Monday
February 18 , 2008
It is much more comfortable to be mad and know it, than to be
sane and have one's doubts.
G. B. Burgin
I am officially ready for winter to come to a graceful end. The weatherman
is prognosticating that we will get snow on Wednesday through Friday but the
projected temperatures indicate that it won't last long, we still have two feet
of the stuff on the ground to melt off and everyone is holding their breath that
the temperature rises gradually, a
Chinook would make a
real mess.
I had no trouble tracing John Young back to Brigham Young, his family is almost
all laid out in Wikipedia, I seem to recall that he said he ws related but I got
the impression it was a peripheral sort of connection not a direct line back to
the co-founder of the whole LDS movement... damn.
The girls bathroom started leaking again, I tried three times to fix that damn
leak, thought I had it done but I guess not, time to call for help. I will try
to get Skip to give me a hand.
My projects for the summer, if I can find a way to afford it, are to re-do both
the girls and the basement bathrooms. The other must do project will be the
railing around the porch, I had wanted to remove the railing from the front of
the house and leave it off but I figured out this year that I need to
replace it, I need to have something there to keep the snow off the porch in the
winter.
Tuesday
February 19 , 2008
A belief which leaves no place for doubt is not a belief; it is a superstition.
Jose Bergamin, author (1895-1983)
That damn leak came back, the one over the dining room table, Christy showed it
to me last night. I made the girls use our shower and went to the MMM to see if
I could get Skip G. to give me a hand, this is the fourth time I have tried to
fix that damn leak, I finally got a hold of him just after noon and he came over
and found the problem pretty quick. The overflow drain where the lever to block
or drain the tub comes out of the side had a gasket that had completely
deteriorated, when water splashed up to the drain it went down between the side
of the tub and the drain... damn. He showed me what to do and I had it fixed by
dinner time, I recaulked the tub again too.
Wednesday
February 20 , 2008
Hobbes : "Do you think there's a God? Calvin : "Well somebody's out to get
me!"
Calvin & Hobbes
I had just moved the truck out of the garage after filling it
with trash to go to the dump, I was walking back in to get a pizza box
when...Daddy fall down, go BOOM again... Damn. I had been walking around on the
ice all day, I had noticed the ice on the floor but paid no real attention to
it. I stepped down onto it and went to take a step and my feet flew out in front
of me like someone had pulled a rug My head hit the ice/concrete and knocked me
a little goofy. I hate that sound a head makes when it hits concrete especially
from inside my own skull, I was afraid I had hurt my back but I was able to get
up without too much trouble. I picked up the pizza box and started out for my
truck, which was in the driveway and put my hand to the back of my head and it
felt sore but ok. When I looked at my hand though it was all bloody... damn. I
went in the house and had Christy look at it and she said it looked bad but that
was just because of all the blood. After cleaning it she saw that the cuts were
small, scalp cuts bleed a lot. I put a wet rag on my head and drove to the Doc
to see if I needed stitches... he said no. I drove to the dump and went home.
Except for the pratfall in the garage the day ws pretty low
key...
...it's 2130 and my whole body hurts, especially the back of
my head, I think I will take a pain pill and go to bed...
Thursday
February 21 , 2008
No sensible decision can be made any longer without taking
into account not only the world as it is, but the world as it will be.
Isaac Asimov, scientist and writer (1920-1992)
The Presidential Debate between Obama and Clinton will be tonight at 1700
PST I am anxious to see how Obama handles a desperate, full frontal assault from
Hillary, things are getting pretty damn unstable in her camp. This will be
interesting.
I voted for Obama in the Primary but as near as I can tell
there is not a big difference between them policy-wise, except on Iraq. I do
believe that Clinton is a bit too political, I don't like the fact that she
followed the herd when Bush cracked the whip... I don't like the fact that she
accused Obama of plagiarism when she parroted back Bush's 'talking points'
almost verbatim in the lead up for war.
