12 Days of Christmas, Straight No Chaser style

These guys have practiced... a LOT! Go to YouTube and do a search on "Straight No Chaser" for more neato stuff from this group. It's all a capella.

Knoxville red-light camera wounded in action

Only in Tennessee...

Excerpts from a news story posted on Knoxnews.com today:

A North Knoxville red light camera struck by three rounds from a high-powered rifle during the weekend is out of commission until Tuesday, police said today.

Knoxville Police Department officers first responded when they heard four shots fired at 2 a.m. Sunday while on routine patrol of the area. They searched the area, and one officer spotted a minivan leaving a closed business "very suspiciously."

When police pulled Clark's vehicle over, they found a .30-06-caliber deer rifle on the floor of the minivan. "He stated he didn't want to say what he was doing there because he didn't want to get into trouble," said Lt. Bob Wooldridge, a KPD spokesman. Upon further investigation, they discovered that the traffic camera had three bullet holes in its camera box."

The man is being applauded on the local news-talk radio station by call-ins as a hero and somebody is already starting to gather together money to help with the guy's legal defense. The cameras have nailed more than a few people.

One guy who called in complained about how he got a ticket for running a red light that he apparently has always just kind of cruised through when making right turns in the past. He said something to the effect of "I got a ticket because I didn't come to a complete stop before making the turn".... well DUH!, even when right turns on red are legal, you're still supposed to come to a complete stop before moving into the intersection.

The full story doesn't say anything about alcohol, but I wouldn't be surprised to find out it was involved.

The Price of Children..

I love the stuff I get in my email! This is just too good not to pass on to all. Something absolutely positive for a change. I have repeatedly seen the breakdown of the cost of raising a child, but this is the first time I have seen the rewards listed this way. It's nice.

The government recently calculated the cost of raising a child from birth to 18 and came up with $160,140 for a middle income family. Talk about sticker shock! That doesn't even touch college tuition.


But $160,140 isn't so bad if you break it down. It translates into:

• $8,896.66 a year
• $741.38 a month
• $171.08 a week
• That's a mere $24.24 a day!
• Just over a dollar an hour!

Still, you might think the best financial advice is don't have children if you want to be "rich." Actually, it is just the opposite. What do you get for your $160,140?

• Naming rights. First, middle, and last!
• Glimpses of God every day
• Giggles under the covers every night
• More love than your heart can hold
• Butterfly kisses and Velcro hugs
• Endless wonder over rocks, ants, clouds, and warm cookies
• A hand to hold, usually covered with jelly or chocolate
• A partner for blowing bubbles and flying kites
• Someone to laugh yourself silly with, no matter what the boss said or how your stocks performed that day

For $160,140, you never have to grow up. You get to:

• finger-paint
• carve pumpkins
• play hide-and-seek
• catch lightning bugs
• never stop believing in Santa Claus

You have an excuse to:

• keep reading the Adventures of Piglet and Pooh
• watching Saturday morning cartoons
• going to Disney movies
• wishing on stars

You get to

• frame rainbows, hearts, and flowers under refrigerator magnets
• collect spray painted noodle wreaths for Christmas
• hand prints set in clay or Mother's Day
• cards with backward letters for Father's Day

For $160,140, there is no greater bang for your buck. You get to be a hero just for:

• retrieving a Frisbee off the garage roof
• taking the training wheels off a bike
• removing a splinter
• filling a wading pool
• coaxing a wad of gum out of bangs
• coaching a baseball team that never wins but always gets treated to ice cream regardless

You get a front row seat to history to witness the:

• first step
• first word
• first bra
• first date
• first time behind the wheel

You get to be immortal. You get another branch added to your family tree, and if you're lucky, a long list of limbs in your obituary called grandchildren and great grandchildren. You get an education in psychology, nursing, criminal justice, communications, and human sexuality that no college can match.



In the eyes of a child, you rank right up there under God. You have all the power to

• heal a boo-boo
• scare away the monsters under the bed
• patch a broken heart
• police a slumber party
• ground them forever, and
• love them without limits

So, one day they will, like you, love without counting the cost. That is quite a deal for the price!!!!!!!


Love & enjoy your children & grandchildren!!!!!!!

Proof of Abuse of the Iraqi people by our troops

This email has been circulating around for awhile now. Whether you think we belong over there or not, the fact is that we're there, and not all of what is happening is bad. You just never see CNN or FoxNews reporting on this stuff.

And, whether you think we belong over there or not, our service members are over there doing their jobs. They're following their orders. They're working, sleeping, playing, relaxing, getting hurt, dying. They're feeling good, exhaustion, fear, bravery, joy, sadness, just the same as we do, except they're doing it on the other side of the globe from their homes and families.

Regardless of if you think we belong in the Middle East or not, or what you think or know our reasons for being over there are, these service members deserve our respect and our support. They don't make the policy that sent them over there, they do what they swore to do when they signed up for whatever branch of the military they're in - serve their country, right or wrong.

OK, I'm off the soap box now. On to the good stuff!

The email:

Proof of abuse by our Troops:

Armed American Troops Force Iraqis to Seesaw Until They Talk!

Iraqi Child Bites GI In Self Defense After Obvious Torture!

GI Falls Asleep On Duty While Using Iraqi Child As Body Armor!

GI Overheard to say "Talk or I'll tickle you till you pee!"

More Evidence Of Failed US Intelligence Policy:

Soldier Attempts to Eat Iraqi Child !

Clear Evidence of Forced Labor by Troops!

Iraqis Grateful That American Forces Did Not Open Fire During Soccer Game!

Soldier Caught At "Tickle-Torture" To Extract Intelligence!

GI Forces Iraqi Child To Hang By Fingertips!

No comment here. There's nothing funny about this one.

May the good Lord bless every one of our troops wherever they are!

I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AND TO THE REPUBLIC, FOR WHICH IT STANDS, ONE NATION UNDER GOD, INDIVISIBLE, WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL!

Another Blogthing - what the bumper sticker on my car should say...

Your Bumper Sticker Should Be

Even if the voices aren't real - they've got some great ideas

What Bumper Sticker Should Be On Your Car?

Oh, how true it is!!!!

blogthings.com

I found this way cool website that has all kinds of quizes and stuff to put on your blogs. It's called blogthings and offers the answers to the questions burning mightily in our minds... questions like "What kind of pizza personality are you?", and "What does your peanut butter and jelly sandwich say about you?" I just took the PB&J questionnaire. It is scarily close....

What Your Peanut Butter And Jelly Sandwich Means

Your eating style is reserved. You are a bit of a fussy eater, and you have very specific ways you like your food prepared. You have a total sweet tooth. When you can get away with it, you like to have dessert before dinner! Your taste in food tends to be quite eclectic and wide. You are an adventurous eater, and you like many types of cuisines. You are probably a fairly normal, upper middle class person. You don't rock the boat too often. You are a tough person who isn't afraid to live life fully. There isn't a lot that scares you. You are laid back and extremely easygoing. You never make a fuss, and you try to enjoy every moment.

What Does Your Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich Say About You?