Yet another era ends

Otto von Hapsburg, died on July 4th.  For the long version of who this fascinating man was, look here.  The short version, he was the man who would have been Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary for the past 89 years, if there was still a Kingdom of Hungary or Empire of Austria.  He would have been coronated in 1922- and because of that, bad things happened:  supporters were butchered by Nazis, possessions were expropriated without appeal, for decades he was a man without a state.  And because of that, good things happened- he worked tirelessly for the unity of Europe, even when the Iron Curtain stood between him and his goal.

Here are some exerpts from a very good article by Michael Shields of Reuters:

It was he who spawned the joke in which an aide asks if he had seen the Austria-Hungary football match the night before.

The deadpan reply: "No, whom were we playing?"
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"He died peacefully with his family present," a man who identified himself as a grandson said by telephone from Poecking, on Lake Starnberg in southern Germany, where Habsburg had lived since 1954 during a life spent mostly in exile.


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He helped arrange a "Pan-European Picnic" on the Austro-Hungarian border in 1989 which led to a brief opening of the Iron Curtain dividing capitalist West from communist eastern Europe, fostering the movement that would lead to the fall of the Berlin Wall a few months later.


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His coffin will remain for three days in a church in Poecking, followed by requiem services in Munich, Vienna, Budapest and elsewhere, his website said. http://www.ottovonhabsburg.org

He is expected to be buried at the imperial crypt in Vienna, where dozens of his ancestors lie, after a funeral at St. Stephen's cathedral on July 16, Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn told the Kathpress news agency.
The Habsburgs sometimes bury the hearts of their dead separately. A spokeswoman for the family secretariat in Hungary said his heart would interred in the Abbey of Pannonhalma, in western Hungary.

Former Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel called him "a great Austrian patriot" who "incorporated pan-European thinking like no other and articulated this already at a time when a dark shadow hung over the continent."
European Commission President Manuel Barroso hailed him as "a great European...who gave an important impetus to the European project throughout his rich life."


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Otto was a fascinating man; perhaps even more so than his twice-great-grand-uncle, Francis Joseph, the second to last Emperor, and perhaps not so tragic as Francis Joseph's son Rudolph, whose death, along with Franz Ferdinand's, allowed Otto's father to be the last sitting Hapsburg ruler.  Austria's history has always had a magnetic pull on me- and it's late palladin is no exeption.  Rest in peace, your highness.

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Just so y'all don't miss it, the cap blog features a tale of my youth at the end of the latest post- a tale of a town that formed a big part of the first 3 decades of my life.  Check it out, on the "boards 8-9 " post.

He Who Has Ears, Let Him Hear

This was the phrase that stuck with me in the morning message, along with the observation about Christ using it many times in His ministry.  As I always seem to get the most from a message when I latch onto some one thing and break it down, I researched the phrase.  I found it in a limited number of places, always said by Jesus, and in a very specific order with only two instances repeated for emphasis.  I t seemed that these instances provided an "if" followed by the phrase, to wit:

"If you want to believe.."
"If you want to bear fruit..."
"If you want to know why..."
"If you want to share..."
"If you want to deal with your sin..."
"If you want to be a disciple... He who has ears, let him hear."

The first instance (and as usual, I'm not reprinting text, to encourage you to look it up) was in Matt. 11:13-14.  This is where Jesus deals with the prophecy of Malachi 4- the return of Elijah.  But like the other spots we'll visit, it also has two complimentary messages.  The first is in the first line-  "All the Prophets and the Law prophecied UNTIL JOHN (the Baptist)."  The lesson here is, that everything in the Bible from the OT to John  LEADS UP TO this moment in time- when Christ manifest on earth begins His ministry.  AKA all you need to know is in the Bible; and everything in the NT is backed up by everything in the OT.  The second half of the meaning is carried in the second line:  "AND IF YOU ARE WILLING TO RECEIVE IT, he is Elijah who will come."  The complimentary lesson is- you have to be willing to receive it.  Joshua, our friend, often says how he's read the Bible "and knows it as well as I do."  What he never understood, is that he was never willing to receive it.  You need both to move on to the next step.

