The other day a mysterious comment appeared on one of my photo posts, directing me to a site where I can sell my photos online.  I've been spending the evening getting some of them posted.  Look out world!

Pretty nifty, eh?

It sure seems this country is going a little crazy these days.  I've been staying away from political commentary for a while, but I've been noticing that the real scary activity has been ramping up, almost into a frenzied push for power.  Personally, I don't know how any intelligent adult can still support the administration.  Breaking the law is just that - breaking the law.  And repeatedly doing it - BAD.  There are no ifs ands or buts.  If we are to be a great country, then this is not acceptable.

You may or may not be familiar with the 12 Warning Signs of Fascism (be sure to click on the link for some great visuals).  If you're not, it's time to learn.  If you are, it's time to refresh yourself.

1. Exuberant nationalism
2. Enemies identified
3. Rights disappear
4. Secrecy demanded
5. Military glorified
6. Corporations shielded
7. Corruption unchecked
8. Media controlled
9. Rampant sexism
10. Intellectual bullying
11. Police militarized
12. Elections stolen

Huh.  If I'm not mistaken, every one of those things is taking place right now to some degree or another.  Do people just not care anymore?  Are they so apathetic they will let this country fall to pieces around them?

Domestic spying?  Or terrorist surveillance program?  Evidence is piling up that the NSA, FBI, and other law enforcement agencies are spying illegally on small grass-roots peace groups across the U.S.  You know how dangerous those Quakers are!  Yep, and so are all those grandmothers and other groups.  Heaven forbid that there be people that oppose the actions of the government and dare to speak out and try to make changes.  Heaven forbid that somebody actually try to point out the truth of what is going on.

Not too long ago, I read the book called It Can't Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis.  It tells the tale of the United States slowly slipping into fascism, while all the time people just kept denying it could possibly really happen.  Scariest of all, it was written before WWII, but applies perfectly to the situation today.  I encourage you to read it if you haven't.

Please start seeing what's going on around you, before it's too late.

Peace and blessings. 

The details of last week's crime spree in our sleepy little town are now becoming public.  Well, it may not have been a crime spree per se, but it's not every day the cops get to chase bad guys through town.

Through reading the story in the paper and talking to a sheriff I know, I have found out that the chase started when the cops received an anonymous tip about the passenger in the vehicle, a man with a felony warrant out for his arrest.  Seems he is a well known bank robber from the Porland area, and is also busy with such things as identity theft and fraud.  The pair drove through town for over ten minutes (and pretty much covered  all the main streets), never really going over the speed limit.  After I saw them head over the hill, they turned onto what was fortunately a dead end road.  She rammed into one of the cop cars, and the guy got out and tried to run off into a field.  He was brought down with a tazer gun.  I bet the cops were excited they got to use that!!!  At the time the story was written, the cops were still waiting for a warrant to look into the u-haul trailer.

It turns out, however, that the woman may be in even bigger trouble than the bank robber guy now.  Not only was she driving a vehicle and attempting to elude police officers, when they caught her she had a chunk of meth on her person that was "as big as your fist" and she was "as high as a kite" during the chase.  I guess she just laughed at the cops when they caught her.  The sheriff I spoke to said it was fortunate they didn't know their way around the area very well, and that they turned down that dead end.  He chuckled and mentioned that one might want to make sure they know their way around before taking up a new career.  She's going to have a long, long, time to think about her choice of friends and lack of road map.  Not to mention the real pleasant withdrawl she's probably experiencing right about now.  Eww.

I'm glad that nobody was injured during the whole debacle, especially considering the driver's physical and mental state at the time.  It's kind of a reminder that you really have no idea about the other people driving around out there.  Cheery thought, eh?

I was looking at this photo, and just had to share the oddness of it.  Is that little angel giving the other one a massage?  Can you imagine how wonderful it would be to receive a massage from an angel?  Perhaps they are nearby and massage us more often than we know.

Peace and Blessings!

Oh the things I saw today!  Who knew that the town I lived in was such an exciting place?  It was as if I was watcing television!

I saw - are you ready - a cop chase.  Yes, that's right.  I saw two cop cars chasing a vehicle pulling a small u-haul trailer.  MEEP MEEP!  Meth lab alert!  MEEP MEEP!

I was just minding my own business, driving along the lovely 4-lane road through town, when I saw cop car lights approaching from a distance.  As they drew closer, I watched cars pull over and get out of the way (not an easy task, there was a fair amount of traffic).  One vehicle seemed not to be pulling over quickly, and my first thought was "good heavens, get out of the way!"  When they got a little closer, the vehicle swerved around another car and just kept coming through the intersection, cop cars close behind.   DING DING DING!  I get it - it's a chase!  The vehicle passed on by, and I saw that the driver was a twenty-ish woman; I couldn't see a passenger.  It was plainly clear that the driver was shouting something to the effect of "Oh my God #@*!#*$"  The procession of cars continued on up the highway to the north.  I watched in my rear view mirror, and she never pulled over while in view.  Shortly I saw two more cops and a sheriff racing by to join in the fun.

Whew!  I was thinking she might just want to cut her losses and pull over, but apparently that wasn't in her paradigm at the moment.  I'm not sure what she might have been thinking, since these sorts of things usually don't end well for the criminal attempting to flee law enforcement.

• Did she think her dumpy truck pulling a trailer could outrun the cops?
• Where did she think she was going?  This is an island, and there's only one way off up north.  Would she magically be free, if only she could make it over the bridge?!!!
• Was she going to pull over later and run off into the woods?  Again, this is an island.  Not too many places to hide for very long.

Now, I don't know for sure that it was a meth related incident, but if history means anything chances are good it was.  Unfortunately I have to wait until Saturday to read about it in the local paper.  If the story is in the online version, I'll be sure to cut and paste the juicy details for you here.

Dang.  I should have used the opportunity to speed around town and jaywalk while the cops were busy.  Oh well.  Maybe next time.

That's better.  I thought I'd lost a post, but it has appeared.  Whew!

How odd.

Wednesday....day off....slow moving....coffee late....surely I will perk up soon?

Bah.  That's okay.  I just have a few things to do today, so it's okay if I don't do much this morning.  I give myself permission.  I even went back to bed for a while after I got home from taking Nolan to school.  That is practically unheard of!

We're finally into season three of Six Feet Under.  Yay!!!  A few more episodes to watch over the next couple of days.  Also got season five of OZ from the library.

Must work on my new Subter column.  The brand spanking new version of Subter will be live on February 2nd - you'll just have to wait until then!

Oh good.  I seem to be waking up a bit now.  My eyes still have that bleary feeling, but I think I'll just enjoy it.  It's kind of dreamy.

Time to shower and get going.  I'm planning (among other things) to buy some more wool yarn today, so I can continue on with my felting projects.  Here's a glimpse of a previous project, which ended up pretty darn cool ~

I'm using the same colors of yarn, but my newest bag will have a very different shape.  I'm trying out a combination of stitches to see how that works out, and it will be more of a drawstring type bag.  I think it will be very nifty, but I need more purple yarn.  I really like using this yarn, it's bright and easy to crochet with.  Very fast.

Okay, bye now!

Going to Wal-Mart to print photos is like stabbing myself in the eye with an ice pick.  Repeatedly.

The sun finally came out and I took the opportunity to get out and explore for photos.  I had a great time, and got some good shots.  To see the entire set, click here!