The Coffee Clatter

This is about massage.

At no time prior to this point, would I ever have accused a President of being totally and completely without conscience – even this one. But, seriously folks, Obama has left the gulf without any assistance on this situation, and then stupefied the whole process by ignoring the solutions handed to him.

A few “good-ole-boys” offered the solution of dumping dried grass into the ocean to sop up the oil. The concept works (try it). I agree, the clean up of oil soaked dried grass in the ocean would be nearly as difficult as oil, but we do have a means of cleaning it up. Sea weed harvesters have been in existence for a long time. Once the dried grass soaks up the oil, like a sponge, they could either compress it to use as caked energy (fire starters, or logs), or create a process to extract the oil and refine it as usual.

This is just ONE solution… There have been many suggested.

Ronald Kessler says,

Two months after the oil spill occurred, President Obama has agreed to meet with top BP PLC officials to discuss the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.

Explaining why he had not wanted to meet with BP, Obama told Matt Lauer on NBC’s “Today” show that “my experience is when you talk to a guy like a BP CEO, he’s going to say all the right things to me. I’m not interested in words; I’m interested in action.”

Meanwhile, Mitt Romney has asked: “How can it be that the person who’s actually working to try and cap this spill hasn’t even spoken to the president of the United States?”

Before running for president, Obama had no experience managing anything. As illustrated by Romney’s comment, we now are seeing how foolhardy it was to elect him president. While BP and its partners caused the oil spill after cutting corners, we now need the company on our side. President Obama’s practice of publicly denouncing BP and allowing Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. to announce a criminal investigation only threatens the viability of the company.

Already, BP stock has lost half its value. Driving down the price of the company’s stock hurts millions of Americans who own stock in the company directly or through pension funds. If BP declares bankruptcy, it will take years for its assets to be distributed to help clean up the oil spill.

But Obama has little grasp of capitalism. A serial spendthrift, the president is blind to the fact that BP cannot pay for the oil spill if it is insolvent.

If Obama isn’t man enough to handle this issue, there are oil men around the country who are. Let’s get them on it and stop polluting the gulf with more and more gallons of oil every day. Why are we waiting for the President to move, when he continuously proves he isn’t interested in Cleaning up the spill?

Please tell me it isn’t so… The children of America are wearing flags in school?

When I was a girl, there was a formal order of respect for the Flag to which we pledged our allegiance each day. Nobody questioned our allegiance, it was pledged and that was that.

I had a friend in grammar school who claimed to be of a “different faith”, one of those who didn’t pledge to the flag, celebrate special dates or other personal rituals the rest of us celebrated. She was odd. No one condemned her for her belief, nor did we stop saying the pledge of allegiance because she didn’t say it. She stood with the rest of the class, out of respect for her country, but gave no pledge, out of respect for her god.

Life back then had no different meaning, nor were we less tolerant of differences between people. But we did understand that with differences came disparity between people. When our ancestors came to America, they stood in long lines on Ellis Island, knowing that the skills and talents they brought with them would be enough to sustain a new life, .

Interesting, the catalyst for cutting illegal immigration could be as simple as closing the border. Arizona’s law in effect cuts the damage from illegal immigration. But, there’s that other faction of Americans who wants the government to support and accept whatever crosses the fence…

Um… No.

We chattered it all over here at the coffee shop and most of us agree. Close the freaking border. Just shut it down. Don’t let people cross the border for any reason, for long enough to get the illegal immigrants out of the country.

You’ll accomplish several specific things
- increase jobs available for Americans
- decrease costs for Americans
- decrease jail presence of illegal immigrants
- decrease crime
- decrease drug trafficking to the US.

Some believe that’s all wrong. We should open the borders and accept illegal immigrants, giving them amnesty and all the rights of a resident – CITIZENSHIP – along with all the rights and privileges entailed in those rights.

I believe there’s a stopping point, at which the basis of the right to enter this country becomes no longer a right and instead, a criminal act of trespass. The sign on the fence should read, “NO TRESPASS. Trespassers will be shot. Survivors will be shot again.”

Here at the coffee clatter, we understand the cost of allowing trespassers to cross the border and take up residence here in the USA. When we allow those who cross our borders illegally, to stay and claim citizenship, we water-down the value of being citizens of the United States and damage our ability to live under our Constitution.

“Possibly the worst destruction in Mississippi (as far as what we’ve heard, anyway) is Yazoo County. National media has been shockingly silent with very little coverage of the flooding/destruction here in middle Tennessee. Even the Nashville Tennessean has shown more photos of concentrated areas such as Riverfront and the Opryland areas. When they’re shooting from helicopters, as they were much of the time, it seems odd to be so focused/restricted.” Loudilla Johnson, former Colorado resident, commented.

