Sunday, April 30, 2006

People For the American Way - Don't Let the 2006 Elections Revisit 2004's Failures








Don't Let the 2006 Elections Revisit 2004's Failures With much national attention focused on the Supreme Court, Election Day may seem far away for some, but the memories of undue burdens and obstacles are fresh in the minds of those voters and volunteers who participated in the 2004 presidential elections. We need to push with renewed vigor for comprehensive election reform that will ensure all citizens have the ability to cast a fair and equal vote.


Stop Shameful Spam!

I recently received an email forward that said this:
Organizers are planning the May 1 "Great American Boycott," urging illegal immigrants -- who cannot vote and who have only limited political power -- to flex their economic muscle. Protesters are being urged to refrain from shopping,and to stay away from school and work.

This is a movement orchestrated by people who enteredthe US illegally,and then want to scream about their"rights." WHAT RIGHTS? YOU DON'T EVEN BELONG HERE!

The email went on to blame illegal aliens for eveerything from gangs and drugs to illiteracy rates and the economy. It went on to compare them to terrorists and call on good Americans to counter the boycott by going out and buying and selling as much as they could.

What rights? What rights? How about these?
"And we hold these truths to be self evident, that ALL men are created equal and endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

"ALL men," not "all leagally naturalized or native born American citizens," ALL men.

And you know what?

In stead of being angry at poor people who want to work and make a better life for themselves and their families, why not be angry at the oil ceo who hot a $400 million retirement package- thats $3 for every American citizen!? How about being angry that oil companies just reported enough profits to equal over $1,000 for every single American citizen? 270 million times $1,000. Hmmm. This is a MORAL issue, I'd say it's at least as much of a moral issue as war, lying, leaking, gay marriage or abortion.

"The same law applies to the native-born and to the alien living among you."
~Exodus 12:49


That includes this the rights contained in this little law right here:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.


Being angy at poor migrant workers is a waste of time and a red-herring to divert us from more serious issues. And as both a patriotic American and a Bible believing Christian, I am sick and tired of my faith being used by the religious right to support bigotry and intollerance. Let me lay some Scripture on ya my brothers and sisters-

Ezekiel 22:29
The people of the land practice extortion and commit robbery; they oppress the poor and needy and mistreat the alien, denying them justice.

Jeremiah 22:3
This is what the LORD says: Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of his oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the alien, the fatherless or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place.

Exodus 22:21
"Do not mistreat an alien or oppress him, for you were aliens in Egypt.

Exodus 23:9
"Do not oppress an alien; you yourselves know how it feels to be aliens, because you were aliens in Egypt.

Leviticus 19:10
Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the LORD your God.

Leviticus 19:33
" 'When an alien lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him.

Leviticus 19:34
The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt. I am the LORD your God.

Leviticus 23:22
" 'When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the LORD your God.' "

Leviticus 25:35
" 'If one of your countrymen becomes poor and is unable to support himself among you, help him as you would an alien or a temporary resident, so he can continue to live among you.

And one of my favorites-

Leviticus 25:23
" 'The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you are but aliens and my tenants."

Because...
1) whites took this land from the Indians, and really the Spanish, French and Portuguise were here before the English and
2) NONE of it is ours, it's all God's anyway. People, God's children, are more important than property or places. This is not a pro-immigrant view, and unAmerican view, or a liberal view, this is a Scriptural view.

You don't even realize how UN-Christian, Un-Biblica, UN-Constitutuional, UN-American, unhelpful, and how hateful or racist you're being, do you?

PLEASE think about the emails you forward. PLEASE think and pray about this issue. And most of all PLEASE read the constitution and the Bible.

I think the fact that George Bush angrily said that the National Anthem should only be sung in English is an example of how unintelligent and how racist he is- he who's courted the Latino vote so well for how many years. Hell, I think it might be better sung in Spanish than in English!

1) 60 percent of Americans don't even know the lyrics- at least these immigrants are trying to show how much they love and admire America and believe in what it (used to) stand for.

and 2) How many men fought and died and how many families sacrificed in a war to free the UNited States from England? Why should ENGLISH be the only or the official language when they were our sworn and mortal enemy in war?

Okay, that's a little silly, but I hope it makes the point that this whole imigration reform debate is rediculously silly and has gotten WAY out of hand.


Friday, April 28, 2006

Pretty in Pink

"Grace," acrylic on 16X20 canvas, 4/28/2006

I've always had some kind of block whenever I've tried drawing or painting anyone in my family. Maybe it's just performance anxiety, maybe they're so important to me that I don't want to hurt/offend/or disappoint them. Maybe it's that I know them too well and being so familiar with their features, I'm overly critical of myself when I don't get them exactly right.

