Toy time

Above is my editorial cartoon for the Dec. 6 Mapleton PRESS. I love robots.

Below is another version of the secret project for my school superintendent.

School work

Above is the new masthead I designed for our school website. Below is something I threw together for some kind of secret Christmas project our superintendent had.

Merry Christmas

It was just too sweet of a moment not to share it with you, readers.

This time of year is for kids

Thursday, November 29 2007- Mapleton PRESS

The holiday season offers many opportunities to learn from kids, or hopefully to have them learn from you.

Case in point, I was sitting across from my 8 year old niece at a church dinner when she asked me a culinary question.

“Have you ever had Crème Brulée?”

“Mmmm, Crème Brulée,” I said, practically licking my lips. “Mmm, I like Crème Brulée, your Aunt Bethany LOVES Crème Brulée, you know, I bet that your Mom would like it too. It is SO good...” a look of abject horror registered on her face. How could any kid not like sugar custard topped with caramelized brown sugar?
“
YOU like fish eggs?!” she asked incredulously.

Obviously she got her French confused with her Russian.

“I think you mean Caviar, Caviar is fish eggs,” I explained. “It’s really salty, it’s really not as bad as you think, but it’s not my favorite. What you should really try is escargot. We had that once at a French restaurant in California. I love garlic, but I wasn’t crazy about the escargot itself. But You might love it, it’s very fancy,” after all, she is our princess.

She must have known better than to take another bite of turkey and mashed potatoes before she asked, “What’s es-car-go?”

“Snails,” I replied as matter-of-factly as I could. This exchange led to her father, my brother-in-law and I to begin discussing the calamari (squid) experiences we each had while living on the coast. I believe it was about that point when my daughter and niece both excused themselves from the table. They looked like they were heading for the bathroom, but who knows.

Then there was the concert the missionaries put on at our church one night. I guess it was pretty motivational for a lot of people. I know that they’re absolutely sincere and committed to the Lord, but I guess my musical tastes tend to be a little more worldly. But before our five year old became so disruptive that we had to leave, the concert provided a classic theological moment with our eight year old.

The husband of the duo stood up and walked away from his keyboard for a few moments of ministerial soliloquy before beginning a solo. Our daughter, Grace seemed absolutely mesmerized, no small feat with her younger sisters behaving as they were. It must have been because the man’s solo featured a piano accompaniment, but he was standing with his hands caressing a microphone, nowhere near his keyboard.

Halfway through the song, Grace leaned over to me and whispered, “Is God or Jesus playing the piano?”

See somewhere between enraptured Pentecostals and irreverent Agnostics lay we sensibly stoic Lutherans, so I pointed out the iPod held in the hand of the young man operating the mixing board in the middle of the pews. “Oh!” Grace whispered, nodding her head in recognition. She’s pretty tech-savvy so she knew what going on.

Fortunately, she still believes in God and Jesus although she announced on our drive to the family Thanksgiving that she “knows that Santa Claus is a fake.” She’d really into history and science so if we’d been alone, I might have tried talking about the real Saint Nicholas and generosity and faith all that grown-uppy stuff, but she dropped this bomb in front of her two and five year old sisters who were aghast.

Like any good parents we responded with an interrogation, “Who told you THAT?”
“A boy in my class,” for his protection, I will withhold his name at this time thereby preserving his anonymity.

“Well, you know what?” I went on, “I bet he’s just mad at Santa because he was naughty last year and got some coal in is stocking or something. Kids always say there’s no Santa, when really, they’re mad at Santa because they were naughty,” I reasoned.

After all, it has been my experience that there aren’t really any atheists. Probe someone who’s an atheist and you’ll usually find at most an agnostic who wants to be an atheist because they’re so angry at God. You can’t disbelieve someone and hate them at the same time. She seemed to buy it. Hopefully, in another year or two we can have “the talk” in private.

Ellen, our five year old is very concerned about Santa. Evidently, she’s worried that he’s getting very old and is much too over weight.

“Daddy?” she asked me one night after dance practice.

“Yes sweety?”

“I hope Santa Claus doesn’t die. What will happen to all of the children if he dies?”

“Um, er, uh…well, uh Santa is really good friends with Jesus, I uh” I was inches from going into History and Religion teacher mode and telling her about how Saint Nicholas punched out a Gnostic heretic at the Council of Nicea and how the legend started and how it has been adapted to different cultures all over the world, but she didn’t let me get a word in edgewise-

“Yeah, so God and Jesus won’t let Santa die because he wants all of the little children to have new toys for Christmas, like I want an MP3 player and a new Karaoke machine and a…” So obviously I have some lessons to go on selfishness, materialism, and the tragic discrepancies between the United States and most of the underdeveloped world. I let it go.

