The Bigsibling Blog

I was reading through this article regarding Thanksgiving in America (the article is posted in the UK) and it got me thinking. Thinking about Thanksgiving, and about America, and about America’s image throughout the world. How all the mainstream media outlets are complaining (gloating?) that the rest of the world, almost every last other person, hates and despises America. How America is the bad guy world wide, the new villain, with it’s empire building goals.

All that, of course, is complete hogwash. Though I admit there are many (even in civilized countries) who dislike – even hate – America. I can say with all honesty, those that do, do so out of ignorance. Ignorance or jealousy. Yes, there I said it. Few others will admit to believing this, but I will admit it, and not be ashamed to admit it.

To borrow a bit from Lee Greenwood, this Thanksgiving, I give thanks to God that I am in a land where I am free. Free to choose, free to explore. Free to worship, or not to worship. Free to work at the job I want to work out, or free to strike out entrepreneur-like on my own. I am free to go to college, or not.

There is no other country in the world where everyone, and I don’t care who you are, every citizen has opportunity. Everybody. Everybody has the same opportunity. There are way too many rags-to-riches stories for me not to believe that anyone can achieve whatever they desire in America. The son of the town drunk, or an abusive step-father will never, ever have the opportunity to be the King of England, or Spain, or Norway. We don’t have castes or rigid classes here. We don’t have Lords and Dukes and Princes. Everyone is the same by station of birth in America.

All of those whiners and crybabies who talk bad about America remind me of that scene in Monty Python’s Life of Brian:

Reg: They’ve bled us white, the bastards. They’ve taken everything we had, and not just from us, from our fathers, and from our fathers’ fathers.
Loretta: And from our fathers’ fathers’ fathers.
Reg: Yeah.
Loretta: And from our fathers’ fathers’ fathers’ fathers.
Reg: Yeah. All right, Stan. Don’t labour the point. And what have they ever given us in return?!
Xerxes: The aqueduct?
Reg: What?
Xerxes: The aqueduct.
Reg: Oh. Yeah, yeah. They did give us that. Uh, that’s true. Yeah.
Commando 3: And sanitation.
Loretta: Oh, yeah, the sanitation, Reg. Remember what the city used to be like.
Reg: Yeah. All right. I’ll grant you the aqueduct and the sanitation are two things that the Romans have done.
Matthias: And the roads!
Reg: Well, yeah. Obviously the roads. I mean, the roads go without saying, don’t they? But apart from the sanitation, the aqueduct, and the roads–
Commando: Irrigation.
Xerxes: Medicine.
Commandos: Huh? Heh? Huh…
Commando 2: Education.
Commandos: Ohh…
Reg: Yeah, yeah. All right. Fair enough.
Commando 1: And the wine.
Commandos: Oh, yes. Yeah…
Francis: Yeah. Yeah, that’s something we’d really miss, Reg, if the Romans left. Huh.
Commando: Public baths.
Loretta: And it’s safe to walk in the streets at night now, Reg.
Francis: Yeah, they certainly know how to keep order. Let’s face it. They’re the only ones who could in a place like this!
Commandos: Hehh, heh. Heh heh heh heh heh heh heh.
Reg: But apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, the fresh-water system, and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?

What has America done for the rest of the world?

• The Internet: Yeah, that was us, get over it CERN, you’re man may have created the web browser, but what in the hell would it run on without the network? Huh? Answer me that.
• McDonald’s: Sure, it tastes like cardboard, and is riddled with grotesque fats, but for less than five clams and in less than five minutes, one can get a meal one their way to the next million dollar deal meeting.
• MRI’s, CAT Scans and a myriad of other medical wonders that were a direct result of the umpteen billions spent on the US space program
• Google
• Yahoo
• Apple
• Microsoft
• Microprocessor
• CDs
• John Wayne
• Lauren Bacall
• Hollywood: ok, some of the movies are real turds, but let’s face it, Lord of the Rings could not have been made in Baliwood, or by any other foreign film industry. It took Hollywood to create that
• Star Trek: What would cell phones look like today if Capt. Kirk didn’t have the flip up communicator?
• Microwave Oven: popcorn anyone?
• The defeat of Nazi Germany, Tojo’s Japan and Communist Russia

All of this, and so much more that I don’t have time to list here.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone (especially those of who serving in this great nation’s armed forces – there are no group of people I have greater respect for).

