Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to each and every one of you!  May God bless your life and your families as we celebrate the promise God made to Adam and Eve that we would no longer be separated from Him by sin through the ultimate Gift of His Son.

The History of the English Language

The History of the English Language
In the beginning there was an island off the coast of Europe. It had no name, for the natives had no language, only a collection of grunts and gestures that roughly translated to "Hey!", "Gimme!", and "Pardon me, but would you happen to have any wood?"

Then the Romans invaded it and called it Britain, because the natives were "blue, nasty, br(u->i)tish and short." This was the start of the importance of u (and its mispronunciation) to the language. After building some roads, killing off some of the nasty little blue people and walling up the rest, the Romans left, taking the language instruction manual with them.

The British were bored so they invited the barbarians to come over (under Hengist) and "Horsa" 'round a bit. The Angles, Saxons, and Jutes brought slightly more refined vocal noises.

All of the vocal sounds of this primitive language were onomatopoetic, being derived from the sounds of battle. Consonants were derived from the sounds of weapons striking a foe. ("Sss" and "th" for example are the sounds of a draw cut, "k" is the sound of a solidly landed axe blow, "b", "d", are the sounds of a head dropping onto rock and sod respectively, and "gl" is the sound of a body splashing into a bog. Vowels (which were either gargles in the back of the throat or sharp exhalations) were derived from the sounds the foe himself made when struck.

The barbarians had so much fun that decided to stay for post-revel. The British, finding that they had lost future use of the site, moved into the hills to the west and called themselves Welsh.

The Irish, having heard about language from Patrick, came over to investigate. When they saw the shiny vowels, they pried them loose and took them home. They then raided Wales and stole both their cattle and their vowels, so the poor Welch had to make do with sheep and consonants. ("Old Ap Ivor hadde a farm, L Y L Y W! And on that farm he hadde somme gees. With a dd dd here and a dd dd there...")

To prevent future raids, the Welsh started calling themselves "Cymry" and gave even longer names to their villages. They figured if no one could pronounce the name of their people or the names of their towns, then no one would visit them. (The success of the tactic is demonstrated still today. How many travel agents have YOU heard suggest a visit to scenic Llyddumlmunnyddthllywddu?)

Meantime, the Irish brought all the shiny new vowels home to Erin. But of course they didn't know that there was once an instruction manual for them, so they scattered the vowels throughout the language purely as ornaments. Most of the new vowels were not pronounced, and those that were they pronounced differently depending on which kind of consonant they were either preceding or following.

The Danes came over and saw the pretty vowels bedecking all the Irish words. "Ooooh!" they said. They raided Ireland and brought the vowels back home with them. But the Vikings couldn't keep track of all the Irish rules so they simply pronounced all the vowels "oouuoo."

In the meantime, the French had invaded Britain, which was populated by descendants of the Germanic Angles, Saxons, and Jutes. After a generation or two, the people were speaking German with a French accent and calling it English. Then the Danes invaded again, crying "Oouuoo! Oouuoo!," burning abbeys, and trading with the townspeople.

The Britons that the Romans hadn't killed intermarried with visiting Irish and became Scots. Against the advice of their travel agents, they decided to visit Wales. (The Scots couldn't read the signposts that said, "This way to LLyddyllwwyddymmllwylldd," but they could smell sheep a league away.) The Scots took the sheep home with them and made some of them into haggis. What they made with the others we won't say, but Scots are known to this day for having hairy legs.

The former Welsh, being totally bereft, moved down out of the hills and into London. Because they were the only people in the Islands who played flutes instead of bagpipes, they were called Tooters. This made them very popular. In short order, Henry Tooter got elected King and begin popularizing ornate, unflattering clothing.

Soon, everybody was wearing ornate, unflattering clothing, playing the flute, speaking German with a French accent, pronouncing all their vowels "oouuoo" (which was fairly easy given the French accent), and making lots of money in the wool trade. Because they were rich, people smiled more (remember, at this time, "Beowulf" and "Canterbury Tales" were the only tabloids, and gave generally favorable reviews even to Danes). And since it is next to impossible to keep your vowels in the back of your throat (even if you do speak German with a French accent) while smiling and saying "oouuoo" (try it, you'll see what I mean), the Great Vowel Shift came about and transformed the English language.

