The Bug House

Yup. Great comraderie, great education, great feeling when you help someone.

The Nine Principles of American Civic life America is a country of ideas. Those ideas are and must be based on reason, so that men and women of all faiths and philosophies can adhere to them equally. The fundamental idea of America is freedom, which means the abolishment of physical force from civic life. Individual rights are the recognition of personal self-ownership. They ensure our freedoms. They include the Right to Life which means the right to exist without threat of destruction; the Right to Liberty which means the right to exist without physical coercion; the Right to Property which means the right to create, earn, own, use and trade property; the Right to Pursue Happiness which means the right to take action in service to one's own life. These rights are unalienable and belong to all individuals. No collective or group possesses more or different rights beyond the individual rights of its members. Rights are freedoms of action, not coercive claims on the property or services of others. No man may violate the rights of another by force. Our government was founded to be the defender of man's legitimate rights, so that force may be used only against those who initiate force or fraud against others, that it may be controlled by objective law. This is the justification of our military, courts, and police forces. A government that initiates force or fraud against its citizens is illegitimate; it is the prerogative of the people to alter or abolish such a government. The Twelve Virtues of American Civic Life Rationality Independence Honesty Integrity Justice Productiveness Pride Self-governance Voluntary cooperation Benevolence Mutual respect Recognition of individual sovereignty http://www.principledpatriots.us/ Figured I'd put this up for those of you who think I'm a liberal who's ideas are ruining this country. This quite accurately reflects the foundation of Libertarianism.

This is a video of Ayn Rand speaking in 1961, it's chillingly apprropriate in todays political environment. Ayn Rand info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayn_rand Thoughts?

Whats the worth of an opinion if you're unwilling to defend it?

Thank you much, same to you guys. With any luck I'll be home by 9AM wth the grouse that have almost given me a heart attack the last 2 times I went deer hunting.

> You never answered my question. "infect"..........cute.

Oh yea..... Single digits / low teens forecasted for tonight. The long range forecast looks quite promising as well. just hope the snow holds off for a while....

Heads: Peart Tails: Bonham

This will be my first actual holiday off in over 7 years. I was recently promoted to director of cardiopulmonary services in the hospital I work for and now have a traditional schedule. I realized today that after working second and third shift for years I have never been able to spend the actual holiday with my family. My oldest daughter is only 4, and my son is 2. Number three arrives in Feb., but I guess this still counts! Anyhow, I'm really looking forward to tommorow, I'd wager thats something most of us have in common. I hope everyone has a good one. Happy Thanksgiving!

> I apologize for offending you, however, rest assured that I was not referring to your beliefs as nonsense...just the fact that in the 1950's it was added to the pledge of allegiance. Again I apologize. Please enlighten me, what exactly is the meaning behind the passage I posted? I've asked often and never been able to get a straightforward, concise, meaningful answer. Perhaps it's a "classic move" because it does highlight a bit of a contradiction. Even though its a parable, why would a loving, forgiving god condone violence and murder? Also please let me clarify, I'm not trying to convert anyone or anything like that, I just feel an overbearing sense of hypocrisy in many of the posts here, ie: Killing in the name of god is wrong...unless it's my god. And frankly the only reason I made my signature as it is was because I was quite surprised how many posters equated innocuous little daily events to the "work of god". Also equating religious belief with patriotism is extremely offensive to me. I had no intent of hijacking this thread, I definately agree with many sentiments expressed here, others not so much. But I do love a spirited/heated discussion, and just because I don't agree with someone doesn't mean I don't respect thier right have an opinion.

Luke 19:27 - "But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them--bring them here and slay them in front of me." If you think Christianity (I'm making the assumption you're Christian) is any less a violent religion than Islam, you are sorely mistaken. This is America however, and we're all free to worship (or not) as we please, and although I may not suscribe to someones belief system I respect the freedom they have to do so. As long as they respect my freedom to do the same. The people responsible for 9/11 should be served swift and unforgiving justice. Not all muslims are responsible for 9/11.

Well said, agree 99% I believe there are indeed muslims that are peace loving, we just hear the extremist minority. A privately regulated airline industry would've profiled those terrorists right into custody.

What a foolish response. Libertarianism = the view that each person has the right to live his life in any way he chooses so long as he respects the equal rights of others" Free market, Minimal Goverment, and personal liberty is my platform. I don't recall ever supporting any "rights" for terrorists, illegal aliens, or any specific religious faction for that matter. You appear to be so blinded by irrational thought, you fail to see that this intolerance is just about as un-American as jihad. What ever happened to "land of the free"?