This was the same night that she told me that Elvis loved Christmas because he made all these Christmas movies that she’s seen in school and that “it’s too bad Elvis is dead because that means that she can’t marry him and that that’s why Aunt Lori had to Marry Uncle Mark, because Aunt Lori loves Elvis SO much”

Student & Teacher Collaboration

Drawing by Sophomore Christine Harriott, PhotoShop enhancements by Coach Mallory

Oink

Cartoon for the Thursday, November 22, 2007 Mapleton PRESS

A 24 hour moratorium on consumer spending - participate by not participating

This November 23rd, environmentalists, social activists and concerned citizens in as many as 65 countries will hit the streets for a 24-hour consumer fast in celebration of the 15th annual Buy Nothing Day, a global cultural phenomenon that originated in Vancouver, Canada. Read more.

When

North America: 23rd November, 2007
Find out more

Scott McClellan = John Dean?

Scott McClellan's admission that he unintentionally made false statements denying the involvement of Karl Rove and Scooter Libby in the Bush-Cheney administration's plot to discredit former Ambassador Joe Wilson, along with his revelation that Vice President Cheney and President Bush were among those who provided him with the misinformation, sets the former White House press secretary as John Dean to George Bush's Richard Nixon.

It was Dean willingness to reveal the details of what described as "a cancer" on the Nixon presidency that served as a critical turning point in the struggle by a previous Congress to hold the 37th president to account.

Now, McClellan has offered what any honest observer must recognize as the stuff of a similarly significant breakthrough.

The only question is whether the current Congress is up to the task of holding the 43rd president to account.

Link

Have a blast this Thanksgiving

Category:		Meat & Seafood
Style:		American

Ingredients:
4 Eggs
4 c Bread crumbs
1/2 Envelope Lipton onion soup
1 c Uncooked popcorn

Directions:
Beat eggs and other ingredients. Stuff turkey and bake at 375 degrees for 3 hours. When 3 hours are up get the hell out of the kitchen because that stuffing is gonna blow that turkeys ass right out of that oven.

Be thankful you live in the present, not the past

If you just can’t think of anything to be thankful for this thanksgiving, be thankful that you live in the Midwest in 2007 rather than in New England in the 1620s.

The Governor of Plymouth (William Bradford) invited Grand Sachem (what the heck is a Sachem, anyway? That’s why we use easier labels like “Chief”) Massasoit and the Wampanoag people to join them in a feast which included fresh eel and corn. Mmmmm, eel.

The Pilgrim settlers fed and entertained the Native Americans for three days, at which point some of the Native Americans went into the forest, killed 5 deer, and gave them to the Bradford as a gift. I don’t have anything against venison, but it seems to me like the Wampanoag family just didn’t know when to go home. That or the Pilgrims were way too polite and couldn’t figure out a sensitive way to let them know that the party was over and they needed to get to bed so they could get up in time for the big sales at the Plymouth Mall Friday morning.

Something I’ve often wondered as a student of history is whether “Wampanoag” is a Wampanoag word or an English one. I guess if there can be tribes with names like Lakota, Ioway, Ute, and Pawnee, there can be one called Wampanoag.

Young parents who give their babies “Black” names like Tanisha, Taquisha and Laquisha confound white people. What if people went back and used Wampanoag names like Squanto and Massasoit? This was a difficult paragraph to read, wasn’t it? Just imagine being poor William Bradford and having to pronounce all the non-English words. People form Iowa have a hard time pronouncing Spanish words like Cholla (Choya), Ocotillo (Oc-a-tiyo) and Saguaro (Sa-wor-o).

The last think I want to do is to be insensitive to Native Americans. Maybe Massasoit should have had a better policy about illegal immigration. His oldest son Wamsutta mysteriously turned up dead after meeting with the leaders of the Plymouth colonists. That made his second son Metacomet angry enough to declare war on the Pilgrims.

If you’re thankful that a woman may become the next President of the United States, thank the Wamanoag for setting the example of encouraging women leaders. Massasoit was Grand Sachem, but Weetamoo was a female Sachem. She drowned in a river running to escape from the Pilgrims. Then there was Awashonks, another woman Sachem who led braves into battle along side Metacomet.

Whew! Those are hard names. Probably why the Pilgrims decided to just call Metacomet “Prince Phillip.”

