Winding Down

At least I thought that was what the year was supposed to be doing.

Around here ol' Father Times doesn't seem to have lost a step since June. Busier than a three legged dog in a rabbit hunt. Still, while I left at 9am and drove back and forth for over 200 miles, sometimes at 80 mph (like the time just before I saw the Sheriff's car parked beside the abandoned hotdog stand just outside Franklin Springs) I wound up back here, right where I started from. I can travel farther and make less progress than anybody I know.

The snow from the weekend is mostly gone except for a few patches in the shade, although it's been windy and cold enough to mostly dry out the ground that's now showing.

I think I'm just going to forgo the rest of this year and stick around home till after the weekend. I'm sure it will ring on down to 2011 just fine without me. Still if the fire works Friday night sound too close and too much like Tec-9's I may be forced to rouse myself and light off a few .357 cherry bombs. That reminds me......I need to make a run to Wally World to the sporting goods section soon. You can't have a really good New Year's celebration with out enough noise makers and those little annoying thing-a-ma-jigs you blow into that sends a paper annoyance uncurling into someone's face.

It's been quite a year here at the Kudzu Grotto. Lot's has happened and nothing much seems to have changed.

I'm looking forward to the New Year and the onslaught of potential presidential candidates announcing there intention of running for office in 2012. More than ever the internet will have to do yeoman's duty to hold their feet to the fire.
Get out there and do your part.

Snow on Christmas

It must be all that Global Warming stuff.
In the last 100 years it has never happened in this area of Georgia.
Before we'd left the festivities in Gwinnett County where our eldest and her family live we were beginning to get snow sticking to the ground. The stuff of songs and movies, something little children (and some adults) had wished would happen for generations. Just that little something extra to make the holy day merry and bright.

By the time we had driven 40 miles to the east we were back into only rain.

Never mind. We had truly experienced a White Christmas. Not for the first time, since the wife and I had three Christmas' in Germany once upon a time, but, a first for our home stomping grounds.

Later, after the wife and pooch had turned in early for much deserved sleep, I watched as the drizzling rain here turned into snow. By the time I turned in around 11:00pm there was almost an inch on the porch railing.

This morning we awoke to 3 inches of the icy fluff, and it was still falling.



Although the roads and paths are a bit too warm for it to entirely cover the ground it still makes for a nice picture and give us hope that it will soon be gone.



Don't get me wrong.......I love to see it come, but the remnant of the farmer left in me remembers and hates the mud that comes after it.

Merry Christmas to all who visit

It's quiet and still here at the kudzu grotto this evening.

The ol' Grump is abed with who knows what running thru his head, the wife and pooch are already down at the eldest daughter's preparing for tomorrow. It was sunny and nice today with a slight chance that tomorrow will see the first snow on Christmas in Atlanta in over 100 years, though I can remember two back to back Christmas' where we had ice storms in the early 60's.

May you receive the spirit of Christmas tonight and keep it all through the coming New Year.

Oh Yeah........

I feel so much safer NOW

On the one hand they tell us to let them know if there is anything suspicious, and on the other they hassle you if you suspect that their policies are stupid, wrongheaded and designed more to control a people that think because they live in the USA that they are a free people.

It's coming.

Prepare now. Don't think that because we've elected a few new people to the congress that everything will be alright.

Because it won't.

Wikileaks & mr. Assange

If someone is able to show me that what I think or do is wrong, I will happily change, for I seek the truth, by which no one ever was truly harmed.
.
Marcus Aurelius

While the reptilian portion of my brain say, 'cut him into little chunks and make fish chum outta him', another portion asks the question, 'what if our government took George Washington's advice and avoided entanglements with foreign governments'?

I realize that politics has gotten to the point that, like sausage making, we really don't want to think too much on how we get to the finished product, but, I sometimes wonder how things would be if, as individuals, and as a country we could stand forth boldly saying, 'these are our guiding principles, we will stand by them. We do not ask that you necessarily have the same ones, but, we require you to respect ours. Ours are embodied in our Declaration of Independence and The Constitution of the United States. We will defend them and this Nation against all who wish us, or them, harm, both foreign and domestic, until the last breath'.

I'm not so naive as to think this will happen now at this late date and in light of all the things that have happened in the world.

I just get to wandering on the paths thru the kudzu every once in a while.

Swift and Sure

Who says there is no Justice in the world anymore?

Vigalante or Concerned Father you decide.

Maybe she is old enough to decide, maybe not. Age of consent.....probably. Age to make responsible choices.......probably not.

I suspect the father and many other people consider his actions justifiable and appropriate. Personally I'd have been tempted to do the same.......possibly more. For sure there wouldn't have been an opportunity to call the police when I finished..
...
Maybe a few more bratwurst for sale down at the corner wurst stand.

Southern Weather

Windy, cold, drizzly suck ass weather.

Damn, I'm glad I live in the south where this is only a 2 or 3 month thing.

Pity th' fools what lives in the North.

Flickers from inside the Grotto

For lo these many years now we have slide ever more deeply into the morass of political correctness in this country.

Laws are enacted forbidding you to even possibly think a negative thought about anybody, any race, any country, any religion or sexual persuasion. Soon we'll all have to wear blinders like the ol' mule hooked to the plow lest we even acknowledge anyone else's presence let alone notice that their eyes may be of a different hue.

An alien from outer space landing in this country for the first time would think by noting the vast number of laws against everything that each and every individual in the world hated every other individual, group, cult, gang, whatever, in the whole world.

Just Dang.

Personally, I'm of the opinion that we need very few laws in these regards. Indeed,we need far fewer laws period, and like some of my libertarian friends we need only to ask the question, "Was anyone harmed by force, fraud or violence?". If yes, then let the punishment fit the crime, but let's get over the idea that we have to legislate every aspect of an others life.

Today in this country there are vast numbers of people enjoying the idea that they are pitted against vast numbers of.....Those, Them......whoever it is politically, financially, racially, political party affiliation, skin color or whether they dye their hair orange and wear black lipstick. It's tearing the fabric of this once great nation apart. Fear, whether a real danger exists or not, will drive people to do insane things, horrible things, things most of us don't want to admit to, even in our darkest nightmares.

Personally I'm of the mind like our old good friend, Rodney King asked after he'd literally had the sense knocked out of him while rampaging on PCP, "Can we all just get along?".

But no, apparently we can't, despite laws and regulations too numerous to count. There are laws benefiting or restricting every group or individual you can think of. Whatever happened to the concept of equality, under the law, for all, so that we are each able to pursue whatever we think will bring us happiness or fulfillment.

Perhaps we need less legislating, more common sense, and a whole lot more individual responsibility.

Unfortunately it may take two generations to turn the tables around again.

At least that's what it looks like as I peer out of the Kudzu Grotto.

Crashing and burning

The ol' Grump fell again tonight.

Second time in a week, the first time hitting his back on the edge of the dresser. This time hitting his head lightly on the floor and tearing some of his paper thin skin on both arms. A good bit confused.

He seems to be getting weaker and more confused with each week that goes by. Plans to attend a nephews wedding may have to be put off.

If you care for an elderly parent you know the stress it can place. The wife of my youth doesn't need any more stress above what I cause her, but with two elderly and not so healthy parents, one living with us and one 30 minutes away, both of whom don't eat right and one smokes like she's on fire, my dearest is stressed out. I'm not very good at being her Rock of Gibraltar and it's painful.

Ya'll that are inclined are requested to keep us and them in your prayers.

Thanks and Ya'll come back now.

Shots fired in the 'Hood today

First I see 4 or 5 young truants with their hoodies and dreadlocks walking down the pipeline that bisects the neighborhood. A couple minutes time takes them over the road to Nowhere and a pistol sounds off.......maybe a 9 maybe a .380.
Another couple minutes and I see them hurrying back up the pipeline close to my chain link fence and through the yard next door where at least one of them live. They keep watching me furtively as I hold the cell phone to my ear and watch them. Called no one, just gave that impression.

Imagine my surprise when 5 Clarke County police cars converge on the edge of the road at the corner of Smokey at a house on the otherside of us.

Thinking they might be responding to reports of shots fired I walk over and volunteer what I'd seen and heard.

