Snowball

Read Ashli O'Connell's story about a pigeon that came for Christmas and stayed ... on her blog.

Peggy's Cancer

Just a few days before Christmas, my wife, Peggy was diagnosed with breast cancer. She has 2 lumps and it is the fastest-growing kind so we got her scheduled for surgery as soon as possible. It will be on January 6. She will have 6 weeks of radiation and hopefully no chemo. The pathology from the surgery will determine if chemo or further surgery are needed.

We have received a huge amount of support from Facebook friends, where we first released the news, and from other close friends.

We would appreciate your prayers.

I am a cancer survivor and Peggy will be too.

Picture of "Gus" Takes Third Place in Contest

Contest: Xmas Fatal Atraction-Winners
Originally uploaded by Gabbcan

In a Flickr Christmas Fatal Attraction Contest with 138 entries, this shot of "Gus" tied for third place. Since then her name has been changed to Stormy ... or Cricket. ... And she still needs a home.

Home of Throwed Rolls

Had to take Peggy's cousin Melba and her husband, Dick, to Lambert's, the home of throwed rolls. They don't have them in Arizona.

Sunset From Maranatha Village Dec. 22, 2008

Taken from the parking lot of the apartment building Peggy's mom lives in. Springfield, MO.

Peggy's Mom's Maranatha Apartment

Cousins Melba and Dick, Peggy's mother, Peggy

An Even More Ancient Christmas Photo

Ken and Peggy back in the day

Evolution Move Over, Here Comes Global Warming

FoxNews.com reported:

In the article, Obama Left with Little Time to Curb Global Warming, AP Science Writer Seth Borenstein wrote that global warming is "a ticking time bomb that President-elect Barack Obama can't avoid," and that "global warming is accelerating."

"If the issues weren't so serious and the ramifications so profound, I would have to laugh at it," said David Deming, a geology professor at the University of Oklahoma who has been critical of media reporting on the climate change issue.

Deming, in an interview, took issue with Borenstein's characterization of a problem he says doesn't exist.

...

"The mean global temperature, at least as measured by satellite, is now the same as it was in the year 1980. In the last couple of years sea level has stopped rising. Hurricane and cyclone activity in the northern hemisphere is at a 24-year low and sea ice globally is also the same as it was in 1980."

Deming said the article is further evidence of the media's decision to talk about global warming as fact, despite what he says is a lack of evidence.

Read the article, Scientists Call AP Report on Global Warming 'Hysteria.'

And Al Gore won a Nobel Prize for this.

This is exactly what has happened with the theory of evolution. It is assumed and anyone in disagreement ridiculed.

I consider myself a moderate on ecology. But what happened to scientific dialogue? This is pc, liberal spin. And now with BO in the White House, expect more liberal media spin to bolster nonsensical actions by our woefully inexperienced new lead executive.

Memories of a Christmas Past

Recently discovered photos.

Yes, this is really Ken and Peggy.


Peggy's parents. I believe the Cabbage Patch doll was for Peggy's niece Heidi.

Earl & Janet Creps Move to Berkeley

Our good friends Earl and Janet Creps are finally on their way to Berkeley, CA, to plant a church there. We visited in our home the night before they departed. Here is a gripping interview recorded during that visit.

Vintage Christmas Shot

This photo of Peggy with her niece, Heidi, is probably from 1985.

More Bailout Outrages

Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain on Monday had the gall to request a $10 million bonus—subsidized by taxpayers—just two months after receiving $10 billion in bailout money from the federal government. Even if the company hadn't tanked on his watch, this would be brazen. I say, give him his walking papers, no severance.

Billions for billionaires threaten the viability of Social Security for my generation.

Will Congress Raid Social Security Fund for Billionaire Bailout?

If any group of people ever deserved a "bailout" (restitution is more accurate) it is those who have paid into the Social Security Trust Fund only to have the federal government loot and spend every dime of their hard-earned contributions.

We know that Congress takes the “how can I be overdrawn when I still have checks” approach to federal spending but it must measure what funds are needed to meet its obligations to Social Security and Medicare recipients. This needs to be done before another dime of taxpayer funds is thrown into yet another bailout spending binge.

In Fiscal Year 2008 alone, experts estimate that $209 billion will be borrowed from Social Security and spent on other unrelated federal programs.

At the end of January 2008, the federal government owed the Social Security Trust Fund (old age and disability) a total of more than $2.258 trillion-and this amount keeps going up every month.

Now the trust fund may be used to finance the massive bailouts of the billionaires who run the banks and car companies.

The crash comes in 2017 when the amount collected in payroll taxes will NOT be enough to pay full Social Security benefits. Instead of real assets on which to draw, the Trust Fund will contain only meaningless IOUs from the government to itself.

www.traditionalvalues.org 12/8/08

We can't trust the government to reliably disperse bailout funds. Accountability is lacking. The first billions have already been reallocated and mistakes confessed. I don't know about you, but when I'm ready to retire, the thought of an inept fat-cat CEO living it up on our $10 million while there's nothing left in S.S. to even buy Big Macs for the elderly just doesn't sit well.

I'm opposed to all big-company bailouts.

Basilica of St. James, Jamestown, ND

A recent addition to my photos of churches collection. Surprising to find this in small-town North Dakota.

December Calendar