Today in History

October 4th

Work began on Mount Rushmore

On this day in 1927, sculpting began on the face of Mount
Rushmore in the Black Hills National Forest of South Dakota. It
would take another 12 years for the impressive granite images of
four of America’s most revered and beloved presidents—George
Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln (beloved? HA!)and Theodore
Roosevelt--to be completed.

The monument was the brainchild of a South Dakota historian
named Doane Robinson, who was looking for a way to attract more
tourists to his state. He hired a sculptor named Gutzon Borglum
to carve the faces into the mountain. According to the National
Park Service, the first face to be chiseled was George
Washington’s; Borglum first sculpted the head as an egg shape,
his features added later. Thomas Jefferson’s image was
originally fashioned in the space to the right of Washington,
but, within two years, the face was badly cracked. Workers had
to blast the sculpture off the mountain using dynamite. Borglum
then started over with Jefferson situated on the left side of
Washington.

Washington’s face was the first to be completed in 1934.
Jefferson’s was dedicated in 1936--with then-president Franklin
Roosevelt in attendance--and Lincoln’s was completed a year
later. In 1939, Teddy Roosevelt’s face was completed. The
project, which cost $1 million, was funded primarily by the
federal government.

Borglum continued to touch up his work at Mount Rushmore until
he died suddenly in 1941. Borglum had originally hoped to also
carve a series of inscriptions into the mountain, outlining the
history of the United States.

Torn

I want to be free but at the same time I hate that I even want that.

I love her tremendously and I hate that I love her so much and I hate that I hate loving her.

I want to reconcile but I know she wont allow it.

I just end the day feeling hollow and lonely if I hadnt started feeling that way much earlier in the day. Just tell me when these hopeless days are over...

Kelty Baby Carrier

My attempt to poke fun at a blogger that shall remain nameless (as if y'all didnt already know who) was losing its funiness in my own eyes so I am editing this post...

Today Lil Bear and I went to the Flea Market with only one item in mind. A baby carrier. Lo and behold I found one. A Kelty none-the-less, which is the brand I was wanting in the first place. Originally $180, sold to me for only $25. Incredibly adjustable and able to stay standing on its own. It has a smallish pack below and behind baby's legs, triangluar shaped to fit between the legs and still give room for movement, it held everything I decided to carry today. Formula, diapers, wipes and a bottle and still had room for more. Conveniently it has IIRC 4 bottle holder loops which I didnt use today out of a need to clean the pack first. After a 3+ mile hike I only have one complaint and that is the main frame hits my shoulder blades uncomfortably after a mile or so. I tilted Lil Bear slightly and that helped but I think I am going to have to make some adjustments to the pad back there or perhaps even replace it. Keep in mind that this is a used pack so the padding is worn slightly but not bad in any way.

Also found at the flea market was one CD and four hot wheels. Three planes and one monster truck for one of the special-ed kids on my bus who loves cars.


Anyways, here is Lil Bear happily sucking on a strap (perhaps his all time favorite toy!)

Google

I am amazed at how high my blog is on Google sometimes. The video of Steve Holy's "I've Got A Brand New Girlfriend" is #3 when googled. "Pleasant Images" and "Pleasant Thoughts" are #4 & #7 respectively. I also have the honor of claiming at least two top spots. One for "Policital Parties" (yes, that typo is the way I am found) and #1 and #1.5 for "Manly Poetry"

Anyways, just thought that was interesting as this blog is not big by any means so to get top honors on Google means I actually mean something!

(sniff) Brings a tear to my eye.

Wishlist

Some things that I want...
A Telephoto lens for my camera
A Panosaurus tripod
An HK USP in .40S&W
A Taurus Raging Bull in .44Mag
A Gatling gun kit in either .22 or AK 47
An Adventure Child Carrier by Kelty
A bike trailer by Chariot Carriers
Throw a good job and a loving wife on there and all will be great! Until I want more stuff that is. Should I pull a Bane and ask y'all to go out and get it for me?

...

Nah. Go and have a good day y'all!

Pikes Peak

This is just a single frame pic of the Peak. I chopped it to half its size but if you it is still a very good sized pic when you click on it.

I just found out that Blogger limits the size of the pic. It should appear several at least an inch longer than it does. Not really a big deal.

Proposed Law: Must Own Firearm

Greenleaf, Idaho -- All Americans have the right to bear arms. Some towns have even gone as far as to require each household to have a gun. Now a small Idaho town is contemplating a similar idea-- it's called the Civil Emergencies Ordinance. And although gun ownership is just one piece of this ordinance, it's the part that's getting the most attention.

If city council member Steve Jett has his way, each head of household that can legally own a gun, will. Along with that they're encouraged to have ammunition and appropriate training.

The proposed ordinance is modeled after a similar plan that went into place in 1982 in Kennesaw, Ga. In that instance there was a dramatic decrease in criminal activity.

Remember that Idaho is one of the three states in the Free West Alliance. The other two being Montana and Wyoming. These are states that have a reasonable chance of achieving the Free State Project's dream of "Liberty in our lifetime."

Reason To Homeschool

Reason To Homeschool #714

"The House of Representatives has approved a tough new anti-drug and anti-weapon law that would require local districts to develop search policies – including strip searches – with immunity against prosecution for teachers and staff.
Schools would have to develop policies for searching students, or face the loss of some federal funding, under the bill – HR 5295, approved by a voice vote Tuesday."

WTF!

Pikes Peak

Well, it snowed last night and I went out and risked life, limb and pride to get you some pics. And yes I know that there is no snow down in the Springs but stupid me went too far off the road to get these pics and ended up stuck until some kind gentleman pulled my stupid arse out. (Thank you Sir!)

If anyone knows how to get stitched images to have the same color tone let me know. I know there is more I need to do with the setting on the camera but I have to play with that more before I have it figured out.


Click on the image for full size

RainX

With the advent of freezing weather and a touch of snow I am reminded that I really need to get RainX back on my windshield. If you have never used the stuff I highly recommend that you go out and buy some today. It really does make rain slide right off of your windshield, snow too. But even better it makes getting snow and ice off your windows easier and when it is ten below and blowing you dont really want to be out there trying to get ice off. Or freezing fog! Freezing fog is the worst! I hate that stuff but it is a fairly common occurence in the early mornings on my way to work.

There are two ways of puting it on. The actual application of the stuff and the lazy mans way of doing it which is by getting the stuff you put in the washer fluid. The latter is only intended to keep up the application and it really only affect the area that the wipers go over but I say any RainX is better than no RainX and IIRC I still have some.

Bus To Motorhome: Thoughts

Here is an example of a bus that would be about perfect for what I want to do. Opening price is 700 and currently no bids on it. As a simple way of figuring what size bus I am looking at I am wanting one with 8 to 10 windows on the driver side (not counting the driver window of course) 8 would be minimum as it would be just enough room for everything, 10 would be max as anything bigger wouldn't be able to go everywhere I would like to go and it would be more room than I am needing. My plans would make this able to sleep 6 when the table is converted to a bed. Coincidentally it would have seating for 6. Pretty nifty coincidence if you ask me.

I am going to have to rework the bedroom tho. With 30" bunks on one wall that would leave a whopping 45" for a double bed on the other. I dont think that is going to work. I could simply put bunks on both sides but I am thinking I am going to want someone to stay warm with eventually. No wait, I already want that. One day I hope to have someone to do that with. I can think of some options that would close off the back door but I would like to keep that open for toys and gear. The table will collapse into a double bed so there is always that. Another solution would be to simply go bigger and make the last section its own room. But then we are back at the issue of length. Round and round and round and round and no answers as of yet. It'll come. I have quite a bit of time to figure it out.

Eating Organic

Farmer Tom called into question organic foods over at Astro's. Being a firm believer in organics I feel I should explain some of those reasons and Haloscan isnt a good forum for that.

Organic means grown with no man-made fertilizers, pesticides or other chemicals. To qualify for organic the land cannot have had those chemicals used for several years so that the ground is free, or fairly free, of contamination. I say fairly free because it has been proven that some chemicals can be found in the soil decades after their use but the majority will leave with the next couple of years crops.

Why eat organic? Because you are what you eat. What you take in is what your body has to both build with and deal with. All food is a combination of fats, carbs and proteins and all of those are needed. But one can get all three of those from a typical McDonalds meal. What one cannot get is the vitamins and minerals that the body also needs to function. Vitamins are essentially a byproduct of plants, made in the creation of their fruits of leaves and stalks. Man oftentimes adds additional things that get into us when we eat those foods. And so your body has to do something with it. Some get passed, many others get placed into the only holding-pen in the body: fat cells.

Do we know what all stays with us? Not really, and we dont even know exactly which chemicals to look for, and even if we did very few labs are capable of finding them. One study of infant cord blood showed some IIRC 300 checmicals. These are chemicals that made it past the barrier and were then used as building blocks for the developing fetus(tangent: Fetus means "child" in greek. Just why do pro-choicers think that is a better word to use?) It goes without saying that a developing child would be affected far more by pollution than an adult would as we are not developing the various organs and systems necessary to life.

