Intellectuals?

How is it that liberal “intellectuals” fail to see the irony of their simplistic view of “Red-State” America?

Arafat Summed Up

Charles Krauthammer notes Arafat’s legacy.

An Evil Man

Yasir Arafat was an evil man. He ordered American diplomats, held hostage by his terrorists, killed. He condoned child suicide bombers and attacks on elementary schools. His terrorist organization, Black September, murdered athletes in the Munich Olympic games. He was an enemy to humanity.

Yet world leaders still have a difficult time calling evil for what it is.

The President of France called Arafat "a man of courage"; proving again the word must not mean the same thing in French. Former President Jimmy Carter, lacking courage, can only euphemistically describe Arafat as a "Powerful human symbol and a forceful advocate"; one can't get more "forceful" than cold-blooded murder. Even President Bush asked God to "Bless his soul", having more faith in the redemption of the unrepentant soul then I do.

The truth is, Arafat was simply a murderer.

Francis Peak Endorses Bush

There never was a time during this election cycle that I considered voting for anyone other than George Bush. President Bush's values closely match mine. I wish I could say the same for any of the Democrats who tried their hand for the nomination.

Key values:

President Bush is not afraid to publicly oppose abortion
President Bush is not afraid to make a stand for the sanctity of marriage
President Bush understands the war against terrorism is a war
- He is the first president to attack head-on states that sponsor terrorism
President Bush stands firm on his convictions

Challenge to Democracy

The reports of lawyers and law suits already poised to dispute the Nov 2nd election results should be alarming for two reasons. First, the real fraud may very well be perpetuated by the one disputing the election. Second, such challenges, if unwarranted (which I strongly suspect), will still have a caustic effect on our system of democracy.

This type of attack on the US system began with Mr Al Gore’s attempt to overturn an election through the Florida courts. That battle is over, but the tactics remain.

The Boy Scout Uniform

The Boy Scout uniform is to scouting what the American Flag is to our country. As the flag brings to mind values of liberty, justice, and freedom a boy wearing the uniform holds aloft a standard proclaiming “I stand for honor, duty to God and Country, and commitment to the twelve points of the scout law”.

Some scouts feel awkward wearing the uniform; they will do well to remember what the uniform stands for. These are values worth proclaiming.

Stormy

We have a cat that tips the scales at 22 lbs; three of those considered excess but not critical by the vet. She doesn't get out much, having lost that desire a year or two ago on some mysterious 24 hour foray that resulted in a lost patch of fur.

We call her Stormy, named after her mottled Russian blue appearance. The name, however, fits her disposition. You don't cross her path and she won't cross yours.

She has always resented the newcomers to the family - our youngest daughter and two additional cats. The feeling is mutual with these three. During Stormy's 24 hour dissapperance, my daughter requested we not put up "lost cat" signs. We didn't, but she came back anyway. We would have missed her, some.

Grape Harvest Day

On our side fence is a network of grape vines. They were planted and cultivated by the former residents of our home. We’ve continued to enjoy the fruit for the past three years. We harvest the grapes and turn them into juice each Conference Saturday in October. I didn’t realize this until I suggested a couple of weeks ago it was time to harvest. My six year old told me we had to wait since “we pick the grapes on conference”.

So, listening to conference on a mini-boom box, my youngest son and I picked grapes. My wife and oldest daughter cleaned the grapes and loaded them into the juicer. Twenty-four quarts so far and there are still grapes left on the vines. We need to start drinking the juice from our previous harvests.

Fishing with the Devil

Adjacent to I-84, about 10 miles East of Morgan, Utah, rise two exposed rock strata that run parallel up the side of the mountain. With a slick rock expanse between the pair of stony walls, one nods in agreement with the name "Devil's Slide" as images are easily conjured of victims plunging down it into hell. Except at the base of this slide runs the Weber river.

Last spring, the Weber river became my favorite fishing river and Devil's Slide my favorite spot on the river. Anywhere I catch a fish, it becomes my favorite "hole" and at this spot I caught seven browns in three outings; others were hooked and lost but still added to the excitement of the location.

This morning I came up empty at Devil's Slide-the third time in the past month. It isn't the same river as it was in the spring. The fish are still there (I put them back last spring), but the river is high and now runs swift. The conditions exceed my skills as a novice fly-fisher. I knew that three trips ago; and yet I returned again this morning. It's my favorite fishing river. I caught fish there. Was there really something hurtling down the slide this morning or was it my imagination...