Whatever the problem was I tried my best to work through it today because I wanted to give my oldest daughter something special for her birthday. I still may not be at a professional skill level as a painter, especially on the modeling, blending, and general finish- but I'm happy with the sense of unity/cohesiveness and balance of the color scheme, the general composition- but best of all I actually think I managed to capture her energy and personality. It's got joy and unpretentious friendliness to it- and that in a nutshell is Grace. Loving and fun.

I love her and I'm proud of her. I hope she likes this gift and that she won't hate it or be embarrassed by it when she's 14, 21, 28, 32 etc.

O'Keefe flowers

I've been teaching my junior high Art and my high school Drawing II classes about Georgia O'Keefe. Here are two of the 18X24 drawings that Drawing II kids did with charcoal and pastels. They hadn't used color before, so this was an experiment for them.

bird of paradise by Dawson

magnolia by Angie

Thursday, April 27, 2006

The race is on

In case you didn’t know it, the 2008 Presidential race is already underway. I know, I know, it’s as bad as the stores and Christmastime. I think I saw Wal-Mart employees stocking the shelves with Halloween costumes the Monday after Easter.

In the interest of civic participation, this feature would like to present you with a number of potential candidates for your consideration- since most of them will begin visiting Iowa this summer, if they haven’t been here already.

Since they’re the current party in power, lets start with the Republicans.

The front-runner for the GOP nomination seems to be a woman named Dr. Condeleza Rice. She’s a PhD doctor, not a medical doctor. You’d think that would be a plus, but she doesn’t really seem to have a brain of her own. Her ideas, thoughts, policies, plans etc. are pretty much those of her bosses, Dick, Rummy, and the one known only as “W.”

Right-wingers will try to sell her as the historic, because she’d be both the first woman and the first Black president. But let’s face it, voting for the current Secretary of State would pretty much be voting to continue the Bush administration. With the numbers, the war, the personnel changes, all the retired generals criticisms and the price of gas- this may not be our best bet.

Next there’s Senate Majority Dr. Bill Frist. He’s a medical doctor, not a PhD and he tried to prove it when he diagnosed the late Terri Schiavo as not being in a persistent vegetative state and having plenty of brain activity by watching a few minutes of news clip video of her. Hmmm... the autopsy showed that she had very little brain left let alone brain activity.

If you believe in religious freedom, you may also not be comfortable with the fact that he participated in the whole “Justice Sunday” thing where he and televangelists railed on independent judges who refuse to set up a fundamentalist theocracy.

There’s also Newt Gingrich, the former House Speaker who spearheaded the Republicans’ “Contract on America” back in the 1990’s. He pretty much invented “Talking-point memos” and gave Rush Limbaugh office space in the Capital building. Scary, isn’t it time for the pendulum to swing a little more toward the center?

Now I always used to love Senator John McCain. He’s from my home state of Arizona, he’s a Vietnam Vet, he used to be his own man, a straight shooter who’d break party ranks when it was the right thing to do. Best of all he wanted a balanced budget and to clean up campaign finance.

But alas, he has started to kiss up to the fundamentalist like “guy-smiley” Jerry Fawell and Pat Robertson. How “base” can you get?

My favorite Republican has to be Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel. He’s still a deficit hawk who believes in fiscal responsibility and he’s been very skeptical of the Bush administration’s mishandling of Iraq. Unlike McCain, he seems to still be willing to stand up for what’s right, even if it means standing alone.

Now, in the interest of equal time, let’s turn to the left.

The biggest name among Democrats is still New York Senator and former First Lady Hillary Clinton. Okay, is she capable? Probably. Is she electable? possibly. But there are plenty of problems.

First of all, merely by being who she is, she’s divisive. There’s nothing she does or believes- all Democrats considered, she’s pretty moderate, but people vehemently hate her. Even more viscerally than her husband, and even though he was a liar and a philanderer, he was still a Rhode’s Scholar brainiac student of the law and economics.

I for one think the best way of keeping America sharply divided, keeping the wing-nuts on the extreme right angry and active, and guaranteeing that either Jeb or Prescott Bush will run for President would be to elect Hillary.

Who else is there? Well, there’s Virginia Governor Mark Warner. Centrists and even Republicans may like him. He believes in fiscal responsibility and deficit reduction. Even if it does mean, yes, rolling back the massive Bush tax cuts that benefited the richest 2% of Americans. He’s very articulate, clear, and smart. And yes, he’s a Southerner.