Organic avoids some of the more disgusting practices of modern ranching. As a well fed cow fetches a higher price, conventional ranchers went to a cheap sources of protein. Pig blood and (worse) chicken manure. With the advent of Mad Cow disease the practice of adding back cows blood and organs has thankfully been stopped already. The pig blood has been deemed acceptable because there has yet to be an instance of "mad cow" transfered from pigs to cattle. The other source fixed two problems. The feed for the cattle and the need to dispose of the chicken's manure. So it is gathered up and added to the feed. Need I mention that ALL cattle are herbivores? What in the world are we thinking giving them a type of food that G-d never ever intended? The USDA is banning blood and manure and it may have done so already, I cant remember when those rules were to take affect, but with organic that was never an issue.

The slaughter house is a large penned in area where cattle go to be butchered for our consumption right? Well, not exatly. Those yards are actually kept so that if the ranchers ever get out of hand and start asking a living wage for their product the slaughter houses have enough previously purchased cattle that the simply dont buy, forcing the ranchers to seel at the lower price. Those yards keep cattle close together, in crowded small and dirty pens. (There is a reason those yards smell so bad.) This often leads to unhealthy cattle. Those same cattle which they then place on your grocers shelves. Sometimes these cattle get so sick that they cannot even get to the killing floor by themselves. They have to be dragged, sometimes dead to the killing floor. The killing floor is where the do nasty gruesome stuff to make icky cows into yummy beef. I dont want to ruin the magic of that beloved transformation so I wont discuss it. But those things leading up to the killing floor? You guessed it! Doesnt happen with organic. Now I am not terribly interested in the "happiness" of the cow. I do believe it should be treated decently but I am rather more concerned with the health of the animal we will soon be eating.

Earning a living wage is a real issue with farmers and ranchers. Organic supports them with better rates than conventional buyers. The only way to help them out more (short of giving them money) is to support your local farmers markets and possibly butcher shops. At a farmers market you get fresh local produce at a better than supermarket price in most cases and the farmer benefits as he is making 10 times or more what he would get selling to a co-op. For instance, a potato farmer is doing good to get $13 for a hundred pounds of (conventional)potatoes. If he sells 10lbs to you at $3 then he is making $30 per hundred pounds.

Irritable

I am irritated. Not at such-and-such or so-and-so. Nope. But nontheless this irritation has been building over the last few days. And there isnt a blessed thing I can do about it. Ya see, it isnt a mental thing, it is physical. A symptom of a thyroid that isnt working properly. "Irritable" is actually one of the symptoms of both hypo- and hyperthyroidism. Other fun things like dry skin, hair loss, being tired, feeling too hot or too cold, depression, memory problems and dificulty concentrating. For women the menstrual cycle can get messed up (irregular and longer than normal)

Since the thyroid controls basically every function of the body, if it isnt functioning nothing else will work quite right either. Weight loss/gain is common, and is an easy excuse for those who are overweight regardless of if they actually have a thyroid problem or not. (I have a diagnosed problem and I am not overweight) Personally I have noticed two things that arent listed in the symptoms. Erratic heartbeat and extremely high triglycerides when not properly medicated. Those triglycerides will go from 700-900 to 400-500 with just the proper medicine.

So I'm irritated. Grr.

Pleasant Thoughts

Piper Perabo and Jennifer Garner




Have I ever mentioned that I always (even from a little kid) wanted to have two wives?

Loot

I finally got a paycheck today (its been 6 weeks!) so I went out and got some stuff for Lil Bear. For 11 dollars I got 22 different pieces of clothing, two smaller toys, three bottles and one large toy (way cool!)

Formyself I got Upwords and 4 tableknives cuz I dont really have enough of those (2.25 or so for all.) Oh yeah, I bought a cheap cd player for the livingroom as Beloved has the one that was down here (Do I need to come up with a new name for her? I do still love her dearly...) This one is a 6-disc changer so I can keep some music to sing my babe asleep with while still having more upbeat music for me. Not bad for a single day.

Prophecy

From AstroSmith comes this quote "I have read that there is a Catholic prophecy about the Vatican being destroyed and the Pope killed. Is [Pope]Benedict trying to bring this about by pissing [the Muslims] off?"

My question is this... Can one bring about a prophecy? If a prophecy can be made to pass is it then a self-fulfilling prophecy? And is it then prophecy at all?

If prophecy can be brought to pass it also brings up the idea that one can cause it not to happen. Ninevah is somewhat of an example, but they didnt stop what was prophecied they simply delayed it to another generation. But leaving that aspect aside, whose prophecies should be hastened? And which ones?

Or is it simply that prophecy will happen regardless of what we do, even if it is seemingly impossible for it to happen?

Walker

Whilst on my morning route I came across a dirty but otherwise in good condition walker for my Lil Bear. Not just any walker. Oh no. A Jeep Liberty Renegade walker. Nothing but the best second hand stuff for us! It is currently in the "car wash" and will be ready soon.

***Update*** Cleaning is complete and the little guy is enjoying it right now. Blowing the horn and turning the wheel non-stop. I'd say he is one happy camper!

"Wish I Didn't Know Now" Toby Keith

I've never ask you where you're goin'
I've never ask you where you've been
I've never called and checked your story
You stayed out with all your freinds
I've never tried to catch you lyin'
I didn't want to know the truth
I'd rather go on lovin' blind girl
Than go on lovin' without you

I wish I didn't know now what I didn't know then
I wish I could start this whole thing over again
I'm not sayin' it's you could never be true
I just don't wanna know how it ends
You'd still have my heart in the palm of your hands
I'd still look like a fool in front of your friends
Yeah I wish somehow I didn't know now what I didn't know then

I've always said what I don't know
Couldn't hurt as bad as leavin' you
Turns out I knew what I was thinkin'
It ain't an easy thing to do
Well I guess I should be goin'
I sure found out too much to stay
Please don't say your sorry
I might wait another day

I wish I didn't know now what I didn't know then
I wish I could start this whole thing over again
I'm not sayin' it's you could ever be true
I just don't wanna know how it ends
You'd still have my heart in the palm of your hands
I'd still look like a fool in front of your friends
Yeah I wish somehow I didn't know now what I didn't know then

You'd still have my heart in the palm of your hand
I'd still look like a fool in front of your freinds
Yeah I wish somehow I didn't know now what I didn't know then
Yeah I wish somehow I didn't know now what I didn't know then

Sixpence None The Richer

Normally the music I choose to listen to when needing comfort is either Sixpence None The Richer or Plumb. The beauty of Leigh Nash's voice and the artistry of Matt Slocum blended to make an absolutely incredible tapestry. Much more than simply their "Kiss Me" which did so well on the charts. I dont even think that is their best song. The members of that band have gone thru hell numerous times and it comes out in their music. Their desire for better (Anything), of doubts fears pain and despair(Disconnect, I Can't Explain, Circle Of Error), and a faith in G-d despite everything(Drifting, Within A Room Somewhere).

I'd say their best album was "This Beautiful Mess" but any of them are good. You also hear Leigh's voice grow from almost fragile to a much more dynamic quality thru the various albums.

Cranberries

Not everyone likes their music but I have always loved their album "No Need To Argue." And it is helping my mood at the moment.

"I cant be with you"

Lying in my bed again
And I cry 'cuz you're not here
Crying in my head again
And I know that it's not clear
Put your hands, put your hands
Inside my face and see that it's just you
But it's bad and it's mad
And it's making me sad
Because I can't be with you

Baby I can't be with you

Thinking back on how things were
And how we loved so well
I wanted to be the mother
of your child
And now it's just farewell

Put your hands in my hands
And come with me
We'll find another end
And my head, and my head
On anyone's shoulder
Cause I can't be with you

Baby I can't be with you

Cause you're not here, you're not here
Baby I can't be with you
Cause you're not here, you're not here
And baby I'm still in love with you

Remove Before Flight

For those who fly small planes you know there is a reminder to remove a piece from your prop before you start up. Well, here is a reminder for the women on board to also "remove before flight."
These may soon become required by FARs so make sure you have several of these. They can be found at www.plane-girls.com

Bus to Motorhome

Have you ever thought of getting a motorhome? Something big enough to take your family places but not so big as to break the bank? Lord knows some of those things cost more than a house! But they dont have to break the bank. Not if you make one yourself.

How? Old school buses.

School buses go for dirt cheap once the district is done with them. And they arent gotten rid of because they are worn out but rather because of their age. Each district sets its own rules but generally when a bus gets to be 15 years old it is put out to pasture regardless of its mileage. Regular buses are sold for about $2000, and the SpEd buses go for $500-800. What you get out of the deal is a cheap platform that has been well maintained. Much better maintained than a used motorhome would be. Also a bus is made to carry a LOT of weight which means that everything is heavy duty (axles etc.) and the bus must meet much higher safety standards as it was designed to carry the most precious of cargo.

