$3,600,000,000,000.00? You 'da man, Prez !

Three trillion, 600 billion dollars, that's the amount we're going to be watching the government spend under the Obama stimulus. The figure contains the current, growing deficit of 1.7 trillion dollars and 1.9 trillion dollars in new spending. I wonder who'd going to pay for this? You can only tax the rich (2%) of the country so long before they go broke as well. If you're counting on the sin taxes of smoking, drinking and gambling, you can only beat a dead horse so long. Then who's going to pay? Illegal immigrants and the Obama welfare conga line? Nope, it'll be you, the people that have been supporting the country since day one. Not a pretty picture, eh?

As for the troop reduction, it will be announced today that the troops will not be withdrawn with in the time specified in candidate Obama's campaign speeches and he will maintain between 35,000-50,000 "non-combat" troops (which is one-third of the total troops in Iraq). Anyone that's ever been in the military knows that every soldier is trained first to fight and kill and the second thing they are trained in is their job, i.e., cook, clerk, etc. So the word "non-combat" is just a political spin and an illusionary label. Bottom line, the Prez will withdraw only two-thirds of the troops from Iraq and late at that.

The Grocery Shopping Trip - Part III - The Dreaded Checkout

When I complete my shopping list, it's time to head toward the checkout area. For some reason, every time I decided to check out, the once uncrowded store now has a population the size of Rhode Island, all of whom having decided that they, too, will checkout.

The registers, all with long lines, normally have the obligatory lady pushing the cart that has been converted to look like a racecar. She has brought her 2.5 children, ages 14, 12 and 6 with her, two of whom are riding in the racecart. Inside the cart is approximately 250 pounds of assorted groceries.

I always attempt to decide in which crowded line I want to spend the rest of my life. Occasionally, a cashier will open a new register and now the race begins. I move toward the new cashier, cutting off racecart lady and maintaining my rules of grocery shopping, to wit, women children and journalist first (and not necessarily in that order).

Getting into the shortest line is not always a benefit and I have chosen longer lines if the scenery benefits the wait. You have to beware of divider thingy lady who, upon seeing you begin unloading your cart, immediately grabs the divider and quickly places it at the end of her groceries. Her furtive glances insure that you dare not encroach upon her area lest the two intermingle and possibly spawn a third bastard grocery pile.

The worst shopper always appears normal. Halfway through the checkout process, it will dawn on them that they forgot something and will be "right back." Naturally, when they finally return, their groceries have long since been checked out. I don't let this type of shopper bother me too much as I always grab a nice magazine, some C batteries and a couple of Herschey bars and add them to their order.

When I'm checked out, I always stop by the weight scales to see how much money I've lost and then proceed to the car. I've learned not to let grocery shopping bother me and I treat each trip as an experience, Some are good and some are bad, but it's the ones that get rained out that bother me.

This Date In History: 1594; Henry IV is crowned king of France in Chartres. 1900; The Labour Party is founded as the Labour Representation Committee. 1933; The Reichstag, seat of the German parliament, is destroyed on fire, giving the Nazis a convenient pretext for repression. 1973; Sioux Native Americans seize and hold Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, South Dakota, demanding a US Senate investigation of Native American problems.

2003; Rowan Williams is enthroned as the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury. 2003; A design by architect Daniel Libeskind is selected to be built on the former site of the twin towers of the World Trade Center, in New York.

Picture Of The Day: Fire and rain? We'll see, but the idea of fire intrigued me so I decided to go with fire as today's theme. Naturally, I have to post a picture of my hot perfect martini and I also thought that Rose would like the featured picture. I'm rather content with the rest of these flaming photographs, as well, and I hope you enjoy them.

Birthdays: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, American poet 1807, Ellen Terry, actress 1847, Enrico Caruso, operatic tenor 1873, Charles Herbert Best, Canadian physiologist 1899, Lawrence Durrell, novelist and poet 1912, Elizabeth Taylor, actress 1932.

Printable Things I Never Told You: 1) On any airplane flight, I must be fueled up with Johnny Walker Black at the same time as the airplane is fueled with aviation fuel. 2) My favorite way to take a vacation is spur of the moment and I ofttimes just pick up and go. 3) Tequila will never be my downfall as the worm does not justify the hangover. 4) At a bar one evening, I told some friends that the phrase "four score and seven years ago" was a soccer phrase at the last World Cup games. 5) Hide and go pee is one of the favorite games at my Uncle's retirement home.

The Hits Just Keep On Coming:

Once upon a time, a man appeared in a village and announced to the villagers that he would buy monkeys for $10 each. The villagers, knowing there were many monkeys, went to the forest and started catching them. The man bought thousands at $10 each and, as supply started to diminish, the villagers stopped their effort. He then announced that he would buy monkeys at $20 each. This renewed the villagers efforts and they started catching monkeys again.

Soon, the supply diminished and people started going back to their farms. The offer increased to $25 each and the supply of monkeys became so scarce it was an effort to even find a monkey, let alone catch it! The man now announced that he would buy monkeys at $50 each! However, since he had to go to the big city on some business, his assistant would buy on his behalf.

The assistant told the villagers, "Look at all these monkeys in the big cage that my boss has already collected. I will sell them to you at $35 and when my boss returns, you can sell them to him for $50." The villagers rounded up all their savings and bought all the monkeys for 700 billion dollars. They never saw the man or his assistant again, only lots and lots of monkeys! Now you have a better understanding of how the stimulus package works!!!

The latest poll taken by the office of the Governor of Texas asked whether people who live in Texas think illegal immigration is a serious problem: 30% of respondents answered: "Yes, it is a serious problem." 70% of respondents answered: "No es una problema serio."

Last Tuesday, as President Obama got off the helicopter in front of the White House, he was carrying a baby piglet under each arm. The squared away Marine guard snaps to attention, Salutes, and says: "Nice pigs, Sir." The President replies: "These are not pigs. These are authentic Illinois Porkers. I got one for my wife and I got one for Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi." The squared away Marine again snaps to attention, Salutes, and says: "Excellent trade, sir."

That's it for today my little sunflowers. Have a great and safe weekend and more on Monday.

Stay Tuned !