ALL OF EM! I am so pissed off at the way our government is being run. What happened to a representation of the people? What happened to voting on issues based on the people's desires? Many people think we have a democracy here, but we don't. Not a TRUE democracy. Your vote doesn't really count as ultimately it's your representative's vote that counts.
What's pissing me off is that the goddamned representatives aren't doing what the constituents want. NOBODY I know wants this amnesty bill to pass except the illegal aliens, Bush and Kennedy. The consensus I have been finding is that over 86% of the voting population is against this and they are STILL pushing it through.
My own senators from the great state of Texas are now turning against "us" and working to ratify the bill.
I can recount multiple times in the last few years that there were big issues at local, state, and federal levels that the majority of the population wanted (or didn't want) something to happen and the goddmaned politicians did it anyway.
It just seems that there is something severely wrong with our system. One thing people have forgotten is that they don't control us. They work for US. We don't work for THEM. Our tax dollars pay their salaries. Representatives are employed by the citizens of this great country and it's time we started reminding them of this.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Godspeed Keith
Yesterday, I got news that one of our friends had passed away. His name is Keith Pyles. Keith and I were never good friends. He was more of a good acquaintance. More importantly, he was part of "our" group of friends. I knew him mostly from parties and jamming with the guy on a few occasions. He even "gave" Grasshopper his nickname one night at an open-mic jam night.
What I really remember about him is that he was one bad-ass blues guitar player. Keith was the kind of guy that would go play a gig on some given night and not promote it, so nobody would be there but a few of us. Yet, he would start playing and would literally draw people in off the street. That's how good he was.
And it wasn't that he was just technically proficient at playing the blues, it was more than that. He had charisma with his guitar. I don't think many people have that. I know that I don't, and never will.
But Keith had a long and hard fight with drugs and booze. It was always disheartening to me that he couldn't leave them long enough to really launch a music career. I'd heard he tried to get off of them and had cleaned up a bit, but that health problems ensued.
Yesterday, Hopper called me to let me know he had passed away back in his hometown in Georgia.
I still have Keith's CD and jam on it regularly. We'll miss ya, man, but it was good knowing you!
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Notes for Europe
Here is a quick list of things I was trying to check off for my trip to Europe last year. I just found it and I guess I'll have to put it into my scrapbook. It's not that interesting, but it was kind of cool just to "remember" it.
A Bunch of Fat Bastards
I've been in a pretty foul mood the last few days. Ok, maybe it's been a foul mood the past few weeks. This weekend didn't help much. Yes, I said a bit Thank-ya for and to all the veterans who have made it possible for me to sit here and write on this blog.
But they've also made it possible to do something else - become a bunch of fat, lazy, disgusting slobs.
My friend Julie (one of the Julie's) and I started getting into it about how society is obsessed with an idealistic vision of beauty. My opinion is that she, and everyone else, has to deal with it more-so than the rest of the country because she lives near Bozeman, MT.
You have to understand the demographics of Bozeman. The whole town is somewhere around 35,000 people. A little less than about 1/2 of that population is college students. So right off the bat you have girls and guys that are 18-24 years old. The prime of our life.... our metabolism is through the roof and every guy has a six pack, not counting the one in his hands.
But then let's look at everyone else that lives there. For the most part, people choose to live in that area because they are very active, out-doors, type of people. You have hiking, biking, jogging, rock climbing, kayaking, rafting, paragliding, fishing, snow-shoeing, skiing, snowboarding, etc. If people aren't already in-shape from all of that, they are looking to get in better shape to make their favorite activity that much more enjoyable.
I contend that because this is what she sees day in and day out, as well as the popular media on TV she is more prone to think everyone is obsessed with an “idealistic” vision of beauty.
I am here to tell you that it isn’t so. I travel all over the U.S. and am fortunate enough to see the degradation of society at the physical level because I am outside of Bozeman, MT.
Yesterday, Grasshopper and I went to a place called Palomino’s. It’s an all-you-can eat buffet place and I had never been there. It’s similar to a Golden Coral but a little bit tastier. I usually avoid those places because the food is so bland that it’s like eating card-board and most of the crap is so unhealthy for you that I won’t eat much of it.