I found the site of a guy who did just that. Jake Von Slatt purchased his 75 passenger bus (approx 40 feet long) for only $2031 on ebay. He then transformed it from an ugly yellow bus into what you see in these pictures. I am planning on something similar but smaller. While I like the blunt nosed buses better because of the way they handle, the smaller buses rarely, if ever, come like that.

My plan is to have it quite similar to what you see in the pictures above. The table and benches right behind the driver seat and a comfy captains chair on the right side so I can have some company while driving. Directly behind that chair would be the kitchenette and opposite that (behind the table) is the bathroom/shower. Then a wall would seperate this area from the back which would be the bedroom. The bedroom would have bunks on one side and I am thinking a full size bed on the other that could be folded up into the wall when not in use. This setup would leave approx 8 feet from the back door to the wall which would allow for plenty of room for toys such as a kayak perhaps? or skis.

The only quetion in my mind at this time is whether or not I want to cover up the side door. The wheelchair door. Beds on both sides would require that it be covered but it is a full height door whereas most rear doors are something you have to hunch over to get out of. Most likely I will just cover that side door as I believe it would be easier to get the beds situated then trying to do some weird mounting of a bed to the back.

One word about the type of bus to get. Make sure it is a full sized bus. Not the vans with the smaller wheels. You could make one of the van-buses into a motorhome but it wouldnt be as sturdy and the visibility sucks in those things (trust me on this)

One Big Happy

This is one of my all-time favorite comics! I got a good laugh out of this one so I thought I would post it.

Pure Weakness

Bush will no longer identify our enemies in even the most remote way in order to not offend them.

"This is a global war on terror. We're facing, you know, extremists that believe something," [Bush] said.

Well isnt that just dandy? Extremists that actually believe something? Well I'll be damned! Whoda thunk that extremists would actually believe something? I bet Bush has had the CIA working on that for the past 5 years to figure that one out.

Repeat after me: "Not all Muslims are terrorists, but all terrorists are Muslim.**" What is so freaking hard about that?

** I would be remiss if I failed to note that Government can also be terrorists (and often are) regardless if they are Muslim or not.

Memories

One late spring day while working at the grocery store, I was in the checkout lane checking groceries when one of the new courtesy clerks came up to help me bag. This CC was CUTE! Freckle faced, spikey hair, perky T&A, demure. She would look down as she smiled at me. It drove me crazy and I couldnt stop thinking about her!

One big problem: she was 16 years old. I had recently turned 25. Obviously I wasnt allowed to like her. So I set about asking her questions trying to find something about her that I didnt like so I could focus upon that and use that negative to stop liking her. I couldnt find anything. So we talked after work out at the beat up grey minivan she was driving. It was a nice night and we talked for hours. With all those hours of talking to her I couldnt find anything I disliked about her. We talked so long that her mom came looking for her (and was she mad!)

We became fast friends. Best friends. We would talk for hours and hours. I had a cell phone and I would be talking on one battery while charging the other. Eventually I would end up being tied down to the chargers cord itself so we could keep talking. She kept the phone right next to her bed so she could answer it before it woke her parents. We talked of absolutely everything. And a lot of nothing simply to hear each other's voice.

We spent hours and hours hiking. Once a week during the school year, twice a week during the summer. It was a 30 minute drive just to pick her up, then a 45 minute (or longer) drive to the mountains. We never ran out of things to say. We would explore the mountains, climb rocks (she loved doing that) and generally try for the best possible view. Even hiked in snow and fog and rain at times.

I remember asking her out. She had finally quit the grocery store and we had both been on edge for a couple of weeks with the tension between us. Both waiting for something more to happen. We ate at a restraunt then went on a walk. It was cold outside for an august night so we stayed close to each other for warmth but by the end of that walk she had said yes and I think we were both warmed by what we were feeling.

These are some of the things that I want to remember when I think of her. All the fun times, the times when we meant so much to each other. When hearing her voice was enough because it held so much warmth. Now there is only ice and it kills me. Now there is only heartache for me and I dont want to remember any of this! She took her heart from me a long time ago, but she still has mine. It hurts so fucking bad I cant breathe.

"Relinquishing hope for the future
I try not to hate it so
But you are a bridge to those memories
I try to forget, if you only knew

Is there somewhere
I could seperate this feeling from memory
disconnect myself from me?

Is there somewhere to occupy emotion?
A room to keep my rage away from you?
Just tell me when these hopeless days are over
I'll open my eyes and see my new day rise
I dont deserve this"

Disconnect, Sixpence None The Richer

I thought wrong

I thought I was over the worst of the pain. Looks like I was wrong. Damnit

Beavis & That Other Guy

Remember the Beavis & Butthead show? Who can forget it? Two dumb kids talking trash and doing dumb things. And there there is Butthead's laugh.

Well, it has recently come to my attention that I may have to watch out for similar behavior in my son. The other day while trying to clean his bottles he was becoming impatient and getting upset and loud. As I was still trying to finish up I thought I might distract him temporarily by snapping the towel. I figured the loud noise would cause him to pause. It didnt quite work out that way. Instead he laughed, and not just any laugh. A Butthead laugh. Yes, a Butthead laugh. And he does it every time I snap the towel.

I imagine him one day towel-snapping his brothers and sisters and laughing and saying "that was cool." I may have to post a video of that cuz it is just too cute!

I've Got a Brand New Girlfriend

This video is just too great.

Grandmothers story of Bunker Hill

Quite long, but a pretty good piece.

Grandmother's story of Bunker Hill
(As she saw it from the Belfry)
by Oliver Wendell Holmes

'Tis like stirring living embers when, at eighty, one remembers
All the achings and the quakings of "the times that tried men's souls";
When I talk of Whig and Tory, when I tell the Rebel story,
To you the words are ashes, but to me they're burning coals.

I had heard the muskets' rattle of the April running battle;
Lord Percy's hunted soldiers, I can see their red coats still;
But a deadly chill comes o'er me, as the day looms up before me,
When a thousand men lay bleeding on the slopes of Bunker's Hill.

'Twas a peaceful summer's morning, when the first thing gave us warning
Was the booming of the cannon from the river and the shore:
"Child," says grandma, "what's the matter, what is all this noise and clatter?
Have those scalping Indian devils come to murder us once more?"

Poor old soul! my sides were shaking in the midst of all my quaking
To hear her talk of Indians when the guns began to roar:
She had seen the burning village, and the slaughter and the pillage,
When the Mohawks killed her father, with their bullets through his door.

Then I said, "Now, dear old granny, don't you fret and worry any,
For I'll soon come back and tell you whether this is work or play;
There can't be mischief in it, so I won't be gone a minute"
For a minute then I started. I was gone the livelong day.

No time for bodice-lacing or for looking-glass grimacing;
Down my hair went as I hurried, tumbling half-way to my heels;
God forbid your ever knowing, when there's blood around her flowing,
How the lonely, helpless daughter of a quiet household feels!

In the street I heard a thumping; and I knew it was the stumping
Of the Corporal, our old neighbor, on that wooden leg he wore,
With a knot of women round him, it was lucky I had found him,
So I followed with the others, and the Corporal marched before.

They were making for the steeple, the old soldier and his people;
The pigeons circled round us as we climbed the creaking stair,
Just across the narrow river O, so close it made me shiver!
Stood a fortress on the hilltop that but yesterday was bare.

Not slow our eyes to find it; well we knew who stood behind it,
Though the earthwork hid them from us, and the stubborn walls were dumb:
Here were sister, wife, and mother, looking wild upon each other,
And their lips were white with terror as they said, "The Hour has Come!"

The morning slowly wasted, not a morsel had we tasted,
And our heads were almost splitting with the cannons' deafening thrill,
When a figure tall and stately round the rampart strode sedately;
It was Prescott, one since told me; he commanded on the hill.

Every woman's heart grew bigger when we saw his manly figure,
With the banyan buckled round it, standing up so straight and tall;
Like a gentleman of leisure who is strolling out for pleasure,
Through the storm of shells and cannon-shot he walked around the wall.

At eleven the streets were swarming, for the red-coats' ranks were forming;
At noon in marching order they were moving to the piers;
How the bayonets gleamed and glistened, as we looked far down and listened
To the trampling and the drum-beat of the belted grenadiers!

At length the men have started, with a cheer (it seemed faint-hearted),
In their scarlet regimentals, with their knapsacks on their backs,
And the reddening, rippling water, as after a sea-fight's slaughter,
Round the barges gliding onward blushed like blood along their tracks.

So they crossed to the other border, and again they formed in order;
And the boats came back for soldiers, came for soldiers, soldiers still:
The time seemed everlasting to us women faint and fasting,
At last they're moving, marching, marching proudly up the hill.

We can see the bright steel glancing all along the lines advancing
Now the front rank fires a volley—they have thrown away their shot;
Far behind the earthwork lying, all the balls above them flying,
Our people need not hurry; so they wait and answer not.

Then the Corporal, our old cripple (he would swear sometimes and tipple),
He had heard the bullets whistle (in the old French war) before,
Calls out in words of jeering, just as if they all were hearing,
And his wooden leg thumps fiercely on the dusty belfry floor:

"Oh! fire away, ye villains, and earn King George's shillin's,
But ye'll waste a ton of powder afore a 'rebel' falls;
You may bang the dirt and welcome, they're as safe as Dan'l Malcolm
Ten foot beneath the gravestone that you've splintered with your balls!"

