Well, since it’s rare that I get to post on Wednesday, I’m going to take advantage of the access to the computer.

I wanted to let you know that I’ve made another excellent addition to my blogroll: EvolutionRight, written by SoCalOilMan. The funny thing is, he sounds like I do. He also like Bill Whittle over at Eject! Eject! Eject!, so he’s all right in my book. SoCalOilMan showed up over on Texas Fred’s in one of the comment forums.

I won’t be on the computer tomorrow, since TMBWitW will be working from home tomorrow instead of today.

Whoops - scratch that. TMBWitW just called with the news that due to the ineffective use of time demonstrated by the corporate auditors, she gets to stay in the office instead.

Looks like I may have the computer tomorrow after all …

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Remember a while back I introduced James Baxter to you?

This was the introduction, in the post titled In League With The Stones.

Anyway - James sends me the occasional piece of information, article, whatever, that he feels will brighten the day of his recipients. This one is a fine example. It was written by Ben Shapiro.

Why I’m Voting Democrat
Ben Shapiro
Wednesday, June 18, 2008

A new video on YouTube is taking the Internet by storm. Entitled “I’m Voting Republican,” the satirical clip depicts actors playing conservative Americans of all shapes and sizes explaining why they would vote for the GOP.

“Arnold Jones” says he’s voting Republican because “all other countries are inferior to us” — and his wife, “Trudy Jones,” adds, “and we should start as many wars as we need to keep it that way.” A soldier in Iraq states that he’s voting Republican “so I can stay in Iraq” — and a young boy, labeled “future draftee,” points a fake gun at the camera and smiles while saying “so I can go to Iran!”

A black couple says they’re voting Republican because they “like a conservative majority on the Supreme Court,” with the wife noting, “we really like knowing that even if we’re separate, we’ll still be called equal.”

This insulting nonsense is precisely what liberals think of conservatives: We’re all warmongers, racists, environmental rapists and secret emissaries of big corporations. We’re going to reinstitute the draft, start a war with Canada and then relocate African-Americans to Quebec.

This sort of tripe should be dismissed out of hand. In the spirit of evenhandedness and fair play, however, I feel it my duty to explain why I’m going to vote Democrat.

I’m voting Democrat because I believe that the best strategy in war is defeat. It broadens the mind to learn Japanese, German and Arabic. Talk about multiculturalism!

I’m voting Democrat because I’m mad that George W. Bush hasn’t caught Bin Laden. That’s because Bin Laden is the only Islamic terrorist in the world.

I’m voting Democrat because I believe that if I don’t have enough money, the solution is for the government to take more of my money. Who needs money when gas is $5 per gallon?

I’m voting Democrat because I believe that the ideal family is two homosexual bonobos, a goat and a parrot raising a human baby. Love and compassion is all it takes to make a successful family!

I’m voting Democrat because it’s my body, and if I want to kill my baby, I’ll do it, even if its head is in the birth canal. If I want to cut out my intestines and feed them to the crocodiles, I’ll do that too. That’s the freedom our forefathers enshrined in the Constitution.

I’m voting Democrat because our enemies on the battlefield deserve comfy hotel rooms, Pay-Per-View, prostitutes and all the benefits of American citizenship.

I’m voting Democrat because I believe we need other countries’ permission for me to turn down my thermostat.

I’m voting Democrat because I care about the real victims of crime — criminals.

I’m voting Democrat because the real cure for racism includes preferential policies based on race — particularly in presidential voting. If you believe that a black candidate ought to be qualified, as well as black, you’re worse than Bull Conner.

I’m voting Democrat because everyone deserves crappy healthcare. Sure, you’ll have to wait years for that life-saving cancer surgery. But it’s first come, first served at the cemetery!

I’m voting Democrat because I believe in minority rights (except in Muslim countries), free speech (with regard to pornography but not conservative talk radio), environmentalism (unless we’re talking about Al Gore’s house) and diplomacy (but never backed by the threat of military force).

I’m voting Democrat because I like the words “hope” and “change.” Also “kazoo.” That’s a funny word.

I’m voting Democrat because I believe that America’s founders were rich, white, greedy xenophobes, and that America’s founding principles are hogwash requiring periodic editing from an unelected group of liberal judges.

