WONDERFUL-WORLD

ANIMAL ALPHABET

Post the name of an animal, by the alphabet.   Try to post as many to each letter as you can before moving to the next letter.  This is a good way for kids to learn and/or refresh their memory on the alphabet before school starts back up.

In case you can't remember it yourself -

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S  T U V W X Y Z

One animal per post.

 

 

Life is like a painting that you add to every day.  I have found a renewed determination to paint by my own numbers, without interruption. 

Too often it is demanded of me to paint with a certain color (i.e., green for "give me money"), or to paint only a certain number (i.e., "you have to help ME and give ME all of your energy"), or to paint only on certain days (i.e., "you have to deal with MY problems today, not your own!").

When I stand back and look at what has been painted, I am saddened to see the painting in such a mess.  I recall all of the painting I did, all of the time, energy and money I spent while painting this portrait, yet it is messy.  It does not seem to be telling a very good story, and looks nothing like what I had in mind while painting it.  The painting looks tired.  The once vibrant colors are faded and painted over with colors other people demanded.  Some of the paint runs off the canvas completely, while other areas are completely empty and blank.  The canvas appears completely worn out in some areas, while other areas are covered with dust.  I notice many, many used brushes that were not used on this painting; they were obviously used to paint on someone else's canvas instead of my own. 

This is the only canvas I will ever be given.  It is time for me to take care of it, protect it and bring it back to life.  It's time for me to paint by my own numbers, with my own choice of colors, at my own pace, and without interruption. It's time for a new set of brushes.

How does your canvas look to you?

If you've watched any news program over the past month, you've undoubtedly heard about the poor housing market.  Home values have decreased.  Sellers are throwing in all sorts of incentives for buyers, even cars.

For the first time, we protested our HCAD appraisal online.  Little did we know, protesting online would eliminate the "informal" hearing; the meeting with the HCAD representative for a discussion and, hopefully, agreement on the value.  We received a "settlement offer" from HCAD, which said if we didn't like it, we would be able to go to a hearing.  We didn't like the value  - the settlement offer was higher than the HCAD appraised value, which was higher than the HCAD market value.  Who's going to agree with that??

HCAD scheduled the hearing for today - a Saturday.  That's great as far as our schedule, but I think it makes for some irritated HCAD reps - the ones who have the power to reduce or increase your taxable values.  My husband did his homework, printed off our neighbors' values (all of which are much lower than ours) and went in armed.  After all was said and done (within about 10 minutes, most of which consisted of the reps saying their legal requirements on tape), HCAD came down by only $1,000 from their paper "settlement offer".  We have always been successful at lowering our value with HCAD, so this was quite a shock to us.  It will be more of a shock when the tax and insurance bills come in. 

While it might be nice to think that I have the most expensive home on my street (yea, right), I do not understand how HCAD can completely ignore the fact that the same amount of property and the same size houses up and down my street, in similar condition, do not have values that vary by $30k.  How can they ignore the fact that sellers are lowering their prices due to the market?  HCAD's own argument was that they compare our value only to comparable sales in the area, and not to my own neighbors' values.  They had only 2 sales on their comp list, both of which had more land, larger homes and newer pools, and were not on my street.  Interestingly, two homes have sold on my street in the past 12 months; however, they were no where to be found on the comp sales list. 

Our tax dollars are going to be used to bail out people who took out mortgages when they could not afford them in the first place.  WE get to help them stay in their homes while they and their lenders cry and say "oops!" and while WE get taxed to death.  Is it no wonder that many good people cannot buy a home? 

How did you do with HCAD this year?  Is this happening across Harris County, or was this year simply our turn over the barrel?

YOU Test: Mind Game This test helps measure mental acuity. Print two copies of this page so you can do the test twice.



Instructions:
Have someone time you. Use a pen or pencil to cross out all the Hs in the pattern above as quickly and accurately as you can, starting from the top line and moving left to right. Average the time it took on both of your tries.

Take the test before reading further.

Results:
Count how many you crossed out and compare the number you missed to the averages below to see how well you did. Age Average Seconds Number Missed Under 30 40 1 30-45 41 1 46-50 42 2 51-55 43 2 56-60 44 2 61-65 46 2 66-70 46 2 71-75 47 3 76-80 50 3 81-85 51 3 86-90 52 2 91-95 53 2 Credit: Letter cancellation test used with permission from Bob Uttl. There are 35 Hs. 

