Daschle Apologizes for Tax Errors, Faces Grilling

Everybody makes mistakes, Tom. As an American citizen whose country is in an economic crisis so frightening that my Congress is planning on spending HUGE amounts of money we don’t have to try to “fix” it, I accept your apology.

And I submit to my Congress, in the best interest of all Americans, that the $900 billion pork bill include funding to the IRS for extra auditors who will start with the current roster of Representatives and Senators, and then work back through the last decade of all elected federal officials, just to see if there might not be two or three more mistakes – honest ones, I’m sure – in their filings.

Ten honest mistakes in ten years the size of Daschle’s $146,000 oopsey is $1.5 mil in uncollected taxes. Does anybody really think that only 10 members of Congress in the last ten years made a mistake? If Obama’s cabinet choices yield two tax evaders (so far), then surely a look at all of Congress could get us a tidy sum of dough.

And if these are all honest mistakes, we can blame the oppressive tax system which is onerous and complicated and difficult for truly honest people to follow (and easy for dishonest people to cheat). And who is responsible for the tax system? Apparently, the biggest tax evaders of them all.

My sister sent me this link. I’m surprised Bill didn’t see it first…or maybe he did, but yesterday was just a really busy crazy day.

…The arts have failed. They no longer keep mass culture in check with thought-provoking art that challenges the establishment. Now they’re in charge of spreading the mainstream mandate of the Liberal Vatican. There isn’t an original thought among them, just a thousand-mile stare, a blue logo and the drone-like vocabulary of emotive, vaguely inspiring chants.

We’re the new rebellion against the majority juggernaut that doesn’t take kindly to dissent. Make a fist and show them what happens when they tell you what to think, feel and believe.

If you want me to unite to your cause, then end abortion, give the people back the money they earned, fight terror, keep your hands off free speech on the radio and enable job creators to make more jobs. Until then, screw your hope and screw your change.

I could never be a TV commentator. First of all, if I said something really stupid, I would die of embarrassment. Secondly, if I were working with someone who said something really stupid, I would have a difficult time not being obnoxious and sarcastic.

We turned on the TV as various people were making their way to the steps of the Capitol. Laura Bush. Lynne Cheney.

As Jill Biden walked along, the commentator said:

“There is the future wife of the Vice President.”

I knew what she meant, of course, but Fritz sure was confused. It was a great lesson in making sure your modifiers are placed properly. Had I been there, I might have responded:

“So, are you saying that Dick Cheney is going to pull some David-Uriah scheme and snatch her for himself…..OR, are you saying that the Vice President-elect is not, in fact, really married yet?”

And then, as the President-elect appeared on the Jumbo-tron and the crowds went wild, the other commentator said:

“Unbelievable! {pause} But we expected nothing less.”

Me: “So, Jim, are you saying that you expected the unbelievable? How does one manage to do that?”

And lastly, before switching over to the national, and thankfully comment-free, coverage, the local commentator referred to the huge crowds being displayed on the screen from cameras on the Washington Monument, and said:

“Huge crowds…like I’ve never seen before…and never will again.”

Interesting prediction.

Me: “So, Jane, are you saying that a woman could never draw a crowd this size? Or an Hispanic? Or a Native American? Or even a white guy who got more than 52% of the popular vote? Are you saying that even President Barak Obama, if he is as wonderful as he makes himself out to be and does all these fantastic things for the country, shores up the economy, ends poverty, makes peace with the world, frees us from the tyranny of oil dependence, and gets every blessed citizen free and top-notch health care, even he could not manage to ever, ever draw a bigger crowd than he did today when half the country is grumbling into their coffees or doing the best they can to put on a happy face? OR, are you saying that you, personally, are quitting your job as a commentator and will never more look upon crowds and judge their size?”

And that’s when I would be fired from my job.

So, instead, I’ll just blog about other people’s silly statements, happy that I’m not the one at whom people are laughing.

FOXSexpert: The 6 Most Common Sex Myths

What about that headline sounded appealing to me? I should have known there would be something stupid in there.

Myth: You Can’t Get Pregnant if You Aren’t Ovulating

She’s not ovulating so she can’t get pregnant — Not!

Fact: While pregnancy is likeliest to occur during the six days leading up to, and including, ovulation, a female can get pregnant at any point in her menstrual cycle. This includes the week of her period.

Even if couples want to take a chance and avoid unprotected sex around day 14 of her menstrual cycle (when she is most fertile), the fact that many women have irregular cycles makes this a dicey decision. Even women who have regular menstrual cycles may not ovulate on the same day each month.

