Is it Bigfoot?

From the Odd News Department:

** THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CANNOT AUTHENTICATE THE CONTENT OF THESE IMAGES ** This image provided Monday, Oct. 29, 2007 by hunter Rick Jacobs shows an image taken by a camera with an automatic trigger set up in Pennsylvania's Allegheny National Forest on Sept. 16, 2007. The only thing certain about the critter photographed by a hunter's camera is that some people have gotten the notion it could be a Sasquatch, or bigfoot. Others say it's just a bear with a bad skin infection. (AP Photo/Rick Jacobs)

I'm no wildlife expert but it just doesn't look like a bear to me. I think the legs look way too long to be a bear. There's not a lot in the "mystery picture" to give an idea of scale but what bothers me is that the legs appear so long in proportion to the rest of the body. So I looked around the net and found these pictures of standing bears - see what you think.

Black Bear

Brown Bear

Grizzly Bear

.

.

(this one is stuffed - apparently when a Grizzly rears nobody stays close enough to get a photograph of it)

Kodiak Bear

and just for good measure a Polar Bear

Hey, I know this not my normal [political] kind of post but it's a weird time of year. Tell me what you think.

Fred vs Rudy - ontheissues.org

This information is from ontheissues.org
They list Fred Thompson as a "Moderate Conservative" and Rudy Guliani as "Moderate Libertarian Conservative"

Here are some one-line summaries of statements the fellas have made on four issues:Abortion, Gun Control, Immigration and War & Peace. Go to each man's ontheissues.org page to get the full quotes they made on these issues. I have put my opinion of the candidate's stance in italics following each set of issue statements.

Fred Thompson on Abortion:
Roe v. Wade was bad law and bad science. (Jun 2007)
Appoint strict constructionist judges. (Jun 2007)
Has never been pro-choice despite 1994 news reports. (Jun 2007)
Voted YES on maintaining ban on Military Base Abortions. (Jun 2000)
Voted YES on banning partial birth abortions. (Oct 1999)
Voted YES on banning human cloning. (Feb 1998)
Fred is strong Pro-Life.

Rudy Guliani on Abortion:
Ultimate decision by woman, her conscience & her doctor. (Aug 2007)
Allowing choice keeps government out of people's lives. (May 2007)
Seek bipartisan ways to reduce abortion & increase adoption. (May 2007)
Giuliani donated to Planned Parenthood throughout 1990s. (May 2007)
Ok to repeal Roe v. Wade, but ok to view it as precedent too. (May 2007)
Allow states to fund or not fund abortion. (May 2007)
Encourage adoptions; ban partial-birth abortion. (May 2007)
Embryonic stem cell research ok if limited properly. (May 2007)
FactCheck: Encouraged adoptions; but over-stated results. (May 2007)
Pro-choice; no ban on partial-birth abortions. (Dec 1999)
Rudy is Pro-Choice but is trying to appear "centrist".

Fred Thompson on Gun Control:
Allowing concealed carry could have limited VA Tech massacre. (Apr 2007)
Voted NO on background checks at gun shows. (May 1999)
Voted NO on more penalties for gun & drug violations. (May 1999)
Voted YES on loosening license & background checks at gun shows. (May 1999)
Voted YES on maintaining current law: guns sold without trigger locks. (Jul 1998)
Fred is a strong supporter of the Second Amendment.

Rudy Guliani on Gun Control:
Focus on criminals, not on guns. (Sep 2007)
NYC gun control laws made NYC safest big city in US. (Sep 2007)
Gun control reduces urban crime; no effect on hunting. (Feb 2007)
NYC sued two dozen major gun manufacturers and distributors. (Jun 2000)
All gun owners should pass written test. (Mar 2000)
Rudy supports Gun Control.

Fred Thompson on Immigration:
Opposes amnesty in any form. (Jun 2007)
Nation loses sovereignty if it cannot secure its own borders. (Apr 2007)
Voted YES on allowing more foreign workers into the US for farm work. (Jul 1998)
Voted YES on visas for skilled workers. (May 1998)
Voted YES on limit welfare for immigrants. (Jun 1997)
Fred is a supporter of Border Security (but he could have done better).