Let me reiterate, I completey agree with the notion that spending tax money on this would be an atrocity. Although I certainly havent studied religion to the detailed extent that someone like Sam Harris has, I did take more than one masters level ideology class. Quite a bit of that time was spent discussing Islam and the other popular religions, and a common thread throughout was that the extremist minority often have the loudest voice. "3000 of our fellow citizens".....Not including the attackers, up to 2 dozen of our fellow citizens killed that day were Muslim, and according to the New York Times, an additional 14 illegal immigrants were also killed. You've got yourself some faulty logic there. Although I don't celebrate xmas in a traditional sense, I tend to agree with this sentiment. It's ashame to have an important holiday for so many be so completely bastardized into nothing more than a consumer consumption contest. I also intended to quote the xmas tree being officially changed to "The Tree" comment. That is just pathetic, whats next? Having to refer to a menorah as "Jewish holiday wax incendiary devices"? This knee jerk, PC wannabe reaction is just ridiculous. +1 Agree with bolded, after I fixed it for ya!

Ugh...you're kidding right? Just because I don't think like Archie Bunker makes me a "liberal"? Please..... I'm a Libertarian, which means the only thing I detest more than conservatism is liberalism. I'm interested in perpetuating facts and the truth......not forming an opinion just because it's in contrast to what the opposition thinks. "crap on the American way of life"!?....the American way of life is all about the underdog and minority rights and tolerance, and civility. Remember it's "One nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all" (This "under god" nonsense wasn't added until 1954) What you seem to be referring to is called facism.

> Are they all union?

Careful there...that sure is painting with a broad stroke. Just like every christian isn't a pedophile, every muslim isn't a terrorist. Sure sounds a lot like the extremism that brought those buildings down in the first place.

> Thaks for the fantastic insight, and I wish you and your coworkers the best of luck. I have a question about purchasing stamps, perhaps you may be able to explain a bit. Years ago, when I was single and worked 3rd shift, I was often up to all hours and often running errands on my time off. There was 2 or 3 P.O.'s that installed new, digital stamp vending machines and they had 24 hour access. I would've thought that those would be all over the place (Retail outlets ect.) but I don't see them at all anywhere now. Any thoughts?

Great responses so far.... Actually, I would think 36K annually is on target for a letter carrier, however, I know a P.O. custodian that makes $11 an hour more than another friend that is an ICU nurse. Small town P.O. he probably spends as much time making coffee as he does working. That is a great example of the potential damage a Union can cause. Of course this isn't reflective of every P.O. I've been reading how some states are leasing toll roads to private companies and generating more of a profit than ever before. Very little incentive for government agencies to be efficient in situations like these. NASA +1

I couldn't agree more with bolded, any Federal spending on any religion whatsoever is a disgrace and just about as un-American as it gets. FTR: Technically, it's not a mosque that Feisal Abdul Rauf (I'm assuming thats what you meant by "Muslim's") wants to build 2 blocks away from the ground Zero site, it's an "Islamic Prayer Center". Now I don't know what the difference is, but it sounds an aweful lot like a church to me. And considering there is a church directly across the street from Ground Zero as well as several other churches closer than the proposed construction and a mosque just 4 blocks away, I don't see what the big deal is. NYC is the most linguistically and religiously diverse city in the world, and Manhatten's population is aprox. 1.8 million residents, probably closer to 2.5 million during the work week, all crammed into 23 square miles........EVERYTHING is close together! And as far as the DREAM act is concerned, old news, been kicking around the House and Senate since before 9/11.

In light of the continuing dire fiscal situation the US Postal Service is facing ($8.5 BILLION loss for FY 2010, despite cutting expenses by $9 billion over the last 2 years, on top of substantial annual losses since 2006) http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_POSTAL_FINANCES?SITE=KTVK&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT Drastic changes seem inevitable. I thought this would be a good place for a poll regarding the subject. If you have time, read the article, it does not paint a pretty picture.

57 / 357 = 0.159 (0.159)100 = 15.9 15.9%

I got my FF1 in 1998, and became an EMT and then EMT-P a few years later. I've been a volley since, and was on a fire squad at a national lab I worked at. I'm also a Registered Respiratory Therapist, which means I am on the trauma team at my hospital. I have a fairly close relationship with several Fire/EMS agencies. The departments I'm familiar with (including my own) have several members who, for one reason or another, have health related limitations. Most of these guys either chauffeur / pump operater or Fire Police. Depending on the Dept. and Physician clearance, you may be able to get a class B cert or some other exterior FF cert. All departments require a physical prior to joining. Some depts have radio dispatchers. In my experience, if you are serious about it, and willing to donate your time then they have a need for you. Good luck........it's an awesome brotherhood.

Great shot!

TG obviously has a much better camera than I do...The rainbow pics are from my families camp in teh ADK's.The loons and stillwatre pic are from a pond in the Pharoah Mtn WA we spent a few nights at last week. Note the double rainbow in the second pic.