Angels don't come with wings. They are everywhere. They don't stick out.
You have to find them, and they don't even know they are Angels.
Becky and Sonny are my angels...but every once in a while, another one comes into my life, and it is always unexpected.
I sent Outback Gift Cards out this Christmas, and I made a little comment in Facebook about the thank you's I got this year, compared to last.
It looks like that was a good recipe for shaking the angels out of heaven.
Georgia took Becky out last night.
They ate dinner and went shopping. When they came back, I got a gift.
Most of the people I know these days are living month-to-month.
So when I do nice things for people, I don't expect anything in return. Just a thank you.
Besides, kindness always seems to be returned in other times, and in other ways.
I call those who send kindness my way, My Angels.
But when an act of kindness is returned almost immediately, things change.
I call those Angels, my friends.
And having an Angel for a friend, is one the greatest achievments I could hope for.

Political Ideology Definitions

Questions often arise as to what is a liberal? What is a conservative? What does it mean to support the Left? Or the Right? What does a certain political party stand for? Although positions change over time and it's never good to make generalizations about what a certain group thinks, this section tries to clarifies some of the basic ideological definitions. Politicians have a wide range of opinions; thus, any particular leader doesn't necessary fit neatly into these categories.

The original definition of a liberal was someone who advocated change, new philosophies, and new ideas. A conservative was someone who avoided change, instead preferring to stick to the tried and true. In modern times, these definitions have expanded to include a wide set of political beliefs (which are defined below). To be Leftist or agree with the Left political point of view is synonymous with being liberal. To be Rightist or agree with the Right political point of view is synonymous with being conservative. The Left and Right terms were created because political ideology is viewed on a continuum; most people generally hold views somewhere in the middle. For example, if you agree more with liberal ideas, you're considered more Leftist in your thinking. The graphic below illustrates the continuum:

Liberal (Left) <------------------- Moderate (Middle) -------------------> Conservative (Right)

Generally speaking, the Democratic party follows a more liberal platform; the Republican party follows a more conservative platform. The following table summarizes the current ideology of the parties (the links section gives more detail on what each party stands for).

	Liberal (i.e. Left)	Conservative (i.e. Right)
Representative Party	Democrats	Republicans
Business	Increase regulation and worker protection	Ease regulation and keep government out of business
Taxes	Increase taxes	Cut taxes
Abortion	Pro-choice	Pro-life
Social Spending	Increase	Decrease or maintain
Defense Spending	Decrease or maintain	Increase
Immigration	Grant amnesty to illegal aliens; don't build a fence along the Mexican border; allow illegal aliens to obtain driver's licenses; prevent the creation of a national ID card & database to track people in the country.	Prevent amnesty for illegal & driver's licenses for illegal aliens; construct a Mexican border fence; create a national ID card & database to track people in the country.
Death Penalty	Ban	Maintain
Government Size	Increase the government and use more socialistic policies	Reduce the government and use more capitalistic policies
World Peace	Negotiate first and only take military action if sanctioned by the U.N. and other world organizations	Work with world bodies and use negotiation, but take unilateral pre-emptive action if necessary to protect America
Same-Sex Marriage	Legalize	Ban
Affirmative Action	For (i.e. maintain race-based preferences)	Against (i.e. ban race-based preferences)
ANWR Drilling	Prevent the Alaska drilling	Pursue this and other domestic oil sources
Kyoto Treaty	Sign this treaty	Don't sign this treaty
Crime	Protect the rights of the accused first and foremost	Provide maximum punishment and protect the rights of the victim first and foremost
School Vouchers	End the program	Expand the program
Doctor Assisted Suicide	Allow	Prevent
Missile Defense	Scrap this program	Pursue this program
Three Strikes Law	Overturn this law	Maintain and expand these laws
Minimum Wage	Increase	Lower or eliminate altogether
Social Security	Increase age of beginning eligibility (e.g. 68 or 70); increase salary limits subject to tax	Privatize; i.e. allow citizens control over their own money and allow stock investments
Health Care	Make 100 percent government controlled	De-regulate and introduce free market reform
Personal Responsibility	Government needs to protect people from themselves	People should be responsible and be held accountable for their own actions
Malpractice Lawsuits	Do not cap punitive & pain/suffering damage amounts	Cap punitive & pain/suffering damage amounts
Religion	Maintain separation of church and state; prevent faith-based government initiatives	Introduce more religion in schools; allow faith-based government initiatives

 

You may be a Muslim If:
01. You refine heroin for a living, but you have a moral objection to liquor.
02. You own a $3,000 machine gun and $5,000 rocket launcher, but you can't afford shoes.
03. You have more wives than teeth.
04. You wipe your butt with your bare hand, but consider bacon unclean. 
05. You think vests come in two styles: bullet-proof and suicide.
06. You can't think of anyone you haven't declared Jihad against.
07. You consider television dangerous, but routinely carry explosives in your clothing.
08. You were amazed to discover that cell phones have uses other than setting off roadside bombs.
09.You have nothing against women and think every man should own at least four.

