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Wednesday, February 15, 2017

The Best Event of the Year

   This week’s Lightnin’ Ridge nature question for all those master naturalists out there is… “Mountain lions do well when their number one food source, the white-tail deer is plentiful. Another mammal, which is steadily increasing, is a prey animal mountain lions would rather have than venison. Mountain lion numbers might rise in the Ozarks solely because of this animal.  What is that animal?

         It is likely the best time to discuss our spring Grizzled Old Outdoorsman’ Swap Meet, because the fishing is getting good and in the next few columns I am apt to be bragging about the fish I have been catching.  Believe me you are going to be amazed at all the big fish I am going to catch soon.  But on Saturday March 25, I will not be fishing.  I hope to be with lots of you folks at the Brighton Assembly of God church gymnasium where we will have about fifty tables of outdoor gear for sale at bargain prices.
         Honest to goodness, at that swap meet five or six years ago I saw and antique fishing lure worth 60 or 70 dollars sell for three bucks!  And I saw an antique muzzle-loader sell for about half of its true value.  The thing about our swap meet is…there is no charge to get in and there is no charge for a table.  In this day and time, that is unusual.  There was a swap meet in Springfield recently where they charged 85 dollars per table and five dollars to each visitor who wanted to come in and buy something.  But we have a hard time getting tables for everyone who wants to bring something to sell.  So if you want to be a ‘vendor’ you need to contact me soon.

         We’ll open at 8:30 in the morning and close things down at 2:00 in the afternoon.  The church has a youth group that prepares coffee and biscuits and gravy for breakfast, and then hamburgers, pork sandwiches, potato chips, cake and pie for dinner. So therefore it is a great way for them to make some money for the activities they undertake.           And this year we are going to have a room set up with antiques and various things for sale which will help us with the Panther Creek Youth project we have set up for underprivileged kids.  You will be able to hear about and see photos of what that place is, basically a no-cost outdoor setting for those youngsters with a lodge and cabins on a 60 acre tract along Panther Creek.  And there will be lots of items for sale, which will go toward paying electricity, insurance and taxes there.

         Out on the main floor of the gymnasium I expect to have about 50 tables.  One of them might be particularly interesting to visitors who are into antique lure, rods, reels, etc.  I think Jerry McCoy, from Lakeview Arkansas probably knows more about those old, old lures than anyone in the Midwest, and he will be there to buy and sell antique lures.  But if you have some that you want to keep, Jerry can tell you what they are, when they were made and what they are worth.

         This year we will have lots of items for those folks who want to decorate a den or office or cabin with art.  We will have many beautiful wildlife paintings of deer, bear, elk, eagles, wolves, etc. hanging on the wall, 11 by 14 paintings in black wooden frames, for only ten dollars.  Already I have purchased a half dozen for my own home.  They are really something.  A woodworker, Harold Mitchell will be coming from my boyhood town of Houston, Missouri with handmade wooden bowls and other wood items that he sells for a great deal less than they are worth.  I saw his work several years ago and kept after him until he agreed to come to our swap meet. At his table, you will see some of the prettiest woodwork you have ever seen.

         Another woodworker comes from Galena, Mo.  Dale Olson has been to every swap meet we have held, and he makes things like birdhouses, bird feeders, jewelry boxes and many other things.  He has been a favorite vendor of ladies who come to our swap meet because he makes cutting boards that are absolutely beautiful on a kitchen counter, and priced below their actual value, on account of, Dale is a grizzled old outdoorsman like me who hasn’t been to the big cities much and doesn’t realize how good he is at this stuff. We will also have a fellow from down around Norfork Lake, who makes cedar cabin furniture and picnic tables, with his handiwork displayed outside the door.

         David Preddy usually comes from southern Missouri with tanned furs, mounted predator heads sitting on deer antler stands, fur caps like the earlier frontiersmen wear, and I think Vernon Myers will be there with a whole table of handmade knives.  In fact many tables have old antique knives, pocket knives like my grandfathers and the old-timers at the pool hall use to carry.  On those tables which just have a hodge-podge of outdoor items, you will also see good usable rods and reels, camp stoves, minnow buckets, bait traps, steel traps, old carbide lamps, lanterns and duck decoys.  There will also be vendors there selling turkey calls, duck calls and predator calls, with some archery equipment as well.

         Lure makers who produce modern day lures also come, for example the Criddly lure company from Pleasant Hope who makes all kinds of spinner baits, of all sizes and I use their lures often because I catch fish on them.  They are quite a bit different than other spinning baits.  Of course, me being a grizzled old outdoorsman like I am, you might expect me to catch fish on about anything, and I sure won’t argue that fact.  I have never once written about the lures I didn’t catch fish on, and I ain’t about to admit that ever happened!!

         I really want to contact ladies who do baking, and who make jelly and can pickles and relish, because we notice how much attention such a table garners.  We need that, because I don’t have time to make muffins and cookies and such.  What I do hope to do is make some of my handmade turkey calls, the ones I use myself.  Thousands of beginning turkey hunters have called up their first gobblers with my handmade calls, and while I know that I can’t prove that, I also know that no one can prove otherwise!!

         I just cannot get to all the other special things that will be there, but I intend to put up for bids one of my Uncle Norten’s handmade sassafras paddles and one of my grandfathers sassafras paddles made some time in the 1930’s.  The money from those will help with expenses at the Panther Creek Youth Retreat mentioned earlier.

         Remember that this event is free, there will be tables where visitors can set and relax and drink coffee and eat dinner and have conversation with other folks.  I’ll be there amongst ‘em, with my new spring issue of the Lightnin’ Ridge outdoors magazine and all my books, which I will sell as usual for about 2/3rds of the book store prices.  I have a couple of new ones, so now there are a total of nine.  My daughters and their mother will be there too, so this has become a family affair.  And the event gives me the opportunity to meet and talk to those folks who read this column.

         I cannot thank enough the Brighton Assembly of God church for giving us this opportunity year after year, and assistant pastor Mark Cross for all the help he gives us to make this work so smoothly.

         The answer to the nature question… feral hogs!

Saturday, February 11, 2017

Just a Pair of Antlers

These two summer fawns are both does.. difference
in size suggest they were born a month apart.

        This weeks nature question for all you master naturalists… True or False.  Some fawns in the Ozarks are born as early as January!  Answer at end of column.

       Not long ago I received this email from a reader…”I just read your article in the local paper in November. I have never heard of Conservation officers taking deer horns from a hunter. Can you please tell me more??”

         Shortly afterward, I received this email from another reader…
“My husband is challenging a Conservation Agent in North Central Missouri who is trying to bully him into relinquishing a very large rack from a deer he killed this past season. He tagged the deer with a landowner/lessee tag and was told that he cannot use this tag because he does not reside on the 628 acres we have leased. We do however pay utilities on this property and have for years. This agent got a search warrant and searched our home when no one was present and took an 8- point rack killed years ago that was not even related to the issue. We are taking this to court and suing the MDC for harassment due to the fact this agent is verbally threatening to take every rack we have and write every ticket possible since my husband would not give him the rack in question.
Thank you...Amy L Barto

         My answer to her… ---Amy, the law states that landowners or lessees may hunt with a landowner permit.  What that agent is doing is done often.  He wants the antlers because they are so valuable, sometimes they get thousand and thousands of dollars for one deer head.  Taking the 8-pointer from your home is theft, pure and simple, and you should contact the sheriff in your county to report it.  A search warrant cannot be used to enter when no one is home.  It is to be served to you before entry.  Another violation of the law.  You should try to contact the director of the MDC.  She is new, a woman who should listen to you. It will do you no good whatsoever to contact the Enforcement Department of the MDC. This agent is ignoring your constitutional rights and he is guilty of theft.---

         This stuff makes me sick.  Why are conservation agents allowed to bully and harass and make charges against hunters just because they want their valuable deer heads?  Why have such a high percentage of younger agents decided they can break the law without any consequence and why is there no one in higher power in our state willing to look into this and do something about it.  Maybe if we go to newly elected governor and attorney general we can have some of this looked at.  But it hasn’t worked before.  Over the past few years this has happened hundreds of times, and it has worked so often because any legal action must go before judges who are indebted to the MDC, like the west Missouri judge named Kelso, who received 235,000 thousand dollars from them, and whose property taxes are paid annually by the Missouri Department of Conservation for perpetuity.  When high ranking MDC officials hunted on his hunting preserve with him, how can anyone they charge be heard in his court fairly?

         This is coming now to an almost mafia-like corruption, with no attempts made to control it. A few years back, I was threatened over the phone with physical violence by an ex-director just for writing about what he had done and what was happening. He told me that he and friends would come to my home, because he knew right where I lived, and he hinted if I didn’t stop writing about the MDC someone would find me floating in the river I live near. That man had been an MDC director for many years.  They named a place after him!!

         Indeed, an agent in southern Missouri has a shed filled with confiscated antlers he calls his “retirement fund”. Other agents laugh about it, but if they thought you had that shed full of unmarked, unaccounted for deer antlers, worth thousands and thousands of dollars, you could be arrested and required to pay massive fines, and perhaps serve jail time.

