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“Good nutrition has given you some length to the bone. But you’re just one generation from ‘Poor White Trash’, aren’t you Agent Starling?” ~Hannibal Lechter to Agent Clarissa Starling’
A friend sent these photos over. It is a nod to the worries folks have that their images from the ‘backscan’ at airports will end up being shared all over. It’s often human nature to make jokes of issues that worry us greatly. The ‘Dark humor’ often helps one get through.
“Grin and bear it” ~US Proverb
“What we cannot change, we must accept and live through” ~ Mexican Proverb
Some folks might find the images a bit disconcerting, even repugnant and profane… be warned before you click to embiggen them.
We got sent the e-mail below from our friends and neighbors Al and Val Johnson
their band will be playing at the party described below.
They are really good folks, and a great band.
Doubtless it will be a fun party…
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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 27TH, 2010
VALERIE JOHNSON , Al B BLUE and the MAD HATTERS - 7pm
1531 Monterey
San Luis Obispo California 93401
805 547-0278 [map]
Price: $10 donation, includes “tea” bev
 - Mad Hatter Tea Party
WORLD PREMIERE EVENT: “A MAD HATTER TEA PARTY”
“A MAD HATTER TEA PARTY ” TO RAISE AWARENESS AND FUNDS FOR PROGRESSIVE CAUSES
SATIRICAL ARTIST MARK BRYAN TO PREMIER HIS NEW PAINTING “THE MAD TEA PARTY part D’uh”
Central Coast artist Mark Bryan wants to take you down the rabbit hole one more time. Mark Bryan is internationally known for his clever and cutting commentary on the current political landscape.
One week before national elections are held, Bryan and local progressive groups will host a Mad Tea Party Night at the Steynberg Gallery.On the evening of October 27th all citizens are invited to participate in a night of playful political hi jinx, wear their best Mad Hatter Hat and view Bryan’s new work “The Mad Tea Party, Part D’uh”. Local blues legends Valerie Johnson, Al B. Blue and the Mad Hatters will be on hand to lay down some Tea Party blues.
In Bryan’s new parody of Alice’s famous party, Sarah Palin stars as the Queen of Hearts, Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck appear as Mad Hatters. O’Reilly and Hannity are having fun as The Walrus and the Carpenter while Tea Party activists depicted as oysters clamor for more “Tea” but are about to be served as “lunch”. Bryan will also be exhibiting his first Mad Tea Party piece and other political works.
The Mad Hatter Tea Party Night is part promotion for Bryan’s artistry, part fundraiser for progressive causes and 100% good time for those wanting a more humorous side of political antics. A contest will be held for the best “Mad Hat”, games, prizes and a raffle drawing for a Giclee print of “The Mad Tea Party, Part D’uh!”, valued at $250.00
Entry is a $10 donation, includes “tea” beverage, cake and other snacks.
For more information, please call Steynberg Gallery 805 547 0278 or email mbryan@kcbx.net
We live far down a dirt road….
We’re pretty remote….
I understand that other folks with higher population densities would get the highest level of service….
That makes economic and social sense
“The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few”
~Spock~
Nonetheless…. our road occasinally gets to a really bad condition, such that people get their tires flattened and rims broken, and shocks breaking through the vehicle due to the huge potholes they hit…. at speed (not good to drive fast down a twisty dirt road with occasional washouts).
There are some local folk looking to sue the county for the poor condition of the road….
In principal I disagree with this thinking. The ones who ruin their vehicles year after year are always the same people… everyone else just gets unusually high wear and tear…. and there are going to be occasional accidents due to people trying to evade potholes at the exact second someone comes around a bend…. yet we can’t expect the county to get back into this remote area after every rainstorm… they’ve got an entire county full of dirt roads to maintain, and they have people along each of those roads with the same story.
In return for me not messing with the county… I’d like to have a reciprocal agreement that the county, state, Feds, and all other governmental agencies would leave me alone. But I know that won’t happen. Every one of those agencies seems to want to stick their fingers into the pie… while they stir it up and knock your own hands away such that you can’t even cook.
A joke:
What does a libertarian eat for a salad dish?
Answ: Lettuce alone
There are many people who like the security of a ‘Nanny State’, taking care of our every need… ensuring employment and medical services etc.
Such a state would also have the right to decide when, how and where you live your life….
