SNL Fauxbama Uproar

Michelle Malkin reported today on the uproar going around about Saturday Night Live's choice of actor to play Sen. Barack Obama. (Watch the video on Michelle Malkin's site. It doesn't fit right on my blog.)

Just when you think identity politics can’t parody itself any better (or worse), along comes a new set of race-mongers with an even more absurd set of grievances.

The Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune, and the Guardian (UK) all published pieces questioning the propriety of of having a multiracial (white/Asian) man play the multiracial (white/black) Obama. This is from the Washington Post:

When Barack Obama announced his candidacy for president last year, some observers questioned whether the senator from Illinois was "black enough" to embody the hopes and aspirations of African Americans.

Now a variation on that theme has emerged: Is Fred Armisen, who is not African American, "black enough" to embody Obama on "Saturday Night Live"?

You can't make this up.

Saturday Night Live, from its inception, has made a point of poking everyone in the eye sooner or later--conservatives more than liberals, but still... It's a comedy show. They make fun of people. They use the actors they have available. They used to use Garrett Morris to play all the black men and women.

So who should they have used to play Sen. Obama, who is half black and half white? The all-black guy, or the half-white guy? No doubt they used the guy who is better at capturing Obama's mannerisms and speech patterns.

If this is the worst that the race-conscious members of the black community have to worry about in American society today, then perhaps things aren't as bad as they say.

Besides, where are the feminists complaining that they used an attractive young woman to play Hillary?

Chemical Ali to be Executed

The AP reported today that "Chemical Ali" is to be executed within a month.

Iraq's presidential council has endorsed the execution within a month of Saddam Hussein's cousin, known as "Chemical Ali," for his role in the 1980s scorched-earth campaign against Kurds, officials said Friday. But it spared the life of two other officials amid Sunni protests that they were only following orders.

The approval by Iraq's President Jalal Talabani and two vice presidents was the final step clearing the way for Ali Hassan al-Majid's execution by hanging. It could now be carried out at any time, a government adviser and a prosecutor said.

This is good news. The rule of law is working in Iraq, and the worst of the monsters are, one by one, being sent to meet their Maker.

Gas Prices Stink

When I came back home from Texas, I checked the gas prices at the Arco station near my house. That's where they're the lowest in my area. On February 12th, unleaded gas was $3.019. Not nearly as bad as in November.

Tonight I had to make an emergency run to the grocery store, because I ran out of creamer for my tea. On the way there, I passed the Arco station. Unleaded is $3.419. That's 40¢ in just over two weeks. I'm so discouraged.

I don't know what it's like out there in the rest of the country, but California's gasoline taxes on top of gasoline taxes is for the birds. I'm going to go pout for a while...

Britain's National Health Service Woes

A couple articles popped up in the news in the last day or two, showcasing some of the problems of Britain's socialized healthcare system--the kind of system that both Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama want to bring to the Unites States.

Dr. Nick Edwards, an Accident & Emergency department (A&E) physician in England, described yesterday in the Daily Mail (UK) the difficulties of providing proper care within a government bureaucracy.

As a doctor working in A&E, my only concern used to be how best to care for my patients. But in a target-obsessed NHS, looking after patients properly is becoming more and more difficult.

I would like to have spoken to [a patient's husband] for longer, or even taken a few minutes to gather my own thoughts.

But the days of a cup of tea and quiet reflection for A&E staff have gone and as soon as I was out of the room, the senior nurse told me that we had a number of patients who might breach their four-hour target set by the Government for being admitted to a ward or discharged.

One was an elderly lady with a broken hip - pain-relieving medications given earlier while we waited for her X-rays were only partially helping.

She needed an injection of local anaesthetic into the joint to numb the pain.

That takes time to do, but before I could start, without my say so, she was whisked off to the ward so she didn't breach the target.

Great for our targets and government figures; not so great for the patient, who went to the ward still in pain but in under four hours.

There's more, and it should be an eye-opener for those who want America's health system to go that route.

The other article is less about socialized medicine and more about the effects of multiculturalism on the health system. The Daily Mail reported yesterday about three cities in Britain where Muslim female medical students object to hygiene rules.

Health officials are having crisis talks with Muslim medical staff who have objected to hospital hygiene rules because of religious beliefs.

