Good for Chipotle Mexican Grill!

Good for Chipotle Mexican Grill for not supporting the food cartels.  Help cultivate a better world by supporting restaurants who purchase naturally raised meat and produce like Chipotle Mexican Grill!

Merry Christmas.... Or Whatever...

Happy Festivus instead....

Gingrich emerges!

John Lithgow reads Newt Gingrich's press release.

Evony

Do you play Evony?

Happy Veterans Day

November 11th every year is always celebrated with a parade that few people show up to, a few patriotic commercials, a free entree at Applebees, and for a fortunate few, a day off work.

The National Postal Mail Handlers Union got it right in a commercial I saw on TV this morning when they said our veterans don't want a parade when they come home, they want a job.


The unemployment rate for Veterans is 11.5% on veterans day this year (that figure doesn't include long term unemployed or under employed).  If you really want to do something nice for a veteran this year, hire one...  When you hire them, pay them a living wage with medical and dental benefits.


If you're not in a position to hire a veteran this year, celebrate veterans day by volunteering at your local shelter or soup kitchen.  In 2009, over 75,000 veterans were homeless.  


Celebrate veterans day by serving those who have sacrificed so much by serving you.


Many Americans mistakenly believe that Veterans Day is the day America sets aside to honor American military personnel who died in battle or as a result of wounds sustained from combat. That's not quite true. Memorial Day is the day set aside to honor America's war dead.


Veterans Day, on the other hand, honors ALL American veterans, both living and dead. In fact, Veterans Day is largely intended to thank LIVING veterans for dedicated and loyal service to their country. November 11 of each year is the day that we ensure veterans know that we deeply appreciate the sacrifices they have made in their lives to keep our country free.


If you'd really like to do something for veterans, hire a veteran, feed a veteran, or hug a veteran...  That's what they really need.

No Such Thing as Waste

Priceless...

I'm done with this Governor

Bad news for gun owners today...  AB 144 was signed into law by the governor.  The law makes it illegal to openly carry a handgun in public.


When Brown ran for governor, I really didn't believe he was opposed to gun rights.  I voted for him because he supported gay rights, and he seemed like he would be able to do tough budget cutting without going after our social programs with a political agenda like the GOP would have, and I believed he wasn't opposed to gun rights.


Now, instead of solving our budget crisis, he has signed legislation giving our tax dollars away to pay for the tuition for illegal immigrants, signed legislation prohibiting open carrying of unloaded handguns, and he signed another bill, AB 809, that requires registration of our rifles and shotguns.


I will never vote for this guy again.

We're living in 1984

Today on Meet the Press, Paul Ryan said he doesn't care about people who are already rich, he cares about removing barriers and giving a helping hand to allow other people to become rich.  Meanwhile, he is one of the architects of the current GOP path that is pushing us to austerity measures to deal with the budget problems, while defending Education, cutting/ending social programs, and cutting social security and medicare.

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Just the other day, Romney tried to suggest that "tolerance and civility" are conservative values, while trying to impress upon the values voters summit how anti-gay he is, and how anti-womans rights he is.

If you ever read Orwell's "1984", you'll probably recognize the doublespeak that's happening here.  The GOP has been doing alot of that lately...

Out on the trail

Like the other GOP candidates, Romney is out on the campaign trail giving speeches and campaigning...  Addressing questions about his religion (Mormanism) and whether it should impact your vote at the Values Voters Summit, Romney said "tolerance and civility were conservative values."


What a crock of shit!!!


Is he talking about the same conservatives that brought us Prop 8 in California, and the fight against repealing DADT?  Is he talking about the same conservatives who are fighting the separation of church and state, or womens rights to have an abortion?  Please explain to me how any of that can be described as "tolerance and civility."


Maybe he was implying that those are conservative values that conservatives in the US should aspire to, but have fallen way short of.   Somehow I doubt it...

In Memory of Steve Jobs

February 1955 - October 2011

‎"Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything - all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart." - Steve Jobs

The Vegetarian Myth

"Forests precede us, and deserts dog our heels"

Another small victory

Another small victory for reason and the law over religious zealotry and indoctrination.  A teacher lost the lawsuit he had filed when he was required to remove religious banners from his class room.

When you're employed by someone else, and you're on time they are paying you for, you don't have freedom of speech...  Especially when that speech is an attempt to indoctrinate our children with your religion in a public school math class!!

