CatHouse Chat

But will he hold is ground?

Shaun Kenny links to a Politico article about Rep. Tom Perriello. Shaun seems rather optimistic, but from the article, I detect some possible waffling on Perriello's side:

"A spokesman with the National Republican Congressional Committee accused Perriello of “flip flopping” after Perriello faced questions from televangelist Pat Robertson on MSNBC on Thursday morning.

In that appearance on “Morning Joe,” Robertson questioned Perriello about where he stands on the issue. 

“The Stupak amendment [in the House health care reform bill] outlawed funding for abortion,” Robertson said. “I understand funding for abortion is back in the Senate bill. If it comes in the bill over in the House and they’re going to fund abortion, would you vote for that healthcare bill?”

Perriello replied: “I’ve got a lot of problems with the Senate bill. The fact is that getting universal health care — moving in that direction — is a very pro-life position. Providing pre- and post-natal care for women is one of the greatest ways we can reduce the number of abortions.”

“What you’re saying is, without the Stupak amendment, I can still vote for it?” Robertson asked.

“Well, we’re going to see how that plays out here in this process but that’s not the problem I have,” Perriello said. “I think taxing middle-class benefits is not a good idea.”

Mmm, I dunno. I hope Perriello holds his ground on this, but I don't really think of him as having that sort of moral fortitude. (Actually, these days, I don't think of ANY politician as having that sort of moral fortitude.)

We'll see. I hope he holds. But... We'll see.

Oh, now that's just petty!

We can't see the original Rickroll video any more???

Geeze, talk about Grinch and Scrooge...

It's rather amazing to find such idiocy on a casual search

I was poking around the Internet yesterday, looking at State parks in reasonable driving distance. We have a lovely RV that hasn't been anywhere in too long, and I thought I'd look around and see if anything piqued my interest. I remember that may years ago we stayed in the general area of Phohick State Park -Westmoreland, I think - and had a great time.

So, I was googling around, and saw that in the Pohick area (or at least, I think it was in that area, I wasn't looking at maps) is also Mason Neck. And for some reason, I came across this blog post, essentially saying that Gov. McDonnell doesn't love our State parks, because he's closing five of them.

I see that Blue Virginia has also jumped on the bandwagon, with an approving mention of that post by Benny-Wenny over at Not Larry Sabato (get your own link to that reprobate).

Now, Norm over at Tertium Quids as well as Krystle at Bearing Drift have already chimed in on this - and far more eloquently than I might - but I do want to ask the leftosphere something. A few somethings, actually.

Do you really think that, after only a month in office, Gov. McDonnell really holds a particular animus for these parks? Or do you think that, maybe, in an attempt to look over the budget snarl the recent *ahem* Democratic *cough* governors have bequeathed to the Commonwealth and bring some sanity to spending, Gov. McDonnell reviewed various proposals by the many departments of government to see where they said they could cut costs? Perhaps - possibly - the Governor saw that the Department of Conservation and Recreation said that these parks were losing money for the State due to low visitation revenue vs upkeep expenses... And, perhaps, the Governor saw this as a way to cut costs with the least impact possible to jobs?

I realize jobs will be lost in this move - but I didn't realize that Virginia had a policy of guaranteeing jobs so long as there were breathing bodies to occupy them. I'm sorry some people will be out of work, but what if it's a case of 100 jobs in the recreation section vs 500 jobs in education or health?

Folks, everyone is having to tighten their belts in these difficult times, including the Commonwealth.

Would you rather we keep spending money we don't have, placing more of a burden on future generations and eventually teetering on the edge of bankruptcy like, oh - California? Hard times mean hard choices. Get with the program, pare down non-essential services as much as possible, make wise spending decisions, and get inside sensible budget restrictions, and we'll weather the storm and come out better.

But as long as y'all keep whining, things are just going to get worse.

C'mon, Virginia Democrats - don't be like your big brother.

 

(crossposted to Virginia Virtucon)

Smetimes the angels among us are wonderfully human...

A crew from the United States Air Force spent Saturday night and Sunday morning airlifting different groups of wounded soldiers from Kandahar to Camp Bastion to Bagram, back to Kandahar, then back to Bagram, and back to Kandahar. These patients were from Afghanistan, Australia, Canada, and the United States. Here, an Air Force nurse caresses the head of a wounded, unconscious Canadian soldier while whispering into his ear.

via www.michaelyon-online.com

Please go view the picture that accompanies the caption quoted above! Michael Yon definitely is blessed by God to frequently be at the right place at the right time to capture the humanity and compassion of our military.

