The Pickling of a Cucumber

The Sky Is Falling...

2006-05-25T08:26:00.000-07:00

Watch your heads, cast iron umbrellas perhaps? No, like Chicken Little, the doomsayers are wrong. From CO2 concerns to illegal aliens, there may or may not be real threats but most likely either public pressure, changes in behavior, or whatnot will in part care for the problem. No problem will ever be completely solved though. There isn't a magic bullet, and their won't be. Fear not, this is a condition that belongs in life.

If you are concerned that I am asking you to back down, change your mind, or quit, don't worry about that either. Even if you believe CO2 is the bane of the planet, a position I believe to be false, I want you to continue writing letters, talking, and reading about it. Continue crusading your causes. This will do several things. One, it will give you a sense of purpose. Though I don't care for "liberal" ideas, causes, or "logic", I do care for liberal people. Most of my family has fallen to that way of thinking. Another thing crusading does is to limit bad behavior. It forces Governments, companies, and people to stop and think about what it is they are doing. Oh, I'm sure the conspiracists just plan around it (or even use it). *laughs* I am sure Microsoft, the US Government, the EU, and the UN are conspiring to somehow use CO2 fears to create more Windows users right now, but they have to go around the little inconveniences brought about by public opinion.

Short term fixes for long term problems do not work well either. No fix works even less well, usually. The goal should be for longer term fixes, with adjustable variables built into the solution. Putting 6,000 guardsmen at desks so otherwise deskjockey border patrol can do more work is both short term, short of inspiration, and won't work. Building a fence won't work. Going after those who hire illegals won't work. Maybe all of these, a change in the birth right to citizenship, plus a hiring explosion of border and port (air and sea) control agents might help. Still, it will only help. What I don't understand (though I actually do) is why as the most hated nation on earth, we can't keep people out. Maybe if our lazy women would have babies, we might not have such a problem with finding workers (two fold ways, first we would have more people, second, the workforce would be dedicated to solid workers). Then again, we school them past their prime birthing ages by mandated schooling and wonder at our loss...

Anyway, don't worry. The world won't end, even if you, we, or I die. The world WILL change. There is nothing you can do about that. The world Will have problems. There is nothing you can do about that. What you can do is fight for your causes, realize your limitations (and the president's, congress's, and the Supreme Court's limitations), and relax.

Fishing and thinking work well together.

2006-05-07T08:49:00.000-07:00

I suppose the combination of thinking and fishing is similar to peanut butter and chocolate, spaghetti and meatballs, or life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Of course, a fisherman cannot be bothered to think until his skills are adequate to allow his mind to wander a bit. After several days of fishing, my mind has become freed of the burden incumbent in the learning curve and now roams the open plain of the unconscious and the aware plains of thinking. The last two days of fishing have allowed my mind to unknot some thoughts and connect others as if tying line to a lure or detangling a backlashed spool.

The world is changing. The old terms, conservative and liberal, are being turned on their heads. Our current president is no more conservative than the president of Stanford. The senate is comprised mostly of slightly anti-communist democrats who changed parties, except for the continually devout commun... I mean democrats. The house of representatives is a mixed batch. Democrats are still communists and socialists (not the "useful idiots" who vote for them, just the bulk of national and state level apparatchik). In spite of that, the grassroots conservative groundswell continues and the grassroots of the left maintains it's psychosis as it shrinks into oblivion. The obvious disconnect with the national parties to their voters is a problem, especially since no third party has any real hopes of moving in or overtaking either party. Lets just say that the strings of the puppet masters are showing. The only solidly conservative I see potentially running for office is Newt Gingrich. He has no chance of winning. The parties are choosing our candidates, and keeping real conservatives out of the process.

In spite of the social difference the two parties seem to hold as differentiating from each other, the deeper issues that affect us more poignantly in the long run, are mutual to both parties. Shared world governance is one, and the most damaging one, that both parties are targeting. Imagine being ruled by the UN. If you think our bureaucrats are difficult to control now, wait until they aren't elected. Or, if you want a middle look, view how many laws are created and implemented by unelected bureaucrats right now here in America. There are 300 plus laws created every day by the various departments within the government. The size of the holes in cheese which allow it to be marketed as swiss cheese (or not) is among those laws. Nobody in the house or senate voted on that. The president didn't sign that bill. Yet it's law.

Now, step back a second though. We like to think there can be a world with no puppeteers. That is not going to happen. We like to think we can do pretty much anything we like. That isn't practical and their are some serious issues with that too. I suppose the question should be, can we choose the puppeteers to some extent? Can we guide those who guide the world (or at least the one we live in)? If you believe in America and the real American dream, you have to answer yes. Now, how much control can we really expect?

Fishing has been great this last week. I have landed 40 or more fish. Of those 15 to 20 were keepers, but since I didn't catch them in large enough groups at a time or was uncertain about their species when I caught them, I only kept 3. I will eat them this afternoon and think about my next fishing trip while doing so. I will also remember to thank God for the gifts. He has a great taste in nature, in every way you can imagine that sentence to mean.

Fishing In Iowa

2006-05-04T18:21:00.000-07:00

Ok, so Iowa isn't one of the top ten destination states for fishing. As a fact, we might not even be in any rankings, anywhere, regarding fishing. That is ok with me. Fewer fishermen to contend with. As well, since I don't have to travel to fish in Iowa, for me, this is where fishing starts. And, fishing has started.

I haven't fished as an adult. Trying to remember back to the last time I fished, I can only guess it was in my mid-teens. My skills, if I had any, must be gone. That is fine, perhaps if I take my time now, I can learn to fish more correctly. I've purchased 3 reels and rods, tackle box, line, hooks, etc. ad nauseam. It was fun to make the purchases but information overload was a constant hazard during the process. The types, manufacturers, and styles of everything from hooks to reels to line is beyond the belief of the uninitiated tackle shopper. As well, when one finally settles on a list of pieces and parts, finding those exact items online or in the store is an incredible feat, even with a relatively short list. Still, with patience, a few dollars, and a little time, it has been done.

The reels I have (the open face reel is on the way) are bait-casters. I had heard such wonderful things about them. I have watched the pros get them out, rig them, and cast. Oops, not quite that easy. The first day out (yesterday, Wednesday May 3), my cousin and myself did a great job with our new bait-casters, of making birds nests out of fishing line that is. Neither of us brought our owner's manual for the reels. Looking over the device in my hand I began to crunch some numbers somewhere deep down. Just a few switches, buttons, and dials, I knew there was a solution. So, a little experimentation, a few practice throws, a few more messes, a few adjustments, and voila, I was fishing on my first day. So, I cast a few times and was having a bit of fun. My cousin was not.

My cousin is younger, and young for his mid-twenties sometimes. This was one of those times. He had no patience and less luck. I tried to help him, but he is a do it yourself (or no dice) type of guy when he gets into a contesting mood, so that didn't pan out. While I'm trying to set his reel, I allow him to use mine. That wasn't a great idea. I tell him how it works, show him how to cast, hand it to him, then watch as he messes my rig up, almost perfectly. Oh well. After a bit of working on my reel, he finally gets a few throws in but it is time to go. Frustrated yet exhilarated, we go home. His reel was removed as soon as we got home and he put on an old open face reel he had. I'm sure his bait-caster is pretty much doomed. *hmmm, perhaps a bargain is in the works... an extra bait-caster so they can each be pre-set for specific rigs... hmmm, perhaps all is not lost for that reel*

Today, we went again. This time we both cast many times. We both also caught several fish. I hooked the first two, and I thought he was going to cry, pout, or something. I changed to a larger rig to try for bigger fish and he went to my little kit. None of the bigger fish where biting, and the little ones kept feeding. I ended up going back to the smaller tackle so I wouldn't miss out on some of the fun. I ended up with 5 fish, he reeled in 7. All 7 to 10 inch crappie. We didn't keep a single one. The "book" he had indicated that the crappie needed to be 15" or longer to keep. Not so, there is no limit on size. Still, we did have fun and we are just learning. As I like to say, it's all good.

Deer hunting last winter, fishing this summer, and perhaps rabbit, squirrel, duck, and goose hunting this fall, my personal hunger for the outdoors and the sports thereout is being satisfied. I'm not getting to everything as fast as I would like, and I missed ice fishing this last winter. This autumn I may miss one or all of the seasons. Still, bit by bit, a piece at a time, I'm getting the gear, information, experience, and (most importantly) the confidence to go out and try something new or risk failure in familiar activities.

