Are you kidding me?
http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/obama-orders-raise-biden-members-congress-federal-workers_692223.html
According to this article at the Weekly Standard, the President, by Executive Order, NOT by going through Congress, has given raises to government officials including VP Biden, as well as the Supreme Court! The US is borrowing money to keep itself running, and they think they deserve a raise!? They are not doing their job by balancing the budget and running the nation in a rational way. Instead they spend all of their time pointing fingers at each other, just like children do. ("Not MY fault! HE did it!")
In the meantime, the rest of us are having to tighten our belts in preparation for the tax hikes that will hit us in January (not to mention what the Obamacare package will be doing to our paychecks.) By the end of 2013, the rest of us will be living on "starving college student" meals, like beans and rice or mac and cheese. Whether we like it or not, we, the citizens of the United States are forced to live within our means. Why the Hell shouldn't the ones who we have voted to represent us not have to live by those same rules?
Dec 23, 2012
My favorite day of the year
My favorite day of the year is not my birthday, nor is it either of my kids' birthdays. It's not my anniversary, or even Valentine's Day. It is a Winter holiday, but it's not the Winter Solstice.
You could guess, and I'd bet you would come close, but (unless you know me) you probably will only come close to it. My favorite day of the year is Christmas Eve. Not Christmas Day, but Christmas Eve. If you have read my previous post about saying "Merry Christmas," not "Happy Holiday," you probably came pretty close to guessing correctly.
My kids and husband know they can skip any other church service in the year. However, they had better have a darn good reason for not being there on Christmas Eve with me.
Maybe it's the calm between all of the crazy, last minute preparations and the event itself. There is just something about sitting in a candlelit church with old Christmas hymns and carols being played on a guitar, piano or even better, an organ. The soft, warm glow of the candlelight, along with the peaceful music just puts my soul at ease. The tradition of everyone passing the flame from one candle to the next is like tying a ribbon of serenity all around the sanctuary. Most churches play "Silent Night," while the candles are being lit. When the musician quits playing during the last verse, and everyone is singing A Capella, goosebumps cover my body. It is probably the most moving few minutes of the year.
More often than not, I will be in need of a tissue or two by the end of the service. My grandmother loved playing music, especially this time of year. The hymns being played usually send a flood of memories of times with her playing the same songs on a piano or organ.
Most people will never understand why gifts aren't so important to me at Christmas. To me, Christmas is a time of enjoying family members, and creating memories to cherish. Those memories will last a lifetime. So many of us couldn't say what gifts were received last year, but there's a story of some crazy relative's antics!
It's also a time to reflect on the events of the year that has passed. Most of all, it's time of awe and wonder, while remembering the real reason for the season: the birth of our Savior, Jesus.
You could guess, and I'd bet you would come close, but (unless you know me) you probably will only come close to it. My favorite day of the year is Christmas Eve. Not Christmas Day, but Christmas Eve. If you have read my previous post about saying "Merry Christmas," not "Happy Holiday," you probably came pretty close to guessing correctly.
My kids and husband know they can skip any other church service in the year. However, they had better have a darn good reason for not being there on Christmas Eve with me.
Maybe it's the calm between all of the crazy, last minute preparations and the event itself. There is just something about sitting in a candlelit church with old Christmas hymns and carols being played on a guitar, piano or even better, an organ. The soft, warm glow of the candlelight, along with the peaceful music just puts my soul at ease. The tradition of everyone passing the flame from one candle to the next is like tying a ribbon of serenity all around the sanctuary. Most churches play "Silent Night," while the candles are being lit. When the musician quits playing during the last verse, and everyone is singing A Capella, goosebumps cover my body. It is probably the most moving few minutes of the year.
More often than not, I will be in need of a tissue or two by the end of the service. My grandmother loved playing music, especially this time of year. The hymns being played usually send a flood of memories of times with her playing the same songs on a piano or organ.
