A LITTLE GUN HISTORY

A LITTLE GUN HISTORY


In 1929, the Soviet Union established gun control. . .

From 1929 to 1953, about 20 million dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.
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In 1911, Turkey established gun control.

From 1915 to 1917, 1..5 million Armenians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.
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Germany established gun control in 1938 and from 1939 to 1945,

a total of 13 million Jews and others who were unable to defend themselves were rounded up and exterminated.
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China established gun control in 1935.

From 1948 to 1952, 20 million political dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.
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Guatemala established gun control in 1964.

From 1964 to 1981, 100,000 Mayan Indians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.
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Uganda established gun control in 1970.

From 1971 to 1979, 300,000 Christians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated
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Cambodia established gun control in 1956.

From 1975 to 1977, one million educated people, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.
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Defenseless people rounded up and exterminated in the 20th Century because of gun control: 56 million.
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You won't see this data on the US evening news, or hear politicians disseminating this information.

Guns in the hands of honest citizens save lives and property and, yes, gun-control laws adversely affect only the law-abiding citizens .

Take note my fellow Americans, before it's too late!

The next time someone talks in favor of gun control, please remind them of this history lesson.

With guns, we are 'citizens.' Without them, we are 'subjects'.

During WWII the Japanese decided not to invade America because they knew most Americans were ARMED!

If you value your freedom, please spread this anti-gun control message to all of your friends.

The purpose of fighting is to win.

There is no possible victory in defense.

The sword is more important than the shield, and skill is more important than either.

The final weapon is the brain.

All else is supplemental.

SWITZERLAND ISSUES EVERY HOUSEHOLD A GUN!

SWITZERLAND'S GOVERNMENT TRAINS EVERY ADULT

THEY ISSUE A RIFLE.

SWITZERLAND HAS THE LOWEST GUN RELATED CRIME RATE OF ANY

CIVILIZED COUNTRY IN THE WORLD!!!

IT'S A NO BRAINER!

DON'T LET OUR GOVERNMENT WASTE MILLIONS OF OUR TAX DOLLARS

IN AN EFFORT TO MAKE ALL LAW ABIDING CITIZENS AN EASY TARGET.

I'm a firm believer of the 2nd Amendment! If you are too, please pass this on.

Learn from history.

Troubled Waters

Some good friends of mine were recently going through some difficult marital problems and not talking to each other. I sent the following e-mail to them. It doesn't have all of the answers, but it does have some great tools that have helped me immensely over the years with life and relationships.

I hope you can take something useful away from it.




I know you guys have been having some trouble and it breaks my heart. I want your marriage to succeed, not just for the kids, but for each of you. Things can always get worse, but they can always get better too. I am not by any means trying to pry or seem superior. I just want to see you guys make it and be happy. You have a good thing going and it would be a shame to throw the baby out with the bathwater.

I read a great book called "A New Pair of Glasses" by Chuck C. about twenty five years ago and it had some great stuff in it. The thing that stuck with me the most was this, he said, "Love is not a 50/50 venture, it is 100%/100%. If you expect to be appreciated, it isn't love, its barter."

Another fantastic book, is "To Love is to be Happy With" by Barry Neil Kaufman. He talks about what he calls "The Cardinal Rule of Love"; "If you loved me you would/wouldn't..." We are taught from childhood to use love and guilt interchangeably as weapons. An example is, my mother might say, "If you loved me you would take out the trash without being asked." This is a fallacy. Whether or not I love my mother has nothing to do with how I feel about taking out the trash or checking on its priority in my life. This line of thinking can turn around and bite you in the ass too. I might end up saying, "Well maybe she's right. I hate taking out the trash, so I must not love her!"

There is an old saying that familiarity breeds contempt. Once we get past the facade, masks, make-up, and good behavior, we see the other person's warts, quirks, and flaws. We all have them, but it is not where our focus should be.

I used to get much more upset or argue over petty, insignificant things or perceived slights. I had a counselor ask me, "Would I rather be right or if I would rather be happy?". That question had a huge impact on my thinking and helped me to let go of a lot of the little things. I learned that pet peeves are those things that we choose to get worked up and pissed off about. Most of them mean nothing.

