geosciblog - plus

More Unvarnished, Un-PC Truth

2012-01-09T09:17:00.000-05:00

Pat Condell is never one to mince words.

Dancing Around the Truth in the UK

2012-01-09T09:09:00.000-05:00

Young and not-so-young, feral Muslim men are drugging and raping young British girls at an alarming rate. Yet the Brits insist on PC terms "Asian" or "Pakistani" to describe the attackers. Of course the Muslim spokesman wasn't going to say the entire truth. The entire truth is that "devout" Muslim men are taught to NOT respect non-Muslim women.

If the UN gets its way, this will be considered "hate speech". In that world, truth is no defense.

Things You Can't Say to Your Girlfriend

2012-01-06T08:07:00.000-05:00

From Viral Footage:

Good Advice

2012-01-06T07:48:00.000-05:00

From Viral Footage:

Not Ready for Facebook - Part 1

2012-01-06T07:36:00.001-05:00

From Viral Footage:

In the name of diplomacy and decorum, I am abstaining from posting this on Facebook - at least for now. Because the truth of what is truly sustainable and biologically correct makes some folks uncomfortable.

Why Rick Santorum is right about "gay marriage". There are two genders for a reason, each one brings different "skills" to the table of rearing the next generation.

Consenting adults can do what they want, in the privacy of their homes and live with whom they choose. Just don't call it marriage. [At one time, Elton John voiced this opinion. Don't know if he has been hounded into silence or not.]

Electromagnetic Pulse - National Geographic Video

2012-01-01T12:09:00.000-05:00

More comments and thoughts later.

192,000 Books and Manuscripts Reduced to Ashes...

2011-12-29T23:14:00.000-05:00

by Islamist mobs in Egypt.

Kind of follows the actions of their WWII allies, Nazi Germany. From the article "Burning books in Cairo", by Ryan Jones, Israel Today Magazine, 27 December 2011:

"On December 17, an Egyptian mob - presumably of the type that has been voting for the Muslim Brotherhood and al-Nour - demonstrated that they have no intention of "modernizing" or adopting Western-style pragmatism when they torched the Institute of Egypt in Cairo.

Among the casualties of the Islamist assault were some 192,000 rare books and manuscripts.

The Institute of Egypt was established by Napoleon Bonaparte when he invaded Egypt in the late 18th century. For centuries the Institute of Egypt housed priceless chronicles of the nation's history, as well as the findings of hundreds of top scholars and scientists.

The Institute of Egypt symbolized Egypt's connection to the West, and for many its establishment was the start of the "modern era" in Egypt. And that is why it had to go. Because Egypt's Islamists have no intention of modernizing, not on Western terms, at any rate. Like the Ayatollahs in Iran and Hamas in Gaza, their ultimate goal is to return Egypt to a medieval form of life where a strict interpretation of Sharia Law governs the actions of all."

Nature abhors a vaccuum. Hosni Mubarak was certainly a problematic ruler (polite term), but there was some measure of secularism present in Egypt. I wonder if the libs that championed the "Arab Spring" in Egypt are at least uncomfortable with these events.

Revisiting the Depression of William Styron

2011-12-29T22:58:00.001-05:00

I just started reading Alexandra Styron's book "Reading My Father", a memoir of her experiences growing up and dealing with her father's unipolar depression.

Here is the text of the above-linked post of September 4, 2007:

"William Styron's "Darkness Visible" is short enough (84 pages) to read in one day/night period, but because of the importance of the material, you might want to spend a little more time on the subject.

William Styron is best known for "The Confessions of Nat Turner", "Lie Down in Darkness", "Sophie's Choice" and other works of literature. "Darkness Visible: A Memoir of Madness", 1992, Vintage Books div. of Random House, ISBN 0-679-73639-5, details Styron's rapid descent into severe clinical depression, after reaching the age of 60, and his subsequent treatment and recovery.

Styron attributes some aspects of the depression to genetics, as his father suffered the same affliction. After-the-fact, he became aware of some his central characters (in his books) suffering depression, perhaps a sign that it was "just under the surface of his psyche" (my paraphrasing). Three of his central characters committed suicide.

As with numerous other writers, Styron had a relationship with "the bottle", not writing while he was drinking, but using his episodes to "travel throughout his imagination" (my paraphrasing). Oddly enough, it seemed that it wasn't his "hitting bottom" after he turned 60 that caused him to suddenly stop drinking, he seemed to "lose interest", perhaps his body somehow rebelled against it.

Styron attributed the rapid cessation of drinking as the "trigger event" that started his rapid downward spiral. Being part of the "writing community", Styron was well-aware of the legion of writers that had preceeded him in severe depression, some of which ended in suicide. He almost reached that point, but "was pulled back" at the last instant. Somehow it seemed that depression in some fashion contributes to a measure of creativity, perhaps once one is subconciously (or conciously) aware of the territory, they can see possible depression in others. They can perhaps empathize with "broken people" more easily than those that travel through life unaware of what it is like "on the inside".

The unipolar depression suffered by Styron is different from the up-and-down of manic (bipolar) depression. Unipolar depression - attributed to imbalances of norepinephrine, serotonin, and cortisol - is not always constant. Styron's seemed to "hit" him more in the afternoon and evening.

There may be more than one "triggering event" that precipitates (or exaggerates) changes in brain chemistry. In the case of Abraham Lincoln, it was the death of his mother, Nancy Hanks, when he was nine, then the death of his sister when he was 19. For Styron, he believed that one of his early triggering events was the death of his mother when he was 13. For Ernest Hemingway, perhaps it was the suicide of his father.

Styron describes the descent of most people (including himself) with depression in this way (p. 47):

"But with their minds turned agonizingly inward, people with depression are usually dangerous only to themselves. The madness of depression is, generally speaking, the antithesis of violence. It is a storm indeed, but a storm of murk. Soon evident are the slowed-down responses, near paralysis, psychic energy throttled back close to zero. Ultimately the body is affected and feels sapped, drained."

People with depression generally blame themselves, thus they are probably not planning on "going postal". Those people that do "go postal" are people that blame others for their problems.

The self-doubts and frustrations of a creative person - at not being able to reach their capabilities (because of depression) - may have been reflected in the doubts of Mother Teresa (addressed in the previous post)."

[I wrote the immediately-linked post because I was pissed off at Christopher Hitchens' opinions regarding Mother Teresa.]

When Brewers are Useful Idiots

2011-12-24T10:19:00.003-05:00

I look forward to trying these new beers and having the cans on my shelves, but...

They just "so don't get it".

This is one of the new cans planned for Revolution Brewing Co., from Chicago (big surprise!).

It is even present in the logo of the Craft Cans website.

It is the "clenched fist" motif, a common icon of Socialism. It is beyond sad that a small business (Revolution Brewing Co.) and an avid advocate of small businesses (Craft Cans) would celebrate a philosophy that regards small businesses and the self-employed in low regard (a polite term).

If the Socialist Left (and their cronies - Big Labor Unions and Big Businesses) had their way, for the sake of control there wouldn't be any start-up businesses, at least none would be allowed to grow beyond a certain size. It IS about control and power. Small businesses - started by free-minded capitalists - are not going to be a source of money and power (and warm bodies for desired tasks) for the Big Unions.

The craft beer revolution, which began a little over 30 years ago with New Albion Brewing Co., in Sonoma, CA, is the epitome of the free-market system and Chicago has a rich brewing history. But Chicago also has a "rich" history of Socialism and political corruption. It is a shame to see small brewers drinking from this well, a well which regards them as little more than an annoyance.

Thursday Videos - An American History Lesson

2011-12-22T21:02:00.002-05:00

Thursday Videos - More Food for Thought

2011-12-22T19:34:00.000-05:00

When I was a Classical Liberal, I hated tyranny - Right Wing or Left Wing, it didn't matter. Still hate tyranny, but have come to understand that - worldwide - most political hate and violence is Left Wing. I know Liberals will not admit this, it really bugs me that the people that used to be skeptical of government under a Republican President embraces government now. They don't have a clue that some things just don't change, just because a different party occupies the White House.

We are never going to lose our freedom to a Christian theocracy, it will Socialism.

Thursday Videos - Food for Thought

2011-12-22T19:19:00.001-05:00

Thursday Videos - CNN Report on Militias

2011-12-22T19:13:00.002-05:00

Just a reminder that militias are part of our "checks and balances".

Thursday Videos - What is "the Militia"?

2011-12-22T19:03:00.001-05:00

This is probably beyond the understanding of most Liberals.

And why might we need the Militia?

Goals for 2012

2011-12-22T01:12:00.001-05:00

In no particular order, just as they come to me:

1) Resume efforts to obtain work doing real estate title research, preferably for Phase I Environmental Assessments.

2) Be more proactive in asking for contributions of nature photos for Nature Photo CD Project.

3) Consult with someone on what is needed to bring this Photo CD to market, hopefully in time for the "10th Anniversary" - mid-March or so.

4) Finish left clearlite, next to the front door.

5) Do some more gold panning in Cobb County and here, too.

6) Inquire about other places to pan gold, hopefully either in the Helen, GA area or Coker Creek, TN.

7) Finish cleaning basement and reorganizing beer can collection with the goal of showing it off one more time prior to selling/recycling most of it, in order to simplify my life, as it may be necessary to sell this place and move to a smaller home.

2011 Resolutions...A Look Back

2011-12-22T00:49:00.002-05:00

A mixed bag as most of life is...the resolutions are as they were originally worded. "Results" are in boldface.

1) To blog more, posting political stuff here, so my Liberal cousins' ears won't bleed on Facebook. Or maybe not.

Didn't post as much as I should have, but I did post something every month. Lately it has been mostly videos as because of the year's tumult, I haven't been able to sit down and collect enough cogent thoughts to write as much as I would like. I have been less political on Facebook, perhaps just trying to be more subtle in my comments to Conservative friends' posts, while trying to ignore the Libs.

2) To have McDonald's sweet tea only twice a week, unless I have to drive long distances. At home I always have unsweetened tea, as I don't want to know how much sugar is in sweet tea.

Well, totally failed at this one.

3) To get back into doing stained glass, which I haven't done in 25 or so years.

Got one of the clearlites done and got started on the left one. When I get more of the basement cleaned, will get back to that.

4) To lose weight...Honestly.

According to the electronic bathroom scales, I am down by 18 lbs. for the year. Don't much feel like it, but that is what the gizmo says.

5) To host more social events at my home, beer tastings, parties, etc..

OK, failed at this one, too. But with the completion of some indoor painting projects and a desire to show off my beer can collection, I plan to have something happen soon.

6) To photograph more wildflowers.

Did some of this, but I didn't get to any of the botanical gardens before the summer drought took hold.

7) To pray more, for myself and for those Liberal cousins that haven't changed their views in 40 years.

Done some of this, but as usual, not enough.

8) To have Mexican food or hot wings only once a week. This will be tough.

Losing my full-time job helped with this endeavor.

9) To get my life more organized. Being disorganized costs $$$$$.

Making some progress late in the year.

10) To have the confidence to dive into those needed home projects and the persistence to get them finished. I have the skills, but sometimes lack the confidence. Well, not for anything electrical, but for glasswork, light plumbing, woodwork,...

Well, got to retry this one.

11) To have zero french fries or Krispy Kreme doughnuts for January and only once per month afterward.

I did pretty well with this one for at least the first 3 months. Less so after that.

12) Get my basement cleaned out, move the air hockey table either to the basement or to the extra bedroom.

Made some progress with son in-law's help.

13) Find a home for one of our 3 cats. I like cats, but we don't need 3 of them.

Found a place for two of them. Kind of want to get rid of the third one.

14) To cook at home more. As I am not teaching this next semester, I won't be using several hours a week to drive to and from the campus.

Mainly did this with chili.

15) To take some free training courses offered by the college.

Oh well, will try again.

16) To do something with the 1978 Ford F-100 truck sitting in my driveway. Sell it, fix it, whatever...

Sold it.

17) To have a yard sale, or at least put some stuff out at the street labeled "Free" for folks to haul away. And to call the Kidney Fund to come pick up the unsold yard sale stuff, so I don't have to cart it back to the garage/basement. Not selling much stuff is not the worst part of a slow yard sale. It is having to haul the junk back inside afterward.

Tried a yard sale, sold only some small marble table tops. Gave away other stuff to thrift stores and such.

18) Blog more on my other blogs, too.

Did so on my science blog, not so much on my beer can blog.

19) Donate more to our church.

Job loss didn't help this at all.

