Take Down the Bird Feeder

I received this gem in email today...

I bought a bird feeder. I hung it on my back porch and filled it with seed. Within a week we had hundreds of birds taking advantage of the continuous flow of free and easily accessible food. But then the birds started building nests in the boards of the patio, above the table, and next to the barbecue. Then came the poop. It was everywhere: on the patio tile, the chairs, the table...everywhere. Then some of the birds turned mean: They would dive bomb me and try to peck me even though I had fed them out of my own pocket. And others birds were boisterous and loud: They sat on the feeder and squawked and screamed at all hours of the day and night and demanded that I fill it when it got low on food. After a while, I couldn't even sit on my own back porch anymore. I took down the bird feeder and in three days the birds were gone. I cleaned up their mess and took down the many nests they had built all over the patio. Soon, the back yard was like it used to be...quiet, serene and no one demanding their rights to a free meal.

Now lets see...our government gives out free food, subsidized housing, free medical care, free education and allows anyone born here to be a automatic citizen. Then the illegals came by the tens of thousands. Suddenly our taxes went up to pay for free services; small apartments are housing 5 families: you have to wait 6 hours to be seen by an emergency room doctor: you child's second-grade class is behind other schools because over half the class doesn't speak English: Corn Flakes now come in a bilingual box; I have to press "one" to hear my bank talk to me in English, and people waving flags other than "Old Glory" are squawking and screaming in the streets, demanding more rights and free liberties.

Maybe it's time for the government to take down the bird feeder.

Photo Friday: Country

FarmMachinery, originally uploaded by CraftyGuy.

I grew up in rural upstate New York. Sights like these were commonplace in the summer. Tractors and combines and balers all working together helping provide and income to the hardworking farm families...

I never worked on a farm, but lived next door to a dairy farm, so have at least an inkling of the hard work that is involved.

Warning: I have a brain and I know how to use it!

Day 164: 2007 04 20, originally uploaded by CraftyGuy.

No frivolity today. Instead I decided to step outside of my comfort zone and get a bit political.

I decided that life is just too short to get wound up over what other people may think of my opinions and beliefs. If someone gets offended over something I say, it was their choice to be offended.

Down with political-correctness and other forms of left-wing intellectual oppresion!!

Is this a sign of things to come in this corner of the blogosphere? It's too soon to say, but don't expect any of that "PC" crap from me!

Until next cold splash of political water in your face...

Meds No More!

Day 163: 2007 04 19, originally uploaded by CraftyGuy.

I was put on lovastatin about 9 months ago for my high cholesterol. I put up with taking it for a couple of months, and came to the realization that I really couldn't afford the extra $10/month to keep getting this refilled, so I stopped taking it.

I lucked out, because currently my cholesterol level is at an all-time low (could be lower, but I'm still pleased with the progress as is my doctor). During my doctor's visit today (to discuss various things attendant to reaching certain...ah... "milestones" in my life -- yeah I'll be turning 40 in a little over a week), he decided that I no longer needed to be on any meds for my cholesterol! Oh, happy day!!

Welcome to Monday

Flooding 1, originally uploaded by CraftyGuy.

This is this sight I was greeted with in the cellar this morning. We got a lot of rain between Sunday afternoon and Monday morning. These storage boxes (containing our summer clothes, Christmas decoration, old papers and books) were all neatly stacked before the water came in. Not to mention that the furnace (which seems to be working ok once the oil company came and dealt with it), washing machine (in questionable condition now), dryer (totally water-logged) are all in the cellar - plus a spare freezer, which fortunately wasn't hooked up (but unfortunately is now useless).

The joys of having a field-stone foundation...

Too Busy

Any chance I could actually get to blog sometime this decade? I mean - enough with the work already! Sheesh!

The Debate Is Over

(No - this is *not* an April Fool's joke. This is quite serious, and I'm in 100% agreement.)

The Debate Is Over
By Doug Patton
March 26, 2007

Former Vice President Al Gore, testifying on his pet issue last week, told Congress: "there is no longer any serious debate over the basic points that make up the consensus on global warming." As Rush Limbaugh observed a few hours after Gore's testimony, when liberals declare the debate over, you can bet the debate is not over; they just want it stifled.

Perhaps conservatives should adopt this tactic of declaring the debate over on some of our issues. What do we have to lose? It would be a fun exercise, and it might usher in a whole new era of conventional wisdom.

So, I hereby declare that there is no longer any serious debate over the basic points that make up the consensus on abortion. Everyone knows it's a baby. It moves. It kicks. It has a heartbeat and brain waves. When allowed to grow, it becomes an adult. Yes, the debate is over. Abortion kills human beings and should be prohibited.