         One thing more, from an employee in the department who ask me never to use his name, confiscated antlers that are said to be destroyed according to law, are never, ever cut up and discarded.  He says it doesn’t happen, and that is why the Enforcement Chief, Larry Yamnitz, will not allow anyone to see the bogus destruction.  No member of the press can view such a destruction because it doesn’t ever happen, and it has not happened for many, many years.  Those deer heads are often worth from 10 to 50 thousand dollars on a black market.

         In this state, if you kill a deer with big antlers, keep it quiet.  When you check a deer by phone and they ask if it has a beam above 2 and a half inches at the skull and how many points it has, DO NOT COMPLY,  If you report what they want to hear, you may get your deer head confiscated on some made-up charge and stand before a judge who is in the MDC’s hip pocket.

         I will have much more about this in my spring magazine if you want to hear more.  Some of the stories about hunters who did everything legal and still lost their deer are hard to believe… but it happens, and often.  If this has happened to you, contact me and we will get your side of it told.  I intend to publish a true account of much of what is going on with our state Conservation Department in that spring magazine, and eventually a book that they dread very much.  In most larger newspapers in this state, none of this can be published, and that tells you a little about the power of the MDC.  When they lost one million dollars in a lawsuit a few years back which was the result of three agents breaking the law, no news media mentioned a word of it.  They paid the million dollars out of money you and I give them in that 1/8 cent tax, and none of the agents were even disciplined.  Unbelievable isn’t it.  Is there any hope that they might ever be held accountable for breaking laws and violating constitutional rights?  Not much!

         I will catch hell again for writing this.  There will be threats over the phone and some papers will not publish it, but I want the truth to be known. I would love to gather with a dozen of the MDC’s top officials in a public place where hunters and fishermen could gather to discuss these things and others, so everyone could hear, and they could ask questions.  Wouldn’t you think they could really discredit me if I was there alone to debate the things I have seen in my last twenty years as an outdoor writer.  That is a challenge I have made before.  I’d do it anytime, anywhere.  You would think they would love to make it happen!  As for me, I would bring up what they have hidden for years and years.  But the upcoming book will do just that, and I hope to distribute thousands of them to Ozarkians free of charge.

         It will be a rare thing… the truth about the MDC, being shown to the people of Missouri, most of whom haven’t got the slightest idea what is happening.
As for the nature question… yes, some fawns are born in January.  I saw one on Feb 1st and photographed it's tiny tracks.

These are the fawns tracks in the mud at Panther Creek.  It’s steps were 15 inches apart

--> The newborn fawn on my place has to be the result of an early September breeding.  It happens occasionally but not often.  Usually the early fawns appear in march, but the bulk of them are born in April or May.  For some reason, the early fawns are usually just single.  Twin fawns seem to be most common after April begins.

Saturday, February 4, 2017

Turkeys and Lightning

Fishing last February— My daughter Christy caught 30 white bass and 40 black bass on light tackle on this February afternoon  last year.  She released them all.

       Some folks said they enjoyed last weeks outdoor quiz questions, so here is another one I learned recently from the National Geographic channel…   Experts say the fastest mammal is the Cheetah, found in Africa.  They say the second fastest mammal is found in the U.S.  It is… (answer at end of column).

       I always thought the fastest runner in the Ozarks was a wild turkey gobbler, as I have seen several outrun my shotgun blast rather easily.  It is nice to sit around during this colder weather and think about April turkey hunting, a calm sunny dawn with redbuds blooming and birds singing and the slightest hint of green everywhere you look.
       Probably won’t be exactly like that though.  My pants will be wet up to the knees from the dew, and the gobblers will be with 15 or 20 hens each.  A storm will blow in about mid- morning, with hard rain and lightning and I will slide halfway down some hillside because I stepped on a wet rock, then have to find my shotgun, which slid farther than I did.   Knowing that will happen makes me wait until later in the morning to hunt turkeys in the spring.

       I can go out about 9 or 10 and have similar problems with gobblers.  They often ignore me just as well at noon as they do at dawn.  But after sunrise I can look off into the southwest and see if a storm is forming.  You often can’t see those big cloud banks if you are tripping around and falling off the porch at 5 o’clock in the morning, trying to carry too much stuff to the pick-up.

       I probably fish more than I hunt in April because my boat runs great at 10 a.m. and I am not so likely to fall out of it as I am right at first light.  I have found that in April, the best fishing is found after I wake up, and I often don’t wake up very early.  That is often because I write until 1 or 2 in the morning and when you do that and then get up at 5, two or three cups of coffee do not make one whit of difference.
        I could handle it all when I was 25 years old but not now.  If I want to get up at 5 in the morning, I really need to get to bed about 5 in the evening.  I have found too, that there are no mushrooms in the morning until the sun gets up well.  I know this because for the last 5 or 6 years I haven’t found a single mushroom until I go out and look for them, which is always about 10 in the morning.

       I never get caught in a storm while fishing or looking for mushrooms, because while I fear nothing in the world, man nor beast, (with the exception of grizzly bears and Islamic terrorists) a bolt of lightning from a distant black cloud strikes terror in my brain and legs, which, working together, have saved me in the past.

       It could be that the fastest I have ever ran was when a bolt of lighting hit a barb-wire fence I was astraddle of one summer evening in my youth.  And in a lightning storm, I can still be called a good sprinter.

       That awful fear of lightning developed early!  Because the night I was born, way back there in the Yukon, (Yukon, Missouri) lightning hit the small farmhouse where I came into the world and killed two chickens in another room at the exact second I drew my first breath.

       Similar circumstances occurred when a great comet appeared the exact time of Mark Twain’s birth, and didn’t come back around until decades later.  When it appeared a second time, Mr. Twain croaked.  I guess you know, since I am so much like him, how I am going to go out… in a great flash of lightning.

       You may laugh at that, but one of the old timers at the pool hall said he was born two weeks early because his mother was kicked by a horse, and he was afraid to get near one, knowing that.  They all stopped laughing when they found out that the old guy had died from a kick in the head… you guessed it… from a horse.

       But all that really doesn’t have much to do with turkey hunting.  Actually, since April is so far away, my attention right now is on the month of February because I have enjoyed some of the best fishing of my whole life after four or five days of unseasonably warm days in mid to late February.  Fortunately, for you readers, you will read every detail of the best of those trips, right here in this newspaper unless I get hit by lightnin’!

       If you intend to reserve a table at our grizzled old outdoorsman’s swap meet, you need to let me know soon.  We are going to have about 45 free tables for anyone selling anything pertaining to hunting, fishing or the outdoors.  We will do this at the Brighton Assembly of God Church, where we have held it for the past 8 or 9 years I think.  From 8 in the morning until about 2 in the afternoon the last Saturday of March.

       I will be taking groups of people out on Truman Lake via pontoon boat again in the spring to see that remarkable natural area over there that has lots of history, wildlife and huge timber.  We have a fish fry on the lake at noon, do some hiking and then come in as the sun sets.

         This year we will do things differently, by opening up our Panther Creek Lodge and cabins to participants on Friday evening, having breakfast there on Saturday morning and coming back there on Saturday night to spend the night again.  On Sunday morning visitors can roam around the property at Panther Creek and see what we have accomplished before going home.

         This trip once cost 40 dollars per person but this year there will be no charge to anyone. If folks want to donate any amount to our program there for underprivileged kids, that will suffice.  The Saturday trip to the lake is limited to fifteen people because that is the number legally allowed on our boat, so if you want to join us, get your name on the list soon by calling me at 777-5227 or emailing or mailing a postcard to me at Box 22, Bolivar, Mo. 65613.  Dates will be in March and April, decided about a week in advance according to the weather forecast.

      The Lightnin’ Ridge Magazine’s spring issue will come out in March.   For the first time in fifteen years it will be all color--88 pages of great reading.  If you want to get one, call my executive secretary at that phone number above.  Ms. Wiggins says we have just had hundreds of orders for it; and my latest book as well, “Little Home on the Piney”.  She says that each will make a wonderful Valentine’s Day present for an outdoorsman’s wife.

The second fastest mammal… the pronghorn antelope.


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Sunday, November 24, 2013

HEBREWS 12:18-28

After urging his readers to endure in the faith, the writer of Hebrews tells them why. That is why he starts verse 18 with the word “for”. He tells them in very poetic terms that, as great as the covenant at Sinai was, the new covenant is so much better. This is a beautiful passage.

What You Did NOT Come to
Hebrews 12:18-21

The Hebrew Christians did not come to the Old Covenant. The writer describes the experience of God giving the covenant as it is recorded in Exodus. It was an awesome and fearful experience.

The thing that can be touched was Mount Sinai. It was physical and earthly. Exodus 19 tells us that the people of Israel gathered at the Lord’s command at the base of the mountain. Moses went up on Mount Sinai to talk to God and receive the covenant. Thunder, lightning and a thick cloud came on the mountain. Hebrews says there was fire, darkness, gloom and tempest (or storm). (18) Then there was the sound of a trumpet. (19) Exodus 19:16 says there was a very loud trumpet blast. Then, the trumpet blew louder and louder. (19:19) When God spoke, there was loud thunder. The people were so afraid they did not want to be there. They asked Moses to do it for them. (Exodus 20:18-19) It was a scary event. Even Moses said he trembled with fear. God demonstrated that he was not approachable except by his designated priest. He demonstrated that he was the sovereign, the powerful party in the covenant. He wanted them to fear him and not sin. (Exodus 20:20)

And, this is the God into whose hands you fall if you live under the law rather than grace. When you stand before God alone, as opposed to in Christ, you bear his wrath expressed in his terrible power. That is why Hebrews 10:31 told us “it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God”.

