Friday, January 30, 2009
All Summer Long
I had to add this song to my play list. It is the perfect mix of Werewolves of London and Sweet Home Alabama, and really is Kid Rock at his best. Since it's release I crank the radio whenever it comes on much to the chagrin of the other people in the car. It reminds me so much of the summer after I graduated. My oldest wanted to know what we were drinking, smoking, and doing by the lake at night. hahahahaha Told her to mind her own business, it isn't what she thinks. The making love, no, but I do have to admit there were a few great NCMOs going on. To be 18 and carefree again?!?! Well, no thanks, been there done that, but this song does make me feel pretty young again. Singing Sweet Home Alabama all summer long.....
Vacuum sealing food
I purchased a Rival Seal a Meal for under $40. If you do get one make sure it has the port on top for the accessory tube, this way you can seal jars too. You will have to purchase the jar sealers separately, which can be done at numerous places but I found Goodmans in Miami to be good. There is a wide jar and regular jar size, I recommend both. Purchased a box of bags and have been busy all morning. At least the hurt foot came in handy in one way, it forced me to stay home and work at my food storage for the day.
My family enjoys the Martha White muffin mixes. These do require milk. The Betty Crocker brand require only water. Have purchased both when on sale. To vacuum seal and extend shelf life simply cut open a slit at the top of the package, fold over and seal in your baggie. Have also sealed hamburger helper/tuna helper this way. Make sure you do not seal powders in a bag without having them in another bag or they will be sucked up into the sealer and ruin the motor. This is why I leave the powders in their original container and simply slit a hole at the top, express the air, fold over, and viola. Food that's shelf life has been at least doubled.
My family enjoys the Martha White muffin mixes. These do require milk. The Betty Crocker brand require only water. Have purchased both when on sale. To vacuum seal and extend shelf life simply cut open a slit at the top of the package, fold over and seal in your baggie. Have also sealed hamburger helper/tuna helper this way. Make sure you do not seal powders in a bag without having them in another bag or they will be sucked up into the sealer and ruin the motor. This is why I leave the powders in their original container and simply slit a hole at the top, express the air, fold over, and viola. Food that's shelf life has been at least doubled.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Gimme a break
Today while teaching my step class I rolled my ankle off of the edge of the step. Being the Amazon that I am I kept going even though it hurt like the dickens. (What exactly does "hurt like the dickens" mean anyways?) Had a few errands to run after class, finally got home, showered and finished canning 40lbs more of chicken only to have my ankle and foot start to hurt so much by 2:00pm that I was writhing in pain. I was really in tears and that is not an easy thing to bring me to with physical pain. Finally strapped on Kade's walking boot and headed to the ortho. I either have an accessory navicular or a navicular break and a horrible sprain. Let's hope it's not the break because apparently those are hard to heal and have a high incidence of reoccurring. The pitting edema and bruising on said injury is pretty. Need an MRI to definitively diagnose the problem. Will know by Mon. Getting old is really starting to suck!!
Eavesdropping
Took the family out to eat to Carrabbas the other night. Must've been senior citizen night, well okay, maybe it's just the fact that this is central Florida and our town is overrun with snowbirds in the winter, but the place was packed with many people over the age of 65. While I was waiting for our food I couldn't help but overhear the two couples sitting near by.
"Have you heard about this blogging thing?" man 1
"Oh yes. I think I've heard about that." man 2
"Well, these bloggers are taking over the internet. I mean, after these news stories you can now email your comments (isn't it cute he thinks an instant comment is an email?) about the story and you don't even have to put your name. All of these bloggers are making comments and there were 93 comments after this story. And no one leaves their names. They are doing it anonymously. I think that is unethical. And you should see the language they use. F with three asterisks as if we don't know what that means." man 1
Okay you fellow bloggers out there. STOP emailing your comments about news stories and doing it anonymously. I mean, really, what's the worst that could happen to you if you were to put your name and location to a real comment being left? How about this:
Internet Service Providers (ISPs), email, web pages, websites, search engines, images, listservs, Instant Chat Relay (IRCs) are all cyberstalking tools. As Internet usage increased, it is not known if people realize what online stalking was or if it was recognized as a crime. One of the most famous cases that brought cyberstalking into the public’s eye was the Jayne Hitchcock incident. Her story brought cyberstalking to the attention of lawmakers and she and others helped rewrite state stalking laws. Her harassment begin online via discussion groups and emails and then lead to physical stalking of her and her family in the real world.
Another example of a victim was Cynthia Armistead of Atlanta, Georgia. She and her daughter began receiving threatening and obscene messages and phone calls from her stalker in 1996. He posted phony advertisements on the USENET offering her services as a prostitute and provided her address and phone number. She moved and changed her address. Then she was stalked physically. Her stalker continued to email her. Finally he was caught and brought to trial. The stalker could not be prosecuted because Georgia had no laws regarding cyberstalking, but the stalker, Richard Hillyard, was charged with the “traditional” stalking laws and found not guilty.
In 1998 Dwayne Comfort, a former USD student, sent over 100 threatening, harassing, terrorizing and sexually explicit emails to five different victims. He used personal information about them and intimidated them to the point of obsession. He was able to avoid detection for 10 months. Also in that same year, Richard Machado emailed “death threat” messages to 59 students, mostly Asian Americans attending the University of California. Machado threatened, "to find and kill every one of you personally.” He was convicted on a civil rights charge and sentenced to a year in prison with time served. Machado was also expelled for poor academic performance. At the trial, he testified he had sent the messages out of boredom and to provoke a response. He denied any intention to follow up on his threats. His case was the first civil rights charge for crime committed on a computer.
It was New Hampshire in the late 1990s. Liam Youens fell in love with his fellow eighth grader Amy Boyer and obsessed her from afar and online. She had no idea she was being stalked. Liam stalked her for two years and created a website dedicated to her. He chronicled his daily obsession about her and published it on the website, as well as the ways he would kill her. Liam obtained Amy’s social security number via an online database, found her place of employment, and as she was getting into her car, he shot her in the head and then killed himself. Because of this incident, and the easy accessibility to obtain social security numbers, the U.S. legislation passed the Social Security Number Protection Act of 2000. (The Social Security Number Privacy and Identity Theft Prevention Act of 2003 was introduced in the 2003 legislation to prevent misuse and identity theft of these account numbers.) It is now a civil and criminal offense to sell or purchase a number except for legitimate purposes. The online database brokers were also found liable for their role in Amy’s death. The New Hampshire Supreme Court has held that information brokers and private investigators can be liable for the harms caused by selling personal information.
About this time, then-Vice President Al Gore realized there was a rise in online stalking and commissioned the U.S. Justice Department Report on Cyberstalking. From the 1999 study, it was reported that more than 1 in 12 women (8.2 million) will be stalked or have been stalked, and 50% of the cases will not be reported. Stalking victims are usually between the ages of 18-26, and stalkers usually have a prior criminal history or a personality disorder. Cyberstalkers now may be younger, more intelligent and better educated than other criminals. They are described as fairly lonely, isolated, highly intelligent, impulsive, cunning, resourceful, understand how to be anonymous, and know computers. They love cyberspace because there are no face-to-face meetings.
Anonymity has another trait that is important in cyberstalking: pseudonymity. The Internet and ISPs allow users to create a fake name as their identity. One can fake gender, age, race and physical appearance. It is up to the user to decide how to control personal information that is released on the Internet. Another reason to use cyberspace is real-time vs. virtual time communications. Email users are more blunt and direct in their communications and less concerned with what possible impact their speech or chosen words may have on another person. Email has no body language, no tone of voice, and no facial expressions. Most often people do not realize that emails are not private and that email systems can create a compete record of transactions. And what about cookies? Cookies or data text files are stored on a user’s hard drive. When visiting certain sites, one can track the habits of the users by accessing the cookies. Most surfers do not know how their information is gathered and used. Now many commercial and non-profit websites will tell the user what they do with the collected cookies. But this information is not in “plain sight” and one has to hunt for the policy.
On the Internet, cyberstalkers can sometimes reach an anonymous identity by using a tool called Anonymizer or MixMaster. Using one of these applications can wipe out someone’s electronic identification information and reallocate it to an anonymous ID. These re-mailers can also use public key cryptography so there is a complete privacy for the user. By chaining together a few of these re-mailers, the user can create a complicated trail for law enforcement and others to track. There are several individuals and groups who would like to call for a prohibition of these re-mailers. But the First Amendment and privacy issues play a part in why these applications are still available to the public. Free speech can be facilitated by anonymous online usage, which allows human rights activities, political and religious speeches and whistleblowers to engage in confidential communications (Wallace, 1999). For example, Anonymizer was used in 1999 to launch the Kosovo Privacy Project to provide free and confidential web browsing and email to people in that region. Other Internet tools that are utilized to taunt their cyber victims include: spoofing (forging headers), spamming, sniffing, chat rooms, and news groups (Wall, 2001, p. 147). for the full story click here
I know of other stories and couldn't help but chuckle to myself listening in on the conversation and thinking, "wow, how times have a changed. Used to be you would never write a letter to the editor of your local paper anonymously, you would be proud to put your name, and maybe you received a rebuke or nasty phone call about it from someone who disagreed, but in today's world, people have gone LOCO and will hunt you down and kill you for not agreeing."
