Its Like Watchin Hair Grow

I set my old peecan tree on fire a coupla days ago and am gonna see if I can burn it down instead of cuttin it down..

Here is what I've got.. Its a straight trunk, about 3 feet thick, up to 12 or 14 feet, then it has/had a fork and is hollow in the middle of it with a big hole, then a big limb goes up about another 10 to 12 feet and had a long limb that reaches out toward the street, and is broken off above that..

I set the fire in the hole at the 12 foot level and it has burned about half way around and half way thru now.. If it burns like I want it to, it will burn in half at the 12 foot level and the top part with the long limb will fall and still stay well in my yard.. But if it burns crazy it will twist when it falls and likely thro the long limb into the street..

So I'm havin to keep an eye on it in case the limb goes out in the street and I have to get it out before a car hits it..

But its like watchin hair grow watchin this thank s l o o o w l y burn.. But I've got a new, full box of ceegars and a coupla bottles of homebrew cold and I just sit on the porch and watch it and wave at everybody drivin by honkin and hollerin at me..

But I'm gettin impatient and am bout ready to get a gallon of gas out and douse the sunzabitch and burn the whole damn thang where it sits !! NAH. Not really.. I'm havin too much fun tryin to guess what time its gonna do the deed..

But I really would like it to fall when there aint much traffic on the street.. I could just see some crack head drivin by when it fell and freakin em out and have a wreck !! My luck, the asshole would probably run over ME when he crashed, then run off..

We just had a t-storm move by just to the south of us and pushed some fair gusts of wind thru here and had that long limb rockin that tree for a minute.. That tells me it aint gonna be too awful long till it falls.. I just wish it would wait till after the 5 o'clock traffic gets over with..

I've got a pot of pintos with diced ham ready and a loaf of bread that will be ready to come out of the oven in about 30 minutes and after eatin I guess I'll assume my position back on the porch and have a tasty after-supper ceegar and enjoy the rain-cooled breeze some more..

Got Tamaters And Onions ??

Mountain Man was askin bout some recipes for Salsa, so thought I'd just get down with the Program and go Hog Wild on you and give you what I got, and thats a bunch.. Too much to try and cram in the comments and I can keep track of this post and if anybody comes back later and has questions bout it I'll know where to look..

I'm one of those cooks that goes by "dabs and pinches and sprinkles and handfulls" .. I Just be sure to remember that I got BIG hands !!

I like the HOT kinda salsa so I tend to go by the Cajun recipe that I got from Mostly Cajun whose blog is listed in the blogroll.. I'll try to point out the ones that look HOT to me and the Cajun recipes so you can adjust em to your likes..

Most of the recipes I have are for small batches, but if I'm gonna go to the trouble of makin this stuff I'm gonna do a BATCH all at one time and only have to clean up once.. Ans small batches makes it hard to get a uniform taste and hotness.. One time your onions will be strong and the next they will be sweet and one time your peppers will be hot and the next they will be mild.. Folks that grow onions and peppers know this but others may not..

I've found that the best way to make salsa is make a bunch of it at one time and do it in stages, and it can even be staggered over a coupla days too to prevent you gettin in a hurry or havin to do it durin a hot part of the day or takin too much time out of ONE day..

Standin on my one leg at the counter choppin gets old real quick so I do most of my choppin and slicin and dicin and peelin one evenin and then start it cookin early the next mornin.. I make 2 gallons at a time in a stainless pot and that takes enuff jars to fill my 5 gallon pot with jars and lids that I use to sterilize em in..

If you like your salsa the Chunky kind, you are gonna wanna peel your tamaters too, but I like the sauce kind so I just run my tamaters thru the blender and dont have to boil and peel my tamaters, so that keeps me from burnin my fangers and hands too !!

So here goes with how I make it:

I start with about 8 cups of good sweet onions(use less the stronger they are) and about 10 Jalepenos(use less the hotter) and a coupla Cayenes and a good handfull of finely chopped Cilantro and 4 heapin tablespoons of minced roasted garlic, then I start blendin and addin my tamers till I get the pot up close(a coupla inches) to the top.. After that gets good and hot and cooks for about an hour I have a taste and see how I like it and I can get an idea what its gonna be like and add more of anythang I thank it may need..

After about 45 minutes I taste it again and I should have it bout where I want my onions and peppers and garlic to be and then I add the juice of 6 medium limes and 3 heapin tablesppons of salt and stir and taste again and make any adjustments to that that I thank it may need..

Now its time to just cook and stir till I get it where its thick enuff for me.. The thicker I want it the longer I cook and stir..

Now here are some others I have:

2-3 medium sized fresh tomatoes (from 1 lb to 1 1/2
lb), stems removed, finely diced
1/2 red onion, finely diced
1 jalapeño chili pepper (stems, ribs, seeds removed),
finely diced
1 serano chili pepper (stems, ribs, seeds removed),
finely diced
Juice of one lime
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
Salt and pepper to taste
Optional: oregano and or cumin to taste

Start with chopping up 2 medium sized fresh tomatoes.
Prepare the chilies. Be very careful while handling
these hot peppers. If you can, avoid touching them
with your hands. Use a fork to cut up the chilies over
a small plate, or use a paper towel to protect your
hands. Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and hot
water after handling and avoid touching your eyes for
several hours. Set aside some of the seeds from the
peppers. If the salsa isn't hot enough, you can add a
few for heat.

Combine all of the ingredients in a medium sized bowl.
Taste. If the chilies make the salsa too hot, add some
more chopped tomato. If not hot enough, carefully add
a few of the seeds from the chilies, or add some
ground cumin.

Let sit for an hour for the flavors to combine.

Makes approximately 3-4 cups.

This one I got from Mostly Cajun:

Four or five Roma tomatoes. You want a meaty tomato. Most groceries will ave those pear-shaped Romas. You want these ripe, no green showing.

Tomatillos. These are bit more exotic, looks like a little green tomato, an inch or so in diameter, generally snuggled in a thin papery husk. You’ll want a couple. If you can’t find tomatillos, don’t go sit in your front yard and commit seppuku. Just throw in an extra regular tomato or two.

Cilantro. A good handful. Now, cilantro will generally be found in the vicinity of the tomatillos, but a lot of stores carry cilantro next to the parsley.

Peppers: For the run of the mill folk, at least ONE jalapeno IS necessary. If you’re more adventurous, bump this up to two or three. If you’re more experienced and enjoy a bit MORE bite, add a serrano. If you’re a flippin’ capiscum FREAK, add a habanero. Note, though, that the name is “Pico de gallo”, which translates to “peck of the rooster.” It’s supposed to have some bite. The flavor of the jalapeno is, in my opinion, essential to the dish. Since it’s supposed to be a condiment, you will want to make it hotter than you can stand it on its own.

Onion: Half a fist-sized yellow or white onion. If you’re thinking :what the h*ll am I gonna do with the rest of that onion, well, go back and double everything I’ve listed above, and use the whole thing.

Lime: One large, or two small. Or lemon.