U.S.A. Saying:
“When you’re living under my roof… you’re gonna follow my rules“
If we wish the government to ensure medical coverage… then we should also expect that the same agencies would want to reduce overeating and alcohol/cigarette/drug abuse. This would greatly reduce the amount of health costs for the nation. Salts, fats and sugars should also be reduced in the diet…. In fact.. to ensure the best health/life care… we should have all people living in large apartment complexes, with a communal dining area. We’d not have to buy food either! And all we’d have to do is sign over our lives to the state.
Here’s some photos of the grader maintaining our dirt road.
The fellows on the crew do a good job… they give a proper crown so the water rolls off to the sides… the ditches along the edges are maintained and lead to culverts underneath the road, carrying the excess water to the creek….
I think the county could save some money by permitting some of the locals to help maintain the road between the big grading jobs they do… we could all show up on occasion to scrape the road with our tractors to smooth it out and fill the potholes… but that’d bother the union the county workers belong to…. and there’d probably be someone who’d plow into a car, or have their blade tilted too much and ruin the crown… road-maintenance by committee is probably not too efficient either. And besides… the county road is a mile from our house…. and it takes forever to drive a tractor a mile. So I’m happy enough having the county do the maintenance… thank you very much.
Life can be a bit complex sometimes… even with something as simple as a dirt road.
The complexities come from the people.
From e-mails I’ve gotten….
READ AND TAKE NECESSARY CORRECTIVE ACTION.
The Center for Disease Control has issued a warning about a new Virulent strain of Transmitted Disease. The disease is contracted Through ignorant, promiscuous, and irresponsible behavior. The Disease is called Gonorrhea Lectem and pronounced “gonna re-elect them.” Many victims contracted it in 2008, after having being “brainwashed” Promised change and then screwed. Naturalists and epidemiologists are Amazed at how widespread this disease has become since it is so easily Cured….by voting out all incumbents!
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Congress has the lowest approval of any entity in Government, the entity that represents us. We need to get a Senator to introduce this bill in the US Senate and a Representative to introduce a similar bill in the US House.
These people will become American heroes.. Please send any ideas on how to get this done. Thanks,
A Fellow American
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Congressional Reform Act of 2010
1. Term Limits: 12 years only, one of the possible options below.
A. Two Six year Senate terms
B. Six Two year House terms
C. One Six year Senate term and three Two Year House terms
Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career.
The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators,
serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.
2. No Tenure / No Pension:
A congressman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they are out of office.
Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career.
The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators,
serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.
3. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security:
All funds in the Congressional retirement fund moves to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, Congress participates with the American people.
Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career.
The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators,
serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.
4. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan just as all Americans.
Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career.
The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators,
serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.
5. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.
Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career.
The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators,
serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.
6. Congress looses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.
Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career.
The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators,
serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.
7. Congress must equally abide in all laws they impose on the American people.
Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career.
The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators,
serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.
8. All contracts with past and present congressmen are void effective 1/1/11.
The American people did not make this contract with
congressmen, congressmen made all these contracts for themselves.
Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career.
The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators,
serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.
If you agree with the above, pass it on to all in your address list.
If not, just delete.
Believe it or not!
There are lots of people out there that can make impressive web pages showing anything imaginable…
You can save the world if you just listen to them…. or maybe not… but what does it matter if you CARE.
Just caring is worth so much…. and it’s popular too!
Whatever you want in your family can be transposed over to your local government and governmental agencies further up the chain. Any weak link can snap causing all to fall down… and the higher-up this weak link is, the more potential damage, and the heavier the weight of chain falling.
The head of a family has to be able to hold him/herself together in times of adversity… people are dependent on you to maintain stability in the face of adversity….
If the Lord of the Country flits about like a fool,
He will lose his leadership
Tao Teh Ching
This idea extends all through all governance and business….
Many schools of thought insist on high morals…. most people see this as merely an effort to surround oneself with moral people…. but perhaps the ‘hider of secrets’ might not be the one you want hiding the secrets of your government or company.
There’s a reason governments and businesses often insist on people being open about their past when applying for work. If a person in power has deep dark secrets, they might be inclined to ‘tweak’ policy in order to keep this information being divulged through blackmail.
During the run-up to the war in Iraq there was a weapons inspector named Scott Ritter who gave huge amounts of alarm to the world… he said that Saddam Hussein was a dangerous person… that he had weapons that we’d not want loosed upon the world… he seemed to give the impression that Saddam needed to be stopped for the good of his people and for the safety of the world. Then he made an abrupt about-face. Quickly he became one of the staunchest opponents of the war. What happened to make these changes so quickly? Could there have been blackmail involved?
This is why morality among our elected and other governmental people is paramount. Even more than pure morality however is the fact that there be no hidden issues. All people have different levels of tolerance for moral issues. For some the bar is high, for others much lower…. so it can’t be morality alone that is the deciding factor… it is the hidden moral issues that matter the most.. these are the ones that can cause security issues.
While President G.W. Bush was in office it seemed anything he did would enrage a large proportion of the population. Even things I’d expect a lot of his opponents would approve of were dismissed or oddly critiqued. In the same vein… a lot of what Pres. Obama is doing is causing major hand-wringing among some quarters… I feel the extremists on either side will never accept the good in the opponents… politics is really strange…. Much of this point was brought up in an e-mail a friend sent me…. I suppose it’s making the rounds… and I think it carries some validity….
IF GEORGE BUSH WAS AN IDIOT….
If George W. Bush had been the first President to need a teleprompter
Installed to be able to get through a press conference, would you have
Laughed and said this is more proof of how he inept he is on his own
And is really controlled by smarter men behind the scenes?
If George W. Bush had spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to take
Laura Bush to a play in NYC, would you have approved?
If George W. Bush had reduced your retirement plan’s holdings of GM
Stock by 90% and given the unions a majority stake in GM, would you
Have approved?
If George W. Bush had made a joke at the expense of the Special
Olympics, would you have approved?
If George W. Bush had given Gordon Brown a set of inexpensive and
Incorrectly formatted DVDs, when Gordon Brown had given him a
Thoughtful and historically significant gift, would you have approved?
If George W. Bush had given the Queen of England an iPod containing
Videos of his speeches, would you have thought this embarrassingly
Narcissistic and tacky?
If George W. Bush had bowed to the King of Saudi Arabia , would you
Have approved?
If George W. Bush had visited Austria and made reference to the
Non-existent “Austrian language,” would you have brushed it off as a
Minor slip?
If George W. Bush had filled his cabinet and circle of advisers with
People who cannot seem to keep current in their income taxes, would you
Have approved?
If George W. Bush had been so Spanish illiterate as to refer to “Cinco
De Cuatro” in front of the Mexican ambassador when it was the 5th of
May (Cinco de Mayo), and continued to flub it when he tried again,
Would you have winced in embarrassment?
If George W. Bush had mis-spelled the word “advice” would you have
Hammered him for it for years like Dan Quayle and potatoe as proof of
What a dunce he is?
If George W. Bush had burned 9,000 gallons of jet fuel to go plant a
Single tree on Earth Day, would you have concluded he’s a hypocrite?
If George W. Bush’s administration had okayed Air Force One flying low
Over millions of people followed by a jet fighter in downtown
Manhattan causing widespread panic, would you have wondered whether they
Actually get what happened on 9-11?
If George W. Bush had failed to send relief aid to flood victims
Throughout the Midwest with more people killed or made homeless than in
New Orleans , would you want it made into a major ongoing political
Issue with claims of racism and incompetence?
If George W. Bush had created the position of 32 Czars who report
Directly to him, bypassing the House and Senate on much of what is
Happening in America , would you have approved.
If George W. Bush had ordered the firing of the CEO of a major
Corporation, even though he had no constitutional authority to do so,
Would you have approved?
If George W Bush had proposed to quadruple the national debt, which
Had taken more than two centuries to accumulate, in one year, would you
Have approved?
If George W. Bush had then proposed to quadruple the debt again within
10 years, would you have approved?
So, tell me again, what is it about Obama that makes him so brilliant
And impressive? All this in 7 months.
I was reading an article on the environmental consequences of livestock production in the Brazilian rain forest….
The comments section was even more interesting…. there were folks on both sides of the ‘meat divide’ making their own (sometimes) reasoned, and usually passionate arguments for and against the basic premise of the article…. One particular comment I found was made by ‘presidio’ who brings up the fact that almost any occurrence or danger can be manipulated by anyone to gain control or compliance from others who they wish to force into their manner of action….
This is too much.