In the hush of expectation, in the awe and trepidation
Of the dread approaching moment, we are well-nigh breathless all;
Though the rotten bars are failing on the rickety belfry railing,
We are crowding up against them like the waves against a wall.

Just a glimpse (the air is clearer), they are nearer, nearer, nearer,
When a flash a curling smoke-wreath then a crash the steeple shakes
The deadly truce is ended; the tempest's shroud is rended;
Like a morning mist it gathered, like a thunder-cloud it breaks!

O the sight our eyes discover as the blue-black smoke blows over!
The red-coats stretched in windrows as a mower rakes his hay;
Here a scarlet heap is lying, there a headlong crowd is flying
Like a billow that has broken and is shivered into spray.

Then we cried, "The troops are routed! they are beat it can't be doubted!
God be thanked, the fight is over!" Ah! the grim old soldier's smile!
"Tell us, tell us why you look so?" (we could hardly speak, we shook so),
"Are they beaten? Are they beaten? Are they beaten?" - "Wait a while."

O the trembling and the terror! for too soon we saw our error:
They are baffled, not defeated; we have driven them back in vain;
And the columns that were scattered, round the colors that were tattered,
Toward the sullen silent fortress turn their belted breasts again.

All at once, as we are gazing, lo the roofs of Charlestown blazing!
They have fired the harmless village; in an hour it will be down!
The Lord in heaven confound them, rain his fire and brimstone round them,
The robbing, murdering red-coats, that would burn a peaceful town!

They are marching, stern and solemn; we can see each massive column
As they near the naked earth-mound with the slanting walls so steep.
Have our soldiers got faint-hearted, and in noiseless haste departed?
Are they panic-struck and helpless? Are they palsied or asleep?

Now! the walls they're almost under! scarce a rod the foes asunder!
Not a firelock flashed against them! up the earthwork they will swarm!
But the words have scarce been spoken, when the ominous calm is broken,
And a bellowing crash has emptied all the vengeance of the storm!

So again, with murderous slaughter, pelted backward to the water,
Fly Pigot's running heroes and the frightened braves of Howe;
And we shout, "At last they're done for, it's their barges they have run for:
They are beaten, beaten, beaten; and the battle's over now!"

And we looked, poor timid creatures, on the rough old soldier's features,
Our lips afraid to question, but he knew what we would ask:
"Not sure," he said; "keep quiet, once more, I guess, they'll try it
Here's damnation to the cut-throats!" then he handed me his flask,

Saying, "Gal, you're looking shaky; have a drop of old Jamaiky:
I'm afraid there'll be more trouble afore this job is done;"
So I took one scorching swallow; dreadful faint I felt and hollow,
Standing there from early morning when the firing was begun.

All through those hours of trial I had watched a calm clock dial,
As the hands kept creeping, creeping, they were creeping round to four,
When the old man said, "They're forming with their bayonets fixed for storming:
It's the death grip that's a coming, they will try the works once more."

With brazen trumpets blaring, the flames behind them glaring,
The deadly wall before them, in close array they come;
Still onward, upward toiling, like a dragon's fold uncoiling
Like the rattlesnake's shrill warning the reverberating drum!

Over heaps all torn and gory shall I tell the fearful story,
How they surged above the breastwork, as a sea breaks over a deck;
How, driven, yet scarce defeated, our worn-out men retreated,
With their powder-horns all emptied, like the swimmers from a wreck?

It has all been told and painted; as for me, they say I fainted,
And the wooden-legged old Corporal stumped with me down the stair:
When I woke from dreams affrighted the evening lamps were lighted,
On the floor a youth was lying; his bleeding breast was bare.

And I heard through all the flurry, "Send for Warren! hurry! hurry!
Tell him here's a soldier bleeding, and he'll come and dress his wound!"
Ah, we knew not till the morrow told its tale of death and sorrow,
How the starlight found him stiffened on the dark and bloody ground.

Who the youth was, what his name was, where the place from which he came was,
Who had brought him from the battle, and had left him at our door,
He could not speak to tell us; but 'twas one of our brave fellows,
As the homespun plainly showed us which the dying soldier wore.

For they all thought he was dying, as they gathered 'round him crying,
And they said, "O, how they'll miss him!" and, "What will his mother do?"
Then, his eyelids just unclosing like a child's that has been dozing,
He faintly murmured, "Mother!" and I saw his eyes were blue.

"Why, grandma, how you're winking!" Ah, my child, it sets me thinking
Of a story not like this one. Well, he somehow lived along;
So we came to know each other, and I nursed him like a mother,
Till at last he stood before me, tall, and rosy-cheeked, and strong.

And we sometimes walked together in the pleasant summer weather;
"Please to tell us what his name was?" Just your own, my little dear,
There's his picture Copley painted: we became so well acquainted,
That in short, that's why I'm grandma, and you children all are here!

Job Search

I put out 3 applications today and picked up 5 or so more today. Also as I was talking with some old colleagues at the grocery store I used to work at (that was hard because of all the time that Beloved and I worked there together) a customer who happens to employee a LOT of drivers came thru. He didnt need any at the moment as he had just trained ten of his guys for a CDL but he did take my ph# and asked if it was okay if he gave it to other people. So that is a positive. I also dont believe that was a coincidence, for it is as the Jews say "Coincidence isnt a kosher word."

Anyways, three of the places are currently hiring, one wants a Class A CDL but it almost sounded like they might train for that, and one would be a fool to pass up free training. I did that once after I got my GED. I went back into the community college to get the test scores as that was the testing place, and the lady who gave me the scores informed me that I would have a full ride with them if I applied. Combine not knowing what you want to do, a very long drive, and 6 MPG in the beast you drive (very very fast car and I drove it fast which undoubtedly contributed to the piss-poor milage) stir, and you get a tremendously stupid decision to not take the free courses.

Life is full of stupid decisions tho. At a summer camp years ago some of the kids as us leaders if we regret things in our past and if we could go back and change things, would we? The answer we both gave was no, we wouldnt change things, but yes we regreted some things. But all those things, good and bad, have made us who we are today and it does no good to look back and long for things to be different. Those things are now only good as a guide on what to do or not to do.

Yes, I know it is rambling. Just be thankful it isnt another somebody-please-kill-me post. (o=

Trap-Jaw Ant

The fastest jaw in the world belongs to the trap-jaw ant, Odontomachus bauri. It is capable of closing its mandibles shut at between 78 mph and 145 mph. Not only is it fast, it is useful too! The ant is able to aim its mandibles at the ground and fling himself away from predators. It is able to go as much as 3.2 inches in the air and travel as far as 15.6 inches. Quite the distance when you are only 1/3 inch long.

What you dont know can kill you

I didnt know that there is a sorrow that makes depression seem like a rainy day.

I didnt know that there is pain that will leave you breathless for hours.

I didnt know that having your soul ripped out could hurt so bad.

I didnt know that you could cry so much it'd make you throw up.

I still dont know how to stop loving her.

Bleg

Would somebody please shoot me and put me out of my misery?
Two to the chest, one to the head. Large caliber only please.

My Apologies

Sorry about the lack of posting lately. I cant come up with anything to post. Nothing in my life I can really post here. I know what I need to do and just have to do it. Some things just need to fall into place. One of those things is a decent job.

I am currently a bus driver but I am hoping to get into a place where I can operate a dump. Good money in those once you become an owner/operator and thru the magic of Ebay I can find a decent one for next to nothing (as far as dump trucks go) For example, there was a 2001 Freightliner down the road going for 58,500, and on Ebay there is a 2001 Mack class 8 dump going for 27,100. Half price, same damn thing. I assumed the Freightliner was also a class 8, if not than it makes the Mack look even better. Also, this 1989 International has a buy it now of only 9,500. It is also a class 8. A loan on something like that would cost less than 400 a month with an income potential of over 6k a month. That is nothing to sneeze at.

One puzzle piece in front of me, just need to attain it. Others are in the works, the question is when...

Airline Passengers To Be Naked

News Item

Due to the rising risk of a terrorist strike against airlines, the Department of Homeland Security is now banning all luggage and clothing on the plane. "This is the only way to protect the rights and safety of American citizens" as they fly, said spokesperson Bea Yllin. Ms. Bea Yllin cautioned travelers to prepare themselves for the change and come to the terminal in the nude or to change in one of the restrooms and have a friend keep those clothes for them.

Whitehouse spokesman Tony Snow gave a stern warning to terrorist today at a hastily called press conference. "You cannot hide, we will find you. We will uncover your operations just as we have exposed this latest attempt."

Olympic National Park

I thought I would put up some pics of the Hoh Rain Forest on the Olympic penninsula. This is an area that I would like for my boy and I to be able to spend a lot of time in. Maybe we'll just have to move up there. Less and less seems to be holding me here...