And the next step comes in Matt13: 4-9. as well as in Mark and Luke- the parable of the sower and the seeds.  First half of this lesson is, you need good soil to bear fruit.  But what constitutes good soil?  It's all right there.  First, you have to get past our first part, being willing to receive it.  If you are unwilling, you are the seed on the wayside.  Second, you have to let it take root.  We've discussed this before.  Read.  Apply.   Listen.  Without this long and constant process, you are doomed to wither.  Third, avoid the thorns- don't let everyday life distract you from the first two.  This was the one lesson important enough to be repeated in all three "synoptic" Gospels.

The next of our stops is just over a bit in Matt 13: 43- the parable of the wheat and the tares, as well as its later explanation.  Jesus answers two of the most asked questions in all Christianity.  First, why does He allow a world so messed up?  Why it's messed up we've covered before.  Why he allows it, according to this, is so not to harm the wheat.  Before you say, "Huh?", consider:  Each person is allowed to reach their ultimate fruit, whether it be good or bad.  To pull bad fruit out before its life is over would remove its chance to become good.  We live just as long as our opportunities to repent hold out.  Once we exhaust all those God-given opportunities, we're done.  You wondered why they say "the good die young?" There you go.  Second, Is there really a judgement/hell/punishment? Yes, and it waits for the end of the age for this very reason.

Next comes Mark 4:23- the light under a bushel passage.  This gives us two lessons.  The first- if we have that light of faith, we are meant to share it.  The second comes from the line that follows- there is nothing hidden that shall not be revealed.  I know I have hidden things, things that corrupt me and makes me less than what I could be.  But I do not delude myself that they are hidden from God.  I confess them- constantly, it seems- and He allows me to deal with them so that I will remain dependant on Him.  Some "ministers of Light" hold these secrets in hope that they'll never be exposed.  But they poison their ministry, and God makes sure that, in the end, they always come out.  So the second lesson is a constant call to repentance- and a warning.

Which brings us to Mark 7:16- That which enters a man does not defile him, only that which comes out of him.  The Disciples didn't get it.  What it is is a lesson on responsibility.  In this morning's message Ed Bousman quoted a missionary who said that he never wanted to return to the USA for fear of losing his soul.  Yes, temptations are everywhere, the more as the Day approaches.  But in the Wheat and tare parable, we saw that God does not intend us to live apart.  Rather, in this passage we should see that the temptation is not the sin- the CHOICE is.  And the choice leads to sins of thought (evil thoughts, adulteries-in the sense of "mixing" doctrines- ,ccovetousness, pride, and foolishness) and deed (fornications, murders, thefts, deceits, licentiousness, the "evil" or roving eye, and blasphemy).  In other words, if we want to deal with our sins, we have to take responsibility for them.  Is it any wonder this world is full of, "it's not my fault, it's the way I was brought up," and "I was born this way"?  To deal with sin, we need to accept that the only way "we were born" was sinful.  Everything else- EVERYTHING ELSE- is a choice.

And the final stop is at Luke 14:33, the salt losing its flavor passage.  Most people have trouble with this for two reasons- a) they don't read the passage prior, and b) they can't figure out how salt can lose it's flavor.  First, look at what goes before- the things that can occur that can disqualify one from being a Disciple.  Now, I'm figuring that while this passage applies at varying levels to all of us, it is specifically directed at those who believe they have a call to ministry.  And it gives a set of rules that need to be in place before you serve.
#1. You have to be willing to put relationships- family, friends, lovers, whatever- on the back burner and make that ministry your focus.
#2. You have to put thought of your own comfort out of your mindset.
#3. You have to impartially count the cost to you of what you intend to do- financial, societal, spiritual, and physical.
#4. You have to look within yourself to see if you have the emotional and physical resources to do the job.
Secondly, if you can't figure it out that way, consider this- a spice is added to food because it is able to stand out from the food and change it for the better.  A spice with no flavor would be like a sprinkle of, say, flour.  If you cannot stand out- and you can't if concerns of friends and family, desire for a comfortable life, a worry over the cost, or inability to hang in there get in the way- then you are no good as a minister.    The higher the commitment you're called to, the more extreme these restrictions become.

So, if you see the title of this piece and say, "Hear what?", here are your answers:

How to believe and receive;
How to bear fruit of that belief;
How to understand why things are the way they are;
How to effectively share your faith;
How to deal with YOUR sin;
How to be a Disciple.

