Aesop's Fable Friday

The Trees and the Ax

A Woodman went into the forest and begged of the Trees the favor of a handle for his Ax.

The principal Trees at once agreed to so modest a request, and unhesitatingly gave him a young ash sapling, out of which he fashioned the handle he desired.

No sooner had he done so than he set to work to fell the noblest Trees in the wood.

When they saw the use to which he was putting their gift, they cried, "Alas! Alas! We are undone, but we are ourselves to blame. The little we gave has cost us all: had we not sacrificed the rights of the ash, we might ourselves have stood for ages."

Moral of the story: When the strong surrender the rights of the weak, they endanger their own privileges.

I do so love these fables. It is easy to apply this wisdom to historical events. It is also easy to see that nothing changes under the sun. Humans are still making the same mistakes that others have made before us. In America we try very hard to stem the tide away from evil. As a nation we seek to apply this wisdom for ourselves and for those not as fortunate as to have been born in America the Beautiful. I don't believe that the fight will ever end. (Rasta: The trees don't really talk, so don't worry. lol!)

Speaking of misfortune, I have been laid up with - of all things - an arthritic knee. One of my knees blew up to the size of a...well...a small watermelon, I suppose. Yikes - painful too! This has never happened to me before. The other knee, which has always been the bad knee, was fine. Things are almost back to normal now, with the original bad knee now being the bad knee and the arthritic knee down to the size it is supposed to be. Arthritis! Can you imagine? I had no idea that a person's joints could misbehave so.

A Call for Help - Join the Tribute

I learned about this from Always On Watch.
Here is the information, cut and paste, from the orginator of the idea. I have signed up - will you?

I’d like 2,995 blogging volunteers to help me with a tribute to the victims of 9/11. If you’d like to participate, you’ll be assigned the name of someone who was murdered on September 11, 2001. Then on September 11, 2006 you’ll post your own tribute to that person. It can be anything you want it to be: a photo tribute, an essay, a remembrance, a poem…it’s up to you. Then link back to a page I will create which will give the names of all 2,996 victims and links to the blogs that will remember them that day.

But, and this is critical, I don’t want any of us to remember the murderers. Do not refer to the terrorists. Or their organization. Or their goals. Let them fade into nothing. Let them be forgotten. Remember those worth remembering.

What help do I need? A lot.

I need 2,995 bloggers who are willing to participate for one day.

I need people to pass on this message to others, because 2,995 people don’t read this blog.

I need a name for this goofy thing.

I need some sort of graphic or banner we can all drop in our entries.

And I need suggestions as to how to make this work.

Anyone game?

I left a comment at the blog to which the title of this entry is linked. An update was published that links to another blog, 2996. Visit either blog and offer to help in any way that you can. Thank you.

I consider it a great honor to participate in this project.



Update! I have my assignment:
James M. Roux
43, of Portland, Maine
Passenger on United Airlines Flight 175

Thank you DC Roe.

Aesop's Fable Friday

The girlies picked for us today. The 9 y/old picked:

The Birds, the Beasts, and the Bat

The Birds were at war with the Beasts, and many battles were fought with varying success on either side.

The Bat did not throw his lot definitely with either party, but when things went well for the Birds he was found fighting in their ranks; when, on the other hand, the Beasts got the upper hand, he was to be found among them.

No one paid any attention to him while the war lasted: but when it was over, and peace was restored, neither the Birds nor the Beasts would have anything to do with so double-faced a traitor , and so he remains to this day a solitary outcast from both.

Moral of the story: Don't play both sides against the middle.

The 5 y/old picked:

The Flea and the Ox

A Flea once said to an Ox, "How comes it that a big strong fellow like you is content to serve mankind, and do all their hard work for them, while I, who am no bigger than you see, live on their bodies and drink my fill of their blood, and never do a stroke for it all?"

To which the Ox replied, "Men are very kind to me, and so I am grateful to them: they feed and house me well, and every now and then they show their fondness for me by patting my on the head and neck."

"They'd pat me, too," said the Flea, "if I let them: but I take good care they don't, or there would be nothing left of me!"

Moral of the story: One man's pat is another's swat.