Said "Hi" and "Final Farewells" to some very special people.
We've seen some of the prettiest country I've ever seen.
Saw Niagara Falls, Buffalo, Erie, Cleveland, Akron, New York City, Hoboken, Ocean City NJ, Ocean City MD, Annapolis, Washington DC, Ligoneer, Ohio Pyle, Pittsburgh, Mars, Washington, Hershey, Columbus, Louisville, Sparta, Wheeling, Mt Pleasant, New Castle, Franklin...and loved it all.
I think Pennsylvania is a better kept secret than Colorado.
We've seen all four seasons...and they put on a great show!
The birds and flowers and critters were spectacular.
Almost everything here has something special about it...like the flower that had spores that flew 100s of feet in the air.
Its been a very good year.
Special thanks to:
Becky, Georgia, Mikey, Sonny, Rob, Arden, Scott, Jim, Lonnie, Jeff, Tass, Annette, Ida, Ruth, and the wonderful people of Pittsburgh.

Oh the joys of embibing on Christmas Eve!
I bought a bottle of Honey Whiskey...mmmm...so good.
Now, I'm a little out of practice when it comes to drinking, so as I reached for my glass of sparkling honey, I knocked it over onto my keyboard,
thus voiding my warrentee and goobering up my laptop in one swell foop.

My solution......
a wireless keyboard duct taped to the top of my laptop (I could have used bailing wire).
Tell me I'm not an Urban Red Neck.

You still live in my heart, and I will always love you.
Until we meet again my friends, I'll do my best to show your love this year.
And to all of those who are losing loved ones this Christmas Holiday,
use the time you have left to tell them how much of a difference they made in your life.
Don't waste a minute feeling sorry for yourself.

Reality is defined as what a real, not in your head...
But reality became real for me when I was born..and as far as I know, it will be gone whe I die.
Realty for me, will become unreal, so it isn't illogical.

To add to that - I think life is a vacation from whereever we came from.
We are not supposed to live forever, and I think its stupid to want too.

And another thing - The 10 commandments.
These shouldn't be called commandments. They should be called "Manners".
Its rude to kill someone, go after their wife, want their toys, steal from them, lie to them...its just rude.
You won't go to some aweful hell for it, but this planet is too small for a lot of that kind of thinking.

I guess they'd lost touch for 30 years? Wow...anyway...he seemed like a really cool guy! Lots of fun...
and they both lit up like Christmas trees

1950's 
Beatnics, Marriage, Housewives, college, family, alcohol, cars, Unions, Job Stability, Life Insurance, Racial Prejudice, window fans, Am Radio, Operator phone connections.
Flying car produced, top speed land - 65 mph, top speed air 110 mph, but didn't sell.
New house $8,400. Avg Income $3,200. New Car $1,500.
1960's
Hippies, Sex revolution, Vietnam (war), Kennedy barely wins election, Pot/LSD, Rock-and-Roll, drunks, War, Black and White TV, Tube Radios, Film, Credit Unions, niggers, hippies, tube technology, party lines on your phone, rotary dial, OPEC, aluminum cans, xerox copy machine, welfare rolls.
Aqua car produce, but didn't do very well.
New house $12,700. Avg Income $5,300. New Car $2,600. Interest rate
1970's
High Interest Rates, Stagflation, junkies, pot heads, $40,000 houses, LEDS, Color TV, Mortage Insurance, Racial Riots, red necks, air conditioners, Ethel, transisters, push button phones, princess phones, 10 cent phone booths. Electric Golf Carts.
New house $. Avg Income $. New Car $, Interest rate
1980's
Disco, Microwaves, CDs, BBSs,  coke heads, BetaMax, Huge Cell Phones, $80,000 houses, Chips, Car Insurance, Unleaded Gas, Chip, ATMs, Self Serve Gas Pumps
New house $. Avg Income $. New Car $, Interest rate
1990's
PCs, Internet, Silicon Valley, Yuppies, crack heads, $150,000 houses, Russia, VHS, Insurance on everything, bottled water, welfare reform, Mexican Immigration
New house $. Avg Income $. New Car $, Interest rate
2000's
Cameras everywhere, DVDs, Webcams, Legal  Pot, Instant Messages, Iphone, $300,000 houses to $60,000 houses, no health care without insurance
Letsee...what else can I recall? hmmm

2010s - Whats coming in:
Keyboardless PCs (exists)
Cell phone projectors (exists)
AI Voice recognation that can replace human translators (exists)
AI Text recognition able to scan any language and understand
AI digitizing of all records from recorded history
Live Global Imaging
Main frame/PC with greater than human intelligence
3D TV flat screen (waiting for communication technology to catch up)
3D TV cube screen  (waiting for communication technology to catch up)
3D TV projection anywhere (waiting for 3D projection system)
Wearable internet, replacing cell phones (getting there)
Eyebuds/sound/audio projection (getting there)
Vehicles that drive themselves (getting there)
Portable solid state pedabyte storage (getting there)
Portable Mortgages
Greyer lines drawn between renters and owners
* (Exists) means its technology is here now, but needs improvement
2010s - Whats going out - Things:
Hard drives, keyboards, mouses, landlines, wire nets, Cell phones, albums, cd's, tape, dvd, blue-ray
Sewage, as we know it
Petroleum fuel
Cash
ID cards
Computer languages
2010s - Whats going out - Business Types:
Video Rental Stores
Delivery Professions
Software resellers
Bookstores
Mortgage Companies
Apartments
Office buildings
2010s - Whats going out - Professions:
Programmers like me
Truck drivers, commercial drivers
2010s - Whats going mobile - Professions:
Doctors
Programmers

Thinking of going to DC for a few nights.
Might shake hands with the Prez, and sit in Lincoln's lap if I can get up there.