A Long Read, But...

A MUST read! Yeah, yeah...I know, it's The New Yorker, but humor me.

John at the Alpaca Burger Forum hipped me to this piece on Oriana Fallaci.
An amazing tale of an amazing life. Pack a snack, it's a long, but engrossing article. Personal politics aside, here's one stand up broad who always spoke her mind and has no regrets.

Some quotes that stood out for me-

Fallaci on Khomeini :
"Do believe me: everything started with Khomeini. Without Khomeini, we would not be where we are. What a pity that, when pregnant with him, his mother did not choose to have an abortion.”

And here's the money shot: (actually, just one of many.)

Fallaci sees the threat of Islamic fundamentalism as a revival of the Fascism that she and her sisters grew up fighting. She told me, “I am convinced that the situation is politically substantially the same as in 1938, with the pact in Munich, when England and France did not understand a thing. With the Muslims, we have done the same thing.” She elaborated, in an e-mail, “Look at the Muslims: in Europe they go on with their chadors and their burkas and their djellabahs. They go on with the habits preached by the Koran, they go on with mistreating their wives and daughters. They refuse our culture, in short, and try to impose their culture, or so-called culture, on us. . . . I reject them, and this is not only my duty toward my culture. Toward my values, my principles, my civilization. It is not only my duty toward my Christian roots. It is my duty toward freedom and toward the freedom fighter I am since I was a little girl fighting as a partisan against Nazi-Fascism. Islamism is the new Nazi-Fascism. With Nazi-Fascism, no compromise is possible. No hypocritical tolerance. And those who do not understand this simple reality are feeding the suicide of the West.”

Now go, read!

"We're All Gonna DIE!!!" (Part 2,358 of a continuing series)

"High-altitude noctilucent clouds have been mysteriously spreading around the world in recent years.

Glowing, silvery blue clouds that have been spreading around the world and brightening mysteriously in recent years will soon be studied in unprecedented detail by a NASA spacecraft.

The Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere (AIM) mission will be the first satellite dedicated to studying this enigmatic phenomenon. Due to launch in late 2006, it should reveal whether the clouds are caused by global warming, as many scientists believe..."

"Many researchers believe this proliferation is down to human activities. "You need three things for clouds to form: particles that water can condense onto; water; and cold temperatures," says Russell. He says pollution and global warming are thought to be responsible for two of those factors."


May I humbly submit a possible 3rd factor?










The article does go on to say that the experts aren't sure whether this blue cloud thingy is good or bad; that is what they are trying to discover. But dime to doughnuts, we all know how this will be spun.

Afterall, We've only got 10 years left on this planet, isn't that so?

At least that's what I've been hearing for the past 34 years!



HT: Free Republic

Phreaky Phreddy Phrustrates Pheds

Bush Signs Law to Limit Protests at National Cemeteries

"The president signed the "Respect for America's Fallen Heroes Act," which was passed by Congress in response to the activities of a Kansas church group that has staged protests at military funerals around the country.
The group claims the deaths are God's vengeance for U.S. tolerance of homosexuals. Its actions have sparked outrage among grieving families and lawmakers.

The new law bars protests within 300 feet of the entrance of a national cemetery and within 150 feet of a road into the cemetery. This restriction applies an hour before until an hour after a funeral. Those violating the act would face a fine of up to $100,000 and a prison sentence of up to a year."

The article also mentioned that Dub seen signs such as this, on his way to Arlington Cemetary yesterday. Phreaky Phed's yahoos were there, just outside the entrance.



No doubt the phallanx of Phreaky Phred's Phollowers are doing a happy dance now because of a federal law being signed JUST BECAUSE OF THEM, and them alone. This just gives them more encouragement. From their POV, it shows that they are on the right track.
OY VEY! Where's God with a lightning bolt when ya need Him?

Finally!

Casey Sheehan's grave finally gets the propers he deserves. A headstone has has been installed this weekend.

Sometime earlier Cindy had said: "I didn't want to put a tombstone on my son's grave," she wrote, capitalizing the letters of the word "tomb." "I didn't want one more marble proof that my son was dead."

(Once again, it's not about you and your now feigned grief, it's about respect! You never had any problems with setting up cheesy cheap crosses with his name magic markered on them and creating makeshift "shrines" for him at your protests. But showing your own kid his propers in the usual manner, sans any political agenda, was just too much, eh? Lie to your friends, don't lie to us.)

2 weeks ago, she had publically stated she would attend the ceremony. Ah, but alas! Scheduling conflicts prevent that. She's doing speaking engagements in Australia right now. Infer from that what you will.


The folks at Cindy Sheehan Watch has the full dope about this occasion.

Just in Case I've Haven't Said It Lately...

" Thanks, Y'all! "

May God bless and hold close all those who have served and gave their all and all their families as well. Our thoughts and eternal thanks for your sacrifice and duty to God & country are with each and everyone of you on this day.

Addendum: What he said!

A Somber Reminder This Holiday Weekend

My girls and I were coming home from church this afternoon and just a few miles short of our home we come upon a grisly scene. A late model Mustang overturned in the ditch. 4 state troopers with lights going just about had the 2 lane road blocked off, one trooper was out pacing off the skids with the little rolling measuring stick thingy they use. The local ambulance was there and a large, dark SUV was slowly pulling up alongside the wreckage. (I knew who that was, but my girls didn't...the coroner.)
There were a few other cars pulled over, waiting to be flagged through. So I asked if anyone knew what had happened. Noone did, aside from someone had just been air-evac'd out.
So we sat and waited. I knew they were just about wrapped up there.
I seen the coroner with a sheet and an assistant carrying a backboard go off behind the wreck.
"Mom, what's going on?" my eldest asked.
"That's the coroner, hon." I said, "Both y'all say a prayer right real quick. There's some family out there that will never enjoy this holiday ever again."
The girls both bowed their heads and said some silent prayers. I too paused and said a few words as well.

After a couple minutes the coroner and his assistant emerged from the ditch with a sheet covered body on the backboard, they loaded it into the back of the big SUV. It looked so small, but that could have just been because we were viewing from a distance. We were stopped about 200 feet from the scene.

The body loaded, the SUV got turned around and headed on the highway towards town. The girls stared as they passed. They had never witnessed anything like that before. And I must admit, it was a first for me, too. I had come upon accident scenes before, but never where if there had been a fatality, I saw the removal of the victim.

Now all we had to do was wait for the state boys to kick aside some of the bigger chunks of debris and allow us through. It was at that point I began to speculate, out loud to my girls as to the nature of the wreck.
I told them I could say almost with a certainty that A) All the passengers were under 18, B) No one had their seatbelts on. And C) The driver wasn't familiar with this road and was going way too fast.

This stretch of highway has some especially wicked curves and small hills all within a short length, so much so I always have called it the 'whoopty whoop' because at the right speed-and skill and good tread, it does give one an amusement park-like effect. Dangerous as hell if you ain't familiar with it. But having drove that stretch for over 20 years I no longer give it any thought, other than be alert!

"Now, do you guys understand why I make such a big deal out of y'all not being foolish once you get your licenses?" I asked them. "I don't want that to be either one of you!" I figured I was laying it on a little thick and might have been scaring them so I just hushed up at that point. Figured once we were allowed to pass I'd let the wreckage do the talking.
They finally allowed traffic to go through and, like everyone else, we crept past the crash. Holy Mother of God! They must have come flying through there, judging by the skids and the scalping on the shoulder and asphalt. At least 2 wheels had been sheared off the axles and the Mustang was a flatten mass laying on its roof in the ditch...that is, if it even had one, might have been a convertible, one couldn't tell! 2 words: Pretty bad!

The girls just stared silently. They didn't say a word the rest of the way home. I think the point had been made.


A couple hours later we found out that the fatality had been a 16 year old boy. The female passenger...also a teenager, had been air lifted to the hospital. Both were from a neighboring town about 20 miles away, so they probably weren't real familiar with the road. And yep- No seatbelts. Betcha the kid has just got his license!

Dammit, I hate when I'm right! Especially about something like this. Just so horribly sad. There's 2 families out there right now who are having the worst holiday weekend ever.
And it's a tragic reminder to all of us to take it easy this weekend.
Now, if you'll excuse me-I have to go hug my kids.

Fresh Moonshine?

