billandiris.com

This is where I’ll keep tabs on our new President and all the ways he Sucks.

Promised on his campaign website:

“will not sign any non-emergency bill without giving the American public an opportunity to review and comment on the White House website for five days.”

-The Ledbetter bill was never posted to his website until after he signed it
-He signed SCHIP just 4 hours after it was passed in Congress

Since taking office the Military Band that usually plays Pomp & Circumstance has been asked to not be so formal for the President. Obama has them playing ‘Desert Rose’ by Sting and ‘Day & Night’ by Cole Porter

He has renamed the Faith Based initiatives to be ‘Faith Based and Community” initiatives. Thus allowing ACORN to receive money.

He also will deny Faith Based organization funds via this initiative if they discriminate by religion, sexual orientation, etc. So if you’re Church doesn’t allow women to be priests or gays to marry, then you can’t get government funds to help the poor. (This bill failed on 2/5/2009)

The “[ethics] policy we have is the strongest that any administration in the history of our country has had” (White House Spokesman)… so far Obama has nominated:

-Bill Richardson: Commerce Secretary - withdrew due to allegations of pay-for-play and pending federal investigation
-Tom Daschell: Health & Human Services - withdrew due to being a tax cheat
-Nancy Killefer: Chief Performance Officer - withdrew due to being a tax cheat
-Tom Geithner: Secretary of Treasury - confirmed despite being a tax cheat
-William Lynn: Deputy Sec of Defense - Nominated despite being a Raytheon lobbyist (and despite Obama’s campaign promise to ban all lobbyists)
-Hilda Solis: Secretary of Labor - While not guilty herself… her husband is a tax cheat. If you can’t marry an honest and ethical man how we trust your judgment.
-Judd Gregg: Commerce Secretary - Judd’s top aid is under federal investigation for pay-for-play scandal. Again, poor judgment about who he chooses to hire and associate with. (Gregg withdrew his name from the nomination on 2/12)

Due to Obama White House policy, all charges against USS Cole bomber Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri have been dropped.

Breaking from 200 years of policy, Obama wants to move the Census accountability under the control of the White House, thus opening the possibility of politicizing the process.

Obama returned a gift of a bust of Winston Churchill to the British Government despite their request that we keep the it. The gift was given following 9/11 and has been in the oval office for the past 8 years.

Obama stated that America ‘invented the automobile’. This of course is factual incorrect. Thus, making him a liar.

Obama’s selection for ‘Urban Czar’ - Adolfo Carrion - pocketed thousands of dollars in campaign cash from city developers whose projects he approved or funded with taxpayers’ money

Obama will select former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk for United States Trade Representative … of course Ron Kirk also under paid his taxes for the past three years and thus is just one more tax cheat in Obama’s administration.

Thanks to online piracy, Iris and I got to watch this movie last night.  Yes it stinks of Oscor whoring and yes Will Smith hams it up for another award.  But it’s also really good.

If these don’t give you ’something in my eye’ syndrome… then you stink:

RUDY; Field of Dreams; Saving Private Ryan; Star Trek: TNG Episod ‘The Inner Light’; Empire of the Sun;

Want to celebrate the birth of Jesus but just can’t find that special gift?  Why not help a loved one murder an unborn child with a Gift Certificate from Planned Parenthood.  Because nothing says I love you and I love Jesus than killing a baby.

And who cares if you were 13 and raped by a 31 year old man?  Certainly not Planned Parenthood.  They’ll help you avoid those pesky police and those archaic rape laws.  After all… abortion is about choice, right?

To misquote First Lady Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama, ” For the first time in my adult life, I am proud of sad for my country.”

This nation has elect Barrack Hussein Obama II to be our leader.  A socialist, America-hating, liar that associates with terrorists, election fraudsters, and business criminals .  We have turned our back on Capitalism and entered the new age of entitlements.  When your nation’s enemies are pleased with to whom you elect as your President, you know it’s going to be bad.

I check the SF Chronicle’s website - sfgate.com - on a daily basis for local news from the Bay Area.   And while you can sense the occasional undertone of bias in some of their stories, it’s pretty much the most up-to-date website for local news. However, when I was looking at their photo collage from the Republican National Convention I noticed that there seemed to be a lot of pictures of police officers.  It took me a minute to find a similar page of photos from the Democratic National Convention but when I did I was - actually I wasn’t- shocked to find a different theme to the photos presented there. RNC Photos: 36.