Rudy Guliani on Immigration:
Declared NYC a sanctuary city, and crime fell. (Sep 2007)
Need tamper-proof IDs, and database for immigrants. (Jun 2007)
Reform bill fails to document who left US and who's here. (Jun 2007)
Shouldn't be debating LEGAL immigration, only ILLEGAL. (Jun 2007)
Allow immigrants to work, with tamper-proof ID cards. (May 2007)
Change rule barring immigrants from running for president. (May 2007)
Supports Senate guest worker plan & path to citizenship. (Nov 2006)
Rudy seems to support Border Security but he needs to understand - there is no such thing as "tamper-proof" only "tamper-resistant".

Fred Thompson on War and Peace:
I would do essentially what the president's doing in Iraq. (Jun 2007)
Take any chance to not get run out of Iraq. (Jun 2007)
Internationalizing war effort will not win the war. (Jun 2007)
President must decide on war based on unclear evidence. (Jun 2007)
Prophets of doom are wrong--we can't cut-and-run. (Jun 2007)
Goal of Iraqi enemies is to demoralize us. (Jun 2007)
Serious & painful international sanctions on nuclear Iran. (Jun 2007)
Voted YES on authorizing use of military force against Iraq. (Oct 2002)
Voted YES on allowing all necessary force in Kosovo. (May 1999)
Voted NO on authorizing air strikes in Kosovo. (Mar 1999)
Voted YES on ending the Bosnian arms embargo. (Jul 1995)
Condemns anti-Muslim bigotry in name of anti-terrorism. (Oct 2001)
Move the US Embassy to Jerusalem. (Nov 1995)
Fred is strong on finishing the job we started in Iraq.

Rudy Guliani on War and Peace:
We've never won a war while discussing how to retreat. (Sep 2007)
Negotiate with Iran, but fully prepared for force. (Sep 2007)
Winning in Iraq is one battle in overall terrorist war. (Aug 2007)
Keep option open to attack Al Qaeda in Pakistan unilaterally. (Aug 2007)
Iran's danger is handing nukes over to terrorists. (Jun 2007)
Keep option for tactical nukes to prevent Iranian nukes. (Jun 2007)
Take on nation-building in Iraq, to reduce US terrorism risk. (Jun 2007)
Democrat timetable for retreat "fundamentally irresponsible". (May 2007)
We did not invite the 9/11 attack by attacking Iraq. (May 2007)
FactCheck: Did say GOP is fundamentally irresponsible on war. (May 2007)
Only thing worse than invading Iran is Iran having nukes. (May 2007)
Withdrawal from Iraq encourages future terror attacks. (Nov 2006)
Liberating the Iraqis is something we should be proud of. (Aug 2004)
The terrorists have heard from us. (Aug 2004)
Removing Saddam needed to be accomplished. (Aug 2004)
You are either with civilization or with terrorism. (Oct 2001)
No need to understand reasons for terrorism-just stop them. (Oct 2001)
Iraq: More inspections; counter OPEC’s oil production cuts. (Feb 2000)
Rudy is strong on finishing the job we started in Iraq.

Fred is looking better to me but I'm not quite ready to join the Friends of Fred just quite yet.

Do you feel lucky?

I don't know if this guy honestly is THE LUCKIEST PERSON ALIVE but I'm betting he's in the top five.

Listen to what the man says when the reporter interviews him at the end of the film clip.

Life in the Valley

Here's a joke I saw in a local freebie newspaper. It is so appropriate for the valley.

A Highway Patrolman pulled a car over and told the driver that because he had been wearing his seat belt, he had just won $5,000 in the statewide safety competition.
"What are you going to do with the money?" asked the policeman.
"Well, I guess I'm going to get a driver's license." he answered.
"Oh, don't listen to him," yelled a woman in the passenger seat. "He's a smart aleck when he's drunk."
This woke up the guy in the back seat who took one look at the cop and moaned, "I knew we wouldn't get far in a stolen car."
At that moment, there was a knock from the trunk and a voice said, in Spanish, "Are we over the border yet?"

Yup, art imitates life.

