Advice to Obama

Here's a little history book reminder for the Democrats. Just so they don't forget the power or will of the people when we feel that we are being unfairly taxed and not represented by our government.

Come One, Come All

The table is set and the feast is prepared. Come one, come all and share our humble meal and warm blessings. You guys are the best crew that anyone could hope to be befriended by. I am thankful today for those whom I rub shoulders with in the blog world. This blog has been a wonderful outlet and I have met a rich tapestry of assorted misfits and vagabonds, ladies and lords, and everyone in between. You are all welcome at our campfire or feasting table any time you care to share a warm meal and a laugh or two. Happy Thanksgiving!!!

For All Those Still Confused About the Switch to Digital TV

First Things Times Two!

All parents of small children know that each and every day holds an infinite realm of possibilities. Today we have not one but two new firsts. Our daughter, Arianwyn, has her first loose tooth. She is thrilled! She says that she "always wanted to have the first loose tooth." She can't wait to see what the tooth fairy will bring her and wanted to know what Mama Frank and I got from the tooth fairy when we lost our first teeth. She's convinced that the apple she ate yesterday is the cause of it and she could not be any happier.

The second first was from our Jessica. Our girls go to the elementary school where Mama Frank teaches. After school they walk down to her classroom while she finishes up whatever from the day or prepares for the next day. One of the other teachers has his kids there as well and so our girls and his kids often play together after school in one of their rooms. Today while going from one room to the other suddenly the fire alarm began to sound. Mama Frank walked out into the hallway only to see Jessica standing in front of the freshly pulled fire alarm. Oh boy!!! I would say these things only happen to me but I know better than that. Mama Frank used the situation for a learning experience. She marched Jessica down to the Principal's office and had her apologize to the secretary (as the Principal was not there today.) She then marched her to each and every custodian and had her apologize to them as they were the ones running around to find out if the alarm was real.



What stories do you guys have of your children's "firsts"?

Happy Birthday Dad!!!

Just So Nobody Forgets

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America
When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

— John Hancock

New Hampshire:
Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton

Massachusetts:
John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry

Rhode Island:
Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery

Connecticut:
Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott

New York:
William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris

New Jersey:
Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark

Pennsylvania:
Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross

Delaware:
Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean

Maryland:
Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton

Virginia:
George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton

North Carolina:
William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn

South Carolina:
Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton

Georgia:
Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton

The Tytler Cycle

A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship.
The average age of the world's greatest civilizations from the beginning of history has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence:

*From bondage to spiritual faith;

*From spiritual faith to great courage;

*From courage to liberty;

*From liberty to abundance;

*From abundance to complacency;

*From complacency to apathy;

*From apathy to dependence;

*From dependence back into bondage.

Any comments on the truth or validity of this cycle? If this is the truth of history and the future of our country then I for one will not fall into the cycle of dependency. And I will stand and fight against all odds before I allow myself and my family to come into bondage. If the cycle holds true I pray that it will be my daughters or their children who will then lead our country and its great people into "spiritual faith" once again.

The Hunt has Finally Come

Oh Great Spirit, whose voice I hear in the winds

And whose breath gives life to everyone,

Hear me.

I come to you as one of your many children;

I am weak, I am small, I need your wisdom and your strength.

Let me walk in beauty, and make my eyes ever

behold the red and purple sunsets.

Make my hands respect the things you have made,

and make my ears sharp so I may hear your voice.

Make me wise, so that I may understand what you

have taught my people and

The lessons you have hidden in each leaf

and each rock.

I ask for wisdom and strength,

Not to be superior to my brothers, but to be able

to fight my greatest enemy, myself.

Make me ever ready to come before you with

clean hands and a straight eye,

So as life fades away as a fading sunset,

My spirit may come to you without shame.

What's Black and White and Blue All Over?

Thanks Brooke

Your results:
You are Han Solo

Han Solo 74% Luke Skywalker 71% R2-D2 71% Chewbacca 70% Obi-Wan Kenobi 64% Lando Calrissian 63% Yoda 61% An Ewok 60% Princess Leia 57% Boba Fett 57%

Even though you've been described as reckless, selfish and cocky, you're the type of person others love to be around. People like you because you're a scoundrel.

