Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Free Stuff

This actually makes sense.

Class war at its best.

The folks who are getting the free stuff, don't like the folks who are paying for the free stuff, because the folks who are paying for the free stuff, can no longer afford to pay for both the free stuff and their own stuff,

And,

The folks who are paying for the free stuff, want the free stuff to stop. And the folks who are getting the free stuff, want even more free stuff on top of the free stuff they are already getting!

Now... The people who are forcing the people who Pay for the free stuff, have told the people who are RECEIVING the free stuff, that the people who are PAYING for the free stuff, are being mean, prejudiced, and racist.


So... the people who are GETTING the free stuff, have been convinced they need to hate the people who are paying for the free stuff, by the people who are forcing some people to pay for their free stuff, and giving them the free stuff in the first place.

We have let the free stuff giving go on for so long that there are Now more people getting free stuff than paying for the free stuff.

Now understand this. All great democracies have committed financial suicide somewhere between 200 and 250 years after being founded. The reason? The voters figured out they could vote themselves money from the treasury by electing people who promised to give them money from the treasury in exchange for electing them. The United States officially became a Republic in 1776, 231 years ago. The number of people now getting free stuff outnumbers the people paying for the free stuff. We have one chance to change that in 2012. Failure to change that spells the end of the United States as we know it.

ELECTION 2012 IS COMING
A Nation of Sheep Breeds a Government of Wolves!
I'M 100% for PASSING THIS ON!!!
Let's Take a Stand!!!

Obama: Gone!
Borders: Closed!
Language: English Official
Culture: Constitution, and the Bill of Rights!
Drug Free: Mandatory Drug Screening before Welfare!
NO freebies to: Non-Citizens!

We the people are coming

Sunday, December 18, 2011

SENSITIVE MAN TEST

SENSITIVE MAN TEST (SHARED)



1. In the company of females, intercourse should be referred to as:
A. Lovemaking.
B. Screwing.
C. Taking the pigskin bus to tuna town.


2. You should make love to a woman for the first time only after you have both shared:
A. Your views about what you expect from a sexual relationship.
B. Your blood-test results.
C. Five tequila slammers.


3. You time your orgasm so that:
A. Your partner climaxes first.
B. You both climax simultaneously.
C. You don't miss ESPN Sports Center.


4. Passionate, spontaneous sex on the kitchen floor is:
A. Healthy, creative love-play..
B. Not the sort of thing your wife would agree to.
C. Not the sort of thing your wife needs to ever find out about.


5. Spending the whole night cuddling a woman you have just had sex with is:
A. The best part of the experience.
B. The second best part of the experience.
C. $100 extra.



6. Your wife/girlfriend says she's gained five pounds in the last month. You tell her that it is:
A. Of no influence on your affectionate feelings for her.
B. Not a problem, she can join your gym.
C. A conservative estimate.


7. You think today's sensitive, caring man is:
A. A myth.
B. An oxymoron.
C. A moron.


8. Foreplay is to sex as:
A. An appetizer is to entree.
B. Primer is to paint.
C. A long line is to an amusement park ride.


9. Which of the following are you most likely to find yourself saying at the end of a relationship?
A. I hope we can still be friends.
B. I'm not in right now, please leave a message at the beep.
C. Welcome to Dumpsville. Population, YOU.


10. A woman who is uncomfortable watching you masturbate:
A. Probably needs a little more time before she can cope with that sort of intimacy.
B. Is uptight and a waste of time.
C. Shouldn't have sat next to you on the bus in the first place.

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Religious Freedom is Not Majority Rules.

I recently commented on the Freedom From Religion Foundation's facebook page the following;

"Should we be subjected to Christmas music at the Post Office while we wait in line a half hour? Isn't it a government office? Am I just being a whiner if I complain about my kid having to sing religious songs at a Christmas Concert at a Public High School? (Boiling Springs, South Carolina USPS and Boiling Springs High School). Sometimes I really hate living in the Bible Belt Buckle!"

Being the page it was, all following posts were essentially in agreement.

My next post, after someone said the kids could say they did not want to participate and songs about Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer that didn't promote Christianity and such were okay, was;

"My child is a Christian and sees nothing wrong with it. I am an Agnostic Atheist. Should the kid who is an Atheist, Jew, Buddhist, Muslim, etc be put in a situation where they have to ostracize themselves and be the bad guy and say I don't want to sing that? NO!

The radio station markets itself as "The Christmas Station" from late October through Christmas. They are singing about Jesus whether it is White Christmas or Little Drummer Boy. If it is a Christmas song, it is based on the Christian religion, plain and simple.

They shouldn't even be using the watered down, PC "Happy Holidays". Its not just Christians and Jews using government facilities. Not everyone has holidays around this time of year, nor should they be made to feel inclined to do so."


Why do Believers not get it? If they were displaced and their religion was no longer a majority, I think they would feel vastly different about it!

When I was in the Army National Guard on our drill weekends we were required to muster (gather) at the Chow Hall (cafeteria) all together and the head cook would say a Christian Prayer before we were allowed to get our food and eat. I was a mild Agnostic at the time, but still felt we were violating the very Constitution we were supposed to be protecting. I went to our Commanding Officer, Captain Homer Simpson (Yes, believe it or not!) and protested. He said that if I did not want to participate, I could wait outside and come in when everyone was done praying. I said, so if I don't wish to participate in prayer, I get to eat last? Frustrated, he said, Okay, you can wait outside, and when we are done, we will all go outside and come back in together. I said, so I get to be first, since I am waiting by the door. Clearly uncomfortable, he asked me what I wanted him to do. I said abide by the Constitution. If people want to pray silently by themselves or in small groups, it is up to them. No mandatory attendance or organizational prayers. He conceded, but I never got another promotion and I've wondered if I would have suffered from "friendly fire" had I still been attached to them when they redeployed to Iraq.

Religion creates more separatism and tribalism than it does unity and brotherhood.

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Scrabble

I wanted to do a graphic with some Scrabble Tiles and did a Google search for "Scrabble". I don't know if I was more shocked or disappointed when most of the top results were for apps to help you cheat! Cheating at Scrabble on-line is like cheating at Solitaire! WTF?

Am I being naive, or has the whole world gone down the shitter that much? Is this what they were talking about when they said, "Some folks just need killin'."?

Thursday, November 10, 2011

A History of Agnostic Groups in Alcoholics Anonymous

For anyone who has ever been in or around any of the Twelve Step Programs, like Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous, or thier members, these articles are very interesting.

A History of Agnostic Groups in Alcoholics Anonymous: Parts 1 & 2

http://www.americanhumanist.org/HNN/details/2011-11-a-history-of-agnostic-groups-in-alcoholics-anonymous

http://www.americanhumanist.org/HNN/details/2011-11-a-history-of-agnostic-groups-in-alcoholics-anonymous-2


I'd like to hear your thoughts.

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

You Might Be A Survivalist If: (Educational AND FUNNY)

Shared from: http://www.shtfmovement.com/jokes-humor/topic4685.html#ixzz1ZpcKcCwc

You Might Be A Survivalist If:

- You have emergency rations stored for your pets, and you view your pets as potential emergency rations.
- Bert from 'Tremors' is your favorite movie character.
- Your coffee table is actually a board with a table cloth over it, to disguise your food storage underneath.
- You've ever served MREs at a dinner party.
- You're planning to dig an emergency escape tunnel from your basement, to the nearest stand of trees.
- You've made bugout cargo packs for your dogs, and they also have their own gas masks.
- You know how to use a vacuum cleaner in reverse, to filter air in your designated bio-chem attack safe room.
- Your koi pond is stocked with tasty catfish.
- You view the nearest wildlife conservation area as a potential grocery store, for after SHTF.
- You know all the ways out the building where you work, and you have an escape kit stashed in your locker.
- You have enough ramien noodles stockpiled in your basement to feed your family for three years.
- You've made a range card for your neighborhood.
- Your ideal weekend consists of hauling a newly-completed cache container into the woods, and burying it.
- Your favorite 'self help' book is Nuclear War Survival Skills.
- When you go to McDonalds, you ask for one order of fries, with 25 packs of salt, ketchup, and mustard.
- You've numbered the deer romping in the yard by their order of consumption.
- You're a single male, but you have an emergency childbirth kit, in case you have to deal with that possibility.
- You have 30,000 rounds of ammo stashed away, and you consider this to be inadequate.
- You own more than one grain mill, and you have a kerosene lamp in every room.
- You have two water heaters in your basement, but one is a dummy that's been converted to a hideaway safe.
- When you hear animal calls on nature shows, it sounds to you like they're saying "Eat Me!", "Eat Me!".
- The box springs under your mattress are actually Rubber Maid storage containers, filled with rice and beans.
- Your basement walls are insulated with crates of toilet paper, from floor to ceiling, all the way around.
- Your group has detailed plans to take over a national forest, after the collapse of civilization.
- You have different grades of bug out bags, for different disaster scenarios.
- You bought your stockpile of grains (for human consumption) through your local animal feed store.
- You're still using up your Y2K supplies.
- While other people are saving for vacations, you are saving to get solar panels put on your house.
- You were excited beyond all reason when they came out with cheddar cheese in a can.
- You spend your spare time practicing making survival foods, like hardtack, jerky, pemmican, and fruit leather.
- You have better items in storage than the stuff you use everyday.
- You can't put groceries in the trunk of your car, because it's already full of first aid kits and Bug Out Bags.
- You've ever considered buying an above-ground pool for water storage purposes.
- Your significant other gave you another sleeping bag for Christmas, and it was just what you wanted.
- You must open the door to your pantry very carefully, for fear of a canned goods avalanche.
- You own so much ammo that you had to cache it underground, simply due to lack of storage space.
- You own several hassock-style portable toilets, for use in case flooding disrupts your septic system.
- You own enough army surplus equipment to open your own surplus store.
- You keep your survival info on computer CDs and jump drives, but have hardcopy printouts, 'just in case'.
- You've mapped out the best places to block the roads leading to your area.
- You have a backup hand pump on your water well, and more 55gal blue water drums than family members.
- You carry a pocket survival kit, knife, flashlight, and concealed handgun on you to church every Sunday.
- You keep sneaking into the woods to plant bamboo and other useful and edible plants, in strategic locations.
- You own a hand-operated clothes washer and a non-electric carpet sweeper.
- You have two of every size of Dutch oven (the ones with the legs on the bottom), and 20 bags of charcoal.
- You've sewn secret mini-BOBs into the bottom of your children's school backpacks.
- You have rain barrels at each corner of your house, and a Big Berkey filter to purify the water.
- You start evaluating people according to 'skill sets'.
- You know where the best defensive positions and lines of fire are on your property.
- You have space set aside in the fallout shelter for your chickens, rabbits, and miniature goats.
- You have a 'Volcano' stove, you know how to cook anything, and you cast evil glances at your neighbor's
annoying, yappy poodle, muttering "your day will come, hotdog" under your breath.
- You own tons of modern survival gear, but you know how to improvise crude replacements, just in case.
- You're so busy making preparations, that you own guns you haven't even had time to shoot yet.

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Things you will never hear from a Southern boy

My Uncle Unabomber was kind enough to send this to me. The man has a 190 IQ so it must be right. Hmmm, go figure...


31 things you will never hear from a Southern boy:




31. When I retire, I'm movin' North.
30. Oh I just couldn't. She's only sixteen.
29. I'll take Shakespeare for $1000, Alex.
28. Duct tape won't fix that.
27. Come to think of it, I'll have a Heineken.
26. We don't keep firearms in this house.
25. You can't feed that to the dog.
24. That car is too old and unsafe to drive.
23. Wrestling is fake.
22. We're vegetarians.
21. Do you think my gut is too big?
20. I'll have grapefruit and grapes instead of biscuits and gravy.
19. Honey, we don't need another dog.
18 Who gives a rat's ass who won the Civil War?
17. Give me the small bag of pork rinds.
16. Too many deer heads detract from the decor.
15. I just couldn't find a thing at Wal-Mart today.
14. Trim the fat off that steak.
13. Cappuccino tastes better than espresso.
12. The tires on that truck are too big
11. I've got it all on the C: DRIVE.
10. Unsweetened tea tastes better.
9. My fiancé, Zelda, is registered at Tiffany's.
8. I've got two cases of Zinfandel for the Super Bowl.
7. Checkmate
6. She's too young to be wearing a bikini.
5. Hey, here's an episode of "Hee Haw" we haven't seen.
4. I don't have a favorite college team.
3. You guys.
2. Becky Mae darlin', those shorts oughta be a little longer.

AND THE NUMBER ONE THANG THAT YOU WILL NEVER HEAR A SOUTHERN BOY SAY:

1. Nope, no more for me. I'm drivin'!

Sunday, September 25, 2011

This could happen to you.

You're sound asleep when you hear a thump outside your bedroom door. Half-awake, and nearly paralyzed with fear, you hear muffled whispers. At least two people have broken into your house and are moving your way. With your heart pumping, you reach down beside your bed and pick up your shotgun. You rack a shell into the chamber, then inch toward the door and open it. In the darkness, you make out two shadows. One holds something that looks like a crowbar. When the intruder brandishes it as if to strike, you raise the shotgun and fire. The blast knocks both thugs to the floor. One writhes and screams while the second man crawls to the front door and lurches outside.

As you pick up the telephone to call police, you know you're in trouble. In your country, most guns were outlawed years before, and the few that are privately owned are so stringently regulated as to make them useless.

Yours was never registered.

Police arrive and inform you that the second burglar has died. They arrest you for First Degree Murder and Illegal Possession of a Firearm.

When you talk to your attorney, he tells you not to worry: authorities will probably plea the case down to manslaughter.

"What kind of sentence will I get?" you ask.

"Only ten-to-twelve years," he replies, as if that's nothing. "Behave yourself, and you'll be out in seven."

The next day, the shooting is the lead story in the local newspaper. Somehow, you're portrayed as an eccentric vigilante while the two men you shot are represented as choirboys. Their friends and relatives can't find an unkind word to say about them. Buried deep down in the article, authorities acknowledge that both "victims" have been arrested numerous times.

But the next day's headline says it all:

"Lovable Rogue Son Didn't Deserve to Die."

The thieves have been transformed from career criminals into Robin Hood-type pranksters..
As the days wear on, the story takes wings. The national media picks it up, then the international media. The surviving burglar has become a folk hero.

Your attorney says the thief is preparing to sue you, and he'll probably win.

The media publishes reports that your home has been burglarized several times in the past and that you've been critical of local police for their lack of effort in apprehending the suspects. After the last break-in, you told your neighbor that you would be prepared next time. The District Attorney uses this to allege that you were lying in wait for the burglars.

A few months later, you go to trial. The charges haven't been reduced, as your lawyer had so confidently predicted. When you take the stand, your anger at the injustice of it all works against you. Prosecutors paint a picture of you as a mean, vengeful man. It doesn't take long for the jury to convict you of all charges. The judge sentences you to life in prison.

This case really happened.

On August 22, 1999, Tony Martin of Emneth, Norfolk, England, killed one burglar and wounded a second. In April, 2000, he was convicted and is now serving a life term...

How did it become a crime to defend one's own life in the once great British Empire ? It started with the Pistols Act of 1903. This seemingly reasonable law forbade selling pistols to minors or felons and established that handgun sales were to be made only to those who had a license. The Firearms Act of 1920 expanded licensing to include not only handguns but all firearms except shotguns..

Later laws passed in 1953 and 1967 outlawed the carrying of any weapon by private citizens and mandated the registration of all shotguns.

Momentum for total handgun confiscation began in earnest after the Hungerford mass shooting in 1987.

Michael Ryan, a mentally disturbed man with a Kalashnikov rifle, walked down the streets shooting everyone he saw. When the smoke cleared, 17 people were dead.

The British public, already de-sensitized by eighty years of "gun control", demanded even tougher restrictions. (The seizure of all privately owned handguns was the objective even though Ryan used a rifle.)

