May You Live in Interesting Times

"May you live in interesting times". Supposedly this is an old Chinese curse, but our nation may be under that curse. When 46% of Republicans say they would vote for Donald Trump, a man who is completely deranged and willing to demonstrate it daily, we are surely in "interesting times". At a time when the rich are paying the lowest taxes they have paid in history, and asking for more tax breaks, we are living "in interesting times". When people will watch Fox News spew lies and propaganda, and think they are really watching news, we are "living in interesting times". Perhaps the China that we now owe 900 billion dollars has successfully put a curse on us. We are living on a Chinese credit card. The Chinese are famous for being patient. The Chinese have been patient enough to lend us the money we need to destroy ourselves. We borrowed 700 billion from our Chinese friends so we could give the rich the Bush tax breaks they deserve. Indeed we are living in "interesting times".

Save money, and leave the crooks behind with your telephone

After years of fighting the crooked management of West River Telecommunications Lord Kadzzle has thrown in the towel and given up on his land line. Now for the same price Kadizzle gets internet service on his phone where ever he goes. This is how you do it, it is free. You port you land line number to your cell phone, or just give up your land line. Now, when you call Kadizzle at 701-748-6111 you will be calling his new Iphone. The money that used to pay for the CEO at West River Telecommunications winter vacations, now pays for the internet service on the Iphone. Rural Telephone cooperatives are one of the biggest abusers of government subsidies that ever existed. The whole concept of rural phone coops is outdated. With cell phones they are a relic of the past that is unneeded. It used to be farmers could not get phone service, but now they can call from the cell phone in the tractor. The sad part of this story is that small towns could be served by digital phone service are kept from doing so by the clever maneuvering of the rural phone coops. Rural phone coops have found a way to funnel the subsidies they get from the federal government directly to the customer. The whole thing violates every principle of a free market Republicans love to harp about. However, West River Telecommunications is run by Republicans. The crooked board and CEO have used the phone company for years to promote the candidacy of District 33's, Randy Christmann. If you are still a member of WRT you can request a ballot and vote the scoundrels out. It is time to change this nest of thieves.

Wonderful testimonial to what a complete scum Donald Trump is

The Donald sets a new standard for how low a person can go to promote himself.

View from the office

Did not get the picture I wanted, but this gives you an idea. This deer was directly in front of Erin's desk, perhaps three feet away. What an office, you get to see deer, elk, and an occasional fox walk right by.

This is not a choice, you have to watch this

If you watch this, and still have an once of respect for Rush Limbaugh, you need to seek professional help.

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Franklin Graham, the Junior Rat of Billy Graham

Franklin Graham came down today on the side of Donald Trump. If you examine the life of his daddy the lickspittle preacher, you would see daddy was a racist, of the worst sort. Now, the junior Rat has come out and said Obama has the "Seed of Islam" in him. Franklin sure learned from Daddy.

My first experience with old Billy was when he was bilking my mother. My mother sent Billy money. One day I wrote Billy and complained about Billy bilking my mother. I made up a figure out of thin air about how much the Graham crooks were getting from my mother. The Billy Graham scammers wrote back and told me to the cent how much they had bilked from my mother. Billy had a typical preachers sucker list. Billy knew what strings to pull to get the most out of a sucker. Was it starving children, Africans, or Indians. Like so many crooked preachers most people never looked closely at what old Billy was up to. Check out the actual recordings between Graham and Richard Nixon and the anti Semitic crap they were both spewing. Franklin supporting Trump? Does Franklin not have a clue about the immoral Rat Trump is?

Donald Trump, The Litmus Test for Stupidity.

Charles Blow has written such a good article on Donald Trump, in The New York Times today, I beg you to read it. Donald Trump in one human being represents all that is wrong with the Republican party and our country. Trump believes money is everything and anyone who doesn't worship it is a heathen. The fact that 46% of Republicans would vote for this hopeless idiot is so dismaying. Where did the minds of those people go? Do they read anything. It turns out the ex wife of The Donald testified in court that The Donald kept a book of Hitlers speeches beside his bed. The Donald apparently really liked the speech "The big lie".

The Stump Preachers.