And if you don't wish to hear, that's your right.  Don't listen. A bird will be along shortly.

Three Rivers Festival Time...

Today we made our once-every-three-or-four-year trek to Ft. Wayne's world-famous Three Rivers Festival.  Now we are not big on Junk Food Alley or the midway, but one thing we do like is the flea market.  Being of low disposable income, I can't just latch onto every neat thing that catches my eye- and there are many.  I told Laurie, "I'm looking for the one thing that will stand out-  a lot of things have dealt me glancing blows, but nothing has made me cross the line"- and then, I found this.

This is an original Centlivre Old Crown Bock Bottle from the thirties or forties.  What's left of the label says "Internal Revenue  tax/ Contents 12 fluid oz./ Centlivre Brewing/Fort Wayne" and has the remains of a daemonic-looking goat there between "bock" and the "b" of "beer".  The cap is the same as the two I labelled "generic" over on "Boards 5,6,7" on the cap blog, but blue, and cork lined.  Crown Cap collectors international says the cap was used by "countless beer manufacturers" and Tavern Trove dates it at 1935.  The others I have on Board 6, like the Renner Old Oxford also on board 6, are reproductions of this original.  Unlike the others, this member of the collection is staying on the bottle and being put in a yet-unknown hallowed place.  Cost?  I asked the man, he said, " Umm... three bucks?" I said, "SOLD! Pay the man!"

After maybe an hour there, we crossed the footbridge over Spy Run to... the Old Fort.

This, however neat, was just a pass through point for us, as we crossed the footbridge over the St. Mary's...

...and enterred Headwaters Park, where - for us- the neatest things were the F15 Laurie spotted...

... the little kids playing in the fountains (as well as us, briefly)...

...and the ongoing sidewalk art contest, which featured some really good artists.

Boy, Mynx, I think I got you a new art style to try out!

Anyway, that was TRF '11 for us.  Other than a couple pepsis each (which mine were consumed in about three minutes total) and a 25-cent "honey stick" that has left me with a very annoying scratchy spot in the wayback of my throat.  Now, off to find that Hallowed Spot..

Bring me the head of Dusty Baker... or not...

There is nothing worse than watching your team lose because of the cumulative stupid decisions made by the manager.  I thought I was rid of that when Oakland finally canned Bob Geren, but now Dusty Baker is picking up where he left off, only with the Cincinnati Reds.

Last night was one of the biggest cluster-f's I ever witnessed.  Rather than rant about the entire thing, let me just go to the point. In the Milwaukee fourth, they had cut the Reds' 4-0 lead to 4-2.   In the fifth, starter Mike Leake, after getting the first man out, gave up a single, a double, an RBI single, and yet another single to load the bases.  Now, a smart manager might have called in a reliever, especially with the mammoth Prince Fielder coming up.  But Dusty leaves him in, and Fielder hits a deep drive that brings in the tying run.  Leake then follows by balking a runner to third.  Somehow, he gets out of the inning, and everybody knows that Leake will be pinch hit for when his spot comes up third in the Reds 6th.

Except for Dusty, who lets him bat, and sends him out for the brewers' 6th.

Whereupon he gives up a second pitch HR to Mark Kotsay (who used to play for the A's, and we stupidly let him go, so this is even more irritating.).  So now the Reds are behind.  But wait, in the Reds seventh, Joey Votto hits a liner to Kotsay in left with a man on that Kotsay proceeds to play soccer with- result, tie game and Votto on third.  Jay Bruce then added a HR and the Reds had a gift-wrapped 7-5 lead.

In the Brewer seventh, with 2 out and nobody on, a bright manager may well have walked Fielder.  Not Dusty, though.  He pitches to the man and Prince responds with a single- but he was left on base.  Not only that, but he had brought Bill Bray in just TO pitch to fielder- and after the hit, took him out.  The last time I saw Dusty do this, Bray was the only pitcher to get an out in a game that Logan Ondrusek then came in and gave up the winning hit.  Why, Dusty, why?



In the Brewer eighth, He brought in Nick Masset.  1-2-3 inning.  Great job, Nick!

