PJ Maximum - The Uber-Conservative

Socialist “Bailout” Could Spark Collapse

2008-09-30T10:34:00.004-04:00

Came across an accurate assessment here, concerning the bailout scheme.

A few highlights of the article-

While many of the talking heads and pundits on TV have been providing calming words of reassurance about proposed federal intervention in the financial system, analyst Peter Schiff of Euro Pacific Capital has been accurately warning for years about a financial meltdown and says that the worst, if Congress eventually passes the “bailout” bill, is yet to come.

Asked for comment on current media coverage of the financial meltdown, he told Accuracy in Media, “Absent when they have me on, it’s pretty bad.”

Many commentators, Schiff said, are telling people that if the bailout doesn’t go forward, there will be an economic crisis. However, “if we do it, there will be a bigger crisis,” he predicts.

Schiff had shocking advice for ordinary Americans.

“The first thing you do if you have a mortgage is you stop making the payments,” he said. “That’s the number one thing for people who have mortgages based on this plan. And use that money to buy gold or stock up on food. You’re going to need it. Meanwhile, no one is going to kick you out of your house. You’re going to be able to live in your house for probably a year or two before the government calls you up to give you a lower mortgage because nobody is going to foreclose on you right now. Why would you foreclose? You sell the loan to the government. This plan is a huge moral hazard and it’s going to lead to a surge in mortgage delinquencies.”

Schiff, who labels the proposed government takeover of the financial sector as socialism and refers to the Federal Reserve Board chairman as “Comrade Bernanke,” told AIM, “The government doesn’t have the authority to do any of this stuff. This whole bailout bill is illegal. They don’t have the authority to buy up mortgages. Nothing in the Constitution says they can do this.”

“Who needs Bolsheviks when you have the Fed?” he has written.

The author of “Crash Proof: How to Profit from the Coming Economic Collapse,” Schiff said that “The government doesn’t solve problems. It makes them bigger. So if we’re broke, which is the reality―that’s why these mortgages are not worth much because Americans can’t afford to pay the money back that they borrowed―the bottom line is we’ve borrowed and spent ourselves into bankruptcy following the government’s advice. They’re the ones that encouraged all this reckless borrowing and spending.”

Fast track to fascism?

Sunday Chillin'

2008-09-28T17:46:00.001-04:00

Sunday, that one day a week that I just chill out...

I stop worrying about work, appointments, eating healthy, exercise, bills, the disgusting and only slightly less disgusting. All of the bs will still be here tomorrow, no?

So, come away with me, if so inclined.

A nature walk always clears my mind, camera in tow, of course. In fact, I'll be starting a photography blog really soon, where I will be sure to invite you all to come and chill with me when the mood arises, but until then, I'll share some here.

The following is a small collection of nature photographs, all taken in North Carolina (this past summer for the most part), for several projects that working on, really rocked.

I'm off to eat my weight in tacos then grab the camera and head out to see what's buzzing (if I can still move).

Enjoy the day!

North Carolina is So HOT...

2008-09-27T15:46:00.003-04:00

Well, "How hot is it?!", you ask?

It's pretty danged hot, complete with Saturday linky-love action. Yeah, baby. ;)

In celebration of making the cut in the Babes of the 50 States over at SYLG, representing my state of North Carolina (and conservative babes in general, no doubt) where there are just so many hot babes across the land to choose from, I present more photographic and babelicious evidence.

Oh wait, that's not it. That's pre-hotness preparation...the part babes like to hide and pretend never happened. Heh.

Here we go...

Relax.... You're getting very sleepy... Look deeply into my eyes....

Now stop voting for moonbats!

And if that doesn't convince, try the evil conservative gypsy on for size.

But what does it really mean to be a North Carolina babe?

NASCAR, bikinis, flannel and flora... Obviously.

I know, you're scrolling for the bikini shot right now, since I mentioned it. Sorry, no such luck.

That's the evil conservative in me right there. ;)

We now return to our regularly scheduled intelligent conversations on topics that matter, like feminism and sin.

OR, you could just go visit the wise InsolubBlog and check out The Leaking Baloon,Wyatt Earp's to read More Wisdom From Philadelphia Politicians, The CUG's place to see just how screwed we really are, get answers to all your questions via Vox (or be entertained at the very least), be more smarter by visiting Woody's Place, stop thinking about it and go to The Right Place, snicker with the amazing Spacemonkey, Tell Tommy exactly who is in charge here, check out some All-American Hunks over at RT's Public Ponderings, get some Radioactive Liberty (yeah, you know you want it!), Peakah's place for your hilarity, Nobody Move! for a bit of sad news, The McPeak Mama for yummy eats and tasty treats (dimples on side bar sure to melt the coldest evil conservative's heart even should the treats fail), and speaking of eats, Frank J. offers the cheese(resisting "cutting cheese" puns!), watch Stew kick ass and take names later, Lin takes David Letterman to task (was he EVER funny??) and where is Dr. Phat Tony? Promises, promises..

As always, if I missed anyone.. Just whine in comments!

Hope everyone is enjoying the weekend and thanks for visiting PJ Max!

Will the Real Voter Fraud Please Stand Up?

2008-09-26T22:30:00.000-04:00

*Updated Information Follows Original Post*

Blogs For Victory bring us-

Voter Fraud Groups Gear Up For Election Day Shennanigans

Oddly enough, the headline here is, “Watchdogs Gird for Election Day Troubles” - which means that the author is either amazingly ignorant of voter fraud in the United States, or a mere shill for the left:

These people will be around to gather bogus stories of disenfranchisement and, as necessary, file suits to keep polls open long enough for Democrats to find out how many more votes they need to tip a State’s electoral votes to Obama.

As has been truly said, they can’t cheat if we don’t allow it to be close - in 2004, we managed to wrack up several million more votes than the Democrats and that made it impossible for them to manufacture enough votes to take the election. If the 2008 result boils down to a few thousand votes in one or more States, then this effort will go gangbusters to muddy the waters and manufacture votes for Obama.

I recall a humorous yet still very telling clip from The Tony Snow Show in 04, in which he reported that while almost all of the noise about voter fraud was coming from left-leaning groups (just all kinds of accusations across the nation, but especially in key states), after further investigation there was almost no valid instance of voter fraud from the right at all, and a whole lot of proven instances of voter fraud from the left. The link to that report, which I linked to long ago, is now dead, but I'm still looking and will repost if it can be found. At the time, I'd also stumbled upon a second source to back up this claim, as PBS did a very thorough study themselves. Looking for that as well. Meanwhile, check out the Voter Fraud archives of Bill Hobbs.

File this one under, "Know Your Enemy!"

Oh, and speaking of fraud...

Since John D., of Nobody Move! and InsoluBlog have been so kind as to share links to more information, I'm updating and plan to gather all I find on this topic in a single post as it develops (upcoming election, it's bound to develop).

Feel free to grab a link for a post topic or drop one in the comments for me to add to our collection here.

Voter Registration Fraud Allegations Are Just the Tip of the Iceberg, Says Employment Policies Institute

The Acorn Indictments

McCain Fears Voter Fraud

Elections Officials Look Into Voter Fraud

ACORN and Voter Fraud

$100 Million More in Funding for the Left-Wing Housing Entitlement Thugs and Heavily Tax-Subsidized Fraudsters at ACORN

Vacation 08 - Take Deux - And Trois

2008-09-13T18:07:00.019-04:00

*&^% Blogger!

Vacation 08 - Take Deux - And Trois

After I spent pretty much the entire afternoon milking the last vacation for another post, Blogger went haywire and all was lost. Well, not all. Blogger turned me on to a little recovery trick.. which recovered 1/4 of the post. Woohoo. (They should be stabbed for this.)

So, instead of a super long post, complete with photos and witty commentary, you just get photos with much lighter commentary (unless it's one of me in a compromising position and I feel like I should explain a whole bunch, anyhow.) because I have a hot date with Mister Bubble and Malibu rum. Heh.

If that last line doesn't drum up the hits, nothing will.

Trying one more time..

Since I have lots of work to do today, the sun is out and it's Saturday, I decided there was no better time-

To sit indoors and blog! (I should be stabbed for that.)

I did promise to share more vacation photos, and haven't shared any at all from the New Orleans trip, so here we are. (Maybe.)

I'd never been to New Orleans and while it might not have been my first vacation choice, we did have lots of fun (plus the liberal in my life offered to cover travel expenses and accommodations if we'd go, and not only can you not beat that, it's an anomaly).

Yeah, baby! (Okay, I'm feeling much happier again, that did rock.)

I wasn't sure exactly what to expect, but it was something along the lines of "All Mardi Gras, All the Time" involving lots of drunken and even some naked people. I was wrong. (That didn't begin until 7pm each evening and ran all night long.)

It was a very interesting vacation, to say the least, but New Orleans does offer some of the best food one could hope for and I'm officially a fan of Blue Moon and even dabbled in a Hand grenade (or two). (I'd be feeling even better if a had one, or two, of those right now.)

(I don't know why I'm providing commentary to my commentary, but I'm telling me it's cured by drink). Oo

Photos- A shot of the street from the balcony of a restaurant, and our pretty room at the Ambassador, before we cluttered it all up.

One of the hotel halls, which were all designed like a mad rat maze. I guess the uber-teen photographed it so I wouldn't forget the story because I'm just that old. ;) Anyhow, I bumped into a young man in that hall who was searching for a room number (his room) which didn't appear to exist. As I was searching for the uber-teen (who was hanging out by the snack machines, talking on her cell with friends), we agreed to help one another and kept getting lost and bumping into one another again and again during the search. The uber-teen finally appeared, all freaked out "because some strange and creepy dude was wondering the halls, saying her name and looking for a room that didn't exist". haha Speaking of creepy, the second was taken from outside a shop window.

We ran into this couple on the street. I'll bet you can't guess where they were headed. :p

Of course I popped inside too, for scientifical purposes..

I found this display in the window of the "Trashy Diva" to be pretty ironic considering all of the promises to "land and keep that man via trashy corsets and lingerie". Maybe this is plan B.

The following was a charity event which involved the donning of little red dresses (and free beer). The other was an art event which involved, um,..art, I think (and free Vodka shots).

This probably should have creeped me out as much as it did the uber-teen, but I really just found it kind of amusing for some strange reason. Now, the "I heart Satan" bumper stickers, newt eyes and bat's feet inside the shop? Totally freaky stuff there. We played one stooge short of The Three Stooges getting back out that door.

Lots of art to be found about New Orleans, lots of fun to just walk around taking it all in.

The first photo was our last night on the town (poor quality, sorry, not my camera) and yes, that is a grenade in my hand, don't hurt the eyes squinting ;) The second was my last day there, out and about trying to get as many photos as I could and looking every bit like I'd been hit by a grenade (or two) the night before.

While we did enjoy ourselves quite a lot in N.O., I still say nothing quite compares to the beauty of the coast. Not even tons of booze and the prospect of a liver transplant . :)

Hope you guys enjoy the photos as much as I enjoyed taking them and have a fantastic weekend!

Creepiest Spam Ever

2008-09-12T12:16:00.002-04:00

-terrorist and monetary crimes division
FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Federal bureau of investigation
J. Edgar Hoover building
935 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, D.C. 20535-0001
Ref: FBI/DC/06/08

Attention fund beneficiary,

This is an official advice from the FBI foreign remittance/telegraphic dept., it has come to our notice that the C.B.N bank Nigeria district has released 10,500,000.00 U.S dollars into bank of America in your name as the beneficiary, by Inheritance means.

The C.B.N bank Nigeria knowing fully well that they do not have enough facilities to effect this payment from the united kingdom to your account, used what we know as a secret diplomatic transit payment S.T.D.P to pay this fund through wire transfer, they used this means to complete the payment.

They are still, waiting for confirmation from you on the already transferred funds, which was made in direct transfer so that they can do final crediting to your account. Secret diplomatic payments are not made unless the funds are related to terrorist activities why must your payment be made in secret transfer, if your transaction is legitimate, if you are not a terrorist, then why did you not receive the money directly into your account, this is a pure coded, means of payment?

Records, which we have had with, this method of payment in the past has always been related to terrorist acts, we do not want you to get into trouble as soon as these funds reflect in your account in the U.S.A, so it is our duty as a word wide commission to correct this little problem before this fund will be credited into your personal account.

Due to the increased difficulty and unnecessary scrutiny by the American authorities when funds come from outside of Europe, and the Middle East, the F.B.I bank commission for Europe has stopped the transfer on its way to deliver payment of $10,500,000.00 to debit your reserve account and pay you through a secured diplomatic transit account (S.D.T.A). We govern and oversee funds

Transfer for the World Bank and the rest of the world. We advice you contact us immediately, as the funds have been stopped and are being held in our custody, until you can be able to provide us with a diplomatic immunity seal of transfer (dist) within 3 days from the world local bank that authorize the transfer from where the funds was transferred from to certify that the funds that you are about to receive from Nigeria are antiterrorist/drug free or we shall have cause to cross and impound the payment, we shall release the funds immediately we receive this legal documents .
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We have decided to contact you directly to acquire the proper verifications and proof from you to show that you are the rightful person to receive this fund, because of the amount involve,we want to make sure is a clean and legal money you are about to receive. Be informed that the fund are now in United State in your name , but right now we have ask the bank not to release the fund to anybody that comes to them , unless we ask them to do so, because we have to carry out our investigations first before releasing the fund to you. Note that the fund is in the BANK OF AMERICA right now, but we have ask them not to credit the fund to you yet, because we need a solid proof and verifications from you before releasing the funds.

So to this regards you are to re-assure and proof to us that what you are about to receive is a clean money by sending to us FBI Identification Record and also Diplomatic Immunity Seal Of Transfer(DIST) to satisfy to us
that the money your about to receive is legitimate and real money. You are to forward the documents to us immediately if you have it in your possession, if you don?t have it let us know so that we will direct and inform you where to obtain the document and send to us so that we will ask the bank holding the funds
the Bank Of America to go ahead Crediting your account immediately.

This Documents are to be issued to you from the World Local Bank that Authorized the transfer, so get back to us immediately if you don? have the document so that we will inform you the particular place to obtain the

document in United Kingdom U.K, because we have come to realize that the fund was Authorized by H.S.B.C Bank in London.

An FBI Identification Record and Diplomatic Immunity Seal Of Transfer(DIST) often referred to as a Criminal History Record or Rap Sheet, is a listing of certain information taken from fingerprint submissions retained by the FBI in connection with arrests and, in some instances, federal employment,
naturalization, or military service.

These conditions is
Valid until 24th of July 2008 after we shall take actions on canceling the payment and then charge you for illegally moving funds out of Nigeria. Guarantee: funds will be released on confirmation of the document.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Final instruction:
60f Credit payment instruction: irrevocable credit guarantee
61e Beneficiary has full power when validation is cleared
62 Beneficiaries bank in U.S.A. can only release funds-
62 Upon confirmation from the world bank/united nations.
64 Bearers must clear bank protocol and validation request
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE: We have asked for the above documents to make available the most complete and up-to date records possible for the enhancement of public safety,welfare and security of Society while recognizing the importance of individual privacy rights.. If you fail to provide the Documents to us, we will charge you with the FBI and take our proper action against you for not proofing to us the legitimate of the fund you are about to receive.

The United States Department of Justice Order 556-73 establishes rules and regulations for the subject of an FBI Identification Record to obtain a copy of his or her own Record for review. The FBI Criminal Justice Information.

Services (CJIS) Division processes these requests to check illegal activities in U.S.A.

An individual may request a copy of his or her own FBI Identification Record for personal review or to challenge information on the Record. Other reasons an individual may request a copy of his or her own Identification Record may include international adoption or to satisfy a requirement to live or work in a foreign country or receive funds from another country (i.e.,Diplomatic Immunity Seal Of Transfer, letter of good conduct, criminal history background,etc.)

FBI Director
Robert S. Mueller, III

Yeah, riiight.

I wonder how many silly people are falling for these things and compromising their personal information, though.

Okay, Minions

2008-09-07T10:58:00.004-04:00

Someone needs to go over and inform Mister Spacemonkey that I'm unable to comment on his blog. Both Safari and Firefox fail to produce that lovely little comment box we've all come to enjoy.

Maybe it's not just me and comments have been disabled? Nah, it couldn't be...

Woe is me.

Oh yeah, how could I forget. Woody is back. Mucho happiness!

You go say hi now.

Teh Funny

2008-09-03T19:32:00.005-04:00

*Potty Mouth Alert* for those with delicate sensibilities, but for the rest of us, Stew's got the funny right here.

...6 Months Later...

2008-09-02T08:59:00.012-04:00

Snow Bunnydom sucks.

Update- I am no longer the seriously disturbed owner of a leaking home in the depressing mountains of West by God Virginia. I hate the cold and while it's a nice place to visit, being a mountain mamma kicked my @ss.

There, I said it. I'm not invincible.

While there were all sorts of problems associated with residing in this particular area (which I lived as a young teen and couldn't wait to leave interestingly enough) the final straw was health. I've an immune disorder that is not life threatening at all but seasonal in nature and aggravated by stress, and that's all I seemed to find in them there mountains. Friends in the area will just have to visit me...

....wait for it...

on the coast of North Carolina! Destination Emerald Isle, baby. I'm a beach bunny! Trust you me, you prefer photos of that to the whole mountain fiasco.

I plan to move there, open my own business, and live my vacation.

(Jes, I've been very busy these past six months.)

Other, yet no less exciting updaty stuff-

The uber-teen did run away to college. She moved into her very own appartment last May, a whole month before the 18th birthday. :( However, she's only a few hours away and the whole beach bunny thing will put me no further from her than I am now. That rocks.

It was one long summer without her, but we just returned from a lengthy vacation together (New Orleans and then Pensacola, Florida) and drove the whole way (and of course back), so were able to spend a ton of time together before taking our separate life paths. This trip was also very special because she'd never seen the ocean as we always vacationed in northern or mid-western US, and I'd promised to make that happen before she left for college.

It was a horribly stormy day, the day we left NO for the Fl beach, and any sane person would have headed home instead, but a promise is a promise..even in the rain. I'm very happy we did decide to go despite the storm, because the sky began to clear within an hour or two of arrival and it turned out to be a most beautiful day. I think it would have been worth standing in the rain in any case, and the photos of her first look at the ocean and finding a shell prove that.

The last photo actually made me cry, and as we all know, it takes a whole lot to make an evil conservative cry. She may as well have been three years old and blowing out the birthday candles there.

A few other favorite vacation photos (I plan to upload all to the photobucket account later and share the link because there are just so many, and maybe I can milk another post out of this vacation)-

Sooo pretty. > insert girly sighs here <

Hope you're all doing great and are as evil as you were when I last posted!

OMG

2008-02-23T12:38:00.003-05:00

Quicky update -

The last few weeks have been hell but I do believe I see the light at the end of the tunnel. I've been battling a leaking basement, a heating issue and slow services. You know you're in trouble when it takes weeks to even find out if high speed internet is available!

Anywho, it's been interesting and I have lots of photos to share, but unable to photo share at present as I just got internet service and haven't the required software to upload photos here. You'll just have to wait until I'm not here but there.

Be teased!

Hope y'all have a fabulous weekend!

Here (And There)

2008-02-06T22:12:00.000-05:00

Heads up! I'm going to be here and there the rest of this week, and won't have internet access, because I found a home in the exact location of those WV mountains as was desired. Right on top of those ski slopes, baby! Well, not literally on top of a ski slope, but just a few minute's drive away.

My brother is leaning toward moving close to the same area soon as well (yes, our mom is calling on a daily basis now with suitable applications of mother's guilt). He's been in South Carolina for awhile now due to work, so it'll be schweet to be able to spend lots more time with him. We've always kept in touch really well, but we've not been able to get much family time in since he ran off to live with the Army and I ran off to live with the beach (nearly eighteen years ago). Our ideas of what we'll do while there is a little different, though.

He's thinking grab a six pack and fishing poles, climbing those mountains (and God knows what else) while I'm thinking more along the lines of hiking (way different than climbing), getting terrific photos and working in tons of writing while snowed in as well as pursuing the design degree (not getting any younger here ya know). Considering the home is in an area that is difficult to navigate in winter, I'm sure I'll be happy to see him when he shows up (even if he's trying to get me to go bear hunting instead of skiing).

In short, while he envisions a mountanous getaway from the stresses of life, I envision him out there helping me shovel my driveway. Ha! Hey, he'd be a whole lot smarter if he read my blog, now wouldn't he? Mmhm.

Anyhow, this brings me to my point (yes, I do have one). Since I landed the house before it's actually time to move (I'm not moving until the uber-teen is good and ready and that's not until spring), I'm going to have to go there some to keep check on the place. So, I'm leaving in the morning to take a few things, stock up on a few things and do all those things we who enjoy electric, heat (and internet) have to do and will be away the rest of the week.

I'm totally running off to become a snow bunny, hooray!

I'll be sure to have some photos to share when I get back. Until then, I give you Fox, helping me study for a test last week.

Yeah, studying has the same effect on me.

Have a terrific rest of the week! :)

From Around The Web

2008-02-06T04:39:00.000-05:00

CNN-

"Listening to the irrational and hysterical response of conservatives to the presidential candidacy of Sen. John McCain would be laughable if it wasn't so serious.

During a debate Tuesday on CNN's "The Situation Room," conservative radio talk show host Glenn Beck said that the Republican Party has lost its soul, and McCain is indicative of that problem. He even said that if Sen. Hillary Clinton is the nominee, he will ignore McCain and cast a ballot for her.

Now, how silly is that?"

"This, folks, is bordering on the irrational."

"...vowed to destroy McCain because he doesn't carry their water on every issue. Most issues? Yes. But they require their politicians to assume a fetal position, not to have a backbone and stand up to them when needed."

"McCain is a guy who is fiercely pro-life."

"The guy is a fiscal conservative..."

"He is strong on the military and being a former Vietnam prisoner of war..."

"Folks, McCain is a pragmatic leader trying to solve a difficult situation."

Guardian Unlimited-

"Romney has consistently moved right on issues that matter to conservative activists and McCain, who prides himself on being a "maverick", has moved the other way. In 2005, his ACU score was 80%. In 2006, the last year for which ratings are available, it fell to 65%. Moreover, his McCain-Feingold campaign finance bill makes it difficult for interested non-profits to advertise such inconvenient facts during the primary or general elections.

A look at a politician's supporters can also be instructive. In California, the high-spending, socially liberal, environmentally-friendly governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has endorsed McCain. In Virginia, state delegate David Albo, author of the hated "abuser fees" that tacked thousands of dollars onto routine speeding tickets, serves on the McCain steering committee. In Florida, he was endorsed by governor Charlie Crist, whose heavy-handed approach to regulating the insurance industry has led some observers to label him a "socialist".

"...opposition to McCain makes good philosophical sense."

"McCain's conservatism is much closer to an imperialistic Toryism than Reaganism. He opposes congressman-earmarked spending because he thinks it's unseemly and undermines trust in government. More populist and libertarian-minded conservatives tend to believe trust in government is the problem."

Forbes

"Social conservatives, traditionally those voters who are pro-life and opposed to same-sex marriage, should be able to rest easy with McCain. The Arizona senator is a strict constructionist, and has promised he would appoint like-minded judges to the Supreme Court and other benches.

We’ll find out in the next few hours whether Romney’s Last Stand will work. Although many conservatives may subscribe to his rhetoric by day’s end, they may not be able to do anything about it. A McCain win could mean trouble for rallying the base, which may struggle with the choice of supporting him or of staying at home in November. I suspect, however, that by November, McCain’s team will have a number of prominent Republicans talking up his conservative record, and that--rather than open the door to the Democratic challenger--the conservatives will back McCain."

Coulter

"On the litmus test issues of our time, only partially excluding Iraq, McCain is a liberal.

-- He excoriated Samuel Alito as too "conservative."

-- He promoted amnesty for 20 million illegal immigrants.

-- He abridged citizens' free speech (in favor of the media) with McCain-Feingold.

-- He hysterically opposes waterboarding terrorists and wants to shut down Guantanamo.

Can I take a breath now?

-- He denounced the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.

-- He opposes ANWR and supports the global warming cult, even posturing with fellow mountebank Arnold Schwarzenegger in front of solar panels."

McCain uses the boilerplate language of all Republicans in saying he will appoint "strict constructionists." This is supposed to end all discussion of the courts. But if he's picking strict constructionists, he will have to appoint judges who will commit to overturning McCain-Feingold.

That could be our litmus test: Will you hold President McCain's signature legislation restricting speech unconstitutional?"

"I'm not a lawyer -- oh wait, yes, I am -- but Republicans were proposing to amend the Constitution, a process the Constitution specifically describes.

It's like saying it's antithetical to the core philosophy of Republicans to require presidents to be at least 35 years old. It's in the Constitution! And Republicans -- other than the ones who voted for McCain-Feingold -- support the Constitution. You might say it's part of our core philosophy."

CNSNews.com -

European interest in the U.S. presidential election campaign may be at unprecedented levels as Super Tuesday arrives, and Democratic candidate Sen. Barack Obama is the evident favorite among media and political commentators.

Across the continent, major foreign-language newspapers are carrying special sections and Web sites dedicated to the campaign.

