Hay Season

 Neighbor Daddy John is married to Ashley and they have a couple of wonderful children...Little John and Little Miss. Little John is one of those youngins' that just make me shake my head in wonder. He knows more about farming...and him just going into the second grade...than do a lot of folks who think they know farming. Quick story...the other day, both boys were coming across the mountain when their stock trailer had a flat. Now, you have to know this mountain is a primary road in Virginia but also the last dirt primary road in Virginia! Meaning, there are very few places, if any!, to pull over so one just pulls to the side and hope the oncoming traffic (about six cars a day) can get by. While the boys were taking off the flat so it could be replaced, someone they know pulled up behind them. Daddy John walked back to chin wag, leaving Little John to stand around except Little John didn't stand around. He shimmed the tire onto the rim, put the lug nuts on, tightened them and said, "Well, that's done, let's go home." Daddy John was flabbergasted; he checked the lug nuts and found them to be tight so everyone climbed into their vehicles and proceeded home.
Now, I find that simply amazing! A six year old boy putting a tire on a rim, etc. Mothers, let me tell you something...this boy will be the man you want for a son-in-law but only one blessed girl is going to claim him! He's enough to make me wish Dave and I had a daughter, except she'd be too old to be more than Big Sister. ah well... . As to Little Miss, she calls me Sana as she's still a wee wee one and Sandra is a too big mouthful. She's a cutie pie and was recently given a child's snorkel set. I told her, "Oh, I love to snorkel so you and I should go to Sint Maarten and do some snorkeling together." She looked at me, wide eyed, and Mom Ashley exclaimed, "I'll go!" 

Daddy John cut my hay a couple of weeks ago; he's such a good man, one of those quiet ones who generally doesn't say much but when he does, it's worth hearing. He's steady too and has a lot of the same qualities I so admired in Dave. Anyway, we had a road meeting (meaning we passed each other in the road, pulled up, stopped and proceeded to have our meeting -smile-) and he said, "Looks like your hay needs to be cut. I'll be by later today" and he did. In this valley, most of the tractors and equipment are green and yellow; iow, John Deere. "Nothing Runs Like a Deere" and that's what Dave bought us as well.

 Maybe it was the next day (or day after) he and his Mother came to rake and bale my hay. Mz Em is much like her son...or vice versa...soft voice, quiet manner and, like Daddy John, blessed me greatly by assisting.  In the photo above, she's racking the hay into smaller rows so Daddy John can bale it.

 The round baler can be made (can't remember the correct terminology) to produce the size round bales one needs. Daddy John can make a 4x4 bale or a 5x5 bale and, maybe, smaller and larger bales. He works the controls so the bales he makes for me  can be safely handled by my smaller tractor. (Another blessing!) 

 The baler gathers up hay until the controls lets Daddy John know it's ready to be birthed. He stops the tractor and allows the baler mouth to open and, gently. push out the round bale. It's am amazing sight and I love watching!

 Daddy John baled 30 bales for me...such a blessing...it's enough hay to sell half and keep  the remainder for my own animals and, God willing, we might get a second cutting in September! This little meadow hay field is the reason this is a farm and not some "grandiose estate". This eight to ten acre hay meadow means my animals are fed excellent quality hay, put up on this farm with enough hay to sell.  Daddy John and I exchange money for hay; the Good Book says a "work man is worth his hire" and I believe and live by those words and believe Daddy John is blessing me far more than my money is buying. I cannot thank him enough!

Andy, a young man who helped me for a few weeks, moved all the hay from the meadow to the hay lot. There are those who might think the prettiest sight in all the world is a blue jewelry box but for me, a hay lot, full of sweet smelling, fresh cut hay ranks near the top of my list. Daddy John - God bless you and Mz Em...greatly...for blessing me!

Blessings ~ Daddy John ~ Mz Em ~ Andy ~ Ashley ~ Little John ~ Little Miss ~ HAY! ~

Sabbath Keeping

"Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the Lord; and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in Him; and He shall bring it to pass." 