But I went to try it out. The food was actually tasty. I think that is due to the fact that a large portion of the patrons are Hispanics rather than bland-ass-white-folks. But while I was there I sat down and told Hopper I didn’t think I could eat there anymore and he asked why not. “Because this place is disgusting,” was my response….. he thought I meant the food. I had to explain that it was the people that were making me sick. Just about everyone there, and I mean at least four out of five were fat bastards. I’m not talking a little meat on your bones. I’m talking morbidly obese. It was freaking gross. I think we were the only “skinny” guys in there, and I’m not exactly skinny. Even my mom implied that I was turning into a fat bastard (I’ve been a stick all my life).
But getting back to the point, it was a classic example of what every place except Bozeman, MT is. A bunch of fat fucking bastards gorging themselves to epic proportions at all-you-can-eat places like Palomino’s. And you can sure as shit bet they weren’t going to go do a 1000-foot vertical climb up the M to work off those few extra calories they took in from the four course desert they just scarfed down.
The really sad part? The kids. Yes, even the kids were a bunch of fat bastards. I see it all the time and it just breaks my heart. Type-2 Diabetes afflicts a huge number of children (somewhere over 50%) and it’s a direct side effect of being a fat bastard.
The kids don’t know any better. It’s our job, our moralistic obligation, to guide them and nurture them. To protect them and give them the ability to learn and take care of themselves. We are failing them.
But I’ll be back at Palomino’s this Wed. for all you-can-eat crawfish. They will probably suck, but there is a glimmer of hope that they might actually be tasty. We’ll see…..
But they've also made it possible to do something else - become a bunch of fat, lazy, disgusting slobs.
My friend Julie (one of the Julie's) and I started getting into it about how society is obsessed with an idealistic vision of beauty. My opinion is that she, and everyone else, has to deal with it more-so than the rest of the country because she lives near Bozeman, MT.
You have to understand the demographics of Bozeman. The whole town is somewhere around 35,000 people. A little less than about 1/2 of that population is college students. So right off the bat you have girls and guys that are 18-24 years old. The prime of our life.... our metabolism is through the roof and every guy has a six pack, not counting the one in his hands.
But then let's look at everyone else that lives there. For the most part, people choose to live in that area because they are very active, out-doors, type of people. You have hiking, biking, jogging, rock climbing, kayaking, rafting, paragliding, fishing, snow-shoeing, skiing, snowboarding, etc. If people aren't already in-shape from all of that, they are looking to get in better shape to make their favorite activity that much more enjoyable.
I contend that because this is what she sees day in and day out, as well as the popular media on TV she is more prone to think everyone is obsessed with an “idealistic” vision of beauty.
I am here to tell you that it isn’t so. I travel all over the U.S. and am fortunate enough to see the degradation of society at the physical level because I am outside of Bozeman, MT.
Yesterday, Grasshopper and I went to a place called Palomino’s. It’s an all-you-can eat buffet place and I had never been there. It’s similar to a Golden Coral but a little bit tastier. I usually avoid those places because the food is so bland that it’s like eating card-board and most of the crap is so unhealthy for you that I won’t eat much of it.
But I went to try it out. The food was actually tasty. I think that is due to the fact that a large portion of the patrons are Hispanics rather than bland-ass-white-folks. But while I was there I sat down and told Hopper I didn’t think I could eat there anymore and he asked why not. “Because this place is disgusting,” was my response….. he thought I meant the food. I had to explain that it was the people that were making me sick. Just about everyone there, and I mean at least four out of five were fat bastards. I’m not talking a little meat on your bones. I’m talking morbidly obese. It was freaking gross. I think we were the only “skinny” guys in there, and I’m not exactly skinny. Even my mom implied that I was turning into a fat bastard (I’ve been a stick all my life).
But getting back to the point, it was a classic example of what every place except Bozeman, MT is. A bunch of fat fucking bastards gorging themselves to epic proportions at all-you-can-eat places like Palomino’s. And you can sure as shit bet they weren’t going to go do a 1000-foot vertical climb up the M to work off those few extra calories they took in from the four course desert they just scarfed down.
The really sad part? The kids. Yes, even the kids were a bunch of fat bastards. I see it all the time and it just breaks my heart. Type-2 Diabetes afflicts a huge number of children (somewhere over 50%) and it’s a direct side effect of being a fat bastard.
The kids don’t know any better. It’s our job, our moralistic obligation, to guide them and nurture them. To protect them and give them the ability to learn and take care of themselves. We are failing them.
But I’ll be back at Palomino’s this Wed. for all you-can-eat crawfish. They will probably suck, but there is a glimmer of hope that they might actually be tasty. We’ll see…..
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Too Busy?