I see we have a new little bell & whistle to the Ecosystem blogroll.
Blogs with new posts are tagged with the phrase "Fresh Moonshine"

Hmmmm, I always thought fresh moonshine (as in improperly aged) would make ya go blind and crazy as a loon.

Well, either way, it's a nice little feature.

We've also had quite a few new folks join up recently. Welcome, y'all!

"Baron Munchausen to the White Courtesy Phone, Please"

The MacBeth saga gets weirder and weirder. I admit to following this pretty well 'dead horse' story simply because it intrigues me.
The only conclusion I could arrive as to why someone would attempt to pull off such a sloppy and easily uncovered hoax is that they have to be mentally unstable.
Well, here ya go- someone claiming to be MacBeth's sister (or at least half-sister) posted this comment on Q and O, who has been all over this story like a duck on snails. Here's the whole comment:

"I am Jesse’s older sister. Let me tell you...I am finally glad someone has finally discovered he is a fraud.

My brother went to army boot camp but got kicked out after four weeks for an inability to adapt to military life and was sent to a mental hospital in Georgia.

We grew up in the Arizona foster care system. Our mother is schizophrenic, a drug addict, and very abusive. Jesse spent the majority of his childhood in mental hospitals.

He convinced me back in 2002 that he was sick from Hep C and in need of surgery. I took him in. When I discovered that he was faking and stealing from me, I asked him to leave. I drove him all they way back to Arizona (I was going to school in California) and by the time I got back he had managed to empty my bank account, my roommates bank account, and charge up my credit card.

He somehow convinced people in Pima, Arizona that we got shot in the back in Iraq and his story just took off from there.

My brother is mentally ill. I don’t know where my cute little baby brother went or how he got replaced by this scary monster. I don’t know how to help him, so I had to stop contact with him all together.

At least now, maybe he’ll be forced to get some help and get back on his medication."



That comment has more of a ring of truth to it than any of his tales! Was it his sister? The commenters at Q and O expressed some doubt, only based on a pic that she has posted on her Yahoo profile. Like that's hard evidence. Easily discounted. How many of us actually put up our 'actual' photos on things like that?
I know some of us may have had experience dealing with the mentally ill, either through family members or friends or friends of friends. The one continous issue that almost always crops up with them is the matter of medication. Sure, once they get treatment and the meds take hold, they're functional, fairly rational and fine. But therein is the problem! Almost always, at least in my experience, once they get to feeling "normal" they get the idea that they can go off the meds! And the subsequent lapse back to madness can be far worse that the first! I've seen it too many times. My only question to her story is that if he had a history of mental illness, going clear back to childhood, then why did he even get accepted into Basic to begin with? I thought something like that would be a major red flag.

2 possible scenarios here as to the outcome of all this :
1) Someday, some how, some true Rangers will pay this loon a "courtesy call" and that will be the end of that. OR

2) He'll be "adopted" by Cindy Shehag and go on the summer speaking circut with her.

Here's the link to the page where "Amy" left her comment.

And then here's Q&O's
follow up on that, with updates and loads o' links.

If he is truly medically unhinged, then that would be enough to beat any possible charges he could face as a result of his little stunts.

We Missed the Casting Call, Dangit!

Wooo Hoo! Lil' ol' Ozark County was host to some big city TV production crew last week...and we missed it! Must have been an 'inside job' cuz we never heard about it until today when I picked up our local weekly paper, and hell's bells, there's a bunch of my younguns classmates and school pals with parts and everything! Shoot. We must have missed the memo. Here's the story.

What the deal was about was a crew in town to film a segment for one of TLC's shows. TLC! That's friggin' global, dude!

Anyhow, the segment deals with the notorious Winrod standoff that took place a few years back and they got some local kids to act the parts of Winrod's grandkids. Other adult locals took roles as Gordon Winrod, his son and others involved in the case. TLC has a series about SWAT teams in the works and this episode will be one of the first of that series to air.
I must admit, the guy they got to be Winrod, don't look anything like him...not one bit. But a few of the kids do resemble some of the grandkids.

So who's Winrod? Oh jeez...where do I start? This raving theologically retarded facist bigot has been a thorn in our side for as long as I have lived here. Even though he's in the joint now he still gets his psycho incomprehensible "newsletter" sent out to every residence in Ozark County on a regular basis...just not as frequent as before. Just got one last week, matter of fact.
Straight to the trash...I would be mortified if my kids ever got a hold of one! The rantings are of someone seriously unhinged; vile, profane...oozing with hate. The Joooooooooooooos are everywhere! By Winrod's definition, a Jew is just about everyone other than him. Oh and by the way, we're all childmolesting, Christian baby's blood drinking, murdering, sodomizing, drunken Jewish hordes, doing Satan's bidding. Just a head's up. C'mon, get with the program!

This dude was so out there, the Anti-Defamation League website has not one page about him, but a whole section, many pages long! Here, go ed'jicate yerself! They also have some excerpts from his newsletters, and believe me, they only printed the least vile ones! Those are bad enough.
Rick Ross's site, dealing with cults also has some stories about Winrod, culled from news reports.

Anyway, I'm thrilled on one hand that our little neck of the woods will be featured on a TV show, but on the other, I wish, for just once Lord, it wasn't about some nutjob cultists or those 'white power' buttholes.

A Shehag in Arkansas Update

(Well, that would depend on the question!)


I said iffen the Lovely County Citizen ran a story about lil' Cindy's visit then I'd post it.

They did. In this Monday's edition.

One of their contributing editors actually got a sit down with her and since, in his words, she would be preaching to the choir there (Eureka Springs is a raging lefty enclave in an otherwise conservative area) he just let her fly with her rants. The Citizen doesn't have a policy concerning improper language in quotes- words like 'shit', 'damn' and even an occasional 'God damn' make it to print on a regular basis in their articles sometimes.
So what did lil' Cindy Lou Who? have to say for herself? Here's some of the more amusing stuff. (With the usual smartypants asides from me.)

Sheehan said she has just recovered from her widely-covered trip to Venezuela, where she spent considerable time with Hugo Chavez, the leftist president who has been a big critic of the Bush administration, calling Bush “the world’s biggest terrorist.” She describes Chavez as “a man with a big heart, who loves his people and wants to see South America united. He’s funny, warm and articulate. The people of Venezuela love Hugo.”
( Yep, just like the people of Cuba love Castro, just like the people of the USSR loved Stalin, just like the people of China loved Mao-blah blah blah.)

“Casey was against the war. We talked about it,” Sheehan said. “He was against George Bush and didn’t want to go to Iraq. He wanted to defend his community and country, not be in an illegal, immoral war.” She believes Casey would tell her “Make his [Bush’s] life as miserable as you can. He’d be proud, saying ‘Go, mom.’”

( It's easy to say stuff like that when the person who you claim to speak for can't defend themselves...cuz, they're, uh, like, dead! I guess we have to just take her word on it...she IS so credible, y'know. )

“A total pacifist now,” Sheehan said she once believed some wars were OK. “Looking back, 99.9 percent of wars can be avoided. But that’s not the goal of those who want to spread corporate colonialism. If we stopped our kids from joining, they wouldn’t be able to do it. In this country, all war is for profit. Our kids are used for cannon fodder to make people rich.”

( Wow...what a blast from the past!!! Cindy's been reading up on her Jane Fonda, The Hanoi Years! I dunno...did anyone get rich off the American Revolution? I missed that part in U.S History.)

“Shit rolls down hill – it’s the only thing we’re going to get from the top,” Sheehan said in closing. “Peace has to come from the bottom up. Stand up to prevent more Casey and Cindy Sheehans. Whatever you can do, just do it.”
( Well, I have to agree with her there in part...the part about preventing more Cindy Sheehans. Christ, one is more than enough!!)

If you care...here's the whole article...but dangit, no photos!

And in a curiously related story, from the same site:

The Carroll County Quorum Court took no action on an agenda item to consider declaring Carroll County a “Patriot Act-free Zone.” Approximately a dozen demonstrators outside the courthouse carried signs calling for the action, and also for the county to defy the federal mandate to use electronic touch-screen voting machines unless the machines can be proven to be tamperproof.
Toldja...a leftyloon hotbed down there.

Must be a Midwest Thang...

A few years back I was amused by news stories about the Arkansas Toe Sucker.
(no, that's not an affectionate nickname for Bubba Clinton!)
Now this out of Oklahoma!

