Mean Mothers

Mean Moms & Grandmas
Someday when my children are old enough

to understand

the logic that motivates a parent,

I will tell them, as my Mean ole Mom told me:

I loved you enough . . .

to ask where you were going,

with whom,
and what time you would be home.

I loved you enough

to be silent

and let you discover that your

new best friend was a creep.

I loved you enough

to stand over you for two hours

while you cleaned your room,

a job that should have taken 15 minutes.

I loved you enough

to let you see anger,
disappointment, and tears in my eyes.

Children must learn that their parents

aren't perfect.

I loved you enough

to let you assume the responsibility

for your actions even when the
penalties were so harsh

they almost broke my heart.

But most of all,

I loved you enough . . . to say
NO when I knew you would hate me for it.

Those were the most difficult battles of all.

I'm glad I won them,

because in the end

you won, too.

And someday when your children

are old enough to understand

the logic that motivates parents,

you will tell them.

Was your Mom mean?

I know mine was.

We had the meanest mother in the whole world!

While other kids ate candy for breakfast, we

had to have cereal, eggs, and toast.

When others had a Pepsi and a Twinkie for lunch,

we had to eat sandwiches.

And you can guess our mother

fixed us a dinner that was
different from what other kids had, too.

Mother insisted on knowing

where we were at all times.

You'd think we were convicts in a prison.

She had to know who our friends were,

and what we were doing with them.

She insisted that if we said

we would be gone for an hour,

we would be gone for an hour or less.

We were ashamed to admit it,

but she had the nerve
to break the Child Labor Laws

by making us work.

We had to wash the dishes, make the beds,

learn to cook, vacuum the floor, do laundry,

empty the trash
and all sorts of cruel jobs.

I think she would lie awake at night

thinking of more things for us to do.

She always insisted on us telling the truth,

the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

By the time we were teenagers,

she could read our minds

and had eyes in the back of her head.

Then, life was really tough!

Mother wouldn't let our friends

just honk the horn when they drove up.

They had to come up to the door
so she could meet them.

While everyon else could
date when they were 12 or 13,

we had to wait until we were 16 .

Because of our mother

we missed out

on lots of things other kids experienced.

None of us have ever
been caught shoplifting,

vandalizing other's property

or ever arrested for any crime.

It was all her fault.

Now that we have left home,

we are all educated,
honest adults.

We are doing our best to be mean
parents just like Mom was.

I think that is what's wrong with the world today.
It just doesn't have enough mean moms!

emailed to me by my daughter

well actually it was probably meant for my wife

Gossip Is Uncontained

In a small village long ago there was a man who was a terrible gossip. He realized the error of his ways and met with the Rabbi.

"Rabbi, I need to change, I need to make things better."

The Rabbi sat and stroked his beard for a while then said, "tomorrow please come and bring your feather pillow."

The man showed up early the next morning with his feather pillow and the Rabbi said to him, "take a feather and lay it on the doorstep of every person you've spoken ill of. When you are done return to me."

The man was confused but he went about town laying feathers at the doorsteps of all those he had wronged. He returned to the Rabbi's house tired and with an empty sack that had once been a pillow.

The Rabbi said to him. "Very good. When you have collected those feathers you can be forgiven."

The man stammered, "But the wind... they have traveled... I couldn't control where they went."

Exactly.

Good For You Andy Rooney

Didn't look this one up on truthorfiction.com, but if he didn't say it SOMEONE sure should!!!!!!!!!!

RIGHT ON, ANDY!!

Good for him!!!
Surprised CBS let him get away with this even though he's right.


Right on, Andy Rooney !

Andy Rooney once said on "60 Minutes":

I don't think being a minority makes you a victim of anything except numbers.. The only things I can think of that are truly discriminatory are things like the United Negro College Fund, Jet Magazine, Black Entertainment Television, and Miss Black America. Try to have things like the United Caucasian College Fund, Cloud Magazine, White Entertainment Television, or Miss White America; and see what happens...Jesse Jackson will be knocking down your door.

Guns do not make you a killer. I think killing makes you a killer.

You can kill someone with a baseball bat or a car, but no one is trying to ban you from driving to the ball game.