20) Fix the leaky shower valves in our back bathroom and reconnect the pipes (the disconnection was an emergency move).

Not yet.

21) Paint the main bathroom. Get rid of the larger mirror, replace with a smaller mirror.

Got the mirror, haven't gotten the spirit to paint, yet.

22) Improve my Beer Karma on Beer Advocate, currently it is 165.6. Will explain that another time.

Did improve it a bit, currently it is 191.3. It may have been a bit higher, but I haven't been as active on the website lately. Haven't had the time or money to visit and review more brewpubs, etc..

23) Get the wireless router working, however necessary.

Finally got this working when we got the AT&T U-Verse.

24) Participate in at least one Tea Party event.

Didn't do this one, either.

25) Read "Atlas Shrugged". I got a head start by reading the Cliff Notes version. Yeah, it is cheating of a sort, but I will understand the characters, etc., when I dive into this daunting book.

I read the book and saw the movie.

26) Try to read two books per month, at least.

Did this the first few months. Drifted away from this goal.

27) Check out the local pawn shop for a used chainsaw.

Loss of job precluded this.

28) Clear front yard of all fallen oak leaves by the end of January.

Took a bit longer, but got it done. With the passage of Fall, back in the same place.

29) Repaint shutters when the weather warms.

Will try again in 2012.

30) Expand xeriscaping in front yard. Repair rock walls.

Did some of it.

31) Do some backyard landscaping. Clean up wildflower garden to prepare for spring.

Did some of it. Damn deer raided the garden and damaged part of the wall.

A Somewhat Accurate, Somewhat Whimsical Look at Geologists...

2011-12-17T10:11:00.000-05:00

is presented in this Uncyclopedia post.

I do wish they had not revealed all of our secrets, though. A little mystery is usually a good thing. I may post more in detail over at my science (non-political) blog.

Christopher Hitchens passes...

2011-12-17T10:07:00.000-05:00

I suppose by now, he has discovered whether he was right about that "God thing".

That is all I have to say, at this point.

Have You Heard of the Jaffe Memo?

2011-12-14T10:24:00.000-05:00

From this LifeNews column:

It's been around for 40+ years. It was produced by Planned Parenthood VP - World Population Frederick S. Jaffe, at the request of the U.S. Government to address the issue of "Overpopulation". [Quotation marks were used as this issue is a matter of interpretation regarding the Progressive agenda and what they intend(ed).

Posted in a Landscape View on the 1-page pdf document, here are the proposals:

Social Constraints

Restructure family:
a) Postpone or avoid marriage
b) Alter image of ideal family size
Compulsory education of children
Encourage homosexuality
Educate for family limitation
Fertility control agents in water supply
Encourage women to work

Economic Deterrents

Modify tax policies:
a) Substantial marriage tax
b) Child tax
c) Tax married more than single
d) Remove parents tax exemption
e) Additional taxes on parents with more than 1 or 2 children in school
Reduce/eliminate paid maternity leave or benefits
Reduce/eliminate children's or family allowances
Bonuses for delayed marriage and greater child spacing
Pensions for women of 45 with less than N children
Eliminate Welfare payments after first 2 children
Chronic depression
Require women to work and provide few child care facilities
Limit/eliminate public-financing medical care, scholarships, housing, loans and subsidies to families with more than N children.

Social Controls

Compulsory abortion of out-of-wedlock pregnancies
Compulsory sterilization of all who have two children except for a few who would be allowed three
Confine childbearing to only a limited number of adults
Stock certificate type permits for children
Housing policies:
a) Discouragement of private home ownership
b) Stop awarding public housing based on family size

Other (not defined by a heading on the memo)

Payments to encourage sterilization
Payments to encourage contraception
Payments to encourage abortion
Abortion and sterilization on demand
Allow certain contraceptives to be distributred non-medically
Improve contraceptive technology
Make contraception truly available and accessible to all
Improve maternal health care, with family planning a core element

Sounds a bit like tyranny. There are a few of these that are favored by Conservatives/Libertarians - BUT FOR DIFFERENT REASONS.

Will list these later...

When "Morning Joe" Actually Got it Right...

2011-12-12T11:10:00.002-05:00

I don't waste my time watching MSNBC, thus I have to rely on various other outlets to pass along the tripe that is usually spewed on that waste of TV time.

Joe Scarborough is touted as a "conservative" - I gather that he used to be a Republican representative and once in a blue moon, he stumbles into a conservative concept.

The NewsBusters headline sums up one of those rare events -

Morning Joe: Obama Sees Our Democracy As 'Stumbling Block To His Greatness'"

This viewpoint (by Barack Obama) is not surprising, when you consider the totality of his upbringing and the viewpoints of his mother, his grandparents, his teachers and mentors. You can "make book" on the probability that he never heard about how special the United States is, how countless millions of legal immigrants were thankful to get here, despite hardships and flaws, and how rare our sort of freedom is in world history.

You may recall Obama's previous complaint about the Constitution being a list of "negative rights", telling the government what it can't do. Which is exactly what it is supposed to be. It has been said by many that a dictatorship is the most efficient form of government, you know, when ya don't have to deal with the pesky checks-and-balances. And many of the fellow travelers of the President see a Global Government as the most efficient way to get "things done". Let's hope that more sane people prevail for the sake of our childrens' future.

Olive Tree Agriculture Resurrected in Georgia

2011-12-12T07:10:00.000-05:00

It seems that Coastal Georgia was the site of olive production in the past, from this passage in the AJC article:

..."They were introduced by Spanish settlers who planted olive trees at missions established in southeast Georgia in the 1590s. British colonists led by Gen. James Edward Oglethorpe discovered the Spanish olive trees after their arrival in 1773. Plantations on St. Simons, Sapelo and Cumberland Islands grew olives for oil well into the 1800s until the Civil War, natural disasters and turnover in land ownership stamped out the crop."...

Very cool. It is neat to see old, colonial-age crops being restarted, as with Carolina Gold rice and American Classic tea - both from South Carolina.

I wish them well.

[Update: A political angle that I just can't resist. The email that notified me of this article was sent by a very Liberal cousin, one that agrees with her siblings (and some other relatives, unfortunately) with the notion of "the 1%" and how they don't pay their "fair share" of taxes. The article clearly states that the olive grove owner - Jason Shaw - was funded with $250,000 of his money and the money of relatives. Now, who other than the top 5% (or so) can afford to fund a start-up operation, such as this? This would not be possible in a socialist nation, where there is no "excess profit". But that point escapes Liberals and they would get pissed if I pointed this out.]

Random Videos - Runaway Slave

2011-12-11T11:30:00.000-05:00

When this video debuts on January 13, please implore conservatives to support the film by their attendance. First weekend numbers are important markers in the film industry.

And the recent past for conservative/libertarian-themed movies has been rather abysmal, with folks bitching about imperfections in the film, rather than just going, and getting something from the film, even if it ain't perfect. Documentaries are generally avoided by many folks anyway, but they are an important way of getting the message out, while swimming against the lefty tide in Hollywood.

Unintended Sabbatical in Progress...

2011-12-11T11:26:00.000-05:00

will resume writing on this blog when the spirit moves me - maybe with the help of some barley-generated ethanol research.

With too many of today's "news" stories requiring that one "wait for the other shoe (or shoes) to drop", by the time the truth emerges, it seems like "old news" to those that are paying attention.

In the meantime, time is also encumbered by job searching. And so it goes.

'Til then, enjoy the videos.

Random Saturday Videos

2011-12-03T09:14:00.000-05:00

Yeah, I know Chrissie Hynde (sp.?) is an idiot leftist, I still like this song. I found this link while surfing YouTube and I prefer looking at Diane Keaton vs. Chrissie Hynde, too.

And though I hate putting money into the pockets of idiot leftists, I will probably add this tune to my ipod.

Versus the "liberals" that have "unfriended" me on Facebook, I think this is fairly open-minded.

Thursday Videos - A Day Later...

2011-12-02T10:31:00.000-05:00

Telling the informed what they already know.

Thursday Videos - The Church of Oprah

2011-12-01T23:54:00.001-05:00

Decide for yourself.

Thursday Videos - Outbound Plane

2011-11-17T01:16:00.000-05:00

More Suzy Bogguss.

I may have posted this before, but who cares, I enjoy the song.

Thursday Videos - Shenandoah

2011-11-17T01:10:00.002-05:00

Thursday Videos - Red River Valley

2011-11-17T01:07:00.000-05:00

This suits my melancholy mood. Maybe it is because my family is going to Oklahoma City for Thanksgiving and I have to stay here, to work and take care of things.

I like the Suzy Bogguss version on iTunes, but haven't found a suitable video, yet.

It's Too Late to Apologize

2011-10-21T09:13:00.000-04:00

Posted before, just need to repost in order to re-energize, personally and politically.

Plan to repost on Facebook, also.

To Be Expounded Upon (and Expanded), Later...

2011-10-21T08:56:00.000-04:00

Just one of those thoughts that has to be captured at the moment, lest it slip away into the mental vapors of everyday stresses and chores.

"We have been on a drip-infusion of socialism for more than 100 years."

Thursday Videos - Mr. L's Tavern

2011-10-20T23:36:00.008-04:00

This is a very interesting take on the prospect of a third party for 2012, if certain things happen, i.e., if Herman Cain falters, if Newt can't quite get-it-in-gear, or if the Republican Party establishment forces Mitt Romney to be the opponent of Barack Obama.

It would be the equivalent of a "Hail Mary" pass with 5 seconds left in the football game. Sarah Palin is cited as perhaps the only person that could lead such a ticket. The Tea Party would have to be "all in" and to use the paraphrased words of Glenn Beck - we would have to grab the nearest person and bring them along.

I would hope that if such a thing were to transpire - not to denigrate Sarah - but maybe she would put Herman Cain at the top of the ticket, as he might (should) do better in face-to-face debates with Barack Obama. [Forgive awkward grammar, will give it a second look, later.]

[Will expound on the more, later.]

Forcing People into Cities...

2011-10-05T10:36:00.000-04:00

for the purpose of further controlling them and every aspect of their lives.

From Fr. Orthohippo is a copied post from:

"Personal Liberty Digest September 10, 2010 by Bob Livingston

A social engineering bill to restrict residence in the suburbs and rural areas and force Americans into city centers has passed the United States Senate Banking Committee and is on the fast track to passage in the Senate.

The bill is called the Livable Communities Act of 2009.

It was introduced by corruptocrat outgoing Senator Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.). It seeks to fulfill the United Nation’s plan Agenda 21, adopted at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 and signed onto by “New World Order” President George H.W. Bush."...

continuing:

..."The companion bill in the House is HR4690 Livable Communities Act of 2010.

This bill is designed to destroy your community. According to the non-profit American Policy Center the bill:

Is a blueprint for the transformation of our society into total Federal control.
Will enforce Federal Sustainable Development zoning and control of local communities.
Will create a massive new “development” bureaucracy.
Will drive up the cost of energy to heat and cool your home.
Will drive up the cost of gasoline as a way to get you out of your car.
Will force you to spend thousands of dollars on your home in order to comply.

A carrot and stick policy will be used to get your local government to sign on. The carrot is billions of dollars in grants available if your local government agrees to amend zoning laws that restrict housing in outlying areas, forcing people to give up their homes and land and move into the city center."

It's all about control. More...

..."The idea of these social engineering initiatives is to force people to live in a congested area in high rise buildings with housing on the upper floors and stores on the bottom. The whole area will be linked by mass transit creating the “utopian” communities loved by socialists.

The result will be higher costs for housing (because overcrowding will make housing space a premium) and goods and services (because of less choice and competition) and less freedom to move about (because cars won’t be necessary and parking space will be prohibitively expensive).

As we pointed out here President Barack Obama is — not surprisingly — an advocate of this type of nonsense. And his cabinet is populated by elitists who think they know better than you how you should live."...

There is some value in future planning, but with this group, it is an obsession and for the elites, it is about controlling the masses, while the elites continue to play as they wish. It won't happen all at once, just bits and pieces - advances and withdrawals (as people object), using different states as laboratories.

Whether you are in a "pack-em and stack-em" high rise apartment complex or a "Conservation Subdivision" - where you can spit and hit your neighbor's home - it is about control. In either situation, it is impossible for you to "scratch the ground" and start a garden to feed yourself and your family. In either case, by limiting parking spaces and concentrating people in small areas, they will offer the rationale of "public transportation".

Executive Order 13547 is just a part of it.

[Much more to say, stuff to do.]