The very richest had their vowels shifted right out in front of their teeth. They settled in Manchester and later in Boston.

There were a few poor souls who, cut off from the economic prosperity of the wool trade, continued to swallow their vowels. They wandered the countryside in misery and despair until they came to the docks of London, where their dialect devolved into the incomprehensible language known as Cockney. Later, it was taken overseas and further brutalized by merging it with Dutch and Italian to create Brooklynese.

That's what happened, you can check for yourself. But I advise you to just take our word for it.

Copyright (c) 1994 Corrie Bergeron and Ben Tucker all rights reserved

found at Maggies Farm

It Was A Dark And Stormy Night

Two beautiful photos from Scotland.  Unfortunately not taken by me.

 Stromness, by Glenn McNaughton

Dundee, by Barry Fairweather

Frank

MissRed's Visual Musings

Got them all from Facebook

A Man's Man or the Modern Man

As for me, I will take the Man's Man.  'Tis a pity I have never dated one, but I suppose that explains a lot.
Mike Rowe

The New York Times just published a 27-point guide on what it means to be a “Modern Man.”  As someone widely regarded as a “Man’s Man,” I’d love to get your take. (Personally, I’m not sure what a “Man’s Man” is, but my wife assures me that you are one.) 

Don Phillips

Hi Don,

I don’t know what a “Man’s Man” is either, or if I am one, but I’m not inclined to argue with another man’s wife. However, I did read the Times piece, and I can tell you with some certainty that I do not appear to be a “Modern Man.” My own Guide - as a potential “Man’s Man” - is below.

New York Times: When the modern man buys shoes for his spouse, he doesn’t have to ask her sister for the size. And he knows which brands run big or small.
Mike Rowe: A Man’s Man would not buy shoes for his spouse, or be familiar with the vagaries of various female footwear brands. He might offer to pay for them, and he would definitely compliment her choice. And if he knows the size of her feet, it’s only because he rubs them from time to time.

NYT: The modern man never lets other people know when his confidence has sunk. He acts as if everything is going swimmingly until it is.
MR: A Man’s Man feels no shame in admitting uncertainty, because he knows that doing so will make him more certain. He’s transparent about his flaws and shortcomings, and makes no attempt to be more secure or knowledgable or competent than he actually is.

NYT: The modern man is considerate. At the movie theater, he won’t munch down a mouthful of popcorn during a quiet moment. He waits for some ruckus.
MR: A Man’s Man is also considerate. But he would never consciously time his chewing to coincide with the noisy parts of the film. He does not walk on eggshells.

NYT: The modern man doesn’t cut the fatty or charred bits off his fillet. Every bite of steak is a privilege, and it all goes down the hatch.
MR: A Man’s Man will clean his plate, assuming of course he’s the one who put the food on it. But he feels no obligation to suck the marrow out of a bone, or eat the bruise on the banana, or consume the cob as well as the corn. He does not equate his manliness with a willingness consume food that’s been poorly prepared.

NYT: The modern man won’t blow 10 minutes of his life looking for the best parking spot. He finds a reasonable one and puts his car between the lines.
MR: A Man’s Man knows it’s wiser to park closer to the exit than the entrance.

NYT: Before the modern man heads off to bed, he makes sure his spouse’s phone and his kids’ electronic devices are charging for the night.
MR: A Man’s Man knows that self-reliance is born of experience. He encourages his kids to look after their own stuff, and suffer the consequences when they do not. The wife is another matter.

NYT: The modern man buys only regular colas, like Coke or Dr Pepper. If you walk into his house looking for a Mountain Dew, he’ll show you the door.
MR: A Man’s Man doesn’t drink children’s beverages. He drinks tap water, wine, coffee, beer, whiskey, or iced tea. He does however, keep soda pop on hand, on the off chance a modern man stops by.

NYT: The modern man uses the proper names for things. For example, he’ll say “helicopter,” not “chopper” like some gauche simpleton.
MR: A Man’s Man is less worried about using the right word, and more concerned with being understood. But under no circumstance, does he “dumb down” the language.