Technorati Tags: Thanksgiving , Bigsibling , America

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I need some opinions on what to give a woman who has put up with me for 18 years, bore me three children, and is such a MILF that it makes her sons’ friend uncomfortable at times. Some years ago I did the gold plated rose thing (huge hit), a couple of years ago I had a customized romance novel printed up with her as the main character (not so huge hit – a huge bomb actually).

Anyway, my first thought is a trip to a day spa. But I’m not 100% certain on that. She has never indicated that would be something of interest to her (but I can’t really imagine a woman that wouldn’t like that).

At any rate, I am open to any and all suggestions. I have almost two weeks to complete this task.

Thanks for your input.

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I have recenly been honored with the invitiation to contribute material to Exposing ‘Rev.’ Sutter. Some of you dear readers, might recognize the name from some comments left on previous posts, some my recognize the name from other places he has used to spread his particular brand of nigh-schizophrenia.

There have been many times where I have wanted to comment on his rantings and ramblings, but two things have really kept me from doing so 1) is that he moderates his comments, and for some reason, the comments I make to his site don’t get posted. 2) For those of you exhaulted readers that actually visit for my opinions etc (and not because you lost a bet, you people don’t count ), I’m fairly certain my views of this strange, delusional and somewhat dysfunctional person are not what it is you are looking for when you visit here.

But Lady Predator started a site for exposing this fellow’s true nature, and has invited me to contribute. I am greatful for this opportunity.

For those who might want to know more about this “Reverend” James Sutter, please head on over to Exposing ‘Rev.’ Sutter and get a good read (really should start at the beginning – oh, and even more great info in the comments section!).

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It is like a shot of adrenaline, to get unsolicited praise, or an unexpected pat on the back. And quite frankly, I’ve never really known how to handle those kinds of things. In any case, I was struck with “wow” amazement, and felt an immense honor at being select as Captain Dramatic’s Mom’s “Saturday’s Super Site“.

It is a true honor to be so designated.

***EDIT***

I just got code in the e-mail to post a blog roll of other honorees of this award, so take a look to the left and visit some other recipients!

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I have some ’splainin to do here. First off, this is my blog. I own it. I devise the content for it. I pay the server space to house it. I supply the database that drives it. I have invested time and effort and little money in this baby. I like this blog. The reason this blog exists is because this beaner has opinions and ideas, and he wants to voice them. That is the beauty of the internet. The little guy is no longer silenced, but can be heard by many, many peoples of all walks of life.

What this blog is NOT is a forum for personal grievances, vendettas or other attacks. This is not a place where I will allow one visitor to maliciously demean and launch personal attacks against another visitor. With that in mind, I have been exchanging emails with a visitor who’s comment on a post I have not allowed to be posted. The comment follows:

[NAME REMOVED], has your psychiatrist been in touch with you yet? He’s looking for you, something about they released you too soon. Apparently only spending one year in that psychiatric unit wasn’t enough. I gave him your home address, I’m sure it won’t be long till the men in the white coats are knocking at your door – again.

Maybe I am just over sensitive. But this type of stuff I will not allow. It is unnecessary, and it’s only purpose is to try and cause emotional distress against one of my visitors. What is also disturbing about this post, is the reference to her “home address.” The poster seems to me to be maybe a little unstable – maybe not – but if he has this kind of hatred for her, and has her home address, who knows? The email exchange is below:

—————————- Original Message —————————-
Subject: Re: You comment at The Bigsibling Blog
From: bigsibling at bigsibling dot com
Date: Wed, June 13, 2007 9:24 am
To: [NAME REMOVED]
————————————————————————–

Here is the difference [NAME REMOVED], when she posted her criticism of you, she supplied her opinion and supporting links. Whereas you merely lashed out with a personal attack. I cannot control that you believe she ‘cyberstalks’ you.

