Nothing says "wake up" like a beagle

Yet another beagle story, part of my series of posts about dogs...

Did you know you can use beagles as alarm clocks? Say it with me: YES WE CAN!

My brother and I did, when we were a lot younger. Here's how it works. When you need to wake up a heavy sleeper, you just toss the family beagle onto the sleeping person from about 20 feet away. It's really that simple.

The key is the landing. When the beagle lands, he will not land gracefully like a cat. He will scramble for footing, clawing the sleeping person (who will awaken instantly, needless to say).

P.S. I can't believe I found such a great picture for this post! I have no idea who the guy in the picture is, but it appears that my brother and I are not the only ones to have discovered this technique.

Well that didn't take long, did it?

Remember when Obama signed the executive order saying federal money would not be used to fund abortions? He did this to appease spineless congressmen like Bart Stupak. Remember his pointless crusade?

Well check out this story:
http://lifenews.com/nat6531.html

That didn't take long, did it? I wonder why Obama didn't want to put the language banning abortion funding in the health care bill, but preferred to write a weasel-worded executive order. Of course, there is nothing to wonder about, it is as plain as day. Bart Stupak's principles are worth nothing. He is not smart enough to have principles.

Another Beagle Story

As you know from my past posts about dogs, I love Beagles. Here's another great story, about a beagle making a six-week, 80 km (it's Canada, eh) journey to make it back to his family. GO LASER!
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2010/07/09/mb-dog-journey-laser.html

Sign of the Times

Staying in the "putting people back to work" theme, I offer this story:
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/signs-stimulus/story?id=11163180

Seems that states are spending their stimulus money on ... signs? I guess signs are more important than jobs. Signs are more important that letting people keep their money.

It's probably just a coincidence that we're doing this just as the campaigns for the fall elections are heating up. Right???

You just can't make this stuff up.

P.S. Here is a cartoon that captures this well.

Need a job? Really?

Unemployment is very high right now. Here is a provocative story about whether immigrants are really taking our jobs.
http://money.cnn.com/2010/07/07/news/economy/farm_worker_jobs/index.htm

Check out their website:
http://www.takeourjobs.org/

As I have said before (Address the root cause of illegal immigration), I don't have a problem with people who come here for the right reasons. We need MORE people like that.

The United Farm Workers make an excellent point. If unemployment is so high, yet we don't show much interest in taking these jobs, then how can we blame immigrants for taking our jobs?

So, just how badly do people really want to work?

I'm Torn (Adult Content)

I'm torn about this. On the one hand, Lindsay Lohan has absolutely no class. On the other hand (finger?), you have to love her chutzpah!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/07/lindsay-lohans-fingernail_n_637469.html

Health Care Deform

Here is a new Cato Institute analysis of the recently passed health care reform bill.
http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=11961

And the white paper, for more detailed information:
http://www.cato.org/pubs/wtpapers/BadMedicineWP.pdf

The short version is this: Based on its own promises, ObamaCare fails. Universal coverage is not achieved. Insurance premiums will not be reduced. Health care spending will not be controlled.

And a couple quotes:
"A mandate requiring all individuals to purchase health insurance would be an unprecedented federal action. The government has never required people to buy any good or service as a condition of lawful residence in the United States."
- Robert Hartman and Paul van de Water, "The Budgetary Treatment of an Individual Mandate to Buy Health Insurance," Congressional Budget Office Memorandum, August 1994.

"Nearly every reform proposal offered to fix 'the health-care crisis' calls for increased governmental control of medicine. These proposals are the logical result of the belief that there is a 'right' to medical care. But there is no such right. Rights, properly understood, do not include an entitlement to the services of others."
- William Dale, "Free Medicine" [1994]

Labels

Like many people, most of my communication nowadays is via e-mail. When I want to save an e-mail, which I frequently do, I apply a label, or several labels, and archive that message.

There are times when I am reminded just how inadequate labels are, however. Not just in e-mail, but in life. E-mail is just one specific example that I'll use today to illustrate the point. Not surprisingly for one of my blog posts, I'll go on a long tangent before getting back to the point. :)

Recall that in two blog posts I talked about past bosses who had a big impact (for the better!) on my life.

• Rita, 54545, USA, June 22, 2010
• Engage your team, June 11, 2010

As I mentioned in my post about Rita, I did make contact with her family and we have continued to stay in touch. Her niece, Linda, recently ran across this video clip and she said she had to send it to me because it reminded her of ... Rita.

• Rick Monday Saves the American Flag from Burning, April 25, 1976

Before I go on, I should say that Linda is absolutely correct. This is EXACTLY the kind of thing Rita would have loved.

Naturally, when I get an e-mail like this I save it. But what labels to apply? Friends? Business? Politics? Maybe even Family? The point is: I HAVE A LOT OF LABELS, AND NONE OF THEM ARE SUFFICIENT FOR AN E-MAIL LIKE THIS. None of them are up to the task. None of them convey what I really feel about an e-mail like this.

What do I do in this situation? What do you do?

I replied that I had "stinky cheese"* dressing for lunch today, which also reminded me of Rita (it always does). I then applied my "Friends" label. I archived the e-mail. And I felt somewhat ... (searching for the right word) ... hollow. Somewhat lacking.

There are some cases where the technology doesn't quite live up to the person. It doesn't measure up to real life. This was one of those times.


* Rita made GREAT Bleu Cheese dressing, but we were always running out. When it was available, people ordered it and just like that it was gone. Rita was not in a hurry to make more. I don't think she liked it (she always called it Stinky Cheese Dressing). Or if she did, she didn't care to spend her whole life making it. Just like her Shrimp Chowder soup, if people got there at the right time, great. If not, they'll come back another time to get it. Both were THAT good, and she knew it.

Victim or Criminal?

See if you can tell who is the victim and who is the criminal in this story. And then tell me whether you can believe whom the DA chose to prosecute. I am appalled.
http://www.kdvr.com/news/kdvr-theives-free-victim-arrested-txt,0,231586.story

It's not that kind of drive-thru!

The title of the post says it all:
http://www.accessnorthga.com/detail.php?n=230695