"There has never been a presidential race quite like this in the history of the United States," declared Michael Tomasky in Britain's liberal Guardian. "It has genuinely impressive candidates. It has a grand theme. It's really, meaningfully, about something." [emphasis mine]

I Have Questions

2008-02-04T13:12:00.000-05:00

I keep reading the statement, "If you don't vote.." or "If you throw your vote away.." (code for don't vote for whoever the collective we think you should vote for), "...you do not get to complain or opine for however many years the collective we decide!"

I need more information.

While I understand perfectly the notion that one renders themself inconsequential when they do not exercise their right to vote at all, (and there are reasons other than national presidential election to vote anyhow), I don't really get why a vote cast with principled personal conviction is considered trash.

Moreover, I don't really get how it is that those who choose to "throw their vote away" will lose the ability to complain and/or opine.

Who will come around to find out for sure who we all voted for? If we freely admit we didn't "make our vote count", who will shut us up? How will they shut us up?

If the collective "they" all cast votes that result in catastrophe, do "they" then magically lose the ability to *&^%&, whine and complain?

I think that's a pretty ignorant statement to make, as there is absolutely no intention or method I've seen for anyone to actually back it up, yet I keep reading these words from seemingly intelligent individuals (again and again). If the collective "they" really have these special shut up powers, I want to know why the hell they weren't used on Michael Moore a long time ago. Rosie O'Donnel? Senator Biden? C'mon!

If you have this power and haven't already used it for the betterment of mankind - you shut up.

I guess this is where "they" say, "Oh yeah? Make me!" and I either don't have the will or the way to back it up. Don't I feel stupid.

Update - Perhaps this would be a great topic for a Sunday Retarded Argument?

Update II - Speaking of stupid...

The Ugly Truth

2008-02-02T20:26:00.000-05:00

I have absolutely no idea what I could possibly say about the current political landscape (except **&^ %^$& ^%$#^ >.< !!!), so thought I'd play around with some photos in photoshop to entertain. Most of you likely remember the B. Walters/H. Clinton kissy/smoochy photoshop job of the past... Like that, only McCain instead of Walters. It's fun and funny, "cos it's true".

This is where I search photos and using Adobe photoshop's clone tool, mesh them together in ridiculously friendly situations - like casting ridiculously dreamy looks toward one another in a hugely exaggerated show of the ugly truth; The man who will most likely be "our guy" next November, is one of "them".

That's not all that funny really, but sometimes... ya just gotta try to find the humor. When there is none, make some up.

Well, what I came across when searching for Clinton and McCain photos isn't a bit funny. I'm not too sure what it is. I didn't even get a chance to photoshop the darn thing!

Just when you thought the truth couldn't possibly get any uglier.

Update : Yeah, that's still not funny. You go here for funny!

(And here for sobering enlightenment.)

F34R /\/\3H

2008-02-02T20:14:00.000-05:00

(H/T - SYLG)

Yeah, baby!

What military aircraft are you?

F/A-22 Raptor

You are an F/A-22. You are technologically inclined, and though you've never been tested in combat, your very name is feared. You like noise, but prefer not to pollute any more than you have to. And you can move with the best.

Click Here to Take This Quiz
Brought to you by YouThink.com quizzes and personality tests.

The Manifesto That Ruined My Life

2008-01-26T16:50:00.000-05:00

Well okay, really just my week, but even still.

What manifesto, you ask?

The First Things First Manifesto, that's what. Why is it that a manifesto always seems to involve horribly pinko-commie-like ideals? Rage against capitalism and corporations (all of them) coupled with mad dashes of feel-good social activism (I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that my own social causes would not be appreciated one little bit by one single signer of the manifesto). On the other hand, they've given me some fantastic ideas. bwahahaha!

So, as part of a design assignment I was to read, critique and comment on two fellow designer's critiques of the manifesto. At first it sounded like an OK manifesto (as far as manifestos go), but the deeper I dug ... the uglier it all became. What should have been a light week quickly became a headache! To exact my revenge, I turned the discussion forum critiques into a big (and equally ugly) debate (and then went to bed real quick). heh

Hey, if they're going to make us read that junk, formulate opinions and comment, may as well have a little fun.

One fellow student called for a boycott of all corporations everywhere, one attempted to convince that the manifesto only referred to the most dangerous products that harm (who did butt toner ever kill?) and still another lamented branding in general (because poor little children and teens can't always afford certain evil (aka successful) brands, graphic designers should all refuse to work on such projects). You have to wonder where the parents are in all of this "materialism taken to the extreme", huh? So of course I asked.(Our instructor took that particular discussion forum down from the online Blackboard and changed the subject fast enough after that).

Anywho, nothing but a bad dream now (and I have more important things to post).

Cat Blogging!!!

Below, you see the uber-teen's new kitty, Dante (the very first thing acquired for her very own apartment next spring). The thing is, she's just learned that she will only be permitted one pet and already has a cat! I'm not sure which cat I will keep for her, the one eyed Sugars (strangest animal on the planet, has nothing to do with the eye but that certainly doesn't help her case) or the insane Dante (who attacks me in my sleep for no other reason than I dared to move, or breath).

I'm fairly certain Dante is the first bipolar cat I've ever personally met. There is no in between with this furry fury, nor is there any rhyme or reason to his extreme moods.

However, he sure is super-cute in his little poet's beret and scarf!

My Blog Is My Boyfriend

2008-01-20T02:25:00.000-05:00

In celebration of having achieved the 4.0 in my first semester of hell (and failing miserably in attaining a personal life)...

I'm back!

After taking a vacation in my head, checking out the specs in the spring semester (and failing miserably in attaining a personal life, can't forget that), it looks as if I'll be having some spare time to blog in upcoming months (and years).

Quick, pretend to be excited!

It seems as if only a moment has passed since I last posted, but so much time has passed that I hardly know where to begin.

Blog roll surfing followed by suitable applications of mucho linky-love (not to be confused with kinky-love, as spell check might have us believe) perhaps?

Yeah, baby! You know you want it...

Crazy Like a Person Who Doesn't Want a Plague

2007-08-28T12:21:00.000-04:00

This fine Tuesday morning, August 28th, I woke to the uber-teen asking, "Well, it won't kill him will it?" in reference to making the uber-boyfriend the promised Philly cheese steak for lunch from leftovers that she forgot to refrigerate before going to bed. The sad thing is, he'll likely think about it just a second, shrug and eat it anyway.

This, just after waking the previous horrible (evil Monday) morning to pizza crust and Doritos strewn about the kitchen, the table full of unfolded laundry (and don't ya just know, shedding kitties lounging in the middle of it). I became very animated and said, "Oh my God, I can't live this way!" and would have run to choke down a "happy pill", were I one to partake in such. The uber-teen, leaning nonchalantly against the contaminated counter munching day old pizza crust, offered me the unwashed coffee cup I'd used the day before and cheerfully replied, "Oh, c'mon. Don't be so dramatic, it's not that bad. Have a cup of coffee! :)"

Last night, I dreamed I stabbed bacteria as big as your head with the new X-acto knife I'd purchased for a design project earlier in the evening. I was screaming, "4.0!" with every thrust of the blade.

However, all is not lost. This is just the beginning of my second week of this "back to school, working and parenting" thing. I will merely stay up 24-48 hours getting all my assignments completed early, don the space suit and spend the rest of the week religiously following correct contamination procedures and bulldozing my kitchen.

The uber-teen and uber-boyfriend however, ages 17 and 19, are happy as can be to continue on the dangerous path (leading to food poisoning) that they're on. They'll probably some day look back fondly upon these college years, writing happy songs/poetry about it even.

How do college students survive it all?

Cool Stuff

2007-08-27T23:50:00.000-04:00

See the Moon turn red

On August 28, the Moon will plunge through Earth's shadow, and the United States' West Coast sees the best show.

August 23, 2007
The spectacular eclipse occurs the morning of August 28. Circumstances favor observers west of the Mississippi, who missed out on the March lunar eclipse. Better still, this event marks the first central lunar eclipse since 2000.

A central eclipse is one where part of the Moon passes through the center of Earth's shadow. This results in a longer-lasting eclipse, and it likely will result in a more darkly colored Moon at totality. The Moon's northern edge passes through the shadow's center, which means its northern half will look noticeably darker than its southern half.

The penumbral part of the eclipse begins at 3:54 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time. The first hint of shadow won't be visible to East Coast observers until at least 4:30 a.m. Watch the Moon low in the southwest as the limb near Oceanus Procellarum gradually darkens.

Read more.

Check out an Unusually cool video.

More cool stuff-

Huge hole in universe surprises astronomers
It's the biggest known void in the cosmos

Two views of the hole in the universe: The left view shows a “cold spot” within the circle on a color-coded image of the full-sky cosmic microwave background, as seen by NASA’s Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe. The right view shows the same region on the Very Large Array Sky Survey, with blue indicating low radio emissions.

The universe has a huge hole in it that dwarfs anything else of its kind. The discovery caught astronomers by surprise.

The hole is nearly a billion light-years across. It is not a black hole, which is a small sphere of densely packed matter. Rather, this one is mostly devoid of stars, gas and other normal matter, and it's also strangely empty of the mysterious "dark matter" that permeates the cosmos. Other space voids have been found before, but nothing on this scale.

Astronomers don't know why the hole is there.

"Not only has no one ever found a void this big, but we never even expected to find one this size," said researcher Lawrence Rudnick of the University of Minnesota.

Rudnick's colleague Liliya R. Williams also had not anticipated this finding.

"What we've found is not normal, based on either observational studies or on computer simulations of the large-scale evolution of the universe," said Williams, also of the University of Minnesota.

The finding will be detailed in the Astrophysical Journal.

Read more.

Scientists found life on Mars back in the 70s

Mars could be home to “extremophiles”

The soil on Mars may indeed be teeming with microbes, according to a new interpretation of data first collected more than 30 years ago.

The search for life on Mars appeared to hit a dead end in 1976 when Viking landers touched down on the red planet and failed to detect biological activity.

There was another flurry of excitement a decade later, when Nasa thought it had found evidence of life in a Mars meteorite but doubts have since been cast on that finding.

Today, Joop Houtkooper from Justus-Liebig-University in Giessen, Germany, will claim the Viking spacecraft may in fact have encountered signs of a weird life form based on hydrogen peroxide on the subfreezing, arid Martian surface.

Read more.

Death-Defying Mars Rovers: Riders in the Storm

The martian rovers Spirit and Opportunity continue to successfully weather a series of severe dust storms that threaten to cut power to their solar panels, but it's still a day-to-day battle for survival, scientists say.

The pervasive dust in the martian atmosphere, as well as dust settling onto the machinery, impedes the ability of the rovers' solar panels to convert sunlight into enough electricity to supply the their needs. One critical need is to protect each rover's "vital organs" of internal computer, electronics, heaters and batteries from becoming so cold that something might, quite literally, snap.

Both robots are in position to pounce on exciting science targets: Spirit is ready to gather more evidence for long-past explosive volcanic activity in an area dubbed Home Plate; Opportunity is a mere 130 feet (40 meters) from the point where it will enter Victoria Crater.

Ride out the storm

The twin rovers landed on the planet in January 2004. They have wheeled across Mars for far longer than their original 90-day warranties. There's no doubt that the long-lived robots have a special connection to their operators.

"There is a very strong attachment. It has been for many of us our everyday work for years. There's a tremendous bond with them," said John Callas, project manager for the Mars Exploration Rovers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California. "We're just going to try to ride out this storm, he emphasized.

Read more.

Because I Can...

2007-08-26T17:34:00.000-04:00

Sure I said I didn't have time to blog much today, but I changed my mind.

Instead of getting a head start on some work and next week's assignments, I decided to just grab that bottle of wine, pop some smooth tunes into the drive, and blog until hungry/sleepy (whichever happens first.)

Sounds fun, huh?

Then I found myself over at Public Pondering listening to sad songs thanks be to a Big White Hat challenge.

So now I'm halfway through a bottle of wine, watching my e-mail alert go off like a crazy Mexican Shi Tzu contemplating joining eHarmony with a tagline that reads: "If you solemnly pledge to be Mister Perfect for aprox. 2 months then cease to even pretend to be engaged in our relationship, never calling, rarely expressing any emotion whatsoever until I finally snap...please email, because I just can't get enough of THAT! Thanks." Probably get a ton of responses.

Last time I did something like that (for laughs, of course) it was more like, "Gold digger seeking wealthy elderly gentleman with no family to speak of. Will make the last moments of your life memorable." and you wouldn't believe how many responses that one earned. Oo

Anywho...

Give me happy songs, people! Sweet songs, paranoid, angry or maybe plain old fed up. Heck, maybe even sad in a pi**ed off in leather tight pants kinda way. Girl power?

But please, no more sad songs...

Back in Business, Baby!

2007-08-26T13:52:00.000-04:00

Photo Update: OK, so I ended up being too busy to even post photos! You know how it is. (4.0...blogging...4.0...blogging. 4.0!!!)

Since time is an issue, I will just post a few of my personal favorites from the vacation photo files and y'all can just go to my Photobucket album if you'd like to see them all (and I'm still in the process of adding more, but even still, many more there to see). :)

First, I pit stopped in WV and while I was unable to catch up with (read: stalk) a close friend while there as I had hoped, I did manage to get a beautiful shot from the main overlook in Grandview, WV before dark, so the pit stop was not a complete wash -

Then, off to NYC! I look about as happy as one who packed one pair of platform sandals, one pair of 6 inch heels, one pair of leather boots, and one pair of open heeled Prada loafers can be after hiking all over NYC just to find themself holding that bull up at 4 am while attempting to teach a liberal how to shoot a photo that isn't blurry. (Goes something like, "Tap that button then shoot the photo, dammit!") Complicated stuff there, huh? Needless to say, this is the only photo of me (and it took 4 or 5 tries to get that). *g* -

Here, I'm pretty sure I stumbled upon Michael Jackson sitting a a bench in winter garb while it was no less than 95 degrees. Not the best focus ever but I was very far away so had to blow this one up in photoshop (which always results in a blurry photo). Even still, funny stuff!

Below we see a pretty funny character. I gave him a dollar and proceeded to share meaningful (and long) bits of wisdom about the virtues of education and hard work. I think he would have liked to give me everything in his collection bucket to just shut up and go away. He was super funny and a great sport about letting me take his photo though!

Once again, click here for more.

So, there you have it, my favorite photos. Hope you guys had a fabulous weekend!

No, really.

As you may have noticed, I temporarily lost control of PJ Max for a couple of weeks, but all's well that ends well.

Since I last posted- The uber-teen has begun college (still residing with me until spring though, yay!), I've gone back to school as well (though I'll still be doing what I do, I may as well have the degree to tape to my wall, huh?), I actually took a real vacation (not just in my head and thanks again, RT) and got some work done too.

So, while I have very little free time this week, I do have lots of photos to share. Be sure to stop by tomorrow for those!

Vain Memester...

2007-07-25T12:39:00.000-04:00

...why dost strive my quirks to type?

Because memes are fun, that's why!

Here are the rules.

1. Let others know who tagged you.

InsoluBlog: Always separates when shaken

Otherwise known as... The Great Wise Insolukuta.

Ah, memories.

OK now, that was just cruel. Moving on...

2. Players start with 8 random facts about themselves.

Relax, we'll get to that.

3. Those who are tagged should post these rules and their 8 random facts.

Mission accomplished!

4. Players should tag 8 other people and notify them they have been tagged.

That's right, because tagging without informing is just not cool.

Here we go, 8 random facts.

1. I scream inside at every single spammish e-mail alert all day long. I'm slowly bringing myself closer and closer to a stroke because I get all excited at the sound of the e-mail alert, just to see promises of singles in my area, colon cleanser, penile enlargement, and stupid credit card offers at the sound of that chime. Yet, I rather miss "hot and sexy single Sally who wants to meet me" (no, really, she does) when she's not there, waiting for someone special. Waiting for someone just like me.

2. I have watched late night 1-900 commercials just for new material to amuse, scare, or disgust (whatever the case may be) telemarketers. A telemarketer from Australia once called back "just to talk", and continued to do so until I changed my telephone number. It was still worth the laugh.

3. At 16, I was caught smoking at church camp, ratted out but not sent home (because I cried pretty). My mom was mortified and my dad was amused (especially that I paid 90 of my very own hard-earned dollars for that), and this is why I am who I am. (Yes, it's all their doing.)

4. Nobody likes to play truth or dare with me because I always pick truth and it's always more shocking than any dare could be. Yes, I was ranting, "You can't handle the truth!" long before Jack Nicholson, yet he makes all the big bucks.

5. I've found that the above can also be used to curb other's urges to be overly interested in one's personal business. TMI can be a valuable tool, just don't misuse it or you might find yourself a permanent spot on the Jerry Springer Show.

6. I think, no I know, that the F bomb is an extremely valuable life saving tool as well. Most especially if you are a person who exudes quiet southun charm (one who isn't known for dropping the F bomb at all), people shut up and listen when you finally do drop that bomb. I once went four or more years without dropping the bomb and shut down a very large neighborhood argument (that didn't even involve me). When I dropped it, I dropped it with glee, creating a truly violent and destructive shock that is likely remembered by all to this very day. There's just nothing like seeing grown men and women alike shut those gaping mouths and walk away. On a military base. I've not dropped it in 10 years, but I'm really just storing all that energy up for the next battle.

7. I am a huge Malkin fan, but I personally thought it was incredibly silly of her to assure everyone that she hadn't worn a two piece bathing suit since having children when someone tried to pass the "two piece clad hottie photoshop job" off as her. Of course, I support her right to dress in any manner she pleases and was about as irritated as her other fans that she was being attacked in that manner, but I saw no need for her to have to defend her honor in such an extreme way and would have preferred to see her highlight the difference between scantily clad little girls on a public beach and grown women in the privacy of their own back yards. Of course, I was also upset to once hear FNC's Sean Hannity say he was so modest that he wore a t-shirt in the pool with the family. C'mon, that's just wrong. So, let's just clear the air. I am a Christian, a conservative, and a mom. I pay plenty for the liberty of living in the privacy of the woods and wear just whatever I darn well please to the pool, especially if alone. It must be the risque libertarian streak because I just don't really care at all what anyone thinks of that. If my example causes teen aged girls around the world to drop their tops in public and forsake Jesus, then we have bigger problems than my wardrobe folks!

8. My favorite song by Zero 7 used to be "In The Waiting Line"...

Music Video:
Music Video Code provided by VideoCodeZone.Com

...but now it's "Somersault"...

Music Video:
Music Video Code provided by VideoCodeZone.Com

...because those who share jelly beans rock (and there's no available video code for Blue Merle's "Every Ship Must Sail".)

Oh, and I ate a taco for breakfast while reading classical poetry this morning.

How's that for 8 random facts plus a bonus? ;)

Maybe y'all should all be sweet and give me some of your personal ideas for unusual and/or original memes in the comments, because this one has made the rounds and then some.

Go, do it now!

One More Try

2007-07-20T18:21:00.000-04:00

So maybe I never was able to combine live blogging my blogging and linky-love (for more than a couple of hours anyhow). It was a lofty dream, no?

Since linky-lovin' is way more fun, I present....

Me Linky-Love You Looong Time!

(Or until I run out of time, whichever comes first.)

Beginning where I left off yesterday, I give you ...

The thoughts of SGT Wilks at A Female Soldier 2. You'll find some terrific photographs there as well. You'll love them, just go check them out already!

The Patriot, of A Soldier's Perspective presents- Soldiers Defend Body Armor

Teaser-

Here is something that you will not hear on the floor of Congress about how good our gear is:

Rachel, of Channelling Cloe shows us how to play the game, and I quote...

You tease, you lead, you beg and grovel...

Yeah, baby. ;) Go Pay heed to the geek!

Now, Rachel E. is doing a fabulous job over at
Conservathink, so go say hi and tell her so because it's true, Guns Don't Kill People, Gun Control Advocates Kill People!

This just in- I know I'm not live-blogging my linky-love blogging today, but if I were, it would look like this.

5:16 PM - Right in the middle of commenting on another great post from the Crazy Politico, of Crazy Politico's Rantings, the uber-teen walked by and I totally remembered to show her these super cool eyeglass frames (because I'm going to finally just go completely blind if I keep ignoring this particular need) and forgot what I was going to say on the topic of Merit Pay. Guess I earn very little merit there. Unless linky-love makes it all better...

Moving on.

The ever eloquent Dr. Phat Tony, of the one and only Dr. Phat Tony's posts, Huh?
Seriously, go read A Fallen Soldier, and check back for possible updates as well. (Bring tissues.)

Also, be sure to visit the Captain, over at First In Engine, and check out
HILLARY & BILL, A LOVE FOR THE AGES...WRETCH! (Yeah, bring barf bags.) No offense Captain. :)

Next up, is Sssteve, of First With Flair (whose last post was HA HA HA HA HA HA on July 11, 2007). Go tell him he's slacking, we need more photos!

Where, oh where, is The Great Spewing One, of Fmragtops Spews??? Because, if there was some sort of an announcement, I missed it. :(

Stew, of Get Stewed, is setting the scene and creating the mood in Yoink!
(Liberal tree hugging moon bat wacky persons beware...)

Now, the moment we've all been waiting for.

.....

Insolublog is back!

Another Presidential Malaise Moment (Attempting to comment on this article, chock full of treasures, will be like saying "Um, thanks. Here, I have these pebbles to offer in return..." after being handed pearls, but go ahead and try anyhow. I did.)

Then, there's the issue of an Insolublog meme. You do not want to miss that. ;)

Finally, we are presented with, Pun With Fropaganda. Frightening? Perhaps. Worth the read? Absolutely. So, you go there now!

Our very own KateyKakes of Kate's Kafe, has become a Scrubs addict, and is suffering from insomnia. So sorry Kate. Quick, somebody rush over there and post some Al Gore videos!

Now, where is that Peakah? C'mon, just throw us a photo of the "pretty sweet rugged leather outback hat" and we'll all be happy! Or feature s'more family dimples, that works too. :)

Fitch, of Radioactive Liberty lays down the law, giving us the New Recliner Rules and then disappears. That's likely very common, not only after purchasing a recliner but likely involving a battery operated remote control. (Doesn't it always?)

Big news coming up.

The Anti-Hippy is engaged! (Why are you evil conservatives not lining up to tell him to run away, run away fast??) Anyhow, congrats, AH. We wish you all the best (even if it need be at knife point). That's code for, "Go over and wish AH all the best, or else!"

Next up, The CUG is offering free gun pron. Yeah, you know you want it.

Mister Spacemonkey, of The Flying Spacemonkey Chronicles tells us everything we suspected is true!

It is a little known fact (only because I have failed to ramble about it until now), that The Indepundit (way back in the "Lt-Smash-Live From The Sandbox" days) was the very first blog I ever graced. After having received a few letters and telephone calls from friends (all military personnel), stating the media's outright dishonesty about what was really happening on the ground in Iraq, I was very concerned. I wanted to do something, just anything really, to help. Our military should not have to worry about such things while they are already sacrificing their very lives.

I was told to "google" for more information because some soldiers, those who could, were already speaking out. So, that's how I first discovered blogging. Of course, IMAO was on the sidebar, and you pretty much have to click and love IMAO. I can't express how great it was to have discovered the blogosphere (because before that I was just flipping channels back and forth between FNC, ABC, and CNN trying to figure out how the news coverage could be so different). This involved lots of yelling, "What the hell is going on?!" at the television and this almost never goes over well with the cat collection. So, now you know. I yell at CNN, collect cats, and The Indepundit rocks. (Who needs a meme, huh?)

Now, stop yawning and go support your local gunfighter!

Have a terrific weekend (and if I missed anyone just whine in comments, that always works)!

Live Blogging- Blogging (Plus, Lots of True Linky-Love)

2007-07-19T11:49:00.000-04:00

Isn't that a novel idea?! Tell me, who has ever live blogged their blogging whilst bestowing linky-love upon all? Well, now you can say you've seen it all!

Yeah baby!

9:25 AM- Instead of feeding the always hungry OCD (aka the need to visit blogs in alphabetical order), I'm off to visit Linda, of Frankly, My Dear... because her health is way more important than my "issues".

Update- OK, so things are not anywhere near perfect, but she is ranting, and that's always a hopeful sign (plus, it's funny to see Lin type "WTH"??? repeatedly).

Frankly, my dear... We'll still love you if you spell it out (or even trade the "H" for an "F"). *g*

9:40 AM- Next up is RT, of Public Pondering, because I somehow missed visiting her blog yesterday and the "need to know" is stronger than "the need to be alphabetically crazy".

Update- Now here is a lady unafraid to type a big capital "F" on her public blog. Glad you're back, RT! :)

(This linky-action is like work, I need coffee.)

Okie-dokie then.

10:15 AM- I am distracted from linky-loving by "Sex Ed for Kindergarteners 'Right Thing to Do,' Says Obama".

If this liberal can't rally conservatives, nobody can.

10:25 AM- I am distracted by a heart-to-heart with a certain uber-teen (see how that happens all natural like between mother and daughter, just whenever the time is right, without the intervention of jokers in Washington?) Coincidence? I think not.

10:45 AM- At long last! The need for organized alphabetical blogging shall be fed.

Hello 45-Caliber Justice, because who doesn't want some of that??

Update- Tyler D. posts, WEBCAM! Only I can't see because it's not loading correctly. Oh, the dreaded red x.