Now, I fully understand, and even expect you to not grasp the almost, but not quite, completely unsubtle differences between her comment and your response.

I have no problem with people who disagree with me, and their comments and responses are more than welcome. But demeaning personal attacks are not welcome when launched against my visitors.

You can attack me all you want. Believe me, this beaner has seen more hatred directed against my people than you have killed terrorists (which, according to you, is quite a lot).

Again, I will not allow you to direct personal attacks against my visitors using my bandwidth, my database and my storage.

Thank you for visiting, and I certainly hope you continue to visit and leave comments.

=Bigsibling

[NAME REMOVED] is my cyberstalker. She’s all over the net, trashing me,
you allow this, yet you fail to allow me to respond to her. Most sites
have banned her.

[NAME REMOVED]
[LOCATION REMOVED]
Serving God and Country
http://[LINK REMOVED]
http://[LINK REMOVED]

—– Original Message —-
From: “bigsibling at bigsibling dot com”
To: [NAME REMOVED]
Sent: Wednesday, June 13, 2007 8:59:07 AM
Subject: You comment at The Bigsibling Blog

[NAME REMOVED],

I am deleting the message you left for [NAME REMOVED] at my blog
(http://www.bigsibling.com) because if you want to pick a fight with her,
or otherwise spew your hatred of her, please do so on your own blog, or in
her forums (http://[LINK REMOVED]). My blog is not the place to air
and/or resolve personal grievances.

But thanks for visiting! I do appreciate anyone who stops by.

=Bigsibling

To be certain, I have contacted the person this attack was directed against, and let her know about his post – which I can certainly see as a veiled threat (mentioning her home address and people coming to her door and what-not).

Oh, and I’ll update this post if new emails are exchanged. Just so everything it out and in the open. I have removed names, email and website addresses.

Thanks for stopping by.

Technorati Tags: Cyber-bullies, bullies, honor, respect, comments, blogs

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Alright, for a cranky old guy, I seem to have gotten a fan over at Christy’s Coffee Break who tagged me for a meme that she started. I am fairly new to all this blogging stuff, and still don’t fully understand what a meme is, but what the hey, you have to answer questions, and tag other people. Come to think of it…maybe Christy isn’t much of a fan!?!?

For a complete list of rules (or even a partial, I’m not copying all those things down, you just click on over and read ‘em yourself) see Christy’s Coffee Break’s post about the whole thing.

Here are the questions – in no particular order as per the rules (you did read the rules right?)

1. Is this your first meme?
2. What are your feelings on the “blog popularity” issue?
3. What is your best quality?
4. What makes your blog unique?
5. Are you a spiritual person?
6. What’s your favorite childhood memory?
7. When did you start blogging?
8. Do your moral values affect the way that you blog, and if yes, how?
9. What is your worst quality?
10. If you were stranded on a deserted island what three things would you want to have with you?
11. What is the weirdest thing that ever happened to you?
12. What do you hope to accomplish with your blog?

And my answers:

1. No, this is actually my third meme, but my first here on bigsibling.com
2. It’s always nice to be popular. I just hope that when the time comes, the blogging community will stand up and try to get Governer Sebelius to grant me a pardon (like Paris Hilton’s fans)
3. Hold on, lemme as the 5/8th. OK, the 5/8th says it is my ability to make people think I know what I’m doing when I don’t have a clue. I didn’t really like that answer, so I’m going with I call it as I see it without regard to race, color, creed, religion (or lack thereof), national origion, sexual preference (or lack thereof) or anything else…period.
4. My witty and infinitely insightful commentary (and the fact that I am so humble)
5. Absolutely
6. Running amok throughout the neighborhood with my old mate Todd. We were inseperable in those days. I think he is in the northeast now (lucky dog)
7. I started in ernest about eight or so months ago
8. Of course. I don’t say or advocate things I find to be immmoral, I don’t accepts ads that would bring my morals into question (kinda goes with #3)
9. Hold on, lemme ask the 5/8th. Ok, the 5/8th says my indecision, but I don’t like that one, so I’m going to go with procrastination
10. A satellite phone, a satellite phone battery and a solar satellite phone battery charger.
11. When a 42 foot chicken ran up and stole the deer I shot on a hunting trip. Really, ask my hunting partner, he saw it too, and somewhere around here, I have a picture of its foottrack.
12. Nothing. Just vent, put my views out there. Well, come to think of it, polish my English and writings skillz (heh, see that? I’m hip, I spelled ’skills’ with a ‘z’)

Well, there we have it. That is Bigsibling in a nutshell. Now I have to find 5 folks to tag, so gimme a minute and I’ll drum some up.

I Love To Argue
jer
godzilla
count ramblings
syafthegeek

There we go. Mission accomplished.

And I want to thank each and every visitor. It is truly a pleasure that you stopped by and took the time to look around.

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Yesterday was 1 May. Some may remember 1 May of 2006. That is the day where numerous immigrants, most of them Hispanic, and a great many of them who entered this country illegally, staged mass rallies, marches and demonstrations around the country demanding they be treated as legal citizens.

There are two ways to become a citizen of the United States of America. The obvious first way is to be born here. The second is to earn one’s citizenship by going through proper channels, following the laws of this land and contributing to society. People who enter the country illegally start off on the wrong foot already. Sure, they only want a better life for themselves and their children. But the exact same argument could be made by the bank robber. That argument doesn’t wash. The ends does not justify the means.

What ticked off so many Americans about the demonstrations last year, was that these people, who came here illegally, were demanding rights that were not theirs to demand. All the while they were flying the flags of their homeland, and cursing America and degrading the United States. Some were even calling for a large portion of the United States to be returned to Mexico. This kind of disrespect for my country makes me ashamed to be a beaner. They come here illegally, and refuse to learn the language, and refuse to assimilate into the American culture, and then are surprised that they are treated harshly?

Of course America needs immigrants. America was built by immigrants. It could be said that every man, woman and child in America either came from somewhere else, or their ancestors did. And don’t get with the Indians, because they came across the Aleutian land bridge millennea before whitey landed on the east coast. So yes, we are all immigrants, or descendants of immigrants. The difference being that most of our ancestors came here legally. They came with the proper papers and the learned the language and assimilated into the culture.

American culture is extremely unique in the world. When a group of immigrants comes into the country, we take their culture and merge it with our own. How else could one explain Italian restaurants in every town. St. Patrick’s Day parades across the nation. And Cinco de Mayo. Cinco de Mayo is a huge Mexican celebration. But everyone celebrates it. On St. Patrick’s Day, everyone is Irish for the day, on Cinco de Mayo, everyone is Mexican for the day.

The fact of the matter is, our lawmakers in Washington must take measures to secure the borders. Without secure borders, we cannot be a secure nation. Without secure borders, there is no point in trying to live the farce that we are a sovereign nation of laws. If we don’t secure the borders and create a simpler, more streamlined process by which people can obtain temporary work visas, then we are doomed.

“Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” – Abraham Lincoln

We say that everyone should be treated equally, yet we turn a blind eye to the abusive and slave-like conditions in which the illegal migrant worker is forced to endure. We recently raised the minimum wage, but we did not raise the minimum wage for everyone. We raised the minimum wage only for those legal to live and work in the United States. The illegal immigrant is still paid next to nothing. They have no health insurance, they work for practically slave wages, and then to have those wages docked to help pay their ‘coyotes’ which brought them here. Many girls are forced into prostitution.