We get angry and we dig in. We become as un-Christ-like as possible. We withhold the very forgiveness we crave. We become petty and weak in our desire for power or control instead of letting go and trusting what we saw in the person we loved so much.

Tony Robbins, who wrote Unlimited Power, said, "The easiest thing in the world to do is to fall in love with someone, just focus on everything you like about them. Unfortunately, the second easiest thing to do is to fall out of love with soneone by just focusing on the things we don't like!"


Refusing to communicate is the ultimate betrayal of trust and the opposite of love. It sends the message my emotions are more important than you are (not what you have done), and you are not worth discussing it. St. Augustine said, "Hate the sin, but love the sinner." We all screw up. When was the last time you said, "What can I do for you?" or "What can I do to make things better?"

My dad told me a story once when he saw me playing with my wife in a bit of a teasing manner. His friends, the Teachmans had been married nearly thirty years. The wife had decided to leave the husband and had told him. Due to finances she hadn't moved out yet when once day the newspaper boy came to collect for the newspaper. Mr. Teachman politely and courteously asked the paperboy about his day and his family and promptly paid him. When the paperboy left, Mrs. Teachman said, "You know, if you had treated me half as nicely as you did the paperboy, this would never have happened!". This was a great eyeopener for me, as I still have a bit of a warped sense of humor and like to play the most with the people I like the most. Sometimes I fail to see the effect. It gets old having someone fart repeatedly in the car and lock the power windows closed! I can say I just want to have fun, but if it happens too much, I am just a dick. Later, when I am alone, I can spend lots of time asking myself if it was worth driving away the people I love just to stick to my guns and demand my right to have fun. Once again, did I give anywhere near 100% to this person or family that I professed to love more than all others?

There is no shame in getting counseling. None of us have all of the answers and it offers us fresh perspective, mediation, and new tools. That person you loved and married is still there.

Its never too late to have a happy childhood.

Reading

I just reread Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. It inspired this cartoon.

Any Thoughts?

A Brief List of People Who Have Smoke Marijuana

Self CPR

What are you to do if you have a heart attack While you are alone. If you've already received this, It means people care about you. The Johnson City Medical Center staff actually Discovered this and did an in-depth study On it in our ICU. The two individuals that discovered this then did An article on it, had it published and have had it incorporated into ACLS and CPR classes. It is very true and has and does work. It is called cough CPR. A cardiologist says it's the truth If everyone who gets this sends it to 10 people, You can bet that we'll save at least one life. It could save your life!

Let's say it's 6:15 p.m. And you're driving home (alone of course), after an usually hard day on the job. You're really tired, upset and frustrated. Suddenly you start experiencing severe pain In your chest that starts to radiate out Into your arm and up into your jaw. You are only about five miles from the hospital Nearest your home. Unfortunately you don't know if you'll be Able to make it that far. What can you do? You've been trained in CPR But the guy that taught the course didn't tell You what to do if it happened to yourself.

Since many people are alone when they suffer a heart attack, this article seemed to be in order. Without help, the person whose heart is beating improperly and who begins to feel faint, Has only about 10 seconds left before losing consciousness. However, these victims can help themselves by coughing repeatedly and very vigorously. A deep breath should be taken before each Cough, and the cough must be deep And prolonged, as when producing sputum From deep inside the chest. A breath and a cough must be repeated About every two seconds without let up Until help arrives, or until the heart is felt to be beating normally again. Deep breaths get oxygen into the lungs and coughing movements squeeze the heart and Keep the blood circulating. The squeezing pressure on the heart also helps it regain normal rhythm. In this way, heart attack victims can get to a hospital. Tell as many other people as possible about this, it could save their lives! From Health Cares, Rochester General Hospital via Chapter 240s newsletter 'AND THE BEAT GOES ON ' (reprint from The Mended Hearts, Inc. Publication, Heart Response) BE A FRIEND AND PLEASE SEND THIS ARTICLE TO AS MANY FRIENDS AS POSSIBLE

And you thought you were having a bad day!?

And you thought you were having a bad day!?

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Extra Tickets

I have four extra tickets for the Robbie Knievel (son of Evil Knievel) Event at the Ford Center next weekend in Beaumont, Texas, if anybody wants them.