~ Psalms 37:3-5 ~

"Relationships of trust depend upon our willingness to look not only to our own interests, but also the interest of others." ~ Peter Farquharson ~ 
"No soul is desolate as long as there is a human being for whom it can feel trust and reverence." ~ Mary Ann Evans ~
"Trust everybody, but cut the cards." ~ Finley Peter Dunne ~ 

"It is an equal failing to trust everybody,

and to trust nobody."

~ English Proverb ~

"You may be deceived if you trust too much, but you will live in torment if you don't trust enough." ~ Frank H. Crane ~ 

"Mistrust makes life difficult.

Trust makes it risky."

~ Mason Cooley ~

"Trust and honesty are an investment you put in people."
~ Rachel Joy Scott ~

"To be trusted is a greater compliment than to be loved." 

~ George MacDonald ~

"Without trust, words become the hollow sound of a wooden gong. With trust, words become life itself." ~ John Harold ~ 
"Hurt me with the truth but never comfort me with a lie." ~ unknown ~
"Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none." ~ William Shakespeare ~
"Learning to trust is one of life's most difficult tasks." ~ Isaac Watts ~ 

"All I have seen teaches me to 

trust the creator for all I have not seen." 

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~

"A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes." ~ Charles Spurgeon ~

"Trust is like virginity. 

You lose it once and you never get it back." 

~ unknown~

"Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God." 
~ Corrie ten Boom ~

"Do not let your hearts be troubled.

trust in God,

trust also in me."

~ John 14:1 ~

If you'd like a name added to the prayer list, please let me know. Names will be kept for one week and then we begin again. Around the world, people are praying.

Prayer Keeping ~ Maxine ~ Kurt ~ Timi and family ~ Quesenberry family ~ Sandra ~ Beth ~ Marie ~ Susan ~ revival ~ persecuted Christians ~

More Chatting and Nattering

~ milk weed with honey bees ~

Once again, it's past time for Patrice and her Chats on the Farmhouse Porch. It seems all I do is visit her on Tuesdays, do Sabbath Keeping on Sundays and, sometimes, do a commentary post on Mondays. Summer is the time for w.o.r.k. and w.o.r.k. is wearing me slam down! This makes number 103 and here are the questions and my answers.

1. Do you use any type of water filter? No need to use water filters. Our well is 650 feet deep and gives 75 gallons per minute. It's limestone delicious and sweet, sweet, sweet; I LOVE my water and we think we hit an artesian aquifer.

2. Do you have any tips for staying hydrated in warmer weather? Drink my body weight in ounces of water each day. It's almost enough to float my teeth but that's, probably, too much information.

3. Is your hair naturally curly or straight? Curly and wavy...it is what it is.

4. Are you on top of all the chores/work you do, or are you always running behind? I'm never caught up but try to take just the next step and, somehow, manage to not fall too far behind. When I try to do too many things at once, I accomplish nothing except anxiety and worry. And I always take Sunday's off...I observe the Sabbath. If God observed His Sabbath after creating everything, why should I think I can do different and be successful? I also keep a running to-do list with The Most Important Things (2 to 3 daily) along with smaller chores; each day I try and mark off everything on that list. Rarely am I successful at doing that but always successful at adding more chores. sigh

5. If you could sing a song to Wendell, what would it be? The same song I sing to all my brood, Jesus Loves Me with a liberty or two.

Jesus loves me

This I know

For the Bible tells me so

Little ones to Him belong

We are weak and He is strong

Yes, Jesus loves us

Yes, Jesus loves us

Yes, Jesus loves us

For the Bible tells us so.

Blessings ~ finished my book proposal ~ finished my speech ~ my new haircut ~ a long tepid shower ~ home made quiche lorraine ~ the gloaming over the valley ~ a new bar of handmade soap ~ a fresh nightgown ~ 

Happy Anniversary

 to two of the rare ones...

Dave and Sandra in Ronda, Spain

 ~ Love Changes Everything ~

Michael Ball
*Michael Ball and II Divo*

Five Things to Say in marriage
1. I love you
2. I'm sorry
3. I forgive you
4. I made a mistake
5. You're safe with me

Blessings ~ 22 years of friendship and love, including 16+ years of marriage ~

Sabbath Keeping

~ Sadie watches over Carly ~
"Drink waters out of thine own cistern,

and running waters out of thine own well."

