BlueHeron

2011-08-28T13:44:00.009-06:00

On Friday we went to Ian, Mandy, and Ainsley's house, moving on to Port Townsend on Monday.

On Saturday we went to the park where they had a great play area.

We then walked over to a lake where Ainsley did a little fishing.

Where's Ainsley?

Peek.
Sunday we went to the zoo. This is part of a spider web in a play area.

The good vet is listening to the heart of the stuffed iguana.

There's an aviary where you can feed the Buggies.

A little sugar to end the day.

On Monday we went to Port Townsend. You will notice that when others were taking pictures I wasn't. Therefore you will not find pictures of the big events.

Every morning after breakfast I took a walk around the docks. Not a masterpiece, but I loved the perspective of the dogs looking down at me.

On the last day Charlie and Jon came over to the hotel for a swim.

This is the same picture. Doing it I realized that converting a picture to black and white is not the same as composing a picture in black and white. But, in this case it helps disguise the harsh midday light.

We returned to Ian and Mandy's house. Ian and Ainsley took us blueberry picking. No blueberries, but a nice walk.

What are they looking at?

An artist at work!

Here's the sculpture in progress.

After a busy day we stopped for ice cream.

2011-07-04T14:17:00.049-06:00

Recently we have taken two vacations; the first one to Fort Myers, Florida, and the second to the Western Slope of the Rockies.

On June 15th we flew down to Fort Myers, Florida to attend the 20th anniversary Mercedes M-100 Group meet. Though we attended a Mercedes event, this posting is primarily a travel log.

M-100 is the engine model in Lorelei. It was first put into the Mercedes 600. That engine was then crammed into the 300SEL body to create the 300SEL 6.3. Later the size was increased to 6.9 liters and was installed into the 450SEL 6.9.

On June 15th we flew to St. Luis and then on to Florida. Dianne always sits in an isle seat where she can periodically stretch her left leg. Thus on full flights I sit in a middle seat, leaving the window seat open. An unaccompanied boy sat in the window seat. Until he fell asleep, Dianne and I were his entertainment. We quickly learned that he was going to see his mother, he knew the town he came from, but only knew that he was flying to Florida. Do you know how hard it is to pick the scariest temporary tattoo when you think they are all hideous? When we landed he was not happy that we were in Florida, but he couldn't get off the plane because he was going to the next stop. As we left the stewardess told us that we were abandoning her.

It didn't take more than a few seconds in Florida to know why people visit in the winter and not in June! We collected our rental car and went on to the meet at a hotel in Lehigh Acres, a community outside of Fort Myers. (In the picture, LACPP is the Community Planning Panel. I hope you know what a teacher is.)

The plan was to get together, and then decide where we wanted to go for dinner. Well, another thing about Florida in June; you get tropical storms. We were all in the bar talking and when the wind and rain hit. The car cover on a 450SEL was blown off. People going the few feet between the hotel and the restaurant/bar had trouble with the doors and got very wet. There was no way any of us were going anywhere.

You know how rain will cool things, and after the rain it is pleasant? Not in Western Florida! It was hot and humid before the rain, during the rain, and after the rain.

The second day was the tour day. We started out by going to the Edison and Ford Estates. This is an interesting look at the life and accomplishments of Edison, and the relationship to the Ford family.

After the tour we all went to lunch and then on to a private auto collection. We were not allowed to take pictures in the collection, and instructed that anything in print with the name had to be approved by them. I don't think they intended it to include things like this posting, but to insure that I don't violate this request I will not state the name. I will say that they house the largest auto literature collection in the world, and house the greatest collection of racing cars that I have ever heard of. This collection also houses the largest Porsche collection in the U.S. For Citroen fans, they had a 2CV-4x4. I found out later that they only open the collection to about 6 groups a year, and the value of the collection is estimated to be about $500,000,000.

Well, being tour day, there was a schedule to keep. I wasn't done, but onward. Next was the Seminole Railway Dinner Train/Mystery Play. The biggest mystery of the evening wasn't on the train, but rather it was how to get there. They had a very large sign at the track pointing to the train station, but there was no road. After wandering around we found that you had to turn into a parking lot before the sign, then drive around to the train.

The play consisted of people wandering into the train car periodically and screaming their lines in bad phony Italian accents. The company at our table was better than the plot, and definitely better than the actors.

Apparently some of the m-100 group attendees recommended slowing down the pace, and the rest of the meet was more relaxed.

The next day most of the men went to a garage where a 300SEL 6.3 was put on a lift and we had a couple of tech sessions. I learned a lot, but one of the highlights for me was the ride to and from the garage in a 1956 300C.
Some of the features were:
- when the car is loaded there is a lever that stiffens the rear leaf springs to correct the ride height.
- when you close the ash tray it dumps the ash into a receptacle so the ash tray is always clean.
- it has both a gas gauge and an emergency tank should you run out anyway (which we did).
- the turn signal is combined with the horn ring, and there is another lever that when pushed keeps flashing the high beams until you cancel it.
- as I found out later, it has fitted luggage.

That afternoon Dianne and I went Latin food shopping. I found a 24 pack of Guarana Brazilia for $12. They told us that they are unable to get Antarctica any more.

The next day we had a combined auto show with the Mercedes Benz Club of America.

Most people departed on Sunday, but Dianne and I stayed another day. We started out the day by going to Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve. These following pictures are of the Preserve.

This is a wet lands park with lush vegetation in several micro-climates. (Double clicking a picture will expand it.)

There's at least 5 fish in this picture.

In general the birds didn't cooperate with my picture taking.

There are exceptions though.
One problem I had was that I only took a point and shoot camera with me. I figured that most of my pictures were going to be of the mechanics of Mercedes.

There is one creature that repeated posed for me; lizards.
The Crocodiles were harder to capture.
It was already getting hot and sticky by the time we got back to the car. We went out to lunch at a Puerto Rican and Cuban restaurant, then drove out to the beach. The beach consisted of almost solid houses between the road and the beach.

The second trip Dianne and I took was to celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary on July 3rd.

I seems that each anniversary has themes. This year it was water, flowers, and acting like we did 20 years earlier.

Water - This year the front range had very little rain and snow, but some places in the mountains had more than 200% of normal. Even with the above average temperatures in some places only half the snow had melted. People were skiing on July 4th. Also streams were running high and fast.

Rest Stop off I70 in Glenwood Canyon.

Flowers - Dianne wanted to visit Crested Butte because of the wild flowers. The abundance of water and the above average temperatures made this a good year.

Acting like we did 20 years earlier - um .. ah ... More on that later.

On Friday, July 1st we drove to Carbondale Colorado to visit Mary Lilly. Mary Lilly is a childhood friend of Dianne's mother.

This picture is of Mary Lilly's flowers and a truck next door. I recommend double-clicking on the picture to see the flower details.

We stayed in her guest room. She drove us to dinner, and in the morning she took us out to breakfast. I hope that if I live to 95 I can be as independent as her, and still a safe driver.

After breakfast we packed the car and headed for Crested Butte. This was a relaxing trip over Kebler Pass.

Shortly after turning onto the road to go over the pass a large herd of elk started to cross the road. I tried to get a picture, but the cars kept scaring them, and then they got nervous about me. The second picture is of part of the group that retreated even with the ones on the hill calling them.

We slowly continued over the pass and got the Crested Butte in the early afternoon.

After looking around town we decided to go on to our hotel in Gunnison, and return early the next day to take a hike to see wild flowers.

Flashback to 20 years ago: On July 3rd after the wedding Dianne and I started out on our honeymoon. When we got to the hotel we were staying in that night we discovered we had left our hanging close at the house, and the next day we had to go back and get them.

We checked into the Hotel in Gunnison and discovered that we left our hanging clothes at Mary Lily's house. So we changed our plans; we were going to take our flower hike early as planned, then head back to Carbondale for our anniversary night.

The next set of pictures are of our hike. I've included a lot of them. I recommend double clicking of the flower pictures.

Water fall across the valley from where we were hiking.

Columbine

Notice the bee.

The waterfall at the far end of our hike.

My favorite model resting.

Being a destination, people stop to eat. Others hope for leftovers.

On our way back to the car.
This is a research village.

We headed back to Carbondale. What took me all morning and into the afternoon to drive one way took me two hours going the other. By the way, 4 wheel drive is only helpful when it is engaged and you need it. Gravel roads are not it. A Land Rover that tried to keep up with me learned that lesson when I went into a corner with loose gravel. I looked in the rear view mirror to see him fishtailing.

Because we made such good time we decided to detour south and ended up at the Cherry Festival in Paonia. That sounded like a fun place for lunch, so we stopped. They had a food court, a carnival, and booths. There was one thing they didn't have. I didn't see a cherry anywhere.

After lunch we went to Carbondale, collected our clothes, and check into our hotel. This was our 20th anniversary; 20 years after forgetting our clothes the first time. We discovered that we left the charger for our tooth brush in Gunnison.

On the fourth we headed home going through Aspen, over Independence Pass, to Twin Lakes, then home.

River paralleling Highway 82

Near the crest of Independence Pass looking back at where we had been.

2011-06-01T08:45:00.010-06:00

Memorial Day Weekend

On Saturday Ellie came to visit. While Dianne made lunch I watch Ellie color the sidewalk. She selected two shades of blue, both of which also colored her pants. It doesn't show in the picture, but she also has blue on her forehead.

After lunch we went to the Littleton little farm.

The little farm has a working blacksmith shop and a couple of houses. There is also a boathouse. I love the ingenuity of the boat maker. The side appear to be the tin from 5 gal. cans leaded together. I don't know what the engine came off of. If it were my craft I think I would stay within swimming distance of the shore.

After the farm we went to a playground.

This horse was Ellie's favorite activity.

Ellie went home Sunday. On Monday we packed the dogs and lunch and drove up Mount Evans.

The snow pack north of the Gunnison River is between 148% and 170% of the 20 year average. Because of this Mount Evans and Trail Ridge road could not be opened by the traditional target of Memorial day. The road is open only to Summit Lake.

After I took this picture I needed to get out of the car again. A blast of wind almost ripped the door out of my hand.

The last picture was Summit Lake. This picture is close to the lake. If you look at the mountain in the distance you can see part of the climb that is still closed because of snow.

This cut in the snow is on the opened part of the road.

We stopped to eat lunch at a saddle where the road transitions from the north side of the ridge to the south side. I hand held a point-and-shoot camera and overlapped the pictures. I started and ended facing North West.

Click on the picture to expand it.
Back below the tree line, the wind whips down the mountains bending the trees toward the valley.

Besides being a good picture of Star, notice the tree struggling to grow in a small pocket of dirt.

2010-12-19T19:44:00.002-07:00

On Saturday we took Ellie to see a large Christmas display. I forgot to bring a camera, so here are pictures taken on my Blackberry.

This is the main house. It is very popular, and as we were leaving two small buses pull up.

Down the block is a second house owned by a son. It also has a display. I didn't take any pictures of it.

There is a large electric train display that runs along one side of the house. It loops the tree in the background. I took multiple pictures of it but this is the closest I got to decent.

The yard is filled with small displays..

Here are a few of them.

2010-10-03T11:24:00.008-06:00

Promised "what are we doing"

On the July 4th weekend Dianne and I cased out camp sites. We stopped for lunch at a camp site by the river

Two weekends later we went camping at Meridian Campground 10 miles outside of Bailey Colorado.

Dianne is setting up camp. (I went AWOL to take this picture.)

We took our folding bikes with us and took several bike rides during our stay.

The flower pictures in my previous post were taken during this camp trip. I also caught the gold of sunrise just before the sun hit camp.

Labor day weekend we went up to Estes Park. We took a rest by the creek that goes through town.
There was an Alpaca show that weekend.

Under one of the roads entering town is this underpass. Click on the picture to expand it. Hopefully you can zoom in to see some of the details of the kid decorated tiles.

I'm sitting in Port Townsend, so my next post will have pictures from this trip.

2010-09-24T14:10:00.005-06:00

Later I'll post some "what are we doing" pictures. For now hare are some pictures I like.

While camping I took an early morning walk and captured these flower pictures.

Dianne and I were on a bike ride when we went under this power line.

We were returning home from Estes Park when the Four Mile Canyon Fire got going.

An Alpaca.
The Blue heron, Lorelei and me. Parking two big cars crosswise was a challenge, and Lorelei's rear tires are on the edge of the pavement.

2010-07-26T19:53:00.008-06:00

A Lesson in Physics and Chemistry

Many years ago I installed two freeze-proof hydrants in our back yard. One hydrant is located by the vegetable garden, and the other is located near the other end of the yard. Any location in the yard can be reached conveniently.
I drilled through the foundation three feet below ground level, running a copper pipe through the hole. I also installed a valve in the basement to shut off the circuit.

A couple of years ago we started hearing the sound of running water even when the hydrants were turned off. We had a leak somewhere.

We started to turn off the circuit from the basement when we were not using it and trying without success to find the leak.

Recently the leak got worse. We stopped using these hydrants completely and we setup a temporary arrangement with hoses running across the yard. We also found the general area of the leak. It was next to the house. Last Saturday I dug down three feet, making a pit big enough to do plumbing repair. We found the leak inside the foundation. I researched and found two thing can cause a copper pipe to rupture inside the foundation; thermal expansion scraping the pipe and chemical reaction eating it. I also learned that I should have sleeved the pipe to prevent either of these from happening.

Sunday I fixed the plumbing. As soon as Dianne had water restored she thanked me and gave me a kiss. Unfortunately I was too tired for either the physics or the chemistry.

2010-04-20T19:50:00.019-06:00

Except for a couple of pictures of me and the Blue Heron, we haven't posted anything since before Valentines Day. This posts covers our Valentine Day trip to Estes Park though our recent trip to Washington State.

I will start with a picture from our back yard.
One more Blue Heron picture.
On Valentines Day we had Brunch at the Other Side Cafe, where we enjoyed good food and music. We drove into Rocky Mountain Park as far as the road was open.

Jump forwards to the beginning of April when we went to Washington State. Most of the time we spent with Ian, Mandy, and Ainsley. We also drove up to Port Townsend.

Dianne loves being a grandmother.

What happens when grandmother chases granddaughter?

One day we went to a children's museum in Olympia.

Kids could change the water flow, and float objects down the flow path.

There was purple "sand" with toys to move it.
Concentration
Ian built a sand box in the back yard. Though this day was clear, the sand was wet.
Back yard play

I love this one.
We went to the Tacoma zoo.

Dianne and I went up to Port Townsend on Thursday. Ian, Mandy, and Ainsley went up the next day.

Dianne and I took mother out for a walk down by the water. We are out on a boat pier.
How much does it cost to rent a dog in Port Townsend?

2010-03-16T13:21:00.002-06:00

Here are a couple of picture Dianne took a couple of weeks ago.

2009-12-15T11:51:00.021-07:00

Months of Pictures and Stories

I have a lot of catching up to do, so there are a lot of pictures. First, on a previous post I posted a picture of Star watching TV. It didn't really show her interest like we see it. Here is a better picture of her watching a show about dog training.

Late in the summer we took a drive south west of Denver on dirt roads. This is the front range; the edge of the mountains and the beginning of the plains.

At another stop we were looking west.

We decided to take a smaller road down to pavement. Most of the traffic we saw were the 4-wheelers you can see in the rear view mirror. Their was an almost constant sound of their engines during this part of the trip.

We pulled off the road for lunch, and walked over a crest to find privacy and some quiet. We still could hear the traffic, but it was muted.

Plants by our lunch spot. These plants, with red flowers paved large patches of the ground.

Before Halloween Gwen, Kent, Ellie, friends of the Zubers, and the two of us went to a pumpkin farm. Here are some pictures frm the farm.

