So I watched the questions from the press conference last night.  And I read the fact check articles today.

There are so many things.  But the fact is Obama wasn’t honest when he said Great Britain did not use persuasive measures to garner information from the Nazis.  You can read a full article from 2005 here.

Through the past year or so I’ve read many other fact check articles.  That show me all politicians lie.  On some scale.  For the record, I’m not “for” torture.  But if I knew a guy absolutely was in a position to know details of an attack that would murder thousands of Americans…hey a little sleep deprivation, a little loud noise, some tosses into a false wall…even some water over the face…you betcha I’d say we need to do that.  To save Americans.  It’s come out now that it’s worked in some instances.

Either you care about saving lives or you care more about your image.  And being liked.  That seems to be the choice here.  I choose caring about saving lives any day..and will vote for those that care more about that vs. how well they are liked.  Every time.

That is all.

With my circle of women from the family.  Sisters, aunts, cousins, cousins’ wives.  It was…awesome.

Anyway, when I got back I heard there was Swine Flu in Texas.  My dad lives in south Texas.  Not good.  But I talked to him today and he and the entire step-family down there are taking precautions and being careful.  So I will keep my fingers crossed.  In the mean time, The Boy’s district has cancelled all extracirricular activities through the middle of May and an elementary school about 12 miles away is closed through May 7th due to three cases.  Nice.

I have to admit as addicted as I am to scouring political sites from all party affiliations, it was really nice to not have news and the only T.V. we watched was the Bio channel.  Otherwise it was music, drinking and dancing Thursday through Sunday of last week.

And then…when I get home…I come back to:

1.  Worldwide swine flu outbreak.

2.  North Korea making more threats.

3.  A budget approved by Congress that…let’s just say….astronomically increases the deficit dems complained about during the last election.  Not happy about that but I’m sure you could have guessed that without me saying it.

4.  More than $600,000 added to the deficit with a dumb-ass AF One flyover and a wasted trip to St. Louis just for a press op prior to the press conference tonight.

Glad I had the time away, but worried about the flu, North Korea, the quadrupled deficit and the rampant spending by the White House for photo ops.

But….I am being good.  No personal attacks.  Just disappointment over irresponsible spending.

Time to finish drink four.  Trying to wean myself slowly from the all day/all night drinking that ensues on girls’ weekend.

But…I will work out for an hour and a half tomorrow. At least I’m functional…..

Remember the bombing of the U.S.S. Cole? I hope you do.  Many spouses and children suffered because of this brutal attack and the family members lost.  It looks like…finally….some funds  have been unfrozen to help make the lives of the victims a little bit easier.

U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood’s order freed the funds under the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002, which requires the release of blocked assets to satisfy a judgment against a “terrorist party.” The State Department has designated SuSudan as a state sponsor of terrorism since 1993, Wood said.

Individual awards will range from about $200,000 to $1.2 million, according to Andrew C. Hall, an attorney for the families.

As the wife of a survivor of the Khobar Towers bombing in June 1996…..I say this is a step in the right direction at least.

Never forget.  They have declared war on us, people.  No matter what terms the new administration would like us to use for these types of attacks.  It’s war.  Against our country and its people.  Plain and simple.

1.  Smart move, Holder. You don’t wanna open that can of worms.  Just leave it alone.

2.  Our Homeland Security Secretary has absolutely no clue.

3.  CNN anchors and others have no class.  That’s all I’m gonna say about their behavior yesterday and the days leading up to it.  It’s hard, but that’s as far as I will go since I try not to make personal attacks.  But clearly they went WAY too far in their negative coverage and comments.

4.  Nancy Pelosi.  There are no words other than unkind ones so I will just let you go read and and decide for yourself.

5.  Don’t Tread On Me.

6.  The Boy is in a huge tournament this weekend which will determine if he goes to nationals for debate CX.

7.  I hope he does well, and it will be HUGE if he qualifies considering the stiff compeition and seasoned varsity players he will be up against.

8.  I’m glad Obama doesn’t see the need to mess with our gun control laws…for now.

9.  I am proud of the nonviolent, family oriented peaceful protests yesterday.  No flash mobs.  Just concerned citizens and parents.

10.  I am watching a DVR’d  Locked Up Abroad.  That show scares the hell out of me and makes me never want to leave my house again.

That is all.

1.  Navy Seals rock.  I’m glad they were given the chance to do what they were trained for and rescue that boat captain.

2.  That boat captain will never admit it because he was just doing his job (in his mind), but he is a true hero.

3.  Since I started counting carories a couple weeks ago – four and a half pounds – gone.  Vanished.

4.  Try counting your calories for just one day.  I counted them on one of my worst eating days and I was truly horrified.  No wonder I couldn’t ever lose any weight!

5.  If you count calories, that does not mean you can’t have the stuff you love.  Since I started, I’ve managed to still have a few drinks here and there and some wine.  I even went to Fuddrucker’s one day for lunch and had a burger and fries!

6.  I wish some people wouldn’t dismiss those that wish to protest how their tax money is being spent as stupid, ignorant, or not newsworthy.

7.  Why is it okay to protest tax dollars going toward a war you don’t agree with vs. protesting tax dollars going toward funding programs that do not stimulate the economy and only serve to increase the size of government if you don’t agree with that?

8.  I don’t care what kind of dog the Obamas are getting.  Nor do I care who gave it to them.  Nor do I think they should feel guilty because it did not come from a shelter.  They should be able to get the dog they want from wherever they want.

9.  I think it’s kind of vain to travel with a makeup artist.  But maybe that’s just me.  I don’t begrudge anyone the right to do it especially if they’re paying for it with their own money.  I do think it’s vain though.  Just put on some minerals, mascara and lip gloss like the rest of us.  It doesn’t make THAT much of a difference, IMO.

10.  In a week and a half, I’m going up to Wisconsin for a girls’ weekend to spend time with the chicas en mi familia (see no. 3 – now you know why).

11.  Tommy and The Boy planted a garden this weekend.  Now we shall see if we can grow peppers, tomatoes, potatoes and onions.  I stand out there every day and say, “Grow, dammit!”

12.  I’m not a very patient person.

13.  Guess what?  I’ll be at less than 1,300 calories after the Tilapia fillets tonight.  So I get to have wine!  Yippee!

14.  Also, I get to have almonds with my wine.  Even better.

That is all.

Okay…seriously.  I wonder how much money has to come out of school funds to generate hard copy letters and do robo-calls and emails to parents to notify the school population that a child has this or disease or that. Today the call was about another case of whooping cough in The Boy’s school.

Now, I realize people that have been immunized can still get whooping cough or other diseases.  But I also know there are many waivers that go out every year to families that do not want to protect themselves or others from these diseases for this reason or that.  I suspect that if people would get get their kids the damn shots (which have now been proven not to contribute to autism – you can read all about that finding here) we would get far fewer calls and it would cost us far less money.  Also, immuno-compromised kids that can’t tolerate the shots would not have to be exposed to diseases that could have been prevented if parents had just acted responsibly and for the public good.

Ridiculous.  And selfish.  And expensive.  And sometimes dangerous to others.  And also, irresponsible.  Not to immunize.  For the public good.  Is all I’m sayin’….

My mom always told me if I don’t have something good to say, don’t say anything at all.  Given that, after what I’ve seen in the past few weeks I just have one question that seems acceptable to ask:

Is there still a protocol office in the White House?