Salt

The procedure:

Chop up the tomato and tomatillo. Do this rather fine, maybe an eighth-inch dice. Discard the seeds before you start chopping. Do the same thing with the onion. If your onion has seeds, well, I don’t know what to tell you…

Chop up the peppers. Here’s a little trick. Cut the peppers in half lengthwise, then clean the seeds and white membranes out under running water. You’ll have fewer problems. Also, after you’ve been handling peppers, you want to make darned sure that you wash your hands very carefully, two or three times, before you a) rub your eyes or b) attend to private bodily functions. Take my word for this. Fail to heed this warning will happen ONCE and provide onlookers with the stuff of hilarious legend on your behalf. They will enjoy it MUCH more than you will, I guarantee. Anyway, chop your choice of peppers up finely, maybe a bit finer than everything else.

Chop up the leaves and tender stems of the cilantro.

To assemble the pico de gallo, dump the whole mess of ingredients into an appropriately sized bowl. Sprinkle a couple of pinches of salt over the top. Squeeze the juice of your lime or lemon over the whole mess. Stir it together well. Let it sit for at least a half an hour in the fridge for the flavors to mingle.

Discussion:

This stuff is great on top of a pile of beans and rice or other dishes. It adds a wonderful freshness to bland foods. Dump a tablespoon on top of scrambled eggs. Better yet, fold it in the middle of a cheese omelet. Put some on top of your pasta. Let your imagination run wild. It keeps for about a week in the fridge, if you can stay out of it that long.

Now, there you have it: a guideline recipe for pico de gallo. Feel free to juggle things around a bit. Wanna get freaky? Take this recipe, and add three or four avocados, coarsely mashed, for a guacamole that’ll put you over the edge.

And here is a link to a whole bunch of recipes, not that you'll need em after gettin mine:

http://www.pepperfool.com/recipes/salsa_idx.html

Folks are gonna have their "druthers" on how they want their salsa so some or most may want more cilantro in theirs but I find that it covers up the taste of the peppers if you get too much cilantro in it and I like the taste of some good peppers in my salsa.. To me thats what makes it salsa.. And you may have other peppers that you like the taste of in your salsa too.. And you dont have to have fresh tamaters to go in it either.. There are some good store bought canned tamaters out there too.. And you would be surprised at how close they can taste to homegrown once you heat em up.. A trick I have learned about store-bought tamaters, is that you can stick em in the nuker oven for a minute and it will bring out the REAL tamater taste in em..

I hope everybody has good results with their salsa, and remember, that nothin tastes as good or good for you as what you grow, cook, and can yourself, and the Pride in doin it will make up for the effort it takes..

Audition For Trained Seals

That circus that they called a Democrat "debate" the other day is now bein shoved at the Repubs.. Now, realize that the Media and You Tube is puttin this dog-and-pony show together, so you can already tell what a circle-jerk its gonna be..

At the (D)'s version of this thang they had a goofy sunzabitch in a fuggin snowman costume askin questions, so you can take a guess at what they will have comin at the (R)s in theirs..

Most of the (R)s have just laughed at em and aint gonna show for this thang, but McCain and (I thank) Paul say they will show for it.. As if these two aint already made asses out of themselves enuff, they are gonna show up and find out just how fuggin stupid these numb-nuts can make em look now..

Any (R) that is stupid enuff to show up for this shit, is stupid enuff to fall for the "here, pull my fanger" trick too, and aint got what it takes to be POTUS !!

America, and The West, are in SERIOUS TIMES with SERIOUS THREATS facin us, and this aint NO TIME for the candidates to be bendin over and strikin a pose to be made an ass of..

The Left is in no way serious about the present and future danger that faces us, and You Tube and the Media are part and parcel of the Left.. This You Tube presentation is not gonna be any more serious than the Left is and they may as well have Goofy, Pluto, Donald Duck or Mickey himself leadin it..

The (D)s are afraid to go on a Fox debate and answer serious and hard questions, but they expect the (R)s to go on YOU TUBE and answer questions from the likes of a fuggin snowman !!

Folks, we need serious Leadership and we need the People to WAKE THE FUCK UP and join the REAL WORLD !! But I just dont see it happenin and THAT worries the shit outta me ..

Slowly Makin A Comeback

My garden and the area around the barn where I camp is slowly makin progress at lookin like it is useable again.. But the heat and humidity is really takin a toll on this ol Fat Man tho..

I finally got all my tamater plants weeded today but I still dont have all of em tied back up but I do have em kinda stuck up on the rest of the tied ones and off the ground.. Damn Fire Ants are bout to eat my ass up too.. I hopped off my scooter yesterday and sat down to start weedin the tamaters and happened to sit down RIGHT on top of a nest of Wolf Spiders that were mostly 5 to 6 inches across em and there were probably 10 or more of em.. I had my gloves on and made a fist and started playin "whack a spider" with em..

I got 2 new rows tilled and got 1 of em rowed up and planted with White Beans and it wont take long to get the other row rowed up and planted with Pintos again..

My okry and pepper plants are doin good and the okry is finally bloomin and puttin on small pods now and the peppers are covered with blooms and peppers just about ready to pick.. The tamater plants are loaded with tamaters still and lots of blooms too.. Picked another Wal-Mart bag full of em today.. Gonna be time to make another batch of Salsa soon and this time I'll have some of my own peppers to put in em, and this time I'm gonna BAN the Mrs. from the kitchen while I make it !! She didnt let me put enuff peppers in the last batch and it came out Gringo Style.. Now when I open a jar of the old batchI have to mix a bunch of Tony Cachere's Cajun Seasonin in it to get a little HEAT in it.. Its good that way but just aint the same as havin the peppers COOKED in it like its supposed to..

My new battery on my scooter is workin out much better but I still need to get one more to get the LASTIN POWER up where I need it to be.. And my generator is needin to have the carb cleaned on it again.. All this moisture we have had has it gunked up and I'll have to take the bowl off and clean it out and I thank I'll put new fuel lines and filter on it while I'm at it..

We have one more day, tomoro, of good dry weather before the rain and storms are supposed to move back in, but I dont know if I'm gonna feel up to doin it again tomoro or not.. I'm tryin not to wear myself down too much and open myself up to gettin sick.. There is a virus goin around these parts now that really knocks your ass in the dirt.. Kind of a Summer Cold, but wrings all the energy and wind out of you and has a cough that will really hurt you..

Since we took the Kid out of school, we aint had all the sickness we used to have.. Sure is nice too !! When she was in school we could count on us passin some sort of bug at least once a month.. Now I caint even remember the last time we suffered from somethin other than what we got from eatin or drankin too much from, but them dont count ..

I sure was hopin that I would get the garden and all caught back up so that I could take Miss Minnie Pearl with me and spend a coupla days and nites out at the farm without havin to work all the time and that we would get to play some, but looks like the rain is gonna be back about the time I get caught up and by the time thats over it will be time to start workin again.. The moon is goona be right for a nite at the farm soon too.. Sure is nice to sit out under a big bright moon and listen to the critters callin and gettin active ..

But hell, its time for me to get to work on the yard and projects I need to do here at the house now too.. Besides clippin the hedges and mowin, I wanna set whats left of this old big peecan tree on fire and see if I can get rid of that ragged lookin thang out of the front yard and I have a new faucet to put on the kitchen sink and new light switch to put in the bathroom and I still need to clean the deep freeze before I fire it up to put the stuff in it out of the garden, if I ever get enuff.. And I wanna put a new door on the big shop and move a bunch of stuff I have piled on the west side of the house so I can put a longer chain for Miss Minnie Pearl so she can have a bigger area to run around in.. And. And. And.. Aw Shit, I give up.. I aint ever gonna get it all done and be caught up so I can go play at the farm with Miss Minnie Pearl !!