They'd actually come out because a deputy had driven by while they were across the road and they'd scattered like a covey of hard hunted quail. Thinking it suspicious the constable called it in.

While the K-9 unit worked the Now here road side, two other deputies questioned the youngsters next door.

Apparently satisfied the deputies all converged back to their cars and the Juveniles next door along with either the mother of some or a girlfriend piled into their own 3 cars and left the scene toot sweet(sic).

Does anybody want to trade about 20 acres out in the country for a 3 bdrm, 2 bath house in an excellent neighborhood with all the amenities?

The more refined side of kdzu

It's been a typical late fall day here at the Kudzu Grotto.

Threatening rain (although all we've gotten has been a little drizzle from time to time) with winds that have all but died out since darkness came creeping out of the east. Cooler tonight with the week ahead forecast to be in the 40's for the highs. Just damn.

Made a run up through Carnesville to Toccoa mid-day then back to the Grotto with only a smallish amount of work to get started. Then a very nice nap in the rockin' recliner, awakening in time to heat up a boiler of oyster stew with soda crackers for supper.

Ah, the high life.

I've been reviewing the pictures taken last night at the youngest G-daughter's ballet recital and Nutcracker production.



At 4 1/2 years old you can only hope that their 3 minutes on stage will be satisfying for them and fun for us.

I have to report that it was all that and more.



Although the lights were more of a glare onstage than Callie could manage without squinting and holding her hands over her eyes trying to see mom and dad in the audience, she gets an A for effort and the hope that her parents will keep her in dance as long as she enjoys it.

She really got into the period after the intermission sitting in her Nannies lap and wiggling along to the music.



That's her mom sitting to her left.

I enjoyed the entire production even more than I had hoped to. The younger dancers gave great efforts even including a little 'Break Dancing' from a couple young boys.
The production of 'The Nutcracker' by the Classic City Dance Troupe was icing on the cake of a wonderful evening.

There was one young dancer that I think caught the attention of a large portion of the audience...



This picture is the best I could get of her. She had to get a Gold Star for her performance. Although the smallest and apparently youngest of her group with slightly baggy leggings her style and grace sat her firmly head and shoulders above many of the older more accomplished dancers. It was apparent that she truly loves dance and is willing to give her all for it. What will happen when she discovers boys and the hormones kick into overdrive is anybodies guess...but, she could be a contender.

Who knew that an ol' redneck would have such a good time at the ballet?

Georgia Weather

.......If you don't like it just wait a day or two....especially in the fall and winter.

Rain, clouds, thunder, lightning: all occurred yesterday with even a tornado or two thrown in for good measure, though, thankfully, not too near the Classic City. Just up the road a ways they were holding onto their roofs only to watch them sail away like a kids balloon in a Wal-Mart parking lot. This will be the first time a lot of roofers and carpenters have worked in a while. Hope they are able to hold onto a little of this (pardon the unintentional pun) unexpected windfall, it may have to last till the spring storms.

All that changed overnight. A front moved through and we had the coolest temps of the season here. 26 degrees overnight according to the truck thermometer, with a frost heavy enough on the windshield to require about 10 minutes of idling to clear the windshield. Yes I know I could have taken the little ice scraper thing and gotten underway a little quicker, but it was sort of nice sitting there looking at a white nothingness for a few minutes. I wonder if that's what heaven is going to be like..........sitting in the clouds with whiteness all around?

The day warmed up nicely as the sun rose higher in the sky......brilliant blue with only a light breeze. Gradually the layers of clothing came off to a point that we were comfortable.....thankfully before the neighbors had to call the decency committee on us.

Tonight......well, we'll see. It's supposed to be a bit cooler in the morning (reminds me I've got to go drain the garden hose). That didn't take too long.

Whatever comes tomorrow.........let it come.

Ya'll come back though.

They are even speaking out in the MSM

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/26/opinion/26iht-edcohen.html

Lavrenti Beria, Stalin’s notorious secret police chief, once said, “Show me the man and I’ll find you the crime.” The T.S.A. seems to operate on the basis of an adapted maxim: “Show me the security check and I’ll find you the excuse.”


The assaults on common sense, decency, and any honest Citizen that happens to Not to work for the flea-brained federal gubbermint will continue until we remove from office or position the obungler and those of like ilk who want only to increase their own status and power.

Put a person in a position where the more he spends, whether it's in good cause or not, who is promoted for making positions for more employees, whether they actually do anything or not, who receives bonuses not based on how much greater productivity increased, rather on the size of next years budget increases and you get the same sort of people that are in charge of the (usps) post office, where losing $6,000,000,000.00 last years is not good enough........they increase it to $8,000.000.000.00 this year.

It is time to cut the size of the Government by no less than 50%. Ninety percent would be even better, but lets wait til we get some positive job growth numbers before putting them all out of work.

Now that I think of it though.........it might be a good idea if we just laid them off with full salary and benefits for up to two years, with a full payment of the salaries up front as soon as they get full time work. Make them have to repay that if they quit their new job within 5 years.

We'd save money because they are not screwing with us and making new regulations and asinine policy decisions.

Give it some thought.........I'll just bet you can think of lots of government employees and departments from the president on down that we could do without.

Suggestions and ideas welcome.......maybe we'll submit them as a petition to the new congress.

Jackbooted Thugs

Never mind the stated reason given in this article, another shot has been taken at Liberty.

http://antikakistocrat.blogspot.com/2010/11/dhs-seizes-internet-domain-names.html#comment-form

Would it not have been more lawful to simply sue, arrest, try and then convict the person or persons responsible? Then,if justified, dispense punishment consistent with law.

Oh No, we are a people ruled, not governed, by a bunch of irresponsible pre-schoolers who have not yet learned to keep their hands out of the fire.

As long as they don't feel the heat they are going to get closer and closer........

Provided we don't give a little stern guidance they will continue to overstep the boundaries.

Thanksgiving

Our annual day of Thanks and family fellowship was today (Saturday, because of work constraints for some and hunting season for others.)

All of the good things for which we should be very grateful.

Hugs from the children and grand children. Son's in laws and daughter in law to make one proud. A pre-school-er with a heart full of love and a zest for life, a grown grandson who's in love with a cute vet-tech student and hunting.....I'm not sure of the exact order here. A Goth barely teen and ll year old grand son who will either be a preacher or politician as he never knows when to shut up, but falls asleep watching the science channel and I swear learns in his sleep. Great in-laws and wild deep fried turkey as well as store bought along with dressing and gravy, deviled eggs, sweet potato souffle, banana pudding (from scratch, not a can).

I'm truly blessed and very thankful.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

At age 77 you'd think they would just let Willie Nelson have a little pot. By now he's earned it.

We've been engaged in a War On Drugs for over 40 years now. It has evolved from an effort to reduce drug use to a revenue enhancement department for every law enforcement agency in the country from Washington on down. You'd think by now they would realize that legalization and treatment would reduce both the usage and criminal activity.

I realize that the effects on individuals and families can be devastating, but turning such a large portion of a nations population into criminals is equally devastating, for the individuals, their families and the nation.

Besides, we've been at war on poverty for just as long and have had just as much success.
After 40 years we need to try new remedies on both problems.

Some how I get the idea that like the fight against cancer the amount of money thrown at the problem is just making some people rich at the expense of those who might have made a bad decision along the way.

I am convinced there is a better way. I don't claim to have the answers, but, we need to look in different directions.

Where to start?

Jeezly Crow, what a week it's been.

I've begun to feel like the proverbial three legged dog in a rabbit chase.

Never fear though intrepid readers, in spite of your fervent pleas and prayers I continue to rant and rave. I'm determined to be like the Energizer Bunny: to keep on running until I get it right at least once in my life.

Fall has finally fallen here at the Kudzu Grotto (KG). After a couple of days of light rain, and some wind, the ground has suddenly become covered with leaves of red, yellow and gold, along with quite a few ugly brown ones. I almost had the urge to rake a few to put atop the pathetic patch we refer to as the 'garden'. You'll be happy to know that I've resisted that urge so far. Nothing says 'Redneck' quite as well as an un-mowed and un-raked yard unless it's cars up on blocks in the overgrown front yard (well, I still have to jack up one of the cars and set it on blocks) (does it count if the tires are flat?)

