Ox ...After Dark

Michael Jackson Syndrome -- While Rome Burns

2009-07-07T09:22:00.000-07:00

Here's Pete King's take on this mania:

And here's Whoopi Goldberg, one of the official spokespersons for the idiocracy on the Left, "defending" Michael Jackson (or is it attacking King?) It's all about you, Whoopi!

Soldiers dying in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Unemployment sky-rocketing.

Higher taxes and socialism around the corner.

Inflation and loss of savings.

Families disintegrating.

Murders by gangs, illegal aliens, jihadists, homocidal maniacs.

And the lame stream media? MJ 24/7... Maybe there's a method to their madness?

How many ways can we say "circus" here?

What does the fact that so many thousands, nay, millions of people, identify with a sad, sick, abused and child-abusing wreck of a human being? True, he had great musical talent. So what?

What are we coming to that morality is just a footnote to a person's life and not the central feature of ones character?

A bunch of soft-Nietzschean idiots, that's what.

God bless America! We need it.

A Hole In My Heart

2009-05-25T21:42:00.000-07:00

Upon approaching my grandfather's grave at Riverside National Cemetery, I laid a single rose along the right edge of the plaque that identified his grave as one belonging to a World War II Veteran, United States Army-Air Corps. I planted two small American flags, one at each top corner. They waved slightly under the force of the light breeze. I removed my hat, knelt to a single knee, closed my eyes, and prayed a silent prayer.

I remained silent after my prayer, and remained knelt down for an additional moment, also remembering his brothers in arms that had died on the battlefield so many years ago, and recently in the Middle East. As I rose, placing my hat back upon my head, I looked around, and caught the momentary glance of Dad. The other members of my extended family were standing around talking to each other, conversing with my cousin visiting from Arkansas, and sharing stories about Grandpa. My dad stood off to the side, no longer looking in my direction. Perhaps he was in thought. Maybe he simply decided not to talk at that moment. Nonetheless, like me, he understands Grandpa's service to our nation in ways the others in our party may not. After all, Dad is a Vietnam Veteran, and a United States Marine. We, the ones that took an oath to give our lives for liberty during our service to this nation, feel our patriotism in our soul. It lives and breathes inside of us. It begs for a tear when we look upon Old Glory, and remember the lives of the fallen that gave the ultimate sacrifice on the battlefield.

As much as I desire to recognize the taste of freedom as my Grandfather and Dad did, as a peacetime veteran I will never fully understand their experiences on the battlefield. Grandfather served in France during the 1940's, and Dad in Vietnam during the 1960's. I served in the Pacific Ocean during the Reagan years. The most action I saw was when a Soviet vessel followed the Guided Missile Destroyer I was stationed on for thirteen miles.

My cousin, happy to meet me for the first time in person, shook my hand. I gave her a hug when it came time to depart later. Like my Grandfather and Dad, my cousin and I share a bond that few understand. We both have a hole in our heart, one that will never be filled, one that will never be satisfied.

Dad has been my dad since I was two years old. I rarely refer to him as my step-dad since he has been more of a father to me than most biological fathers are capable of being. Mom ensured our lives were grounded in faith and moral clarity, and Dad made sure our lives were grounded in ethics and strong work habits.

Father, the biological one, was not one to spend a whole lot of time with me during my life. I know that he loved me in his own way, but his ability to show that emotion was somehow limited by a lifestyle that he placed an importance upon that overshadowed any semblance of a sound fatherhood. Usually, I received the privilege to see him once a year, with the occasional deuce when he decided to pop up in my life at Christmas and my birthday during the same year. The time I spent with him was fun, a nice change from my otherwise doldrum existence. He bought me things, took me to movies that my parents may not have, and he had a BETA Machine, which played movies on tape - something my parents did not possess, nor could afford. His was a life funded easily through is businesses, and family heritage. Money was something the Gibbs Family was not short of.

