Bad Words

This morning a friend called and asked if her six-year-old son could come over for the day, because he was too sick to go to school, and too sick to go with her to a doctor appointment. He wasn't really very sick, and played non-stop with our kids.

At one point, I asked the kids to go downstairs and put on a movie, because they were keeping Mau Mau awake when she needed to be napping. The little boy apparently knows our movie selection, and said he did not want to watch our "baby" movies. "I just want to watch adult movies that have bad words." They watched Peter and The Wolf.

Sorry, young man, it is the best we can do!

CNN: A Very Unfunny Joke

Everyone is all abuzz about CNN letting Democrat operatives pose as Republican questioners in last night's debate. You expected CNN to be fair and balanced? You expected them to google questioners, to make sure they were not Clinton, Edwards, or Obama plants? They really should be renamed The Democrat Network. Still, from what I can gather, the Republican candidates answered the questions well.

CNN is dwindling, spiraling downward to become a very unfunny joke, except for Glenn Beck, of course. I love Glenn Beck!

Atheism's Answer To Narnia?

Confessions of a Closet Republican has this to say about Hollywood's latest anti-God effort:

There seems to be an on-going tug of war between those atheists who want a world devoid of God, and those who believe a God-less world will be the downfall of humanity. And atheists seem to be gaining ground in that battle- including in the realm of Hollywood. On December 7th, 2007 a children's film entitled "The Golden Compass", starring Nicole Kidman and other major players, is being released. It's based on the first novel "Northern Lights" in Philip Pullman's trilogy "His Dark Materials". Seemingly innocuous, it's actually atheism's answer to the Narnia Trilogy. And although all religious (or rather anti-religious references) have been removed, Christian groups are still calling for a boycott. Their main concern is that children will be inspired to read the trilogy after viewing the film (in its watered-down version), and that unsuspecting parents will then purchase the books, which have a decidedly anti-Church, anti-religious theme. In fact, God is portrayed as a drooling, senile old man, and is killed off at the end, by the young protagonists. Pullman, an avowed atheist makes no apologies for his writings, and has openly admitted:
"My books are about killing God."
And:
"I don't profess any religion; I don't think it's possible that there is a God; I have the greatest difficulty in understanding what is meant by the words 'spiritual' or 'spirituality."

Is The MSM Feeling Guilty For Covering for Him?

The Oprah is hitting the campaign trail with Barack Hussein Obama this week! Not to be outdone, the Clintons will have Barbara Streisand at their side! I think I know who is going to win this match-up. The Clintons are getting desperate, and this move is not going to help much.

The press is enamoured of Obama this time. The MSM may even feel a bit of guilt for all those years they covered for the sociopathic Mr. Clinton. They are even pointing out that he seems a bit self-centered and contradictory. In an effort to placate the Moveon.Og leftist base of the Democrat party, which he must do in order for her to get the nomination, the master liar is now saying that he has always been opposed to the war in Iraq. Unfortunately for him, though, because he is an ex-President, when he speaks, people record or write down what he says. When the Iraq war began, he and Hillary were making statements in favor of the war.

Mr. Clinton is a rapist, and a serial molestor of women. The feminists don't seem to care about that, but the rest of us ought to. And, who hires the private detectives to find dirt on the women he molests? Hillary! For the life of me, I cannot understand how anyone would want this couple to return to the White House. Can you help me on this?

Children Floating In Plastic Bins

The Rocky Mountain News today has a story (not yet online) about a little girl's body washing ashore in a plastic bin near Galveston, Texas. The mother has already confessed that she and her "partner" beat the little two-year-old girl with leather belts, held her head underwater in a bath tub, and then Mr. Partner threw the child across the room, slamming her head onto a tile floor.

The plastic bin in water reminds me of a case I had in my career as a child protection worker. A cocaine dealer was married to a woman who had bipolar disorder. I found the child in squalid conditions.