~ Proverbs 5:15 ~

"Happy is the man who finds a true friend, and far happier is he who finds that true friend in his wife." ~ Franz Schubert ~ 
"By all means marry. If you get a good wife, you'll become happy; if you get a bad one, you'll be a philosopher." ~ Socrates ~ 
"Don't marry the person you think you can live with; marry only the individual you think you can't live without." ~ James Dobson ~ 

"Love is the reason.

Lifelong friendship is the gift.

Kindness is the cause.

Til' death do us part is the length."

~ Fawn Weaver ~

"It is not a lack of love but a lack of friendship that makes unhappy marriages." ~ Friedrich Nietzsche ~ 
"My most brilliant achievement was my ability to persuade my wife to marry me." ~ Winston Churchill ~ 

"Coming together is a beginning;

Keeping together is progress;

Working together is success."

~ Henry Ford ~

"If I get married, I want to be very married." ~ Audrey Hepburn ~ 

"Keep your eyes wide open before marriage, 

half shut after." 

~ Benjamin Franklin ~ 

"A happy marriage is the result of the union between two good forgivers."
~ Ruth Graham Bell ~ 

"We come to love not by finding a perfect person, 

but by learning to see an imperfect person perfectly." 

~ Sam Keen ~

"Where there is love, there is life." ~ Gandhi ~ 
"Once we figured out we could not change each other, we became free to celebrate ourselves as we are." ~ H. Dean Rutherford ~

"Love is the greatest gift when given.

It is the greatest honor when received."

~ Fawn Weaver ~ 

"In the arithmetic of love, one plus one equals love and two minus one equals nothing." ~ Mignon McLaughlin ~ 

"The first to apologize is the bravest.

The first to forgive is the strongest.

The first to forget is the happiest."

~ unknown ~

"Love is an act of endless forgiveness, a tender look which becomes a habit."
~ Peter Ustinov ~ 
"The most desired gift of love is not diamonds or roses or chocolates. It is focused attention." ~ Rick Warren ~ 
"You don't marry one person; you marry three: the person you think they are, the person they are, and the person they are going to become as a result of being married to you." ~ Richard Needham ~ 

"Love is an ideal thing, marriage a real thing." 

~ Goethe ~ 

"There are a hundred paths through the world that are easier than love. But who wants easy?" ~ Mary Oliver ~ 
"Was it love at first sight? It wasn't then but it sure is now." ~ Anne Meara ~ 

"Happiness: you bring your own weather to the picnic." 

~ Gretchen Rubin ~

"Many marriages would be better if the husband and wife clearly understood that they are on the same side." ~ Zig Ziglar ~

"Motto for the bride and groom: 

We are a work in progress with a lifetime contract." 

~ Phyllis Koss ~

"The older I get, the less time I want to spend with the part of the human race that didn't marry me." ~ Robert Brault ~ 

"Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: 

and likewise also the wife unto the husband."

~ I Corinthians 7:3 ~

If you'd like a name added to the prayer list, please let me know. Names will be kept for one week, then we begin anew. Around the world, people are praying.

Prayer Keeping ~ Maxine ~ Kurt ~ Karen and family ~ Kari ~ Daniel and Morgan ~ Timi and family ~ Quesenberry family ~ Kim ~ Jim ~ Beth ~ Sandra ~ revival ~ persecuted Christians ~

Define "interesting"...

Patrice, Everyday Ruralty, has another five questions making this 
Chat number 102!

1. Have you cooked any interesting dishes lately?

     Define interesting.

2. What question would you like to ask Wendell?

     Hay J wants to know how Wendell gets out of doing any work? 
     (Not that Hay J needs any tips; he's already the 
     Master of Laziness!)

3. Have you had any thoughts of Christmas yet?

     Ho Ho NO!

4. Do you make jams and jellies?

     Not this summer but I do have a lovely recipe for a Very Tasty 
     Blueberry Plum Conserve.

5. Do you have any board games that you enjoy?

     I am never bored!