Jeezuz H! How sad, sick and pathetic is that?!!


HT: Texas Tattler

Major Spew Alert (in more ways than one!)

First, stow any liquids away from the keyboard, make sure your bladder is empty and get on over to the "Gab & Grub" now!
Cookie has posted a tale of misadventure from his Navy days that will leave you gasping for air from laughing so hard and possibly cough up a lung!

Coffee will just never taste the same for me.

Timeline of a Hoax

( Man, you just have to take one look at this bird and KNOW he ain't wired up right!)

So just who the frig is Jesse MacBeth? And why should we care? Follow the messy and confusing trail of how a hoax was sprang on the world, as told by Allah over at HotAir.
The Lovely Michelle also has more.

The dweeb who got this whole ball of wax rolling calls himself "a volunteer social justice cameraperson".
Oh! Is that what the kids are calling it these days?

Back in the day, it was called being a "propagandist".

HT: The Rotweiller

Happy Birthday, Bob!

I have just been informed by my youngest that today is Bob Dylan's birthday.
She is quite enamored by Dylan right now. Or rather the Dylan of the 60's...she thinks he was cute then. She gets all squealy over pics of him during the early 60's as she does over pics of the latest pre-teen crush, Jesse McCartney.
If she ever saw a pic of Bob Dylan, as he is now, she would freak right out. The guy ain't aging well.
So how does she plan to commerate the day? Might get some ideas here.

CYA-- Osama-style

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An audio recording in which al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden says convicted September 11 plotter Zacarias Moussaoui played no role in the attacks is authentic, a U.S. intelligence official said on Wednesday.

"Following a technical analysis it has been revealed that the voice is indeed Osama bin Laden," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

In the audiotape, posted on a Web site often used by al Qaeda, bin Laden also said he had personally assigned tasks to the 19 hijackers who staged the attacks on U.S. cities that killed about 3,000 people.

Source: Reuters

(Okay, so maybe I'm just a dopey yokel but I'm always wondering if we know about these sites, why can't we just shut 'em down? Oh, I guess that would be infringing on freedom of speech, huh? God forbid we do such a horrible thing to our ENEMIES!!
True, these dinkheads would just set up shop on another site, but it be a nice annoyance to them...just as they constantly annoy Aaron.
The only reason I can think of that we allow these sites to thrive is that they can be a source of intelligence. But still, it pisses me off. I'm an ugly American... so sue me. Besides, would they be so stupid as to post any upcoming plans on such a public forum as the internet? I dunno, like I said-I'm just a dopey yokel getting fed up with these buttholes. What do I know?)

Too Pooped to Pop

Ugh...I hate summer.
Well, not really. I just dislike the "busy-ness" of it.
'Round here, as soon as school lets out, the ball season begins. Just about every kid in the county participates in the Ball Leagues here...mainly cuz it's free and it gives the younguns something to do. Mine have gone from the T-Ball teams all the way to now fast pitch softball. My youngest is sitting out this season, again, due to some unresolved psychic trauma from getting beaned square in the nose with a pitch. Damn shame, she had skills.
Come to find out it actually did break her nose from that, even though the local clinic said their X-rays showed no nasal damage. But I digress...
Anyhow, I should be grateful I only have one practice and game schedule to co-ordinate. I shudder to think what it could be like if they both were playing and were on different teams. I'd be like my friend who has 3 boys, all in different age groups and levels. Yikes, for a month and a half it seems all they do is run to games and practices. I would go mad. We just got back from practice just abit ago...at 10 (ten!) pm. Who the heck schedules practice for a gaggle of 10 and 12 yr. olds to run till 9:30??! Our Lions Club ball coaches, that's who.

Then there's the dance studio and their June recital. It's been asses and elbows there as they get all the routines down pat that they've been working on for the past 9 months, get costumes ordered and picked up and stupid me, always being the nice guy offered to help with the production. So now I'm laying out the programs to be printed and doing some costume work for them. It's in 2 weeks. I might get it done.

And then there's all the other stuff I got going on, the neverending remodel job, the church library, etc. Everything is getting done in dribs and drabs, since sometimes I have to abide by others schedules. That and one has to drive over 20 miles just to get anywhere here! I think it's all the driving that exhausts me more than all the commitments.
So dammit..I'm tired!
And grouchy, too.
And my checkbook is screaming bloody murder from all the extra fill-ups I've been needing to do just to get all my stuff done.
Oy! It's gonna be a bad summer...I can see it already!

"24" Season Finale- "Slow Boat to China"

Well, boy howdy-they pulled it off. Got the silly sub thang handled, Henderson capped, Loopner taken into custody and just when we thought everything was cool, our boy falls for the ol' phone call from your daughter bit and now he's on a frieghter to China! The Chi-Coms made sure they beat the crap out of him right real good. I knew these guys had to factor in at the end somehow, since Jack was on their 'most wanted' list and they wanted this boy in the worst way...especially when they figured out he had faked his death...oops.

Well, since it was a 2 hour thing and my, there were so many great scenes to go with, I have to say the one from hour 1 that I liked the most was the nimble necksnapping of Bierko by the mighty thighs of steel of Jack! Oh my goodness! I think I 'bout near had an attack of the vapors from that!
Where's my smelling salts?!!

As for the second hour... it had to be the smug, cat ate the canary look that Loopners old lady, Martha, gave him as the feds led him away. "Buh-bye, dear, buh bye!" Even Mike of the emmense domage leaned in for a grin. Oh that was tooooo good! And it made up for the previous all too icky scene where she showed the world what a great patriot she was by pulling a stall doinking-taking one for the team. Eeeewww. But even Martha shoulda known that would only take about 5 minutes...and they needed at least 20. Maybe Loop is the kinda guy who goes for a long hot shower afterwards.

Anywho, this is shaping up to be a very interesting next season...I'm sure it'll begin just as the frieghter is docking in some Chinese port. Adding to the suspense is the fact that NO ONE stateside has a clue where he is or what has happened!
WooHoo. I'm so looking forward to the Bauer policy regarding diplomatic relations with China.

9 Hours and Counting...

The big 2 hour season finale of "24" is tonight!
My God, I'm already having anxiety attacks, how sick is that?!

I still don't know how the hell it's all gonna be wrapped up in a sorta neat package with yet another crisis to segue into the next season.
But then again, it's best not to think too hard when watching.

"Please keep all arms and legs inside the compartment until the ride has come to a full and complete stop."

A Late Sunday Non-Post

This kinda represents me most of today. Just lazed about the shack and didn't do much of squat. Need those days now and then.




Been working a on story to explain this:

(Uhhh, hey-didja know there's a rooster in the bathtub?
Yeah...and your point is....?)

After reading Born Again's latest chicken reports, I got to thinking I really do need to do my chicken in the bathroom story...now that I have the photo from my Mom's things to illustrate this true tale of rural weirdness. I haven't rambled about poultry in a while. I'm overdue. Had a rough going, but Dang if I can recall just where and just how I saved it!
Hate when that happens. Oh well, that one kinda sucked anyway.

Saturday Nite Funny

(Now I'll admit folks around my neck of the woods ain't the brightest bulbs on the string, but Lawsamercy...they ain't this dumb! But it does make for a purty funny joke.)


A redneck family from the hills was visiting the city and they were in a mall for the first time in their lives. The father and son were
strolling around while the wife shopped. They were amazed by almost everything they saw, but especially by two shiny, silver walls that could move apart and then slide back together again. The boy asked, "Paw, what's zat?"

The father (never having seen an elevator) responded, "Son, I dunno. I ain't never seen anything like that in my entire life, I ain't got no idea'r what it is."

While the boy and his father were watching with amazement, a hefty old
lady in a wheelchair rolled up to the moving walls and pressed a button.The walls opened and the lady rolled between them into a small room. The walls closed and the boy and his father watched the small circular numbers above the walls light up sequentially.

They continued to watch until it reached the last number and then the numbers began to light in the reverse order. Then the walls opened up again and a gorgeous, voluptuous 24 year-old blonde woman stepped out.

The father, not taking his eyes off the young woman, said quietly to
his son,

"Boy...go git cha momma..."

The DaVinci Code: the sponsor's cut

Alright, are we all just sick of The Da Vinci Code yet?

