More Oreos for the Eyres...

Wonder why Richard Eyre is making those dumb Oreo ads? Seems the Eyres should disclose the fact they are planning on openning a chain of private schools to be subsidized by Utah's new voucher law if it takes effect. More Oreos for the Eyres. All of this from an Eyre family member close enough to call him 'Rick', but who will remain anonymous.

Why am I bothered by the rich, Republican and righteous of this state? Here's to you Richard and Linda -- Consider this, all of my children are card carrying Democrats. Put that leaf between the pages of your scriptures and press it!

Weekend Plans...

Today is Friday. I like Fridays. The week is over. I will be making sawdust in the wood shop. The grandkids are coming over. Tonight is movie night. We are reprising ‘Napoleon Dynamite’ on the big screen with the digital projector. Tomorrow I cook pancakes for everyone. Grandson J wants strawberry jam, not syrup on his. Later, I birthday shop with daughter M and will have lunch at Cafe Trang. I like their new Asian fusion menu, enjoying sushi before the main course of flat noodles, scallions, ginger and tofu arrives.

Lord -- help he understand how I can do this when there is such evil in the world.

Given the trauma, blood loss, and possibility of infection I doubt this fellow survived. Do you suppose he had grandkids? What were his plans for the weekend?

The caption from the Chicago Sun Times about this photo reads: “Suicide bombing in Pakistan_An injured man is carried away from the site of a suicide bombing Thursday that killed at least 21 people in Pakistan. Islamic militants were blamed in the attack.” (AP photo by Mohammad Iqbal / October 25, 2007)

Words for this picture...

Mormons and Americans - warlike people

Once in awhile I get annoyed, even from some of my close friends who are Republicans and Mormons. Recently, I received a rather sappy collection of vignettes from one of my friends. It included a purported conversation between Collin Powell and the Archbishop of Canterbury. Supposedly our imperial interests in Iraqi geography are only for enough room to bury our dead, etc. There was something more about the French and aircraft carriers. I responded to him not in a very polite way and quoted from a 1976 Bicentennial speech by Spencer W. Kimball, then president of the LDS Church. Probably the strongest anti war statement of any Mormon General Authority in a generation. Here is a portion of it for any who have not had the pleasure of reading it recently:

"We are a warlike people, easily distracted from our assignment of preparing for the coming of the Lord. When enemies rise up, we commit vast resources to the fabrication of gods of stone and steel -- ships, planes, missiles, fortifications -- and depend on them for protection and deliverance. When threatened, we become antienemy instead of pro-kingdom of God; we train a man in the art of war and call him a patriot, thus, in the manner of Satan's counterfeit of true patriotism, perverting the Savior's teaching:
"Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;_"That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven" (Matthew 5:44-45).
We forget that if we are righteous the Lord will either not suffer our enemies to come upon us -- and this is the special promise to the inhabitants of the land of the Americas (see 2 Nephi 1:7) -- or he will fight our battles for us (Exodus 14:14; D&C 98:37, to name only two references of many). This he is able to do, for as he said at the time of his betrayal, "Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?" (Matthew 26:53). We can imagine what fearsome soldiers they would be. King Jehoshaphat and his people were delivered by such a troop (see 2 Chronicles 20), and when Elish's life was threatened, he comforted his servant by saying, "Fear not; for they that be with us are more than they that be with them" (2 Kings 6:16). The Lord then opened the eyes of the servant, "And he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha" (vs 17).
What are we to fear when the Lord is with us? Can we not take the Lord at his word and exercise a particle of faith in him? Our assignment is affirmative: to forsake the things of the world as ends in themselves; to leave off idolatry and press forward in faith; to carry the gospel to our enemies, that they might no longer be our enemies.
We must leave off the worship of modern-day idols and a reliance on the "arm of flesh," for the Lord has said to all the world in our day, "I will not spare any that remain in Babylon" (D&C 64:24)."

Mendocino and the Market Street Broiler

Last night we had very mediocre salmon at the Market Street Broiler in SLC. I think I would rather eat fish sticks at McDonalds than pay $120.00 for the food we did not enjoy here. Fish from the school lunch program was as good as what we did not finish last night. It was way overcooked and very salty. Maybe they were experimenting with salmon jerky recipes?

It is nice to look at the photos and I can think about planning the next trip. For the uninitiated this is the village of Mendocino CA. A few Hollywood movies and TV series have been filmed there. In 'Murder She Wrote' it was Cabot Cove Maine. Some days I wish I were in California instead of here for better restaurants and the scenery. The Mendo Cafe among a number of others has very good food whether you are a vegan or an omnivore. I like salmon that is barely cooked, juicy and not overly salted. My Boy Scouts for their Cooking Merit Badge can cook better fish than we experienced last night.

Mendocino is less than an hour drive down the coast on Highway 1 from our house in Westport.

The last image

This is the last image of the modifed deck before we packed it up and left our house in the redwoods. The fence that is starting is recycled from the deck and replaces a metal screen.

We have another 40' to replace but that will have to wait until December.

The view from the back deck

Two work in progress photos of the back deck here in the Redwoods. This first portion may be complete with one more session tomorrow. The telescope remains in the box and may have to wait. The hot tub is calling and RA says the stars are out.

So little time and so much to do...

Bush and Right Guard are killing us...

A couple of friends of mine are dealing with serious cancers. One wonders why? Is it in the genes, did parents or grandparents have any cancers, maybe siblings? Maybe it is environmental.

It seems George W. Bush and our Republican dominated Congress for the last dozen years have consistently cut funds to any agency that might protect America while approving the highest defense budgets in a generation. The Food and Drug Administration, the Department of Agriculture, the Federal Trade Commission, the Consumer Product Safety Commission have all seen serious cuts to their budgets along with being politicized by George W. Consequently e-coli is sold by my favorite store I love to hate, Wal Mart, with their Topps brand ground beef. A woman in Utah County gets a severed mouse head in her green beans and Wal Mart offers her $100.00. This woman says she is still shopping there, maybe not buying any more green beans though.

My brother in law is a doc and has seen his share of cancer patients. He told me about a web site, a cosmetics data base where you can check out all of things we rub under our arms, put on our faces and wipe our baby’s bottoms. It is an organization called the Environmental Working Group. Right Guard Sport Deodorant, for example, contains toxic chemicals linked to cancer according to this site’s research. Huggies brand baby wipes should be avoided for similar reasons. This site has had more than 30 million hits or searches in three years for consumer products such as cosmetics.

According to the experts cancer causes about 13% of all deaths here in the US. Medical science tells us nearly all cancers are caused by abnormalities in the genetic material of the transformed cells. These abnormalities may be due to the effects of carcinogens, such as tobacco smoke, radiation, chemicals, or infectious agents.

Find out what’s in the stuff you pour on, wipe, spray, rub and spread, as your government is not protecting you. The greater threat to America and its people is in the White House, not hiding in the remote mountains of Pakistan. More than 550,000 will die this year from cancer in America. That is 1500 per day.

Here in the Redwood Forest...

The view from the deck was enhanced to some degree today as we have acquired an 8" Schmidt Cassegrain telescope. It has the computer driven mount capable of locating up to 40,000 celestial objects, plus the ability to compensate for the earth's rotation making astrophotography possible.

We have two DVD's to watch, also the lumber store is delivering a truck load of deck materials as I am starting on the rehab and replacement of our back deck here in the redwoods. The hot tub is filling and I have downloaded Bruce Springsteen's latest album.

So little time and so much to do.