Poor Bill Bradford. His first wife, Dorothy May Bradford fell overboard from the Mayflower in December 1620, and drowned in Provincetown Harbor. He must have threw himself into his political career, because he was elected governor thirty times. The first Governor, John Carver died in the winter of 1620, along with half the Mayflower’s passengers. I’m not sure if Bradford constituted the first machine politician, centuries before Chicago’s Richard Daley or if it was more like the Mayor’s job in Charter Oak, where nobody else wants to do it so poor Randy just gets stuck with it.

Of course Captain Myles Standish had that whole “Serino Debergiac” thing going on with John Alden and Priscilla Mullins. Mrs. Standish got sick and died in 1621 and Myles hoped to remarry the demure Miss Mullins, but being a shy sailor and not one of the “in-crowd” among the Separatist Pilgrims, he asked his friend John to ask Pris if she thought he was cute and if she’d sit by him at recess. Unfortunately for Capt. Myles, she started crushing on Johnny instead. That’s how those things always seem to work out.

FYI Standish was just “a captain,” “THE Captain” of the HMS Mayflower was Captain Christopher Jones. Why nobody ever remembers him, I don’t know. Presumably he was just under contract to the Plymouth Company and not one of the Pilgrims. Of the 100 passengers on the three-month passage, the “strangers” outnumbered the Pilgrims.

Around 1741, the townspeople of Plymouth wanted to build a wharf. They decided to commemorate their town fathers with big boulder about 650 feet from where the initial settlement was built. Thus was “Plymouth Rock,” our nations first tourist trap, born. It must have been a big rock. In 1774 they decided to haul it up to town hall. Unfortunately, it broke in half and they just left part of it down by the wharf. History is never easy.

Obama at Dunlap livestock auction Saturday

Candidate's appearance in BVS commons changed

November 18, 2007

The town hall meeting for Obama has been changed to the livestock auction. 

Senator Barack Obama was to be at BV commons Saturday, November 24^th at 2:00pm.

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_____________________________
Pirate Prayers at:
http://malloryprayer.blogspot.com

Ted's cartoons, artworks, photos, and commentary at:
http://tmal.multiply.com

"The gospel is meant to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable." ~Garrison Keillor

Pregnant Turkey

No, this isn't one of my family's stories, this is just a funny forward that I received. But I'd LOVE to hear someone who reads it try this prank on their family this Thanksgiving, this is CLASSIC!

One year at Thanksgiving, my mom went to my sister's house for the traditional feast. Knowing how gullible my sister is, my mom decided to play a trick.

She told my sister that she needed something from the store. When my sister left , my mom took the turkey out of the oven, removed the stuffing, stuffed a Cornish hen, and inserted it into the turkey, and re-stuffed the turkey. She then placed the bird (s) back in the oven.

When it was time for dinner, my sister pulled the turkey out of the oven and proceeded to remove the stuffing. When her serving spoon hit something, she reached in and pulled out the little bird.

With a look of total shock on her face, my mother exclaimed, 'Patricia, you've cooked a pregnant bird!' At the reality of this horrifying news, my sister started to cry.
I
t took the family two hours to convince her that turkeys lay eggs!

Yup................SHE'S BLONDE

Flip and Flop

Political cartoon for the Nov. 22, 2007 Mapleton PRESS

Help Crawford County Memorial Hospital win an MRI

Siemens is giving an MRI scanner away free. This $1.5 million scanner could be won by CCMH if they receive enough votes for the video they made. Go to www.winanmri.com to vote. You may vote once a day until Dec. 31st.

D.C. needs more Bull (Moose, that is)

I’ve been thinking a lot of my favorite Republican lately. Mom? No, not Mom. Clarence Hoffman? No, as much as I like and respect him and appreciate his years of service to our communities and love his family, no, not him. Barry Goldwater? No, even though I’m an Arizona native and many of his positions are more aligned with today’s Democrats then contemporary Republicans. Ron Paul or Chuck Hagel? Even though I admire their political courage to oppose the Iraq war, putting them out of step with their party.

No, my favorite Republican is the President with the coolest first name, Teddy Roosevelt.
Some of my Republican friends may resent my admiration of this GOP icon. I have a Republican Aunt who will probably tease me that I’m becoming Republican. And I’m sure I have plenty of Democratic friends who will accuse me of selling out by singing the praises of such a bully cowboy.

I know that he was only human and certainly not pure as the driven snow. Long before there was a CIA, Teddy is suspected of sending Marines (in civilian clothes) down to encourage a revolution in Panama when Columbia wouldn’t let us dig a canal there. Sure, he led a volunteer regiment in the Spanish-American War and probably would’ve gotten us into WWI much sooner than Woodrow Wilson did, when it got down to it, he was a much more shrewd and wary leader when it came to foreign policy then some Republican Presidents we’re having to endure.