One of things I hear from people is "I can't believe how busy you are" or something to that effect. I think it has "scared off" some potential interests because they think I won't have any time for them.
Then there are weeks like this week:
And I am too busy?
Then there are weeks like this week:
- Monday - didn't do anything
- Tuesday - didn't do anything
- Wed. - rode the mountain bike for a bit in the evenings, but otherwise didn't do anything.
- Thursday - went to a friend's to eat dinner
- Friday - didn't do anything.
- Saturday - it's still during the day, but I'm not doing anything.
- Sat. night - hopefully we'll do something, but the weather is putting a damper on everything.
- Sunday - no plans at the moment.
- Monday - no plans at the moment.
And I am too busy?
An Inconvenient Movie
Well, I finally got "An Inconvenient Truth" in my Netlfix and had a chance to watch it. Now, almost 2 years later.
To some extent I have seen this "backwards." I know almost all the arguments and flaws that are pointed out in the movie. I also know that a lot of the predictions of the film did not, in fact, come true.
That being said, it was fairly well put together. It was campy at times, with Gore being introspective and thoughtful as he was driven around in his private limo, on his personal jet, or in a first class cabin to China.
One of the things about the movie that I did like is that there is a definitive effort to make us (people) aware of our changing environment and be cognizant of our role in those changes, even if the movie falsely purports them.
Ultimately, I find it ironic that in the synopsis of the film it is already contradicting itself. "Laying out the facts of global warming without getting political, Gore makes a sobering impressions....."
And yet, in the same synopsis "....waging a passionate campaign -- not for the White House, but for the environment."
And in the movie, he brings politics into the film at least a 1/2-dozen times or more.
How is that NOT political? I can't say it surprises me too much as Gore is a person that obviously does not believe he should be subject to the same rules that he preaches to others.
To some extent I have seen this "backwards." I know almost all the arguments and flaws that are pointed out in the movie. I also know that a lot of the predictions of the film did not, in fact, come true.
That being said, it was fairly well put together. It was campy at times, with Gore being introspective and thoughtful as he was driven around in his private limo, on his personal jet, or in a first class cabin to China.
One of the things about the movie that I did like is that there is a definitive effort to make us (people) aware of our changing environment and be cognizant of our role in those changes, even if the movie falsely purports them.
Ultimately, I find it ironic that in the synopsis of the film it is already contradicting itself. "Laying out the facts of global warming without getting political, Gore makes a sobering impressions....."
And yet, in the same synopsis "....waging a passionate campaign -- not for the White House, but for the environment."
And in the movie, he brings politics into the film at least a 1/2-dozen times or more.
How is that NOT political? I can't say it surprises me too much as Gore is a person that obviously does not believe he should be subject to the same rules that he preaches to others.
Friday, May 25, 2007
Nasty Cigars
For the second time in my life I tried a cigar. I haven't figured out what the fascination is with these. It was icky, and I can still taste it today! ick...ick...and ick....
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Lizards in My Mailbox
The other day I went out to the mailbox, opened it up to check the mail and this little bloke was in there panicking that he had been disturbed. He "escaped" through a small crack in the back of the mailbox (my mailbox is bricked in).Then I went out there the next day and he was back inside of there again. I think he was looking for a way out so I opened up the mailbox a crack so he could get out and I've not seen 'em since.
Usually our lizards here are much larger and are of the Horny Toad or Horny Lizard variety. This pic was taken by my dad while he was mowing the yard. When I was a kid, these would have been temporary pets.
Who Wants Illegal Aliens Anyway?
So far, from what I can tell, nobody supports or wants amnesty for the 12~20 MILLION illegal aliens that are here. I haven't talked to anyone that supports this. So why is it even up for debate in the senate? Who are these people that want this aside from the illegal aliens themselves?
Please, please, please.....get involved. Write, or better yet, CALL your senators and let them know how you feel. The bill is on the floor and people are starting to "tweak" the bill. This should be rejected outright. No tweaks, no amendments.
For an update, please go here: http://www.numbersusa.com/hottopic/senateaction0507.html
Sunday, May 20, 2007
A Nice Compliment
When I was in the fourth grade I had an English teacher named Mrs. Griggs (no relation to the Lethal Weapon fame). Towards the end of the "semester" she assigned as a team task of memorizing something and then presenting it to the class.
I got stuck with this girl named Michelle-something. As fourth-graders go she was a bit of an out-cast (more so than me). We were supposed to memorize the Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln.
