Open Letter to Senator Dick Durbin

Senator Durbin,

I've been a life long supporter, and wish to thank you for your service.

As I see it, President Bush will not bring our troops home from Iraq despite mounting opposition to the never ending war there.

I believe the Iraq war has harmed the national interest.

I've seen you speak several times on CSPAN, and I suspect you are as frustrated with the Bush Administration as the majority of the American people are.

I realize that the slim Democratic majority in the Senate makes it difficult to proceed in any bold fashion. Without Cloture Republicans can filibuster - effectively killing a bill before it even has a chance.

Unfortunately, I have begun to notice in the blogosphere that many who supported Democrats in the last election feel betrayed.

I'm hoping that this sense of betrayal doesn't keep people from voting in the extremely important 2008 election.

The fate of the nation depends upon voters understanding that Democrats did not betray them, but that they simply lack the votes to overcome Congressional procedural obstacles employed by Republicans. That such procedures will prevent bringing our troops home unless either the Democrats take additional seats in the House and Senate, or until we have a Democrat as president again.

I believe that our nation should be using the money we are wasting in Iraq on subsidizing a shift to alternative fuels.

We've wasted so much of this nation's treasure on the Iraq debacle it is simply mind boggling to wrap one's thoughts around how much good we could have done right here in this nation.

I often wonder how many wind mill farms, geothermal electric plants, and solar plants could have been built with the money we have wasted on the Iraq war?

I can only guess how many more hybrid vehicles, flex fuel vehicles, and electric vehicles could have been purchased if we had used money wasted on the Iraq war to finance tax breaks for those purchasing such vehicles?

I see many problems ahead for America which can be avoided if we only had leaders willing to tell the truth, and challenge corruption.

I feel that you are such a leader. Please do what you can to end the Iraq war, and help this nation move toward energy independence.

Sincerely and Respectfully,

Edited for presentation on my blog. I sent this to the Honorable Senator Durbin.

Corrupt to the Core - Impeach Them

.. God Bless The USA! Impeach George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney
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Bush Administration - An Organized Crime Operation

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, George W. Bush and Dick Cheney should be impeached.

Commutation of Scooter Libby's prison sentence for having obstructed justice is just one more example in a long list of Bush Administration misdeeds which illustrates that George W. Bush is unfit for office - any office.


The Bush Administration is like an oozing wound contaminating everything that it touches.

The Bush Administration's corrupt gang of cronies will continue to hold power until January of 2009, and if this country doesn't watch out we'll end up with another group of blood suckers following on their heels.



What To Do Until January 2009

• Tell your kids not to join the military until U.S. troops leave Iraq
• Keep informed
• Write your Congressman
  
• Contribute
• Volunteer
• Vote in 2008
  
• Don't give up hope

If we can keep the bastards from stealing another election there's a chance we can make this nation the kind of nation everyone can be proud of again.
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Remember peace and prosperity anyone?

They're wanting to raise an entire generation of American's afraid of their own shadow - American's so afraid of the terrorist boogie man that they'll raise their hands for permission before they go potty. Don't let them use our fears to take our freedoms away.
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For Those Outraged

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Olbermann on Libby

Watch Countdown on MSNBC tonight in which Host Keith Olbermann will ask for Bush, and Cheney to resign!
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Local Blogger on Bush's Outrageous Behavior

Check out Dave of The11thhour's totally justified righteous indignation over Bush's latest evildoing.
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Read More About Bush Administration Treason

http://www.wilsonsupport.org/

All You Need Is Love

The Beatles - All You Need Is Love

Some may find the world's problems a bit overwhelming.
Where do we even begin?
This group hates that group.
This person can't stand that person.

And what of war, and intolerance, and petty jealousy?

This song seems to have the answer, however, we need to define love in a way that doesn't result in violence, oppression, all the other evils that have been carried out in the name of God, and presumably love.

If we look at all the bloodshed, and havoc in this world today we see the genesis of all these events based in the opposite of concern for the welfare of our fellow man.

We've found many ways to justify this behavior; nationalism, capitalism, religion, ethnicity, race, gender, age, and even sexual orientation. We've use these tools to promote genocide, war, slavery, theft, torture, murder, rape, and a list of atrocities so long that only an evil madman could ever imagine.

Some say humanity is itself evil, and insane, while others blame individuals. No matter where we point the blame the truth is the responsibility for how this world works falls to us.



All You Need Is Love
.......The Beatles

Love, love, love.
Love, love, love.
Love, love, love.

There's nothing you can do that can't be done.
Nothing you can sing that can't be sung.
Nothing you can say but you can learn how to play the game.
It's easy.

Nothing you can make that can't be made.
No one you can save that can't be saved.
Nothing you can do but you can learn how to be you in time.
It's easy.

All you need is love.
All you need is love.
All you need is love, love.
Love is all you need.

All you need is love.
All you need is love.
All you need is love, love.
Love is all you need.

Nothing you can know that isn't known.
Nothing you can see that isn't shown.
Nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be.
It's easy.

All you need is love.
All you need is love.
All you need is love, love.
Love is all you need.

All you need is love (all together, now!)
All you need is love. (everybody!)
All you need is love, love.
Love is all you need (love is all you need).

Yee-hai!
Oh yeah!
She loves you, yeah yeah yeah.
She loves you, yeah yeah yeah.

Buffet City Scrapbook Entry

Photo: Buffet City Sells Wall Adornments Spring 2007


I'm using my blog to "scrap book" the following article obtained from the ICE website.