NYT: Having a daughter makes the modern man more of a complete person. He learns new stuff every day.
MR: A Man’s Man is already a complete person. His identity does not depend upon sons, daughters, spouses, friends, or pets. He is not a loner, and he cherishes the relationships he has. But he knows that his “completion” is nothing but a reflection of knowing who he is.

NYT: The modern man makes sure the dishes on the rack have dried completely before putting them away.
MR: A Man’s Man will always volunteer to wash the dishes. He may or may not put them away, but regardless, he understands the phenomenon of evaporation, and doesn’t concern himself with a codified system for drying.

NYT: The modern man has never “pinned” a tweet, and he never will.
MR: A Man’s Man does not know what that even means. But he rarely says “never.”

NYT: The modern man checks the status of his Irish Spring bar before jumping in for a wash. Too small, it gets swapped out.
MR: A Man’s Man uses Lava Soap. He uses it until it’s the size of a dime.

NYT: The modern man listens to Wu-Tang at least once a week.
MR: A Man’s Man watches reruns of Kung-Fu.

NYT: The modern man still jots down his grocery list on a piece of scratch paper. The market is no place for his face to be buried in the phone.
MR: A Man’s Man does not make lists. He knows what he likes, what he needs, and what he wants. If he has to write it down, he understands it was not worth having in the first place.

NYT: The modern man has hardwood flooring. His children can detect his mood from the stamp of his Kenneth Cole oxfords.
MR: A Man’s Man is not committed to any particular type of flooring. He doesn’t attempt to communicate with his children through his footsteps, and he doesn’t own oxfords, unless they’re steel-toed.

NYT: The modern man lies on the side of the bed closer to the door. If an intruder gets in, he will try to fight him off, so that his wife has a chance to get away.
MR: A Man’s Man knows that a struggle closest to the door will effectively block the exit through which his wife might flee. So he secures the house in a way that keeps intruders out, and sleeps wherever he wants.

NYT: The modern man has a melon baller. How else would the cantaloupe, watermelon and honeydew he serves be so uniformly shaped?
MR: The Man’s Man, if he serves fruit at all, prepares wedges, squares, and rectangles. He accomplishes this with a knife.

NYT: The modern man has thought seriously about buying a shoehorn.
MR: A Man’s Man doesn’t think “seriously” about any purchase under $5.

NYT: The modern man buys fresh flowers more to surprise his wife than to say he is sorry.
MR: A Man’s Man picks wildflowers on the side of the road, wraps them with a bootlace, and presents them with an original, hand-written poem.

NYT: On occasion, the modern man is the “little spoon.” Some nights, when he is feeling down or vulnerable, he needs an emotional and physical shield.
MR: A Man’s Man will do whatever’s necessary to please his bedmate - not himself. But he roundly rejects all metaphors, especially those that involve utensils.

NYT: The modern man doesn’t scold his daughter when she sneezes while eating an apple doughnut, even if the pieces fly everywhere.
MR: A Man’s Man would laugh and then say “Bless you,” or “gesundheit.” Then, he’d make sure she wipes her nose and cleans up the crumbs.

NYT: The modern man still ambles half-naked down his driveway each morning to scoop up a crisp newspaper.
MR: A Man’s Man does not amble. Moreover, he would have aleady impressed upon the paper boy the importance of getting the morning paper all the way up on the porch. Where it belongs.

NYT: The modern man has all of Michael Mann’s films on Blu-ray (or whatever the highest quality thing is at the time.)
MR: A Man’s Man doesn’t own films - he rents them. He also values effectiveness over efficiency, and knows that the “latest technology” will be obsolete in a few months. For this reason, he makes no attempt to own the newest of anything.

NYT: The modern man doesn’t get hung up on his phone’s battery percentage. If it needs to run flat, so be it.
MR: A Man’s Man prefers his gas tank full, his weapon loaded, his pantry stocked, and his checkbook balanced. He also likes his phone sufficiently charged, and takes the necessary steps to accomplish that.

NYT: The modern man has no use for a gun. He doesn’t own one, and he never will.
MR: A Man’s Man owns at least one firearm. He knows how to use it, clean it, and store it properly. He understands it’s importance, and sees it for what it is - a tool that can protect him and his family.