The better half and I seem to have beaten back the sniffles for a while at least. Now the ol' Grump has taken to his bed with a cold. Might keep him from having some skin cancer patches removed on Wednesday. I watched as they removed three spots from his arm and back for biopsy a couple months ago. That wasn't too bad. But, to see how fast the little tumors grew in those spots 2 days later was a bit much. Still, hopefully, nothing more than skin cancer of the small and ugly kind.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The TSA. (Touching Sensitive Areas)

The recent furor has caused RCOBOE (red coating of blood over eyes) to the point I can hardly see.

Never mind that I have not the funds to fly anywhere; I would not be subjected to that sort of treatment at the hands of my own government. Not since I was subjected to the ol' "turn your head and cough" at the hands of a female army nurse oh so many years ago have I felt so embarrassed. At least that served a useful purpose.

Can you name just one instance of pat downs and X-rated scans stopping even one terrorist?

It's nice to hear and read the outrage of a portion of the American Citizenry. A few people are finally awakening to the fact that government agencies always, A.L.A.W.Y.S extend their reach and authority over what they perceive as the subjects to the Royal Government, when in actual fact it is they who are supposed to be the servants.

What is the highest office in the United States of America??

If you blurted out "the president" you are a fool and part of the problem.

The highest office in this country is Citizen

That's right, you, you and you over there with the ring in your eyebrow and tattoos on your ankles.

We, I, you, as individuals have delegated to that sometimes nebulous concept called 'the government' (small letters to designate their ranking) some of your rights to defense of your person, your liberty, your property as is your right as a Sovereign Individual.

If you don't think of yourself in that light you are nothing more than sheep awaiting the fleecing and slaughter that you so richly deserve, along with the appellation sheeple.

Oh, I know, you have become so used to thinking that the government is actually going to follow the intent of the framers of the Constitution and Declaration of Independence that you have allowed yourself to become soft and weak. (those of you that were actually taught or read anything about those intents. But, by damn, you are more than that, you are a citizen of the USA. If you are not, whether you are here illegally or not, then you should go back home, your own country needs you.
Maybe you'll take a part of what you felt here back with you.

The rest of you: get off your asses, look around. If you don't assert your rights as a Citizen, who will? Obungler and the crowd in the Asylum on the Potomac?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

I had originally intended to link to article after article in the media of the day in the rant above, but the spittle and froth is making it hard to see the monitor and as said before, it's been quite a week, and a day, and the medication and Tylenol PM taken a while back have combined to take the edge off my rage.

You should,however, consider thinking about this Article before you go.

A bit off the rant I know........but still something to ponder.

"That's what needed to be done"

There are still heroes among us. Likely we pass a few everyday. Likely not a single one of them started out to become one.


"Just a mediocre guy." (clicky click)

A mediocre guy, who saw what needed to be done and did it, heedless of the possible personal consequences.

God Bless you Sgt.

What Now?

We survived the elections.

Now What?

We only startled the Leviathan for a moment. Never think that just because you caused him to swerve away because you punched him in the snout that he's not planning his next run towards you will lips drawn back and all those pointy teeth pointed outward and all the massive power available thrown into the charge.

As long as we Citizens want to sit back and send a representative to speak for us, instead of standing firm in the middle of the road with dogged determination that, You Shall Not Pass in every fiber of our being.

I'm mightily afeared that the road will be rough, rocky and dusty in the coming few years. If you do not have a bit of the blood of the pioneer Revolutionaries in your blood you may not be able to stay the course. Or a bit of the Irish, but then, were all madmen you see.

There are many who would forecast out there. A bit of an article I read this evening........

I’m not a pessimist but our top and best advisor who seems to be always correct offers the following. If he is correct, and I suspect he is, we have a long slow Japan-style slog in the economic mud with a major system breakdown, like Russia’s bust-up some years ago. I suspect somewhere along the trail in this movie, the USA Sheeple go to pitchforks and torches.

Why can't he bring himself to say Guns and Knives?

I sure hope not but it almost seems inevitable. What a shame that a few Marxists can do so much permanent damage to my beloved America. All political parties are guilty.

“The midterm elections are anticlimactic and change nothing. In the short term, it makes no difference how many Congressional seats the GOP captures. The Dumb-O-Crats have already won. Since taking control of Congress in 2006, Hussein and his wrecking crew have jammed through more socialist legislation than all the past liberal agendas combined (had) ever hoped to accomplish. It's a done deed.”

“If anyone thinks that changing the mix of Congress with more elected conservatives will fix things; (they are) dreaming. The new Congress will be just as clueless, incompetent, corrupt, and swayed by the lobbyists. The only priority will be to get re-elected, as usual. Any hopes and promises will be dashed by reality. The reality is any legislation that the new Congress passes to try to undo Hussein's Marxist programs will be simply vetoed. The GOP will not have the votes to over-ride a Presidential veto. This is a Dead-End.”

Maybe not this next two years, bet we can hope for is Gridlock. Better luck in 2012.

“The Constitution gives the responsibility of appropriating funds to the House. They may be able to shut-off any additional funds for existing programs, such as Obamacare, etc., but the basic funding of those programs is already the law of land. Control of the Federal purse strings is of no help to undo the damage already done.”

“So, there will be two years of legislative gridlock. In the mean time, Hussein will expand (entrench) his new socialist programs with a blizzard of Presidential executive orders and appointees by-passing Congress. These Dumb-O-Crat political appointees in charge of hundreds of Federal agencies, set policy that interprets, and bends the intent of new and existing programs to the socialist ideology...encasing them in concrete. It will require literally decades of political dedication and action to undo the damage…and that is not likely to happen.”

It will only happen if we faint not, and stay the course, no matter the pain. And their will be pain. Maybe even all out WW4!

“On top of all the political shenanigans, is the meddling of the FED with the money supply. The greatest theft of public money, ever, will continue on an even grander scale to transfer even more to the bankers, the Wall Street Boyz, and the politically connected. That is the one, and only, sure outcome of these elections. The citizens (Sheeple) aren't even a consideration, other than to ratify the rip-off with their votes.”

If You've ever had a determination to succeed in your life financially you better do it now........it will stand you in good stead down the road.

You might use some of it to prepare. Maybe not to the extent recommend in the link below.......

Click Here


......but you can't help anyone else if you yourself are not first prepared.

Eleventh Month, Eleventh Day, Eleventh Hour,

Happy veterans Day to all of you who have served!

A big Uuhh Aahh to all my Army compatriots and Hoo Rah! to all my Marines buddies, especially my Marine Son-in-law and his father (also a Marine)!

I've no idea if the Navy and Air Force pukes have a grunt of their own, but their voices are pitched so high we likely couldn't hear it anyway.

Just kidding guys, we envy the Navy for their Mess Halls and the Air Force for their air conditioned facilities and the real mattresses on their beds. (Not like the Army where we had a thin pallet over the springs and the Marines who slept on the ground anyway.)

If you served, or are serving, in whatever capacity........Thank you!

Hot damn!

We get to set our clocks back tonight and get an extra hour of sleep.

Oh yeah, just when you get your internal clock set from back in the spring, totally screwing up the balance of nature, you have to now re-adjust said clock in the opposite direction, screwing everyone up once again.

Question.........do they somehow slow down the spinning of the earth or slow it's progression around Sol? Then speed it up at some arbitrarily chosen time in the future.

Me thinks that maybe we, over the eons of unrecorded time, might have somehow been unable to regulate ourselves without someone in authority to help us out??

If the earth spins on it's axis at a set rate that changes only fractionally over millennia, and travels around our star at a rate that also only changes a tiny bit from circuit to circuit and all of this is happening in a galaxy that is spiraling around a black hole in it's center at what ever rate, don't you think it's a little bit arrogant to go messing with time? For what........so you lose a bit more sleep in the summer, thereby contributing to the worldwide sleep deficit, when learned men have conducted studies over and over at taxpayers expense showing that we'd all be better off getting more sleep and other nocturnal activities than currently we do.

Or am I just shitting through screen wire here?

Just a little nipply.

A little coolish outside this morning. A tad of frost mostly on the roof tops and tops of cars and trucks but here and there also on the ground.

It struck me that seeing your breath on a cool fall morning has almost the same feeling of awe and curiosity as when I was a kid, oh, so many years ago.