"Have you heard about this blogging thing?" man 1
"Oh yes. I think I've heard about that." man 2
"Well, these bloggers are taking over the internet. I mean, after these news stories you can now email your comments (isn't it cute he thinks an instant comment is an email?) about the story and you don't even have to put your name. All of these bloggers are making comments and there were 93 comments after this story. And no one leaves their names. They are doing it anonymously. I think that is unethical. And you should see the language they use. F with three asterisks as if we don't know what that means." man 1
Okay you fellow bloggers out there. STOP emailing your comments about news stories and doing it anonymously. I mean, really, what's the worst that could happen to you if you were to put your name and location to a real comment being left? How about this:
Internet Service Providers (ISPs), email, web pages, websites, search engines, images, listservs, Instant Chat Relay (IRCs) are all cyberstalking tools. As Internet usage increased, it is not known if people realize what online stalking was or if it was recognized as a crime. One of the most famous cases that brought cyberstalking into the public’s eye was the Jayne Hitchcock incident. Her story brought cyberstalking to the attention of lawmakers and she and others helped rewrite state stalking laws. Her harassment begin online via discussion groups and emails and then lead to physical stalking of her and her family in the real world.
Another example of a victim was Cynthia Armistead of Atlanta, Georgia. She and her daughter began receiving threatening and obscene messages and phone calls from her stalker in 1996. He posted phony advertisements on the USENET offering her services as a prostitute and provided her address and phone number. She moved and changed her address. Then she was stalked physically. Her stalker continued to email her. Finally he was caught and brought to trial. The stalker could not be prosecuted because Georgia had no laws regarding cyberstalking, but the stalker, Richard Hillyard, was charged with the “traditional” stalking laws and found not guilty.
In 1998 Dwayne Comfort, a former USD student, sent over 100 threatening, harassing, terrorizing and sexually explicit emails to five different victims. He used personal information about them and intimidated them to the point of obsession. He was able to avoid detection for 10 months. Also in that same year, Richard Machado emailed “death threat” messages to 59 students, mostly Asian Americans attending the University of California. Machado threatened, "to find and kill every one of you personally.” He was convicted on a civil rights charge and sentenced to a year in prison with time served. Machado was also expelled for poor academic performance. At the trial, he testified he had sent the messages out of boredom and to provoke a response. He denied any intention to follow up on his threats. His case was the first civil rights charge for crime committed on a computer.
It was New Hampshire in the late 1990s. Liam Youens fell in love with his fellow eighth grader Amy Boyer and obsessed her from afar and online. She had no idea she was being stalked. Liam stalked her for two years and created a website dedicated to her. He chronicled his daily obsession about her and published it on the website, as well as the ways he would kill her. Liam obtained Amy’s social security number via an online database, found her place of employment, and as she was getting into her car, he shot her in the head and then killed himself. Because of this incident, and the easy accessibility to obtain social security numbers, the U.S. legislation passed the Social Security Number Protection Act of 2000. (The Social Security Number Privacy and Identity Theft Prevention Act of 2003 was introduced in the 2003 legislation to prevent misuse and identity theft of these account numbers.) It is now a civil and criminal offense to sell or purchase a number except for legitimate purposes. The online database brokers were also found liable for their role in Amy’s death. The New Hampshire Supreme Court has held that information brokers and private investigators can be liable for the harms caused by selling personal information.
About this time, then-Vice President Al Gore realized there was a rise in online stalking and commissioned the U.S. Justice Department Report on Cyberstalking. From the 1999 study, it was reported that more than 1 in 12 women (8.2 million) will be stalked or have been stalked, and 50% of the cases will not be reported. Stalking victims are usually between the ages of 18-26, and stalkers usually have a prior criminal history or a personality disorder. Cyberstalkers now may be younger, more intelligent and better educated than other criminals. They are described as fairly lonely, isolated, highly intelligent, impulsive, cunning, resourceful, understand how to be anonymous, and know computers. They love cyberspace because there are no face-to-face meetings.
Anonymity has another trait that is important in cyberstalking: pseudonymity. The Internet and ISPs allow users to create a fake name as their identity. One can fake gender, age, race and physical appearance. It is up to the user to decide how to control personal information that is released on the Internet. Another reason to use cyberspace is real-time vs. virtual time communications. Email users are more blunt and direct in their communications and less concerned with what possible impact their speech or chosen words may have on another person. Email has no body language, no tone of voice, and no facial expressions. Most often people do not realize that emails are not private and that email systems can create a compete record of transactions. And what about cookies? Cookies or data text files are stored on a user’s hard drive. When visiting certain sites, one can track the habits of the users by accessing the cookies. Most surfers do not know how their information is gathered and used. Now many commercial and non-profit websites will tell the user what they do with the collected cookies. But this information is not in “plain sight” and one has to hunt for the policy.
On the Internet, cyberstalkers can sometimes reach an anonymous identity by using a tool called Anonymizer or MixMaster. Using one of these applications can wipe out someone’s electronic identification information and reallocate it to an anonymous ID. These re-mailers can also use public key cryptography so there is a complete privacy for the user. By chaining together a few of these re-mailers, the user can create a complicated trail for law enforcement and others to track. There are several individuals and groups who would like to call for a prohibition of these re-mailers. But the First Amendment and privacy issues play a part in why these applications are still available to the public. Free speech can be facilitated by anonymous online usage, which allows human rights activities, political and religious speeches and whistleblowers to engage in confidential communications (Wallace, 1999). For example, Anonymizer was used in 1999 to launch the Kosovo Privacy Project to provide free and confidential web browsing and email to people in that region. Other Internet tools that are utilized to taunt their cyber victims include: spoofing (forging headers), spamming, sniffing, chat rooms, and news groups (Wall, 2001, p. 147). for the full story click here
I know of other stories and couldn't help but chuckle to myself listening in on the conversation and thinking, "wow, how times have a changed. Used to be you would never write a letter to the editor of your local paper anonymously, you would be proud to put your name, and maybe you received a rebuke or nasty phone call about it from someone who disagreed, but in today's world, people have gone LOCO and will hunt you down and kill you for not agreeing."
Monday, January 26, 2009
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Tired of My Political Tirade? Me too, so how about some Food Storage Made Easy
Yesterday our ward hosted a preparedness fair. It was nicely done and we received a booklet with invaluable information. I've really been working on our family food storage and had never heard of this idea before, but boy did it make sense and seems so easy. Here is the nitty gritty of it. (by Wendy DeWitt)
I've based this system on a "worst case scenario," meaning, if there were no stores, gardens, city water or electricity, I could still feed my family. This scenario also assumes that each family will be on their own, that we won't be "banding together" at churches or schools. How much food is a year's supply? This system answers that question right down to the last teaspoon of salt. You choose 7 breakfasts and 7 dinners that you would want to have once a week for one year. There are 52 weeks in the year, you're having this meal once a week, so you'll have it 52 times. Make these meals things that you eat all of the time, thing that you like! You are going to multiply everything (including the amount of water used)in each of your recipes by 52. An example would be if you used 1 jar of Ragu and 1 pound of spaghetti to feed your family, you'd buy 52 jars of Ragu, 52 pounds of spaghetti and include the water to cook the noodles. If we're in a "worst case scenario" your big meal of the day is going to be in the afternoon before the sun goes down (this is because you are using your solar oven for cooking). You would have breakfast, a big dinner and maybe a sandwich or a snack in the evening. This is a very simple system that saves time and money because you only store what you really need and will eat. Plus, each time you use something (yes you rotate your food storage) you simply replace that item the next time you are at the grocery store.
We received great food hints, like using gelatin as an egg substitute in recipes. It is less expensive than powdered eggs and has an indefinite shelf life. Also tons of information on water storage, collection and purification. The booklet we received is quite large, but if you would like a copy I am willing to take the time to copy it and mail it to you. If you didn't hear from me about ordering a solar oven last fall, you really should look into it. Normally they are around $200 plus shipping, but we received a great deal on a sport model $139 includes shipping if done in one order of at least 10 or more (an even number) and paid with one check, shipped to one address. You need to talk with your individual ward food storage specialist about this. These things are amazing!! You can cook just about anything in them. We've even done bread, cookies, cake, etc. It works much like a dutch oven but without having to make a fire. Things are moist and tasty!! You can cook pastas and rice in them too and can purify water in them. I can't recommend them enough as an important tool of emergency preparedness. You don't have to store fuel and they come with reflectors for cooking on overcast days.
I will be canning 40lbs of chicken this week and vacuum sealing most of my pastas/rice/and dry goods to extend the shelf life of them. It has been fun in a weird way to finally be able to get involved in this. I've stocked up on feminine hygiene products, TP, soap, toothbrushes, cleaning supplies etc. Even cat litter to use as a make shift latrine.