Dad, the step-dad, provided everything he could, sometimes working a couple jobs to maintain his household. He poured his energies into keeping a roof over our heads, and food on the table. Dad never treated me as a step-son. As far as he was concerned, I was no different than the two children he and my mother produced after they married. He did everything to make my life normal, and to ensure I didn't notice the hole in my heart.

Even my grandparents, Dad's folks in Arkansas, got to the point where I was so much a part of the family they even forgot the fact that I was not blood related. Grandma often made remarks saying something along the lines of, "Oh, you got that from your dad," referring to her son, of whom I shared no genetics with.

He was twice the Dad I could ever hope to be, yet after that once a year visit with my father I would come home with the attitude that the biological version was the best guy in the world. The attitude lasted about two weeks, usually, and it surely hurt the feelings of the man that was doing all the work to raise me, and love me. But Dad never said anything about it. If it bothered him, I never knew. He understood, I believe, that it was the hole in my heart talking. The hole was acting out. The hole in my heart wished it did not have to suffer an abandonment issue caused by my father by blood. What I didn't understand at the time was that the man who was my biological father never really thought about fatherhood, never expected to have an heir, and didn't know how to be anything else other than a once or twice a year visitor.

As an adult, now, I understand the hole in my heart. I recognize that it is simply a natural occurrence for children who never knew one of their parents as much as they hoped. Throughout my childhood I strove to earn the pride of a man that didn't know how to be proud of a son he accidentally fathered. I secretly imagined him sitting in the stands during my baseball games. I wished, after he vanished during my teenage years, that he would appear just in time to see me finish a race and receive a medal, or grin at the fact that I was a Letterman. I hoped that he would surprise me by showing up to my high school graduation, or appear just in time to see me off to boot camp when I joined the U.S. Navy. I wondered how much like him I truly was, even though any environmental factors that may mold my personality to be like his did not exist. I wondered if I was anything like him, and secretly feared that I might be.

He reappeared in my life after my aunt, his sister, passed away. I was beyond my teenage years, and married long enough to have a son. His appearance was long after the accident that left me in a coma, and hospitalized for months. He appeared long after I needed him to. He missed the right moments. He failed to live up to my expectations.

During our reunion, I introduced him to his grandson, and asked him his feelings about my child. He responded, "I don't like children."

I suppose I should have figured it out at that moment that my attempts to win a relationship with him were more or less futile, but as hard headed as I am, I continued to pursue getting to know my father better.

In 1998 our relationship finally began to grow. I called him every Saturday, visited him a few times up on the Oregon Coast. He died six months later, before the relationship could truly grow.

His friends say he had a heart attack while driving up the main road to the house. The alcohol level in his blood told me otherwise. He was a drinker, and had always been one. He took a turn too fast and drove his car right off the road, over a long drop, into the Chetco River. The head injury he received when the car slammed into a multitude of trees on the way down killed him instantly. A lucky break, I suppose, since the car wound up under eight feet of cold water when the vehicle finally came to rest.

Again, he had abandoned me.

My mother, his ex-wife, drove up to Oregon with me to tend to his body. During the 16-hour drive we exchanged a few thoughts about the man who had fathered me, but the conversation never left the realm of the surface. Emotions were carefully tucked away, and sensitivities were respected.

In Oregon, when it came time to view his body, I did not wish to do so. My mother urged me to, explaining that I needed closure. So, reluctantly, I entered the room and sat down. I could have sworn I saw movement in his lifeless body. A twinkle in his closed eye. A smile.

I wiped my tears, walked up to the man, and placed my hand on his stiff body. The tears returned, and I spent the next twenty minutes telling the man everything I ever wanted to say. I spilled my heart out, emptying the aging hole that resided deep in my angry heart. I poured all of my emptiness upon the corpse that lay before me, often approaching the threshold of yelling at him. Then, afterward, when I had said all that shored the hole in my heart, I sat down on the bench across from him and wept. I wept for him. I wept that he didn't know the Lord. I wept that he never understood me. I wept that he was incapable of caring about anyone other than himself. I wept for my own self-pity, that he didn't fill the hole in my heart as I desired, that he refused to live up to the hopes I secretly held deep in my soul.

