Where Are My Keys?

Barack Obama on recess appointments..

Then:

"To some degree, he's damaged goods," said Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "I think that means we'll have less credibility and, ironically, be less equipped to reform the United Nations in the way that it needs to be reformed."

And now:

"I find it absolutely shocking that President Obama would appoint someone who has diminished the 9/11 terrorist attacks by comparing them to the drug trade and who believes that a civilian courtroom is the appropriate venue for 9/11 trials," King said in a written statement. "I strongly oppose the recess appointment of James Cole to lead the national security team at the Department of Justice." 

I wonder if Mr. Cole is "damaged goods", and if we'll "have less credibility" in bringing those associated with 9/11 to justice, seeing as how he had to be appointed during a recess.  Mr. Obama?

I'm no whiz with electricity..

But I think you are doing that wrong..

 

And these are the folks that call Bush and Palin "stupid"..

That pesky Constitution is just too hard to understand, because it was written over 100 years ago:

 

I wonder if that line of thinking applies to anything that was written over 100 years ago, like Shakespeare, the Bible, the Koran, Plato, Aristotle, Thomas Paine..

My girls in the park yesterday..

A photographer for the Denver Post captured my girls out for a stroll yesterday.  To make the picture better, he thoughtfully left out me with one of the dogs walking behind the stroller.

 

Trending, and picking up speed?

The Weekly Initial Unemployment Claims data is out, and it continues to be a bright spot in the overall picture of the economy.  Weekly IUC is at its lowest point since July of 2008.  Granted, holiday numbers might be somewhat off, but if the next few weeks continue to be under 400,000..

 

Opportunity squandered by the Democrats..

Obama and Big Sis could have gotten together a panel to look into the security lapses that were brought to light by an airline pilot. 

But they didn't.

Instead, the incoming Republican leadership will:

Exactly one month after Chris Liu posted videos to YouTube showing what he calls "critical security flaws," the new chairman of a House subcommittee said he will call Transporation Security Administration (TSA) leaders to Capitol Hill for an explanation.

The videos, captured by Liu's cell phone camera, show ground crews entering and exiting secure areas while never going through a screening process.

Liu posted the videos hoping Congressional leaders would address "gaping holes in airport security."

"We're spending of millions of dollars on technology, but we're not doing the basics," said Congressman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, who will chair the subcommitee on National Security, Homeland Defense and Foreign Operations. "We've got to be doing the basics to secure the airlines."

That subcommittee, part of the Republican Committee of Oversight and Government Reform, also controls oversight of the Transportation & Safety Administration.

"The TSA has a lot of things they're going to have to answer for, it's just totally unexcusable," said Chaffetz. "You watch this video and you see how insecure that airport facility is. We're going to call those TSA folks up and have them come up to Capitol Hill and answer for it."

Chaffetz is not alone in his call to action.

Outgoing Congressman Peter Hoekstra, R-Michigan, is the Ranking Member of the House Intelligence Committee and had a similar reaction soon after the videos went viral.

In California, Congressman Dan Lungren, R-Sacramento, said other committees will look into the matter as well.

This never happened to Bo and Luke Duke..

 

Well, I had an interesting morning..

Day Two of my Winter Vacation started out somewhat differently than Day One.

For the past 3 or 4 days, I've had somewhat of a tight feeling in my chest.  Kind of like what you feel during a bear hug.  Pressure and heaviness, only it didn't go away.  Doesn't bother me while I run, no shortness of breath, no pain if I move in a certain direction.  Wasn't sure if it was something I ate, couldn't think f anything I lifted or pushed that may have pulled something.

So discretion being the better part of valor, told the fetching Mrs. P what I had been experiencing over the last few days, and she called the family doctor.  They told us to have me go to the ER/urgent care center, as there as nothing they could do for me at the office, and would wind up sending me there anyway.

So off to the ER at the nearby hospital.

They got me in pretty quick (I guess telling someone you have chest pains rates higher on the scale than a twisted ankle!), and in a few minutes had a myriad of wires and such connected all over my upper body.  I get to chow down on some delicious children's aspirin, get a nitro patch slapped on my shoulder, and an IV hooked up.  Not sure what was in there, but if television has taught me anything, it was Ringer's Lactate, with D-5W.

A few minutes later, the EKG returns its verdict, no heart attack.  Always nice to hear that, let me tell you.  Then they draw some blood to determine if I had a stroke earlier (I guess there are some enzymes that show up in your blood sometime after), and schedule me for a chest x-ray, just to make sure I don't have anything odd lurking about inside my chest region.

Blood tests come back normal, as do the x-rays.  Doc tells me that I may have pulled some muscles "or something", but nothing to worry about with my heart.

So there is relief that it wasn't a heart attack, but now still dealing with a pressure on my chest, with no explanation.

I come home to my girls, greeted with hugs and kisses.  I didn't want the little Duper to see me with wires and tubes going into Daddy's chest, and freak her out, so I had them stay at home while the good folks at the hospital did their thing.

I can't tell you how nice it feels to learn nothing is seriously wrong, and come home to a house full of hugs and kisses.  Those are the good "pains" to feel in your chest.

"Healthy" food for your family, but not for mine..

I wonder if kids can get the treats the Obama kids are having in their school lunch rooms?  I do notice that the President seems to have a larger size than his daughter.  Is that "Michelle Approved"?

 

I'm sure Robert Gibbs will tells that the sno-cones were made with sugar-free syrups.

Wasn't the war in Afghanistan the one we needed to fight, and needed to win?

Isn't that what Candidate Obama kept saying on the campaign trail?  According to some U.N. memos, the "bad" parts haven't gotten better, and the "safe" parts have gotten worse.

In the October map, just as in March's, virtually all of southern Afghanistan—the focus of the coalition's military offensives—remained painted the red of "very high risk," with no noted security improvements. At the same time, the green belt of "low risk" districts in northern, central and western Afghanistan shriveled considerably.

The U.N.'s October map upgraded to "high risk" 16 previously more secure districts in Badghis, Sar-e-Pul, Balkh, Parwan, Baghlan, Samangan, Faryab, Laghman and Takhar provinces; only two previously "high risk" districts, one in Kunduz and one in Herat province, received a safer rating.

A Pentagon report mandated by Congress drew similar conclusions when it was released last month. It said attacks were up 70% since 2009 and threefold since 2007. As a result of the continued violence, the Taliban still threaten the Afghan government, according to the report. The White House's National Security Council declined to comment.

Obama must be "focusing" as hard on Afghanistan as he is on the jobs situation.