Islam: What the West Needs To Know

I found this on my Italian friend, Lupodigubbio's blog. I can never be sure exactly what he is saying as I only know a smattering of Italian - and mostly cuss words at that! However, Babelfish was kind enough to provide a translation from Italian to English for us. I'm still not sure what he is saying - - but I DO know for sure that Lupo is on our side! (That would be the side of Western Civilization, for you lefties out there...) Thank you, Lupo!!

"Down the hat, getlteman.

Tiny NOVANTOTTO of documentary. Citations from sacred witnesses Muslims, interviews, maps, fragments drawn from tv of the countries the Muslims. All in deepened, sobrio and methodical way. After the murder of Teo van Gogh it was believed instead that nobody had the balls in order to turn an other frank and clear documentary therefore, and eccolo here. The first one that it finds it on emule me passes the link please..."

Whatever, kind Babelfish - you crazy translator program you! I want to see the documentary but there are no locations for release, yet. When I know - I will most CERTAINLY let you know.

UPDATE: Here is the link showing the locations. http://www.whatthewestneedstoknow.com/where_its_playing.asp.

Aesop's Fable Friday

The Lion and the Boar

One hot and thirsty day in the height of summer a Lion and a Boar came to a little stream at the very same moment. In a trice they were quarreling as to who should drink first. The quarrel soon became a fight and they attacked one another with utmost fury. Presently, stopping for a moment to take a breath, they saw some vultures seated on a rock above, evidently waiting for one of them to be killed, when they would fly down and feed upon the remains.

The sight sobered them at once, and they made up their quarrel, saying, "We had much better be friends than fight and be eaten by vultures."

Moral of the story: Friendship is a hedge against adversity.

Yeah yeah - so I back dated it - - I was late...

Education and Jihad - Part VIII.

A Recipe - How to Make a Muslim
By: Cubed

Well - Grizzly's been snatched from the comforts of her roasted chicken and busywork with the girlies. Back to reality - back to the saltmines - back to the grinding stone! It is finally time to look at Cubed's most recent essay on Education and Jihad. It's going to take some thinking and attention on my part. I'll first need a cuppa nice strong coffee. AAAAAAaaaaaaaaaahhh. Ready to roll!

In this piece Cubed describes how Muslim children are inculcated with the philosophy of Islam. It's a philosophy that is completely opposite in every way when compared with what we inculcate our children with. For moslems it's a tribal thing and, as Cubed describes it, has a lot of similarities with the Borg from StarTrek. Remember that? 'Resistance is futile - you will assimilate'. And although this may seem like a humorous way to portray it - it is not at all humorous. Mohommedans are taught that the individual does not matter - it's group/tribe/family/Ummah is what is important. The outsiders (kaffir - namely, us.) are dangerous.

Where 'life' - to us - is the 'standard of good' and that which promotes and protects life is also therefore good, to the Mohammedan the 'spread of islam' is the 'standard of good'. Anything a Moslem does to promote islam is therefore good. Killing, murdering, lying, stealing - whatever promotes islam - it's all good.

We learn through repetition. All of us - everywhere. Repetition. According to Cubed, repetition at the very early stages of learning (from birth to kindergarten roughly) is the thing that gets those brain cells connected and permanently so. Moslems "are experts at reminding the child that he is a Muslim." In Moslem schools: "The curricula consistently teach hatred for non-Muslims. “Unbelievers” – infidels – are feared and hated because they introduce forbidden innovations into Islam. These curricula make sweeping accusations of “takfir” (unbelief) which permit the killing and taking of the property of “mushrikun,” a term that in early times referred to any religion with a belief in more than one god, but which today refers to any non-Muslim (or even to other Muslims). Even statements such as “Medical progress will eliminate disease” is regarded as an example of “unbelief,” since it attributes events to causes other than Allah’s will. Even the use of alternate names for Allah is considered “unbelief.”" Oh yeah! All the way through high school they are taught these things every, single, day - over, and over, and over again. There's more - oh yes!

"There is a heavy emphasis on the dangers coming from the “Others.” Unbelief is spreading in the Muslim world, Islam is being flooded with forbidden innovations, and society is undergoing moral disintegration.

Only the clerics are called “scholars,” while scientists and engineers are not.

The list of principles being taught is long. A few examples include:

The infidel must be conquered; the world-wide caliphate must be established;

The Jews and Christians are especially dangerous and nasty, although no unbeliever is ever “good” or “innocent.”

Any land where a Muslim has set foot is Muslim land.

The spread of Islam is a religious obligation.