Today, on Memorial Day, after the memories of my biological father forced a couple tears to well up in my eyes, I looked over at the man that has been "Dad" most of my life. Some would call him my step-dad, but to me he is Dad. He was happy to be with his family. He was surely remembering fond thoughts of his father-in-law that lay in the grave below the plaque that was adorned with my rose and two flags. He was there to love me as his son, even though the hole in my heart sometimes made me say things that broke his. He hugged me, and told me he loves me.

The hole in my heart remains, and I suppose it will never be filled, but the love of the ones around me, many of whom "decided" to love me, regardless of whether or not their blood runs through my veins, makes living with that hole in my heart a little bit easier.

Gay Gene Debunked

2009-05-14T13:57:00.000-07:00

Well this is big news, and coming from one of the many professional organizations captured by radicals and activists over the last 40 years it can hardly be written off as homophobic religious intolerance... No, the American Psychological Association has conceded that there is no such thing as a "gay gene"!

Note that radical gay activists have ALWAYS played a game of double-talk, claiming on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays that homosexuality is genetic and a congenital aspect of a persons identity, demanding civil rights and equality like blacks or women (no one ever raises the counter-point to those arguments that nature frequently errs), and then on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturdays they argue that homosexuality is a "lifestyle" choice and a manifestation of personal liberty, etc. Well, the jig is up. ...

Tolerance, love, and understanding on society's part is called for, some recognition of certain economic rights in enforcing civil union private contracts is constitutionally and morally due. ...

[read the rest]

Weathering The Storms of Life

2009-04-14T20:28:00.001-07:00

The world of politics, I believe, is directly linked to the state of our society. The state of our society is linked directly to our faith. Faith guides ethics and morals. This is not to say that those without faith have no morals or ethics. However, I believe that when the morality of a community, or nation, breakdown, it can be directly contributed to the breakdown of faith. And as these morals breakdown, so does society, and ultimately, so follows our government.

Growing up, my mom was an integral part of ensuring that I was exposed to the good news of Christ. I attended church, and I believed in the crucifixion of Christ. My letterman's jacket had a descending dove on the back with the words, "Runner for Christ" below it.

My wife, raised a Catholic, but whose family was non-practicing, was attracted to me, she says, because of my firm belief in the faith of Christianity.

Problem was, I believed in Christ, but I was not to the point in my life where I "knew" Christ, as much as I thought otherwise at the time.

By the time I was married and entered the U.S. Navy, I was beginning to wonder about this belief system of Christianity that my parents tried to convince me of, and of which I thought I was a believer throughout my younger years.

continue reading . . .

2009-03-26T14:27:00.000-07:00

http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/assets/fy2010_new_era/Inheriting_a_Legacy1.pdf

You can read the whole budget philosophy in Obama’s document called “A New Era of Responsibility” that accompanies the proposed budget. The chapter on "Misplaced Priorities" is linked above and particularly worth your time. Did you know that Education, Environment, and Health Care problems were what has caused the situation we are in today economically?

[read the rest at Dumb Ox Daily News]

Planned Parenthood Christmas Present...

2008-11-27T14:02:00.000-08:00

God help us. Christmas? Gift certificates. For birth control pills and abortion. Birth of Jesus? Opportunity to sell murder of innocents.

Yes that's Planned Parenthood.

read the rest...

Ike, Houston, and the Ox

2008-09-17T16:35:00.000-07:00

Maybe you can send news around or post it on ox ...after dark. School in the city (and St. Thomas follows them) is closed for "a week to 10 days." Absolutely insane. U of H is open today...some sort of admin macho thing. I cancelled my class, as did many profs. My other office at CAI is locked down. Stop lights most not working. I give HUGE credit to Houstonians for driving with respect...chokes me up how good strangers can be.
F went to school to post things on her website. I have a big agenda today, plan on sleeping most of it. There is more plywood to take down, but considering i may have ruined my back the other day, it may stay up until next hurricane season. Like christmas lights.
Tons of trees down everywhere. I'm actually amazed that they cleared the big trees from our little street. A result of community organizing! Obama would be proud. Gas stations have no power. We have enough gas if a get away is in order.
Ike wasn't as bad as they thought, surge much lower. Amazingly small loss of life. We are grateful and thank God. The gov made a point, that texas should be treated as well as louisianna...we shall see... Our house is intact, we are safe. God bless all who are struggling and in danger.