To get a child to safety, you must appear before a judge and present evidence. I met with the father right before the temporary custody court hearing. He proudly showed me pictures of him and his wife placing the two-year-old in a plastic bin that appeared to be a small wading pool, and floating her down a roiling mountain stream. The photos showed the man placing her in the bin about 100 yards upstream from the mother, whose job it was to catch the child when she came downstream. I asked the man if I could have the pictures. He said, "Sure!" I then gave them to our attorney, who put the man on the stand and questioned him about the pictures. The judge removed the baby from this couple. I placed her with the woman's brother and his wife, a loving couple with two small children.

The father was later arrested and jailed for some other crime in another county. The mom got appropriate medical treatment, including the right drugs (not cocaine), got a good job, and, with help from her mom, got stable enough to resume caring for the child.

Who Cares?

This morning Sara was throwing a tantrum, and said, "Nobody cares!" Greg immediately replied, "What you just said is not true. Everybody cares about everybody in this family!"

Unfortunately, Sara then replied, "I don't care!"

A School That Rewards "Core Virtues"

Jon came home tonight with an award from school for Respect and Responsibility. "Students who achieve this honor exhibit a disposition or willingness to forgive." Do you see why we like this school? This one's going on the refrigerator!

The Language of a Twenty-first Century Child

Sara said to me today, "I don't care what you say!" For that she earned one swat on the seat of her pants. She cried, and said, "Mommy." I informed her that if she said that to Mommy, Mommy would also spank her. Sara replied, "No she wouldn't. She doesn't know the password!"

Oh, and by the way, if you misbehave in the supermarket, you have to ride in the cart like a two-year-old, even if you are a four-year-old.

"A Strange Noise"

One of the foster chidren who came to live with us was a baby who lived his first three days in a box in a closet. His mother had put him in a box in her uncle's closet shortly after his birth. She had pretended not to be pregnant. The uncle's girlfriend heard "a strange noise" in the closet, and went to take a closer look. The baby had been kept alive and nourished by the umbilical cord. He spent a night in the hospital, then came to us.

We put the little guy in a crib in our master bedroom. His cries at night were so pitiful. He stayed with us a couple of months, until the parents of his father were approved to become his foster parents.

The mother was criminally charged, but beat the rap by pretending to be crazy, and going to a mental hospital. She has probably had a couple more babies since then.

"Undecided Voters" or Party Activists and Employees?

Dinocrat.com has done some homework. It seems that the people asking questions at the last Democrat debate were described by CNN as "undecided voters. Here's who these undecided voters actually were:

A Democratic Party bigwig
An antiwar activist
A Union official
An Islamic leader
A Harry Reid staffer
A radical Chicano separatist

Looks to me like they are a little more likely to vote Democrat than Republican. Blogs like this one will eventually be the demise of dishonest networks like CNN.

Newest Family Member

Jon seems to like our newest family member, whose name is Lightning. He is our first buck. After the photoshoot, Lightning was on his way down the hill to spend the night with our three female goats, Snap, Crackle, and, you guessed it, Pop.

The family member with the biggest smile, though, is Colleen, who is well on her way to achieving what she has always wanted, family life in the country, with lots of animals.

Earth's Future in a Petri Dish?

The Purple Avenger at Ace of Spades brings us this story from the L.A. Times. "You don't like bacteria? Get off the planet! This is the planet of bacteria!"

A Story About Some Terrific Teens

I grew up in Soux City, Iowa, so this story caught my eye.

Just Tryin to Relate

Tonight I asked seven-year-old Jon if he was enjoying his vacation from school. He put his hands on his hips, got a big smile, and said, "That's the stupidist question I have ever heard!" We both laughed heartily, and I said, "Yeah, I guess it is!" Jon just loves to play, play, play. He is wonderful with the foster children, and he and Greg just thoroughly enjoy each other.

A Few Million Here, A Few Million There

Have you heard? The United Nations have admitted that they misestimated the number of AIDS cases worldwide by six million cases. In India alone, they had estimated that there were six million cases, when in actual fact there were three million cases.

What Do You Think?

Tonight on talk radio I heard about a four-year-old boy being suspended from preschool in Houston, because when his teacher gave him a hug, he buried his head in her breasts! Did the school do the right thing?

What Do You Think?