When Kadizzle was a kid and his head was filling with nonsense, he used to like to listen to the crooked stump preachers on the local radio station WWVA. The term stump preacher comes from the old days in the hills when some goof would stand on a stump and preach to the other goofs. WWVA was the second radio station in the nation. Late in the evening the radio station had an amusing array of stump preachers that whipped the idiots into a frenzy and robbed them blind. One of the all time favorites one of these crooked preacher uses was this " Wait a minute! Wait a minute! Stop Everything! Someone out there in radio land has just been inspired by God to send me a check for $100, come over and put you hand on the radio to get your blessing right now". You could just see dozens of simple minded idiots yelling to their grand children "Quick, get me the check book". Today we still have the crooked stump preachers like Pat Robertson, Billy Grahm, and so on. However, there is a new breed. Now we have Glenn Beck, Hanity, and a whole new bunch that have taken stump preaching to a new level. Then new breed makes up simple minded explanations and conspiracy theories for everything, then they sell you a book full of lies and propaganda. The idea of a stump preacher is to be a good story teller. A good story teller will get you scared or excited. Fox News perfected taking stump preaching out of the realm of religion and putting to use in politics. The birther nonsense is classic. 67% percent of Republican think Obama may not have been born in this country. As you can see there is a vast supply of idiots to be harvested by the stump preachers, and you can see how easy it is to whup the dingers into a frenzy.

Donald Trump caught in multiple lies, Don't watch this if you are a delusional right winger.

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The Donald is a complete catastrophe. Someone tell me how 26% of Republicans could be so stupid as to consider voting for this complete dinger?

The Nasty Bitch the Republicans love.

Ann Rand is like Donald Trump, if you let someone else tell you about them, they sound great, but if you look for yourself you will see what hopeless conniving pigs they are. Ann Rand is an atheist, there is nothing wrong with that, but do the silly fundamentalist know it, of course not. Just like right wingers don't really know Donald Trump. Trump like Newt has had more wives than a Mormon, but the right wing moralist who support them are clueless. Ann Rand is the hero of the selfish. Listen to what she says about herself. Most right wingers never look into the reality, they just follow the Fox buzz. So here she is watch the whole thing and you will see a bitch every bit as bad as Ann Coulter.

Of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1% Society: vanityfair.com

Of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1% Society: vanityfair.com
Ignorant by Choice. Read the article in the link above, or you can go in the other room turn on the television, tune it to Fox and hear anything you need to reinforce your right wing ideas. The information is there, you have to be careful to avoid it. What is the difference between information and opinion? Information uses facts, Fox News is nothing but right wing opinion that avoids facts. Kadizzle was thinking of sending this article to a right wing friend in Bismarck. The agreement with the right winger is that we will not discuss politics. My friend knows his ideology will not stand up to reality, so he just avoids it. My friend would not consider reading this article because it does not agree with what he already believes. My friend is the bread and butter of Fox News. He loves to have Fox reinforce his fantasy. He loves to have Fox scare him about the Negro president. My friend is not stupid, he is ignorant by choice.

Another Winner

How can I get you to listen to this?

People want a quick simple explanation for everything. That is how Fox News works. Very few people will take the time to listen to this man, but if you do I promise it will be rewarding. Particularly toward the end when he explains the Christian right, you will find it enlightening. He is no fan of Obama. I am sorry to say I agree very much with his assessment of Obama as a sell out.

The Best Summary of Republican ideals ever

28% Hard Core Stupid

The same number seems to always pop up. The number is approximately 28%. When you come up with a goofy simple minded idea you can always count on 28% of the people to believe it. The birther crap is a good example. The death panel crap is another example, and now Donald Trump. The sad thing about the hard core stupid is the right wing always gets them. That inherently means the right wing always has a 28% lead. The right wing owns the gun nuts, the abortion nuts, the easily scared, the paranoid, and of course the ill informed. Now, give the 28% a nudge in the direction of stupidity with Fox, Rush, and Glenn Beck and it is pretty scary. So things for progress look pretty grim.

You have to be kidding?

Donald Trump is the favorite Republican candidate? This man and the Birther nonsense alone proves what a dinger Trump is. 26% of Republicans support this mental case? Newt, Trump, both may as well be Mormons with the number of wives they have had. It is just beyond imagination the absolute most obvious loser is the Republican favorite. When they had the little fling with Palin, did they learn nothing about running idiots?

The Rats destroy Medicare

What is happening? What happened to Change?

Back in the Dakota's

Patches of snow are still trying to turn into water in this land of the midnight sun. Some trees are making an attempt to bud. Jasper Littlebottom is getting the gardening bug. Hazen had a terrible winter. Wandering around town talking to the survivors would make anyone glad they were not here. Most of the residents look like ground hogs that just came out to see their shadow. Jasper is driving the city bus as a part time job to pay for her vast art collection. Kadazzle is trying to get his posterior in gear and get a few simple projects done. Soon it will be sailing season and that means the regular polishing and painting. The lake will have plenty of water and it will be great to have a gentle breeze wisk the Kadizzles to a secluded bay.
The guy in the picture and his wife moved into the neighborhood. Some people are bitching about the noise they make, but Kadizzle loves the hoot of an owl at night. The other day two cock pheasants had a boxing match right on the street. A third rooster stood by like the referee. The fact that the wildlife is coming to life is a good sign.