This will possibly mean the end of the leaves this year. We typically don't have the blazing colors of the mountains........mostly a few trees finally change colors then a rain and wind and they just fall off to clog the gutters and have to be raked onto the garden spot there to be tilled under in anticipation of the spring planting.

Those of you who followed my advice to bet against the $ a couple of post back are probably feeling pretty good. Why the so called leaders of our country seem determined to destroy it financially is still a bafflement to me.........well, not really.....they'd sell their own mothers if it brought them more money and power, and would stand first in line to add injury to insult.

Gotta get out there and kick start the wheels of commerce today.

At least it will be bright and sunny with that fall blue sky that draws you to infinity.

Ya'll come back, hear.

Do we care this much?

As part of spending $200,000,000.00 so Barry and his wife and kids can see the sights in Mumbai, in addition to having 40 aircraft, 3000 personnel, renting a whole luxury hotel, sending 34 warships (is he paying a State Visit or planning to take the country over?) I note with a bit of ironic interest the fact that they are taking the coconuts out of the trees along the parade route.

http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/34-warships-sent-from-us-for-obama-visit-64459

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/8109295/Coconuts-removed-from-trees-in-preparation-for-Barack-Obamas-India-trip.html

Make with the clicky and paste, I'm not up to embeding links this morning.

W.T.F

This arrogant pussy is so afraid for his life that they have to take down the nuts from the trees. Betcha this wouldn't happen if Bush had been making the trip.

To tell the truth, I don't care so much about the money being spent. The Fed is just having trillions printed up so that it's almost worthless anyway.

In fact, double the money, Hell, triple it, make it an even $1,000,000,000,000.00 and let the Indians keep it, keep Barry and all the staff, entourage and their personal effects.

Just send the airplanes and the warships back and we'll call it an even trade.

Just so they know I'd order a nuclear strike on New Delhi if they try to sent to send him back.

I'd not be an Indian Giver.

Yum!

Peach cobbler for dessert tonight. Washed down the old goozle pipe with some cold cows milk.......well, that is, er...if you want to call past-ur-eyesed and homo-gen-eyesed 2% pap from Engles Milk. It for sure is a long way from the whole milk with 4 to 5% butterfat we used to get straight from our own cows.

Still.......I guess it does a body good.

It's kinda like the election results out today.

The taste of victory for some of the (hopefully) conservative new congress critters and a few senators may be as sweet at peach cobbler, but it remains to be seen whether their brand of leading is watered down out of the same plastic jug as the ones we've seen before and what most everyone today is used to, or if it will be the real whole milk of long ago.

There will be many now, I think, who will be watching with a keener eye than in recent decades.

Personally......I've laid in another box of ammo. Just in case.

Ya'll come back now, hear.

Want to quadriple your money or more

Bet against the USD short term. Inflation is coming
Buy precious metals......
....Brass, Lead, Copper, gunpowder, gold, silver, canned goods. Diesel fuel and gas might not be a bad buy either.

We'll be raising rabbits and chickens in the back yard.

These folks lack basic math skills. Maybe, that is wrong. They know how to do their master's bidding.

Beyond the Pale

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

It has started

The big day. Election day 2010.

By midnight to night will we see the kind of changes we hope to see? Time will tell, but great changes take more time and effort than just one election cycle can provide, and make no mistake, the forces that want to enslave and rule are, and will be, still out there. Just as the events since 2008 have galvanized our side, the opposition is also capable of being energized and are even more motivated to use any and all of George Soro's money to get there way.

Via GOC you can read Ron's opinion


Food for thought people, food for thought.

Tomorrows the Big day

Especially if you, like me, have long been disgusted with the way the political tide in this country has been going.

Of course it helps somewhat if you went to school in the 50's and 60's and were taught just a little bit about history before it was changed to be politically correct and to create little droids who can program a DVD player enter data onto a computer, and all praise government.

A classical education like the educated men who were our Founding Fathers probably knew Greek, Latin, Hebrew as well as English and whose mathmatical skills included business accounting, weight's and measures, Algebra and most likely Calculus.
These subject would have been taught with attention to logical reasoning as well and the give and take taught by Socrates and Plato.

Nevertheless we must each do what we can to create as much Liberty in our own lives as we can today.

Voting is only one part of that effort, but and important part, so get out there if you haven't voted already and show yourselves as patriots. It's just too bad we can't all walk up to the voting booth with our sidearm strapped to our side in plain view.

There is a group called Restore the Constitution which have been having rallies all over the place where they go to a public place where carrying of legal weapons is allowed. Exchanges of ideas and thoughts on liberty and how to go about ensuring it to all are on the agenda. Check them out.

I'll be working in the morning, but will be watching and listening all day with great interest. If you're going to be near Athens, Ga give me a toot on the blog and we'll cuss and discuss how to cure all the ills of the world over a cold diet Dr. Pepper or two.

Remember Our Liberties and Freedom were given to Us by God and we only delegate certain responsibilities to government. We are responsible if they deviate from their instructions due to our lack of attention. Exercise the divine duties given to you by God and hold them accountable.

What will we see?

What will we see 72 hours from now?

A fair question I think. Of course there are those who say I don't think....or simply don't think enough. There of course exists plenty of evidence for either and both of those suspicions regretfully. But I am young and can still learn. (hopefully)

We on the conservative side have high hopes for Tuesdays elections. We hope to slow if not stop the engineer-less locomotive of on-rushing progressive-ism, collective-ism, nanny-state-ism, dependency on government to provide all our needs-ism, serf-ism, slavery-ism. (sorry, I got carried away with the -ism's.

You should not think that the opposition will be light because of the universal right of our positions.

If anything the opposition will resort to any and all methods at their disposal.

Will that include voting fraud? I'd love to think that all the poll workers in this country were the most honorable persons in their respective communities, but they likely weren't picked at random from some Elders Quorum at the local church. No, they volunteered because they stand with one party or the other. Very few of them will vote for the man not the party. Mostly they will vote a straight ticket for which ever poison they prefer.

What then, if the election is close, and a few votes will swing it one way or the other. What if there are those cases where suspicion is high, where tempers flare, where swinging chads are examined with a magnifying glase. Will it only be lawyers that are called in? Will you accept politically appointed judges to render an impartial vote?

Fortunately there is a remedy provided in the Bill of Rights should it ever be needed.

Mike Vanderbough had a few remarks over in Alabama along these lines today.

http://sipseystreetirregulars.blogspot.com/2010/10/my-speech-at-horse-pens-40-deal-with-it.html

I think it interesting to note that there are more like thinkers than you know or imagine.

May you live in interesting times Chinese curse or blessing depending on your point of view.

Ain't it the truth. Ya'll come back now.

Halloween Prank?

I wonder what it says about my mental state that one of the first things I though of while watching This News
on Channel 11 tonight was, "is this a ruse to cause more people to vote for the incumbents, rather than the devil they don't know next Tuesday?"

Probably nothing good, huh? Ha! Welcome to my brain.

The better half and I did go and cast our ballots in Early Voting yesterday. With the touch screen electronic voting machines I always have some suspicion over whether or not my votes will be counted correctly. I have no hard copy to prove one way or the other, so who knows? Guess it depends on whether your guy won or not.

With all of the good candidates out there this year it galled my ass a little bit to have to hold my nose and vote for the lessor of two evils for governor and senator. I could have voted for the liberitarian candidates, which I did in every other race for which they were and option. Not so much for the liberitarian point of view in all cases as much as I wanted to send a message that politic as usual is not really what I'm looking for. Sadly I considered those two races too important to register my disgust as I really wanted too. A choice between crooks is not how it's supposed to be.

A fiscal conservative with experience in running a profitable company through hard times and good, with a sense of Honor and a determination to uphold his oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States as originally written is not too much to ask for, is it?

A boy can dream I guess.

It comes down to the wire. Last chance to vote is next Tuesday, An awful lot of truly evil and venial politicians need to be sent packing at all levels of government. If you haven't voted, get out there Tuesday and exercise your franchise. It's what marks you as a Citizen, and despite what the Nanny State politicians want you to think, Citizens are the bosses. Office holders need to be reminded of that fact loudly and often, lest in the final recourse we have to follow Jefferson's idea of fertilizing the Tree of Liberty with the blood of tyrants, and patriots, and it is sad to think that so many patriots would have to spill their vital fluids to cause so few tyrants to have their "Come to Jesus" moment.

