http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/RecentBlogs Recent Blog Posts on Tehachapi News en-us http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/reffup/29639 Who decides feature blogs?  And what criteria do they use? Sat, 05 Jul 2008 20:34:36 PDT http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/Joty/29627 You all know how I feel about war. Yet today I couldn't help myself from crying as we watched the program about the sinking of the USS Oriskany to make a reef. What a mighty lady, stripped bare and blasted. She carried my first husband to the Gulf of Tonkin and back twice. Prior to his second tour over there, I was able to go to sea on her on a Dependent's Day Cruise. The pilots left me breathless with their ability to take off and land on that deck. My husband worked in ordinance, and there were many bombs with my name written on them and dropped from those jets onto the jungle when they flew their missions. Not something I'm proud of, but it was just something the sailors in the ordinance department did. I guess becoming a reef is better than being torn apart and used as scrap. She served us a long time... Sat, 05 Jul 2008 13:57:27 PDT http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/samheath/29624 Even if the Ethiopian can’t change his skin as stated by Jeremiah, the question is would he want to? Barack Hussein Obama meets St. Peter at the Pearly Gates and tells him he was the first Negro President of the U. S. When St. Peter asks him when that happened Obama replies, “About twenty minutes ago.” You know you shouldn’t laugh at such a thing, and some wanting to dance on the grave of Jesse Helms believe the story about Obama meeting St. Peter would be characteristic of the late and not everywhere lamented senator. But over the years I have taken a lot of criticism as a Caucasian for expressing my opinion the seed of America’s destruction was sown in slavery, for expressing my opinion that I believed Benjamin Franklin who I think was every bit as prescient as Emerson foresaw this very danger to America when he attempted to have slavery abolished by our Constitution. I wonder if the same people consigning Helms to the outer reaches of perdition will have the same attitude to the Newsweek article Blackout? “Despite Italian Vogue's recent black issue, the international fashion world still prefers white skin. In a tidy piece of cultural synchronicity, last month saw both the arrival of the latest issue of Italian Vogue, which exclusively features black models, and the debut in earnest of Barack Obama's presidential campaign as the Democratic nominee. Race has been a singularly polarizing, and thus creatively compelling, issue for centuries, but Obama's emergence onto the national and international stage has brought the topic out from the shadows. Sadly, in the modeling industry, attitudes about race aren't nearly as progressive as they appear to be in the political world. Italian Vogue's initiative has prompted some industry dialogue about why black models remain marginalized, but the issue runs across the entire color spectrum, affecting more than just black people. In the fashion circuit of cities like New York, Paris and Milan, or extended to a more international network of major cities like Sao Paulo, Tokyo and Bombay, racism is alive and well. Despite vastly different cultural and geographic contexts, and the unique physical characteristics of each country's citizens, in most places, light is still right…” Sigh. There is no getting around it. While Obama gets all the favorable press his wife will remain a major obstacle. It is true that politics is about perception but this is nothing compared to what people perceive as beauty, and the standard of beauty is as the article states “in most places, light is still right.” It is Fay Wray in King Kong and in every Hollywood production and even in other nations throughout the world, that beautiful light skinned women of whatever race is the standard of beauty when it comes to perception. Despite all the university spawned political correctness and racist hyphenation the perception of beauty remains light skinned. Are the sons of Ham truly cursed to be hewers of wood and drawers of water, or are we what we are solely by accident of birth alone? Was it fated the nations of Western Civilization, light skinned, largely Christian and Bible oriented were to accomplish the greatest advances in science and the arts while the dark skinned continued in barbarism? Or are these things only a matter of the accidents of birth and geography? Whatever one’s thoughts, there can be no dismissing reputedly the wisest man of his time, Benjamin Franklin, while at the same time attempting to have slavery abolished by our Constitution continued to prevail on others of the Founding Fathers to look to God for guidance and encouraged prayer in all their decisions; though in my opinion they failed to find the proper guidance from on high in respect to slavery. Then again, I wonder if this issue ever entered into their prayers? I would guess not. Lincoln had the good sense to pronounce he did not know which side God was on during the attempt at national suicide, but he also expressed