Instant Happiness

Just recently, I re-discovered a band that I liked way back when they were new, in the 1970s. Now, I could kick myself for not going to see Jethro Tull when they were in town. For some unknown reason, maybe a snatch of tune heard over someone’s PA system, or a random mention in a post on another blog, I decided to see what was available on YouTube. Much to my delight, I discovered a wealth of audio and video over there at the site of the Evil Google-owned YouTube. Not only have people uploaded single songs and entire albums, but video of entire concerts! Never having seen them in person, I sat in front of my computer and watched some of this 1977 concert. It was so good, I begged my husband to watch it with me on our TV.

I swear, Ian Anderson is a veritable musical genius! He just does it all. How many other rock band leaders play a mean flute, in addition to every other instrument possible in a rock band?

So, I dropped by the iTunes store, and bought The Very Best Of album to load on my iPod to listen to at work. I have a very demanding job these days, and when I put on my noise-canceling headphones and listen to this, I can’t help smiling and even humming along-my cube-mates wonder if I’ve gone insane.

I have decided that Jethro Tull = Instant Happiness. It is impossible to listen to Bungle in the Jungle or Living in the Past and not smile, and forget your troubles (or those parts that were just rejected). Now when someone asks you who said “He who made kittens put snakes in the grass“, you can say “Ian Anderson, Bungle in the Jungle”!

Candidates for “best song I never knew”: “Steel Monkey”, and “Songs From the Wood”. I just wish I had paid more attention back then. It is fortunate that these songs are still readily available for anyone who wants to listen and enjoy.

YouTube has video of Jethro Tull concerts from the 70s, 80s, 90s, and 2000s, a truly great band, who has remained great for 40 years! Remarkable!

Then, there’s this:

Instant Happiness, indeed!

By Permission of a Ricochet friend, “Progressive Thought”

Gender is a social construct; there are no differences between the sexes. All men are bad.

Race is a social construct; there are no differences between the races. All white people are bad.

No culture is better than another. Western Civilization is bad.

Diversity of skin color is good. Diversity of thought is bad.

Religion leads to conflict and war. Islam is the religion of peace.

An especially harsh winter in one part of the globe does not disprove global warming. A single extreme weather event proves it.

Marriage is oppression. Opposing same-sex marriage is oppression.

Segregation is bad. Black college dorms and black graduation ceremonies are good.

“White flight” from inner-cities is bad. White migration to inner-cities (aka “gentrification”) is bad.

Diversity strengthens us by bringing in different viewpoints. Adopting diverse viewpoints is “cultural appropriation.”

The Constitution is a living document. The Supreme Court’s “Roe v Wade” decision is carved in stone.

Raising the cost of cigarettes will discourage people from smoking. Raising the cost of employing workers will not discourage businesses from hiring.

Slavery – an economic system in which people can arbitrarily demand others’ time, labor, and produce – is bad. Social Justice – a philosophy that holds that “the oppressed” can arbitrarily demand others’ time, labor, and produce – is good.

Monopoly by corporations – which must satisfy their customers to survive – is bad. Monopoly by government – which can use deadly force to survive – is good.

There are no absolute truths. Absolutely.

And that is only the Original Post over at Ricochet.com. Behind a paywall, so here is a selection of the additional Member Comments.

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There are no s***hole countries. It’s cruel to send ~~illegal aliens~~ undocumented immigrants home because their countries are s***holes.

Government should get out of our bedrooms. Government must pay for our birth control.

Whites are evil, Western Civilization is evil, corporations are evil, police officers are evil, the right is evil. Conservatives are so judgmental.

A house a block from my apartment has two signs in the front window. One reads “Hate has No Home Here.” The other reads “Impeach Trump.”

A Post for Jerusalem Day

And what is “Jerusalem Day“, you ask? It is a holiday in the State of Israel, celebrating the 51st anniversary of the Jewish Liberation of Jerusalem, uniting it as one city, the GREATEST City, in the State of Israel. And our President Donald Trump has given the Jewish people of Israel another great gift this year-the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, deciding to finally move the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

In 2007, my husband and I went on a trip to Israel with Michael Medved and his family, where we toured most of the country. Aside from the very hot weather in July, the trip was wonderful, and very enlightening. Here are some of the pictures I took on that trip.

The Western (or Wailing) Wall, a remnant of the Second Temple, destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE.

A street in the Armenian Quarter of Old City Jerusalem. There are many of these back streets, not normally visited by tourists, that really have character.

The view from the Old City Wall. Can you see the cat?

The Jaffa Gate.

