Keep her out of my chain-of-command

If she becomes President, I won't be writing negative things about her...but she ain't in my chain-of-command yet!

I got to see most of the Democrat debate today when it was replayed on CNN. While most of what was said just generated a rolling of the eyes on my part, there was one particular thing that Sen. Clinton said that really made my blood boil.

When touting her economic ideas she said we have to get rid of the "wasteful tax cuts" that the Bush administration has put in place. To call tax cuts "wasteful" is very illustrative of Mrs. Clinton's ideology.

What makes me so mad is that this shows that she thinks our money is not our money. Well, I beg to differ with that! Every cent that the Federal Government has originates from the citizens of this country. Washington does not earn; it only spends. While Congress spends as much as it possibly can and spends more every year than that year before, one thing it cannot spend is a tax cut. A tax cut is the government NOT taking earnings from its citizens. This cannot be an expense. It is not taking what belongs to the citizens, not spending something that the government has already. Yet Senator Clinton's ideology is that all the money is the Government's and the Government has the right to do with it what it wants. It's about the "equitable distribution of wealth" (something else I find repugnant). She wants to TAKE the profits of companies and give that money to social programs and people who aren't earning their own money. This kind of arrogance makes me want to vomit! How dare she (or Obama for that matter) tell us that the money we earn is theirs to with as they please. this is why the federal government needs to be limited in its scope. It must retain the right to tax (and not abuse it) because there are legitimate functions it must fund...like a military:) The job of the Federal Government is to protect, not provide for its citizens. If it provides anything, it should only be the freedom for which so many have died. The best way it can do this for its citizens is be STAYING OUT OF OUR LIVES. God forbid the day ever come that a President of the United States of America tells the man on the street that he has to go see the doctor, or else! When did people start accepting the premise that this is a legitimate role of government? I reject it completely. I don't need anyone to tell me when or where to go to the doctor. (Different topic though)

I digress...

Additionally, I find it personally offensive that Senator Clinton would say that government has "wasted" something by not taking more of our money. Now, if she were to read this I'm sure she would say that she meant it's wasteful because it gives tax breaks to people who earn more than should or who earn too much or who earn more than they need. Well, I intend to be one of those people in not too many years and I reject the punishment of the successful for the rewarding of those who either earn less or are too lazy to earn at all. Do you doubt that there are those among us who do not earn, but are happy to take what's given to them by the government? Do you doubt that there are those who could work who don't? One reminder on that "if any man will not work, neither let him eat." 2 Thessalonians 3:10
When I'm running with my soldiers I tell them that if they want to run as fast as I am that they have to catch up to where I am because it won't help them run faster if I slow down so they can catch me. This plays into the theme at hand. If we want to help those who are financially lagging in our economy, we won't do it by holding back those who are earning more than they do. Taking 40% of what Peter earns and giving it to Paul doesn't mean that Paul is earning 40% more than he was before. At best, it's a theft of Peter to give a gift to Paul.

Now, lest this criticism of Mrs. Clinton be construed as support for Sen. Obama, let me dispel that notion right now. Senator Obama is just as liberal as Clinton, but this post was sparked by what she said specifically. There may be things to respond to in the future regarding Obama, but I'll leave it for another time.

...sigh
Is there a conservative leader anywhere in Washington?

Worth a thousand words...

Why is this Staff Sergeant so happy?

Because He's starting a four-day weekend

Count 'em...FOUR

Four-day weekends ROCK!!!

The END

OH.. MY.. YUMNESS!!!!!!!!!

Wow!

So, last week sometime I got an email from Amy with a recipe for crockpot lasagna. I was very excited to have a new thing to make in my c-pot (hehe..."c-pot" I crack myself up). I digress...

Well, I had no idea what my taste buds were in for. This morning I got up at 0600 (6am for you civilian types) and didn't have to be at work until 0900. I bought the stuff for the recipe yesterday, so I thought "what the hey, I'll do it today." (Haha...that rhymes) I got back to my room around 1200 which means the yumness had been baking in the c-pot (hehe) for 5 hours. The room smelled like an Itlalian restaurant...sans the garlic bread

I just finshed having the most awesome lunch I've had in a LONG time. Thanks, Amy, for hooking me up. You Rock!!!