Ah well, linky-love you anyhow Tyler! (Pffft, indeed.)

11:02 AM- Must check out Cove Rebel's 5th Street Truths.

Update- So happy I stopped by. Because Cove Rebel just never disappoints nor fails to make one think. - So here I am...

Just so y'all know, do overs sometimes really do present themselves. :) How it turns out remains to be seen. However, when the time comes, I'll be sure to let you know. Until then... Be teased!

11:49 AM- Lunch break! Good thing I'm not hungry because I think had better take a blog break and get some work done. Never fear though!

I'll be back.

Abort, Retry, Ignore?

2007-07-18T21:25:00.000-04:00

Let's just file this one under Wednesday madness.

Abort, Retry, Ignore?

Once upon a midnight dreary, fingers cramped and vision bleary,
System manuals piled high and wasted paper on the floor,
Longing for the warmth of bed sheets, still I sat there doing spreadsheets.
Having reached the bottom line I took a floppy from the drawer,
I then invoked the SAVE command and waited for the disk to store,
Only this and nothing more.

Deep into the monitor peering, long I sat there wond'ring, fearing,
Doubting, while the disk kept churning, turning yet to churn some more.
But the silence was unbroken, and the stillness gave no token.
"Save!" I said, "You cursed mother! Save my data from before!"
One thing did the phosphors answer, only this and nothing more,
Just, "Abort, Retry, Ignore?"

Was this some occult illusion, some maniacal intrusion?
These were choices undesired, ones I'd never faced before.
Carefully I weighed the choices as the disk made impish noises.
The cursor flashed, insistent, waiting, baiting me to type some more.
Clearly I must press a key, choosing one and nothing more,
From "Abort, Retry, Ignore?"

With fingers pale and trembling, slowly toward the keyboard bending,
Longing for a happy ending, hoping all would be restored,
Praying for some guarantee, timidly, I pressed a key.
But on the screen there still persisted words appearing as before.
Ghastly grim they blinked and taunted, haunted, as my patience wore,
Saying "Abort, Retry, Ignore?"

I tried to catch the chips off guard, and pressed again, but twice as hard.
I pleaded with the cursed machine: I begged and cried and then I swore.
Now in mighty desperation, trying random combinations,
Still there came the incantation, just as senseless as before.
Cursor blinking, angrily winking, blinking nonsense as before.
Reading, "Abort, Retry, Ignore?"

There I sat, distraught, exhausted, by my own machine accosted.
Getting up I turned away and paced across the office floor.
And then I saw a dreadful sight: a lightning bolt cut through the night.
A gasp of horror overtook me, shook me to my very core.
The lightning zapped my previous data, lost and gone forevermore.
Not even, "Abort, Retry, Ignore?"

To this day I do not know the place to which lost data go.
What demonic nether world us wrought where lost data will be stored,
Beyond the reach of mortal souls, beyond the ether, into black holes?
But sure as there's C, Pascal, Lotus, Ashton-Tate and more,
You will be one day be left to wander, lost on some Plutonian shore,
Pleading, "Abort, Retry, Ignore?"

Friday Be Damned

2007-07-17T23:40:00.000-04:00

I am feeling the need for a bit of mind-numbing this fine Tuesday, and thought I'd share. Let's face it, what's more mind-numbing than cat blogging?

That's right. Absolutely Nothing. It's not just for Friday anymore!

First up, meet Clopsy, new addition in Uber-World.

Clopsy was found a home but it was later discovered that he was deaf, so I brought him back to live with me where he can be given all of the special care that he needs.

Clopsy is fun, playful and perfectly normal other than not being able to hear. He's not always particularly bright, though. Evidence follows...

Yeah, Clopsy totally jumped right into the uber-teen's bath and needed a little help getting back out.

Thor is not so much in love with Clopsy as he is tolerant, for my sake I'm sure. Look deeply into his eyes. I'm not feelin' the love.

Next up, is newest kitty on the block- Pumpkin. She is the sweetest, cutest, and funniest little kitten I have ever had the pleasure of cuddling. Fulfilling all those biological clock/air raid siren needs, she pretty much rawks my sawks. (I've been waiting two whole years to say that about something.)

See? Even Thor loves her. This is their very first introduction.

Not so sure Pumpkin knows what, exactly, to make of Thor just yet. ;)

That concludes Tuesday's Cat Blogging.

Y'all have a great week!

Prayers

2007-07-11T09:25:00.000-04:00

Sometimes, we meet a very special people and we don't even completely realize just how much more beautiful the world is, just because they're in it, until they're gone. Ian, a young man (just 18 years old) of Chapel Hill was just one of those people. Of course, I knew it the moment he said he was a huge Jack Johnson fan as well as aspiring artist and writer.

Yesterday morning, the uber-teen and the uber-boyfriend (who was Ian's college roommate) received word from Ian's mother that he was gone from us, and the world is less beautiful today than it was the day before.

Unable to express much more than general information, she suggested we google for more information, hung up and continued to work her way down the long list of people Ian called "friend". I can only imagine the anguish this very sweet lady and her husband endured the night before, and would like to ask you all to share some prayers for them in the upcoming days and weeks (months even).

It was not too long ago that you all said more than a few prayers on my behalf, and I can't tell you just how much it meant to me or just how much your prayers helped me through. Let's just say that I am now a firm believer that this is the greatest gift one could possibly give another, and so many of you are why I am firmly in that camp. I heard them, saw them, and very much felt the peaceful result when I most needed it.

So, if so inspired, please send some love their way as well.

Blogger Excuse 101

2007-07-06T18:02:00.000-04:00

I have been blogging since the summer of 2005 and so far I have managed to come up with some very original lame blogger excuses (that all hold at least an ounce of truth), in my opinion. I've snapped and transformed an evil Murray Mower into a 4-wheeler and torn up my entire yard, been attacked by malicious log dwelling bees, was assaulted by a killer tiller, fallen down mountains (OK, hills) hiking in the woods, vacationing on the beaches of Florida in my head, on VRWC spy missions, digging 6x8 mud holes in my front yard for froggy pron, and was even once kidnapped by a band of wild-eyed baptists (that was really scary). I really have been taking more and more time away to write other things, though (just so you know). That one was no lame excuse. Oh hey, maybe I should write a book of lame excuses?!

No, no! No more bright ideas that make me have to work.

So anyhow, in keeping with good tradition here at PJ Maximum, I have another lame blogger excuse. Perhaps the best ever!

So, there I was, no s**t, just sitting by the pretty pond enjoying a real girly moment when I decided I should move to the mountains of West Virginia, become a mountain mamma and find mahself a mountain man. Yeah, baby!

Uh-huh. Just like that.

Seriously. I moved further and further away from the area as a young adult and have spent the latest years moving closer (little by little), until I'm almost, but not quite, back there.

Ironic, isn't it?

It's one of those old tales of chasing dreams and following whatever path life lays before those itchy feet, just to realize that everything one could possibly want was right there the entire time. (Expect to be treated to fantastic photographic displays at some point in the future, because the entire state is quite an eye-catching subject.) Those of you who have been reading awhile will remember my writing a bit about much missed friends and photos of the Wild and Wonderful West Virginia already, so I won't force you all down memory lane again, this time.

Soon enough, you will not be able to escape so easily! From the lovely southern states of South Carolina, North Carolina and Florida.... < insert deep breath here > ....to the colorful horizons of Kansas to the "Unbridled Spirit" of Kentucky (and all those many states in between), what I've seen of the United States has been awesome. However, only that breathtaking mountain view makes me so teary that I can only barely drive upon first glance after having been away for some time. So, yeah, it's simply time to go home.

Suffice to say, while it is only a two hour drive and will not take place until the spring (at the earliest), it is a very big deal for me (after digging all those mud holes out here in the sticks, mountain living will be quite an adjustment), and I'm thinking I'll be having lots to do between now and then. Especially with a new business venture in the mix. (It may very well take 6 months to just pack the cats! They've sure collected plenty of cat nip, toys, and other furry pals along the way.)

So finally, it's not with a completely unhappy heart that I have to say that blogging will have to take a backseat to these things (and after I've just announced that I will be blogging more often too). Just how much of a backseat remains to be seen, but I'll do my very best to keep up with you blogger buds as I have the time. (Just e-mail me already when tired of waiting!)

You guys will be holding down the Blog Fort without my incessant rambling and railing, once again. I feel a little guilty for being in and out so much this past year or so because you all just continue to do such an awesome job of keeping our wayward and bleating politicians in line (as much as is possible anyhow). And "I'm" slacking, again.

So, I must say, in highlighting the great injustices and most importantly keeping the memory of U.S. Service members around the world to the forefront -- honorable and true, as they so greatly deserve -- blogging with you all has been one of the most enjoyable tasks I've undertaken to date (even though I only began because the witty Frank J. once made an entire post of my verbose comment, gave my ego a boost, and I thought if The Doc and The CUG could do it, anybody could). *g*

It's also a task that I hope to have time to undertake quite regularly again, at some point in the future.

Wow, that's sounds lots like "goodbye" and it's not, honest! Look for weekly weekend posts at the very least. ;)

That is all.

Hope you all have a most fabulous Friday!

The News at a Glance

2007-06-23T12:12:00.000-04:00

First up- Gaza Christians warned to submit to Islam

Gaza-based Muslim groups affiliated with Hamas and possibly Al Qaeda have warned local Christians that Hamas' military conquest of the volatile coastal strip means they must now fully submit to Islamic ritual law."

“Missionary activity” will no longer be tolerated, and those suspected of trying to convert local Muslims to Christianity will be “harshly punished,” said Abu Saqer. Additionally, the consumption of alcohol is now prohibited in Gaza, and all women must fully cover themselves in public.

In order to ensure compliance with these regulations, Abu Saqer announced the formation of a new “military wing” that will [keep] a close eye on the subjects of “Hamastan.”"

Women have to dress in this manner and no booze is allowed?

Wow. It is amazing that the birth rates in these areas are what they are.

Next up- Read The Sunspots (Now Prepare Yourselves For Dangerous Global Cooling!)

Politicians and environmentalists these days convey the impression that climate-change research is an exceptionally dull field with little left to discover. We are assured by everyone from David Suzuki to Al Gore to Prime Minister Stephen Harper that "the science is settled." At the recent G8 summit, German Chancellor Angela Merkel even attempted to convince world leaders to play God by restricting carbon-dioxide emissions to a level that would magically limit the rise in world temperatures to 2C.

Golly. I just took a little time off to plant flowers and take pretty pictures, and now it's global cooling?? Had I only known, I'd have skipped the pond design and gone with an igloo instead.

The real deal (from the perspective of an uber-conservative, of course)-

Politicians and environmentalists don't really know what they're talking about, nor do they desire to. That's not what this is about at all.

The socialist/communist era has died a slow death and those same socialist/communistic minded people are now moving into environmentalism to achieve the same goals, only this time with the peoples support, under the guise of saving the world from snowflakes and sun rays.

But hey, that's just my take.

Moving on... Muslims Won't Fund Footbaths
Muslim leaders in Metro Detroit have decided not to raise private money to pay for two footbaths at a local college campus now that the American Civil Liberties Union has said the plan doesn't pose constitutional problems.

The University of Michigan-Dearborn's plan to spend $25,000 on the footbaths was criticized on conservative blogs and radio shows this month. Critics said using public money for the project would violate the First Amendment, which says governments can't favor or subsidize religions.

Kary Moss, director of the Detroit branch of the ACLU, said its review concluded the plan is a "reasonable accommodation" to resolve "safety and cleanliness issues" that arose when Muslims used public sinks for foot cleaning before prayers, which often spilled water on bathroom floors.

"We view it as an attempt to deal with a problem, not an attempt to make it easier for Muslims to pray," said Moss, who likened the plan to paying for added police during religious events with huge turnouts.

"There's no intent to promote religion."

I think what UM-Dearborn really needs is a real Christian revival (and some baptising of folks in drinking fountains. Not just to see what accomodations are allotted, but yes, that too).

I, as a Christian, really shouldn't be using this to deliberately provoke them though, because that would be an unloving response. I know. It's so very tempting, but, sorry. I don't make the rules.

In any case, I really do think we need to seriously test these waters. Where does it all end?

That's it. We should create a smoker's ritual or something to that effect (I get to be Grand Smokey Poo-bah because I thought of it)! Let's just see how accommodating they are then. And, if you don't smoke, it's still OK to join, I want to be inclusive (because I'm so schweet like that). Just so long as you promise to always follow me around holding a lighter up just in case I need fire, it'll all be good.

In no time flat we will be given "reasonable accommodation" to resolve "safety and cleanliness issues" that arise when blowing smoke into other's faces and throwing flaming worship tools onto the floor and into trash cans.

Right?

Hello World, It's Me Again

2007-06-22T10:52:00.000-04:00

I'm just about to jump back into blogging again (yeah, baby!), but thought I'd just take a moment to say hi and ask how the heck you all are first.

That, and take a little scroll around the blogosphere, just to see what you've all been up to (and of course see what in the world is going on now).

So, hey there. How the heck are ya? ;)

Update- Stumbled upon a couple must reads- Adopt-a-Marine (thanks again, Kate) and Lone Survivor (thanks be to Linda).

You guys rock! :)

It All Began With a Pond in a Box

2007-05-09T17:55:00.000-04:00

Some of you have requested a post and since all I have to offer is a personal update, that's what you get!

Just remember, you asked for it... ;)

Three years ago, when first moving into my "fixer upper" home, I was full of energy and had all kinds of "big" ideas about what my home was to eventually become. It all started with a pond in a box, which I just happened to see on sale (only 75 bucks!) at the local Walmart. It came with a CD and promised to be as easy as 1 2 3. Yeah, right.

The liner was too small, resulting in a mud hole (for the purpose of froggy pron) in my yard and by the time my second spring here rolled around, I was too busy with other things to fool with the huge mud hole. By spring number three, I'd decided to win at any cost, and cost me it did. After purchasing a very large top of the line PVC liner, top of the line pond pump, and all sorts of expensive accessories, the pond finally looked like a real pond. So pretty! But, apparently I failed to elevate the liner high enough so the mud and mulch eventually made way back into the pond (which is now greenish black) again. Whoever said "3 is a charm" doesn't know me.

So this spring, I am starting all over. Again. Rawrr, I will win this one! I'm also building a water garden wall from either stone or treated lattice. Haven't yet decided. I'd love to go with stone but waiting to see just how nuts the pond makes me. If a meltdown is experienced, I will just add the much simpler treated lattice like that Lowe's employee person (whatever his title) kindly suggested (read: begged- I think he's tired of dealing with my "projects" but has no idea it's been the same danged one for three years). So far I've just put in the support wire and posts, and here is where I am so far. I'll be sure to do an "after" photo in a few weeks as well. Maybe. *g*

I'm also working on my own digital art/photo gallery online as well as providing illustrations for an up and coming website featuring children's literature (my mom's project). Sounds fun! OK, lots of work, but still fun. Here's a sneak preview of what will soon be my site.

Another very exciting development in uber-land involved the uber-teen and a prom. She looked so beautiful and grown up, I actually cried. So hard to believe she will be seventeen years old this June!

Hope she doesn't mind my posting her mug on my blog!

To be fair, I submit a photo of yours truly. Pushing lip gloss into the back seat and onto the uber-teen like a drug dealer while waiting on my mom to bring me the promised coffee (and lots of it) because she made me go exotic plant shopping at an ungodly hour (OK, I overslept, but only because it was way too early). I had to take the hair brush with me even. The horror... (The uber-teen claims she was taking photos to better document the abuse but I'm convinced it was really to document the gray hair I haven't had time to color lately). Ah, there's not much that lip gloss and lots of coffee can't fix. I did find some cool plants that are always sold out by the time I wake up, much less arrive (but sshhh, we shall never admit this to my mother).

Another grand event in uber-land was Franki's becoming a mom. I'd decided to not let her have kittens (because there are so many homeless kitties out there already) but a friend and his wife are crazy about her (and I can't let them have her because I've become way too attached) so they finally talked me into at least allowing her to reproduce just so they could have one of her kittens. She had three. The Crazy Precious One is Franki's sister and while Franki is a very sane and calm kitty, I do believe the kittens may have received that evil/crazy gene.

As if one blue eye and one green were not crazy enough, he's got the whole scary "I vant tu eat your camera lenz!" look going on. (This particular kitten is the friends pick, by the way. I wish them luck. Bwahaha..)

This fellow even sleeps evil. Familiar, no?

And don't let Franki's little baby girl's sweet and innocent face fool you. Check out those claws (you just know she's just yearning to sink into some one's toes)!

A new photo of the proud mom- caught drinking from the kitchen sink faucet (again).

The Week In Photos

2007-04-06T18:15:00.001-04:00

Since I've been lame and really have no post prepared, thought I'd share some moments of my wears a cape super-exciting life this past week via photos. Yay!

This is Inky, who I met and shared my milkshake with at the park. The uber-teen's friend, who is visiting from Ft. Knox this week, named him Inky and the uber-teen tried to bring him home with us. Tempting, but Inky seemed too healthy and friendly to be a stray. I'm guessing he has a very good family in one of the many homes nearby and just visits the park to flirt with women who have milkshakes. I thought that was a fine trade because Inky kept me company while the uber-teen and her guest took a hike. I'm almost all better but still a little too under the weather for all that.

Every time a mother with a small child walked by they took one look at him and hissed, "Rabies!!! Don't touch that cat!", which made him jump right into my lap, under their evil eye, for some more lovin'. He'd give me the "Help, that crazy lady is scaring me!" look, the children would give their mothers that, "But, but... she's petting him!" look, and the mothers gave me that "Great, thanks...thanks a whole lot." look. I don't know exactly why but I found it pretty funny, every single time.

Yeah, I drove by later that evening to see if he was still hanging out there at the park, just in case he was homeless, but he was long gone. :(

My mom brought Fox by for a visit, he's sweet as ever. I can't help taking closeups of him, his little nose is so cute!

Here, I'd just caught Luna rolling in the mud right after her bath. She was so sorry that she promptly tried to eat my pretty white shoe, while I was wearing it! She made up for it last night in saving my life by viciously attacking the bags I'd placed over my Japanese Maples to protect them from the frost. Silly puppy. *g*

Last but not least, Mr. Frog came a courtin' and he did ride, uh-huh. Only he rode my neighbor's shoe (and uh, sorta got all excited and humped his foot). Ha!

This concludes The Week In Photos. Yes, my life is that boring. Well, I have been taking lots more photos but my latest project is putting together a church directory and though some did turn out very funny, I'm pretty sure they don't want their corny photos posted on my blog. In any case, I wouldn't dare. (No way would I ever risk losing access to those fabulous Baptist meals!)

Hope everyone has a joyful Easter weekend!

Oh No He Didn't!

2007-03-29T13:06:00.000-04:00

Oh yeah, he absolutely did.

Someone finally came right out and told, the truth. < insert gasps here >

"Hillel Neuer, Executive Director of UN Watch, delivered a scorching speech before the UN Human Rights Council 4th Session, accusing the body of blatant hypocrisy in ignoring gross rights violations worldwide except when committed by Israel."

But of course, to lend even more credence to his words (much like the oh so violent murdering Islamic nut jobs running around murdering innocent people like the nut jobs that they are in reaction to the suggestion that they are violent murderers...Oo)...

"The speech was then repudiated by the Council Chairman, who refused to thank Neuer as is customary and then threatened to strike from the record similar statements in the future."

Read more: UN Watchdog censured after accusing Human Rights Council of hypocrisy.

Better yet, watch the video documenting the hypocrisy in the face of truth.

OK, this was just too rich to not take the time to post. Back to my regularly scheduled "I'm in spring cleaning/home improvement/standardized testing/flu bug or something worse/company arriving soon hell." The company arriving soon part is not hell though, I actually like that part.

Regular posting will resume again shortly! Hope you're all able to hang in there without me for just a little longer (I know it's been most difficult). ;)

Rainy Sunday Cat/Dawg Bloggin'

2007-02-25T16:26:00.001-05:00

I don't know what you do on a boring and rainy Sunday afternoon, but I empty the contents of my closet, photograph it then post it on my blog.

Doing a bit of spring cleaning here, putting the winter stuff away and breaking out the spring stuff (so I can sit around shivering when it snows in March) and you know how cats love large piles of clothing and blankets. Precious just had to have a piece of that action. I'm also puppy-sitting for my mom so Fox is here to jump around and amuse.

It would seem that he has a huge crush on Precious (who is comprised of fur and pure evil).

It would would also seem that Precious doesn't hate Fox as much as one would expect a ball of fur containing pure evil to hate a slobbering cute puppy. OK, so I'm not exactly seeing the love and longing on her face above, but it's not pure evil hatred either.

As she stole Fox's puppy treat and fled the scene (while the dummy was wooing a cat no less), Luna could not be reached for comment.

Book Update

2007-02-22T10:52:00.000-05:00

First, I miss blogging! No, I really miss you guys! I know, I'm still blogging a little here and there and I'm still visiting your blogs at least once a week but it's just not the same. Putting the blogging aside, even if not completely, has been difficult. Each and every day I am tempted. Each and every day I tell myself to just shut up and write. But just so you know, you're all constantly in my thoughts (and prayers too), even when it may not seem like I'm engaged. :)

So, on with the point. The writing of the book.

This is easier than I thought it would be and harder than I thought it would be, all at the same time. It's easier in the way that I'm finding the massive amounts of research to be much more enjoyable than I ever thought I could and harder in the way that I seem almost incapable of picking up general information in my research then move on. We're getting caught up in the process and not actually writing as much as we'd like. Some of the research is just too fascinating to look away.

We're taking certain beliefs and concepts from the very beginning of recorded history to present as well as dipping into the unknown (future) and trying to make them work in harmony together. Imagine trying to combine the ancient with sci-fi. It's a good thing this is fiction because this give us lots of room to move, but it's important (to me) to portray these concepts and beliefs as accurately as possible even if it is a work of fiction and even if there are no concrete answers. (Sounds like liberal gobbledygook, huh? Ha!) So this means research, research, and research some more (to the uber-teen's distress). I'm pretty sure she'd just grab some general info and move on, and maybe she's right. I win though, not because I'm bigger (because I'm not) but because I'm the boss. Bwahaha!

So far, we've come to two major conclusions. If this book is not "wears a cape super-good", it will not be due to a "bad idea" or lack of creativity but because I've not written it well (I'll take full blame since I'm the boss). We've also come to understand why you hear so many stories about the egotistical writer who views their work as "their baby", refusing to believe there are any flaws much less that it's crap. I hope we do well from beginning to end but sure hope we're able to accept it if told there are flaws. We won't consider being told that it's crap because that's just loser talk!

Anyhow, I promised an update so here it is. For anyone interested, my next research topic will be the fascinating topic of dimensions. More specifically, why 10 dimensions?

Be teased!

Now be fair, drop me a comment and tell me what you've all been up to lately (or drop a link if I've missed a blog post or major event in all my lameness).

Puppy Update

2007-02-16T19:08:00.000-05:00

First of all, hooray it's Friday! I don't know about you, but this is when I stop worrying. About work, laundry, what I eat, who is calling and why and what I eat. *g* By the end of the weekend I will have consumed every unhealthy food and beverage I can imagine, the laundry will reach the ceiling, my answering machine will be full of complaints and work will be all backed up. No wonder I hate Monday, huh?

Anyhow, I have new puppy photos! Today, we went to the veterinarian and got checked out (there was much crying). All of the pups were given a clean bill of health (there was much rejoicing) and are 7 weeks old so next week will be all about finding homes for these guys (more crying). I'll be spending as much time with them as possible this weekend so hoping for nice weather here, they love to run and play outside. I'll be snapping some more photos too because this will not only help in finding homes but also likely be the last I'm able to take. :(

On a happier note, I've become attached to one pup in particular (other than little Luna, who I've already decided to keep).

Meet Fox. Fox Mulder, heh.

How cute is he?! Yeah, I know better than to get attached to an animal that I know I'm not going to be able to keep forever and naming him makes it even harder. But he's always stretching his neck trying so hard to see exactly what is on the other side of that box that it inspired me to constantly whisper to him, "The truth is out there..." which of course is how he eventually came to be named Fox. Fox Mulder.

The good news is that my mom came by to pick up her pup today and fell in love with Fox as well and decided to take him instead. So I still get to see him! The pup she originally chose is adorable but not right for her anyhow. My parents like to travel, hike, go to parks, take long walks and things like that. Her original choice is a very sweet pick but just crawls into the nearest lap, shivering and looking extremely worried. Always. She'll give someone lots of love and cuddles, making an excellent companion but sure doesn't seem like much of an adventurous dog.

Here she is, worried as usual, wanting cuddled. So precious...

Here Fox is again (right), with his "almost" twin (left). I'd love to name the other Dana Scully and insist my mother keep them both but it's a boy as well and she's already slightly annoyed that she has to yell "Fox! Fox Mulder!" every time she wants her dog to come to her because he already knows his name. I shouldn't push my luck here.

I'm having trouble catching this next fella awake! He plays hard and crashes harder.

And, unable to catch this cutie being still. I've more photos of him than all the rest, every single one blurry. He's very animated.

The following is another bonus photo, from way back when they were still so tiny.

Seems like just yesterday...

Sniff.