Nine years later, at Dunblane, Scotland, Thomas Hamilton used a semi-automatic weapon to murder 16 children and a teacher at a public school.

For many years, the media had portrayed all gun owners as mentally unstable, or worse, criminals. Now the press had a real kook with which to beat up law-abiding gun owners. Day after day, week after week, the media gave up all pretense of objectivity and demanded a total ban on all handguns. The Dunblane Inquiry, a few months later, sealed the fate of the few sidearms still owned by private citizens.

During the years in which the British government incrementally took away most gun rights, the notion that a citizen had the right to armed self-defense came to be seen as vigilantism.
Authorities refused to grant gun licenses to people who were threatened, claiming that self-defense was no longer considered a reason to own a gun. Citizens who shot burglars or robbers or rapists were charged while the real criminals were released.


Indeed, after the Martin shooting, a police spokesman was quoted as saying, "We cannot have people take the law into their own hands."

All of Martin's neighbors had been robbed numerous times, and several elderly people were severely injured in beatings by young thugs who had no fear of the consequences. Martin himself, a collector of antiques, had seen most of his collection trashed or stolen by burglars.

When the Dunblane Inquiry ended, citizens who owned handguns were given three months to turn them over to local authorities.

Being good British subjects, most people obeyed the law. The few who didn't were visited by police
and threatened with ten-year prison sentences if they didn't comply. Police later bragged that they'd taken nearly 200,000 handguns from private citizens.

How did the authorities know who had handguns? The guns had been registered and licensed.
Kind of like cars. Sound familiar?


WAKE UP AMERICA ; THIS IS WHY OUR FOUNDING FATHERS PUT THE SECOND AMENDMENT IN OUR CONSTITUTION.

"...It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds.."
--Samuel Adams

You had better wake up, because Obama is trying to do this very same thing, over here,
if he can get it done.

And there are stupid people in congress and on the street that will go right along with him.

People who have lived safe upper class lives and never had to deal firsthand with violence don't understand why anyone feels a desire to own a gun. Because the are disasters and medical problems, they wisely buy and keep insurance. Because car accidents sometimes happen, even to good drivers, they wear seat belts. But even though they acknowledge that there is violence in the world, it doesn't seem to register that the police can't be everywhere all of the time and they might one day have to defend their own life or those of their loved ones or lose them.

The case of DC vs. Heller was a step in the right direction, but if you are not willing to fight for your rights, your freedom, and your lives, you will lose them, sooner than later.

Friday, September 2, 2011

I believe...


I Believe...
That just because two people argue,
It doesn't mean they don't love each other.
And just because they don't argue,
It doesn't mean they do love each other.

I Believe...
That we don't have to change friends if
We understand that friends change.

I Believe....
That no matter how good a friend is,
they're going to hurt you,
every once in a while
and you must forgive them for that.

I Believe.....
That true friendship continues to grow,
even over the longest distance.
Same goes for true love.

I Believe...
That you can do something in an instant
That will give you heartache for life.

I Believe....
That it's taking me a long time
To become the person I want to be.

I Believe...
That you should always leave loved ones with Loving words.
It may be the last time you see them.

I Believe....
That you can keep going long after you think you can't.

I Believe....
That we are responsible for what
We do, no matter how we feel.

I Believe...
That either you control your attitude or it controls you.

I Believe....
That heroes are the people
who do what has to be done
when it needs to be done,
regardless of the consequences.

I Believe....
That my best friend and I can do anything or nothing
and have the best time..

I Believe....
That sometimes the people you expect to kick you when you're
down will be the ones to help you get back up.

I Believe...
That sometimes when I'm angry
I have the right to be angry, but that
doesn't give me the right to be cruel.

I Believe...
That maturity has more to do with what types of experiences you've had
And what you've learned from them and less to do with how many birthdays you've celebrated.

I Believe.....
That it isn't always enough,
to be forgiven by others.
Sometimes, you have to learn
to forgive yourself.

I Believe...
That no matter how bad
your heart is broken,
the world doesn't stop for your grief.

I Believe....
That our background and circumstances
may have influenced who we are, but,
we are responsible for who we become.

I Believe...
That you shouldn't be
so eager to find out a secret.
It could change your life forever.

I Believe....
Two people can look at the exact same
Thing and see something totally different.

I Believe...
That your life can be changed
in a matter of hours
by people who don't even know you.

I Believe...
That even when you think
you have no more to give,
When a friend cries out to you,
you will find the strength to help.

I Believe...
That credentials on the wall
do not make you a decent human being.

I Believe...
That the people you care about
most in life are taken from you too soon.

I Believe...
That you should share this with
all of the people that you believe in. I just did.
'The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything;
They just make the most of everything they have.

Saturday, August 27, 2011

The Long Emergency

http://tinyurl.com/3kum5jw

The Long Emergency: Surviving the End of Oil, Climate Change, and Other Converging Catastrophes of the Twenty-First Century by James Howard Kunstler




This is quite possibly the most terrifying read of my life. If you value your children and their future, please read this book and get ready! I don't believe Mr. Kunstler to be a pessimist or a soulless author trying to make a buck. He is offering a dire warning that most of us have ignored for far to long.

I sometimes think I need to move into a bigger house to have my room for my possessions with less clutter. The truth is I need less stuff, not more room. The world's oil consumption is much the same; we don't need more oil, we need less dependence on it. Everything we do is dependent on petroleum products which are disappearing rapidly with no viable alternative fuels in site.

We have passed the peak of oil production. It will quickly become more and more difficult and expensive to obtain more. Economies will crash, nations will go to war, and life as we know it will die. We will not return to pre-Industrial Age living because many of those skills are lost and instead of having a billion people, we have six and a half. Water will become scarce. Hygiene will be difficult or impossible. Super viruses will devastate an unprepared world.

If it sounds like Mad Max Science Fiction, its not. It will probably be much worse than that. This isn't fear mongering or paranoia. The facts are here, we have just ignored them at our own peril for far too long.

Many short term and long term man-made and natural disasters could occur. This one will, sooner than later. Read up, prove me wrong or get prepared. If you ignore the evidence and choose to hide under a rock, that is where you will most likely die.

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

A woman in a hot air balloon

A woman in a hot air balloon

A woman in a hot-air balloon realized she was lost. She lowered her altitude and spotted a man in a boat below. She shouted to him, "Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don't know where I am."

The man consulted his portable GPS and replied, "You're in a hot air balloon, approximately 30 feet above a ground elevation of 2,346 feet above sea level. You are at 31 degrees, 14.97 minutes north latitude and 100 degrees, 49.09 minutes west longitude.
"She rolled her eyes and said, "You must be a Republican."
"I am," replied the man. "How did you know?"
"Well," answered the balloonist, "everything you told me is technically correct. But I have no idea what to do with your information, and I'm still lost. Frankly, you've not been much help to me."
The man smiled and responded, "You must be an Obama Democrat."
"I am," replied the balloonist. "How did you know?"
"Well," said the man, "you don't know where you are or where you are going. You've risen to where you are, due to a large quantity of hot air. You made a promise you have no idea how to keep, and you expect me to solve your problem. You're in exactly the same position you were in before we met, but somehow, now it's my fault."

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Top Ten Reasons Why Men Prefer Guns Over Women

Top Ten Reasons Why Men Prefer Guns Over Women




And here we go...

#10 - You can trade an old 44 for a new 22.
#9 - You can keep one gun at home and have another for when you're on the road.
#8 - If you admire a friend's gun and tell him so, he will probably let you try it out a few times.
#7 - Your primary gun doesn't mind if you keep another gun for a backup.
#6 - Your gun will stay with you even if you run out of ammo.
#5 - A gun doesn't take up a lot of closet space.
#4 - Guns function normally every day of the month.
#3 - A gun doesn't ask, "Do these new grips make me look fat?"
#2 - A gun doesn't mind if you go to sleep after you use it.

And the Number One reason
Why Men Prefer Guns over women.....

