Just Thought You Might Like To See… August 31, 2010

…what my little Kodak digital and I have been looking at the last few days. Click on the images for enlargement.

This is Oplopanax horridus, better known as Devil’s Club. It is also a beneficial plant with some of ginseng’s helpful properties.

Sometimes, the prettiest places are the closest to home. My front yard, complete with Devi’s Club.

Can you tell I think Devil’s Club is photogenic?

One more…

Subscriptions August 29, 2010

If you faithful readers (I know you’re out there…) would like to receive email notices whenever there is a new post on the Sourdough, just look at the right-hand sidebar. If you scroll down just a bit, you will see a button marked “CLICK TO SUBSCRIBE.” Clicking there means you will be notified whenever I open my mout… er, whenever I type something new.

I would love to see the numbers grow. Give it some thought, then go ahead and click.

(You know you WANT TO.)

I’m Torn August 28, 2010

I’m torn.

I’m no economist or expert, obviously. But there really are a lot of things that must be done in order to restore our economy, but I’m only bringing up one here. Many wiser heads than mine have been working on this for a long time.

The problem is, that as much as I would like to see restoration implemented immediately, I keep having the feeling that I don’t want anything positive to come out of the mess this current resident has gotten us into. It’s no secret he is determined to destroy the economy in his bid to bring about his “fundamental changes” to this country.

Does he crave praise and adulation enough to suggest something like massive tax cuts? (Look for this to happen just before the elections.) There are enough dupes in this country who might support him in this. I dunno…he does have his supporters. But a lot of the people who voted for him are disappointed that he hasn’t gone far enough to the left. Would there be an outcry from these disappointed ones if he should propose such a move? The politically astute would know it would only be smoke and mirrors for the sake of the election, but his peeps might just be outraged enough to demand it not even be put on the table.

As much as I would love to see the economy turn around — and it’s still not too late — I’m not sure I want it to be as a result of the policies of the current resident. I keep praying that the country can hang in there until there are enough conservatives in offices throughout the states to make such a change, make it work, and make it stick. But there are also a bunch of diehard lefties who want absolutely nothing to do with anything that smacks of cuts in taxation.

I keep having this little fear at the back of my mind that he will use this as the ultimate weapon for gaining votes and support from the mushy middle in November, and that the proposals would be not just smoke and mirrors but as fleeting as sprites. But I just wouldn’t put it past the little sneak.

If we are going to turn things around, I’m just selfish enough to want it to be done while the adults are around to make it work properly. I don’t want some snivelling little glory-hound to try to claim the praise for anything good after he’s deliberately destroyed this country. I know. It’s just me.

Like I said, I’m torn.

Cowboy Up, Boys August 26, 2010

I’m really curious about the GOP big boys. It has occurred to me that I don’t see a single one of them out there duking it out with the bad guys. They are all sittin’ around their swimming pools, sippin’ their summer drinks, and just dozin’ in the sun.

There’s only one person who’s out mixing it up with the lefties — A person who isn’t even running for anything that I can see. Yet this one person is raising more welts and causing more bruises on the baddies on the left than any five of the GOP beltway faithful.

It says a lot about a bunch of supposed “men,” when they will sit back and watch a girl do all the fighting, and not even offer to hold her parka. I guess she’s the only one out there on the Right with the knobs to take the fight to the enemy.

If I was Mitt or Tim, or any of those guys, I’d be downright embarrassed that I hadn’t even taken a swing at the dems, let alone landed a punch. But Miz Sarah is out there like a buzzsaw, and anybody who thought twitter is for sissies hasn’t yet seen what Sarah can do with it. Whackitty, bappity…

Cowboy, up, boys. Are you going to just sit there and let the little lady sheriff do all the work?

Three Little Words August 24, 2010

In a truly free society (the image of the early colonial period comes to mind), individuals were responsible for their own behavior and that of those for whom they cared. They didn’t expect others to do their work, raise their children, or provide food for them, and were secure in the knowledge that they would not be expected to provide these services for anyone else, unless they were given as charitable acts.

People were held responsible for their own debts, for their behavior, for the behavior of their children, and the whereabouts of their livestock and poultry. They were also responsible for the defense of these things. They were expected to keep and bear arms, so neighbors wouldn’t have to shoulder the extra burden. Widows, orphans, and those with physical limitations were voluntarily taken in and protected.

This was the norm in America for almost two hundred years. The government was small, the people were really free, and nobody expected anybody else to take on the requirements of citizenship in their stead.

Under oppressive rule, however, these understandings have been turned on their heads. What had been an independent existence free from intrusion by organizations or entities began to shift to a model in which independent landowners and free citizens were obligated and coerced into the care of others, if only financially; forcing them to take responsibility for the care and protection of lazy, ignorant, feckless, or careless neighbors. Over time, this care was surreptitiously extended to cover the cradle-to-grave care for people they had never seen and didn’t even know existed.