Buffet City was a popular Chinese eatery in Springfield, Illinois. The restaurant was closed after an immigration raid in 2006. I include (above) a photo which shows the sale of the large posters which adorned Buffet City's walls. Asking price was $150 each. I snapped the photo early spring 2007.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - The two owners of a Springfield restaurant were indicted yesterday for money laundering, and for harboring and employing illegal aliens at the restaurant. The indictment resulted from a worksite enforcement investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Rodger A. Heaton, U.S. Attorney for the Central District of Illinois, announced that the owners of Buffet City restaurant, 1774 Wabash Ave., Springfield, were charged by a federal grand jury yesterday. The 10-count indictment charges Xiang Hui Ye, 28, of 3304 Haviland Dr., and Xian Xi Ye, 39, of 2709 Kipling Dr., with one count each of harboring and employing illegal aliens, and eight counts of money laundering. Both defendants were charged in a criminal complaint filed Sept. 20. Hui Ye, a Chinese citizen who was granted asylum in the U.S., was arrested Sept. 20, and Xi Ye, an illegal alien from China, was arrested Sept. 28. Both remain temporarily detained pending hearings scheduled on Oct. 10 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Byron G. Cudmore. The indictment alleges that from January 2005 through Sept. 20, 2006, the two men provided housing, employment and transportation to illegal aliens for commercial advantage and financial gain, and that they knowingly hired and recruited illegal aliens to work at their Buffet City restaurant. The money laundering charges allege that one or the other of the defendants signed checks to pay for apartment rental used to house illegal aliens. If convicted, the statutory penalty for the felony offense of harboring illegal aliens is up to 10 years in prison for each alien. For the misdemeanor offense of hiring or recruiting illegal aliens for employment, the penalty is up to six months in prison and a fine of $3,000 for each illegal alien. For each charge of money laundering, the penalty is up to 20 years in prison. “ICE aggressively targets employers who knowingly and recklessly employ an illegal alien workforce,” said ICE resident agent-in-charge Greg Archambeault who heads the Springfield office. “Today's enforcement action demonstrates how we use all our investigative tools to go after those who take advantage of illegal labor to make a profit.” Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Chesley, in the Springfield Division of the U.S. Attorney's Office, is prosecuting the case. The U.S. Department of Labor assisted ICE with the investigation. Members of the public are reminded that an indictment is merely an accusation; the defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty. The public is encouraged to report suspicious behavior by calling ICE's toll-free hotline: 1-866-3472423. This investigation was part of the Secure Border Initiative (SBI), a comprehensive multi-year plan by the Department of Homeland Security to secure America's borders and reduce illegal migration. Under SBI, Homeland Security seeks to gain operational control of both the northern and southern borders, while re-engineering the detention and removal system to ensure that illegal aliens are removed from the country quickly and efficiently. SBI also involves strong interior enforcement efforts, including enhanced worksite enforcement investigations and intensified efforts to track down and remove illegal aliens inside this country.

-- ICE --

iShot Him For His iPhone

Bloody IPhone


iShot Him For His iPhone
...........by JP

Head's smashed like a bug

iShot him for his iPhone
iShot him for his iPhone
iShot him for his iPhone

Blood colors the rug

iShot him for his iPhone
iShot him for his iPhone
iShot him for his iPhone

Oozing goo was his head

iShot him for his iPhone
iShot him for his iPhone
iShot him for his iPhone

Alive now dead dead dead

iShot him for his iPhone
iShot him for his iPhone
iShot him for his iPhone

Now I got what he once had

iShot him for his iPhone
iShot him for his iPhone
iShot him for his iPhone

His IPhone now I'm so bad

iShot him for his iPhone
iShot him for his iPhone
iShot him for his iPhone

Asked polite he just laughed

iShot him for his iPhone
iShot him for his iPhone
iShot him for his iPhone

Had to cap his ass

Harry Potter - Order of the Phoenix

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

I must admit I bought the book long ago, but never read it. And now as with earlier Harry Potter books I find myself racing to read the book prior to going to see the movie.

How else can I claim to be disappointed in the movie?

Actually, I've found the series of Harry Potter movies so far to be quite faithful to the books - not word for word mind you.

So I'm about ten percent done after some reading tonight - will I be finished in time?

One of my coworkers told me about some of what happens in this book, yet I like what I've read so far.

Harry is turning into a darker character - with passions - feelings - that he wasn't able to have when he was younger. I've heard that he develops more magical skills, and I'm looking to see that too.

And yes, I know the last book in the series is being released next month too - so I'll have some reading to do if I'm ever to catch up with the series.

iPhone Wet Dream

It's down to hours now. My buddy Dave at The11thhour will be lucky enough to own what I can only dream of - the IPhone.

Many months ago, right after Steve Jobs introduced the IPhone to the rest of the world, I went to www.Apple.com and spent over an hour just reading about this phone.

I sent the link to a coworker, and said I was going to have that phone.

After I bought my daughter her car for her sixteenth birthday I knew then I couldn't afford the IPhone. I couldn't justify moving from my cellular carrier, and buying the phone of my dreams.

Still I told myself, maybe someway I'll do it.

But reality has set in.

As Apple and AT&T have run their IPhone advertisements I've noticed the effect they've had upon me - similar in a way to pornography.

Here is something you want very much. She's classy. She's for a better man than you.
But you can have her for a price. She's for sale. If only you were man enough to handle her.

Oh IPhone, I must have you. I must possess you. I must be one with you my dream phone.

I have for many years believed that the IPhone would in fact be mine. Even before Apple introduced the IPhone I thought out carefully what I'd want in a phone, thinking about Science Fiction predictions on technology of the future.

Now it seems the future is here, and that phone is available in the IPhone.

I've read enough reviews to know the phone has some series limitations. For the money that people will be shelling out the IPhone is an expensive status symbol. Yet despite any flaws it may have I suspect it will be worth every penny considering how much other cell phones suck.

In fact when I look at advertisements for other phones now I laugh in contempt.

The thought of upgrading to something less than the IPhone seems a cruel thought, and I now have decided not to upgrade any of my phones until Apple begins selling to Verizon in two years.

Why would I want some obsolete crap when I can have an IPhone?

I believe that will be the legacy of the IPhone. It has raised the expectation of what a phone should be.

Since I won't be buying an IPhone anytime soon I will hope for the next best thing, to be allowed to play with Dave's IPhone when he gets one - hopefully tomorrow.

It's Midnight!

My Cat Midnight

I liked this photo of Midnight. Midnight is a male tuxedo cat.

Now Those Are Some Big Flippers

Introducing On The Right Icadyptes salasi

Thought this recent discovery in paleo-biology was kind of funny.

Five foot tall penguins! Go figure. Then again some of the fish living forty million years ago were huge, and rather evil looking too.


Check out Alabama's Zeuglodon from the same period

Food for thought people of Springfield. You never really know what may be lurking in Loch Springfield.

Dad Owned An Aston Martin

Dad Owned An Aston Martin - This Wasn't It

My father owned an Aston Martin. We kept it locked up in the garage. I recall playing in it from time to time. People always seemed impressed by it when he'd open the garage up to show them.

Eventually he sold it. I always thought he made a mistake when he sold it. I wasn't told how much he made in the sale.

I never thought to ask him how he came to own an English car here in a smallish town in the Midwestern U.S.

Mom, and Dad are gone now so I guess I'll never know the full story.

I hope whoever bought the car kept care of it, and that it's still running.