Today on talk radio I heard about a nine-year-old boy whose father died two months ago. The boy was riding in a vehicle with his mother on Thanksgiving night. They had some sort of accident, and the mother was killed. They were in southern Arizona, near the Mexican border. The boy was wandering dazed in the desert, when a Mexican man came upon him. The Mexican man was illegally entering into the U.S. He gave the boy his coat, continually assured the boy that things would be okay, and stayed with the boy all night until authorities came the next morning. In other words, the man thought not of himself, but of this boy, and what he needed. What action should we take toward this man?

Liberated From Cages

Patterico has a post about some children who were raised in cages for the first five years of their lives. The foster parents with whom they were placed have recently adopted them. Read the post to see how the children have blossomed!

Put Your Vocabulary To Good Use!

How's your vocabulary? If you click on http://www.freerice.com/index.php you can generate a donation of ten grains of rice for every word you get correct!

"There's Gold In Them Thar Hills!"

Be sure to click on the picture to get a better view of the mountains.

A Courageous Man

Today in the Denver Post there is an article about a remarkably bright and courageous man who works for the city of Denver. The man's name is Dennis Supple. He is a heating, ventilation and air conditioning mechanic. Mr. Supple is angry that the city is making all employees watch a "diversity video" in which a white employee is portrayed as a racist, sexist ignorant man.

Mr. Supple is considering taking the equity in his house to file a lawsuit to stop the city from showing the video. "Diversity, to me, doesn't mean hammer the white guy, Supple said. "Diversity means you have respect for everyone, regardless of their race, their gender, their religion, their sexual orientation." When Supple raised his concerns about the video during his diversity training class, he was brushed off by the city's diversity manager. He has written to her and Mayor John Hickenlooper to ask them to stop showing the video.

I have quoted quite a bit from the article, because it is not available online. The story was written by Daniel J. Chacon. It is rare for an article like this to appear in the Denver Post. Perhaps that is why it is not yet available online!

A Politician Who Eats His Own Ear Wax

Tomorrow is election day in Australia. A friend of America, John Howard, has been a wonderful Prime Minister. He is locked in a close battle with a person who picks the wax out of his ear, then eats it. Gateway Pundit has the story covered, as usual, including video proof that Howard's opponent is a wax-eater.

Update: Mr. Howard has conceded defeat. Let us hope that the new prime minister, Kevin Rudd, will somehow get an infusion of courage to enable him to lead Australia to continue to stand tall in the world, as it did under Mr. Howard.

No Positive Spin

Have you read about the latest stunt pulled by the Red Chinese Communists? The Power Line blog has the story:

A naval officer writes:

Wire services and some newspapers have reported that China, at the last possible minute, denied USS Kitty Hawk and her battle group access to Hong Kong for a pre-planned Thanksgiving port visit.

What hasn't been widely reported yet is that several hundred families of the Kitty Hawk crew, who live here in Yokosuka, Japan, had flown to Hong Kong to spend the holiday with their spouses. I personally know three wives who made the trip, taking their small children with them. Ever spent $2500 on airfare to fly 10 hours round trip by yourself with two kids under age 4, then found out it was for nothing?

PRC's cancellation of the post visit basically destroyed Thanksgiving for thousands of U.S. military personnel and family members. Apart from actually inflicting casualties, there is not much more China could do to hurt military-to-military relations with the US than a stunt like this...
The latest Financial Times story on the subject notes that on Thursday the Chinese government reversed its decision to bar the Kitty Hawk carrier group from visiting Hong Kong, but did so too late to save the Thanksgiving holiday for 8,000 American sailors and airmen and their families. The Los Angeles Times story finds the Chinese somehow inscrutable. Admiral Keating reduces the range of possible meanings in an interview with the AP: "It's hard to put any kind of positive spin on this."

"Americans Are Our Protectors and Our Saviors"

Instapundit links to this post in the Chicago Tribune about a Sunni man who killed the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq, and now commands a paramilitary force of 600 men, financed by the American taxpayers. The new leader remarked, "You can even see women without head scarves, wearing tight jeans!"

The Real Reasons Kids Love Thanksgiving!