In the Brewer ninth, though, Dusty brought in the "closer" Francisco Cordero.  Now, if you watch the Reds at all, you know that the experience of watching CoCo close a game is a lot like trying to put out a campfire by slowly dribbling gasoline on it.  Sometimes he gets the save, sometimes he blows it, but every time, you will put a strain on your heart watching him try.  So, CoCo comes in and walks the first batter.  After giving us a flicker of hope with a fly out, he then gives up a triple to Nygier Morgan, the Brewers' multi-talented head case.  Game is now 7-6, and a grounder to third by Corey Hart results in Morgan being cut down at the plate.  Two outs, runner on first, and here comes Fielder.  How about we just put him on, Dusty?  But no, we pitch to him- and probably a good thing, CoCo's so wild he'd probably wild pitch in the winning run on an intentional walk.  He damn near does anyway, as he ends up walking the big man after all that.  And then comes an Infield single by Casey McGehee to load the bases. So, 2 out, 3 on, and with the rest of the bullpen so sagely wasted by Dusty in the previous three innings, it's all CoCo.

And who comes to the plate? Mark Kotsay.  I could make this up, but no one would believe me.

And of course Kotsay laces a hit that scores two  runners, and the game is over.  4-0 lead, meet 8-7 loss.  Not unfamiliar, since 2 nights ago, the Reds blew an 8-0 4th-inning lead to the damnable Cardinals only to win 9-8- in 13 innings.  Of course, I ranted and raved the rest of the night.  The reason God did not destine me for baseball ownership is that I would have fired Baker on the spot, and kicked  CoCo out with him.

And I fully intended to continue the rant this morning.  I dug into Baseball Reference to excoriate Cordero, and promote Masset to be the closer.  But, guess what?  As I looked at the stats, Coco is only middle of the road in blown saves around the league.  He's been fantastic against inherited runners.  Even the great, bearded wonder Brian Wilson has comparable stats.  (I didn't compare Mariano Rivera's stats, though.  That would be like comparing Babe Ruth to a high school squad.) Even when I tried comparing him to Masset, I found that if you counted Masset's horrible first five appearances, CoCo beat him, and if you took them out, the only difference would be that Masset's let in more inherited runners.  So pass me a nitroglycerin pill and I'll shut up and hope for the best with Cordero.

Dusty, on the other hand... I just don't know...

Step into my time machine week sixty-three

It's July 7th, 1976.  Dick Williams has just managed the California Angels to a 2-0 win over the Cleveland Indians, one of the few bright spots in a dismal year. Nolan Ryan pitched a five-hitter, struck out 10 and Bobby Bonds hit his 10 th home run in the first for all the runs he'd need.  The win put the Angels at a dismal 35-49, and Williams was twelve games away from being relieved of duty in Anaheim after three losing campaigns- the first three losing seasons of his career.  In fact, he took 4 different clubs into the postseason, incuding two stormy World Series wins with the Oakland A's, and the Angels and Seattle were the only teams he never won with.  On July 7th, this great manager passed away.  This man is my favorite all-time manager, and I hope I'm on his team in heaven.  The best quote about him, one I doubt you'll hear anywhere else, came in 1972 from former player Ron Clark- just before he got traded to Milwaukee after committing a stupid error at second base.
"Williams is a great baseball man, " Clark told a reporter, "but he sure keeps assholes tight around here."

One day further into 1976, and it's time once again for Time Machine.  This week, we learn the price of talking about Todd Rundgren, see another chapter in "A&R men are idiots" from 1962, and connect the Starland Vocal band with  everything from Jumbo lump crab cake sandwiches to the BeeGees. Get ready to Take The Money And Run!!

10 debuts on the top 100 this week, and after doing this for over a year, it dawns on me that in naming these songs, we are celebrating their 35th birthdays!  So before I get to them, let's look elsewhere on the birthday parade.  Celebrating 45th birthdays this week are: the Stones' Mother's Little Helper; the Happenings' See You In September; and the Spoonful's Summer In The City.  Celebrating their 40th are: the Who's Won't Be Fooled Again; Chicago's Color My World; and (especially for Laurie, who I know will remember this one) Bread's Mother Freedom.  The three we feature from today's countdown are: coming in at 99, Heart and Magic Man; at 84, my all time favorite War tune, Summer; and at 74, KC and the Sunshine Band with a song I enjoyed on the old Midnight Special show with the Wolfman, Shake Your Booty.