Well I memorized my half of the famous address and presented it. She (Michelle), however, didn't do ANY work on this and couldn't repeat any of the address. I tried to make up for part of her half, but hadn't focused on it so I botched it for her.
Well, Mrs. Griggs decided to fail me for the year on it (I was pretty much an A student at this point). She gave me an F, even though I aced the final exam. My parents were pretty peeved by this and went to go have a talk with her.
This was pretty much the beginning of my downward spiral with respect to authority, the public school system, and bureaucracy.
In any case, you can see I turned out just fine!!!
But, here we are, years later and my father sent me this email:
"I remember talking to your teacher after she gave you an F in English, even though you made 100 on the Final Test. Basically she told me that her objective was not to teach you English, but rather to indoctrinate you so you weren’t such an independent thinker, but rather accepted the conventional wisdom. Thank goodness she failed. This post by Sanity discusses how collectivists are trying to destroy freedom of thought in the k-12 schools, etc. "
coming from someone like my dad, that's a hell of a compliment!
BTW - here is the link to the website with the article to which he is referring. I couldn't find a direct link to the article, so you may have to scroll down a bit or do a search. http://drsanity.blogspot.com/ it's titled "THE EVOLUTION OF EDUCATION INTO INDOCTRINATION" and was posted Thursday, May 17.
I got stuck with this girl named Michelle-something. As fourth-graders go she was a bit of an out-cast (more so than me). We were supposed to memorize the Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln.
Well I memorized my half of the famous address and presented it. She (Michelle), however, didn't do ANY work on this and couldn't repeat any of the address. I tried to make up for part of her half, but hadn't focused on it so I botched it for her.
Well, Mrs. Griggs decided to fail me for the year on it (I was pretty much an A student at this point). She gave me an F, even though I aced the final exam. My parents were pretty peeved by this and went to go have a talk with her.
This was pretty much the beginning of my downward spiral with respect to authority, the public school system, and bureaucracy.
In any case, you can see I turned out just fine!!!
But, here we are, years later and my father sent me this email:
"I remember talking to your teacher after she gave you an F in English, even though you made 100 on the Final Test. Basically she told me that her objective was not to teach you English, but rather to indoctrinate you so you weren’t such an independent thinker, but rather accepted the conventional wisdom. Thank goodness she failed. This post by Sanity discusses how collectivists are trying to destroy freedom of thought in the k-12 schools, etc. "
coming from someone like my dad, that's a hell of a compliment!
BTW - here is the link to the website with the article to which he is referring. I couldn't find a direct link to the article, so you may have to scroll down a bit or do a search. http://drsanity.blogspot.com/ it's titled "THE EVOLUTION OF EDUCATION INTO INDOCTRINATION" and was posted Thursday, May 17.
Saturday, May 19, 2007
The Boat Has Returned
After a two-year hiatus of not being moved too much I have brought the boat back to the house to get fixed up for the summer.
It needs:
I'll post up some pics later after I get things put back to normal.
It needs:
- cleaning
- a coat of wax
- an oil change
- a gear-oil change
- basic de-winterizing
- a new battery
- and now a new tarp as the one I had on it shredded when I towed it in last night.
I'll post up some pics later after I get things put back to normal.
They Are Everywhere....
....stupid people that is. It never ceases to amaze me how many stupid people there are in the world. I'm not just talking about ignorance. There is a difference between being ignorant and stupid.
Ignorance is the lack of knowledge - I'm ignorant when it comes to something like quantum particle physics.
Stupidity is the inability to learn or grasp concepts. If you are a moron you will never understand the principles behind quantum particle physics.
Then again, after a few beers you just might think you understand the principles behind quantum particle physics and end up in the hospital after trying to build your own particle accelerator out of the remnants of your recently drank Budweiser 24-pack and the TV that stopped working a month ago.
In any case, I am chillin' on the plane yesterday morning and there is a guy that is flapping his gums the whole time. I couldn't hear him because I had in my earplugs and iPod. But when it was time to land I had all that off so I could hear him perfectly. I could also hear the woman next to him, which I gathered was not his wife, but they would have made a perfect couple.
It all started when we were descending and I believe we were out over Lake Lewisville. She was looking out the window and they were trying to figure out which lake it was. "Well there aren't many lakes in Texas." (where did they get this information? How do you figure you support 6.2 million people in the metroplex without lakes?). "Look at the map, there are two lakes in the area." (this was a TERMINAL map of DFW airport in the back of the American Way magazine!).