I guess that douche bag has never heard about the separation of church and state...  Oh that's right, he'a math teacher, not a social sciences teacher...

To Bradley Johnson, math teacher at Westview High School in San Diego, CA:  If you ever come around my children preaching your bullshit, I'll kick your ass up around your shoulders...  How do you like that for freedom of speech you bastard??!!

Andy Whitfield - Dead at 39

Andy Whitfield, the star of one of my favorite TV shows Spartacus: Blood and Sand, died from Cancer on September 11, 2011.

You will be missed Andy....

 

10 years later

This morning I took my family to watch the Sep 11 memorial ceremony at San Jose's Fire Station 1.  Among the fire engines and police motorcycles, flashing lights, the sound of bag pipes playing, children running up and down the street, one thing kept nagging at me, trying to get my attention.  It finally succeeded during one of the many long winded speeches made by the various local politicians, bureaucrats, and other empty suits...

"After 10 years, 2 wars, thousands of lives lost, tens of thousands of lives destroyed, and trillions of dollars spent, not a god dam thing has changed..."

The Henchmen MC vs The City of San Jose

I woke up this morning to discover the Mercury News had a huge story about the San Jose Chapter of the Henchmen Motorcycle Club, complete with photos of members and of motorcycles.  Well good morning to you too Mercury News!!

If people were corporations

If people were corporations, this guy would be Exxon Mobile...

The bottom of the barrel

You know MSNBC is really scraping the bottom of the barrel to find a news commentator when they give Al Sharpton his own show.

I have officially stopped watching MSNBC (except the Dylan Ratigan show, that's still a good show to watch).

What to do when your kids are bored...

Jacaranda Mimosifolia

I've been told this tree is a Jacaranda Mimosifolia.  It's a beautiful tree.  We definitely want to get one for our property.

Why Google wants your real name

Why Google cares if you use your real name

There’s a very simple business reason why Google cares if they have your real name. It means it’s possible to cross-relate your account with your buying behavior with their partners, who might be banks, retailers, supermarkets, hospitals, airlines. To connect with your use of cell phones that might be running their mobile operating system. To provide identity in a commerce-ready way. And to give them information about what you do on the Internet, without obfuscation of pseudonyms.

Simply put, a real name is worth more than a fake one.

Wild Indeed!

You're no daisy!

"I beg to differ sir... We started a game we never got to finish..." - Doc Holliday


http://goo.gl/5DXUs

Vasona Park

Oak Meadow Park and Vasona Park are next door neighbors, located on the Los Gatos Creek in  Los Gatos, CA.  It's located 51 miles south of San Francisco, and 10 miles Southwest of San Jose, right off the the 85 Freeway.

There's lots to like about this park.  The creek is wonderful, the Vasona Resevoir and the pedestrian bridge that crosses it, tons of resident ducks and geese, as well as a breeding colony of Blue Herons that nest there in the late winter.  The playground equipment for the kids and the meadows you can rent for larger groups.  It's all wonderful, but of all of it our favorite feature of the park is the Billy Jones Wildcat Railroad.

Pawlenty on being gay: Is it a choice?

Pawlenty was interviewed last Sunday by David Gregory on Meet the Press.  One of  the questions he was asked was if he thinks being gay is a choice.

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Unlimited campaign contributions who?

‎"Knock, knock." -- Stephen Colbert. 
(Who's there?) 
"Unlimited union and corporate campaign contributions." 
(Unlimited union and corporate campaign contributions who?) 
"That's the thing. I don't think I should have to tell you."

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New Perspectives: Good vs. Bad

I was reading an article on NPR recently, and it reminded me about how all of our perspectives differ, even if just slightly.

A new perspective on Mt. Rushmore

Our perspectives of a particular object or idea are completely subjective and relative; They are relative to our position.

Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act of 2011

"It is time to stop ceding control of the marijuana market to unregulated, criminal entrepreneurs and allow states the authority to enact common sense regulations that seek to govern the adult use of marijuana in a fashion similar to alcohol."  

HR 2306, the Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act of 2011, proposed by Reps. Barney Frank and Ron Paul, will end the federal prohibition of small amounts of Marijuana.  It's about time!  Story at CNN.com.