Blessings ~ 30 bales of 5x5 dry hay put up! ~ beautiful day ~ a feeling of expectation ~ glass of cold water ~ breeze, cooling off the heat ~

No Guts, No Glory

"For your hands are defiled with blood

And your fingers with iniquity;

Your lips have spoken falsehood,

Your tongue mutters wickedness."

~ Isaiah 59:3 ~

In 1985, when Reagan was President,

Libya killed Americans.

He bombed their leader's house.

Libya was quiet for almost 25 years.

Then somebody apologized here and here and here...

Blessings ~ President Reagan ~ conservatives, whether Dems, Reps, Libertarians or Tea Party ~

Sabbath Keeping

"God said to Jonah, "Do you do well to be angry...?" 

~ Jonah 4:9 ~

"Indulge not thyself in the passion of anger; it is whetting a sword to wound thine own breast or murder a friend." ~ Akhenaton ~ 

"Men often make up in wrath what they want in reason."

~ William R. Alger ~

"The more anger towards the past you carry in your heart, the less capable you are of loving in the present." ~ Barbara De Angelis ~
"Consider how much more you often suffer, from your anger and grief, than from those very things from which you are angered and grieved." 
~ Marcus Antonius ~

"Anger makes dull men witty. 

But it keeps them poor."

~ Francis Bacon ~

"Anyone can become angry--that is easy. But to be angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose and in the right way--that is not easy." ~ Aristotle ~

"Temper is a weapon that we hold by the blade." 

~ Sir James M. Barrie ~

"A soft answer turns away wraith but grievous words stir up anger." 
~ Proverbs 15:1 ~
"Speak when you are angry and you will make the best speech you will every regret."  ~ Ambrose Bierce ~

"Anger begins with folly and ends with repentance."

~ H. G. Bohn ~

"You will not be punished for your anger, you will be punished by your anger." ~ Buddha ~

"An angry man opens his mouth and shuts his eyes." 

~ Cato ~

"Anger dwells only in the bosoms of fools." ~ Albert Einstein ~
"When angry, count to ten before you speak. If very angry, count to one hundred."  ~ Thomas Jefferson ~

"Whatever is begun in anger, 

ends in shame." 

~ Benjamin Franklin ~

"When you are offended at any man's fault, turn to yourself and study your own failings. Then you will forget your anger." ~ Epictetus ~
"People won't have time for you if you are always angry or complaining." 
~ Steven Hawking ~

"The greatest remedy for anger is delay." 

~ Thomas Paine ~

"There's nothing wrong with anger provided you use it constructively." 
~ Wayne Dyer ~

"Don't get the impression that you arouse my anger. 

You see, one can only be angry with those he respects." 

~ Richard M. Nixon ~

"He who angers you, conquers you." ~ Elizabeth Kenny ~

"Know this, my beloved brothers: 

let every person be quick to hear, 

slow to speak, 

slow to anger, 

for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God."

~ James 1:19-20 ~

If you'd like a name added to the prayer list, please let me know. Names will be kept for one week, then we begin anew. Around the world, people are praying.

Prayer Keeping ~ Maxine ~ Stephanie and family ~ Dustin and April ~ Quesenberry family ~ Daniel and his girls ~ Jane and Lance ~ Timi and family ~ Kurt ~ Jessica ~ Jeremy ~ Alex and Joshua ~ Sandra ~ revival ~ persecuted Christians ~ 

Lassie, 1994

 In 1994 the movie LASSIE was released to standing room only crowds in....where, where????

 Tazewell, Virginia! More specifically, the Cove area of Tazewell County where, you might remember, Thistle Cove Farm is located. In fact, that's our farm on the movie poster, in the distance, behind Lassie and the boy.

Ever since Dave and I have lived here, we've had people coming by because their kin lived here or they saw Lassie. The man that lived here before us, told us he would walk into a room and see people peering in the windows. They'd bang on the door and ask, "Is this the house where Lassie was filmed?" No, it's not; that house is a ways up the road, behind a locked gate. Its roof is visible from here and the barn where Lassie jumped out is more fully visible. The scenery is just as breath taking now as then.