The flight attendant announced our arrival gate, baggage claim, and connecting gate information. All of which was conveniently accessible via the SKYLink. Now the guy starts thinking out loud, "I bet that is a simple little tram on the ground or something." Hello? "SKY" in "SKYLink" should ring a big bell. And then he goes off on public transportation for cities that I've been in and he's clueless. It's amazing he found his way out of a paper bag, much less on my flight into DFW.
They then proceeded to have a conversation across the isle with these cute college chicks that were heading to Hawaii to spend a semester "studying" something......migratory mating rituals, perhaps? In any case, the lady is talking about how she was in Hawaii once and they saw the whales migrating and breeding (and you thought migratory mating principles was a joke!). The guy says, "I'd be afraid to be around them. What if they accidentally swallow you?"
The problem was that at this point I couldn't tell if the guy was kidding or not. It would have been a good joke, except because of how stupid he was I thought maybe he didn't realize that they couldn't eat you.
But this isn't just on the plane. It's everywhere. And it's very disturbing. They are "dumbing" down the education in schools. Illegal Mexican immigrants are flooding into TX and California, and I'm sorry, their IQ levels are not anywhere near that of the average Anglo Saxon Euro-Decent. It's not racist, it's factual. I think that the dumbing down of the school system is having a far wider and reaching effect than we think.
A while back I posted a blurb about the movie Idiocracy. I see it happening already. We are heading for disaster.
Ignorance is the lack of knowledge - I'm ignorant when it comes to something like quantum particle physics.
Stupidity is the inability to learn or grasp concepts. If you are a moron you will never understand the principles behind quantum particle physics.
Then again, after a few beers you just might think you understand the principles behind quantum particle physics and end up in the hospital after trying to build your own particle accelerator out of the remnants of your recently drank Budweiser 24-pack and the TV that stopped working a month ago.
In any case, I am chillin' on the plane yesterday morning and there is a guy that is flapping his gums the whole time. I couldn't hear him because I had in my earplugs and iPod. But when it was time to land I had all that off so I could hear him perfectly. I could also hear the woman next to him, which I gathered was not his wife, but they would have made a perfect couple.
It all started when we were descending and I believe we were out over Lake Lewisville. She was looking out the window and they were trying to figure out which lake it was. "Well there aren't many lakes in Texas." (where did they get this information? How do you figure you support 6.2 million people in the metroplex without lakes?). "Look at the map, there are two lakes in the area." (this was a TERMINAL map of DFW airport in the back of the American Way magazine!).
The flight attendant announced our arrival gate, baggage claim, and connecting gate information. All of which was conveniently accessible via the SKYLink. Now the guy starts thinking out loud, "I bet that is a simple little tram on the ground or something." Hello? "SKY" in "SKYLink" should ring a big bell. And then he goes off on public transportation for cities that I've been in and he's clueless. It's amazing he found his way out of a paper bag, much less on my flight into DFW.
They then proceeded to have a conversation across the isle with these cute college chicks that were heading to Hawaii to spend a semester "studying" something......migratory mating rituals, perhaps? In any case, the lady is talking about how she was in Hawaii once and they saw the whales migrating and breeding (and you thought migratory mating principles was a joke!). The guy says, "I'd be afraid to be around them. What if they accidentally swallow you?"
The problem was that at this point I couldn't tell if the guy was kidding or not. It would have been a good joke, except because of how stupid he was I thought maybe he didn't realize that they couldn't eat you.
But this isn't just on the plane. It's everywhere. And it's very disturbing. They are "dumbing" down the education in schools. Illegal Mexican immigrants are flooding into TX and California, and I'm sorry, their IQ levels are not anywhere near that of the average Anglo Saxon Euro-Decent. It's not racist, it's factual. I think that the dumbing down of the school system is having a far wider and reaching effect than we think.
A while back I posted a blurb about the movie Idiocracy. I see it happening already. We are heading for disaster.
Friday, May 18, 2007
Amnesty for Illegal Aliens
It looks like there will be a senate vote on proposal S.1348, which would look at granting amnesty to illegal aliens.
I strongly urge you to write your senator's and fight this proposal. These people are criminals and a burden to the American system.
Bling! even sent me an article about how they have been busting illegal aliens that are voting in our country. That's non-US citizens, here illegally (criminals) and voting!! What have we come to?
I strongly urge you to write your senator's and fight this proposal. These people are criminals and a burden to the American system.
Bling! even sent me an article about how they have been busting illegal aliens that are voting in our country. That's non-US citizens, here illegally (criminals) and voting!! What have we come to?