There can be no law or government that is not derived from the Koran, because the Koran comes straight from the mouth of Allah, and so it is perfect as it is.

Anything man-made, any law or government NOT derived from the Koran, is false, invalid.

Israel must be wiped off the face of the earth.

Killing an infidel is OK, especially if the infidel refuses to convert, or if it is in the service of Islam.

Women are stupid.

Most of hell is populated by women. If a woman displeases her husband even one time, she cannot enter paradise.

It is a religious obligation to substitute the Koran for other kinds of constitutions."

Cubed took us on an excellent adventure in a previous entry on philosophy - and she touches upon those same things briefly here in this essay. Come along now, and we'll compare and contrast. Oops - I SHOULD just say 'contrast' our philosophy with that of islamic philosophy.

Numero Uno: Ethics. Us=Life. Mohammedan=Spread of islam.

Numero Dos: Epistemology. Us=acquire knowledge through reason. Mohammedan=All knowledge revealed in Koran and it a sin to question it.

Numero Tres: Metaphysics. Us=Existence follows natural laws. Mohammedan=Don't piss Allah off - he can do horrible things that can't be explained by natural laws.

Numero Quatro: Esthetics. Us=Free to express ourselves esthetically. Mohammedan=Restricted from free expression so as not to impart a 'dangerous' value.

Numero Cinco: Politics. Us=Based on reason and the rights of the individual. Mohhamedan=in Cubed's words: "the ummah, is all-important, and the only justification for his existence is to promote the welfare of Islam."

Cubed gives a wonderful short history of Europe's dark ages and the renaissance through industrial revolution, and then compares what happened to the Moslems. They stagnated, lived under tight control by their clerics and the philosophy that was hammered into them. They did not progress. The rest of the world DID progress and at an amazing pace. There was a tangle or two between the educated and enlightened factions wishing to join the progress and the fundamentalists. The fundies won - and most everyone on that continent of Asia lost because of it.

So. The Mohammedans are pretty pissed off right now. They live like pieces of crap while the rest of us have running water and electicity and can enter into contracts and work and acquire wealth. Whose fault was it?! The Mohammedans themselves? Ohhhhhh - nnnoooooooo. You guessed it - the Jews. The Jews and their conspiracies. The puppetmasters. Don't you know I heard all about that OPPRESSION going on - spoken by the American Imam at that CAIR meeting. The Jews are OPRESSING them! And they're mad as hell about it, too.

No turning inward. No evaluating possible defects in character. No discussion, no debate, no questioning allowed. They'll kill even their own.

You really must go read it. Cubed is an excellent writer - wonderful! Thank you again Cubed.

God Bless America. God save the Republic.

What's On Grizzly's Mind?

It's nice to have a good husband. One who will go looking through the garbage that I just put out and retrieve the little drain basket that goes in the kitchen sink. I vaguely remember approaching the garbage can WITH said basket to swipe it out. I must have just dropped it in. I was in the middle of getting a nice, fat chicken ready to roast in the Crock Pot tomorrow. That poor little chicken. What a cutie it must have been.

I would never make it on a farm. Once I went down the the Italian Market in South Philly with a friend. Our aim was to pick a live chicken from the coop, have them slaughter it and prep it for cooking that night. We arrived at the shop to do just that, picked our chicken out and waited. Did you know that chickens scream at the top of their lungs when they are being taken back to have their little necks zipped? I didn't know that either. It's a terrible sound. We made it through 3 screaming chickens of customers before us before we ran out of that shop. I have heard that chicken that is that fresh is delicious. Maybe I'll have Troll do the dirty deed. God bless him - - he'll do almost anything I ask.

He's going to have to take the cat to be put down soon. 'Put down'. That's what they call it when they kill your old cat. She's almost 18 y/old now. She's a mess! Poor thing. Troll has been the one the family calls upon when it comes to taking old pets to be 'put down'. *I* certainly can't do it. I keep hoping she'll die peacefully in her sleep. Although I'm hoping that it's not on my daughter's bed that it happens - that's where she sleeps.

The girls are like little fishies at the pool. The oldest is on the diving team and swim team. They're working her tail off. She was afraid to dive 5 days ago. She's diving off of the board backward already. Gotta get them in there while they're young! The little one is starting her swim lessons on Monday. She floats quite well. We will be continuing with their music lessons through the summer. Older is piano. Younger is guitar.