I hope you are able to begin stepping out and up to the challenges which interest you. It makes life a lot more interesting. It also seems to fill some void. And you never know, you just might find exactly what you've been looking for to complete your life experience at this point in your fall from the womb to the heavens.

What you see is not always what you get.

2006-04-26T08:39:00.000-07:00

As I've been watching the news, my eyes seemingly try to deceive my mind. On FOX, in the New York Times, or through an ABC news show, America would seemingly be drifting on in it's leftward stagger. Everyone is happily talking about how things are the same, or worse (ABC and NYT are happy about status quo in the leftward seeming tilt). The deficit is going up because of government spending, a leftward thing to be sure. Entitlements are growing and expanding, definitely a leftward social/commun -ist thing. Gas prices are up, cheered by greens until they have to pay for gas to get to their local pot dealer. And of course, the continued invasion across the boarders by illegal aliens, supported by drugged out anti-Americans for the tired "Can't we all just get along, man?" reasons and supported by otherwise conservative business owners who turn cheap sweat into gold.

Still, around the edges, behind the scenes, and out of view the picture is changing. Conservative and religious groundswell has changed the direction of the country. If President Bush is out of touch it's not that he doesn't see the past or the present, but it's that he doesn't realize his hippier days are a dread to most and won't be repeated soon. That, as a babyboomer, his whole generation's dreams are being shredded, shoved back in closets, and put into proper social perspective by a realigning society. He, less so than Clinton but still true, is one of the last mustached Petes (a reference to the mafia godfathers who didn't want to get into alcohol after prohibition and where thus sidelined or killed by young turks). Both those hippy types are going down, and then away. Instead of getting into hooch, the new America is getting into God, morality, and honest politics.

Everyone knows president Bush is in trouble. The democrats like to dream that this is because his conservative notions aren't in favor. The truth is president Bush is in trouble for not being a conservative. The conservative base is growing almost as fast as church crowds are but the leadership is lagging, and he is the lagger in chief. In spite of his politically neutred situation, change is going on around, under, over, and sometimes right through him. We saw it with the last Supreme Court nominee(s) and I believe we will see it again in the alien debate. His pleas and protestations will be set aside and he will take his marching orders and do what has to be done. His hippy side will quiver and his wife will moan, but he will do it. I am sure he will do it after reading about his easing of gasoline regulations (it won't help in the short run but it might later on, still, it was a nice touch).

I see leaders in the house and senate, the president, the Supreme Court, and other people and groups stepping up to try and block the new advance of conservatism. The blockers are from both sides of the aisle. They are afraid, perhaps they are becoming aware of just how out of touch they are. They are really afraid we the people are going to force them to make changes that will affect real things that will effect them. Perhaps the rules they force on the rest of American business will be forced on them (yes, the congress and senate are exempt from many of their own hiring, discrimination, and other laws we have to obey). Democrats have to be feeling lonely. They know their old ways are gone. They can't openly root for Bin Laden anymore. They can't send their staffers (or go themselves) to communist countries like North Korea and show support like they have been. They can't leak security information to the newspapers or allow nuke plans to be sent to their favorite despots (I'm sure it was for personal or political treasuries though. Just business, right?)

Things are changing, and for the better mostly. Security is being arranged so that it actually works, rather than being a political and politically correct mess. Laws are slowly changing, abortion is being banned in some states, and other laws are on the way. Though the government seems to be growing, if you look through the growth, you will notice the growth is in discressionary (short term) spending while cuts are going on in more normally static (long term) expenses.

Be careful in the rooms of smoke and mirrors. Enemies smile and friends may frown. The walls may be real, glass, mirror, or not there at all. The truth is not what it seems and the ground is shifting. In all truth, I can't be sure if President Bush and his group are a.) fighting these changes, just losing the fight, b.) just doing what they do and sometimes fighting, sometimes helping the changes, or c.) are grand masters in the arts of politics, illusion, action, and outcomes. Whatever the real truth, now is a time to watch. History is being made. This will become known as a time of great change.

The tests we are given.

2006-04-24T19:55:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's been a while since I posted, again. Well, this time I have a pretty good excuse. While trying to care for diabetes (there is a trick to it, I'm almost catching on), and restarting high blood pressure meds, all while in the middle of a seeming storm of activities, I fell into my next difficulty. By the way, I figured out which medicine had been causing exhaustion, it was the high blood pressure medicine for sure. On a side note, thanks for the bits and pieces Kiwi, they do fill in some gaps and lead me to do more research as well. Anyway, beyond making me tired, the bp medicine was interfering with my balance and responses. I was getting bruised and battered from bumping and stumbling, with no warning signs of dizziness or light-headedness. Not a problem, really, until I fell. I fell hard. I landed on my ribs, which themselves struck the edge of the bath/shower rim. Not only did I not see it coming, I fell like a rock. Perhaps it's better I didn't realize it was happening and try to respond as I probably would have just broken an arm, wrist, hand, fingers, or something else since my legs were dead to me. Still, I ended up bruising, fracturing, or breaking a few ribs. I had been bed bound for a week while trying to decide if I should go to the doctor... again. After a week, I finally pulled myself together and got in. Though it wasn't fun going back in, the treatment was worth it. A painkiller and advice not to fall again because falling hurts:) Oh, alright, I made up the advice part. Now, I hate the feeling I get on painkillers, but being able to sleep well, to partially function around the house, and to BREATH, makes it worth it.

On the upside, my blood sugar is down to and sticking around the low 100's. I'm weighing in at about 264. And I've been having success changing my diet, in part due to an inability to shop as I normally would have. I think the forced short term change will make the long term change I need to make in my diet easier. Oh, and I'm learning how to function on the pain pills a bit better. I've got about another week before the doctor will have me cut them down. I think though, the best part of all is I'm still ok with everything, the world, and all. I've had worse, I'm actually grateful for what I have and the tests before me and the gifts I've been given to cope with these things, and life is actually pretty good anyway.

I've thought about blogging before this but my mind couldn't wrap it's tongue around the little white pills enough to whisper a decent typing tune. I'm still not sure how this will end up, as my mind still can't get around to editing. I'll use the spell checker and that will be about it.

Blessings.

Wow, what a trip.

2006-04-08T09:30:00.000-07:00

Since my last posts, I've been burning the candle at both ends. The medications my doctor strongly recommended, and I finally had to concede to, have been wiping the floor with me. In spite of that, my cousin and myself have worked like crazy to get my truck ready for the trip we just took to pick up his boat. Between this and that, I've had about 40 hours of sleep in the week leading up to the trip. Two days ago, after another long day of preparations, my cousin and myself left Iowa City, Iowa at 11:00 pm. He had just gotten off work and I had spent the day packing, taking care of a few remaining details, and such. So, without sleep, we drove a half ready 4x4 '72 Chevy K20 with a six inch lift from Iowa City to New London, Wisconsin.

It was supposed to be a 5.7 hour trip (according to Mapquest). Well, with hills, fog, darkness, and such it ended up being an 8.5 hour trip. All went well, considering the situation. We were going to stay overnight and drive back the next day but we were doing good after we picked up the boat, so we started back. Though we had no problems with darkness or fog, we were then towing a 15 1/2 foot boat so the hills and occasionally wind slowed us even more on the way back than the fog, darkness, rain, and hills had on the way up. We drove, and drove, and drove until it almost felt like driving hell.

We ended up driving all the way back, and more. My cousin had found a place to store the boat, but that would mean another hour and a half drive onto our already long journey. My cousin didn't want to go further. I pushed until I got my way. Not wanting to tow the boat "soon" again, not wanting to have a half done job, and not being sure if and when the truck might die, I just had to get it done. It got done and we got home at about the same time we left the night before.

Fortunately or not, I didn't really believe I could take my meds and get the job done, so I didn't take insulin or blood pressure medicine. I was also drinking a lot of Coka-Cola to help stay awake (plus other soda types to keep from becoming too bored with the fluid). No, diet soda just doesn't work, I needed the sugar and the caffeine. My "diet" was also fairly lousy, according to diabetes ideals. Peanut M&Ms and whatever else was handy and served to deal with hunger. Oh well, I figured I could pick up when I returned home on my new diet and regimen. I checked my glucose level before breakfast, my first shot, and actually anything else this morning. It was 234, the lowest I've had since testing. What? I have no idea, but I really wonder what is going on with diabetes. It seems like a good deal of fiction surrounds it's causes, how to deal with it, and diet. I will certainly evaluate anything I am taught about it, but I will do so with an extremely critical eye.

Watching the left squirm.