NYT: The modern man cries. He cries often.
MR: A Man’s Man cries if he feels like crying. But he rarely feels like it.

NYT: People aren’t sure if the modern man is a good dancer or not. That is, until the D.J. plays his jam and he goes out there and puts on a clinic.
MR: People know without question a Man’s Man does not dance. But they also know if called upon, he’ll give it his best shot...

Read the rest over at Maggie's Farm

The White Ghetto

Yes, I am on Facebook and sometimes I wonder why.  Most of my family and friends are liberal - most even to the left of that ...
So one of the geniuses posted this:

and because I won't leave it alone, I answered with this:
A White Ghetto
Now the difference between her posting a photo that she just "shared" without comment and my response is the article.  A well written, sympathetic and compassionate tome about the people who actually live there.
Sympathy and compassion - missing from the left.

Oh No!

Oh my, it has been a month since I have posted anything. 
Well my back is improving.  I had to get the cortisone shots into my spine - isn't that fun - for my lumbar radiculopathy.  I love saying that word! 
Now I have begun the exercises for the arthritis in my spine.  I am walking normally and other than some stiffness in the morning (no jokes please Gents) I am also pain free.  For the first time in years.  Yippee Kai Yae. 
I am now able to concentrate on other matters for my life.  Like enriching it and me. 

An Incomplete List

Ok it looks like it has come to this:

Life is a train

However because of new-found sensitivities we  have to have separate cars

• One for men
• One for women
• One for Black
• One for White
• One each for all the other colours in between
• One for gay
• One for straight
• One for feminists
• Oh and one cannot forget the trannies
• One for each of the 16 genders (16?  Oh for pity’s sake)
• One for whatever each religion you fancy – catholics, protestants (and how many of those are there), myriad of  non-christian
• One for the atheists
• One for the agnostics
• One for liberal 
• One for conservative
• One for left wing
• One for right wing
• One for those who believe in the good of our constitution
• One for the socialists/Communists
• And don’t forget one for each of the other political classifications you want to associate yourself with
• One for AGM climate change believers
• And one for the sensible people who know that climate change is part of the earth
• A small one for those with common sense

To be continued.........

List was inspired by a comment from that Communist Corbyn guy in the UK.

Dear Miss Manners

Dear Miss Manners • I am engaged but have been married before. My finance has been married twice.

How do we let people know we would appreciate gift cards instead of gifts at our reception? We have three of everything.

Gentle Reader • If you have three of everything, why aren’t you thinking of sharing with those who don’t have any, instead of plotting to make others help you get even more?

And by the way, the word is “fiance,” not “finance.” Or maybe in this case, it is.

O'bama's New Americans

They are just committing the crimes americans won't commit
One of the best articles I have read in a long time.
A couple of highlights:

Will people ever rise up and make that sickening agenda-facilitating suppression of truth known as political correctness exactly what it should be: a recognized vile heresy, to be stamped out with extreme prejudice? 

Unfortunately and as has been said before, treason today is now the norm. If you don’t drink deeply of the cup of multiculturalism, internationalism, Western demographic genocide and cultural suicide, you’re a “nativist” or, worse still, a “racist,” the latter of which has just come to mean “anything bad” to young skulls full of mush whose now putrefying gray matter endured endless sanitary spin cycles in the propaganda mills masquerading as universities.

Happy Independence Day, United States of America

The Unanimous Declaration
of the Thirteen United States of America

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. –Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his assent to laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of representation in the legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people at large for their exercise; the state remaining in the meantime exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavored to prevent the population of these states; for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands.

He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers.

He has made judges dependent on his will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies without the consent of our legislature.

He has affected to render the military independent of and superior to civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by mock trial, from punishment for any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these states:

For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing taxes on us without our consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury:

For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offenses:

For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule in these colonies:

For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our governments:

For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his protection and waging war against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burned our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow citizens taken captive on the high seas to bear arms against their country, to become the executioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare, is undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms: our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have we been wanting in attention to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war, in peace friends.

We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress, assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name, and by the authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare, that these united colonies are, and of right ought to be free and independent states; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as free and independent states, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which independent states may of right do. And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.

A Little Humour......