Democrat Insurgents

from HERE ..

http://fallbackbelmont.blogspot.com/2007/07/coercion.html

Neither side needs the love or loyalty of the population nearly as much as its cooperation. The insurgent must have nondenunciation so that he may carry on his war against the authority from the midst of the people. The counterinsurgent needs information, so that he may determine the nature, power and membership of the insurgency. Because a credible threat of sanction (death or torture, for example) frequently outweighs love or loyalty, the side that imposes stiff penalties for noncompliance will often win the cooperation of the people away from the side that inspires merely moral support for the merits of its cause. ...

comment: Is this not how the (D)s work in Congress too ??

I know that I've seen it at work here and heard of it at work in other places.. The (D)s runnin for elections have said that if an (R) got elected they would cut off or cut Social Security to the elderly or that wanted projects "in the plans" would be cut or that UNwanted projects would be pushed thru..

We have heard of Murtha makin threats against other members on the House Floor when they countered his PORK Projects and Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi have been known to make threats to those who didnt see eye-to-eye with what they wanted and how Junior Members of their ranks voted..

I've seen The Hildebeast rally the rest to vote against Troop Fundin and Withdrawl then at the last minute vote FOR it as to position herself in a POSITIVE LIGHT..

The tactics of the (D)s are very similar to those of the insurgents in Iraq that Tigerhawk describes in the Bellmont Club linked post above.. And the Media does their Handy Work for the (D)s here just as they do for the insurgents in Iraq !!

The (D)s and the Media have declared war on America just like Al Q has !!

"AMERICA IS BAD AND EVIL AND MUST BE DESTROYED" is not just the Mantra of Al Q, it is also the Battle Cry of the (D)s and the Media ..

My REDNECK Is Showin !!

FIRST OF ALL, I DONT BELIEVE A WORD OF IT !!

I'm talkin bout the report of Troops runnin over dogs and all that bullshit that was put in an article somewhere, supposedly by a Troop In The Action in Iraq..

There have been plenty of the "thankers" that have debunked this story, but what I wanna concentrate on, is just what if there was truth in it.. Would I get pissed about em runnin over a dog ?? Nope.. What if it had been a dirtbag shootin em a fanger ?? Nope !! But a bunch of people have their union suit twisted over a fuggin dog, but what I get the red-ass over is that they didnt have anythang else to worry bout besides doin some kinda juvenile/sadistic bullshit that took their "eye off the ball" ..

FIRST, they give us stories bout em feelin that when they go over there they KNOW that aint gonna be comin home alive.. Now they want us to believe that they dont get enuff of the killin so they have to go after the critters that are over there and aint keepin their eye out for an IED or a Sniper..

It just dont match up with the stories I've been hearin from the Troops over there..

I hear stories of em "procurrin" some loacls goat and havin a BBQ cause the (D)s back here have stretched the supply lines mighty thin and they have run out of grub, even an MRE, to eat, and they have broken a nose or two after they caught some dirtbag that set off an IED and it hurt or killed a member of their outfit.. Myself, I'd prefer em to take the sunzabitch over on the back side of their vehicle and leave the bitch in a puddle of their own bllod to rot !! Just be one less that the Military version of the ACLU (JAG) can turn loose back on the population and the Troops..

The Rules Of Engagement the Troops work under are UNREALISTIC !! These suzabitches say they want a war, well, give em a fuggin war and stop treatin em like a buncha PROTESTERS !!

Stick A Fork In Me !!

I've got pink places that aint meant for me to have pink places !! I've soaked up a lot of sun the past coupla days and have slap-dab wore myself plum out..

My por pitiful garden is gonna take a lot more work to ever get it back in shape tho.. My beans and peas just flat drowned out !! So did the squash and the hogs ran thru my ties and stakes on the tamater plants and drug them all down on the ground and the rest was under about 4 feet of grass..

But I got about 4 acres of the grass pushed back and got one row ready to replant beans or peas and try to get a stand goin to have some to put in the freezer for this winter, but I may have to battle the damn grass hoppers for them now.. Wish I had a way to catch a mass of em so I could make a small fortune of sellin em for fishin bait..

Yesterday I saw a little rain shower comin off in the distance and by the time it got to me it had got to be a pretty good rain, and I got my ass soakin wet before I gave up and came to the barn.. But that cool breeze t5hat came with it sure was nice after bein toasted by the sun and I wouldnt have minded just sittin out there in it if I hadnt been afraid of lightnin hittin me..

I dont know if I'm gonna have the gumption to go out and do it again tomoro tho.. Looks like the rain is slowly creepin in on us and gonna be a high chance of us gettin wet again tomoro and the next day, so I aint countin on gettin to go out again tomoro.. But I've got it where I can get around on the scooter and my crutches now and I really need to concentrate on gettin my tamaters back up off the ground and get the stakes and ties back on em.. But as bad off as my tamaters are, they still look 100 percent better than most of the others I've seen around here.. Everybody elses I've seen have turned yellow and brown and mine are still dark green and full of small tamaters and blooms.. If I put in a days-work on em I should be back in Tamater Business !!

A damn coon(I suppose) got into my corn seed and now I have corn plants scattered all over the place and most have ears on em and are doin good.. Within a coupla weeks I should have enuff corn ready to have a big mess of Skillet Corn.. Maybe two !!

ONE New Battery

I've been tryin to get out to the farm for the past 2 days and aint got there yet.. Each day I get on my scooter and go out to try and get all my shit gathered and loaded on the trailer and then I have to recharge my scooter batteries before goin anywhere.. By the time I get the batteries recharged its too late to go to the farm then..

I broke down and went down the street to the Parts House and bought a new AMERICAN battery.. Aint no Mexico on this baby nowhere !! Piss on Wal-Mart and there Mescan and China sellin asses !!

And I got one of those SUPER-DUPER batteries too.. Its a MARINE DEEP CYCLE and will have a lot more ROAD TIME to it between charges.. It cost about $40 bucks more than the battery I usually get, but hey, its AMERICAN !! Its about twice as big as the usual battery and takes twice as long to charge, and when I got this one home it wadnt already charged, so I'm gonna have to charge overnite and I'll be rip-tearin-ready to go to the farm bright and early(and cool) in the mornin..

I still need 1 more of these kinda batteries, but I'm gonna wait and see how my scooter handles the extra weight from this bigger battery.. The ground is still pretty soggy from all the rain and the scooter cuts some good ruts with my big ass on it and the extra weight may just be too much to get around with.. I used to have big and wide TURF tires on it till they wore out and to replace they cost $80 bucks a piece.. Shit, my tight-wad ass replaced em with the $30 bucks a piece regular street tires !! But this is Texas and before long the ground will be dry and baked as hard as a brick batt again..

But the weather is supposed to be dry again tomoro then we will be back to possible thunderstorms again for a few days, but at least it will be cool again.. Gonna be in the 80's and have a nice breeze.. Caint beat that with a stick !! Specially in the middle of July in Texas..

So. if I'm too tired to get on here and do much "jawin" for a day or two, now you will know the reason..