Science, Lies, and Videotapes

2011-10-02T13:30:00.001-04:00

A slight variation on the title of an American Thinker post. It addresses some of what liberals think "they know" as to things within the realm of science and nature.

It is a potporri of urban legend, rumors, early conclusions from scientific studies, Luddite viewpoints, etc., and leftist agenda-driven "facts",... - with just enough truth thrown in as to make it believable - to some people.

As science is an ongoing endeavor, some of these concerns might turn out to be more true than we think, but it may take years-more of study before we reach firm conclusions and solid interpretations.

Often, early interpretations are jumped upon for use in a political agenda. It is usually leftist, but not always. Sometimes the conclusions may be correct (or semi-correct), but not for the reasons cited by the "early believers".

From the post:

..."Among the positions progressives have taken which are false and unsupported by science are the following examples I culled there from posts by Mike Hanson of Purdue University and Ken Green. Collectively these men observe these fallacies supported by those who call themselves progressives:

DDT causes cancer;
Alar causes cancer;
Polar bears are drowning as the icebergs melt;
Video displays or cell phones cause cancer;
There are grave risks to hydraulic fracturing;
Misuse of toxology -- hexavalent chromium contamination in Hinkley, California; amaranth, saccharin;
Nuclear winter;
Claims that there's a giant plastic cocoon in the middle of the ocean;
BPA and Phthalates are carcinogens and endocrine disruptors;
Claims that organic food is safer and healthier than conventionally grown foods;
Claims that eating locally grown foods is better for the environment than foods grown further away;
Cloth grocery bags are better for the environment than paper or plastic ones;
Claims of species' endangerment based on faked or flawed evidence;
Claims that climate models have predictive power and that individual weather events represent climate change;
Claims that frogs died because of climate change;
Claims that there were alligator penis malformations from endocrine disruptors;
Claims that bees were dying as a result of climate change;
Claims that butterflies were dying from Bt crops;
Unsubstantiated claims about low dose radiation hazards."

As an equal-opportunity skeptic, some of these concerns MIGHT be valid, but we are not at the point of investigation where we can justify harsh increases in government control. As with many things in the "open system" that nature is, there may be more than one thing that affects the system. A future post will list (and at least partially explain the 20+ inputs that may (or do) affect weather and climate.

It Finally Happened...

2011-10-02T10:23:00.000-04:00

I "Unfriended" someone on Facebook. I had prided myself on being open-minded enough to retain everybody, but I just couldn't take the idiocy of this person any longer.

Actually it was just as much "I don't even know this person" as it being the hard-core, unteachable Leftist viewpoints. I don't even know why she was on my Friend List. She is the college-aged daughter of an acquaintance in our church and I probably added her very early-on in my Facebook endeavors.

I am a bit more selective now. If I know that my posts are going to make someone's "ears bleed" (or theirs mine), I usually just avoid the addition of this person. If they make a specific request, then they are on their own.

I am generally more open-minded than the average modern "liberal" and I actively seek to remain that way. That is why I evolved towards my hybrid Libertarian/Conservative viewpoints, because I was open-minded enough to listen to dissenting viewpoints and change.

Now that I have crossed this "threshold", I may do more of this if they are in the "Why are you here? I don't even know you." category. Especially if they are particularly unteachable. With some of these folks, once in a while I may drive home a particular point of logic, thus there might be some hope - even if it is to cause them to become further disillusioned with their knee-jerk acceptance of liberal views and talking points.

The Tea Party - What it is and What it Ain't

2011-10-01T09:50:00.000-04:00

In response to idiot (and idiotic) comments on Facebook, I come here to vent.

The short of it, first. The Tea Party - a somewhat amorphous entity - IS NOT RACIST. The Leftists and their Useful Idiot liberal minions have adopted this meme as a way to shut down debate. [As any intelligent, thinking person knows, true Classical Liberals revere debate, but when a person has an undefensible point, they cannot tolerate even polite dissent.]

The Red State post - linked above - is based upon this Detroit News article.

One particular good point that the Detroit News article makes is that the Tea Party - demonized as extremists - have not resulted in any knowable losses of private-sector jobs vs. the economic grief caused by agenda-driven environmentalists. The Detroit News author Nolan Finley puts it this way, in reference to the hard-nosed demands of the Tea Party - for fiscal responsibility:

..."Are they single-minded in their mission? Sure. They don't compromise, and they don't forgive politicians who break their promises.

In that sense, they are most like the environmentalists who lead the Democratic Party around by its nose — but less destructive. Nobody has lost a job, at least not in the private sector, because of tea party activism.

Compare that to the pain wrought by the unyielding environmental movement, which has put light bulb makers out of work in Kentucky, coal miners out of work in West Virginia, oil riggers out of work in Alabama, and on and on."...

Tea Partiers don't go on anarchic rampages, smashing the windows of small businesses nor do they vandalize and burn cars. They don't physically attack people.

[More later,... the day awaits.]

Thursday Videos - Gold Prospecting...

2011-09-29T07:42:00.000-04:00

Any time there is a "jump up" in the price of gold, it rekindles an interest in mining wherever gold have been produced before, whether it be NW Arizona, California, western North Carolina, southeastern Tennessee, or north Georgia. The "employment situation" as it exists/as it has been engineered is also an incentive.

Another consideration is that gold panning can even be a source of relaxation. You can forget at least some of your problems when you are out in the woods, seated on an upside down 5-gallon bucket, looking for any appearance of "colors" in your gold pan.

When one introduces a "sluice box" into a running stream, using the force of water and the natural density of gold, you can magnify the quantity of sediment that you can "turn over" in a day. [Because of the issue of environmental disturbances to the biota of a stream, in some places sluicing is not legal. So consult the local laws and determine the status of the stream.

Without further delay, here are a couple of sluicing videos.

And this one is about how to build your own sluice box:

When this word "classifier" is used, that is to describe some sort of screen or sieve that is used to partially separate and remove the gravel from the stream sediments to be panned.

If you find the right place and "really hustle", you might be able to make a little cash from gold panning, but the best way to look at it is as a diversion, a way to have some relaxing time without expecting to "hit it big". I will try to post some more gold "panning" videos when time permits.

Postmodernism

2011-09-20T09:09:00.001-04:00

I have meant to write about this for a while. [If I did already, please forgive. This is not the early stages of Alzheimer's, at the moment, I am a bit sick. I just wanted to get this "down on paper" so to speak to refine later and to avoid the pitfalls of my usual procrastination.]

A dictionary definition of Postmodernism is here, while the above-linked American Thinker article is here.

Briefly, from the American Thinker article (both links are highly worthy of reading):

"For a normal, intelligent person to get his hands around academic postmodernism is a daunting challenge: the literature of the movement, particularly of its most ardent proponents, is definitely -- deliberately? -- unperspicuous. Nevertheless, some basic principles that anyone can understand and that point clearly to a political matrix can be extracted from this intellectual miasma:

1) Rejection of universal, objective truth and meaning.

2) Rejection of universal moral absolutes.

3) Rejection of rationality.

4) Rejection of language as a way to convey objective information from author to reader. Postmodernism informs us that the reader is now in charge of deciding what the text says.

5) Rejection of individualism. An individual's concept of truth and rules of morality are determined solely by the group to which he "belongs," from which there is no exit.

6) "Truth" and "morality" are "social constructs" that vary from one group to another.

7) One group's "truth" and "morality" are as worthy and valid as another's.

8) Historical prevailing truth and morality are merely the opinions of the group in power and are designed to serve their goal of oppressing the powerless, the victims.

9) Because "truth" and "morality" are relative and "reason" is a futile delusion, victim groups must resort to raw power and, if necessary, deceitfulness to throw off the oppressive shackles imposed by the powerful. Lies, propaganda and bullying, sometimes even physical violence, are necessary armaments in the arsenal of the oppressed.

[Plan to add more, later.]

Why Modern Liberals Ain't - Those Old, Tired Liberal Memes...

2011-09-20T08:57:00.000-04:00

are the source of another Facebook squabble. [Maybe not so much an open squabble, but perhaps some folks are "hiding" me, so as not to subject themselves to my Libertarian/Conservative viewpoints.]

Those memes are;

1) Conservatives/Republicans are anti-science because we oppose the Leftwing/government propogated AGW mindset and the proposed "solutions". [Some of these "solutions" are not wrong across-the-board, they should not be pursued simply because one has a phobia about carbon dioxide.];

2) Conservatives/Republicans are anti-intellectual, partially because of meme #1 and partially because our insistence on being logical clashes with the Postmodern mindset of the most radical liberals. This is not to say that the majority of garden-variety liberals are Postmodernists, but many admire "intellectuals" that are - sometimes just because they think they are supposed to. [Partially because they haven't yet found the courage to intensely examine their own philosophies and the reasons they hold the beliefs they hold.];

3) Conservatives/Republicans don't read books.

Maybe the reason that these memes "have legs" is because often Conservatives just blow off such allegations, instead of directly addressing them. Maybe we feel that they are not worth the trouble, but if we don't reply - firmly - some might take that as acceptance of the meme.

and, off on a slight tangent...

4) We are anti-teacher (and anti-education) just because we have a problem with the behavior of teachers' unions and the highly biased Liberal mindset of most college campuses. There are logical, Conservative arguments to be made in favor of unions, but many unions have lost sight of their original purpose - as part of our system of checks-and-balances. As for college academia, we have allowed Liberalism to seep into that realm, perhaps mistakenly thinking that they would actually be what they claim to be, i.e., open-minded and open to listening to other viewpoints.

[There is more to write, but I am a bit sick - nauseated for some unknown reason. May return later.]

Tuesday Videos - Rabidly Pro-Abortion

2011-09-13T08:04:00.000-04:00

I wish some of these people could fast-foward 20 years and watch themselves. I hope they would be horrified. But some of them won't.

At least at the very minimum of humanity, they could take the solumn attitude that "it had to be done", instead of openly bragging about it.

Changing peoples' attitudes is the best way to lessen the number of abortions. How do we get them past this selfish stage? They holler about freedom with nary a word about responsibility.

A 9/11 Remembrance...

2011-09-11T09:47:00.000-04:00

[Updated and slightly modified from 9/11/06, 9/11/07, 9/11/08, 9/11/09, and 9/11/10. I think that these links and blogs still work.]

Because Each One Had a Name - The 2,996 Project

Who was Robert A. Lawrence? He was a husband to Suzanne and a Dad to daughter Toland, then 11 and son Bobby, then 9. [They are now 20 and 18.]

He was one of the 2,996 victims of 9/11. Robert A. Lawrence was 41 at the time of his death on 9/11.

He was a Mortgage-backed Securities Specialist for the firm of Sandler O'Neill & Partners. Sandler O'Neill and Partners was on the 104th floor of 2 World Trade Center. Of the 180 employees, 66 were killed.

Robert, despite his dislike of heights, began his career with Sandler O'Neill & Partners on September 10, 2001. It was one of those sacrifices that parents make in order to put food on the family table.We know that Tower 2 was partially evacuated after Tower 1 was hit, but because too many people were in the "it was an accident" mindset, workers in Tower 2 were given the "all clear" to re-enter the building at 9:00 AM.

At 9:03 AM, United Flight 175 slammed into 2 WTC (the South Tower), immediately impacting floors 78 through 84 of the 110. The impact isolated those above the crash by blocking stairwells and elevator shafts, through damage, debris, and fire.

Besides being a Husband and Dad, he was a Son, a Brother, a Nephew, a Cousin, and no doubt a Friend to many. From the online tributes, we also know that he enjoyed sports with family members, he liked to play guitar to entertain his kids and other family members. He had a sense of humor and he liked to organize events and meetings.

He was just another American engaging in commerce, bringing together the combined talents of "Wall Street" and "Main Street", both vital parts of American commerce, which the MSM tries to separate. [We can make our after-the-collapse judgments of mortgage-backed securities in another venue.]

This is one particular timeline of 9/11, because some want us to forget. [Some are saying, in essence, that it is "no big deal".]

Another 2,996 Project tribute of Robert A. Lawrence is by Matt Rooney at The Republic Square.
[2008 Update: I hope I continue to do some justice in this brief tribute with this brief yearly tribute. We need to continue our private efforts as the MSM is clearly devoted to hiding images from our collective view. Also remember how Keith Olbermann "had a cow" over the 9/11 tribute at the Republican National Convention. That sanctimonious bastard got torqued over the Republican Party's "exploitation" of 9/11, when most adults-in-the-room know that it is about reminding ourselves of why we continue to prosecute the War on Islamist Terror.]