Medics in hospitals in at least three major English cities have refused to follow the regulations aimed at helping tackle superbugs because of their faith, it has been revealed.

Women medical students at Alder Hey children's hospital in Liverpool objected to rolling up their sleeves when washing their hands and removing arm coverings in theatre, claiming it is regarded as immodest.

Some students have said that they would prefer to quit the course rather than expose their arms, but hygiene experts said no exceptions should be made on religious grounds.

This is a preview of what could come here as well. So far, the three British cities haven't backed down on their hygiene requirements, although the University of Liverpool has accomodated the students' request for a separate room where they can change from their hijabs into scrubs. I presume they're scrubbing up to their elbows as they change.

As we look at out choices for the presidency, for some voters it can be tempting to have medical care provided "free" to everyone. But the example in the UK isn't the utopia that proponents of socialized medicine would have us believe. Let's not be fooled by a political whitewash, but instead look at the truth of what government-run medical care would give us.

Tristan Emmanuel on the Oscars

Did you watch the Oscars earlier this week?

I know. Neither did I. Well, I turned it on for the last two awards, Best Director and Best Picture, because I called my son about something and he mentioned it was almost over (being a fim studies major, he pays attention to the Oscars). The movie that took both awards was some blood-filled bash-America film that I didn't see and won't see when it comes out on DVD. Figures they'd choose a movie like that...

Tristan Emmanuel's WorldNetDaily column today discusses America's un-fascination with the Oscars.

So, the Oscars tanked. Are you surprised? The pundits are. They just can't believe it. And they're blaming the Europeans.

[M]ore than 75 percent of the news stories that I have perused since last Sunday's Awards show – and I've looked at hundreds of them – blame the Europeans for the poor ratings.

All four of the major acting awards went to relative unknowns from Europe. And the movies in which those Europeans played all tanked at the box office. Clearly, America isn't as enamoured with European talent as the critics are.

Of course, America didn't avoid the Oscars in droves (32 million viewers, dropping to 25 million by the end of the show, compared to 93 million who watched the Super Bowl from beginning to end) because of who won the acting awards. They wouldn't have known it would be a Euro-sweep. After Emmanuel toys with the critics and the Hollywood defenders, he nails the reason Hollywood is sliding into failure.

Very few American moviegoers are going to spend their money at the box office to be lectured and preached to by Eurocrats telling them that America is a greedy, unsavory, money-grubbing, oil-gluttonous and environmentally plundering capitalist globetrotting pig. It's bad enough when the coke-snorting Hollywood elite do it – which is why movies like "Rendition" and producers like Robert Redford all had failures this year. Americans just aren't going to pay $12.50 (and that doesn't even include a drink and popcorn) knowing that the European interlopers are going to pocket a portion of the box-office proceeds after they face-slap every American in the theater.

Hollywood and its media minions naturally reject this analysis.

That's it exactly. I don't care if they're "European interlopers" or born-and-raised Americans. I'm not about to give my money to anyone who's going to turn around and have his movie slap me in the face for who I am and what I believe.

Hollywood doesn't get it. And Emmanuel has a theory about why Hollywood doesn't get it.

Remember when God hardened Pharaoh's heart so that He could make an example of the Egyptians and rescue the children of Israel? The more Hollywood insists on proliferating its godless, anti-American, left-wing, conservative-mocking liberal propaganda, the more I'm convinced that God in His wisdom is hardening the hearts of liberal Hollywood elites so that they will eventually fall on the sword of their own making.

I've never looked at it that way before, but I'm starting to think he may be right.

Top Ten Painful Bites or Stings

ABC News reported yesterday on the most painful bites and stings.

Certain members of the animal kingdom have a talent for torture, as those of us who have been unlucky enough to experience it can attest.

Maybe you're swimming at the beach, hiking in the wilderness, or just cleaning out your basement — suddenly you're on fire, dancing or doubled over, staring at an almost invisible wound and wondering how something so small could hurt so horribly.

We have compiled a Top 10 list (in no particular order) of some of the most excruciating stings and bites nature has on offer. Some are potentially deadly, some are not. All are absolutely worth avoiding.

