The Restoration of Habeas Corpus? I Hope So.

Hurray! Finally some common sense is returning to the nation's capital: The restoration of Habeas Corpus is now being debated. Without this right, all of our other rights are meaningless.

"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

-Lord Acton

A Screen Capture of my Desktop

A screen capture of my current desktop icons and wallpaper. I think the wallpaper is a picture of a forest in the Pacific Northwest. Boy, what I wouldn't give to be there now. So beautiful.

Okay. Now you can go ahead and snoop around my icons to see a sampling of what kind of software I use. Go ahead, you know you want to. :)

Hey, that gives me an idea for a practical joke. Since I saved the screen capture in the same resolution my monitor operates in, I think I'll maximize it and just leave it open. The next time my wife comes in to use the computer and she clicks on the icons, they won't work, and she'll call me in to ask me what's wrong with the computer.

My classic reply: What in the world have you done to the computer now???!!!

Ornery? Yes. But you gotta have some fun now and then!

An Old Honeywell Ad

An ad from 1977. Who would have thought back then how email would revolutionize the way we communicate today?

Notice the old office desk. I still see some of those old dinosaurs around offices now and then.

The 10 Most Puzzling Ancient Artifacts

Over the last few hundred years, many perplexing artifacts have been unearthed that do not fit the currently excepted theories of geology and the history of man.

read more | digg story

Why I don't Kayak

Stupid iPhone Lady

Obsessive? I believe so.

Ads of Yesteryear

It's fun once in a while to look back at the ways things used to be.

Is it Friday yet???

This morning's outing...

I was out and about this morning during another one of our frequent (at least lately) rainstorms and took this footage. The road where I made the splash with the Jeep is the north/south road just behind the water treatment plant at the lake. The flooded bridge you see is right in front of Frank Robson's place. The bridge further down is just west of Franks' place, in that newer addition. And yes, I, too, forded through the water just like the other brave souls you saw. :)

I took a lot of still photographs too, which I will post later.

If you're having trouble viewing the video on the Internet, choose "Save Target As", which will allow you to view it on your hard drive.

-Bryan

Microsoft's New Technology

Technology marches on. Can you think of a Tom Cruise movie where similar technology is displayed?

The Small Guy

I haven't had time lately to write anything of any substance so videos and pictures will have to do for now.

The Small Guy

More heavy rains in the area

Water, water and more water. Some more pics of Lake Claremore and surrounding area after heavy rains. We took these pics on Monday, June 11th.
If you don't have PowerPoint, you can download the free PowerPoint Viewer here to see the file. Also, Firefox seems to do a better job of rendering the original content the way I intended, so it's advisable to either use that browser or right-click on the link and choose "Save Target As" to view it on your hard drive.

Little Stinker!!

Look what my daughter posted on my back unbeknownst to me while her mother and I were rearranging her room. And to think, I even went to the supermarket with it still stuck to my back.



What tipped me off to the crime? you may be asking.

My wife burst out laughing just after I got back from the store when she first saw me. Being the inquisitive type, I asked her why, which is when the revelation came.

I'll get her back. :)

The Early Days

A video clip of some of the days of my mis-spent youth. :)

A Video Of Claremore Lake

All, I created this clip in the highest quality setting I've ever used for the Internet, and was wondering how many of you are able to view it? Cable modem users should have no problem at all. I have DSL and had no problems but I have the highest speed setting my ISP has to offer for its DSL package.

Its just a video I took of a local lake, Lake Claremore.

Let me know.

Humor in religion

The Woodpecker Might have to go!

How to tell if a catholic is driving too fast.

Jewish Olympic Swimmer

A Powerpoint slideshow of military aircraft

Some neat military aircraft from all branches of the military.

The A380 Airbus

Check out these pics of the A380 Airbus. You'll need Powerpoint or Powerpoint viewer to see them.

Stupid is as stupid does

Click here to see what I mean

Oops!

My wife had a little accident earlier this week. Fortunately her SUV is still drivable and she wasn't hurt. As she was pulling into our driveway, she accidentally pressed on the accelerator instead of the brake, landing her right into our front porch.

Since the pictures were first taken, I have straightened up the stones on our porch and I put her grill back together so it wouldn't look quite as bad. Other than being a little embarrassed (the neighbors were out when she did it), she's pretty much over it now.