Maybe I should go look at the mess they made tearing a stuffed Easter Bunny into a million pieces earlier today.

Or maybe I should just go watch a movie and eat my weight in chocolate! Mmmm.

Hope everyone has a terrific weekend. :)

Happy Valentine's!

2007-02-14T16:32:00.000-05:00

Valentine's Day is all about celebrating all manner of love, in my opinion. Remember, while most focus on the romantic aspects, there are many different kinds of love.

Just to name a few...

Friendship Love

Puppy Love

Pet Love (Thanks to the uber-teen for the use of her art and photography here)

The Greatest Love Ever Known

Sweet Sisterly Love

Strange Monkey Love (Thanks to Linda for the cuddly love monkey. Mwah!)

Last, but certainly not least-

Bloggy Love!

Hope everyone enjoys the day, romantic or not. ;)

Valentine's Countdown Cat Bloggin'

2007-02-09T19:17:00.001-05:00

Only a little over four days left until Valentines!

I've actually discovered a way to combine the Valentine's countdown and cat blogging.

Hooray!

With lots of help from You Tube, I bring you Otto. "Full of love with no place to put it", Otto "will give his love to perfect strangers".

(Don't try that line on dates.)

Stranger, indeed.

Hope everyone has a great weekend! :)

Q&A, Baby!

2007-02-09T04:55:00.001-05:00

First, I'm going to ask you, oh wise bloggers, some random questions. Then, we'll get to your asking me stuff in the comments. Since it's almost Valentines, maybe we should go with the topic of men, women, and relationships.

On the other hand, random works too. :)

My Random Questions-

1. If you were considering participating in a charity event and read this --

Participants that submit art, will be getting individual credit for their art and the charitable contributions. Upon completion of this project, all the available art will be auctioned, and the profits from the auction will go to charities. However, this event is not a charity event, and there is not going to be a profit made from processing the art.

-- wouldn't you think it's likely some type of a scam?

2. With 5 days until Valentine's Day, should we begin "the countdown" here at PJ Max?

3. With my bloggy-time more restricted, what type of posts do you prefer to see when you visit PJ Max (personal, political, cat bloggy-goodness, random photography, art, mad mix, etc)?

4. At what point does a personal preference become a fetish?

(Shuddup, I told you these would be random.)

5. Can I put those anti-snoring nose strips on my dog (without harming her)?

6. Are most teens online really as incapable of correct grammar, spelling, and capitalization as they appear? (Does that person teasing others about their poor "grammer" ever stop being funny?)

7. What are men really thinking about when they go all quiet?

Ok, there you have it, folks. Give me some answers, ask some questions, and come back later today for the next installment of Cat Blogging (yay!)

Doggy Bloggin'

2007-01-12T17:15:00.000-05:00

Today, we have more puppy photos, in celebration of the opening of the puppy eyes.

Above, is the puppy that was found a home within the first hours of her life. My parents will be taking her home with them when she is old enough so I'm positive she'll enjoy some massive spoiling. My parents have not had a dog since their little dog, Baby, passed away. My mother has called almost every day since her birth to ask what she's doing now. It goes something like "Um, now she's sleeping." "Oh, she's just eating." "Errr...sleeping again...stop calling me!" My dad emails and sends text messages repeatedly to ask what the puppy is doing now but I'm positive he's just mocking. This is a really big deal to my mom.

Baby came along shortly after I left home and filled the great void left in their lives (due to my own absence, I'm sure). As a matter of fact, I remember that first trip home and my meeting her like it was just yesterday. My brother had arrived before me for the same reason he visited more often than myself (to make me look bad), and was all too happy to introduce me to Baby. On the edge of his seat with childlike anticipation he kept offering to help me carry my bags to my room until curiosity got the best of me. Once in the doorway of my old room, before I could even take it all in, he announced with glee from behind, "They totally gave your room to their new dog...named Baby! Hahaha!"

Hahaha, indeed.

Gone was my little bed, along with matching vanity, bookshelf and anything else a cute little mongrel..er...puppy, might chew (which is pretty much everything). All of my things had been stored and replaced with a little puppy bed, the floor littered with newspaper and a mountain of puppy toys. There she sat, in the middle of my room, in all her cuteness. She even had my dark curly hair! Humph. I might have been replaced but I suggested I get my brother's room during that visit (as well as all future visits) because girls need their privacy.

He got the couch. Bwahaha!

Anyhow, they were so sad when Baby passed away that it has taken them all this time to even consider raising another puppy. The little pup above will have a terrific life with the two of them.

Next up -

This pretty puppy will stay with me. Forever. Naturally, they'll all stay with me until I've found good homes for them (and if I don't, then I'll just keep them), but I do want to keep one of Shadow's babies and she is my pick. Haven't found a name for her just yet though.

And for the rest -

The little golden fellow in the middle (the runt) is growling and barking at me already. He's certainly an interesting character. I never did get a photo of the sixth puppy. Shadow didn't seem irritated or anxious or anything, she just kindly took the last one from me and put it back in the box. That's so adorable, what do you say? "Alrighty then, no more photos!" That's what. I did snap a quicky bonus photo while she was looking the other way. ;)

That's all folks (until next week). Have a fabulous weekend!

Not So Lame Blogger Excuses- In Advance

2007-01-10T13:17:00.000-05:00

For once, I will explain my lame attempts in the blogosphere before I disappear. Posting will be sporadic from now until...well, I don't really know when. Until I say so, that's when!

It's a pretty nifty tale so I will start from the beginning.

In a distant land, far far away (called Kansas), a dream was born. I, 25 year old Queen of my destiny, would finally just give in and submit some of the children's literature (written for a much younger uber-teen) for publication. After all, I was already taking writing courses geared specifically toward that end. On the other hand, I was thinking I might just skip the long and winding path of children's mags, just go for gold, and write a book. Decisions, decisions...

Then, before I could move on any decision, it became clearly apparent that I would need to educate my then seven year old daughter myself. Actually, it first became clearly apparent that she would not receive a good education if I didn't do something, and fast. After the "oh, woe is me!" phase (as we could not afford private education for her at that time and were not even sure if that was even the right answer for her), I kicked myself a few times for not recognizing her needs sooner (because I'd grown overly self-involved), and became a home educator within the week. I gladly put the previous goal behind me, in order to better focus on her education, and fell back on what I know best. I also became very involved with fellow home educators and "the movement" (cool sounding, huh?) in general, giving much of my extra time.

Interestingly enough, as our income increased (and we were eventually able to afford private education), the uber-teen continued to prefer home education over other options. Every now and then I made the offer to send her to a private school and she refused that offer every time. I'm pleased that she did because I am thoroughly enjoying all of this time that we have together. I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.

So, fast forward nearly ten years. The uber-teen is still at home with me, though she graduated last year. Many assume she decided against going away to college last fall due to the tragic events of last spring, but we'd already decided together that she wasn't ready to leave the nest just yet and would continue DL courses until she was damn good and ready to face the world on her own. She is only sixteen. However, she will be seventeen this summer and even if she sticks to the decision to put going away to college off one more year (until the fall of 08), I know the end of this little adventure of ours, together anyhow, is drawing near. She plans to major in journalism (how cool is that?), minor in photography, and find her own way soon enough. I might feel silly for becoming a little sniffly just thinking about this if she didn't sniffle some herself.

Anyhow, enough mush! The good news is, it isn't over just yet. She and I have brought in the new year by deciding to write a book. As a matter of fact, we spent the last weeks of 2006 dabbling in ideas and character formulation. Over the next year, we'll write this together. I will finally write that book I've always wanted to write and she will co-author. I can't imagine a more befitting end. I no longer even care if it is published (ok, ok, maybe just a little). No matter, I'll cherish the end result every bit as much as the time together regardless of outcome, not to mention we'll both learn lots and have fun in the process.

I have no idea what I'll do with myself in the year 2008, after the uber-teen leaves for college. I'm already playing with the idea of looking in new directions (digital design is where it's at, baby!). All I really know for certain is that the year 2007 will be spent with her, creating something fabulous.

So, blogging will definitely be sporadic during this time, for however long it takes, though I will continue to visit all your blogs as regularly as possible.

Now if that's not the best blogger excuse you've ever heard, I'd like to know what is. :)

Do You Know What Day It Is?!

2007-01-05T14:08:00.000-05:00

It's that day of the week when seemingly normal and intelligent individuals post photos of and drone on about their cats, otherwise known as Friday.

Yay for cat blogging!

This week, I present the crazy Precious one, helping me unpack Christmas decorations and decorate the tree this past Christmas.

Precious is not the kitten she once was, and ribbon is maybe not as exciting as it once was.

Definitely not.

A string of circular thingies that might roll all over the floor making one exciting mess if chewed? Yeah baby!

And that concludes this week's cat blogging.

Don't fret, there's sure to be more of the same next week!

Also, there's a new addition to the blogosphere. Everyone go welcome Captain Den, if you haven't already.(Sorry I'm a little late Capt!)

Hope you all have a great weekend. ;)

Part II- What Then, Realistically Speaking, Can We Do?

2007-01-04T07:53:00.000-05:00

First, let's take a look at some recent headlines (from the past week alone):

Ahmadinejad: Iran will press ahead with nuclear work- President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Tuesday that Iran would press ahead with its nuclear plans and that a UN resolution imposing sanctions on Iran was "invalid". 'If bullying powers ... want to resist Iranians' will, we will give them a historic slap in the face'

Iran: 3,000 centrifuges 'operational by March'- Some 3000 centrifuges currently being installed at the Iranian nuclear reactor in Natanz will be operational by March of this year, says Iranian government Spokesman Gholam.

Iran To Produce Nuclear Fuel Soon- Speaking at a public gathering in Gatvand, Khuzestan province in Iran, Ahmadinejad said, "Iran has access to full nuclear fuel cycle and we will soon push the button on nuclear fuel production for industrial uses. The Iranians are determined to achieve peaks of success and defend its interests powerfully."

Iran: Mahdi will defeat archenemy in Jerusalem-State media says, ‘Shiite messiah will kill archenemy in Jerusalem, will come during spring equinox' (This is possibly relevant if comparing the timing of Iran's 3,000 operational centrifuges with the knowledge that the nutjob thinks he can bring about the appearance of the so-called Shiite messiah through death, destruction and chaos but I'll admit, guessing what Iran may do and when based upon insane ramblings is always a risk. I've also read that this "messiah" is to rule from Iraq, suggesting this may be at least one of the reasons we see such heavy Iranian interest working against our own there, but having trouble running down a link on that one.)

Hezbollah offers pay-per-slay- Hezbollah is not only funneling Iranian money into Israel, but the group has marketized its terror aid by linking funding to the successful targeting of Qassam rockets from Gaza into Israel, with the payments linked to the number of Israelis killed or wounded.

New UN chief – Israel at the heart of the problem- This does not necessarily mean Ban believes Israel per se is to blame– Israelis have expressed the hope that he would be friendly towards their country. It strongly suggests, however, that under his leadership the international community which is pushing so hard to see Israel surrender its land to the Arabs will continue – and very likely intensify – that push; and all the more as an appeasement-inclined West becomes desperate to defuse the Iranian nuclear standoff.

News Analysis: In 2007, Expect PA Factions to Wage Civil War- This time around, the talk of "brotherhood" will likely be finally exposed for the myth it is. Fatah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other assorted terrorist gangs will participate, while outside sponsors such as Iran, Syria, and Jordan will supply the bullets, rockets, money and ill-will.

'Israeli weapons transfer to be used against Jews'
- Weapons transferred yesterday with the help of Israel to militants from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party will be used in attacks against the Jewish state, a senior Fatah militant told WND.

Iran has 1,400 Uranium Mines- The Iranian Atomic Energy Organization said 1,400 mines were available for the extraction of uranium.

Muslim sensitivity training for 45,000 airport workers- The Transportation Security Administration – created after 9/11 to safeguard America's airports – is providing Islamic sensitivity training to 45,000 airport security officers so they'll know what to expect when Muslims fly from the U.S.

N. Korea escalates 'cult of Kim' to counter West's influence- North Koreans are taught to worship Kim Jong Il as a god. In a manner unique among nations, the North exerts extraordinary control through deification - a cult ideology of complete subservience - that goes beyond the "Stalinist" label often used to describe the newly nuclear North.

China's Hu calls for powerful, combat-ready navy- Chinese president and commander-in-chief Hu Jintao urged the building of a powerful navy that is prepared "at any time" for military struggle, state media reported on Thursday. At a meeting of delegates to a Communist Party meeting of the navy on Wednesday, Hu said China, whose military build-up has been a source of friction with the United States, was a major maritime country whose naval capability must be improved.

Meanwhile-

Dems set to regain power in Congress- Highlights?

"A jubilant Rep. Nancy Pelosi was poised to become the first woman to run the House of Representatives as Democrats relished being the majority party on Capitol Hill for the first time in 12 years.

"The Democrats are back," Pelosi said after administering a ceremonial oath of office to the Congressional Black Caucus"

"House Democrats planned quick action on legislative priorities that included boosting both the minimum wage and stem cell research. Democrats also said they would pressure President Bush to bring the troops home from Iraq."

"Pelosi, taking over as House speaker, promised immediate steps to ban gifts from lobbyists and to clamp down on travel funded by private interests. Democrats also planned to vote next week to raise the federal minimum wage, increase federal support for stem cell research and allow the government to negotiate with drug companies for lower prices on prescription drugs for Medicare recipients."

The Senate, as is typical, was getting off to a slower start than the House, where rules and practice permit speedy debate and ensure tight majority power control over the agenda. After passage of a series of routine resolutions — including elevating 89-year-old Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., as President Pro Tempore, third in the line of presidential succession — the Senate floor was opening up for speeches about the upcoming session."

"House Democrats promised speedy passage of the first six bills on their agenda and a series of stiffer ethics rules." [Ahem..]

As several posters over at Daily Kos have exclaimed, "Let the investigations begin!"

Of course, I've also seen the phrase "SUPER Mandate" over there while the Democrats have the same "mandate" that Bush had (51%) when they said he had none. haha

For balance, I give you some some encouraging words from Mark Noonan over at BlogsforBush-

"We Republicans should be of good cheer - remember, these are Democrats; they will blow it. This is especially true as the leadership of the Democratic Party is mostly kook-leftist these days. As the Party of Congressional opposition, we'll have the fun task of picking to pieces every action of the Congress and pointing out how mind-bogglingly stupid it is. Democrats are also up to their necks in corruption (I know, I've co-written the book on the subject) and while they were in the minority status, a lot of things were allowed to slide because, quite honestly, the GOP had better things to do than run down Democratic corruption...well, we've got some free time on our hands now."

"For you younger GOPers, this will be an instructive time - being in the minority has its drawbacks, but it also tends to be a lot more fun, on a day to day basis. So, relax - make some popcorn, and watch the freak show unfold."

(Give me more!)

In any case, back to my point, the freak show is not interested in our safety and security.

Daniel Pipes gets to the heart of the matter in How The West Could Lose, by diagnosing the illness.

After defeating fascists and communists, can the West now defeat the Islamists?

On the face of it, its military preponderance makes victory seem inevitable. Even if Tehran acquires a nuclear weapon, Islamists have nothing like the military machine the Axis deployed in World War II, nor the Soviet Union during the cold war. What do the Islamists have to compare with the Wehrmacht or the Red Army? The SS or Spetznaz? The Gestapo or the KGB? Or, for that matter, to Auschwitz or the gulag?

Yet, more than a few analysts, including myself, worry that it's not so simple. Islamists (defined as persons who demand to live by the sacred law of Islam, the Sharia) might in fact do better than the earlier totalitarians. They could even win. That's because, however strong the Western hardware, its software contains some potentially fatal bugs. Three of them – pacifism, self-hatred, complacency – deserve attention.

Mr. Pipes goes on to discuss these three fatal flaws in more detail and ends with-

Pacifism, self-hatred and complacency are lengthening the war against radical Islam and causing undue casualties. Only after absorbing catastrophic human and property losses will left-leaning Westerners likely overcome this triple affliction and confront the true scope of the threat. The civilized world will likely then prevail, but belatedly and at a higher cost than need have been.

The notion that absorption of catastrophic human and property losses is our only hope (where the left is concerned anyhow), is not an uncommon one. It was only after 9/11 that our great nation experienced unity and the will to really do something about Islamic terrorism. The leftists really had no choice but cooperate at that time, but what about now? They seem to assume that the American public approves their pacifism, self-hatred, and complacency due to recent elections. Conservative voices will likely tell you that the left has managed to fool the public by running fake "conservative" Democrats and the public doesn't necessarily approve the "do nothing" attitude. I don't know. Be the approval real or imagined, I do think it is likely that the left will make decisions based upon the dangerous ideology of looking extremely busy while not really doing anything at all (much like the UN). The right certainly doesn't get a pass here either. We desperately need strong and honest leadership now, more than ever before. They need to hear this from us, often.

So what else can the average Joe do? Not only do we need to make our voices heard often in Washington, we need to help educate our fellow American (if we aren't doing so already). Not everyone is paying attention. Not everyone reads blogs. Not everyone seeks alternative news sources in order to get the entire story. Many are still relying upon CNN for information. It also seems as if some have gone back to sleep after the rude awakening of 9/11 though the world is a much more dangerous place today than ever before.

There is a wealth of information available via the Internet. How many times do we receive an email with 50 FWD in front of the subject having made its way to thousands of people throughout the United States just to open and discover contents that are incredibly silly and/or easily proven false according to snopes.com or urbanlegends.com? Trust me, if people don't mind passing some of the junk that makes its way to my inbox, they won't mind forwarding information that is meaningful and with substance. I'm tempted to start tacking "Jesus will cry, your computer will blow up and you'll burn in HELL if you don't forward this, it happened to my neighbor!!!" to informative articles. I won't, but it is tempting.

If you know people who don't have access to the Internet, you can always print things for them to read and consider. Talk to neighbors, friends and family. I know this isn't exactly a happy-joy-joy topic, but the misinformation and ignorance that continues to thrive is just amazing. I think perhaps it is not enough that we educate ourselves, we also need to help educate others. One single email can reach thousands, maybe more. The blogs are not only huge sources of information but interactive (and fun) so send links to great blogs as well.

The West will not lose, but how much must we suffer before being allowed to win?

2007 Part I- What Will It Bring? In My View...

2007-01-02T13:41:00.000-05:00

I'm certain that this is where I am supposed to reach deep within and produce a "Hey, Look on the Bright Side!" post, but I am either unable (or simply unwilling) to do so.

I'm sorry, but 2007 does not look that good to me, no matter how you shake it.

While I honestly do believe the ability to look on the bright side is extremely important to our very survival (in the way that it encourages us to continue to try), there comes a point when one must admit the truth, ugly as it may be, in order to improve the situation as well. I feel that we are that point right now.

No, all is not lost and no, I do not honestly believe all will be ever be lost. I still believe in the will of the American people and I still believe that freedom will survive, every single time (when the battle is fought by freedom loving individuals). However, I do think that our most immediate future appears to be grim because, sometimes, things must become much worse before they can become better. Perhaps I use the words must and can out of turn here, but some of us are insisting upon this dangerous path and the rest of us are sadly being forced along. When "we" suffer as a nation, and I don't doubt that "we" will in 2007, we suffer as individuals as well. Some of us will suffer more than others and those of us who are able will need to triple our efforts to help our fellow American. I suggest we accept this strong possibility and actively prepare for it (as well as mentally). I am that certain that the need will eventually arise.

This is not to say we should ever just throw our hands in the air and give up, merely that it is in our best interest to be prepared for what appears to be inevitable. Yes, accepting reality is not always the easy choice to make, especially when the reality is harsh, but what many rational individuals don't seem to get is that we absolutely do have a choice whether or not we'll accept and deal with reality. Too many Americans are making the wrong choice at this point in time and that refusal puts us all in grave danger. Refusing to accept that which we cannot change may buy temporary comfort but will cause even more pain in the end. I believe we need to face the harsh reality of what doom and gloom may very well be headed our way in 2007 due to those who refuse to face the harsh realities of the threats our nation faces today. I'd rather not think of this at all, but there it is nevertheless.

Islamic terrorism is the single most important issue of our day. No other issue really matters all that much, economic or social, unless we face and conquer this threat. Not everyone recognises this fact. For various reasons, from honest differences of opinion to willful ignorance to self-defeating Bush-hating (I won't pretend to completely understand them all), it looks as if there are those who absolutely insist we experience death and destruction that meets, or perhaps even exceeds, the terrorist attacks on 9/11 before we are allowed to unleash our power and actually win the war on terror. Who knows, many may still insist we act with suicidal restraint even then, but many more will likely wake up to the fact that there is no question as to whether or not we should be at war because we are whether we want to be or not. The question, at this stage anyhow, isn't even can we win but do we want to win. As time goes, and the strength of the United States is weakened, this question may change (in my personal opinion, of course).

In A Self-Correcting Mechanism, Phillip Ellis Jackson over at the Intellectual Conservative writes-

"Wonder what future historians will say about the presidency of George W. Bush? It all depends on how far away you live from the blast zone."

Mr. Jackson goes on to warn-

"What I’m about to suggest is one of those good-news/bad-news things that started off as a joke, but unfortunately like all good parody and satire, has the ring of truth to it. I’ll let you decide whether to laugh, cry, or be offended, but in any case don’t simply dismiss it out of hand. I’m afraid we’re all about to receive a practical application of the old Biblical warning about reaping what we sew."

Because-

"If you take every statement made by that whack job in Iran, and all the other Islamo-fascists who threaten us, and use these statements to justify pre-emptive military action against Iran, the liberals/Democrats/press will have Bush impeached and put in prison for crimes against humanity. Their refrain will be something like this: "You should know these people are just playing to a domestic audience and don't really mean what they say. You killed a lot of innocent people for nothing, and made even more of the world hate us."

On the other hand, if these nut-cases go ahead and massacre a few hundred thousand Americans (or Israelis) with the A-bomb, the liberals/Democrats/press will have Bush impeached and put in prison for ignoring the flagrant, connect-the-dot signs that were clearly in front of his face. Again, you can almost hear their words: "They repeatedly telegraphed their plans to you for God's sake! They made their intentions as plain as day [insert 1000+ direct quotations]. How much more did you need to connect the dots! You got a lot of innocent people killed through your negligence."

Such is the state of political discourse in America today, thanks to the liberals/Democrats/press who'd rather regain political power at any expense than try to do the right thing for the people of this country."

And drives the notion home with-

"Had the Left not succeeded in the 2006 mid-term elections, I thought that Bush would have gone ahead and acted (with or without the Israelis) to eliminate Iran’s nuclear threat. If you’re going to be condemned either way for acting or not acting, then you might as well act.

But now that the Dems have taken over both Houses in Congress, I’m not so sure. Bush won’t pull out of Iraq, that much I’m certain of. But it’s less likely now that he’ll expand any action to remove other threats. With the first movement against Iran, Syria or Korea, he would be impeached — and convicted — with unprecedented haste by the Democrat majorities in both Houses."

The bright side in Mr. Jackson's article (which if you will remember "is one of those good-news/bad-news things that started off as a joke, but unfortunately like all good parody and satire, has the ring of truth to it") is a "terrorist blast against New York and Washington, perhaps LA as well, undoubtedly vaporizing all the liberals/Democrats/press who congregate along the East Coast".

Perhaps this is why I am either unable or unwilling to look on the bright side. I just don't live far enough away from the possible blast zone for comfort? Or maybe I've got it all wrong, feel free to convince me otherwise!

Continued- 2007 Part II- What Then, Realistically Speaking, Can We Do?

(Input not only welcome but desirable.)

Nothing's Cuter Than A Pile O'pups

2006-12-31T12:27:00.000-05:00

Absolutely nothing...

An Exciting Announcement and Friday Cat Blogging

2006-12-29T17:08:00.000-05:00

Announcement: I'm a grandma!

OK, not really. Only sort of.

My sweet little dog, my sweet little and supposedly sterile dog (Shadow), just gave birth to six of the cutest mutts I've ever seen at about 5am this morning. Two girls and four boys.

There's a cat in this story so it's still cat blogging, right?

See, what happened was (all the greatest tales begin with "See, what happened was..."), my sweet little Shadow was just waiting on the right man, er, dog. It would seem that she wasn't sterile after all but just "confused", suffering an identity crisis if you will. Once she either realized she wasn't a cat or my cat Thor (who interestingly enough has been "fixed") would never return her love, she headed straight into the paws of a fellow dog.

Years ago, the vet assured me that Shadow must be unable to conceive after quite a few attempts over the years to introduce her to a certain fellow named Lucky (who turned out to be not so lucky after all). I would just like to note for the record that it was I who said, "Are you sure she's not just convinced she is a cat?" Yeah, he rolled his eyes at that, at me. Well, who is rolling their eyes now, Mister?! Everyone reading this post, you say? Shuddup, you!

Seriously, all the signs were there from the very beginning. The laying on her back and waving her feet in the air, like a total moron, every time so-called Lucky showed interest in her. Growling and biting him when he became more persistent, as if to say "Hello, I'm a friggin' C A T, you dope!" Then there was the refusing to eat anything but cat food. The chasing after and looks of longing cast Thor's way. Following him everywhere, wagging her tail (the tail tells no tales?) and slobbering on him whenever he walked by. The trying to follow him up trees and repeatedly attempting to join him on the back of the sofa, only to come crashing down again and again. Oh, and the sitting on his head! Dancing in circles on her hind legs, begging for him whenever I picked him up to save him from her obsession with licking his face. It was all there in black and white! Suffice to say, it was as if Shadow was never quite sure exactly what she was supposed to be doing in that respect...but whatever it was, she surely wanted to be doing it with Thor.