This last one is so you can see just how big these trees are. One tree in particular has a diameter of just over 20 feet! (Not this one tho. This one is "only" 14 feet in diameter)


Believe it or not, UHaul has some great info on the Olympic National Park on their website.

Hollow

Hollow and empty.

And lonely.

4 and a half years of my life.

Gone.

Chasing Pebbles

Heidi's got a good post. Check it out...

I learned how I could control and hurt by what I offered and what I withheld. I demanded of him when his body made demands his morals couldn't condone. I found that shame hurts worse when it comes from love comprimised.

It has taken me a long time to understand being alone and powerful is merely an illusion. Then I didn't understand I had created my own solitary place. I can see now how isolation sucking at the fringes of my sanity drove me to seek comfort in dark and desperate places.

I remember a type of power to hurt and punish. Now I try to find the power in hope and love to heal.

Our lives can be lessons.

Or we can hide them away in dark closets. Collecting dust. Parasites feeding on the shame of our wretched behavior.

If we hide, we doom ourselves to repeat the same song over and over and over and over....

And we never grow up.

Blender Baby Food

Long before Little Bear came about, I happened across a book by Nicole Young titled "Blender Baby Food." This wonderful book has over 125 recipes for making food at home rather than buying the little jars from the stores.

I am happy to report that both peas and green beans are happily devoured by my little one. I am also quite happy about how much cheaper it is than buying the jars. We were in Target today and saw the regular jars on sale for $.89 and the organic at $1.49 a piece.

Now the wife and I made a decision a long time ago about trying to have him (and her while she was pregnant and breastfeeding) eat organic foods. So looking at the costs involved (not counting the blender which was a gift) 1.49 per jar x 2 times a day. $3.00 for one day (plus cereal and formula now) But for that same $3 I was able to buy frozen organic peas and those make enough for 8 or more meals. That is just $0.38 a meal. Today I made carrots. Spent a buck on organic carrots and that will be about 5 meals (assuming he eats them, which I dont doubt he will) So that is $0.20 per meal whereas that same $1 wouldnt even buy a single jar.

So not only do I get to save money I also get to know exactly what it is he is eating. No worries, no wondering. Just pure whole foods that I can tailor to his tastes. If you have a baby and you dont have this book, go check out the link at the top of this post.

A note about organic foods: Organic foods taste different! It seems obvious but often it isnt thought about. Dont believe me? Grab some Quaker Oats and some organic oatmeal and you will find the organic is sweeter. I have heard numerous times that organic milk tastes better but as I dont drink milk I will leave that up to y'all to test.

Ghost In This House

I don't pick up the mail
I don't pick up the phone
I don't answer the door
I'd just as soon be alone
I don't keep this place up
I just keep the lights down
I don't live in these rooms
I just rattle around

I'm just a ghost in this house
I'm just a shadow upon these walls
As quietly as a mouse I haunt these halls
I'm just a ghost in this house
I'm all that's left of two hearts on fire
That once burned out of control
It took my body and soul
I'm just a ghost in this house

I don't care if it rains
I don't care if it's clear
I don't mind stayin in
There's another ghost here
She sits down in your chair
And she shines with your light
And she lays down her head
On your pillow at night

I'm just a ghost in this house
I'm just a shell of the man I was
A living proof of the damage heartbreak does
I'm just a ghost in this house
I'm all that's left of two hearts on fire
That once burned out of control
It took my body, my soul
I'm just a ghost in this house

I'm just a ghost in this house

~~Shenandoah

F1 Boat Racing

I used to love watching these races as a kid. Part of the fun was seeing how incredibly fast they go (they barely touch the water at all) and of course the fantastic crashes! Of course, growing up in Washington near the Peugeot Sound certainly fed boyhood fantasties of participating in such races.

How True!

THE SKY IS FALLING!!!

This is it! The world is coming to an end! Bring your children inside and baricade the doors!

!!!THE APOCALYPSE IS NEAR!!!

Yes, it is true, G.W.Bush has finally vetoed a bill.
Surprising, but from initial reports GW has indeed used the veto. This is only an initial report at this time. There is yet the posibility that this impossibility hasnt actually happened and is a hoax.

Official Citation

You never know who notices your blog. It isnt even possible to cover a quarter of the possible search terms so there is simply no way to know. Well, while checking the sitemeter logs, I noticed that the Colorado State Parks Dept has a link to me on their page about Castlewood Canyon.

It isnt even much of a post by me honestly. But I remember that day. I remember the good looking girl hiking beside me. I remember how much fun we had bouldering and exploring the trail-less depths of that park. I wish I still had those pictures.

The Impending Death Of The SUV

This from the latest Mogambo Guru column:

- Larry Edelson of MoneyAndMarkets.com asks, "Where’s oil headed next?" ... "I think it’s going to at least $100 a barrel by the end of this year. And unleaded gas could hit $4.00 a gallon. In my view, the combination of strong economic growth around the globe plus the most recent plunge in the value of the U.S. dollar - virtually guarantees it. In 2007, I expect even more upside for oil and gas: $120 a barrel for crude (perhaps even higher), and $5 a gallon at the pump." And that sounds right to me, too. Maybe higher.

I know someone who works as a consultant to the Oil Industry (He does lots of traveling to really cool places) and he is convinced that we will be seeing $100 a barrel very soon. And he also believes it will stay above $100.

At the very least this will put a serious crimp in SUV sales. As reported in todays Colorado Springs Gazette, local sales of motorcycles are up 30% over the same period last year.

developing...

Star Trek Personality Quiz

Take the Star Trek Quiz
Captain Jean-Luc Picard

Always in control, you are a great leader, deligator, and diplomat. These qualities attract people to you, and this sometimes annoys you.

Aloof, introspective, and philosophical; you enjoy quiet time in solitude.

I dont understand...

Life.

Don't know that I ever will.

Wild Turkey

I've decided this is pretty decent stuff. But I am out and I am stuck at home. Anyone care to drop a bottle by?

Prayer

Hey guys

My little family could use an awful lot of prayer right now. We're having some real tough times right now.

Energy Conservation

If every home in the nation replaced just one light bulb with one of the high efficiency bulbs, it would save enough energy to light 7 million homes. The equivalent of taking one million cars off the road, pollution-wise. On top of that, you'll save $20-$60+ over the life of that energy efficient bulb.

Fund Raising

Well if that doesnt dovetail perfectly with what I wrote yesterday...

An Open Letter To The ACLJ

An open letter
To whom it may concern:

It seems that every letter I get from you is simply another letter asking for money. And if I dont give then the EVIL ACLU is going to destroy the nation.

But if I were to give, what do you offer? To fight a defensive war, where you are constantly losing ground. You lose ground because you fight a defensive war. You waste time on lawsuits that wont restore this nation to Christianity.

If you want to impact this country in a meaningful way, take a page from the Constitution Party's playbook.

"In addition, Article IV of the Constitution guarantees to each state a republican form of government. Therefore, although a Supreme Court opinion is binding on the parties to the controversy as to the particulars of the case, it is not a political rule for the nation. We affirm both the authority and duty of Congress to limit the appellate jurisdiction of the Supreme Court in all cases of abortion in accordance with the U.S. Constitution, Article III, Section 2."

Lobby Congress to remove this from the Supreme Court. This would immediately send the issue back to the Several States. No, abortion would not ever be banned in all the States, but it would be curtailed in many perhaps even outlawed in others.

Please go on the offense.

Sincerely,
(Emunda)

Funnies

Something a little different than my usual. An intentionally humorous post! Feel free to add your own in the comments.

It was a difficult subject to bring before his aged mother, but
Bert felt that he must: "Mom, you're no longer a spring chicken
and you do need to think ahead of what'll happen in the future.
Why don't we make arrangements about when...you
know...when...you pass on?"

The mother didn't say anything, just sat there staring ahead.

"I mean, Mom, like...how do you want to finally go? Do you want
to be buried? Cremated?"

There was yet another long pause. Then the mother looked up and
said, "Son, why don't you surprise me?"

-----

The teacher asked one of her young students if he knew his
numbers.

"Yes," he said. "I do. My father taught me."

"Good. What comes after three."

"Four," answers the boy.

"What comes after six?"

"Seven."

"Very good," says the teacher. "Your dad did a good job. What
comes after ten?"

"A jack," says the little boy.

-----

A teacher was giving a lesson on the circulation of the blood.
Trying to make the matter clearer, she said, "Now, class, if I
stood on my head, the blood, as you know, would run into it, and
I would turn red in the face."

"Yes," the class said.

"Then why is it that while I am standing upright in the ordinary
position the blood doesn't run into my feet?"

A little fellow shouted, "Cause your feet ain't empty."

-----

A man in a Florida supermarket tries to buy half a head of
lettuce. The very young produce assistant tells him that they
sell only whole heads of lettuce.

The man persists and asks to see the manager.

The boy says he will ask his manager about it.

Walking into the back room, the boy said to his manager, "Some
bozo wants to buy half a head of lettuce."

As he finished his sentence, he turned to find the man standing
right behind him, so he added, "And this gentleman has kindly
offered to buy the other half."