But, Hebrews has already gone to great lengths to tell us the Old Covenant has become obsolete and is replaced with the New Covenant. Therefore he says you who have professed faith in Christ, even though you are Jewish, have not come to the Old Covenant, but the New Covenant instead.

What You Came To
Hebrews 12:22

The first description of the New Covenant is “Mount Zion”. Verse 22 says they came to Mount Zion. That is in contrast to Mount Sinai. t is a heavenly place rather than an earthly place.

What is Mount Zion? The Bible teaches us that Jerusalem, and the mountain on which part of it was built, is a type for a new Jerusalem or Zion that is the holy city of God prepared for the church. And by church I mean the believers of all time. This is why, in verse 22, he uses three phrases to describe this eternal place: Mount Zion, the city of the Living God, and the heavenly Jerusalem.

We have seen that the writer of Hebrews applied Psalm 2:7 to Jesus. In that Psalm, God the Father said to God the Son “You are my son; today I have begotten you”. The verse right before it, though, Psalm 2:6, says “I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.” Although the first king set on that hill was David, the last king, Jesus, will reign forever in Zion, the symbol of the permanent abode of God’s people with God dwelling and reigning in their midst.

Psalm 110 is the basis for much of the sermon that is the book of Hebrews. Psalm110:2 says “The LORD sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter.” Again, he will reign as the Davidic king for eternity amongst his people. Jeremiah spoke of a heavenly city also.

Jesus spoke of preparing a place for us. John 14:3. Paul picked up the theme in Galatians 4:26 says “But the Jerusalem above is free and she is our mother”. Philippians 3:20 says “our citizenship is in heaven”.

And there are other folks there in heaven we come to. First, he says there are innumerable angels in festal gathering. Heaven is full of angels. God is not alone up there. Remember how Elisha was surrounded by a great Army of Syrians and said “those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” (2 Kings 6:16) The Lord opened his servants eyes to see the mountain full of horses and chariots of fire. Jude 14 says the Lord will come with ten thousands of angels (holy ones). John’s visions of heaven in Revelation include angels. In Revelation 5:11, John saw angels numbering myriads and thousands of thousands. This verse is a reflection of Daniel 7:10.

What are these angels doing in heaven? The English Standard Version says they are in festal gathering. They are celebrating, having a festival. I believe they are worshipping God with great joy. The New International Version calls it a joyful assembly. Notice the stark contrast between the fear of Sinai and the joy of Zion (heaven).

So, believers come to heaven, the New Jerusalem, complete with many angels joyfully worshipping God. What else do they, and we, come to? They come to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven. The firstborn is Jesus. He is the firstborn as the Son of God, the first of all who will be saved and resurrected to new life. Romans 8:29 says “For those whom he foreknew (believers), he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers”.

So, the assembly of the firstborn, is the gathering in heaven of all believers who have died and gone to heaven. You do not die and go to sleep until the resurrection. You die and go to heaven and join the assembly, the church, of Jesus in heaven. You are enrolled in heaven because you name is written in the book of life. This is the book opened at the judgment as shown to John and recorded in Revelation 20. John said “if anyone’s name was not found written the the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” (Revelation 20:15)

By the way, when were our names written in this book of life? Revelation 13:8 says it was “before the foundation of the world”. There is a song that talks about a new name written down in glory. But the Bible says all the names were written down before the world was made.

God the father will be there. He is called the “judge of all”. Everyone who ever lived will stand before God and be judged. Those who are not saved are condemned because the have sinned and earned the wage of death. (Romans 3:23; 6:23) Notice that we come to God. At Sinai, Israel could not come to God. They were not to even touch the mountain. Only Moses, representing the people, could come near. When the tabernacle was constructed, a veil kept the people from the presence of God. Only the high priest could go in. It was the same with the temple. But, when Jesus died for us, the veil of the temple was torn. This showed that Jesus led the way into the presence of the Father. Not since man’s fall in the Garden had man been allowed to approach God. But in Christ, we have access to the Almighty God. What a privilege!

The “spirits of the righteous made perfect” is another reference to believers who have died physically, but had their spirits resurrected to heaven, awaiting the resurrection of their bodies. They are righteous, for they are credited with the righteousness of Christ in return for their belief in him. Romans 5:21-22 says “But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it - the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.” They are also “made perfect”. They no longer sin. They have been made new, at least in spirit.

This picture of heaven saves the best for last. Last is the hero of our story, Jesus Christ. He is the mediator of our covenant. His blood shed for us is the blood that established our covenant.

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The failure of civics education

by Chester Finn, Jr.

We’ve known for a while—thanks to the National Assessment and other measures—that American primary-secondary students aren’t learning a heckuva lot of civics, never mind that social studies is taught everywhere and taking high school civics is a widespread graduation requirement. Indeed, the Education Commission of the States reports that:

  • “Every state requires students to complete coursework in civics or social studies in order to graduate….
  • Thirty-seven states require students to demonstrate proficiency through assessment in civics or social studies. [and]
  • Seventeen states include civic learning in their accountability frameworks.”

That it isn’t working very well was obvious when, for example, NAEP assessed civics in 2006 and found that fewer than a quarter of high school seniors could supply a satisfactory answer to a question about the means by which citizens can change laws. Or when the Annenberg Public Policy Center surveyed American adults in 2014 and found that only 36 percent could name the three branches of the U.S. government.

That it isn’t working very well on a long-term basis is painfully evident from the recent behavior, voting patterns, and discourse of millions of American adults, including some at the highest levels of government.

Fortunately, there’s continuing awareness that this is an unsolved problem, including personal attention from such eminences as Sandra Day O’Connor and Colin Powell—and a “summit” today that’s devoted to catalyzing improvements in it.

What’s brought this failure into sharpest relief in recent days, however, was release of a seriously alarming survey by the Brookings Institution’s John Villasenor. He polled college students last month to gauge their understanding of the First Amendment’s free-speech clause.

(In case you’ve forgotten, the exact wording says “Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech…or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” And in case you’ve forgotten another key bit, in 1925 the Supreme Court ruled that the Fourteenth Amendment extended this protection to apply to state as well as federal actions.”)

Nothing is more basic to civic education than the First Amendment, and nothing is more fundamental to a free society than freedom of speech. We pretty much take for granted that this is a keystone of anything called civic education. Moreover, an occasional criticism of civics curricula is that they overemphasize citizens’ rights at the expense of their responsibilities.

Yet check out Mr. Villasenor’s survey findings—and keep in mind as you do that those he is surveying are current college students, which means (a) they are recent products of K–12 civics education and (b) they are among the more successful products of our K–12 education system.

Here’s some of what he found:

  • “Does the First Amendment protect ‘hate speech’?”
    • Just 39 percent said yes.
  • A “public university invites a very controversial speaker to an on-campus event,” a person “known for making offensive and hurtful statements,” and “a student group opposed to the speaker disrupts the speech by loudly and repeatedly shouting so that the audience cannot hear the speaker…Do you agree or disagree that the student group’s actions are acceptable?”
    • 51 percent said yes (including 62 percent of those who identify as Democrats).

Words fail me. “Appalling,” “unacceptable,” “outrageous”, “inexcusable.” None of them does justice to the implications of these findings. More than half of current U.S. college students think it’s OK to shout down a speaker who says offensive things. Not even two out of five understand that the First Amendment protects the kinds of speech that you don’t like hearing.

The survey goes on to show that many also think it’s OK to use violence to suppress such speech from being uttered—or heard.

No wonder the Wall Street Journal editorialized that “Madison Weeps.”

It’s important, obviously, for the colleges themselves to clean up their acts, though it won’t be easy given the dispositions and behavior of many faculty members and the wimpishness of campus leaders.

But what does this say about civics education before they get to college—and go out into adult life? It says to me we are looking at a total failure. Indeed, it says to me that Mr. Villasenor’s survey tells us once again that we remain a nation at risk.

No, it’s not entirely the schools’ job to inculcate both civics knowledge and civic values (and civil behavior) into young people. Parents, community groups, churches, scouts and coaches share this responsibility. But fifty states think they’re teaching civics.

How well are they doing it? I’m reminded of an old but telling query by Sy Fliegel (early hero of school choice in New York): “Define the word ‘taught’ in the following sentence: ‘I taught my son to swim but every time he gets into the pool he sinks to the bottom.’”

This is serious, folks.

Chester E. Finn, Jr. is a Distinguished Senior Fellow and President Emeritus of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute.

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Sunday, April 21, 2013

Yes, Scoopy has been sold, purchased by blog-reading friends Linda and Steven.  They got in touch very shortly after we posted the particulars, and we worked out the details fairly quickly.

