March 28, 2015
Quotes from and comments on the article linked. These are things we seriously need to fix.
'The wingnuts went ballistic, posting on the Facebook page of a local television station that if the girl wanted to speak Latin, she should move to Latin America.'
This is one of the biggest problems in this country.
And if you don't see the glaring inaccuracy in the quoted statement, you are part of the problem.
'Too many Americans naively believe that the 1% have their best interests at heart, and they fail to realize that when unions are strong and their members earn decent wages, that money goes back into the economy.'
Oh yeah, the war on is drugs is working, for the PTB and their minions. It's working to keep the for profit prisons full, give the police state a reason to seize private property and search people's houses without warrants. It's working to keep people running scared of both their neighbors and the police that are supposed to protect them....
“The Justice Department law
enforcement agencies do not have adequate technology to enable them to
detect that type of misconduct.”
REALLY?!
You guys know when some poor Schmoe from nowhere makes a date with his mistress, yet you can't monitor the electronic communications of your own agents?
Let's say it all together now, BULLSHIT!
March 27, 2015
Response to meme quoting Sean Penn on Bush and Cheney creating ISIS.
Yes, the PTB do manufacture our enemies, both directly and indirectly. Wouldn't surprise me if there are NSA or CIA agents embedded in some of the groups to facilitate their formation and determine their agenda.
Look up some of the released documentation, they've been doing this for at least the last 60 years...
There really are 2 separate and vastly different entities inhabiting the U.S. There's the Military/Industrial Empire run by the captains of industry and finance, foreign and domestic, that seeks to control and consume the whole world, and then there's the Average Joes, who just want to own a yard and go on vacation a couple times a year.
The Empire has been growing since the late 40's early 50's and is on the cusp of end game.
And not handling it very well....
But that's a whole nother post entirely....
March 27, 2015
Comment on the article cited.
'Next, it was revealed that the Kochs own a 200,000 acre cattle ranch in Montana that has received more than $12 million of state and federal subsidies since it was founded. Two-thirds of the cattle operation is on public land, which means the Kochs pay grazing fees that are far below market rates while taxpayers make up the difference. (In 2011, the state of Montana proposed raising these fees to get them closer to market, and a guy from the Kochs' ranch showed up to the hearing to protest this increase.)
This grotesque set of facts—two billionaires taking subsidies while trying to block our poorest citizens from getting assistance for medical care—was not well received by the press or public when it was brought to light.'
'The poor stay poor, the rich get rich
That's how it goes
Everybody knows...'
Everybody Knows, Leonard Cohen
The rich taking from the poor to give to themselves. That's what the Tea Party is all about at its heart. Anything else they espouse is lip service and sham.
'These are not the words of a man who wishes to establish a Christian
theocracy. Jefferson promoted tolerance above all and said earlier that
his statute for religious freedom in Virginia was "meant to comprehend,
within the mantle of its protection, the Jew and the Gentile, the
Christian and the Mohammeden, the Hindoo and Infidel of every
denomination." He specifically wished to avoid the dominance of a single
religion.'
'Declaration of Independence (1776)
The most important
assertion in this document is that "to secure these rights, Governments
are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent
of the governed."'
The power comes from the people, not from any god.
Our founders went out of their way to keep religion out of government.
They knew first hand that a government of faith, any faith, leads to
oppression. We need to look no further than the divine arrogance of
Israel, the tyrannical zealots of Sharia to see the danger of mixing
religion and government.
Feb. 28, 2015
Thoughts after reading the article.
The war was never meant to end. It is never meant to end. War is a big
profit maker for these guys and a few others. As long as they are
making money there will be no end.
Mar.. 4, 2015
Response to a meme quoting the likes of Cheney and Rumsfeld on the Iran war a decade ago.
If you're tired of seeing young people bleed and die for ungrateful old people, it's time to radically change the system.
It doesn't have to be violent.
