Were you born a Republican?

Were you born that way?!

Believe it or not - I have been thinking about the above question for some time.
In my opinion ~ most of the Republicans in my own circle of friends were born that way.
One such person stands out in my mind. Once upon a time I was engaged to a Texas Republican - one day when we were talking, he actually said out loud that the only reason he was a Republican and voted Republican was because his daddy told him to! Yikes! Nothing like finding your own voice!
Lucky for me, I soon saw the error of my ways, broke off the engagement and found the BeltwayB!
Read the article and see what you think.

Are you born Republican?

Katie C

I don't know if I can handle Katie C doing the evening news.

I'm all about girl power - don't get me wrong.....but Katie can irritate the crap out of me.

During her last few months on the Today show ~ I could not wait for her last day! She became a little on the b!tchy and condescending side. A little too smug for my liking. And now that I read some reviews of her broadcast - it sounded like it was 30 minutes of Katie-fluff-loveme-andmygreatideas-news. ick

In all fairness to Katie - I did miss her first go round. It is certainly unfair for me to weigh in with my bad opinion -

but this I my blog and I'll do what I want!

Grazie Nonnie e Nunu

Labor Day is finally here. The end of the summer and a day off for me!
As I was thinking about today - I could not help but think of all the hard working Americans out there.
I like to complain about my job. I like to complain about how many hours I work every week. But, at the end of the day ~ I have a great job. A job that does not pose any threats to bodily injury. A job that is cool in the summer and warm in the winter. A job that I am grateful for.
My grandparents were the children of immigrants. They came to this country with nothing in their pockets. When my great grandfather Frank arrived in 1907 he had $10. He went on to work in a steel factory - where he contracted TB and died.
My other great grandparents went direct from Ellis Island to Mississippi - where they picked cotton in the fields. They later moved north and my great grandfather found steady work in a cement factory.
My grandmother recalled the day her grandmother scratched out her birthday on her birth certificate so that she could get a job in a hat factory at 14. She dropped out of school and went on to work to help the family. Every penny she made went to helping the family buy food and clothes.
Hard working - dedicated family people - I never recall them complaining.
They sent thier sons to war, bought thier homes, sent money back to thier families in Italy, started thier own businesses, some of them died too young.
These people scratched a living and made the American Dream a reality for their children. I don't know how we could ever find a way to thank them enough.

Enjoy your day ~ and whoever you are, thanks for all your hard work!

TSA - Transportation Security Administration ~ yeah right

Liquids on planes.
We are not allowed to have them onboard an aircraft.
I don't argue any rules that will save my life.
I arrive even earlier to check my bags now ~ (previously I was a chronic carry-on gal)
I pack my lip gloss, shampoo, lotion and toothpaste in my checked baggage.
I present my id and boarding pass to at least 2 TSA agents prior to approaching the security checkpoint.
I take my shoes off, jacket off, remove my laptop from my bag prior to screeening.
I present my boarding pass to the next screener after going thru the metal detector.
I finish my tall non-fat latte before boarding the aircraft.
And yet - no additional screening for liquids has occured.
Not at security. Not at the airport gate prior to boarding.
Why? Because I know the rules, go thru quickly without a trace of notice.

The TSA agents are too busy complaining about how much longer their shift is, why they can't get thier kids to listen to them, whose boyfriend didn't return their text message.
Most members of TSA are even failing to make eye contact with passengers. Fear not the racial profiling - most of these agents couldn't describe a single passenger passing by them in the last 5 minutes.
I hear more personal conversation among agents than anything else!
The poor unfortunate passengers that don't speak english as thier first language suffer the most.
They can't hear the announcements, don't understand to leave boarding passes out, don't know to take thier shoes off....yet the agents think that yelling the commands in a louder voice will make these people understand.
The agents are so annoyed that they rush these passengers thru as quickly as possible - all the while continuing to relate the soap opera of their personal lives.

How are these people protecting us?
I'm smart, terrorists are smart - if you know the rules and follow them to the letter, you can go unnoticed in any airport in this country.

As we approach the 5th anniversary of 9/11 I just wonder, what have we learned?

Are liquids, and nail clippers are true enemies?