When I was a kid we had bullies. I was a student at Southfield School. And in 6th grade there was a kid who was bullying me. It just didn’t stop. I tried being nice. I tried keeping quiet. I tried telling the Principal. Nothing worked…until one day I’d had enough. I got to my mom’s car and threw my books in, furious, and I told her “Wait here…I’ve got something to take care of,” and I stormed off. There used to be an old wooden long building out by the field, they used as dressing rooms. I stormed onto the field, looking for this kid, mad as Hell, and I wasn’t going to take it any more.
[Read more…] about On Bullying…and Bullies.
Current Events, Society & the Law
Faux Haus.
I read a story this week, about how the Secret Service is asking Congress for money to build a fake White House. (I’ll pause for a moment, while you ponder the idea that we’d need a pretend White House to go along with the guy who’s pretending to be the President. Moving on…)
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TV is dead. Long live TV!
I am a child of Television. No kidding…my first word? Not “mama” or “dada,” but “Popeye.” I was a disciple of Larry, Moe and Curly, and George Reeves taught me to believe a man could fly. I don’t think you could find a kid that was more plugged-in, tuned-in, and aware of television than I am. Which is why it somewhat pains me to report that TV, my lifelong companion, is dying, and near death. It was a good run. We had some great times. But I come not to praise TV, but to bury it – drive a stake through it’s 49 share heart. And to give you hope for the future. [Read more…] about TV is dead. Long live TV!
See Obama. See Obama Run. And Run. And Run…
I cut my teeth on books like the McGuffy Reader. The Adventures of Dick and Jane were for the slow kids. But while I kind of leapfrogged most of the really little kids’ books, I made it a point to read to my daughter from the time she was born until the time she grew too old for me to entertain her with a bedtime story.
Today, kids’ books are increasingly politically-correct. And because so much of the publishing world leans left, increasingly politicized and polarized. Today, a trending topic on Twitter was #obamakidsbooks. Here are a selection of the better titles – ones that I hope and pray will never make it into print:
- One Fish, Two Fish, Your Fish is My Fish
- Fast and Furious George
- The Indian in the Cupbord is Elizabeth Warren
- Little Barack Scambo
- The Little Engine That Couldn’t Without Federal Assistance.
- My Little Crony
- Heather Has Two Mommies Without Jobs
- Solynderella
- Green Jobs and Scams
- Obama and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Presidency
- OH, The Debt You’ll Owe!
- The Bain Mutiny
- Oh, The Places Michelle Obama Will Go!
- Green Lies and Scams
- The Sisterhood of the Traveling Mom-Jeans
- Are You There, Marx? It’s Me, Barack
- Cloudy With a Chance of Foodstamps
- The Taking Tree
- Fun WIth Dick and Jane Living Under a Bridge
- Harry Potter and the President’s Stoned
- False Expectations
- Where In the World are the Obamas
- Goodnight, Democracy
- LIttle Underwater House on the Prairie
- Where the Taxing Things Are
- Where the Red Ink Grows
- Are You My Big Brother?
- The Lying, The Witch and the War Chest
- War on Little Women
- Charlie and the Solar Panel Factory
- SEIU and the Purple Crayon
- Where the Sidewalk Ends (and other shovel-ready projects)
Now THAT’S Comedy
Realigning Priorities on Memorial Day
With a late father who served proudly during WWII, and an (ex)stepson who’s an active duty Marine, I’m aware of what kinds of sacrifices men and women make, to serve our country in the military. Apparently, it’s easy for many Americans to forget just how important that service is, and exactly WHAT these brave men and women are fighting for. Let me make this very simple. They fight for our rights. Our right to disagree with our government. Our right to speak out about what we think. Our right to worship as we please – or not worship at all, if we so choose.Recently, a WWII veteran in Virginia made the national news, as he was threatened with legal action for erecting a 21-foot flagpole in front of his Virginia home, to fly an American flag. After his case received national attention, the pinheads with his homeowners association backed-down. They could have saved themselves a lot of trouble, had they simply done a little research into who this man was, and what he’d done in WWII. He passed away last month. I’m sure the homeowners association will waste no time in getting his flagpole removed. Which is a shame, for it should remain standing as a reminder of a great American and his sacrifice. Today I received an email from a friend, that detailed his story. I’d like to share it with you, here. [Read more…] about Realigning Priorities on Memorial Day
Are Progressives Schizophrenic?
