wrote it with someone! And his late mother was a university English prof? She must be so proud (hey, at least he dedicated it to her).

Portion of Reuters article: 

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Rapper Kanye West does not read books or respect them but nevertheless he has written one that he would like you to buy and read.

"This is a collection of thoughts and theories," West, 31, said in an interview about his spiral-bound volume, which was written with J. Sakiya Sandifer.

West said he put his thoughts in a book because "I get paraphrased and misquoted all the time." He calls his wisdom "Kanye-isms."

"My favorite one is 'Get used to being used,'" he said.

"I feel like to misuse, overuse or abuse someone is negative. To use is necessary and if you can't be used, then you are useless."

So does he fancy himself a modern-day Confucius?

"I'm trying to end the confusion," he said, laughing and adding, "I'm gonna put that on the next album."

"Sometimes people write novels and they just be so wordy and so self-absorbed," West said. "I am not a fan of books. I would never want a book's autograph.

"I am a proud non-reader of books. I like to get information from doing stuff like actually talking to people and living real life," he said.

West, a college dropout, said being a non-reader was helpful when he wrote his book because it gave him "a childlike purity."

Great, so I'm supposed to fork over 8 bucks for something a kindergartner could write? Yeeeeah, I'm gonna go with a no on that. Actually, if he writes the way he talks, I think a 5 year old would be more intelligible. Thanks for sharing your supreme knowledge, Kanye, but I think I'll stick to books written by grown-ups.                                                                                                   

Cornelius Timberlake comes to America

Even if you don't like Justin's music, you must admit he's pretty funny when he visits SNL. Admit it, dammit! :)

 

"President Obama, you're an amateur." -Dick Cheney

OK, maybe he didn't use those exact words. But he was thinking them (and a whole lot worse). 

The speech Cheney made today was awesome. Granted, the angels didn't descend from the heavens while he spoke (as they tend to do when The One is orating), but his words had something Obama's lacked: substance. 

You should read the whole transcript. It's worth your time. Here's one of the many highlights:

Even before the interrogation program began, and throughout its operation, it was closely reviewed to ensure that every method used was in full compliance with the Constitution, statutes, and treaty obligations. On numerous occasions, leading members of Congress, including the current speaker of the House, were briefed on the program and on the methods.

Yet for all these exacting efforts to do a hard and necessary job and to do it right, we hear from some quarters nothing but feigned outrage based on a false narrative. In my long experience in Washington, few matters have inspired so much contrived indignation and phony moralizing as the interrogation methods applied to a few captured terrorists.

I might add that people who consistently distort the truth in this way are in no position to lecture anyone about “values.” Intelligence officers of the United States were not trying to rough up some terrorists simply to avenge the dead of 9/11. We know the difference in this country between justice and vengeance. Intelligence officers were not trying to get terrorists to confess to past killings; they were trying to prevent future killings. From the beginning of the program, there was only one focused and all-important purpose. We sought, and we in fact obtained, specific information on terrorist plans.

Those are the basic facts on enhanced interrogations. And to call this a program of torture is to libel the dedicated professionals who have saved American lives, and to cast terrorists and murderers as innocent victims. What’s more, to completely rule out enhanced interrogation methods in the future is unwise in the extreme. It is recklessness cloaked in righteousness, and would make the American people less safe.

No matter what you think of the Bush administration, you can't deny the fact it kept this country safe for 7 1/2 years. That was not luck. As much as Obama would love to believe Bush was and is responsible for all the ills of the world, he should at least acknowledge that Bush's policies prevented another 9/11-like attack. If he wants to de-classify information pertaining to "torture", he should uncover it ALL. What are you afraid of, Mr. President? I thought you were the champion of transparency. I guess it only applies to information that will support your own agenda. How silly of me. 

Do you feel all hopey/changey yet?   

I'm getting thiiiiirsty!

I actually can't recall ever drinking white sangria, but it looks pretty darn tasty. As an added bonus, you also get your daily serving of fruit. Healthy and refreshing! Sign me up. 

If you have trouble seeing the recipe, go to the WS website. 

