Can I Say That?

First, a few words about being offended.  I am not easily offended.  Oh, I find lots of stuff out there that is offensive, but, in order to become offended I must "take offence".  And that's the crux of it.  I won't take something that doesn't belong to me.  So, someone can be as offensive as they choose and I simply refuse to claim something that I reject!  For the most part, it isn't worth the time, effort and emotion to get all puffed up about something.  One thing that is offensive to me is the willful ignorance of the terminally stupid.  I can get somewhat "puffed up" about something stupid.  This kind of got me going this morning...                                                                                                                                                                  

State Department: 'Hold down the fort,' other common phrases could be offensive
Published August 30, 2012

FoxNews.com
Watch your mouth -- everyday phrases like "hold down the fort" and "rule of thumb" are potentially offensive bombshells.
At least according to the State Department.
Chief Diversity Officer John Robinson penned a column in the department's latest edition of "State Magazine"  advising readers on some rather obscure Ps and Qs.
Robinson ticked off several common phrases and went on to explain why their roots are racially or culturally insensitive. The result was a list of no-nos that could easily result in some tongue-tied U.S. diplomats, particularly in an administration that swaps "war on terror" for "overseas contingency operation" and once shied away from using the word "terrorism."
For instance, Robinson warned, "hold down the fort" is a potentially insulting reference to American Indian stereotypes.
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/08/30/state-department-hold-down-fort-other-common-phrases-could-be-offensive/#ixzz258mLei53

The problem here is that even a short effort finds that the reasoning behind the "potentially offensive" phrases is false.  Complete bunk.  These are the same people who bend over backwards to become offended by racist references like "devil's food cake"  and "black hole".  

• The rule of thumb has never had anything to do with wife-beating.  There was never such a thing in English common law.  The length or breadth of a man's thumb has long been used to estimate a measure of something so the phrase evolved meaning "a rough estimate".
• Hold the fort probably originated in the civil war with General Sherman.  He sent a message ahead to "hold the fort" until he arrived with reinforcements.
• Going Dutch means splitting the check equally and probably originated from the "Dutch door" which is divided in the middle so that it has a top and bottom portion.  Anyone remember "Mr. Ed"?  Well, that is a Dutch door.
• Handicap has nothing to do with handouts.  It probably originated in the 1600's with a bartering game, "hand in cap".  It evolved to mean leveling the playing field, which was sort of the point of the game.  That is why the better player gets a handicap, whether it is golf, bowling or a horse race. 

If I could find out these origins in a few minutes, anyone can, if they wanted. The truth, however, has no place in the politically correct world.  Instead, these people would rather spend their time looking for a reason to take offence than to spend a few minutes actually learning something.  

Question Everything!

Alcohol may have been involved…

in the incident, according to investigators.  Gee, ya think!  I mean, what could possibly go wrong?

KALISPELL, Mont. (AP) -- A man dressed in a military-style "ghillie" suit and apparently trying to provoke reports of a Bigfoot sighting in northwest Montana was struck by two cars and killed, authorities said. The man was standing in the right-hand lane of U.S. Highway 93 south of Kalispell on Sunday night when he was hit by the first car, according to the Montana Highway Patrol. A second car hit the man as he lay in the roadway, authorities said.
Flathead County officials identified the man as Randy Lee Tenley, 44, of Kalispell. Trooper Jim Schneider said motives were ascertained during interviews with friends, and alcohol may have been a factor but investigators were awaiting tests.
"He was trying to make people think he was Sasquatch so people would call in a Sasquatch sighting," Schneider told the Daily Inter Lake on Monday. "You can't make it up. I haven't seen or heard of anything like this before. Obviously, his suit made it difficult for people to see him."  Ghillie suits are a type of full-body clothing made to resemble heavy foliage and used to camouflage military snipers.
"He probably would not have been very easy to see at all," Schneider told KECI-TV (http://bit.ly/PkdWMO ). Tenley was struck by vehicles driven by two girls, ages 15 and 17, who were unable to stop in time, authorities said.

Godspeed, Commander Armstrong

Those of us who are old enough to remember watching this man make history remember that, at the time, there were only 3 networks for TV and they signed off at night.  It is only fitting that we also remember the poem that was read each night.  I can still hear the strong, masculine voice whenever I read the words.

High Flight
by John Gillespie Magee, Jr.
Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth,
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds...and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of...wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there,
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air.
Up, up, the long, delirious burning blue
I've topped the windswept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, nor even eagle flew.
And while with silent, lifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space...
...put out my hand, and touched the face of God.

What Day for Wildlife

(posted on MULTIPLY May 10, 2011)

 

I was awakened by the dogs last night. I could tell by the way they were barking that they were harrying some poor critter. I only hoped it wasn't a skunk. I went outside, but couldn't see what they had cornered. I could hear an odd, faint noise that I couldn't identify.