How did you score?

As I watched Lanny on the morning news today talking about places to go for a "stay-cation", I decided to share what we did.  Although it took a little more than one tank of gas round-trip, I'd recommend the Marble Falls/Kingsland area.  Here's an excerpt from my journal describing our trip:

Well, I've gotten fairly settled back in finally after vacation the last week of June/first week of July.  Buddy went with us to Kingsland the first week, about an hour west of Austin and about 12 miles out of Marble Falls, on Lake LBJ (where the Lano and Colorado rivers connect, below Lake Buchanan).  I went there with my parents and grandparents when I was a kid.  It was odd to find the cabins that we used to stay at but kind of neat to walk in the same spot 40 years later with my grandson as I did with my grandparents back then.  As I explored the fish-house at the cabin site, I was surprised at how tiny it was.  I recalled sitting around on the inside, fishing through the openings in the floor, with the entire family.  Perhaps the size of the place is the reason that I hooked my brother's hand when I was about 8 - there is not near as much room inside there to cast a line as I had remembered.  Odd how everything shrinks when you grow up.

Our adventures started off before we even left the house.  I was awaked at 6am by a tiny voice saying "isn't anybody going to help me?!".  I had no idea Buddy had come into my bathroom and was throwing up.  I flew out of bed to help him, then ran to get his mother once things were under control.  Getting the mother to do the mothering (e.g., assist with a vomitous child) is every Nana's dream.  While she helped him, I began packing and taking care of things outside the house - putting away chair cushions and other items by the pool that wouldn't be used while we were gone.  As I came back inside through the sunroom (now her room), I heard her cat make a noise.  Two seconds later, when I realized it was a cat-snicker and not just any noise, it was too late.  While I was outside, the cat had knocked its water all over the painted concrete floor near the inside door.  I hit the water, hydroplaned into the closed door via my knee, and pretty much did a Wile E. Coyote splat.  When the splatting was finished, gravity took over and I fell down.  Hard.  On my butt, then my back.  In a Mission-Impossible-type smooth move, I was able to stop my head only inches away from cracking on the floor.  Since his momma was determined that Buddy only had a tummy bug and could still go to the lake, we loaded up - him with an emergency barf kit, me with a dough-nut pillow for my butt.  Neither of us liked the situation, but I'm sure neither of us wanted to trade places either.  Seven hours, (our dogs howling and barking for at least 3) and a lot of stopping so that he could puke in every town along the way (and sometimes puking without us stopping, just to see if it would hurt my back and butt to crawl into the back seat) later, we found the house.  Note: This is about a 5 hour trip for normal people.

I had rented a little vacation house, right on the water.  The back yard was huge and had a boat slip, shade trees, etc.  It wasn't anything fancy; 3br, 1 bath, full kitchen, towels, utensils, etc., W/D by the back door (under the wasp nest that was currently housing about 20 relatives).  The backside of the house was all windows, so it was a great view.  The decor inside was 50's - lots of pink, yellow and turquoise blue antique pieces.  Before any neighbors arrived at the house next door, I took my dogs over there to run in their fenced yard (translation: to get them to poop).  That house was extremely nice, with king-sized wooden rockers on a porch that must have had 4 foot foundation facing the water.  Being the cheapo that I can be, I was glad to know that we were only paying $135/night while they were paying $350 to look at the same lake.

On day 2, the power to the house suddenly went out.  We checked the breakers, etc. but couldn't find anything wrong, so I called the owner.  She agreed to send her "electrician".  About 10 minutes later, as I washed dishes in the sink, I looked out the window to see a guy sitting on a riding lawnmower, staring at the house.  Another guy was shaking the wiring to the house right by the window.  I went outside and soon figured out that he was the electrician; mower-man was the helper.  Between them, they didn't have a full set of teeth.  Recognizing the Kodak moment that was unwinding, I went back inside to get my camera.

When I went back outside, the men were on the side of the next door neighbor's house.  They went over there to see if the neighbor's power was running, but they were bent over looking at something.  As it turns out, these men with few teeth have excellent eyes - they spotted a brown snake under the heavy cover of dead leaves.  Not just any snake - a live snake that was in the process of eating a live frog.  Camera at the ready, I started taking pictures.  When I stood back, I noticed that electrical-man had retrieved what looked like a shot gun from his truck.  Mower-man was sucking on something in his mouth - undoubtedly his last tooth.  Electrical-man looked at me, extended the base of the gun toward Buddy, and said "yeeww wanna lit yeerr momma take yeerr PIKshore of you'z kill'n that thar snake?"   I swear I heard banjos.  That's something the boy needs to do with his father, if he does it at all (let's hope not).  I was afraid he'd have nightmares if he even saw the snake being shot.  Too late - I barely got my hand over his eyes before Electrical-man put a BB "right 'tween the eyes".  He used a stick to pull the snake (and frog, whose back leg had been swallowed by the snake by now) away from the house and closer to us.  (Score: Frog-3 legs, Snake-1).  Now, Electrical-man wasn't taking any chances.  He tells me that those snakes can keep on kill'n even after they're dead, because the snake won't stop moving (as in dead) until after the sun goes down.  I should be so lucky to have my life on such a timer; it reminded me of the sprinkler system.  Electrical-man starts to feel sorry for the frog, who is still hanging out of the dead snake's mouth and trying (without success) to get away, so he shoots the frog in the head with a BB.  Of note - 4 hours later, the frog was still alive but the snake was stiff as a board, and the sun was still shining.  Not as quickly as I would have hoped, electrical-man showed me the snake's fangs and gave me the full story on how the snakes in that area are cross-breeding into a very dangerous species.  I wondered if his parents told that story at Thanksgiving, and then I decided that apparently nobody had listened.

I'd all but forgotten about mower-man when I heard him shout "I found the problem!".  We all left the snake to die it's night/day death and walked over to where mower-man was sitting, still sucking on his tooth.  Again, he said he'd found the problem.  Since he wasn't one for volunteering information, I had to ask him what problem he had found.  Using his tooth to remove something from under his fingernail, he said "squirrel".  I looked at him and repeated, "squirrel? what squirrel?".  He said "fried squirrel".  Not knowing what was coming next, all I could say was "where?", to which he answered "tree".  Mower-man then started his mower and left.  After I was sure he couldn't hang a U turn without me knowing it, I finally looked up in the tree.  While electrical-man had gone back to the snake, I stood under the tree, looking around, up and down.  At least a good, 5 full minutes later, electrical-man walked over, pointed to an exact spot in the tree, and said "see, that squirrel done fried himself on the power lines; he's dead".  I briefly wondered if he was on the same timer system with the snake.  With a flip phone that I had secretly hoped was a BeamMeUpScottie device, he called the light company.  Before he left, he felt inclined to show me a round white rock that he carried in his truck, tucked away behind the seat like you would an expensive Christmas package at Greenspoint Mall's parking lot.  Now, in this granite-rich area of Texas, you just know I was impressed to hear his story of this round rock being that of a million-year old dinosaur egg.  He was contemplating selling it on eBay as he entered his truck to leave.  Before I was able to get back inside the house, the power company showed up.  Imagine having that kind of service in Houston!  They told me they could have been there faster, so I assume they stopped off for a bit of tea first.

The rest of our vacation was rather tame compared to Day 2, unless you consider the woman at the grocery store.  This tiny woman, who was probably 60 but looked like 80, what with her baked on wrinkle...errr....tan lines, over-processed and uncombed platinum blonde hair, Do-Me-Now neon-pink lipstick and square patches of blush that resembled the butt cheeks of an ape, asked me to hand her some dog food from the top shelf.  As I had noticed fleas on one of my dogs (gasp! Frontline wasn't working!) I asked her if there was a veterinary clinic nearby.  After telling me how wonderful her vet was, I knew I was in trouble when her directions started off with "do you know where the Tamale King is on the highway?"  I did not, nor did I want to know, but I made her eyes light up and her head nod when I said "isn't that just past the curve?".  If you've ever driven in this area, you know there are hundreds of curves between Austin and Kingland.  Directions filed in the recycle bin of my brain, I managed to get away as she noticed an elderly gentleman that she thought needed to gaze upon her.   I said a brief prayer for him - Bless him Father, for he knows not what he's about to suffer through on aisle 9.

We visited Longhorn Natural Caverns, rented a pontoon boat for a day on the lake, had a "land" day - a day when I laid on a quilt under a huge shade tree and enjoyed the breeze as Buddy played with a soccer ball and the dogs.  We found several little swimming holes and just enjoyed hanging out.  We went to the "famous" Bluebonnet Cafe where both George's, Gov. Perry and Willy Nelson have all eaten.  I'd strongly suggest not ordering the meat loaf - I saw several people sending it back.  If you want a piece of chocolate pie that is 1" of chocolate and 6" of meringue, this is the place for you.  Neighbors arrived on day 5, and on day 6 I overheard someone say "I smelled something dead and found a snake!".  I was disappointed that the swarm of hawks (12 at a time) that had flown low overhead for the past few days didn't get the snake.  All in all, we had a really good time.  I'm still undecided on whether or not we would have had more fun had we taken the RV as we have done the past 2 years. 

As I fondly recall the time I spent every year in that area with my grandparents, I am at a loss to remember any banjos, snakes, frogs or fried squirrels.  Maybe someday, Buddy won't either.  I am now ready for a vacation-vacation.  At a spa.  With room service.  Alone.

I have pictures, but I think the imagination is picture enough for this one.  Maybe I will upload them into an album later.

Since Diva wrote a blog about trying to kick a diet into gear, I decided to share my recent "diet" experience.

As I've said before, I quit smoking in January.  As I marked off the 6th month of my quit on the calendar, I started pondering other health issues that I should pay attention to.  One is that I am going to a dermatologist for a once-over on my sun freckles.  A bigger issue, though, that I decided to look at, is my diet.  I don't mean diet as in a dirty, four letter word.  I mean nutrition.

At the end of the week, I looked back at what I had eaten.  I'm terrible about only eating one meal a dinner; a late lunch/early dinner.  My menu for the week looked something like this:

BBQ (beef and chicken), potato salad (twice as there were leftovers),

eggs, sausage, toast and grits (are grits a grain or a veggie from corn?)

grilled chicken, mac & cheese, grean beans (twice due to leftovers)

homemade burgers with fixin's and chips

cheerios w/milk (midnight snack; dinner substitute)

take-out pizza

icecream

drinks were milk (a lot of milk), Coke and Caff-Free Diet Coke, and water (though not as much as a person should drink and usually increased above one or two glasses only on days that I was active outside, like when mowing).  I also had a few beers during our BBQ.

Well, this list just looked horrible to me.  There are no fruits at all, and only potato salad and green beans for veggies.  Since the potato salad was made with mayo, I don't think it should be considered to be a healthy veggie, so we're left with about a cup of green beans for the week.  Wow.  An entire week without fruit and only scant veggies.  Since my veggie garden is pretty much spent, my veggie intake dropped to virtually none.  It doesn't take a scientist to realize that this is a horrible diet.  No wonder my body is sluggish and puffy in appearance.  I decided to try something different.  I decided to look at my body as a machine, and food as the fuel that this wonderful machine needs in order to function.  Instead of looking at food as a necessary evil or merely a means by which to satisfy my taste buds or fill my stomach, I wanted to look at it as getting the most bang (nutrients) per bite.  Many people already think this way, but many more don't - or they only claim to.  Looking at food in this way was not some sort of sudden realization or understanding of a topic that somehow everyone else had already figured out.  It was recognizing a terrible, lazy pattern of eating.  We all learned the food groups in school.  We all know how to eat better.  I (we?) simply dropped the ball on properly fueling my body.

I started with fruits.  I love fruit, so there is absolutely no reason for me not to eat fruit daily.  Berries are in season, and they are some of the richest foods in antioxidants that our bodies need, along with vitamins, and low or zero fat.  With the exception of plums, the richer the color of most fruits and vegetables, the more antioxidants they contain.  In the past week, I've had major quantities of fresh blueberries and strawberries.  How nicely different it was to sit down with a bowl of berries (no topping) for a desert and/or snack.  I've had cantelope, yellow meat watermelon (a first for me...yum!), bananas, lemons and more berries this past week.