Tony Blair Going Going - Almost Gone

U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair

After ten years as Prime Minister, and at the helm of Britain's Labor Party, Tony Blair's time in office is rapidly coming to a close. By Wednesday of this week, June 27th, 2007 Mr. Blair will join the ranks of Winston Churchill, and Margaret Thatcher. Yet another player in the U.K. history whose legacy will be debated decades from now.

Whatever we may think of him politically, and few American's have any idea what to think of a U.K. Prime Minister, Mr. Blair has been a steadfast friend of the U.S. From an American perspective I can only thank Mr. Blair for his compromise. Surely a Labor Party leader had to pay terrible cost for maintaining such a friendship after President Clinton's departure.

It must have been difficult to turn your eyes away from continental Europe, and instead look across the Atlantic in search of U.K.'s future.

The fact is Mr. Blair's participation in the Iraqi fiasco played a prominent role in his undoing. While no one can claim that a ten year stint as Prime Minister is anything but a political success Tony Blair was hurt by revelations that U.K. intelligence was aware prior the the U.S. attack on Iraq that intelligence was being cooked up, and that there was no evidence that weapons of mass destruction were present in Iraq.

Despite the Iraq quagmire, which the U.K. plans to eject itself from in short course, Blair's wider legacy will most likely be written by his domestic agenda of which I am unqualified to comment - being an uninformed American.

I will, however, miss Mr. Blair's Question and Answer time with the U.K. Parliament which is televised weekly on CSPAN. He was quick on his feet, and always a gentleman. If only we could be so lucky here in the U.S.

Upton Sinclair - Writer & Social Justice Advocate

Upton Sinclair - Write and Social Justice Advocate

"Man is an evasive beast, given to cultivating strange notions about himself. He is humiliated by his simian ancestry, and tries to deny his animal nature, to persuade himself that he is not limited by its weaknesses nor concerned in its fate. And this impulse may be harmless, when it is genuine. But what are we to say when we see the formulas of heroic self-deception made use of by unheroic self-indulgence?" - Upton Sinclair on Religion and Evolution -

When we reflect on how it is that contaminated food, poisonous consumer products, and dangerous consumer items are being brought into the United States from nations like China we realize that more than ever the people of this nation need to remain vigilant.

Quick profit often is placed in front of what is good, and right. Quick profits for one business is often placed in front of what is good for society, and the long term good of business.

Writers like Upton Sinclair have often played historically important roles in exposing what businesses are able to justify in the pursuit of profit.

It is up to each and every generation to protect the gains of previous generations. It is in fact our need to defend our children, our parents, and ourselves from pollution, and the very poisoning of our foods.

My respects to Upton Sinclair. He lived a life dedicated to promoting the rights of the people.

Dedicated To War Pigs Everywhere

Black Sabbath - War Pigs (1970 Paris)

I was making a list, it was getting a somewhat long, I didn't want to leave anyone out, but you know who you are.

Bill Ward kicks butt on drums doesn't he!


A Heartbeat From The Presidency

Black Sabbath - War Pigs

Generals gathered in their masses
Just like witches at black masses
Evil minds that plot destruction
Sorcerers of deaths construction
In the fields the bodies burning
As the war machine keeps turning
Death and hatred to mankind
Poisoning their brainwashed minds, oh lord yeah!

Politicians hide themselves away
They only started the war
Why should they go out to fight?
They leave that role to the poor

Time will tell on their power minds
Making war just for fun
Treating people just like pawns in chess
Wait till their judgment day comes, yeah!

Now in darkness, world stops turning
As the war machine keeps burning
No more war pigs of the power
Hand of God has struck the hour
Day of judgment, God is calling
On their knees, the war pigs crawling
Begging mercy for their sins
Satan, laughing, spreads his wings
All right now!

My Iraqi Girlfriend

Raghad Toma - Eleven Year Old Christian Iraqi Refugee
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A Face From My Past

While visiting CNN.Com today I came to a complete stop when I saw the photograph of little eleven year old Raghad Toma. I could not get over her resemblance to a girlfriend I had back in College. Little Raghad is just eleven, while my girlfriend was college age, yet the resemblance is haunting.

It was that resemblance between this little Iraqi refugee, and my old flame which led me to read the story. I must admit I often find reading stories of the non-stop slaughter in Iraq too painful to bear. I simply can't force myself to read every story which is available for me to read.

As I delved into the details of little Raghad Toma's plight I discovered the reason behind her strong resemblance to my girlfriend. Raghad is a little Christian girl from the Mosul plains of Iraq. My girlfriend was also a Christian girl from Mosul.

In this part of the world, Christians marry Christians, and Muslims marry Muslims. With such a small population of Christians intermarrying for so many generations a strong physical resemblance is created.


Christian Minority In Iraq Speak The Language Which Jesus Spoke

The small minority of Christians in Iraq were treated properly by Saddam Hussein. Saddam was a master at manipulating the various ethnic groups within Iraq. He knew that the greatly outnumbered Christians would be loyal to him if he protected them.

Most Christians in Iraq live near Mosul, in the Mosul plains. These ancient Christian communities were in fact established by Jews who migrated eastward across the region from Judea. Jewish converts in the region were among the earliest Christians. Two thousand years later less than half a million people speak the ancient language spoken by Jesus Christ.
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U.S. Invasion Leads To Persecution Of Christians In Iraq

Since the United States' invasion of Iraq the ancient Christian communities which have existed for thousand's of years have come under attack from Muslim extremist who seek to create an all Muslim state.

It doesn't matter that the Christians were there even before Islam existed. As sectarian violence increases many Christians are fleeing into the bordering Muslim nations which have little sympathy for Christian refugees.
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Christian Refugees Treated As Pariah In Muslim Nations

Raghad Toma's family is just one example of a Christian family rounded up into refugee camps, and living on the fringe of survival. The Turks don't want them, and won't let them travel, or seek employment. It's a horrible situation for these victims of sectarian violence. They live in a land which simply wishes they'd disappear.

In the mean time the United States which created this nightmare scenario has dragged its feet on allowing Iraqi refugees to seek safety here.

There is a possibility that the Toma family will be allowed to immigrate to the United States. That would seem only fair since their dire situation is the direct result of U.S. action within the region. The U.S. needs to take immediate action to assist Iraqi refugees as sectarian violence in Iraq spreads into an all out civil war.

The coming civil war in Iraq will result in a bloodbath that makes everything which has happened before it look trivial. Some analyst believe that a million Iraqis will die in the coming sectarian violence.
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The U.S. Has The Blood of Innocents On Its Hands

The United States now has a moral responsibility to protect those it has endangered, but will it live up to its moral responsibilities? If the past is any indication of how the U.S. will handle its obligations it seems highly doubtful that it will act in the best interest of the Iraqi people.