Let me set the record straight: with the exception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, it takes one sperm (from the man) combining with one egg (from the woman) to make a baby. When an egg is released, we call that ovulation. No ovulation = no egg = no baby. Got it?

Try this:

Myth: Predicting ovulation is easy.
Fact: Uh, no. I have a few children to prove it.

Myth: Counting days and assuming ovulation occurs at the same time every cycle will tell you when to avoid intercourse.
Fact: No. NFP is much more sophisticated than that.

Myth: Avoiding intercourse for a “few days” around expected ovulation will prevent pregnancy.
Fact: More like a week. Or two.

Myth: A woman can’t get pregnant while menstruating.
Fact: During the first few days of a normal menstrual cycle, this is generally true. The problem is that stress can trigger bleeding, as can hormonal changes and other factors. Ovulation may still occur at these other times.

Moral factors aside, NFP is the healthiest way to avoid pregnancy. But, get the facts, take a class, and read this book.

Myth: Catholics have big families is because they are ignorant.
Fact: Catholics have big families because they are blessed.

Obama: Let’s Postpone Digital TV Switch

And why should we postpone the switch? Oh, because the government has run out of money for those coupons that would help poor people get converter boxes.

Not enough economically challenged Americans would be able to upgrade their systems in time, and then they would have to (gasp!) go without TV.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the [mindless watching of television].

Tom J. was so advanced for his day.

‘Colbert,’ ‘SpongeBob’ may go dark on Time Warner

Personally, I’m quite tired of my cable bill creeping up a little bit here and there. I had this idea that I could arrange for cable television for a certain price and it would stay that price for some time – like maybe a year. But that’s not how it works. I call the cable company and agree on a package for a certain price and I get that package and that price for a few months. And then, with no warning, my bill one month is $0.37 more. And since I peaceably pay that bill for a few months, I am rewarded with another increase, this time maybe $0.81. At the end of the year, my cable bill is several dollars more than it was when I opened my account.

Frustrating.

I wouldn’t even get cable (I wouldn’t even have a TV in the house), if it weren’t for my husband who likes to watch programs that aren’t typically on rabbit-ear TV: Food Network, TLC, Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, the History Channel. Of course, he has very little time to watch TV, so I might try to convince him that we should go without for a few years. Maybe his next job won’t be so time consuming. Yeah, right.

So the deal is that Viacom, which owns MTV and Nickelodeon, wants more money for their channels from Time Warner, which would mean one of those surreptitious hikes in Time Warner customers’ cable bills. And they are threatening to pull their channels if they don’t get it!

“We make this request because Time Warner Cable has so greatly undervalued our channels for so long,” [Viacom] said. “Ultimately, however, if Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, MTV and the rest of our programming is discontinued — over less than a penny per day — we believe viewers will see this behavior by their cable company as outrageous,” it said.

Certainly, I think the Peanut Gallery at most homes would be outraged: no Nickelodeon? Waaaa! But I’m wondering if there aren’t other bill payers, like me, who are just sick of the price increases. Be strong, Time Warner! Don’t let Viacom bully you!

Nothing new here. We’ve heard it before, and nobody should be shocked. But the video is definitely worth watching.

What really, really bothers me is that the nurse, obviously, thinks she’s being compassionate. You can hear it in her voice. She really wants to help this little girl whose life would be seriously affected by this pregnancy.

But she has all the logic of a teenager: if I’m pregnant, I’ll be in trouble. If I’m not pregnant, I won’t be in trouble. Therefore, all I have to do is not be pregnant, and I won’t be in trouble.

It really takes someone with maturity (a grown up) to recognize a few things:

1. Pregnant or not, a child having sex needs to be protected from stupid choices.
2. Pregnant or not, a girl of any age needs to be protected from older boys and men who prey on them.
3. Pregnant or not, there is an obvious lack of education regarding how to avoid pregnancy, the natural result of the poor choice to have sex in the first place.
4. Pregnancy is not the end of the world.
5. Pregnancy is not the biggest problem here. Sex at a young age is the problem.

Instead of acting like a grown up and trying to solve the real problem (a child having sex), the nurse acts like a teenage friend who figures if she can get an abortion without her parent’s consent, then all will be well.

True compassion would involve getting a 13 year old girl away from the predator who is destroying the remainder of her childhood. This might have to involve the police and the courts, and certainly vigilance on the part of adults to keep the girl from him. To a teenager, that may seem unfair, but this should be common sense to mature adults. We don’t let 13 year olds get married; we shouldn’t be letting them have sex.

