The visit was pretty much a ...BUST

Blogger FREEDOM'S FIGHT (Good blog, by the way...go take a look!) has this at her site:

Number 10 may be content that they just about got away with the visit to the Oval Office yesterday, as Andrew Porter reports from Washington.

But on this side of the Atlantic the whole business looked pretty demeaning. The morning papers and TV last night featured plenty of comment focused on the White House's very odd and, frankly, exceptionally rude treatment of a British PM. Squeezing in a meeting, denying him a full press conference with flags etc. The British press corps, left outside for an hour in the cold, can take it and their privations are of limited concern to the public.

But Obama's merely warmish words (one of our closest allies, said with little sincerity or passion) left a bitter taste with this Atlanticist. Especially after his team had made Number 10 beg for a mini press conference and then not even offered the PM lunch.

We get the point, sunshine: we're just one of many allies and you want fancy new friends. Well, the next time you need something doing, something which impinges on your national security, then try calling the French, or the Japanese, or best of all the Germans. The French will be able to offer you first rate support from their catering corps but beyond that you'll be on your own.

When it comes to men, munitions and commitment you'll soon find out why it pays to at least treat the Brits with some manners. (Thanks, Freedom's Fight)

Z: England's The Independent, Huffington surprisingly has the piece, spins the rudeness as a defeat for Brown, with a reminder that Bush treated Blair with great respect. In another article, this time written by Politico, the coverage is pretty fair and balanced, showing both sides of the situation.

I guess I just wish we didn't have someone in the highest office in the land who would even let a country like England surmise there was anything rude or dismissive about us. Some think this is a continuation of the dissing felt in England because of Obama's giving back a bust of Winston Churchill which Britain had lent the Bush administration for the White House. The Telegraph says "Churchill has less happy connotations for Mr Obama than those American politicians who celebrate his wartime leadership. It was during Churchill's second premiership that Britain suppressed Kenya's Mau Mau rebellion. Among Kenyans allegedly tortured by the colonial regime included one Hussein Onyango Obama, the President's grandfather."

Please, Mr. Obama, don't hold grudges ...you represent ALL the American people now and some of us prefer you suck it up and display dignity and respect. Churchill did a lot of good. We don't operate on "one strike, you're OUT." I'm sure Mr. Obama would have had lunch with Ahmedinejad, huh?

z

A California Bill....

You know that GOOGLE EARTH thing where anybody can zoom in and see a building or large area up close? It turns out we're learning that islamists terrorists might have used Google Earth to plot the Mumbai Hotel attacks.

I just heard that a California politician is proposing a bill mandating that Google will have to BLUR large details of venues like stadiums, churches, malls, etc....large gathering places. Apparently, it's not difficult to see the 'blueprints' and figure out how large doorways are, how far it is to the parking lots, how many people can fit through a gateway in any given amount of time, etc.

Seems like a good idea to me. Will the Left block this because it's CENSORING INFORMATION? Or "They can find this information out, anyway, this smacks of FASCISM!!?" In a world where we're getting very little truth about, for instance, the fact that Israel was hit 120 times by rockets since the 'ceasefire' and Yahoo DID NOT MENTION THAT until Israel hit back and injured 4 people yesterday.....will people scream "FOUL" at the Californians plan while dishonesty by the media (again), as in the Israel case, is ignored or not quite understood? What do you think? We can BLOCK information the media DOESN't want us to know...will it fight BLOCKING information terrorists might not have such easy access to?

You think Obama-loving Google will fight? Will the Left be real unhappy about this?

z

How many of YOU feel like this today?

Appeasement, mischaracterizations, plummeting stocks, insults to foreign leaders, naive negotiations, outrageous spending......sometimes the news is just too much, isn't it? Do you ever feel like this? I'm not sure how a Latte like the one above would taste, but.............it might HELP!

What are YOU doing to cope? HELP ME!!
z

"Say AHHHHH?" or "HUUHHH?"

I had my teeth cleaned yesterday. I walked in and sat down with Ann, my hygienist, and she said "Z, what's going on in our country? Everything I hear from the new administration is about attacking the successful! Don't they realize they pay the bills, they hire us, they keep this country running? How can this be happening in America? We're spending ALL this money and we're not sure where it's going!"

Ann is right. And, by the way, how bad can things be when Hillary's just given $900 million to Palestinians? (Gee, maybe Americans could have used a little of that to pay for that stimulating part of the bill, STD prevention....? or maybe the frisbee park?) The deal is that the Palestinian Authority is supposed to 'organize' the dispensing of those monies. Ah, good.........the same kind of transparency and accountability we give Congress. Nice!! (not) If America was smarter, and Hillary more honest, we'd be saying the same thing I heard a comedienne say recently about the nonaccountibility of the billions we've given to bail-outs. "Accountability? I want RECEIPTS!"

So does my hygienist. And she's right.

z

This just made me feel too good to not post....

Just listen to them.......Americans are speaking out. It'll put a smile on your face today, I PROMISE. Keep watching, the speeches come on and you'll appreciate them!