It probably didn't help matters much that Shadow was an apartment dweller the first years of her life, raised with cats, and never even saw another dog until she was two years old. Whaddyado? I loved her despite her sterile status (confused orientation) and only wanted her to have puppies for her own sake. I wanted her to experience the joy of motherhood just once before towing her off to the vet to be spayed, but it just wasn't in the cards.

Or so I thought...

Three years after moving to the sticks, Shadow has slowly but surely become a dog. She no longer smells of strawberries and cream, she rolls in the grass and dirt. She no longer lounges inside under the AC in the summer but digs a hole and lays in it. No more burying chew toys in the sofa cushions, she's out there running with the big dogs now. Her not so little friends, Duke and Zoe (both neutered males) from down the street stop by often to visit, play and chew bones (and anything else I forgot to put up). They bring her presents, such as the leg of a deer (I'm starting to think I'm not getting any good photographs lately because my neighbors are eating all the nature) and a good time is had by all.

Then, with the new neighbors came a new kid on the block, a blonde Lab. Oh, and a brindle colored Boxer too. Now where did he come from?! And here I thought that was sooo adorable, Shadow's making new friends.

Well, it would appear that Shadow was making a little more than friends as her tummy began to grow larger and larger (and larger still).

There was much stressing and running to the vet. I'm sure everyone found my major wigging out over it all quite amusing, but I had to make huge decisions for this very special little dog of mine. Could she safely have her puppies? Would they simply be too large? Would she need a C-section? Was it even worth the risk? Oh yes, there was much to consider and as you have already read, I decided that it was worth the risk (with close monitoring) as this was Shadows one and only chance to have puppies (at all, ever). Of course the good vet managed to reassure me with phrases like "nice wide bone structure".

If I didn't know better, I'd swear Shadow rolled her eyes at that.

Ahem.

So anyhow, today the six year old Shadow is one happy mommy. She did a great job and there was much rejoicing!

Most especially relieved by the recent turn of events, is Thor, I'm sure. :)

Brand new puppy pictures will follow. Tomorrow, after the new mom has had a chance to rest a little (and I've changed the grossness that is now her bedding, ew).

Until then...

Shadow, checking out the new camera. I think maybe she's checking to see if it needs killin'.

Here she is ferociously showing all the wild beasts of the forest her fangs in order to better protect me.

Honestly, that's really the middle of a yawn, getting terribly bored with all the taking photos.

Here she is even more bored than before, if such is even possible.

Last, but certainly not least, I give you Thor's thoughts on the entire subject.

Top Ten Tips to a Merry Christmas

2006-12-23T10:45:00.000-05:00

I've created this list of tips in order to help my own family enjoy the holiday (which begins in less that one hour for us because my dad is working the holiday as usual...ggrr), and thought you guys might find these tips useful as well.

10. If sparks fly when plugging 20 year old Christmas lights into an outlet, go ahead and splurge on new lights.

9. It's way easier (and probably cheaper) to just replace certain decorations than to purchase 10 apple-spice plug ins to cover that electrical/melting plastic smell.

8. Spike that Christmas punch. Face it, nothing is more merry than getting grandma tipsied up.

7. Be certain that nobody is on prescription medicines (that aren't to be mixed with alcohol) before spiking the Christmas punch (doh!).

6. For those of you visiting alcohol free zones- Always keep trial sized bottles in the purse and glove compartment of vehicles.

5. NEVER drink and drive. Besides the obvious, it gives others joy to find you passed out under their tree, spooning the family pet, on Christmas morning.

4. When visiting multiple homes on Christmas day, never say "I've already eaten" or go on and on about how good someone else's stuffing is. Just shuddup and eat like you've never eaten before.

3. Never tell the story about when you first discovered there was no Santa in front of children.

2. Never tell that "When I was stationed in Korea at Christmas time..." story, involving two Korean prostitutes and an angry pimp, in front of children.

Honestly, we love it that you've served and adore hearing about how you came to get those stitches in your head (time and time again), but timing is everything here. ;)

And the number one tip to producing a Merry Christmas...

1. Never tell caroling 3-5 year olds in a Christmas choir to "shut up" then throw them out of the mall.

I guarantee, they will cry, and there's nothing merry about that.

I'll end with a funny Christmas quote:

The Supreme Court has ruled that they cannot have a nativity scene in Washington, D.C.

This wasn't for any religious reason.

They just couldn't find three wise men and a virgin! --- Jay Leno

Merry Christmas to all. :)

Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

2006-12-19T09:38:00.001-05:00

First...Hooray it's no longer Monday!

Second...still all warm and pretty here- No Christmas snow. :(

Yet.

In case you've all not quite figured it out yet, posting will be light until after Christmas, and totally unrelated to politics at that. Who can think about today's political scene and keep their dinner down, much less enjoy the holiday? Oo

Speaking of losers, today I bring you the exact opposite- Winners!

The winners of the Christmas contest are Insolublog and Peakah (whose entry is in the comments here) , and not just because these were the only two entries (ok, that too) but also because their efforts totally rock. Bee-u-tee-ful! Be sure to check them out.

UPDATE I- Yay! I missed someone. Not yay I missed them but yay we have another winner. A Christmas memory from Wyatt Earp (that sentimental fool). Bring tissues. *sniff*

UPDATE II- Stew Magoo of The Right Place brings us "Twas The Night Before Christmas". A must read!

The second image, a digital Christmas painting, is finally finished. Preview here. First image here. The third image isn't finished so I'll just save it for a Christmas day post (if done by then).

Anywho, I guess maybe the busy week before Christmas isn't the best time to have a contest, huh? In any case, heartfelt thanks go out to both of you (yes, poetry makes me that happy *g*). Email at pj_maximum@yahoo.com with shipping information to collect prints and stuff (yeah, stuff is code for stalking), or hq images via email, your choice. :)

Hope everyone is getting in the mood for Christmas cheer (or booze), with less than a week to go now, the countdown begins...

Christmas Contests and Yummy Recipes

2006-12-18T12:00:00.000-05:00

---Warning: Floating Post. Please scroll for new posts---

Update: One winter print has been completed. Click here to view. I think the next will be my favorite of the season, though, because kids are so darn cute. Be teased! :)

Yeah, we're still making "the list"...but the post will no longer float as there's even more holiday fun in store. But first, I'll share some yummy recipes (next post down). If you'd like to share a recipe (or two) in return, leave it in the comments and I'll give it a taste. ;)

Now for the contest.

There are three categories and there will be three winners, one from each category.

Best Christmas Poetry (any style)

Best Christmas Story (fiction please)

Best Christmas Memory/Story (non-fiction please)

Whether the submissions are humorous, political, religious or plain ole mushy in nature...please try to work Christmas in there somewhere!

Bloggers, please post submissions on your own blog and either link back or leave a comment letting me know you're submitting an entry. Those of you who do not have your own blogs can either leave your submission in the comments or email it to me at pj_maximum@yahoo.com. Again, I'll choose one winner per category so be sure to let me know which category you're entering.

Our winners will receive their choice Christmas (or winter themed) image on an 11oz mug, 9.25" x 7.75" mouse pad, 4"x3" magnet, or large key chain (exact size of key chain is undisclosed). I'll be using
Photobucket.com's printing services and have never used them before so quality is unknown (although I've personally heard good things). I will add the Christmas or winter themed images to my Photobucket gallery then post the link to the gallery so winners can choose an image. I hope to have three or more photography, digital art (or combinations of both) images to choose from...but no huge promises there because I have no idea how many friends will be taking me up on the free portraits offer this year and may run short on time.

Winners will need to share their address with me via email so I can have their item of choice shipped directly to them via Photobucket prints, and I hereby promise to never stalk you. Unless you're single, hot (and male)...then I might just happen to bump into you in the bushes in front of your house. I kid, I kid! Seriously, I completely understand those of you who may be uncomfortable with sharing such personal information and the only alternate solution I can think of is to send a very high quality image to any potentially nervous winner via email so they are able to order their own product (be it a mug, print...etc) from wherever they like, or they can just click on "order prints" themselves once the gallery link is made available (in which case they'll have to pay for it themselves). Whaddyado?

As for everyone else, when the gallery link is posted, you are welcome to click on "order prints" in photobucket as well (not that I could stop you anyhow, just sayin'). :)

The contest deadline is midnight, December 18th. You have exactly one week from midnight tonight to enter.

So start writing!

Recipes

2006-12-17T12:00:00.000-05:00

Irish Chocolate Cake

6oz self-raising flour
1/2tsp salt
2oz dark chocolate
4oz butter
6oz superfine sugar
3oz cooked mashed potato
2 eggs, beaten
4tbsp milk

Filling
4oz dark chocolate
4fl oz double cream
2oz confectionery sugar
3tbsp Irish cream liqueur

Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease and line two 8 inch cake tins. Sift flour and salt into a mixing bowl. Melt chocolate in a bowl placed over a saucepan of hot water.
In a separate bowl, cream butter and sugar together til it's fluffy, then beat in the chocolate and mashed potato. Next, beat the eggs in gradually, adding a little
flour with each addition. Fold the rest of the flour in then stir in the milk. Equally divide mixture between cake tins and bake for 25-30 minutes
(or until top is firm but springy to the touch). Remove from oven and place on a cooling rack.

While the cake is cooling, make the filling-

Melt the chocolate exactly as before, stir in the other ingredients, mixing well. Use the filling to sandwich the spongy layers together, then coat the top and sides of the cake.

(Note- If the chocolate sponge cake ingredients above make your tummy turn due to the potato-ee-ness, any basic chocolate sponge cake recipe will do. The devil's in the filling on this one, imo.)

Dough Bread

1 c. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tbsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. shortening
1/3 c. milk

Mix dry ingredients in large bowl. Blend in shortening with pastry blender. Stir in milk with a fork until soft dough is formed. On lightly floured surface, knead dough 2 or 3 times. Pat smooth to 1/2 inch thickness. Cut into fourths with a knife (floured). Place several at a time into the deep fat fryer, turning often, browning evenly.(Cooking time is approx 4-5 minutes.) Drain on paper towels. You can sprinkle with cinnamon, confectioners' sugar or top with butter.

Personally, I top with butter and then sprinkle with sugar as well. Great dipped into Blueberry Wojapi (recipe to follow).

Blueberry Wojapi

3/4 cup flour
1 cup sugar (can replace sugar with 1 cup of honey)
3 cups water
1 cup blueberries
(Additional water to mix with flour to make paste.)

Mix flour with water to make a paste, set aside. (So sorry, I've never measured exactly how much water, so just make a paste already. Honestly, it is difficult to go wrong here.) Put blueberries into a medium sauce pan. Add the 3 cups water and 1 cup sugar (or 1 cup honey replacement), then mash the blueberries. Heat until boiling. Slowly add the previously mixed flour paste to make a gravy-like mixture. Serve hot, warm or cold with dough bread.

Last but certainly not least...chili!

Note- If you are a fan of Wendy's chili, you'll love this quick and easy chili recipe. :)

2lbs ground beef
1 med onion, chopped
1 med green bell pepper, chopped
1 14oz can stewed tomatoes
5 8oz cans tomato sauce
1 29oz can pinto beans
1 29oz can kidney beans
1 14oz can diced Rotel Tomatoes
1 McCormick mild chili seasoning

Brown ground beef, drain. Add all remaining ingredients, along with browned ground beef, into large pot. Cook until onion and pepper are tender. Serve. :)

Holiday Fun

2006-12-11T12:00:00.000-05:00

All holiday fun should begin with song!

Oh the Senate change is frightful

Their leaders weak and spiteful

And since so many don't seem to know

Socialists blow! Socialists blow! Socialists blow!

It doesn't show signs of stopping

Pelosi's veins are popping

We have reached a new all time low

Socialists blow! Socialists blow! Socialists blow!

Give your security a kiss goodnight

How we'll hate the terrorist's scorn

But with our dollars liberals hold really tight

Laughing all the way (to the bank) they'll be warm

The freedom is slowly dying

Ruled with fearful spineless crying

Better stock your own arms and ammo
Cuz...
Socialists blow! Socialists blow! Socialists blow!

Hooray for holiday fun, huh?

Wait, that's not all!

Throughout the month of December, in anticipation of Christmas of course, we will be making a list. Yes, a list. A naughty or nice list to be more exact.

(pause for effect...)

We all know what a busy guy Santa is, so I thought we'd all pitch in and help him out this year by making a list (and uh, yeah, checking it twice...etc...etc).

Meet 3D Uber (who will be helping us keep track of those on Santa's list). Hooray for me in 3D! (created at IMVU.com)

Here is how we'll be keeping track of the naughty (and nice) who make our list.

If you'd like to add someone to the list, just tell me who in the comments and I'll add them. Add anyone you like (though I'm leaning towards crummy politicians). Giving a reason, quote, or link as to why you'd like to add them to the naughty or nice list is suggested but not required.

You can't produce a link? That's fine.

Your reasoning is merely because you don't like their looks? That works too.

You just want to make stuff up about them? Even better!

Hey, it's Christmas. :)

Just be careful to be nice throughout the month of December (the list will be finalized the 25th...or whenever I get to it). You wouldn't like to be the ham of a Clinton/Pelosi sammich on Santa's naughty list, would you?!

So what are you waiting for? Let's make that list!

Pearl Harbor Day

2006-12-07T05:46:00.001-05:00

Here's an interesting read from the Naval Historical Center.

"7 December 1941 Japanese raid on Pearl Harbor was one of the great defining moments in history. A single carefully-planned and well-executed stroke removed the United States Navy's battleship force as a possible threat to the Japanese Empire's southward expansion. America, unprepared and now considerably weakened, was abruptly brought into the Second World War as a full combatant.

Eighteen months earlier, President Franklin D. Roosevelt had transferred the United States Fleet to Pearl Harbor as a presumed deterrent to Japanese agression. The Japanese military, deeply engaged in the seemingly endless war it had started against China in mid-1937, badly needed oil and other raw materials. Commercial access to these was gradually curtailed as the conquests continued. In July 1941 the Western powers effectively halted trade with Japan. From then on, as the desperate Japanese schemed to seize the oil and mineral-rich East Indies and Southeast Asia, a Pacific war was virtually inevitable.

By late November 1941, with peace negotiations clearly approaching an end, informed U.S. officials (and they were well-informed, they believed, through an ability to read Japan's diplomatic codes) fully expected a Japanese attack into the Indies, Malaya and probably the Philippines. Completely unanticipated was the prospect that Japan would attack east, as well.

The U.S. Fleet's Pearl Harbor base was reachable by an aircraft carrier force, and the Japanese Navy secretly sent one across the Pacific with greater aerial striking power than had ever been seen on the World's oceans. Its planes hit just before 8AM on 7 December. Within a short time five of eight battleships at Pearl Harbor were sunk or sinking, with the rest damaged. Several other ships and most Hawaii-based combat planes were also knocked out and over 2400 Americans were dead. Soon after, Japanese planes eliminated much of the American air force in the Philippines, and a Japanese Army was ashore in Malaya.

These great Japanese successes, achieved without prior diplomatic formalities, shocked and enraged the previously divided American people into a level of purposeful unity hardly seen before or since. For the next five months, until the Battle of the Coral Sea in early May, Japan's far-reaching offensives proceeded untroubled by fruitful opposition. American and Allied morale suffered accordingly. Under normal political circumstances, an accomodation might have been considered.

However, the memory of the "sneak attack" on Pearl Harbor fueled a determination to fight on. Once the Battle of Midway in early June 1942 had eliminated much of Japan's striking power, that same memory stoked a relentless war to reverse her conquests and remove her, and her German and Italian allies, as future threats to World peace." (Click for more.)

History teaches many a valuable lesson, does it not?

Visit The Pearl Harbor Survivors Association.

"This date marked the first of one thousand three hundred and fifty one days of war that touched the lives of all who lived at that time.

The fabric of freedom is woven with the moral and spiritual lineage of the men and women of honor, courage and integrity. Those who value something more than their own personal safeties.

Let us never forget their strength, their love, their courage, their commitment, their dedication, their perseverance and their devotion for this great country."

Friday Romance

2006-12-01T14:25:00.001-05:00

Today, December 01, 2006...I hold the object of my desire.

The Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi 10.1-Megapixel Digital SLR (released in August 06).

We are talking 0.2-second start-up time and shutter release lag of 0.01 sec. DIGIC II image processor, sophisticated signal-processing algorithms, low energy consumption, all sorts of photo style settings auto and manual exposure modes. 9-point, cross-pattern, wide-area autofocus with auto and manual point selection, AE lock, standard auto exposure bracketing; 35-zone evaluative, partial and center-weighted average exposure, and 3 fps continuous shooting with a maximum burst of 27 frames. White balance settings including auto, daylight, shade, cloudy, tungsten, fluorescent, flash and manual; built-in, pop-up E-TTL II auto flash (compat with EX-series Speedlite external flashes). Playback modes including single image, 9-image index, magnified zoom, auto play and auto play after shooting.

And all in a compact, lightweight design weighing 1.1 lbs.

Oh happy day, I am in love.

Canon does not make crap (and prices are sweet too)...remember that when/if filling those Digital SLR needs.

In celebration, I must go hiking. Photos to follow!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2006-11-23T13:55:00.000-05:00

OK, so I've been preparing and cooking for many days now, am totally unprepared and have no Thanksgiving post.

The uber-teen, in an attempt to help me with my bloggy woes, suggests I blog about her. "Tell them how pretty I am!"

There's a nice long (and totally unrelated) post for ya.

The uber-teen is pretty.

Really, really pretty.

How about Thanksgiving questions and advice?

Yay!

Have any pressing Turkey Day questions? Put them in the comments. Answers and advice will follow (probably after Thanksgiving has passed and it's no longer relevant, of course).

Ah well, just be sure to ignore all of the stupid health advice you're hearing all over your TV, radio, and Internet today.

Eat too much, drink too much, watch some football...nap it off and do it again! C'mon...it's just one day...

Happy Thanksgiving!

Oh My!

2006-11-10T07:09:00.000-05:00

Those wicked, nasty Dems have taken over the House (and it seems the Senate, too!).
I know a lot of you are depressed by this.

Insol is keeping a stiff upper lip.
Wyatt is on suicide watch.
Jimmyb is cleaning his guns, and preparing to say good-bye to them.
Doctor Phat Tony is terminating another goat to lay food in for a l-o-n-g socialist winter.

It's really rather sad...

So, sporting my best Uber-attitude, I want to present to you some of the upsides of this whole socio-political debacle.

1. The comedic opportunities are going to be almost unlimited for the next 700+ days.

2. You won't have to take your kids to horror movies any more. They can watch Nancy Pelosi on C-SPAN for 10 hours a day.

3. Terrorist are going to be so happy, they will only kill 3/4 of the people they would normally kill.

4. Abortion clinic stocks will go through the roof! As disgusting as this is, the financial implications are guaranteed to make some hell-bound investors very happy.

5. Your taxes will go up, but because the economy is going to go down, you will still end up paying the same amount, because you'll be making less money. See, it all balances out.

6. The rights of many new heretofore unrecognized minorities will now be protected. Soon, EVERYONE will have special rights. Well, except for you white men, but you know how that goes. They are even going to have affirmative action for those odd people with the one blue and one brown eye! And about darned time, too.

So cheer up folks! We have many opportunities, and the comfort that in two years, we will have our revenge!! :)
Now where is my leather Christmas outfit...?

Happy Halloween!

2006-10-31T13:25:00.000-05:00

Bwhahahaha!

This Halloween, I bring you stupid Halloween jokes to amuse (irritate) friends and coworkers (Have any really good Halloween jokes? Put them in the comments!)

Also, Halloween just isn't Halloween without spooky sounds (the "This is Halloween" mp3 is awesome). Here are some cool (and free) Jack o Lantern and pumpkin carving patterns for all your pumpkin carving needs as well.

Last but not least, here be a Halloween desktop wallpaper designed by yours truly (blogger isn't allowing me to post photos, not sure why but decided to just go around them and use photobucket instead). Here's another, designed on request (not all that Halloweenish in my opinion though still kinda cool).

Last Halloween I shared a terrific Halloween link (extreme pumpkin carving comes to mind) so go digging in those archives for some extra spooky fun.

Hope everyone has a fantastic Halloween, I'm off to hack...er...I mean carve a pumpkin. ;)

Halloween UpdateI- If, like me, you have fooled around til the very last moment and still haven't carved your pumpkin, I just stumbled upon yet another fabulous website chock full of terrific (printable) Jack o Lantern patterns (scroll down to the faces, good stuff) complete with directions and helpful tips at the bottom of the page.

Halloween UpdateII- So I chose the "rolling eye" Jack o Lantern carving pattern even though it was a little large for my short and plump pumpkin and now everyone says my Jack looks like a splody tard. Grr!

Halloween UpdateIII- Due to popular demand (ok, just Insolublog), I give you the brand new (yeah I totally recycled older art...but in a brand new way) Spooky Fishnet/Kennedy Dagger Halloween wallpaper.

You can run, Teddy, but you can't hide!

Bloggy Hiatus

2006-10-18T19:40:00.000-04:00

Never fear! I will be back to blogging by the week's end.

Yeah, I know the usual thing to do would be to announce the Bloggy Hiatus at the beginning of the hiatus instead of at the end...but I have hundreds, no thousands, of lame blogger excuses so....I'm automatically excused. :)

On a more serious note, tomorrow -October 19th- is my daughter Cassie's birthday. At first, I thought this day would not be any more diffult than any other day (some days are difficult, some are not as difficult, and so it goes). I even thought it might just be a good opportunity to pull together and share in happy memories with family and friends. Her dad agreed. But as the day quickly approached, our minds began to drift back to birthdays past. These memories brought seemingly endless tears.

Friends from out of state arrived on the scene Friday afternoon in an attempt to make me smile (which was totally sweet and worked) and left Saturday afternoon. One very thoughtful friend actually gave me her excited 4 year old daughter (and my God-child) for the entire weekend, which made setting up the Halloween decorations a much more cheerful production. Yeah, she's pretty smart, and so is her mom.

Despite kind efforts, I fell apart as soon as the house was quiet, Cassie's dad fell apart next and the uber-teen fell apart after that.

The past weeks have been difficult but today we are more hopeful. I guess sometimes you just have to fall apart to get there, but we are reminded that we are not to mourn as if we do not have hope. Clearly there is a difference in mourning the loss of a loved one you are certain you will see again, and we are. This knowledge should enable us to share memories in happiness (even if mingled with tears) instead of just plain old painful tears. So, tomorrow will be filled with family, friends, and happiness (despite the inevitable tears).

It can be no other way.

So, while there is much to learn from all of this, I'd say the most important thing would be to love those in our lives like there really is no tomorrow. We cannot control everything all of the time, but we can control how much we love one another and how much effort we will put forth in showing it while we can. I would also add that even when we are at what seems to be our lowest point in life, all hope is not lost. I believe the latter more today than even this time last year when life was much happier, and I'm still learning.

Moving on..

Some have asked what they might be able to do to honor Cassie's memory on her birthday, and I thought I'd share that with you all as well, just in case any are interested.

Put on your most expensive clothing and go to dinner at the most expensive restaurant you can find (drive 50 miles if need be) and change your mind about exactly where you're going several times before finally settling on the original choice. On the way there, locate a wild-eyed and possibly diseased stray cat on a parking lot who is terrified of your calling kitty-kitty making you have to crawl around on your hands and knees in your best clothes chasing it down. Bite your tongue while others cheer and urge you on despite little kitty's flashing sharp teeth/hissy fits. Once you've set off multiple car alarms and ripped your pants dragging the poor little stray kitty from under an SUV by its tail, decide to skip the dining out. Go instead, straight home to disinfect your wounds and make an appointment with your local doctor and veterinarian, lock the kitty in your bathroom with food, water and litter box then hit the McDonalds drive through. Heh.

If this is not your cup of tea, you could just make a donation to a private animal shelter that does not put stray animals to sleep unless they are not able to save them. If this isn't complicated enough for your taste, you could always make up 20+ wild hypotheticals in order to conclude under exactly what circumstances they may or may not choose to put an animal down, just to be safe. (You should be really cute and aged 2-6 when trying this though, otherwise they'll propably just tell you to go away & close the door in your face.)

On the other hand, were she here with us today, Cassie would also be coloring like mad and making "presnents" to add to packages for service members in war zones. (the last of the few "baby words" I couldn't make myself correct her on because it's just so darn amusing). She'd be breaking out her little pocket calculator to make sure the packages were mailed so they'd be received right at Thanksgiving and Christmas, chattering about what she wanted to be this Halloween (and stilltrying to teach her mommy how to say "I love you" in ten languages). So anyhow, I think sending a service member a package and/or card would be a perfect way of honoring Cassie's memory on her birthday, if anyone feels so inclined. (No pressure, honest.) :)

All that said, I leave you with a funny. This time last year I had all sorts of children over making cards to add to packages for service members (because "cards from kiddies" always seems to go over so well with service members and children alike). One little boy, aged 9, kept spitting. I don't just mean the spit kind of spitting but the super gross sniffy-snorty then spit production kind of spitting. You said it! Ew. After about an hour of the inhumane grossness, I could take no more and finally asked him to "please not spit in my presence". Cassie looked horrified and pulled the nearest open package into her protective embrace and said, "Ew! Don't spit in my presnents either!" *g*

Support our service members - send presnents!