I also tackled the veggies, or lack thereof.  Sometimes I crave celery.  I don't know what vitamins it is rich in, but whatever it is, my body wants it.  In the past week, I've eaten an entire bunch of celery as snacks.  I've also had green beans, steamed yams (mashed, with a little butter - I love that!), brussel sprouts, carrots and salad - salad once a day, every day.  Instead of dressing, I use a bit of feta cheese for flavoring.  The veggies took up much more room on my plate than anything else.

As for meats, I had a salmon fillet, talapia (sp?) fillet, grilled chicken (three times), and the tender side of a porterhouse steak.  As for grains, I had a bowl of Cherrios (with more berries) on most days, and had brown rice one day.  I've made (and drank) more iced tea (no sugar) in the past week than I have in the past year, and increased my water intake considerably. 

So here we are, a week later.  I felt like all I did was eat, eat, eat last week, but the feeling in my body is WONDERFUL!  Even my teeth feel better!  I don't feel sluggish, the puffy appearance has subsided, and I have much more energy.  My memory seems to have improved as well.  I actually noticed that I wasn't hungry most of the time. I don't think I lost any weight - that wasn't my goal in the first place, but I'll take it if it happens.  There may just be some truth to the saying that you have to eat in order to lose weight.  There is certainly truth in saying that you have to EAT right to LIVE right.

I can't help but wonder when/why/how I, and probably many of you, fell away from nutrition in lieu of faster, easier, cheaper, larger meals.  I suppose we can blame it on working too many hours to take the time, being in a hurry to get the kids to their activities, or needing to spend more time on homework, baths and laundry than on menu planning.  Every day we instinctively know (or tell ourselves) that we need to take a shower and brush our teeth.  Why don't we also instinctively put nutritious foods in our bodies?  When we are raising our children, we (most of us anyway) try to make sure they are eating a balanced diet.  Why, when they aren't eating with us, do we eat whatever makes us full, without regard to nutrition?  For many, the only "nutrition" thoughts that cross our minds is whether or not something is fattening and, even then, we often don't give that much thought.  We take better care of our cars than we do our bodies.  We change the oil, balance and rotate the tires, replace worn batteries, belts and hoses.  We shiver at the thought of putting a watered-down fuel in the gas tank.  Why do we treat our bodies worse than we treat our cars?  I've talked with some friends and family members about our views on nutrition, and the only two people that actually paid attention to the nutrients in their foods are diabetic.

I feel so much better with the simple addition of more (much more) fruits and vegetables into my diet!  Who knows - maybe during the past week I happened to eat the right amount to thwart off a disease that was on the verge of activating in my body.  I've found myself looking up nutritional values on many fruits and veggies, and then deciding what to buy at the store.  I hope to keep up with paying attention to my nutrition, especially when the cooler months arrive.  It seems easy to eat lots of fruits and veggies during the hot summer, but pasta dishes in the fall and winter tend to call my name.

I know we have some bloggers that are very conscious of their nutrition.  I am curious as to their eating habits, but also those of the other bloggers who were eating similar to how I was, and their reasons why.  Be honest - you will not convince me that I'm the only person here that had terrible eating habits.

 

What a wonderful date in our country's history!

Declaration of Independence



In Congress, July 4, 1776. The unanimous declaration of the thirteen United States of America.

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776.
THE UNANIMOUS
DECLARATION OF THE THIRTEEN UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

WHEN, in the Course of human Events, it becomes necessary for one People to dissolve the Political Bands which have connected them with another, and to assume, among the Powers of the Earth, the separate and equal Station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's GOD entitle them, a decent Respect to the Opinions of Mankind requires that they should declare the Causes which impel them to the Separation.

We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their CREATOR, with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its Foundation on such Principles, and organizing its Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate, that Governments long established, should not be changed for light and transient Causes; and accordingly all Experience hath shewn, that Mankind are more disposed to suffer, while Evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the Forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long Train of Abuses and Usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a Design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their Right, it is their Duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future Security. Such has been the patient Sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the Necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The History of the present King of Great-Britain is a History of repeated Injuries and Usurpations, all having in direct Object the Establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid World.

HE has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public Good.

HE has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing Importance, unless suspended in their Operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

HE has refused to pass other Laws for the Accommodation of large Districts of People, unless those People would relinquish the Right of Representation in the Legislature, a Right inestimable to them, and formidable to Tyranny only.

HE has called together Legislative Bodies at Places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the Depository of their public Records, for the sole Purpose of fatiguing them into Compliance with his Measures.