Hotel Issues
I got in late last night to Ephrata, PA. I’m not wholly sure exactly how you pronounce Ephrata, but I am here.
Now, what I really want to know is why the rooms are always made up so that you can’t pull the comforter and sheets up all the way? They always come up to about my arm-pits and that’s it. I either have to rip all the sheets out from underneath the mattress or scoot down lower in the bed….which means that the pillow won’t stay where it’s supposed to because the headboard is now a good four inches to far away. It’s a minor complaint.
At least the larger hotel chains always seem to have plenty of hot steamy water, even if all the water conservation thingies don’t let you have much water pressure. A hot shower always goes a long way in the morning or after a late night of traveling.
And what about the A.C. / Heater units? Well for the most part they seem to work well, but I like a little air moving when I sleep. That pretty much means I like a fan, but it’s a rare thing when the hotels have them. Most of the HVAC units shut off when the room reaches a desired temperature and that means no moving air or no ambient noise to drown out the tv, screaming kids, or college kids making their own Girls Gone Wild video in the next room. So I either have to freeze the room out (which I like to do anyway) or make it entirely too warm. The best technique, in Montana, seemed to be opening the window just enough to keep the room fairly cool and then setting the HVAC unit to a low heat setting. However, this wastes electricity and I hate that.
The best bet are the ones that allow me to get the room to the right temp and then just turn the fan on without any heat or AC. The one in the room last night was even better. I could turn the AC on, and the compressor only kicked in when needed but left the fan running the entire time.
It’s either that or start carrying portable fans and that just means one more thing to pack into my suitcase.
So now, here I am….clean, but not rested getting ready to stand on my feet and project to a classroom for 8 hours straight. I take breaks with the students, but it’s entirely lecture and therefore not much time to sit and relax.
Now, what I really want to know is why the rooms are always made up so that you can’t pull the comforter and sheets up all the way? They always come up to about my arm-pits and that’s it. I either have to rip all the sheets out from underneath the mattress or scoot down lower in the bed….which means that the pillow won’t stay where it’s supposed to because the headboard is now a good four inches to far away. It’s a minor complaint.
At least the larger hotel chains always seem to have plenty of hot steamy water, even if all the water conservation thingies don’t let you have much water pressure. A hot shower always goes a long way in the morning or after a late night of traveling.
And what about the A.C. / Heater units? Well for the most part they seem to work well, but I like a little air moving when I sleep. That pretty much means I like a fan, but it’s a rare thing when the hotels have them. Most of the HVAC units shut off when the room reaches a desired temperature and that means no moving air or no ambient noise to drown out the tv, screaming kids, or college kids making their own Girls Gone Wild video in the next room. So I either have to freeze the room out (which I like to do anyway) or make it entirely too warm. The best technique, in Montana, seemed to be opening the window just enough to keep the room fairly cool and then setting the HVAC unit to a low heat setting. However, this wastes electricity and I hate that.
The best bet are the ones that allow me to get the room to the right temp and then just turn the fan on without any heat or AC. The one in the room last night was even better. I could turn the AC on, and the compressor only kicked in when needed but left the fan running the entire time.
It’s either that or start carrying portable fans and that just means one more thing to pack into my suitcase.
So now, here I am….clean, but not rested getting ready to stand on my feet and project to a classroom for 8 hours straight. I take breaks with the students, but it’s entirely lecture and therefore not much time to sit and relax.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
It's Right Under Your Nose!
First off....if you a liberal sympathizer with Muslims, don't read this. Just go away as you won't care anyway.
My dad sent me this link to an interesting article.
http://www.canadafreepress.com/2007/paul-williams051107.htm
It doesn't surprise me a whole lot that places like this exist. It was surprising to me that they are not listed on the official U.S. Terror Watch List. It is also irritating that these people are allowed to "thrive" (if you can call it that) and exist as a protected entity in our own country.
Aren't we supposed to be at war with these people?
And what about religious freedom? Separation of church and state was never meant to imply that the laws of a religion are higher than that of our own country. Yet, I'm willing to bet that these people claim religious freedom. I recall reading about a Japanese woman that murdered her two kids by drowning them in the ocean. She also claimed religious freedom and was exonerated.
Somehow people have twisted the definition for separation of church and state to mean that you can do whatever you want claiming religious freedom. Muslims have been, and still are, trying to practice their own laws in lieu of those in the US based on the grounds of religious freedom and will continue to do so until we put an end to it.
