CatHouse Chat

Miss Virginia wins the Miss America title

Miss Virginia Caressa Cameron won the 2010 Miss America title Saturday night after strutting in a skintight yellow dress, belting Beyonce's "Listen" from "Dreamgirls" and telling kids they should get outside more often.

Cameron, 22, won a $50,000 scholarship and the crown in Las Vegas after a pageant that started with 53 contestants. She outlasted her opponents in swimsuit, evening gown, talent and interview competitions.

via www.foxnews.com

Well, of course... She's a Virginian! ;-)

Congratulations to Miss Cameron!

(And, yeah, the only reason I took note of it was because she's from Virginia - I mean, who really watches Miss America these days anyway?)

OK, this has GOT to be one of the best versions ofHamlet... EVER!!!!

Starring Patrick Stewart and David Tennant (ooooo!)... I've GOT to get the video!

Hamlet in 85 macros - GO "READ!!!!"

*snicker*snicker*snort*giggle*ROTFLMAO!*

His home budget seems to be a bi out of whack; why should we be surprised at his government spending?

Women's Wear Daily reported today that Michelle Obama wore a dress that retails for $1850 to the State of the Union address given by her husband, Barack Obama, on Wednesday night.

Last week, the White House featured as the 'photo of the day' a picture of Michelle Obama wearing a $2763 designer coat with matching dress of unknown cost and $850 custom made designer boots.

During the Obama's $4000 per day Christmas vacation, Michelle Obama was photographed wearing a $635 pair of designer shoes. A recent study of five pairs of designer shoes worn last year by Michelle Obama showed an average price of $700 per pair

via www.freerepublic.com

OK, the Presidential salary s $400,000. The tuition for the Obamas' daughters at Sidwell Friends is about $30k per, although I'd say the total would be about $56k-ish, since it's fairly common to give a tuition discount on additional children from the same family.

Assuming the Obamas don't itemize (yeah, right), they're paying taxes on $374,000 ($400k - 4[3650.00 personal exemptions] - 11,400 [standard deduction, married filing jointly]). That places them in the 35% tax bracket, so that's about $130,000 the Obamas are shelling out to their "fair share" of the national tax burden.

So, $400k - $130k - $56k = $214,000.

Now, out of that - because, of course, they wouldn't accept illegal GIFTS, would they? - teh One™ also must pay some of the living expenses at the White House. It's my understanding, for instance, that he'll have to pay his food expenses, although the government does pick up the tab for state functions.

I'm sure that the Obamas have other sources of income, but it does make me wonder how far $214k can stretch when you're going on $4,000 a day vacations and your wife likes $700 shoes...

I've been casually watching Burt Rutan for YEARS!

Burt Rutan is one of the US's leading aeronautical engineers, noted for his innovative designs and light, energy-efficient air and spacecraft, including Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo. In a rare interview, he talks to David Cohen about his work, conspiracy theories and the explosion that claimed the lives of three engineers

via www.newscientist.com

I remember I did a presentation on him when I was a senior in high school for my speech class. If I recall correctly, he was working on the Lear Fan at the time, which included a rear propeller, a canard (? See, my memory's getting bad...) wing up front, and an incredible new fiberglass-polymer-whatchamacallit material for the body of the plane.

He's been doing extremely cool stuff for years (remember Voyager?)!

Go read the article - it's fascinating!

It makes me proud to be a Ford owner: Ford swings to annual profit

The proof of Ford's remarkable turnaround, which coincided with its U.S. competitors freefalling into bankruptcy, is there in the numbers.

In 2008, the company lost nearly $15 billion as industry sales were caught in a historic slide. The next year was even worse for most -- and yet Ford handed in a profit of $2.7 billion.

"While we still face significant business environment challenges ahead, 2009 was a pivotal year for Ford and the strongest proof yet that our 'One Ford' plan is working and that we are forging a path toward profitable growth by working together as one team, leveraging our global scale," CEO Alan Mulally said.

via www.marketwatch.com

Yep. And Ford is, of course, the only one of the "Big Three" auto makers who didn't whore themselves out to become "Government Motors."

