Headlines

Before I get on with the headlines of the past couple of days, I want to mention that Cox Cable did it again. For people who "bundle," the whole system went down at noon today - a cloud went over.  We were without cable, internet and phones for nine hours.  About once a week for the past three weeks, the system has failed, either in part or completely, for varying lengths of time. This is unacceptable, particularly since it made me miss Jeopardy! and NCIS and NCIS Los Angeles.

Windstream, I think I'm coming back to you.

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Now, for the headlines: 

"Ohioans repealed the law limiting union rights."   Power to the people!

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"Polls show voters believe GOP is intentionally stalling the economy."  What was their first clue?

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"Not all Republicans rally around Herman Cain."  Republicans can't agree to rally around anyone. 

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"Schumer predicts Super Committee will fail."  Is he a slow study or what? 

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Michele Bachmann suggests Mitt Romney is 'Frugal Socialist'."  Define "Socialist."  Define "Frugal."  Define "Batshit crazy." 

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"Dr. Conrad Murray found guilty in the Michael Jackson's trial."  And yet, Michael is still dead. 

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"Sharon Bialek accuses Cain of sexually inappropriate behavior."  Four accusations, four denials, and counting. 

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The Duggars are expecting their 20th child.   They make rabbits jealous.

Stay tuned.

The Duggar Invasion

The Duggar Family Traveling Circus and Salvation Show came to Harrison today - all 21 of them. Rumor has it, when the manager of Western Sizzlin' heard about it, his blood ran cold. Then, he rushed outside and removed the "Bus Parking" signs.

There was a pretty good crowd. The Mayor, the head of the Chamber of Commerce, the High School marching band and Cheerleaders greeted them at a rally on the square. The Harrison stop was part of a tour to promote a movie called "Courageous", in which some of the family appeared as bit players. The movie was shown in our local "historic" theater tonight as what was advertised as a "Pre-release Movie Event." I can't tell you what it was all about because I didn't attend, but I'm sure I can safely report a big attendance.

The Duggars travel with their very own personal pastor, who prayed over the crowd and led the Duggars in singing hymns. You could also buy a signed copy of Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar's latest book, predictably entitled "A Love That Multiplies". They can say that again.

What a perfect lead-in to this weekend's Annual Crawdad Days Festival to be held on the banks of Lake Harrison, starting with carnival rides Wednesday Night, and continuing throughout the weekend with all kinds of, er, entertainment, such as clogging, live music and a crawdad eating contest, among other fun times. The Duggars couldn't have picked a better time to appear.

Stay tuned.

And Baby Makes 18 !?!?!

Ye, Gods, they’ve been at it, again. The Duggars are expecting their 18th baby on New Year’s Day – or thereabouts. If I were his wife, I’d have soldered all his zippers shut 15 babies ago. But, that’s just me.

They made the papers, again, on Mother’s Day, when they went, en masse, to the buffet at the Peabody Hotel in Little Rock. It reportedly set them (or someone) back over $500. Try to imagine looking up from your meal and seeing two parents and 17 kids storming the buffet tables. I feel an anxiety attack coming on.

You remember Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar. They live in Tontitown, Arkansas, located in the Northwest part of the state, not far from Springdale and Fayetteville. He served in the Arkansas House of Representatives in 1999. He ran for the U.S. Senate in 2002 and lost to Tim Hutchinson. Then, ran for the Arkansas State Senate in 2006 and lost.

They are Conservative Baptists who endorse the teachings of Bill Gothard, who claims to have dedicated his life to helping teenagers and their parents. Gothard is relatively unknown outside his gilded realm. He rarely speaks to the press and photos of him are hard to find. He heads an Institute in Basic Life Principals, generally thought of as a cult, which teaches, among other things, “married believers should eschew birth control and have as many children as possible.” Easy for him to say. He is unmarried and has no children.

To give you a sense of what he’s about, a few years ago, Gothard tried to get Cabbage Patch Kids off the market because he claimed that they were “causing strange and destructive behavior in children that could be alleviated when the dolls were removed or destroyed”. If you want to know whatever there is to know about him and his cult, you can Google him. There are several articles, and one of them even connects him to our former Governor and Presidential candidate, Mike Huckabee. But, back to the Duggars.

Duggar has not been specific when asked how he supports such a big family other than a vague reference to real estate, but says that he and his wife live debt free, “the fruit of a financial freedom seminar” he attended about 20 years ago. This seminar was sponsored by Gothard, and taught by Jim Sammons. Its purpose is to help people understand what the Bible teaches about money. I suspect that Duggar is on Gothard’s payroll, somehow, maybe as a “recruiter” of some kind. As always, I could be wrong.

The Duggars live in a 7,000 square foot house that they claim was built by family members and friends, and carries no mortgage. Michelle has been pregnant for 135 months (that’s eleven years) of her life. She estimates that they use 90,000 diapers per year and does 200 loads of laundry per month. She says they feed the brood for less than $2,000.00 per month.

She says that they will keep on having children as long as God wills it. They have had a baby about every 18 months, on average. She’s only 41 years old, so God still has plenty of time to work His will. Let’s see, it seems to me that not very long ago a 63 year old woman had a baby. If Michelle lasts that long, she could have…….you do the math. I can’t stand to think about it.

All the children have names that start with the letter “J” and they are home-schooled. Of course they are. I’ll bet some of them are barefoot, too. Can you imagine what it costs just to keep them in shoes? Wouldn’t you love to be the youngest, wearing hand-me-downs from 16 older siblings? Would anything match?

Imagine, for a moment, if you can, bedtime in the Duggar household. “‘Nite, James. ‘Nite, Jana. ‘Nite, John-David. ‘Nite, Jill. ‘Nite, Jessa Lauren. ‘Nite, Jinger Nicole. ‘Nite, Joseph Garrett. ‘Nite, Josiah Matthew. “Nite, Joy-Anna. ‘Nite, Jeremiah Robert. ‘Nite, Jedidiah Robert. ‘Nite, Jason Michael. ‘Nite, James Andrew. ‘Nite, Justin Samuel. ‘Nite, Jackson Levi. ‘Nite, Johannah Faith. ‘ Nite, Jennifer Danielle.

I’ll bet even the Pope would be appalled.