Dont Laff, You're Next !!

from HERE : http://www.sptimes.com/2007/07/17/Business/Cigarmakers_in_a_pani.shtml

Cigarmakers in a panic
The federal tax on each cigar could rise from 5 cents to $10.
By JAMES THORNER
Published July 17, 2007





Eric Newman punches the numbers on his calculator and gapes at the results one more time.

It's no mathematical error: The federal government has proposed raising taxes on premium cigars, the kind Newman's family has been rolling for decades in Ybor City, by as much as 20,000 percent.

As part of an increase in tobacco taxes designed to pay for children's health insurance, the nickel-per-cigar tax that has ruled the industry could rise to as much as $10 per cigar.

"I'm not sure in the history of man, since our forefathers founded the country in 1776, that there's ever been a tax increase of 20,000 percent," said Newman, who runs the Tampa business founded by grandfather Julius Caesar Newman. "They had the Boston Tea Party for less than this."

When it comes to tobacco sales, cigars are just a speck compared to cigarettes. In 2006, the nearly 400-billion cigarettes sold domestically dwarfed the 5.3-billion cigars.

But cigars are intertwined with Tampa's lineage.

Though the local industry has shriveled from foreign competition and domestic consolidation, cigarmaking still employs more than 1,000 in Tampa. About 900 work at the factory, offices and warehouse of Hav-a-Tampa, owned by foreign tobacco giant Altadis.

Newman machine-makes 35,000 cigars a day at 16th Street and Columbus Avenue and imports hand-wrapped varieties from Latin America. He estimates Florida makes or imports 80 percent of the cigars consumed in the United States and predicts devastation if the new taxes are approved this summer.

Many casual smokers are well heeled enough to plunk down $10 for a premium puff. But would they pay $15 to $20 for the same pleasure?

"Why don't we just go out of business?" Newman said. "Here, you can run our company, Mr. Government."

Here's the source of the controversy: The Democrat controlled Congress has sought an extra $35-billion to $50-billion for the state children's health insurance program. The program distributes payments to the states to help buy coverage for kids not poor enough for Medicaid.

Cigarettes, which accounted for more than 95 percent of tobacco tax collections last year, are the main focus of the bill. Federal taxes on a pack would jump from 39 cents to $1.

But the legislation has dragged cigars along for the ride. The industry operates under a 4.8 cents-per-cigar tax cap.

Under the proposed bill, taxes on "large cigars," a category that includes all but the tiny cigars sold in 20 packs like cigarettes, would rise to 53 percent.

A U.S. Senate version of the bill under consideration today in the Finance Committee sets the maximum tax per cigar at $10.

"We are a very small industry. We're the fly. The cigarette industry is the elephant as far as tax collections are concerned," Newman said. "We've been roped in with conglomerates that own cigarette companies."

Newman's eyes and ears in Washington, Norm Sharp, president of the Cigar Association of America, was dumbfounded when the legislation went public Friday.

"I thought there was a typo. I thought they meant 10 cents per cigar, not $10 per cigar. I was stunned like everyone else," Sharp said.

Sharp's organization represents 66 members, including Newman, Altadis and Jacksonville's Swisher International, the global company that makes Swisher Sweets.

The association has lobbied to exclude cigars from the bill, but bristles at the public relations challenge: How do you oppose a sin tax Congress has rigged to help sick kids? Senate staffers couldn't be reached for comment.

In Newman's view other companies declined comment and left the talking to Sharp, it's not just unfair but also immoral to overtax a product enjoyed not by addicts but by worthy pleasure seekers. The average aficionado smokes about three cigars a week at about $3 to $5 apiece, according to the cigar association.

"A good wine. A good scotch. A good bourbon. A good cigar. It all enhances the quality of life," Newman said. "We're in the relaxation business."

The Bush administration may inadvertently come to the industry's aid. The president has vowed to veto the bill, not over the cigar provision but over objections to expanding federally financed health care for the non-indigent.

Several business in and around Ybor City, usually blind to the workings of Washington, will be craning their necks toward the capital.

"Things happen strangely in Washington," Newman said.

comment: So, G.W. is gonna veto this POS, but what happens in '09 or '10 when the (D)s have all the power they need and a list as-long-as-your-arm of other thangs they wanna tax ??

Earlier this year I put a note out at a place I thought I might find somebody willin to help me get some tabakker seeds, and sure-nuff, a fine fella stepped up to the task and I now have a small sack of a shit-load of tabakker seeds.. GOOD seeds too !! I sure am grateful to that kind man that showed pity on me in my time of want..

I'm perty sure that there was some that saw my note and wondered just what kinda person would be wantin tabakker seeds in this day and age..

Truth is, the writin has been on the walls for a long while now, and it just keeps gettin bigger !! The sadder truth, is that there are a whole bunch of other stuff on that same list too, and before Big Gubmint gets all of your money they want, you are gonna be doin without a whole lot of shit that you are no longer gonna be able to afford !! DIDJA HEAR ME ?? I said, DOIN WITHOUT, unless you also see that writin on the wall and make arrangements for a source other than the one you rely on now..

Do ya'll like to have a little smear of honey on your bisquit ?? Have you priced honey lately ??

The Kid LOVES juice, and the Mrs. had her Miss Vickies all twisted and knotted this mornin cause those little cans of OJ was ON SALE in the add for $1.29 a can.. Aint been all THAT long since I was fussin bout how many of those same cans of OJ there were in the fridge in the way, and she said they were on sale for 69 cents a piece and she couldnt resist that price..

What if the (D)s hit you with this kind of tax on your favorite after shave of parfum ?? Your bath soap ?? How bout tea, coffee, milk, or (please help me) coldbeer ??

Just take a look around you and imagine what is gonna be on the list they will jack-up the tax on when there aint gonna be anybody to veto it, and in fact, will be the Ringleader of the bunch plannin on ROBBIN YOU ..

Somebody refresh my memory a little, but, wadnt it Jim Stafford that sang the song "The Wildwood Flower" ?? Talkin bout sittin there on that sacka seeds !! But it was Bocephus that sang bout "A Country Boy Can Survive" ..

My PECKERWOOD liberal brother in the Big City is gonna have his fat ass draw up so tight you wouldnt be able to drive a 16penny nail up it with a 2LB shop hammer when he sees this ceegar tax !!

Off To Do My Civic Duty

I've gotta get out of here in a minute and do Grand Jury Duty.. I dont mind and am actually lookin forward to since its my first time, but I KNOW what to expect.. The Case Load here and all around us has been filled with Child Sexual Assault cases and I dont expect this one to be any different..

On another development here:

With all the rain we have been havin there is a new change thats happened that I've become aware of.. Seems that animals here have gone thru a morph and I have been given exclusive pics of one example..




Ya'll have a good day and I'll make an update later..

Skinnin Hogs

And I'm bound and damned-determined to get this one hung and cleaned !! After tryin all I know to get the Wild Bill post links to work, and not havin any luck, I decided to just do the whole damn thang over again !! But I thank Wild Bill is worth it.. I just hope that Mr. Cassidy will understand about me usin his stuff here..