Bertolli pasta sauces and a great brand of pasta were on sale this week for BOGO free at Publix, so I really stocked up. The check out guy was laughing at me and said something like, "wow, you're going to be cooking a lot of spaghetti!!" Umm, yeah, something like that. Now go and do as the Lord has commanded and prepare your family. Happy to supply help, advice, and handouts if you so desire.
I've based this system on a "worst case scenario," meaning, if there were no stores, gardens, city water or electricity, I could still feed my family. This scenario also assumes that each family will be on their own, that we won't be "banding together" at churches or schools. How much food is a year's supply? This system answers that question right down to the last teaspoon of salt. You choose 7 breakfasts and 7 dinners that you would want to have once a week for one year. There are 52 weeks in the year, you're having this meal once a week, so you'll have it 52 times. Make these meals things that you eat all of the time, thing that you like! You are going to multiply everything (including the amount of water used)in each of your recipes by 52. An example would be if you used 1 jar of Ragu and 1 pound of spaghetti to feed your family, you'd buy 52 jars of Ragu, 52 pounds of spaghetti and include the water to cook the noodles. If we're in a "worst case scenario" your big meal of the day is going to be in the afternoon before the sun goes down (this is because you are using your solar oven for cooking). You would have breakfast, a big dinner and maybe a sandwich or a snack in the evening. This is a very simple system that saves time and money because you only store what you really need and will eat. Plus, each time you use something (yes you rotate your food storage) you simply replace that item the next time you are at the grocery store.
We received great food hints, like using gelatin as an egg substitute in recipes. It is less expensive than powdered eggs and has an indefinite shelf life. Also tons of information on water storage, collection and purification. The booklet we received is quite large, but if you would like a copy I am willing to take the time to copy it and mail it to you. If you didn't hear from me about ordering a solar oven last fall, you really should look into it. Normally they are around $200 plus shipping, but we received a great deal on a sport model $139 includes shipping if done in one order of at least 10 or more (an even number) and paid with one check, shipped to one address. You need to talk with your individual ward food storage specialist about this. These things are amazing!! You can cook just about anything in them. We've even done bread, cookies, cake, etc. It works much like a dutch oven but without having to make a fire. Things are moist and tasty!! You can cook pastas and rice in them too and can purify water in them. I can't recommend them enough as an important tool of emergency preparedness. You don't have to store fuel and they come with reflectors for cooking on overcast days.
I will be canning 40lbs of chicken this week and vacuum sealing most of my pastas/rice/and dry goods to extend the shelf life of them. It has been fun in a weird way to finally be able to get involved in this. I've stocked up on feminine hygiene products, TP, soap, toothbrushes, cleaning supplies etc. Even cat litter to use as a make shift latrine.
Bertolli pasta sauces and a great brand of pasta were on sale this week for BOGO free at Publix, so I really stocked up. The check out guy was laughing at me and said something like, "wow, you're going to be cooking a lot of spaghetti!!" Umm, yeah, something like that. Now go and do as the Lord has commanded and prepare your family. Happy to supply help, advice, and handouts if you so desire.
The Big Bad FEMA
The ironic thing is, Pres. Bush was castigated for his lack of federal response after Katrina. If the liberal masses only knew what the real function of FEMA is, like the federal leaders do, I'm sure they would be more than relieved FEMA wasn't functioning up to par during Katrina.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Wow
Can this be real? Are these people misinterpreting things or are we really up the creek without a paddle?
http://www.libertyforlife.com/jail-police/us_concentration_camps.htm
http://www.freedomfiles.org/war/fema.htm
http://www.libertyforlife.com/jail-police/us_concentration_camps.htm
http://www.freedomfiles.org/war/fema.htm
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Monday, January 19, 2009
Bush commutes sentences of former US border agents
IT'S ABOUT DANG FRICKIN' TIME!!!!
Click here to read the full article. It's not a pardon, which I think it probably should've been, but these may well get to go home to their families in March. Thank you Mr. President
Click here to read the full article. It's not a pardon, which I think it probably should've been, but these may well get to go home to their families in March. Thank you Mr. President
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Obama Attacks Founding Documents As Insufficient, In Need Of Change, Sets Stage For Revolution
Man this is unreal, sad, and scary. I hope we have all been listening to the words of our prophets and preparing our houses spiritually and temporally. Things are about to get "interesting"
"This is from his speech in Philadelphia this morning. Where better to announce the founding of a new nation shaped in his image? And where else, more mocking, more audacious? And where else, better to fool people, as a patriot?
Obama:
“It was these ideals that led us to declare independence, and craft our constitution, producing documents that were imperfect but had within them, like our nation itself, the capacity to be made more perfect.
We are here today not simply to pay tribute to our first patriots but to take up the work that they began.
And yet while our problems may be new, what is required to overcome them is not. What is required is the same perseverance and idealism that our founders displayed. What is required is a new declaration of independence not just in our nation, but in our own lives..independence from ideology…
We should not forget we are the heirs of those who declared independence…and who somehow believed that they had the power to make the world anew, that’s the spirit we must reclaim …for the American Revolution did not end when the British guns fell silent…it was never something to be ended on a battlefield, or fulfilled in our founding documents…the American Revolution was and remains an ongoing struggle in the minds and hearts of the people…so starting now, let’s take up in our own lives, the work of perfecting our Union. Let’s build a government…let all of us do our part to rebuild this country , let’s make sure this election is not the end of what we do to change America, but just the beginning.”
Later in another city, he made reference to the need for our Constitution to be rewritten as “more perfect”.
Who gets to define that? And why is that definition expected to be better than the definition left us by the Founding Fathers?
Let’s build a government? We don’t have one, or you simply want a new one? What type of government would that be?
Rebuild the country? Are there plans to tear it down? Because it hasn’t been torn down, yet. What foreknowledge do you have of it being torn down, and what exactly do you then want it rebuilt into?
The beginning of changing America? Into what?" (January 17th, 2009 Posted By Pat Dollard)
"This is from his speech in Philadelphia this morning. Where better to announce the founding of a new nation shaped in his image? And where else, more mocking, more audacious? And where else, better to fool people, as a patriot?
Obama:
“It was these ideals that led us to declare independence, and craft our constitution, producing documents that were imperfect but had within them, like our nation itself, the capacity to be made more perfect.
We are here today not simply to pay tribute to our first patriots but to take up the work that they began.
And yet while our problems may be new, what is required to overcome them is not. What is required is the same perseverance and idealism that our founders displayed. What is required is a new declaration of independence not just in our nation, but in our own lives..independence from ideology…
We should not forget we are the heirs of those who declared independence…and who somehow believed that they had the power to make the world anew, that’s the spirit we must reclaim …for the American Revolution did not end when the British guns fell silent…it was never something to be ended on a battlefield, or fulfilled in our founding documents…the American Revolution was and remains an ongoing struggle in the minds and hearts of the people…so starting now, let’s take up in our own lives, the work of perfecting our Union. Let’s build a government…let all of us do our part to rebuild this country , let’s make sure this election is not the end of what we do to change America, but just the beginning.”
Later in another city, he made reference to the need for our Constitution to be rewritten as “more perfect”.
Who gets to define that? And why is that definition expected to be better than the definition left us by the Founding Fathers?
Let’s build a government? We don’t have one, or you simply want a new one? What type of government would that be?
Rebuild the country? Are there plans to tear it down? Because it hasn’t been torn down, yet. What foreknowledge do you have of it being torn down, and what exactly do you then want it rebuilt into?
The beginning of changing America? Into what?" (January 17th, 2009 Posted By Pat Dollard)
Friday, January 16, 2009
Oh Goodie....One more Actor I can Black List
I had no idea Tom Hanks was the executive producer of Big Love. And to make things even clearer in my mind he now calls Mormon supporters of Prop 8 "un-american." He calls the polygamists that he "portrays" in Big Love off shoots of the Mormon church and claims that many Mormons gave a lot of money to the church to support Prop 8. Let me set you straight here just a little Mr. Hanks.
First, no one gave the church any money for supporting Prop 8. The church does not get involved in politics. Do its members? Absolutely, and legally and rightfully so. Any money given in support of Prop 8 was given to political organizations involved in said support, not the church. Secondly, the polygamists that you claim to be off shoots of my faith have nothing in common with me or any other member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. They do not follow the words of our Prophet. They do not follow the teachings of Jesus Christ (in regards to their lifestyle) and they are NOT members of my faith. They can claim anything they want, but just because I call you an asinine egomaniac who speaks out of his ass, doesn't make it so.