Needing some levity today I knew I could count on Wuzzadem for some silliness. Found it, in spades.
Be sure to check out his posts from the past few days. The vacation must have did him some good, the boy's in rare form.

Yes, No, Maybe, Kinda-Sorta

There seems to be some confusion as to whether Armanijacket's desire to 'tag' his countrys' infidels ala Holocaust is truly legit or not.
Some sources say it's bunk, others are confirming it...it's all in flux right now, as who ever has something to hide are now scrambling to CYA.

I dunno folks...consider this guys past history. He so wants to be an Adolph wannabe.
He's got the personality down pat. And they lied up the wazoo about nukes. Believe me, if this does prove to be 100% b/s, beyond all reasonable doubt, I will be one happy camper! And I will post it.

But that small, still and extremely paranoid voice inside me sez: Don't trust the sumbitch...he's just crazy enough to make this plan public because he knows we're all too friggin' P/C to do anything about it!
...And he has nukes...well, just about.

The Infidel Bloggers Alliance is trying to stay on top of this one.

UPDATE: A snippet from the "National Post"'s article on the subject-

Mr. Kermanian said the subject of “what to do with religious minorities” came up during debates leading up to the passing of the dress code law.

“It is possible that some ideas might have been thrown around,” he said. “But to the best of my knowledge the final version of the law does not demand any identifying marks by the religious minority groups.”

Ali Reza Nourizadeh, an Iranian commentator on political affairs in London, suggested that the requirements for badges or insignia for religious minorities was part of a “secondary motion” introduced in parliament, addressing the changes specific to the attire of people of various religious backgrounds.

Mr. Nourizadeh said that motion was very minor and was far from being passed into law.

That account could not be confirmed.


Kinda sounds like to me that the issue is still on the table. That alone creeps me out.
"...very minor and was far from being passed into law." Hmmmmmm? One can only hope.
Something is very peculiar about this.

History Repeating Itself

HOLY SHI'ITE!!


"Human rights groups are raising alarms over a new law passed by the Iranian parliament that would require the country's Jews and Christians to wear coloured badges to identify them and other religious minorities as non-Muslims.

"This is reminiscent of the Holocaust," said Rabbi Marvin Hier, the dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles. "Iran is moving closer and closer to the ideology of the Nazis."

Iranian expatriates living in Canada yesterday confirmed reports that the Iranian parliament, called the Islamic Majlis, passed a law this week setting a dress code for all Iranians, requiring them to wear almost identical "standard Islamic garments."

The law, which must still be approved by Iran's "Supreme Guide" Ali Khamenehi before being put into effect, also establishes special insignia to be worn by non-Muslims.

Iran's roughly 25,000 Jews would have to sew a yellow strip of cloth on the front of their clothes, while Christians would wear red badges and Zoroastrians would be forced to wear blue cloth.

"There's no reason to believe they won't pass this," said Rabbi Hier. "It will certainly pass unless there's some sort of international outcry over this."

Bernie Farber, the chief executive of the Canadian Jewish Congress, said he was "stunned" by the measure. "We thought this had gone the way of the dodo bird, but clearly in Iran everything old and bad is new again," he said. "It's state-sponsored religious discrimination."

Ali Behroozian, an Iranian exile living in Toronto, said the law could come into force as early as next year.

It would make religious minorities immediately identifiable and allow Muslims to avoid contact with non-Muslims.

Mr. Behroozian said it will make life even more difficult for Iran's small pockets of Jewish, Christian and other religious minorities -- the country is overwhelmingly Shi'ite Muslim. "They have all been persecuted for a while, but these new dress rules are going to make things worse for them," he said.

The new law was drafted two years ago, but was stuck in the Iranian parliament until recently when it was revived at the behest of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

A spokesman for the Iranian Embassy in Ottawa refused to comment on the measures. "This is nothing to do with anything here," said a press secretary who identified himself as Mr. Gharmani.

"We are not here to answer such questions."

The Simon Wiesenthal Centre has written to Kofi Annan, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, protesting the Iranian law and calling on the international community to bring pressure on Iran to drop the measure.

"The world should not ignore this," said Rabbi Hier. "The world ignored Hitler for many years -- he was dismissed as a demagogue, they said he'd never come to power -- and we were all wrong."

Mr. Farber said Canada and other nations should take action to isolate Mr. Ahmadinejad in light of the new law, which he called "chilling," and his previous string of anti-Semitic statements.

"There are some very frightening parallels here," he said. "It's time to start considering how we're going to deal with this person."

Mr. Ahmadinejad has repeatedly described the Holocaust as a myth and earlier this year announced Iran would host a conference to re-examine the history of the Nazis' "Final Solution."

He has caused international outrage by publicly calling for Israel to be "wiped off the map."

Iran does not yet have nuclear weapons, but Tehran believed by Western nations to be developing its own nuclear military capability, in defiance of international protocols and peace treaties.

The United States, France and Israel accuse Iran of using a civilian nuclear program to secretly build a weapon. Iran denies this, saying its program is confined to generating electricity."

HT: FreeRepublic

Oh-- So Now WE'RE the Crazy Ones...??

Stuff that caught my eye this morning...


TEHRAN (Reuters) - President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Thursday derided foes of Iran's nuclear work as mentally disturbed, ignoring a fresh plea by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan for all sides in the dispute to calm their rhetoric...
(If not wanting to be incinerated into a glowing ash heap at the hands of some sawed-off Napoleanic meglomaniac is crazy- then I'm a howling, pants pissin' lunatic!)


"Those who get sad at the progress and happiness of others are suffering from mental and psychological problems, so they should find a way to cure themselves," the student news agency ISNA quoted Ahmadinejad as saying in a speech." ( Is there a cure for Liberals? )

More here.

And, on the Homefront :
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate agreed on Thursday to make English the national language of the United States and moments later also adopted a milder alternative calling English the country's "unifying language."...

The United States currently has no official language and some lawmakers said they feared Inhofe's amendment would lead to discrimination against people who are not proficient in English. They also said it could hurt efforts to promote public health and safety in other languages.

(Oh for the love of God, can't they come up with a better argument than THAT woreout chestnut??!! I'm sure the 100's of thousands of immigrants from non-English speaking lands in years past who came here and adapted AND LEARNED THE FRIGGIN'LANGUAGE cuz they knew we wouldn't coddle and hold their hands and prevent them from assimilating would be shocked to know that that whole time their lives were in danger!
When in Rome...,bozos.
Now allow me to translate that above paragraph from the news story into a form of English we all can understand:

Oh Crap! There goes our federal funding for printing every friggin' scrap of government paper into Spanish, Korean, Mandarian, Sanskrit, Serbocroatian, French, Japanese, Italian, German, Coptic, Farsi, Arabic, Latin, Greek, Cherokee, Aborigine and that obscure clicking language that those African tribe guys use!! Oh the Humanity!!)

The rest of this silliness, here, with some great quotes by the usual suspects

My question is will this Senate amendment be available in multi translations?

Comment about The Old House

"I know everyone and his dog is hoppin' mad at Dub right now, but he's inheirited the problem and honestly, it's gone on neglected for too long that it very well is too overwhelming and drastic action is needed to fix it. Like having a beautiful old Victorian style house but realizing it's too damn old and falling apart to save. It breaks your heart to have to tear it down, but it's for the best. It would be far more economical to rebuild than to pour money into a rathole.
But I'm fearing Dub is getting too sentimental about the old house and won't do what he has to do."

The above comment, in part, was the inspiration for the story. That remark I had made to Gayle simmered and stewed in my noggin until finally the other day it spilled out in the form of a cautionary tale. It was as if I was on autopilot. I just banged that puppy right out-non-stop with minimal corrections. One of those moments I wished I'd have more often.

Is it about the Republican Party in general? Not really. But now that that has been brought up, sure. Maybe. That wasn't my original intent, however. I was, like many of us, frustrated by this latest uproar about illegal immigration, trying to put my fear and concerns down in an entertaining way rather than revert to the near moonbat-like invective and epitphet filled rants I've been reading on some blogs and sites. That is their right to voice their opinions, to vent, to steam. I don't blame them. I can understand their anger, their outrage, the sense of betrayal. But that ain't my style. Some of what I've been reading just pains me to the core- why just a few months ago some of these folks were openly mocking the moonbats and now they are almost word for word sounding just like the very thing they held in such distain.
So I opted for a rambling tale of good intentions gone wrong.

