Stars are made - -

Bucky, a Portuguese Water Dog has definite reasons on how he became a star:
" It wasn't all that difficult. I was born with most of my talent. All I needed was to be pushed in the right direction and then it was all down hill and across the creek. I refer to it sometimes as a cake walk.

I'm the first Porty in the country to achieve the status of Tracking Champion and I did it before I was two. Many others have tried but all have fallen short. For me it was just a 'walk in the park'.

Their problem, of course, was just a pure lack of talent,that is, no sense of direction - heh - just a little tracking humor there - No, I don't have to put-down other trackers because they are already only 'also-rans'

Flicker is the veteran of the bunch and therefore has a much larger view of what being a star is all about:
" My whole life has been one paper chase after another - this title and then that title - I have done it all, Tracking Champion and Agility Champion and field titles by the tons, but, hey, who really cares, right? I even had a litter of pups but it didn't slow me down.

To me it's just fifteen minutes of fame and then get out of the way, I'm headed to the chow line. You want to know what's important, it food! Lots of food. If you can achieve a never ending supply of food, then you know that you have finally made the big time. These kids today have no idea of what life is all about. They think it just biting and snarling their way to the top. But when they get there, they'll find out it's all just more piece of paper for the wall, That's their trouble, no history."

Then, of course, there is Flicker's daughter, Beats. What do you think about being in the top twenty dogs in the country:
"I can't imagine that my life would have turned out any different - you know how things happen for you and then they happen again, well, I don't even try most of the time and it's one win after another.

I know I'm good and good looking - see, that's where most of my competition really falls short, they are pretty fast and all, but gosh, they are just butt ugly. I have that touch of greatness. I have big eyes and a nice smile and I wiggle all over - I can do it all.

I like the way I look to, because every body falls over themselves when they come near me. They just have to touch me. Hey, when your good and the best - life is great - Oh, and by the way, I'm pregnant or I hope I am. I had guys waiting in lines from all over the country for the chance to get that close to me.

My future is very bright. I need one more title and I will be only the third dog ever to hold a VDC 4 in the county. The sky is the limit, my man. Just reach out and take a bite of the good life".

So as the world continues to turn from left to right, even before these stars were born, so it will continue after they are gone but not forgotten - stars that shine this brightly will always light even the darkest places in our hearts.

Dog Shows

Just got back from an agility dog show at Stevens Point, WI., where Barb showed her two dogs in the Excellent class - she didn't do very well today but she is headed back tomorrow morning to give it another try. It's an hour and a three quarters one way, so it's up at 0 dark hundred tomorrow morning for me so she can get going by five or so.

My job is a support position. She has a dog training school that teaches agility, obedience, tracking and field hunt tests. The every-day tasks around the house are left to the cheap help. Major among them is making coffee in the morning and airing the dogs so they are ready to go when she hits the ground running.

Today I went along to run dogs from the car so she wouldn't have to keeping changing shoes and heavy cloths as it is very cold around here. I also drove as we didn't get back until now, which is after eight and dark, as she doesn't like to drive at night.

Well that's it for today - what tomorrow brings is always a surprise. Just think, if tomorrow never came, we wouldn't have any surprises. !?

Democrats Take it on the Chin

What happened to Howard Dean? I heard him on the news saying that we have to win this war now, but we have to have a plan for victory. " I am concerned about the safety of the troops he said. Too many of our young men and women have died already without results that lead to victory. George Bush doesn't have the right strategy to win, according to Dean. What does Dean know about victory?

But It wasn't two days ago he said we couldn't win the war, so we have to have a plan to pull the troops out as soon as possible. It's another Vietnam. A quagmire of death and destruction.

Harry Reid said that what the Democrats need is a flexible strategy so they can maneuver their agenda as needed to take advantage politically of any situation that might arise in the United States or around the world. As it stands now, they are out in the cold. America doesn't want to surrender, cut and run, as much as Dean and other Democrats thought.

Reid thinks that their agenda, as it stands now, defeatism and surrender, is not working very well as new polls have shown 61% of Americans believe that we can not cut and run. Reid believes, in light of these new figures, that it is prudent to be for the war now. The new flexibility in the agenda will allow the liberals to move back and forth as needed. The media will make the headlines read what ever the puppet masters want them to read. It's a win / win situation for the Democrats.