#1 - You can buy a silencer for a gun.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

The Green Thing

The Green Thing

In the line at the store, the cashier told an older woman that she should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren't good for the environment.

The woman apologized to him and explained, "We didn't have the green thing back in my day."

The clerk responded, "That's our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment."

He was right -- our generation didn't have the green thing in its day.

Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled.

But we didn't have the green thing back in our day.

We walked up stairs, because we didn't have an escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks.

But she was right. We didn't have the green thing in our day.

Back then, we washed the baby's diapers because we didn't have the throw-away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 220 volts -- wind and solar power really did dry the clothes. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing. But that old lady is right; we didn't have the green thing back in our day.

Back then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house -- not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of the state of Montana.

In the kitchen, we blended and stirred by hand because we didn't have electric machines to do everything for us.

When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used a wadded up old newspaper to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap.

Back then, we didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power. We exercised by working so we didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity.

But she's right; we didn't have the green thing back then.

We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water.

We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull.

But we didn't have the green thing back then.

Back then, people took the streetcar or a bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their moms into a 24- hour taxi service.

We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn't need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint.

But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn't have the green thing back then?

Please share this with another selfish old person who needs a lesson in conservation from a smartass young person.


The Green Thing

US Soil

I can’t think of a better word than "PRICELESS" FOR THIS. . .


picture of this Army soldier in Iraq with his tiny 'plot' of grass in front of his tent. It's heartwarming! Here is a US soldier in Iraq, stationed in a big sand box.

He asked his wife to send him dirt (U.S. soil), fertilizer, and some grass seed so that he can have the sweet aroma, and feel the grass grow beneath his feet. When the men of the squadron have a mission that they are going on, they take turns walking through the grass and the American soil -- to bring them good luck.
Of all the things he could have asked his wife to send to him from home...........he asked for American soil. WOW.




If you notice, he is even cutting the grass with a pair of scissors.. Sometimes we are in such a hurry that we don't stop and think about the little things that we take for granted.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Pricing Artwork

People often wonder how much they should pay an artist for custom graphics, including "simple" designs like logos. Let me share my thoughts.


There is a story about a factory manager who kept hearing a noise. After months of not being able to locate it, he called in an expert, The expert arrived, walked around for fifteen minutes, took out a hammer, and tapped a pipe. The noise stopped immediately. The manager was greatly relieved until the expert presented him with a bill for five hundred dollars! "Five hundred dollars to tap a pipe with a hammer!?", exclaimed the manager. "No." said the expert, "A dollar to hit the pipe and four hundred and ninety nine dollars to know where to hit."

We pay for a specialist's expertise. Hopefully you choose someone who is creative and knowledgeable, but remember, artists are specialists too. There is free clip art in abundance on the Internet and in books. We pay artists to create something that is uniquely our own. Simplicity is often valued more than complexity in a design, logo, or illustration. Pricing is often associated with usage as well as the artist's reputation.

Al Hirschfield, was famous for his extremely simple (looking) caricatures that graced the pages of New Yorker Magazine. Most school children can duplicate Charles Schulz Snoopy as well as the whole Peanuts Gang. The McDonald's Golden Arches, Nike Swoosh, and the MacIntosh Apple are recognized all over the world. Many of Pablo Picasso's paintings look like they were done by a drunken fourth grader until they are examined closely.

If you are looking for an artist for a project, look first at their established work and style and see if it looks like it will represent what you want. Go from there. My grandparents paid seven hundred dollars for a logo for their riding school. It was "merely" a silhouette of a horse and English rider jumping a fence. That was over thirty years ago! You can pay tens of thousands of dollars for a "simple" logo these days.

The most import thing is that it represents you and your concept and will it serve its purpose well.

The Graphic Artists Guild (www.gag.org) publishes an annual guide with pricing recommendations, but they are guidelines only.

Friday, July 8, 2011

Proposed Budget Cuts

The truly amazing thing here is that US tax dollars were never intended to fund any of these programs!

http://notyourstogive.com

Proposed Budget Cuts

These are all the programs that the new Republican House have proposed cutting. Read to the end.
Corporation for Public Broadcasting Subsidy. $445 million annual savings.
Save America 's Treasures Program. $25 million annual savings.
International Fund for Ireland . $17 million annual savings.
Legal Services Corporation. $420 million annual savings.
National Endowment for the Arts. $167.5 million annual savings.
National Endowment for the Humanities. $167.5 million annual savings.
Hope VI Program. $250 million annual savings.
Amtrak Subsidies. $1.565 billion annual savings.
Eliminate duplicative education programs. H.R. 2274 (in last Congress), authored by Rep. McKeon, eliminates 68 at a savings of $1.3 billion annually.
U.S. Trade Development Agency. $55 million annual savings.
Woodrow Wilson Center Subsidy. $20 million annual savings.
Cut in half funding for congressional printing and binding. $47 million annual savings.
John C. Stennis Center Subsidy. $430,000 annual savings.
Community Development Fund. $4.5 billion annual savings.
Heritage Area Grants and Statutory Aid. $24 million annual savings.
Cut Federal Travel Budget in Half. $7.5 billion annual savings
Trim Federal Vehicle Budget by 20%. $600 million annual savings.
Essential Air Service. $150 million annual savings.
Technology Innovation Program. $70 million annual savings.
Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) Program. $125 million annual savings.
Department of Energy Grants to States for Weatherization. $530 million annual savings.
Beach Replenishment. $95 million annual savings.
New Starts Transit. $2 billion annual savings.
Exchange Programs for Alaska , Natives Native Hawaiians, and Their Historical Trading Partners in Massachusetts . $9 million annual savings
Intercity and High Speed Rail Grants. $2.5 billion annual savings.
Title X Family Planning. $318 million annual savings.
Appalachian Regional Commission. $76 million annual savings.
Economic Development Administration. $293 million annual savings.
Programs under the National and Community Services Act. $1.15 billion annual savings.
Applied Research at Department of Energy. $1.27 billion annual savings.
FreedomCAR and Fuel Partnership. $200 million annual savings.
Energy Star Program. $52 million annual savings.
Economic Assistance to Egypt . $250 million annually.
U.S. Agency for International Development. $1.39 billion annual savings.
General Assistance to District of Columbia . $210 million annual savings.
Subsidy for Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. $150 million annual savings.
Presidential Campaign Fund. $775 million savings over ten years.
No funding for federal office space acquisition. $864 million annual savings.
End prohibitions on competitive sourcing of government services.
Repeal the Davis-Bacon Act. More than $1 billion annually.
IRS Direct Deposit: Require the IRS to deposit fees for some services it offers (such as processing payment plans for taxpayers) to the Treasury, instead of allowing it to remain as part of its budget. $1.8 billion savings over ten years.
Require collection of unpaid taxes by federal employees. $1 billion total savings.WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Prohibit taxpayer funded union activities by federal employees. $1.2 billion savings over ten years.
Sell excess federal properties the government does not make use of. $15 billion total savings.
Eliminate death gratuity for Members of Congress.
Eliminate Mohair Subsidies. $1 million annual savings.
Eliminate taxpayer subsidies to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. $12.5 million annual savings
Eliminate Market Access Program. $200 million annual savings.
USDA Sugar Program. $14 million annual savings.
Subsidy to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). $93 million annual savings.
Eliminate the National Organic Certification Cost-Share Program. $56.2 million annual savings.
Eliminate fund for Obamacare administrative costs. $900 million savings.
Ready to Learn TV Program. $27 million savings..
HUD Ph.D. Program.
Deficit Reduction Check-Off Act.
TOTAL SAVINGS: $2.5 Trillion over Ten Years
My question is, what THE HELL is all this doing in the budget in the first place?

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

The Absurdity of Consensual Crimes in Our Free Country.

There is a great book about so called "consensual crimes" called Ain't Nobody's Business If You Do: The Absurdity of Consensual Crimes in Our Free Country.

You can read it free online here: http://www.mcwilliams.com/books/aint/

I have a strong Libertarian bent and I think if dumbasses want to thin the gene pool, let them.

Many of society's woes are not caused by things like street drugs, but by making them illegal, expensive, unregulated, and highly profitable.