Robbie is going to try to jump over 1,000 Obama supporters with a Caterpillar D-9 bulldozer.

Blind Carbon Copy: BCC

I send a variation of this e-mail out every so often. Its a good educator for folks who don't work as professionals (and some that do) that helps reduce SPAM and wasted bandwidth.

Hi,

I have always found this helpful:

Please address group e-mails BCC (Blind Carbon Copy). What this does is hide the recipients e-mail addresses from each other. This way all of the recipients don't get each others' e-mail addresses and they don't end up getting sold and spammed out of existence. Most people will appreciate it if you do this. Some mail software makes you put at least one e-mail address in the regular mail to. If that's the case, I just put mine there since everyone I am mailing will have my eddress anyway.

I usually take a second to delete any other e-mail addresses that might be in an e-mail sent to me before passing it on also. This is easy to do by copying and pasting the e-mail contents to word pad. I remove FWD & FW from the subject line too. I feel if it isn't worth showing that much respect to the people I send it to, why should they bother to spend their time reading it?

Hope this is of help to you and you will pass it on, Blind Carbon Copy!

Posting it on facebook and MySpace is a great idea too!

Rock

Fat Dazey

Today I did one of the toughest things I have ever done. I took our dog, Dazey, to be euthanized. Raeny went with me and we are both still crying as is Marecho. We were truly blessed to have had Dazey sharing our lives for over ten years. She recently developed health problems that were getting progressively worse as well as opening doors for more health problems. She was a shell of her former self and was finally having more bad days than good days. Out of deep love and mercy we made this hard decision.

Dazey, the dog formerly known as Fat Dazey, was adopted from the Spartanburg Humane Society in 1999 the day before she was to be put down. She had had a litter of puppies and been abandoned. During her time with us, Dazey killed eight possums, one raccoon, and fought a rabid fox. She had her steel cable struck by lightning and burned
in half, was given rat poison by a now deceased neighbor with a drug problem, and got chewed up by a Pit Bull one Christmas day when she went in its yard. She was blessed with many lives and she blessed all of our lives.

When I die, I want to go where Dazey went.

Thank you for my life, Good Dazey. You will always be missed.

Comments

I appreciate feedback. I know some people blog daily, but my life is a bit busier than that. Is it my content or my irregularity that is keeping people from commenting? Or, are they just lazy voyeurs?

I try not to prattle on if I don't have anything to say. That being said...

My rendition of the Oscar Mayer Bologna Song as if performed by a four year old.

My rendition of the Oscar Mayer Bologna Song as if performed by a four year old.

©2009 Dave Cowles,
All Rights Reserved.

Not Yours to Give

Not Yours To Give

Col. David Crockett
US Representative from Tennessee

Originally published in "The Life of Colonel David Crockett,"

by Edward Sylvester Ellis

One day in the House of Representatives a bill was taken up appropriating money for the benefit of a widow of a distinguished naval officer. Several beautiful speeches had been made in its support. The speaker was just about to put the question when Crockett arose:

"Mr. Speaker--I have as much respect for the memory of the deceased, and as much sympathy for the suffering of the living, if there be, as any man in this House, but we must not permit our respect for the dead or our sympathy for part of the living to lead us into an act of injustice to the balance of the living. I will not go into an argument to prove that Congress has not the power to appropriate this money as an act of charity. Every member on this floor knows it.

We have the right as individuals, to give away as much of our own money as we please in charity; but as members of Congress we have no right to appropriate a dollar of the public money. Some eloquent appeals have been made to us upon the ground that it is a debt due the deceased. Mr. Speaker, the deceased lived long after the close of the war; he was in office to the day of his death, and I ever heard that the government was in arrears to him.

"Every man in this House knows it is not a debt. We cannot without the grossest corruption, appropriate this money as the payment of a debt. We have not the semblance of authority to appropriate it as charity. Mr. Speaker, I have said we have the right to give as much money of our own as we please. I am the poorest man on this floor. I cannot vote for this bill, but I will give one week's pay to the object, and if every member of Congress will do the same, it will amount to more than the bill asks."

He took his seat. Nobody replied. The bill was put upon its passage, and, instead of passing unanimously, as was generally supposed, and as, no doubt, it would, but for that speech, it received but few votes, and, of course, was lost.

