October, 2005 October 01, 2005 Dead deer and three way marriage    At first, it was just a guy, dressed like a doctor, driving an ambulance reported stolen But the dead deer with an IV made it weird    Yep, 'takes all kinds.    First three way marriage in Holland is performed. Civil Union actually, but now the relationship between a man and two 'wives' is legally recognized in the tiny (and low) European country.    Look at the photo, does the groom not look like Dr. Evil??? October 03, 2005 An eyewitness account of a public stoning of a woman in a Muslim country. She was convicted of the crime of adultery.    Note: it is a horrific account. Do not read it unless you want nightmares.    Since the movie Sideways brought so much notoriety to the local area, the county put together a website with Sideways information. the sideways map has information on the locals shown in the movie. The Hitching Post got huge advertisement value when it was featured so prominently in the movie Sideways. Now I include it so you can read about it some.    Since we are talking up Sideways some, I thought it might be fun to put links to some of the big nice wineries that are in the local area. CambriaWinery Gainey Vineyards FIRESTONE VINEYARD Fess Parker Winery & Vineyard October 04, 2005 Du bist Albrecht Dürer    When I was a young kid I was raised with the old American work ethic that actually had much of it's roots based deep in the old Prussian/Germanic concepts of morality, family and working hard and honestly for family and society. This concept took hold in the USA with a vengeance, yet after WWII in Germany the liberal concepts of social reform and 'looking after others' took precedence over working hard. Hard work was rewarded with punitive progressive taxation, and the worker saw his labor going to reward the welfare system and it's layabouts and the administrators of the system who have much to lose if their 'clients' became productive citizens. For several decades now Germany has been mired in liberal idealism, fighting to show itself more 'progressive' than the highly vaunted Scandinavian societies (to whom they have always felt a little inferior in a racial sense). Now the German economy is in the doldrums with massive unemployment, high taxes, and a raft of people unable to resign themselves to working for about the same amount they would get on welfare.    This is a system that the old Prussian dictators would see as intolerable, and in the old days they would line a few thousand people up to walls and have them shot, and the rest of the population would see the value in 'honorable work', the economy would rebound, the people would be happy workers, and society and the state would benefit. But now the liberal societies are having to perform a re-molding of character with a massive public relations and information campaign. This campaign is called You are the wings! You are the tree! You are Germany!    I support the German government in this endeavor, Germany needs reforming, and the German character needs to find itself again. So long after the ruins of WWII have been scattered, and the smoking ashes have gone cold, still the ravages of that great conflict to liberate the people are causing suffering. This is the way of all wars, and Iraq will be no different.    This is a little bit I took from the article.     Optimism and confidence are based on the principle of achievement, which the campaign constantly calls upon. People who are confident that their efforts are constructive in some way create self-confidence, they are, as the campaign demands, prepared to take risks, they are mobile and flexible. But this is an experience many Germans have been incapable of having for a very long time. The principle of achievement is being overridden. There are - as everyone knows - too few jobs which allow people to prove their mettle and move upwards. Alternative job structures are at a very rudimentary level still, aside from the black market. And even among the employed there is a widespread suspicion that the future is in no way dependant on how hard you slog. In a situation like this, a call to give yourself a kick up the arse and start ripping up trees means little more than a call to vandalism. Because ripping up trees as a metaphor for performance no longer has much currency in most people's lives.    If liberalism gives us the ruined economies of Western Europe and the obliteration of the work ethic and defilement of the environment as happened in Eastern Europe, it is a wonder that there are people in this country who espouse liberalism.    Thankfully we have not yet totally succumbed to these concepts, I hope we never do.    If you wish to see the German Version for the internet of the campaign click here. I did, and I must admit, it made me miss Germany some. October 05, 2005 chili is life    Chili, dang. Now that's a dish that can get people all heated up and hot under the collar. I like chili almost as much as I like a good menudo!    I like both dishes when they get me just a little flushed and sweaty on my face. Nothing like a good bowl of menudo on a Sunday morning, with fresh cilantro, chili peppers, chopped onions and lemon all added to the mix.    The folks in Texas take the top honors in Chili history, and rightly so I say. But this area has chili competitions also, and some friends of mine won the local competition some years ago. They won't divulge the recipe though. Such recipes are family 'secrets' passed on and sworn to secrecy. And I don't drink enough to be able to get them to reveal the secret to me while I am still cognizant enough to remember it.    For a good link to the history of chili click here. Very informative reading with the history of chili, and a ton of recipe links.     While I'm on the subject of good food, and have menudo in mind (if not in stomach), I thought I'd look up some menudo recipes on the internet, and here are a few... menudo recipe 1 menudo recipe 2 menudo recipe 3     I must admit that I myself have never made menudo, just eaten what others have made for me. The best I have ever eaten was from my buddy T Ramos who is widely famous around here for the best menudo he makes for the local Elks Lodge in Santa Maria. He has told me he'd give me the recipe, and I promised to give him some batches of cactus leaves (which I did). But he has yet to give me the recipe (hint, hint). He said the real secret is to clean the tripe well. Yep, ol' Tommy's menudo is the best around. October 06, 2005 We were so poor, we couldn't even pay attention! ADHD in the news, it's positives examined.     The Swedish Medical Center also has a small article on ADHD. It also lists some positive attributes of ADHD including:    1. Boundless energy and enthusiasm People with ADHD frequently have the energy and stamina to persist with sports and other demanding activities without slowing down or losing strength.    2. Innovative thinking People with ADHD, who often feel less bound by rules and tried procedures, frequently are able to "think out of the box" and come up with inventive solutions. Albert Einstein is thought to have had ADHD.    3. Curiosity People with ADHD frequently are more curious than others. Their tendency and ability to hyperfocus impels them to ferret out information and details in a wide variety of areas.    4. Emotional intuition People with ADHD feel their emotions strongly and often have an uncanny ability to be "in touch" with their emotions, as well as the emotions of others.    5. Great memory for minute details While most of us tend to remember the big picture and forget the details, people with ADHD are just the opposite. Their exceptional recall for details makes them an asset on team projects.    6. Acceptance and forgiveness of others Perhaps because of their own trying social experiences, people with ADHD tend to be more accepting of others' foibles and more forgiving of others' mistakes.    