5 yo expelled for making gun with hand and pointing at ground

After reading Gorges' Grouse this morning it brought to mind an incident almost as unbelievable up in Washington, here in the good old U.S.A.

Zero tolerance--5 yo expelled for making gun with hand andpointing at ground

Is this really the wave of the future? What if the kid had drawn a picture of a spotted owl, dolphin, or whale, and pointed his finger at it and said bang? Arrest the child and his parents for eco-terrorism?

The classic Liberal Blog

Well......I followed the link for the Classic Liberal Blog I found on  Budde's The Lazy Farmer Blog,
and I learned two things:
1: I see why he follows it. I noticed Achieving results with Paula Patton
2: I had a hard time following the text.

And for your amusement:
Daisy with one of her favorite toys:

war in Iraq ---has exceeded $800 billion

According to the Congressional Research Service, total war-related funding for Iraq has exceeded $800 billion. That's $100 billion per year.  Can we even count to one billion? No, we'll never live long enough. 
Does everyone know what a billion dollars looks like? 800 billion is almost a trillion. Figure 8/10s of the last picture here of a trillion:
Is it not the height of ethnocentrism to believe that we can convince a tribal culture that our way of government is better than theirs?  They are still fighting feuds that began in biblical times. What a waste of lives and capital.  Are we thanked for our sacrifices? Of course not. To the average Iraqi we are the invaders. Would we allow them to land on our shores to "help us out"?
What did we get in exchange? 
Our country is in bad shape.  We could have used that 800 billion.
Are we actually considering a war  now in Iran? N. Korea? Pakistan? Syria?  
For whose benefit?
And who will pay for it?
My heart goes out for the oppressed, but our role as the world's police force is bankrupting us, and it doesn't seem to accomplish much other than to cause more and more countries to dislike us.

News of the weird

For many years, I've been an avid reader of Chuck Shepherd's News of the Weird  , and now News of The Weird Pro edition, a blog that's somehow not a blog,   It was gratifying to watch his rise to greatness and success.
You might check it out if you haven't heard of it, although I suspect most people have by now. Stories such as this one:  [Whiteclay, Neb.: Anheuser-Busch, Coors, Miller, and four retailers were sued ($500 million) for turning Oglala Sioux into drunks by distributing 13,000 cans of beer a day to the rez's closest town (a "town" with an actual population of 10). Reuters via Yahoo News]  make it all worth while.

Elderly man left at dog track!

PORTLAND - An 82-year-old Alzheimer's patient who was dumped at an Idaho dog track in the midst of a state investigation of his finances has been returned to the safety of a Portland nursing home.
You heard it here first folks! (well second or maybe third) I just had to post this as either my good friend over in the next valley is getting a little fuzzy, this poor guy has been at the track for a while,or this has happened before. Jail won't help the fiend that did this, and I don't want my taxes to support him or her. I suggest that they be put to work in the nursing home as an orderly on diaper duty. Let the punishment fit the crime.
Which brings up another thing: Is there a reason we can't put the incarcerated to work so as to pay for their keep? I believe that was the way things were done in some states in the past, and to my knowledge, few today.
I'm afraid to even look up the current statistics of jail cell population. Too many people there that shouldn't be, and too many that belong there and should be pulling their weight. Lots of reforming needs to be done in our prison system.

Here is someone with a really good idea that is following through with it.

366 Random Acts of Kindness

Sold the home!

Well, I sold the property I've lived and worked at for many years, and the move to Oregon is now permanent.
I spent a lot of time in this shop and now life has taken a new direction. What used to be way out in the country now has a six lane road in front, and housing developments and businesses an all sides. I wish I could move all the structures here. They are all made out of old growth pecky cypress and built by a cabinet maker back in the 30's. I covered most of the wood in the house to insulate and make the rooms brighter. The shop was originally a horse barn to which I added on a few more rooms & a plywood floor.