Not quite sure if it could really be classified as humour. It is just too close to the truth.
Thanks, Dear Duffers for the email.

Today's Random Thoughts

As I read the news today:

·         The confederate flag is not my heritage so I am not bothered, however I do believe we set a dangerous precedent.  And now they are talking about taking down all the confederate monuments.  They will be erasing our history and that is never good.  I think of it as taking down all the William Wallace monuments in Scotland.

·         I do not care about who is winning in the polls today.  My state primary is in April 2016.  I will care then

·         Robert Stacy McCain wrote this: in the comments of his post Confederate Thoughts

An alternative theory: We truly are doomed beyond hope of all redemption.

The Almighty God saw fit that a Christian people should have this nation and, so long as they were faithful to God, they were preserved against all enemies. The nation they founded grew strong, prosperous and free, so that all the world marveled at America. It was foreordained by God's will, in this view, that America would endure great trouble and yet grow ever stronger.

First, we defeated Britain, overcoming the greatest empire in the world to gain our independence. We conquered the continent from coast to coast, and fought a great war amongst ourselves over the issue of human liberty. Ever stronger America grew, becoming a mighty industrial colossus. We destroyed Spain's empire in this hemisphere, and when the French and English were besieged by the Kaiser's vaunting armies, America lent its strength to defeat the power of Germany and her allies.

American emerged from the First World War victorious, her world prestige unparalleled. Surviving through a Great Depression, once against America was called to war against enemies of liberty. We crushed Hitler's Thousand Year Reich, and blasted the Japanese empire into smoldering ruins. Yet still was our nation's great mission not fulfilled.

The world now stood terrorized by the Soviet tyranny, and Communism soon raised its banner over China. A war ensued in Korea, and a great patriot from Wisconsin stood forth to warn that our nation's leadership had been subverted by agents of our worst enemies. Joe McCarthy was destroyed by the slanders of Communist stooges, yet other patriots who saw the menace of subversion realized that a new movement was needed if America was to prevail in the Cold War.

Bill Buckley, Stan Evans, Phyllis Schlafly -- to cite just three names from a roster of glorious heroes -- rallied the forces of freedom, and chose as their champion Barry Goldwater. He also went down to defeat, but not before America heard from a man destined to be the Great Champion of Freedom.

This was "A Time of Choosing," Ronald Reagan warned in 1964. It took another 16 years to elect Ronald Reagan president, but from the day he took the oath of office as Commander in Chief, the clock began ticking toward the final destruction of the Soviet Union.

Here we are then, scarcely a quarter-century after the fall of the Berlin Wall, and we find Americans seem to have forgotten everything they ought to have learned from history.

Most shockingly, America has forgotten God, who delivered us from every evil in the past, and who blessed our nation with wealth and power exceeding everything the world had previously known.

So ... we are doomed. It has suited God to bring our nation thus far, so that an ungrateful generation might forget all that God has done for us, and thus to invite the wrath of the Almighty to destroy us. If that be God's sovereign will, so be it. Yet those of us who still have faith in God must never cease to speak the truth, nor surrender to the satanic voices that bid us to aid in the works of evil now afoot.

Fight on. Stay true. And pray. Selah

·         Duff and Nonsense has a good post with comments:

Try Telling This One To Obama

Meds

No, I am not missing in action, nor have I been on a fabulous holiday.
I have not been well - I have sciatica and have been knocked down with the pain for the past few weeks.  So I am on medication. HaHaHa.  And I can't take the prescribed pain killers and work.  Well I could, but it is not wise.  And I spent too many days as a single mother on my knees asking our Lord for wisdom to throw that away.   So all my meds are taken when I get home.  At least I am sleeping.
I send myself notes about things to post here but am too tired to do so when I get home.  All of those random thoughts just put to waste.  Tis but a shame.
Another month of this before my doctor gives me the exercises.  I could start them sooner but he went on holiday.  Lucky for some, eh?

Invest in Silver!