2006-04-01T14:20:00.000-08:00

It is interesting to watch what demorats and their ilk are doing. Yes, there is a behind the scenes plan of attack, or as much of one as chaos mongers can arrange. I watch while one, with just a few high level supporters and a few demorat groups, tries to censure (not even a constitutional proposition) President Bush. Then there are a few over working the immigration scene, trying to exacerbate the issue among Republicans and conservatives (we just ignore them, their meddling actually helps keep us cohesive and internally conversant). And of course you have a few demanding we leave Iraq now while a few others try to indicate that the demorats will be harder on terrorists and in the war on terror than any Republican. Little, intentionally separated, gremlin-like groups of demorats and "liberals" trying to find a chink in the Republican armor. Little monsters trying desperately to keep from being flushed like the USSR, Iraq, and other rogue nations and groups.

The media is helping, actually, but this time by not reporting much of this. As well, the media seems to now be shielding demorats from themselves by not covering these apparently contradictory demorat actions as a group of contradicting ideas.

True, conservatives are not at all pleased with all the president has done. Then again, any good leader needs to lead sometimes and follow sometimes and the result is going to be mixed. As well, all-in-all, this president has brought back some respect to the office he holds, he has done some things right (at times by getting hammered by us in order to do it), and he is doing the one thing no demorat could or would do, he is protecting us. Demorats just don't understand that the very communist ground they stand on has been rejected out of hand by an awake and wary American public. They don't understand that the safe kind world where Americans could seemingly afford to be stupid and banal ended when we realized that the 3,000 dead could have been higher, that it could have been any one of them, and that it might happen again only with more dead anywhere in the US. They never have cared if "stupid, arrogant, and useless" Americans die, they have never been on our side, and it's showing.

Pull our troops out and let the terrorists have a sanctuary, they say. Don't worry about wmd secrets and super-computers, which can aid the design of such, get to China , they say. Don't worry about Iran and North Korea getting "The Bomb" they will never use it, they say. Socialism is good for the economy, or at least it makes people feel good, they say. Who are these people? How did they ever get elected? How can we get rid of them, their entrenched governmental mechanisms, and their open stupidity? Well, that's what I say.

The left is flagging... right.

2006-03-31T18:58:00.000-08:00

Though I haven't been blogging, or writing on others blogs much, I have been watching the news. When I see something that fits, I investigate further. I sift this data, find biographies, sort historic dates, look at when statements by politicians changed. I can't say it all comes together, or not completely. Ask a master chess player what his next five moves will be and he will be able to tell you. The next few moves will be certain, and nearly independent upon his opponent. The last few moves (and maybe a few moves beyond the initial five) will be theory. If it is a very classic game, the players will almost be able to play out very large parts of the game in their head. The difference between the master and the grandmaster will be intuitive actions and reactions to unexpected moves as well as wells of data. Politics is like that.

Watching the masters and grandmasters compete is interesting. In the middle of the game (perpetual in this case), can a layman guess where, when, what, and who? Looking at the last moves, how they were played, where, and by whom is a lot to take in and yet without intuition the data is useless. I like to think I have a very good finger on the pulse of things. I also admit to having more than one game vision at a time. Having more than one potential game plan is just to cover my posterior, it is to cover the X factor (the human variability that I believe is beyond probability, just like our very existence, as life itself is virtually impossible). Although, it does serve to cover that delicate derriere on occasion.

I must also admit, some of my many theories range from pure faith in what is said and done to a nearly complete lack of faith in anything said by anyone. Add eight different theories together, make them somewhat see-through, then stack them and watch the patterns emerge.

What I am seeing now is that the left is splitting. They are all on the same ship. That ship has been split in two. One group is moving as far left as they can. The other is trying desperately to go to the right. The ship itself is not going forward or back, it's engines are dead. Everyone who could get off, has. For some, no life boat could save them (Clintons, Kennedys, Green Peace, PETA, etc.). For others, they just wouldn't believe their boat was in trouble and now all the boats are gone or unusable and no-one, like with the downing of the Titanic, will paddle their half empty life boats back because the risk (risk averse group if there is one) is far too great.

The leftists are exposing themselves in a desperate attempt to save their idealism and impose their radical ideals in case they don't get the chance again. They have blacks, gays, naked children, and whatever else they feel pisses off the general American public in every commercial, movie, book, and other outlet they can find. They are really trying to shove it down our throats one last time. Considering their lack of a reality check, I am almost surprised they know they are almost extinct.

Those trying to be middling are just shutting up. They are avoiding the media (which loves them, but does report what they say), they avoid controversy, and they don't hold lots of public events. Why? Because if they open their mouths, they sound just like the hard lefties. They realize they cannot win this, but if they shut up, they might just get some re-elections. For them, it's more about personal job and power security than ever being actually effective again in their lifetimes.

Well, that is how I see it. It's been quite interesting to watch. It will be better when I feel it is truly over. I was sure the USSR was going to fail 3 years before it did. When I saw it happen, I was elated... but very cautious. It took a good 3 years after for me to be secure with that. But for me to be sure the communists in my country have been put down, I think I will keep that worry as long as I live.

I have been away.

2006-03-31T16:11:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I don't write because I am exhausted. I wasn't sure why I was exhausted as I live more like that old dog that loves to lay down, naps a lot, and doesn't move really quickly even when excited. After years of this, I found out why yesterday. I have diabetes. My urinalisis showed 1000mg (?not sure about the mg part, and I'm not medically inclined?). My random later that day (they called me back and had me come in) was 590. I must assume both from symptoms and the bit I've learned researching diabetes that this has been a long time problem. I believe they have tested for it before, but because of my variable life-style (not eating for a few days at a time, not sleeping regularly, etc.) they just missed seeing it in the tests. Anyway, I've lowered it to as low as 301 premeal now after just 2 days.

So, if you were curious, now you know. Or, part of it. I must admit, I was a little unsettled when I found out. As the shock wore off though, I am quite happy. No, no, not happy that I have diabetes, just happy that there is an explanation for some of my difficulties and have found a path to better living. I am pretty sure that with a few dietary changes and my new activity levels this problem will actually take care of itself in the short term.

Not that I am prejudiced, but...

2006-03-31T15:53:00.000-08:00

Oh, I know, you thought this was going to be a black, white, Mexican, or other article. Oh well, keep watching the communist news channel for that. No, this is about cell phone users. I must also make an admission, I am prejudiced. Especially drivers who do the walkie-talkie thing. If I were a demorat I would try to force auto manufacturers to install cell phone limitation electronica or laws against such activity. However, I am a conservative. As such, I think it is in my hands to deal with this. I can do little things such as: making sure I am not a part of the problem... check; talking to others, adult and children, about the problems with such activity, to including mocking the behavior all the way to serious conversations... check; and of course there is always prayer (oh, yes, I am also a Christian conservative)... check. Well, the first two actions do not make much of an impact, but the last seems to have had an effect! Check this out. Now, it might be a sever penalty but God does work in mysterious ways.

Then again, this might be just one more way of separating good genes from bad ones. Perhaps the over-talkative folks are meant to go away. Perhaps that is so we can go on to become able to be able to mind-link, cell phones are interfering with the process. Maybe the earth itself hates overtalkative noisy creatures. Ok, perhaps those theories are a bit out there, but they have been fun to create, expound upon, and finally to share.

My romantic side.

2006-02-26T18:38:00.000-08:00

As a principled Christian, romantic man, and beer enthusiast, I have put things in their proper order. Here are two examples: example one; and, example two.

Chaos Theory in Action

2006-02-26T18:15:00.000-08:00

This stuff really does happen. Have a beer, relax, and as the French say, "Wait your turn!".

Waiting.

2006-02-21T00:57:00.000-08:00

While many changes are occurring in America, those changes are not certain nor are they active, necessarily. The uncertainty comes from the courts, a court system already know for being activist and counter to the wishes of citizens. A court that has proven to be quite hostile to democracy, religion, and morality. As well, these changes are not happening quickly as the courts have to put the cases into their schedules, stopping the progress in a (usually) necessary mechanical manner. As this is going on, are we again going to sleep to the constant thrum of nothingness in the interim?

Osama Bin Laden puts out tapes every once in a while, but he has become such a blowhard his threats have become weak and cause not so much as a whisper of dread. Perhaps he will take out a major city, but I think he knows he might very well end the false religion he professes in doing so. He can move his and his friends stinking bodies like fleas on a dog but he can't move Mecca or Medina. He can hide like a dog who knows the master is unhappy with him for pooping in the living room and is seeking him, paper in hand. But he can't hide those holy sites. He also knows that if those holy sites are destroyed, the faith will die. His god will be proven false. Then again, in his fervor, he might not understand or believe it could or would happen.

