Dark Dungeons

No it's not some kinky S&M thing, it's the title of the most ridiculous piece of Evangelical Paranoia every written.  All Gamers know this "tract" from Jack Chick.  We've all read it and had a damn good laugh at it.  Mr. Chick is one of those people that lives in a box.  He's one of those King James guys who claim that Catholics aren't Christians (Huh????? It's true).  Here's the link so you can get a good laugh out of this serious comic. http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/0046/0046_01.asp Yes, Mr. Chick believes that Dungeons and Dragons, the Grand-daddy of all RPG's is training you for induction into a COVEN!!!!  I have to pause for a moment to stop laughing.  If you read any of the tripe on his site, there are literally THOUSANDS of covens in every City in the Nation.   So apparently you playing a Warrior-Priest Character and calling upon your "God" in the game for assistance, this means you are really calling this "God" to come into you.  Let's see, I was raised Catholic (oops, according to Chick that may be my problem....) and I've played D&D; alot of D&D.  I've played since I was in High School and I still play (well not lately) RPG's whenever I can.  Not once did I believe that it was anything other than what it is: A FREAKING GAME!!  Apparently this fool at the end of his comic Dark Dungeons claimed that Tolkien and CS Lewis were raging Satanists.   I guess Chick never read the Chronicles of Narnia with it's "Jesus" like character Aslan who rises from the Dead on the Third Day.........oh wait, those comments have been since removed because it was considered OKAY by his looney Fundy Buddies that Narnia had a big Christian Message......I see the parallels, and know the background of Lewis but whatever.  Same with Tolkien.  He was an extremely religious man.  Isn't it funny how they vacillate when it's considered OKAY by the majority of their nut job pals?  Too much.  Apparently now J.K. Rowling, the woman I personally want to thank for making kids want to read a book again, is the Devil incarnate.  Yep, Harry, Hermione and Ron are all evil Hellspawn.  If you read the bunk on his site, there are several "samples" of the Evils of D&D.  Kids killing themselves, their parents, their siblings, each other, etc etc........I say this, if your kid goes looney because he played a game, it's not the games fault.  Just like the kid who committed suicide while listening to the Ozzy song "Suicide Solution".  The parents sued Ozzy...yeah it's some drunken British Rocker's fault your child was unhappy.  Notice a common theme in my posts?  "No responsibility for their own actions....pass the blame off onto someone/thing else."   Mr. Chick is still around and kicking, and every once in awhile I have to read the "Dark Dungeons" comic to get a good laugh.  What's great about my reactions to this whole thing a long time ago (I used to be really pissed at Chick, now I pity him because he will never know joy in this life) is that I see my Step-Daughter Liv being similarly incensed by things that she does that someone says is "evil" or "bad".  The other day her and her friend Tara were watching some NBC news commentary on "The Scourge of Emo Culture" or something like that.  Liv is a pseudo Emo girl.  She has dyed her hair black (meh whatever.....if the girl wants to express herself, let her.  Certain things will not be tolerated, but dying ones hair black....it ain't gonna kill her.)  and is a big fan of Avril Lavigne.  She even went and bought fingerless gloves that are pink and black like Avril.  Well after listening to this "Emo's are evil" newsbroadcast (you know the kind; "Parents do your children do blah blah...do the where such and such...then you better watch out because OMGBBQ they will commit suicide/murder/vandalism/arson or insert evil, vile behavior here".....I love how the news has become "Let's see what we can scare the masses with today?".  She and Tara got so mad (I was very proud of her......she's a smart kid who thinks for herself.  There's hope for the world after all) they went outside and in fake spray on snow sprayed EMO RULES on our driveway.  Oh yes, and the ever Emo symbol the skull and crossbones (apparently we have depressed Pirates now...).  I told her that I love Emo and think it's really entertaining.  She looked at me funny and I said "Seriously.  Emo Phillips is darn funny.  You should listen to him sometime."  