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

H. R. 2306 - Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act of 2011

H. R. 2306
A BILL
To limit the application of Federal laws to the distribution and consumption of marihuana, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the “Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act of 2011
SEC. 2. APPLICATION OF THE CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES ACT TO MARIHUANA.

Part A of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 801 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

SEC. 103. APPLICATION OF THIS ACT TO MARIHUANA.

PROHIBITION ON CERTAIN SHIPPING OR TRANSPORTATION. -This Act shall not apply to marihuana, except that it shall be unlawful only to ship or transport, in any manner or by any means whatsoever, marihuana, from one State, Territory, or District of the United States, or place noncontiguous to but subject to the jurisdiction thereof, into any other State, Territory, or District of the United States, or place noncontiguous to but subject to the jurisdiction thereof, or from any foreign country into any State, Territory, or District of the United States, or place noncontiguous to but subject to the jurisdiction thereof, when such marihuana is intended, by any person interested therein, to be received, possessed, sold, or in any manner used, either in the original package or otherwise, in violation of any law of such State, Territory, or District of the United States, or place noncontiguous to but subject to the jurisdiction thereof.”
PENALTY. -Whoever knowingly violates sub-section (a) shall be fined under title 18, United States 26 Code, or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.”

SEC. 3. DEREGULATION OF MARIHUANA.

REMOVED FROM SCHEDULE OF CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES. -Schedule I of section 202 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 812(c)) is amended—
by striking “marihuana”; and
by striking “tetrahydrocannabinols”.
REMOVAL OF PROHIBITION ON IMPORT AND EXPORT. -Section 1010 of the Controlled Substances Importand Export Act (21 U.S.C. 960) is amended—
by striking subparagraph (G) of subsection(b)(1);
by striking subparagraph (G) of subsection(b)(2); and
by striking paragraph (4) of subsection (b).

SEC. 4. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS TO CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES ACT.

Section 102(44) of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802(44)) is amended by striking “marihuana”.
Part D of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 841 et seq.) is amended as follows:
In section 401—
by striking subsection (b)(1)(A)(vii);
by striking subsection (b)(1)(B)(vii);
by striking subsection (b)(1)(D); and
by striking subsection (b)(4).
In section 402(c)(2)(B), by striking “marihuana”
In section 403(d)(1), by striking “marihuana”
In section 418(a), by striking the last sentence
In section 419(a), by striking the last sentence
In section 422(d), in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking “marijuana”.
In section 422(d)(5), by striking “, such as a marihuana cigarette,”

SEC. 5. CONSTRUCTION.

No provision of this Act shall be construed to affect Federal drug testing policies, and each Federal agency shall conduct a review of its drug testing policies not later than 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act to ensure that the language of any such policy is in accordance with this section.




Please visit The Marijuana Policy Project's web site and let your representatives know where you stand!

Monday, June 27, 2011

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

White Pride?

I received this e-mail about White Pride. It contained some *racial slurs and had a lot of rhetoric in it, but it did make many valid points. I cleaned it up some, but the heart is still there. I personally think pride is overrated. I'll never be ashamed of who I am, although I might occasionally be ashamed of what I do. I did nothing to deserve, good or bad, to be born white. Why should I be proud of it? Historically it did offer advantages, but not nearly so much anymore. We have created reverse discrimination instead of equality. I'm interested in others' intelligent opinions about this, so I am posting it.
- Rock

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
I have been wondering why Whites are racists, and no other race is......


Proud to be White

"There are African Americans, Mexican Americans, Asian Americans, Arab Americans, etc.
And then there are just Americans. You pass me on the street and sneer in my direction. You call me 'White boy,' 'Cracker,' 'Honkey,' 'Whitey,' 'Caveman'... and that's OK. But if I use a *racial slur, You call me a racist.


You say that whites commit a lot of violence against you... so why are the ghettos the most dangerous places to live?


You have the United Negro College Fund. You have Martin Luther King Day.
You have Black History Month. You have Cesar Chavez Day.
You have Yom Hashoah. You have Ma'uled Al-Nabi.
You have the NAACP. You have BET.... If we had WET (White Entertainment Television), we'd be racists. If we had a White Pride Day, you would call us racists.


If we had White History Month, we'd be racists.


If we had any organization for only whites to 'advance' OUR lives, we'd be racists.


We have a Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, a Black Chamber of Commerce, and then we just have the plain Chamber of Commerce. Wonder who pays for that?


A white woman could not be in the Miss Black American pageant, but any color can be in the Miss America pageant.


If we had a college fund that only gave white students scholarships... You know we'd be racists.
There are over 60 openly proclaimed Black Colleges in the US . Yet if there were 'White colleges', that would be a racist college.


In the Million Man March, you believed that you were marching for your race and rights. If we marched for our race and rights, you would call us racists.


You are proud to be black, brown, red, yellow and orange, and you're not afraid to announce it. But when we announce our white pride, you call us racists.


Minorities can rob us, carjack us, and shoot at us. But, when a white police officer shoots a black gang member or beats up a black drug dealer running from the law and posing a threat to society, you call him a racist.


I am proud..... But you call me a racist.
Why is it that only whites can be racists?"

There is nothing improper about this e-mail. Let's see which of you are proud enough to send it on. I sadly don't think many will. That's why we have LOST most of OUR RIGHTS in this country. We won't stand up for ourselves!
BE PROUD TO BE WHITE!
It's not a crime YET... but getting very close!

Monday, June 13, 2011

Paraprosdokian Sentences

Paraprosdokian Sentences

A paraprosdokian is a figure of speech in which the latter part of a sentence or phrase is surprising or unexpected in a way that causes the reader or listener to reframe or reinterpret the first part. It is frequently used for humorous or dramatic effect.

* I asked God for a bike, but I know God doesn't work that way. So I stole a bike and asked for forgiveness.
* Do not argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.
* I want to die peacefully in my sleep, like my grandfather. Not screaming and yelling like the passengers in his car.
* Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.
* The last thing I want to do is hurt you. But it's still on the list.
* Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.
* I could agreed with you, but then we'd both be wrong.
* We never really grow up; we only learn how to act in public.
* War does not determine who is right -- only who is left.
* Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit; Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
* The early bird might get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.
* Evening news is where they begin with 'Good evening,' and then proceed to tell you why it isn't.
* To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism. To steal from many is research.
* A bus station is where a bus stops. A train station is where a train stops. My desk is a work station.
* How is it one careless match can start a forest fire, but it takes a whole box to start a campfire*
* Some people are like Slinkies ... not really good for anything, but you can't help smiling when you see one tumble down the stairs.
* Dolphins are so smart that within a few weeks of captivity, they can train people to stand on the very edge of the pool and throw them fish.
* I thought I wanted a career; turns out I just wanted paychecks.
* A bank is a place that will lend you money if you can prove that you don't need it.
* Whenever I fill out an application, in the part that says "If an emergency, notify:"I put "DOCTOR."
* I didn't say it was your fault, I said I was blaming you.
* I saw a woman wearing a sweat shirt with "Guess" on it... So I said "Implants*"
* Why does someone believe you when you say there are four billion stars, but check when you say the paint is wet?
* Women will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street with a bald head and a beer gut and still think they are sexy.
* Why do Americans choose from just two people to run for president and 50 for Miss America?
* Behind every successful man is his woman. Behind the fall of a successful man is usually another woman.
* A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.
* You do not need a parachute to skydive. You only need a parachute to skydive twice.
* The voices in my head may not be real, but they have some good ideas!
* Always borrow money from a pessimist. He won't expect it back.
* A diplomat is someone who can tell you to go to hell in such a way that you will look forward to the trip.
* Hospitality: making your guests feel like they're at home, even if you wish they were.
* Money can't buy happiness, but it sure makes misery easier to live with.
* I discovered I scream the same way whether I'm about to be devoured by a great white shark or if a piece of seaweed   touches my foot.
* Some cause happiness wherever they go. Others whenever they go.
* There's a fine line between cuddling and holding someone down so they can't get away.
* I used to be indecisive. Now I'm not sure.
* I always take life with a grain of salt... plus a slice of lemon... and a shot of tequila.
* When tempted to fight fire with fire, remember that the Fire Department usually uses water.
* You're never too old to learn something stupid.
* To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first and call whatever you hit the target.
* Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.
* A bus is a vehicle that runs twice as fast when you are after it as when you are in it.
* If you are supposed to learn from your mistakes, why do some people have more than one child?
* Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine.