HE has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly Firmness his Invasions on the Rights of the People.

HE has refused for a long Time, after such Dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining, in the mean Time, exposed to all the Dangers of Invasion from without, and Convulsions within.

HE has endeavoured to prevent the Population of these States; for that Purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their Migrations hither, and raising the Conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

HE has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

HE has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the Tenure of their Offices, and the Amount and Payment of their Salaries.

HE has erected a Multitude of new Offices, and sent hither Swarms of Officers to harrass our People, and eat out their Substance.

HE has kept among us, in Times of Peace, Standing Armies, without the Consent of our Legislatures.

HE has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

HE has combined with others to subject us to a Jurisdiction foreign to our Constitution, and unacknowledged by our Laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

FOR quartering large Bodies of Armed Troops among us:

FOR protecting them, by a mock Trial, from Punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

FOR cutting off our Trade with all Parts of the World:

FOR imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

FOR depriving us, in many Cases, of the Benefits of Trial by Jury:

FOR transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended Offences:

FOR abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an arbitrary Government, and enlarging its Boundaries, so as to render it at once an Example and fit Instrument for introducing the same absolute Rule into these Colonies:

FOR taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

FOR suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with Power to legislate for us in all Cases whatsoever.

HE has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection, and waging War against us.

HE has plundered our Seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our Towns, and destroyed the Lives of our People.

HE is, at this Time, transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to complete the Works of Death, Desolation, and Tyranny, already begun with Circumstances of Cruelty and Perfidy, scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous Ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized Nation.

HE has constrained our Fellow-Citizens, taken Captive on the high Seas, to bear Arms against their Country, to become the Executioners of their Friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

HE has excited domestic Insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the Inhabitants of our Frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known Rule of Warfare, is an undistinguished Destruction, of all Ages, Sexes, and Conditions.

IN every Stage of these Oppressions we have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble Terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated Injury. A Prince, whose Character is thus marked by every Act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the Ruler of a free People.

NOR have we been wanting in Attentions to our British Brethren. We have warned them, from Time to Time, of Attempts by their Legislature to extend an unwarrantable Jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the Circumstances of our Emigration and Settlement here. We have appealed to their native Justice and Magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the Ties of our common Kindred to disavow these Usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our Connexions and Correspondence. They too have been deaf to the Voice of Justice and of Consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the Necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the Rest of Mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

WE, therefore, the Representatives of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, in GENERAL CONGRESS Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the World for the Rectitude of our Intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly Publish and Declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be, FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES; that they are absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political Connexion between them and the State of Great-Britain, is, and ought to be, totally dissolved; and that as FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which INDEPENDENT STATES may of Right do. And for the Support of this Declaration, with a firm Reliance on the Protection of DIVINE PROVIDENCE, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honour.

John Hancock.
GEORGIA, Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, Geo. Walton.
NORTH-CAROLINA, Wm. Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn.
SOUTH-CAROLINA, Edward Rutledge, Thos Heyward, junr. Thomas Lynch, junr. Arthur Middleton.
MARYLAND, Samuel Chase, Wm. Paca, Thos. Stone, Charles Carroll, of Carrollton.
VIRGINIA, George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Ths. Jefferson, Benja. Harrison, Thos. Nelson, jr. Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton.
PENNSYLVANIA, Robt. Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benja. Franklin, John Morton, Geo. Clymer, Jas. Smith, Geo. Taylor, James Wilson, Geo. Ross.
DELAWARE, Caesar Rodney, Geo. Read.
NEW-YORK, Wm. Floyd, Phil. Livingston, Frank Lewis, Lewis Morris.
NEW-JERSEY, Richd. Stockton, Jno. Witherspoon, Fras. Hopkinson, John Hart, Abra. Clark.
NEW-HAMPSHIRE, Josiah Bartlett, Wm. Whipple, Matthew Thornton.
MASSACHUSETTS-BAY, Saml. Adams, John Adams, Robt. Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry.
RHODE-ISLAND AND PROVIDENCE, &c. Step. Hopkins, William Ellery.
CONNECTICUT, Roger Sherman, Saml. Huntington, Wm. Williams, Oliver Wolcott.

