It seems we hear a lot about how the Republicans say they can’t vote for this or for that because they must “follow their principles”.  The trouble with all this is that they don’t want any government so blowing up the system IS following their principles.

Their hero told them that “government is the problem”. But what is a country without government?  That condition is called “everyone for themselves”. Is that what we want for our country? I think not; at least for 99% of us.

Is there really anything except shutting down government that can pass through a GOP controlled house of representatives now days? Are they really so head strong on eliminating their own jobs? That would be a first for any government employee wouldn’t it?

Continue reading “Following Their Principles…..”

  Source: Home for the holidays: Fewer US troops are absent this year – CSMonitor.com. When President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama issued a special holiday greeting over the weekend to US troops fighting overseas, they were addressing the smallest deployment of combat troops in at least five years…. Then, as Mrs. Obama emphasized in the video greeting, there are the 2.4 million veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, and their families, who will continue to require services beyond holiday acknowledgments from the president.  Even though I don’t have any friends or relatives in harm’s way now, this is … Continue reading Home for the holidays: Fewer US troops are absent this year…

I am a tool guy. I have had many of them throughout my life. My barn is stuffed with specialized tools I purchased when I had a cabinet making business. I am also a firm believer in the old phrase The Right Tool for the Job That is you don’t use pliers when the job really calls for a socket wrench.  In that regard when I looked out on our 150 foot driveway covered with over fourteen inches of wet snow I knew I didn’t have the right tools for this job. My Craftsman garden tractor is the top of … Continue reading The Right Tool….

Being that we are coming upon the end of another year I am in a self-reflections mode. I admit that much of what I post about is the result of reading a post or article about something and thinking that there is more to the story than is written. Sometimes it deserves an alternate view. Sometimes it needs expanding to attain its full meaning. And sometimes it’s just wrong, at least in my view. :)  I write to fill these gaps.  While I don’t like others putting me in boxes, particularly those that don’t really fit, I do sometimes try … Continue reading Being A Contrarian….

We have a white out here at the homestead so I will be hunkering down with a picture puzzle and a keyboard today but not at the same time, I don’t believe in multitasking. :)   We knew it was coming but don’t really believe it until we see it.  We are kind of like our Missouri neighbors in that regard. I stayed late after the Christmas meal at the soup kitchen and shelter yesterday to make food for the guys there through the next few days so they should be ok. My tractor plow is harnessed up and ready … Continue reading White Out in Indiana….

I not only use all the brains that I have, but all that I can borrow. —  Woodrow Wilson I know Ben Franklin said to be neither a lender or a borrower but simply speaking he was just plain wrong … Continue reading Borrowing….

Merry Christmas Everyone   Continue reading Merry Christmas

  “We all want progress, but if you’re on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; in that case, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive.” — C.S. Lewis C.S. Lewis is my favorite non-theologian theologian. That is he like me was not trained in a seminary or such place. But his book Mere Christianity had a great impact on me and millions of other lay people. I think it is the number one theological book sold. He just seemed to understand things about Christianity that all those trained … Continue reading Turning back….

  Island House Hotel – A nice place to stay while visiting Mackinac Island.   Continue reading Mackinac Island

Source: What counts as a tax hike? Not Boehner ‘fallback’ plan, says antitax group – CSMonitor.com. The keeper of the GOP’s antitax oath has rendered judgment on House Speaker John Boehner’s fallback “fiscal cliff” plan that would allow Bush-era tax cuts to expire only for millionaires: It is not a tax increase. So decrees Americans for Tax Reform, the conservative advocacy group led by antitax activist Grover Norquist. With that step, the group gives a measure of political cover to congressional Republicans who back the speaker’s plan to retain current low tax rates for all but those with incomes higher than … Continue reading It Is, But It Isn’t…..