The first picture they have in the article is the Tarantula Hawk Wasp, a horrid creature I used to see when I was a kid and we walked through the canyon to get to our junior high school. Two inches long, black body (irridescent purple when the sun caught it right), with red-orange wings, the sight of them would throw me into paralyzing fear. Somebody said they were Tarantula Wasps and were called that because they eat tarantulas (which would have made me happy). I wasn't so sure, though, because when they landed and started walking, they walked like a tarantula.

The article tells the truth. It describes each of the Top Ten on a separate page, and after reading about the Tarantula Hawk Wasp, I am truly grateful that I never learned firsthand about their sting. Read them all and... well, I won't say "enjoy." Just be glad there's so much pain out there that you (hopefully) have not experienced.

I have not been stung or bitten by any of them.

Pelosi Pushing Amnesty Again

The Washington Times editorial yesterday is on the latest scheme by House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi to get amnesty for illegals.

For months, leading Democrats like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chief Rahm Emanuel have tried to talk tough on illegal immigration.... Last month, Mrs. Pelosi joined House Minority Leader John Boehner in announcing that the House-passed economic stimulus bill would "not allow any taxpayer funds to be distributed to illegals."

But unfortunately, the Democrats are putting together an elaborate con job: using tough-sounding rhetoric while working behind the scenes with open-borders advocates in the business community to win support from from firms that have become very dependent on cheap foreign labor. The goal of these Democrats — and possibly the U.S. Chamber of Commerce as well — is to defeat a bipartisan bill that takes a no-amnesty, enforcement-oriented approach to illegal immigration.

The SAVE Act [Secure America through Verification and Enforcement Act, H.R. 4088] is an omnibus bill that would strengthen border security and require that employers verify that their workers are legally present in the United States. Forty-seven Democrats and 89 Republicans are cosponsoring the Shuler bill, which is currently bottled up in the House Judiciary Committee, where liberals like Rep. Zoe Lofgren, California Democrat and chairwoman of the Immigration Subcommittee, will work to ensure that it stays there.

Republican supporters of the SAVE Act are working to get enough votes to pull the bill out of committee and onto the floor, but as the editorial writer points out, the Democrats have come up with a "Plan B."

The Baca Amendment would give illegal aliens who pass a background check a "five-year temporary worker permit" that expires on Dec. 31, 2012. It would also provide employers who hired illegal aliens "safe harbor" (apparently some measure of immunity from prosecution) for past hiring of illegal aliens. If Mr. Shuler gets enough signatures to force his bill to the floor to be debated, Democrats hope to neuter it by attaching the Baca Amendment. If Mr. Baca's proposal were to become law, open-borders advocates could come back later and pass legislation putting these illegals on a path to citizenship.

It's an election year, so of course the Democrats are talking tough on immigration, because they know they must. But they're ready with their usual Bait and Switch tactic.

This is a battle that bears watching. Those of us who favor employer verification of workers' immigration status would do well to keep after our Congressmen. Encourage them to put pressure on the Immigration Subcommittee to pass the bill as it stands and work to prevent passage of the Baca Amendment. We must remain watchful, because the supporters of amnesty will not stop trying to enact it.

Cockroach Gets 30 TV Workers Fired

The Telegraph (UK) reported tomorrow about a mishap at a television station.

Thirty workers at a Turkmenistan television network have been sacked after a cockroach was seen scuttling across the newsreader's desk during a live broadcast, it has been reported.

The large brown insect crawled a full lap of the newsdesk on the 9pm news programme, Vatan, before the blooper was aired again on the 11pm edition.

The national station was bombarded with calls from disgusted viewers, who said the cockroach's guest appearance had put them off their dinner.

Officials from Turkmenistan's ministry of culture discovered the insect's guest appearance the following morning, and swiftly informed the country's president, Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedo.

He was so horrified that he fired 30 workers from the station, the Guardian reports.

The sacked workers included journalists, directors, camera operators, and technical staff. The country's minister for culture, Gulmurat Muradov, has also ordered an internal investigation.

I'd be horrified too.

But perhaps a thorough fumigation would be more effective than an internal investigation. Who's left to be investigated after all the workers have been fired?

Luckiest Mom in the World

That would be me.

My daughter is here tonight, playing the piano, and I get to listen.

This is Little Enzo, not my daughter, but this is what she's playing.