By the way, I would be really curious to hear your opinion on the off shoots of the Muslim faith who perpetrate terror world wide on a daily basis. I bet you would be quick to point out they are not true followers of the religion of peace that Islam is. Damn fool you are.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,480167,00.html
First, no one gave the church any money for supporting Prop 8. The church does not get involved in politics. Do its members? Absolutely, and legally and rightfully so. Any money given in support of Prop 8 was given to political organizations involved in said support, not the church. Secondly, the polygamists that you claim to be off shoots of my faith have nothing in common with me or any other member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. They do not follow the words of our Prophet. They do not follow the teachings of Jesus Christ (in regards to their lifestyle) and they are NOT members of my faith. They can claim anything they want, but just because I call you an asinine egomaniac who speaks out of his ass, doesn't make it so.
By the way, I would be really curious to hear your opinion on the off shoots of the Muslim faith who perpetrate terror world wide on a daily basis. I bet you would be quick to point out they are not true followers of the religion of peace that Islam is. Damn fool you are.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,480167,00.html
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Let me be the first to say...I TOLD YOU SO!!
Remember just a few days ago I told you about my theory with the shoes all over the freeway here and aliens taking up the crazy Muslims so they could spread the good word? Well, all I can say to this is "I told you so." (For those of you who aren't quite sure, a lot of my posts are tongue in cheek. My attempt at humor or making light of otherwise serious situations. How I wish this could be a real story and an easy way for us to rid ourselves of the vile of these hate filled fanatics.)
Now click HERE to go to the link of the story and draw your own conclusions.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Smoke on the Water...Fire in the Sky
You know the song....Smoke on the Water, Fire in the Sky. I have never once thought about what the words meant or wondered what the artists' intent was with the chosen words. After living here in central Florida I now KNOW what it means. As a cold front rolled in last night and the sun started to rise this morning, the effect was AMAZING!!!! As the cold air starts to heat the fog rising off of the water is cool. Even our swimming pool was putting off a fog. The fog is always thick around here when the temps drop at night, but today there was SMOKE ON THE WATER AND FIRE IN THE SKY!!! The fog over the water was beautiful and the sunrise painted a brilliant fire across the eastern sky.
Smoke on the Water...Fog over the small pond behind our home
Birds enjoying some mud digging Hard to see even though they are less then 25 yards away from me
Fire in the Sky...I was hell bent on capturing the last sunset of '08. This was my attempt that turned out to be an adventure. The sunsets around here are breathtaking and wanting a pic of the final one I was thwarted by the clouds. So I hopped in the mini van chasing down the best angle, only to get lost on back roads, almost run out of gas, and have to take a lame pic from the moving car.
Sunlight filtering through the trees
Smoke on the Water...Fog over the small pond behind our home
Birds enjoying some mud digging Hard to see even though they are less then 25 yards away from me
Fire in the Sky...I was hell bent on capturing the last sunset of '08. This was my attempt that turned out to be an adventure. The sunsets around here are breathtaking and wanting a pic of the final one I was thwarted by the clouds. So I hopped in the mini van chasing down the best angle, only to get lost on back roads, almost run out of gas, and have to take a lame pic from the moving car.
Sunlight filtering through the trees
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Monday, January 12, 2009
A Nation of Sheeple or Warriors?
What will it take to take back our Republic and end our march towards a NWO?
Here is a link to a good article on Pat Dollard.
http://patdollard.com/2009/01/deceiver-cheat-swindler-liar-fraudster-con-artist/#comment-363950
Here is a link to a good article on Pat Dollard.
http://patdollard.com/2009/01/deceiver-cheat-swindler-liar-fraudster-con-artist/#comment-363950
Don't Even Try It
I picked up some packets of instant cream of wheat the other day thinking they would be quick, easy, and maybe good for food storage. I love cream of wheat as long as I can put some brown sugar in it. Last night it sounded good, so as I was reading I decided to make some. Ughhhh!!! Don't bother to waste your money on this instant stuff. I guess if I was starving I could choke it down, but it was horrible. I wanted my smooth and creamy hot cereal. Not whatever this was. So my advice, don't even try it.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
An Actor with the Testicular Fortitude to speak OUT
Thank you Gary Graham. Finally an actor with the guts to tell it like it is. This is a long post, but I'm going to paste it in it's entirety because I think it is worth the space. It comes from a new site http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/ I will be putting this site on my blog list. Finally some sanity coming out of the place I had to endure for almost a year.
Here is a link to find out Gary's filmography http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0334048/
One Pissed-Off Dude
by Gary Graham
I’m an American. This has always been my favorite label, but of late even that has seemed to mean less and less. Being called an American used to carry with it a certain pride and esprit de corps that now apparently is dated and passe. How else can one explain the rash of America-haters in our midst who only claim pride in America if a Leftist resides in the White House, and can only back a war effort if the decision to go to war was that of a Democrat.
I’m a Conservative. And I am also an actor who lives and works in Hollywood. Many of my friends advise me to keep that on the down-low, advise me to not speak up lest I scuttle any future employment prospects, so predominantly liberal is the entertainment biz. And yet I persist.
You see, I’m one pissed-off dude.
I’m told I’ll hurt my career if I continually spout off about Liberalism — which I see as a growing cancer in our society. Worldwide, I’ve seen Liberalism metastasize into virulent incarnations of Socialism, and, left unchecked, even into its malignant cousin, Communism. Only the arrogant or the somnambulist would think such a thing could never happen here. It’s a matter of increment. Once a group organizes into a coalition, it’s a short step to claiming the right to the property of another group. All that is necessary is for an individual’s right to personal property to become a secondary concern. The ‘needs’ of the group must supercede, dontcha know. It’s a vicious cycle – wants become needs become rights. The fact that the thievery is done at the behest of a ‘civilized’ government does not sanitize the crime.
“At least the highwayman has the decency to wear a mask.” – Author unknown.
So I’m told I should shut up. I make my living in the Hollywood community, and Hollywood is by and large run by Liberals. I’m told I need to stay quiet when the Left has their way over issues that affect my daily life. I’m told I need to learn how to get along with the Left, learn how to compromise. I need to be more open-minded. I need to be more tolerant.
I say F T S. Ask your 9-yr-old if you have trouble deciphering that. (No, wait, don’t.)
I don’t want to get along with the Left. I want to take them down. I want to expose their idiocy for what it is and reveal it as a harmful, dangerous succession of lies and deceptions. My friends say that that effort, aside from being fruitless, will cost me work. It will cost me my career. And I say Wait-a-minute, Bucko. Those folks who founded this country were willing to risk not only their careers, but their property, their families, their very lives…the least I can do in standing up for our precious freedoms is risk a silly television career. Not to compare myself with the brilliant thinkers who declared themselves independent of England and framed our Constitution…but those were some pretty pissed off dudes too. Compared to that, loss of a little TV or movie work seems pretty inconsequential. So in honor of Pissed Off Americans past and present, I rant.
I’m pissed off that everyone seems okay on having to press one for English. We’re supposed to be tolerant and understanding that maybe some folks who now live here (legally or not) might have trouble understanding what I’m saying to them if I speak in my native tongue, regardless of the extra cost to the rest of us. FTS.
I’m pissed that my sweet well-wishing friends and acquaintances now say “Happy Holidays” instead of Merry Christmas. Oh, we don’t want to offend the non-Christians, they’ll say. Again – FTS. ‘Happy Holidays’…nice and non-specific, soothingly generic. In keeping with the spirit of the season, I try not to show it – but I roll my eyes. Jeez, could you be any more spineless? Everybody walk on eggshells for the rest of your lives, living in perptual fear someone who holds a different religion, or sexual preference, or nationality is going to suffer some little offense if you actually wish them a lovely Christmas. “Oh we don’t celebrate Christmas.” “Oh, I’m so terribly sorry, I don’t mean to offend you. Please enjoy the Holiday of Winter Solstice and Earth Renewal Day or whatever your heart leads to celebrate, if indeed you are even feeling like celebrating anything.” Shut up! Smile and say thanks. Happy Hanukkah, Merry Ramadan, Soulful Kwanzaa…whatever. Smile and say Thanks.
Can we all stop taking ourselves so damn seriously for half a minute? Hey – life ain’t a popularity contest. So grow a pair. Speak your mind and if someone can’t handle it, request that they take a hike. How the hell did we ever survive life before the all-knowing, all-caring ACLU began to run interference for all our tender sensibilities? It’s a wonder any of us grew up without some crippling psychosis that drove us to chop up our grandmother. I’m old enough to remember when Common Sense ruled the day. (*cue the Cranky Old Man music)
It irks me that Democrats are always looking to raise my taxes. I’m patriotic if I take it up the bum and don’t squeal. What’s worse, they don’t even have the integrity to call them taxes. They call them ‘fees’, or even, ‘contributions’. As I learned the word, a contribution is a volitional act. Left to free choice, I say I choose to not contribute more than I already do. Let all those who say we are overtaxed stand up with me. Those who think different can form a line to the left…and we on the right will leave you completely free to contribute more. Raising taxes takes food off my family’s table. I regard people who advocate doing so in the same vein as I would the burglar I confront in the dead of night – an enemy.