I'm just glad it wasn't me that did it. Whew!!

An Educating Tulsa Seminar by Joan Veon

An Educating Tulsa Seminar

Everything you need to know about the United Nations and how to resist its encroachment upon our Constitutional liberties at the local level.

The seminar video above is comprised of three individual files which I have combined into one play-list for convenience. The first two segments are approximately 1 hour in length, and the last segment is about 24 minutes in length. Between segments you will experience a short delay while the next video segment has had a chance to start streaming.

Viewing this video will require a high-speed Internet connection. Also, if you are a Firefox user you may want to right-click (use the zoom feature to %200) in the center of the video to enlarge it for easier viewing.

If you are having trouble viewing the video, then you may right-click on the individual links provided below and choose "Save Target As" in order to download and view them on your hard drive.

Download Disc One
Download Disc Two
Download Disc Three

Please consider supporting a worthy cause by purchasing your own high-quality DVD discs of this seminar from: http://www.operationinformation.com/
And you can visit Joan Veon's web site here: http://www.womensgroup.org/

The Illusion

Here's something neat you can entertain yourselves with. A friend emailed it to me today.

This is another example of an amazing illusion!!! (The last sentence is so true.)

If your eyes follow the movement of the rotating pink dot, the dots will remain only one color, pink.




However if you stare at the black "+" in the center,
the moving dot turns to green.

Now, concentrate on the black "+" in the center of the picture.
After a short period, all the pink dots will slowly disappear, and you will only see only a single green dot rotating.

It's amazing how our brain works. There really is no green dot, and the pink ones really don't disappear. This should be proof enough that we don't always see what we think we see.

My Messy Desktop

Here it is, Ladies and Gentleman - my messy desktop. Yes, I know. I need to do some spring-cleaning on it.

Other things I need to do today:

I really need to cut a piece of Plexiglas I brought home from work for our front storm door because our German Shepherd destroyed it the last big storm we had. She jumped the backyard fence and frantically tried to paw her way into the house, smashing the bottom Plexiglas in the process. Fortunately for me I work in maintenance at a hospital and if I wait long enough, eventually I can get materials like Plexiglas without having to pay for it. I was hanging a new eraser board for our E.R. department yesterday and asked them if they really needed the Plexiglas backing they had behind their old eraser board. They said no and the rest is history.

Change the oil in my Jeep. Drudgery but a necessary task.

Attend our daughter's soccer game. I may take some video footage since it's a team she really wants to beat.

We may go shopping for a surround sound system for our T.V. (tax money came back), and a new computer monitor while we're at it because this old one is about to give out. There are lines at the top, which means it has a short. I've put up with it as long as I can. Time for a new one.

Question: Do you think a CRT (cathode ray tube) monitor gives a better picture or are the new LCD monitors the only way to go? I've looked at both and still can't decide which gives a better display.

An FYI worth passing along

Know people like this in your email list? I know I have them in mine. :)

This was forwarded to me today, and the person who forwarded it to me broke the BIGGEST rule in the list, the Bcc: rule. :)


I know I already sent this out to everyone, but for some reason I keep
getting emails with the senders list visible. And our address is right there
for anyone/everyone to take. Please help protect everyone's info. you have
in your address book by following these simple steps! Thanks



Someone who is a computer expert received the following directly from a
system administrator for a corporate system. It is an excellent message
that ABSOLUTELY applies to ALL of us who send e-mails. Please read the
short letter below, even if you're sure you already follow proper
procedures.

Do you really know how to forward e-mails? 50% of us do; 50% DO NOT.

Do you wonder why you get viruses or junk mail? Do you hate it?


Every time you forward an e-mail there is information left over from the
people who got the message before you, namely their e-mail addresses &
names. As the messages get forwarded along, the list of addresses builds,
and builds, and builds, and all it takes is for some poor sap to get a
virus, and his or her computer can send that virus to every E-mail address
that has come across his computer.


Or, someone can take all of those addresses and sell them or send junk
mail to them in the hopes that you will go to the site and he will make five
cents for each hit. That's right, all of that inconvenience over a nickel!
How do you stop it? Well, there are several easy steps:

(1) When you forward an e-mail, DELETE all of the other addresses that
appear in the body of the message (at the top). That's right, DELETE them.
Highlight them and delete them, backspace them, cut them, whatever it is you
know how to do. It only takes a second. You MUST click the "Forward" button
first and then you will have full editing capabilities against the body and
headers of the message. If you don't click on "Forward" first, you won't be
able to edit the message at all.

