Sunday, July 29, 2012

Tech


On my first trip to Australia, a friend of mine recommended a piece of tech kit that I had to have the moment I saw it! I had a tablet, but this tablet was like none I had ever seen…
National Lasagna Day

Saturday, July 28, 2012

Slam?

No! It can’t be! The Olympics have been in the works for years! Their solute to the NHS seems calculated to point-out that the US is the only major industrialized nation that doesn’t care for all its citizens when they are sick!

mf healthcaremap p.jpg
From Wikimedia via The Atlantic

Friday, July 27, 2012

Faith-Politics/Politics-Faith


What an interesting world we live in. You have the right to believe in whatever you want to. There is (at least in theory) in this country a freedom of religion that allows you to believe anything you want. No matter what crazy bat-shit thing you take into your head, it is theoretically your right to believe it.

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Gymnastics


The Olympics Opening Ceremonies are not until tomorrow night and already the US has a promising contender in Gymnastics: Willard “Mitt” Romney is flipping and spinning with the best of them over there in London!
All-Or-Nothing Day

Monday, July 23, 2012

Monday, Monday

How did I get so accustomed to the time so quickly!? It has been five days since I had to count on the alarm waking me up. I do not get it!
Happy birthday to my friend Tena

Sunday, July 22, 2012

It’s A Lovely Weekend

Not everything is news and politics this weekend! Saturday was a lovely day, starting with the thunderstorm that watered the newly mown lawns. We had breakfast and coffee followed by cards and conversation. Yes, it was a lovely morning.

Parents' Day
Happy birthday to my friend Stacy

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Crackpots


I think I have seen this movie before:

Sen. John Yerkes Iselin: No evasions, Mister Secretary, no evasions if you please. 
Secretary of Defense: Evasions? What the hell are you talking about? 
Secretary of Defense: [whispering to Marco] What the hell is this nonsense? 
Marco: [covering the microphones] Mister Secretary, I'm kind of new at this job, but I don't think it's good public relations to speak that way to a US Senator, even if he is an idiot. 
Sen. John Yerkes Iselin: I am United States Senator John Yerkes Iselin, and I have here a list of two hundred seven persons who are known by the Secretary of Defense as being members of the Communist Party! 
Secretary of Defense: [amid shocked reaction from the crowd] What? 
Sen. John Yerkes Iselin: Who nevertheless are still shaping the policy of the Defense Department! 
Secretary of Defense: Senator who? 
Sen. John Yerkes Iselin: I demand an answer, Mister Secretary! There will be no covering up, sir! No covering up! 
Secretary of Defense: How did you get in here in the first place? 

Friday, July 20, 2012

John Donne Is Anti-Business (And Anti-Island!)


In my continuing series of my predicting the news, I have the following news flash, in front of a roaring crowd of teenagers forced to read poetry, Willard “Mitt” Romney declared that John Donne is out-of-touch and anti-business.

Tragic News


Thanks for people who have been emailing me this morning. My home is clear the other side of town from the movie theatre where the shooting took place and I am not there anyway. I am in Minnesota with my folks this week.

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

“…Its Founding Document!?”


Regardless of what you think of his politics, you have to wonder about his grasp on history!

Mr. Willard “Mitt” Romney a crowd of TEA Party conservatives the type of red-meat drivel they gobble-up without a care as to its veracity yesterday in Pennsylvania. The disturbing thing is that neither he nor his audience seems to care whether his comments are accurate. The ovation-inducing lines were as follows:

“Let’s stop and think about the system of government and what it tells us in our founding document, the Declaration of Independence. It does not say that the government gave us our rights. It says that God gave us our rights. They came with us not with Government.”

Despite the theological problems here (does he really believe that our rights were given to us by a 6’4” white man living on a planet called “Kobol?” Or is he saying that some other god – the God of your personal choice – gave you the rights?); there is a fundamental (rather than fundamentalist) issue with this statement.
Happy birthday to my friend Britany

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Oh, My God! My Dog’s A Freak!


Whoosh! There it goes again, that streak of white shooting past my window! Well, mostly white with a bit of black on either end! What the… There it goes again! Ah!

National Hot Dog Day

Monday, July 16, 2012

Busy Week Ahead


It has been a busy weekend and it is going to be an even busier week!

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Arrival


What a great drive! The roads this morning were amazingly quiet.

Sunrise



It is moments like this that make the travel the thrill it is. There is nothing quite like the experience of travelling along and being suddenly surprised with the sight of a beautiful sunrise.

Alarm Clock? What Alarm Clock!?


What a difference a sign makes! It is embarrassing; what with the number of nights I spend on the road and the number of times I have made this trip; that a little think like not seeing the sign would make such a difference! The fact that that sign is on the interstate and is at a point east of where I left the interstate is beside the point. I should have remembered it was there and that I would have seen it by now had I not diverged from my usual routes yesterday!
Happy birthday to my friend Phil
Happy birthday to my friend Michael
Happy birthday to my friend David
Happy birthday to my cousin Nick

Saturday, July 14, 2012

Stopping For The Night


Saga is snoring at the foot of the bed in the hotel. It must be tiring riding around in the kennel all day, occasionally whinging; as if asking me when it will be time to stop. Perhaps this is a dogs way of repeating “Are we there yet!?”

The Badlands


I assume that I must be in the Badlands National Park. If I am not, then I am on the fringes thereof. The craggy mesas to the east and west of the road and the dry, colorful valley floor are dead giveaways.

The Road Less Traveled By

What a gorgeous day for driving; even if I have very little idea of where, exactly I am!

Departure


Perhaps it is just that I am getting older, but I no longer am so hot and bothered about what time I get rolling when I leave on a trip. There was a time that if I had found myself still sitting here in Lakewood at five in the morning on departure day I would have been beside myself for not having left “on time”

Happy birthday to my friend Ian

Friday, July 13, 2012

Being Productive


What a productive day – so far! It is early afternoon and I have just returned home from the office. Early in – early out, lots done in between! It sort of make the day productive… at least it makes it seem productive!

Sunday, July 08, 2012

1.65”

More than an inch-and-a-half of rain fell into my rain gauge this weekend. It is NICE to have the water! This is more rain than we had for the entire month of June. The atmosphere is absolutely dripping out of the sky this morning. It is nice and cool, and dark.


Happy birthday to my friend Pat
Happy birthday to my friend Cindy
Happy birthday to my friend Cathy

Monday, July 02, 2012

Politics As Usual


How did it degenerate to this point? I used to be amused by it, but it has worn a bit thin.
Happy birthday to my friend Tonina