We can’t imagine a better home for Scoopy.  Linda and Steven are “graduating” from their well-loved pop-up tent trailer – a big step, and they are just as green as we were when we first purchased Scoopy from her original owner.  A two-day boot camp is on the agenda when they arrive to take the keys mid-May.  We like knowing that many more adventures are in Scoopy’s future, and are happy to pass our well-loved rig to people we know will enjoy her.

The new owners, from our visit with them in September, 2011:

Linda with smile

Steven with smile

So many of you got in touch through comments and email when we announced that Scoopy was for sale!  In answer to some of your questions, we are happy and doing fine.  Many of you mentioned that our decision to quit full-timing was a huge surprise.  Actually, it was rather a surprise for us, too – but life does take unexpected turns from time to time.  We both are so glad we had the good health and energy to enjoy full-timing for the many years we did, and to create such an abundance of special memories.

It tickles me how much our current living situation is like RV’ing.  We live in a beautiful mobile home park in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada in California.  Once you purchase your mobile home (which costs considerably less than a motorhome and is about four or five times the size), the site rent is similar to a well maintained 55+ RV resort, with similar amenities (clubhouse, pool, hot tub, lake, walking trail) but much larger sites.  The people we meet on the lakeside trail are friendly, and often walking a little dog, just like campers we met in our travels.

BUT – and it is a big one – the view outside the windows changes only with the seasons.  I never wonder, when I awake in the morning, what I will see if I peek out the bedroom window.  On the other hand, if something breaks, I know who to call for repairs!  I now have a library card, and know which nearby grocery store has the best produce.  And Trader Joe’s is within 30 minutes!

Best of all, we are in close proximity to family, friends, and fabulous hiking in the Sierra Nevada.

Water crossing Frank and Odel Beautiful Twin Lakes hike

So, though travel in Scoopy is no longer in our future, we have plenty to enjoy in our new digs, especially now that spring has arrived.  We’ll be back on the high country trails as the snow melts, and we have plans in the works for remodeling the most outdated aspects of our new home.   Who knows, maybe I’ll have something to write about!


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It’s Not Easy Being Three

You know that sound that Jim Carrey makes in Dumb and Dumber? The one that’s called the most annoying sound in the world? THAT is what my child sounds like these days. Almost constantly. Every “word” out of his mouth is drawn out into a four syllabled whine that starts in the lower octaves, races […]

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Professor Melissa Tatum Named a Udall Center Fellow

Tatum among four UA faculty members selected for 2017-18

Alejandra Cardenas Cuestas

Melissa TatumThe Udall Center Fellows Program named Research Professor of Law Melissa Tatum as one of four faculty members selected for the 2017-18 cohort. The program, entering its 28th year, offers fellows a semester off from standard teaching, allowing for creative policy-relevant scholarship and pursuit of funds.

Tatum has dedicated her career to studying how law and culture in indigenous communities relate to cultural aspects of heritage, knowledge, appropriation and property. Her work bridges the intersection of law, socio-legal studies, anthropology, intellectual property, environmental and natural resource protection, public lands and religion.

“I was thrilled and honored to learn I had been selected as a Fellow,” said Tatum. “I have admired the work of the Udall Center and the Native Nations Institute for years, and I am looking forward to this opportunity.”

As a fellow, Tatum will work on “Spaces of Indigenous Justice” as a project. “Essentially its premise is that human rights and adversarial litigation are often not the best approach to seeking justice for Indigenous people,” she said. “Instead, the project seeks to use interdisciplinary methods, including involving indigenous people and communities as partners in the planning process, to develop more effective methods of achieving justice.”

Additional fellows selected for the program are Brian Mayer, associate professor in the School of Sociology; Susan Swanberg, associate professor in the School of Journalism; and Valerie Trouet, associate professor in the College of Science and the Laboratory for Tree-Ring Research.

The Udall Center has hosted 144 University of Arizona faculty fellows from 42 departments and centers in 10 colleges in the last 28 years, encouraging scholarly work from all disciplines and enriching policy dialogues on and off-campus.


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Second Annual Global Mining Law Summit to Focus on Mineral Development with Native American and Indigenous Communities

Global Mining Law Summit 2017Leaders from mining, indigenous communities and public policy will assemble on Friday, Oct. 20, 2017, for the University of Arizona’s second annual Global Mining Law Summit. This year’s summit theme is “Building Capacity for Mineral Development with Native Americans and Indigenous Communities: a Two-Way Street.”

The summit is hosted by the University of Arizona Global Mining Law Program, a collaboration of the James E. Rogers College of Law and the Lowell Institute for Mineral Resources.

The summit will explore critical questions such as:

  • How can mining projects increase recognition in indigenous land and resource rights?
  • How can industry and educational institutions respond to the needs of Native American communities in promoting the technical requirements for mineral resource development?
  • How can project acceptance be gained from affected indigenous communities?

When: Friday, Oct. 20, 2017, 8 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. (followed by a reception)
Where: University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law, 1201 E. Speedway Boulevard, Tucson, AZ, 85721
Who may attend: The conference is open to the public and will be of particular interest to mining industry leaders, indigenous leaders and public policy makers. Space is limited, and registration is required.

This year’s keynote address will be delivered by University of Arizona Law Professor Rebecca Tsosie. The topic is "Origins and Conceptions of Indian Reservations; an analysis of the Native American cultural view of the reservation as a historic homeland and identification of off-reservation values."

Additional speakers include:

  • Tracy Bame, director, social responsibility and community development, Freeport-McMoRan Inc., a natural resources company with headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona
  • Luke Danielson, president and co-founder of Sustainable Development Strategies Group, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote research, teaching and application of the principles of sustainable development in the field of natural resource development
  • Miriam Jorgensen, research director at the Native Nations Institute at the University of Arizona and the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development
  • Buddy Rocha Jr., Yavapai-Apache director of economic development, Camp Verde Sand and Gravel.
  • Peter DuVois, Ph.D candidate, UA College of Mines

Visit the Global Mining Summit website for more details, including the complete schedule and how to register.

Event Contact: Bernadette Wilkinson, senior program coordinator, University of Arizona Law, 520-626-1629,


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Dealing with that Black Hole of Fear, or Choosing to Not Have a Terrible Day

Dealing with that Black Hole of Fear, or Choosing to Not Have a Terrible Day

I woke up at three in the morning to six strange men inhabiting my house. I sat up in my bed gasping in fright when I started hearing loud voices close to me; deep voices were speaking something that wasn’t English. I felt scared and trapped. I didn’t know what was happening. I had nowhere to go.

Minutes after the initial state of terror, the panic dissipated as I remembered there were some logical explanations for these strangers. I live in a hundred year old house separated into two housing units with thin walls and a giant piano upstairs. They weren’t in my unit; it just sounded like they were. The top floor is occasionally rented out to tourists and (fortunately or unfortunately) musicians. But at that time I was living alone, and as a woman I felt trapped and afraid and totally alone. I went upstairs to try to communicate to the men there to please stop playing the piano. They did, and I was happier that it was quiet. But I was also more frightened since they now knew there was a single woman living below them. I made sure my dresser was situated directly in front of the unlocked door that separates my place from these temporary neighbors, double checked to see that my back door was locked, put in some earplugs, said some prayers, and tried my best to get a few more hours of sleep—most of which was spent lying awake in my bed feeling angry and frightened and alone.

When I woke up in the morning, I was overwhelmed with the I-should-have-gotten-more-sleep-than-this crabbiness combined with the must-workout-this-morning angst and the I-can’t-believe-how-scary-that-was aftershock. Like many if not most women, I have been the victim of sexual assault in both public and private places, which makes the reality of a situation like this vividly frightening.

My boyfriend (who I also had texted at 3am) called to report: (1) that he would have keys to his place made for me immediately; (2) if I came over to his house at 330 am he would risk dying from a heart attack; and (3) he would completely understand if I had come over in that circumstance. In my morning haze, what I heard was, “I am more worried about having a heart attack in the middle of the night because you came over to my house than I am worried about you being safe in your own home.”

That sent me into a brief swirl of “where is my husband”? and “why won’t my parents move here!” and “I wish my non-profit attorney job paid me enough money to have a better place than this.” And for a while I got sucked down that self pity black hole.

When we feel frightened—whether this fear is based on something real or something in our heads or perhaps a little of both—it is very easy to start traveling down that slippery slope of negative feelings.   The fear can easily open up the door of anxiety, depression, rage, anger, sadness, jealousy. We feel like our needs cannot be met by ourselves, and we become quick to blame others or our outside circumstances. We perceive the world as out to get us; as a result, we ignore the parts of our world that are there to support and love us.

For me, I feel like there is a switch in my brain that flips over to the dark side; the negative thoughts start coming and what started out to be a not huge deal turns into a day ruiner. That is, if I let it. At some point, though, you really get sick of having perfectly good days ruined by whatever happens to be going on outside of your control. You want to choose something different. You want to do something to stop that inevitable downward spiral from the wow-that-really-sucked to the wow-my-life-really-sucks.