From here: http://kylecassidy.livejournal.com/310882.html

I wasn't going to say anything because his family has asked to keep it quiet, but people are asking and I feel it would be wrong for me to pretend I don't know anything. Wild Bill is in the hospital, he had a major heart attack about two weeks ago and is recovering, but very slowly. His family has asked that people not try and figure out where he is, not try and visit him, not call on the phone, not make a tent city in the parking lot. If you feel compelled to send him a get-well card, you can do it here:

Bill Guarnere
c/o Gene Guarnere
2800 Dogwood Lane
Broomall, PA 19008
USA

I realize he's got to go sometime, you can only cheat death for so long -- but I keep thinking "not now." My thoughts are with Bill, but also with our Sailors, Soldiers, and Marines who are dying young, every day, without the opportunities that Bill's had. All of you in Iraq and Afghanistan, come home safe and soon.

*EDIT* i guess it's stupid to turn comments off when people might feel a need to express themselves.

If ya'll will hang with me thru all this shit, ya'll are some good folks..

Gun Owners Under Attack Again

Alabama Mountain Man, listed in my blogroll, has a post that you should read if you are a gun owner or 2nd Amendment believer..

You can catch it HERE..

Seems as tho the NRA is gonna sign-off on this POS !!

Have you ever seen a doctor that didnt have solid ethics ?? Ever seen an anti-gun doctor before ??

This Law that is bein talked about is gonna make it as easy for the "gun grabbers" to find em a doctor to back em up in takin somebody's guns away, as it is for the ACLU to find em a liberal judge to take away a Cross or Ten Commandments from a school or courthouse !!


I know who this Law is SUPPOSED to be used FOR, but I also know damn-well who it will eventually be used AGAINST !!

So if you have any plans to keep your guns handy for when the Dirtbags try to take over, you better find somebody, anybody, to raise some hell at about this !!

Thanks, Mountain Man, for keepin us up on this..

Another Wild Bill

Seems as tho there is another old War Horse out there named Wild Bill that is havin a little trouble with his health lately.. If you go HERE and look at his pic you will see that me and this other Wild Bill have somethin in common besides just our name..

kylecassidy.livejournal.com/310882.html

This site seems to be the place that people are leavin Well Wishes for Wild Bill at.. If you might wanna leave a Get Well Soon of your own, then I would be grateful, and I'm sure it will make you feel good for doin it..

This site belongs to a fella named "Kyle" and he has a book comin(or already) out at Amazon.com that sounds kinda unique.. If you are a person with eyes that still work good enuff to read books this book might interest you.. Its about guns, the people that own guns, and the homes that the people who own guns keep their guns in.. Has lots and lots of pics and the sample pics looked really interestin..

Joe Citizen(from my blogroll) knows full-well how I disect a pic !! He takes a lot of pics and I thank that it kinda peeves him that I take his pics apart piece-by-piece and find stuff that he hadnt even noticed was in it..

Kyle's site has some interestin readin there too.. He has animals and friends and contacts that he shares with his readers.. He has a style there that is what I would like this one to be like.. Maybe one of these days..

UPDATE : I thank I got it figgered out now..

I'm really sorry bout the problems..

Shot At And Missed. Shit At And Hit !!

From HERE I got this headline:

NAACP NATIONAL CONVENTION

Dems pledge to undo what Bush has done
Cheers for change fill Cobo during candidate forum

From HERE I get this story :

Just imagine how the LSM would be covering today's economy if a Dimocrat were in the White House. Why it would be trumpeted as the greatest economic boom in over 50 years!

Dow and S&P 500 hit record highs!

No inflation in sight!

Unemployment remains at record lows!

Deficit dropping!

Steve talks about the LSM's coverage of the economy and jobs.

• 2001-2: The economy isn't growing.
• 2003-4: ...okay, it's growing, but it's a jobless recovery.
• 2005-6: ...okay, it's growing and creating jobs, but only the rich are benefiting.
• 2006-7: ...okay, it's growing, creating jobs, and wage growth is beating inflation, but we're still beleaguered by the dreaded deficit.
• 2007: ...okay, it's growing, creating jobs, creating higher wages, and the deficit is disappearing, but, uh, we still need to raise taxes because, uh, let's see... yeah, that's right: because there are still too many rich, and because the oil companies are making too much profit. Yeah, that's the ticket.
Yep! Let's go after all those eeeevil rich people and those eeeevil oil companies. Like I said earlier, that worked real well back in the '70's didn't it?

But the rich are getting richer (because they keep doing the things that make them rich - saving and investing) and the poor are getting poorer (because they keep doing the things that make them poor - dropping out of school and having kids they cannot afford - but there are always lottery tickets).

Yep! It's a great time to be a SRF©

So, I'm not a "Single Rich Fucker" but there aint NO WAY I want thangs to be changed by the (D)s !! Higher taxes and bigger gubmint and more gubmint control aint my way of thankin when I want CHANGE ..

When I talk about change, I mean that I want more Border Security and illegal immigration enforcement..

I want the Troops to be able to do their job without any Political PC bullshit bein forced on em.. PC is NOT a War Tactic or Stradegy and shouldnt be tried to be made one !!

I want DHS to be an effective form of Homeland Security and not just another way to distribute a buncha fuggin PORK money to the Gimme Crowd !!

I want our Congress get busy with actual GOVERNING and not be consumed with POLITICAL WITCH HUNTS against the Party out of power..

I want somethin done about the rogue prosecutors runnin ruff-shod over innocent people ruinin their lives, families, careers, and health ..

I want somethin done about the AACLU (Anti American Civil Liberties Union)too .. That buncha sunzabitches have been on the attack of any ethics, morals, religion, or patriotism that has been a part of this Nation since its conception.. Tarrin and featherin would be my first impulse, but I'm feelin kinda generous today..

I want somethin done about the almost complete ransackin of our emergency supplies of grain and foodstuffs that the gubmint maintains.. We have ALMOST NO reserve supply on hand.. Rice, wheat, and corn are almost all gone.. If another Depression happened or an AlQ attack or oil embargo that shut down fuel supplies, there wouldnt be the ability to grow more, or the time to do it.. There would be NO Bread Lines or Soup Kitchens this time !!

And I want somebody to run that Organized Crime Organization called the U.N. off American soil !! I'm tired of payin ransom to that buncha sunzabitches !!

And I want to see oil drillin platforms goin up in ANWR and in the Gulf and minin operations for Oil Shale started in North Dakota and Wyoming..

But the fact is, that there are a lot of thangs a lot higher on my list that need to be done than what is on the (D)s ERGENT LIST of thangs to change..

Everythang Is Soggy

The rain has been so much and for so long that everythang in the house(and outside) is just limp and soggy and molded..

All the salt in the house except the big kitchen shaker that has rice added wont pour.. If you open a bag of chips you better be prepared to eat the whole bag cause they get soggy and tuff if you dont.. We have those big Tupperware cereal boxes for our cereal and that dont help.. A crispy cracker is somethin I aint had in months !!

I'm out of Murphy's Oil Soap cause I've used it all tryin to keep the gotdam mold off the kitchen cabinets and panelin..

We were supposed to have a coupla days of dry weather but a line of storms and rain are movin in again now.. And I had my trailer loaded with all the shit I thru away out of the shop and I unloaded it and thought I was gonna get to get the hoist off it too but I caint do it in the rain now..

There was a bunch of clothes in that stuff I thru away and now its piled up on my empty lot next door and is gonna be too wet to burn for a month.. A month if it didnt rain any more, that is..