Kind of makes you wonder why the number 13 is considered unlucky!  Many Americans view this day as an opportunity to have the day off from work, BBQ, drink beer, and watch/light fireworks.  That, to me, is likened to the Easter Bunny stealing Easter, and Santa stealing Christmas. 

What, if anything, are you doing in an effort to appreciate the significance of this day? 

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Published: June 28, 2008

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (AP) — A Long Island man convicted of helping his wife keep two Indonesian housekeepers as virtual slaves was sentenced on Friday to three years and four months in prison, ending a trial that shed light on the often little-seen exploitation and abuse of domestic workers.

The man, Mahender Sabhnani, 52, an international perfume maker, was also fined $12,500. He was convicted in December on a 12-count federal indictment that included charges of forced labor, conspiracy, involuntary servitude and harboring aliens.

The victims testified that they were beaten with brooms and umbrellas, slashed with knives and forced to climb stairs and to take freezing showers for misdeeds that included sleeping late or stealing food from the trash because they were poorly fed.

On Thursday, Mr. Sabhnani tearfully watched as his wife, Varsha, was sentenced to 11 years in prison. On Friday, she dabbed her eyes as she watched her husband meet his own fate in Federal District Court.

Prosecutors contended that Varsha Sabhnani was primarily responsible for inflicting years of abuse on the poorly educated servants.

Her husband, they said, allowed the abuse and benefited from the work the women performed in the couple’s $2 million Muttontown home.

Do you think the fine and amount of jail time fits the crime?

Here we go - we're heading out today for our yearly vacation.  I can't wait to get to the lakehouse and be lazy, or go fishing, or just whatever we decide to do.  The past two weeks were quite busy with activities for Buddy.  I hope he gets the lazy feeling at the lake, too.  As luck would have it, he's been throwing up since 6 am, hence the late start on the travels.

What are you doing this summer?

Type ya when we get back!

Would we have known anything at all about the two Pasadena children if their mother hadn't called the police to report them missing?  Think about it.  The family were Katrina transplants.  If the monster and the mother had not said a word, and simply moved away, nobody would have thought anything of it and we probably would never have known the kids were missing, let alone murdered by their father.  Who knows how long their bodies would have gone undiscovered, and then unidentified. 

It's very disturbing to realize that this guy very well may have gotten away with murder, if not for the mother's call to police.  It's even more disturbing to wonder what the other Katrina criminals/criminal minds are up to.

Do you think he could have gotten away with it had the mother not called police to report the kids missing?

 

Ok folks, I need some ideas!  On June 25th, my husband and I will be celebrating our 25th anniversary since we first said "I do" to each other.  Can you imagine a guy that has been able to put up with me that long?  I have a hard time with that one, too.  He's a wonderful man.

We will be at a lakehouse, with our grandson, next week.  I need gift ideas!!!  We had already discussed not getting each other anything, when yesterday he gave me the most beautiful diamond ring I've ever seen.  While I'm wearing the boat I would have liked to have given him on my left hand, I have no idea as to what to give him.  Time is so limited now, with trying to get packed for our vacation.  I did find a bakery in the area, and I've thought to have them make a cake for us, but we really don't need the poundage.  I've made reservations for a restaurant in the area we will be in, but it's nothing fancy.  For years we have taken our vacation during our anniversary week, and we usually just go to a restaurant - the vacation being our gift to each other.  But this is the 25 year mark and I want to make it special.

PLEASE!  I need some ideas! 

I can see the sky to the north - black as night.  The sky to the south is light, but darkening.  The wind is picking up.  There is a very cool breeze.  It looks like I might not have to water the garden today.

How does it look in your neck of the woods?  I heard that the Woodlands took a pounding earlier today.

 

I received the below joke in an email today:

HOUSTON HURRICANE EVACUATION PLAN

The below schedule is to be used to evacuate the Greater Houston area in the event of a hurricane.  No deviations from the schedule will be allowed:

HWY 59 South:  This route is dedicated for the Hispanic population.  I-45 South will be open as an alternate route*.

I-10 East:  This route is dedicated for the Black population.

I-10 West:  This route is dedicated for the Asian population.

I-45 North:  This route is dedicated for the Caucasian and European population.  *After the storm passes, I-45 South will be the only route back into Houston, and only used for those who can show proof of citizenship and residency in the Greater Houston Area.

