Brilliant Satire of Cable News Drivel

The Onion is one of my favorite sources of satirical humor. If you are the politically correct type, this video may not be your cup of tea. I think it is a brilliant satire of cable t.v.'s inocuous drivel. Be sure to notice "What's Ahead this hour" at the end of the video.

The Way It Is

This post by Fred Thompson is such a breath of fresh air to me. He has a real ability to communicate clearly. He asks us to consider how we would react if our citizens were daily bombarded by rocket attacks from Mexico into San Diego or from Canada into Buffalo. Would we respond as gingerly as Israel, whose country is being hit daily by rockets fired from Gaza? Then he goes on to point out that the stakes will change dramatically if the world allows Iran to go nuclear. We so desparately need a man in the White House who can communicate clearly and effectively.

Then, I pick up today's Denver Post and read the idiotic statements made by Colorado's Democratic Senator Ken Salazar, who the Post says is speaking from the "Middle East," but, of course, the Post does not say where in the Middle East. He is quoted as saying the "U.S. needs to support Palestine as much as it supports Israel. There has to be an equality of treatment there."

So, even if we had an effective communicator in the White House, we would still have jackasses like Salazar and the politically correct media who would support the Democrats no matter what.

Venezuela, Where We Are Watching Freedom Disappear

"Freedom is dying a little bit each day." "It's a little late to do much about it." "Some internet sites are now being blocked. We knew this would happen as well."

What is most bizarre to me...I check the USA news, and all I see is stuff about Lohan, Sheehan, Paris Hilton... is that really news worthy? Is that all people really care about? How about the 182 students arrested here for protesting? What about the minors who were yanked from their parents and detained here in Venezuela? What about the shooters roaming the streets?

These are some quotes from Jungle Mom as she posts today about what is happening in Venezuela. Please keep her in your prayers. Her blog is here

Simple as ABC

Mr. President:
A plus B = C. A = September 11, 2001. B = Secure Borders. C = Happy Conservative Base. Now you know your ABCs, next time won't you sing with me?

Never Give Up

Decent young people honor an American hero.

The Latest From the U.N.: Quick, Cover It Up!

From the BBC:

Pakistani UN peacekeeping troops have traded in gold and sold weapons to Congolese militia groups they were meant to disarm, the BBC has learnt. These militia groups were guilty of some of the worst human rights abuses during the Democratic Republic of Congo's long civil war. The trading went on in 2005. A UN investigative team sent to gather evidence was obstructed and threatened.

The team's report was buried by the UN itself to "avoid political fallout".

Richard Ndilu, in charge of immigration at Mongbwalu airstrip, became suspicious in late 2005 when an Indian businessman arrived there and went to stay at the camp of the Pakistani peacekeepers. Alerted to this illegal trade by her officials, the District Commissioner of Ituri, Petronille Vaweka, went to Bunia airport to intercept a plane from Mongbwalu. She said her way was blocked by Congolese army officers, who refused to allow her to inspect the cargo.

"I knew they had gold because the price of gold increased when the Indians went to Mongwalu," she said. "When we wanted to verify what was inside the plane the pilot refused to allow us to enter the plane - me who was the chief, he refused! It was a big scandal."

The Rich Are Getting Richer, But So Are the Poor!

Gateway Pundit brings us this story from the Washington Post:

The bottom fifth of families with children, whose average income in 2005 was $16,800, enjoyed a larger percentage increase in income from 1991 to 2005 than all other groups except the top fifth. Despite the recession of 2001, the bottom fifth had a 35 percent increase in income (adjusted for inflation), compared with around 20 percent for the second, third and fourth fifths. (The top fifth had about a 50 percent increase.)

Hey, What's the Problem, Donald Trump Made a Buck, Didn't He?

Apparently there was an incident this week involving more hostility toward the United States of America. Who was doing the hating? Mexicans, at the Miss Universe contest in Mexico City. Michelle Malkin reports the details here.

A Matter of Respect?

The following occurred in the United States of America in February.

During a game between the US and Mexico February 15, the US soccer team was not only booed and jeered throughout the entire game by Mexican fans, but were continually pelted with water, beer and in some cases solid objects like fruit from the over 60,000 fans in attendance.

One player was hit during with a water balloon during a corner kick attempt. As the team left the field at the end of both halves, beer and other debris rained down on them as they tried to run through the tunnel to their locker room. Mexico's fans in the end got the best of Uncle Sam as the Mexican national team defeated the US, 1-0.