I’m pissed that I study the political issues of the day, educate myself, stay informed daily by a multitude of news sources from all slants…and yet, come election day, my informed vote is cancelled by some numbskull who votes for the nicest smile, who doesn’t know who the current vice-president is, or which party controls Congress, and what’s more, doesn’t care. Am I the only one who thinks a basic intelligence and general knowledge test should be a prerequisite for voting for our leaders? No? Too radical a notion? Well, then, why not just make the winner of American Idol president and save all the drama? Everyone can text in their vote. And Paula, Randy, and Simon… the new cabinet. “Tonight the State of the Union speech will be sung by the President, backed up by Rascal Flatts…and special guest duet with Secretary of State David Archuleta…”
I’m pissed off by how soft many in our nation have become. How whimpy the tone, how spineless the resolve. What happened to that brutally real notion that people should be held responsible for his or her actions? Nowadays, it always seems to be someone else’s fault, whatever it is. Got a life of poverty, it’s rich folks doing it to you.
Alcohol addiction, substance abuse, your mother never said she loves you. Having trouble finding work, it’s the white, black, purple guys keeping you down. Your car company is going under, it’s the unfair business practices abroad and an economic downturn. Hey, nimrods – newsflash. LIFE IS HARD. The End. Get used to it, suck it up, get some spine, invent some if you have none, and GET ON WITH IT!!!! I’d like to offer, in utter compassion, and speaking on behalf of at least several like-minded bretheren out there, a class-action BITCH-SLAP to every mamby-pamby, limp-wristed douche-bag of a complainer who has the audacity to hope that we hard-working, God-fearing, America-loving taxpayers should be forced to give you one penny of our income to enable you further in your responsibility-shirking, self-destructive habits. Get your collective shiite together, friends. I am not, nor are my friends, my brother’s keeper. Though my heart is open enough to come to someone’s need should an honest and sincere calamity befall a brother or sister… when did destitution become a virtue? Did my snooze button malfunction causing me to oversleep a couple decades? When did begging become a noble venture? You see them standing there bravely, “God bless”and something about ‘can’t find work’ scrawled on their cardboard. Victims of society, of Bush/Cheney, of Ronald Reagan, of any heartless Republican administration. And worse – hey, I’ve seen the sign people on the offramps, I’ve seen the green flow as we assuage our prosperity guilt – these guys are cleaning up! Am I in the wrong business? When, dear friends, did panhandling become a lucrative industry? FTS!
(Side note: I’ve personally offered several of these beggars who had written “Will work for food” to buy them lunch if they’ll do some yard work and fence painting for me, and the reaction was always the same. Hell no! They just want cash, right now! Hmmm…and yet the sign said… Forget about the begging, whatever happened to truth in advertising?)
Who can identify virtue, when there is no shame?
And speaking of shame…have you on the Left no shame when it comes to calling evil EVIL? What’s in a name — a terrorist by any other name is a ‘Jihadist’. A freedom fighter. A rebel. But when are we going to admit that there is an evil movement out there dedicated to our destruction. And it ain’t Sarah Palin and George Bush. It’s radical Islam and they want to cut your personal head off simply because you’re not throwing in with them.
You’re not on your knees worshiping their boy Allah, so for this you and everyone like you all over the world must die and die now. But wait, it’s a ‘religion of peace’, we’re told. Wow, not the last time I looked. If Islam is a religion of peace, where are all the peace-loving Muslim leaders decrying the radicals’ murderous actions? The beheadings, the suicide bombings, the IED’s, the blowing up innocents on buses? Where are the peaceful Islamists’ protests against Hamas, Hezbollah, Al Queda, et al? You are a frog in a pot, Lefty – being boiled slowly, apparently too slowly for you to notice. Too much Climate Change on your mind to notice that the barbarians are at the gate. When the Nazis stormed into Jewish homes in 1939 I’m sure there were more than a few head-in-the sand myopic residents screaming about the troopers tracking mud on the carpet. If only they had had the ACLU to save the day… Human rights and clean carpets surely would have abound.
Speaking of climate change, while we’re at it…if the argument is over…and the facts are clear…how is it we can predict the climate twenty years hence, when we can’t even predict with much accuracy if my ass is going to get wet attending my friend’s kid’s Bar Mitzvah next weekend. When did we give the title to anyone with a PhD in front of their name the added moniker of ‘Soothsayer’? I read Paul Erhlich’s book, THE POPULATION BOMB in the early ‘70’s and it scared the begeebers out of me. By his prediction, each human being in 2008 would have less than a square meter of space to live in. (William F. Buckley voice: “Ahh…Mr. Erhlich was unavailable for comment, ahhh… but stressed the importance of keeping his line clear, lest the Nobel Prize committee call.”) And Mr. Gore – I do believe in Climate Change. It’s called summer, spring, winter and fall. Happens each year whether I drive my SUV or not. FTS!
Before I came up with the inspired notion of tossing my life away and becoming an actor…I was fully ensconsed in the science department at the University of California, Irvine. I know the way it works. The professors confided in me. You need a problem to study, better yet a crisis, or you don’t get funding for your research. It’s that simple. One professor of botany told me that these very high-tech ultra-violet cameras we were frolicking through the fields looking at flowers through cost the University $200 thousand dollars. Off my open-mouthed gape, he shrugged, “Gotta spend the money, or next year they cut us back.” So yeah, you’re going to find a ton of scientists who swear we’re killing the planet…and we desperately need another three million dollars to study the problem.
I’m confident I could find two hundred accredited scientists to join me in an exhaustive study to find out why belly button lint is demagnetizing the moon leading to global flooding…if only Bill Gates will step up with some coin. FTS!
Lastly…can we finally be done with all the hatred? George Bush is very soon to be out of a job. Time to let up on him a bit, don’t you think? Erase the hate, Lefties. You can stop proclaiming him to be the anti-christ, evil incarnate, the boogeyman, Darth Vader, or the Heartbreak of Psoriasis. The guy did his best. Like him, don’t like him, he kept us from attack for seven-and-a-half years so let it go. Your guy is in now, so relax. Have fun again. Laugh without derision. Smile without the snide. You remember how? Take off your flak jackets, it’s going to be okay. Our brave warriors did some serious ass-kicking in the Middle East, and though there’s no shortage of crazy Islamo-fascist bad guys yet to come, at least they know who they’re f*cking with.
Somehow along the way, so many of you forgot one simple, undeniable tenet: We’re the good guys. We’re not imperialists, or else we would’ve nuked the oil countries into radioactive dust, then moved in and taken the oil. We don’t ‘torture’ prisoners, or lawyers for the Gitmo ‘detainees’ would have CNN photographing the horrid scars and missing limbs. We don’t bully smaller, less developed nations. On the contrary, we expend our more precious asset: the blood of our brave, bright and courageous young men and women – all in committed effort to free them from despotic, brutal dictators. We are not brash. In 1991 we amassed a coalition of 34 nations before we acted to oust Saddam Hussein from Kuwait, and this after months and months of negotiations and U.N. resolutions. Twelve years later after waiting six months and seeing fourteen U.N. resolutions ignored by Hussein, George W. Bush had accrued a multi-national coalition and a majority vote in Congress before sending troops into Iraq. We are the big dog on the block. And yet we ask no penance from lesser countries. Instead we offer aid in the form of cash, medicine, and humanitarian help. When we go after bad guys in war, we don’t carpet bomb, or blow up civilian-filled buses. We have smart bombs that pinpoint targets to limit collateral civilian casualites. We’re the good guys. Only an entrenched self-loathing hatred of America will prevent you from seeing that. If that’s the case, you have my sympathy. But don’t let the door hit you on the way out. And yes, this is our country, whether a Democrat of a Republican occupies the White House.
Yeah, a lot of things piss me off. But I’m a ridiculously happy guy. I’m blessed with a wonderful family, terrific friends (many, many of them Liberals, oh yes), a strong Faith in God and a sweet certainty that this nation is on the side of good in the world…and that that good will overcome the bad.
I was asked by the founder of this site to write an article… an ‘opening salvo’. Considering who might read it, and who in Hollywood might be incensed, the temptation to parse words and couch my opinions was strong. But the guy in the mirror counsels me the loudest. I was always impressed with John Hancock, when, reminded that signing one’s name to that Declaration in Pennsylvania could very well lead to their deaths…solemnly stepped forward and with grand flourish signed his name in huge, legible script. In that grand spirit…
I hereby declare my independence…from the small-minded, America-hating, race-bating, Christian-bashing, class-warfare-waging, politically-correct, collectivist, Liberal Hollywood establishment.
Anybody got a problem with that, I’ll mapquest you directions to my front door, we’ll settle it like men.
Signed,
GARY GRAHAM
Here is a link to find out Gary's filmography http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0334048/
One Pissed-Off Dude
by Gary Graham
I’m an American. This has always been my favorite label, but of late even that has seemed to mean less and less. Being called an American used to carry with it a certain pride and esprit de corps that now apparently is dated and passe. How else can one explain the rash of America-haters in our midst who only claim pride in America if a Leftist resides in the White House, and can only back a war effort if the decision to go to war was that of a Democrat.