Hmmm. Moderate/Conservative Democrat from the South. He may have appeal.

Don’t forget Former Vice President Al Gore and former Vice Presidential Candidate North Carolina Senator John Edwards. Handsome Southern gentlemen both, but these two are probably more aggressively progressive and have lots of creative ideas for things like health care, education, and tax reform.

Bringing up the rear; New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, former Clinton Secretary of Energy. Hmmm, what was that about working toward not being dependent on foreign oil that President Bush mentioned in his State of the Union Address?

Oh yeah, did I mention that he’d be the first Hispanic President?

Finally may I introduce Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold. He co-sponsored the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (“McCain-Feingold Bill”). He is a recipient of the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award. He actually voted against the Iraq War Resolution and yet voted in favor of funding to support our troops.


Wednesday, April 26, 2006

Church History Book & Blog

I am putting together a history of our church for it's anninversary comittee. Since I had all these stories and pictures. AndI thought I'd throw a "blog" together.

Follow this link -http://stjohnchrteroak.blogspot.com

My home church in Phoenix, Christ Church Lutheran had a website-http://www.cclphoenix.org

Our Church in California, Bethlehem Lutheran had an AWESOME website- www.followthestar.com or http://forministry.com/USCALUCMSBLC1

I guess that I'd love to see our church now have a website. But, the committee has concerns that this new blog may make people decide not to buy a copy of the history book... so I may end up deleting it soon. Take a look and let me (or the church office) know if you like it.

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

His Love Endures Forever



I designed this poster for my church. Below is a link to a page about it.

His Love Endures Forever
Our Congregation is celebrating it's 125th anniversary this year. Since I have been putting together it's commemorative history book, I thought I'd post it's contents online for anyone interested.

His Love Endures Forever

His Love Endures Forever
Our Congregation is celebrating it's 125th anniversary this year. Since I have been putting together it's commemorative history book, I thought I'd post it's contents online for anyone interested.

Monday, April 24, 2006

More Spring flowers


Here are tulips. My favorite Spring flower. I like the repetition of the shapes in this second one (the pink one) .

Spring experiments


I am teaching both my 7th grade Art Fundamentals and my Drawing II classes about Georgia O'Keefe. So, I saw some Easter Lillies and I thought I'd try out some close-ups. Remember Robert Mapplethorpe back in the 1980's? Nothing dirty here, I promise. To paraphrase Freud, "sometimes a flower is just a flower."

Thursday, April 20, 2006

Beware of mystics selling books; Judas betrays Christ again

Happy Easter. I had hoped to offer you some light, entertaining fluff this holiday, but something has cast a pal across the holiday and I feel like I need to address it.

Unless you’ve been living in a box, you’ve probably heard that the National Geographic Society has unveiled the discovery of a “Gospel according to Judas.” It’s actually a bunch of papyrus that was discovered nearly 40 years ago, the existence of which was known all along by scholars.

So why is it such a big deal right now? Newsweek magazine said that it was as if “an unseen hand must have arranged for the Gospel of Judas to be published while the "Da Vinci Code" craze still had life in it.” Just before Easter, and soon before the Da Vinci Code movie is released. Convenient, whether you believe that is the unseen hand of commerce or the hand of the devil himself, it is a little too fishy.

The Da Vinci Code itself is very controversial. It suggests that the early Church conspired to hide secret knowledge. The theory is that Jesus didn’t really die on the cross, but went on to marry Mary Magdalan and the holy grail wasn’t a chalice that held the first communion wine or even the blood He shed, but it was Mary and the wine/blood is the bloodline of Jesus, carried by his descendants. People who get too wrapped up in this need to remember that the novel is "almost pure fiction, using author Dan Brown's imagination, loosely based on legends about so called “lost gospels” or “Gnostic gospels” like gospel of Thomas, the gospel of Mary, and now the gospel of Judas.

First of all, Leonardo Da Vinci had nothing to do with all this. Sure, he may or may not have included and later painted over Mary in his famous “last supper,” but he was a vain, short-attention-spanned fame hungry pop-star who was working for a church that at the time was drunk with the opulence of the renaissance and political power.

This Easter, you might want to read John 20:11-18. Think about the role Jesus appears to be give Mary in his church? I think that’s far more meaningful than being just a spouse.

Keep in mind, too that the four canonical gospels in the Bible were all written within a few decades of Jesus’ resurrection by Jesus’ followers who had a direct connection to Him. These other apocrafal gospels were written hundreds of years later by people trying to make Jesus’ story more complicated and mysterious than it has to be. I believe that Mary, the Apostle ‘doubting’ Thomas, and even the regretful, suicidal Judas would be ashamed that anyone put their names on something so counter to Jesus’ own teaching.