Teddy Roosevelt knew it was better to “speak softly and carry a big stick,” than to talk loud and throw stones. Of course, he’s not the only Republican to have such a wise, mature attitude.

In a recent Omaha World Herald I was proud to read, “Rather than acting like a nation riddled with the insecurities of a schoolyard bully, we ought to carry ourselves with the confidence that should come from the dignity of our heritage, from the experience of our history and from the strength of our humanity — not from the power of our military," Nebraska Republican Senator Chuck Hagel said in a speech hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies last week. "Loose talk of World War III, intimidation, threats, bellicose speeches only heighten the dangers we face in the world," said Hagel, clearly being critical of President Bush’s recent comment and policies.

One of the saddest things about the current wars we are fighting is how we’ve been letting out veterans fall full the cracks when they come home. The state of affairs was seen clearly this year at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Roosevelt told veterans on July 4, 1903 "A man who is good enough to shed his blood for his country is good enough to be given a square deal afterwards. More than that no man is entitled, and less than that no man shall have."

Those who keep denying both global warming and our need to become independent of foreign oil let alone from fossil fuels altogether need to consider Teddy. I don’t know what he would’ve thought of Al Gore, but I do know that no president did more to protect our natural recourses. Republicans could start whoopin’ Democrat butt if they’d adopt the motto that nothing’s so conservative as conservation.

In 1907 he told a group of school children that they would blame his generation “not for what we have used, but for what we have wasted...So any nation which in its youth lives only for the day, reaps without sowing, and consumes without husbanding, must expect the penalty of the prodigal whose labor could with difficulty find him the bare means of life."
A hundred years ago he knew that the environment was the main issue we had to grapple with, "The conservation of natural resources is the fundamental problem. Unless we solve that problem it will avail us little to solve all others."

Teddy Roosevelt was a reformer. While he was on the U.S. Civil Service Commission and as police commissioner of New York he fought corruption. Whereas the Bush Administration politicized the Justice Department, Roosevelt was dedicated to cleaning up government.
He told Congress in 1903, "No man is above the law and no man is below it; nor do we ask any man's permission when we require him to obey it...Obedience to the law is demanded as a right; not asked as a favor."

In 1905 he talked about the kind of people who we should really be worried about. "This country has nothing to fear from the crooked man who fails. We put him in jail. It is the crooked man who succeeds who is a threat to this country."

Since 1980, Reagan-Republicans have been systematically dismantling the reforms made by Teddy’s younger cousin Franklin which promoted and protected the middle class with safety nets, regulations on big corporations and a tax structure which asked people who could afford to bare a greater portion of the burden to do so. Bush handed huge tax cuts to the wealthiest 2% and never asked anyone but military and National Guard families to sacrifice anything even after 9/11 and wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

More than anything, Teddy Roosevelt wanted everyone to have a fair shake and on an even playing field. He demanded that both government and business be square with everyone.

"Let the watchwords of all our people be the old familiar watchwords of honesty, decency, fair-dealing, and commonsense...” he told people at the 1903 New York State Fair, “We must treat each man on his worth and merits as a man. We must see that each is given a square deal, because he is entitled to no more and should receive no less… The welfare of each of us is dependent fundamentally upon the welfare of all of us."

I for one think that America is ready for a president like Teddy Roosevelt again. In fact, I think we need someone like him pretty badly.

Veteran's Day Tribute!

During the WW I years, Arthur S. Mole and John D. Thomas made some incredible human pictures by using thousands of sailors or soldiers in uniform to create images. This was taken at Camp Dodge in Iowa and involved 18,000 men!

Say a prayer for all of our service men and women and their families this Sunday at 11 AM. And please pray for peace. Remember, the armistice ending WWI was signed at 11 AM on 11/11/1919.

Word Game for Free Rice

A little vocab never hurt anybody!

Test yourself here

 For each word y0ou get right, they donate 10 grains of rice through the United Nations to help fight world hunger.

http://freerice.com/index.php 

This is also a great mind-challenge! Of course, if you want to help and learn more words thereby stretching your vocabulary- instead of flexing intellectual muscles you already have; open http://www.merriam-webster.com in a separate tab or window so you can cheat! Hey, you're still helping people.

_____________________________

Pirate Prayers at:
http://malloryprayer.blogspot.com

Ted's cartoons, artworks, photos, and commentary at:
http://tmal.multiply.com

"The gospel is meant to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable." ~Garrison Keillor

Rush hour traffic in Iowa

This is my commute. For my friends and relatives in Phoenix and LA, and scattered elsewhere around the country. I remember taking an hour to travel 4 or 5 miles on the Freeways on the way to work in the morning and on the way home in the afternoons... That was year round. Here in Iowa in only happens a few weeks out of the year, but it can sure be a drag having to crawl along at 5 or 10 MPH. Fortunately there's not much oncoming traffic, so you can pass on the downhills. In case you're wondering, that's a ice-scraper/snow brush for the windshield that's sitting on my dash in the top picture.

My favorite Republican President

"The President is merely the most important among a large number of public servants. He should be supported or opposed exactly to the degree which is warranted by his good conduct or bad conduct, his efficiency or inefficiency in rendering loyal, able, and disinterested service to the Nation as a whole. Therefore it is absolutely necessary that there should be full liberty to tell the truth about his acts, and this means that it is exactly necessary to blame him when he does wrong as to praise him when he does right. Any other attitude in an American citizen is both base and servile. To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. Nothing but the truth should be spoken about him or any one else. But it is even more important to tell the truth, pleasant or unpleasant, about him than about any one else."

~Theodore Roosevelt
in the Kansas City Star", 149 May 7, 1918

Encourage Reading

Ted's Column for the Mapleton PRESS- Thursday, November 8, 2007

"Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read." ~Groucho Marx

Nothing is quite so discouraging for teachers than hearing students complain about how much they dislike reading. Some kids claim that reading is boring. If that’s the problem, they just need to look a little harder to find something to read that interests them.
It’s more likely that it’s work. Kids call things “work” not just when they’re dull, but also when they’re difficult. Farm families know that some of the best things in life are the result of hard work.

I try to help students see that it is an upwardly moving spiral; the more you read the better you get at it, the better you get at it the easier it is, the easier it is the less work it is, the less work it is the more fun it is, the more fun it is the more you’ll want to do it, the more you do it, the smarter you’ll get… and so on.

Somehow over the years some kids have gotten the idea that it’s somehow “uncool” to be smart. Popular culture dictates that people who like to read or who have broad vocabularies are somehow either nerdy or untrustworthy. What’s “cool” is to be crude, thick-headed and “red-neck.” I have no problem with being proud of one’s working-class roots. Love Country music, trucks in the mud, beer, hunting and NASCAR. I like most of that stuff myself, but being willing to get your hands dirty and going out of your way to not be a snob does not mean you have to be dumb as a stump.

Knowledge, learning, reading and curiosity should never be things that only belong to people who are rich enough or good enough or sissy enough. And schools and teachers will never be able to make you any smarter than reading on your own will.

Back in the 1500’s Martin Luther encouraged families to teach their children and communities to start schools for everyone’s children so that everyone could learn to read. His main reason was so that people could read their Bibles for themselves and have personal relationships with God, rather than waiting to hear a little bit about God on Sundays.

Thomas Jefferson and many of the founding fathers advocated free universal public education because they wanted everyone, including poor children to be able to read so that they could be better informed and able to participate in our democracy. Jefferson felt so strongly about it, he proposed an amendment to the Constitution guaranteeing a right to education. His proposal got shot down, and he instead focused his energy on the University of Virginia.

During the turn of the last century Steel baron Andrew Carnegie poured his fortunes into 2,500 public and university libraries because he wanted to give other people the opportunity for learning and self-improvement that he had as a child in Scotland. That commitment to reading no doubt helped to spur many an entrepreneur and helped build the middle-class of the twentieth century.

Let’s face it, you’re sitting here with a newspaper in your hands, so obviously I am “preaching to the choir.” If you hated reading, you we wouldn’t be having this chat.
So what can we do to encourage other people to read- especially kids? There are all kinds of things. It starts with attitude.

Research suggests that the most critical aspect of reading is how a child feels about reading. Positive reinforcement is important. Kids need to know that adults they know care about reading.

How can you do that? Ask them what they’re reading, ask them to tell you about whatever they’re reading. Talk to them about whatever you’ve been reading and what you enjoyed about it.

Let them see you read. Give books and magazine subscriptions as gifts- you can write in side the front cover like you would in a card, this will make it an even more special gift. Why not give a subscription to the PRESS to your 18 to twenty-something relatives for Christmas whether they’re off in college or not?