The government had taken on the role of “mother” to anyone who arrived on its doorstep with a grievance or a sob-story, usurping in a very negative way that which had previously been freely given — the responsibility of the citizen and landowner. Even a private citizen with any resources at all could be forced to make a financial contribution to the caretaking fund for the sake of the aforementioned lazy, ignorant, feckless and careless.

Whose responsibility was it to make sure this DIDN’T happen, and what were they doing that invited it in spite of the lessons of experience, past laws, and family traditions? Whose watch was so lax it allowed officials to take personal slices of the public pie, or to look the other way, to offer quid pro quo to certain influential leaders?

America has always willingly shouldered the responsibility for the protection of weaker nations, a projection of the desires of good citizens to willingly assist the less fortunate or the helpless. The personal characteristics of charity and responsibility are still strongly present in America’s people.

But we are saddled these days with a government that has taken to itself those (formerly private) good qualities and replaced them with their own brand of smothering vigilance and grasping greed for the goods and treasure of businesses and private owners to the point where private commerce and individual freedom are finally burdened beyond the capacity to give.

We, as Americans, will never turn our backs on our personal responsibilities, no matter how the grasping confidence artists in government have tried to confiscate and usurp what we know instinctively as our God-given rights to care for our own loved ones and property, and to protect them with our lives and fortunes. We have accepted the challenge of restoring our society to one that allows us to do what we have always done: Take responsibility for personal actions and work to the best of our ability to provide for those we love.

Who would ever think that responsibility could be a joyful condition? But, here we are, ready to spend lives and treasures to restore our rightful responsibilities to their God-given place in our lives. We are voting. We are participating in the real activity of government. The people in Washington may believe THEY are the government, but they have forgotten three little words:

WE, THE PEOPLE…

The Gift August 22, 2010

When you think of all the problems that surround the sexuality of humans, it makes you wonder why we even have such a thing. Wouldn’t it just be easier to divide like a single-celled creature, or be able to grow a new person from a severed digit or something? The “fun” part of our sexuality is a nice thing the Father added to make us want to “go forth, multiply, and replenish the earth,” so can we blame Him for wanting to populate the world with unique souls whose only function in life would be to love Him for His own sake, and live in such a way that they would be with Him forever after a few tests on earth? (But, have we humans ever liked tests?) We, being human, have managed all down through history to entagle ourselves in one problem after another that stems from our misunderstanding and misuse of the true meaning of this gift.

One barrier against licentiousness after another has been demolished, until we have reached a point that only the most depraved acts are left to be exploited. For example, gossip has it that “The Good Wife” is going to be featuring a “simulated” event of sex of the oral kind on its next show. I don’t even want to imagine what the next “breakthrough” event might involve, or where or when it will occur. One look at a “pride” parade will tell you that orgasms are the most important things in some peoples’ lives, far above honorable behavior and self-respect.

Sex is with us, and has been, obviously, from the beginning, for better or worse. It doesn’t take us long to see that every culture on the earth has its sex-related rules and taboos, and people who don’t abide by those rules are driven out or punished…except, apparently, in America. In America, we say “virtually anything goes,” and back it up by demanding sex education in the lowest grades, saturation levels on all forms of entertainment or information, or that two men or two women be allowed to “marry.” (My question here: Why only two?) Aside from the fact that such a thing simply isn’t possible, it defeats the main purpose of sex, which is fruitfulness, by being a barren sham.

Sex is also not a weapon, strictly speaking, but it’s no secret that the leftists have for many years adhered to the idea that giving the rabble all the sex they want keeps them anesthetized to the fact that their freedoms are being filched, that their morals and sensibilities are being treated like medical conditions to be cured, medicated, or excised.

Sexualizing everything, then desensitizing a culture to igonore sexual depravity and excess, is the kind of weapon Satan would use, since he knows that some people will do anything, even to risking death, for one more orgasm. It stands to reason that such addiction can be a useful tool for the undermining of faith in God, if one waits patiently enough.

Have we gone too far? Is there a way to turn it back, at least to something a little less outrageous, blatant, over-the-top, or disgusting? Possibly, if there were enough people willing to commit to a course of restoring sex to its rightful place in society, to starve outlets and purveyors of licentiousness out of business, but the chances are slim, and the options are few. Drying up sources for pornography might work, but nowadays, with sex the hottest-selling item on the internet, the chances for doing this are not good, either.

it looks like we will have two choices: We will either fall into Satan’s lap like ripe plums, or we will wake up, come to our senses, and do what needs to be done to restore the dignity of American society and the sacred nature of marriage and sex.