And herein, my dear friends, lies the power of your Radiance. With your light and strength and skills, you do have the power at any moment to separate yourself from what happened and to stay calm and to stay connected to the field of love and goodness in your life rather than get swallowed up by the angry/sad monster.

The morning following the “6 loud neighbors”, I woke up feeling angry and scared. But I was also determined to not have my entire day captured by the fear monster. I was adamant about choosing the Light. Even though part of me really wanted to wallow a bit longer, I dug deep into my practice to use the Law of Radiance Shine exercise. I ignored the hysterical voices in my head telling me that I have every right to be upset and should look into moving. I countered them with my truer and clearer Radiant voice.

I sat in my bed and began taking deep breaths from my belly. I counted ten breaths, twice. I then began reciting affirmations that fit the present need: I remain at peace; this will not happen again and I will make sure that it does not; I am deeply loved by my family and friends and my boyfriend. I tapped into the parts of my life that radiate with love and soon I felt at ease.

And with that, I consciously switched gears from the woe-is-me-this-really-was-awful to the thank-God-nothing-happened and people love me enough for this to never happen again. In that holy instant, I went from crying about my being away from my parents to remembering that this was just one night, I loved my career, my boyfriend loves me, and it’s all good.

This is why my law of radiance practice is so important to me. This is why I meditate and practice affirmations even when I feel like I don’t have the time. I embrace the law of radiance because I want to feel loved and I want to love and I want to feel safe and I don’t want to create terrible days for myself any more. Don’t get me wrong, this is all truly a practice. Sometimes I get so upset and sad and angry, it takes more than a few minutes–or hours– for me to emerge back into my Light. But this is why I am committed to building my spiritual muscle. I don’t want to react with the burning angry fire inside myself. That doesn’t help any situation, and it doesn’t serve me or my relationships. Instead, I want to have the ability to see what is happening, to remember the Light within myself, and to consciously choose to see whatever is happening from a place of peace and compassion for myself and others.

Choosing my Radiance that day made all the difference. The owner of the other unit came over immediately, locked the piano, instituted a no shoes policy, posted quiet times, nailed the door separating our units shut and put up huge sound insulation. My shift allowed me to see that my boyfriend was responding out of total love for me, if I could only hear exactly what he was saying and not make up something in my head to give it a different meaning. He told me to come over if that happened again. I had the choice to hear what he was saying or not, and I chose to hear it.

This, of course, is just a tiny example of the kinds of challenges that come across our paths. We all face the daily challenges–someone offends us, the computer doesn’t save our project, we get scared by strangers in the night, we feel jealous from looking too much at Facebook. We also face the larger challenges– we have our hearts broken, we get laid off, a loved one dies, we don’t know how we are going to pay the bills, we can’t get pregnant when we want to, we are stuck at jobs that suck our souls instead of filling them with joy.

While the larger challenges can sometimes take some more planning, more conscious healing, more coaching, more strategic action, it all comes down to whether we can choose our own Light in any given situation. Can we go back to the basics to know that we are made of love and love is always surrounding us? Do we have the spiritual strength to control the decision whether to choose peace or choose fear? Do we fall into the trap that the world is out to get us or do we stay focused on the parts of it that are supporting us?

I do not believe that everything is meant to happen; I don’t believe that people are meant to be starving to death or dying from cancer at age 45, or dying because some police officer choked them to death. But I do believe that– in our own tiny lives– we have the ability to choose our own inner peace and Radiance in a way that creates more peace within our hearts no matter what the circumstances. And I believe that only through this peace can we then help create more peace in our relationships, in our community, and in our world.

“A man sees in the world what he carries in his heart.” Goethe

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Friday, July 3, 2009

Comparison Study of None, One or Multi Supplement Users

The above link is to an online nutrition journal available to public and scientists alike, that has published the 20 year Landmark Study. This was a comparison study of people who took none, one multi-vitamin, or Shaklee supplements. Check out the results!

For a limited time (end of August -09) any 50 PV (points) order means a FREE $19.95 one-time Membership Fee. That's right. It is waived for trying some of the same products that the people in the study used.
I have a loaner tape on High Energy Wellness available for anyone that requests it.
Dr. Bruce Miller suggests 4 supplements to start your own 'Nutritional Pyramid Program' with.

1. Vita Lea-Shaklee's multi-vitamin. (Vita Lea Gold w/ or w/out Vitamin K for those over 50.)
2. Energizing Soy Protein. (Vanilla or Cocoa. I keep both on hand.)
3. B Complex. A well-balanced B complex, not made from animal products. Those who are under high stress, eat sugar in their diet, use alcohol, etc. need B Complex.
4. Cor-Energy. This product uses Panax Ginseng, Green Tea and Cordyceps Mushroom to normalize the stress response and energy level of the body.

Use the above program for 30 days and you will notice healthy change, from exceptional to subtle.
Dr. Miller then suggests people add antioxidants: Vitamin C, E, and Betacarotene.
The tip of the 'Nutritional Pyramid Program' are your own individualized needs.
ie: Men w/ prostate problems often use the zinc and saw palmetto.
Those with high blood pressure use garlic to thin the blood, and Omega Guard for the essential fatty acids.

Some people like a daily strip of all the vitamins, and use Vitalizer. For an anti-aging and cellular level protection they add Vivix-a powerful antioxidant made from grape skins and seeds,etc. 'Crazy- good" tasting, and very beneficial for diabetes, cholesterol control, energy, anti-cancer prevention,etc.

My best.
Pamela Cohen
Check out :

or write me with your questions on the comment section or:

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Leavenworth, Kansas business directory and classified listings

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Wedding grand intro song

The wedding grand intro song and good will

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“The terrible impact of war affects countries long after peace treaties are signed. The economic, psychological, environmental and physical scars can last for decades, even affecting the generations born after the conflict.”

What happens to countries and their people once a war is over? It’s a question that has been on my mind since I started photographing humanitarian and conflict issues more than a decade ago. Can we even say that wars are over if people are still dying and lives are still disrupted decades after peace treaties are signed?

Legacy of War is a five-year photographic project by the photographer Giles Duley exploring the long-term effects of conflict globally. Most specifically, Legacy of War documents the lasting impact of war on individuals and communities told through the stories of those living in its aftermath.

With the mainstream media firmly focussed on the short-term economic and political consequences of conflict, LoW is concerned with the human and the personal. It explores the local landscapes and everyday lives of those affected by conflict – often decades after peace treaties have been signed – and raises issues that are often neglected by mainstream news and history.

Legacy of War currently has plans to document stories in Angola, the UK, Colombia, Laos, Vietnam, Lebanon, Egypt, the US, DRC and Northern Ireland, covering topics such as long-term refugees, PTSD, disability, sexual violence, Agent Orange, unexploded bombs and landmines, and the rehabilitation of child soldiers.

Giles Duley, Hon FRPS, worked as a successful fashion and music photographer for ten years. However, having become disillusioned with celebrity culture, he decided to abandon photography and left London to begin work as a full-time carer. It was in this role that he rediscovered his craft and its power to tell the stories of those without a voice. In 2000, he returned to photography, personally funding trips to document the work of NGOs and the stories of those affected by conflict across the world. In 2011, Duley lost both legs and his left arm after stepping on an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) in Afghanistan whilst photographing those caught up in the conflict. He was told he would never walk again and that his career was over. However, characteristically stubborn, Duley told his doctors “I’m still a photographer”, and returned to work in Afghanistan less than 18 months later.

Duley has since documented stories in Lebanon, Bangladesh, Colombia, Iraq and Jordan amongst others His return was the feature of the award-winning documentary, Walking Wounded: Return to the Frontline. His work has since been featured in numerous papers and magazines, and he has talked about his experiences on television, radio and at several international and national events. His TEDx talk was voted one of the top ten TED talks of 2012. Duley is a Trustee for the Italian NGO Emergency and ambassador for Sir Bobby Charlton’s landmine charity Find A Better Way. In 2013, he won the May Chidiac Award for Bravery in Journalism and the AIB Founders Award for Outstanding Achievement, and was made an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society.

In 2016 he was commissioned by the UNHCR to document the refugee crisis across Europe and the Middle East, the result of which was the book I Can Only Tell You What My Eyes See.

By June 2017 Duley had already travelled to over a dozen countries in the continuation of his Legacy of War project, a project his sees as his defining work.

Support Legacy of War


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Thursday, August 03, 2006

Something Missing

I have no reason to believe Mark Waid or Barry Kitson has ever seen this blog. They might have; stranger things have happened. Of all the things I’ve posted on here, though, this is probably the one I most hope they ever read.

There’s something missing from this version of the Legion of Super-Heroes. And I think we’re going to have to put up with it for a while.

In some ways, it goes back to something I saw in an interview with Waid around the time of the most recent reboot:

“[W]ho in their right mind would entrust the security of the Earth and United Planets to teenagers?

“That’s the first question we asked when we put every single element of the Legion under the microscope--and […] we realized that the inevitable answer, no matter how hard we tried to make it otherwise, was ‘No one,’””

When I read that for the first time, I said to myself, “That makes a lot of sense.” Because it’s true. Nobody would nominate, as the last line of defense between civilization and monstrously destructive evil, a bunch of teenyboppers. Never happen.