Later, when asked by a friend why he had opposed the appropriation, Crockett gave this explanation:

"Several years ago I was one evening standing on the steps of the Capitol with some members of Congress, when our attention was attracted by a great light over in Georgetown. It was evidently a large fire. We jumped into a hack and drove over as fast as we could. In spite of all that could be done, many houses were burned and many families made houseless, and besides, some of them had lost all but the clothes they had on. The weather was very cold, and when I saw so many children suffering, I felt that something ought to be done for them. The next morning a bill was introduced appropriating $20,000 for their relief. We put aside all other business and rushed it through as soon as it could be done.

"The next summer, when it began to be time to think about election, I concluded I would take a scout around among the boys of my district. I had no opposition there but, as the election was some time off, I did not know what might turn up. When riding one day in a part of my district in which I was more of a stranger than any other, I saw a man in a field plowing and coming toward the road. I gauged my gait so that we should meet as he came up, I spoke to the man. He replied politely, but as I thought, rather coldly.

"I began: 'Well friend, I am one of those unfortunate beings called candidates and---

"Yes I know you; you are Colonel Crockett. I have seen you once before, and voted for you the last time you were elected. I suppose you are out electioneering now, but you had better not waste your time or mine, I shall not vote for you again."

"This was a sockdolger...I begged him tell me what was the matter.

"Well Colonel, it is hardly worthwhile to waste time or words upon it. I do not see how it can be mended, but you gave a vote last winter which shows that either you have not capacity to understand the Constitution, or that you are wanting in the honesty and firmness to be guided by it. In either case you are not the man to represent me. But I beg your pardon for expressing it that way. I did not intend to avail myself of the privilege of the constituent to speak plainly to a candidate for the purpose of insulting you or wounding you.'

"I intend by it only to say that your understanding of the constitution is very different from mine; and I will say to you what but for my rudeness, I should not have said, that I believe you to be honest.

But an understanding of the constitution different from mine I cannot overlook, because the Constitution, to be worth anything, must be held sacred, and rigidly observed in all its provisions. The man who wields power and misinterprets it is the more dangerous the honest he is.'

"I admit the truth of all you say, but there must be some mistake. Though I live in the backwoods and seldom go from home, I take the papers from Washington and read very carefully all the proceedings of Congress. My papers say you voted for a bill to appropriate $20,000 to some sufferers by fire in Georgetown. Is that true?

"Well my friend; I may as well own up. You have got me there. But certainly nobody will complain that a great and rich country like ours should give the insignificant sum of $20,000 to relieve its suffering women and children, particularly with a full and overflowing treasury, and I am sure, if you had been there, you would have done just the same as I did.'

"It is not the amount, Colonel, that I complain of; it is the principle. In the first place, the government ought to have in the Treasury no more than enough for its legitimate purposes. But that has nothing with the question. The power of collecting and disbursing money at pleasure is the most dangerous power that can be entrusted to man, particularly under our system of collecting revenue by a tariff, which reaches every man in the country, no matter how poor he may be, and the poorer he is the more he pays in proportion to his means.

What is worse, it presses upon him without his knowledge where the weight centers, for there is not a man in the United States who can ever guess how much he pays to the government. So you see, that while you are contributing to relieve one, you are drawing it from thousands who are even worse off than he. If you had the right to give anything, the amount was simply a matter of discretion with you, and you had as much right to give $20,000,000 as $20,000.

If you have the right to give at all; and as the Constitution neither defines charity nor stipulates the amount, you are at liberty to give to any and everything which you may believe, or profess to believe, is a charity and to any amount you may think proper. You will very easily perceive what a wide door this would open for fraud and corruption and favoritism, on the one hand, and for robbing the people on the other. 'No, Colonel, Congress has no right to give charity.'

"'Individual members may give as much of their own money as they please, but they have no right to touch a dollar of the public money for that purpose. If twice as many houses had been burned in this country as in Georgetown, neither you nor any other member of Congress would have Thought of appropriating a dollar for our relief. There are about two hundred and forty members of Congress. If they had shown their sympathy for the sufferers by contributing each one week's pay, it would have made over $13,000. There are plenty of wealthy men around Washington who could have given $20,000 without depriving themselves of even a luxury of life.'