And what rational adult thinks an adult male having sex with a teenager, especially one that young, is okay? I can see some quibbling if the girl were 16 and the “man” were 20. But 13 and 30? Obviously, the nurse’s compassion only goes so far as she can remain blissfully ignorant of the gritty details. The girl isn’t her flesh and blood, and though leaving the girl to flounder in a dysfunctional relationship might prick her conscious a bit, ultimately, her life would remain untouched by any long-term consequences that may arise due to the girl’s pregnancy or abortion or unhealthy sexual relationships.

Thank goodness the girl in the video is not pregnant and not 13. We can pretend that this wouldn’t really happen – doesn’t really happen – routinely at abortion clinics throughout the country. We can also pretend that abortion doesn’t present long-term psychological harm to the girl or woman involved.

Heck, we can pretend that abortion isn’t really happening or that it isn’t really killing babies, too.

But I think it’s time we grow up and act like adults capable of seeing beyond the single problem of an unwanted pregnancy. Should not protecting children be a universal desire?

FDA sets melamine standard for baby formula

As someone who has needed to use infant formula, I find acceptance of any level of melamine or any other non-edible, healthy substance to be horrifying. Melamine can be found in packaging materials and in cleaning solutions used in the manufacturing process. That is how it gets in the formula.

Today, I’m thankful for the hard-won ability to give my baby the all-natural, homemade, God-intended and nutritious mother’s milk.

Fast Food TV Ads Linked to Child Obesity, Study Finds

As much as I despise the commercials on TV, and in fact, despise TV viewing in general for its mind-numbing entertainment (I rarely watch, but I do allow my children to watch in limited doses), I know it is ridiculous to think that the ads on TV make a kid fat.

In fact, TV ads do not even make children go out and buy fast food. Really! There may be rare exceptions of 6 year olds with ready cash who live within a bike ride of the nearest drive-through, but I suspect that 99.9% of chicken nuggets are consumed by children whose parents drove to the restaurant and bought it.

Do TV ads make children whine for a flame-broiled burger? Oh, yes. Do TV ads make golden arches more identifiable to the average 2 year old than any other store, restaurant or brand? Definitely. But do TV ads have hidden calories? No, sorry.

“The causes of childhood obesity are complicated…”

No, they are not. And neither are the causes of adulthood obesity. Eat too much, exercise too little, gain weight. Happens to me every Christmas. If not for the New Year’s reality check, or the welcome austerity of Lent, I too might end up obese by the following Christmas.

Banning TV ads will not make kids skinny. Teaching parents how to cook? That’s an idea we can sink our teeth into.

This story is a good example about how breaking the 10th Commandment leads to some pretty deplorable behavior.

I’m not at all in favor of illegal immigration. I sympathize with taxpayers in states that have a serious problem with illegal immigrants using public funds to school their children or get emergency health care or other services. But I don’t think that somebody’s illegal entry into the country means that legal citizens can seize his property or damage his property or fail to uphold financial agreements.

Nicole Griffin sought to buy a house from her mother’s neighbor, Lorenzo Jimenez. When she couldn’t get an interest rate locked in, she moved in and agreed to pay rent until the loan was worked out. She failed to pay rent, and paperwork issues on the part of Jimenez then delayed closing. When Jimenez tried to evict her, she got nasty. She told the media, the law, the neighborhood all about his residency status and even marched down to his work and tattled to his boss. Jimenez was fired.

“I don’t feel bad for anything that happens to the Jimenez family at this point,” Griffin said recently, “because no one feels bad that all I tried to do was buy a house, and I ended up living back with my mother.”

Read the whining between the lines: “I’m a legal resident. He is not. I don’t own a house. He does. No fair!”

It’s as though she believes the toddler property laws apply to her (but nobody else): if I have it, it’s mine. If I once had it, it’s mine. If I want it, it’s mine.

Sorry, good things come to those who scrimp and save. Nowhere in the Constitution does it say that you have the right to own property you didn’t pay for.

Again, I’m not defending the man’s illegal residency. I think illegal immigrants should be deported. I also think our immigration laws are unjust (translation: I think it is too difficult for people from Mexico and southward to get permission to live/work here), but that doesn’t mean that I think we should excuse those who come here without proper permission.

But I am a firm supporter of property rights, and the rights go to the person who paid for the land. He has his American-born daughter’s name on the deed, and her ownership is not in doubt. You can’t take it away from her (or her family) just because you want it.