Hurricane Ike and the Ox Family

2008-09-14T13:22:00.000-07:00

Just got off the phone with the Dumb Ox himself. He reports he and Mrs Ox and the not-so-little Oxen are well and safe.

In spite of his house being built by extraterrestrials, the roof stayed on and they have no damage. The lack of hurricane clips was not a problem -- this time, but something the D.O. will have to see about having done.

Services are few: They have no water, no electricity, no phone. But they do have gas and so are able to make pasta for supper tonight. They have two tubs filled with water for flushing toilets. (You dump a bucket of water into a toilet bowl and, voila, it flushes) And they had stocked up with cases of bottled water. (Hey, Ox.. better hang onto those bottles for recycling!)

The Ox reports 2 feet of water on his street. He nixed going to Mass this morning because "you never know what's under the water." Too much debris of all kinds following Ike's visit. He has, however, seen a couple of trucks on the street. People with important places to go? Or scavengers? A neighbor boy is visiting from across the street, waded over in storm boots-- which of course he was asked to leave at the door. The water outside is contaminated.

Bottom line is: Pray, but don't worry. They are fine and counting their blessings. The Oxen have a solar powered crank radio, lots of rations, lots of bottled water. It's very hot, but when temps cool down in the night, they can open windows for fresh air. It'll be a while before they are showering. At least a week before running water is restored.

When his cell phone dies, he will be unable to recharge it until they have electricity. But, he reports, they are safe and have essentials ... including a little Parmesan cheese. And vino. Tomorrow the Ox will venture out to visit his elderly neighbors. Since yesterday the Oxen have been turning down invitations to hurricane parties, but tomorrow is another day.

Welcome to New "Ox ...After Dark" Contributor: Melissa of "Simple Country Girl"

2008-09-10T17:14:00.000-07:00

"Ox ...After Dark" is pleased to announce that Melissa of "Simple Country Girl" has joined the ranks of our great Contributors. We'll look forward to her posts!

Melissa is one smart and sassy conservative gal--reminds me of Sarah Palin!

Gosh, who would've ever thought a week ago that anyone would be saying such things?

Well, enjoy Melissa's posts, visit her great blog, and try to keep your sanity and your faith and family intact in this crazy political season.

This too will pass.

All the best,
D. Ox

Aaron Tippen's Song Drill Here Drill Now

2008-09-10T12:14:00.000-07:00

Hey there! I guess I'm the new kid on the blog! Let's see if I can get this right since I've never cross-posted before.

I had an email today from American Solutions with a new song from Aaron Tippens referenced in it.

Here's the first stanza of "Drill Here, Drill Now"...

Hello…..Is anybody out there listenin’ in Washington D.C.
This is the suffering voice of America crying out for relief
Now I don’t know what a gallon of gas costs up on Capitol Hill
But we sure know what it costs down here in Realityville
And the damage already done has been a mighty heavy toll
And if we’re gonna fix it we gotta start right here at home

You'll find the rest here, along with an interview between Newt Gingrich, Aaron Tippen and Sean Hannity: Simple Country Girl

HIV in India? BBC will fix it with CONDOM RINGTONE!

2008-08-19T15:22:00.000-07:00

You have to go to the website and read the ridiculous claims on how the BBC World Service Trust plans to make condoms signs of intelligence and social status!

CondomCondom.org

From AFP:

A cellphone ringtone that chants "condom, condom!" has been launched in India to promote safe sex and tackle the growing HIV/AIDS epidemic.

The "condom a cappella" has been designed to break down Indians' reluctance to discuss condom use and to make wearing a condom more acceptable.

Organisers of the campaign, funded by the foundation set up by Microsoft mogul Bill Gates and his wife Melinda, hope the ringtone will become a craze among young Indians.