This is Cruel

Click on the post title to read the article. You can file this under "always check the box when you get it home". So this kids parents bought him a PS3 for Christmas from the local EB Games store where they lived. When the kid opened it up on Christmas instead of a PS3 there was a phone book!!!!! Some unscrupulous bastard at the store stole a PS3. Obviously his folks don't check things to make sure everything is there. I remember the Christmas we got Liv a Gamecube. I took it home, unpacked it, plugged it in and played the game we bought with it a bit just to make sure the thing worked and it was all there. It was and it did.

Tiger Tiger Burning Bright

Holy crap! So on Christmas day at the San Francisco Zoo, 20 minutes after closing, one of the Tigers got out of it's enclosure and went on a rampage. It killed one 17 year old boy and went after his older friends. Knocking one down then pouncing on the other mauling him. SFPD were forced to kill it. I'm stunned actually. I love that zoo and have been going there for as long as I can remember. Cat and I had many a date there. The zoo needs some rennovations badly, but doesn't have the money for it. They haven't released any details on what exactly happened or how the Tiger got out. I've heard reports of possible taunting by the three men. Taunting that included throwing crap at the Tiger. It hasn't been substantiated yet, but it sounds plausible. Those Tigers are not kept hungry, that's for sure. In 50+ years nothing like this, a big cat leaping out of it's compound, has happened. Although this is the same tiger that basically tore the skin off of one of the Keeper's arms last year (in December actually) during feeding time. I'm not sure why this Tiger wasn't sent off to a rehab facility or killed. Apparently something should have been done because this Tiger has been biding her time. Wow!!! The zoo is closed pending an investigation. The Zoo Management says they want to open it back up tomorrow. Idiots!!! Do you want to lose that facility forever???? Find out what happened first and make sure it never happens again.

Edit: Some early reports of evidence that one of the three kids jumped the fence and was dangling his legs over the side of the moat(there was a shoe in the moat). Also there was pinecones found where the Tiger normally is and the only way they could have gotten there was to be thrown there.....there are no pine trees in the enclosure. So the theory is these candidates for the Darwin Awards were throwing crap at the Tiger, and one of them pissed her off to the point she jump up, grabbed his legs and climbed up him killing him and going after his buddies.

I love when people prove my points for me.....

"Anonymous said...
look, if you hate the show and all the people on it so much, why do you even bother caring?? GET A LIFE"

So apparently someone hiding behind the Anonymous tag was a bit peeved that I bashed American Idol. Figured I needed to "get a life". Yeah...okay. I think the person that needs to get a life are people that defend the crap that is American Idol. See this person obviously didn't get the point of my post. I don't hate the show per se, like I said it's a remake of a Talent Show which has been on the air in some form or another since TV first began broadcasting. I hate Simon Cowell because he's the kind of person that is what's wrong with the Music Industry today. He is not musically inclined, he's not even a damn musician. From an early age he's worked as part of the Red Tape Bureaucracy of the Recording Industry. The same people that passed Milli Vanilli off as "real talent" then when the secret was out, turned on them and threw them to the wolves. He's one of the reasons why CD's, which are considered ancient technology now, still cost the same as they did back in the late 80's early 90's. It's all about money money money for folks like Simon. He could care less about actual talent. Thus the reason for the post. Some singer they said was only 4th place has one of the best selling albums in the Country while the person they crowned as the Champion will be playing small lounges in Vegas. See the irony there? Probably not as Ms./Mr. A Non-Knee Mouse probably doesn't even know what irony is (isn't that like steely.....). I respect people that gather up the courage to get out there and try their hand at singing (I will never do it because I suck as a singer....I would need years of voice coaching and lessons and I'd probably only be as good as say Chris Martin from Coldplay). Don't you love how if you say you don't like something that everyone else loves you get accused of not having "a Life"? I have a life Ms./Mr. A.....I'm not a sheeple like you. OOOO everyone is watching "American Idol" so if I want to be "part of the crowd" I will watch it too. I bet you liked Friends and Seinfeld too? I thought they were both the lamest shows ever. Neither was funny, and both were populated by whiny, unlikeable characters. Thanks for your comment Ms./Mr. A...... I love it when the Sheeple speak to me............