Let them read what they want. If they’re not interested in Jayne Eyre, so what? Is it so bad if they’re reading Sports Illustrated, Cosmo Teen, Progressive Farmer, or Spiderman comic books? Hey they’re still reading. When you were young you drank McDonald’s orange drink and Tang, now as an adult you have no problem with grapefruit juice and double-decaf fat free soy milk mocha lattes. Maybe your kids will never read Leo Tolstoy, but eventually they’ll graduate to James Patterson and John Grisham. So long as they’re reading, that’s the important thing.
Have books in your house, have them in your child’s room. Read out loud, you’d be surprised that even older kids enjoy this. Don’t be embarrassed if you have a hard time reading out loud, that will only show them that they don’t have to be embarrassed.

If you do feel confident in your own reading, make it fun by spicing it up a bit with silly voices or dramatic expression. That will exercise their imaginations.
Take kids to a book store or library and let them pick out their own books. Make it a regular family outing.

Donate your old books to your local school or public library. Donate your time to that same school or library to help kids. You don’t have to read to a whole room full of kids or serve as some expert tutor- many schools have volunteer programs where all you have to do is listen to the students read, maybe gently coaching them along.

You can get lots of other ideas online at places like http://www.rif.org (RIF stands for Reading Is Fundamental).

Remind kids that reading gets easier and more fun, the more you do it. And the more you do it, the smarter you get and after all, knowledge is power. Above all, let them know that reading isn’t dumb, dorky, or lame. Reading opens opportunity.

Website Recommendation from Teddy

Hello,

Teddy thought you would laugh hysterically at this Flash animation, 'I Miss Monica': http://deanfriedman.cf.huffingtonpost.com/

You have to hear this song before you go see President Bill in Onawa today. You know you want him! He's more man than 'W' will ever be. He's also more Black than Barrack. What a First Lady he's gonna make!

Note: This message was not sent unsolicited. It was sent through a form located at http://deanfriedman.cf.huffingtonpost.com/. If you believe this message was received on error, please disregard it.

Nebraska Republican Senator Chuck Hagel on War

"Terrorism, extremism, biological weapons, chemical weapons, nuclear weapons — those are a threat to all mankind, not just Christians and not just Americans," he said.

"War is nothing noble or good; it's all about brutality and suffering, and that should frighten you and intimidate you into doing what's right, to prevent going to war."

~Sen. Chuck Hagel,
Wed. Nov. 7, 2007 Omaha World Herald

Islamic Religious Fundamentalist Extremists

Ouch- kind of convicting of the folks who read "you've heard it said 'an eye for an eye'..." but never finish reading the " but I tell you when someone strikes you, turn the other cheek..." go the extra mile, give 'em the shirt of your back, love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you parts (Matt 5:38-48)- let alone the bit about "blessed are the peace makers" earlier in in the chapter (Matthew 5:9). Wow. Controversial.

Did you know that Fish's publisher, "Harper's Weekly" is the same magazine that the father of American political cartooning, Thomas Nast drew for? Powerful expression, Whooa Nelly!

Click here to read Cartoonist and Editor Dayle Cagle's Blog about this cartoon

Impeach the Dark Lord, Darth Cheney!

“The Vice President is cherry picking intelligence and selectively using facts in a manner that does not portray the complete picture,” said Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH).

“The best option to prevent an unnecessary war with Iran is to impeach the Vice President, the lead cheerleader of the war. The Constitution gave Congress the power to impeach. Congress must use its power to restrain the Administration and impeach the Vice President before he prods the United States into another war.”

On April 24, 2007, Kucinich introduced H. Res. 333, the Articles of Impeachment against the Vice President. The first two charges focus on the Vice President’s successful effort to mislead the Congress and American public into a war against Iraq. The last charge focuses upon the Vice President’s determination to again mislead the Congress and American public into a war, this one against Iran.

“H. Res. 333 has been before the House of Representatives for half a year and has 21 cosponsors. At the same time, the Vice President has escalated his belligerence towards Iran. Thus, I believe it is now urgent to move the impeachment resolution,” Kucinich concluded.

The 21 cosponsors of H. Res. 333 are: Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Robert Brady (D-PA), Yvette Clarke (D-NY), Rep. William Lacy Clay (D-MO), Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN), Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN), Rep. Sam Farr (D-CA), Rep. Bob Filner (D-CA), Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX), Rep. Henry Johnson (D-GA), Rep. Carolyn Kilpatrick (D-MI), Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA), Rep. James Moran (D-VA), Rep. Donald Payne (D-NJ), Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-NY), Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), Rep. Diane Watson (D-CA), Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) and Rep. Albert Wynn (D-MD).