"The congressmen chose to keep their own money, which, if reports be true, some of them spend not very creditably; and the people about Washington, no doubt, applauded you for relieving them from necessity of giving what was not yours to give. The people have delegated to Congress, by the Constitution, the power to do certain things. To do these, it is authorized to collect and pay moneys, and for nothing else. Everything beyond this is usurpation, and a violation of the Constitution.'

"'So you see, Colonel, you have violated the Constitution in what I consider a vital point. It is a precedent fraught with danger to the country, for when Congress once begins to stretch its power beyond the limits of the Constitution, there is no limit to it, and no security for the people. I have no doubt you acted honestly, but that does not make it any better, except as far as you are personally concerned, and you see that I cannot vote for you.'

"I tell you I felt streaked. I saw if I should have opposition, and this man should go to talking and in that district I was a gone fawn-skin. I could not answer him, and the fact is, I was so fully convinced that he was right, I did not want to. But I must satisfy him, and I said to him:

"Well, my friend, you hit the nail upon the head when you said I had not sense enough to understand the Constitution. I intended to be guided by it, and thought I had studied it fully. I have heard many speeches in Congress about the powers of Congress, but what you have said here at your plow has got more hard, sound sense in it than all the fine speeches I ever heard. If I had ever taken the view of it that you have, I would have put my head into the fire before I would have given that vote; and if you will forgive me and vote for me again, if I ever vote for another unconstitutional law I wish I may be shot.'

"He laughingly replied; 'Yes, Colonel, you have sworn to that once before, but I will trust you again upon one condition. You are convinced that your vote was wrong. Your acknowledgment of it will do more good than beating you for it. If, as you go around the district, you will tell people about this vote, and that you are satisfied it was wrong, I will not only vote for you, but will do what I can to keep down opposition, and perhaps, I may exert some little influence in that way.'

"If I don't, said I, 'I wish I may be shot; and to convince you that I am in earnest in what I say I will come back this way in a week or ten days, and if you will get up a gathering of people, I will make a speech to them. Get up a barbecue, and I will pay for it.'

"No, Colonel, we are not rich people in this section but we have plenty of provisions to contribute for a barbecue, and some to spare for those who have none. The push of crops will be over in a few days, and we can then afford a day for a barbecue. 'This Thursday; I will see to getting it up on Saturday week. Come to my house on Friday, and we will go together, and I promise you a very respectable crowd to see and hear you.

"'Well I will be here. But one thing more before I say good-bye. I must know your name."

"'My name is Bunce.'

"'Not Horatio Bunce?'

"'Yes

"'Well, Mr. Bunce, I never saw you before, though you say you have seen me, but I know you very well. I am glad I have met you, and very proud that I may hope to have you for my friend.'

"It was one of the luckiest hits of my life that I met him. He mingled but little with the public, but was widely known for his remarkable intelligence, and for a heart brim-full and running over with kindness and benevolence, which showed themselves not only in words but in acts. He was the oracle of the whole country around him, and his fame had extended far beyond the circle of his immediate acquaintance. Though I had never met him, before, I had heard much of him, and but for this meeting it is very likely I should have had opposition, and had been beaten. One thing is very certain, no man could now stand up in that district under such a vote.

"At the appointed time I was at his house, having told our conversation to every crowd I had met, and to every man I stayed all night with, and I found that it gave the people an interest and confidence in me stronger than I had ever seen manifested before.

"Though I was considerably fatigued when I reached his house, and, under ordinary circumstances, should have gone early to bed, I kept him up until midnight talking about the principles and affairs of government, and got more real, true knowledge of them than I had got all my life before."

"I have known and seen much of him since, for I respect him - no, that is not the word - I reverence and love him more than any living man, and I go to see him two or three times every year; and I will tell you, sir, if every one who professes to be a Christian lived and acted and enjoyed it as he does, the religion of Christ would take the world by storm.

"But to return to my story. The next morning we went to the barbecue and, to my surprise, found about a thousand men there. I met a good many whom I had not known before, and they and my friend introduced me around until I had got pretty well acquainted - at least, they all knew me.

