A. Conan Doyle's grave.

 June of 2014, I was in the UK with my youngest child.  Being a long time Sherlockian, I knew I wanted to visit the grave of Doyle.  Why?  First of all, I am a Sherlockian, and his stories have given me much pleausre in my life.  Also consider how many people have actually visited his grave?

So, we take off from Cardiff, Wales, and drove to Minstead, Somerset, England.  We were staying with Andy and Val Needs, and Andy loaned us a GPS travel unit.  We needed the unit because Minstead is not a big village or city.

We arrived in Minstead and I immediately noted that you see nothing posted about Doyle's grave.  So, we stopped at the local store and were given instructions.  Make a left at the pub, and there it is, All Saints Church.  The church is old, 800 years, and quite beautiful.

Once again, one has to hunt for directions to the grave.  My child found a pamflet in the church, and it gave Sherlockian instructions.  One has to find an oak tree, twice struck by lightening, at the far end of the grave yard. 

We did in fact find the grave under aforementioned oak tree, and a plain wooden bench is the only thing to make this grave stand out.

I will admit that I was very excited by the entire adventure.   I took my fotos, and I simply enjoyed the surroundings.  Doyle did not channel me, and nor did his wife, she is buried with him.  This is Doyle's second burial spot, and no, he never was buried standing up.

It was a great day, and it was Father's Day.  I got to spend with someone that I love very much, doing something that I love very much.  My child, Josalyn, helped make it a very special day in an absolutely quaint village.  Also, it was good beer at the pub.

Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl

The decision to trade Sgt. Bergdahl for five dangerous extremists was a deceision to make in terms of simple right and wrong.

Apparently Bergdahl abandoned his post with a few items, no weapon, and walked away to be caputured.  Members of his unit told the press that six soldiers were killed looking for Bergdahl.  Now the question is how many people die due to the trade for five dangerous people.

Personally, I am very happy I did not have to make the decision.  The answer would be simple if I was still in the army.........no trade, but I am not in the army and the decision is not simple.
Deontological ethical system............it is the act that is important, not the result.
Teleological ethical systerm..............it is the result that is important, not the act.

The current administration seems to go with the deontological ethical system.  Example?  Releasing illegal aliens from custody and possibly endanering the lifes of Americans.  Oh, while life becomes more dangerous for the average person, the same people would love to restrict weapon possession even more.

Adopt and do not buy.  There are so many dogs waiting to be adopted, and guess what?  I think they never never forget you adopted them, and they are usually very grateful.
I obtained this girl from San Diego Chihuahua Rescue.  Her name was River, but I changed it to Mija.
She is a complicated dog.  She gets mad quickly, like everyone else in my family.  She does a lot of warning barks if something makes her nervous.
She was not affectionate when I obtained her, but she is getting better.  Now she often likes to be in my lap, but before, she sat off to the side.
One of my kids cannot believe I did not take her back, but the point of a rescue is to rescue.

THE BIG LIE

Well, now we know that Obamacare is based on the big lie.  The lie began at the beginning, and continues to this day.  The amazing part?  The American people really do not seem that concerned, and more amazing is the number of Americans who have no idea what is going on.

Of course, if you are all ready getting free stuff, why worry or concern yourself with the issues.

First of all, the President of the United States routinely and continuously lied about the nature of Obamacare.  He said we could keep our insurance, and doctor, but we now know the statement was a lie.  Best part?  After it hit the fan, he said he did not say it, but said if with the qualifiers.

OK, the president lies to the entire nation, and what are they consequences?  His legacy is tarnished!  Nikon lied about a silly political burglary and he resigned.  Clinton lied under oath about sex and he was subjected to an impeachment movement.  No real consequences for Obama’s lies, and best yet, a whole lot of people do not care, and they do not know he lied.

Teleological ethical system in this situation, you can lie if the results are good.  So, Obama and his people think it is OK to lie if they get what they consider good results.

Oh, we have the on going lie; all these cancelled health insurance policies were substandard.  Did they read all those policies and determine they were no good?  Of course not.  It is the lie to pay for expense of Obamacare.  They cannot ask the federal government to pay for it, so they will harpoon the ones who do pay.  They make the working person to buy coverage they do not want or need in order to pay for others.  We all know now that is why they lied about keeping your policy.

Obama also wants amnesty, and family reunification (illegal’s families would come here) to add millions more to Obamacare.  Also, add the national debt to this total.

So, who pay for all this?  Obviously the middle class.  The poor people do not pay, and there are not enough rich people.  So, middle class will pay in Obama’s unstated war against the middle class.  It is shrinking and getting poorer. It appears nothing will stop the damage to the middle class, and I wonder what it will take for politicians to do something about it.

Juan Williams

Well, the fascists at NPR fired Juan Williams. The best part, they get our tax money to be committed lefties. Quite a system?
Oh, are there are conservative radio places getting tax payers money?
I have listed to Juan Williams probably a hundred or more times on Fox News. He is definitely a liberal, but a thoughtful and thinking liberal. He is also more than able to stand up to Bill O'Reilly, but he is not an extremist liberal.
Once again someone is stung by politically correct thought police, but this time it was a liberal, not a conservative.
The liberal movement has apparently gone so far left that they declare war on anyone who they differ with. Maybe they are simply following the Obama path. That is, it seems respectful dissent is not allowed. Look how Obama has dealt with Fox News.

VILIS POPULUS COMBIBO

The above is Latin for "mean people suck." I have always liked this bumper sticker since the first time I saw it on a car.
I was fairly well isolated as a kid. I was an only child, both parents worked, and two thousand miles from my extended family. Consequently, I was spent a lot of my time alone with instructions to stay in the house, or apartment, until my parents got home.
I was comfortable being alone, and frankly, in a group of people, I was still alone. I think because of that personality, I was able to spend time watching people and evaluating people.
I was always surprised on how insensitive people could be, and then learned how mean people could be to weaker people.
I am now 67 years old and amazed that people now are meaner and more insensitive. It is a moral liberal society, more open society, more permissive society, and more technically advanced society. But it really it is a meaner society, and a society which uses technology to be mean and bully the weaker and more sensitive people.
Why is it so? It is a society with less ethics, less religious thought, and less respect for people in general.
I am depressed over children committing suicide, and particularly the suicide rate of gay teenagers. I realize some of it has to do with discovery of self, and coming to terms with self, but more of it is the pleasure people get from tormenting the more vulnerable.
Maybe it is because of technology. People spend less time face to face, and more time using technology to communicate. Hence, the abuser is more distant from the victim.
What ever it is, it is a sad state of affairs for society.

Counsin Sara

I love my counsin Sara, and I really like her husband Larry.
I was raised 2,000 miles from my relatives, so, I know very few of them, and of those, many are dead.
Sara is one of the very few I know well, and about the only one I really love.
We spent another day at her house with her family. Sara and I are from the same Simpson stock, which means we are some what nuts.
She is a very sweet, considerate, and loving.
Her husband is another broken down retired cop. He is great guy despite the fact he went to law school.