(2) Whenever you send an e-mail to more than one person, do NOT use the
To: or Cc: fields for adding e-mail addresses. Always use the BCC:(blind
carbon copy) field for listing the e-mail addresses. This is the way the
people you send to will only see their own e-mail address. If you don't see
your BCC: option click on where it says To: and your address list will
appear. Highlight the address and choose BCC: and that's it, it's that easy.
When you send to BCC: your message will automatically say "Undisclosed
Recipients in
the "TO:" field of the people who receive it.

(3) Remove any "FW :" in the subject line. You can re-name the subject
if you wish or even fix spelling.

(4) ALWAYS hit your Forward button from the actual e-mail you are
reading. Ever get those e-mails that you have to open 10 pages to read the
one page with the information on it? By Forwarding from the actual page you
wish someone to view, you stop them from having
to open many e-mails just to see what you sent.

(5) Have you ever gotten an email that is a petition? It states a
position and asks you to add your name and address and to forward it to 10
or 15 people or your entire address book. The email can be forwarded on and
on and can collect thousands of names and email addresses. A FACT: The
completed petition is actually worth a couple of bucks to a professional
spammer because of the wealth of valid names and email addresses contained
therein. If you want to support the petition, send it as your own personal
letter to the intended recipient. Your position may carry more weight as a
personal letter than a laundry list of names and email address on a
petition. (Actually, if you think about it, who's supposed to send the
petition in to whatever cause it supports? And don't believe the ones that
say that the email is being traced, it just ain't so!)


One of the main ones I hate is the ones that say that something like,
"Send this email to 10 people and you'll see something great run across your
screen." Or sometimes they'll just tease you by saying 'something really
cute will happen.' IT AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN!!!!! (Trust me, I'm still seeing
some of the same ones that I waited on 10 years ago!)


I don't let the bad luck ones scare me either, they get trashed... could
be why I haven't won the lottery.. except that I haven't bought a ticket
anyhow!)


Before you forward an 'Amber Alert', or a 'Virus Alert', or some of the
other ones floating around nowadays, check them out before you forward them.
Most of them are junk mail that's been circling the net for YEARS! Just
about everything you receive in an email that is in question can be checked
out at Snopes or TruthorFiction. Just go to www.snopes.com or
www.truthorficton.com. It's really easy to find out if it's real or not.
If it's not, please don't pass it on.

So please, in the future, let's stop the junk mail and the viruses.

Finally, here's an idea!!! Let's send this on to others (but strip my
address off first, please). This is something that SHOULD be forwarded.

Have a Great Day!

Oops!

Well, what can I say? Things just get slippery when wet!

The youngster is my step-brother.

Google Reportedly Purchases Land At Pryor Industrial Plant

This is some exciting news for our neck of the woods. We were just talking about this in my shop today. I guess the word on the street is that Google is interested in our area because we have good, stable power; something that Google in their present location doesn't have. Apparently they routinely experience brown-outs, not a good combination if you're trying to maintain thousands of web servers.

There is even talk that our power company, GRDA, will build them their own sub-station as an extra incentive to build here.

Pryor is a small town just fourteen mile east of Claremore, where I live.

Internet Connection Speed

These are the latest speed-test figures for my DSL connection. Back when I had dial-up the fasted download speed I could attain was 52 kbps, quite a difference from the connection I have now, which to me is blazing fast; however I do understand that there are cable broadband users who routinely clock in at 10,000 kbps or better for download speeds. I guess cable is still king for the fastest connections in most instances, but from what I read it can slow down appreciably when lots of people in the same neighborhood jump online at the same time, not that that happens very often though.

DSL doesn't have that problem.

We'd probably have a cable Internet connection too if it weren't for the convenience of our Internet charges being tacked on to our monthly phone bill.

Here's the link to test your connection. But be sure to choose a server closest to where you live. I'd be interested to know what your results are.

The Burger Brothers

These two brothers were good childhood friends of my brother and I and we would never have guessed that they would have been capable of the acts they committed. Naturally my brother and I were shocked and saddened when we first heard the story on the news back in '89. We spent a lot of time together as kids and did all the things boys normally do: Ride bikes, camp, fish, hunt, tell spooky stories, play hide-and-seek and so forth and so on. There was no obvious indication of the deviant behavior that led them both to the prison terms they now serve.