Look at the transmission shift patterns on the tractors in the next two pictures. You may need to expand the pictures to see it more clearly.

Dianne had decorated the table for fall. I made dinner on Halloween.

Chicken soup in a bread bowl with a chicken bone sticking out the top. The bread sticks are placed to resemble a skull and crossbones.

This November was dryer and warmer than normal. The official snowfall for the month was 8.8 inches, with 7.3 of that happening on the 14th and 15th of the month. Littleton got a lot more than that. We then went into a deep freeze with a high of 16 degrees on the 16th of the month.

Snowy sunset from our deck.

Thanksgiving weekend we went up to Grand Lake.

Before checking into the Bed and Breakfast we drove into Rocky Mountain National Park up to the winter road closure.

The pine beetle infestation is transforming the park. In this picture you can see how much brown there is on the slope, the dead empty skeleton of trees at the edge of the woods, and the new trees that will replace the dead and dying. In my life I will not see the natural reforestation become a mature forest again.
We stopped and took a walk in the park.

This is a picture of the lake from a lookout across the road from the Bed and Breakfast.

Our room had this fishing equipment on the wall.

In the morning I captured this picture from the bed.

Then I went over to the window.

I took my guitar. We also took a puzzle in case we got stuck. The next day was cloudy, and we decided to stay "home" and do the puzzle.

These picture are on our drive home.

We stopped to take pictures of each other, and found these beaver chewed stumps.

Lastly, after a different snowfall from the one above I decided to take a white Mercedes in the white snow picture. I drove on salt-free roads to a park near the house.

2009-10-06T16:12:00.005-06:00

I took Lorelei to a small local show. I had a good time. I got to look at restored cars, unrestored cars, and custom cars.
Many of the cars were very good looking. I answered questions about Lorelei, and I asked many questions or just complemented people.
The 300SEL 6.3 was a very expensive car new; equivalent to about $90,000 or 100,000 today. During a conversation someone made a comment about inheritance. I replied with "There is a negative side too." I then look up at my beautiful car in the distance and saw a piece of father.

At work there are pictures of father, Lorelei, Baxter, and me. These are from Daria's slide show. I will find myself staring at them. I'm looking at father, very alive at 90, showing off Lorelei to me with pride. That is my inheritance; pride. Pride in Lorelei, but even greater is pride in my parents.
A week ago on Friday Amy Goodman of Democracy Now told us listeners to take a moment to take a deep breath as her mother was struggling for each breath. On Monday we were told that Amy's mother died. I am honored that Amy thought enough of her listeners to let us know about her personal struggle. Amy's mother gave us all an inheritance; a woman of seemingly unending energy and concern for humanity.
The other day at work there was a lot of noise around me so I put on earphones to listen to music. During a Creedence Clearwater Revival song some phrase made me think of father. I tried to work with tears in my eyes. When the song ended I decided to listen to something without words. I played Michael Cedric Smith. It brought back memories of Vermont and the joy you could see in father as he listened to Michael play the guitar.
There is a negative side to material inheritance; death. Recently events have illuminated inheritances given to me long before death: pride, concern for humanity, enjoyment of life, love of music. There is one more I want to write about.

This last picture is of a beautiful car. It has the beauty of age. It has a history. It has a story to tell. It is up to us to ask about it. Likewise people have a story to tell, but we have to ask.
With love to my parents, my wife, my children and grandchildren, to all my family, and to anyone that happens upon this page.

2009-09-28T19:04:00.003-06:00

After Abby's death we got an Australian Shepherd mix, Star, to keep May company. Greyhounds do not do well alone. The companion can be a person or animal. Star will be that companion when we are not home.

Star is about 2 years old. The previous owner kept her in the back yard. They had too many dogs, and when there were noise complaints they took Star to a shelter. She was untrained, so Dianne busy.

Star is a bundle of energy. Somewhere in her keeping the back yard free of intruders (squirrels) she cut the pad on her paw. (If you click on the picture you can see her bandage better.)

Being a peg-leg hasn't slowed her down. She still jumps on her guard rounds, and clears the step to the deck when she comes in. She gallops around. When I was downstairs and she ran down the hall I heard br-dr-dr-RUMP br-dr-dr-RUMP all the way down the hall.

She has an Elizabethan collar to keep her from chewing the bandage. She doesn't know how lucky she is not to get the old plastic type. (Poor dog!)
She recognizes animals on TV. I tried to catch her sniffing the TV, but missed it.

2009-09-17T11:21:00.002-06:00

I ordered something from Newegg. Here is a quick post of opening the shipment.

This is the box that arrived.
When the box was opened this is what was there.
Everything is now out of the box. There is the small box, an invoice, and packing paper.Inside the small box is a 2 1/2 inch hard drive.
Of course I blew my order and have to get a different one!

2009-07-29T19:12:00.008-06:00

Bad News, Old News, and New(ish) News

First the bad news. While we were in Berkeley Abby started to limp. When we returned we took her into the vet, and learned that she had a very aggressive bone cancer. We kept her as pain free as we could while we decided what was best. You could see in her eyes that she was scared and depressed.

The vet told us that often another dog will take the departure better is they witness the death. On Saturday Dianne, May, and I took Abby to the vet and said goodbye. Normally when May and Abby are apart May will whine and keep looking for Abby. May misses Abby, but clearly knows that Abby is not coming back.

The pictures in this post vary in quality. It is the content I am after.

In the old news department, here are some pictures of Ellie's 1st birthday. One problem with having multiple cameras with film in one of them is one set of pictures is always late.

OK! Now I'm bragging. Remember the pictures of the plane Dianne and I did for Ellie? Here are some more pictures.
A closeup of the propeller I made.
Steering wheel details.
When Josie visited we went to Tiny Town. Here are some pictures of the trip.

Frog picnic

At least one paper is still in business!

The day Josie, Charlie, and Jon left Dianne and I went to Berkeley.

On my birthday we went to the Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park. The living roof was beautiful.

There are old and new exhibits.Here fishy fishy
Guess who I took this picture for. Live ones are better though.
Can you count the snakes?
Again?
Mother signed Lorelei over to me.

Some of the car parts were too big to fit in the car, so we ended up pulling a trailer. Wow can Lorelei go (though I admit nothing)!

This peaceful picture belies what is ahead. We crossed Nevada and Utah with no A/C. It was HOT.
Colorado was cooler. We stopped for a picnic lunch by the river. The car made it over the Eisenhower pass with no issues, except people thinking that every Mercedes is a diesel and trying to get ahead of me.
We made it home.
I brought home the N.Y Martin guitar. It is a ladies model. I hung it next the the other guitar to show how much smaller it is. I love the sound once it is warmed up (yes this guitar needs playing to sound good).

2009-05-31T13:14:00.006-06:00

What we have been doing

This first picture is just for fun, though behind the cold duck is a salvaged railing that goes around our deck. The railing came from a restaurant, and is sturdier than what is sold for residential use. I could not find mounting brackets that fit the tubing, so when I cut the lengths I Heated and bent a tab to be the brackets.

Dianne got a wood rocking plane. When we got it two of the wing stays were broken. It was also missing the propeller and the steering wheel. I made the repairs and Dianne painted it. The cowl in front of the propeller is an old drawer pull that I shaped. The horn button is the same type of drawer pull, but with less shaping.

Dianne also has bee sewing. She made Ellie and Ainsley each a reversible sun dress.

We have a few pieces of granite pieces from our kitchen remodel several years ago. I have been wanting to make an outdoor table out of one of them. Dianne and I went looking for something to use as table legs. We saw this lamp.

The glass tabletop had chips in it.

When we got the lamp home and disassembled, it was clear that one piece was flimsy, and that the tabletop would be too heavy. To solve both problems I took old tire balancing weights and encased them into the weak part.

Here is the final lamp. The shade is a plastic flower pot with a hole drilled in the center of the bottom (now top).

A long time ago we found this radio and record player at a Salvation Army store. It had an ugly applied plywood on it. When the plywood was removed I learned that it originally had been a larger console, and someone sawed a TV off of it.

Here is the side that was cut.

I decided to veneer new wood onto it, something I have never done before. The wood working shop suggested a new way of veneering that he had been reading about, and I tried it. Next time I will use a traditional veneering technique.

2009-05-19T19:01:00.007-06:00

Random memories and thoughts

I call father "father". To me it is a loving term equal to "dad" or any other word, plus I like how the word father flows off the tongue.

When I called the house father answered most of the time. The call went like this.
Father in his deep voice: Hellooooo?
Me: Father, Stanford.
Father in a voice almost exactly one octave higher and with excitement: Stan

I keep hearing this lovely welcome in my head.

I would ride down the hill with mother to pick up father at the university. She would sit in the car and send me in. I always stopped to play with the exhibits as I walked to his office. When I got to the office he might be "ready to go", and it would take just a few minutes to come to a stopping point on whatever he was doing. Other times he was with a student. I would sit quietly as father gave his student whatever time was needed by the student.

I have very few memories of Brazil, though I remember smells and tastes. I have a memory of posing for a picture. I think father took it. We were stopped by the road and I posed in front of a leaf that was much bigger than me.

There were many times up at the cabins that we would be working on plumbing or something else and father would say "go back to the house and get ..." On time stuck in my mind.

We were walking back from the lower spring following the polyethylene pipe. We found something that needed fixing, but we couldn't loosen a joint. Father sent me back to the house to get a tool. I think father was using a pocket knife and he needed a screw driver. I went back to the house and got it. When I returned he thanked me, and then told me that he had gotten the connection loose.

He thanked me. It stuck in my memory because of the frustration of getting the tool and then not needing it. But, I remember he thanked me. Father often thanked us for our help.

The drive home last Saturday and Sunday was long and tiring. We switched drivers every 2 hours. One time while Dianne was driving we drove under some high power lines. I started to cry. Father would have tried to figure out where it came from and where it was going. He likely would have asked me a question I never could remember how to calculate. He would ask the voltage of the lines.

Here are some pictures from the trip out to Berkeley.

Deer in the back yard

Friday before we came home: Tilden Park

Sterling and Otto in the park

Some wild flowers were blooming in Tilden

Donner Pass on the way home

Almost exactly 180 degrees from the last picture

Most of the way home this was what we saw.

2009-05-11T19:21:00.002-06:00

Most of you know that my father died.

My parents' love for each other is a model for living with a partner. Even in the last hours of life the love between them was visible to all who had the honor to witness it. I will not go into any details of their life or his death. I will, with my mother's permission, include one of her poems.

The Old Lovers
Asleep, their bodies rest as spoon to spoon
or else are pressed together spine to spine.
One of them dreams a night of summer moon
when firm young bodies meet and intertwine.

One dreams they climb a trail in blazing noon,
leap boulders, savor scent of fir or pine,
gaze down on unknown lands they’ll travel soon,
their years before them in an endless line.

They dream apart, but each dreams they’re together.
They drowse then turn and waken face to face,
illusion’s threads unravelling seam by seam.
They touch the dear soft flesh of one another
then almost desperately the two embrace
fearing that one might soon hold only dream.

Phyllis Smith

The world has lost a man who spent his life making the world a better place than he found it. I have lost a man who loved me unconditionally, and proved the love when I did not deserve it. I cry for my loss. I mourn everyone's loss; those who knew him, those who knew of him, and those who never had the honor of knowing what he did for them.

With love to all who read this regardless of if we have ever met
Papa of Honey and Papa

2009-05-08T11:56:00.002-06:00

This is a strange time to post this. I have created a new blog that is not for Dianne and me, but rather just mine, and just for politics. This blog will be returned to being for both of us.

http://restoredemocracy-sds.blogspot.com/

Stanford

2009-04-08T17:40:00.002-06:00

Congratulations to Vermont on being the first state in the nation to legislatively legalize same sex marriages.

2009-03-27T10:29:00.014-06:00

It's the journey!

I can fly to any corner of the country within a few hours time. With a few days off work I can visit with any of my kids and grandkids. But, something is missing. I'm going to my destination, but I'm bypassing the journey. Clearly we have gained something with the ability to get to our destinations quickly. What I want to do is look at what we have lost. What are we missing while we make a leap over to our destination?

With each increase in the speed of travel, our range of travel increases. But, with each increase we see less along the way. Before there were trains and cars people rarely traveled far from their community. The only window I have into what their journeys were like is my experiences walking or bike riding as my transportation.

There was a time when I didn't have a car, but rode a bike 14 miles each way to and from work. The goal was to get to work as a grounds person in a mobile home park. I remember the job, but I also remember the ride to and from work. I started out in the city, then out to miles of road going through hay fields and pasture land. With destination in mind I rode thought the smell of dry California grass. The fresh air was made more obvious by the occasional smell of exhaust. Bad smells such as dead skunks or dairy farms slowly overpowered other smells, then slowly diminished. I saw miles of barb wire fences with their rust and zinc coatings. This commute and other slow travels have taught me that trash can be beautiful. An old newspaper in the ditch turns earth brown as it returns to soil. Some tin cans had faded commercial artwork slowly turning a red-brown.

Given a choice I would have driven. I like driving. I like watching the road pass under my car, and the scenery zipping by the windows. The fences become a rhythm with the beat provided by the posts, and the barbs smoothed by the speed. The color of the barb wire is lost, and it becomes a pencil line across from post to post. At the speed of a car there is little pretty about an old tin can. Driving lets me get past the dead skunk or the dairy farm faster, but the costs are the details. Moments of smell, are now blended into a stew of exhaust, grass, and car upholstery.

As a child we did a lot of travel. I remember traveling by car. I couldn't read in a moving car. I slept, looked out the window, discussed things with the family, avoided the science questions my father would ask, and bugged my older brothers and sister. I watched the other cars. Except for sleeping (and for others, reading) everyone was living in the present. The past was in our memory, or in the rear view mirror. The future: the dotted white line and our plans. Fiction was in our dreams.

I like driving. I like the excitement of the freshly packed car and anticipation of the journey. Dianne and I took one of these trips in December, driving down to Santa Fe New Mexico for a few days. The destination was important. We zipped down on I25, wind buffeting the car. We almost ran out of gas. We picked up a hitchhiker who wasn't as lucky. We gassed at a truck stop that had classic cars. Then after a great visit, (excluding my driving one day) we drove much of the way back on 2-lane roads. I enjoyed the trip down, but high speeds and the multiple lanes made the scenery more distant than on our journey home. Taos was part of the journey home. We drove through the high flat valley between Taos and San Luis, Colorado, then through a mountain cut back to I-25. The slower travel allowed us to see the houses and ranches.

Journeys by car are not always pleasant. As a kid I remember getting car sick. A few years ago we drove the Blue Heron home from California. It broke down outside of Kingman AZ. Even being stuck there, and with the tension of hoping the car made it the rest of the way home, I remember the trip fondly. I could write a complete post about breakdowns during road trips. But, in most cases it was like riding the bike past a dead skunk. It wasn't pleasant, it took away from the total enjoyment, but it was only a part of the journey.

As a kid cars and bikes were not our only transport. There were a few boats and trains, but more often, planes. As a child we flew places, our 32 lbs of luggage below our feet. I remember looking out the window at the engine as it cranked to life. I remember the spew of exhaust of the newly started engines disappearing as the sound evened out. We would take off and fly over the distant scenery. The forests became a field of green spikes. The cars, little bugs, moved along their paths. I could see the toy towns, and mountains rose up below me trying to touch the bottom of the plane. We had to land for fuel and a chance to stretch our legs.

There are many beautiful pictures existing of the scenery below, looking through the translucent spinning propellers. There is enough detail to see the beauty. When I looked out I could see a clue as to what I was missing by being a few thousand feet a way.