And if I'm getting MY country back,
there will be reasonable gun control. A back ground check, waiting
period, and license are not too much to ask for an easier way to kill
things.
Mar. 5, 2015
Response to a meme from the gun owners of America about taking the country back. I'm all for the right to keep and bear arms. I'm also in favor of imposing some common sense and restrictions. I don't trust my fellow man to act sensibly. From what I've seen of the open carry crowd, my distrust is justified.
'Take, for example, Wal-Mart, which recently made headlines by
announcing it would spend a billion dollars a year raising the wages of
its lowest paid employees — a minor tweak to its low-wage business
model. Over the past 10 years, according to data compiled from its
public filings, Wal-Mart has spent more than $65.4 billion on stock
buybacks — about 47 percent of its profits. That’s an average of more
than $6.5 billion a year in stock buybacks, enough to give each of its
1.4 million U.S. workers a $4,670-a-year
raise. It is also, coincidentally, an amount roughly equivalent to the
estimated $6.2 billion Wal-Mart costs U.S. taxpayers every year in food
stamps, Medicaid, subsidized housing, and other public assistance to its
many impoverished employees. In this context, how can stock buybacks be
either morally or economically justified?'
It can't be. It's part of the recipe for the Fascist state this
country is turning into. Hanauer sees where this is going, and has
looked past the corporate end game to the pitchforks, which will come.
Not that I agree with Hanauer that a new, more balanced, capitalist state is a glorious achievement.
I don't agree that profit is the only motivator of the human spirit.
I think we could do better than a longer, more balanced game of Monopoly.....
Mar. 11, 2015
Thoughts on the article cited.
I
say we should let Bernie Sanders & U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren
save their money. They should forget about bowing and scraping to the
self-appointed aristocracy. Let's run a true grass roots, social
network campaign for them. These two should be our next president and
vice president. I don't care which is which, let's just all agree to
write them in....
March 23, 2015 Response to a status update from Robert Reich about Ted Cruz's official entry to the Republican Primary. People want Warren and Sanders to run. Both have said they can't afford it. Neither will be able to raise the necessary money. Which is an extremely sad thing to say in this country. Both of them could do a lot to pull this country, and the world, out of the downhill slide to destruction we are tipping into. I would like to see Bernie Sanders as the next president of these United States. I'd be happy with Warren. My ideal would be 8 years of Sanders/Warren and 8 years of Warren/Sanders. I believe the two of them would pull together and haul this country out of the slime pit it is turning into. I'm writing them in in 2016, Sanders for president, Warren for Vice-president, and I'm getting as many people as I can to join me. We are the American People and we can pull off the greatest Hail Mary in history.
This one goes out to all Libertarian, conservative, ‘I built
this’ selfish asses.
Get over yourself.
You may have rearranged some stuff, but you didn’t really
build shit.
Did you get up at dawn one morning figure out how to make
fire, out of nothing and keep it going?While you were at it you slapped together a little thing called the
wheel, then you got the whole farming, domestication of live stock, food chain
thing up and running in time to have orange juice with the morning bacon and
eggs.
After breakfast I suppose you knocked off smelting,
blacksmithing, concrete, power, lights, etc, etc…
REALLY?
Was watching ‘The Story of an Animated Drawing’ the other
night, Walt Disney explaining the history of art in a nutshell.He goes all the way to back to the cave
painting of Lascaux.(And now, he’d have
to go farther in both time and location.)Cuz, without those crude paintings on the walls of caves there is no animated
drawing.
The same is true for all that we have today.Without the millions of people that have
walked this earth before us, we have NOTHING.
The whole of your daily reality is a cooperative experiment
that was started thousands of years ago.Without that cooperation, we’d still be scurrying through the tall grass
and getting ate by everything around.
Even if you are totally off the grid and making everything
for yourself, you owe the knowledge to someone who came before you.You didn’t do the trial and error
experimentation to figure out which plants are edible.You learned, at least that, from someone
else.