She plays it almost as well, pausing every now and then and whispering, "Oh, wait," and then continuing. But I like her timing and passion on some parts better than Enzo's. She is, after all, my daughter.

It doesn't get any better than this.

Boyfriend Trouble

No, I don't have a boyfriend.

My daughter's friend calls me now and then for advice when she's frustrated with her boyfriend, and I'm good at giving it. After an 18-year marriage, during which time all us wives at work would discuss the way men are, and after listening to pastors and Dennis Prager describing the differences between men and women, I have a better idea about men than my daughter's friend does. Plus, it helps that I'm not in the middle of the situation.

Today she called because her boyfriend won't just sit with her and "hang out." He told her he has to be doing something. His father raised him to be productive all the time. Slacking off was punished. She wanted me to agree that he was being unreasonable.

I told her to get used to it, because she won't win. Then I told her a story I heard on Dennis Prager's show.

A woman called in to say that she used to be frustrated by her husband. He was always out in the garage reloading ammunition, and she got resentful that he didn't spend more time with her. She thought she should be more important to him than making a bunch of bullets. Then one day she realized that she could go out there and spend time where he was. So she took a book and sat with him in the garage while he did his reloading.

As she spent more time with him, they talked about things, and he told her things about himself that had never come up before. He taught her about reloading, and she learned that he was saving them a lot of money by doing that, though she never really enjoyed doing it herself. But their marriage was better because she adapted to him instead of demanding that he adapt to her.

I also told my daughter's friend about the time our Singles group's pastor discussed the difference in needs between men and women. One of the things men need is companionship. He described it this way: When he was in the living room watching sports on TV, he liked for his wife to be in the living room with him, even if she wasn't watching the game and they weren't talking to each other but she was reading a book. Just having her in the room with him was enough to meet that need of his. (I wish I had known that when I was married, because I got that one wrong.)

So then I advised our friend to find a way to be with her boyfriend while he's "doing," and quit demanding that he had to stop and sit with her. She thanked me sincerely and let out a disgusted sigh as she hung up the phone.

Disaster averted once again.

I love being able to help her figure out how to cope properly with a man. It makes me feel very wise. But I'm afraid that feeling of wisdom is only an illusion...

Nader Enters the Race

Photo credit: Carolyn Kaster, AP

Hot dog!

The AP reported today that Ralph Nader has announced his candidacy for the presidency, which he hinted at earlier.

Ralph Nader said Sunday he will run for president as a third-party candidate, criticizing the top White House contenders as too close to big business and pledging to repeat a bid that will "shift the power from the few to the many."

Nader, 73, said most people are disenchanted with the Democratic and Republican parties due to a prolonged Iraq war and a shaky economy. The consumer advocate also blamed tax and other corporate-friendly policies under the Bush administration that he said have left many lower- and middle-class people in debt.

"You take that framework of people feeling locked out, shut out, marginalized and disrespected," he said. "You go from Iraq, to Palestine to Israel, from Enron to Wall Street, from Katrina to the bumbling of the Bush administration, to the complicity of the Democrats in not stopping him on the war, stopping him on the tax cuts."

"In that context, I have decided to run for president," Nader told NBC's "Meet the Press."

John McCain has to be thrilled. For one thing, Nader's entry in the race means that McCain isn't the oldest candidate anymore.

It just keeps getting more and more fun.

Hillary Clinton and the Superdelegates

Fox News reported February 16, 2008, on statements by longtime Clinton toady, Harold Ickes.

A top Hillary Clinton adviser on Saturday boldly predicted his candidate would lock down the nomination before the August convention by definitively winning over party insiders and officials known as superdelegates, claiming the number of state elections won by rival Barack Obama would be “irrelevant” to their decision.

Obama leads handily in the pledged delegate count and has won more states but trails Clinton in superdelegates, making them potential and controversial deadlock-breakers if the race ends up a dead heat come convention time.

Harold Ickes, a 40-year party operative charged with winning over superdelegates for the Clinton campaign, made no apologies on Saturday for the campaign’s convention strategy.
“We’re going to win this nomination,” Ickes said, adding that they would do so soon after the last contest on June 7 in Puerto Rico. “You’re not going to see this go to the convention floor.”