It was all a lie, anyone with an autonomous brain knew it was
a lie or at least that it required more research. Anyone with half a brain knew
that the assault was planned to secure the oil not free the people. Anyone with
half a brain could see that something was wrong when there was no resistance,
and no Saddam. There was a plan to win the war but no plan to secure the peace,
the people in charge were zealots with nothing on their mind but bringing down
Saddam Hussein... 5 years later we are no better off than we were on September
11, 2001, in fact we are considerably worse off we have created thousands of
enemies capable of terrorism, we have bankrupted the country to the point where
we have to take out a loan from China. We have alienated the world to the point
where they are all afraid of us, we are a loose cannon on the World stage.
...from Obama. Change, Hope, Idealism We can end a war, we can
save the planet, We can change the World.
....there is more in common between Clinton and McCain... The
War will/may take years to end, we need to secure more resources because the
Planet is running out, We need to protect ourselves from the World from. Clinton
and McCain... (Interesting, now that I think about it in this context,
personally, I want to go with the guy who wants to make the
world safer not the luddites who want to make America safer--- richer---
feared...
I watched the debate tonight, the poll at the Daily KOS put it
at 18% Hillary and 81% Barack... she seemed to actually be conceding at the end. I talked to Hillary supporters that felt as though she won and in the end I
imagine that no one was swayed one way or another... I have no had much hope
because of the machine behind Hillary and I still think that the Party Leaders
want Hillary because she is one of them, Barack is like Arthur Ashe, he has to
be smarter, more polite, a bigger smile whitest shoes and,,, he has to be better
than good he has to be exceptional, Tiger Woods good... and from what I see...
he is.
Friday
February 22 , 2008
Today the world faces a single man armed with weapons of mass destruction,
manifesting an aggressive, bullying attitude, who may well plunge the world into
chaos and bloodshed if he miscalculates. This person, belligerent, arrogant, and
sure of himself, truly is the most dangerous person on Earth. The problem is
that his name is George W. Bush, and he is our president.
Jack M. Balkin, Knight Professor of Constitutional Law and the First
Amendment, Yale Law School, September 22, 2002
We took Amanda into
Colville to see a specialist, she is fine, we just needed to get her
diagnosed. We did some (a lot of) shopping at Wally-World... we were way overdue
for filling the larder, but we had no choice because we are trying to pay off
Christmas and to do that we had to tighten our belts.
I have a new favorite signature:
I think that Gallagher was right about what happens to folks that are
seeking a place to fit in. Some folks just don't fit in anywhere and they keep
on moving until there is no place left to go, they end up at the ocean or at the
border. Nuts is perhaps too derogatory a word but there are a lot of folks up
here that cant's handle conformity or regulation, they need an illusion of
freedom and they need to be able to live their lives unencumbered by the need to
fit in. It's hard for me to just sit and watch and learn but that's what I am
trying to do. I know I have made some errors already but so far I have been
forgiven and an provisionally accepted. I'm not going anywhere, I couldn't if I
wanted to...
I am sitting here wondering how I am going to end up, where my family will
be and how they will all turn out, especially Cindy and Autumn... far to many
forks in the road to contemplate... it is worrisome though. When my dad was
dying a Priest/friend came to give 'A prayer for the dying'. Before he started
he said "John, your children are all here beside you. They are all fine young
people and they are all doing fine, you did a good job. You have done all you
can do, it is alright to go now. He started the prayer and my dad died before he
could finished.
I just went to the Book of Common Prayer and reread the whole page... to
tell the truth I can't remember having heard a word of it but I know I did.
Saturday
February 23 , 2008
First Law of Political Campaigns:
If there are twelve clowns in a ring,
you can jump in the middle and start
reciting Shakespeare, but to the audience,
you'll just be the thirteenth clown.
Adam Walinsky
Just in case you were wondering which direction this
election is headed... He has dismissed Hillary Clinton and attacked Obama... "I
will fight every moment of every day in this campaign to make sure Americans are
not deceived by an eloquent but empty call for change," McCain said after
winning the Wisconsin primary. It was a thinly veiled
suggestion that the Illinois Democrat, who has now won 11 straight
primary and caucus contests over
Hillary Rodham Clinton, lacks the experience,
judgment and character a president needs.