The Marxists are using Climate Change to promote a Proletariat agricultural revolution
The Maoists are using Climate Change to get us back to year zero
The Corporates are using Climate Change to promote carbon trading
The Govts are using Climate Change to tax us until the pips squeak
The Vegans are using Climate Change to promote vegetarianism
The One Worlders are using Climate Change to promote one govt with a single point of tax and control
The West is using Climate Change to dump pollution on the Third World
The Eugenicist/Malthusians are using Climate Change to cull the population.
The Greens are being used by all of the above, and they don’t realise it.
I suppose anyone with a more-extreme concept can seize onto almost any concept to show it has to be implemented ‘this way and that way’ to prevent catastrophe… otherwise we are all doomed. Usually it is the more extreme portion of population that will do this. In this way… the demand by Nazis for ‘living space’ can be used to gain approval from the masses for foreign conquest… in the same way the ‘domino-theory’ gained approval for troops in Vietnam…. and the outright rejection of violence will enable easy conquest by oppressors. Of course this all depends on with whom you are dealing. Gandhi was able to use non-violent means to defeat the British in India…. they are a cultured civilized people… the same would not work with the Nazis… laying before panzers would just enable an easy takeover….
Like many things that are important…. the fringes attract the radicals… the middle of the road is full of the masses…. understanding and caring little about the matter… yet in order to enable real action, it is the masses that you need behind you…. so the radical fringe will cry havoc and try to instill a sense of fear-and-doom onto the masses to be given approval and ability (legislation, money and manpower) to enforce their vision upon the masses. The opposite can also occur…. absolute denials of potential problems is sometimes the easiest course for the public to follow. When a fortress city has defended itself for generations, the people crying that an invading army has been seen approaching may not merit the demands the structure be fortified further… “it’s been fine this long, it’ll be fine” is the declaration from those needed to stack the stones. Surveillance might be cherry-picked to support either side of argument. Those demanding the building of structure will show the data that this army has new siege machinery, so the old fortifications need upgrading to meet new demands. The ones not wishing the outlay of expenditures and the disruption to their lives will look at the data that showed some of the machines mired in mud en route… “those machines are too complex, and won’t ever make it here.”
Sometimes a matter is a high threat, the public will see it as such and respond with full approval and their ‘hearts-and-minds’ to enable the full effect of effort to be made…. this happened in WWII when the US population, not wanting to get embroiled in “their fight” steadfastly refused the appeals (through the political process) from Britain for involvement, and our own President’s entreaties and arm wrangling to join forces with the Allied Powers and defeat the Axis Powers. It took a sneak attack along with a delayed declaration of war from Japan to gain the enmity of the US populace allowing the politicians to marshal forces.
It is often said “The only thing you find in the ‘middle of the road’ is road-kill”. But it is the masses that any movement needs to gain momentum. And any fact that is found can be twisted around to suit your own needs…. an image can be manipulated with other images around it to appear deceiving…. but the facts remain the same….it just requires a skilled tongue to turn black into white if you open your eyes to only the facts as they are laid out. Deep reasoning and suspicion of the motives of others might be seen as distrust… but the world is so full of manipulations that it is unwise to not look at the facts as given by both sides…. and on the far fringes the facts are loosely interpreted, and data left out if not conducive to the goal… which is control of the people.
The people are the real driving force behind the world economies and politics. We usually don’t think about that, because we are in the middle of the road…. it’s easier going… you don’t have to worry as much about threats implied or real….. the cars whizz on by at speed… but you’re straddling the line…. no hard bushes and spiny plants to push through… not like those folks on the edges that desperatly meander through the brush, concealed while they gaze across the expanse of road… looking at the masses in their endless line… following one another….. unknowing of the dangers that lurk in these bushes…. they just need to reach them…. what a power that would be!
I saw this posted somewhere and did not find out who came up with it, but thought it is so clever that I’d go ahead and post it here. I mean no copyright infringement if it is applicable. If this is your writing, and you wish it removed or accredited, let me know.
Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all.
I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2010, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great. Not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country nor the only America in the Western Hemisphere . Also, this wish is made without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wishee.
By accepting these greetings, you are accepting the aforementioned terms as stated.
This greeting is not subject to clarification or withdrawal. It is freely transferable with no alteration to the original greeting. It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for herself/himself/others, and is void where prohibited by law and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher. This wish is warranted to perform as expected within the usual application of good tidings for a period of one year or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first, and warranty is limited to replacement of this wish or issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wisher.