Shows What They Know

As those who have followed this Blog know, I'm not a big fan of American Idol.  I know, Big Surprise....but seriously I don't get why this show is huge.  It's just another version of a Talent Show.....I think they had those on TV back in the 50's.  It's Solo Artists singing....that's it.  Hell I used to skip that part of Star Search when it was on, and I used to watch that show alot.  I watched for the Bands and the Comedians.  I think the thing I really don't like about the show is that it has the same spirit that alot of our Comedy has nowadays: it's downright mean.  Remember when, in the 70's, when Comedy was Politically Incorrect, but no one really got offended because the spirit of the humor was just that; HUMOR.  Now the spirit of Comedy is mean.  Comedians aren't joking now, they are angry and bitter.  Hey 8 years of Bush will do that to anyone.  Let's look at the shows that have been real popular in the 00's so far.  Temptation Island. A reality show where a couple, be it a married couple or an attached couple, go to this hedonistic Tropical Paradise and both are put into situations where there is pressure to give in to temptation.  These are usually situations that would only happen in Porn Movies or Penthouse Forum letters or Romance Novels (which are nothing but soft porn.).  Great!!!  Life is hard enough as it is, and here some TV execs think it's entertaining to break up Marriages and Committed Relationships.  Thanks guys!!!  Notice the show is not on the air any more.  They probably got hit with a huge lawsuit.  The Bachelor/Bachelorette/Joe Schmo(or whatever that one was).  Oh yeah great shows.  Let's see here.  We have a bevy of young women who "pimp" themselves out trying to vie for the attention of some Rich Guy.  This Guy gets to kick out a gold digger.....I mean woman a show.  Then he whittles them down to the "biggest and bestest" gold digger ever and they get married.   Thanks again.  Let's just treat the institution of marriage like a freaking contest.  And they say Gays wanting to get married are endangering the instititution of marriage?  Hell no.  It's these cavalier Reality shows that do it.   The Bachelorette is the opposite.  Joe Schmo was kind of a reverse show.  I actually thought the concept was a great parody of the others.  They set this Rich Guy up and cast a bevy of Gold Digger's again.  In the end the Gold Digger's find out that the guy isn't rich and he's just some middle class dude with a minimum wage job.  Nice....... This all started with Survivor.  Survivor isn't bad, I usually don't like the whole people being nasty to one another kind of thing.  I usually just watch the challenges.  Honestly the best Reality Show on TV is The Amazing Race.  Everyone gets the same chance to win.  People are jerks sometime on the show, but the jerks end up getting eliminated from the race quickly and you don't have to watch them anymore.  On this show being a jerk usually bites you in the ass.  I also don't like Big Brother.  It's a bunch of 20 somethings in a house being catty and asinine.  Wow that's what we want the world to see.  Americans rewarding being an Ass and a back stabbing jerk off.  Oh wait.....we've had Bush doing that for us since he stole the election in 2000.  Anyway back to Idol.  The majority of the Winners on this show don't amount to anything.  Clay Aiken vanished into obscurity after putting out an album or two.  Kelly Clarkson has had a hit or two, but had to become a slut in her videos to do it.  Fantasia was a flash as was the other big guy.  Poof...hot one minute, gone the next.  Carrie Underwood has stayed on top of the Country Charts ever since she won.  This all has a point folks....just wait for it.   In 06 a dude named Taylor Hicks won.  Now this guy is in his mid-30's but has premature grey hair and looks like your friends Dad.  He also has this everyday Joe kind of way of dressing and has a style akin to Sinatra or any other Vegas lounge act.  He is most noted for doing some Ford or Chey commercial where he just started belting out this tune, Vegas style.  Everyone I know turned the damn channel when that came on.  He put out an album but it dropped like a dead weight.  On that same show was a guy named Chris Daughtrey.  He came in 4th.  As determined by Paula Abdul (a one hit wonder who has done squat since the 90's), Randy Jackson (a Bass Player/studio musician) and Simon "I'm the Biggest Dick in the World" Cowell who is a Record Exec for Sony.  So these three idiots picked your friend's Dad, Vegas Lounge guy over Chris Daughtrey who's band "Daughtrey" has one of the best selling rock records in the Country.  Yeah, shows what they know huh?  I mean William Hung, the singing Civil Engineer from San Jose, has more fame than the person that won Idol the year he was on.  You remember William don't you?  He sang the most hysterical version of "She Bops" ever.  I mean yes, not everyone that tries out can sing or should make the cut.  It's just there are better ways of putting it than the three "judges" do.  You could say "Look, your heart's in it, but your talent isn't there.  I suggest a voice coach and singing lessons."  Instead these folks get "You suck.  Your Horrible.......God go kill yourselves..." etc etc.  I wonder how many other 4th placers have hit it big?  Hell last season there was a teen singer named Sanjaya who Simon hated but he kept winning.  Apparently they let we the people (oh yeah we are such good judges of talent......can anyway ask why Coldplay still gets raves when the singer sings horribly and sounds like he's whining the whole time?) override their votes.  To stick one to Cowell, Howard Stern urged his listeners to keep on voting for this kid.  The only time I will every applaud Stern.  This Sanjaya kid will end up another Disney product one day.  Just you wait. 