These planes were not without detraction. I had older brothers to remind me of the danger of landing, something I remember to this day. The C-47, converted for passenger traffic had the ability to fly as high as 24,000 feet, easily clearing mountain tops. But the air would get thin in unpressurized cabins at a much lower altitude. Travel was tiring, but that was part of the journey.

Compared to the jet it took a lot longer to get places; 15 hours and three hops for a west coast to the east coast trip. In 1960 my family flew to Europe in a Boeing 707. No longer did the plane rise slowly up a ramp of air. Instead I became heavy as we were thrust upward. The scenery was even more distant. As time went on the planes flew higher. Rows of seat became wider so most people can't even see out. If I get a window, often the only view is the clouds below us. When I see the land I can tell little more than if it is flat or hilly. Farm irrigation can make circles. One range of mountain looks very much like another range. I look out the window trying to see landmarks, but it is my memory of when I passed there by car, or where we are on a map that brings significance to what I see from 35,000 feet.

Plane travel has become a wait for security, a trip over a map, and the destination. The journey is gone. It is now about the destination. Yes there can be a journey at the destination, but what am I missing? I miss the amber waves of grain and the purple mountains. I miss the plains. I get to my destination, but I have bypassed America.
This is a beautiful country. Not only are our mountains, coasts, and other destinations beautiful, but the travel to these places are beautiful. While driving the panhandle of Oklahoma there is beauty in the approaching storm. The rugged washes of the South West reveal millions of years of earths history. The art deco buildings of small towns bypassed are beautiful and disappearing. Not many people have experienced the friendly farmer loaning a tool to fix a car, and telling you to put the tool under a designated rock when you are done. That is now bypassed. Without the speed of the modern plane, it might be a decade between visits to my kids and grandkids. But, because of the speed my grandkids might never see much of America's beauty.

2009-03-17T15:51:00.002-06:00

I get, send, and respond to political emails from several people. We cover the political spectrum, and sometimes have extended discussions. I sent the following email, titled "I'm trying to understand.

This is an honest question. I truly don’t understand why this country is not outraged over this. I am trying to write this in a factual manner without political overtones.

After 9/11, and stopping in 2002 the CIA videotaped some interrogations. They did this to analyze the information provided.
In 2003 the House Intelligence Committee learned of 1 of the tapes. Rep. Jane Harman (CA) ordered the CIA not to destroy that tape.
On Sept. 15, 2004 the CIA was ordered to “produce or identify” all documents involving interrogation.
In late 2005 the CIA ordered the tapes destroyed.
In 2007 the CIA stated that it had destroyed two tapes related directly related to the 2004 order.
Recently it has been released that the CIA has destroyed 92 tapes of interrogations, some or all might be covered by the 2004 court order.

On the surface this looks like the CIA has violated both a congressional and a court order. In my lifetime I have seen the citizens get outraged when the government went too far. Be it a president lying about an affair, 18 minutes of tape missing, or congressional hearings into communist activities, when the truth was revealed Americans spoke up. Can someone explain to me why not now?

I will read your answer(s), but this time I will not argue with you. I’m just trying to understand.

Stanford Smith

I got these responses without comment in the order they responded. I found their responses fascinating and eye opening. I have not edited them. I have removed the name of the sender.

Response 1:

Stanford,

I feel the exact same way about this issue, as well as a others that the Bush Administration initiated or took part in.

Before I give my opinion did you hear the recent news this week that some guy named Seymour Hersh (sp) spoke of the "Bush/Cheney Assissination Team," that went around taking out various people in areas around the world. Apparently this team; military unit or whatever you want to call it doesn't have any oversight other than in the last Administration from Cheney and if true they still exist but no one knows to what extent. I'm curious to hear more about this, as this just adds to the many arguments that Bush and Cheney should have long ago been brought up on War Crime charges. I however will not be surprised if this just goes away like some of the others have.

Now I am beginning to wonder who is really running and controlling this country. I am really getting concerned about how we as citizens seem to just accept things without researching, questioning or as you say expressing outrage over acts such as this one committed by the CIA. There seems to be a lot of (complacency) similar to what I witnessed in the late 80's early 90's as the crips and the bloods gangs, started taking over certain parts of Norheast Denver; in that people saw things and knew things but stopped getting involved to stop these things out of fear of being attacked and/or killed for speaking out. Contrast that to the 60's and 70's where everyone in those same neighborhoods took pride in the areas where they lived and quietly expected the same of the rest of those that resided in the area. If no one is prosecuted and convicted for taking part in the destruction of those tapes after being ordered not to do so, I'm afraid its already too late and there may be nothing anyone can do. These guys who are doing this stuff blatantly like this carry on the same as Gangsters, where they are basically daring us to stand up and be outraged for the crap that they do and in the end this mentality will certainly be the demise of the US. It will not be a Terrorist from the mid-east but our own from within that destroys the US. They laughed and poo-poo'd Barack for being a Community activist during the campaign, but its going to take a lot of those same types to help get this country back on the right track.

Just my opinion.

Response 2:

Citizens should be outraged if that were the job of congress. I submit it is not. For too long congress has been overstepping its' bounds and taking on issues that they have no reason to investigate. The far left would love to have the CIA disbanded and all prosecuted, but the more rational amongst us understand that while the CIA has some ugly attributes, they have a purpose of keeping us safe. They do not work for congress, they report to the President.

Congress should praise God every day that they don't have to be involved with the CIA and understand that some necessary things are sometimes not pretty. Maybe they should stick to the steroid in baseball issue. Oh wait, that's nothing to do with them either.

Some people do not understand the importance and inherent danger in National Security. Just because you think you are important because you are in congress does not give you any reason to know every little thing that is being done in the name of National Security. That would make it less secure. Congress wants sensitive information when they can't keep their mouths shut to save their lives over anything sensitive.

I don't mean to seem bitter, but I blame the media. Always claiming that the public has a "right to know". No they don't. Secrets are kept for a reason. The media wants to know when a secret operation is starting because they can't even fathom the concept of Operational Security. If anyone wants to know why we have OpSec, it's so CNN doesn't show up on a beach where Navy Seals are supposed to be inserting on a covert mission, blowing their cover of darkness, element of surprise and getting 14 of them killed.

Americans should not be outraged at the CIA, they should thank God that there are people out there willing to put themselves in harms' way and do the dirty little thing that people don't really want to know about, so they can go about their business with a sense of security and not a care in the world other than "what group should we interfere with today" or "which hooker?"

So sayeth the shepherd, so sayeth the flock. Sermon over.

Response 3:

Congress in my opinion has turned into a circus as of late. It’s ironic that in the 1940’s during World War II that the attitude of interrogation was swift and done on the battle field mostly. I have compassion for those having to sit for years on end waiting for a verdict and don’t think that any of the detainees should have been held this long. If they were guilty then execute them if not send them home be done with it. In my humble opinion of the matter though Media is way too involved in military actions and we have become horribly soft in our actions of war. This is something our enemies play into along with our gallivanting politicians that seem more to show boat than to actually function. I think the CIA has a job to do and need to do it. They need to stop trying to cover the crap and do the job of protecting America. Congress needs to figure out other problems like real issues like immigration and the drug war in Mexico crossing into the US instead of trying to show boat for the baseball committee and hanging the people involved with detainments. We have now turned into the Stimulus show where the only thing I see getting stimulated is the ones that fudged it up and my internal BS meter.

I guess I look at the issue with the tapes and the rest of it as the left wing going after Bush and his presidency. Lately both the parties have been acting like school children trying to get each other prison sentences instead of trying to fix the cripple country. I don’t think either party is innocent and think them both totally to blame cause they making a mess of the place at the expense of America. Just me or do you see a midget called the American people getting anal pains from getting the shaft from the donkey and the elephant. With them going so far to their prospective proverbial sides they both are meeting at either fascism or socialism that the Americans are paying the bill. This also means the monkeys that got interrogated had to pay whether innocent cause as a whole government arm we don’t have our sh1t together anymore.

Maybe we need to send the politicians and have them interrogated for a couple years. Hell throw in the media while we at it cause their coverage is getting to the point that the stroke books produce better stories and at least they have pictures that actually stimulate the American public.

My 2 cents won’t be long that will be my whole check after taxes.

2009-02-11T09:41:00.009-07:00

You know what they say about Corn Syrup

In January of this year the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy published a study of mercury in corn syrup. They purchased products off grocery store shelves and tested them for mercury, selecting ones where corn syrup was the first or second ingredient. Almost 1/3 of the products they tested positive. From the study, "For these youngest children, the science increasingly suggests there may be no 'safe' level of exposure to mercury." I am posting this because I want the best for my grandchildren, and the major news organizations, if they reported on this, only brushed over it.

These products tested positive.

Quaker Oatmeal to Go
Jack Daniel’s Barbecue Sauce (Heinz)
Hershey’s Chocolate Syrup
Kraft Original Barbecue Sauce
Nutri-Grain Strawberry Cereal Bars
Manwich Bold Sloppy Joe
Market Pantry Grape Jelly
Smucker’s Strawberry Jelly
Pop-Tarts Frosted Blueberry
Hunt’s Tomato Ketchup
Wish-Bone Western Sweet & Smooth Dressing
Coca-Cola Classic
Yoplait Strawberry Yogurt
Minute Maid Berry Punch
Yoo-hoo Chocolate Drink
Nesquik Chocolate Milk
Kemps Fat Free Chocolate Milk

Most corn syrup plants have changed their processing methods, and their product will only contain mercury if there is cross-contamination. Several years ago then-Senator Barack Obama introduced legislation to convert the remainint plants. That legislation needs to be reintroduced.

When the institute reported these finding to the FDA they said that they were dealing with the salmonella problem and didn't have time to worry about this.

The study can be found at http://www.healthobservatory.org/library.cfm?refid=105026

I can't give much advice on how to avoid corn syrup except to read ingredients. Also, most fast foods contain corn syrup. Look at small bottlers and foriegn food processors. Many of these use other sugars. Even Coca Cola bottled in Mexico has no corn syrup.

2009-01-06T16:53:00.007-07:00

Christmas Vacation

Christmas Eve Gwen, Kent, Ellie, and Kristina (Kent's sister) came over to our house. Then on Christmas Day we went over to Gwen and Kent's. After Christmas Dianne and I took a trip to Santa Fe, NM.

Ellie got the idea that the paper was to play with. There was also something in side.

I made Dianne a folding shower chair. The wood was the ends of the decking from the remodel.

My parents sent me a Brazilian jangada (fishing boat) that went into my display of South American items.
On our way down to Santa Fe the wind was whipping out of the mountains, blowing the car, and creating interesting clouds. This is south of Pueblo, still in Colorado.
We intended to get gas in Pueblo, but forgot to stop. After noticing that we were very low, in Northern New Mexico, half way between Maxwell and Springer we stopped at a truck stop. It turned out that they had 50's cars and memorabilia.

I had told Dianne that this trip was not about cars, but more on that later.

The wind blew the whole way down. We learned that after we arrive in Santa Fe a tour bus got blown off the road.

We stayed at the El Rey Inn. El Rey Court opened in 1936 with 12 rooms. Over the years the inn has grown through a combination of purchases and construction.
This was the view from our window.
This is the fire place in the breakfast room. There was also a display cabinet with some of their many beautiful items, including a Pueblo Santa Clara pot made in 1936 for the original court.
On Sunday we took a drive South on the Turquoise Trail. We stopped at the Garden of the Gods and Goddesses.
If you expand this picture you will see what looks like sun hitting the back of the holes. On some the color is the color of the more distant rock. It is the more distant rock.
I got in trouble. I was driving, and we were going through Indian reservations. There were many old cars, and apparently I was doing a poor job of driving. (Sorry Dianne)

This was not in the reservations, and therefore pictures were allowed.
We stopped for lunch at a trail head. Someone had decorated the little tree.
We returned to Colorado through Taos. As we were approaching Taos we crested a pass. This was the view.
We looked around Taos for a bit, and ate lunch at the Apple Tree Restaurant. We had their Mango Chicken Enchilada. This is a picture from our table into another seating room.
Leaving Taos, looking back at the haze over the town.
Both of these next pictures were taken at the same point on the road to San Luis, Colorado.

Home again. We returned with a new shade for our back porch light.

2009-01-02T12:07:00.002-07:00

18 days. Have you contacted your President-elect transition team yet? They have made it easy.
http://change.gov/

Leave a question or vote on other people's question:
http://change.gov/openforquestions

The questions are divided into categories. As of this posting in several categories the most voted on question is this or something similar. "Will you appoint a Special Prosecutor - ideally Patrick Fitzgerald - to independently investigate the gravest crimes of the Bush Administration, including torture and warrantless wiretapping?"

2008-12-30T18:58:00.005-07:00

Catching Up

In this blog entry I am posting more pictures from Ian's visit, pictures from Dianne's birthday dinner, and some older pictures. There are a lot of pictures here.

Pictures from Ian's visit:

Dianne's Birthday Dinner:

We took my parents to Ristorante Tra Vigne in St. Helena.
The food was very good, and unique. For example Dianne got the wood oven fired pizza with chicken sausage, red onions, potatoes, arugala, and soft cooked organic egg. The complete brunch menu is here.
As I left the restaurant I saw the Napa Valley Wine Train.
Later we caught up with the train again.
Older pictures (much older):

In 1956 we picked up our new Chrysler Windsor Town & Country at the factory, and drove it home to Berkeley.

In Colorado we stopped at the Garden of the Gods. This is Balanced Rock.
We drove over Loveland Pass into Utah.

This is the Kennecutt copper mine in Ruth NV.
Sometime after we got home we went up to the Tilden Park Train.
When I posted these pictures on the Forward Look forum (1955 - 1961 Chrysler Corp cars) I had comments about the quality of the the pictures including guessing that they were Kodachrome, and about the professional level of the photographers.

2008-11-30T15:30:00.004-07:00

This will be one of my misc. postings.

Ian, Mandy, and Ainsley came to visit for the week of Thanksgiving. I have very few pictures, and most of what I do have are on film and will by published later.

On Thanksgiving we went over to Gwen and Kent's house. I wanted pictures of Ainsley and the Blue Heron to post on the www.forwardlook.net regional forum. I like the third one here enough it is now one of the pictures in my cube at work.

Kent's family were visiting from Texas. Left to right are Kent's step-mom Pam, sister Caitlin, and Dianne.
Kent's dad Irl holding Ellie.
On Friday night, after Ian, Mandy, and Ainsley had headed home it started to snow. The 9:00 news said, as we were having accumulating snow, that we could expect a dusting at most. So, this is what we woke to, and what I shoveled.
So, at 9:00 PM Saturday I listened to the news again. The worst was over, and today we would have scattered snow showers ending at noon. It snowed into the afternoon, and this is a picture taken at about 4:00 PM. We got at least twice as much today as yesterday.
No more pictures for now. Just a story.

Dianne and I went shopping yesterday afternoon. First we went to Linens & Things closing sale to see if they had any meat thermometers. They were sold out of them. But we got a new Espresso machine, a new Crock Pot, a table cloth, and some chocolate. We then went to Costco for gas, and went into the store to see if they had a doll that would work for a present. No doll. We left with things that are cheaper there; pears, papaya, milk, etc. I told Dianne that if we saved any more money we would be broke!

2008-11-24T19:57:00.005-07:00

I have reached a milestone in the remodel. The interior part is done. The last items were small.

When we bought the house there were three hat racks in the closet. They worked fine until you put something on them. They had one screw, and would turn over if things were not balanced. Clearly by the design they had originally had some type of bracket. So, I made my own brackets.

Also we bought a coat rack (at the back) and I doubled the number of pegs to hang things.

