Word Tuesday

 Motivation
–noun

1. the act or an instance of motivating.
2. the state or condition of being motivated.
3. something that motivates; inducement; incentive.

 Even a little would be nice.

Minnesota

Friday's Quote

America will never be destroyed from the outside.  If we falter and

lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.  

---Abraham Lincoln

Merry Christmas

Never forget the reason for the season.
.

.
Merry Christmas to everyone.

Word Thursday

Christmas 

-noun

1. the annual festival of the Christian church commemorating the birth of Jesus: celebrated on December 25 and now generally observed as a legal holiday and an occasion for exchanging gifts.

A Dispatch from the Office of the President Elect

Word Tuesday

Peace


It will not happen with militant Islam.



–noun

1.	the normal, non warring condition of a nation, group of nations, or the world.

2.	an agreement or treaty between warring or antagonistic nations, groups, etc., to end hostilities and abstain from further fighting or antagonism: the Peace of Ryswick.

3.	a state of mutual harmony between people or groups, esp. in personal relations: Try to live in peace with your neighbors.

4.	the normal freedom from civil commotion and violence of a community; public order and security: He was arrested for being drunk and disturbing the peace.

5.	cessation of or freedom from any strife or dissension.

6.	freedom of the mind from annoyance, distraction, anxiety, an obsession, etc.; tranquility; serenity.

7.	a state of tranquility or serenity: May he rest in peace.

8.	a state or condition conducive to, proceeding from, or characterized by tranquillity: the peace of a mountain resort.

9.	silence; stillness: The cawing of a crow broke the afternoon's peace.

10.	) a comedy (421 b.c.) by Aristophanes.

–interjection

11.	(used to express greeting or farewell or to request quietness or silence).

–verb (used without object)

12.	Obsolete. to be or become silent.

—Idioms

13.	at peace, a. in a state or relationship of non belligerence or concord; not at war. b. untroubled; tranquil; content. c. deceased.

14.	hold or keep one's peace, to refrain from or cease speaking; keep silent: He told her to hold her peace until he had finished.

15.	keep the peace, to maintain order; cause to refrain from creating a disturbance: Several officers of the law were on hand to keep the peace.

16.	make one's peace with, to become reconciled with: He repaired the fence he had broken and made his peace with the neighbor on whose property it stood.

17.	make peace, to ask for or arrange a cessation of hostilities or antagonism

The best giving is giving when no one is looking.

Think whatever you want about President Bush and Vice President Cheney. They are class acts. I do not think the two new guys could ever develop or find real class unless the"photo op" presents itself and then that just defeats the purpose doesn't it?

I remember the Obama's trip to Europe. He did not visit a hospital with wounded American troops. He had something better to do.


I remember him giving the "Finger" to both, the soon to be Secretary of State and John McCain while campaigning.

That is why the Obama will never be a class act President.


Here is a story that sums up class compared to classless.

For much of the past seven years, President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney have waged a clandestine operation inside the White House. It has involved thousands of military personnel, private presidential letters and meetings that were kept off their public calendars or sometimes left the news media in the dark.

Their mission: to comfort the families of soldiers who died fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and to lift the spirits of those wounded in the service of their country.

On Monday, the president is set to make a more common public trip - with reporters in tow - to Walter Reed Army Medical Center, home to many of the wounded and a symbol of controversy earlier in his presidency over the quality of care the veterans were receiving.

But the size and scope of Mr. Bush's and Mr. Cheney's private endeavors to meet with wounded soldiers and families of the fallen far exceed anything that has been witnessed publicly, according to interviews with more than a dozen officials familiar with the effort.

Another thing interesting to me is I believe the Obama has no real sense of  duty or honor.

"People say, 'Why would you do that?'" the president said in an Oval Office interview with The Washington Times on Friday. "And the answer is: This is my duty. The president is commander in chief, but the president is often comforter in chief, as well. It is my duty to be - to try to comfort as best as I humanly can a loved one who is in anguish.