Movie Reviews

It's been awhile since I posted one of these...then again it's been awhile since there was anything worth renting or we had extra cash to go to the theater. 

 

Rentals: Spidey 3: Meh....I was a bit disappointed in this movie.  Then again Sony rushed it because they were getting bad mojo concerning the future of their franchise....something tells me Venom was supposed to show up at the end of the movie and be Spidey 4's villain.....

Shrek 3: Still funny after all these years.  Great scene with Snow White gathering the Forest creatures with her sweet singing, then belting out Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song" and unleashing her furious fury friends on Prince Charming's gang.....

Ocean's 13: Better than Ocean's 12, but still as fun as the rest of the series.  Gotta love a good Con game.

Mr. Brooks:  Oh Noes....a Good Kevin Costner movie for once (he Jumped the Shark when he turned Waterworld into a Love Story....).  A brilliant performance and a great guided tour into the inner workings of a Serial Killer, one who doesn't want to kill but is addicted to killing. 

Live Free or Die Hard:  Woo hoo....talk about a roller coaster ride.  It's a Michael Bay film which means A: Lots of explosions. B: Over the top car chases. C: Bad guys getting shot, stabbed, blown up, etc etc. D: Not much story but who cares.  Actually the story in this one was interesting and the Mac guy from the commercials is in it as the poor sap who gets dragged along for the ride.  He's actually a good actor.

 

In Theaters now:  National Treasure: Book of Secrets.  If you loved the first one, you will love this one.  Cat and I are big fans of the first movie and went and saw this on opening day.  Wow what a roller coaster ride this one is.  Great addition of Helen Mirren as Ben Gates' Mom. 

Holiday Greed

There are several types of commercials before and after the Holidays that speak to the true underlying spirit of Christmas in our society; what's in it for me? Yep, we get all these car commercials that have people leaving pictures of cars around, or the latest Cadillac commercials where you have a guy in the car bitching that "Dad gets the ambiguous Sweater Vest for Christmas...this year Dad took the reins in his own hand and got himself a Cadillac." Then there's the one with the woman driving an Escalade bitching about the Christmas Presents she's gotten from her husband in the past...then she says "So this year we came to an understanding and Jack let me pick out my own gift and I got a Cadillac." Nice. So this is a picture of American life. First we have the ungrateful Dad. They picture the man as older, so you assume he has older kids and Grandkids. Nice...what does he do make it obvious the gifts he receives suck? Probably. Then we have the Shrew......or the dumb ass that married someone just for his money because obviously this guy doesn't know his Wife at all.....or doesn't care. So basically she got her husband to buy her a car for Christmas. Who the Hell does this? Who buys someone a Car for Christmas? Disgustingly wealthy people possibly. Or you are overloaded with Jewelry ads.....yeah in our sucky economy, instead of buying lots of heartfelt presents for your family, you blow the whole wad on some crappy diamond pendant at Zales or Kays because you are not a man unless you buy your Woman diamonds. STFU...please. We've all gotten that gift that absolutely sucked.....some people just don't have an idea what to get someone (here's a hint....Gift Certificates are always a good idea....make it a generic one....Visa, Master Card and Amex all have Gift Certs that can be used anywhere.....). Even though it sucks, you are supposed to be genuinely thankful. The spirit of the thing is someone was thoughtful enough to get you something for Christmas....they didn't have to you know.....so you shouldn't make them feel bad by showing a true reaction to the gift. One of our PM's here at work gave me a gift as a way of thanking me for all my help. I didn't open it until I got in the car, but was genuinely thankful. It was a wallet and key chain set. Nice stuff, but the wallet didn't have enought slots, etc for all the crap that is currently in my wallet and the key chain didn't hold all of my keys. It's okay though, it was the thought that counted. Someone took some of their hard earned cash and went and got me a gift. They included me in their Holiday Shopping and it was a heartful genuine way of thanking me for my assitance this past year. That is the true spirit of the gift, not the gift itself. I honestly have more fun watchin Liv open her gifts from us than I do receiving gifts. She was real happy with everything we got her and had a huge smile on her face. That was worth it to me.