God-o-Meter - A scientific measure of God-talk in the elections

God-o-Meter - A scientific measure of God-talk in the elections

About God-o-Meter

The God-o-Meter (pronounced Gah-DOM-meter) scientifically measures factors such as rate of God-talk, effectiveness—saying God wants a capital gains tax cut doesn't guarantee a high rating—and other top-secret criteria. Click a candidate's head to get his or her latest God-o-Meter reading and blog post. And check back often. With so much happening on the campaign trail, God-o-Meter is constantly recalibrating!

Fear or Hope?

7Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son^[b] into the world that we might live through him. 10This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for^[c] our sins. 11Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

"13We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. 16And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. 17In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. 18There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

19We love because he first loved us. 20If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. 21And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother." ~ John 4:13-21

November Leaves

Bethany wanted something autumnal for her wallpaper. Well, the leaves really didn't turn until 3 weeks later than most years and now it's nearly winter- but I finally got some shots taken. I can't take credit for this beauty, only God can make a tree. Probably because it is so hard to get the bark on.

I took these at Fowler's Preserve, a park in the Loess Hills in Woodbury County, Iowa along highway 141. Click here to see an entire gallery of November leaves.

The hottest place to be

Mapleton PRESS, Thursday, November 1, 2007

Last Wednesday, conservative talk radio host Glenn Beck, told his listeners on his nationally syndicated show Monday that those suffering losses in the California wildfires "hate America."

"I think there is a handful of people who hate America," Beck said sarcastically, "Unfortunately for them, a lot of them are losing their homes in a forest fire today."

I wanted to pull my hair out. Cancel that, I wanted to punch Glenn Beck’s lights out. I understand that his intended target were the supposed “Media elite” (of which he himself is one) that right-wing propagandists like Beck are always afraid are going to steer our country more toward compassionate and less toward conservative.

For readers who don’t know, my wife and I taught for seven years at Los Angeles Lutheran Jr/Sr High School, a small school, in the Northern San Fernando Valley. We attended church in the Santa Clarita Valley, between the Buckweed and Stevensen Ranch/Magic Fires. Needless to say, I wrote and asked all of my friends what it was like. I’d like to share some of their stories with you.
Maureen Clemon is a graphic designer who’s safe from fires because she lives near the ocean in Long Beach. “Moe” is originally from the Soldier area.

“I'm okay, I hope all your other friends here in Cali are ok too. It is a little crazy here right now, as you can imagine. It is just starting to clear up today, but it is still hot and hazy from the fires. All the smoke has been in the air and its making people sick, my nose has been bleeding and it is really unhealthy to be outside. the sun is crazy it is neon orange and since there is so much smoke you can actually look straight at the sun without hurting your eyes. We are sad because our camping spot up in lake arrowhead and some of our favorite places to go have burned to the ground. Most of the high schools are cancelling football games and other sports because the air is so bad here. also we are still experiencing frequent and small earthquakes every couple of days. I'm just waiting for a tsunami to hit, seriously. Well, one did hit about two weeks ago-did you hear about that? it was a small tidal wave, it hit somewhere south of long beach I think. That is scary. I don't have to worry about wildfires since I live right by the beach, but i do have to worry about earthquakes and tidal waves. Ah such is life in California.”

I don’t miss earthquakes. We lost our apartment in the 1994 Northridge quake, so I know what it’s like to be an evacuee. I don’t know about Katrina a couple of years ago, but FEMA did fine by us 13 years ago.

Michael is a legal assistant who also helps with his uncle’s documentary film company. Michael’s also relatively safe by the sea in Santa Monica, but you can see that almost everyone’s family is touched by this in some way.

“My brother on the other hand lives in Castaic not far from Magic Mountain. He had to remove somethings from his house and take them to his father-in-laws, but the fire has moved and gotten closer to where his father-in-law lives so he has to do it again. Also my sister now lives in Valencia, I don't think that the fire will make it to where she is, but her Fiancé is a firefighter so I worry for him.”

We have friends our age with small kids who live near Lutheran High. Their kids already suffer from allergies. They couldn’t play outside at all. “We've stayed inside because there is so much stuff in the air,” they told me, “and kept the humidifier and air purifier on in the house.”

Christina, a cheerleading coach and cosmetologist lives near the school too, “It hit ‘close to home’ today when my co-worker went around reporting that Eternal Valley cemetery was on fire this morning. My grandpa is buried there, so when she blurted that out this morning, I got emotional. I had to remind myself that if it was true, it was ok because I know he's not really there, he's in Heaven. Well, turns out it was false, the fire was close behind it, but it was not on fire.” Christina described what it looks and feels like,
“The sky is dark, and the sun is very orange. We weren't allowed to practice outside today because the air is not good. All we can do is pray because although it seems like everything is working against the situation (number of fires, the winds), we know that with God ALL things are possible.”
This was more than a few rich stars in Malibu. Malibu, by the way is more than rich stars, there are a lot of ranchers and farmers who’s lifestyle might seem very familiar in the dry, hilly region.