Court orders end of Don't Ask Don't Tell

Finally, a federal court orders the military to immediately stop enforcing the policy referred to as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" that discriminates against people based on their sexual preference.  Full Story.

""The circumstances and balance of hardships have changed, and (the government) can no longer satisfy the demanding standard for issuance of a stay,"   - 9th Circuit Court of Appeals

It has taken way too long to get rid of this terrible, discriminatory, government practice.  It's interesting a group of Republicans were the ones who petitioned the court for this ruling....

For twisted logic, facts are terribly inconvenient

While preparing an article I was writing for my weblog, I came across a christian weblog called "Christian Men - Christian Warriors" where the author, Trent Cotton, was retelling a conversation he had with someone he was interviewing to potentially hire.  The person he was talking with lived in California, and was talking about wildfires that were burning near the persons home.  Cotton said he was told the person was prevented from using their air conditioner out of fear the air conditioner might suck up a burning ember and force it throughout their home using the AC duct.

"If one were to have their air condition on, the unit would pull in air from the air outside and push it through the various ducts throughout the house.  All it would take was one or two of these embers being sucked into the air ducts to begin a raging fire...  The houses burn from the inside out.”

He went on to use that experience as an analogy to explain to people how god "consumes" people's lives, starting as a small ember and growing into a "raging fire."

10 Reasons To Grow Your Own Strawberries

10.  Home-grown strawberries often taste better.

Commercial strawberry growing operations exist to turn a profit.  Nothing wrong with that, of course.  It is what all businesses do.  But, in order to maximize their profits, they generally select strawberry plant varieties that produce durable, shippable strawberries in high numbers.  They usually have decent flavor, but your own strawberries usually taste noticeably better.  

9.  It is cheaper to buy strawberry plants than strawberries in the store.

There are plenty of people who offer very affordable strawberry plants for sale.  While the prices vary depending on the seller and quantity purchased and variety, ten to twenty-five strawberry plants can often be purchased for less than $20.00 and can even be found for under $10.00.  Usually, 25 strawberry plants will adequately supply a family of four with strawberries.  Just a few strawberry purchases in the grocery store will likely cost more (see our Strawberry Buying Guide to make the most of your money if buying retail strawberries).

4th of July - Other people suck

I had a great 4th of July this year...  Until we had to be around other people.  My tolerance for being around other people appears to be waning more and more as I get older.

Most of the day was spent by ourselves.  I took the day off work.  I spent much of it in the pool.  It was a nice hot day and the water was wonderful.  I grilled an awesome steak, a fillet mignon I purchased from Sprouts.  After sunset we walked to a local park and watched the cities fireworks show.  

Happy 4th!

One In Four Americans Doesn’t Know From Which Country We Declared Our Independence    

Full Story

Happy Independence Day!

About Independence day

Is your marriage really that weak?

Rick Santorum is spewing again!  Full Story

“The reason the left has gone after same-sex marriage is because it’s a two-fer,” Santorum said. “When you redefine marriage, you cheapen marriage. You make it into something less valuable, less special … [and] it is a sure bet that will undermine faith.”  

 The "left" has "gone after" same-sex marriage because we believe in equality.  The idea that allowing everyone the same marriage rights that Santorum enjoys will not cheapen, or undermine anyone else's marriage or faith.

Is your marriage, and your religion really so weak that your neighbors getting married can undermine it?  If so, maybe you should focus your energy on working on that instead of trying to prevent your neighbors from being able to legally marry.

 

SOA Season 4

Sons of Anarchy Season 4 is only 2 months away...  Are you looking forward to it?

Burpees Seeds... And Collies

I found a great article on Terrierman's Daily Dose about W. Atlee Burpee of Burpees Seed Company.  Really interesting information and great photos!

Beaver Hunting!

Enjoy hunting Beaver?  I mean the animal, not the female body part...  lol.

Argentina seems to be over run with Beaver...  Might be a good opportunity to hunt them.  As far as I know, it's illegal to hunt them in the USA.

Full Story

Cheer up!

If this doesn't cheer you up, NOTHING WILL!!

Happy Fathers Day

Deadly Force is Authorized

I tell you what...  I consider an automobile to be a deadly weapon when used as a weapon.  I would have shot that fucker dead, dead, dead.

Dr. Jack Kevorkian, you will be missed!