This type of behavior is nothing new in Mexico, England, most of Europe, or any other Latin American countries. Home nations make it a matter of habit to act like idiots to visiting teams, and this incident was no different; except that it happened in Los Angeles, California!

Now, the rivalry between these two national teams has become pretty heated as the US has become a somewhat meager soccer power of sorts, but what happened in this case is completely inexcusable because it happened on America's own soil.

The Mexican fans outnumbered American fans about 100 to 1 in Los Angeles. They made it impossible for American fans to support their team. Boos and whistles drowned out the National Anthem and beer and water rained down on the players as they stood to salute the flag.

Not only were American players harrassed the entire game, but American fans as well. One group of fans attempted to unroll an American flag but were hit with oranges and cans of beers until they had to roll the flag back up for fear of their lives.

The entire incident should be a matter of national disgrace, but has hardly gotten one minute of attention in the media. What's happening here? Why? The one question I would like answered is, if these people hate the US so much, why did they risk their lives to get here? And why was coverage of this avoided? Fear of racism? Is it racist to point out that this is unacceptable behaviour?

I am not suggesting that anyone blindly accept all American ideals and opinions like Nazis. But when the apparent contempt of the Mexican fans for their chosen nation threatens the health and well-being of others, it is clear a problem exists. Freedom of speech hardly covers pelting people with beer and oranges, or stopping others from expressing their views. . .does it?

I know I might be making some people pretty mad, but I really don't care. While the American wrestling team was visiting Iran they were welcomed with standing ovations. Meanwhile, the Mexican fans in this country felt it necessary to throw beer at our soccer players on our own soil.

This isn't a "freedom of expression" issue, but a matter of respect for an adopted home. God bless America.

The story quoted above appeared in the blog Chalk Lines: Issues in Sports and Society. I obtained it via the Powerline blog

World Fatness

How do you think we compare with all of the other countries of the world? Yep, we are the fattest. Click here to see a cute graphic that compares us with twenty-six other countries on the percentage of the population older than fifteen with a body mass index greater than thirty (We are the only one)!

When Did We Become Racists?

Have you noticed the tactics being used to try to shut up people who are opposed to the Bush/Kennedy amnesty plan? Rather than use facts, proponents like John McCain angrily shout "fuck you" to Senators like John Cronin of Texas who raise questions about the bill. Others strongly imply that Americans who decry illegal immigration are racists or "nativists." The key word here, Mr. President, is illegal. These immigrants are starting their careers in the United States by coming here illegally. Your bill gives them the legal right to stay here, in other words, amnesty!

Here are some facts. Family values? Fifty percent of Hispanic babies are born out of wedlock. Forty-seven percent of Hispanics drop out of school and do not finish high school. Here in Denver fewer than one in five Hispanic boys who were in in eighth grade in 2001 graduated from high school five years later. Hispanic youth in urban areas are often involved in gang activity. Hispanics have the highest teen fertility rates in the nation. Our nation's urban general hospitals are overwhelmed with Hispanics using emergency rooms whenever they are sick, and dominating labor and delivery rooms. Child welfare programs are dealing mostly with abused and neglected Hispanic children. Who pays the hospital and child welfare bills? The American taxpayers.

Enforce the laws, Mr. President. Protect the sovereignty of the United States. Respect those of us who do believe in the rule of law. Remember us, Mr. President? We are the ones who elected you...twice! Were we racists and nativists then?

It's About Building Voting Blocs

The glass is half-empty, with a crack in it. And some sort of green fungus growing on the rim. And the liquid inside has a really bad smell.

So begins a post at
Mostly Cajun, All American and Opinionated. You may not share his pessimism, but he will make you think; I guarantee it.

Endlessly Circling the Globe in Pursuit of Cash and Adulation

Webutante brings us information about a new book about Bill Clinton called The Clinton Crack-Up. It looks like a must read. Here's a quote:

Clinton's fundamental problem is low character, not high testosterone."

For all his emotional abuse of his wife, however, Bubba has given her something more useful to a candidate than string bikinis, the sympathetic role of deceived wife. We paid a lot for it."

Once Again, the Gipper’s Spirit Has Triumphed.

The Colorado Conservative Project has posted here a wonderful tribute by Michael Reagan to his father. It is about the diaries Mr. Reagan kept while in the White House.

Traitorous Bastards

The New York Times remembered Memorial Day. They printed one of the most vicious, distorted anti-troops story yet. I saw the story because another blog I have recently discovered, Invincible Armor, linked to it with an appropriate comment.

