The Zoning Nazis

Governmental regulation at the local level is out of control. To the point that one's own children home from college for the summer are not allowed to park in one's own driveway in Cobb County, Georgia, without obtaining a special permit!

'Parking War' Armistice Signed Between County, Kennesaw Family: The family will have to apply for a permit to allow four cars to be parked in their driveway before next summer, lest hostilities recommence (dated July 21, 2015) in its entirety:

Musical Interlude

Although I'm mainly a traditionalist when it comes to art appreciation, I do like some abstract art.

Enjoy this video set to "Sonata in A Minor for Arpeggione and Piano, D. 821: I. Allegro moderato" by Mstislav Rostropovich and Benjamin Britten, Benjamin Britten (hat tip to Farmers Letters):


[about the artist Wassily Wassilyevich Kandinsky (1866-1944]

Open Thread

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So, what's on your mind?

Please opine on the topic of your choice according to the parameters below:

Curt Schilling And Islam

On August 25 2015, Major League Baseball star Curt Schilling posted the Tweet below, which he deleted after approximately ten minutes and for which he apologized:

Because Schilling posted the above, ESPN pulled Schilling from the network's Little League World Series assignment.

Additional reading...Curt Schilling and the Death of Free Speech: He told the truth. He apologized. It still wasn’t enough.

A Fool And His Money Are Soon Parted

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Contrary to what many people may believe, the Ashley Madison online dating service was not exactly a free service.  See THIS about the fees involved.

Now comes this information: Ashley Madison was a bunch of dudes talking to each other, data analysis suggests.

Mark Twain was a genius:

Recommended Reading

See Frank Luntz on the Hatred of the Establishment Revealed by a Pro-Trump Focus Group: "This is real. I'm having trouble processing it. Like, my legs are shaking" at Ace of Spades.

Is this the way for the GOP to cope with "the Trump problem"? See Lindsey Graham on Donald Trump: "I'll beat his brains out" in South Carolina.

In your view, how is this playing in Peoria?

FEATURED QUESTION: BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP

(This blog post is lengthy and, therefore, will remain here for a few days so that readers will have time to consider the topic before leaping to taking a position. Also, please see the blog post published on Saturday, August 22, 2015; I am seeking advice about a personal matter)

Donald Trump's immigration plan has ignited a firestorm of discussions about the matter of illegal immigration, a problem that can and should be laid at the feet of both the Democratic and Republican Parties. Stories such as this one add more fuel to the fire: DHS Kept Secret the Release Of Violent Criminal Illegal Immigrants: Local law enforcement ‘perplexed’ over controversial policy.

Trump's published statement about immigration reform contains the following:

Advice Needed

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A few days ago, a beloved member of our extended family committed suicide. He was twenty-five years old and leaves behind two children under the age of seven; one of the children is a toddler.

There was no warning that a suicide was coming: no drugs, no alcohol, no financial problems. I'm not sure about the status with his girlfriend and mother of his children, but I believe that the young man and his longtime girlfriend had recently separated.

Gestation At 19 Weeks

(with a hat tip to Adrienne)

Walter Joshua Fretz

Learn more by reading THIS ARTICLE.

Now, if you care about human lives, please watch all of the video below:


If you cannot bear to watch the video, please read the YouTube blurb below the fold:

Yes, It's Servergate

Less than two minutes in length and a good summary of Hillary's failure to obfuscate how much trouble is looming for her:

Hillary Clinton's Private Server

According to the Daily Beast (August 12, 2015):

Underlying all this is the question of why Hillary Clinton decided to employ her own private email and server to handle so much of her official State Department business. This is, to say the least, highly irregular—not to mention a violation of numerous U.S. government rules and regulations—so there had to be a compelling reason to do this. What was it?

There are only so many reasons that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would have been using a private server in the first place.  A few possibilities:

Musical Interlude

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From childhood, I have loved the music composed by Franz Joseph Haydn.

The Haydn motet below speaks to the time in which we are living right now:


Musical Musings provides the following information about Haydn's Insanae et vanae curae:

Open Thread

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So, what's on your mind?



Here's my first contribution to this open thread (hat tip to Mustang of A Texas View):


Please opine on the topic of your choice according to the parameters below:

What A Relief!

(For politics, please scroll down. There are active threads below)

The past several weeks, Mr. AOW has been having a lot of trouble with swelling of the stroke-affected foot and ankle, and the doctor was concerned that Mr. AOW might have a deep vein thrombosis (DVT).  Wednesday afternoon, it was confirmed by ultrasound that Mr. AOW does not have a DVT.

Summer 2015 has been a rough ride. We've been lurching from one home-front crisis to another! More details forthcoming when I have the energy to post that information.

The Animas River Spill (Updated)

3,000,000 gallons of polluted mine waste water were released:

The Animas River after the spill caused by the EPA

For your consideration (Click directly on the image below the fold to enlarge it):

The Hillary Clinton Story

Why is it that so many think that it's Hillary Clinton's turn to sit in the Oval Office? Her long history of deception and duplicity goes way back and continues now as well:





Additional information to add to the Hillary Clinton story:

1. Hillary Clinton to give her private email server to Justice

2. CLOSE CLINTON aides now being investigated over ‘TOP SECRET’ emails Hillary denied she sent!

[with thanks to Jon Berg for the first video and to Mustang for the second video in this blog post]

Hillary Clinton's Heroine: Eugenicist Margaret Sanger

Before proceeding, please take a few moments to watch this video:

Video: Art of the Storm

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A metaphor for our times?

Open Thread

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So, what's on your mind?

Go HERE for the discussion thread about Thursday's GOP debates.

Here is your chance to opine according to the parameters below:

The GOP Debate

Parse the Fox News event — live or later — in the comments section of this blog post.

Pre-debate comments are also welcome.

Please adhere to the following parameters:

Resilience And Survival

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(Photo by Amanda Voisard/For the Washington Post)

Never underestimate the power of Mother Nature!

From This 390-year-old bonsai tree survived an atomic bomb, and no one knew until 2001:

The Iran Nuclear Agreement Is Not A Treaty

(with thanks to Infidel Bloggers Alliance for the information in this blog post)

Basically, according to John Kerry, "We're saying the Iran Treaty isn't a treaty because it's impossible to pass a treaty anymore."  

Watch the short video below the fold.

Political Satire And Ghouls

One of my recent Facebook finds:

This may or may not be satire: D.C. Residents Say Take Down Jefferson Memorial, Rename Washington, D.C.

Clearly, this is not satire (dated July 22, 2015):

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A group was fed up with waiting, so they got a shovel and dug up a patch of grass next to Nathan Bedford Forrest’s grave and statue in a public park in the Medical District.

The group says they wanted the statue and remains removed for a long time, because he was a Confederate soldier, a KKK leader and a slave trader.

“If he’s gone, some of this racism and race-hate might be gone,” said Isaac Richmond with Commission on Religion and Racism. “We got a fresh shovel full, and we hope that everybody else will follow suit and dig him up.”...

Musical Interlude

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J.S. Bach's Harpsichord Concerto in A-moll BWV 1065 [Minor] is a glorious piece:

Open Thread

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So, what's on your mind?

A link to get the discussion here started, should any of you care to pursue the topic:

Fox lowers threshold for early debate: The change serves to guarantee the presence of candidates such as Lindsey Graham and Carly Fiorina.

Starting at 5:00 P.M. EDT on August 6, the AOW household will be glued to our television set.

Please opine on the topic of your choice according to the parameters below: