M.A.W.B. Squad

Good Advice

that you just didn't take........

I'm guessing we'll never live this down.

Ruining Minnesota

The charge has been made that St. Kate and I are part of a group that is ruining Minnesota.

I think BTO said it best:

I met a devil woman,
She took my heart away
She said I had it coming to me
But I wanted it that way

That's right.  You ain't seen nothing yet.

GITMO: The Truth

From a recent GITMO vet:

Not only are the detainees treated humanely (top-notch medical care, hearty meals, recreational facilities, full access to religious observance, etc..) but I personally witnessed instances when detainees did not want to leave. It was not uncommon for my platoon to guard an airfield for hours in preparation for sending a detainee home, only to turn around and bring him back to the detention facility – because he refused to leave! These detainees are not stupid—they know that real torture and inhumane treatment await them at home. And while I know they’re not happy to be in GTMO, they rest assured that they will be treated well because Americans play by the rules.

They. Don''t. Want. To. Leave.

Powerline has the whole thing.  Make no mistake. The design behind insane charges like those made by Senator Durbin is to tie the current administration to torture for their own political gain.  They don't care what damage they do to America in the process.  Thankfully, in this great nation, the public is a whole lot smarter than the Democrats give us credit for:

Seven-out-of-ten adults believe the prisoners are being treated "better than they deserve" (36%) or "about right" (34%).

Via Drudge.

Education Nightmares

Sometimes reading King's blog on the latest in academia gives me nightmares.  For example this comparison of the index of math books tells you all you need to know about the disintegration of public education.  The index for the letter F in a 1973 math book:

In the 1973 book, for example, the index for the letter "F" included "factors, factoring, fallacies, finite decimal, finite set, formulas, fractions, and functions."

Seems pretty normal, eh?  Math terms.  Pretty much what you'd expect to find.  How does that compare to the index in a 1998 textbook?

" In the 1998 book, the index listed "families (in poverty data), fast food nutrition data, fat in fast food, feasibility study, feeding tours, ferris wheel, fish, fishing, flags, flight, floor plan, flower beds, food, football, Ford Mustang, franchises, and fund-raising carnival."

I could just throw up.  It's everything you need to know about why our kids are scoring lower in comparison to their international peers.  Chock full of social propaganda crap.

My kids are in public school and I've felt they've been pretty insulated here in the country from the radical agenda pushed in urban schools.  (We still have Christmas concerts.  Shhh.  Don't tell.  I feel like part of a subversive underground every time I attend one.  I'm even afraid to blog about it because I know we have at least one ACLU wacko locally who's made trouble for one local school board.)

But wait! There's more!

"How often does your 6th-grade daughter have oral sex?"

If the question offends you, then talk to the school officials at Shrewsbury, Mass. But don't expect a sympathetic response.

When Mark Fisher protested quizzing his 12-year-old daughter about oral sex (among other topics), the school authorities asserted their right to gather such information without his consent.

Yes. They must have my express written permission to give my child an aspirin.  They will suspend my child for making a gun with their hand.  But, it's none of my bloody business if they want to take my daughter to have an abortion or quiz a child about oral sex.

We don't have a lot of options where we live, but I've been threatening the kids with private christian school, an idea they're not very keen on.  The more crap I read like this, the more I'm thinking that train may have already left the station.

Book Tagged

Doug got me involved in the book meme that's Everywhere! It's Everywhere! 

Total number of books owned, ever: Wouldn't you worry just a little bit about someone who could definitively pick a number?  Say.....37.  Yep.  I've owned 37 books in my life as an example.  So, my answer, like everyone else, is lots and lots of books.  Too many to count.

As far as collections, scattered throughout the compound somewhere here are boxes full of Reader's Digest Condensed books purchased in anticipation of building a huge library shelf in the basement some day.  I grew up reading them and thought it would be fun to collect all of them.  I'm missing probably the first 12 or something.  If I can ever get them on a shelf so I can look at them and figure out what's missing, I'll start looking for the rest of them.

Last book I bought:  Unspoken by Angela Hunt at Sam's Club last week.  It belongs in the category of "might be interesting" paperbacks purchased so they can be thrown into luggage and easily carried on a future trip.

Last book I read:  This is probably a tie between two Hewitt offerings, In, But Not Of: A Guide to Christian Ambition, (the most recent "car" book), and Blog:  Understanding the Information Reformation That's Changing Your World, (the most recent "bathroom" book.)  I don't remember which one I finished first.

Five Books that mean a lot to me:

The Bible: And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.........

The Late Great Planet Earth by Hal Lindsey:  Don't laugh when you read the reviews.  It was handed to me at just the right moment in my life.  The most important things gleaned were just how very, very much God loves me just as I am, (still a mystery to me), and the role of prophecy in the Bible, (not that Hal had it right necessarily, but how much prophecy is there and why, etc.)  I don't know what I'd think if I went back to read it now, but it was a case of right message, right time.

My Name is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok:  Potok tells the story of a young Hasidic Jew that is also a gifted artist and the conflict between his two worlds.  If you have never read it, run to the nearest book store.  It's that good.

The Tripods by John Christopher:  This is actually a four book series.  I chose it because it's the first science fiction I ever remember reading.  If I were to pick one that I remembered the most it would be The City of Gold and Lead.  I purchased the series for the Boy to read in the last year or so.  Re-reading them as an adult, the quality of the writing doesn't hold up to my memory of being captivated in the elementary school library, but they still have a special place in my heart, (and the Boy liked them enough to pass them on to a friend.)

