Almost time to ring out the old year

Happy New Year everyone. 
Yes, I know I'm early; so sue me.


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Hope everyone had a good Christmas.  I spent most of Christmas with a head cold, but had a good time anyway.  Two days later, on Sunday morning, I woke up with my right eye completely swollen shut, and throbbing, and my left eye barely able to open to a squint.  Turned out I had gotten conjunctivitis from the infection in my sinuses.   Couple days of antibiotics and they're back to normal, so it worked out ok.

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It's been cold and foggy around here, our warm spells mean it gets up between 25ºF and 30º F.  The past couple of days have been snow, which isn't all that much fun.

 

I took this picture this morning, it has been snowing all day and is about a half a foot deep by now.  I'll be glad when spring comes around.



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 So the Republicans are yelling that the Skivvy Bomber is the fault of lack of  security by the current administration; the Whitehouse  and the Democrats respond by blaming Bush (big surprise; how long is that line going to be used?)

May I make a suggestion?  How about everybody just STFU and worry about how to prevent future problems?  Airline security is a bad joke and everybody knows it.  The disaster was only averted by two things; the incompetence of the bomber, and everyday citizens who had the initiative to fight back.

So to Jasper Schuringa and the other passengers who took the bomber down, well done.

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Can't say I'm happy with sending more troops over to Afghanistan.  We've been told they are being sent over for a couple of years, then will be brought home.  That makes no sense; what if nothing has been accomplished by then?  Will they extend the time, or will they just pull out and leave?  All the enemy has to do is stall, then wait for the soldiers to leave.
If they aren't planning on winning, why bother sending anyone over to be killed?  They might as well leave now.
Just my opinion.

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This one is just for fun, since it's always been one of my favorite songs. It's been referred to as the unofficial national anthem of Australia. This version is one of the best, by the late Slim Dusty.




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Any favorites in this bunch?  Some of them are probably older than a few of my visitors.

          "Take on Me" by A-Ha
         "Twilight Zone" by Golden Earring
         "Wolverton Mountain" by Claude King
         "Wild Summer Nights" by John Cafferty & the Beaver Brown Band
         "Walk Like a Man" by The Four Seasons
         "Eye in the Sky" by The Alan Parsons Project
         "Na Laetha Gael M'Óige" by Enya
         "Time of the Season" by The Zombies
         "The Ballad of Thunder Road" by Robert Mitchum
         "Over the Border" by Eric Burdon

The next to last song was from the movie "Thunder Road" starring Robert Mitchum, who not only sang the ballad, but helped write it. Most people don't know it, but he played saxophone, and enjoyed writing music.

The last song is one of the newer releases by Eric Burdon; it was written by David Munyon, who you may remember from a song of his in one of my previous posts.

It's a wee bit chilly around here

Seems like the past few weeks since I last blogged have been filled with two things, snow and fog.

One day it's like this:

The next day we have this:

I've still been able to do some harvesting from my garden, however.

Swiss chard is doing fine, I just have to brush away snow for small leaves

Sage holds up well in snow

Rosemary is an evergreen, and much better fresh than dried

It's actually snowing right now as I write this, we may get four to eight inches today.   Personally, I'd rather have a Christmas that isn't quite as white as that.

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I think I'd like to go plinking with this guy:



H/T to Curmudgeonly & Skeptical

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I've been keeping up on the progress on the so-called Healthcare Bill; can't say I'm impressed; horrified describes my feeling a lot better.  It would seem to make more sense to me if someone listed the main problems with health care in this country, and then went down the list one-by-one with suggestions to fix each one.  Instead, we have some bloated, chimerical monster that seems to be more about building new agencies and bureaucracies, and consolidating the federal governments grip on the average citizen's life.  Not to mention the horrific cost, which will all go to maintaining said  agencies and bureaucracies.   This isn't about helping people, it is a power grab, pure and simple.  If you want to help people afford insurance, how about trying to fix the economy?  I don't care how affordable insurance is, if you are out of work you can't afford it.  And sticking employers with part of the bill is not the way to insure people or boost jobs.  If an employer has to put out too much on his worker's insurance, he will do one of two things; pass on the cost to the buyers, or dump part of his work force.  Neither one is good for the economy.   The bill is so full of pork now it is ridiculous, and these assholes in Congress and the Senate don't even have the decency to act embarrassed by the fact they are buying and selling votes to push this abortion through.

"It could probably be shown by facts and figures that there is no distinctly American criminal class except Congress."
-Mark Twain


"When they call the roll in the Senate, the Senators do not know whether to answer 'Present' or 'Not guilty.'"
- Theodore Roosevelt

"We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office."
 - Aesop

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 Looks like there has actually been a couple of days without hearing about the latest exploits of Tiger Woods.  Honestly, does anyone really care how many bimbos he had?

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The Rain Man has died; I didn't even know he lived here in Salt Lake.