Just ask the Kurds, and the Shiites about their experience at the hands of Saddam Husein after the end of the Gulf War when the first President Bush encouraged them to rebel against Saddam's regime. As Saddam's genocidal response began the United States watched, and did nothing.

The U.S. sold those people out in the name of regional stability, and in the name of cheap oil.

We stand naked in front of God, and future generations to be judged for our immoral actions. Any state which acts with such disregard for those it has sacrificed to the alter of greed should suffer, and will ultimately suffer the same fate as all the other nations which placed imperialist dreams ahead of compassion. We will lose what we ultimately sought to protect, our safety, our prosperity, and what pretense we clutch of a lost innocence.
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Beyond This Posting

Read More: http://www.christianfreedom.org/index.html

See More: http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2007/impact/

Do More: http://www.networkforgood.org


About The Photos

Both Presented Without Permission From CNN and Not under my copyright - but theirs. I used them here with a heavy heart.

Hey Pal!

Dave of The11thhour recently wrote a short about the use of the word pal. Dave, and some of his commentators suspect that pal has over time become a type of insult.

Reading Dave's post brought an immediate recollection of the person who made the word "pal" meaningful to me - Jim Belz.

Jim Belz was Dean of Men (Discipline) at Griffin High School (now Sacred Heart - Griffin) in Springfield, Illinois.

Jim Belz would sit on a wooden stool, in the main entrance hallway just outside the cafeteria, and watch for those boys (all boys school at that time) who were due a detention slip - usually for skipping class.

"Hey Pal!", he'd say.

There was no ignoring Mr. Belz. You had to walk over, and get your detention slip. The slip would tell you to show up on Saturday morning for this, or that reason, and it had to be signed by a parent.

It was a pretty good system he had there. It saved him from having to search for the students. He'd simply wait, and they'd usually pass by. Sometimes you'd manage to evade his gaze, but he'd usually catch you later in the day. He was the hunter, and we were his prey. It was all very cat, and mouse - law and order I might say.

A photo in one of the Griffin High School yearbooks from that era has Mr. Beltz sitting on that stool, and I believe the caption reads, "Hey Pal".

I never hear that phrase without thinking of the late great Mr. Belz.

Dave of The11thhour probably never served detention on Saturday morning, although if Mr. Belz had known what kinds of things Dave was up to back then he surely would have had Dave cleaning the blackboards, and waxing the floors of Griffin High - as I did many a Saturday morning.
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James Belz

Mr. Belz was a fine, and decent man. I don't feel anyone could have known him any other way. Was he strict? You betcha. As an adult I realize that that type of discipline was badly needed. We needed it then, and we certainly need it now. Good thoughts, and several prayers towards you and your family Mr. Belz.

Jim Belz played baseball for the Saint Louis Cardinals briefly before become a scout for the team. He died of cancer a few years back. There was a significantly large story on Mr. Belz in the State Journal Register. He was a real fixture in the local baseball scene - a local legend. His son John William Belz is a judge.

Here's a grab from IHSA showing Jim Belz coaching tenure at Griffin. I include some of the other coaches for comparison.

Boys Basketball

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As Springfield (Cathedral).....W.......L...........Coach .
1957-58 |          |  19   9    | Jim Belz 
1958-59 |          |  18   7    | Jim Belz
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As Springfield (Griffin)
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1959-60 |          |  15   9    | Jim Belz
1960-61 |          |  18   8    | Jim Belz
1961-62 |          |  13  13    | Jim Belz
1962-63 |          |  20   6    | Jim Belz
1963-64 |          |  23   4    | Jim Belz
1964-65 |          |  10  15    | Jim Belz
1965-66 |          |  17  10    | Jim Belz
1966-67 |          |  17  10    | Jim Belz
         . . . . .    170 91   10 yr  .651
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1967-68 |          |  12  15    | Bob Martin
1968-69 |          |   2  23    | Bob Martin
1969-70 |          |   3  21    | Bob Martin
1970-71 |          |   9  17    | Bob Martin
       . . . . .     26 76    4 yr  .255
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1971-72 |          |   8  17    | Larry Sellinger
1972-73 |          |  14  11    | Larry Sellinger
1973-74 |          |   6  18    | Larry Sellinger
1974-75 |          |   9  15    | Larry Sellinger
1975-76 |          |  10  14    | Larry Sellinger
1976-77 |  R       |   7   6    | Larry Sellinger [partial]
         . . . . .    54  81     6 yr  .400
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1976-77 |          |   7   7    | Bill Fleischli [partial]
1977-78 |          |  15  12    | Bill Fleischli
1978-79 |  R       |  13  14    | Bill Fleischli
1979-80 |          |  16  11    | Bill Fleischli
1980-81 |  R       |  24   4    | Bill Fleischli
         . . . . .    75  48      5 yr  .610

       SCHOOL TOTAL  1006 946    76 yr  .515

Dad, I Smoke Now!

Dad! I Like Newport!

Teenage Daughter: I like smoking. It makes ya look cool.
Disappointed Father: You better never smoke in front of me.

Teenage Daughter: I don't really smoke right anyway.
Disappointed Father: If you continue I'm going to start taking things away.

Teenage Daughter: I only have seven left.
Disappointed Father: It's illegal that you even have them.

Teenage Daughter: All my friends smoke.
Disappointed Father: If you have the money for cigarettes you can start paying your own cell phone bill.

Teenage Daughter: I told you about them didn't I?
Disappointed Father: That doesn't make it right. They're highly addictive, and cause the deaths of half a million Americans every year. Once you get started you won't be able to stop.

Teenage Daughter: Well I'm not smoking them right so I won't get addicted.
Disappointed Father: From the time you were a little child we told you how stupid it is to smoke, and this is the choice you make?

Teenage Daughter: My aunt smokes.
Disappointed Father: You hang out with your aunt for a month, and come back a smoker? Some high school drop out wanna be beautician has convinced you it's cool to smoke?

Teenage Daughter: She graduated from High School.
Disappointed Father: Then why in the hell doesn't she get a job instead of sitting around chain smoking all day?

Teenage Daughter: She can't get a job, she has to take care of her son.
Disappointed Father: Take care of her son? What the hell is wrong with him?

Teenage Daughter: He's crazy. He's been killing small animals, and..,
Disappointed Father: Great! That's just great, and now you want to be like that family? Oh my God, I know I wasn't around for you as much as I should have been. My work schedule made it hard for us to spend as much time together as I wish, but I didn't raise you this way.