Believe me...I really, really don't want the ending to be true! Wish I could have come up with a different one, but human nature being what it is, that was the only ending I could forsee. Whether in private life or politics we all have seen and more than likely even done ourselves stupid things with good intentions. At the time we had very good reasons to do so...or at least they seemed like a good reason at the time. But nevertheless, it turned out badly.
After the President's speech the other night I was in a rather cynical mood.

See, I have a strong affection for Dub. Much akin to that the moonbats and Libs had for their Hillbilly Godfather- Bubba the 1st, The Wonderboy of Arkansas. So much so that I often slip into more familiar terms in referring to him, using that nickname rather than the office he holds. It's not disrespect, but a term of endearment...to me he was family. Just as I never call my uncle Harold by that title...he's just "Gills" or uncle Gills- a family nickname he's had forever.
And like a dear friend or family member who "appears" to be doing foolish things, I've been confused by what's going on lately. We've all had something like this in our own lives- a good close friend who is getting in too deep in a bad situation that can only lead to bad things and blinded either by love or addiction they cannot, will not listen to the ones that love them and only want the best for them. But do we as friends abandon them? No. We might take action, if the problem is too bad and get 'em into rehab or just hang back for a bit and see if they come to their senses. We don't hate them, but the sense of betrayal and confusion runs deep for a time. Maybe that's my problem...I saw Dub as part of our family rather than a politician in our party.
Must be a chick thing. We often go with emotion and intution rather than solid manly logic. (and that is also why the Dems have been so good at getting the female vote, imo)
Like my Ma always said: "Hate the sin, but love the sinner."

So Am I advocating a Third Party?
No. I got enough miles on me to recall how that has gone over in the past! But that always seems to be the immediate reaction our party takes when things ain't going so hot.To me that is playing right into the oppositions hands. They are masters at the divide and conquer thing. No doubt they are tickled pink at how we all are ripping each other to shreds over this issue...that's just what they want.

Will I vote Dem?
Oh, Good God! Are you smoking crack? I'd sacrifice my firstborn to a moongod before I would even consider that. Matter of fact, it's not EVEN a consideration. Besides, those bastards STILL owe me 50 bucks from '76! (long story, post fodder for another time.)

Is it time for me to dust off the tinfoil hat and slap it on?
Hmmmmm, perhaps. See, my mind just can't get around as to just what in the hell is going on here.
On the surface, it looks as if the ol' boy has completely lost his mind. But there's a small voice inside me that keeps mummering that there is more going on here than you know or what is apparent. That this will all indeed shake out for the best and we are not to be privy to the details, lest it ruin the whole scheme of things. Crazy like a fox, as the saying goes. I just hope the 'fox' in question isn't Vincente!
I have to have faith that God alone has the final say so as to the course this country will take. And there's so much behind the scenes crap that we can never comprehend.

Y'know, upon further thought, there IS another possible ending. As I said to Kathy in the comments about that story, I drew some of that from real life, right here in our area. In town, on a hill was a beautiful, historic old home-big, fat and lavish. Originally it had been the home to a notable family in town, but had ended up out of the familys control years ago. A local had bought the property and then spent, geez, 10 or more years and who knows how much dough giving the impression he was restoring it. All the while it just got worse and worse, squatting like an ugly toad on that hill. The city finally had to take action and condemn it. The details are now fuzzy in my head, but somehow descendants of the original family took control and went full bore into doing the restoration the right way...but then again, they had alot of money to throw into the project. After about a year or so the place was absolutely gorgeous, fully restored to its original beauty-it is now a fancy ass restaurant. And doing quite well, I understand. (The pic used at the start of this post is how the house looked before the family took charge.)
So, draw on that what you will.

And, in the words of Mr. Gump, That's all I got to say about that.

Hey! Who Ya Callin' 'Whitey'?!?

Oh. My. God.
Apparently a minority is getting up in arms over "The DaVinci Code".

I know it's suppose to be a serious news story, but honest to Pete, I can't help from laughing as I read it!!
Go...now...and be amused. You'll thank me.

(has the A/P been over run by former writers for National Lampoon?)

Mo' Fish For You !

Ah, jeez...here we go again! Seems these stories pop up with alarming frequency these days.
Why is it always fish? How about a turtle? A chicken? OK, there was that calf in Egypt with the cryptic skin folds, but that was just an anomoly, I think.

John at Wuzzadem, now tanned, rested and ready from his vacation has his spin on it.
(With the usual amusing graphics.)

I'm So Pathetic...

I've just changed my email notification sound to this.

Sound familiar?




(Dammit, Chloe! Stop emailing me...there isn't any time!)

"The Old House"

Once upon a time there was a house. A very pretty house. A handsome house. A house that was built with pride and skill. It cost a fortune back in those days. It was the talk of the town.
The family that had built that house appreciated the effort that went into owning such a house and took great pains to care for it. They loved their house. Many children and grandchildren grew up in that house.

Any structural problems were tended to quickly, the house got repainted on a regular cycle. The house was handed down from father to son and each son took reasonable care of it...afterall, they all knew the history of the house. It was a historical landmark in the town by now. Something to cherish.

My, it was a beautiful house! Ornate in the classical, over the top Victorian style. The kind they just don't build anymore. With proper care and maintence, it should last forever; as were most things built in those days were meant to.

But then one day after many many many years, the house began to have major problems. It began quite subtly. Just a small leak in the roof. The then current owner tacked a flattened tin can onto where he thought the leak was and called it good. Too many generations had passed and this guy didn't fully appreciate the history behind the house.
That worked for awhile.
But really what the house needed was a whole new roof. The current owner knew this full well, but didn't have the cash on hand.The tin can repair would have to do for now.

Since the house had many bedrooms, the current owner thought he'd rent those rooms out to supplement his income. And so he did. A lot of folks wanted to live in that classic old house...it was so beautiful and full of character. Although by now it was starting to get a wee bit shabby. Paint was peeling on the northside, but you couldn't see that from the street. A few more flattened tin cans had now joined the original one, speckling the roof. The wisteria vine on the side was needing pruning, badly, it had begun to root its vines under the siding, working its way into the frame.
Some of the doors upstairs stuck, because the foundation was starting to sag. A small colony of termites were entrenching themselves into the back porch timbers. The owner turned a blind eye, and just collected the rent from his tenants every month. He'd get around to doing all the maintence...someday.

Someday never came. As the owner grew older the troubles continued to grow and he never could get around to it. By now the house had become so seedy and run down, only the desperate and the destitute would seek shelter there. The owner dropped the rent to maintain at least some income. It became a flophouse of sorts. Rental by the week.

The owner died. The house was now abandoned. All manner of riff raff took up residence there.

They were squatters. Some had been there before the owner died, some came later-since there was no one to tell them not to. By now the once beautiful house was a hazard. Years of neglect made it unsafe.

The roof was ready to cave in. The back porch was gone along time ago. Windows, even the priceless stain glass ones were broken out. There was no power or water. The place soon became over run with filth, grafitti, vermin, termites and decay. Already half of the top floor had collasped, the staircase was missing whole steps. The neighbors began to complain. The community declared it condemned. The only thing to do was to tear it down. It was the best thing to do. The house had it's day and now it had to go, it was just too dangerous. An eyesore.

But then a man persuaded the community to let him buy the property. He had grown up near that house. He loved that house. He was so sentimental about it and his goal as a child was to own that house and fix it up. Reluctantly the town let him buy it...cheap.

He had structural experts come in and assess the building. All, to a man, said "Tear it down and rebuild."
But the new owner couldn't. He so loved that old house.He was blinded by the history, the romance, the potential of that house. He wanted to restore it to its former glory. But the house was in such bad shape you couldn't tell where to begin. It didn't matter to the new owner. He loved that house, even if it
was ready to fall in on itself. Squatters were still hanging out there and he couldn't get them to leave.
We were here first! They would tell him. When threatened with legal action, they would just laugh at him, disapear for a day or two and when the law left the property, they would crawl back in through the
busted windows or backdoors hanging open. This went on for months. The owner couldn't fix the house with these squatters in there. As time went on the house became even more squalid and desperate.