The two previous versions of the Legion were that last line of defense, though. Whether it’s realistic or not that they should have been in that position, it’s indisputable that they were, and that they proved they deserved it. Whether it was against Mordru or the Khunds or the Time Trapper or the Dark Circle or the Dominion or Ra’s al Ghul or Robotica or freaking Darkseid, the Legion came through again and again.

And, in doing so, they achieved legendary status in their society. Think about Cosmic Boy’s method of crowd control here:

First of all, it worked. (The magnetism helped too, yes, but I hold that it was the flight ring thing that sealed the deal.)

Second of all, he knew it would work.

Can you imagine? A teenager shows off some jewelry and everybody goes home.

This kind of thing happened on an individual level, too. How many stories have we read in which the stalwart Example Boy is in a tight spot, and the caption says something like, “But Example Boy is still a Legionnaire. And, even now, that still means something.”

Do you get that? The proposition is this: if you’re a Legionnaire, that automatically puts you one up on anyone who isn’t. The kicker is this: everyone believes that. Everyone in the 30th/31st century, Legionnaire and non-Legionnaire alike, believes that. That’s Timber Wolf’s assumption here:

The current version of the Legion doesn’t have that status, and I miss it. It’s wonderful to read about. But their society doesn’t look at them the same way. Oh, sure, they came through against Lemnos, and that was impressive. They have some support. Their new official alliance with Earthgov and the addition of Supergirl gives them a little extra credibility. But really they’re still considered just a pack of kids.

If this Legion is ever going to be thought of in the same way as their predecessors, they’ll have to earn it, by defeating not just one menace, but all the menaces. (And by acting like superheroes as they do it.) It’ll take a few years. But I’m looking forward to it. I’m looking forward to the characters being proud of being Legionnaires. Right now they’re not. Oh, they like the Legion, and they believe in it, in their own ways, but the group is still new and young. The Legion is still being defined by its membership and their actions; the Legionnaires are contributing their values and courage and identities to the team. At some point, these contributions will start paying off. It’ll start going the other way. The team will be, as the expression goes, greater than any one of them, and Legionnaires will be able to draw identity and values and courage from their Legion membership.

I am assuming that this is the way Waid and Kitson are going with this title. In all their years associated with these characters, and the years of reading about them before that, they must have noticed this special aspect of the Legion. And nobody fond of these characters could be aware of this particular brand of esprit de corps and decide not to use it. Right?

A while ago, my wife asked me what she probably thought was a very simple question: who’s your favourite superhero? Now, I’ve got an inexplicable affection for the superhero genre, whether it be in comic books or movies or TV or prose fiction… but I didn’t have the first idea how to answer her. I do now, though, after writing this. My favourite character is the Legion itself, the team, and how it can make all the individual characters stronger for participating in it. That Legion doesn’t exist yet, in this version, and it’ll take a while to coalesce. I can wait… but no more reboots, please?

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Monday, November 26, 2012

Special Issue of Philosophical Studies on High-Level Properties in Perception

My special issue of Philosophical Studies on high-level properties in perception will be out in the next issue of the journal. It includes contributions by Jennifer Matey, Heather Logue, Ophelia DeRoy, Nico Silins, Bill Fish, Tim Bayne & Ryan Perkins (co-authored contribution), and Roy Sorensen.

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Formal Epistemology Course Next Semester

Some of you have requested the course description for the formal epistemology course I am teaching next semester. So I am posting it here.

Formal Epistemology
This course is an upper-level graduate course in formal epistemology that will serve as a broad foundation for anyone who is hoping to get into a good Ph.D. program in philosophy. In the course we will cover Bayesian probability theory and degrees of belief, de se belief, the nature of a priori knowledge, the nature of justification and the knowability paradox. The main book we will read is David Chalmers' Constructing the World. We will also cover several articles in the different areas dealt with in the class. Each week there will be writing assignments devoted to the concepts covered in the course. Students will also be required to write a term paper within the area of formal epistemology. The course encourages, but does not require, prior knowledge of two-dimensional semantics. Undergraduate students can take the course with prior permission from the instructor.

Friday, November 16, 2012

News Posts on the Brain and Superhuman Abilities

We have posted a couple of new posts to our blog on superhuman ability over at Psychology Today

Tuesday, November 06, 2012

Change Blindness

See if you can identify the change in this picture. This one is a bit harder.

New Psychology Today blog

I am contributing to a Psychology Today blog, The Superhuman Mind, which may be of interest to you. The first post is up.


text:
Toad's Kongtastic Journey

By E-Man

Meanwhile at the Swimming Krock, K. Rool is walking down one of the halls with Kracko.

K. Rool: Are you sure Junk in the Box will be able to defeat that Mushroom twerp and that Kong?

Kracko: Relax! I made a whole lot of modifications to Mad Jack, making him a very powerful robot. And please don't call him Junk in the Box.

Just then, a now-broken Mad Jack and the parrot (which is now roasted) land in front of K. Rool and Kracko.

Bowser: Oh boy! Food!

Bowser enters the hall and eats the parrot.

Kracko: That was... random.

K. Rool: You were saying?

Kracko: What happened to you?

Mad Jack: I don't want to talk about it, Master Kracko.

Kracko: Don't worry! I'll go repair you and give you an upgrade!

Just then, some Kritters come over to Kracko with the King of the Water Kingdom.

King: Mamamia! Where am I?!

One of the Kritters: Second in command, we got the king as a prisoner.

Kracko: Huh? I never said anything about keeping the king as my prisoner. All I wanted was his magic wand.

Another Kritter: At least we got it right here.

The Kritter gives Kracko the king's wand.

Kracko: Thank you. Since you made a little bit of a mistake, I will now be the one looking for the wands. As for the king, tell him to go back to the Water Kingdom.

King: Thank you very much! I'd better get back to my Italian dinner. Let's-a go!

The king leaves the Swimming Krock.

K. Rool: By the way, why do you want the wands so badly?

Kracko: It's for a little project I am working on in my spare time.

Mad Jack: But what about me?! I can't stay broken forever!

Kracko: I'll fix you as soon as I get back.

Meanwhile, E-Man and Co. are exploring Diamond City.

Doopliss: Are we close to the school yet? I want to see 9-Volt, Kat, and Ana!

E-Man: Don't worry! We'll be there soon!

Just then, Lemmy Koopa appears from out of nowhere.

Klaps: Who are you?

Lemmy: I am Lemmy Koopa! The webmaster of Lemmy's Land! I am here to tell E-Man that I must make it so that the audience must not see this subquest you are going on.

Doopliss: Does that mean we can't get Team Doopliss back together so we can reclaim the Star Rod?

Lemmy: That's not what I mean. What I mean is that we can't put this adventure in the Fun Fiction. You can still continue to get the Star Rod back, but the audience won't see your progress.

Doopliss: Oh.

Meanwhile, Toad and Dixie have made it to the lower part of the Sky Kingdom.

Dixie: So this is the Sky Kingdom. Why do they call it that? There's nothing special here.

Toad: This is only the ground floor, Dixie. To really get to the Sky Kingdom, we need to climb to the top of Spiral Tower.

Dixie: The word Spiral brings back memories.

Dixie is at Spiral Mountain with Banjo, Kazooie, and Tooty.

Tooty: It's so great of you to visit us today, Dixie! We're going to have lots of fun!

Banjo: That's right, Tooty! We'll climb trees, swim in lakes, and play video games!

Dixie: Thanks, guys! I'm so glad I have friends like you!

Someone: Hey Dixie! Can I go ahead and play with you today?

Just then, Gruntling comes out of Gruntilda's Lair.

Kazooie: Banjo! We'd better go get rid of Mr. Ugly over there!

Banjo: Kazooie! That's just Dixie's friend!

Gruntling: If I wasn't on my break, I would choke that stupid bird! I heard that the waves at Treasure Trove Cove are really good this year! Let's go and catch some!

Dixie: Good deal! I'd better get the surfboards!

Just then, Toad appears from out of nowhere.

Toad: I hate to upset you at a time like this, but you'd better get out of memory lane because we got Lakitus at three o'clock!

*Flashback over*

Dixie snaps out of her flashback and looks up into the sky. There are two Lakitus floating over her.

One of the Lakitus: Yo! We're the Lakitus! King Bowser sent us to destroy a Mushroom Head and a monkey!

Dixie: What's a bunch of floating turtles going to do to us? Rain on our parade?

Toad: Be careful, Dixie! Lakitus are real tricksters!

The other Lakitu: Rain on your parade? That's a great idea! The worst rain of all is Spiny rain!

The Lakitus throw two Spiny eggs onto the ground.

Dixie: How are silly, little spiked balls going to harm us?

Toad: Those aren't any ordinary spiked balls.

The Spiny eggs hatch into Spinies.

Dixie: Awwww! They are soooooo cute!

The First Lakitu: Try to beat those guys!

Dixie: Do I have to beat them? I want them as pets.

The Second Lakitu: (reading the script) It says here that you do.

Dixie: Well that's a shame!

Dixie hits the Spinies' faces with her hair to defeat them.

Both Lakitus: Oh my gosh! How did you do that?!