No doubt condoms will do the trick, like they have everywhere else???

How is it that such smart and socially important people like the folks at the BBC and in the Democrat Party here in the U.S. see condoms as the solution to just about EVERYTHING except GLOBAL WARMING... but I guess that is just a matter of time, they haven't thought of it yet.

6th Astronaut to Walk on Moon: Aliens Have Been Among Us...

2008-07-24T17:54:00.000-07:00

Dr. Edgar Mitchell, the sixth astronaut to walk on the Moon, confirms that ET's are real, they have been to earth many times, and that the truth has been hushed up by governments in the know for over 50 years... and that the truth has been coming out now, with more to follow...

Watch and listen to this video interview:

The Church has indeed stated that life on other planets does not implicate flaws in the Christian understanding of the universe, of life, or of God's plan...

What do you think?

Transhumanism? Ready or not...

2008-07-19T11:22:00.000-07:00

From Daily Tech:

New conference examines what risks super intelligent robots might hold and how man itself may merge with machine to the point where it is no longer recognizable as human.

Dr. Nick Bostrom, director of Oxford's Future of Humanity Institute, host of the symposium, is fearful that mankind may eventually create such a machine, capable of destroying its creators. He states, "Any entity which is radically smarter than human beings would also be very powerful. If we get something wrong, you could imagine the consequences would involve the extinction of the human species."

Bostrom leads a movement known as transhumanism, which dually aims to watch for potential threats in emerging technologies and conversely adopt radical emerging technologies to enrich human life. Bostrom and other transhumanist hope that one day biotechnology, molecular nanotechnologies, and artificial intelligence will merge man with machine, yielding humans that have increased cognitive abilties, are physically stronger, and emotionally more stable. This path, they say will lead to "posthumans", augmented beings so superior to traditional man, they are separate entity.

He describes, "We want to preserve the best of what it is to be human and maybe even amplify that. We will begin to use science and technology not just to manage the world around us but to manage our own human biology as well. The changes will be faster and more profound than the very, very slow changes that would occur over tens of thousands of years as a result of natural selection and biological evolution."

While Bostrom and his adherents are eager for such developments, they are unsure when technology will mature to the point where they are possible. Says Bostrom, "Maybe it will take eight years or 200 years. It is very hard to predict."

And that would be a good thing? Some people can't resist the lure of power and immortality... maybe they should read Faust... or Genesis...

It has already started harmlessly enough. Who doesn't want to have genetically healthy children? Who will want their children to stay virtually retarded compared to the kids with nanobots in their brains that will make them uber-menschen?

The clock is ticking on a sinful humanity that wants to be like gods...

Gore and IPCC Fraud on Global Warming Exposed

2008-07-19T10:56:00.001-07:00

Although this news is a bit beyond the ken of ...After Dark, we think it is important to get this news around the blogosphere. D. Ox contends that "fraud" on behalf of the IPCC is not too strong a word for the way that they exaggerated evidence and basically HID their methodology to prove a pre-determined conclusion. Gore's fraud in his pseudo-documentary has been established as a matter of law by Britain's highest court. PLUS, D. Ox reveals letter exposing cover-up... Read the rest here, with links to sources, plus an exclusive view of the letter from Lord Monckton that should rock the American Physical Society's journal minions...

read more | digg story

Why I am not a Pessimist

2008-07-16T18:02:00.000-07:00

We've enjoyed in America and Western Europe an unprecedented period of peace and prosperity--so prolonged and extensive that a huge majority of people have no idea where that peace came from or how that prosperity was built. As a result they can indulge childish fantasies that these things popped into existence because some nice people wished them to be, and demagogues like Obama are ready to encourage the delusions of the masses, exciting their envy and class hatred, and promising them a material existence that no longer depends on personal virtue or responsibility or even effort.

Another dimension of this historical cycle is that a huge swath of humanity has given itself over to hedonism and self-indulgence, as peace and prosperity has permitted them to forget that the world and nature are normally quite hard and exact heavy tolls on people who ignore the Divine Law. Our historical bubble of peace and prosperity has permitted the flourishing of all sorts of social and personal delusions.