John McCain, on the other hand, has started to thump the drum of the liberals by attaching an amendment to the appropriations bill stating that the United States can not use torture of any kind unless it is in accordance with the arm's field manual on interrogations. The arm's field manual was written before 9/11. As I stated yesterday, the amendment will also give the terrorists constitutional rights. John says that torture doesn't work: he knows first hand form being a prisoner in Vietnam for six years. He does admit that he told them what ever they want to know. Everyone knows that you will break sooner or later.

The United States has never made it a policy to use torture like the Japanese or Africans or Russian or Koreans etc etc etc. The army and the CIA admit to using nonpain related techniques and probably drugs. So be it!!!


McCain is looking for flexibility as well. He's playing both sides of the fence. He doesn't sound like one of us. He is beginning to sound like one of them.

Of course we know where John Kerry stands, old cut and run; oh wait, this morning it's "we have to win this thing but we need a time table for withdrawal". John sure likes the new manual from the DNC. Pelosi and Boxer are demanding that 'we bring the boys home' now! I wonder what they will say tomorrow? hmmmmm Maybe they haven't received the new manual from Reid yet.

Christmas Stress

Every Christmas about now I start to get nervous about buying gifts - it's not the money so much that I agonize over, it's what to buy that will be of use to that person. I will not buy just anything to get the job done - it has to have some utility.

In the past I have relied on catalogs to find something that will give me a good selection of items to pick from - I usually don't know exactly what I am looking for when I start so as I thumb through the stack of catalogs that arrive in the mail each day, it isn't surprising that I find some things that I hadn't thought of when I started my search. You can't do that as effectively just walking through a store.

Of course, you have to have some idea what the person that you are buying for likes so you can narrow down the search to just a few categories. I know that I said price isn't that important, or better, price is not my main worry, but it is a definite factor in what the end product will look like. If it wasn't a factor at all, buying gifts for people would be breeze. The sky is the limit.

The stress come in when I can't find anything that I think they would like and be able to use. My brain has a tendency to freeze up when I contemplate what a certain person does in their off hours. It doesn't sound like it should be that difficult a task, but I can't seem to, sort of, reach out mentally, as it were, to try and dissect his personal habits or recreational abilities.

I don't want to buy them something for their work - who cares what they do at work, it's what they do after work that really counts, or it should anyway.

What it boils down to is getting started early enough, in that you can let your brain work on the problem while you do other things. It's not a rare thing that I will have this gift thing percolating in my brain when I am looking for something else in a store when, bang, I spot something that meets the criteria that I have set for that person. It's cool how that works.

The stress also comes in when I waited too long and time is running out. Usually I have waited until the catalogs can't ship because it won't get there in time or they are out of stock. Or the gift that I had to buy is too cheap or just cheap looking - not a good thing for a last minute gift and make the stress even worse.

Bottom line, I don't like buying gifts for other people. It's hard work. I'm not greedy or selfish, at least I don't think so. It should be fun, but because it tells something about who you are, that worries me. Dang - more stress -

Who are They - Really?

It appears that Howard Dean has, once and for all, lead the Democratic Party down the renowned 'old garden path' to obscurity. I don't know how much more abuse the Democrats can take before someone steps forward to take control of the party away from this mad man. Maybe I should say how much abuse can this country take from the liberal Democrats before someone takes upon themselves, from the party leadership, to say this is not who we are.

Howard Dean is completely out of touch with reality. His statements are driven by the liberal agenda that has demanded America surrender it's leadership in the world, it's super power status and it destiny to stand as a beacon of freedom and democracy.

It has become clear to me that the liberal Democrats have decided to help the terrorist defeat this country in the war on terror. Case in point, how many Democrats have come out and said that Ramsey Clark is wrong headed in offering his services to defend Saddam? How among the elite Democrats have denounced his actions as un-American in the light of what this mass murder has done to his people and others? How many of these elites came out against the hateful things that Cindy Sheehan said about this country and the President? ZERO! NONE! Why do they cheer for Howard Dean?

How many thought what Murtha said was on the mark? What about the horrible things that Reid, Schumer, Durbin, Kennedy, leahy and many others have gone on the record, in congress, in front of the world, and denounced this country as evil and the source of everything that is bad. How much more proof does one need to hear before they can say that these people are not on our side in this war? We are at war, remember?