The manager approved the deal, and the man went on his way.

Later the manager said to the boy, "I was impressed with the way
you got yourself out of that situation earlier. We like people
who think on their feet here. Where are you from, son?"

"Canada, sir," the boy replied.

"Well, why did you leave Canada?" the manager asked.

The boy said, "Sir, there's nothing but prostitutes and hockey
players up there."

"Really?" said the manager. "My wife is from Canada."

"Wow!" replied the boy, "Who'd she play for?"

-----

My church welcomes all denominations,
but really prefers fifties and hunreds.

Sociopath

Found at Birdies blog (she is only 8%)

You Are 36% Sociopath

From time to time, you may be a bit troubled and a bit too charming for your own good. It's likely that you're not a sociopath... just quite smart and a bit out of the mainstream!

Are You A Sociopath?

Attitudes on Breast Feeding

This post intentionally moved back in time so that it could be archived off the main page

Many Outraged by Breast-Feeding Magazine Cover
By JOCELYN NOVECK, AP

AP NEW YORK (July 27) - "I was SHOCKED to see a giant breast on the cover of your magazine," one person wrote. "I immediately turned the magazine face down," wrote another. "Gross," said a third.

These readers weren't complaining about a sexually explicit cover, but rather one of a baby nursing, on a wholesome parenting magazine - yet another sign that Americans are squeamish over the sight of a nursing breast, even as breast-feeding itself gains more support from the government and medical community.

Babytalk is a free magazine whose readership is overwhelmingly mothers of babies. Yet in a poll of more than 4,000 readers, a quarter of responses to the cover were negative, calling the photo - a baby and part of a woman's breast, in profile - inappropriate.

One mother who didn't like the cover explains she was concerned about her 13-year-old son seeing it.

"I shredded it," said Gayle Ash, of Belton, Texas, in a telephone interview. "A breast is a breast - it's a sexual thing. He didn't need to see that."

It's the same reason that Ash, 41, who nursed all three of her children, is cautious about breast-feeding in public - a subject of enormous debate among women, which has even spawned a new term: "lactivists," meaning those who advocate for a woman's right to nurse wherever she needs to.

"I'm totally supportive of it - I just don't like the flashing," she says. "I don't want my son or husband to accidentally see a breast they didn't want to see."

Another mother, Kelly Wheatley, wrote Babytalk to applaud the cover, precisely because, she says, it helps educate people that breasts are more than sex objects. And yet Wheatley, 40, who's still nursing her 3-year-old daughter, rarely breast-feeds in public, partly because it's more comfortable in the car, and partly because her husband is uncomfortable with other men seeing her breast.

"Men are very visual," says Wheatley, 40, of Amarillo, Texas. "When they see a woman's breast, they see a breast - regardless of what it's being used for."

Babytalk editor Susan Kane says the mixed response to the cover clearly echoes the larger debate over breast-feeding in public. "There's a huge Puritanical streak in Americans," she says, "and there's a squeamishness about seeing a body part - even part of a body part."

"It's not like women are whipping them out with tassels on them!" she adds. "Mostly, they are trying to be discreet."

Kane says that since the August issue came out last week, the magazine has received more than 700 letters - more than for any article in years.

"Gross, I am sick of seeing a baby attached to a boob," wrote Lauren, a mother of a 4-month-old.

The evidence of public discomfort isn't just anecdotal. In a survey published in 2004 by the American Dietetic Association, less than half - 43 percent - of 3,719 respondents said women should have the right to breast-feed in public places.

The debate rages at a time when the celebrity-mom phenomenon has made breast-feeding perhaps more public than ever. Gwyneth Paltrow, Brooke Shields, Kate Hudson and Kate Beckinsale are only a few of the stars who've talked openly about their nursing experiences.

The celeb factor has even brought a measure of chic to that unsexiest of garments: the nursing bra. Gwen Stefani can be seen on babyrazzi.com - a site with a self-explanatory name - sporting a leopard-print version from lingerie line Agent Provocateur. And fellow moms recognized a white one under Angelina Jolie's tank top on the cover of People. (Katie Holmes, meanwhile, suffered a maternity wardrobe malfunction when cameras caught her, nursing bra open and peeking out of her shirt, while on the town with fiance Tom Cruise.)

More seriously, the social and medical debate has intensified. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recently concluded a two-year breast-feeding awareness campaign including a TV ad - criticized as over-the-top even by some breast-feeding advocates - in which NOT breast-feeding was equated with the recklessness of a pregnant woman riding a mechanical bull.

There have been other measures to promote breast-feeding: in December, for example, Massachusetts banned hospitals from giving new mothers gift bags with free infant formula, a practice opponents said swayed some women away from nursing.

Most states now have laws guaranteeing the right to breast-feed where one chooses, and when a store or restaurant employee denies a woman that right, it has often resulted in public protests known as "nurse-ins": at a Starbucks in Miami, at Victoria's Secret stores in Racine, Wis., and Boston, and, last year, outside ABC headquarters in New York, when Barbara Walters made comments on "The View" seen by some women to denigrate breast-feeding in public.

"It's a new age," says Melinda Johnson, a registered dietitian and spokesperson for ADA. "With the government really getting behind breast-feeding, it's been a jumping-off point for mothers to be politically active. Mommies are organizing. It's a new trend to be a mommy activist."

Ultimately, it seems to be a highly personal matter. Caly Wood says she's "all for breast-feeding in public." She recalls with a shudder the time she sat nursing in a restaurant booth, and another woman walked by, glanced over and said, "Ugh, gross."

"My kid needed to eat," says the 29-year-old from South Abingdon, Mass. And she wasn't going to go hide in a not-so-clean restroom: "I don't send people to the bathroom when THEY want to eat," she says.

But Rebekah Kreutz thinks differently. One of six women who author SisterhoodSix, a blog on mothering issues, Kreutz didn't nurse her two daughters in public, and doesn't really feel comfortable seeing others do it.

"I respect it and think women have the right," says Kreutz, 34, of Bozeman, Mont. "But personally, it makes me really uncomfortable."

"I just think it's one of those moments that should stay between a mother and her child."

07/27/06 18:23 EDT

Money

"Whoever said Money Can't Buy Happiness was probably right, but I'll bet he never had to cash in pop cans for gas money..."

I need it and am looking for a better way of getting it. At this point, just another job in addition to what I have would be great. In fact, needed. How to go about it is the question. It has to be close as I no longer have a car and cant do too many more miles a day on my bike than I already do. It also has to pay enough to cover a babysitter and still be worth it...

The Twinkie Cookbook

CHICAGO (AP) - Twinkies, they're not just for dessert anymore. The new "Twinkies Cookbook" has recipes for everything from a Twinkie Burrito to Twinkie Lasagna.

Theresa Cogswell compiled about 50 recipes for the book.

Many were submitted to Hostess, as part of Twinkies' 75th anniversary celebration last year.

Cogswell tells Illinois' Daily Southtown newspaper that one of her favorites is a berry-laden Patriotic Twinkie Pie.

It's red, white and blue.

Cogswell says it makes a great centerpiece for a Fourth of July picnic, which you can also eat for dessert.

Email Scams & Money Laundering

I finally got one of those emails that try to get your account info by giving some story about some person dying and leaving lots of money. The one where the banker is desperate to give away the money, some $25 Million in this one.

I am replying to him and going to see if I can mess with him. I'll give an update if there is anything to add.

Econ and Speedcams

Sifting thru DailyReckoning.com I came across a novel was of teaching Econ to younger students. In this case it was fifth graders.

The author, Arthur E. Foulkes, used novel approaches to teach these kids that Econ is all about human behaviors and actions. He demonstrates concepts such as trading, money, and savings in a memorable and easy to understand way.

Found a link to this website showing vandalised speedtraps in the comments over at Difsters blog. Apparently speeding cameras in the UK and Australia are meeting early and regular demises. Quite obviously the gov is making a killing off of them as they continue to repair or replace them.

I suppose these two subjects are connected altho I had no intention of connecting the two when I first posted this. Simply put, cameras such as these are a stealth revenue stream. Nothing more nothing less. It is no more about public safety than are cigarette taxes. Governments or businesses grow and reach a plateau and are unable to expand further unless another source of revenue is found. This often requires branching off into new enterprises. Governments seem to enjoy employing so-called "sin" taxes as they garner little to no sympathy from those whose "sin" isnt being taxed or the rate of that tax isnt being increased.

Is Something Missing?

Does anyone else notice what logically should be in there but isn't? Am I simply missing it? Is it elsewhere? If so, I cant seem to find it.

Lev 20:13 If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood [shall be] upon them.
Lev 20:14 And if a man take a wife and her mother, it [is] wickedness: they shall be burnt with fire, both he and they; that there be no wickedness among you.
Lev 20:15 And if a man lie with a beast, he shall surely be put to death: and ye shall slay the beast.
Lev 20:16 And if a woman approach unto any beast, and lie down thereto, thou shalt kill the woman, and the beast: they shall surely be put to death; their blood [shall be] upon them.
Lev 20:17 And if a man shall take his sister, his father's daughter, or his mother's daughter, and see her nakedness, and she see his nakedness; it [is] a wicked thing; and they shall be cut off in the sight of their people: he hath uncovered his sister's nakedness; he shall bear his iniquity.