Most people will never understand why gifts aren't so important to me at Christmas. To me, Christmas is a time of enjoying family members, and creating memories to cherish. Those memories will last a lifetime. So many of us couldn't say what gifts were received last year, but there's a story of some crazy relative's antics!
It's also a time to reflect on the events of the year that has passed. Most of all, it's time of awe and wonder, while remembering the real reason for the season: the birth of our Savior, Jesus.
Dec 21, 2012
Bringing God back into our schools.
Talk about a challenge being thrown down. On Facebook, I shared a photo/e-card referring to the need to bring God back into our schools. My mom's cousin commented "which god?"
Now, I was raised to respect my elders. So how do I respectfully disagree with one of them? This is my response to him on FB:
Which God?
-the God who protected and guided my daughters to safety, last Tuesday during the shooting at the Clackamas Town Center, where they work.
-the God who kept my oldest daughter safe last year, when she decided to take a road trip to another state without my permission
-the God who comforted us five years ago, when my husband and father to my children collapsed and died in front of us all.
-the God who has continuously provided angels to me when I needed help throughout my life. This is for small things like a stranger changing my car tire, so I could tend to my infant daughter. As well as the big things like keeping my youngest daughter and myself safe, as we out-rode a tornado. (we were so close to the storm, we didn't know we were in the middle of it.)
-the God who stood by my side in my younger years, even when I turned my back on Him.
You may ask where He was during events like mall shootings, school shootings and even movie theater shootings. He's in the heroes who block bullets from our children. He's in the open doors leading to safety. The list goes on. He's NOT in the evil of those pulling the trigger. Evil is not the opposite of God. It is the lack of Him.
Now, I was raised to respect my elders. So how do I respectfully disagree with one of them? This is my response to him on FB:
Which God?
-the God who protected and guided my daughters to safety, last Tuesday during the shooting at the Clackamas Town Center, where they work.
-the God who kept my oldest daughter safe last year, when she decided to take a road trip to another state without my permission
-the God who comforted us five years ago, when my husband and father to my children collapsed and died in front of us all.
-the God who has continuously provided angels to me when I needed help throughout my life. This is for small things like a stranger changing my car tire, so I could tend to my infant daughter. As well as the big things like keeping my youngest daughter and myself safe, as we out-rode a tornado. (we were so close to the storm, we didn't know we were in the middle of it.)
-the God who stood by my side in my younger years, even when I turned my back on Him.
You may ask where He was during events like mall shootings, school shootings and even movie theater shootings. He's in the heroes who block bullets from our children. He's in the open doors leading to safety. The list goes on. He's NOT in the evil of those pulling the trigger. Evil is not the opposite of God. It is the lack of Him.
Dec 16, 2012
Merry Christmas!
Yes, I said "Merry Christmas!" Not "Happy Holidays."
It really irritates me that all of these retail stores insist upon saying "Happy Holidays." These companies reap the benefits of selling items for Christmas, but refuse to acknowledge the holiday itself. It starts in October, and if you count the post-Christmas sales, it goes into January. For a quarter of the year, they profit from our sacred holiday. Because of that, they should be saying "Merry Christmas!"
Every day, I wear a cross necklace. If I were Jewish, Hindu or any other faith-based religion, I would not be wearing a cross. Obviously, saying "Merry Christmas" is not going to offend me. While I celebrate the greatest gift of all; God's sacrificial Lamb, His Son, by giving gifts to the ones that I love, don't offend me with this "Happy Holidays" crap.
It really irritates me that all of these retail stores insist upon saying "Happy Holidays." These companies reap the benefits of selling items for Christmas, but refuse to acknowledge the holiday itself. It starts in October, and if you count the post-Christmas sales, it goes into January. For a quarter of the year, they profit from our sacred holiday. Because of that, they should be saying "Merry Christmas!"
