Saturday, December 12, 2015

Okay class! We’re going to talk about sweet potatoes today


Good Day World!

Welcome to Mr. Dave’s neighborhood!

Today, I’m going to share some interesting things about sweet potatoes.

Hold on! At first blush this may sound like a boring subject, but stick with me here.

* Did you know that North Carolina produces more sweet potatoes than any other state?

* Did you know that hardened sweet potatoes makes a material as strong as concrete?

Still not impressed?

Okay. I bet you didn’t know that sweet potatoes can burn for weeks on end like coal.

Who knows what possibilities lie there? Just one problem; putting out the smoldering sweet potatoes is not an exact science.

You know, how I know that?

A silo full of dehydrated sweet potatoes has been smoldering in a town an hour east of Raleigh since Thanksgiving. True story.

Firefighters and other town personnel have been at the scene around the clock since a suspected spark started the blaze. At least 25 million gallons of water has been sprayed, but it's not clear when it might be extinguished.

No one is sure when the sweet potatoes will stop burning. Kinda reminds me of Chernobyl, but not as toxic.

Class dismissed.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Friday, December 11, 2015

Can You Guess Who I am?

 Good Day World!

Guess who I am.

Like the Joker from the Dark Knight, I just want to see the world burn.

I am white, and really, really angry.

I am also afraid.

I believe the only religion in the USA that can be trusted is Christianity.

I agree that ALL Muslims should be banned from entering our country.

I think the idea of a massive wall separating Mexico and the US is doable and will solve most of our illegal immigration problems.

I believe thousands of Muslims in New jersey celebrated on 9/11.

I believe we once banned Islam in this country in 1952.

I still believe President Obama is a Muslim and was born in Kenya.

I believe in smaller government and that people should be able to carry assault weapons anywhere they want. 

I believe that President Obama is trying to take our guns away.

I believe that anyone who disagrees with me is unpatriotic and doesn't want to see America become great again.

I believe that we shouldn't tax corporations because it's not necessary as the trickle-down-effect benefits the middle class and poor.

NOW THE GIVEAWAY

I believe that Donald Trump would make a great president because he is point on.

Time for me to walk on down the road... 

Thursday, December 10, 2015

What was the scariest moment of your life?

Good Day World!

With fear floating around this country like a dark cloud, I thought it might be interesting to explore the scariest moment of my life!

We all have different fears, although some are more universal than others. Sharks, maniacs, natural disasters, the Boogey Man, fire, and terrorists come to mind.

Before I share my moment of terror, I would like to add that it doesn’t matter what your age was – if something scared the Shinola off your shoes then it qualifies.

I’m 65 years-old.

In the turbulent decades of my life I’ve experienced war in Vietnam and Cambodia, had numerous ear surgeries, back surgery, was diagnosed with PTSD, was beat up by hired VA cops while in a PTSD program, and grew up fighting in the barrios of La Puente and El Monte.

The scariest moment of my life was

When I was five-years old we had a big red tabby called Tiger. Tiger thought it was his duty to fight any other animal he encountered. He roamed the neighborhood terrorizing other cats and small dogs. (Chickens once too, but that’s another story)

One day Tiger got into a knockdown all-out brawl with another cat under our house.

Pause here; my mother loved Tiger and nothing was too good for him.

On the day Tiger decided to fight another cat under our house, my mother ran outside in response to the ear-shattering squalls. Quickly deducing the situation, she ordered me to go through the crawl hole and to “get poor Tiger out!”

Have you ever heard two cats screaming at each other in unholy anger?

As I crawled around blindly (with no flashlight) there was an eerie pause…silence. For a brief moment I thought God heard my prayers and Tiger left on his own – but then their shrieks suddenly started up next to me and I saw two sets of blazing cat eyes glaring at me!

That’s all it took. I peed my pants and screamed! Seemed like for minutes, but was probably only a few seconds. In that time the cats broke off the battle and both streaked out the crawl space and into the sunlight.

I always hated Tiger.

So, what was your moment of terror? What still get’s your adrenaline going when you think about it?

Time for me to walk on down the road…

 

 

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

al-Baghdadi: ‘Thank you Donald Trump!’

  Good Day World!

Just wanted to share a heart-warming letter from the leader of Daesh (ISIS hates this name) to Donald Trump:

Dear Furor Trump,

Your incendiary anti-Muslim comments come like a blessing from Allah.

We’ve been telling Muslims worldwide that the United States hates Muslims and now you proved it by suggesting we all be banned from your shores!

Allah is great! Banning Muslims really stirred up my loyal followers worldwide. They see the Great Satan for what it is!