Lassie was filmed in our valley and region in 1995 and was a huge hit. Locals were used as extras and Clinton, my neighbor was the shepherd who worked his dog, Bullet, behind the scenes in order to make Lassie look sharp. 

Last Saturday Tom R., from Asheville, NC pulled up in the driveway. He and his two cousins are related to the Whites who lived here during the early to mid 1900's. I gave them the oral history that had been given me, both right and wrong, and they talked about what they'd been told. Tom pulled a rolled up piece of paper from under his arm and said, "You should have this." It's an original movie poster and Thistle Cove Farm is dead center, between LASSIE and the caption, "A solid family hit if ever there was one." 

Isn't that fabulous?! Tom, a bear hug seems a small payment for such a momentous gift. I'm going to have it framed with some leftover hemlock siding we used on the stables, barns, scales and other buildings. It's already a treasure; thank you, thank you, thank you for such a lovely gift!

Blessings ~ Tom R. ~ Lassie ~ movie poster ~ 

Charlie Daniels

"I think that if anything exemplifies the overt prejudice and determination of the American media to report only the news that suits their social and political interests and concept of what does and does not fit their agenda, it's the totally overblown coverage of something Paula Deen said 20 years ago, and some party she planned that she wanted to resemble a plantation scene featuring black male waiters in period dress.

If Hollywood plans a movie featuring black waiters in a plantation scene or portray women as prostitutes or cast minorities in caricature roles does the media get upset and start calling the movie moguls racists?

Is there a grown person who could truthfully declare under oath that they have never uttered something that someone might find personally offensive?

"Let he who is without sin cast the first stone."

Do the twenty-year-old words of a lady with a television cooking show trump the lie an Attorney General told Congress, or officials at the IRS usurping the rights of the American public and pleading the fifth amendment when confronted about it or the hiding of the facts surrounding the murder of four Americans at a Consulate in Libya or the incredibly shabby image of a president taking a one hundred million dollar vacation in this economy while closing down tours of the White House or the NSA invasion on the privacy of millions of unsuspecting citizens?

I think not, and yet these and other stories of the utmost importance were either ignored or given a back seat to the Paula Deen story which, when taken in context with the high level scandals, Putin's snubbing of an American president, the potentially explosive situations in so much of the world the story was certainly not newsworthy enough to be featured five nights in a row on network news.

Wouldn't a week-long investigation into the life of Lois Lerner, the things she's done and the reason she's pleading the fifth be more meaningful to the American people?

What about what's going on in Israel? The media has been strangely quiet on that front lately, is there nothing worth reporting in that volatile part of the world?

How about the coming catastrophic tidal wave the effect of Obamacare is going to have on America, is there nothing worth questioning in the over 30,000 pages of regulations?

How about the fact that due to federal over regulation it's nearly impossible to live in the U.S. without breaking some law?

How about the Christian pastor who is being held in one of the worst hell hole prisons in the world in Iran for nothing more than sharing his faith?

How about a whole way of life that's being destroyed in West Virginia by the president's war on coal?

I think you get the picture.

No wonder the mainstream media has fallen so far in the trust of the American people.

Why is the Paula Deen story worth so much airtime if not to take attention off the truly important issue, the life changing things that really affects the lives of Americans?

The news is not about news anymore. It's about protecting some people, destroying others and shoving a socialist agenda down the collective throats of America.

What do you think? 

Pray for our troops and the peace of Jerusalem.

God bless America."

Charlie Daniels Soapbox

Blessings ~ Charlie Daniels ~ 

Sabbath Keeping

"Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; 

a stranger, and not thine own lips."

~ Proverbs 27:2 ~ 

A man or woman wrapped up in themselves, makes a very small 
package." ~ unknown ~ 

"Anger is the enemy of nonviolence

and pride is the monster that swallows it up"

~ Gandhi ~ 

"Swallowing your pride seldom leads to indigestion." ~ unknown ~ 
"God's whole employment is to lift up the humble and cast down the proud."
~ unknown ~ 

"I had more trouble with myself than with any other man."