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If I don't see you in the next few days, I'd like to wish you Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays to those who don't necessarily celebrate Christmas due to other religious beliefs.



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I know there has to be some favorites in this bunch, both rock and country.

         "Love Is Blue" by Paul Mauriat
         "Crossroads (The Crossroad Blues)" by Robert Johnson
         "Mississippi Woman" by Waylon Jennings
         "Both Sides, Now" by Joni Mitchell
         "If We Make It Through December" by Merle Haggard
         "I Touch Myself" by The Divinyls
         "Lawyers, Guns and Money" by Warren Zevon
         "You Ain't So Tough" by Heart
         "Black Blade" by Blue Öyster Cult
         "Bounce" by Bon Jovi

The last two in the list:

I'm posting again

and it hasn't even been a month since my last one.

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It's been sort of chilly around here; a couple of snow storms since I posted last.

Not attracting very many birds


Most of the snow has melted; picture taken out by my mailbox


I have managed to get some interesting shots, however.

This was taken about 15:00 on Thanksgiving Day



Top of an evergreen; some sort of fir, I think


Barberries; they'll stay like this all winter


Nature's tree ornaments




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Anyone following the talks at Copenhagen? It would seem that the UN wants the largest countries to each kick in $10 billion dollars as upfront money. Seems that now we are actually getting down to what it is all about; power and money. Why am I not surprised?

I've been looking over some of the files let loose from the CRU; these are quite interesting. We see efforts to shut out anyone who tries to publish anything against their conclusions; they refused to release data and methods, and fudged most of the data they do have, then destroyed the original data so it can not be checked against. What are they afraid of, since they say that "the matter is settled"?
I've also been reviewing some of the code used in their computer modeling. OMG! My programming teachers would have flunked these writers without a second thought. The code (written in Fortran) is a laboriously patched maze of spaghetti code that is a total fright. And there are places where they deliberately fudge the code to make it deliver the "proper" answers.
Anyone putting any trust in this bunch of Bullwinkles is either completely ignorant, or blindly loyal. Which I guess is why there are so many on the left-wing who accept it as Gospel.

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So a couple of golddiggers crash the White House, trying to get rich and famous. Good job, Secret Service.
Have you noticed that the POTUS seems to surround himself with incompetent people? I thought Bush was bad, but this guy seems to be hiring the whole graduating class from the College of Idiots. Seems like all you have to do to be a "czar" is to be either stupid or a tax dodger.

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In a lighter vein, here are some interesting pieces of miniature technological art. Check out the galleries and movies.
When I first saw these, my first though was of RobertaX, especially her tech blog.

One example; here:





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Mostly oldies.

"He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" by The Hollies
"The Girl from Ipanema" by Eliane Elias
"Stealing Rosemary" by The Bangles
"Secret Agent Man" by Johnny Rivers
"Summertime" by Miles Davis
"Last Train Home" by Pat Metheny Group
"Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen" by Santana
"England Swings" by Roger Miller
"Sukiyaki" by Kyu Sakamoto
"I Got a Line on You" by Spirit

The next to last one is interesting; it is completely in Japanese (it has English subtitles) and was extremely popular in the US. The singer has a good voice, and, even though it is in a foreign language, conveys all of the emotions in his singing. If you are under 55 years old, it is probably new to you.



One of my favorite songs from the late sixties; they did a lot of good stuff.



This one is just for fun, for James who lives across the pond.

How are things in your neck of the woods?

Once again I have been remiss in posting. If I felt better or had more energy I would probably do more, but that's the breaks.

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Looks like the current administration is trying to skirt the question of whether Hasan is just a nut or a terrorist. As far as I'm concerned, ALL terrorists are mentally ill, but that is no excuse for their actions. As far as whether he is a terrorist, my vote is for yes.

1. He was screaming "Allah is greatest" while shooting at people.
2. Has a documented history of correspondence with Muslim extremists.
3. Has been outspoken on agreeing with extremists and terrorist tactics.

Just because he was not working directly for a large group doesn't mean he wasn't a terrorist; how are his actions any different from McVeigh's?
Why this administration is trying so hard to avoid calling a spade a spade is frustrating; I'm surprised they haven't apologized to Hasan for arresting him.

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The more I see of the "Healthcare" plan, the scarier it looks. A huge, bloated, expensive bunch of bullshit, in my opinion. With over a hundred new agencies formed, the thing is going to be nothing more than another mass of bureaucracies to soak up time, money, and resources. This thing is not about better care for people, it is about the government inserting itself more into people's lives and exerting more control over them.
Just my opinion.

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The kerfluffle at the CRU is getting more interesting. It would seem that fame, money, and politics trumps the scientific method among some so-called scientists. One of the biggest problems with stuff like this is that it destroys credibility in the scientific community; it can be hard to earn people's trust after a fiasco like that.