Mr. Bush, for instance, has sent personal letters to the families of every one of the more than 4,000 troops who have died in the two wars, an enormous personal effort that consumed hours of his time and escaped public notice. The task, along with meeting family members of troops killed in action, has been so wrenching - balancing the anger, grief and pride of families coping with the loss symbolized by a flag-draped coffin - that the president often leaned on his wife, Laura, for emotional support.

"I lean on the Almighty and Laura," Mr. Bush said in the interview. "She has been very reassuring, very calming."

Behind every great man is a great woman.

Mr. Bush also has met privately with more than 500 families of troops killed in action and with more than 950 wounded veterans, according to White House spokesman Carlton Carroll. Many of those meetings were outside the presence of the news media at the White House or at private sessions during official travel stops, officials said.

The first lady said those private visits, many of which she also attended, took a heavy emotional toll, not just on the president, but on her as well.

Washington Times

I doubt the next first lady will be able to live up to the class level that Laura Bush has demonstrated in her eight years.

H/T PattyAnn

A small list

A small list of things I am Thankful for this Christmas:

Twisted Sister sings O Come All Ye Faithful,

OJ got his, FINALLY,

You also need to be careful who you throw your shoes at due to the

fact you may get a bit of a beat down over a bout of thoughtlessness,

And for the brave members of the U.S. Military

fighting for freedom and liberty 24/7, 

So ingrates like these, can do this kind of shit
and not be in fear of their worthless lives.

Friday's Quote

If America ever passes out as a great nation, we ought to put on our

tombstone:  America died from a delusion she had Moral Leadership.  

---Will Rogers

Word Thursday

Hair

–noun

1.	any of the numerous fine, usually cylindrical, keratinous filaments growing from the skin of humans and animals; a pilus.

2.	an aggregate of such filaments, as that covering the human head or forming the coat of most mammals.

3.	a similar fine, filamentous outgrowth from the body of insects, spiders, etc.

4.	Botany. a filamentous outgrowth of the epidermis.

5.	cloth made of hair from animals, as camel and alpaca.

6.	a very small amount, degree, measure, magnitude, etc.; a fraction, as of time or space: He lost the race by a hair.

—Idioms

7.	get in someone's hair, Slang. to annoy or bother someone: Their snobbishness gets in my hair.

8.	hair of the dog, Informal. a drink of liquor, supposed to relieve a hangover: Even a hair of the dog didn't help his aching head. Also, hair of the dog that bit one.

9.	let one's hair down, Informal. a. to relax; behave informally: He finally let his hair down and actually cracked a joke. b. to speak candidly or frankly; remove or reduce restraints: He let his hair down and told them about his anxieties.

10.	make one's hair stand on end, to strike or fill with horror; terrify: The tales of the jungle made our hair stand on end.

11.	split hairs, to make unnecessarily fine or petty distinctions: To argue about whether they arrived at two o'clock or at 2:01 is just splitting hairs.

12.	tear one's hair, to manifest extreme anxiety, grief, or anger: He's tearing his hair over the way he was treated by them. Also, tear one's hair out.

13.	to a hair, perfect to the smallest detail; exactly: The reproduction matched the original to a hair.

14.	without turning a hair, without showing the least excitement or emotion. Also, not turn a hair.

 Burt Reynolds stars in his Hair.

Photo © COSMOPOLITAN, 1972

H/T PattyAnn

Word Tuesday

Lame Duck

–noun

1. an elected official or group of officials, as a legislator, continuing in office during the period between an election defeat and a successor's assumption of office.
2. a president who is completing a term of office and chooses not to run or is ineligible to run for reelection.
3. a person finishing a term of employment after a replacement has been chosen.
4. anything soon to be supplanted by another that is more efficient, economical, etc.
5. a person or thing that is disabled, helpless, ineffective, or inefficient.
6. a person who has lost a great deal of money in speculations on the stock market.
   

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)

Friday's Quote

 Freedom lies in being bold.  