[2010 Update: Does anyone remember that a certain current Vice President said that our current President "would be tested"? Most thought of a military/terror test (and that could still happen), but this Ground Zero mosque proposal - against the wishes of most of the 9/11 families and about 70% of NYC residents - could be another test, of our resolve and backbone. Weakness invites more attacks.]

[More links to the 2,996 Project and other info were posted on 9/12/06. Here is what I posted on 9/11/05. Go back and study some more.]

Because each one had a name.

9/11 The Falling Man Video...Lest We Forget

2011-09-11T02:19:00.000-04:00

Tuesday Videos - For Today's Virginia Earthquake

2011-08-23T21:04:00.000-04:00

Oh, the Untold Damage Done by Racialists

2011-08-23T09:13:00.000-04:00

Perhaps this is a new term to some. "Racialists" are people that find a "racial angle" (or make one up) for almost any societal, economic, cultural,... trend or event. Nevermind that there might be multiple other factors that produce the intepreted/extrapolated result. They have their agenda, which is to continually "pick at the wound" and keep it infected, rather than let it heal. They don't want us to get along with each other. Without the strife, they would have little reason for their existence (or rather they might have to engage in actual productive work, for a change).

We well know the names of some of them, Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Jeremiah Wright, Michael Pfleger,... If there is a minority group that can be whipped into a frenzy for political and monetary gain, they will be right there, ready to blame someone else for any problem, real or perceived. They thrive upon the use of stereotypes and group identities.

There are others that are not well as known - and may be more dangerous for that reason. Tim Wise is an example. A blog I discovered yesterday - A. R. Ward, spends a lot of time covering this despicable, for-profit race baiter.

Any sensible person knows that things will never be perfect between all white Americans and all black Americans. There will always be some racist/bigoted idiots, of all races. Humans cannot achieve perfection on Earth. We all know the basics of history (manipulated history notwithstanding - such as lies about the past histories of the Republican Party vs. the Democrat Party - in which sins committed by Democrats are projected upon Republicans and the Republicans do little to counter the lies).

The only way we will EVER get along with each other is to hold everyone to the same standards. No favoritism, no vendettas for past sins, no stereotypes,... No more of this "collective guilt/White Priviledge" crap, no more of this "oppressed persons/victimhood" crap for blacks and other minorities. We have too many challenges to be fighting among ourselves.

But then, maybe that is the idea. Keeping us at each other's throats, while they engage their control-freak agenda. Which - if some get their way - will result in martial law as a response to engineered chaos.

Thursday Videos - On Saturday...

2011-08-20T15:49:00.000-04:00

'cause this one is too good to leave 'til next Tuesday.

Dr. Zo attempts to help Janeane Garofalo:

Tuesday Videos - Marxism Made Simple

2011-08-16T11:07:00.000-04:00

There is no perfect within the realm of humanity. We have to choose between the evil and the flawed - but potentially good. We know the 20th Century track record of Socialism - 100 to 120 million dead.

Tuesday Videos - Marx's Theory of Economic Chaos

2011-08-16T11:00:00.000-04:00

What we see around us is not entirely random. I suspect that most of it is engineered.

It is just all in "the plan".

Tuesday Videos - The Story Behind the Govt. and GM

2011-08-16T10:49:00.000-04:00

From MorningStar Ministries - TheOakInitiative Project.

Most Americans (including myself) do not know the entire story of what happened to General Motors. We may know parts and we may have an inherent mistrust of government involvement in industries. But we probably don't know any significant details.

Watch and learn, then do your own research.

Tuesday Videos - Marxism in America

2011-08-16T10:21:00.000-04:00

...from Morningstar Ministries.

[Note, as I just found this website last night, I am not offering any sort of blanket endorsement of MorningStar Ministries, as I have not watched many of their videos nor read position papers.]

Thursday Videos - Britney Spears - 'Til the World Ends

2011-08-04T23:56:00.000-04:00

According to this American Thinker post, Iran now has an ICBM capability.

Having read "One Second After" a year or so ago, I am accutely aware of the threat of an Electro Magnetic Pulse (EMP). One single nuke could end life as we know it, i.e., it could "kick" us back to about 1850, with the exception of older cars, without the fancy electronics. But those would only last as long as gasoline (or diesel) could be scavenged from abandoned vehicles.

So in honor of this situation, which might have been avoided, if not for Political Correctness:

I won't say that I am a Britney Spears fan, but this just seems to fit.

Thursday Videos - Suzy Bogguss - Drive South

2011-08-04T23:16:00.002-04:00

Thursday Videos - Beckel and Gutfield

2011-08-04T22:58:00.000-04:00

I posted this because - though he annoys me in the short-run, I generally like Bob Beckel, because of his sense-of-humor, which is rare for a liberal.

Tuesday Videos - Nanci Griffith - I Knew Love

2011-08-02T21:51:00.001-04:00

Just a little light diversion from the normal BS.

Tuesday Videos - Suzy Bogguss - Outbound Plane

2011-08-02T20:04:00.000-04:00

I thought I posted this one before, if so...enjoy it again.

If it is somewhere in my archives, I may have forgotten to tag it. Or maybe it was Facebook,...

Tuesday Videos - UCLA Study Confirms MSM Leftist Bias...

2011-08-02T16:13:00.000-04:00

Ya think?

I don't wish to be snarky, as I am glad that there is some academic "proof" of what we have known for a long time.

This video was broadcast on CBN. I wonder if any of the MSM networks are going to report on this?

New Year's Resolutions - 7 Months In...

2011-07-31T13:36:00.000-04:00

I am sure that most folks don't even think about their New Year's Resolutions after 7 months. Usually, for most people, these well-intended resolutions now represent "burning wreckage" or at least flotsam and jetsam of their lives. We mean well, but we get side-tracked by life.

To revisit my attempts...Compare, if you wish with this post.

1) To blog more, posting political stuff here, so my Liberal cousins' ears won't bleed on Facebook. Or maybe not. [A mixed bag. Most of my "political stuff" on Facebook is sharing or replying to the posts of others or posting links with just short, succinct comments, as long as no one posts any really stupid lib stuff. We are what we are.]

2) To have McDonald's sweet tea only twice a week, unless I have to drive long distances. At home I always have unsweetened tea, as I don't want to know how much sugar is in sweet tea. [Sorry, McDonald's sweet tea is one of my "comfort foods". So it goes. No change. Yeah, a "fail". There are worse habits.]

3) To get back into doing stained glass, which I haven't done in 25 or so years. [A half-measure of success. I finished the right clearlite and have done some preliminary work on the left one. Picked up some more free "scrap glass" from a local glass shop and a new pair of specialty pliers.]

4) To lose weight...Honestly. [Somehow, last time I checked - a few weeks ago - I was down about 20 lbs. for the year. Haven't checked lately. It is what it is.]

5) To host more social events at my home, beer tastings, parties, etc.. [Slow progress, but progress on indoor projects.]

6) To photograph more wildflowers. [Got a few, including a "wild" purple Coneflower. Got one in my yard, but wanted a photo of one in nature. Haven't had time/taken time to go to anywhere to get more photos.]

7) To pray more, for myself and for those Liberal cousins that haven't changed their views in 40 years. [Got to do this one more...]

8) To have Mexican food or hot wings only once a week. This will be tough. [OK, once a week for each. Some progress on this one, if only because my income is way down.]

9) To get my life more organized. Being disorganized costs $$$$$. [Working on it.]

10) To have the confidence to dive into those needed home projects and the persistence to get them finished. I have the skills, but sometimes lack the confidence. Well, not for anything electrical, but for glasswork, light plumbing, woodwork,... [Tasks - to rebuild the center sink drain and maybe add a new disposal later. Old backporch fan is down and awaiting the purchase of a new one. Got to replace screens on the back porch. Works in progress. Waiting for cooler weather for the outdoor stuff.]

11) To have zero french fries or Krispy Kreme doughnuts for January and only once per month afterward. [Success, I done it. I backslid and had home fries during a beer tasting event in March. Some other sporadic backslides, maybe I have had 8 Krispy Kremes for the year.]

12) Get my basement cleaned out, move the air hockey table either to the basement or to the extra bedroom. [Some progress, but not ready to move the air hockey table.]

13) Find a home for one of our 3 cats. I like cats, but we don't need 3 of them. [No change, yet.]

14) To cook at home more. As I am not teaching this next semester, I won't be using several hours a week to drive to and from the campus. [No change, other than the occasional batch of chili.]

15) To take some free training courses offered by the college. [Not yet.]

16) To do something with the 1978 Ford F-100 truck sitting in my driveway. Sell it, fix it, whatever... [Not yet.]

17) To have a yard sale, or at least put some stuff out at the street labeled "Free" for folks to haul away. And to call the Kidney Fund to come pick up the unsold yard sale stuff, so I don't have to cart it back to the garage/basement. Not selling much stuff is not the worst part of a slow yard sale. It is having to haul the junk back inside afterward. [Tried a yard sale in May or June. Sold some old marble table tops to a friend and gave away some stuff. Otherwise nothing. And the Kidney Fund folks need some advance notice to work out a pick-up schedule. Have given away 4 garbage bags of older, usable clothing and plan to donate more.]

18) Blog more on my other blogs, too. [Yes.]

19) Donate more to our church. [A mixed bag.]

20) Fix the leaky shower valves in our back bathroom and reconnect the pipes (the disconnection was an emergency move). [Plan to get back to this soon, see college schedule remarks. Got to go back to Home Depot, again.]

21) Paint the main bathroom. Get rid of the larger mirror, replace with a smaller mirror. [Got the smaller mirror. Need to put the hooks and wire on the frame.]

22) Improve my Beer Karma on Beer Advocate, currently initinally it was 165.6. Will explain that another time. [Up to 190.65 though down from 192.92 - due to less activity lately. Have been to a couple of beer tastings at Brick Store pub in Decatur and a fellow BA's home.]

23) Get the wireless router working, however necessary. [Not yet. I did extend ethernet cable through the crawlspace, so we now have a computer hook-up in the dining room for one of the laptops. Got to find the instructional CD to re-begin this project.]

24) Participate in at least one Tea Party event. [Haven't heard of any yet, but as Herman Cain is considering running for President. Not yet. My bad.]

25) Read "Atlas Shrugged". I got a head start by reading the Cliff Notes version. Yeah, it is cheating of a sort, but I will understand the characters, etc., when I dive into this daunting book. [Finished it in about 3 1/2 weeks. Saw the movie, not perfect, but important message.]

26) Try to read two books per month, at least. [Did that, early on. No time, lately.]

27) Check out the local pawn shop for a used chainsaw. [No chainsaw when I have been there.]

28) Clear front yard of all fallen oak leaves by the end of January. [Done.]

29) Repaint shutters when the weather warms. [My bad. Now have to wait for weather to cool a bit.]

[I would probably give myself a D+/C- for my efforts, taking the weather into account for the outside stuff. So it goes.]

30) Expand xeriscaping in front yard. Repair rock walls. [Partial progress. I need a source of flat stones. I don't like to pay for rocks.]

31) Do some backyard landscaping. Clean up wildflower garden to prepare for spring. [Waiting for weather to cool. Deer ate most of wildflowers.]

New ones:

32) Collect more heavy mineral samples (including gold) by panning local creeks. [Some progress as I have been out with the "Allatoona Gold Panners" a couple of times.]

33) Start a job-search for more part time work (or full-time in the local school system, if I can find a satisfactory position for teaching science.) [Same old, same old.]

34) Reorganize my beer can collection, in order to have one more "blowout party" to show it off (haven't done so since it peaked in early 1994, for my 40th birthday). After that, I will recycle, sell it off when the spirit moves me. [Some progress a few months ago.]

35) Resume work on "CD project". [A couple of friends have been kind enough to give me hundreds of digital images from their early-summer vacation to UT/CO. Have been labeling them.]

So it goes.

"When Barack Obama Fixes Things"

2011-07-31T13:00:00.000-04:00

Geez. I just keep going back to this quote from an unrepentant Liberal cousin, who hasn't changed in 40+ years. It was uttered during a family vacation at a beach house in mid-2009. Ah, the price we pay for enduring family reunions and maintaining some sense of decorum.

How can otherwise intelligent people be so ignorant? As his equally-Liberal older sister was the host (paying the rent), it would have been the height of bad manners to even reply in any meaningful way. As a retired university professor of English, it is rational to assume that she has probably never entertained a Conservative concept in a critical way, during her tenure.