I’m a Conservative. And I am also an actor who lives and works in Hollywood. Many of my friends advise me to keep that on the down-low, advise me to not speak up lest I scuttle any future employment prospects, so predominantly liberal is the entertainment biz. And yet I persist.
You see, I’m one pissed-off dude.
I’m told I’ll hurt my career if I continually spout off about Liberalism — which I see as a growing cancer in our society. Worldwide, I’ve seen Liberalism metastasize into virulent incarnations of Socialism, and, left unchecked, even into its malignant cousin, Communism. Only the arrogant or the somnambulist would think such a thing could never happen here. It’s a matter of increment. Once a group organizes into a coalition, it’s a short step to claiming the right to the property of another group. All that is necessary is for an individual’s right to personal property to become a secondary concern. The ‘needs’ of the group must supercede, dontcha know. It’s a vicious cycle – wants become needs become rights. The fact that the thievery is done at the behest of a ‘civilized’ government does not sanitize the crime.
“At least the highwayman has the decency to wear a mask.” – Author unknown.
So I’m told I should shut up. I make my living in the Hollywood community, and Hollywood is by and large run by Liberals. I’m told I need to stay quiet when the Left has their way over issues that affect my daily life. I’m told I need to learn how to get along with the Left, learn how to compromise. I need to be more open-minded. I need to be more tolerant.
I say F T S. Ask your 9-yr-old if you have trouble deciphering that. (No, wait, don’t.)
I don’t want to get along with the Left. I want to take them down. I want to expose their idiocy for what it is and reveal it as a harmful, dangerous succession of lies and deceptions. My friends say that that effort, aside from being fruitless, will cost me work. It will cost me my career. And I say Wait-a-minute, Bucko. Those folks who founded this country were willing to risk not only their careers, but their property, their families, their very lives…the least I can do in standing up for our precious freedoms is risk a silly television career. Not to compare myself with the brilliant thinkers who declared themselves independent of England and framed our Constitution…but those were some pretty pissed off dudes too. Compared to that, loss of a little TV or movie work seems pretty inconsequential. So in honor of Pissed Off Americans past and present, I rant.
I’m pissed off that everyone seems okay on having to press one for English. We’re supposed to be tolerant and understanding that maybe some folks who now live here (legally or not) might have trouble understanding what I’m saying to them if I speak in my native tongue, regardless of the extra cost to the rest of us. FTS.
I’m pissed that my sweet well-wishing friends and acquaintances now say “Happy Holidays” instead of Merry Christmas. Oh, we don’t want to offend the non-Christians, they’ll say. Again – FTS. ‘Happy Holidays’…nice and non-specific, soothingly generic. In keeping with the spirit of the season, I try not to show it – but I roll my eyes. Jeez, could you be any more spineless? Everybody walk on eggshells for the rest of your lives, living in perptual fear someone who holds a different religion, or sexual preference, or nationality is going to suffer some little offense if you actually wish them a lovely Christmas. “Oh we don’t celebrate Christmas.” “Oh, I’m so terribly sorry, I don’t mean to offend you. Please enjoy the Holiday of Winter Solstice and Earth Renewal Day or whatever your heart leads to celebrate, if indeed you are even feeling like celebrating anything.” Shut up! Smile and say thanks. Happy Hanukkah, Merry Ramadan, Soulful Kwanzaa…whatever. Smile and say Thanks.
Can we all stop taking ourselves so damn seriously for half a minute? Hey – life ain’t a popularity contest. So grow a pair. Speak your mind and if someone can’t handle it, request that they take a hike. How the hell did we ever survive life before the all-knowing, all-caring ACLU began to run interference for all our tender sensibilities? It’s a wonder any of us grew up without some crippling psychosis that drove us to chop up our grandmother. I’m old enough to remember when Common Sense ruled the day. (*cue the Cranky Old Man music)
It irks me that Democrats are always looking to raise my taxes. I’m patriotic if I take it up the bum and don’t squeal. What’s worse, they don’t even have the integrity to call them taxes. They call them ‘fees’, or even, ‘contributions’. As I learned the word, a contribution is a volitional act. Left to free choice, I say I choose to not contribute more than I already do. Let all those who say we are overtaxed stand up with me. Those who think different can form a line to the left…and we on the right will leave you completely free to contribute more. Raising taxes takes food off my family’s table. I regard people who advocate doing so in the same vein as I would the burglar I confront in the dead of night – an enemy.
I’m pissed that I study the political issues of the day, educate myself, stay informed daily by a multitude of news sources from all slants…and yet, come election day, my informed vote is cancelled by some numbskull who votes for the nicest smile, who doesn’t know who the current vice-president is, or which party controls Congress, and what’s more, doesn’t care. Am I the only one who thinks a basic intelligence and general knowledge test should be a prerequisite for voting for our leaders? No? Too radical a notion? Well, then, why not just make the winner of American Idol president and save all the drama? Everyone can text in their vote. And Paula, Randy, and Simon… the new cabinet. “Tonight the State of the Union speech will be sung by the President, backed up by Rascal Flatts…and special guest duet with Secretary of State David Archuleta…”
I’m pissed off by how soft many in our nation have become. How whimpy the tone, how spineless the resolve. What happened to that brutally real notion that people should be held responsible for his or her actions? Nowadays, it always seems to be someone else’s fault, whatever it is. Got a life of poverty, it’s rich folks doing it to you.
Alcohol addiction, substance abuse, your mother never said she loves you. Having trouble finding work, it’s the white, black, purple guys keeping you down. Your car company is going under, it’s the unfair business practices abroad and an economic downturn. Hey, nimrods – newsflash. LIFE IS HARD. The End. Get used to it, suck it up, get some spine, invent some if you have none, and GET ON WITH IT!!!! I’d like to offer, in utter compassion, and speaking on behalf of at least several like-minded bretheren out there, a class-action BITCH-SLAP to every mamby-pamby, limp-wristed douche-bag of a complainer who has the audacity to hope that we hard-working, God-fearing, America-loving taxpayers should be forced to give you one penny of our income to enable you further in your responsibility-shirking, self-destructive habits. Get your collective shiite together, friends. I am not, nor are my friends, my brother’s keeper. Though my heart is open enough to come to someone’s need should an honest and sincere calamity befall a brother or sister… when did destitution become a virtue? Did my snooze button malfunction causing me to oversleep a couple decades? When did begging become a noble venture? You see them standing there bravely, “God bless”and something about ‘can’t find work’ scrawled on their cardboard. Victims of society, of Bush/Cheney, of Ronald Reagan, of any heartless Republican administration. And worse – hey, I’ve seen the sign people on the offramps, I’ve seen the green flow as we assuage our prosperity guilt – these guys are cleaning up! Am I in the wrong business? When, dear friends, did panhandling become a lucrative industry? FTS!
(Side note: I’ve personally offered several of these beggars who had written “Will work for food” to buy them lunch if they’ll do some yard work and fence painting for me, and the reaction was always the same. Hell no! They just want cash, right now! Hmmm…and yet the sign said… Forget about the begging, whatever happened to truth in advertising?)
Who can identify virtue, when there is no shame?
And speaking of shame…have you on the Left no shame when it comes to calling evil EVIL? What’s in a name — a terrorist by any other name is a ‘Jihadist’. A freedom fighter. A rebel. But when are we going to admit that there is an evil movement out there dedicated to our destruction. And it ain’t Sarah Palin and George Bush. It’s radical Islam and they want to cut your personal head off simply because you’re not throwing in with them.
You’re not on your knees worshiping their boy Allah, so for this you and everyone like you all over the world must die and die now. But wait, it’s a ‘religion of peace’, we’re told. Wow, not the last time I looked. If Islam is a religion of peace, where are all the peace-loving Muslim leaders decrying the radicals’ murderous actions? The beheadings, the suicide bombings, the IED’s, the blowing up innocents on buses? Where are the peaceful Islamists’ protests against Hamas, Hezbollah, Al Queda, et al? You are a frog in a pot, Lefty – being boiled slowly, apparently too slowly for you to notice. Too much Climate Change on your mind to notice that the barbarians are at the gate. When the Nazis stormed into Jewish homes in 1939 I’m sure there were more than a few head-in-the sand myopic residents screaming about the troopers tracking mud on the carpet. If only they had had the ACLU to save the day… Human rights and clean carpets surely would have abound.
Speaking of climate change, while we’re at it…if the argument is over…and the facts are clear…how is it we can predict the climate twenty years hence, when we can’t even predict with much accuracy if my ass is going to get wet attending my friend’s kid’s Bar Mitzvah next weekend. When did we give the title to anyone with a PhD in front of their name the added moniker of ‘Soothsayer’? I read Paul Erhlich’s book, THE POPULATION BOMB in the early ‘70’s and it scared the begeebers out of me. By his prediction, each human being in 2008 would have less than a square meter of space to live in. (William F. Buckley voice: “Ahh…Mr. Erhlich was unavailable for comment, ahhh… but stressed the importance of keeping his line clear, lest the Nobel Prize committee call.”) And Mr. Gore – I do believe in Climate Change. It’s called summer, spring, winter and fall. Happens each year whether I drive my SUV or not. FTS!