Dixie: I had to deal with Spinies in Donkey Kong Country 2, but those Spinies are porcupines.

The Second Lakitu: It looks like we need to try something else.

The First Lakitu: You're right! We need to do Lakitu Attack 34!

The Lakitus throw Spiny eggs everywhere.

Dixie: Toad! Do you have a plan to defeat these losers?!

Toad: Are there any of those barrels lying around here?

Dixie: I think I see one over there! Grab it quick!

Toad runs as fast as he can to quickly snatch a conveniently placed barrel, and gives it to Dixie.

Dixie: I see how this is going.

Dixie hoists the barrel over her head with her hair and throws it at one of the Lakitus.

The Lakitu that got hit: OW! That hurt, but I won't give up that easy!

Toad: Nice shot! I'll go get you some more barrels!

Toad runs off to get more barrels.

The Lakitus: Not so fast, Mushroom boy!

As soon as Toad is about to grab a barrel, one of the Lakitus throws a Spiny egg at it to destroy it.

Toad: Shoot! I hate it when this happens!

The Second Lakitu: Go ahead. Just try to grab another.

Toad runs to the next barrel, but it gets destroyed by a Spiny egg too. The same thing happens to all the other barrels.

The First Lakitu: We're sorry, but this is so amusing.

Dixie: Got another idea?

Toad: Uhhhh... No.

Dixie: We're doomed.

Just then, two balls of energy hit the Lakitus and knock them off their clouds.

The Lakitus: RETREAT!

The Lakitus run away.

Toad: Hooray! We're saved!

Dixie: But by whom?

Standing behind Toad and Dixie is a tall man in a red robe with long sleeves. He has black skin, a crown like Peach's crown, and the hood of his robe is up, making it so that the only thing seen of his face is two white eyes without pupils.

Man: I am Agahnim of the Subrosians. I am traveling so I can hunt down Majora and defeat her.

Toad: Agahnim? Aren't you that guy Doopliss keeps talking about who he goes on adventures with?

Agahnim: Correct. I believe that you two are Toad and Dixie, who are going on a quest to save Mario and all his friends.

Dixie: How did you know that?

Agahnim: The power of magic told me about your quest.

Toad: This guy is kind of like Iggy.

Toad: That's not what I mean! I was talking about you liking magic as much as Iggy! Don't get so mad about it!

Dixie: Are we just going to sit here and talk? We'd better save the next prisoner.

Toad: That's right! It's been fun talking to you, Mr. Agahnim, but we need to get into the sky so we can save another of Mario's friends!

Toad finds a Trampoline and uses it to jump on one of the Lakitu's clouds.

Dixie: I never knew you can ride Lakitu clouds!

Toad: It's fun! All you need to do is jump on them after you get the Lakitu off.

Dixie gets on the other Lakitu cloud.

Dixie: Aren't you coming with us?

Agahnim: Of course I am! I came to this kingdom to warn Princess Toadstool about Majora in case I couldn't find her.

Toad: So the princess is here. We'd better get a move on!

Toad uses his Lakitu cloud to quickly reach Spiral Tower.

Dixie: Wait up, Toad!

Dixie follows Toad in her cloud.

Agahnim: They asked me if they wanted me to join them, but they left me. Oh well! I might as well follow them!

Agahnim uses his magic to float in the air and heads in the direction of Spiral Tower. Meanwhile, Toad and Dixie are almost at Spiral Tower.

Toad: I can see Spiral Tower in the distance! We'll be there in no time!

Dixie: You're right, Toad! Riding on clouds is fun! Nothing can go wrong now!

Toad: Uhhhhhh... I forgot to tell you something, Dixie.

Dixie: Uh oh. I don't like the sound of that.

Just then, the clouds that Toad and Dixie are riding on start fading in and out. After five seconds, the clouds disappear.

Dixie: What happed to our clouds?!

Toad: I was going to tell you that after a while, the clouds disappear.

Dixie: -.-'  It looks like we're going to have to go the rest of the trip by foot.

Toad: At least we made it to the tower. All we have to do now is climb it.

Dixie: That sounds easy enough.

Toad: It wasn't for Mario when he climbed the tower years ago. When the Koopa Kids took over the Seven Kingdoms, the tower was made into an enemy stronghold. After the events were over, King Nimbus installed stairs on the exterior of the tower.

As soon as Toad and Dixie go up on the first step, Agahnim comes over to where they are.

Dixie: Aren't you that Agahnim guy we met earlier?

Agahnim: That is true. I'll be traveling with you for a while.

Toad, Dixie, and Agahnim climb the stairway up the tower. Halfway up, they run into some Hammer Bros. and Bazukas.

Toad: Awww... Snap!

Dixie: Crackle!

Agahnim: Pop!

One of the Hammer Bros: Hey! There's that Mushroom Head that Bowser keeps talking about!

One of the Bazukas: I know that monkey! She's Dixie! I remember you from that quest you had with Kiddy Kong when KAOS was our leader!

Another Hammer Bro: And you're... some guy in a red robe. Ah well! It's hammer and blasting time, boys!

The Hammer Bros. throw hammers everywhere while the Bazukas fire Steel Kegs from their Bazookas. Toad and Dixie do their best to dodge the hammers and kegs while Agahnim makes a small shield of magic to deflect the hammers and kegs. The hammers and kegs that don't hit their targets fall off the tower.

Someone: ACK!

Just then, a DK Coin appears from nowhere.

Toad: Thanks, guys! You helped us defeat Koin!

Another Bazuka: We defeated Koin?! NOOOOOOOOO! WE LIKE KOIN!

All the Bazukas fire their Bazookas really fast. They not only knock out Toad and Dixie, they also knock out all of the Hammer Bros.

The first Bazuka: VICTORY! Now to finish it off!

All of the Bazukas get TNT Barrels. They tape them together with super tape and light all the fuses. One of the Hammer Bros. wakes up.

Hammer Bro. that is awake: DON'T DO THAT! YOU'LL DESTRO-

KABOOM! All of the Hammer Bros. and Bazukas fly off in different directions. This doesn't happen to Toad, Dixie, and Agahnim because Agahnim made a magic shield around them.

Agahnim: That was a close one.

Just then, the tower begins to crumble.

Agahnim: Oh no! That can't be good!

Before the tower completely crumbles to the ground, Agahnim teleports Dixie, Toad, and himself off the tower. They all end up on a cloud in the sky.

Agahnim: I'm getting too old for stuff like this.

Toad and Dixie wake up.

Toad: Hey, we're in heaven! Are we dead?

Dixie: There's only one way to find out.

Dixie hits Toad with her hair.

Toad: OW!

Dixie: This isn't heaven!

Toad: If we're not in heaven, then we must be in the higher part of the Sky Kingdom!

Dixie: That's nice. What shall we do now, Sherlock?

Toad: Since all of the prisoners are at the kingdoms' castles, we're going to need to get to Nimbus Castle in the city of Nimbus Land. Come on, guys!

Toad, Dixie, and Agahnim head for Nimbus Land. After a short time of walking, they make it to a bunch of floating platforms.

Agahnim: I feel like I'm not needed here. I'll just wait for you to cross on the other side.

Agahnim teleports away from Toad and Dixie.

Dixie: Brace yourself, Toad, because here we go.

Dixie and Toad jump on the platforms. Dixie is halfway there while Toad is still on the first platform.

Dixie: Hey! This is so easy! I'll get across this in no time!

Toad: You call this easy? When you are a Toad, something like this isn't easy.

Toad makes a leap to the next platform.

Toad: Wow, I can't believe I actually did that. All I need to do is hop the other ones. Nothing can stop me now!

Just then, a Paragoomba shoves Toad and he falls off the platform.

Meanwhile, Dixie is on the other side with Agahnim.

Dixie: That was way too easy! I was thinking that you would leave us, Agahnim.

Agahnim: Despite my appearance, I am very good. Where is Toad?

Dixie: I believe the little guy is still on the first platform. He is a pretty bad jum- OH MY GOSH!

Dixie sees Toad falling out of the sky.

Dixie: This is really not good! If he gets killed... NO! I'D BETTER NOT THINK ABOUT IT!

Dixie finds a crate with a picture of a parrot on it and opens it up. Meanwhile, Toad is about to hit the ground.

Toad: This is it! I am now going to die! Goodbye, Princess! I have failed you!

When Toad was about to fall hard on the ground, he is suddenly floating a few feet above the ground.

Toad: Huh? I am not dead?

Toad looks up to see Squawks the Parrot holding him.

Squawks: It's a good thing I caught you, Toad! If I didn't, there would be Toad gunk all over the ground.

Squawks flies Toad all the way back into the sky where Dixie and Agahnim are.

Dixie: Nicely done, Squawks! You are the hero of the day!

Squawks: Thank you, Dixie! I feel pretty happy after you said that!

Toad: I can't believe you saved my life. Thank you, Dixie.

Dixie: Don't thank me. Thank Squawks. He's the real hero!

Toad: Oh. Hey! I think I see Nimbus Land! We'd better get there quick if we want to save the princess!

After six minutes of walking, Toad, Dixie, and Agahnim make it to the gates of Nimbus Land. Prince Mallow is waiting for them by the gate.