Of course, not everyone in the world has experienced this period (since WWII at least) as one of security and incredible material comfort. The spread of envy and class hatred by the demagogues on the Left around the world have managed to convince much of the rest of the world of the same message they convince their flocks of clucking fools domestically, that all of their woes are the result of the intentions of some bad people. Is there any wonder that the Left in the U.S. and Western Europe can so readily sympathize with the terrorists?

I have written about this elsewhere, but radical Islam and the insane Leftism in the Western World are built on the same fundamental mistakes about the nature of the world and man, the same heresies, if you will. A cross between Aryanism and Pelagianism infects the mindsets of these two deluded groups, apparently so at odds (yet we see them again and again using the same language, analysis, and sentiments): they believe themselves capable of making themselves into gods. Well, frankly, without appealing to historical theology, we should know that such people are simply bound with hoops of steel to their original sin... the desire to be God's equal. All the seven deadly sins follow suit. Both the Islamists and the Leftists (Obamaists?) are chasing heaven, each in their own deluded way.

Am I a bit pessimistic? You bet, when thinking about the historical situation and the present state of destructive technologies. I tell my sons, like Tolkien would, that we don't get to pick the time in which we are born. The secret is to live virtuously as best we can given the world we have, to attend to our duties as human beings: to provide for ourselves and our families, act with and promote justice (people getting what they actually deserve, having earned or merited, for good or for ill), seeking true understanding, and loving God with all our heart and our fellow men like ourselves. There are no guarantees in life beyond our own efforts--despite the inverted universe of the demagogues.

When thinking about the grand scheme of things, I am unabashedly optimistic. The length of years we have on earth is no measure of human happiness, the amount of stuff we have even less so. Running the race well, finishing with confidence in the goodness of our efforts and the mercy of God, that is the best we can ever hope for, and it is more than we are even entitled to hope for.

Be not afraid!

D. Ox

(cross-posted at "Dumb Ox Daily News")

When Death Comes

2008-07-16T04:33:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I received in the mail a letter from my Aunt and Uncle who live in Hawaii. The letter was sent to give me some bad news. Aunt Chonita, my biological father's sister, also a resident of Hawaii (as well as Carmel, California), passed away. She is the third of the four children to pass. My Uncle Stan, the uncle in Hawaii, is the surviving child of the four. My father passed away in 1999.

Chonita was an interesting member of the family, always active in community work, as well as a member of a number of Honolulu associations. During her life she had traveled the world, working closely with Dr. Carl G. Jung at one point, and was one of 12 international therapists selected as founding members of the International Society of Sandplay Therapy. She worked with both children and adults, taught and trained students of Sandplay in addition to lecturing on the subject in the U.S. and Japan. The use of Sandplay Therapy remains in the family, used by my cousin Tina in Sausalito, California with her patients.

Today, at the end of my radio show on Blog Talk Radio, my mom called me to advise me that my step-dad's brother (remember, my step-dad has been my dad since I was two years old, so he is my dad to me as much, if not more-so, than my father was) passed away this afternoon in Arkansas. He was the youngest of the eight kids, dead, apparently, due to a heart attack.

In the case of both families, connections are being made. Old conversations are being renewed, memories have been passed along, tears are being shed.

Continued on Political Pistachio. . .

Part I - A Dad recounts preemie twins' struggle

2008-06-14T16:26:00.001-07:00

DALLAS - "The speech I was holding should only have been a backup. I knew the words by heart because I'd lived them."

This is a heart-wrenching story that is very uplifting, as a reminder of what it means to be human...

"Eyes widened when I held up red and blue Beanie Babies that were as big as the real boys. Heads nodded when I held up my wedding band—which a dime can just fit through—and described it circling one baby's arm like a hula hoop.

Then I got to the middle of page 3. To the paragraph I'd typed through teary eyes a few days before.

