Dhimmitude for Dummies

Not a short read, but very, very informative and worth it. From Victor Sharpe who is a featured writer with the Israel Hasbara Committee.

It's Official!!!

Two days before Brooke's birthday, Brooke and Donnie went out to celebrate at a local restaurant. We hear it was a pleasant dining experience. Afterwards, going back to the car Donnie wished Brooke a happy birthday. However, the glove compartment of Donnie's truck held her real birthday present.

We'll celebrate on the Monday evening after Cory and Danielle's wedding with an engagement party. We consider Donnie a lucky fellow and couldn't be happier for both of them.

What We Do At Work

Shelly, Pretty Girl, Pretty Girl (stroking her hair as instructed. It keeps her sane.)

Grandma Chris on the Down-Low

The Unknown Sorcerer

Karen, Chris (hiding) and Vivian

Yo Yo Yo Karen, Chris & Vivian

That's That

That James Taranto Again

"A Nigerian murder suspect accused of killing his brother with an axe told police investigators he actually attacked a goat, which was only later magically transformed into his sibling's corpse," the Associated Press reports from Lagos.

Meanwhile, a CNN headline on a Reuters story informs us: "Possible Pope Link to Nun's Death."

We sure hope the Holy Father has a better alibi than that Nigerian guy.

Bill Vaughan

If there is anything the nonconformist hates worse than a conformist, it's another nonconformist who doesn't conform to the prevailing standard of nonconformity.

The Grand Tetons...Majesty

Click picture to see larger version.

Because It's True

Take a moment. Be still. Watch and listen.

(Courtesy my dad)

Close Your Eyes...(courtesy of Brandy)

And go back...
Before the Internet or PC or the MAC......
Before semi-automatics and crack....
Before Playstation, SEGA, Super Nintendo, even before Atari...
Before cell phones, CD's, DVD's, voicemail and e-mail....
....way back....
....way.....way.....way back.....

I'm talkin' bout hide and seek at dusk Red light,
Green light
Green ghost
Playing kickball & dodgeball until the first...no...second...no...third Streetlight came on
Ring around the Rosie
London Bridge
Hot potato
Hop Scotch
Jump rope
Duck....duck....GOOSE!!!
TAG Parents stood on the front porch and yelled (or whistled) for you to come home - no pagers or cell phones)
Mother May I?
Hula Hoops
Seeing shapes in the clouds
Endless summer days and hot summer nights (no A/C) with the windows open
The sound of crickets
Running through the sprinkler
Cereal boxes with that GREAT prize in the bottom
Cracker jacks
Ice pops with 2 sticks you could break and share with a friend .
But wait.....there's more....
Watchin' Saturday Morning cartoons: Looney Tunes,
Tom & Jerry, The Flintstones,
The Jetsons, Fat Albert, The Pink Panther,
The Ant & The Aardvark, Schoolhouse Rock
Watchin' Sunday morning oldies: Abbott & Costello,
Three Stooges, The Bowery Boys,
The Rifleman, The Lone Ranger
The Little Rascals
FONZIE.....AYYYYYYYY
Catchin' lightning bugs in a jar
Christmas morning
Your first day of school
Climbing trees
Swinging as high as you could to try and reach the sky
Getting an Ice Cream off the Good Humor Truck
A million mosquito bites
Sticky fingers from making your own marshmallow taffy
Toasting marshmallows
Jumpin' down the steps
Jumpin' on the bed
Pillow fights Sleep-overs
A 13" black and white TV in your room meant you were RICH
Runnin' till you were out of breath
Maybe getting a ride in your brother's go-cart after you pushed it up the hill Laughing so hard that your stomach hurt
Being tired from PLAYING WORK: meant taking out the garbage or doing the dishes
Your first crush
Your first kiss (I mean the one that you kept your mouth CLOSED and your eyes OPEN)
Rainy days at school meant playing "Heads up 7UP" or hangman" in The classroom,
Remember that?
Oh, I'm not finished yet....
Kool-Aid was the drink of the summer
So was a swig from the hose
Giving your friends a ride on your handlebars
Using the toes of your sneakers for brakes when you didn't have any on your bike
Wearing your new shoes on the first day of school
Class Field Trips with soggy sandwiches
When a quarter seemed like a fair allowance;
and another quarter a MIRACLE
When ANY parent could discipline ANY kid,
or feed him,
or use him to carry groceries...
And nobody, not even the kid, thought a thing of it.
When your parents took you to McDonalds and you were COOL
When being sent to the principal's office was nothing compared to the fate that awaited you at home.
Basically, we were in fear for our lives but it wasn't because of drive by shootings, drugs, gangs, etc.
Our parents and grandparents were a much bigger threat! And some of us are still afraid of em! Didn't that feel good?
Just to go back and say, "Yeah, I remember that!" Well, let's keep going!! Let's go back to the time when...
Decisions were made by going "eeny-meeny-miney-mo"
Mistakes were corrected by simply exclaiming, "do over!"
"Race issues" meant arguing about who ran the fastest.
Money issues were handled by whoever was the banker in "monopoly" Catching fireflies could happily occupy an entire evening
It wasn't odd to have two or three "best" friends.
Being old, referred to anyone over 20.
The worst thing you could catch from the opposite sex was cooties.
Nobody was prettier than Mom
Scrapes and bruises were kissed by mom or grandma and made better
It was a big deal to finally be tall enough to ride the "big people" rides at the amusement park.
Getting a foot of snow was normal
Spinning around, getting dizzy and falling down was cause for giggles Water balloons were the ultimate, ultimate weapon.
Older siblings were your worst tormentors, but also your fiercest protector If you can remember most or all of these, then you have LIVED!!!