YOU DIDN’T TAKE THE EMBERS FROM A LIGHTENING STRUCK TREE AND
MAKE THE FIRST FIRE.
YOU DIDN’T FIGURE OUT HOW TO COMBINE THE INGREDIENTS TO MAKE
THE FIRST LOAF OF BREAD.
YOU DIDN’T INVENT THE WHEEL!!
Even if you just want to consider the here and now, you didn’t
do it all by yourself.Whatever you
built is connected to PUBLIC services, at the very least roads, which
generations of American taxpayers paid for.
And here we should all take a moment to remember that many, many large corporations, which the Libertarians champion and support, don't pay taxes
Also, consider, whatever your goods or services might be, if
someone doesn’t COOPERATE and buy what yer selling, you don’t make any money.
In light of the fact that cooperation is vital to your
health and well being, don’t you think you should grow up, grow a conscious,
and join the human race?
Oh yeah, without the millions of people that came before her, Ayn Rand couldn't have written her crap.
Just some more pictures I've taken over the last several weeks....
Leonard is settling in. He's rearranged his cage a couple of times.
He spends his time looking for a way out.
Everybody spends time looking at him...
His first time out of the cage was a shade traumatic for both of us.
He jumped. I jumped. He scurried and I fumbled.
He ended up on the floor, behind a rolly chair, under the laundry. He finally stopped jumping and let me pick him up. I held him for a bit. He buried his face in the crook of my elbow and eventually calmed down.
At least now he knows that I will save him and take him back home...
That's Steve. He's still in the black box. I haven't found anything that suits him better, yet. Still looking. Stonzie is in there with him.
My Mom's Collie Dogs. Those are about 60 years old now.
It's still chilly enough for snuggling. That's Riley and Dusty.
Last Saturday, to celebrate the spring thing, and a couple of Birthdays, we had a whomping big fire over at the fire pit.
It rained all day Friday, the wood was soaked. But Kathy and the kids built a pyramid earlier in the day. Saturday was partly cloudy, so the wood had a chance to dry out some.
We started about sunset.
With an old recliner for kindling, it lit fairly well.
We had the pleasure of a red sunset.
You know, the whole red sky at night thing?
It was a delight.
The fire burned exactly the way it should have.
Burning down and falling in on itself, it blazed the whole night with a minimum of tending. and some nifty fire works.
There were marshmallows and hotdogs roasted. S'mores were made. There was dancing in mud puddles and pony rides. We sampled the new flavors of Peeps. There were: Sweet Lemonade, Sour Watermelon, Blue Raspberry, Bubble Gum, Party Cake, and Mystery Peeps. We found out that fire toasted Peeps are not so hot.
And Rose...
Loves Peeps
I liked the Sour Watermelon and Blue Raspberry Peeps. But nothing beats the plain old Peep for me, they're still my favorites.
We also tried the new Jack Links Peppered Sausage, and found them very tasty. We'll have to see about getting them for the next fire night.
It was a great fire and a good night relaxing with friends. A fitting way to welcome the season of regeneration.
Spring really started out here sometime in the first week of March. Don't remember the exact day. But, one day it was cold and sunny and quiet. The next it was cold and sunny, and the birds were back. It's as if that Robin I saw on the 28th of Feb. was an advanced scout checking the place out. We must have checked out OK, cuz the birds have been back with a vengeance for the past week or so. Crap on the car is a fair price for watching them flock over the fields and forage in the yard. Went out Bollinger one day last week and there was a big flock of black birds covering the road and the fields on either side. They grudgingly parted so I could drive through. I thought they were a type of Oriole, turns out they were Red Winged Black Birds. Driving through the parting cloud of birds I could see bright red flashes in the flock. It was really kinda cool. Didn't think of the video on the phone till I was almost all the way through. Kicking myself for that now. It was like something out of a movie.