The other commericals I hate are the one's that come after the Holiday. The "hey you got some crappy ass gifts...come and return them and get what you really wanted." Yeah you greedy, ungrateful bastard, return all the gifts that people thought you might like so you can placate your whiny ass, me me me, attitude. It truly sickens me when I see these ads.

The Cat Who Fetched Through Walls

Well not through walls....but around them and up them.....yes our little Diva Kitty Panther fetches. Now this is not something we taught her. (the funny thing is as I write this she is lying patiently on the floor with the object of her fetching lying in front of her staring at me.) It's just something she did on her own. It started with a stuffed Elvis Bear. The new Kroger in MJ gave them out when they opened (it's about 8 inches high) and we gave it to Panther. It started with us throwing Elvis Bear down the hall and Panther racing after him and pouncing on poor Elvis Bear; neck in a death lock in her jaws, front paws wrapped around him, claws dug in and back feet clawing him to death. Then when she was done, she proceeded to carry him over by the scruff of his neck to be dropped at our feet. Looking up at us with a inquisitive Meow as if to say "Throw it again?" Her new favorite toy is the little pencil top erasers. We throw them mightily down the hall as she bounds after them full speed, leaping in mid-air to bat them down then pouncing upon them she picks them up so daintily in her mouth and brings them back to you. Silly cat.

The Christmas Truce of 1914

Click on the title above to go to History.com and read about one of my favorite stories of the season. The story about British and German troops in WWI who initiated a cease fire so they could celebrate Christmas together. A strange example of how truly alike we all are.