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Oprah is ending her show in the near future; sorry if I can't get too excited. I seem to remember catching part of a couple of her shows when I was visiting people, and I have to say I was very underwhelmed.

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Any favorites in this bunch?

"The Green Leaves of Summer" by Dimitri Tiomkin
"More Than a Feeling" by Boston
"I Walk the Line" by Johnny Cash
"Take Me Home Tonight/Be My Baby" by Eddie Money
"Baker Street" by Gerry Rafferty
"Bourree From Violin Partita No. 1, BWV 1002" by Andrés Segovia
"El Paso" by Marty Robbins
"Witchy Woman" by Eagles
"Kiss Me Deadly" by Lita Ford
"Too Cool" by David Munyon

The first and the last in the list:

Winter has come to visit

Not real crazy about the white stuff falling from the sky. This is what it looked like this morning. One problem is that our leaves haven't fallen yet, and the snow is weighing down the branches badly in some of the trees.


A view from my front sidewalk.



No birds in there...



The vegetable garden is pretty well closed for the year; there are some herbs and greens that I can harvest during the winter, but most everything else is gone, as you can see by the zucchini, tomatoes, and tomatillos.

To everything there is a season...



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A man who hid in a closet talking to emergency dispatchers while his house was being burglarized helped police catch the intruder.

Personally, I can't imagine hiding in a closet while someone robs your home. What if the burglar checks out the closet where you're hiding? I don't like the idea of having to fight my way out of a closet against someone younger than me. If someone tried that to me, and I'm unarmed, I'd rather wait somewhere with a blunt object where I have room to move, and ambush the SOB.
Just my opinion.

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For those who think that there is a communication problem between environmentalists, politicians, scientists, and all the bullshit they seem to come up with, check out Labrat's post; it is one of her best, and she writes a lot of good ones. If you aren't reading Atomic Nerds, you should be.

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The weather and lack of sleep seems to have put me in a bit of a dark mood; some of the tunes seem to reflect that. What do you think?

"Tales of Brave Ulysses" by Cream
"Lili Marlene" by Dave Brubeck
"Dust in the Wind" by Kansas
"I Think I'll Just Stay Here and Drink" by Merle Haggard
"As Time Goes By" by Terrence Farrell
"Melancholy Man" by The Moody Blues
"Time of the Season" by The Zombies
"Stardust" by Artie Shaw
"House of the Rising Sun" by The Animals
"I Am a Rock" by Simon & Garfunkel

The last two are a couple of my favorite oldies; give them a listen.

Good day for some ranting and raving

By now I imagine everyone has heard of the flight that overshot its destination. The pilots claim they were in a "heated discussion" and lost track of things.













I find that hard to believe. I'm more likely to believe they dozed off. Nobody argues and ignores messages from the ground for over an hour. I'll be curious to see what investigators find out.

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It's looking more likely that the idiots in the Senate and Congress are going to pass the so-called health reform.
Personally, I don't see anything good coming out of what they've done. They have a 1500+ page document that hasn't been scrutinized closely by anyone in the government, and are pushing for everyone to ignore what it says and just sign it. Anyone who thinks that is proper procedure has never bought a used car from an "ethically-challenged" car salesman. I think the major results will be more federal meddling in people's lives, higher taxes, and a lot of problems that will only get worse as they try to patch things later. And since it won't automatically solve all the problems, it opens the way to more governmental control and interference in our lives. Instead of trying to overhaul everything, how about finding a few main points, and then tackle them one by one? You'd think we could elect people in who were something other than crooks and dumbasses.

"It could probably be shown by facts and figures that there is no distinctly American criminal class except Congress."
-Mark Twain

"When they call the roll in the Senate, the Senators do not know whether to answer 'Present' or 'Not guilty.'"
- Theodore Roosevelt

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Looks like even the other media networks are getting embarrassed by the White House trying to own the news media. This administration is acting like a bunch of bitchy pre-adolescent schoolgirls, who are pissed off because they can't get their way all the time. They have several networks who are going out of their way to pucker up to them, but that isn't good enough; everyone is expected to kiss their asses, and only print what The One approves.
Get real, people. All news outlets are biased, to a certain degree, towards one side or the other. The idea of a completely objective media is right up there with Santa Claus, unicorns, and the Easter Bunny. My personal preference is to look over several sources, then form my own opinions. The idea that the White House wants to push out any news network because they aren't sucking up is abhorrent to me, especially as the latest crop of crooks politicians bragged so much about how they were going to have transparency in government, get rid of corruption, and bring sides together rather than being divisive.

What is next, the Ministry of Truth?

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More ancient music, and a couple of videos, of the last two. I think these are older than some of my readers. Anyone remember all of these?