In a family situation, I am perfectly willing to avoid religion and politics, even if I sense that most in the room might agree with me. I might exchange side comments with a known Conservative/Libertarian or two, but would not be interested in trying to "set anyone straight" in that situation. People do not like to back down in public, it is better to engage them in a one-on-one discussion and give them something to take home.

When I was a Classical Liberal, I considered it to be my duty to listen and consider the arguments of "the other side". And when those opposing arguments began to make sense, my exodus began. Most do not have the courage to do that. I am not bragging, just sayin'...

But some people can't. In their ignorance/arrogance, they think that no one could do anything but agree with them. Howard Zinn, Sault Alinsky, Noam Chomsky,...are their apostles, even if they have never personally read them, the ideas were passed around in college and never challenged, even 40+ years later. Though I love them, the two sisters and the brother reinforce each other's Liberalism. Even if you were able to sit down with any one of them and force them to closely examine "why they believe what they believe", it wouldn't "take". Even if you made some progress towards logic, they would run back to the other two to "refill" and re-affirm their viewpoints.

As God is my witness, if I am ever in a position to rent any beach house, mountain getaway, etc., for a family gathering...I will forbid any discussion of religion or politics in "open spaces".

I just wonder how bad it has to get before they start to question what they believe? Or will they just take the easy way and blame "the other side", instead of saying "maybe Conservatives might be right"?

Though I can wish, I won't be holding my breath.

Altered States...Yeah, I'd Say So

2011-07-14T11:39:00.000-04:00

Whenever I read something of leftist pundit Jonathan Alter, I can't help but think of the condition of "Altered States" [been there, done that...but the statutes of limitation have passed]. This idea may have been suggested by someone on Newsbusters in the past, i.e., I don't think it is my original thought.

From the above-linked Newsbusters post:

"On Wednesday’s The Ed Show, MSNBC analyst and Bloomberg View columnist Jonathan Alter claimed that the "massive tax cuts" of the Bush administration did not create jobs, and went on to credit former President Clinton for the low unemployment rate existed for a time during the Bush years."...

More...

..."He ended up lecturing fellow panel member Judson Phillips of Tea Party Nation that Tea Party activists would support President Obama’s budget plan if polled and that they are "not as obsessed with tax cuts as you are."...

Jonathan Alter seems unable to connect the concepts of decreased taxes leading to increased economic activity (and more jobs). Unfortunately, there are too many that take MSNBC as gospel and there is no changing their minds. It seems so simple that - when you let people keep more of their own money, they spend it, employing other folks.

There is a reason why I avoid MSNBC, so as not to run up my blood pressure, as there seems to be ALMOST NEVER a logic thought uttered thereon.

A Few Photos of My Stained Glass - Thusfar

2011-07-14T10:13:00.001-04:00

The entire panel is 53" x 7", the longest panel I have ever done and the first in close to 25 years. It turned out as I wanted it. Random splashes of color, with interspersed sections of clear antique and glue chip.

The next one (to the left of the door) will be similar. I thought of doing random splashes of color with slightly curved lines, but I decided that it might be "too different", i.e., too much contrast.

If I like the second one more, I thought about swapping this one to the left side, but handling such a long panel is risky and the copper foil joints are not as strong as the lead ones, so maybe I will just leave well enough alone.

Here is a close-up of the top.

Here is a close-up of the bottom. I chose to make the lower 1 foot opaque, so the dog wouldn't be tempted to lean on it, if she saw something through the window (she has other windows for that purpose, to bark at squirrels, pedestrians walking their dogs, etc.). She has actually broken through two smaller window panes to go chase squirrels. I hope she has forgotten that "skill".

Resuming a Useful Hobby...

2011-07-14T09:47:00.001-04:00

Being too busy/lazy to look back, I may have made a prior reference to doing stained glass as a hobby.

It is one of those endeavors that we leave behind once we become parents. Partially because I didn't have a place to work on the glass that was away from "little ones". And glass work tends to produce lots of little slivers and flakes that can be tracked into "living areas" from an "extra room" workshop.

I was taught how to do the "copper foil" stained glass work in 1980 and early 1981, by a couple of friends - Michael and Malcolm, who were roommates (along with a couple of other friends) in an old clapboard house a few miles from here. As I wasn't active in grad school at the time (during my "burned-out" time), I extended my Christmas visit a bit.

When I returned to El Paso, with a supply of scrap glass, soldering iron, and other tools/supplies, I dedicated the "dining room" area of my 1 bedroom apartment to work on the glass. I actually made and sold 2 or 3 panels. I guess that makes me a "professional artist".

Fast-forward a bit when I moved to another nicer apartment later in 1981, closer to downtown El Paso, when I packed up my stuff, the glass went to a storage area. There is largely stayed, through the time when I met my wife in 1983 and got married in 1984. After marriage, returning to and finishing grad school was a priority, so the glass stayed in the storage area. With the adoption of our daughter in late 1986, that sort of sealed the deal.

So when we moved from El Paso back to the Atlanta area, partially because of not having time to properly pack my glass nor room on the truck, I gave away/sold almost all of my glass and tools.

Fast forward to the present. There had been a broken clearlite to the right of our front door for several years (someone got locked out of the house a few years earlier). I had been too busy to fix it myself and too cheap to hire someone else to do it. Finally, this spring I got tired of looking at the broken, taped glass and decided to fix it. First I had to scour the area looking for new supplies and tools.

Fortunately, I had been thinking about getting back into it for several years (time does fly) and bought a plastic tub of tools and supplies at a yard sale. I had somehow kept a half-sheet of clear "glue chip" and some scraps of other colors, thus that was something that I didn't have to buy. I found a local glass shop that gives away boxes of scrap glass - other places sell scrap, by the pound or by the square foot. Sweet!

As all of my past and present projects (and planned projects) are small-scale, I don't need large pieces of glass, so scraps of a wide range of colors and textures is just fine.

Anyway, a few weeks ago, I completed the first clearlite and installed it (I have a few finishing touches to complete). And I have begun on the second one.

[As photos and long dialogue don't fit well in this blog, selected photos will be in the next post.]

There are a few small, scattered panels (90% completed) packed away around here - somewhere in the basement, garage, attic,... - that can be rejuvenated and finished. As I organize stuff, I hope to find and finish these.

When I posted photos on Facebook, it was gratifying to hear from my daughter (in NJ) - "Wow, I didn't know you could do this!" (or something like that). Kids just don't know what their parents did before they "came along". Sometimes we resurrect this stuff later, sometimes we don't.

I will probably never get that black & white darkroom constructed, though I have been dragging around an Omega B-600 enlarger for 30 some-odd years. The nature of photography has changed so much. It is important that someone keep-alive the practice of black & white photography, development, and printing, but it will probably have to be a younger person.

The resurrection of stained glass is a realistic step one, for me.

Getting the radial arm saw and table saw working again would help towards getting back into carpentry. One step at a time.

On Paying Their Fair Share

2011-07-14T08:07:00.001-04:00

Inspired by a fairly-new blog - The Rural Rant

This subject has been covered so many different ways by those outside the MSM (aka the alphabet networks).

From IRS figures:

Richest 1% of Americans pay 38% of all personal income tax.
Richest 5% pay 59% of all taxes.
Richest 10% pay 70%.
Richest 25% pay 86% of all income taxes.
Richest 50% of all Americans pay 97% of all income taxes paid.

To sum it all up, the bottom 50% of Americans paying income tax every year pay only 3%. (McCormally, Kevin, 2010-12-18, “Where Do You Rank as a Taxpayer?” Kiplinger)

I wish my otherwise-intelligent, liberal cousins would soak in this info. They seem to be of this "zero-sum game" idea about wealth. If someone has more, others have less. They seem to think that the wealthy stash their cash in baskets in their attic (or wherever), so no one else has access. If they ever had high school economics, they should remember that the money deposited in banks (or invested) re-enters "the system" and then is available to others.

It is just beyond me how someone can remain of the same political mindset for 30 - 40 years, when there has been a cascade of information re-inforcing the conservative viewpoint and discounting liberalism. Do they ever question what they "know"? Is it emotion over logic? Do they fear admitting they were wrong? Have Howard Zinn and Noam Chomsky corrupted them that much? How bad do things have to get before they start to question their own philosophy? Or will they take the easy way out and just blame it on Bush?

The three first cousins I am thinking of (whom I do love dearly) are two sisters and a brother. The older sister is a retired university professor (not much exposure to conservative concepts in that environment), the brother is a Vietnam-era draft dodger living in Canada (not too much exposure to conservative concepts in that personal history), and the younger sister is a career RN - now an administrator in a county hospital. No doubt they reinforce each other in their diehard liberal viewpoints.

Though I love them (it is said that your first cousins are your first friends - though the younger sister is 4 years older than me, the older sister about 10 years older), hanging out with them is a tedious chore. I am perfectly willing to avoid discussing politics. With my varied interests, I can talk about food, beer, nature, history,...thus staying away from "religion and politics", but they seem unable to comprehend that not everyone agrees with them. I can remain quiet, except when one or more of them verbally "wander into my yard" (science, energy, 2nd Amendment, taxes, Tea Parties,...), then I try to politely pose a question to make them think or at least a polite rebuttal. I know some of my Facebook posts make their ears bleed.

Though I still have a talent for screwing things up, at least I got over being a liberal. Now to work on the other. It is an ongoing task.

Just a Reminder,...

2011-07-11T23:23:00.000-04:00

if you are here looking for science, please visit my newer, science-only (well almost) blog - geosciblog - science.

When the spirit moves me and I can focus, I will cross-post science posts.

Why Modern Liberal Ain't - Wanting to Ban Books in Chicago

2011-07-11T23:19:00.000-04:00

I wonder about any outtakes from this video. Did any of the people say "none of these should be banned"? When I was a liberal, I hated tyranny, which would include censorship. I would hope that I would have had the courage to raise a fuss at this very question.

It seemed that Michael Savage and Andrew Breitbart flew beneath the radar.

No, after years of dealing with the unrepentant, unwilling-to-learn, this is not unexpected. Saddening, yes but unexpected - no.

Denial Depot

2011-07-10T08:48:00.001-04:00

Will blog on this more, when the spirit moves me and when tasks permit.

I am not 100% sure that this blog is not an exercise in satire. The author proclaims his being a "denier".

Personally, I don't. We AGW skeptics do not deny that humans MIGHT have an effect on the climate, but our scientific opinion is that it is probably NOT a major effect. Aside from the minor amount of CO2 (as compared to what nature contributes), deforestation (especially in the tropics) and the growth of Urban Heat Islands could play a role in affecting climate, but as the Earth's climate is a wide open system, with numerous cyclical and random inputs, it is folly to think that we can PROVE any 1:1 relationship between human activities and climate trends.

A Good Primer on Barack Obama

2011-06-30T19:16:00.000-04:00

As has been stated by folks smarter than myself, Barack Obama is the least-known, least-vetted of anyone to ever occupy the Oval Office.

[When time permits, I will post some selected passages from this important American Thinker post.]

Interview With a Former KGB Agent

2011-06-24T07:45:00.001-04:00

I may have posted this one before. It is important enough for people to watch and commit the agent's words to memory, in case this video is ever scrubbed from YouTube.

I Got Beer, Bourbon And Cigars…..Mind If I Join Ya?

2011-06-23T02:54:00.000-04:00

Sounds like a plan.

OK, the title is stolen from a "Say Anything" post by writer "pino". The post describes pino's journey toward Libertarianism.

In the past, I have related the reasons for my journey from Classical Liberal to Conservative/Libertarian. I may try to link to one or more of them, if the spirit moves me and if time permits.

I just enjoyed the title. Hard liquor burns my stomach, however I am open to the beer and cigars. Bourbon barrel-aged ales are a good compromise.

Taking Rita's Name Off My Cellphone...

2011-06-22T23:07:00.001-04:00

Where to start? A dear, long-time friend died yesterday. She died in a very public, violent way in a grinding crash that involved five other vehicles. Maybe we will never know why she ran the red light at that busy intersection. That intersection (to the locals - Old Peachtree Road and Sugarloaf Parkway) regularly has traffic zipping through at 50 - 55 mph, though the official speed limit is 45. Was she talking on a cell phone? Was she thinking about her husband, who had passed away about two months earlier? Was she rushing to an appointment? Was she on her way to have lunch with her mom?

After the initial impact, her truck starting flipping and hit several other vehicles.   Thankfully, no one else was killed, but someone she probably knew through church suffered a broken leg in one of the other vehicles.

I pass through that intersection probably a half dozen times a week. I will always be haunted whenever I pass through there.