Tried and True

A blog I have recently discovered is The Cook Shack--Gab & Grub. Cookie knows a lot, because he has seen a lot, and his recipes are dependable. His Memorial Day tribute video was excellent. Please go tell him hello.

Sometimes A Guy Just Can't Win

It seems that one of the problems of Islamists living in the twenty-first century is what to do about situations when an adult woman is working in a room with an adult male to whom she is not related, which is against Islamic law. To try to be helpful, out of true compassion for women in these situations, the Head of the Hadith Department at Egypt's Al Azhar University, Dr. Izzat Atiyya, issued a fatwa: if the woman would just breastfeed the man or men to whom she is not related, she would automatically become related to the man or men, and, therefore, in compliance withIslamic law.

The fatwa caused quite a storm, and Dr. Atiyya retracted it and apologized. But his apology was not accepted. He was dismissed from his position. See what happens when a guy just tries to be helpful?

Via Memri

Update: Go here to find more Islamist hypocrisy.

Losing Freedom

On this Memorial Day let us keep in our prayers the people of Venezuela, who are losing freedoms, because of the despicable dictator Hugo Chavez. His latest act was to shut down the most popular t.v. station. One courageous blogger in Venezuela may be found here.

Utterly Incompetent

Of all the incompetent newspapers in America, the Minneapolis Star Tribune may be the worst. As you probably know, recently they removed James Lileks from his columnist job, and asked him to be a reporter. Two days ago, they topped even that bungle. They ran a story from August, 2006 about Israel attacking Hezbollah in Tyre, Lebanon, but they gave the story the date of May 25, 2007! Via Little Green Footballs.

$500,000.00 for a Permit to Drive a Cab?

George Will has a good post that reveals some surprising facts. Do you know how much it costs to get a permit to drive a cab in New York City? $500,000.00! Of course, people with that kind of money do not drive cabs; they lease the permit to cabbies at exhorbitant rates. One such cabbie came to America from Equador. After trying to survive driving a cab in New York City, he decided to move to Minneapolis, where the permit fee is "only" $25,000.00! Both New York and Minneapolis, being liberal strongholds, set a cap many years ago on just how many permits each city could allow. New York's was set in 1937, while Minneapolis had set their cap in the 1940s, when Hubert Humphrey was mayor.

The immigrant from Equador, named Luis Paucar, decided to challenge his adopted country, through a lawsuit, to honor its principles of economic liberty and limited government. His actions persuaded the Minneaplis City council to allow 45 new cabs a year until 2010, at which point the cap will disappear. However, the story is not over. The cab companies who have been enjoying the fruits of the exclusive permits are suing in federal court, saying that their constitutional rights have been violated.

Will ends his piece with this statement: Some immigrants, with their acute understanding of why America beckons, refresh our national vigor. It would be wonderful if every time someone like Paucar comes to America, a native-born American rent-seeker who has been corrupted by today's entitlement mentality would leave.
Read the whole column here.

Yes, They Come In Purple

Purple columbines

Don't Tread On Ted!

Via Say Uncle

A Beautiful Memorial Day Video and Prayer

Mrs. Who, at The House of Zathras, has posted a beautiful Memorial Day tribute. Of course, that she would do that is no surprise at all to those of us who are privileged to know her.

Respecting Authority? Discipline? Protecting the Innocent?

I am so excited about an article I read today in the Denver Post of all places, and, by a lawyer, of all professions! Robert Hardaway is a professor of law at Denver University. He is the author of a book entitled America Goes To School: Law, Reform, and Crisis in Public Education.

Which country in the world would you guess consistently has the students who score highest on international tests? I'll give you some clues. Students in this country are often asked to do janitorial chores. They do not have carpets, counselors, or cafeterias in their schools. Despite the fact that they have a higher cost of living than here in America, they spend about one-third per student as we do in America. It is not unusual for them to have 40-45 students in a classroom. Their textbooks are cheap paperbacks costing less than one dollar each. Even their school libraries are poorly stocked. The answer: Japan!

Which country ranks highest in self esteem and the number of hours students spend watching t.v.? Yes, you guessed it, the United States. We come in nineteenth out of twenty countries studied in scores on international achievement tests! Spending, however, on education in the United States exceeds that of any other country on earth.

Okay now, which state has the highest scores on the SAT? I'll give you a hint. This state practices solid American values of hard work and close-knit families. They rank 27th in per-pupil expenditures. No, it is not Utah, which is dead last in per-pupil expenditures, but came in fourth on the SATs. It is Iowa!