7. Embracing risk and change People with ADHD are often more willing to take risks to achieve their goals. They are unafraid of change and enjoy the challenge of adapting to new ways of doing things.    8. Persistence People with ADHD bounce back more quickly, and more often, than most other people. When confronted with negative feedback or failure, they are more likely to persist in overcoming obstacles and criticisms.    9. Sociability Their energy, creativity, and love of excitement is a tremendous social asset. People with ADHD often find themselves motivating and energizing large groups of friends and co-workers.    10. Creativity Many people with ADHD are exceptionally creative and productive visual artists, performers, composers, and writers. Beethoven and Mozart are both believed to have had ADHD.    I've often felt that whatever your afflictions or abilities, you need to look at the positive side of the matter. And ADHD is perhaps a component of the Human Experience. It might be that in prehistoric times the ones with ADHD were the main food gatherers and hunters. They were the ones with the fearlessness to go into uncharted territory and explore. The ones with the 'jumpy' nerves, attuned to every little noise and smell in the environment. In such a set of circumstances ADHD would be a life saving attribute. It could be that in our modern world of frenzied plane flights, schedules and boring meetings that the positives of this condition are not apparent. But the same person bored in the meeting might in another job be the risk-taker, the visionary, the futurist who finds a new solution to an old problem. He might be the one to find a new product to bring to market, and a new way to market or utilize an old product.    Don't cry over the things that are not 'right' about you. Concentrate on making your unique and amazing abilities fit into this world in a different way. Use your God-given abilities to increase your productivity in a different way. It might be that the stale and stodgy office-place is not the place for you, management might not be able to utilize you to your full extent. You might need to take that jump of faith and go out on your own to 'knock-em-over' with your innovation.    The world is made up of all kinds of people, and we need them all, no value is to be discarded. That is the beauty and the value of life. Live it wisely. Love it fully. And give honor and glory to Him who gave it to you.    Interested in looking into symptoms of adult ADHD? here is a test you can do on yourself. As they state, a complete and proper diagnosis cannot be done online, but should be handled through competent medical clinicians.    Note that the site above seems to want to 'treat' this condition. I think drugs are not the way for this to be done in most circumstances. Like many 'ailments', ADHD is a back-handed gift. You just need to know your limitations, and be able to work at the areas you are deficient at, and let your high spirit carry you along the path of completion without drugs through self-visualization, and meditations to increase self-awareness.    I am glad that I was never diagnosed with ADHD as a child. The modern way of 'dealing' with this is to pump the person full of stimulants which has the opposite effect than it does with most people. Sure, drugs can help the person deal with the day to day realities of life, and permit an organized learning environment, but still you've got a person on heavy drugs. There is some evidence that ADHD people treated with Ritalin and other drugs tend to continue their drug use through adulthood, resorting to illegal drug use and the destruction such actions can have. I'd rather be a hyper person with twenty projects going at once than a druggy lazing about on the couch. At least this way I can work at whatever project I feel like doing at the time, and then I can put my full effort into it with due diligence. I always have something I can do, and rarely am bored.    The drug issue reminds me of a fellow I knew in another lifetime who told me "Reality is for people who can't handle drugs". October 08, 2005 You can have the internet when you pry it from my cold dead fingers    The united States started work on the development of the internet back in the late sixties as part of some 'Military Needs' requirements (many of our military needs become translated into American Commerce some years later). I guess Al Gore was part of this group, and was doubtless at the head of the table when the first ideas were issued. (He also was the inspiration for the movie 'Love Story').    The Commerce Department put huge amount of AMERICAN TAX DOLLARS into the implementation of the internet. And from the beginning the USA (as inventor) was the person all had to go to to get DNS root Servers (which allow you to type in www.rivenrock.com instead of the series of digits that the computers recognize). This is administered by a corporation called The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. They are also the ones who administer the Generic Top Level Domain Names (gTLD) such as .com, .org, and .net, and they recently instituted new ones such as aero, .biz, .coop, .info, .museum, .name, and .pro.. I really think they should have a .xxx, and make all the porn sites stay within that    Another group called Internet Assigned Numbers Authority has a similar assignment on this issue.    Well, now for some reason the UN (the same people who can't do anything right) want to control the world's internet. And they have all bunched up together to 'force' the USA to hand over control of the name servers to them.    While we're on this subject, the UN wants to change the name of ICANN to WICANN, or World Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. So could it be that there is a coven of witches behind all this?    The article states that A number of countries represented in Geneva, including Brazil, China, Cuba, Iran and several African states, insisted the US give up control, but it refused.    Now, correct me if I'm wrong (although I know I'm not) but aren't those countries some of the same ones that exercise 'TOTAL' control over their people? The same ones who have thousands of people who disappear each year, suspected of being taken by government forces? The same people who hate America so much that they can't see straight when they see a Yankee? The same ones accused of flagrant human rights violations, and refusing free speech among their dissidents? Oh darn, I could go on and on in my accusations against this gang of thugs (except for Brazil which is something of a moderate when compared to the rest).    And these folks want us to give up our control of the internet? What will they do when they see an American site that talks about human rights and denigrates totalitarian regimes? Will they shut such a site down? China controls the internet that reaches it's borders, and does so with the full complicity of Yahoo and Google. And Cuba and Iran, don't even get me started with them! And 'several African States', what the heck does that mean? Does that mean moderate and heaven-like African nations such as...umm, let me count such places in Africa...well, there's Namibia. And, well, that's about the only country in Africa that is a fairly safe, dignified, and democratic country not ruled by thugs or a theocracy, and has a stable economy and government. And I doubt Namibia was in on this batch of hooligan countries trying to wrest control of the internet from us. More likely is was Sudan, South Africa, Nigeria, Libya, Tunisia and Egypt.    And while I'm at it; why is it that the 'Former USSR' nations and 'several African states' are the leading sources of internet porn, scams, hoaxes and SPAM? Are these folks the ones we want controlling the same resource that our children use to do homework research from?    