Also, there is no longer any serious debate over the basic points that make up the consensus on marriage. Anyone with half a brain knows that for 5,000 years of recorded human history, it has been an institution involving a man and a woman. Case closed.

And, of course, there is no longer any serious debate over the basic points that make up the consensus on gun control. Guns make people and societies safer, not more dangerous. Besides, the Second Amendment says you can have one, or many, so that issue is now put to rest.

There is no longer any serious debate over the basic points that make up the consensus on government spending. State and federal governments now spend many times what they should in order to fulfill their constitutionally mandated responsibilities. Therefore, it is settled. Government spending should be slashed.

Likewise, there is no longer any serious debate over the basic points that make up the consensus on taxes. Americans should be allowed to keep much more of what they earn. In fact, while we're dictating policy, the 16th Amendment should be repealed, the Internal Revenue Service abolished and a national consumption tax, known as the Fair Tax, should be implemented immediately.

Because government schools are such a miserable failure, there is no longer any serious debate over the basic points that make up the consensus on whether the private sector, be it secular or religious, should be assigned the task of educating our children. They could do a much better job for a fraction of the price.

There is no longer any serious debate over the basic points that make up the consensus on child molesters. They should be castrated and/or imprisoned for the rest of their natural lives, along with their advocates in the North American Man-Boy Love Association (NAMBLA), and anyone caught producing child pornography.

There is no longer any serious debate over the basic points that make up the consensus on illegal immigration. People from other countries steal across our borders, bringing with them diseases and social problems. We pay for them. They should go home, and we should build a real, physical fence to keep them from coming back. End of story.

There is no longer any serious debate over the basic points that make up the consensus on Islamic terrorism. As Ronald Reagan said of the Soviets during the Cold War: "We win and they lose. That's my strategy."

There is no longer any serious debate over the basic points that make up the consensus on capital punishment. Commit homicide and America has a right to demand your life in return.

Oh yes, and outside Hollywood and the ranks of adoring Democrats in the United States Congress, who look at him as a rock star, there is no longer any serious debate over the basic points that make up the consensus on Al Gore. He is an enviro-fascist hypocrite who lives in a Tennessee mansion that uses 30 times the energy of the average American home, yet he has taken it upon himself to lead a worldwide wacko movement that wants to force us to radically alter our way of life in the pursuit of zealous extremism to achieve dubious results in addressing a problem that may not even exist.

The debate is over.

Doug Patton is a freelance columnist who has served as a political speechwriter and public policy advisor. His weekly columns are published in newspapers across the country and on selected Internet web sites, where he is a senior writer and state editor. Readers may e-mail him at dougpatton@cox.net.

Friday Frivolity #7 - Charlie the Unicorn

Amazing what kids find amusing...

This YouTube video is just plain sick and wrong, and that's why it's this week's Friday Frivolity.

Watch Out - He's Thinking Again!

I've been thinking lately (yeah, I know, that's more than a little dangerous - and not recommended without a smoke detector). What have I been thinking about? Well, lemme tell ya...

I have my photos hosted on Flickr, and out of those nearly-500 photos there, there are maybe a handful of them that fall in the category of "Hey, that's actually not bad! Did I do that?". So, I said to myself, "Self, maybe it's time to start another blog, just for my art photos," and I replied, "You know, that's not a bad idea!"

So I've been pondering putting together a second blog site - I'll keep this one as my mental toxic-waste dump for your viewing pleasure, and the other one for my attempts at "serious" photography. Okay, I'm no Ken Rosenthal or Ansel Adams by any stretch of the imagination, or even a Carol Schiraldi. They're all really good photographers, and I'm not. But that's really isn't the point. I have a few fairly good photos in my opinion, and I'm hoping that will eventually grow to a larger number of better photos over time. And I want to be ready for that when it happens.

I've been tossing around a couple of ideas for working names; either "Crafty Photography" or "The Crafty Photographer" (I'm very much leaning toward the first one, as the site is supposed to be about the photos, not the photographer). And I think I will have that hosted on Blogger as well - it's familiar, and, well... cheap.

And of course, now I guess I'm gonna have to break down and come up with that dreaded "artist's statement" that I've been putting off for a while...

I Love Pizza, but This is Ridiculous!

Feeling hungry? Got some extra money to burn? Try the $1,000 Pizza!

I kid you not. This guy, Nino Selimaj, who owns a bunch of pizza places in New York City - which explains much - created this piece of gastronomical indulgence called the Luxury Pizza. It has caviar (6 kinds, so told), lobster, creme fraiche, and chives.

What - does the delivery guy drive a Brinks armored truck?

I'll stick with pepperoni and extra cheese, thank you.