Sweet Tea Anyone?

You can always tell when you're in the South when you ask a waitress for iced tea, and she replies "Sweet or unsweet". Yep, that's a sure fire indication that you're in the South. And you're in the Deep South when she uses words like "honey", "sugar", and "darlin'" while talking to you. Conversely, you can tell when you're NOT in the South when you ask for sweet tea, and they look at you funny or say something like "well, we have sugar and sweetener on the table". How sad. You can also tell you're in the South when beverage refills are free. Well, except for adult beverages. I know a man who was raised in New York City and was visiting places down South. He tried sweet tea and LOVED it. In fact, he downed a glass before his food arrived. When he asked how much the refills were, the waitress asked "Honey, you're in the South and down here, there is no charge for refills". He was ecstatic! In fact, he ended up moving down South. Here's my favorite sweet tea recipe. 3 Family sized tea bags or 9 regular sized tea bags a pinch baking soda* (about 1/4 teaspoon) 3/4 to 4/5 cups of raw sugar 1 gallon pitcher Bring 3-4 cups of water to a boil. Add tea bags and remove from heat and cover. Allow to sit for at least 10-15 minutes. Add baking soda and sugar to pitcher. Pour tea into gallon pitcher. Fill remaining gallon pitcher with tap water. Refrigerate. *The soda takes out the bitterness and darkens the tea....this small amount doesnt change the taste.

Will Someone Please Take Away Obama's Credit Card??!!!

"The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office last week predicted that the Obama budget would produce deficits averaging nearly $1 trillion over the next decade." $10 trillion and counting. That's 10,000,000,000,000. Thirteen zeros. That's also the amount of all the mortgages held in this country, good and bad. Since Obama isn't buying up the good ones (which are 9 out of 10), what's he doing with the other $9,000,000,000,000? "After 2015, the blue chip forecast is a little brighter than the administration’s." Gee, that's AFTER Obama leaves office (assuming he's re-elected in 2012). Ironic that the picture gets rosy after he leaves.

Prosperity Preachers & Being Careful What You Pray

We often hear that God said of David that "he was a man after my heart". But what do you know about Josiah? Well, look at what God said about him. 2 Kings 23:25 Before him there was no king like him, who turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses, nor did any like him arise after him. Wow! There was NO king like Josiah who turned to the Lord, not even David. So, you'd think everything would be hunky dory right? Wellllllllllll, look at the next two verses: 26 Still the Lord did not turn from the burning of his great wrath, by which his anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked him. 27 And the Lord said, “I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and I will cast off this city that I have chosen, Jerusalem, and the house of which I said, My name shall be there.” Wait a minute - aren't only good things supposed to happen to those who love God? The preacher on TV says so. Well, good things do happen to those who love God, but not always in the here and now. Josiah was good enough to be a notch above David in the pursuit of God, but it did not prevent bad things from happening to his kingdom just 12 years after his death. Since Josiah died at a young age, many of his fellow believers were no doubt subjected to the pain, torture, and sorrow that was to come. Yes, God's wrath was carried out on EVERYONE - believers and unbelievers alike. The conquerors didn't care. That's something the Prosperity Preachers seem to forget ( or ignore). Think about that the next time you're pondering, or even praying for, God's judgement on our nation for turning away from Him.

Liar, liar: Statements I think Congressmen would make if they were honest

Did you ever see the movie "Liar, Liar"? It's where the character played by Jim Carrey is put under a 'curse' - one where he cannot tell a lie. If our Congressmen were put under such a 'curse', I bet these are some things they'd say.

• "I rarely understand any of the spending bills I vote on. In fact, I don't read most of them. Instead, I rely on staffers to tell me what each bill says."
• "I don't allow staffers to tell me HOW to vote - that's for the lobbyists."
• "Congress holds hearings to cover up our own mistakes, hoping the public won't notice. Most of the time, it works."
• "We see televised hearings and press conferences as free advertising for our re-election. Without the cameras, we wouldn't show up."
• "If you call or visit my D.C. office and are told that I'm in a committee meeting, that's code for 'He's meeting with lobbyists.' If you're told that I'm working on important legislation, that's code for 'He's meeting with lobbyists in Jamaica.'"
• "It's a rule: we have to take a whole week off for every one day national holiday. We also get a whole month for two consecutive holidays."
• "We really, really, really don't like facing the voters back home. We'd rather be golfing with lobbyists. That's why you don't see us very much once we go off to Washington."
• "We sincerely believe lobbyists represent the needs of our constituents. Even if I represent Texas and the lobbyist is representing Inuits, I still believe that."
• "After a few years, we forget that most Americans cannot give themselves pay raises and benefits like we can."
• "99.999% of Americans would be fired for missing as much work as we do."
• "I spend more time raising money than I do reading legislation."
• "I know more lobbyists than I do constituents."
• "Lobbyists who call on me get my personal attention. That's why I can't be bothered with meeting you."
• "Most the the current economic mess was caused by too much meddling by government, not by too little. But we believe that by convincing the public otherwise is job security for us."
• "We can't be bothered with solving those problems. That's why we create government agencies."
• "Most Congressmen think they are smarter than their constituents."
• "Even though the average Congressman makes more money than 98% of Americans, we don't include ourselves in the category of 'rich'. That's for everyone making more than we do."
• "Most government agencies would fail if they were private businesses."
• "News of government waste kills our chances for re-election. That is why we work feverishly to find some corporate wrongdoing to distract voters."
• "Corporate wrongdoings pale in comparison to government waste."
• "We want government involved in YOUR lives, not OURS."
• "I really believe the country would fall apart overnight if I was defeated in the next election."