• Photos featuring police: 5

DNC Photos: 33

• Photos featuring police: 1

And it’s not just the number of photos that concerns me.  It’s the way in which the Police are framed and presented.  In the RNC Gallery we have the Police photographed either using peper spray or wearing riot gear.  While in the DNC Gallery we have the police in standard uniforms, no weapons in hand escorting a priest.

RNC Photo

Another RNC Photo. Notice the juxstposition of the peaceful protestor and the armed police

Another RNC Photo

The lone DNC Photo

Why are the Police that worked the RNC depicted as being violate and aggresive?  Weren’t there violant protests at the DNC?  Is the SFGate implying that the DNC was peaceful and that the police never had to resort to force to break up the crowds of anarchists?

Yes, I know.  It’s been forever since I posted.  Sue me.

I’ll write more later after I make breakfast.  Lily and Iris are still sleeping.  Will’s eating cereal and watching cartoons.  It’s going to be another hot day in Tracy.

Iris wanted me to update our site with this:

Sorry for not updating more often… I’ll try to get to it this afternoon and upload some photos as well.

-bill

From NASA comes the story of Jupiter’s growing storms: Explanation: For about 300 years Jupiter’s banded atmosphere has shown a remarkable feature to telescopic viewers, a large swirling storm system known as The Great Red Spot. In 2006, another red storm system appeared, actually seen to form as smaller whitish oval-shaped storms merged and then developed the curious reddish hue. Now, Jupiter has a third red spot, again produced from a smaller whitish storm. All three are seen in this image made from data recorded on May 9 and 10 with the Hubble Space Telescope’s Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2. The spots extend above the surrounding clouds and their red color may be due to deeper material dredged up by the storms and exposed to ultraviolet light, but the exact chemical process is still unknown. For scale, the Great Red Spot has almost twice the diameter of planet Earth, making both new spots less than one Earth-diameter across. The newest red spot is on the far left (west), along the same band of clouds as the Great Red Spot and is drifting toward it. If the motion continues, the new spot will encounter the much larger storm system in August. Jupiter’s recent outbreak of red spots is likely related to large scale climate change as the gas giant planet is getting warmer near the equator.

A 6-year Army soldier has decided that he now suffers from Bush Derangement Syndrome and is refusing to fight in Iraq.  Fine.  No problem.  If he wants to renege on his oath that’s his call.  He may have to face certain consequences for his actions but he’s free to make his own decisions.  But the best part was the opening sentence from the AFP news service (as reported HERE) :

Matthis Chiroux is the kind of young American US military recruiters love.

“I was from a poor, white family from the south, and I did badly in school,” the now 24-year-old told AFP.

Wow, just a bit bias and narrow mined there, eh AFP?  The AFP is clearly indicating that they believe that the US Army actively seeks out stupid, poor white southerners?  I mean everyone knows that military recruits rank higher in education that the average American of the same age.  And in my opinion our best soldiers are generally from the south (historically speaking the culture of the South where farming and self-sufficiency are soup du jour produces a higher number of excellent soldiers).  And if he did so poorly in school he could not be accepted into the military.  But hey, why report any of that.  It’s far easier to just say that the military only takes stupid poor white trash, right?  There’s no reason for the opening sentence except to further their belief that only idiots join the military, right?  The article is supposed to be about a soldier choice to no longer serve the military yet the AFP has to thrown in a dig at recruitment.  Nice.

Also, and just because I’m hypercritical of everyone else (probably to cover up my own shortcomings) I noted that the journalist failed to show due respect:

Officials take “hard facts and slice them into small pieces to make them presentable to the secretary of state or the president — and all with the intent of furthering the occupation of Iraq,” Goldsmith added.

(you’re supposed to capitalize Secretary of State and President, dur!)

Note: at 17 I started contacting recruiters.  As I qualified for Navy Nuke school the USN recruiter was all over me.  I was stuck at home sick  shortly after contacting him and he offered to go to school to get my books for me!  These guys do have quotas and they will actively pursue a potential recruit if he’s a good fit for the military… sometimes to the Nth degree which is one reason I went into the USCG, the recruiter was nonchalant.  “Join or don’t join.  I don’t care, it’s your life.” (Plus the fact that Louis Gossett Jr looked cool in that go-fast commercial for the CG!)