---Robert Frost

Word Thursday

Tomfoolery [tom-foo-luh-ree]

–noun, plural -eries.

1. foolish or silly behavior; tomfoolishness.

2. a silly act, matter, or thing.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)

The 110th Congress. Two wasted years.

Views

I managed this one of the ever wary falcon/hawk of some type.

My Wife took this one yesterday morning from her perch where she works.

Interesting.

I found this over at RT's Place.

You Are a Haunted House

You are a deeply complicated and sometimes deeply disturbed person. You can't help but be attracted to the dark side of life - even when it's pretty gruesome. In relationships, you are honest and real. So real that it's definitely a little scary. You don't fake it or play along just to get along. And people either respect this... or deeply resent it Your life is thoughtful, deep, and even philosophical at times. You see the world as it is. You don't sugar coat anything. Facing and fighting your fears is important to you. You believe that too much of life is whitewashed. You're not too morbid... you just believe that you can't enjoy life without exorcising a few demons first! At your best, you are brave, intense, and fearless. Not only do you face the abyss head on - you challenge your friends to do the same. At your worst, you are depressed and morose. If you're not careful, your thoughts take over your mind... and they aren't pretty!

What Carnival Ride Are You?

Beware of the The Doghouse.

Discover how Dual Bag was sent to the Doghouse.

 

H/T PattyAnne

Word Tuesday

Irony
n.  

1. 1. The use of words to express something different from and often opposite to their literal meaning.
   2. An expression or utterance marked by a deliberate contrast between apparent and intended meaning.
   3. A literary style employing such contrasts for humorous or rhetorical effect. See Synonyms at wit¹.
   4. Incongruity between what might be expected and what actually occurs: "Hyde noted the irony of Ireland's copying the nation she most hated" (Richard Kain).
   5. An occurrence, result, or circumstance notable for such incongruity. See Usage Note at ironic.
2. 1. Incongruity between what might be expected and what actually occurs: "Hyde noted the irony of Ireland's copying the nation she most hated" (Richard Kain).
   2. An occurrence, result, or circumstance notable for such incongruity. See Usage Note at ironic.
3. Dramatic irony.
4. Socratic irony.

Remember Pearl Harbor

Joseph Martin Luther Gardner Executed

Joseph Martin Luther Gardner was pronounced dead at 6:15 p.m. Friday in the state's death chamber in Columbia. He did not make a final statement, but did mouth the words "Thank you. I'm OK," to a relative who witnessed his death.

Gardner was convicted in the 1992 kidnapping, rape and slaying of 25-year-old Melissa "Missi" McLauchlin.

Police said Gardner and his co-defendants decided to kill a white woman as retribution for slavery. But the victim's family and Gardner's attorneys say they don't think the killing had anything to do with racial revenge.  Source.

Raped and killed as retribution for slavery?

Some how the "Martin Luther" in his middle name does not fit very well with the story of his crimes.

This must have been back before hate crimes.

Sixteen years for waiting for Justice would be an eternity.

Good riddance you piece of shit and burn in hell for eternity.

Friday's Quote

"We have awakened a sleeping giant and have instilled in him a terrible resolve".

 ---Fleet Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto 

Upon completion of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Word Thursday

snake oil
n.

1. A worthless preparation fraudulently peddled as a cure for many ills.
2. Speech or writing intended to deceive; humbug.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition


As in the "Hope and Change" motto.

I found this poster site here. Go and make your own!

Word Tuesday

Ambiguity

–noun, plural -ties.

1.	doubtfulness or uncertainty of meaning or intention: to speak with ambiguity; an ambiguity of manner.

2.	an unclear, indefinite, or equivocal word, expression, meaning, etc.: a contract free of ambiguities; the ambiguities of modern poetry.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)

Executions for the month of December

2	GA	Clayton Ellington
3	WA	Darold Stenson
5	SC	Joseph Martin Luther Gardner
8	LA	Antonette Frank
9	TN	Devon Banks
10	U.S. Military	Ronald Gray
19	WY	Dale Eaton