The Red River to the north of us has been at or above Flood Stage for about a week now and expected to stay that way for the rest of July due to the Corp of Engineers openin the Denison Lake gates and Hugo Lake overflowin.. Sulphur River to the south of us has been just below or just above Flood Stage for almost 2 weeks now, too..

I thank we have had enuff rain now and I'm ready for it to stop for a while !!

The storms are rollin in now and the litnin is gettin kinda "mean" so I better shut this sucker down a while..

I'm Still Here

We had a coupla days break from the rain and I decided to get some thangs done that needed tendin to..

Back in 2000 when we had the big ice storm, a friend's storeroom got flattened by a tree and I let her put her shit out of it in my shop to keep till she got another storeroom built or bought..

That was 6 1/2 damn years ago and her shit is still here !! She has moved twice since then and each time she hauls more shit into my shop and each time the shit has gotten more scattered out till there wasnt any room for nothin but here shit anymore..

Well, I carried all her shit outside and threw a bunch away and reboxed some and cleaned the shop up good and then put all that was left back in.. I put it back in in the corner and crammed it tight to where I now have a useable shop..

While my shop has been stuffed with all that JUNK, my trailer has been had to be left out in the weather and now I'm gonna have to replace the boards in the bed of it.. So not only did I lose the use of 1/3 of my shop, my trailer has rotted out and I'm gonna have to buy new lumber for it.. And NO, I really dont thank my friend appreciates it either !!

But that is where I've been and what I've been doin for the last several days.. It has been hoverin around 90 here, the temp and the humidity.. So, its been a sweaty job and has sapped all my energy and gumption.. I havent even had enuff energy to post anythang after I come in.. I've worked till almost dark a coupla days and had a lot of folks stop by to talk and so it has taken a lot longer than it should have..

I've still got one corner that has a bunch of my stuff in it that I need to go thru and do somethin with but thats gonna have to wait till another time.. That plastic seat cover on my scooter has turned my sweat into some kind of acid that has left my ass R.A.W. .. And since I have Grand Jury Duty next week I have to get my butt back in shape to sit and listen to testimony for long hours without bein in pure agony..

But how much ya'll wanna bet that they call and schedule my appointment for my gall bladder test durin this next week too ??

I just wanted to stop in and let ya'll know what I was doin and brag on myself a little for all the hard work I've been doin.. I hope I get some energy back soon cause there sure is a lot of shit I wanna do some HARD RANTIN on that has been happenin lately.. Has the world just gone completely fuggin NUTS lately ??

A Story For The Occasion

Here is somethin I got in an email a few years ago and I thought it was worth keepin, and now I thank it is worth sharin too..

OUR NATIONAL ANTHEM....IN GOD DO WE TRUST!

Unless you know all four stanzas of "The Star Spangled Banner" you may find
this most interesting. Perhaps most of you didn't realize what Francis Scott
Key's profession was or what he was doing on a ship. This is a good brush-up
on your history.

(Editor's Note- Near the end of his life, the great science fiction author
Isaac Asimov wrote a short story about the four stanzas of our national
anthem
However brief, this well-circulated piece is an eye opener from the dearly
departed doctor......) "I have a weakness -- I am crazy, absolutely nuts,
about our national anthem. The words are difficult and the tune is almost
impossible, but frequently when I'm taking a shower I sing it with as much
power
and emotion as I can. It shakes me up every time."

NO REFUGE COULD SAVE: BY DR. ISAAC ASIMOV

I was once asked to speak at a luncheon. Taking my life in my hands, I
announced I was going to sing our national anthem -- all four stanzas.
This was
greeted with loud groans. One man closed the door to the kitchen, where
the
noise of dishes and cutlery was loud and distracting. "Thanks, Herb," I
said. "That's all right," he said. "It was at the request of the kitchen
staff."

I explained the background of the anthem and then sang all four stanzas.
Let me tell you, those people had never heard it before -- or had never
really
listened. I got a standing ovation. But it was not me; it was the anthem.
More recently, while conducting a seminar, I told my students the story of
the
anthem and sang all four stanzas. Again there was a wild ovation and
prolonged applause. And again, it was the anthem and not me. So now let
me tell
you how it came to be written.

In 1812, the United States went to war with Great Britain, primarily over
freedom of the seas. We were in the right. For two years, we held off the
British, even though we were still a rather weak country. Great Britain
was in
a life and death struggle with Napoleon. In fact, just as the United
States
declared war, Napoleon marched off to invade Russia. If he won, as
everyone
expected, he would control Europe, and Great Britain would be isolated. It
was no time for her to be involved in an American war.

At first, our seamen proved better than the British. After we won a battle
on Lake Erie in 1813, the American commander, Oliver Hazard Perry, sent the
message, "We have met the enemy, and they are ours." However, the weight
of
the British navy beat down our ships eventually. New England, hard-hit by
a
tightening blockade, threatened secession.

Meanwhile, Napoleon was beaten in Russia and in 1814 was forced to
abdicate.
Great Britain now turned its attention to the United States, launching a
three-pronged attack. The northern prong was to come down Lake Champlain
toward
New York and seize parts of New England. The southern prong was to go up
the Mississippi, take New Orleans, and paralyze the west. The central
prong
was to head for the Mid-Atlantic States and then attack Baltimore, the
greatest
port south of New York. If Baltimore was taken, the nation, which still
hugged the Atlantic coast, could be split in two. The fate of the United
States, then, rested to a large extent on the success or failure of the
central
prong.

The British reached the American coast, and on August 24, 1814, took
Washington, DC. Then they moved up the Chesapeake Bay toward Baltimore.
On
September 12, they arrived and found 1,000 men in Fort McHenry, whose guns
controlled the harbor. If the British wished to take Baltimore, they would
have to
take the fort. On one of the British ships was an aged physician, William
Beans, who had been arrested in Maryland and brought along as a prisoner.
Francis Scott Key, a lawyer and friend of the physician, had come to the
ship to
negotiate his release.

The British captain was willing, but the two Americans would have to wait.
It was now the night of September 13, and the bombardment of Fort McHenry
was
about to start. As twilight deepened, Key and Beans saw the American flag
flying over Fort McHenry. Through the night, they heard bombs bursting and
saw the red glare of rockets. They knew the fort was resisting and the
American
flag was still flying. But toward morning the bombardment ceased, and a
dread silence fell. Either Fort McHenry had surrendered and the British
flag
flew above it, or the bombardment had failed and the American flag still
flew.

As dawn began to brighten the eastern sky, Key and Beans stared out at the
fort, trying to see which flag flew over it. He and the physician must
have
asked each other over and over, "Can you see the flag?"

After it was all finished, Key wrote a four stanza poem telling the events
of the night. Called "The Defense of Fort McHenry," it was published in
newspapers and swept the nation. Someone noted that the words fit an old
English
tune called, "To Anacreon in Heaven" -- a difficult melody with an
uncomfortably large vocal range. For obvious reasons, Key's work became
known as "The
Star Spangled Banner," and in 1931 Congress declared it the official anthem
of the United States.