No, there is no bogeyman to keep American's interested. Demorats at the national level have shut up. They are pushing their old base out of the runnings, they are trying to cover up what they have said in the past, and they are denying their personal truth in order to win back some votes. Kim Il Jong, Castro, and most other despots are even going to ground, with the exception of Chaveze. Without these demorat friends, communist groups, and other evil ilk moving around on the center stage, it's getting difficult to stay focused on the problems and the problem makers for many people who need to keep vigil.

I have been watching them, in a way, for centuries. This is what they do when their evil is losing. They hide, they learn to blend in, they camouflage themselves in the mainstream. Make no mistake though, they are still as vile as they ever have been. They are as willing to see citizens die today as they were yesterday. They are as willing to disable our intelligence and military forces as they have always been. They still hate America, democracy, personal responsibility, Christianity, and morality as they did so visibly in the 1960's and 1970's. Don't fall asleep near the finish line. Don't let them creep back into power. Don't let them hide.

Personally, I don't care if NYC, Chicago, L.A., S.F., or any other major liberal center goes up in smoke. What I do worry about is the cost that would have to be paid because of it. Some Roman emperor called war 'fishing with a golden hook'. There is that, but I am no emperor. Those are my brothers, gold does not compare to their value to me, nor does platinum, diamonds, or anything but the American Way.

A busy and bumpy couple of weeks.

2006-02-16T14:20:00.000-08:00

Hello all. I certainly haven't been blogging as I would like. The last two weeks have been full of travel, a funeral, and illness. Last week I drove around Iowa looking for just the right old truck and just the right price. After looking at a number of them, by Friday I had decided and had to go get it. It's perfect for my needs, though a bit of a tall boy. I decided on a pre-computer truck so I can be a shade tree mechanic. It's a 1972, automatic, 350, 6" lift kit, with 38" tires. Then, Saturday I found out my eldest uncle had died. So, I made plans to leave but had to wait for my cousin to get confirmation from his boss that he could take the time off. We didn't end up leaving until Monday morning. We stayed only until Tuesday night as the weather seemed risky for another overnight stay. Getting back essentially Wednesday morning, I began to have extreme shivers and I became cold. So, I've been bundled up and sleeping. I hope I don't have to travel that much, or any at all really, for a good long time. I also hope this flu starts dissipating a bit quicker. All in all, it's been good. Though the situation with the funeral, especially for the senior, a favored, and a good uncle, was sad and a bit troubling at times, seeing other family members I hadn't seen in years was good.

All other things in life are still on schedule, with the addition of college. I will be taking motorcycle lessons (to avoid the driving part of the test and get caught back up on the rules and skills) this April, scuba diving lessons (similar reasons) in May, and since I bought a truck my cousin will be buying a bigger boat in May or June. Should be all geared up for summer by the time it's fun to be out. Though, there is still the troubling idea of a motorcycle. I am looking for one that would fit me (at 6'4" and 260) and my cousin (at 5'9" and slight) that is in the right price range, no more than $2-3k. Just something for cheap driving in the summer, in town.

Now, though, to get back to swimming and basketball. The flu is still bad, so I can't really be pushing that. I hope by Saturday, maybe Friday, I'll be back in the water, with basketball on Monday.

I'll get back to opinions soon too. There have been so many juicy tidbits in the news and in my mind, but access just wasn't there and I hate "day-old" blog stuff, even if it was only "day-old" in my mind. It's like a 2005 Ford GT, so last year. Now you know.

Is the blog better on your eyes now, or now?

2006-02-09T14:09:00.000-08:00

After some work, I think I have found a color scheme that is easy on the eyes. However, I can only see my page on my equipment. I am hoping you will let me know if the color scheme is tame enough on your system(s) for your eyes. I have, after a little (lot of) free advice and such, also added a counter. I probably won't go to Haloscan as that isn't a permanent storage for my blogs and/or comments. Any advice, suggestions, or complaints are welcome.

Is the world becoming sane just as I am waking?

2006-02-08T18:05:00.000-08:00

After decades of decadence, the American social order seems to stabilizing back to it's roots. Pedophiles are being shamed (and punished); muslims are being forced out of their rocky, peasant, hateful ways; US and foreign secularists are losing their communist grip on social and legal controls; the feminist education system is about to be rewired back to the ways which will encourage rather than discourage scientific, economic, and technological advances (girls are about to be an add in education rather than the focus, theory just for theory's sake is about to take the back seat to more practical and financially meritous research, and social conservatism is retaking it's proper place as the father of education).

As this is occurring, I am waking up. There have been times when all that I have seen has seemed like a bad dream. At times I have literally wondered if I had died and was in purgatory. I was like the sleeping dragon in that no matter how powerful it might be in it's prime, in it's healing sleep there is little it can do but watch and regret. My world and the real world seem to be coming to some sort of new (and a bit scary) age. As these things improve the fear of another major fall, the doubt about whether what is seemingly seen is real, and the quirky nature of change and waking have left me at odds with what has been, until recent, the status quo.

I must embrace it and run with it like the starving man who has mana pop up in front of him. I am feasting on my new life and the new social order with a gusto that can only be called a fervor. I cannot worry about poisoned fruit or tomorrow. I cannot worry about those who are starting to starve and sleep as I eat and wake. As a fact, those who are starving and tiring are the bastards who had their foot on my neck when I was down and the ones who tried to communize the free nation I had sacrificed so dearly for, so that though my empathy could be realized I won't even waste a moment on simpler sympathy.

Still, in my new wealth of life, I am quite willing to share anything from a moment to a meal with any who should need or want it. I wouldn't call it graciousness so much as that is just who I am. In strength, even in weakness, I like to think I have a nearly bottomless pit of care, attentions which I enjoy handing out. Of course, the limit is to those who would harm others. My vein of justice is neither as blind or stupid or slow as our current judicial processes. I have both the skills and mental and spiritual capacity to bring absolute justice in less than the blink of an eye. As my body strengthens and wakes I will have a fantastic corporeal capacity once again as well.

What is really happening and why are certainly not within my capacity to know. Why the heavens and mortal planes work as they do is beyond me. How a child comes to be, as often as that occurs and as studied as it is, I also have no clue about the absolute nature of that function. I guess it all comes down to faith. As for faith, that I am rich with.

Is anyone else seeing this or is this just the flush of hope and faith and life rushing through my various vascular systems in the requickening process? Is the world really changing or am I just waking up? In any case, it is fantastic.

This is very accurate.

2006-02-07T19:14:00.001-08:00

Your Blogging Type is Unique and Avant Garde

You're a bit ... unusual. And so is your blog.

You're impulsive, and you'll often post the first thing that pops in your head.

Completely uncensored, you blog tends to shock... even though that's not your intent.

You tend to change your blog often, experimenting with new designs and content.

What's Your Blogging Personality?

Interesting, my cousin and I think this is right.

2006-02-07T13:44:00.000-08:00

What Your Face Says

At first glance, people see you as driven and ambitious.

Overall, your true self is reserved and logical.

With friends, you seem dramatic, lively, and quick to react.

In love, you seem mysterious and interesting.

In stressful situations, you seem cheerful and optimistic.

What Do People Think Of Your Face?

2006-02-05T09:07:00.000-08:00

Really?

It's Alive!

2006-02-05T03:46:00.000-08:00

The world has been changing for me or I for it. Sometimes such things need to be clarified to be certain though in this case clarity may never be possible. After losing nearly 70 pounds, I have continued to lose fat while solidifying muscle, bone, and brain (fat, I know, but like some cholesterol, it's the good kind).

I have started playing basketball, jumping rope, swimming, and taking walks in local public land areas. I have started to target shoot and hunted for the first time a few months back. I will be taking lessons for motorcycle proficiency in a few months and scuba diving the month after that. I just got a loan to buy a (cheap but serviceable) boat and 4x4 truck so that fishing and water-skiing will be possible (and I'll have a decent winter/camping platform).

What happened I may never know. My body just changed. It started when I decided to find my way back to God, now that I think about it. After attending (in an irregular manner) adult induction classes into the church, I started drinking more water. That was the odd key to my weight loss. After that, everything just started to roll.

After twenty years of partial to complete social isolation and inactivity, this to me is a miracle. As it is coming to fruition, I am grabbing it with both hands like a recovering addict grasping at one last straw of sobriety. I am led to believe I was living the wrong way and a seemingly simple change has opened me up to greater things and greater goods. To these, I have to give a pass on congratulations. Give those to God, I certainly do.