Go Vote. Vote early...Vote Often.

It's been done before.

Ya'll come back now.

What kind of a conservative am I?

My Conservative Identity:

You are an Anti-government Gunslinger, also known as a libertarian conservative. You believe in smaller government, states’ rights, gun rights, and that, as Reagan once said, “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.’”

Take the quiz at www.FightLiberals.com

Maybe it was wanting to take "The Art of War" with me on the last ship off the planet.

Saturday Morning 10/23/10

It's a beautiful day here in the neighborhood. The Classic city is not bothering me since I've yet to leave the yard. I may have to later to get a little something to work with, but not yet.
I waiting on the wife to return from picking up the grand girl. Looking forward to that. It's been a while and I look forward to seeing how much she changes in a couple of weeks.

Today she has been to the mall where her parents have taken her, as a reward for being good and accomplishing some things they wanted, to climb the rock wall and bounce on the bungee cords......I'm telling you the girl knows no fear, yet likes to be told stories about the wolves in the deep dark woods and pretend to be scared. Go figure.

I hope it's a swell day where you are. If it's not.....go out and make it one. It's all up to you.

Politics here in Georgia have devolved, as usual, into the most vile sort of muck raking, and also as usual neither of the candidates are giving good sensible options for the future any play at all. It's a contest between the devil you know and love and the devil you know and hate. Both candidates for governor are old line politicians of similar stripe and don't deserve a moments consideration. I'll probably vote for the Libertarian candidate where I'll be able to say, "I voted", but I didn't vote for either of those two asswipes.

Soon one election cycle and there will be exactly one split second before we are exposed to the next one.

Don't you just love it?

Twenty Six Days

Not my longest time away from this bit of shite and giggles.

But Close.

Why the away time??

As soon ask the black dog why he barks and howls at the moon. He just does.

Lots of things been going on. Computer broke.. new computer. Big Red the Dodge Ram was making funny noises and gasps as if straining up the last long dusty trail before...?? New Big Red Dodge Ram (does it have a Hemi?) With a Hemi..... 4 doors and 20 inch wheels....Twin exhausts and growls. Used.......Never buy new. 2009 model so technically 2 years old......8000 miles.. not bad...well, except for the payments starting next month, and the increased insurance. No ad valorum (sic?) taxes thanks to a grateful Clarke County for services rendered long past.

These two things necessitating increased diligence to the tasks at hand, combined with the rational and irrational fear mongering of various national and international supposedly asset preserving companies making hay while the gold shines, leading to increased buying and selling creating more demands on my time. (one fewer naps during the day)

The upcoming election day now less than two weeks away generating both hope and fears.....leavened with a generous helping of (rightfully so) skepticism, giving us some hope for change of a kind some of us had almost given up as a lost cause.

My guess.......The elections will decide little or nothing, spending will remain exuberantly profligate, China will rise and America sink, and in two years we will again hear about Getting America back on track, the American dream, and the rest.

I honest to goodness hope I'm wrong about that.....not so much for me as for the grandkids aged 4 years up to 18 years. Will they be as excited about the future as I was on the day in July '69 when man took "one small step" and "a giant leap".

Will they look to the stars and say "Why not".

Or will they say, "No way".

Whatever.......there will be those who say both. What matters is that we keep striving, fighting, voting......so that we can look back and say, as ol' Blue Eyes said, "I did it my Way".

Lots of rambling here.....take your pick and come back if you care to.

Rose colored glasses

Depending on who you listen to or read in the U.S. today your probably have an apocalyptic outlook on the future: we'll either all be slaves to the tyrannical federal gubbermint or anarchists with no one to lead us down the prim-rose path.

Have you ever looked through a pane of antique window glass and seen a distorted version of what was really on the other side, or perhaps you've put on your Blu-Blockers and thought you could see the world more clearly. Does maybe the actual truth reside somewhere else?

One of the ideas presented in our group therapy sessions a couple years or so ago was the idea of questioning how we looked at and reacted to various pre-conceived notions long held.

I remember having looked at what used to be South Vietnam with the aid of Google Earth and seen towns where only villages were before. Where we had bombed into the stone age they were buildings and quarries and new roads. Fields were being worked where 30 years before only snakes, insect's and the NVA dared to go.

I was pissed beyond belief that as a country they had gone ahead with their lives while I and many others were still stuck in the past. Quite a shock to the mental system I must admit. I'd been looking at the world through glass colored differently that others and my vision was not clear.

It's the same with so many of us in today's political and financial climate. Because the glass we are looking through is colored by so many disparate versions of the facts we may well ask ourselves if we are seeing what is really there.

The following paragraph is from someone looking at us while standing in Hong Kong.

"The first action Mr. Bernanke should take is to resign. If I had messed up the system so badly, as he has done, I would have to resign. He has talked constantly about the Great Depression and what caused the depression but the problem is that he really doesn't understand what caused the depression, which was also excessive leverage at that time. I have to stress that in 1929 the debt to GDP ratio was of course minuscule in comparison what it is today. It was 186% of GDP but you didn't have Social security, Medicare and Medicaid and unfunded liabilities for Social Security and so forth. So, debt today, as a percent of GDP, is 379% and if you add the unfunded liabilities we are at over 800%. The Federal Reserve should pay attention to that."

If you ask our bean counters in the feeble gubbermint in the District of Criminals, their numbers are no where even close to those.

800% of GDP? WTF? One could be forgiven if they were to throw up their hands in disgust.

"The solution is, basically, for the government to move out and not intervene in the economy. There are economists who will dispute that the Federal Reserve is partially responsible for the crisis and there are economists that will still tell you that debt doesn’t matter, that deficits don't matter and they want to continue to intervene in the free market constantly. To these economists I respond: What about Fanny Mae and Freddy Mac? It was an intervention by the government into the housing market and into the mortgage market and the biggest bankruptcies—bigger than Citigroup and all the banks—are Fanny Mae and Freddy Mac—government-sponsored enterprises. The same economists will tell you that the government has to intervene and to these economists I say: Well, you have made so many mistakes already with interventions do you think that in the future your interventions will improve anything? Einstein defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results, but these economists and the Federal Reserve think that by more interventions with fiscal measures and more money printing they will improve things. No, they won’t. They will make things worse.."

Where does the truth lie? Beats the shite out of me. You'll have to do your own research and voting.

One thing of which I am very certain. We have to make great changes and if you don't vote you have absolutely no business decrying anything that happens as you couldn't be bothered to contribute your opinion.

It's late

11:10 pm and my side of the king sized bed is beginning to call more urgently to me.

O'Course I'll likely have to shove the pooch off my pillow if he's slid down too low. I don't mind him sleeping above my head unless he starts one of his licking marathons where he licks the pillow over and over and over......almost as if it hypnotizes him and he can't stop.

There is lot's of news that I could work up a rightous rant about tonight, like What happened to Global Warming? But, the weather is starting to cool off here a little and it's just too nice to worry about.

And WTF is it about female School Teachers these days? It used to always be the male athletics coach that gave us all the problems. Do you think these products of our finest universities of higher learning have so emasculated the grown men in their lives that they have to turn to underage kids to get off. They could volunteer to tutor me......I promise to study hard and I'm old enough that they wouldn't be likely to get in to jail. Of course I might be shot by the wife, but perhaps it's a sacrifice I should make to keep the young boys from being abused like they have been.

The President is still on his mission to tear down the engine that runs the world.
Perhaps he should read Ayn Rand to find out what happens when TPTB try to do that. One day he'll look back and ask himself, "WTH".
Nothing more need be said about him and the dumbocrats.

Gold of course is setting new records for price every day almost. Understandable when the politicians and the banksters boast proudly that they are going to destroy the dollar.

That reminds me I need to pick up some more precious metals.......brass, copper and lead.

Mostly I just hear the news or read it online and shake my head in disgust or despair depending on my mood and then I go about my life.

I'm tolking with a friend who wants to sell his 100 + acres out in the country a ways. Nice place with lots of potential but it will all depend on the price I guess. I really like the fact that there are two little ponds dug on the place and just need some water diverted to fill them in. I've wanted to have a place to grow hybrid Bream for a while. They give a hell of a fight on a fly rod. Everybody else likes catfish but they're too much trouble to clean for my taste. The place also has an almost mountain like view without getting into the stratosphere of prices that those kinds of property fetch.