The view from our hotel room.

And here are a couple of pictures from other places we visited in Israel.

Just looking at this painted garage door in Safed makes me smile. It’s a Klezmer band.

Walls, Masada — Walls and room, Masada, Israel

We spent an afternoon walking through the ruins at Masada, where a band of Jewish fighters and their families committed suicide rather than be conquered by the Romans. All through our existence, over 4,000 years, we Jews have had to fight for our freedom-for our very existence.

This Jerusalem Day celebrates a huge victory for Jewish Freedom.

**But this victory will not be final until the Muslims are forced to relinquish their immoral control over the Temple Mount. This was a major error, and needs to be rectified now, and not later.

This Used to be My City..Welcome to 21st Century Seattle

I have lived in Everett, 20 miles north of Seattle, for eighteen years. Each passing year makes me happier that I moved out of Seattle. There are constantly stories in the local media demonstrating how the cost of living in Seattle has increased so much it is pricing residents out. People who live in Seattle most of their lives cannot afford to live there when they retire. The median price of a house in Seattle is approaching a Million Dollars. Average rents on apartments in the city are over $1,000 per month, and going higher. The city has such a large population that it basically runs the state. Things Seattle wants are imposed upon the entire state, or on Western Washington. Sound Transit III has imposed new property taxes, sales taxes, and car-tab taxes on most of the surrounding area, when the “choo-choo-train” won’t reach out of Seattle for many years. I especially resent having to pay for something that I will NEVER use, ever. But that train is already killing people!

Then, there’s the crime problem, and the “homeless crisis”. Many neighborhoods in Seattle, and even cemeteries, are being overrun with homeless encampments. Those eyesores leave behind used needles and other drug paraphernalia, and piles of garbage and human excrement. “Community Fed Up as Homeless Campers Turn Cemetery Into Dumping Ground” appeared in the local press today. The city has approved homeless people living in their cars and RVs around the city, and that too brings crime and drugs into neighborhoods. And the Seattle Police have stopped responding to property crimes, just telling residents who are burglarized to submit their claims online. That is sick.

Speaking of drugs, nearly two years ago, Seattle and King County approved the establishment of so-called “Safe Injection Sites”, where users of (illegal) injectable drugs could come and shoot-up under the supervision of licensed medical personnel. Just imagine, legal, illegal Heroin Dens, right in Seattle for the convenience of junkies everywhere! By the way, community residents attempted to get a ballot measure approved, so the residents of Seattle and surrounding areas could have a say in this matter, and a judge determined that the People had NO SAY in whether there might be an addict-attractor in their neighborhood! Apparently, those who live in Seattle have been deemed not competent to run their own locality. Since, at last count, heroin remains a federal ILLEGAL DRUG, and opening a legalized heroin den would be subject to Federal law-enforcement, once a heroin den opens, lawsuits are sure to follow. Per a local TV station, the city still has not decided on a location for their site, and some council members are getting antsy. Hey, I have a great idea-how about locating the first one in Councilwoman Debora Juarez’s neighborhood! She’s so keen on it, she should be able to watch it work.

Next week is the last week of April, and you know what that means. May Day. Seattle, each year, is the home of large May Day “demonstrations” and “protests”, which are, in reality, riots. Downtown Seattle merchants are forced to hire increased security, and sometimes board up their windows, to guard against the near-certain destruction by the known “Antifa” thugs. And the Seattle Police stand by and let it happen. Cars and businesses are trashed, at owners’ expense, so the anarchists can demonstrate their power.

Seattle is the home of Amazon.com, and the City Council just can’t stop coveting their wealth. The latest bright idea thought up by the social justice warriors that govern (?) the city is a “head tax” to be levied on employees of the largest companies with employees in the city. They want to collect a tax PER HOUR for every employee of a company making more than $20 million. You know this is aimed directly at Amazon. They say that the tax is expected to bring in up to $75 million a year, to be used for the homeless crisis. Obviously, the City Clowncil has never heard of the law of economics that says the whatever you tax, you get LESS of. They just think that companies will sit still and let themselves be taxed for the Privilege of locating in Seattle. I wonder how the people who run Russell Investments and Weyerhaeuser, who just moved their offices into Seattle, will like this big new tax on their employees?

This is no longer my city.

Whirlwind Trip to Colorado, Hillsdale National Leadership Seminar

Last week, RB49 and Hubby flew to Denver for a Hillsdale College National Leadership Seminar. I usually have an aisle seat on an airplane, but this time I had the window seat, and I saw some beautiful scenery below.