I’ve got a few minutes while a server reboots so I thought I’d make a quick post.

Will is really missing Iris and asks about her constantly.  I explained that Mommy is working in the big city and doesn’t come home until we are all asleep (LIE) and that she leaves before we wake up (LIE).  I thought this would be easier to grasp than mommy is far away and won’t come home until Friday.  He’s doing okay but he said that he doesn’t like Mommy any more because she works too hard in the big city and won’t come home.  He also asked that Iris buy him a new special car for the beach.  Iris said yes and so this morning at 6am Will came into my room crying because he “looked all over my room and can’t find the special new car mommy bought at the store.”  Poor guy.

At night he says, “Make sure you tell mommy to give me a hug and a kiss when she comes home.”  I asked him why aren’t my hugs and kisses good?  He said, “Because mommy give very good hugs and kisses and I miss her.”

Lily walks around before/after bath going “Ma Ma.  Ma Ma.  Ma Ma.”

I went to Target and got will four little cars to bring to the beach and two big beach umbrellas.  It should hit 100 tomorrow!

I don’t have any plans for next weeks 4 day weekend.  I think I’ll have Iris hit up Pam for use of her pool if she’s out of town.  I’m thinking that during the summer if Vanessa takes the kids swimming that I’ll give Mike $25 - 50 a month to help cover water and chemicals.

I’d like to build Will and Lil a fort in our backyard.  Maybe that’s a good project for Grandpa Al this fall!  Hint Hint, Wink Wink, Nudge Nudge.

Iris and I are excited about going to Texas for Leslie’s (bill’s sister) wedding.  Although Texas in July sounds like hell, it’s still going to be a good time.  Why doesn’t everyone just get married in Minnesota in December!?!?!

With Iris out of town I’ve watch a few movies this week:  Jumper was so-so witha gratuitous set up for a sequel; National Treasure: Book of Secrets was pretty weak with a number of plot holes and lack of imagination; and finally I saw Iron Man.  While the move was good I would have like to have seen Stark go after more sites and take out more of his weapon systems.  After the trailer they did a nice little teaser with Sam Jackson playing Nick Furry.  The future line-up schedule from Marvel Studios got the confirmation on film.

I dropped the S40 off at the mechanics for a 15k tune-up.  I don’t know what I’m making for dinner tonight.  Maybe Chicken Quesadillas?

I’ve got another couple of downloads going on right now at the house including the entire series of the short-lived but excellent Profit.  For those of you that don’t recall the series (8 episodes) it centered around an amoral business executive with motives that are shocking; you end up rooting for the bad guy… something that primetime was not ready for (until 3 years later with Sopranos and later The Shield).

Today, Serbia elected a new president and guess what?  He’s pro-American!  And this year also saw all of the Communists thrown out of the  Italian government for the first time in 50+ years and a pro-American was elected to the highest office in France.  Meanwhile, London elected its first conservative mayor in a long, long time (albeit not a bright conservative and a bit of an appeaser).

Hmmm.  Maybe some folks are tired of seeing the influence that terrorism, Islam and Sharia law are having on their country?

Too bad we can’t elect a single smart conservative into power in this country.  McCain is a old fart that is a liberal in disguise.  He’s also an appeaser and it’s a sad state of affairs when he’s the best the GOP can offer up.  Oh wait, we offered up other candidates but the media decided that McCain would more likely fail against the Dems so they picked him for us.  Thanks!

I got home at 5pm tonight - with Iris out of town I need to be home so that Vanessa can get to school in time - and now I’m sitting here outside while the kids.  It’s about 90 degrees outside; summer is finally here!

I’m working on my house ‘to do’ list.  So far I’ve got:

• Re-align the light switches to on is up and off is down on all of them
• Paint and rehang our entry way shelf (for keys)
• Call tree trimmer
• Call about solar tinting on the kid’s windows and get quote
• Move and sell our own room screen (doesn’t go with the decor)
• Order the artwork we found (canvas wrap) and hang it
• Take the S40 to the dealer for 15k tune up (tomorrow)

I’m planing on going to Moss Beach next weekend to spend the day at the beach.  Will loves the beach and Lily needs more exposure but I’m sure she’ll warm up.

Okay time to make dinner.  Bye

-bill