Mallow: Hi Toad! Did you bring my people?

Toad: Of course I did! How on Plit could I forget?

Toad gives Mallow a bag of marshmallows.

Mallow: (to the marshmallows) Hello, my brethren!

Dixie: What's his beef?

Toad: Mallow thinks that he is a marshmallow.

Dixie: That. Is. Weird.

Mallow: Who's the monkey girl? Did you ditch Toadette and get her as your new girlfriend?

Toad: Toadette is not my girlfriend! She is a girl who is just my friend. The same thing goes for Dixie.

Agahnim: Isn't anyone going to introduce me?

Toad: Oh yeah. This creepy guy is Agahnim.

Dixie: Cool it, Agahnim! We're here to see Princess Peach.

Mallow: Is that so? Some crocodile guys came to Nimbus Land earlier and put a cage with Peach in it near the castle.

Mallow takes Toad, Dixie, and Agahnim into the city. After some walking, they make it to the entrance of Nimbus Castle. They find a cage with Peach in it.

Toad: Princess! I finally found you!

Peach: Thank you, Toad! But Mario is in another kingdom!

Toad: Oh yeah. I almost forgot about him. If I didn't save him, there would be no hero in the Mushroom Kingdom.

Just then, Kracko goes over to where Mallow, Peach, Toad, Dixie, and Agahnim are.

Kracko: Well, well, well. It looks like we meet face to face, Toad and Dixie.

Toad: Listen here, Cloud boy! You're not getting the princess without a fight!

Kracko: Cloud boy? That's a new one. Most of the time, people call me Cracko.

Dixie: I don't care who you are! You are still going down!

Toad and Dixie grab some metal poles and start whacking Kracko, but they get shocked.

Toad and Dixie: BlagadiblagadiblagadiAAG!

Kracko: I didn't come here to fight, but... Oh well! When in Rome!

Kracko shoots a lighting bolt at Toad and Dixie. They could have dodged it, but their metal poles attract the bolt towards them.

Toad and Dixie: BlagadiblagadiblagadiAAG!

Agahnim: Are you two stupid or something?! Stop whacking that fiend with metal! Try wood!

Agahnim uses his magic to make two wooden sticks. He then gives them to Toad and Dixie.

Agahnim: You two keep that cloud busy while I free Princess Toadstool.

Toad and Dixie continue to battle Kracko.

Toad: Hey! We're not getting hurt!

Agahnim: That's because wood doesn't conduct electricity. Keep the battle going!

After a whole lot of stick whacking, Kracko does a body slam on Toad and Dixie. This causes the sticks to break.

Toad: Rats! What are we going to do now?

Dixie: Hmmmm... Let me think about it... I know! Do you have any barrels, Mallow?

Mallow: Hold on! Let me check!

Mallow runs inside the castle.

Dixie: Now Toad, do what you always do when you fight a monster.

Toad: Right!

Toad runs around aimlessly.

Dixie: -.-'

Just then, Mallow exits the castle with a whole lot of barrels.

Mallow: How about this?

Dixie: That's perfect!

Dixie grabs a barrel and throws it at Kracko.

Kracko: That hurt!

Dixie: Good!

Dixie keeps on throwing barrels while Kracko keeps on shooting lighting bolts and body slamming. Toad is still running around. Just then, he trips on a weed growing in the ground.

Toad: Ow! ... Hey, I think I know what to do with this.

Toad begins to uproot the weed and it turns out to be a turnip. A really big turnip.

Toad: Sweet!

Kracko: Give up, Dixie! You wasted all your barrels! You lose!

Dixie: I don't need barrels to fight you!

Dixie jumps onto Kracko.

Dixie: BlagadiblagadiblagadiAAG!

Kracko: You were saying?

Just then, a giant turnip hits Kracko.

Kracko: That smarts!

Kracko faints and Dixie gets a DK Coin

Dixie: Wow! I must be pretty good!

Toad: Dixie, I was the one that threw the giant turnip.

Dixie: Oh.

Agahnim: I'm finished with freeing Princess Toadstool! You go ahead and free the other prisoners.

Toad: Thanks, Agahnim! It's been great traveling with you!

Toad jumps off the cloud.

Dixie: Oh great! Now I'm going to have to save you again!

Mallow: Don't worry! The place where Toad jumped off of leads to the Ice Kingdom! He'll land in a pile of snow!

Dixie: Well... OK!

Dixie jumps off the cloud too.

Agahnim: Now Princess Toadstool, I need to tell you about a terrible danger that will threaten your kingdom...

Just then, Kracko wakes up.

Kracko: I came here to steal the magic wand of this kingdom, but I got attacked. At least they're gone.

Kracko enters the castle.

Mallow: Why does that guy want my dad's magic wand?

Read on!

Comments, suggestions, stories, or story ideas? Email me!
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text:
Tuesday, January 31, 2006

Bedtime and Mocha

Saturday Trav and I decided to "get a little crazy" and go out after our bedtime, or at least close to it. We put the girls down by 8:30 and headed out to Starbucks. We hadn't tried this approach before but it worked very well. Typically when we have Amanda watch the girls Halle cries incessantly and I'm stressed out the whole time because I'm expecting a phone call at any second. But since she was in bed and typically sleeps without any interruptions I was able to relax and enjoy the company. The music and atmosphere were great, the coffee drink not so much. I guess that's what I get for trying something new. Or because I tried something "lite"- yuck! The downside is that we stayed out kind of late and ended up going to the late service at church which takes up a lot of the day. The advantage to going late is that everybody is fed, dressed, brushed, and not stressed. The downside, as I just mentioned, is missing a lot of the day.

Speaking of church, we've been going to New Song for the last several weeks and are really enjoying it. The pastor is doing a series on Abiding in the Vine and we're getting a lot out of it. The kicker is that Amanda told me that she likes it! And I'll tell you that if things don't fit Amanda's agenda she typically doesn't like it. So this is a huge big deal. Oh, and I failed to mention that Amanda told me that she likes it without me bringing it up-hmmm, interesting. It was also very cool that the week before last Chloe came home singing,
Mercy is falling is falling is falling
Mercy is falling is falling is falling
Mercy is falling is falling is falling
(something unintelligible-sounds like on you or ub you)
Hey, oh, streams of mercy (sung while running around the living room chair and dancing)
repeat, repeat
And this week she told us about the vine and the branches and Jesus is the vine. I'm excited that she comes home from church and has learned a lot.

We haven't been to Life Groups yet and Amanda hasn't been to the youth group yet so we'll see how that goes.

And in more news...
Chloe spilled and entire glass of water on my old computer. I say "old computer" but up until Saturday it was the computer I used on a regular basis. All of my pictures were in it and I'm more than a little frustrated. She wasn't supposed to have a drink while on the computer but she doesn't always obey- I know it's hard to fathom that. In her defense though since we don't currently have our computer desk the kitchen table is also serving as a computer station so the rules are a little "murky". Anyway, on the upside Trav thinks he can get the pics off my old hard drive and I'm now using a slightly newer computer that Travis rescued from work or something. And he was holding out on me. He just installed a much, much larger hard drive that he had stashed away so I have lots more space for pics. He actually has worked on it since Saturday night and it's been an ordeal but it worked out ok.

I also completed two scrapbook pages, my first ever! I don't really love scrap booking but I like having pictures saved and documented and I'm pretty sure I'm the only one that's going to do it. I don't know we'll see how it goes. They do look nice though.

I guess that's enough rambling for now. I will ramble much more later...

Tisra said...

Correction: Abiding and Abounding...and I missed two weeks! ha. :-) Glad you guys are getting something out of New Song, whether it ends up being "the place" for you or not. I was really impressed with how they do worship and lessons for even the wee ones (starting at 2)when we first started going, and now I think "Why *wouldn't* a church do that?". Dean has really surprised me with how much he absorbs at his age. Great idea with the babysitting thing...I bet Amanda felt less stressed, too. Wow about the scrapbooking. You've impressed me and made me feel guilty all in one go! :-)

Amy said...

Oops! Well, you get the jist of it anyway. Yeah, for the sake of not "name dropping" I left out the fact that "PJ" actually taught her that song. Not that it's a huge big deal but is still cool. And Chloe seems to absorb so much more and I wondered if it was a church thing or an age thing. I guess there's no way to test that.

Don't feel guilty about scrapbooking. I've only done 2 pages and I'll probably never knit- even though I saw some really cute yarn at Michael's that would make positively adorable scarves for Chloe.

Tracy Mock said...

CARAMEL CAFE LATE - Dont do the light crap! YUCK!!!!! That is funny about Chloe and that song. When Zack was totting around I heard him in the bath one nigh "In the name of the father, the son, and in the tub you Go".... I was curious and peeked around the corner. He had his little toys lined up on the side baptizing them. They learn and do absorb more than we realize! I'm glad you have found a good church that everyone likes. Especially Amanda. She is at such a fragile age where they can be so mislead by this world. Your a good mom!

LaDonna said...

Great idea about going out after the kids are in bed! That might be something you can to often.

Another advantage of having an older child that can watch the little ones while they are asleep.