Lev 18:22 Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it [is] abomination.
Lev 18:23 Neither shalt thou lie with any beast to defile thyself therewith: neither shall any woman stand before a beast to lie down thereto: it [is] confusion.
Lev 18:24 Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things: for in all these the nations are defiled which I cast out before you:

On The Nature Of Eve

I am reading through John Eldgrige's Wild At Heart. There are many things/questions/issues that it is bringing up in me and I may post on that in the future, but in the meantime I came across some interesting quotes in there.

From C.S. Lewis

"The beauty of the female is the root of joy to the female as well as to the male... to desire the enjoying of her own beauty is the obedience of Eve, and to both it is in the lover that the beloved tastes of her own delightfulness."

From Jan Meyers in her book The Allure Of Hope: (italics are Meyers, regular is Eldridge)

"When Eve was [decieved], the artistry of being a woman took a fateful dive into the barren places of control and loneliness." Now every daughter of Eve wants to "control her surrounding, her relationships, her G-d." No longer is she vulnerable; now she will be grasping. No longer does she want simply to share in the adventure; now, she wants to control it. And as for her beauty, she either hides it in fear and anger, or she uses it to secure her place in the world. "In our fear that no one will speak on our behalf or protect us or fight for us, we start to recreate both ourselves and our roles in the story. We manipulate our surroundings so we dont feel so defensless." Fallen eve either becomes rigid or clingy. Put simply, Eve is no longer simply inviting. She is either hiding in busyness or demanding that Adam come through for her; usually an odd combination of both.

Energy Savings

About this time every year it gets really really hot (I know, imagine that!) With the increased temps come greater cooling costs. With current political/eco policies it could be very advantageous to a company in a large building (think box stores and malls etc.) to install solar paneling across the entire roof. This could easily be accomplished in an aesthetic way as it is difficult to make a Walmart or you average mall uglier than it already is.

Advantages would be... Good P.R., Energy rebates, a "free" source of energy, and a shaded building would heat up less and would not need to be cooled as much.

Other energy saving devices are things such as skylights. New Wal-Marts already have them to reduce the daytime energy load. Dimming the lights, or perhaps removing one row of lights in those overhead flourescents can reduce costs. This was mandatory for businesses while I was in the Portland area in 2001 due to a drought. I never heard anyone complain about it and the measures did make a difference in overall usage.

Air conditioners and swamp coolers should be shaded if at all possible. Plants/trees work great for this. The cooler the unit is, the less it has to work. Trees can also be used to shade the house, but it takes a long time to grow them or lots of money for a large one to be moved to your house.

Keep curtains closed on the side of the house that the sun is shining on. This keeps the heat of the sun outside of the house. And of course, all the usual things apply. Clean your AC/furnace, seal doors and windows, replace lights and appliances with energy efficient ones.

Inflation

In the Colorado Springs Gazette there is an article on inflation in the Business section. It lists some rather scary numbers.

From the article... "All energy prices were up 2.4 percent in May and have risen at an annual rate of 30.8 percent through May, nearly the 17.1 percent rise for all of last year." It also lists an increase of .4% for May. That is an anual rate of 4.8%, but looking at it more realistically and using the more accurate (but no longer used) old CPI it would be approximately double that at 9.6%

That racket you are hearing is the Mogambo hauling his guns up the hillside. See you up there!

Lament

In my last post I said that blogging felt empty and hollow. It isnt blogging so much as me. I feel empty and hollow. Devoid of purpose. Devoid of a war to wage, battles to fight, frontiers to explore, pioneering to be done.

I admit that I still feel that boyish call to adventure, but all I seem to be able to feel or do is duty. It makes me unsatisfied with my life, with my job. Being yoked to the plow, and having to do it at a specific time every day kills me. There is no room for individuality or adventure in the modern world, the modern economy. There are no trades. No creating with ones hands. No danger beyond getting called into the bosses office. What is there to pit oneself against? To test oneself with?

When I was young I saw myself flying an F-15 of an A-10, today I'd still love to fly that A-10 or become a bush pilot. Bombers and (oddly) cargo planes appeal to me. I live directly underneath the airspace for a large airport and air force base. I am reminded of my desire every day. But the realities of life dont permit me to join them in the sky. I'm grounded, and there is no end in sight for that.

Who didnt want to be a cowboy? On one's own, wrestling against seasons and weather, living off the land. Or an astronaut. I just knew I would be the perfect astronaut. But not just for near-earth orbit. I'd be the one to explore the stars. See things no one had ever seen. Beauty untold and unimagined, except in my own head.

Last I was in Washington I lived off the mighty Columbia River. It is massive and moving. Jetskis, sailboards, sailboats, barges and even Navy vessels. Where I lived, PDX was right across the river and Patterson (IIRC) airfield was on my side. There was even a train right along the river on my side. Even something as silly as the houseboats (where the houses are on pontoons and the garage houses the family boat. And it is also the home of one of the oldest forts, an old trading outpost. And the Lewis and Clark trail, undoubtedly a boyhood dream, the adventure of seeing new lands far away from civilization. Talk about a little boy's dream! And yet all these things were always just out of reach for me.

Being wild. That is what it comes down to. I am duty bound. Sure it is largely self imposed as I have no doubt bought into the lie that a man must be tame and civilized to be a man. Even the church foists this lie upon us. But I am feeling trapped in duty now. Not to say that I want to shirk that duty because I most certainly don't. I love my wife and child in ways that I cant put into words and I want and need to provide for them however I can. But can duty live next to adventure? There must be a way to have both.

There must be a way to throw off the yokes of civilization (mine and societies) while doing those things I need to do. A way to find my heart again...

Apologia

Lately I havent had much time/interest/inspiration for blogging. This, despite the fact I sit in front of a computer for about 8 hours straight five days in a row. I'm bored with it. It feels like just another hollow, empty activity.

If you have withdrawals (and I am sure sooo many of my two readers will) there is always the archives. There is also the poetry (Manly poetry I, II, III, IV and the Heroic Female poem.

Spanish-American War Tax To End

Just how expensive was that war? Have we seriously been in debt for 108 years from that action? Or is it much more likely that the Gov is simply greedy and doesnt give up a stream of revenue no matter how little they have to stand on?

From the Denver Post.

Washington - The Treasury Department, conceding that it has no right to continue collecting a 108-year-old tax on long- distance telephone calls, announced Thursday that it will drop its legal battle for the tax and instead refund $13 billion to callers who have paid the tax in the past three years.

The 3 percent tax, enacted in 1898 to help pay for the Spanish-American War and revised in 1965, has been declared illegal by five federal courts of appeal during the past year as the result of challenges brought by companies forced to pay it.

Props to the Colorado Libertarian Party Blog for this.

And Everyone Laughs

at "slippery slope" arguments. But there is now a political party for Dutch pedophiles, called the Charity, Freedom, and Diversity (NVD) party. The NVD is looking to lower the age of consent to 12, with an eye towards eliminating it altogether, and legalizing child pornography and beastiality. To place this in perspective, the Dutch legalized gay marriage in 2001. Polygamous marriages are not allowed, but a 3-person civil union is.

May 30, 8:55 AM (ET)

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Dutch pedophiles are launching a political party to push for a cut in the legal age for sexual relations to 12 from 16 and the legalization of child pornography and sex with animals.

The Charity, Freedom and Diversity (NVD) party said on its Web site it would be officially registered Wednesday, proclaiming: "We are going to shake The Hague awake!"

The party said it wanted to cut the legal age for sexual relations to 12 and eventually scrap the limit altogether.

"A ban just makes children curious," Ad van den Berg, one of the party's founders, told the Algemeen Dagblad (AD) newspaper.

"We want to make pedophilia the subject of discussion," he said, adding that the subject had been a taboo since the 1996 Marc Dutroux child abuse scandal in neighboring Belgium. "We have been hushed up. The only way is through parliament."

The Netherlands already has liberal policies on soft drugs, prostitution, and gay marriage, but the NVD is unlikely to win much support, the AD quoted experts as saying.

"They make out as if they want more rights for children. But their position that children should be allowed sexual contact from age 12 is of course just in their own interest," anti-pedophile campaigner Ireen van Engelen told the daily.

The party said private possession of child pornography should be allowed although it favors banning the trade of such materials. The broadcast of pornography should be allowed on daytime television, with only violent pornography limited to the late evening, according to the party.

Toddlers should be given sex education and youths aged 16 and up should be allowed to appear in pornographic films and prostitute themselves. Sex with animals should be allowed although abuse of animals should remain illegal, the NVD said.

The party also said everybody should be allowed to go naked in public.

The party's program also includes ideas for other areas of public policy including legalizing all soft and hard drugs and free train travel for all.

America: From Freedom To Fascism

Here is the trailer for the upcoming movie. Release date is Jul 28th.