wonder that Negro leaders would refuse his offer of relocation choosing rather to remain in a country where they would never be considered the equal of Caucasians. But by this time it was too late, and in the relatively short time between “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights” and Harriet Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin with its aftermath that seed of slavery had become a harvest of evil disaster for America. A house divided cannot stand; but Lincoln’s War only exacerbated the house divided ignoring the fact that Jesus was referring to Satan who was not divided against himself. But the seed of the evils of slavery had been sown throughout America and neither a Civil War nor all the laws since have been able to get rid of the resulting weeds in our garden. And only the angels of God are going to be able to separate the good fruit from the tares the Evil One has sown in the night. Some were amazed and asked “Is Saul also among the prophets?” and when Jeremiah Wright pronounced “The chickens are coming home to roost” perhaps he also prophesied better than he knew. If one sows the wind, only a whirlwind can be the expected harvest. Our own Supreme Court has played the role of Devil’s Advocate in pronouncing equality by laws that can never be achieved in reality, but has rather resulted in the making of classes of professional victims throughout America. Earl Warren did not have to live with the chaos resulting from desegregation; he and the rest of the court would continue to live opulent lives of privilege protected and separated from the realities that it was only to be expected Negro children would find the Caucasian doll the prettiest. Children in the nations of Africa would have made the same choice as the Newsweek article Blackout emphasizes. The cited irreparable harm had already been done with the introduction of Negro slavery and what Brown v Board of Education did was prompt what became known as white flight and hasten the whirlwind. Today, the schools throughout the inner cities of America are filled with violence as I know from personal experience, the dropout rates are catastrophic and little in the way of educational goals is being met. In far too many cases there is no father in the homes of these children and the attitude toward and the treatment of them is that of their being human weeds. Open borders and globalization is all about slave labor. Those in our government and their corporate bosses refuse to secure our borders for the sake of slave labor from Mexico. And no matter who becomes our next president this situation is not going to change. When I ask myself who is behind all the violence and perversion being flaunted on TV and by Hollywood, what motivates legislators and judges to protect the monsters that prey on women and children the only satisfactory answer I can come up with is Satan. I credit the stories in the Bible to be drawn from facts in many instances. Among these is war in the heavens brought to earth, an enmity between the Evil One and his followers against the children of God and this accounting for the prevalence of evil throughout all of human history. America has been an aberration in many ways, a success story unparalleled in history. But believing as I do that our nation is the Babylon of Revelation I conclude the seed of our destruction bringing us to this tragic and prophetic end was sown in slavery. Being of sound mind I cannot but hope I am wrong; but being of sound mind I cannot dismiss the signs of the times, and in my opinion these do not bode well for America. Perhaps this is because I cannot help but see the irony in those words at the beginning of our Declaration of Independence knowing such fine words crediting the historical caveats chose to ignore the realities of which I believe Benjamin Franklin was aware, and it would be interesting for me to know where Jesus would begin cleansing the Temple today?   Sat, 05 Jul 2008 12:24:39 PDT http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/caninecreek/29613 7/5/08 - Female Boxer named Taffy, fawn and white, two years old, not spayed, was wearing collar and tags, lost in Golden Hills.  Please call Jim at 823-9327 if you have seen her. Sat, 05 Jul 2008 08:51:07 PDT http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/GregL/29611 Here's a few pictures of the fireworks downtown, with a few trains thrown in! Fri, 04 Jul 2008 23:15:27 PDT http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/Smokey/29608 I was looking at the 4th of July Holiday Festival, Tehachapi's Official Guide to the 4th of July Holiday A Special Supplement to The Loop. Did anyone else notice the photograph on page 6. The caption below it reading "In 1856 the handful of settlers in tehachapi Valley arrived in wagons and on horseback to celebrate the area's first Independence Day celebration. " IS that a Chevy in the background? LOL Fri, 04 Jul 2008 18:38:56 PDT http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/TehachapiHumaneSociety/29604 Our monthly Adoption Day is tomorrow from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. at Tehachapi Pet Outfitters located behind Tehachapi Vet on Woodford/Tehachapi Road. We