My Son Follows the Footsteps of Celebrity Justice

Above you will see my youngest son, Corwyn, who will be 5 on Christmas Eve. If you look at his forehead, you will see a very large goose egg he received Sunday morning.
He is smiling here, but shortly after receiving his medal of boyhood, he was a soggy crying mess, in much need of his mother.

I had come home from work, and the boys were watching a movie in the living room. I went back to my bedroom to change out of my uniform and exchange communications with the wife. I heard the boys start horsing around. I am not one to tell them to stop their wrestling, as I encourage them to experience their boyish nature, within limits anyways, and have even been known to encourage it in a not so subtle manner.
Well I never heard the thump, but I surely heard the wailing crying, along with the older brother calling behind him "I'm sorry...I said I was sorry."

I'm really beginning to get irritated with the word "sorry". The oldest, Josh (age 9 1/2), has been using this word A LOT lately. Way more than he should be.

Anyways, Corwyn comes busting in the room, bawling his eyes out, and a noticeable lump on his forehead. He was obviously to shaken up to tell us what was going on besides something about "Josh threw me (unintelligible)"
Josh immediately went into his repeated incantations of "I said I was sorry." Apparently in his mind, this makes everything all better automatically. Kind of like celebrities these days. No matter what you do, say you're sorry and go to rehab, and everything will be okay!

When asked what Corwyn hit his head on, Josh started off with some story, surely trying to find a way to spin it as he spoke to make hiself seem in a slightly better light than reality might suggest. For those of you who know me well...I don't like a sotry when I'm asking a question that only requires one word to be answered. Amazingly enough, even my wife got irritated with his not answering the questions as directly and efficiently as possible. I say amazingly, because she is just as, if not more guilty of the narrative story to any question, even a 'yes or no' typer question. I'm pretty sure Josh got his way of answering questions from her. I'm convinced its genetically passed on. After finding out that Corwyn hit the wooden chair in our living room, then we got the fuller story. Just so you know, I'm fine with the filler material, AFTER my question is answered! Anyways Josh told us they were wrestling and he sort of threw Corwyn into the chair where he smacked his head, but (wait for it)..."I already told him I was sorry." He said it so matter-of-factly, as though that mere statement was the solution to his very recent fuax pas. (He even used it as an excuse for a friend who had kicked him off a slide the other day, finishing off with, "but he said he was sorry, so its okay.") He was sent to his room, after being assured that uttering a saying wasn't the key to ending his problems.

While I applaud him taking a lick like a man, and not making too big a deal out of that physical malady, I think somewhere along the line, he was convinced that apologies solved everything to the point of no further consequences. Worse, I can't even figure out where he learned that from, because it surely didn't come from his mother or me, and I don't recall him watching any TV programming with that kind of message in it.

If you wonder why their isn't a picture of Josh in this post, well, it's because after apologizing, we quickly sent him off to rehab. He should be back in 6 weeks! We're just sooooo proud.

Definitely Not Camera Shy!

Corwyn, this last 4th of July in front of the parade route, in my old hometown of Sac City, Iowa. This pose seems to be a common theme for him. He is, in his mind at least, either the the strongest guy he knows by far, or a superhero. Either way, his sights are set high, and he will not be deterred. I suffer a great many injuries from his super kid-claw attack mode.

In my Florida trip posting, you have already seen my photogenic poses in stupid cowboy hats, so now here's my idea of entertaining photography...obligatory dog pooping in action photos. Yes, Pure Art, I expect all the publications and academies to send me invitations to show my great work, and give me awards!

And here is Josh, as always being his adventurous little self. Anything to satisfy his need to express his boyishness, and also make his Nana cringe with fear that her poor little grandson might seriously injure himself. Obviously a direct take off his old man, who spent years forcing grey hairs to grow onto Nana's head!

It almost looks like Josh is preparing to toss Corwyn into the resevoir. Many days, I would love to be in a position to make this happen, if for nothing other than my own amusement. The only thing that is stopping me, is that I don't like the idea of getting myself into the cold water when I have to rescue them from the shallow, muddy and murky water of Maffitt Resevoir.

And lastly, THIS would have been the perfect opportunity to do so. They never would have seen it coming!

I tried to find some poser shots of my wife, but either she is far too innocent or just too sly to get caught acting like a goofball on camera. Or, she has hidden such photographs so well that my computer illiterate mind can't work well enough to find the incriminating photos!

Big Brother Coming to a Neighborhood Bake Sale Near You

Thanks to Linda WHOOPS...I mean LYNDA (sorry) at What Is Going On? for reprinting this, and to Sandy at the Junkfood Science blog, for providing this to us:

It’s already being called Posole-gate.

“The more we look to the government to protect us, the more freedoms we lose,” said one resident. This became a reality today when government health officials went after an 84-year old tradition and told the nuns at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Albuquerque, New Mexico, that their church dinner of homemade posole, tamales and biscochitos was against the law. Every December 14th, after the Our Lady of Guadalupe procession, church ladies have served traditional posole and biscochitos for parishioners and the public. The Environment Health Department, however, determined the potluck was a threat to public safety and a violation of the city’s food ordinance.

“Our concern here is only about public safety,” John Soladay, Albuquerque’s environmental health director, told the Albuquerque Journal. Homemade food doesn’t comply with city law, which is intended to protect the public from contaminated food, he said. It’s no different from homemade cupcakes and cookies, nachos and popcorn no longer being allowed in schools because they might put children at risk of foodborne illnesses.

I wasn’t aware that there have been far too many people poisoned, made ill, by participating in Community Pot-Luck style meals.

Schools and churches and community centers of all kinds have been holding/hosting pot-luck dinners, bake sales, picnics for decades………..all of them open to the public. I’ve never seen any news reports of outbreaks of illness because of this. The only stories like it I’ve seen have been from cruise ships/restaurants/produce we buy in the stores!!!

According to the story in the Albuquerque Journal a city official states:

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

No Home Cookin’ at Festival

COPYRIGHT:Copyright 2008 Albuquerque Journal

By Olivier Uyttebrouck
Journal Staff Writer

A city official said Tuesday that because the event is open to the public, the church must abide by city laws for food handling and distribution.

“Our concern here is only about public safety,” said John Soladay, Albuquerque’s environmental health director.

City law “stipulates that food prepared for distribution to the public must be prepared in an approved kitchen,” he said. “Food prepared at home does not meet that criteria.”

The city ordinance is intended to protect the public from contaminated food, he said.

So, food prepared at home doesn’t meet the cities safety standards? Then why are people allowed to poison themselves? I mean if you don’t trust the people to cook for their friends and neighbors for a block party, then why trust them to cook for themselves?


All this “safety” nonsense is going way too far now if you ask me. This festival has been held for more that three-quarters of a century and NOW the city wants to pull this crap? Talk about government going too far. It’s enough to make me want to cook up a storm and offer the food on my front lawn to anyone who passes by!!

What’s next? Can’t feed your guests because you might have contaminated food? Well guess what? THERE IS NO GUARANTEE THAT THE CHEMICALLY LADEN FOOD IN THE STORES IS ANY SAFER!!!!

Entitlement? Yeah, Right.

Great Posting I stole..Hat Tip to The Godfather of theslowbleed.com for this great article:

I am amazed at the attitudes of people making their way into the workforce today. Frankly, given the current state of the economy I would expect people to be a bit more humble in their job demands.

I spoke with someone the other day that brought up the big “e” word…Entitlement. He actually felt since he finished college he was entitled to a good job with significant benefits.

I think the only people “entitled” to anything are royalty. Years of inbreeding, a careful selection of marriages, and century old rules could make one entitled to be king.

For example, I believe if 6,492 key people simultaneously disappear off the face of the earth I get to be a prince or something in Wales – I am entitled. If just one less person (6,491) disappears; I get a big cup of jack.

Let me see if I can clear up this misnomer for the newcomers to the job force. Here is a list of things you are entitled to and here is a list of things that you are not entitled to. Ready? Here we go…

A. List of things you are entitled to:



B. List of things you are not entitled to (otherwise knows as stuff you will just have to work for):

Everything not in list “A”



Any questions?

Some Good Advice Kids (and some adults) Should Wise Up To

Love him or hate him, Bill Gates sure hits the nail on the head with this! He recently gave a speech at a high school about eleven things they did not and will not learn in school. He talks about how feel-good, politically-correct teachings created a generation of kids with no concept of reality and how this concept set them up for failure in the real world.

Rule 1 : Life is not fair -- get used to it!

Rule 2 : The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something before you can feel good about yourself.


Rule 3 : You will not make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.


Rule 4 : If you think your teacher is tough, wait until you get a boss.


Rule 5 : Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.


Rule 6: If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes. Learn from them.


Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parents' generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.

Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life has not. Some schools have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as many times as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to anything in real life.

Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you find yourself. Do that on your own time.


Rule 10: Television is not real l ife . In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.


Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you will end up working for one.

If you can understand these words, thank a teacher! Most of all, thank a veteran for keeping our country free so this can be said without having to die for it.

The Oldest Argument

THE OLDEST ARGUMENT:

> "Let me explain the problem science has with Jesus Christ."
> The atheist professor of philosophy pauses before his class and then asks
> one of his new students to stand.
> "You're a Christian, aren't you, son?"
> "Yes sir," the student says.
> "So you believe in God?"
> "Absolutely."
> "Is God good?"
> "Sure! God's good."
> "Is God all-powerful? Can God do anything?"
> "Yes."
> "Are you good or evil?"
> "The Bible says I'm evil."
> The professor grins knowingly. "Aha! The Bible!" He considers for a
> moment.
> "Here's one for you. Let's say there's a sick person over here and you can
> cure him. You can do it… Would you help him? Would you try?"
> "Yes sir, I would."
> "So you're good...!"
> "I wouldn't say that."
> "But why not say that? You'd help a sick and maimed person if you could.
> Most of us would if we could. But God doesn't."
> The student does not answer, so the professor continues. "He doesn't, does
> he? My brother was a Christian who died of cancer, even though he prayed to
> Jesus to heal him How is this Jesus good? Hmmm?
> Can you answer that one?"
> The student remains silent.
> "No, you can't, can you?" the professor says. He takes a sip of water from
> a glass on his desk to give the student time to relax.
> "Let's start again, young fella Is God good?"
> "Er...yes," the student says.
> "Is Satan good?"
> The student doesn't hesitate on this one. "No."
> "Then where does Satan come from?"
> The student: "From... God…"
> "That's right. God made Satan, didn't he? Tell me, son. Is there evil in
> this world?"
> "Yes, sir."
> "Evil's everywhere, isn't it? And God did make everything, correct?"
> "Yes."
> "So who created evil?" The professor continued, "If God created everything,
> then God created evil, since evil exists, and according to the principle
> that our works define who we are, then God is evil."
> Without allowing the student to answer, the professor continues: "Is there
> sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things, do
> they exist in this world?"
> The student: "Yes."
> "So who created them?"
> The student does not answer again, so the professor repeats his question.
> "Who created them? There is still no answer. Suddenly the lecturer breaks
> away to pace in front of the classroom. The class is mesmerized.
> "Tell me," he continues onto another student. "Do you believe in Jesus
> Christ, son?"
> The student's voice is confident: "Yes, professor, I do."
> The old man stops pacing. "Science says you have five senses you use to
> identify and observe the world around you. Have you ever seen Jesus?"
> "No sir. I've never seen Him!"
> "Then tell us if you've ever heard your Jesus?"
> "No, sir, I have not."
> "Have you ever actually felt your Jesus, tasted your Jesus or smelt your
> Jesus? Have you ever had any sensory perception of Jesus Christ, or God for
> that matter?"
> "No, sir, I'm afraid I haven't."
> "Yet you still believe in him?"
> "Yes."
> "According to the rules of empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol,
> science says your God doesn't exist. What do you say to that, son?"
> "Nothing," the student replies. "I only have my faith."
> "Yes, faith," the professor repeats. "And that is the problem science has
> with God. There is no evidence, only faith."
> The student stands quietly for a moment, before asking a question of his
> own. "Professor, is there such thing as heat?"
> "Yes," the professor replies. "There's heat."
> "And is there such a thing as cold?"
> "Yes, son, there's cold too."
> "No sir, there isn't."
> The professor turns to face the student, obviously interested. The room
> suddenly becomes very quiet. The student begins to explain.
> "You can have lots of heat, even more heat, super-heat, mega-heat, unlimited
> heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat, but we don't have anything
> called 'cold'. We can hit up to 458 degrees below zero, which is no heat, but we
> can't go any further after that.
> There is no such thing as cold; otherwise we would be able to go colder than
> the lowest -458 degrees. Every body or object is susceptible to study when
> it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body or matter have or
> transmit energy. Absolute zero (-458 F) is the total absence of heat. You
> see, sir, cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot
> measure cold. Heat we can measure in thermal units because heat is energy.
> Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it."
> Silence across the room. A pen drops somewhere in the classroom, sounding
> like a hammer.
> "What about darkness, professor. Is there such a thing as darkness?"
> "Yes," the professor replies without hesitation. "What is night if it
> isn't darkness?"
> "You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is not something; it is the absence of
> something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing
> light, but if you have no light constantly you have nothing and it's called
> darkness, isn't it? That's the meaning we use to define the word. In reality,
> darkness isn't. If it were, you would be able to make darkness darker,
> wouldn't you?"
> The professor begins to smile at the student in front of him. This will be
> a good semester. "So what point are you making, young man?"
> "Yes, professor. My point is, your philosophical premise is flawed to start
> with, and so your conclusion must also be flawed."
> The professor's face cannot hide his surprise this time. "Flawed? Can you
> explain how?"
> "You are working on the premise of duality," the student explains. "You
> argue that there is life and then there's death; a good God and a bad God. You
> are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can
> measure. Sir, science can't even explain a thought. It uses electricity and
> magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one. To view
> death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot
> exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life, just the
> absence of it..."
> "Now tell me, professor. Do you teach your students that they evolved from
> a monkey?"
> "If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, young man, yes,
> of course I do."
> "Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?"
> The professor begins to shake his head, still smiling, as he realizes where
> the argument is going. A very good semester, indeed.
> "Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot
> even prove that this process is an on-going endeavour, are you not teaching
> your opinion, sir? Are you now not a scientist, but a preacher?"
> The class is in uproar. The student remains silent until the commotion has
> subsided.
> "To continue the point you were making earlier to the other student, let me
> give you an example of what I mean."
> The student looks around the room. "Is there anyone in the class who has
> ever seen the professor's brain?" The class breaks out into laughter.
> "Is there anyone here who has ever heard the professor's brain, felt the
> professor's brain, touched or smelled the professor's brain?
> No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established rules of
> empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science says that you have no brain,
> with all due respect, sir. So if science says you have no brain, how can we
> trust your lectures, sir?"
> Now the room is silent. The professor just stares at the student, his face
> unreadable.
> Finally, after what seems an eternity, the old man answers. "I guess you'll
> have to take them on faith."
> "Now, you accept that there is faith, and, in fact, faith exists with life,"
> the student continues. "Now, sir, is there such a thing as evil?"
> Now uncertain, the professor responds, "Of course, there is. We see it
> everyday. It is in the daily example of man's inhumanity to man.
> It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world.
> These manifestations are nothing else but evil."
> To this the student replied, "Evil does not exist sir, or at least it does
> not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God.
> It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe
> the absence of God.
> God did not create evil. Evil is the result of what happens when man does
> not have God's love present in his heart. It's like the cold that comes when
> there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light."
> The professor sat down.

A New Day In America

After so many years, so many trials and tribulations we as a country have faced, America again has conquered another historic moment.

I went to bed last night at about 6:30, and was awakened by my alarm clock at 11:00pm to begin my night of work. My wife was just coming in to make sure I got up, so she could go to bed without being interrupted by my alarm clock. She looked me dead in the eye and with a hint of resignation combined with her being tired, said, "We just elected Obama as our next President." So we have now placed a clearly visible minority in the highest executive office in the land.

Both of us had cast our votes for McCain. Well, I did anyways, and assume she did as well, as she was not most vocally not puling for Obama. I admit a slight sense of disappointment when I heard the results, but was not really surprised.

While I do not agree with Senator Obama's politics, it appears an overwhelming majority of Americans did, and voiced their opinion through their vote yesterday. So from here on out, I guess we pray for a good solid leadership from an Obama administration, as well as our legislature. I pray that all the talk of Hope and Change weren't just the normal political rhetoric used to get elected. I'd like to hope that some of his politics were just that, and he becomes a little more moderate than his reputation, in an effort to unite a clearly and definitely divided country (in the political sense). I hope that he makes honest efforts to reach across the aisle, and not use a strong democratic majority across the board to shove all his programs down our throat, without regard to our wants or needs as a country.

So I'll keep a little hope of my own, that he does the job well.

Most of all, I'm just glad that my phone won't be blown up with robocalls, and my mailbox filled with a million political fliers every day (yes I exaggerated- it was only 1/2 million per day). At least not until January, when the batch of politicians vying for the 2010 midterm elections start their campaigning. God help us all. So to the Obama's, their supporters, and those who worked hard to take the campaign from 0 to the Presidency...Congratulations.

To Steal The Title From Shirley: I Voted Today

So today, I voted. And this time, I was actually ON the ist of area registered voters, unlike the 2006 midterm elections, which somehow found my records nonexistent, despite previously voting in '04, and having changed nothing about any of my statuses (Statii??) I don't know with how much knowledge or a clear conscience I voted.
As far as the clear conscience goes, neither major party presidential candidate really got me too fired up. So I voted for the one who would keep government's infringement on me to a lesser level. For those of you who don't know who that is, it would be one Senator John McCain.

Other than that we had a slew of representatives for state and federal congressional seats. With those people, I at least knew something about them (with a little additional help from robocalls). With a local representative for my district, I voted the republican side, only because the democratic candidate had 2 mailers in my mailbox, EVERY-motherloving-DAY! Every day, 2 separate mailers...are you friggin kidding me??? He was mayor of a neighboring suburb, and boasted a balanced budget, and I found out one reason was by consistently and successfully raising property taxes without fail for his small suburban empire. Apparently, spending money is something he didn't have too many qualms about. The other guy sent out some, and yes, they did almost reach the ridiculous level in the last 2 weeks, but nowhere in the same universe for the entire campaign. The republican's fliers always stated statistics. The democrat's fliers spouted some statistics, usually related to the great things he did (like keep a balanced budget), and the 2nd flier usually spouted how evil the republican candidates ideas were.
There was one state representative running for office, somewhere here in Iowa, as a democrat, which I had seen advertised on our local tv stations. I liked his positions, however, upon looking over my ballot, he must've been representing another district altogether.

Anyways, the rest of the ballot consisted of judges we voted on to retain or not, some hospital trustee positions, county commisioner, and a few other oddball offices. I have to say, I have yet to have even heard of a single one of these people. So pretty much all the judges got retained on my ballot, and the other offices, if I could only pick so many was a big fat case of "eeny-meeny-miny-mo". Yes, I know, scientific analyses of the candidates at the polling place, right? I had contemplated writing myself in on some of these, but I figured my popularity off-line isn't nearly as high as it is on the internet...

SO yeah, it was pretty easy, as there wasn't exactly a line, and I got myself and my youngest in-and-out of that place pretty quickly. So let me know how your experience went, if you care to share.