There are two basic false-doctrines that are being promoted by both the Judas gospel craze and the Da Vinci Code fad. One is Arianism and another is Gnosticism.

Arianism was a 4th-century Christian heresy named for Arius (c.250-c.336), a priest in Alexandria, Egypt. He basically denied the deity of Jesus. He held that the Son of God, while divine and god-like, was created by God the Father, rather than being part of the Trinity. Arianism spread in the early church and resulted in such disunity that Emperor Constantine called for a church council at Nicaea in 325, from which we get the “Nicean Creed.”

One of my favorite stories about the council was that a bishop from Turkey named Nicholas (you may know him as “Santa Claus”) got so angry he punched Arius in the nose!

Gnosticism is form of mysticism, that says that the goal of life is to discover "special knowledge" (gnosis). It basically sees the struggle of good and bad as a division between the physical realm, and the higher spiritual realm. This dualism is not a Hebrew, Jewish or New Testament Christian idea, it came from the Greeks, and the philosopher Plato in particular.

An in depth study of Gnosticism makes it look like some bizarre pagan religion like Wicca or Scientology (or even the deepest levels of Mormonism). It’s definitely not some lost or hidden form of true Christianity, far from it. Basically, the gospel of Judas and other Gnostic teachings want us to imagine that rather than the only begotten Son of God, who is the only way truth and life (John 4:14), He’s just a perfect human who demonstrated for us the “secret” way to discover our own inner-light.

This new gospel of Judas tries to suggest that Jesus asked Judas to help him escape his corrupt physical body in order to reach “enlightenment.” Funny, I could have swore that He was crucified for the forgiveness of our sins, not just his own spiritual benefit.

Like Judas, Gnostics want control, they want religion on their own terms, not God’s. At first Judas wanted to overthrow the Romans but when he saw that Jesus’ Kingdom was one of humility, love and service- he sold Him out for money instead. Now they’re trying to capitalize on our appetite for the mysterious and our own desires to feel like we understand or control God, instead of trusting Him.

This Easter, go to the sources. Read the Gospels of Matthew Mark, Luke and John and discover the true “light of the world,” the one outside yourself, who died and rose again so that you can know all His secrets, nothing hidden, nothing that we have to work for ourselves, free.

Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist—he denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.” ~1 John 2:22-23

"Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.” ~1 John 4:1-3


Wednesday, April 19, 2006

Early Spring

These are waterfalls along the Immigrant Creek before it feeds into the Soldier River near Charter Oak, Iowa where I live.

Here's a moody composition. I'm sure a more melancholy mind imagines a raven on a dead branch in late autumn, but it's actually a purple martin bringing it's beautiful song to a budding baugh in early spring on a misty twilight. I thought this was the kind of picture that people superimpose poems over. I just couldn't come up with anything poetic.

Hey everybody, scroll down to see the ClusterMap in the sidebar- wow, people from Alaska to the South Pacific, from England to the Andes! This blog is getting around. Hey, post a comment or sign my guestbook. I hope you like my art, check out my archives, the earliest posts are the best artworks! Thanks for taking WildArt world-wide!

Picturesque

Hey Charter Oakians~ (Charter Oakies?) Did you know we had these waterfalls right in our own town? Yep, just West of where you drive accross HWY 141 into the city park. Right there on Immigrant Creek, just East of where the Immigrant feeds into the Soldier River. Pretty huh?

Monday, April 17, 2006

StuPub: Top 10 Online Photo Labs 3

Top 10 Online Photo Labs +3 -Click Here-
Popular Photography magazine recently reviewed 10 of the best services for printing your pictures online. Most of them will mail or FedEx your prints to you. Here they are on my student publications blog- in alphabetical order.

Wild Art: St. John's Bible

Wild Art: St. John's Bible
We took the family to see the St. John's Bible a t the Joslyn in Omaha Friday. Not easy with 3 kids under 6. It was also quite busy, they said it had been the whole time that the show has been there. Be that as it may, it was still facinating and often moving. Here is an image I found on the web of work on the title page for the Gospel of Matthew. The artist made the geneology of Jesus- His family tree- look like a menorah. No reprint does this artwork justice, you could never replicate the glow and glint of all the guilding and the rich pigments.