That was it. We are done with the interior. Here are some pictures of the master suite.

2008-11-04T12:50:00.002-07:00

Sunrise taken from the front of the house.
We've had a mild fall, though cooler weather is arriving today.
We invited the owners of a classic car salvage yard to stay with us for a night. They are coming this Thursday. In preparation I proceeded to ruin the pre-hung doors on the master bedroom, and on the second bathroom. I had to order new doors which I got completed this last weekend. I like the grain on this door.

2008-10-12T14:00:00.005-06:00

On September 6th we went to the Estes Park Scottish/Irish festival. At the end I've included a couple of later pictures.
Our day started watching a parade.
The majority of the parade was of many of the clans represented.
Some clans were larger than others.
Dogs of Scotland were in the parade, and in the fair.

One of the few cars in the parade.
This is one of a couple of restored jeeps, complete with gun. At the fair there was a complete camp with actors.
Parade cop, prior to the start.
The fair had traditional Scottish competitions.

There were some catapults. To fire someone climbs the steps on the right side to connect the pulleys to crank the arm down. It took a couple of people on each side of the catapult, turning large wheels.
The pulleys were removed, and a bowling ball placed in the sling. Then it was fired.

Over head a couple of old military plane flew over.

In one tent there was a model of the Flying Scotsman. They modeled the towns on the route, with liberties. Here is one of the many dragons hidden in the display.
A dragon driving a tractor.
Sitting on the back porch with Ellie.
We rebuilt the dog's sandbox. Almost instantly the dogs threw sand all over. I built this wall around the sandbox. I cut the doorway to match the shape I have used on gates, and the pergola.
I recently learned something about my photography. I do better with my film camera than I do with my digital camera. Other people do better with digital. It is not that film is better, or that digital is better. It is how I photograph, and the quality of my cameras.

My film camera is better than my digital, and it shows. But for me there's another factor. For this post I took many more digital pictures than I did film pictures. Yet 8 of the pictures were from film. My previous recent post where I was catching up on pictures were all film pictures. The power of digital is, for me, the problem. Digital allows me to take many pictures and delete the bad ones. What happens is that I do not take the time and care to insure that the pictures have value. Film slows me down, and I take that time.

2008-10-08T11:48:00.003-06:00

Another step has been taken in the dismantling of our democracy. I will start with the history.

Our founding fathers studied previous democracies, and their collapse. One particular example that is relevant is that the Roman democracy effectively ended when Caesar, in violation to the long standing Senate prohibition, crossed the Rubicon while still commanding the military forces. Caesar tipped the balance of power away from the Senate. The ultimate consequence was the disappearance of democracy for seventeen centuries.

It was because of the study or history that our founding fathers put into place the three independent branches of government, and created the checks and balances.
“The constitution supposes, what the history of all governments demonstrates, that the Executive is the branch of power most interested in war, and most prone to it. It has accordingly with studied care, vested the question of war in the legislature.” James Madison in a letter to Thomas Jefferson

Prior to 2006 the Insurrection Act of 1807 state “Whoever, except in cases and under circumstances expressly authorized by the Constitution or Act of Congress, willfully uses any part of the Army or the Air Force as a posse comitatus or otherwise to execute the laws shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more that two years, or both.”

On June 16, 1878 the Posse Comitatus Act was passed. This act prohibits federal military personnel and the United States National Guard under federal control from acting in a law enforcement capacity within the Untied States, except where expressly authorized by Congress. (The Coast Guard is exempt.)

In Oct. 2002 the Northern Command was created. The Northern Command is under the Secretary of Defense. Its mission is to protect the United States homeland and support local, state, and federal authorities, limited by the Posse Comitatus Act.

The Insurrection Act was amended in the 2007 Defense Authorization Bill to state the following.
space(1) The President may employ the armed forces,
spaceincluding the NationalGuard in Federal service, to
spacespace(A) restore public order and enforce the
spacespacelaws of the United Stateswhen, as a result
spacespaceof a natural disaster, epidemic, or other
spacespaceserious public health emergency, terrorist
spacespaceattack or incident, or other condition in any
spacespaceState or possession of the United States, the
spacespacePresident determines that—
spacespacespace(i) domestic violence has occurred to
spacespacespacesuch an extent that the constituted
spacespacespaceauthorities of the State or possession
spacespacespaceare incapable of maintaining public
spacespacespaceorder, and
spacespacespace(ii) such violence results in a condition
spacespacespacedescribed in paragraph (2); or
spacespace(B) suppress, in a State, any insurrection,
spacespacedomestic violence, unlawful combination,
spacespaceor conspiracy if such insurrection, violation,
spacespacecombination, or conspiracy results in a
spacespacecondition described in paragraph (2).
space(2) A condition described in this paragraph is
spacea condition that—
spacespace(A) so hinders the execution of the laws
spacespaceof a State or possession, as applicable,
spacespaceand of the United States within that State or
spacespacepossession, that any part or class of its
spacespacepeople is deprived of a right, privilege,
spacespaceimmunity, or protection named in the
spacespaceConstitution and secured by law, and
spacespacethe constituted authorities of that
spacespaceState or possession are unable, fail, or
spacespacerefuse to protect that right privilege,
spacespaceor immunity, or to give that protection;
spacespaceor
spacespace(B) opposes or obstructs the execution
spacespaceof the laws of the Unites States or
spacespaceimpedes the course of justice under
spacespacethose laws.

This amendment to the Insurrection Act was repealed in the 2008 Defense Authorization Bill, but President Bush, in a signing statement exempted himself.

This amendment to the law removes the requirement that the State request National Guard help in an emergency. Every member of the National Governors Association signed a letter stating “This provision was drafted without consultation or input from governors and represents an unprecedented shift in authority from governors … to the federal government.”

On May 4, 2007, after he gained the new-found authority in the Insurrection Act, President Bush sign the National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive (often call Directive 51). Most of the document is classified. Unclassified sections state that in an emergency an “Enduring Constitutional Government” will take the place of the nation’s regular government. That is, the President can suspend our government. The emergency is construed as “any incident, regardless of location, that results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting to U.S. population, infrastructure, environment, economy, or government functions.” (emphasis added)

Recently the Army stationed The Infantry Division’s 1st Brigade Team under the control of US Army North, the Army service component of the Northern Command.

This President has given himself the power to suspend our government in a national emergency such as a stock market meltdown, and armed himself to enforce that action. Mr. Bush has crossed the Rubicon.

2008-10-07T19:37:00.008-06:00

I need to catch up on what we have been doing. I will start with a few pictures from Ian, Mandy, and Ainsley's visit, and from our visit to Daria, Andy, Summer, and Baxter. I will be posting some more recent pictures in a future post.

Ian, Mandy, and Ainsley's visit

Daria, Andy, Summer, and Baxter

2008-09-22T10:37:00.005-06:00

On Saturday afternoon Dianne and I went the 2nd annual Colfax Avenue Cruise. It consisted of five locations along Colfax Ave. that people could either park and watch the cars drive by, or drive through to see the park cars. One location was the parking lot at Mile High where we met two other "Forward Look" owners.

Forward Look cars are Chrysler products made between 1955 and 1961.

After we left Mile High Dianne and I went to 3 other of the locations, where we mostly cruised through.

I forgot to grab my camera as we left the house so the pictures below were taken by Mike Sutherland.

Dianne, me, and Joe Godec
Mike, me, and Joe
My car, Blue Heron. Joe's car is the blue/white one next to mine.
Joe's car's engine. He has a 1960 Plymouth with a performance engine. This is almost completely stock.
Blue Heron dash
Plymouth dash. The square steering wheel was an option which looks great, but is not practical.
Blue Heron tail fin
Plymouth tail fin. Chrysler did not refer to these as fins. They were "stabilizers".
Blue Heron nose

2008-09-03T16:40:00.002-06:00

This is very important. Please follow these links.

Democracy Now's Elizabeth Press detained
Amy Goodman and Two Democracy Now Producers Arrested
Amy Goodman Grills St. Paul Police
Media coverage on the arrest of Amy Goodman
Call to action on behalf of DN!

2008-08-28T17:03:00.003-06:00

If you are looking for my vacation post it is below this one.

The news has not publicized the illegal actions of the Denver and Aurora Police during the Democratic National Convention. They have used the time proven techniques of assaulting peaceful protesters, illegally covering their badges so that they can not be identified, arresting people not violating the law including those recording their actions, assaulting the demonstrators without giving an order to disperse, etc.

I have liked Mayor Hickenlooper prior to this. My respect for him is now on trial. He is a politician, and hopefully will respond to public pressure. Please email him at MileHighMayor@denvergov.org

Below are a few links to reports.
http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2008/08/the_right_of_the_people_to_pea.php#more
http://www.democracynow.org/2008/8/26/denver_police_arrest_91_fire_pepper
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/videos/detail/police-use-force/

I sent the following in an email to the mayor.
--------------------------

Mayor Hickenlooper

I am an admirer of what you have done for the City and County of Denver, and as a Colorado voter am hoping that you consider running for other offices. That said, I am very concerned about how the police have acted during the DNC. There are too many reports of officers with their badges not visible (illegal), violence to non-violent protesters, cruel conditions in the detention center, compact flash cards containing pictures of police action not being returned after detention, etc.

I understand, and support the arrest of those violating the law.

My future support of you depends upon how these actions are investigated. Trust can be restored by a complete and open investigation. If those that violated the law, both protesters and police are prosecuted I would probably vote for you in the future. If all photo documentation of police action is returned to their rightful owner immediately I would probably vote for you in the future. If you are part of a cover-up, not only would I not vote for you, but I would support your prosecution as an accomplice.

Stanford Smith

2008-08-26T20:38:00.024-06:00

Dianne and I just got back from visiting Daria, Andy, Summer, Baxter, Lucky, and Yedi in Vermont.

I asked at work when I could get a vacation and they said ASAP, so we called Daria to see if we could visit. She said it was OK as long as we brought sunshine with us. We told her that she could send the rain our way. We both kept our end of the deal. We were on track for one of the driest years on record. The day before we left it started to rain, and in two days we got a couple of inches of water. We needed the water, but it delayed our flight three hours. In Chicago we ran through the rainbow tunnel to catch our next flight. Luckily it was delayed about 40 minutes.

Waves are not a good thing in airports.

Sunday we went to the Orleans County Fair where Daria and Andy were photographing for Vermont Life.

It's Sunday, so you have to have religion! If you click on the picture you can read the blue sign on the left of the picture. There were two people sitting and listening, and musicians waiting to perform.

"Ker-Bri Farm Natural Colored Sheep" I didn't see any non-natural colored sheep, so I guess I'll have to use my imagination.

Patriotism is painting your car red, white, and blue, putting a flag on the roof, then taking it to a demolition derby! The haze is from smoke coming from the far end of the field.

We watched a couple of heats of the 4 cylinder class. The last three cars running went on to the finals later in the day. The yellow car and the one behind it both moved on. Click on the picture to see how smashed up they are. Many of the cars moving on were dragging a non-turning wheel. Those that made it to the finals must drive these same cars, so they will be doing as much repair as possible.

Summer and Baxter waiting to ride the Gravitron. Click on the picture to read the sign in the background.

Wikipedia can describe the Gravitron better than I can. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravitron Summer and Baxter were at the back of the line for the ride.

In general the people of Vermont are healthy. The attendees of this fair were an exception as the picture shows.

This was the second time riding the Gravitron, and once too many times for Baxter. He felt awful for the rest of the day.

On the way to the fair I saw cars in a field. On the way back Baxter was asleep, and Andy stopped for me to look. I saw this 1958 Plymouth (red and yellow car), and went to take a picture. My intent was to find a phone number and get back in the car. When I approached the driveway several dogs came out barking along with the owner. I told the owner what I was doing, and said I wanted a contact number. He decided to show me his yard.

We went beyond the trees in the previous picture. I didn't want a tour. All I wanted was a phone number. Baxter woke up, and Dianne started to yelled for me. Being in the woods I didn't hear her at first.

The owner only wants 1.6 million for the whole yard! (No one is buying.)

On Tuesday Summer had a party in a park. I only took one picture, and it was awful of everyone there. You will have to wait until Daria posts something.

On Friday we got to spend the afternoon and evening with Summer, and Baxter. We started out by taking them and their friends Mia and Will to putt-putt golf.

Andy took Daria on a date.

Mia
Will
Setting up a shot.

After golfing we went to Mai's and Will's house to go swimming. Summer got into the water quickly, and stayed in after everyone else got out. (Dianne and I stayed dry.)

This is Max, the younger brother of Mia and Will.

Mia after swimming.

Will in a water fight. He was having problems because the elastic in his swim trunks was worn out.

We went to dinner at Friendly's. Baxter decided he wanted to try and win a toy rather than have ice cream. This machine is set up to be "play till you get a prize". The previous player gave up, so Baxter played without putting in money. He tried to get a race car, or anything else except a ball. After about a half hour of trying he ended up catching a ball. Since the play was free, we gave him the $2.00 it would have cost us.

On Saturday Daria went to the Deerfield County Fair. Dianne and I rode with her, and went on to Bennington. Our first stop was the Hemmings Motor News car display. This is a 1934 Brewster Town Car.

This is the first auto museum that I have heard of that allows anyone to touch their cars. I was speaking to an employee and explaining that I like old luxury cars. He told me to sit in the back of this Buick.

They have more than just cars. At the front of the place there is a working service station with a gift shop. There are signs, tools, and much more on display. This is a Packard.

After the museum we went to Bennington Potters. The entrance to the shop had this cow with it's head inside the shop. Sorry that the picture is so busy; it was. There was also a moose in rubber boots sticking it's head into the shop.

After picking up Daria at the fair we stopped at this diner.

On Sunday Daria had a party at the house. At this particular moment Yeti was still.

Daria and Kathy Kjelleren

The party was not even over when I caught this mess! Dianne and I did a lot of preparation, but Andy ended up doing the lion's share of the cleanup.

Yeti loves chasing the ball. From the living room we would toss the ball upstairs and Yeti would run up to get it. Normally he brings it down, but during these photos he was dropping the ball through the railing. With my slow digital camera I was unable to catch him at the moment of the drop.

The first picture is of the pond liner in front of Daria and Andy's house.

2008-08-11T09:31:00.010-06:00

Our remodel is at the stage that the rooms are all usable, and look good. We still have a many unfinished items. In this post I will be showing some of the items that Dianne and I did.

The vanity in the master bath is finally in and done. The vanity was a dining room sideboard that we bought used with a damaged top. We bought granite for the top from Habitat for Humanity, but the granite cutter had a scrap that was thicker so he used it instead. We re-donated our piece of granite to Habitat.

I like the blue bath towels with the yellow hand towel and wash cloth. These were purchased as three piece sets of all yellow and all blue, so we also put out the reverse color combination; yellow bath towel with blue hand towel and wash cloth.

Dianne's towels are in the picture. There is another towel rack to the right of this picture for my towels.
The sideboard was not as deep as a vanity. I used some of the wood from the original top to extend the depth to the wall. I matched the existing curves on the bottom of the sideboard. As with most walls this one is not perfectly straight. I didn't want a piece of trim hiding the gaps, so I scribed this piece to fit against the wall perfectly.

I also leveled the vanity by placing spacers under some of the legs. Both of these legs have spacers.
There was a space in the closet that was wasted. To salvage it I made this shelf to sit on the floor. The material is shelving scraps from the remodel.

It is hard to see the shelf in this picture. I have my boots under the shelf, and my paint clothes on top of it. On the right are shoe shelves.

