Self Portrait

Here is my self portrait done in Disney World

Should US Military recruit kids?

Speaking as someone who voluntarily enlisted during Viet Nam when I had a very high lottery draft number (262), so never would have been drafted, I don’t see any reason why; military recruiters can’t keep their paws off of our kids until they turn 18. What is the problem, exactly!?
I resent my tax money being spent by the government suing Eureka and Arcata about a law that makes perfect sense to me.

“Now Arcata is at it again, with a law blocking the military from recruiting anybody in town under the age of 18. And this time, the law has the backing not of a few City Council activists, but of thousands of voters who went to the polls in November.
On the same day, voters in Eureka, a historically politically staid city a dozen miles away, surprised everybody by approving an identical measure.
"The idea that Humboldt County can fight the federal government is as ridiculous as hell, but goddamn it, we're gonna try," said Winfield "Win" Sample, a World War II veteran turned Orwell-quoting pacifist who brought Arcata's measure to Eureka.
In the past, Arcata's quirky pokes at Washington have been shrugged off as the antics of pot-drenched students and patchouli-scented hippies for whom the '60s never quite died. Passionate, but largely irrelevant.
Heading for court
This time the federal government isn't shrugging. A court hearing is scheduled in Oakland on June 9 on the government's demand that the cities' laws be overturned for seeking powers constitutionally granted to the federal government.
Characteristically anti-war cities, including San Francisco and Berkeley, have tried to battle military recruitment. But nobody can recall a case where a city used the ballot box as a counter-recruitment tool, an act that has broader significance.
"It touches on a couple of core issues that really relate to the foundation of government," said Allen Weiner, a senior lecturer at Stanford Law School. "The questions of what areas belong to the federal government, and what areas belong to the state." “

www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/04/26/MNE6176LK9.DTL&nopu=1

Where do elephants & gorillas get protein?

I just got an e-mail asking about “where do you get any protein if you don’t eat meat?”
Where do gorillas and elephants get their protein!? They are some of biggest land mammals and they are vegetarians.
Gorillas are herbivores , eating fruits, leaves, and shoots. Further they are classified as foliovores. Much like other animals that feed on plants and shoots, they sometimes ingest small insects also Gorillas spend most of the day eating. Their large sagittal crest and long canines allow them to crush hard plants like bamboo. Lowland gorillas feed mainly on fruit while Mountain gorillas feed mostly on herbs, stems and roots. I do admit that in a severe bind they will eat grubs, but they gotta be pretty hungry to eat frubs, wouldn’t you?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorilla

http://www.worldwildlife.org/species/finder/mountaingorilla/mountaingorillas.html


Elephants are herbivores, spending 16 hours a day collecting plant food. Their diet is at least 50% grasses, supplemented with leaves, bamboo, twigs, bark, roots, and small amounts of fruits, seeds and flowers. Because elephants only digest 40% of what they eat, they have to make up for their digestive system's lack of efficiency in volume. An adult elephant can consume 140–270 kg (300–600 lb) of food a day. 60% of that food leaves the elephant's body undigested.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephant#Diet


http://www.worldwildlife.org/species/finder/elephants/elephants.html

The many reasons I am a vegetarian

Why I am a vegetarian? When I say vegatarian I mean no fish, no chicken no chicken stock, no jello (has cow hooves in it, look it up), no worschester sauce (sardines), no nothing, etc. This web site has many of the reasons.

http://www.justeatveggies.com/reasons.htm

I am too a Christian

Based on my posting about republicans-Jesus & torture someone just asked me “why aren’t you a Christian.” Fact is, I am a Christian and have been as long as I can remember. The problem is Christianity in America has been hijacked by right wing fanatics and taken over by partisan politics. God is not a republicrat or a demican.
I am a member of the United Church of Christ
www.ucc.org

Who Would Jesus Torture?

The republican party has commandeered Jesus as their own. Would Jesus torture? What do you think? Then why would the republicans who claim to be christian authorize torture people?!

Even the darling Condi Rice was in on this.

Who Would Jesus Torture
http://www.alternet.org/rights/137402/mr._president%2C_war_crimes_must_be_investigated/

"Slamming prisoners into walls, locking them in boxes with insects; these memos are the smoking gun for the sadistic crimes of the Bush administration. "
http://www.alternet.org/rights/137093/new_bush_torture_bombshell_memos%3A_10_horrifying_discoveries/

"Since the release last week of Bush-era government memos authorizing torture against suspected terrorists, momentum has been building to hold the architects of these inhumane, illegal policies accountable. In a piece published on AlterNet, David Swanson notes that there are many things you can do to help spur legal action against officials and lawyers who greenlit torture and to make sure the Obama administration doesn't sweep the issue under the rug. Writes Swanson:
There are a great many ways you can advance the cause of accountability, and they can all be found at"

http://prosecutebushcheney.org/.

The Mars Ocean Odyssey

This is an interesting blog that is written by a guy who is trying to simulate a voyage to Mars by sailing on a sailboat for three years outside the sight of land. Sounds a little crazy, I know, and after two years by himself his blogs are beginning to sound a little disconnected from what you & I may think is reality, but this is real and happening everyday. He is sailing in the most dangerous part of the world, the southern ocean.
He is living off the sea and what he has carried for 2 years on his boat. No re-supply, no nothing. It is fascinating to read, I’ve been following him for nearly the entire voyage.
Check it out
http://1000days.net/home/

God is in the roses and the thorns

My roses suddenly became covered with aphids (the picture is of my aphids before I sprayed) this week end so I went out and sprayed then all with a soap solution (including 2 neighbors roses, but don't tell them , because I like to pick their roses if I need them, so it is in my best interest to keep their roses healthy too). I was glad I used soap instead of pesticides, because before I was done there were bees and lady bugs hanging out on the roses.

While spraying, I got thinking about Rose Ann Cash's song "God is in the roses" ( and the thorns) so here are the lyrics.

Warning, she write this song after she lost her father, mother and step mother in one year.

That experience caused her to do a whole album, which I recommend, I listen to it about once a week. The album is called Black Cadilac and was released in 2006. http://www.cowboylyrics.com/lyrics/cash-rosanne/god-is-in-the-roses-19528.html

God is in the roses

The petals and the thorns

Storms out on the oceans

The souls who will be born

And every drop of rain that falls Falls for those who mourn

God is in the roses and the thorns

The sun is on the cemetery

Leaves are on the stones

There never was a place on earthThat felt so much like home

We're falling like the velvet petals

We're bleeding and we're torn

But God is in the roses and the thorns

I love you like a brother

A father and a son

It may not last forever and ever

But it never will be done

My whole world fits inside the momentI saw you be reborn

God is in the roses

And that day was filled with roses

God is in the roses and the thorns

Brushing Teeth

Cleaniness is next to Godliness, right?

Here are my Grandkids brushing their teeth.

The flash cast a shadow, but I only had a few seconds to take these because I knew once Nathaniel knew there was a camera aimed at him it'd all fall apart, the last picture is proof of that. So, I didn't have any time to make any decisions of natural light versus flash. My Canon XTI does great with natural light, but for me, it is hard to trust natural light settings indoors when I know I have only a few shots before the whole thing goes south.

Ron's tatoo Homework

Ron asked on Facebook what he should tatoo on a grapfruit today. here are my suggestions

Pirates; yo ho , yo ho

Pitates- No I'm not talking about Johnny Depp.

The Somali pirates have been in the news this week. Who ARE these people?! How come the main stream media haven't been telling us who they are, why are they in the world's and even the US Navy's face. What is there motivation (besides the obvious one of $$) ?

I'm not defending them, but in the spirit of my blog's theme "A discussion of life and politics that you won't hear from CNN Fox or ABC"; here are a few links trying to explain why these pirates do what they do.

We're Being Lied to About Pirates

http://www.alternet.org/audits/136288/we%27re_being_lied_to_about_pirates/

Why We Don't Condemn Our Pirates in Somalia

http://www.alternet.org/story/136481/why_we_don%27t_condemn_our_pirates_in_somalia/

Broken Links

I hope that when you visit my blog you spend some time looking at all the stuff I have posted since begining this in 2005. Looking back, some of the posts have links that don't work anymore, I apologize for that, but many, surpriziningly still work. So if you hit a few broken links, don't get discouraged, keep clicking, many are still there for you.
Happy clicking
Dave

Daily Word - Faith

Every day I read the Daily Word, some of it is very helpful in my daily struggles, some of it not so much. This one speaks to the many I know who have been layed off, face furloughs or other financial issues.
I think I'll start passing on the one that are meaningful. If you find meaning in any of the Daily Words I post, you may want to subscribe to the the monthly booklet they produce.
http://www.dailyword.com/


Today's Daily Word - Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Faith
Blessings are flowing to me and from me this day.
I live by faith--a faith in God that is like a bridge over troubled waters. Secure and confident, I rise in thought and act above whatever challenges may be swirling around me. I live the fullness of life.
Getting past a time of trouble is not about my knowing the details of how blessings will come to me. In faith I know with certainty that I will receive them. Living in the moment with God, I understand that change ushers in a time of newness and discovery.
Faith assures me so that I accept each change for what it is: a new beginning. This is a time for greater strengths to be realized and expressed by me, for greater blessings to flow to and from me, for greater fulfillment to be accepted and shared by me.
"When Jesus heard him, he was amazed and said to those who followed him, 'Truly I tell you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith.'"--Matthew 8:10

why cow county?

I've been asked why do I call my blog 'Dave's view from Cow County'. It is because I work in a county which literally has MORE dairy cows than people. I live in the county next door which has nearly as many dairy cows than people.

Internet Radio

Check out this radio station! I first heard it in about 1977 when we were visiting Steve & Linda in San Jose. The station was called KFAT which was a listener supporter station, but in about 1989 it morphed into a commercial station called KPIG. The music stayed the same. Even the internet version has commercials, but they aren't your typical commercials for the most part, most are somewhat entertaining.
Anyway, I highly recommend you check this station out!!!!!!!!!
http://www.kpig.com/

Enjoy

Dave

I'm baaaack, not my back?

Tori is now here on blogspot so I thought I'd start this up again, but I'll have to change the name since I don't live in the State of Jefferson anymore.