In Your Face

This post is dedicated to Kath (Ximeze), who passed away last week at 53, to be with the Lord.

What to write? Well, despite contemplating what to write for days, it only feels right to go with improvisation...from my heart...with one boundary: in your face Truth, which Kath is well gnown for.
But not just that. In your heart.

Ximeze (her pen name) is authentic. She never put on airs or some front full of politically correct platitudes. She isn't an actor striving desperately to be liked.
As an off-road seeker of Truth and a Raccoon in Good standing she was...is...Real.

Ximeze loves Liberty, which is a requirement, if one is seriously slackfull in their pursuit of Truth. Afterall, without Liberty you can't even begin your journey to gno Truth, Beaty, Goodness and Love.
Without Liberty you can't begin to gno God. You need a lot more than just Love to sail that course.

Ximeze knew that well, as her comments at One Cosmos Under God...
One Cosmos
Clearly showed. As did her e-mails, to those of us blessed enough to have called her friend.

Ximeze is generous and never hesitated to help my wife and me after we went through a flood and other trials. She helped us materially, sent some of the best coffee I ever drank (Costa Rican) and gave me some Good advice, which I'll always cherish, during some very trying times. Thanks, Kath!

Ximeze showed us all how best to handle trolls, with some of the very best insultainment you can find. She also knew which trolls were really seeking Truth (even when they didn't know they were seeking), and was happy to pass on what she had learned and Realized.
And she knew when to ignore some of the more insidious trolls.

When I spoke with Kath I knew...Gnu! she understood me. For she knows what pain is and how it can transform one to become a seeker of Truth; a True believer, that welcomes the Holy fire that developes our character.

She gnu that the alternative to becoming a joyfull seeker of Truth is bitterness rather than joy, and what bitterness leads to which is slavery, not liberty.
Indeed, bitterness is a cancer that leads to envy, and Ximeze despised envy in all it's prideful rebellion, which leads to thievery and murder for those who embrace those evil desires.
Envy is the enemy of Good as bitterness is the enemy of Joy. It's clear what it leads to for anyone paying attention to the results of bitterness and envy, on the personal level as well as the political, cultural and religious levels.

That's why Ximeze loved One Cosmos, Dr. Sanity, and American Thinker, to name just a few blogs that cherish the Truth above petty bitterness n' envy.
If you peruse her comments at One Cosmos you'll also find good book recommendations as well as many outstanding articles by Thomas Sowell, Victor Davis Hansen and Mark Steyn, again, to name just a few.

It is among the greatest honor to have gotten the opportunity to know Kath a bit, and I look forward to seeing her when my time comes. I love you Kath. Thanks again for giving me a hand up and not a handout. :^)

Please pray for Kath, her beloved family and her pets...for the Peace of God to ease their grief and temporary loss. Thanks. God bless you all.

I'll miss her love, wisdom, wit, knowledge and humor. And much more. And yet, she is still with me in my heart which is comforting...until we meet again. :^)

Here you'll find some outstanding tributes honoring Kath (please let me know if anyone else wrote a tribute honoring Kath so I can add them):

one-raccoon-passes-on-into-one-cosmos

up-to-bismarck

cosmic-symphony

In memoriam



Thanks to Todd for the beautiful photos of Kath.

Hostel Hostility

My wife says I spend too much time on the internet. She says "it's the internet highway, not the internet hotel (hostel if yer european).

"What about Motel Zero?" I retorted. "That ain't no hostel."

"What are you talking about?" Patti replied.

Sigh. Therein lies the crux of the problem methinks.
The thing is, she's serious. So she recommends (ie suggests, ie lays down the law) a few changes.

Firstly, no more stayin' up late at night (ie we gotta be on the same schedule).
Now, I find it extemely difficult if not impossible to blog during the daytime. There's just too many distractions (IYKWIMAITYD).