Most of all, I’m voting Democrat because I like the ideas they have over in France, but I don’t feel like moving there. I’ll threaten to move, but I really won’t. After all, I have a good job, healthcare, lower taxes, free speech and a social framework that promotes family structure. And all of it is defended by the most effective fighting force on the planet.
If only the institution of far-left values resulted in a great country. Oh, well. That won’t stop me from voting Democrat, though. After all, I’m voting Democrat because thought isn’t one of my strong suits.

Well, that about says it. Especially that last line. Those who are blindly following the Democrat Party are not thinking. Heck, even those who are blindly following ANY party are not thinking.

Sure could use a true conservative candidate now, instead of being forced to choose between two liberals.

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As you may or may not remember, Wednesday is usually a day of rest from the blog. Today is one of those rare days when TMBWitW is working not from home but in her office in The Dark Tower today (end of an accounting cycle, you know) and I get to play on the computer until MEG wakes up.

First thing out the gate on this auspicious occasion? Gawfer opens up a can and shares a video that he got from Jake. The video has some very good information and connecting of the dots in regards to a certain young presidential candidate (notice the use of the word “young” - that rules out McSame and Clintoon) and should, in my opinion, be required viewing for anyone who thinks this dude is some sort of political messiah.

Video available here.

Second - sometimes, Windows drives me crazy. I try to get logged on and get going on the computer before MEG wakes up, and something needs to be updated. Or, something needs to be restarted. Or, something has magically uninstalled itself and needs attention. Que sera.

When MEG does wake up, she will wander into the office at some time, point to the monitor, and say “Wha wha?”

No, she’s not asking for water. She is asking for this. TMBWitW accidentally showed this to MEG one day while trying to find a certain Dalmatian game on disney.com. Now, it’s all MEG wants to see on the computer. Never mind some of us actually do other things with the computer…

I hear MEG now, so that’s my cue. Have a good hump day, ya’ll.

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I am sorry.

Very, very sorry.

It’s all our fault, you know. That is, it’s the fault of the State of Arizona that John McCain is in front of the nation pulling off crap like this.

From the article:

Sen. John McCain said yesterday that Republicans have shed support among Hispanic voters because of the party’s get-tough approach to illegal immigration, but he predicted that his enforcement-then- legalization approach will rebuild those bridges.

Well, John, any kind of talk about legalizing those who have broken INTERNATIONAL LAW to illegally enter this country will cause quite a few citizens (remember those, John? the ones who pay your salary? the ones who legally vote for you?) to shed THEIR support for the Republican party.

Using a Mexican holiday, Cinco de Mayo, as a launching point, Mr. McCain’s presidential campaign announced … the senator from Arizona will speak to this year’s National Council of La Raza convention in San Diego in July to try to court Hispanic voters.

Correct me if I’m wrong. La Raza is in existence, in part, to reinstate their idea of what territory the country of Mexico should encompass. Why is a candidate for the office of President of the United States courting a group of people that wants to make the office non-existent?

“I believe the majority of the Hispanics share our view that the border must be secured, and the border must be secured first. But they also want us to have an attitude, which I think most Americans do, that these are God’s children, and they must be taken care of, and the issue must be addressed in a humane and compassionate fashion,” Mr. McCain told reporters at an Arizona news conference yesterday.

Gawfer has hit the nail on the head here. While they are, indeed, God’s children, God also wants each one of us to exercise some responsibility in the circumstances we find ourselves in. Don’t go blaming God for people not “taking care of” another people when “The Race” wants to remove you from your sovereignty. Render unto Ceaser, and all that - and one of Ceaser’s laws, in this matter, is that people are to follow procedures for moving from one country to another.

This election cycle is not looking very promising. Should I fire my campaign back up and try to shake up the idiots who are giving away my country?

see also Texas Fred’s

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This Wednesday funny is brought to you by my cousin, J, who got it from his brother, T, who is an active-duty LT in the Navy. T, thank you for your service and your sense of humor.

Gotta love Texans…
So this Department of Water Resources representative stops at a Texas ranch and talks with an old rancher. He tells the rancher, “I need to inspect your ranch for your water allocation.”

The old rancher says, “Okay, but don’t go in that field over there.”

The Water representative says, “Mister, I have the authority of the Federal Government with me. See this card? This card means I am allowed to go WHEREVER I WISH on any agricultural land. No questions asked or answered. Have I made myself clear? Do you understand?”

The old rancher nods politely and goes about his chores.

Later, the old rancher hears loud screams and spies the Water Rep running for his life and close behind is the rancher’s bull. The bull is gaining with every step.