~ D. L. Moody ~ 

"I can see his pride peep through each part of him." 
~ Shakespeare, Henry VIII ~
"In the midst of a world of light and love, of song and feast and dance, Lucifer could find nothing to think of more interesting than his own prestige." ~ C. S. Lewis ~ 
"Pride makes us artificial and humility makes us real." ~ Thomas Merton ~

"It was pride that changed angels into devils; 

it is humility that makes men as angels." 

~ Saint Augustine ~ 

"Jesus is the God whom we can approach without pride and before whom we can humble ourselves without despair." ~ Blaise Pascal ~

"The infinitely little have a pride infinitely great." 

~ Voltaire ~ 

"God is not proud. He will have us even though we have shown that we prefer everything else to him." ~ C. S. Lewis ~ 
"Humility and knowledge in poor clothes excel pride and ignorance in costly attire." ~ William Penn ~ 
"If I had only one sermon to preach, it would be a sermon against pride." 
~ G. K. Chesterton ~ 
"The God of this world is riches, pleasure and pride." ~ Martin Luther ~ 
"Self-centered indulgence, pride and a lack of shame over sin are now emblems of the American lifestyle." ~ Billy Graham ~ 
"Prostitutes are in no danger of finding their present life so satisfactory that they cannot turn to God: the proud, the avaricious, the self-righteous, are in that danger." ~ C. S. Lewis ~ 

"And he said to them, 

Ye are they which justify yourselves before men:

but God knoweth your hearts:

for that which is highly esteemed among men

is abomination in the sight of God."

~ Luke 16:15 ~ 

If you'd like your name added to he prayer list, please let me know. Names will be kept for one week then we begin anew. Around the world, people are praying.

Prayer Keeping ~ Maxine ~ Timi and family ~ Quesenberry family ~ Kurt ~ Kim ~ Beth and Trace ~ Jim ~ Sandra ~ revival ~ persecuted Christians ~ 

God Save USA...Russians Are Coming...

Hope you're having a wonderful July 4th holiday; please watch 

Madison Rising 

to hear and see a stirring tribute to Star Spangled Banner. 

It puts to shame those poor white chicks, fat and skinny, who, supposedly in the guise of "art", mangled that same song. I feel sorry for their captive audiences; no escape from either the embarrassment or their screech. Anyway, those young men of Madison Rising give a stellar performance, one to watch again and again and again...hoorah!

The Lady is receiving visitors again; just in time for July 4th!

Did you hear obama and his entourage are spending $100MILLION tax dollars to party in Africa but canceled the Marines fireworks display tonight in DC? Apparently, sequestration only applies to us and not o. He and his ilk can party like our money isn't going to dry up but we cannot celebrate signing the Declaration of Independence on our Country's birthday, July 4th. boo hissssss!

Obama wants to spend $7BILLION of OUR tax dollars to "bring electricity to Africa". BS, bo. What about bringing electricity to American Native citizens who don't have electricity? 

Lastly, doing something is better than doing nothing. This holiday weekend, join me and others who are signing a petition asking Congress to defend the 4th Amendment. The Internet Defense League and more than 30,000 websites have joined in; how about you?

OH! and about those Russians...FEMA and the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry have agreed to and signed papers to hire 15,000 Russian troops to "provide security" at USA events. This doesn't sit too well with a lot of people, myself included! Russian troops on USA soil, telling USA citizens what to do...? What in Hades is going on???? Isn't that illegal according to Posse Comitatus Act?

Blessings ~ nothing is happening that God isn't allowing ~

Chats on the Farmhouse Porch

WOW! Patrice has hit 100 Chats! For close to two years of Tuesdays on Everyday Rurality, she's come up with five questions; here are today's questions:

1. What's the best advice anyone ever gave you? - Some of the best advice my parent's gave me was, "You'll learn the hard way or the easy way but you will learn." They are still right although time and age have taught me it's far, far better to learn the easy way -LOL-.

2. Do you have houseplants? - Yes, a fair number because people keep giving them to me and I keep giving them away. It's a never-ending cycle.

3. Do mosquitoes bother you or leave you alone? - We don't have mosquitoes because we have barn swallows and bats...hurrah! When I re-locate, I'll put up purple martin houses, perhaps bat houses and have another something I'm going to do...will blog about it later.

