Chris James

"The one charm of the past is that it is the past." (Oscar Wilde) As such we are allowed great latitude in the memory of our earlier times. In my mid-twenties I found myself with a free summer with no work responsibilities. I wanted to spend it outdoors and so I applied at the local summer camp for a part time job, any job would do. The owner decided I should run the little projects shop they had for the kids, ages 10-15. At a loss for some simple woodworking projects, I remembered the good old days of 7th grade and Mr. Warner who ran the woodshop, so I went to visit. He had dozens of little project sheets with concise instructions and the dimensions of each and every piece of a birdhouse or box. That seemed to be just what I needed. I felt like Alice down the rabbit hole the minute I walked in the building, and it did seem to be a miniature of my memories. The students seemed to be mere children, Hobbits to my eyes. Could I have ever looked like this a dozen years ago? Mr. Warner was kind, gray haired and had no memory of me, about what I expected. But he was just as kind as I remembered and I walked away with dozens of his project plans. I think that set me up for the summer of teaching kids how to saw and hammer, sand and polish. It also gave me a chance to pass along some of Mr. Warner's wisdom because he used to tell us we weren't just building a birdhouse, we were building memories. How right he was. Now I have the urge to travel north and visit the neighborhood where I grew up. Somewhere in the maze of trees behind our old home there is probably a birdhouse attached to a tree. It still ought to be there, it was made with mahogony scraps and that hardest of woods took forever to finish. Yes, FT...memories last beyond the stacks of stones we build.

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/09/04/13660348-sex-change-surgery-for-prison-inmate-granted-by-judge?lite I suppose after the taxpayers have wasted their money on this useless surgery that they will have to transfer this inmate to a woman's prison to keep him from being raped...or was that the plan all along? Clever girl!

Tit for Tat, politics on both sides of the pond are in meltldown. Conservative elements find comfort in religious fanatics because they seek the same objectives...power and control. Here in the US of A, there is little difference in those who support a literal view of the Constitution and those who embrace the Bible, it takes blind faith to think either document is flawless. If we accept every period and comma in the Bible as literal truth then Christians would be stoning one another at a frantic pace because everyone is a sinner. As for the Constitution, I am not against gun ownership if we took the literal meaning behind the Second Ammendment. Then every gun owner would have a muzzle loading device with a power horn and little round shot. That would make gang warfare rather inconvenient. Neither the Bible or Constitution was a very far reaching document. neither had a long view of human society and any foresight towards future developments. We look at government which is filled with people on the cutting edge of technology while the jobs they serve are years behind. The average school child seems to have more computing power at their fingertips than the average government entity. And so Al Gore is back in the news suggesting it is time for the Electoral College to be retired as an irrelevant past of our voting process. Despite that fact that he was screwed in his presidential bid by just such a system, what he has to say makes sense. In fact we could have direct government, every nation can. But that would require an informed public unswayed by the religious fanatics and the slanted media who certainly tell people how to think. Okay, this rant is over.

The first of September signals that we only have about nine more weeks of all this political nonsense. The media pundits will be in a total frenzy by then and attacking one another for the chance to get in the last word, thought, or guess as to the outcome of the election. We are without strong leadership on either side, adrift in an economic sea and drowning. It's times like this that I will miss Gore Vidal and his acidic wit: "The United States was founded by the brightest people in the country — and we haven't seen them since." Ain't that the ever lovin truth!

Fact Check: President Harry Truman called the conflict in Korea a "police action" not a war. Still, I doubt if the kids in that English class could fine Korea on the map either. So go to the head of the class, Paul...someone actually knows why there is a DMZ. And here I thought it stood for Diminished Market Zone because the people of the north are starving to death while their Great, Honorable, Magnificient, Egotistical Leader eats caviar and watches American porn. Not laughing.

Thank you, Cole...you are not alone. I try to avoid political commentary on the internet since I hate being quoted by those with less intelligence. So far the Tea Party has done its best to destroy the Republican party and those fools have embraced the idiology of the far right. One might think the DNC would send contributions to the Teabaggers just to watch the fun. But then the Christian Taliban and their own worst enemy...only time will tell.

http://shine.yahoo.com/parenting/dad-protects-son-bullies-wearing-skirt-guess-works-153600107.html You have to admire a father who would go this far in support of his son, no matter the circumstances.

Perhaps the only way to keep the American people focused on the war in Afghanistan is to present it as a reality show on television. Couldn't be more real as many of us know. Remember, if it's on television it has to be real, doesn't it? We went into Afghanistan to find one man and stop the Al Quieda from spreading terrorism. Bin Laden is gone and AQ is pretty much destroyed, so why are we still there? We talk about these concepts of democracy for the Afghan people when for centuries this has been an area of warlords and tribal bandits. Opium used to be the number one cash crop, but that has been subplanted by American dollars. If we destroy the opium crops the people will starve...so what? They made the wrong choices, we are not responsible for that. The Taliban will not go away, they are just waiting for us to leave, and we will...eventually. Radical Islam has a lot in common with radical Christianity, and neither can be bombed out of existance. The biggest threat is that we do nothing for Afghanistan and that is where we are heading. The kids of today will need to be taught their middle eastern geography before we send another generation of young soldiers to cover up the mistakes of our politicians. Did anyone watch Romney last night? Sounds like he would embrace a war with Iran. What fools we have become.

Come on, Cole...you know those Vikings spread a lot of genes around the British Isles during those rape and pillage days.

http://www.thepostga...ble-whale-vomit I remember reading about ambergris when I was younger and into such things as whaling and sailors. Some people have all the luck, and yes, he is cute.