Political Bliss, Logistical Nightmare

Since my good friends Johnny & Amanda have moved to California, I have been forced to re-think my opinion of "Californians". While searching the internet "to see if there's any more gold in them thar hills", I ran across the blog California Conservatives for Truth .

It looks like it was a good site but, sadly, it appears that it hasn't been updated in over a year. But, true to my mission, I scanned through the archives to get an eye for the content - it does have a lot of links - I gotta give 'em that.

Anyway, I found a humorous piece that the blog author pulled from dumblaws.com :

Idiots may not vote.

CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO
ADOPTED JANUARY 21, 1911
Article VII. Elective Franchise
Section 1. [Qualifications of voters; absentee voting; school elections; registration.]

Every citizen of the United States, who is over the age of twenty-one years, and has resided in New Mexico twelve months, in the county ninety days, and in the precinct in which he offers to vote thirty days, next preceding the election, except idiots, insane persons and persons convicted of a felonious or infamous crime unless restored to political rights, shall be qualified to vote at all elections for public officers. The legislature may enact laws providing for absentee voting by qualified electors. All school elections shall be held at different times from other elections.

Personally, I think this law is a great idea but it presents a logistical nightmare. To be able to justy say that idiots cannot vote, you would be faced with the monumental task of getting the idiots out of Congress. I have to agree with Mark Twain on this one: "Reader, suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself." [Mark Twain, c.1882] Some people would say that this would extend to the White House but George Bush is no idiot. Crazy like a fox, maybe, but not an idiot.

Border Fence Update

Checking back over my blog I realized that there are quite a few "loose ends" that I needed to "tie up". So here's a quick update on the one of the local "hot button" issues.

The Border Fence. Private citizens are taking action (and actually accomplishing something) here and here . Here is a good example of a low tech fence actually working. Where is the high tech "virtual fence" we've heard will solve our problems? After Boeing "reported it solved most of the computer glitches" (famous last words) it will finally begin testing a section of virtual fence in Arizona later this month.

"But a fence sends the wrong message" , you say? Really? Here is an example of three wanted sex offenders that were nabbed as they came through border check points. With completely open borders, these fellows (and other sex offenders) will be able to sneak into the country undetected. By further closing our porous southern border, we increase our chances at catching these scum bags.

And agents at border crossings continue to find marijuana and cocaine (the pot was in a charter bus).

Locally we won't have to worry about the "ominous shadows" of an actual border fence for quite some time to come (if ever) because some boneheaded bureaucrat planned the fence to cut through the middle of Brownsville, TX. This would have put part of the UT-Brownsville campus south of the fence.

More updates on other stuff later.

Bookshelf

Way back in July our good friends John and Amanda moved to California. The most I could do was help them pack the truck the Tuesday before they left. Owing to space considerations in the truck (and because I'm such a book nut) my buddy John gave me one of his bookcases.

The next day, another buddy of mine, Dennis, got the bookcase here with only a couple of drops of rain on it while I got turned around and drove through the rain.

Ever since it got here, the bookcase has been sitting in the middle of my office, waiting for me to figure out:
1) How am I going to rearrange my books,
2) Where exactly am I going to put the bookcase and
3) Should I go ahead and bring more books from storage or just rearrange what I already have here?

(The mess in my office is a post for another day) but while trying to "sort" books (with the help of goodreads) I had an epiphany.

"The apple does not fall far from the tree" - my daughter is just as bad about book collecting as I am. Now the bookcase sits in my daughter's room (its the tall one) and it is now home to a several of her series of books and quite a few stuffed animals. The best part of this is that stuffed animals are light enough that they can "live" almost anywhere so my daughter can use this for books for quite some time to come.

THANK YOU JOHNNY!!!

Okay. Here it is. The long-awaited "Blog Action Day" post.

1) Plant a tree.

2) Give yourself a hug.

Don't you feel better?

Where's George?

So I got a 20 dollar bill out of the ATM at the bank the other day. I registered at Where's George? and listed the bil. Where's George? told me:

This bill has travelled 466 Miles in 1 Yr, 199 Days, 7 Hrs, 40 Mins at an average of 0.83 Miles per day. It is now 466 Miles from its starting location.

I'll spend it in a few days and then check back on it in a week or so.