Random Thoughts

So today coming to work I saw a bumper sticker that read Life is Good....it was obviously a trademarked thing because it was written in a particular style (A Google search has revealed that it is the trademark of two guys from Boston who started out selling T-Shirts and now have Life is Good Festivals......positive, upbeat blow sunshine up your ass kind of events...but 100% of their profits from the Festivals go to a Childrens Charity so I won't give them too much grief). The first thought in my "it's a glass and it has liquid in it" mind was "you aren't paying attention are you?" Life is good because we are alive, and we don't sleep in a cardboard box under the freeway. Life is good because we have family and friends, we have food on the table and a means to get around and mind numbing flickering entertainment on our boob tubes to watch. Yes let's be thankful for these things, but let's be realistic; life is not good. The Shrub in the White House has single handedly brought our once respected and feared Country to the brink of ridiculousness. The Globe hates us and our Citizens are starting to get the isolationist attitude. Let's build a giant wall around our Country, blah blah blah......don't get me wrong, illegal immigration is hurting our economy. But the Government let's it go on because the cheap workforce helps the bottom line of their Corporate buddies get fatter and fatter. Yet the Corporations bitch and moan that we aren't out there shopping and spending......their attitude is "see we hire Jose and Maria for 2 bucks an hour and we can sell you crap made by Jose and Maria's fellow Countrymen for .02 an hour....you should be happy?" Hey at least Jose and Maria work. I just think that Jose and Maria should pay taxes and get a wage that doesn't leave them a choice but to sleep 12 to a house......or worse yet 12 to a trailer (my In-Laws have just this situation across the street from their house....it's sad actually). Yes we need to strengthen our Southern Border (no need to strenghthen our Northern one.....not many Canadians sneaking over the border......). If we have such a great partnership with Mexico (and trust me we are paying for their country with as much crap as we manufacture down there) then why don't we push their Government to make life better there so their people won't want to come here in droves. Better yet, annex Mexico and make it a State. Might as well, and we can then get all that tax money. Problem is, the Country and it's people are indentured servants to the US. The Chinese are as well....well sort of. The Chinese are smarter than we give them credit for. Want to know why there is a backlash with all of these Chinese products containing contaminents and lead? The one thing that we've actually imported to China is the sense of cutting corners. How to look for the loophole. We manufacure things in China because the cost of manufacturing a product is dirt cheap compared to what it would cost to make here. Keeps the profit margins high. It's all about making money no matter what the affect. The Chinese have caught on and they are making their profit margins high. There seems to be no oversight in the manufacturing processes out there....could be why labor costs are low. No OSHA requirements, no Unions, etc etc....... So Mr. Wong wants to keep his profits high. He talks to Mr. Ho who has some surplus paint he's trying to get rid of cheap. Mr. Wong buys it then has his slaves....I mean workers......paint your kids Thomas the Train engine with it. Nice, poisonous, lead based paint. Does Mr. Wong care? NO. He doesn't care for the same reason as Mr. Big Wig Corporate guy doesn't care that his actions have shut down practically all manufacturing facilities in this Country and made us depenedent on a foreign nation for our goods. Mr. Big Wig sees the big picture....but it's the wrong one. His rose colored glasses show him Yachts and Mansions and travel to European Countries, but it doesn't show him what's out in his own backyard. Whole towns have disappeared because the only thing keeping the town alive was the Factory and now the Factory is gone. Thanks NAFTA.......thanks. Clinton was a good Pres, but NAFTA was the worst thing he did. This is why the folks that want Hillary for President scare me. She will just open the doors for everyone....come on in.....suck off the Government Teat......you aren't a citizen....we will give you free Health Care while taxpayers can't afford it. Nice huh?

I've tried, because of my last post about Christmas Tipping, to find the origins of this tradition. So far nothing. I do believe it is an old tradition though. Dating back to when life wasn't so convienent. Remember when milk was delivered to your door? I don't either but it used to happen. There was a Policeman assigned to your neighborhood who would walk it at night on foot. Remember that? I don't either but it used to happen. Your newspaper was delivered by a kid on a bicycle......now a dude drives by in his car flinging papers out the window.......remember when your garbage men used to get out of their trucks and carry your can over to their trucks? Or the postal carrier was the same person all the time. Or when you'd pull into a gas station and someone would come out to your car and fill your gas tank for you and check your oil and fluids and it didn't cost you any extra. So I can see during the Holiday season back then tipping those folks. Back then people didn't expect a tip, but were genuinely pleased and surprised when they got one; and they usually busted their asses to earn it. Too many people today expect a tip....and they expect one whether they earned it or not.