All the owners friends urged him to just bulldoze the place. Any attempt to restore the house would be throwing money down a rathole. It would never be restored. Far more cheaper and reasonable to tear it down and rebuild an even more wonderful house. Working from the original blueprints one could re-create that house, it would retain the charm and romance of the original, but would be modern, it would be up to code...it could be really cool and once again the talk of the town. Something the locals could point at with pride and say "Get a load of that place, wouldja? Ain't it grand?"

But the new owner just couldn't do it. He couldn't so much as bear to take one swing with a sledge to the rotten porch columns. Why, it would be like killing a friend. He just couldn't do it.

So, instead he did just as the previous owners had done. Cheap simple fixes and all the while telling the townfolk Just wait til I get done with it! It'll be beautiful again!
He spread blue tarp on the roof to stop the rain. He shoved some cinder blocks under the floor to stop the foundation from sagging. He tried to scrape the old paint off and give it a new coat. The squatters laughed from the inside. The owner plowed on with dogged determination. He would wince everytime he'd get the bill from Home Depot, but he would go ahead and pay it...after all, it was for a good cause.
Everyone knew he was throwing good money after bad. This thing was hopeless, but he was blind to the fact. In his minds eye he saw the house as it once had been,and that's all he could see. So determined he was to make these repairs, he finally just had to work around the squatters and put up with their taunts.

Then one day, as he was patching some lath on the second floor, the floor gave way. The owner fell through the floors all the way to the basement. The last thing he heard was the screams of the squatters as the entire house caved in upon him.

"24" : Stand by Your Man

The teasers before tonite's show promised "the biggest surprize, yet!"
Uh...what was it? Hell, I watched it and I'm still trying to figure it out.

Oh! You mean the sub thing?

Y'know, the part where the bad guys took over a Naval submarine that was SURPRIZINGLY docked at a civilian dock? Was that it?
There really could be about 3 surprizes in this episode, maybe more. Chloe not dupping a copy of the evidence would be one, the sub being docked in a completely non-military and unsecured area would be another. Nevermind that it was gassed and the baddies took control, that in of itself is no surprize.

And then there was that thing with Martha and Aaron.
There's been tension between these 2 since Aaron, the loyal and noble lug of a Secret Service guy saved Martha in the limo attack about, what? 10 episodes or more ago. OK, so she's a simpering mess most times and Aaron's the Rock of Gibraltar...but there's something going on there. Miz Martha is blinded by being in the presence of a REAL man, and is diggin' it. 25 years married to an overgrown Slinky will leave you starved for some decisive, take charge no b/s kinda action. She hates the fact that she's married to Lucifer in a suit and right now all she can think about is running off with her knight and starting anew somewhere-far away from all this darkness and loathing-maybe Key West...or Branson.

Aaron did his job and saved the First Lady and now, finally Martha can repay the favor. And that, hands down was my favorite scene tonite!
Martha capping the lackey goon of a Secret Service man who had been dispatched by Pres. Loopner to off Aaron!
OK, so she did the panicked "oh my God! I have a gun in my hand!" shakey bit, it always annoys me when they do that with women and firearms, but still it was a great moment. I, for one, stood and cheered.
And I also hope that those 2 run off together when this is all over and open up a Git n Go station just outside of Branson. They'd be perfect...and so happy. I mean, c'mon...just look at Aaron-bib overalls just scream out for him! Bet he's handy with mechanics too. And looney dames in these parts just goes with the territory. Martha'd be just fine.

Hey, Ya Never Know...It Could Happen

While John at Wuzzadem is off on yet another sabbatical, guest blogger 'Mrs. R' cogitates upon a crisis looming in our future if we make the switch to ethanol.


It's just so goofy enough to be probable.

For Some, "Mother" is Just a Word

Y'know, I thought long and hard about sullying up my blog with yet another pic of this woman...and on Mother's Day no less. But then I figured, what the hell? Why not?
While all us Moms are enjoying our flour paste and Karo syrup pancakes, lovingly concocted by our little ones who don't have a clue about how to cook, ohhh-ing and aww-ing over carefully made tissue paper flowers and handmade cards with crayon lettering (usually something to the effect of: 'I love you, Mommy!') and if we're lucky, a little bit of bling or floral arrangement from the appreciative spouse and being treated to a brunch at some swank joint, we, as members of that elite female class-the hardest job in the universe-namely that of Mom need to take time and reflect on our blessings and consider those of our chaste who are less fortunate.

I'm sure at one time Casey, as a child, made those tokens of affection for his mom and I'll bet that Cindy has hung on to everyone of them. Just as we all do. Dime to doughnuts, she probably even pulled them out and look at them shortly after his death. That's a normal thing to do when grieving...every little fragment becomes sacred.

What is not normal is how she has channeled her grief. True, many a grieving parent has takened on the mantle of activist when they lose a child to horrific circumstances. Hell, I would too if I ever lost one of mine to cancer, crime, drugs or any other of society's ills. I'd be raising holy hell. But the difference between those parents and Cindy is that of retaining their child's humanity and not allowing themselves to become the focus of their cause.
Cindy jumped the shark on that almost immediately. Her boy Casey, who understood full well the risk he would be taking by joining the military and made, sadly, that ultimate sacrifice and died a hero has become just a commodity to her, a means to an end. Her rampant "grief pimping" has cost her a marriage and no doubt has alienated her surviving kids and family. Am I sorry for her? Not in the least!

"Mother" has become just another word to her. A designation of rank of her status in society, a title to be used and abused. Some of us take the title seriously. It is an honor. She, on the other hand has used it as a stepping stone, climbing over the grave of her son in the process. She thrives on the attention. Casey who? I may bungle this paraphasing of a line from the movie "The Crow", since it's been years and years since I seen it, but it I loved it-it went something to the effect of: "Mother is the name of God on every little childs lips."
Meaning of course, we are the source of their life and well being. It's a job not to take lightly.

One day a year us Moms get one day to honor us, one day where it's all about us. Just one day.

Lucky Cindy...Every day is Mother's Day - because it's ALWAYS all about her!


Happy Mother's Day to all the Moms out there who value and appreciate those who allowed them to have that name bestowed upon them in the first place.


UPDATE: Well, isn't this special?? Ahhhh.

Your Time is Up...

Recently Cindy Shehag was within spitting distance of us. She had a speaking engagement in Eureka Springs, Ar. on Wednesday. Local coverage of this monumental,major event is virtually non-existent. I recall seeing a brief story of it on the Wednesday 10 pm news, somewhere before the weather & sports. They ran a short vid of Shebeast spouting her spiel about how this speaking tour is enabling "millions" to find their voice and courage to protest the war and yammmer yammer yammer,blah-blah-blah and (insert standard issue moonbat babble here). On a side note, she's sporting a new 'do and hair tint...a kinda dark copper/auburn thing going on there, more "serious" than her previous goofy strawberry blonde.There was a nanosecond of the protestors outside the auditorium and that was pretty much that.

Well, SeaSpook's blog mentioned a new site, The Cindy Sheehan Watch, so I wandered over there for a looksee...highly recommended! And it got me wondering about the local coverage. The site links a big market online newspaper's site (The Seattle Times) for the Eureka Springs event and I wondered well, why didn't they go with local sources...afterall, it was right in our backyard. So I went to the local sources...guess what? Nada, zip, zero! Even the local TV news site didn't even have their Weds. story archived! Same for the Springfield News-Leader, THE Ozark region's newspaper, no story. I even went to The Lovely County Citizen-the rag for Eureka Springs, proper and although they did run a story about her upcoming visit which was mostly just standard issue press release and bio crap, no follow-up could be found. I will cut the Citizen some slack, because I'm not 100% sure if they are a weekly or a daily. Probably a weekly...most of these small Ozark community papers are, since not a hell of alot happens here.

Anyway, it seems that only the big markets made any mention of her visit to our rinky dink touristy "art colony" historic little burg.
I find that interesting that the local media totally ignored her for the most part.



(But I will check back later with The Citizen and see if they do have a follow-up.)

'Top 10 Reasons Why God Made Eve' (Your Saturday Nite Joke)

10. God was worried that Adam would frequently become lost in the garden because he would not ask for directions.


9. God knew that one day Adam would require someone to locate and hand him the remote.


8. God knew Adam would never go out and buy himself a new fig leaf when his wore out and would therefore need Eve to buy one for him.