Our World

2006-10-05T05:42:00.000-04:00

I thought I'd throw some links to news items from around the world that I've found particularly interesting all these past 4 days of October. After gathering the list of links, I sat back and read through and wondered what Churchill might say about current events. Well, Churchill certainly left us nuggets of wisdom so it isn't all that tall an order.

I present current news items with special commentary by Sir Winston Churchill.

North Korea Planning Nuclear Test But Also Said It Was Committed To Nuclear Disarmament, Suggesting A Willingness To Negotiate

When the eagles are silent, the parrots begin to jabber.

Or perhaps...

Never hold discussions with the monkey...

Ohhh, what was the rest of that quote? Ah well, never mind. A partial quote will suffice. :)

U.S. May Cut Military In S. Korea Unless The South Korean Government Agrees To Pay More Of The Cost Of Hosting American Forces

Myself I am an optimist - it does not seem to be much use being anything else.

Chinese Secret Agents Have Made Repeated Attempts To Poach An Australian Scientist Behind The Invention Of A High-Speed Gun That Could Revolutionise Warfare.

Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.

Israel Completes Withdrawal From Lebanon Handing Their Security Over To The Lebanese Army and U.N. Peacekeepers

Are they $#%^&*@ crazy?!

Ok, ok. That was me. Churchill would likely have said...

One ought never to turn one's back on a threatened danger and try to run away from it. If you do that, you will double the danger. But if you meet it promptly and without flinching, you will reduce the danger by half.

Hizbullah: "Our Weapons Will Stay Along Israeli Border"

To Israel-

Never give in--never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.

*Fatah, Hamas Preparing For War With Israel
*Syria Threat Over Golan Puts Israel On War Alert
*Assad Gives Israel 6 Months For Peace Negotiations
*Global Leaders Call For Action On Arab-Israeli Settlement
*Palestinian Authority President Abbas' Stated Recognition Of Israel's Right To Exist A Political Calculation Aimed At Destroying The State, Claims Terror Group Leader And Member Of Abbas' Fatah Party

They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones.

Oops, not Churchill but the Good Book. From Psalm 83: A Prayer For Israel. (Pretty music by Barry and Batya Segal.)

Iran Pushes France Nuclear Deal...

France falls down.

Yeah, I'm running out of Churchill quotes.

Still Waiting For The Imam's Return To Earth (Iraq War To Prevent The Return)

He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire.

Muslim Rips Down Tribute To 9/11 Hero

We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give.

Continuing Violence In Iraq

Never, never, never believe any war will be smooth and easy, or that anyone who embarks on the strange voyage can measure the tides and hurricanes he will encounter. The statesman who yields to war fever must realize that once the signal is given, he is no longer the master of policy but the slave of unforeseeable and uncontrollable events.

"Sensitivity Training" For U.S. Troops In Iraq

However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.

Spaniards Show Sensitivity By Toning Down Exploding Mohammad At Fiestas

Toning down exploding Fiesta Mohammad out of sensitivity? Now that's just too funny for Churchill quotes.

Russian Oil Grab Puts Western Supplies At Risk

I cannot forecast to you the action of Russia. It is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma: but perhaps there is a key. That key is Russian national interest.

London- Hard line Muslim Teacher Who Denounced Pupils For Celebrating Christmas Has Been Made A Government Schools Inspector

To build may have to be the slow and laborious task of years. To destroy can be the thoughtless act of a single day.

French Philosophy Teacher In Hiding After Attack On Islam

Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities... because it is the quality which guarantees all others.

Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things.

UK- Outcry as clergy say calling God 'He' or 'Lord' encourages wife-beating

The truth is incontrovertible, malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end; there it is.

Besides, these "clergygenderlessfolk" connect the dots like preschoolers hyped up on Coca-Cola Blak and Candy Cigarettes.

No Excuses For Terror

2006-10-02T05:20:00.000-04:00

This is a British documentary you'll want to watch. (H/T Harry's Place)

“A terrific, unflinching documentary on Islamic terrorism by British left-wing journalist David Aaronovitch” raves LGF.

Do You Know What Day It Is?

2006-09-29T17:37:00.000-04:00

Why, it's the Flying Spacemonkey's birthday. You should go wish him a Happy Birthday because the best gifts are those from the heart (and warm wishes are way cheaper than actual gifts).

Happy Birthday, Spacemonkey! :)

Beta Blogger...

2006-09-29T15:08:00.000-04:00

just killed my inner child.

The template is hostile, folks.

It's like that guy I went out with once at age 19. Sure it looks cool in its leather jacket but is it really worth the drama? If I get rid of it, will it keep calling and stopping by my house flashing those pretty pearly whites (pretending I didn't walk away muttering "I never want to lay eyes you again...")?

Ok, I'm not giving up just yet (I really like the leather coolness, and it smells nice too).

In case anyone else has (or is thinking of) upgrading to Beta Blogger, I will detail the issues and solutions as I go in order to make this as painless as possible. In the event that this process does become too painful to endure, Blogger does save your old template and you can make it all go away with little effort (although I will warn you now that you should make your own copy of the "classic template" before making permanent changes because Blogger only saves the last template you've saved after the initial Beta upgrade).

Clear as mud so far, huh?

Anyhow, the first issue encountered (after locating the old template and discovering, the hard way of course, that it's a whole new ballgame now) is HaloScan's comment/trackbacks not working with Beta Blogger.

Therefore I present- Getting Haloscan to work in Beta Blogger.

"For all you Beta Bloggers: Haloscan comments do work in Beta!"

Yay! Follow the link above to learn how. Thank you,
Logical Philosopher. Maybe.

We'll see how it works out.

Have any suggestions for your favorite Uber-Conservative (or actually know what the heck you're doing and want to take over and do it for me)? Please leave a comment. :)

Update- Until Haloscan works this Beta Blogger issue out, there will be no Haloscan (at least not for moi while using the current template).

Verdict? Beta doesn't always mean better.

Blog Reorganization

2006-09-29T04:40:00.000-04:00

I thought I'd make a few changes to the blog and it seems that it is a wee bit more complicated than I originally thought. Schweet though, huh? But now it looks like work and I just want coffee (will finish later).

I leave you with a warning. When blogger says you will lose some information when changing your template, this really means lots.

If you're in need of enlightenment (go somewhere else), check out-

Loose Canons
Islamic Brownshirts
By Jed Babbin

"Of the many wrong lessons the Clinton presidency taught us, the cheap apology is one that continues to haunts us. The world became accustomed to America -- through our lip-quivering president -- apologizing reflexively for every offense, real or imagined. Apologies have since become expensive. Because the radical Islamists demand -- and we supply -- an endless stream of apologies for conduct that is either entirely justified or inoffensive, they are winning their campaign of intimidation. Like Hitler's Brownshirt "Sturm Abteilung," the Islamofascists seek political dominance by violence and intimidation. And we, like the Weimar Republic before us, are letting the fascists get away with it.

Some, such as Charles Krauthammer, find irony in those who inflict violence to prove Islam is a religion of peace. To some, there is humor to be mined from the irony. For the rest of us, it's among the few parts of this war we can fight personally. We must summon up outrage at fascists who have intimidated the president of the United States out of calling them what they manifestly are. President Bush (I recall only one speech, and only two uses of the term) called them Islamic fascists. Which happens to be an historically defined and precisely accurate term. The cacophony of complaints from phony allies such as the Saudis and Islamists here intimidated the president out of further use of this enormously useful political term..

Now the Pope has drawn death threats from the "religion of peace" because of his reference to a 14th-century Byzantine emperor's statement about Islam being spread by the sword. The Pope has been driven to express regret (without technically apologizing) and is meeting today with Islamic representatives to calm them. He will fail to mollify them one way or the other because nothing can. Even if he accedes to their demands they will pronounce themselves unsatisfied and ask him to do more to prove he respects them more than they respect him. If my mother's mother were still alive, I've no doubt she'd have been penning a letter to the pontiff. In her rounded script, she would have written in the kindest terms she knew, "Dear Pope Benedict: Enough with the apologies already!" And she'd have been more correct than the president or the pontiff.

The Islamic Brownshirts are serving the same two purposes that Hitler's did. First, to intimidate people and separate them from their freedom to speak out against an ideology that aims to enslave them. Second, to legitimate the use of violence to punish anyone with whom they disagree. Someone who calls himself a "cleric" -- be it Moqtada al-Sadr or some radical imam in America -- has no more right to circumscribe our public debate or the Pope's speeches than did Hitler. Under the First Amendment, free speech still lives. In too many nations, including most of Old Europe, the Islamic Brownshirts have already killed it.

Italy and France surrendered preemptively. Spain fell when the Madrid train bombings caused its government to be defeated in an election held a day later. Britain, as Melanie Phillips has documented brilliantly in Londonistan, gave up free speech eagerly in favor of multiculturalism. The country that gave us the Magna Carta is now a place in which a street preacher can be fined about $500 for parading with a sign that says, "Stop immorality. Stop homosexuality. Stop lesbianism," but Muslim thug Abu Izzadeen (the former Trevor Brooks) is not spoken to rudely when he incites murder. When France fell in June 1940 Churchill said, "What General Weygand called the Battle of France is over. I expect the Battle of Britain is about to begin." Europe has surrendered to the Islamic Brownshirts. Their battle is over. Ours has begun."

Read the rest.

You Just Can't Make This Stuff Up

2006-09-27T13:11:00.000-04:00

Well, you could, but why bother?

Update on Six Flags Great America's Halloween-themed FrightFest (the amusement park is daring customers to eat a live Madagascar hissing cockroach in exchange for unlimited line-jumping privileges).

As if that's not ridiculous enough all on its own, PETA Leaps to the defense of ‘gentle’ cockroaches in the Six Flags promotion.

"Cockroaches have been given a bad (reputation) in our society," said PETA spokeswoman Jackie Vergerio. "They are gentle, complex animals."

We can all rest assured that this guy, at least, won't be jumping any lines.

In other news-

Sheik Abu Saqer, leader of Gaza's Jihadia Salafiya Islamic outreach movement, which seeks to make secular Muslims more religious, called the pope a "puppet" for "that Crusader George Bush."

The Gaza imam said the only Christian-Muslim dialogue that is acceptable is one in which "all religions agree to convert to Islam."

Also, Iran TV: 'Pirates of Caribbean' a Zionist plot
Campaign links Disney to Jews, says 'Aladdin' denigrates Arabs

WND reported then that Prof. Hasan Bolkhari, a cultural adviser to the Iranian Education Ministry, told Iran's Channel 4 the Tom and Jerry cartoon is a Jewish conspiracy.

An excerpt of that video also was made available by MEMRI then.
"The Jewish Walt Disney Company gained international fame with this cartoon," said Bolkhari. "It is still shown throughout the world. This cartoon maintains its status because of the cute antics of the cat and mouse – especially the mouse."

I guess Pinky and The Brain represent Ahmadinejad and Chavez.

Does Mighty Mouse represent Jesus Christ?

"Here I come to save the day!!"

I'm Shocked! (Ok, I'm Over It)

2006-09-25T05:36:00.000-04:00

Clinton comes unglued. (video)

I guess that's what happens when a Democrat who has been coddled by the media for so long is finally asked this very simple question. (He totally has that "I did not have sexual relations with that woman!" look on his face again, doesn't he?)

Also, Malkin has a post up About that National Intelligence Estimate everyone should read.

Within this post is a reference to The Sword of the Prophet, the politically incorrect guide to Islam. For those of you who'd rather stare into the solar eclipse (or this photo) with the naked eye (thanks, Insolublog, thanks a whole lot) than spend your hard earned cash to learn more about Islam, the The Prophet of Doom, is a good (free) resource.

From the website-

Overview

Prophet of Doom presents the Qur'an in chronological order and in the context of Muhammad's life as it is known through Ishaq's Sira (Biography) and Tabari's Ta'rikh (History). There is no better way to understand Islam's lone prophet, his god, their message, or their purpose--especially since the Qur'an itself is a jumbled and incoherent mess.

The translation presented in Prophet of Doom was a blend of the literal Noble Qur'an by Khan (the one found in most American mosques), and English translations by: Ahmed Ali, Pickthal, Yusuf Ali, and Shakir. Collectively, these represent the five most respected and universally accepted Muslim translations of Allah's book.

To validate Craig's scholarship in regard to his presentation of the Qur'an, you will need access to all five of these. While we encourage you to conduct your own investigation of the Islamic scriptures, you may be comforted to know that of the many thousands of emails we have received from angry Muslims claiming that Craig has misrepresented their religion, no one has found an inaccurate Qur'anic portrayal.

To compose the The POD Qur'an, we consolidated the references made to each Qur'anic Surah in the book and then placed them in numerical, rather than chronological order. Every reference was pulled directly from Prophet of Doom just as it was presented in the book, and thus most contain Craig Winn's commentary as well as related Hadith.

While you will learn much more reading the Qur'an in chronological order--the order it was supposedly revealed and thus the order it is presented in POD--and with its surahs set within the context of Muhammad's life, we understand that most people are accustomed to the Qur'an's current order--jumbled, and devoid of circumstance, place, time, and chronological order as it may be.

The POD Qur'an can be set along side the five Muslim translations that served as its basis to demonstrate that Craig did not "cherry-pick" the most rotten verses from a Qur'anic tree filled with nurturing ones. The POD Qur'an also proves that Craig didn't take Qur'an verses out of context or misrepresent them. The simple truth is that immorality, violence, and idiocy completely dominate the texts of the Islamic scriptures.

It is also important to note, that Muslims have recently published more politically correct versions of the Qur'an and of the Hadith. Although they cannot fix the author's (Muhammad/Allah's) complete lack of moral character and intelligence, the recent renditions have sought to remove many violent verses, rewriting them to suit modern sensibilities. Therefore, if you own a "politically correct" Qur'an or a sanitized Hadith collection, we ask that if you come across an instance where it appears we may have misrepresented Muhammad/Allah's actual message, that you take the time to review all five of the most universally accepted and respected translations, and buy printed versions of the Hadith collections, before you criticize our scholarship. If you take the time to do this, what you will discover is that today's Muslims are obediently following their prophet/god's policy of lying to and deceiving Infidels so as to make us easier prey. Don't let that happen to you.

Teh Saturday Funny

2006-09-23T16:10:00.000-04:00

Police called after one flea is found on student's kitten

Animal lover Robert Emberson thought he was doing a good deed when he adopted a stray kitten from a cat charity.

The police, it seems, did not agree.

A few weeks after giving the 16-week-old cat a new home two officers swooped on his house accompanied by charity workers to demand he return his new pet.

The action came after a single flea had been spotted on the kitten, named Plume, by one of the charity's officers during an earlier visit to check the animal's welfare.

The heavy handed reaction astonished 18-year-old Mr Emberson, from Canvey Island in Essex, who complained that the officers could have been better spent dealing with troublemakers that plague the area.

(Yeah, it was way funnier when I misunderstood and thought the overzealous charity workers named the little lone flea, Plume.)

Death to fleas!!

Women arrested after bizarre sex sting

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - A police sting took an odd turn when an officer pretending to be a john met a suspected prostitute pretending to be an officer.

Police spokesman Sgt. Tom Connellan said here's what happened Thursday:

A male undercover officer driving in a neighborhood known for prostitution was flagged down by a woman. The woman got in his car and they went to a nearby parking lot to negotiate a price for sex.

She asked the officer if he was a cop and he said no.

"That's OK, because I am," the woman said as she pulled out handcuffs and a two-way radio. She barked into the radio: "Move in!"

Wanna cut in line? Eat a live cockroach

GURNEE, Illinois (AP) -- Why wait in line when you can just eat a cockroach?

That's the question Six Flags Great America is asking thrill seekers during a Halloween-themed FrightFest. The amusement park is daring customers to eat a live Madagascar hissing cockroach in exchange for unlimited line-jumping privileges.

The promotion, which has Lake County Health Department officials shaking their heads, starts October 7.

Anyone who chows down the entire 2- to 3-inch horned cockroach gets a pass for four people to cut to the front of ride lines through October 29.

Park officials insist it's safe to eat the crunchy critters, but health officials are cautioning participants.

(Ok, that's not really funny or even "frightening", it's just plain old stupid. And gross.Oo)

Defendant hurled slipper at judge

An Indian man allegedly hurled a slipper at a court judge who promptly threw a paperweight back in reply.

Nazir Mohammad was in court in Baroda on charges of housebreaking and theft when he jumped out of the witness box and rushed towards the judge.

The robber, reportedly irritated with the slow pace of the case, took off his slipper and threw it at Chief judicial magistrate C D Vaghela.

Judge Vaghela immediately picked up a paperweight from his desk and threw it back at the accused, reports Midday.

I leave you with talking dogs, one possessed little kitty, and facetious critters.

Have a great weekend! :)

All Ahmadinejad, All The Time

2006-09-23T02:02:00.000-04:00

Mesmerized Media

When will Ahmadinejad’s radical religious beliefs get covered?

By Joel C. Rosenberg

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinjad has certainly launched a charm offensive through the American media. First was his “exclusive” interview with Mike Wallace on CBS’s 60 Minutes. This week, the Iranian leader is on the cover of Time. Yesterday, he did a lengthy interview with NBC’s Brian Williams, the only network interview he agreed to on this trip. And, of course, Ahmadinejad’s speech Tuesday blasting the United States (while on American soil) made headlines around the world.

Yet something has been curiously absent from all this media coverage. American journalists aren’t asking Ahmadinejad about his Shiite religious beliefs, his fascination with the coming of the Islamic Messiah known as the “Twelfth Imam” or the “Mahdi,” his critique of President Bush’s faith in Jesus Christ and encouragement of President Bush to convert to Islam, and how such beliefs are driving Iranian foreign policy.

Time’s cover story and exclusive print interview with Ahmadinejad never broached the subject of his eschatology. Nor did Williams. Nor did Wallace. Nor does a just-released book, Confronting Iran: The Failure of American Foreign Policy And the Next Great Crisis in the Middle East, by British Iran expert Ali M. Ansari. Nor does almost any of the saturation coverage Ahmadinejad is receiving.

Journalists aren’t typically shy about asking tough, probing questions about the religious views of world leaders. President Bush has been grilled at length about being an evangelical Christian and how this informs his foreign policy, particularly with regards to Israel and the Middle East. Clearly the pope’s views of Christianity and Islam are now under fire. Why such hesitancy when it comes to the religious beliefs of a leader who has called for the Jewish state to be wiped off the planet and urges fellow Muslims to envision a world without the United States?

Read more...

It does seem "odd" that journalists would miss this tidbit considering Ahmadinejad's praying at the UN so recently.

TRANSLATOR: Today's world, more than ever before, longs for just and righteous people with love for all humanity, and above all, longs for the perfect righteous human being and the real savior who has been promised to all peoples and who will establish justice, peace, and brotherhood on the planet. Oh, Almighty God, all men and women are your creatures, and you have ordained their guidance and salvation. Bestow upon humanity that thirst for justice, the perfect human being promised to all by you, and make us among his followers and among those who strive for his return and his cause.

(He sorta left the part out where love, justice, peace, and brotherhood are achieved via warfare & chopping off our heads. Oopsie.)

Transcript...

Ahmadinejad: I’m not anti-Semitic

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said during a press conference in New York on Thursday "We love everyone in the world - Jews, Christians, Muslims, non-Muslims, non-Jews, non-Christians.

"We are against ugly acts. We are against occupation, aggression, killings and displacing people - otherwise we have no problem with ordinary people. Everyone is respected. ... We declare this in a loud voice," he said.

Wow, really?! Well, as long as you say it loud...cool. That clears it all up. We can all just relax and forget about his nuclear aspirations then, I guess.

Riiight.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has openly called for Israel to be wiped off the map. - Aljazeera.Net

Admadinejad said, "As the imam said, Israel must be wiped off the map."

"Anybody who recognizes Israel will burn in the fire of the Islamic nation's fury" -International Herald Tribune

There are also the anti-Semitic comments themselves to contend with.

(Let's be inclusive and not leave Democrats out by forgetting their softening of a Senate resolution condemning the president of Iran for said anti-Semitic comments.)

Yes, Admadinejad's recent statement is a rather large pill to swallow. Especially considering his embrace of a faith that encourages its followers to lie to "infidels" (yeah, that means you), deceive, make war with, maim and kill them.

Why, exactly, is it that journalists deem this madman's radical religious beliefs, which drives his political views and actions, off limits or unimportant?

Update: Mr. Huber, writing for the Daily Kos, describes Ahmadinejad's remarks to the UN as "nothing short of brilliant". He goes on to add, "In eloquent, measured fashion he [Ahmadinejad] admonished the rest of the world to join him in telling the United States of America to pound sand up its canyon, and the rest of the world subtly but perceptibly smiled and nodded "yes.""

If retired U.S. Navy Commander Jeff Huber, who writes from Virginia Beach, Virginia, can be used as "the lefty example", I'd have to conclude that the answer is-

Because journalists are rather smitten with Admadinejad and agree with him completely regardless of his radical religious beliefs. Furthermore, they're silent on the topic of these dangerous beliefs so as to not muddle the part of his message they do agree with (and would like more Americans to agree with as well). Also, obviously absent is the usual outrage at the idea of one way and one God, prayer expressed publicly, and a whole laundry list of other things lefties ordinarily tend to rail about. They're not complaining. Ahmadinejad is more than happy to answer questions about his beliefs. They're simply not asking.

Happy Birthday America

2006-07-04T16:58:00.000-04:00

In 1814, about a week after the city of Washington had been badly burned, British troops moved up to the primary port at Baltimore Harbor in Maryland. Frances Scott Key visited the British fleet in the Harbor on September 13th to secure the release of Dr. William Beanes who had been captured during the Washington raid. Both were detained on the Naval ship so as not to warn the Americans while the Royal Navy attempted to bombard Fort McHenry. At dawn on the 14th, Key noticed that the huge American flag was still waving and had not been removed in defeat. The sight inspired him to write a poem entitled Defense of Fort McHenry and later the poem was set to music that had been composed by a Mr. Smith. The song was immediately noted as an inspiring song that should be the national anthem of the United States of America. It was accepted as such by public demand for the next century, but became even more accepted as the national anthem during the World Series of Baseball in 1917 when it was sung in honor of the brave armed forces fighting in the Great War. The World Series performance so moved everyone in attendance that it was repeated afterward for every single game. Finally, on March 3, 1931, Congress proclaimed it as the national anthem, 116 years after it was first written by Francis Scott Key.

As I read the words, verse after verse, I can only imagine how Mr. Keys must have felt as he watched all these things unfold from the British ship where he'd been detained. One can feel the fear and worry for his country as well as the great pride and triumph as he notices the flag's strong presence by light of bombs throughout the long night, until finally morning comes to show the flag still stood and the battle had been won. Read for yourself, those words written so long ago.

Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro' the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watch'd, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof thro' the night that our flag was still there.
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore dimly seen thro' the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?

Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected, now shines on the stream:
'T is the star-spangled banner: O, long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion
A home and a country should leave us no more?
Their blood has wash'd out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

O, thus be it ever when freemen shall stand,
Between their lov'd homes and the war's desolation;
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land
Praise the Pow'r that hath made and preserv'd us as a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust"
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

It was July 4, 1776, when we claimed our independence from Britain and America, "land of the free and the home of the brave", was truly born. Each year on July 4, Americans celebrate that freedom and independence with barbecues, picnics, family gatherings, fireworks and more. We continue to fight for our freedom to this very day, even as we celebrate that which we enjoy so much.

As many of you may already know, my six year old daughter, Cassie, was killed in an accident just two months ago. It is through the same trust in God and determination, which Mr. Francis Scott Key wrote so eloquently, that I come out of seclusion to celebrate this country's independence. My sweetest July 4 memory (although there are so many), is sitting in a field on Ft. Knox, unexpectedly able to watch the fireworks show far from the crowd where we sat enjoying one another's company. Curled in my lap, my daughter (then aged four) and I shared this most precious moment in awe as a large group of new soldiers, basic trainees, broke into a sweet and haunting cadence at the very moment that our eyes were cast to the exploding sky. Their voices were filled with fear and hope, wise determination and youth, pride and joy. The summer breeze seemed to carry their verse over the entire base, causing a tear to the eye and goosebumps on our arms as they sang on and on. Later, we took a late dinner to the soldiers pulling guard (knowing full well that they'd been served a holiday meal several times already) and asked that they save the plates for us to pick up the next day (knowing full well the plates would disappear as always, but still taking the very best we had). We hung out with them awhile, talking with and amusing them as long as possible (but not so long as to get them into trouble) and on the way home she wondered aloud about the mystery of the disappearing plates until finally jokingly concluding that they were such big and hungry guys that they probably ate the plates all up as well. "I know! Dey eat um, mommy...like da Cookie Mosser!!" Insert noisy gobbling sound effects *here*, because she's just so danged cute like that.