I believe they are called the Boy Scouts for a reason, which is why there are no girls allowed. Girls belong in the Girl Scouts! ARE YOU LISTENING MARTHA BURKE ?

I think that if you feel homosexuality is wrong, it is not a phobia, it is an opinion.

I have the right "NOT" to be tolerant of others because they are different, weird, or tick me off.

When 70% of the people who get arrested are black, in cities where 70% of the population is black, that is not racial profiling; it is the Law of Probability.

I believe that if you are selling me a milkshake, a pack of cigarettes, a newspaper or a hotel room, you must do it in English! As a matter of fact, if you want to be an American citizen, you should have to speak English!

My father and grandfather didn't die in vain so you can leave the countries you were born in to come over and disrespect ours.

I think the police should have every right to shoot you if you threaten them after they tell you to stop. If you can't underst and the word "freeze" or "stop" in English, see the above lines.

I don't think just because you were not born in this country, you are qualified for any special loan programs, government sponsored bank loans or tax breaks, etc., so you can open a hotel, coffee shop, trinket store, or any other business.

We did not go to the aid of certain foreign countries and risk our lives in wars to defend their freedoms, so that decades later they could come over here and tell us our constitution is a living document; and open to their interpretations.

I don't hate the rich I don't pity the poor.

I know pro wrestling is fake, but so are movies and television. That doesn't stop you from watching them.

I think Bill Gates has every right to keep every penny he made and continue to make more. If it ticks you off, go and invent the next operating system that's better, and put your name on the building.

It doesn't take a whole village to raise a child ri ght, but it does take a parent to stand up to the kid; and smack their little behinds when necessary, and say "NO!"

I think tattoos and piercing are fine if you want them, but please don't pretend they are a political statement. And, please, stay home until that new lip ring heals. I don't want to look at your ugly infected mouth as you serve me French fries!

I am sick of "Political Correctness." I know a lot of black people, and not a single one of them was born in Africa ; so how can they be "African-Americans"? Besides, Africa is a continent. I don't go around saying I am a European-American because my great, great, great, great, great, great grandfather was from Europe. I am proud to be from America and nowhere else.

And if you don't like my point of view, tough...

I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG, OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AND TO THE REPUBLIC, FOR WHICH IT STANDS, ONE NATION UNDER GOD, INDIVISIBLE, WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL!


It is said that 86% of Americans believe in God. Therefore I have a very hard time understanding why there is such a problem in having "In God We Trust" on our money and having "God" in the Pledge of Allegiance. Why don't we just tell the 14% to BE QUIET!!!

sent to me by Anderson Nation

Dems Speak No Evil Of Islamic Jihad

If the New Hampshire debates settled anything, it's which party has the stomach to take on radical Islam. The Democrats couldn't even identify the enemy. Not once.

read more | digg story

The Silent Majority

The silent majority has been silent too long.

It's time we tell that one or two who scream loud enough to be heard that the vast majority doesn't care what they want. It is time that the majority Rules! It's time we tell them, You don't have to pray; you don't have to say the Pledge of Allegiance; you don't have to believe in God or attend services that honor Him. That is your right, and we will honor your right; but by golly, you are no longer going to take our rights away. We are fighting back, and we WILL WIN!

God bless us one and all...especially those who denounce Him.
God bless America, despite all her faults. She is still the greatest nation of all. God bless our service men who are fighting to protect our right to pray and worship God.

Let's make 2008 the year the silent majority is heard and we put God back as the foundation of our families and institutions .. And our military forces come home from all the wars.

Keep looking up.

18 Ways To Be A Good Liberal (Wait, is that an oxymoron?)

1. You have to be against capital punishment, but support abortion on demand.

2. You have to believe that businesses create oppression, and governments create prosperity.

3. You have to believe that guns in the hands of law-abiding citizens are more of a threat than U.S. nuclear weapons technology in the hands of Chinese and North Korean communists.

4. You have to believe that there was no art before federal funding.

5. You have to believe that global temperatures are less affected by cyclical changes in the earth's climate and more affected by soccer moms driving SUV's.