Also, we are droppin' MSN dial-up services to save a few bucks which means we hafta use Wildblue, and I wrote about how fascist they are concerning the time they allow one to use the internet without imposing draconian penalties (re: mo' money). I hope they go outta business or at least get some competition out here. Freakin' internet nazi's!

Which leads to secondly, I can only be on the internet highway Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday for a few hours (say what?!). Aye, that makes bloggin' nigh impossible, so is this the end of One Cosmos At Sea? Kinda looks that way, I'm sorry to say.
I mean, it's virtually impossible for me to read One Cosmos in just a few hours, let alone comment or read all the other blogs I love, many of them yours, dear friends.

This has led to a honeydo list on scareroids. Not that there's anything wrong with that. It's not that scary, really, just not preferable, but there'sots of things in reality that ain't preferable.

Change indeed. This following a virus I contracted on my e-mail which caused Patti to change it to usnr_ben at (@) msn.com. That sucked. Put me offline for awhile, such as it is.

Personally, I'm not partial to these changes, but I do admit I oughtta spend more time with my wench, and that's partially why my wench decided to (ahem!) recommend these (cough cough!) changes.

I will do my best to read faster n' type faster in the event I actually have time to comment. Please excuse me while I sing the blues. It has been said the blues can be helpful during times like this. Or at least some songs to commiserate with, while I count my blessings. Man, that's hard to type right now. Okay, I'm thankful I can read n' write again, but I wish I could do it at the speed I used to.

I know, I know. As Skully keeps remindin' me, "you can wish in one hand and sh*t in the other and see which one fills up first."
Actually, I think he's quoting the late, great Burgess Meredith with that quote but it still holds true.
I'll be seeing you guys. More in my dreams than online lately, so it seems my unconcious part of my mind (such as it is) is feelin' the love. :^)

Where's My BIB?

Hey, it's not like I gotta lotta stuff, but...I do have enough stuff so that when I go lookin' for somethin', like oh, let's say my e-mail address book, it's virtually impossible to find.

Okay, let's jump into my nifty time machine and go backwards in time to the past, circa: a few days ago.
Here I was (or there I was) doin' computer stuff when voila! I noticed all my e-mail addresses had vanished into...thin err!
WTH? How did...? Patti?! (Patti is my personal computer tech., who techses my 'puter when this sort of thing happens).

After 'splainin' to patti what the deal was, she shrugged her shoulders and said "What did you do?"

As if it was MY fault. I retained my composure and the last shred of dignity I put away for a rainy day and said, "Nothin'...REALLY!"

Blink. Blink. Actually we both blinked. It was a Mexican blink off. I was prepared to blink for hours if necessary, 'cause I know I didn't do nothin' to erase no
e-mail addresses. Purty sure, anyway.

"Well, you'll just have to re-enter them," Patti said, goin' back to doin' whatever it was she was doin' before I interupted her.

Ha! I won! I thought. She broke the Mexican blink off! Somehow, the victory seemed hollow though.

But not to worry, 'cause I wrote them down in my trusty BIB (Black Internet-Address Book) (BIAB sounds really moronic, so I shortened it to BIB). I woulda gotten a green one but GIB don't make no sense as an acronym. Sounds stupid, so black it was.

I was purty sure I put it somewhere close by, for situations just like this. But the more I searched, the more I questioneed the state of mind I was in (or lack thereof) when I prepared for this emergency.

How can I be so stupid? I wondered, feverishly searchin' all the logical places I would put the BIB. Maybe Patti moved it, I thought. Yeah, that must've been what happened.

"Patti, have you seen my BIB?" I asked.

"Your WHAT?" She replied, puzzled.

"You know, my BIB, the Black Internet-Address Book," I answered.

"Shouldn't it be be BIAB?" She asked, grinning.

"I...I...shortened it, so it wouldn't sound like I'm an idiot," I replied, testily.
Too late, the voice in the back of my mind said.