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

10 Rules for a Gunfight

This is one of my absolute all time favorite T-shirts. I thought I'd share.

10 Rules for a Gunfight

1) Bring a gun. Preferably bring at least two guns. Bring all of your friends who have guns.

2) If you can choose what to bring to a gunfight bring a long gun and a friend with a long gun.

3) Have a back-up plan because the first one won't work.

4) Always cheat. Always win. The only unfair gunfight is the one you lose.

5) Someday someone may kill you with your own gun but they should have to beat you to death with it because it is empty.

6) Anything worth shooting is worth shooting twice. Ammo is cheap, life is expensive.

7) In ten years nobody will remember the details of caliber, stance, or tactics. They will only remember who lived.

8) Only hits count. The only thing worse than a miss is a slow miss.

9) Be polite. Be professional. But have a plan to kill everyone you meet.

10) Watch their hands. Hands kill. (In Glock we trust. Everyone else keep your hands where I can see them).

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Forum Etiquette

I'm a big fan of forums. I like having an opportunity to discuss things with folks I might not run into otherwise on a regular basis. Similar interests doesn't necessarily mean like minds though. A forum with atheists and Christians is a lot more lively than one with just atheists or just Christians!

I participate, or have participated regularly in the past, on forums for caricaturists, Knife Aficionados, graphic artists, Mensans, cyclists, atheists, web masters, as well as others.

We lose a lot when we try to communicate anonymously with no body language. Especially when we are dealing with people with unlikely names such as SpaceMonkey101, BluBolz68, and JCreanimator2012.

Not knowing if someone is really an angry pimply-faced thirteen year old troll or a Brazilian supermodel throws a lot of social norms out the window too.

How do we treat each other in on-line forums that are filled with trolls, fanatics, perverts, pedophiles, cyber-bullies, and other miscreants?

Robert Heinlein said, "An armed society is a polite society." On some forums the Liberals have won and its' citizens are all disarmed and castrated. The only modicum of power is held by the moderators. Its not like real life where people who actually have common sense realize making certain statements will get them a quick shot in the chops. There the Socialist Collective allows the bullies to run rampant for the good of the whole. If someone is rude but sneaky and profanity-free, they have nearly complete immunity. If someone is being a douche and you directly and politically incorrectly suggest they perform anatomically improbable acts with themselves, you will most likely be chastised and ostracized.

"Political Correctness is tyranny with manners." - Charlton Heston

With genuine problem children, we can run and tell forum moderators, use readily available software to get people's IP numbers and run and tell their ISPs, or get our hacker buddy to ruin their dog's credit. And lastly, we can realize forums aren't mandatory, walk away, have a beer, and go outside and play.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Mark Twain's God

Mark Twain has always been one of my favorite authors. I recently found a long page of quotes and thought I would share one and the link to the rest. I hope you enjoy them!

If I were to construct a God I would furnish Him with some way and qualities and characteristics which the Present lacks. He would not stoop to ask for any man's compliments, praises, flatteries; and He would be far above exacting them. I would have Him as self-respecting as the better sort of man in these regards.

He would not be a merchant, a trader. He would not buy these things. He would not sell, or offer to sell, temporary benefits of the joys of eternity for the product called worship. I would have Him as dignified as the better sort of man in this regard.

He would value no love but the love born of kindnesses conferred; not that born of benevolences contracted for. Repentance in a man's heart for a wrong done would cancel and annul that sin; and no verbal prayers for forgiveness be required or desired or expected of that man.

In His Bible there would be no Unforgivable Sin. He would recognize in Himself the Author and Inventor of Sin and Author and Inventor of the Vehicle and Appliances for its commission; and would place the whole responsibility where it would of right belong: upon Himself, the only Sinner.

He would not be a jealous God -- a trait so small that even men despise it in each other.

He would not boast.

He would keep private His admiration of Himself; He would regard self-praise as unbecoming the dignity of his position.

He would not have the spirit of vengeance in His heart. Then it would not issue from His lips.

There would not be any hell -- except the one we live in from the cradle to the grave.

There would not be any heaven -- the kind described in the world's Bibles.

He would spend some of His eternities in trying to forgive Himself for making man unhappy when he could have made him happy with the same effort and he would spend the rest of them in studying astronomy.

-- Mark Twain, Notebook


More Mark Twain Quotes HERE

Monday, March 14, 2011

Some Worthy Quotes - Mine & Others

"An armed society is a polite society." - Robert A. Heinlein

"Give a man a fire and he'll be warm for a night. Set a man on fire and he'll be warm for the rest of his life." - Terry Pratchett.

'If a person offends you, do not resort to extremes, simply watch for your chance and hit him with a brick.' - Mark Twain

"Shake off all the fears of servile prejudices, under which weak minds are servilely crouched. Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call on her tribunal for every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear" - Thomas Jefferson

"Adversity doesn't build character, it reveals it." - author unknown

“Genius without education is like silver in the mine.” - Benjamin Franklin

“Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to reform.” - Mark Twain, 1904 notebook

"Political correctness is tyranny with manners." - Charlton Heston

"Truth is, everybody is going to hurt you; you just gotta find the ones worth suffering for." -Bob Marley

"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds." - Albert Einstein

During his defense when on trial for his life, Socrates, according to Plato's writings, pointed out that dissent, like the tiny (relative to the size of a horse) gadfly, was easy to swat, but the cost to society of silencing individuals who were irritating could be very high. "If you kill a man like me, you will injure yourselves more than you will injure me," because his role was that of a gadfly, "to sting people and whip them into a fury, all in the service of truth."

"I believe." he thought. "I have faith."
"Faith in what?" he asked himself, adrift in limbo.
"Faith in faith." he answered himself. "It isn't necessary to have something to believe in. It's only necessary to believe that somewhere there's something worthy of belief."
(Gully Foyle: The Stars My Destination) - Alfred Bester

'If a person offends you, do not resort to extremes, simply watch for your chance and hit him with a brick.' - Mark Twain
"Absence of proof isn't proof of absence." - Robert Buettner

"There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance—that principle is contempt prior to investigation.” – Herbert Spencer

"A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both." - Dwight D. Eisenhower

"You believe in a book that has talking animals, wizards, witches, demons, sticks turning into snakes, food falling from the sky, people walking on water, and all sorts of magical, absurd and primitive stories, and you say that we are the ones that need help?" - Dan Barker, Losing Faith in Faith: From Preacher to Atheist

"God is a comedian playing to an audience too afraid to laugh." - Voltaire

"You can't convince a believer of anything; for their belief is not based on evidence, it's based on a deep seated need to believe." - Carl Sagan

"It is easier to ask forgiveness than to get permission." - Grace Hopper

"By all means marry. If you get a good wife you will become happy, and if you get a bad one you will become a philosopher." - Socrates

"For those who believe, no explanation is necessary; for those who do not believe, no explanation will suffice." - Joseph Dunninger, Mentalist

"Opportunities multiply as they are seized." - Lao Tzu

"When the people fear the government, there is tyranny. When the government fears the people, there is liberty!" - Thomas Jefferson

"Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving." - Albert Einstein

"Life is one big road with lots of signs. So when you riding through the ruts, don't complicate your mind. Flee from hate, mischief, and jealousy. Don't bury your thoughts, put your vision to reality. Wake Up and Live!" - Bob Marley

"No generalization is worth a damn, including this one." - Author unknown

Just a karmic reminder to play nice: "Friends may come and go, but enemies accumulate." - Thomas Jones

"In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. But in practice, there is." - Jan L.A. van de Snepscheut

"I always have a quotation for everything - it saves original thinking." - Dorothy L. Sayers

"In prosperity our friends know us; in adversity we know our friends."
— John Churton Collins

"I cannot help but notice that there is no problem between us that cannot be solved by your departure." - Mark Twain

Many times opportunity is not recognized because it dresses up in work clothes - Henry Ford

"Think of and look at your work as though it were done by your enemy. If you look at it to admire it, you are lost." - Samuel Butler

Quotes from the mind of Rock Cowles

"Inside every fat person is a thin person struggling to get out. Sometimes as many as two or three." - Rock Cowles

"Religion is indeed the opiate of the masses. Except for Islam, its more like Crystal Meth." - Rock Cowles

"No good deed goes unpunished." - Rock Cowles

"I didn't make you look fat, not pushing yourself away from the table made you look fat." - Rock Cowles, Caricaturist.