6. You have to believe that gender roles are artificial, but being homosexual is natural.

7. You have to believe that the AIDS virus is spread by a lack of federal funding.

8. You have to believe that the same teacher who can't teach 4th-graders how to read is somehow qualified to teach those same kids about sex.

9. You have to believe that hunters don't care about nature, but PETA activists do.

10. You have to believe that self-esteem is more important than actually doing something to earn it.

11. You have to believe that Mel Gibson spent $25 million of his own money to make The Passion Of The Christ for financial gain only.

12. You have to believe the NRA is bad because it supports certain parts of the Constitution, while the ACLU is good because it supports certain parts of the Constitution.

13. You have to believe that taxes are too low, but ATM fees are too high.

14. You have to believe that Margaret Sanger and Gloria Steinem are more important to American history than Thomas Jefferson, Gen. Robert E. Lee, and Thomas Edison.

15. You have to believe that standardized tests are racist, but racial quotas and set-asides are not.

16. You have to believe that the only reason socialism hasn't worked anywhere it's been tried is because the right people haven't been in charge.

17. You have to believe that homosexual parades displaying drag, transvestites, and bestiality should be constitutionally protected, and manger scenes at Christmas should be illegal.

18. You have to believe that this message is a part of a vast, right wing conspiracy.

sent to me in an email

Sony A700 Conclusions - From Dpreview

Here is the final analysis from dpreviews -

Sony Alpha DSLR-A700 Review

Overall conclusion

The Alpha 700 was introduced as a complementary model to the Alpha 100; aimed more at the serious amateur and semi-professional photographer it enters a segment of the market which is buzzing with new models (EOS 40D, D300 and E-3). The A700 clearly has a lot of Minolta DNA (it's a natural successor to the popular Maxxum 7D) but also exhibits a range of development which can be attributed to the new development team that has come out of Sony's purchase of the Konica Minolta DSLR division.

Konica Minolta were the first manufacturer to put a sensor-shift Anti-Shake system into a digital SLR (again, in the 7D which shipped in early 2005), this same feature graces the A700 but has now been renamed 'Super SteadyShot', refined possibly since then but it works in exactly the same way. In our tests it worked well enough to make a difference providing somewhere between 1.0 and 1.5 stops of 'improvement' which it has to be said is somewhat less than Sony's claims.

One thing that is clear when you start shooting with the A700 is that Sony has worked hard on performance; it feels very responsive, button presses for menus or image playback occurring instantly and there's no feeling of lag when changing settings. Other performance criteria such as continuous shooting speed, buffering and write speeds were all very good, with a pretty blazing 34 MB/sec write speed with SanDisk Extreme IV cards. I should also make special mention of that new high resolution LCD monitor which really does make a difference to the whole shoot & review experience.

My primary gripes were around a couple of questionable decisions; firstly that RAW files already have noise reduction applied to them, this in effect means that the photographer can't treat RAW as the 'digital negative'. This subsequently removes the ability to successfully apply any third party noise reduction method (either now or in the future) or to make his or her own decisions about the balance between noise and NR. I understand that this is because a certain amount of noise reduction occurs very early in the image pipeline (at or around the sensor) but why that can't be simply disabled by choice is a curious to say the least.

The second oddity is the fact that this camera's base sensitivity appears to be ISO 200 (not ISO 100), subtly hinted by the fact that the Auto ISO range begins at 200 and supported by our own dynamic range tests. Sony managed to indicated that ISO sensitivities above 3200 were 'out of calibration' but not those below 200 (the trade-off below this point is highlight dynamic range). This gives rise to the rather ridiculous situation where most users (who try to stick to the lowest ISO wherever possible) will not only be shooting at a setting that doesn't produce the optimum image quality, but also losing a valuable stop of sensitivity at the same time.

With the gripes out of the way I have to say that overall image quality was very good, with the A700 producing as much resolution / detail as the competition at lower sensitivities and noise reduction keeping noise levels in check at higher sensitivities without losing too much detail (although we personally would prefer less luminance reduction and more chroma reduction, which is Nikon's approach). Color was predictable and neutral and tonal response was good without ever being over contrasty (nice roll-off in highlights from ISO 200 upwards).