She was the "girl next door", whom I had a crush on - at times - but never had the courage to ask out on a date. She was born - as was I - in 1954. Her family moved into the home next to ours in 1963. A couple hundred feet or so through the pine woods, but still next door. I was friends with her younger brother Bob, Jr. and her older sister Linda, too.  Bob, Jr. and I made good use of both of our long driveways first with bicycles, then with my go-cart.

Her parents - Bob and Frannie still live in this area and are in their 80's. I think Linda lives around here and Bob, Jr. lives in Huntsville. All of them are nice people, never any cross words from them or about them. I am not sure if Rita actually had a catering business or if she just enjoyed constantly "fixing" cakes, dinner entrees, etc., to deliver to families that had lost a loved one or for public gatherings. She just loved cooking and giving.

I looked forward to seeing her as I almost always got a hug from her. Except for the last time I saw her. She was serving ice cream at a public gathering at the "town green". As she was busy, I didn't want to get in the way, so I just exchanged a smile and a wave with her. Her sister was outside the booth and I got a hug from her, but I thought "another time, I will get a hug from Rita". I never dreamed,... I wish I had walked into the booth and gotten my hug.

As much as I admire and love them, how I dread seeing the family at the funeral home. Words are just so inadequate at this time for them.  Or for me. My spirit is crushed.

[Update: I got through the visitation and saw her family. They are great people, somehow managing to hold things together. More visitation tomorrow, the funeral Saturday, church on Sunday. I figure that it will really hit her parents on Monday, when Rita is no longer dropping by their home for her daily visit.

One long-time friend (a little older than me) suggested that we need a "deathless wake", just to get people together, but for a happier event. Some of us have a 40th high school reunion next year. Gad.]

Where Does the Time Go?

2011-06-22T21:25:00.000-04:00

Yes, I have been slack about my posting. My bad. Will refocus and get back to it.

How 50 mm Can Really Make a Difference

2011-05-28T10:33:00.001-04:00

105mm vs. 155mm. Doesn't sound like much of a difference, does it? It all depends on context.

From time to time, I think of a statement given at one of my Dad's Army Unit reunions, that I attended in his honor, after he had passed away in 1980. I didn't attend enough of these events, but this particular one was the 50th anniversary of the ending of WWII in Europe.

The words were spoken by infantryman (I didn't catch his unit's name) recalling how my Dad's 155mm howitzer battery came to their rescue. I presume that this was somewhere in France that the infantry unit was - in a large open field area - when they became aware that the Germans were massing in some nearby woods, for an attack. They could hear the tanks rolling and men shouting orders. They knew they had a big problem.

Usually, there was a 105mm howitzer unit attached to this infantry outfit, but somehow communications had been cut off that day. Somehow they managed to get through to my Dad's 155mm outfit and fire support had been arranged. For that time period - if memory serves me correctly - a 105mm shell was a self-contained, large cartridge with a 45-pound projectile. Easy to load and the smaller size of the howitzers made them easier and quicker to aim. Being used to the characteristics of the 105's, the infantrymen became a bit "antsy" when the Germans - tanks and all - began to advance out of the woods.

In contrast to the 105's, the 155's had a 96-pound projectile and separate powder bags, thus it took longer to load and longer to aim the larger howitzers.

After an "eternity" - in the words of the infantryman - finally the larger shells started lumbering overhead, landing in front of the advancing German line. A quick call to the artillery unit fixed the problem and the subsequent salvoes found their targets. [As an aside - a bit of physics given by the elderly soldier - when you double the size of an explosive, you quadruple the explosive power.] The old man fondly remembered the sound of the larger explosions - that convinced the Germans to quickly leave the area - for their own survival.

'Tis a shame my Dad didn't get to hear the story.

I seem to recall from the same reunion an elderly Black soldier - who was in an anti-aircraft battery attached to one of the field artillery batteries in my Dad's unit - relating a story about when they watched a dogfight between American P-51's and the German Messerschmidt ME-262 jets. I believe it was the first time they saw the jets. Apparently, they were too far away for the AA battery to help and besides, shooting into a dogfight from the ground is not a good idea. I should have asked him afterwards whether they had been told the jets were "on their way" or if it was a surprise.

A Notable Quote - From Rush Limbaugh

2011-05-22T18:21:00.000-04:00

[Perhaps slight paraphrasing...}

"To anger a Conservative, tell him a lie. To anger a Liberal, tell him the truth."

How true, how true.

I would put this on Facebook, but the Libs would have a cow. 'Cause,...

Speculators...It Ain't What the MSM Tells You

2011-05-22T09:59:00.001-04:00

When you are frustrated by higher prices and the general cacaphony of life, the simplest human practice is to look for the easiest target upon which to lay blame. And if you don't have time to investigate exactly what a particular practioner of a profession does (in this case, a commodities trader/speculator, specifically in oil and gasoline contracts), to save time and effort, we may seek the easiest explanation - that which is offered by politicians and their lapdogs in the MSM. Offered by politicians and their lapdogs to divert attention away from the real sources of much of problems - micromanagement efforts by the "we know better than you" elitists. Translated - don't look at us, it is that man behind the curtain.

In essence, it is the related to the specialization of labor that has allowed our human society (as a whole) to advance beyond "hunting and gathering". Speculators (of needed commodities) are wholesalers (of a sort), who either go and get the commodity in question (or they get contracts) for future delivery. It saves us from having to individually gather these commodities. A better explanation of this is presented here. So the speculator/wholesaler is trained in the "art" of retrieval of these commodities and gathers them for eventual delivery to the consumer. "Middleman" is another term used by those outside of the product/service stream as though these people only increase the price with no tangible contribution.

From the title-linked article, which offers evidence that price swings would be greater without speculators/traders:

"Bottom Line: If speculators are making money, they MUST be stabilizing markets. If speculators are losing money, they MUST be destabilizing markets (fictional chart within the link). But speculators can NOT make money and destabilize markets at the same time."

[I apologize, as this is not as articulate as I would like. I have other tasks which need addressing, so I may get back to this, later for the purpose of refinement.]

Sick Twisted Freak - Part II

2011-05-08T10:13:00.001-04:00

[Sticking to my pledge not to post anything political on Facebook (until at least after sundown), so as to intrude upon Mother's Day.]

From the above-linked Blaze article: "America Is a Bunch of Wusses & Has Lost Its Soul: Michael Moore Slams Americans on OBL".

Michael Moore, you are a witless twit. You have no appreciation for America's soul, you wouldn't recognize it if you tripped over it.

As I said of Noam Chomsky, if Michael Moore had been an adult at the end of WWII, he would have fretted that the Allies had driven noted painter and stateman Adolph Hitler to suicide.

No one is asking Americans to engage in blindly following our leaders and anyone with any sense knows that we have made mistakes. But it seems to be beyond the ilk of Moore, Chomsky, et al, to engage in critical thought and recognition of the United States as having done far more good in the world, than bad.

But maybe he is right in some respect. Maybe we are wusses for not putting the two of them on a transport plane and shoving them out the door for an impromptu skydiving lesson over North Korea or Afghanistan. And to add a bit of "Survivor", make sure they don't have any ID/passports, just to make it a fair challenge.

Sick Twisted Freak - Part I

2011-05-08T10:00:00.001-04:00

[I am avoiding the temptation to post this on Facebook, as it is Mother's Day, so I post it here and rant a bit.]

From the above-linked Blaze article: "Noam Chomsky Calls Bin Laden ‘Unarmed Victim,‘ Says He Deserved ’Fair Trial’"

You can always "make book" on the fact that the treasonous Noam Chomsky is going to side with our enemies past, present, and future.

You can "make book" on the likelyhood that if he had been an adult at the end of WWII, he would have fretted about the Allies driving noted painter and statesman Adolph Hitler to suicide.

[If I say anymore, I would violate all sorts of Mother's Day rules.]

Thursday Videos - The Federal Reserve System

2011-05-05T20:35:00.001-04:00

With Glenn Beck's use of the term "banking cartel", I finally began to understand what this thing is. While times were good, there was a tendency to look the other way thinking "the system seems to be working, why mess with it". One could now wonder - have the elites seen us as a "fatted calf"? And now the time has come to "harvest" the calf (our collective wealth)...perhaps.

Following My Own Contention...

2011-04-23T21:20:00.000-04:00

I am not even pretending to claim any sort of mantle of articulation as found in the Rio Norte Line blog, but IMHO it would be easier to prove that Barack Obama is a communist than it would be to prove he was ineligible due to birth certificate issues.

If birthers want to keep pursuing, that is their business, but again IMHO, this background in communist training is much "lower hanging fruit".

Anyway, get past my blather and read (and print out) this post from Rio Norte to revisit and memorize. Most of your liberal friends and family - that voted for Obama - honestly have no clue who they voted for.

Shroom Hunting Success

2011-04-17T23:58:00.001-04:00

Here is my humble 2011 morel harvest. Though it was about a week late, it was the largest morel harvest from my front-yard xeriscaping.

From this area, to the right of the walkway is usually where most of my morels grow. The area is underlain by the roots of an old ornamental cherry tree. For some reason, I couldn't find any morels in this area, this year. I did some cleaning work and replaced some of the "fill material" in this area, perhaps the shrooms didn't like those changes.

This year, all of my morels came from the area within and close to this oval-shaped, walled Liriope bed. This area is also underlain by the roots of the ornamental cherry trees, one living and one that died last year. From my understanding, this is a favorable habitat for morels.

When I first started finding morels here, about 4 years ago, a Biology teacher at the college (originally from Michigan) told me that he was surprised that morels would grow this far south. Perhaps spring temps are just a little too warm for this to be optimal growing territory for morels.

Anyway, as I am still early on the learning curve for morels, I cleaned them, sliced and sauteed them and mixed them with pasta. I don't know enough about them to prep them for any sort of storage. I was too worried about screwing up my biggest "crop".

BTW, these are the only wild mushrooms I have been confident enough of the ID to pick, cook, and eat them. There might be some Chanterelles that I might trust enough to cook, though I have yet to find any regular occurrences of them.

What is Galt's Gulch?

2011-04-14T10:40:00.000-04:00

[Or Mulligan's Valley.]

It was the final destination (hiding place) of those talented ones that had escaped the decaying world of "Atlas Shrugged".

From the above-linked Conservapedia article:

After "Midas" Mulligan's bank was taken from him (in a de facto fashion, by crooked court decisions):

..."Midas Mulligan did not leave his bank penniless. He converted all his holdings into gold (still lawful for an individual to hold in those days) and bought a vast tract of land in a secluded valley in the Rocky Mountains. The floor of this valley was at an elevation of 8000 feet above sea level and was probably in a cup-like formation in either Colorado or Wyoming; the novel never makes clear where.

There he built a small house and a large stockpile of seed, livestock, and other provisions. As he later explained, he wanted "never again to look in the face of a looter."

Judge Narragansett then came to see Mulligan in his new home, and asked for a leasehold so that he could build a house of his own. Mulligan granted the lease. Shortly thereafter, Richard Halley came to Mulligan to ask for the same thing. (William Hastings lived out his life on the "outside" and later died.)

The event that probably transformed the valley from a simple place of refuge for a tiny subset of the strikers to a thriving community was probably John Galt's decision to build another electrostatic motor in the valley."...

Go read this entry, especially if you need a refresher before the movie.

A Wise Man Once Told Me...

2011-04-14T09:44:00.000-04:00

"You always leave a little blood at the jobsite."

Last night, I started work - in earnest - on the stained glass panel that will replace the broken clearlite at the front door. I haven't done any stained glass work in the last 25 years or so, but I am too cheap (and too broke) to pay anyone to fix the window, so I can and will fix it myself.

Part of the process was relearning how to cut glass cleanly and how to "snap it" to achieve the smooth break, whether on a straight line or a freehand or guided curve. The panel is approximately 6 3/4 inches by 52 1/2 inches. I haven't done one that long before. I will have to decide if the traditional "glazer's points" and caulk will keep it in place or if I will have to engineer some sort of wooden frame to afix to the existing clearlite frame - in order to hold the glass in. I could use a small moulding (with a triangular cross-section), but I am nervous about having to nail close to the finished glass panel. (Sorry, I have forgotten the terms for the various types of moulding, will have to brush up on that. That would be from my days as half-owner of the oldest picture-framing shop in El Paso. But that is another story.)