"Mama Told Me (Not to Come)" by Three Dog Night
"Jessie's Girl" by Rick Springfield
"The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" by Gordon Lightfoot
"Georgia on My Mind" by Ray Charles
"Rebel Yell" by Billy Idol
"The Poor Side of Town" by Johnny Rivers
"La Bamba" by Trini Lopez
"Two out of Three Ain't Bad" by Meat Loaf
"Rebel Rouser" by Duane Eddy
"Reasons for Waiting" by Jethro Tull

Does that include the tip?

A Democratic fund raiser in San Francisco that cost $30,400 per person, and you get to have your picture taken with the POTUS. That's lot of coin, whether the president is democrat, republican, or any other crooked political party.
Reading the transcript is interesting; evidently we have "billions of people who don’t have coverage" (his words, not mine); I guess we better get that new census done quick, our population seems to have skyrocketed.
And he said this sort of thing with a straight face:

Somebody in an introduction was saying everybody has a kind word to say about Nancy Pelosi, her generosity, her intelligence.

But with style and grace, but most importantly, with steely determination, she does not back down, she is there doing battle each and every day on behalf of not only her constituency here in California, but people all across America who are looking for a fair shake, who are looking for a decent job, who are looking for quality health care, who want a good education for their kids, who want a planet that they can pass on to their grandchildren and their great-grandchildren. That's what Nancy Pelosi is all about. We could not have done any of the stuff that we’ve done this year without one of the best Speakers imaginable.

I may puke.

What we seem to have is a lot of people who paid a lot of money to kiss the president's ass. That's fine if you can afford it, I guess, but most people don't really have that kind of money.
It must really suck to be rich, I guess.

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Looks like the Washington sniper claims that he deserves mercy; I find it amazing that this POS thinks he deserves clemency. Interesting how these types turn into cowards when it comes their time to pay the piper.

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Garth Brooks is coming out of retirement; I guess somebody out there might care, but I'm not sure who...

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Some old songs, some even older.

"American Pie" by Don McLean
"Sentimental Journey" by Les Brown
"Hungry Like the Wolf" by Duran Duran
"I Won't Back Down" by Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
"Both Sides Now" by Judy Collins
"It Was a Very Good Year" by Frank Sinatra
"Understand Your Man" by Johnny Cash
"Heart of the Night" by Spyro Gyra
"99 Luftballons" by Nena
"Keep on Truckin'" by Hot Tuna

LOL!

Check out the golf carts. There are three pages of them.

I'm back again already

It would appear we are going to ease into cold weather this year; usually summer to winter is like flicking a light switch around here. A lot of parts of the valley have had freezes, but I'm still picking tomatoes, tomatillos, chard, and zucchini. There has been some snow, but mainly in the mountains.

Wasatch Mountains on the east side of Salt Lake Valley



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Sunday we took a trip up into American Fork Canyon; it was a bit cool, but a picnic was enjoyable anyway.
There has been quite a bit of snow up there (we were only at a little over 8000ft elevation), but most has melted until you get up onto the mountainsides. Didn't see much in the way of wildlife, but we did get a few pictures at both American Fork and Sundance.

Tibble Reservoir


Tree growing out of a rock


Thistle heads (these were over 7 feet tall)


Sundance


Mountains above Sundance


Closeup of mountains just west of Sundance


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Got a pretty good laugh at the news this morning.

Obama aide accuses Fox of operating as GOP arm

I don't see what all the excitement is about; ABC, MSNBC, and others have been sucking up to the Whitehouse for months now; seems sort of silly to get pissed just because one small part of the media doesn't seem to be in their pocket. Of course, if it were up to them I guess anything that isn't praising The One would be ruled as hate speech, and illegal. I'm no fan of the Republican party, but lately the Democrats are really getting on my nerves. They seem to act like they are better than anyone else, but I don't see where they are any better than the assholes in the GOP. They're certainly no smarter, and they are just as corrupt and hypocritical.
Just my opinion.

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"Naked Eyes" by Tim Weisberg
"Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" by The Beatles
"El Nicoya" by Santana
"Bridge over Troubled Water" by Simon & Garfunkel
"Born to Fly" by Sara Evans
"Downtown" by Petula Clark
"Reasons for Waiting" by Jethro Tull
"Hellraiser" by Lita Ford
"Tales of Brave Ulysses" by Cream
"Whispering Pines" by Johnny Horton


A lot of people don't remember Johnny Horton. This one from the playlist was one of his best, in my opinion.

I'm in a bad mood, and it shows

Still trying to get my head around the idea of Obama receiving a Nobel Peace Prize; from what I can glean from his supporters (who all seem to be reeling in a group orgasm right now), is that he did not get it for his accomplishments, but for the great job he did talking about what he was going to do. Remember that the nomination had to have been sent within a few days of his coronation inauguration, while he was still spending most of his time patting himself on the back and getting his ass gang-kissed by the media . If talking a good game is all it takes, then he should be sharing the prize with his teleprompter.