Quotes

" Political correctness -- the art of camouflaging truth

to protect the psyches of the silly -- "

--Kathleen Parker, the Orlando Sentinel

"Liberalism is a pessimistic faith because it never sees the potential in Man, just his flaws. Rather than focusing on ways to free people so they can elevate themselves, liberalism instead concentrates on ways to subsidize people in their current misery. Liberalism is embarrassed by success and prosperity because independent and free people do not need liberals --and above all, liberals need to be needed."
--Cal Thomas

NOPE, NADA

Didn't feel a thing. Some folks in Kissimmee and Orlando felt a tremor from the 6.0 earthquake out in the Gulf about 260 miles southwest of Tampa. It was supposedly felt around 10:56 a.m. I can't say I've EVER felt an earthquake before. Hurricanes, tornadoes, sinkholes, blizzards--but no earthquake tremor. They are talking now about after-shocks, but I'm skeptical.

So True, Then and Now

"A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself."

~~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

Things Left Unsaid

It's been forever and a day since I sat down with my thoughts here. Hopefully, the longer hours at work have subsided, but an early schedule (I mean EARLY--6:50am beginning tomorrow) will require some adjustments as well. I dearly love my late nights in front of the telly or computer.

Working at a different location with different tasks was interesting for a while, however, repeating the same daily deadlines with the same work performed over and over wasn't as appealing. "Let's just get in there and get this done by tonight, staying as late as possible and then we'll be able to have a day off." When you hear that several consecutive days in a row, you begin to realize the powers-that-be are playing the old carrot-on-a-stick routine. I've said it many times, at this stage of my life, I really enjoy working the 10am to 2pm shift. (This is a HUGE joke with my family and co-workers.)

Special projects folks with programs going LIVE on certain dates don't really have much of a sense of humor about such things. They had no qualms about 7am start times and 10pm stops. Isn't there a LAW about indentured servitude? and isn't the Mouse bound by some kind of anti-slavery regulations?

Still, it was a learning experience and the government should be happy with the extra money courtesy of my overtime pay, as they get most of it.