Oh well, I try not to mess with the phone when I'm driving. Which is why I miss things that would make great videos. Like the hawk having trouble finding an up draft and fighting the high winds over the train yard in Madison the other day. The line of Sea Gulls fighting the wind along 162. It was the biggest flock of Gulls I've seen here, all strung out over about 2 miles over 162. It did bring Hitchcock to mind.
Today is the first day of spring. Yesterday was gray and cold and windy, appropriate for the last day of winter. Today it is sunny and warmer. But I'm not rushing out to plant anything. The Tulips and Daffodils still haven't come all the way up.
Today is also the first day of a week break in my work schedule. Which is why this post is being started.
I say started cuz there's a lot of things to update and pictures to be sorted and all sorts of stuff, I know now, that I'll be working on this post for a bit.
So fair warning we might not see the end of this till Saturday or Sunday...
That was last year.
I said that it was gonna be awhile before I finished the post.
And today is Saturday....
And I probably won't finish the post today. We'll have to wait and see if I'm gonna be adding to it next year...
That was last year, and things were almost the same this year. I'm happy that little snippet is still hanging around. The bit with the Black Birds is kinda cool to remember. The Blog is cool for that. I like being able to look back at 2013 and know what was going on in my life on any given day. I like the way the Kodak program organizes pictures into dated folders. I occasionally click old folders just to remind myself what I was doing. My memory is not all that it could be. It's nice to have reminders. Don't have too many from before 2011. That's when I bought the first digital camera with bonus money from work. Before that camera ownership was kinda sporadic.
But that's a whole nother track and we're not going there right now.
The Red Winged Black Birds came through on 2/2/2015....
It was a massive flock of birds.
Covered the whole front pasture and some of the fields.
The trees looked like they had leaves. Frequently our trees have bird leaves.
The Black Birds are supposedly a sign of spring. But winter was far from over at that time.
And now it's Tuesday a week later...
I've been trying to get this done, but the internet and other things have conspired against me. It's still 2015, so not as bad as it could get.
The last day of February...
It started Saturday afternoon and snowed all night.
We had Chorizo Corn Chowder and Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream cake, and watched 'The Phantom Menace' and 'The Clone Wars'. It was a good night.
We got 6-7 inches of snow that lasted the whole week and slowly turned into a treacherous ice field.
I think it was the 4th of March that I saw the first Robin this year. He was standing in the middle of road when I was driving home. It was Thursday when I woke up to the birds.
We have birds out here all winter, but they don't do a lot of singing. Things are kinda quiet. You know spring has arrived when you wake up to bird song and chatter. It was still cold, but you could feel the change in the air. The wild birds were back and our birds were ranging far and wide.
What looked like this early on the first....
Looked like this a week later...
It was chilly, wet, and drippy for a couple of days.
And then it was 70 degrees. We had a run of bright sunny days that came with thick fog the first day and mist on the following mornings. The sun, slowly burning the ice and snow out of the ground. I enjoyed sitting here in front of my window on the world and watching the large flocks flitting and foraging through the fog.
I love the mornings out here and can't help lingering to enjoy them. There's always something to watch. Even cold, wet mornings have something interesting in them....
Today is Wednesday the 18th and I'm wondering when to call this a draw and move onto the next thing. But I haven't finished the original thought.
And it's been hanging out there for a year....
These things are dependent on a lot of factors. We've had issues with the internet that hinder progress, and then there's this little thing called work, and things need to be watered and fed....
And Well....
We have some spring additions to the fold of Happydale, and one confirmed addition from last fall.
We have a barn lurker. As I said, Drifter showed up last fall. We think he's one of the spring kittens from up the road, and evidently he brought a friend. We had all caught glimpses of some mysterious something moving in the night around here, and were fairly sure that we had a barn lurker. Well, the barn lurker has been confirmed by several sightings. He's a big stocky guy. Built like Drifter and kinda a strange Siamese/Calico cross. He's got patches of the Siamese browns and tans. He's a shy guy, doesn't get too close. We named him Harlequin, Harlie for short. Not the he cares much.
I almost got a good picture of him...