“Every neighborhood has seen endless days of neighbors-helping-neighbors, risking their lives to rescue others. Even when they, too, have lost much or all of everything they had!”

Destruction in Tennessee and Mississippi is devastating, but what’s being done about it?

The Tennessean has just reported…

“Two men have been arrested and accused of stealing appliances from flood victims in Bellevue.”

“A pickup truck driven by Ronald Anderson, 44, of Tom Austin Highway was pulled over by a police officer in the River Plantation subdivision this morning, Metro police said in a news release.”

“As the officer questioned Anderson and his passenger, Joe Bolling, 44, of Joelton, a flood victim came up and told the officer a refrigerator on the truck belonged to him and had been loaded without his permission, police said. The victim told police he’d left the refrigerator outside to dry.”

“Other appliances in the truck also belonged to flood victims,” police said.

“Anderson and Bolling were arrested. Anderson had an outstanding arrest warrant for theft and has been arrested 29 times on charges including aggravated burglary, cocaine possession, assault and DUI, police said. Bolling has also been arrested on drug charges in the past.”

“Three other men were arrested on charges of trying to steal a lawn mower and a tool box that contained $1,000 worth of tools.”

“After the victim, who lived on General George Patton Road in Bellevue, saw the men and yelled at them, they returned the mower and tool box.”

“Jairo Guzman, Dermes B. Acosta and Eliazar Garcia were arrested and charged with theft.”

The damage is only part of the issue when flooding or natural disasters take their course. Further damage is caused by people looting and stealing from the people. Sad as it may be, the damage caused by people can be far worse than that caused by nature.

Lacking the link — Danielle, I forgot to respond to the missing link. About my poetry book, the publisher went out of business, and it was print on demand. I probably should republish somewhere else, but I’m not sure I still have that manuscript. I’ll be looking for it on my hard drives at home.

My daughter has decided I don’t sleep at all. I actually slept almost 5 hours last night. Oris, how many hours do you spend horizontal. My bed starts complaining about my presence after about 5 hours on a regular basis. Fortunately, it gives me a good solid kick in the backside after about 6 hours, or I’d probably just lie there, lifeless and brooding over the rotten treatment I get from my office chair.

Fox news is on this morning… Not sure I’m watching it, so much as ‘hearing’ it. Arizona’s new immigration law (which is already a federal law and has been for like EONS) appears to be at the forefront. Did you know it’s inhumane to ask illegal immigrants for their paperwork? WHAT?

And women who show cleavage cause earthquakes. Perhaps it is not the women, but more likely the resulting behavior of men j-ing off who cause earthquakes?

Obama tossed the police under the bus with the new comments about the law… He says if you take your kids out for ice cream and get pulled over for a traffic violation, it’s not right if the officer asks to see your “paperwork” — er… uh… does that mean we don’t have to show our driver license or our proof of insurance cards? Obama says that’s police harassment.

Gee, I wonder — if you’re a citizen of the US and don’t carry citizenship papers, will they pick you up? Or is the Driver License enough to prove your identity?

I sometimes have a van full of people…

Like many others around the country, I’ve been participating in the Caucus and Assembly process that elects candidates through the Primary Election onto the General Election Ballot. Since I couldn’t actually be in my home town to participate in the caucus event, I’ve spent my time supporting a candidate, by campaigning and speaking at Assemblies since that time. The irony has been the number of candidates who skip the Assemblies and petition onto the ballot.

Say what?

The Caucus, Assembly, Primary process of election has a purpose. So what’s this about petitioning onto the ballot?

Tom Weins, a candidate for US Senate opted prior to the first Assemblies, due to the caucus response to his candidacy to petition onto the ballot. Okay, so he’s really not so popular anywhere other than his hometown, and the majority of those folks would give him up for naught… so no surprise there.

Jane Norton, another candidate for US Senate waited until after several of the BIG assemblies (those city functions with high numbers) and opted out of the caucus process and into the process of petitioning onto the ballot.

Quite honestly, neither of these candidates has much going for them on the ticket. Weins offers a life long history of spouse abuse, bad business judgment and temperamental tantrums, but he’ll do about anything for money. Can you imagine dealing with that in Washington? Norton is a tag along, holding onto Bill Owen’s shirt tails, hoping to snag votes due to name recognition, although she just simply can’t quite get into the act of “Showing Up”. Her antics of non-voting, non-disclosure, and n0n-revelation are hardly a welcome choice after Mr. Hope & Change’s failure at Accountability and Transparency. Perhaps we should leave Tom Weins at home to keep his wife in line as long as she’ll tolerate him, and send Jane Norton back to Washington in her Lobbyist Wardrobe instead of wasting a vote on either of them in the election?