You Cannot afford to go to Bluff, Utah

Kadizzle loves Bluff, Utah, and hopes too many people don't discover it. With Ruth and Rodger, and The Commander we had a great time there on the San Juan River. However, you don't simply go to Bluff and have some of the best hiking in the world, or just sit and enjoy the sun. The danger in Bluff is a bunch of secret artist. Passing through most people would not even know they were there. Do not let your love partner wander in Bluff by herself. The last two times The Commander got loose it cost Kadizzle big Ka Ching.

On a day off from the normal forced march, the commander begged Kadizzle to go to Bluff to do some art browsing. Kadizzle needed some rest and wanted to take it easy. Big mistake. Kadizzle had feared The Commander might take her love to town (That is her Indian art love) and come back with something expensive, but when she returned with a double dose of stick art, and the smell of burnt credit cards Kadizzle knew it was over. Poor old Kadizzle had been thinking about buying himself one of those fancy smart phones, but when he saw the back of the pickup loaded with woven sticks he knew he would be lucky to get pencil and paper to communicate.

Waking up in the Goulag

The Earth Module pulled into the driveway in Hazen yesterday. After waking up every morning to sunshine in the southwest Kadizzle feels like he has been sentenced to a Russian prison camp. Someday the sun will shine in Hazen, but today is dreary with just enough snow sitting around to make one question his sanity. As Old Black Joes said "All the world is dark and dreary everywhere I go". That seemed to be the feeling around Hazen with everyone we met. Spring cannot get here quick enough. North Dakota has a high suicide rate which would be considerably lower if people would make it a point to escape in the winter for a couple weeks.

I have to buy a new scale

I haven't stepped on a scale for some time. One reason I don't bother is because scales cannot be trusted. I know I am a handsome man in good shape, but when I step on a scale I am disappointed about how many scales are defective. Until I find a scale that confirms what I know to be true, I will avoid stepping on any.

So many times I have run into this phenomenon with people of the right wing persuasion. No matter what data Kadizzle offers them, the data is always wrong because it does not confirm their belief. As soon as they detect a difference between what the data shows and their belief they refuse to even read the data or dismiss it because it came from NPR, The New York Times, or some other highly suspect source. If The New York Times quoted the Bible, the Bible itself would have no credibility according to these people. Now, for the amazing part. Almost without exception when Kadizzle gets in a discussion with the right wing, the right winger will say they have data to contradict Kadizzles facts. However, when you ask them to point you to the data, or show it to you all they say is "It is there, I just don't have time to find it".

If you gave one of these people an article titled "Rice is good for you", and they believed it wasn't, they would not read the article. The title is all they need to know. They already know rice is not good for you, so why should they read an article that says it is not? Fox News clearly understands this phenomenon. Fox knows there is an audience of people that wants someone to confirm everything they believe. There is a market for someone who will say Obama was not born in this country, there is a market for someone who will deny Global warming. The beauty of the Fox system is Fox doesn't have to back up anything they say with facts or common sense. When Fox reran Michele Backmann's lie that Obama's trip to India cost 200 million a day. Fox never bother to check the facts, Fox knows it's followers only want fun urban legends, in this case generated by a blogger in India.

Now back to the scale I want. Somewhere there must be a scale that will tell me I weight 187 pound. The same company probably makes a mirror that will provide the correct image also. If only Fox was in the business of making scales and selling mirrors. Who knows they may read this and branch out into beauty lying.

Toxic Material do not read if you watch Fox News

The Charts in this article (It's the inequality Stupid) from Mother Jones prove the old point about a picture being worth a thousand words. The facts are irrefutable. If you have someone who buys the Republican spin ask them to read this article and have fun watching them stutter. The United States is approaching the status of a third world country with all the money concentrated in the hands of a few at the top. This is never what our country was meant to be. While other countries fight to throw off dictators, the Republicans are doing all they can to bring aristocracy back to our country.

Llamas and Armadillos

Kadizzle made it full circle back to the hot tub in Evergreen, Colorado. Kadizzle gave his granddaughter Sylvie the pet Armadillo he captured while hiking, and later took a walk with Sylvie to see the Llamas a neighbor has up in the mountains nearby.

This too will Pass,

Yesterday was the big bust over the great divide. This is always occasion for great consternation. If you had been present during the negotiations you would have thought it was a moon shot. Pulling a camper over a pass when winter weather is still possible is always a lottery. There were three choices, go over Route 70, go over Wolf Creek Pass, or go all the way down to the Raton Pass. The Raton pass is the lowest and only four hours and 250 miles out of the way. Kadizzle lobbied long and hard for Wolf Creek Pass.