You are furthering our aims beyond our wildest expectations!

Love the idea of banning the internet! The amount of hatred you’re creating between Muslims and Americans is helping us achieve our jihad…Allah is Great for delivering you unto us!

As I write this, our media connections are busy making posters and videos of your presidential campaign to share with our brothers, so that they may see how much America hates them.

If you need any help vilifying all the Muslims in the world just let me know. My advisors would be pleased to work with your staff.

Good luck, and keep up the good work!”

your admirer, al-Baghdadi

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Serenity and Painting With Oils

unnamed (1)

(Just finished this piece for our living-room)

Good Day World!

I love art.

One of my favorite hobbies is oil painting. I’ve been a student of the medium since 1966 (my sophomore year in high school).

There is no one correct way of painting. Artists train themselves in a wide variety of approaches, which they continually practice and extend as they find occasion and need for.

Contrary to what some people think oil painting is straightforward. It’s far simpler than etching or even watercolor painting. If you can see something, you can paint it in oils. Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments bound in oil.

unnamed (3)

The common oils used in oil paints are linseed oil, poppyseed oil, walnut oil, and safflower oil. However, I have used vegetable oil in a pinch and was surprised at the satisfying results.

If you’d like to know more about painting with oils, here’s a great link:

25 Oil Painting Techniques You Should to Learn

(Here’s a piece I did back in 2001.)

I paint because it satisfies something in my soul.

As a Vietnam veteran with PTSD, I’m always seeking serenity. Painting offers an escape from the real world.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

 

Monday, December 7, 2015

Unicorn Believer and Crazed Sidekick Get Their Day in Court

Charles Dharapak/Pool/Cnp/ZUMA; Catmando/Shutterstock

                               Good Day World!

Sometimes I have to shake my head in awe and wonder at some of the cases tried in our Supreme Court.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court will examine the bedrock principle of "one person, one vote" in a major case that could yield the Republican Party a critical advantage in future elections.

In Evenwel v. Abbott, the court is being asked to change how states draw legislative districts in a way that would boost the electoral power of white, rural voters, who lean Republican, at the expense of Latinos and African Americans, who tend to vote Democratic.

The plaintiffs are two wackos. Sorry for the slang, but when you read their background here you’ll have to agree. Sue Evenwel and Ed Pfenninger are a couple of bigoted people. 

QUICK EXAMPLE

Ed believes in unicorns. They appear repeatedly in Pfenninger's online posts. Arguing with a commenter to one of his YouTube videos, he wrote in 2013 that the "unicorn was a real creature known for it's [sic] great strength, and is also referred to in ancient literature.”

I rest my case.

I hope the “Supremes” do the same thing by laughing at these two idiots while giving them a thumbs down.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

 

Sunday, December 6, 2015

The only hope for gun safety laws comes from the silent majority of NRA members

Good Day World!

The New York Daily News came out with a controversial cover on Friday that is still resonating with many. The cover portrayed National Rifle Association chief Wayne LaPierre as a "terrorist.”

"Syed Farook joins long list of murderous psychos enabled by NRA's sick gun jihad against America in the name of profit," the cover read.

With LaPierre's NRA and its congressional allies stymying even modest gun safety measures — including, on Thursday, efforts to expand background checks and prevent people on the terror watch list from purchasing guns — it's easy to forget that the NRA's hardline opposition to reform isn't only out of step with the views of most Americans.

It's also out of step with the vast majority of NRA members.

According to a 2013 study featured in the New England Journal of Medicine, 74% of NRA members favor a universal background check regime for gun purchases, while a 2012 poll found that 71% backed banning gun purchases by individuals on the terror watch list.

I was impressed when John Oceguera, former speaker of the Nevada state assembly and currently a Democratic candidate for Congress from the state's 4th District, resigned his NRA lifetime membership in a letter to LaPierre, which he posted on his campaign website.

Oceguera said:

"Our country is facing a tragic gun violence epidemic, and we cannot ignore it. Still, the NRA opposes any legislation that would help keep guns out of the hands of terrorists, criminals and the mentally ill, and spends millions to stop any action in Congress that could help prevent further violence," he wrote. "I cannot continue to be a member while the NRA refuses to back closing these loopholes."

Perhaps if more NRA members followed Oceguera’s lead the NRA would be forced to acknowledge reality – and common sense – when it comes to gun safety laws. So far, those NRA members who favor universal background checks have been a silent majority.

The need for them to speak up has never been greater. Something has to break the deadly cycle of resistance perpetrated by the NRA’s corrupt leadership. We need to stop the hold that the gun and ammo industries have on us, and from destroying our country for the sake of profit.