Before I came up with the inspired notion of tossing my life away and becoming an actor…I was fully ensconsed in the science department at the University of California, Irvine. I know the way it works. The professors confided in me. You need a problem to study, better yet a crisis, or you don’t get funding for your research. It’s that simple. One professor of botany told me that these very high-tech ultra-violet cameras we were frolicking through the fields looking at flowers through cost the University $200 thousand dollars. Off my open-mouthed gape, he shrugged, “Gotta spend the money, or next year they cut us back.” So yeah, you’re going to find a ton of scientists who swear we’re killing the planet…and we desperately need another three million dollars to study the problem.
I’m confident I could find two hundred accredited scientists to join me in an exhaustive study to find out why belly button lint is demagnetizing the moon leading to global flooding…if only Bill Gates will step up with some coin. FTS!
Lastly…can we finally be done with all the hatred? George Bush is very soon to be out of a job. Time to let up on him a bit, don’t you think? Erase the hate, Lefties. You can stop proclaiming him to be the anti-christ, evil incarnate, the boogeyman, Darth Vader, or the Heartbreak of Psoriasis. The guy did his best. Like him, don’t like him, he kept us from attack for seven-and-a-half years so let it go. Your guy is in now, so relax. Have fun again. Laugh without derision. Smile without the snide. You remember how? Take off your flak jackets, it’s going to be okay. Our brave warriors did some serious ass-kicking in the Middle East, and though there’s no shortage of crazy Islamo-fascist bad guys yet to come, at least they know who they’re f*cking with.
Somehow along the way, so many of you forgot one simple, undeniable tenet: We’re the good guys. We’re not imperialists, or else we would’ve nuked the oil countries into radioactive dust, then moved in and taken the oil. We don’t ‘torture’ prisoners, or lawyers for the Gitmo ‘detainees’ would have CNN photographing the horrid scars and missing limbs. We don’t bully smaller, less developed nations. On the contrary, we expend our more precious asset: the blood of our brave, bright and courageous young men and women – all in committed effort to free them from despotic, brutal dictators. We are not brash. In 1991 we amassed a coalition of 34 nations before we acted to oust Saddam Hussein from Kuwait, and this after months and months of negotiations and U.N. resolutions. Twelve years later after waiting six months and seeing fourteen U.N. resolutions ignored by Hussein, George W. Bush had accrued a multi-national coalition and a majority vote in Congress before sending troops into Iraq. We are the big dog on the block. And yet we ask no penance from lesser countries. Instead we offer aid in the form of cash, medicine, and humanitarian help. When we go after bad guys in war, we don’t carpet bomb, or blow up civilian-filled buses. We have smart bombs that pinpoint targets to limit collateral civilian casualites. We’re the good guys. Only an entrenched self-loathing hatred of America will prevent you from seeing that. If that’s the case, you have my sympathy. But don’t let the door hit you on the way out. And yes, this is our country, whether a Democrat of a Republican occupies the White House.
Yeah, a lot of things piss me off. But I’m a ridiculously happy guy. I’m blessed with a wonderful family, terrific friends (many, many of them Liberals, oh yes), a strong Faith in God and a sweet certainty that this nation is on the side of good in the world…and that that good will overcome the bad.
I was asked by the founder of this site to write an article… an ‘opening salvo’. Considering who might read it, and who in Hollywood might be incensed, the temptation to parse words and couch my opinions was strong. But the guy in the mirror counsels me the loudest. I was always impressed with John Hancock, when, reminded that signing one’s name to that Declaration in Pennsylvania could very well lead to their deaths…solemnly stepped forward and with grand flourish signed his name in huge, legible script. In that grand spirit…
I hereby declare my independence…from the small-minded, America-hating, race-bating, Christian-bashing, class-warfare-waging, politically-correct, collectivist, Liberal Hollywood establishment.
Anybody got a problem with that, I’ll mapquest you directions to my front door, we’ll settle it like men.
Signed,
GARY GRAHAM
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Say It Ain't So Spidey...Peter Parker...Anyone?!?!
I know I can't really blame Spider Man since it is his writers who should be taken out back and horse whipped, but really. I would've loved to see him punch Obama after the fist bump. Something like, fist bump, "partner", smack to the jaw, "that's for pissing on the constitution."
Text for those of us who can't read the finite printing
Spider-Man: “This is your day after all, and I know it wouldn’t look good to be seen palling around with me… Plus I think Biden’s still mad I confused him for The Vulture on the train that one time.”
Barack Obama: “Hey, not so fast.”
Spider-Man: “What is it?”
Barack Obama: “I’ve been a big fan of yours for a long time, and before you go I just want to say… Thanks… [fist-bumps] Partner.”
Guess this shouldn't surprise me since there is a big Marvel office right there in Beverly Hills. Way to go liberals. You have ruined another super hero for me for life. You suck!!!
And just so you don't think it is just liberals or Obama who have ruined a good comic episode, to be fair you should know that Obama isn’t the first U.S. President to appear in comics. JFK appeared in a “Superman” comic released the day of his assassination (his assassination was a horrible day in our country's history). President Nixon made two appearances in 1972 with “The Fantastic Four” and “The Incredible Hulk”.
"Marvel’s legendary patriot Captain America, in a comic book story published shortly after 9/11 spent a good part of the issue apologizing to the super terrorist he was battling about all of the terrible things America did in its pursuit of the cold war against the Soviets. “(But) we’ve changed. We’ve learned,” he whines. “My people never knew!” Then again, at least ol’ Cap was fighting the bad guy, so maybe there’s still hope.
Except that In another later appearance, in a different title (same company) Captain America willingly goes along with a government cover-up of a incident that resulted in massive civilian casualties. He not only goes along with it, he doesn’t even bat an eye when asked to do so.
Then again Cap’s dead now, so problem solved, right?" (Bill Willingham Big Hollywood)
Text for those of us who can't read the finite printing
Spider-Man: “This is your day after all, and I know it wouldn’t look good to be seen palling around with me… Plus I think Biden’s still mad I confused him for The Vulture on the train that one time.”
Barack Obama: “Hey, not so fast.”
Spider-Man: “What is it?”
Barack Obama: “I’ve been a big fan of yours for a long time, and before you go I just want to say… Thanks… [fist-bumps] Partner.”
Guess this shouldn't surprise me since there is a big Marvel office right there in Beverly Hills. Way to go liberals. You have ruined another super hero for me for life. You suck!!!
And just so you don't think it is just liberals or Obama who have ruined a good comic episode, to be fair you should know that Obama isn’t the first U.S. President to appear in comics. JFK appeared in a “Superman” comic released the day of his assassination (his assassination was a horrible day in our country's history). President Nixon made two appearances in 1972 with “The Fantastic Four” and “The Incredible Hulk”.
"Marvel’s legendary patriot Captain America, in a comic book story published shortly after 9/11 spent a good part of the issue apologizing to the super terrorist he was battling about all of the terrible things America did in its pursuit of the cold war against the Soviets. “(But) we’ve changed. We’ve learned,” he whines. “My people never knew!” Then again, at least ol’ Cap was fighting the bad guy, so maybe there’s still hope.
Except that In another later appearance, in a different title (same company) Captain America willingly goes along with a government cover-up of a incident that resulted in massive civilian casualties. He not only goes along with it, he doesn’t even bat an eye when asked to do so.
Then again Cap’s dead now, so problem solved, right?" (Bill Willingham Big Hollywood)
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Medicare in a Nutshell
My MIL forwarded this to me and it is too funny not to share.
MEDICARE COVERAGE IN A NUTSHELL
The phone rings and the lady of the house answers, 'Hello.'
'Mrs. Sanders, please.'
'Speaking.'
'Mrs. Sanders, this is Doctor Jones at Saint Agnes Laboratory. When your husband's doctor sent his biopsy to the lab last week, a biopsy from another Mr. Sanders arrived as well. We are now uncertain which one belongs to your husband. Frankly, either way the results are not too good.'
'What do you mean?' Mrs. Sanders asks nervously.
'Well, one of the specimens tested positive for Alzheimer's and the other one tested positive for HIV. We can't tell which is which.'
'That's dreadful! Can you do the test again?' questioned Mrs. Sanders.
'Normally we can, but Medicare will only pay for these expensive tests one time.'
'Well, what am I supposed to do now?'
'The folks at Medicare recommend that you drop your husband off somewhere in the middle of town. ;If he finds his way home, don't sleep with him.'
MEDICARE COVERAGE IN A NUTSHELL
The phone rings and the lady of the house answers, 'Hello.'
'Mrs. Sanders, please.'
'Speaking.'