The Rep is clearly terrified, so the old rancher immediately throws down his tools, runs to the fence and yells at the top of his lungs…..

“Your card! Show him your card!”

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Found this at The Anti-Contrarian after being pointed there by GuyK.

No, it couldn’t possibly be A NATURALLY OCCURRING WEATHER CYCLE - it must be GLOBAL WARMING!!!!

“According to the NCDC, the average temperature in January “was -0.3 F cooler than the 1901-2000 (20th century) average.

China is surviving its most brutal winter in a century. Temperatures in the normally balmy south were so low for so long that some middle-sized cities went days and even weeks without electricity because once power lines had toppled it was too cold or too icy to repair them.

In just the first two weeks of February, Toronto received 70 cm of snow, smashing the record of 66.6 cm for the entire month set back in the pre-SUV, pre-Kyoto, pre-carbon footprint days of 1950. (i love that part about ‘pre-suv, pre-kyoto, pre-carbon footprint’. heh heh heh)

And remember the Arctic Sea ice? The ice we were told so hysterically last fall had melted to its “lowest levels on record? Never mind that those records only date back as far as 1972 and that there is anthropological and geological evidence of much greater melts … the Arctic winter has been so severe the ice has not only recovered, it is actually 10 to 20 cm thicker in many places than at this time last year.

I agree, one cold winter does not mean we are headed into an ice age. But several warmer-than-normal summers does not mean we are having an affect on the global climate, either. I remember winters so cold it would hurt to breathe, and winters so mild you could play outside in shirtsleeves. I also remember summers that the snow wouldn’t melt on the high peaks until June, and snow would reappear in September; other summers where the snow wouldn’t appear at all for an entire CYCLE.

Last month, Oleg Sorokhtin, a fellow of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, shrugged off manmade climate change as “a drop in the bucket.” Showing that solar activity has entered an inactive phase, Prof. Sorokhtin advised people to “stock up on fur coats.”

I’ve still got my parka. People here in Phoenix laugh when they see it hanging in my front hall closet. I just smile, and repeat the Boy Scout motto to them.

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I ran into this over at GuyK’s place. I couldn’t resist.

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The daughters of our good friend came over today - (note to self: don’t let the guy who can’t keep track of days write entries) - I meant, yesterday, to watch MEG so I could take some concentrated time to assemble this latest project. Trying to start a business out of your home can be frustrating at times, if you don’t have the time to actually DO anything, so this was a blessing.

I mentioned over here about chopping the heck out of a bunch of birch - this is the end result:

I had already put the loose base together. It’s the ladder-looking thingy in the middle of the floor. (Sorry if the technical language gets in the way.)

Let’s start from the bottom - here’s the bottom piece, propped and ready to receive the dividers:

The center dividers in place:

…and the ends installed:

Technical note: I use staples and glue when going through ply into ply, and nails (headless brads, really) when attaching hardwood.

I would be remiss if I did not show you the second most important tool that I use: The first most important, of course, is the stuff that keeps my ears from sticking together.

Top rail in place, with glue and brads, and the fixed shelf (for the television) ready to be installed:

Now it’s starting to look like something:Wait, something is missing.With a back on the box, it becomes very stable - amazing what a sheet of 1/8″ ply can do.

Here’s a front view with the box sitting on the loose base:I used a loose base because the overall hight is 53 inches, and it would have needed twice the plywood to cut the ends and dividers in one piece with an integral base. This way, I can install the loose base and level it so that when the main box is installed I don’t have to try to wrestle it around - that sucker weighs in at about 150, without the adjustable shelves.

The front will be trimmed out with rosettes and ribbed moulding. I will be using the mouldings to actually scribe the unit into the niche. There is a wood top planned to finish this off.

Funny side story: I went to Lowe’s last night to pick up a few last-minute items. Since I had gotten there about ten minutes before closing, I had to hurry. So, I made a beeline to the moulding section, culled out the best piece to be the nosing for the woodtop, went straight to the paint department and picked up a quart of stain for the project, stopped off at the brushes to select a new one, and then grabbed a nailset off the shelf as I rushed to the checkout counter. When I got there, the cashier rang up my three purchases, and it was just short of the $25.00 needed to use a $10.00 off coupon. When I got home, I figured out why: I had set the stain down while selecting a brush, and failed to pick it back up before moving on. D’oh!