OK, I'll give up the internet when the UN comes to us and tells us they'll invade us if we don't give it up. And then they'll tell us again, and again. And then get a bit huffy and say 'this is the last time we're gonna tell ya to give it up". And then they'll sit there and wait some more, cause they are a bunch of leftist socialist Communist loving ^%$(*^ who need us to do all the butt kickin' while they allow 'Peace and Freedom Loving' nations like Algeria and Tanzania into the Security Council to veto anything we say while we provide the lions share of money to the UN. OK, I've blathered enough about this, here's the link to the news source. Breaking America's grip on the net Personally, I think the USA should tell the UN, "you can have control of the internet when you pry it from our cold dead fingers". Dycusburg Kentucky (started by an old relative of mine is having it's annual Autumn harvest Festival. I bet everyone in town (all twenty of them) will be showing up for the festival. Too bad drunkenness and running horses in town is illegal, those folks can't have any fun in their own town! October 10, 2005 What's Fair is Fair    A young woman was about to finish her first year of college. She considered herself to be a very liberal Democrat, but her father was a staunch Republican. One day she was challenging her father on his beliefs and his opposition to high taxes and welfare programs. He stopped her and asked how she was doing in school.    She answered that she had a 4.0 GPA, but it was really tough. She had to study all the time and never had time to go out and party. She didn't have time for a boyfriend and didn't really have many college friends because of spending all her time studying. On top of that, the part-time job her father insisted she keep left absolutely no time for anything else.    He asked, 'How is your friend Mary?' She replied that Mary was barely getting by. She had a 2.0 GPA, never studied, but was very popular on campus, didn't have a job, and went to all the parties. She was always complaining about not having any money, but didn't want to work. Why, she often didn't show up for classes because she was hung over.    Dad then asked his daughter why she didn't go to the Dean's office and request that 1.0 be taken off her 4.0 and given it to her friend who only had a 2.0. That way they would both have a respectable 3.0 GPA. Then, she could also give her friend half the money she'd earned from her job so that her friend would no longer be broke. The daughter angrily fired back, 'That wouldn't be fair. I worked really hard for my grades and money, and Mary just loafs. Why should her laziness and irresponsibility be rewarded with half of what I've worked for?' The father slowly smiled and said, 'Welcome to the Republican Party'." October 11, 2005 To Live is to Fly By The Cowboy Junkies Won't say I love you babe Won't say I need you babe But I'm going to get you babe and I will not do you wrong Living's mostly wasting time and I waste my share of mine but it never feels too good so let's not take too long You're as soft as glass and I'm a gentle man we got the sky to talk about and the world to lie upon Days up and down they come like rain on a conga drum forget most, remember some but don't turn none away Everything is not enough nothing is too much to bear where you been is good and gone all you keep's the getting there To live is to fly low and high so shake the dust off of your wings and the sleep out of your eyes It's goodbye to all my friends It's time to go again Think of all the poetry and the pickin' down the line I'll miss the system here the bottom's low and the treble's clear but it don't pay to think too much on the things you leave behind I may be gone but I won't be long I'll be bringing back the melody and the rhythms that I find We all got holes to fill and them holes are all that's real some fall on you like a storm sometimes you dig your own But choice is yours to make time is yours to take some dive into the sea some toil upon the stone To live is to fly low and high so shake the dust off of your wings the sleep out of your eyes Wild in the Woods    Have you ever thought of throwing all away and running off to the woods to live a primitive lifestyle? I did, but I never took the plunge, I thought that it would be tough to leave my family and head out into the woods where I'd never be able to get back to see them realistically. It is not like years ago when you could hunt the way out and back, now you need permits to live out, fees to pay, hunting licenses, and have to have your identification papers just in case you get confused with a crazy person. I settled for some hybrid existence, living on the edge of the wilderness, working in town, and selling our cactus in the most modern way possible, the internet. I am a man with one foot toeing into the primitive, but the other foot firmly planted in modern existence so that I can continue to please 'The Man' by paying taxes, permits and fees to be able to continue this modern life.    There are people who have chucked it all and lived in the woods, but I'd imagine most of them come back from that life, because there is not the tribe, the community to fall back on like there was in the old days. The realities are that it is not possible in this country to live a truly wild life with no risk of running afoul of the law by killing and eating some animal at a time of the year you are not supposed to. Even Ishi (one of my favorite heroes) could not live in the wilderness alone once all the people in his tribe had been killed.    There is an article I ran across that details some of the problems with the 'modern aborigine' existence that you can read here.    After reading the article I got interested in finding out if this fellow Brent Ladd was still living this kind of existence. Instead I found that like me, he had come back to civilization (although I never went NEAR as far out as he did) and is now involved with research through Purdue University. He also has a website called wildwayproductions.com where he gives courses and talks on wildland living and other ancient skills.    I think that like a lot of us, he tried different things through his youth, and then after some time decided that the modern ways with it's frenetic schedules and silliness was still a decent place. The trick is to keep from getting too wrapped up in the world. Make a decent honest living, and treat the earth well while making the living you can that benefits society and the environment while causing minimal damage to it. You can live in society without being wrapped up in it. Just as we all live in the world, and try not to become influenced too badly by some of what goes on in it. October 12, 2005 Unmarried, with children    Like duh! Some things are just so easy to see, yet some folks refuse to open their eyes.     A new study tells us what we already know; unwed mothers are far more likely than their married counterparts to be low income and have less resources. Also, unwed mothers are less likely than single girls to find a decent guy with some good job and life prospects. Girls, don't get pregnant before you are married. And if you do it is in the best interests of the child and your own future to give it up for adoption. Most fellows are not interested in raising some other guys child, and with you having that papoose clinging to you, you are setting yourself up for guys who know you will 'put out' (you've got the proof clinging to you) and that you will accept being used as a sex cow, to be abandoned when the going gets tough, or you start to show.    