St. John's Bible

We took the family to see the St. John's Bible a t the Joslyn in Omaha Friday. Not easy with 3 kids under 6. It was also quite busy, they said it had been the whole time that the show has been there. Be that as it may, it was still facinating and often moving. Here is an image I found on the web of work on the title page for the Gospel of Matthew. The artist made the geneology of Jesus- His family tree- look like a menorah. No reprint does this artwork justice, you could never replicate the glow and glint of all the guilding and the rich pigments.

Click here for their official website to see more.


" St. John's University in Minnesota and the Benedictine monks of Saint John’s Abbey have commissioned a handwritten, illuminated Bible. It is the first Bible in more than 500 years to be written by hand.

The St. John's Bible incorporates modern themes, images and technology of the 21st century. It takes between eight and 10 hours to write and illuminate a single page" ~NPR story

Spring has sprung

I guess I don't know the difference between a dogwood and a magnolia, all I know is that this is a gorgeous tree in April in Iowa.

The fountain in the atrium of the Joslyn art museum in Omaha Nebraska.

Thursday, April 13, 2006

Immigration Reform; Blame Canada

Much has been said lately about the new legislation in Congress proposed to reform the immigration progress. I say it’s high time. Too many of these darn Canadians have been coming down here, crossing our borders illegally and stealing all the American jobs. Heck, it’s getting so anymore, you can’t go to a restaurant without havin’ to see a bunch of Canadians bussing tables.

They’re tryin’ to tell us that there are millions of Canadians here in the United States and it would be impossible to deport them all so now we oughta just come out and give them amnesty or something. I for one don’t feel any animosity toward any Canadians. Some of my best friends are Canadians. Well, okay, I don’t really have any Canadian friends, but just because someone doesn’t have any Canadian friends doesn’t mean that you’re racist.

But just because someone’s not racist against Canadians doesn’t mean that the Federal government has no right to come in here an try to make us have to integrate with all these Northerners. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with them, but that doesn’t mean I should have to live around them. It’s like they’re from a whole ‘nuther continent or something. And besides, their flag is a red maple leaf. Wasn’t the old Soviet Union’s flag red? What are they Communist or something? Don’t they have socialized medicine there?

If it’s such nice place then why are there so many of them down here in our country? I hear that they’re digging these tunnels under the Canada-North Dakota border to smuggle in prescription drugs. So there you are. Canada wants to undermine our American way of life with their inexpensive health care systems.

In this post-9/11 era we need to be more conscious of our national homeland security matters, so that’s why I suggest that we start building a fence along our border with Canada. As it stands, pretty much anybody in Canada can pretty much just waltz right into America and threaten our cherished values and American way of life. And maybe we should start calling for volunteers in places like Montana to form Minutemen Militias to voluntarily patrol the border to catch the “frost-backs” when they try to sneak into our country because after all I’m sure that there’s no way that the INS can get it all done.

I hear that some do-gooders have taken to leaving thermoses of hot chocolate or coffee and blankets out in the tundra for the poor immigrant families from Canada, like that’s some kind of humanitarian thing or something. I say if they’re dumb enough to venture out onto the prairie trying to break into our country then they deserve what they get. Illegal immigrants are criminals, helping them survive the journey is just aiding and abetting CRIMINALS. Don’t they get it? ILLEGAL, they’re breaking the law. It’s against the law to break into somebody else’s country, so why should these people help them survive the crossing? They’re accomplices and traitors and should be deported too.

I also think that if these Canadians do come to our country they should have to learn to speak American. None of this “owoot and abowoot” business. They should have to talk American like everybody else. Did you know that some of them don’t even speak ENGLISH? That’s right. Apparently there are this whole ‘nuther kind of Canadian called French-Canadians. Does anybody else think that it’s kid of fishy that the French opposed our invading Iraq after 9/11 and now all these Canadians think that they can come here and force their cheap prescription drugs on us and win everything at the winter Olympics?

Not that it’s all their fault. I mean, who can blame them. We have the best of everything here in America, we have a Congress and a President and they’re stuck with a “Parliament” and all these “Ministers.” Who are they trying to fool? Like they’re all British and hoity toity or something or like calling a politician a “Minister” makes them more Christian or something. So I think that we should carefully use the Patriot Act to review the phone calls of any Canadian who wants to come into our country LEGALLY and offer them political asylum so that they don’t have to live in such a Communist country.

And plus, some Americans bare some responsibility too. I was at this restaurant once and when I paid my bill and they went to give me change, some of the coins were Canadian. I hear from my relatives in Michigan that this kind of thing happens all the time to them up in the Great Lakes. This says to me that maybe some American companies seem to think that it’s okay to hire these illegal Canadians because then maybe they won’t have to pay them as much as American workers since the Canadian dollar (shouldn’t that be “POUND”) isn’t worth as much as the American dollar. So I think that we need to send the INS or the Department of Homeland Security in there to all the Wal-Marts and restaurants and places that keep hiring these Canadians and charge them penalties for helping the Canadians come into this country.

