Don't Stand In Front of the Fan
I have a feeling this is gonna get ugly. Just in from the WaPo....Afghan Election Commission Declares Karzai Winner KABUL -- Afghan election officials canceled a presidential runoff scheduled for Saturday and declared President Hamid Karzai reelected on Monday, a day after Karzai's top challenger declared he

Another One Bites The Dust
.......and it's doubtful there'll be another. Since this was our first Halloween here at The Compound, we really didn't know what to expect. But our expectations were high as we made our preparations. Since our house sits a good ways back from the road, we decided to 'set up shop' outside the front gate by the road.We made our preparations early, and at about 5:30 I went out to start a fire. I guess I've always had a tad of pyromania in me. There is a certain sense of calm satisfaction in burning something up. Whether it be in a fireplace, a bonfire, a campfire, or even in an old

Whistling In The Graveyard
Or hiking the ole Appalachian Trail ........South Carolina has something for everyone. The South Carolina Tourist Commission must be simply overjoyed. It's the state that just keeps on giving. The stories are getting curiouser and curiouser. This story comes from The State, South Carolina's largest newspaper.State official Roland Corning out of a job after incidentColumbia S.C.

American as Baseball and Apple Pie
Well, Apple Pie at least. With the World Series just beginning, I thought it apropos to write about this. This is not something new, but it is something I find few people are actually aware of.Those hand-stitched, cowhide spheres used in the Great American Pastime, like most everything else nowadays, are not even made in the good ole U.S.A.. The company that is exclusively licensed since 1977 to supply all Major League, Minor League, and NCAA baseballs is Rawlings Sporting Goods. The company was founded here

The United States of Amnesia
More random thoughts from the ole rabbit hole. Americans are, by and large, stricken with invincible ignorance. We refuse to acknowledge mistakes, and fight tooth and nail to perpetuate the status quo.This applies to virtually every aspect of our sorry state of affairs. We've learned absolutely nothing from past wars of aggression for profit. We are all to quick to eat up the propaganda that is spoon-fed to us about our 'National Security Interests'. We are like little school kids, peeing our pants, every time we hear the word 'terrorist'. We have bought 'hook, line, and sinker', the mantra of 'We