Fast forward just a couple years. Life changes so much sometimes, sadly enough. This year I was unable to join the many soldiers in their festivities as I'd kindly refused the many heart-felt invitations this past weekend. I absolutely did not feel like traveling out of state or celebrating at all, period. I assure you, it was my loss because only service members truly know how to laugh and grab each moment as if it's their last, despite all manner of heartache and hardship.

Today, I woke and decided that this day would not, could not, pass me by unnoticed. So far, I've given a history lesson, two if you count this post only the first was way more fun in person and involving children (isn't everything involving children more fun?), sung a few versus to entertain (or torture, however you want to look at it), and am planning to gather with more family and friends later this evening. Tonight, I will go to the show with family and friends, remember better times and hope for more. I've already purchased the fireworks to put on a little show of my own (ok, I totally just sit back and watch overgrown child-men set themselves on fire, but still, that's fun too), so that those who had to work this evening and missed the show can still enjoy a show (and some leftovers, yum).
Yes, I'll have to stop by to visit my baby at a church where I never fathomed I'd be visiting her on this most beautiful night (even though I know she is not there but in Heaven). I still cannot seem to quite get my heart and mind around it all. But, I will take her the ribbons and balloons that always pleased her so much and try to think only of the day which I'll see her again (and yes, I believe with all that I am that I will see and hold her again). I will not be alone but with those who I still have to care for and care for me, I'm so thankful for this.

We will light the sparklers for her and pray she is watching us, knowing well just how loved and missed she is. I'll cherish and remember every single moment and memory made with this beautiful little girl to get through the night and many to come, and I will keep in mind that there are others in my life to create the special moments with as well. I'm totally going to cry, I know I will, but I'm determined to smile and laugh some too. If I've learned nothing else in the past two months, I've learned to make every moment count. I've always been particularly good at this throughout my lifetime, it is only now that I falter. This same ability I've had in the past which lends comfort now (having made every moment of those 6 yrs with Cassie really count)is the same which inspires me to try some more and value what I still have. Just being part of this great nation, enables us to not only provide a good life for those we love, but also enables us to enjoy the moments with them in freedom. So often it has been under the protection of our service members that we enjoy such a life. They sacrifice so much, often their very lives, to make this possible so let's remember them all on this most special day (if not every single day). :)

I've missed you all so much (no, I missed you more!), all the kind words and prayers are appreciated so much more than I'm able to express. Please know and remember this, whether I'm able to visit and post regularly yet or not.

Now, go out there and make today count. Have fun and laugh! (Or I'll have to HURT you!)

Happy Birthday America ;)

Steal Your Neighbor's Job Day

2006-05-01T11:52:00.000-04:00

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Organizers are predicting an unprecedented turnout for Monday's rallies against a proposed crackdown on illegal immigration and a widespread boycott of jobs, schools and businesses meant to show the economic power of immigrants.

So, if you are looking for a job, today is your lucky day! Let's see if we can turn this ugly scene into something more positive, snap those jobs up, folks. ;)

Illegal Immigration Roundup

Malkin- A DAY TO HATE THE YANQUIS (Michelle also provides links on this topic.)

Fmragtops is Live Blogging The Boycott (Exciting stuff happening over there! Ok, not really, but maybe later.)

Insolublog's Still Beating the Drum (A must read!)

Rooster Cashews goes all poetic on us with A Poem For The May 1st Protest (Funny but true.)

Striving for Average asks all the right questions. (No, really.)

On a more personal note, the CUG asks for all our prayers. For the nonreligious, I'm sure some words of encouragement would be appreciated as well (you heathen). I kid, I kid. I know in situations like this, it's hard to know what to say, everything just seems so darn lame, but I also know that just a few words of support from others does make a difference when we are going though a tough time. So, go leave a lame comment for the CUG and family already.

Reality Bites

2006-04-30T13:39:00.000-04:00

A Children's Cartoon From the Middle East Has a New Mideast Peace Plan

From the article-

But the real goal of "Ben and Izzy" is more serious: to help young Americans and Arabs steer clear of the prejudices of their parents and grandparents, which may have been reinforced by the Sept. 11 attacks and the war in Iraq. In promotional materials, Ben the American is described as "a symbol for his country" who is "big" and "energetic," but "on the negative side, he is a bit xenophobic, self-centered, needs-to-win competitive."

"Like his native land," the creators write, "he sometimes blunders into situations without thinking."

Izzy the Jordanian, by contrast, is "slight of build, sinewy and studious," but "on the downside, Izzy can be a little too serious, self-righteous, superior, even devious."

The boys don't like each other at first, they argue but don't fight with guns or knives, the promotional materials point out, but they will ultimately learn "that as a team, they can outsmart almost anyone."

While I'm not convinced that this cartoon from the Middle East can really claim a new Mideast peace plan (the plan of burying heads in sand is pretty common, after all), I can understand why it's not more realistic. Asking why it's not more realistic would be like yelling "Why are you going out there?! Everyone knows what happens when you go out!" when the third in a group of five ventures out to see what happened to the first and second who ventured out into the foggy night while watching a horror flick. Like the cartoon in question, they have to follow a certain plot or there will be no movie. In reality, Izzy would strap bombs to his body shortly after Ben stopped walking on eggshells or forgot that the price for being oneself (and daring to actually believe in individual freedom) in less civilized parts of the world, is death.

I mean, imagine a realistic episode. It would be all over in ten minutes or less.

Izzy tells Ben that his mother is a whore who deserves to be buried to her neck and stoned to death because she doesn't cover her head, ventures into public without a male chaperone, and wears those risqué calf and ankle revealing capri pants and dare I say blue jeans (gasp). Ben explains to Izzy that his mother behaves in a manner comparable to many American women, which inspires Izzy to verbally damn the entire Western civilization, which inspires Ben to yell "Bring it on!". Somewhere between his fear of seeing Middle Eastern women catching American capri wearing cooties and his anger over the exchange, Izzy finds his slim form laden with explosives. Ben has calmed himself but only by deciding to just stay away from all those of such uncivilized cultures who aren't happy with merely liiving their own lives but also seek to try to change the way everyone else lives theirs. The bomb laden Izzy soon pulls Ben from his isolation though, so Ben decides to blow the hell out of Izzy before Izzy blows the hell out of a bunch of little girls in blue jeans.

Hooray Ben! The show's over, folks.

The very basis of the cartoon is about attempting to improve personal relations and those issues cannot possibly be touched upon in a realistic manner so they just have to make stuff up to deal with instead. I think most Americans don't really care how those in the Middle East choose to live as long as they are left alone to live their own lives as they see fit, free from threat. Most not only don't care but couldn't have even found them on a map until after the horror of Sept. 11th. The very basis of this cartoon ignores the important fact that this struggle between the Middle East and the West is more about barbarian behavior and beliefs versus modern and civilized behavior and beliefs. Seriously, I wouldn't expect a cartoon for children to contain this type of reality but one wonders why they bother with the cartoon at all. If the cartoon is not for pure entertainment and only deals with fake issues, what's the point?

Besides, I'm rather fond of Ben (America), just the way he is.

Say It Aint So

2006-04-24T18:02:00.000-04:00

Yup, it's Monday.

The most exciting things have occurred today, despite the Mondayesqueness of the moment. Not only did my special SPF girly stuff arrive but my t-shirt from Striving for Average did as well. Hooray! This definitely lessens the bluntness of its actually being Monday. Ok, so I ordered it way back before the hiatus (if you can call it that), but I'm just now getting around to picking up the mail sooo, it's a very exciting day. Now all I need to do is replace the IMAO gear (eaten by an evil dryer) with new IMAO gear and my evil conservative wardrobe will be complete!

Also exciting on this fine Monday, Michelle Malkin (who I fully support despite the fact that she is a really hot chick and a minority though perhaps I'm a bit late in the game) brings us Hot Air. Add Hot Air to your side bar to remain informed as well as entertained.

See, Mondays don't always completely suck. :)

{Update: Even as I typed the Monday post the uber-teen was asked out by an apparently very cute 18 year old who lives just 20 minutes away. I've been sent his MySpace page and no I can't share it with you all for the purpose of some good old fashioned "threatening ridicule" nor will she tell him that I could easily fix him up with his desire to some day meet God and am perfectly capable of eating chocolate chip cookies over his cold dead body.}

I joke, I joke... He may very well be, even likely from what I'm able to gather, a very nice young man. I bet he'll love going to the movies, with us, sometime in the near future. Heh

Dang Mondays.

I'm Alive!

2006-04-21T16:32:00.000-04:00

Ok, just barely.

The past two years I've made the mistake of fooling around until late spring to even start any outdoor projects here in uber-land (otherwise known as hell, here lately) and every year I'm out there in June, still at it but not accomplishing much, ready to pass out from heat exhaustion. This year I decided to do things a little different since it would seem that I can only take the heat in spring and fall.
So, I participated in the standardized test thing, even though it's only a suggestion that you have someone else test your child and not a requirement at all, some actually care what the state suggests (just not me). The rest of the month of March was spent with children of various ages playing Q&A...

"What would happen if you ate a suppository?"

You didn't eat a suppository, did you?!

"No..."

Oh, ok. Not sure exactly, nothing good. Never eat a suppository.

"What is a suppository anyhow?"

Ask your grandma or grandpa.

"Where do babies come from?"

God.

"I know that, but how do they get in there?"

Uh, God.

"But, how do they get out then?"

Ask your mom and dad.

"But I already asked you."

Break time! Who wants ice cream? Yay!

Ah, kids. Gotta love 'em.

After the inquisition I did a few things around the property like clear another half acre, mow two and a half acres (twice), plant 3 Japanese maples, two rhododendron, one unidentified flowering tree (see photo below to help identify) an innumerable amount of flowers and took several long nature walks through the wooded areas of the property in search of rare plants and trees to transplant & attract certain wildlife. Hooray! Translated, all that means briars kicked my ass, I broke another mower, fell into a hole while laughing at the uber-teen (attempting manual labor for the first time in her entire life), got lost in the woods and slid down a mountain of wet leafy forest goo (head first).

I now know why all the country folk get up at dawn and are in bed before dusk. It's like being two all over again and falling asleep with your face in your dinner. I have a new respect for these individuals but I'm totally looking forward to staying up until all hours and sleeping in again, beginning each day with lip gloss and a curling iron, ending it with a nice bubble bath and scented lotions (which makes one a creepy bug magnet outdoors) with plenty of blogging in between instead of waking to an alarm and aching muscles and going to sleep to the sound of my own sobbing.

There goes my dream of farming for a living, dang. Ah well.

My new goal in life is to never sweat again, at least not without an AC blowing at me from all directions. I've a new plan to get things done around here without paying someone an ungodly amount of money to do it for me. It's so brilliant that the word maniacal comes to mind. The downed trees waiting to be sawed into logs? Plan A- Buy a friend that chainsaw he's been wanting for his birthday. Plan B- Ask to borrow it soon after, wearing daisy dukes and batting eyelashes. Plan C- Put an add in the paper that goes something like "Free wood, you saw and haul. Contact me at IMaHotHotHottie@hotmail.com."

Mwahahahaha!

Ahem.

Here's the photo of the unidentified tree which grows wild in North Carolina. Bonus points for anyone able to identify this tree (I've searched high and low to no avail).

p.s. Thanks to everyone who keeps stopping by, I really missed you guys! It's great to be back. Think I'll take a nap now. ;)

Teh Monday Funny

2006-03-27T07:32:00.000-05:00

Thought I'd pass along this joke that my mom emailed to me (almost a week ago but I'm only now getting to because I am just that lame) since Mondays are but a blot upon humanity and should always begin with a laugh so you don't snap and kill someone.

A wife was making a breakfast of fried eggs for her husband. Suddenly, her husband burst into the kitchen.

"Careful," he said, "CAREFUL! Put in some more butter! Oh my GOD! You're cooking too many at once. TOO MANY! Turn them! TURN THEM NOW! We need more butter. Oh my GOD! WHERE are we going to get MORE BUTTER? They're going to STICK! Careful ... CAREFUL! I said be CAREFUL! You NEVER listen to me when you're cooking! Never! Turn them!
Hurry up! Are you CRAZY? Have you LOST your mind? Don't forget to salt them. You know you always forget to salt them. Use the salt. USE THE SALT! THE SALT!"

The wife stared at him. "What in the world is wrong with you?! You think I don't know how to fry a couple of eggs?"

The husband calmly replied, "I just wanted to show you what it feels like when I'm driving."

The joke is even funnier coming from my mom because she's been performing this 'nagging passenger act' for my dad for more years than I care to count. I notice she sent it to him, too. He'd better reply or she'll be forced to walk into the other room and ask why he never replies to her email. *g* Sometimes it amazes me that he's still alive. Or is it amazing that she's still alive? Heh

Either way, it's funny because it's true!

Hooray For Saturday!

2006-03-25T18:06:00.000-05:00

Well, it's cold out and I have no weekend plans so maybe hooray is a strong word. On the other hand, sometimes nothing is good. Not being eaten by a Dobsonfly? Even better.

Last weekend I should have done a post about how busy I am in spring, too busy to blog even, but I couldn't move my arms. After using a tiller for the first time in my life last Saturday, I literally could not lift my arms to reply to comments after the first few initial arm lifts to click. Who could have imagined that a little tilling could be so debilitating?! And just a few areas for flowers? Anyhow, surprisingly enough, that really hurt.

Then the rest of the week was a busy time because it's that standardized test time of year for home educators, so I was helping some out with all of that mess. Personally, I don't do the testing with the uber-teen until mid or late June even though it is suggested that I do it in March because they didn't ask nicely and can't make me (and spring really is a busy time). Who are "they", you ask? Why, the NC Board of Education, of course.

When I first moved to the area they sent me a home educator's informational packet that was full of lies and insinuations. When not willing to just lie outright in every instance, they insinuated that one must do certain things in a certain way in order to not break the law. Since I'm not stupid I'd studied the laws and what they really meant months before moving here, and also hired a lawyer, just in case. So, it's not absolutely mandatory that the testing be done in March, it just makes things easier on those breathing down the necks of home educators. Maybe they should have just said so in the first place because now I'm waiting until June just because I can. It also amuses me greatly that they are really supposed to ask for the results of the tests once a year but are only able to do so every three years because of the sheer numbers of home educators in NC. What a shame, huh? Bwahahaha.

Anyhow, back to my point. It's likely that spring things will interfere with my blogging for the next couple of months. Between wrapping up the school year, setting up a pool on my own (yeah, I'm that crazy) and turning that pond (mud hole) into something to behold (besides froggy porn), I'm probably going to be MIA from time to time.

There's just so much work to be done in Uber's world and not enough time!

Since I don't have any new cat photos (stop crying), I'll post a couple of something entirely different.

My neighbor's horse.

Luckily, close enough to visit yet far enough away to not have to smell.

Bug Bloggin'

2006-03-17T18:40:00.000-05:00

What is this freaky creature?

This is not a pop quiz, I really don't know. I named him Creepy Crawly for obvious reasons. Maybe I'll look him up on WhatsThatBug.com, but I doubt I'll feel any better about having him flying around out there even if I don't discover he eats kittens and small children.

At at least 4-5 inches in length, this is one formidable bug. Oo

Well, That's Not Very Tolerant

2006-03-17T12:34:00.000-05:00

As I was surfing the web, doing a bit of research, I came across a few liberal gems. Although these "precious words of wisdom" were written in May of 05, equating religious upbringing with ignorance and poverty is still a popular theme among at least some liberals, so I thought I'd touch a few points here on my pretty pink blog.

In all fairness, please let the record show that I nearly shot Coke (Ala Cola) through my nose while reading the first comment shown below. While this urge could possibly be linked to my ignorance (although I'm suspicious that my oft exaggerated sense of humor is more likely the culprit), I seriously doubt that it could in any way be linked to religious indoctrination or poverty. I once witnessed a fellow teen laugh and shoot soda straight through her nose and onto the dashboard of a minister's vehicle while on a road trip with a car load of giggling Christian teens and let me tell you, he was not impressed. So I know that wasn't religiously induced.

Oh yeah, also, like lots of religious minded people, I'm not impoverished. I don't think I'm all that ignorant either but I can see how I might appear to be so, considering the fact that I was up at 5 am holding my nose to ensure the proper flow of Coke (Ala Cola). On the other hand, since studies show the home educated to be happier people in general (and I was, for the most part, home educated), perhaps avoiding certain stress that comes with public education has enabled me to be so carefree as to be up at 5 am holding my nose to ensure the proper flow of...ok, I'm stretching that one a bit thin. I am pretty happy, though. Like abnormally happy most of the time, even when others insult everything that matters most to me as well as me personally...

...and I'm not even on any drugs. No, really. (Suffering sleep deprivation after working all night? You betcha.)

Anyhow, here we have it: Elitist liberal rhetoric at its finest.

Houston Democrats: Public School Fight Won't End Either, Guv!

A Chronicle article in which Rick Perry announces that the "fight for vouchers" will be back in 2007 is quite disturbing. Republicans truly do want to destroy public education. So, let us Democrats make our own announcement: The Democratic fight for public education will continue as long as Republicans want to tear it down!

Ok, all this education stuff I've been spouting all those years is just a conspiracy. Really my plot has been to help eeeevil Republikkkans take down the entire public education system so liberals will force us to put more people onto welfare, wait, we don't like that too much. Um, so they will not be able to get good jobs that make bags and bags of money, wait, we like people who make bags and bags of money! Ok, I'm not sure why, but clearly I must hate all children and am obligated to make them cry (I can just see those poor little darlings tearfully wailing about being forced into better schools right now. Bwahahaha!) Helping to take down an entire educational system is pretty good for someone destined to forever be ignorant and impoverished, no?

Instead of protecting teachers, improving public school programs, and improving college preparedness levels of our schoolkids, Republican Perry has chosen to demand his own brand of "accountability" from public schools (more testing!), while pushing legislation to funnel taxpayer money into private schools that are neither accountable, nor proven to be adequate.

Again, for the record, protecting poor performing teachers is part of the problem (I would think that good teachers would like to be rid of them as well), the same people ask that home educators who don't take one penny from the government undergo more regulation and testing (aka accountability), and taxpayer money is being funneled into public schools which are still not being held all that accountable while those having proven to be terribly inadequate are those which would see the voucher action. So, there.

Still, Perry has the gall to state "I suspect as long as there are children who are in need of getting some relief in failing schools that it will always be out there and be promoted by a number of Texans,"

As long as we have Rick Perry as governor, he and the Republicans will always think little of the vast majority of Texas schoolkids, while placing at the top of his list wealthy private school owners, like James Leinenger. And why not? Public school children can hardly afford to send Perry on trips to the Bahamas; Leininger can!

The gall. One wonders what James Leinenger is doing right that enables him to keep his classrooms full without the threat of government intervention. Let's cut through the bs. People are and will continue to become more interested in vouchers as long as public schools continue to fail the nation's children. Public school children can hardly afford to wait another unknown number of years for Democrats "fix" their schools as they've been promising since I was in pigtails myself. (Hello, they're in even more trouble now and I'm all grown up with one of my own nearing graduation! How s/low can you go?)

As long as Republicans continue to exclude public schools from their priorities the vast majority of Texans will fight for public education--not just "a number of Texans," as the Guv says about support for his vouchers.

Kudos to the Coalition for Public Schools and Carolyn Boyle for fighting for Texas kids!

I think the truth is liberals are upset because Republicans are making public education too much of a priority, not the other way around. They just disagree with how to go about making public education better. The voucher issue will not ever go away, not if people like myself who care more about the "education" part of public education have our way.

Here's the comment that really got me.

It might help if more of us understood WHY the fascist party wants to destroy public education. It's not simply a question of tax dollars, that's largely a short-term smoke screen.

Fascist party, huh? See, here's where I begin to feel a little laugh building up. Such drama. Wow.

While getting my degree in Psychology I learned that when people are better educated, or perhaps I should say 'when people have a more broad (liberal) education', they are less likely to conform to an authoritarian hierarchy, less likely to do what they think is expected or allowed and more likely to make their own decisions independant of dogmatic ideology.

Translated, this really reads:

First of all, I'm really smart. Way smarter than you and when I say better educated you should take my word that "liberal" means better. No need to do your own research on that because like I said, I'm more smarter than all y'all! Also, when children are indoctrinated with liberal ideology they learn to conform to that liberal ideology and are way less likely to listen to what their parents and church says, especially when it goes against liberal (and therefore better) ideology. We'll teach them to do whatever feels good to them regardless of stinking traditions and norms and it'll all be good just so long as they're all dedicated to the liberal cause. Look, someone's going to indoctrinate these children, so it might as well be us!!! Screw what their mothers think, all of that "choice" bs only counts when the child is inside the womb, since we gave her that right it would follow that all rights outside the womb are belong to us and we all know how unhealthy fathers are. Unless they're pre-approved super sensitive liberals, of course.

Seriously, perhaps I exaggerate but note how parents are suspiciously absent from the rant. It's either the public schools or church. God or them. A parent's individual choice in raising their own child is not even an option worth mentioning in some minds. Hey, maybe some parents just want their kids to learn to read and write in school and prefer everyone just leave the parenting to them.

For this reason, better educated people are less likely to attend church compulsively and less likely to believe everything their preachers tell them unquestioningly. They are more likely to understand the constitution and laws of the land, and know when they are getting screwed around. Better educated people are more likely to question authority.

Trust you me, I know when I'm getting screwed around and this individual didn't even kiss me first! The shame of it... I'm not completely sure what to make of this statement. We all know that our failing public schools will be the public schools affected by vouchers and it's fair to say that they are not adequately teaching children the constitution if they are failing to teach them the basics, isn't it? And when the phrase "better educated" is used, is it safe to assume that really means "liberal" as we've come to understand the word? I think so. I'm left wondering if the above insinuated goal is to lead our children to not go to church regularly (oops, I mean compulsively, that's more spooky sounding). Should it be the goal of public educators to lead other's children to not believe what a parent's personally selected minister tells them? Hey, if my daughter shouldn't believe something the minister tells us, I'll fill her in on that, thanks. Just the same as when one of her goofy friends or a liberal tells her something that's stupid. Trust me, I'm really good at that.

I dare say that's my job as a parent. A job that I take very seriously and choose not to pass of onto an endless stream of unknown individuals, church or school oriented, no matter how well intentioned they may be. It is important to note though, Christians tend to take parental authority (and responsibility) rather seriously as it is part of the "compulsive" ideology (although I'll also wager that's not just a "crazy Christian thing") and children are not normally a captive audience in church as they are in public schools. In any case, as a parent, I've never had a preacher step on my toes "helping" much less try to replace me completely. Were the church ever to attempt to undermine my parental authority I'd leave that particular church just as I'd leave the public school system (where even an adequate education could not seem to be attained for many, I might add, again) but it is not as easy for everyone to just leave the public school system as it is to leave a church (and we are also compelled beyond our will to support the public school financially, whether we like it or not, so it's best for all concerned if we actually like it or we might just stop supporting more funding for it).

And, from an economic perspective, better educated people are less likely to remain dependant on their feudal overlords and more likely to seek other opportunities to advance in a competitive economy, thus undermining the labor-base and allowing more upward mobility.

Good Lord, please help me here and now. I've just got nothing for this....I don't have a word to describe what it even is. If my religious belief is to blame for my not understanding exactly what a feudal overlord is, all I can say is thank you sweet Jesus!

Yup, that's where the Coke nearly hit my screen. haha Anyone care to try to translate that one for me?

Thus, education outside of a parochial environment is intolerable, both to a theocratic dictatorship, and to a medieval virtually-slave-holding society - not to dwell on the decreasing tithes to a church institution that is addicted to money and dependant on the offering plate (which also partially explains the so-called "faith-based intitatives").

Well, if it isn't the pot calling the kettle black. It sounds more to me like education and charity outside of a liberal environment is what's intolerable to this confused individual, even at the risk of a child's not receiving an education (which I imagine the same individual would agree is most important to the child's future). It's like the Titanic with these people and I just want to grab as many kids as I can.

As for faith-based initiatives, I'm torn. On the one hand, I think all charity should be faith-based excluding any government involvement, including charity for the secular faith (in other words, you have faith in it, you donate your money towards it). On the other hand, since so many seem to either be pleased with or at least tolerate forced charity, we may as well divide the money fairly between all faiths of choice including secular (especially since private organizations do so well in this area). Let's be inclusive until liberals either give up forced charity or learn to really tolerate other faiths, I say. It's good for them like broccoli. Honest.

I've certainly seen my share of churches go above and beyond to get the donations in that donation plate but it is given willingly and in almost every single instance that church goes on to do good things for the less fortunate with those donations (or at the very least the church members themselves benefit). I would argue that those associated with the public school system, from the top to the bottom, have the real addiction to money. We give them more money, expecting them to follow through with the elusive "better results" and we are met with the demand for even more money after those results are not only not better but worse. Sounds like an addiction to me. Besides, quality education doesn't require more money. Public education is more expensive than private education and home education is the least expensive (many spending less than $200 per student each year) and produces the best educational result of all three options.

More lunacy follows, if you can stand it, that is. I'm only providing another small sample, you're on your own after that.

I do agree with Randy that access to higher education and a more liberal education would certainly go a long way toward loosening the chains that bind so many Americans to religious dogma, misinformation and a life of poverty and ignorance.