Thanks to Culturist John for the find...it made my day.

z

Euthanasia

Some of you participated in my post questioning the bill Obama's going to reverse which says a doctor is any longer protected by the law if he does not want to perform abortions.

I saw this story on euthanasia today and wondered how soon doctors across America will have to kill the sick because they requested help dying. Washington State is going to allow "DIGNITY DEATHS."

Do you see the LANGUAGE? "DIGNITY DEATHS" Does that mean a person in terrible pain who feels, for whatever reason, that doing themselves in is not an option is not dying a "dignified death"?

It's sort of like a woman's "right to her own body" is the euphemism for "a woman killing her unborn child", isn't it. Sure SOUNDS great that a woman has a 'right to her own body', doesn't it? Sure it does. Very beguiling. But, with this euthanasia thing, why not call it the EUTHANASIA BILL? Scared to because it's too obvious and people might react badly to it?

And, imagine a doctor being told he MUST give someone a death cocktail? Imagine how dispirited a doctor might feel? Will we lose good men in the medical profession if more of America adopts this law?

Whatever you feel on the issue of Euthanasia (which I swear I thought was the Peace Corps in China until I actually saw it spelled!), the 'dignity deaths' phrase is such a typical liberal ploy.... WHO CAN ARGUE WITH THAT, right? Doesn't EVERYONE want DIGNITY?!!

Do you feel EUTHANASIA is a Left/Right issue, by the way? I'm truly curious.

z

They found one footballer and the lost fishing boat

One survivor was found clinging to the upturned boat. He says they have life vests on and are probably floating somewhere....please pray they can spot them from the air and that they survive!

I just had to add this because it touched me, from the survivor: "Schuyler’s mother, Marsha Schuyler, said her son told her that he survived by thinking about how he didn’t want her to go to his funeral."

z

Here's a new one........AND a 'same old story'....

I saw a brand new bumper sticker I'd never seen before today on the car ahead of me: Have you seen one? It said:

I WAS THERE!
01.20.09
Washington DC

It had an obama logo, too (Did any other president ever have a LOGO, by the way? Just curious)

Sometimes, you're just so sorry your brakes WORKED, huh? (sorry, but....!!! I get SO sad and mad!) Oh, man........I wonder just how long it'll be before they're thinking "WHAT WAS I THINKING?"

COMPLETELY different topic: Did you know that the European papers are saying that Israel has had 11 rockets hit her since FRIDAY...and that that makes more than 120 rockets fired into Israel since the end of the military activities by the Israelis on January 18, 2009. I watched plenty of Cable News this morning....FOX, CNN.........I didn't see a thing on this. Did you? SHOULD WE? Sure, we should. Typical American media.

z

Calling all Parents..or Grandparents.............

There's a little girl whose family I know very little. I see the mother when she picks her daughter up at the preschool where I volunteer.

When I saw the woman this last week, she mentioned how much her daughter loves singing my songs and that 'she knows EVERY word and sings them frequently!'. She added "...but I can't CLAP!! If I clap Emily doesn't like it! I have to wait until she's finished with every song she wants to sing, and THEN she'll tell me I can clap!" I thought that was odd, but ...whatever.

Today, I complimented the mother on she pretty pink sundress she had on. "Oh, this is from Emily! She picked it out and her dad bought it, of course. She makes me wear it everywhere we go because she gave it to me. It's embarrassing to wear it so often, but...what can I do?"

What can you DO? I thought "How about telling her that you don't feel like wearing the lovely dress today, but maybe next time? How about telling Emily that you'd like to clap at the end of each song..?" I know. Emily will carry on if she tells her either of these things, right? Can't have that! (Boy, it sure never stopped MY MOTHER, right!?)

You might be thinking this is such a trivial thing to blog, but I felt moved to write about it because I don't think it's trivial....I think it's ENORMOUS. I think our children need to learn who's the parent. I think they need to learn DISAPPOINTMENT. I think it's odd if I sternly say a 3 1/2 yr old child's name in my classes because they're upsetting the group and they turn to me as if NO ONE has EVER said their name with the slightest amount of discipline in it. I think spoiling children is nothing new, but add this mother's "gee, can't do THAT, my 4 year old will be MAD at me!" attitude to the fact that our kids can't attend awards ceremonies in high school unless they won so their non-winning selves won't be hurt....and add that to the fact that so many schools don't let the young kids' games have scores but just change sides after 10 minutes....and you've got a generation of kids who don't know how to COPE!! How to LOSE! And, can we EVER really experience the joy of success if we never felt the feeling of losing or failing?

Am I being ridiculous? Isn't learning to lose with grace and dignity and a promise to yourself to do better next time and to strive for that, or being told "No" by your mother and learning to cope with that disappointment, or feeling the joy of winning because you lost last time...aren't those great things? Didn't America always champion those things before? Help me out here.... Tell me I'm wrong. I'd LOVE to be wrong. Thanks. If you agree with me on this, can we FIX IT?

z

Regeneration

"But thy Spirit has quickened me, has brought me into a new world as a new creature, has given me spiritual perception, has opened to me thy Word as light, guide, solace, joy."*

Be led by it....Have a wonderful Sunday........

*From The Valley of Vision, a Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions (which I love and highly recommend)