Overall then the A700 is a good performer with good overall image quality with a nice range of features - even if on the negative side there are some quirky design decisions which may or may not affect you. Best of all though is the fact that it weighs in at the lower end of the price band for this category of DSLR, that makes it about $400 less than the Nikon D300 and $300 less than the Olympus E-3.

Detail (D-SLR)	Rating (out of 10)
Build quality	8.0
Ergonomics & handling	8.5
Features	9.5
Image quality	9.0
Performance (speed)	9.0
Value	8.5

Highly Recommended

Taxes

The next time you hear a politician use the word 'billion' in a casual manner, think about whether you want the 'politicians' spending YOUR tax money.

A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but one advertising agency did a good job of putting that figure into some perspective in one of its releases:

A. A billion seconds ago it was 1959.

B. A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.

C. A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone Age.

D. A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth on two feet.

E. A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes, at the rate our government is spending it.



While this thought is still fresh in our brain, let's take a look at New Orleans. It's amazing what you can learn with some simple division.



Louisiana Senator, Mary Landrieu (D), is presently asking the Congress for $250 BILLION to rebuild New Orleans. Interesting number, what does it mean?

A. Well, if you are one of 484,674 residents of New Orleans (every man, woman, child), you each get $516,528.

B. Or, if you have one of the 188,251 homes in New Orleans , your home gets $1,329,787.

C. Or, if you are a family of four, your family gets $2,066,012.

Washington, D.C .. HELLO!!! ... Are all your calculators broken??

Tax his land,
Tax his wage,
Tax his bed in which he lays.
Tax his tractor,
Tax his mule,
Teach him taxes is the rule.
Tax his cow,
Tax his goat,
Tax his pants,
Tax his coat.

Tax his ties,
Tax his shirts,
Tax his work,
Tax his dirt.

Tax his tobacco,
Tax his drink,
Tax him if he tries to think.

Tax his booze,
Tax his beers,
If he cries,
Tax his tears.

Tax his bills,
Tax his gas,
Tax his notes,
Tax his cash.

Tax him good and let him know
That after taxes, he has no dough.

If he hollers,
Tax him more,
Tax him until he's good and sore.

Tax his coffin,
Tax his grave,
Tax the sod in which he lays.
Put these words upon his tomb,
'Taxes drove me to my doom!'

And when he's gone,
We won't relax,
We'll still be after the inheritance TAX!!

Accounts Receivable Tax
Building Permit Tax
CDL License Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Federal Income Tax
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
Fuel Perm it Tax
Gasoline Tax
Hunting License Tax
Inheritance Tax
Inventory Tax
IRS Interest Charges (tax on top of tax),
IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax),
Liquor Tax,
Luxury Tax,
Marriage License Tax,
Medicare Tax,
Property Tax,
Real Estate Tax,
Service charge taxes,
Social Security Tax,
Road Usage Tax (Truckers),
Sales Taxes,
Recreational Vehicle Tax,
School Tax,
State Income Tax,
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA),
Telephone Federal Excise Tax,
Telephone Federal Universal Service
Fee Tax,
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Tax,
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax,
Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax,
Telephone State and Local Tax,
Telephone Usage Charge Tax,
Utility Tax,
Vehicle License Registration Tax,
Vehicle Sales Tax,
Watercraft Registration Tax,
Well Permit Tax,
Workers Compensation Tax.



STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY?

Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago, and our nation was the most prosperous in the world. We had absolutely no national debt, had the largest middle class in the world, and Mom stayed home to raise the kids.

What happened? Can you spell 'politicians!'

And I still have to 'press 1' for English.

sent to me by Anderson Nation

A John Glenn Quote

John Glenn

There were 39 combat related killings in Iraq in January.
In the fair city of Detroit there were 35 murders in the month of January.

That's just one American city,
about as deadly as the entire war-torn country of Iraq.

When some claim that President Bush shouldn't
have started this war, state the following:

a. FDR led us into World War II.

b. Germany never attacked us; Japan did.
From 1941-1945, 450,000 lives were lost
an average of 112,500 per year.

c. Truman finished that war and started one in Korea

North Korea never attacked us.
From 1950-1953, 55,000 lives were lost.
an average of 18,334 per year.

d. John F. Kennedy started the Vietnam conflict in 1962.