"In due time notice was given that I would speak to them. They gathered up around a stand that had been erected. I opened my speech by saying:

"Fellow-citizens - I present myself before you today feeling like a new man. My eyes have lately been opened to truths which ignorance or prejudice or both, had heretofore hidden from my view. I feel that I can today offer you the ability to render you more valuable service than I have ever been able to render before. I am here today more for the purpose of acknowledging my error than to seek your votes. That I should make this acknowledgment is due to myself as well as to you. Whether you will vote for me is a matter for your consideration only."

"I went on to tell them about the fire and my vote for the appropriation and then told them why I was satisfied it was wrong. I closed by saying:

"And now, fellow-citizens, it remains only for me to tell you that the most of the speech you have listened to with so much interest was simply a repetition of the arguments by which your neighbor, Mr. Bunce, convinced me of my error.

"It is the best speech I ever made in my life, but he is entitled to the credit for it. And now I hope he is satisfied with his convert and that he will get up here and tell you so.'

"He came up to the stand and said:

"Fellow-citizens - it affords me great pleasure to comply with the request of Colonel Crockett. I have always considered him a thoroughly honest man, and I am satisfied that he will faithfully perform all that he has promised you today.'

"He went down, and there went up from that crowd such a shout for Davy Crockett as his name never called forth before.'

"I am not much given to tears, but I was taken with a choking then and felt some big drops rolling down my cheeks. And I tell you now that the remembrance of those few words spoken by such a man, and the honest, hearty shout they produced, is worth more to me than all the honors I have received and all the reputation I have ever made, or ever shall make, as a member of Congress.'

"Now, sir," concluded Crockett, "you know why I made that speech yesterday. "There is one thing which I will call your attention, "you remember that I proposed to give a week's pay. There are in that House many very wealthy men - men who think nothing of spending a week's pay, or a dozen of them, for a dinner or a wine party when they have something to accomplish by it. Some of those same men made beautiful speeches upon the great debt of gratitude which the country owed the deceased--a debt which could not be paid by money--and the insignificance and worthlessness of money, particularly so insignificant a sum as $20,000 when weighed against the honor of the nation. Yet not one of them responded to my proposition. Money with them is nothing but trash when it is to come out of the people. But it is the one great thing for which most of them are striving, and many of them sacrifice honor, integrity, and justice to obtain it."

Knife Rights

As many of you may know, my father, Don Cowles, is a custom knife maker. His site is CowlesKnives.com. Each year my wife, my daughter, and myself join him in Atlanta, Georgia for the world's largest knife show, appropriately named The Blade Show. I have been going for about eleven years now. The craftsmanship, innovation, and art is phenomenal. Sure you have the para-military types and psycho geeks, but the majority of makers and collectors are every day people who appreciate fine tools and value their rights to defend themselves and their loved ones. Most will tell you don't take JUST a knife to a gun fight!

I received the following e-mail and am deeply concerned. I hope you will be also and will ACT on that concern!

Knife Rights < www.KnifeRights.org> Chairman Doug Ritter will be Tom Gresham's guest this Sunday on Tom's nationally syndicated Gun Talk radio show. The topic will be Customs' proposal to rescind earlier rulings that Assisted Opening Pocketknives are not Switchblades. This new interpretation is so broadly crafted as to endanger almost any folding pocketknife. Doug will explain the 63-page document, discuss the potential ramifications for law-abiding knife owners in the U.S., as well as how you can help Knife Rights defeat this over-reaching by Customs. Note that this is not just an issue for imported knives, and Doug will explain how that works. This is very serious attempt to limit your right to own and carry the pocketknife of your choice. If allowed to stand, it would endanger the entire knife industry. Join over 250,000 listeners and tune in to Doug and Tom on Sunday to learn more. Doug will appear as the first guest, starting at 1:00 PM Central Time. Some stations, including Sirius/XM satellite, carry the show on a delayed basis.

Check at www.GunTalk.com for times and stations.

Additional information on this Customs ruling can be found at www.KnifeRights.org

Doug Ritter

Have you signed up? Go to: www.KnifeRights.org

To Tweet or Not to Tweet...