As you can see, he's not going to be up for a meet and greet anytime soon.
(Unfortunately Harlie left us rather abruptly this week 2-22-2015. Kathy found him on the side of 162. Don't know how or why he went that far from the barn. He was more than welcome to stay. He'll be laid to rest out behind the barn.)
This spring also brought our first ever Grey Squirrel....
If you've been reading the Blog, you know that we've had a few Red Squirrels about the place. Haven't seen any of them in a while. Last week this one showed up and seems to have taken up residence. Don't know how this is going to play out. From what I've read about Red Squirrels they don't share territory. But, they haven't been around lately. Kathy and I are excited to see a Grey running around. I hope that there will be little ones running around in the future. We both think this one is male. If he sticks around we'll have to see about giving him a name.
The Cardinals have always paid sporadic visits to the homestead. This year we've got 2 young ones hanging around. I know I've seen the male before, not sure about the female. They seem to be settling in. For some strange, unknown reason they've spent the last several days hanging around the vehicles.
Have no clue why. But morning, afternoon, evening, if you walk out there, chances are good the Cardinals are flitting around the car and/or truck. It's odd, but they fit right in around here, and I hope they take up residence.
I started seeds...
And that's a post for the other Blog...
Though I do have a Squash plant that seems to be going for an Audry 2 designation, that is worth mentioning...
It's the biggest of the bunch. Note where the roots are, looks like it's trying to climb out of the tray.
Keri and Kathy went to Rural King without proper supervision, so...
We have chicks.
I wanna call the big, white one Fluffy.
So, even though today is cloudy and cold enough for hat and gloves, spring has come to Happydale.
Today really is 3/8/2015. So last week is 3/1/2015...
Hey, with this Blog ya get time travel, how spiffy is that?
Started this post a few days ago and the got waylaid by
coffee and cups.Had to rename that file, and start this one over.I’m still doing
this off line, so I’m kinda in the wild.These things could get real out of hand.
If consistency is the Hobgoblin of little minds, I don’t
have much to worry about….
Or too much to worry about, depends on the perspective I
suppose.
This time last week we had snow on the ground.I mean serious snow, not some wimpy dusting.It started falling late Saturday afternoon
and kept on coming down. By Sunday
morning we had 6 to 7 inches on the ground.
It’s not the first snow we’ve gotten this year.We’ve had a few inches here and there, but
this was the most all at once.
This is pretty much the first winter for all our outdoor
cats.Last year none of them really
wanted out.But, over the summer several
have taken to wondering ways.They all
dealt with the season in their own fashion.
Chiana went out and wanted back in, but didn’t want to come
in.She expects someone to carry her.
Yeah right…
Hope went out and bitched about it.She is very vocal about her displeasure.
Jethro still goes out from time to time. But he finds the lack of bugs
disappointing.He hasn’t been the same
since they harvested the corn field last fall.He misses his jungle.
We’ve had refusals at the door with all of them at different
times.
Riley and Drifter are our dedicated outdoor cats.
And they insisted on going
out with the dogs, like always…
Now, as I said this is the
first winter for these guys.Riley wasn't much of an outdoor kinda of guy since I pulled him out from under the
shed in November of 2012. That changed last summer. He likes going out with the dogs and he's usually the last cat to come in. Drifter is a voluntary inmate
at Happydale.He showed up last fall and
moved in.He might be a year old
now.
So this was their first experience
with real snow.
They were both under the
patio furniture, where the snow was not as deep, by the time I got the dogs
back in.
Neither of them wanted to
make the run for the door.
I’m sorry, I didn’t carry
them out there, I’m not carrying them back in.Suck it up, Buttercup.
I left them there.
Kathy went out to feed
critters a bit later and they were under her truck, where there was no snow.She said Drifter made the run like a soldier
going over the top.Riley was a bit
slower to move, but, he made the dash to door when she called.They didn’t go back out that day.
Pushing the limits of the Morning Ritual, coffee is cold.....