I bought a Chevy "Trailblazer" SUV today, 2002 78000 miles, I traded my
Toyota Pick-up for it, this is a pretty plush vehicle and I think I really like
it. I was afraid that the transition from V8 to V6 would be a problem but it has
enough 'get up & go' to suit my needs. Hopefully it will be more economical
too... we'll see.
Sunday
February 24 , 2008
"The further into
the woods you go, the more nuts you find."
Yogi Bear
All in all, the framers would probably agree that it's better to impeach
too often than too seldom. If presidents can't be virtuous, they should at least
be nervous. - Joseph Sobran
WHAT IS ONE BILLION? (Not quite)
According to a recent government publication ...
A billion seconds ago Harry Truman was president.
(Actually it was just over 31 years ago making it
Gerald Ford)
A billion minutes ago was just after the time of
Christ.
(1902 years ago to be precise, Christ would have
been 105)
A billion hours ago man had not yet walked on
earth.
(Actually it depends on which creature you want to
call man, 114155 years ago Mitochondrial Eve's
descendants had been walking around for about 50,000 years, but that was still a
long tome ago.)
A billion dollars ago was late yesterday at the
U.S. Treasury.
The 2008 Bush Budget was approved at 2,900,000,000,000 (2.9 Trillion bucks) that
works out to just under 8 billion a day and and that comes to $1 Billion every 3
hours and 2 minutes
The fact that Obama used his advisors words to convey a
point does not bother me as much as Hillary using Bush's words to convey her
point...
Here’s the ‘Plagiarism’ That’s Really Troubling
“SADDAM HUSSEIN REPRESENTS A CLEAR AND IMMINENT DANGER, AND HAS TIES TO
AL QAEDA.”
We will also stand united behind our President as he and his advisors
plan the necessary actions to demonstrate America's resolve and commitment.
Not only to seek out and exact punishment on the perpetrators, but to make
very clear that not only those who harbor terrorists, but those who in any
way aid or comfort them whatsoever will now face the wrath of our country.
And I hope that that message has gotten through to everywhere it needs to be
heard. You are either with America in our time of need or you are not.
Statement in the US Senate in response to the World Trade Center and
Pentagon Attacks (12 September 2001)
Every nation has to either be with us, or against us. Those who harbor
terrorists, or who finance them, are going to pay a price.
Sound file (13 September 2001)
In the four years since the inspectors left, intelligence reports show
that Saddam Hussein has worked to rebuild his chemical and biological
weapons stock, his missile delivery capability, and his nuclear program. He
has also given aid, comfort, and sanctuary to terrorists, including Al Qaeda
members, though there is apparently no evidence of his involvement in the
terrible events of September 11, 2001. It is clear, however, that if left
unchecked, Saddam Hussein will continue to increase his capacity to wage
biological and chemical warfare, and will keep trying to develop nuclear
weapons. Should he succeed in that endeavor, he could alter the political
and security landscape of the Middle East, which as we know all too well
affects American security. This much is undisputed.
Senate speech (10 October 2002)
I was one who supported giving President Bush the authority, if
necessary, to use force against Saddam Hussein. I believe that that was the
right vote. I have had many disputes and disagreements with the
administration over how that authority has been used, but I stand by the
vote to provide the authority because I think it was a necessary step in
order to maximize the outcome that did occur in the Security Council with
the unanimous vote to send in inspectors.
Council on Foreign Relations (15 December 2003) (video)
“SADDAM HUSSEIN REPRESENTS A CLEAR AND IMMINENT DANGER, AND HAS TIES TO
AL QAEDA.”
Either you are with us, or you are with the
terrorists. (Applause.) From this day forward, any nation that continues
to harbor or support terrorism will be regarded by the United States as a
hostile regime.
Address to a Joint Session of
Congress and the American People
United States Capitol
Washington, D.C. (September 2001)
AIMED AT YOUR FUNNY BONE
It is always surprising how astute some politicians can be in
assessing the political climate. This can be best demonstrated by Newt
Gingrich's amazingly accurate public prediction several months ago that, "John
McCain has as much chance of winning the Republican nomination as the Giants
have of winning the Super Bowl." (Gill Ross & Stan Kegel)
Scientists for the United States Army have developed a
sandwich that can remain edible for three years. Well, if that doesn't get guys
to re-up, nothing will. Let me tell you, that shows you how dedicated our armed
forces are. I mean, the other side offers their guys, what, 72 virgins? We get a
3-year-old sandwich. (Jay Leno)
The Westminster Dog Show is tonight. Did you know the most
popular dog this election year is named for the candidates as well the election?