Why is it easier for some people to believe their ancestors were a clump of mud and a cannibalized body part, than apes? - Rock Cowles

"If you can't afford to give something away, you don't own it, it owns you. If you can't afford to sell it, its probably an important organ." - Rock Cowles

"If the Lottery is tax for people who are bad at math, is tithing tax for those who are bad at reasoning?" - Rock Cowles

"Do Atheists believe in Devils' Advocates?" - Rock Cowles

"Friends don't let friends be Packers Fans... EVER! (I don't care how much paint your mother huffed during her pregnancy!)" - Rock Cowles

"I know enough to know that I don't know what I don't know." - Rock Cowles

"No greater invention was ever devised for creating the delusion of productivity than the personal computer." - Rock Cowles

"Instant gratification isn't worth the wait." - Rock Cowles

"If it looks too good to be true its usually me!" - Rock Cowles

I'm not really a Christian, I just play one at church. (True Things Nobody Says: Rock Cowles)

"Never, ever, ever call a lady cop "Fatboy"." - Rock Cowles

"I am grateful for the friends in my life and the life in my friends." - Rock Cowles
"People treat you exactly the way you teach them to." -Rock Cowles

"I haven't killed anyone all day. Gimme a cookie. Now." - Rock Cowles

"I tried Viagra and all it did was make me taller." - Rock Cowles

"You can lead a horse to water, but you can't push him in." - Rock Cowles

"Be still my throbbing pants!" - Rock Cowles

"Its all about the ride. If I can enjoy myself, bring some degree of happiness to others, and leave things a little better than when I got here, it wasn't a wasted trip." - Rock Cowles

"You get your cards, place your bets, and play the best game you can. The House always wins." - Rock Cowles

"We cease to exist every time we go to sleep. That break in awareness includes self-awareness. If you aren't there, you won't know what you are missing." - Rock Cowles

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Is God Responsible for His Creations Ruination?

Reflections: Is God Responsible for His Creations Ruination?
©2007 Rock Cowles

The Bible tells us that God is omnipotent (all powerful), omniscient (all knowing), and omnipresent (everywhere, all at once). God created the Heavens and the earth, as well as all of His angels, including Lucifer, AKA Satan. Christians say that God cannot tolerate sin, that He cannot even have it in His "pure" presence. Oops. "Can't" means not all powerful. "Outside of His presence means not omnipresent. If He can't get over this, because He does not know how, He is not all knowing. Ouch. With these curiosities in mind, let's investigate further.

God created Satan. He was Lucifer, God's favorite, and His choir director. Lucifer "conspired" against God, in God's presence! Duh-huh. Of course, all-knowing God knew this little tiff would occur, before He even created Satan, right? But, God in His infinite mercy, banished him anyway. La de da.

If sin is defined (as it is in Greek) as missing the mark, an archer's term, did Satan sin when he was just as God created him, but not as God wanted him? How can that be? It looks to me like God missed the mark or sinned first. If God created everything how can anything, including sin, be present that was not created by Him? A real no brainer here. It can't. Which means, either God created sin or God is not the sole creator.

Back to Genesis. Adam was not born, nor was Eve. God created Adam from the clay of the earth, then when He saw/realized Adam was lonely (He didn't see this coming?), He took Adam's rib and created Eve. Here these two innocents were (they were not born into sin) and they had God to thank for this perfect Utopia and their existence. No pain, no sickness, no hunger, no unfulfilled desires. If you had never had a want or a need that went unmet long enough for you to realize you had a want or a need, would you recognize one when you did? How could you when you had no experience (our greatest teacher) to learn from?

Now God said, you can do anything you want, have anything you want, and stay here (In the Garden of Eden) forever and will never die, as long as you do not eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. ACCCK! Lots of tough questions here! We have already established that if you don't know what a want or need is, it is not something you can conceptualize, just as you would be unable to fathom loss if you had never lost anything. Now if you had never been anywhere but "here", not ever heard of, seen pictures of, or met anyone from anywhere but "here", then "here" is as good and as bad as it gets, and not being able to be "here" would be a punishment vague beyond any cerebral means of retrieval. Okay, crappy darn, here comes another tough aspect. Never in your life have you done without, suffered a loss, made a mistake, felt pain, been punished or seen anyone punished. How could anyone expect you to understand the concepts of obedience or punishment without seeing disobedience first or having to earn something?

Now besides God, the animals, and each other, Adam and Eve had never met anyone. They must have been bored crazy. Along comes Satan, disguised as a serpent, looking like just another of God's creations (which he was, only disguised). Satan teaches them. Did he create the Tree? No. Did he give them lives of entitlement where they could not conceive of the "punishment" God threatened? No. Did Satan threaten them with banishment and death if they failed their first test ever with the world's worst learning curve (One question, "Can you obey?", and if you get it wrong you die (even though you don't really understand death))!? No. And what's funny, in an eternal damnation kind of way, is even if Satan did any of those things, didn't God create Satan just as he was, with complete foreknowledge of the things Satan would do, despite "so called free will"? Satan offered them something God had not, plain and simple. Vision. Knowledge. Enlightenment. He did not tempt them or created the temptation, God did.

It all falls apart. If I told my child, if you ever see a fire (temptation), even though you will have no idea what it is, having never seen one before, don't touch it or you could get burned and die, would I be considered a good parent if the first time my child gazed in wide wonder at a campfire and got close enough to feel the heat on his face I pushed him in? Hell no!

Let's jump to the New Testament and Salvation. You were born into sin. Adam and Eve failed the test, everyone gets punished. However, if we admit we screwed up by getting born, (Bad Mother Teresa! BAD!) and we admit that Jesus is the Son of God, born of a virgin, died on the cross and rose again three days later, we get to go to Heaven, because His blood covers us and washes away our sin. Now some people buy this. Hey! I know Him! Pick me! Pick me! I want to go to Heaven! Don't make me burn in Hell forever for being born! I'm sorry! They are called Christians.

Now the folks that God hasn't succeeded in making feel bad that they were ever born are called heathens, pagans, non-believers, and sometimes even sinners, because they don't have Jesus' blood on their hands. God gave them free will to admit that they lost before they ever opened the starting gate and they refused. God said, "I am going to make you burn in Hell for all eternity if you do not love and worship me.", yet they still refuse. God, being omniscient and omnipotent, made them perfect, with this flaw, knowing they would not take His offer. This is called predestination, meaning some will be saved (the sheep who return to their shepherd), and some will burn in Hell because God created them with minds that work and rebel against tyranny, cruelty, and senseless oppression.

I am agnostic. If, when I was born, someone saturated me with gasoline that would never come off, then followed me around with a lit match my entire life, He would not be my first choice in friends. Even if the Christian bible were inerrant (HA!), there is no God worthy of love and worship in it.

I see Christian faith as being like flying on a glass airplane with no landing gear. You might think you have been chosen and are higher than everyone else and going higher still, but if you looked out all around you, you'd see the real world and realize its not very likely that its going to be pretty when your plane lands.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

A Strange Old Tool

A Strange Old Tool . . .  Do you know what it is?  
Look below, read and learn.
 

 
 

 
This old tool has been reintroduced in Washington DC .
by the Obama Administration.

It will be part of the New Health Care Program.