Now that you know the story, here are the words. Presumably, the old
doctor
is speaking This is what he asks Key:

*Oh! Say, can you see, by the dawn's early light, what so proudly we
hailed
at the twilight's last gleaming? Whose broad stripes and bright stars,
through the perilous fight, O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly
streaming? And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof
thro'
the night that our flag was still there. Oh! Say, does that Star-Spangled
Banner yet wave, O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
*
("Ramparts," in case you don't know, are the protective walls or other
elevations that surround a fort.) The first stanza asks a question. The
second
gives an answer:

*On the shore, dimly seen thro' the mist of the deep Where the foe's
haughty
host in dread silence reposes, What is that which the breeze, o'er the
towering steep, As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses? Now it
catches the gleam of the morning's first beam, in full glory reflected, now
shines
on the stream 'Tis the star-spangled banner. Oh! Long may it wave O'er
the
land of the free and the home of the brave!
*
("The towering steep" is again, the ramparts. The bombardment has failed,
and the British can do nothing more but sail away, their mission a failure.
In the third stanza I feel Key allows himself to gloat over the American
triumph. In the aftermath of the bombardment, Key probably was in no mood
to act
otherwise. During World War I when the British were our staunchest allies,
this third stanza was not sung. However, I know it, so here it is:)

*And where is that band who so dauntingly swore that the havoc of war and
the battle's confusion a home and a country should leave us no more? Their
blood
has washed out their foul footstep's pollution. No refuge could save the
hireling and slave from the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave, and
the
Star-Spangled Banner in triumph doth wave O'er the land of the free and the
home of the brave.
*
(The fourth stanza, a pious hope for the future, should be sung more slowly
than the other three and with even deeper feeling):

*Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand Between their loved homes
and the war's desolation, Blest with victory and peace, may the
Heaven-rescued
land Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation. Then
conquer
we must, for our cause is just, and this be our motto --"In God is our
trust"
And the Star-Spangled Banner in triumph doth wave O'er the land of the free
and the home of the brave.
* I hope you will look at the national anthem with new eyes. Listen to it,
the next time you have a chance, with new ears. Pay attention to the words.
And don't let them ever take it away ... not one word of it.
AND IT'S SUNG IN ENGLISH !!!

From John Mark Reynolds

from here:
http://www.scriptoriumdaily.com/2007/06/27/patriotism-and-the-christian/

Patriotism and the Christian

John Mark Reynolds

06.27.2007

The love of country is an excellent school for the soul.

Patriotism is a good measure of the maturity of a man. Young men of our era are often too self-centered to love country, old men too cynical, and all of us have been taught that self-interest and self-esteem trump the needs of the community. Find a true patriot and you will find a man with virtue.

Amongst Christian academics, especially in Christian colleges, it has become almost fashionable to mock patriotism. Sadly, despite noble intentions much of the “religious right” leadership has failed, giving some semblance of justification to this scorn.

In the last few years, many Christians have become justly dissatisfied with aspects of the “religious right.” Too many of the self-appointed leaders of the movement have lacked a sophisticated understanding of Christian culture. This has led a few Christians to search for a “religious left,” but the general unwillingness of the left in the United States to defend traditional morality and the unborn make this move morally difficult.

The religious right had many successes, but too often it has been content to be on the defensive. It reacts to attacks on traditional American culture, sometimes confusing America with the broader culture of Christendom. The United States may choose to be part of a Christian civilization, but to her shame in areas such as slavery and abortion has not always done so. Prophetic voices from Christ’s kingdom helped end slavery and continue to attack the culture of death, but sometimes these voices have been too muted.

Christians on the left are too proud to be patriots and Christians on the right are often too uncritical of the nation. America runs the risk of having the liabilities of an association with Christendom without the benefits . . . since in this decade America has been ruthlessly attacked by enemies who make no distinction between the two.

Make no mistake. The 9/11 terrorists hate America for her virtues as well as her vices.

If the United States were more consistently part of Christendom, if the nation was perfectly in harmony with Christian civilization, then Islamic fascists would hate America all the more. It is true that part of what these radicals hate is Western decadence.

But what if, by some miracle, a golden age dawned and all American sins vanished? Flourishing Christian universities full of women who wished to serve the world in the name of Christ Jesus would be equally offensive to these terrorists. To the extent that all the Western nations remain part of Christendom, they will remain in danger.

Some attempt to “get out” of the conflict by abandoning their nation and living as if Heaven had already come to earth.

This is a false and treasonous option.

The City of God is not yet in our midst fully and so Christians have a duty to the nation that maintains virtue in this life. Until Christ comes to bring His perfect Kingdom to the Earth, we have a dual citizenship. We cannot love the City to come if we have not learned to love the city we see now. Augustine could see the sins of Rome and still weep to see it fall to the barbarians.

The barbarians have sacked the city we call home. They have killed the innocent. Justice demands action. Forgiveness is the task of individuals, not institutions. I can forgive those who offend me. Nations cannot.

Christians cannot retreat from the world in order to save it. Biola has always understood this lesson. There has not been a just cause in the city of man in the ninety-year history of this institution that has not seen sons and daughters of Alma Mater act. So it must be this time.

Of course, we are more than citizens of the earthly city. Our first allegiance is elsewhere. Patriotism, the love of country is a lesser love. There are greater loves, including the love of our Sovereign God, which is the love to which all loves point. Patriotism, properly understand, is the love of the city and of her just laws that points us to the greater City and the great Law Giver.

We might think of patriotism then as a kindergarten of love. If we cannot love our nation, from which we have received so many tangible benefits, how will we love a God that we have not seen?

But aren’t we called to be global Christians? What of the great missionary heroes who loved the world more than their own nation? What of them?

Some special souls are called to love a people not their own. This is safest (I have noticed) when they first have learned to love their own folk.

I dare not claim to be so developed in my love of God. Some may be able to love their neighbor so well that they can move on and love somebody else’s neighbor, but not I still find it hard to love the guy next door!

There is a great danger in the walk of faith in pretending to virtue we do not have.

For most of us, doing our duty to country is a first step in the harder obedience of the love of God. Those who have mastered the graduate levels of love are beyond our reckoning. They are the men who move beyond this little love of place and time, to embrace the world.

Most of us pretend to this greatness so we can avoid the hard disciplines of the lesser love.

So, we must love the city to which we are called. Most men must love God and their own home country. For most me (and for many of my readers), this country is the United States of America.

Never trust a man who is not saintly, but who cannot love his people.

It is good to be reminded what is at stake in the War we now fight.

The United States is a nation governed by an ideology that is part of the West. To its very core this Western civilization is one of Christendom’s proudest achievements. This very idea, the West, is under attack and it is the duty of all Christians (including those not in the West) to rally around it and save what can be and should be saved.

So again: we are faced with a question, “How can we live in this dangerous time? How can the barbarians at the gate be turned aside? How can the West be saved?”

Oddly, I believe the answer must lie in rejecting falsehoods so many of us have been taught. We have been taught that cynicism is wisdom. We have learned to despise our fathers and mock those in authority over us. We have been taught that the clever student is also the one who “sees through” his elders. Too often, we deny our home and heritage with the pride that says, “We know better than they did.”

Such an attitude cannot help us through the days ahead. In dark days, it is fatal to individuals and to the community that holds it. Scripture warns us that those who despise God’s leaders and forget their heritage do so at their own peril.

Cynicism seems to work well in times of peace. It is cool . . . and our medium of choice, television, is a cool medium. The cynic risks nothing. The cynic never faces betrayal, for he has no cause. He never faces pain, because there is nothing he loves. Of course, the cynic is actually impotent. It is the believer that dares to dream and build. But in times of peace, the cynic can live like a parasite, mocking the believers from a safe distance. Our bitter little hearts can mock with impunity; our humorless, selfish souls can find a bastard joy in ridicule.