Life is interesting, which makes it fun, challenges energize me once more and I may jump into the deep end again........only this time with an inner tube to hold on to.

Ya'll come for breakfast, we'll have a couple of hen apples over easy with some kink of pig to go with them.......maybe even a cats head buttermilk biscuit.

Are We a Happy Nation?

Good question don't you think?

Right now I'd have to say that we're the least happy nation we've been in a long time.

Individually, we're probably thinking, 'well, I'm pretty happy', but as a nation we're a quarrelsome, bickering, kicking and scratching bunch of pissed off people.

No doubt there are plenty of things to be mad about.......national debt, personal debt, lack of morals, rectitude, fiscal responsibility among those sent to D.C. (Department of Criminals) and our heros of screen and stage seem mostly to have so few brains that we understand now why they have Directors telling them what to do. (Well, Clint Eastwood and John Wayne didn't have that problem but the Duke's not getting around much anymore and Clint.......well he became one of the Directors himself)

I have no immediate solution to all the problems that have us up in arms and spinning in a tizzy, but our First President offered a little advice in this regard.

""I now make it my earnest prayer, that God would have you, and the State over which you preside, in his holy protection, that he would incline the hearts of the Citizens to cultivate a spirit of subordination and obedience to Government, to entertain a brotherly affection and love for one another, for their fellow Citizens of the United States at large, and particularly for their brethren who have served in the Field, and finally, that he would most graciously be pleased to dispose us all, to do Justice, to love mercy, and to demean ourselves with that Charity, humility and pacific temper of mind, which were the Characteristicks of the Divine Author of our blessed Religion, and without an humble imitation of whose example in these things, we can never hope to be a happy Nation." --George Washington, circular letter of farewell to the Army, 1783

Not a bad prayer.

September Surprise

OR.....Abandon Ship , swim for the nearest tax haven.

Quite a week for the yellow shiny stuff.

Is this a time to fear, or a time to reap the harvest (or whirlwind)?

Read the article and give me your opinion.

Alive and well.

Elvis Presley is alive and well, living in Mingo, W. Virginia, which for some strange reason is not in Mingo County, but rather in Wyoming County, which is not in Wyoming, but rather....
....Well you get the point.

Srsly, I saw the dude, standing outside a store as we drove down the street. Hadn't aged a bit that I could tell.....course I was watching the road more than the sidewalks since in the steep valleys there everything is built between a creek and the road or the mountain and the road.

Many of the little towns were no more than two lots deep between either the railroad and the road or a creek and the road with the railroad on the other side.

I remember where I was when they reported on the radio that he had died......standing in the milking parlor of my dairy farm, between 12 cows, six on the side with a guy we called "Chunk" because of his girth....well that and the fact that he had the IQ of a chunk of firewood.

For all that he was a faithful employee.....always there in the pre-dawn hours ready to start the milking. If the light wasn't on in my house as he sped up the driveway he'd honk the horn telling me to get up and on the ball.....another 16 hour day was about to start.

I was 27 and while I'd been half-way round the world in two different direction was still just a snot nosed kid with big dreams and no real plan other than getting up each morning and walking out the door into work.

Elvis was hot when I was in school....at least up until the Beatles came along and then every body wanted to comb their hair into their eyes. I'd practice curling my lip and looking sleepy eyed. Looking back I can see that I was better at it than I had sense enough to realize.

Ahh, wasted youth.......somehow it seems wasted on most. If we had only realized.

A lot of conspiracy theories back then about Elvis just wanting to drop off the radar and staging his death. Can't say I blame him much, he had his share of troubles and trials. They say fame and fortune won't make you happy if you don't appreciate them. I think he just wanted to sing.

I prefer to think he really is alive in Mingo.......fat, happy, singing in the church Choir on Sundays.

Been there........ Done that!

I have been to the center of the Universe........

...and I've eaten at the Dairy Queen there.

Hinton, West Virginia. I'm almost reluctant to write the name, lest too many people discover the perfect place to sit on the upstairs porch at my Sister and Brother-in-laws get-away place.

Sitting in the New River Gorge on the side of possibly the second oldest river in the world after the Nile River, I thought hardly at all about the political or financial situation in the rest of the world.

We sat there till midnight just listening to the gentle roar of the river and watched the lights come on and go out, the stars twinkle brightly, and occasionally the sound of coal trains or Amtrak remble, creak and groan their way to where ever they were off to.......

.....we cared not where, we were just glad to be.



Over 1000 miles of driving over 4 days. Seven and a half hours to get to Hinton....
....12 hours to get through Southern West-by-God Virginia and Southern Kentucky to I-75 just north of Knoxville TN........Another 6 hours to get back here to Athens......tired and ass weary, but happy that we were blessed to see wide rivers, steep mountain hillsides...valleys so deep it seemed impossible that the sun could reach the bottoms more than an hour a day.

Glad to go........Glad to return.....can hardly wait to go back.

A Small Inconvience

Arriving at home this afternoon after spending most of the late morning and early afternoon pounding the hi and bi-ways searching for shiny stuff to bring back to the nest, I found one of those pink USPS card announcing a package had been mailed to me and for whatever reason the postal carrier, today, after delivering 2 packages on each of the proceeding days the mail ran, decided to not come to the door and get whoever was here, and there were two people here all day, decided not to attempt delivery and instead leave the aforementioned little pink card announcing the (non)attempted delivery and I could instead just hi myself to the local monument to sloth and inefficiency and request it at the counter.

Which I did, after waiting until the local carrier would have had plenty of time to return to the post office.

After waiting only a short time (thanks to the two men ahead of me who were in the process of trussing up a box with duct tape graciously gesturing for me to proceed them) I presented the aforementioned little pink card to the attendant, which action had, hundreds of times in the past, resulted in them checking in the back and momentarily coming forth with the package and delivering it into my hands. Always to a grateful customer who thanked them politely and wished them a good day.

No more.

I was told in no uncertain terms that the package would not be delivered to the front desk before closing time and I could just take myself back where I came from and come back with hands outstretched on the morrow.

No offer, as in the past, to check in the back, no acknowledgment of my request that they just step back and check.

Oh, Hell no! I could just come back tomorrow at my expense of time and travel, no effort to redeliver on the morrow. Fuck No!

Come back tomorrow.

I ask you gentle people........if you worked for an organization which was going in the hole financially every year to the tune of over a Billion fucking dollars and every day the efforts of companies like UPS and FEDEX along with the rapidity of communicating via the interwebz rendering said organization more and more irrelevant, and your paycheck and pension and health care benefits depended on you remaining employed by said orginization.........wouldn't you think you would try to offer a bit of customer service to possibly ensure that organization would continue to operate into the foreseeable future??

Or I just the only one lost in a time loop of the past where customer service meant you would be assisted instead of just bent over and reamed time and time again?

It's time to call loud and hard for the elimination of the USPS. If not now, when?

Saturday at the Matinee

A Saturday at home in the Kudzu Grotto.

Woke up to Cheerios (well the generic version anyway) and a cup of caffeine. Just enough to get the day started.

The youngest daughter brought her daughter over to spend the day and night. She and SIL were supposed to go deep sea fishing but for some reason that fell through. But we get to keep the princess anyway.

Finding jewels out at the tool shed (the eye of and eagle she has), swinging in the lawn swing telling tales and following her script cause if you depart from it she'll stop you and put you in your place.

Watching The Wizard of Oz on youtube.com twice in a row, with hiding of the head at all the scary parts.

Now to get her to go to bed, all worn out but happy, because after all........

There's No Place Like Home.

Paranoia

I'll bet you thought that the tin foil hat was just for looks didn't you.

Slack Ass

I thought my ass was dragging 'cause I've been putting off emptying the coins from the Maxwell House coffee can and wrapping them for conversion to foldin' money down to the bank.....

......Instead when it started running over I just slide a plastic one gallon pail next to it and started anew.

But this guy in Norfolk has carried being a slacker to new levels...Not showing up for work in the last 12 years and still getting paid. Bet someone besides him is in line to lose their job.......of course he'll only be able to tell because his check doesn't show up.