Okay, if the problem is not lack of money, then what is it? Mr. Hardway says that the problem is that our public schools refuse to grant authority to teachers to discipline students or protect innocent students from disruptive ones! Authority? Discipline? Protecting the innocent? In the ultra liberal Denver Post? By a lawyer? What is this world coming to? Read the whole thing here.

What is Not Included in the News Media's Stories About Illegal Immigration.

I just got a call from the young woman who lives across the street. Her son plays with our sons. She told me that "someone" broke the leg of her sister's eight-month-old daughter, who is now in foster care, after spending some time in Children's Hospital. I asked her who did that to the little girl. "Well," she said, "The man my sister lives with has fled. We think he may have gone back to Mexico." Needless to say, he was here illegally.

Something you don't hear about in the news: illegals coming here and getting American young women pregnant. For example, the little girl we have been caring for since June has a father who was an illegal immigrant. As soon as he found out that he had impregnated the retarded American woman, he returned back to his wife and children in Mexico. The American woman then proceeded to break the leg of her daughter in February, 2006, which is when the little girl first came to live with us. The system found a relative, who cared for her until June, and we got her back in June, very obese (wearing size three clothes at age six months). She is now a size two and will be twenty months old in a little over one week. In September the young American woman gave birth to a son, whose father is a different person here illegally from Mexico, and is a drug addict.

Of course, Denver is a sanctuary city run by Democratic politicians and liberal administrators of all the various services. These politicians depend on the Hispanic vote, which was 63% Democratic in the last election. The system ignores the fact that the father of a baby in the child welfare system is in the country illegally. The American taxpayers pay the hospital bills, the bill for the father's drug addiction treatment, the caseworkers, the case aides who supervise visits, the foster parents, the supervisors, and on and on and on.

What Happened to McCain and Giuliani?

Mitt Romney has moved into first place in both Iowa and New Hampshire. He is definitely a candidate we should be paying attention to. Here is an article that tells some things about him that I did not know. He is definitely a leader willing to put bold ideas into action.

How Can You Remember Something You've Never Learned?

Fred Thompson writes here about Memorial Day and loving America.

Thanking Those Who Protect Us

I know it is Memorial Day weekend, but we also need to remember those who are protecting us now in places like Iraq and Afghanistan.
This one will tug on your heart.
Via The Cook Shack Gab & Grub

Panderers

The Iraq war spending bill passed yesterday. Senators Clinton and Obama voted against funding our troops, as they attempt to placate the alive and kickin' McGovern wing of the Democratic party. Not to be outdone in the quest for the support of the extreme left, former Senator John Edwards is urging people to "use" Memorial Day as an opportunity to express anti-war sentiments.

A Beautiful Beginning to Memorial Day Weekend

For My Texas Friends, Gayle and MizzE

Snow On The Mountain

A Hungry Visitor

If you click on the image, you will see a deer right in the center of the photo, just below the house.

Dad, These Don't Smell as Good AsThey Look!

Dad, This Grass Is Taller Than I Am!

Snowball Bush

Appropriately named for Colorado.

School Is Out; Time For Creative Play!

Mexicans Are Not The Only Ones Who Want To Come Here

Here is a reporter worthy of the name. Via Laura Ingraham

Update: MizzE emails us these photos of the restaurant and square mentioned in the article!

You Just Never Know What To Expect

An hour after being tucked in for bed, three-year-old Sara came walking out to the living room completely naked, and said, "I don't know what to do with myself, Mommy." Of course, Colleen replied, "That makes two of us, honey."

Never Despair

I listened to Congressman Tom Tancredo on talk radio this morning. He actually seemed optimistic that when the Senators and Congresspeople return to their home states for the Memorial Day break, they will realize that there is massive, overwhelming opposition from voters to the proposed amnesty bill for illegal immigrants. Tancredo believes there is now at least a "fifty-fifty chance" that the bill will die due to politicians being fearful for their future job security! Ben was right: never despair! Just enforce the laws already on the books!

Suicide Bombing Gets An Okay

Talk radio is abuzz about a Pew Research poll of Muslim Americans. 26% of Muslim Americans under age thirty believe suicide bombing is okay! Those same Muslim Americans vote Democratic 6 to 1 over Republican.

Hey Hugo Baby, I Don't Think You Want To Go There

You'll never believe what Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez is contemplating.

The Least of These...