If you received the above, would you laugh, agree with it, or be offended?  Would you forward it on?  Be honest...

Westboro Baptist Church

(WBC Chronicles - Since 1955)

3701 SW 12

Religious Opinion and Bible Commentary on Current Events

th St. Topeka, Kansas 66604 785-273-0325 GodHatesFags.com

Monday,June16,2008

NEWS RELEASE

Thank God for inordinately high flood waters and tornadoes that are killing Iowans and are otherwise devastating Iowa - all at the hands of an angry God - Since officials & people of Iowa decided to persecute the Lord's servants at WBC - just for preaching the Gospel to them. Iowa stiould connect the dots. God, in His retaliating wrath, is punishing you for your sins and crimes against WBC. Worse and more is coming.

"He suffered no man to do them wrong; yea, he reproved kings for their

sakes; "Saying, Touch not mine anointed, and do myprophets no harm. "

Psa. 105:14,15.

"For we know him who hath said, Vengeance belongetlt unto me, I will

recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lordshalljudge (Le., avenge)

his people. It is afearful thing to fall into the hands ofthe living God. "

Reb. 10:30,31.

GOD HATES IOWA

I found the above "news release" online.  Westboro Baptist Church posted this online, along with their schedule of funeral protests (this is the "Church" that protests funerals of our servicemen and others that they feel God is angry with.)  Similar "news releases" were issued concerning New Orleans/Katrina.

There is so much wrong with this "Church" that I don't know where to begin.  I wonder how if it holds a tax-exempt status, and how many members (not just the guy's family members) belong to this "Church."  Their website address itself is offensive enough, let alone the material posted on it.  (tripple w.godhatesfags.com)

I don't understand how any "Baptist Church," or any Church that proports to believe in God, could promote such hate.  There has been a lot of discussion latey regarding muslims, radical muslims, etc.  How can so many people (including bloggers) group all muslims into a radical category, while there are plenty of examples of "radical" Christians to be had?  This is merely one example.  The Texas "Church" that was raided and 300+ children taken into custody is another example of people doing bad under the name of their church.  As these people claim to be Christians, does that mean that all Christians believe that God hates Iowa, and that it's ok to marry 13 year old girls to 40 year old men? 

 Do these examples (among many, many more) of bad "Christians" change your views on whether or not we have a Christian president?  Is this how organizations such as the Taliban begin - small, then grows right under our noses, exploiting freedoms, and then we collectively say "doh!"?  If they were shut down or otherwise limited in their freedom of expression, would it worry you that the same could happen to your church and your beliefs? How would you feel if your child happened upon the WBC website?

Tell me what you think of the Westboro Baptist Church, its news release, and it's website.  I am offended that they call themselves Baptists and Christians.  Their ignorance is offensive.

Joan Rivers Ejected From British Talk Show After Calling Russell Crowe A 'F*.*ing S**t'

It's getting so that there are fewer and fewer places where Joan Rivers can peddle her celebrity-terrorizing wares lately, having been banished from virtually every red carpet in town—but the 75-year-old post-Vaudeville warhorse shows few signs of slowing down. Case in point, she stopped by British talk show Loose Women today to plug the West End debut of her one-woman show; Women then took the extreme measure of ejecting Rivers from their studio after she let fly a two-megaton F&S Bomb in describing Russell Crowe. Rivers later explained how she mistakenly thought the world in which she moves is on permanent seven-second delay:

 

"I thought there was a seven-second delay," Rivers told MediaGuardian.co.uk. "They earlier showed a picture of a man with an obvious erection under his coat so I thought it would be all right."

"I have won an Emmy, been nominated for a Tony award, done every show and become an icon and when people ask me what is left in my career I have always said I don't know, but I have never been forcibly thrown out of a TV studio. It is another milestone," she added.

However, Rivers said she would still appear on the show again. "In a second. But they didn't give me my goody bag, which I am very upset about," she added.

Keep an eye out folks - you never know when you might need to use the erection defense!  The irony in the name of the show, "Loose Women," is blinding.

http://defamer.com/5017404/joan-rivers-ejected-from
-british-talk-show-after-calling-russell-crowe-a-fing-s
t-with-video?autoplay=true

The link contains language that may be offensive.