Another item we purchased used was the this fan that is now in the master bedroom. It is a Hunter Douglas fan intended for a much larger space. I'm sure any honest sales person would tell us that it is too big for the space, but we love the ability to blast air.

The second bathroom is coming together also. Dianne made the curtain to cover the front of the washer/dryer. When doing laundry the curtain swings towards the window.
I made some shelves to go over the top of the stacked washer/dryer. There is a pull out a section of closet rod (left over from the remodel). We store empty hangers on it, and when Dianne is washing she can pull it out to hang clothes. The rod is hung from a full-extension drawer track. There is also a basket on the upper shelf that can be pulled out.

I made the supports for the shelves to that they each have an adjustment of three heights. To keep the selves from sliding forwards the selves have notches in them (on the edge of the shelf in the picture below). I still need to add a lock on the height adjustment to insure that the upper shelf does not rock forward.

Dianne got these laundry hampers that fit in the jog of the hall wall.

We use the deck a lot. Dianne put up hooks for the hammock. When not in use the hammock hangs from the hook on the house end (under the roof). The gray cover behind the hammock is for the hot tub.

We are not done yet. Dianne will make a valance for this widow. The new doors need to be stained. There is still trim that need nail holes filled and painted.

From my posts it looks like I have done most of the work. Dianne has done at least her share. She was the one on site during the construction. She did her share of the painting. She went shopping for all the great things I utilized. She kept track of the budget. She did and is doing the decoration. She lived the project.

2008-07-20T11:52:00.012-06:00

It has been way too long since I posted anything. I should have posted pictures from Ian, Mandy, and Ainsley's visit earlier this month. In regards to the house project I kept thinking I'd wait until some part of it was completely done. To date none is.

On July 3rd Dianne went to the Children's museum with the group.
I was able to join everyone on the 4th. We went over the Gwen and Kent's house on both the 4th and the 5th.

On the 4th we all went over to the pool.

There's a story behind the above photo of Gwen and Kent. While Dianne was out of town helping Josie, I worked on building the frame for the deck. At some point my glasses got knocked off my face. I didn't think much of it, except that I kept noticing that I was fatigued. It turned out that my glasses frame was bent, and my focus was slightly off. So, I took all these picture with my dark glasses which are distance glasses.

Gwen asked me to take a picture of the family. Kent is holding Ellie, but later when looking at the pictures all you could see was the top of Ellie's head. I cropped the picture to get what is posted. Many of the pool pictures needed cropping.

This is proof that I was actually their, and since I didn't take the picture it didn't need cropping.
We went back to the house for dinner.

On the fifth we went back to Gwen and Kent's.

As I stated at the top, I kept waiting for some part of the remodel to get done. Instead I decided to brag about my work to date.

The medicine cabinet in this picture came from Habitat for Humanity. It was new, but the glass was chipped on the corner. I framed the glass to cover the chips and to make it fit the decor of the room.

There is a stacked washer and dryer visible behind the wall. It will have a curtain over it. There will be a pull out closet rod to hold the empty hangers, and provide a place to hang clothes as they are removed from the dryer.

The cupboards were used. We got two cupboards, each with two doors, and a cupboard half the size with drawers. We wanted the arrangement you see here; one cupboard with two doors, and one with a single door and drawers.
This picture shows the wide center board of the two-door cupboard.
To make the drawers fit I had to cut the center board in half without removing it from the cupboard. I did an almost perfect job. Unless you are looking for an indication that is was modified you wouldn't see anything.
On May 26th I posted a picture of our shower. It showed a glass brick window. This is the other side of the window. You can see the top of the toilet and an iron piece that will be hung above the toilet.
Denver Water has rebates for replacing old toilets with ones that use less water. The toilet we got was the cheapest to us because it uses only 1.28 gal. of water per flush. It came with a toilet seat. When it was installed we found out that it had one of the new slow closing toilet lids. You start it dropping, and walk away. In a few seconds the lid is closed. It sounds great. One reason it works is that the lid (and seat) are made of light weight plastic. So, you are sitting in meditation, and the seat shifts so that the feet drop off the rim. No damage done, except to your train of thought.

One time the toilet tried to kill me. I stood up and reach down for my pants. As my body went forwards to reach my pants my rear went back to balance me. But, the toilet lid closes slowly, and was at rear height, blocking my counter weight.

I almost didn't include this last picture. My fear is that someone reading this will tell me that the wood I used is environmentally unsound. So, do me a favor. Don't.

We used composite wood (recycled plastic and sawdust) next door. It gets very hot when the sun hits it, and is almost unusable. I wanted something for our deck that was nearly maintenance free and would last. My research led me to sustainable harvest hardwoods. Sustainable harvest woods do not restore previously cut forests. It creates tree farms on land that has already been cut. The company must be certified. The certification I used will decertify a company if they cut new roads into uncut forests. Every company that touches the wood from the grower to the retailer must have certification.

The wood I chose has a 30 to 40 year harvest cycle. It has several common names including champaign ipe, and blond tigerwood. Around the knots it has a 3-d look as if you can see into the wood.

This is our deck using the champaign ipe. Below this picture is a small 2-person hot tub. There will be curtains and railing eventually. The curtain will provide privacy when we want it, and block the view of the shed.

2008-06-18T11:24:00.002-06:00

Dianne is going down to Houston to help out. She is leaving tomorrow morning and will be down there for 6 days.

Dianne and I have been very busy trying to finish up the remodel. This last weekend we painted the second bath and the hall; each twice. In the hall we grabbed two cans of paint that we had used on the walls down stairs. When we were almost done we noticed that one was flat, and one was semi gloss. We didn't have enough paint to finish.

In the second bath we painted the walls with what looked like a very light green on the paint chip. On the walls it looked GREEN. So, feeling green Dianne had to run and buy new paint for both rooms.

When we started our painting we taped off everything. After touching up where the tape did not stick I figured out that it is easier to paint corners without tape. In fact in many cases the best brush to use is a water color brush.

While painting with a water color brush around the top of the wall (first green color) Josie called. Jon heard me say I was over the tub, and thought that was funny.

Jon: Here I am over the tub while talking to you and your mom. I'm painting a big wall with a tiny paint brush.

More updates to come.

2008-05-29T11:23:00.003-06:00

Ellie

2008-05-26T18:30:00.006-06:00

Our home remodel is coming along. Most of this past weekend was spent painting in the master suite, though I did spend a half day with a couple of other '50s Chrysler product owners.

This picture is taken from the church parking lot behind the house. The structure on the left side is our new back deck roof. If you look carefully to the right of that you can see another unpainted wood structure. The pictures after this one are a closeup of that structure.
We now have a pergola with the slats canted towards the southern sky. This simple structure is designed to allow most of the sunlight through in the winter months while providing over 50% shade in the summer.
This design of pergola is used in Australia. Google solar pergola and you can find references. I could not find many informative American references, but did find American contractors saying that it would look bad.

The angle is not exactly correct. For Denver, if the slats go East/West, the ideal angle is 26.5%. That is what these slats are set to, but the slats are a few degrees off of true East/West.
The pergola is working. Dianne has commented that she notices the cooler temperature. Subjectively we believe the house is about 5 degrees cooler. The final test will have to wait until winter.

Our new shower is tiled. The glass block window between the toilet and the shower allows some natural light though.
We are hoping that many of the final touches can be completed in the master suite this week, though we are still waiting for the Talavera Tile sink that matches the tiles in the shower.

Though the house remodel is moving along quickly, until a part of it is done there's little to show.

WARNING: Car stuff below!

As I mentioned I spent a few hours this weekend with some other car people. We met for breakfast, and then drove over the the Cussler Museum. One of the people recently bought a 1958 DeSoto convertible. It can be seen in the rear view mirror.

And my car from the DeSoto.
Our cars at the museum.
Clive Cussler is an author. I have not read his books, and doubt that I want to. He has made enough money off the books to support a very large collection of cars. Each of his books features one of his cars, and he writes himself into each of his books as a minor character.

He rotates the cars from his collection through the museum. One room is dedicated to cars of the '50s, and the other has older coach built cars.
Above is a 1955 Chrysler 300. Below this Clive Cussler's wife's car.
The coach built cars, primarily from the '30s, show an amazing level of artistry. The rear view mirror on one car had decorative scroll work on the back. I saw two cars by the same maker, each with a different decorative grill, and one with a glass hood ornament.
This is a 1918 Cadillac Sports Phaetom that was owned by Flo Ziegfeld of the Ziegfeld Follies. The staff is extremely friendly and knowledgeable. When someone from our group asked how anyone could get into the back seat the the worker demonstrated how the chauffeur would lift the cowl over the passenger's legs and open the door.

2008-05-10T19:06:00.006-06:00

We have started remodeling the master bathroom and closet. In this first picture you can see the framed new walls. The room on the right will be the closet. The is a pocket door going in to save floor space.This is the wall between the shower and the water closet. The boards going across are supports where handrails can be added in the future if we ever need them. It is not clear in this picture, but there is a window frame built in this wall. There will be glass blocks so that the shower will have some natural light.
Both the shower and the water closet will have vent fans.
I wish this next picture was the only problem we have had or will have. The plumber did not ask where we wanted the shower valve. The shower head will be on the wall to the left, but the old plumbing was in the wall far wall, and that's where he put the valve. It is now moved.
Before we started the floor would squeak as you walk across it. To fix that I went around putting screws in the sub floor. Even then there were places that the old sub floor had to be removed and new wood put down to stop the squeaks.

There are two other parts to this project. There will be a deck off the back of the house, and the second bathroom upstairs will have a stackable washer/dryer installed. We don't want to have all our bathing facilities torn apart at the same time, so the second bath is waiting until the first bath is usable. We have started the work on the back deck.

Foundation pier were poured. Only the closest pier in this picture is for the deck. The others are for a pergola . The slats will be positioned to let sun though in the winter, but provide shade in the summer.The fascia board was removed, along with some rotted wood.
Well, what happens when you remove roofing? It rains! The contractor tried to put plastic up to keep thing dry if it rained, but last night at 2:00 AM Dianne and I were up taking care of leaks. The clear plastic in this picture is the contractor's. The black plastic is part of what I did in the rain. We also had an old tablecloth and other plastic.
The contractor came out today to put up a better protection. This heavy plastic tarp extends over the ridgepole, and down onto the new roof framing.

Lastly, I highly recommend Democracy Now on TV or radio. It is broadcast on over 300 stations nation wide. To find the times and stations in Vermont go to http://www.democracynow.org/stations/vermont. In Texas go to http://www.democracynow.org/stations/texas In California go to http://www.democracynow.org/stations/california. In Washington go to http://www.democracynow.org/stations/washington.

2008-04-21T12:44:00.018-06:00

I am reposting the following personal viewpoint paper I wrote. My mother "Granny Smith" corrected the previous post, and made several suggestions of ways to improve the post. If you have not visited her blog I highly recommend it. It can by found at http://phyllisophy.blogspot.com/.

This viewpoint can be copied and distributed, but only without modification. I also have this viewpoint in a Word document. There are differences in formatting, and I have included an appendix in the Word document. I will provide a copy of the Word document upon request.

An Argument for Indictment

In this paper I am arguing that Donald Henry Rumsfeld, George Walker Bush, Richard Bruce “Dick” Cheney, and others should be prosecuted for war crimes as defined by United States law and international law. If for any reason one or more are exempt from prosecution under domestic law they should be turned over to the Hague or other international venue for prosecution under international law.

Pursuing these charges is historically important. Not doing so will make a mockery of the action of our predecessors and question the very motivation behind the Nuremberg Tribunal after World War II. Our prosecutor in the discussions leading up to the tribunal assured the world that international laws were as binding to the United States as they were to Germany.

I will point out the domestic or international laws under which I recommend that charges be brought. I will give evidence of the violation of these laws by citing public records. I will not, though, be providing proof of guilt. Only a prosecution in front of a court of law can do that. I argue that there is sufficient evidence to bind these people over for trial.

After the German surrender, the victorious nations charged some of the leaders of the defeated Germans with war crimes. They were tried at the International Military Tribunal at Nuremburg. Before the start of the trial there was an International Conference on Military Trials in London. On July 23, 1945 the Chief American Prosecutor Robert H. Jackson stated the following.

If certain acts of violation of treaties are crimes, they are crimes whether the United States does them or whether Germany does them, and we are not prepared to lay down a rule of criminal conduct against others which we would not be willing to have invoked against us.[1]

Thus the very justification for trying others is the promise of equal justice should the violation be one done by the United States. If we do not keep this promise then our motivation in prosecuting the defeated is put into question.

In September 1946 judgment was passed down on the defendants. The following is a quote from the Judgment of the International Military Tribunal.

To initiate a war of aggression, therefore, is not only an international crime; it is the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole.[2]

Twelve defendants were sentenced to death; three were given life sentences; and four received lesser sentences. These sentences were “crimes whether the United States (did) them or whether Germany (did) them.”

It is the promise of equal enforcement that makes the Nuremberg Tribunal more than retaliation by the victors against the defeated. A failure now to fulfill this promise is an admission that we were part of the retaliatory execution of twelve people, and the political imprisonment of seven others.

The United States has supported prosecutions of violations of war crimes since World War II including into the 21^st century. In June of 2001 former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic was sent to The Hague to face war crimes charges. President George Bush praised the action saying that Belgrade was moving “toward a brighter future as a full member of the community of European democracies.”[3]

Months before the attack on the United States George W. Bush was praising the prosecution of Slobodan Milosevic for war crimes. As I will show, there is evidence that within months the United States was itself committing war crimes.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower saw that we would be judged not only on our strength, but also on how we used it in the world. The following is from his Farewell Address, January 17, 1961.

America is today the strongest, the most influential and most productive nation in the world. Understandably proud of this pre-eminence, we yet realize that America's leadership and prestige depend, not merely upon our unmatched material progress, riches and military strength, but on how we use our power in the interests of world peace and human betterment.

Eisenhower continued with these following warnings.

In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.

We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.

And

The weakest must come to the conference table with the same confidence as do we, protected as we are by our moral, economic, and military strength. That table, though scarred by many past frustrations, cannot be abandoned for the certain agony of the battlefield.

Disarmament, with mutual honor and confidence, is a continuing imperative. Together we must learn how to compose difference, not with arms, but with intellect and decent purpose.

It is my assertion that we now have “the strongest (and) the most influential … nation in the world” with “the disastrous rise of misplaced power” “endanger(ing) our liberties or democratic processes”. Rather than protecting the weakest the right to be at the conference, we have forgotten our moral strengths. “America's leadership and prestige” is at risk. Recovering it requires demonstrating to the world that it holds itself to the same high standard as we hold the rest of the world. It requires that when our leadership violates international law that we used to hang a dozen people and lock up seven others that we hold them equally responsible and liable.

The complete text of Eisenhower’s speech can be found at http://www.eisenhower.archives.gov/speeches/farewell_address.html.

The War Crimes Act of 1996 specifically defines as a crime “…a grave breach in any of the international conventions signed at Geneva 12 August 1949, or any protocol to such convention to which the United States is a party…” These are punishable by fine, imprisonment, or death. In addition to this law explicitly stating that we are bound by the Geneva Convention the constitution binds us to International Law accepted by Treaty by the United States. This was granted in Article VI, Clause 2 of the United States Constitution.

This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof, and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land, and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.

As such, any mention of international law in this paper can be considered United States law, and punishable by United States courts.

One of the charges brought at Nuremberg was “Planning, initiating and waging wars of aggression and other crimes against peace” which in the judgment was called “the supreme international crime”. It was with this historic knowledge that on December 14, 1974 the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the Definition of Aggression.[4]

Article 1

Aggression is the use of armed force by a State against the sovereignty, territorial integrity or political independence of another State, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Charter of the United Nations, as set out in this Definition.