This nurse stopped by his comment section, as did the Non-Comissioned Officer In Charge, to express their appreciation for the job Mr. Yon does.

Mr. Yon does a brilliant job photographing and writing about the war in Iraq and Afghanistan and about the brave, honorable people standing between us and Al-Quaida and Taliban terrorists. He is supported entirely (as I understand it) by donations from is readers - so, please, donate what you can to support him!

U.K. Church Leaders: "Wives, submit to your husbands"

The sermons sparked outrage among many churchgoers, especially women.

One woman said she was "disgusted."

"How can they talk that way in the 21st century?" she told the Daily Mail.

(Daily Mail Online via FoxNews)

How can they talk that way? Well, because it just happens to be BIBLICAL. I note that the original article also adds "be silent," which Fox's excerpt does not mention.

Nevertheless, it is a biblical command that women should respect their husbands and accept their leadership - after all, honey, if you don't respect and love him enough to follow him, why are you (why DID you) marry him?!

One thing that's really, REALLY irritating to me is that the "women, submit to your own husbands" verse is almost ALWAYS quoted alone. In context, the husband is called to LOVE the wife who is submitting to him as Christ loved the Church.

Just for those who don't know - Christ DIED for His church! Jesus loved His people so much that He came to give us life. He came to people who were sinful, hateful, rebellious, and who didn't want to love God...

BUT!!!

For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:6-8, New King James Version)

God loves us so much that He came and DIED for us, even when we still hated Him.

So, Ladies, you need to see this video (and, yeah, it's long, but WATCH IT ALL!!!) with your husband (or boyfriend).

And then.... THEN!!! You both need to watch Pastor Mark talk to the man in your life...

Yes, it will take you two or more hours to watch both videos. BUT... After you see and consider BOTH videos, after you understand the responsibilities and duties that each party in a marriage has... Who, really, is being a slave?! Who is being a doormat? Who has the more difficult calling? Who is called to be Jesus and live the harder, more sacrificial life...????

Wives... We should cover our heads and bow in shame for the insolence and rebellion we show to the men who live the Christ-like life of sacrifice and selfless love. We should repent of our arrogance, pride and selfishness when we marry. We should turn away from our demands to be firstoneonlyBETTER over our men and our demands that they be less than they could be, less than they were made to be...

Lord Jesus, please! Bring reconciliation, bring humility and unselfish love to the men and women who are married. Reveal Yourself to them: the humble, loving sacrifice You made to redeem Your people - the example Husbands should follow - and the loving obedience and submission to Your Father that every wife should emulate.

Some very cool stuff on a Saturday morning

Image via Wikipedia

Wanna see some cosmic rays? You could do it at home, even!

Do you hate mosquitoes as much as I do? Well, go over here and watch them bet lasered. Go, LASERS!

Did you know that the 33rd America's Cup is in progress? Well, "our" boat, the USA (BMW - Oracle) won the first of three races yesterday, and she's GORGEOUS! Go look at her YouTube channel and see how she flies...

Global Warming? Forty-nine states have snow on the ground - will Mauna Kea get in on that act and bring Hawaii in to make a perfect 50? (Or a perfect 57, if you're the current resident of the White House...)

"Liquid Galaxy"? Now that's cool!

So, are phasers just around the corner? Star Wars laser successfully destroys ballistic missile

Have you got the Buzz yet? Although there are still some bugs to work out (mainly with privacy issues), here's an article that does a great job outlining some excellent advantages to Google's new social networking app.

Anyway, that's all I have for now - what cool things are YOU seeing on the web or in your life today?

There are just no words for the shallow self-involvement of this woman

Before I get into the article, though, let me explain some things in the interest of full disclosure. My significant other is a Marine. We live together in North Carolina while he’s stationed at Camp Lejeune. He’s an 0311 (infantry rifleman) who has been to Iraq twice and is deploying to Afghanistan this year. The first year of our relationship was long distance, with him in North Carolina and me in Florida. We’re together now, but the Corps brings us apart occasionally for training and such, and of course, for deployments. Never, ever would I do something so cowardly as to send him a Dear John letter while he was deployed.

via hotair.com

Cassy Fiano, over at the Green Room, completely deconstructs and article on Salon, penned by a selfish idiot of a woman. Cassy's takedown is very well worth the read. The article she's evaluating? ...Not so much.