I’m at an age where I value consistency. I view it as the opposite of hypocrisy. Now keep in mind, hypocrisy is an Equal Opportunity Destroyer – it strikes both Liberal and Conservative alike, with an equanimity only dreamt of by the EEOC. For every political scandal on the Left, I can cite you chapter and verse of one on the Right. But there’s one huge difference between the Left and the Right, when dealing with hypocrisy. Those on the Right tend to vilify those on the Left AND the Right, when they are caught, red-handed. Those on the Left seem to excuse the behavior of those on Team Lefty, while excoriating those on the Right. This requires some fairly impressive mental gymnastics on their part, with some contortions that would put Nadia Comaneci in traction. To wit… [Read more…] about Are Progressives Schizophrenic?
We’re From the Government…and We’re Here to Help.
Those have GOT to be the nine scariest words in the English language. I don’t know about you, but the less the government helps me, the happier I am. Why? because all that “free help” is never free. There’s a huge difference between “freedom” and “free.” With “Freedom,” I’m free to succeed – or fail. I’m free to decide what’s best for me. And I’m free to make smart choices or dumb ones. But the government is about to change all that. Welcome to the world Aldous Huxley envisioned in 1984 – only just shy of 30 years late. [Read more…] about We’re From the Government…and We’re Here to Help.
Is motherhood a “real job”?
After the dust-up from the Sunday, talking-heads news shows about Ann Romney, where Obamanista Hillary Rosen declared that Ann Romney was unfit to comment as a spokesperson for American women because “she never had a real job,” it would seem that the Right and the Left are falling into two camps: those that think that Motherhood IS a real job, and worthy of the same “real” status as any other, and those that feel as though you can’t be “fulfilled” or a “real woman” unless you have a day job in addition to raising kids. And Rosen’s statement seems to have lit a fuse on a powder keg. So that leaves the question hanging out there – is motherhood a real job? [Read more…] about Is motherhood a “real job”?
The ‘Coz’ Lets Me Down, Once Again.
I’ve long been a fan of Bill Cosby. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but he’s black, and I’m white. Funny, that – when someone is talented and funny, race makes no difference. I grew up in a household where our mindset was Talent Über Alles. And make no mistake, Bill Cosby is a talented guy. He’s also someone who’s ‘made it,’ in a time where there was a glass ceiling on TV and in the movies for black men. No matter. He’s so good that glass ceilings proved no match for him. (Even a mega-turkey like Leonard Number 6 couldn’t sink his career.) But Cosby the Comic, Cosby the Actor, Cosby the Pitchman – they are all to be admired. But what of Cosby the man himself? Like most of the rest of us, he has feet of clay. But for the most part, I’ve really admired him. But this week, he put a rather large ding in his coat of shining armor, at least as far as I’m concerned. He seems to think the Trayvon Martin incident happened because of our “gun culture.” Sorry Coz. You’re wrong. [Read more…] about The ‘Coz’ Lets Me Down, Once Again.
Now, It Gets Ugly.
If you thought things were getting ugly in Florida over the Trayvon Martin shooting already, think again. CNN reports that special prosecutor Angela Corey has decided NOT to send the Zimmerman case to a Grand Jury. For those of you who fell asleep in civics class, a quick review: When someone is suspected of a crime, the police turn the evidence over to the District Attorney’s office. In cases where there’s a preponderance of evidence, they can file charges, or they can send the case to a Grand Jury for them to decide. The Grand Jury then reviews the evidence to see if they believe there’s enough to charge the suspect with a crime and bind them over for trial. In high-profile cases, or in situations where the local authorities are suspected of favoring one side over another, the case may get kicked upstairs to a special prosecutor, who takes a presumably unbiased look at the evidence to determine if the case merits prosecution. If the prosecutor decides that the evidence would not lead to a conviction, they drop it. And that’s usually the end of the story, unless new witnesses, evidence, or other details emerge. Only in this case, I really doubt this will be the end of it. Technically, a special prosecutor can file charges without a Grand Jury. And Corey says “the investigation is continuing.” This can mean but two things: either she already knows if they should/will prosecute, and she’s willing to take responsibility for that decision on her own, without empaneling a Grand Jury. Good for her. [Read more…] about Now, It Gets Ugly.