It’s the combination Bull Mastif and Shih Tzu, that’s right: the Bull Shih Tzu.
(Alex Kaseberg)
Senate Republicans blocked a bid by Democrats to add $44
billion in the stimulus package to help the elderly. Another sign Republicans
hate John McCain. (Pedro Bartes)
Hillary Clinton has the support of Bill Clinton, L.A. Mayor
Antonio Villaraigosa, and San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, or as she calls
them, the party unfaithful. (Jay Leno)
Valentine's Day chocolates are like congressmen -- smooth
outside, nuts inside. (Joe Hickman)
After the latest victories, Obama told his followers at a
rally that Hillary can't catch him, quoting the famous words of a former
president: Bill Clinton (Pedro Bartes)
Ron Paul says Republicans are acting "Too much like
Democrats". Which means they are actually starting to lose elections. (Jim
Barach)
The US is preparing to shoot down one of its own satellites
that is falling to Earth. When will this shot be heard around the world? I guess
we'll have to wait and read about it in the newspaper's orbit- uary page. (Gary
Hallock)
Very awkward moment in the Hillary Clinton campaign today. I
guess Hillary told her staff to call Democrats with money, and they called
Barack Obama. (Jay Leno)
Barack Obama is now considered the front-runner. You know what
they say, behind every successful man is a woman. Hillary was surprised to find
out that it was her. (Jay Leno)
Okay, it's time to cut out all the jokes and admit President
Bush has given this nation an incredible gift, one for which everyone can be
eternally grateful. Thank you, Mr. President, for protecting us from a real
terror threat by staying alive! Hey,
it scares ME to death having Cheney a heartbeat away. Please,
stay the course, Mr. President! (Joe
Hickman)
A study says sadness encourages people to spend more money and
be more extravagant. That means the Bush economic policies that have caused
people to lose their homes and jobs may actually be exactly what gets the
economy back on track. (Jim Barach)
The World Health Organization said Wednesday that tobacco
could kill a billion people by the century's end if governments don't adopt
anti- smoking policies. They should make up their minds. Either they think
overpopulation is a problem or they don't. (Argus Hamilton)
Brian McNamee told Congress Friday he injected Roger Clemens's
wife with Human Growth Hormone as well as Roger Clemens with steroids. This
investigation is far from over. Their family dog is a St. Bernard but when they
bought it, it was a Maltese. (Argus Hamilton)
NASA and Speedo have teamed up to develop the world's fastest
swimsuit. The US Government immediately summoned the Pentagon to protect the
secret, because if this swimsuit falls in the hands of Cubans it could be very
dangerous. (Pedro Bartes)
Here's something interesting. They did a poll on whether
Bill's campaigning for Hillary helped her or hurt her. And 38% thought it hurt
her, 36 percent thought it helped her, and 26 percent said, "He never told me he
was married!" (Jay Leno)
President Bush and Congress are at all time popularity lows in
a Reuters/Zogby Poll. Even Dennis Kucinich came out with better numbers.(Jim
Barach)
The President of today is just the postage stamp of tomorrow.
--Gracie Allen
President Bush moved to open up a third of all remote national
forest lands to road building and logging in 2005. This is supposed to help more
Americans visit. Three years later you know where you can see the giant redwoods
of Sequoia National Park? At Home Depot.
I'd never run for president. I've thought about it, and the
only reason I'm not is that I'm scared no woman would come forward and say she
had an affair with me. -Garry Shandling
President Bush warned Democrats not to celebrate the election
too early. This is from the guy who put up the 'Mission Accomplished' sign five
years ago!
America recognizes Abraham Lincoln's birthday this month.
The White House will honor him on President's Day. They will pause at
noon for a moment of honesty.