This morning, I moved my car back to the carport. I had parked just outside the back door to make it easier to bring in the groceries and hadn't bothered to move it. I knew something was under it by the way the dogs kept looking under the front of it. When I walked back to the house from the garage, I found this fellow, face down, in a burrow he had dug under the car.

I kept the dog from getting him (Klaus really hates armadillos) and he moved out and away, looking for another place to go to ground. He wasn't in a huge hurry, so I was able to snap some photos with my phone.

This is a Nine-banded Armadillo. They are quite common in our neck of the woods. They are the only species of armadillo that is increasing. Many others (there are some 20 kinds of armadillo) are endangered.  These nocturnal critters have a shell made of boney plates.  If you want to know more about these animals, you can follow this link: https://www.msu.edu/~nixonjos/armadillo/dasypus.html

Fun Food for Kids

I always have an eye open for fun things to make for the grandkids at Halloween.  This looks like just the thing!  Last year it was Mummy Dogs and Green Meanies.  This year, we are going to have WORMS! 
I found this on the internet, so a big thanks to whoever it was that came up with this idea.

Ingredients:
2 packs (3 oz) Raspberry jello
1 pkg unflavored gelatin (for extra firmness)
3/4 cup whipping cream
3 cups boiling water
15 drops green food coloring
100 flexible straws (or enough to fill your container)
Tall container (1 quart or 1 liter carton of milk)
Directions::
Combine gelatin in bowl and add boiling water.
Let it cool to lukewarm and then add the whipping cream and 15 drops green food coloring.
Gather your straws (don’t forget to flex them out) and put them in the container. It’s important that the straws have a tight fit so the jello stays in the straws. For this reason, a 1 liter carton may be better; you will probably get longer worms since there is a tighter fit. If you have a bigger container, a rubber band around the straws is helpful. Or you could just add more straws to fill the container.

My New (Old) Toy

 
Farrand & Votey Parlor Organ
I have wanted one of these for a very long time.  There was an antique dealer in the little town where I grew up that had one and I used to go in and play it.  I don't remember what kind it was, it I ever knew.  Most of the ones I have seen since are in some state of disrepair and are usually dark colored. 
My daughter ran across this one in an antique/junk store where she lives.  (That makes my purchase all her fault, by the way... that's what I told her Daddy, anyway)  Nothing would do but I had to go look at it.  Once I played the thing, I was sunk.  It isn't perfect, but close.  It plays, none of the keys are dead and, while a bit wheezy, the bellows are intact.  There is a tag in the back that says it was last tuned in 1928.
A little research revealed the manufacture date on this to be between 1887 and 1897.  Not hard to nail down, since that is all the longer the company was in existence.  I don't know who had this for all these years, but this was a much loved instrument.  The pedals are worn on the edges from being pumped.  
The cabinet is perfect and the carving and workmanship is amazing.  Aside from being a musical instrument, it is a grand piece of furniture from a more genteel era.

A Bit of History

A short video of pictures taken at the Custer National Cemetery.

I took a few of the (many) photos from our trip to Wyoming and turned them into a short video slideshow.  Make sure the volume is on before you watch.  This was my first attempt at creating a slideshow with Windows MovieMaker.  How did I do?

Technorati Tags: Custer National Cemetery,patriots,Taps

The Migration of the Recipes

I didn’t have too many recipes posted on MP, but I want to keep them.  Here are my favorites…

A Test Drive

Well, you have to start somewhere.  Again.  When Yahoo 360 folded up as a social blogging site, I migrated with so many others to Multiply.  I grew very comfortable there.  But, once again, I am on the move, looking for a new blogging home.  I, like many of my friends, are migrating to a completely new site called " Another Blog Spot ".  It is under still construction  as we move in.  I think it is going to be a good home, but, since I am working on learning a new place, I thought I might as well get this Blogger site up and going.  I use the Chrome browser, have an Android phone, and a gmail account, so why not.

Another Blog Spot is similar to Facebook, in that it has a news feed that posts most everything everyone posts, so I am going to try migrating all my Multiply posts, pic and stuff to this site instead.  I don't want to fill the news feed with all that old stuff, but I would like to keep it.  Unlike 360, which died the slow death of neglect, Multiply is going to kick off all at once on Dec 1st.  Better that way, I think.  I work better under a firm deadline.

As the title indicates, this is a test drive, not only of this site, but also of the other site.  I am linking the two together.  I am not sure exactly how to choose my settings here so my friends (as well as those I hope to be friends) on the other site can see what is posted here.  Live and learn...

Well, it's happening, I guess. Multiply as a blog site is closing. Did anyone else get the big yellow letter when they logged in this AM? I could kick myself for not getting a screen shot of it. They said they will give notice and a way to migrate our stuff, but I can't get it to come back up and nothing is posted in the site blogs. What other sites are there that are, at least, similar to this one?