You all heard about my recent urge to start playing the flute again, right? Well I am proud to announce that my mother treated me to a brand spanking new, beautiful Gemeinhardt Flute. I purchased it through Woodwind Brasswind. It is fragging GORGEOUS! Thank you, Mum! Wonderful company to deal with. It sounds beautiful - yes - I was able to play it although not very well. It's been 26 years for goodness sakes! I'll be taking a couple of private lessons later this month to get me on my way. The girls are excited, and Troll is thinking of playing the coronet. LOL! We may make a quartet yet! I am also looking forward to purchasing another flute from Alison. Both girls are now interested in playing the flute as well - so I think that we will need Alison's as well. Thank YOU Alison!

I have heard - as you have, all of the news out there. There is a lot of it, isn't there? So much so that I am overwhelmed. What a world we live in. It's scary sometimes to think of it - and to think of what the kids will be dealing with when they grow up.

That is why we must make sure that they are well educated!! We must do our very best.

Aesop's Fable Friday.

The Farmer and His Sons

A Farmer, being at death's door, and desiring to impart to his Sons a secret of much importance, called them round him and said, "My Sons, I am shortly about to die; I would have you know, therefore, that in my vineyard there lies a hidden treasure. Dig, and you will find it."

As soon as their father was dead, the Sons took spade and fork and turned up the soil of the vineyard over and over again, in their search for the treasure which they supposed to lie buried there. They found none; however the vines, after so thorough a digging, produced a crop such as had never before been seen.

Moral of the story: More treasure than gold can be found beneath the sun.

School's out!! Hurray! The girls worked hard this year and did a beautiful job. Grizzly Mama needs a bit of a rest too. I am looking forward to some fun in the sun. Next up will be a look at Cubed's next essay in her excellent series on Education and Jihad. So - gird your loins (as they say..) and get ready for her fearless look at the ugly truth. We must be brave. We will be brave together.

Letter to Tom Tancredo.

Dear Representative Tancredo,

I am writing to you because I have a relative who lives in Centennial, CO who just lost his construction job. The reason he lost his job is due to the fact that the Union he worked for decided to employ illegal Mexican aliens.

This issue of the porous borders and the employment of illegal aliens has become top priority for me, as it has for millions of Americans concerned about homeland security and the full employment of American citizens with skills and experience. Americans who are ready, willing and able to work. Americans who need jobs to survive and thrive.

The union in question is Carpenter's Union Local 515. The job site is Memorial Hospital in Colorado Springs. The union gave this Journeyman relative of mine (with over a decade of experience in construction) the reason for his abrupt dimissal. It was that he was not productive enough. My relative tried to explain that quite a bit of his time is spent in fixing the mistakes of the illegals on the job.

I am alarmed for a couple of reasons - not least of which is my relative's sudden unemployment. I am also alarmed because apparently substandard work is acceptable in the United States of America. We're talking about a hospital here. Even if it weren't a hospital - we do not live in a third world country where dismal construction standards endanger the lives of those who occupy the buildings. We have building codes for a reason here in the USofA.

I would appreciate your attention to this matter. I know that I can trust you to keep America's safety and prosperity in mind. I also appreciate your efforts in the wider political arena as you have brought the concerns of a great number of Americans to light.

Thank you,
Monica RXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXX, PA XXXXX
MonicaRose@XXXX.com

Happy Dead Zarqawi Day!

Zarqawi - Sabotage


As seen on Mike's America.

How Happy Are You?

You Are 76% Happy

You are a very happy person. Generally, you feel content and that all is right with the world. Occasionally, you have a down day - but you have the ability to pick yourself right back up.

How Happy Are You?

I really thought I would be happier than this. Sure I'm tired and stressed and have almost zero time to take care of myself. It could always be worse couldn't it?

Thanks ala.

Aesop's Fable Friday.

The Cat and the Birds.

A Cat heard that the Birds in an aviary were ailing. So he got himself up as a doctor, and taking with him a set of the instruments proper to that profession, presented himself at the door, and inquired after the health of the Birds.

"We shall do very well," they replied, without letting him in, "when we have seen the last of you!"

Moral of the story: A villain in disguise will not deceive the wise.

I am crazy right now. One more week of school and swim/diving team practice has already started for the girls! *scream*