My dad sent me this link to an interesting article.
http://www.canadafreepress.com/2007/paul-williams051107.htm
It doesn't surprise me a whole lot that places like this exist. It was surprising to me that they are not listed on the official U.S. Terror Watch List. It is also irritating that these people are allowed to "thrive" (if you can call it that) and exist as a protected entity in our own country.
Aren't we supposed to be at war with these people?
And what about religious freedom? Separation of church and state was never meant to imply that the laws of a religion are higher than that of our own country. Yet, I'm willing to bet that these people claim religious freedom. I recall reading about a Japanese woman that murdered her two kids by drowning them in the ocean. She also claimed religious freedom and was exonerated.
Somehow people have twisted the definition for separation of church and state to mean that you can do whatever you want claiming religious freedom. Muslims have been, and still are, trying to practice their own laws in lieu of those in the US based on the grounds of religious freedom and will continue to do so until we put an end to it.
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Drinking my DP
A train of thought.
Disjointed and distorted.
Shadows fade, turn the page.
Another day.
Another chance
Another beginning.
Shadows emerge.
pull the blinds.
I once was blind, but now I see.
Feeling Guilty...
I haven't posted much lately. It's really odd to me that the more things I have going on in my brain the less I tend to write. I'm not sure why that is. It could be an inability to express myself in writing. Or it could just be that without being focused on a single thought (i.e. a rant) there is too much information to process and write down. I think that is how I feel about it most of the time.
I didn't realize how tired and burned out on travelling I was until this last two week trip. Even though I enjoyed certain parts of California (hey! Everyone should be able to afford to drive a Mercedes, BMW, Lamborghini, and Ferrari) I was really wanting to get out of there and get back home.
Grasshopper wanted me to go to WinStar (in OK) with him to see Blues Traveller last night. I really wanted to go, and it wasn't that far away. But I also wanted to have a couple of nights here at the house in my own bed before I have to fly out again. It was a bit selfish of me not to go, and perhaps I owe him an apology.
I've also been bummed out about a few things lately and can't quite seem to get my finger on exactly what it is. Or rather, maybe I have an idea and just don't want to figure it all out, yet (avoidance?).
Anyway, I have a ton of things to do because I am flying right back out - hence feeling rushed and always behind.
I'll try to post a bit more on that later.
I didn't realize how tired and burned out on travelling I was until this last two week trip. Even though I enjoyed certain parts of California (hey! Everyone should be able to afford to drive a Mercedes, BMW, Lamborghini, and Ferrari) I was really wanting to get out of there and get back home.
Grasshopper wanted me to go to WinStar (in OK) with him to see Blues Traveller last night. I really wanted to go, and it wasn't that far away. But I also wanted to have a couple of nights here at the house in my own bed before I have to fly out again. It was a bit selfish of me not to go, and perhaps I owe him an apology.
I've also been bummed out about a few things lately and can't quite seem to get my finger on exactly what it is. Or rather, maybe I have an idea and just don't want to figure it all out, yet (avoidance?).
Anyway, I have a ton of things to do because I am flying right back out - hence feeling rushed and always behind.
I'll try to post a bit more on that later.
Happy Mother's Day!
Happy Mother's Day to all of you moms out there. And happy Anti-Mother's day to all of you non-moms out there.
And what the hell, happy Mothers day to all of you dads out there....because without you there couldn't be any moms!
We are meeting over at my sister's to do a little grilling. I bought some scrimps (don't ask) and am thawing them out so I can peel and marinate them. I think some other folks bought steaks and what not. It should be a good time if the weather cooperates. Lately, it's just been one storm after another down here.
I hope you have a good one, too!
And what the hell, happy Mothers day to all of you dads out there....because without you there couldn't be any moms!
We are meeting over at my sister's to do a little grilling. I bought some scrimps (don't ask) and am thawing them out so I can peel and marinate them. I think some other folks bought steaks and what not. It should be a good time if the weather cooperates. Lately, it's just been one storm after another down here.
I hope you have a good one, too!
Saturday, May 05, 2007
Greetings from California!
I am in Sunny California. We actually got a little bit of rain over the last two days but today is gorgeous!! I took La Honda drive into Half Moon Bay for a nice drive and some killer sushi at place called Sushi Main Street. It's my favorite sushi place, but I only get to go about once every couple of years.