Every day, I wear a cross necklace. If I were Jewish, Hindu or any other faith-based religion, I would not be wearing a cross. Obviously, saying "Merry Christmas" is not going to offend me. While I celebrate the greatest gift of all; God's sacrificial Lamb, His Son, by giving gifts to the ones that I love, don't offend me with this "Happy Holidays" crap.
2nd Amendment
The 2nd amendment is the amendment to the US Constitution that gives us the right to bear arms. Dec 15, 1791 is when it was adopted. In other words it has been part of our Nation's history for over 200 years!
With all of the crazies shooting down innocents throughout the US, the liberals are once again waving the "ban guns" flags. I say "Go ahead!" If you outlaw guns, only outlaws will have guns. Every gun toting outlaw will be out in force.
Let's think about this a bit. How long have guns been around? Firearms have been around since the 12th century. Man has massacred others a lot longer than that. More often than not, it was with fire. If there was a dispute between two villages, tribes, countries (name it) there would be war and battles between them. What was used in these battles? Any armor they could get their hands on. Yet the one that did the most destruction was fire. Torch a village, when the members were sleeping, seemed to be very common.
So go ahead, ban the guns. The guns are only a tool being used by crazies, who have no conscience. Take the guns out of their hands and they will find other tools to use. The same day a massacre happened on US soil, a massacre happened in China. What was the weapon of choice? Knives. In the mid-east it's bombs that are used on innocents. There are even threats of using chemicals against large groups of people. (This is not new. Agent Orange was a common weapon during the Vietnam War.)
The whole point is: take the tools away, and man will still find a way to harm others, if they are in the wrong frame of mind.
With all of the crazies shooting down innocents throughout the US, the liberals are once again waving the "ban guns" flags. I say "Go ahead!" If you outlaw guns, only outlaws will have guns. Every gun toting outlaw will be out in force.
Let's think about this a bit. How long have guns been around? Firearms have been around since the 12th century. Man has massacred others a lot longer than that. More often than not, it was with fire. If there was a dispute between two villages, tribes, countries (name it) there would be war and battles between them. What was used in these battles? Any armor they could get their hands on. Yet the one that did the most destruction was fire. Torch a village, when the members were sleeping, seemed to be very common.
So go ahead, ban the guns. The guns are only a tool being used by crazies, who have no conscience. Take the guns out of their hands and they will find other tools to use. The same day a massacre happened on US soil, a massacre happened in China. What was the weapon of choice? Knives. In the mid-east it's bombs that are used on innocents. There are even threats of using chemicals against large groups of people. (This is not new. Agent Orange was a common weapon during the Vietnam War.)
The whole point is: take the tools away, and man will still find a way to harm others, if they are in the wrong frame of mind.
Dec 11, 2012
Fiscal Cliff
What is it with the feds? Most families in the United States are expected to live within certain perimeters, otherwise known as a budget. It's really rather simple: you spend less than what you bring in. But then if you don't have a budget, you don't know what money is coming in, where it's coming from nor where it's going to.
Are our representatives really that disassociated with reality? Considering who they are, they probably don't have to balance a check book on a regular basis. Maybe they should, so they know what the rest of us have to go through. Unlike the federal government, it's citizens don't have unlimited credit.
Are our representatives really that disassociated with reality? Considering who they are, they probably don't have to balance a check book on a regular basis. Maybe they should, so they know what the rest of us have to go through. Unlike the federal government, it's citizens don't have unlimited credit.
Union v big money
Today, Michigan became a Right-To-Work State.
Yesterday, the president said (paraphrased) "Unions help keep employers from underpaying their employees." This is coming from the man who wants more and more to be paid by the government (read Food Stamps and welfare,) so they are dependent upon said government. If that's the case, we should let the Union go for it. They can up their paychecks so far that they will be in that "rich man" tax bracket of $250,000.
That would be completely ironic: The president wants to tax the rich to death. In the process, he's including the UAW, who paid his way into the White House!
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