Colorado has a better choice. There are candidates who value the election process and are willing to go the distance with fiscally responsible campaigns, values and principles that will carry them to Washington, D.C. and the essential nerve to accomplish the task of speaking for the people.

Cleve Tidwell offers Colorado a solid, conservative choice. Check  your ballot for the man who understands how to balance a budget, show up, and vote the will of the People of Colorado.

Is it true that you sign a piece of paper at the beginning of the school year, allowing a public school nurse to encourage your daughters to have an abortion without your knowledge?

That innocent slip of paper you sign, allowing the public school nurse to give your child an aspirin, offers more rights to the school and takes away your right as a parent to know. Is there a problem with parents knowing when their children receive major medical intervention?

As a parent, I would want to know before my child was encouraged to get an abortion. There’s a little matter of options that should be considered. Every child should be given options, ALL the options. AS a parent, it’s my responsibility to protect my child from any procedure that might endanger him or her, without the interference of a school nurse, or guidance counselor. As a parent, it’s my responsibility to give my children options and share values relevant choices with my child to help him or her make decisions about their lives.

There’s something wrong with a public school official exempting the parent from the knowledge that a child is pregnant. The parent has the responsibility for caring for the child and a reason to know. There are on going issues after an abortion and the parents NEED to be aware of any medical procedures on the child.

In the case of a 15 year old student being advised that the financial issues of an abortion would be taken care of if the child kept information from the parents about the abortion, something is wrong. Whatever happened to no public funding of an abortion? Whatever happened to the parental rights/responsibilities for their children?

When did it become okay for a publicly funded entity to provide a public funded abortion to children without the knowledge or consent of the parents?

Is it enough to implicate that the parents may be abusive if they find out about an abortion? Isn’t that rather redundant?

Those of us sitting around the coffee clatter discussing this issue would like to know the answers to these questions. Please, feel free to leave a message with your response to this issue. We’d like to know.

Facebook is buzzing.

The conservative right v the liberal left and nobody understands the purpose of the bill, according to Barry or BHo. No matter which side of this bill you’re on, it will ultimately affect your health care. Those who believe they can maintain their private health care should take a hard look at what that will cost in the future and how they’ll manage to make the grade.

Trevor Down, candidate for U.S. Senate from Arkansas, says, “Somewhere in the next few minutes a child will be born in this country and before it takes it first breath, it will owe it very existance and well being for the rest of his or her life to a system mandated by 535 people in Congress. Half of which have a net worth of a million dollars or more. That child’s birthright is to forever be a part of a system of social collective with no freedom.”

And then, I read a Quote on another friend’s facebook page, “First: Congratulations to President Obama and the Democratic leadership. You won dirty against bipartisan opposition from both Congress and the majority of Americans. You’ve definitely polarized the country even more, and quite possibly bankrupted us, too. But hey, you won. Bubbly for everyone.” by Jonah Goldberg. So, I started laughing.

Is the health care bill funny? Not even a little.

What is funny is that the people of the United States in their infinite wisdom elected a man who set out from the beginning of his political career to segregate the masses, divide the people and destroy liberty and freedom as we’ve known it, forever. And, he’s doing one mighty fine job of it!

Success, ultimately, is having a goal and attaining the goal you’ve set before yourself to attain. Barry is attaining his goal of destroying the United States. What a leader! Or wait, leader — um, no, he doesn’t qualify as a leader.

A leader stands before the crowd, accountable for his actions. Is Barry accountable for his actions? No. Not even a little. By the time his actions have destroyed the people of the United States, generations to come, he’ll be long gone.

By using his proxy to vote the will of the people (his version of the will of the people), he’s managed to turn all Insurance Companies into Government Contractors. He’s generated new jobs by way of16,500 new IRS agents who will be hired to enforce the mandatory payment of insurance premiums. Meanwhile, he’s created a vacuum within the insurance industry, sucking accountability and profits out of the industry and ultimately creating a dysfunctional business entity that will require limitation and more government controls. So, what can we do to change this paradigm?

November 2010 is another election. We can’t vote Barry out of office, his position is secure for another two years (unless we eject him by impeachment). But we can eradicate the Congress and Senate of the majority of his tag-a-longs. We can vote the democratic majority out of office and elect responsible conservative candidates who will vote the ACTUAL will of the people instead of doggedly following Barry down the short trail to doom on bribes and pork belly kickbacks at the cost of more tax payer money.