Dating!

2006-02-02T19:51:00.000-08:00

Wow, it happened. After 6 years of not dating, I am back on the scene. From what I remembered about dating, it was an excruciating step in the process of finding a woman to be with. Before recently, my relationships were secular even if with Christian women. So sex was all but expected after a few real dates and spending a few weeks to months together. This will be my first experience in which my aim is to avoid sex before marriage (engagements no longer count either). So, in it's own way, this is my first time dating as a principled (trying) Christian looking for a woman with similar principles.

My first date was fantastic. My date is a pretty woman, but more, she is a well rounded person. When she laughed, she did so because the moment was rich or the conversation struck her that way. She has a history which she translated to story in a beautiful manner. I was pleased to just listen, asking questions (usually) at breaks in the story for my understanding. We found some things in common and some differences. Beyond that, it was very good to share a meal with a woman as a couple.

Free Advice

2006-01-30T09:12:00.000-08:00

A doctor and a lawyer were talking at a party. Their conversation was constantly interrupted by people describing their ailments and asking the doctor for free medical advice.

After an hour of this, the exasperated doctor asked the lawyer, "What do you do to stop the people from asking you for legal advice when you are out of the office?"

"I give it to them," replied the lawyer, "and then I send them a bill."

The doctor was shocked, but agreed to give it a try.

The next day, still feeling slightly guilty, the doctor prepared a batch of bills to send to those who asked him for advice at the party.

When he went to place them in his mailbox, he found a bill from the lawyer.

If we can, should we affect change?

2006-01-30T08:43:00.000-08:00

I see with the changes in the world we are currently seeing, some of us must wonder if we should change things just because we can and want change. It may seem like an odd question in the face of facts, but as a moderate conservative, the fewer the changes (quite often) the better. As well, the idea of unintended consequences, the unimaginably complicated machinations which work social, legal, and moral human and natural orders, and the generally chaotic nature of the human factor (how things change just because humans are involved), change becomes quite tenuous on an intellectual, emotional, and spiritual level.

The answer is simple, in spite of all of that. We are lead to improve things, or try, by our natural gifts from God. Beyond that, should we hear and choose to follow the words of God and the living word through Christ both via the Holy Ghost, we are commanded to try to bring heaven to earth as we may in our imperfect yet loved and loving way.

In practical terms, there is this. I cannot know if this is real, staged by angle, or just outright hacked. What I can say is this, "What if?". Yes, affecting change is within our grasp and can be thunderously wonderful.

The price that women will pay for feminism.

2006-01-26T07:26:00.000-08:00

For decades now, women have been reaping the harvest of double special treatment. They have been treated like ladies and like men. There is a price due for dancing with the devil and it is about to come due. How it will be implemented, who all will go down and how far, and other basics will be based upon women's actions from here on. Should they, as a group, surrender, terms could be rather slight. If they decide to fight to the last for their right to kill men's children, act like spoiled brats while being treated like mature men, and keeping other new "rights" they have "earned", the price will be quite high.

The first shots are being sent over their bow. The first two were quiet, in many ways. The appointment and soon to be appointment of two Supreme Court Justices, neither of them female or any other minority was a test case and the first shot. The next shot is the impending fall of Roe v. Wade. This shot is truly the most impressive one so far, and has implications that have been all but unimaginable for all of my 40ish years of life. Soon, the shots will be like the sky fireflies of a close encounter with a comet.

In discussing the minor issue of toilet seat etiquette with kiwi the geek and then seeing the article above, I realized the dots I was seeing were coming together to form a stark picture for feminists and really all women in general. The mommy state and most 'isms' are about to be circular filed and the one and true lords are rising. My suggestion, ladies, is to find a good man, a principled man, and hold on. The very cement that has held the floor under you is about to drop.

Women, the left, and why not.

2006-01-22T02:40:00.000-08:00

Women have been a part of the creation of all civilizations. As mothers, wives, sisters, and daughters they share in shaping young minds to grumpy old guys like me. In their ways, they have brought light to the darker recesses of men's lives homes hearts and minds. They have inspired men to greatness both in a man-specific and mankind sort of way. There is no doubt that they deserve their places as queen, lady, woman, and girls. What happens when the queen wants to be king? Catastrophic societal breakdown and the failure of millennia of advancement.

There are reasons for this. It is not as if, like your parents might have told you, that it is because I or anyone else says so. The primary reason is that women are not men and cannot compete with men in a realistic manner. When they abandon their much needed role to attempt to become independent, they lose their worth to society. The loss of the worth of half of society is bound to be disastrous. As well, in assuming male roles, they push males out of roles they should be filling in a dumbed down sort of way. Consider women being on the front lines as a solid example. True, they haven't been put there as combat troops but they are there as support troops. What is wrong with that? Why did a seal team go on a raid to free a wounded female GI? It was because she was a women, there was no other reason as a man would have been safer in enemy hands than in a potentially risky rescue. The rescue went forth because there was more than speculation that the woman was being molested or raped. The fear on both the left and the right was that an enemy raped impregnated GI would mess up the whole game. Now you are beginning to see just one aspect of the problem.

As for justice in society, that has been a male role all through history. Feminist revisionists would love for you to believe this is just another case of misogyny. That women could and should fill this role. New data indicates that women aren't up to it. It is not that women favor injustice, it is more that they psychologically or physically have an aversion to implementing justice. On the flip side, I would guess that women who have been harmed actually go overboard in retribution. A simple example of this is the fact that in many native tribes, after the warfare is done, the women on the winning side are sent in to finish of the enemy. While doing that, they often torture and mutilate the wounded and dead enemy.

Women, I should say feminist, involvement in government has lead the role of government astray. Among their many failings in direction is their push for equality. This equality is supposed to be not only blind and correct in application of law but also stupid in implementation, as noted in the first paragraph. Look here for more of what feminism has done with equality and it's evil ways.

Feminism has so twisted from being a positive (at times) female group supporting family, church, the US, and fair labor practices that it is unrecognizable. That is unless you understand it was subverted by Stalinists. No, you say? Who do you really think Betty Friedan, mother of modern feminism and author of "The Feminine Mystique" was? Some mild mannered housewife who became frustrated with her lot in life? Wrong, she was a rich man's wife. She had a maid and a cook, she didn't bother with dishes, cooking, or raising children. She attended (perpetually) a local college where she was a known supporter of Stalinist governance. She was a number one fan of communism. She, in other words, was a puppet of a man, or more truthfully, of men (husband, professors, Stalin).

Another issue that has been turned on it's head by new age feminism is birthing. By engendering a hatred for children, marriage, and men in that order, they have brought about a larger holocaust than any the planet has seen before. Just in America, the numbers are beyond 40 million recorded deaths. Russia has a similar number. As you add all the nations up, keeping a sharp eye on China, you find no other source of artificially created human death (perhaps all other sources combined) in all of history and all in the space of fifty years or less. While feminists kill the modern, civil, technical Western Civilization, our enemies grow and fast. They grow not only in their nations, but now in ours.

This is why the enemy isn't just the little brown man with a grenade launcher. This is why we must change, and fast. This is why it may already be too late for Europe. Finally, this is why not.

The logic of the new left.

2006-01-12T18:02:00.000-08:00

So sorry about the long break. Though visiting my Mother was a great thing, her technology is somewhat wanting. I suppose I am spoiled with my equipment and services so that I have temper tantrums when I have to spend three or four times the effort, time, and concentration to get her equipment to allow me to blog. Yes, I sat in a corner of her living room and braindeaded myself with television. Boy did I show 'em. :) Honestly it was a little frustrating, so I backed away. But now I am home, it's time to get it going again!

The logic the new left (libertarians in particular) is providing is quite often in the same direction as that of the old left. The old left, the hard-core democrats like Ted Kennedy, Schummer, Feinstein, and their ilk, is in a smoking ruin (looks something like the remnants of the Twin Towers, in political terms). The new left is actually principled, though still lame. They want an end to the War on Drugs, the smart (techy) War on Terrorism (for our own sake you know), they support pornography, prostitution, abortion, and many other things that are just as out there as the old left.

They posit their ideas in an idyllic though logical manner. They invoke these ideals as Constitutional and logical. They are working hard to "educate" the right (republicans) but are ending up just becoming the new left. They haven't learned why American academics has turned into a failure. It's because using eloquent logic that doesn't work will only be appreciated by other idiots. That logic itself is rather weak, no matter how pretty it looks, since it hasn't been able to prove the simplest of ideas, such as the idea that 1 + 1 = 2. If they can't "prove" that, how can they honestly expect to help a complex society? The new left is falling right into the same pitfalls of the old left, and then rather than admitting they are wrong they are losing their principles to keep their "truths".