FACT

U.S. taxpayers subsidize the salaries of the NRA leadership. That’s because the NRA, as a tax-exempt organization, pays no federal taxes. LaPierre pulls down a cool million a year for inciting fear.

Other top 2010 salaries at the NRA. Your tax dollars at work.

Related:

The NRA’s profit soars as deaths from gun massacres mount

How NRA’s true believers converted a marksmanship group into a mighty gun lobby

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Saturday, December 5, 2015

To Hell and Back: How a Hero’s Story Inspired Generations of Boys to Play Soldier

Good Day World!

I wish I could have met Audie Murphy before he died in 1971.

I thought he was a god back in the early 1950’s while growing up. I was five years-old when “To Hell and Back – a WW II war movie (1955) – came out starring Audie Murphy as himself.

As the most decorated soldier in American history, Audie was awarded a ticker tape parade down Broadway. He was one of the most popular men in America. Historians say he killed 250 men in combat.

What was seldom talked about – at least while he was still alive – was his mental problems. He had PTSD, but in his time there was no such diagnosis, and so he suffered a silent hell few could relate to.

He was plagued with nightmares and slept with his gun under his pillow. Yet, the popular perception of him was that he was a well-adjusted, talented young man who was always quick to flash that boyish smile.

When I think about how many young men, like myself, who grew up glorifying war I’m not surprised that we live in such a violent society today. My childhood games were all about killing bad guys. So were my sons. And their sons.

Looking around the country today I see the violent seeds that were sowed in society during a time of posterity, and belief in the American Dream. The “Dream” is dead now. Cast under the bus by fear and hatred.

As a combat veteran (Army/Vietnam 1970) with PTSD, I wish I could have asked Audie what it really felt like to be a hero (perhaps the last American hero) for killing so many men?

I’m sure the price wasn’t worth it.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Friday, December 4, 2015

Might as well leave flags at half staff – they’re not coming down soon

Good Day World!

We might as well keep flags flying at half staff from now on.

There’s been more days with mass shootings than not this year. A total of 209 mass shootings have happened thus far – with 26 days left to go.

The FBI considers it a mass shooting when there are four or more people murdered. For updated information check this link out ….Mass Shooting Tracker.

Despite horrendous statistics on gun deaths in America nothing is going to change. Why? Because we are a gun culture. We worship weapons. The U.S. ranks first in gun ownership per capita, with roughly 270 million firearms, or 89 firearms per 100 residents, according to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal.

Those that do have weapons don’t want them controlled in any way. They cite the 2nd Amendment (although it doesn’t say anything about owning personal arsenals) if the topic of gun control even comes up.

Many feel it’s their God-given right to own any kind of weapon and to use it when they want to. They are so blind that any talk of gun control sends them scurrying out to gun shops to buy more guns.

Worse, our country is so divided by the need for gun control that any attempts to do so are crushed by the NRA and their lackeys in Congress. Sensible Americans seeking controls on guns – like back round checks – don’t have a chance.

Conservatives say the problem is mentally ill people using guns. That’s true sometimes. Not all the time however.

Why the U.S. has the most mass shootings

The San Bernardino shooting is the second mass shooting today and the 355th this year

No matter what the president says, there’s no hope for gun control.

It’s become the tar baby of our time – with the nation divided between people sick of seeing mass shootings, and others offering up their condolences to victims while gripping their firearms tighter to their chests.

So, keep the flags at half staff, and pray that someday things will change.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

 

 

 

Thursday, December 3, 2015

Major Terrorist Threat in America: 33,000 Active Gangs

Good Day World!

International terrorism is the trending topic these days.

Some Americans worry about Syrian refugees coming to our country and bringing violence.

What they should really be concerned about is the immediate threat the entire nation faces right now; domestic terrorists, aka gangs.

Gang Violence Is on the Rise, Even as Overall Violence Declines

Gangs, from the West Coast to the East Coast, have murdered more innocent people than all of the combined attacks from international terrorists in this country – and that includes 911.

Startling fact: There are 33,000 active gangs in the United States.

Gang members targeted 9-year-old boy shot in alley

So, why isn’t this senseless ongoing slaughter a topic for presidential candidates? Could it be they’re afraid of alienating possible voters? There must be some reason why we continue to allow gangs to flourish.

Until our politicians prioritize going after these gangs on a national level (which should involve Homeland Security), there are steps that can be taken to combat these gangsters.

Best Practices to Address Community Gang Problems

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Trump's Lowest Grift Ever Saved for Holy Week

This is a story about how the devil's puppet, aka Donald Trump, mocked Christianity by selling a book combining the Bible, the Constitu...