7. God knew Adam would never be able to make a doctor's, dentist, or haircut appointment for himself.


6. God knew Adam would never remember which night to put the garbage on the curb.


5. God knew if the world was to be populated, men would never be able to handle the pain and discomfort of childbearing.


4. As the Keeper of the Garden, Adam would never remember where he left his tools.


3. Apparently, Adam needed someone to blame his troubles on when God caught him hiding in the garden.


2. As the Bible says, "It is not good for man to be alone!"




And the #1 reason God created Eve...



When God finished the creation of Adam, He stepped back, scratched his head, and said, "I can do better than that!"

"Let Them Eat Cornbread!"

Born Again Redneck is advocating a "Redneck Revolution"!
A very funny rant...go learn how you can contribute to the cause.
I think we've all just about hit the 'Popeye' point-as in "I's had all I's can stands and me's can't stands no more!"

TTLB Gets It Together

Oh great, I'm a Maurading Marsupial. Where I come from that means I'm now a nocturnal nastyass critter that digs through the trash and rips the guts outta chickens...in other words, a possum. I hate friggin' possums.
I liked it better when I was an Adorable Rodent.
I always suspected evolution was full of it.

Of course a prehensile tail is kinda cool...

The "Adorable Rodents" of Aaron

His site maybe still down for the most part, but Aaron now has at least one page up guaranteed, as always, to offend and annoy those who want to silence him.

If any of you have had kids or grandkids that are allowed to go online, or just have idiot friends who email you stupid links, then you will get the joke of this spoof of his.
Go see, before it gets hacked!


HT: The Rottweiler


(I think there must be music with this, but for some reason it won't work for me, but the visuals are funny enough without tunage.)

"Tap My Phone...Please!"

Well, I was gonna rant about this, but John at Alpaca Burgers done beat me to it! He purty much said what I was going to.

But it still infuriates me how the newsmedia is spinning this-making it sound like we're being listened in on. They neglect to differentiate between actually recording conversations and merely tracking time and destination of certain calls.

Although, some of my calls wherein I'm cussing out certain telemarketers should be preserved for posterity. But that's just my opinion.

More Bling for Our Resident Egghead

Last night was the 6th grade Graduation and Awards presentation at my younguns' school.
It's a big deal. For all of us. My eldest is wrapping up her 9 year association with that school. (2 years preschool, kindergarten and then regular 1 through 6.) She, along with a very small handful of kids, skewed the stats for this little rural school district the entire time. I can't actually prove that, but I suspect it's so.
But it all could be relative-I mean I could say with pride my kid's a friggin' genius, but if you take into consideration where we live and the possible overall low I.Q of the progeny around here, then by the standards of the rest of the country, my youngun might just be "average". Eh. Nevertheless, Mom's tickled pink at her accomplishments.

Last night she got her Honor Student Top 10 medal. I wasn't expecting this-neither was she. This award is for kids who have consistantly maintained an A- or better GPA their entire school career-from 1st to 6th grade! Wow.
Personally, I think they were hard pressed to come up with 10 total from the 6th grade, but regardless-it's quite an achievement. And of course, Mom cried a dab when she went up and got that medal put around her neck...one of those 'dammit, I wish you were here!' moments, meaning her Dad, of course, even though I know in some way, he was.

"How High's the Water, Mama?"

Whenever it floods here, that old Johnny Cash song comes to my mind.

Since our road is still too flooded and trashed for the school bus to get through I took my younguns in this morning via the escape route. That's the back way to our place and since it starts in another county, our school bus doesn't go that way when things get weird like this. We're on our own. So I took the camera along to take some pics on the way back home.

You can't read the flood marker on this bridge sign, but when it looks like this...it's safe to assume you ain't getting across!

Keep in mind that this is a good 24 hours after it quit raining and the water had time to run off some. I imagine yesterday morning it was 10 times worse!



This is a view upstream. These pics are of the Bryant Creek. In the summer this spot is our favorite swimming hole. It looks purty nice from this angle and then you pan to the right and this is what you see...



In the summer, local kids love to dive off the bridge there into the creek. A drop of about 6 to 8 feet, depending on how dry it's been. Trust me...there is a bridge somewhere under that water!

I'm a ???? in the TTLB

Apparently the massive overhauling of N.Z. Bear's Ecosystem has been too much for it to handle.
I'm now a insignificant BLANK.
Oh well. The Hillbilly Ecosystem, however isn't plagued by such problems. We have duct tape! And we know how to use it. And if that don't work...just bang it with a hammer til something happens!

Clean Up

I managed to get some of the debris cleared from the little bridge. I did the best I could by hand, but the bigger logs need a chainsaw...something I don't do. Got alot of dirt,twigs and leaves pitched over the bridge and yanked out some of the smaller logs and shoved them over as well. If it comes a good rain again soon there's enough space there now that hopefully it won't back up into my yard. Just about any debris has been washed out of the little creek anyway, coming to rest right there at the bridge.
That damn restaurant naughahyde bench really fuggered up the deal and was the main culprit. I got it shoved off to the side, but it's too waterlogged to yank completely out of the creek, singlehandedly. That's chain and pick up truck action.

Now that things have settled down I could take a more in depth look at what happened. Judging by the path of debris and waterlines on the back of the house, I'm glad I didn't see it! At one point we must have had a rushing "river" of water about 8 inches deep swarming around the house and extending about 8 feet or so out on 3 sides. That explains why my kitchen mop ended up under my car around a corner and about 100 feet away in the driveway! It had been out on the backdoor stoop and water had flowed over the stoop, which is about 6 inches high. Luckily my car had been parked on the uphill slope of the driveway, so the water just rushed under it at that point and it didn't get swamped. It started up just fine and all the electrical stuff works. I pulled it up further into the backyard on higher ground for now.

The water got within an inch of getting into the backdoor. Whew! The house is all cinderblock and poured concrete foundation, I haven't dared to peek in the crawlspace yet, but I guess I should. I really don't think we got water under there, but some might have seeped in.
My drive is all scoured with ruts now and the pea gravel is sandbarred up at the end of the drive. I ain't in a big hurry to rake it back up just now.

Man, this is the worst I can recall seeing it. We had the 100 Year Flood a few years back and that was bad, but we never had water in the backyard such as we did this time!

Canine Early Warning System

As anyone who has lived with dogs for any length of time can attest to, these guys are clued into things we can't always see or realize and, lacking a full command of English, they try to convey the danger or threat in ways that are sometimes hard to interpret, until after the fact.
I had such an experience last night.

Normally my only bedmate is Dennis the Menace, a spoiled rotten Chow/Lab/Pit mix who wandered into our lives about a year and a half ago. Whoever had him before must have tired of his high maintence, due largely in part by their initial indulgences with him. He loves to ride in cars and will happily hop into any vehicle with its door(s) open and will lay about on the sofa like he has done so all his life (and most likely has) and in his first night inside without any hesistation leapt upon my bed and made himself at home, snuggling up alongside me. Being a hardcore dog person, I didn't make a fuss. He was clean and flea free-so what the hell? He has done so ever night since.

Much to the annoyance of my other dog, Zeke the Freak, a German Shepherd who we've had since puppyhood and my husband had put the fear of God into him that dogs DO NOT belong in bed. (he wasn't as lacksadaisical about critters as I was.) So Zeke grew up never ever getting on the bed...or sofas...or recliners. It just wasn't done. I'm sure Dennis' blatantly breaking of the rules confuses him to no end. And then there is Hannah, a timid creature, a rescue Shepherd who we have been trying to rehabilitate. She is almost invisible most times. We've had her for nearly 2 years now and she almost acting like a real dog at this point, even barking on rare occasions. But she prefers to keep a low profile...really low. And getting on the bed or any furniture is completely beyond her comprehension. She just doesn't do it. She'll lay down next to the bed at night, wanting to be close to me and safe, in her mind. But to make that leap up to the bed is unthinkable.

So I was terribly confused as all get out early this morning when, during a huge thunderstorm and shortly after a big clap of thunder had awoken me, Zeke the Freak leapt up on the bed and curled up next to me. His ears were back and his anxious panting was shaking the whole bed. Dennis, hunkered down in his spot, under the blankets and curled up at my ankles was still sound asleep and didn't even poke his head out to investigate. No doubt Zeke was scared of the storm. Like alot of dogs he doesn't care for thunderstorms. But this reaction was not normal.
As was Hannah's, who joined us shortly after that. Bravely fleeing her safe hidey spot alongside the bed, she too jumped up with a boldness that shocked me. She wouldn't lay down, but rather stood on the side opposite to me and Zeke and just stared out the window. She was panting too. Now the whole damn bed was rocking.
"Hannah, lay down." I mumbled, still groggy, not fully realizing the significance of all 3 dogs in my bed.
Always obedient, she did, hesitantly. Hannah, is as high strung and nervous as Zeke could be, I just brushed it off to the severity of the storm-the lightening and close strikes making for deafening thunder.