He also said Michigan and Florida, which voted for Clinton, should have delegates seated at the convention, even though he originally voted with the national party last year to strip the delegates because the states violated party rules by holding early primaries.

The title of the book Hugh Hewitt wrote for the 2004 election season is appropriate for any election the Clintons are involved in: If It's Not Close, They Can't Cheat.

Barak Obama is blowing out Hillary Clinton in the primary elections and caucuses, but with the superdelegates in the mix, the count is close. And that means cheating, somehow, someway. Like seating the Michigan and Florida delegates at the convention when it was already decided to strip them. Because--like the primaries--rules are "irrelevant."

Michigan and Florida's delegates were stripped back when Hillary thought she was a shoe-in. Now even her tears can't get enough states to win for her fair and square.

If the Obama-tsunami continues and it comes down to the superdelegates (provided Hillary can hang onto enough of them) throwing the nomination to Hillary, what then? What kind of reaction will there be from a party base that feeds off anger and resentment of "the other"? What kind of cataclysmic explosion will there be against those in the Democratic Party Machine who have thwarted the overwhelming will of their people? It will be ugly.

The Clintons are determined to win. No. Matter. What.

And if they compromise and give Obama the top slot on the ticket and put Hillary in as VP, I still say Obama will need his Secret Service working overtime to keep him safe from Hill & Bill.

Nader Considers Presidency Again

The AP reported yesterday on the latest with Ralph Nader.

Ralph Nader could be poised for another third party presidential campaign.

The consumer advocate will appear on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday to announce whether he will launch another White House bid. Nader kicked off his 2004 presidential run on the show.

Kevin Zeese, who was Nader's spokesman during the 2004 presidential race, but is no longer working for him, said Friday that Nader has been actively talking to "lots of people on all sorts of levels" about the possibility of making another run.

Zeese said he could only guess what Nader might do, but added: "Obviously, I don't think ("Meet the Press" host) Tim Russert would have him on for no reason."

This will be fun. Ralph Nader is the Ron Paul of the Left. The guy can't win, but the people who support him are fanatics, and there are just enough of them to affect the outcome of the election.

If he runs, though, will he siphon off enough of the moonbats from (presumably) Obama to secure the election for (presumably) McCain? We can hope so, but Barak Obama is already way off to the Left, so his followers may not jump into Nader's camp.

And there's still the chance that Ron Paul will run as an Independent and take his Republican voters with him too. I don't remember a Presidential election with a double-spoiler effect.

Still, I've gotta say, "Run, Ralph, run!"

Healing With Crab Shells

The Manchester Evening News (UK) reported tomorrow on a new discovery.

Scientists have invented a fast-healing dressing made out of crab shell which could dramatically increase a patient's recovery. Crabs are renowned as nature's healers because of a mineral in their shells, called chitosan.

The ingredient, harvested from crabs, prawns and other crustaceans, can rapidly clot blood.

It also has strong anti-bacterial properties.

Experts at the university have now managed to create a textile which they say could cut days or even weeks off normal recovery times.

They have created a prototype 4-inch square dressing which could be applied for cuts, grazes or surgical wounds but further testing and safety trials must take place.

This is really great. Anything that speeds up healing is good, but to get it from seafood restaurant trash is even better.

I just wish they were quicker about getting these things out to the market. I could have used this after I cut my thumb when we were snorkeling in St. Maarten. It took forever to heal.

More Trouble in Zimbabwe

The Press Association (UK?) reported yesterday that the inflation rate in Zimbabwe is over 100,000% annually.

The official rate of annual inflation in Zimbabwe has rocketed past the 100,000% barrier - by far the highest in the world.

The government statistics office said inflation rose to 100,580% in January, up from 66,212% in December.

The new official figure was still well below the rate calculated by independent analysts who estimate the real rate is closer to 150,000%.

Zimbabwe, a former regional breadbasket, is facing acute shortages of food, hard currency, gasoline and most basic goods in an economic meltdown blamed on disruptions in the agriculture-based economy after the often-violent seizures of thousands of white-owned commercial farms began in 2000 accompanied by political violence and turmoil.

And what is Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe doing? Why, he's throwing himself a birthday party, reported by the AP today.

As many as 10,000 people were converging on a town in southern Zimbabwe for President Robert Mugabe's 84th birthday celebrations, state radio reported Friday.

