Angels in Disguise

What do Cary Grant in The Bishop's Wife, Henry Travers in It's a Wonderful Life and Joe the Plumber have in common??

They are all angels dropped into the lives of those who were troubled to rescue those who were lost and floundering.

Now THIS is How to Spread the Wealth!!

There is a local contemporary Christian music station here in St. Louis (JOY FM 97.7 and 94.1) that is totally listener supported. They have a monthly Project JOY that they sponsor and each month the project does something good for the recipient. Last February, the project was Random Acts of Kindness. They encouraged the listeners to do something unrequested for someone who did not suspect that they would receive it just for the sheer joy of giving. Listeners phoned in to report the overwhelming surprise that met such acts as randomly paying for someone's fill-up at the gas pump, buying someone's groceries in the checkout line, shoveling the neighbor's drive, taking cookies to the elderly neighbor, asking a young mom if she would like a day out without the kids with you as the unpaid baby sitter.... the list went on and on, and the stories that were shared were truly heartwarming. Some of the people who did kind acts for strangers even had TROUBLE convincing them that they just wanted to do something nice with no strings attached!!

Thus today, when I ran across this story, I was moved to be sure it was shared. A Texas woman went to a home foreclosure auction with the intent to purchase a home for her son. During the auction, she struck up a conversation with a total stranger who happened to be the evicted homeowner of one of the properties and heard how she came to lose her home. Instead of buying that home for her son, the woman, on a whim, purchased the home for about 1/3 of what the owner had originally paid and gave it back to her. The home's owner will pay her back rather than the bank. This is truly a random act of kindness and exemplifies the way that wealth SHOULD be shared.

Barack Obama and his band of merry men (and women) should take a lesson from this woman. It has become very clear that he and his cronies are only willing to share YOUR piece of the pie. Joe Biden has an abysmal record (less than 1% of his income) of charitable giving and The Chosen One is only a little bit better and only in the most recent years has his giving reached the 5-6% level of charitable giving. Then today, the blogoshpere is buzzing with the revelation that BHO's dear aunt that he talks about in his first book has been found living in squalor in Boston and his Uncle Omar is reported to have been evicted from his apartment in a Boston housing project. Barack and his cronies should first learn that charity begins at home and experience the pure joy that accompanies a random act of kindness. Charity is not something that you can legislate or force.

It is much more blessed to give than to receive, and unlike Michelle Obama, I have always been proud of the my countrymen.

A Child's Object Lesson in Wealth Redistribution

I think that this speaks for itself. Every child will be able to understand this little illustration and I wager that very few will buy into the share the candy idea.

You Might Be a Redneck.....

John Murtha and Barack Obama have both caught flack (appropriately so) about the apersions cast at the people of Western Pennsylvania. Obama stated that they are bitter and cling to their guns and Bibles. Murtha called them (his own constituents in his re-election year no less) racist and then muddled through an attempt to smooth this over by calling them REDNECKS!!

Jeff Foxworthy has made the "You Might Be a Redneck" eponym famous, but today my 87 year old mother sent me the perfect retort to the elitist media and politicians who have no limit on the invective that they are spewing toward those of us who are just middle Americans who work hard and try to do what it right. So see if you are a redneck based on this little email that she sent to me.

You might be a redneck if:
It never occurred to you to be offended by the phrase, 'One nation, under God.'
You've never protested about seeing the 10 Commandments posted in public places.
You still say ' Christmas' instead of 'Winter Festival.'
You bow your head when someone prays.
You stand and place your hand over your heart when they play the National Anthem.
You treat our armed forces veterans with great respect, and always have.
You've never burned an American flag, nor intend to.
You know what you believe and you aren't afraid to say so, no matter who is listening.
You respect your elders and raised your kids to do the same.
You'd give your last dollar to a friend.

Well, based on the above definition I am certainly a redneck and I am proud to say it.

Oh, by the way Barack....I'm bitter and I VOTE. See ya at the polls on November 4!

WAKE UP BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE!!!!

Courtesy of Machosauceproduction






YouTube is awesome. This guy has a whole list of great conservative videos on YouTube. Too bad McCain-Palin couldn't/wouldn't/didn't capitalize on him.

Bailout Schmailout

It is not enough that a $700B bailout package for purchasing toxic mortgage paper was first voted down and then revamped, bloated with pork and then rammed down our throat in the guise of "dire straits". No sooner did this bill pass, than the concept was "tweaked" so that monies from it MIGHT be diverted in order for the government to buy stakes in troubled banks to shore them up and unclog the credit market.