Tipping During the Holidays

I once saw taped to a tip jar in a Deli the following: Tipping is not a city in China. Humorous, but really doesn't make me want to put a dollar in the jar. Lately I have been hearing about the act of Tipping people you normally wouldn't tip during the Holidays. I'm confused by this. How long exactly has this been going on? I know you tip Wait Staff at restaurants because their employers use tips as an excuse to pay them less. Nice huh? Probably why your service is crappy alot. They are getting paid shit so they take it out on you. I tip the Pizza Delivery guy because I know they don't reimburse him for gas. I also tip the person (whomever that is at the time) that cuts my hair. What I don't understand is all these ettiquette gurus telling you to tip the Garbageman and the Postal Carrier? WTF???? If I remember correctly Garbage folks are Union employees which means they make a crapload more than I do. They should tip me. Why should I tip someone who is doing a job I pay a fee for. I pay Waste Management 60 bucks quarterly to come and pick up my garbage. Yes I can haul it off to our local dump for free, but I don't relish putting a bag of stinky food garbage in my car.........wood, cardboard, papers...okay but waste food and cat waste???? Don't think so. Garbage guys don't even do any work any more; the truck does if for them. They pull up to the can, lower a hydraulic arm which hooks onto that metal bar on the front of the can. The hydraulic arm lifts the can and dumps it into the truck. They don't even have to get out as the position of the can when it's being tilted towards the truck causes the lid to open. I'm supposed to tip these clowns???? The Postal Carrier is another one. A. Federal Employees aren't supposed to accept gifts. By Tipping your Postal Carrier, you are putting them in an Ethical quandry. B. As previously mentioned the Postal Carrier is a Federal Employee. You know, your tax dollars pay their salary which is a good one. Oh yeah, and your tax dollars pay for them to have Government Benefits (which is ironic....my taxes pay for the mailman to have Medical, but I can't afford it at my work because it's too damn expensive...). Explain why these people need more money? Then these ettiquette folks say to tip your kids coaches and teachers......What???????? Why? Someone please tell me why? I used to give the toll taker at the Bay Bridge a Candy Cane the week of Christmas because that job sucks. They are State Employees who have to breathe in car exhaust all day long. Nice....they deserve a Candy Cane. I can see giving your Cleaning Lady a bonus....all Employers should give their employees Christmas Bonuses (hint hint powers that be at my office). Especially if it's the same lady all the time. It's like if she was a live in maid....or butler.......