Many were traveling free on commandeered buses and trains, it said.

Organizers of Saturday's ceremonies said they raised about 3 trillion Zimbabwe dollars (or the equivalent of about $250,000 at the dominant black market exchange rate) for the bash amid chronic shortages of hard currency, gasoline, food and most basic goods.

In Africa's fastest shrinking economy, per capita gross domestic product in Zimbabwe fell from about $200 in 1996 to about $9 a head last year.

Yes, there are priorities, after all.

It's hard to imagine what the people of Zimbabwe are suffering, and even harder to imagine that the government doesn't seem to care. The only bright spot I've seen (since Robert Mugabe hasn't seen fit to die of old age yet) is in the Spring 2008 edition of World Vision's magazine. The cover story is about Zimbabwe.

"Ten, 15 years ago, this country was as developed as say, Louisiana," says World Vision's Edward Brown. Edward runs the USAID-funded Consortium for Southern African Famine Emergency program dedicated to feeding hungry families. "It's like we've been hit by a macroeconomic hurricane.... My grandparents lived through the Great Depression. It is a very similar comparison."

Zimbabwe's own depression, compounded by AIDS, has left 4.1 million people--30 percent of the population--at risk of hunger and malnutrition. "There is no bread. There is no [corn] meal," says Daniel Muchena, who directs World Vision's relief efforts in southern Zimbabwe. "With the drought, the grass is drying up. There are wildfires all over that kill the cattle. People have no money or savings. And even if they do have money, there is no food to buy."

[World Vision staff] recognize that food aid is necessary to save children and their parents from starvation, but that a turnaround in Zimbabwe can only come by focusing on the future. World Vision's Food for Assets program seeks to accomplish both.

The program provides food for families that agree to work together on farming or income-generating projects.

It's good to see rays of hope for some of Zimbabwe's people. Too bad that hope doesn't come from the people who should be the ones who care.

Michelle Malkin on Barbara Jordan

Michelle Malkin's post today on Barbara Jordan had this to say:

Last night, both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton invoked the late Texas congresswoman Barbara Jordan as a hero and mentor (transcript).

Jordan, a black Democrat who was a staunch advocate of immigration enforcement and border control, was a true maverick.

She didn’t just pay lip service to border security as all of today’s presidential candidates do. She meant what she said. If Clinton and Obama bothered to pay attention to what Jordan stood for, I highly doubt they would be so eager to wrap themselves in her legacy.

This is gratifying to see. The first presidential election I could vote in was in 1976, the year Jimmy Carter won. I wrote in "Barbara Jordan (D-TX)."

I didn't really know what she stood for, just that I was a Democrat and she was a Democrat and very well respected, and she wasn't Jimmy Carter. It's good to see that the values I hold today about immigration are the ones she held back in 1995, when she testified before the House immigration committee. Malkin quotes Jordan's summary of her position:

Credibility in immigration policy can be summed up in one sentence: those who should get in, get in; those who should be kept out, are kept out; and those who should not be here will be required to leave.

That's exactly right. Read the full transcript of her testimony here.

California Exodus Stampede

A realtor showed my house this morning. They came without calling, and I was still in my pajamas, so I asked them to come back in ten minutes. When they did, I grabbed my mailbox key and set off for the mailboxes to give them a chance to look at the house without me there. As I was walking out the door, I heard the realtor say, "Oh wow." It's a good sign, but I'm leaving it all in God's hands.

After they left, I checked the news. WorldNetDaily reported yesterday that California's exodus has turned into a stampede. Silly me. I thought I was a trend-setter in my plans to sell the house and get out of Dodge.

California, which once lured Americans from near and far, is now driving out millions of the most productive residents – including high percentages of the most affluent.

"When California faced a Mount Everest-sized $14 billion deficit in 2003, one of the major causes for the red ink was the stampede of millionaire households from the state," says a report called "Rich States, Poor States" by economists Arthur Laffer and Stephen Moore. "Out of the 25,000 or so seven-figure-income families, more than 5,000 left in the early 2000s, and the loss of their tax payments accounted for about half the budget hole."

And it's not just the rich leaving.

Based on data from moving companies, California had the second-highest domestic population out-flow of any state in 2005, according to the report, "despite the beautiful weather, beaches, and mountains."