As I throttled the voice in the back of my mind it occured to me that it might possibly be right...maybe. But it felt good to throttle the voice in the back of my mind, because it's always right, dammit!

"Are you okay?" Patti asked, with an amused puzzled look.

"Yes, I'm fine!" I said a bit too loudly.
Stupid voice! I thought.

"Where did you put your...BIB?" Patti asked, tryin' not to laugh.

"I don't know," I answered, feelin' my face turn red.

"Then how would I know if I moved it?" Patti asked, doin' a remarkable job keeping some semblance of her composure.

How would she know? I wondered.

"Because it's black, and about this big," I gestured with my hands, gettin' frustrated.

"Well, there is lots of black books that big around the house," Patti replied.

You're enjoying this, ain't you? I thought, losing my patience.

"Did you move ANY BIB's in the room?" I asked.

"Hmm, I'm not sure. When are we talking about?" Patti asked.

"When? WHEN? I don't know!" I replied, exasperated.

"When did you make your...BIB?" Patti asked, beginning to lose it.

"I dunno, a few years ago? What difference does that make?" I countered.

"When did you last see your BIB?" Patti asked.

"How would I know?" I replied. "Look, have you seen it or not?"

"No, I don't think I have seen your BIB," Patti replied, now openly laughing.

Maybe I shoulda got the gray one, I thought, hastily retreating as dignified as I could...which is to say without any dignity whatsoever.

Yeah, GIB woulda sounded MUCH better, the voice quipped.

Shut up! I thought, as I resumed my search.

So anyways, I'm still lookin'. When I find my BIB, I'll definitely put it in a logical place this time, you can be assured of that. However, in the meantime, may I impose on your good will my friends?
Would you please send me an e-mail. ANY e-mail will do. It don't hafta be fancy or nothin'. In fact, you can just type one letter and send it. It'll be quick, easy, and painless that way.

I thank you all in advance for your boundless charity.
Heh. It dawned on me I didn't supply my e-mail address, and what if? I thought, what if some of youse guys also lost yer e-mail addresses? So here it is:
ussben AT (meanin' @) msn.com
No spaces or parentheses. I learnt to write it that way to trick all the spammers spammin' my blog. 'Cause I don't like spam. I like REAL ham. So if ya wanna ham me, that's okay (I prefer spiral ham, but any ham will do...and bacon is also more than acceptable, if yer a baconer). Just keep the spam away. It's bad enough my 'puter tech likes that stuff.
Actually, I think my e-mail address is on my sidebar but I'm too lazy to look.

BTW, since the spam people are called spammers why ain't the ham people called hammers?

One Cʘsmos: Mapping the 4-Dimensional Soul Space of Politics

Now this, by far:

One Cʘsmos: Mapping the 4-Dimensional Soul Space of Politics

Is the best explanation and graph I have ever seen, regarding not only politics but moral and spiritual progress.

Some excerpts from Gagdad Bob:

"I wanted to establish this notion that there are two general types of men, the worldly and the spiritual. However, this is not strictly an either-or proposition; rather, this duality exists on a vertical continuum. Let's call this the y-axis.

With this in mind, we need to immediately amend our definition, since there exist "infrahuman" states that are spiritual in the negative sense. As such, the saint would be situated at the top of the y-axis, whereas the common man would be at the zero point. The real evildoers are situated in the minus space below the horizontal axis. More on which later.

Now, later in the day I was reading The Road to Serfdom, which is all about... well, about the left-wing collectivist road to serfdom. I don't think there's any need to rehearse all of his arguments here, because if you don't already understand them, you probably never will.

At the time Road to Serdom was published, it was still thought that fascism and socialism were somehow opposites rather than two forms of the same underlying assumptions. To place these on the horizontal continuum is pure nonsense -- as if fascism is somehow an extension of the classical liberalism of the free market!

No. The only logical way to understand the horizontal continuum -- and to chart "progress" -- is to place "collectivism" and "individualism" on the x-axis; conveniently, collectivism (and serfdom) is to the left, while individualism (and liberty) is to the right."