Now we find out that this atrocious stimulus package may not be used even in these ways. Though the monies have not been dispersed, everyone wants a piece of the pie, and banks are planning, dreaming and scheming about how it will be used, like I do when I buy a lottery ticket!! Proposed plans for this money include mergers and acquisitions, raises, CEO perks and bonuses or just plain squirreling the money away for a rainy day. (Like I wish I could if I had any!) In addition, lurking on the fringes and licking their chops are the insurance companies and the automakers who already have been given substantial amounts ($25B) of low interest loans to bolster them. Who the heck are we bailing out by this scheme with OUR money??

Is blood shooting out of your eyes yet??? Well get ready, because in spite of the proclaimed purpose for the bailout, there is apparently nothing in the legislation that REQUIRES that this money be used in any particular way.

Neel Kashkari, head of the Treasury's financial stability program, told Dodd's committee this past week that there are few strings attached to the capital-infusion program because too many rules would discourage financial institutions from participating. "Firms with the relevant financial expertise may also hold assets that become eligible for sale into the TARP or represent clients who hold troubled assets," Kashkari said.

Can you hear me SCREAMING??? What happened to this plea for this legislation to be passed immediately for the good of the overall economy??? Thankfully, real $$ (is that an oxymoron?) have not yet been doled out, though allocation is underway. And now members of Congress from both sides of the aisle are sounding righteous indignation about this law and its potential implementation. Senators Richard Shelby (R) who opposed the bailout, Charles Schumer (D) and Chris Dodd (D) (who did not) are all asking why the turn of events and demanding explanations, though the reasons for their concern may not all be the same (go figure). It appears that the inmates are running the asylum (on our dime).

If there was ever a more cogent argument for term limits, I think this is it. Since Congress has such an abysmal approval record, my gut reaction is to vote them all out and start over with people like Joe the Plumber, who did NOT get a sweetheart mortgage deal from CountryWide (but probably did have his HELOC frozen by them), who doesn't get perks from Freddie and Fannie (and would not have his campaign subsidized by them), and who isn't in cahoots Franklin Raines. Jamie Gorelick, Maxine Waters, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Chris Dodd, Barney Frank, William Ayers, Father Pfleger, Rev. Wright, Louis Farrakhan ....to name just a chosen FEW.

We are in desperate need of a smaller government with fewer entitlements, handouts and departments (translation: rat holes down which billions of dollars can disappear). Our government bureaucracy has become so bloated that it is imploding on itself and Barack Obama is licking his chops at the idea that we will further "INVEST" (translation: take away the taxpayer's dollars) in this black hole of a government we now have. While I am not one to buy into whacko conspiracy theories, I am thinking that the Cloward-Piven Strategy of Orchestrated Crisis (just Google it!!) has finally played itself out and we are primed for a sweeping socialist takeover that has been carefully and quietly planned and implemented over several decades of gradual and insidious infiltration of all aspects of our lives. Yes, we do need change, but not THAT kind of change.

I am going to the True Value hardware and see if there are any pitchforks left. Let them eat cake!!!

A Great Use For Manufacturers Coupons That Are About To Go Around the Corner

I have always been a coupon clipper. Now more than ever, pinching pennies is important and I look forward to the Sunday paper to harvest the coupons. Because of this, I accumulate a large number of coupons that I "might" want to use in the future and I throw away an equal number for which I have no use. Last weekend, I looked at the great stack of manufacturers coupons and decided that in addition to cleaning the exterior of my house, I should also weed through and organize them.

When I had finished the weeding and organizing, I had a pile of coupons that were recently expired, a stack that were going to expire in the next 10 days, and a stack that I might actually use. The piles were pretty big and I was sad that so many would go to waste. I remembered participating in a coupon exchange years ago, and I also remember when one of the local groceries offered a big table where assorted coupons could be placed for others to sort through and take what was useful to them. The table at the grocery is long gone and I can't even remember the source of the coupon exchange, so I set about to look on the internet for a use for my excess coupons. I asked on Twitter for information but got no responses, so I set out on my own journey.

It didn't take long before I happened upon this site http://www.ocpnet.org and I was hooked. The Overseas Coupon Program provides a way for recently expired (2 months or less) coupons to be sent to US military bases all over the world. There, in the PX and commissary, the recently expired coupons can still be used on base. This is a nice way to support the military families who are overseas sacrificing for all of us.

The site has all of the instructions you need, including how to adopt an overseas base as the recipient of your coupons. This can be undertaken by an individual or a group. It could be a project to incorporate into a home schooling arithmetic exercise (adding up the value of the donated coupons), a project for a scout troop, a project for your bunco group or other social group that meets regularly, a church or a youth group, the possibilities are endless. It is a win-win proposition.

Now I have two big Ziploc bags of coupons ready to go!