Consider the fires by the numbers
There were 17 fires from Santa Barbara to the Mexican border. More than 300,000 people were evacuated, nearly 10,000 of them fled to San Diego’s Qualcom Stadium. More than 1,300 homes, businesses and buildings were lost. Costs in San Diego County alone are over $1 Billion, but the fires burned in at least 7 different counties which have been declared disaster areas.
About 6,000 firefighters battle flames in hot Santa Ana winds with gusts up to between 70 and 100 mph!
300,000 acres burned, that’s at least 400 square miles, an area bigger that New York City. At least three of the fires are now suspected to have been caused by arson.

And yet, miraculously, only one person is dead due to the fires.

This was not decadent, anti-Americans being punished by God. But it was Hell on Earth.

There are ways you can help. I’m sure that you can inquire at your local church or fire department, but in case you’re interested, here are a few charities who can certainly use your help:

"Struggling Californians who are having trouble getting the medicines they need may find expedited help through Partnership for Prescription Assistance's disaster relief program by calling the PPA's toll-free number, 1-888-4-PPA-NOW (1-888-477-2669), or user-friendly Web site, available at http://www.pparx.org.

Red Cross
http://american.redcross.org
1-800-797-8022

Salvation Army
www.salvationarmy-socal.org
1-800-SAL-ARMY

The Fire Family Foundation is a non-profit corporation established in Los Angeles for the purpose of supporting firefighters, their families, and departments. Tax deductible contributions may be sent to Fire Family Foundation, c/o Los Angeles Firemen's Credit Union, 815 Colorado Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90041. Contributors may also call 800-231-1626 ext. 2272 for more information, or visit www.firefamilyfoundation.org.

Fascist America, in 10 easy steps

From Hitler to Pinochet and beyond, history shows there are certain steps that any would-be dictator must take to destroy constitutional freedoms. And, argues Naomi Wolf, George Bush and his administration seem to be taking them all

Naomi Wolf, Tuesday April 24, 2007
Guardian

Last autumn, there was a military coup in Thailand. The leaders of the coup took a number of steps, rather systematically, as if they had a shopping list. In a sense, they did. Within a matter of days, democracy had been closed down: the coup leaders declared martial law, sent armed soldiers into residential areas, took over radio and TV stations, issued restrictions on the press, tightened some limits on travel, and took certain activists into custody.

They were not figuring these things out as they went along. If you look at history, you can see that there is essentially a blueprint for turning an open society into a dictatorship. That blueprint has been used again and again in more and less bloody, more and less terrifying ways. But it is always effective. It is very difficult and arduous to create and sustain a democracy - but history shows that closing one down is much simpler. You simply have to be willing to take the 10 steps.

As difficult as this is to contemplate, it is clear, if you are willing to look, that each of these 10 steps has already been initiated today in the United States by the Bush administration.

1. Invoke a terrifying internal and external enemy

2. Create a gulag

3. Develop a thug caste

4. Set up an internal surveillance system

5. Harass citizens' groups

6. Engage in arbitrary detention and release

7. Target key individuals

8. Control the press

9. Dissent equals treason

10. Suspend the rule of law

Read Naomi's entire article in the Guardian

Bill Richardson; Stop the Insanity

"Saber-rattling is not a good way to get the Iranians to cooperate and work with us for peace. But it is a tried and true method of laying the groundwork for another war -- a war that would be a disaster for the Middle East, for the United States and for the world. Saying that we're on a "path to diplomacy" while imposing these sanctions and increasing the war rhetoric only strengthens hard-line elements in the Iranian leadership and increases the risk of violence breaking out.

Further, a policy of "unilateral sanctions will actually diminish our diplomatic options. "Unilateral sanctions" are both ineffective and porous, and they will undermine the effort to get meaningful multilateral sanctions that the Iranians would possibly pay attention to.

Diplomacy continues to be the path not taken by the Bush administration.

Again and again, President Bush has shown a disdain for diplomacy and our own governmental institutions. The Democratic Congress needs to stand up to this president and prevent him from starting another needless war, which will further isolate us in the world and strengthen our enemies.

Bush's goal seems clear -- to keep ramping up the rhetoric and threats until he's managed to back us into another unwanted war. But what isn't clear to me is what Congress is going to do about it. Haven't we yet learned the lesson that if you give this president an inch on this aggression, he will take a mile?"

Read Bill Richardson's entire article on Huffington Post