Please check out the link to see the graph, I couldn't copy it for some resason.

The graph represents three dimensions, incorporating the horizontal (secular) and vertical (spiritual). Indeed, all of Bob's posts revolve around the horizontal and vertical, and can get quite esoteric, but I can find few examples of folks that can write about esoterism in such a way as to make it more
understandable. Not that I understand everything Bob writes about, but I can say every post is worth reading. Often, I'll understand and realize something Bob wrote a few years ago, when I'm "ready" to know it. When I see it. So, if you are ready, you will see the graph not as it appears on Bob's blog, but as it really is, beyond two dimensions and within your self.

What I like most about Gagdad Bob's excellent post (and virtually every post he writes) is the clarity in which he writes. In this post he clarifies and explains how fascism is a leftist creation. When you think about it, it must be because leftists are collectivists (slavery) while those on the right are individualists (liberty), to paraphrase Bob. Therefore, a conservative, or classic liberal would never be attracted to collectivism (fascism, Communism, Socialism).

I know that really pisses off those on the left, but it's true. They can't see it, or if they do they won't admit it. That's why it's useless to "debate" leftists. It's like trying to describe colors to a blind man. So better to simply clarify, rather than argue with them, as Dennis Prager suggests.
When you clarify a leftist position, more often than not it's looks silly. Besides, when a leftist of any degree see's clearly what they really believe it can be far more compelling than debating them.

One Cʘsmos: About Those Right Wing Fascists

Gagdad Bob has an outstanding post up about the left's conniption fits over some of the signs at the Tea Party's at:

One Cʘsmos: About Those Right Wing Fascists

Here's some excerpts:

"There are not too many things that really bother me about politics, politics being what it is. But one thing that does is when people condemn one side for doing exactly what the other side does. This is why you will never see me get excited by a commonplace political scandal. Of course politicians are corrupt. That's why I am a conservative. I want fewer of them, with less power over me."

"I've read any number of mainstream analyses of the tea party movement, and not one of them dispassionately discusses the substance of the arguments, i.e., out of control government spending, socialized medicine, legislation to forbid the climate from changing, etc.

Now, back to those "crazies" who think that Obama is a fascist. First of all, you have to understand that genocide is not intrinsic to fascism. In a way, Hitler spoiled a perfectly useful word by forever associating it with the Holocaust. So now we have no name for a certain enduring political phenomenon, just because the name for it has been tainted."

Good analysis. How often do people misinterpret what you are sayin' because they don't know what you mean? It happens a lot. A word like "fascist" is loaded, and most folks will associate the word with the Holocaust if you use it, ignoring the true meaning of the word.

Of course there are plenty of other words that are also loaded with all sorts of "nuance," no thanks to the left. Which is ironic, because when you look at the true meanings of words, the left is basically the oposite of some of their favorite self-descriptions.

The left ain't liberal, they are illiberal. They certainly ain't progressive they are regressive. And does anyone really believe, besides leftists that is, that they are the "reality community?"
I mean, these are people that believe they can bring about a manmade utopia by killing the golden goose (and geese) that produce the golden eggs that can only hatch in a free market.
So not only do they wanna kill the golden geese, they wanna fry up and scramble all the eggs until it's extinct.

We all have seen the results of that ideology, at l;east those of us that have even a basic knowledge of history.
Hell, you can see the results of socialism right now. Who wants to move to Cuba, North Korea or Venezuela?

No one does, not even the leftists that don't realize their utopian plans will destroy our economy and freedoms. And they call themselves the reality community?
More like batsh*t insane. But leftists wanna change reality without understanding what the reality actually is, to paraphrase Gagdad Bob.

And when it won't work they'll just keep askin' for more money until the golden geese are extinct. Then what? Blame President Bush again? Yeah, that'll work. Better to blame a scapegoat rather than admit your fascist ideology destroys everything it touches. Reality can be so annoying, huh? Idiots.