We just about missed out on the big mover in this section, as the BeeGees leap from 65 to 41, 24 spots, with You Should Be Dancing.  The big dropper, 22 notches from 30 to 52, is Happy Days.

Last week, I said that there was so much information on Todd Rundgren that I could have done two Where Are They Nows.  Well, it's a good thing, because his rendition of Good Vibrations stalls at the magic number forty-nine this week, so he's up again.  This time, I'll look at the guys in his many bands.
First, he was in Nazz, a group who had a minor hit with Open My Eyes (and thanks to Bobby G. for sending me that link; I believe I have that tune on my Pandora station). Todd left Nazz after their second album, cleverly titled Nazz Nazz, but the band soldiered on a little while with Robert "Stewky" Antoni as lead vocal. In 2006, Antoni put a new Nazz lineup together and went on tour, proving once again what's old is new again.

Next came Runt, which was Todd plus the Sales boys, Hunt and Tony. Hunt, a drummer, has been in a million things, including the Iggy Pop song Lust For Life, which one listen to will make you say, "Oh, yeah, that was on that cruise line's commercials a few years back." DUM-DUM-DUM, DUM-DUM-DE-DUM-DUM.  Tony has also been around; besides pairing with his brother and David Bowie in the band Tin Machine (Bowie's attempt to wash the commercialness of Let's Dance off his image), he was also among other things in a band called Checquered Past.  CP was noteworthy mainly for the members of the group: Michael Des Barres, who was also MacGyver's nemesis Murdoc and the lead singer for Scum Of The Earth on WKRP In Cincinnatti; Steve Jones from the Sex Pistols; and as typical with Rundgren stories, Clem Burke and Nigel Harrison of Blondie.

Bringing us to his most successful band, Utopia.  There were several versions of Utopia- the 1974 version reunited January 29th and 30th of this year to do a benefit to pay keyboardist Moogy Klingman's cancer bills.  The most enduring version was the 1975-1986 lineup.  Kasim Sulton we've mentioned before in the New Cars; he tours with Todd and was the singer on their one top forty hit, Set Me Free.  Willie Wilson was the Senior Composer and Musical Designer for NBC Universal from 1999-2005, and is still in the TV end of things.  Robert Powell, protege of Robert Moog (who invented the Moog synthesizer), took a break from music for several years to recover from a condition called Repetitive Strain Injury; he is still putting out keyboard albums.  And there you have Todd Rundgren, part two.

We have six debuts this week in the top 40!  At 40, up fourteen, is Tavares with the 4th of their 8 top forties, Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel.  One step ahead of them for the second straight week, Wings are at 39 with the 14th of 24 top 40s credited to them, Let 'Em In. At 37, up 6, is the first (and best) of 7 top 40s for George Benson- This Masquerade.  At 35, also up six, is the first of 6 for the duo of England Dan And John Ford Coley, I'd Really Love To See You Tonight.  Climbing 12 to enter the 40 at 33 is Aretha Franklin with Something He Can Feel.  Now, everyone who knows me knows that there are certain acts I just cannot stand.  The Doors; Jay and the (f'ing) Americans; Michael (the Antichrist) Bolton.  But the top spot I save for Aretha and the Heavyweights (a name I gave her plump backup singers on their performance at the R'N'R HOF).  I honestly did try to play this song to see if I remembered it; after half a minute I had to abandon ship or I'd be remembering it in nightmares.  Apologies to her fans, but it is, after all, my story.  Finally, the top debut- after just two weeks in the hot 100, Elton John (his 19th of 57 top 40s) and Kiki Dee (her second of two) with Don't Go Breaking My Heart, after a 17 notch jump, comes in at 30.

In our look at #1s of other years, we are in the 2s this week.  1992's top dog this week was Mariah Carey's take on I'll Be There.  In 1982 it was the Human League's Don't You Want Me- a song that just kept growing on you, and by the time you decided you really did like it, it was #1.  In 1972, Cashbox had the Billy Preston instrumental Outta-Space; in 1962 we come to one of my mom's faves, Bobby Vinton's Roses Are Red.  Bobby, an aspiring new artist, found this song in the reject pile at Epic records.   A&R men, whatcha gonna do?  And the 1952 top dog this week is a repeat salutee- Georgia Gibbs with Kiss Of Fire.