After a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth, the group reluctantly set out for the divide at Wolf Creek pass. On the way the brain storm hit Kadizzle to call the nearest human habitation to the pass they could find. It turned out to be a ski lodge right at the pass. The lodge said the pass would be fine. Kadizzle had predicted by noon the road would be dry. As the pickup trucks labored to pull the campers over the pass, by God's grace it did turn out to be sunny and dry. Coming down off the mountain we felt like Moses with the commandments. Every year the last great adventure is going over the Rockies. Timing has to be impeccable, and you may need to wait close by for the window of opportunity. The great southwest trip of 2011 was a great success with many new discoveries, many new friends, and far more good weather than anyone deserves. Next year the goal is to get some exploring done in the Escalante area.

Why not really know something

Today while reading the NYT Kadizzle stumbled across a wonderful article about data. With a down day for hiking and exploring Kadizzle explored the neat data system. It is a very clever invention called Gapminder World. The system allows you to plot 120,000 data points about the human condition. In College we all learned how to support what we say with data. However, most people don't let reality interfere with what they believe, instead they just repeat the party line, or what seems to be popular at the coffee shop. Most of what people believe is simply not true. The data shows it, however most people don't want to be bothered with the truth. Know the truth and the truth shall set you free. Take some time and play with this thing it is fum. Google Gapminder World to run the data engine.

The strangest flying rock, a mixture of truth and lies.

Today the Kadizzlites made a trek into Mule Canyon. Mule Canyon is one of the fine areas in Cedar Mesa with famous ruins. As Kadizzle made his way up the canyon past many wonderful ruins with Ruth, Rodger, and The Commander he noticed one of the strangest natural phenomenon he has ever seen. At the age of 62, and with thousands of miles of hiking under his belt Kadizzle has never run across anything like this. Walking up the canyon there was a strange grove across the trail. Kadizzle's first thought was what could have caused this? Closer examination showed a rock had rolled across the trail and fallen over about ten feet to the right of the trail. Puzzled, Kadizzle looked to the left to the trail and saw about six feet of grove made by the rock. How did a rock get up and roll 15ft? Then the real clincher jumped into view. A small tree was freshly smashed where the rock had apparently landed before it rolled to its resting place. Something like this could happen, but the laws of physics are laws. Kadizzle was down in a canyon, the rock could have rolled off the side of the canyon, jumped in the air and came down on the bush then rolled. The problem was things did not add up when you examined the area. The rock would have needed to be launched from a ski jump to make it as far out into the canyon as is did. Examining the trees it was evident the rock came almost straight down. The condition of the breaks in the tree indicated it had happened recently, the freshness of the moisture in the grove indicated it may have happened earlier today.

When Kadizzle ran across this strange rock, The Commander, Rodger and Ruth were hiking higher in the canyon searching for ruins. The temptation was too great to resist telling a whooper. On the way back down the trail Kadizzle showed the site of the mystical rock to The Commander. Earlier The Commander could not grasp what Kadizzle was talking about, but after seeing the evidence The Commander understood what had taken place. To spice things up Kadizzle told the Commander all of this had taken place fifteen feet in front of him on the trail. Kadizzle heard a great whoosh, the tree splinter and the rock roll in front of him. Nearly struck and killed by the rock Kadizzled was dazed, when a voice from nowhere said "Be nice to The Commander". Although The Commander bought the part of the story that Kadizzle had seen the event, she did not buy the voice part. After a few minutes it became necessary to tell The Commander Kadizzle had not seen the event. Ruth and Rodger were good accomplices for the untruthful part. Both of them had seen the area earlier and new the truth. There are a million ways to die, but had Kadizzle been hit by that rock it would have been a clear message from someone.
Now, for the rest of the story. The picture above is The Commander's version of a famous photo called "House on Fire". Ruth saw the picture and decided she wanted to make an attempt to capture the ruin in a similar picture. So, the crew got up early because the ideal time to take the picture was at 10:00 A.M. according to photo folk lure. We got into the canyon early, but it took the sun until well after eleven to light up the ruin properly. Just as the light seemed to do it's magic clouds appeared. As we sat patiently waiting for the proper lighting for two hours photographers started to show up like ants. Apparently a lot of people had the same idea today. Getting the picture was the main purpose of the hike today. The Commander actually did a pretty good job of duplicating the famous shot. As luck would have it an older professional photographer woman was there. We had a great conversation and she had the same camera as The Commander. The pro of course had a much more expensive camera also. The professional's camera batter was dead, so The Commander lent her the one from our camera. In exchange The Commander got some photo lessons. It looks like they paid off.