Dad Is Proud!!!

I recently talked to our youngest daughter, A., and have some good news to report: she has been accepted to med school with a full scholarship, and the university of Ohio pursued her, based on her previous high grades (straight A's) as she worked damn hard to become a psychologist!

A. left home to join the Army and requested to go to Iraq or Afghanistan, but instead the Army kept her at Fort Bragg during the duration of her service.
While serving her country in the 81st Airborne, she took night classes to become a psychologist, and after her tour of duty she continued to pay her own way to get her degree. Then she worked at Fort Bragg after becoming a psychologist and entered grad. Awhile later she got the offer from the university of Ohio and decided to take it.

She still has to pay for her tuition the first year and books, and has quickly found herself poor again, but she's okay with that.
She was gonna get a job to help cover the costs which are still considerable, even
with a full scholarship, but the school advised against getting a job, but said if she must to only work twenty hours a week, which she is seeking to do.
Even workin' part time she will be extremely busy.
She never asked, but we're gonna send what we can so she can at least eat after payin' rent, car payment, etc..

She told me about all the folks tryin' to talk her outta goin' to med school because it is so difficult and demanding. She got suggestions to become a physicians assistant or something equivalent instead.
She was even told she couldn't do it. Heh. Wrong thing to say to A!

You see, A. never quits, and she never surrenders, no matter what the circumstances, no matter what the obstacle! Becoming a psychologist, goin' to school and workin' to serve our country was no easy task.
Heck, the Army was no easy task. Workin' and goin' to junior college immediately following high school graduation and gettin' straight A's was no easy task and wth very little help from mom n' dad as far as money goes.

No, A. is a fighter, and fighters never. Ever. Give up. She simply works and fights that much harder when the goin' gets tough.

"I will accept nothing less than an M.D. after my name, Dad," she said. "I want to be a trauma surgeon."

She said something else to me on the phone and it really struck my heart, and Patti's too:

"Dad, I always remember what you and mom taught me. That I can be whatever I want if I work hard enough and truly want it. That nothing can stop me when I set a goal. To get right back up if reality knocks me down and keep on fighting no matter how many times it takes or how long I must endure. I think I got your fighting genes, Dad," she said.

Well...it was very hard to talk after that 'cause i got all choked up and tears of pride in my daughter welled up in my eyes. In fact, they are again, just writin' about it. Excuse me...

Ahem. Yeah. You know, it ain't just pride but love, and knowin' I did at least one thing right by A. all those times I talked to her about fightin' through tough times and refusin' to be a victim.
Hey, it's damn hard to explain this to anyone let alone a child, a teenager, and a young woman, but Patti and I did our best, often until our daughters eyes would glaze over.

As Gagdad Bob often tells us at his blog, One Cosmos a person can know stuff but until they actually realize it, experience it, and actualize the wisdom (nous) until it lierally becomes a part of them that is REAL, they really don't gno it.
And when we go from knowing to gnoing we transcend our self and get closer to our true Self, or the self we are destined to be, and every time we transcend we fullfill our Purpose.
Thanks Bob! :^)
A. gnos it. She gets it, and as a result she is far more mature than most folks several decades older than her.

I'm as proud as I can be, with A. and with C., our oldest daughter who also get it!
I'm beaming, if you know what I mean (no, not Jim Beaming)!
C. has also worked hard raising our grandaughter, G, and was recently promoted at Geek Squad where she works! She's doin' a fine job as a mom, which is as hard to do as any job out there, much harder than most and as hard as the hardest!
C. had a good role model in her Mom, Patti, and I'm happy as an unsteamed clam she picked up on what Patti taught her about Momhood!

Thank you, C. and A. for listenin' to Mom n' Dad and never giving up when times get rough and the whole world seems to be crashin' down upon you!