"I'm sorry," I said, my jaw quivering, eyes puddling. I reached for a tissue, trying to stall long enough to regain my composure.

"This," I continued, "is the part where I always give the update ..."

I tried again. And again.

But I couldn't get the rest out."

Constitutional Right?

2008-06-03T08:11:00.001-07:00

Any lovin's good lovin'?

Homosexual activist Frank Kameny thinks so, and makes the case publicly that any kind of sex, including sex with animals, so long as the animal doesn't object, is protected by the U.S. Constitution. Read the whole thing.

Kameny thinks that playing Dr. Doolittle with the furry ones is just a fine idea of "the pursuit of happiness". Sick.

By the way, Justices Kennedy, Ginsberg, Stevens, probably Souter, and definitely ex-Justice O'Connor would agree... Just in case you had any doubts about voting Republican in the next election.

read more | digg story

And if you think there is not a strong effort to normalize bestiality, see Wikipedia's entry on "zoophilia"...

Dangers of older fathers

2008-06-02T17:38:00.001-07:00

"The risks of older fatherhood can be very profound, and it is not something that people are always aware of."

The claim is that children of older dads are twice as likely not to make it to 18 from health problems.

Well, there goes my plans for more children!

Then again, why should we live our lives according to phoney statistics and studies that the elites routinely churn out? What about smoking, or other health conditions that are surely as dangerous to the "quality of sperm" as is simple age.

In a world where the elites are finding ever more ingenious ways to convince people not to have children, this strikes me as just the most recent gimmick.

Isn't it interesting how there are commercials every five minutes on TV and radio about better erections, better orgasms, and how should your world stop revolving around sex, you might as well croak? I'm frankly furious that my kids have hear such garbage!

If we don't start making more children and concern ourselves less with the ultimate orgasm (until death) we will have much worse health--moral, economic, social and political--problems on the near horizon.

I guess I'll keep bugging Mrs. Ox for a bit longer on my hopes for a daughter or two...

read more | digg story

I Am A German-American. NOT!

2008-02-17T19:46:00.000-08:00

This whole American bending-over-backwards to try to accomodate all peoples according to their desires is ludicrous. Assinine. Nuts. And grossly counter-productive. (see also my post of Dec 21 '07)

Let's play the game: I really am not German-American. I am German-Dutch-French-Irish-Native-Scots-American. Three-quarters German, yes, but my ancestors were clearly not xenophobic. I am an American. My great-great-great grandparents were Americans, the moment they became citizens.

I do not know any Blacks who came from Africa and have not become citizens; ergo, I do not know any African-Americans. I do know a Chinese woman who lives in California. She is not a citizen. She is a Chinese National. She is not American simply by virtue of living here.

The hundreds of thousands of Mexican Nationals living and working in the United States without paying taxes, without documentation is a problem with an easy solution: Allow them. . . (more at www.disneyesque.blogspot.com)

Personal Pistachio - The Night We Met

2008-01-05T22:26:00.000-08:00

A long time ago, in a city not far away, Mrs. Pistachio kissed Doug for the first time. It was the beginning of a love affair that continues today. But the road has not always been paved with gold. The beginnings were the first dips of a major roller coaster ride that nearly split the two apart many times, only to smooth out over the last few years.

Read the rest of this post on Political Pistachio.

Giving Thanks

2007-11-22T13:14:00.001-08:00

Thanksgiving 2007. I am thankful for so many things. I am thankful that I am alive after nearly dying in 1985. I am thankful for my wife, after 23 years of marriage that began, oddly enough, like a roller coaster ride, but now has smoothed out into a passionate love affair. I am thankful for my first grandchild, Ezekiel, born on November 7. I am thankful that I have the opportunity to write on my blogs, and talk on my internet radio show. I am thankful for our troops fighting for liberty. I am thankful for my Lord sending His Son to the Cross two thousand years ago.