One song into the top ten, one out.  Our dropper this week is Get Up And Boogie, from 6 to 18.

The newcomer (no surprise if you paid attention to the lead-in), is the Steve Miller Band's Take the Money And Run, up 2 notches.  Dropping two to #9 in The Captain And Tennile's Shop Around.  Falling three spots to #8 is Dorothy Moore and Misty Blue.  John Travolta, riding a crest of lust-filled teenyboppers, climbs 3 to #7 with Let Her In.  Starbuck climbs from 8 to six with Moonlight Feels Right.  Charging up 4 to #5 is Gary Wright with Love Is Alive.  At #4, down two, and for the first time since I started six degrees NOT the highest song sans bullet, Wings and Silly Love Somgs.  Holding (ironically enough) at #3 is Andrea True and More More More.  The Manhattans rise to 2, up 2, with Kiss And Say Goodbye.  Which brings us to our number one song, and our six degrees contestant for the week- Starland Vocal Band, third week at the top, and Afternoon Delight.

Afternoon Delight was conceived by Bill Danoff and his wife Taffy at the Clyde's restaurant in Georgetown, D.C.  The name came as they ordered off the midday appetizer menu, which Clyde's called "afternoon delights". The menu consisted of Buffalo wings, crab and artichoke dip, the Clyde's burger (lettuce, tomato, and your choice of swiss, american, muenster, cheddar, or monterrey jack cheese), the chicken sandwich #1, caesar salad, and the jumbo lump crab cake sandwich.  Danoff had also written Take Me Home Country Roads, which John Denver made into his signature song,  Danoff had never been to West Virginia; in fact, he and Taffy played with the idea of making it "Massachusetts".  Massachusetts is of course also the name of a big hit by the Bee Gees, who likewise had never been to Massachusetts (it was written on a boat bound for the Statue of Liberty) but just liked the name.  So, we have a song about West Viginia written in the Nation's Capital, a song about Massachusetts written at the Statue of Liberty, and a gold record- for this week's number one song- hanging in the foyer at Clyde's in Georgetown, where you can still order afternoon delights from 4-7 pm.

That's it from time machine.  Anybody hungry for a crab cake?

A Walk With Scrappy

Just because we've all had such a crappy week.  Let's look at the world from a beagle's point-of-view.  Step one, he figures out a walk is in the offing.

Okay, out the door we go.  Always over-exuberant at this point, but a good boy learns to sit and wait before crossing the street.

Then, we must check our p-mails- and respond if neccessary.

Since we've last taken everyone on a walk, the powers that be decided to have done with that little row of trees in the meadow where we first saw the foxes.  Also, they knocked a hole in the tree-line between the woods and the Plex road. Dastards!



"Where do you think you're going?"  "Oops, wrong trail!"

Once in the woods, we're always alert for new items.  Here's one! It's a.. bicycle seat cover... WTF??

Then, I saw (and our guide did not) a gorgeous tan doe in the woods aways off.  As usual, the camera requires your imagination.

From the center tree, she's kinda tucked in on the right by the next tree, with that bright spot over her back.  I might have had a better picture on the other shot, but the jerk on the end of my line jerked just then.

Here's a dissappointed Scrappy discovering that his favorite mud hole was dry.  Curses!

Time for a dip in the water- in more ways than one.

Shortly after the middle shot, he decided something in the mud was worth rolling in.  I convinced him otherwise. 

Now, he was refreshed, but I was not- and combined with the couple of skeeters that managed to ignore my Off, I decided it was time to work our way back.  We cut through that hole in the tree line I mentioned earlier, and somebody HAD to find something that required his immediate attention in the brush where I didn't want to go...

Holly bushes- we used to have a fence row of 'em at my childhood home (henceforth known as "the old house".

Anyway, the apparent reason for the hole in the tree line is so bulldozers can take fill dirt stored by the barn and bring it to a spot in the meadow, a few yards from the road...