They also had a classic motorcycle show at the Ritz Carlton in Half Moon Bay. I drove by it, but there were so many people I didn't bother to hang out. I did make it up and down the coast a bit and got a couple of photos of the cliffs and shoreline.
BTW - La Honda drive is awesome!!! Lots of bikes all over the place. I was really wishing I had my bike out here. I am really jealous of those that get to do that every weekend. The giant redwood trees and the winding road put a big grin on my face for most of the drive.
As you can imagine, there were plenty of write-ups in the paper about the immigration protests that were being held last week. If you haven't figured it out by now, I support LEGAL immigration but am anti-ILLEGAL immigration. I do not support amnesty for the illegal immigrants and I think we should ship their ass back to wherever they came from. It's appalling to me that people are marching in protest to support criminals.
Some people say that logistically that would be a nightmare. Maybe, but look at how much money illegal immigration already impacts our country. I would be hard pressed to believe that it would cost us more to send them home than to continue to deal with the problem; not only today, but at the increasing number of illegal aliens.
But first, we have to secure our borders. Does anyone have a dog? You know, "fluffy?" What happens to Fluffy when the fence is broken, or doesn't exist? Fluffy runs out of the backyard and goes wherever he or she pleases. Fluffy might even come back and wind up on the front porch wanting some food or water. Stick Fluffy in the back yard without mending the fence and you can bet that Fluffy won't stay there long. Our borders are the same way. You can't begin shipping illegals out of the country if you aren't willing to enforce the borders in the first place.
All that being said, I also think the INS is jacked when it comes to people trying to enter the country legally. It certainly appears as though anyone that makes the effort to enter the country legally is paying the price while those that enter illegally have it made. Somehow that just rubs the wrong way.
They also had a classic motorcycle show at the Ritz Carlton in Half Moon Bay. I drove by it, but there were so many people I didn't bother to hang out. I did make it up and down the coast a bit and got a couple of photos of the cliffs and shoreline.
BTW - La Honda drive is awesome!!! Lots of bikes all over the place. I was really wishing I had my bike out here. I am really jealous of those that get to do that every weekend. The giant redwood trees and the winding road put a big grin on my face for most of the drive.
As you can imagine, there were plenty of write-ups in the paper about the immigration protests that were being held last week. If you haven't figured it out by now, I support LEGAL immigration but am anti-ILLEGAL immigration. I do not support amnesty for the illegal immigrants and I think we should ship their ass back to wherever they came from. It's appalling to me that people are marching in protest to support criminals.
Some people say that logistically that would be a nightmare. Maybe, but look at how much money illegal immigration already impacts our country. I would be hard pressed to believe that it would cost us more to send them home than to continue to deal with the problem; not only today, but at the increasing number of illegal aliens.
But first, we have to secure our borders. Does anyone have a dog? You know, "fluffy?" What happens to Fluffy when the fence is broken, or doesn't exist? Fluffy runs out of the backyard and goes wherever he or she pleases. Fluffy might even come back and wind up on the front porch wanting some food or water. Stick Fluffy in the back yard without mending the fence and you can bet that Fluffy won't stay there long. Our borders are the same way. You can't begin shipping illegals out of the country if you aren't willing to enforce the borders in the first place.
All that being said, I also think the INS is jacked when it comes to people trying to enter the country legally. It certainly appears as though anyone that makes the effort to enter the country legally is paying the price while those that enter illegally have it made. Somehow that just rubs the wrong way.
My Hell Hole For a Week
I spent the last week in an intense "boot camp" training course. This was for internal employees only, but it was fairly brutal.
Imagine, if you will, a technical course that would be the college equivalent of two semesters of college. We normally teach those course in about a week. If you look at the hours (40-ish) that works out about right.
Now take three of those classes and cram them into one single week! That's roughly 120 hours that we did in approximately 70 hours. My brain was completely fried after that. I was even comfortable with the material, but some of my other class mates and co-workers were not. I am not sure how they were able to absorb very much.
Check out these pics....yes, all the books on the floor and on the desk were mine for the week. They are going home in a box.
Imagine, if you will, a technical course that would be the college equivalent of two semesters of college. We normally teach those course in about a week. If you look at the hours (40-ish) that works out about right.
Now take three of those classes and cram them into one single week! That's roughly 120 hours that we did in approximately 70 hours. My brain was completely fried after that. I was even comfortable with the material, but some of my other class mates and co-workers were not. I am not sure how they were able to absorb very much.
Check out these pics....yes, all the books on the floor and on the desk were mine for the week. They are going home in a box.
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