Leftovers

When you have two pieces of cherry pie and almost a whole apple pie, you have to get up real close to sniff the aromas carefully!

Five New Family Members

These five baby Lhasa Apso puppies were born a few days ago, and now have their eyes open. Our two teens own the mama and papa, and will receive the proceeds of their eventual sales to new homes, when they are about eight weeks old.

And We Are Still Celebrating!

The Thanksgiving story, according to six-year-old Greg: "There were these people called Pilgims. The government where they lived wouldn't let them play the way they wanted." Seven-year-old Jon interrupted Greg to offer a correction, "They wouldn't let them pray the way they wanted." Greg replied, "Yeah, that, too." Greg proceeded, "They got in a boat called the Mayflower, and looked for land. A big wave came, and they found the land. They called it America, and there they could play and pray any way they wanted!"

Happy Thanksgiving!

C'mon Baby, Rescue Me!

Via Gayle at Dragon Lady's Den

Vomit?

Colleen and the four older children went to muck the horse stalls owned by a woman who writes books describing in great detail the location of horse trails. When Colleen and the kids were finished working their butts off in 20 degree weather, they drove in to the suburbs to buy lots of food for Thanksgiving.

I decided this would be a good time to clean out the refrigerator, and throw away stuff that has been in there a long time. Of course, the three little ones were home with me. While my back was turned, one of them grabbed the parmesan cheese sprinkler can. It was on the kitchen floor with everything else that I had taken out of the refrigerator.

Colleen, who has a marvelous ability to smell things, walks in the front door, and immediately says, who has been throwing up? Then, we look at Mau. Her hair is covered with parmesan cheese, as is Linebacker Dude's shirt.

We don't need to buy toys from China. We have everything we need right here in this house to keep little children happily occupied.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Fresh Snow On The High Plains!

Can you tell what these boys have been doing? It is eight a.m., and they have just returned from a romp in the fresh-fallen snow! We got about four inches overnight. Should make for a fun Thanksgiving. They have a friend coming over for Thanksgiving. His dad is in Iraq. His mother kindly dropped a bag of cookies on our front porch the other day. That never happened to us in the city!

"I Came To America To Better Myself"

Here is a positive story about an immigrant. One of the waiters who served Colleen and children on their four day trip to the mountains was a young man from Canada. He told Colleen that he moved to America because he did not like the government in Canada. Colleen asked, "You don't like the socialist government? He replied, "There is no incentive to better yourself. I came to America to better myself!" He knows that it will not be easy, but he likes the American spirit. He sees people trying hard and succeeding. He finds that to be a more attractive and challenging life than having the government provide for all his needs in Canada.

Notta Much

The rest of the family is back home safely after four days in the mountains. Last night they "dined" at Taco Bell in the ski resort town of Winter Park. There was a bit of a problem, or should I say problema? The order-taker got Greg's burrito wrong, forgot Colleen's tea, and got the size of the mashed potatoes too small. Colleen went to the counter and explained that she had ordered a pint of potatoes. No one knew what she meant. Finally, she saw a picture of three sizes of mashed potatoes, and told them she wanted the one in the middle. The all Spanish-speaking staff was impatient, surly, and rude, but the supervisor finally explained it to the order-taker in Spanish.

Seeing only Hispanics among the other diners, Colleen asked if any English-speaking people come to the restaurant. The supervisor replied, "Notta Much." Colleen asked if they ever have English-speaking people come to the restaurant, and the supervisor replied, "tomorrow." Colorado's ski resorts are heavily dependent on illegal aliens in their workforce. The surrounding counties have huge child welfare caseloads. The Highway Patrol is kept busy with vehicles unsafe and unequipped for the mountain roads. If they pull over a van of illegals, they often just abandon the van and run for cover.

Enjoying The Outdoors

Colleen and the four oldest children are up in the mountains, where Colleen is mostly working, and the children are mostly playing. I am here on the high plains with the three youngest children...and my camera. Let's go outside and feed the animals, water the trees, and dig up some weeds.

Corral fences are for climbing.

