Wednesday, July 23 2008, 12:46 pm


http://slowfoodnation.org/


Come to the First-Ever Slow Food Nation!


The first annual event of Slow Food Nation takes place on Labor Day weekend 2008 in San Francisco with enjoyable, accessible and educational activities for all. Check out all the event details at http://slowfoodnation.org/.

Slow Food Nation is a subsidiary non-profit of Slow Food USA and part of the international Slow Food movement. It was created to organize the first-ever American collaborative gathering to unite the growing sustainable food movement and introduce thousands of people to food that is good, clean and fair.

Slow Food Nation is dedicated to creating a framework for deeper environmental connection to our food and aims to inspire and empower Americans to build a food system that is sustainable, healthy and delicious.




categorized as farming



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Wednesday, July 23 2008, 12:43 pm


Since we're here, in Minnesota, we'd like stop by Whiteley Creek Homestead-- the homestead where we spent half our Honeymoon two years ago.





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Monday, July 21 2008, 3:04 pm


BUY THIS BOOK.




Read it, and pass it on. Buy another one for your shelf, and a couple more to give to friends.

I just finished reading it. I LOVE it.

Time to WAKE UP, America!



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Sunday, July 20 2008, 9:07 pm


'Dere wasa dis frogg
Gone jumpa offa da logg
Now he inna bogg.'


- Anonymous
Translated by George M. Young, Jr.





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Sunday, July 20 2008, 3:08 pm


Well, Mark met (practically) every member of the Rose Ensemble -- and he was a hit!

We went to their 'bon voyage' concert last Sunday.





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Saturday, July 19 2008, 9:42 am


So when they told Americans to store up a year's worth of food, maybe we should have said "in the pantry"?

"Cause I guess some folks got the wrong message.






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Thursday, July 17 2008, 6:07 pm


We're in the Midwest -- in Minnesota. We haven't been here for nearly two years, since our wedding.

Baby Mark just met another exotic relative -- this time his 2nd cousin twice removed. Also on this trip he met his Great-Great-Great Aunt. With his 4th cousin that he met a few months ago, that makes quite a collection of relatives.

He doesn't have any uncles that he's older than, or anything quite like that, but still...



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Thursday, July 17 2008, 6:04 pm


Whew. It's been two weeks since an entry here -- not for lack of material, but because the wheels haven't been spinning smoothly for awhile.

I always blog when things are going well, when I'm organized and efficient -- it fits in seamlessly. In fact, it's a *sign* of me being more productive.



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Thursday, July 3 2008, 5:26 pm


We've had lots of strange occurrences around here.

The other night, we were all out front, me working on one of my bikes, and the Baby and TSG helping (Baby Mark mostly by chewing on the ratchet set).

Suddenly two of our neighbors burst out of the building, one sobbing. It is our very drunk, very emotional 3rd floor neighbor, and a girl who lives in our building they proceed to have earnest conversation, laughing and sobbing and being dramatic (the guy more so than the girl was three sheets to the wind for sure).

Then the guy comes over, and the girl follows - a little embarrassed for him. He tries to talk to the baby, says hi to us, points out his boyfriend's car across the road, explains his boyfriend's first two favorite parking spots.

And THEN. It gets weird.

Suddenly a tall, older gentleman with an athletic build, wrinkled skin, and a Roman nose appears in our midst.

"May I ask, how to get to the holiday Inn?", he asks in a thick European accent. "I am from Switzerland."

I start to explain how to get there, but TSG has more recent knowledge that the closet Holiday Inn is, in fact, closed. Then our female neighbor chimes in trying to send him down a non-existent street. When suddenly:

"I don't want to freak you out man," says our that-bottle-of-wine-is-now-an-ex-bottle neighbor, "but I'll just hop in your car and direct you." (With much slurring of his words.)

At this point the very polite but rather freaked-out gentleman begins to back cautiously toward his car.



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Monday, June 30 2008, 4:19 pm


Taking apart the various aspects of economic activity, Fr. Pesch throws the light of the Moral Law on such topics as the manufacture of material goods, exchange of goods, remuneration and wages, justice in pricing, and—of course—he looks at what he calls the two "absurd consequences" of the individualist, free-market school of thought: Capitalism and Socialism.





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Sunday, June 29 2008, 2:11 pm


for the record...


...I never want to see a "rewards" credit card again -- especially a travel based one.

I like Alaska Airlines, but EVERY flight, several times, they ask you to sign up for a "Alska Airlines Signature Credit Card" from Bank of America.

Yay! You get 20,000 miles.

Here's the catch: there's a $69.00 annual fee. So, basically, you are paying for those extra miles. You might as well forget the card, and just buy the ticket.

What do these credit card companies/banks expect you to do? Do they really expect you to have a multiple rewards accounts (from them) fro each service you use? Is it really worth our time? NO.





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Sunday, June 22 2008, 12:39 am


"In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American... There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag... We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language... and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people."

Theodore Roosevelt 1907





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Saturday, June 21 2008, 11:54 pm


Charles Maurice de Talleyrand – on the perfect cup of coffee: "Black as the devil, hot as hell, pure as an angel, sweet as love."





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Wednesday, June 18 2008, 12:44 pm




Our Bollywood party last night was a smashing success. Everyone got into the spirit of the thing, right down to the baby, who was dressed as a Prince of Persia.

There are pictures somewhere -- but I was too busy rushing around bare-chested in my white linen pants...



Commentary ::

July 2, 2008, 7.25 am
I LOVE LAGAAN!!!

Eeeeexcellent movie. So delightful.
Maggie G


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Wednesday, June 18 2008, 12:39 pm


Well, our last week-long guest headed out the door this morning, and TSG is already on the phone with our next one.

GGG left here with a new iPod, chock full of indie goodness, and a new blog.





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Monday, June 16 2008, 7:06 pm


Normally I abhor single-use items. Because of the inefficiency of the product to packaging ratio.

However, there ARE exceptions where it overwhelmingly makes sense.

And I submit super glue as an exception.

Because you never really can get it out of the packaging after several uses.



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Monday, June 16 2008, 6:08 pm


Vignette: WE live in Portland, yet we did not buy an umbrella until we vacationed in Hawaii.

(We bought it to keep the SUN off the baby.)


categorized as portland



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Monday, June 16 2008, 2:11 pm




I met a bull elephant in Kenya once...


Incredible Story





In 1986, Peter Davies was on holiday in Kenya after graduating from Northwestern University .


On a hike through the bush, he came across a young bull elephant standing with one leg raised in the air. The elephant seemed distressed, so Peter approached it very carefully.


He got down on one knee and inspected the elephant's foot and found a large piece of wood deeply embedded in it. As carefully and as gently as he could, Peter worked the wood out with his hunting knife, after which the elephant gingerly put down its foot. The elephant turned to face the man, and with a rather curious look on its face, stared at him for several tense moments. Peter stood frozen, thinking of nothing else but being trampled. Eventually the elephant trumpeted loudly, turned, and walked away. Peter never forgot that elephant or the events of that day.


Twenty years later, Peter was walking through the Chicago Zoo with his teenaged son. As they approached the elephant enclosure, one of the creatures turned and walked over to near where Peter and his son Cameron were standing. The large bull elephant stared at Peter, lifted its front foot off the ground, then put it down. The elephant did that several times then trumpeted loudly, all the while staring at the man.


Remembering the encounter in 1986, Peter couldn't help wondering if this was the same elephant. Peter summoned up his courage, climbed over the railing and made his way into the enclosure. He walked right up to the elephant and stared back in wonder. The elephant trumpeted again, wrapped its trunk gently around Peter legs, lifting him carfully then slammed his stupid ass against the railing, killing him instantly.


Probably wasn't the same elephant.


categorized as africa



Commentary ::

June 16, 2008, 2.12 pm
HAHAHAHAHAH!!!
Dz


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Sunday, June 15 2008, 11:46 am


[T]he socialism you seek has ALWAYS proven to fail when applied. Sure, it makes you FEEL good, more equal and all that, but IT DOESN'T WORK.




Exactly.



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Sunday, June 15 2008, 11:43 am


Read the Rivrdog.

(It sounds like he's a Portland local, too. I found him a while ago and just starting reading his stuff again... He was a friend of Acidman.)





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Sunday, June 15 2008, 11:41 am


Uh, there's a Volvo in this film. From Oregon.





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Friday, June 13 2008, 2:53 pm


Yaks!!!




Found these guys on Craig's List...


categorized as farming



Commentary ::

June 14, 2008, 8.36 pm
Yaks indeed
John


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Wednesday, June 11 2008, 10:44 am


Political leaders of both parties have appropriated billions of dollars to subsidize major agribusiness corporations to destroy food; the latest appropriation was $14 billion. They call the process “bio-fuel” or ethanol production, but because the amount of fuel produced is less than the amount of fuel it takes to produce it, the only correct term for the process is systematic destruction of the food consumed in the process. Agribusiness giants include Archer Daniels Midland, whose income was $44 billion last year, are subsidized to burn up America’s surplus food (mostly corn), while they carry out their principle business, marketing the remaining food which is made more scarce, expensive, and profitable in the process. Congress has created over us the first nearly foolproof, open-ended, food monopoly. This finacial scam is to big and too well sheltered not to come from the highest level of banking and politics.





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Thursday, June 5 2008, 10:42 pm




Well, a debate in our household that has gone on some time has come to an end... somewhat dramatically.


Yes, what you see here is my once-spherical 'desk chair'. It is now deflated.

My Wife predicted that it would pop dramatically, like a balloon (B-L-O-N), and that I would land on my ass 24 inches lower than it was previously.

My prediction was a rupture and slow leak, like a car or bike tire.

Sure enough, a couple of days ago, I was merrily programming away, when I heard a rush, like water through the pipes. I looked down, and didn't see any torrent. I looked a bit closer, and saw the burst in the side of my yoga ball chair.

Well, it had a good run. It survived a bunch of moves, deflations, storage, and college. Now I have to get out the bicycle patch kit and see if that will work.



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Wednesday, June 4 2008, 6:01 pm






hat-tip: I Love Cob


categorized as farming



Commentary ::

June 5, 2008, 5.57 pm
loved that! funny, was just going to pass along this link i stumbled upon: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2008/06/02/moneytales.DTL

my neighbor and i just talked in depth about developing part of our horse coral property in SC into a garden, this was very inspiring towards that goal...
anna


June 10, 2008, 11.18 pm
http://www.acsh.org/healthissues/newsID.442/healthissue_detail.asp
yoor bess fren!


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Wednesday, June 4 2008, 5:36 pm


When the Earps and "Doc" Holliday showed up in Tombstone, a large local gang of men called the "Cowboys" pretty much had the run of the place...





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Wednesday, June 4 2008, 3:50 pm




My Wife is out driving this Swedish thing of beauty around today...

It's not a REAL Volvo of course -- they stopped making those in 1993 -- but it sure is nice!





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Wednesday, June 4 2008, 3:39 pm


Oh yeah, and don't mess with this guy:

FastBootsFastBootsFastBoots


The one with the group of five in the heart? Those were the first five bullets fired EVER by FastBoots. Wow!



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Wednesday, June 4 2008, 3:27 pm


About 3 minutes in it really heats up...





Now that Mark has a ukulele, this is what he'll be like pretty soon... He was playing his today -- and I was saying that he's as good as Bill Monroe...

...when Bill Monroe was 4 months old.

(I know, I know, BIll's on the mando, but that's the music Mark was playing along to, so...)



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Tuesday, June 3 2008, 10:05 am




This sweater (with the super-cool wood buttons) was hand-knit for Mark by our friend from SoCal! He loves it, and we have to figure out how to cram all our gratitude into the thank you note!

We were worried that it wouldn't fit him by summer, and that when he needed it again in the fall he'd have outgrown it. Of course, Summer hasn't come yet, so it's perfect!




categorized as fatherhood



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Monday, June 2 2008, 4:57 pm


No politician should be allowed to occupy an office for more than four years. Citizens should be allowed to shoot at the bastards after three. After serving the nation as an elected official for the proscribed four years, a person should be offered two choices.

Move quietly back from whence you came or be stood up in front of a firing squad.





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Monday, June 2 2008, 4:36 pm


You only need two tools in life: WD-40 and Duct Tape. If it doesn’t move but it should, use WD-40. If it does move but shouldn’t, use the Duct Tape.





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Friday, May 30 2008, 8:40 am




categorized as fatherhood



Commentary ::

June 3, 2008, 2.55 pm
What did you film him with?
John


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Friday, May 30 2008, 8:27 am


elimination communication


About 6 months ago we met a 9 month old who was completely potty trained. Her mom or dad would put her on the toilet when she got up in the morning, or from a nap, and she would go #2. During the day, she would crawl into the kitchen, lift herself onto the mini-toilet there, and go #1 at will. Totally diaper-free.


If you had asked me before, I would not have thought it possible. But. We met 3 or 4 couples who practiced "ec" around the same time and decided to try it.

Now it's been maybe 6 weeks, and I can't imagine doing anything different. Baby Mark in 4 months old today, and get this: I washed diapers yesterday (Thursday) and since Sunday, we have had only 1 -- ONE -- poopy diaper.

That's AMAZING!


Our cloth diaper literature says that in the fifties, everyone was potty-trained by 18 months, but now they make diapers (disposable, too) for up to 6 years (!) in size.


Baby Mark has diaper-free time every day now, and I imagine by 6 months he could probably be diaper-free all the time.

Of course, it requires a bit of work for us to snatch him up and transport him to the toilet when he signals us, but it is way easier to wipe with a bit of toilet paper than to change a poopy diaper.

AMAZING! I can't IMAGINE doing it any other way.



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Thursday, May 29 2008, 11:06 am


Dr. Paul is continuing his bid for the Republican nomination to spread the message of constitutional government and personal freedom, build the GOP back to its traditional roots, and continue the grassroots activism his candidacy inspired. To date, he has received over one millions votes in Republican presidential contests.





Commentary ::

June 2, 2008, 9.09 am
i remember watching the rep debate and he totally screwed the question about the how to respond to the iranianians shooting at the navy. he lost all steam then.

i still like his domestic politics, but on foreign affairs, i just can't place any faith in his judgement.
mlah


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Wednesday, May 28 2008, 9:01 am


Day Two of the getting-up-at-6am-rain-or-shine schedule...

It's going ok. However, contrary to popular notion, just getting up at 6am does _not_ ensure that your brain is not clouded, muddy, or foggy.

Because mine definitely is this morning.

Being a small business operator, especially in the IT/IS field, is keeping me busy busy busy.

But this afternoon I am looking forward to the much-heralded visit to the CPA, who will solve all my problems and take an immense (and diabolical, I'm convinced) weight off my shoulders.

Ok, I'm going back to pushing pixels...



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Sunday, May 25 2008, 3:43 pm


We took the baby to the Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden yesterday. It may be our new favorite place to take out-of-towners, or rather, the "soon-to-be-towners" that visit us.

Seriously. Because everyone who visits us moves to Portland.





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Friday, May 23 2008, 6:24 pm







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Friday, May 23 2008, 5:53 pm


A pickpocket is obviously a champion of private enterprise. But he is not a champion of private property. The point about capitalism is that it preaches the extension of business, but not the preservation of belongings; it also tries to disguise the pickpocket with some of the virtues of the pirate. The point about communism is that it tries to reform the pickpocket by forbidding pockets.






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Thursday, May 22 2008, 3:31 pm


You fail to acknowledge you were presented (by the National Center for Homeopathy) with over 100 high quality, scientifically based, pre-clinical and clinical studies showing that homeopathy is safe and effective. Your author also failed to acknowledge that he received an extensive briefing about the evidence in favor of homeopathy from world renowned scientists at Penn State University and the University of Arizona.




The fact is that homeopathy demonstrably treats a variety of symptoms -- it just works.

The next fact is that it uses NATURAL, FREELY-AVAILABLE substances -- things that you cannot synthesize, patent, and capitalize on.

Hence, it will continue to be attacked by corporate medicine.



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Tuesday, May 20 2008, 9:23 pm


We had a proper Summer celebration this Sunday -- a beer and softball party with a group of families, most of whom we met in the birth class that preceded the arrival of Baby Mark.

Due to a happy mishap, in which TSG and I BOTH put beer and suchlike in the online shopping cart at New Seasons, an enormous amount of beer and suchlike arrived. We promptly brought out a metal garbage can and filled it with ice and beer.

Well the party went swimmingly along, all of us in our little two-room apartment, the Summer's heat struggling to get in, the ceiling fan spinning merrily away, one of the small children rinsing out her imaginary baby's diapers in the oh-so-real toilet, getting VERY real toilet water all over.

After all the hubbub, and fine cheeses, breads, hummus, Mike's Hard Lemonade, Jamaican Red Stripe (with the cute bottles), jalepeno ranch (also discovered and spit/vomitted by the 19-month old -- she thought it was yogurt), we lay down and took a nap.

And, yes folks, you guessed -- not a stitch of softball was actually played.

If you're in area, stop by -- we've still got a garbage can full of beer in our living room.



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Tuesday, May 20 2008, 9:05 pm


As a result of enforcing an urban growth boundary, “Portland [is] in a better position to weather the ups and downs of real estate investment over the long run,” Sinclair said.
In addition, Portland presents an affordable option for real estate investment in the western region of the U.S. The median cost of housing in Portland is $283,000, according to the most recently published NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index for 2007; this is a great deal cheaper than the median price in its larger Pacific Northwest counterpart, Seattle, which is estimated at $380,000. The difference is even more dramatic when comparing Portland with major cities in California; median home prices in Los Angeles and San Francisco are $515,000 and $770,000, respectively.





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Saturday, May 17 2008, 5:03 pm


Not listening to reason /
Doesn't mean you have faith.


-- Straylight Run, Sympathy for the Martyr


categorized as music



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Saturday, May 17 2008, 4:54 pm


Bad taste?





Commentary ::

June 2, 2008, 9.55 am
test comment #2!
Dz


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Saturday, May 17 2008, 11:08 am


Wow, summer is here and with a vengeance, It was a blast furnace out there yesterday, and "they say" it will be that hot all through the weekend.

I reckon we won't see rain again for a while (the fall).

We are still stuck on "Hawaii time" -- getting up at noon and to bed at 2 or 3 am. But today, the baby (little boy, now) woke up at 7:30am to eat and use the bathroom -- and I mean that literally, he sat on the toilet -- and I decided to just stay up and fight the cycle.


So I've had a productive morning.



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Thursday, May 15 2008, 3:14 pm


Well we hosted FastBoots here for a while, he showed up the day we got back from Hawaii. Among other things, he taught me the basics of riding a fixie.

Pics at his site.





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Wednesday, May 14 2008, 8:08 pm


It is true that the era of cheap food is over - on account of rising production and fuel costs, and the diversion of huge quantities of food crops into the biofuels market. However, this also shows that we should be moving away from oil and chemical based food production such as GM and embracing sustainable methods like organic and low- input farming - based on renewable energy use and carbon reduction strategies.





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Monday, May 5 2008, 5:46 pm


Well we've been in Hawaii for 4 days. Haven't hit the surf yet but we have been living the high life.

We have eaten Hawaiin food, scary (cheap) sushi, climed Diamond Head/Le'ahi, gone to Monoa Falls, and Baby Mark stuck his feet in the ocean.




Commentary ::

May 9, 2008, 10.26 pm
go to dillingham airfield and ride a glider. it costs like 120 smacks for one. 20 minutes. they have a slightly more expensive 'acrobatic' ride. around 180.

i had a blast.
mlah


May 13, 2008, 5.18 pm
Sounds like a blast! (It'll have to be the next time, though)
Dz


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Thursday, May 1 2008, 2:02 am





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Wednesday, April 30 2008, 3:33 pm


Even PETA takes a stab at one our former VP's...







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Wednesday, April 30 2008, 3:32 pm


Why do our politicians act like common thugs? Trying to scare the average American into ceding his or her rights, money, and power to THEM?

This is the same thing that MSM is aiding and abetting by trying to get the word "recession" into every sentence in their newscasts*...

What the hell?

There's no recession. I don't see a recession. That's the attitude we need to PREVENT a recession. Sure, tighten our belts a little, get more careful about spending money LOCALLY and DOMESTICALLY (garage sales!!!), make better (less) consumption decisions, but don't GET SCARED!

That is the tool that politicians have, from all time, used to become fascist dictators.





*So I'm told. I never watch the things -- they're irrelevant.





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Wednesday, April 30 2008, 2:28 pm


People are afraid of what they do not understand, and what they cannot control.





This explains much of the current political trend towards gun confiscation. Certain segments of our current politcal topology want to tramble the citizens' right to bear arms because they fear guns... for the above two reasons.





They do not understand them, and they cannot control them.




This approach is wrong-headed from the start. Politicians ARE NOT in the business of control. In fact, they had better not be treating it as a "business" at all. They are in the role of servitude, servitude to the people. The government, at least in the late, great United States, is a tool of the people, serving only to effect the people's will.

I'll say it again. Politicians should not *try* to control people. The should be concerned only with the self-sacrificing service that they are employed in: effecting the will of the people.








The passage of the post-Katrina, non-confiscation law is a step in the right direction. However, it is the first right step after a long series of missteps.




There should be MASSIVE PUBLIC OUTCRY over those events -- and what they signify.






However. I see no reason why we can't rescue this country from within the current legal and political system.



The rudiments are all there. It just takes education, a steadfast commitment to the truth, sacrifice of all kinds, and a tireless, dedicated minority.



Commentary ::

May 9, 2008, 10.31 pm
tireless dedicated majority too.

problem is, as the liberals keep pushing the country left, gun control will become ever more prominent in their wishes. it has been the ruse of dictators for the last century to seize power under the auspices of a socialist govt. they will try here in the future, but not until the weapons are out of the hands of the people.
mlah


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Wednesday, April 30 2008, 12:33 pm


There's two things you can trust:

the market, and man's greed.


By removing subsidies for biofuels, we 1) direct food back to the food supply, thereby easing prices, 2) promote investment in sustainable alternative energy solutions, 3) agitate the monopoly link between corporate farms and the petroleum products they use, 4) put additional pressure on automakers to seriously consider the development of non-petroleum powered and, certainly, of non-biofuel powered vehicles.

So, I exhort you: help stop the subsidy of biofuel production. If there is a natural market for it, it will stand on its own.




I don't agree with everything Dave says here, but he raises some good points.

My insistence is that each family unit -- the necessary basic building block of ALL societies -- become self-sufficient for food, water, and energy.

Let the self-sufficiency of the nations (and the strength, and the wealth) flow from that.

When you have grassroots prosperity, it cannot be subverted, by kings, monarchs, democrats, bureaucrats, or socialists.



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Wednesday, April 30 2008, 11:41 am


I also made the point that a farmer working his field in rural Denmark has faster and cheaper Internet access than someone in New York or Boston.




Hmmmmmm.



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Tuesday, April 29 2008, 11:42 pm









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Tuesday, April 29 2008, 11:37 pm


What if every potentially great new medium had been filled with "content" like this? What if, instead of actually MAKING Citizen Kane, Orson Welles had simply published a Web diary?





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Tuesday, April 29 2008, 3:30 pm


These are the ones who will save America... the good ol' boys.





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Tuesday, April 29 2008, 11:59 am







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Tuesday, April 29 2008, 12:05 am


http://meyerweb.com/other/mom/coincidences.html



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Monday, April 28 2008, 4:13 pm


My Wife's been cooking up this goodness lately...




categorized as cooking



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Monday, April 28 2008, 2:06 pm


YEEAAHH!!!





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Sunday, April 27 2008, 2:04 pm


64a. Care at the Beginning
What lies still is easy to grasp;
What lies far off is easy to anticipate;
What is brittle is easy to shatter;
What is small is easy to disperse.

Yet a tree broader than a man can embrace is born of a tiny shoot;
A dam greater than a river can overflow starts with a clod of earth;
A journey of a thousand miles begins at the spot under one's feet.

Therefore deal with things before they happen;
Create order before there is confusion.





Commentary ::

April 27, 2008, 9.09 pm
nice.
anna


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Sunday, April 27 2008, 12:27 am


Everyone Shouldn't Go To College


To perform a deeper financial analysis I decided to use the same worksheet and formulas used in the College Board report, but apply assumptions that more closely matched what the average student experiences attending a US college. This dramatically changed the results.




While it deviates from Michael's usual topics, it is highly insightful.



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Saturday, April 26 2008, 8:58 pm


In other news, Baby Mark rolled over today, by himself, I think for the first time. He is learning how to push up with his arms.

So. everyone needs to come visit!* His childhood is almost over -- pretty soon he'll be a competent farmhand on our little homestead!**

*After we get back from Hawaii, before we begin our crazy summer cross-country plus Europe tour.

**That we don't have yet, but are working on getting.


categorized as fatherhood



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Saturday, April 26 2008, 8:55 pm


Another crazy week.

We're gearing up for our Hawaii "vacation" next week.

I say "vacation" because the last one we went on I worked like crazy (though we had several days entirely off) including 26 hours in a 36 hour stretch.


I have two massive projects to be completed in the next four days before we go.


I'm thinking my business should buy me a nice new Macbook Air to ease the remote working situation.

Hmm.




Commentary ::

April 28, 2008, 8.32 am
Yes I believe both our companies should buy us an airbook let's talk to the owners and see what happens, if you see a roof sailing up to the sky across the river you'll know I've asked....LUV YA
Trish


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Friday, April 25 2008, 4:01 pm


Baby Mark is growing.

He is alert, interactive, and beautiful. He tickles, giggles, and watches other kids run around.

He is almost too big for his bouncey-chair and cradle.

He's just about 16 lbs, so he's nearly doubled his birth weight at 3 months -- and he's wearing 9-12 mont clothes.


categorized as fatherhood



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Wednesday, April 16 2008, 12:52 pm


Woweee.

Well, we're back from a mhirlwind trip to California where Baby Mark was passed around like a hot potato and I worked like crazy.

Highlights included a 7 hour stint in Golden Gate park and seeing lots of friends and family.



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Tuesday, April 8 2008, 5:26 pm


If I had $400 to spend on ergonomic computer gear, I would spend it here...

On a fabulous keyboard and this mouse.

...and of course, that $400 could prevent 100 times that in Doctors' bills, so...

...it is worth doing.


categorized as tech



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http://www.uah.edu/DZ/
Francesca Barnes


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Aldrien's Chalice
http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/CC/qcc15.html
Kandi Best


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Tuesday, April 8 2008, 1:03 pm


China was awarded the Summer Games in a fair international competition and has spent a lot of money getting ready for them. Any attempt to spoil the games will do a great disservice to the athletes, the Chinese government and the Chinese people. It will do nothing positive and will only harden attitudes and end up making the world even more dangerous than it already is.

Americans in particular should keep in mind that we are currently engaged in mismanaging two occupations of two countries that we illegally invaded. Neither enterprise is going well. Neither is our economy. In short, we have enough on our own plate without trying to steal a bite off of China's plate. We should make sure that Afghanistan and Iran are the last wheezes of the sick American Empire and shut it down and return to our republic.







Commentary ::

April 9, 2008, 6.03 pm
The olympics are, and have been since winning the bid, a propaganda vehicle for the Chinese government. They are using them in order to showcase and promote their socialist government; and they expect the entire world to turn a blind eye to their serious human rights violations. Allowing the games to proceed normally will not make the world a safer place; calling an evil government by its name is what will ultimately make the world less dangerous.

Furthermore, looking back into history, this is an exact repeat of the 1936 Berlin Olympics, where Hitler attempted to showcase superiority of the arian race and the Nazi regime. It is impossible to say that the games are not political: they are and have been since their inception indelibly intertwined with politics in someway.
T


April 10, 2008, 6.25 pm
Thanks for your comments!

I am of two minds of this... I mean, the olympics have long been a peace-bringing event. The warring Greek city-states would hold a truce and all participate in the games.

They seem like a natural event to broker peace.

But of course there is politics and propaganda behind it all...

Funny how the biggest human rights violation of them -- selective abortion of femable children -- is the one that gets the least press.

"Nonetheless, in September 1997, the World Health Organization's Regional Committee for the Western Pacific issued a report claiming that "more than 50 million women were estimated to be 'missing' in China because of the institutionalized killing and neglect of girls due to Beijing's population control program that limits parents to one child." (See Joseph Farah, "Cover-up of China's gender-cide", Western Journalism Center/FreeRepublic, September 29, 1997.) Farah referred to the gendercide as "the biggest single holocaust in human history."

http://www.gendercide.org/case_infanticide.html


But surely, open communication is helpful in stopping this.

A good example would be more efficacious.
Dz


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Tuesday, April 8 2008, 12:39 pm


Three kids, a red tractor, and 170 acres...




categorized as farming



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Saturday, April 5 2008, 4:40 pm


http://www.expelledthemovie.com/video.php


Watch the "Super Trailer."


You know, I have READ Darwin. And he has some interesting commentary on the viability of his own theory, right there, in his own book...





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Thursday, April 3 2008, 5:11 pm


Homeless rating:

0 [--------x-] 10


My Wife says that my pirate name is...

CAPTAIN NECKBEARD!!!



What's YOUR pirate name??!



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Wednesday, April 2 2008, 12:55 am


Morrow, the counselor, described his regret as sneaking up on him in midlife -- more than a decade after he impregnated three girlfriends (one of them twice) in quick succession in the late 1980s. All four pregnancies ended in abortion.

Years later, when his wife told him she was pregnant, "I suddenly realized that I had four dead children," said Morrow, 47, who lives near Erie, Pa. "I hadn't given it a thought. Now it all came crashing down on me -- look what you've done."

...

"I have this stain on my soul," Aubert said, "and it will always be there."

He hopes to organize a father's section at this month's march in Washington protesting the 35th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade, the Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion.

Aubert pictures men by the hundreds praying, chanting -- and waving signs: "I regret my abortion."




categorized as fatherhood



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Wednesday, April 2 2008, 12:38 am


Have an analytical mind? Like to cook? This is the site to read!




My Wife just found this for me. I keep talking about how hard it is to go from programming to cooking... Though I do love cooking.

If I pick up my guitar in between, that eases the transition from left to right brain. I did just gat a copy of that book, Drawing on the Right side of the Brain...


categorized as cooking



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Wednesday, March 26 2008, 4:45 pm


The U.S. spends twice as much as other industrialized nations on health care, $7,129 per capita. Yet our system performs poorly in comparison and still leaves 47 million without health coverage and millions more inadequately covered.

This is because private insurance bureaucracy and paperwork consume one-third (31 percent) of every health care dollar. Streamlining payment through a single nonprofit payer would save more than $350 billion per year, enough to provide comprehensive, high-quality coverage for all Americans.





Commentary ::

March 27, 2008, 4.03 am
where did you get those stats?

no, i've already returned home from hawaii.
mlah


March 27, 2008, 12.55 pm
From the physicians for national health program... I thought I would present those claims, and see what people have to say...

;)


If you trust those numbers...

But, still, there's NO WAY that the government can provide something FOR LESS than its private-sector counterpart.

Taxes *will* go up. The country *will* go down.
Dz


April 18, 2008, 6.25 am
you do realize the socialist claim that governmental control of the healthcare industry would streamline it has been disproven by every single attempt ever at socialism? the free market is always more efficient.

think healthcare is expensive now? wait til it's free.
mlah


April 18, 2008, 12.46 pm
Exactly.
Dz


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Monday, March 24 2008, 8:50 am


Rise Up Singing: we plan to buy this book for all our friends.





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Monday, March 24 2008, 8:48 am


I found a 1965 dime in a handful of change... I was half expecting it to be silver, but I guess that would have been a great find.

According to this website, silver dime production officially stopped in 1964 -- and the few 'mistakes' that were made (1965 silver dimes) are now worth over $9000.





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Friday, March 21 2008, 12:05 pm





Commentary ::

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Carson Riggs


June 1, 2008, 9.32 am
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Garth Curtis


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Thursday, March 20 2008, 12:10 pm


Yesterday we went to the Zipcar-hosted event at Rogue Ales. Pretty cool -- we got coupons that were "good as cash" in Rogue Nation (yes, I'm a card carrying member -- 75 cents off every pint!) and had some tasty burgers and brews. I bought a jug of beer, we went to confession at the Cathedral, and came home.

We're getting back in the swing of things here, with TSG feeling better and better, and we're getting used to having little Mark as a part of our lives.

So we are walking more. Like 2-4 miles a day. That is good.

Did my federal taxes last night.

Went to court today for my pending name change.

Fun, fun.



Commentary ::

March 24, 2008, 3.02 am
oh? i've missed some news. what are you changing your name to?
mlah


March 24, 2008, 9.59 am
Actually I just float that out there to hook people in -- the real deal is not that exciting:

I'm legally dropping the "D" at the end of my first name. I've always gone as "Donal", so now it will be official and legal.

Cheers!
Dz


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Monday, March 17 2008, 1:21 pm


I think this is really cool, too. I'm gonna round up any of our stray stuffed animalitos and send them over there!





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Monday, March 17 2008, 12:46 pm


I want to see these guys and gals play!!!




categorized as music



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Sunday, March 16 2008, 9:10 pm


Must. Make. Myself. Do. Taxes. Now...



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Sunday, March 16 2008, 9:05 pm


week seven of Fatherhood


We went to Palm Sunday Mass and then to Powells, and then to Sushi, then walked most of the way home (and took the MAX one stop over the bridge home).

Baby slept through church, then woke up and looked around entranced at the sushi place. He watched the lights hanging from the ceiling, the christmas tree-style lights on the wall, and the colorful plates of sashimi as the went around.

It turns out that the sushiland in the Pearl is waay nicer than the one on trendy-third. And pretty much the same price.

Yesterday we had a Saint Paddy's day party, with a bunch of our family-raising friends, and then our unwed friends came, and finally, as the married-with-kids friends were leaving, our punk rock friends (neighbors from upstairs) showed up and we partied on.

(The baby slept on my chest, in the moby wrap for four hours before the party, so he was plenty rested and ready to be the center of attention.)

Now we are having a pleasant, relaxing evening, calling up old friends on the phone and chatting.


categorized as fatherhood



Commentary ::

March 17, 2008, 10.54 am
Bertie is also a huge fan of restaurants with trinkets/lights. His high point in dining was a couple of weeks ago when we went to a Mexican joint in the Mission and he got christmas lights, beer-signs, and a mariachi band.

Total baby bliss.
hebewegian


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Friday, March 14 2008, 5:21 pm


Now here's an idea:
scale the highest point in each State.


Not as easy as it sounds.

I wonder who has done it.





Commentary ::

March 17, 2008, 10.52 am
I think the highest place in California is Santa Cruz.

/baddump-tssh
hebewegian


March 18, 2008, 11.14 am
Nah... we're just mellow here.
Nick


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Friday, March 14 2008, 10:48 am


But accountability has gone out of style.

...

[T]his all amounts to a gigantic bail-out. And that it is a brilliantly bad idea from which financial capitalism may have a hard time recovering.

Like a well-meaning surgeon slicing up arteries to salvage the appendix, the Federal Reserve is only trying to help.






categorized as fiscal policy



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Tuesday, March 11 2008, 2:21 pm


I made a pizza (from scratch) -- our new neighbor is a pizza fanatic, and gave us the dough the other day...

And last night I made "Uncle Steve's Apple Goody."

So now I have quite a few culinary creations under my belt (literally).


categorized as cooking



Commentary ::

March 14, 2008, 3.17 am
i love cooking! buy a crock pot man. and a bread machine, and a rice cooker. cooking is so fun.
mlah


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Sunday, March 9 2008, 2:01 pm


Well, I made the switch.

I was reading some of The Woz's old stuff and supposed to be doing taxes.

Instead I found myself popping out keys on the keyboard, cleaning them, and pepping them back in in different places.

Now hopefully I can spend enough incremental time with it this weekend that this next week of programming isn't too frustrating.

I've been meaning to do this for quite some time.





Commentary ::

March 11, 2008, 11.23 am
Um, I just saw you have a section called space/no space. Brings happy memory-tears to these old eyes. I liked your Rats? Foiled! Again? comic. Brilliant!!!
cp


March 13, 2008, 12.19 am
Funny you should mention it...

I'm weighing the pros and cons of switching from Blu-Ray to Betamax.
Nick


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Saturday, March 8 2008, 5:39 pm


day 37 of fatherhood


Mark took a bath in the sink today.

I know people say this all the time about their kids, but it's striking when you can watch it happen to your own kids: he is growing up so fast.

People who come to see him at intervals even as short as one week miss huge developmental shifts: he has started making voluntary happy, cooing noises; his eyesight has dramatically improved in range -- his favorite thing is now the ceiling fan in our dining room; he is holding his head up more, has better control over his arms, and has tons of alert time every day.



(This was from a few days ago.)


categorized as fatherhood



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Friday, March 7 2008, 9:53 pm


I like toasted cheese.

When you are cooking a quesadilla in cast iron and a little bit of the cheese spills out into the pan and sizzles. As soon as that is cool enough to eat, it is GOOD!



Commentary ::

March 8, 2008, 8.20 am
.... you know, there is no such a thing as bad cheese!...
Eric


March 8, 2008, 8.53 am
OR, when you're eating a ham and cheese filled croissant, and there's been a big spill of cheese during the baking that's still stuck to edge. Crunchy!
Erin


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Wednesday, March 5 2008, 1:04 am


What do all these folks have in common?

(and it's not just being representatives)


Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN)
Rep. John Boehner (R-OH)
Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA)
Rep. John Campbell (R-CA)
Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA)
Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ)
Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC)
Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ)
Rep. Louie Gohmert, (R-TX)
Rep. Jeb Hensarling, (R-TX)
Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC)
Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL)
Rep. John Kline (R-MN)
Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC)
Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-CO)
Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA)
Rep. Joe Pitts (R-PA)
Rep. Todd Platts (R-PA)
Rep. Tom Price (R-GA)
Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI)
Rep. John Shadegg (R-AZ)
Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA)
Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA)




And why is that list SO SHORT???!!!


(Thanks, Glenn.)





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Wednesday, March 5 2008, 12:35 am


Not sure how I missed this for so long, but now I've found it.





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Wednesday, March 5 2008, 12:28 am


And it gets worse:


Meanwhile, the politicians continue to run deficits year after year, in spite of the looming financial crisis. More debt means more interest charges. Interest payments will already consume $272 billion in 2008 (Page 56). This means that nearly one dollar out of every four you pay in personal income taxes will go to these interest payments. (The personal income tax is expected to bring in $1.2 trillion in 2008 [Page 30]).




(Emphasis added.)





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Wednesday, March 5 2008, 12:23 am