Even the smallest wildflowers are appreciated after such a long winter.

Sons Of Liberty

More Irises

I just have to take pictures of these complex iris flowers. The daisy seems curious, too.

A Hardy Friend

I don't know the names of these blue flowers (I think it is Salvia), but they are among the hardiest in my garden. My neighbors say it aint nothin but a weed, but I think it is pretty.

The Flowers Will Have To Wait

In the posts that follow this one, you will see that I really enjoy flower gardening. Yesterday we went out to walk the property we have a contract offer on in the rolling hill country southeast of Denver. I was somewhat overwhelmed, because the weeds are waist high in places, a result of the record snowfall we had last winter. I guess I will be in the market for one of those riding mowers, because it is 3.6 acres. Of course, we will have horses, so they will be happy there. We will have to learn which weeds are poisonous to the horses. We will also have goats, but they eat the bark off of trees, so we will have to keep them in a fenced area, because I have a feeling the trees will be very appreciated and highly prized. The whole idea of the move to the country is my wife's life-long dream. She is convinced it will be a great place for the kids, and I did notice that Linebacker Dude seemed very happy. We had not one hint of a behavior problem from him yesterday.

Update: I just got a voice mail from Colleen saying she has a solution to the tall grass and weed problem. That's it, no other words on the message. I'll just have to wait to hear her idea.

Update 2: Colleen found a place that rents a mower that can do an acre per hour. Thirty bucks for the first hour, and sixteen bucks for each additonal hour. Sounds good to me.

Columbine

The delicate, frail pink columbine pleads, "Please, no more hail!"

Knock Your Socks Off

Brilliant fuschia dianthus suddenly appear.

Something Different

These bergundy iris plants add a truly unusual color to the late spring garden.

Oriental Poppies

Oriental poppies are vivid welcomers of summer. Don't take them for granted, though, or they will disappear before you have fully appreciated their beauty!

Colorful clematis

It is hard to beat clematis vines for brilliant colors!

Our New Immigration Bill

Hispanics vote Democratic 63% of the time. The Democrats just got at least 63% of twelve to twenty million new voters. The rich Republicans who control Republican politicians just got a whole bunch of legal cheap workers for their corporations. Since the Republican party will now be defunct if this bill becomes law, I think we will see the rise of a third party to represent those of us who are not Democrats or rich Republicans.

The Death of Reverend Falwell

By now most of you know Jerry Falwell has died. You probably also have heard who is under investigation.
Update: Ann Coulter has a wonderful tribute to Jerry Falwell here, and she also goes to great lengths to explain the media history of Tinky Winky.Update By reading conservative blogs since his death, I have learned many things about Jerry Falwell that I did not know. Here is a very heartfelt remembrance.

My Mom and Dad

My mom was a child of the Great Depression. She was one of five daughters of a woman who was for all practical purposes, a single mom. Grandma was married, but grandpa was a gambler, who did not stay at home for any length of time. Those facts really shaped my mom.

When mom met my dad, both were college students at the University of Iowa. She wanted to make sure he would be dependable, a hard worker, someone she could rely on. They were engaged for five years before they finally tied the knot.

My dad was the oldest of four brothers and two sisters. When he was a boy he found his father in a river bank. His father had just fatally shot himself. My mother finally told me about it when I was a teenager, but made me promise never to talk to dad about it. She was trying to help me understand why dad had bouts of sadness.

If it was reliability and dependability she wanted, and it was, mom chose the right man in dad. After college he became a teacher, coach, and principal of a school in rural Iowa. When he was stricken with Rheumatic Fever, the school had to hire three people to replace him. Mom was so proud to tell that story to me again and again.

Dad went on to have a successful career as a life insurance salesman, selling almost exclusively to farmers. He was a district manager for a while, but couldn't stand the petty in-fighting of the salesman he had to supervise. He loved the freedom of getting in the Buick and hitting the dirt roads that separated Iowa's wonderful cornfields.

If mom wanted to instill in me a pride and respect for my dad, she was successful. I just wanted him to be as proud of me as I was of him. When I was three or four, he installed a basketball hoop in our basement, and we would play one-on-one. Later it became an obsession with me, as I played hour upon hour at a neighbor's hoop one-half block down the alley from my house. I set up tournaments, and I would be the play-by-play radio announcer, as well as the only player of all the games.

When I was a high school freshman my parents joined a golf club, and I soon had a new sport about which to become obsessed. Dad would take me to play in tournaments in the summer. He would shag balls for me while I warmed up for the day's competition. The two sports paid off for me in a full scholarship to college. I think dad was proud.

