Billy The Bus Driver of the Straight Talk Express...

How Wrong Is This...

Kids on a Shopping Spree:

He was like a kid in a candy store - about 120,000 times over.

A 5-year-old boy in Serbia took $120,000 out of his father's safe and went on a massive shopping spree with his friends.

They purchased clothes, toys, bikes, candy, computers and games at a local mall.

The dad has asked police to investigate why shopkeepers sold the goods without asking questions. (New York Post)

So my question is how did this kid get to all these stores. He is FIVE years old. Shouldn't there be some form of adult supervision? This is wrong in so many ways.

This Should End The Debate...

A study in Sweden has concluded that the brains of gay men are like that of heterosexual women and lesbians are like that of heterosexual men.

Scientists have noticed for some time that homosexual people of both sexes have differences in certain cognitive abilities, suggesting there may be subtle differences in their brain structure.

This is the first time, however, that scientists have used brain scanners to try to look for the source of those differences.

When these results were collected, it was found that lesbians and heterosexual men shared a particular "asymmetry" in their hemisphere size, while heterosexual women and gay men had no difference between the size of the different halves of their brain.

In other words, structurally, at least, the brains of gay men were more like heterosexual women, and gay women more like heterosexual men.

A further experiment found that in one particular area of the brain, the amygdala, there were other significant differences.

(BBC News)

Now of course this should put the debate to rest, but we all know that the Christian right does not believe in science. If "god" did not talk to one of their leaders (James Dobson, the Pope, Pat Robertson, or Bush - he talks directly to god), then no matter what scientist found would be true.

More Significant Today...

Was listening to music today when this song came on. It's sung by Carrie Underwood in this video, but was originally penned by George Michael in the 90's. Listening to the lyrics sort of saddened me. They ring so true in this world that we live in with the rich only wanting to get richer and the poor trying to figure out how to make it. This truly is not the Christian view of how the world should be. The Christian view is to help everyone. If that is the case, why do the Christians feel that McCain is the person for them? This is a man that cheated on his first wife while she was ill, takes from the lowlife lobbyist to finance his campaign, and pick a person who standing in her own affairs is questionable.

How can these so-called Christians rationalize all the wrong that is out there and the wrong that is still being created and will continue to destroy the U.S. if they choose McCain. How can these people look at Palin and think "this is the person for me. The person that can make the important decisions when needed" - even though she has no clue what the VP does, cannot tell you what the Bush Doctrine is, is being investigated in her home state, and loves killing animals that have no way to escape. Are You Kidding Me? Are we that stupid in America that everything has become a popularity contest (or in Palin's case a beauty contest)? I hope not!

Like the song says -
And its hard to love,
There's so much to hate
Hanging on to hope
When there is no hope to speak of



Praying For Time Lyrics:

These are the days of the open hand
They will not be the last
Look around now
These are the days of the beggars
And the choosers

This is the year of the hungry man
Whose place is in the past
Hand in hand with ignorance
And legitimate excuses

The rich declare themselves poor
And most of us are not sure
If we have too much
But well take our chances
Because God stopped keeping score
I guess somewhere along the way
He must have let us all out to play
Turned his back and all gods children
Crept out the back door

Chorus
And its hard to love,
Theres so much to hate
Hanging on to hope
When there is no hope to speak of
And the wounded skies above
Say its much too late
Well maybe we should all be
Praying for time

These are the days of the empty hand
Oh you hold on to what you can
And charity is a coat you wear
Twice a year

This is the year of the guilty man
Your television takes a stand
And you find that what was over there
Is over here

So you scream from behind your door
Say whats mine is mine and not yours
I may have too much
But Ill take my chances
Because God stopped keeping score
And you cling to the things
They sold you
Did you cover your eyes when
They told you
That he cant come back
Because he has no children
To come back for

Unnecessary Censorship "Come and Play Edition"...

I laughed so hard I think I wet myself a little.

For Her...

I have been posting more and more stuff concerning politics. Why is that? The reason is my daughter. So many people don't fully understand the concerns that I have with regards to my little angel. The Bush administration doesn't see that Mark and my relationship is truly valid. If the administration had their way we would be locked away (far away) never to be seen again (such as the "terrorist" in Guantanamo). Now we could have the next generation of Bush called McCain-Palin. This scares me more. The reasons are many, but anyone that knows Mark and I and loves Mikayla should think twice before they decide to vote for McCain. One main reason is that fact that McCain thinks that gay adoption should be illigal and that Mark, Mikayla and myself do not represent "family values"!

In an interview with George Stephanapolous in July 2008, Stephanapolous asked John McCain,"What is your position on gay adoption? You told the New York Times you were against it, even in cases where the children couldn't find another home. But then your staff backtracked a bit. What is your position?"

McCain responded, "My position is, it's not the reason why I'm running for president of the United States. And I think that two parent families are best for America."

Stephanapolous asked, "Well, what do you mean by that, it's not the reason you're running for President of the United States?"

McCain replied, "Because I think -- well, I think that it's -- it is important for us to emphasize family values. But I think it's very important that we understand that we have other challenges, too. I'm running for president of the United States, because I want to help with family values. And I think that family values are important, when we have two parent -- families that are of parents that are the traditional family."

Stephanapolous: "But there are several hundred thousand children in the country who don't have a home. And if a gay couple wants to adopt them, what's wrong with that?"

McCain: "I am for the values that two parent families, the traditional family represents."

Stephanapolous: "So, you're against gay adoption."

McCain: "I am for the values and principles that two parent families represent. And I also do point out that many of these decisions are made by the states, as we all know. And I will do everything I can to encourage adoption, to encourage all of the things that keeps families together, including educational opportunities, including a better economy, job creation. And I'm running for president, because I want to help families in America. And one of my positions is that I believe that family values and family traditions are preserved."

(lesbian life)

Just remember when you vote on November 4th, you are not only deciding the future for yourself. You are deciding the future for her:

More and More I Become...

For the past two years I have been getting my Bachelors of Science in Humane Leadership. This is a degree that the Humane Society of the United States put together with Duquense University. They have also created a Masters Degree in Community Leadership, which I may continue with. While doing research for some of my classes, I have delved into places that I never knew existed. With the help from Mark (he is on a new diet) and this degree, I am moving more and more towards a vegetarian.

When did this realization hit me? Well first I mad point of trying not to eat meat when I did not know where it came from. Luckily we have many farms around this area that raise their animals humanely and never abuse them (as with most slaughter houses). So I felt fine eating meat on occasion. Then one morning (about three days ago) I was making scrambled eggs from my daughter and then the light went on - this is an embryo (or one day could have been). Then I asked myself would I eat a human embryo? The thought sounded gross and made my stomach turn a little.

Tonight I made tacos and as I was cooking the meat I again started to think - I am cooking the decaying flesh of a cow. Yes I said decaying because once things die they start to decay. Then the smell hit me and again my stomach turned a little. I then added the taco spices and the smell went away, but the thought was still there. I did eat it but not with the same enjoyment that I used to have.

Then more realizations hit me. This was a sentient creature (Sentience is the ability to feel or perceive subjectively.) (wikipedia) At one time this piece of meat that I am eating could feel. What right do I have to take part in the death of this animal? I then started to associate all the meats that I used to eat and (finally) connect them to the animal. It may sound stupid but I would not make the connection in my mind's eye that the ham for Chirstmas was once a pig. That the hamburger, the steak, the roast, was once a cow.

This was very disturbing to me. It was disturbing that I could so easily disconnect from reality and think that what I was eating did not have any affect on the other creature in this world. That there are so many people out there that probably have the same disconnect. If they watched the video Meet Your Meat and not feel completely disgusted and have the light go on for them as well I would be surprised.

A vegitarian. This is more and more what I become.

Sarah Palin's Record on Aerial Wolf Hunting...

From the Defender's of Wildlife:

As governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin has championed aerial gunning of wolves and bears. Using powerful images of this needless and brutal practice -- and the indisputable facts about Palin's promotion of it -- we've created a hard-hitting new television ad to educate voters about what Governor Sarah Palin really stands for.

As governor, Sarah Palin...

• Proposed paying a $150 bounty for the left foreleg of each dead wolf.
• Approved a $400,000 state-funded propaganda campaign to promote aerial hunting. (The state voters of Alaska have twice before voted to ban aerial hunting.)
• Introduced legislation to make it even easier to use aircraft to hunt wolves and bears.
• Sued the federal government, the Bush-Cheney administration, to keep polar bears from being listed as an endangered species.
• She promoted drilling in ANWAR (Alaska National Wildlife Refuge)

Is this the type of person we want to be one heartbeat away from the presidency? If you are a hunter, then please tell me why you would want to hunt wolf. I looked all over the Internet and could not find a recipe with wolf as an ingredient!

See Video Below:




If you want to make a difference - vote and make sure Sarah and McCain never see the inside of the White House. Also go to the Defender's of Wildlife website and make a donation.

Just Because It's Fun - And Makes Me Laugh...

Now Walk It Out!!!

Talking More and More...

The little one is off and running with her speech. She is quickly learning the alphabet (not verbatim) but she does know A, B, D, F, H, I, J, M, O, P (and tell you what P sounds like), S, T, Z (but she thinks Z is YEEEEEAHHH!). If asked, she can point out almost each letter. I started to recite the alphabet and stopped at L and she followed up with M - without me helping her.

She now knows the difference (somewhat) between Yes and No and she says both very clearly. Colors are coming. We have a book, "Little Bear Counts His Favorite Things", where under number 8 are a set of crayons each a different color. She can point to the color you ask. She has only been able to do it with this book. She hasn't been able to point out all the colors outside this book. We are working on that though. While down at grandma, she had some crayons and she grabbed the color we asked for.

So the confusion that I have when teaching Mikayla new words and associating those words with the actual objects is interesting. The reason is what do we teach her. Is a cup a cup or glass or plastic or blue or round or clear. There are some many ways to describe something and I have noticed that Mark and I have told her a different description for the same object. Is this confusing her or is it helping to build her understanding of the world around her?

In the video below, Mikayla is outside playing with some sidewalk chalk that Grampa got for her when we went back to visit. While we were on vacation she learned how to do surprise, drama and blow a kiss. The drama is the best.