I used the title phrase in my last blog, and got to thinking about what exactly constitutes a sense of community. Growing up in the heartland, I have long eschewed the big city as my experiences there have shown that "community" is an unknown factor in most of those cities. When we arrived here, we arrived, as many of my readers know, with very little. Many individuals in the community helped us with furniture, secondhand clothes, food, and the things we needed to get by (and a good thing to;...

The title of this article is a saying that is considered an old oriental (Chinese, I believe?) curse. But it's SO appropriate to this day and age. Angloesque wrote an article about a lady who sued two girls who were bringing her cookies. I won't rehash it here, as anglo's original article is a good article and I think you would be well advised to read it (It's entitled "This is What's Wrong with Americans", or something similar). What got my goat is one of the responses, justifying the act...

So, Jose Canseco has a new book coming out, basically detailing his own steroid use, and, interestingly enough, that of virtually every slugging superstar with whom he shared a lineup card. While I, among others, believe that steroid use was rampant throughout baseball (and may be still), the question arises as to how much credibility Canseco has to gain. Canseco has nothing to lose; with 462 homers, he will be among the top homerun producers to not make the Hall of Fame, as his average was p...

OK, I know I'm one of the few, but I have to chortle at the "LLL" label tossed around here. Though it bears no relevance to this article, it did in some way inspire it so I have to give a nod in its direction. My family and I have become increasingly luddites, though without necessarily intending to. Being conservationists, the "back to earth" movement has always held appeal for us, and there is some joy in the fact that economic necessity has virtually forced us to live that dream (I have be...

I first became aware of the whole hidden fee issue in 2000, when we were in the middle of our first run of "gas crises". We were scheduling a vacation to Spring Training that year, and had to factor in a "fuel surcharge" to our flight. This was, in my opinion, the equivalent of saying "you paid for the plane ride...now pitch in for the gas". As the years have gone by, I've seen how much worse it has gotten. In our household, for instance, our actual electric usage last month was just over $19...

Well, I was one of the twenty or so Americans who WANTED to watch the Super Bowl, but couldn't. We don't have the money in our budget for "pay TV", and my neighbor's antenna doesn't pull in FOX (and we haven't been able to construct an antenna tower yet anyhoo). So, I turned on my 30 year old stereo (excuse me....back then they called 'em "hi-fi's"), and flipped it to the same AM station I had used to listen to the NFC playoff games. Unlike the NFC playoff games; however, I was actually able to ...

Well, I have had an interesting day today. In my quest to make our house a homestead (we hope to be chiefly self sufficient within 5 years), I have been researching chickens and finding the breed that best suits us. Being conservationists and back to earthers, we wanted a breed that is "dual purpose" (good for meat and a good egg layer), and can forage well (as they'll be somewhat free range...to understand what I mean by "somewhat" free range, you need to have read Andy Lee and Patricia...

I was thinking the other day about the discussions we have had here on whether or not to tip. I still think tipping is at the discretion of the tipper, but I represent an area where tipping is all too often overlooked. Paper carriers bring the daily news by your door every day, with very few days off. We work in rain, or shine, and we provide our own transportation with little or no reimbursement for our vehicles. In my particular community, we make $2 a month per paper that we throw, meaning...

I am amazed at how people can be roped in by statistics that, below their surface, mean far less than they're represented to mean, or, could, in fact, mean the opposite of the person's aim. Take, for instance, the area of job creation. The best way to create more jobs is for people to have lower wages against the standard of living. There would be more artificial jobs in government "social services" positions due to larger caseloads, and a need to serve them, when families that had been makin...

I think I am going to purchase a cane in the near future. Let me explain...no, that would take too long, let me sum up. I have a problem with ankles that tend to pronate (roll inwards). This has caused me an inordinate number of sprained ankles over my lifetime, and is a frequent enough problem that usually, when it occurs, I'm conditioned to "roll with the punches", and collapse, causing the ankle to turn without bearing the weight and trauma of my rather large frame, and thus avoiding se...

I responded in a recent blog that brought out the possibility that Jesus may have been married. While it's easy to dismiss this as just a piece of Dan Brown fiction, the fact is, there actually are texts dating back to the first century A.D. that make that claim. While these texts are not part of the canon, it DOES at least stand to reason that the folks that dismissed them from the canon may have done so with an agenda. So, I'm conceding the possibility of that point, as I conceded years ago...

OK, so I have a question for all of you who might have some dormant construction skills... I have been given a whole bunch of 4 foot x 8 foot 1/8" plywood. Being the back to earther I am, I had to figure out a way to put it to use. I had initially thought of covering my portable chicken coops that I am building with it, but then   I had a better idea (maybe). I desperately need a fence to enclose our rather large lot, to keep predators away. It doesn't need to be especially high, as ...

I was quoting some of my lyrics that were appropos to another blog's topic, and I started considering exactly why it is that I never made it in the recording industry. I am actually a fairly decent lyricist (I've seen MUCH better, but I've seen a lot worse, too...Kylie Minogue's lyricist, for one). But much of my lyrics have a decidedly Christian take to them, as being a Christian is integral to who I am. So, that pretty much rules out most secular music outlets. So, you'd think I'd be a ...

I have hit on this every way I know how, but it seems to fall on deaf ears among those who staunchly defend the Democratic Party. Interestingly enough, though, it gains a lot of "hear hear"s from Dem defectors who find themselves in the Republican or various third parties. The fact is, Dems, your party is going down the tubes. With so much infighting, negativity and dissension, you virtually GAVE the presidential election to George Bush. By taking your party further and further to the left, y...

After getting called out over a blog (listed in the HUMOR category, that did NOT point a finger at Focus on the Family OR the "right"), because of my apparent "misinformation", I thought that I would take the time to write my own blog on the subject of this organization. I was a longtime supporter of FOTF, and, as an evangelical Christian, found their information on children and family to be both informative and helpful. I have a few of Dobson's books, and have mixed feelings about him and hi...