Salt In The Wound August 21, 2010

Jumping The Shark August 19, 2010

With Obama, we have an abundance of riches: the multiple vacations, the legal harassment of the state of Arizona on behalf of illegals, the clownish response to the Gulf oil blowout. But when historians come to select the moment when Obama went over the edge of the world, I think they’ll find the great Iftar mosque speech of August 13, 2010 hard to beat.

American Thinker

I wasn’t even going to comment on this great article, but as I contemplated the current situation with regard to the Ground Zero mosque and the uproar it has presented us, it occurred to me that the PINO has made his choice, as evidenced by the speech at the iftar dinner. I would not be surprised to discover that he has, at some point, agreed with whatever imam, and has sold America to Islam. I don’t have any idea what his compensation might be, but I am beginning to get the feeling that he has already given us up. The mosqe would have been for him his monument. America would be another conquest, but it would contain a soaring symbol which would always be his.

I know…I’m eating too many mushrooms or something. But at this point, I would not put it past him.

What’s In YOUR Pantry? August 17, 2010

Living in Alaska is always a challenge. Power outages happen frequently, and can last anywhere from a few seconds to hours. Thank goodness, I’ve never had to put up with one that lasted more than six or eight hours. But whenever something like that happens, we are always tested as to our ability to cope.

Psychological preparation is the first thing to consider. Some people, when their lights go off and their televisions go blank, go from relaxed to total panic state in less than five seconds. So the whole idea of dealing with the outage is to stay calm. This is why it’s a good plan to have a flashlight next to your favorite chair, and one beside your bed or in a windowless bathroom.

There aren’t many places much DARKER than Alaska in the winter when the lights go out. When we lived in Valdez, we spent a lot of time in the dark. The power supply was quirky, so we learned quickly to be prepared. We had candles, matches, lighters, and lanterns in convenient places throughout the house. We learned to carry our lights high above out heads so the bright flames didn’t blind us to what might be in the shadows. (Nothing like carrying a candle down a narrow hallway only to trip on the family dog, who’s sitting there in the dark, and you’re blinded by the candle flame.) We learned to place them high, as well, when we set them down. This gave a more even light to the whole room, and kept little fingers from exploring HOT surfaces.

One thing we were always thankful for was our gas range. In Valdez, it was propane. But it was our great equalizer. With it, we could cook, boil water, and heat the house, so even if the lights went out in the winter (which they most often did), we would not be freezing in the dark. After a couple of winters of relying on the propane range, we decided to get proactive, and put in a state-of-the-art woodstove. They say a woodstove warms twice: once when you split the wood, and once when you burn it. It was a lot of work to make enough wood to feed that little honey, but believe me, it was worth every drop of sweat, every bug bite, and every cussword. We used it for the main heat in the house, and cut our heating oil consumption in half. The furnace was the backup heat, and we knew the stove had gone out when the furnace came on. I loved that little stove, even though it was like a baby: voraciously hungry, and aways needing to be cleaned on one end or the other.

Here in Wasilla, we have natural gas, but the principles remain the same. My range is gas, not electric, so I can heat the whole house (it’s very small) with my oven. Double duty at baking bread, roasting a roast or a casserole just makes it that much handier. Here, too, I have flashlights, candles, lamps, and lighting materials scattered throughout the house, and don’t feel too frightened of a power outage, even in the cold part of the winter. It might not be an Elysian spa, but we won’t freeze.

Taking the time to make a few preparations for disruptions in any kind of service makes sense in Alaska, or anywhere else, for that matter. People who lived here in the “olden” days remember what it was like not to have a reserve of essential things, and most of us are fairly well prepared for power outages and emergency evacuations, if necessary, as well.

They should make sense where you live, too. It’s always nice to know that you can keep body and soul together for as long as it takes to restore service. I keep water stored, also, since our little community well is, obviously, fed with an electric pump. When the power goes off, the water goes away. This is not a total loss in the winter, when snow can be melted on the gas range, but it’s good to have a little hidden away to be doled out, perhaps, for a soothing cup of tea, or to wash up and brush my teeth.

Having a little pantry stash is also a handy idea. My house has a lovely pantry in the laundry room, with deep shelves and lots of space, so filling it with necessities and staples has been an enjoyable project. I even made use of an extra closet for further storage of bulky stuff like toilet paper and paper towels. With these little stashes in play, things take on a decidedly more optimistic hue.

Power outages are expected here. They go with the territory. Being “housebound” for days on end in the event of heavy snowfall, or just plain lack of transportation can be a problem, too. So, stashing the necessities is simply a wise practice.

Keep your pantry full, keep your woodbox full, keep your candles handy, and make sure to put butane lighters on your shopping list every once in a while. Happy stashing!

Let’s Hear It From The Gipper August 17, 2010

Going viral, this one is…