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Does anyone really give a rat's ass about Letterman's flings? I'm getting tired of seeing his name any time I look at the news. Almost as tired as seeing Jon and Kate, whoever the hell they are. If I want to see stuff like that, I'll start watching soap operas.

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Two years and nine months ago we got tired of the way the Republicans were running Congress, and gave a bunch of them the boot, replacing them with Democrats. Looking at things now, I can't see where there is any difference between that bunch of crooks, and the bunch now. Anyone see any improvements? We still have politicians being bought and sold, still lying to us, still wasting time on bullshit while real problems go unresolved. Anyone else starting to feel that tar and feathers might be a good investment?

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Any favorites in this bunch?

"We Don't Need Another Hero" by Tina Turner
"Sloop John B" by The Beach Boys
"Tuxedo Junction" by Glenn Miller
"Dengue Woman Blues" by Jimmie Vaughan
"I Only Want to Be With You" by Dusty Springfield
"Diddy Wah Diddy" by Captain Beefheart & the Magic Band
"The Lonely Bull" by Herb Alpert
"A Hard Road" by John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers
"Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down" by Johnny Cash
"These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" by Nancy Sinatra

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Changing of the seasons

At midnight last night, it was almost 80ºF outside. This morning at 6:00, it was 43ºF. Seems that a winter storm has moved in, bringing a lot of cold rain here in the valley, and snow in the mountains.
The picture below is of the Oquirrh Mountains, just a few minutes west of me (I took this shot standing in front of my mailbox). They reach up about 9000 ft, and I am at 4350, so the snow you see on there isn't that high above us; I wouldn't be surprised to see a light frost tomorrow morning.



When I first woke up I knew we had bad weather, my joints have gotten quite reliable in warning me.

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Sunday my wife slipped and fell, landing on her right side. She was feeling a bit dizzy and nauseous, so I took her to emergency (I've had concussions before, and was worried about the possibilty). Luckily, she didn't have a concussion, but did manage to bruise her knee, elbow, ribs, and sustained a mild whiplash mainly affecting her trapezius muscles. Cold packs the first couple of days and now a heating pad seems to be helping. She just started a new job last week, so she didn't want to try taking time off from work. I'm just glad the injuries didn't turn out to be too bad.

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Looks like SCOTUS is going to be looking at whether the Second Amendment applies only to the federal government, or is also applied to the states. I don't see why not; it seems like a no-brainer to me. I don't see anyone trying to say that the Thirteenth Amendment doesn't apply to states.
Of course, even if they rule in favor of gun owners, it doesn't mean that it will make it any easier for them. Most anti-gun tactics these days favors incremental steps and sneaking around to the back door. Things like ridiculous requirements, excessive taxes and costs on licensing are all tactics to inch their way to banning private firearms. It has nothing to do with public safety; firearm control is all about control. Make people feel like they can't take care of themselves, and they will turn to Big Brother to protect them. Anyone who says it is about crime and safety is either a liar or uninformed.
Just my opinion.

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Looks like there's a bill in the Senate wrapped around the climate change politics raging around the world right now. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., (a pair of idiots from two of the goofiest states in the US) want to start charging companies that they feel have too big of a "carbon footprint". What this will accomplish is twofold; small companies may not be able to meet these requirements and have to fold (just what we need, less jobs in this country), and the larger companies will just pass on the cost to consumers, thus booting up the cost of living, something we all like, right? Personally, I think there are a couple of reasons for it, to increase taxes without actually saying they are taxing people, and the old ploy of the politician in which they pass bullshit laws so that they can try to trick their voters into thinking they are doing something useful.

We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office.
- Aesop

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Any favorites in this bunch? With the cool, rainy weather, I got feeling like more of my oldies. Some of these are older than most of my readers, I think.

"The Green Leaves of Summer" by Dimitri Tiomkin
"A Summer Song" by Chad and Jeremy
"Bob Wills Is Still the King" by Waylon Jennings
"Runaway" by Del Shannon
"Witchy Woman" by Eagles
"Moon River" by Andy Williams
"Burnin' for You" by Blue Öyster Cult
"Baker Street" by Gerry Rafferty
"If We Make It Through December" by Merle Haggard
"Promenade" by Modest Mussorgsky


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Hi, remember me?

It's been over a month since I posted; haven't really been feeling up to snuff most days. Lack of sleep for the most part; this has been a bad couple of months for my back. When you are not feeling well, and tired most of the time, your mind gets a bit fuzzy and lazy.

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Just got back from a visit to my cardiologist. My heart seems to be doing fine for now, and he is happy with the fact that I've managed to lose some weight (about 37 lb) since my visit with him a few months ago. Hopefully I'll be able to get it down some more in the next few months.