Mau seems happy to stand in the little sand box, while Linebacker Dude enjoys a good climb.

We check on the goats.

A Dainty Young Lady Ventures Outside

Sara will never be accused of being a tomboy. She is as dainty and feminine as they come. She would rather dress up in pretty clothes and sniff her "giggy" (blanket), than any other activities...

but even the daintiest among us can enjoy a good swing...

and can enjoy climbing on a corral fence!

Appreciation

Three days ago I wrote a post entitled "I Love Your Land. I Know the Laws and the Judges. I Think I Will Take Your Land." Today the Denver Post, under the headline "Lawyers awarded property next door," finally picked up the story. One notable fact: The property owners bought the land in 1984 for $55,000, but it is now worth more than $800,000!

Almost Broken, But Now On The Mend!

Most of you are familiar with the extremely popular blog called PostSecret. People make homemade postcards and write on them some secret, then mail them in to a blogger named Frank. I was surfing there today and found this:
"I saw you speak this week at UK. You said "the children the world almost break become the adults who save it". That is my secret. Thank you for giving it voice. I did not break. I did survive and now I am a therapist working with the most disturbed, most abused, but the most incredible children. I believe they can all be saved. I believe they are all worth saving. I am trying one at a time."

That is my prayer for Sara, Mau Mau, and Linebacker Dude, all of whom fit the description of children the world almost broke. Sara was born to a prostitute who used all kinds of illegal drugs during her pregnancy. Linebacker Dude was constantly abandoned by his prostitute mom. Mau's mother broke Mau's leg in a fit of rage. All of these children have within them the capacity to save this world, by not repeating the cycle of abuse and neglect from which they came.

What Our Heroes Give Us

via Theo Spark

Our Two Newest Family Members

This is our newest kitty. She lives in the barn, where she will eat any and every mouse who happens by, we hope!

This is our newest horse. Her name is Precious. Her daddy was a bay, and her mommy was a paint. She is shorter than our other horses, and perhaps will be better for the kids to ride.

Victory!

Webutante links to a Michael Yon story about worship services at St. Johns Catholic Church in Baghdad. Muslims sat in the front rows, hoping that their Christian friends would return to Iraq.

A War Zone

One of my favorite radio talk show hosts is Glenn Beck. Do you ever hear him? He is funny and brilliant and courageous. Not bad qualities, wouldn't you agree? Glenn is presently preoccupied with a nationwide tour of Christmas shows, but when the holidays are over, expect him to go hard on a border issue.

It seems that some seventy American citizens from the town of Laredo, Texas have one-at-a-time crossed the border into Mexico to go to the larger town of Nuevo Laredo. All of them have been kidnapped. Only a small number have ever come back to their families in Laredo.

Laredo is the busiest inland port in the United States, handling 2.8 million trucks a year and more than 275,000 rail cars. It is one of the nation's fastest growing cities with 190,000 people and an estimated 500,000 residents in Nuevo Laredo. It is also a war zone, where drug criminals kidnap or kill anyone they don't like.

For focusing on this loss of American citizens, Glenn has been called a racist by the corrupt political officials in the Laredo area. Those officials are Hispanic, but so are the American citizens who have been kidnapped in Nuevo Laredo. Have you noticed how anyone who speaks out against illegal immigration is called a racist? Stay tuned to hear more about this incredible story from Glenn Beck.

A Ruthless Game

There is another Colorado story that has national implications. Here is some background, as I understand it. In 2006 the Colorado governor's job was up for grabs, as I believe Republican Bill Owens was term-limited out. Denver DA Bill Ritter won the Democrat nomination, while Congressman Bob Beauprez got the Republican nod.

One of the issues that emerged in the campaign was that while serving as Denver D.A., Ritter was incredibly soft on large numbers of criminal illegal aliens. If they committed rape, murder, sex crimes, assault, robbery, etc. they were all given plea bargains and agreed to plead guilty to one thing: "agricultural trespass," and were allowed to go free!