On the other hand, chicks who have their stuff together more will be able to finish school with less distractions, get a good career going, and attract a suitable life-mate with good earning potential as well. They can then (if they are compatible) be able to buy a house in the suburbs (with a white picket fence) and remain married. The girl can leave work when she is pregnant and stay at home raising the kids while the husband supports the family. If these basic requirements are met they are more likely to raise children with good ethics, morals and life skills. With children who are in essence 'self-supporting' in adulthood, requiring no financial support from the parents after they leave the nest, the parents will have a better likelihood of a decent retirement income for themselves, allowing the children to reach their peak-earning years not having to worry about their own parents' finances.    It really just comes down to good ethics in the end. Nothing can replace that. October 13, 2005 Eyes Wide Shut    Hillary was walking through the local Department Store parking lot when    she saw a young boy with a box of free puppies.    She inquired as to what kind of puppies they were,    Whereupon the boy replied,    "Why, these are Democratic puppies Ma'am".    This pleased Hillary greatly whereupon she went home to tell her husband Bill.    Bill resolved to see these 'Democratic puppies' himself.    So the next day he went to the same parking lot.    He found the boy with the puppies, and asked him what kind of puppies they were.    The boy replied that they were "Republican puppies".    "But my wife said that you told her yesterday they were Democratic puppies", said Bill indignantly.    The boy replied...    "But today they have their eyes open"! October 14, 2005 Regarding those who hate Bush enough that they wish every policy of his to fail, even if it endangers the USA:     I found a blog today at Democratic Underground Wherein the writer states... Remember the flags and 90% approval and rah-rah jingoism of three years ago? If * had demanded a return of the draft then, we'd have a 6 million man military today with plenty of troops available for Iran, not to mention that simply doubling the troops in Iraq from the git go would have very possibly prevented the chaos, the looting that engendered the Iraqi insurgency. Only *'s incompetence saved us there. Do you reckon if a small nuke went off in Seattle that they would not be able to get a draft running? They have all the mechanisms in place - all they need is a precipitating incident.    There are a couple of very telling items in this little post (and the rest of the posts in the thread). One is that the writer is so infuriated that he cannot even write the name 'Bush', but has to resort instead to using the '*' symbol. The second item is where the writer mentions that if Bush had instituted the draft and we had had an adequate military to blanket the country we could have reduced the looting and 'insurrection' that eventually led to the destroyed infrastructure that is causing the people of Iraq such hardships. He says that Bush's incompetence saved 'us', meaning that if Bush had been able to pull off a successful invasion and occupation we would be victorious, the Iraqi economy would be working well by now, oil would be flowing, gas prices would be down, our economy would be doing better, and thousands of lives would have been saved versus the daily bombings we have there. But the 'progressives' would not be able to bitch, whine and snivel that Bush is doing a lousy job. They have to have failure of the administration in order to be able to castigate Bush policies. As long as Bush is successful they are defeated. As long as Bush is defeated in his policies they are successful. It follows that as long as we are defeated they are successful, even though the economy be ruined and a country be enslaved by radical ideology and a totalitarian terrorist regime, they will be happy. This is the opposite of what the 'progressive ideology' implies, in this case the liberal mindset implies slavery and oppression for the masses, just to ensure Bush defeat.    This is very scary thinking folks. People who are so self-defeating cause no good in their own country. These are the same people who might help terrorists in order to cause destruction in our country just because it is counter to the success of the President they hate so much.    I knew a Marxist like this some twenty five years ago. He used to bomb buildings in Sacramento to destroy our government. He and I often had long talks on political concepts. I never understood his belief system, and he never understood mine. In exasperation I would ask him why he never just got on a raft and rowed his sorry ass to Russia so he could live in his beloved Marxist state. His reply was that he didn't want to live there, he desired to live here, but change us to a Marxist ideology. The odd thing is that he had a small hand drawn American Flag with the 'Pledge of Allegiance' on it, all done in crayon on his wall. It was done by his son in town, and it was one of his prized possessions, a memory of the young boy he rarely saw anymore, because he was rotting in prison...where I guarded his sorry ass. October 16, 2005 The Nigerian Scam    Nigerian Scams, ruses, charlatans, thieves liars and crooks. They abound on the internet proclaiming to be Nigerian widows or sons of deposed rulers, kings etc trying to get their family jewels out of 'Mother Africa' and to a place of tranquility and peace where they can then live in harmony with the 'ten thousand things'.     I'm sure you've gotten the e-mails, they are fun to read, yet at the same time it is sad to think of all the people who have been duped into handing over cash in the hope that they will be able to share in the fortune sure to come out of the 'Dark Continent'. Well, there are scambaiters who con the con men. They pose as owners of large businesses, rectors of parishes that serve the poor, and administrators of organizations that help the indigent. They set up websites that showcase the 'charity' and good works they have done in the past. They use disposable phones to call the scammers, and they use technology in a Hollywood way to fool the devious con men. In short, they tie up the resources, time and energy of the scammers. They hope that while the scammer is busy 'trying to set the hook' on his intended victim, he is not able to scam some widow in Boise out of her husbands estate.    The scam baiters like to call themselves 419 eaters. Code 419 is the appellation given to the Nigerian law section that deals with this kind of fraud. But not much is being done to combat this menace, Nigeria's inaction in this matter helped earn it the dubious distinction of the world's second most corrupt country after Bangladesh from the sleaze watchdog transparency international. Now, that's bad. In fact, Internet fraud from Nigeria is now so lucrative that it is considered one of the country's biggest exports after oil, natural gas and cocoa. . One of the largest scam baiters is 419eater.com. I delight in their gleeful accounts of the mischief they have caused the scammers, and the degrading and delightfully wicked photos they cause their scammers to pose in to show their earnest desires to gain acceptance from their erstwhile prey. The site is broken into sections from which you can follow the threads of communication between the Fraudsters and the supposed victims, communiqués that will sometimes go on for months, in which the 'victims' refuse to hand over money, but chum the scammer just enough to keep him hopeful that he will soon reach his pot of gold.    I encourage you to read the accounts, listen to the tapes of the scammers being conned, and enjoy the wicked sense of mischievous delight I get when some dirty bastard who's been conning money from people for years gets his com-uppance by having his photo he had taken himself posted on the site with a fish on his head, or some dirty sounding name he's holding up on a board.     