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Googlified


Its 2011. Next year according to the Mayan calendar, the world will end. That means if you want to have fun and get things done, you'd better get on the stick right quick!

Unless some sadistic tree hating Bozo has printed this out, you are reading it on-line, just like the other guy who accidentally stumbled across it (not to be confused with StumbleUpon, but that is a post of another day). I've had numerous (4) people ask me, "How do I subscribe to your entertaining, enlightening, educating, and inspiring blogs, Rock?"

All I can say is that if you are on-line and you don't have a FREE Google account, you are probably braindead or at least severely retarded. Really really Effing seriously severely retarded.

A Google account will get you an iGoogle Homepage and a Gmail account (which is awesome and transfers no matter where you live or how many times you change ISPs (Internet Service Providers). It offers Google AdSense, which is one of the leading ways to make money off of your web sites or blogs. It can be used to create an account on Blogger and to log in.

Google Voice gives you a free local phone number that you can forward and make calls or send text messages with from your PC.

It offers Buzz as a social network, chat, calendar, translator, and much much more.

Google Reader is a great utility for subscribing to blogs, checking web sites, and more.

And let us never forget the super fast, simple, and reliable Google Chrome browser that works on PCs, Macs, and Linux systems.

The more productive you can be on-line, the less time you need to spend on-line, and the more time you will have to do all of those great things that you read about on-line! (Like not watching TV!).

Did I mention almost everything was FREE?

Its the Twenty First Century, follow the advice I give my wife;  Get our from under your Rock and go outside and play. Have a life!



Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Dieting sucks, but the alternative is worse.

 Okay, so the 4 Hour Body program was not meant to be fun. Its designed to lose weight fast and in a healthy manner. You can eat anything you want as long as it is meat, beans or vegetables (but not white ones like corn or potatoes).

I've been on it for three days already and I am sick of it. Maybe I need to be more creative. I'm a bit spoiled and lazy. I tend to eat out or eat out of a box or a bag. If its not ready on the fly or under three minutes its not worth bothering with. This is an adjustment, kind of like being crucified. There is no comfortable position. Its just something you gotta grin and bear.

Well after riding my new bike a mere tortuous mile on hilly curvy roads and eating shitty chili, beans, bland chicken, beans, nuked sausage, beans, raw mushrooms, beans, fried eggs, beans, and beans, I was feeling a bit cranky and sorry for myself. Then I saw this video:



I don't want to be this guy! I mean I'm happy he's happy and I don't want to judge, but this is not good.

Pass the effing beans.



Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Rock on a Giant Boulder

At the end of last year I designed a web site for my friend, Mike Henley's new bike shop, Mike's Got Wheels, in Gaffney, South Carolina. Last time I owned a bike I had a lot of trouble with my legs and thought my bike riding days were behind me. I test rode a few recumbent trikes and had no leg pain! I thought Hallelujah! I have a hundred pounds to lose, here is my answer. I was all set to get a recumbent trike when I rode several upright diamond frame bikes on a whim. No leg pain! Wahg! Mass confusion set it before I learned that the problem was most likely a poor fit on my previous bike than my legs.

So after learning a ton about recumbent trikes and even setting up a recumbent bike web site, BentNuts.com, I decided I liked the upright position, agility, and better vision and visibility of a traditional bike. I visited eleven bike shops and manufacturers, dozens and dozens of web sites, read books and magazines, and finally created a list of the things I wanted on my perfect bike that I would love and ride forever.

It had to have; the recommended medium sized aluminum frame, 29" or 700c wheels, a rigid fork or a fork with a mechanical lockout, disc brakes, double walled rims, trigger (not twist) shifter, low enough gears to handle all of the nasty curvy hills in SC, and a fairly wide tire in case I had to ride on the shoulder of the road. I narrowed it down to four that met my "needs", all of which ran right at around six hundred dollars; Felt Trail 9, Trek PDX, Giant Roam 1, or Giant Seek 2.

Today I bought a new 2010 Giant Boulder. It has a large Cro-moly (steel) frame, 26" tires, caliper brakes, single wall rims, trigger shifters with a 14 - 34 teeth cassette, and 26 x 2.10" Kenda K-Rad tires. The bike cost $299.00. I enjoyed the test ride on it more than some $1,200.00 bikes I rode. The Shimano components shifted flawlessly.

The steel frame absorbs vibration much better than an aluminum one. I like the "improper" fit of the large frame much better than the cramped feel of the recommended medium sized frames. The 26" wheels are a bit more agile and since I am riding for enjoyment and exercise, not speed or transportation, I didn't need the bigger 29" wheels. Double walled rims are really for off road riding or riding on really crappy roads with lots of potholes. Disc brakes are a nice option, but unless I am riding Cyclocross, have a bent or out of true rim, or ride in the rain a lot, they are really just a luxury.

It came down to getting a dependable, solid bike that I would enjoy riding and that would last me for a good long while. Most of my wish list was frills, not necessities. I can't see a need to upgrade anytime soon. Sometimes the saying "You get what you pay for" just isn't true. A lot of it is just marketing and brand recognition. Nobody is going to convince me that a ten thousand dollar bike has eight thousand dollars more value than a two thousand dollar bike. Take off the price tags and labels and it comes down to which ride feels the best. I'd guess less than 2% of riders can see any difference!

I got a bike I love for half the price of the bikes I "wanted" by shaking off the advertising (and some of the experts), and trusting my body and my intelligence.

Should a Rock ride on a Giant Boulder? My answer is definitely yes.

Thanks to Mike Henley and the guys at BikeWorx, The Great Escape, Sunrift Adventures, Carolina Triathlon, TTR Bikes, Sunshine Bikes, Ride On Bikes, Gusto Cycles, and others for their patience with my endless questions.

Monday, February 14, 2011

Mensa Fitness Challenge

I've been in Mensa, the so called high IQ Society, off and on for over twenty years. My belief has long been that intelligence is a gift. I didn't do anything to earn it or to give me a reason to be proud of it. Having it is not as important as what I do with it, like any other talent or gift.

I was thinking earlier today that Mensa might just be one of the greatest groups of underachievers anywhere. We obviously have some bright shining stars, but as a whole, we seem to be average in most categories. I think we totally bomb the fitness group, reinforcing the nerd geek stereotype.

I think everyone in Mensa has been asked at least one question that started with. "If you are so smart, then why do/don't, are/aren't you _____(Fill in the blank). Most of the answers ring hollow, whether the blank is rich, in charge, famous, highly successful, perfect, happy, or other.

I'm digging around in Timothy Ferriss' new book, "The 4 Hour Body" and wondering if we had a Mensa Fitness Challenge how we would do compared to the average Joe. I shudder to think.

What mark will you leave? What have you contributed to the human race and your great grandchildren's future? What have you done with your gift? Its like the parable of the talents.

Can we, the brightest minds, devise a workable fitness plan for the masses and ourselves?

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Nine Trail - Felt Bicycles

Nine Trail - Felt Bicycles

I think this will be my new bike. 29" tires, disc brakes, front shock with mechanical lockout, aluminum frame, all for under $600.

Its more versatile than a hybrid bike.

I believe I will swap out the tires for a set of Drifters with a reversed tread also.


Saturday, January 22, 2011

Kowulz Urban Fury II flipper prototype for sale!

Kowulz Urban Fury II flipper prototype. 1/8" thick titanium frames with custom water jet cut patterns,and a 3/16" CPM-154 blade riding on IKBS. OAL of 9.75". Closed length is nearly 6" with a cutting edge of 4.25". Custom lowrider pocket clip and 2-tone blade finish. One of two made by Curtiss Knives based on Rock Cowles' design.

$600.00 USD PayPal, shipped CONUS. Posted in several spots. First I'll take it posted OVERALL with e-mail to kowulz[@]gmail.com sent gets it.

Thanks for looking!

 


Twisted Faces - Caricature Art from Rock Cowles

Twisted Faces - Caricature Art from Rock Cowles
Twisted Faces Web Site

Kowulz on Facebook

Dave Cowles's Facebook profile

Caricatures by Rock Kowulz