Teenage Daughter: Well, I'm going to quit.
Disappointed Father: I sure hope so, because smoking cigarettes is one of the biggest mistakes that anyone could ever make. I know, I smoked for seven years, and quit after I watched my father die - right in front of me.

Teenage Daughter: Did he smoke?
Disappointed Father: He was a two pack a day man until he had his heart attack.

Teenage Daughter: And then what? Did he stop smoking then.
Disappointed Father: He died then.

Teenage Daughter: Oh.
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About the Art

Title: Smoking Causes Lung Cancer, and yes that's lung cancer. Wouldn't it be a nice law to force the Cigarette manufactures to display the various diseases their products cause right on their products?

Lead Paint For Your Child?

Thomas & His Friends Are Covered With Lead Paint

There were nearly five hundred recalls of consumer products in the last year in the U.S. Do you as a parent feel comfortable placing your children's health, and safety in the hands of Chinese toy manufacturers, and the corrupt Chinese government? If you're like most parents you do every day!
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Who Will Protect Them?
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We need a new regime in Washington to protect us from the old regime in Beijing!


This from the New York Times

Among the toy recalls, the problem is most acute with low-price, no-brand-name toys that are often sold at dollar stores and other deep discounters, which are manufactured and sent to the United States often without the involvement of major American toy importers. Last year, China also was the source of 81 percent of the counterfeit goods seized by Customs officials at ports of entry in the United States — products that typically are not made according to the standards on the labels they are copying.

Brand names or not, you really never know what you're getting with toys manufactured in China. This is a major problem since China manufactures the majority of toys sold in the U.S.

Meanwhile the on the take Bush Administration sells out America's children to garner support from Chinese manufacturers. To hell with your children, lets get some foreign lobby money!


Again, from the New York Times

In the last two years, the staff of the consumer product commission has been cut by more than 10 percent, leaving fewer regulators to monitor the safety of the growing flood of imports.

Some consumer advocates say that such staff cuts under the Bush administration have made the commission a lax regulator. The commission, for example, acknowledged in a recent budget document that “because of resource limitations,” it was planning next year to curtail its efforts aimed at preventing children from drowning in swimming pools and bathtubs.

The toy industry in the United States is largely self-policed. The Consumer Product Safety Commission has safety standards, but it has only about 100 field investigators and compliance personnel nationwide to conduct inspections at ports, warehouses and stores of $22 billion worth of toys and tens of billions of dollars’ worth of other consumer products sold in the country each year. “They don’t have the staff that they need to try to get ahead of this problem,” said Janell Mayo Duncan, senior counsel at the Consumers Union, which publishes Consumer Reports. “They need more money and resources to do more checks.”

Realm of the Black Knight!

Need to add a link to this little jewel of a blog.

Some real interesting material being posted on this Springfield, Illinois Blog.

http://realmofbk.blogspot.com/

Civilization Four - Beyond The Sword

President Abraham Lincoln - Leader of the Americans

Before Blogger There Was Civilization!

Civilization has been around for well over a decade. I was quite addicted to Civilization spending months at a time away from my family, and just about everyone, and everything else while advancing my playing skills. There was always another round of decisions to make, another round of improvements so as to advance my Civilization!

Fortunately for me came the Iraq Invasion, and quagmire which yanked me away from Civilization so that I could begin blogging.

Civ-IV has been out for the last two years, and I vowed not to purchase it - fearing that I'd stop blogging - and I probably would.

Now comes along Civilization Four - Beyond the Sword, and I'm having to once again tell myself not to go anywhere near the game section at Best Buy!

It's not out yet, but from what I've read it looks very interesting - might I say, addictive. I'd love to play Abraham Lincoln and lead the Americans to greatness once again, but if I do I can kiss this blog goodbye.

I did like some of the teaser artwork - so I present the Civilization Abraham Lincoln Portrait. Many criticize Lincoln's appearance, calling him ugly, but I've always thought Lincoln looked cool.

Lincoln Portrait: Surf to www.civilization.com

Incest on Father's Day

Denial - Enables The Evil Side of Human Nature

Man: I've noticed you've been hanging out with your father lately.
Girl: So what, he's my father.

Man: Do you think that's wise, because I don't?
Girl: I can't believe you'd say that.

Man: He has substance abuse problems, and other problems.
Girl: He's an alcoholic, and can't help himself.

Girl: Why do you hate my father so much?
Man: Because he molested his step daughter.

Girl: He didn't molest her, she wanted it!
Man: Blame the victim is that it?

Girl: She's not a victim, she's a whore!
Man: She was a little girl, God damn it!

Girl: She'd rub up against him. It was her fault!
Man: It was his responsibility to put a stop to that.

Girl: It wasn't my father, it was her real father!
Man: Just because she was molested by her real father doesn't mean her stepfather should have molested her.

Girl: She's a whore, and her aunt, brother, and grandmother won't talk to her.
Man: That entire family is riddled with incest, and it's all centered on your father. He should be in prison!

Girl: Well he was molested by his father.
Man: So that gives him the right to destroy his stepdaughter's life?

Girl: No one's talking to her! She's a whore!
Man: You see the price she's paying for lying when the Illinois Department of Child and Family Services asked her about being molested? When her mother and father got her to lie, do you see the price she's paying now?

Girl: Don't you say anything bad about my father!
Man: When you get married are you going to let your husband have sex with your daughter?

Girl: I'm out of here!
Man: It's a choice.

Girl: What?
Man: To be white trash, it's a choice.
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About the Art

I digitally altered a photograph of a Mayan demon spirit sculpture.
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About the Conversation

Fiction, or non-fiction? I can not say, but you can bet it's taken place before. The heart break incest causes everyone near and far is so great that it's hard to measure the damage it does.

Imagine all the people who approach Father's Day without joy, but instead are filled with doubt, and guilt, and depression due to being victims of incest. It's something we don't talk about, I guess, because it doesn't sell cards, tool sets, or power tools.

Love The Moody Blues

Moody Blues - Candle of Life 1970

Where do I begin? I first heard the Moody Blues played on the radio - no doubt about that. But my first meaningful introduction came from my older sister. She was very impressed with them, and showed me her album. I was old enough to understand the lyrics, and read along while the music played. I didn't really think much of them for a few years. Until..,

The drugs.

Somehow listening to music stoned changes the perception of music. I suspect it slows the brain waves down (studies concur) and increases dopamine levels which increase association. That and the euphoria, and relaxed state all open music up to a new level.

I don't feel I would want to listen to rap music while high as I'd get depressed, and paranoid, but music like the Moody Blues certainly guided a generation during their junkets to higher levels of contemplation.