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While I was at the gym yesterday I caught part of Qadafi's speech at the UN on the TV there. That had to be one of the longest skeins of pure babbling drivel that I have ever heard. He bounced around all over the map, mainly just talking bullshit for an ungodly long time, and put me in mind of a hashhead who had also been overcome with dementia. About the only thing he said that made halfway sense was in wanting to move the UN to another country other than the US. I agree; I also think we should drop out of the UN, as I can't really see where they do much good in the world, and the money could be better spent over here.
Just my opinion.

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Not the most cheerful of playlists today; any favorites in this bunch?

"Summertime Blues" by Eddie Cochran
"Hellhound on My Trail" by Robert Johnson
"Don't Fear The Reaper" by Blue Öyster Cult
"Black Rose" by Waylon Jennings
"Brandenburg Concerto No. 2" by JS Bach
"Holy Water" by Bad Company
"Born Under a Bad Sign" by Cream
"I Wanna Go Back" by Eddie Money
"I Drink Alone" by George Thorogood
"I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" by Hank Williams

If you're not familiar with the last two, here they are:






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An important day tomorrow

On August 18, my wife Sandy and I celebrate 36 years as a married couple; I can't think what I would do without her.



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More fighting over the health bill; I hope they scrap the one they're pushing. The government is necessary, sometimes, but should never be brought in unless absolutely necessary; most of the time they just make stuff worse. And the people in Congress are up to their usually hijinks. (H/T to The Irritable Architect)

"Suppose you were an idiot and suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself."
- Mark Twain

"We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office."
- Aesop

"What's the difference between a whore and a congressman? A congressman makes more money."
- Edward Abbey

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Some good articles in the blogosphere for those people who believe in taking care of themselves.

Brigid has a good post (I don't think she has ever written a bad one) concerning home security; it is an excellent read.

Paladin shows how he put together a practical medical pack for a fraction of what you would pay if you bought one.

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More ancient music. Any favorites in this collection of moldie-oldies?

"Moondance" by Van Morrison
"Red, Red Wine" by Neil Diamond
"Scarborough Fair/Canticle" by Simon & Garfunkel
"You Only Live Twice" by Nancy Sinatra
"Sympathy for the Devil" by The Rolling Stones
"Eight Miles High" by The Byrds
"Whispering Pines" by Johnny Horton
"Good Vibrations" by The Beach Boys
"Legend of a Mind" by The Moody Blues
"Let Me Be" by The Turtles

The last one has always been a favorite of mine, due to the lyrics.

Please don't mistake me or try to make me
The shadow of anybody else
I ain't the him or her you think I am
I'm just trying hard to be myself
Oh, society's goal is to be part of the whole
That may sound good to you, not to me

Let me be, let me be
To think like I want to
Let me be, let me be
That's all I ask of you
I am what I am and that's all I ever can be

Don't try to plan me or understand me
I can't stand to be understood
I could never give in to or ever live up to
Being like you think I should
I've got some inner need which I'm tryin' to heed
I can't take hand-me-down destiny

Let me be, let me be,
To think like I want to
Let me be, let me be
That's all I ask of you
I am what I am and that's all I ever can be

Don't try to change me or rearrange me
To satisfy the selfishness of you
I'm not a piece of clay to mold to your moves each day
And I'm not a pawn to be told how to move
I'm sorry I'm not the fool you thought would play by your rules
But to-each-his-own philosophy

Let me be, let me be,
To think like I want to
Let me be, let me be
That's all I ask of you
I am what I am and that's all I ever can be

I said that's all I ever can be
I said that's all I ever can be
I said that's all I ever can be



The next to the last one is familiar to anyone old enough to actually remember the Woodstock years, the Sixties, and the relevance of terms such as Orange Sunshine, Purple Microdot, and Clear Light.

Can we move on now, please?

Okay, the cop, the professor, and the president have had their little get-together; can we get on with the real world now? Or is the fourth estate going to try milking this for the next couple of weeks?

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Sounds like more taxes may be in the future; since when is this news? Every administration says they are going to keep taxes down, but they don't. As I've said many times in the past, politicians lie; it's what they do.

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Looks like Nissan has an electric car. Sorry, but I'm unimpressed. For one thing, this has to be charged up to use, which means more power from the grid. And that means burning more coal. Alternative energy sources are nice, but unless they are nuclear, they cannot keep up with even the demand today, let alone if everyone is charging their vehicle all the time.
According to the article, it will run 100 miles on a charge. That may sound good to people in the tiny little eastern states, but here where I live that isn't very much. Just running to my mom's and back is about a 120 mile round trip. I'll pass, thanks.

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The Park City Art Festival has been going on this weekend, so we went up there for our yearly visit. Had an early dinner at Wasatch Brewery; we both opted for fish and chips and a couple of mugs of cold brown ale. Good stuff.
We spent a bit of time listening to various groups playing music here and there. Spent the longest time listening to some Brazilian jazz; a friend of ours was playing sax and flute for them.



We didn't get a chance to go in here, but I liked the sign.