Did the Shuttle have a Stowaway?

It appears the space shuttle may have had a stowaway during this week's launch. Pictures show a freetail bat hanging onto the external fuel tank for dear life at liftoff. Its ride was probably short-lived as cameras lost sight of it shortly after liftoff. But the bat's chances for survival appear grim even if it did release its grip before the shuttle rose too far. My guess is it would've been cooked before it hit the ground.

Pelosi calls Illegal Immigrants "Patriotic"

In a speech given to legal and illegal immigrants, San Fran Nan said "You are special people. You're here on a Saturday night to take responsibility for our country's future. That makes you very, very patriotic." Yes, she knew she was speaking to illegal immigrants because her speech was actually condeming workplace raids by ICE. Speaking of those raids, which most Americans support as the primary means of cracking down on illegal immigration, she said "We have to have a change in policy and practice and again ... I can't say enough, the raids must end. The raids must end." Keep in mind that Pelosi is also against the border fence. So if we can't strengthen our border and we can't raid employers, just how do we solve the illegal immigration mess? I guess Pelosi wants us to just legalize them all and "poof" problem solved - no more "illegal" immigration.

Chutzpah

chutz·pah: supreme self-confidence : nerve , gall. In Hebrew, chutzpah is used indignantly, to describe someone who has over-stepped the boundaries of accepted behavior with no shame. In America in 2009, it could be used to define Senator Chris Dodd of Connecticut. Last week, the good senator jumped on the Outraged at AIG Bonuses bandwagon and announced the government should move to impose a 100% income tax on those bonuses. Not a bad idea considering that AIG has received tens of billions of taxpayer dollars in an effort to stay afloat (which still seems questionable) and decided to pay a couple hundred million in executive bonuses. So where's the chutzpah? Well, just last month, Dodd blocked efforts to to keep bailout money from being used to pay bonuses. That's right - the Senator who is now all hot and bothered by the bonuses had no problem protecting those same bonuses last month. Or last fall, when the bailouts were being rushed through Congress with little discussion. Now, Sen. Dodd is claiming he did no such thing when he included an amendment to last month's bailout bill to protect bonuses; however, he stopped short of claiming someone forged his name, which is what he might as well do. Sen. Dodd was AIG's largest recipient of campaign cash in 2008 (yes, while AIG was going under and clamoring for a bailout, it was also giving away money to Congress). And one of AIG's largest offices is in Connecticut. Some coincidence? Oh, and this would be the same Sen. Dodd who deflected attempts to investigate the mortgage giant, Countrywide before its implosion. That would be the Countrywide that gave Sen. Dodd a sweatheart mortgage not available to most people. What does all this mean for Dodd? Well, for one, his hometown newspaper is saying his 2010 re-election bid is waning. But I bet that New England liberals will once again overcome their misgivings toward another corrupt politician and send the man back to Washington. After all, liberals love class warfare, and Dodd is sure to give them plenty of "turn on your fellow American" warfare before the election.

Why "The Reflux"?

Okay. I know "The Reflux" is probably not the name most people would choose to name their blog. I personally like the name for two reasons: most people have reflux and most people don't have a blog; therefore, most people would not choose this name because they don't blog. Get it?

Now I realize that the word "reflux" brings up thoughts of heartburn, regurgitation, and antacids. Since I'm blogging about all sorts of things, from politics to religion to family, and even dining out, I figured "reflux" fit pretty well. After all, some of those topics are likely to cause heartburn, and I will be "regurgitating" events that have happened, and I do take antacids from time to time. So there you have it - The Reflux. Besides, the name and web address were both available.

So check back from time-to-time to see what's been posted. If you like, you can receive an email when new postings are made.

(Truthfully, I was struggling to come up with a name when the dog belched. There you have it. Real creative.)