Aside from the drugs the Moody Blues experience certainly was grounded in the Hippie movement, in sharing, and love. There was a optimism, certainly a deep funk too, but an optimism which says - we matter - and very much.

As the years pass I wonder often where youngsters in their twenties could conjure up such wisdom. Some suggest that artist, writers, and musicians tap into an "old soul", and listening to the Moody Blues seems to drive home that that may in fact be possible.


Moody Blues - Question - 1970

Lyrics, dedication to a higher purpose, and fine music craft make the Moody Blues one of the best recorded musical groups in the last Century.

Sometimes in my deepest secret moments I wonder what kind of world it would have been if the Hippies had won the day, and if the world were somehow persuaded to live in peace. I wonder what kind of world it could be - instead of the horrors we see unfold each day.

I don't know if mankind will ever allow itself the option of knowing peace, we are such a perverted race, but listening to the Moody Blues gives me a sense of hope that maybe, just maybe people could get along long enough to create a world based upon mutual respect, understanding, and love.

And I'm not even high.

Here's some lyrics to consider.

Moody Blues
Question

Why do we never get an answer
When we're knocking at the door?
With a thousand million questions
About hate and death and war.

It's where we stop and look around us
There is nothing that we need.
In a world of persecution
That is burning in it's greed.

Why do we never get an answer
When we're knocking at the door?
Because the truth is hard to swallow
That's what the wall of love is for.

It's not the way that you say it
When you do those things to me.
It's more the way that you mean it
When you tell me what will be.

And when you stop and think about it
You won't believe it's true.
That all the love you've been giving
Has all been meant for you.

I'm looking for someone to change my life.
I'm looking for a miracle in my life.
And if you could see what it's done to me
To lose the the love I knew
Could safely lead me through.

Between the silence of the mountains
And the crashing of the sea
There lies a land I once lived in
And she's waiting there for me.

But in the grey of the morning
My mind becomes confused
Between the dead and the sleeping
And the road that I must choose.

I'm looking for someone to change my life.
I'm looking for a miracle in my life.
And if you could see what it's done to me
To lose the the love I knew
Could safely lead me to
The land that I once knew.
To learn as we grow old
The secrets of our souls.

It's not the way that you say it
When you do those things to me.
It's more the way you really mean it
When you tell me what will be.

Why do we never get an answer
When we're knocking at the door?
With a thousand million questions
About hate and death and war.

It's where we stop and look around us
There is nothing that we need.
In a world of persecution
That is burning in it's greed.

Why do we never get an answer
When we're knocking at the door?

Wind Versus War

Thirty Story High General Electric 3.6 Megawatt Wind Turbines

Place enough Wind Turbines offshore (30 miles offshore where no one can see them from the coast) and you could generate enough power to electrify the entire nation. In fact there's so much wind that simply using wind along the gulf coast would power the U.S.

With approximately $250,000,000 per year being wasted on the Iraq war debacle one can only imagine what the United States could have used that money for - how far along we could have been in a bid toward energy independence.


Finest Hour For War President Bush

President Bush rejected a move toward independence from Middle East oil, and instead lied to the nation and lunged the country into a war in Iraq.

A real leader would have used the attack on the Twin Towers to spur the United States towards energy independence. It would seem only prudent to move the United States away from importing oil from nations which finance terrorist groups - terrorist which vow to destroy the U.S.

Instead of leading the nation to independence we were misled into supporting an attack on Iraq. Instead we were encouraged to remaining silent while the U.S. Constitution was trampled upon by those sworn to defend it.

The moment was lost to greed, and corruption while the good of the nation was ignored.
We are more dependent upon imported oil than ever before, and we sit and watch, and do nothing while the cheap oil that is the lifeblood of this nation begins to run out.

Real patriotism isn't based upon mindless support of ineffective military action, it is grounded in love of nation, and an honest appreciation for the real threats that face this nation.

How many more oil wars must be waged simply because the oil industry runs this nation's energy policy? How many more brave soldiers must die in unnecessary wars? How long must we continue to watch our government do nothing to reverse course on global warming?


Bush Kisses His Benefactor

As the world runs out of cheap oil the question remains, how long will this nation remain vulnerable to blackmail from regimes unfriendly to the American Way?

While wind isn't the only way to produce clean, plentiful, and locally produced energy it is clear that the huge fortune wasted on the Iraq war should have been spent in securing this nation from further attacks, and on ending its addiction to oil from unstable and unfriendly regimes.

Mr. Wizard Dies

Mr. Wizard Conducts Science Experiment

Mr. Wizard has died. I'd watch Mr Wizard whenever he'd be on the Tonight Show, or if I'd accidentally find him on children's television decades ago.

His pace was a bit slow for me, even as a kid, but on the Tonight Show he'd rush through his demonstrations. He'd have no other choice but to move quickly. Tonight Show host Johnnie Carson always found a way to goof things up, or act as if he did, which would make everyone laugh.

Science could be fun, and funny.

I found this snippet from Don Herbert's CNN Obituary interesting,

"Born in Waconia, Minnesota, Herbert was a 1940 graduate of LaCrosse State Teachers College and was an Army Air Corps pilot during World War II. He worked as an actor, model and radio writer before starting "Watch Mr. Wizard" in Chicago on NBC".

I didn't know any of that. Another member of the Greatest Generation, and another American World War II Veteran has departed.

Photocredit: New York Times

David The Gray Exposes Himself

Photo From Anonymous Communist

Local Blogger Anonymous Communist does the unthinkable and Exposes Dave of The11thhour!

As we can see in my edited Anonymous Communist photo (above) Dave is going BALD, BLIND, and GRAY!

Dave has become a GEEZER!

Despite that, he's a very handsome man, if you don't mind me saying so Mrs. TEH.

No Confidence In Attorney General Gonzales

AP Photo: A Confident Attorney General Alberto Gonzales

The U.S. Senate voted on a historic "No Confidence" Cloture Motion (S.J.Res.14) on Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Unfortunately, thirty eight Republican Senators blocked the Motion which needed a 3/5th's majority to pass.

In my opinion Alberto Gonzales is one of the worst Attorney Generals in the history of this nation.

Is that surprising coming out of this Administration, which is certainly one of the most corrupt, and incompetent administrations in the history of the United States? Sadly, it is not.

From Gonzales' role in authoring legal advice on the U.S. torture of prisoners of war (which he endorses) to his lies to Congress regarding his role in firing U.S. Department of Justice prosecutors for strictly political reasons, Alberto Gonzales has shown his loyalty to an administration which has itself shown nothing but contempt for the U.S. Constitution, the people of this nation, and the people of the world.