Either before I leave for the college today (or tonight, if I am not too tired), I will start to wrap the glass with the copper foil and maybe "give a hand" at soldering. I gave away/sold most of my tools and scrap glass when we moved from El Paso 20 years ago. I did keep my soldering iron, but I can't find it. I did buy a plastic tub of tools and supplies at a yard sale a year ago, so I will dip into that and try the soldering iron within.

As to the opening quote...despite being careful, I have already bled a little. It just comes with handling just-cut glass and the fragments generated by trimming. (Thank goodness for silicon carbide paper to smooth out rough edges.)

BTW, while in El Paso, I built and sold 2 or 3 stained glass panels, thus that makes me a "professional artist". Time to reclaim that mantel.

[The things we give up while raising our kids. I have to have this finished as my daughter and her family are planning to visit here for Easter. Hopefully, she and her husband will be impressed.]

Confidence and prayers needed. Also got to replace that ceiling fan on the back porch...

What if Oprah Winfrey Went "John Galt"?

2011-04-12T12:30:00.001-04:00

The ugliness of liberal class warfare is showing itself on Facebook. Some formerly-apolitical relatives are now showing themselves as "bandwagon jumpers" by their enthusiasm towards "punishing" that Top 1% or Top 2% or whatever.

For those clearly unteachable ones, I try to ignore their illogic and petty jealousy towards those that have done well. For those that haven't posted much "political stuff" before, I try to politely pose questions to engender some thought. Sometimes I will drop in "Who is John Galt" or references to Dagny Taggart or Hank Rearden in comments to "those who are informed", i.e., those that have read "Atlas Shrugged" - in the hopes that others will read the comments.

With the movie debut of "Atlas Shrugged: Part I" this weekend, it is easy to see more and more of the "state of the nation" as depicted in the novel. Especially with the President's speech yesterday. I wish that there was some way that the talented could find a way to slip away to "Galt's Gulch" (aka "Mulligan's Valley"), just to teach the ignorant a lesson, though as in the book, it would not become evident to them until economic collapse was imminent or well underway.

Anyway, I digress. In a scenario full of "what ifs?", What if...Oprah went "John Galt"?

What if, after a meeting with the involved parties, Oprah fell in love with the 2012 Presidential ticket of Herman Cain/Allen West? What if the predictable response of the Soros-financed Left and the MSM was to "ramp up" the personal attacks and lies against these two fine American patriots? What if these attacks gained some traction among those that spend too much of their days watching "The View", MSNBC, CNN,...?

What if these attacks were sadly successful in damaging these two men beyond electability? Would Oprah have the courage to publicly denounce the efforts and her former political brethren and declare her new allegiance to the Tea Party Republicans? How much vitriol might she be subjected to? Would she continue on with her ongoing projects with a new focus or might she just say "screw it"?

What if she just dissolved Harpo Productions and all of her other business interests, sold off the assets, converted it to gold - and disappeared?

How many jobs would that eliminate? How much payroll and tax revenues would dry up with the loss of her talent and drive? What might happen to any protege's that she may have "in the wings" about which we haven't yet heard? How much inspiration and confidence among her former viewers be lost? And how many of her fans would be wise enough to understand why it happened?

As we have heard Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, et al, say - "we would be surprised at the Conservative "A List" actors/actresses who are afraid to 'come out' in Hollywood." How many of these people would disappear, if Oprah did? How many would speak out before they "went Galt"?

Oprah now being part of the "power elite" probably precludes this from ever happening, but I (we) can dream, can't we?

Just sayin'.

BTW, I wonder what the brain-rotted Roger Ebert will say about "Atlas Shrugged: Part I"?

More Purloined Wisdom...

2011-04-06T23:33:00.000-04:00

From the Right Margin (of course) of the blog Sipsey Street Irregulars:

The Gunwalker Scandal Made Simple

There are five key accusations against ATF and DOJ made by ATF whistleblowers and other sources within FedGov:

1. That they instructed U.S. gun dealers to proceed with questionable and illegal sales of firearms to suspected gunrunners.

2. That they allowed or even assisted in those guns crossing the U.S. border into Mexico to "boost the numbers" of American civilian market firearms seized in Mexico and thereby provide the justification for more firearm restrictions on American citizens and more power and money for ATF.

3. That they intentionally kept Mexican authorities in the dark about the operation, even over objections of their own agents.

4. That weapons that the ATF let "walk" to Mexico were involved in the deaths of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry and ICE agent Jaime Zapata, as well as at least hundreds of Mexican citizens.

5. That at least since the death of Brian Terry on 14 December, the Obama administration is engaged in a full-press cover-up of the facts behind what has come to be known as the "Gunwalker Scandal."

Purloined Wisdom...

2011-04-05T08:16:00.000-04:00

from commenter "runner12" on Red State blog, from this particular post.

"I am an intellectual and also happen to be a follower of Christ. Science is a wonderful and fascinating study, but it is not all-knowing nor can it explain everything in the world.

Science is a hollow comforter when life’s realities hit you in the face."

[In the middle of preparing today's lectures, will elucidate upon these thoughts later. Or will try when I get "around to it".

Alcohol-fueled Bravado (When Facing Down Evil) is Better Than No Bravado at All...

2011-04-03T21:27:00.001-04:00

Feelin' better, buzzed on Sierra Nevada Hoptimum. My car is increasingly needing a new power steering pump, if the leak cannot be found in a hose, but right now, I don't care. [To recap, last week I had a mechanic put the car up on a lift with the engine running, but there was no visible leak in either the pump or the hoses.]

Will get back to the title subject, but it refers to Winston Churchill's backbone during WWII. [Yeah, the title had no connection to my mood at the time of this posting, but I was determined to relax, as nothing could be done about the power steering pump at the time, anyway.]

I Want It.

2011-04-02T22:59:00.000-04:00

If it is not an April Fool's prank, this report sez that Oskar Blues Brewing Co. will be putting out the world's strongest canned ale - 20.10% for Twen Teny Triple Imperial Stout.

From the brewery's website:

“Twen Teny Triple Imperial Stout is a beer that is not for mere mortals. This is a stout that drinks Russian Imperial Stouts as session brews. We used so much malted barley while brewing this beer that breweries on the other side of the planet were bitching about malt shortages. Twen Teny packs an astounding punch at 20.10% ABV and has 135 IBUs to match. Nothing that went into this beer was measured in pounds, only tons. This is a beer that gives off a contact buzz and pours a color of black that had only previously been seen by the Hubble telescope. Pour this slowly into a small snifter and don't make plans for two days to follow."

Apparently, it will only be sold at the brewery in Lyons, CO and a couple of sites in Longmont, CO.

Can't wait to get at least an empty can for my collection and I would really like to empty the can myself, with the help of some friends.

Late Night Can't Sleep Writer's Block...

2011-03-31T03:35:00.003-04:00

Have to finish writing today's Environmental Science lessons.

Stream-of-delirium and doldrums. Maybe it is because I haven't had a beer in a couple of days. Just haven't been in the mood. Unlike most folks, when I am depressed, I drink less (or don't drink at all). No use wasting expensive beer when it won't do any good. It is partially because of the gray, drizzly weather over the past few days. I have some outdoor painting projects that I need to start in warmer, drier weather.

It is partially because I haven't been able to find a suitable DVD on the subject of ecosystems (of different types) and I am having trouble rewriting my power point notes to match this newer book. I have considered setting up my little digital camcorder on a tripod and doing my own video, but that does take some advance planning, as I won't be using a Teleprompter, heh heh.

It is also because I had to spend $600+ on my car last week and that doesn't even include the power steering pump and hoses and the mystery leak. [Obviously, there is no need to replace a pump, if it is a hose leak, but the mechanic couldn't find the leak.]

It seemed that Spring was getting an early start, now it seems that it is interrupted. And I eagerly await the morel mushrooms, which should start sprouting in the next week. Need to start that stained glass window to fit the right clearlight next to the front door. I haven't done any stained glass in 25+ years and I can't quite settle on a design. Nothing complex, just mostly glue chip glass, I want to add in some straight or curved narrow colored panels (actually strips), but can't decide which. Just some random splashes of color.

And while I dread having to scrape up the info to get my taxes done, I eagerly await April 15, hoping that Atlas Shrugged: Part I will be showing somewhere in the northern 'burbs. I haven't seen a movie premiere in a long time, if ever, but I fully plan to catch this one.

And the sorry state of the Republican Party, vis-à-vis the prospects for the 2012 race and how the "leadership" is turning its back on the Tea Party. Need for Herman Cain to catch fire and capture some national attention.

The night of my discontent...

Need your prayers...

Thursday Videos - Nanci Griffith Late Night Grande Hotel

2011-03-31T00:28:00.002-04:00

I found this while surfing YouTube for John Prine and refound Nanci Griffith. I have become absolutely hooked on this song. It somehow fits my melancholy mood.

Tueday Videos - The Manchurian President...

2011-03-29T08:11:00.003-04:00

I haven't finished the book, yet, but "give a listen" to these two videos.

and

No, I don't consider myself a "birther", but there are questions. It would be easier to prove that he is a Marxist.

Please watch these, maybe take notes, in case they are taken down by YouTube. Would the MSM allow a Republican to have such a foggy history?

Just Another Thought,...

2011-03-27T11:34:00.000-04:00

on a comparison between Herman Cain and Barack Obama. Herman Cain is old enough to remember the latter days of the Jim Crow era in the South, while the younger Barack Obama - despite being dragged back and forth between Hawaii and Indonesia - was afforded something of a more upper Middle Class existence by way of his maternal grandparents. Also, being in Hawaii, aside from the native Hawaiian resentment of any "outsiders" or "mainlanders", Barack Obama was insulated from the traditional Jim Crow laws and attitudes in the Democrat-dominated southern United States.

Yet, Herman Cain is not the bitter one. He has an unabashed love of this nation, despite its flaws. Despite having slave ancestors, he apparently was never taught that he was a victim.

When one considers the mentors (that we know about) that have influenced Barack Obama, e.g., Frank Marshall Davis, William Ayers, Jeremiah Wright, he cannot help but have a jaundiced view of the United States. And Barack Obama likely has no American slave ancestors.

So which viewpoint do you think would "want the best" for our future? Need I ask?

Let's raise some Cain in 2012. Don't get discouraged. Our childrens'/grandchildrens' futures are too important to give up to Socialism.

More on the Schlitz Gusto...

2011-03-27T11:22:00.000-04:00

To follow up on last Friday's post, I enjoyed a pitcher of Schlitz Gusto (the 1960's recipe) at a local watering hole, with a fellow Conservative/Beer Can Collector/Drinking Buddy.

Truth be told, on draft, this is a really drinkable "session beer", i.e., one that is generally <5% alcohol, i.e., "quaffable" during music jam sessions or long conversations.

It is also available, locally, in 12 and 16 oz cans and presumably 12 oz bottles.

Are You Comfortable with a News Monopoly...Again?

2011-03-27T11:16:00.000-04:00

The way it was before, when Walter Cronkite, et al, lied to us? When there was no viable alternative to ABC, CBS, NBC? There were times when there were some more objective reporters and reporting, but with the march-of-time and as the "100-year socialist plan" continues its forward lurch towards more thorough controls, nowadays, we need the balance that talk radio, the internet, and Fox News provides.

It seems that the political Left is incapable of meeting fairly on the "battlefield of ideas", i.e., to let the best-presented, most factually-supported ideas prevail. Mabe it is because - deep down - they somehow know that they will lose.

It would be nice to dismiss Media Matters as simply a George Soros-funded squawkbox of Leftist drivel, but unfortunately, some of their talking points make their way to social media sites, e.g. Facebook, as if said talking points had anything more than a shred of truth at their core.

We all know about the "Big Lie" concept. Sometimes the Big Lie is the stuff that isn't published, rather it is what is covered up. The lying-by-omission minions of the left will not tell you about the non-Conservatives that are part of the Fox News lineup.

Though he had a brief awakening after 9/11, Geraldo Rivera is not a conservative. Shepherd Smith is not a conservative. Juan Williams is clearly not a conservative. As I take in a broad range of information sources, I don't know about the politics of all of the major Fox personalities. But Hannity and Beck - to my knowledge - are the only somewhat doctrinaire Conservative/Libertarians. I am not sure John Stossel would even be comfortable with being called anything more than a Libertarian. I don't stay up late enough to be well-aquainted with Greg Gutfield, I guess I would classify him as a somewhat irreverent "South Park Conservative". Do any of the "alphabet media" networks have this much diversity of opinions? Need I ask?

Forgive the digression from the title-linked article, which is about the recently stepped-up Media Matters campaign to bring down Fox News, actually termed a "war on Fox".