Rant Time

I the City I live in there is an Elementary school that has a parents group who holds a morning prayer at the beginning of school hours. In our Country we have a separation of Church and State....it's in our Constitution. A few parents complained and the ACLU has now got themselves involved. http://www.wtvf.com/Global/story.asp?S=7485715 Here's a link to the article. One of the parents was interviewed and he said "I don't have a problem with it. Our Country was founded on Christianity." Damn this makes me mad!!!! I hear this alot out here and I have one thing to say: YOU ARE WRONG!!!! The Constitution of these United States grants Freedom of Religion. In other words, you as a citizen are free to practice whatever Religion you want (yes this includes Scientology and Church of Satan). You are also free to NOT practice a religion. None whatsoever. It also means that you have the freedom to not have it shoved down your throat by State Run Facilities. i.e. Schools. If you willingly pay to enroll your child in a Religious school (Christian School, Catholic School, Jewish School) then you knowingly subject your child to a Faith Based, Dogmatic education. You have this right, because you are paying for it. The school gets no money from the State or Federal Government. Therefore not unconstitutional. Back to topic. The Colonization of North America began in the 1600's. A group of Puritans in England who didn't want to be part of the Government mandated Church (a Christian Church mind you) called the Church of England fled to Holland to practice their religion freely. The Dutch had religious freedom. Unfortunately for the Puritans, the Dutch had and still have to this day freedom to do a large number of things legally and openly. Prostitution, drugs all legal and openly displayed. The Puritans needed to find their own area to call home and they landed on Plymouth Rock in what they came to call New England. As the years went by more folks from England came to New England and established 13 British Colonies. They didn't do this for religious reasons like the Puritans, no they did it for the Crown and it's expansionist ways. England was expanding the United Kingdom and needed some room. See....nothing to do with Christianity....nothing at all. In fact, back then, Christianity was used as a weapon. The Spanish were trying to conquer the world any way they could. The King and Queen of Spain established the tactic called "The Sword and the Cross". The Conquistadors would invade the lands of savages and control them with the Sword. Then the Friars would keep them controlled with the Cross (the Bible and Religion). Meanwhile in the 13 Colonies, the wealthier colonists were getting peeved. It seems that King George in England was an absolute Loon and it was at this period of time that the Prime Minister and Parliament became the true Governing Body of England. The Crown became, and has stayed to this day, a Figurehead. Queen Elisabeth has no real power; it's all ceremonial. The PM and Parliament make the laws and govern the Country. Parliament in the 1760-1770's was hugely corrupt. Members of Parliament to keep their positions of lofty power made the people they represented love them by not taxing them so much. You see the MP's found a loophole; the Colonies of Britan still had to pay taxes to the Crown. The Colonies are not allowed to have a representative in Parliament because they aren't official English Boroughs. Kind of like Puerto Rican's can't vote in elections because it is still a US Territory and not a State. The MP's decided to tax the shit out of the Colonies, and there was nothing the Colonists could do about it. Or so they thought. Picture if you will Boston Harbor. Wooden masted sailing ships anchored at port loaded with tea. The tea is of course good English tea but with tariff stamps on the crates. Huge taxes the colonists had to pay to get their favorite drink; tea (this could be why Americans prefer Coffee to this day). It's late at night, a group of "indians" rows out to the waiting ships and slips aboard. These "indians" then proceed to make history by participating in the first act of Homegrown terrorism on US soil; the Boston Tea Party. Yep, the act of throwing crates of tea into Boston harbor was an act of terrorism. This is what started the events that lead up to 52 men meeting in secret in Independence Hall in Philadelphia and signing a piece of paper called "The Declaration of Independence"; an act of Treason against the legitimate Government of England. The day was July 4, 1776. The battle cries were "Don't tread on me!" and the real reason for the Revolution, the actual idea that our Country is based upon "No Taxation without representation." A simple term that basically says "if you want us to pay for the Government, we need to have a say in said Government." In other words if the English had allowed the Colonials to have MP's we'd still be British subjects. Our Country was founded on taxes. A revolution against a legitimate Government was started because wealthy Men didn't want to pay almost 50% of their income in taxes to a Government who was just using them as a cash cow. So where's the Christianity in all this? If you think about it, the Founding Fathers were Christians...a good portion of them. So why would they start a revolution over religion when they were free to practice whatever Religion they wanted to? See saying our Country was founded on Christianity is utter BS. Our laws are similar to the 10 Commandments (although it's not illegal to have an affair. You can't get arrested and thrown in jail for it. It's grounds for divorce, and the troubles that leads to, but it's not a criminal act. Let's examine that shall we: If our Country was founded on Christianity and one of the laws of Christianity makes it "illegal" to have an affair, then wouldn't it be a Federally Criminal offense??????) some of them anyway. Let's look at them. It's against the law to Murder someone in cold blood or for revenge. Killing an enemy of the "state" as a soldier, a Police Officer killing someone with deadly force if it is the last resort, or killing someone in defense of Self or Family is not against the law. Hmmm I know the 10 Commandments are not supposed to be flexible laws. Stealing something is against the law. Although the severity of the punishment is equal to the monetary value of the theft. Stealing a Snicker's bar will get you Community Service while robbing a Liquor Store will get you Jail Time. Lying is only against the law in this Country if you do it in front of a Grand Jury. Advertisers use creative Lies all the time. Hmm....if we were founded on Christianity there'd be no Gillette commercials saying "Gillette, the best a man can get". This is a lie. There is no factual basis for that statement. How do they know it's the "best a man can get"? So other than Murdering and stealing I don't see any other relation between the Laws of God (10 Commandments) and the Laws of Man. I don't see how people can say with a straight face that this Country was founded on Christianity when the words "In God We Trust" were added hundreds of years after the first US Currency was printed. Or the words "Under God" were added to the Pledge in 1950 to boost morale because of the Cold War. No, the simple fact is that our Country was founded on the idea that the Government should not have all the power. That the people should have a say in how they are Governed, and none of this has anything to do with Christianity.

Xmas Decorations

Not the greatest Pic, but here is the extent of our outdoor Christmas Decorations. Yes we have the animated lighted Deer........the item on the right is what they call a "Yard Card". It's basically a rectangular vinyl flag that sits on three posts and bends in the middle as if it was a giant Christmas Card. Pretty cool we thought. Yes I know, those that know me would expect me to have a yard full of lighted "things". So bright you can see it from space. No...sorry....I'm not Chevy Chase and this isn't Christmas Vacation.