I received this email:

Dear Trader / Investor, Right now there is very exciting news in the silver market. The largest investment bank in the country today is JPMorgan Chase & Co. In 2012, they held 5 million ounces of silver in their corporate account.  However, recent reports have revealed that JPMorgan Chase now holds a staggering 55 million ounces of silver! That's an increase of over tenfold in just 3 years. This April, alone, JPMorgan Chase purchased 8 million ounces. That's a lot of silver for anyone to buy--even an investment giant like JPMorgan Chase. What could they possibly know about silver that we don't? Let me tell you what JPMorgan Chase's CEO, Jaime Dimon said in a letter to his shareholders, "Some things never change – there 'WILL BE' another crisis, and its 'IMPACT' will be felt throughout financial markets." So here we are. The CEO of the country's largest bank is telling his shareholders - THERE WILL BE another crisis - and to protect shareholder value, they are buying silver by the hundreds of tons. Don't you think it's time that you consider owning physical silver? Request a FREE Silver Investor Kit now!  Need another reason? $24 an ounce. That's the all-in production cost it takes the average mine to process one ounce of silver.  Right now silver is trading at around $17 an ounce. That’s nearly 30% lower than its production costs! The last time you could purchase silver below its production costs was 2002. Guess who famously bought 30% of the world’s above ground silver supply back then? Warren Buffett. Two years later he doubled his money. So, JPMorgan Chase & Warren Buffett, two of the most successful investors on the planet, both stocked up on silver at a price below production cost. Buffett bought right before a crisis happened. JP Morgan is buying right before what they think will be another financial crisis. Stocks are at record highs. Debt is soaring. Uncertainty in the world is at historic levels. Silver is on sale right now and JPMorgan Chase knows it—just like Warren Buffett knew it 2002.  Now that you know it, will you let this opportunity pass you by?  Get a 100% FREE Silver Investor Kit with a first-time buyer’s guide, the 2015 Silver Report and the industry’s best research on how to “buy the dip”.

 And so now I am wondering if I should invest in silver because this product is about to hit the market:
Can these panties.....
Thinx

The entire inner lining is treated with an anti-microbial application of silver, which becomes embedded within the fibers and fights bacteria.

Now aren't you glad you read my blog today?

The Philosophy of Garments

Does wearing certain garments affect your mood?  They do for me.  I first noticed the phenomena when casual Fridays were introduced to corporate America - I believe in the early 90s.  Very little work got done, most everyone was in a silly mood or at least a lighter one.  Someone brought in donuts so the sugar high was ubiquitous and then the next you know we are all off for long lunches, sometimes with alcohol involved.
I believe it was shortly after that I stopped doing really casual Friday, and stopped wearing trousers.  Not that I wore a lot of trousers anyway, I have always preferred dresses and skirts.  I held on to a pair of jeans for garden work.  Wearing what I call feminine dresses made me feel more feminine and I began to get a bit more girly.  It was also around the same time I had my road to damascus moment and came out of the closet as a conservative.
For the last few days I have been thinking about this post:  Feminism is an inferiority complex over at The Thinking Housewife.  Read the link in her article as well for the full letter.  Also do not overlook that he said this letter was not for public consumption.

The Thought To The Grave

"You can take only one thought with you to the grave, and invariably it is a thought that bugs you..."

My first thought would be I  have loved and they loved me. I have no regrets, but I know I have no witness to my life.  Pity though, I have enjoyed my life.  They did not love me enough nor did I love them enough. We all missed out on that one.
Two quotes that sum it up:

When it comes to men, I must admit I have very poor judgment,’ she said. ‘I’ve turned down most of the few really nice men I’ve encountered in my life, and have gone unerringly for the dysfunctional, maladjusted, insecure bastards every time.

Well, I dabbled with men in my twenties. Quite a lot actually.
But they all seemed so frightfully fond of themselves - they didn’t seem to really need me to be fond of them as well.  So I just got on.

So now anyone who reads this has the most true entry into my soul.  I have never admitted any of this before.

I Am Back

But you didn't even know I was gone, did you?
My daughter decided to fix my computer and ended up - well let us just say that it has taken almost two weeks and many phone calls to Apple and some special disc, but she did it!  It is like a brand new computer and so I have some new visuals to get used to, and I did not lose a single file that I have seen so far.
A  lot has happened and when not watching Midsomer Murders, Call the Midwife, Inspectors Morse, Lewis and Endeavor, I have pondered some of the goings on in the world.
Baltimore - except for Fells Point and the Inner Harbor area and the Walters Art Museum, it is a hell hole of their own making.  I haven't been there since 2006.
The ever growing field of presidential candidates - what is wrong with the media when they go on about how this candidate will get so and so votes.  Good lord, but we know this, I certainly hope voters don't look at only one aspect of a candidate and look at the bigger picture.  I have always refused to be put into a "category."
I missed the brouhaha waiting for the birth of Princess Charlotte (horrible name) and didn't find out until Monday.
I heard of the tragic murder suicide of a couple I knew.  On the day it was discovered, they came into my thoughts and I wondered how they were doing.  Now I know why they came into my thoughts.  I must remember to pray for people when this happens.
More for another day, I am sure......

Harry Down Under

Harry Down Under

Couldn't resist posting this!
Thanks, MiniCapt!

Water heater update

She developed a slow leak this morning.  I swear she heard all the chatter about having her replaced and is heartbroken-shedding tears.
I left work early because I did not trust my daughter to tell me the truth about the damage. The plumber was conveniently across the street and came by to assess the damage.  They are currently installing a new one!
Let us hope the other appliances don't feel slighted and throw their dummies out of the pram!
Timing is everything.  I had my taxes done earlier this week and am getting a refund.  No deep pockets for this off budget expense.

She Should Be Shamed And Never Published Again

But of course, that has not happened yet.  She is still being protected by Rolling Stone for writing her piece of fiction.  I hope the UVA fraternity goes after every one involved - EVERYONE!  Did I say that loud enough.  For every penny every one of them has.

Such harsh treatment for one fictional story?  Well uh no.  She wrote more.  I found this links in the comment section of Duff and Nonsense
Before Rolling Stone
More Shoddy Journalism

If she wants to write fiction, then dammit, get a publisher and write a book.  But then that would require discipline and most likely research.  At least two things she really doesn't do well.

Happy Easter

I Need Advice

I need some input if you don't mind.  
My house was built 87-88 and the only appliance I have replaced so far is the fridge.
When the plumber was in replacing my kitchen faucet this morning, he mentioned that in mid April the price of water heaters is going to probably double because the government is changing some regulations.  I looked it up and he is right.  
Currently it would cost around $1000 to replace my water heater - including installation, and would - from what I have been reading - double in price after the government changes come into force.
There is nothing wrong with my current water heater.  It heats water just fine, and after an unusual high usage takes under an hour to heat up again.  
Should I go ahead and replace it now, or just save more money and when it needs replacing then so be it.  From everything else I am reading, the cost savings per year to have this new govt regulated supposedly more efficient contraption is negligible.  And all I can see, from my brief research, is that more insulation to the heaters will be added.
I don't believe in replacing something until it well and truly dead, so am a bit a loose ends.  Will I save money now, or just waste it on something that may last me a bit longer?
I guess I can say that the reason I hesitate is because I have listened to advice before that turned out to be not so good and still regret the decision.
Thank you for your input.

Oops

For Absolutely No Reason Whatsoever

I thought it would be fun to post these two pictures together.  Naturally one is quite a bit older than the other!

My Feelings, Exactly

For some time now, I have had this feeling of despair for this present world.  Not enough to affect my spirit, but enough to cause the weeping of my soul.  I have been musing on how best to state my feelings when, once again, someone does it far more eloquently than I ever could.

A mad world run by fools.
Once again, found over at American Digest
His picture is perfect.

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Thanks to the American Digest

Snow Day Soup

I found this delicious recipe but of course I had to change it.

Barley stew with mushrooms and leeks

I do not care for barley so I substituted chick peas.  I also added andouille sausage.  Tomorrow when I venture out again (too much snow today) I will get spinach instead of kale.  Although it was on my list yesterday, I forgot it, only to remember when walking out of the shop.
It already smells delicious.