Choose the ripest fruits you can find. Feel free to use one or any combination of the fruits listed below (you will need a total of 3 to 4 cups sliced, pitted fruit). If you’d like, top each glass off with sparkling wine or soda water to create a refreshing beverage that’s just right for a hot summer’s day.

Ingredients:

• Ice cubes as needed
• 4 cups dry white wine
• 1/4 cup amaretto liqueur or apricot or peach 
    brandy
• 2 Tbs. sugar
• 1 ripe peach, pitted and sliced
• 1 ripe nectarine, pitted and sliced
• 1 ripe apricot, pitted and sliced
• 1 cup pitted and sliced cherries

Directions:

Fill a large pitcher two-thirds full with ice cubes. Add the wine, liqueur and sugar and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Add the peach, nectarine, apricot and cherries and stir to mix. Pour into chilled ice-filled glasses and serve immediately.

Serves 4 to 6.

Nancy P. of the West gets a bit wet...

...with some unfortunate results.

She would probably be happy to be waterboarded if it meant this

nightmare she's created for herself would go away.

Happy Mother's Day!

Hope all the moms out there had a fab one. Unfortunately, my poor mom had to celebrate sans kids this year since Heather is "out of town" and I had to work. Sorry, mommy!! I'm glad you had a nice day with Dad. Love ya lots!  

Now it's time for something kinda disturbing...

OK, I'm a nurse and all, but I really don't feel the need to see anatomical pictorials on my food. You can talk endlessly about disgusting things while I'm chowing down, but don't put them on my plate.  Not that human anatomy is disgusting, but it is when it's made of fondant (or whatever that reproductive system is made of). And what's with the black background? Is that the body cavity? I guess it is pretty dark in there. 

Thanks to Cake Wrecks. Love that site! 

Mmmm...jerky cards.

I'm guessing these wouldn't be too popular among the folks in the PeTA organization. I would love to see their faces when handed one. You want my card? Are you suuuure?

Apologies to my veggie friends. :)

What the hell?

Via NRO:

Why on earth did President Obama ask Timothy Geithner to talk about tax cheats during his overseas tax-plan announcement yesterday? I received a ton of e-mails and comments from folks totally baffled by all of this. I have no idea why Obama did this.

Here’s an excerpt from Mr. Geithner’s remarks:

Today we are taking another important step toward those goals by ending indefensible tax breaks and loopholes which allow some companies and some well-off citizens to evade the rules that the rest of America lives by.

Huh? Let’s take a look back at Geithner’s “non-answer” answer to a simple question posed by Sen. Jim Bunning during Geithner’s confirmation hearing.

SEN. BUNNING: Would you have paid your 2001 and 2002 tax had you not been nominated to be the treasury secretary?

GEITHNER: Senator, as I said initially, I should have asked more questions when I concluded that audit at the time, and I didn’t. When I think back on that, I regret not having done that. But I should have done it at that point.

Hmm. Incidentally, it’s worth remembering that Geithner was working at the IMF when he dodged his taxes. The IMF itself is a tax haven. The income is tax-free. All you’ve got to do is pay your payroll taxes, which is precisely what he failed to do until he was nominated back in December.

Clearly, Timothy Geithner is not the guy to be talking about tax evasion. All this did was remind people that our current Treasury secretary — the individual charged with overseeing the IRS — was guilty of a multi-year delay in paying his taxes...

I don't know who's more brain dead. Obama for allowing Geithner to make the speech or Geithner for agreeing to it? I still can't believe Tim Geithner is our Treasury secretary. If you owe the government one cent in unpaid taxes, you should be disqualified from being considered for that position. You're in charge of the IRS, for God's sake!!! AAAARRRGGGHHHHH!!! (Apologies for my Garfield-like freak out.)

To President Obama: "Why, sir, why?"

You really need to see this. 

H/T: The Corner

Stupid doesn't even begin to describe it.

Air Force One photo-op scares the living daylights of out New Yorkers. 

Wanna join the circus?

Or just go flying on a trapeze? They have classes at the Santa Monica Pier! Doesn't it look fun/scary?? I might have to check it out. I don't think I'm afraid of heights. I don't think...