Alongside Night by J. Neil Schulman:  Another novel read long ago, but important for its introduction to libertarian ideas.  I think I have a copy around here somewhere.  I'd like to find it and reread it to see how it holds up.

Maybe not the most scholarly list, but I make no apologies.  Good fiction has the power to challenge your worldview.

Now, to find five others and demand they bow to my will and play along.

Rew of The Power Liberal  (She's kind of like a little sister to us and we look forward to the day she converts to the dark side.)
Aelfheld of Gall and Wormwood
Jeff of Have Coffee Will Write
Chris Muir of Day by Day (You can send them to us and we'll post your answers.)
Dave from Ohligarchy

Girl Post

Yesterday was my annual physical.  Yee-ha with bells on.  I'm pretty sure that somewhere in the fine print, pap smears are on the "Prohibited" list for the Geneva Convention, Amnesty International, and the UN Human Rights Commission.  And yet every year I schedule the damn thing anyway.  I guess I shouldn't complain too much; these days they're warming the speculum for added comfort.

While waiting in the exam room and sporting the trendy Bohemian gown with loose floppy sides and flowing strings, I noticed that the stirrups were sheathed in small cotton sacks.  Another small nod to our comfort?  No.  Some marketing genius realized that exam room stirrups had great potential as miniature billboards.  At my heels were advertisements for Vagifem...estradiol vaginal tablets.

Vaginal tablets.

I don't care if they cure cancer, AIDS, and the state budget...I would have a tough time popping a tablet where human nature and gravity both say it shouldn't go.

I can't wait to see what's advertised next year.

And gentlemen (if there are any still reading at this point) please do not leave me a comment about the awful "turn your head and cough" exam.  You will get no sympathy, and I will be forced to go into lurid detail on how an OB/Gyn doc examines a gal's ovaries.

Quick IQ Test - Enquiring Minds

Your IQ Is 135

Your Logical Intelligence is Exceptional Your Verbal Intelligence is Genius Your Mathematical Intelligence is Genius Your General Knowledge is Genius

A Quick and Dirty IQ Test

Not fair. I demand to know which logic question I missed.  Don't you hate that?

Discovered via Margi Lowry, (via the Cake Eater).  Margi just got amazing news.  Oh, man, I don't think I could do that again now that my kids are older. (Insert silent prayer here.)
It's nice to see old blog friends Beth and Teresa there.  (Hums It's a Small World After All with apologies for ensuing earworms.)

Kool Aid Business Plan

We're not worried about the new scheme of bloated charges for blog readers of the Kool Aid Report.

As our devoted followers know, a critical step in demonstrating faithful allegiance to your favorite female dictators at the M.A.W.B. Squad is to turn over all your credit card numbers, including expiration dates and security codes for use as we deem fit.  As dictators, we won't be stooping to taxes.  No.  We'll just say "charge it" with a smile and send you the bill.  Much more civilized, no?

After all, world domination is so expensive these days, what with Calamity Jo's private jet rentals to Deadwood, St. Kate's European tours, and my own penchant for first class travel to Asia.  Besides, it's only fitting that I have the opportunity to test state patrol readiness in one of these.

Housemouse has her eye on entire ecosystems she wants to move to a more convenient location.  Eloise is interviewing ghost writers to fill in for the Warrior Monk so she has more time to hang out with the gals. Tiger Lilly's wish list includes this gem for recording her sister's phone calls. Peg is planning on bringing tournament bridge to the public, (think the World Poker Tour on steroids.)

We've dispatched search parties to locate missing MAWBsters Headstrong Elf, Macaroni Penguin, and Twice Blessed.  They don't come cheap, let me tell you.  We're expecting a FOX news crew soon, ala the Runaway Bride story.

Add to the list a nanny mentor to watch after the Young Jedi, (who may actually be in custody considering the subject of his last post), and let's not forget payoffs to the Elder.

So, Learned Foot, we'll just be charging those fees back to your card.  You knew that we drafted Mrs. Foot, right?  Strength in numbers, I always say.

Napoleon Dynamite - dynamic as people think?

Okay, I don't know about you, But I think that Napoleon Dynamite is a very,  very stupid movie. I know that the guy who made it only had $380,000 to make it with, but don't you think the characters could at least look at each other when they talk and talk with more feeling? I mean, come on!

What I really don't get is that everyone likes it a lot! What there to like? Almost everyone in my family likes it, especially my sister. The only part I like is when Napoleon says, "Tina, you fat lard, come get some dinner!" Otherwise, it's fully and completely stupid! Sorry if I'm offending you. I just gotta say what I gotta say. Here's what I think about the characters:

Napoleon: Too obsessed with "skills"
Uncle Rico: Idiotic and mean
Kip: obsessed with chatting online with Lefanduh; puts too much cheese on his food
Lefanduh: Doesn't talk enough
Deborah: Really weird
Pedro: He's okay, he just needs to talk with more feeling and actually look at people.
Tricia: Side kick to Summer
Summer: Mean and nasty

So, that's what I think about Napoleon Dynamite. I hope there isn't more where this came from. GOSH!

Thought Of The Day

This Thought of the Day was sent to me by my dear friend, Dave.  While not quite as evil as I am...Dave has enormous potential.

Some people are like Slinkys.

Not really good for anything, but they still bring a smile to your face when you push them down a flight of stairs.

Happy Monday.