And Life As It Is

Three months on the new job and I am still trying to organise my time off.  After three years of unemployment and able to do what I want to do (or need to do) when I want, I now need to develop new habits.  It is ok, I will eventually get to it.
I had my probation hearing (frightening I know) and they do love me and what I am bringing to the job.  They had no idea of what a professional assistant was capable.  Imagine asking for office supplies and actually getting them without waiting a month.  Paying invoices?  Oh you can do that?  It is satisfactory and sad at the same time.  I am working way below my abilities (and pay grade) but I sense that by the end of my first year I will be back on top again.  I feel sorry that these poor people put up with subpar assistance for so long but then again it makes me look supernatural!  ha!
Working around office politics is not my favourite game.. I really hate it and am trying to teach the naysayers and gossips new habits.
So now you know why I have been quiet lately.  I get up at 4.30 am and am usually in bed by 8.30 pm.   Who has time for anything?

To Swear or Not To Swear

"In a business meeting that you might have in the South or in the Midwest there in Iowa, you would not have people who would just throw the 'f bomb' and use gratuitous profanity in a professional setting," he explained. "In New York, not only do the men do it, but the women do it! And you just are looking around, saying, 'My gosh, this is worse than lockerroom talk.'"
"This would be considered totally inappropriate to say these things in front of a woman," he added. "And for a woman to say them in a professional setting, we would only assume that this is a very - as we would say in the South, that's just trashy."

So sayeth Mike Huckabee on a radio show.
Quite frankly, although I would not vote for him, nor do I think I will have to, I think he is right.  I am not moralizing here; I can make a sailor blush on occasion.  But I don't like it when those words come out of my mouth, even when I am just with a close friend.   So I try not to.  I do think it is demeaning and not at all lady like.  It is also laziness.
Surely I can come  up with something more creative.  Like the names of German cities.   What in the Frankenau is that?  Darmstadt, he took the last of the haggis.  That Butzow Budingen is such a gossip, bless her heart.  Bonus: I can say them with the proper accent!
It's just trashy

Saturday Night

A little Jack Vettriano

A song in my head

This song has been circulating inside my head for days.  Lovely
The Bachelors

Oh Those Wacky Guys at the NYT

Sometimes a mistake is so embarrassing, it cycles all the away around the shame circle and becomes kind of awesome.  

Those bastions of printing the truth Accidentally created a new country.

And then came this:
kyrzbekistan

It is certainly giving me giggles this morning!

My holiday home in Kyrzbekistan

Recipe of the year

Last night I made Bobotie. There are so many different recipes out there I just created my own from several, using my preferred choice of ingredients. All except the lamb. Could not find minced lamb, let alone any lamb at my grocers. They usually have it.  Next time I am sure. But then I have never tasted bobotie or even heard of it until a week ago so I have no idea how it is supposed to taste. It does smell good. Just another 10 minutes.....
And I had a bit for lunch today as well... even better
Bobotie

I must say that the custard topping and the soaked bread really gave this dish a WOW.
This is the recipe I chose.  I eliminated the sugar and cinnamon, used apple not carrot, have no idea what their herb and garlic seasoning is so I just added garlic with the onion.  Because I couldn't find lamb I used beef and pork.
Oh and I added a spoonful of apricot jam.
nomnomnom

December 31,1912

A look back at December 31, 1912, and the century following, gives me a hopeful future as we live in our own turbulent times.  Thanks to the incredible insight of Daniel Greenfield.
 As the year sweeps across the earth, let us remember that history is more than the worst of its events, that all times bear the burden of their uncertainties, but also carry within them the seeds of greatness. Looking back on this time, it may be that it is not the defeats that we will recall, but how they readied us for the fight ahead. 2012 may be as forgotten as 1912, but 2018 and 2022 may endure in history. 
America has not fallen, no more than it did when the clock struck midnight on December 31, 1912. Though it may not seem likely now, there are many great things ahead, and though the challenges at times seem insurmountable and the defeats many, another year and another century await us.
Read it all here at: Sultan Knish
But then turbulent times are pretty much the norm throughout history.  I remember when I read the Bible all the way through (as reading a novel, not for my daily meditations) I was struck by how much man had not changed even as we delude ourselves that we were and are advancing into a more civilised existence.
Yes some cultures are more civilised than others now, but then wasn't that always so, at least to the degree of our knowledge?

Happy New Year!

Wishing everyone many blessings for a grand 2015!  At least as grand as the Spurs beating Chelsea 5-3!