Oh, woe is me!! What shall I eveh accomplish in mah life with awl this dowgma, misinfohmation and pahvaty goin gainst me!?

I'm guessing that a "liberal education" just doesn't mean what it used to, does it? I don't care so much what liberals think or say, I really just wish they'd decide whether we're all blathering religious idiots that don't know any better or maniacally evil geniuses hell bent on their destruction (and stick to it throughout one entire conversation). Switching back and forth without warning for the purpose of my own entertainment grows more challenging with each and every rendezvous. Still, it just never stops being fun.

Hope you have a fabulous weekend evil conservatives! ;)

Somewhat Amusing

2006-03-14T03:10:00.000-05:00

And Some Say There's No God...

OSLO (Reuters) - A woman thought she was in heaven when beer instead of water flowed from the taps in her apartment in west Norway.

"I turned on the tap to clean some knives and forks and beer came out," Haldis Gundersen told Reuters from her home in Kristiansund, west Norway. "We thought we were in heaven."

Beer in Norway is among the most expensive in the world with a 0.4 liter (0.7 pint) costing about 50 crowns ($7.48) in a bar.

Gundersen said she tried the beer but that it tasted a bit odd and was not fizzy.

It turned out that a worker in a bar two floors below had mixed up the pipes on Saturday evening, wrongly connecting a new barrel to a water pipe leading to Gundersen's flat. The bar got water in its beer taps.

"If it happens again I'm going to order Baileys (coffee liqueur)," she said.

Making the case for divorce...

Mexico City (Reuters) - A Mexican couple were recovering separately after a marital spat got out of control and saw them firing guns, throwing knives and hurling homemade bombs, Mexican daily Milenio said on Monday.

In scenes taken straight out of hit romantic comedy "Mr. and Mrs. Smith," starring Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, Juan Espinosa and Irma Contreras fought until their house blew up in a homemade gasoline bomb explosion, Milenio said.

Police called to the home in the indigenous Mayan Indian town of Oxkutzcab in the southeastern state of Yucatan arrested Espinosa. Contreras was taken to hospital with third-degree burns.

A local police official confirmed the report but declined to provide further information.

In the violence-filled movie about the fictional Smiths, Pitt and Jolie play married assassins ordered to kill each other.

Espinosa told reporters he was glad his wife had suffered burns, while Contreras said she was only sorry she had not "hacked off his manhood" during the fight.

Like, duh...

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People who regularly smoke marijuana may find their memories growing hazy over time, a study published Monday suggests.

In a study of long-term and shorter-term marijuana users, researchers in Greece found that both groups performed more poorly on tests of memory, attention and other cognitive abilities than a comparison group who'd only occasionally used the drug.

Long-term users - who'd smoked four or more joints per week for at least 10 years - showed the greatest deficits.

From JunkScience.com:

"Since February 16, 2005, the Kyoto Protocol has cost US$ 160,943,992,356 while potentially saving an undetectable 0.001669049 °C by the year 2050."

"Since Al Gore was offered the opportunity to facilitate serious debate on the underlying science of enhanced greenhouse and global climate change 2 months, 1 week, 3 days, 3 hours, 8 minutes, and 4 seconds have elapsed. Despite milking lucrative speaking engagements and book deals with his global warming schtick he declines any such debate."

Surprised?

I Know Stuff!

2006-03-12T19:33:00.000-05:00

H/T: Mr. Perfect

Encouraging Visionary

Who knew?

Me, that's who!

What's your Personal DNA?

(warning: Not a short and simple quiz.)

Excuses, Excuses

2006-03-12T09:09:00.000-05:00

OP-ED by The Uber-Conservative
12 March 2006

"That's loser talk!"

No, I wasn't kidnapped by a wild eyed band of Baptists, nor was I playing Nightingale to anyone I almost killed. This time my absence was due to a frigged up thingymajig (that normally enables an internet connection). I got a new thingymajig now, though, so I'm back.

Yay!

Thanks to all who continue to visit and comment throughout my frequent disappearances. You so schweet! :)

This morning I'm laying out of church to blog, just because I missed y'all so much. Ok, I'm also laying low because some kid decided to tell everyone that I said "That's loser talk!" when the Sunday school teacher told the children that they were all winners of some silly contest. haha Ok honestly, I'm laying out because I just don't want to go this morning. The "loser talk" issue has given me something to blog about, though.

I don't remember saying that but I don't doubt that I did. It was likely during a game of front yard football. Hey, I also threw the uber-teen at a grown man because she wasn't blocking me very well and at some point yelled "Move it Brittany!" (as in Spears) because she looked scared and froze with the ball instead of running after only accidentally catching it while throwing her hands up to block her face. I can't be held responsible for my actions while playing football (read: won't be). It's all in good fun. It must be fun, they keep coming back for s'more even though I can't be taken down. Bwahahaha!

While I wouldn't exactly yell "That's loser talk!" in Sunday school, let's be realistic here. Competitiveness is fun and winning is fun too. The fun of competitiveness (and the urge to win) is the reason adults use contests to get kids to do things in the first place. What is the lesson in claiming that everyone is a winner after one tries and works hardest of all? I think it tells the real winner that they'll not be rewarded any more than someone who didn't work so hard and next time they'll not put forth as much effort. It also encourages those who didn't try as hard or at all to keep up the status quo. They'll be rewarded the same as someone who really did win and next time they won't bother to try at all either.

How about this: If you don't want to turn learning bible scriptures into a competition where there is a winner and multiple losers, then don't have a contest. Healthy competition is what a contest is all about. Is it not?

So, when the child told me that the Sunday school teacher said "Hm, well she's different than most mothers..." (I'm not sure how the "mother" part comes into it) I explained that I am very different than most of the people who attend this particular church (as I'm conservative and they're totally liberal except for the whole 'don't be gay' thing). I went on to say that while I was being facetious at the time the statement was made (the pre game show pretty much consists of my 'we're gonna stomp you' antics), I stand strongly by the theory behind the statement. I also added that "everyone's a winner" stuff is liberal talk as well as loser talk, neither of which is permitted in front yard football. I asked that I not be quoted on that, knowing I probably will be. Whaddyado? *g* I don't want to needlessly offend anyone but it is the truth, imo.

To quote a very wise person, "Equal outcomes are not guaranteed in life -- nor should they be. Individual productivity, innovation and hard work are the keys to success --".

What do you think of contests for children in which everyone is a winner (or is that everyone is a loser)? Do church related contests make it all any different?

Am I really "different" than most? Am I goin' to hell or what?! ;)

Linky Stuff From Around The Web

2006-03-06T15:25:00.000-05:00

Is A War Going On In Texas?

By Phyllis Schlafly

If you don't have access to Texas newspapers or the internet, you may not have heard the sensational news about the enormous cache of weapons just seized in Laredo, Texas. U.S. authorities grabbed two completed Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), materials for making 33 more, military-style grenades, 26 grenade triggers, large quantities of AK-47 and AR-15 assault rifles, 1,280 rounds of ammunition, silencers, machine gun assembly kits, 300 primers, bullet-proof vests, police scanners, sniper scopes, narcotics, and cash.

That sounds like a war is going on in Texas! If bomb-making factories and firearms assembly plants are ordinary day-to-day business in the drug war along our southern border, the American people need to know more about it.

Top US General Upbeat on Iraq

"I would not put a great big smiley face on it [the situation is not perfect], but I would say they [trends in Iraq] are going very, very well, whether it be on the political side, where they have had three elections, they have written their own constitution, they are forming their own government," said General Pace. "You look at the military side, where, this time last year, there were just a handful of Iraqi battalions in the field. Now, there are over 100 battalions in the field. No matter where you look at their military, their police, their society, things are much better this year than they were last [year]."

Hillary Clinton 'unaware' of Bill's Dubai ties

Hillary Clinton, a leading opponent of DP World's takeover of some US port operations, was this week forced to admit that she did not know her husband had advised Dubai leaders on how to handle the growing dispute.

But former President Bill Clinton's ties to Dubai and the United Arab Emirates should not have come as a surprise to his New York senator wife.

Mrs Clinton's own senatorial financial disclosure forms reveal that her husband earned $450,000 giving speeches in Dubai in 2002.

Officials from the UAE also donated between $500,000 and $1m to fund Mr Clinton's presidential library in Arkansas.

Court Upholds Campus Military Recruiting

The Supreme Court ruled unanimously Monday that colleges that accept federal money must allow military recruiters on campus, despite university objections to the Pentagon's "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gays.
Justices rejected a free-speech challenge from law schools and their professors who claimed they should not be forced to associate with military recruiters or promote their campus appearances.

Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the court, said that the campus visits are an effective military recruiting tool.

"A military recruiter's mere presence on campus does not violate a law school's right to associate, regardless of how repugnant the law school considers the recruiter's message," he wrote.

S.D. Governor Signs Abortion Ban Into Law

"In the history of the world, the true test of a civilization is how well people treat the most vulnerable and most helpless in their society. The sponsors and supporters of this bill believe that abortion is wrong because unborn children are the most vulnerable and most helpless persons in our society. I agree with them," Rounds said in the statement.

Robotic 'pack mule' displays stunning reflexes

A nimble, four-legged robot is so surefooted it can recover its balance even after being given a hefty kick. The machine, which moves like a cross between a goat and a pantomime horse, is being developed as a robotic pack mule for the US military.

Visit America Supports You for all the latest news about how Americans are supporting the men and women of the U.S. military or

Cat Bloggin' Saturday

2006-03-04T01:32:00.000-05:00

I was so busy yesterday that I didn't get a chance to blog.

I do have new cat photos to turn those frowns upside down! *g*

Here's the crazy Precious. So busy pretending she's not trying to eat Romeo, the fish, that she forgot to attack the camera.

Precious! What are you up to?!

"Why, I'm just sitting here..um...Yeah, smelling candles. Honest. Mmmm candles!"

I can tell you've been up to something, the plants are all lopsided and sunken. Get away from that fish bowl!!!

Fish bowl? I don't see a fish bowl. Do you see a fish bowl?

10 seconds after I left the room I snuck back to see what she was really up to...

"Bluhbluhbluuuggghhh!"

(Shuddup, why don't you try to figure out what "bwahahaha" sounds like under water!)

Obviously, the maniacal plan is to drink all of the water until she finally gets to the fish.

Evil genius!

Ok, sometimes Precious is pretty cute.

When she's asleep!

All snuggled up with Magellan -

Magellan is the Raymond of cats. Everybody loves Magellan. :)

Hope everyone's weekend is schweet!

Your Tax Dollars At Work

2006-03-02T13:48:00.000-05:00

Teacher caught in Bush "rant"

An Overland High School teacher who criticized President Bush, capitalism and U.S. foreign policy during his geography class was placed on administrative leave Wednesday afternoon after a student who recorded the session went public with the tape.

In the 20-minute recording, made on an MP3 player, teacher Jay Bennish described capitalism as a system "at odds with human rights." He also said there were "eerie similarities" between what Bush said during his Jan. 28 State of the Union address and "things that Adolf Hitler used to say."

What is capitalism? Capitalism is a social system based on the recognition of individual rights, including property rights, in which all property is privately owned. Under capitalism the state is separated from economics (production and trade), just like the state is separated from religion (the only system that allows freedom of religion, including freedom from it). Capitalism is the system of of laissez faire. It is the system of political freedom. Visit Capitalism.org to learn more.

As far as Bush/Hitler comparison goes, I'm really too tired of that illiterate and lazy argument to spend much more time than I already have on it. The only similarity I see is that they're both male (and have penises as well, I assume). Other than that there are no similarities, much less "eerie similarities". Hitler was hell bent on the complete destruction of the Jews while hoping Austria and Germany would unite. George Bush is all about preserving the Jews and eliminating the threat of destruction of the world by terrorists. On the other hand, one name ends the same as the other begins. Look at that H in the Bush name, pretty damning evidence.

The United States was "probably the single most violent nation on planet Earth," Bennish also said on the tape.

This "teacher" must have been living in a bunker below ground without any media access at all in an attempt to hide from a long line of Bushitlers to have missed so much violence that has occurred around the world.

R.J. Rummel Professor Emeritus of Political Science sheds some light, through suitable applications of fact, on this common accusation and says:

The next time a so called "anti-war" activist, self-righteous "peace researcher," or blathering leftist declares that the U.S. is the most violent nation in the world, kindly tell them that their ignorance is only exceeded by their ideological blindness.

The 20-minute recording of only a portion of the class was made by 16-year-old sophomore Sean Allen the day after the president's speech.

Click here to listen.

Sean said in an interview he had been disturbed by the "political rants" he heard in Bennish's class. He added that he wanted to tape the session for his father, who later shared it with the media.

Sean, who described himself as a political independent, said the comments seemed inappropriate for a geography class.

"If he wants to give an opinion in class, I'm perfectly OK with that," he said. "But he has to give both sides of the story."

James McGrath Morris, an author who has written about academic freedom issues, said Bennish's comments are acceptable for an adult audience, but they are hard to defend in a high school classroom.

In a number of legal cases, courts have ruled that "up until the age of majority, children are easily influenced ... in a way that they don't have the faculties to sort out rights from wrongs," Morris said.

Apparently not having the faculties to sort out rights from wrongs doesn't affect all children (the student was clearly aware of Bennish's wrong doing in the classroom) while this lack of faculty follows some (like Bennish) well into adulthood.

A Question For The Wise

2006-02-28T19:06:00.000-05:00

Do people who don't vote, count?

I was just reading How To Slant A Poll 101 over at Right Wing News and some of the lefty commenters seemed to think that the opinions of Americans who don't vote actually matter. Now, the fact that these non-voting opinions benefit the left a good bit more than the right in polling (probably because non-voters also aren't paying attention to much, if you ask me) it doesn't really surprise me that some on the left would say that the opinions of these Americans actually matter.

I'm not saying these Americans in and of themselves aren't important to me or to America but I really don't think their opinions about anything of a political nature matter one bit. I will discuss the importance of voting with a non-voter and there are quite a few I call friend, but there's no way in hell that I'd ever spend my valuable time telling a non-voter what my opinion on any given political topic is, much less go so far as to ask them what they think. Unless of course it is in the context of why non-voters should vote if they give a damn about the state of the nation, then I might bother. Otherwise, I have more important things to do. Like sleep.

The non-voting American opinion does not matter, in my opinion, and it's their own fault. Vote or shut up, I say.

Is my thinking totally wrong?

Oh yeah, you should go read How To Slant A Poll 101 too. Relax, it's not nearly as long as the last link I posted. ;)

Blogger Excuse 9,007

2006-02-28T05:25:00.000-05:00

Yeah, yeah. MIA, again. (Y'all should be used to that by now!) After nearly killing someone with shrimp I decided to sleep a whole lot. All that sleep left me energetic so I decided to lay some shiny new tile. It really seemed such a simple idea at first. I'd use vinyl tiles this time instead of one large (and hard to maneuver) sheet and just do one small room. Rip that carpet up (who fully carpets a bathroom anyhow?) and just slap them onto the floor, easy as 1 2 3. Riiight. First, the carpet was stuck in a couple different areas (which you know requires one to put their entire body into the yank and fall over backward). Then there's all sorts of nails and staples underneath with gobs of the foam lining stuck to them and cats all over the place giving me the "Wtf?!" look. Needless to say, the tiles are still in the box and everything is still upside down. Ah well, that's what I get for trying to do something on a Monday.

Oh hey. There's a new addition to the pet clan that I picked up on the way to Lowes to purchase tile (read: ogle the Lowes guys).

Meet Romeo.

The plants were stuck in there at the last moment as a means for Romeo to dodge the kitten paws which will inevitably be splashing around in attempt to eat him. I've had about five betas so far, (all named Romeo as well). When the uber-teen was much smaller (and ate a whole lot less) I bought a beta for her. She held the mirror up to him so he'd do what betas do but he just looked bored and blew a bubble at her. I said "I'm a lover, not a fighter baby" in my best fish voice so she named him Romeo. That works for me because it gives me a terrific excuse to quote Shakespeare on a regular basis while talking to the fish. Hey, it amuses me.

Although betas are one of the easiest fish to care for, something always seems to happen to ours. My dad fed one too much while I was in the hospital (and blamed it on the uber-daughter, which would have worked had he not started laughing at the look on her face), my grandma fed one nothing at all while I was on vacation, a friend's son fed the last one some cookies right before I moved to NC...you get the point. Hopefully, this Romeo will survive to lead a good full life.

Anyhow, I came across a link directing me to a very informative and interesting site while reading a book review via the Intellectual Conservative during the work break that never ended and thought I'd pass it along.

Teaser:

THE MOTIVATIONS OF POLITICAL LEFTISTS

"Change is just an instrument they use to gain their ultimate goal of power. And why is power sought so single-mindedly? Why the single-minded egotism? At its deepest level, Leftism appears to be psychopathic -- with the psychopathic disregard for all norms, morals, standards and ethics in the ruthless quest for personal praise and satisfaction."

Visit the pages of Australian scholar, Professor John Jay Ray. :)

President's Day

2006-02-20T16:17:00.000-05:00

I thought I'd tell a little history of the holiday only instead of throwing dates at you I'll throw a photo, giving an example of what people at that time actually looked like, at you as well.

The original version of the holiday was in celebration of George Washington's birthday in 1796. Then came Abraham Lincoln, another revered president and a February baby as well (the 12th). Lincoln's Birthday did not become a federal holiday like George Washington's, but it did become a legal holiday in several states.

By the early 19th century, Washington's Birthday had taken firm root in America as a national holiday. Traditions included Birthnight Balls, speeches and receptions by prominent public figures, and much merrymaking in taverns throughout the country.

In 1968, legislation (HR 15951) was enacted that affected several federal holidays. One of these was Washington's Birthday, the observation of which was shifted to the third Monday in February each year whether or not it fell on the 22nd. This act took effect in 1971.

Ok, not everyone dressed like a flaming hippie. For balance:

(Just for the record, sixties fashion belongs to the Brits who set the tone and the world followed them.)

While the holiday in February is still officially known as Washington's Birthday (at least according to the Office of Personnel Management), it has become popularly (and in some states, legally) known as "President's Day." This has made the third Monday in February a day for honoring both Washington and Lincoln, as well as all the other men who have served as president.

Click here to view all of the Presidents of the United States of America.

Click here to read "The Life of Washington", by David Ramsay (entire book can be read online).

Live Blogging

2006-02-18T12:33:00.000-05:00

Yay, Snow! Yesterday and the day before it was 70 degrees here. I was digging boxes of summer clothes out and going for the shorts. This morning I woke a popsicle, saw snow from the window and was running for the sweater, fuzzy socks, and heat thermometer. Since I don't drive in this stuff (except those two times I almost bit the dust) I'm stuck at home. I've always wanted to live blog (face it, this is a very exciting event), I've decided to live blog the snow. Hooray!

Um, it's snowing.

I'll keep you updated.

1:13 PM Update: It stopped snowing.

Well that was fun.

Woohoo, Foto Friday!

2006-02-17T23:30:00.000-05:00

More specifically, cat photos (because I know how much everyone just loves those). Heh.

Here the little darlings are refusing to acknowledge my presence, much less turn and look at me when called (and all this after jumping in front of me every time I focused on something else, leaving a furry cat blur in every single image).

That one turned out a tad blurry, which is what happens when you're jumping up and down yelling "Woot! Woot! Hey! Look! At! ME!!"

The next one turned out a little blurry too because the "What the hell is wrong with you?" look Logi was giving me made me have to laugh and jiggle the camera.

.Here's Precious, who I haven't posted many photos of because they don't exist as she has sharp little fangs that sink into the camera lens. No jokes, there's a scratch and a dent beside the shutter from the whole Christmas photo shoot with that crazy kitty. She's nuts all the time but as soon as the camera light comes on she's a nut on crack. Anyhow, today I caught her playing in my new curtains (I'd just washed because she knocked them into the turtle tank). This time I folded and put them way up high until they could be hung but she somehow wrestled them to the floor. I threw them over her head just to be able to get this photo. Just barely got it and was able to run away before she came after my toes with that insane look in her eye.

"All your toes are belong to me! Bwahahaha!!!

I have new photos of Thor as well. I have a couple hundred photos of him doing this. Isn't he cute? Oo

And here's one taken of us together, that one time he woke up.

You know what they say about pets and their owners.

Hope everyone has a great weekend! ;)

What Better Way...

2006-02-16T12:10:00.000-05:00

...to start the day than with a little Garfield?

Heh

Yeah, I had to actually do some work today because I value a roof over my head (and want a new pool this spring because mine is so fally-aparty & lopsided that all the neighborhood dogs are stopping by to drink from it).

Since I have no real post anyhow and you guys are the "firearm experts", be schweet. Scroll to the comments and tell me what type of hand gun would be the best purchase for a novice. I've experience with a shotgun, not so much that it actually counts but enough that I feel I've at least "graduated" to a hand gun (because someone told me the shotgun was the best way to go in the beginning and that's what I did).

Lay it on me eeevil conservatives!

Free Speech

2006-02-15T11:56:00.000-05:00

BEIJING (Reuters) - "China is being forced on the defensive over its media censorship policies, fending off attacks from United States and even, unexpectedly, its own aging Communist Party officials.

This week, Beijing has had to defend its controls over the Internet, just days after U.S. Web giants faced bipartisan criticism in Congress for bowing to Chinese government demands to block sites and help track down critics who communicate online.

At the same time, a former secretary to Chairman Mao Zedong and a dozen other senior Chinese scholars and ex-officials denounced the shutting down of an investigative weekly as a "historic incident."

And the U.S. State Department has set up a task force to help American technology companies protect freedom of expression in countries like China that censor online content.

Meanwhile, a quick trip around the internet shows Americans setting up their own task forces to protect their freedom of speech right here at home.

Free the Internet

"Certain political activities involving the Internet (blogs, websites, email) are about to be regulated by the Federal Election Commission. But the mainstream media is exempted from these regulations. They will apply to you, but not to NYTimes.com. Identical bills have now been introduced in the House and Senate to exempt the Internet from these regulations. The full text of these bills is as follows:

Paragraph (22) of section 301 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431(22)) is amended by adding at the end of the following new sentence: "Such term shall not include communications over the Internet."
This simple legislation will restore your personal "freedom of the press" on the Internet, and place your Internet communications on the same legal ground as the major media. If we can pass this law in the next month-or-so Internet regulations currently being drafted will be made null-and-void.

Please use the form below to ask your representatives in the House and Senate to pass this law."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

First Amendment Restoration Act

Congress has made it illegal for citizens to broadcast ads criticizing their elected representatives within 60-days of an election. This is un-American and must be reversed. Fortunately, Representative Roscoe Bartlett (R.-MD) has re-introduced his “First Amendment Restoration Act” to repeal these restrictions on free speech and political dissent. HR 689 would repeal this restriction of free speech and political dissent.

Please use the simple system below to send your elected representatives the following message.

While I don't agree with and sign every petition DownsizeDC.org makes available, these two are well worth a read.

Valentine's Goodies

2006-02-14T19:20:00.000-05:00

Yay! I got stuff! Yeah, the Valentine's celebration is pretty much over for me. My hot date (if saying "turn the dang heat down will ya!" counts) works second and third shifts but that's ok since the poor uber-teen is boyfriendless (God forgive me but that makes me yay too haha) and ready for a little TLC (steak and chocolate). I tried to get her a puppy for Valentine's but it seems the adoption process is complicated so she'll be cuddling Mai Tai's photo until they do the background checks, or whatever it is that they do that takes so long. Oo

Anyhow, hope everyone's Valentine's is super schweet! ;)

Copy and paste for a cute Valentine's animation-

http://www.deviantart.com/view/29044694/

Yay it's Monday!

2006-02-13T16:10:00.000-05:00

Ok, I really don't like Mondays much at all but look, we have Insolubloggy-goodness.

Also, some 45-Caliber Justice (the best kind), Dr. Phat Tonian-wisdom, an IMAO Podcast, a spacemonkey wanting answers (or is that gravy?), a shiny brand spankin' new Radioactive Liberty (don't forget to blogroll!), some funny, a blogger down (ok, that's not good, go be nice and say hi), decisions, decisions (I like choices, choices are good), all kinds of common sense, and a list of those who are worthy of all our hatred. Yay!

You go read now.

Friday's Cat Bloggin'

2006-02-10T17:00:00.000-05:00

Hooray!

I'm beginning to make myself ill with all the Valentine's bloggin'. If I don't stop soon, I'll be all "Ack. Who Cares!" by the time Tuesday actually rolls around.

Anyhow, there's a new cat on the block to add to the uber-cat collection. I named her Franki (after Frank Sinatra ha!) and have been hoping she'd prove to be one photogenic kitty. She's pretty but has she got what it takes? Will she run away hissing or attack the lens and slobber on it like Precious does? I'd like to use her in the 'greeting cards for children visiting the children's hospital' effort mentioned before, so today we gave it a whirl just to see how cooperative she is. Here are one of the results:

Franki was great. A little distracted maybe but not really what I'd call easily distracted and didn't get so scared that she puffed up like a Halloween cat and ran away or anything like that. She didn't sink her teeth into my camera either so that's always a plus.

Yay!

I think I'll forget all the other things I've been working on and just use one of the photos from this shoot. Add some schweet words, maybe some artsy butterflies too, and call me done even though it was just a test shoot.

What do you think? Does Franki inspire smiles?