have a number of great animals to adopt, come and check them out! Fri, 04 Jul 2008 17:16:17 PDT http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/storilori/29591 What is going to tickle your fancy today? What have you waited for all year? I was just washing up some dishes, & heard the jets flying over my house. I thought to myself, Lori, their just really big planes going really fast, you don't need to run out there! Well, of course I do!!! It was the Air Force 3 cool jets doing twirls, going really fast,really low, really exciting, it gave me & my neighbors chills!! Great way to get excited about AMERICA, OUR COUNTRY !!! Forgive the lamen terms for the plane tricks, I callz um, like I seez um. Let's celebrate America & do our troops proud! Fri, 04 Jul 2008 09:32:04 PDT http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/gube/29581 A Tehachapi man and U.S. Marine sergeant injured by a land mine while in Afghanistan received a Purple Heart medal from President Bush Thursday morning at the National Naval Medical Center in Maryland. Sgt. Justin Clenard lost his legs from the knees down. Clenard stepped on a buried landmine on June 23 while going door to door in a deserted village, looking for Taliban, his step mother Kerrin Clenard said. The Purple Heart is awarded to those who have been wounded or killed while serving in the U.S. military. “It really meant a lot to him,” said Kerrin, who was with Justin at the medical center. Clenard was on his third tour of duty in the region. He graduated from Tehachapi High School in 2004. Kerrin said Justin is in good spirits and recovering well. President Bush broke ground Thursday morning in Bethesda on a $970 million Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, set to open in 2011. While there, he visited 20 injured soldiers, including Clenard at 11 a.m., Kerrin said. Bush gave Justin a pep talk, saying doctors could do a lot for his legs with prosthetics. They posed for a picture, Bush gave him a presidential coin, and he kissed Justin on the head, Kerrin said. “This was really a huge booster for him to have the president visit him,” Kerrin said. She added: “(Justin) will be running by next year.” Clenard’s family was in attendance including his mother Lori Sander; father Christopher Clenard; brother Kevin Clenard and Justin’s grandmother, Doris Anderson. Kerrin said Justin has been getting dozens of calls of support from friends, family and colleagues in the military. “Thanks to everyone who’s been supporting Justin.”     Thu, 03 Jul 2008 23:47:39 PDT http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/GregL/29572 These pictures are from my backyard this evening.  Nature is so cool isn't it!!!  There's stuff to see everywhere you look, like the little white grasshopper who is about 1/4" long! Hey, it was cool to see some of you guys tonight at the FM, maybe we'll see some of you tomorrow too! Thu, 03 Jul 2008 21:06:12 PDT http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/reffup/29571 I was at the Farmer's Market today.  I ran into a couple of my new blogging friends.  I began to tell them about an Organic source for produce.  For the last year my family has been getting the majority of our fruits and vegetables from a CSA (community supported Agriculture.)  What started out as 10 families meeting every Saturday in the Kmart  parking lot to pick up our basket of goodies, has turned into 100 + Tehachapi families picking up  vegetables. I was raised in Iowa, and have fond memories of going out to our two huge gardens and eating fresh veggies straight from the garden.  Whether it was eating a green pepper like an apple or eating fresh peas straight out of the pod (i am able to do this right now in my own garden), I enjoyed the freshness and the quality.  Except for my own garden, I had never found fresh produce that met my standards.  Until my wife suggested we try this CSA.   The vegetables and fruit are grown in the central valley and are harvested within 72 hours of delivery.  Every week you get a box of organic fruits and vegetables.  The CSA has two choices of boxes,  a small that feeds 1-2 folks for 16.80  and a large box that feeds a family of four for 28.80 .  They have available add-ons such as organic grains, nuts, eggs and organic chicken. I can say that I have never felt cheated, and it has allowed my family to try all sorts of new veggies and expand our diet.  Who knew turnips could be so good. I make not a penny, but tell you only so that you can experience locally grown , organic fruits and veggies.  So go to www.abundantharvestorganics.com and check them out. You will be supporting farmers who have made the choice to grow food responsibly without chemicals and pesticides.  