Wait......now that I think of it there are hundreds of people in The Cesspool on the Potomac who were his American Idols.

Maybe I ought to put some security cameras around the coffee can.......this out of work thing might become an epidemic.

Knife Sharpening

Or in this case trying to hone my mind a little bit.

I did sharpen a pocket knife today, which, while not unheard of around here at the Kudzu Grotto, has become something of an oddity as most of the blades, other than the occasional bayonet designed more for poking and punching, have been worked to a razors fineness and used only rarely.

But a friend sold me this big bladed folding knife, ( for 50 cents, so as to avoid the superstition of never giving a knife away lest it hurt someone) and it needed a little touch up with the crock sticks. I'd mostly gotten away from carrying a pocket knife in favor of a pocket gun, which makes more sense as I'd just as soon never be caught bringing a knife to a gun fight anyway.

Never-the-less I sorta like the feel of this big flat sucker and will have to see if I can't make accommodations since it just makes a mess when you try to carve a stick with a gun.



But, to get back to sharpening the mind bit.....

I have a friend who has been given several mobile homes and a couple houses by his father in order to get them out of his possession since he's in the middle of a messy bankruptcy.

Long story and short attention span. I know.

The upshot of the story is that all the units have tenants in them which haven't been paying rent to the father, some of them for several years.

Mind you these tenants are not family moochers,, just moochers in general.

Question is, aside from the fact that property taxes have to be paid every year (the units are debt free) who is being hurt the most?

The owner who's property is being occupied without compensation, or......

....the tenants, who are being enabled in their slothfulness?

Question of the Day

Is the Economy going to Recover?

YES......


NO..........

Getting whacked

On by professional bloodletters is never any fun, although sometimes at your own request.

About 3 months ago I showed my Primary Care Doctor a mole under my arm pit that had been changing colors and on the day I showed him it was a nice pinkish hue.

With his usual sorry bedside manner he cast a quick glance and said, "I'll schedule you with the dermatologist down at Augusta". This at the VA Medical Center where I have to go for anything other than the common cold.

Pay Attention......this is government health care at it's finest.

Three months to get an appointment. Had this been a real emergency I'd have metastasized and died.

Fortunately the day after seeing him the mole turned a nice normal (?) color and mostly stayed that way.

Thursday last I arrive at the appointed place and time and after waiting for an hour longer finally heard my name called where a decent caring young Dr. looked, poked, consulted with an older Dr who told him to shave it and send it off.

So I stood there with my left arm atop my head while he gave me "a little stick" and proceeded to whack a quarter size chunk of skin and mole off and put it in a jar.

In due time I'm told I'll get the results in the mail, all of which is paid for by you the taxpayers and for which I'm grateful.

Cooler weather

What a difference 10 degrees makes even though the humidity is 100% and rainy every once in a while.

I'll take it.

Today and the weekend just past has been a little rainy with a few nice thunder bumps and one time damn near a tornado. Wind ripped down a few trees onto some electrical wires up the road and made the Georgia Power guys earn their keep.

Made my rounds this morning and back this afternoon just a little too late to help the wife get the groceries out of the car and into the house. I did however arrive in time to put a couple jars of mayo up in the pantry along with some cereal of some kind.

Got my stuff working and waiting on the morrow. I'm chilling out to the point that I ignore the call from Tyrone though I know he's wanting me to come see him. Bugs me to death over mostly junk that he thinks are the British Crown Jewels.

But I've been shooting signs off posts for the last half hour and am in no mood to have my chill harshed by listening to him. Damn I need to get to a range.

Who knew the Brits were such hooligans?

Siagon

Early October, 1970.

On the way to the mess hall of the new in-country orientation center.

"Hey, GI. You take my MPC (Military Payment Chits). Trade them in, bring back, you keep half", said the Vietnamese male waving a huge wad of MPC at me from the other side of the 10 foot high, razor wire topped chain link fence between he and dozens of young Americans.

"What th' hell", I asked the guy next to me.

"Aw, they're changing the Military Money today, so all those Vietnamese who have been paid in old MPC are just fucked unless they can get someone to change whatever they have over a certain small amount to the new stuff".

"How do they know someone will bring it back, not keep it", I asked.

"He don't, but he's gotta take a chance, else he's gonna lose out"

Forty years have gone by and we're having our own sort of an economic crisis here in the 'Good ol' Red white and Blue.

Oh, the money is still there, but no one wants to part with what they have on anything other than the necessities any more, and that assumes that they still have their job and aren't losing their house.

Where the hell did all the money from the stimulus go? Politically correct pet projects and some road paving on a local level.....the rest went to the big money people in banks and insurance companies and Wall St. big shots who were deemed too important to fail.

Let me ask you.....Do you feel better off now than you did 3 years ago? Rhetorical question of course. I know the answer.

What ya gonna do about it.

Vote, you say?

For who........the guys in elected office are not in charge of the show. Their Masters are generally never seen on TV or mentioned in the MSM. They're the one's that keep receiving their checks or payout regardless of who is in so called "Political Power".

Barry Obama doesn't have a fucking clue. Somebody told him he could change the world to suit his and his socialist buddies view of how thing ought to be, but neglected to mention that whatever was suggested that he do, would have to get their approval, and he'd never even feel the shaft as it was gently and lubriciously slid past his sphincter. One day down the road he'll notice the lube sliding slowly down the back of his thigh and wonder, "Where the hell did that come from".

The future is here friends, and no matter who we vote into office this year and two years from now, the same system will still be in place, and if you haven't identified the problem and the particular actions on your part that will place you just a couple steps above the chattering hoards.......why, you'll likely be feeling that same damp sticky spot on the back of your knee.

Thrashing and a clawin'

I come out of sleep, knowin' that th' Chinese food induced terrors will only be beaten back by incandescent lighting and calm reflection on the fact that the people and scenes were not really there, wishing tho' I might, that some of them I could hold on to.

Dad was there, and Grandpa........the cars and trucks were a decade or two too old for some strange reason....... and the houses where we lived were out of a Deliverance movie perhaps, with knotted old stumps that resembled long dead creatures from the Cretaceous period, and I, young and newly delivered from the horrors of a war I didn't feel particularly proud of, was trying all the time to reach something, a young wife......a life I'd left behind....the promised land.....something..

Dry mouthed as though I'd been snoring with my head back on the arm of the couch, tho' I'd been wearing the CPAP mask and sucking in force fed air through my nose.....

Fading already, tho' my Dads contentment and Grandpa's querulousness will remain, my heartbeat reduced to a more normal level, the drug of Morpheus drags at my eyelids and the recliner beckons............................

A word of caution, don't save some of the take out for later and then read of the cause of the problems, not just the ranting about the effects, just before bedtime..

Friday the !3th

I love Friday the 13th. It's always been a lucky day for me.

Today was no different. A very good day, busy as hell, running hither and thither in answer to the call for help in converting unused assets to usable.

I also went over 15000 hits. Thanks to the one out of five hits today that pushed me over that mark. Whoever and Wherever you may be

Not so much when compared to the thousands and millions of hits on some blogs, but to those 5 viewers who have clicked her an average of 3000 times each, (wait, don't I have 5 sisters? Nah, they don't all visit, they get enough of me on the once every year or two we get together).

OK! Thanks for coming by. I appreciate it. I prefer Quality over Quantity anyway. And My viewers and readers are Quality all the way.

Peeper's Creepers

Or.....
........Who Watches the Watchers

More and more people in this nation are finally waking up to the fact that we have some serious problems.......Politically......Economically.....You name it.

But are we waking up to the real Cause of these problems? Not so many.

Of course if your company moved its manufacturing jobs overseas to take advantage of lower costs of labor and no unions......your problem is that what you thought of as your J.O.B. is revealed to actually have belonged to the company and not a lowly worker bee. You were expendable because you didn't work your way up to the drone who flew off and mated with the queen.

Guess what........that job will probably never come back. Do you intend to spend the rest of your life blaming some guy in India for being more productive and cheaper in the process.

Do you not have a home now because you thought the good times would always roll just like everyone promised you and you could always draw money out of your ever more expensive house.
Try telling that story to the 30,000 or so people who showed up in Atlanta to put in applications for the 400 or so section 8 houses possibly available. Would your really want to live among that many moochers anyway?