It is so fun to read the questioners the scam baiters make the scammers fill out, read through the following scam bait... Reverend Bornking of Nigeria    My favorite is the Tragedy at Western Union which was set up so well, but I don't want to spoil it for you. Just go see for yourself. They got this con man to spend over $700 in fees and expenses for postage etc mailing worthless stuff around in a bid to please his intended target.     the Church of Bread and Wine is another classic.    A compatriot of the above fellow is Cheung, who has a hilarious pose as a Beaver Inseminator. Although I am sure there are vets who do just that.     For further information on 419 scams you can go to 419 FAQ. There they have much information that can help you identify scams and internet fraud.    There is now starting to be some interest in apprehending these thieves, and a German woman has been leading the fight after she lost more than a quarter of a million dollars in 1994 to them in an elaborate scheme. An official in Nigeria says that the government is now starting to look into this matter, although there are few arrests as of yet. But he says that it is becoming difficult for Nigerian businesses to conduct legitimate business now, because so many people are afraid that they are going to be defrauded. In fact the scam has gotten so big that it even defrauded a bank in Brazil and caused it to go under after losing 180 million dollars to fraudsters.     All of this reminds me of the time decades ago when I was traveling through Europe on a train. For some reason criminals often took a liking to me in many areas. On one occasion I was sitting in a train cab with a bunch of Africans from the Ivory Coast area. They each had stacks of money of every denomination and country I have heard of. They said they robbed tourists. I asked them if they ever felt bad about doing this to people, and they replied that "tourists are rich, they have lots of money. So we take the money they have, they just go to a bank and get more. If we want any, we have to take it from them, and they are our bank."     I kept my Adidas tennis shoes on that night (people in Africa seemed to like my shoes, and they always called me 'Ali Babba'), and I slept with my head on my pack, and one eye open. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX     poetry in German XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX October 17, 2005 Climbing Mount Doom    I watched the HBO special called Methadonia today. Oh man, that program set me back to some of the people I used to see while in the service and in the Prison. 'Peeps' looking at you through those low-lidded eyes, noddin' out as you speak to them. And when you are speaking to them, you're not really sure if they are listening at all, even though they are looking at you. Heroin is a terrible addiction, and the saddest thing I've ever seen is a junkie curled up on the floor of a jail cell shaking and going through tremors as he has a withdrawal. Junkies will lie to anyone to deny their use; they will steal from their family or anyone else to support their habit. It is easy to understand this behavior when you see the hell they go through when they withdraw. It is like death, they are literally dying in a sense as they lay there in tremors. Once they've gone through that once they will do all they need to do to avoid having to experience that again.    Methadone was designed by the Nazis as a synthetic replacement for morphine. Morphine has long been used as a pain reliever, but it is not only addictive, it can be hard to obtain if you are at war and not controlling a country that can grow the opiate poppy. The Nazis were masters at creating synthetic substitutes for materials they might find in short supply. Synthetic oils, margarine, and methadone were all created by German scientists working under Nazi direction to ensure the Third Reich would be able to exercise 'proper control and dominion' over the world. While I am at this, let's not forget that WAR NEVER SOLVED ANYTHING. It was not right for us to fight the Nazis, it was an illegal and immoral and unjust war, just like our invasion of Iraq....right? I am sure Cindy Sheehan and Jane Fonda would all be much happier now speaking German and knitting little doilies like a proper German woman should be doing. Which is what they'd be if America had not fought the war. And I'd like to see Sean Penn in jackboots and a 'Stahlhelm' parading before the Washington monument on Hitler's birthday. I am sure if the Nazis had taken over this country he would not be bitching about any war, 'cause if he did he'd perish in 93 days in a forced labor camp for having the effrontery to question the 'Master Plan'. But, I digress...    Methadone has been used for some forty years in the USA as a substitute for heroin addiction. The idea is, you take an illegal, addictive substance and replace it with a legally dispensed addictive substance. You take the street price of the substance with its 'illegality premium' which increases the price and you substitute the legal material dispensed through privately owned 'for profit' clinics and hand it out to the 'registered and affirmed' addicts. The only problem I see with this is that methadone is actually more addictive than heroin itself. And the clinics have no interest in 'weaning' the addict off of the substance. Like modern doctoring which loses its customers if they become well, the clinic loses its customers if they become 'clean'.    The program Methadonia was a gritty and realistic look into drug addiction in general, and heroin addiction specifically. I have had many junkies tell me that they feel once you are on heroin you 'are DOOMED'. The term 'DOOMED' is one I've heard so often from so many addicts. It reminds me of the poster I used to see in Biker bars so long ago, 'Abandon Hope, all ye who enter here". I have met many people who 'kicked' heroin, but for the most part they did it through government imposed dictate in prison. Although I have run across a few 'strong-willed' persons who quit heroin on their own without the government making them do so. The HBO special makes the point that drug addiction saps a person's willpower, so being able to commit to regaining a 'normal' life becomes a vain task for many people. This is why the sense of 'eternal doom'. The ones who break this cycle of addiction are the ones with a lot of internal fortitude in the first place, and who have the sense to realize the pit they are getting into as they start drug use. They know enough to stop before they have reached the 'point of no return'.    The special did not try to romanticize drug use, it showed the harm it causes. And it did not show methadone as an easy cure. To the contrary, it showed the addicts as little hamsters still on the treadmill of addiction, only now they are harnessed by these 'liquid handcuffs' called 'the dose'.    One of the saddest things is the children that are the progeny from two drug addled adults. Not only are these little ones born with drugs in their bodies and the sever mental and physical effects they might be saddled with all their life, they are also going to be raised by two adults who are so blown out that they actually think they can raise children while they continue their drug use. In the program one woman is pregnant, gives birth to her six week premature little girl who is addicted to Methadone and Benzodiazepine, and has to stay in the hospital for six weeks (I am sure at taxpayer expense). What kind of life is this little girl going to have watching her parents stumble around in their dual stupors, nodding off while trying to do homework, and embarrassing the kids when it comes time for Parent-Teacher meetings (think they'll actually have anything to do with their kids schooling anyway?)    