As you can tell, I was closer to my dad than to my mom. The depression just put such a stamp on her. She was incredibly frugal. She never discarded anything. If I was reading by a lamp, she would move me, chair and all, next to a window so I could read by God's light. I knew it had nothing to do with God, and everything to do with not using electricity.

But I always admired mom's spunk. Nobody could intimidate her. She did what she wanted to do and said what she wanted to say, any time, any where. In the summers she would spend hours tending her flower gardens, while dad tended his vegetable gardens. He was so proud of that garden, rightfully so. A vivid memory of mom is of her watering her prize roses, of which she was also rightfully proud.

Another thing dad was proud of was his prowess at hunting. He hunted pheasants in Iowa, but the duck and goose hunting of North Dakota in the winters were his true love. I never went duck or goose hunting with him, because it was basketball season, and because crawling several hundred yards on my belly in sub zero temperatures in snowy cornfields did not really interest me.

One time I did go pheasant hunting with my dad and his brother, who had been a tail-gunner in World War II. My uncle had the right rear window, and my dad the front passenger window. My job as a sixteen-year-old was to drive slowly along the dirt roads and wait for one of them to start screaming for me to stop, so they could shoot at one of those beautiful birds. We always had both duck and pheasant at Christmas and New Year's Eve.

Dad was a wonderful brother to all of his siblings. The one I just mentioned in the above paragraph was special to dad. I think dad felt badly for the experiences my uncle had fighting the Germans. Dad helped all of his siblings financially.

Social Services, Hornets, Mafia, and My Mom

In the 1970s I was Director of Human Services in La Plata County and San Juan County in beautiful southwestern Colorado in the towns of Durango and Silverton. I had a radio program called Senior Saturday. Each week I interviewed one of the many interesting senior citizens, and the program aired on the local CBS affiliate every Saturday morning.

One morning I was in the local nursing home, interviewing a 99-year-old woman, who had come to that part of the country in a covered wagon! I was interviewing her in her room at the nursing home. A man who had the room directly across the hall from hers came into the room while I was interviewing her. I saw the very large head of nursing grab the old man and push him back into his room.

The next day I gathered together all of the caseworkers who had clients at that nursing home. They told me that what I had seen was nothing unusual. I told them I was going to file a grievance with the state against the nursing home, and that if they knew of abuses, I expected them to file grievances, too. We ended up filing thirteen grievances. The nursing home lost its Medicaid funding. The local medical society came at me like a swarm of hornets. Lawyers in three piece suits came to Durango from the east coast. I learned that the corporation that owned the nursing home was a vending machine company out of Pennslyvania, and that it had Mafia ties.

Hearings went on for months and months. Eventually, the nursing home was cleaned up and became a first rate operation. I am thinking about this part of my life, because of Mothers Day. You see, my own mother came to live there, after suffering several strokes. Maybe someday I will tell you about my mother.

A Mothers Day Tribute Unlike Any You Will Ever See

Want to read a blog post that is absolutely riveting? Go here to read an incredibly honest man's tribute to his mother. He writes like this all the time, folks.

A Sure Sign That Spring Is About to Give Way To Summer

The vivid colors of clematis vines are beginning to appear.

A Story The Media Will Bury ASAP

Ben, at One Cosmos at Sea, brings us an important story that will surely be buried by the mainstream media. It will be buried because it vividly shows black on black crime. It will be buried because it shows a twenty-two-year-old viciously beating a ninety-one-year-old World War II veteran, so he can steal his car.

Make Room

Pine trees make room for a future linebacker and some baby aspens.

Mothers Day In The Mountains

Follow the roaring stream to the picturesque mountain reservoir. Vigilant mom watches five children constantly, no matter in which direction they romp. "Here, Dad, see if this one will skip!"

Pussy Willows Near a Serene Mountain Pond

Not quite up to the quality of robinstarfish, but, being inspired by her, I will continue to try.

Nothing like being in a mountain park right after a thunderstorm, or, as Sara calls them, "bunderstorms."

Tulips In the Mountains

Not as big as the ones at lower elevations, but tougher!

An Update on My Stepson

At least one of you has asked about my stepson. He is doing amazingly well. He is living with some dear friends of ours in a mountain community west of Boulder. We are about to take them some food and goodies. He has taken and passed his GED with flying colors, achieving two 99th percentiles, and the lowest he scored on the five tests was 95th percentile. He also took his ACT and scored in the top 24th percentile of graduating high school seniors. Not bad for a homeschooled tenth grader! He will start college this fall, and, believe it or not, he still plans on a career in law enforcement!

