Islamic Christian Fundamentalist Kills Abortion Doctor in Terrorist Attack at Kansas Church

The terrorists are coming ... the terrorists are coming! Bring out the wiretaps! We must defend the United States from these barbarians who go around murdering and molesting children in the name of their God! Oh, the children! Round up all those evil Christians and have them shot! Oh wait ... I thought we were talking about Arabs here.

My bad.

George Tiller Killed: Abortion Doctor Shot At Church

Phalaenopsis Breeding, Harlequin Spots and Stripes

This is Dtps. I-hsin blackjack "M187";


It is a cross of a famous hybrid called Golden Peoker;



And a hybrid called Leopard Prince of which there are two examples below;



I'm not sure which clones of these crosses were used in making the I-hsin blackjack "M187" clone but you can get the general idea of where the coloring originated. It is unusual in that the back of the flower shows more of the striping and spotting which is obscured by the maroon blotches on the front.

I'm excited to breed the blackjack with a large white phal. with good form and substance. With all the harlaquine spotting and striping, the cross should produce all sorts of cool patterns. And I will probably do a selfing of this clone to see if anything strange might show up from the doubling of these chromosomes--maybe large blotches of striping or striping around the edge of blotches? These flowers have very heavy substance and should last for a month or more on the plant.

I sure hope we get electricity this week. I have things to do ...

A Little Tropical Flair

This is a Doritaenopsis orchid a friend gave me. It is a cross that I have coveted for years (Dtps. I - Hsin Black Jack "M187". Parentage - Phal. Golden Peoker x Dtps. Leopard Prince). I'm going to breed this with a large white phal to see if I can get a larger flower with more irregular purple blotches. Cool plant.


That same friend also bought this killer palm tree which was a promo at Home Depot for only $69 down from $199. Wow! What a great price. This is a Kentia palm and is very slow growing. It should last quite a few years before it gets too big for the house. It is also the most graceful of the palm trees and is considered to be the cadillac of indoor palms. You can see why from the picture.

I was planning on keeping this one in the bathroom but it is just too large for that area.



So I moved it into the dining area where it will have plenty of room to spread out. What a spectacular plant! I think it is the most beautiful and expensive plant I have ever owned. Thanks Rick. It really classes up the joint.

Electric by Next Week?

That's the game plan. I'll believe it when I see it.

Here are the before and after pics for the electrical work that needed to be redone in order to satisfy the inspector.

Before;


After;


Before;


After;

Power Lines Up, Still No Power

My idiot contractor strikes again. We failed the trench inspection and are now waiting for the contractor to come out and do the job correctly. The power company put up the lines today. One hurdle down. It appears we might get power to the house next week sometime.




I love this amarylis. A friend gave it to me last year and it is a very strong grower producing many offsets. I expect at least one more blooming spike and possibly a couple more beyond that. Amazing plant. I'm going to self-pollinate it this year and see what the seedlings will look like. Amarylis are very easy to grow from seed and they make great gifts to friends. It takes a few years for them to reach blooming size but it is well worth the wait.

Morning Light

Click on photos to enlarge.

First Night at the House

No, the electric is still not in. Long story ... I don't want to talk about it.

So I decided not to wait for electricity before enjoying the house. I bought a miniature LED camping light and made sure the water pressure tank was charges so that I could flush the toilets.



I had a grand time watching the sunset with Emily--a relaxing moment after a couple of months of stress and frustration. Then we sat on the back stoop and just listened to the night. There was a full moon that made walking about easy but we decided to stay put, lest we get eaten by some monster.



After an hour of listening to the night, I suddenly had the urge to move furniture around. That little camping light, when placed properly, shed light on the whole living area including the kitchen, dining room, living room and hall. I spent some time moving things about to get the perfect angle for viewing both the mountains and the fireplace. I came up with a couch design that I think will foster conversation and tie in with the landscaping.

I put out my Grandmother's Lladro porcelain in the guest bath for all to enjoy. It is a special piece that I have always loved. My Grandmother purchased it when whe was a young woman and working as a buyer for a department store. She would go to New York CIty to look at purses etc... for her store and found this piece and had to have it. She caught me admiring it when I was a youngster and left it to me after her death. I still find it fascinating and spent a good amount of time poring over every detail again as I remembered my childhood with my Grandmother.



We finally got tired and went to bed. Emily was very excited to be staying at the house. We jumped into bed and spent the next few moments appreciated all that had transpired over the last eight years trying to get the house built. It was hard to get to sleep. I kept opening my eyes up and marveling at how big the room was--a far cry from the trailer. I got up several times just to walk around and let it all soak in. I am the luckiest man alive right now.

The morning came. The house is very well insulated and I don't think it got below 65 degrees over night. Very pleasant. Emily and I got up much earlier than usual and I grabbed the camera to get some shots in the morning light.




It is going to be a very good day today. Enjoy.

Christians Support Torture More than Non-Believers

From CNN:

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The more often Americans go to church, the more likely they are to support the torture of suspected terrorists, according to a new survey.

More than half of people who attend services at least once a week -- 54 percent -- said the use of torture against suspected terrorists is "often" or "sometimes" justified. Only 42 percent of people who "seldom or never" go to services agreed, according to the analysis released Wednesday by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.

White evangelical Protestants were the religious group most likely to say torture is often or sometimes justified -- more than six in 10 supported it. People unaffiliated with any religious organization were least likely to back it. Only four in 10 of them did.

This survey had a small sample size and was not as in-depth as necessary to get an accurate picture on this subject but the results are disturbing ... and not at all shocking. The bible delves into torture on many occasions and appears to support it when engaging the enemy, whoever that is. Raping and pillaging--no problem. Stoning unruly children or those wearing two fibers in one garment--no problem. Treating women as property without any rights as human beings--no problem. Tell me again how the religious own the moral high ground. I keep forgetting why that is still conventional wisdom.