To me the most telling part was when one of the addicts was high on Benzodiazepine and methadone, and when high sometimes junkies are at their most lucid, they are 'normal' in some aspects. He looked right into the camera and begged people to not ever use drugs. You could see the pleading in his eyes, his personal sorrow that he had ever gotten himself into this condition. That scene alone should be shown in each school. At the end of the program he was shown to have gone through a methadone de-tox program and gotten straight, free from all drugs, and I think he might have a decent running chance at it.    It is a sad thing to watch a person digging themselves into a hole and you can't make them stop digging in most cases unless you are family and wish to utilize a hard intervention approach called 'Intervention'. I don't know the answer to drug use, some of my ideas run from the totalitarian, to the liberal depending on the drug. But neither will fly with the government and the public, we are all standing with our heads in the sand, trying to hope this problem will go away with the way we are trying to go at it now. But they say one of the marks of madness is doing the same thing the same way each time, and expecting different results... what does this say about us as a society?    Speaking of intervention, there is a reality TV series wherein family of addicts plan an intervention with professionals while the cameras roll, the addict is brought to the meeting without knowing what it is about and confronted with family who under professional guidance confront the addict, forcing him to understand the problem, and letting him to decide whether or not he wishes to seek help. If he does the show Intervention will send him off to a highly respected recovery center. October 18, 2005 On Pacifism "Those who beat their swords into plowshares usually end up plowing for those who didn't"~ Anon "Conscientious Objector" ~ Edna St. Vincent Millay I shall die, but that is all I shall do for Death. . . . Though he flick my shoulders with his whip, I will not tell him which way the fox ran. With his hoof on my breast, I will not tell him where the black boy hides in the swamp. I shall die, but that is all that I shall do for Death; I am not on his pay-roll. I will not tell him the whereabout of my friends nor of my enemies either. Though he promise me much, I will not map him the route to any man's door. Am I a spy in the land of the living, that I should deliver men to Death?     A really good commentary on the ideals, methods and history of Pacifism. I have several friends who are pacifists, I like them as friends and they are good people. But I have a hard time understanding the depths of pacifism. When people cite Gandhi and King as pacifists that changed societies with their ideals and their concept of non-violent revolution I have to agree, those two are sterling examples of what can happen with pacifism. But only when used as a context against a decent country. If the Nazi's had invaded India, would they have paid any attention to Gandhi and decided not to kill the Indians because of the non-violent aspect of his pacifism? I would think not, they would instead think it was very convenient that people would lay down before the tanks so that they could be rolled over without having to waste powder on them. If Martin Luther King had been in Russia (I guess as a Black Russian) trying to agitate for social change, would he have been merely arrested and released as happened here? I would think not, he would probably have ended up in the gulag doing a 'quarter' for 'crimes against the state', and 'mental illness' (two 'crimes' people in Russia were commonly charged with).     I respect pacifist ideals, but I respect even more a pacifist who says he does not like war, but he will stand with his countrymen, not as a soldier, but to give aid and comfort to his countrymen when they are wounded by those other guys who are not pacifists on the other side. The ones who would kill him if allowed to. A pacifist can be a medic, and all servicemen are as happy to have a pacifist medic as they are to have a 'fighting' medic. It makes no difference to the wounded soldier what the political beliefs of his medic are. The medical people are like angels, bring light, life and hope to the warriors and their families. God bless those who serve under the red cross. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 'Cactus Killers' are being sought, read all about it!. A 2,000 dollar reward is being offered. October 19, 2005 LAST OF THE TITANS-THE END OF AN ERA. RocketMan by Elton John and Bernie Taupin She packed my bags last night pre-flight Zero hour nine a.m. And I'm gonna be high as a kite by then I miss the earth so much I miss my wife It's lonely out in space On such a timeless flight And I think it's gonna be a long long time Till touch down brings me round again to find I'm not the man they think I am at home Oh no no no I'm a rocket man Rocket man burning out his fuse up here alone Mars ain't the kind of place to raise your kids In fact it's cold as hell And there's no one there to raise them if you did And all this science I don't understand It's just my job five days a week A rocket man, a rocket man And I think it's gonna be a long long time... XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Bye Bye Titan     The Titan Rocket has had a nearly fifty year history of launching all kinds of interesting things into space. If you want 'The eye in the Sky' you use Titan.     But now all this is ending, the very last of the Titans launches today from Vandenberg AFB near here. It will be the end of this Giant of a 'Payload Lifting Monster', AKA America's Silent Hero. This is a rocket that could lift a bus into orbit, and put it right where you want it to go. You can see photos of this most historic launch at Spaceflight Now-B26. Godspeed to the mission, and best of luck to the hundreds of rocketmen (and gals) who will be losing their jobs now that this 'Last-of-An-Era' behemoths is gone.     For really cool photos of Titan 4B go to Titan Photos (Where else?) It is really impressive to see one of these things launch, it rumbles the ground, you have your windows shake from ten miles away. And it can be seen from one hundred and fifty miles if the conditions are right. October 20, 2005 A Message from Colonel 'Z'.     Colonel 'Z' gave an address today to the assembled Titan Team in which he thanked them for their decades of service, especially the launch yesterday of the 'last and the best' Titan IV.     As he was ending his address, he said "The public may never know what you did, but people...people who love freedom, and fight for freedom will know what you did".     It is true perhaps that the Colonel was right in this respect. That is why Titan is called 'America's Silent Hero'. the big rocket that could. The big rocket that did so much for this country that people will never know of...because the story can never be told. October 21, 2005 Just show me the money.     If you suspect you may have abandoned a safe deposit box in the past, or are the heir of someone who may have done so, you'll want to search the free online databases offered by most states. You can find links to the databases at either of two Web sites, Unclaimed.org and MissingMoney.com Both are run by the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators, which represent the state officials charged with safeguarding homeless funds. October 22, 2005 Politics makes strange bedfellows    If there have ever been two countries with a bitter rivalry that results in the occasional war and territory-taking excursions it is France and Germany. The Germans have no use for the French in historical terms, and the French have a real sense of inferiority compared to their Teutonic neighbors in terms of engineering, organization, work ethic and ability to wage war and kill people. But now these two peoples have bunched together to fight' American Imperialist desires'. An unlikelier bunch of 'Amerikkka'-bashers I have never seen. The bitter Chancellor of Germany Gerhard Schroeder (widely regarded as the second worse chancellor ever) delivered a parting shot at his (supposed) nemesis 'Amerikkka' in his departing speech on Wednesday. In it he stated... "I do not want to name any catastrophes where you can see what happens if organized state action is absent. I could name countries, but the position I still hold forbids it, but everyone knows I mean America,"    Of course his speech was given to union workers in his home town of Hanover, and was greeted with the predictable huge applause.    