We lost contact with the Burger brothers after 1977; we just grew apart as childhood friends sometimes do and didn't hear anymore about them until they were in the news.

You just never know.

William Lundigan

Ever hear of this actor?

Here's some of my hometown history regarding a visit by actor William Lundigan.

Hunting for arrowheads

I'm thinking about taking up a new hobby: Hunting for arrowheads.

Not far from where I live is a hill called "The Claremore Mound", where an Osage Indian village used to be. A Great Granddad of mine used to live at the base of the Mound, and right after it rained he would climb up the hill and look around for arrowheads that had been newly exposed by the rains. As a child I remember seeing hundreds of the arrowheads he had collected over the years and I always wanted to give it a try myself someday.

The thought of finding artifacts of civilizations long-extinct has always intrigued me. When I held some of my Granddad's arrowheads in my hand, I would remember wondering what the person's life might have been like who made it and how different life must have been in general: What hardships did the individual face on a daily basis, and what joys and sorrows had they experienced during the course of his or her life? I would also wonder how old the arrowheads really were.

Interesting food for thought.

A friend and I were talking about hunting for arrowheads the other day and he knows a guy who paid cash for a new Toyota pick-up, which was funded solely by the sale of his arrowheads to collectors. Evidently, if documented accurately, hunting for arrowheads can also be aprofitable endeavor.

I don't know if I'll have the time to do this anytime soon, but when I do get the chance I'll post more about it.

Denbo Cemetery

I paid a visit to the Denbo Cemetery today, a very old, mostly-forgotten family cemetery in Catoosa, OK, where a lot of my ancestors are buried. I didn't photograph this stone when Dad and I were there four years ago. I think the child may have been Mattie (Denbo) Daughertery's daughter, since its name is also Mattie and the stone sits right next to Mattie's stone.

The date is hard to read in the large photograph but I when I blew it up I realized the child was only seven months old when she died, not an uncommon thing to happen back then, unfortunately. :(

Mattie was a Great, Great, Aunt of mine.

Spring is in the air

Spring is in the air once again here in Oklahoma after a long, hard winter. I heard the birds singing their hearts out this morning just outside my window -- one of the simple pleasures in life I truly enjoy, especially since it brings with it the promise of green grass, warmer weather, and flowers and trees soon to be in full bloom.

On a different note, this looks like a great film to see.

Computer been a bit sluggish lately?

If you have the McAfee antivirus, anti-spyware, and firewall software bundle, my advice is to get ride of it because it's basically junk! I have worked on four different computers for people who have had this software bundle on their PC's, and without exception when I deleted the software from their computers their problems went away.

Symptoms of a McAfee-infected computer will include sluggishness, not being able to access certain (and usually harmless) web sites, and undoing changes the owners have made to their own computers. The McAfee bundle is truly totalitarian in nature and Dell seems quite content to bundle it with their machines for some reason, as the machines I worked on were all Dell's.

The alternatives?

Here is a list of freeware (which I also use) that will do the job of protecting your computer just fine, and without cost to you.

1) Ad-Aware se for getting rid of spyware
2) AVG Antivirus
3) ZoneAlarm Firewall

I've been using these products for some time now and they are worth every penny, even though they won't cost you a dime!

Exponentially Speaking...

"Did You Know"?
I thought I'd try this again now that I've got a new hosting company.

More about that later...

Daniel 12:4
4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.

Kinda makes you go, Hmm.

Anyone else see the irony? :)

Get Involved

Listen as one of our local (Tulsa) talk radio show hosts interviews an Oklahoma State representative about the SPP (The Security and Prosperity Act of North America), and the proposed NAFTA Super Corridor that our government is planning on building right through the heartland,(Oklahoma is in its path) along with all of it's Orwellian-style changes to our nation's laws.

Folks, it's no longer the realm of the conspiracy nut - it's out in the open, at least here locally. But you still won't hear very much about it on the national news, if at all. This is why it's so important to help spread the word in your own locales, because this will effect all states, not just the ones the corridor is passing through. Educate yourselves before it's too late.

I could write volumes on this but I won't.