Not for us the true pain and true joy of the builder, the believer. We are “wiser” than that.

But of course, this is no more a time of trial than any other time! We only more clearly recognize the battle, not ultimately against flesh and blood, that we always face. Our cynicism in peacetime has left us in danger of being unable to believe in the victory of justice in a dark time.

The way forward for us as a people, as Christian educators, is to remind ourselves first of who we are and how we got to this place. We need once more to honor the fathers and the sacred places of God’s providential actions in our lives and in our nation. Only then, having restored the memory of these great things to our minds, can we know the way forward.

How do we know this? The lesson is all around us. Who does not know the insanity of the college student who tries to outgrow his parents by pretending he has none? You cannot escape your heritage. We can build on the faith of our fathers, change as a result of it, reject what is evil in it, but we cannot live as if it were not real.

comment: Happy 4th everybody..

Its All Comin Together Now

Itried my latest batch of homebrew and it is now ready for "prime time" and I canned 2 gallons of salsa yesterday and the ribs are ready to marinade and I got a coupla big steaks to grill too.. From the looks of it tho its gonna be rainy and soggy so figger its gonna be much of a get together after all.. It aint gonna rain forever(Ihope) and we will still get to us a good time sooner or later..

The Mrs. started whinin when she saw how many jalepenos I was gonna put in it so I left out a bunch of em and now my salsa is kinda whimpy !! I can still stir in some cayene pepper before I serve it tho and it wont be quiet so whimpy..

I dont know what the problem was with my cilantro.. It had a darker and milder taste than I am used to cilantro tastin like.. It aint bad, but just not the same.. It may just not be as fresh as I'm used to..

But I did get rid of a shitload of my tamaters that I have had stuck all over the house.. All the window sills have been full and pansfull on the washin machine and dryer in the laundry room and there wadnt a spare inch of counter space and we have a huge, long counter..

I didnt let any "lips and assholes" get into my salsa either !! Thats my term for stuff that gets thrown into products you buy, like bologna and hot dogs.. I culled every little hard piece of tamater and any tuff skin on the onion and cleaned all the seeds and white membrane out of the peppers and trimmed all the stems and wilted bits off the cilantro.. So it was all good stuff I pur in my salsa.. I used the ripest of my tamaters too so it has a rich mater taste and smell to it.. My limes wadnt as ripe as I would have liked but they wadnt real hard either..

Anybody else make homemade salsa and have some special ingredients that you add to it ??

I Could'nt Live Like That

THIS post at Belmont Club, in the blogroll just really gets my hackles up !! The comments to it pisses me off real bad.. You ever see a bunch so damn scared of the WILD ??

That bunch there talk about the critters we around here deal with on a regular basis like we talk about The Concrete Jungle they deal with.. But I trust the critters we deal with a lot more than the critters they deal with !!

From the comments I come to the conclusion that they are speakin from what they have read in books more than what is "gathered" knowledge of the wild..

I have sat and watched the deer and wild hogs on one side of me while I could hear the sounds of the populated world on the other.. I've listened to the coyotes call till it was drowned out by the honkin of horns and the screechin of tires..

From the comments at Belmont Club I would guess the commenters would be more at home in the confines of conditioned and filtered air that they would in the fresh natural breeze.. Nope.. I dont thank I could live like that..

Everythang Is On Hold

The Champaign of Bottled Homebrews

A lady that is in my Yahoo Group has a husband that is a SOF Troop that is currently on his 4th tour of Iraq.. He worked hard enuff to impress somebody with a buncha brass on their collar and got a few days R&R home..

I had planned to have a batch of Homecomin Homebrew ready when he got here and have it delivered along with some fresh garden veggies to welcome him home and show some appreciation for what he does for us..

As could be expected, the weather screwed the Homecomin Homebrew and it didnt get bottled in time..

I talked to her and explained the situation and told her that I had a special coupla bottles left from my last batch, but seems that she aint too worried about the homebrew right now..

So, I'm sittin here today havin a bottle of that last batch I saved and havin a ceegar with it, and DAMN, it sure is good..

I plan on poppin a top on a bottle of the new batch too before the day is over.. That is if this first bottle dont knock my lights out !! This last batch rates right up there at the top of some of the best I have ever made.. Its stout and tart enuff to make your tongue water after havin a sip and dont leave an after-taste like store-bought beer does..

This is the kinda brew that you drank from a cup, like the "mountain shiners" do you see in the old movies.. You dont neccesarily have to wear the overalls when you drank it, but it does add a little "ambiance" to the occasion..

This damn weather sure is playin hell with all my plans I try to make.. I've been plannin a day or 2 at the farm to get caught up on my mowin and tillin but with it rainin damn-near every day it makes it hard to get anythang done.. I barely get to mow the yard here at home while the grass is, at least, almost dry enuff to mow without cloggin the mower between rains.. Yep, we are havin rain and thunder again today too.. Had a good shower yesterday afternoon but I thought that if it just rained a little and cleared up this mornin that I would still be able to go to the farm this afternoon and get somethin done, but it has persisted in keepin on rain for the last coupla hours now.. Gonna be too wet to do any mowin today now..

I've got my chain hoist loaded on my trailer now and I need to find another tree to hang it in.. I've had it in the big peecan tree in the front yard for about 10 years but the old peecan tree, the same one that has been fallin down, finally rotted the big limb I had the hoist hangin in and I parked my trailer under it and sure enuff it feel onto the trailer the other day.. I dont have any more trees big enuff here at the house to hang my hoist in that are anywhere that I can still use it so I figger I will just hang it in a tree at the farm.. I've got plenty of big oaks out there that will be strong enuff to pick up just about anythang I wanna pick up..

Now understand that this aint no small hoist.. Its a 30 TON hoist and weighs about 500 lbs. !! It aint gonna be an easy task gettin that big sucker hung in a tree out there.. The tree limb that I would like to hang it in is about 20 feet up and I aint figgered out how I would get it up that high yet.. Just another one of my projects that has been put on hold cause of all the rain..

The Mrs. has plans for me to produce a batch of my famous bbq ribs for the holiday, one day this week.. She plans on makin some tater salad too with em and I guess I'll make a pan of baked beans to go with all that .. Kinda hard to have ribs and tater salad and then not have baked beans with it.. Just wouldnt be "proper", as my daddy would say.. And never can tell, I might just get energetic and stir up a big bowl of cole slaw so the tater salad and baked beans dont get lonesome..

My neighbor-buddy, Billy, is havin a birthday July 4th too and we usually invite him down to join us and celebrate with a few coldbeers but he is supposed to be goin to she his gravely ill sister in Indiana either today or tomoro..

Last year we still had our "house guest" with us and Sherry and her husband came over and Billy and Gunny stopped by and joined us too..

The Mrs. aint said nothin bout whether anybody has said anythang about joinin us this year.. Billy is probably not gonna be here and our house guest aint welcome here anymore and neither is Gunny.. Its our turn to visit Sherry so dont know if they will come or not.. But we live here on the Main Drag in town and you never can tell who will drive by and decide to stop and visit, specially if they see me cookin and grillin and sippin !!

If anybody happens to be in the neighborhood, ya'll stop by !!