From the article:

..."This isn’t unique language in the grassroots media-criticism industry. A few individual bloggers have expressed a desire to destroy certain media outlets through criticism, and it’s certainly not unusual for conservatives to cheer the misfortunes of the New York Times, for instance. However, the scale of MMFA (Media Matters for America) and its reported $10 million budget put those boasts in a different and somewhat more credible light."...

It is perfectly acceptible for there to be media watchdogs, as part of our series of checks-and-balances, though that is not the goal of the new MMFA campaign. Acceptible campaigns against particular news/opinions outlets should not employ "sabotage", if they hope to maintain any shred of purported objectivity. But then, that was never the goal of the Saul Alinsky school-of-thought.

[Dogged by a mild sinus headache, triggered by atmospheric pressure changes, I am not being as articulate with this post/rant as I would like. I may come back to this later. For a more complete source, please consult the linked article.]

We the Thinking...

2011-03-26T11:49:00.000-04:00

[In a minor play on Ayn Rand's "We the Living"]...

From my comment on this American Thinker post (also see this previous post):

"We the Thinking" can filter out Rand's atheism to get to the important message of Atlas Shrugged. The message doesn't have to be incompatible with Christianity or Judaism when "noodled out" by a person of logic.

But as for getting discouraged, that can happen, but for the sake of our kids and grandkids (including those yet unborn), we need to first get on our knees to pray for the courage to defend our Creator-granted rights, then get up and - with firm resolve - push back against socialism. Firm, yet polite resolve in reminding people that Capitalism = freedom, Socialism = tyranny.

I haven't yet read any of the other Rand writings, yet (my bad, I intend to take care of that after I see the movie). Herman Cain for President. Let's raise Cain in 2012!"

Be Bold...What are We Defending?

2011-03-26T10:25:00.000-04:00

The future of our children and grandchildren.

Our freedoms, granted by God and defended by our ancestors are not ours to give away, nor let slip from our grasp.

Yes, we get tired of the onslaught coupled with the helter skelter of our daily lives, but "the other side" is made up of those of the Saul Alinsky mindset and their legions of useful idiots.

Tired we be, but fight on we must...so sayeth Yoda.

Just a Little NASCAR Nostalgia...

2011-03-25T01:38:00.000-04:00

since they no longer have a Spring race at Atlanta.

The famous Sprint Cup car owners that I have gotten to see win twice, over the years, with their respective drivers.

Junior Johnson - Darrell Waltrip (1981), Bill Elliott (1992)
Bud Moore - Buddy Baker (1975), Ricky Rudd (1987)
Wood Brothers - David Pearson (1973), Neil Bonnett (1982)
Rick Hendrick - Geoff Bodine (1984), Jeff Gordon (1998)
Roger Penske - Rusty Wallace (1993), Kurt Busch (2010)

Beer Can News...

2011-03-25T00:20:00.000-04:00

One of the beer brands riding the retro-nostalgia wave is Schlitz Gusto, brewed to the 1960s recipe, a bit more flavorful than the modern day Schlitz (and some of the other "factory beers").

Initially available in some northern markets (Minnesota and Chicago), it has now come to Atlanta and hot damn, it is in 12 oz cans. As I don't have the shelf space for 16 oz cans, which - along with 12 oz longnecks - had been a preferred package for the Schlitz Gusto, I had been hoping for a can that would fit my 12 oz. shelves. In Kroger tonight, I noticed a 12 pack of 12 oz cans that look like the 1960s Schlitz cans, so I might have to pick up a 12-pack.

[One of the reputed reasons for Schlitz's downfall was a formula change (to save money) in the 1960s, which didn't set well with the customers. For the macro brands, consistency is the holy grail.

Coors is also revisiting some of their classic can designs (four I think), but they are not mixed in a 12 pack, i.e., after having been given one of the cans, I would have to get 3 12 packs in order to add the others to my collection.

Yes, I am easily entertained...

Hmm, may have to go back to Target and get that olive-drab colored Schlitz t-shirt. How campy is that?

Thursday Videos - Herman, I Approve of Your Message!

2011-03-24T23:56:00.001-04:00

Herman, go raise some more Cain!

Thursday Videos - Finally, Some Good Conservative Music!

2011-03-24T23:53:00.000-04:00

"Union Man", by Glen Shulfer

Thursday Videos - Takin' the Tea Party to San Francisco

2011-03-24T23:44:00.000-04:00

Good Luck.

When a Liberal "Gets It"

2011-03-18T08:10:00.002-04:00

After throwing some "stink bombs" on Facebook (that will annoy libs),...I did some diverse reading. I tried to stay away from politics on FB for a few days, but...

Anyway, I sometimes read Huffington Post and sometimes I find things worth considering.

In this case, it is the post of Lee Stranahan, a textbook liberal, who after being hired by Andrew Breitbart to study the fraud in the Pigford Farmers Case - has immersed himself in the conservative blogosphere - with more of an open mind than most liberals are capable of having. And he has come to realize that most of the political hate and violence in this country is Left-wing. And he is very uncomfortable with that fact.

From the article:

..."On the other hand, if you read conservative blogs or listen to conservative media, you know all about these threats because people like Bill O'Reilly and Rush Limbaugh and websites like Newsbusters and BigJournalism have not only been talking about the death threats for days now but they have been talking about the mainstream and liberal media ignoring the threats for days.

Ignoring the story of these threats is deeply, fundamentally wrong. It's bad, biased journalism that will lead to no possible good outcome and progressives should be leading the charge against it."...

More:

..."I'm in an odd position. In the last few months, I've had one foot in the left wing news stream and one foot in the right. My media duality began when conservative publish Andrew Breitbart hired me to work with him on the Pigford 'black farmers' settlement story. I'm a pro-choice, pro-single payer, anti-war, pro-gay rights independent liberal with years of work in print and film backing those positions. Breitbart hired me to bring a different perspective to the non-partisan issue of corruption in Pigford.

Since then, I have written both here for the left-leaning Huffington Post and at Breitbart's right leaning BigGovernment.com. I've ended up reading a lot more conservative sites and dealing with a lot more conservatives than any time since I attended a high school dedicated to the principles of Ayn Rand about 30 years ago."...

After posting a quote in reference to FDR's opinions about public-sector unions, Stranahan continues:

..."Roosevelt's statement makes sense to me; it does seem that public employees are different than private. I'm not at all anti-union. (I've publicly supported unionizing the visual effects industry, for example.) I'm open to a good rational argument against the case FDR made but in discussions on Twitter and elsewhere, all I got in response from people on the left was anger and insults. I saw little light and felt much heat.

That tone of extreme hostility I experience brings me back to the death threats in Wisconsin. Frankly, the bile and invective in that threat reminded me of the tone I saw directed at me from many so-called liberals because I committed the heresy of taking a different position from them on the issue of collective bargaining for public sector employees... based on something FDR said.

Is this really what liberalism has come to in 2011? [Well no, it has been going on for a while. Liberalism ain't what it used to be, not since it has been infiltrated by the likes of Saul Alinsky, Bill Ayers, et al, on the Hard Left.]

Since I began working with Breitbart, my position on political issues hasn't changed but I'd be lying if I didn't say I'm deeply disappointed by the virulent, lockstep attitude I see on the left. My experience in the last few months tells me what I would not have believed possible; on any number of issues (including Pigford, by the way) I've seen liberals act much nastier and with less factual honesty than the conservatives... and this includes on issues where I disagree with conservatives.

Burying the death threat story is a clear example of intellectual dishonesty and journalistic bias."...

Not that I am anybody important, but Lee - welcome to the real world. As I said, Liberalism ain't what it used to be. And I salute you for having the courage to say this in public.

So, it appears that I can add Lee Stranahan to the short list of honest liberals that I respect, though I may disagree with many of their viewpoints. Natt Hentoff, Juan Williams, Lee Stranahan,...uh, uh,...I can't think of any others right now.

Why Modern Liberals Ain't - Liberal Facism in Wisconsin

2011-03-17T07:49:00.004-04:00

So many incidents, so little time...

This particular incident occurred in Merrill, WI last week during a Recall Jim Holperin rally. Holperin, a Democrat member of the Wisconsin Senate, was one of the "fleebaggers" that ran from their responsibilities to try to prevent a vote.

A female union supporter tore up several petitions, rather than engage in thoughtful debate. Not surprising, it is easier to destroy than to create. Liberalism is intellectual laziness.

There are some ongoing efforts to investigate this as a crime, perhaps a felony.

From the original Blogs for Victory post:

..."This is what fascism really looks like, good people - attempts to shut down debate, prevent votes, and intimidate people into silence. I know our liberals will go ballistic and insist that there is no similiarity [sic] between modern liberalism and fascism...but that is simply because they've bought the age-old, Stalinist line (and, yes, they don't even know whence it comes) that all on the left are "anti-fascist" (and, thus, they are the good guys)."...

From decades of observation, it seems that as liberals project their worst characteristics onto conservatives, we conservatives project our best characteristics onto liberals. They accuse us of being narrow-minded when they themselves are unable to tolerate dissenting viewpoints, especially when voiced by individuals belonging to minorities claimed by liberals. When we disagree with the political viewpoints of a minority person, they accuse us of racism, whereas they make blanket judgements of what those minorities are supposed to believe and that they are incapable of thinking for themselves, i.e., they are infected with the "soft racism of low expectations."

We who attempt to live lives of politeness and restraint during political debates make the mistake of projecting our goodness onto liberals. Because we make an effort to allow dissenting voices (even though we may roll our eyes to the point of fatigue), we make the mistake of thinking that they will do the same thing. We make the mistake of thinking that because we uphold traditional morals and accepted societal norms (such as cleaning up after ourselves and being polite) - they will do the same. [There are of course, some liberals that are polite and open-minded, but they often do not have the courage to speak up against their brethren, lest they be turned-upon.]

[Yes, I have engaged in making generalities - as is done for the sake of conversation or making a point - on talk radio and in personal debates/conversations. I don't see a problem with that, as long as everyone knows and accepts that they are generalities, that do not apply to everyone.]

"...attempts to shut down debate, prevent votes, and intimidate people into silence."... That is not Classical Liberalism, there is no aspect of open-mindedness within these efforts. Those are the methods of Saul Alinsky.

In this previous post on Classical Liberalism, these are the core principles presented (slightly paraphrased):

1) Preservation of liberty is paramount. Do particular actions increase the liberty (as opposed to hedonistic libertine behavior) of responsible individuals?

2) Individualism is more important than collectivism.

3) Skepticism about power. "Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts, absolutely."

4) The rule of law is paramount. This includes long accepted principles, i.e. concepts of "natural law" and "Robert's Rules of Order" on a smaller scale. These have arisen through the interactions of countless individuals and have been deemed as successful behaviors. It also includes those laws that are designed to preserve the sovereignty of a nation.

5) Maintenance of a civil society is paramount. Voluntarily organizations are better at engaging in most interactions, without the imposition of top-down, inflexible rules.

6) Spontaneous order. Spontaneous order can arise from the voluntary interaction of open-minded, respectful people.

7) Maintenance of free markets is paramount. Morally-rooted individuals are capable of engaging in voluntary interaction with one another, without artificial relationships and rules being forced from "above".

8) Toleration for speech and viewpoints with which we disagree. This doesn't mean we have to accept clearly harmful behaviors within our midst. It means that we don't try to use the government (or mob intimidation) to shut down dissent.

9) Maintenance of Peace. This is to allow the free movement of Capital, Labor, People, Goods, and Services. In a truly equal, libertarian society, this would include the movement of law-abiding citizens across borders, when the cultures and practices of adjacent nations are relatively similar. However, in the real world, when people (not of good faith) cross a cultural boundary when they also cross a national boundary, i.e., from a less-free historically-corrupt society and they have no intention of assimilating into their new "home", this is injurious to the host society.

10) Limited government is paramount. Self-government though needs self-discipline.

So, who fits these definitions better? Modern conservatives or modern liberals? Need I ask?

Ultimate Paranoia...Perhaps

2011-03-16T08:32:00.003-04:00

I started thinking this way back in the late 1990s, after the "Republican Revolution" fizzled, partially because Newt weakened himself by not being able to keep his pants on. In Washington, there are no secrets.

Anyway, my fear is that "Republican leaders" have been taken into a back room and told "OK guys, it's over. We are in charge. You can pretend you have some influence, but keep it under control." Or something like that. Is this the reason why Republicans keep being corrupted by Washington?

Just sayin'.