Bottom line: This is serious and it's time to start sounding the alarm!! And you can do that by telling others, and by calling your own elected representatives and telling them this is not in the best interests of our national sovereignty. Pretending this issue doesn't exist won't make it go away.



It's the apathy of the masses that will be the destruction
of us all. Those who choose to be willfully ignorant, will
be the downfall of the USA .
-Unknown


FreeVideoCoding.com

Little House

For a while now we've been adding to my daughter's DVD collection of "The Little House on the Prairie" T.V. series. She has nearly all of the seasons now and absolutely loves them, which makes us very happy. It's practically all she watches and we are thrilled that she is so attracted to a show that is so wholesome, especially after having been exposed to some of today's shows.

It's a show that I grew up with and I can remember watching it religiously every week, not missing any episodes if I could help it. Some good memories there.

After having watched several episodes together with our daughter, I had almost forgotten (Admittedly when I sat down to watch the series for the first time in many years, I was anticipating that it might be a bit slow for me. But after several minutes had gone by, I was in love with it all over again and realized its appeal is timeless -- good writing, acting, and morals to the stories.) how good the series actually was. It had a superb cast of actors who, in my opinion, were top notch. One that stands out in my mind is the actress who plays Mrs. Olsen. She plays the part so naturally that it's hard for me to imagine it's only acting, the same goes for her character's daughter, Nellie.

And of course Michael Landon (Charles Ingalls in the series) was a great actor too, without whose contribution (including director) the series just wouldn't have been the same.

If you've got children and have been wondering about what to get them, why not try the "Little House on the Prairie" DVD series? I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Purrrrr

Now is this a great picture or what? Nothing like that wild look in the eyes of those big cats - so graceful, so powerful, and yet so deadly if you're in the wrong place at the wrong time.

This just in....

Nothing original today 'cause I've got the krud and don't feel well, so this will have to do. :(

KIDS IN CHURCH
3-year-old Reese:
"Our Father, Who does art in heaven,
Harold is His name.
Amen."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A little boy was overheard praying:
"Lord, if you can't make me a better boy, don't worry about it.
I'm having a real good time like I am."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After the christening of his baby brother in church,
Jason sobbed all the way home in the back seat of the car.
His father asked him three times what was wrong.
Finally, the boy replied,
"That preacher said he wanted us brought up in a Christian home,
and I wanted to stay with you guys."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One particular four-year-old prayed,
"And forgive us our trash baskets
as we forgive those who put trash in our baskets."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A Sunday school teacher asked her children as they
were on the way to church service,
"And why is it necessary to be quiet in church?"
One bright little girl replied,
"Because people are sleeping."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A mother was preparing pancakes for her sons, Kevin 5, and Ryan 3.
The boys began to argue over who would get the first pancake.
Their mother saw the opportunity for a moral lesson.
"If Jesus were sitting here, He would say,
'Let my brother have the first pancake, I can wait.'
Kevin turned to his younger brother and said,
"Ryan, you be Jesus!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A father was at the beach with his children
when the four-year-old son ran up to him,
grabbed his hand, and led him to the shore
where a seagull lay dead in the sand.
"Daddy, what happened to him?" the son asked.
"He died and went to Heaven," the Dad replied.
The boy thought a moment and then said,
"Did God throw him back down?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A wife invited some people to dinner.
At the table, she turned to their six-year-old daughter and said,
"Would you like to say the blessing?"
"I wouldn't know what to say," the girl replied.
"Just say what you hear Mommy say," the wife answered.
The daughter bowed her head and said,
"Lord, why on earth did I invite all these people to dinner?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And if you don't send this to at least 8 people ----- who cares?!
Peace, love and happiness

The Visitation

Looking for a great flick to rent for this weekend? Try "The Visitation", by author Frank Peretti.


We thought it was a really good film; it's a bit like some of the supernatural flicks you've probably seen: "Amityville", "The Exorcist", etc. But this one has a decidedly Christian worldview - not surprising since Peretti is a Christian author. The film, whether the average moviegoer realizes it or not, deals with spiritual warfare.

One of the leading characters, a Pentecostal preacher played by Randy Travis, realizes early on that there's something just not right with the mysterious stranger who's just blown into town claiming to be a faith healer. As the story plays out, a confrontation between the two is inevitable.

You'll have to see the rest for yourself.

Here's the official synopsis: