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Desert Cat's Paradise 
Felis desertus |
 "The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it." - Proverbs 27:12. |
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Sunday, December 30, 2007Voter ID law heads to Supreme CourtVoter ID law heads to Supreme Court - Yahoo! News
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Indiana argues that demands for identification are frequent in today's society, and producing a photo ID at polling places is hardly onerous. Far far more likely, the opponents of Voter ID are looking to their diminished ability to register people who are not legally entitled to vote (illegals). Or who would commit fraud and vote in multiple precincts, or vote on behalf of the dead. And of these people, historically these are much more likely to vote Democrat. Hmm hmm. Surprised that it is Democrats opposed? And anyway, while becoming homeless is sometimes the result of a string of misfortunes, staying that way for any length of time requires remarkably bad judgement and decision-making. Do we really want such people to participate in voting for decision makers for the rest of us? Labels: politics posted by Desert Cat @ 2:25 PM | permalink Wherein Bane Takes A SwipeBaneRants
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We need more iron-handed dictators to corral the confused masses who worship the limp cock of Democracy, and tongue it wherever and whenever possible. To the detriment of human freedom. True freedom, not some Libertardian idea of it. To which I inquired in the comments: What the tarnation is "true freedom" in your book? And received the reply: I'm not here to cure your impairment, just to make fun of it. --Bane Now before you, my dear reader, get your dander all up in a fluff, Bane is Bane and there's no point in belaboring the obvious. But the thing that prompts me to comment further is this notion that there is something rattling around that cranial cavity called "freedom" that involves iron-handed dictators, jack-booted lockstep marching, and rigid adherence to authority. And this is not just because Bane gave expression to the thought. In veiled form I see this same sentiment expressed by many other people I had somehow been given to believe were God-fearing freedom-loving conservatives. Or at least the "freedom-loving" part. What in the name of all that is good and right and holy do you people mean by "freedom", that involves more and more intrusion of the heavy hand of State Authority?! This is NOT the conservative movement that I joined back in 1981! This is insanity, fed by a brand of pseudo-conservative Kool-Aid that has seeped into the thinking of the Right and has finally begun to pickle your brains into incoherent knee-jerk authoritarianism! The reaction to the candidacy of Dr. Ron Paul is telling. You're being played, people. There is a very good reason why some have begun to use the term Neo-Trotskyism to describe the current state of the Right. Because it's not so "right" anymore. Didn't we cheer Bush when he took that swipe against Clinton's "nation-building" adventures back in 1999? What happened? Oh yeah. 9-11 happened. As if all of the terror attacks throughout the 90's leading up to 9-11 never happened and the world was suddenly so different on 9-12? 9-11 shocked the hell out of us, no doubt. But there were plans laid far before 9-11 to take advantage of just such a shock and push an agenda, a world vision that is alien to mainstream conservatism. And you followed it like the Pied Piper. Hell, *I* followed it like the Pied Piper! Look at my archives! I was as true a believer as any of you. 110% behind the Iraq war, fully supportive of the follow-up, the search for WMD's, the fight against the insurgents, the search for WMD's... ...the search for WMD's... Didn't it give anyone else pause that not only were they not used against us, and we did not find vast stores of fresh WMD's laid up, but no evidence ever turned up of there having even *been* a recent WMD program in place? Trust me, *I* believed the rumors that truckloads may have been shipped across the border into Syria, or that those mystery ships floating around were hiding evidence of the program. I BELIEVED it! I wanted to believe it because I didn't like the uncomfortable feeling of having been the victim of a Kool-Aid scam! Oh, but Saddam was so incredibly evil that it was all for the best that we defeated him and his sons and now we're busy building a new country based on democracy and freedom! Sure. As far as it goes, anyway. But half the world is run by evil dictators. Where are we? As conservatives who traditionally eschew "nation-building", where are we? Right where we damn-well ought to be since no one appointed us Policeman Of The World! Except wherever it fits the Neo-Trotskyite interests to be, that is. Personally now I think we need to wrap up what we started in Iraq and then get the hell out of the Middle East. The sooner we hand it over to the Iraqi's to let them get back to killing each other and setting up the Islamic Caliphate that we, in our benevolent wisdom, have enabled for them by bringing 'democracy' to their nation, the better we as a nation will be. Let's not forget that Iran is a democracy, after all. And how great were those Palestinian elections, huh? "But oil but oil...!!" Look people, oil is sold on the world marketplace to whomever will pony up the cash to buy it. We don't need to control the countries where the oil is produced in order to buy and use the oil produced there. If this Big Mesopotamian Adventure was supposed to be about securing our ready access to oil at fair market prices, why do we see $90 a barrel now? How many of you realize that we have oil reserves that far exceed the Saudi reserves buried under the Rocky Mountain states? If we had spent the cost of the Iraq war developing these reserves, we would not need to lose a wink of sleep over events in the Middle East. You can look it up yourself if you want. Google "oil shale reserves" sometime. No, there were other reasons for this war besides vanquishing the imminent threat of anihilation, securing a supply of oil, or even bringing anything resembling the democratic republican form of government our country was founded upon to the Middle East. There are other groups whose interests are being served, and the summation of the motivations are nothing less than Empire Building. Not conservative. Not even American. And yet I keep reading the moronic charge that "Ron Paul hates America". You kool-aid addled simpletons! Ron Paul does not hate America! If Ron Paul hates anything, it is the Neo-Trotskyite Empire Builders who have coopted America and the patriotic sentiments of God-fearing Freedom-loving Americans to further their own godless and freedom-disparaging agenda! We are looking at people who are hard at work building the foundations of the very "one world government" that we as conservatives have preached against, railed against, voted against and fought for a generation! And you're tripping merrily down their path, arm-in-arm with them, your dreamy eyes clouded by the handsomeness of their promises (and the mickey they slipped you on 9-12). Good luck to you... Labels: politics posted by Desert Cat @ 9:58 AM | permalink Friday, December 28, 2007Loose EyeballsI noticed this several years ago in a different photo, and here it is again. The Lizard Queen's eyeballs definitely seem to be pointing in different directions...
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 Labels: politics posted by Desert Cat @ 9:14 PM | permalink aiee!Commentsposted by Desert Cat @ 1:11 PM | permalink Ambushed!Rodger's tread the same ground as I...
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Curmudgeonly & Skeptical  And you women wonder why men do their shopping Christmas Eve? posted by Desert Cat @ 9:46 AM | permalink Thursday, December 27, 2007Nanosolar Blog$1/watt solar panels?? Zoiks!
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If then can pull this off as they scale up the manufacture, this will be big. Nanosolar Blog - Nanosolar Ships First Panels Labels: resources posted by Desert Cat @ 10:36 PM | permalink Wednesday, December 26, 2007OccupiedI haven't exactly been prolific lately. Partly it's been an unaccountable depression that's been weighing on me leading up to Christmas. But mostly I've been immersed in a new project, and for whatever reason I have not felt compelled to document the same as I did the farm utility projects.
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Dad and Momcat are busy moving out of the guesthouse and into their new place on the farm. I am coming in behind them doing repainting and renovations to each room as they vacate it. My aim is to get the guesthouse in shape first, before I begin to move stuff out of the main house to make way for renovations planned there. A while back I finally made peace with the fact that I would be moving out of here eventually. For the longest time I thought I would never want to leave, what with all the personal touches and renovations I'd poured into it. But the farm beckons and reality speaks, and we're now planning to put this house on the market as soon as I (we, *ahem*) can get it in marketable shape. And then probably move into our rental house across the street for the interim. This evening after work I finished painting the bathroom. I spent all this extended weekend except for Christmas Day prepping the bathroom for painting and painting the edges. There were a *lot* of edges in that room! And I haven't been taking pictures, but maybe I'll take a couple of the finished product. Tomorrow I'll peel off the masking tape and paper and start masking the dining room. Christmas Day was pleasant and low-key. We had a fantastic prime rib roast with the fixin's out at the farm. It was supposed to be a pre-made meal from Fry's Foods, but they ran out of prime rib dinners for some reason. So Daisycat picked a prime roast from the rack to substitute and we roasted it up ourselves. It's a pricey cut of meat, but OH! how wonderful! Several years ago we decided to scale back the shopping hoopla and just give each other the gift of time spent visiting. The bottom line is that "stuff" is much less important than relationship anyway. Adelaide the kitten kept us plenty entertained. I dubbed her the "perpetual motion kitten" in those videos back a few weeks ago, and she hasn't stopped yet. She'll play like mad for an hour or so, then suddenly take a 10 or 20 minute nap. When she wakes up she's ready to go again. I missed working on my projects out on the farm this weekend, but in reality it was awfully cold (for Tucson) this week, and it was probably best I worked on indoor stuff at home. Labels: minutiae posted by Desert Cat @ 10:14 PM | permalink Monday, December 24, 2007Merry Christmas! And a Happy New Year! If I don't get around to all of your blogs to wish you a Merry Christmas, this is my Christmas Card to you. Don't stay home alone tomorrow, y'hear? Update: Over the river and through the woods to Dad-n-Momcat's House we go... Santa brought me a belt, sandals and new socks. (woo...) Daisycat received a box of 9mm ammo. Hmm...Daisycat doesn't own a gun that shoots 9mm. What does Santa know? 20th anniversary is coming up, that's what! Some girls want diamonds and jewelry. Daisycat says, "you can't shoot a diamond--what good is it?" Nope, a long coveted new Bersa pistol is coming her way. Labels: minutiae posted by Desert Cat @ 9:53 AM | permalink Sunday, December 23, 2007Ding Fries Are Done!Classic Holiday Tune
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BK Christmas For those of you who didn't "get" Steve H's post last week...now you know. posted by Desert Cat @ 8:49 PM | permalink Friday, December 21, 2007Christmas Traditions Around the World at Santa's Net.Commentsposted by Desert Cat @ 9:33 AM | permalink Thursday, December 20, 2007The Pre-wrath TribuneCommentsposted by Desert Cat @ 9:51 PM | permalink Toshiba Builds 100x Smaller Micro Nuclear Reactor5 cents per kilowatt/hour?? To HECK with solar panels! Sign me up for one of these babies!
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Toshiba Builds 100x Smaller Micro Nuclear Reactor Now I know it's a bit large for a single residence. I'd have to form a coop and sell the excess to neighbors. posted by Desert Cat @ 9:04 PM | permalink Global Warming--No Link to Anthropogenic Carbon DioxideCFP: New Peer-Reviewed Study Finds 'Warming is naturally caused and shows no human influence'
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An inconvenient new peer-reviewed study published in the December 2007 issue of the International Journal of Climatology. UPDATE: FULL SENATE REPORT: U.S. Senate Report: Over 400 Prominent Scientists Disputed Man-Made Global Warming Claims in 2007 There is NO consensus regarding anthropogenic global warming, contrary to the claims of the Marxist global warming shills. Labels: conspiracies, nature, politics posted by Desert Cat @ 10:52 AM | permalink Tuesday, December 18, 2007Benefit Calendar for Veterans HospitalsGina has her new calendar out for 2008. Some of you may remember this from past years. She makes and sells these calendars and the benefits go to hospitalized veterans.
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Here's what Gina says about the project: People ask me all the time how the "Pin-Ups For Vets" calendar project came to be... Buy a calendar for yourself. Buy several for hospitalized vets and do them a double service! Here's what one commenter at Ace of Spades has to say: "I just love this little popette. Hotter than the hinges of Hell and a heart as big as Texas." Go. Do. It's for a great cause. Pin Up Calendars for Vets - Benefit Calendar for Veterans Hospitals Jump straight to the gallery...  Labels: art appreciation, blogospheric navel-gazing, society and culture posted by Desert Cat @ 10:38 PM | permalink Whee!Ron Paul ad-lib on using Christian symbology for political purposes:
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Ha! Smoke bomb on the Fox News set! Let me get out in front of this by saying (reiterating, actually), that I am basically an anti-dominionist. I believe the dominionists are terribly, horribly misguided and are actually setting themselves up to be tools of the antichrist. They are not scripturally well-grounded, relying instead on "revelations" from their latter day apostles and prophets. And I fully agree with the sentiment behind Dr. Paul's quip--mixing religion and politics in an overt manner is a recipe for disaster. Fascism? Yeah, it's a reminder that many of the current crop of Republican candidates don't much resemble the Goldwater or Reagan roots of the modern conservative movement, and remembering that unholy alliance of state and corrupted religion has been a part of nearly every dark age since (and before) Constantine co-opted Christianity. "Come out of her..." applies today and always. Vote your conscience. Vote your beliefs. Campaign for candidates that advance your values, while remembering that salvation does not and never will come from the world system. Remember your true citizenship and inheritance, and do not trade your gold and precious gems for wood hay and stubble. Labels: politics posted by Desert Cat @ 8:06 AM | permalink Monday, December 17, 2007Ten Horns"How can the EU be the 'beast from the sea', if there are now 27 members?"
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"Glasshoppah, you do not pay close attention? Look within the EU at where the military power, the strength, the 'horns' lie..." Assembly of WEU : Press releases: Welcoming this important idea, Mr O'HARA said that for many, the structure of WEU, with its ten full member states as the "hard core" of European Defence in accordance with the Modified Brussels Treaty, already formed a solid basis for the sort of permanent structured cooperation outlined in the Reform Treaty." New treaty. Same ten horns of military might--the Western European Union. Labels: watching the skies posted by Desert Cat @ 6:17 PM | permalink Time SpeedAs anyone who's lived beyond kindergarten is aware, the speed at which time passes is not a constant. To a grade school child, the time between the start of school in the fall and next summer's break is Eternity + 1, and it takes a week or more for the bell to ring at the end of each schoolday. And when summer does arrive, the endless days of sunshine, green trees and blue sky hang like a captured infinity--like a softball lofted upward hangs motionless in the air at the top of it's trajectory, for just a moment, just a shining split second of captured forever.
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From there, time gains speed, and often in the busy-ness of the teen life, the rush off to college and the years spent there, followed by a few years of new career and new family, the acceleration is hardly noticed. In fact for a while the increased pace of events seems welcome. No longer does it seem that you have to wait so long to get what you want, but it all begins to flow. But then rocketing into mid-life, there is often a startling realization that twenty or more years has just passed without notice. This hits people with kids often about the time their kids go off to college. "Wait a min...didn't *I* just graduate from colleg...wha...ho-lee sh...! How did I get this old?!" Imagine how it sneaks up on someone like me--someone who never had kids and never will. I still have not successfully grasped it. My father is pushing toward 70, and I can't wrap my head around it. My body is beginning to act up in ways that "old folks" mumble about all the time, and I can't figure out why. It is a struggle to get a full day of hard physical labor out of myself, let alone an extended weekend. And it only promises to keep accelerating from here, if the reports are true. But there is a counterspring to this accelerating time scale that I believe I may have discovered. It is what you are reading right now. It was a year ago in September that I bought my country property, and I am coming up on one year since I started the utility work. That was a long year! And no, I don't think it is because it was a lot of work. I think it is because I documented it! I don't know how well this holds out in the long run--I'm still fairly amazed that I've been at this blogging for 4-1/2 years now--but I tend to suspect that calling attention to the passage of time by documenting the events, thoughts, feelings and so forth encountered along the way, might slow down the perception of it's passage. At the very least I will have something to look at forty years hence to prove that I did, in fact, walk this earth. Provided I back up my pages on a regular basis, that is... posted by Desert Cat @ 5:26 PM | permalink Dan Fogelberg Dead at 56E! News - Dan Fogelberg Dead at 56
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You all may have your favorite songs by Dan Fogelberg chosen from his pop hits, but this one has stuck with me through the years. From "Nether Lands": Scarecrow's Dream Seldom seen A scarecrow's dream I hang in the hopes of replacement Castles tall I built them all But I dream that I'm trapped in the basement. And if you ever hear me calling out And if you've been by paupers crowned Between the worlds of men and make-believe I can be found. Plans I've made A masquerade Fading in fear of the coming day Heroes' tales Like nightingales Wrestle the wind as they run away. And if you ever hear them calling out And if you've been by paupers crowned Between the worlds of men and make- believe I can be found. Garden gate An empty plate Waiting for someone to come and fill Scarecrow's dreams Like frozen streams Thirst for the fall But they're running still. And if you ever hear me calling out And if you've been by paupers crowned Between the worlds of men and make-believe I can be found. This one is especially poignant and has much meaning to me from decades ago: Sketches a. Summer Late in the summer When the cottonwood dies The fields are on fire With green bottleflies And I'm still seeing reflections Of me in your eyes And why did you leave Last summer? Now, the seasons are changing From summer to fall And I've still got that picture Hung on my wall And there's so much forgotten And too much recalled And why did you leave At all? b. Winter Standing beside you Mid-winter day Hearts beating close Together. Wishing that we'd found Someway to make That moment last Forever. Standing silent--laughing-- Breathing steam Gazing down into a freezing stream... I saw the face of a child I saw the face of a child. I have a lump in my throat to learn of his untimely passing... Update--Scarecrow's Dream Sketches (first half of this video up to about 3:30) Fighting 'em back now. I am the Scarecrow. Update 2: One more--two years ago this song came true, in it's own manner, for me. And as I turned to make my way back home The snow turned into rain... Thank you ma'am. It means more than I can express. Yes, Dan Fogelberg was the soundtrack of my life for so many years back when. Labels: art appreciation, heart posted by Desert Cat @ 4:20 PM | permalink Oy...It's a bad thing when your poll numbers and your Botox both slip at the same time...
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 Labels: politics posted by Desert Cat @ 8:02 AM | permalink Friday, December 14, 2007TNN (Total Nerd News)Just declared "Godlike" in Unreal Tournament 2004. Wahahahaha! Ye-es!
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"Dude...you play *that* old game?" Yessir. Not often and not for a long while. But I pulled it out again the last couple of nights for old-times sake. And gosh, what a marvelous stress reliever it makes! Set the bots to be challenging (but not too challenging) and blaze away. At "skilled" level, they provide enough of a realistic challenge, but still submit to my mighty Flak Cannon like so many cattle. And this is with the handicap of two margaritas (Friday evening, after all). Or *is* it a handicap? They melt like butter before the burning sun... Labels: minutiae, stream of consciousness posted by Desert Cat @ 11:47 PM | permalink Coveted Endorsement?All in the eye of the endorsee, of course.
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Be that as it may, the contest for Grand Conservative Diva 2007 is being fought between two major contenders. Go here and vote. SondraK, of course. (Don't make me reach through the screen and slap you...) Labels: blogospheric navel-gazing posted by Desert Cat @ 10:39 PM | permalink Hog On HillWherein Steve H. Graham takes potshots at a fine, noble African American.
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Hog On Ice Today I feel like mentioning Hillsy's imminent Hindenburg moment. It looks like her campaign is headed for the rocks. I'm trying to figure out why.Unfortunately after reading this post, I'm left wondering what? What? What led him to this impression? "Spit it out, man! What do you know that we don't?" He sure didn't cover it in the post. Is it just a funny hunch? Aargh! Actually his conclusion that Hillary is less electable than some other Demo politicians like John "Booger Hook" Kerry or Al "Blowtorch" Gore is something I concur with. So I'd rather not see her flame out too early. Update: Ok, here is some polling data that may suggest the basis for Steve's musings. Labels: politics posted by Desert Cat @ 5:19 PM | permalink Thursday, December 13, 2007Ken WilburJohn Heron has a rather lengthy critique here of Ken Wilbur: Way Out. I have only read part if it so far, but a couple of statements in the introduction have jumped out at me, primarly because the express the sense of things that I have so far, in regards to what I understand of the effort to create a grand Theory of Everything (bold my emphasis):
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Wilber is a modern apologist and proselytizer on grand scale for ancient oriental mysticism (1990: 284), basically Advaita Vedanta Hindusim and Madhyamika Buddhism, plus any other mystics of any time or place whom he chooses to regard as having similar views. His elaborate apologetic takes this ancient religious story of the human condition and seeks to turn it, via a variety of contemporary theoretical devices, into a template for the spiritual development, individual and cultural, of the whole human race, past, present and into the far-off future. In doing this he claims to be exercising vision-logic, a species of holistic thinking which includes the capacity to take incompatible notions and integrate them in a greater whole which preserves what is positive in them and negates what is partial (1995: 185). Conflation and superimposition and unwarranted blurring of distinctions, Oh MY! This should be interesting reading. Update: It occurs to me to wonder why Buddhism or Buddhists have this drive to make their system out to be part of something else, or to BE something else. Carlos Castaneda purported to have discovered and was reporting on a mystic tradition that existed hidden and underground within the Native American populations of Mexico. In fact, his works are almost entirely a retelling of an eclectic blend of eastern mystic traditions. So much so that in one of his later books he had to invent a generation of sorcerers who actually spent time in the Orient learning some of the more blatantly obvious eastern practices. A Course In Miracles purports to be dictated by Jesus to an atheist Jewish psychologist in the mid-twentieth century explaining how he was completely misunderstood and misinterpreted by his own close disciples in the first century and all of his followers since then--and somehow it took him two thousand years to find a receptive ear to set the record straight that a variation of eastern mysticism was his thang all along. And then along comes Ken Wilbur seeking to gather science, sociology, religion, culture, consciousness studies and everything else into a Grand Theory of Everything, with Madhyamika Buddhism as it's basis and starting point. I suppose it is the same reason Christians prosyletize--we believe the invitation of Christ is extended to everyone, and so go in search of those who will heed and come in. Buddhists presuppose that 'all is one', and therefore follow up with efforts to demostrate that it is so. From what I am seeing so far, John Heron was as much a devotee of Ken Wilbur as I was of Carlos Castaneda. And he appears to have come to some of the same type of conclusions--that his system is not altogether sound and in fact falls in upon itself under the weight of it's own internal contradictions. It was difficult--very difficult--for me to come to the same conclusions about Castaneda. After investing significant time in a system, one does *not* like to be faced with evidence that it is fatally flawed. But the truth must be faced. Update 2: 'Smooshing?' 4. SES seeks to present a model of undetermined innovative evolution as part of an extended version of what Wilber upholds as the perennial philosophy. He seeks to add a teleological evolutionism to the traditional involutionary cosmology of the perennial philosophy. But for him the process of evolution is mapped out by Spirit in a linear series of predetermined stages and deep structures, which are known by Wilber, and his ancient mystic colleagues, to be the stages of involution in reverse order (1995: 337 passim). This makes evolution neither undetermined nor innovative, and hence not an emergent creative process at all. Wilber reduces a genuine evolutionary creative process within the Many (big M), to a reflux, a predetermined return of the many (little m) to the One, a going back up the involutional ladder. Evolution is not an ongoing innovative dynamic intrinsic to creation, it is reduced to being a repeal of the formula of involution. Ascent is not the exploratory process of God as an authentic contingent process of becoming among the Many, it is merely a retracing of the descending levels generated by God as necessary and eternal causal One. This is just a more refined version of the Many-to-One reductionism which appeared in gross form in Up from Eden (Heron, 1992). Boy...to my tiny brain that sure sounds like what I was trying to say. Update 3: Another gem from this essay that magnificently elucidates one of my pet peeves: 4. The mystical consensus, or perennial philosophy, theory is itself highly questionable and can seriously be called in doubt. It is based on a small selection from the large number of extant religious texts. There are criteria for deciding which texts are to be included for the analysis, and which excluded. These criteria are taken to the selection. They are necessarily prior to and independent of the texts. They derive from the collator's religious beliefs, beliefs ultimately based on personal preference, practice and reflection, and encounters with living teachers. These criteria determine the selection of texts, thus a monist like Aldous Huxley will throw the theists out (Huxley, 1945). The criteria also determine what will be read into the chosen texts. Consensus does not just sit out there in the texts waiting to hit you in the face, but, like all 'evidence' it is identified in terms of prior theory. It is already theory-laden, criteria-laden, when it is served up. The claim that there is textual consensus is in reality a veiled form of special pleading for views held on other grounds. And the more insistently the textual consensus claim is pushed, the more we may suppose that there is an unacknowledged, unidentified and radical insecurity about the unstated grounds on which those views are held. Otherwise why not state those grounds on their own and leave it at that? The real consensus is not a consensus among mystics, it is a consensus among a small group of male scholars that the religious texts they have selected reflect back to them the beliefs that determined the selection. And for all the rest that doesn't fit, there is always that conflation and superimposition and unwarranted blurring of distinctions (Oh MY!) Update 4: And herein lies the Very Great Danger of this system: 4. This unqualified absolutism is, of course, oppressive. Wilber is telling people, in no uncertain terms, with remorseless drumbeat, with great and elaborate theoretical persistence, with emphatic italicizations on every single page, what the spiritual path is really, in absolute reality, all about. His account of the spiritual path clearly seeks to be controlling, dominating, hegemonic, devouring (opponents are relished for breakfast), and is implicitly intolerant and dismissive of all religious beliefs and practices which cannot be assimilated into its absolutist framework (diZerega, 1996; Ferrer, 1997). Wilber writes with analytic scorn about the poor fools who cannot get his absolute point. And yet all the time he seems to be missing the relative point. Is religion really a matter of such relentless cognitive harassment? Either by some future 'cosmic shift' or at the point of the sword, we who don't "get it" will be dealt with. Labels: spiritual posted by Desert Cat @ 2:26 PM | permalink Tuesday, December 11, 2007Chicken-Fried RoastWherein Steve H. Graham fries up the toes of disadvantaged inner-city youth...
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This post from Hog on Ice inspired my dinner this evening. Daisycat cooked up a beef roast last night, and while she made a valiant effort and the meal was certainly decent, I knew the leftovers were in deep trouble. Cold roast floating in a gel of it's own juices in the back of the refrigerator... I know *I* wasn't going to go back there to nuke-up a platefull on some future evening. But this afternoon I came across Steve's post above, and was struck with the inspiration to try chicken-frying leftover roast. Daisycat was off to dance practice, leaving me to fend for my own supper (yet again), so I gave it my best shot. I didn't quite follow his recipe, but the concept was similar. I cut the roast into slices, beat the snot out of it with a meat hammer (yes, it was kinda tough...) rubbed a mixture of spices into it, including garlic, pepper, paparika and an Emeril poultry blend that had a bunch of other spices including poultry seasoning, dipped them in an egg-milk mixture, dredged them in flour, then dipped them again into the egg-milk mixture before dropping them into a pan of hot oil. With the leftover oil and flour, plus more milk and water I made cream gravy to put over the chicken-fried roast pieces. Oh, it was terrible! Awful! I snarfed down two pieces until I was stuffed, and promptly containered the leftovers for the freezer. Oh no, Daisycat doesn't need to help me eat these, no. I'll take care of them myself. I wouldn't want her to suffer how awfully good they are! Labels: food posted by Desert Cat @ 8:53 PM | permalink Monday, December 10, 2007Wake Up CatOMG ROTF-sputtering hysterically! This! Is! Troo!! Although I've noticed that the steady stream of air coming from my CPAP mask has largely thwarted my feline alarm clocks. From Ith Labels: cats posted by Desert Cat @ 10:30 PM | permalink What Child?What Child is this who, laid to rest
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On Mary's lap is sleeping? Whom Angels greet with anthems sweet, While shepherds watch are keeping? [CHORUS] This, this is Christ the King, Whom shepherds guard and Angels sing; Haste, haste, to bring Him laud, The Babe, the Son of Mary. Why lies He in such mean estate, Where ox and ass are feeding? Good Christians, fear, for sinners here The silent Word is pleading. [CHORUS] Nails, spear shall pierce Him through, The cross be borne for me, for you. Hail, hail the Word made flesh, The Babe, the Son of Mary. [CHORUS] So bring Him incense, gold and myrrh, Come peasant, king to own Him; The King of kings salvation brings, Let loving hearts enthrone Him. [CHORUS] Raise, raise a song on high, The virgin sings her lullaby. Joy, joy for Christ is born, The Babe, the Son of Mary. Labels: spiritual posted by Desert Cat @ 9:06 PM | permalink Compare and ContrastAnother nut-job on a shooting spree, and this time what happened?
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9NEWS - Top News Article - "Murray fired between 25 and 30 shots both inside and outside New Life Church, according to Colorado Springs Police Sgt. Jeff Jensen. He walked into the east entrance of New Life Church firing his rifle and a security guard, Jeanne Assam, shot him." He was armed well enough to have killed scores, but instead he was dropped in his tracks by a law-abiding, gun-wielding citizen working as security at the church. Imagine, if you will, that someone at the YWAM office was carrying. Instead of two dead there, it might be none at all. I know he would not have gotten far if he had walked into my church. ANNOUNCEMENT TO THE WORLD: MANY CHURCHES ARE *NOT* GUN-FREE ZONES. WACK-JOBS TAKE ESPECIAL NOTE OF THIS FACT. Thank you for your attention. Update: What the news stories are not reporting is that Jeanne Assam is not a hired security guard for the church. She is a private individual with a license to carry concealed weapons who volunteers for security duty at the church. Update 2: Matthew Murray, a 24-year-old suburban Denver man who "hated Christians." I BLAME THE CHRIST-HATERS! When will they be held responsible for this kind of criminal violence? It is high time to pass some serious legislation addressing this category of hate crime, including severe penalties for those who instigate these kinds of tragic attacks with their violent and bigoted language. Labels: firearms, personal responsibility, society and culture posted by Desert Cat @ 6:14 PM | permalink Saturday, December 08, 2007Misty BlueBeyond the veils of time there is a place that abides. My thoughts drawn there again of late, stirred by the thoughts of the other who visits now and again that same eternal garden.
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Where there was an endless unanswered tempest, there is now stillness. Where the unrequited wind moaned in the rocks inconsolately, there is now peace, and warmth as of the sun on a fair early morn. Thou who was and is and ever more shall be Misty Blue, think it not a strange thing. Did we not labor long and hard in ancient times that this place should be? Is it not now beyond the reach of all things that constrain and proscribe this temporal realm? Do not think you walk this vale alone. For I heard you and I answered. Did you hear? Yes! Arising slowly, as from the depths of a clear pond and silently, a ripple traverses the quiet surface and reaches the near shore. "Hello and welcome, once and always beloved." Labels: stream of consciousness posted by Desert Cat @ 11:52 PM | permalink Is There Anyone Opposed To Ron Paul...who is actually willing to engage on the issues?
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The juvenile name-calling and absurd accusations are amusing as far as they go. But they do nothing to convince anyone except the timid sorts who are swayed by mass opinions. We call those sorts 'sheep', by the way. BAA! Labels: politics posted by Desert Cat @ 2:35 PM | permalink Gun-Free-Zone = Free-Fire Zone For LooniesGlad to see a major media outlet reporting this highly relevant fact:
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FOXNews.com - Media Coverage of Mall Shooting Fails to Reveal Mall's Gun-Free-Zone Status - Opinion A Google news search using the phrase 'Omaha Mall Shooting' finds an incredible 2,794 news stories worldwide for the last day. From India and Taiwan to Britain and Austria, there are probably few people in the world who haven’t heard about this tragedy. But despite the massive news coverage, none of the media coverage, at least by 10 a.m. Thursday, mentioned this central fact: Yet another attack occurred in a gun-free zone. Surely, with all the reporters who appear at these crime scenes and seemingly interview virtually everyone there, why didn’t one simply mention the signs that ban guns from the premises? Nebraska allows people to carry permitted concealed handguns, but it allows property owners, such as the Westroads Mall, to post signs banning permit holders from legally carrying guns on their property. (my emphasis) It is simple, people. A gun-free zone ensures nut-jobs that no one will be shooting back. I know that if I were carrying and found myself caught in this situation, it would take me no more than a handful of milliseconds to decide what to do, and lives would be saved. Just not the life of the nut-job. stupid, Stupid, STUPID liberals! Labels: personal responsibility, politics posted by Desert Cat @ 8:26 AM | permalink Friday, December 07, 2007Holiday Fruit BreadCommentsposted by Desert Cat @ 6:19 PM | permalink The Bozrah DeliveranceI just stumbled upon something which has some thundering significance to me.
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Many have said that the US doesn't appear in any way in the prophecies concerning the end times. And yet: 4The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the desert, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent's reach. Rev 12:4 The woman in this passage refers to the faithful in Israel. How did the woman escape the wrath of the serpent? She was given the two wings of a great eagle. Whose wings was she given? The wings of a  Positioned in a nearby country with tremendous resources to effect an emergency airlift out of Israel when the time comes. More here: The Bozrah Deliverance In the spirit of this little discovery out of the obscure Old Testament book of Micah, I'm considering naming my farm Bozrah. Update: For those of you asking the question, "why is Desert Cat spending so much time, energy and gray matter on these prophecy posts? Yawn...", here is the answer: "...if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, and the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand."-Ezek.33:6So, whether anyone is listening or not... Labels: spiritual, watching the skies posted by Desert Cat @ 12:32 PM | permalink Pre-Trib or Pre-Wrath?2 Thessalonians 2 There are many who believe that verses 6 and 7 refer to the presence of the Holy Spirit through the presence of the Church in the world, and that his being taken out of the way as a restraining force is coincident with the rapture of the church. They believe therefore that the antichrist will not be revealed while we are still present in this world. However this interpretation fails in that it does not account for the context in which the verse occurs. Tell me, how can there be a Great Apostasy within the body of believers if the body is absent? Is the rapture itself supposed to represent this "falling away" in that those who are not true are left behind? How then is that related to the strong delusion? It is not, because the rapture is an act of God, whereas apostasy is an act of man. No, it seems to me that the restraint will be removed first, not by our absence from this world, but by God's choosing. Then the man of lawlessness will be revealed and the strong delusion poured out. The falling away will occur *within the body of those who call themselves believers, but are not*. Tell me, what meaning is there to say that apostasy will occur amongst those who are not believers in the first place? It is not possible. It is amongst those who say they are but are not, that apostasy must occur. Labels: spiritual, watching the skies posted by Desert Cat @ 11:36 AM | permalink Thursday, December 06, 2007Recommendation 666 Emergency Powers Incorporated Into EU TreatyRecommendation 666 Emergency Powers Incorporated Into EU Treaty
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Yup. And for those of you not paying attention, the rest of the story is at the link on my right sidebar. The free online version is at the "Read the Book" link. Update: I located a copy of Recommendation 666 here, via this blog (which is another blog tracking this story). Sub-recommendation no. 12 is the section that establishes emergency powers for the High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy, said office currently held by Javier Solana. To reiterate and summarize some of the background: 16 He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, 17 and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or[f] the name of the beast, or the number of his name. 18 Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666. What does "the number of his name" mean? Lots of possibilities, but I have written before that a "name" in biblical times (and in many modern cultures) meant more than merely a label. It referred to the unique characteristics of an individual, or more importantly the specfic power and authority associated with the individual. Thus a viceroy acted "in the name of" his king, officers act "in the name of" the law, Christians pray "in the name of Jesus", and so forth. I read this passage to mean that the number associated with his authority is 666, and that this authority is to be granted specifically to an individual man or to an office (position of authority) occupied by a single individual. Therefore when we see some very specific and far-reaching emergency powers having been granted to the holder of a single office within the Western European Union (WEU--a ten member military alliance within the EU, by the way) and the European Union, and that specific power and authority being granted in a document numbered 666, it certainly gets some of us to sit up and take notice of what is transpiring around this office and this person. And for those rare few of you whose interest may be piqued, there are some who believe the seventieth week of Daniel may have begun this last January 1, 2007, when the Barcelona Process, the "covenant with many", was confirmed and strengthened for a period of seven years by the holder of this same office. I know many of you have been taught, as was I, that we will not be present for any of this seven year period. However consider that the period of time known as the "tribulation" is only 3-1/2 years long, and begins with the "abomination of desolation" at the midpoint of the seven years. And if this interpretation of events is correct, that would be about 2-1/2 years from now. Lots can happen in that time. So, as Herb used to say, stay tuned. More background here. Labels: watching the skies posted by Desert Cat @ 8:57 PM | permalink Wednesday, December 05, 2007Tin Can Tourists - Vintage Trailer RV Motorhome Coach ClubThis site has a link to a list of suppilers and sources for repair and maintenance of ancient travel trailers and RV's, plus loads more information on these old units: Tin Can Tourists - Vintage Trailer RV Motorhome Coach Club
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Resources link: Trailer Restoration Labels: resources posted by Desert Cat @ 10:05 AM | permalink Monday, December 03, 2007A Time, Times, and a Half a TimeWith Herb Peters gone, thankfully there are others stepping into the gap to do the investigation necessary for us to continue to watch the progression of the season. This blogger appears to be doing a bangup job of tracking the machinations of that second beast from the earth, known now to us as the Alliance of Civilizations.
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A Time, Times, and a Half a Time
Which is what is prophecied, of course. See the problem with this program is that definitionally it sweeps all of the monotheistic religions into one negative definition--one that can then be marginalized, "otherized", and dealt with accordingly. This blogger goes on to say: This poses a significant problem for most monotheists as our religious texts make exclusive truth claims. What escapes Esposito's attention is that most of us enjoy freedom--we can choose our faiths and worship as we please. We respect and defend others' rights to do likewise. This is called respect, not hatred. Perhaps Esposito's vision of democracy is entirely different than mine. Of course the Alliance of Civilizations is not about democracy or freedom, but about laying some of the crucial foundation blocks for the most completely totalitarian governing system the world has ever seen. There will be no Iron Curtain, because the entire world will be enmeshed. There will be no frontier, no sanctuary, no escape, no one capable of organizing any meaningful resistance. No one...in this world, that is. Left utterly without recourse, we have only Heaven to turn to for salvation, and it is from there that salvation will, indeed, come. ... Update: It is very hard for me to look this in the face and avoid the desire to clamp my eyes hard shut. But there it is. Oh and BTW, anyone wondering what those mass internment camps are for, that the Bush Administration claims are for processing a massive influx of illegal aliens? Ha! How likely is *that* to happen? No, they are being prepared for us, the faithful who refuse to conform to this world and it's system. Revelation 13:5-10 people, read it: 5 The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise his authority for forty-two months. 6 He opened his mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven. 7 He was given power to make war against the saints and to conquer them. And he was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation. 8 All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world. Labels: liberty, society and culture, spiritual, watching the skies posted by Desert Cat @ 11:02 PM | permalink Solar Powered AA/AAA Battery ChargerAlso compatible solar panels and batteries on the side panel: *Solar Powered AA/AAA Battery Charger
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Labels: resources posted by Desert Cat @ 10:47 PM | permalink Lo And BeholdHey, I just noticed Steve H. (that would be Steve H. Graham for Google's sake) cruised through here a few hours ago, apparently looking for references to his marvelous self:
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 And here I thought he never read other bloggers nor cared what they think. Update: Yup, it was him all right. And the result is the entirely predictable tirade. (By now I could have almost written it for him.) I know some of you will ask, "why on *earth* do you read him?!" He asks the same question, by the way. I tell you folks, this tremendously hypersensitive but collossal ego he has is occasionally tremendously entertaining to jiggle and fitz with. I don't do it often, because I'm really not trying to piss him off. Oh well, eh? :) Plus his ongoing journey from suburban yuppie to a true Tool Man is a fascinating tale. I mean that in all sincerity. I read those posts with great interest. Bottom line is that I do enjoy much of what he writes, and so I stick to him like those nasty wet sweat socks in August he so despises. And will probably continue to do so until he takes his blog down or makes it private. Or finally bores me. In all likelihood I will continue to comment on it over here now and then. Whenever I feel like it. Especially since it seems to generate a dividend like this once in a long while. :-) :-) "Hi Steve!" Update 2: Of course, he has more. Poor guy gets rattled for days and can't help himself, apparently. Honestly I have never seen someone so rabidly paranoid about being called a racist or associated, however loosely, with racism. It makes you wonder. Those Kentucky roots of his seem to be working overtime projecting, projecting, projecting. Racist, bucktooth cretins, indeed. The reason I can sit by and watch all this with amusement is that I personally simply do not fit into the stereotype he is obviously trying to sweep me into. I'm just not a racist in any meaningful, practical way. People get by with me or not on their merits. And I too am uncomfortable around overt racists, but heavens to betsy, not to the degree that Steve is! Now if you wanted to lump me with looney religious end-of-the world nuts, you could probably make the case, and I'd have to admit I do give that appearance. ;P Labels: blogospheric navel-gazing posted by Desert Cat @ 8:21 PM | permalink ResourcesList of useful items to stockpile, by a Sarajevo war survivor:
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100 Items to Disappear First 1. Generators (Good ones cost dearly. Gas storage, risky. Noisy...target of thieves; maintenance etc.) 2. Water Filters/Purifiers 3. Portable Toilets 4. Seasoned Firewood. Wood takes about 6 - 12 months to become dried, for home uses. 5. Lamp Oil, Wicks, Lamps (First Choice: Buy CLEAR oil. If scarce, stockpile ANY!) 6. Coleman Fuel. Impossible to stockpile too much. 7. Guns, Ammunition, Pepper Spray, Knives, Clubs, Bats & Slingshots. 8. Hand-can openers, & hand egg beaters, whisks. 9. Honey/Syrups/white, brown sugar 10. Rice - Beans - Wheat 11. Vegetable Oil (for cooking) Without it food burns/must be boiled etc.,) 12. Charcoal, Lighter Fluid (Will become scarce suddenly) 13. Water Containers (Urgent Item to obtain.) Any size. Small: HARD CLEAR PLASTIC ONLY - note - food grade if for drinking. 16. Propane Cylinders (Urgent: Definite shortages will occur. 17. Survival Guide Book. 18. Mantles: Aladdin, Coleman, etc. (Without this item, longer-term lighting is difficult.) 19. Baby Supplies: Diapers/formula. ointments/aspirin, etc. 20. Washboards, Mop Bucket w/wringer (for Laundry) 21. Cookstoves (Propane, Coleman & Kerosene) 22. Vitamins 23. Propane Cylinder Handle-Holder (Urgent: Small canister use is dangerous without this item) 24. Feminine Hygiene/Haircare/Skin products. 25. Thermal underwear (Tops & Bottoms) 26. Bow saws, axes and hatchets, Wedges (also, honing oil) 27. Aluminum Foil Reg. & Heavy Duty (Great Cooking and Barter Item) 28. Gasoline Containers (Plastic & Metal) 29. Garbage Bags (Impossible To Have Too Many). 30. Toilet Paper, Kleenex, Paper Towels 31. Milk - Powdered & Condensed (Shake Liquid every 3 to 4 months) 32. Garden Seeds (Non-Hybrid) (A MUST) 33. Clothes pins/line/hangers (A MUST) 34. Coleman's Pump Repair Kit 35. Tuna Fish (in oil) 36. Fire Extinguishers (or..large box of Baking Soda in every room) 37. First aid kits 38. Batteries (all sizes...buy furthest-out for Expiration Dates) 39. Garlic, spices & vinegar, baking supplies 40. Big Dogs (and plenty of dog food) 41. Flour, yeast & salt 42. Matches. {"Strike Anywhere" preferred.) Boxed, wooden matches will go first 43. Writing paper/pads/pencils, solar calculators 44. Insulated ice chests (good for keeping items from freezing in Wintertime.) 