Honestly, there is no perfect political organization except churches which remain faithful and then only as that applies to heavenly things. Any group with it's eyes and ears based in fleshly designs is less than ideal. However, of the choices available, the best political operations are the ones conducted for, by, and of the people. Democrats have kept blacks as slaves of men or slaves of state while Republicans have offered blacks a simple sink or swim freedom. Which is best is easy to see but seems difficult for a race to embrace. Democrats want to offer you whatever you want, Republicans want to offer you a chance to be more than you thought you could be and tying responsibility to reward or punishment. Again, it's easy to see which is better but this time a whole nation of people seems too lazy to work for a win and live within the constraints of doing no harm to others in the quest for wants and needs. The new left is, in this way, only slightly different from the old left.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

2005-12-21T11:39:00.000-08:00

Ok, it's a bit early but I wanted to get this out as the next few days are going to be busy for me. I no longer dream of candy and presents, though women have been pleasant guests in my dreams lately. No, for Christmas, I just enjoy being with family and friends, eating good and special foods, drinking some beer, and catching up on my people's lives. I have an aunt and uncle (married pair) who are both terminally ill, and all of my other aunts and uncles are getting toward the end of their lives. So this year is special. These people have been important to me as I have grown up. I am enjoying their company so long as they are here, and I will have a few more good memories of them when they are gone.

I am hoping that everyone has someone to be with this season. It's not the season to be alone in, even more so than Valentines Day, I think anyway. Get some good memories and tuck them away. Forget the rough parts, set aside your frustrations and the complications and mistakes, hold those dear to you closely and forgivingly, and keep the special memories for when you have nothing else. In our busy lives, sometimes we forget that age is creeping up on us. The only other tricks I would advise is that you learn to spread Christmas out to every day of the year. Giving a Christmas present in May, July, or whenever a need or little want is there makes the whole thing a lot better. And to know too, it's not the gift, it is the consideration and act of sharing that makes it all good.

Once again, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Don't trust doctors.

2005-12-21T07:56:00.000-08:00

After a few good years in college, part time but good, my blood pressure became an issue. After discussing options with my doctor, a doctor I like and have worked with for years mind you, we decided to try a pharmaceutical approach. The next year and a half, we tried 6 different hbp regimens. The last two worked to lower my blood pressure, however, they also completely exhausted me. I would sleep 14 to 18 hours a day. We settled on a the 6th regimen, but tried to find an anti-depressant that might help with the exhaustion. Oddly, that only made the condition worse. With each anti-depressant I tried, the exhaustion continued and increased no matter which anti-depressant I tried. On both types of medication I could not stay awake more than 2 to 4 hours at a time and lost the ability to concentrate altogether, needless to say, that put a crimp in engineering college which is now on a hold until I am up to speed again. I wasn't actually depressed in the classical sense, I was just perpetually tired, so perhaps that is why they didn't work. I stuck with this group of meds for 2 years hoping that I could work my way up and out of the side effects. Finally, I just dropped the meds cold turkey (don't do this at home, leave this to professional bonehead stubborn guys like me). The withdrawal was much more sever than I had anticipated, but I kept with it and have made it back to a semblance of normalcy.

I had packed on weight on these meds, getting up to a high of 340. Even at 6'4" that is really big, though not as fat as it sounds (about half was fat from inactivity, half was water weight (didn't matter that I went to the bathroom every few hours even during sleep periods). After 5 months, the weight had only dropped to 320 and I was afraid I would be stuck there. Then, to my great joy, I lost another 50 pounds in the last month and a half! I am down to 270, and I think I am still dropping. As well, I have found a few hobbies that get me up and out, and I am energetic enough to participate. I have also started working out again, as energy that was sapped by meds is returning.

Now, I really like my doc, I think he has my best health in mind from a professional standpoint, yet he would have let me roll on in that condition indefinitely. I don't know what they teach doctors in med school, but I don't trust that it has a common sense aspect in many cases. Yea, I should have dropped the meds before. I suppose I can be a victim of sheep mentality too, which combined with my stubborn resistance to quitting can lead to gullibility. *sighs* I guess the moral of the story is watch out for yourselves, the medical community has not, does not, and will not in the future. You are a guinea pig and they will use you up if you let them. Every surgery, pharmaceutical regimen, and treatment plan is just and truly a biology experiment (which they track with paper work and statistics just as good as any NAZI camp doctor). I do have faith that they care in their way and I think they have some significant knowledge, I just think they really have a moral or humanity gap that comes with their doctorate. Word of warning. Don't do anything that isn't truly important to you or isn't absolutely vital to your next breath.

An Ode to Joy?

2005-12-17T07:23:00.000-08:00

A woman I am interested in took a test, so I thought I would take it so we could compare our things. Well, here it is.

You scored as Anarchism. <'Imunimaginative's Deviantart Page'>

Anarchism

92%

Republican

92%

Socialist

25%

Nazi

17%

Fascism

17%

Democrat

Green

Communism

What Political Party Do Your Beliefs Put You In?
created with QuizFarm.com

As for me, I am not uncertain what it means. Now that I've taken it, I will go over to her page and see if I can't say something interesting.

He Who Hunts By The Gun... Eats.

2005-12-13T16:51:00.000-08:00

I had my gun sighted in as well as my means allowed on short notice. My clothes were warm, my boots waterproofed as best I could, my knife sharp, and everything looked good. My highschool friend came by this morning and he had a hunch. We drove, from my mother's house, just a few miles south and then a few miles west. There it was, laying down near a fence line. A buck was watching us as we looked him over. We drove in closer, Chad offered an idea or two about what I might do next, and added in a few aspects of the hunting law here in Iowa.

My first hunt started at that point. With 250 to 300 yards between me and the deer, I began my approach. The deer wasn't interested at first. The wind was taking my scent and sound away from the deer, and though there was no cover the deer just wasn't interested in moving until I was 75 to 85 yards away. I had been slowing as I approached, but this didn't seem to matter. The deer started moving off quickly. The first shot was a bit long for me but I took it hoping to prevent a complete flight. I tagged it a bit high and forward along it's back, too high to cripple the deer. Another shot and then I put on the gun's safety and began a much quicker approach. Though I can walk for many miles on flat surfaces, this area was hilly with 6" to 8" deep crunchy snow making the going exhausting. At 320 pounds, surface walking just doesn't happen almost no matter how hard the surface gets.

I noticed the deer was moving using only three legs. I didn't think I had hit the leg, but couldn't be sure unless I took him down. He made it to a draw and kept me from being able to get a good shot. I then ducked, got closer to the ridge line so I could at least track the deer and move forward with it until I felt the distance was good enough to rise and shoot. The wind was inconstant but solid and high when it gusted, no help there. I trudged on, and finally got a chance for another shot. The deer was nearing a farm house. No one seemed to be there, still, I had to stop and just escort the deer out the other side of the little homestead. Just past the home, fenced yard, sheds, and anything man made, the deer went down. He still wasn't done, but he was in rough shape. I finally eased up on him, and at about 60 yards and the best shot I would get, I targeted him well, and squeezed off the final round. He dropped instantly.

Chad brought the truck up, and in his dry manner, asked me how my I was doing while raising an eyebrow. I was wheezing like a 2 pack a day 20+ year smoker. Out of shape, but not out of luck, I just grinned... and wheezed some more. We finally got up close to the buck, after a bit more air had filled my lungs. It's right hind leg had been damaged before my hunt. The leg itself was in very bad shape though fresh enough it wasn't festering, the deer couldn't have been using it. The animal would have had a sorry, painful, and slow death had I not taken it in spite of the fact that it was moving quite fast. I was kind of glad to have taken it down, in spite of my newly found fear that it's meat might not be so good.

The only way to know if the meat was good was to gut it and have a look. Gutting it so close to this neighbors house would have been a truly rude thing, but moving it elsewhere to gut it would require tagging it, which would cost the tag and make the deer claimed regardless of the meat quality. I chose to tag it. It was my first big game kill, and I just decided to own it, good or bad. So, we put on the tag, Chad adds a few more points about law and hunting ethics. Telling me to make sure to look at what is near my shoot. Though I was through heavily wheezing, I was still a bit exhausted, but he helped a lot. We drove with the tagged deer to a nearby field, and he continued the lessons. He uses my hunting knife to show me how he guts and pre-works a deer. Though he does things a bit different from my pre-conceived study about cleaning, I just watch and listen. I learn by seeing the primary things that need to be done, how to do them, and in what order. Though I may do a thing or two differently, I do now know what I will be looking at, I now have an order of operation roughly worked out, and I had a great first hunting day.