...one great big happy family. I know how much the English folk have embraced the customs of their brothers across the Channel, and now it seems as if all of the EU will share a common language. How lucky according to the following post: The European Commission has just announced an agreement whereby English will be the official language of the European Union rather than German, which was the other possibility. As part of the negotiations, the British Government conceded that English spelling had some room for improvement and has accepted a 5- year phase-in plan that would become known as 'Euro-English'. In the first year, 's' will replace the soft 'c'. Sertainly, this will make the sivil servants jump with joy. The hard 'c' will be dropped in favour of 'k'. This should klear up konfusion, and keyboards kan have one less letter. There will be growing publik enthusiasm in the sekond year when the troublesome 'ph' will be replaced with 'f'. This will make words like fotograf 20% shorter. In the 3rd year, publik akseptanse of the new spelling kan be expekted to reach the stage where more komplikated changes are possible. Governments will enkourage the removal of double letters which have always ben a deterent to akurate speling. Also, al wil agre that the horibl mes of the silent 'e' in the languag is disgrasful and it should go away. By the 4th yer people wil be reseptiv to steps such as replasing 'th' with 'z' and 'w' with 'v'. During ze fifz yer, ze unesesary 'o' kan be dropd from vords kontaining 'ou' and after ziz fifz yer, ve vil hav a reil sensi bl riten styl. Zer vil be no mor trubl or difikultis and evrivun vil find it ezi tu understand ech oza. Ze drem of a united urop vil finali kum tru. Und efter ze fifz yer, ve vil al be speking German like zey vunted in ze forst plas. If zis mad you smil, pleas pas on to oza pepl. What? You're not smiling?

Wow, they have the whole film posted online. I remember reading about this, and it won awards. Thanks for the heads up, Cole. I do believe it comes with English subtitles, but here's a look. Anyone speak Swedish?:

Thanks for asking, but here on the east coast of south Florida we only got our feet wet. Eight inches of rain filled the ponds and canals, some flooding, and the wind managed to trim the trees and bushes here and there. The season is just beginning and we don't know what will happen next week. Cheers!

Sorry FT, I just have this image of white folks in a church singing and clapping along with the religious music and it just doesn't work. In a black church perhaps, but the white church folk might sing Amazing Grace and be somber in the performance. Cole has some interesting suggestions but still, Joshua Fit De Battle of Jerico? None of that is appropriate for white Southern Baptists in 1970 who might just feel more comfortable wearing their white sheets and hoods.

http://now.msn.com/school-says-deaf-boys-name-sign-looks-too-much-like-a-gun The idiots in charge strike again...how stupid can you get? I want a magic wand to make people who are this critical go away...where is Harry Potter when you need him?

I see little difference between these two: http://youtu.be/Hbe4Rxj-s4c When will we ever learn?????

Sometimes the righteous need to be humbled. I would pity the man and what the law and the lawyers are about to do to him, but them I am just one of those gays he despises so much. At least this isn't something he can blame on the "gay agenda." As for something positive, at least no children were killed by his foolishness...and his political career probably was.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/gog/movies/2016-obamas-america,1230760/critic-review.html If nothing else, the timing of this film's release is suspicious. The author, director and narrator has a history of Obama bashing and comes off as nothing more than just another Right wingnut, but now on the big screen in a theater near you. You would have to wonder at the cost of releasing this film in national distribution and the source of such funding. The Post reviewer doesn't reveal that source of money but he does take exception to the slant of the film. "Preaching to the choir" seems to cover just who this film is out to please by painting Obama as a communist sympathizer, anti-American and pro-Muslum. Not something I plan to see since there are plenty of Three Stooges reruns on television if I want to view something absurd.

I was 19 in that year of Armstrong's great feat of courage. I had no desire to be an astronaut, but I could appreciate his bravery and it was an event that brought the country together. We have nothing like that now in this age of divisive political and economic stupidity. I'm not even sure I know the United States anymore...we are hardly united by any means.

The great thing about this moment in Jack's life is that he has these discoveries validated and can move on. An iquisitive mind like this could very well solve a multitude of medical issues in the coming years. He does seem a little overwhelmed by all the attention at the moment but he will mature and embrace success. In the family or not, I do wish him well. At least he proves there are some in this new generation with their heads in the right place.

The Right wingnuts certainly are showing their ignorance: http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2012/08/21/anti-abortion-and-anti-marriage-equality-group-say-only-real-marriage-protects-unborn-children/ I imagine there are some gay men who would love to give birth to a child, but we know better and these people seem unable to grasp the basic knowledge of human anatomy. It would be laughable if they weren't serious. I guess not everything necessary for life is in the Bible.

One of the few choices parents still get to make regarding their male children, all else seems to have been legislated. Of course by the time a young man reaches the age of legal decision it is too late to make any changes to this most important part of the body. I have met several young men who did not know how to keep the area of their foreskin clean and healthy, but that was a soap and water issue easily taught. The medical issues were something I did not recognize, thanks for the heads up, Cole.

The news reports he may have had inoperable brain cancer. Perhaps he felt it best to end his life quickly, but in doing so he must have hurt the ones he loved in his family. A very talented man in an industry he shared with his brother. You know he will be missed.

Yes, a very public welcome to Mihangel. An accomplished author from across the pond, he is certainly a scholar of the first order when it comes to the history of the British Isles. His stories are not light fare and should be read with a mind open to learning a good deal about the people and places which existed long before the words Olympics and London were used in the same sentence. I believe that Americans have a fascination with all things English, well beyond the typical Hollywood nonsense. To those who write, it is a souce of comfort to see the English language used so well, and Mihangel will not dissapoint. His past stories have led us through parish houses, boarding schools and across streets that tourists pay a fortune to visit. I look forward to finishing the latest offering: Kingdom Come

My thanks to you guys for reading the story and enjoying it. As for the bears, they seem to get away with anything (now don't you wish you could sit in the grass and do this):