I’m sure if you search your hearts you’ll know that I’m right and agree. It’s time that we do something about this. Canada has been a cancer growing on the back of North America for too long. We should clear it all off and let the oil companies explore for new sources of energy up there and keep America strong.

Iowa's 5th District Democrats

Iowa's 5th District Democrats
Here is a link to the Democratic Party of Iowa's 5th District. They have a blog, a calendar, and lists of candidates. Click here to know what's going on or to get involved.

Wednesday, April 12, 2006

Support our troops, bring them home

Support our troops, bring them home

"My sincere view is that the commitment of our forces to this fight was done with a casualness and swagger that are the special province of those who have never had to execute these missions - or bury the results."

- Marine Lt. Gen. Greg Newbold, former director of operations at the Pentagon's military joint staff, writing in Time magazine. Newbold resigned four months before the invasion of Iraq, but has only now gone public with his criticism of the war.

Tuesday, April 11, 2006

Angústia(A Mãe do Artista). Painted by David Alfaro Siqueiros. Vinilete sobre eucatex, 94 x 76 cm.

I love Siqueiros. His compositions rock, his modeling creasts such volume, but most of all his work is so expressive and profound. I hadn't seen this one before, I found it looking for an example of extreme perspectives for my Drawing students. Still looking....

Mom's Cancer

Mom's Cancer

This is a different blog. If you're interested in Cartooning, Art Therapy, or if your family has been touched by cancer, you should check this out.
http://www.momscancer.com/

This cartoonist blogged his way through his mom's fight with the 'big c.' Facinating stuff, and he draws great.

No dibujo nada

No dibujo nada
Roughly translated, "Not drawing swims"

I'm not sure what that means or who this artist is, but he's putting his sketchbooks online and I think it's facinating. I think drawing students should take a look, they could learn a lot.
Beautiful, isn't it? I criticize and complain about the goverment because I love my country.

"I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just."
~Thomas Jefferson

How come Democrats never rag on conservatives for whining and ridiculing as if they're unpatriotic or trators or something when we're in power and they disagree or scrutinize us? hmmm.... because we BELIEVE in the principles of democracy on which America was founded like free speech?!

Richard Nixon got nervous because Congress had a little thing called a supena. What would it be like if the Democrats regained a slim majority and therefore had the power of supena?
With as much going on now that stinks to high heaven... what will we find out once we have shovels?!

Monday, April 10, 2006

The New Yorker: Fact

The New Yorker: National Security- the Iran Plans

Report Cites Plans for Imminent U.S. Attack on Iran
American officials are dismissing a report in The New Yorker which says that the U.S. is in the advanced stages of planning an attack on Iran'’s nuclear facilities, calling such claims '“ill-informed'”. The article, which says that American covert operations inside Iran have intensified, also suggests that one of the options being considered by the Bush administration calls for the use of nuclear '“bunker buster'” bombs, designed to destroy underground targets. Tehran '—at least publicly' —is laughing off the report, dismissing it as saber rattling. One former defense official who is familiar with the White House'’s thinking says that their plan hinges on the kind of wishful thinking that led to the current debacle in Iraq, saying, "I was shocked when I heard it, and asked myself, "What are they smoking?"

At this morning's White House press briefing, Helen Thomas's first question "Is the U.S. going to attack Iran?" immediately put spokesman Scott McClellan on the defensive.

Spring shots


Here's just a couple of interesting compositions with the digital camera that make you think of Easter time and Spring

Kim close ups

Here are close-ups so you can see better

Day two

Now, maybe this drawing looks a little more like the model, although I think that I had to reley on line more than I wanted to, in order to achieve that.

Easter time is here



The Easter Bunny was delivered to the Charter Oak city park by the Volunteer
Fire Department. She arrived to dozens of youngsters who posed for this picture before
begining their hunt for the brightly colored eggs that the bunny had hidden in the park. The annual easter egg hunt was sponsored by the Charter Oak Commercial Club.
NEWS photos by Ted Mallory.

Great Sports Pic

Charter Oak-Ute Senior Kala Kuhlmann leaps a hurdle last Thursday, April 6 at the Boyer Valley Girl's Invitational Track Meet in Dunlap. Lala came in fifth in the 100 Meter Hurdles with a time of 17.21 seconds. The Lady Bobcats finished sicth out of twelve schools with 32 team points when the meet was cut short by lightning and storm warnings with just two events left; the 4 x 100 and 4x 400.
NEWS photo by Ted Mallory

Wild Art

Check out
"Wild Art"
That's where you'll find

1. My paintings, drawings, and prints
2. My photographs & digital images
3. My cartoons
4. Artworks or photos by some of my students
5. Some of my favorite paintings by famous artists and why I like them.

Friday, April 07, 2006

Woof!

I've been teaching 7th graders about primary colors. So, their assignment was to complete a realistic artwork, mixing colors, using only 5 crayons; red, blue, yellow, black, and white.

Here is mine. I decided to make a Boyer Violet Bulldog. Grrrr

Giving us fits

Trying to get kids to draw a model in charcoal is driving me crazy. One student started over three times and threw a tantrum. Another hasn't really started yet. Still another has decided she's done already after only 2 days of the 5. She'd pretty good too but she's really left it with too few values and not much contrast let alone modeling. Mostly she just wants to go play with the computer. Another kid refused to draw since they didn't have batteries for their CD player. Everybody is sick of getting dirty.

I'm having a rough time too. Above is my drawing of Kim, a junior. Different clothes, different position, constantly moving her head to talk to people. Above you have Thursday's shoes and pants and Friday's shirt, consequently the arm on the right side and the hands are really loused up. I barely got started on the face, so students are telling me that she looks like an angry guy. I do kinda think the face reminds me of William H. Macy. Poor Kim. Hopefully it will get better Monday etc.

Who stole my freedom of speech?

I had this magnet on my truck, but someone took it.

Hey, I support the troops, I just happen to remember that Jesus is the "Prince of Peace," so I oppose the current administrations' foreign policy which includes an unnecessary war under the guise of fighting terrorism.

Stealing a magnet of someone's car is a small thing. There have been incidents where veterans and parents who've lost children in the war have put up memorials of white crosses representing each of the Americans killed in Iraq, only to have "war-hawks" drive over them to mow them down with their cars. That's anger. I guess I don't understand how that's pro-American or pro-troops, pro-veterans, or pro-Christian. Isn't it, in fact irreverent, and sacreligeous?

Anyway, if you want your own "Support Peace" sticker, pin, or magnet, click here: http://www.support-peace.com/about.php

Sign the Petition for Bush Censure

Tom Harkin: Why I Fully Support Bush Censure

We have a President who likes to break things. He has broken the federal budget, running up $3 trillion in new debt. He has broken the Geneva Conventions, giving the green light to torture. He has repeatedly broken promises – and broken faith – with the American people. And now, worst of all, he has broken the law.

Sign the Petition for Bush Censure

Bush Authorized Secrets' Release, Libby Testified

Bush Authorized Secrets' Release, Libby Testified
Prosecutor Says Disclosures on Iraq Were Aimed at War Critic

Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, April 7, 2006; Page A01

President Bush authorized White House official I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby to disclose highly sensitive intelligence information to the news media in an attempt to discredit a CIA adviser whose views undermined the rationale for the invasion of Iraq, according to a federal prosecutor's account of Libby's testimony to a grand jury.

The court filing by Special Counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald for the first time places Bush and Vice President Cheney at the heart of what Libby testified was an exceptional and deliberate leak of material designed to buttress the administration's claim that Iraq was trying to obtain nuclear weapons
_____________________________________________
Ted's Commentary: I'm sorry, didn't President Bush say that he would FIRE anyone he discovered had been leaking information from the White House? Yeah, I think he did. Why don't we hold him to that?

Let's see...
lying about leaking a CIA operative's identity to punish her husband, a career diplomat because he noticed that the administration was faking intelligence in order to defend their decision to invade Iraq- which had nothing to do with
al-Qa'ida or 9/11- and oh yeah, did we mention that He'd planned that unprovoked, "pre-emptive," unilateral invasion BEFORE 911 anyway?

Not only should he be censured and impeached, maybe he should be tried in the War Crimes Tribunal in the Hague?
How can "Conservative-Christians" continue to defend this man? How is lying, bullying, cheating, and killing Christian? Is it becasue he's opposed to abortion and gay-marriage? Please! If you are really "pro-life," how can you be pro-war?
Stop the hypocracy. Christians can be Democrats.
_____________________________________________

O'Neill: Bush planned Iraq invasion before 9/11
In new book, ex-Treasury secretary criticizes administration

Wednesday, January 14, 2004 Posted: 2:12 AM EST (0712 GMT)

(CNN) -- The Bush administration began planning to use U.S. troops to invade Iraq within days after the former Texas governor entered the White House three years ago, former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill told CBS News' 60 Minutes.

"From the very beginning, there was a conviction that Saddam Hussein was a bad person and that he needed to go," O'Neill told CBS, according to excerpts released Saturday by the network. "For me, the notion of pre-emption, that the U.S. has the unilateral right to do whatever we decide to do, is a really huge leap."

O'Neill, who served nearly two years in Bush's Cabinet, was asked to resign by the White House in December 2002 over differences he had with the president's tax cuts.

Image
Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill served nearly two years in Bush's Cabinet.

Thursday, April 06, 2006

We need your news

Many kids have three favorite things about school; June, July and August. This time of year they get itchy to get outside and play.

Many of us teachers get an itch too. We start worrying about what kind of job we’re going to get for the summer.

When I was 14, I was chomping at the bit to find a job. By Senior year, it became a necessary evil. Working wasn’t so bad, but trying to find someone who was willing to hire you for 12 weeks, THAT was torture. Filling out applications, going to interviews.

Yesterday I interviewed for the new publishers of the Charter Oak-Ute NEWSpaper and the Schleswig LEADER. And much to my relief, Missouri Valley Times-News, Inc. decided to hire me for this summer. They’d also like me to try to send as much news and photos as I can in the mean time.

Of course, I have a lot of school year left and I can only do so much. We have a lot of Yearbook deadlines to go at Boyer Valley. But especially this summer, I want to help make this the best newspaper possible.

So, if you live in the Charter Oak, Ute, Ricketts, Schleswig, or Soldier areas and have an idea for a story, your own write-up, or photos... please let me know.

If you would like to visit my web log at “http://tedscolumn.blogspot.com” you can click on the link on the top-right of the page:

Where it says “Click here to send me a news tip for the COU NEWSpaper or Schleswig LEADER.”

Of course, right now you can still contact Sandy at the Ute office: 712-885-2247

Or, let Ann, Cathy, and Michelle, at the main office in Mapleton know: 712-885-2247

Fax 712-881-1330

mpress@longlines.com

You can also drop things off at the Hoffman Agency in Charter Oak, the NEWSpaper office in Ute, the LEADER office in Schleswig, or of course the PRESS office in Mapleton.

I’d love your feed back on this column. If you ever want to write a letter to the editor about it, just send it to mpress@longlines.com or leave it at one of the locations above. If you want to comment about anything on my web log, all you have to do is click on the “Comments” link that’s underneath each post

Also on that web site, just under the drop-down jump menu is a guest book.

If you visit online, please, say hello, leave a comment, and (only if you want to) your e-mail address.

You can search through two years of my columns online. One way is to click on the month & year links on the right side under the heading “Archives.” But there’s another easy way to search by topic. It’s the handy navigation bar on the top of the page.

If you’re interested in starting your own online journal, that navigation bar has a way for you to sign up. It’s free, and there are templates that they walk you through so it’s easy too. Think of it as your way of getting that “15 minutes of fame” Andy Warhol promised us all back in the 60’s.

If you’re interested in seeing any of my artwork and photography, reading about how I came to be a cheerleading coach, or keep up with what the Youth Fellowship (LYF) is doing at St. John Lutheran in Charter Oak, you can “jump” to other blogs that I have by using a simple drop-down menu on the right side of the page:

I hope you enjoy surfing the web and reading this column.

I know that Missouri Valley Times-News, Inc. and the staff in Mapleton want the Charter Oak- Ute and Schleswig newspapers to be the best that they can be. I’m looking forward to doing my part this summer, but remember the success of these papers depends on all of us. Please send us your news.

Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Thank You Veterans

Thank You Veterans

Here's a great way we can give back (in a small way).
I think another great way is to give blood.
One of the best ways would be to vote for vets.

The BEST thing to do is to pray for our troops.

Of course the VERY BEST thing to do is to bring our troops home and stop creating veterans in the first place.

My Art

Click Here to see my gallery @ YahooPhotos
Drawings, Paintings, Prints, Graphic Designs, Cartoons, Photograpy, Experimental Digital images...
Plus Cheerleading and Church History.
Hope you like it.

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/teds_column/my_photos




Hey, if you happen to like this blog, please forward the URL to someone else who you think might like it. Especially if you DON'T live in the U.S. I have this great new hit-counter on the bottom right that registers where in the world visitors are from. Let's see how far you can send this blog! Send the URL and ask your friends all over Earth to visit.

And how come nobody signs the guestbook anymore?