As is my first deer, a 6 point buck, is cleaned, stretched, and hung on a tree in my Mom's front yard. In a week to 10 days I will begin to process the buck. A few steaks, maybe a roast or two, and the rest of the meat will go into summer sausage and deer sticks, perhaps some jerky. The deer I took was a little one, but his meat is good and he needed to be taken. As a hunter and as a man I feel happy with this new avenue I have chosen. I hope you enjoyed an inside look at a beginners deer hunt in winter hinterland Iowa.

Hunting In My Prime

2005-12-12T06:40:00.000-08:00

Today, I will be working with my cousin. We will be sighting in my shotgun in preparation for deer hunting later this week. I have a Remington 870 Express Combo, a new fangled hunting parka, a really good set of binoculars, and a couple of other odds and ends. Money was a little tight this year, so I wasn't able to get a few other odds and ends I would have liked, wicking scent locking long underwear sets, a sidearm (I'm looking at a double action revolver in a .357 magnum, a .44 magnum, or a Smith and Wesson 460XVR, perhaps in time one of each, with the .357 magnum I will also have a decent home defense side arm while the others are a little heavy (unless I use .45 ammo in the 460XVR... Hmmm (then again, at $1400 or more for the 460XVR set-up of choice, the .357 will probably be my first, and not bad, sidearm))).

I am excited. This will be my first deer hunt. I am very familiar with long and short arms, I have just never used them for hunting game. Might not have gotten on board with hunting at all, but a few months ago, a friend asked me to hunt with him this season. (part of the reason money was short, two months to get a gun, ammo, side equipment, licenses, tags, and everything else is just a shy short. Add on that it's Christmas time, and things can get nigh on crazy financially. Still, I'm here, about to sight my gun in, raring to go, and there are a LOT of deer. My mom lives at the top of a hill, at the edge of a very small town, and we have deer right here in her yard. I'm not talking about a shy stray occasional visiting deer, I'm talking about a small heard. The first night I was here, I went outside to feed my mom's dog and saw a half dozen deer, at least. I yelled out, "He Yaaah, move on little doggies". They just looked at me like the librarian looks at a loud child, then went back to eating. I can't wait to express my unhappiness with a 1 to 1 1/4 oz. lead slug, and a ho, ho, ho, to you too mister buck. And, for all you who oppose hunting because deer are beautiful... we all know beauty can be only skin deep, hopefully I'll be able to let you know if they are pretty clean on to the bone or not. Ho, ho, ho...

Looking For a Wife

2005-12-08T17:25:00.000-08:00

I have been looking for a wife type, but just haven't found her yet. While reading one of my favorite blogs, I came across a test. The test is to find more about oneself in the romance world. I took the test, and answered honestly since I wasn't worried about anyone seeing it if I didn't want them to see it. Although some of it is a bit embarrassing, aren't some aspects of all the things that define us as individuals?

At least this gives me some minor hope that I might be able to get a goodwife before I am too old to walk, ahem, among other things. If you know of a Maid of Honor or are one, send me an email. Long distance doesn't work, but it would be good to exchange notes. Then again, one never knows. You might end up with a retired knight. Then, it would just be goodknight, MaryLue, off to happily ever after for you. (It said nothing about me being a poet, and for good reason.)

The Gentleman
Deliberate Gentle Love Master (DGLMm)

Steady & mature. You are The Gentleman.

For anyone looking for an even-keeled, considerate lover, you're their man. You're sophisticated. You know what you want both in a relationship and outside of it. You have a substantial romantic side, and you're experienced enough sexually to handle yourself in that arena, too. Your future relationships will be long-lasting; you're classic "marrying material," a prize in the eyes of many.

It's possible that behind it all, you're a bit of a male slut. Your best friends know that in relationships you're fundamentally sex-driven. You're a safe, reliable guy, who does get laid. In a lot of ways, you're like a well-worn, comfortable pair of socks. Did you ever jack off into one of those? All the time.

Your exact opposite:
The Last Man on Earth

Random Brutal Sex Dreamer

Your ideal mate is NOT a nut-job. She is giving and loving, like you, but also experienced. Avoid the The Battleaxe at all fucking costs.

CONSIDER: The Maid of Honor, someone just like you.

Link: The 32-Type Dating Test by OkCupid - Free Online Dating.
My profile name: Doomedforever

Modern Public Schools and Why Not

2005-12-06T11:20:00.000-08:00

I thought I would add a few reasons to homeschool. Sure, but aren't examples just exceptions? No, not if it is your child. This article was interesting, this one got my attention, there was this one, this one makes me angry, and there are many others. Sure, I see were CNN and it's fellow travelers write articles indicating that crime has halved in schools in the last decade or so, among other pro-public school articles. What I also note is that when a news agency reports, it quite often lies.

The obesity "plague" is an example of media lies. There was a change in how the CDC manipulated it's statistics regarding whether an individual is overweight, obese, or grossly obese. Overnight, the overweight and up crowd boomed with no actual changes in actual waist sizes or masses. Agencies, like CNN, went on a rampage. They told of how the number of overweight people had jumped drastically, and how the government agencies needed to get involved. They didn't discuss the fact the the old and new numbers used in showing an increase were simply due to a new statistical manipulation method. They wanted you to believe that increasing government control in our lives was necessary so strongly that they just lied. Do you think they wouldn't change how they report crime statistics in order to have you believe that public schools are good and safe places? Believe at your children's risk. One might even include, believe at your own risk, some of that crime comes home. As well, being taught socialism almost automatically sets you, as a parent, as a part of the enemy class.

Who Does That Guy Think He Is?

2005-12-05T03:05:00.000-08:00

Beside deciding to post a blog, air my views, and become involved in the public discourse of political, educational, religious, and other issues, I do enjoy debate and logic brought to these topics by people who really work hard at delving into these areas. I have been reading some of these people's blogs and articles for years, having enjoyed their work, agreeing and disagreeing with their material (rightly and wrongly sometimes), and becoming a participant in their thinking by emailing or commenting. So, I will occasionally include my analysis and links to these active, interesting, and thought provoking individuals. Call it sharing the joy.

As I see it, I have a blogfather and a blogmother. My blogfather was the first online blog personality I became aware of, though initially it was through his articles. I used to frequently applaud or debate his positions via email. Sometimes he laughed, sometimes (I am sure) he cried, he might respond if what I wrote struck a chord or he thought a response was called for, and other times he just enjoyed the fan mail. I do respect his intense digging, his logic, and his views in spite of the fact that I am not 100% in his corner. Oh, I hope that doesn't make me mutlicultural? ack... His name is Vox Day, well, his blog name anyway.

I will write a bit about my perspective on Vox, and let you all judge my accuracy. Vox, a Libertarian Christian writer and thinker, provides very clear cut views on morality, ethics, religion in practice, legal matters, and even drifts into the world of sports (he actually likes soccer, hehehe). His views aren't just strong opinions or ideas and ideals he has been taught, but are self-manufactured principles based in logic, faith, a philosophical education of significant depth, and a few other sources. Occasionally he gets in over my head, as I am not as well read (nor quite so interested in so much of a depth of analyses in my reading). Still, I generally get his points and understand where he is coming from and going to with his notions. His writing seems to be both well conceived and original to him at some impressive levels. Do I still disagree with him? Heck yes. Just because he is a bright light doesn't mean he can't be a dull bulb to my way of thinking at times. As well, he will accept well placed criticisms with a good defense or clarification and barring that can agree to disagree or accept that he might be wrong rather gracefully. Vox's place, Vox Popoli, is a pleasure to read and you can access his articles from that site as well. He is a good guy, (a favorite part of mine as well) an entrepreneur, and author.

Now, for my blogmother. Kiwi the Geek is rather new to blogging. She started just a short bit before I did, and has really started working with it. With a bit of help from her, and some pushing, I am now online. I like to stop by her site because she offers some interesting thoughts and commentary, often from a woman's perspective specifically. Having written her some number of emails and having become familiar with her, I realize she has some significant depth as a real woman. She is rather bright, she is well educated in technology, she has good Christian leanings, and her ideas about womanhood and motherhood make this conservative man a bit more hopeful in the fairer sex. She is just starting, like myself, but I am thinking when she gets her feet solidly planted, she has the potential to be a really dynamic independent writer.

How Has Big Government Become so Big?

