Coming In From The Wilderness

Hey, thanks, Kiwi! Very first blog award. Quite sure I don't deserve it, being that I never update.

Well, hey, look at that! An update....

No, I won't leave you like that. ;) What has been going on besides the Yankees buying the World Series? (Rarr rar rar rarrrrr) Three thoughts on that: The Dodgers were on a skid right before the NLCS. The Phightin' Phils put up a good phight. And the Yankees have basically told baseball players worldwide that steroids are, indeed, okay to take. Seriously, how is it fair that Manny gets yanked for fifty games while A-Roid and Jeter are touted as the pinnacles of success? We need some serious soul-searching in the MLB.

But, enough about those losers. On to the winners! Tuesday night, the GOP wons the gubernatorial races in Virginia and, shockingly, New Joisey. The voters in New York sent a message to the party leaders: RINO hunting season has officially started. The DIABLO candidate (Dafyyd ab Hugh's term for Democrats In All But Label Only) also undermined RINOs across the country by endorsing the Democrat, who, sadly, ran on a more conservative platform than she did.

I was going to post pictures of my new hobbies, but a) those are for Christmas presents and b) Bel chewed through my camera cord. While it was attached to the computer. Shorting out my USB ports, briefly. Sigh.....

Pooky is considering a few jobs in exciting places, which his wife is thoroughly encouraging. Military life can get quite interesting sometimes.

Just for future reference, the only Jane Austen novel I have not read is Mansfield Park. (Yes, I know I'm supposed to underline that, but Blogger won't let me.)

When the Facts Don't Matter

I was on Facebook last night, and was about to change my status when I stopped and thought about how badly my liberal friends would freak out. I decided not to change my status, and I regret that, but it's got me to thinking about how we can convince others that individual liberty, freedom, and responsibility are not abstract concepts but integral to the daily lives of Americans.

I have liberal friends. In fact, I have a lot of friends who grew up in conservative households and went to the same (relatively) conservative college as I did, but have fallen into the trap that the government should provide everything for them. They're swamped with student loans, new baby bills, and the majority opinion that Obama can still save them.

It's hard to stand up to your friends. I've always been a conservative, and it's not as blind of a a faith that I feel liberalism is. Liberalism requires ignorance of facts, and conservatism requires analysis of facts. The fact is that government intervention in wages has driven the companies that my friends want to work for to not hire more employees. The fact is that the government's meddling in the insurance process has made the whole process more expensive and inefficient. The fact is that the government's supplementing of college loans has caused tuition to skyrocket, without a corresponding rise in quality of education. The government is not the solution for our lives, and a man who makes pretty speeches full of empty promises is not going to save us from the wreck the government has made of our lives.

But I think the key to my friends' indignation is pride (which goes before the fall, unfortunately). It's much easier to feel better about yourself when you talk about how you're making America better by talking about Hope and Change, how you're a champion of "social justice," and how you're post-racial because you voted for someone based on the color of their skin. (Yeah, I went there. Prove me wrong.) Admitting you're wrong when you're a twenty-something who's been told that you're the key to the future is a hard thing. I'm curious to see how many of my friends will admit that they were wrong, and how many will sink into blind faith in the government. Facts can be painful things.

Oh, and what my status was going to be? A rebuttal to the saying "No one in America should go broke because they get sick." Rush said the other day, "No one in America should die from rationed health care because America is broke."

Do You Has What It Takes?

To suffer through a long and convoluted catch-up post? I doubt it, but I owe it to Kiwi, who is going to have a cow over this post's title until I tell her it's a quote from the Strong Bad Email "homestarmy." That'll make her be quiet for awhile....
Well, what has been going on this summer that is so important that I can't update my blog? Lots of things. The most important one happened a few weeks ago, but I will give you highlights of the summer:

We went to Corpus Christi, TX for the Protestant Men of the Chapel retreat in May. I got to see the ocean for the first time and we had a blast on the USS Lexington.
In June, we made a trip up to Iowa for a family reunion on my dad's side and had a blast with everyone (including stealing Rapunzel and Kiwi). I ordered a Dodgers shirt for the occasion, which you can see here:
Around July 4, we hosted the family vacation for Pooky's family. We hit Sea World, the botanical gardens, the zoo, a waterpark, and just about anything we could think of in and around San Antonio. Here is Pooky's nephew, trying to order room service. Or trying to get someone, anyone, to talk on the phone with him:
Right before my in-laws descended, we realized that we had water dripping out of outside wall and that needed to be fixed. The plumbers tore an unnecessary hole in our interior wall only to discover that the problem was a leak in the ground piping. It was all done and patched over within 24 hours, but this was not a pretty sight:
In August, Pooky decided that the window of opportunity for introducing a housemate for our American Bombay, Hex, was narrowing, and we should get a new cat soon. Meet Belphegor, the queen of the house:
Oh yes, she dominates us all. Especially Pooky, who is now her personal slave. Hex has taken to crashing out on my computer, which can be.... troublesome, at times:

So, that's what's been keeping me busy lately. Hopefully, this fall things will calm down a bit (and cool off-this two-year drought is getting old), and I'll be able to update more often.

A Theory, But Not A Conspiratorial One

So, based on a few things that came to me this morning upon waking up, I've come up with a theory that I'd like to flesh out and get out there. Pooky thinks I've lost it, but hey! I never had it to begin with! So, here goes:

Most, if not all, popular dramas glorify people working for the government.