Our neighbors Laetitia Vineyards have started their grape harvest.
They work around the clock and through the nights so they can get
all the many hundreds of acres harvested on time.
At nighttime they truck in these large lights operated by generators.
In general I know they try to adhere to sustainable practices.
They use bio-fuels where they can. They use drip systems and install raptor perches.
They have been inspected and found to be holding to sustainable ag principles
However sustainable agriculture has different interpretations.
And I don’t like that they seem to be sucking up all the water.
Sustainable means it can be sustained at that level indefinitely
(that means generation after generation for like… a thousand years!).
I also start to get an uncomfortable feeling when local ‘big-business people’
actually spend much of their time a hundred or miles away on another place…..
and when they have several of these large farms here and there….
Maybe that’s the European Kulak in me…
and the Southern small farmer
Nighttime grape harvest at Laetitia Vineyard on Calif Central Coast
When I drive this road at night, usually there are miles I go with no lights to be seen…..
then to all of a sudden come around the bend and see these lights,
like some movie being filmed is disconcerting.
But I am glad to see work being done, production etc.
Yet a number of us have allied together to fight the latest expansion of these fields….
an expansion that includes a ‘Dude Ranch’
with stables, private houses, and rental cabins.
Nighttime grape harvest at Laetitia Vineyard on Calif Central Coast
Yet I am also conflicted with all the fuel used for lighting,
and the massive use of water the vineyard takes.
Since they put in the vineyards, the water level in the creek lowered,
and it has now stopped running for several months.
 Nighttime grape harvest at Laetitia Vineyard on Calif Central Coast My sense of capitalism says a person can do what
they want with their land within limits….
but do those limits extend to overdraft of the limited local water supply?
Lao Tzu
Chapter 53
The gentry wear elaborate richly embroidered clothes,
eat and drink in excess with their sharp swords at their sides,
these are surely the robber barons.
This is not in keeping with the Way.
 Nighttime grape harvest at Laetitia Vineyard on Calif Central Coast
These several thousands of Corporate acres are owned by one person,
and many of the people in that field are given work
for a short time during this harvest season.
How much better off would they and me all be if this land
was held by several hundred small growers?
Each trying to live a regenerative low-impact lifestyle, growing local foods…
and pooling resources to send co-operative food to further areas.
Lao Tzu
Chapter 77
The way of nature is much like the drawing of a bow.
That which is high is lowered,
and that which is low is brought up.
The excess is removed,
and where there is deficiency more is added.
The way of nature is to reduce the excesses
and spread them to where there is deficiency.
The way of Man is otherwise,
Mans way is to take from those who have little,
and give to those who have much.
Who is it that can offer more to the world, and have still more to offer?
Only the person of the Tao.
Therefore the sage acts without laying claim to the act.
He can accomplish without boasting.
He has no wish to appear superior.
 Nighttime grape harvest at Laetitia Vineyard on Calif Central Coast
They could be using water-capture techniques to hold rainwater
so they’d pull less from the ground.
Individual small landholdings of five acres of good soils like this
can be effectively and intensively farmed.
Resulting in overall less water use than currently, more infiltration,
less water run-off and more of a diversified environment.
The mono-culture of hundreds of acres of one plant encourages insect and disease issues.
No wonder grapes are one of the most intensively sprayed crop in California.
Luckily, although we consider them neighbors…
they are still some four miles from our place.
 Nighttime grape harvest at Laetitia Vineyard on Calif Central Coast
Tao teh Ching
Chapter 80
I see a small country of small population.
A simple folk, who even if highly skilled work simply and easily.
Tools are seldom used. They do not bother to invent time-saving appliances.
They would dearly love life, and would take care to avoid death.
Since they would love their homes and land, they would not care to wander.
Even with their horses, boats and carts, they do not wish to travel about.
Though they may have armor and weapons, these are kept out of sight.
These people would return to simple techniques for record keeping.
Their food would be tasty but simple; their clothing would be unpretentious.
They would be content with their simple homes,
and the simple pleasures and customs of a simple people.
And even though there might be a neighboring land within sight,
so that the crowing of roosters and the barking of dogs can be heard from it;
these people will have lived their entire life without ever having gone to that country.
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