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Spotted this little guy tapping away at one of my trees; he didn't seem too afraid of me.







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My usual hodge-podge of music; any favorites in this bunch?

"Anvil of Crom" by Basil Poledouris
"Rebel Rouser" by Duane Eddy
"See You in September" by The Happenings
"Don't Fear The Reaper" by Blue Öyster Cult
"Bob Wills Is Still the King" by Waylon Jennings
"Cold Hearted Woman" by Cross Canadian Ragweed
"Photograph" by Def Leppard
"Witchy Woman" by Eagles
"Tennessee Stud" by Eddy Arnold
"My Mirage" by Iron Butterfly

If the first choice on the list doesn't look familiar, then listen to it here; I'm sure you'll recognize it. It's from one of my favorite music scores.

Yes, it's really me

Again, I have gone too long without posting; it's just one of my many character flaws, I guess.

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The past couple of weeks have been busy; my wonderful wife had her birthday. I just wish I aged as well as she does. Her brother had his 60th birthday a couple of weekends ago, we all went up in the hills and had a good time. Last weekend I went out to my mom's place to do some chores. The rest of the time I've been trying to keep up with the yardwork around here, but the high temperatures have been kicking my ass.

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The birthday party in the mountains was good; we went to the Potter's Pond area. Some the people went fishing, others hiked, some just sat around and visited. I opted for some walking around, and managed to get a couple of photos. Double-lick to enlarge.

One end of the lake.




The dragonflies were thick.



Colombine.



Wild geranium.



Near where we had our picnic.




A view of the sky, with a tree for contrast.



Same tree as previous picture, showing its full size.



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Have you noticed how the pressure is on for Congress and the Senate to hurry and pass the "healthcare reform" bill? You know, if someone is telling me to sign a contract several hundred pages long, without reading it, I get the feeling they are trying to slip something by that I might not like. I don't believe in buying a pig in a poke, and distrust anyone who is trying to sell one.

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The Thune Amendment was defeated; evidently marriage licenses and driver's licenses are good across state lines, but not people who have CCW's. These are a group of people with some of the lowest instances of violence, but are regarded as dangerous criminals, due to lies and fabricated statistics designed to frighted those who are ignorant of such things. A lot of people argue that it doesn't come under the Second Amendment, but it is fairly obvious what the writers of the Bill of Rights meant, no matter what the lying politicians say.

"The constitutions of most of our States assert that all power is inherent in the people; that they may exercise it by themselves in all cases to which they think themselves competent..., or they may act by representatives, freely and equally chosen; that it is their right and duty to be at all times armed; that they are entitled to freedom of person, freedom of religion, freedom of property, and freedom of the press." -Thomas Jefferson

"The great object is, that every man be armed." -Patrick Henry

I'd say that it's fairly plain what they meant.

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A mixture, as usual.

"Thelonious" by Thelonious Monk
"It Was a Very Good Year" by Frank Sinatra
"I Heard It Through the Grapevine" by Marvin Gaye
"Abracadabra" by Steve Miller Band
"The Four Seasons - Largo - Winter" by Antonio Vivaldi
"Proud Mary" by Tina Turner
"Magic" by Electric Light Orchestra/Olivia Newton-John
"No More Mr. Nice Guy" by Alice Cooper
"Run Through the Jungle" by Creedence Clearwater Revival
"Baby the Rain Must Fall" by Glenn Yarbrough

The last one in the list was also done by Steve McQueen in the movie of the same name.



Any favorites in that bunch?

Hello again

You'd think I'd get better at blogging more often, but I still seem to flake out. It's been busy around here with relatives visiting, yardwork, etc. Little low on energy right now, and it shows in this post.

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I can't believe all of the celebrity deaths since I last posted; they seem to be dropping off right and left. Doesn't really matter who you are or how much money you have, we all have an expiration date. You can shorten your time, but you can't extend it.

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I see where there is talk about another "stimulus" bill; I guess some of the Congressman found some more pork that they forgot to put in the last one. Seems like every time we get a new bunch in there the trough gets bigger.
If one of the damn things didn't faze the bad economy, why should anyone expect another one to work?

"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."
- Albert Einstein

The more I see of politics, the more I wish we had a reset button on the government.

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Did you see where some Congresswoman wanted a resolution passed honoring Michael Jackson? As if the federal government didn't have enough real work to do. There was finally a bit of bipartisan agreement on the fact that the resolution was unnecessary. I really don't see why they are acting like he is some sort of national hero; personally I didn't care at all for his stuff, and don't see why he is so revered.

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Now here's a disgusting bunch of characters:

A group of Illinois grave diggers were charged Thursday with running a morbid scam in which they exhumed corpses in a historic black cemetery to resell the empty plots, cops said.

Investigators suspect more than 300 bodies were dug up in the suburban Chicago graveyard and discarded in a pit so the ghouls could cash in.

I hope they throw the book at them.