He was criticizing the response of our federal government to the hurricane Katrina which ravaged New Orleans. But remember when the ' Socialist Paradise of France' had some ten thousand extra deaths in the month of August 2003 due to a heat wave? Well, they didn't say it then, but I bet now they are wondering how they can pin that on Bush just as so many are pinning the hurricanes on him now. October 23, 2005 Burning down the house.     Oh, those bad Amis, burning rotting Taliban corpses that no nearby villagers wanted to pick up because they were Pakistani and not Afghan.     Now we find that last month a mob of 'insurgents' (terrorists) burned a military contractor alive, and the local kids were piling straw on his screaming body as he lay burning to death. The crowd then dragged the bodies through the street. It is so odd, how these same people think that putting panties on a prisoners' head is the worse thing that can happen to a person. Talk about some kind of emotional disengagement.     Think about which of the two actions is most reprehensible...and then think about which one will get the most press coverage. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX     Victor Davis Hanson has a very cogent article where he argues that the ‘War Hawks’ wish to rush into Syria and Iran for their refusal to halt Jihadists entering Iraq, and the ‘Anti-War’ crowd want us to immediately withdraw from Iraq even though such would mean handing over the population to the throat cutters who would turn it into a massive base of operations.     The Republicans want to halt any fuel economy standards with the belief that the market will curtail fuel usage as prices rise, and the Democrats wish to enact draconian measures that would imperil the economy and the average driver, as well as they wish to endorse ‘Pie in the Sky’ notions of alternate fuels that the public has no use for or that are prohibitively costly with our current status of technology.     In other words, neither party is finding favor with the voting public, yet no other party has enough support to ensure it’s entry into the national consciousness.     VDH is very good at seeing the clarity of an issue, and he can express his ideas well. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX The Great White Hunter.     Today I went a huntin'. And I caught three animules!     I caught a pincher bug that was walking along the mirror in the bathroom, and I caught a moth that flew in the door when I opened it, so I caught him (or her) and let it go out.     My big prize was a skunk though. Not just any skunk, but the skunk that's been living under our patio for the last year. Yep, Vickie finally got fed up with that animal always scaring her when she went out for a smoke.     And I got tired of having to hear about it all the time. To tell the truth, it didn't bother me that much, I'm content with opening the door a crack, and peeking about before I step out, but that's just me. I figure I've got some of that wild cat instinct that makes animals cautious and look all about before going out. But you know…if the wife ain’t happy, the hubby ain’t gonna be happy neither.     I couldn’t fence around the patio because the skunk was under there, and it’s dark, and I don’t want to go crawling around no dark deep space that has skunks and what-not in them. So I had to get rid of the skunk first. Sooo….     I got this big metal box I got from somewhere-or-another, it has a big heavy lid, so I set it up with a stick holding it open, and a rope tied to it by the front door. I fed the cats a bit earlier than normal, and when it was getting dark, I put the cat food away, except for one bowl I set into the trap. We were watching a really fine movie (‘Maria full of Grace’, my impressions may follow tomorrow), when I heard the skunk moving things around on the patio. I looked out, and yep, there he was going from empty bowl to empty bowl. I watched through the window as he went along, and finally went into the box, whereupon I quietly and carefully opened the door and tugged the rope closing the trap firmly on my little skunk friend.     So, tomorrow I’ll call animal control and get their idea of the best way to get rid of the animal. And I might use this as the time to fence the bottom of the patio in (to keep this from happening again).     Now, some folks might wonder why I didn't just go and shoot this little animal. Well, I'd have to stand in the doorway with this thing right by my feet. I don't want to blast off no toe, and I don't want any richochets going flying off into the house or anything. And to tell the truth, I just plain don't feel like killing the animal, he's been eating our cat food for about a year now, and has been so close to me so many times without spraying me, that I figured I own him a decent turn. So trapping seemed the most humane option. Most folks'l never eat a skunk But then again some folks'l Like Dicus, the slack-jawed Yokel Most folks'l never lose a toe But then again some folks'l Like Dicus, the slack-jawed Yokel XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 'Gun control is hitting your target' 'Peace through superior firepower' October 24, 2005 Central Coast Information Links.     Information on SLO-Town     Hearst Castle info     Paso Robles Info     Solvang info     Big Sky Café is an interesting little spot in SLO Town. It got some local notoriety when Oprah Winfrey invested in the place to keep it open. So now that the financial success of the business is assured they can keep their good eats going out to the public. I've met the people there, and they are right-fine 'down-home' type people.     The Hitching Post got huge advertisement value when it was featured so prominently in the movie Sideways. Now I include it so you can read about it some. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Animal Control in San Luis Obispo County     One of the ways that I determine the humanity of a civilization is how it takes care of the people and animals that cannot take care of themselves in the usual way. While looking up the number for the local animal control services to find out what to do with my skunk, I came upon a cute website run by (of all people) the local Sheriffs Department. The Sheriffs here are also animal control people in a limited sense. When local people don’t take care of their animals correctly people will sometimes call the Sheriffs who come by with Animal Control and seize the animals from the offending parties. Many are the folks who have had their horses taken away such as ‘Slick’ Gardner of Buellton.     One site called ARF (Animals Requesting Friends) is run by the Sheriffs Department.     The City of San Luis Obispo (which we locals fondly call SLO-Town) has a website to their ‘Public Works’ department. They have a FAQ section which I found to be interesting (I need to get a life). Due to their FAQ I found this entry:     Q: How do you contact animal control?     A: The County of San Luis Obispo is in charge of Animal Regulations. You can contact them at 781-4400.     