I don't "Grok"

I've hesitated to comment too much on the alleged "child abuse" case in Texas.

One reason is that I have not made myself aware of all the "fact" in the matter. There is so much information and opinion that is being put out by the media that it is difficult to get any sense of the real "facts" in the matter other than over 400 children were forcibly removed from their parents, their homes and their siblings.
I simply do not trust the media or the government to tell us the plain and simple unvarnished truth. They have too much money or power involved to be impartial, in my opinion.

There may be, in the future, a book written that attempts to lay out all the facts, both pro and con, but by then, will anybody care?


Former state District Judge Scott McCown, who handled hundreds of CPS cases while on the bench in Travis County and now heads the Center for Public Policy Priorities, agreed that, legally, it probably doesn't matter whether "Sarah" is a fiction.

The other reason is that I am a member of the religion from which the FLDS split many years ago after the LDS church renounced the practice of plural marriage (Pologamy).

I feel no need to either defend or condemn the members of the FLDS group. There are many different religions in this country..........some of them embrace the practice of cutting off the heads of chickens and goats. I confess I don't care........while I've never eaten goat (to my knowledge) I like chicken........fried, broiled or rotisseried.......perhaps goat is just as good (tastes like chicken).

The overriding concern that I have (and it matters less than nothing whether you agree with me or not) is that an overly powerful government continues to take upon themselves more and more control of our personal lives. They don't give me enough medications to cause me to like that.

If anybody reading this has anything to do with the disposition of my final remains and anybody will spring the money to put up a granite marker...........I want only one word carved thereon.......

Mel Gibson uttered it as the last living act of a tortured dying man in "Braveheart"



Freedom


Hopefully there will be someone in the distant future who still remembers the meaning of the word............and reading it .......will weep, for what once was.

Twilight

here at the kudzu grotto...........everything is quite and still. Through the tall oaks, with their immature leaves still straining to grow into a decent shade, I can see over the stand of pines across the road the last glow of the sun wrapping around the horizon providing a faint.....last bit of light.
The sky is that clear royal blue of a cloudless night, dotted here and there by the stars bright enough to twinkle their blue white light down through the years that separate us.
So quite........ and the wind so light that you have to stand absolutely still in order to feel it............that you can almost imagine there are no problems in the world.

Yet, movement toward the door brings the racket-ing of the Big Eye in the corner of the living room.............Talking heads with their subtle messages, warning us against non-conformity. Political aspirants declaring what is good for us.
Idiots still pander to the Barbarians at the gates.

Sometimes I think my Dalmatian old maid bitch, with her one brown eye and one blue, is a much more content creature than we. Almost makes me want to crawl into to her 55 gallon barrel.....lined with fresh ceder shavings and wheat straw......and get away from the world for a while. Let the rage and *RCOBOE dissolve away with thoughts of the next ham bone coming our way.


* red covering of Blood over eyes

More proof.........

.
..........That Some people should not be allowed to breed.

The question becomes how do we decide which ones will be allowed.

Hitler, during the 1930'd and WWII, tried to create a master race by selecting the finest Aryan specimens to mate together. Near the small town of Budingen
where I was stationed in the early-mid 70's, there was some distance to the west an old convent where the young nuns were basically made slaves to the Nazi's and forced to breed with these so called superior males. The cemetery outside the convent contains the remains of many who killed themselves either during the war or afterward as soon as their captors fled or were killed.

Maybe ol' Adolph didn't have it quite right..........but, I think maybe something needs to be done.

Oh, Quite. I don't advocate anything like that. But possibly a return to natural selection will come about either by natural, economic or worst case collapse of civilization when the numbers of too stupid to walk and chew gum reach some magic point that I can only wonder at.

All I know is that when I ran my Dairy farm......I would selectively mate each cow to a bull that would increase the chances of improving the herd. Those that didn't make the cut became hamburger.

Maybe we just need to increase the number of wolves in our society to weed out the weak and dumb.

Where would you likely end up were that the case??

Some people have an understanding

Of how thing work, better than others. Are They right??

Maybe so........but this is an election year. Don't expect rational thinking from any politician from the city level on up.


GRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!

We Survived..

.
.......the worst that Mother Nature could throw at us.......

Well....that is if you were listening to the local weather mavens last evening.

Every since a small wind tore the top off of the Georgi Convention Center a few weeks ago every time we get an errant cloud coming our way we get these warnings of Doom and Gloom.

But we all woke up safe and sound this morning listening to the grass grow at supersonic speed. I cranked up the power mower and bush hogged the grass back down to hopefully a size that I can handle with the old fashioned reel mower with only the sound of the blades clicking and my heart thumping to disturb the mating rituals of the Blue Jays and Crows. Please be assured that even though the blood pumping around in my head sounds like a 747 trying to take off at max gross weight..........no blood vessels have popped yet.

That may not be the case for much longer though. (more later)

I had determined that today would be a wasted one. The wife had spent the night at her sisters helping sew some new curtains........so it was cereal for the old grump and Slimfast for me. Oh......didn't I mention that the last weigh in at the VA put me perilously close to breaking the 200 lb mark. Now they do say that muscle weighs more than fat.....and I am big boned from a bit of heavy labor and lifting over the past 30 years..........but there is no excusing the amount of excess flesh I'm carrying around. I may be twice the man I was when I joined the Army back in '69..
......but to weigh almost twice that is intolerable.
So Slimfast is going to be my friend for a while.....along with a sensible dinner of course.

The wasteral day was history when the youngest daughter called and asked if I could come make her clothes dryer stop squeaking. I would have told her to get the husband out of the woods chasing the elusive turkey, but the opportunity to see the Grand daughter outweighed any thoughts of that.

When the obligatory kicking and banging on the appliance didn't do the job....I was reduced to actually examining and taking apart the dryer. Aside from being old....the problem turned out to be about a half inch layer of lint all around the ring the tub runs around on. For my troubles I was rewarded by the opportunity to tickle the grand daughter and draw around her hands and feet with the crayons.
Well that and to hear her squeal "Paw Paw" when I came in the door.

Soon it was almost time for her nap.......as evidenced by the droopy eyelids and crankyness............So

I decided to stop at the local barber shop I'd spotted on the way thru Watkinsville.
Three chairs and little waiting. Unfortunately............

Let me just warn any of you gents who might be traveling through and decide to have your ears lowered............
Don't.....I repeat Don't sit down in the chair closest to the door.....especially if they is an ancient old fart standing behind it who talks and grunts to himself the whole time he is butchering your hair.
My God.......my ears haven't stuck out from my head this much since I was seven.

This just goes to show that when your regular barber is out of town gambling his money away on the Gulf Coast, you should just bite the bullet and wait until he returns. Nobody should have to walk around for the next 3 weeks until the scalped patches (would have been better if I'd had my head shaved) grow back in.

When I got home and had a chance to really look at my haircut, the little veins in the middle of my forehead started to pulse like worms were crawling through them.

Anyway that was my day........and aside from really wanting to go in the kitchen and polish off that honey bun on the counter right now............I seem to have survived.

Hope you did also.

It was a simple thing.............

Really I don't ask for much.

Just that everyone do exactly as I tell them.......Or......

Sorry.......actually said what I mean for a moment there.

All I wanted to do was to change the password for my AT&T email account. (couldn't be because I'd forgotten the old one or anything)

Click here........click there.........call customer no service where I connect with Don Carter of Bangladesh or somewhere (and I'm Superman). Who's command of his native language is......
......I'm sure.......perfect. It just doesn't happen to be English.

Well.......he proceeds to take up an hour of my time and gets it where I can no longer connect to the internet and my desktop has disappeared.........WTF. Then He tells me that he has helped me all he can and for me to call some other company and they would fix the problem that he caused. Again.......WTF?

So I call customer no service again.........This time I connect with a pleasant young lady from Alabama........who although she went to Auburn I still think had to be the epitome of southern womanhood. Not only is she knowledgeable......but she quickly understands the problem and doesn't ask me to disconnect this or that or shut off the computer. No she simply and quickly ascertained the problem and led me step by step through the steps to fix it.

Problem solved..........and to the dismay of the rest of the world.......I can once again peek into the minds and hearts of politicians and confirm once again that we would be better off with a choice on the ballot "NONE OF THE ABOVE".

Many people are asking for God to Bless the USA. I sure hope he is listening and doesn't require us to press one for english.

I got nothing

Nothing really yanks my chain this evening.

So I was wandering around in the Documents I've stored from time to time and found a couple of nuggets that you might like to chew on and mull over.

I don't remember where or when I picked them up.......just that they seem appropriate during this political season. I'll sure be glad when November is over. Which ever way it goes, these words will still hold true.

The words of James Madison, as reported in The Federalist Patriot 05-11:
“If Congress can employ money indefinitely to the general welfare, and are the sole and supreme judges of the general welfare, they may take the care of religion into their own hands; they may appoint teachers in every State, county and parish and pay them out of their public treasury; they may take into their own hands the education of children, establishing in like manner schools throughout the Union;”

The creation of a cabinet-level Department of Education and numerous laws up to and including George Bush’s “No Child Left Behind” pretty well make this true. Every school board in the country has extra employees on board just to take care of complying with Federal regulation.

“they may assume the provision of the poor;”

Starting with Roosevelt’s Social Security, through Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society, and on into every federal giveaway, tax dollars are taken from working Americans, filtered through vast federal and state bureaucracies and distributed without requirement for responsibility to hordes of ready hands, most of whom will then vote for any political fool who will promise more from the pockets of the productive in America.

“they may undertake the regulation of all roads other than post-roads;”

Federal dollars are stripped from states, filtered through yet another federal bureaucracy and distributed as political prizes, giving us roads named after egocentric politicos who act as barons over their fiefdoms, assuaging their consciences and demonstrating their nobility by dispensing largesse to the suffering masses

“in short, every thing, from the highest object of state legislation down to the most minute object of police, would be thrown under the power of Congress.”

The allure of Federal monies allows the Federal government ot dictate everything from local taxes to speed limits by threatening the withholding of Federal funds if state and local laws fail to comply with Federal “guidelines”

… Were the power of Congress to be established in the latitude contended for, it would subvert the very foundations, and transmute the very nature of the limited Government established by the people of America.” –James Madison



"The masses have never thirsted after truth. Whoever can supply them with illusions is easily their master; whoever attempts to destroy their illusions is always their victim."


It would be interesting to hear what you think.

How quickly…..

….does one forget in the midst of all our trials and tribulations, in the middle of our day to day scrabbling for the means of existence, and hopefully, some meaning, some reason for us to have a right to belong here, that we do not exist alone on this daub of mud and water spinning thru space at……….X.. Mph around a relatively small sun on the outer reaches of our galactic cluster. Just one among untold other galaxies with uncountable suns and unknowable numbers of planets, all merrily spinning around. And their inhabitants, if any, totally unaware of us, and if they are aware of the possibility of our being, would probably soon forget about us, because they are also dealing with their own trials, their own scrabbling about for the means of their existence.

How quick are we to label others. As gooks, chinks, japs, savages, barbarians, mooslimes, or whatever we choose to label them.. Just because we really don’t want to take the time to identify with their humanity, because they look, or smell differently, or they believe in different gods, or like the French they eat snails.

How quickly we can lump them in to some anonymous, catch all group. Where we can hide from their humanity.

It’s so easy to let others have to deal with them on a personal level.

I've been tagged......

......By the Delectable Darlin' Miss Jean.

This meme originated at Smith Magazine and has now
reached my little blog world, thanks to Miss Jean.

Just as I don't look at my whole face when I'm shaving, my belly when I get out of the shower, I also don't care to look too deeply into my brain.........I'm a little afraid of what I might find there.

There are battlefields more scary than the ones where bullets and bombs whiz around..
........caves that would make the one Luke Skywalker went into seem to be illuminated by stadium lights.......swamps more tangled than the Okefenokee, where the cottonmouth and alligator roam.

Why should I allow myself to fall prey to a silly meme?? How could I condense the essence of who and what I am into 6 words. One word descriptions would seem to work better.........husband.........father......grandfather........JERK......asshole....
Pilot (once upon a time)....Warrior........paranoid.......crazy.........overweight
....armed...........(not so) dangerous ...all these and many more would seem to be much more accurate in their way. Six words would seem to come too close for comfort....
......plus I would have to think about it for a while.......something that makes my head hurt and eyes water (that might be the pollen).

I shall think........



And having thunk........


Just now, really, beginning to learn.

I'm not going to tag anyone..........many of the few who read me don't have their own blog, but I'd be interested in hearing from those who do that I don't know and also those I know who don't. It'll increase the number of comments and I just might get a greater insight into those I love.

Dumb ass me

Those nice graded coins I was bemoaning..........

I almost sold them for less than I paid.......just to get most of my money back.

Turns out that 3 dates with the same mint mark are a little more valuable than I, or the guy who sold them to me, realized.

I might actually break even.

Even a blind hog finds an acorn now and again.

Helps if you keep rooting around though.

Hanging it up.......

..........well I would if I were actually pretending that I could write. I just like to rant and rave to quiet the ringing in my ears for a while. (actually it doesn't help, just lets me ignore it for a while)

But if I did have aspirations of being considered a writer.........reading This guy's blog has cured me.

Go and read.

H/T to LL

The Cult of

.
..........THE BLACK ATHLETE........

"Go easy on them" WTH

I'm still fuming after I heard about This on the radio an hour ago. Even knowing now that they used a BB gun.

And I must say that it's not restricted to only blacks. White athletes are also not known for their respect of others and others property.

Why the hell would these three........fine upstanding examples of product from our "Public" schools just go up and shoot this woman with anything...........even a spitball?

Could it be that for the past several years they've been coddled and catered to because they were athletically gifted? Did no one stop to consider that intellectually they were incapable of interacting with the general public? Did they receive so much praise for how fast they could run, or how far they could throw a ball that they considered themselves above the bounds of common decency or the law?

And the woman wants the prosecutor to "go easy on them".

I say that since they are already familiar with shooting at people that they should be immediately sent to Iraq where they should be given the duty of walking in front of either conveys feeling for IED's, or pulling point in imam Madhatter's town winning the hearts and minds of the local Al cutie brigade.

It's kinda like telling a 2 year old not to pick their nose, then when they do anyway just tell them "mommies not happy". No, smack their hand........the lesson will last longer than 20 seconds. Not much........but the next time they'll check to see if you are looking the other way.

Pushing out to sea on an ice flow with no paddle would be too good for them.

And what's up with his name? My guess is the closest his ancestors ever came to a Farouq was when some Arab sold his g-g-grandmother to a slave boat captain.

Just Damn.

What the Hell? Over

I was mentored in refining precious metals by an ol' timer. He started going mining with his grandfather when he was about 6 years old.........riding in a mule drawn wagon for two day to their hidden creek where they would stay for about 6 weeks or the flour gave out and return home with enough to pay the property taxes each year and have a little left over. Can you imagine how low taxes were in the 30's? Gold was regulated at $20 per ounce in those days.

One of the first things he told me was to beware of falling in love with anything Gold.
Silver to him was a byproduct to be dumped out. Bet he wishes he could call back a few buckets full now.

Of course I had to learn the hard way. Holding onto gold jewelry hoping someone will buy it keeps you from having money to buy more. Jewelry stores are learning to their dismay now that to try to own all the gold in their shop is going to keep them in the poor house. Ol' King Midas learned the hard way too that you can't eat gold. Selling it is the only way to keep your money working for you.

So can anyone tell me why I bought 27 MS 63 silver Dollars and 4 Gold coins in one day. Anybody out there still a coin collector?. I've got a bridge in Brooklyn I want to sell you.

Easter

Tomorrow is a day celebrated by Christians Worldwide.

I hope that all of you who do..........celebrate it with those you love.

I'll be having most of the kids and Grandkids here to help me eat Sub Sandwiches made here in our kitchen. The young 'uns will hunt eggs in the green grass of the backyard. The adults will catch up with each other and renew each other's spirits. Prayers will be said........necks will be hugged.........OH yes......Potato Salad will be consumed. Aged one day in the refrigerator.......makes it better don't you know.

For now.........after a long day.....following a night of little sleep........a short prayer:

"Oh Lord.......Kdzu is so tired......please bless Kdzu, and all my friends. Amen

To all you......................

..............MOTHERS everywhere.

Now what could be on my mind with a lead in like that.

The wife has just returned from a week and a half care giving mission to older daughter's house.
LL is sick and the little monkey is rooting her off the bed, when we all know she'd rather be rolling around on it with someone else.
And there are millions.............nay considering the population of the earth........
....possibly Billions of mothers for whom the following is true.



God Bless Mothers.

Without them where would we be?

A stain on the wall.........perhaps?

Aren't you glad......

.
.........that you don't live HERE!

I think that it is human nature to want to live free. We want to be free to exist as we see fit for ourselves.....to live where we want....to enjoy the just fruits of our labors......to love whom we will and how we will.

That is unless, of course, you haven't totally been brainwashed by decades of religious schooling......often to the exclusion of subjects more apt to make you think for yourself. The more secular schooling you have, the more you question WHY. Why do we have to live as our ancestors did hundreds of years ago. Why are women considered inferior and chattel to be owned by their husbands or fathers and controlled by the religious edicts of men who are threatened by the sight of an ankle? Modesty of course is a virtue. Slavery is a vice unnatural to man.

Of course there are always men and women who will subjugate themselves to others for money or security........or simply because they are too lazy to take responsibility for themselves.........preferring someone else tell them where to work, live, act.

But, rational, thinking (and these are unfortunately in all to short supply) people want to be able to choose for themselves.

So I strongly support the protesters written of here.

But a society which has a secret police who spy on their own citizens rightfully exercising their freedoms.......as opposed to secret intelligence gathering agencies concerned with protecting you from enemies is a society which I'd prefer not to live among.

You have to wonder if many of them will live out the year. Full control indeed!

UPDATE

UPDATE:

On the salmon whatever it would be called..........Both the ol' Grump and I agree.....
......It's pretty good. I like it a little better cold, but for lunch today I scooped up a big spoonful.....mashed it flat and flopped it over in a skillet with a little bacon grease. Put a little crust on it....warmed it a bit........OH MAMA.

Next time I'll likely try it with about half of the ingredients except for the salmon which I'll leave the same. Can you tell I like salmon?
Same mixture without the peas and twice the salmon would make fine salmon patties.
Cook up a tray full of cats head biscuits and make some gravy out of the grease....
........and you're tongue will likely try to beat your brains out licking the taste off your chin.

Sorry I didn't get to the wieners........I've gotta eat all this before it goes bad.

Looking for the Green

.
Ever tried to grow Grass?

No, not the kind with 5 leaves.........you know who you are.

The kind you walk barefoot through........lie down in and get chiggers around your crotchital areas. The kind you seen in those pictures in Homes Beautiful or other sissy magazines of similar ilk.

The place we live in has what undoubtedly is some of the worst soil known to man anywhere short of the Sahara. And the rocks are bigger here.

I holler at my grandson for digging in the bank alongside the driveway........
.....but really I suspect he'll go far in life because anybody that'll work that hard to dig down a few inches ain't got no quit in him.

Everybody around here is all worried about the possibilities of thunderstorms coming tomorrow. After all a tornado did try to clean up some of downtown Atlanta last weekend. Damn fools will just rebuild.......they oughta plant a little kudzu around there to soak some of the rain up and keep Peachtree creek from flooding every time we get 1/4 inch of rain.

I kinda figured that if it really does rain tomorrow that today would be a good time to put out some high powered fertilizer and spread a little yard patch on the bare spots. Then, I figured, if we do have a tornado, it might be a good idea to roll out some of that ground cover that holds the seedlings in place if by some miracle they do happen to sprout.
Also might be good to put it where the neighbors mud washes down into the yard and down the driveway. He gave up on getting grass to grow around his house and just drives his pickup around between our houses.........causing his grass to grow downward and not hold the soil in place at all....... at all. He's a pretty good ol' boy for all that........even if he does have people coming to buy stuff out of a trailer in his back yard. I asked him about it one time..........he told me he was just storing some furniture out of his living room there while they remodeled. But I haven't noticed any work going on inside the house..

There is something about living in a mixed neighborhood. The Blacks will not give me an honest answer......even their last name. I guess that's so I can't give them up to the cops..............And the Latinos stay behind their 6 ft. privacy fence and never invite us to the goat barbecues. That's alright........one of these days I'm gonna fire up the grill and make some of my award winning.....have to kill you if you learn the receipe......chili. I'm not saying it's good or anything but I saw a friend at church backhand his 6 year old kid for asking for another bite out of his bowl.

Anyhoo, if the rain doesn't wash all the seed away I may have gained another square foot of growing grass.........we'll be holding out breath for that. I went and bought an old fashioned reel mower because of a lack of green. The 48 inch cutting deck on the 18.5 hp riding mower just blows the dirt around.

On the other hand......if all the hundreds of dollars spent on this excuse for a lawn do take hold..........somebody may have to lead as search party to find me.

Oh Yeah, I forgot to mention that yesterday was St. Patrick's day. I wore my John Deere socks with the green toes and heels so I wouldn't get pinched. Hope none of ya'll drank too much green beer.

Batchalor cooking

While mama's away taking care of the elder daughter whilst she is recuperating from surgery........the ol' grump and I have to sorta fend for ourselves.....with me being the one to make sure he eats on a regular basis and semi-sorta-kinda wholesome type of food. Of course his lunch always consists of a biscuit and bottle of Boost. I have noticed him scrounging a bite of pound cake or a milky way bar in between times.
Considering that 3 years ago we wouldn't have taken bets he'd last the week......I'd say he's doing well

Anyhoo, since I have to be in charge of supper and with no money to go to Arby's or Subway......it is my beholden duty to do my best.

Let's see........

We've got 3 cans of Salmon........Eureka.....that's what we'll have....something with salmon.

Alrighty then.........

Preheat oven to 450
3/4 cup each self rising cornmeal and flour.....mixed
Melt whole stick of butter in 1/2 cut water to boil.....pour into meal and flour
Mix well
2/3 cup whole milk mixed in
1 medium onion....chopped.........pour in
1 can mushroom soup (a favorite of mine)........pour in
Mix again
Add 4 hen apples and mix all this mess together
1 lb can of Salmon.......If'n it's only 14 1/2 ounces don't worry as this is approximately 1 troy pound......close enough.
Stir like heck or hell depending on mood
Oh yeah.......I almost forgot........somewhere in all this mixing and stirring add in a pack of frozen English peas or one can if you rather. be sure to drain....or not depending on your preference. Might be a little soggier is all.
Grease a casserole dish big enough to hold all this without it rising and spilling over.
Cook for 40 minutes or you can't stand it any more.......longer if you forget. I set the timer and will adjust according to what it looks like.
I guess you could crumble a few Ritz crackers on top a few minutes before done. Again I'll have to see what it looks like.




Eat till full.......if good. If not eat all you can and give the rest to the dogs.

Tune back in tomorrow when the chef will try to make weiners edible.

Remember to keep the # for poison control posted by the telephone.

The Cart Whisperer

I've been a hunter most of my life.

I started out with a Daisy BB gun. Didn't take me long to master the art of poppin' sparrows, Field Larks, Mocking Birds.........and once in the snow.....a Cardinal.
Tin cans were toast....a cardboard box became a German pillbox to be overrun.

But............when my boyish enthusiasm led me to consider larger prey.......such as my sisters (sorry girls)............My FATHER made it clear in NO uncertain terms that I was using the wrong caliber weapon.

Eventually I moved on to a single shot .410 that blew back and tried to blind me.....
.......but was hell on squirrels and an occasional foray with Dad and Uncles after "Birds", the delectable Bob White Quail. On my 16th birthday I received a Fox Savage double barrel 16 ga. shotgun. I loved that gun (still have it in my Gun Case ..........already I had been allowed to venture into the woods on our farm alone with a gun and as many shells as could be stuffed into a pair of jeans. Later......in Germany I moved up to a Winchester 12 ga. and was quite deadly on the skeet range. An HVA Carl Gustof of Sweden .308 Win. made at Forenade Fabriksverken rounded out my long gun collection until my Dad died and I inherited his guns which include my Great Grandfather's 10 ga. double barrel English field gun made by J & W Tolley in Birmingham England about 1865.

Gradually I somehow moved away from going after prey with a gun. Somehow loses some of it's allure after you've been both prey and hunter of the top of the food chain. I survived that test and figured if it couldn't shoot back, half of the fun was missing.

Today I hunt for hidden treasures and bargains that have more value than I pay for them.

But others have different talents for coaxing the object of their desires to come.

Witness one fellows relentless pursuit................



Makes you tear up a little doesn't it.