45. Workboots, belts, Levis & durable shirts 46. Flashlights/LIGHTSTICKS & torches, "No. 76 Dietz" Lanterns 47. Journals, Diaries & Scrapbooks (jot down ideas, feelings, experience; Historic Times) 48. Garbage cans Plastic (great for storage, water, transporting - if with wheels) 49. Men's Hygiene: Shampoo, Toothbrush/paste, Mouthwash/floss, nail clippers, etc 50. Cast iron cookware (sturdy, efficient) 51. Fishing supplies/tools 52. Mosquito coils/repellent, sprays/creams 53. Duct Tape 54. Tarps/stakes/twine/nails/rope/spikes 55. Candles 56. Laundry Detergent (liquid) 57. Backpacks, Duffel Bags 58. Garden tools & supplies 59. Scissors, fabrics & sewing supplies 60. Canned Fruits, Veggies, Soups, stews, etc. 61. Bleach (plain, NOT scented: 4 to 6% sodium hypochlorite) 62. Canning supplies, (Jars/lids/wax) 63. Knives & Sharpening tools: files, stones, steel 64. Bicycles...Tires/tubes/pumps/chains, etc 65. Sleeping Bags & blankets/pillows/mats 66. Carbon Monoxide Alarm (battery powered) 67. Board Games, Cards, Dice 68. d-con Rat poison, MOUSE PRUFE II, Roach Killer 69. Mousetraps, Ant traps & cockroach magnets 70. Paper plates/cups/utensils (stock up, folks) 71. Baby wipes, oils, waterless & Antibacterial soap (saves a lot of water) 72. Rain gear, rubberized boots, etc. 73. Shaving supplies (razors & creams, talc, after shave) 74. Hand pumps & siphons (for water and for fuels) 75. Soysauce, vinegar, bullions/gravy/soupbase 76. Reading glasses 77. Chocolate/Cocoa/Tang/Punch (water enhancers) 78. "Survival-in-a-Can" 79. Woolen clothing, scarves/ear-muffs/mittens 80. Boy Scout Handbook, / also Leaders Catalog 81. Roll-on Window Insulation Kit (MANCO) 82. Graham crackers, saltines, pretzels, Trail mix/Jerky 83. Popcorn, Peanut Butter, Nuts 84. Socks, Underwear, T-shirts, etc. (extras) 85. Lumber (all types) 86. Wagons & carts (for transport to and from) 87. Cots & Inflatable mattress's 88. Gloves: Work/warming/gardening, etc. 89. Lantern Hangers 90. Screen Patches, glue, nails, screws,, nuts & bolts 91. Teas 92. Coffee 93. Cigarettes 94. Wine/Liquors (for bribes, medicinal, etc,) 95. Paraffin wax 96. Glue, nails, nuts, bolts, screws, etc. 97. Chewing gum/candies 98. Atomizers (for cooling/bathing) 99. Hats & cotton neckerchiefs 100. Goats/chickens From a Sarajevo War Survivor: Experiencing horrible things that can happen in a war - death of parents and friends, hunger and malnutrition, endless freezing cold, fear, sniper attacks. 1. Stockpiling helps. but you never no how long trouble will last, so locate near renewable food sources. 2. Living near a well with a manual pump is like being in Eden. 3. After awhile, even gold can lose its luster. But there is no luxury in war quite like toilet paper. Its surplus value is greater than gold's. 4. If you had to go without one utility, lose electricity - it's the easiest to do without (unless you're in a very nice climate with no need for heat.) 5. Canned foods are awesome, especially if their contents are tasty without heating. One of the best things to stockpile is canned gravy - it makes a lot of the dry unappetizing things you find to eat in war somewhat edible. Only needs enough heat to "warm", not to cook. It's cheap too, especially if you buy it in bulk. 6. Bring some books - escapist ones like romance or mysteries become more valuable as the war continues. Sure, it's great to have a lot of survival guides, but you'll figure most of that out on your own anyway - trust me, you'll have a lot of time on your hands. 7. The feeling that you're human can fade pretty fast. I can't tell you how many people I knew who would have traded a much needed meal for just a little bit of toothpaste, rouge, soap or cologne. Not much point in fighting if you have to lose your humanity. These things are morale-builders like nothing else. 8. Slow burning candles and matches, matches, matches Labels: resources posted by Desert Cat @ 9:56 AM | permalink Sunday, December 02, 2007McCain? *sigh...*Opinion | Republicans would be wise to tab McCain and Huckabee | Seattle Times Newspaper
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How could I forgive him for campaign finance "reform"? How can I forgive him for his shameless pandering to the mainstream media over the last decade or so? How can I overlook his essentially statist, authoritarian version of conservatism, or his support of a fatally flawed attempt at immigration reform? Yet I have to admit that this article has a good point or two. As bad as McCain has been, I can't bear to consider any of the other three top contenders. I know Paul doesn't have a real chance. But he's the only principled one of the bunch that I can say I agree with. And unlike Pretty Lady, I don't think character and integrity are the only things that matter. It doesn't matter if a politician can listen and change his mind if he starts from a place that is so terribly flawed. As president, he has only four years in office. If the first three and a half are spent being proven wrong and changing course, then the whole term is incredibly likely to be a flaming disaster. (For example, Carter came into office with a head full of fluff and had his ass handed to him on a platter when the world failed to live up to his pollyanna view of it.) Therefore it is at least as important that the politician start in approximately the right place. Ditch HucksterBoy, make it McCain-Paul and I won't be able to resist. Labels: politics posted by Desert Cat @ 11:06 AM | permalink Saturday, December 01, 2007DimensionsListening to Dimensions In Jazz on Live 365, in a blue smoky funk, trying to think of something to say that won't get my name dragged around through the mud.
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Times like this I wonder what I'm doing, why I'm doing it, and what on earth I was thinking to get myself where I am now. But you can't go back and second-guess twenty or thirty years of history, no matter how it went. Life changes you, and the eyes you have today are not the eyes you had then. You've only got today and maybe tomorrow to work with. I'm not like some people I know. I take what I have and always try to make the best of it that I can. Always. I don't always succeed. But Lord God in Heaven, there's no use whatsoever in carping and pissing and bitching. And what in the name of all that is good is UP with actually LOOKING for things to be all agitated over, just to have yet another way to cast a negative light on whatever situation you're in? Man, there is no making some people happy, no matter how good the same thing might be to someone else! Some people will just not be happy, no matter what you do. It's just built into them, and there's no changing them. Oh, you can try to point it out, over and over sometimes. But you know how that goes. That puts them on the defensive, on a witch-hunt, on the warpath, trying to prove to you how very much it's all about you. Really it is! You are the one at fault for them being so unable to grasp whatever it is that life flings them and work out where the joy and enjoyment can be found in it and savoring it. Grasping after straws. Paper straws that melt in the rain, run like puddles to the river and away to the ocean. There was a time when I would have gotten myself all up in knots trying to disprove the allegation. But not so much anymore. Go ahead, build your case, take it to the judge, let him decide. I don't care. I know the truth, and I'm not going to be swayed by a bucket of bullshit. I know who I am, and while I can't say I am fully happy with what I know (and no sane, lucid individual should ever be fully self-satisfied), I do know that some twisted sister has no grounds whatsoever for any attempt to remake me in her own unhealthy image. posted by Desert Cat @ 10:13 PM | permalink Clinton Seizes Opportunity After Crisis Politico: Democratic Hopeful Looked Like A Woman In Charge After Hostage Drama - CBS News
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What's most important about it is that it's not contrived. It's a real event and that distinguishes it from 99 percent of what happens in the campaign season. Why am I having such a hard time believing this? Why was my very first thought upon hearing about this, that it could very well be a staged event designed to boost Hillary's image? "How could it be staged", you ask? Do you really think it would be so beyond the Clintons to get someone over the barrel in order to make them do this for political gain, especially considering the trail of corpses and people willing to fall on their swords for the Clintons in their first terms? And I don't put it past CBS to understand this, sieze it, and run with the opportunity to be the shill that they are for the Clintons. Labels: politics posted by Desert Cat @ 8:59 PM | permalink 
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