A sign?

I reward myself for getting up early by going to "Sixbucks" and right after I ordered something with the word "latte" in it, a woman walks back in with her coffee and says "I think your milk is spoiled."

Oh well, so far, so good. We'll see how the rest of this "Friday the 12th" turns out. :-)

John Glenn vs Howard Metzenbaum

I'm sure many of you have seen this email but, if you haven't I'll let you in on it since I seem to get all sorts of interesting stuff from my friends (if you have my email address and you aren't sending me interesting stuff, this is a hint :-)

While the heart of the email is true, parts of it are just plain wrong. Let me show you the good stuff and then let you know what got embellished and/or changed. The point here is that many times those on the far left are so outrageous in their statements that there is no need for us to embellish the truth.

From the email:

Some people still don't understand why military personnel do what they do for a living. This exchange between Senators John Glenn and Senator Howard Metzenbaum is worth reading. Not only is it a pretty impressive impromptu speech, but it's also a good example of one man's explanation of why men and women in the armed services do what they do for a living.

This IS a typical, though sad, example of what some who have never served think of the military.

Senator Metzenbaum (speaking to Senator Glenn):"How can you run for Senate when you've never held a real job?"

Senator Glenn (D-Ohio):"I served 23 years in the United States Marine Corps. I served through two wars. I flew 149 missions. My plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire on 12 different occasions. I was in the space program.

It wasn't my checkbook, Howard; it was my life on the line. It was not a nine-to-five job, where I took time off to take the daily cash receipts to the bank.

I ask you to go with me ... as I went the other day... to a veteran's hospital and look those men - with their mangled bodies - in the eye, and tell them they didn't hold a job! You go with me to the Space Program at NASA and go, as I have gone, to the widows and Orphans of Ed White, Gus Grissom and Roger Chaffee... and you look those kids in the eye and tell them that their DADS didn't hold a job.

You go with me on Memorial Day and you stand in Arlington National Cemetery, where I have more friends buried than I'd like to remember, and you watch those waving flags.

You stand there, and you think about this nation, and you tell me that those people didn't have a job? I'll tell you, Howard Metzenbaum; you should be on your knees every day of your life thanking God that there were some men - some men - who held real jobs. And they required a dedication to a purpose - and a love of country and a dedication to duty - that was more important than life itself. And their self-sacrifice is what made this country possible.

I have held a job, Howard! What about you?"

For those who don't remember - During W.W.II, Howard Metzenbaum was an attorney representing the Communist Party in the USA.
Now he's a Senator!
If you can read this, thank a teacher. If you are reading it in English thank a Veteran.

Supposedly this took place as an exchange between Senators Metzenbaum and Glenn (both Democrats btw) on the Senate floor January 26, 2004.

Now the entire truth (according to truthorfiction.com's answer ) is a bit different but for those of us who are concerned about truth, I think it is important.

The email says that Glenn's reply is "a pretty impressive impromptu speech". The truth is that it is impressive even though it was not improptu. Also it did not happen in 2004 and it did not happen on the Senate floor.

From truthorfiction.com:

"It happened during the campaign debate in 1974 when Metzenbaum was running for reelection and Glenn was challenging him. Metzenbaum made a widely publicized statement that said that Glenn had never met a payroll (he didn't actually say that he'd never held a real job). In other words, Glenn had been a military man not a businessman, like Metzenbaum, who had created a major newspaper and a nation-wide parking company."

So, this was a prepared speech from Glenn, a very respectable man that, if I'm understanding this correctly, wasn't yet a Senator.

Also truthorfiction.com mentions that they can find no evidence that Metzenbaum was ever a "lawyer for the communist party". I also checked out wikipedia's article on Metzenbaum, and, even though wikipedia can "tend towards the left" (but that's another post) they will, from what I can tell, include any skeletons in the closet of public figures. btw, Metzenbaum did support Glenn for the presidency in 1983.

Once more, what is the point? The point is this - Senator Howard Metzenbaum implied that being prepared to die for the cause of freedom was not as significant as "making a payroll".