A man named Corey Vorhees worked for the Department of Homeland Security, and saw what was happening. He thought the public should know, so he forwarded the case info to the Beauprez camp. They used the information. Ritter saw to it that Vorhees, not himself, became the villain. He used the liberal press to denounce Mr. Vorhees and demanded that charges be filed against Vorhees. Vorhees was suspended without pay. Ritter was elected Governor of Colorado.

Over one year later, charges are still "pending" against Vorhees. Nobody from the Ritter campaign or the Beauprez campaign will talk about the case. One talk radio show, hosted by Peter Boyles, continues to hammer away at the case, believing that a horrible injustice has been done to Mr. Vorhees, similar to the cases of Ramos and Compean, the two border patrol agents doing hard prison time for shooting a criminal thug from Mexico who tried to smuggle drugs into our country. That criminal thug was still bringing drugs into our country while he testified agains the two border agents!

The political game in this country is incredibly ruthless.

Another Homeland Security employee was in charge of prosecuting sex offenders. One day at a mall he pulled down his pants and exposed himself to a sixteen-year-old girl. He was suspended with pay. He continued to receive his paycheck for six months until he entered a guilty plea.

Have Trouble Deciding What Lane To Use?

If you click on the photo, you will be able to read the signs and decide which lane you want.

Via Finestkind Clinic and fish market

The Religion of Peace

"In the mind-numbing aftermath of 9/11, who would have guessed that within just a few years American politicians would be campaigning on promises to ensure the comfort of incarcerated terrorists... that Hollywood writers would be generating reams of scripts replete with noble Muslim characters persecuted by fictitious American bigots... that footbaths would be making their way into airports and public universities... or that Muslim travelers would be chasing lawsuit dollars by scaring the hell out of fellow airline passengers with deliberately provocative behavior?"

So begins a post at the Religion of Peace blog, which keeps track of the number of people killed by jihadists. This week the death toll since 9-11 reached ten thousand human lives lost to the religion of peace.

I Love Your Land. I Know The Laws and The Judges. I Think I'll Take Your Land

It hasn't hit the dinosaur media (daily newspapers and t.v.) yet, but it is on talk radio. A retired judge from Boulder, who was formerly Boulder's mayor, and his wife, a former chairperson of the Boulder Democrat Party, and is a board member of the "open space" commission, successfully filed a court action to take property away from the owneres of the land! they first went to court on a Friday afternoon and got a temporary restraining order to prevent the lawful owners of the property from putting up a fence. They asked for a "reverse possession" hearing.

The landowners had planned to build a retirement home on the property after their children left for college. The property was adjacant to land that the landowners presently live on.

The ex-judge and his wife live in a house 200 yards away from the vacant land. They built and maintained a path across the vacant land to their land. The land stayed vacant, while the owners raised their family. They always paid their property taxes, sprayed for weeds, and took good care of it, although they never put up "No Trespassing" signs. Hikers, a common activity in Boulder, walked across the property to gain access to the beautiful views that could be seen from neighboring greenbelt areas. The judge awarded the property to the ex-judge, becasue he and his wife showed that they had developed a love for the land! I kid you not! Only in Boulder (I hope)!

If this were in New Orleans or Watts, it would be called looting!

Are We Looking For Perfection?

I was frankly shocked the other day when I visited one of my favorite blogs and learned that he was thinking about forming an anti-Rudy blog. Among the things he cited, when he stated his extreme dislike for Rudy, were Rudy's smile and his thick skin. I actually thought those were two of his best attributes, along with his ability to think quickly on his feet. The way he cleaned up crime in New York City should be something that all social conservatives should admire. He also got rid of the porn industry around Times Square, which is another accomplishment that social conservatives should find to be significant. His indefatigable work after 9-11 was certainly worthy of praise. No one doubts that he would be formidable in defending and keeping America secure. I do not understand all the hatred of Rudy by some of my colleagues on the right.

Good News For America, Bad News for Democrats

The Iraq war is going very well. Al Qaeda is out of Baghdad. The German Chancellor is hanging out with George Bush, and the British and French Prime Ministers are falling all over themselves to say how much they love America. What are the Democrats going to say now? If they are lucky, maybe the economy will turn sour.