Article 2

The first use of armed force by a State in contravention of the Charter shall constitute prima facie evidence of an act of aggression although the Security Council may, in conformity with the Charter, conclude that a determination that an act of aggression has been committed would not be justified in the light of other relevant circumstances, including the fact that the acts concerned or their consequences are not of sufficient gravity.

Article 3

Any of the following acts, regardless of a declaration of war, shall, subject to and in accordance with the provision of article 2, quality as an act of aggression:

Any of the following acts, regardless of a declaration of war, shall, subject to and in accordance with the provision of article 2, quality as an act of aggression:

(a) The invasion or attack by the armed forces of a State of the territory of another State, or any military occupation, however temporary, resulting from such invasion or attack, or any annexation by the use of force of the territory of another State or part thereof;

(b) Bombardment by the armed forces of a State against the territory of another State or the use of any weapons by a State against the territory of another State;
…

Article 5

1. No consideration of whatever nature, whether political, economic, military or otherwise, may serve as a justification for aggression.

2. A war of aggression is a crime against international peace. Aggression gives rise to international responsibility.

…

The United States invasion of the sovereign state of Iraq could only be considered not an act of aggression if Iraq had taken the first military action or if the Security Council of the United Nations declared the action nonaggression. At this time we know that Iraq took no part in the attack of September 11, 2001 on the United States. There is evidence that on March 20, 2003 when the United States attacked Iraq that George Bush and Dick Cheney knew that Iraq had no part in the attack of the United States.

The administration wanted to use the attack of September 11 as a pretext for invading Iraq. Within days there was a concerted effort on the part of the administration to find evidence that Iraq was connected to al Qaeda. From the start they used knowingly false intelligence to justify their planned invasion.

On September 17, 2001 George Bush signed the “war on terror” document which contained directions to the Pentagon instructing them to plan for the option of a military invasion of Iraq.[5]

On September 19, 2001 Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet was told by George Bush “I want to know about links between Saddam and al Qaeda.” Dick Cheney informed George Tenet of reports that hijacker Mohammed Atta met with senior Iraqi intelligence officials in Prague. After looking into it George Tenet reported back that Prague CIA office thinks the report “doesn’t add up.” Adding to that, during the time that Atta was supposedly in Praque his credit card and phone were used in Virginia.[6]

Even though the Mohammed Atta meeting was shown not to have happened, on December 9, 2001 on “Meet the Press” Dick Cheney responded with the following to a question about Mohammed Atta.

“Well, what we now have that’s developed since you and I last talked, Tim, of course, was that report that’s been pretty well confirmed, that he did go to Prague and he did meet with a senior official of the Iraqi intelligence service in Czechoslovakia last April, several months before the attack.

Now, what the purpose of that was, what transpired between them, we simply don’t know at this point. But that’s clearly an avenue that we want to pursue.”[7]

Even after the invasion Dick Cheney maintained the impression that this report had not been totally discredited. On September 14, 2003 on “Meet the Press” he revisited the subject with this.

“With respect to 9/11, we’ve had the story that’s been public out there. The Czechs alleged that Mohammed Atta, the lead attacker, met in Prague with senior Iraqi intelligence official five months before the attack, but we’ve never been able to develop anymore of that yet in terms of confirming it or discrediting it. We just don’t know.”

Keep in mind that there needs to be a link between the government of Iraq and the events of September 11, 2001. Short of some type of connection with these attacks “The first use of armed force by a State” in the definition of aggression was made by the United States under the direction of George W. Bush.

On April 29, 2007 on “60 Minutes” George Tenet said “We could never verify that there was any Iraqi authority, direction and control, complicity with al-Qaeda for 9/11 or any operational act against America, period.”[8]

The following are excerpts from a Codoleezza Rice interview on September 10, 2006.[9] It is important to notice what is said about links to September 11, and not just links between administrations.

WALLACE: And in March 2003, just before the invasion, you said, talking about Iraq, “a very strong link to training Al Qaeda in chemical and biological techniques.” Secretary Rice, a Senate committee has just revealed that in February of 2002, months before the President spoke … the Defense intelligence Agency concluded this … “Iraq is unlikely to have provided bin Laden any useful CB, that’s chemical or biological, knowledge or assistance.” Didn’t you and the President ignore intelligence that contradicted you case?

RICE: What the President and I and other administration officials relied on and – you simply rely on the Director of Central Intelligence. George Tenet gave that very testimony, that there were ties going on between Al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein’s regime going back for a decade. We know that Zarqawi was running a poisons network in Iraq. We know that Zarqawi ordered the killing of an American diplomat in from Iraq. There were ties between Iraq and Al Qaeda. Now, are we learning more now that we have access to people like Saddam Hussein’s intelligence services? Of course. We’re going to learn more.

WALLACE: Did you know about this report?

RICE: There are conflicting intelligence reports all the time. That’s why we have an intelligence system that brings those together into a unified assessment by the intelligence committee of what – community of what we’re looking at. That particular report I don’t remember seeing.

Note that there was no mention of Saddam Hussein’s involvement in the attack on the United States.

On March 21, 2004 Richard Clarke spoke with Leslie Stahl on 60 Minutes.[10] Richard Clarke has written that he was one of the few people staffing the White House after it was evacuated on September 11, 2001.

STAHL: After the President returned to the White House on 9/11, he and his top advisors including Clarke began holding meetings about how to respond and retaliate. As Clarke writes in his book, he expected the administration to focus its military response on Osama bin laden and al Qaeda but was surprised when the talk quickly turned to another target.

STAHL: You relayed a conversation you had with Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld.

CLARKE: Well Rumsfeld was saying that we needed to bomb Iraq and we all said ‘No no, al Qaeda is in Afghanistan. We need to bomb Afghanistan.’ Rumsfeld said, ‘There aren’t any good targets in Afghanistan and there are lots of good targets in Iraq.’ I said, ‘Well there are lots of good targets in lots of places but Iraq had nothing to do with it.’

...

STAHL: Now what was your reaction to all this Iraq talk? What did you tell everybody?

CLARKE: What I said was, you know, invading Iraq or bombing Iraq after we’re attacked by somebody else, it’s akin to, what if Franklin Roosevelt after Pearl harbor instead of going to war with Japan said, “Let’s invade Mexico.” It’s very analogous.

STAHL: But didn’t they think there was a connection?

CLARKE: I thing they wanted to believe that there was a connection but the CIA was sitting there, the FBI was sitting there, I was sitting there saying, We’ve looked at this issue for years, for years we’ve looked for a connection and there’s just no connection.

STAHL: And you told them that?

CLARKE: Absolutely.

...

STAHL: You talk about a conversation you personally had with the president.

CLARKE: Yes. The president – we were in the situation room complex – the president dragged me into a room with a couple of other people, shut the door, and said, “I want you to find whether Iraq did this.” Now he never said “Make it up.” But the entire conversation left me in absolutely no doubt that George Bush wanted me to come back with a report that said “Iraq did this.”

STAHL: Didn’t you tell him that you’d looked and there’s been no connection?

CLARKE: I said, “Mr. President. We’ve done this before. We have been looking at this. We looked at it with an open mind. There’s no connection.” He came back at me and said, ‘Iraq! Saddam! Find out if there’s a connection.’ And in a very intimidating way. I mean, that we should come back with that answer. We wrote a report.

…

CLARKE: It was a serious look. We got together all the FBI experts, all the CIA experts. We wrote the report. We sent the report out to CIA and down to FBI and said, “Will you sign this report?” They all cleared the report and we sent it up to the president and it got bounce by the National Security Advisor or Deputy. It got bounce and sent back saying, ‘Wrong answer.”

There is sufficient evidence that George Bush and Dick Cheney knew that Iraq had no part in the attack on the United States. The evidence shows that this administration decided in less than twenty four hours after a group in Afghanistan attacked, that they were going to uses this as a pretext to attack an innocent State; Iraq.

These accusations are public, and the White House has made statements in defense. This paper is to find if there is sufficient evidence to bind members of the Executive Branch over for prosecution. If they have a defense of legal standing, they can present it in court. What I have presented here is significant evidence, not all the evidence that the United States entered a war of aggression.

The military tribunal after WW II understood that a war of aggression “contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole” including crimes against humanity. The London Charter of the International Military Tribunal included in there definition of what Axis Powers could be tried for “Crimes Against Humanity: namely, murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation, and other inhumane acts committed against any civilian population, before or during the war; or persecution on political, racial or religious grounds in execution of or in connection with any crime within the jurisdiction of the Tribunal, whether or not in violation of the domestic law of the country where perpetrated.”[11] In 2002 the International Criminal Court further defined it as the following.

For the purpose of this Statute, “crime against humanity” means any of the following acts when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack.
(a) Murder;
(b) Extermination;
(c) Enslavement;
(d) Deportation or forcible transfer of population;
(e) Imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty in violation of fundamental rules of international law;
(f)Torture;
(g)Rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization, or any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity;
(h) Persecution against any identifiable group of collectivity on political, racial, national, ethnic, cultural, religious, gender as defined in paragraph 3, or other grounds that are universally recognized as impermissible under international law, in connection with any act referred to in this paragraph or any crime within the jurisdiction of the Court;
(i) Enforced disappearance of persons;
(j) The crime of apartheid;
(k) Other inhumane acts of similar character intentionally causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or to mental or physical health.[12]

Of the listed crimes there is evidence that the United States in their war against Iraq have committed (at least) these.

(a) Murder
(e) Imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty in violation of fundamental rules of international law
(f) Torture
(i) Enforced disappearance of persons

I will examine these independently.

In the United States, in general, murder is the killing of human being with malice prepense. Malice can be the intent to kill or the disregard for human life. Common Law defines it as malice aforethought, which has the same meaning.[13]

Just the fact that people have died in a war of aggression is on the surface, by definition, murder. Initiating a war of aggression against the State of Iraq is an act done without regard for the lives including civilian lives. That is the malice. The war was planned. That is the prepense or aforethought. But, the United States military have used weaponry that by their design has an extremely high rate of civilian deaths.

Cluster bombs have been used extensively in Iraq. These bomb detonate above the ground and spreading small submunitions call “bomblets” over a large area. Thus anyone within this area is a potential target. Add to that that there is a high rate of bomblets not detonating at the time. These will sometimes explode at a later time.

Human Rights Watch reports almost 2 million bomblets were released between March and April 2003. The Air force released a report showing that 12,726 bomblets were released between May 1, 2003 and August 1, 2006.[14]

On September 14, 2007 the Opinion Research Business (ORB) reported that as many as 1,220,580 people have died in Iraq since our invasion with a margin of error of 2.5%[15]. On Jan 28, 2008 this was revised to 1,033,000
with a range of 946,000 to 1,120,000[16].

The Iraq Body Count records documented violent deaths of civilians. Undocumented, non-violent deaths including those related to the war, and military and para-military deaths are not included. As of Feb 27, 2008 their count is 81,527 – 88,994.[17]

The Iraq Body Count is extremely conservative in their count. It also doesn’t count civilian deaths reported as “insurgent” deaths. In March of this year, for four days several hundred active duty soldier, Iraq war vets, and Afghanistan war vets met at the National Labor College in Silver Spring Maryland for Winter Soldier to give witness to what they saw on the ground. Jason Washburn was a corporal in the United States Marine Corps. He served four years and did three tours in Iraq. This is part of his testimony.

Something else we were actually encouraged to do, almost with a wink and a nudge, was to carry drop weapons or, by my third tour, drop shovels. What that basically is, is we would carry these weapons or shovels with us, because in case we accidentally did shoot a civilian, we could just toss the weapon on the body and make them look like they were an insurgent. Or, you know, like my friend here were saying, we were told by my third tour that if they were carrying a shovel or—you know, and a heavy bag, if they were digging anywhere, especially near roads, that we could shoot them. And so, we actually carried these tools and weapons in our vehicles in case we accidentally shot an innocent civilian, and we could just toss it on them and be like, “Well, he was digging. I was within the rules of engagement.” And this was commonly encouraged, but only behind closed doors. It wasn’t obviously a public announcement that they would make. But, yeah, it was pretty common.[18]

These deaths were not included in the body count.

There is strong international support for banning cluster bombs. As of November 27, 2007, 84 states have participated in the Oslo process to ban them.

Afghanistan, Albania, Angola, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, Burundi, Chad, Chile, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea Bissau, Greece, Holy see, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Lao PDR, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malawi, Malta, Mauritania, Mexico, Mozambique, Montenegro, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Senegal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, St Vincent and Grenadines, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Turkey, Uganda, UK, Uruguay, Venezuela, Yemen, and Zambia.[19]

The vast majority of humanity believes these munitions have no place in the modern world, yet the United States has used them extensively against the people of Iraq.

To this point, I have been discussing our actions in our war against the State of Iraq. When discussing false imprisonment, torture, and forced disappearance, the scope needs to be expanded to include the so called “War on Terror”. [20]

I have combined the item (e) and (i) of the crimes against humanity. Though related, forced disappearance does not necessarily require imprisonment, in that killing, along with hiding the bodies, is disappearance. Likewise false imprisoning someone in plain view is not forced disappearance. I combined them because of the significant evidence that people have vanished from public view while being imprisoned.

Some of the evidence given here involves turning prisoners over to other governments where they were tortured. Under General Comments 20 of the United Nations Human Rights Committee (October 3, 1992) the United States is responsible for the treatment of these detainees after the have been placed in the custody of these other states.

States parties must not expose individuals to the danger of torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment upon return to another country by way of their extradition, expulsion or refoulement[21]

Because of this I will treat the actions of other countries as actions of the United States when the United States transferred custody to these other countries.

Khalid El-Masri and Laid Saidi have alleged that they were held and tortured because of a phone call about tires.[22] Tires in Arabic is tirat and airplanes is tairat. Apparently this conversation was translated incorrectly.

Khalid El-Masri has German nationality. In 2003 he was detained in Macedonia by Macedonian agents while on vacation. After being held for three weeks he was turned over to the CIA. He was injected with drugs and woke up in Afghanistan in an American run prison. He alleges that the CIA beat him, stripped him naked, drugged him, and gave him an enema. After five months he was dumped on a road in Afghanistan and he made his own way back to Germany.

In 2003 Laid Saidi, an Algerian was abducted in Tanzania and taken to Afghanistan where he was imprisoned with Khalid El-Masri.

This is a specific case of the disappearance and imprisonment of two people. There are reports that over one hundred individuals have been taken to secret sites run by the CIA throughout Eastern Europe, or turned over to countries that torture people. In September 2006 the Bush administration announced that 14 people were being moved from secret CIA run locations to the Guantanamo Bay detention camp.[23]

There are also the following allegations.[24]

Ibn al-Shaykh alibi was rendered to Egypt and allegedly tortured

Ahmed Agiza and Muhammad al-Zery, are Egyptians who were seeking asylum in Sweden. They were arrested by Swedish police Dec 2001, placed upon American registered jet N379P with masked crew, flown to Egypt, and tortured.

Abou Elkassim Britel, Italian, was arrested in Pakistan March 2002, interrogated by Pakistani and U.S. officials, rendered to Moroccan authorities, detained and tortured. He was released May 2003 without charge.

Maher Arar, Canadian, was detained in U.S., sent by private jet to Syria, and tortured.

Saddiq Ahmad Turkistani was freed by US forces from a Taliban prison in Afghanistan 2001. Rather than being released he was taken to US military base, stripped, bound, and thrown behind bars. He was then sent to Guantanamo Bay. In 2005 it was ruled that he was “no longer an enemy combatant”.

In April 2006 Amnesty International stated that three Yemeni citizens were held somewhere in Eastern Europe.