But you say "He said this in 1974 - why do I care in 2007?" One simple reason. We. Are. At. War. But you say "I don't see any invading armies, I don't see this "war on terror", it's just a political ploy." Let me tell you, you have the right to express your opinion - that is one of the great things about the United States of America. Do you know why you have that right?

You have the right to express your idiotic, namby-pamby little opinions because of people who were prepared to die for the cause of freedom, that's why.

Don't dare ever forget that.

Don't dare let your children forget.

Blog Action Day (BAD) Reminder

Today I received an email from "The Blog Action Day Team" (BAD Team) Now Blog Action Day (BAD) is up to "over 7,500 bloggers!" so i guess it really is officially a "movement".

The email contains a link to another Blog Action Day (BAD) video and a "What Type of Blogger Are You? " quiz.

Here is my badge for taking the quiz




It says I'm a "Purist" b/c I have no ads (i'm in this for the sheer joy, not the money) an "Expert" b/c I've been doing this over a year and I'm involved in more than one blog and "Undiscovered" because I don't have 1000's of readers.

This is so par for the course. The fact that it's only a "quiz" (not a test) let's you know this is gonna be pretty unscientific but the fact that the answers are given as extremes is exactly what one would expect from alarmist environmentalists who would rather "have a movement" than pay attention to the facts.

A few facts:

On at least two occassions (one known as the Medieval Warm Period and one as the Holocene Thermal Maximum ) the planet has been significantly warmer than it is now. And you know what? The polar bears did just fine. (they're still here, aren't they)

Oh well, if you're still having trouble sleeping because of your imagined "environmental guilt" then go buy yourself some Carbon credits.

(um, if buying Carbon credits actually helps you sleep better then maybe you need some professional help :-)

Even MORE book stuff

More booksites that I am still checking out (in alphabetical order):

http://bookins.com/ - a bookswap site "Every book you get is $4.49 regardless of weight"

http://www.booksfree.com/ - "Paperback and audiobook rental service...starting at $9.99 a month" On one of the goodreads.com discussion groups somebody described this site as functioning "like Netflix for books"

http://www.bookswim.com/ - bills itself as "the first online BOOK RENTAL LIBRARY CLUB lending you paperbacks and hardcovers directly to your house WITHOUT THE NEED TO PURCHASE!" but their website is still in beta testing and they only claim 150,000 books

http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/ebooks/ - "Free ebook Library for the Microsoft Reader and palm"

http://books.google.com/books?hl=en - Google has this in beta testing. Every time you refresh it randomizes a new selection of books. I like it and i haven't even really used it yet. (i could spend way too much time just surfing book titles)

http://www.mobipocket.com/ - ebooks - "39,000+ Premium titles, 10,000 free ebooks" and other cool stuff. I spent a little while scanning the free titles and while most of what i saw could be subtitled "If you're having trouble sleeping, read this" there is bound to be some good stuff in there. Wait there's "Treasure Island", "The Life of Buffalo Bill Cody", "Robin Hood", "Last of the Mohicans", "Pride and Prejudice", "The Raven" and hmm - Filosofia Fundamental, Volumen III. As yet i don't have anything that handles "mobi' files and i'm still not ready to spring for a Palm Pilot but this would go a long way toward giving me an excuse....

http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page - Project Gutenberg "The first producer of free ebooks"

Of course I have to mention the one book club that I have come closest to joining (on several occasions, in fact) http://www.conservativebookclub.com/ -

"Get 3 books for $1 each"

"1000's of conservative titles"


i might join just to get this book :-)

Book stuff

One of my favorite sites on the web is goodreads - thank you Manda!

Goodreads has a lot of cool features (plus it's free!!!) and they are making improvements all the time. I'm in 3 discussion groups right now and the one that I think is the most fun is "Book Buying Addicts Anonymous". No, I didn't start the group, but I could have.