The world is changing, and you had better change with it. Do you even stop to think about how it's changing and how you will not just survive in the new era, but possibly even thrive there.

If you haven't my friend, may I suggest you stop what you're doing and do so. Because the possibilities are still just as endless as they always were......there is still plenty of wealth to go around, but instead of the old way of doing things, new ways are going to have to be invented and put into play,...then adapted and changed in tune with the changes that are coming.

But if you don't study and learn the lessons that are there, and then put the answers into play, why, you'll remain one of those who is always asking, "what the hell just happened, and why is my ass sore and my butt cheeks greasy?"

What's in a name?

Nearly 6 years ago I started noodling around on this here interwebz thingy. A crazy time in my personal and professional life. (Of course I have no profession other than whatever I'm doing at the time, which has been everything from a dairyman, flyboy, cattle breeder, explosives user, (( I was never an expert)), house builder, pulpwooder, swampwader, insurance sales, sawmill operator to jewelry manufacturer).

I picked the name Red Hill Kudzu because we lived in the Red Hill areas and I'd recently given a talk about the Kudzu that can entangle a persons soul.

Pretty tenacious stuff and there is plenty of it still growing here even though we've lived in Athens 3 years and 11 months.

I joke around about taking my meds and trying to stay a little bit sane in an insane world where, as the poet said, "all around you men are losing theirs (Mind)". In a comical attempt "To be a man, my son".

Sometimes I succeed and sometimes not so much.

But sometimes you have a day that is like Balm_of_Gilead. also, also.

Today was such a day. To celebrate the Birthday of my Grandson Cody, his parents, his girl friend, his grandmother and I, his aunt Kathy and current beau with his son in tow, and two close family friends sat out to go 'tubin' th 'hooch. Not as some of you have done up in Helen, Ga, but lower down that lovely river below the Lake Sydney Lanier Dam unto Suttles Bridge where we disembarked and were bussed back to our cars and trucks.

The River is deeper here, not quite so bustling, but deep in spots and cold enough, about 45 degrees, to make grown men squeal like little girls, and little and big girls alike, have lip lock so tight you never have to worry about floating through a warm yellow patch.

Clear the water was, bottle green, and you could see trout swimming and avoiding the snares of anglers wading along the banks and watch the stumps of old trees as we floated gently and quietly past, standing sentinel along with a Great Blue Heron who flapped majestically off at our approach, squirting out a 5 foot long stream of shit, both to lighten the load and probably to express his displeasure with our intrusion.

The mood was joyous, we giggled and talked as the sun beat down upon us. Thank goodness for SPF-50 else my lily white legs, which have only infrequently seen the light of day for decades now, would have been char-broiled to medium rare perfection in the 3 hours it took us to reach the bridge.

Afterwords back to the daughter's house for grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, with suitable libations for the grown-ups while we children made do with diet pepsi and Mtn. Dew. Of Course the obligatory birth day cake (white with chocolate icing) then some playing with the Wii until time to return back here.

A warm day, a sunny day, a cold river to float lazily upon, good friends who are family (a combination which is a great blessing far beyond any expectation so many years earlier), and a peaceful, prayerful feeling, unlike so many other evenings at this keyboard for so many years.

Amen

It CAN be done

I spend a lot of time ranting about the problems as I perceive them.

Sometimes I try to cobble together solutions, but in a stream of consciousness, head to the keyboard, no proofreading, shoot from the hip kind of way.

Thank goodness there are people who can think, and do, out there like Borepatch.

If you're not reading him, try it. You just might like it.

Wish List

I commented over at Yabu’s about the need for some serious actions that need to be taken.

Since it does little good to complain about the state of things without putting forth a few ideas on what course to take to get back on track, I will throw out a couple ideas that I personally would like to see be done.

We were awakened to the problem by two things, (1) the crash of 2008 and the (2) election of socialist idiots to the higher office's in the land.

1. For starters (and this does not involve the longer term problem of having Central Banks ie, Federal Reserve in charge of the nations money) we need to stop shooting holes in the bottom of the boat. Declare a moratorium on the payments of interest on any national debt, whether to the Federal Reserve or China or investors in Treasury Notes of any kind. This is not to say a Chapter 7 bankruptcy scenario, rather a time to reorganize ala chapter 13. Stop spending more money that is taken in by the treasury. Fuck a budget that depends on borrowing. Live within our means. This will mean that for starters we don't give money to any terrorist organizations such as Hamas. If they can't fight a war against us without our funding, let them starve and their little suicide bombers in kindergarten too. Tough luck, they should have thought of the consequences.
If you are receiving welfare of whatever kind you should have to work for the money. If this means sweeping the streets with a hand broom so be it. A better alternative might be that they are put to work demolishing the gettos and plowing the ground and planting food gardens to feed themselves and those who are physically unable. Give people a purpose and an opportunity to help others and they'll not have time to whine about being dis-advantaged. There is plenty of state and federal land on which to grow these gardens.

2. Quit encouraging business and jobs to relocate to other countries. Pass the Fair Tax. If you are not familiar with it, become so. Get out of your comfort zone and read the two books to gain an understanding. A sales tax to replace the income tax makes great sense and will not impose a greater tax burden, but will spread it out so every one who purchases new products will pay their share. This includes those who currently don't pay taxes because they are teat suckers or might be here illegally. A Fair Tax will bring back old industries and NEW ones as the come to where their efforts will be rewarded and they actually get to keep that reward.

3. Cut the size and scope of the government. We are overloaded with people who's only job is to enlarge and keep their job. This will have to be done in a planned way taking advantage of the new jobs being created as a result of the Fair Tax. Perhaps a goal of 10% a year for 10 years, paying them their same salary for a period of time if they volunteer for the cuts. Come on, you can think of lots of useless governmental agencies that need to be reined in.

4. Congress shall fill their responsibility of denying or authorising military actions on foreign soils. We may be our brother's keepers but if they refuse to play nice we need to shun them and have nothing to do with them or their enablers. The Constitution plainly states that it is the Congress responsibility to wage war, not to delegate it to the President. Our elected officials need to grow some cojones along with a brain. It is OUR responsibility to put in office people with honor, courage, commitment to the concept of the Constitution rather than enrich themselves at the expense of the governed. We better do this before we have to start shooting them to rid ourselves of the parisites. Term limits may be the answer. Accountability to the citizenry, real accountability, not the arrogance we've seen in the past, will have to be enforced by an informed electorate. Total transparency is a must.

5. A willingness to smack down with extreme prejudice those who would harm our nation or our interest. You want to play with the big boys, either play nice and fair or risk having your ball taken away and you crippled past the point of ever trying to get back into the game. Make a list of principals that we will live by and expect other to live by. If they refuse, shun them, totally and completely. If they don't need us, we certainly don't need them.

I could go on, but the grass needs cutting and I'll need to go do some work later today for a couple of hours at least.

I would be glad to hear and discuss your ideas.

Stay cool, it's going to be another hot one.

Something to be Pleased with this Monday Morning

We have done something very special here – something that no other civilization has done in the history of the world. We have freed a country, without asking anything in return except friendship.

Things like this are more a matter of course for our military than they are given credit for by the biased MSM.

So hold your head a little higher today my friend, for you are a part of something great.

Facing up to the darkness

It seems to be a common tactic of most public officials (read teat sucking scum bags) when faced with a budget short fall of some kind to begin to lay off some of the most essential personnel like police, fire fighters, and EMS to reduce the deficit.

It's almost like they are trying to blackmail the public to part with even more of the increasingly small amounts of money they have in order to keep these protectors of the public.

I wonder if the city managers of East St. Louis have reduced their pay and budget, laying off their personal assistants, Office managers, executive assistants, secretaries, and sycophants, street sweepers, grass cutters and possibly others who's services, while admittedly nice to have, might be more economical if supplied by the private sector or in some cases eliminated all together?

It admittedly is more work on the ones remaining, but have you ever wondered how they can have so many people out on coffee break at one time, all the time, and get anything done.

It is a truism that a persons needs and desires increase to the capacity of their finances, but not necessarily true that having increased will decrease when the capacity diminishes in size. For by then the increase becomes thought of as more Needs than desires.