Vietnam never attacked us.

e. Johnson turned Vietnam into a quagmire.

From 1965-1975, 58,000 lives were lost ..
an average of 5,800 per year.

f. Clinton went to war in Bosnia without UN or French consent.

Bosnia never attacked us.
He was offered Osama bin Laden's head on a platter three
times by Sudan and did nothing.
Osama has attacked us on multiple occasions.

g. In the years since terrorists attacked us , President Bush has liberated two countries, crushed the Taliban, crippled al-Qaida, put nuclear inspectors in Libya , Iran, and, North Korea
without firing a shot, and captured a terrorist who
slaughtered 300,000 of his own people.
The Democrats are complaining
about how long the war is taking.

But Wait

It took less time to take Iraq than it took Janet Reno
to take the Branch Davidian compound.

That was a 51-day operation..

We've been looking for evidence for chemical weapons
in Iraq for less time than it took Hillary Clinton to find
the Rose Law Firm billing records.

It took less time for the 3rd Infantry Division and the
Marines to destroy the Medina Republican Guard
than it took Ted Kennedy to call the police after his
Oldsmobile sank at Chappaquiddick.
It took less time to take Iraq than it took
to count the votes in Florida!!!

Our Commander-In-Chief is doing a GREAT JOB !
The Military morale is high!

The biased media hopes we are too ignorant
to realize the facts

But wait!

There's more!

JOHN GLENN (on the Senate floor - January 26, 2004)
Some people still don't understand why military personnel
do what they do for a living. This exchange between
Senators John Glenn and Senator Howard Metzenbaum
is worth reading. Not only is it a pretty impressive
impromptu speech, but it's also a good example of one
man's explanation of why men and women in the armed
services do what they do for a living.

This IS a typical, though sad, example of what
some who have never served think of the military.

Senator Metzenbaum (speaking to Senator Glenn):
'How can you run for Senate when you've never held a real job?'
Senator Glenn (D-Ohio):
'I served 23 years in the United States Marine Corps.
I served through two wars. I flew 149 missions.
My plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire on 12 different
occasions. I was in the space program. It wasn't my
checkbook, Howard; it was my life on the line. It was
not a nine-to-five job, where I took time off to take the
daily cash receipts to the bank.'

'I ask you to go with me . . as I went the other day...
to a veteran's hospital and look those men ..
with their mangled bodies .. in the eye, and tell THEM
they didn't hold a job!
You go with me to t he Space Program at NASA
and go, as I have gone, to the widows and Orphans
of Ed White, Gus Grissom and Roger Chaffee...
and you look those kids in the eye and tell them
that their DADS didn't hold a job.

You go with me on Memorial Day and you stand in
Arlington National Cemetery, where I have more friends
buried than I'd like to remember, and you watch
those waving flags.

You stand there, and you think about this nation,
and you tell ME that those people didn't have a job?

What about you?'
For those who don't remember
During W.W.II, Howard Metzenbaum was an attorney ho was representing the Communist Party in the USA.

Now he's a Senator!

If you can read this, thank a teacher.
If you are reading it in English thank a Veteran.

sent to me by a great friend and guardsman Highpower

Omphaloskepsis 17

Who first decided that the round thing

coming out of a chickens butt would be something worth eating?
^

Moblog Test 2

Still checking out this moblogging thing.

Test of Moblogging

I purchased a new smartphone just the other day. It's the BlackjackII and I switched my service to AT&T. We'll see how that goes. I used to carry a phone AND a Palm Pilot. This is my way of making things simpler and carrying fewer devices. With this new phone I will now occasionally make posts while away from home. This is called mobile blogging or moblogging. These posts will usually be very breif and quite often will only be a photo of my current location or activity. Be patient as I don't know what kind of learning curve there will be.

^

The Breck Girls Are Popular

Fishing With Moses

Perfect Gift For Him

With Christmas less than two (2) weeks away I thought the time was right to start posting some gift suggestions. Women pay attention! I have just found the perfect gift for that special man in your life.

Honestly, what man couldn't use and appreciate this special remote? Hell, I'd like one for every room in the house.

^