He will not be allowed to return home or be around the children in our family until he has completed his treatment program, which will be months from now. He has completed his psych evaluation, and, although we have not yet seen it, his therapist says it indicates he is "very low risk" of reoffending. He took the polygraph test Thursday, and we have not had the results of that either. If the polygraph correlates with the psych eval, then his treatment program will be focused on respecting boundaries. Colleen said the polygraph examiner looked like he, himself, had been through a ringer after the test. I told her I knew the
feeling (spending two hours interrogating any teenager is enough to age one a few years)!

So, now that all of the children have been interviewed, we move on to the next phase. Before I comment on that, let me just say that I would give anything to see the videotape of Sara, our adopted three-year-old. Today she started crying and did not want to go into her Sunday School class. She told her brothers it was because she was afraid "Cheesus was in there." Five-year-old Greg assured her that Jesus is dead (we have to work on that kid's theology). She replied, "No He isn't, He's in here! (pointing down inside her dress). You can see why we heaved a sigh of relief when her interview with the detective was over.

The next phase is when the District Attorney decides whether to press charges or support the voluntary treatment and safety programs he is already participating in. I feel very confident that it will be the latter. But, remember, there is always that picture of the fatigued polygraph examiner gasping for air after the two hour interview!

"He Clearly Felt That He Was In the Right"

Go here to get a glimpse of the thinking pattern of a mass murderer.

Correcting erroneous thinking patterns is one of the most important responsibilities of a parent.

It Must Be A Misunderstanding

Why are terrorists killing Chinese oil field workers in Ethiopia? Varifrank thinks he has it figured out. First you have to "come up with a good eco-friendly, anti-capitalist reason to rationalize the murder of innocent people."

The Mother of All Mother Songs

Mark Steyn does a historical review of songs that serenade mothers. Go here to see what he thinks is the mother of all mother songs.

A Sweet Smelling Mother's Day Bouquet

Mother's Day marks the time when most people in the Denver metro area start planting their gardens. Of course, it will get down below freezing again at night between now and June. I will then be first in line at the bargains, when the plants get marked down to the price where they should have been in the first place.

Another U.N. Farce

The latest corrupt farce at the United Nations: Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe will chair the U.N. Commission on Sustainable Development! Prior to Mugabe's dictatorial reign of terror, Zimbabwe's farmers were leaders in exporting all kinds of agricultural products. Now, according to the BBC, "Zimbabwe is enduring the world's highest inflation, at more than 2000%, mass unemployment, and there are widespread accusations of civil rights abuses. On Wednesday it was announced that households in Zimbabwe were to be limited to four hours' electricity a day, between 1700 and 2100 local time."
Via The Corner

They Do Things A Little Differently Down There

Here's something you did not read in your local paper or see on television news. VDARE blog reports that last month Mexican police stopped a truck and found 169 people from El Salvadore and Guatamala. They demanded that the people get out of the truck. When the people were slow to respond, the police gassed the truck, even though it included 26 children, one of whom was pregnant. What do you think the reaction would be in the United States, if we gassed a truckload of illegal immigrants from Mexico?
Via The Corner

Welcome!

I believe these happy flowers are called osteosporum, although the stores call them African daisies. They are not what I think of as African daisies. I have some of those, but they won't be in flower for a few more weeks.

Got the Blues?

The tulips, daffodils, and hyancinths are gone. In their place are the blues, as in violas, pansies, and lobelia.

Facts

Gateway Pundit brings us this video of Barack Obama lying to his Richmond, Virginia audience. The ten people who died in the Greensburg, Kansas twister have now become ten thousand people to the politician the mainstream media loves the most. Unfortunately, to some people, facts are only things to twist to fit into a campaign theme.
I did find some interesting facts about Greensburg. The population of Greensburg as of July 2005 was 1,398, down from 1,574 in 2000. A one thousand pound meterorite from beyond our solar system landed on a farm near Greensburg, and is in the local museum.

Probably the most interesting fact about Greensburg is something called "the well." It's not just any well. It is the world's largest hand-dug well. When the well was completed in 1888, it was 109 feet deep and 32 feet in diameter. It served as the city's water supply until 1932. The well was covered and opened as a tourist attraction in 1939. Since then, over 3,000,000 people have visited the "Big Well." It was built by crews of twelve to fifteen farmers and cowboys. Read all about it here.