PS- Our pup, Little Miss loves blackberries and she likes to jump around like a rabbit or a roo. She also like to try n' catch moths (or anything that flies) and eat 'em, like a cat.
I keep tellin' her she's a dog. Sometimes she gets it. Like the great dane in that movie The Ugly Daschund, she has little moments when she'll proudly stand as good as any dachsi dog show champion, her head up, eyes forward, back straight, tail up at full mast, radiatin' dachsi pride!
Then she'll go back to hoppin' around, eating blackberries and catchin' moth's.
Oh. And she likes to sit on Skully's shoulder when he's sittin' down. I kid you not! Skully just goes with it and says "Arrhhh!" As if he's sportin' a parrot.

Military Commissaries: Et Tu?

I signed up to receive the Commissary newsletters a few months ago, in order to see the latest news and to see which products I could save the most on with promotionals and the like.

So anyway I saw this in the september issue and it made my blood boil!

DeCA (defense Commisary Association) renews efforts to hire employees
with targeted disabilities.
The Defense Commissary Agency recently announced its goal to hire at least 189 people with targeted disabilities in the next two to three years.

Targeted disabilities include severe hearing or vision impairments, missing extremities, and partial or complete paralysis. They also include serious medical conditions such as convulsions, mental retardation, mental or emotional illness, and severe distortion of the limbs or spine.

This hiring effort is part of an overall goal, mandated by the Department of Defense, to have 2 percent of the entire DoD workforce consist of people with targeted disabilities. DeCA presently employs 126 such individuals, so an additional 189 would bring the agency's total to 315; that is 2 percent of the agency's 15,714 civilian employees who are not contract workers or local nationals working at overseas stores.

http://www.commissaries.com/press_room/press_release/2009/DeCA_78_09.cfm

(The link won't go in for some reason, so you hafta cut n' paste it).

Oh great. Now the commissary is employing affirmative action irt folks with disabilities.

Okay, I'm all for hiring people with disabilities, IF they can do the jobs they apply for. And most can. As a disabled vet, I have no problem with that.

But doing it by affirmative action does a great injustice to the disabled.
This is just as bad as affirmative action for any targetted group, be it blacks, hispanics, Tongans, or any other group.

It's divisive folks, plain and simple! DeCA should hire folks based on their ability to do the job they applied for. Period. Hire the most qualified. Get rid of this "we must cater to people who have a victim mentality" mentality to show how morally superior we are.

I call Bullshit! If I could work I would never want special treatment, and I wouldn't want someone else more qualified to lose out on a job they applied for simply because I'm disabled.
Hire people on their merits (look it up in the dictionary, 'cause apparently, you DeCA people who came up with this piece of crap policy don't know the meaning of the word).

Now, if they hire a disabled person that ain't as fast or strong as a person that don't have a disablity, but has a can do attitude and a super work ethic to do their best at all times, then I won't argue with that.
There's certainly more to an employee than speed and strength, but that must be balanced out on a case by case basis. Thee's many factors to consider, say for instance: a disabled person applies for the job of cashier and they are full of joy with a good work ethic.
Yeah, they might be slower but they spread their joy to others while doin' their best. I'd hire that person based on those merits.

If I'm competing for a job with someone not disabled and who has the same work ethics I do, I would expect that person to be hired over me, if the manager doin' the hiring has any brains.

And guess what DeCA? I won't be envious or bitter if you pick the most qualified person for the job. I want our vets to get the BEST SERVICE POSSIBLE!
Only an idiot steeped in Leftist PC groupthink wouldn't understand that. What's right is right. Get with the program and stop bein' so damn condenscending! Because that IS offensive you bureaurat pukes!

The vast majority of veterans, active duty and retired are Conservative/Classic Liberals (for obvious reasons).
Unfortunately, the burearats are mostly made up of Leftist morons or at least are tilting in that direction. These are the idiots that make life much harder for our veterans.
They deserve our scorn and should leave our vets alone! Go find yer victim groups someplace else, 'cause we don't want you...punks!