One of our discussions has been "where do you get books cheap?" and (even though I haven't completely checked these sites out yet) here are (in alpha order) some of the online sources that people have mentioned.

http://www.abebooks.com/ - Mentioned as a great way to connect with independent booksellers
http://www.bookcloseouts.com/
http://bookmooch.com/ - Give away books, get points, ask for books from other people using your points
http://www.fictionwise.com/ebooks/freebooks.htm - supposed to be a great way to get "free e-books" but I'm still reading the fine print. That and the fact that I haven't yet decided if I want to try "e-books" or not. Part of me finds the concept somehow "Orwellian" and part of me is afraid that I will go absolutely nutso for "e-books". You know, something like "Reports are coming in of a strange man running around the airport screaming 'Do you see this i-pod? i have the every book on the first floor of the Library of Congress on this i-pod and you can't have it!"
http://www.frugalreader.com/ - another bookswapping site
http://www.halfpricebooks.com/
http://www.paperbackswap.com/ - "Currently free" bookswapping site that uses the 'send a book, get a book' idea. They claim over 1.6 million books available at this time
http://www.poshpoints.com/ - this is sort of "e barter" - they trade a lot more than books
http://www.titletrader.com/
http://whatsonmybookshelf.com/ - a smaller relatively new site still in the beta stage

And of course I would be remiss if I didn't mention that bookswapping is facilitated on goodreads.com by allowing you to mark "I have a copy that I'd like to swap" any time that you rate or review a book.

This of course is not intended as any "exhaustive" list (amazon, borders and ebay all go without saying, you know) but these are sites that have been listed in our online discussion. Enjoy.

Just for fun

Yes, the last couple blogs have been a little "heavy" (but life's like that) so let's lighten things up for a little bit.

Here is "Baby Got Book" - a funny and "safe" vid about girls who have big Bibles. It uses the tune from "Baby Got Back"



The Interactive LED Coffee Table Demo



Space Toilet



and finally "Will It Blend - Chuck Norris". We showed this one at Youth Group last week and the kids thought that it was a hoot.



Have fun.

Illegal Immigration and the Environment

I would like to post a slew of pictures of the littered Arizona border and the other evidence of "destruction of the environment" that I have seen at times on the net. Unfortunately, it seems that I'm not hitting the right search terms today.

Here is one interesting pic that I was able to find (found it here - Coalition Against Illegal Immigration CAII). Can you see where the man is pointing? It says

.

"All persons and vehicles must enter the United States at a designated port of entry only. This is NOT a designated port of entry. Any person or vehicle entering at this point is in violation of 19 USC 1459 and or 19 USC 1433 and is subject to a $5,000.00 penalty".

.

And then the whole thing is written in Spanish. I can't see the whole sentence before "U.S. Customs Service" (the man's arm is in the way) but the translation of the Spanish is

"All vehicles and merchandise that enter here will be confiscated"

So, according to this, the minimum penalty for illegal border crossing is five grand plus you lose your vehicle and any stuff that you are carrying.

.

Now I know they'll never pay the fines but just for fun let's do the math. $5000 times 12 million illegal aliens (conservative estimate) works out to $60,000,000,000.00 - that's sixty billion (yes, with a "b") dollars. So even if only 12 million of all the illegals currently in the country paid the fine, that would go a healthy distance toward off-setting some of the free goods and services that they are receiving, thanks to our tax dollars. Good grief, healthcare and education alone have to be astronomical costs.

.

Oh look, I hardly even mentioned the poor 'ole little "environment". Too bad.

Thompson vs Dobson ?

I was kinda stunned when I saw this article on NewsMax. Hopefully this will turn out to be nothing more than "grist for the mill" and not actually a serious conflict between two men that I respect.

Environmental blogging - 2nd Amendment Style

Well let's see how this "environmental" stint goes. I'm going to try to write blog entries (for a few days at least) about "the environment" but put my own "2nd amendment spin" on it. Now that I think about it, the phrase "Second Amendment Spin" sounds like a fun way to say "rifling".

In just a few minutes (with the help my favorite search engine) I located this shocking evidence of environmental pollution.

Air pollution Senegal, 2005

The is a horrible example of wanton disregard for public safety (in the form of air pollution and toxic gases) in the Phillipines, 2007.

This is a picture of children in Sri Lanka in 2005 being encouraged to build fires and create unhealthy air pollution.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

This is air pollution in Uganda. Note that several of these fires have not even been "contained" in a fire retardant bunker but have merely been set ablaze where a child could easily run into them.

.