May God be with the people of Greensburg as they rebuild their town and their lives.

How, When, and Where Did They Get Into the United States?

Media coverage of the foiled plot to slaughter scores of our brave soldiers at Fort Dix keeps mentioning the fact that three of the plotters were in the United States illegally. What I want to know is how, when, and where did they cross into the United States? Has anyone read anything about that?

Update: I heard Bill O'Reilly say on his radio show that the illegals crossed into the United States near Brownsville, Texas. Then Bill broke for a commercial, but by the time I was done changing diapers, his program was over. Anyone else hear anything?

Update Two I still do not know how, when, or where they came into the country, but here are a few things they have been doing since they got here

Suspect Dritan Duka has past arrests on charges of disorderly conduct and possession of drugs and drug paraphernalia. He also has six separate speeding and driving with a suspended license infractions, records show.

Shain Duka has past arrests on charges of obstruction of justice, hindering apprehension and making physical threats. He also has five separate traffic infractions. Eljvir Duka has past drug counts and at least two motor vehicle infractions.

Via Andy McCarthy and WABC News
Update 3 Fox News is quoting an unnamed federal drug enforcement officer as saying that the three did enter the U.S. near Brownsville in 1984, when they ranged in age from 1 to 6.
via Michelle Malkin

Victimless Crimes

Instapundit links to a couple of blog posts here and here about whether or not prostitution should be legal. It is interesting that the "victimless crime" argument is always paramount, whether it is prostitution or dangerous drugs people are trying to make legal.

The thing I want to emphasize is this. These prostitutes and drug users have children. The children are the victims. Almost every foster child we have received into our home in the last four years has been the child of an addict or a prostitute, and many times the addict and the prostitute are one and the same person: the biological mother of the child. Every time I hear intellectuals say the phrase "victimless crimes," I want to scream!

How Many Chances Should You Get To Reject And Abandon A Two-Year-Old Child?

Today Linebacker Dude was scheduled for another visit with his biological mom (fourth scheduled visit in six and one-half months; two of which she has shown up for). Guess what? She couldn't make it...again! I plan to raise a little you-know-what with the powers that be. How many rejections is enough?

Unintended Consequences

Today's top story in the Denver Post is about government payments to friends and relatives of people who need child care ostensibly to go to work. A new law went into effect in September requiring those receiving the government subsidies to undergo background checks to ensure that those relatives and friends caring for children did not have criminal records. Guess what? Over seventy percent have refused to have their backgrounds checked!

This must come as quite a shock to the lefties at the Denver Post and at the various Human Services agencies. The Post has been praising the Denver Department of Human Services in particular, because instead of removing children from abusive and neglectful parents, the Department has been placing the children with friends and relatives in their own neighborhoods. That strategy was said to be a model for the nation. Based upon today's headline story, it would appear that the placement of children in the homes of their friends and relatives and in their own neighborhoods may not be such a great idea!

Eco-Criminals

Instapundit links to an article in the Sunday Times that warns about the dangerous environmental effects of large families. It seems we are adding too much carbon dioxide to the environment. It made me so nervous that I loaded my wife and eight children in the van and headed straight to Taco Bell! After a round of burps and farts, we all felt better.

Anti-lock and Key System

It seems that female ducks are staying one step ahead of their male counterparts.

Cinco de Mayo

Here are two links to Cinco de Mayo, one irreverent, and one very respectful and historical.

For me, Cinco de Mayo has a different meaning. Every year on this date I get a phone call from a young woman. When I was her child protection caseworker, Cinco de Mayo was the day the court terminated her parental rights, thereby making her free for adoption at age seventeen by her foster mother. She is now in her mid-twenties. She also calls me on April 22 of each year, as that is the date when the court authorized her to be removed from her "parents." Her mother was a thief, and her stepfather hated her. She was sexually abused when she was younger.

I was the person who investigated the conditions in her home, and was her caseworker from age nine to eighteen, meeting with her at least weekly for all those years. Before she could be placed in a foster home, she was placed in a mental health facility, then a residential treatment facility. I was her main adult support person through all of those experiences. Then, I found a wonderful single woman, who is a doctor. She became her foster parent, and later, her adoptive parent.

My wife was the school psychologist who first made the call to me to ask if I would investigate the conditions in the home (we were not married to each other at that time). The date the investigation began was September 9, 1993, and, yes, we get a phone call every year on September 9, too.

Lilacs Up Close