Let's Leave That One Up To God

Six-year-old Greg, shown here in the darker shirt, with brother Jon, has a unique perspective on the world. Almost daily, he comes up with Gregisms, some original thinking that is unique only to Greg.

When I put the little kids' shoes on them in the morning, I tell them that whoever climbs up on the freezer first gets their shoes put on first (a backsaving idea). Two-year-old Linebacker Dude always wins that contest. Four-year-old Sara says, "That's because he is a boy. When I become a boy, I will be the first one to climb up on the freezer." Greg immediately informed her that she will never become a boy, but that when she gets to Heaven, she can ask God about it. "Only God can make you be a boy or a girl."

Sara, of course, has figured out that if she moves a chair over to the freezer, she can sometimes beat Linebacker Dude.

Fired!

The Sunday School teacher who complained about Sara's hair has been fired! We got an incredibly supportive response from the church. This has been quite a learning experience for Sara.

November Beauty

Tonight I was hurrying home for Sara's birthday party, but I pulled off the road to snap this photo of God's painting in the sky.

Last year at this time we were buried in snow. This year the mum plants are still thriving!

Never Give Up!

Via The New Editor

Will Iowans Be Offended?

The Clinton campaign has admitted planting questions at Iowa town meetings. Have you read about this in your newspapers? Have you seen it on t.v. news other than Fox? (Major Garrett of Fox News broke the story.)

Let Us Not Forget

This Veterans Day we have many fine people to honor. The people currently serving in our military are truly our best and brightest.

My dad was not one of the people who fought World War II. He was a principal, coach and teacher in a small town in Iowa, and was stricken with Rheumatic Fever. They had to hire three people to replace him. My uncle was a tail gunner in WWII. Dad was so kind and helpful to his brother when he returned. Dad helped set him up in business as a restaurant owner.

ROTC in college was as close as I came to serving in the military. I was also classified 4F. Anyway, the world was calling me to save it as a social worker!

Hair!

I took this picture of Sara today when we came home from church. Sorry she is squinting, as I had her looking right into the bright Colorado afternoon sun, while singing a song she had just made up. Sara will be four in two days. She has been with us since her sixteenth day of life. Her biomom was a prostitute who had no clue who the dad might be. Biomom was also fond of using a myriad of illegal drugs, even during her pregnancies. She was so violent, that she threw her previous child at the caseworker who was supervising a visit. Threw the baby across the room at the supervising worker! She had practically every diagnosis in the DSM, from Anti-Social personality to psychotic.

Sara was miserable for the first six months of her life, struggling to detox, suffering terrible constipation, up all night crying, not able to suckle, and had continuous acid reflux. We loved her from the first time we saw her and brought her home from the social services department. Even though we knew the genetic disposition was not promising, we never hesitated to adopt her when parental rights were terminated.

We drive 45 minutes each way to attend a church that has a black pastor and a large number of black congregants. We did that on purpose, because we wanted Sara to realize that having faith in God is not just a "white" thing. Our pastor is a brilliant Biblical scholar and the music at the church is superb.

Today, when Colleen picked up Sara at the door of the Sunday School class, the woman who was volunteering in the class, in front of lots of other parents and children, mostly black, said to Colleen, "You must have just adopted her. You obviously don't know how to care for her hair!" Colleen responded that she and the pastor's wife had decided that Sara's hair needed to grow out, and then the pastor's wife planned to do Sara's hair in "sister locks". The woman, who was black and was wearing what appeared to be a blonde wig, said, "Oh, dreadlocks?" Colleen said, "No, sister locks!" The woman then said "I've been doing black people's hair for forty years, and what you have done to that girl's hair is horrible!" Colleen replied, "Oh, maybe you should have adopted her!"

When Colleen told me how this woman had humilated her in front of Sara and all of the waiting parents, I wanted her to go immediately and file a compaint. But Colleen is the type who will mull it over for hours and hours, and then ACT!