Though we can't explain why they would want to do such a thing- nor can we explain this pole that stands a silent sentinel between the erosion barrier and the road.

Now, I gotta tell you one non-pictured story from last night.  Our complex is watering the lawns lately- and for two days, this involved a sprinkler positioned about 4 feet from our front door.  A fact Scrappy hadn't been clued in on.  So it was, when I finally freed myself up to take him out last night, he came to the door barking and jumping, bursting to get outside.  Then he saw the sprinkler.  Now, rivers, puddles, that's the kind of water Scrappy likes.  Rain, showers, sprinklers, not so much.  Before I got the door all the way open, he went from on the verge of exploding across the sidewalk to 2 feet BEHIND me.  Gee I wonder if Daddy's tendancy to walk him through the sprinklers had anything to do with it, hm?



Here's Your Sign

The last few days, I have found the news particularly depressing.  Here are some reasons why.

Apparently hoping the long weekend would take the bite out of it, the Administration released their latest "report card" on how the stimulus is working.  Boiling it down, by the government's own numbers, not only did we pay over a quarter million bucks for each job "created or saved"  (and I'll let you muse about how you consider a job "saved"), but, in the last three months, the total of "jobs created or saved" has DROPPED by 288,000!

In the meantime this same administration, which was quoted as saying that White House staff would not receive pay raises, gave 54% of staffers at LEAST 16% raises this year.  So, let's make this perfectly clear: if I work for president Obama, I get a pay raise; if not, I need to "sacrifice with the rest of America" and support the tax INCREASE he wants me to pay.  Every time I hear a Democratic legislator tell me that "the republicans need to be willing to give a little" I'd personally like to slap them.  They won't agree to cutting their bloated budget unless they can re-bloat it with a tax increase WE DO NOT NEED!!!  Tell me, "President" Obama, if you spread out all the raises you weren't going to give across all the people who you feel need to chip in and sacrifice, what percent raise would we all be getting?  Gee I bet it would be real close to the same amount you want to TAX us to PAY for it!

Just combine this with all the "I didn't have to ask Congress about Libya because it wasn't a big enough deal"s, the "just pass the bill, we'll find out what it says later"s, and my personal favorite, the Ted Kennedy Memorial "I don't care if I've never skipped a meal and it shows, YOU need to stop giving your kids Happy Meals"s- and my honest conclusion is that on the gatepost in front of Hell there will be a sign:

DEMOCRATIC ETERNAL CAUCUS

MAIN BALLROOM

Just turn left at the Union Leadership Office,

Across from the Global Warming Science

Research Center

And why, you ask, do I bring the unions into it yet again (I mean, other than the fact that Union Leadership and Democrat Party Leadership are a pair of leaches sucking from each other and thus hard to separate)? Well, here is a story about the Wisconsin labor revolt- and the true consequences of the bill passed by the republicans and signed by Governor Walker- that will say it better than I ever could.

Another one of the things bringing me down is the Casey Anthony verdict.  I have several Facebook friends who have joined Porch Lights for Caylee Marie Anthony.  The idea is to leave the porch light on overnight in honor of Caylee and other abused and murdered innocents.  I read through about a hundred of the postings ( the group has 2.2 million members as of my visit) , and while 95% of them are heartfelt, there are more than a few idiots who either think it's a dumb idea or just want attention. One jerk posted SHE DESERVED IT.  I did not post a comment- for one thing, it would be disingenuous since our porch light is always on.  For another, I know where Caylee is right now.  I feel sad for those on FB who feel the need to get their anti-social rocks off by proving their stupidity.  And I really think Casey- and whoever assisted her- received a great disservice from our justice system.  Instead of paying human justice- with the chance of repentance and forgiveness- she/they will more than likely be happy at the fate that they cheated, never bothering as they cash in on tabloid testimonies to think about the eternal judgement that awaits them.

And finally, a note on the curious fact that blogger, while it is pretty good at putting spam comments in the trash where they belong, they curiously let them go to e-mail.  Thus it was that I received this comment on my latest post over on Chris' Cap Collection:

Ladylike Post. This record helped me in my college assignment. Thnaks Alot

If you can figure it out, let me know. If I like your answer, I'll award you the next Trophee du Beagle.