'Mrs. Sanders, this is Doctor Jones at Saint Agnes Laboratory. When your husband's doctor sent his biopsy to the lab last week, a biopsy from another Mr. Sanders arrived as well. We are now uncertain which one belongs to your husband. Frankly, either way the results are not too good.'
'What do you mean?' Mrs. Sanders asks nervously.
'Well, one of the specimens tested positive for Alzheimer's and the other one tested positive for HIV. We can't tell which is which.'
'That's dreadful! Can you do the test again?' questioned Mrs. Sanders.
'Normally we can, but Medicare will only pay for these expensive tests one time.'
'Well, what am I supposed to do now?'
'The folks at Medicare recommend that you drop your husband off somewhere in the middle of town. ;If he finds his way home, don't sleep with him.'
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Talk about Freezing your 'Nads Off
This poor guy was tangled up in a malfunctioning lift at Vail. He was with a young child, whom I'm sure will be traumatized for life but maybe the millions they will get in a settlement will help ease the trauma. Poor man hung like that for at least 15 minutes. (If you can't tell, you need to click on the photo to enlarge it. Poor man was stranded with his pants down. Now there is definitely a good reason for wearing bibs when skiing.)
Monday, January 5, 2009
Just Call Me Book Worm
If it comes to a choice between watching TV and reading a book I will 95% of the time pick reading. I do like to watch good movies, and if it is a movie with Dwayne Johnson, aka The Rock, I'm there. Otherwise, give me a good book that lets my imagination take over and I am very content.
Over Christmas break I read 12 books. I know, I know. How do I find the time? Well, really staying up to 3:00am every night so I can read and have some alone time is just worth it to me. Typically I read at least one novel a week. If I don't find something new to enjoy I will go back to my staple favorites and re-read them again and again and again. My favorites are the Harry Potter series, Amelia Peabody series (author Elizabeth Peters), of course Twilight, and who wouldn't love some good CIA assassin hunk to read about...that would be Mitch Rapp in the Vince Flynn novels. Wade my have my heart, Edward my neck, the Emerson men my mind, but everything else belongs to Mitch Rapp. Well, no, not really, but he is pretty amazing.
So int the last two weeks I read Glenn Beck's The Christmas sweater; 1-10 (except 5 & 9 which are coming tomorrow so I can read those too) of the Tennis Shoes Among the Nephites series; Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows; and James Patterson's Step on a Crack. I am currently reading The Count of Monte Cristo, again. I've also managed to start doing some personal scripture study. I can tell you all about secret combinations and the Gadianton robbers, mostly because of the Tennis shoes series, but Ether is pretty informative too. ::grin::
The kids start back to school in the morning, I can get back into a routine of drop them off, hit the gym, clean the house, take a nap with Dan, pick up the kids, and lose my mind until I can sit and read a good book. So, guess what I'm off to do? Dante is an amazing character.
Over Christmas break I read 12 books. I know, I know. How do I find the time? Well, really staying up to 3:00am every night so I can read and have some alone time is just worth it to me. Typically I read at least one novel a week. If I don't find something new to enjoy I will go back to my staple favorites and re-read them again and again and again. My favorites are the Harry Potter series, Amelia Peabody series (author Elizabeth Peters), of course Twilight, and who wouldn't love some good CIA assassin hunk to read about...that would be Mitch Rapp in the Vince Flynn novels. Wade my have my heart, Edward my neck, the Emerson men my mind, but everything else belongs to Mitch Rapp. Well, no, not really, but he is pretty amazing.
So int the last two weeks I read Glenn Beck's The Christmas sweater; 1-10 (except 5 & 9 which are coming tomorrow so I can read those too) of the Tennis Shoes Among the Nephites series; Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows; and James Patterson's Step on a Crack. I am currently reading The Count of Monte Cristo, again. I've also managed to start doing some personal scripture study. I can tell you all about secret combinations and the Gadianton robbers, mostly because of the Tennis shoes series, but Ether is pretty informative too. ::grin::
The kids start back to school in the morning, I can get back into a routine of drop them off, hit the gym, clean the house, take a nap with Dan, pick up the kids, and lose my mind until I can sit and read a good book. So, guess what I'm off to do? Dante is an amazing character.
Friday, January 2, 2009
More of the Crazy @$$ Floridians ***UPDATE***
This story is so strange, unexpected, and funny. Follow the link and you'll see.
here
UPDATE*** Since the "infamous" Iraqi reporter threw his shoes at President Bush, many of these Hamas supporting rallying crazies I blogged about earlier, have been leaving their shoes behind after the protest. "The organisers said they wanted to leave shoes at the gates as a Muslim symbol of disgust at the attacks. When they were prevented from doing so, protesters began throwing their footwear, mimicking the Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at George Bush at a press conference last month.
Protesters shouted: "Shame on you, have my shoe." (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/03/gaza-israel-protest-shoes-london)
Well, maybe we lucked out and these crazies in Florida were suddenly transported by aliens as they were throwing their shoes and they somehow landed on the interstate. Yeah. Sounds good. That's what I'm going with. Pro-Palestinian, Hamas and Hezbollah in Florida are mysteriously vanishing, leaving behind their shoes, as aliens who want their gospel message shared on their home planet snatch them leaving us a few crazies shorter. Thank you aliens. (Click here to read a true story about a muslim preacher wanting to convert the aliens)
photo by AP
here
UPDATE*** Since the "infamous" Iraqi reporter threw his shoes at President Bush, many of these Hamas supporting rallying crazies I blogged about earlier, have been leaving their shoes behind after the protest. "The organisers said they wanted to leave shoes at the gates as a Muslim symbol of disgust at the attacks. When they were prevented from doing so, protesters began throwing their footwear, mimicking the Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at George Bush at a press conference last month.
Protesters shouted: "Shame on you, have my shoe." (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/03/gaza-israel-protest-shoes-london)
Well, maybe we lucked out and these crazies in Florida were suddenly transported by aliens as they were throwing their shoes and they somehow landed on the interstate. Yeah. Sounds good. That's what I'm going with. Pro-Palestinian, Hamas and Hezbollah in Florida are mysteriously vanishing, leaving behind their shoes, as aliens who want their gospel message shared on their home planet snatch them leaving us a few crazies shorter. Thank you aliens. (Click here to read a true story about a muslim preacher wanting to convert the aliens)
photo by AP
And so it continues.....
Wow. 2009. Twenty years ago I was a 18 year old with big hair and big aspirations who knew everything. Today, I realize how much I don't know, my hair is long and straight with no fullness and my biggest aspirations are now for my children. At 18 I thought I loved a guy named Doug, I wanted to go into the Air Force and be one of the first women fighter pilots (F-16 at mach 1.5 who wouldn't want to do that?), and be an orthopedic surgeon. I realize this isn't the best picture, but it is actually one taken at my 18th b-day party. The other is me practicing on my first patient...hahaha...is actually from my All Night Senior party.
I still love my hard rock, as my play list should tell you, but after teaching Spinning for the past 6 or so years I've also picked up a hankering for some good ole techno. Nothing gets the blood pumping and the rpms going like some crazy rave bootleg music.
And dare I admit it, I even find some country songs so poignant that I love to hear them over and over.
This year I definitely need to focus on the body a little more. I've been slack about hitting the cardio hard enough for the past year and it is showing. But more then that I need to focus on the spiritual. I've promised myself to study or read in the scriptures daily. So far so good. FHE will be held each week if it kills us all, which it just might since we fondly call it FFN (family fight night). It more often resembles the WWF than anything else. But we will persevere.
My mortality and this brief period of our eternal existence has been more present on my mind than ever before. This life is precious. Time is precious and it passes so quickly. Somehow I've grown from that 18 year old know it all, smart @$$, bring it on kid into this soon to be 38 year old who really knows how little show knows, yet is happier and more content than ever woman. However, I feel 18 for the most part, so bring it on 2009. We just might be in for one of the bumpiest times as a nation, as a family, as a church, as a world. But I am ready.
And so, it continues.
I still love my hard rock, as my play list should tell you, but after teaching Spinning for the past 6 or so years I've also picked up a hankering for some good ole techno. Nothing gets the blood pumping and the rpms going like some crazy rave bootleg music.
And dare I admit it, I even find some country songs so poignant that I love to hear them over and over.
This year I definitely need to focus on the body a little more. I've been slack about hitting the cardio hard enough for the past year and it is showing. But more then that I need to focus on the spiritual. I've promised myself to study or read in the scriptures daily. So far so good. FHE will be held each week if it kills us all, which it just might since we fondly call it FFN (family fight night). It more often resembles the WWF than anything else. But we will persevere.
My mortality and this brief period of our eternal existence has been more present on my mind than ever before. This life is precious. Time is precious and it passes so quickly. Somehow I've grown from that 18 year old know it all, smart @$$, bring it on kid into this soon to be 38 year old who really knows how little show knows, yet is happier and more content than ever woman. However, I feel 18 for the most part, so bring it on 2009. We just might be in for one of the bumpiest times as a nation, as a family, as a church, as a world. But I am ready.
And so, it continues.
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