I drive a 2003 Ford Explorer, my Beloved drives a 2001 F250, and we lovelovelovelove our awesome vehicles!

Hey, Ford...? YOU ROCK!!!!!

Culpeper County, VA - What the *HECK*?!

A parent complaint has prompted the Culpeper County school system to pull a version of Anne Frank's diary off library shelves.

The county's director of instruction Jim Allen says the book pulled is "The Diary of a Young Girl: The Definitive Edition."

Allen says the parent complained because the version contains sexual references. The school system will use an alternative version of the diary that does not contain such references.

via www.foxnews.com

Oh, c'mon - the diary excerpts of a young Jewish girl in World War II Germany?

How "racy" can it be? I'm sure it isn't anything compared to what your kids are permitted to watch on TV or at the movies...

*sigh*

Chris Matthews is an idiot - and probably a closet racist, too!

MSNBC host Chris Matthews is under fire for commenting on air that President Obama has done so much to heal racial divides that "I forgot he was black" as he watched Obama's first State of the Union address Wednesday night.

Matthews, who appeared on the cable network shortly after the speech, said of the president:

"I was trying to think about who he was tonight. And uh, it's interesting. He is post-racial, by all appearances. You know, I forgot he was black tonight for an hour....

"I was watching, I said, 'wait a minute!' He's an African-American guy in front of a bunch of other white people and there he is president of the United States and we've completely forgotten that tonight -- completely forgotten it!"

via www.foxnews.com

I mean, really!!! Only someone to whom skin color is an actual issue would bring this up.

I don't care if Obama is orange with pink stripes and green polka-dots - I still despise his big government, socialist policies. I would despise them if he were a dedicated white supremacist, or an Asian immigrant, or an Hispanic "undocumented worker," or a woman, or the average "guy on the street." I don't care WHO puts forth these policies - I think they (the policies) are wrong, and should be abhorrent to any true American.

Chris Mathews - like most loony liberals - is still too concerned (and falsely so) with skin color, and cannot seem to separate a minor genetic issue with the content of someone's character or the intelligence of their policies.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.

Gee. Wonder where that quote came from?

But, no. Chris Matthews, like the rest of the hypocritical liberal left, cannot let a healing wound HEAL. He and his ilk keep picking at the scab - and if they have their way, eventually that wound won't heal. Instead, it will develop into a scar that nothing will erase - and it will be the fault of people like Chris Matthews.

Obama's policies (the DemonRATIC party's policies!) are crap, and they're going to bankrupt and ruin this country while putting its citizens in danger and releasing our sovereign rights to foreign powers. All tha has NOTHING to do with skin color!

Matthew's condemnation is just. God willing, this will be the straw that breaks the camel's back and forces him off the air in ignominious disgrace.

Here's the wallhanging

I'm not ecstatic with these fabrics - they were from several 5 inch charm square packs I bought last year at the MidAtlantic Quilt Festival.
The new, larger quilt will use up some of my extensive collection of batiks, and really should be YUMMY when done *grinz*

She's quilting again!

I had fun putting a little wall hanging together the other week, so I decided to make another, larger quilt of the same pattern. Well, you know me: it's taken on a life of its own, and God Himself only knows how big it will end up!

(And I wish I could attach another pic, but I'll post again with the wall hanging's pic)

Dining at Olive Garden

Enjoying a Sunday afternoon shopping trip with the family, and now an early dinner at Olive Garden. The Munchkin, of course, has her nose in a book - *I* have my Droid. ;-)

God and Hot Chocolate

This is a very special guest post from my Darling Munchkin. She's been wrestling with an application essay, and didn't fall in love with either of the two defined questions for the three choices she had. This morning, she wrote this in school, and it fit in beautifully with the "what one important question did you wish we'd asked" option.