John McCain is another example of how a grab for power can twist one's better judgment. His amendment on torture is so off base, that according to legal experts, it would give constitutional rights to the terrorists that are captured by our forces in this conflict. Maybe it isn't a surprise that he would do that seeing how the McCain/Feingold campaign finance law actually restricts freedom of speech. Is that in our best interest?

It is said that the liberal Democrats really believe that we can't win this war. I believe that is wrong. I believe that the Democrats and their liberal puppet masters know that we are winning this war and that it will be a launch pad for the Republicans to further their hold on the Senate and the legislature in 2006 and the Presidency in 2008. National security is still the key element for the voting public. It is a fact, right now the people do not trust the Democrats to keep them secure.

Democrats have to show that the Republicans were wrong on going to war in Iraq and do it any cost. It has nothing to do with pride or country, it about power - pure and simple.

It makes sense then, it is in the best interests of the Democrats to see the terrorist drive us out of Iraq so the the liberal Democrats can say it was all wrong, we said all along that is was a mistake. WE WERE RIGHT! BUSH LIED TO YOU! VOTE FOR US! That their actions puts this country at risk, means nothing. They do not care!! They can not be Americans and actively condemn this country to defeat in a time of war.

And when the next attack strikes the United States, it will be George Bush's fault and the war mongering Republicans. The tune that the puppet masters will have the Democrats dance to will be " if we would have just stayed home and talked this thing through, we wouldn't be in this mess now, but you wouldn't listen to us".

Oprah and Diversity

Tell me something that will help me understand what Oprah has that makes good ordinary people fall on their faces just to get close to her? It can't just be her TV show for goodness sake, it has to be some kind of magnetism or an aura that has a magical effect on the subconscious.

If people were wide awake when they watched her on TV, they wouldn't show this obsessive behavior when they actually saw her in person, would they? Do these people actually go this crazy when they watch her on television?

Get this, I have never seen her show! Am I out of the loop or what - ? Do you care?

I must admit when she gave away a new car to everyone in the audience of her show, she set a new standard for talk shows. Everyone that I know thought it was a first and hard to believe or comprehend. A new car for everyone just for showing up? Of course they didn't know this when they signed up for that day's audience.

Still, she has to have that special something that everyone wants or wants to get close to, that's for sure - she's kind of like Elvis or the Beatles - a little different crowd maybe, but still, it's that persona that draws them in and keeps them coming back.

There was an article in the paper that about her that I thought was fascinating in that when she went on the David Letterman show, his ratings went through the roof. They were higher than at any other time in the last ten years. It was the first time in 16 years that she had appeared on his show and she stated that there never was any kind of feud between the two of them. I still don't get it - what does that say for me? hummmmm

Here's another tidbit that I found in the paper today. I don't why I picked up on this, I almost never read the paper being that it is so far off center, other than the head line 'Diversity grows, slowly' caught my eye. That word 'Diversity' ruffles my feathers some.

Hollywood still has a problem with diversity in their programming decisions. I don't care much for those light weight left wingers from tinsel town, but this thing on diversity has some ethnic groups concerned about their kind not being full appreciated and involved.

The controlling group is called the Multi-Ethnic Media Coalition which is made up of Asians, Latinos, Blacks and American Indians. I'm sure there more special interest groups out there that want a share of the pie, but these are some of the larger institutions that have graded the studios as only fair in their hiring practices of minorities. The American Indian organization says they gave the studios a failing grade due to the fact there aren't any Indian shows in their programming schedule at all.

It seems that everyone has to get theirs. It wasn't that long ago, in a past posting, we talked about diversity and it's effects.

But maybe because I live in the country and don't get to town much, I loose track of what is happening in the real world. Real world, what's real about it? As I said yesterday, I am trying to find that window into what the good life of fresh air and sunshine has to offer, so when things like these special interest groups make the news as they all are grabbing for the brass ring on the Hollywood merry-go-round, I realize that I am finally starting to slip away from that old life of pushing and shoving on the ladder to success. I don't begrudge them their place in the sun, I just don't think everyone has to have someone else's definition of success.

Again, nose to the grind stone and keep the faith - hope springs eternal in the human brest -

A Three Dog Day

We just go five inches of snow last night. That's hardly an earth shaking event but for the dogs it was fantastic - running like mad in the open fields, side by side biting at each other and then diving into the tall grass and trees along the field to hunt for birds and rodents of all kinds.