We picked up the rental SUV, and drove south to the city of Colorado Springs, where we found the Broadmoor Resort, a very old, and very beautiful, hotel at the foot of the Rocky Mountains. We barely had time to get settled in our beautiful room, before it was time to attend the President’s Club reception. Here’s the view from our room.

At the reception, we met up with some people we already knew from Ricochet, one couple who live in Colorado Springs, and a woman from Texas (yes, Hillsdale has supporters all over this country). We went in to dinner, and had a very nice meal. Tuesday’s dinner was Frank Luntz, a well-known pollster, who told us that he became a conservative gradually, while learning about what motivates the people he polled over the years. His theme was “how to speak about conservatism”, and he emphasized some of the points I have been saying over the years (you can’t convert liberals by arguing with them-you need to appeal to their emotions). Here’s one of the many slides he showed about better terms to use in your conversations.

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After that dinner, Hubby and I went on a little walking tour of the building. The Broadmoor has dozens of original paintings and sculptures by Western artists, accumulated over the more than 100-year history of the property.

In a dimly-lighted lounge, I spotted this cleverly-designed footstool. Very cute!

Can you tell that he’s a turtle?

We fell into bed, exhausted from our busy day. The room was sumptuous by our standards, and very comfortable and quiet, even though it was just across the hall from the elevator.

The next day, after continental breakfast, there were more speakers, including Sharyl Atkisson, a rather famous journalist (whose computer was compromised by Obama stooges), and Mollie Hemingway. Both ladies had very interesting stories to tell. Mollie used to be an editor at Ricochet, before she went to The Federalist.

After a nice lunch and one more speaker, the conference adjourned. We had a bit of time before we had to head back to Denver for our 8:00PM flight, so we went to the hotel bar for a quick drink. The main building is across a small lake, and I got to capture some of the beauty of the resort on the way over.

Once we arrived at the hotel bar and ordered our drinks, I had the opportunity to pay more attention to the inside of the bar. Very beautiful! This picture must have been of some patrons from the Robber Baron days of the late 19th Century. I didn’t find out who they all were.

After our nice drink, it was time for us to head home. As is my normal, I pay attention to architectural detail wherever I am! Here are some creatures who saw us off from the main entrance.

We made it back to the airport in time, dropped off the rental car, and boarded our plane. It was a very rushed trip, but certainly productive. The venue was gorgeous, speakers were fascinating, and our friends warm. What more could a person ask for?

International Women’s Day, NOT celebrated here

And here’s why, from Wikipedia:

International Women’s Day (IWD) is celebrated on March 8 every year.^[3] It commemorates the movement for women’s rights.^{[citation needed]}

March 8 was suggested by the 1910 International Socialist Woman’s Conference to become an “International Woman’s Day.” After women gained suffrage in Soviet Russia in 1917, March 8 became a national holiday there. The day was then predominantly celebrated by the socialist movement and communist countries until it was adopted in 1975 by the United Nations.

Sorry, but Calling-all-RushBabes does not celebrate Soviet, Socialist holidays.

One more thing..take a look at the woman in my Featured Image in the head-to-toe burqa. Do you think her husband celebrates her? NO-she does not leave the house unless covered! Oppression, it looks like.

Every Picture Tells a Story

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Each element of this picture tells a bit of my story. From the sign on the left of this shelf, you can see that this is above my desk at work. People who come over know at a glance that I am available to help them with their issue. To the right of that sign (sorry for the ribbon in the way!) is a picture of my husband and me at our wedding reception, in 2003. Front and center is the vase of pretty flowers my husband sent me for our anniversary last year. Those flowers stayed right there until they were simply husks. It just made me so happy to look at them, and know my hubby was thinking of me.

To the right, and behind, are some awards I have earned from my professional association, the Institute of Supply Management, Western Washington Chapter. Two are clear glass on stands, and one is a piece of incised granite. In front of those is the cute pewter cat business-card holder I found a few years ago and that follows me to whatever my job is. And I’ll give a special prize to whomever can identify the item with the white base and power cord to the left of the cat. This picture just tells so much of my jumbled-up story!

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/photo-challenges/story/

Calling-all-RushBabes

A Conservative Oasis in a Desert of Liberalism

Category: History

Instant Happiness

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By Permission of a Ricochet friend, “Progressive Thought”

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A Post for Jerusalem Day

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This Used to be My City..Welcome to 21st Century Seattle

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Whirlwind Trip to Colorado, Hillsdale National Leadership Seminar

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International Women’s Day, NOT celebrated here

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Every Picture Tells a Story

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