The bad news for California is that it faces $14 billion deficit this year, despite boasting one of the highest tax burdens in the nation.

I find that tax statistic astounding, though I suppose I shouldn't. The loss of 5,000 millionaires from California resulted in about a $7 billion deficit. That's an average of $1.4 million in state taxes paid by each millionaire. And Democrats get mad at the rich for not paying their "fair share."

And what is California's Democrat-controlled government proposing?

UPI reported yesterday that they want to increase taxes.

California's chief budget analyst says the gap between revenue and spending may be too big to close by cutting spending and urged closing tax loopholes.

They've proposed $2 billion in spending cuts and plan on plugging the rest of the deficit with increased taxes. But if that's what they end up doing, they're going to need a word that means mega-stampede. I'm not sure even the thesaurus has a big enough word to handle what's going to happen to California.

Now, if those people want to buy my house, I'm outta here...

I Have A Cold

Hooray!

Normally I wouldn't be so thrilled, but my throat has been sore all day, and I was afraid I had caught some pestilent strep bug that was going to make me feverish and send me to the doctor's office. And I don't want to do that because it costs money and also because my doctor (who I really liked) has moved his practice down to Encinitas or Solana Beach or somewhere away from here. And the medical group up here hasn't replaced him, so they keep shuffling his patients wherever, and I just don't want to go through all that shuffling when I have a fever and feel miserably sorry for myself.

But I just noticed that my nose is getting stuffy, and that means that my sore throat was the usual precursor of a cold and not Strep Throat after all. So I popped a 24-hour Sudafed (legally acquired from the pharmacy with appropriate signatures and gun-purchase-like background checks), and the peppermint tea is steeping even as we speak.

I've got at least one more box of Kleenex ready and some cough syrup on hand in case my cold goes into my chest as well. I feel armed and dangerous and ready for the virus.

And I've got my daughter to thank for sharing her cold with me. Isn't she sweet...?

Oscar-Inspired Fashions for Dogs

Lily models the J-Lo Oscar inspired gown at Little Lily in Los Angeles, California February 18, 2008. Pet fashion label Little Lily has designed a range of dog clothes inspired by the actual gowns worn by A-listers on the Oscar red carpet.

REUTERS/Phil Mccarten

This story reminded of the dress I bought for my little dog Abby. She was so cute!

Yahoo News has a series of 15 photos, most of them of Lily wearing her Oscar dresses. Take a look. She's a cutie too.

Someday I've got to get another dog...

Satellite Plans Worry China and Russia

There's a concept in psychology (I don't know what it's called) that says, "What you say about others reveals more about you than about them." For example, if you complain that someone is "always late," it shows that you value punctuality.

Another concept is Projection: attributing "to others one’s own unacceptable or unwanted thoughts or/and emotions."

Both of those concepts came to mind as I read about China's and Russia's "concerns" about America's plans to destroy the errant, toxic satellite with a missile.

The AP reported Sunday about China's concerns.

China said Sunday it was concerned about U.S. military plans to shoot down a damaged spy satellite that is hurtling toward Earth with 1,000 pounds of toxic fuel.

The U.S. military has said it hopes to smash the satellite as soon as next week—just before it enters Earth's atmosphere—with a single missile fired from a Navy cruiser in the northern Pacific Ocean.

The official Xinhua News Agency quoted Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao as saying the Chinese government was monitoring the situation and has urged the U.S. to avoid causing damages to security in outer space and in other countries.

"Relevant departments of China are closely watching the situation and working out preventive measures," Liu said. Xinhua did not elaborate.

Russia also has voiced worries about the U.S. plan to shoot down the damaged satellite, saying it may be a veiled test of America's missile defense system.

The U.S. has insisted the plan to shoot down the satellite is not a test of a program to kill other nations' orbiting communications and intelligence capabilities.

Both countries have been doing a lot of saber-rattling lately, with Russia becoming an endless mouthpiece of defensiveness and muted threats over our proposed missile shield system in Eastern Europe.

I don't trust either country, and what I've seen from the Bush Administration doesn't make me feel any better. Their response to Russian and Chinese belligerence has been simply to reassure those countries that we mean no harm. And then to reassure the American people that Russia and China mean no harm either.

I'm not buying it.