Am hoping to have my home PC back up and running this week so I can load photos and resume original posts. Currently using an IBM ThinkPad with one of those 'G-spot' cursor pointers.
Until then, here's the last installment of the series, featuring both Brandon and Susan:
IN-N-OUT of LOVE - Part 5 from Keystone Church on Vimeo.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Monday, March 7, 2011
Church Sex
Not exactly where one expects to get a message about sex.
IN-N-OUT of LOVE - Part 3 from Keystone Church on Vimeo.
Middle son attended this service with me. Later in the evening, he asked me, "Dad, did you like tonight's message?"
IN-N-OUT of LOVE - Part 3 from Keystone Church on Vimeo.
Middle son attended this service with me. Later in the evening, he asked me, "Dad, did you like tonight's message?"
Sunday, March 6, 2011
The Eagle and the Hawk
Well, actually, the squirrel and the hawk. (I was going to insert a clip of Henry John Deutschendorf, Jr.'s - better known as John Denver - Eagle and the Hawk here, but couldn't find a good one on the YouTube).
As I was making breakfast this morning, daughter calls me to the back deck to see something. A squirrel was gnawing on a horse or cow skull I'd brought back years ago from a Wyoming hunting trip. (No, we don't have a skull altar like the Arizona nutbag who shot the Congresswoman and several others. It was just something in the back yard.) Anyway, the squirrel was chipping away at bits of the skull.
"Do you know why he's doing that?"
"No."
"To get calcium in his diet and to sharpen his incisors."
At just that moment, a small hawk or owl swooped down from about twenty feet away, only narrowly missing the squirrel, which found cover in/on a nearby red oak tree.
"Daddy, why did the hawk try to get the squirrel?"
"To get some protein in his diet."
Between events yesterday, daughter and I stopped into Central Market. I don't normally shop there, but had been looking for some Nori snacks that are said to inhibit absorption of fat in the diet. Anyway, we had just made our way through the produce maze and into the main chamber when a terrible racket arose - whooping and hollering, banging and clanging of pans.
A few seconds later we saw the source of the mayhem: A Mardi Gras parade, comprised of what appeared to be nearly every employee in the store, was winding its way through the aisles. Festooned in costumes, with shopping carts and work carts decorated as floats, the revelers passed out beads and candy.
So, here's what a Mardi Gras fallow deer looks like:
"For he's a jolly good fallow..."
Friday, March 4, 2011
Life is Short...Have an Affair
Well, isn't this special?
Pastor Brandon mentioned this website in his message a couple of weeks ago (In & Out of Love, Part 1).
The founder of the affair enabling website defends the premise on the grounds that adultery has "gone on for thousands of years."
Well, yeah, there's that. But so have murder, thieving, and lying. But that's no reason to promote them.
Pastor Brandon mentioned this website in his message a couple of weeks ago (In & Out of Love, Part 1).
The founder of the affair enabling website defends the premise on the grounds that adultery has "gone on for thousands of years."
Well, yeah, there's that. But so have murder, thieving, and lying. But that's no reason to promote them.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
And we wonder why the country's in trouble
What's your financial IQ?
Before you answer that question, consider the report that ran last night on the local news about a woman's tribulations in recovering $3,700.00 that's been in the unclaimed money fund since 1986 or 1987.
Apparently the woman moved and got married, and the bank now long since merged with Wells Fargo had sent the money to an expired address. The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, now in possession of the funds, denied the woman's claim to the money, stating that she couldn't adequately prove she was the original owner. And so the woman contacted the TV news.
What was interesting to me was that a Wells Fargo spokesman told the reporter that the woman's $3700.00 invested at 3.00% annually, would now be worth $2.5 million! That's like Charlie Sheen money! And the TV news duly reported that.
Really!?
Now, I'm no Peter Lynch, Milton Friedman, Ben Stein, Dale Rogers, or even Jarhead, but without my handy-dandy HP12C calculator I seem to remember the old 'rule of 72'. For the lay-persons out there, the rule of 72 says that if you divide the annual interest rate of an account into 72, the result is the number of years it will take to double your money.
So, if the woman had her $3700.00 in a CD at 3.00%, it would double in 24 years. Tonight the TV news reported that the Texas Comptroller Office had agreed to release the funds, and ran a correction stating that at 3.00% its value would be about $7500.00, not $2.5 million as reported yesterday, even with compounding.
I wonder if the Wells Fargo employee's last name is Madoff...
Before you answer that question, consider the report that ran last night on the local news about a woman's tribulations in recovering $3,700.00 that's been in the unclaimed money fund since 1986 or 1987.
Apparently the woman moved and got married, and the bank now long since merged with Wells Fargo had sent the money to an expired address. The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, now in possession of the funds, denied the woman's claim to the money, stating that she couldn't adequately prove she was the original owner. And so the woman contacted the TV news.
What was interesting to me was that a Wells Fargo spokesman told the reporter that the woman's $3700.00 invested at 3.00% annually, would now be worth $2.5 million! That's like Charlie Sheen money! And the TV news duly reported that.
Really!?
Now, I'm no Peter Lynch, Milton Friedman, Ben Stein, Dale Rogers, or even Jarhead, but without my handy-dandy HP12C calculator I seem to remember the old 'rule of 72'. For the lay-persons out there, the rule of 72 says that if you divide the annual interest rate of an account into 72, the result is the number of years it will take to double your money.
So, if the woman had her $3700.00 in a CD at 3.00%, it would double in 24 years. Tonight the TV news reported that the Texas Comptroller Office had agreed to release the funds, and ran a correction stating that at 3.00% its value would be about $7500.00, not $2.5 million as reported yesterday, even with compounding.
I wonder if the Wells Fargo employee's last name is Madoff...
Monday, February 28, 2011
Cold Nights & Monday Musings
When I last mentioned outdoor sleeping, I'd spent four nights in a row under the stars. I capitulated to a threat of rain, and went indoors one night last week, then back out, until last night, when they were threatening thunderstorms in my area. Tonight, who knows?
Chupacabra wrote recently of a neighbor being startled when he was sleeping on his back porch. I don't know that I've startled my neighbors, but early the other morning, I was a bit concerned when the bright lights from my motion detector went on at about 4:00a. Since the pupster hadn't alerted, I assumed it was the wind blowing the trees, and returned to sleep.
There was a night last week when it was so still that I could hear the 60 Hz hum of the power line or transformer. I generally prefer a slight breeze.
IN-N-OUT of LOVE - Part 2 from Keystone Church on Vimeo.
Chupacabra wrote recently of a neighbor being startled when he was sleeping on his back porch. I don't know that I've startled my neighbors, but early the other morning, I was a bit concerned when the bright lights from my motion detector went on at about 4:00a. Since the pupster hadn't alerted, I assumed it was the wind blowing the trees, and returned to sleep.
There was a night last week when it was so still that I could hear the 60 Hz hum of the power line or transformer. I generally prefer a slight breeze.
- News today that Muammar Gadhafi warned those accusing him of using deadly violence against his own people that he would "put two fingers in their eyes."
- I'm picturing something out of The Three Stooges.
- Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk!
- Actually, I think he used those very words.
- Or maybe it was a bad translation.
- Also, Bernard Madoff declares "Government is a Ponzi Scheme."
- Well, duh.
- But hey, Bernie, baby, you're hardly in the high moral position here.
- One winter’s evening, seated next to a blazing camp fire, an old Sioux Indian chief told his grandson about the inner struggle that goes on inside people.
“You see” said the old man, “this inner struggle is like two wolves fighting each other. One is evil, full of anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, deceit, false pride, superiority, and ego.”
“The other one,” he continued, poking the fire with a stick so that the fire crackled, sending the flames dancing into the night sky, “is good, full of joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.”
- For several minutes the grandson pondered his grandfather’s words and then asked, “So which wolf wins, grandfather?”
- Softly but confidently, the wise old chief looked his grandson in the eyes and responded: “The one you feed.”
Another dynamite episode:
In this week's message, Brandon uses the phrase "heart of the matter" and the word "forgiveness". Not right together, mind you, but more than once each in the sermon.
Coincidence? I think not.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Surly Sunday
Told ya I'd come back to it.
I managed to watch some of the talking heads today. One of the topics, due to the fiasco occurring in Wisconsin, is unions.
One pundit plaintively proclaimed that private-sector union membership had plunged from 35% a generation ago to about 12% today, and that the unions had been "de-fanged", lost their potency. He seemed to indicate that this was a bad thing.
Newsflash, meathead! Does it take a rocket scientist to posit that there's a strong correlation with the shift of manufacturing jobs to foreign factories? Does it seem plausible that union labor in the manufacturing sector priced itself out of the market, and that in so doing, the union bosses put their workers out of jobs? I'm not saying all of those jobs would still be on U.S. soil without the union influence, but I do believe it's fair to say that the union leaderships' demands hastened the exit of many industries from our borders.
Elsewhere, it's reported in the Fort Worth Startlegram that an El Paso State Representative is proposing an increase in the State component for traffic fines, from $30 to $45: ""With a statewide budget crisis and ever-increasing healthcare costs, helping our local governments and local hospitals bear new financial burdens is incredibly important," [representative] Gonzalez said."
Notice that the representative refers to the State's budget crisis, but not to the citizens' economic woes. And while her rationale speaks of helping local governments and local hospitals, I'm willing to bet a box of doughnuts that in the bill there's no language dedicating the proposed increased funding to such use - it would simply go into the general fund. Just like the lottery proceeds that help education.
In 1765, the British Parliament passed the Stamp Act, to try to recoup some of the debt incurred from the Seven Years' War (1756-1763), to be imposed on the American Colonies. Since the Colonies had no representation in Parliament (no George Clinton or Bootsy Collins), they saw this as a naked money grab, and took a dim view of the Act, their increasing displeasure later culminating in The American Revolution.
We appear to be on a similar path today. Governance of a population of sovereign, free individuals relies on the consent of the governed. For over two centuries, the citizenry of the United States have assented, for the most part, to the collection of certain funds with which to operate essential government services. However, in recent times, the necessity of certain services has come into question, as well as the lack of fiduciary responsibility in handling the funds. Topping things off, many Americans are struggling for economic survival, while government seems to have no spending restraint whatsoever.
I don't think it's going to be smooth sailing.
I managed to watch some of the talking heads today. One of the topics, due to the fiasco occurring in Wisconsin, is unions.
One pundit plaintively proclaimed that private-sector union membership had plunged from 35% a generation ago to about 12% today, and that the unions had been "de-fanged", lost their potency. He seemed to indicate that this was a bad thing.
Newsflash, meathead! Does it take a rocket scientist to posit that there's a strong correlation with the shift of manufacturing jobs to foreign factories? Does it seem plausible that union labor in the manufacturing sector priced itself out of the market, and that in so doing, the union bosses put their workers out of jobs? I'm not saying all of those jobs would still be on U.S. soil without the union influence, but I do believe it's fair to say that the union leaderships' demands hastened the exit of many industries from our borders.
Elsewhere, it's reported in the Fort Worth Startlegram that an El Paso State Representative is proposing an increase in the State component for traffic fines, from $30 to $45: ""With a statewide budget crisis and ever-increasing healthcare costs, helping our local governments and local hospitals bear new financial burdens is incredibly important," [representative] Gonzalez said."
Notice that the representative refers to the State's budget crisis, but not to the citizens' economic woes. And while her rationale speaks of helping local governments and local hospitals, I'm willing to bet a box of doughnuts that in the bill there's no language dedicating the proposed increased funding to such use - it would simply go into the general fund. Just like the lottery proceeds that help education.
In 1765, the British Parliament passed the Stamp Act, to try to recoup some of the debt incurred from the Seven Years' War (1756-1763), to be imposed on the American Colonies. Since the Colonies had no representation in Parliament (no George Clinton or Bootsy Collins), they saw this as a naked money grab, and took a dim view of the Act, their increasing displeasure later culminating in The American Revolution.
We appear to be on a similar path today. Governance of a population of sovereign, free individuals relies on the consent of the governed. For over two centuries, the citizenry of the United States have assented, for the most part, to the collection of certain funds with which to operate essential government services. However, in recent times, the necessity of certain services has come into question, as well as the lack of fiduciary responsibility in handling the funds. Topping things off, many Americans are struggling for economic survival, while government seems to have no spending restraint whatsoever.
I don't think it's going to be smooth sailing.
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