With her very kind permission, I am posting it here:

God and Hot Chocolate

God is in hot chocolate,
you may not believe it,
but He is.
He is in buttons, clouds, and a windy day.
His favorite home may be the smile of a child
or the warmth of sitting by a fire.
He's in the everyday things,
that we take for granted.
The silent comfort of darkness
right before one falls asleep,
or the feel
of a loved one's hair.
The sound of a pencil,
transferring one's thoughts into words,
or the silence of a graveyard on a still day.
He's in all things healthy and sound.
Lettuce leaves, a single dandelion,
or a newborn's eyes.
God is in the earth.
He is our life and our love,
He is the wind rushing past our ears,
He is the precipice we stand on,
waiting to take the plunge.
He is the water we drink,
and that we swim in.
He is the most precious of gems,
and the most common of stones.
He is the fire that keeps us warm,
and keeps the monsters at bay.
And despite all our faults, He loves us.
(Maybe we should just
take a moment
to slow down and see Him)

That's my most Darling Munchkin, and I'm so proud of her! Thirteen years old, and this is the sort of thing that pops up in her brain...

Thank You, Father, for this delightful and precious gift You've given to us. I pray that she always brings glory and praise to You, and that she serves You wholeheartedly all the days of her life!

Just sayin'...

 

(I think this was from Isophorone... LOLz!)

Creigh Deeds: Listen to the world's smallest violin playing "My Heart Bleeds For You"

Seated behind a modest desk in the two-room law office he occupies next to Genia's Beauty Salon on Main Street in downtown Hot Springs, Deeds didn't refer to McDonnell by name during an interview with the Richmond Times-Dispatch. It's an indication, perhaps, that devoting years of your life to a dream that doesn't come true warrants a longer recovery period.

"I'm surviving, doing the best I can," he said. "I mean, what choice do I have, right? You got to keep going. You just have to keep moving."

In the weeks after the election, Deeds, 52, hasn't spent a night outside his home in rural Bath County. Public appearances have been rare -- a couple of visits to Charlottesville, a Christmas shopping trip to Roanoke, a drive to attend a funeral.

Instead, Deeds has set to work rebuilding the life he left behind when he became a candidate -- resurrecting a dormant law practice, repairing fences on the family farm, getting a cranky stove to provide warmth on a winter's day in the Allegheny Mountains.

"The toll on my family . . . there are things I'll never get back and that hurts a whole lot," he said. "A lot of personal stuff that I'm just not going to go into.

"Going forward, I've got a responsibility to represent people in the state Senate and rebuild a life that I had, that I have left," he said. "There's still a lot of figuring out to do. I've got to get back to basics.

via www2.timesdispatch.com

Oh, just cry me a freakin' river!

Deeds, you ran an unfocused, disjointed and bumbling campaign that avoided real debate about any pertinent issue. Your responsibility, your proven lack of leadership and charisma.

Step up to the plate, own it, and quit whining...

Oh, wait - that's what DemonRATs do. Well, I guess we can start the count down timer for how long it takes you to pack up your toys and go home in a sulk, or to start throwing fits on the senate floor when you can't get your way.

Good lord, man, how old are you?! Man up and grow a pair!

If even Jon Stewart is seeing Obama's lies...

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My, my, my... It seems to me that Buyers' Remorse is on the rise on the Left...

If you'd listened to us, people, you would have SEEN the guy is an empty, spineless suit! Ah, well. Maybe the Left will learn the value of that old adage, "Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice - shame on ME!"

Galatians 2:20 - verse of the day

"I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."

Thank You, Jesus!

"God gave the best He had...

... to save the worst He could find."

Have you ever thought about that? It would be like you or me taking in the molester and murderer of our child, paying the penalty of his horrific crime, and accepting him and cherishing him as if he were a most beloved member of the family.

How amazing!

Romans 5 says that, while we were enemies of God - sinful, rebellious, and altogether ill-deserving of His love and kindness - Jesus died for us. He didn't wait for us to be sorry; He didn't wait for us to get our act together. No. The very Breath of Heaven saw our hopeless and vile condition, and came to seek and save the lost.

The very worst He could find.

You and me.

Isn't He AWESOME?!