2005-12-05T01:28:00.000-08:00

As I rattle on about big government, I realize there must be a reason for it's existence and a way to change it. When I started looking for the root causes for the socialization of America I was quickly led to a few root causes. When I started narrowing the causes, I then sorted them chronologically. Eventually, I arrived at a primary factor. With what I have written, what you know, and with a few moments of thought, you may easily find the same answer. To quicken the flow of thought, I will give a few hints now: What is something that nearly every child and adult is or has been exposed to?; What government agency has become less effective at it's stated goals while expanding in power, wealth, and size (more so than other agencies) and involves children and young adults automatically?; What organization is run exclusively by bureaucrats, unions, and academics?

Not so many years back, I read about a Vietnamese official giving a speech regarding the education system in his country. He was the top bureaucrat in his country regarding education, the equivalent to our Department of Education's chief. He had indicated that through his hard work and his governments policies, Vietnam had increased it's illiteracy rate. A Western journalist, after the speech, asked the official if he had misspoken. He wanted to know if the words illiteracy and literacy had been mistakenly interchanged due to language misunderstandings or just a clerical or oral error. The official rebuffed the reporter, assuring him that illiteracy is exactly what was meant in the speech and what was being sought by both himself, his agency, and his government. I was furious at this, then I realized his country was not the only one on this destructive path.

Our country, spending vast and ever increasing sums, on an education system that went from satisfactory to unsatisfactory in a period of decades is hot on the Vietnamese educational trail. With the lowering of standards and expectations paralleled and equaled by the increases in spending, it is obvious that this too, is no mistake given the obvious nature of the correlation and the time span involved. Our government is spending more in a seemingly purposeful manner so as to lower educational quality! All one needs to do is look at real data in both areas and compare the two for the last 40 years. Which leads to the question, what then are schools geared to offer? They are instilling socialist views, and surrounding those views with teachings and practices that support them. American children are being averaged, not educated, socialized, not exposed to society.

Knowing this root causes leads easily to a solution. In this case, homeschooling is the answer. Is it easy? Who ever said necessity was easy? Is getting out of bed and off to work an easy thing every day? Is staying moral and choosing the right choice easy? Is eating correctly easy? Maybe not always, or even often, is the answer to all of these. Yet these are done every day by many if not most people. Why do people try to take care of themselves, dress warm, go to work, and try to do necessary and good things in spite of the difficulties? Whatever your personal answers, the answer for homeschooling should be really simple. By homeschooling you ensure your real future, in and through your children, who would then be taught morality, citizenship in a free not socialized country, the history of why this country and that citizenship really transcend simple sports like nationalism, and receive a really true and rounded education. As well, you would be planting seeds for a continued free America, for the continued American dominance in marketing, technology, industry, and medicine. Freedom isn't cheap or easy. As well, you cannot rely on a government agency or any government for these things in whole. Our government, as it was supposed to be, relies on you to keep it in check by being an active part in it's affairs.

This is a book which caught my eye and helped inspire me to write this article. It is written for adults, specifically for those considering this "radical new approach to education" (which has been practiced for most of time in human history, then again I don't think the NYTs realizes history exists). Even if you are past having children, or are only now considering having children, this book looks to offer some really good reading and thoughts. And, no, I will receive not a dime should you decide to buy this book.

For You Gamers...

2005-12-01T23:47:00.000-08:00

I am putting this out for a friend. I hope you find it entertaining!

Dec 2, 2005: Slingdot.com goes live!
SlingDot is a gaming community built around on-line casual gaming, chat, contests, cash and prizes. SlingDot features a Free Games section open to unlimited play for all gamers over the age of 12 and a members-only gaming area called the DotSpot. DotSpot membership is available Dec 15th and is only $4.95 a month or $29.95 a year. Full membership benefits include access to exclusive games, member contests, enhanced chat features, no advertising, and greater opportunities to win cash and prizes.

All levels of gamers earn Dots for their play. The better you are, the more you'll earn, and DotSpot members earn triple the Dots of free account players. Beginning Feb 1, 2006 Dots can be used to enter daily drawings for cold hard cash. In coming months SlingDot will unveil many other benefits and personalization items that players can access using their Dots. And as the old saying goes - he who dies with the most Dots wins! How many Dots you got?

Dec 2 is a soft launch for the site with more features and games being added every day. Visit us, check the news area for upcoming additions, and share your thoughts with us. This is a gaming community, and the players will drive the look, feel, and feature set as this community grows. Our goal is to make your gaming experience the best it can be!

As a special introductory offer, all players get a 14 day free trial membership to the DotSpot, giving everyone access to the members-only games. Play them all, rack up Dots, and save them for the future.

Typical Excuses for Enlarging the Government

2005-12-01T22:25:00.000-08:00

This article is interesting in itself (click on blog title), but it goes to several levels of the bigger picture. The first level of the 'zoom out' feature exemplified by this article is that it gives one of many examples of how "environmentalists" in particular are trying to enlarge our government's control. I have "environmentalists" in quotes because any group which chooses to expand government into the corporate is no true environmentalist group. Centralized government controlled economies have been some of the worst environmentalist agencies the world has ever seen. Some of these countries remain toxic waste sites. Many of the natural environments in these countries may never recover so long as men live there, as there would be no way to clean up under people and where they live. These groups, ignorantly or not, are only pushing for a greater problem, not a solution. Government control and government regulation only tend to separate people from owning and controlling property which they would tend to care for in order to maintain or increase property value. The second, and perhaps even more problematic and next step in the "zoom out" feature shows these people trying to go beyond expanding our governments control, but linking that control with international controls which we as citizens would have even less to say about. Ask Britons what they think when they vote for something and some European Union court or bureaucracy says no. In this case, the United Nations is the entity in which "environmentalists" are placing their hopes of uber governance.

This is one of many examples of one of many groups who are trying to give away your right to representative government, property rights, and even the right to contest issues (The U.N. agrees with all the rights of our constitution, basically, with the caveat that these rights do not extend to anything against the U.N. itself). I am just hoping that before people pop a check in the mail to the soft and cuddly organization, they really look at what that group is doing. Do people really want to send some of their finite resources to a group that is trying to take away their rights? It seems insane to me, in spite of the understanding emotional pull has on people. Once again, just look past what they are selling and see what your money would be buying. It really is that easy.

Is the government mine, or am I owned?

2005-12-01T12:45:00.000-08:00

I realize I live in one of the freer nations on the planet. I understand that I have certain freedoms, which despite my occasional protests, that I take for granted. Yet I can't shake the feeling that those freedoms are threatened. So, what is a man to do about it? This man decided to take a closer look at the threats. As well, I decided to reach out to others in an attempt to support those with similar understandings, open the minds of those who can be reached, and allows those who want those rights removed to expose themselves.

The threat isn't as easily viewed as one would think, it's not just a single person, single group of people, a single government entity or the entire government itself, and it keeps to the shadows. Unlike the One Ring, in Lord of the Rings, it doesn't want to be found. The threat seems to be an intentional and unintentional collaboration of individuals, groups, government agencies, and to some degree the government as a whole.

The individuals, like Soros, Ted Kennedy, and Ted turner, use their power, money, and fame (infamy) toward the end of enlarging the U.S. government. Oddly, these are some of the very people you will hear decrying the inadequacies of the government. The groups, like the ACLU and NOW, have political agendas. NOW for example, wants to replace fathers with an Uncle, among other things governmentcentric. The agencies, like the Department of Education, seem only interested in promoting a broken system that socializes rather than educates students at all levels. And then there is the government as a whole. It is an industry that only seeks to grow, even when all other industries may shrink. The departments with the government find clever ways to spend all of their income in order to apply for more funding in the next budget year, rather than spending only as is truly needed.

All of these have combined to produce a quickly appearing socialist nation out of the nearly dead carcass of a once free land. The American people have bought this by getting a little out of it. It puts me to mind of how Native American's sold land for little or nothing. I'm pretty sure that selling rights for a prescription drug program is the worst of the two. Watching an ad in which this old woman describes how now with the program, she will have more money to spend on her grandchildren. If she really thought about it, she would realize she is placing a tax burden on them that they not only won't easily be able to support, but won't be willing to support. The only way for that tax scheme to work is for the government to grant itself enough power to force them to pay. She's selling her grandkids into slavery for a few years of life at best. And either her grandkids will rebel and she will be thrown to the wolves, or they will become slaves and never know the good life she seems to know.

In any case, that's my first installment on the price of my freedoms. Yes, exercise does a body good, why should it not do a real right good?