It seems Twitter is one of those love it or hate it applications. I'm still not sure where I fall into the mess. I'm not much of an exhibitionist or voyeur and I really value privacy. My entrepreneur friends and family say it is an invaluable tool. I don't get it. Somebody 'splain me, PLEASE!

Here's mine; https://twitter.com/kowulz

Feel free to add me and I promise I won't share any marathon internal monologues debating life changing dilemmas over the decision to make pancakes or waffles!

I have recently started to use Friend Feed, which seems to merge the social networks together. Kind of handy if I need to be here.

Til next time,

Rock

Updated ISCA Firing Squad Slide Show

Play Free Poker Online with the Ink Link Tattoos Poker Club!

Tinsel Teeth and Adversity

My twelve year old daughter recently got braces. I told her to be prepared to hear crap like, "Tinsel Teeth" and ""Metal Mouth" when she went back to school. She looked at me like I was crazy and asked what I was talking about. Flabbergasted, I shared this with a friend in his early twenties and he said you don't hear that kind of stuff in school anymore. According to him and another friend who joined in the conversation, the schools will expel students for name calling on the basis of emotional suffering! Holy Mother of God!

No one in their right mind likes a bully or ignorant lout, but adversity builds character. I had severe asthma, military glasses, a crew cut, and a speech problem as a kid. I was a prime target for all of the idiot children. I didn't enjoy it a bit, but I learned to choose my battles well, to fight back when necessary, and to stand up for myself and others. My parents and teachers didn't save me and I did not expect them to. You can't teach street smarts or common sense. Both have to be developed by trial and error. If children can't learn them in a controlled environment like school, the world will eat them alive!

I remember the urban legend about recruits in basic training being issued stress cards. If the Drill Instructor was being too tough the recruit presents their stress card and the DI has to back off! Would that work in battle too? If it just gets too tough we quit and the compassionate enemy merely meanders off? Scary that it was based on an actual experiment!

When I was in boot camp at the tender age of seventeen, I understood that they would make or break recruits. Better to weed out the crybabies, wimps, and whiners early on than have them crack under stress and jeopardize many, many lives.

“Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experiences of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired and success achieved” – Helen Keller.

My friend, Puff, has a tattoo that says, "Stitches for Snitches." I was a cop for five years, but I still say learn to fight your own battles. Have some pride, dignity, and honor, that you have earned, not that some pantywaist flake tried to bestow upon you!

Thank you bleeding heart spineless Liberals for further emasculating our children to make up for your own failures. Dumb asses.

My Favorite Business Book

Carolina's Caricaturists Get Together

Several of my fellow National Caricaturist Network members and myself will be getting together again for fun, fellowship, drawing, and pizza on April 9th, 1:30pm at Sidestreet Pizza in Tryon, NC.

There is no cost other than what you eat or drink. Please let me know if you are interested in attending.

We had five talented caricaturists and two lovely guests last time we did this.

After you are gone

Its said that W. C. Fields left large amounts of money in various bank accounts around the country using aliases. These were lost when he died.

I recently had some severe chest pains that turned out to be a hiatal hernia. It makes you think though. My wife and others close to me are not privy to all of my online activities or aware of all of my friendships here and on other sites.

What happens to all of your internet connections, accounts, web sites, on-line friends, and passwords if you die unexpectedly? I have wondered and worried about this. Because of that, I have tried to let my clients be as autonomous as possible, having them register their own domain names and use their own hosting.

Putting all of your account information and passwords on a jump drive and leaving it in a safe deposit box or with a spouse or trusted friend is one alternative.

These might be other viable solutions.

http://www.deathswitch.com/

https://www.slightlymorbid.com/

This was a good article on the subject:


http://tech.yahoo.com/news/ap/20090316/ap_on_hi_te/tec_death_online

The 4 Hour Work Week

I love to read, but have not ran across any books lately that I HAVE TO RECOMMEND as much as this one!

Timothy Ferris' The 4 Hour Work Week is both brilliant and practical!

25 things Jason Elder probably doesn't know about me.

My ex-stepson, Jeremy Morgan, had a friend named Jason Elder. Jason and I have recently gotten back in touch on Facebook. Jason posted a piece called "25 Things You Probably Didn't Know About Me." I decided to reciprocate. Since I don't find nearly enough time to write, I decided to repost it here.