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Now for some of my attempts at photography. As usual, double-click to enlarge.

This little guy was watching me out in the yard, so I took his picture. I got within five feet of him without alarming him. Most of the robins in the yard are getting used to me. He'd been eating some berries before setting down and watching me.
















This is a shot of one of my tomato plants; it's almost five foot high. I also got a whole jungle full of volunteers, so I have been thinning them and leaving some of the bigger ones intact.



Tomatillos; these come up as volunteers in my garden every year.
















These are only the size of golf balls, but we've been eating them for several days now.
















My Japanese Blood Plums should be ripening in a few weeks; hopefully the robins will leave me some.
















Red seedless grapes.















Golden Delicious apples.















Hopefully I can get out somewhere for some decent scenery to photograph; in between doing stuff I've been laid up quite a few times with bad sciatica and back spasms; all the rainy weather we've had lately seemed to trigger them.

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"Cherokee" by Charlie Barnet
"Dengue Woman Blues" by Jimmie Vaughan
"Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line" by Waylon Jennings
"Beg, Borrow and Steal" by Rare Breed
"Tuxedo Junction" by Glenn Miller
"On the Road Again" by Canned Heat
"Mama Tried" by Merle Haggard
"Hellhound on My Trail" by Robert Johnson
"More Than a Feeling" by Boston
"Promontory" by Trevor Jones


The last one may not look familiar, but is quite well known. It is the full version of the song played during the last part of Last of the Mohicans when Hawkeye and Chingachgook opened up the can of whoopass on the Hurons.



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Bob Who?

It's been a couple of weeks since I have (metaphorically speaking) taken pen in hand and posted anything.
The past couple of weeks around this area have been sort of strange; usually we go right from winter into summer; cold and snowy to hot and dry. This year we are experiencing a strange phenomenon know to other parts of the country as Spring. We used to have those here, but not since I was a kid. It is hard getting used to it again. It has rained damn near every day lately, and the temperatures have been pleasantly cool (fifties at night, sixties during the day). The rain has been fleeting, with a fair amount of sunshine, so the flora around here seems to be on steroids.
I seem to be alternating between weeding and pruning part of the day, and laid up with a bad back or shoulder the rest of the time. Hopefully I'll get a little more time to do more, but that's about it for now. Now for a whole bunch of sappy botanical photographs:


Zucchini



Some tomatoes



Chiles



The tops of Egyptian onions; each bulb will grow into another onion, just plant them when harvesting the plant.



One of my wife's favorite things




Geraniums



Miniature roses, only an inch in diameter



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Good to see that the Associated Press is on top of the important news. If the President ever stopped suddenly it would take a whole team of proctologists to remove the reporters that seem to worship him and hang on everything he does.

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Interesting times in Iran; IMHO there is either going to be a regime change, or the government is going to take advantage of the unrest to get an iron-clad grip on the country. The ones who pay, of course, are the ones who just want a little freedom. Any society that gives governmental powers to religion is never going to be free; there must be a separation.

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If you don't like political rants, skip this section.


Looks as if the feds are trying to make the majority of folding knives illegal in this country; it's bad enough they try backdoor tactics to try and come down on legal firearm owners, now they worry about whether a knife can be opened with one hand or not. Neither firearm control nor "knife control" has a damn thing to do with fighting crime or public safety; they're just another way to control people. We wouldn't want the serfs to think they could take care of themselves, after all. Seems like every time we get a new president (of either party), their administration wants to squeeze the Bill of Rights a little more. And all the sheep in this country just chew their cud and go along with it, and don't even bother bleating as long as they get "free" stuff from the federal government. The fact that all the "free" stuff comes out of someone else's pocket doesn't concern them. Too many people are buying into the bullshit that the government will take care of you and protect you, just as long as you obey them and never question their judgment. Ask some of my acquaintances who grew up in the USSR how that was. Right now the government is getting it's fingers into the business world, clamping down on people's rights, and doing it all on borrowed money. At this rate the POTUS and his bunch are going to make an even bigger mess of this country than Bush did, and that takes some real doing.
Just my opinion.


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I've listened to quite a bit of music while being stuck inside during the rainy weather. No real pattern here, some old, some new, some upbeat, others melancholy.

"Goin' Through the Motions" by Blue Öyster Cult
"Number" by Cross Canadian Ragweed
"As Tears Go By" by Marianne Faithfull
"Baker Street" by Gerry Rafferty
"Honky Tonkin'" by Hank Williams
"Devil With A Blue Dress On & Good Golly Miss Molly" by Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels
"The Pusher" by Steppenwolf
"Domino" by Van Morrison
"Cruisin'" by Vixen
"Werewolves of London" by Warren Zevon

Here's a couple of the oldies:

No dance would have been complete without at least one or two of Mitch Ryder's hits.




The song was written by Mick Jagger, but his girlfriend here is the one that made it popular.