Democrats knew going into the vote that the measure had no chance of winning, yet they've now forced those 38 Republican Senators who protected, and continue to enable Gonzales, to find some way to justify the unjustifiable. Hopefully this will cost those 38 Republican Senators at least a few votes. Anyone who wants good government surely could not support General Gonzales.


Obama Misses Vote

Barrak Obama out campaigning missed this vote. While it was a foregone conclusion that the Democrats would fail to reach the required sixty votes it still would have been nice if the Illinois Senator could have been in Washington for the vote.

Several Republicans crossed the isle and cast votes against the Attorney General (see below in red).

One interesting vote is Senator Stevens from Alaska. What's with that? He appears to be unwilling to vote against Gonzales, yet perhaps the corruption is even too much for Senator Stevens to endorse?


Here's the roll call from Senate.Gov

YEAs ---53
Akaka (D-HI) Baucus (D-MT) Bayh (D-IN) Bingaman (D-NM) Boxer (D-CA) Brown (D-OH) Byrd (D-WV) Cantwell (D-WA) Cardin (D-MD) Carper (D-DE) Casey (D-PA) Clinton (D-NY) Coleman (R-MN) Collins (R-ME) Conrad (D-ND) Dorgan (D-ND) Durbin (D-IL) Feingold (D-WI)	Feinstein (D-CA) Hagel (R-NE) Harkin (D-IA) Inouye (D-HI) Kennedy (D-MA) Kerry (D-MA) Klobuchar (D-MN) Kohl (D-WI) Landrieu (D-LA) Lautenberg (D-NJ) Leahy (D-VT) Levin (D-MI) Lincoln (D-AR) McCaskill (D-MO) Menendez (D-NJ) Mikulski (D-MD) Murray (D-WA) Nelson (D-FL)	Nelson (D-NE) Pryor (D-AR) Reed (D-RI) Reid (D-NV) Rockefeller (D-WV) Salazar (D-CO) Sanders (I-VT) Schumer (D-NY) Smith (R-OR) Snowe (R-ME) Specter (R-PA) Stabenow (D-MI) Sununu (R-NH) Tester (D-MT) Webb (D-VA) Whitehouse (D-RI) Wyden (D-OR)

NAYs ---38
Alexander (R-TN) Allard (R-CO) Bennett (R-UT) Bond (R-MO) Bunning (R-KY) Burr (R-NC) Chambliss (R-GA) Cochran (R-MS) Corker (R-TN) Cornyn (R-TX) Craig (R-ID) Crapo (R-ID) DeMint (R-SC)	Dole (R-NC) Domenici (R-NM) Ensign (R-NV) Enzi (R-WY) Graham (R-SC) Grassley (R-IA) Gregg (R-NH) Hatch (R-UT) Hutchison (R-TX) Inhofe (R-OK) Isakson (R-GA) Kyl (R-AZ) Lieberman (ID-CT)	Lott (R-MS) Lugar (R-IN) Martinez (R-FL) McConnell (R-KY) Murkowski (R-AK) Roberts (R-KS) Sessions (R-AL) Shelby (R-AL) Thune (R-SD) Vitter (R-LA) Voinovich (R-OH) Warner (R-VA)

Present - 1
Stevens (R-AK)

Not Voting - 7
Biden (D-DE) Brownback (R-KS) Coburn (R-OK)	Dodd (D-CT) Johnson (D-SD) McCain (R-AZ)	Obama (D-IL)

SUBWAY Art

SUBWAY Downtown Springfield, Illinois 2007

Parked SUV Reflections
Lap Top Tie Man
Eating His Subway Sandwich
At Lunch Time
In Downtown Springfield
Illinois

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SUBWAY Sixth and Adams - Springfield, Illinois 2007

Downtown Springfield, Illinois can be an interesting place to romp about at lunchtime.
The photo which I took, and use here was taken of a gentleman eating his subway sandwich while using a laptop computer.

I Am Nerd King

I Am Nerd King

I have taken on a avatar. His name is Nerd King.

Expect to see Nerd King from time to time. I'm not exactly sure what to do with him, but he's got style, he's got class - by George he's the Nerd King that's what he is!

SiteMeter's New Look - But Is It?

SiteMeter Rolls Out New Looking Graphics

Site Meter has updated their look, and I must say that I approve.

Has anyone else noticed how, in general, graphics are changed and allowed to become "old looking", and then changed again to a "new look".

Most changes I see as an improvement, yet I've seen such changes so many times that I have come to believe that there's really nothing new about the "new" look.

If so why then do I record such a change as an improvement?

Studies show that any change is seen as an improvement, so I guess that must be why?

Anyway I like SiteMeter's "New" look

Paris Hilton in a Failure to Communicate

AP: Paris Hilton Cries While Taken to Jail

What we have here is a failure to communicate.


Nerd King Protest Paris' Plight

In the last few days sources are quoting Paris as stating that she has come to the belated understanding that "the party is over".

For most of us that takes place around graduation from college. By then it's High Ho! High Ho! It's Off To Work We Go! Party time gets considerably smaller with every passing year.

Something about credit card debt, a mortgage, auto payments, just plain bills, to kill a good time.

Then comes along Mr. or Ms. Special, and party time ends up most often replaced with a dirty diaper, and candles on a toddler's birthday cake.

I'm hoping, and even praying that Paris Hilton disconnects from her previous life of non-stop partying, and finds other ways to experience life. There are other ways to enjoy life that isn't drug, and alcohol induced - really there are!

I sympathize with Paris Hilton, because the odds are she has completely surrounded herself with people who are in no way good for her. It's going to be extremely difficult for her to break away from that crowd, and it will be very difficult to make any "new" lifestyle work with that crowd.

So what are Paris Hilton's chances of changing her life?

Very small indeed, but there's a good chance if she lives long enough that she'll eventually grow tired of her current crowd, and decide that she deserves more that what she's opted for up until now.

I see a good possibility that Paris Hilton will grow. I hope she dedicates a bit of her time to the arts, and history. Like most jet setters she has both the money and the time needed to indulge herself when it comes to travel, and art appreciation. When I say art, and also mean music, and theater as well as what finds its way on canvas.

I wish that for you Paris, an opportunity to change into a person who is curious about the world in a complex way, in a way that changes you, that allows you to grow - to become the best person you can be in the time you have to be it. Peace.

Donald Sutherland Fake London Cop Dream

Is Donald Sutherland A Terrorist?