The storm raged outside. I could hear the rain coming down in torrents or as the locals say 'like a cow pissing on a flat rock'. Yeah, it was doozy outside. The creeks would be up for sure.
I was now surrounded, left, right and feet by dogs. This is what the Eskimos had meant by a 3 dog night,I suppose but the mild night temperature at the moment made it soon hot and uncomfortable. I would have appreciated this back in Jan. but right now, it was stiffling. The rain did trouble me and I strained to hear outside the open window any sound of potential trouble. But my sleepiness refused me to try and climb out of bed to investigate. After awhile the rain seemed to ease up some and between the panting of the dogs and the slowly softening sound of the rain, I was lulled back to sleep.

Daylight reavealed what had freaked the animals out so much in the wee hours of the morning.

Debris was everywhere! I had an Oh shit! moment. We had had a flash flood. Not our usual flash flood where the water on our nearby creek gets past the banks and backs up some into the road. No, this one could have been very bad! I was stunned by the the debris line showing just how high and just where the water had been. This one had been too close for comfort. This had been what the dogs had been telling me. We had been surrounded, perhaps briefly, on all sides by water...even the backyard which is on an uphill slope!

Further investigation showed the cause for the unheard of backyard flooding. Large amounts of trees and debris had backed up against a little concrete bridge that is between us and the store building on the otherside of the stream. Years ago this little village had been the center of commerce around here, we currently live in what was the store owners home. The little bridge across the stream had been built for his convienience, a shortcut to the backdoor of the general store.

In a way, I'm glad that I didn't react immediately to the dogs weird behavior...I would have freaked out for sure seeing us an island amidst rushing water in the dark. But on the other hand...next time I will pay better attention!



This shows the waterline that was in the driveway out front.










Man, the phone company's gonna hate that! This is on the edge of my front yard. Wonder where the cover went?








OH! There it is!! (Clear across the road and about 80 feet away!)









Uhhh, these aren't suppose to be here!












The big creek in front of our house. Yikes!









Well, there's your problem right there! This shows all the debris backed against the bridge. Some where in there near the center of that mess you can barely see a restaurant bench seat...that thing was out behind the store and a good 10 feet from the bank. Was.

Hey! Where the hell did my railroad ties go??!!









Nevermind...well, ones accounted for anyway. The other? Probably halfway to the Gulf of Mexico by now.

Limb Loppers 1, Copperhead 0

First, some fun facts about Copperheads.

• The copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix), which has five subspecies, is one of the most widespread venomous snakes in the United States. Its venom is relatively mild, however. A person bitten by a copperhead may not even be treated with antivenin, which carries risks of its own. (In the United States, snakebite fatalities are rare. Each year, about 8,000 Americans are bitten by venomous snakes; only about a dozen die. It's wise to keep a distance from venomous snakes, however, as even dead ones have been known to bite reflexively.) I don't know about you, but the prospect of a having a festering goose egg size wound any where on my body for months on end is enough incentive to keep away from these things!

• Like the rattlesnake and the cottonmouth, the copperhead is a pit viper. In front of each eye, these snakes have a small, deep depression, or facial pit—a heat-sensing organ used to locate warm-blooded prey. Of some 20 venomous snakes in the United States, all but coral snakes are pit vipers. As a pit viper, the copperhead has hollow fangs that stay folded along its upper jaw most of the time. When the snake strikes, the fangs spring forward and inject venom.

• The copperhead is normally non-aggressive but will strike vigorously if provoked. When alarmed, it often vibrates its tail. The tail doesn't actually have a "rattle," but may produce a rattling sound as it brushes surrounding vegetation.

• A copperhead can "hear" a person approach through sensory perception. Its body transmits the vibrations of human footsteps through the jawbone to the columella, a bone that, in turn, conducts low, ground-borne frequencies to the snake's inner ear.
The one in my tale below must have either been "deaf" or I'm alot quicker than I thought I was in my old age.

• In winter, copperheads hibernate and often retreat to dens or rocky recesses that they share with other snake species.

• Copperheads prey on small rodents, young birds, frogs, and insects.


Ok, so it was just another early evening here today. Me and the younguns were out in the backyard. It had just quit raining and I was lugging a sack of hen scratch from the car to the wellhouse. My youngest, feeling a dab perkier from her illness was feeding her cat.
I had just shut the wellhouse door when from somewhere in the middle of the yard my eldest got to shreiking at the top of her lungs and with a noticible bit of panic in her voice.
"Mom! Copperhead! COPPERHEAD!!! Oh GodohGodOhGod....MOM!!!!!
We both just about slammed into one another as we both met at the corner of the wellhouse.
"Where?!" I barked at her, "Are you sure?"
I had taught mine at a young age not to fear snakes and both knew what the more common, harmless snakes around here looked like.But copperheads had only been seen in photos and Conservation Dept. displays.
"Mom, I'm sure! Go look!"
She pointed out the general area where she had just about stepped on it. It took me a minute or 2 but then I could clearly see it's little evil reddish tan noggin raised above a small patch of clover in the middle of the yard. It was coiled slightly and just motionless, like it was waiting for the coast to clear.

Now normally, I have my little 'snakekiller', a .22 pistol nearby if we're gonna be in the backyard. But not this time. Besides, he wasn't a big snake. Chances are if I did try to pop him, I'd miss because of a small target. Nope, we'd have to wing it.
No axe handy...no shovel...no rake close.
Ah!
"OK, sis, go in the wellhouse and on the right there on the workbench are the limb loppers...get 'em, will ya?" I didn't want to move, lest it spook him or I lost sight of him in the clover. My eldest did as she was told and handed me the loppers.

The snake was gazing upwards to the east. I crept around and slowly approached from the west. I got a good look at him now. He was about 18 inches or so maybe 16-smallish for our copperheads. Must have been a young one. The weird transparent orangey tan markings stood out against his khaki drab body. Still he stared off, not moving. I got within 5 feet of him and paused. Still he acted like he didn't know I was there. I croached down some and spread the handles on the lopper apart. Now I inched, as slowly as I could towards him. I didn't want this peckerhead to suddenly whip around and strike at me. Yeah, I was abit nervous!

Out of the corner of my eye I could see my younguns standing off to my right, both scared and oh shit...here came the chickens! Drawn by the comotion, figuring it was grain can time they come a running...dammit!
"Sis, go get a can of scratch and give it to the chickens...gotta keep them away from here."
Once again she did as she was told and the chickens got busy. But now I had a new problem.
My youngests' cat was strolling over to see what was going on. My youngest panicked at the thought of the cat getting in the way and getting bit and began shouting at the cat.
"Get the cat food bag outta the wellhouse and give it a shake! She'll run to you." I told her. She did and the cat did.
"Now hang onto that stupid thing will ya?"

During all this that snake never once moved. I got closer.
3 feet now. I poised the open loppers just about behind it's head. They hovered there about a foot or so above him, still no indication that he knew what was up. I took a breath and
SNAP!!!

Copper...Head. Past Tense.

The loppers ain't as sharp as they used to be, so it wasn't a clean beheading. A strip of skin still remained. The severed head bared it's fangs. I held up the closed loppers with the snake and it's head both dangling from it. The girls were grossed out and yet at the same time impressed.

"EWWWWWWWWWwwwwwwwww!" they both squealed in unison, this segued right into a "Cooool!!"
"Mom! Is it dead?" " Can I touch it?" "Ohh neat...look you can see it's teeth and everything!" "Wow, that was so cool Mom! You rock!"

(Why yes...yes I do...sometimes.)

That's only the second time in 20 years here that I've had to dispatch a copperhead.

I gave my eldest a high 5 for good looking out and id-ing the snake. The freaky squealiness I could have done without but she is a little girl, afterall. I'm proud of her. She did good. They both did. Did as they were told and didn't get in the way.
And now they have a cool story to tell at school.