Here's a little photographic evidence of my excursion into yumnessocity today...



Okay, so this experience has generated some serious points which need to be dealt out to their rightful recipients.

It took me a little while to crunch out the numbers, but I wanted to make sure they would be accurate (I'm not just making them up, you know). So here's how it played out:

1,000 pts to the lasagna itself for being so yummy
987 pts to Amy for giving me this recipe
986 pts to ME for making the lasagna....I was as shocked as you are that I even made the list. I'm humbled, really
853 pts to the c-pot for being so user-friendly
492 pts to ME for calling it "the c-pot" haha I'm speechless. Btw, c-pot could also be used for "chamber pot", but let me clarify that I did not cook lasagna (or anything else) in a chamber pot. I might also clarify that I don't even own a chamber pot. However, I imagine that if I ever needed a chamber pot that the crock pot would work....in a pinch...hehe "a pinch" hehe 200 more points to me for that one
234 pts to the Inventor of leftovers. I thought this one would score higher, but it must be due to the fact that most leftovers are disgusting. Honestly, I think the two things which drove this score as high as it is are: lasagna and the "mack-Daddy" of all leftovers...roast beef with potatos and gravy

DISCLAIMER
There were 3, 467 other points, but since there was no one else eligible who was involved in this experience I was forced to award them back to myself. It's a complicated rule system. I don't have time to explain it right now.


Well, that's it. I need to go for a run now before I have to go back to work for another four hours.

miss you all

Blogging Under Duress

Boy, it's a good thing there's an ocean between me and some of the fans of this blog!!!!
For those of you who have read my bother and sister-in-law's blog, you know what I'm talking about.

So, here's a quick update on me...
I don't blog much because my life here is basically not very blog-worthy. By that I mean, it consists of lots of work (like working some 60 hours this week) and doing mundane things like laundry, shopping and eating. (Although, most of you know I get pretty excited about food, so maybe I should take that one off the list of mundane things.)

Hmmmm...think think think (in my best Winne the Pooh voice)

Well, two things come to mind (niether of them being a pot honey, by the way):

1. Today I started my Master's program. I had class all day today and tomorrow will be the same, plus four nights next week after work. This first class is an International Economics class. I really enjoyed today and am looking forward to the rest of it. The professor is great. The program is one in International Relations and I hope to have it finished in the summer of 2009. My goal is to have two Master's degrees by the time I'm fourty, so it will be nice to get this one done before I get out of the military and move into my next phase of life....whatever that turns out to be:)

2. I've really been enjoying work a lot lately. Mostly, I love training soldiers. I've got 5 soldiers who "belong to me" This means that if they screw up I get in trouble. On the flip side, if they succeed and are good soldiers, then I get some of the credit. Seems fair. Well, I've got the best soldiers in our Battalion, as far as I'm concerned. They make my life easy and I love working with them and teaching them how to be the best soldiers they can be. (As a side note, "be all you can be" is the best slogan the Army ever had. The powers that be should have kept it.)
It's great to be able to have a direct impact for good in the lives of other people and I love doing it every day. Also, our team has been able to do some good things at work lately and it's great to go to bed at night knowing that your day made a difference in the world.

So, the winner of the " who needs a stinkin' title contest" is...

...drum roll, please....

"Ah the Days of the missing Staff Sergeant" by Mark and Sonja

...who also get bonus points for guilting me into writing this blog.

Amy also gets bonus points for nudging me into Mark and Sonja's guilt trap with an email. haha Nice one, Sis.

The LOSER of the contest is "anonymus" who called me Sergeant Slacker!! Grrrrr!!!!!! Maybe "Blogger Slacker", but certainly NOT slacking in my Sergeantness!!!! I'm just making up words now.

The Ballad of the Bloody Foot will have to wait, I guess. I can't get this thing to let me upload the pictures I need to make the story worth it. It's not a long story, so don't be expecting too much.

Miss you all.