And even though I am thankful for so many things during this year's Thanksgiving Holiday, I am reminded that my life is also filled with many stresses. It is difficult knowing that there is crime and hunger and war in the world. Family politics, with children bickering and my siblings throwing snide remarks at each other, is disconcerting as well. During this time of year my conversations with my wife are often strained because of the pressures of the season, and the annual slowdown of the construction industry as the rains approach. Sometimes, with all of this, and many more things, going on, it is difficult to be truly thankful.

But then I remember how important it is to keep things in perspective. Not all things that happen in our lives are necessarily good, and often, things that happen in our lives are more often than not difficult and painful. But it is those events that I truly am thankful for, for it is during those storms I learn my lessons, build character, and become strong. Life experiences, especially during the most difficult moments, are what make me who I am.

So I guess, what I am trying to say, is it is easy to be thankful for the blessings in our lives, but don't forget to be thankful for the difficult events as well.

This post is not continued on Political Pistachio as I normally do. But please pay my site a visit anyhow, as well as the many links available for some of my other writings.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Teddy Roosevelt on Immigration

2007-11-18T09:19:00.000-08:00

What on earth have we done to this country in the last 50 some years? American greed is undoing us all.... the demand for cheap labor to increase profits to sell stock and please shareholders and make a company look good on paper.... downsizing, outsourcing.... why doesn't corporate America care about where it lives?
Corporate America is no better than the hundreds of thousands, millions of illegals who work under the radar and send their pay to their families .. in their REAL home.... which is not the USA.

The parameters for democracy are far from the parameters of an anarchy, but in the past few generations, we have become sinfully more democratic, too liberal, too tolerant. WE have lost our standards, selling out for a pot of porridge. The birthrights of Americans are in grave jeopardy.

I say, We are a country-- not a free-for-all -- the United States of America is a Nation. And while we welcome those who wish to live here free from political oppression, free from religious persecution, we CANNOT turn over the helm to those who disrespect our Constitution, and that includes Americans.

And while I'm at it, the ACLU has long outlived its usefulness. DISBAND it before it's too late. Let the Constitution of our country do its job.

What did Teddy Roosevelt say 100 years ago? http://www.snopes.com/politics/quotes/troosevelt.asp

original post at www.disneyesque.blogspot.com

comment on Utube writer guy at Dumb Ox news

2007-11-12T10:03:00.000-08:00

I was okay with that, and even thought I might leave tv off until strike is over. But then there was his last line: "I don't know about you, but I was raised to help people who help me."

Not sure who wrote that for him, but its egocentrism left me cold. I was not raised to "help people who help me," but, as a Christian, to help anyone in need when I could. Am I wrong to feel like leaving the tv on 24/7 ?

see www.thomistic.blogspot.com

Once Upon a Time

2007-11-10T10:47:00.000-08:00

For centuries, fairy tales were the stuff of myth and romance, generated and perpetuated by older generations to teach moral thought to younger generations ... and also to instill fear and dread in the little ones so they'd behave.

But somewhere in the 20th century everything went ker-plop. Real people began living as if there could be an endless supply of milk from a single ewer; as if Prince or Princess Charming would spot them on the street and propose while showering them with riches and kisses; as if the goose that laid golden eggs would be theirs for the taking, and so spending entire lives looking for beanstalks; as if growing old was a thing of nightmares while staying forever young needed only a sprinkle of magic dust; as if killing the dragon that was terrorizing the king would make them heirs to the throne. As if.

I blame the Disney phenomenon for our current dilemma: young people finding cartoons and fantasy more attractive than real life. Who can blame them? But the result is escapism and avoidance and interior landscapes filled with promises of untold riches, glorious love, beautiful bodies, painless efforts, endless good health. And happily ever after.

Oh, I know that I'm over-simplifying and over-generalizing. ALL young people are not persuaded, subconsciously, to believe their efforts in school and at work and at home are the punishments of gnomes.

But witness the generations of youth and post-youth who were raised by the square box at home, by the larger version in movie theaters, and compare that box to the personal computer. Fantasy becomes real life when streaming video makes heroes, heroines, villains, monsters of the most innocuous of us. Life outside of fantasy just seems, too often, not worth living. (from http://www.disneyesque.blogspot.com/)