Pictures

I have been a bit lax in not posting some pictures to go along with my ramblings, so here are a few shots to go along with some of the last couple posts. Try clicking on the shots to see them actual size.

The first one is a shot of a bridge on the northern end of the Natchez Trace taken with some fall colors showing. The next one is me standing in the atrium of the Opryland Hotel in Nashville. Following that is a shot of the exterior of the Nashville Art Museum, an exact replica of the Parthenon in Greece built for the 1888(?) TN Centennial Exposition.

The next shot is the exterior of our log home lit up for the holiday season.

And finally, a shot of the Christmas Tree from the second floor landing.

December thoughts

My last couple blog entries have been a bit boring, whining about politics. Transplanted Lawyer (TL) commented as did the Orange Phantom, and their comments were right on. Today, TL commented that Republicans seem to have forgotten what "conservative" principles are. Thanks, TL, that's a much better way of capturing why I have been so disappointed with the politics lately. No one is being conservative. No one is promoting a conservative agenda. The current administration's agenda seems to be focused on making the Presidency as autonomous and powerful as possible, and the sacrifice of our constitutional rights on the way is just so much collateral damage. Is there a true conservative candidate for president? If so, I would like to support that person.

On a more personal level, we have been starting to prepare for the holiday season. Last week, we drove to Nashville and met friends for a couple days of fun and doing touristy things. We saw the Radio City Rockettes Show at the Opryland Hotel. Good show, lots of fun, although a bit heavy at the end with an overacted Nativity scene. While in Nashville, we also toured the art museum which is housed in an exact as possible reproduction of the Parthenon in Greece. Very nice. We also took a luncheon cruise on a riverboat and were entertained by the country music show. The food was less than memorable, though. It was also great fun just to spend time with our friends who recently moved from the San Diego area to northern Georgia. Talk about a change in culture!!

We put up the outdoor lights and the tree, so our house has lots of Christmas cheer. There are a collection of Santas on display upstairs, and another collection of snowmen in the basement rec room. Strands of garland line the staircase. In a few weeks we'll take it all down again, but I'm glad its on display.

Where do they get their funding?

Before the current "wars" in Iraq and Afghanistan, we were supposed to have declared war on drugs. I think we are missing an important thing that affects our country in a very negative fashion. I am especially thinking of heroin and those drugs related to the opium poppy production. We were supposed to be helping Afghani farmers come up with an alternative cash crop to opium poppies Instead, the Taliban is doing everything they can to encourage poppy growth and the subsequent opium and heroin production. Some of the money spent in the US on drugs ends up in the hands of organized crime, and much more importantly, some of it ends up in the hands of the Taliban. They use it to finance their terrorist activities in Afghanistan, and it wouldn't surprise me to find out they help support Al Qaida in Iraq. So in essence, US citizens are financing both sides of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. How bizarre. Support our troops on one hand, and help kill them with the other.

I haven't heard anything from any of the candidates on this subject, but probably because its just not a fashionable thing to discuss anymore. They have touched a bit on the medical uses of marijuana, one even admits to inhaling. I don't have any substantive data, but it wouldn't surprise me to find out that opiate sales are on the rise. Combating this trend has got to be better for us in the long run than many domestic programs being proposed.

Let's bring home our troops from some of the 170 locations they are currently deployed, and use their talent and strength to stop the flow of illicit drugs into our country. Let's also take a harsher look at the penalties associated with this activity. Do you know what happens to druggies, drug smugglers, and dealers in Muslim countries? Usually the punishment is death. They just don't tolerate it. We need to move in that direction.