Why Am I Working?

Just what was I thinking? Here I am at work on a holiday. I should be at home with my Beloved! The extra pay will be nice and is needed and usually the work load is non-existant, but I still want to be home with her.

GRRR

Timeless Wisdom From Al

Put down your chainsaw and listen to me
It's time for us to join the fight
It's time to let your babies grow up to be cowboys
It's time to let the bedbugs bite

You better put all your eggs in one basket
You better count your chickens before they hatch
You better sell some wine before its time
You better find yourself an itch to scratch

You better squeeze all the Charmin you can while Mr. Wimpole's not around
Stick your head in the microwave and get yourself a tan

Talk with your mouth full
Bite the hand that feeds you
Bite on more than you chew
What can you do
Dare to be stupid

Take some wooden nickles
Look for Mr. Goodbar
Get your mojo working now
I'll show you how
You can dare to be stupid

You can turn the other cheek
You can just give up the ship
You can eat a bunch of sushi and forget to leave a tip

Dare to be stupid
Come on and dare to be stupid
It's so easy to do
Dare to be stupid
We're all waiting for you
Let's go

It's time to make a mountain out of a molehill
So can I have a volunteer
There's no more time for crying over spilled milk
Now it's time for crying in your beer

Settle down, raise a family, join the PTA
Buy some sensible shoes and a Chevyrolet
And party 'till you're broke and they drive you away
It's OK, you can dare to be stupid

It's like spitting on a fish
It's like barking up a tree
It's like I said you gotta buy one if you wanna get one free

Dare to be stupid (yes)
Why don't you dare to be stupid
It's so easy to do
Dare to be stupid
We're all waiting for you
Dare to be stupid

Burn your candle at both ends
Look a gift horse in the mouth
Mashed potatoes can be your friends

You can be a coffee achiever
You can sit around the house and watch Leave It To Beaver
The future's up to you
So what you gonna do
(Dare to be stupid)
(Dare to be stupid)
What did I say
(Dare to be stupid)
Tell me, what did I say
(Dare to be stupid)
It's alright
(Dare to be stupid)
We can be stupid all night
(Dare to be stupid)
Come on, join the crowd
(Dare to be stupid)
Shout it out loud
(Dare to be stupid)
I can't hear you
(Dare to be stupid)
OK, I can hear you now
(Dare to be stupid)
Let's go, Dare to be stupid
Dare to be stupid

And that, boys and girls, was Timesless Wisdom from Al. Tune in next time for more timeless wisdom!

Interesting Feminist Quotes

"I feel that 'man-hating' is an honorable and viable political act, that the oppressed have a right to class-hatred against the class that is oppressing them." -- Robin Morgan, Ms. Magazine Editor.

"To call a man an animal is to flatter him; he's a machine, a walking dildo." -- Valerie Solanas

"I want to see a man beaten to a bloody pulp with a high-heel shoved in his mouth, like an apple in the mouth of a pig." -- Andrea Dworkin

"When a woman reaches orgasm with a man she is only collaborating with the patriarchal system, eroticizing her own oppression." -- Sheila Jeffrys

"All sex, even consensual sex between a married couple, is an act of violence perpetrated against a woman." -- Catherine MacKinnon

"The more famous and powerful I get the more power I have to hurt men." -- Sharon Stone

"The proportion of men must be reduced to and maintained at approximately 10% of the human race." -- Sally Miller Gearhart

"If life is to survive on this planet, there must be a decontamination of the Earth. I think this will be accompanied by an evolutionary process that will result in a drastic reduction of the population of males." -- Mary Daly, former Professor at Boston College, 2001.

"Men who are unjustly accused of rape can sometimes gain from the experience." - Catherine Comins

"All men are rapists and that's all they are" -- Marilyn French

"Probably the only place where a man can feel really secure is in a maximum security prison, except for the imminent threat of release." -- Germaine Greer

"Men's sexuality is mean and violent, and men so powerful that they can 'reach WITHIN women to fuck/construct us from the inside out.' Satan-like, men possess women, making their wicked fantasies and desires women's own. A woman who has sex with a man, therefore, does so against her will, 'even if she does not feel forced." -- Judith Levine

"All men are good for is fucking, and running over with a truck". Statement made by A University of Maine Feminist Administrator, quoted by Richard Dinsmore, who brought a successful civil suit against the University in the amount of $600,000. Richard had protested the quote; was dismissed thereafter on the grounds of harassment; and responded by bringing suit against the University. 1995 settlement.

"Women have their faults / men have only two: / everything they say / everything they do." -- Popular Feminist Graffiti

"I've reached the point where I'm no longer afraid of or irritated with men who are proud of their masculinity." -- Trille Nielsen

“Men are from another planet, sent here by spaceships to copulate with female earthlings and propagate the species—a task for which science has rendered them all but redundant. We need keep only a handful of donors on a sperm farm for that purpose, where they can subsist on pizza and beer” -- Columnist Rosie DiManno

“Only when manhood is dead--and it will perish when ravaged femininity no longer sustains it” -- Andrea Dworkin

"Perhaps the most compelling question these texts raise and leave unanswered is whether male violence can be eliminated without eliminating men..." -- Susan Stone-Blackburn

“We must startle them (flush them out) again and again and destroy them as a power, until even their last voice falls silent... when we have destroyed the cell of family, the heterosexual norm ... as our contribution to world events (world history)” -- Françoise d'Eaubonne

"I do want to be able to explain to a 9-year-old boy in terms he will understand why I think it's OK for girls to wear shirts that revel in their superiority over boys." -- Treena Shapiro

"In general, I support a girl's right to offend any member of the opposite sex who happens to cross her path. In fact, I'd much rather see a little girl wearing a shirt that mocks boys than one that turns them on." -- Treena Shapiro

What Famous Leader Are You?

I dont think I am going to say thanks to the Pebblechaser for this...

What Famous Leader Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

Perhaps this will teach me not to take the short test!

Bear Eats Monkey

And a good time is had by all...

Actually, the visitors to the Dutch zoo, where the merciless devouring of an innocent monkey occured, were reportedly "horrified." But then, isnt part of the fun of going to a zoo seeing the animals act like animals? Guess not.

No word yet on if the monkey was a registered Republican. If he was we may well be invading Amsterdam soon.

Thanks to CrazyJo for the story.

Update: Bausch & Lomb ReNu MoistureLoc Contact Solution

From the AP we learn that Bausch & Lomb is permanently pulling their ReNu MoistureLoc which has been implicated in the fungal infections. No wrongdoing has been found on the part of the company. At this time it seems that the use of the product with it's "unique disinfecting and moisturizing agents" could have simply allowed the fungus to grow.

Bausch & Lomb Pulls Contact-Lens Solution
Product Linked to Fungal(sic) That Causes Blindness
By BEN DOBBIN
AP
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (May 15) - Bausch & Lomb Inc. said Monday it has permanently removed from markets worldwide a contact-lens solution that has been linked by health authorities to an outbreak of rare fungal infections that can cause blindness.

"Bausch & Lomb's top priority is the safety of our customers, and we want them to have complete confidence in our products," said the eye-care product maker's chief executive, Ronald Zarrella.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday that the number of confirmed cases of Fusarium keratitis in the United States has climbed to 122, most of them contact-lens wearers who reported using Bausch & Lomb's newest cleaner, ReNu with MoistureLoc MultiPurpose Solution.

The company halted U.S. sales of MoistureLoc on April 13 after the CDC said it was investigating an unusual spike in infections in Americans using the product. The outbreak first surfaced in the Far East in the fall and infections have showed up most recently among contact-lens wearers in Europe.

The fungus is commonly found in plant material and soil in tropical and subtropical areas. Without eye-drop treatment, which can last two to three months, the infection can scar the cornea and blind its victims. At least eight U.S. patients have required cornea transplants.

Extensive federal inspections of its factory in Greenville, S.C., where MoistureLoc was made for U.S. and several Asian markets, have not turned up evidence of "contamination, tampering, counterfeiting or sterility failure," Zarrella said in a statement.

"That leads us to conclude that some aspect of the MoistureLoc formula may be increasing the relative risk of Fusarium infection in unusual circumstances," he said. "We are continuing to investigate this link, but in the meantime, we're taking the most responsible action in the interests of our customers by discontinuing the MoistureLoc formula.

"We are taking this action even in countries where we have seen no unusual trends in Fusarium infections, for example in China and the markets in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa," he added.

The recall is limited to MoistureLoc and does not involve other solutions in its ReNu line, including the older and more widely used MultiPlus brand _ which some victims reported using.

Of the more than 30 million Americans who wear contact lenses, about 2.3 million use MoistureLoc, which was introduced in late 2004 and accounted for $100 million in global sales last year. Another 11 million people use the MultiPlus solution.

While the CDC reiterated that the origin remains a mystery, some eye specialists theorized that MoistureLoc's unique disinfecting and moisturizing agents could have played a role in the outbreak.

AP Business Writer Wallace Witkowski in New York contributed to this report.

Why?

"Why" is the question. I dont have the answer.