TOP TEN: 2010!

Fellow Villagers:

Remember when we used to belly-laugh at David Letterman's Top Ten List before we got too old to stay up that late and before his recent scoundrel escapade with sorted staff members? And how 'bout that Tiger Woods! Nine wasn't enough, so he played somewhere close to eighteen holes! (Decorum prevents me from the obvious punchline). Sponsors droppin' like flies; perhaps he can pick a new sponsor: Tiagra! Perhaps Mr. Woods could find opportunity in China, it, after all, is ,the Year of the Tiger over there. Although, I think it would be wise for him to avoid restaurants, Chinese or otherwise. Maybe we should send the soon-to-be former Mrs. Woods to DC and make her the Czar of Pig Patrol. She could speak softly and carry a driver to help eradicate pigs!

And ladies, who among us can ever erase the indelible tattoo of Bo Derek jogging near naked, in slow motion, on the beach in the movie "TEN" that sticks in our husbands' minds. What was up with those hair beads and feathers and Ravel's Bolero? Hollywood created the feeling of instant inadequacy in us regular girls with that flick!

Then there was that once famous country music star, David Allen Coe, a renegade and round-about known for very rowdy concerts, who sung to sold out crowds and lamented he once was so mad he "could eat a Ten penny nail and spit out a barbed wire fence". I remember nearly being arrested at one of his concerts in North Carolina because I needed to visit the bathroom and dared to try to walk up the aisle during the performance. My friend and I were escorted back to our seats and told to stay there until the concert ended. The badges on the sheriffs glistened in the bank of the stage lights, so we crossed our legs, tightly, and toughed it out. Our back teeth were about to float, but we made it without incident and eventually got back home to our scholastic residence in Virginia.

The TEN Commandments! Poor ol' Charlton Heston, wherever his soul resides, must be grateful that Alzheimer's claimed his memory and his life so even if he did witness all this hullabaloo over displaying the TEN Commandments, he wouldn't remember it. 'Course, if you grew up like me, you know we had the TEN Commandments memorized by First grade and occasionally abandoned one or two of them in the TENTH grade. (Yes, I went to prep school and even college(s). Just didn't get that TEN Commandments thing nailed back down until a few bumps and spills later.) At the Mount Calvary Baptist Church, where my dear departed nanny attended every Sunday with a big, loud hat, they used to say,"Now, Child, Remember, 'Moses Knowses' and he's good friends with God!". Used to scare the daylights out of us young, white kids. Oh, in case you forgot, the TENTH Commandment forbidds coveting your neighbor's house, wife, male servant, female servant, ox, donkey, new carpeting, lawn mower, BBQ pit, potholders, secret family recipes, health insurance and so forth. In short, don't leer wantingly at anything you don't have. Could be important as many are already doing with less than others.

Be glad your babies came out with all TEN toes and TEN fingers. And nevermind that awful chainsaw accident, at least they started out in tact.

The TENTH state to join the Union was Vermont. The TENTH President of The United States was William Henry Harrison. The TEN dollar bill features Alexander Hamilton. Next time you need to break a twenty, ask for two Lincolns and a Hamilton and watch the confused expression on your young, pubescent server's face.

And now today, in 2010 what's even scarier is the battle over our Constitutional rights. Of particular note, the TENTH Amendment, which declares that:

“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people”.

With over 30 States affirming their rights under the 10th Amendment, the original intent of which was to limit the size and power of the Federal government (AKA Feral Guvmint), a showdown is brewing between the Fed and the States and the People. While a few “Rino” scallywags debate whether it is constitutional for one State, Nebraska via Senator Nelson, to receive a disproportionate “share” of the Feral Guvmint’s “largesse”, AKA taxpayer debt, a much broader question looms large!

Does the Feral Guvmint have the authority to force sovereign citizens to buy anything but of immediate great importance, health insurance?

From the August Senator’s website biography it states:

“As a young man at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln, Ben Nelson spent his Sundays serving as a lay minister to rural Nebraska congregations. Foreshadowing his future in public service, Nelson chose law school over the ministry. He earned a bachelor’s degree in 1963, a master’s degree in 1965 and a law degree from the University of Nebraska in 1970.

Following his time as a student, Nelson enjoyed a successful career in insurance law. He served as CEO of the Central National Insurance Group, as chief of staff and executive vice president of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, and as director of the Nebraska Department of Insurance.”

Now that’s where the rubber meets the road, another attorney turned “Law-Maker” representing the insurance cartel plucking the low hanging fruit of political cronyism. Maybe just another case of political “Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered”.

Any wonder why we are seeing more bumper stickers advocating Secession messages in plain view of the apparent rapid elimination of our rights? Think about it.

Honestly, I am happy to wave goodbye to 2009. It was not a good year on many levels, both personally and nationally. But I have high hopes for 2010. It may get worse before it gets better but at least we know what we're made of and can pull through. 2009 was about bad luck and mistaken ideals. Think about ol' Moses and everything he endured! He treked up the mountain for that stone tablet and then dropped it. Who knows, maybe there were thirteen Commandments and they were edited out! He survived that bizarre Burning 'Bush' thing, (so did we), His staff turned into a snake, (Hello Congress!) and he had to deal with that terrible Red Sea. Is it safe to say we can hear the waves of our own Red Sea in the not-too-distant future? Tune up your Jet-Ski friends, its gonna be a bumpy ride!

Perhaps Obama was unintentionally right. We do need CHANGE, and not the Lincoln or Hamilton kind, sadly that is becoming almost worthless as well. It is my personal view that his call for "change we can believe in" may come back to bite him, in the end, so to speak, because many folks indeed want things to change, but believe it will have to start with a deep house cleaning project/movement in Washington, DC. and a stiff drink with the backbone of our Constitutional rights.

So, here's to you all. Have a Happy New Year! Be safe and sound. Love your family and remember your neighbors, you never know when we might need each other. And if you find yourself frustrated, red-faced and angry and out of patience with the whole thing, do as my Treasured Mother says," Sit down and count to TEN". Keep your ears to the ground. The 10th Amendment is rumored to be the Big Issue in 2010 and the rumbling has already begun, particularly if that lawsuit goes foward in South Carolina.

Ugh! my Treasured Mother is right! I gotta sit down and count to 10! I inTENdto stay positive.

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