I called this number and was given the number to the Local County Trapper at 781-1216, who they told me would probably euthanise the skunk. I don’t want him killed, just away from my patio. I don’t know if letting him go in the woods away from here is illegal or not, so by the time you ask me what I did with the skunk I’m sure I won’t recall what I did with him.     A really fine site is at Animal Rescue. They have links to all kinds of Animal Rescue Organizations in the Santa Barbara County area. To me it is amazing the different societies there are devoted to rescue of animals of any kind. Turtle rescue, hamster rescue, you name it, there’s someone there who is an advocate for that kind of animal. This is the beauty of a democratic capitalist system. People have the freedom and leisure to devote time to a cause, and there is no government causing unnecessary interference and making it more difficult than it needs to be. If the government ran all of these organizations it would cost a huge fortune, but people can do it in their homes for far cheaper, and will do it because they love the animals that God loved so much He gave them into our keeping to nurture and care for. It is our responsibility, and you will be held accountable for any action done to, or inaction done for an innocent animal. October 27, 2005 2,000 Deaths Party.     The American Friends (Quakers) had a 2,000 deaths celebration to point out that people have to die during wartime. And ZombieTime was there for the 2,000 deaths party There were many blogs in the week or two before this terrible number came up that said the 'Left' would try to make hay out of this time, and have big 'Parties' to get their photos in the papers. They replied indignantly that there would be no parties, that the 2,000 Deaths Commemorations would be solemn affairs. So Zombie went on over to 'Frisco' (The City) and Bezerkly to take photos of the solemn occasion. Click on the link to see the smiling faces of the people being protected by the men and the women who's deaths they are celebrating. October 28, 2005 Fools, Racists, and Genocidal Maniacs     Prussian Blue is a small Bakersfield band that is gaining prominence in the ‘Aryan Nationalist’ movement. They are blonde haired, blue eyed girls of German heritage who were taught by their parents to hate anyone who is not ‘white enough’. They sing songs of White supremacy and have even been used by Cindy Sheehans' supporter David Duke to draw crowds to his screwball rallies.     They are in general disregarded by most rational people as misguided children who are brainwashed by their parents, and I am sure most hope they will grow out of this misanthropy when they gain maturity and their own minds.     To me an even more ominous note is sounded by the former North Carolina State University professor named Dr. Kamau Kambon who gave a speech a week ago at the North Carolina State University in which he said "we have to exterminate white people off the face of the planet" as being imperative to the success of Black People. This speech was given at the "Pro-Black Media Forum" organized by Opio Sokoni who says that he did not know such a provocative speech would be made. I heard an excerpt of the speech, and he did get a fair amount of applause when he said this. The scary thing is that the ‘MainStream Media’ is not covering this story. A Racist who calls for genocide is tolerable and ignorable as long as he is a minority. It is politically correct to ignore any racist ranting of genocidal maniacs as long as they are in a 'protected minority class', while White genocidal maniacs are rightly pilloried.     To me it seems that this is in itself a form of racism. Racism of, against, or by anyone should be resisted and spoken against. You can download selected excerpts of the Kambon speech from the John Locke Foundation website at The Locker Room October 29, 2005 Out of Africa     From 'News of the Weird'.     It's generally better to be a commoner in the USA than royalty in most other countries.     Royalty by Opportunistic Encounter: After a lifelong search, Marty Johnson, a Minnesota mortgage broker, finally located and visited his birth father this year, according to an ABC News report. His dad is John Ogike, who was an exchange student from Nigeria when he had a brief affair with Marty's mother, who gave Marty up for adoption. But today John Ogike is chief of the Aboh village in Nigeria, and Marty will be accepted as the new chief upon his dad's death (but Marty is unsure whether to accept). [ABC News, 6-4-05]     To me it's so odd seeing how people here are always complaining about the poor in this country. Yes, it's true that there is disparity between the 'haves, and the have-nots'. But this is the case in any country. But here the poor still usually have a TV set, many have a car. They usually live in an apartment, and get good nutrition if they care to buy the right foods. The exceptions are the mentally ill who make up a large percentage of the homeless. Now people can grip about "what kind of country would let someone be homeless". But what is the answer to this? These mentally ill people used to be locked up against their will and forced into mental hospitals until the sixties when the same people who complain about their ill tratment on the street were then complaining about the illegal and forced lockdown of the ill in state hospitals.     Poverty is a bummer, that's why it's important to use your resources to stay out of it. If you have the fortitude and ability to keep from poverty thank your lucky stars. But don't whine about the poor and the 'disenfranchised' in this country. I've seen whole families living in cardboard boxes in 'Mother Africa'. I've seen the same thing just over our own border in Mexico. When living a 'Middle-Class' existance while visiting family in Germany as a kid we cooked on a wood burning stove, we got the 'wash room' for baths once a week, and shared the toilet with the family across the hall. The poor in this country do better than so many of the middle class in other countries.     Now as Chief, Mr. Johnson will probably be living a much lower existence than he will as a mortgage broker in Minnesota. I'd bet he decides to stay here in the good ol' USA. And leave Africa to the Africans, it might be a fun place for a photo-safari and to get in touch with your roots, but I wouldn't want to lvie there. October 31, 2005 Cosmo Raskal     Trapping the skunk got me looking up other stories on trapping varmints     I found a really interesting article on a varmint problem they’ve been having on the International Space Station. They have a raccoon hat got up there somehow, and he has been rummaging through their garbage bins tossing trash all over, clogging their air filters with nutshells, and polluting their water supply by washing his food in it. They have tried to trap him by using a ‘Have-A-Heart’ trap, but in the zero gravity up there, he does not weigh enough to depress the trigger mechanism. And the box trap I used to trap the skunk would not work either. But a spring loaded one would work, so if NASA requests me to go up there and trap the raccoon I think I would accept. And I’ll even do it for free, just for the trip. Visit the site on the Kosmo Rascal. Samhain Pancho and Lefty By Willie Nelson Well death is quiet, and Cleveland's cold and so the story ends, we're told Pancho needs your prayers it's true but say a few for Lefty too he only did what he had to do and now, he's growin' old.     On this day when the veil between this world and the next is lifted momentarily, we can think about the ones we know who left this world to go to the next.     For me that is 'Flipper', 'E.G.', 'Cowboy Bob', and 'Sneaky Pete'. Think of those who have gone on, give thanks you are still here, but hope and pray that those who went are in the paradise of eternal sunshine.