Courtney Cook would have benefited by listening to Tammy Wynette ("Stand By Your Man"? Anyone?). But, considering she's now married to an America-hating Marxist, I figure a) she got what she deserved, and b) her ex is better off without her.

Oh, and Courtney's son? At the Naval Academy now... God bless him; he decided to take after his father rather than his mother!

Amazon, you want to give me a Kindle? I'LL TAKE IT!!!!

In January Amazon offered select customers a free Kindle of sorts – they had to pay for it, but if they didn’t like it they could get a full refund and keep the device. It turns out that was just a test run for a much more ambitious program. A reliable source tells us Amazon wants to give a free Kindle to every Amazon Prime subscriber.

via techcrunch.com

Oh, I've got a Sony Reader, but it does not work well or happily with Ubuntu. And it's got a couple hardware quirks I don't especially like...

But we are loyal Prime subscribers, and I would definitely be buying several books - LOTS of books! - if I had a Kindle to put them on!

Pretty please??? [hand up, waving enthusiastically] I'll take one!!! [pleading puppy eyes of doom]

Liveblogging (for a while) Superbowl XLIV

SAINTS WIN!!!! WHO DAT SAY THEY GONNA BEAT THEM SAINTS?????!!!!!!

615p (ish) Carrie Underwood does an EXCELLENT job singing the National Anthem

628p - Saints call heads for the toss and win, elect to receive the kick (or whatever it's called - I'm not a sports fan, so...)(keep that in mind, 'cause I know I'm going to make TONS of terminology mistakes!)

631p - stopped at the 23yl

[updates under the fold]

Liveblogging (for a while) Superbowl XLIV

615p (ish) Carrie Underwood does an EXCELLENT job singing the National Anthem

628p - Saints call heads for the toss and win, elect to receive the kick (or whatever it's called - I'm not a sports fan, so...)(keep that in mind, 'cause I know I'm going to make TONS of terminology mistakes!)

631p - stopped at the 23yl

[updates under the fold]

REPENT!!!! Oh, by God's mercy and grace... Repent!

Folks, we Christians in the United States (and I do include myself) are selfish, complacent and unfeeling.

We live in the richest nation on earth - resources, opportunities, finances, families - and yet, although America is the most generous nation on earth, the Christian Church has not stepped up to the plate and given to God's work proportionately to the blessings He has HEAPED upon us.

I am convicted and shamed by my own selfishness and concern for the future. I need to be slapped in the face with God's promises to provide for the needs of His children and His promise to pour out blessing to faithful givers. He does not promise financial blessings, but rather to bless the influence and grace of our inheritance in Heaven.What a treasure could be waiting for us, if we only open wide our hands and give back to God that which is already His!

Yes, for some, He will add blessing upon blessing financially - because He has found faithful servants (or is testing the servants whom He has blessed with financial assets) who will still put His Kingdom before their own needs. God is searching for men and women to bless richly so they can bless others according to His provision in their lives.

Pastor Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church spent 30+ hours in Haiti after the earthquake. I ask you to please watch the whole video... And then do what God lays on your heart.

We in America have been given riches beyond measure. The poverty line in Haiti is roughly $1300.00 a year, and 80% of the population can't even make that...

As Christians, we have no percentage guideline for giving to the Church in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the end of the earth." Folks, for us, Jerusalem is our home, Judea is our community/state, Samaria is our nation... And the "end of the earth" is all our brothers and sisters in Christ who need our help to spread the wonderful Gospel of Salvation.

Do you earn $10,000? Can you offer $10 - at least???? Do you earn $60k? Can you give $500? Do you earn whatever, and realizing the blessings God has given you - just by being born to this prosperous and blessed country!! - you realize you need to give back to His Kingdom by loving, supporting and encouraging your brothers and sisters in a far country?

Please watch the whole video... and then give all that you possibly can to rebuild, uplift and encourage the Church in Haiti and all her people.

Obama's "fiscal responsibility" schtick gets PWNED!

During the president’s town hall meeting in Nashua, New Hampshire, he discussed the need to curb spending during tough economic times. “When times are tough, you tighten your belts,” the president said. “You don’t go buying a boat when you can barely pay your mortgage. You don’t blow a bunch of cash on Vegas when you’re trying to save for college.”

via hotair.com

Between the title of the linked post and it's first sentence... All I can say is...

'NUFF SAID!!!!

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!