The United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 10, 1984 and went into affect on June 26, 1987. It includes these following excerpts.[25]

Article 1
1. Any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. It does not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in or incidental to lawful sanctions.
2. This article is without prejudice to any international instrument or national legislation which does or may contain provisions of wider application.

Article 2
1. Each State Party shall take effective legislative, administrative, judicial or other measures to prevent acts of torture in any territory under its jurisdiction.
2. No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture.
3. An order from a superior officer or a public authority may not be invoked as a justification of torture.

Article 3
1. No State Party shall expel, return ("refouler") or extradite a person to another State where there are substantial grounds for believing that he would be in danger of being subjected to torture.
2. For the purpose of determining whether there are such grounds, the competent authorities shall take into account all relevant considerations including, where applicable, the existence in the State concerned of a consistent pattern of gross, flagrant or mass violations of human rights.

Article 16
1. Each State Party shall undertake to prevent in any territory under its jurisdiction other acts of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment which do not amount to torture as defined in article I, when such acts are committed by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. In particular, the obligations contained in articles 10, 11, 12 and 13 shall apply with the substitution for references to torture of references to other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

The Israeli Supreme Court ruled the below techniques outlawed as torture. (1999)[26]

Cuffing
Hooding
Loud music
Deprivation of sleep
Position abuse

The European Court of Human Rights ruled that the combination of the above five techniques were prohibited (1978).[27]

United States Code Title 18, Part 1 Chapter 113C provides for the following definition of torture.[28]

“Torture” means an act committed by a person acting under the color of law specifically intended to inflict severe physical or mental pain or suffering (other than pain or suffering incidental to lawful sanctions) upon another person within his custody or physical control;

“Severe mental pain or suffering” means the prolonged mental harm caused by or resulting from –

the intentional infliction or threatened infliction of severe physical pain or suffering;
administration or application, or threatened administration or application, of mind-altering substances or other procedures calculated to disrupt profoundly the senses or the personality;
threat of imminent death; or
the threat that another person will imminently be subjected to death, severe physical pain or suffering, or the administration or application of mind altering substances or other procedures calculated to disrupt profoundly the senses or personality

Modern torture does not leave physical scars. There is no disfigurement from waterboarding, and the clear violation of United States and international laws committed at Abu Ghraib left no marks. Because of this, unless there are pictures or other physical record torture can only be detected by a pool of evidence or admissions of activities. In this case we have both. It is also difficult to determine responsibility because the person authorizing torture rarely participated in it, and can deny their authorization.

There is a pool of evidence that the United States has participated in torture. Of the people I listed as being victim of forced disappearance these have stated that they were tortured.

Khalid El-Masri
Laid Saidi
Ibn al-Shaykh alibi
Ahmed Agiza
Muhammad al-Zery
Abou Elkassim Britel
Maher Arar

The outrageous acts at Abu Ghraib were blamed on the actions of a few people; a few “bad apples.” The techniques used are published in a CIA handbook on coercive interrogation methods written during the Vietnam War, and declassified about a decade ago[29]. We are supposed to believe that new recruits, just out of boot camp, came up with these techniques! And, with each new revelation of people saying that they were tortured by the United States or were sent to other countries and tortured it becomes more likely that these actions were planned and authorized by someone higher in the chain of command.

On February 7, 2002 George Bush signed a memorandum titled “Humane Treatment of al Qaeda and Taliban Detainees. In it he states “none of the provisions of Geneva apply to our conflict with al Qaeda in Afghanistan or elsewhere throughout the world …[30]” He claimed the right to suspend our obligations under the Geneva Convention, declining to do so at that time. He based this on legal stance on a Justice Department’s Jan. 22, 2002 memorandum, and a legal opinion letter Attorney General John Ashcroft’s Feb. 1, 2002. No documents have been released where our obligations were suspended by the President, though that does not say there is or isn’t such a document.

On February 6, 2008 General Michael Hayden admitted that waterboarding was used on three prisoners during 2002 and 2003.[31] The administration of George Bush and Dick Cheney has refused to call this torture, but the evidence contradicts this.

Waterboarding works because it is a threat of imminent death and is thus a violation of United States Code Title 18, Part 1 Chapter 113C.

Waterboarding was designated as illegal by U.S. generals in the Vietnam War.[32]

In Hamdan v Rumsfeld the courts have ruled that Guantanamo is under United Stated control. Previously I included parts of The United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Article 2 has the phrase “any territory under its jurisdiction”. Therefore acts done Guantanamo or other location under U.S. control are covered by United States and international law.

There is no legal justification for torture, including national security. This is made perfectly clear in The United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment Article 2, paragraph 2.

No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture.

More specifically claims that terrorist acts have been averted because of the use of waterboarding and other extreme measures do not excuse these actions. They are torture.

I have written this in great sadness for what we have lost, and in great fear for what the future holds. There is no win here. Trying the President, the Vice President and others for war crimes sets a precedence that could very easily be abused in the future at our great peril. But, not trying these people could damage “our liberties and democratic processes” beyond repair.

The evidence that the United States committed war crimes is significant. Regardless of the legality of the war itself, there is evidence that we forced the disappearance of people, and people were tortured by the United States, or we sent detainees to countries that committed the torture.

There is significant question about the legality of the war itself. If the Iraq war was, as Alan Greenspan stated, “largely about oil”[33] then it was a war of aggression. And, if the war was illegal, then the deaths of civilians and combatants become murder.

The use of illegal means is not an isolated incident or two, but rather is wide spread. Within a few months of September 11, 2001 we were taking people to Egypt to be tortured. This administration has admitted to and defended the use of waterboarding. We openly transported people from secret sites to Guantanamo. Yet we claim that Abu Ghraib was the actions of a few people.

The extent of the evidence of violations of law indicates that policy was set to permit these actions. As Commander in Chief of the armed forces George W. Bush sets the policy, and should be held accountable if that policy is to violate the law.

This administration has admitted that use of waterboarding was the policy in extreme cases, but that it is not torture. Historically the United States has considered this torture. The wording of the law would indicate that it is torture.

Donald Rumsfeld, George W. Bush and Dick Cheney have defended their actions by saying it was to protect the United States from terrorists, yet international law states that there are no exceptions.

I can not find members of this administration guilty of war crime. That is the job of courts of law.

It is important that the United States supports a trial to determine the guilt of innocence of Donald Rumsfeld, George Bush and Dick Cheney. The United States has built a reputation as a defender of human rights and dignity. For over a half a century the country has supported the use international trials to try crimes against humanity. Even George W. Bush supported this. To exempt our administration from them would make a mockery out of previous trials and further destroy our already diminished reputation.

We must listen to President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s warnings. We have “the strongest (and) the most influential … nation in the world” with “the disastrous rise of misplaced power” “endanger(ing) our liberties or democratic processes”. We have forgotten our moral strengths. We have failed to protect the weakest.

If we are to regain the reputation we have lost, we must hold our leaders to the same standard as we hold and have held others. A new administration does not excuse us of the moral responsibility. Morally and legally we must put Donald Henry Rumsfeld, George Walker Bush, Richard Bruce “Dick” Cheney, and others on trail, in a public court for war crimes as defined by United States law and international law.

Stanford Smith
http://55blueheron.blogspot.com/

Foot Notes

[1] http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/imt/jackson/jack44.htm
[2] http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/imt/proc/09-30-46.htm
[3] http://archives.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/europe/06/28/milosevic.court/
[4] United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3314
Text available at http://daccessdds.un.org/doc/RESOLUTION/GEN/NR0/IMG/NR073916.pdf?OpenElement
[5] http://www.motherjones.com/mb/mt-search.cgi?tag=CIA&blog_id=2
[6] http://www.motherjones.com/mb/mt-search.cgi?tag=CIA&blog_id=2
[7] http://www.whitehouse.gove/vicepresident/news-speeches/vp20011209.html
[8] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadam_Hussein_and_al-Qaeda
[9] http://thinkprogress.org/2006/09/10/rice-qaeda-saddam/
[10] http://www.subliminalnews.com/archives/000161.php
[11] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimes_against_humanity
[12] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimes_against_humanity
[13] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder
[14] http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070611/turse
[15] Many references. Corporate site http://www.opinion.co.uk
[16] http://www.opinion.co.uk/Newsroom_details.aspx?NewsId=88
[17] http://www.iraqbodycount.org
[18] http://www.democracynow.org/2008/3/18/winter_soldier_contd_us_vets_active
[19] http://www.stopclustermunitions.org/dokument.asp?id=125
[20] It needs to be stated at this point that the use of murder, false imprisonment, torture, forced disappearance, and other acts of the United States are acts that generate terror. For that reason I will not use the George Bush administration’s name for their activities.
[21] http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/us_law/detainees/prohibits_torture.htm
[22] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraordinary_rendition
[23] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forced_disapperance
[24] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraordinary_rendition
[25] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Convention_Against_Torture
[26] http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/us_law/detainees/prohibits_torture.htm
[27] http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/us_law/detainees/prohibits_torture.htm
[28] http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/ts_search.pl?title=18&sec=2340
[29] http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37340-2004Jun12.html
[30] http://news.lp.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/torture/powtorturememos.html
[31] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterboarding
[32] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterboarding
[33] Many including http://www.harpers.org/archive/2007/09/WeeklyReview2007-09-18#46efbc90ada85

2008-04-15T11:13:00.007-06:00

Springtime in the Rockies

Having fruit trees in this area and wanting the fruit is a risk. As of this morning our plum tree is in bloom. Snow is predicted for tomorrow.

Luckily we have flowers that don't mind the snow.
And the orchids inside are happy regardless of the weather.

Construction Update
Preparation

Before this project got started we replaced the back door. In an earlier post you saw a picture of the new front door.

The old back door was a cheap one we had purchased shortly after moving in. We constantly had problems with it including not get paint to stick to the "must paint" trim.

This is the new door. It is a better door, is clad so it doesn't need exterior paint, and it is better insulated.

Construction Update
Demolition

First, I didn't report a dinosaur find. Can you imagine how that would delay the project? But more on that later.

This last weekend we rented a jackhammer and demolished the old back patio. I used the tool until I literally couldn't pick it up any more. Dianne had to help me get it out of the hole.

This is our back door now. We made a very temporary step for the dogs to get in and out of the house.

When the concrete was removed I found siding going behind the patio slab touching the dirt under the slab. This will need attention during the project.
We are trying to reuse as much of the concrete as possible. Some of the pieces we set aside to be used as stepping stones or pavers. I used the smallest rubble to create a drainage area/weed barrier behind the back fence. Years ago I installed drains. Roof runoff and sump pump drainage is used around plants and trees with the excess draining to the back of the property. The concrete is at the very end of the drain behind the fence. This is also where I found the dinosaur remains.

This is the pile of rubble that we can not use. Do you think the garbage collectors would notice a piece or two in the garbage each week?
Here's my dinosaur find.

2008-04-07T08:53:00.005-06:00

It's been too long since I updated this. I kept thinking that we were going to complete some project, and I would give a "look at what we did" post. What has happened is we have many partially completed projects. With that in mind here's what we are doing.

Earlier I posted about refinishing some chairs, and preparing to add to the back of the house. You saw the new front door before there was a curtain over the glass.

The chair project had to be put on hold because we were preparing for the house addition.

The door is now painted and has a curtain for privacy.

The addition ... After many weeks of working on the plans we finally got the drawings and gave them to the contractor. His estimate was 50% over our maximum budget. So we sat down with him and tried to get the costs down; we would do the interior painting, we clarified that we wanted lower quality floor treatments, we would do much of the demolition, etc. Not counting costs we picked up and what we already had spent we got down to a few thousand over our maximum budget.

I can blame no one for this as each person did their job well.

1. If we had started immediately the construction costs would have been lower. The construction industry in our area is being hit hard by stagflation, but the home remodeling industry is booming as people decide to remodel rather than sell and buy.
2. Our project was too aggressive. The architect, Dianne, and I all based the size of the addition upon a range of per foot construction cost estimates. We thought we were keeping the costs close to the lower end, but we ended up at the very top end.
3. To a much less extent we made purchases based upon our addition proceeding. For example we purchased tiles for the master bedroom based up the plans.

So, the addition is off. Instead we are starting a remodel of the existing space with the addition of a covered back porch. This fits the budget and accomplishes most of our original goals. Items 1 and 2 below are the main goals.

1. Our master bathroom needs to be redone. When we did the kitchen we learned that the master toilet was never installed correctly and had been leaking for 30 years. We corrected that problem, but suspect that there is more mold. We suspect that this is aggravating my allergies.
2. We need to move the laundry out of the basement and onto the second floor. Dianne's knees are giving out, and we are trying to postpone surgery for as long as possible. Today she must take the laundry from the upstairs to the basement.
3. The house gets very hot in the afternoon. There are large windows on the west side of the house. Plus this side is actually a few degrees south of west. We need to shade these windows in the summer.
4. We want a place to put our stationary bike, and a place to enjoy our view. It would be nice if this place had a non-direct light spot for house plants.

Our remodel will accomplish items 1 and 2, and do a better job of item 3 than the addition would have done. Only item 4 got eliminated.

1. The master bath is smaller than our original plan, taking up the same space it does now. Similarly our master closet will be where it is today.
2. The second bath will house a stacked washer/dryer unit. This will require "stealing" space from one of the bedroom closets. That closet will have the rod shortened and shelving added behind the washer/dryer.
3. We are adding a covered porch that will provide shade for the family room. This will provide all the shade that the original plan was to provide. We have added to that a pergola extending across the rest of the west side of the house. This will be topped with board slanted south to allow winter sun through while shading summer sun.

We had better make it a "go" this time. We never learn, and have bought more things for the remodel. On Friday we went to Habitat for Humanity and got the following items.

A used Hunter ceiling fan for $25
Two display unit wet area ceiling fans for the front porch at $15 each
New Schlage door handle sets for all upstairs doors at $15 each
Granite counter tops for both bathrooms. (price $ouch)
New Delta faucets for both bathrooms. List ~$590, On-line ~$380, We paid $90.
Non-perfect medicine cabinet for the second bath at $15. I need to add a trim.

Earlier we got tiles for the second bath at $1 per sq. ft. at Habitat.

I will let you decide if we spent or saved a lot of money.

Here are some other projects and their status.

We installed a new back door. It is in but needs completing.
We bought an old radio/phonograph with non-original case. I'm making it into a bedside table.

I will try to do better on posting what we are doing. Hopefully I will also complete some of the projects.

2008-02-12T11:23:00.001-07:00

I took a journey. Not one of choice, but one I willingly took.

At work I overheard several married men giving a single woman Valentines Day advice. All the men were complaining about their wives; about unreasonable expectation, about the wives bringing up things from the past, about not being appreciated. They were questioning the value of marriage. When they generalized to all marriages I finally had enough and joined in to tell them that I had married my best friend and I wouldn't have it any other way. The woman sounded relieved and the men said that I was an exception to the norm.

I didn't ask to be involved in this discussion, but it got me thinking.
white * Why are these men married?
white * Have they ask themselves the Ann landers question "Am I better off with her or without her?"
white * Why am I so lucky to have Dianne?
white * Beyond "Am I better off with her or without her", why am I better off with her or without her.