4. What's your favorite charity? - Salvation Army...they keep expenses, salaries, perks, benefits low so they can focus on their clientele. While it's true in 2003, they were given $1.5B by Mrs. Kroc (McDonalds Corp founder widow), that money is to be used solely for new buildings in poor areas. 

5. Do you like mint? - Do peppermint patties count?

Blessings ~ commitment ~ consistency ~ barn swallows, ~ bats ~ Mrs. Kroc ~

Where's Snowden?

Does anyone else find it more than a trifle upsetting the focus on Edward Snowden? All over the web one can read "Hero or Traitor?" 

Let me be perfectly clear...

HERO!

Why is it if a whistle blower blows the whistle on...say...Bill Gates...he's a hero and the government loves him? But, let that same whistle blower blow the whistle on the government...hmmm...just not feeling the love, people. 

The Christian Post puts it this way, "Loosely defined, a "whistleblower" is someone who hurts the other political party; a "traitor" is someone who hurts yours."  Ron Hart, who wrote the Op-Ed piece goes on to say men are more angry than women at the snooping and spying. Perhaps he thinks he's being cute when he says, "...women think it's nice to have a man listen to them." 

Well Ron...listen to this: I am a woman and I am NOT happy with MY government spying, snooping, listening, reading my private communications. And, using MY tax dollars to accomplish their nefarious deed!

What seems to have dropped out of the dialogue is WHY ISN'T ANYONE ANGRY AT THE GOVERNMENT FOR SPYING ON US..."FOR THE PEOPLE, BY THE PEOPLE?" 

Seems to me DC Dems are calling for Snowden's head because it takes the focus off the train wreck headed our way that's called obamacare. Heck, even some Dems (Max Baucus) who voted for the dang thing (but didn't read it) are now saying, "It's a train wreck...". And, Nancy with her thumb up her head in the sand is still nattering on about how wonderful it's going to be. So, if it's so wonderful, why did you and the rest of the elected coneheads vote to exempt yourselves?  

If it smells like a lie, sounds like a lie, looks like a lie...

Rockefeller, another Dem said, "I am of the belief that the ACA is probably the most complex piece of legislation ever passed by the US Congress. ...It's just beyond comprehension." 

whut? This is a surprise???!!! What does Jay care? He's retiring and having voted himself and the rest of the elected officials employees out of obamacare, he's above the fray. The good news is, since WV, traditionally a Dem state, voted against Obama in the last election, perhaps they'll use wisdom again in the next election.

I know people in this largely Dem county who would vote for Lucifer if he was on the Dem ticket. Why? "Because my Daddy and my Granddaddy and my Great-Granddaddy were Dems and I vote Dem." That's as stupid as saying, "Because my Daddy...were Republicans...". 

Here, let me stamp your forehead with an S for stupid. I'm sick of low information people who tell me things like, "I just didn't like Ronald Reagan. I just didn't like him." When I ask "why" they tell me, "I don't have a reason, I just didn't like him." I asked, "Well, did you object to his foreign policy or his domestic policy or his economic policy or what?"

Honest to God, that person looked at me and said, "I don't know about any of those things; I just didn't like him." 

God help me, God help us all!

Mr. Snowden, I hope you're able to find safety in this cold world and I hope you're able to, safely, celebrate your 31st birthday on June 21. I hope you're able to, eventually, live a life worth living and not on the run. You're my hero because you stood up for the Constitution of the United States of America, all the while knowing, you could lose your freedom or perhaps your life should drones, or worse, be used against you. An Obama memo "claims that the president can suspend the Fifth Amendment without submitting evidence to court, without congressional oversight, and without making it's legal reasoning available to the public. ..." See here for the story on Americans being killed by drones.

Is it just me or has anyone else noticed the emperor is nekkid?

Some of you now reading don't like it when I go all political. You were warned that, should I choose, Monday's are now reserved for rants and..hello, hello, hello!.. today is Monday. 

Blessings ~ Edward Snowden ~ US Constitution ~ Russia, for providing 
asylum ~