Abstinence-only programs might work, study says - washingtonpost.com

Students were randomly assigned to go through one of the following: an eight-hour curriculum that encouraged them to delay having sex; an eight-hour program focused on teaching safe sex; an eight- or 12-hour program that did both; or an eight-hour program focused on teaching them other ways to be healthy, such as eating well and exercising. The abstinence-only portion involved a series of sessions in which instructors talked to students in small groups about their views about abstinence and their knowledge of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. They also conducted role-playing exercises and brainstorming sessions designed to correct misconceptions about sex and sexually transmitted diseases, encourage abstinence and offer ways to resist pressure to have sex.

Over the next two years, about 33 percent of the students who went through the abstinence program started having sex, compared with about 52 percent who were taught only safe sex. About 42 percent of the students who went through the comprehensive program started having sex, and about 47 percent of those who learned about other ways to be healthy did.

via www.washingtonpost.com

Got this link via the Instapundit, who got it from Dan Reihl.

Interesting numbers in these two paragraphs, though. The kids who were taught "safe sex" were MORE likely than any of the groups to have sex.

Seems to me like that would be mild support, at least, for the hypothesis that safe sex programs actually encourage kids to be sexually active...

FOXNews.com - Murtha in ICU Following 'Complications' From Surgery

Rep. John Murtha has been admitted to an intensive care unit at a Virginia hospital after experiencing "complications" from gall bladder surgery a week ago. 

A Murtha spokesman told Fox News that Murtha underwent a scheduled laparoscopic surgery to remove his gall bladder, after he was hospitalized in December suffering a gall bladder infection.

via www.foxnews.com

Am I going to wish him dead, like the loony lefties did with Rush and so many other conservative figures when they were ill?

Nope.

But I do hope it's serious enough for him to resign from the House and stay home to enjoy his family.

Just sayin'.

Are the States finally pushing to revive the Tenth Amendment?

Lawmakers in 34 states have filed or proposed amendments to their state constitutions or statutes rejecting health insurance mandates, according to the American Legislative Exchange Council, a nonprofit group that promotes limited government that is helping coordinate the efforts. Many of those proposals are targeted for the November ballot, assuring that health care remains a hot topic as hundreds of federal and state lawmakers face re-election.

Legislative committees in Idaho and Virginia endorsed their measures this past week. Supporters held a rally at the Pennsylvania Capitol. And hearings on the proposed constitutional amendments were held in Georgia and Missouri. The Missouri hearing drew overflow crowds the day after Obama urged federal lawmakers during his State of the Union address to keep pressing to pass a health care bill. The Nebraska Legislature plans a hearing on a measure this coming week.

via news.yahoo.com

If so, that's a GOOD thing: the Federal government has become more and more like the camel whose nose pushed into the tent.

D.C. has become more and more intrusive into the lives of citizens and private business, taking away more and more of our freedoms "for our own good." It's disgusting!

Well, it's a snow day...

... and if I'm smart, I'll spend some time taking pictures.

More likely, though, I think I'll be figuring out how to make sure I can get OUT of my driveway tomorrow without the use of a tractor tow.

My Beloved Husband returned home from a business trip yesterday, and got stuck at the end of our lane. It took a bit of pushing, shoving, pulling and sheer determination to get his truck up to the house! At one point (admittedly only briefly), I thought we'd have to leave it there over night. At any rate, he said that the main roads were pretty clear, but our little county roads were still fairly snowy and icy. Last night's low got to about 12°F, and so everything is VERY icy this morning. Definitely not good driving weather.

However, this afternoon's high should be up to 44°F, we should have enough melt to open things up.

I'm glad I did my shopping on Friday - but I'd better be able to drive out tomorrow so I can get to work!

"Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall."

Mr. Obama's self-regard, and his reading of his mandate, overwhelmed all restraint. The age-old American balance between a relatively small government and a larger role for the agencies of civil society was suddenly turned on its head. Speed was of the essence to the Obama team and its allies, the powerful barons in Congress. Better ram down sweeping social programs—a big liberal agenda before the people stirred to life again.

Progressives pressed for a draconian attack on the workings of our health care, and on the broader balance between the state and the marketplace. The economic stimulus, ObamaCare, the large deficits, the bailout package for the automobile industry—these, and so much more, were nothing short of a fundamental assault on the givens of the American social compact.

And then there was the hubris of the man at the helm: He was everywhere, and pronounced on matters large and small. This was political death by the teleprompter.

via online.wsj.com

Oh, yes- I think there's a BIG fall in Obama's future...

(kittipurrs to the Big Blog Daddy)