Had an odd dream.
I watched through the camera (POV) following an English cop as he worked crowd control in a very busy crowd.
He became concerned about something he had seen and followed an individual aboard a bus, or perhaps it was the underground?
The person he had spotted was dressed in uniform, and looked like the American actor Donald Sutherland. The troubling part was that he didn't have his uniform correct.


Kiefer Sutherland: Dream Plot Similar to Episode of 24

The real cop started questioning him with great suspicion thinking he was a terrorist.
But he was relieved to find that the actor was in the midst of filming a movie.
Still this was no excuse to be walking around dressed as a cop, and so the real cop insisted on following Donald Sutherland to the location of the movie shoot.
Things get a little blurry here with mention of the death of Princess Dianna, and it being the ten year anniversary, and all.
A strange dream indeed.

Dead Flowers In Spring At Sunset

Dead Flowers In Spring at Sunset

Just liked this photo. I don't rip out the flowers simply because they're not yellow, red, pink, or purple. There's a lot of beauty in dead prairie flowers that last through Winter, and Spring. A small patch of dead flowers provides insects, and birds a place to survive harsh weather.

This photo looks west at sunset sometime in March in Central Illinois.

E.T. & Peace Eye Ride Further

E.T. and the Peace Eye Take a Ride on the Further Bus



Photo of Penny Lane Mural Springfield, Illinois

My Teenage Daughter's First Fender Bender!

My Daughter's First Car - Chevy Cavalier Z24

Daughter Has First Fender Bender

My daughter has had her car for less than a month. Today I came out of work to find her in the parking lot waiting for me. She came with a family friend.

She admitted later that she worried about my temper, my possible reaction to telling me the bad news about her first accident.

She backed into a small metal pole. No damage done to the pole, just her bumper. She misjudged the distance while looking out her mirror. Quite literally a fender bender.

She's driving a white Cavalier. It's a pretty little coup - the sports version - a Z24. The Camero's little brother.

I was happy to give it to her for her sixteenth birthday.

Now her little white sports car is just a little less pretty, a little less perfect. She could fix up the damage for around five hundred dollars.

In fact if you squint your eyes you really won't see the damage. Still I know it's there.

Not enough to report on any insurance claim since it would cost me a bundle in increased premiums.


Meanwhile - My Vehicle Is Literally Falling Apart

As I continue to make payments on My daughter's car I wonder when I'll ever get the chance to buy a newer car for myself.

I'm driving an old rust bucket that is quite literally falling apart. I wouldn't want to make a list of the broken, and not working items on my car - as I'm worried someone would probably tow my car off for scrap.

I gave my daughter the newer car to drive since I didn't want to risk her life having her drive the junk which I drive everyday to and from work.

I wanted my daughter to have the thrill of driving a nice looking sporty little car at an age when that's about the most important thing in life - other than premarital sex.


I Dedicate Myself To The Purchase Of A Newer Car - For Myself!

This little experience has decided for me that I will buy myself a newer car.

I was going to pay off a few bills first, but that's always been the reason I never bought a car for myself in more than a decade.

In a few months I'll have my daughter's car paid off, and when I do I'm going to buy myself a car!

Yes, that's what I'll do, or at least that's what I'm telling myself tonight.

A Sunset Rainbow

Naomi Discovers A Sunset Rainbow

Second Life allows for all kinds of unusual virtual phenomena. Naomi discovered a beautiful night time rainbow. The rainbow arches over a small waterfall near a little bridge. The sun was setting at the time, and just a trace of red remains in the sky to the left.

Naomi later moved on the other side of the rainbow to watch the moon glide low through the sky. It was a novel sight watching a full moon in the background with a rainbow in the foreground. Not a sight I ever would have dreamed of, but witnessed at Second Life.

Naomi Wants A Ferrari

Naomi Wants This Ferrari

Naomi has been pressuring me to purchase her a Ferrari. I'd really like to see Naomi driving around in her favorite race car, but the fact is it's a bit on the expensive side.

Approximate cost is 1890 Linden Dollars, or about nine dollars U.S.

Needless to say if I buy Naomi a sports car then I'll have to buy her a garage, house, and land. I can see where all this is going. Did I mention that Naomi also has her eye on a submarine?

If I hadn't purchased my teenager a car I'd probably have the money to get Naomi what she wants, but there's only so much to go around.

I've Started A Second Life

Her Name is Naomi

Well, not really, but for this post that's what I'm calling her.

Time Traveller Says - Elton John Rules

Razor Face - 1971 - Elton John

Something about 1969 through 1972.

Wish I could explain it.

You can sense it.

It was real.

Beyond the style.

In the music.

Yes

Especially

There.


Elton John - 1970 - Burn Down The Mission

Calvin & Butterfly

Calvin & Butterfly - Slide Show

Decided to do something fun with the slide show. Since there are bubbles in this section of the mural I've went with a bubble slide show. Those bubbles are washing away all the dirt on the mural, and magically repairing the sections of the mural damaged by the elements.
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Hobbes has not been forgotten, and is next in line for a digital renovation!
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Renovated Calvin & Butterfly
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I have completed a variety of versions of this "finished" renovation. I couldn't decide which version I liked best. I offer this high contrast and high color version. This digital renovation took me longer to complete than any other I have presented. In fact I still want to continue making minor adjustments, but have decided that it is time to post what I have.
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I love those pyramids in the background. I've made some digital modifications to the image. For example the third pyramid in the actual mural is to the left of the scene shown, and so I added a pyramid so that there are three in the scene. The small pyramid to the right is the one I added. I also added a stream of clouds which wrap around the largest pyramid.

The yellow brick road which is very prominent in the mural appears to continue in the background across a bridge and toward the pyramids on the distant horizon.

I also eliminated the skull in the clouds bubble. I have another version which keeps the skull. The bubbles in the scene are coming from the tailpipe of the "Further" bus. As they lift into the sky they are filled with a small skull - in the Grateful Dead tradition. In this version of the digital renovation I eliminated several clouds so as to bring greater focus upon Calvin, the Pyramids, and the butterfly.

Notice behind Calvin is a suitcase. The pole to the right of Calvin is topped off with a Bus Stop sign, and Calvin is waving his arms to stop the "Further" bus which has already passed him by to the left. Master Yoda of Star War's fame, and Hobbes - Calvin's companion are off scene to the right.
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Penny Lane Mural Featuring Calvin & Butterfly
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The mural is heavily damaged in this area. Despite the damage the Mural is a real work of art, and is available for view at Penny Lane on South Macarthur Blvd., in Springfield, Illinois.