Thu, 03 Jul 2008 19:57:29 PDT http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/gube/29569 ruffup I think a pot luck is a great idea.....can't wait till the next meet and greet.........It was great seeing you all last night at mama's..........Joty  i now have your image branded on my mind..........madkow man you are cutie......................Sparks you are a little firecracker...... ........Olivia and bigdog ....awww ain't you two cute..............Job I don't know if you remember but we ran into each other last night.......I said excuse me........................eek  and oohchild I now have a face to go with your posts................Greg i saw you got there late but at least you made it......................storilori you looked like the wild one of the bunch............awsmom what can I say about you but i am glad I saw you because you are one of my favorite bloggers.............sorry if I missed anyone but I am glad to say that the first TN bloggers meet and greet was a success.......I am glad that I THOUGHT OF IT.....see you all around. Thu, 03 Jul 2008 16:43:25 PDT http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/Job/29561 I just hate it. I could have stayed longer last night at the Meet and Greet and spent the night in Tehachapi. I arrived at court this morning at 8:45 a.m. only to sit out in the hall till 11:55 a.m. due to other closed hearings. After going in the court room the judge decided to recess till 1:30 p.m. I went home to catch up on the blog and eat my slaw dog.   Finally at 2:30 p.m. the judge handed down the sentence to my bogus attorney. For those who haven’t read my previous blogs on this matter here’s the rundown. Last November after I left my un-wife, (I say un-wife because she doesn’t deserve to be referred to as ex because she was never a wife to me) I haired a woman to be my attorney. Well she turned out not to be an attorney. She has been in jail since. After a tip last December, I conducted a four week investigation while on vacation in North Carolina during the holidays. When I returned in January, I handed over 17 pages of evidence to the police and 3 days later she was arrested. She was actually an ex con from North Carolina. For 1 felony count and 1 misdemeanor, she will only do 2 years and 30 days time in state penitentiary. Unfortunately the prior felony convictions in North Carolina did not count in California. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’ll be out in 12 months. She also has to pay fines and pay full restitution to me in the amount of $7,915.00. Don’t know when I’ll ever see that money. Oh, to celebrate, I’m going to put on the grill bison sirloin and corn on the cob. Ya’ll come and join me and I’ll grill up some elk sirloin as well. Thu, 03 Jul 2008 15:13:27 PDT http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/eekitsaspider/29534 I wish everyone a very Happy and Safe Fourth Of July!!! What are your plans for the 4th? Do you have any traditions? Where do you go to see fireworks?     Thu, 03 Jul 2008 10:08:46 PDT http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/Job/29531 What a night it was. It was so good to meet all who came. I arrived earlier in the day to meet up with a few friends in town. I stopped by the depot and walked around a bit. How sad to see that gone. I arrived at Mama’s at 4:30 and decided to lean back in my seat a take a short nap. After walking in I recognized Sparks right away. She got up and gave me a nice hug and proceeded to buy me a drink. Thank you Sparks, that coffee mocha keep me awake all the way home. Sparks introduced me to Oohchild. It was just the three of us for a while then Joty walks in. Now Joty looked somewhat like her self description but I thought she dressed up well. The time started getting busy and I kind of lost track of who came in next. When I heard someone mention that Storilori arrived, I turned to look and the first thing that came to my mind is “Whoa,” “Hot babe in the room.” I had a chance to chat with her outside and realized, although they would be different, we could sit down for hours and share some amazing true-life stories. Bigdog and Olivia arrived and I could tell that if you saw them walking down opposite sides of the street you’d know they go together. Although I only heard the last half of your story, Olivia, I enjoyed hearing it. I enjoyed my conversation with Reffup on religion; don’t know how that got started. Then there was Eekitsaspider and Awsmom8, I enjoyed getting to know them more. Eek, I will continue to pray for you and your husband. Madkow, now I think the rest of us would agree that your name in not befitting to your appearance. There must be story behind that name I didn’t get to hear. It was good to meet your husband and your baby too. He’s so cute. (Of course I’m taking about your baby.) Well I missed seeing GregL before I left. I missed Scottso too. I know how things can come up and keep you from doing what you’d like do. Then there is Gube. What happened to Gube? I have this very strong feeling he was there but was afraid of getting tied up and whipped. I really think he was there and I’m confident I know who he is. But out of respect I’ll keep that a secret.   I had a great time. Out of some of the bad memories of Tehachapi, last night will always be great memory. I doubt I’ll be coming back to Tehachapi but I will cherish my new friends. I won't make any promises, but I’ll try to slip in last night’s event in my novel. A big thinks to Mama’s Hilly Beans for putting up with our loud mouths. I think there will be a place for you in my novel too. And if I forgot to mention anyone, please except my apologies. It was not intended. Thu, 03 Jul 2008 08:42:28 PDT