Let’s dive right in, shall we?

This Week at The Stir:

I wrote about author Charles Murray and his ‘elitist bubble’ concept published in his new book, Coming Apart, The State of White America, 1960-2012. I scored a 37. I think that number, like my age and my weight, is just a number.

Apparently food stamps are going to fix the economy. They’re going to fix it so well that the government is giving out $75,000 grants to groups that devise ways to sign more people up for food stamps.

This one on Susan G. Komen defunding Planned Parenthood got such a hateful reaction that Mark Davis’s producer Susan contacted me to be on the show tomorrow morning to talk about it. Some people are just mean. If you’d like to listen in, I’ll be on at 7:04 Pacific, which means I’ll be locked in the garage or something while poor Leif wrangles the kids to get ready for school. I love you, Honey!

The Latest on Moms Matter:

This State of the Union Analysis is technically from last week, but seeing as CafeMom hasn’t posted this week’s article yet, I thought I’d include it anyway. Hey, it’s my site, I can post what I want to!  (Even emoticons!)

What Happened on Glee:

Glee was new this week, which means I shut everyone out of my bedroom at 8pm on Tuesday to watch high school musical drama, write about it, and call it ‘work.’ My job kinda rocks. I ended up talking more about my marriage than the show though.

Happy reading!

Anyway, I wrote some schtuff last week. And you should click on it, because my editors like traffic. Also because it’s interesting and informative.

Leave my stuffed-crust pizza alone! You know what never solves anything? A government program designed to save us from ourselves. That’s why I advocate against the so-called fat tax.

I also extrapolated why I don’t want my rich, fat cat boss to pay higher taxes: Because I like getting raises. Less capital leads to less investment leads to no bonus checks for a job well done. Boo!!

And I wrote about birth control and why the new “womyn’s health” mandate in Obamacare is dumb and doesn’t actually open up any valuable services to poor people.

Happy clicking reading!

I wrote about lack of skills in American workers. I added that to my long list of reasons why education needs reformation. Like, yesterday. School choice leads to competition and high performance. Just sayin’…

San Francisco is thinking about banning pet goldfish. No really. I can’t make this crap up. They already banned happy meals, so I guess goldfish were the next logical step. Next step? Banning people.

And lastly, Troopathon! Yay for our peeps overseas. Thank you to everyone that helped us raise over $500,000 for care packages for the troops.

If I can’t say this is weird, then I might as well not be able to call the sky blue, because that stuff is messed up.

Thanks to the Internet and prime-time network television (hello CSI and the “Furries” episode!), I’ve become aware of some of the stranger oddities that people sometimes choose to indulge in. Being someone that doesn’t understand the appeal of defecating in a giant diaper or putting on a bunny suit to get it on, I’m always strangely fascinated by these people.

Read the rest at The Stir

Here’s how an economy works: Cobbler Joe makes excellent shoes, but his wife really wants a purse for her birthday. So Cobbler Joe works extra hard in his shoe shop creating excellent shoes that he can sell for a decent price. When he has enough money saved, he goes down the street to Polly’s Purse Shop where he purchases a fabulous handbag for his lovely wife.

When Polly sees Cobbler Joe, she’s reminded of the pair of purple satin stilettos she wants, and asks Joe if he has any in stock. He does, and she stops by later and purchases them. Or she goes to Jim’s Shoe Shop because he’s selling them at a discount. Or maybe she goes back to Joe who will price-match them.

Read the rest at The Stir

The supply of oil (relative to the demand) has dwindled; therefore the cost of it has gone up. Since the United States is sitting onvast untapped oil reserves, it would only make sense that we tap those. It could take up to ten years for us to see that oil in production, which causes many people to overlook our own resources as a potential solution to our supply problems.

Too bad our politicians thought that would take too long in 1996.That oil would be in our cars at this moment, and maybe gas wouldn’t cost over $4 a gallon.

Instead of trying to fix the supply and demand problem with more supply, the government seems keen on lessening our demand. The latest idea out of the Department of Transportation is to levy a tax on everyone based on the number of miles that they drive.

Read the rest at The Stir

One of the biggest money pits that the oh-so-generousCalifornia taxpayers are funding is the state workers’ pension fund. California public employees have some of the cushiest retirement packages around. These so-called public employeesoften get fatter paychecks in retirement than they did when they were working.

The Golden State? The Welfare State seems more appropriate.

Something is horribly wrong with California’s pension system, and unless something is done to reform it (soon!) the pyramid scheme will collapse. Early retirement ages combined with longer life expectancies means that retirees often collect more checks during retirement than they did during employment. This is not a pension — this is welfare.

No one needs to retire at the ripe-old age of 55 and receive an average of 75% of their last annual salary for the rest of their life. California is unique in this, as all other states average salaries over the last 3-5 years on the job when determining pension payouts. Because of this ‘one year’ rule, California retirees are often able to artificially inflate their salary by switching to a high-earning job for one year, or cashing out years worth of accrued vacation time.

Read the rest at The Stir

In a perfect world, no one would ever get sick and require medical attention. In a fantasy world, doctors would work for free, and no one would ever have to worry about their ability to purchase health insurance. Since it’s a fantasy world, mechanics, plumbers, estheticians, babysitters, and housekeepers would also work for free.

Much to my chagrin, this is not a perfect world, and fantasy is not reality. Medical care is neither a right nor a privilege — it is a service, and as such, it must be paid for or donated.

Since health care is a service, Americans should have the ability to choose whether or not they want to spend their money on it. It’s not really anyone’s business as to how another person spends their money on their health.

Read the rest at The Stir

Kudos.

But now, the Obama Administration has drafted an executive order that would allow the government to examine the political contributions of companies applying for federal contracts. In other words, “the will of the people must be overcome!”

The proposed executive order claims that “every stage of the contracting process … be free from the undue influence of factors extraneous to the underlying merits of contracting decision making, such as political activity or political favoritism.”

Wonderful! I completely agree with that. What I disagree with is the fashion in which this order demands freedom from outside influences. This order would allow the government to examine all political donations made by officers and directors of companies applying for federal contracts.

Read the rest at The Stir

Taking another step closer to total bureaucratic domination, some public schools in Chicago have banned sack lunchesfrom home, instead requiring all students to partake of the delicious cafeteria food. Yummy, yummy, there’s a party in my tummy!

The goal is a noble one: To provide nutritious brain food to children instead of salty snacks or sugary drinks. After all, junk food is basically tasty arsenic. Little Village Academy’s principal Elsa Carmona said her intention is to protect students from their own unhealthful food choices.

“Nutrition wise, it is better for the children to eat at the school,” Carmona said. “It’s about the nutrition and the excellent quality food that they are able to serve (in the lunchroom). It’s milk versus a Coke. But with allergies and any medical issue, of course, we would make an exception.”

Parents have mixed opinions on the no-sack lunch policy, with one parent in favor of the program, saying, “The school food is very healthy, and when they bring the food from home, there is no control over the food.” Who does the grocery shopping in that house, that there’s no control over the food?

Read the rest at The Stir