(This list displays the top 10 results out of a possible 21 characters)


Click here to take the Star Wars Personality Quiz

We're Gonna Need Some Help

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Racism vs. Intense Emotion

On this the first evening since the election I would like to share something that is conflicted within myself and touches me deeply. There is no doubt that we have just come through an historic and transformative election day. Only time will tell the full implications of the chain of events that are now set in motion in our country. They may turn out to be very great and they may turn out to be very grave. In fact, they may turn out to be both at once or some shade in between. The reasons that people made their choice for Barack Obama are certainly as varied as the shades of color in the fall landscape. One of the reasons was racism pure and simple. Racism is infinitely destructive and as ugly a monster as has ever reared its head in our country. Racism has never been a part of my character and when growing up as a child was the farthest thought from my mind. I never fathomed that someone would hate someone else because of the color of their skin or that someone would like someone else because of their skin color. Unfortunately, I grew older and came to know people that acted exactly in that way. I can not think of a more foolish reason to decide to look on someone with favor or with disdain. Many people voted for Obama for this very reason and this reason alone.

Now let me share a story with you about where I work. I am a School Bus mechanic by trade and work for a public school district at the Bus Barn. Because of the part-time nature of driving a school bus many bus drivers are retired from another profession and now drive for some extra cash or just for something to do. Many drivers or bus monitors are in their 50's and 60's. I have a good relationship with most drivers and many are good friends that I respect and enjoy their company and stories of the life they have lived. One of these people, (whom I will call Mildred for anonymity), grew up in Brooklyn and moved here to the Kansas City area as a young lady. She married a man who was in the service and stationed in the very town that I currently reside in. He fought for our country and was a man of great honor by all accounts I have heard. The time was the late 1960's. He and Mildred went to some sort of ball that the military was having. She was elegantly dressed and he was in his dress uniform. After the evening they left the ball to go home. After a wonderful evening they decided to stop for an ice cream cone. He pulled in the parking lot and walked into the hotel/restaurant to get his young bride an ice cream cone. He was promptly told that "his kind" was not welcome there and that he would not be sold an ice cream cone. Furthermore, he was to leave immediately. This was my very town a short 40 years ago. This man, a soldier in his dress uniform, was rejected and discarded from even purchasing an ice cream cone not because of his character or his actions but simply because of the color of his skin. Even as I now type the horror of those words cause tears to well up in my eyes. He has since passed away and only Mildred is left with us. The memory of this event etched - no, seared - into her mind. She is a kind person and a good person and does not hate those with the same color of skin as the man who rejected her young soldier husband. She would lend me help as freely as I would lend her help. Upon seeing a man with same color skin as hers, the same color skin her husband wore, win the election to become the next President of the United States of America she was flooded with intense emotion. It's an emotion that is beyond my experience on this earth. It is an emotion that I can not even pretend to know. She did not vote for Obama because of his skin color but it is his skin color that brings this intense emotion to the surface. And she was overjoyed to the point of tears last night upon seeing a man with similar skin color, HER skin color, be chosen by millions of Americans to what is arguably the most powerful office in the world. Her husband could not even purchase an ice cream cone for her out of his love for her because of his skin color and now someone with that same skin color will be our President. How could I, or anyone else, begrudge her joy over such an event even though it is based on nothing but pigment? I certainly profoundly disagree with the choice of Obama as President but in the same breath, and to a greater extent, I celebrate the joy and intense emotion of my friend. Politics is politics. People is people and that's important.

November 5th, 2008

November 4th, 2008

McCain/Palin '08

Please get out and vote for John McCain and Sarah Palin. They are the ones who have the ability to lead our country and to change how politics are played in Washington. They are the ones who believe in you and I and not in expanding the government to do for us. They are the ones who stand for freedom and liberty and American ingenuity. They are the ones who stand for lower taxes for you and I and for small business that employs many of us. Please give them your vote.

Honesty

I know this is almost 9 minutes long but PLEASE watch it!!!

Happy Fall Ya'll

Psalm 27:4
One thing I ask of the LORD,
this is what I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD
and to seek him in his temple.