25 things Jason Elder probably doesn't know about me.

1. I was born a poor black child. No, wait, I think that was Steve Martin.

2. I started smoking when I was eight years old.

3. I have lived in Michigan, Illinois, Oklahoma, California, Washington State, Virginia, Arkansas, South Carolina, and Venezuela.

4. I'm allergic to cats and they think I'm their meow.

5. I was a fairly accomplished equestrian before the age of fourteen.

6. I attended five high schools in three years.

7. I enlisted in the Navy three weeks after I turned seventeen.

8. I was raised Unitarian. I became a Christian when I was seventeen, then agnostic, then Christian again in 1999, then agnostic again about 2005. Still haven't figured it out.

9. I have had over two dozen surgeries.

10. I have been a student at four different colleges, Army and Navy technical schools, a photography school, and never got a degree. I did graduate from the police academy.

11. I have been an ordained minister since 1993.

12. I have taken viola, piano, guitar, and drum lessons and don't play any instruments.

13. I read about 100 - 150 books a year.

14. When I got out of the Navy I was seriously considering going to Ringling Brothers Clown College. I went to AA instead.

15. I have never killed a man with a cheese grater.

16. My mother converted to Judaism while I was in the Navy.

17. I'd trust most dogs more than I trust most people.

18. My first car was a 1967 Ford Falcon. I have had sixteen cars and trucks since.

19. I have Jews, Blacks, Muslims, Asians, and Gays in my family. I love them all.

20. I was in the Army between the two Golf Wars.

21. I used to be able to walk on my hands from one end of a basketball court to the other and back.

22. My daughter's middle name, Kasidy, is after a black character on Star Trek: Deep Space 9.

23. I have been to South America, Canada, Israel, France, Greece, Egypt, Italy, Spain, Crete, Antigua, and the Philippines.

24. When I was a wee lad I wanted to do cartoon voice-overs. I still talk in funny voices.

25. I have too many dead friends.

ARRRGH!

Santa Claus pooped down our chimney and we don't even have a fireplace!

Looking for rental house/double-wide or rent to own. 2-4 BDRM/1.5+ BATH, 1,000 SQ FT or more. No trailer parks, crack neighborhoods, or high crime areas. Must allow one small housebroken and well behaved house dog. Need by February first. $600.00 or less. Spartanburg / Boiling Springs / Moore areas.


Hi All,

Things have been looking up lately. I scraped together a few pennies to get some broken teeth fixed and with some web site work had a Border Terrier puppy on the way at the end of the month! Alas, God said, "Uh uh, Buddy." The man who owns the land my trailer is on called me yesterday morning as I was having the serpentine belt, both tensioners, and coolant jug replaced on my Taurus after they went out the day before. He told me he had sold all fourteen acres of his land, including the one my trailer is on. I knew this was a possibility, but he said I would have six months notice. Nope. Yesterday he told me we have thirty days to find a place and be moved out! ARRRGH! Fortunately, he said he would buy the trailer back for a whopping five hundred dollars, so we don't have to pay to move it.


Unfortunately, we don't know where we are going to move. We'd like to stay in Spartanburg County since its where Marecho works and most of our friends are. We are trying to find something decent with the rent at or under $600.00 a month if at all possible (I rented my land, with water, for $100 a month, so that's a big jump!).
If anyone knows of any rental properties in a decent neighborhood or out in the country, or of anyone who might have some, please e-mail or call me ASAP!

We have two small dogs and Fat Dazey needs to go with us. I don't think Big Pink would adjust well to communal living. She barks at cars (we don't get many at the end of a deadend street in the country, is not fond of cats, and is a tad rowdy. She is housebroken and plays well with other dogs. She is also very sweet. The best guess I can manage is that she is a Basset Hound/Lab/terrier mix, about two or three years old, and she weighs about thirty pounds. She needs a good home ASAP, preferably with a fenced yard or someone home most of the time. We have a crate and doghouse for her too. Please call if you can help.


Its not the end of the world. The trailer is falling apart and cluttered. Its entirely possible we are being blessed rather than cursed.
We'll see when the dust settles!