Personally I think Sara looks great with her hair done "naturally," as in the photo above. In our home, we actually believe there are more important attributes than what someone's hair looks like. We want Sara to believe in herself, to be proud of who she is, to be honest, kind, and trustworthy. We want her to enjoy life, and be courageous and brave. We want her to play well with others, and to be respectful of others. We want her to take responsibility for her actions. We want her to see herself as a "can do" person, not a victim, who thereby feels entitled to victimize others.

UPDATE: Sara told Colleen tonight that "At Sunday School my teacher told me that my hair looked ugly and stupid!" We don't know whether or not the woman really said that to Sara, but Sara sure got the point somehow, either being told that directly by the "teacher," or by listening to the teacher say it to Colleen.

"In The Final Analysis, You Just Have To Do What You Think Is Right!"

Chris Wallace gets a tour of the Bush Library in Texas. Remember this very decent man who was President of the United States before the Clintons? I saw this posted at The Mudville Gazette.

The Pilots Are Enjoying This Sunset!

Click to enlarge photos and get a better view of the planes taking off and landing at Denver International Airport.

Tonight's Sky Over The High Plains

I watched the sky this afternoon, and knew we were in for a spectacular show at sunset. I am so pleased to share these moments with you. Scroll slowly to prevent dizziness!

The Cross Is Raised In Iraq

This photo by Michael Yon is all over the internet, so why should I be any different? Freedom rings in Iraq!

Vaya Con Cornholio

We better solve this illegal immigration problem quickly, or Beavis and Butthead will solve it for us!
Via Protein Wisdom

Hillary Fakes It

Protein Wisdom points out that Hillary is faking it in Iowa.

Chavistas shoot at peacefully protesting students in Venezuela

Photos, videos, whatever it takes, to get the attention of freedom-loving people to what is happening in Venezuela. I found this video at Gateway Pundit.

Update: Spain's King Juan Carlos tells Chavez to "shut up!"
Update 2: "Venezuela has become a major hub for international crime syndicates." (Once again, a post by Dan Collins at Protein Wisdom)

To Make An Emotional Impact, Sometimes We Need Pictures

Maybe the best way to convince people of the evils of communist dictators like Kim Jong Il of North Korea is to put photos like these on the internet. I got this one from a blog called Flares Into Darkness.

Out And About, With Camera Close By

Tonight's fire-in-the-sky sunset in memory of John Denver.

Remember that tree that sported purple blooms all summer? Well, it has lost the purple blooms, but it's lacy branches are still pretty against the bright blue Colorado sky.

Here is somebody who appreciates pumpkins one full week after Halloween!

Will this be the last petunia bloom?

Bright orange calendulas are still blooming, because they are right up against the house, and the freezes have been pretty light, for the most part.

Hugging The Ground, and Hanging In There

We have been having light freezes every night for a couple of weeks. However, a ground cover annual called verbena continues to flourish in the bright Colorado sunshine. I guess it doesn't freeze because it hugs the ground. The annuals that grow up higher in the air are gone. Come to think of it, the calendula is still blooming, too. I'll try to remember to get a picture of calendula tomorrow.

Color Blind, Or Racist?

Anyone affected by this nation's child welfare system dislikes it. The abusive or neglectful parent does not like it. The foster parents do not like it. The children, especially the ones old enough to talk about it, don't like it. It is a terrible mess.

Blacks and Hispanics are represented in the system way out of proportion to their population numbers. There are activist groups in predominantly black communities and also in predominantly Hispanic communities. The Social Services bureaucracies are run by politically correct liberals. They have found a way to quiet the activist groups. The Denver Department of Human Services has developed a policy that has garnered national acclaim for the department. The policy is to keep children in their own neighborhoods. Keep blacks with blacks, Hispanics with Hispanics, whites with whites. The policy is racist to the core.

There should be only one consideration as to where the children should be placed: is the home loving, well suited to provide the discipline and nurturing the child needs? In more legal terms, that means, "best interest of the child." If the best home available today on the placement worker's list of homes for that white child happens to be black or Hispanic, then place the child in that home! Make the policy color blind. Every policy of our government should be color blind!

Two Moments In Tonight's Sunset

This Morning's Sunrise

I think I heard that daylight savings is coming soon, so chances are I will just be capturing sunsets for a while!