The sky was absolutely clear and the air had the just snowed freshness that is an unmistakable sign of winter. With the warm sun on our backs and a slight breeze out of the north west that gave the ten degree temperature a little bit, Barb and I knew that this was one of those days when everything had come together at the same time to make this walk with the dogs perfect.

They sure thought so. Running ahead of us, snow fly in their wake, puffs of steam pumping from their mouths when they stop and turn to check out where we are before the continue their flights of fantasy in a world that nature has prepared just for them.

And what's really neat is their dramatic entrance back into the field. Crashing out of the tall grass, their whole bodies covered with snow, tails held high and wide eyed, they are ready to continue the hunt for the beasts that lurk in the next thicket of tall grass and trees.

They know that mother nature has planned well for them, because when they finally trot back to the house, they are covered with snow balls and sticktights but smiling as though they had been to a special place for the first time, when in reality it is the same route that we take every time.

And that is what's so cool, they don't care because every time they go out into that field, it's all new. New scents of pheasants to hunt, new chip monks to roust out of their nests and ground hogs sent scurrying back into their holes.

A simple life for sure, but in that simplicity is the true pleasure of living for the moment. Like the saying goes, ' live today to it's fullest and leave tomorrow until tomorrow'. I know the dogs don't give a rip for tomorrow. To them it doesn't even exist.

We humans have a lot to learn about what it means to 'enjoy the day'. Confucsius said that even the longest journey begins with a single step. I have taken the first steps in the journey to enjoy the day. I know I have to make an conscious effort to do this. I look forward to a job well done.

Sleeping Beauty

Life seems to be so important that we have to rush around making all kinds of fruitless decisions that in the end mean almost nothing to our well being.

Our 10 year old Golden knows when it's time to slow down and take a break - you're right, that's a rocking chair but that's how she meets her needs - if it suits her, she takes it and enjoys the moment -

We have so much to learn from those closest to us, even if we would just remember take a minute to just say 'hi, how are you?' It's amazing how this affects people and the effect it has on you. What is does is transports you out of your stressed body and puts into another dimension, one where the sun shines all the time, even at night -

So think good thoughts for just a little while - I know it's hard to do sometimes, but I've found when things are really pressing down on me, I take a few minutes and think about some good times that have occurred in the recent past, it clears the confusion of the moment and brightens the immediate future. Hey, really it does work - come on, take a chance -

Decision at Sea - the book

I've just started a new book call Decision At Sea, Five Naval Battles That Shaped American History - by Craig L. Symonds. Symonds lists the five battles starting back in 1813 with the small fleet action of Oliver Hazzard Perry's victory on lake Erie and ends with a very obscure battle in 1988 called Operation Praying Mantis in the middle east.

Symonds points out that there is a lot of American history that was made by the involvement of our military. It seems that all presidents used the military to accomplish tasks that could not be handled any other way. It's the nature of things in this world and to deny this is to fool ones self into thinking human nature is anything but fickle.

Unfortunately, today, there are many people in and out of power in this country that will deny the existence of evil forces in this world. They see no use for a military. They have no vision of the future because the have no sense of the present and lack the skills to learn from history.

More on this book in the future - it's a great read so far -

Liberals in Freefall

We are so proud of our mother / daughter team shown on the right - they are both agility and tracking champions. The baby is four now and will whelp in about eight weeks - really neat. What great dogs. Maybe they are more than that -

On a less serious note, the liberals have dug themselves a hole so deep this time that there might not be a ladder tall enough to get them out.

It appears that the Democrats are in free fall - John Kerry was on national TV this morning explaining how he had this war thing all figured out and if one looks closely at his agenda, he really isn't that much different in ideology than the neocons in the White House. I think John is very confussed man - he has flip-flopped so many times, he isn't sure if he's a-foot or horse back - You remember how the song and dance goes, 'he was for the war before he was against the war and now he is for the war', kinda.

Nancy Pelosi is just the last in a long line of Liberals that have come out and stated, on the floor of Congress, that she agrees with John Murtha, in that we need to get out of Iraq now because we have screwed up the works over there and we are the problem, not the solution.

It is said, in some quarters of this fair land, that she has moved the Democrat Party so far out of the main stream of American thought with her confirmation of Congressman Murtha's manifesto, that she has damaged the party so extensively that they will lose even more seats in the congressional elections in 2006, and maybe even any chance of the presidency in 2008. Time will tell