I can't answer these questions for anyone but myself. I don't want to be without Dianne so "am I better off" is easy. All I have to do is look above my computer and see her pretty face smiling at me. I can't answer "why am I so lucky...?" The question I can answer is why I am better off with Dianne.

white * Dianne is my friend and lover.
white * I enjoy her company.
white * Dianne is kind. She cares for people and for humanity. She cares for animals. She cares for plants. She cares.
white * Our bond is completely voluntary. We both could live without the other and be happy but each of us has chosen to be with the other. Our love enhances our lives.
white * She appreciates me. She appreciates our sameness and our differences.
white * I want to do things for her. I want to take care of her and appreciate how she takes care of me.
white * Dianne makes me happy, and I want Dianne to be happy.
white * I care about her. I want her safe. If I expect her to be home and she's not I worry about her.
white * Home is where Dianne is. When I come home the second thing I do is find Dianne. (The first is say hi to the dogs.)
white * I want to be around her. We both need our separate lives, but I want to share my activities with her and hers with me as soon as we are together again (though I sometimes don't shut up).
white * I enjoy looking at her. Her eyes twinkle. She has a cute nose. Her smile. (I'll keep this G rated.)
white * I want her in my future for as long as life will let me.
white * I love her.
white * Dianne loves me.

So, what's on the negative side? What annoys me is also part of what I love. For example she is organized, but she is ORGANIZED.

I didn't start this line of thought. It happened. But, it reminded me of how lucky I am. It reminded me of why the bed is so big and cold when she is not in it. It reminded me that I need to look at myself and insure that I maintain and build upon what I have. So, this is my unsolicited advice to myself.

white * Every day, without fail tell Dianne I love her and mean it. This is important for two reasons. One is to remind Dianne that she is loved, and the other is to remind myself how important Dianne is.
white * Kiss her daily. (If one of us is sick the cheek is OK.) This is a simple but important physical contact.
white * Be unpredictable. Over the years we fall into habits. Cards and flowers are nice, but how much nicer is it when it is unexpected. Think of new ways to show I love her.
white * Stare at my wedding ring. This little piece of gold and stone can be the heaviest burden or the lightest, prettiest jewelry. Remembering what is around my finger is easy when it is heavy. Remember it when it is its loveliest.
white * Never test or challenge love. Like jumping on a branch to see if it will hold me, the extra stress can't make it stronger but could make it weaker. If I ever have doubt examine why, and what I can do.
white * Put Dianne first. Dianne is the most important person in my life.
white * Put Dianne first in my actions. Last evening I was working on this and after writing the previous item I looked at the clock to see that I should have left for home a half hour earlier. Dianne was first in my mind, but not my actions.
white * Plan to do thing with her alone, be it a drive, dinner, romance, sharing house chores, or anything else. Without planning it is too easy to find my time filled with "my activities".
white * Each day is the first day of the rest of our lives. Love her today.
white * As important as today is, remember that love is not a one day feeling. It grew and if taken care of it grows. It has a history and a moment. I want this love to survive the rest of my life, so take care of it today.
white * This is not a one time exercise. Periodically look at my love and ask myself what I need to do grow our love. What am I doing right. What do I need to change. Remember that I can change only myself.

I took a journey. Not one of choice, but one I willingly took. Coworkers started the journey, though I don't know if they even knew it was a journey. I followed where it led me; a heart filling path of introspection. It is now up to me to convert this into romance and love.

2008-02-11T09:55:00.000-07:00

potpourri

Before I start on what we have been doing, here are a couple of fun things.

I ran across this while researching auto parts.
Monkey Business

Ian sent me this link.
Nerd Sniping

Dianne and I have been preparing for a remodel of our master bedroom including adding square footage to the upstairs. The start date moved up recently so projects already started have come to a halt and we are concentrating on the preparation for construction.

One of the things we have done is clean out our wood pile. I put some pieces aside that I thought might be fun to work with. I stripped the bark off one piece. The picture at the top is a closeup of what the insects have done. Here's a picture of the complete piece of wood.

Our front door has been leaking air since we moved in. Before we owned the house someone had cracked the door frame, and the previous owners had installed the tile floor without raising the threshold. We bought a used door at an architectural salvage place and had it installed. Dianne is making curtains for the glass that will allow the dogs to look out, and provide privacy from people standing outside.

Until the curtains are up we have to remember to close our bedroom door when we are not dressed!

I have been working on refinishing a set of chairs. This is one of the projects on hold. I was going to wait until further into the project to post pictures, but that might not be until much later in the year. Therefore I will brag now.

These are bend wood chairs that we bought used several years ago. The finish failed and the chairs came apart at the joint. The seat is plywood which pushed all the joint apart as the wood dried out to Colorado humidity.

I'm stripping all the old finish off. I started with the worst chair which had a piece missing. If you look at the left tip of the picture below you will see the grain does not match. This is my first attempt at replacing missing pieces of wood on furniture. The next picture shows the patch from the back of the chair.

This weekend I took time to go the the Tri-State Swap Meet, a very large auto event that attracts people from several states, and vendors from across the country. I spent $16 to park and get in, and $15 on stuff. I won't talk about the economics of this. I did have fun.

If you were interested in some of the popular makes and models of old car (Mustang, bucket model T, some Chevy, ...) you could buy every part here and assemble the car in the parking lot.

This is the car corral where most of the for sale complete cars were. I'm guessing that this takes up less that a tenth of the total show space.

When I got home I went back to preparing for the construction. The dogs' sandbox will be in the way and had to be emptied. In the background next to the bench is the sand pile. The sandbox is 8 feet by 11 or 12 feet and averages 1 1/2 feet deep. THATS A LOT OF SAND! I finished Sunday.

2008-01-28T12:37:00.000-07:00

Up until this post I have kept my blog limited to my personal life. This post is political. I am not overstating it when I say that our Democracy is at risk; that Caesar has entered the city without disbanding his army, and the Senators have not taken action. (I promise that my next post will by less serious.)

Mr. Bush is trying to insure that his legacy continues after his presidency. Two of his actions are very scary; he is trying to negotiate a treaty with Iraq and calling it a "status of forces agreement" and he is trying to force Congress into passing a renewal of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) giving the phone companies that illegally tapped American's phone immunity from civil law suits.

We have status of forces agreements with Japan and other countries where our military is stationed. This agreement would replace the UN mandate, and bind the next president to the terms including maintaining troops. Another proposed term is binding the US to protect the sitting government. This term by tradition definitions makes this a treaty requiring Congressional approval, but this administration is calling is a status of forces agreement with requires no congressional oversight.

If he is not stopped not only will we be bound into a foreign civil war, but he will also have permanently destroyed one of the checks and balances written into the Constitution. In Al Gore's book Assault on Reason he points out that this administration has systematically attempted to give the presidency imperial powers above the law. If he is not stopped in illegally binding us to a treaty without congressional oversight he will have furthered this goal.

Mr Bush's attempt to protect the phone companies under FISA also protects the administration from being investigated. He legitimizes his attack on our freedom of privacy, and our freedom of speech. The House passed a renewal of FISA without the phone company protections. In the Senate there were two versions of the FISA renewal; the Judiciary Committee's version without the protection, and the Select Committee on Intelligence version which had Bush's requirement. Then last Friday, after I had sent the following email the Senate tabled the Judiciary Committee version. I sent a modified version of the email to Nancy Poloci telling her that it was up to the House to prevent this protection from becoming law.

Senators Clinton, Obama, and McCain were all cowards and didn't vote.

I sent the following to our Colorado Senators, Hillary Clinton, and Barack Obama.

I am in fear for the continuation of this democracy, and look to Congress to save it. I will start with the basis for my concern and the urgency for action. I will then state was must be done.

The Senate of the Roman Republic had a long standing prohibition against returning generals entering the city while still commanding the military. Caesar's violation of this upset the checks and balances, and it was the beginning of the end of the Republic. Similarly George Bush has extended the powers of the Presidency far beyond what any previous administration has done. Though we have an election coming up there are actions already taken by the president, and actions he is taking right now that extend beyond his term.

Mr. Bush has entered us into a permanent state of war; The War on Terror. In the words of Al Gore in the Assault on Reason he has placed us "in a permanent state of war, which will likely last for the rest of our lives. He implies that this permanent state of war justifies his unilateral reinterpretation of the Constitution is ways that increase his power as president of the expense of Congress, the courts, and every individual citizen." Unlike Truman's efforts to increase presidential powers the courts have not stepped up to defend the Constitution.

Using the justification of national security the Mr. Bush asked the phone companies to illegally wiretap private citizens, something Qwest refused to do. He did not gain any legal authority.

The War on Terror has been used as justification to torture in violation of US and international law, and evidence has been destroyed. We are told that it was the act of an individual or individuals.

We all saw the torturous treatment of prisoners in Iraq, and we were told it was by a few bad apples.

There's a pattern.

Now Mr. Bush has threatened to veto the renewal of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act if the phone companies that permitted this illegal wiretapping do not gain protection from law suits. These phone companies aided the Executive Branch's violation of our rights. Call Mr. Bush on this. Let him veto this act. Our civil rights are at stake.

The Administration is negotiating a status of forces agreement during a time of war which commits us “in defending its democratic system against internal and external threats.” That is a treaty that will bind future administration to continuing this war. The Administration needs to be stopped by all legal mean.

Twice now Mr. Bush has spoken these words. "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." After taking this oath he has systematically worked to unravel this Constitution he swore to defend.

When is it ""treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors." Is violating the letter of the law it? Is attempting destroy the balance between the branches of government it? Is intentionally violating the civil liberties given citizens it? Is violation international law it?

I fear that next January may be too late to act. In the name of The United States of America, and the Constitution, I ask that you do everything in your power to stop him.

2007-12-27T15:42:00.000-07:00

Dianne and I had a quiet Christmas morning. Dianne served breakfast on a candle lit table.
Our gifts were under the Christmas poinsettia. Outside the snow was falling.

In the afternoon we went over to Gwen and Kent's for dinner. While over there we heard the fetus heartbeat. She knows that they will be having a girl.

Gwen's nutcrackers.

The snow was swirling outside and building up in layers on the back door.

As time went on the pattern changed.

Abby enjoying a fire.

One warm rested dog.

2007-12-08T15:48:00.000-07:00

This is my second post today!

I wrote the following message and sent it out to people at work. I hope you like it.
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This message is intended to be a celebration of the diversity of cultures that we are blessed with. If anyone sees it as anti any religion or belief, I'm sorry.

Please forgive any omissions or inaccuracies, though I would welcome your corrections or additions.

Every culture and religion world wide has a winter solstice celebration marking when the days started to get longer and the nights shorter. The ancient Romans celebrated for the week of December 17th to the 23rd. In the third century Emperor Aurelian blended a number of Pagan solstice celebrations into a single festival called the "Birthday of the Unconquered Sun" on December 25th, celebrating the birthday of various Pagan gods.

It wasn't until the fourth century that Rome became Christian.

There is no record of when Yeshua of Nazareth (later know as Jesus Christ) was born, but there is biblical evidence that it was in the fall. In the beginning of the 4th century there was interest in choosing a day to celebrate Yeshua's birthday. Western leaders selected December 25th because it was already a recognized religious birthday celebration. It took several centuries more for this to be the universal birthday celebration.

Because of Christmas's inheritance of the Pagan celebration many of the Pagan symbols and practices were also brought into the Christian celebration. Among these are the use of holly, ivy, mistletoe, the Yule log, gift giving, decorating evergreen trees, and magical reindeer.

Hanukkah is the celebration of the restoration of religious freedom. In the second century the king of Syria conquered Judea, terminated worship in the Temple and stole the sacred lamp, the menorah. At the time of the solstice they rededicated the Temple to a Pagan deity. Judah Maccabee retook Jerusalem and restored the menorah exactly three years after the flame had been extinguished. Although they had sufficient oil to keep the flame lit for 24 hours it lasted steadily for eight days.

In ancient China the "yang" or muscular, positive things was believed to become stronger and stronger after the Solstice. The Han considered it the Winter Festival. It was a day of rest when army fortresses, businesses, and government closed. Travel stopped. People offered sacrifices to their deceased parents. Different parts of China ate different traditional foods.

I looked for and fail to find information about traditional African solstice celebrations. I could find a little information about Native American celebrations but it was so varied across the nations that inclusion would be an essay in itself.

Kwanzaa is a week-long festival honoring African-American heritage. It starts on December 26th, and continues until January 1st. It was created in 1966 by Ron Karenga and the name derives from the Swahili phrase "matunda ya kwanza" which translates in "first fruits". An "a" was added to kwanza to give it seven letters corresponding to "The Seven Principles of Kwanzaa". The Seven Principles of Kwanzaa are unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity, and faith. Though originally Karenga considered Kwanzaa as an alternative to the white Christian religious celebration, over time the celebration and the opinion Karenga has changed and it is not a replacement of any other beliefs.

Christmahanikwanzika or Chrismahanukwanzakah is the modern day merging of the holidays of Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa.

Atheists have recently increased observances of the winter solstice. These include the Great North Texas Infidel Bash, Winter Solstice Bash in New Jersey, the Winter Solstice Gatherings in Phoenix and Denver, and the Year End Awards and Review Dinner (YEAR) in San Francisco.

In the United States 82% are Christian, 2% are Jewish, and 2% are Muslim.

World wide the breakdown is as follows.
Christian 33%
Muslim 21%
Non-believers 14%
Hindu 13%
Buddhist 6%
Other 12%

(Source for statistics: World Christian Database as reported in the National Geographic, Dec. 2007)

I hope each of you have a happy (choose one or more)
Birthday of the Unconquered Sun
Christmas
Hanukkah
Winter Festival
Kwanzaa
Christmahanikwanzika or Chrismahanukwanzakah
Great North Texas Infidel Bash or Winter Solstice Bash or Winter Solstice Gatherings
Other

2007-12-08T13:39:00.001-07:00

As I am writing this it is snowing outside and beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

We are preparing for a late night visitor.

Dianne has been getting the house ready. Our fireplace is decorated. The Santa in the last picture is a closeup of the one sitting on the mantel.

The living room is lush with poinsettias, a wreath, and all the plants Dianne normally has.

The music boxes are unpacked and decorating the desk.

Rather than having a tree this year Dianne put a poinsettia in the front window.

Our front hall welcomes you with fresh greenery and decorations.

Outside the decorations are simple with a wreath and a few lights.

I've decorated the outside of my office cube with Dilbert and Dogbert lights. (Blogger's spell checker recognises Dilbert but not Dogbert.)

Behind the light is a copy of a 1954 Chrysler promotion "Chrysler Parade of Cars". I copied the pictures off of http://www.imperialclub.com/Yr/1955/55Parade/index.htm. The easiest way to explain it is to copy what the Imperial Club wrote.

"In late 1954, Fritzie Stolz received a wonderful Christmas present from Chrysler. Enclosed is Chrysler's Parade of Cars along with a letter inviting his parents to see the new Forward-Look cars. Each card was 8.5" x 3.5"."

Each image could be cut out, and tabs bent back so that is would stand up.

The first closeup has the following from left to right, as quoted from the back of the cards.
CHRYSLER CORPORATION KILTIE BAND...
as seen in the 1954 J. L. Hudson Company Department Store "Thanksgiving Day Santa Parade" brought to you on television from Detroit by Chrysler Corporation.

1955 IMPERIAL NEWPORT...
as seen in the 1954 "Thanksgiving Day Santa Parade" brought to you on television from Detroit by Chrysler Corporation.

SANTA'S SLEIGH FLOAT...
as seen in the 1954 J. L. Hudson Company Department Store "Thanksgiving Day Santa Parade" brought to you on television from Detroit by Chrysler Corporation.

You get the idea. This next set contains the Dodge convertible, and my favorite the "SPACE SHIP X-101 FLOAT". Underneath each car picture is a plug for TV shows Chrysler sponsored.

I hope to do better at updating what we are doing.

2007-11-08T16:42:00.000-07:00

We are going to be grandparents times 5!

Gwen is pregnant. The due date is in late May.