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UPDATE: To any member of the Lubbock Marine Parents - the requirements to get me to take a side trip to visit with ya’ll are hereby waived. I am more than willing to take the side trip needed to meet with you and shake hands, hug necks, and hold each of you and your offspring in prayer. That would be on Friday, January 18. Please let me know if any of you are willing to meet with a road weary old Marine…

Travel: I leave the fair environs of my humble abode on January 14th, 2008 (gotten used to writing that yet? me either - it took me three tries…) at about 0700 MST for a short flight to Denver International, where I have a four hour layover. Cheap tickets are one thing, only one flight that will get me to a connecting flight four hours later is something else. Luckily, I have cousins in the area, and they plan on visiting with me while I am there. If you are in the Denver area on January 14th, 2008 (two tries!), between the hours of 0843 and 1240 MST, drop me a line and I will forward contact information.

Once I leave Denver it is but a short hop to Tampa International, arriving at 1800 EST. Once I get my rental car, I’m off to my Uncle’s house, where I will visit and gather my Grandfather’s genealogy files for my other blog. I will be in the Tampa/Clearwater area until the morning of January 16th, 2008 (first time!), when I depart on my road trip home. Yes, I am driving home with the files, because they are original documents, including letters from ancestors, and there is no way I am allowing Brown, or White, or Yellow, or any of those guys the chance to misplace one or two of the boxes. While I don’t have a lot of stops planned, I will be traveling north on I-75 to I-10, then west to Lafayette, LA (bypassing NOLA, unless someone has come to their senses and decided to rebuild it where it won’t flood the next time the tide comes in a little higher than normal) where I will be jogging north on I-49 and picking up I-20 in Shreveport. Continuing west, I plan on spending the afternoon/overnight on Thursday, January 17th, 2008, in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area (TMBWitW’s adopted mama’s mother lives there, and GG is really taken with MEG. I will be delivering Christmas and Birthday photos). The morning of the 18th, I continue my travels and spend the next three and a half days crossing the expanses of Texas - OK, not really. I pick back up on the I-10 and carry on into Arizona and home. Maybe Friday night, maybe Saturday morning. Depends on how hard I push it.

I tell you all that to say this - if you would like to be a part of my “People and Places” entry/entries, with photos (if you are camera shy or blog anonymously, you will be photographed from the back), please drop me a line. I would like to meet any and/or all of you along my travel path, even if it is only for a minute or two to get the photographic proof of my being there. If you are not on the direct path, I may be persuaded to deviate slightly if there are home made baked goods involved, or a genealogical link.

Work: I spent all day yesterday surgically cutting several sheets of 3/4″ cabinet grade birch ply into parts for an entertainment center for my latest client. After only three trips to Lowes for this and that (I’ve got to start making a list!) I finally got to the point where it was too dark to make any more cuts, and I only needed one more trip to Lowes. Of course, they were closed by that time, being New Year’s Day and all. As soon as MEG wakes up and has some breakfast this morning, guess where we’re going?

Homelife: TMBWitW is up to her pretty nose in month end/quarter end/year end at her place of employment. She is also about three classes away from her Bachelor’s in Accounting. Yay! She will be finished in April, and walk in May. Talk about a party - she will finally be finished with all the crazy schedule stuff. By that time, also, the plan is for me to be working enough to support us so she can back off and maybe do CPA stuff from home while she spends much, much more time with MEG. That will be a good thing.

Gotta go - someone is waking up.

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First, a quick open note to Loon: The post you suggested is on it’s way. I’ve got to gather my thoughts for that one.

Second: I promised a few pictures of the yard before the trees go in. Here’s one, ignore the small brown lumps on the ground. I do have five dogs, you know.

The dog on the left is Logan, he of the polyneuropathy, where the nerves and the muscles don’t talk to one another. As you can see, his hind end doesn’t work as well as his front end, but he still manages to get around. The black flag tail in the lower right is Mackenzie, the hyper-active Cocker/Dachshund mix who is more bark than bite. She thinks she’s in charge. She’s not.

This shows the back left corner, where the plan is for a Chinese Elm to arch over a two-seat swing. The other back corner (not pictured) will have a park bench under another Chinese Elm. Or maybe it will be the other way around. TMBWitW is in charge of furniture placement. We’ll see where what ends up where. Notice Mackenzie inspecting my work.

Third: Have a great week!

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