Definition of a drama: An hour-long television show that focuses on more serious issues that is scripted. May be based on a "true story," but not a reality show.

Definition of popular: Shows that are high in ratings and DVD sales.

Definition of glorify: Main characters are cast in positive light or so we can identify with them.

Definition of working for the government: People that are either directly under the government or have to deal with it every day. For the latter part, an example would be a main character that works for the government that interacts with the other main characters.

Now, for my examples:

ER: Just finished, I realize, but one of the most popular TV shows of all time. Where do they work? County General.

Law and Order

House: The teaching hospital is run by a university.

Bones

CSI

The Closer

NCIS

The Shield

West Wing: If this doesn't glorify government, what does?

Raising the Bar

Burn Notice: Yeah, I know, he used to work for the government. But he's trying to get his job back!

Cold Case

Monk

This is just what I could come up with off the top of my head and what Yahoo! says is on tonight. I tried to put Lost on the list, being that whatever organization it is that's mysteriously behind everything (Wiki says it's the DHARMA Intiative) acts like the government, but I don't think it really fits.

What does this all mean? I don't think it's a grand conspiracy, but I do think Hollywood needs to branch out further than "We're doing reality shows now!" The typical liberal view of things is that government is the only thing that can save us from ourselves. By glorifying those who work for it, they can make us forget the horrendous experiences real people have when they actually interact with the government. I.e., when you're dealing with the Post Office, trying to get Medicare to fully reimburse you, dealing with traffic court, or all those poor souls deluded into thinking you get to carry a gun and do cool stuff when you're a Crime Scene Investigator who suddenly realize it takes 15 years of college to get to that point.

Will we ever see the real side of government from Hollywood? Probably not. Any time the main character gets stymied by it, they become a maverick and somehow get the respect of their superiors for "getting the job done." As anyone who has butted heads with bureaucracy can tell you, that's not how it works.

It's all fiction, but I thought I'd make the general populace more aware that what is on TV is not an accurate portrayal of reality. As if you didn't know that already!

Picture time, Kiwi style

Ok, Kiwi, the 4th picture in the 4th folder was of Pooky and myself, so I couldn't do that. I chose the next one, which was this:

This one's a little difficult to explain. When we lived at Goodfellow AFB, our hotel was next to the clinic, which was next to an open area of a pond and scrub grass. When they built the base, they unknowingly enclosed in a few herds of deer, which will randomly wander around base and get hit by cars. I was walking to the hotel after dropping Pooky off and saw them by the parking lot, so I attempted a picture. This is one of the better ones out of several. The deer down here aren't that big, but he's in the middle of the picture. Look for four skinny little legs. I think he was nibbling on that bush and I startled him.

And now, for a super-cute picture of Mykle and Savannah (she's pretty worn out from her baptism):

I'd post more updates about my life in general, but I'm still fairly groggy, so you get a nephew and niece picture instead.

Spring is Coming!

Yes, I realize it's 35 degrees as I write this, and it's going to be in the upper 60s today, but our temperatures are stabilizing as spring is coming! My goal this year is to do something with the patch of dirt that's supposed to be a lawn. Anyone got any tips on what to do when half your lawn is covered in acorns? I'm absolutely positive that the tree we have next to our house is the biggest tree in Texas, and also leads the way in dropping acorns year-round. Some things were just never meant to be transplanted...

I imagine that this blog will become my main ranting source in the next four years, mainly because my husband is in the military and does not appreciate me undermining his commander-in-chief. I appreciate his efforts to stay neutral, even as he disagrees strongly with a lot of Obama's policies so far. He agrees with me, though, that a lot of what Obama has done so far is to give concessions to the Left while trying to reconcile those positions with the sharp dose of reality that comes with taking the highest office in the land.

Take closing Gitmo, for example. Obama says he'll close it within one year, but left the loophole that CIA black sites can hold prisoners temporarily. Gitmo is one of the main sites that we use for housing detainees temporarily. I'm guessing the CIA review panel that Obama just created will find a new home for these detainees that will essentially be black sites with new names. The CIA has its political side that has to look pretty for the cameras, but the last thing they want is another giant black hole on their record like 9/11. Also, the military now considers terrorists "unlawful combatants," which means under the Geneva Convention, they can shoot first and ask questions later.

Also, Obama's political capital just took a huge hit with the passing of the $1.1 trillion "stimulus," which 177 House Republicans and 11 Democrats opposed. Despite all the cajoling, wining and dining Obama did with the House Republicans, and for all of his "bipartisanship," they listened to the constituents melting their phone lines and emphatically rejected him. Message to Democrats and, ultimately, Obama: You own this. When it's proven that this pork-laden bill did nothing for the economy, all eyes will be on you. You can say you tried to save the economy in your re-election, but this was not the way to do it. Kudos to Republicans for coming up with an alternative bill!

On a lighter note, I'm learning how difficult it is to keep up on blogs when BloggerCat decides he wants to go to the end of the page by hitting the space bar with his paw. Silly cat reads faster than I do...

Kiwi, This One's For You

My brother had his fifth son, Mykle Benjamin,


and we got a cat, with the Pooky-inspired name Hexadecimal.


I think we may have gotten the better end of the deal.