Full Story:

The world has lost a committed freedom fighter today.  Someone who willingly sacrificed his own freedom in an attempt to protect our right to die on our own terms.

Jack Kevorkian, you will always have my respect.

Steve Rinella:  Why I hunt

"When he was gone I leaned back to wait for my pulse to chill out, as it was racing at a speed that I figured to be very unhealthy. When my pulse finally did slow down, I felt about as good as it’s possible to feel without breaking some kind of law. And within the feeling of that moment, I realized that I’d found a perfectly reasonable explanation for why I hunt."

Attack of the Minnows

A great poem from The Digital Cuttlefish:

Attack Of The Minnows

The big fish in their tiny pool

Where all the world is just one school

Can taunt and tease the godless fool

And bow their heads and pray

But video technology

Means, now the outside world can see

The worst of Christianity

In prominent display

Replacing prayer with silent thought?

Not good enough! And so, they fought!

They never figured to be caught—

And also, it was fun!

So, proving that they have no shame

The cowards held the kid to blame

And broke the law; it’s just the same

As Jesus would have done

The Miniature Earth

A discussion with a christian Zealot

There are few things I hate more than "show and tell piety" (a person who rants and raves in a public forum or on a friends page in order to show everyone how pious they are, but then in a private discussion there is nothing there.


One of the only things worse is a "hit and run" zealot, who makes statements/accusations in a discussion forum and then blocks you so that you can't respond to what they said to you.  Well I can still respond...  I'll post it to my weblog so everyone on the planet can see it.

Garden Update: New Additions

My First Bucket:  Hopefully, the first of many buckets in my future bucket garden.

   Potted 5/12/11

I'm convinced anyone can grow much of their own food for very cheap using buckets and kitchen scraps.  My wife thought I was crazy, but I was sure it would work and determined to find out.

Plants that Repel Mosquitoes

Five Plants That Keep Mosquitoes From Buzzing In Your Ears

One thing that we’ve always found really fascinating about the world of gardening is the existence ofcompanion plants. It’s not necessarily that plants like to pal around with each other, but more so that some plants grow better near each other, or benefit each other in a you-scratch-my-back-I’ll-scratch-yours kind of way.

Certain plants, sometimes called “trap crops,” can be grown near edibles to help draw pests away. Take nasturtiums, for example. You can plant these colorful, easy-to-grow blossoms in a border around your garden to help lure aphids away from your veggies. Other plants emit a strong smell that insects find offensive, so bugs don’t want to hang out at all.

These plants make great companion plants to humans, because they can help to keep pesky bugs from ruining a pleasant summertime picnic. To prevent mosquitoes, those annoying little pests, from crashing your outdoor festivities, try planting these aromatic plants in pots around your outdoor hangout space, or in a border around your patio.

Kyles's Mom

"Kyles Mom" performed by Eric Cartman:

Remembering Terri

Today I am remembering Terri Schiavo, who was finally allowed to die on 3/31/05 after being the center of a fight about the power of the government to interfere with a husband making end of life decisions for his wife.

Today we must remember to not allow our government to become so intrusive that they begin violating our privacy and interfering with personal, family decisions.

Where is the IRS?

Are they sleeping?  Are they on vacation?  Have they been completely bought and paid for by the "Church of Jesus Christ and the Latter Day Saints?"

Federal law prohibits tax exempt churches from being involved with political campaigns.  Violating the law jeopardizes the tax exempt status of the church.

This Years Garden

With the official end of winter approaching, my thoughts lately have been frequently wandering to one of my favorite subjects.  Organic gardening.

The best GOP candidate

John Stewart interviews the new GOP candidate for president about Barak Obama being born in the USA

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Keep your eye on the big picture

I hated hearing that in the military.  The "big picture" was talked about alot in the military.  And no one ever seemed to see it, or so it seemed.  It was code for "you don't know what I know, and that's why I'm here and you're there".  It was code for "you are ignorant."

Luckily, those days are history.  Today though, I find myself using that phrase as a way of describing where we're headed in this horrible economy.  People are too focused on where we are at today, and not where we are going tomorrow.  Where we are going is what will ultimately make, or cost you money.  Being able to recognize where we are going tomorrow, and how the herd will react to that when it starts happening can allow you to profit big time.

Movie Review: Machete

What do you get when you put Danny Trejo, Robert De Nero, Steven Seagal, Don Johnson, Jessica Alba, Michelle Rodrigues, Cheech Marin, and Lindsey Lohan in a movie together?

TV Review: The Wild Within

It was a great show tonight.  Steven traveled to Scotland to hunt Red Deer (Red Hind).  He learned a new way to build a fire, bought a new suit (I've never seen anyone hunt in a suit before), lost a tooth, and shot a deer.  I learned you can immediately eat the back strap on a deer.  It's the one part of a deer that doesn't need to hang for a week before you eat it.  I didn't know that.

If it's Sunday, it's "The Wild Within."

US has more lions than Africa

The US now has more lions than Africa.

1/4 man

It's no secret, Charlie Sheen is in the process of crashing and burning. Over the last few days I've heard a full range of opinions, from condemning him on moral grounds, to praising him for fulfilling his desire to make his life a non stop party.  Occasionally I'd hear him mentioned on TV (you almost can't escape it right now) and I'd snicker about the ignorant comments he'd make, about how tough he is and about what a rugged individualist he is.  He's trying so hard to impress us with how cool he is with his millions of dollars and his two bisexual girlfriends, and how little he cares about what people think about him.  It would be one thing if he had two girlfriends and partied once in a while (read: used drugs now and then)  but wasn't allowing it to affect his personal or business relationships.  Hell, throw in a motorcycle and he'd sound just like a biker.  But that's not at all what's happening.  

The Wild Within

One of the best shows on television right now is Steven Rinella's "The Wild Within" on the Travel Channel, Sunday's at 10 pm.  

Death

"R" died last night... Or this morning... Not sure which. All I know is that I found him this morning, and it appeared obvious to me that it wasn't a pleasant passing.  

Hells Angel Funeral

KPHO in Phoenix AZ was invited to cover a funeral for a member of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club that passed away last week.  Full Story

Do you remember Terri?

Do you remember Terri Schiavo?

Gingrich has problems

Gingrich has problems alright...  


He was giving a talk at the University of Pennsylvania yesterday when he was asked by Isabel Friedman how he reconciles his personal history with the religious values he attempts to force onto the rest of us as he runs for president.

A great take on hunting

While browsing weblogs this afternoon, I ran into one I enjoyed very much written by Retrieverman.  I wanted to share a quote with you from his post and a link to his weblog so you can read the full post yourself.

"The Darwinian world that is nature is not a pretty place. No one would ever want to build a society based upon those principles (at least not within the mainstream body politic). Predation is one of the factors that keeps nature what it is. Because nature requires predation to keep things in balance, I have often thought this to be the best argument against intelligent design.

If I were an intelligent designer, I’d make so that predation never happens and is never necessary.

But that isn’t reality.

And for those who do not understand that humans are actually part of the guild of predators, all I can say is that you’ve not really looked at your evolutionary history. You are an organism on this planet. Your ancestors were once totally controlled by the forces of natural selection. In the end, we still are. One of the most dangerous delusions of the modern world is for us to think we are forever separated from nature because we have all this nice technology.

In reality, nature still casts a shadow onto our condition, whether we like that shadow or not.

The moral thing is to accept it and to use it for purposes that uplift our species and the whole of animate creation."

Very well said Retrieverman!  Very well said.

Animal Rights

The people in the animal rights crowd know very little about animals or rights.  The idea that animals have "rights" is absolutely ridiculous.  Just talking to one for about 5 minutes reveals how little they really know about what they're talking about.

Our Garden List

This is a list I'm building of the plants we have (the ones I have names for anyway).  When possible, I'm including photos and the approximate date we planted our first specimen of each variety.

Worms eat my garbage

One of my main passions is gardening, and with it, recycling/composting.  Composting with worms, or "Vermicomposting" is the best way of creating clean, fertile, organic soil for gardening, and it doesn't require any special equipment, chemicals, and really not that much work.  It's also the best way to fix soil, or to condition poor soil to make it suitable for gardening and farming.

If everyone would keep a small worm bin or worm farm to use to compost their kitchen waste and yard waste, and if they gave away or spread that compost in their yard or garden, we'd have a much greener country, and we'd be diverting thousands of tons of waste from our landfills.

Darwin Day

In Celebration of Darwin Day!


Evolution Made Us All from Ben Hillman on Vimeo.