This smaller picture (the tower of burning guns) is more air pollution in Rio de Janiero.

.

.

.

.

But if anybody should be outraged over all this needless air pollution, it should be the people of Cambodia.

Air pollution Siem Reng, Cambodia

Air pollution Kampon Thon, Cambodia, 2004

Air pollution Stung Treng, Cambodia 2003

Air pollution Kampot, Cambodia 2003

From

http://www.iansa.org/

"[Locals surrendered] weapons to the local authorities in exchange for 20 community-owned water wells."

The iansa (International Action Network on Small Arms) has been a long time supporter of the "air pollution for clean drinking water" exchange program. Even when not using some excuse like "clean wells" the iansa has been working hard to spread air pollution to many third world countries.

Haven't these people ever heard of Al Gore? Put out the fires already, the planet is hot enough!

Of course I am expressing my opinion very tongue in cheek. I am much more worried about an international organization that wants to take away a woman's right to defend herself (iansa) than I am about a little air pollution. And the whole "guns are evil" idea does nothing to help us teach the next generation about personal responsibility.

Thank God for the Second Amendment, I'll see you at the range!

All I got was a lousy PG?

When I told the "Rating Widget" to rate my blog it gave me a PG and said that it was based on the appearance of the following words:

gun (7 times)

kill (1 time)

Well obviously I'm not talking enough about the SECOND AMENDMENT. Yes, sweetheart, the first amendment gives you the right to call the President a fathead (or whatever). But (while you are harping about your favorite section of the Bill of Rights) don't forget that it's the Second Amendment that guarantees that you can keep the other nine amendments.

Blog Action Day (BAD)

Just in case you haven't heard yet, let me tell you what's going to happen on October 15.

Its the First, Annual, International, BLOG ACTION DAY. What is Blog Action Day (BAD) you say? I'm so glad you asked. This is when everybody who participates in the whole ever lovin' blogosphere is supposed to get our collective knickers in a knot about the [insert favorite adjective] environment. Right now they claim to have 6,475 blogs with a "readership" on this issue of over 4.4 million people. Using their exact numbers I crunched it and got just a hair over 690 readers per blog. Interesting...

When you go to pretty much any place on the blogosphere, what do you see but links and links to other blogs. And what are many blog posts about? Reading other blogs! So how many "unique" readers do you think we're actually talking about? More on that later.

On the Blog Action Day (BAD) websites ( http://blogactionday.com/ and http://blogactionday.org/ ) they give you an opportunity to participate. They encourage you to "Register your Blog". Ostensibly this would be so that you (as a "concerned blogger" or some such rot) could be kept "in the loop" with new and exciting "blog action items" on the environment, right? Nah, it says right on the page where you register that

The readership figure is purely for the purpose of generating an exciting statistic!

In other words pay no attention to these statistics - they're meaningless! WHAT???? Environmentalists with meaningless statistics???? Frankly, I'm shocked.

[If you haven't picked up on my sarcasm yet then I'm just not trying hard enough]

But even a cynic like myself has to admit that these Blog Action Day (BAD) people are thoughtful. Why they've even included a way for me to prove my "personhood". Right on the form to register it says

Are you human? Please type '210'

And let's not forget the importance of "warm fuzzies". These Blog Action Day (BAD) people know how important the environment is to me - the button at the bottom of the registration page doesn't say "register" or "submit" - no no - it says "Make a Difference". So, in some inexplicable way, just by giving my email address to the Blog Action Day (BAD) people, I have "Made a Difference" [i think i feel a tear welling up]

And, gosh those Blog Action Day (BAD) people are tech-saavy. They even have a Blog Action Day (BAD) video posted on youtube. click for BAD video

Al Gore, living proof that the Oscars are motivated by art, not politics (HAHAHAHA - well I tried to say that with a straight face) must be very proud of his Blog Action Day (BAD) friends. They are working so hard to make everybody get really "conscious" about the environment.
Now those of us who were too young to "make a difference" at the original (1970) Earth Day can be on the ground floor of a "movement".

This will really give me a chance to stretch my satirical muscles, so to speak. There is so much raw comedic material to work with - I think I'm going to enjoy this ;-)