Those who advocate doing nothing to stem the tide of illegal immigration are promoting these abhorrent conditions. They are advocating for a permanent class of sub-standard persons. To me, as a beaner, this is unacceptable. Who cares if these people are forced to work in conditions that most people would not allow their dogs to live in? But hey, at least our lettuce is cheap – right?

Technorati Tags: Immigration, Illegal Immigrants, Border Fence, Slave Labor, Prosititution

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Usually being banned is a bad thing, but I was reading Vicezilla's blog when I saw here that his blog was banned in China. 'Hey,' I thought 'I want to be banned in China too.' It seems so...I don't know...prestigious to be banned in China - kind of like some horror film where one could brag in the newspaper adverts "Banned in Illinois" or some such. Kind of like a gold star in kidergarten. I headed on over to the greatfirewallofchina.org to see if possibly I too was banned. And there I was, all kinds of banned from China.  I feel so proud!

Technorati Tags: China, firewall, greatfirewallofchina, banned

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As Easter approaches, my mind has turned to the joy (no, really) of coloring eggs with my younguns.  The smell of vinegar, the scrubbing and scrubbing and scrubbing of the kitchen table to get the spilled dye removed.  Spilled dye regardless of how many layers of towels (now ruined) and papers one places over the table to catch the spills.  There are never enough protections to actually protect the table.

I enjoy it.  There are not many things so simple as boiling and coloring eggs that create the kind of fond, loving memories in children.  This is what it is about for me.  Not the actual fun of boiling and coloring eggs and cleaning up the messes.  But creating memories for my children.  I want them to remember, with a distant fondness, the Easter egg coloring rituals of the Spring, much like the pumpkin carving rituals of Autumn.

In thinking about the Easter Bunny, I am drawn back to an old Family Circus cartoon I remember seeing in the paper one Easter morning.  Two of the kids were sitting eating candy and one said to the other “I like Easter better than Christmas because you still get candy, but you don’t have to be good.” – or something like that…I’m paraphrasing.  Which, of course, sent my somewhat twisted mind down the road it went.  I started thinking about Easters as a child.  We were not a religious family.  We did not attend any church.  I was not baptized until I was in High School – to the best of my knowledge, by brothers were never baptized.

But on Easter we still had the Easter egg hunts.  We all knew that Easter was celebrated as the day Christ rose from the dead.  I don’t know where we obtained that knowledge.  Probably from school.  Back then one could discuss the reasons for any particular holiday without fear that the ACLU or CAIR or some other nitwit organization was going to sue them.  Something as simple as “Well, Johnny, the reason we have the Easter holiday is because that is when Christians believe Jesus of Nazareth rose from the dead after his execution,” will most certainly land some well-meaning teacher in ‘diversity training’ (read: re-education).

This, if you are able to follow the often innocuous paths of my mind, lead me to thinking about Santa Claus and Christmas.  Most kids believe that Christmas is the most important of the two holidays.  It is, after all, the celebration of the birth of Jesus, and they get more presents.  It is celebrated by more people (because of the gifts, IMO), and is made a much bigger deal of.  What I tell my kids is that Easter is the most important holiday of the year.  Tons more important than Christmas.  This is because, while all religions have their center figures, Mohammad, Buddha, whomever else is out there, and all of these figures were actual people and were born and died.  Only one rose from the dead.  Not through re-incarnation, but through re-animation.  Only one in the entire history of world religions, has done that.  That one is Christ.  Sure if he were not born he could not have been sacrificed.  But, if he had not risen from the dead, there would be no Christianity.

Whoa, did I get off track or what?  This was supposed to be a light-hearted post comparing Santa to the Easter bunny, but I got sidetracked.  Funny how one’s mind can do that when writing, suddenly thoughts come flowing in, thoughts one didn’t even know were there, and they flow right through the brain and out of the finger tips.

Okay, soon look for that light-hearted post I was talking about.

Thanks for reading

Technorati Tags: Easter, Religion, Christ, Jesus, Eggs, Bunny

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